The Taste of Ancient Power

The artifact I consumed released its mana, causing my swollen body to balloon outward. But the moment I unleashed that power, it shrank back to normal as if nothing had happened. I watched the hunters who had been rushing toward me freeze in their tracks as they sensed the force I'd released, then quickly began collecting the monster corpses. They were riddled with holes, but that wouldn't affect their edibility. Even the shattered bones could be sorted as miscellaneous remains and used as ingredients for Skeleton Bomb. They'd make excellent food for Wangwang, who had started spitting out reinforcement stones.

'Ugh, it's a higher species of goblin but no trait?' I felt a twinge of disappointment, but I pinned my hopes on the new skill instead.

'...What the hell is this insane skill?'

It didn't lower the enemy's abilities—it actually raised them. No wonder the dire wolf's attacks had hurt so much. And it consumed every last drop of mana? For real? 'This is only something goblins with clearly divided roles in a large pack could pull off.' The price to pay for a single taunt skill was far too steep.

'It's unique as a wide-area taunt, but... I'll put this on hold for now.'

The hunters who had paused briefly were creeping closer again, so I sped up my corpse collection. I kept reading the messages as I worked.

The instant I obtained the trait from the Big Boar, I felt a soft glow spread across a fifty-meter radius centered on me. 'Oh—this is basically the same as raising my stats by forty, isn't it?' It was incomparably better than the skill I'd gotten from the Red Goblin.

I used to think active skills were superior to passive traits, but with so many skills now, the ones I didn't use kept piling up. My thinking had changed. 'Passives are better. They activate without me even thinking about it.'

When I finished collecting all the byproducts and turned back toward my companions, one final achievement popped up.

'...?' No further explanation appeared when I tried to check what Minor Madness was. 'Minor Madness... Is it similar to the frenzied state of those lizardmen?' I'd probably have to experience the same situation again to understand its exact effect, but from the name alone, it seemed like a double-edged ability.

'They're watching.'

Dozens of hunters had approached cautiously and were now observing the battlefield from several hundred meters away. One of the parties was the same group that had picked a half-hearted fight with us a few hours earlier. They must have sensed the hundreds of monsters fighting and come running, only to be horrified by the hundreds of small craters left behind by the exploding shells from the Ten Thousand Illusion Cannon. On top of that, every single monster corpse that should have been there was gone, leaving only the blood-red ground. No wonder they were so flustered.

Apparently deciding they shouldn't linger any longer, they promptly left. I stared after them blankly for a moment before returning to my companions.

As I approached, Arin pointed a trembling finger at me, then quickly asked Yeonhee as if she'd realized something.

"That ability just now... That's it, right? The Great Calamity?"

"I... I've never actually seen one either, so..."

I'd only told Yeonhee that I'd killed a Great Calamity and gained a few abilities from it, so she was just as stunned as the rest. 'Even though I see this reaction every time, I never get tired of it.' Their surprised faces whenever they looked at me were so cute that I kept wanting to see them.

"Well... I don't even know what to say anymore. This is seriously ridiculous. What the heck was that swelling earlier? Did you switch into some kind of combat form?"

'There's actually a separate combat form...'

Jua scanned my body with a fed-up expression, clearly searching for the holes left by the Ten Thousand Illusion Cannon.

"What do you mean by Great Calamity ability? Don't tell me you can copy skills just by seeing them used?"

"Huk...?! Y-you had that kind of ability?! That's seriously cheating..."

Bae Jua shook her head vigorously, sticking her tongue out in disbelief, while Arin twisted her ears like she'd finally uncovered my secret.

"N-no, that's not it. Uwaaaah... M-messages."

Yeonhee clutched her head as information finally appeared in her status window and leaned against me. Since my level had risen by two whole stages in this battle, she must have received quite a few rewards too. Just how many mana stones and runes were there?

'Obsession, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hang in there a bit longer.'

The thought of the poor thing frantically sorting runes and equipment made me chuckle. It was ridiculous that a trait could even have a sense of self, but since it was a power granted by the golden mimic Tania, maybe that made sense.

After using the Ten Thousand Illusion Cannon, I refrained from using any abilities for a while.

'Hoo—I'm dizzy.'

Having seven hundred and fifty mana sucked out all at once left my head struggling to keep up more than my body, so it wasn't functioning properly. Even though I'd essentially been out of commission, the dungeon exploration speed only increased.

"This is seriously relieving all my stress!"

"After being stuck in that trash dungeon, coming here feels amazing."

"The werewolf is seriously overpowered. Having it rampage like a berserker in front makes everything so much easier."

"Hehe... R-really?"

The summoned creatures' performance was impressive, but for hunters, dungeons like this—where strength clashed directly against strength—were actually more comfortable. I focused solely on my role as guide, but whenever edible monsters appeared, I threw myself into the fight even if it meant overexerting.

Among them were creatures like the one-horned lizard that possessed traits or skills. One of them was a snake named 'Prospidi'.

Slither—

You could think of it as an anaconda with a much thicker body. It was surprisingly docile and easy to catch as long as you didn't provoke it first. The problem was that it lived near water and would flee into the depths at the slightest hint of danger. I needed to approach carefully and subdue it in one strike, just like when I'd caught the mole cricket.

Slash—!

'Oh... It looks a bit weird, but this should be useful while in stealth mode.'

The Stealth skill literally made you invisible. While active, it had the additional effect of making you much quieter than usual, but it didn't completely eliminate scent, sound, or vibration. In that sense, this was quite a useful ability. The only downside was the humiliation of having to crawl around like a snake.

The exploration proceeded quickly, and we soon reached the location of the dungeon's hidden space.

'Found it.'

A small hill rising in a perfect circle within a dense forest thicket. It looked almost exactly as I remembered from my previous life. Beneath the hill covered in all kinds ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of grass and flowers was a house-sized boulder, and beneath that lay the hidden space.

'This is the first time I'm taking them straight to an artifact location.'

What we were about to obtain wasn't technically an artifact, but anything with the word 'ancient' in its name was categorized ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as one. Without the slightest hesitation, I dug down into the ground. My companions had already adopted the attitude of simply waiting to see what I would do next, so they remained quiet.

"Clack clack clack!"

After I'd dug a sufficiently large tunnel and gave the signal, my companions slowly entered the underground space. As always, Yeonhee summoned Ttungi to accompany her. The kobold had become so essential for entering underground spaces that it was practically mandatory to call him out.

"Ttung?"

"If anything comes to mind, let us know, okay Ttungi?"

"Ttung—"

"Whoaaaa!! The walls are completely covered in murals!"

"The craftsmanship is impressive. It must be traces of an ancient civilization."

Most spaces containing artifacts tended to hold remnants of ancient civilizations, so their reactions were perfectly understandable. Someone once said that the value of a hunter's life lay in being able to explore such special places.

"But why is the passage so wide? Did some kind of giant live here? And how is a passage this wide even staying intact?"

The tunnel I'd dug gradually widened until it was tall and broad enough for the black dragon to enter comfortably.

"You shouldn't try to understand it with your head. Structures that defy common sense exist everywhere."

"Like the floating gardens, you mean."

"Exactly."

There was no rule saying dungeons couldn't exist in the sky just because most were on land or sea. Though rare, it was said that around two hundred sky dungeons had opened worldwide.

I signaled my companions and entered first. The space felt subtly different from before, so I needed to check for traps in advance.

'Seems fine.'

Confirming there was nothing unusual, I moved quickly through the passage and opened the door to another hidden space at the very end.

Click—

Thanks to having visited once before, I found the handle quickly. The revealed space was a small storage room. Many items were neatly arranged on shelves, perfectly preserved in form. They looked fine from the outside, but most would crumble to dust at the slightest touch. However, among them was one exception—a sealed jar emitting a red glow.

I used my senses to open the jar's lid and checked the round object inside.

It was the elixir developed by the sorcerer who had owned the necklace of Gusfawal—the very artifact I'd given to Yeonhee as her first gift. Had sorcerers in ancient times also served as alchemists?

'I need to consume this... Let's give it a try.'

It was practically an elixir. I'd run various experiments in preparation for this moment, but I was still worried whether it would work properly.

Tap—

I popped the thumb-sized pill into my mouth. The pill floated in midair inside my mouth and began rotating slowly, as if I were holding acidic liquid. I planned to keep it there for a while. This was something I'd realized while doing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Irmana's quest.

The reason I could complete Irmana's quest wasn't because I absorbed it after being submerged in water for a long time. Rather, anything that entered my body would eventually become mine after a certain amount of time. Therefore, simply keeping it in my mouth like this should allow the system to recognize it as absorbed after some time.

In a way, it was an exploit of the system.