The Dragon Soul Rejoices

At the end of the corridor, smoke and dust billowed.

Most of the surrounding stone walls had collapsed, and through the hazy vision, a massive black shadow emerged.

"Foolish humans, you have ruined my resting place!"

"I will make you pay the price!"

With that angry roar, the shadow erupted with a divine might, sending a gust of wind surging through the area that dispersed the lingering smoke.

Only then did Shane see the shadow clearly.

It was a dragon.

It had no physical form; its entire body roiled with thick black mist, appearing like a soul condensed into shape.

Looking downward, Shane saw the ruins beneath the dragon's feet—a shattered stone tablet covered in obscure, alien characters. Shane could not read them, but he guessed they were something like an epitaph.

Shane realized that this must be the location of the Dragon's Grave.

Frieren hovered in front of the dragon's soul, and beneath her feet lay a golden-haired youth who had fainted.

??

Shane shifted his gaze back to take another look.

Well, it was an acquaintance.

That mage who thought he was so impressive, the golden-haired young master who was desperate for fame, Brugge.

How did this young master end up here for no reason?

Shane was puzzled.

But there was no time to ask now.

The dragon continued to unleash its divine might, whipping up increasingly strong gusts of wind that sent Shane stumbling, and even the stone pillars supporting the tomb chamber seemed unable to withstand the pressure.

"Frieren, if this continues, the tomb will collapse!" Shane shouted a warning.

Frieren had been maintaining a Defense Magic to protect herself and the unconscious Brugge behind her.

Upon hearing Shane's words, she glanced down, then flicked her staff and, without hesitation, used a magic whip to toss Brugge behind a rock.

Thud.

Shane pursed his lips, hoping Brugge's head was alright.

Then, the two coordinated tacitly; one cast Binding Magic to lash out at the dragon's soul, while the other charged up, preparing to use Thunder's Might.

This move had been very effective when they dealt with the ghost skulls earlier.

Both were in a soul state.

Shane and Frieren both felt it should be equally effective against the rampaging dragon soul.

Roar!

Struck by the lightning, the dragon let out a hiss, golden electricity coursing through its roiling black mist, making it even more furious.

It struggled incessantly, trying to break free from the chains wrapped around its body.

But the Binding Magic remained unmoved.

The dragon soul could not split and reform like the ghost skulls from before.

This made it easier for Shane to attack; he continued to unleash lightning strikes, his longsword hitting the target blow after blow.

[Electric Shock]

[Electric Shock]

Roar!

The enraged dragon soul suddenly stopped struggling and, bearing the full force of the thunder and lightning, charged headlong in Shane's direction.

Frieren tightened her grip on the Binding Magic, attempting to restrain the dragon, but her strength was too small, and the dragon dragged her forward by sheer force.

The roles of attacker and defender shifted, and Shane was alarmed.

Just as he turned to flee, a dense blue magic shield rose up beside him.

Boom—

The dragon soul slammed into the magic shield and vanished into thin air in an instant.

Shane turned to look behind him; the golden-haired young master was clutching his head with one hand and holding his staff with the other.

"Good thing I woke up... Hey, rookie warrior, step back. Facing monsters is a job for a powerful mage like me."

Shane, who had originally intended to thank him, silently shut his mouth upon hearing that arrogant remark.

This kid had great ability, but his mouth was truly insufferable.

"This isn't a monster; it's an enraged dragon soul. What did you do just now?"

Hearing Frieren's question, the golden-haired young master rubbed his head, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"I didn't do anything! This Young Master was just out for a stroll, and I never expected to run into a blind magic wolf. I chased it all the way here, and just after I finished it off, I ran into this... this dragon soul thing."

"You shattered the dragon's tombstone."

"Well, this Young Master... when I'm in the middle of a fight... how am I supposed to pay attention to all that?"

Frieren heard this and said nothing more.

Shane could also tell that this golden-haired young master likely hadn't done it on purpose.

Still, if a dragon that had been sleeping for who knows how long suddenly had its blanket ripped off and was woken up, its anger was understandable.

"In any case, let's fix the tombstone first," Shane suggested.

At the very least, we shouldn't give the dragon a second chance to come back out.

Frieren nodded.

The two of them began to gather the stone fragments scattered on the ground, piecing them together one by one according to the patterns of the inscriptions.

Brugge stood behind them, watching them repair the tombstone, and began to feel awkward.

After hesitating for a while, he started to help move the rubble and clear out the tomb.

But it was obvious this young master had never done manual labor before; the areas he "cleaned" looked exactly the same as before he touched them.

Two hours later, aside from the parts that had completely collapsed, the tomb was largely restored to its original state.

The golden-haired young master sat to one side, panting for breath.

Frieren, looking somewhat happy, took out the painted pottery jar she had bought at the market earlier.

She placed the jar in front of the dragon's tombstone, then knelt down behind it with great devotion and began to pray.

"What are you doing?"

"Quiet, I am following the method Ize taught me to pray to the Dragon God for wealth."

"..."

"Ize said that a devout prayer will greatly please the dragon soul, and the dragon will fill the jar with gold coins. The prettier the jar, the more it will hold."

Watching Frieren's pious expression, Shane found it hard to keep a straight face.

Setting aside whether the dragon's blessing was real or not, let's just say that if the dragon soul had any gold coins in this dilapidated, crumbling tomb, it would have already upgraded itself to a luxury suite.

In all the movies and TV shows he had seen, every dragon's lair was piled high with gold and treasure; none were as shabby as this.

At the same time, he sighed inwardly, thinking he had hoped to pick up some [Traits] to take back from this trip. Oh well.

"How can there be nothing?"

Frieren, having finished her prayer, peered into the jar, checked it two or three times, and looked completely unconvinced.

She tried one more time, refusing to give up, but the result was still nothing.

"Maybe it's because we just beat up the dragon soul, so it's angry and won't grant a blessing?"

Shane remarked offhandedly.

To his surprise, Frieren took this very seriously and shook her head with regret.

She took out her map, updated some of the markings, and the two left the tomb, retracing their steps to continue their patrol in another direction.

"Hey, wait for this Young Master!"

Brugge trotted after them, chattering away as he circled Frieren.

He kept inviting Frieren to the [Inverted Land], loudly describing his plan for "fame."

It made Shane really want to hit him with a [Silence Magic].

"Kid, two mages forming a party alone to explore a dungeon is a very dangerous thing. If you encounter a situation where magic is sealed or cannot solve the problem, it will be disastrous. You'd be better off finding a party with a priest and a vanguard."

"This Young Master isn't afraid of danger."

Brugge didn't take Shane's advice to heart at all.

"This Young Master is the most powerful mage in the entire Lamir region. With my ability, there is no danger I cannot resolve."

"Uh-huh, and what about just now?"

"That was an accident!"

"Right, an accident~"

"It really was an accident! It's all that dragon soul's fault for appearing so suddenly! I was caught off guard!"

"Mhm, you're right about everything."

"You!"

The young master bristled again.

As the group walked further and further away, no one noticed that back in the quiet dragon tomb, the painted jar suddenly wobbled. Then, gold coins began to appear, rising like a tide, and in the blink of an eye, the jar was filled to the brim.