Chapter 38: Everlast Ruins (5)

The additional rewards appeared once again from the wreckage of the doll that had been turned into debris while increasing speed this time.

‘9 Gold Coins, 2 Intermediate Earth Mana Stones, 3 Doll Warrior’s Crystal Fragments, and even an Unknown Core.’

The total value was roughly equivalent to 50 Gold.

I could have sold everything at the Merchant to convert it into money, but honestly, these weren’t just random junk items.

‘They’re all useful crafting materials.’

Still, none of this was enough to pique my interest just now.

The “Weakened Doll Swordsman Captain” I had just hunted was clearly a mid-boss of this dungeon.

Not just a regular mob, but classified as a “Special Enemy.”

That meant there was a reward system from the system itself in addition to the loot obtained from sifting through the remains.

[View Reward for Dangerous Hunt.]

…Right, it made sense to give special rewards for defeating special enemies!

‘I wish I could live by seeing only this message all day long.’

I already knew what came next.

“View reward.”

[Reward for Dangerous Hunt Success]
– Massive experience points
– New Title ‘Explorer Specialist’
– Skill ‘Magic Enhancement’

Just as I expected.

I immediately nodded.

“Claim reward.”

[Massive experience points absorbed!]
[Level Up!]
[New Title ‘Explorer Specialist’ acquired!]
[Learned Magic Enhancement!]
[Mana flow within the body becomes noticeably smoother.]

With this, my level rose to 14.

Thanks to it, I received new stat points and skill points…

‘Explorer Specialist’ Title

This was also a fairly valuable reward.

The element of ‘Title’ had various effects, though these were not clearly expressed in the game interface.

‘In other words, it’s a hidden element that you have to discover through direct experience.’

Most Titles offered minor effects with little practical use.

I originally had three Titles.

‘Pig Prince, Novice Negotiator, Clumsy Brawler’

…That Pig Prince title didn’t seem to provide any particularly positive effect.

Novice Negotiator helped slightly when persuading NPCs.

Clumsy Brawler?

‘That’s just a Title anyone gets after killing a monster once.’

But Explorer Specialist was a bit different.

It was close to an essential Title when clearing dungeons.

Because this was what happened.

Clack.

I extinguished the Mysterious Magic Torch I was holding.

Instantly, pitch-black darkness blocked my vision.

But the next moment…

‘I can see, I can see.’

I was piercing through that darkness.

Amazingly, my eyes began adapting to the darkness, faintly tracing outlines, and soon I could identify almost all objects.

Of course, it wasn’t as bright as holding the magic torch.

But considering I no longer had to waste one hand holding the torch, it was a tremendous advantage.

‘This is exactly the benefit provided by Explorer Specialist.’

Using this Title’s effect, I could turn darkness into my ally.

Since many enemies were vulnerable to darkness just like me, deliberately removing light and inducing a dark environment created overwhelmingly advantageous situations for me.

‘A power that can exponentially increase its effect depending on how you use it.’

And the same went for this third reward.

[Skill] Enables you to strengthen the mana inside your body in various forms. Interacts with various skills that use mana.

Magic Enhancement was one of the basic skills in my skill tree.

So in some ways, it looked like just a typical skill you could easily unlock by gathering skill points.

But in reality, it was quite the opposite.

‘First of all, this skill requires a hefty 7 points to unlock.’

If I were to level up naturally and save points to unlock it, I’d have to hold back my skill point usage for seven entire levels.

That was no easy task, and the opportunity cost was huge.

Then why not just skip it?

‘That would be a huge mistake.’

According to the description, this skill primarily enabled the enhancement of mana and allowed that enhancement to apply to other skills.

In other words, it was a skill with incredible power that strengthened all mana-using skills!

‘No matter what you do with mana, this skill changes the starting line.’

It was obviously essential for mage types.

Even for warrior types, it was always beneficial to unlock it as early as possible.

And here I was, receiving this skill so simply, right here and now.

“Since my mana is fully restored, why not test it out?”

Of course, most of the skills I currently had didn’t use mana—they were mostly physical techniques.

That was typical for characters not belonging to the mage class during early stages.

But that was only limited to the beginning.

Soon, more and more mana-consuming skills would appear.

Already, even Haewoo Swordsmanship had such skills.

I began slowly infusing mana into the hilt of my sword.

As before, the blade started to flash.

[Special Technique: Sea Sword Form One]

This corresponded to the beginning of the special technique section of Haewoo Swordsmanship.

‘Isn’t this commonly called an Aura Blade in other fantasy worlds?’

In the world of , it was called ‘Sword Spirit.’

This was a more direct translation of the concept of ‘energy (氣)’ from martial arts lore.

Of course, what I had just manifested was too crude to be called a true ‘Sword Spirit.’

“Hmm, maybe ‘Sword Split’ is a better name?”

That meant a crack in the sword.

It implied I was still far from creating proper sword energy.

Tsusssssss.

“5, 6, 7, 8… wow…”

I timed how long I could maintain the sword energy and was quite surprised.

Earlier, five seconds was the limit.

“Now it’s 10 seconds?”

Since this skill compressed mana flowing from my body into sword form, it consumed mana at an enormous rate.

So even this crude sword energy had only lasted five seconds before.

But after acquiring Magic Enhancement, the duration had doubled.

Moreover, Magic Enhancement didn’t stop improving once learned.

‘It’s literally an enhancement skill.’

Like swordsmanship skills, Magic Enhancement was continually improved through various methods.

Unlike sword skills that only improved through mastery and achievement, Magic Enhancement could be reinforced in many ways.

‘By consuming potions with Mana Potion of High Purity or receiving mana transmission from others.’

You could even steal mana.

The path of enhancement was truly limitless.

I would have to take it step by step.

“Alright, I’ve defeated the mid-boss.”

Only the last section of this dungeon remained.

A complex section.

If the first was the Trap Zone and the second the Guardian Zone…

‘Then the last section will be a mix of traps and guardians.’

Having passed the previous two courses with difficulty, I wondered if I could handle this.

“…Looks like I can finally take a breather.”

I felt a sense of ease.

Because I knew this section was actually the easiest to clear.

Kwaaaah!

Two Doll Warriors charged in with a roar.

But I didn’t even draw my sword.

Instead, I moved faster than anything else in this dungeon.

[Evasion Technique: Gale’s Favor]

The instant boost to my movement speed was more than enough to shake off the Doll Warriors.

Thanks to the Explorer Specialist Title, I had even dropped the torch, and my freed body could truly rush like a gale.

‘Since I’m at it, why not use this too?’

[Movement Technique: Flash Step]

My steps shimmered.

This was the footwork part of Haewoo Swordsmanship, a movement technique using mana.

‘If I remember right, it should increase speed by at least 15%.’

But Flash Step’s effect wasn’t very good relative to how much mana it consumed.

Just as sword skill mastery accumulated slowly, Flash Step also didn’t behave like in typical games.

‘I really need to meet a teacher to guide me.’

Anyway, there was no need to activate Flash Step now.

No reason to waste mana on a skill that didn’t perform well.

“Here, over here! Come this way!”

I shouted loudly, leading the Doll Warriors’ movement.

Thud, thud, thud!

They chased after me with heavy steps, unable to tolerate their prey slipping away.

[Evasion Technique: Gale’s Favor has ended.]

At the moment I jumped over a spot I had carefully marked, I felt my legs weaken.

Gale’s Favor ended and went into cooldown.

Grrrrrr!

The Doll Warriors glared fiercely as if sensing an opportunity and charged recklessly.

But I stopped and smiled.

“Yeah, right there. Perfect step!”

Click.

A large pressure plate under the lead doll was pressed down.

And traps began activating from all directions.

Arrow traps.

But this time, they weren’t aimed at me, but at the Guardians.

Shush shush shush!

Several enhanced iron arrows fired all at once.

These had been tormenting me throughout the earlier section!

‘But this time, they’re on my side?’

Ah, so this was why people liked going back in time or reincarnating.

Thunk! Crash!

The fired iron arrows pierced mercilessly through the Doll Warriors’ torsos.

Slower in movement than me, they quickly became human-shaped arrow targets, and one at the front even collapsed outright.

At the same time, a system message popped up.

[‘Weakened Doll Swordsman Captain’ defeated!]

Although it wasn’t me but the traps that defeated the Doll Warriors, I still received rewards.

It meant the dungeon designer anticipated players using traps against the enemies.

Therefore, the hidden goal was achieved without any issues.

‘The hidden goal “Bleed against all traps” only required anyone to be injured by traps—not necessarily me.’

“Alright, let’s finish this quickly.”

The other remaining enemy hadn’t fallen yet, but was in a similar state.

It was staggered with iron arrows stuck in three places, including some seriously bad spots.

“So watch your step.”

I finally drew my sword and swung in one swift motion at the Doll Warrior.

[Attack Technique: Hae Sword 1st Form]

The Sword Spirit infused into my steel blade was still extremely imperfect.

But it was enough to cut off the neck of a Doll Warrior.

El…

The head rolled on the ground.

[‘Weakened Doll Swordsman Captain’ defeated!]

…Phew.

That concluded this dungeon, “Tomb Ruins’ Sealed Passage.”

Sheathing my sword, I lit the torch and shone it toward the far end of the passage.

There was something barely illuminated even by the Mysterious Magic Torch.

The true owner of this dungeon.

‘Broken Puppet Warrior Commander.’

The Dungeon Master NPC should have been at the end.

It was definitely supposed to be there.

“…It’s not here?”

I couldn’t see the figure sitting against the dead end wall.

So I had no choice but to be taken aback.

“Then what about the dungeon completion procedure?”

My special clear reward?

At that moment, the dungeon completion message suddenly appeared.

[Dungeon exploration completed!]
[Dungeon objective ‘Defeat as many enemies as possible’ perfectly achieved!]
[Hidden objective ‘Bleed against all traps’ perfectly achieved!]
[View rewards.]

“.Huh?”

The completion message appeared even though I didn’t talk to the Dungeon Master.

What was going on now?

‘Maybe this is another Beta Version quirk?’

Fortunately, there was no problem…

But why had the dungeon completion process changed?

At that very moment.

“…What is your name?”

“W-What?”

A sudden deep voice whispered in my ear from behind.