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[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 16
"Dragon Slayer's Tomb?"
As Zeke thought about entering, another message appeared.
[Opening the Dragon Slayer's Tomb.]
Whirrr!
Click!
The gears that looked like decorations on the door turned, and the lock opened with a sound.
"It's open?"
Zeke approached the door and gently pushed it once more.
Rumble!
Originally, it was a door that fifty mages from the Empire's Magic Tower and Nirvana had struggled to open for a month, racking their brains with calculations.
However, Zeke, blessed by the Ancient Dragon, was able to open the door and enter with ease.
Zeke's jaw dropped as he saw the inside of the ruins.
"How is it so huge?"
Giant statues of knights lined both sides, and a massive stone wall stretched out before him.
Zeke gulped at the sight of the thick stone wall blocking his way.
He couldn't believe that such a massive structure, so grand it seemed impossible for humans to have built, existed beneath the academy library.
Zeke quickly glanced around.
"This is bigger than ten central training grounds combined."
Amazed by the majestic scale of the Dragon Slayer's Tomb, he turned on the minimap.
"There must be a place to store the artifacts somewhere around here."
The minimap showed a path leading further inside, but he couldn't find the entrance.
Eventually, Zeke activated Dragon Eyes again and scanned the stone wall, but still couldn't find any trace of an entrance.
Then, Zeke suddenly looked up at the top of the stone wall.
"Wait a minute..."
Zeke turned on the minimap and examined the terrain.
Then he tried changing the minimap settings.
Instantly, the perspective of the minimap, which was a flat plan, changed to display the geographical features three-dimensionally.
"Found it."
With the 3D map, Zeke confirmed that the entrance was located on top of the stone wall.
He looked at the smooth stone wall that seemed to be a hundred meters high and pondered.
"How do I get up there?"
If he were Zeke from his past life, it would have been possible somehow, but currently, he couldn't properly utilize the power of his dantian, making it impossible.
"There must be some way to get up."
In a desperate tone, he said,
"Find a way to get up there."
Surprisingly, a message appeared before Zeke's eyes.
[Accessing the control device as requested by the administrator.]
"Huh? It actually works."
Another message appeared.
[Automatic transportation device is unavailable.]
[Activating manual transportation device.]
At the same time, the stone wall began to vibrate.
"Wh-what's happening?"
Stepping stones started to protrude one by one from the smooth stone wall.
The protruding stepping stones formed a staircase leading all the way to the top of the wall.
Zeke was astonished by the stairs that were created in an instant.
"Wh-what is this? Magic?"
He ascended the stairs that stretched along the stone wall.
"Whew..."
When he reached the top of the wall, there was another large door similar to the one before.Nôv(el)B\\jnn
As Zeke approached, a message popped up again.
[Do you wish to open the Dragon Slayer's Tomb repository?]
Seeing the word "repository," Zeke grinned.
"Of course I'll open it."
Whirrr!
Click!
The door opened, just like before.
Zeke opened the door and entered the repository.
Inside, there were dozens of shelves stacked with boxes of various sizes.
Zeke examined the boxes on the shelves.
"Wow! This is... a sealed box. Finding one of these in a dungeon was like hitting the jackpot."
Among adventurers, these were called treasure chests or sealed boxes.
Usually, the boxes contained not only precious artifacts but also Rune stones, making them items that could bring in a tidy profit.
And there were hundreds of such sealed boxes on display.
Zeke began to open the boxes one by one, humming a tune.
"Let's see. What's this? A Rune stone? I can give this to Professor Paynun as payment for the design later. And this is..."
Each and every item inside the boxes was a valuable artifact.
“High-compression magic stone....”
Zeke took out the box containing the magic stone from his inventory.
He found that the size of the magic stone perfectly matched the groove in the armor.
Zeke slowly tried fitting the magic stone into the groove.
Click!
As expected, the magic stone fit perfectly into the groove.
At that moment, a message popped up before Zeke’s eyes.
[Magic battery has been installed in the Dragon Slayer exclusive equipment.]
[Equipment is too old to operate.]
“Installing a magic stone into armor?”
This was information he hadn't encountered even in the future.
Even in the future he had seen, the exact purpose of high-compression magic stones, as opposed to ordinary magic stones, remained unknown.
There were various hypotheses, but if the standardized high-compression magic stones were used to operate this armor called "Dragon Slayer exclusive equipment," it meant that many of the mages' hypotheses and speculations were wrong.
“Why would they install this precious high-compression magic stone into armor?”
Although he had figured out how to use it, it was an incomprehensible idea based on current common sense.
'There seems to be a reason. But I don't know with my limited knowledge of magic.'
Perhaps Professor Paynun, a researcher, could figure out the reason by looking at the armor.
Zeke removed the high-compression magic stone from the armor and put it back into his inventory.
He walked past the massive tomb and further inward.
Unlike the ordinary tombs, there was a huge stele erected inside.
Zeke slowly approached the stele.
'What's written on it?'
There was writing, but it was in the ancient language, not the common language of the continent, so he couldn't read it.
That's when it happened.
Ding!
[The Administration System is automatically connected to the control device.]
[Releasing the central security device of the Dragon's Resting Place.]
[Unlocking the legacy registered by administrator Terakan Draker.]
“What?”
Rumble!
Suddenly, the stele slid back, and something began to rise from the floor.
Zeke backed away cautiously.
Thud!
A transparent glass tube rose from the floor.
Inside the glass tube, a fist-sized, dark red orb floated, emitting a mesmerizing light.
Zeke slowly approached the glass tube.
“What is this? Terakan Draker’s legacy...?”
As Zeke's gaze fell upon the crimson orb, a message surfaced.
[You have discovered the 'Heart of the Cursed Light Dragon Bahamut'.]
Zeke was startled by the message.
"B-Bahamut's heart?"
The reason Terakan Draker earned the title of Dragon slayer.
It was because he had slain the Evil Dragon Bahamut, who had ravaged the continent leading an army of monsters.
'That Bahamut's heart?'
Dragons generate mana from their hearts.
Therefore, a dragon's heart contained an immense amount of mana, incomparable to even a high-compression magic stone.
If mages were to find even a fragment of a dragon's heart, they would pay a fortune to obtain it.
That's how valuable a dragon's heart was.
"Even a fragment causes a frenzy, but a perfectly preserved dragon heart like this..."
Moreover, it was the heart of Bahamut, known as the strongest and most evil dragon in the continent's history.
He couldn't understand why his ancestor, Terakan Draker, had hidden this priceless treasure beneath the academy library.
With questions lingering in his mind, Zeke reached out towards the radiantly glowing heart of Bahamut.
Ding!
[The Heart of the Cursed Light Dragon Bahamut is reacting to the user.]
[The powerful curse engraved on the heart is attempting to overpower the user's mind.]
Zeke was momentarily captivated by the brilliant color of the heart.
[Skill 'Unyielding Mental Defense' activated.]
[Defending against the Light Dragon's curse.]
Zeke suddenly came to his senses.
"Wh-what?"
Zeke realized why Terakan Draker had sealed this heart here.
Even for a brief moment, he was overwhelmed by the Light Dragon's allure, consumed by an urge to destroy everything.
If it weren't for the 'Unyielding Mental Defense' skill, which protected him from all status abnormalities, he might have become a madman in an instant.
"Whew, that's incredibly dangerous."
Ding!
Another message surfaced.
[You have withstood the Cursed Light Dragon's temptation.]
[Inheritance conditions have been met.]
[Ownership of the inheritance has been acquired.]
[Do you wish to absorb the Heart of the Cursed Light Dragon Bahamut?]
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]