Chapter 123
You know how the life of a protagonist is, right? Chicks left and right, opportunities left and right, and, most important of all, problems left and right.
I did not ask for the life of a protagonist. At least not after the first two times. Why would I? It’s a fucking troublesome life. Sure, I would get girls and power, but given time, and by incorporating myself into the shadows of any world, that would happen anyway.
So why in the world would I choose to be a protagonist?
So I kept myself away from the plot as much as I could. There was always a protagonist in any world. Like the hero in the magical world, or the abandoned young master in the Murim world, and all of that.
I steered clear of them so I wouldn’t get dragged into their drama.
But luck was something that was never on my side, perhaps due to that very reason. So there were times when even I was stuck in unavoidable situations, such as this very one.
The formation of a dungeon. It was the phenomenon when a recently finished dungeon would incorporate into the laws of the world. It was a kind of test before the real thing was ready for the launch. To see where there were problems and to fix them. Simple enough, right?
Wrong.
The biggest problem with a dungeon that was under test was the unpredictability of the dungeon. You never know what might happen in a dungeon like this. Sudden shifts might cause the structure to change. Turning left would actually push you to the right. One minute your comrades were next to you, and the next minute they were not.
Things like that.
If it were a normal dungeon, then even with my weakened state, I could have done something about it. But this state was something I wouldn’t dream of messing with, even if I was at my full power.
Much less now.
Now when I was weakened and the system was going through something.
“This seems to be a dungeon.” I replied to Cassandra, who nodded in return, “That much I understood. But this is a little strange, don’t you think?”
I could have told the truth, but there was no point in doing so since it wouldn’t make any sense to her.
So, I spun the story.
“There are records of this in the library. A dungeon that just formed out of nowhere and sucked people in.” I lied through my teeth.
“Spending that time reading the books helped you, huh?” Lucas mocked.
“Could help all of us, actually.” Cassandra corrected him, which made him upset a little since she was taking my side, but he couldn’t say anything to her, now could he?
“So what is it?” She asked.
“An ancient labyrinth,” I replied.
“What is that?” Lucas asked.
“The one that was discovered in the kingdom of Makz was a tomb of their old emperor, when their kingdom used to be a power on the continent. The tomb had sword techniques and mana cultivation techniques that helped them reclaim their power from the past.” I replied.
“Kingdom of Marz? Never heard of it.” Lucas replied, and Cassandra nodded in agreement.
Well, that’s because it doesn’t exist.
“It was a kingdom that has ceased to exist now. They drowned in power and ended up dooming themselves.” I made up another story to cover up another story.
It wasn’t the point anyway, so who would go out of here to make sure whether it was the truth or not.
“So? You think this is the same?” Cassandra asked.
“Could be,” I replied, not being certain.
“Something is better than nothing. So what can you tell me about this place?” Cassandra asked, obviously taking charge of the whole situation since we were the only ones here.
“Not much. We will have to move forward to know.” I replied.
“Very well. Let us depart then.” Cassandra said. The formation she devised was very simple. She at the forefront, Martha and I behind her in the middle, Martha for my protection and I for spells, and Lucas at the rear in case something jumped at us from behind.
After about ten minutes of walking in the dark cave corridors, I felt movement up ahead, and I wasn’t the only one who did.
“Halt,” Cassandra whispered, and we all came to a stop. We slowly moved forward after her signal, making sure our steps didn’t make any noise.
Once we arrived at the corner, we turned to look down the path that went to the left to find our first enemy in this place.
A golem.
The usual classic golem everyone was used to seeing in manhwas and fantasy settings. Tall, made of rock, glowing eyes of different colors, this one had yellow, and somewhere in that body was a core crystal that was the battery of this thing.
“Lucas will charge forward, and the young lady will flank it from the left, aiming for its knee. I will search for the core and attack there to expose it, and Martha will finish it by throwing her dagger at the core.” I gave a simple strategy, which surprised all of them since none of them had much battle experience.
“Alright.” Since Cassandra said so, no one objected.
Lucas charged forward, attracting the attention of the golem. Cassandra flanked it as I said, going from the left side because there was more room for movement.
She was faster than Lucas, so by the time he arrived and the golem raised its hand to attack him, Cassandra caught it mid-attack by attacking its knee.
A full bash that rattled the golem. It wasn’t that strong, huh?
I felt the mana flowing through the golem and located it quite quickly. Of course, I let them fight it a little before saying where it was. After the third bash, I used [Lightning bolt], which was very weak at the moment due to the seal, and exposed the area where the core was.
“Now!” I yelled out loud, and Martha, who was waiting for the signal with the dagger wrapped in her aura, immediately threw it at the core the moment it was exposed.
The golem shattered shortly after, and both of the attackers took deep breaths of relief.
“Nice shot,” Lucas said once we approached him, although there was a slight dissatisfaction in his voice.
“Keep it up, both of you.” Cassandra also praised both of us. It was safe to say that everyone played their part, and no one was unnecessary baggage.
“And one more thing.” But the real surprise came when Cassandra suddenly said, “You seem to be the most knowledgeable among all of us. So it makes sense if you take charge.”
It was truly a shocking statement because that was the same as admitting I was above her in terms of strategy, which a noble would never admit. Also made sense why Martha and Lucas were so shocked.
“I will make sure to make use of every aspect, young lady,” I replied without arguing much.
“Good.” Cassandra replied before she added, “And drop that too.”
“Drop what?” I asked.
“The formality. Just call me by my name. Given the situation, worrying about status is foolish.” Cassandra said.
She sounded more practical than necessary, huh?
Anyway, once again, I didn’t argue, even though Martha and Lucas were extremely shocked by the subsequent orders given by Cassandra.
“Alright then. Shall we move in deeper?” I asked, and everyone nodded. The formation assumed was the same.
While walking, I checked my status, but I didn’t receive any EXP for killing that monster. Golems usually didn’t give EXP since they weren’t creatures made of mana but were magical constructs. But this one was different.
There was a different feel to it.
And soon, my suspicions were answered when we killed two more golems. This time, the mana crystal wasn’t shattered all the way, so I managed to get a good look at it after the first two cores were shattered beyond any analysis.
‘A magical crest, huh?’ I wondered to myself.
So that’s what it was. Maybe the bullshit story from earlier that I made up on the spot wasn’t so bullshit anymore.
This wasn’t just a dungeon. It was a legacy dungeon. Somewhere in there was the legacy of a mage.
The mage who built these golems.
~~
“Fire lance.” Zara watched with eyes wide like an owl as she saw Rayla use a spell that was impossible to use unless you were a fourth-circle fire mage.
The power of the spell was lower, more likely that of a third circle mage, which was an even more surprising fact since Rayla was supposed to be a first circle mage who could only cast basic utility spells according to her information.
But even then, it was impossible for a third circle mage to use a fourth circle mage.
Unless a very special case.
‘It can’t be…?’
~~
Let me know in the comments if there are any mistakes.
