Chapter 8: The Dragon Beneath the Hollow Root

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Dragon Beneath the Hollow Root

The word sounded terribly funny in the darkness.

Dragon.

Meanwhile, Allan stared at Lira.

For the first time since they entered the Hollow Root, Allan’s normally carefree demeanor began to fall apart. No, he was not afraid of dragons. He knew Yggdrasil better than he knew his own bank account.

In ranking the dragons that mattered, there were the ones that erased parties, the raid bosses celebrated for their ferocity, the few that actually threatened the world, and lastly, the simple minded monsters who thought only of eating as much as possible, and hoarding gold as much as possible, their only expression an angry scowl.

Did I come too early in the cave? A hobgoblin shouldn’t be here, a warrior hobgoblin at that, let alone a whole damn dragon...

None of them were supposed to be here.

Not this early.

Not in the Hollow Root.

Not on any route he fucking remembered.

"Are you certain, Lira?" he asked.

Lira slowly nodded her head. "I have never seen a dragon, but I have heard stories, stories of adventurers who have disappeared in the Hollow Root, Master. Maybe this is the reason why..."

Seris stepped closer. "What kind of stories?"

"Old stories," she continued. "Adventurers have vanished within this place. Sometimes someone hears a massive roar coming from below ground, and then, after that, the adventurer disappears."

Allan’s eyes narrowed. "How long has that been happening?"

"I don’t know."

"Guess."

"...Years."

He looked toward the staircase.

The roar came again.

ROOOOOOOAAAAAR!

As they descended the staircase, this time the entire thing began to shake, stone crumbling and falling down around them. Seris grabbed hold of Lira, pulling her close.

"We’re leaving."

Allan didn’t answer, though. He was still staring down into the blackness of the hole.

Something was wrong. This was a terrible dungeon for players, consisting of almost no treasure and very weak monsters. Players went through this place for reasons such as being in the vicinity, or being drunk. And now there was a dragon.

These two facts did not seem coincidental. In fact, they were a red flag wearing a neon sign.

"Master." Seris’s voice was sharp, with the usual two seconds before she’d physically remove him from a conversation. "We have enough information. We report this to the Adventurer’s Guild. They reclassify the dungeon."

"...And then a dozen parties flood in," Allan said quietly. "Someone else finds the chamber. Someone else takes the treasure. Someone else walks away with the skill book and a fortune."

His fingers tightened on his sword.

"No."

Seris stared. "Master, this is literally insane."

"We’re not fighting it."

"We should be leaving."

"NO."

Allan checked his status once more.

[Level: 54]

He was already that high; he should be satisfied with this much.

He looked at them, at their quivering eyes. Both of them were more precious than any wealth there. His Investment skill was working wonders because of them.

But it’s not enough. I’m already level fifty four now. We can escape if things get more dangerous.

He pointed down the stairs with the tip of his sword. "We’re going down."

Both women looked at him with incredulity, as if he had suggested they jump into a volcano to admire the view.

"Then why are we walking toward the dragon?"

Allan smiled. It was a small, sharp thing. "Because there’s a difference between fighting a dragon and finding out why a dragon is here in the first place. Like I told you, dragons are gold hoarders. And if Lira is right, if there is a dragon, there is gold."

Silence.

Seris slowly lowered her weapon. "You have a plan... right?"

"Not yet."

"Allan!" Seris called, and for the first time in a long while, the word Master didn’t come out of her mouth.

Allan gave a fake smile as he looked down.

I had to look down to make sure I still had my sword. It was the first time she’d called me by my name instead of Master. He thought to himself.

"By the time we need a plan, I’ll have one."

"I... I’m sorry, Master," Seris muttered. "Please, Master, just listen to us, for god’s sake."

"He won’t back down, Seris," Lira muttered, as she looked at him and his shaking hand, holding the sword.

Lira sighed, already giving up. "Then what exactly are we doing?"

"Reconnaissance first. We stay together. We don’t engage anything that looks like it could eat us. We don’t open anything that looks cursed. And if I say run, you run."

Seris frowned. "And you?"

"I’ll run too, of course."

"Master, I am scared, because I think you’ll make some sacrificial play here."

"No, no, no, of course we’re all three going to run. I’m not the brave type."

Lira’s mouth twitched upward. "That’s probably the first sensible thing you’ve said today, Master. And, Master."

"Yes?"

"If we make it out alive, I want another hug, please."

Allan didn’t say anything, just gave another nod.

And finally, they went down.

The staircase went on and on, with no end in sight. The hundred or so steps finally came to an end, but instead of finding a door, or even a room, all three found themselves in a never ending tunnel of ancient blocks.

The stone was old. The carvings had long since faded. Someone had built this place.

Lira had to stop for a moment because Allan had stopped so abruptly that she nearly walked into his back.

"Hold."

Below the drawing of the dragon there were human figures, kneeling. Seris felt a sudden chill run down her back.

Allan’s expression changed. "That’s not dungeon decoration."

Seris examined it. "Then what is it?"

"I don’t know."

They felt heavier than they should have. Allan knew nearly everything about the original Yggdrasil. The symbol on the wall wasn’t part of his memories.

Something had changed.

Allan could pick out the sound of something else moving, heavy and stiff, but undeniably alive.

Chains.

Metal scraping stone.

Clang.

His eyes widened. "It’s imprisoned."

Lira whispered, "The dragon?"

"Probably."

"I’m still confused. Why are we still going down there?" Seris asked, her eyes narrowed against the black of the cavern.

They kept walking.

Finally, it came to an end in a vast room. Here the ceiling seemed to disappear into the black of the upper reaches of the mountain.

And on that platform, a dragon.

Allan stopped breathing.

It wasn’t as huge as Allan had imagined. It looked like a young one, about ten meters long, dark silver in color, with faint blue light shining through the scales like blue veins of starlight running through them.

Heavy chains were bound around its limbs, neck, and wings. Some ancient magic circles were etched into the floor and glowed faintly.

The dragon lifted its head. Slowly.

One enormous golden eye opened.

Lira’s hand clamped onto Allan’s sleeve. "Ma... Master."

"Yeah, yeah, I see it."

The eye locked onto them, on him most probably.

A System window flared to life.

[Unknown Entity Detected.]

[Level: ???]

[Species: ???]

[Warning.]

[Entity is outside standard database parameters.]

[Investment: High return]

Allan’s smile vanished. "That’s new."

The dragon opened its mouth. All three of them, stepping back instinctually, tensed for fire.

Instead, a voice emerged. Old. Tired. Intelligent.

"...Player."

Allan froze.

Seris looked at him.

Lira looked at him.

The dragon stared straight into his eyes.

"A player has returned."

Allan’s blood ran cold as he said, "A player? I’ve never been here."

No, you haven’t been here.

The chains rattled softly.

"But another like you has."

"...What?"

The dragon lowered its head. "It was a while ago, but it must be long for you humans."

The System flickered.

[Hidden Quest Condition Detected.]

[???]

"And he left something behind."

Allan still tried to digest what the dragon had said. He had thought he was meeting a chained beast, a final boss. But it seemed it was wise, wiser than the near impossible, hard to defeat dragons in the final missions of Yggdrasil.

So other players also arrived here? he thought.

Allan didn’t move. "What did he leave, then?"

The dragon’s eye never left Allan. "A door."

Lira whispered, "A door?"

Lira felt a chill run down her spine as the dragon nodded slowly. "Yes, a door. Beyond it lies what your kind once called worthless."

Allan looked sharply interested.

The hidden treasure. The skill book. The alchemical materials. Every single item... but it seems there’s more.

The dragon didn’t say anything more, pointing its head toward the door at its side.

[Unique pathway detected.]

[Analyzing...]

His heart kicked harder.

Lying in front of them was a second passage. It was blocked by a large stone door with strange symbols on it.

Allan walked toward the stone door, followed by Lira and Seris, who moved like shadows behind him.

There was no handle. No keyhole. No obvious mechanism he could detect.

But there were three circular depressions in the stone, one of them quite large, the other two considerably smaller.

"Three people," he murmured.

Lira blinked. "What?"

"Us," he finished.

Seris frowned. "Huh, why?"

"I don’t know yet, girls. We’re dealing with the unknown here..."

He pressed his hand to the first depression. Nothing.

Lira placed hers on the second. Still nothing.

Seris hesitated for a moment, then placed her hand in the depression for the third person.

The chamber lit up.

BOOM.

[Party recognized.]

[Three compatible entities detected.]

[Conditions fulfilled.]

[Hidden Dungeon Route unlocked.]

Allan’s eyes widened. "Compatible?"

The messages kept coming.

[Current party members: 3]

[Party Return Multiplier recalculated.]

[Current multiplier: ???]

So it wasn’t treasure or gold or a skill book like the rumors said. It was this...

A slow smile spread across his face, unknown to himself. "This is interesting..."

Seris eyed him. "You’re smiling again. Don’t smile, Master, this isn’t a place to smile," she muttered, worriedly.

"Because this is exactly what I was looking for. What we were looking for."

The door began to grind open.

Before they could step through, the dragon spoke once more.

"Hey... Player."

Allan turned.

"Are you going to leave me here? After I showed you to such a precious door?"

"Huh, I don’t have th ke—" Allan’s breath caught. He looked at the chains, and at the abnormal dragon that spoke. One thing churned in him more than fear should have.

"If I free you, what will I get in return?"

"Master!"

"Master?"

Both of them looked at him in awe, as he asked for something more from the dragon, the greed palpable enough that they could smell it.

While Allan only gulped.

Yes, potential return. That’s all that matters.

His Investment skill went into overdrive, trying to determine the value of the Unknown Dragon. No numbers or multipliers to speak of, however. Just question marks.

"You want me to free you, right? Meaning you want something from me..."

"Yes."

"And I’ll ask again, what will I get in return?"

"Roooooaarrr," the dragon growled. "Human... I have been imprisoned for three hundred years."

"Yeah, but I didn’t put you here, did I?"

The eye grew colder. "No, not you, but those who feared what I could become. What my wisdom could bring... So free me, human. I will not harm you or your wives. I have that much honor."

Allan still remembered the dragon’s status.

[Investment potential: High Return]

The dragon was potentially valuable. No, it was valuable. And today had already taught him something important:

His concept of Investment no longer worked as it had in the game.

People weren’t NPCs.

Relationships mattered.

Choices had weight.

And the greatest returns might not come from gold, like they had before with the alchemist, investing directly. But...

Allan looked at the dragon. "I’ll make you a deal."

Seris’s eyes widened. "Master—"

Allan ignored her. "I don’t know what you’re worth. But I know you’re worth something."

Silence.

"So here’s the deal. I’ll look for a way to free you."

"And you want something in return, even after I showed you the way to the door?"

"No, what I want from you is... nothing."

The dragon actually looked surprised.

Allan smiled. "For now. Of course."

The sound that came out of the dragon’s throat next was so powerful it made dust fall from the ceiling high above where they stood. He laughed.

"Hahahaha... you truly are like the others. Go, human, I accept. Now go."

[Investment Agreement has been made]

Allan nodded, and they stepped through.

Beyond the door was an entirely different world.

Lira followed him to where the far wall met the ceiling, a line of ancient shelves upon which were piled containers of every description: long rows of minerals, pots of dried herbs, human bones, a store of crystals, and more. Most of it was sealed in glass.

"This," he paused, his mouth still open, "is a true alchemist’s paradise." Allan slowly turned in a circle.

"This..."

Lira stepped beside him. "What is it?"

"Every reagent, all the materials the alchemists will kill for in three years. This small black crystal here, in three years this will be worth several gold in the market."

Seris frowned. "What materials?"

"...The ones the world treated as trash. The ones everyone ignored." He picked up a small black crystal.

[Unknown Material.]

[Current Value: 2 copper.]

Allan smiled at the group. "In three years this will be worth several gold."

Lira stared. "But what is it worth now?"

"...Two copper?"

Seris looked around the chamber at all the materials gathered there. "Didn’t we come here for treasure? How much is all of this worth?"

As the information loaded for each material, Allan’s smile grew. Finally, he arrived at the last of the discarded trash. "Enough to rebuild the mansion," he said.

Lira’s eyes brightened. "And the business?"

"Enough to start it."

Seris’s eyes jumped to his. "And the adventuring?"

He held up the heavy sword he’d found earlier. "Here’s the cycle we’re going to continue. Business provides money. Adventuring provides levels, materials, information, and opportunities, and with the right people, my Investment will turn everything into something greater."