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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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Chapter 10: Revelation and Trial (1)
Step, step—
I strode confidently into the building.
Having visited this place hundreds of times while playing the game, I knew the layout of the factory like the back of my hand.
Our destination was the 7th basement level—the entrance to Hidden Dungeon II in the dark city of Dungard.
“This is the place.”
Before long, we arrived.
The corridor on the 7th basement floor connected to a pitch-black cave.
Fluorescent-colored liquid trickled down from stalactites and pooled in underground lakes.
According to the game’s lore, the cave had become severely contaminated from industrial waste dumped by the factory above.
“KRAAAAAH—!”
Right on cue, a blood-curdling roar echoed from somewhere in the distance.
Feeling the unmistakably ominous atmosphere, Adelia spoke in visible confusion.
“How could you possibly know about a place like this…?”
“I received a revelation.”
Revelation—a prophecy that is delivered only to the chosen, like the Swordmasters.
At my answer, Adelia closed her mouth for a moment, then gave a slow nod.
She might not believe others, but as someone from the holy House of Goldheart, she wouldn’t dare question a divine revelation.
Especially not when she still believed I was a Swordmaster.
If the word “savior” worked magic on Lea de Karayan, then “revelation” was just as effective with Adelia.
‘Anyway—’
With that settled, I glanced at my MP window again.
〔MP: 1 / 1〕
‘It takes around 24 hours to recover just 1 MP.’
In other words, Soul of the Swordmaster was effectively a once-a-day ultimate move.
In a world like Loel’s, where danger could strike at any time, that was far too limited. I had to use it sparingly—only when my life was truly on the line.
So, obviously…
“Adelia, take the lead.”
…this dungeon run was going to be completely outsourced to our personal bus driver.
“…?”
Pause.
Adelia turned around, looking puzzled.
Then she asked with a doubtful tone, “Wait. Did I ever tell you my name…?”
I quickly scrambled for an excuse.
“That was… also part of the revelation.”
“…Ah.”
Nod, nod—
Adelia nodded in understanding.
Yup. Our magic keyword was still working like a charm.
Ding—!
〔You have entered ‘Hidden Dungeon II’ in Dungard, the Dark City.〕
I followed Adelia past the dungeon entrance.
A transparent system message appeared before my eyes.
I ignored it and kept walking. The message vanished on its own shortly after.
“It’s so dark,” Adelia muttered, furrowing her brow slightly.
She wasn’t wrong. The cave was incredibly dim.
Only the faint glow of the fluorescent lake and puddles offered any light at all.
Whooom—!
Adelia drew her sword and began channeling her aura.
A swirl of teal-colored energy—an exquisite blend of gold and blue—wrapped around her blade.
It flared up like a torch.
Using the glow from her sword, she began carefully making her way forward.
KIEEEEEK—!
How far had we gone?
We ran into the first batch of dungeon monsters.
【Lv. 51】
【Lv. 52】
【Lv. 50】
Screeeee—!
Something about the size of a forearm let out a shriek and came darting toward us at breakneck speed.
It moved so fast I couldn’t even react.
“Hup—!”
But Adelia was different. She slashed once, and several objects tumbled from the air.
Thud—! Splat—!
I glanced down at the ground.
A handful of glowing, fairy-like creatures lay in pieces—cleanly severed at the torso.
Adelia had sliced them in half with a single swing.
“I’ll continue advancing.”
Her voice was calm and flat.
I nodded—but inwardly, I was absolutely stunned.
‘Holy crap, how is anything that fast?!’
Polluted Tinkerbells.
Level 50 monsters born from illegal experiments in the abandoned factory.
They dash at players and self-destruct. If you don’t intercept them first, they deal massive damage.
‘I could react just fine to them in the game, but…’
Here in reality, I couldn’t even track them with my eyes.
Maybe it was because my Agility stat was literally 1.
‘I seriously need to boost my physical stats, and fast.’
While I was quietly mulling this over—
“Um… Sir Swordmaster?”
Adelia—now walking slightly ahead—spoke hesitantly while glancing back at me.
Apparently, I was now “Sir Swordmaster.”
“I’m not sure if this is the right time to ask, but… could I know what you thought of the sword technique I used earlier?”
The question came out of nowhere.
And I was left momentarily speechless.
What did I think?
‘What did I even see…?’
All I’d seen was a flash of movement—and then monsters were sliced in half. That was it.
Obviously, I couldn’t say that out loud.
Especially not with Adelia staring at me with those big, hopeful eyes.
‘Right…’
I was supposed to be teaching her.
After a short pause, I blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Your sword path… carries hesitation.”
“…!”
“A strike born from inner turmoil is never clean. When you hold your sword, forget everything else—and focus only on that one moment.”
Adelia’s eyes widened.
“I’ll remember that.”
She smiled faintly—clearly satisfied, and genuinely grateful for the advice.
‘Huh.’
For some reason, a quote I once saw online floated through my head.
Once you’re famous, people will applaud even if you take a crap.
‘…So this girl would probably cheer even if I crapped out of my mouth.’
They say old sayings never lie—and damn if that isn’t true.
* * *
In most RPGs, players gain experience points by hunting monsters. Once that number hits a threshold, they level up.
But Lost Elder had a completely different progression system compared to those typical games.
"Players can increase their stats through repeated actions or focused training."
Of course, you could still level up by defeating monsters—but only because the system considered those battles to provide “insight” through real combat experience.
So no matter how many of the same type of monster you killed, your experience gains would eventually hit a ceiling.
“In Loel, mindless grinding is meaningless. You can’t level up that way anyway.”
That was exactly why I hadn’t leveled up after killing Barba the Human Butcher.
Anyway—
The reason I’m suddenly rambling about this seemingly random topic is because...
Ding!
〔HP has slightly increased. (1→2)〕
〔Strength has slightly increased. (1→2)〕
...My stats went up just from walking through the cave's brutal terrain.
“So my HP and Strength improved, huh.”
I could actually feel the muscle aches all over my body.
My legs were shaking, and I was getting winded.
“I didn’t even walk that far and I’m already this exhausted?”
Honestly, it was pathetic—almost pitiful.
Especially since Adelia, who had been soloing monsters this entire time, didn’t even break a sweat.
“Huff.”
Step—
Right then, Adelia came to a stop.
She exhaled lightly and wiped the blood off her blade. Fluorescent goo dripped from it and splattered onto the stone floor.
Raising her head, she stared ahead at the massive structure looming before us.
“Looks like we’re nearing the end of the cave.”
Gooooooo—
Before us stood a massive stone gate, easily ten meters tall.
On its surface was an unsettling mural—vivid depictions of kidnapped children, their bodies used in horrifying illegal experiments.
The entrance was all too familiar to me.
Naturally—this was the boss room of the current dungeon.
“Let’s head in.”
Adelia pressed her hands against the stone gate and pushed.
With a thunderous rumble, clouds of dust fell from the ceiling above.
Creak—!
Beyond the slowly opening gate, the scenery began to reveal itself.
A cavern with a towering ceiling.
Through a partially collapsed roof, faint moonlight streamed in and dimly lit the underground space. The floor, submerged in shallow water, glowed in a toxic green hue.
Rusting steel beams from the factory above barely held the crumbling ceiling in place.
And in the center of the clearing—sat a hulking beast radiating a dreadful aura.
【Lv. 82】
Flap—!
Tattered green rags fluttered as translucent wings twitched underneath.
The grotesque creature had six twisted arms, each one gripping a massive greatsword. Its rough, blistered skin was stained in foul shades of brown and glowing green.
It looked like something straight out of Indian mythology—like an Asura.
If this were a game, its grotesque face would be labeled with the following name:
【Peterpan, the Kidnapper of Dungard】
“Ah...”
Step back—
Adelia instinctively recoiled.
The sheer pressure radiating from Peterpan was enough to freeze even her—a warrior at level 77.
Ding!
〔Your MAX Mental Resistance nullifies the enemy’s pressure.〕
Naturally, I was completely unaffected.
The passive effect of 【Soul of the Swordmaster】 granted total immunity to mental debuffs.
I glanced at Adelia and spoke.
“You should be fully warmed up by now.”
“…”
“This is the final stage of the training I mentioned earlier. Think you can handle him?”
Peterpan.
The name might sound laughable, but in the main storyline, he was considered one of the most nightmarish bosses.
His stats were high, sure—but more than that, his attack patterns were a total nightmare.
If Adelia were to face him now, she’d probably die seven times out of ten.
“Huff.”
Of course, Adelia would know this too.
Anyone above level 75 could roughly gauge their opponent’s strength. Unless the gap was massive, it was instinctive.
So she likely already understood—she didn’t have much of a chance.
Shing—!
Even so, she raised her sword without hesitation.
Cautiously, she began approaching the monster.
“If I can gain insight from this fight… then I’m willing to challenge—”
KAANG—!!
Just then, red sparks exploded in the air.
In the blink of an eye, Peterpan was right in front of her, swinging his sword.
Adelia blocked it on instinct, her eyes wide in disbelief.
“What…?!”
The attack had been fast and heavy.
The force of the blow made her grip tremble uncontrollably.
But there was no time to catch her breath.
Six massive blades came crashing down on her like a storm.
“WENDEEEEEEEE!”
Whoosh—!
Peterpan spread his wings and shot into the air, twisting his body midflight and launching a barrage of attacks.
His speed was absurd—especially for a monster of his size.
Adelia struggled to block, backpedaling with each clash.
The attacks she failed to block left gashes across her body.
Not even five minutes into the battle, and she was already covered in wounds.
“Yeah… this is too much.”
Peterpan was far more dangerous than I’d expected.
I’d hoped that Adelia might gain some kind of insight from the fight—but at this rate, she was just going to die a dog’s death.
...So I made the call.
No hesitation.
I immediately activated the trump card I had prepared.
‘You’ve done enough, Adelia.’
Watching her desperately fend off Peterpan’s assault, I thought to myself.
Just getting me here—just getting me to the boss room—was more than enough.
Everything from this point on was my job.
Shing—!
I drew the Featherblade.
A sword so light it felt like an extension of my own hand.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
It wasn’t something I did on purpose—my body remembered the storm from last time and closed its eyes on its own.
And then...
〔MP: 1 / 1〕
Tick—
〔MP: 0 / 1〕
In the briefest flash of time—a surge of overwhelming omnipotence flooded through my entire body.
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[Translator - Hestia]
[Proofreader - Starfall ]
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