I Raided the Demon’s Treasury

Chapter 93

The battle, despite being against a thousand wolves, ended quickly.

In the past, it might’ve been different, but opponents who relied solely on numbers meant nothing to Se-woon, who had reached the 5th-circle magic.

Although the wolves were somewhat stronger than those faced during the Tutorial, they couldn’t endure even one attack of Se-woon’s magic. The outcome remained the same.

‘Even if there were a boss monster, the result would have been the same.’

Se-woon was more than just a 5th-circle mage. He possessed unrivaled inner power, equivalent to a sixty-year cycle of cultivation.

With this level of prowess, he could effortlessly subdue monsters immune to magic with his martial arts.

Moreover, with Kang Han-cheol leading and the Diablo Clan joining the battle, it was natural for the fight to conclude swiftly.

– You have designated the entire ‘Wolf Pack’ with the Power of Gluttony.

– The Fangs of Gluttony devour the monsters!

– The Constellation, ‘Hungry Prince’, finds immense joy in this long-awaited feast!

– The Constellation, ‘Hungry Prince’, firmly decides to prepare emergency provisions just in case.

Whether it was because Se-woon’s power had grown too strong, or because the wolves were too weak, even with the Power of Gluttony used on such a large number of wolves, the abilities gained weren’t significant.

Only a slight amount of mana was absorbed into the newly reached and empty 5th circle.

Previously, he’d reached this point faster than expected due to serendipitous opportunities, but it seemed reaching the next stage would take more time.

‘But, what on earth happened?’

Watching the wolves being swallowed by the Fangs of Gluttony, Se-woon fell into thought.

Initially, the first floor had almost no monsters. If you searched, you might find some, but the fact that a thousand wolves suddenly appeared in this place, called the ‘Sanctuary’, was strange.

The movements of the wolves were also unusual.

‘Clearly, it was organized.’

Although they had grown physically stronger and seemingly more intelligent compared to those in the Tutorial, the strategic movements observed earlier were inexplicable.

Someone had definitely given the wolves systematic commands.

The problem was he couldn’t guess who that someone might be.

‘Wait a minute.’

The sudden attack by the wolves. While pondering over the causes, Se-woon recalled a particular fact.

The most recent change at the base was that he had brought a predecessor player there.

“Se-woon, you came back early? I heard it might take some time.”

“Yoo Seo-ah, where is the patient?”

“By patient, do you mean the person you brought, Se-woon? If it’s that person, they should be in the ward…..”

“Please take care of things here. I’ll go check on the patient.”

“What? Wait a moment…”

Se-woon hurriedly rushed back to the base.

* * *

Thud!

“Clan Leader?”

“The patient?”

“He’s lying over there. But how did you get here so quickly? It’s only been a day.”

Lee Ha-neul, too, seemed to have just returned from the battlefield and was removing her armor.

Since she was away, the predecessor player might have awakened and fled.

With that thought in mind, Se-woon hurriedly pulled aside the curtain over the bed, but—

Rattle!

‘Whew….’

The predecessor player lay there with a noticeably more comfortable expression than the day before.

Fortunately, the worst-case scenario seemed to have been avoided.

“What’s going on? Did you really come back midway for this person?”

“… No. Things wrapped up quicker than expected.”

“That’s good to hear. Well, he still hasn’t regained consciousness though the condition has much improved; it doesn’t seem to be a physical issue.”

Even though Se-woon hadn’t asked about the patient, Ha-neul continued to explain as she noticed how much he was concerned about the man.

He could tell the man’s condition had significantly improved even without the explanation. His injuries appeared to be healing nicely.

Though it had only been a night, it attested to how diligently she took care of the man.

“Thank you. Oh, and here.”

Se-woon took out herbs from his spatial pouch.

When inside the pouch, he couldn’t gauge the amount, but seeing it outside, it was indeed more than he’d expected.

“Wow! You managed to gather so many? Thank you so much!”

“I tried to bring back as much useful stuff as possible. Let me know if it’s not enough.”

“This should be more than enough for now. It’s really helpful!”

Her eyes twinkled looking at the herbs, like the flowers on the radiant hill.

Indeed, she was a born healer.

‘For now, I should just observe.’

Se-woon gazed down at the man on the bed.

There were still many questions, but they wouldn’t be answered until the man woke up.

At that moment—

Grumble-

Se-woon’s stomach growled, breaking the silence.

It occurred to him that he hadn’t eaten properly since having a meal with Park Jung-pil the previous noon. After training, he had rushed here, only to immediately face the wolves upon arriving.

Ha-neul chuckled softly at the sound and gently spoke up.

“When you’re fighting, you don’t seem human. But at times like this, you remind me you definitely are.”

“… Where did you say the dining area was?”

“Follow me. They’ve brought in new ingredients from the village, so today’s meal should be even better.”

Apparently, it would take a while before he could be satisfied with just jerky.

* * *

Afterward, even though they remained vigilant, the wolves didn’t reappear.

No significant information could be obtained from examining the traces, so Se-woon had no choice but to wait for the predecessor player to awaken.

For a few days, Se-woon wandered in search of hidden pieces he had discovered before returning, but the gains were minimal.

After all, the first floor was truly a ‘Sanctuary’, and thus no notable hidden pieces existed there.

‘Those bugs in the Shimmering Hill were something I didn’t know about before either.’

Even so, having leapfrogged over the earlier goal of reaching the 4th circle and directly achieving the 5th circle, Se-woon relaxed and enjoyed life.

And one of the ways he spent his time was with this activity.

Clang!

“Still not getting it?”

“I’m sorry. Even if it’s called Dominion, I can’t quite grasp a clear image of it…”

“It’s not something you need to apologize to me for.”

“Could you at least give a slight hint if you know something?”

“No.”

“Why not…?”

“Potential is not a simple power that’s the same for everyone. Even if people share the same potential, how they express it differs for each.”

“But can’t I use it for reference?”

“Realizing it on your own is the most important thing. If you try to follow someone else’s method, you’ll end up bitterly regretting it later.”

It was a practice match with Yoo Seo-ah.

She was still struggling to control her potential ability,’ Dominion’, obtained through acquiring the alias of Whirlwind.

While Kang Han-cheol swiftly mastered the potential due to its intuitive nature, Yoo Seo-ah’s potential was considerably challenging.

Though Se-woon had some knowledge, the best-suited method of utilizing one’s potential ultimately had to be self-discovered.

“But Se-woon, you and Han-cheol are already using their aliases effectively, aren’t you?”

“There’s no need to rush. We’re still at the first floor of the Tower. Most players haven’t even gained an alias, let alone potential.”

“Still…”

“Moreover, even if you can’t use the potential, your movements have improved a lot, haven’t they?”

Perhaps due to frequent sparring given their ample time, both Kang Han-cheol and Yoo Seo-ah showed noticeable growth.

In fact, when it came to pure speed without the use of skills, Se-woon felt that Yoo Seo-ah had the edge.

“The Kamil’s Dual Swordsmanship. It turns out that the swordsmanship you taught me suits me better than I expected.”

“And the dagger technique?”

“I haven’t had a chance to use it in real combat since I don’t have a target, but I’ve gotten pretty comfortable with it too.”

“Good.”

– The Constellation, ‘Crowned Spider’, crosses its arms and nods approvingly at its contractor’s dazzling movements.

After a round of sparring, they took a short break.

Normally, kang Han-cheol would have appeared promptly to request a match, but he seemed busy with the previously mentioned training in ‘Taiyi Flashing Hand Technique’ as he hadn’t left the corner of the training ground.

“What about Park Jung-pil?”

“Haven’t heard anything, but maybe he went to the village again?”

“I was going to teach him some combat techniques…”

“Still, he seems to listen to you pretty well, Se-woon. I heard he doesn’t drink when he goes to the village anymore.”

“Of course, he shouldn’t. I told him that if he drank again, I’d ramp up the ‘education’ even further.”

If he wasn’t drinking, why did he go down to the village again?

At this rate, it seemed like he might have fled just to avoid sparring with Se-woon.

With some unexpected free time, Se-woon considered heading back to the Glittering Hills to further train his mana. But before he could decide, the base’s main gate opened.

‘Is Park Jung-pil back?’

Though he initially surmised it was Jung-pil, gauging by people’s reactions, he concluded otherwise.

If it truly was Jung-pil, people wouldn’t be rushing out to greet him eagerly.

“Wow, the old man’s back!”

“It’s been a while!”

“Sir, you should’ve let us know you were coming! Why carry all that by yourself…?”

“Haha, I’m feeling much better here than when I was outside.”

Curious, Se-woon moved closer and spotted a muscular old man with a sturdy physique.

He carried a bundle as large as his own body on his back, but the man didn’t seem to be sweating at all.

‘Well, in terms of strength, he’s probably stronger than most players.’

Go Chang-seok. The sole blacksmith of the Diablo Clan.

But what brought him all the way to the base?

The last time Se-woon saw him, he’d been happily hammering away in the village forge like it was a playground.

Could it be….?

‘Did that guy…?’

A hypothesis crossed Se-woon’s mind.

The owner of the forge—had that man broken his agreement with Se-woon and kicked Go Chang-seok out?

If true, urgent ‘education’, more intensive than that given to Park Jung-pil, needed to be imparted in the village.

While thinking this, Go Chang-seok, who had been pacing around and turning his head quickly, spotted Se-woon and ran toward him excitedly.

He was so animated that the bundle on his back was shaking, and the sound of metal clinking like an instrument echoed in the air.

“Oh, so this is where you were!”

“Did you get kicked out? If so, I’ll…!”

“Huh? Kicked out? What are you talking about? Oh, I heard about the forge. Thanks to you, I was able to work much more comfortably.”

From his reaction, it didn’t seem like the problem had anything to do with the forge owner.

Then what led him here? Could it be….

“Haha, I was suddenly given an alias, and the work became significantly quicker. Thanks to that, I completed your equipment sooner than expected.”

“Already?”

“I was so eager to show them to you, I hurried here with all this.”

Se-woon, who wasn’t easily surprised, widened his eyes.

The amount of equipment Se-woon requested wasn’t just one or two.

They included a basic armor set, as well as various weapons of different types; it would have taken crafting more than ten pieces of gear at the very least.

How could such an order have been completed in merely a few days?

Moreover.

‘An alias….’

Unlike combat classes like Se-woon, Kang Han-cheol, and Yoo Seo-ah, he belonged to the production class, a blacksmith.

For production classes, acquiring an alias was known to be much more challenging than combat classes.

Yet, Go Chang-seok obtained an alias on merely the first floor of the Tower.

This revelation informed Se-woon that his potential was even greater than anticipated.

“Alright, go ahead and take a look!”

Go Chang-seok eagerly laid down the bundle and unwrapped it with enthusiasm.

Soon after—

– The Constellation, ‘Soldier with a Golden Crown’, smugly shrugs its shoulders, claiming that making better equipment than this is impossible.

As the bundle unraveled, the equipment crafted by Go Chang-seok began to show in all its glory.