The exploration team hurried up the seemingly endless staircase. Water was slowly rising from below, and there was no time to search for traps. Whether trapped or drowned, it would be the same end.
When everyone’s breaths were nearly gone, they finally reached a space. The exploration team collapsed on the flat ground, panting heavily as if they had almost become water ghosts but barely survived. Fortunately, the water did not overflow into the room. It seemed this was considered in the design.
Captain Recadi lightly tapped each mercenary’s cheek, praising them for their efforts. Bald Viktor laughed heartily, boasting about his luck in surviving until the end.
“Indeed, I wasn’t going to die in such a place!”
“Your survival isn’t due to luck, but because you almost died due to lack of it, you fool.”
With these hearty laughs, the tense atmosphere began to ease. Even the disheveled noblewoman regained her composure after seeing her state.
“Yuric, thanks to you, I really survived.”
“But how did you know there was a passage over there?”
Everyone seemed very curious. The magic had been cast precisely where the passage was, with no error. This meant they had found it accurately.
“There was writing under the marble statue. The mage always pointed to the path. I thought it was like a riddle. Dungeons usually have such things.”
“Damn, blind fools should just die.”
“You couldn’t figure it out even if you read it because your brain is too stupid.”
Everyone agreed. Even if they had read the words like Yuric, most mercenaries wouldn’t have understood and would have drowned.
“Captain, what if we hadn’t brought him along?”
“We would have swum together in the water.”
Surprisingly, amidst the chaos, the tomb raider Acho managed to retrieve the sword she had stuck into the marble statue.
“What a worthy tomb raider. To have the presence of mind to grab that in such a situation. I respect you!”
“If we bring back the coffin money, we can talk about it!”
“Oh, it’s so pretty. Let me kiss it.”
“Go to hell.”
The noblewoman, who was the mastermind behind the incident, quietly observed while ordering the workers to retrieve the swords. Although the mercenaries all wanted to say something, they held back since they were still alive. They didn’t want to risk being charged with nobility defamation.
After catching their breath, the exploration team began to thoroughly investigate the room.
It’s unclear if this is the final room, but it was constructed elegantly with marble walls like the previous rooms.
“…Captain. Look over there…”
The light from the mana gem revealed something placed systematically on the floor. It was made of the same material as the walls…
‘…Could it be coffins?’
The expressions of the exploration team instantly turned grim.
They never imagined finding coffins here.
“Could it be… a communal graveyard?”
“It’s eerie.”
Yuric went to the nearest coffin and checked its lid. There was writing on it—a name and a brief epitaph.
“I think these are the ones who fought alongside those heroes earlier.”
The captain warned against touching them recklessly.
“Unless you want to be sealed again.”
There were nearly twenty marble coffins. Yuric tried to detect any magic, but there was no reaction. They were ordinary coffins.
“There!”
At the end of the wall, there was a memorial stone. It bore an inscription commemorating those who bravely fought and fell. Yuric briefly mourned in front of it. Because of them, humanity could enjoy this peace now.
Fortunately, there was a passage right next to the memorial stone. Before moving along the passage, the captain gave a break to rest and recover some strength.
Yuric took rubbings of each inscription on the memorial stone and the marble coffins.
Although he wasn’t sure when, he hoped to pass down the traces of their great ancestors to their descendants.
Encouraged by the noblewoman, the expedition leader suggested opening one of the coffins. Upon hearing this, tomb raider Acho immediately jumped up.
“Never open a coffin! They’re filled with traps, poison, and curses. Disturbing the dead will bring bad luck!”
Acho emphasized repeatedly that even the worst tomb raider wouldn’t touch a coffin. Seeing her firm stance, the noblewoman gave up on opening the lid.
Even if she stood to gain, life was more precious than anything else. If another disaster like before happened, it would be disastrous.
After resting, the exploration team moved in two lines along the passage. Moving tensely all day, their energy quickly drained.
The exhausted noblewoman kept calling for the captain to stop. The procession halted several times in the middle of the passage. Seeing this, Yuric took out a potion and offered it to her.
“Still, you must drink it, madam. It will help recover your energy.”
Finally, she clenched her eyes shut and swallowed a sip of the potion. Immediately after, she clung to the wall and retched. Luckily, there were no adverse effects.
“I won’t ever do this again. Never…”
The noblewoman muttered, wiping away tears from her severe nausea.
After the noblewoman recovered, the exploration team resumed their journey. They arrived at the next room.
The three mages who had detected no reaction from mana sensed something in the center of the room. It wasn’t a golem but appeared to be some kind of mechanism.
“What is that?”
Something resembling a display rose from the center of the room, large enough to hold a book. It was concavely carved, as if inviting something to be placed upon it.
Beside it, there was writing: “This will show the way.”
“Is it activated by placing a mana gem here?”
“That seems to be the case.”
Though they didn’t move immediately as intended by the dungeon, they decided to investigate thoroughly first.
However, they found no passages or devices within the room. It seemed activating the display in the center was necessary to reveal the passage.
Captain Recadi placed a spare mana gem on the display. Instantly, a strong mana reaction occurred.
A blue light spread across the display, directing immense mana towards the mana gem. Simultaneously, a blue flow spread throughout the room. The exploration team immediately armed themselves, ready to defend.
The spreading mana seemed to search around their feet before gathering toward Yuric, who stood on the floor.
“Everyone, step back!”
Captain Recadi shouted to distance Yuric. Yuric remained still, not wanting to provoke anything.
Mana filled the room, gathering beneath his feet and climbing up his body, compressing into his right index finger.
Yuric gritted his teeth in pain, feeling as though his finger was being seared.
“Grrr…!”
“Yuric…!”
The mercenaries called out to him, seeing their gentle companion in agony. However, Yuric waved them off, reassuring them.
“I’m fine. Just a bit painful.”
Thankfully, the intense pain quickly subsided. Kneeling in pain, Yuric stood up and examined his right index finger. Apart from the intense pain, he felt no other changes.
Seeing Yuric recover, Captain Recadi approached and asked about his condition. He said he felt nothing unusual.
“I don’t think it’s a curse.”
“I don’t think it’s a curse either. But we should probably visit a temple first.”
Only then did the mercenaries approach and ask if he was alright. Yuric smiled and thanked them for their concern.
“Don’t smile like that, you fool. It makes me feel sentimental.”
Just then, Yuric felt a stimulus in his finger, and a wall moved, creating a passage. The exploration team rejoiced, realizing placing the mana gem on the display was correct.
Captain Recadi gently lifted the mana gem from the display. Since the passage remained stable, he retrieved it. Despite its cheap value, it was still significant.
Though there was a minor mishap, there were no major issues. The exploration team continued through the passage.
This new passage was long and narrow, forcing the team to form a single line.
‘It feels like an uphill climb.’
Yuric felt a slight upward slope.
Elder Haral also noticed this.
“Captain, it seems we’re going uphill.”
This was good news, indicating they were getting closer to the surface.
They arrived at another underground room, but this time, a passage was visible leading upwards!
“Could it be an exit?”
Tired faces instantly lit up. The noblewoman eagerly wanted to leave.
“Can we take a short break?”
“No. Let’s go. We need to get out.”
The noblewoman looked exhausted. The captain sent each person up the stairs one by one.
As soon as Yuric entered the stairway, he smelled the damp earth. Instinctively, he knew they were nearing the surface.
They climbed the stairs for quite some time. The darkness beneath made the noblewoman slip several times.
And finally,
“It’s over!”
Acho’s exclamation echoed from the top. Engeldard pushed open the closed lid behind her. As the lid broke, they breathed in fresh air.
As expected, it was dark outside. Each member of the exploration team lay sprawled on the ground as they reached the surface.
“Damn, we’re finally done…”
The exploration team lacked the energy to celebrate their successful dungeon raid. They feared collapsing if they didn’t rest immediately.
They hurriedly set up camp and assigned night watch duties, with those less tired taking the first shift.
Yuric crawled into his sleeping bag, rubbing his sleepy eyes and yawning widely.
He recalled the changes in his body earlier. His internal circuits remained unaffected, and his finger was still intact.
‘I’ll think about it later…’
Overwhelmed by fatigue, Yuric lost the strength to think further.
He fell asleep the moment he closed his eyes.
—
Yuric dreamed.
It was a dream of a mage battling demons.
Every time he moved his finger, the air boiled and the ground flipped.
It was his index finger.
