Chapter 48

Chapter 048

The next day.

In the aftermath of using Aura, I had to be confined to the Hospital Room once again.

Seeing me land in a Hospital Room twice in less than a day, Persica let out a sigh.

“Whew...... You hopeless fool. Do thorns grow in your mouth if you go even one day without overdoing it?”

“I am sorry.”

Persica was the one who had carried me after I passed out.

Apparently, she had heard something explode and rushed over, only to find me collapsed there, covered in red.

“What on earth did you do to end up like that? Were you not only supposed to be operating Mana?”

“That was the plan, but then I tried using Swordsmanship with the Core as well—”

“W-Wait. You used the Core? Not just Mana?”

“Yes?”

Persica’s expression turned strange.

“......I am asking just in case, but have you ever learned a Mana Cultivation Method?”

“No.”

“......”

Persica’s eyes rolled to the side.

I did not know what a Cultivation Method was, but it seemed to be something absolutely necessary for using a Core. When I said I had used the Core without such a thing, her expression became exceedingly displeased.

“Uuugh......! You are always like this......! Even though I know that, it still makes me so angry!”

“It is about time you got used to it.”

“Be quiet!”

Then she lightly struck my shoulder.

“Are you hitting a patient now?”

“Do not exaggerate! I barely tapped you!”

In any case, I told her what had happened at the Training Grounds.

“You overdid it while using Aura? Did you use that strange ability again?”

“I was curious how long I could maintain it this time.”

After the battle against Vormir, Persica knew that I could use Aura.

It was impossible to hide.

She had already seen it directly, and even if I did not tell her, Gordon would have told her everything anyway.

That man had seen even the fact that I used Aura.

So I had vaguely explained it as having a Skill that allowed me to use Aura.

It was also a move based on the calculation that since my Unique Ability could not be detected from the outside, no evidence would remain.

‘Well, she does not seem to care much.’

To be precise, it was closer to her not caring either way.

She had declared early on that I was not a Possessor, and even if I were one, it would probably not matter much to her.

‘Whatever it is, she must want something from me.’

If our mutual interests aligned, it was fine to accept a certain degree of risk.

No, considering Persica’s future, this side might actually be better.

“Using the Core without a Cultivation Method is one thing, but...... trying to withstand Aura with that body is truly impressive. Are you an idiot?”

“I just wanted to see if I could do it. I am sorry if I worried you.”

“What? No, you do not have to apologize......”

When I apologized obediently, she was the one who grew flustered.

Perhaps embarrassed, Persica cleared her throat with her face slightly red.

“A-Anyway! What are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean the Downfall Order.”

“Hmm......”

If I continued heading toward the Deep Floors, I would inevitably encounter the Downfall Order.

Until now, I had only encountered low-level rank and file, and even then, I had survived through luck.

I could not expect that kind of fortune to continue forever.

“The safest method is to wait until the Temple acts.”

“How long would that take?”

“Well...... A war might break out, so would it not take at least two or three years?”

“......”

Two or three years.

At those words, I stared intently at Persica.

“What is it?”

“......Nothing.”

Persica’s fate.

I did not know what chain of cause and effect would lead to the tragedy she would face, but at the very least, two or three years would be too late.

Whether in a good sense or a bad sense, she would die before then.

At our current level, we could not face the Downfall Order.

That said, I did not want to wait around for the Temple to step in and solve everything for us either.

What should I do?

As I was lost in thought, she stood up and tossed my coat at me.

“Well, we have plenty of time, so think slowly and get up. We have something scheduled today.”

“Something scheduled?”

“We are going to perform the Mana Stone Absorption Ritual.”

I tilted my head for a moment.

Mana Stone Absorption could only be done at a Temple, and naturally, Temples existed only on the surface.

It would take several days to go and come back, so was it not unreasonable to leave immediately?

“I know what you are thinking, but do not worry. There is a Temple on the Second Floor as well.”

“Hm......?”

What was she talking about now?

This was the first I had ever heard of a Temple being built inside the dungeon. Could this be another part that differed from what I knew?

When we went outside, half in doubt and half in belief, Jin Sohwi was waiting for us.

“Ah, you are here. You said you needed to go to the Temple because of Mana Stone Absorption, correct?”

“That is right. Are you sure there is one on the Second Floor?”

“Of course. Consider yourself lucky. Originally, only members of our clan can use it.”

After saying that, Jin Sohwi guided us deep into White Cloud Castle.

It was a place thickly surrounded by a bamboo forest, and before we entered, Jin Sohwi held out his hand to us.

“Hold on to me and do not let go. There is a Barrier that will make anyone who is not a member of the clan immediately lose their way.”

“What happens if we get lost?”

“Nothing much. You will be trapped inside and starve to death.”

That sounded like a very great deal.

Persica and I immediately grabbed Jin Sohwi’s arms.

As we stepped inside, the dense bamboo began moving aside, creating a path for us.

How long had we walked through the rustling sound of swaying trees and the occasional falling bamboo leaf?

At last, we arrived at a space with a small lake and a tile-roofed house resembling a temple.

“This is really a Temple?”

“Yes. Despite appearances, it is a Shrine Hall that serves the Golden Rule. You can see the Crest of the Golden Order drawn on the signboard, can you not?”

He was right.

The fact that it used that Crest meant it was a Temple officially recognized by the Golden Order.

It even looked considerably old, as though it had been here for quite some time.

“For reference, there are no Priests stationed here. You can only perform the Mana Stone Absorption Ritual, and other than that, it is mostly used for minor ancestral rites.”

“How do you perform Mana Stone Absorption if there is no Priest?”

“You place the Mana Stones on the Altar and put your hand on them.”

It seemed the Altar served the role of a Priest.

When I entered the Shrine Hall, the air somehow felt cooler.

The place was lined with all sorts of Talismans, and Hanging Scrolls depicting the Golden Rule and several people hung here and there.

[One of them is Jin Ryeon. Have they enshrined the previous Heads of the House?]

Hyeollyeo immediately recognized the meaning of the Hanging Scrolls.

‘So that is what Jin Ryeon looked like.’

Jin Ryeon was a man with long gray hair, dressed in a white Long Robe.

Holding a sword and surrounded by clouds, he looked almost like an Immortal. Unfortunately, however, it was not a face I recognized.

‘Well, aside from Ishara, the characters could be customized.’

Since I did not know what the original face looked like, it could not be helped.

Although, since he was a person from seven hundred years ago, seeing his face would not have had much meaning anyway.

I shook off my idle thoughts and took out the Mana Stones I had brought.

The reward I received for investigating South Spirit Mountain was 1.5 million Rune.

On top of that, Jin Sohwi had personally added 200,000 Rune, and the small amount of Mana Stones I obtained from hunting Gigantia was worth about 50,000 Rune.

‘Altogether, 1.75 million Rune.’

In fact, the investigation reward and Jin Sohwi’s bonus were cash, so no taxes were deducted.

From that, Persica took only 500,000 Rune as her share and gave the rest to me.

Her reason was that she had not done much.

“You really did not have to do all this.”

“Do not say things you do not mean. Hurry up and perform the ritual.”

So impatient.

I placed all the Mana Stones I had received as my share on the Altar and put my hand over them.

GLOW—The brightly shining Mana Stones crumbled into fine pieces and seeped into my hand.

At the same time, I felt the Mana Quantity I held increase.

[So this is how humans increase their Mana.]

Perhaps Hyeollyeo found the Mana Stone Absorption Ritual fascinating, because it circled around me and the Mana Stones.

The way it stared intently at the disappearing Mana Stones with shining eyes was, how should I put it, a little cute.

‘My money......’

A full two million Rune.

Seeing such a large sum evaporate before my eyes made my heart ache.

When I thought about the equipment I could have bought with that, it hurt to the bone. But until I reached the Third Floor, there was nothing I could do about it, so I had to swallow my tears.

GLOW—As the Mana from the Mana Stones seeped into my body, the Core’s Output became stronger by the amount my Mana Quantity had increased.

And as much as the Core’s Output had strengthened, I also felt my physical abilities rise slightly.

After Persica finished her Mana Stone Absorption as well, Jin Sohwi brought over a Talisman and attached it to each of us.

“What is this?”

“It is a Talisman that measures the Core’s Output. Up to 7-Star, you can check it with this without needing to go to the Association.”

The Talisman produced a vivid vermilion flame, then stopped after burning halfway.

“Hm. Around mid-stage 2-Star.”

In game terms, it meant I was about halfway through the experience bar at 2-Star.

I had probably reached 2-Star all at once through Swap, so the amount I had raised through Mana Stone Absorption was truly small.

Even after burning more than two million Mana Stones, I was only at the mid-stage?

As expected of a wretched game, the experience bar barely moved.

I had wondered, but as expected, 3-Star was out of reach before I completed the entire Pilgrimage Route.

“Persica, what level are you at?”

“The same as you. Mid-stage 2-Star.”

Since Star Rank was determined purely by the Mana Stones absorbed, the two of us were nearly the same.

In my case, it was because I had no money. In hers, it was because she was trying to grow stronger step by step.

[Why are you so obsessed with reaching 3-Star?]

‘Well, there are several reasons.’

First, the minimum Mana Quantity required to overcome the side effects of the Third Floor and remain active was 3-Star.

On top of that, unlike the First and Second Floors, there was no institution managing security from the Third Floor onward, so the number of monsters increased tremendously.

There was an “Observatory,” which could be called a Magic Tower, but it did not interfere in outside matters at all.

Overall, it was a section where the difficulty sharply increased, so I set 3-Star as the minimum condition for reaching the Third Floor.

‘The Adventurer Association also tends to recognize someone as a proper Adventurer only after they reach the Third Floor.’

[You mean it is to have your abilities recognized?]

‘That too. And because of income.’

Once I received the Association’s recognition, I would be able to register items at the Marketplace.

That meant I could start selling things in earnest, and from the Third Floor onward, high-grade Byproducts used in Magic and Alchemy began to appear.

This was the reason I was so desperate to break through to the Third Floor first.

The difference in income was truly as great as heaven and earth.

[If that income is directly connected to cultivation...... I see. What you say does make sense.]

Hyeollyeo, who was in the middle of studying the human world, seemed to understand it in its own way from its own perspective.

In any case, I had to reach 3-Star and go to the Third Floor before I could finally breathe a little easier. But as one could see from my situation, that process was extremely harsh.

It was already a game with barely any Newbies, and among them, 90 percent died out without ever getting past the Second Floor.

It was not exactly a memory I missed.

“By the way, why is there a Temple in White Cloud Castle?”

“You have a great interest in the history of White Cloud Castle. That is an admirable attitude, Isran.”

“What are you talking about? Just tell me.”

“That too is nothing special. It is because people born in the dungeon cannot go to the surface.”

That was something I knew.

Humans born in the dungeon could not survive on the surface.

The moment they left the dungeon, they began to lose vitality and waste away, dying within a day at most.

It was a fairly famous setting in the game, but unfortunately, as befitted a game that was unkind in its explanations, it never revealed the reason.

“That is why we requested the Golden Order to install a temporary Temple like this.”

“You must pay an enormous Donation. Can you handle that?”

“We do not pay money separately. The one who installed this was a Possessor.”

“Hm? A Possessor?”

Jin Sohwi nodded.

“Do you happen to know that Possessor Enlil once came to White Cloud Castle?”

“The elder told me she came to hear the legend of South Spirit Mountain.”

“That is right. I heard that in exchange for that information, she asked the Temple to install this.”

“......For just that?”

“I heard she was always a very capricious person.”

The founder of the clan was also a Possessor, and the person who installed the temporary Temple was also a Possessor.

Because of that, White Cloud Castle was said to be quite tolerant toward Possessors.

But this raised one question.

White Cloud Castle had been founded seven hundred years ago, but Enlil was a person from only one hundred years ago at most.

There would have been no Temple before then, so how had they overcome the side effects?

“People born on the Second Floor possess Mana equivalent to the late stage of 2-Star from birth, so they are fine. However, they could not accumulate Mana, so advancing to the lower floors was impossible.”

“So that is how it was.”

If they went to the surface and gave birth to a child, the issue could be solved, but the problem was that if the mother was already from the Second Floor, even that was impossible.

Generation after generation passed like that, until only those purely born on the Second Floor remained and formed the current Jin Clan.

“We were fated to never leave the Second Floor forever. Until one hundred years ago, that is.”

However, that Unwritten Rule had been broken by the appearance of a maverick named Enlil.

Because her whim allowed Mana Stone Absorption to become possible in White Cloud Castle, they were also able to advance to the lower floors.

“That is why Trinity tends to look at us unfavorably.”

“......”

At those words, Persica turned her gaze away with a huff.

She had been strangely quiet for a while now, so apparently, this was a story she already knew.

“The reason Trinity left White Cloud Castle alone all this time was that we monopolized only the Second Floor. Everything below that was strictly Trinity’s domain, so it was only natural for them to be displeased when White Cloud Castle began encroaching on it.”

“So in the end, it is a struggle over interests.”

“That is right.”

Although there was no such thing as territory in the dungeon, White Cloud Castle already monopolized the Second Floor. If such a place began descending to the lower floors as well, dissatisfaction could not help but accumulate from Trinity’s perspective.

Now that Downfall had arrived and the world had been destroyed, the dungeon was the only means by which Ebla could obtain resources.

“Because of that, the Golden Order, which built the Temple for us, ended up in quite an awkward position. The two Houses aside from Ortanis are always applying pressure.”

“Why is Ortanis neutral?”

“Because Ortanis is the one that trades directly with White Cloud Castle.”

Ah...... So they were already benefiting from trade and had no reason to ostracize them? It was simple and easy to understand.

When I looked at Persica, who was directly involved, she turned her gaze away even more.

Judging by her distorted expression, she did not seem to like this kind of political talk very much.

“Ortanis is famous for operating many businesses. Since it is relatively free from the wealth of the dungeon, even if it does not take White Cloud Castle’s side, it tends to at least remain neutral.”

At those words, Persica let out a sigh.

“That is not something anyone can know for certain. If the situation changes, there is a high chance they will side with Trinity.”

“Hm. That cannot be helped. I can understand that.”

White Cloud Castle had broken an implicit rule, and Ortanis was maintaining a subtle cooperation with them.

Seeing it like this, I could understand why the two of them knew each other’s faces even though they had never interacted.

‘Their families must have had quite a close relationship.’

Since the other side was an important trading partner, they had at least memorized each other’s faces, even if they had not met directly.

It was truly a strange relationship.

“They will not be able to demolish the Temple because they fear Enlil. But precisely because of that, Trinity is always watching for an opportunity to seize the interests of the Second Floor.”

“Then the reason so many people came to meet the elder was......”

“They are the sort who are feeling out which side to attach themselves to.”

Jin Sohwi did not particularly criticize them.

He said that in a world where destruction had arrived, nothing was cheaper than faithfulness.

“I understand Trinity’s position. But even so, we wish to challenge the Unknown.”

Just as Jin Ryeon had once headed to the Deep Floors in order to see the end of the dungeon.

Jin Sohwi, too, was dreaming of the Unknown.

“A challenge......”

Why was that?

Those words rang strangely deep in my heart.

The reason was probably...... because I, too, deeply understood that feeling.

There were lives that had to wither away after being deprived even of the chance to challenge anything.

There had been such a life, one that had merely withered away on a sickbed for its entire span.

Because I had lived such a life, Jin Sohwi’s words must have resonated so deeply with my soul.

“......Yes. A challenge must be made.”

What would I do about the Downfall Order?

At last, I had found the answer to the question Persica and I had discussed.

“Jin Sohwi. I have a request.”

If I was alive, then I would simply challenge it.

Whether it was the Downfall Order or anything else, I was sick and tired of resigning myself and running away.

“Teach me a Cultivation Method.”