[Phew. This should be safe enough.] Arsha completed the nest and let out a relieved sigh.
Suho couldn't believe his eyes. "Is this a nest or a bunker?"
[Considering a dragon will hatch from this egg, this is actually not enough.] Arsha was still wary of Kamish's egg.
[Dragons are apex predators from the moment they come into this world. Red Dragon hatchlings in particular can breathe fire as soon as they're out of the egg. You wouldn't know, being human, but dragons....]
[Nonsense! Our little lord took to the skies as a babe!]
[...] Arsha had no choice but to shut her mouth at Beru's outburst. Come to think of it, Suho here wasn't normal either. No, in a way, he could be considered the most menacing one here.
'Sigh. How did I end up living in such a dreadful place...' Arsha bit her lip and sighed at the harsh reality she found herself in.
Suho asked her, "You seem to know a lot about dragons?"
[Information gathering is my specialty.]
Indeed, her ability to create numerous doppelgangers was perfect for gathering information. In fact, even at this very moment, her worker bees were scouring the country in search of villains.
"Then do you happen to know how to hatch a dragon's egg?"
[I've heard dragons periodically perform a baptism of mana to hatch their eggs.]
"Baptism of mana? What's that?"
[Simply put, it's a constant shower of mana. Hmm. Come to think of it... this egg is too small to be a dragon's egg. It's probably because its parents died early and it couldn't receive the mana baptism, so it didn't grow properly.]
Arsha's guess was spot on. Kamish's egg was the smallest one Cha Hae-In had found in the tomb of Berserk Dragons. Suho's expression hardened slightly at her words. "You mean this egg might not hatch?"
[I'm not sure about that.]
"Hmm. Baptism of mana..." Suho pondered for a moment after hearing Arsha's explanation.
"Then wouldn't it work if someone other than the parents infused mana into the egg?"
[There's no guarantee, but it would definitely help, wouldn't it?]
"Then I can do it too."
[Excuse me?]
Suho just grinned and placed his palm on the surface of Kamish's egg inside the nest. Then he slowly drew up the mana within his body and began to gently push it into the egg.
Fwoosh!
[Oh my. How can a human...] Arsha was once again amazed by his delicate mana control.
Considering Suho was human, this was truly a remarkable ability. While using mana was as natural as breathing for magical beasts, humans had only been able to use it for a mere two years. And Suho had awakened even more recently...
[Ahem. Our little lord was a prodigy from infancy. He took his first steps with the Ruler's Authority...] Beru puffed up his chest beside them.
Arsha was used to Beru's doting, so she tried her best not to look at him and spoke to Suho with concern. [Suho, I think you're doing it right. But even so, the effect will be minimal.]
"Why is that?" Suho asked as he continued to infuse mana into Kamish's egg.
[Dragons are a race with an innate abundance of magic power. Because of that the egg receives a tremendous amount of mana from its parents until it hatches.]
That's why the baptism of mana was also called a 'Mana Shower.' Even if the egg couldn't absorb all that immense mana, it was continuously flooded with it.
[I know you're amazing, Suho, but even if you infuse mana into the egg until you're exhausted, it's a drop in the bucket compared to a dragon's mana... Hmm?]
Gulp. Arsha felt something strange while she was speaking. For some reason, Suho's mana entering Kamish's egg... showed no signs of depleting. And at some point, Suho had started drinking something continuously.
Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.
[Item: 'Intermediate Mana Potion' used.]
[Item: 'Intermediate Mana Potion' used.]
['Item: Intermediate Mana Potion' used.]
"I have enough mana." A confident smile appeared on Suho's face as he drank mana potions non-stop. It was confidence backed by evidence. His gaze was fixed on his status window, which was constantly fluctuating in real-time.
[MP: 358/6,410]
[MP: 1,410/6,410]
[MP: 431/6,410]
[MP: 2,160/6,410]
"Even though I'm not a dragon, as long as I have gold, I can use mana all day long."
[Th-this is unbelievable...] Arsha was shocked and her jaw dropped at the sight. It was literally a mana shower! Suho's mana was endlessly pouring into Kamish's egg, giving it a baptism of mana!
[Kehet. Ahem. Our little lord...] Beru puffed up his chest again, seizing the opportunity to boast.
[...] Suho himself was just sitting there, so why was Beru taking all the credit...? Arsha wished someone would explain it to her.
Anyway, watching Kamish's egg endlessly absorbing his mana, Suho nodded. "Alright. From now on, I need to focus on earning gold as well." If he wanted to use mana on the level of a dragon, the cost of potions would be substantial.
* * *
Lim Dogyoon, a 'former' university administrative assistant, found himself doing similar work even after becoming a Hunter. The only difference was that the professor who used to give him difficult and demanding tasks had now been replaced by 'Sung Suho,' his boss.
"Let's see..." Lim Dogyoon took out his tablet PC, which he hadn't used since his days as a university assistant, and started writing in his work journal.
"The conditions Suho wants for the dungeons are..."
Scribble scribble.
1) Dungeons that might hide demon factories.
(Places where demon-type monsters appear?)
(Places with rumors about Stardust or missing people?)
2) Dungeons where we can earn a lot of gold.
(What's this? Places with lots of expensive materials?)
A brainstorming session ensued in Lim Dogyoon's head as he jotted down various ideas. And his eyes and ears were constantly searching for dungeons that met all those conditions, using every means possible. First, connections.
"Hello? Father, can you talk? If you're not busy, I have a few questions." He even called his father, with whom he still had an awkward relationship.
"Ah, hello? Is this Yoo Jinho's secretary's office? CEO Yoo said I could contact you if I needed anything. Yes. I need some information..." He even called the secretary's office of the great and powerful Yoo Jinho out of the blue.
"Ah! Vice President Baek Miho? This is Lim Dogyoon, the vice president of Woojin Guild! I was wondering if you could share some information about dungeons..."
That's right. Lim Dogyoon was usually quite timid. But when it came to work, the former assistant was capable of anything. And he achieved the remarkable feat of finding dungeons that satisfied all of Suho's requirements in less than an hour.
"Suho! No, Boss! I've listed the dungeons I found and uploaded them! I've even prioritized them according to my own criteria, so you can just raid them in this order!"
[Kiek? What's this? Has this coward ever been this competent?]
"Hehe." Lim Dogyoon felt an immense sense of relief at Beru's surprised reaction. Riding this momentum, he boldly conveyed his request to Suho.
"So, this time, I don't have to enter the dungeon, right?"
"What are you talking about? Of course you have to go in."
"..." Lim Dogyoon's face fell in an instant.
* * *
And so, Suho's guild began raiding the dungeons Lim Dogyoon had found, one by one, targeting the demon factories. They had plenty of money. A massive sum from selling all the dungeon resources they had mined in Busan had just been deposited into the guild's account. Suho used that money to buy the dungeons Lim Dogyoon found without hesitation and started raiding them immediately. Having already worked together in Busan, the Shadow Soldiers led by Suho were demolishing the dungeons at a dazzling pace.
[Level Up!]
[Level Up!]
The leveling speed wasn't bad either.
'It was a good decision to create a guild. Acquiring dungeons is much easier than when I was a freelancer.'
He didn't just level up while raiding dungeons. He sold the expensive materials obtained from the defeated magical beasts in the shop window and earned gold. He needed the gold not only for potions but also to buy defensive gear from the shop to increase his combat speed.
[Item: Superior Knight's Chestplate]
[Acquisition Difficulty: B]
[Type: Armor]
[Physical Damage Reduction +7%]
[Movement speed decreases if Strength is below 80.]
[Item: Superior Knight's Helmet]
[Acquisition Difficulty: B]
[Type: Armor]
[Physical Damage Reduction +6%]
[Movement speed decreases if Strength is below 80.]
He even bought items he had been coveting but couldn't afford due to his lack of Strength. The more he increased his defense, the less he needed to spend on potions, and the faster he could fight.
'Somehow, it feels like I'm becoming a full-fledged tanker.' Suho chuckled at his own fighting style.
Leading the Shadow Soldiers, he looked every bit like a necromancer, but in reality, he was taking on the role of a tanker, fighting on the front lines even more than his summons. And then the Shadow Soldiers following behind him would clean up the remaining magical beasts.
"...Should I call myself a 'Necro-Tanker' ?" Suho chuckled and continued raiding dungeons.
In the process, they even discovered an actual demon factory. However, it was an 'ordinary' factory, so they couldn't obtain any information about the Outer Gods. Instead, they acquired the magic stones that were stored there as materials for Stardust, which all went into Beru's stomach. And once again, Suho repeated the process of drinking potions and infusing mana into Kamish's egg...
[Suho.] Queen Bee Arsha spoke to Suho with a serious expression.
[It seems my worker bees have found something.]