Chapter 15

The old man climbed down the ladder.

He had a frail build, barely half the size of Deioden.

With half-lidded eyes, the old man looked up at Deioden.

"So you're still alive, Deioden."

"Looks like you've lost even more teeth, Pavilsah."

"You're the abnormal one. Living past a hundred and still that vigorous."

The old man called Pavilsah grumbled.

Most of his teeth were gone, only a few remaining. In contrast, Deioden was still in perfect condition.

The difference between them was impossible to ignore.

Deioden asked him,

"What brings you here? This isn't your territory."

"Scavengers have been running rampant."

"Didn't you wipe them out last time?"

"You think they disappear just because you wipe them out once? New ones showed up this time, and they're vicious as hell. Getting involved would only be a headache."

"Hmph! You're just saying you ran away from a bunch of scavengers in a roundabout way."

"I'm not like you. There's no need to get tangled up in troublesome matters. We call that a wise choice."

"All talk…"

Deioden scoffed.

Despite the ridicule, Pavilsah showed no sign of embarrassment.

Though not to Deioden's level, he too was someone who had survived the Age of Ruin for a long time.

He possessed that much experience and hardened resilience.

Even though most of the world had turned into desert, it wasn't as if there were no places fit for humans to live.

There were rocky mountains like mana stone mines, and small oases.

The environment was harsh beyond belief, but humans still adapted and continued to survive there.

They weren't as safe as Neo Seoul, nor did they gather in large numbers—but they endured nonetheless.

And scavengers preyed on those who had managed to survive like that.

Pavilsah had moved here to avoid such scavenger groups.

His gaze shifted to Zeon standing beside Deioden.

"Never seen that one before. Your subordinate?"

"Just traveling together."

"Traveling together? You? Bringing someone along? The world must be ending."

"Enough nonsense. Let's go inside. I've got goods to trade."

"I don't usually let anyone in, but I'm making an exception for you."

"Stop acting generous and just lead the way."

"Hmph!"

Snorting, Pavilsah climbed back up the ladder.

Deioden followed behind him, and Zeon went up last.

Before climbing, Zeon glanced at Arkelon's face. At that moment, Arkelon was looking at him as well.

Its face alone was the size of a house. Its eye was bigger than Zeon himself.

It was truly monstrous in scale.

Zeon's reflection was captured in its massive eye, but the creature quickly turned its gaze forward, as if uninterested.

'They actually tame and ride something like this? Insane…'

He knew there were tamers among the awakened, but he had never heard of anyone taming something this enormous.

Still, what awaited him next was even more shocking.

Inside Arkelon's shell, an unimaginable sight unfolded.

The interior was a vast hollow space, and an entire village had been built within it.

There weren't many, but he could see people moving along the streets.

"What in the…?"

"It's a clan."

"A clan? You mean they're all related by blood?"

"That's right. All descendants of Pavilsah."

Deioden's answer left Zeon even more astonished.

This was a world where it was hard enough to take care of oneself.

Even having children didn't guarantee they could be raised safely.

Naturally, maintaining such a large family was almost impossible.

Deioden continued,

"It's possible because Arkelon protects them from external threats."

"That makes sense."

Zeon nodded.

The desert was filled with countless magical beasts.

Some, like sandworms, were enormous—but none could compare to Arkelon.

Moreover, Arkelon possessed the ultimate defense.

The strength of its massive shell was beyond imagination. No beast's fangs could pierce it.

Because of that, most creatures didn't even dare to challenge it.

Within its shell, Pavilsah's descendants thrived.

"They call themselves the Mott Clan, after Pavilsah's surname."

"The Mott Clan?"

"Yeah. A bunch of idiots who think they're chosen. In reality, they're nothing without Arkelon."

While the Mott Clan believed they lived in an impregnable fortress, to Deioden, it looked like a sandcastle that could collapse at any moment.

Arkelon protected them only because of Pavilsah—the powerful tamer.

Whether it would continue to protect them after his death was uncertain.

A tamed beast's loyalty belonged solely to its master.

Pavilsah led the two of them into his home.

As he sat down, he said,

"Let's see the goods first."

"Fine."

Deioden replied coldly and began pulling out various items from his subspace.

The horn of a Great Horn Hyena leader, the corpse of the queen wolf ant, and the bodies of other magical beasts he had hunted before meeting Zeon—all appeared one after another.

Everything Deioden brought out had come from boss-level creatures.

Each item was rare and difficult to obtain.

Depending on how they were processed, their value could vary drastically.

In the hands of a master, they became treasures. In the hands of the unskilled, their value diminished.

Through his glasses, Pavilsah carefully examined the items.

Every single one was of the highest quality.

There wasn't even a flaw to be found.

"Impressive, as expected."

"Skip the flattery and tell me what you'll offer."

"Will you take mana stones as payment?"

"You've got a death wish? Do I look like I need mana stones?"

"Well, you can't even enter Neo Seoul, so I suppose you don't."

Mana stones were the most important currency of this era.

All transactions in Neo Seoul were based on them. But Deioden, for certain reasons, couldn't enter the city.

So he preferred tangible goods instead.

Pavilsah asked,

"Then what do you want?"

"A breastplate made from the queen wolf ant's corpse, and a subspace item."

"You need a breastplate? And don't you already have a subspace item?"

"I'm not the one who'll use it."

"Then is it for that kid?"

Only then did Pavilsah look at Zeon with interest.

He had known Deioden for a long time, but this was the first time he had ever seen him do something for someone else.

If Deioden was paying this much attention to him, the boy couldn't be ordinary.

"Looks like he's somewhat useful."

"Cut the nonsense and just tell me if you can do it."

"Hmm…"

After frowning for a moment, Pavilsah called out,

"Keily."

Soon, a young woman who looked to be in her twenties entered the house.

With sun-tanned brown skin and blue eyes, she gave off the resilient vitality of a cactus blooming alone in the desert.

"You called, Grandpa?"

"You still have that subspace bracelet you made earlier, right?"

"No bracelet, but I do have a gauntlet. The enchantment turned out too well, so I've been keeping it stored carefully."

"Give that to this kid."

"That precious item?"

Keily looked surprised.

She was a highly skilled enchanter.

She could imbue items with attributes and special abilities—but enchantments didn't always succeed.

The success rate was less than 30%, and only a small fraction of those turned out to be truly exceptional works.

There were enchanters in Neo Seoul as well, but most relied on methods combined with technology.

Pure enchanters were rare.

Among them, Keily considered herself one of the best.

The subspace gauntlet Pavilsah mentioned was her masterpiece.

It contained a top-tier subspace over ten meters in width, length, and height.

That was larger than most storage facilities.

A gauntlet with such a subspace would be worth whatever price was asked.

Being told to hand over such a treasure to a boy she had just met was naturally shocking.

And Pavilsah wasn't finished yet.

"And tell Noel to make him a breastplate using the queen wolf ant's shell."

"What? You want me to make armor too?"

"That's right."

Noel was Pavilsah's youngest son—a master blacksmith.

He forged items, and Keily would enchant them, selling them at high prices. That was how the Mott Clan survived.

They roamed the desert, buying materials suitable for crafting items, processing them, and selling them to Neo Seoul or caravans for profit.

As a result, Arkelon's interior was filled with valuable goods and food supplies.

Keily looked at Zeon with a meaningful gaze.

'Does he have some kind of special ability?'

Her grandfather Pavilsah had a very particular personality.

If someone lacked ability, he wouldn't even treat them like a person.

At that moment, Deioden spoke.

"So the kid became an enchanter?"

"O-Oh! Hello… it's been a while."

Only then did Keily notice Deioden and hurriedly greeted him.

"An enchanter, huh? Not a bad ability to awaken."

"Thank you… You're still as strong as ever."

There was a faint fear in Keily's eyes as she looked at Deioden.

She knew very well just how powerful the old man before her was.

The memory of him tearing apart a massive magical beast when she was much younger still haunted her.

She no longer felt comfortable staying in the same space as him.

Quickly, she turned to Zeon.

"Follow me. I'll give you the gauntlet."

"Yes!"

Unable to hide his excitement, Zeon followed after her.

He had always been envious of Deioden's subspace ability.

He had secretly wished for something like that himself—and now he was getting it for free.

Keily asked,

"What's your relationship with that monster?"

"…What?"

"I mean Deioden."

"Oh… we just met by chance and ended up traveling together."

"By chance?"

Keily frowned.

She found it hard to believe—but pressing him further felt unnecessary.

She led Zeon into her workshop.

The walls were lined with various items she had created.

Zeon couldn't help but gasp in admiration.

The sheer presence radiating from the items overwhelmed him.

"Wow…"

The exclamation slipped out before he could stop himself.

Seeing his reaction, Keily smiled with satisfaction.

"I worked on all of these. What do you think?"

"They're incredible. Are all of these items?"

"Yep! Aside from dungeon artifacts, you won't find better."

Occasionally, items were discovered in dungeons.

Such items possessed immense power, sometimes even triggering dungeon phenomena.

Artifacts from dungeons were known to hold extraordinary abilities.

Keily's goal was to create items that could rival those.

She picked up a gauntlet hanging on the wall.

It covered the back of the hand and extended up the forearm.

"I made it by combining the skeleton of an Ironclad Starfish with adamantium. It has a dual composite structure, so it excels in elasticity, defense, and attack power. Aside from the subspace function I mentioned earlier, it also has self-repair."

"Self-repair…? You mean it fixes itself?"

"Yeah. As long as it's not completely destroyed, it'll restore itself."

"My god…"

"Impressive, right? And that's not all. Maybe because of the Ironclad Starfish, it also has a fire attribute. For now, it only emits heat, but depending on what you install here, its power will change."

She pointed to the back of the gauntlet.

There was a circular slot, clearly designed to hold something.

"A fire-attribute item?"

"Yeah. It's best to install something powerful. Once it's attached, you can't replace it. Honestly, this was almost a fluke—I can't guarantee I could make another like it."

"I'll keep that in mind. But is it really okay to just give this to me?"

"My grandfather told me to."

"Thank you."

Keily handed the gauntlet to Zeon.

He immediately put it on his right hand.

It felt slightly loose at first, but once fully equipped, it adjusted itself to fit perfectly.

Zeon moved his hand around.

It felt as if he wasn't wearing anything at all—his wrist and fingers moved freely.

A faint warmth emanated from the gauntlet.

Keily asked,

"How is it?"

"It's amazing."

"Heh."

She crossed her arms proudly.

At that moment—

Grrrrroooar!

A loud cry echoed from Arkelon.

From experience, Keily immediately recognized it as a warning.

She rushed outside and looked into the distance.

A massive cloud of dust was rising far away.

Her face turned pale.

"S… scavengers."