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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Hydragon Enhancement
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The sewer dungeon of the golden city, Arcana.
The rewards from a dungeon that required at least level 8 to clear had jumped up two whole tiers.
There were only four items on the reward list, but that was more than enough.
[Wind Seal], [Mutant Captain's Hook], [Black Iron Dagger], [Mutant Rat's Core]
'All of them are key items.'
As expected from rewards two tiers above a level 8 dungeon clear.
It felt like they had cherry-picked only the most essential treasures.
I examined the reward list one by one.
First, the 'Wind Seal' was a talisman.
It boosted agility and reduced wind resistance, making it an essential fundamental talisman for assassin or archer classes.
Then, the 'Mutant Captain's Hook' and 'Black Iron Dagger' were high-grade sub-weapons. They were likely the best equipment rewards available in this sewer.
Hook-type sub-weapons usually granted additional options to navigation-related classes. And giving the Black Iron Dagger to Isabella would immediately boost her combat power.
But the one that truly caught my eye was the last item: 'Mutant Rat's Core'.
'It's not a soul, which is a shame, but this has its own uses.'
If it had been a Mutant Rat soul, I would have cheered, but the core was plenty useful in its own way. Especially mutant-type cores, which had the most crucial function.
[Mutant Rat's Core (Material)]
★ An unidentified core that caused mutations in the monster rat
★ Feeding it to a beast induces mutation, and it's occasionally used as material for special tools or equipment.
★★ Can reinforce 'beast-type souls' possessed by Beast Lord
A hidden option visible only to those with the hidden trait 'Beast Lord'.
Its core function was enabling soul reinforcement.
'Hydragon is a beast-type boss monster too.'
By lore, Hydragon was a composite of all sorts of beasts created by a mad scientist. That meant it could be reinforced with the Mutant Rat's Core.
However, even I had never obtained a Hydragon soul before.
I had no idea what changes reinforcing a 12-man raid boss monster soul would bring.
'...There are still things I don't know.'
Faced with this unknown territory, a smile crept onto my face unbidden.
Thanks to the Iron-Blooded Lord's Heart, I shouldn't feel excitement or anything like it, yet I did.
I had played Pangeniar for the past five years, almost without a single day off.
I was the gamer who had played Pangeniar the longest, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I knew everything about this world.
And yet, Pangeniar still held endless unknowns for me.
Impossible clear difficulties that always ignited a fierce challenge hunger.
Lurking behind it all were these unknown realms, this mystery.
'...No wonder I couldn't quit this game.'
Of course, there was a distinct possibility that reinforcing it wouldn't bring any special changes.
But I loved even that possibility.
<[You have selected 'Mutant Rat's Core'.]>
So, was there any need to hesitate further?
*
I bought a four-wheeled carriage outright.
I ordered the sturdiest and toughest materials possible.
Of course, not with my money, but Hudson's.
In exchange, I provided the horse to pull the carriage.
"..."
Hudson, seated in the carriage, stared straight ahead, unblinking.
The reason his gaze and mind were both completely stolen was the horse pulling the carriage.
He gaped like a goldfish, utterly dumbfounded.
'That... is a horse?'
What is a horse?
Obviously, a horse is a horse.
A four-legged animal among livestock that runs the fastest and longest.
But what stood before him was no ordinary horse.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The ground trembled with every step.
A colossal body.
A monster with nine heads!
'It's not a horse, it's a Hydragon...?'
The Star Awakener had said he would prepare the horse to pull the carriage, so Hudson had bought the carriage without a second thought.
Only when preparations were complete and it was time to leave Arcana did he learn the true nature of the Star Awakener's 'horse'.
It was a Hydragon.
Not some crudely made one, but the perfect specimen summoned through its soul!
Boss monsters engraved in souls retained their primordial forms.
Even if they looked similar or were the same level, their very essence was incomparable.
But the common consensus was that a Hydragon soul didn't exist.
Chimeras were manufactured. There was no such thing as a primordial form.
Yet here it was. A Hydragon summoned by its soul.
'...What the hell is that?'
Hudson's eyes fixed on the top of the Hydragon's heads.
One of the nine heads—the central one—had a long horn like an elephant's tusk protruding from it.
A trait absent in regular Hydragons.
Zzzzzing.
Rumble!
"Gaaah!"
"S-Spare me!"
"Run!"
The screams from outside came from a bandit gang camped near Arcana.
One of the massive bandit groups that plagued merchants traveling to and from Arcana, a symbol of terror—but they were being massacred like flies by the Hydragon.
Especially the lightning bolts fired from the horn. Once it compressed its energy and unleashed, over ten bandits evaporated without even leaving bone dust behind.
Destructive power rivaling at least mid-tier lightning skills.
"It's noisy outside."
"...Those are the screams of the Red Hood bandits."
"Is that so? No big deal, then."
The Star Awakener closed his eyes again.
'No big deal?'
...That noise?
"Please, spare me!"
"Kieeeek!!"
"Moooooom!!!!"
*
After ten days and seven warps, passing through two high-risk, high-level zones.
We had traversed nearly half the central continent, but finding what we wanted wasn't easy.
"This one isn't it either?"
"Hmm. It's already dead."
I gazed at the blue-tinged tree before us and said.
The tree itself wasn't dead, but the 'spirit path' had already closed.
'Spirit Tree.'
What I sought was a Spirit Tree.
A Spirit Tree was one from which a spirit had been born.
Such trees temporarily opened a path to the 'spirit realm'.
Only by entering that path could we reach the 'Spirit Tower'.
And the tree before us now had closed its path long after the spirit's birth.
"To my eyes, it doesn't look much different from any other tree..."
To Hudson, this so-called Spirit Tree looked no different from any other.
What on earth made it special?
Tsk. I clicked my tongue softly and said.
"No helping it. We'll have to take the risk."
We couldn't afford to waste more time.
I drew Michella's Sword.
Hudson and Isabella stepped back, and I swung the sword hard, slicing the tree in two.
Boom!
The trunk snapped, and the tree toppled.
In that instant.
Hiaaaaa!
Screams—or perhaps groans—echoed through the entire forest.
"D-Dryads! You're insane!"
Hudson drew his hammer, scanning the surroundings warily.
Soon, numerous dryads appeared—lower bodies of deer, upper bodies human.
"You dare fell a tree pregnant with a spirit."
"Humans have lost all fear."
"Tear them apart mercilessly."
They were half-fey.
Forest guardians.
[Lv.7]
Monsters level 7 and above!
Over fifty of them.
A tree incubating a fey was deeply symbolic to them too.
Having felled it, they wouldn't let us leave alive.
"..."
Gulp!
Hudson swallowed hard, tensing up.
Isabella entered combat stance as well. She instinctively knew a charge from that many wouldn't be easy.
I slowly advanced toward them.
"Open the 'gate'. Do that, and I'll gift a spirit back to this forest."
"Humans spout nonsense."
"Is he mad?"
Some dryads nocked arrows.
If none understood reason, this gamble was a bust.
I spoke again.
"This tree's spirit is already dead. This forest is dying too. I am a druid, master of spirits, and I can gift a new one to your woods."
Forests are born from spirits.
When spirits die, forests die.
And this forest's spirit had died long ago.
Without a new spirit's birth, the forest would die too.
But that only worked if there was someone who understood.
The key was whether these simple-minded dryads, obsessed only with protecting trees, could comprehend me.
"Shoot it dead."
"Pierce it dead."
"Let's kill it first!"
...These idiots.
No choice, then?
We'd have to open a portal and return to Arcana.
Just as I thought our past ten days' efforts would vanish.
"Wait. Let's hear him out, self-proclaimed druid."
I turned.
[Lv.9]
A high dryad with a bushy beard.
Likely the master of this 'Basluk Forest'.
I'd thought it just another random forest, but the presence of a high dryad meant the spirit born when it was created was quite potent.
'At least that's a relief.'
This one seemed capable of reason.
"Is what you say true?"
"It is. Open the 'gate', and I'll go to the Spirit Tower and bring back a spirit for this forest."
"We can't open a gate to the Spirit Tower either."
"But you're keeping the spirit's corpse, right?"
"..."
The high dryad clamped its mouth shut.
Eyes saying, how do you know that?
But it was obvious. They wouldn't just scatter a dead spirit in the forest.
In case it revived or could birth a new one, they'd preserve it.
"How do we trust you're a druid?"
"How else could I have found and felled this tree?"
Only druids can distinguish Spirit Trees.
The high dryad glared alternately at the felled tree and me, frowning.
"If you lie, you'll become fertilizer for this forest."
"And if I'm telling the truth?"
"...We'll grant a fitting reward."
<[Sub quest: Return a Spirit to the Forest has begun.]>
<[Reward: Achievement 'Friend of the Dryads', Forest's Gratitude]>
<[On failure: Honor -30, Battle with the Forest]>
Battle with the forest, huh.
I shrugged at the grandiose message.
*
The 'spirit corpse' they offered was a crude stone.
It had been a forest spirit and rock spirit.
'There's still a path left.'
I could see it.
The spirit path engraved in the stone.
A druid's ability.
Druids commune with spirits and open their paths.
But the entrance was far too narrow and small. Only one way to widen it temporarily.
"We'll have to break it to enter."
"..."
The high dryad's eyes trembled faintly.
This stone was a spirit's corpse. Breaking it meant it would vanish forever.
The high dryad finally spoke.
"If you lie..."
"Kill me."
My crisp reply made Hudson react.
He shuddered, eyes screaming, 'What are you saying right now, Star Awakener?!'
Anyway, permission granted.
All that remained was smashing this stone.
Thud!
I clenched my fist and slammed it down.
Thud!
Kept pounding, and I could see the gate widening temporarily.
Zzzzzing!
Soon, a golden portal formed above the stone.
<[Portal to the 'Spirit Tower' has been generated.]>
<[Only the 'Permitted' may enter.]>
At the portal's entrance.
Beyond it, a golden spirit guarded the way.
A cute one clad in golden armor and helmet.
It pointed at me then.
Meaning only I could enter.
But I glanced alternately at Hudson and Isabella.
The golden spirit pondered briefly, then spoke.
- Friends of the druid?
I nodded, and it continued.
- Companions you'd entrust your back and life to?
I nodded again.
-Then I permit you to enter together.
Whoosh!
The portal expanded.
In that fleeting moment.
"Main Quest 3: Climb the Tower!"
"Mysterious towers erected across the world. Climbing one completes the main quest."
"Tip: Recommended to first climb the 'Tower of Foundations' in each city."
"Reward: Issued differentially based on content"
Seeing the Main Quest 3 start message, I smiled faintly.