Chapter 248
There was some back and forth, but in the end, Simon safely secured the exclusive right to conquer the dungeon.
The queen and the treasurers were a bit surprised by Simon’s decision.
They had feared that, since he came out quite aggressively, he might demand the conquest rights to one of the kingdom’s largest dungeons, especially ones already being prepared for expeditions. But Simon’s choice was unexpected.
The White Tomb Dungeon.
It was named after a dungeon gate discovered in an underground tomb built from white stone. Multiple expedition teams had attempted to conquer it, but they all failed at the very first step—entering the gate.
No one could pass through the gate, as if some special secret was hidden there. Expedition teams had long since withdrawn, and archaeologists had been investigating the mystery of the dungeon’s entry for nearly ten years.
Now, this dungeon—practically a white elephant—was what Simon chose to claim.
The kingdom still had some lingering hope about the dungeon’s potential value, but his request was within reason.
However, the kingdom made one condition clear: if Simon were to take exclusive rights, all archaeologists would be withdrawn, and the kingdom would provide none of the information it had gathered so far.
Simon would have to uncover the dungeon’s secret entirely on his own.
The queen and her officials firmly believed that Simon would never solve a mystery that had gone unanswered for a decade, and they expected him to come crawling back to the kingdom, offering to share the rights.
[Kuhahaha! I already know how to get in, so it doesn’t matter!]
Simon had Feer. In truth, he already knew the secret of the dungeon.
In the end, Simon signed the documents and secured exclusive dungeon rights before returning to Keyzen.
He wasn’t in a rush to enter the dungeon immediately—he still had the threat of Magnus to deal with—so he planned to prepare slowly. He also received the 2,000 gold in reward money without issue.
A short but fruitful trip, Simon thought.
Although, mentally, it had been exhausting being caught between Serne and Loraine’s political tug-of-war all day.
That afternoon, Simon returned to Keyzen via teleportation magic circle.
After parting ways with the others, he arrived at the dormitory, but Room 409 was empty.
Looks like both of them haven’t finished their missions yet.
Today was Day 3, so he figured he’d probably see them tomorrow, on the final day.
As he leisurely unpacked, Simon noticed a note stuck to the desk. The sloppy, worm-like handwriting could only belong to Dick.
–Emergency strategy meeting! As soon as you see this note, pack your sleeping gear and head to the address below!
An address in the Rochest area was written below.
A look of puzzlement came over Simon’s face.
‘Strategy meeting?’
* * *
Simon changed clothes as soon as he returned to Keyzen and headed to Rochest.
As night fell, streetlights powered by mana orbs lit up the city.
‘So many people out at night.’
During the mission evaluation period, curfews and other restrictions were lifted, so youthful nights were alive and well.
Everyone was trying to enjoy their last bit of freedom, knowing that the BMAT Phase 3 exams starting the day after tomorrow would leave them no time to breathe.
"Here it is."
Simon arrived at the address written on Dick’s note. It was an ordinary two-story home.
The address pointed to the second floor, so he climbed the stairs. He could already hear a lively ruckus.
"Excuse me."
Simon knocked on the wooden door, but there was no response. The commotion inside seemed to drown out the sound of his knock.
There wasn’t even a lock, so Simon cautiously opened the door and stepped inside.
"Ah."
It was a cozy log cabin. Though the outside was chilly with the night breeze, the warm air inside lifted his spirits.
—Meow!
As soon as Simon entered, tiny black and white kittens scampered over.
‘Huh? What are they doing here?’
They were the kittens raised in the girls' dorm by Kamibarez.
As the cats rubbed against his feet affectionately, all the exhaustion he’d built up seemed to melt away.
Simon crouched down and gently scratched the kittens.
"Hey! What are you doing? If you’re late, get in here already!"
It was a now-familiar shout, Maelyn’s signature bark.
"Simon~"
Kamibarez peeked her head out and smiled brightly.
"Hello!"
"Hey Kami! You’re all already here, huh?"
"Yep! Maelyn and I arrived this morning."
Simon changed into indoor slippers and stepped into the room. The kittens meowed as they followed him in.
"You’re here?"
Dick, sitting in front of a desk, grinned and waved.
Logs were crackling in the fireplace beside him, and snacks and wine were spread out on the dining table. A pile of spell-drawing tools and books filled the fluffy sofa.
"What’s all this?"
Simon asked, confused. Dick spread his arms and replied,
"We rented the place for today for a strategy meeting! We’re all sleeping over tonight!"
"A strategy meeting all of a sudden?"
"Looks like you haven’t heard yet."
Maelyn turned to Simon and explained,
"The theme for BMAT Phase 3 has been revealed."
Simon’s eyes widened.
"I-It’s already out?"
"Muahaha! Who do you think I am? Dick the Lightning-Fast…!"
"Don’t brag! Everyone knows by now anyway."
Maelyn cut him off, and Dick slumped his head in defeat.
"Sniff, this isn’t the kind of cutthroat information war I wanted…"
"But is it solid intel?"
"Yes! It’s confirmed!"
This time, Kamibarez spoke up, clenching both fists tightly.
"The theme of the upcoming exam is the ocean!"
According to her, a large-scale magic circle and underwater test field were being built in a sea not far from Roke Island.
"The ocean…!"
It made his head spin.
An exam in the sea? That was something he hadn’t imagined.
"I dug into Keyzen’s logistics and personnel movements, all the details. It’s legit."
Dick leaned back, resting his arm behind his head.
"But the Keyzen headquarters has completely locked down access to the test site, so we still don’t know what kind of exam will be held in the sea."
"But the theme being the ocean is confirmed."
"Exactly!"
Just thinking about it made his mind go blank.
How are you even supposed to fight in the sea?
Now he understood why an emergency strategy meeting had been called. He had no idea how to even begin fighting underwater.
Fortunately, Simon had fought in the ocean once before. It was during the second mission evaluation, on Blue Harbor Island, when he fought the traitor Finch. But even then, he had been wearing Feer, and it was more of a battle on a ship than truly underwater.
"The ocean is a nightmare for necromancers."
Maelyn explained.
"Darkness magic circles are hard to maintain underwater, they break apart easily. A lot of black magic spells are limited, and projectiles like Dark Arrows slow down. Most undead are weak to seawater, and skeletons are practically unusable. Bones are lighter than water, they’ll just float."
Simon’s expression turned grim as he listened.
"That too, but… how are we supposed to breathe underwater?"
"Yeah. Breathing is the biggest issue."
Kamibarez spoke up, rocking a kitten in her arms.
"If it’s a test where we fight on ships, wouldn’t that be okay?"
"There’s no way it’ll be a naval battle."
Dick smirked darkly.
"When has Keyzen not been sadistic? They’re the kind of bastards who’d teleport us in handcuffs straight to the ocean floor."
"H-Handcuffs…"
Kamibarez’s face went pale. Maelyn pressed a finger to Dick’s forehead and interjected.
"Enough with the nonsense. Either way, we have to prepare for underwater combat. Even if it’s a naval battle, we need to be ready in case we fall in."
"Yeah, you’re right!"
Kamibarez nodded in agreement, and so did Simon. Maelyn clapped her palms together to gather everyone’s attention.
"Then, as team leader, I’ll give instructions."
She pulled a book from the pile stacked on the sofa.
Its title read: Necromancer: Surviving in the Ocean!
"Now that Simon’s here, I’ll start from the top. It’s not like there’s no black magic usable underwater. But they’re all upper-level formulas, only taught to higher-year students."
Simon took the book and examined the diagrams. It showed a magic circle that created artificial gills, filled with runes and formulas he’d never seen before.
From a glance, it looked like you needed to learn a rune called ‘Disruption’ to even begin. But before that, there were several other prerequisite runes to study.
"All the other books are like this too."
"Kind of unfriendly, huh?"
"Haha! What were you expecting? That’s necromancers for you!"
Dick jumped in.
"Necromancers are all about practicality. Everyone develops the most efficient spell circles they can. Unless it’s a textbook, there’s almost nothing tailored for beginners, especially not for underwater black magic. It’s almost impossible to find!"
"Then you're saying we’ll have to make the black magic we'll use in the exam ourselves?"
"Exactly! Knew you’d catch on quick."
"Alright."
Maelyn looked around at the team and continued speaking.
"The top priority is to create black magic that helps us breathe underwater. Besides that, we also need underwater offensive black magic to intercept enemies, and black magic that allows us to move quickly in the water. Since the exam might be held as early as this week or next, let’s hurry."
Maelyn assigned roles and tasks to the three of them.
"Let’s begin!"
Simon and Maelyn took charge of designing the most critical component: the breathing magic circle.
They laid out all the books they had borrowed from the library and picked out only the important formulas.
Once they crafted the magic circle, they planned to conduct a simple test and then ask professors or TAs to check its stability.
"How’d you even manage to borrow all these books?"
At Simon’s question, Maelyn smirked.
"We sprinted to the library the moment we got the tipoff from a commoner."
She said the three of them had grabbed every black magic book related to the ocean. Apparently, there were even students who’d arrived earlier and left before them.
"Anyone arriving late to the library must’ve been confused."
"Nice work."
Simon began by examining the magic circle blueprint Maelyn had made.
"This one stores air within the magic circle, an air tank type."
"Yep yep."
"But to maintain the magic circle underwater for a long time, shouldn’t we add more formulas to reinforce the cohesion?"
She shrugged.
"There’s no room left for that. Look at the magic circle, it’s already packed as is."
"Then let’s change the unnecessary structures first to free up space. Let’s start by turning these complicated Darkness circuits into straight lines."
"Idiot! What kind of attack spell do you think this is? If you make the circuits straight, it’ll just be a magic air gun!"
"Then we’ll diffuse the circuit at the end. Hold on."
Simon began flipping through a book to find reference material.
"Kami! Can you find an example of circuit diffusion?"
"Yes, Simon!"
Kamibarez, who was in charge of research and offensive magic, was sitting among a spread of open books.
She diligently flipped through the pages.
"How about this one?"
"Oh, that was fast! Thanks!"
Simon took the book, opened it, and began modifying the blueprint with a quill pen.
"I’ll make it right now."
Maelyn floated the magic circle in midair and channeled Darkness into it, but a leakage occurred halfway through.
"Fail. Darkness is leaking everywhere."
"There’s resistance on this line, causing damage to build up constantly. Hold on."
The four of them became fully immersed in developing underwater magic circles.
While Maelyn reviewed runes, Simon took a short breather and picked up an unopened bottle of wine on the table.
"Can I have some of this?"
"Yeah, help yourself!"
Dick nodded.
Simon poured just enough not to get drunk, took a sip, and grabbed a snack. Honestly, he was starving, he hadn’t had dinner.
"Hey, Simon! Check this out!"
"Yeah."
Two hours flew by in a flash, and night had deepened. Their development of magic circles continued in a relaxed atmosphere.
"Puhaha! Look at those guys!"
Dick pointed with his finger. Two kittens had crawled into a pot and were sleeping curled up together.
Maelyn and Kamibarez clasped their hands in delight and squealed.
"They’re so cute!"
"Ugh, heart attack level."
"Should we take a break?"
At Simon’s suggestion, the two girls rushed over to the kittens.
Dick sprawled on the sofa and closed his eyes, but a moment later, Maelyn smacked him on the back and woke him up.
"Simon! Please take a look at the attack spell I made!"
"Got it."
What Kamibarez made was a modified version of the Dark Arrow—she’d already named it Dark Torpedo.
Dick peered over and let out a whistle of admiration.
"Ooh~ solid composition! Let’s test it."
"Uh, where?"
Dick dashed to the bathroom and started filling the bathtub with water.
"Hey!!"
Maelyn yelled as she saw what he was doing.
"I said no! Something’s gonna go wrong!"
"Huuuuuuuuh~"
Dick imitated a woman’s voice, and Maelyn hurled a pepper shaker at his head. Dick ducked just in time and said,
"Come on now, it’s not even dangerous! It’s just black magic on the level of Dark Arrow. I’ll take full responsibility!"
A moment later, Kamibarez entered the tub and created the magic circle beneath the surface.
At first, the Darkness kept dispersing in the water, causing failure after failure. But soon, as her proficiency improved, she successfully maintained cohesion and created a magic circle even underwater.
"Alright! Fire it here!"
On the opposite side, Dick stood ready with a defensive magic circle deployed. Simon came to watch, and even Maelyn, who had been pretending not to care, stood on tiptoe behind Simon, curious.
"Dark Torpedo!"
Fwoosh!
The projectile fired by Kamibarez zipped through the bathtub water. Everyone gasped in amazement.
"?!"
But suddenly, the torpedo, which had been heading straight toward Dick, struck his defensive magic circle—and instead of breaking apart, it rebounded into the air.
It struck the mana lightbulb on the bathroom wall with a CRACK! and exploded.
"UWAAAAAAH!"
"Eek!"
Dick and Kamibarez jumped out in shock.
The mana bulb shattered into pieces and fell to the floor, and Dick tripped over the tub with a loud crash.
"I can’t with you guys! I told you not to do it, you troublemakers!"
Maelyn was scolding them, but her mouth was curved in a smile. Simon was the same.
Kamibarez lowered her head.
"I-I’m sorry."
Maelyn patted her lightly on the head, then glared at Dick.
"This was all for testing, and you’re the one who put up a thick defense spell. It’s your fault, Dick."
"……Wow, the favoritism. So unfair."
Even as he said that, Dick got into the tub and examined the light fixture.
"Yes! Lucky! The ceiling's intact, only the bulb broke."
He cleaned up the fragments and pulled a new bulb from his subspace, then screwed it in.
He activated the magic circle on the ceiling, and pop!—the light came on.
"I replaced it with something even better than the store-bought ones! The landlady won’t complain, right?"
Simon chuckled and said,
"Still, make sure to tell her properly."
"Ah~ of course. I’ll ask her to lower the lodging fee since we upgraded the bulb."
Everyone burst out laughing.
And so, the night of the strategy meeting grew deeper.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters