A Man New to the Martial World
The hero gazed upon the Arkan Basin.
And the Golden Leaf Investigator also headed toward the Arkan Basin.
Once appointed, a Golden Leaf Investigator held authority comparable to that of an elder.
At the same time, she was a special envoy of Elvenwood, so she would be treated as an honored guest in any kingdom across the continent.
If she had been human, she likely would not have come alone to such a dangerous place.
She would have sought cooperation from the nearby Greyrim territory, and perhaps even traveled alongside the hero Gunter.
But Iris Selena was a fairy.
Among fairies, she was an ascetic of the great forest, living as if on a remote island.
Thus, she came alone to the Arkan Basin.
If Zain and the captain of the guard had arrived at the western boundary of the basin,
Iris, who departed from deep within the great forest, reached the eastern boundary.
The sun was setting.
The sun of the great forest, where temperatures ran high, was far redder than the one in the west.
It looked as though it were burning the sky and clouds themselves.
At that very moment, the shadows of everything on the ground stretched long.
An elf's vision rivaled that of an eagle.
Her eyes swept across the entire basin.
That alone wouldn't reveal Pelerian's dungeon.
But Iris had experience.
The light observed from the World Tree,
and the signal detected through a crystal sphere—
from these, she had already determined rough coordinates and direction.
She also knew what kinds of locations that old mage preferred when constructing dungeons.
Without hesitation, Iris leapt from the cliff.
A stark contrast to how the captain and Zain had cautiously climbed down through the brush.
It was high enough to be fatal—yet only a light landing sound followed.
After briefly stretching her legs, Iris immediately began to run.
Her movements were as light as a deer's.
She began searching the Arkan Basin.
Even with her knowledge and experience, the basin was vast.
She searched suspected locations one by one, starting from the nearest.
Her process was meticulous—almost mechanical.
At last, she found Pelerian's dungeon.
For the first time, a spark lit her eyes.
Pelerian had so many dungeons that it was difficult to count them precisely.
He numbered them himself.
The latest-known dungeon discovered so far was estimated to be No. 623.
Traps were embedded in the floor tiles leading into the dungeon.
Iris easily bypassed them.
"…An early dungeon."
That was her conclusion upon seeing the crude traps.
A stone door appeared.
"A cockatrice?"
There lay the completely decayed corpse of a cockatrice.
A monster had made this dungeon its dwelling.
But that monster, too, seemed to have been hunted by someone.
Its rotting body bore numerous marks of damage.
Iris frowned in disappointment.
Pelerian did not seem to be here.
If he had been, he would not have allowed such a monster to settle here.
And if he had killed it, not even ashes would have remained.
Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock, knock—
Seven knocks.
And the stone door opened.
Iris examined the interior of the dungeon.
And discovered something important.
"Someone has been here…"
There were unmistakable traces that someone had already passed through.
She approached a half-twisted vault door, as though an earthquake had struck.
'It is an early dungeon… but this vault is on a different level.'
It was strange.
The layout and crude traps were typical of Pelerian's early work.
Yet this magical vault was something only seen in his later dungeons.
Considering that early and late dungeons were built centuries apart, this was odd.
One hypothesis emerged:
The dungeon had been built hundreds of years ago,
but Pelerian had stayed here within the last century.
A hundred years was an immense span for humans—
but not for elves.
"…So close. If only I had arrived a little earlier."
Iris muttered.
A statement that would sound absurd to a creature like a Serpent ,
for whom living fifteen years was already considered long.
She began dismantling the vault.
Though the door was warped and slightly open, there wasn't enough space for a person to pass through.
At best, not even a fist could fit.
She had to gather every clue about Pelerian.
There might even be valuable items inside.
It was extremely difficult work.
After two full hours, Iris succeeded in breaking the exposed hinges.
Thud!
The broken door fell.
Iris stepped inside the vault.
Only then did she realize—
it was completely empty.
Only a few books lay scattered inside.
Clear dust marks showed the unmistakable traces of a thief.
"…How…?"
Iris began searching the dungeon thoroughly.
She found many things.
First, there was an interception golem, shut down, wearing a helmet and cloak.
"…."
For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming.
She couldn't even imagine how something like that had been defeated in such a manner.
Then there was a shattered tank.
From this, she deduced that Pelerian had created a chimera here.
She even found the chimera's shed skin.
The experiment must have failed—the chimera had escaped alive.
"It must be eliminated."
'Eliminate the chimera and recover a specimen.'
That became Iris's plan moving forward.
Just as she was about to leave the dungeon with lingering regret, she stopped.
A single portrait hanging on the wall caught her attention.
True to his narcissistic nature, that old monster Pelerian had hung his own portrait.
A wrinkled face, unbefitting an elf. A confident smile.
Time had layered thick dust upon it.
But someone who had stayed here had scribbled on the portrait.
Likely letters drawn by wiping away the dust with their fingers.
Yet the writing was incomprehensible to Iris.
'What is this… writing? Or is it a drawing?'
If she were to describe it:
"Who is it?"
What kind of script was this?
"…Rune script?"
Iris was relatively lacking in magical knowledge.
Since this was Pelerian's dungeon, it might be some kind of magical marking.
Still… for some reason, it felt oddly familiar.
Iris met the eyes of Pelerian in the portrait.
Her mood soured.
She quietly drew her broadsword.
Fwoosh—!
With a single swing, the air split repeatedly.
The portrait shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.
Iris turned away with a cold expression.
The fairy investigator would hunt the chimera.
***
Whoooosh—
The wind was a bit restless today.
It felt as though a man's ambition was steadily growing.
Then I suddenly remembered that knight who had kissed my ring—
and my mood worsened again. That lunatic. Kissing me, a clearly male being.
A leaf flew over and slapped against my face.
I shook it off and looked up at the sky again.
The weather was clear and bright.
A clear sky meant one thing—
This was the perfect place to hunt a chimera.
That thing crawls underground anyway, yet it always shows up only in open areas like this.
The reason I first encountered it near a cliff was because of that.
At first, I didn't understand why—but now I can guess.
It digs tunnels underground.
And the massive trees of the great forest spread their roots deep beneath the earth.
Naturally, it would avoid those roots while digging.
Proof that I had completely figured out its habits.
That chimera isn't very intelligent.
If I set a trap, it'll come right into it.
Or maybe it's just so overconfident it thinks it can win no matter what.
Today, I'll finish it.
To be honest, I had tasted the blood it shed last time, even sucked the flesh from its severed leg—but my evolution tree didn't update.
Seems like I need to practically gulp it down in large amounts to meet the condition.
…It won't be that even killing it won't count, right?
Well—no choice but to try my best.
***
Of course, I prepared bait to lure it out.
The ground was soaked with monster blood,
and on top of it, I placed a boar-shaped clay model.
Yes—a clay model, not a real monster.
A boar I made using beginner elemental magic, which had just reached level 4.
That thing underground would swallow it whole without realizing anything.
Then it'd be shocked by the taste of dirt.
But I didn't go through all this trouble just to surprise it with flavor.
It took me an entire day to make that.
Thud… thud…
Yeah. Come on.
I'm ready.
Thud-thud-thud-thud—
It burst out of the ground.
Seriously, does it never get tired of this?
It always tries to swallow things whole without chewing.
That gluttony worked in my favor this time.
It crushed and swallowed the clay boar.
This was the same chimera that remained fine even after swallowing a boar filled with neurotoxin.
But this time—
"Keeeeeaaaagh!"
The chimera screamed in agony.
Blood gushed out of its mouth like a fountain.
How, you ask?
Because inside that clay model, I had embedded countless knives, arrows, and spears.
All the blades I collected from the soldiers—I turned them into something like a chestnut burr and covered them with clay.
Of course, I coated everything with neurotoxin too.
"Keeegh!"
The creature began thrashing wildly, spewing blood.
Still… it didn't look like it would die instantly.
[Status]
[Enraged], [Berserker], [Poisoned], [Killing Intent], [Post-Molt], [Weakened]
A few days ago, it had evolved its 'Carapace' skill into 'Iron Armor.'
But after molting, that hardened shell becomes soft—that's its weakness.
Now, two full days since then—
its armor still hasn't hardened.
"Shhhhaaaak!"
With a sharp hiss, I charged forward.
It still hadn't regained its senses.
Now was my chance.
Time to test the technique I had honed over an entire day.
***
I accelerated and rushed in.
And in my tail—I held a short sword.
The Elven Broadsword. That strangely light blade.
Now, I could even run while holding it.
Given my body structure, swinging it properly was impossible.
But I had skills.
[Skill]
[Borrowed Horn lv4: Slash lv1]
A skill I borrowed from the chimera before.
A superior version of Cut.
And I discovered through experimentation—
When holding a proper blade, the power of Slash doubles.
I successfully slipped between its legs.
[Activating Slash lv1.]
The strength behind the swing was probably weaker than a child's.
But the sword, imbued with skill—
Did its job.
Slice—
The blade cleanly severed a joint.
Fwoosh—
Blood burst out like a fountain from the severed limb.
I slipped past it.
Once more—Taeguk Sword Form!
Crunch!
This time, I didn't cut the joint perfectly.
But even so, one leg was severed from the middle.
The chimera, startled, tried to catch me.
It moved its remaining legs frantically—almost like it was tap dancing.
It might look ridiculous from the outside—
but not for me.
Bang, bang—
Those legs slammed into the ground.
If I got hit even once, I'd die instantly.
***
But a swordsman's senses sharpen in moments of crisis.
My mind finally entered the state of Simjeok Gwonchong .
Gah!
I almost died just now.
Just once more—just one more time.
[Activating Slash lv1.]
This skill consumes a lot of mana.
But my blade—
Finally cut down another leg.
The creature tilted sideways.
Slice—THUD!
Three out of its eight legs were gone.
Of course it would collapse.
"Keeeaaaagh!"
Still full of fighting spirit, huh?
Come.
I'll face you—
as a swordsman newly entered into the martial world… a Sword Serpent .
***
Clang!
Ah—
It hit my tail and sent the broadsword flying.
Well, my grip strength with the tail is weak.
Whatever. The sword isn't even my specialty.
Honestly, I never expected to cut off three legs anyway.
Now—
The real cooking begins.
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