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[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 15
The Draker Clan's academy was a knight academy admired by all aspiring knights across the continent.
The reason for its fame was none other than the fact that it was founded by the hero of the Liberation War, Dragon Slayer Terakan Draker himself.
Terakan, who slew the evil Dragon Bahamut, was a great man credited with ushering in a new era for humanity.
And the hundred years following Bahamut's death were called the Golden Age.
This was thanks to the corpses of the dragons slain by the Dragon Slayers, the treasures they had amassed, and the artifacts that poured out from the ancient ruins hidden beneath the Lair.
Among these, it was the ancient artifacts that captured the mages' attention.
Among the relics from the Hero King era, a civilization that predated the Golden Age, there were artifacts that surpassed current magical technology.
The high-compression magic stone that Paynun mentioned was one such artifact.
To obtain this high-compression magic stone, Zeke headed to the most deserted place in the academy.
'The library, of course.'
About ten years from now, an ancient underground ruin from the Golden Age would be discovered in the academy's library, making headlines in the news.
'A high-compression magic stone was definitely excavated here.'
In his past life, Zeke had frequented this library during his time at the academy.
The library was the perfect place to spend time when he wanted to avoid being bullied.
Seeing the front entrance of the library after such a long time evoked a sense of nostalgia in Zeke.
The academy's library was larger than the national libraries of most countries.
When the academy was founded, the founder, Terakan, was personally involved in its construction, so even though it wasn't frequently used, it was constantly maintained.
Zeke slowly entered the library.
As in the past, the library was very quiet.
Only librarians were moving about, organizing new books and occasionally helping visitors find books.
'Was it this way?'
It had been so long since he'd been to the library that he was disoriented.
Zeke slowly recalled his past memories.
'Let's see. It was definitely the underground archives of the central hall.'
While carrying out extensive renovations to organize the materials in the underground archives, they accidentally discovered the entrance to an underground ruin.
And upon investigation, it turned out to be quite a large ruin, so mages from both the Magic Tower and Nirvana were mobilized for the excavation.
Surprisingly, it was identified as a ruin from the Golden Age, and precious artifacts poured out.
Zeke from the future had read about this in the news and remembered that there was a high-compression magic stone among those artifacts.
Since it was a ruin that wouldn't be discovered for another ten years, no one knew about it now.
'I'll sneak down there and take only the high-compression magic stone, then slowly smuggle out the rest.'
Zeke descended to the basement of the central hall.
Since the library was sparsely populated, no one paid attention to Zeke as he wandered around.
He went down to the underground archives without any restrictions.
"Is this it?"
The smell of old paper wafted through the air.
Looking at the records piled up on the bookshelves, Zeke recalled the picture of the entrance to the ruins he had seen in the news.
"I can't remember well because it was so long ago."
He frowned, unable to recall.
He couldn't very well dig up the entire archive.
Just then, something came to Zeke's mind.
'Perhaps if I use Dragon Eyes...?'
He immediately activated the skill.
[Skill Dragon Eyes activated.]
As soon as he used the skill, his vision changed.
Not only did it enhance his sight to see clearly in the dark, but various pieces of information also surfaced in his mind.
As he examined the archive with Dragon Eyes, Zeke noticed a spot in the corner of the floor marked in red.
'What's there...?'
Zeke approached and tapped the floor.
Thump, thump!
A hollow sound came from within.
Zeke cautiously looked around.
He didn't sense anyone nearby.
'Good.'
He spread his palm wide and drew power from his ether hall.
Woooong!
Mana enveloped his palm, and a faint vibration resonated.
He invoked the 'Soul-Body Technique' he had learned from his master in his previous life.
'Sever.'
The mana energy sharpened as Zeke's will to cut infused his hand.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
The floor split cleanly, as if cut by a sharp blade.
'It's still a bit dizzying. I shouldn't use this unless absolutely necessary until my ether hall is fully recovered.'
Zeke excitedly swung his sword at the skeletons.
Ding!
[Skeleton slain. You have earned 1 Karma point.]
The pleasant notification sound continued to ring out.
Zeke ran around every corner of the ruins as if he were going to kill every skeleton there.
Somewhere along the way, he lost sight of his original goal and focused on hunting skeletons instead of finding the entrance to the ruins.
After a few hours, he could no longer see any skeletons.
"Let's see. How many did I kill?"
A message popped up.
[Skeletons slain: 30]
"Oh, quite a lot. Let's see. Status window open."
[Low-rank Administrator Status Window]
Name: Zeke Draker
Class: Immortal (Unique)
Title: Blessed by the Ancient Dragon
System functions: Inventory (25 slots) / Minimap (Locked) / Beginner Quest Book (Locked)
Passive Skills: Healing Factor / Unyielding Mental Defense / Infinite Stamina / Combat Senses
Active skills: Precise Stab [E-rank (Expert)] / Continuous Slash [D-rank (Beginner)] / Critical Strikel [D-rank (Proficient)] / High-Speed Movement [C-rank (Beginner)] / Mana Reflection [A-rank (Beginner)] / Area of Effect Buff [A-rank (Beginner)]
Draconian Skills (1st stage unlocked): Dragon Eyes (Beginner) / Dragon's Majesty (Beginner)
Karma points possessed: 40
Zeke looked for items he could activate with Karma points.
"Minimap is 20 points, Beginner Quest Book is 45 points, Gluttony is 50 points, and unlocking the 2nd stage of Draconian Skills is 50 points."
The only thing he could unlock with his current 40 points was the minimap.
After some thought, Zeke decided to activate the minimap.
"I don't know what it is, but... with a name like 'map,' it should help me find my way."
He pressed 'Activate Minimap.'
[Minimap function activated.]
A small map unfolded before Zeke's eyes.
"Oh?"
A compass symbol appeared on one side of the map, and geographical features were displayed like a drawing.
A red dot blinked in the center.
"Oh my god. Is this a map right now? With my location and surrounding terrain marked?"
Zeke had once learned how to read a map directly from a Northern Ranger.
Maps were like life to Rangers, but obtaining a map with accurate scales and geographical features was like finding a needle in a haystack.
Maps made by mages were the most accurate, but they were too expensive for him to afford.
But now he had obtained a very accurate map.
Zeke marveled as he fiddled with the minimap.
"The scale can be adjusted, and the direction is displayed automatically. With this, I won't die from getting lost."
Muttering to himself, Zeke adjusted the scale to grasp the overall terrain of the ruins.
While looking at the minimap, Zeke discovered a place marked with a different color than the usual geographical features.
"What's this?"
When Zeke tapped the marked area, a message appeared.
[Display directions to the designated location?]
“Navigation?”
When Zeke chose to receive directions, the shortest route to the destination was displayed on the minimap as a dotted line in a different color.
Zeke's jaw dropped.
“Wow, this is incredible. Why did I just activate this now?”
He walked towards the location indicated by the minimap in admiration.
When he finished walking along the designated path on the map, a message popped up again.
[You have arrived at your destination.]
Zeke looked around.
He saw a huge door right in front of him.
He slowly approached it.
“Is this it? The ruins?”
Zeke pushed on the door as he got closer.
The door wouldn't budge, as if it were locked with some kind of magic.
Zeke made a troubled face.
“Damn... Come to think of it, they said they brought a lot of mages when they excavated the ruins.”
The artifacts, including the high-compression magic stone, were undoubtedly behind that door.
Zeke was tearing his hair out at the obstacle he faced after coming all this way.
“Ugh... Why is nothing ever easy?”
Ding!
Just then, the system notification rang.
Zeke read the message that appeared.
[Do you wish to enter the Dragon Slayer's Tomb?]
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]