After Leo finished off the chief Orc, he fell to the ground. He was still hurt after all, but he saved our lives.

I never thought that a B-rank dungeon could be this hard, even with a great party with diverse experienced, and skilled warriors. This was a great experience to learn from. I was still too weak to face off against the lurking evil of this world. I was still not ready to reach my goal of finding the truth. I was well aware of my weaknesses, and I was impatient to return and start working on what I lacked.

The sound of a chest dropping in front of me brought me out of my imagination. It was the reward for clearing the dungeon.

Normally, every participant got a reward different from the others.

In my case, I got a good amount of money, crafting materials, some miscellaneous items that could be sold for a decent price, potions, a set of C-grade gears, and an unidentifiable item I’ve never seen before, even its rank was unknown.

I took out the newly acquired mysterious item to have a better look at it, and I was surprised to find that it was the skin of the killed boss.

I’ve never seen or heard of a part of the body of a monster being dropped in a dungeon. It was indeed weird.

I checked with the other members of the party, but none of them heard of such a thing.

I returned it to my inventory for the time being and left it there until I found a use for it.

Meanwhile, Clara woke up and was carried by the scout.

We somehow managed to all survive this dungeon, which was a good thing overall.

It took us 2 days 4 hours and 17 minutes to clear this dungeon. The re-spawn time was 2 weeks.

We went out from the dungeon after we have all packed our items.

The healers, the scout, and the mages didn’t receive any major damages.

Joshua lost his shield and had some broken ribs.

The durability of George’s gears was largely reduced, so he needed to check them with a JT later to revamp them. Fortunately for him, he was in better shape than the rest of us.

Clara was still dizzy from the damage that she received, and she needed a thorough analysis to check her internal damage.

Leo had two big scars on his chest and some broken bones.

I had several broken bones, but even before we got out from the dungeon, my body healed itself, or should I say, the dragon’s regenerative abilities kicked in and restored my body to how it was. It was such a convenient power-up.

***

When we got out of the dungeon, we saw someone waiting for us.

The mysterious man was a well-built young man. He could be in his early 30’s. He was wearing a big cowboy hat that masked his eyes. His black leather jacket gave the vibes of a nomad, and if not for the daggers fixed on his waist, one would think that he was a gunner.

He approached us and waved his hand.

“Hello, there fellow brave warriors. You must be tired from the few days that you’ve spent there.” He told us with an eerie smile on his face.

“Who are you? And what are you doing here? No one should be able to come here. This is private property.” Shouted George at the mysterious man.

“Ah sorry for the late introduction, Mr. Team leader.” He took off his hat and put it on his chest while bowing a little. “My name is Vladimir Rasputine, a warrior from the Saber Slayer guild.”

“W-what is an S-rank warrior, who is best known as the Deadly Trickster, doing here?” Muttered Shimura.

“Wait, the infamous Deadly Trickster is a Mythological Weapon user, do you have a business with Shiryuu here?” He pushed me to the side and positioned himself in front of me. “And your guild has no business in this remote area, so I kindly ask you to leave.”

“Haha, you’re quite the clever one, Mr. Team leader.” Smirked Vladimir. “I have indeed business with that young man over there.”

I brought out my sword and pointed it at Vladimir. “Sorry, and with all due respect, I don’t have time right now to waste it on the likes of you. If you don’t move from there I’ll have to fight you here. Even if you are a Mythological Weapon user, you wouldn’t want to fight here.” I threatened him.

“Hoho, you’re as savage as they said. Well okay Mr brave swordsman, I shall take my leave now for the moment. Well, I’ve already seen what I came to see.” He put his hands behind his head and turned away. ‘Oh, so that’s the Dragon Sword. Interesting.’ He smirked. “Ah, before I forget, I’ve already booked a table tomorrow at 2 PM at Brotherhood Café in your town. See you there.” He waved his hand and disappeared.

“What was his deal?” Questioned Shimura.

“I don’t know what he’s planning, but be aware of him Shiryuu. He’s not someone to be acquainted with.” George warned me.

“Yeah, I’ll take care of myself, don’t worry,” I replied. “We need to hurry and tend to the injured.”

“Yeah, we’ve already wasted time here. Let’s move on guys.” George motioned us to move.

***

The first thing that we’ve done, after arriving at the city, was to get the injured into the hospital.

After further examination, it was decided that Leo would stay for 3 days and Clara for five.

I and the others were treated on the spot and released after a few hours.

That night, I returned to my house and checked the items that I got from the dungeon. They were all stored inside the storage wristwatch that every awakener received after their awakening.

The high-tech watch has several features, one of them is scanning the items that you receive in a dungeon, making a copy, and storing them in the cloud, that’s the storage system itself.

If you want to get the item out, you can pull your inventory out using the inventory button at the side of the watch, select the item that you want, and then the watch uses the mana surrounding you to create the item. It’s the law of equivalent exchange, that’s why when this device was first made centuries ago, it was a game-changer.

For items bought, crafted, or created using the watch, it scans the item in question, creates a copy, and puts it in the cloud, then decomposes the item into mana particles.

I pulled out my inventory and checked what I had so far.

I had a spare C-class sword that I bought in case my primary sword broke, but it was no longer needed because I got a mythological-class sword. So I decided to either sell it back or de-craft it for materials.

I also had several crafting materials that I kept in case I needed them in the future, ranging from potions, weapons, and gears materials.

I had collected quite a few miscellaneous items that could be sold for a decent price, so it was high time to sell them.

I checked the number of potions I had and decided to buy more in case of an emergency. “Better be over-prepared than regret it,” I muttered.

Afterward, I went to check the set of gears that I’ve got from the last dungeon.

I’ve received the full ogre set gears; the ogre helmet, the ogre chainmail, the ogre gloves, the ogre shorts, and the ogre sandals. This set could increase your defenses by 5%, melee attacks by 8%, and stamina by 15%.

“I think I’m going to sell these gears.” I thought to myself. “The gears that I’m using are miles better than this. Well, it’s an Ono-ha-itto-Ryu swordsman exclusive gears I got from the dojo, so there’s no comparison between the two.”

After noting the items that I decided to sell the following day, I took out the last mysterious item I got.

I kept looking at the skin for several minutes, but unfortunately, I didn’t find anything interesting about it. It didn’t even have a class, to begin with, so I decided to keep it to myself and find out about it later.

I closed the inventory, went out to order dinner, and then I returned to sleep.

***

The following day, after I took my breakfast, I went to sell the items that I had in my inventory, then I went to pay a visit to an acquaintance JT blacksmith.

Mr.Saadoun Bacha was the blacksmith that made most of the gears of my late parents when they were warriors. He’s a renowned JT with authentic skills and talents.

When I became a warrior, he gifted me the first gears that I wore in my career.

I gave him the sword to de-craft it for materials, then I supplemented him with enough materials to craft a B-class long sword that I would use as a spare.

He was also interested in the ogre set that I ended up not selling with the other items. So I gave them to him and let him decide whatever he wanted to do with those gears.

He told me that the new sword will be crafted in two days, so I left him to do his work and went to meet Vladimir. It was high time for our forced meeting…

***

The brotherhood café is a well-known place in my town. During the evenings, it’s always packed with people, from friends, colleagues, to even random people meeting, talking about different subjects, and having fun in general.

I arrived at the café on time and entered. I saw the manager at the counter and waved my hand at him to greet him. He was my neighbor after all.

I didn’t want to keep looking for my visitor for a long time in this big café, so I asked the manager if he saw any shady person drop by today. He told me that a guy he has never seen in town came by two days ago to book a table in advance and that he was sitting at the far end.

After ordering tea and saying goodbye to the manager, for the time being, I went to the booked table and found our unusual guest.

I approached him and noticed that he was wearing his usual get-up. Apart from his new black glasses, nothing has changed from yesterday to today.

‘Does this man even change his clothes?’ I asked myself.

Suddenly he raised his left hand and waved it at me. It seems he noticed me coming without looking. “Hello there young one, come sit next to this old man here.”

I sat on the chair in front of him and said “You’re not an old man. You’re not even older than me by ten years, so stop this cringe.”

“Hahaha, you’re no fun, newbie.”

“So what do you want from me?”

“Oho, why are you on the offensive? Chill down a bit dude. I don’t eat people, don’t worry, hahaha. I just want to say hello and know you a little bit more. We’re on the same page after all.”

“Don’t lump me together with you.”

“Tch, you’re such a meanie. Anyway, let us just be acquainted, I am sure you have a lot of things to ask a fellow mythological weapon user. Am I right?”

‘He’s a keen guy. I only accepted his offer because he was a mythological weapon user, so he might have some information that I don’t know yet.’ I said to myself. “So first, can you tell me more about the mythological weapons? Tell me everything you know?”

“Haha, I knew that you’d ask something like this. Well, as you know, there are 10 weapons out there, 9 of them were found, including your sword. They contain tremendous unique powers. For example, my daggers—“He took out one of the daggers from his wrist. “—have the power to control blood. It’s a unique ability that no other warrior can use. After knowing all the other users for the past years, I found out that we were chosen by the weapons since they work perfectly for our warrior classes, and can’t be used by others. They also gave us the power to use hidden abilities used by monsters or even transform into them. And by the way, the weapon is bound to your soul, I don’t know if you noticed that, but it’s the truth. So far nothing bad happened, so you can be at ease.”

“No, I didn’t know that, this is interesting indeed.”

“Ah yes, and the weapons can resonate with each other, whenever there is a mythological weapon user nearby, you can feel their presence.”

“So that’s how you knew that I was approaching you?”

“Haha, yes. So from your reply, you don’t feel that right?”

“Y-yes, that’s new to me.” I widely opened my eyes.

“There’s another information that you might need to know. After acquiring the weapons, the dungeon where they were found, disappeared.”

“What? You mean that the dragon tombs dungeon is no longer there?”

“Yes, I went to check out the place of all the other mythological dungeons, but I didn’t find anything remaining. They were completely gone. This only means that these dungeons were made for us to find the weapon and then they lost their meaning. This means someone or something is behind this. It’s still only a theory on my part, so don’t mind it so much.”

“Hmm, I see, I see. So let’s get to the main point. What do you want from me? I know that you didn’t come here to just talk and tell me this information.”

“Haha, you’re keen. Yes, I came to invite you to join the guild I’m part of. We have 2 mythological weapon users, and if you accept, you’ll be third, and we’ll surely become the strongest—“

“No, sorry, I’m not interested in joining any guild.”

“Wait, I didn’t finish what I was saying.”

“I’m not interested in your goals, or whatever your guild wants to become. I prefer being a solo warrior.”

“Just think about the advantages that you’ll have if you join us. I’m sure it will be beneficial for you.”

“Sorry, I said I’m not interested, so no thanks.”

“Pff, you’re no fun kiddo.”

“So, if this is everything you wanted to tell me, then I’ll leave for now.”

“You’re so cold Shiryuu. Well anyway, I heard that you heard some weird voices in that dungeon, is it true?”

“Wait, you don’t know about the creature sealed in your weapon?”

“Oho, so there are indeed mighty beings sealed inside these weapons.”

‘Damn, I shouldn’t have told him this.’

“Well, don’t worry, this is a secret between us, I’ll keep it for myself for the time being until I learn more about it.”

He stood up from his chair after finishing his coffee and said “Well, I think it’s time to say goodbye for now. If you need anything, here is my contact.” He gave me a piece of paper where his contact information was written. “Well, see you in 6 months in the Fighter Tournament in Central Area. I’m sure you’ll participate since you became a B-rank warrior.” He added. “Ah yes, before I forget, I already registered you in a B-rank dungeon raid that will happen a week from now. Go to the dungeon management center to get more information. It’s my gift for you.”

“Hey when did you do that without my—“

He waved his hand at me and quickly disappeared after going out of the café.

***

An hour later, I went to the dungeon management center to see if Vladimir was telling the truth.

I found out that he registered me in an unknown B-rank dungeon with no prior information, so the general guild called for 3 parties of 11-14 awakeners to attempt to clear that dungeon. A total of 34 awakeners were already registered, including me, so the minimum quota was met.

The dungeon was located in the mountain area between my country and Yamaria, a neighboring country known for the highest peak in the world. Also, more than 50% of its area consisted of mountains.

Afterward, I went to check on Clara and Leo in the hospital. They were still recovering, so I just dropped by quickly to ask them about their well-being and recovery rates, and that I’m going to another raid in a week. I bid them goodbye and went home.

***

A week later, I traveled to the dungeon area. It took me around 8 hours to reach it.

Some awakeners were already in the area, preparing for the upcoming raid.

I learned a lot from the last dungeon, so I was in a better position than last time. I reflected a lot on the last experience, and I could tell that I was different. Mentally I was ready for anything to come.