Chapter 33: Seizing the Intermediate Mana Stone Mine

As I moved toward the Magic Stone Mine with Ropenheim and the orcs, I saw a broken golem and five wolves.

They were about the size of a car, with gray manes.

Wolves with thick teeth were trampling the golem while conversing among themselves.

[The scent of Ogre’s Blood… looks like it died here.]

[Since we smashed this golem, its master should show up.]

[I smell a human.]

[They’ve arrived.]

All the wolves turned their gaze toward me simultaneously.

“Did you kill Burkan? The so-called Destroyer of the Forest, that ogre?”

[That’s right. What about the Mandragora it had?]

“I ate it.”

[Then there’s no choice. We have to kill you.]

Seeing the wolves radiate murderous intent, I activated Golden Dragon Eye.

[Using Golden Dragon Eye.]

[Luk (B)]

• One of the Lycanthropes of the Black Moon Clan, descendants of the Black Moon. Follows Redoc, one of the Seven Lords of the Great Forest.
• Truly intends to kill.
• Overall stats: B
• Potential: B
• Item equipped: Necklace of the Black Moon Clan (B)
• Skills: Half-Human, Half-Wolf (A), Physical Resistance (B), Magic Resistance (B), Agile Movement (A), Flexibility (A), Sharp Talon (B).

I knew what a Lycanthrope was—basically a werewolf.

A common trope in movies and comics, and a monster you could find in B-rank dungeons.

Among B-rank monsters, they were considered high-tier.

They were fast, agile, had sharp claws, and could use mana.

Especially on nights with a full blue moon, they transformed into true werewolves, possessing strength comparable to A-rank.

“Orcs should be easy enough to handle.”

It felt wasteful to just kill them like this.

The Great Forest, the Seven Lords—I was curious about Redoc.

“I don’t have much information about this place anyway.”

I figured I could clear some of it up through these guys.

“Orcs, don’t kill them. Subdue them.”

[Understood.]

Ropenheim stopped the orcs and stepped forward.

“Can I handle this? I think it’d be faster if I show the orcs directly how to use their power.”

“Yes, please do.”

“Then watch carefully.”

As Ropenheim stepped forward, the wolves sneered and charged at him.

No mana detected in the human.

Clearly, they mistook him for an ordinary human getting cocky.

[An old human dares to hunt us? Ridiculous.]

The Lycanthrope opened his mouth wide.

Ropenheim extended a front paw, firmly planted his stance, and clenched his right hand into a fist.

At the moment the wolf charged,

He twisted his waist and propelled his fist forward with rotational force. A heavy gust swept silently along the advancing fist.

Whoosh!

Ropenheim’s punch struck the wolf’s crown.

The massive body collapsed, limp.

Ropenheim spoke to the orcs.

“By using rotational force like this, you can deliver several times more power than usual.”

Meanwhile, the other wolves charged simultaneously.

[This is no ordinary human. Be careful when hunting.]

[It’s just a human! Dare to touch us and you’ll regret it!]

Three wolves targeted Ropenheim.

Unshaken, he calmly sized them up and moved with precision.

The moment their claws descended,

He dodged by a fraction and extended his left leg.

The wolf that was kicked flew into the wall and slammed down.

Thud!

“All power comes from the lower body. You need a solid center to channel strength properly. Don’t forget that.”

With that, Ropenheim lightly laughed and raised both hands.

Like flicking fingers,

He tapped the heads of the wolves charging from the sides.

Their bodies went limp, collapsing to the ground.

“Once you learn to handle strong force, even small efforts can produce great power. You take care of the rest.”

[Understood.]

“Yongje, don’t use that blessing.”

“Understood.”

Left alone was the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan.

Luk.

I could see him looking around nervously.

‘Where do you think you’re running off to?’

I created a small colosseum using Absolute Barrier.

A battlefield where neither the orcs nor Luk could escape.

Kah-kang!

Luk tried to flee but was blocked by the translucent wall.

He growled at me instead.

[Do you think you can get away with touching Redoc’s followers?! If you let me go right now, I’ll forget this ever happened.]

“No need.”

Then I went to do what I came for.

I checked the core of the broken golem.

It had stopped functioning but the core wasn’t broken.

Using mana, I restored the golem.

[Golem (C)]

• Created by Cheon Yongje.
• No consciousness.
• Overall stats: C
• No items.
• Skills: Mining (C), Recovery (C).

Thanks to the blessing of magic, my understanding of magic improved, naturally increasing my knowledge of golem creation as well.

As a result, this golem upgraded from E-rank to C-rank.

Now it would mine faster and in greater quantity.

“Well then, time to gather some info.”

Using Fryra’s Confession Flower, I extracted a lot of information from the Lycanthrope.

First, this place was called the Great Forest.

Within this forest, seven species called the Seven Lords divided the territory and ruled.

This area belonged to Redoc, the Lycanthrope.

The recent incidents involving Burkan and the Dryad Tribe were all orchestrated by Redoc.

[We are preparing for war against the other lords.]

“What’s the reason for the war?”

[To become the High Lord of the Great Forest.]

“What’s gained from that?”

[The legend says the one who unifies the Great Forest can become a god. But no one has succeeded for hundreds of years.]

I learned Redoc’s goal, but more importantly,

[He keeps slaves—Steel Dwarves, Witches, Fairies of Sunlight.]

[Dwarves are treated as slaves in the mines; artisans craft weapons and armor, and witches are used to create various items.]

The dwarves and fairies who could cultivate the World Tree were important, but the presence of witches was especially significant.

Witches possessed skills like alchemy, refining arts, and potion making, allowing me to create the attribute pills I needed.

‘This will make Promotion to B-Rank much easier.’

Besides that, there were Intermediate Magic Stone Mines, Advanced Iron Mines, Springs of Healing, and Witch’s Workshops scattered around.

If I took control of all of them,

It would be much easier to defend the Dragon Lair and drastically increase my passive rewards.

“How strong is Redoc?”

[Only the other lords can stand against Redoc in the forest. Especially on nights when the blue moon rises, no one can defeat him.]

I didn’t know exactly how strong he was.

But if I wasn’t at the level to capture him right now,

There was no need to rush.

“Bow.”

[Guardian Appointment confirmed?]

Yes.

[I appoint the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan as Guardian.]
[I appoint the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan as Guardian.]
[I appoint the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan as Guardian.]
[I appoint the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan as Guardian.]
[I appoint the Lycanthrope of the Black Moon Clan as Guardian.]

I appointed Luk and the rest as Guardians and gave them a single order.

“Spread the word that Burkan’s death was caused by another lord. Your mission is to ignite war between Redoc and the other lords.”

Since war was inevitable,

While Redoc prepared for it, I could steal what he had and grow stronger.

No fear of being caught in the middle.

Those Lycanthropes would prevent Redoc from discovering my thefts.

“Then let’s get started.”

Like most idle games,

They’re called idle, but in the beginning there’s a lot to do.

Level up, increase stats.

When dungeons open, clear them one by one.

Pull for items and skins.

Playing moderately, after a day or two, a growth wall hits.

Then comes the choice:

Grind slowly over time,

Or spend money to break through.

Fortunately, Dragon Lair had no pay-to-win elements, so no such worries.

Nor was currency scarce.

Various events gave out currency and pull tickets. One of them was Territory War.

Those trying to raid the Dragon Lair.

If you repelled them and took their territory, you gained a huge amount of currency needed for growth.

It was no different here.

‘Burkan’s raid was lucrative.’

From the Thousand-Year-Old Mandragora, the Hundred-Year-Old Mandragora, to the equipment the Ogre had.

The loot I earned stopping him greatly helped early growth.

So I had high hopes this time, too.

“This must be it.”

Arriving at the place the Lycanthrope indicated, I saw a cave entrance.

I entered the mine.

Using fire magic, I illuminated the interior of the cave, slowly walking inside to find the mine’s ruler.

Something about the mana concentration felt strange.

As my Dragon Heart grew, so did my mana sensitivity, allowing me to notice these subtle differences.

After walking a while, I heard sounds.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sounds like mining.

I followed the noise cautiously.

In a huge clearing, short dwarves were swinging pickaxes.

[Stop fooling around and move quickly!]

[Where do you think you’re slacking off!]

Overseeing the dwarves was a Bulltaurus—the half-bull, half-horse creature I’d seen before.

‘Is that the one managing this place?’

The Bulltaurus stood with arms crossed in the center of the workshop.

Unlike the others, his horns were larger and his presence more imposing.

He seemed to have heightened senses as he looked over at me.

[Human?]

Using Golden Dragon Eye, I gauged his power.

All other Bulltauruses were D-rank, but this one was B-rank.

[Don’t know why a human’s here, but you came boldly.]

“Where is this place?”

The Bulltaurus leader raised his spear and sent a murderous aura.

[This is the mine of the great Redoc. We were short on slaves, so this is perfect. Capture him.]

“Is that so? Then you came at a good time.”

If I wanted to rule here, I had to take care of these guys anyway.

“Ice Spear.”

As my understanding of the ice attribute increased and my Dragon Heart’s mana grew, the power of my ice spear strengthened.

Shaaack!

Crack!

A blue spear wrapped in white frost swept over the Bulltaurus.

They all froze solid, turned into statues.

Crackling as cracks formed, the statues shattered, and a message appeared.

[Defeated the ruler of the Intermediate Magic Stone Mine.]
[Secured ownership of the Magic Stone Mine.]

Next, time to rescue the witches?