Dragon Vein.
A place where a dragon known as a Mana Disaster has lingered for a long time, causing Nature Mana to be abnormally dense, not a zone of disaster.
There’s no more blessed environment for living beings, nor is there a better place for evolution for inanimate objects.
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[Solid Rock Fragment of the Dragon Vein]
Grade – Magic Grade 7
Description – A fragment of the rock that constitutes the cave at the peak of the dragon’s expertise, the center of the Dragon Vein Mountain Range. This rock is imbued with a massive amount of mana.
Effect 1 – The weight of the rock increases by 10 times.
Effect 2 – The rock’s durability increases.
Effect 3 – Possesses the effects of a superior magic stone.
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In the Magic Stone Mine, the yield is strictly controlled, and they are treated as strategic materials, rolling around like stones on a mountain.
If a merchant were to see it, they’d be itching to pick it up, but the many masters stationed here wouldn’t allow an ordinary merchant’s approach.
Even if they hired mercenaries with money, the existing masters wouldn’t allow mining.
‘If that kind of energy leaks, the usefulness of the entire Dragon Vein would diminish.’
This was Xing’s dilemma.
It would be less of a hassle if they could at least call a merchant to mine, but he had to hurl these damn heavy rocks alone!
THUD
Placing his hand on the rock and extracting its energy with his internal energy, he finally felt the weight that’d increased 10 times or the unnecessarily solid durability lessen.
He could hardly manage it with strength alone, so each time he pulled a rock out, he had to exert his internal energy, causing the work to drag on and take time.
“Take it slow! Skeletons can live even without air!”
“I’m not hurrying because I’m worried about you. If I’m even two days late, my Academic Life Points and Score will drop due to being excessively out!”
“…”
Xing was in a rush for very pragmatic reasons!
It didn’t sit well with him that the golems, which could easily obliterate these rocks in one strike, were just staring blankly, but what could he do?
They claimed they had done their part and wanted to spectate.
Xing had another worry.
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[Collapsed Cave Ceiling of the Dragon Vein]
Grade – Hyper Ultra Super Rare Grade 9
Description – The collapsed ceiling of the cave that makes up the peak of the dragon’s expertise, the center of the Dragon Vein Mountain Range. This ceiling holds the strongest energy in the cave.
Effect 1 – Shares effects imbued in other rocks.
Effect 2 – Resists the methods by which nearby rocks are destroyed.
Effect 3 – Shares the resistance of the rock with surrounding rocks.
Effect 4 – Recovers lost energy over time.
Effect 5 – The ceiling slowly regenerates by itself.
Effect 6 – Automatically enhances increased rocks.
Effect 7 – Has a certain probability of birthing golems from the enhanced rocks.
Effect 8 – Commands golems under the cave ceiling as guardians to protect the cave.
Effect 9 – Turns fragments of golems into mini-golems to act as workers to grow the cave.
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“Is this how dungeons are born?”
A cave that grows and strengthens on its own.
Trying to break it and extract it from the ceilings didn’t even leave a scratch due to the large-scale overlapping effects granted to every rock.
With such durability, it made the immobile Battle Golems outside look admirable as Xing contemplated how to decipher the cave’s features.
‘I’ve used all 13 forms of the Castro Swordmaster family’s thrusting technique. Next is Professor Raregrills’ Northern 17 Sword Method.’
[Effect 2 – Resists the methods by which the nearby rocks are destroyed.]
[Effect 3 – Shares the resistance of the rock with surrounding rocks.]
These two restrictions are making it even more of a hassle to clear out the smaller rocks to avoid overlapping effects on the ceiling.
Using the same style of sword technique to absorb the mana of a singular rock and then whip it out made the mana not come out at all.
‘Had I been engrossed in only the existing sword techniques and hadn’t learned even a smidgen of new sword techniques, it would have been absolutely impossible to clear this ceiling.’
It would have been neater to give up on the hostage rescue and head back to report to Oknodie, but there was something troubling about the fact that if he hustled enough, something might work out somehow.
Though he couldn’t clear all the smaller rocks, Xing left behind those that he assumed would be sufficient, with the low effects they bore.
He had a sense that he could overcome the rest after shedding the falling technique he knew.
“Ugh…!”
The strength poured into both arms and even caused veins to bulge on his forehead.
Lifting the debris of the ceiling not only added weight but also mass and extra effects; nonetheless, the reward of exposing many fragments after working all day was satisfying.
[You have thrown away the collapsed ceiling of the Dragon Vein. Special experience raises Xing’s experience.]
[Strength Experience +1]
[Swordsmanship Experience +1]
“Your strength is quite impressive!”
“Shall we proceed, or must I reach out for you?”
Pasible Yep stepped out from the debris with a meaningless grin.
With the energies of the Dragon Vein enabling alchemy to raise the ceiling, he avoided being crushed, and though he continued to receive energy, if the ceiling grew continuously and the ground strengthened, he would have been buried in the eternally hardened terrain.
Pasible Yep wasn’t the type to sulk simply because he hadn’t extended a hand to save himself from such a crisis.
“Thank you for your grace. No skeleton would wish to spend eternity underground, no matter how undying. Hahaha.”
“If you’re grateful, please answer the questions I’m about to ask without holding back any secrets.”
“Gladly.”
“The Butler Professor Jonnas Wahyhiemhai and the butler in the hands of Oknodie’s Battle Golem had every capability and atmosphere different. Is there a reason?”
Internal organization matters of the Foundation were classified and should not be leaked, yet Pasible Yep answered outright.
“There are generally two types of butlers. The External Butler Organization from Division 1 that eliminates threats from external dimension realms targeting the Middle Realm. The Internal Butler Organization of Division 2, which cleanses internal threats to the Middle Realm. Among the duties of Division 2, there’s a separate management butler dedicated to nurturing successors and managing risk factors, known as Division 3.”
“There are so many butlers in the Foundation that you have to create three divisions…”
“Jonnas Wahyhiemhai is the ace of the displaced Division 2 butlers and the next Butler of the Foundation, while Rubrio is a special butler following Division 1’s captain. The directives they receive differ, so their feelings would have been different.”
Xing then posed another essential question.
“The perception of the Foundation by outsiders is that they are merely the worst terror organization, spreading demons steeped in Dark Mana, embedding their agents in positions throughout the world, manipulating it, and conducting self-destructive terror whenever things go awry. How is it that such a Foundation speaks of justice?”
“Haha. If you’ve come this far, Oknodie must surely believe that it’s time to share the Foundation’s deepest secrets. I’ll gladly tell you.”
Pasible Yep briskly shared secrets even Oknodie himself didn’t know.
“For humans, the powerful Middle Realm has long been regarded as a
“Spirits… aren’t they those who exist wherever there’s Nature Mana?”
“Spirits born and raised within the Middle Realm are, indeed. However, not all spirits originate from the Middle Realm. The more powerful the spirit, the less likely it is.”
As Pasible Yep’s finger touched the ground, the transformed ground with [Alchemy] morphed into a continental map.
Xing was amazed at Pasible’s power, which was capable of unfolding a map of such scale from a land that barely allowed him to extract mana, using only a single finger to execute one sword technique.
One could only wonder how such a formidable being ended up so easily dragged into a butler of the Foundation.
“The wicked spirits of the dimensional realms torture the souls and bodies of countless ‘contractors’ through unfair contracts and drag them into the underworld for eternity. The contractors’ words invariably describe horrific scenarios where the souls cannot even scream before their obliteration before they can search for the next prey.”
“…!”
“To halt these atrocities, the butlers of Division 1 invade the most dangerous dimensional realms, reverse-collect the spirits, and isolate them into magical tools, utilizing their power as resources for the Foundation.”
“Given such a grand purpose, why’s it still engaging in its known evil acts?”
Xing’s question was valid.
Merely revealing this fact and honestly pursuing their goals would have been enough for the Foundation to become a benevolent organization.
Why did they forsake that path?
Pasible Yep let out a dry laugh.
It seemed that the dryness of that laughter wasn’t just because he was undead.
“Those who are desperate enough to crave power to the extent of selling their very souls are the contractors of lowly, lesser spirits. The truly dangerous ones are the higher-grade spirits and their contractors. What do you think would happen if a prince of any nation allied with a spirit to gain the upper hand in the throne struggle?”
“…!”
“Tremendous numbers of humans would be sacrificed as offerings to the underworld. Nations also regularly send some of their citizens as natural offerings in wars, territorial expansions, monster hunts, or hazardous industries. How could the Foundation, which originally didn’t have any of the spirits’ powers, suppress such atrocities?”
“…Dark Mana.”
“Exactly. Dark Mana has been a tradition passed down since the inception of the Foundation.”
The only way for humanity to grapple with the inhuman and cruel powers wielded by the powerful spirits of the dimensional realm, the sole means of resistance they had.
It was the Dark Mana awakeners, who sought to gain power by harboring energy of death and despair, and they were the predecessors of the Wahyhiemhai Foundation.
