Evan D. Sherden, Improving (1)
Evan and his party left the dungeon with the Knight Commander. Did they have to go back to the stairs on the first floor? Of course not.
You could get out of the dungeon by going up the stairs or memorizing specific words. Of course, this was also a sign of God. Therefore, it was understandable that many people claimed that the dungeon was also created by God.
"Evan!"
As soon as the party left the dungeon, a figure came rushing towards Evan and hugged him tightly. It was Lady Redline, the First Wife of the Marquis.
She rubbed her cheek on his face, not minding the fact that Evan had become quite dirty while rolling around in the dungeon for more than two days.
"Are you hurt, Evan? Was it too difficult for you, my child?"
"It's okay, mother. I'm fine."
"Thank God… Wait! Why are you wearing a cursed item!?"
"Because it's supposed to be helping me, Mother," Evan reassured her as he took off his cursed boots in front of the frightened Marquis' wife.
The pair of shoes had the fatal drawback of decreasing the stats by half, but except for that, the boots were also surprisingly good artefacts.
That was because they also provided a defence.
'The defence applies to the whole body. I'm not going to be fighting on the frontlines anyway as I'll be only assisting with my alchemy in the back, so it's good to get some additional defence in exchange for lowering my stats.'
Originally, the Yo-Ma Great War equipment affected only those parts of the body on which they were worn. And no matter how high their defence was, these boots were still artefacts and acted like any other cursed artefact would in this world (except for the invisible shield).
Wearing them was a trade-off between half of his stats and his entire defence, but no matter what, there was no better item for Evan at the moment, who was only seeking the safety of his body at the time. It wasn't that Evan had chosen to wear those boots without thinking about their cause and effect.
'Some people hated it because they thought it was not worth it, but… '
This was what one would call fighting poison with poison. Evan did not care as he did not want to be a jack of all trades.
Evan shook his head as he thought that only he considered these things, but unfortunately, he did not know that others who looked at him always thought similarly.
"Mother, is it possible for you to make sure that the curse on the boots cannot be recognized by others so that they don't have to worry about my safety?"
"That's very easy… Evan, you do know how to keep others from guessing what you are interested in at the moment."
"Evan!"
"Evan!"
"Oh!"
Shortly after he secretly requested to make the boots look just like an ordinary item, he released himself from her arms and sprinted towards the others.
Elizabeth, who was in the Marquis' arms, Eric, and the second wife, Miriam, came over as they also eagerly waited for him to return from the dungeon.
"Father, brother, I'm back! Elizabeth, I was dying to see you again!"
"Wow. Oh… "
Evan's momentum was so intense that they were scared for a moment, but Evan took Elizabeth from the Marquis and held her in his arms. Elizabeth bit him in return. Evan then held her in such a way that she would not bite him again as he was worried that the dirty things from the dungeon could adversely affect the fragile baby.
"How were you able to conquer the fifth floor in two days, son?"
"I made a map, Father! I'll show it to you later."
"A map!? Of course, we redrew all of the maps of the dungeon after the cataclysmic change, but even if someone was equipped with one, it was still very difficult not to get lost inside…"
Thanks to the precise map, which was incomparable to the ones that the Marquis had, and the different cognitive abilities derived from Evan's alchemy skills, he was able to clear the fifth floor of the dungeon without much hassle (Of course, he did not know that he would develop different abilities when learning alchemy).
Evan laughed.
"We all returned safely, Father. And I am convinced that this was the best option for me as I am willing to attack the lower dungeons in the future."
"I… I don't know about that, Evan. I don't know what kind of adverse effects it will have on your body if you continue to raise your level at a very young age. I am still anxious that I allowed you to enter the dungeon rather too soon."
"Please trust me, father. I'm sure you made the right choice."
Raising the dungeon level expanded the potential of his body. Rather than hindering his natural growth, it would only help him to become stronger.
The Marquis recognized Evan's strong will and ended up nodding in defeat.
"I know. I trust you… But you're not allowed to go to the 6th floor just yet."
"But father, please…"
"You just came back from defeating the Floor Master on the 5th floor, Evan. Aren't you satisfied enough?"
Of course, if the dungeon's upper floors had been difficult, then Evan wouldn't have argued in the first place, but that was not the case at all. He insisted on it because he would be able to venture further with ease, even while wearing those cursed boots.
When he kept looking at the Marquis with utmost seriousness, the Marquis pondered for a long time, but soon sighed and then nodded again.
"Let's talk a little more about this issue later, okay, Evan? You must be very tired since you just came from the dungeon. It's not normal to do that at your level."
"Thank you, Father!"
Evan kissed the Marquis' cheek. He was 12 years old now, but the Marquis liked him too much and didn't know what to do.
Eric looked at their affectionate display with envy, but Evan ignored him.
"Shine, Belois, you must have also suffered a lot. Oh my, Belois… Did you evolve much while you were in there?"
"It was all thanks to the things that the Madam taught me."
While Evan was busy talking to his father and brother, the Marquis' wife hugged Shine and Belois one after another. As Evan had been doing from the start, she had ceased to treat them as simple servants.
Particularly, the Marquis' wife was amazed to see Belois, who was her disciple, grow so remarkably.
"You are the best Rookie out there, do you know that…? I am wholly convinced right now that Evan wasn't wrong. Everything you lacked has been filled with more than perfection. Ugh! You are such a blessing, Belois. A true blessing from God!"
"Madam, I am embarrassed," Belois hugged the Marquess, who was spinning around joyfully. She tried to reply calmly, but her cheeks were slightly red.
Evan laughed cheerfully as he saw this scene. The Marquis then spoke,
"Evan, take this."
He handed Evan a flagpole. A fluttering flag hung from it. The flag was engraved with the seal of the Marquis of Sherden.
"I should have given you the original flag of the Dungeon Knights, but it's not officially made yet, so instead, you will be raising the flag of the Marquis."
"It must be the opposite, Father. The reason I stand here is because I was born as the son of the Marquis of Sherden."
"You have made the name of the family of Sherden proud, my son. Now, go ahead with this. Everyone is waiting for you!"
Evan wanted to come out of the dungeon as quietly as possible, but he had well expected the Marquis to make some kind of ceremony out of it.
He smiled bitterly and received the flagpole. The seal of the Marquis of Sherden consisted of a roaring monster being struck by a long spear in the neck. The seal was wonderfully drawn, and Evan felt a strong sense of momentum and determination to stop the monster's threat just by looking at it.
"Master Evan, let's go."
"We are ready."
"I will follow you, Master."
Shine, Raihan, and Belois stood with dignity. None of them even thought about wiping off the blood and dust from the dungeon as they stood beside him.
"Oh, oh, oh!"
"Liz, this is for you…. Yes, I got it. Your brother has to look nice in front of all those people."
The cries of Elizabeth, which were louder than her babbling, boosted Evan's energy. He smiled at his lovely sister and raised the flagpole high. On the outside, he looked sombre.
"Let's go!"
Evan took the lead, and the rest of his party followed him. As soon as he stepped outside, his ears filled with screams, shouts, and roars.
There were thousands and thousands of people lining the street on the left and the right.
Almost all of the residents of the dungeon city of Sherden had flocked to see him; the one who successfully cleared the 5th floor of the dungeon, at the young age of 12.
The affection and interest that people usually had for him were multiplied tenfold, and people looked at him as if he was a king. It was truly a breathtaking scene. The feeling was different from when he first got everyone's attention at the party hall.
"You came back!"
"Oh my God… Did he clear up to the 5th floor? Really?"
"If he was lying, he would get caught later, you idiot."
"Evan Oppa is so cool!" Princess Serena's passionate cheering could be heard mingled in the cries of the people. Evan expected she would be there when he returned.
She ran out of the crowd and tried to hug Evan, but was stopped by the knights.
Evan looked at Serena, made an expression like that of a teacher, and continued to walk confidently.
"Master Evan!"
"Young Master, you are so cool! Please look here!"
"How the hell? He got a lot stronger than when I saw him at the party venue…!"
"How the hell is that boy so strong? Still, it is good that a dragon is finally born in the Sherdens!"
Cheers of admiration, astonishment, and surprise erupted from all directions. Evan was desperately trying to stop his shoulders from drooping due to the loud sound.
At this time, the etiquette he had learned before meeting the King helped him a lot. He had already mastered the ability to acquire all the knowledge required to be accepted by the nobles, and the attitude, as well as the posture that the nobles needed.
He kept staring straight ahead while raising the flag high. There was a lot of applause. However, they didn't know Evan's true intentions.
'Of course, there is also a scenario where Evan dies while holding a flag in the game. I already accepted it from the Marquis, but now, can't I just give this to my brother….?'
It seemed to him as if both his hands were glued to the flag. Nevertheless, he couldn't hand it over to someone else to uphold the pride and face of the Marquis.
Evan pretended to be full of confidence again after confirming that the figure of Raihan was still following him. He then swung the flag around to even more cheers from the crowd.
"Young Master! Young Master! Here!"
"Oh, stay still! You can do it after we go to the mansion!"
"Someone cast some paralysis magic on this guy! What, nobody knows paralysis magic!?"
"Hold him down from both sides! His power is very bullish!"
'Even if a madman is holding a knife in the crowd, I hope that either Maybell or Raihan will stop them! Please!'
"Hah, I'm sure he'll be ridiculously strong in the future."
"Look at those purple eyes that look so mysterious. If a nobleman was not born with strength, would he be able to make an expression like that?"
"After a long time, we have been entrusted with a new hope… The era is near when the Dungeon Knights will rule again. The guild's prestige will decrease after all these years and the Marquis' prominence will overshadow it."
Evan wanted to make sure the battle guild members could see his face and be sure that he had cleared up to the 5th floor of the dungeon. This would inevitably motivate them to their purpose.
None of the people even knew that Evan had halved his stats with the cursed boots. He was so scared that he didn't even want to take off the boots right now.
"We may have to face some hard times in the future. We must establish our guild position until that boy is fully grown up."
"What nonsense! If the Dungeon Knights are strong enough, the battle guilds can also benefit from them. That boy will be a blessing for both the dungeon city and our explorers."
"Then I hope for everyone's sake that he grows up quickly."
On this day, Evan D. Sherden's name was imprinted firmly in the minds of every guild leader in the dungeon city of Sherden, along with his brilliant beauty.
After seeing all this, it could be said that Evan's dungeon debut had been truly successful.