Dungeon Maker

"She's...alive?"

"Did you see her at the Arena?!"

They both stood up at the same time, but the emotions in their voices were different.

Ophelia sounded shocked, but affectionate. It was quite different from Eligor's shocked reaction. Ophelia couldn't control her feelings. This type of excitement that she felt was different from the other ones she had expressed before. She sat down and mumbled to herself.

"Oh my. Oh my gosh. She's…"

Ophelia has never met Kaiwan before.

But she was the daughter of Endelyeon, the one that admired Kaiwan. She heard a lot of stories from her father and naturally, she started admiring Kaiwan as well.

Ophelia recalled her father's face. He left because Cayenne, Kaiwan's brother, was weak, but he couldn't forget about the House of Mammon. She remembered him saying that the House of Mammon was going to rise up again after watching it fall.

What would she say if she met Kaiwan?

That her father abandoned her brother? That he left the House of Mammon because it wasn't up to his standard?

She wasn't scared of Kaiwan's anger. She was scared of facing her sadness.

Kaiwan would probably understand. If she was the Kaiwan that Ophelia knew, she would say that she knew he was going to leave.

Kaiwan wrote a letter in case she disappeared and in that letter, she mentioned that if Endelyeon left, she would respect his decision.

But, but still!

Ophelia was extremely worried.

She came up with an excuse.

Endelyeon was extremely heartbroken when Kaiwan disappeared, so he wondered around in the empty wilderness for a long time. When he returned with the young Ophelia, the House of Mammon had already fallen.

And if he didn't leave?

Then the dungeon monsters wouldn't have taken the armory and the gold mine.

Even though Cayenne was a weak owner, the House of Mammon still wouldn't have fallen that much.

The excuse no longer sounded like an excuse.

Yong-Ho couldn't read all of Ophelia's feelings. But, he had a feeling. Whenever she greeted him, she mentioned her father's name. She respected and loved him that much, so it was only natural that she would be shaken up after hearing that Kaiwan was alive.

"The Arena rewards the competitor when they clear the floor, but there's a punishment if they lose. The punishment can get worse depending on the floor, but...I think Kaiwan became part of the Arena as punishment for losing."

Ophelia used Yong-Ho's voice as a guide and after managing to calm down, she bit her lips.

Yong-Ho continued talking.

"It's not just Kaiwan. I can't confirm it, but I think there's more. I think out of all the House of Mammon's owners, most of the ones that disappeared may be in the Arena."

Eligor kept on gulping. He recalled the House of Mammon's family tree. Kaiwan wasn't the only owner that had suddenly disappeared.

If what Yong-Ho said about the owners was true, then.

And if there were spirits at the Arena that were strong enough to take down those owners, then.

"Gusion, the manager of the Arena, said this. If I clear every floor of the Arena, then I'll be able to control all the spirits that are serving in the Arena."

Yong-Ho spoke. Eligor and Ophelia, who were still shocked by the news, had huge reactions.

"Gusion, the one with superhuman strength."

Ophelia said his name as if she was sighing. Eligor yelled as he clenched his fist.

"One of Mammon's 12 spirits. The strongest one. Out of all the Red Demons, he's known to be the strongest one in history!"

That was Gusion.

He was so strong, that he was known as the strongest Red Demon in history.

"I apologize for my immature behavior. But...but it's hard to not react to that news. If you were able to complete the Arena...and if you're able to control all the spirits that are in the Arena…"

"He'll even be able to go against the six kings that are controlling the demon world."

Ophelia finished Eligor's sentence.

It wasn't an exaggeration.

Having Gusion under his control would be a huge success. And if the previous owners and the spirits that defeated them were under his control, then!

Just imagining it made him excited. It made him shudder.

However, Catalina didn't seem excited at all during the conversation. Her ears actually looked weak. It was easy to tell that she was worried.

That sight calmed Eligor down.

He had forgotten about the dangers it could cause because he was so focused on the big prize.

Kaiwan and the other owners were in the Arena because they had failed.

The same thing could happen to Yong-Ho as well.

The excitement that Eligor felt disappeared.

He sat back down and when he slightly moved his mouth, Yong-Ho waited for him to speak.

Moments later, Eligor managed to talk.

"Are you planning on going back to the Arena? Like Kaiwan?"

"That's right."

Yong-Ho answered camly. Yong-Ho had already thought about all the things that both Ophelia and Eligor were thinking about.

Of course, he wasn't going to go without a plan.

But that didn't mean he was going to back out.

He wanted to get stronger through the Arena.

He wanted to rescue Kaiwan.

"I understand. Eligor the butler will follow you, sir."

Eligor spoke seriously and Yong-Ho displayed a warm smile. The spirits were really worried about him, so Yong-Ho brought up another topic.

"Those are the two announcements that I had for you guys. Next is something a bit different."

Yong-Ho stopped talking for a moment and turned his head. Everyone else followed Yong-Ho and looked in the same direction.

"Skullll?"

Skull tilted its head. Yong-Ho took out a scroll.

***

As he created the Skull Army, Yong-Ho naturally inspected different types of Skeletons.

Of course each Skeleton had different personalities. The potential evolution and the advancement routes were proof of that.

But as a race, they shared the same characteristics.

Skeletons were undead monsters that were made out of bones. Skeleton Workers were the lowest rank and Death Knight and Elder Lich were the highest rank, but they all belonged to the Skeleton race. Bone Dragons were technically part of this race too.

Lower rank Skeletons rarely had consciousness.

Skull was a rare case because it had an ego despite starting out as a mere Skeleton Worker. Skeleton Soldier was right above the Skeleton Warrior and their ego was about the same as a Golem.

Among the Skeletons that were in the Skull Army, there was one that barely had an ego despite being a Skeleton Warrior.

Yong-Ho was standing in the corner of the library and he ripped the Skeleton Mage scroll that he earned from the Arena.

Even though he didn't use his mana, the scroll still activated the magic.

White and blue lights appeared. The two colors started spinning in the air like a distortion and as it spun faster, it released another strong light.

A Skeleton stood where the light was. Like the other Skeletons, it looked like a human.

"Skeleton Mage?"

Despite being a Red Demon, Ophelia was known to be the strongest mage in the House of Mammon and she noticed how special the Skeleton Mage was.

Yong-Ho nodded his head. The scroll used the remaining mana and displayed letters of light in the air. It wasn't like the message that Lucia displayed. They were letters used in the demon world.

[Skeleton Mage]

[Thunder]

[Magic Ability: Enchant Magic (Thunder) / Lightning Arrow]

Just like the other Skeletons, the mage probably didn't have an ego because it just stood there.

Ophelia spoke.

"A Skeleton Mage is a spirit that's only created through a special order. It's impossible for them to learn new magic, but they're very skilled in the magic they already know. Since they don't really have an ego, they're required detailed instructions, but with Enchant Magic and Lightning Arrow...I believe it'll increase our fighting power."

Enchant Magic enveloped a weapon with thunder and Lightning Arrow was a arrow that released magic shaped like lightning.

But Yong-Ho wasn't going to be satisfied with just that. If he were to only use the mage for its magical powers, then Greed wouldn't have reacted to that scroll.

Yong-Ho activated the Power of Evolution. He looked at Skull and noticed that after it became an Iron Skeleton Knight, the Mid-Rank Training Ground didn't really help in increasing his development rate.

A light appeared. The light connected Skull to the Skeleton Mage. The words that Yong-Ho was expecting were showing up in the box of light.

[Skeleton Magic Knight]

A unison between the Skeletons.

On top of that, the Skeleton Mage had a low ego. Skull had a strong ego even when it was a Skeleton Worker, so there's no way that the Skeleton Mage would consume Skull.

He did think about evolving the Skeleton Mage, but decided that this was the best route.

For warrior spirits, increasing their physical strength was enough, but for magic spirits, it was important that they learned new spells. There was no guarantee that the mage would learn a new spell if Yong-Ho evolved it. And if the Skeleton Mage's ego became stronger after the evolution, then things could turn out differently than what Yong-Ho had imagined.

This unison was an investment for the future and also a test.

And since he didn't have plans to create a High-Rank Training Ground anytime soon, he had saved the development rate for just this moment. And it was time.

"Ready?"

Yong-Ho asked Skull. Since this was Skull's third time, Skull answered without any hesitation.

"Skullll!"

This was the first time Ophelia was seeing a unison, so she didn't know what Yong-Ho was going to do. Catalina and Eligor smiled and took a few steps back.

"Master? Eligor?"

Eligor grabbed the confused Ophelia and pulled her back. He made sure that she stepped back far enough so that Yong-Ho had enough space.

Yong-Ho raised his hands. He placed his hands on Skull and the Skeleton Mage's shoulders and drew out the dungeon's mana through Lucia. He poured a large amount of mana into both spirits.

Unity Evolution.

A large, green light appeared. And when that light disappeared, a Skeleton Knight enveloped in blue light was standing before them.

Ophelia's eyes widened when she felt the Skeleton Mage's mana from Skull. She didn't say anything and just looked at Yong-Ho, Eligor and Skull.

Excluding the mana that was needed to manage the dungeon, Yong-Ho used nearly all of it. He took his hands off of Skull and carefully called his name.

"Skull?"

"Skullllll!"

Skull answered energetically, then grabbed the hammer and raised it up high and casted a spell.

Enchant Magic!

A blue thunder enveloped the hammer.

The Skeleton Mage's mana was added on top of the mana that Skull already had. And Skull understood how to control the new power.

Skull swung his hammer that was enveloped in thunder and then pointed it towards an empty part of the library.

Thunder was released from the hammer. It was the Lightning Arrow.

"Oh! Ohhhhh!"

When Yong-Ho exclaimed, Skull swung the hammer in the air again. Skull was going to show this during the Skull Army's training.

Every time Skull swung the hammer, the sound of thunder filled the air. Because there was a spark, it sounded like a small thunderbolt.

Yong-Ho was extremely satisfied. He whispered to Catalina, who was standing next to him.

"I'll give the Nightmare to Skull. You're okay with that, right?"

Catalina, who was competing against Skull over ownership of the horse-shaped spirit, nodded. Skull was the leader of the Skeleton Army and on top of that, Skull was now a mage that had the ability to cast spells, so giving the Nightmare to Skull seemed like the best choice.

When Catalina happily approved, Yong-Ho looked at Skull happily. The final goal he had in mind for Skull's changes.

Death Knight?

No.

A being that mixed the Death Knight's power and the Lich's mana. The first Undead Magic Knight!

Just imagining it made him proud.

***

That night, Ophelia left the House of Mammon like she had planned and returned to the Free City. She would be returning a few days later. They decided to register her the next time she returned.

After Yong-Ho finished eating with the spirits, he returned to his bedroom and took out Kaiwan's journal. He wanted to check the information about the Arena.

But after turning a few pages.

Yong-Ho's hand stopped. Instead of looking through the journal, he took out a different book.

Cayenne's record.

Cayenne's journal.

He recalled the face Kaiwan made when she asked about her brother. Yong-Ho opened Cayenne's journal.

He slowly read the information written there.