109
109 ― Fire and Forest
A blue sky stretched out before them. A clear sky without a single cloud. The weather is as warm as a spring day.
Even though they were clearly inside a cave, Jin-woo was quite surprised to see the sun and sky.
"Is this your lair?"
"Welcome. Isn't it a nice home?"
"Rather than a home..."
It was like a well-decorated garden. It didn't have the feeling of a building that one would commonly think of when hearing the word ‘home’.
There were structures here and there, but rather than a home, they looked like facilities for spending time comfortably.
It was amazing that such a place existed inside a cave, but Jin-woo quickly calmed down.
Having experienced various barriers in the Temple of Sky, the 3rd floor controlled by Rondar, and the Red Cliff, there wasn't much to be surprised about.
"I will withdraw the corrosion at the entrance."
Jin-woo turned around to look at the path he had just passed through.
The path connected to the cave entrance. It was now a place completely hardened, devoured by the aura of corrosion.
When he reached out his hand, the corrosive aura that had been solidifying that space was released, and the space was freed as well. The aura that flowed out settled on the floor like deep-sea water.
It crawled along the floor like flowing water and was absorbed through Jin-woo's feet. Seeing this, Kalesian spoke with a frowning expression.
"Are you really okay? There's no way handling such power wouldn't affect you..."
"There doesn't seem to be anything wrong with my body."
Jin-woo was also concerned, so he kept checking his body's condition, but there was no change.
His body was fine, and his mind had no rough edges. His soul remained blue as well.
Kalesian gathered mana and stared intently at Jin-woo from top to bottom with golden eyes, but he, too, couldn't sense anything wrong.
Since neither he nor the dragon could detect anything, they had no choice but to conclude that everything was normal.
"Is this also a function of the divine artifact..."
"I wonder."
Jin-woo answered ambiguously and looked at the now clean entrance again.
When the corrosion was withdrawn, the mana returned. The magic circles probably returned, too. Then all the traps must have returned to their original state?
"How do I get back when returning?"
"I'll fix it while you're choosing treasures, so don't worry. More than that, it's been a while, so the grass has grown quite a bit."
Kalesian created a small wind with his wings and trimmed the grass sporadically.
Not completely clean, but moderately so that it wasn't too messy.
Kalesian, who had cleaned the surroundings like dusting off a house he hadn't entered in a long time, guided Jin-woo to one place.
There was a tall cliff there, and something was protruding densely from the cliff.
Looking at what it was, various weapons like swords and spears were embedded in it.
"Choose as you like. Or do you have any particular function you want? If you tell me what you need, I'll bring you things with similar effects."
"Are all those many things Magic Items?"
"Not all, but most of them."
Jin-woo's eyes widened as he looked at the weapons embedded in the cliff. This was the first time he had seen so many Magic Items directly.
"But why are they stuck in there so inconveniently to look at?"
"It's comfortable for me. Rather, it would be more inconvenient to stick them in the ground and have to bow my head to examine them."
Apparently, for a dragon that flies in the sky, having them displayed like that was easier to see.
The reason it was specifically a cliff was probably just personal preference. Like a display case made to perfectly match his own taste.
The cliff had weapons of all shapes embedded in it, and there were even many pieces of armor, like helmets and gauntlets.
There were too many to examine one by one. And most importantly, since Jin-woo couldn't fly, it was difficult to examine all the embedded weapons.
Thinking this way, one necessary thing naturally came to mind.
"I'd like an item for flying in the sky. Rather than just flying, something that would allow me to stably swing a sword in the air. Something more for combat than transportation would be good."
"Aiiiigo, you want a lot."
"Isn't there anything that does all that?"
"Wait and see."
Kalesian fluttered and gained altitude to look around the cliff.
Then, as if he found just the right thing, he quickly picked it up and brought it.
"This is a cloak made by copying the mana structure carved into a dragon's wings. Dragon scales are also included, so it can easily block ordinary spears and swords."
"Mana structure carved into wings?"
"The body of a hatchling like me doesn't matter, but adult dragons and above need more than ordinary wing flapping to fly in the sky."
Therefore, dragon wings had a unique mana structure that existed from birth.
This began developing from the hatchling stage before becoming an adult, and was woven to some degree in Kalesian's wings as well.
"All movements seen in the air are assisted by mana. You can perform combat as you wish without difficulty. But be prepared for mana to drain quickly."
The cloak Kalesian handed over was a black cloak that seemed to absorb light.
When he checked the lining, it felt smooth like silk but had a slightly bumpy texture. Apparently, the aforementioned scales were between the outer material and lining.
"Are the scales in here from Kalesian?"
"No? It's something I picked up when I was in the 5th floor, so I don't know whose scales they are."
It was a bit unsettling, but he really liked the item itself. It even had size adjustment magic, so with a little mana, he could adjust it to fit his body perfectly. The color was also optimal for hiding his body at night.
"I'll bring a few other items so you can compare."
Kalesian flew away and brought several more tools for flying.
Even after filtering and selecting, there were five or six items, but none caught Jin-woo's eye. No item was better than the first cloak.
"You can't take your eyes off the cloak. Yes, take it. Even I think that's the best item."
"If it's such a good item, isn't it a waste to give it to me?"
"It was a promise to give you something anyway, so it doesn't matter. Besides, thanks to you, I ended up setting foot in the Spirit Realm."
Kalesian spoke with a tone full of anticipation. Like a child's voice the day before going on a picnic.
"Then for the other one..."
"What will you choose? A sword after all?"
"Could I see a few?"
"Of course."
Kalesian pulled out swords like he did with the cloak and showed them to Jin-woo.
They were all excellent items, but he wasn't particularly pleased. The reason was simple.
'Rondar's sword is too excellent.'
The divine artifact of Rondar, obtained in the 3rd floor, the Nebula Sword, was such an excellent item that other swords didn't catch his eye.
"Hmm... I'll pass on swords after all. Let's go with an elixir."
"Elixir? An elixir..."
Kalesian took Jin-woo somewhere. Following the path between cliffs, they crossed a small stream and entered to see an old warehouse and a vegetable garden.
The small stream flowing beside the warehouse felt refreshing, and unknown flowers and tree fruits blooming here and there were giving off enchanting fragrances.
"It feels similar to the Spirit Realm."
Somehow, it was a space where the mist of the Spirit Realm could be felt. That mist is full of pure and dense mana.
"Is the Spirit Realm like this?"
"That place is full of mana wherever you go, so no matter how much you run or do anything, you don't get tired."
"Hooo."
At Kalesian's guidance with an even more expectant expression, Jin-woo entered the warehouse.
Compared to the scale of the cliff he had seen before, it was an extremely normal size.
A warehouse of moderate size that might exist in an ordinary country house. Even the inside was more than half empty, giving a sparse feeling.
However, considering that all the items filling less than half were precious elixirs, even this much was unreasonable.
"Choose anything. They're all carefully selected."
"No recommendations this time?"
"Elixirs are supposed to come to those with connections. Since it's an elixir you'll consume, it would be better for you to find it."
"Even if Kalesian chooses for me, it would eventually reach me through connection, so wouldn't it be fine for you to choose?"
"..."
Kalesian fell silent. When it came to connections, it was like saying earrings are hung on ears, nose rings are hung on the nose - Jin-woo's words weren't entirely wrong either.
"Just choose."
However, still having no intention of choosing for him, Kalesian spoke as if changing the subject and stepped back.
Jin-woo chuckled and examined the items in the warehouse. 'Coming to those with connections'...
Whether those words were really true or not, there was something that caught his eye. It was an item with a black horn where purple thread-like veins were visible.
"That's a Black Dragon's horn. If you boil and consume it, it becomes an excellent elixir. A dragon's horn is the second most important organ after the heart, especially the core of mana operation."
"Is this also an item related to dragons?"
"There's nothing surprising about discovering dragon-related items in a dragon's lair."
That was also true. Still, both items he chose following his heart were related to dragons.
He thought that, but thinking again, it was natural.
'Bulkar said there's nothing as excellent as items containing dragon materials.'
Previously, when he heard from Bulkar in the waterfall cave, dragon bones, scales, teeth, etc. were materials more powerful than anything else.
Even an ordinary iron sword could be made into a peerless famous sword if dragon bone was mixed in.
Of course, since it was such a rare material that few had handled, there were few craftsmen who could actually forge it into a famous sword.
So when he chose the most precious items, it wasn't strange that they were all related to dragons.
"Give it here. I'll process and boil it so humans can consume it easily."
"Good service."
"I'm in a good mood, so I'm providing this kind of service."
Kalesian hummed while skillfully preparing the horn processing and tools for brewing medicine.
***
He was falling endlessly.
Into a bottomless abyss. A dizzying feeling of continuously falling.
The energy from the dragon's horn was vast, not small even compared to the dragon's soul he had absorbed before.
But.
'It's empty.'
Still, it didn't fill up.
No matter how much he consumed, he felt like he was suffering from endless hunger.
He never dreamed he would feel such terrible emptiness even after consuming a precious elixir.
Flash.
He opened his eyes.
For a moment, light flowed in his eyes, and he could fully feel the energy obtained from the horn.
The energy didn't leak anywhere and was perfectly absorbed.
No matter how precious an elixir was, or rather, the more excellent the elixir, the greater the energy loss rate - thinking of this, it was a great achievement.
An achievement similar to what he felt with the golden apple. However, the feeling of emptiness had grown larger than then.
"How long has it been?"
Jin-woo asked Kalesian who was keeping watch nearby.
How long did it take when he ate the golden apple before? Didn't it take at least half a day?
"What, only 10 minutes have passed and you're already done? You didn't spill all the precious medicine energy, did you?"
"10 minutes?"
Only that long?
Jin-woo didn't hurriedly absorb and open his eyes. He carefully absorbed the energy, afraid of missing even a drop, stored it up, and opened his eyes when it was perfectly digested.
But only 10 minutes?
"Oh? It seems you properly absorbed it all? Rather, you absorbed more than I expected."
Kalesian checked the energy flowing through Jin-woo and was slightly surprised.
Since he woke up in 10 minutes, he thought Jin-woo had opened his eyes after spilling the medicine energy everywhere, but that wasn't the case. Even to his senses, Jin-woo had absorbed almost all the energy from the horn.
Far from spilling it, he had never seen such clean absorption in his lifetime.
"Is that so."
Jin-woo got up and checked his body.
Since he had only sat for 10 minutes, his body didn't become stiff or anything.
Still, after stretching for a change of mood, he spoke.
"Let's get going. What will you do about Mahiri at the mansion?"
Mahiri was currently sleeping in her room. Since it was the deep hours of dawn, no one would think it strange.
But going to the Spirit Realm wouldn't end in a day or two. No matter what explanation was given, if she only slept in her room for weeks, it would arouse suspicion...
"I'm thinking of hiding her here. I can't take her along, and I can't just leave her either. Breaking the contract is even more impossible."
Several hours later, in the early dawn morning.
After informing the butler, who woke up earlier than anyone else, about the long-term absence, Kalesian hid Mahiri in the lair.
Of course, the entrance traps had been fixed long ago.
"Let's go."
"Yes."
Jin-woo drew his sword. Two or more divine artifacts were needed. The conditions were met with just the God of Sky's scabbard and the Nebula Sword.
[ I'll go. ]
With the voice of the God of Moonlit Forest, a crack opened. It was now a familiar crack.
"So this is it. Heh heh, I'm excited."
"Let's enter."
Kalesian, having fulfilled his promise, and Jin-woo simultaneously leaped into the crack leading to the Spirit Realm.
***
[ 6th floor: Spirit Realm ]
[ Find the blue portal. If you want to return. ]
A smell that felt nostalgic though it had been a while. Mist and air soaking into his skin.
Jin-woo first looked for Fermue's Tower. Finding a safe place was the top priority when entering a gate.
'Huh?'
But he couldn't see it. Not only that, it was a completely unfamiliar place.
'I thought since it was a gate opened by the God of Moonlit Forest's power, we'd land in a place drawn by her power...'
The White Tower was not visible. Was it a slightly distant place? Or a completely different location?
"Oooooooh! Is this the Spirit Realm!"
Kalesian looked around with a voice full of emotion.
Right after entering a gate, one should quietly examine danger factors first, but he seemed excited enough to forget such things.
However, there was a sight that made even Kalesian, who was looking around with eyes full of joy, panic. Jin-woo was also startled when he saw that place.
"Jin-woo!"
"Let's avoid it for now!"
Jin-woo and Kalesian hurriedly flew up into the sky. The place they had been was a forest, but a sea of fire was undulating and attacking the forest.
It looked like the flames would spread immediately, but for some reason the fire didn't spread further. It was as if the forest and fire were fighting each other.