49
049 ― Wyvern Knight
The wyvern knight, an Elf named Poldere, looked at Jin-woo with disgust.
"April! Are you kidding me, telling me to put a human on our Golong's back?"
"Watch your words to my master, Poldere. This person is different from other humans."
"Damn, so the rumor about April smashing her head against a tree stump was true! Calling a mere human 'master.'"
"Just carry him. I'll pay."
Poldere kicked stones on the ground while grumbling complaints, but April didn't budge and held out leaf money.
It seemed her stubbornness was displayed regardless of who the opponent was.
"If you think I, Poldere, would abandon Elven pride for such small change..."
Poldere was showing his displeasure when he looked at April's hand. His eyes instantly scanned the amount of leaf money. It was the unavoidable instinct of a merchant.
"Tsk, get on. But I don't care if you fall off."
It seemed like quite a large sum of money to refuse while talking about pride.
The leaves themselves only looked like three or four pieces, but was each individual leaf worth a large denomination?
Poldere jumped up onto the saddle on the wyvern's back, and April climbed up as well. Her muscle-filled body was quite heavy, causing the wyvern to stagger slightly for a moment.
When Jin-woo tried to climb on, he momentarily made eye contact with the wyvern.
—Grrrrrung!
Whether it was a threat, the creature glared at Jin-woo with murderous intent.
Wyverns were draconic monsters and quite powerful creatures. They were much more ferocious monsters than the Shadows he had seen during his first Erosion.
Was it because it had been tamed by Elves? The wyvern was sending intense killing intent toward Jin-woo, who was human.
"Hmph, if you're scared, you can just go back."
Poldere sneered while checking the reins from atop the saddle.
But the wyvern released its killing intent and instead cowered. The eyes that had been glaring at Jin-woo now looked away to the side.
"Golong? What's wrong, are you not feeling well?"
Poldere stroked the wyvern's neck with a slightly flustered voice.
In the meantime, Jin-woo climbed onto the wyvern, and Golong, as the wyvern was called, trembled with a start.
"Are you okay, Golong? Can you fly?"
Only after Poldere soothed it several times did Golong spread its wings wide and take flight.
"Master, it seems the wyvern's condition isn't very good."
"I see."
Responding appropriately to April's words, Jin-woo was thinking about something else.
'Is it because I absorbed the Dragon's soul? Or is it because of the Dragon's Magi I absorbed with the Dragon Sword?'
Whether it was because of the soul or the Magi, Golong seemed to have sensed the presence of a dragon within him.
Kalesian had also immediately realized he was someone who had devoured his kin upon seeing him.
Perhaps the draconic races had developed senses in that regard.
'Well, as long as it flies properly.'
Whatever the case, Golong flew safely toward the Keldra Mountain.
Golong flapped its wings vigorously toward the ridge visible in the distance, toward that peak.
***
They arrived at the summit of Mount Keldra quickly. April had said it would take a day or two, but it was much faster than that.
"Poldere, circle around once or twice as a service."
April asked Poldere to circle above the ruins. She seemed to want to observe various things from the air before landing.
"Tsk! I'm only doing this because you're a regular, got it!?"
Despite grumbling, Poldere circled above the ruins. Whether it was because April paid a lot of money or because the service was good.
Either way, it didn't matter to Jin-woo, so he concentrated on examining the ruins.
It was a building made of very old bricks, with the exterior completely covered in moss and ivy.
Even from up here, the damp and gloomy atmosphere seemed palpable. The air was much more oppressive than down the mountain.
After examining the ruins for a while, April spoke to Jin-woo.
"Where do you think the garden might be, Master?"
"Who knows."
When one says garden, it's naturally outside. But nothing suitable was visible around the building.
There were just empty spaces where walls had collapsed or traces of where something had once stood.
One of those might have been traces of a garden, but Jin-woo didn't think so.
Because.
'There are black flames underground.'
Black Flames could be felt from beneath the ruins.
The God of Moonlit Forest wouldn't have designated this place as a trial location for no reason. It couldn't be a coincidence that Erosion was felt in a place that happened to be a trial location.
"April, let's land."
"Yes. Poldere, take us down."
At April's words, Poldere controlled the wyvern and landed at the ruins' entrance.
After letting them down, he pulled the reins again. Golong spread its wings wide.
White light shone from April's fingertips. The light flew through the sky toward him, and he received the light.
"I'll send a signal through a spirit when the job is done, so come pick us up."
"Got it, got it."
He departed with a grumbling tone until the end. The loud beating of Golong's wings quickly moved away from the mountain.
"Let's go, Master. Do you know where we should head?"
"Yeah. Though I'm not certain."
Jin-woo and April entered the ruins.
The entrance wasn't that large, but April had to duck her head slightly.
Sunlight entered through cracks in the broken and split stone walls, illuminating the inside of the ruins.
Between the scattered beams of light, monsters could be seen moving about. They were snakes whose bodies were covered in moss.
"We call those Moss Snakes. As you can see, they're quite large snakes and even carry strong toxins. If bitten, you'll die within about a day."
He should be careful and hide behind her, April stepped forward.
A Moss Snake noticed them and became alert. Rather than immediately charging, it just maintained a ready stance while watching, which looked quite troublesome.
"Hup!"
April struck away one that charged at an opening with the wooden shield on her wrist, sending it flying.
It was a round shield with a clear, crystal orb-like sphere embedded in the center, and the charging Moss Snake couldn't withstand the impact and burst in mid-air.
It wasn't the shield's special ability... It seemed to be due to April's own physical strength.
Some creatures that felt it would be difficult to break through her charged toward Jin-woo instead, but they were all bisected by Jin-woo's sword.
Each time the sword flashed, Moss Snake corpses piled up. At the same time, their souls were absorbed by Jin-woo, slightly building his power.
'Not very much, though.'
They say every little bit helps, so he couldn't miss even this.
Seeing Jin-woo fight much better than expected, April was surprised. No, it wasn't just that level—she could feel a realm she couldn't understand from Jin-woo's swordsmanship.
'This is... Not inferior to when I saw Lin Shenlin's sword?'
Part of the reason she still didn't think she had reached the 5th floor was because she had seen Lin Shenlin's sword.
In the past, when she had just stepped onto the 3rd floor, she had seen Lin Shenlin's sword and similarly couldn't understand it.
This was the same even now, after accumulating 48 million contribution points and receiving blessings. She still couldn't understand that sword from back then.
That same sensation was now felt from Jin-woo's sword. Equal to that time, or perhaps even more incomprehensible.
"Master, are you perhaps a 5th floor Knight?"
Jin-woo was puzzled by the sudden question.
"You mean Hunters are active on the 5th floor? I've never even been to the 5th floor. I just came up to the 3rd floor for the first time this time."
"Pardon...? You came to the 3rd floor for the first time this time?"
"I was on the 2nd floor until the last Gate."
April was at a loss for words. When she saw Lin Shenlin, she had thought that there were indeed many monsters in the world, but Jin-woo was a monster in a completely different sense.
At least Lin Shenlin was someone who had come down from the 5th floor, but someone who had just come up from the 2nd floor, having this kind of strength!
Leaving April's gaze behind, Jin-woo quickened his steps toward the underground.
Moss Snakes were threatening monsters, but they weren't that strong. Since Jin-woo even had the ability to see blue flames, ambushes from the darkness didn't work on him either.
Without any particular difficulty, the two were able to descend to the underground and eventually discovered a room.
Both Jin-woo and even April hardened their faces at the energy felt from that room.
"This is... Erosion?"
"Right."
Being this close, even April could notice it.
The underground chamber they had found was filled with clinging Erosion energy, surrounded by strong golden Magi.
***
From outside the room, Jin-woo examined the inside.
There was a slight sense of incongruity in the chamber's scenery.
The walls and ceiling were made of moss-covered bricks like the ruins, but the floor was dirt. There was also a small tree and a tiny puddle.
It matched if it matched, but somehow felt out of place. It felt as if only the floor had been cut out and crammed into this chamber.
It was a similar feeling to when he had seen Pandemonium's jumbled buildings.
"Those fruits on the tree... Must have been golden apples."
April pointed to the tree's fruit while covering her nose.
The apple that had once shone with mysterious light was now completely rotten and twisted.
That apple was the identity of the black flames.
"Do you know what golden apples are?"
"There are various legends, but to get to the core, they're elixirs. As befits an elixir, they contain strong magical power and are especially specialized in protecting or sealing things."
Thanks to this, many legends involving golden apples were like that. Using the power of golden apples to protect a loved one, or receiving them from a god.
Since it was an Elven legend, the god mentioned here referred to the World Tree.
'So there are legends related to the World Tree.'
Could this be considered a clue? It might be too early to conclude since legends of golden apples might not exist only among the Elves.
"Is resolving that the content of the trial given to you, Master?"
"Yeah. Retrieve the golden apple from Brielda's Garden."
"It would be better to give up. That's no longer a golden apple."
April shook her head and told him to abandon it.
It was unknown whether taking that would be recognized as a golden apple, and they couldn't even enter inside in the first place.
The reason the Erosion inside the room hadn't spread to the entire ruins was because the golden apple's magical power was blocking it.
That meant the path from this side into the inside was also blocked.
Thud―! Thud―!
"As expected, it won't work."
Just in case, April strongly struck the Magi wall, but it didn't budge.
A Magi wall capable of blocking even Erosion, though temporarily, wouldn't be easily broken through.
Perhaps even Lin Shenlin from the Temple of Sky wouldn't be able to do it.
Jin-woo asked April, who was rubbing her hand that hurt from striking the wall.
"April, can you see that?"
"If you mean the apple, I can see it well."
"Not the apple, what's above it."
"Above the apple? I don't see anything."
Unlike the puzzled April, Jin-woo's expression wasn't good.
Above the rotten and decayed golden apple was something barely maintaining faint breath.
A fairy.
"Step back for a moment."
"Back?"
Sending the interfering April to the back, Jin-woo stood with his sword drawn.
The golden energy prevents the Erosion from escaping. Could he extend his sword to the black flames beyond this energy?
Jin-woo swung his sword as a test.