The Water Lizard's Nest

"Right, let's get this meeting started." Tak Yoonil said, walking toward the holographic display.

"The dungeon we'll be clearing is called the Water Lizard's Nest. It's a place that spawns water-attribute lizards in droves."

"Sounds good to me." Kim Seohyun nodded along.

If Hong Yuhwa, who had bloomed fire-attribute mana, were coming along, we might have had reason to hesitate — but with Park Unhyeok wielding wind and lightning, and Kim Seohyun having bloomed nearly every attribute there was, it was hardly a concern. My Heaven-Defying qi would pose no problem either, being the sort of power that denied most abilities outright.

"No issues on your end either, Seoha?"

"None here."

"Naturally, none for me either."

"Then this dungeon will do nicely. Let me walk you through its layout first." Tak Yoonil traced a laser beam across one side of the screen.

"This dungeon has two levels. Monsters inhabit the ground floor and the basement. Wipe out every monster on the ground floor and an elite appears; clear out the basement as well, and the alpha boss shows itself."

The hologram advanced to the next slide. Two creatures appeared — forms entirely unlike the water lizards dwelling inside the dungeon.

"The elite monster is a giant water serpent. It runs about five meters long and packs power around the Mid-Grade, Lower Tier. The boss, meanwhile, is a giant water serpent wielding the power of a cold snap — that one sits around Mid-Grade, Upper Tier. A serpent with the cold snap's power has, quite literally, awakened the ice attribute, so..."

Tak Yoonil's briefing rolled on. I watched him with hollow eyes.

Tak Yoonil hadn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been a Demon from the start. As I'd noted before the meeting, his reverence for the Greatest Hero was genuine. His manner, his looks, his fashion sense — all of it frivolous — but he had been one of the heroes who truly served humanity.

Had served.

Not anymore. He had seen the Association's rot, sunk into mistrust of mankind, and reached the stage where his loathing of heroes was slowly curdling. At this point, nothing on heaven or earth could stop him from becoming a Demon.

'He looks like a beach bum, but he's good-natured, so people always loved him.'

A jovial, big-hearted guy — and handsome on top of it. That was why there had been players who hoped to keep him from ever becoming a Villain. Every last one of them had failed. Tak Yoonil becoming a Demon was a certainty.

'Not yet, though.'

"Anyway, that wraps up the dungeon briefing. Any questions?"

"Will it be just us going into the dungeon?"

"No. As I said before, your safety comes first, above everything else. We'll be pulling two Mid-Grade heroes from Cheonryu Guild to come along. As for who—"

I raised my hand. "Is there any chance a Demon might intervene midway?"

"Demons, huh. Our top student certainly worries a lot — is what I'd like to say, but we have been hearing plenty lately about Demons running wild. So we'll be moving with as much elite force as we can muster. And should an emergency arise, Cheonryu Guild's very best will move immediately. There's no need to worry."

"I see."

I turned my gaze — and a translucent blue spear was there to greet me.

This quest was shaping up to be a rough one.

Right before we departed for the dungeon, we headed up to the guild's second floor to collect potions and supplies — past the training hall and the lounge, into the alchemy wing.

"These would normally cost a small fortune on the open market, but thanks to the Veritas craze our guild's alchemists have improved by leaps and bounds lately. They're actually worth using now." Tak Yoonil chuckled.

"Please don't toss Lord Veritas's name around so carelessly — not if you're hoping to receive any decent elixirs."

"Oh, a Veritas devotee has entered the building."

"I'm merely stating the obvious. He is the great one who leads all alchemists. To us, he may not be the Greatest Hero himself, but he stands on par with him."

"...You're serious?" Tak Yoonil's eyes went round.

I couldn't bring myself to lift my face. I was plenty shameless in my own right, but when someone slathered on gilding this thick, even I couldn't hold my head up with a straight face.

"Ah, Director Jung Yuri. These are the interns from Korea Hero Academy this term. The famous top student, Lee Seoha, along with Kim Seohyun and Park Unhyeok."

"...That rumor was actually true? You brought the top student, plus Kim Seohyun and Park Unhyeok?"

Director Jung Yuri gave Park Unhyeok a strange look, plainly unable to fathom why the heir of the Sun Guild had come to a place like this.

"Well, it's his own choice, so who am I to judge? Go on in and have a look at the elixirs." With a haughty expression, Jung Yuri ushered us inside.

Within, figures you couldn't tell were zombies or graduate students groaned Uuurrrghh— — though the odd smiles on their faces somehow made it worse.

"Sorry. Our kids have been buried in research lately."

"The mana property alteration, is it?"

"...Yes. You know of it?"

"It's the hottest thing going these days. I hear it has mages and alchemists collaborating like mad, and the money changing hands is no joke."

"The government's been throwing funding at it too — ten trillion won this year alone, from what I hear. Something about expanding fundamental alchemy to lead the world, or some such. Not that any of it amounts to anything without Lord Veritas."

I feigned deafness and turned my attention to the elixirs. There were some genuinely decent ones on display — mostly elixirs that attuned mana to alter its properties, so their performance was still nothing special.

'Oh, now this one's not bad.'

"Interested too, Seoha? Ah, right — you're taking alchemy classes, aren't you?"

"Yeah. This is a pretty well-made elixir."

I studied the Blue Flame Enchantment Elixir. At this level, you could say they had properly drawn out everything the materials had to give.

..."Pretty" well-made?

Director Jung Yuri fixed me with a look somewhere between offense and disbelief.

"You're the top student, I'm told? They say you rewrote every record Korea Hero Academy had, but alchemy is an entirely different discipline. I'll grant that you're talented — but at alchemy, you couldn't hold a candle to me."

"...Ah. Of course."

I humored her with a vague nod along.

"And if you wish to dispute that, by all means, try some alchemy right here and now. You won't beat me — Lord Veritas's first disciple."

"...?"

I don't recall ever taking a disciple like you.

"Whoa, you became Director Jung Yuri's disciple?"

"Naturally. I was the first to discover the recipe he bestowed upon us, and no one has studied it more."

"..."

Kim Seohyun's expression turned pained. "Doesn't that just make you his first fan...?"

"That's basically zealot territory."

"Of course I do. I have faith in Lord Veritas, the one who awakened me to a new Truth. O, Lord Veritas."

Watching Director Jung Yuri clasp her hands together in prayer, I found myself with absolutely nothing to say.

We set out for the dungeon. At its entrance stood a group wearing emblems marked with Cheonryu's symbol.

"Lord Tak Yoonil and a party of five. Confirmed."

"Right. Appreciate it, everyone."

We made for the cave — an opening roomy enough for two adults to walk abreast with space to spare.

"Ugh, look at this humidity."

"Tell me about it. It's warm in here."

Tak Yoonil and Park Unhyeok took point while Kim Seohyun and I walked behind, the two Mid-Grade heroes trailing after us.

Kim Seohyun shed her outer jacket, sweat beading through her short sleeves — a strangely alluring sight. I spared her a brief, odd look, then faced forward.

A dungeon that posed no threat at my level — but a dungeon was precisely the kind of place where you got hurt the moment you relaxed. I had the terrain ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠memorized already, but there was no need to advertise a sloppy, unguarded side of myself to strangers.

About ten minutes in, my Sensory Domain picked up faint stirrings. A little farther on, the water lizards came into view — each a little over a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠meter long.

"Those are your water lizards. Even Lower-Grade heroes could put them down easily, but—" Tak Yoonil rested his spear on his shoulder and swung in a single arc. The water lizard's tail came clean off.

Skreeee—!

And from the severed tail, a brand-new water lizard squirmed free.

"Fail to finish one in a single blow, and it splits like that. You have to kill it outright without so much as wounding it. That's why the water lizard is classified as a tricky monster." Wham! Tak Yoonil's spear burst the lizard's skull, and its body shuddered once before going limp.

"Oh, and one more thing — make sure everyone collects the water-attribute mana stones these things drop. Attribute-infused mana stones fetch a handsome price." He split the carcass open and drew out a blue mana stone as he spoke.

"See those two over there? Anyone care to handle them?"

"I shall take them."

Park Unhyeok stepped forward, wearing the solemn resolve of a man marching to a duel — a charging stance, his weight pitched forward.

"Oh ho?" His form was well and truly set — enough to wring genuine admiration out of Tak Yoonil.

Thud! Park Unhyeok stamped the earth and swung his spear. Thunder roared as lightning struck both lizards' heads with pinpoint precision. Crack! Heads parted from bodies — proof of death.

"Oh ho. Clean spearwork, that."

"He really has grown, hasn't he."

At the twin compliments from Tak Yoonil and Kim Seohyun, Park Unhyeok's face cracked into a grin for exactly one instant. Then he cleared his throat and extracted two mana stones with great dignity.

"Well done. As expected — kids who've already earned their epithets are built different."

"It was nothing, truly. A trifle, compared to you, Lord Tak Yoonil — the man the world itself saw fit to name a Master." His shoulders, meanwhile, were soaring like mountain peaks.

"...Insufferable." Kim Seohyun muttered under her breath.

We pressed onward. The water lizards were tricky monsters, but not nearly tricky enough to stop us, and we exterminated every last one on the first floor in short order.

"Honestly, you're all remarkable. No wonder the professors have been saying this year's first-years could be thrown into live combat with no issues."

"The professors say that?"

"Yep. Student files are confidential, but that much is fair game — honestly, it's an open secret. Word is this incoming class is absurdly strong."

"Really, now."

"Yep. I couldn't tell you about anything else, but the Tower of Ordeals results from the entrance exam are public knowledge, and every one of them was overwhelming."

Tak Yoonil shot me a sidelong glance. "Of course, every last bit of it got buried thanks to one Lee Seoha over there."

"Come to think of it, how did you finish so fast?" Park Unhyeok asked, baffled.

"A finishing technique that kills in a single strike, I'd imagine." Kim Seohyun smiled, meaningfully.

She was probably thinking of the technique that had driven Harun — an Upper-Grade — to death's door not long ago. Well, far be it from me to complain if that's what she wanted to believe.

"So it just chews straight through elemental matchups, huh."

"All right, everyone — curiosity can wait. Dungeon first." Tak Yoonil said with a laugh.

Before long, we came face to face with the elite monster.