189: Dungeon Trials (1)

The dungeon in the wasteland between Rabat, Palanque and Calven had two entrances, but it showed a strange feature where the passage wouldn’t open unless attacked from both sides at the same time.

Of course, breaking in was a way to enter it, but in ancient dungeons, each action could lead to another variable, so it wasn’t a welcomed opinion.

‘Isn’t it likely to be a magical barrier?’

Perry Martinez, the commander of exploration team 1, thought.

There were usually 3 types of ancient dungeons.

A Hero’s tomb.

A God’s Remains.

And magical barriers which were created by an unknown phenomenon.

Among them, the characteristics which often occur in finding a dungeon were the magical barrier type.

Neither a Hero’s tomb nor a God’s remains type of dungeon would feel like this.

That was the reason why Rabat, which had superior magical power, was confident in this exploration.

‘…Avilius has no say in this.’

Recalling the 2nd exploration team, which consisted mostly of personnel from the Holy Kingdom, Perry Martinez frowned.

Where does their right to claim compensation come from?

Surely, they were here to check on the dungeon.

In that sense, it was inevitable for Rabat to dislike the Holy Kingdom, which took over one entrance.

However, Perry was quick to dispel those thoughts from his mind.

And that was because he remembered the battle between Sevion Brooks and Ignet Crescentia, which took place four days ago.

Recalling the power of the Black Knight commander, he changed his mind.

‘… let’s admit it. Competing with the Holy Kingdom is unreasonable.’

Right. If he was in the team that consisted of the Black Knights led by Ignet, then he wouldn’t even have a chance to go out.

Rather than chasing after the Holy Kingdom, it would be better to show a more remarkable performance than the other two participants, i.e. Palanque and Calven.

“Phew, Phew….”

“Amira, calm down. What would someone feel and do when the Vice-commander itself looks this nervous?”

Perry Martinez’s gaze wandered from place to place.

There would be no problem for Rabat to come up better than Calven’s people, who had swords but heavily lacked experience, and their commander Gregory Griffin, who was old now, wouldn’t be of help.

Sevion Brooks was pretty good.

Normally, he would be a picky man, but because of the shock from the battle with Ignet, he seemed silent.

The one-sided defeat he suffered for the first time since he had become a Master must have created a wound in his heart.

If so, then who should he be concerned about?

‘Airn Pareira and Lulu.’

The old magician shifted his attention to the blonde young man and the cat on his shoulder.

The two of them couldn’t be looked down on.

That was especially the case with Airn Pareira.

The unpredictable cat was, of course, a possibility, but the young Sword Master was definitely more dangerous.

The fact that he didn’t step back from Ignet’s pressure showed that he was strong.

It was unbelievable considering his age, but Perry thought that this guy might even be stronger than Sevion Brooks.

‘I hope this goes the way I think it will.’

Perry, who looked at the two, took a deep breath.

If things went as planned, amazing results could be achieved.

As he was thinking about it, a flare went off on the other side.

He nodded and looked back at the 1st exploration team.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes!”

With a loud answer, the magicians of Rabat demonstrated their abilities.

The entrance to the dungeon, which came in contact with the magic, opened with a loud grinding sound.

Bung!

Perry Martinez sent out a beam of light to confirm it.

However, as if a pebble had been dropped into the deep sea, the inside of the dungeon showed no signs of illuminating.

“Well, this is expected; let’s go in.”

Perry Martinez, who spoke to Sevion Brooks, took the lead.

Armed with robes enchanted with protection magic and a staff made of northern gyro wood, an indescribable aura of magnificence emanated from the old magician’s body.

Seeing the strong, broad back of the man, the exploration members were amazed.

‘The best magician of Rabat is with us!’

‘Perry Martinez, the best magician in the east, is guiding us!’

‘Even though it is an ancient dungeon, there will be nothing dangerous! We can believe Perry Martinez!’

Feeling the gaze of magicians on him, even Perry Martinez felt confident.

Right. He is the most outstanding battle magician in the central part of the continent and has extensive knowledge about dungeons.

With the exception of the three people in the Runtel Kingdom, he wasn’t a lacking person.

There was no way he could be defeated by the knights of Palanque or the young mercenaries of Calven!

With that thought, he went in.

… suddenly, feeling strange, he looked back.

“…”

No, there was nothing there.

No one was there. Within a few seconds of him standing there, falling into his thoughts, the entire party disappeared as if they vanished into thin air.

He didn’t feel any change in the magic flow or anything. Something outside his ability had happened.

Perry Martinez realized what it meant and burst into laughter

“Huhuhu…”

‘So, it must have been an ancient temple, not a magical barrier.’

He recalled the knowledge he had gained through the old books he had read.

A solitary ordeal comes which did not differentiate between a magician, sorcerer or anyone else.

The path an individual had to take in such a situation, which occurred so suddenly that it couldn’t be explained, was truly a ‘God-given ordeal’. This meant that one had to walk on his own path confidently without being swept away by doubts of uneasiness and suspicions that constantly bombarded them as they walked alone in the dark.

Perry Martinez thought about it and clicked his tongue.

Not because he was in trouble. A magician like him wouldn’t kneel in the face of such an ordeal.

His mind, which he believed was stronger than anyone else’s, set a direction and made his way through the darkness without a single doubt.

However, that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel bad.

This expedition turned out to be one inside an ancient temple rather than a dungeon with barriers around like he thought it would be, which meant the number of things a magician could do came down drastically.

Of course, that didn’t mean they didn’t have a task at all, but compared to the paladins and priests of the Holy Kingdom, they were now suddenly inferior.

And the damage they could take would be larger than Palanque and Calven.

Some things flashed through Perry’s mind, who was feeling troubled.

There was a wall to overcome.

However, there were things that existed higher in the world which haven’t been reached yet.

‘… if it were the Lords of Runtel, would they be able to find a way through God’s ordeal?’

The suspicion approached him like a gentle mist.

Shaking his head, he moved forward with growing discomfort.

‘… a divine ordeal?’

Seeing what unfolded before his eyes, Sevion thought of it right away.

There was chaos all around him where many people kept dying. He, too, was dressed in blood-soaked clothes, holding a sword that was dyed in red.

Fortunately, he immediately realized it was an illusion and not reality.

‘If I had made a mistake, I would have been caught up in the past. I need to get my mind straight.’

Taking a moment to relieve himself of the visions he saw, the Sword Master moved ahead.

The scenes he saw were from the civil war that had ended 30 years ago. Neither he nor his home country could repeat the same mistakes again.

With a strong heart, he swung his sword without hesitation.

The enemies who were approaching him fell apart like insignificant illusions and disappeared.

After overcoming dozens of trials like that.

Sevion finally found a shining dot in the distance.

‘It’s quite a tricky situation.’

A very deep illusion that even he, a Sword Master, found himself lost in for a moment.

He knew that most of the people on the expedition’s team 1, who were not as skilled as he was, would have a very hard time through this.

Of course, the worst wouldn’t happen.

The merciful God would punish only those who truly deserve it.

However, it was necessary to reduce the loss of power as much as possible, when considering it from his perspective, to successfully attack this dungeon.

‘Perry, I’ll ask him when he arrives.’

He had walked faster than he thought.

He didn’t think anyone else could have gone through this ordeal faster than him.

He couldn’t be sure about Ignet, but Sevion thought that he had a stronger hold over his mind than the other participants of the expedition.

He couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Ah, someone is here.”

“…”

The light seemed like the one that the cat sorcerer usually played with.

But Lulu wasn’t the only one who had arrived.

Even the genius of Lindsay’s family, Ilya Lindsay, had arrived and was looking at him with a calm face.

“… many have come.”

Perry Martinez, who had arrived a step later, couldn’t help but be shocked.

His eyes looked at Ilya Lindsay with an unbelievable feeling.

Wasn’t this woman suffering in the banquet hall?

Yet she managed to overcome the ordeal so quickly?

Better than him and Sevion Brooks too?

There were things he wanted to ask her. However, both the old men kept silent, and time passed.

“Phew, is it over?

“Mr Martinez!”

“Brooks, you came first.”

A few more joined them later. Most of them belonged to Rabat and Palanque.

Of course, from Calven’s side, Amira Shelton and Gregory Griffin, too, had come.

But after two hours had passed since the last person had come, and even after an hour later than that which was kept as a waiting period, no one else showed up, and so they made a decision.

“I think it will be pointless to wait any longer.”

“Then do we move to find the altar?”

“Maybe… but even if we do find it, I can’t guarantee that it can be used.”

Perry Martinez said with a frown.

Since it was an ordeal from the merciful God, everyone else who was still wandering in the dark, wouldn’t be greatly wounded.

Perhaps if the altar was found inside, then perhaps some offerings and a simple prayer would be enough for them to return.

However, the problem was whether the recovered expedition members would still be conscious or not.

‘We have no choice but to move on…’

The old magician turned his head.

And then looked at the cat playing with a flame and Ilya Lindsay, who was meditating.

Not liking them being that relaxed, he asked.

“Does the cat sorcerer or the lady of Lindsay family have any opinions?”

He wasn’t asking for a solution.

But he didn’t want them to feel like they were being ignored for being there as mercenaries.

Although it was a little burdening for Perry, he wanted to check with the opinions of the Sword Master and the powerful sorcerer.

And the answer came back right away.

Ilya Lindsay opened her eyes and stared intently at Perry, and she said.

“Trust.”

“What?”

“She meant that we have to wait with trust.”

“What is…”

“I think the point of this ordeal was to have faith and trust to move forward from all kinds of doubts, anxiety and mistrust.”

“…”

“And it is my opinion that you not only need to have faith in yourself but also in others.”

“…Miss Lindsay seems to be trusting her comrade who hasn’t arrived yet.”

Perry Martinez said it.

Most of the things he predicted, happened in the ordeal, but Airn Pareira, who was a Master, hadn’t appeared yet.

It was shocking, but not completely unbelievable.

There was no law that said that just because the level of the sword of a person was high, the heart of that person would be strong as well. Even strong people are sometimes weak when it comes to matters of the heart.

So, he honestly didn’t expect anyone else to arrive.

Those who didn’t pass the ordeal yet, were those who lacked self-discipline, and Rabat’s court magician sincerely thought so.

“He’s here.”

The eyes of Lulu and Ilya turned to a specific spot at the same time.

With that, Sevion Brooks and Perry Martinez and even the others looked in that direction.

And all the people of the 3 kingdoms opened their mouths wide.

“…”

“…”

A fire that was warm and soft like firewood in a fireplace, holding a sword wrapped in bright light.

Being a beacon for those who fell behind, a being walked in the lead, with a gentle smile.

Airn Pareira, walking with a holy and noble air, smiled at Ilya and Lulu and then at Perry.

“Sorry. We arrived a little later than expected,”

“…”

Airn Pareira, who returned 100% of his party’s trust, stood ahead of the old magician with a dignified figure like a hero.