Chapter 135
Chapter 135
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 135
Chapter Title: Dragon Sword
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A few days after Narin and Balak spent some joyful time together.
During this long stretch, whenever Narin briefly passed out, Balak would take a quick trip to Pengpeng.
He continuously checked the interior of the dungeon.
But was the beastkin tribes' chaotic energy just too overwhelming?
Even after more than a week, order hadn't been established at all.
As a result, the number of visitors to the shelter plummeted.
Those working here were enjoying a fairly relaxed time.
"So, tell me about Lord Balak's special training!!"
"Cough..."
Pepira was dying to know what kind of training Narin was undergoing with Balak.
A trial from such a powerful being!
The warriors of the Dream Claw Tribe felt their hearts race!
But Ferguson and Kairel knew the truth, so for the sake of this little cat's innocence, they didn't spill it.
In the end, the sulking Pepira trudged out of the tavern and vented to Ophelia.
"Hmph! Kairel and the tavern keeper are total idiots, nya!"
"Pepira, let's calm down."
"But I don't get why they won't tell me about that training, nya!"
"Hmm..."
Pat pat.
Ophelia stroked Pepira while doing some mental calculations.
She could now survey the entire dungeon interior.
So she could confirm Narin getting thoroughly thrashed in the boss room by Balak.
"Blue Moon!!! Your swordsmanship is like half-cooked chicken that a priest could revive on the spot!! Harder!!!"
"S-Sorryyyyaahhh!!!"
Oh dear.
What if she told her straight?
This little warrior would definitely be shocked.
So Ophelia leaked only vague info to Pepira.
"Pepira, do you know the word 'irrational'?"
"I think it means lacking reason or defying logic, nya."
"You're sharp. That's exactly what's happening in your father's boss room right now."
"Eh?"
"In a word, it's injecting endless stress into the mind of a sentient being. And since fatigue is mitigated here, it's hellish training where they can't rest except by passing out."
"Grrooow... I can't picture it, nya."
Even Ophelia, who couldn't feel human emotions, pitied Narin.
But once that training ended, Narin would gain a mental fortitude unshaken by any hardship.
Soon after, as Ophelia and Pepira chatted.
Ferguson, who had temporarily taken over as dungeon manager, listened to Kairel's report in place of his busy brother.
"So that blacksmith Yon wants to meet big bro, huh."
"He was surprisingly super interested. And when he saw the bow you gave him—"
As instructed last time by Balak, Kairel had proposed recruitment to Yon.
Of course, Yon treated blacksmithing as a hobby.
But he took very positively to the chance to show off his skills freely.
And when reeling in a big fish like this, don't you need some bait?
Balak had given Kairel a bow from his old weapon stash.
That bow became the bait to hook the big fish named Yon.
What happens when a blacksmith sees a weapon of quality impossible in the mid-plane?
He either despairs at his own skills and sets down his hammer.
Or he devotes himself desperately to making one.
But the troll's reaction was surprisingly straightforward.
'Oh.'
That's right!! It's common sense not to overthink a hobby!
Still, it piqued massive interest, as expected.
So Yon hoped to meet Kairel's boss along with Lily.
"We're setting up a meeting date, but..."
"Big bro has no intention of letting Narin go."
"Th-That... is Narin okay?"
"...No."
Kairel had regressed to a childlike state after five hours of mental training from Balak.
And Narin was enduring dozens of times longer.
"It looks like she's getting trained at almost the same intensity I did, so I really have no idea."
"Sigh, I'm really worried. By the way, tavern keeper, about that woman Narin. She's half-human like me?"
"She said so herself. But the other half... she calls it a yokai, but since I don't know Eastern stuff, I have no clue what that is."
The two knew almost nothing about the East.
But what did race matter here?
The half-vampire was looking forward to meeting Narin immensely.
"Heh heh heh..."
"Kairel, you seem thrilled."
"I'm getting a cute junior girl! And we'll bond right away!"
"Being halves, yeah, you'd have common ground. But... no harassment, absolutely."
"W-Who do you think I am?!"
Ferguson was very worried Kairel might do something awful to Narin.
Kairel yelled that he should trust him more.
Thanks to Ophelia, Pepira's mood had improved somewhat and she returned.
Just as they were about to do some cooking research together or chat.
Creaaaak...
"Is this the tavern?"
"Wow... this is really something."
"Hirim, according to the info, there are werewolves and half-vampires here, right?"
"Should be."
A hero party entered the tavern.
*****************
Hirim's party, who had explored the sky island and sea of the mini-dungeon, had a really, really good rest.
"Man~ As expected of a tourist spot? And there's so much to do everywhere!"
"Plus, plenty of spirit stones, so no more money worries ahead."
"But we dumped all the sea chests because of that ghost ship..."
"Pfft, whatever."
They figured it was time to challenge the main dungeon now.
But they thought of Luel's utterly wrecked party.
Still, trusting their reliable junior Lowell, Hirim's party, faster than the other two, exited outside briefly and returned to their inn.
They told the innkeeper that if their juniors arrived, relay they went to challenge the dungeon.
With spirit stones and such settled.
After thoroughly reading the攻略 team's info book, Hirim's party reached the dungeon entrance.
"Whew... this is nerve-wracking..."
"But with all these mountains to climb, can we even reach the boss room?"
"We'll see when we try! And we're stronger than before, right?"
"Still, no slacking. Even knight commanders died in there."
Later, there was Hirim, who had solo-cleared the entire first floor before.
His party members, who had overcome countless journeys in a year, were practically new people.
Thus, amid the beastkin tribes' endless chaos, they broke through Insanity Land with only minor injuries.
"Huff... huff..."
"Damn beastkin."
"Groan..."
After some treatment, they entered the Iron Labyrinth right away.
Soon encountering the armor golem, Hirim showed off his perfected technique.
Mana gathered on his sword, soon forming a massive mana greatsword.
Then Hirim swung the huge greatsword, clashing head-on with the armor golem.
With party support, they reached the end even easier than before.
"Wow... we really got stronger."
"Challenging this place back then was pure bravado, huh."
"Come on, enough chit-chat, let's head to the Hero's Grave."
They faced a ridiculously strong doll in the mid-boss room and panicked at first.
But Hirim's party was very used to this level of hardship.
Finally arriving at the shelter, they marveled at the dungeon interior that looked just like outside.
The info book advised meeting the tavern keeper first upon arrival.
So Hirim's party headed straight to the tavern.
"Is this the tavern?"
"Wow... this is really something."
"Hirim, according to the info, there are werewolves and half-vampires here, right?"
"Should be."
Was it because customers were rare?
Ferguson and Kairel welcomed Hirim's party warmly.
"Welcome, heroes."
"Welcome~"
"Uh... um... uh..."
"Eh..."
Normally a near-hostile situation between them.
But Hirim's party hesitated at the other races welcoming them.
Still, having confirmed not to fight them, they accepted and sat at the bar table to hear various stories.
Curiously, Ferguson knew of Hirim.
"By the way... You're Hirim the hero that big bro Balak mentioned, right?"
"H-How do you know my name..."
"Hahaha... Your party member just said it. Anyway, we were ordered to give you a gift if Hirim the hero reached here."
"A gift?"
"It was here... Ah! Take it."
Ferguson handed Hirim a large, long box.
Urged by his impatient party, Hirim opened the box.
Inside lay a sword and scabbard the same size as his current one.
"This is...?"
"A sword made from dragon byproducts."
""""Whaaat?!!""""
"Big bro said this: 'The first' deserves a reward to match."
"S-So this sword is the reward from Mr. Ferguson's brother for being the first to reach you?!"
As Ferguson nodded, Hirim's eyes trembled at the extraordinary gift.
Soon, mesmerized as he inspected the sword, he could only gasp in awe.
'Th-This is... and the mana conductivity?'
Was getting enchanted by a sword like this?
Even as a hero, Hirim's mind wandered briefly.
And such massive rewards ignite challenge.
Hirim and his party resolved to tackle this dungeon seriously.
Afterward, with hearts ablaze, Hirim's party pondered.
"They say you can go straight to the boss room from here. Might be good to try."
"Either way, dying means a week cooldown here, so scouting ahead isn't bad."
"Shortcut, huh..."
Hirim, stroking his dragon-forged sword like a child, recalled his reliable junior's words.
'Senior, if you reach the shelter, absolutely don't use the shortcut.'
'Why?'
'...That boss's cold gaze still haunts me.'
Lowell still regretted using the shortcut.
Just as Hirim wondered how to convince his party against it.
"I'm really sorry, but... the shortcut is unavailable right now."
Luckily, the shortcut was blocked anyway, so no worries.
Now somewhat rested.
With various buffs, Hirim's party stood up.
"Oh, heroes, there are various mini-games around here too, so try enjoying them."
"You mean that weird scoreboard place...?"
"Yes."
"Hmm... Sounds fun, but adapting to the other rooms comes first, so next time."
"Fair enough. See you later, heroes."
After parting with Ferguson and Kairel, they stood before the portal to the next room.
"...Beyond here are rooms I don't know. And Lowell said it's even harder than before."
"So we learn by dying, huh."
"How many deaths before we reach Balak...?"
"But we're the follow-up. We have the vanguard's攻略 notes, so use them well."
Thus, to formally challenge Balak, Hirim's party entered the latter rooms.