Chapter 92

Chapter 92: Dungeon Creation

I first used the Sovereign's Bond skill on the Sword Saint.

Mana was consumed, and a crown effect appeared above my head.

Above the Sword Saint's head, a sword-shaped effect materialized.

'Sovereign and knight — is that what this means?'

A system message appeared.

[Sovereign's Bond Status]

[1. Hwang Myeong-u (Location: Nearby)]

The skill had been successfully cast.

It even displayed whether the bonded individual was nearby or far away.

The Sword Saint appeared to have received a message as well.

"Oh......! The stat increase is tremendous."

I examined the Sword Saint's information through the Sovereign's Bond status screen.

I could view his stats and skills through the information panel.

[Hwang Myeong-u]

[STATUS: Strength 109(+20), Agility 110(+23), Dexterity 90(+29), Mana 151(+40), Stamina 111(+22)]

With the 20 percent buff from my stats, his combat stats of Strength, Agility, and Stamina now averaged above 130.

Even before the buff, his Strength-Agility-Stamina average had been 110.

Given that the S-Rank Hunter threshold was an average of 90 or above, he had been a full 20 points higher than the baseline.

"Your base stats are extremely high, Sword Saint. Those are astonishing numbers for a Second Awakened."

It was said that Second Awakened individuals struggled to exceed a Strength-Agility-Stamina average of 100. At 110, his stats were extraordinarily high.

"So you can see my stats. My Strength-Agility-Stamina may be high, but I am embarrassingly low in Dexterity. You, on the other hand, have remarkably high Dexterity."

"Well, I am a support-type Hunter with a life skill, so that makes sense."

"With those staggering stats, how can you call yourself a support Hunter?"

"Indeed. In the beginning, I definitely had meager porter-level stats, but before I knew it, they had grown this much."

"I also raised my stats significantly thanks to eating your cooking."

Eriksson, who had been listening to our conversation, asked the Sword Saint,

"Gramps, how much did your stats go up after forming the bond?"

"My Strength-Agility-Stamina average now exceeds 130."

"What......? 130? That is insane. At that level, you would be on par with Gerald, would you not?"

Gerald was the world's number-one ranked Hunter, as chosen by a prominent daily publication.

An undisputed, peerless world number one.

Some even said that no matter how strong Emeria was, she would have difficulty beating Gerald.

'No matter what, Ria would win.'

Even if their physicals were comparable, Ria was overwhelmingly superior in terms of experience.

And in terms of raw physicals, Ria — who wielded Aura freely — would likely be better as well.

The Sword Saint stroked his chin.

"Hmm, at this level, I would indeed be close to Gerald."

Thanks to the Sovereign's Bond, his stats now stood shoulder to shoulder with the world's strongest.

Having spent a lifetime honing his swordsmanship, he would not be outmatched in experience by either of them.

Hearing that, Eriksson urged me impatiently.

"Me too, me too! Hurry!"

"All right."

I formed the bond with Eriksson as well.

Then Santos.

"Wow...... Seon-u, your stat reserves were on par with Gramps."

"......Incredible."

I checked Eriksson's stats.

With my stat buff applied, his numbers were:

Strength 117, Agility 154, Stamina 120.

'He is definitely heavily specialized in Agility.'

I then checked Santos's stats.

Strength 145, Agility 93, Stamina 150.

'Santos has high Strength and Stamina, as expected.'

His Agility was abnormally low.

Exactly what you would expect from a dedicated Tank.

"All three of you have incredible stats. At this level, the moment we establish the guild, we could rank number one not just domestically but in the world guild rankings."

The three nodded at my words.

"The guild with the most S-Rank Hunters is Gerald's WPA."

Gerald was the leader of the WPA — the World Powered Alliance.

The alliance had a total of nine S-Rank Hunters.

Eriksson began counting our S-Rank-level Hunters on his fingers.

"Commander Ria, Seon-u, Gramps, me, Santos, the knight quartet, and the dragons Ashley and Fenrir. We have more."

Something felt slightly off.

I pointed it out.

"The knight quartet, fine. But why are Ashley and Fenrir included?"

"What does it matter? They are practically our comrades at this point."

"That is absurd."

While we were chatting after forming the contracts, Han Se-a opened the restaurant door and walked in.

"Sir, what were you all talking about?"

"Nothing."

"Hmph, leaving me out again. How hurtful."

"Nothing to be hurt about."

"Were you discussing guild-related matters? You mentioned you would be merging the Bamboo Fragrance Guild into Seon-u's guild."

"Well, it was a related conversation, yes."

"I see. That reminds me of something from the past. When I said I wanted to join the Bamboo Fragrance Guild you were creating, you would not let me in."

"That was because you are a ranged mage type, not a melee weapon-wielding warrior type."

The Bamboo Fragrance Guild consisted entirely of sword and blade users.

Since every guild member was the Sword Saint's disciple, it was only natural.

A ranged mage type like Han Se-a could not have been taken on as a disciple.

"If the guilds merge, then any type should be able to join as long as they have the ability, right?"

"Probably so. But Se-a, why do you ask?"

"Because obviously, I want to join too."

"What......?"

"Excuse me......?"

Not only the Sword Saint, but I too was surprised.

"Hunter Han Se-a, you are the guild master of the Frost Flower Guild."

"I am, but I was wondering if you might accept my guild if you are forming one."

"......Would your guild members not strongly oppose that?"

"The guild you create will become world-famous. If they are too foolish to see that and oppose it, then I will simply leave the guild myself."

She was even considering withdrawal.

I racked my brain for how to decline.

That was when the Sword Saint spoke to Han Se-a.

"Se-a, are you serious?"

"Yes, sir. I have been thinking for a long time that I want to be part of this group."

"......Go back and think it over carefully. If your mind has not changed by then, I will try to persuade Seon-u. Of course, if Seon-u still says no, there is nothing to be done."

"Understood."

Han Se-a then bowed to me at a ninety-degree angle.

"I am serious enough to be prepared to leave the guild where I am master, Seon-u."

"......It seems that way."

"Well then, I will be going."

Han Se-a left with that farewell.

The Sword Saint then said to me,

"I apologize for overstepping."

"Not at all. You knew I would refuse if asked now, so you preempted it."

"Ahem. That is true. Se-a is not yet close enough to you and Ria for that."

"Exactly. So I think I need time to consider it."

Whether to accept the Frost Flower Guild if they wished to merge.

Or whether to accept Han Se-a alone if she chose to leave her guild and apply individually.

Both scenarios would need to be discussed with Ria.

***

About a month passed.

During that time, Ria and I frequently went out to view building listings.

However, nothing particularly appealed to us.

So we decided to purchase the building under lien — the one that had been halted just before completion — and the process was now underway.

Executive Director Lee Gi-yong from Seonhwa Asset Management, an acquaintance of the Director, had been a tremendous help throughout.

He had mediated negotiations with the owner and lien holders so effectively that now it was merely a matter of signing and making the final payment.

Before signing, we were currently coordinating the finishing construction and interior renovation work with the existing construction firm.

'Between working, researching the contract details, and preparing documents this past month, it has been nonstop.'

The process had been that complex.

Without Executive Director Lee Gi-yong's help, it would have been impossible.

Setting that aside.

There was one more plan I had been executing.

Dungeon Creation.

'The Mana consumption is heavy, so I have been expanding it bit by bit each day.'

When I opened Acresia and used the Dungeon Creation skill, a rough outline of the dungeon shimmered, similar to when using a Gate portal.

Initially, I had searched through random locations for suitable underground terrain to create the dungeon.

-Hmm, the stone density here looks weak. It would not be suitable for quarrying stone for fortress walls.

Following Maxim's advice, I had searched through multiple random locations before finding the right one.

-This is an erdotte stone zone. Erdotte stone is not only dense and hard, but also resistant to Mana-based attacks. I believe this is the best location, my liege.

Based on Maxim's recommendation, I established the first dungeon's location in the erdotte stone zone.

This dungeon's purpose was to quarry hard stone for building the fortress walls and structures around the restaurant outpost.

On the twenty-second day of dungeon expansion work —

"Seon-u, that way!"

"That way? Got it."

Rin was sitting on my lap.

Whenever I worked on expanding the dungeon, Rin would help.

I used the Dungeon Creation skill in the direction Rin pointed to on the shimmering dungeon map within Acresia.

A path carved open in that direction as the dungeon expanded.

Rin enjoyed watching the dungeon take shape.

"Rin, is this fun?"

"Yeah, it's fun!"

"What part is fun?"

"Doing it together with Seon-u!"

What a sweet thing to say.

I stroked Rin's hair.

"Hehe!"

And so, Rin and I expanded the dungeon together every day.

Ria watched the scene contentedly while sipping tea.

And then, finally —

[Minimum dungeon size achieved. Dungeon activation conditions met.]

After twenty-two days of repeatedly consuming and replenishing Mana to expand the dungeon, it was finally ready for activation.

Maxim had said to activate it once the minimum conditions were met.

Since it would be used as a quarrying dungeon for erdotte stone, there was no need to make it too large.

The dungeon could still be expanded even after activation.

Time to activate it, then.

"Rin, I am going to activate the dungeon."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Here goes."

"Yay!"

I activated the dungeon.

Mana was consumed as the dungeonification process began.

[Dungeon has been successfully created.]

[Due to low Dungeon Creation skill level, no settings can be applied to the dungeon.]

"Settings" likely referred to things like the "Mana usage disabled" condition in Eos's mine dungeon.

Or converting the dungeon into a mine, or cultivating a natural environment like vegetation.

Perhaps when my level rose, I too would be able to configure dungeons like Eos had.

For now, it was just an ordinary Rift dungeon.

Rin, Ria, and I went to the back of the Rift house and installed a Gate portal leading to the dungeon.

HUMM!

The Gate portal opened with a shimmer.

"Let us go inside."

"Okay."

The three of us stepped through the portal into the newly created dungeon.

I moved forward and knocked on the gray stone wall.

TAP TAP!

The erdotte stone Maxim had mentioned was indeed extremely hard.

"Let me try cutting the wall with my sword."

"Go ahead."

Ria drew her sword, channeled Aura, and sliced through the stone wall.

It did not cut like tofu — it seemed to resist slightly, cutting with a dull heaviness.

"It is hard. At this density, it would make excellent fortress wall material."

With a few sword strokes, Ria carved out a rectangular block and handed it to me.

I took it.

"It is hefty."

Proof of its high density.

We then took a walk through the created dungeon, carrying a magical light-emitting stone.

Rin held my hand as we strolled through the dungeon we had built together, humming a little tune the entire time.