The Method I Must Use
Rune stared at the countless illusions of Christina scattered throughout the city.
‘To reach the Cursed Dungeon in the Blue Dragon Lair anytime soon, I’ll have to show my power anyway.’
If he touched the fake Christinas directly, beams of light would rain down on him indiscriminately.
Yet one hour was far too short to examine each one individually.
‘Crude as it is, I have to use that method.’
Rune condensed darkness around himself.
Whoosh!
Pitch-black darkness erupted from his body and spread toward every copy of Christina.
At the same moment, beams of light poured down from between the clouds, slamming violently into his entire body.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground and city walls burned white beneath the light.
Fountains and ornaments began to melt away.
The only thing that could deflect and block the light was Rune’s darkness.
Wrapped in shadow, Rune sharpened his senses, feeling the power cut across space.
‘Found it. The darkness Christina carries.’
The darkness rippled toward a distant point.
Among the illusions filling the city, Rune located the single Christina who possessed a real shadow.
[Grab her.]
Shhhk!
In an instant, Christina’s shadow coiled around her body.
While touching any of the light-formed copies would trigger a barrage of beams, her shadow was different.
Everything here was an illusion created by light, but the shadow belonging to the real Christina was no illusion.
“Correct.”
Christina, wearing a white triangular hat and wizard’s robes, smiled faintly as her eyes trembled.
Rune answered with a slight upward curl of his own lips.
Just as she could freely manipulate light, Rune could control darkness and thus dominate the real Christina’s shadow.
‘I knew it.’
This was merely a preliminary visit to gauge the atmosphere before the actual lesson.
Since it was only meant as a warm-up, she wouldn’t have expected him to wield his power with full mastery.
Within those limits, there was only one solution: finding genuine darkness inside a space saturated with light mana.
“Remarkable. I never imagined you would grasp the core so quickly.”
Her praise was pure and sincere.
‘With nothing more than a basic understanding of essence and a bit of instinct, it was entirely possible. Perfect.’
Understand the attribute one possessed and apply it precisely.
Successfully manipulating an unfamiliar tool on the first try normally required repeated trial and error.
For Rune it had been simple, yet the task of inventing a solution he had never attempted still carried considerable difficulty.
Moreover, the beam attacks were far harsher than Christina’s previous careful adjustments.
She struck indiscriminately, with enough force to damage skin.
In short, the lesson demanded the courage to risk one’s life from the very start.
Rune wondered why she, who always prioritized safety, would choose such a method.
‘……I should ask her properly.’
Rune slipped on his bracelet and shifted into human form.
“Christina. What’s the real reason you’re running this lesson?”
“So you’ve already noticed. Truly, you are a sharp child.”
Christina smiled softly at his question, took up her staff, and approached.
Brushing her golden hair behind one ear with her free hand, she continued in a clear, warm, yet calm voice.
“Rune. Do you still wish to enter the Water clan’s Cursed Dungeon?”
“……Yes.”
Rune answered the unexpected question and waited for what would follow.
“I see. The situation is indeed dire. I, too, do not wish for the remaining darkness to continue tainting their dungeon. Recovering your power would be the best solution. But that place is truly dangerous.”
Christina sat down beside him.
The scenery had changed without warning; they now sat on a hill overlooking a small rural village instead of the ancient city.
“Before returning, I met with Amelia’s family and spoke with them at length. To put it simply, the Water clan has formally requested that you drive out the curse and darkness from the Cursed Dungeon.”
‘As expected.’
Rune had already resolved the darkness afflicting Amelia’s parents.
If the exhausted Water clan wished to reclaim their original lair, purifying the remaining dungeon was essential.
‘I knew helping them would bring a whole string of requests.’
Just as he had anticipated, they wanted his assistance. Satisfaction welled inside him, though his expression remained impassive.
Christina met his gaze with faintly regretful eyes.
“Rune, your choice has already been made, hasn’t it?”
Her clear blue eyes, knowing full well that stopping him would be futile, held a bitter, worried smile.
“You said it yourself, Christina. No matter what anyone claims, I’m a magnificent Black Dragon.”
Rune grinned and returned the words she had once given him.
“The Darkness clan has always been that way, you said. They never turned their backs on those who moved silently in the shadows, on the broken and wounded, or on those who fought bravely yet were defeated.”
“……Rune.”
Her gaze deepened as she looked at him.
She had wrestled with her duty to protect a young hatchling and the crisis still facing the barely recovered Water clan.
Rune regarded her for a moment, then spoke as though the thought had just occurred to him.
“Come to think of it, you also said that to help someone, one must possess sufficient strength.”
Answering the concern she had carried was no difficult task.
“I’ll handle the Water clan’s problem. This lesson was prepared to help me train because entering the dungeon unprepared would be dangerous, right?”
“Yes. In truth, I already had a fair idea of how you would decide.”
When the Water clan requested the removal of the dungeon’s darkness, Christina had opposed Rune’s involvement.
Yet as an Elder of the Light clan, she could not ignore the Water clan’s elders and their entire people.
In the end, the decision belonged to Rune, and he had accepted.
It was regrettable for the worried Christina, but the situation suited him perfectly.
‘With this, nothing should stand in the way of reaching the Water clan’s lair and the Cursed Dungeon. The training will be intense, but it’s been a while since I properly handled darkness. I need to loosen up.’
As if reading his thoughts, Christina applied the brakes.
“However, there is one condition you must fulfill before accepting the Water clan’s request.”
“?”
Rune looked at her questioningly, and a gentle answer followed.
“You must grow strong enough for me to acknowledge your ability. At the very least, I shouldn’t have to worry about your life, don’t you think?”
‘……A condition based on Christina’s standard of “worrying about my life.”’
By her standards, the passing line would be quite high.
After a brief moment of thought, Rune accepted.
“All right. I understand.”
“Oh my, you’re calmer than I expected. I thought you might feel a little disappointed.”
“The condition is simply that there’s no need to worry about my life. In that case, there’s a perfect solution.”
No guardian would send someone into danger without preparation.
Proving enough skill for Christina to acknowledge him immediately would be difficult, but Rune already possessed the perfect excuse to guarantee his safety.
“Perdikion said he would come with me anyway. You know his personality. As my sworn brother who received the Seal of Fire with me, he’ll definitely protect my life, won’t he?”
Christina let out a helpless laugh at Rune’s triumphant tone.
“Truly, you are a cunning child.”
***
“So you used me as a pass to the Cursed Dungeon?”
“It just turned out that way. Are you saying you don’t want to go?”
“If it were up to me, I’d rather neither of us went. I’d advise my little brother to stay safe.”
Perdikion’s answer was firm enough to leave Rune at a loss, yet the older dragon continued.
“But turning a blind eye to the Water clan’s plight would not befit a future Elder. Besides, you were planning to go even without me.”
Perdikion’s pointed remark made Rune smile innocently, pretending not to notice.
“As expected, only you, brother.”
“I’ve never been there myself. Even if I went, Lady Christina would never have permitted it so readily.”
Rune groaned and shifted his position on the bed.
“There’s an additional condition anyway. As you can see, going right now is impossible for me.”
Lunchtime had long since passed, yet he could barely move from the bed.
‘I’m completely exhausted.’
After speaking with Christina, the remaining time had been spent on combat training.
At first he had been knocked out by a single punch that felt more like revenge than a lesson.
Yet once he regained consciousness, Rune refused to give up and requested additional training.
Christina had been impressed by his refusal to surrender despite knowing he could never win, but Rune’s true motive was different.
The light-filled space made training his darkness easier, and he needed to demonstrate visible improvement through effort.
‘If my power suddenly increased, it would look suspicious. There’s also personal curiosity involved.’
He had been genuinely curious about how well he could respond to Christina’s light-based power.
Rune wriggled until he found the most comfortable position and let his body go limp.
Perdikion clicked his tongue lightly at the sight.
“You’re reckless too. You’re thinking of entering the Cursed Dungeon, an unknown territory, and you actually believe you can beat Lady Christina even though she’s only going easy on you.”
“……It’s not that I thought I could win. I just wanted to try.”
“At least lie convincingly.”
‘Tch. Sharp little brat.’
At Perdikion’s blunt dismissal, Rune merely furrowed his brow in silence.
The words were true.
He had sparred hoping to find a clue that might let him defeat Christina, only to be thoroughly beaten and sent rolling across the floor.
By far the strongest and most painful back strike he had ever received during training.
“It still aches. I never thought she’d be that merciless……”
Perdikion clicked his tongue again at Rune’s muttered complaint.
“She was still holding back considerably. You may not know this, but she once bore the nickname ‘Savior from Hell.’ Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because her hands were merciless enough to drive opponents to the brink of death, yet she would save them at the very moment they wished to die.”
“……”
Rune fully agreed with the contradictory nickname—hands that seemed more like those of a reaper than a savior, yet many had been saved by them.
“Well, plenty of people must have said it would have been better to die.”
Perdikion added the gloomy remark, and Rune felt a chill.
“Were you one of them, brother?”
“……I was.”
“……”
Rune looked at Perdikion with pity, realizing the older dragon had already walked the same path.