Heroic Chronicle of the Reincarnated Demon General

Chapter 18

Luke picked up the sword and scanned it with his Mystic Eyes before sheathing it again. It wasn't a magic weapon like Judith's dagger, but the iron it was made from could absorb a little magic power.

"Here, use this,” he said, handing the sword to her. “It'll give you a longer reach. Also, your dagger is stronger, so you should preserve it for much stronger monsters, especially since we don't have any means of properly maintaining it while we're here."

Judith silently collected the weapon and stared at its bloodstained sheath before beginning to ask, "The person who owned this sword—"

"Dungeons don't generate weapons and money out of nothing," Luke interrupted. "They belong to adventurers who've come in here and died, with their bodies eventually being absorbed by the dungeon.

The things the dungeon can't absorb, such as their armour, the money they carried, and their weapons, are scattered throughout the dungeon in chests like this one to attract even more people."

"Who the hell said dungeons were gifts from the gods?" Judith asked, her expression deeply uncomfortable.

Luke laughed at her reaction before picking up the coins and daggers, checking each weapon's blade before placing the money into the pouch containing the rest of their coins.

After that, he picked up his backpack and looked towards Judith before saying, "All right, let's head down to the second floor. Our dungeon run is really just beginning."

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After safely entering the second floor, Luke and Judith found themselves facing stronger Barkmen than those on the first floor, along with an entirely new kind of monster.

These new creatures were humanoid plants covered in thorny vines, with sharp claws and poisonous sap flowing through their bodies that splashed out whenever they were cut or pierced.

After a very short debate followed by a rock-paper-scissors battle, the two finally agreed on calling these new monsters Thornkin.

Luke's magic shield became the MVP of their second-floor exploration, spinning through the air at breakneck speeds to block the poisonous sap from reaching Judith whenever his magic arrows pierced the Thornkin in vital spots and caused the sap to quite literally burst out of their bodies.

Judith had initially been fairly reluctant to use the sword they'd found inside the treasure chest, considering it belonged to a dead man, with the bloodstained sheath providing very clear evidence of that fact. But after the first Thornkin nearly drenched her in poisonous sap when she'd stabbed it in the eye, all her reservations about using the weapon vanished.

The sword provided a longer reach and allowed her to keep a greater distance from the monsters, making it much safer to fight them.

Like the Barkmen on the first floor, the Thornkin barely spoke, only making strange noises that sounded much like the rustling of wet leaves.

However, when they reached the end of the second floor, they were once again met with another talking monster.

Unlike the first Barkman, which had spoken about its child, this one spoke about its parents, specifically its father. However, Judith didn't allow its words to deceive her, and she didn't show even the slightest hesitation as she hacked and slashed at the monster, wielding her sword in one hand and her dagger in the other while Luke attacked from a distance with his magic arrows.

The second floor’s boss was much taller and much stronger than all the Thornkin they’d faced, and it could even shoot its poisonous sap from its hand like projectiles.

Nevertheless, it still ended up defeated at the hands of the two teen Heroes, becoming precious EXP to raise their levels.

They didn't find any treasure chests waiting for them after defeating the floor's boss, but upon stepping onto the third floor, they discovered something far more valuable than any treasure chest could offer, something that would solve one of the major problems they faced during their dungeon exploration.

It was a source of water.

The first area of the third floor was a large clearing, similar to the one where they'd fought the second floor's boss, and at its centre was a spring spraying water into the air, which fell into a small pool in the ground around it.

Upon spotting the spring, however, Judith's expression wasn't one of happiness but wariness.

"Is this water poisoned?" she asked, clearly having grown suspicious of every liquid they encountered in the dungeon after dealing with the Thornkin on the second floor.

Hearing her question, Luke laughed before responding, "It's not poisoned, but it's not exactly the cleanest water either."

He walked up to the spring and used his Mystic Eyes to scan the surrounding area for any traps. After finding nothing suspicious, he dipped his hand into the water and scooped some into his palm, raising it and seeing some dirt floating in the water.

"This is clearly not drinkable," Judith said as she looked at the water in his palm.

Luke nodded in agreement before allowing the water to fall back into the spring. He then raised his palm above the water's surface.

"My level is over 25 now, and with the stat boosts from our Hero Skills, I should have enough magic power to do this without a tome."

He concentrated magic power in his palm as he spoke, and upon hearing his words, Judith tilted her head and asked, "Do what? Also, isn't a tome that magic book mages use to learn spells?"

"Yeah,” Luke replied with a light nod. “Tomes are magic books that mages can use to learn spells instantly, but it's also possible to learn spells without using tomes. After all, tomes are essentially just shortcuts.

“They forcefully imprint the magic formula of a particular spell into the user's mind, alongside a little external magic power that's infused into their heart.

“However, even with a tome, if you don't understand the magic formula and lack the necessary imagination to properly visualise the spell, you still won't be able to use that magic. Conversely, if you know the magic formula, understand how it works, possess enough magic power, and have the ability to visualise the spell properly, then you can use magic without a tome."

Right after Luke finished speaking, his palm began glowing, and he lowered it into the water.

Within seconds, the water began bubbling, and Judith's eyes slowly widened as the bubbles spread across the spring's surface. Before long, steam began rising from the water as its temperature continued increasing.

"It's boiling?" Judith asked in surprise.

"Yep," Luke replied. "I decided to try visualising Fire Magic since my energy stat has increased from all the levels I've gained, and it seems to have worked perfectly. Imagination for the win."

Judith could only stare at the boiling water in silence before moving her gaze towards Luke, her expression changing into something indescribable.

'You just said that someone needs to know the magic formula to use a spell, so how the hell do you know the magic formula?' she wondered.

Having known Luke for virtually all her life, and at the same time, virtually all his life, Judith was positive that there was no chance he'd ever come into contact with a magic book that could've given him access to any magic formula.

So far, she hadn't questioned his instructions much because he was clearly more knowledgeable and experienced when it came to dungeon exploration, but that was precisely what made the situation so confusing to her.

He was way too knowledgeable and spoke with a little too much certainty.

The certainty in his tone was the kind that could only come from experience, especially in something like his earlier advice about resting whenever there was an opportunity to do so inside a dungeon.

'He clearly doesn't realise it, so it's subconscious,' Judith thought.

Despite having these thoughts about Luke, Judith said absolutely nothing about it.

Instead, she just silently dropped her bag before searching inside it for one of the empty water cans they'd brought along to collect water.

After finishing boiling the water, Luke decided to scan every part of the spring area, checking for traps and anything else that might pose a danger to them.

He found nothing suspicious, so he headed towards the door on the other side of the spring area and began exploring the corridor beyond it, keeping his Mystic Eyes active and constantly using magic detection.

In the end, he didn't encounter any monsters until he'd ventured quite deep into the hallway and made a few turns.

'So the spring is really some kind of rest area in the dungeon,’ he thought.

Having confirmed his suspicions, he turned around and headed back to the spring area, where he informed Judith about his findings and explained that they could use the clearing as a temporary resting place without worrying about monsters wandering in from the nearby corridor.

The two decided to call it a day and pulled out their sleeping materials before choosing a corner of the room where they could rest. They took advantage of the hot water to wipe away some of the sweat on their bodies before munching on some of their food supplies.

They decided to get some shut-eye after that, though neither of them could sleep comfortably knowing they were inside a dungeon, where, however unlikely, monsters might wander near their resting place or, even worse, other people exploring the dungeon might discover them.