Episode 15
The Draker Academy is the knight school that every aspiring knight on the continent dreams of attending.
Its fame stems from none other than the legendary hero of the Liberation War, the Dragon Slayer Terrakan Draker, who founded it himself.
Terrakan, who vanquished the evil dragon Bahamut, is celebrated as a figure who ushered in a new era for humanity.
For a century after Bahamut’s demise, people referred to this period as the Golden Age.
This era was marked by the treasures and relics unearthed from the dragon’s lair and the ancient ruins hidden beneath it.
Among these, the ancient artifacts particularly captivated the interest of mages.
Some of these relics, dating back to the era of the Hero King, surpassed even the current magical technologies.
The high-compression mana stone that Fainan mentioned was one such artifact.
To acquire this high-compression mana stone, Zeke headed to the least frequented part of the academy.
“The library, of course.”
About ten years from now, a major discovery of Golden Age underground ruins would make headlines, having been found beneath the academy’s library.
“That’s where the high-compression mana stone was unearthed.”
In his past life, Zeke often visited the library during his academy days.
It was the perfect refuge when he wanted to avoid being bullied.
Seeing the library’s entrance after so long filled Zeke with nostalgia.
The academy’s library was larger than most national libraries.
Since its construction, overseen by the founder Terrakan himself, it had been meticulously maintained despite its low usage.
Zeke slowly entered the library.
As always, it was quiet and sparsely populated.
Only the librarians moved about, organizing new books and assisting the occasional visitor.
“Was it this way?”
It had been so long that Zeke found himself disoriented.
He slowly recalled his past memories.
“Let’s see. It was definitely the central hall’s underground archive.”
During an expansion to reorganize the archive’s materials, the entrance to the underground ruins was accidentally discovered.
Upon investigation, the ruins were found to be extensive, prompting the involvement of the Mage Tower and Nirvana’s mages in the excavation.
Astonishingly, it was confirmed to be a Golden Age site, yielding precious artifacts.
Zeke, in the future, read about this in the news and remembered that the high-compression mana stone was among the finds.
Since the ruins wouldn’t be discovered for another decade, no one knew about them yet.
“I’ll sneak down, grab the mana stone, and slowly smuggle out the rest.”
Zeke descended to the central hall’s basement.
The library was so deserted that no one paid attention to Zeke’s movements.
He made his way to the underground archive without any hindrance.
“Is this it?”
The scent of old paper wafted through the air.
As Zeke looked at the shelves packed with records, he recalled the photo of the ruins’ entrance from the news.
“It’s been so long, I can’t quite remember.”
Frustrated by his inability to recall, he frowned.
He couldn’t very well dig up the entire archive.
Then, something clicked in Zeke’s mind.
“Maybe the Dragon’s Eye could help…?”
He immediately activated the skill.
[Skill: Dragon’s Eye activated.]
As soon as he used the skill, his vision changed.
Not only could he see in the dark, but various pieces of information also appeared before him.
While scanning the archive, Zeke noticed a section of the floor marked in red.
“Over there…?”
Approaching, Zeke tapped the floor.
Thud, thud!
A hollow sound echoed from beneath.
Zeke glanced around cautiously.
There was no sign of anyone nearby.
“Good.”
He spread his palm and drew power from his mid-dantian.
A faint vibration enveloped his hand as mana surged.
He invoked the ‘Soul Body Technique’ taught by his past-life master.
“Cut.”
With Zeke’s intent to sever, the mana sharpened.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
The floor split cleanly as if sliced by a sharp blade.
“As expected, it’s a bit dizzying. I should avoid using it until my mid-dantian fully recovers.”
The Soul Body Technique, a skill humans couldn’t normally use, had its drawbacks.
This was why Zeke was determined to forge the Sun Sword Gram.
He lifted the cut floor like a door, revealing a hollow space beneath, dust billowing up.
“Let’s see.”
Brushing away the dust, Zeke used the Dragon’s Eye to peer into the dark passage below.
A path leading downward was visible.
Without hesitation, Zeke leaped into the passage.
Whoosh!
Landing gracefully, Zeke found himself at the bottom.
As the Dragon’s Eye effect faded, darkness enveloped him once more.
Having experienced the consequences of overusing skills, Zeke pulled out a fire starter from his pocket.
With it, he fashioned a torch and surveyed the passage.
“It looks just like a dungeon.”
After being expelled from the academy, Zeke had survived as a porter for adventurers in dungeons.
Following adventurers in and out of dungeons, he learned the ways of the world.
Though he nearly died to monsters when luck wasn’t on his side, he tenaciously clung to life.
While working as a porter, he was deceived by a con artist and sold into slavery on the southern continent.
Enduring all manner of hardships under the cartel-controlled southern continent, Zeke eventually escaped and met his master in the Forbidden Forest of the Forgotten.
“Meeting my master was either a stroke of luck or misfortune, I’m still not sure.”
Momentarily lost in memories, Zeke refocused on the path to the ruins.
“Is the entrance deeper than I thought? The news didn’t mention this.”
Remaining vigilant, Zeke ventured further inside.
Then, he sensed movement ahead.
“Could someone have already discovered this place?”
Tensing, Zeke extinguished his torch and activated the Dragon’s Eye.
His vision turned green, making it easier to distinguish friend from foe.
Cautiously, he moved forward, scrutinizing the movement.
“What? That’s…?”
It was a skeleton.
Zeke scanned the surroundings, wary.
The presence of skeletons often indicated the likelihood of higher-level monsters nearby.
Yet, his Dragon’s Eye revealed no other creatures.
He examined the skeletons more closely.
They wielded pickaxes and shovels, not swords or shields.
This suggested they weren’t created by a high-level monster but had become monsters due to the dungeon’s ancient influence.
Zeke slowly stood up.
“It’s been a while since I’ve hunted monsters.”
Before his return, monster hunting had been a significant part of his duties.
Clenching his fist, he approached the skeletons.
Creak!
The skeletons reacted to Zeke’s presence.
Though naturally occurring, their monstrous instincts made them hostile to the living.
“Keek—”
A skeleton charged at Zeke with a pickaxe.
Calmly, Zeke assumed a stance and drew a claymore from his inventory.
Boom!
[Skill: One-Hit Kill activated.]
The skeleton shattered with a single blow.
Zeke turned and struck another skeleton with his sword.
Boom!
It too crumbled instantly.
Ding!
[You have defeated a skeleton. You gain 1 Karma Point.]
[You have defeated a skeleton. You gain 1 Karma Point.]
“Huh?”
Checking his status window, Zeke saw his Karma Points had increased by two.
Nodding at the shattered skeletons, he mused, “Come to think of it… Undead are mana-infused monsters.”
Grinning at the broken skeletons, Zeke realized, “I can handle naturally occurring skeletons just fine.”
Recognizing the opportunity to earn Karma Points, his eyes gleamed.
He had thought monster hunting required at least a Purple Knight’s level, but he had found an unexpected solution.
Zeke roamed the area, searching for more skeletons.
Groan—
The ancient ruins harbored a fair number of naturally occurring skeletons.
Eagerly, Zeke swung his sword at them.
Ding!
[You have defeated a skeleton. You gain 1 Karma Point.]
The pleasant chime continued to ring.
Zeke dashed around, determined to eliminate every skeleton in the ruins.
Before he knew it, his focus had shifted from finding the ruins’ entrance to hunting skeletons.
After several hours, no more skeletons appeared.
“Let’s see. How many did I get?”
A message popped up.
[Skeletons defeated: 30]
“Oh, not bad. Let’s check. Status window open.”
[Lower Administrator Status Window]
Name: Zeke Draker
Class: Immortal (Unique Grade)
Title: Blessed by the Ancient Dragon
System Functions: Inventory (25 slots) / Mini-map (Locked) / Beginner Quest Book (Locked)
Passive Skills: Healing Factor / Unyielding Mental Defense / Infinite Stamina / Combat Instinct
Active Skills: Vital Strike [E Rank (Expert)] / Consecutive Slash [D Rank (Beginner)] / One-Hit Kill [D Rank (Skilled)] / High-Speed Movement [C Rank (Beginner)] / Magic Reflection [A Rank (Beginner)] / Area Buff [A Rank (Beginner)]
Dragon Skills (Stage 1 Unlocked): Dragon’s Eye (Beginner) / Dragon’s Majesty (Beginner)
Available Karma Points: 40
Zeke scanned through the options he could activate with his Karma Points.
“The mini-map costs 20 points, the Beginner Quest Book is 45 points, Gluttony is 50 points, and unlocking Stage 2 Dragon Skills is 50 points.”
With only 40 points at his disposal, the mini-map was the only thing he could activate immediately.
After a moment of deliberation, Zeke decided to activate the mini-map.
“Not sure what it does exactly… but with a name like ‘map,’ it should help me find my way.”
He pressed the activation button for the mini-map.
[Mini-map feature activated.]
Suddenly, a small map unfurled before Zeke’s eyes.
“Whoa!”
A compass icon hovered on one side, and the terrain was sketched out like a drawing.
In the center, a red dot blinked.
“Is this… a real-time map? Showing my location and the surrounding terrain?”
Zeke recalled the time he learned to read maps from the northern rangers.
For them, maps were as vital as life itself, but getting one with accurate scales and landmarks was nearly impossible.
The most precise maps were crafted by mages, but they were far too expensive for him to afford.
Yet here he was, with an incredibly accurate map at his fingertips.
Zeke fiddled with the mini-map, marveling at its features.
“You can adjust the scale, and it even shows directions automatically. With this, I’ll never get lost and die.”
Muttering to himself, Zeke adjusted the scale to get a full view of the ruins’ layout.
While examining the mini-map, he noticed an area marked differently from the usual landmarks.
“What’s this?”
When Zeke tapped the marked area, a message appeared.
[Would you like to display a route to the designated location?]
“A route guide?”
Choosing to receive guidance, the mini-map displayed the shortest path to his destination with a dotted line in a different color.
Zeke’s jaw dropped.
“Wow, this is incredible. Why didn’t I activate this sooner?”
Impressed, he followed the mini-map’s directions.
After walking the entire indicated path, another message popped up.
[You have arrived at your destination.]
Zeke looked around, taking in his surroundings.
A massive door loomed ahead.
He approached it slowly.
“So this is it. The ruins.”
Zeke pushed against the door, but it didn’t budge, likely sealed by some magical lock.
He frowned in frustration.
“Damn it… Now that I think about it, they did bring a bunch of mages for the excavation.”
The artifacts, including the high-compression mana stones, were undoubtedly behind that door.
Stuck at this impasse, Zeke ruffled his hair in exasperation.
“Ugh… Why can’t anything be easy?”
Ding!
Just then, a system notification chimed.
Zeke read the message that appeared.
[Would you like to enter the Tomb of the Dragonslayer?]