After the pair passed through the wilderness, what greeted them was muddy terrain with weeds everywhere, and the atmosphere slowly changed from dry to humid. They walked the whole day before getting ready to set up camp. Kang Yoon-Soo set up the camp and the fire, while Shaneth prepared their meals. A single plume of smoke rose into the night sky.
“This is our next destination, right? I think it will take us around ten days by foot to get there,” Shaneth said as she pointed at the map. She was indicating Riel, the city north of Hiledan.
Kang Yoon-Soo started to search through his memories. ‘I should look for that puppeteer as soon as we reach Riel City.’
A puppeteer with excellent skills was someone he needed to recruit so the legendary quest would be easier to complete. However, there was somewhere he needed to drop by first before continuing to Riel City. As such, he said, “There’s somewhere we have to stop by before we head to Riel.”
“Please don’t tell me it’s another ruin…” Shaneth murmured nervously as she recalled her experience from the Yultika Ruin.
Kang Yoon-Soo slowly shook his head as he replied, “It’s a hunting ground.”
“A hunting ground? Do you mean a lair or a breeding ground?” Shaneth asked.
“Something similar,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied as he drank beer under the moonlight. He raised his hand and said, “Summon Sally.”
A flame twisted in midair as a beautiful young girl popped out of it. However, Sally seemed to be gloomy for some reason, and her doll-like face was filled with sadness.
“Papa,” Sally began.
“What?” Kang Yoon-Soo responded.
“Make me a sibling,” Sally said.
“Keuheok! Cough! Cough!” Shaneth had been chewing on some stale bread, and she choked on it as soon as she heard what Sally had to say. She barely swallowed it after drinking some water, interjecting, “No!”
“Hing… Why? Mama and papa can make me one, can’t you?” Sally asked.
Shaneth looked into Sally's tearful eyes, and the innocent look on her face almost made her concede the issue, but she ultimately stood her ground and shook her head. She said, “No, Sally.”
“Hiiing…” Sally covered her face as she started to sniffle.
Shaneth spoke to the young girl with a gentle voice filled with maternal love, asking, “Sally, why do you want a sibling?”
“Sniffle! The summon dimension is too boring! The doggy only growls at me and the undead don’t even understand me! I want a sibling to play with! Waah!” Sally cried, throwing a tantrum.
Shaneth awkwardly scratched her cheek. It was not as if she could not understand what Sally felt, but it was impossible—no way.
“I’m sorry, Sally, but there are things in this world that aren’ possible no matter how much you want them. Life can’t be simply formed just because you want it to,” Shaneth explained. She looked toward Kang Yoon-Soo and added, “Right?”
“No, there’s nothing stopping us from making one,” Kang Yoon-Soo unexpectedly replied.
“What…?” Shanet felt as if her head had been struck with a hammer. Her face turned bright red as she asked, “A… Are you serious…?”
“Yeah,” Kang Yoon-Soo said.
“Wow! Papa is the best!” Sally ran toward him and planted a kiss on his cheek.
Kang Yoon-Soo got up from his place, leaving Shaneth stunned on the spot. He said, “Sally, there’s something you have to do.”
***
The place Kang Yoon-Soo brought Sally to was an eerie swamp. Rows upon rows of plants that most people had probably never heard of grew there, and various kinds of bugs crawled along the ground. Muddy ground lay beneath the deep waters.
“Sally,” Kang Yoon-Soo called out.
“Okay.” The spirit’s flames spread across the area and brightened the dark swamp; then, Sally morphed into a flame lizard. She let out her fire breath toward the sky, and its power was incomparably stronger than when she was in her human form.
Shaneth looked confused as she asked, “What do you plan to do with Sally’s fire?”
“Shh.” Kang Yoon-Soo signaled quietly.
Soon after, the presence of something moving around emerged in the tranquil but eerie swamp. The muddy waters started to slosh around as something crawled out of the swamp.
“Kaskuram…” came the very sluggish cry. Several creatures covered in mud slowly rose up from the swamp one by one and started to close in on the group. They were known as mudgems, creatures that lived buried under the swamp and longed for sunlight.
A large mudgem saw the bright light and started to approach it. It extended its hand toward Sally.
Slash!
The mudgem’s hand was cleanly severed. “Makeruinuradi!” it screamed, clearly in pain.
Kang Yoon-Soo, on the other hand, lifted the sword that had been covered by the mudgem’s blood. It was Ravian’s longsword, and it was now time for him to test his new weapon. The mudgems let out a chilling cry as they charged toward him. He lowered his posture before meeting the charging mudgems head-on, and he swung the longsword in his hand like a storm.
Slash! Slash!
Three mudgems sustained heavy damage and fell to the ground. Kang Yoon-Soo’s swordsmanship was not something they could avoid. Ravian’s longsword had a thin blade, making it easier for it to cut and slash through enemies, unlike the greatsword he had used to wield.
He easily cut down one mudgem after another without even getting scratched, and every time he cut one open, the attack power of his longsword increased.
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Shaneth readied her ‘Death Scythe’ as well. The moment she swung her bluish-white scythe in a large arc, it easily destroyed a mudgem’s heart. She was surprised, as the capabilities of the new scythe were miles better than the old one. She thought, ‘It’s really amazing.’
What was more surprising was actually the man fighting in front of her, though. Swordsmanship, crafting, alchemy, and even necromancy; was there anything this man could not do? She started to be even more curious about Kang Yoon-Soo’s identity.
Shaneth asked worriedly after she cut open a mudgem, “Will Sally be alright?”
“I’ll send her back to the summon dimension if it gets dangerous,” Kang Yoon-Soo replied.
The two disposed of the mudgems that tried to approach Sally; Sally trusted them as well, and she continued to breathe out fire. More mudgems started to approach Sally as her pillar of fire started to burn brighter, but it simply helped them hunt all of the mudgems more quickly.
At last, the final mudgem appeared from the swamp. This mudgem was taller than the others and it had a strange jewel embedded in its chest. It screeched, “Kahimonoi!”
It was a Magic Mudgem. A Magic Mudgem was a mudgem variant that was different from a normal mudgem; they could actually use magic. It slammed its large hands onto the ground, and the mud in the area flew up in the air.
“Kyaah!” Shaneth exclaimed.
It was using magic that manipulated mud, and the mud not only blocked their vision, but it clung to its target to reduce their movement speed. The Magic Mudgem did not miss its chance when it saw Shaneth surrounded by mud.
However, Kang Yoon-Soo was already in front of her. The Magic Mudgem’s jaw was knocked away when he swung his longsword upward.
Slash!
The Magic Mudgem was stunned by the critical strike, and Kang Yoon-Soo swung his sword downward before immediately slashing horizontally to the left. As soon as he finished his movement, the Magic Mudgem was helplessly cut into pieces.
He picked up a large shiny rock from the Magic Mudgem’s corpse.
[Treasure of the Mudgems]
Rating: Normal
It shines like a jewel but is just a worthless rock. A small amount of mana is stored inside.
Kang Yoon-Soo raised his hand and said, “Mass Raise Dead.”
The dead mudgems slowly rose up from the ground, and they spilled out light green mud that let off a severely rotten stink.
[76 Rotten Mudgems have been sent to the summon dimension.]
[Summons currently stored in the dimension: 76 Rotten Mudgems, White.]
[Remaining space for additional summons: 623]
Suddenly, Sally returned to her human form and approached Kang Yoon-Soo, her eyes sparkling with expectation. She continued, “Papa, what about my sibling?”
“Later,” Kang Yoon-Soo answered coldly.
“Hing… Then make a promise to Sally. Promise me you’ll definitely give me a sibling later,” Sally said as she extended her pinky toward him.
Kang Yoon-Soo wrapped his pinky around hers and made a pinky swear with her, saying, “Yeah.”
“Thank you, papa! Sally loves papa and mama!” Sally exclaimed. Kang Yoon-Soo sent her to the summon dimension.
“I’m sorry; I was just a burden to you today,” Shaneth said dejectedly when they were finally alone.
Kang Yoon-Soo replied, “It’s alright.”
However, Shaneth could not help but feel frustrated. She had been one of the top five soldiers in Kerlin back when she used to serve under Lady Hermia, but she started developing an inferiority complex every time she watched Kang Yoon-Soo fight. It revolved around how Kang Yoon-Soo could beat anyone as if he had faced them thousands of times. Also, he had now started to catch up to her level.
‘But why do I feel I want to be of help to that man?’ Shaneth was confused, before she suddenly remembered about the power fragment. She had grown stronger by quite a bit compared to when she had just received the power fragment. She moved her hands in midair to check her status window.
[Shaneth Elogra]
Power Fragment: 1
148 hours remaining before the first opening. The waiting time will reduce as the user grows in power.
There was not much time left before the first seal was lifted. Kang Yoon-Soo had been staring at her, and he muttered, “I guess I have to raise you faster.” Shaneth suddenly felt as if she had become his pet for some odd reason.
At that moment, something whispered quietly into Kang Yoon-Soo’s ears, “A disaster will strike in the near future. You have to be prepared for it.”
Kang Yoon-Soo stared at Shaneth’s face, asking, “What did you say just now?”
“What? I didn’t say anything,” Shaneth replied.
They started to observe their surroundings, but there was nobody in the swamp aside from Kang Yoon-Soo, Shaneth, and the gently blowing wind..
‘I guess my mental state deteriorated until I started to hear illusions,’ Kang Yoon-Soo thought. He was not surprised at all, as he knew that he was not in a normal state of mind, and there were times that he had experienced hallucinations. He felt something was strange, but he decided not to dwell too much on it.
That was the case, at least, until after a certain time…