A mountain range bordering the Demon Realm.
Because people rarely set foot here, enormous, lush trees had grown together into a forest.
Between the trees, neatly trimmed planks had been driven in at regular intervals, naturally forming a fence.
Torches near the fence were driving away the darkness.
“Chwik!”
A group walked along the fence.
If one followed the fence, they would eventually find a structure made of wood.
The structure rose so high that it was easy to spot.
It was a watchtower.
At the top of the watchtower, two orcs stood guard, keeping watch over the front.
Beside them was a quiver filled with large arrowheads, and when they confirmed that the group was approaching, they raised their bows.
“Stop! Who goes there!”
At the sentry’s warning, the one at the head of the group took off his large robe.
“It’s me, Malrox!”
He, too, was an orc, and his red hair left a strong impression.
Malrox lifted the torch in his hand and said,
“We have returned from the hunt!”
At Malrox’s words, the orcs behind him raised their prey all at once.
After confirming that they were from the same faction, the sentries let them pass.
In the past, there would have been no need for such procedures.
But now, the tribe had grown far too large.
Not only had several orc groups merged together, they had even come to live in the same dungeon as the goblins.
As a result, watchtowers had been built around the dungeon, and sentries now stood guard.
“I will go meet the chieftain. Take care of the rest yourselves!”
“Chwik!”
Leaving the cleanup to his subordinates, Malrox headed for the dungeon.
The dungeon was shaped like a massive cave.
The entrance to the cave was blocked by a door made of wood.
When he opened the door and entered, a large, spacious area appeared.
The walls of the space were decorated with the skulls and hides of all kinds of prey.
Above them hung torches that gave off intense light, brightly illuminating every corner of the dungeon.
After crossing the wide space, the path split in two. Taking the right path led to the orcs’ resting area.
The left was the space where the goblins lived, so Malrox headed to the right.
As he went right, the first thing that appeared was a wall densely covered with weapons.
Swords, of course, as well as enormous axes, shields, and armor were displayed there.
Among them were weapons made from the horns of minotaurs said to have been hunted personally by their ancestors.
Malrox passed by them and continued walking.
After a short while, the training ground appeared.
Orc warriors, wearing all kinds of weapons and armor, were dueling one another and honing their skills.
The entire training ground was filled with the scent of power and slaughter.
The young warriors, intoxicated by that atmosphere, were proudly displaying their strength.
Malrox nodded as he watched the scene.
‘The tribe’s future is bright.’
A warrior, by nature, ought to possess such spirit and confidence.
In that sense, the future of the tribe was bright.
After walking a little farther, another open space soon appeared.
This one was quite large, and at its end, a being sat in a chair.
It was Skol, the chieftain who led the current dungeon’s “Red-Haired Tribe.”
Since he had led a group even before the dungeons were integrated, he could be considered a great warrior.
However, Malrox did not call out to Skol right away.
Skol currently had his eyes closed.
He was not sleeping, but reviewing the battle from a few hours ago.
It was an action a great warrior should naturally take, and it could even be called a habit.
After quite some time had passed, Skol opened his closed eyes.
As soon as he opened them, Skol looked down at his own body.
Something had changed in a subtle way.
In a loud voice, Malrox offered Skol his congratulations.
“Chieftain, it seems you have gained enlightenment. Congratulations!”
At Malrox’s greeting, Skol also replied.
“You have come, Malrox.”
Even as he spoke, Skol was observing his own body and sensing the change.
‘Has my strength increased?’
He rotated his arms this way and that.
But his strength had not increased.
Still, there was no doubt that something had changed.
A warrior checks his own body every time.
Only by always examining the condition of one’s body can one exert their full power in an important battle.
That was why Skol could detect even the slightest change.
Skol closed his eyes again.
And he felt the change that had occurred in his body.
‘My body is recovering!’
His wounds were healing, ever so slightly.
It was definitely faster than before.
And that was not all.
His exhausted stamina was quickly filling back up.
“Huh….”
There was another power as well, but he could not identify it right away.
Still, there was no doubt that his physical abilities had risen.
“So this is true power!”
Why had such power been granted to him?
As Skol wondered, Malrox, who was beside him, opened his mouth.
“Chwik. Could it not be that the ruler bestowed power upon you, Chieftain?”
Skol looked at Malrox.
“That is indeed a reasonable thought.”
Had they not already confirmed the ruler’s abilities?
Even the dungeon they currently lived in had been expanded in size by the ruler’s power.
And that was not all.
At the ruler’s side were several beings who possessed power even greater than his own.
Just as Malrox said, it was right to see this power as a gift bestowed by the ruler.
“This is power the ruler has granted me!”
Skol clenched his fist tightly.
Then he laughed heartily.
“Kahahaha!”
Skol’s laughter rang loudly through the interior.
If so, why had such power been bestowed upon him?
That point puzzled him, yet it also made him feel good.
Of course, it did not take long for that question to be resolved.
“Earlier, the ruler must have been deeply impressed, chwik, by the chieftain’s duel with the human warrior!”
It was just as Malrox said.
Surely, because he had won a great victory in his battle against the human warrior, the ruler had bestowed power upon him to commend his merit.
“Indeed! Malrox, your words are truly correct!”
The ruler certainly knew how to respect warriors.
He understood a warrior’s honor, and to those who performed well, he granted rewards accordingly.
This was surely the virtue of a ruler who made warriors offer their loyalty of their own accord.
“I never imagined he would go this far.”
The ruler was not the type to rule his subordinates with strength alone.
Yet that did not mean he was weak in the slightest.
“So this is the bearing of a ruler.”
The one Skol must devote his loyalty to, and the path Skol must walk from now on, was none other than the ruler of the present.
“From this moment on, I, Skol, will fight only for the ruler!”
Chwik!
Skol raised his shield high.
The head of the human warrior was hanging in front of the shield.
This held an extremely honorable meaning both for him and for the human warrior who had already departed this world.
Skol believed it without a doubt.
“I will prove myself to the ruler!”
Skol was not yet satisfied.
“I will prove our worth!”
Before he knew it, young orc warriors had gathered in front of Skol and Malrox.
They were the timber who would lead the orc tribe in the future.
Skol looked over them and raised his shield once more.
“Our goal is one!”
In the future, even more heads would hang from the shield.
Until then, Skol would not stop.
He would run onward until heads were attached to the shields of every group.
And he would show it.
He would prove their strength to the ruler.
To do that, they had to face even more warriors.
Of course, it would be a difficult journey.
But if they could not even endure that process, they would not have begun in the first place.
Skol rose from his seat.
Countless orcs looked at him.
“Look at me! Chwik!”
Ooooooh—!
The orcs roared.
“We will face even more warriors!”
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
The process would not be easy, but if he was with them, they would overcome everything.
“We will hang the heads of even more warriors upon our shields!”
Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!
“Let us make our worth known to the ruler!”
At Skol’s shout, everyone cried out.
Their battle was only just beginning.
In order to prove their worth, they would collect the heads of even more warriors.
For that was a warrior’s honor.
That day, the goal of all the orcs was decided.
Of course, it was loyalty offered to the ruler.
* * *
Celia, who had been working, raised her head.
“The Master has given an order.”
However, this order, too, was abstract.
The Master had said that he hoped the minions in the dungeon would gain enlightenment.
“Enlightenment….”
Celia pondered deeply.
It was certainly not easy to grasp the essence of his words.
But Celia thought even harder and interpreted the words of the great one.
For that was the attitude of a servant who served the great one.
“Hmm.”
For now, Celia decided to take the direct approach.
“Goblin Lord.”
When Celia spoke, the Goblin Lord beside her rose from his seat.
“Kehhek!”
“From now on, increase the intensity of the goblins’ training even further. This is the Master’s will. If there are any who do not obey, I will grant you the authority to execute them on the spot.”
At Celia’s order, the Goblin Lord went outside.
“Next….”
As Celia trailed off, the Death Knight looked at her with sparkling eyes.
The Death Knight was still being punished because of the monster wave incident.
He was hoping that perhaps this opportunity would lift his ban on going out, but—
“…Death Knight, you will continue with the fortification work as you are.”
There was no chance.
Next, Celia looked at the Arch Lich.
Recently, the Arch Lich had been performing his role as inspector well.
And that was not all.
The Master had even bestowed an elegant robe upon him.
Since that meant the Master had already acknowledged him, Celia spoke without hesitation.
“I will leave the training of the undead in Area 1 to you, Arch Lich. This, too, is the Master’s will, and I will also grant you the authority to execute on the spot.”
At her order, the Arch Lich nodded and moved his feet.
In truth, the undead in Area 1 had not trained at all until now.
Because of that, he had no sense of how he should train them, but the Arch Lich was not worried.
While carrying out his role as inspector, the Arch Lich had also observed the training of other monsters.
He could simply conduct training using that experience.
The Arch Lich left the center of the dungeon, passed through Area 4, and returned to Area 1.
As soon as he entered Area 1, he said,
“Snap!”
(Heads to the ground.)
But none of them understood what the Arch Lich meant.
Since they had never done anything called training before, it was unfamiliar to them.
When everyone merely stared blankly, the Arch Lich flicked his finger.
Boom—
Boom—
The two undead in front of him burst apart.
The Arch Lich’s training had only just begun.
* * *
- A skeleton soldier has gained enlightenment through training.
- The skeleton soldier’s [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] has been unlocked.
- A skeleton swordsman has gained enlightenment through training.
- The skeleton swordsman’s [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] has been unlocked.
- A skeleton soldier has gained enlightenment through training.
- The skeleton soldier’s [Dungeon Monster Enhancement System] has been unlocked.
A flood of alerts rang out.
“Oh.”
Just a little while ago, I had given Celia the order to have them gain enlightenment.
But not long after I gave the order, the effects were already appearing.
“Celia really is competent.”
As I watched the alerts that continued to pop up even now, a sudden question occurred to me.
“Why are only the undead gaining enlightenment?”
No, in the first place, was enlightenment something that could be obtained this easily?
In Maru’s case, it had been fake acting, but he had gained enlightenment in battle.
But right now, alerts were appearing saying that the undead were gaining enlightenment through training.
“Is this even possible through training in the first place?”
I had thought it would take a long time to make them gain enlightenment, but it seemed my worries had been needless.
“If it really didn’t work, I was going to work them until they were on the verge of death.”
There was a saying, after all.
Just as people changed after experiencing death, I had thought that perhaps monsters, too, might gain enlightenment if they were pushed to the brink of death.
But now, there was no need for that anymore.