Seo Jiwoo

Beats of sweat trickled down my face as I sat on a self conjured slab of earth which worked like a protruding bench with rough edges and an uncomfortable surface, as I caught my breath, I grabbed a towel placed gently over the slab with which I wiped the sweat from my face, the droplets of sweat instantly soaked the towel as I wiped my long hair which had already grow past my shoulders.

I set the towel down and leaned forward, as I rummaged into my right pocket and fished a hair tie out—borrowed from Aurora—as I tied my hair into a low ponytail, my bangs almost covering my eyes and completely enveloped my forehead as they had grown past my jaw. My elbows resting over my knees as I nudged the system interface as a shimmering, almost ethereal and tangible window appeared in front of me.

My eyes fixated over the window which was floating in mid-air. The interface displayed the information of the pervious quest which had yet to generate the contents previously.

____

【Dungeon Trials】:「Sub-Trial」: 《Side Quest》

【Quest Type】: 「Survival」; 《Warfare》

【Difficultly】: 「SSS」《Extremely Difficult》;

【Requirements for Clearance】: 「Retrieve the Compass / Liberate the Orcs」;

【Rewards】: 「X20 Level Increase」; 「X25 All Stats Increase」; 「Synchronization Increase」; 「Requirement for unlocking old skill 」; 「 Increase X5%」;「 synchronicity Increase」

____

It was a sub-trail, but the thing which made me slightly amused was the fact that it was generated as a side quest, meaning the system considered the situation of the orcs like a passing problem which I needed to solve—like doing a side quest of a game while still having my main focus on the main quest which was to clear the trail.

But I felt my expressionless face contort with a scowl as the difficulty of the trail made me apprehensive of the entire situation, and made me reassess my entire plan.

I was reconsidering, wholeheartedly, whether or not my plan would work. Because with the difficulty alone, I could tell it wouldn’t be child’s play. I already had an idea of the amount of danger we all would be courting, but this was the first time the system had given a quest or trail with such a high difficulty, and I wasn’t sure where the probability of our success lied.

Perhaps, the scale was already falling into our disadvantage, because from the start we were held at a disadvantage.

Even when I was trapped in the basilisk dungeon, with all the other students, the quest didn’t give this big of a difficultly— there was always a cap which perhaps stopped the difficulty from rising to a certain level—where we encountered danger after danger. It was a considerable amount of danger considering the ruin we had appeared inside.

But ever since I'd entered the trials, the danger I've been facing has been astronomical and unexpected, some fights were beyond my capability of winning, but ultimately made me strong enough to challenge them again and win.

The difficultly was always set to a standard based on my current abilities to clear a trial, so if the system had given me such a trial then it meant that it trusted that I had the capabilities to clear this trial.

And knowing the system, something unexpected happening was quite feasible, so I needed to thoroughly prepare myself and warn my companions. And to some point, I was growing anxious.

But that was all. My nervousness only stemmed from the system and its quest generated yesterday.

I wasn’t nervousness about fighting a war, I had my fair share of time fighting in wars, so thanks to that I wasn’t as nervous or paranoid as I used to be in the past.

I looked around the chamber which was as big as two ballrooms, grass was grown in here with artificial means and there was a mountainous feel in here with the light of the artifact lighting the surroundings.

There was scorched ground, icicles stuck to the side of the walls and cliff at the end, the ground was torn from some point and terrible tears and crevices caused by wind magic.

Since yesterday, when Zalar had taken it upon himself to show me around the fortress, we ventured into the inner depths where the training chambers had been repurposed to house the refugees of important figures among the orcs, dwarves, and elves. Meanwhile, the standard personnel from these races were housed in the sanctuary.

Thanks to Zalar’s detailed description of the structure yesterday, I had memorized the layout of the entire fortress with ease—where the hallways led, which sections connected to different parts, and where the dungeons were in the fortress's depths. Credit also went to Mordian for keeping me updated with his own thoughts, as he shared details from his tour led by Huŕum, the orc faction leader who had been appointed on short notice, as I had heard.

Aside from that, I had been keeping up with routine meetings, which were held among the elders—and now included us, having gained their trust and been acknowledged as allies. The discussions were long and stern, often stretching for hours, taking up half the day because no one would simply agree on any point. There was always a difference in opinion.

Amidst that packed schedule, I decided to take out a few hours to train during the intervals, cutting into my sleep. But that wasn’t a big issue for me. True, I didn’t have an extraordinary physique or constitution like Mordian who could continue to work without any sleep or nutrients, mana was enough for him, who was a powerful dragon, but from my past life during the war, I had learned how to stay awake for days on end without sleep. It did affect me, but not to the point where my growing irritability or crankiness would blind me.

I waved the interface away as it vanished, and another popped open in front of me. It had the ingredients of the elixir of life that I had obtained until now.

_______

【 The Elixir of Life】

[Ingredients]:

–Evernight Orchid petal [X 5] [Acquired]

–Stardust of Rejuvenation [150 grams] [Acquired]

–??? [X 0] [Not Acquired]

–??? [X 0] [Not Acquired]

__________

Soon, I stood up grabbing the towel and placing it over my shoulders as I reached for the doors.

Exiting the chamber I continued a slow stride as I reached for the room shared by me, Mordian and Aurora. I reached out to Mordian, who was currently outside the fortress and in the sanctuary, I had lent him the cloak of nyx again and he had exited the fortress without anyone noticing.

But it was a good thing that no one had noticed and detected his exit, it gave me confidence for the what I had to do in a few more days on a much bigger scale.

We had shared my plan with the others, and as expected they were not very welcoming of the idea of the entire strategy I'd come up with. It did take quite a lot of convincing on our end, but in the end they yielded and accepted my plan.

‘Any update?’ I asked with a sense of urgency.

‘Nothing so far.’ He sent back without any delay. ‘I have been going around the entire sanctuary for the last few hours, searching the entire area for any clues, or hidden ones, but there doesn’t seem to be anything we are looking for.”

‘It might take a while but perhaps it could only be just me being too paranoid.’ I sent in passing, half uncertain now. ‘After you come back and we attend the gathering, I’ll take your place and go, its better if we change places and not make them suspicious that we are observing them.’

Mordian didn’t say anything, but his silence was his answer as I understood and continued on with my stride.

Just as I was about to reach close enough, there was a right turn in front of me in the hallway, which led to our room, as I heard a feminine voice and one almost feminine voice but holding a certain masculine quality, both were engaged in a conversation.

I slowed my stride even more as I channelled my mana into my ears, their voices were filtered and became easier to understand.

I realized instantly who those voices belonged to, one was Aurora’s and the other belonged to the elf who had came here with Serven, Vaerin Eärendil.

But what I found more suspicious than him meeting her alone was the respectful tone he was using to address her, and I could tell he wasn’t flirting with her, their conversation was something serious, and Vaerin seemed like he was addressing to someone higher ranking than him.

There were certain parts that I couldn’t understand even with my enhanced hearing, but there were some that I was able to make out of.

“Yes, the last I saw of them all, they were all well. And they were all quite worried about you, praying for your safety.” Aurora said simply, as if merely answering his question, but their was a certain grace in her words and tone which showed her higher standing.

“Thank goodness. I was worried that after we were trapped in the orcen world, I would never get to hear of my family again.” Vaerin heaved a sigh of relief, his emotions of longing and his anxiety was palpably portrayed in his words.

“Thank you very much, I don’t know how I can ever repay you, Your Highness.” Vaerin’s tone turned solemn and graceful as Aurora was about to say something, as I took that exact moment and turned right at the end of the corridor as I saw Vaerin and Aurora standing outside our chamber.

I didn’t try to hide my appearance as I saw Vaerin maintain his respectful bow and Aurora acknowledging it, as she suddenly realized my presence as her face looked almost comical as she saw me, as Vaerin unbent as he looked at me and nodded.

I returned his nod and approached the doors, as I was about to place my hand on the door and open it, a soft yet strong and firm hand grabbed on to my wrist as I saw Aurora with a complicated expression, her gentle and delicate brows knitted heavily.

“Did you hear what he said?” Aurora asked, her eyes fixed on me, laced with nervousness and eagerness, as if afraid that I'd heard their conversation.

I didn’t hide the truth and answered truthfully. “I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, I simply heard some parts, Your Highness.”

I teased her as a smirk played on my lips, as Aurora seem to pout in annoyance, making her look adorable. But her expression turned slightly complicated as I made a guess why, the reason would probably be what had happened in the desert, how harshly I'd treated her when I'd just realized that she wasn’t a human, which was later revealed that she was actually an elf.

But now that I had found out her position, she was afraid I would stop trusting her again, because she had hid this information from both me and Mordian.

Seeing her expression turn numb and stiff, I stiffened a laugh as I spoke. “You don’t have to worry, both Mordian and I have already realized that you are from some noble family in the elves.” My expression softened as I looked back at her, not feeling a sense of decent.

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“Shun, I wanted to tell you both previously, but I never had the chance due to the timing. I never meant to deceive you—both of you.” She rebutted, her expression growing more anxious.

Her grip loosened, her strength waning as her head slightly bent. I placed my hand on the door as I entered before saying. “Don’t worry, every has their own secrets and I wouldn’t pry into yours unless you are ready to tell me willingly yourself."

Aurora’s expression softened as she looked back at with a certain gentleness and fondness. We had come far as companions, and Aurora was someone I'd grown fond of and trusted completely now.

Just as I was about to close the door I heard Vaerin’s voice again. His soft, almost gentle voice reverberated in the hallway. “He is a perceptive and respectful fellow, his strength and talent is similarly enviable. Now I realize why you are fond of him, Lady Aurora.”

The doors creaked closed as I grabbed the towel and placed it on the table and then went to sit at the bed.

Putting everything aside, I began to think about my next course of action, first I needed to get a better understanding of the people we would be working with—the soldiers to be exact.

And most importantly, the team that would be accompanying me to Esparossa and the reinforcements keeping watch for anything unexpected in the magical forest around Esparossa's vicinity.

I activated Ruler's Authority, and hundreds of possibilities bloomed in my mind, forming an intricate web where each one connected to the next. I followed the logical threads with quick interest, abandoning them as soon as they became too difficult to continue analysing or simply failed to produce the outcome I wished for driven by logic, watching as they splintered into thousands more. I sifted through them rapidly, piecing together the structure of what needed to be done next.

I continued doing this until I heard the door opening with a creak, and Aurora entering the room with a gentle, yet awkward expression.

But as soon as her gaze bore over me, her expression fell almost instantly as she focused onto my eyes, which were probably burning a dark shade of lavender.

She gulped hard, her eyes quivered as he kept stuck in her spot. I deactivated my skill as my mana keeping the skill active fell dormant as the colour in my eyes returned to normal and the heavy aura which encompassed the room returned to normal from the relaxed expression on Aurora’s face now.

She hesitated, before taking a step forward and sitting down on the bed. Her expression had turned back to her usual softness, but there was certain unease lingering in her eyes.

I took the opportunity and broke the silence. “If you are worried what happened at the door, then don’t be. Like I said, Mordian and I had both realized that you are from some prestigious family, from the way you carried yourself and the mannerism you displayed through your actions."

“Was it that obvious?” She asked, slightly puzzled and feeling less confident in her disguise.

“Well, you can say, that a person can learn to change their accent and their actions to a certain point, but it’s different when the topic of trying to conceal or change their behavioural pattern arises, something they have been doing for a very long time—even making it a habit of doing subconsciously. They can successfully hide it, if its being consciously done, but ultimately those behavioural patterns would slip out from time to time even without your knowledge. They are engraved into your psyche due to performing such action for such a long time.” I said as I began to feel nostalgic for some reason.

Gabriel had once taught me about all sort of stuff on this topic, so I was familiar with these things and terms and had a good hang of psychology studies.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before.” She apologized again, looking slightly better now after my explanation.

With a curve of my lips I replied. “Don’t worry. While you have your secrets, so did I, and even Mordian. You don’t have to worry about it now, we are companions and there are certain things you can’t fully share with the people who even we are closest to, much less, each of us."

Soon I turned my head toward the doors and saw Mordian standing there as he lowered the hood from over his head, exposing his long wheat blonde hair, his golden eyes shimmering ethereally like two suns.

He had so swiftly and skilfully entered the room that I'd nearly failed to detect him for a moment, if he hadn't made his presence known beforehand.

For a moment Aurora was dumbstruck by Mordian’s sudden appearance, as she composed herself and she turned to look at him.

Mordian sat beside me on the bed as his face didn’t show any emotion as usual, there was some contemplation going inside his mind.

“Did you find something?” Aurora asked, as Mordian replied with a “No.”

“It seems the spies that have infiltrated the sanctuary are not bonded with demons, or not yet. Their ability to hide themselves and not leaving any clues behind is impressive."

Mordian added his theory which I'd already expected.

But if the demons knew about the location of the sanctuary, then why weren’t they attacking this place? Or are they still waiting for something to happen?

I thought as I tried to summarize everything that I’d observed so far and what I'd heard from the elders, about the war. And it didn’t make sense why the demons wouldn’t invade this sanctuary even after they had figured out where it was located.

Because, what I'd heard from Huŕum, the General of the demons, that I'd killed, hadn't wiped out the entire soldiers who went on the expedition previously, they had first tried to imprison them, and if things didn't turn out their way, only then did the process of elimination began.

I guess there was still something the demons were waiting for to happen.

Time was approaching for another gathering and I needed to convince them this time and set a clear date and time to attack in order to give us an advantage.

Mordian from the side stirred as he spoke. “But what I did found out in my venture through the sanctuary was, the elves here are being led as a whole by Angela Shard, similarly an elf who is respected by many elves, same with the other races.”

I nodded in thought as I tried to create a picture of this elven woman, Angela.

Aurora listened, silently, observant in her conduct as she too nodded.

After a short pause Mordian continued. “From what I’ve heard from the others and observing the person in question herself, I can summarize that Angela Shard is at least a mage who is on the second layer of the profound mastery stage. She is strong and determined, others described her as kind and gentle, while some said that she is a predator on the battlefield. Similarly, getting acquainted with her in our current position would give us an advantage, because we would be getting the support of the elves.”

I turned to look at Aurora who was similarly an elf. She intently looked back at me, as if she understood what I wanted to say even without a word.

I slowly turned my head back to Mordian who sat beside me, as he continued.

“The dwarf representative is Ouldrin Cohinem. He is in his late forties, and similarly backed by the other dwarfs stationed here. His attitude is rough, but he is an excellent leader who has kept the dwarfs in check until now.”

“Then what do you suggest?” I asked in passing as I thought of several matters.

“We can ask the others in passing in the next gathering , so that we can meet the current leaders of the elves and dwarfs to allow them to understand our strategy and give their remarks and ideas, so we can get acquainted with them. Similarly, it would be better if they can provide us with insight, because they know their soldiers' strength and weaknesses better than us."

I nodded in response as Aurora did the same as we prepared for the gathering to be held in a few more hours.

***

After the time of the gathering was close , all three of us left our chamber and continue along the long hallways adorned beautifully by its natural beauty, but it looked slightly dilapidated due to being built a very long time ago.

We continued a slow stride, I walked in the middle while Mordian to my right and Aurora on my left as we silently strode to the main chamber.

After a short jog, we finally reached the main chamber where two orcen guards were standing. But I laid eyes on the hunched elder of the orcs, who stood outside with a gentle and soft smile, his chuckles rose slightly in the hallway outside as he seemed enjoying the conversation he was having with the lady elf who stood in front of him.

The elven woman possessed flawless, milky white skin that seemed to glow softly in the hallway’s light. Her eyes, a blend of gentleness and hardened wisdom, carried the weight of battles fought and won. Her face, a blend of both beauty and maturity, was as striking as her green eyes. Full, soft cheeks and naturally red lips added to her allure, while flaxen hair, falling just to her shoulders, framed her features in a way that accentuated the quiet strength etched in her expression, lending an ageless elegance to her beauty—experienced but not worn. She shared the same pointy ears like Aurora, a common physical trait among the elves.

Her attire was both practical and commanding: She wore combat-ready pants tucked into worn leather boots, built for function more than flair. A brown linen shirt clung to her frame beneath a rugged leather vest, the ensemble tailored to her form without hindering her movements, Her chest was slightly bulged, her physical appearance perfectly proportioned as her clothes outlined her physique.

The elven woman with the flaxen hair turned her head toward us as her face wore a surprised and welcoming expression.

Zalar noticed her change in expression and turned toward us as well , as he welcomed us with a smile.

“Oh, it seems the time for the gathering has come. I couldn’t tell how fast the time flew away. We should have this conversation at a later time.” Zalar told the woman, as she slightly nodded her head, there was obvious respect in her demeanour.

‘She is Angela Shard.’ Mordian shared as I came to a halt in front of them.

Zalar waved his hand toward Angela and introduced her. “She is Angela Shard, the appointed leader of the elves residing in the sanctuary. She’s quite a kind and gentle lady and I hope you would share my sentiment once you get to know her. She's simply a sweetheart.”

She took a step forward and brought her hand forward, and I immediately took it as we shook hands.

“I’d heard from Huŕum that a human, dragon and an elf trio had appeared in the sanctuary who had saved the orcs this time round on their expedition from the demons.” She said with a gentle and graceful smile, as she didn’t show any disrespect to us, appearing friendly and composed.

She withdrew her arm back and with a simply greeted to my companions, she placed her hand on the back of her head. “To be honest, a few years ago I didn’t even know a race like the humans existed, oh, I’m not trying to be disrespectful or belittle your kind, its just my first time seeing a human in the flesh, heh heh—much less a dragon. So, I hope we can get to know each other better Seo Jiwoo.”

“Likewise,” I said with a soft smile to appear more appealing and friendly.

“I have heard stories about your strength—how you were easily able to overpower a demon general and then defeat him. Are you really that strong or are those stories simply exaggerated?” Angela said with a tone filled with good humour, trying to get acquainted and appear more friendly.

I smirked on her words as I answered. “You will get the opportunity to witness it in a few more days. You will get your answer eventually.” I said.

Angela looked to my left and greeted Aurora properly, making small talk, and just as her gaze went to Mordian, her head lowered, her expression turned solemn as he greeted my bond with respect and reverence.

“I had also heard of you from Huŕum, that a dragon had appeared alongside Jiwoo and Aurora, it is an honour to meet a mysterious being such as Your Grace. A living dragon.”

Mordian simple looked at the elven woman, as she turned stiff just from his gaze alone, as I turned to Zalar and asked to shift the awkward atmosphere.

“Is everyone else inside?” I asked as I saw Angela straighten her back, but didn’t look directly at Mordian, as if afraid that she would somehow offend the dragon with such a tiny gesture.

Zalar answered immediately. “Yes, but Serven has yet to arrive.”

Again with that fellow. He was truly getting on my nerves now.

“I should take my leave now.” Angela suddenly said.

But before she left, I interrupted and spoke. “On that, I wanted to discuss this matter with the elders, but its better that we met you here. I wanted to invite the appointed leaders of each race and share something with all of you.”

Zalar seemed to catch on to my intentions and stopped Angela and told her what we wanted to discuss, his explanation was short and concise, but Angela understood instantly as she nodded her head, her expression was one of deep thought and pondering.

Afterward, she agreed and went back to call for the other two who needed to appear in order to start the discussion.

We entered the chamber and took our seats. After a short greeting to the others, a few minutes later Serven finally arrived and took his seat beside Vaerin.

The other greeted him and after another few moments of waiting, we discussed a few matters in between, as there was a knock on the doors of the chamber, as they were allowed entry and I finally laid eyes on the third leader, Ouldrin Cohinem.

He was slightly taller than an average dwarf with bronze skin and a rough face which had seen many battles, his eyes looked hard like a warrior and his demeanour was impeccable as he wore simple battle robes and leather armour.

He had a beard which was tied and hanging below his neck.

He entered along Angela and Huŕum and all three of them greeted the elders with respectful bows and then took the empty seats which were available randomly around the octagonal table.

“It is an honour to meet Your Grace, Lord Astrionyx.” Ouldrin greeted respectfully.

Mordian remained silent as he looked at Ouldrin with a passing gaze. The dwarf didn’t feel annoyed by Mordian’s solemn action, he knew that he was in the presence of a dragon, almost every race was aware of the ash’ari to some extent, they believed they were mighty, and elated existences, which were akin to true deities.

“And you must be the human Huŕum told us about.” Ouldrin said in greeting as he greeted Aurora next.

Without any delay, we shared our plan with the other elders and the leaders of their respected factions.

Serven as always was the first to interrupt, his expression still looked as arrogant and punch-able. I ignored his words and gave a cursory look around the table as the other elders put deep emphasis over my words and thought for a moment as they considered the outcome themselves.

Zalar gave some remarks over the plan and explained in detailed, he didn’t hide the fact that we knew about certain details of this plan which were yet to be revealed, because the other elders would have guessed that we probably would have needed someone backing us, and also because Zalar was the highest ranking person in the sanctuary as the orcen elder.

He was an intelligent orc, respected by the others, even receiving respect from Serven.

Angela cut in between and asked some question to ease her growing anxiousness over the plan, which she tried to hide only to the minimal.

Zalar didn’t hide anything as we described the entire plan together.

Huŕum who was already aware of this plan didn’t say a word as he silently listened.

“Then how do you want to proceed with his plan? I know this plan is reckless, very much, but it provides us with an opportunity to strike back at the demons with a better chance of succeeding.” Ouldrin said, not fully agreeing yet, waiting for the others to agree, but showing a certain degree of favourability.

I answered his question. “I want an experienced team of soldiers who I want you three to appoint, its best if they are as strong as profound mastery stage mages or a subsequent stage below. Because, they would be used as bait, so they need to be strong enough to fend off any attacks until they can escape to the magical forest near Esparossa and regroup with the others, until the time I retrieve the compass and signal them to escape first. It's best if it’s a small team comprising of five to six people only."

Durin brushed his beard in thought as I saw Vaerin maintain his solemn expression. Everyone considered my opinion seriously and wholeheartedly, they asked a few more things before we finally decided to go along with my plan.

“Not too big, nor to small. This wouldn’t make the demons suspicious for a while until they figure things out, and in the meantime you would escape with the compass stolen right from under their noses.”

I heaved a sigh of relief inwardly as I eased into my chair, Aurora doing the same, as her tense demeanour eased slightly. Well, that wasn’t easy. I already felt exhausted.

Angela raised her hand and spoke. “I will select the person and notify everyone in the gathering held later.” She said, as Ouldrin and Huŕum said the same things.

Afterwards, we continued on the discussion, as we shared our insights and opinions over the different matters of the war and how we should approach them.

Our main focus remained over the retrieving of the compass from Esparossa and freeing the chieftain and the other elders and retrieval of Tseige.

But with this, the things had gotten to a point that we could now go to the second stage of the plan.