Chapter 159
Chapter 159
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 159
Chapter Title: Part 2 Chapter 22
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Prim pondered between "Cheiler Dungeon" and "Early Dungeon" for the name of the quickly generated dungeon.
"Cheiler" meant "quick or early" in the Illitin language, while "Early" came from a similar word commonly used by adventurers.
Since "dungeon" was originally a term proposed by the adventurers, he considered aligning with their language, but given that dungeon research was mostly conducted by people on this side, he decided to go with "Cheiler."
The Roolider Cheiler Dungeon, created together with Dun at the very beginning alongside the dens, normalized and turned into an ordinary dungeon.
"Ah, really, really next time it'll succeed. Trust me, Prim?"
After that, Dun ran through the generated Cheiler Dungeons several more times.
However, each time he failed to control his power, converting all the generated Cheiler Dungeons into ordinary dungeons.
"......Damn it, I'm done."
Frustrated, Dun stormed home in a pout.
The very next morning.
Prim picked up a teacup filled with milk tea and headed toward the window.
When he opened the window to get some sunlight, there was Dun.
"Teach me mana control."
"Eek, you scared me!"
Prim jolted in surprise and dropped the teacup, but deftly caught it again, safely containing even the milk tea that had briefly floated in the air.
"You promised. Teach me quick. I tried imitating you all night alone, but it didn't work well."
Dun scratched his disheveled, bird's nest hair and strode toward Prim. Dun's face looked utterly drained. Dark circles shadowed his eyes.
Dun thrust his face forward until his forehead touched Prim's, glaring with wide red eyes.
Because he was so close, his pupils overlapped into one.
"Teach me quick. I'll succeed and then sleep."
That single overlapped gaze brimmed with drowsiness and determination.
"Did you stay up all night?"
"I'm too irritated to sleep."
As Dun ground his teeth with a highly sensitive scowl, Prim scooped him up and laid him on the bed.
"Sleep a bit first, then I'll teach you. Training works better when you're in good shape."
Forced onto the bed, Dun closed his eyes because Prim's bed was quite plush.
He snored two or three times, then snapped his eyes open seconds later, crawled out of bed, and shoved his face right up to Prim's again as he sipped his tea.
It was the distance where his pupils overlapped once more.
"I'll finish it right now. Succeed at mana control, raise my utilization to 70%, run the Cheiler Dungeon one last time, and if it fails, I'll quit. You promised, so teach me quick. I'm an impatient person."
"D-Dun. Mana control isn't something that develops overnight. You know that from all your training. It needs daily refinement."
"There's nothing I can't do in one go."
Except awakening and power control.
Dun swallowed the latter part, sniffed, and wrinkled the bridge of his nose.
"Teach me first. Quick. Watch what I managed alone. Ah, quick. Look at this. I'm sleepy."
Mumbling drowsily, Dun flopped onto the floor and started throwing a childish tantrum.
Prim gazed at Dun with a bewildered lift of his lips.
In the end, Prim sat down in front of him and cast a mana visualization spell.
"Azik Puti Hernuos."
With the incantation, a pink visualization filter enveloped Prim's room.
In the state where mana was visible to the eye, Prim looked at Dun again.
An enormous, flame-like mana was engulfing Dun, as if suffocating him.
Dun inhaled and exhaled, recalling the sensation from when Prim had grabbed his hand and gathered the mana last time.
The massive mana's size suddenly shrank dramatically.
"Wow, Dun. How did you do that?"
He'd said he'd practiced all night, but it seemed he'd made tremendous solo progress in handling mana.
It was a little admirable.
Normally, it took about a week just to grasp the sensation, yet he'd mastered shrinking the size in a single night.
And with the insane amount of mana he possessed, it should have been even trickier.
"Hold still. Now I've raised it to 40% without arrows or curse threads."
Since Dun was obscured by the mana, Prim toggled the visualization spell off and on to check his status.
His brows were furrowed continuously—perhaps suppressing the mana was painful. He looked a bit on the verge of tears from it not going well.
Then, as he momentarily lost focus, the mana's size suddenly ballooned. Bigger than at first.
Dun grimaced and curled up on the floor like a ball.
"Can't maintain it, fuck......"
Prim had been amused earlier, but hardened his expression upon seeing Dun clutch his light brown hair in distress.
"Dun, calm. Relax. With your weak stamina, running dungeons nonstop since yesterday and staying up all night practicing mana control—no wonder it's not working."
"It's frustrating because it feels like it's almost there but not. And I'm sleepy."
"Why does your condition look so unstable all of a sudden?"
"Didn't sleep."
Dun closed his eyes and focused on gathering his mana again.
The monster stone extraction that used to be easy suddenly grew difficult, stirring a long-forgotten sense of helplessness.
But he wasn't helpless now. It felt strange to have something he couldn't do.
"Dun, no one's chasing you. For skills like mana control that require gradual improvement, cramming it all at once only hurts your body."
"I'm strong, so my body won't hurt."
Prim checked Dun's information with his recovered energy.
{Name: Dun Savark}{Recent Name Edit}
{Level: 999}
He was indeed insanely strong. Still, mental strength was a separate matter. It depleted like stamina.
"Even so, rushing and overdoing it will burn you out fast. Knowing how to make good use of rare downtime is a skill too. Calm down and practice step by step. Sleep first. I'll finish my tasks quickly while you rest and then help with your mana control practice."
As Prim soothed him gently, Dun blinked vacantly.
Truly sleepy, he rubbed his heavy eyelids with his hand, then looked at Prim again.
Sometimes unreliable, yet reassuring.
Perhaps because he always tried to heed his demands.
Or maybe because Prim had kept brainwashing him into thinking she was his four-years-older big sister—sometimes Prim really looked like a ditzy older sibling.
Brainwashing was scary.
"......Are you a spy or something?"
"?"
He tossed the half-joking remark with a smirk, a hint of sincerity mixed in.
Then, recalling Prim's rebellion and how he'd faithfully aided the process, his mind eased.
"Ah. What am I saying. Sorry. Sleepy nonsense. Anyway, thanks."
Prim led the now-mumbling Dun back to bed.
"You seem awfully defensive toward people trying to treat you well. ......But thanks to that, you won't get weeded out by Luyan or live getting screwed over easily."
Prim stroked the hunched Dun's back.
Though he denied it verbally, Dun was unconsciously calculating the intentions and motives of those offering pure goodwill.
Suddenly, he recalled Dun from his experimental subject days. He still remembered that child's name: Lee Saebyeok.
Humans were creatures that adapted to their environments, shaping personalities suited to blending in.
Just as he, who once trusted everyone blindly believing all intentions pure, had learned of human selfishness through Luisa and grown wary.
Dun, forever targeted by monsters and most experimental subjects like Lee Saebyeok.
Gifted with sharp wits, yet in this peace of unknown duration, he seemed to harbor a subtle, persistent anxiety.
Whatever the case, he hoped Dun could find some peace of mind.
For that, the major issues fueling his anxiety needed resolution first.
Dealing with the one hiding behind the monsters, and Dun's chronic power control problem.
He was glad to help in resolving them.
"Let's hurry and solve these urgent matters to find some proper peace, Dun."
There was still a long way to go.
* * *
While Dun slept beside him, Prim handled his work.
『Request for Access to the Imperial Secret Library』
The sender was "Seol Do-yoon," supposedly Dun's old friend.
Prim twirled his pen, pondering briefly. That guy felt off somehow—better not let him in.
Not a monster, but he had their distinctive aura. A sensation like mana being drawn in.
Dun was trustworthy, but his old adventurer friends were another story. Their positions as adventurers made building trust difficult from the start.
A difference in perspectives stemming from their roles, perhaps.
Prim sent a rejection reply to the request.
* * *
Three hours later, Dun let out a massive yawn and sat before Prim again for mana control practice.
He'd messaged the mansion that he'd stay at the palace until he grasped the knack.
"Actually, shrinking the size isn't the problem. For someone like you, fade that mana color first. Once the color fades, shrinking the size becomes easy too."
"I know the theory. Applying it is the hard part."
Dun grumbled, propping his chin.
He was always the one teaching, never imagining he'd be learning from someone else.
Hearing Prim out, he tried manipulating his mana alone again. Once more, it shrank then expanded repeatedly.
Sweat beaded as he tried solo.
Prim blocked him.
"Even if you struggle to master mana control on your own, you'll only ingrain bad habits into your body. Set your pride aside where you're lacking and trust me."
Prim extended a hand toward Dun with a smile.
Dun stared at Prim for a moment, then awkwardly clasped the hand in return.
"......Got it."
Prim stayed seated there, straightening and returning Dun's mana to help him internalize the proper flow.
"For the time being, we'll repeat this and focus on the sensation of releasing compressed mana. Understood? I won't teach if you push too hard, so concentrate only during the sessions I guide."
Dun nodded obediently, hand still clasped. The smooth mana circulation felt good.
Suddenly, Dun seemed like a docile baby. Prim smiled warmly and spoke.
"Aigoo. So well-behaved, our baby slime."
"♩♪♫♪♬~"
A retort laden with colorful curses hummed back.