Quack-!
Hoo-ook-!
The claws on the Dire Wolf’s front paws are incredibly sharp.
Each claw looks like a finely polished sword, meticulously crafted from steel.
With high agility and intelligence, it tries to create some variations by shaking its lower body when its attacks keep missing.
Despite this, its attacks feel threatening to me, which is the reality.
‘About three times out of ten. There’s definitely a reason Master told me not to use it.’
I can’t use a technique with less than a 30% success rate in a real battle.
By the time ‘Bran’ fails and the holes in its torso reach a dozen,
I drew my sword up from below with satisfaction that I’ve trained enough.
Whooooosh──!
– Your level has risen!
– Choose three stats to increase…
It’s been a while since my level went up.
I didn’t feel anything after defeating the Frog Folk, but the Dire Wolf seems to provide decent experience points.
I invested the stats earned from leveling up into Wisdom, Sense, and Strength.
The minimum conditions to use [Meteor] still haven’t been met, but the Wisdom and Magic Power stats can soon be supplemented by two artifacts I’m expected to obtain from this dungeon.
Once I shoved the Dire Wolf’s corpse into Space, I could finally join the party members who were gathering together to chat.
“What a mess right from the first battle.”
Bae Joo-ah wiped the sweat from her forehead, looking shocked.
“I can definitely feel the probability of mutations rising.”
Yeon-hee, talking to Joo-ah, had a slightly excited expression.
It’s probably because the Werewolf ‘Rakan’ squad completely swept the Dire Wolf.
“Wow- If there are this many Werewolves, can’t we just tackle the highest level dungeon right away?”
Joo-ah asked, getting even more excited, and Yeon-hee shook her head in response.
“It’s not necessarily like that. When they first summon, it’s like their level gets reset? Anyway, they start with slightly lower stats than the ones you’d meet in a real dungeon. We need to level up a bit first.”
Of course, that’s only when Yeon-hee doesn’t support anything, and already about half of Rakan’s squad had their upper bodies tightly wrapped in the ‘Mystical Mucus’ created by Yeon-hee.
Just that alone would significantly boost their overall combat power.
‘This isn’t a game. I’m not the only one with poor efficiency. Yeon-hee also needs to aim for higher levels.’
If it weren’t for my [Thieving] skill, I would have already looked for different growth routes, jumping several stages ahead to target higher dungeons.
“More importantly, let’s talk about the Sword Dragon and the Castle…”
Yeon-hee, after finishing her thoughts during the battle, gathered the party members and shared information about the newly joined summoned creatures.
The Were-Raven and Dire Wolf, along with the Werewolf we saw earlier, were brushed over lightly.
“I’ll give you all a heads-up. Don’t be too surprised… Just take a look one by one and try to adapt first. Once you get used to it, I hope we can explore how to cooperate in battle too.”
“What kind of summoned creature is so great that you say that?”
“You’ll find out when you see.”
“Ah-rin, have you seen both?”
“I’ve only seen the Sword Dragon.”
Yeon-hee then released all summoned creatures except for me, took a deep breath, and summoned the Shadow Drake and Elder Golem in order.
“……”
I thought they would be shocked, but the reaction from my companions was surprisingly calm. Or maybe they were too shocked to think straight?
The appearance of the massive black Drake and the even larger Golem.
Gulp—
With their heads raised high, the companions kept gulping as they stared at the summoned beings.
Naturally, the Sword Dragon, glaring at us between its wings, looks every bit the part of an Evil Dragon.
In front of it, my companions looked like small, helpless lambs.
At least Noh Ha-yoon seemed to have more curiosity than fear, but she wasn’t moving easily, which didn’t change much.
(……)
The Sword Dragon, appearing first, tilted its head to the right and scanned the companions.
– ······.
Seeing it not showing much refusal suggests that my companions are doing well enough.
Or maybe it’s because they’re all women.
Damn guy. Is it just me that it dislikes?
Kuuuuuuuh──!
[……]
The Elder Golem ‘Castle’, unlike the Sword Dragon, looked around the environment before observing people.
The Golem’s appearance blended well with the lush nature of this place, creating an impression that it had lived here as a guardian spirit for a long time.
“G-g-g-golem…?!”
“Wow— it keeps getting bigger.”
When I summoned it last time at the church, it was all curled up, so I was unsure, but seeing it stretch its shoulders in this open space was truly impressive.
Castle cast a shadow that darkened the area above us.
‘It looks way over 7 meters tall. Not to mention the physicality is just amazing…’
As this little moving fortress stretched out before my eyes, my companions couldn’t help but gape.
It was pure astonishment and shock.
Gradually, the reactions I had been waiting for began to emerge.
“Ugh…”
“……”
“Hey… haha?”
Especially Ham Eun-young, who had been tight-lipped since entering the dungeon, seemed to have lost her strength in her legs, sitting right down.
Thud—
Then, from the mirror image of Eun-young, a cat with a mackerel pattern jumped out, immediately on guard, ready to throw a cat paw punch.
(What are you?!)
To the cat who screamed out of nowhere, I replied.
‘… What are you doing?’
(What happened that has Eun-young so flustered? Explain.)
Since I was in cat form and my senses were dulled, I pointed at the ‘Sword Dragon’ and ‘Castle’, gesturing instead of speaking.
The cat saw the two and its eyes went wide.
(Who are these?!)
‘Oh? Could it be you know them?’
I asked with anticipation.
But.
(How should I know?)
‘…… Do you want to die? Why are you reacting like you know them?’
(Ahem— Anyway, they’re useful creatures. Are these the Great Beasts you mentioned? They seem a bit lacking in power for that though.)
‘No… They’re summoned creatures by Yeon-hee. No comparing them to Great Beasts.’
No matter how strong the Sword Dragon and Elder Golem might be, there was a world of difference from Great Beasts.
(I see. But that Golem looks really sturdy. I like it. Is that glowing space in the center to protect the summoner?)
The sharp-eyed cat noticed that immediately and asked.
‘That’s right.’
(The space appears quite ample, right? What about taking Eun-young along too? She’s small and wouldn’t take up much space.)
‘What are you talking about? If you load one at a time, what happens to the others?’
(I don’t care about the others.)
‘You’re not half demon, are you?’
(Ho ho— Recognizing a proud demon, huh?)
‘……’
There are times when this guy and I weirdly don’t click.
But if I have to protect one more, it should be Ham Eun-young. The others can manage on their own.
Anyway, I needed to spend quite some time explaining the summoned creatures so that my companions could shake off their fear a little.
“The Sword Dragon is fairly manageable, but maintaining Castle consumes a lot of magic, so I don’t think we’ll summon it in the dungeon unless there’s a crisis.”
“Given that Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures wipe everything out, we would lose our chance to grow, so you should control it moderately.”
The companions kept chatting as they moved.
Initially, the conversation focused on battle, but gradually it became more casual.
“Did you say Sword Dragon? It’s really cool. The aura it gives off and those sharp wings are just awesome.”
“Hehe— right?”
“I’m more into Castle. It feels like I’ve got a solid home. Isn’t that why it’s named that?”
“Pretty much. It might not seem like it now since it’s standing, but when it’s curled up, it really looks like a small castle.”
“Ah ha—”
Unlike the usual quiet movement, the companions now had plenty to talk about after seeing these incredible summoned creatures.
Listening to their voices chiming like small birds, I thought.
‘The place where the artifact is hidden is still quite far, so for now, I’ll just keep taking advantage of this situation.’
I’ll check my abilities one by one and support the growth of my companions. But I shouldn’t let it drag on too long either.
This dungeon usually requires an overnight stay due to the long distance from the entrance to the exit.
However, at our current pace, we might just finish within the same day.
The monsters that watched us fight earlier were distancing themselves over 600 meters away, going about their business.
The party members, having successfully wrapped up the first battle and encountered fascinating summoned creatures, were in a slightly elevated mood.
I too was inspired by that, moving forward with a light step, when I unexpectedly discovered a hidden underground space.
‘… There’s nobody here?’
The structure was very similar to the underground space where the Blue-eyed Deity had previously held ceremonies.
‘There doesn’t seem to be much to gain, but you never know.’
I began to slightly change direction in front of my companions.
“Tap, Tap, Tap!”
“Uh? Under here?”
Nodding—
After about ten minutes of moving, as I pointed to the spot we reached, the companions’ eyes sparkled.
Ha-yoon wasn’t there at that time, but the others had been with me when we discovered the mine, so they seemed to think I had found something amazing again.
‘Nothing… There’s absolutely nothing.’
I felt a bit guilty for raising their expectations, but I had to check it out anyway.
‘No need to enter through the back door.’
[Tunnel Destroyer]
Kwa-kwa-kwa-
After repeatedly digging down and coming up a few times, a marvelous tunnel was completed.
It took less than three minutes.
This was the moment I truly felt the effect of the skill level rising in Dark Space.
‘Digging is the best!’
“Hey, Mr. Skeleton? Are you the Earth Puppy? What are we supposed to do if you excel at this?”
Joo-ah pouted her lips with a look of disbelief.
Yeon-hee kept scratching the back of her head, looking perplexed.
But I knew Joo-ah’s reaction wasn’t genuine.
No one in a capable party would dislike reaping rewards easily.
“L-let’s go in for now!”
People followed me into the underground space.
In less than ten minutes, the place we arrived at seemed to be the exact space used by the Blue-eyed Deities.
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