TRPM 84

chapter 84

In truth, Arthur had another purpose when he took on the task of escorting Han Gunwoo and his mother under the pretext of the terrorist attack from the previous day.

Not to harm Han Gunwoo, of course, but for a reason he kept secret from him.

‘I wanted to help the kids build connections.’

Specifically, he wanted to arrange a meeting between Han Gunwoo and Elliot and Elena.

If it was Han Gunwoo, he would surely recognize the talent of the two royal children and take an interest.

‘Lord Artist was the one who enabled Yeon Mirae, who couldn’t even use Aura, to wield a power similar to Aura… and also taught Lee Haeun magic.’

And after learning from Han Gunwoo, those two had gone on to become an Aura Master and an Archmage respectively.

Of course, their overwhelming natural talent was a huge factor, but it also spoke volumes about Han Gunwoo’s ability as a teacher.

From Arthur’s perspective, Elliot and Elena’s talents didn’t quite measure up to those two, but they were still rare and remarkable nonetheless.

‘If possible, I was hoping Lord Artist would be willing to train them as well…’

That way, they too could grow strong quickly.

But it didn’t seem like Han Gunwoo had any intention of going that far.

Perhaps it was because of Elliot’s reckless sparring challenge, or Elena’s disrespectful behavior during the duel.

Or maybe he simply wasn’t impressed by their abilities.

‘He didn’t look displeased, though…’

…Well, fine.

Arthur sighed inwardly but concluded that his main objective had been accomplished.

After all, he had helped Elliot and Elena form a connection with a foreign Aura Master—one who was believed to be the strongest in the world.

“(Phew…)”

Meanwhile, William, Elliot and Elena’s uncle, let out a troubled sigh.

As chairman of the Awakener Association in London, it was difficult for him to dismiss his nephew and niece meeting someone of their own age who was already an Aura Master as mere coincidence.

Even if the Aura Master himself didn’t seem to have such intentions, William couldn’t help but consider the political implications of it.

‘(Most likely, Arthur set this up deliberately….)’

Arthur was an Aura Master friendly to the British royal family.

William knew he wouldn’t do anything to harm them.

But politics was never that simple—he had to consider every possibility, no matter how unlikely.

“(Sigh…)”
“(What’s wrong, Uncle William?)”
“(Nothing you two need to worry about.)”

With that, William waved his hand and said he would take his leave.

He had dropped everything and rushed over as soon as he heard that royal children were using the training grounds with an Aura Master, so now his desk was overflowing with neglected work.

“(Take care, Uncle.)”
“(…Haah…)”

Arthur’s words—which had essentially just created more work for him—made William frown slightly. But he held his tongue in front of the children and walked away.

Watching his retreating back, Arthur gave a bitter smile before turning to Elliot and Elena.

“(You two should be heading back soon, right?)”

Though they were in the training grounds now, royal children were usually supposed to return to Buckingham Palace at this hour, either to study or rest.

Understanding the implication, Elliot and Elena told their guards to prepare for the return.

“(I guess we should. But hey, Arthur—)”
“(Hm?)”
“(Gunwoo, right? How long is he planning to stay in England?)”

Elena looked at Arthur as well, clearly wanting an answer.

Seeing their expressions, Arthur smiled inwardly.

At the very least, the two of them genuinely wanted to meet Han Gunwoo again.

And not for political gain, but simply because they wished to be friends.

“(He’ll be in London for a few more days. He’s coming to my wedding.)”
“(Really? Then we’ll get to see him again at your wedding?)”
“(Well… yes, that’s true.)”

Hearing Elliot’s words, Arthur thought to himself.

Even if they hadn’t met him this way, they would have inevitably run into him during the wedding anyway.

After all, Rachel’s guests aside, all of his own guests were royalty, high-ranking British guild officials—or Han Gunwoo and his mother.

“(Then we can spar again at the wedding—)”
“(Uh, let’s not do that….)”

Challenging someone to a duel at another person’s wedding would be… a bit much.

After the sparring session with the royal children, Gunwoo spent the rest of the day at the hotel.

The timing was awkward, and his mother, still suffering from jet lag, was tired—so going out to see the night view wasn’t an option.

‘I can’t just drag her around when she’s exhausted.’

…Though honestly, he could always slip out alone—or with Arthur—while she rested.

And in fact, that’s exactly what happened. While his mother slept, Gunwoo and Arthur snuck out.

“You’ve really gotten stronger.”
“Really?”

They had come to a dungeon near London, one Arthur recommended.

Rachel had stayed at the hotel. Gunwoo thought it was odd to separate a groom from his bride-to-be, but Arthur had explained:

“Once we’re married, sneaking out to raid dungeons at night will be impossible. Rachel told me I should enjoy this kind of thing while I still can, since I won’t be able to later.”
“…And you’re sure she meant that literally?”

It wasn’t likely Rachel was giving him free rein to “enjoy himself” however he wanted.

Still, she probably trusted him not to do anything like meeting other women in secret.

“It’s fine. More importantly—my skills really have improved, right?”
“Yeah.”

Gunwoo nodded as he watched Arthur cut down monsters with his sword.

“Your swordsmanship was flawless even before, so let’s put that aside. The real improvement is in your mana control—your only weakness before.”

No matter how human he seemed, Arthur was still a puppet.

And puppets…

[The puppet’s body had been stronger than mine before regression, but only physically.]
[Its capacity for inner energy was a different matter.]
[And maybe because it wasn’t truly my body, its efficiency in using energy was poor, no matter how fine the materials.]

Whether it was inner energy, aura, or mana—puppets consumed it inefficiently.

Not only because their bodies differed from humans, but also because they literally moved using energy like mana, constantly draining it in real time.

Arthur was no exception.

When Gunwoo first met him, his swordsmanship rivaled Yeon Mirae’s—that is, Aura Master level. But his mana reserves and efficiency lagged far behind.

Now, though…

“Your mana capacity still depends on Rachel, since she’s the one supplying it. But your ability to use that mana efficiently? That’s now comparable to an Aura Master or Archmage.”

Of course, his body would still burn through mana faster than theirs.

Arthur consumed energy simply by moving.

Still, he seemed to have found ways to minimize that drain.

“Oh, that’s just because Rachel replaced parts of my body with materials that conduct mana better. Since I bring in a lot of money, she bought expensive materials and upgraded me.”
“…I see.”
“Didn’t you also build puppets with the best materials available? Like World Tree branches and Eternal Cold Iron?”

Gunwoo averted his eyes, remembering.

“…Anyway, let’s move on.”

He looked at the heaps of goblin corpses Arthur had already slain—and at the swarms still rushing toward them.

“By now you must’ve killed thousands… and there are still many times more left. Just what kind of dungeon is this?”
“Ha. Doesn’t it seem obvious, considering it’s still here so close to heavily populated London?”

It was a classified ‘Unconquerable Dungeon.’

“Unconquerable?”
“Yeah. The boss never shows up, but the monsters spawn endlessly. Even when London’s top mages and ability-users gathered and burned the entire dungeon down, the monsters kept coming. Eventually, the dungeon was deemed impossible to clear.”
“…Hmm.”

There had been dungeons like that in Korea before his regression too.

Not ones with monsters too strong to defeat, but ones where the boss never appeared, so the monsters just poured out endlessly. In the end, the best solution had been to cull their numbers periodically.

“…Must be rough.”
“Haha, not really. They’re just goblins, after all.”

True enough.

Annoying as they were—cowardly, using tools, coating blades in poison—goblins were still just goblins.

With proper armor, even their poison wasn’t much of a threat.

And for Awakeners on their level, like Gunwoo and Arthur, even that was unnecessary.

“…?”
“What’s wrong?”

Gunwoo silently counted the goblins his senses could detect before asking Arthur:

“Arthur.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever tried killing every single goblin in this dungeon?”
“I’ve tried, but there are just so many. The dungeon is ridiculously large. I’ve killed a lot, but I can’t say with certainty that I’ve exterminated them all.”

As expected.

After all, very few Awakeners in the world had senses as sharp as Gunwoo’s.

Magic, psychic powers, spirit arts, shamanism—among countless Awakeners, many had detection abilities.

But none with as wide a range as his.

[…My senses can cover all of South Korea… North Korea… even parts of China and Japan.]

When he was serious, his range stretched about 500 km in radius.

Barriers could interfere, sure, but in the absence of such obstacles, that was his limit.

This dungeon was large, but nowhere near that scale.

Good. If it were as big as my range—or bigger—that would be a problem.

“Then how about we try today? Wipe out every monster in this dungeon. I don’t think it’s impossible.”
“…”

Arthur gave him a look of disbelief.

“…I’m not sure if I should call you incredible or just on a completely different scale.”

But he knew Gunwoo wasn’t bluffing.

If he said it was possible, then it truly was.

“So, what should I do?”
“You? Nothing, really.”

“Just be ready to explain later when people ask how this dungeon—suddenly cleared—disappeared.”