The Dragon's Remains
Mercenary Kane was both a swordsman and a thief.
His role in the party was to support the main fighter, Amber, from behind the shield warrior Pavel, engaging enemies in a sub-position.
On top of that, he had a keen eye for spotting traps in advance, detecting other suspicious traces, and even possessed the ability to craft simple traps.
“Hah…”
And for the first time in these ruins, Kane realized that all his abilities were useless.
Crackle—!
Crackle-crackle—!
Spotting traps? Discovering hidden monsters or wild animals?
There was no need for any of that.
Whenever Lim Dojun simply walked forward, everything around him froze solid. What could he possibly do?
All he had to do was quietly follow behind.
“…It really is convenient.”
“I agree.”
When Pavel muttered, Kane nodded.
Now he understood why the great magic towers held such power and why exceptional mages were so revered.
Unlike low-class mages, they were beings who shattered common sense by their very existence.
Pavel glanced at Amber curiously.
“Captain. Are all elder-class mages like that?”
Even if Milberg’s Compass had an outstanding track record in the industry, they had never entered ruins alongside an elder-class mage.
He asked because he thought their captain, Amber, might know, but she shook her head.
“I wouldn’t know. This is my first time seeing something like this.”
Amber shrugged.
No matter how much she led a mercenary group, she had only ever met elder-class mages—she had never accompanied one into ruins before.
“Still, there’s one thing I’m certain of. Since a mage’s mana isn’t infinite, he can’t keep this up forever.”
Amber stayed on guard.
Magic wasn’t something that could be poured out endlessly like a spring from the ground.
An elder-class mage would have high proficiency, allowing them to cast more spells with less mana, but even that had its limits.
‘Besides, freezing the entire space like this as he advances… no matter how efficiently he does it, the mana consumption must be enormous…’
Though Amber wasn’t a mage herself, she could tell this wasn’t normal.
Perhaps the quasi-elder was pushing himself a little to show off his greatness?
“I see.”
“Right.”
Crackle—!
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
“……”
“But the elder looks perfectly fine, doesn’t he?”
“……?”
The endless chain of spell activations continued.
Every so often, Lim Dojun glanced back to check if they were keeping up, and each time, his expression looked far too relaxed.
To anyone watching, it didn’t seem like he was forcing himself to cast magic—it looked more like he was out for a casual stroll.
“Ah, it seems he still has plenty of mana left. Even so, don’t let your guard down. Be ready to step in at any moment—before the elder even asks.”
“Understood.”
Pavel was prepared to rush forward the moment Lim Dojun showed even the slightest sign of strain.
That would be the best way to preserve his own pride as well.
But ten minutes… thirty minutes… one hour… two hours…
No matter how much time passed, Pavel and the other members of Milberg’s Compass never got the chance to act.
Lim Dojun had frozen everything around him from start to finish, advancing alone.
If anything, it almost seemed like his pace was gradually quickening as time went on.
* * *
Lim Dojun pushed through the ruins at high speed.
The ruins, believed to have been built by ancient people.
Though old traps were scattered throughout, every single one had frozen solid and become inoperable.
‘But what’s this?’
Every now and then, Lim Dojun scanned the corners of the cave with a curious gaze.
Among the ancient traps, he spotted several magical barriers and mechanisms.
By themselves, there was nothing strange about them.
They could have been installed long ago.
The problem was that they were of a fairly recent design.
Traces of magic that seemed to have been used at least several decades ago.
‘Of course, it’s a method that isn’t used anymore these days…’
Magic evolved over time, and trends existed within it as well.
Even when casting the same spell, the way mana was arranged and how the circuits were constructed could differ.
Though Lim Dojun was still lacking in general knowledge of Astelgard, he was quite skilled when it came to magic.
Just from the traces of magic, he had more than enough insight to determine which era’s trend it belonged to.
And then, at some point—
“…Elder. This…”
“It wasn’t simply ruins made by ancient people.”
At Amber’s grave tone, Lim Dojun nodded.
A magical barrier stood in their path.
Seeing it, everything became clear.
It was a solid barrier cast by a highly skilled mage.
Since it had no place in ancient ruins, they exchanged glances, silently debating what to do.
Amber stepped forward.
“Elder. May I take a look? With this circlet, I should be able to find the barrier’s weak point.”
The circlet, the Third Eye.
Since it allowed one to perceive magic and mana to some degree, it was extremely helpful for locating a barrier’s weaknesses.
Of course, it didn’t reveal everything perfectly—only the flow of mana, hazy like fog—but even that would be an enormous help in dismantling the barrier.
“That won’t be necessary.”
However, Lim Dojun stopped her and reached out, lightly touching the barrier.
Before anyone realized it, his pupils had elongated vertically, transforming into the eyes of a dragon.
Dragon Soul Magic — Dragon’s Eye.
The moment he activated it, the structure and weaknesses of the barrier were laid bare before him.
The intricately woven barrier hinted at just how skilled its caster must have been, but Lim Dojun simply poured a small amount of mana into one of its weak points.
Crash—!
The barrier shattered into pieces.
“!!?”
Amber, watching from the side, felt a chill run down her spine.
It was a barrier that even the Third Eye couldn’t clearly perceive—one that would have taken a long time to break through with attacks. Yet he had destroyed it just by touching it!?
‘Just how sensitive is he to mana…?’
She had heard he became an elder thanks to his monstrous talent shortly after joining the Blue Magic Tower.
Until now, he had only shown the eccentric side of a mage or the overwhelming mana reserves of one, but this moment revealed a gap in class.
Whether swordsman or mage, the most important thing was talent in handling mana—and this meant he possessed talent beyond even ancient relics!
“Let’s go in. I won’t let anyone else claim the fruits of this ruin.”
Since the ruins already felt like his in his heart, Lim Dojun was impatient.
Not even a single grain of dragon bone powder could be allowed to leak out.
* * *
After breaking through the barrier and entering, they found themselves in a vast hall.
The hall was completely empty.
There were no treasures or special artifacts like one might expect from ruins.
Instead, in one corner of the hall, a figure in a robe sat leaning against the wall.
Through the robe, glimpses of stark white bones could be seen.
“Maybe it’s someone who came here first and died? I hope that’s the case…”
If the corpse in the robe was a mage who had once visited these ruins, it would explain the barriers they had seen on the way.
Perhaps they had set up the barriers to claim the ruins for themselves, only to die here.
“If there’s a corpse, there’s a high chance the trap that killed them is still around. Elder. From here on, let me investigate.”
Kane stepped forward, thinking he finally had something to do.
That was when it happened.
Suddenly, a crimson glow flared up in the empty eye sockets of the skeleton.
At the same time, an overwhelming presence filled the air.
The mercenaries cried out in shock.
“A-A lich!?”
A being that had become undead to overcome death and live eternally—a mage who had turned into a lich.
Armed with wickedness and vast knowledge, it was an extremely difficult opponent to face.
The lich rose from its seat and swung both arms wide.
At the same time, pure white bones erupted from the ground all around them.
Clatter-clatter
Clatter-clatter
Skeletal soldiers summoned by the lich.
As the mercenaries watched the creatures spewing crimson light, they took their positions.
“Pavel! Hold the front! Kane and I will protect the mage!”
The mercenaries were flustered and tense.
And Lim Dojun was excited.
“Whoa…”
The words slipped out unconsciously.
Thump-thump-thump
His heart, which had been pounding fiercely ever since entering the ruins, finally understood why.
The lich spewed wicked magical power as it floated into the air, and through the tattered robe, its pale body became visible.
Stark white bones.
But the area around its ribs was strangely larger and darker in color.
That was it.
Those ribs were all dragon bones.
Not a small amount contained in a tiny ornament, but entire bones made from a whole dragon.
Though it was clearly a powerful opponent, Lim Dojun couldn’t back down.
If he left now, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
Boom!
Crackle-crackle-crackle—!
When Lim Dojun stomped the ground hard, ice spread outward in concentric circles from that point.
In an instant, the entire cavern froze over, becoming his domain.
Crunch!
Crunch-crunch!
Spikes of ice rising from the floor pierced through the skeletal soldiers.
The lich sneered and flicked its bony fingers once.
Then, black mana emanating from the lich spread in all directions.
From the black mana that filled the air, all sorts of magic began to erupt.
Black chains, arrows, swords, spears, axes…
All kinds of weapons swung, explosions erupted, flames transformed, and creatures of various shapes lunged forward.
Lim Dojun didn’t back down either, casting spells from the frozen ground to intercept the attacks.
Thud-thud-thud-thud!
Thud-thud-thud!
Magic clashed from every direction.
“Aaaagh—!”
“S-Save us!”
The mercenaries screamed in terror as they desperately dodged.
Though they were skilled enough to hold on, they watched the two mages in the center with shock.
Lim Dojun in his blue robe and the lich in its tattered robe stood completely still, simply trading spells.
Only their robes fluttered violently—right beside the two mages, the air was eerily calm.
‘A lich… As expected, it’s a tough opponent.’
But Lim Dojun’s inner thoughts were far from calm.
He had created a domain and continued casting spells with Shadowless Spear within it, but in terms of spell quality and combat experience, the lich was clearly superior.
That was only natural—the length of time they had lived as mages was vastly different.
Crackle-crackle
Even his domain was being steadily encroached upon.
The ice touched by the black energy in the air was slowly turning dark.
In battles between high-class mages, the outcome depended on how well one could claim space—and in that struggle for space, Lim Dojun was clearly losing.
“Decades, my ass. It hasn’t even been a few years.”
Lim Dojun muttered.
If he had trained for just ten years, he was confident he could beat a skull like that.
He let out a weak sigh.
There was no choice.
‘Looks like I’ll have to go back and rest again after this.’
It seemed things wouldn’t be resolved easily.
Lim Dojun drew upon his Dragon Soul Magic.
Whoosh!
And in that instant, the air inside the cavern changed completely.