Chapter 357: Chapter 355 – Time To Explore.

Due to personal reasons, I'll be taking a short break, next chapter will be delayed by a few days.

“AWOOO?”

“For the last time, don’t change until we reach the deeper dungeon! How many times do I have to repeat myself!”

“Worf!?”

Roland frowned while looking at Agni jumping around all over the place. Even though his size had increased he was more agile than ever. It wasn’t that long since he achieved his Sunlight Wolf evolution and it was clear that he wanted to have some fun with it. Having two forms that differed from each other was not something Roland could relate to but it seemed that Agni wasn’t taking it that well.

‘Has he gotten more rebellious after the recent evolution?’

He looked at Agni who was jumping around and exterminating every salamander monster the moment it came into view. While he was a bit too excited for his own good, the wolf was still following all orders. There was no growling or animosity that he could detect from his mannerisms.

‘I guess he isn’t acting that strangely, he is just probably excited to be in the dungeon without anyone else dragging us down.’

Armand and Lobelia had managed to reach level hundred fifty with relative ease. Now they were up top trying to prepare to retake their ascension rituals. Even Roland wasn’t able to get through his trial the first time so it wouldn’t be strange if the two took a few weeks. He assumed that their classes wouldn’t be as prestigious as his was which would allow them to retake the test more frequently.

‘Mary is the same, I wonder what the three will change into.’

There were a couple of paths that all of them could take. Mary would probably choose something to aid her in gathering data and protecting her lord from the shadows. Armand would take something that enhanced his strength even further and perhaps also made him stupider. Lobelia had a few choices of ranged and rogue classes, a good combination would make her a lot deadlier than she was now.

‘The biggest downside of this shortcut is the skills. It would have probably been better if all of them maxed everything out with the last skill included…’

He was a bit worried about the push in leveling being somewhat detrimental to the choice of the next class. However, his own Overlord class variation didn’t require him to have everything maxed. It seemed that maxing out on all the skills of the first tier 2 class was enough to get him through and perhaps it would be enough for his friends.

“Woof!”

“Watch out, it’s some type of evolved creature?”

“Could it be a rare spawn? Should we retreat, it looks strong, I think it’s a Dire Ruby Wolf, but it looks bigger… could it be … “

“Wait… calm down, isn’t it walking next to that … armored man?”

“Is that a man? Could it be some type of metal golem? That thing looks heavy…”

“Awooo!”

“Oh shit, it spotted us… let's run!”

“...”

Roland stood in shock as he appeared at the lava lake. A lot of new adventurers arrived and were itching to get down to the new secret area. Some of them did their research on the area and what monsters to expect. Volcanic wolves could be discovered in limited areas and Agni’s enlarged form could be mistaken for a rare variant of those types.

“Stop scaring the adventurer’s Agni, you’re using that skill too much.”

“Woof!”

Agni’s tongue flopped out after he performed his howl. He had gained a passive skill that would cause enemies to panic if they didn’t have high enough willpower. Every chance he got now he would use this howling attack as it didn’t really use up any mana or stamina points. While it did allow them to move through the dungeon faster, Roland was starting to feel bad about the newbies just trying to make a living here.

‘They won’t go to the guild and tell them that a rare ruby wolf variant is terrorizing the dungeon, right?’

While looking at Agni’s stupid expression he realized that he might have to go and report the increase in tiers of his tamed monster. Even though Agni was wearing armor that he made to look tamed, his size was still comparable to a horse. His presence among the lesser monsters was eye-catching. If they bumped into an unreasonable platinum party that was informed of a rare variant running loose, then it could get bloody.

He tried ignoring this issue for the time being but heading to the guild was now a must. Thankfully he was the Head Knight so even bringing a horse-sized wolf into the city could be excused. Perhaps placing a saddle on Agni and riding him into the city would give more validity to the whole situation.

“Worf?”

For a moment, Agni backed away from Roland, who was taking measurements of his back. He had never created a saddle before but making one from some fire-resistant leather would probably not be that hard. Perhaps his companion wasn’t too keen on getting ridden by a man that was wearing armor above a hundred kilos.

“What? You’re a big wolf, you’ll be able to handle it. Anyway, the lake is clearing up, let's go.”

You are reading story The Runesmith at novel35.com

The two traversed this stretch in a record amount of speed with Roland losing the race in a substantial manner. At least when it came to running speed he could not go against his derpy-looking wolf. The two soon disappeared through the secret door and squeezed through the corridors that in some places were a tight fit for Agni’s increased size.

‘Oh, they are already here?’

“Ah, Sir Wayland, Good day.”

When he arrived at the mining area he was greeted by an acquaintance. Myrtle was there along with the whole party of adventurers that had been hired by Arthur. After a quick glance, it was clear that they were here to act as bodyguards for the Dwarven Union. Arthur had already signed a contract for the mining rights. Luckily he was able to shove the responsibility of taking care of the miners into the hands of this platinum party. 

With a situation like this, the other adventurers had to give up on getting any of the rare materials without in some way getting themselves in hot water. Even if they were able to get through the hired muscle, they would be going up against the Valerian household. As he nodded at the woman he took a glance at his mapping device and could see some movement at the end of the corridor through which he discovered this location years ago.

‘They seem to be working on that lift too, I see they took my advice to heart.’

Thanks to spatial magic moving the heavy ores wouldn’t be a problem. The real issue was the long walk back up and constant waits for the lava lake to clear up. To alleviate this problem he proposed to create a pulley system going up that didn’t necessarily have to carry the dwarves up. If it was able to house a cart with a spatial bag inside, it would be enough. It was more important for the materials to leave the mine early than the workers that could even sleep in tents here.

“Oh my, that magnificent creature… Is that an Alpha Dire Ruby Wolf? But the man is even larger and that horn radiates strange mana…”

His thoughts were interrupted after Myrtle spotted Agni. Compared to the weaker adventurers in the dungeon these five didn’t seem to care that much about Agni. Perhaps their extensive experience allowed them to distinguish feral beasts from tamed ones. All the other people including the miners began inching back but soon went on with their work after they realized that Agni was a tamed monster.

“Yes, something like that, now if you’ll excuse me.”

“Oh, are you going into the dungeon, Sir Wayland?”

“Yes, I’ll leave things in your care here, if something happens you can contact me through the usual channel.”

“Of course, I’ll use this as you’ve instructed.”

Myrtle smiled while moving her hand to the side. There she had a runic device that had the shape of a larger smartphone. Instead of a screen, it was covered in various runes with a crystal orb closer to the top side.

“Hello, is it working?”

“Yes, I can hear you just fine.”

“Splendid.”

It was a two-way connection that transmitted sound. Roland just implemented some of the crystal ball magical technology into this runic device. It could not send through any images which conserved a lot of mana. Thanks to all the runic mapping devices that could transfer signals, it was possible to connect sound too. It was similar to a wireless phone network but was still quite limited.

One of the biggest limitations was the route that was required. It would be impossible for more than two people to converse while going through the same mapping devices that were shoved into the dungeon walls. It would also affect the map on his armor and produce errors if he used all of them at once. The new audio enhancers that didn’t interfere with the map still needed to be placed and his current trip here involved this issue as well.

“Please be careful and good luck.”

“I will. Come Agni, let’s go.”

Besides Myrtle, the party leader, the other four didn’t really react to his arrival. He wasn’t sure if he was disliked by the four others but at least Aubron looked displeased for a moment when he appeared. Perhaps in their minds, he had put them in a disadvantaged position by pretending to be weak.

‘Okay, which route is empty.’

Without anyone holding him back anymore he ventured forth. The need for traveling with a lumbering mule golem was also a big perk. With the runic dimensional pocket that was on his back, his traveling speed had increased. Agni’s armor had been enhanced with the same storage feature which made the old golem obsolete.

“Okay, this should be far enough…”

“Awoo?”

“Yes, go ahead Agni.”

With the help of his mapping system and the lack of tier 3 class holders venturing into this dungeon, he was able to safeguard Agni’s secret. The shape of the Ruby Wolf started to shift as the ruby mane turned to one covered by red and orange flames. The main reason to come here was to level up but also to see how Agni fared against the undead creatures here. The first enemy wasn’t far and also one of the favorite types, a Berserker undead.

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