novelThe Heart of the Dungeon #1
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Laws exist within the demon world. But one can't expect the demon world to have laws as a civilized nation.
No, even in advanced countries, they used cruel violence instead of the law.
The law of the jungle.
Survival of the fittest.
In the demon world, a fist was more powerful than the law.
It didn't matter to low-ranked spirits like Goblins. As the lowest being in the pyramid, they were satisfied with just being alive.
However, as the demon king and the owner of the spirits, it was a different story.
They needed to get stronger in order to survive. It wasn't a choice, but a necessity.
&
"Whew... Ha......."
Yong-Ho was breathing heavily while sweating. After awakening as a demon king, his body did get stronger, but he didn't become a flawless superman.
The room that was located in front of the demon king's room.
Yong-Ho leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes. He used the trick that Catalina taught him on how to circulate the mana that was within his body.
It was safe to say that a demon king's body was a lump of mana. Just circulating the mana that was within his body will resolve the fatigue that his body was feeling.
'Do they not get tired?'
Yong-Ho had a bitter smile on his face as he looked straight ahead. His soldier, Catalina, and the Rank Two spirit, Treant, were currently sparring with each other.
"You won't be able to beat me if you keep that up."
Catalina spoke as if she was making fun of them. Her opponent was the Treant that planted its roots in the middle of the room.
Catalina's act of provocation was more effective because it was different from her usual clumsy personality.
Her attack was fast and sharp. Honestly, Yong-Ho didn't have the confidence to dodge that attack. On top of that, there were no less than four vines.
However, Catalina maintained her smile. Instead of stepping back and dodging them, she ran towards the vines. The way she dodged the vines was so natural that it looked like he was seeing a feather ride the wind.
As she got closer, the Treant tried to attack, but it was no use. After jumping off of the ground, Catalina disappeared. Or, that's what it looked like in their eyes.
After breathing in.
Catalina appeared again. She appeared behind the spirit and using the sheathed sword that was in her hand, she gently tapped the Treant's body.
"With this, it's 10:0."
If the Treant grabbed or touched Catalina with their vines, it was their win.
If Catalina dodges the vines and touch the Treant's body, then Catalina wins.
It was a very simple rule and like Catalina had mentioned, this was her 10th win.
Catalina was spinning around with a smile while the Treant was shaking in anger. After seeing Yong-Ho, she bowed politely. She looked like a magician that bowed to the audience after performing their magic trick.
Even though Catalina had a clumsy side, that was just one part of her.
The House of Mammon was still a family even if they experienced a downfall. Catalina was the guard of this house and had the skills to match it.
'But. Why am I in a bad mood?'
No, to be exact, he wasn't in a bad mood. It's more like he could relate to the Treant more than Catalina.
Catalina had a calm face while her ears were flapping and was waiting for Yong-Ho to compliment her, but Yong-Ho saw how defeated the Treant looked.
'I will definitely try... no, I'll evolve your vines. Hang in there, Treant. You'll beat her next time!'
Before that, Yong-Ho had to develop himself first.
It's been six days since he became the head of the house.
Catalina has been teaching Yong-Ho how to fight during the past three days. Since he's never fought before, it wasn't easy, however, he wasn't being lazy about his training.
"Have you gotten used to the training?"
He wiped off the sweat using the water that was in the room and when he walked out, Eligor greeted him with a smile. The clothes that Eligor brought were ordinary clothes that he bought from the dungeon shop and was made for human-like spirits. It was an ordinary gray outfit that didn't have any designs. Yong-Ho changed into them and answered.
"Somewhat. It's kind of fun moving my body around."
"I was worried about Catalina's training... but it's a relief that you're very smart. This is a blessing from Mammon himself."
Eligor must've not trusted her as well. With a bitter smile, he followed Eligor to the king's room.
It was to see how the Goblins were working.
There was a total of four Goblins within the dungeon.
Jon was the one that specialized in strength and Ron specialized in stamina.
The two additional Goblins that he purchased haven't been developed yet since he had to save his mana, but they specialized in agility and intellect.
He didn't know what kind of development would be most effective for Goblins, so he chose them in order to gather data.
"Of course the warehouse would be the first place."
The first thing the Goblins did was building the warehouse. It was called a warehouse, but it was just a room and after activating it, all they did was stack various resources.
Eligor started explaining while pointing to various wood and stones.
"In some ways, the dungeon itself is another spirit. You cannot install all the facilities with just mana alone. You need wood, stone, metals and other ingredients as well. The dungeon shop sell these ingredients, but if we can obtain them from around us, that'll be better."
They needed to save as much as possible.
Yong-Ho asked after looking at the materials again.
"What are you thinking about building next?"
"You'll be the one to decide, but I personally would like to suggest building a prison."
"A prison?"
It was something he hadn't thought about, so he couldn't help but ask loudly. Eligor answered calmly.
"Yes, it's safe to say that there aren't any dungeons that doesn't have a prison."
The games that Yong-Ho played had dungeons as well. No, when he thought about the word, dungeon, not having a prison seemed odd.
"No, but still. A prison is used to lock up prisoners... there's really no reason to that, right?"
He doubted they could capture a prisoner now and on top of that, he was busy taking care of the others.
Eligor had a bright smile on his face.
"Oh... so you won't let the prisoners have a chance to live. It's the right thing to say as the demon king and this old man has been touched."
Instead of contemplating about what he said, a frown appeared on his face. Eligor continued talking.
"A prison isn't just used to keep prisoners in. It can be used as a punishment for spirits. In order to control feeble-minded spirits, like the Goblins, you need both carrot and stick."
Yong-Ho briefly thought about how the Goblins and Catalina would cry if they were put in the prison and nodded his head. He still wasn't sure if it was necessary, but Eligor knew more about the dungeon and the demon world, so his judgement was most likely correct.
"Okay, then begin the construction. Also, give me data on the types of traps and dungeon facilities that can be created in our current situation. I'll check when I come back."
Eligor briefly wondered what he meant when he said he would check when he came back. He asked with a bright expression.
"Will you be starting today?"
"Might as well start as soon as possible. I already told Catalina to get ready. Since we're just starting, it probably won't be that dangerous."
Most of the functions within the dungeon were inactive. The activated functions didn't even make up 10% of the inactive functions and if he considered the underground area, the current dungeon was just the tip of the iceberg.
Because of that, he needed to explore the dungeon. It was to acquire the House of Mammon's hidden inheritance.
'It's a bit odd that I'm putting my life on the line to explore my own place. '
Out of the previous owners, not one of them were able to completely reactivate the dungeon because it was too big. However, this wasn't the only reason.
Exploring the dungeon was dangerous. Within the dungeon, a good amount of Mammon's inheritance was hidden and at the same time, unknown traps existed as well.
High risk, high return.
Yong-Ho made the decision to recover the House of Mammon's power.
'I'm not planning on overdoing it from the start though. '
First, he was planning on reactivating the areas that the previous owners discovered and then decided to grow his mana and gain experience in the development skill. He could explore the depths of the dungeon after he gets stronger.
"In that case, there's a place I would like for you to visit first. It's been six days since the dungeon has been reactivated, so I'm sure it has regained its form."
Yong-Ho tilted his head.
"Regained its form? What are you talking about?"
Eligor had a soft smile on his face. After Yong-Ho ascended to the throne, he was informed about it on the first day, but it was a place he never visited.
"It's the core of the dungeon. I'm talking about the Heart of the Dungeon."
~The Heart of the Dungeon #1~ End.
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