Disciple of Immortal

Act 4: Chapter 22: 《Dragon's Jaw》

「Here we are, the place for the 2nd trial, the 《Dragon's Jaw》.」

It was a huge cave on the cliff wall.

When I tried to look inside, I saw something like sharp stalactite grow from the base all the way up to the ceiling of the cave.

It might be formed from the drop of water that fell on the ground for a really long time.

It seems the reason this place was called the 《Dragon's Jaw》 was because those stalactites look like fangs.

「This 《Dragon's Jaw》 is a dungeon filled with atrocious monsters. You have to use this to check how deep you dive into the dungeon.」

Said Raigan as he took out something like white marble from his pocket.

「This is the 《Dragon Eye Crystal》. It's reacting to the magical power of the 《Dragon's Jaw》 and will slowly turn red. The change will become even more and more imminent the deeper you go in. And that gradation of color will become the mark to determine the score in the 2nd trial.」

「The colour change, is it?… It's really foolproof since we need to dive into the dungeon for real.」

Getting 300 points should be enough to shut Raigan's mouth but, I couldn't help but feel anxious since I had no idea how deep I had to dive to get enough points.

「Well I get the gist of it but, how much the color change to mark it as 300 points?」

「You don't seem to understand yet. The sacred 《Dragon's Trial》 is…」

Raigan's brows furrowed as he spoke, his nose was flared.

「I-I'm not underestimating it or something along that way… I just want to know the way to see how many points we get.」

So I tried to fix his misunderstanding.

Man, what a pain in the a*ss.

「You'll naturally realize that yourself! The 《Dragon's Trial》is a comprehensive trial that tests your overall abilities! The way you feel about it is an insult to the Peach Dragon Village!」

「O-Okay, that's enough. I'll take this trial… Come to think of it, we can take this trial together right?」

Since it involved diving into the dungeon, the ability of comrade in arm should be taken into account too.

I thought we were supposed to take it in person, turned out we could take this trial in groups.

「Well, there's no limitation in taking this trial. Not like we could interfere in a conflict during a dungeon dive. Moreover, though there's an advantage in having many comrades, it's not like you're completely safe fighting in the environment that prevented you from unleashing your full combat prowess.」

I see, we could work with each other to dive into the dungeon.

Surely, it means that this trial gave us a complete degree of freedom alas, it was quite a surprise from my perspective.

I mean, I couldn't get rid of my worry just imagining Philia diving by herself, becoming a lost child, and ending up destroying the dungeon.

「Sure enough, it isn't impossible to dive into the deep floor if you go in group but, doing that will put shame on us, the dragonfolk. It shows that we're just a coward who can't fight to the fullest on our own after all. That's why there's an unspoken rule that the maximum number of people in a group is five people, those who dive by themselves will be praised regardless of their results.」

Raigan summed up his explanation.

Trying to earn points using loophole in the rule was seen as an embarrassment, and dragonfolk who tried to do that weren't on the rare side.

Maybe this tacit understanding became a rule because of the prideful dragonfolk who believe in strength.

Well, it's not like we had the obligation to get riled up by Raigan's provocation either.

We were in a hurry and I had no leeway to choose the method to become a dragon saint and meet the Dragon King.

We had already received a commission from Ramiel about the 《Ruler of The Sky》, and were tasked to send the message to the dragon king in exchange for one treasure for the dragon's fault.

In short, he was right, the deeper we go in, the brighter the color of the crystal would be, It seems we would pick a quarrel with Raigan no matter what happened.

「Since I can't bear to see Philia-chan diving by herself, our only choice is diving together right?」

Thus I received the 《Dragon Eye Crystal》 from Raigan.

Raigan was grinning ear to ear upon seeing that.

「Kukuku… This trial is much harder than the 1st trial. Especially for the outsider. The dungeon is a giant trap created naturally… A place for the monster to unleash their maximum combat potential. The structure was big and complicated. Definitely not a place where you can capture so easily. I'm looking forward to how far you can dive into the 《Dragon's Jaw》! Now, you shall see the true horror of the 《Dragon's Trial》, human!」

Said Raigan with an evil grin on his face after a long and drawn-out speech.

… The trial considered the fact that it might take a long time huh?

I mean, Raigan spoke pridefully about this place after all.

But, Honestly, this trial sounds like a huge pain in the a*ss, and given a choice, I would leave as soon as I entered the 《Dragon's Jaw》 even if it wouldn't give me any point.

Since I don't want to see Raigan's annoying grumbling again, maybe it would be much better if I didn't say anything to him.

But, since Raigan had such great confidence in 《Dragon's Jaw》, he should've had no problem even if we got zero points in this trial.

「… Well, we'll do our best to struggle till the end. Now please go back and wait for our return to your home, Raigan-san. We'll go straight to your place once we finish the trial.」

「Yeah, I'll be waiting for your safe return. Not trying to scare you guys but, treat this as a lesson for underestimating the 《Dragon's Trial》. Though it rarely happens, some people did lose their way in 《Dragon's Jaw》, unable to find the exit. Different from the 1st trial, the 2nd trial will teach you that a high level is useless if you can't use your brain properly!」

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THE NEW PROJECT:

Journey of The Childhood Friend Who Got Betrayed by Sword Saint

The Protagonist of Isekaied Story With Cheat And Harem Has No Idea That All Of The Heroines Has Already Been Stolen By Me~Urgh, My Stomach Is Killing Me~

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