Chapter 15

Chapter 15

An old man climbed down the ladder.

He had a small frame, only half the size of Deioden.

The old man looked up at Deioden with half-lidded eyes.

“So you were still alive, Deioden!”

“You have lost more teeth, Pabilsa.”

“You are the abnormal one. You have lived for over a hundred years, and yet you are still so hale.”

The old man called Pabilsa grumbled.

Almost all his teeth had fallen out, leaving only a few behind. By contrast, Deioden was still full of life.

There was no avoiding comparison in many ways.

Deioden asked Pabilsa,

“What brings you here? This is not your territory.”

“The Scavengers have been running rampant.”

“Did you not sweep them away last time?”

“As if bastards like that vanish just because you sweep them away. New ones appeared this time, and they are vicious beyond measure. Getting involved with them for no reason would only bring trouble.”

“Hmph! You are taking quite a long way around saying you ran away because you were afraid of mere Scavengers.”

“I am not you. There is no need for me to get dragged into troublesome matters. We call that a wise choice.”

“All mouth......”

Deioden snorted.

Even at his mockery, Pabilsa did not look ashamed in the slightest.

He was not quite Deioden’s equal, but he too was a man who had endured the age of destruction for many years.

He had the solid experience and wisdom that came with that.

Though most of the world had turned into desert, it was not as if there was no land where humans could live.

There were rocky mountains like the Mana Stone Mine, and small oases as well.

Although the environment was endlessly barren, humans still adapted to those places and continued living.

They were not as safe as Neo Seoul, nor did countless people gather and live there. Even so, they survived tenaciously.

Scavengers targeted those who had survived with such difficulty.

Pabilsa had moved here to avoid such a band of Scavengers.

His gaze turned toward Zeon beside Deioden.

“That one is unfamiliar. Is he your subordinate?”

“He is merely a companion.”

“A companion? A man like you is taking someone along? Heaven and earth must be turning upside down.”

“Enough nonsense. Let us go inside. I have goods to trade.”

“I normally do not let anyone in, but I am allowing it because it is you.”

“Stop putting on airs and guide us.”

“Hmph!”

Pabilsa snorted and climbed the ladder.

Deioden followed behind him, and Zeon climbed last.

Before getting on the ladder, Zeon glanced at Archelon’s face. As it happened, Archelon was looking at him too.

Its face alone was the size of a large house. Its eyes were larger than Zeon.

It was truly a terrifying size.

Zeon’s figure was reflected in its huge eyes. But as though it had no interest in Zeon, it soon turned its head forward.

‘They tamed a monster like this and ride around in it? Insane!’

He knew there were Tamers among the Awakened. However, he had never heard of anyone taming a monster this gigantic. But it was still too early to be shocked by only that.

When he entered Archelon’s shell, a scene he had never imagined unfolded before him.

The inside of Archelon’s shell was a vast hollow cavity, and an entire village had been built there.

There were not many of them, but he could see people walking through the streets.

“What in the world?”

“They are a clan.”

“A clan? You mean they share the same bloodline?”

“Yes! All of them are Pabilsa’s descendants.”

At Deioden’s words, Zeon was even more surprised.

This was a world where it was difficult to take care of even one’s own body.

Even if one had children, there was no guarantee they could be raised safely.

Naturally, leading this many family members was almost impossible.

Deioden said,

“It is possible because Archelon protects them from outside threats.”

“That makes sense.”

Zeon nodded.

Countless monsters lived in the desert.

Among them, there were many gigantic monsters like sandworms. However, no monster could compare to Archelon.

Moreover, Archelon possessed the strongest defensive power.

The strength of the gigantic shell it carried on its back was so great that it surpassed imagination, and no monster’s teeth could pierce it.

Because of that, most monsters did not even dare think of attacking Archelon.

Inside Archelon’s shell, Pabilsa’s descendants were flourishing.

“They are called the Mort Clan after Pabilsa’s family name.”

“The Mort Clan?”

“Yes! Ridiculous cripples who believe they were chosen. In truth, they cannot do anything without Archelon.”

The Mort Clan might take pride in living inside an iron fortress, but in Deioden’s eyes, it looked like nothing more than a sandcastle that could collapse at any time.

The reason Archelon protected them was because of the powerful Tamer named Pabilsa.

Whether Archelon would continue protecting the Mort Clan after Pabilsa died was unknown.

That was because a tamed monster offered loyalty only to the one who had tamed it.

Pabilsa took the two of them to his house.

Sitting in a chair, he said,

“Let us see the goods first.”

“As much as you like.”

Deioden replied coldly and took out all the various things he had collected from subspace.

The horn of the Great-Horned Hyena’s alpha female, the Queen Wolf Ant’s corpse, and the corpses of monsters he had hunted even before meeting Zeon came out one after another.

All the items Deioden brought out had come from bosses.

Every one of them was something not easily obtained.

Depending on how such items were processed, their power could differ as greatly as heaven and earth.

If they entered the hands of an artisan, they became treasures, and if they entered the hands of someone unskilled, their value fell.

With sharp eyes behind his glasses, Pabilsa examined the goods Deioden had presented.

Every single one was a high-grade item of the finest quality.

Even if he tried to find flaws, he could not find any.

“As expected, impressive.”

“I do not need compliments. Just tell me how much you will value them at.”

“Shall I pay you in Mana Stones?”

“You must be desperate to die. Do I look like I need something like Mana Stones?”

“True enough. Since you cannot enter Neo Seoul, you would have no need for Mana Stones.”

Mana Stones were the most important currency of this era.

Therefore, every transaction in Neo Seoul was based on Mana Stones. However, Deioden could not enter Neo Seoul for some reason. Because of that, he preferred actual goods over Mana Stones.

Pabilsa asked,

“So what do you want?”

“One breastplate made from the Queen Wolf Ant’s corpse and one subspace tool.”

“Do you need a breastplate? You already have subspace as well, do you not?”

“They are not for me.”

“Then they are for that boy?”

Only then did Pabilsa look at Zeon with an interested expression.

He had known Deioden for a long time, but this was the first time he had seen him do something for someone else.

If Deioden cared this much, then this boy was surely no ordinary person.

“It seems he is a fairly useful boy.”

“Do not say anything useless. Just tell me whether you can do it.”

“Hmm!”

After frowning for a moment, Pabilsa soon called someone.

“Kaylee.”

A short while later, a woman who looked to be around twenty entered the house.

She was a woman with sun-browned skin, blue eyes, and a strong vitality that felt like a cactus blooming alone in the desert.

“Did you call me, Grandfather?”

“You have one of the subspace bracelets you made before, do you not?”

“I do not have a bracelet, but I do have one gauntlet. The enchantment turned out too well, so I have been keeping it carefully stored.”

“Give that to this boy.”

“Something that precious?”

Kaylee looked surprised.

She was an exceedingly rare Enchanter.

She could grant attributes or special abilities to itemized objects. However, enchantments did not always succeed.

The success rate did not even exceed thirty percent, and among those, only a very small number were born as proper works.

There were Enchanters inside Neo Seoul as well, but all of them used methods combined with science.

There were not many pure Enchanters.

Among them, Kaylee prided herself on being the best.

The subspace gauntlet Pabilsa had mentioned was her masterpiece.

A top-grade subspace, with a width, length, and height each exceeding ten meters, had been attached to it as an attribute.

That much was larger than most warehouses.

A gauntlet possessing such a subspace would sell for whatever price one named.

Being told to hand over such a precious item to a boy she was seeing for the first time could only surprise her.

Pabilsa was not finished speaking yet.

“And tell Noel to make this boy a breastplate from the Queen Wolf Ant’s shell here.”

“Eek? You want us to make a breastplate too?”

“Yes!”

Noel was Pabilsa’s youngest son and an exceptional blacksmith.

The Mort Clan’s method of survival was to have Kaylee grant enchantments to the works he made and sell them at high prices.

They traveled through the desert, bought objects that could become items, processed them, and sold them at high prices to Neo Seoul or caravans. That was how the Mort Clan survived.

Because of that, Archelon was filled with precious goods and food.

Kaylee looked at Zeon with a meaningful gaze.

‘Does he have some special ability?’

Her grandfather, Pabilsa, had an extremely prickly personality.

If someone had no ability, he did not treat them as a person at all.

Then Deioden opened his mouth.

“That little girl became an Enchanter?”

“Ah, hello. It has been a long time.”

Only then did Kaylee realize Deioden was there and hurriedly greeted him.

“An Enchanter. You awakened a fairly useful ability.”

“Thank you. You are still as hale as ever.”

In Kaylee’s eyes as she looked at Deioden, a faint fear was held.

She knew well just how tremendous the old man’s power was.

When she had been much younger than now, the sight of Deioden tearing an enormous monster to pieces and killing it had still remained as a trauma within her.

Kaylee was uncomfortable remaining in the same space as Deioden any longer.

She hurriedly said to Zeon,

“Follow me. I will give you the gauntlet.”

“Yes!”

Zeon followed Kaylee, unable to hide his delighted expression.

He did not know how much he had envied Deioden whenever he used subspace.

Deep down, he too had wished he had such an item, and now that he could receive one for free, he could not help but be happy.

Kaylee asked Zeon,

“What is your relationship with that monster?”

“What?”

“I mean Deioden.”

“Ah! We just met by chance and are traveling together.”

“You met by chance?”

Kaylee furrowed her brow.

That was because she could not believe Zeon’s words. But pressing Zeon any further than this was also awkward.

Kaylee took Zeon to her workshop.

On the walls of her workshop hung all kinds of items she had worked on until now.

Zeon could not help admiring them.

That was because the presence emitted by the items overwhelmed him.

“Wow!”

An exclamation flowed out without him realizing it.

At his reaction, Kaylee looked proud.

“I worked on all of them. What do you think?”

“They are amazing. Are all of these items?”

“That’s right! Aside from things excavated from dungeons, you could call them the best.”

Occasionally, items were excavated from dungeons as well.

Because items possessed such powerful strength, they triggered the dungeonization phenomenon.

Items excavated from dungeons were known to possess very special powers.

Kaylee’s goal was to create an object with her own hands that was no less than an item excavated from a dungeon.

She picked up a gauntlet hanging on the wall.

The gauntlet was shaped to cover the back of the hand and the forearm.

“It was made by mixing the frame of an Ironclad Starfish with adamantium. It uses a dual composite structure, so its elasticity, defensive power, and offensive power are all excellent. In addition to the subspace function I mentioned earlier, it also has a self-repair function.”

“Self-repair means it recovers on its own?”

“Yes! As long as it is not completely destroyed, it will recover to its original state.”

“My God!”

“Impressive, right? And that is not the end. I do not know if it is because of the Ironclad Starfish, but the gauntlet gained a fire attribute. Right now, it can only emit the energy of flame, but its power will change depending on what you equip here.”

The place she pointed to was the back of the gauntlet.

There was a round indentation, and it was structured so something could be equipped there.

“You mean a fire-attribute item?”

“Yes! It would be best to equip something as powerful as possible. Once you equip it, you can never replace it again. To be honest, this thing is also close to a product of chance, so I cannot guarantee I could make it again.”

“I will remember that. But is it all right to just give me something like this?”

“Grandfather told me to give it to you.”

“Thank you.”

Kaylee handed the gauntlet to Zeon.

Zeon immediately put the gauntlet on his right hand.

It was slightly loose when he put it on, but once fully equipped, it tightened on its own and fit perfectly.

Zeon moved the hand wearing the gauntlet this way and that.

As though he were wearing nothing at all, his wrist joint and fingers moved freely.

A faint heat could be felt from the gauntlet.

Kaylee asked,

“How is it?”

“It is good.”

“Hmph!”

Kaylee crossed her arms with a proud expression.

That was when it happened.

KROOOAR!

Suddenly, Archelon’s cry rang out.

From long experience, Kaylee knew that it was a warning.

Kaylee hurriedly left the house and looked outside. Then, far in the distance, she saw an enormous cloud of dust rising.

Her complexion turned pale.

“S...... Scavengers.”