While I rested and consulted the notification window from the system, my two Terra Tortoises clambered over slowly, each step sending tremors across the cliff. They were enormous, each almost as big as an island. Well, they were Continent type spirit beasts, and were mostly brown and green like the Twig Turtles and Grove Turtles they evolved from. Added to that, they were also saurian type spirit beasts that were a cross between gigantic tortoises and Ankylosauruses.
I reached out and patted their heads.
"I'll have to hand it to you, big bro." Jun Hai was joining us, looking around at the massive number of spirit beasts who surrounded me. "You definitely have way more spirit beasts than I do."
"Oh, I'll give you my Mud Fishes, Marsh Striders and Swamp Stompers. I have a feeling you'll know how to make use of them better."
"Nah, you don't have to. It's not like I have any place to keep them in." Jun Hai shook his head. "But let me conduct a survey here and collect a few samples of the water from the river here. The currents seem to flow toward the ruins that they hired us to investigate, and I believe some of the marine organisms here eventually make their way to the tower."
"Oh, right. You mentioned that when studying the moss and other creatures living in the tower earlier." I nodded, remembering Jun Hai telling me briefly about it before we set off. I wasn't a scientist, so I didn't understand any of it. I trusted what Jun Hai said, though. He knew about the subject than I did.
"Yeah, you should rest. You fought really hard against that crazy green and black robed guy."
"Demonic Dragon," I said, glancing at Long Wang. "That's what his name was."
"I believe so," the dragon butler replied, having returned to his human form after the battle. "I've heard about him from guests at the bar."
"I hope you like the bar." I was surprised that Long Wang frequented the bar so often, but as long as he was happy, that was totally fine. I would rather him be happy and enjoy drinks like wine at the counter than resent me and harbor a growing grudge. That would cause complications further down the line.
I gathered my spirit beasts and thanked them for their help. I also offered congratulations to the newly evolved ones while encouraging the others. Once I was done, I sent them back to rest in my dungeon before reading the notification window from the system again.
-Mission completed. The following reward will be granted: Elemental Spirit Contract. –
"Huh? Elemental spirit contract again? Who am I supposed to use this with?"
Well, I wasn't going to complain about getting a reward after going through all this trouble. Demonic Dragon was indeed a formidable opponent, and I would have lost to him if it wasn't for my earlier breakthrough during the war on Yggdrasil. Thankfully, he was only beginner Earth rank at best. Which made me wonder what the hell his Dark Carnage Demonic Sect was doing all these years. They sucked all the essence from the poor Dryads to maximize the potential of their evil techniques, and this was the best they could do?
It only reinforced the notion that there was no shortcut in life. If you wanted to become stronger, you had to work hard. No two ways about it. Trying to circumvent hard work by stealing from others such as these demonic cultivators would have limited potential for growth. Sure, apparently, they grew powerful in the short term at other people's expenses, but their foundation was weak and it simply wasn't sustainable long term. I wouldn't be surprised if there were side effects.
"Jun Wen, look!"
Sylvie called out to me, waving her hand to beckon me over. I nodded and hastily strode toward the river shore where she and Silvia rested on. Previously, the fairy sisters had frolicked about in the shallow portions of the river, with Silvia all but swimming and splashing in delight while Sylvie sat by the shore, dipping her feet into the waters and enjoying the coolness.
However, Sylvie had noticed something in the river and she sprang up in surprise. That was why I was heading toward her right now.
"What's the matter, Sylvie?"
"Look!" She pointed at the river. At first, I didn't see anything. But then my Eye of Odin sort of activated and I could finally make out a bunch of tiny spirits skimming across the surface of the water, resembling the Sylphs. Unlike the fairy-like Sylphs, though, the water spirits were more like tiny merfolk with fish tails and humanoid bodies. Their ears were finned, and their skin tone was a light blue. Their merfolk-like bodies swirled with watery mana. There were both male and female, much like the Sylphs, yet at the same time, I could also sense that they possessed a similarly combined collective consciousness that gave rise to a single aggregate will.
"Undine."
I immediately recognized them. Several of them were swimming toward me eagerly, frolicking in the water just like Silvia, and surfing the waves. Silvia joined them in swimming toward me, giggling as she played with them. The Undine would spray water at her, and she would splash them back.
"Big sis! Big bro! Look! The Undines are here! They want to thank you!"
"Oh, uh…no problem." I wasn't sure what else to say. I was amazed at the encounter. Like the Sylphs, the Undines were one of the four major elemental spirit types that ruled over the four elements (according to the Western branch of magic, anyway). "This is an honor."
"Apparently, the group of demonic cultivators from earlier were corrupting the area and tainting the mana in the river," Sylvie explained as she listened to several of the Undines chittering to her in a melodic fashion. "But when you defeated them, and when you forced that villain – um, was his name Demonic Dragon? – to destroy the corrupted stone arch above the waterfall, as well as slay the Demonic Dragons he released, they could finally return to the waters and purify the river once more."
"Huh?" I suddenly understood. "So that stone arch…the Dragon's Gate was corrupted and transformed into the same monolith those other demonic mages and dark elves constructed in Yggdrasil earlier?"
"Seems like it," Sylvie confirmed. I shook my head in disgust.
"Man, those bastards are everywhere."
"Yeah! And the Undines are grateful that we helped to stop them!" Silvia was excited and pumped her fist into the air. "They want to thank us! Yay!"
Was she always so hyper? She was so different from her sister. Well, as long as she didn't experiment weird things on me such as casting a poison spell to check if I had immunity to all afflictions and status ailments, I didn't care.
"What do we want?" Silvia thought for a moment, ignoring me and Sylvie. Jun Hai had joined in, looking curious.
"What's going on?"
"Oh, we're speaking to the Undine."
"Huh?" Unlike me and the fairy sisters, Jun Hai couldn't see the elemental spirits. Normal humans couldn't.
Currently, he was carrying a bunch of small containers that had samples of the river water in it. He had also logged data through a couple of devices, and he was using one of them to measure the level of mana in the surroundings.
"Oh! I see now. There certainly is something emitting a concentrated amount of mana here."
While I spoke to my brother, Silvia appeared to have come to a decision. She boldly pointed at the Undine and proclaimed loudly.
"I know! You guys should become our comrades! Join us!"
"Hey, wait! Silvia, you can't just make decisions on your own!" Sylvie was flustered, moving to grab her younger sister and drag her away.
"It's fine, big sis! See? They agree!"
The Undines had gotten excited and they were swarming us now. Even Jun Hai was able to see them now, because they were casting a spell to make themselves visible before him. I no longer needed to rely on my Eye of Odin to see them.
"They want to make a spirit contract with you, big bro!" Silvia informed me. "You too, bro Jun Hai. They have already decided among themselves who will be following who."
"Huh? If they are sure that they want to." Jun Hai looked uncertain. I nodded.
"Yeah, if that's what they want, then I have no problem with that."
In the end, I used the elemental spirit contract. I wasn't sure how Jun Hai did it, but apparently, he was able to do something similar.
"I already know water spells, but I think making a contract with the Undine means that my water spells will be buffed further," he remarked. He turned to me with a grin. "Thanks, big bro. If you didn't come with me on this expedition, I don't think I'll be able to benefit so much! I would be forced to turn away when I saw Demonic Dragon and his cronies. I wouldn't be a match for him. You too, Long Wang. And sis Sylvie and sis Silvia."
He looked as if he wanted to say something else, especially when he glanced at Sylvie.
"What's the matter?" I asked. He shook his head.
"No, nothing." Despite turning away, I could still hear him mumble to himself. "I kind of feel bad for sis-in-law, but I still think sis Sylvie might be a better match…"
I rolled my eyes, but didn't say anything. Instead, I focused on speaking to the Undines and thanking them for giving me a chance. They began communicating with the Sylphs, and the two different groups of elemental spirits became fast friends.
"At this rate, I might become a druid," I muttered under my breath.
"Not just any druid," Jun Hai joked. "But one from Seoul Station!"
"Hell, no. But don't worry, I won't be fusing with my spirit beasts at all. Like, what is it with fusion in Korean web novels and manhwas? Seoul Station Druid did it, Taming Master did it, and I feel like there was another series that did it, but I can't remember what it was. Nah, not a big fan."
Especially after that…nightmarish arc in Full Metal Alchemist…yeah, no.
"Anyway, are we done here?" I looked around. Long Wang had disappeared back to the dungeon to give the Undines an orientation in their new home, and I had also dismissed my spirit beasts as well. They deserved a good rest after fighting so hard. The only ones left were Jun Hai, Sylvie, Silvia and me. I turned to my brother. "Jun Hai, you done with collecting samples and recording data?"
"Yeah, I'm done. Let's go back to the tower."
"Sylvie and Silvia? You want to play in the river for a bit longer?"
"Hmm, nah." Silvia shook her head. "The Dryad ruins is near the river, so I can go back there and have fun later."
"I'll follow you back whenever," Sylvie said. She was too passive. I wish she would think more for herself and what she wanted instead of listening to me all the time. This sort of relationship wouldn't be healthy. I had to talk to her about this in future.
"All right, let's head back."
With the path back to the ruin clear, we didn't have any difficulty making our way back. Though the mustached mercenary was surprised when he saw us.
"Where's that long-haired butler?"
"Oh, Long Wang? He returned home."
"Huh?! How?!"
"Butler methods," I replied vaguely. No point telling other people about my dungeon and how Long Wang could teleport back and forth from it. Even if I hadn't intended to keep it a secret, they wouldn't believe it. "Don't worry about him. But if you want to see him, I can summon him here again."
"No, that won't be necessary." The mustached mercenary shook his head and hands. "As long as all of you are safe, that's the most important thing."
"Yeah, thanks. I'll stand guard now and take over your men's shift."
"Oh, thanks. Appreciate it."
As the sun slowly set, I helped out with sentry duty while inwardly wondering how long the research team here would need to search and investigate the ruin before we could finally return home.