chapter 114
Although Alex had joined the Iron-Blood Guild, his position within the guild was still ambiguous.
As a mage who had contracted a dragon, his instantaneous firepower was undeniably powerful—but only when he had summoned Fafnir.
Outside of that, Alex was nothing more than an ordinary mage.
“He has explosive firepower, but only for a very short time… a guild member that’s hard to place anywhere.”
In the past, when dungeon raids were too difficult, there had been mages who simply burned down the entire dungeon instead of bothering with loot.
Someone with Alex’s level of firepower would have been more than enough to fit into such a role—waiting at guild headquarters until called upon.
But times had changed.
Now, destroying dungeons entirely was the job of manifestation-type or conversion-type ability users, not mages.
“So, Alex, you’ll be assigned to me as my deputy for the time being.”
“Deputy? What does that mean?”
“Oh, it just means I’ll be teaching you the ropes.”
In the end, Alex became Yeon Mirae’s deputy and began learning the workings of the Iron-Blood Guild.
Alex had no complaints about the arrangement.
Though Mirae was younger than him, she was an Aura Master—one said to be flawless in every way.
There was no reason to be dissatisfied about learning under someone like her.
If there was any issue, it was that quite a few others had their eyes on the position of Mirae’s deputy. But since Mirae herself had personally chosen Alex, no one could object.
“So, what do I start with?”
“Rest.”
“…Pardon?”
“Rest. Well—technically, be on standby. You can play games on the office computer, or hang out in the lounge.”
Alex blinked at her words, wondering if he had misunderstood because of his shaky Korean.
Rest? On his very first day?
“Of course. It’s not like crimes happen in Seoul every day. The patrol teams in the city only head out once every two or three days. And me? I don’t even do patrols.”
Naturally, someone of her caliber wouldn’t be sent on something as trivial as patrol duty.
Instead, Mirae explained, she stayed on standby with a receiver by her side—ready to respond if a patrolling team or dungeon squad encountered a crisis they couldn’t handle.
“I thought about doing paperwork at first, but the staff looked way too uncomfortable when I was around.”
“…”
Alex understood their feelings all too well.
“So, as long as you’re my deputy, unless there’s an emergency, you won’t really have much to do. Just take it easy and get a feel for the guild’s atmosphere.”
It was only after Mirae confirmed it several times that Alex finally accepted he really had no immediate work to do.
Seeing his reluctant understanding, Mirae nodded in satisfaction—then suddenly seemed to recall something.
“Oh, actually—we do have something we can work on.”
She picked up the phone and called someone.
“Hello? This is Yeon Mirae. Is the training hall empty? Good. I’ll use it now. Yes, we’re coming down.”
Training hall?
Alex immediately understood what she meant.
His training.
Not as a mage—but as a summoner.
Mirae hadn’t said a word, but Alex was certain that was the reason.
And truthfully, he knew he needed it.
(I can only summon and sustain Fafnir for about 30 minutes…)
Thirty minutes might sound long, but that was only if Fafnir remained still.
If the great dragon so much as moved, the summoning time dropped drastically.
It wasn’t that the magic cost was unbearable—on the contrary, considering Fafnir’s size and power, the consumption was low.
(It’s just that my mana pool is too small.)
Which meant only one thing: Alex needed to increase his mana capacity to extend Fafnir’s summoning time.
“Let’s go. The training hall’s ready.”
“Yes.”
The two left the office and headed to the underground training hall of the guild.
Clang!
Clash!
Bang!
Boom!
Upon arrival, Alex was greeted by the sounds of battle echoing through the facility.
And when he stepped inside, he couldn’t help but gape.
“Whoa…”
“This is one of the guild’s prides—the latest-model training center. You saw it in the guild brochures before joining, right?”
“I did… but seeing it in person is incredible.”
He watched guild members sparring in teams, others fighting holographic monsters, and some running obstacle courses.
There were shooting ranges for archers, gunners, and magic-users, and even special training rooms simulating volcanic terrain or underwater dungeons.
There were also gyms with equipment for basic conditioning.
A facility of this scale was something only a handful of organizations in the entire world could boast of.
“Save the sightseeing for later. This way.”
Mirae called him over, leading him to the room assigned to them.
“…!”
The moment Alex entered, his eyes widened.
The other facilities had been impressive, but this training room was on a whole different level.
“Buildings…? A sky…?”
Weren’t they underground?
Reading his confusion, Mirae explained:
“This room is expanded with spatial and illusion magic. It’s for urban warfare training.”
(Maintaining a space and illusion spell on this scale must require insane amounts of mana…)
He muttered in English without realizing it, too shocked to hold it in.
Mirae, clearly used to such reactions, added:
“The other rooms use a lot of mana too, but nothing compared to this. That’s why you need a reservation to use it.”
“Anyway. This should be enough space, right? Summon him.”
Now Alex understood why Mirae had chosen this particular room.
Only an expanded space like this could contain Fafnir’s massive body.
Taking a deep breath, Alex summoned his dragon.
…Thoom…
With a heavy thud, Fafnir appeared before them, looming silently.
“Looks like you’ve been training Fafnir well.”
“Yeah, more or less…”
She wasn’t talking about combat training.
It was obedience training—like taming a dog.
Though Fafnir obeyed Alex as his contracted beast, dragons were violent by nature.
Worse, Fafnir was an evil dragon. Without training, he would have tried to destroy everything other than his master.
“Of course, in front of me or Artist, he tucks his tail and hides behind your legs.”
“…”
Even a dragon like Fafnir couldn’t stand up to an Aura Master.
Alex gave Fafnir a firm look.
“Fafnir. Training time.”
Thirty minutes later.
Alex and Mirae left the training hall.
Alex’s mana was completely spent; he could go no further.
“Good work today.”
(Huff… huff…)
Alex couldn’t even answer properly, panting for breath.
Mirae, satisfied with his grit, handed him a sports drink.
“Here. You know you can’t take a potion until your mana recovers naturally.”
He accepted it weakly, unable to drink right away through his gasps.
Still, seeing his breathing slowly calm, Mirae decided to let him rest.
“You can clock out early today. Stay in the guild lounge and head home whenever you’re ready.”
With a nod from the exhausted Alex, Mirae returned to the office.
Left behind, Alex sat motionless for a while before finally sipping the drink.
(Haa… haa…)
He had known training would be hard, but under Mirae’s watch, he had imagined killing her more than once.
Of course, each time, he recalled her power and quickly shook the thought away.
(It’s all for my own good, anyway.)
Once his body recovered a little, Alex decided to take a shower.
Gripping the wall’s handrail, he made his way to the shower room he remembered seeing.
Shhh…
(Ahh…)
The cool water washed away sweat and heat alike—until he sensed others entering.
“Damn… feels like I’m bruised all over.”
“Oh, stop whining. With those scales, you barely even got scratched. My fists took more damage than you did.”
“Who told you to fight a Lizardman mutant barehanded, huh?”
The newcomers, fresh from sparring, stepped into the showers. Spotting Alex, they approached.
“Hey there. You’re Alex, right?”
“Uh… yes.”
Alex blinked at their appearance.
One was bulky with a pig-like nose.
Another had scales covering his limbs and face, complete with a tail.
The last had disproportionately massive arms and legs compared to his body.
“First time seeing mutants up close, huh?”
“Ah, sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Most people either look at us like monsters or like you—just curious.”
But more importantly…
“You being here means Mirae put you through training, didn’t she?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
They exchanged wry smiles.
“Tough, huh?”
“…What?”
“We went through it too. During training, you stop seeing her as an Aura Master or a young woman—you just want to kill her.”
“Ah… yeah. Same here.”
A sense of kinship blossomed.
They, too, had endured Mirae’s training, and that shared misery connected them to Alex.
“Wanna join us in the lounge after? We’ll grab some drinks and badmouth the guildmaster and Mirae together.”
At that, Alex let out a short laugh.
(So it’s the same everywhere.)
His old raid team back home, his school before joining Iron-Blood—wherever there was hierarchy, people bonded over drinks and complaining about their superiors.
It was something Alex realized was universal.
