Episode 15
An old man climbed down the ladder.
He possessed a diminutive frame that was scarcely half of Deiodeun's size.
The old man looked up at Deiodeun with bleary eyes.
"So you're still alive. Deiodeun!"
"You've lost more teeth. Pabilsa."
"You're the abnormal one. To think you're so hale after living over a hundred years."
The old man called Pabilsa grumbled.
He had lost almost all of his teeth, with only a few remaining. Deiodeun, on the other hand, was still vigorous.
They couldn't help but be compared in every way.
Deiodeun asked Pabilsa,
"What brings you here? This isn't your territory, is it?"
"The Scavengers are running rampant, you see."
"Didn't you wipe them out last time?"
"As if such scum would disappear just from being swept away? New ones have appeared this time, and they're incomparably vicious. There's no point getting involved needlessly; it'd only be a headache."
"Hmph! You sure beat around the bush to say you ran away because you were scared of mere Scavengers."
"I'm not you. There's no need to deliberately get swept up in troublesome affairs. We call that a wise choice."
"All mouth…."
Deiodeun snorted.
Even at his ridicule, Pabilsa didn't show the slightest hint of shame.
He might not be Deiodeun's equal, but he too was someone who had endured the Era of Ruin for a long time.
As such, he possessed solid shrewdness and experience.
Though most of the world had become a desert, it wasn't as though there was no land fit for humans to live on.
There were rocky mountains like majeongseok mines, and small oases as well.
Though the environment was utterly barren, humans still adapted and continued their lives there.
It wasn't as safe as Neo Seoul, nor did many people gather to live there. Even so, they survived tenaciously.
The Scavengers targeted those who had survived with such difficulty.
Pabilsa had moved here to avoid such hordes of Scavengers.
His gaze turned toward Jeon standing at Deiodeun's side.
"Haven't seen this one before. A subordinate?"
"Just a companion."
"A companion? You, of all people, traveling with someone? Heaven and earth must be overturning."
"Enough nonsense. Let's head inside. I have goods to trade."
"Normally I don't let anyone in, but I'm making an exception for you."
"Stop acting generous and just guide us."
"Hmph!"
Pabilsa snorted and climbed the ladder.
Deiodeun followed after him, and Jeon climbed up last.
Before climbing the ladder, Jeon glanced at Areukellon's face. As it happened, Areukellon was looking at him too.
Its face alone was the size of a large house. Its pupils were bigger than Jeon himself.
It was truly a terrifying size.
Jeon was reflected in the creature's enormous pupil. But as if it had no interest in him, it soon turned its head forward.
'He tames and rides a demonic beast like this? Insane!'
He knew there were Tamers among the Awakened. But he had never heard of anyone taming such a massive demonic beast. However, it was still too early to be surprised.
When they entered Areukellon's shell, an unimaginable sight unfolded.
Inside Areukellon's shell was a vast hollow space, with an entire village situated within it.
Though not many, people could be seen walking the streets.
"What the…?"
"It's a clan."
"A clan? You mean of the same bloodline?"
"Yes! They are all Pabilsa's descendants."
Jeon was even more surprised by Deiodeun's words.
It was a world where taking care of one's own body was difficult enough.
One couldn't guarantee they could raise a child safely even if they had one.
Naturally, leading such a large family was almost impossible.
Deiodeun spoke,
"It's possible because Areukellon protects them from external threats."
"I suppose so."
Jeon nodded.
Countless demonic beasts lived in the desert.
Among them, there existed many massive demonic beasts like Sandworms. But none of them could compare to Areukellon.
Moreover, Areukellon possessed the strongest defensive power.
The massive shell on its back was so incredibly hard that no demonic beast's fangs could pierce it.
Because of that, ordinary demonic beasts wouldn't dare think of attacking Areukellon.
Inside Areukellon's shell, Pabilsa's descendants thrived.
"Taking Pabilsa's name, they are called the Mot Clan."
"The Mot Clan?"
"That's right! A bunch of delusional cripples who think they've been chosen. In reality, they can't do anything without Areukellon."
The Mot Clan might pride themselves on living in an impregnable fortress, but in Deiodeun's eyes, they looked like nothing more than a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.
The reason Areukellon protected them was precisely because of Pabilsa, a powerful Tamer.
It was uncertain whether Areukellon would continue to protect the Mot Clan even after Pabilsa died.
Because a tamed demonic beast pledged loyalty solely to its master.
Pabilsa led the two to his home.
He sat in a chair and spoke,
"Let's see the goods first."
"By all means."
Deiodeun replied coldly and took out various items he had gathered from his subspace.
The horn of a Great Horned Hyena alpha, the carcass of a Queen Wolf Ant, and the carcasses of demonic beasts he had hunted even before meeting Jeon came out in a steady stream.
The items Deiodeun brought out were all boss drops.
Each and every one was an item that couldn't be easily obtained.
Depending on how such items were processed, their power varied greatly.
In a master's hands they became treasures; in the hands of the unskilled, their value fell.
Pabilsa examined the items Deiodeun laid out with sharp eyes from behind his glasses.
They were all top-grade goods of the highest quality.
He couldn't find a single flaw even if he tried.
"Amazing, as expected."
"I don't need flattery, so just tell me how much you'll offer."
"Shall I pay in majeongseok?"
"You must be desperate to die. Do you think I need something like majeongseok?"
"Well, you can't enter Neo Seoul either, so you wouldn't need majeongseok."
Majeongseok was the most important currency of this era.
Thus, all trade in Neo Seoul was based on majeongseok. But Deiodeun couldn't enter Neo Seoul for some reason. Therefore, he preferred goods over majeongseok.
Pabilsa asked,
"So what do you want?"
"A breastplate made from the Queen Wolf Ant carcass and a subspace tool."
"A breastplate, for you? And don't you already have a subspace?"
"It's not for me."
"Then is it for that brat?"
Only then did Pabilsa look at Jeon with an expression of interest.
He had known Deiodeun for a long time, but this was the first time he had ever done something for someone else.
If Deiodeun was going out of his way for someone, they certainly wouldn't be ordinary.
"Seems like a rather useful brat."
"Stop babbling and just tell me if you can do it."
"Hmph!"
Pabilsa, who had been frowning for a moment, soon called for someone.
"Keilli."
Shortly after, a woman who looked to be about twenty entered the house.
She had brown skin tanned by the sun and blue eyes—a woman who exuded a tenacious vitality, like a cactus blooming alone in the desert.
"You called for me? Grandfather."
"Don't you have a subspace bracelet you made before?"
"I don't have a bracelet, but I do have a gauntlet. The enchant came out so well that I've been keeping it safe."
"Give it to this brat."
"Such a precious thing?"
Keilli looked surprised.
She was an extremely rare Enchanter.
She could grant attributes or special abilities to itemized objects.
However, not all enchantments succeeded.
The success rate didn't even exceed thirty percent, and only a very small number among those were born as proper works.
There were Enchanters inside Neo Seoul as well, but they all used methods combined with science.
Pure Enchanters were not very numerous.
Even among them, Keilli prided herself on being the best.
The subspace gauntlet Pabilsa spoke of was her masterpiece.
A top-grade subspace with width, length, and height each exceeding ten meters had been attached as an attribute.
It was larger than an ordinary warehouse.
A gauntlet possessing such a subspace was worth whatever price one asked.
It was only natural for her to be surprised at being told to hand over such a precious item to a boy she was seeing for the first time in her life.
Pabilsa's words weren't finished yet.
"And tell Noel to make a breastplate for this kid from this Queen Wolf Ant shell here."
"Huh? A breastplate too?"
"Yes!"
Noel was Pabilsa's youngest son and a remarkable blacksmith.
The Mot Clan's way of survival was to have Keilli enchant the works he made and sell them at high prices.
They traveled the desert buying goods that could become items, processed them, and sold them at high prices in Neo Seoul or to caravans. This was how the Mot Clan survived.
Therefore, Areukellon was filled with precious goods and food.
Keilli looked at Jeon with a meaningful gaze.
'Does he have some special ability?'
Her grandfather Pabilsa was an extremely prickly man.
If one lacked ability, he didn't treat them like a person at all.
Then Deiodeun spoke,
"Has that brat become an Enchanter?"
"Ah, hello. It's been a while since I've seen you."
Only then realizing Deiodeun was there, Keilli hurriedly greeted him.
"An Enchanter, huh? You've awakened a fairly useful ability."
"Thank you. You're still as vigorous as ever."
A subtle fear lingered in Keilli's eyes as she looked at Deiodeun.
She knew very well how powerful the old man before her was.
The sight of Deiodeun tearing apart and killing a massive demonic beast when she was much younger still remained a trauma for her.
Keilli found it uncomfortable to be in the same space as Deiodeun any longer.
She quickly spoke to Jeon,
"Follow me. I'll give you the gauntlet."
"Yes!"
Jeon followed Keilli without hiding his happy expression.
He had no idea how envious he had been when Deiodeun used subspace.
He had secretly wished for such an item himself; he couldn't believe how happy he was to obtain one for free like this.
Keilli asked Jeon,
"What's your relationship with that monster?"
"Huh?"
"Deiodeun, I mean."
"Ah! We just met by chance and are traveling together."
"You met by chance?"
Keilli furrowed her brow.
It was because she couldn't believe Jeon's words. But she didn't feel like pressing him further.
Keilli led Jeon to her workshop.
Various items she had worked on until now hung on the walls of her workshop.
Jeon couldn't contain his admiration.
Because the presence emanating from the items overwhelmed him.
"Wow!"
An exclamation slipped out before he knew it.
At his reaction, Keilli put on a proud expression.
"I worked on all of them. How are they?"
"Amazing. Are these all items?"
"That's right! Except for those excavated from dungeons, you could say they're the best."
Items were occasionally excavated from dungeons too.
Because items possessed such strong power, they triggered the Dungeonization phenomenon.
Items excavated from dungeons were known to possess very special power.
Keilli's goal was to create something with her own hands that rivaled items excavated from dungeons.
She took the gauntlet hanging on the wall.
The gauntlet was shaped to cover the back of the hand and the forearm.
"I made it by mixing the skeleton of an Armored Starfish and adamantium. I chose a dual composite structure, so its elasticity, defense, and attack power are all excellent. Besides the subspace function I mentioned earlier, it also has a self-repair function."
"By self-repair, you mean it recovers on its own?"
"Yeah! Unless it's completely destroyed, it returns to its original state."
"My goodness!"
"Amazing, right? That's not all. Probably because of the Armored Starfish, a fire attribute was attached to the gauntlet. For now, it only emanates a flame aura, but its power will change depending on what you equip here."
The place she pointed to was the back of the gauntlet.
There was a round, indented part designed to allow something to be equipped.
"You mean a fire-attribute item?"
"Yeah! You should equip something as powerful as possible if you can. Once equipped, you can't exchange it again. Honestly, this thing was born from something close to chance; I can't guarantee I could make another."
"I'll keep that in mind. But is it really okay to just give me something like this?"
"Because Grandfather told me to give it to you."
"Thank you."
Keilli handed the gauntlet to Jeon.
Jeon immediately equipped the gauntlet on his right hand.
It was slightly loose when he put it on, but once fully equipped, it tightened to fit perfectly on its own.
Jeon moved his hand wearing the gauntlet this way and that.
The movements of his wrist joints and fingers were as free as if he were wearing nothing at all.
A faint fiery energy emanated from the gauntlet.
Keilli asked,
"How is it?"
"It's good."
"Hmph!"
Keilli crossed her arms with an expression full of pride.
It was then.
Kwooooooh!
Suddenly, Areukellon's cry was heard.
From long experience, Keilli knew it was a warning cry.
Keilli hurriedly left the house and looked outside. Then, far in the distance, she saw an enormous cloud of dust rising.
Her face turned deathly pale.
"S… Scavengers."