Poor Noble Nord’s Adventure

5. The Subjugation Result

Two weeks had already passed since Nord was promoted to a Slate Adventurer – Plate.

During this time, Nord had been continuously taking on subjugation missions in dungeons, using armor he rented from his brother.

Day after day, all he did was go to the dungeon and hunt monsters like goblins and giant bats. It felt like a monotonous task, endlessly repeating the same thing, which accumulated more mental fatigue than physical.

However, Nord continued subjugating without showing the slightest sign of weariness.

He would scramble for guild requests early in the morning, complete the application process, and head straight to the dungeon specified in the request. By evening, after collecting magic stones, he’d sell them at the dungeon’s exchange office (since it’s forbidden by law to take magic stones outside dungeons managed by the kingdom) and return to the royal capital before nightfall. This had become Nord’s routine for the past two weeks, but unfortunately, today marked the end of this phase.

The reason was that his brother Albireo, the owner of the armor, was returning from his vacation. Even though he was only facing low-level monsters, for a freshly promoted Slate Adventurer – Plate, those creatures were still formidable opponents. His success was due to the meta strategy of utilizing the borrowed armor to counter the monsters’ weak attacks.

Naturally, if he could no longer borrow the armor, his efficiency would drop significantly.

Thus, Nord continued subjugating monsters at an even faster pace, determined to make the most of this last harvest.

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Nord dodged a dull dagger swing by shifting his body slightly. At the same time, with a light swing of his longsword, using the goblin’s charging force, he was able to decapitate it without much effort.

Kicking the headless goblin’s body with a roundhouse kick, he sent it flying into another goblin that was trying to attack from the other side.

“…Gyi!?”

As the dead body collided with the goblin before it could disappear, the goblin lost its balance. Nord stepped forward and delivered a single clean slash. He cut it down diagonally, killing the goblin with one strike.

“Gigi…”

The last remaining goblin, despite having surrounded Nord with its companions, showed hesitation, unsure whether to flee or attack. But Nord wouldn’t let that opening slip away. The goblin’s momentary indecision slowed its reaction to Nord’s sword, and just like the others, its head was severed, ending its life.

After the battle ended, Nord carefully scanned his surroundings while collecting the magic stones left behind by the disappearing corpses.

As he threw the stones into the pouch tied to his waist, Nord thought. At the start of his subjugation, he often found himself taking hits on his armor from monsters’ surprise attacks or those in his blind spots.

There were times when his strikes missed due to overexertion, or he misjudged the distance, resulting in shallow slashes even when they did land.

But now, things had changed.

By continuously fighting in the unfamiliar armor, he had gotten used to moving while wearing it. He could now avoid surprise attacks even with his helmet restricting his vision.

Although he had initially struggled with fighting multiple enemies at once, the armor was no longer what saved him. Now, he could predict his opponents’ movements and finish battles without taking a single hit. His sword strikes had become stable, and he never missed his mark against goblins.

And then—

Whoosh

Without any preparatory motion, Nord unsheathed his sword. It made a sound as it sliced through the air,

Thud, the body of a giant bat fell in two pieces to the ground, leaving behind a small magic stone before disappearing.

(“My body feels light. I guess you could say I’ve become more sharp. And somehow, my senses feel heightened.”)

Though the dungeon Nord was in was partially managed by the kingdom, it was still a dungeon. True to its name, the cave was dimly lit, and visibility was poor. Despite that, Nord could see the dungeon’s interior more clearly than usual. Of course, it was still dim, but the details of the cave walls and the texture of the ground were more vivid to him.

──Level up.

That word came to Nord’s mind. As one gains more battle experience, there comes a moment when one feel noticeably stronger than before. That moment is called leveling up, and now it had come to him.

Nord had been continuously taking subjugation requests in this dungeon ever since he was promoted to a Slate Adventurer – Plate.

While the advantage of using borrowed armor to gather magic stones was certainly a factor, it wasn’t the only reason. Unlike natural dungeons, artificial dungeons like the one Nord was in didn’t yield great profits. Though magic stones were in demand and sold for a decent price, in dungeons like this one, the government bought them cheaply to monopolize their sale. Naturally, defying or smuggling them was strictly forbidden since the government oversaw the operation.

Moreover, although subjugation requests in dungeons contributed to the market supply of magic stones, they primarily served as revenue for the royal family, offering little benefit to the adventurers’ guild.

For this reason, dungeon subjugation requests didn’t grant the ‘contribution points’ required for adventurer rank promotion. (Artificial dungeons were popular for easy earnings compared to outdoor adventuring, as their monsters were less dangerous if handled well.)

For adventurers, rank promotion offered many benefits, such as access to more lucrative requests, so it was generally wiser to take guild requests that granted contribution points unless they planned to retire or lead a stable life (these adventurers were often mocked as “livelihood adventurers” for avoiding danger).

Additionally, while dungeon subjugation requests only offered the magic stone sale price as a reward, outdoor monster hunts often came with completion bonuses. Depending on the type of monster, adventurers could also acquire valuable drop items from their corpses, and the potential earnings from those far outweighed the rewards from dungeon subjugations.

Nord was aware of all this.

So why did he choose dungeon subjugation, knowing all this? The advantage of collecting more magic stones with the armor was one reason, of course. But more importantly, Nord prioritized safely getting used to combat.

In the Ferris Knight family, boys were taught swordsmanship from a young age. Nord was no exception; he had been trained by his father, the head of the family, as well as his two brothers and even some retainers. Nord seemed to have a natural talent for the sword, and his skills improved rapidly. Although he didn’t attend a military school, he had been praised as having the prowess of a decent soldier.

However, the mentors who taught him swordsmanship—especially his father and retainers who had seen real battle—always said this: Skill with a sword is not the same as skill in battle. Swordsmanship honed through drills and practice only becomes useful with real battle experience.

Forget that, and while you may slay one, the next will be the one to slay you. Having grown up hearing these words, Nord had decided to take subjugation requests in the dungeon to safely gain real battle experience while borrowing the armor.

And that strategy had worked.

Nord had survived his first battle and, through experience, had grown stronger. Thanks to the armor, he had not suffered any injuries, saving him from medical expenses and allowing him to save up money (though only a small amount after deducting the rental fee for the armor).

As a result, the income Nord had earned from these subjugation requests over the past two weeks had reached a respectable sum for someone newly promoted to Slate Adventurer – Plate.

And that amount had reached the goal Nord had set for himself.