[Yes!]
Beru, responding to Suho's command, asked back in bewilderment.
[But to kill those disrespectful fools, shouldn't we attack from behind?]
"What are you talking about? We're going to mine."
[…!]
Beru jumped, sputtering in protest.
[Wh-what are you talking about!] He couldn't believe it. What on earth was going on! The power of the great and almighty Shadow Monarch. Oh how incredible that ability was. and suho was going to use it for mere mining!
[Right now, in outer space, there's a war going on with an army of hundreds of millions, and you're talking about mining!]
"I know that, but the extent of my power right now is only 3 weak goblins. We have to be realistic. I'm sure Dad probably did something like this when he was weak, too."
[B-but….]
"And you said it yourself last night." Suho recalled the conversation he had with Beru yesterday.
* * *
The previous day, on the way home after being discharged from the hospital. Beru said with a serious expression,
[Young Master, our mission can be summarized in three points.] For a guy his size, his words were quite grandiose.
[First. We must protect Earth from the magical beasts of outer space.]
"You mean go into dungeons and hunt magical beasts?"
[Yes. As you hunt magical beasts, your level will gradually increase, and the stronger the Young Master becomes, the safer Earth will be. And second, we must somehow find Lady Hae-In, who is missing.]
"Right. Do you have any idea where Mother might be?"
[Unfortunately, I do not. But if we keep catching the outer space beasts, wouldn't we get a clue somehow?]
In the end, this also meant going into dungeons.
[And third. This is the most important.] Beru's eyes flashed as he pointed at himself.
[I need to regain my strength as soon as possible and return to the battlefield where my Liege is waiting. With a key force like me missing, the balance of the tense war must have become precarious.]
At this point, Suho was curious. Beru's shrunken appearance was just a way to conserve his strength, but his original form and power were that of a living nightmare itself. He couldn't even imagine how the course of the war would change if such a tremendous force was missing.
"How do you regain your strength?"
At Suho's question, Beru's lips curled into a wide grin.
[By eating, of course.]
It was a most wicked and sinister smile.
* * *
Long ago. In a world now forgotten. The queen of the ants decided.
- Let's make the strongest soldier.
The queen needed the strongest soldier to rebuild her collapsing kingdom, brought down by humans, and to lead her people. And so, for half a year. She gathered all her magic power and nutrients to conceive a single life. The queen's single-minded desire to create a strong soldier, combined with the primordial command to exterminate all humans, resulted in the birth of a monstrous creature beyond common sense. Thanks to the innate skill 'Predation' the monster could make a portion of the target's magic power and knowledge its own simply by consuming it.
* * *
…Recalling that old memory, Beru said,
[My innate talent is 'Predation'. Whether it's humans or magical beasts, if I keep eating, my strength will gradually be restored. It's an inefficient method used in the old days, but there's no other choice now.]
Human or magical beasts…? Suho felt it anew. Beru definitely lacked humanity.
'No… He was never human in the first place.' Beru's appearance, drooling as he talked about eating people, was that of a terrifying magical beast itself.
Suho said firmly, "Still, don't eat just any human."
[Hhhh…?]
"If you have to, eat only bad people." At those words, Beru's eyes narrowed.
[As expected, like father, like son. You say the same thing as the Master. Long ago, my Liege also commanded me to eat only villains.]
"Father did too? What's the standard for a villain?"
[Of course, it's...] Beru smiled faintly.
[Those who harm our Young Master.]
* * *
They were back to the task at hand.
"Remember, that's what you said." At Suho's words, Beru protested.
[Of course… So, shouldn't we go into the dungeon and level up now?]
"No… How can an E-rank Hunter go into a dungeon alone? I can't join an attack team, you know?" Suho was extremely practical. As Teaching Assistant Lim had explained, the only role an E-rank Hunter could play in a dungeon was that of a laborer. If his level increased later and his magic power reached D-rank, he planned to get 're-evaluated'.
'Since the Hunter ranking system was established recently, there are still many errors in the measuring devices.'
"So for now, let's just do what we can." Suho said with a smirk.
At that smile, Beru suddenly felt a chill.
[Why are you smiling at me like that?]
"Our third mission." Suho, with a meaningful expression, repeated Beru's words.
"To recharge your mana as soon as possible. By… eating, right?"
[Th-that's right. Whether it's humans or magical beasts...]
"Then what about Mana Crystals?" At those words, Beru's expression stiffened.
"If your ability is Predation, wouldn't you be able to recharge your mana by eating Mana Crystals?"
[Th-that… is true, but Mana Crystals contain a very small amount of mana, so they're not very efficient…]
"Is that a problem? Just eat more of them." Suho said with a bright smile.
"We can get them for free if we pick them up here."
[Kieee...] Beru let out a deflated groan.
* * *
Suho passed through the Gate with the miners, finding the dungeon's appearance drastically different from the Shadow Dungeon. Instead of a vast, ruined city, this was a winding cave, and with everyone holding pickaxes, it truly felt like a mine. Suho and the miners slowly moved into the dungeon. The interior wasn't very dark, illuminated by glowing mushrooms and moths growing throughout.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The noises of pickaxes striking rock started coming from everywhere. The miners were experienced, so the clacking was very consistent and rhythmic. But suddenly, all those sounds stopped…
"…Huh?"
"What's that?" The miners' gazes focused on one spot. There, Suho was ordering around the Shadow Goblins.
[Keruk!]
[Kerutuk!]
[Kihihit!]
Three Shadow Goblins, making evil and sinister laughter, were swinging pickaxes. The sight of those strange creatures, controlled by Suho from behind, was bizarre.
"Wow."
"That's what his summoning skill is…?"
People were surprised, and that was understandable. Commonly known summoning skills were used to summon things like 'Exploding Bugs' or 'Sleep Butterflies' to assist in combat. And the summoner would just follow behind, like a Pokémon trainer, giving directions.
"But how can he use it like that?"
Clang, Clang, Clang, Clang!
[Kihehehek!]
The Shadow Goblins Suho controlled were a bit smaller and weaker than ordinary goblins. But they had enough strength to swing pickaxes, and most importantly, they never got tired. Even if their stamina dropped a little, magic power flowed from Suho to recharge them.
"Wow… this, this."
"This newbie is really something! Hahaha!" The miners, seeing Suho's performance, chattered and praised him.
"The talk about summoning skills being useless was all nonsense! Look at how good this is!"
"If we're not careful, this newbie will mine everything alone!"
"We can't let that happen! Let's show the power of the seniors!" The miners laughed heartily and started swinging their pickaxes with renewed intensity. The sight of them working right next to the tiny goblins was quite amusing.
[You vermin...] Beru, watching that heartwarming scene from behind, chewed on Mana Crystals like cookies.
* * *
Meanwhile,
The attack team, consisting of D-rank or higher Hunters, was raiding a much deeper part of the dungeon.
"This dungeon is really empty."
"Yeah. We've only seen wolf magical beasts the whole time."
"Wolf pelts aren't worth much."
The collection team, following behind the attack squad and dismantling the magical beast corpses, smacked their lips in disappointment. Of course, even though they said that, wolf pelts weren't completely worthless. Moreover, there were occasionally corpses that contained Essence Stones, so they had to work hard.
"Sigh. We need to make a living." The wolf pelts were piled up on the cart they brought. But then…
"Huh? What's this?" A Hunter who was leading the way through the cave called out to his colleagues. In front of them, a huge ruin had been erected. The Hunters, seeing that, tensed up and scanned their surroundings.
'Could there be a boss-level magical beast?' Typically, there was a low probability of a powerful boss monster appearing in a D-rank dungeon. But the existence of such a structure meant that something special could happen. And that specialness was unlikely to be a pleasant situation for the Hunters.
"What is this?"
"Why is there a ruin here?"
"Should we go outside and ask for more support?" The Hunters whispered quietly. But the leader of the attack team, mediating them, looked around with a cautious expression.
"Shh. Be quiet. There's no sign of any magical beasts caught by my detection skill."
"Really? There are no magical beasts, so why is there this structure here?"
"We'll have to figure that out." A faint smile appeared on the leader's lips.
"Who knows? Maybe there's treasure hidden inside, instead of a boss monster."
"Treasure…!" At those words, the Hunters' eyes changed.
It wasn't just the corpses of magical beasts and Mana Crystals that could be obtained from dungeons. Some artefacts could be found with a very low probability. Those items were the only way for Hunters, whose rank was fixed once they awakened, to increase their power.
"Captain! There's something here!"
The group discovered a weapon stuck in the center of the ruins. It was an unusual-looking sword, which radiated an eerie aura.
"What do we have here?" The eyes of the hunters simultaneously filled with greed.
"We've hit the jackpot!"
"Wow, it's a weapon!"
While it was hard to tell without taking it outside and testing its properties, by the looks of it, it seemed like they had discovered an impressive weapon.
"Captain! Let me take it out!" The strongest hunter stepped forward, spitting on both hands.
"Huh? Wait, Yongjun! Handle it with care...!" The captain tried to stop him, but his hand was already firmly gripping the sword's hilt. As he tried pulling it out, Kim Yongjun suddenly heard a booming voice in his head.
- Who dares to covet the Fang Monarch's sword.