Elkalabi's Treasure (1)
Elkalabi's treasure began resonating on its own.
"Wh-what the hell is this?"
It randomly swelled and shrank over and over.
Ka-crash!
Soon, it shattered with the explosive sound of glass breaking into pieces.
"……?!"
The grayish-white smoke gathered inside poured out, seeping straight into Jeonghyeon's mouth, nose, and ears.
"Kuhk! Cough……!"
"What the hell! What's going on?!"
The panicked Nus waved his arms and tried using his own mana, but instead, his mana started getting absorbed into the smoke.
"Goddamn it! What is this shit!"
"Damn……!"
They called it a treasure, but was there ever a treasure this agonizing?
It felt like it was sucking every drop of blood from Jeonghyeon's body and replacing it with this grayish-white smoke.
"Krrgh……!"
His vision went white, and he lost the ability to think straight.
Elkalabi's Treasure has been absorbed.
Acquired Ancient Dragon's Spirit Condensation.
Acquired Mana Fusion.
Mana Fusion: Fuse mana with various attributes.
He could feel the texture of his mana changing.
Elkalabi's mana is fusing.
Demon King's mana is fusing.
Ignirn's mana is fusing.
Three types of mana fused simultaneously. Unlock condition for Mana Fusion skill met.
Acquired Mana Fusion skill.
Mana Fusion: Combine attributes of various mana to create new power.
Shluck!
Jeonghyeon felt a bizarre sensation as if his heart and every nerve ending were being reproduced. Then his vision suddenly blacked out.
***
"Gasp!"
He opened his eyes just a few seconds later.
Jeonghyeon immediately looked toward Philip and Jeonghu.
"Ph-Philip! Jeonghu!"
He could handle it himself, but a mana shift this intense would surely affect Philip and Jeonghu too.
The two dominated ones inside the stone coffins he rushed to check were...
"Groooar. Fweee……."
"……."
Sound asleep like little kids.
"Y-you guys okay?"
When Jeonghyeon touched Philip's body, the ominous, scorching aura emanating from him was gone, replaced by the normal body temperature of a human.
Uldran's mana is fusing.
"Jeonghu...?"
He placed a hand on Jeonghu's forehead, and it was the same—he was also fast asleep.
Mirtus's mana is fusing.
He turned around and saw Nus.
"Hey…… this……"
Nus was staring at his hands, trembling.
Nus was a familiar, a mana entity—an ethereal slime.
The being most affected by all the mana Jeonghyeon had fused and integrated.
Feeling the bizarre yet overwhelmingly powerful mana surging within him, Nus looked at Jeonghyeon and muttered,
"Fuck, this shit's fucking insanely badass……?"
***
Philip and Jeonghu woke up soon after.
But everyone in the stone cavern felt a strange sensation.
The feeling of becoming an awakener.
"It feels just like…… the day we received Uldran's revelation."
"Me too. This churning is exactly like the day I got Mirtus's revelation……."
Just as Philip and Jeonghu said.
The moment one awakens, mana veins that didn't exist before sprout through the body, and mana is absorbed from the outside.
It's not like some latent mana awakens or is generated internally.
It's literally like being told, "You're an awakener starting now," with power forcibly injected from the outside.
Some die because they can't endure the process, which is why most awakeners are adults.
And now, they were feeling that sensation again.
"Ugh, you idiots. Do you even know what the hell just happened to you?!"
Just as Nus, fed up, started yelling and was about to step forward—
"You have awakened. Uldran's awakeners."
Arak and the Rock Dwarves entered the cavern door, dressed in their traditional ceremonial garb, bowing politely.
"Ah……. Yes."
Jeonghyeon nodded without a word, and Arak smiled quietly in response.
"We Rock Dwarves have waited our entire lives for you."
"Us...? Why?"
"We needed to know you were coming to confirm we hadn't been abandoned."
Then Arak slowly approached Jeonghyeon and asked,
"Did Elkalabi's treasure absorb well?"
"You knew how to use it?"
"We don't know how to use it. But we do know it can absorb multiple types of mana at once."
Only then did Philip and Jeonghu's eyes widen like saucers.
"It... it absorbs multiple types of mana at once...?"
"So we weren't healed by Ignirn's mana, but...?"
Arak smiled contentedly at their reactions.
"Yes. You absorbed Ignirn's mana."
The ability to absorb a dragon's power without being its awakener.
It was exactly the kind of item Ignirn—with his intense inferiority toward Solgaleh and burning desire to be the best—would covet.
Of course, the treasure was meant for only one person, so across Afraksas and the present world, only a single awakener could claim this power.
And that power now belonged to Jeonghyeon—the man who could share his strength with his dominated subordinates.
This isn't... something Malekith guided me to, is it?
Just in case, Jeonghyeon hadn't cleared the main quest.
Besides, this was a sub-quest that had come separately from Uldran.
Unless Malekith knows about every dragon's info...
Really, the only way to explain first recruiting Philip as a comrade was sheer luck.
Wait. Then...?
Jeonghyeon opened his quest window.
Sub-Quest: Ally with Uldran's forces to repel Ignirn's invasion
Rewards: Uldran's Favor (Philip), Uldran's Talisman (Philip)
Restrictions: Ignirn's Hostility
He'd definitely gotten the treasure.
He'd taken out all of Ignirn's minions too.
The quest should have been cleared by now.
But it hadn't. That meant Ignirn's invasion was still ongoing.
They... won't know the treasure's gone...!
"Well then, shall we raise a toast?"
"S-sure?!"
Philip, who liked his booze, shot Jeonghyeon a subtle look of anticipation.
Jeonghyeon, who had been pondering, nodded as if his calculations were done.
"Yeah. Let's have fun. Go wild."
***
"Drink up! Let's booze it up!"
"Damn right! Hell yeah!!"
The Rock Dwarves' decorum didn't last long.
"This barrel chest! These sturdy thighs! These muscles! This is Uldran's awakener, ain't it?!"
"Hahaha! Spot on!"
Jeonghu had passed out drunk already, and Philip was living up to expectations as a heavy drinker.
No, he was more like a booze whale.
He was matching the Rock Dwarves' high energy without a hint of strain, even enjoying it.
How many crates is this guy pounding...?
They say you can't beat someone who's having fun.
Philip had already downed several times the amount Jeonghyeon had barely endured through sheer willpower, yet his face showed no sign of flushing as he laughed heartily with the Rock Dwarves.
"Uahaha!"
The vibe was like comrades who'd been together for ages.
"And that's when! Right when I was exhausted and about to give up on everything! That's when Jeonghyeon over there showed up!"
Philip would spin his heroic tale,
"Kya! A toast to Jeonghyeon!"
Arak would chime in,
"Damn right! Hell yeah!!"
And they'd hoist massive kegs toward Jeonghyeon.
He could laugh it off once or twice. But they'd been at this for hours now.
Repeating the same lines even.
Jeonghyeon forced a smile, lifted the huge keg to his lips without drinking, and set it back down.
Just one guy who matches their energy, and they don't force it on the others.
It was utterly bewildering.
They just hadn't had a human who could drink like this before. One perfect match was all it took.
"That bastard. He's a monster, right?"
Nus, perched on Jeonghyeon's shoulder, stuck out his tongue in agreement.
"Damn, he's chugging like crazy. Does he have antidote instead of blood?"
"Tell me about it."
As Jeonghyeon pretended to drink, lost in thought, Nus sidled up and asked,
"That face—you're plotting something again, huh? What's it this time?"
Nus seemed oddly excited.
"What's got you so hyped?"
"Duh, I'm pumped. Can't wait to see how we use this power. Let's try anything. What, we hitting Ignirn's sanctuary or something?!"
"……Yeah. That sounds good."
"……Yeah?"
Never say never—it'd catch a slime this time.
"Y-you're really attacking Ignirn's sanctuary?"
Attacking a dragon's sanctuary head-on? Crazy had its degrees, but this was full-on insane.
"D-did you think this through properly? You drunk? How many fingers?"
"Two. And I'm not drunk. You saw I didn't drink."
"Then why pull this crazy stunt? We got the treasure—time to bail!"
Jeonghyeon shook his head at Nus's words.
"No. The Rock Dwarves will be in danger again soon."
"Why?!"
"Ignirn doesn't know the treasure's gone."
"Then just show his minions! Why go nuts and attack the sanctuary itself!"
"That's exactly why we're going. A minion who doesn't use his power attacks his own sanctuary. What better proof could there be?"
After a brief argument, Nus realized.
This guy's dead serious.
"Then that dragon Ignirn will come after us for sure? I ain't met a dragon myself, but everyone knows you fuck up if you do!"
"Romanell said it. The dragons can't manifest directly in Afraksas right now."
No convincing him.
Jeonghyeon drew Galmuikal.
The jet-black blade, honed to perfection, gleamed with an eerie red glow befitting its name, Blood Dissector.
"You rest up too. After a full day's recovery, we attack Ignirn's sanctuary."