Chapter 45 — What Was Once a Dungeon
Chapter 45 — What Was Once a Dungeon
Translation: GodTL
'He's going to turn that Gate... into a training ground?'
Who just drops a bombshell like that without any explanation?
If he was going to say something like this, he should've just told me later.
At any rate, after Rokan's declaration that he would turn the Gate into a training ground, my mind became a tangled mess of random thoughts.
That dungeon belonged to the Maple Guild—how was he planning to acquire it? And why did he want to turn it into a training ground specifically for me?
There were so many things I was curious about, so many questions I wanted to ask, but since he said he'd explain after the sparring session, all I could do for now was focus on swinging my sword with everything I had for the next hour.
Gritting my teeth, I exchanged hundreds—no, thousands—of blows with Rokan.
Swinging my sword without pause was exhausting enough, but the way my blade was effortlessly blocked every single time was mentally agonizing.
Several times, I felt like dropping my sword right then and there, but I clenched my jaw and endured the brutal hour.
And finally—
"You've worked hard."
Rokan announced the end of our spar.
The moment it was over, I collapsed on the spot without a word.
After swinging my sword for over an hour, my palms were red and swollen, and my wrists throbbed painfully at the slightest movement.
This wasn't sparring—it was practically torture.
As I lay there, unable to even muster a word, Rokan handed me a bottle of water along with a recovery spell.
I downed the entire bottle in one go, exhaling roughly.
"...I thought I was going to die."
"But you didn't, so it's fine."
Though he joked, Rokan didn't hold back on words of encouragement, praising me for keeping up despite the difficulty.
Taking another sip of the potion he'd given me, I steadied my ragged breathing and silently stared at the sword Rokan had planted into the ground.
It had been perfectly fine before our spar, but now—
Seeing the nicks and chips along the blade made me realize just how intense today's session had been.
After pulling the sword from the ground, Rokan used Dragon Words to return us both to the Lair.
Still not fully recovered, I slumped into a chair and asked him:
"Lord Rokan, can you tell me now about the dungeon you mentioned earlier?"
The idea of turning an entire dungeon—Garden of the Dragon Sword—into my personal training ground.
Since he'd already spoiled that much, I'd spent the past hour dying of curiosity.
"Right, I suppose I should. Were you that curious?"
"Of course. You could've just told me now instead of back then."
When I grumbled lightly, Rokan smiled and replied:
"I said it on purpose. I wanted to see how well you could maintain your focus even in that state."
Ah.
So this, too, had been part of the training.
Not just to mess with me.
...But does that kind of thing actually help with training?
"Well, then, I suppose I should start with what happened at the dungeon."
At any rate—
Rokan explained that yesterday, he had entered Garden of the Dragon Sword with representatives from the Maple Guild and the Hunter Association for a secondary investigation.
Originally, during the first investigation, I had been part of the team instead of Rokan, but unsurprisingly, everyone had come back empty-handed.
They should've realized something was off the moment they confirmed the dungeon's clear conditions had been reset, but when they actually went inside, the dungeon had reverted to its state before "that incident" as if nothing had ever happened.
At the time, one of the guild members had asked, "Does Min-jun's sword have some kind of secret?" and requested that I draw my blade to open the entrance leading to the tomb—but... I had lied, saying my sword was completely broken and I couldn't do it.
It didn't seem right to let the world know about a secret tied to Dragons.
So, naturally, they had no choice but to leave the first investigation with nothing.
Perhaps desperate to uncover the dungeon's secrets, the Maple Guild expanded their team and launched a second investigation.
And that was when Rokan had slipped in with them.
But even during the second investigation, they still came up empty-handed.
Of course they would—they needed an artifact imbued with a Dragon's power, like the Dragon Bone Sword, to proceed.
In the end, they had no choice but to leave the dungeon once again with nothing to show for their efforts.
"After confirming that everyone else had left, I slipped back in alone."
Stealthily infiltrating the dungeon by himself, Rokan used a spare Dragon Bone Sword from his Subspace to open the entrance leading underground to the tomb.
After thoroughly exploring the interior, he eventually reached the same space where I had been trapped—Minos' domain.
At first, I wondered how he could move in and out of that space so freely, but thinking about it now, of course he could. To a true Dragon like Rokan, it must've been as easy as walking in and out of his own home.
Besides, no matter how intricately crafted the dungeon was, there was no way a mere human-made dungeon could hold a Dragon captive.
At any rate, Rokan explained that he had entered the space where I had presumably been trapped and began his investigation.
I say "presumably" because the scenery he described seeing was quite different from what I remembered when I was trapped there.
A landscape so fragmented and layered as if countless dimensions had been sliced apart and stitched together haphazardly.
Moreover, the dimensions were riddled with cracks, making it far from a pleasant sight to behold.
Borrowing Rokan's words, it was like watching the performance art of an artist suffering from severe hallucinations—or something along those lines.
And, most critically—
"That human, Minos, was nowhere to be seen. That lunatic obsessed with Dragon Words... Even when a Dragon personally descended, there wasn't the slightest reaction. Probably because—"
"He was scared?"
"No. Judging by the fact that not even a trace of lingering resentment remained, I suspect the bitter grudge that had lingered there was partially erased when he saw you wield Dragon Words."
...So, in the end, had he truly, purely just wanted to see a human use Dragon Words?
In a way, wasn't that the very definition of madness?
"But that's not the important part."
Perhaps his throat had dried up from the long explanation, as Rokan took a sip of water before continuing.
"That Minos fellow... In many ways, he seemed like a complete madman. Even for an emperor, I never imagined someone could amass so many artifacts capable of manifesting a Dragon's power."
In that tomb, Rokan had discovered not just the Dragon Bone Sword but also numerous artifacts designed to manifest, amplify, and sustain a Dragon's power.
"Though I can only guess, given that he lived in a different dimension from mine... By the standards of where I come from, each of those items would be worth two or three years' worth of a small territory's budget."
As if recalling the sight, Rokan clicked his tongue.
Given the nature of an emperor's status, it wouldn't be strange for him to possess a few such treasures. But what Rokan had found numbered well over a hundred.
"All the artifacts he gathered were interconnected by a single magic circle. When I examined it, I found it densely inscribed with formulas designed to assist in the invocation of Dragon Words."
In other words, that place wasn't merely built to manifest and amplify a Dragon's power—it was an entire space meticulously designed to meaningfully aid in the actual use of Dragon Words.
"I plan to take Sia there soon to show her."
If even Rokan, a Dragon, spoke of it this way, it likely meant the magic circle's assistance in invoking Dragon Words was astonishingly effective.
"..."
The more I learned about this Minos, the more his madness became apparent.
To exist as a lingering grudge in his own tomb for countless eons, just to witness it once—and to pour that much wealth into it?
Not to mention, judging by Rokan's words, the magic circle inscribed in the tomb was no ordinary construct either.
My apologies for the misunderstanding, Minos.
I thought you were a deranged psychopath, but it turns out you were just an exceptionally insane genius.
"Looking at it, only one thought came to mind."
"That it's... the best environment for my training?"
Rokan nodded.
"Correct. It'll need some adjustments, but that place is more than sufficient for your training. Constructing such a perfectly tailored system for a human-born Dragon Words practitioner isn't even an easy feat for us Dragons."
If Rokan said that much, it spoke volumes.
In a way, the thought of being able to train in an even more structured environment than before made it impossible to suppress my excitement.
But only for a moment.
Come to think of it... wasn't that place a tomb?
Meaning—I'd be training for extended periods near where someone's corpse was buried?
'That's... pretty unsettling.'
Who in their right mind would train inside the tomb of an emperor, revered as a benevolent ruler by his people in life, no less?
As I sank deep into thought, Rokan chuckled and spoke.
"I can guess what you're thinking, but bear with it. After all, it's also thanks to that human that you took your first step in understanding Dragon Words."
...Well, he wasn't wrong.
Though I suffered through every conceivable hardship there, those events ultimately led to meaningful progress in wielding Dragon Words.
If anything, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Minos had brought me closer to reuniting with Sia.
"...You're right."
"Just keep that in mind. Now, I'll be busy acquiring and renovating the dungeon."
"But, Lord Rokan. What if the guild refuses... to sell the dungeon?"
Given that it was an Imperial Tomb, its value must have skyrocketed. Not to mention, it was an incredibly useful dungeon for training rookies.
If I were the guild master of Maple Guild, I wouldn't be eager to sell it off so easily.
But Rokan responded as if the answer were obvious.
"They'll sell. Don't you humans have a saying? If money can't solve it, consider whether you're not using enough of it."
Ah.
Right. Even Sia carried countless priceless artifacts and treasures beyond measure.
And Rokan, who had once been a Dragon Lord—how much more so?
While marveling at that unimaginable wealth, I felt a renewed sense of gratitude toward Rokan, who was willing to pay such an exorbitant sum without hesitation.
"Understood. Thank you so much, Lord Rokan."
"Save the thanks. Rest a little longer, then get back to recovery training."
"Thank you!"
"Ah, one more thing."
Rokan called out to me, hesitated briefly, then spoke.
"Seems like I've been delivering a lot of good news to you today."
"What do you mean...?"
I looked at him, brimming with anticipation.
"I think it's about time we gradually increase the duration of your meetings with Sia."
