“Stealing the Forbidden Fire!”
Sure enough, there were clues related to the Forbidden Fire.
“It seems you care a lot about the Forbidden Fire.”
“Only prisoners longing to melt their shackles seek the Forbidden Fire. What is your reason for seeking it?”
The monster merchant asked.
“Revenge, rescue, and wiping away humiliation.”
Eomer replied.
“It seems you too are prisoners of fate and hatred. No wonder you crave the Forbidden Fire.”
“Since you saved me, I am willing to give you some guidance on seeking the Forbidden Fire.”
“Seeking the Forbidden Fire requires a vessel, and in the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, there are not many vessels that can contain it.”
“Besides the three candelabras, there is only the Forbidden Fire Longbow.”
There were three candelabras!
The elves looked up in surprise. After their initial shock, they focused on the other item the monster merchant had mentioned.
The Forbidden Fire Longbow!
They had previously seen a solitary cell in the prison containing a corpse that had been imprisoned for the crime of stealing the Forbidden Fire Longbow.
“The Forbidden Fire Longbow... is it the one that was stolen?!”
The monster merchant looked surprised.
“It seems you have gathered some information.”
“The Forbidden Fire Longbow is a treasure of this castle.”
“It was cast from lava scorched by the Forbidden Fire. The lava melted by the Forbidden Fire flowed throughout the entire lava region for seven days.”
“Finally, on the seventh day, it flowed into the deepest canyon of the lava region. In the depths of that canyon, it converged into the shape of a bow.”
“Fire forms its string, and lava forms its body.”
“It was kept in the lowest level of the palace, but it was stolen by a four-armed blacksmith.”
“The four-armed blacksmith could not withstand the weight of the Forbidden Fire Longbow. Carrying the longbow on his back, he could no longer hold on after taking 1,284 steps out of the palace.”
“The Forbidden Fire Longbow fell into the lava and its whereabouts became unknown.”
Monster merchants wandered throughout the entire Well of Eternal Imprisonment and communicated with one another; they seemed to know all the stories that took place within the prison.
“Why not fish it out of the lava?”
Nephalian couldn't help but ask.
“The Forbidden Fire Longbow was forged from lava. Upon entering the lava, it turns back into lava and flows with it.”
“To find the Forbidden Fire Longbow, one would have to find that specific cluster of correct lava within the endless flow before it could be separated.”
At least there were three candelabras, but there was only one Forbidden Fire Longbow.
Finding it would be so difficult that it was almost impossible.
The elven team escorted the monster merchant and the stone slab, struggling to escape the dungeon.
They sat on the ground in a sorry state, their bodies covered in scorched marks.
Even though it was only the Forbidden Fire after its power had waned, that level of heat and frenzied energy was still a threat to them.
In contrast to the bedraggled elven team, the monster merchant they had escorted appeared quite composed.
He had clearly been protected very well.
At that moment, he was carefully inspecting his stone slab, seemingly afraid that it had been damaged during the transport.
“What is that stone slab?”
Eomer finally couldn't resist asking the monster merchant.
The monster merchant smiled and spoke.
“This information will cost ten dungeon coins.”
“...”
They had just saved him, and he was already turning his back on them!
Business was business. A monster merchant's top priority was to collect and earn all the treasures in the world!
His base code was written that way; there was no helping it.
Eomer silently took out ten dungeon coins.
After collecting the money, the monster merchant honestly pulled back the cloth. Carved onto the stone slab was a twisted mark.
The mark appeared to be a complex pattern composed of several overlapping diamonds.
Surrounding the pattern were various complex runes and magic circles.
Even the scholarly elves found the complex pattern before them difficult to understand.
They could only vaguely discern that it seemed to involve magic circles and marks of some kind of spatial power, along with the feeling of contract magic.
A Blessing Mark?
A Blessing Mark with spatial attributes?
No, that didn't seem quite right. What exactly was this thing?
Eomer looked at the monster merchant, hoping for an answer.
However, the monster merchant only recognized dungeon coins.
Eomer tried to take out another ten copper coins, but the monster merchant shook his head.
“This time, it will cost one magic crystal coin.”
“A magic crystal coin!”
It was being sold so expensively. The information on this stone slab was actually worth that much.
Was he really overcharging them?
...It shouldn't be the case. They were the benefactors who had rescued the monster merchant before them.
Eomer ultimately took out a magic crystal coin.
He had an intuition that the things recorded on this stone slab might exceed his expectations.
“In the Well of Eternal Imprisonment, there exists a special power.”
“That is Summoning Magic, a completely new magic system.”
These startling words left all the elves present stunned.
What did he mean by a completely new magic system?
They understood the words individually, but they made no sense when put together.
“This power is also one of the things eternally imprisoned in the Well of Eternal Imprisonment.”
“It is all because the reigniting of the Forbidden Fire has caused disturbances in the seals of the entire Well of Eternal Imprisonment.”
“This power has already begun to seep toward the surface. I expect it won't be long before someone notices it.”
They still didn't understand.
“What is Summoning Magic?”
Eomer's focus remained on the term Summoning Magic.
“Contracting and summoning.”
“Through a medium and a blessing, one consumes their own mana to summon the monsters of the Well of Eternal Imprisonment to fight.”
“The combat and maintenance of the monsters require the consumption of one's own mana.”
The monster merchant's words made the elves freeze.
What did that mean?
Summoning Magic... how could it possibly mean that?
This didn't fit with modern magical knowledge at all. It wasn't 'magical' in the slightest.
“How is that possible? Summoning monsters out of thin air is fundamentally impossible to achieve; it requires spatial power!”
“Furthermore, ordinary mages have no way of mastering spatial power without the aid of magical artifacts.”
“It's impossible for a normal person to master magic that can directly traverse space.”
“That kind of power is simply not something humans can grasp; it can only be performed by special magical artifacts.”
“Finally, it is impossible for monsters to follow the orders of humans in battle.”
The two elven mages quickly began to argue back.
It wasn't that no one in the world had tried to use the power of monsters to fight.
However, no one had ever succeeded.
Monsters were naturally opposed to humans and would never follow anyone's orders.
Attempting to enslave a monster would only result in being the first person killed by it.
Monsters would only attack everyone around them indiscriminately; they were not a power that could be utilized.
“It won't be long before that power creates anomalies on the surface.”
“The core of Summoning Magic lies in the Blessing Mark of summoning power and monster cards.”
“I have said enough. This stone slab concerns the fate of the monster merchant race; I cannot delay for a single moment.”
The monster merchant did not explain further. Leaving those final words, he hoisted the stone slab onto his back.
“Merchant, can we still exchange some dungeon coins?”
Eomer quickly raised his hand, holding up his money pouch.
“Certainly, guest. As long as it's for currency other than magic crystal coins, I have plenty to spare.”
Rate on N.U.
