Chapter 27: Cave Hidden by the Wind

"Shall we start looking for a hidden dungeon?"

Eder left with Halt and Itar in tow, and Kang Oh began to explore the Lakern Mountains alone.

He'd unexpectedly managed to obtain 600 gold, but nevertheless, the reason he'd come to the Lakern Mountain didn't change: finding a hidden dungeon.

'They said that the Cave Hidden by the Wind is within the Lakern Mountains...'

That's what he had heard from one of the middle-aged men within the Adventurer Guild.

The Cave Hidden by the Wind!

There was a chance that it wasn't a hidden dungeon, and there was also a chance that he wasn't the first to discover it.

There was certainly some value in finding it, as he couldn't find any detailed info on Arthstory regarding it.

If he could find it, even if he wasn't the first to discover it, he could write up an article on Arthstory and make some money.

'But it'd be best if it were both a hidden dungeon, and that I was the first to discover it.'

Kang Oh explored the Lakern Mountains as if he were a fisherman who had come back with a full load of fish.

When he was about halfway up the mountain, he saw a town of dugout huts at the basin of the mountain.

The town was ruled by Jacquis.

A Jacqui was a weasel-like bipedal monster, wielding a sharp scythe, and possessed power over the wind.

'A weasel with power over the wind and a cave hidden by the wind, huh...'

Kang Oh couldn't just overlook this.

He entered the town and the Jacquis popped out of the underground huts.

Three weasels held their scythes with both hands, and raised their heads stiffly like meerkats!

Kang Oh untied the magic sword on his back, and two weasels came rushing towards him, swinging their scythes.

He avoided their attack and swung his sword horizontally.

The weasels quickly ducked their heads and evaded Kang Oh's attack.

The last one, which had been watching Kang Oh from behind, crossed both its arms.

Wind began to blow in its surroundings, as well as hair.

Sha!

The cross-armed weasel swung its arm, discharging a frightening white wind blade from its scythe.

Wind Blade!

Kang Oh nonchalantly raised his sword. The Wind Blade was subsequently sucked into his sword.

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[Ubist has absorbed the Wind Blade. Satiation has increased by 0.01%.]

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Kang Oh immediately used Slash, cutting one of the weasels.

Kang!

The weasel blocked his attack by crossing its scythe. Despite that, the resultant physical impact and pressure caused it to wobble around.

Kang Oh wouldn't lose that opportunity.

"Haahp!"

Kang Oh swung downwards.

A quick, but heavy attack!

His magic sword passed through the middle of the weasel's body.

Peok!

The weasel fell and rolled onto the floor.

However, he hadn't killed it.

Meanwhile, the other weasels came rushing towards him.

Kang Oh swung his sword, deflecting their scythes, and dashed towards the fallen weasel.

'My foot will be better than my sword.'

Utilizing the inertial force from running, Kang Oh kicked the laying weasel in its face.

Peok!

The weasel flew into the air, accompanied by a 'pop', as its body turned to gray.

'One down.'

Kang Oh turned his body immediately, and rushed towards the remaining weasels.

Sasasasak!

His blade cleaving through the air could be heard, yet his blade work was delicate as if embroidering within the air.

Rather than a single powerful blow, he'd opted for quick, continuous strikes in succession!

Two of the weasels instantly turned to gray.

They weren't able to mount a proper defense against Kang Oh's one-sided offensive but were swept away by his blade.

Kang Oh collected the junk and simultaneously looked around the town and killed the weasel monsters.

It only took him 10 minutes to kill fifty weasels.

He even defeated the named Jacqui with ease, one with a mohawk on its head.

There was a single item that had dropped near the dead named Jacqui's body.

It was a yellow bead.

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[Weasel Bead]

The bead that the weasels use when they call upon the power of the wind. It is also a material that can be used when creating magical items.

Material Rank: B

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The Weasel Bead was a material. It was just a normal B-rank item.

However, he felt something from the bead; the same feeling he'd felt when he discovered his last hidden dungeon.

A suspicious feeling, as if there was something more to it!

"Hmm."

Kang Oh meticulously observed the yellow bead.

Aside from being yellow, it was like any other bead; it would be great to play marbles with it.

But considering the fact that his Hyper Intuition had activated, he was sure that there was something more to it.

'I'll have to ask Eder when he gets back.'

A Necromancer like Eder should be able to find the secret that dwelled within the bead.

Kang Oh carefully stashed the yellow bead into his inventory and continued his search for the Cave Hidden by the Wind.

* * *

Eder had returned.

"I'm back."

Since he was attached to Kang Oh, he could always tell where Kang Oh was.

So he didn't have any trouble finding Kang Oh, even though Kang Oh was traversing through the mountain.

Of course, Kang Oh could also summon Eder as well.

However, he couldn't know when Eder would be finished with his task, so Kang Oh hadn't done so.

"Everything went well, right?"

"Yes."

"Good work," Kang Oh finished and stretched out his hand.

And Eder gave him a gold bar worth 100 gold.

It was the reward for Halt and Itar.

"Heh."

Kang Oh grinned.

Gold always made him feel good.

"Have you found the hidden dungeon?" Eder asked.

"No, but could you take a look at this for me?"

Kang Oh placed the gold bar inside his pocket and retrieved the Weasel Bead from his inventory.

Eder grabbed the bead with his thumb and index finger and began inspecting it.

"I see it's a bead containing magic," Eder said.

He could feel magic radiating from within the yellow bead. And its element was wind.

"You can't detect anything else?"

Eder examined it more thoroughly, but there wasn't anything unusual about it.

"I don't, but is there some kind of secret this bead is hiding?"

Eder fiddled with the bead.

"Of course there is," Kang Oh said with certainty.

"How do you know that?" Eder asked.

Did he get that info from someone?

"There's something here. I have a hunch!" Kang Oh replied.

'What do you mean by a hunch?'

Eder inwardly snorted.

He didn't know about Kang Oh's Hyper Intuition. Because of that, he didn't trust in Kang Oh's 'hunch'.

But if he didn't want his skull sliced in two, he needed to respond appropriately.

"Hmm. If the bead is broken, then the power of wind within will flow out, so I don't believe it has anything to do with breaking it..." Eder said while acting as though he was diligently examining the Weasel Bead.

At that moment, Kang Oh felt as though a light bulb had gone off in his head. He had a spark of inspiration as if he knew that 'this was it!'.

'It's Arth's version of the Edge Where the Lava Stops'.

There was an area in Warlord called the 'Edge Where the Lava Stops'.

If fire magic or scrolls were used in that area, then portals that lead to another area would form.

The Cave Hidden by the Wind should follow the same philosophy.

If the cave was found, and either wind magic was used or a wind-related magical item was used, then a portal leading to another area should form.

'I'm sure of it.'

Dreamgate, the developer of both Arth and Warlord.

They were two games that shared the same creator.

So there should be some similarities between the two games.

'I know how to enter the dungeon...'

Now he needed to actually find the Cave Hidden by the Wind.

"We're going to explore every single cave in the Lakern Mountains."

* * *

Kang Oh and Eder looked through every nook and cranny of the Lakern Mountains and explored all of its caves.

They eventually came to a cave blocked by overgrown bushes.

"This is it."

Even if he didn't have his Hyper Intuition, he would know that there was something in this cave.

The surface of the walls were different, and there was a rather large symbol etched onto it.

The symbol consisted of five lines that went in a straight line but was circular at the ends.

It was a symbol that often denoted the wind.

Of course, his Hyper Intuition was acting up again.

'It's here. Here!', it would say.

"Is this the Cave Hidden by the Wind?" Eder asked.

"Yeah. You can see the wind symbol clear as day over there."

Kang Oh pointed towards the symbol.

Eder approached the symbol and began to examine it.

"I don't see any particular devices here."

If not for the symbol, then it would've been a cave as ordinary as any other.

And the wind symbol itself looked as though someone had drawn it as a joke; it was quite shoddy work.

"What you see isn't everything."

Kang Oh took out the yellow bead and smashed it on the ground.

Cheng!

The broken bead then released all of the wind energy contained within.

Huing!

The wind began to rage around the bead.

The wind passed Kang Oh and Eder, and passed by every ounce of the cave as well.

Then, something extraordinary happened.

In a single area within the cave, a hole was formed, and from that hole, wind began getting sucked in.

Huiik!

The force by which it sucked in the wind became more intense by the second. At the same time, the hole gradually became larger and larger.

How much time had passed?

The once rampaging wind calmed down within the cave, as if nothing had ever happened.

But in exchange...!

There was an oval-shaped portal before Kang Oh and Eder.

The portal continuously rippled, like a quiet lake with a rock thrown into it. It was as if it were telling them to come in.

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[You have discovered Baramut's Hunting Ground.]

[You are the first to discover it.]

[Fame has increased.]

[When hunting within Baramut's Hunting Ground, you gain two times the experience. Item drop rate is also doubled.]

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'The first to discover it!'

Kang Oh's face brightened.

His body shook at the opportunity to strike gold once more.

He didn't know what Baramut's Hunting Ground was like, but Baramut was definitely the boss monster.

Since it was 'Baramut's Hunting Ground'!

If that's the case, then the boss must have accumulated quite a lot of wealth!

'All of it is mine!'

It was a chance to make a fortune. There was no reason to hesitate.

"Let's go!" Kang Oh yelled, and he walked through the portal.

The portal swayed and gobbled him up.

Ddak, ddak.

Eder's teeth chattered and followed Kang Oh.

Once Eder walked through the portal, the portal became smaller and smaller until it disappeared in its entirety.

Silence had returned to the cave.

It was as if nothing had happened.

* * *

"The portal disappeared."

Eder pointed to where the portal used to be.

As he said, the portal had indeed disappeared.

"If we kill the monsters here, then we'll find a wind scroll. We can just use that to get out when we're done."

It was the same for the Edge where the Lava Stops. It would probably be the same here too.

Having finished speaking, Kang Oh surveyed his surroundings.

They, who had passed through the portal, were inside the cave again.

However, there were large crystals embedded on the ceiling that illuminated the cave.

And there was only one road ahead.

"We don't know what'll appear, so be on your guard."

Kang Oh readied his magic sword and followed the path ahead.

Eder, too, readied himself so that he could cast magic at any time.

Kang Oh and Eder continued walking anxiously.

At some point, they found an exit, where light escaped from.

"There aren't any monsters," Eder said.

As he said, there weren't any monsters here. None.

"They must be outside the cave."

This was clearly a dungeon. There was no way it was completely empty.

Kang Oh and Eder exited the cave.

"It's a jungle."

It was a jungle densely populated by thick trees.

However...!

Kuhoooong!

A resounding roar from out of the blue.

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[You have heard Baramut's Roar. Baramut's Roar instills a sense of fear in its prey and decreases their abilities.]

[You have overcome your fear through the Indomitable stat. Your abilities do not decrease.]

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Once its cry was over, a giant shadow popped out of the forest.

And it immediately attacked Kang Oh!