Dungeon Changes (2)
The day in the Dungeon passed quickly.
“Kiek!”
The worker goblin in charge of the warehouse shouted at the hunter goblin.
“Tak! Tak-!”
He pointed to a cold storage nook in the cavern, as if to say the goods should be piled there.
It was lined thickly with forest grass, with a stone display stand set on top of it.
“Kieeek.”
The hunter goblin looked reluctant, but did as told, stuffing the spider legs slung over his back into the display stand.
The stand was already stacked with plenty of prey.
Severed spider legs.
Dried venom-insect shells.
Teeth from a small Yokai.
Most of the resources they acquired were consumed immediately.
The warehouse had been empty just days ago.
Now it was different.
“Kiek.”
The worker goblin turned one of the spider legs over in his hands.
A hard outer shell.
Sharp venom fangs.
Sorting what the hunters brought back into what was useful and what was not had now become the worker’s job as well.
In the neighboring section, another goblin was collecting spider venom into a small stone vial.
Drop.
A clear bead of poison fell into the bottle.
“Kieeek.”
The hunter goblin shrugged.
Recently, the amount of prey had been rising rapidly.
It had started after the orcs began rampaging through the forest.
The goblins hunted.
The workers sorted.
The herb gatherers foraged.
The Dungeon was slowly beginning to turn.
After the master had ordered them to hunt, the orcs had run wild through the forest, and using the blood-soaked information the goblin hunters had gained, they had begun hunting spider Yokai and other small Yokai.
The largest among them, the one who had been given a name because of his strength and bulk, caught two Yokai a day.
But he did not carry the prey back.
Transporting it was entirely the hunters’ job.
“Kiek?”
Someone entered the warehouse carrying a sack.
It was a goblin herb gatherer.
The worker waved him away, gesturing for him to go over there instead.
“Kieek?!”
This was the cave where the master lived.
He had heard that the newly created cave belonged to the master.
At the worker goblin’s signal to take the herbs there, the herb gatherer left with a nervous expression.
The worker goblin watched him go with satisfaction.
Having spent so long in the Dungeon, the worker goblin, now in his second week of life, felt inexplicably proud whenever the youngest goblins gained jobs and brought herbs in from the forest.
The herb gatherer goblin took the herbs into the newly completed facility.
As soon as he entered the cave, he heard a voice.
“Dragon, do you get it now?”
What the herb gatherer goblin saw was a clay pot, set over a makeshift stone brazier, with flames burning beneath it.
Black hemp weed.
Blood poison weed.
The things the herb gatherers had diligently harvested were tossed inside.
But something was wrong.
The master’s hands were clumsy.
When he threw the herbs in, he was... incredibly clumsy.
The master looked down at his own hands.
The herb gatherer goblin understood at once.
The master’s powerful claws.
Thick, long, sharp claws.
“...”
For a moment, there was silence.
“Dragon. Why aren’t you doing it?”
The master spoke slowly.
Wait a moment.
In the master’s claws was a small stone mortar.
Or rather, it should have been held there.
Rattle-rattle.
The mortar slipped from between his claws.
Thud.
It hit the floor.
......
Heok-o tilted his head.
“Dragon. Could it be...”
“Kaaak.”
“...your hands are the problem?”
The master narrowed his eyes.
No.
“What do you mean, no?”
The guest tried and failed to hold back a laugh.
“How are you supposed to refine medicine with those hands?”
The master said nothing and reached for the mortar again.
This time, he succeeded.
His claws closed firmly around it.
This will do.
The master put the black hemp weed into the mortar.
Then he infused it with Dungeon energy, adding one property to it.
Flame Spirit Technique.
It was the most basic spell for drying medicinal herbs and grinding them into powder.
An easy technique.
As Dungeon energy called up the fire.
As he felt the technique take perfect effect.
He tightened his grip to crush the herbs into powder.
Crack.
The pieces shattered.
The Flame Spirit Technique was perfect.
Only...
It was the mortar, not the herbs, that had been ground into powder.
“...”
“......”
For a moment, there was silence.
The guest’s shoulders began to shake.
“Kaaak.”
“Kieeek.”
The guest and the herb goblin burst out laughing.
They met each other’s eyes.
Twitch.
The master’s brow rippled.
The herb gatherer goblin, catching that expression, bolted out of the refining room at once.
After watching the goblin flee the refining room, Dohyun stayed still while Heok-o asked, “Dragon. Are you going to take it out on Soyu?”
Be quiet.
Dohyun frowned and steadied his breathing.
It was obvious he was displeased.
Seeing that, Heok-o laughed.
“No, hahahaha!”
At last he wiped tears from his eyes with a wing and said, “Refining is about grinding up herbs.”
He held back his laughter for a moment.
“...Not grinding up the mortar.”
Dohyun’s eyes narrowed even further.
This time, he moved carefully.
He put strength into the tip of his claws.
Holding his breath to control the force, he worked slowly.
Scritch-scritch.
The herbs were crushed in the mortar and turned to powder.
...Done.
This time, it worked properly.
Dohyun placed the prepared herbs into the refining pot.
Along with the clear water he had prepared in advance.
He added various supporting powders and ingredients.
Then flames rose around the pot.
Before long, the contents inside began to boil and bubble.
“Yes, yes.”
Heok-o nodded.
“Now control the fire and use your qi...”
Dohyun carefully poured Dungeon energy into the refining pot.
It followed the prescribed theory.
Refining was not a skill just anyone could perform.
One had to be able to handle qi, or Dungeon energy.
It required delicate control.
Otherwise...
Bang.
With a small sound, the pot burst.
The boiling herbs sprayed everywhere.
Black liquid dripped from the tip of Dohyun’s nose.
Without thinking, he moved his tongue and tasted it.
Bitter.
“...”
Heok-o fell silent for a moment.
Then he said, “Dragon.”
After a brief pause.
“...That’s poison.”
Dohyun shook his head wordlessly and wiped his face clean.
I know.
After that, he washed the black liquid from his claws in a water jug.
“Kaaak.”
Heok-o laughed hard at the sight.
“Dragon.”
What.
“You know refining takes talent too, right?”
Dohyun said slowly, I am a dragon.
He handled Dungeon energy on an almost limitless scale.
His understanding was perfect.
Heok-o nodded.
“Right.”
Then he added,
“Which is why you’re even worse at it.”
Dohyun’s claw slowly dragged across the floor.
Skreeee.
A single clear line was carved into the stone.
“......”
Heok-o quietly shut his mouth.
Once more, Dohyun tried.
It was his third attempt.
This time, neither the mortar nor the herbs broke.
The herbs were ground properly.
The fire stayed stable.
As Dungeon energy seeped in with care, the medicinal properties intensified.
Slowly, the herbs condensed inside the pot.
They were just at the stage before becoming a pill.
Heok-o said, “Yes, now it’s going to work.”
Dohyun felt it too.
It’s condensing.
Inside the pot, the black liquid began to gather together.
Just a little more.
Just a little more.
His earnest will made his Dungeon energy move with even greater precision.
At that moment, the flow of Dungeon energy suspended in the air was sucked into the refining pot.
A spherical mass of qi gathered together with a swirling motion.
It’s a pill.
He knew by instinct that it was complete.
When he opened the lid,
heat spilled out along with it.
A round lump of faintly gathered qi came into view.
Dohyun took it out.
Black and round.
Something that, to anyone looking at it, might have been mistaken for goat droppings.
Heok-o came closer and sniffed it.
“...Mm.”
He nodded.
“This time it really is a pill.”
Dohyun asked, What quality is it?
There were said to be different grades of pills.
It had to be at least a decent one before it could be given to a warrior.
Heok-o said, “...It probably won’t kill you if you eat it right away.”
“...”
After a moment of silence, Dohyun put the pill into another pot behind him.
Poison was an excellent weapon when applied to a spear.
A short while later, the wreckage of the failed refining lay scattered everywhere.
Broken pots.
Torn herbs.
Scorched herbs.
Black liquid that had almost finished condensing but then stopped.
The poison jar was nearly full.
In the end, after using up all the herbs in the refining room, they had to bring more from the warehouse.
Feeling the goblins’ eyes on him as they replenished the herbs, his desire to keep going rose again.
After restocking the herbs, Dohyun hardened his resolve and said, I’ll do it again.
Heok-o came to stand beside him as he prepared to begin and said seriously, “Dragon.”
Dohyun looked up.
“What.”
Heok-o’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“...Can you feel it?”
At those words, Dohyun opened his eyes fully.
The dragon’s eyes reached beyond the Dungeon.
They touched the goblins and orcs moving through the forest.
Goblins busily marking paths.
Goblins searching for prey.
The orc Geoung following the hunters.
And then...
The forest came into view.
From very far away.
Even the wind seemed to have stopped.
And yet.
The leaves were trembling.
The trees were moving ever so slightly.
As though.
Something was watching.
Is it watching me...?
What Heok-o had said took shape in his mind.
That tree.
At Dohyun’s words, Heok-o laughed.
“Probably.”
Then he said slowly, “That thing is calling you.”
The wind stirred again.
Deep in the forest.
As if something were breathing.
Heok-o said, “Dragon.”
Dohyun looked at Heok-o.
“It looks like we’re getting a visitor.”
There was a brief silence.
Is that so? If there’s a master, I should meet them.
Heok-o’s eyes flashed.
Deep in the forest, something moved.
A wolf’s howl rang out faintly.