Dungeon Maker

Yong-Ho saw light beyond the darkness.

It shined like the stars on a night sky and as it displayed different colors, it created an image.

Yong-Ho was dreaming and as he saw that light. He was suddenly aware that he was dreaming and realized that this wasn't the first time he had experienced this.

It was similar to when he had peeked into Kaiwan's memories.

He looked into the light. The images that the light created became a vivid reality.

"Elune looked at me!"

"No! Elune looked at me!"

It was an aerial garden that was built in the demon world. Among the red and blue colored sky, purple was also mixed in, making it seem like the sky was painted.

Gusion was standing in the aerial garden and was looking down. He chuckled when he heard the voices from the ground. They probably thought no one could hear them, but they were wrong.

The aerial garden was created by attaching large, thick chains to a enormous floating stone. This aerial garden was one of the places that Mammon enjoyed resting in. The ones that were talking underneath the floating stone were Wood Elves and they took care of managing the aerial garden.

"Right, so which one did you look at?"

Gusion asked while chuckling and a frown appeared on the face of the woman that he asked. She just pointed to her eyes instead of answering.

A red, leather string was covering her eyes.

The woman had long, gold hair that went past her butt and was wearing a bright pink outfit. Overall, it was short and revealing, but its purpose wasn't to make her look more feminine. She liked it because it was comfortable and felt cool.

She was a mix between a dragon and an Elf, but she looked like an Elf. The scale that was located somewhere on her body was the only dragon-like feature she had.

This applied to most of Mammon's spirits, but she was pretty popular among the spirits that were in the House of Mammon. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that she was the most popular.

The red string covered her eyes because she was blind. However, she had the ability to look at the world through a different method.

"Elune is contemplating whether to get rid of this good-for-nothing spirit that jokes around all day. No, really."

He heard a cheerful voice.

It belonged to a male and this was the first time he had ever heard it. But the moment the sound touched Yong-Ho's ears, he felt his soul tremble.

It was the voice of Mammon, the King of Greed.

He wanted to turn around. He wanted to turn his head and look at Mammon's face.

But he couldn't. Just like the time when he looked into Kaiwan's memories, his eyes were fixed and the only thing he could look at was Gusion, who was busy laughing, and Elune, who was pouting.

He heard laughter. Many different laughters that were mixed in with Mammon's. It was probably Mammon's spirits.

It was a peaceful atmosphere. It was like looking at a harmonious family.

Elune, who was still frowning, looked like she was going to stay something, but in the end turned her head. Instead of using her eyes, she had a different way of looking at the world, and she noticed something approaching the garden. She expressed her discomfort when she heard Gusion's joke.

"She's coming. She's by herself this time too."

She tried to suppress her emotions, but a part of her was still on edge.

Gusion and everyone else looked in the same direction as Elune.

Yong-Ho and Gusion both looked at the same thing.

A woman was on top of the aerial garden.

The wind was blowing around her red hair.

***

"Red."

Yong-Ho opened his eyes as soon as he had said it and instead of looking at the garden, he saw the ceiling of his bedroom. After he had obtained four horns, he was able to see in the dark better and could make out the different patterns on the ceiling.

Along with Kaiwan's, he saw Mammon's memory.

Was it a memory that remained in the mana that he had absorbed in the Arena?

'But still…'

Then, how come he wasn't able to see Foras or Jungceros's memory? Of course, he would only feel uncomfortable if he did.

'Maybe Mammon's blood is the key for seeing these memories.'

He didn't plan on going to sleep, however the exhaustion had forced him to do so. Instead of sleeping more, Yong-Ho decided to get up from the bed. After briefly washing his face, he headed to the library.

Kaiwan created the library for her younger brother.

Even though Kaiwan enjoyed books, she had major responsibilities, so she wasn't able to really take her time in reading the books that were in the library.

She expressed her love towards her brother by placing high-quality furniture in the library. The library also had preservation magic, so the books looked brand new.

Yong-Ho stood in front of the bookshelf that contained books related to Mammon's spirits.

Mammon's spirits were historical figures and since they were the spirits of the most powerful demon king in history, they were quite popular.

The winners of that period were usually lenient towards the dead.

When the House of Mammon suddenly fell, the demon kings that lived in the same era as Mammon didn't get rid of or suppress his spirits.

In the demon world, there were many stories and songs about Mammon's spirits and there were several books about them as well.

Cayenne liked these stories a lot. His journal contained many stories about Mammon's spirits.

'This one?'

Elune, the one that cuts down the night.

She was one of Mammon's spirit and at the same time, was one of the guards that protected Mammon's side.

Even though she was blind, she was one the greatest ever warriors and the citizens of the demon world adored her by calling her the Witch of the Sword.

There were a lot of stories about Elune among Mammon's spirits.

Elune had great beauty and even though she was blind, she was so strong that she was given the name, Witch of the Sword. And since she was also in a romantic relationship with Mammon, it was obvious that there would be a lot of stories about her.

'And death.'

After Mammon died, Mammon's spirits weren't sealed away. Some lost their lives and out of those spirits, Elune was the first spirit to have died.

Even though Yong-Ho saw him once in his dream, he thought it was really unfortunate. It may of been because he had talked to Gusion only a few days ago.

If he asked Gusion, assuming that Gusion would tell him the truth about her, he would be able to find out, however Yong-Ho already knew that Elune was Mammon's lover anyway.

The one that he wanted to ask about, was the woman with red hair that had expressed her discomfort.

He couldn't see her face. All he saw was her red hair dancing in the wind.

But he was still able to tell.

'Sitri.'

He was certain it was her. He couldn't think of anyone else other than her.

Like Sitri mentioned before, she wasn't one of Mammon's spirits. Then, what was her relationship with him? Was she another lover of his?

'Was that the reason why she was keeping a close eye on the House of Mammon?'

Because it belonged to the man she loved?

'Let's stop here.'

The more he thought about it, the wilder his imagination would become.

Yong-Ho grabbed the books that contained information about Elune as well as Gusion.

And then, Lucia spoke.

"Master."

"Bugrim finished the items that he's been working on."

She must've waited until he finished grabbing all the books. After Yong-Ho gave her several tasks, he exited the library, and headed towards the workshop.

***

Even though he was standing still as a rock, Yong-Ho saw desperation in Bugrim's eyes, Skull and Salami and Nightmare were having a staring contest.

"Skulllll!"

Skull raised its hammer to show respect towards Yong-Ho. After being unified with the Skeleton Mage, Skull must've understood the idea of showing respect because he didn't roll about on the ground as much as before.

Salami also bowed and to show that it wasn't going to lose to Salami, Nightmare copied and bowed its head as well.

Yong-Ho lightly nodded his head in response and approached Bugrim. Bugrim, who wasn't able to speak, bowed his head and handed one of the items that was on his worktable.

It was a well-made saddle.

The saddle was created from the Land Worm's skin, that Ophelia had provided, and the various magic, bones and leather that were in the House of Foras's warehouse. Even though Yong-Ho was ignorant about these things, he was still able to tell that this saddle was very well-made.

'He's really talented.'

After checking the pouch and stirrup that were attached, Yong-Ho gave the saddle to Skull. Bugrim then handed Yong-Ho a large saddle that was made for Salami.

Even though Salami was just as big as Nightmare, its body was different, so an ordinary saddle wouldn't fit. Yong-Ho happily took the saddle and approached Salami. Salami looked over at Nightmare once and then kneeled on the ground after putting its wings down.

When Nightmare saw Salami, it approached Skull. They must've become rivals while Yong-Ho was away.

The saddle changed the riding experience. There was a handle on Salami's back, so no matter how fast Salami flew, the rider probably wouldn't fall.

'The issue is what happens after the evolution.'

Salami would become physically bigger after it evolved. Bugrim may have to create a new saddle every time Salami did so.

Skull also rode on Nightmare after putting the saddle on. He was pretty heavy since his body was made out of steel, but Nightmare didn't seem to be bothered by it.

'Or is Nightmare just enduring it because Salami was here?'

Yong-Ho was going to have to search for Skull's next unison for Nightmare. The first thing he thought of was titanium, but he wasn't sure if there was such a thing as a Titanium Golem. It would probably be faster to find mithril or orichalcum.

After getting off of Salami, Yong-Ho looked at Bugrim. Even though he couldn't speak, Bugrim was able to communicate with his eyes, just like Kaiwan.

Lucia spoke as if she felt bad for him.

"When he doesn't have any work, he'll train really hard at the training ground."

He must've heard that he needed to fill his development rate in order to get "healed."

But Yong-Ho was the only one that was able to see his stats. The only thing Bugrim could do was work hard and train hard.

Thanks to his efforts, his development rate was completely filled. Yong-Ho activated the Power of Evolution without any hesitation and placed his hand on Bugrim's bulky shoulder.

[Mana Evolution 1/2]

Even though there was a green light, there wasn't a big difference. Yong-Ho looked uneasy when he looked at Bugrim and Bugrim looked at himself excitedly, but was soon disappointed. But it only lasted for a moment. Even though Bugrim's mana hadn't been fully recovered, his body was still in a better condition.

Yong-Ho immediately spoke to Bugrim.

"I'm sure there will be good results after you get cured one more time. But, don't overdo yourself."

Bugrim excitedly nodded his head. He looked like he wasn't going to hold himself back.

'I'm looking forward to it.'

Bugrim was able to make high-quality saddles without mana. He would be able to make amazing magical items once his mana recovers. Yong-Ho had high expectations on defensive items far more than weapons. Like magical armor.

After Yong-Ho told Bugrim not to overdo it again, he exited the room with Skull.

Yong-Ho stopped in the dungeon passageway. Usually, he would rest up, because he was planning on completing the Arena's second floor tomorrow morning.

But he wanted to connect to the dungeon shop's Virtual Space first. He wanted to ask Sitri about Gusion, Mammon's spirits and the Arena. He also wanted to know if Sitri knew about Kaiwan being trapped in the Arena.

Since he could do this in the throne room, Yong-Ho started walking. But, right when he passed the bathhouse there was an emergency.

"Master, I received a report from the Dungeon Meerkats."

"Ophelia is currently approaching the dungeon at a fast pace. She's riding a monster that's able to fly instead of a horse."

"I think there's something wrong."

Ophelia's visit to the House of Mammon was always kept a secret. But it was different this time. If she didn't obtain it while coming here, it meant that she had rode that monster all the way from the Free City, which was an act that was quite noticeable.

According to the conversation he had with Ophelia yesterday, she was planning on visiting two days later. What happened? Did she want to become a spirit that badly?

There's no way. He was sure that something serious had happened.

"Lucia, call Eligor, Catalina...and Rikum to the dungeon entrance room. We're going out to meet Ophelia."

"Yes, sir."

Yong-Ho rode on Salami while Skull rode on Nightmare. The two raced towards the entrance as if they were racing each other.

***

"Ophelia, the daughter of Endelyon, would like to have an audience with the owner of the great House of Mammon. We have a big problem."