Chapter 17 - Chapter 2 : Alliance #8

He didn’t know it at first. Just like Carack, he had thought of them as pictures.

However, when he tried to read the characters, he could.

'What the, what is this? I can learn characters and languages like this?’

Of course, it was only level one, so it was likely he couldn’t interpret complex documents. However, just having the ability to decipher text by looking at it was really enormous.

'Doesn’t that mean I don’t need to worry about foreign languages now? Isn’t that right?’

He had the ability to learn what he saw! Then he wouldn’t have to go through a lot of difficulty!

While In-gong was busy screaming inwardly, Carack, Caitlin and Seira were staring at him blankly.

Carack spoke first,

“Uh...Prince. Can you read this?”

Why would he say that he couldn’t read it when they already heard him?

Anyhow, In-gong returned to reality thanks to Carack and nodded.

“Uh, yes. Just a little bit.”

“Amazing.”

Caitlin - her golden eyes shone like a morning star.

Moreover, it wasn’t just Caitlin.

"I am impressed by Prince Shutra’s broad knowledge."

Seira was also clearly impressed.

'What the? Is it that rare for someone to know dwarf characters?’

The dwarves still lived, so it wasn’t an ancient language.

‘I just need to say that I took a book and taught myself.’

Carack switched the topic while In-gong was thinking.

"Then Prince, what does this say?”

Caitlin and Seira’s eyes turned back to the writing. Thanks to Carack, their somewhat uncomfortable gazes shifted from In-gong to the characters.

“Wait a minute.”

It was only level one, so his reading comprehension wasn’t that fast. There were some words that had cryptic meanings.

'Is this explaining how to use it?’

In-gong read it three times before pointing to a character that had a metal plate protruding from below it.

"Noona, can you insert a little bit of magic power here? My magic power is clumsy.”

He didn’t know how to use it at all. However, he couldn’t ask her to hit him with magic power at this time.

“Understood.”

Caitlin nodded and inserted magic power into the metal plate. A blue light then shone between the engraved characters and a 3D hologram consisting of blue lines appeared in front of In-gong.

“Jishuka Mountain Range.”

Like Carack said, it was a 3D hologram with a bird’s eye view of the Jishuka Mountains. In-gong read the letters that appeared with the bird’s eye view and pointed to different areas.

“We are here. The Portal Three is over here.”

Portal Three was in another mountain but there was something strange about the response. Seira’s face turned excited.

"Does that mean there is a dwarf cave there?”

“Uh, why?”

In-gong was surprised by Seira’s words and Carack who was familiar with In-gong quickly said,

"Prince, in front of that mountain is the Red Lightning tribe’s main force. This mountain is right behind them!”

In-gong was able to understand now. Seira asked again,

"Prince, is this still working despite being degraded?”

“Perhaps?”

In-gong looked at the letters that came up near the bird’s eye view. The letters showed that the portal was lacking magic power but no other problems.

Only magic power was required to operate the portal. It meant the passage to the rear of the Red Lightning tribe could be used.

"Princess."

Seira called out to Caitlin. Her voice and eyes were mixed with various emotions.

Caitlin sent Seira a stern look and shook her head slowly. She then placed her hand on In-gong’s shoulders and declared,

"Shutra, this is your merit. I’m not officially here.”

Seira sighed but Caitlin never looked back.

In-gong was able to guess the reason why she was sad.

The strategic value of the dwarf portal was very significant. It was evident that a huge reward would be given to the first discoverer.

However, Caitlin had declared she wasn’t here and kept her promise.

"Noona, just...”

"It is your merit. You would have reached here even if I wasn’t present. You also figured out its usage. I don’t want to be a liar. Don’t you remember what I said in the first place?”

It wasn’t just a courtesy. Caitlin had truly come along to protect him.

In-gong nodded eventually.

“I understand, Noona. Thank you.”

Caitlin laughed and covered herself with the hood again. Seira had a severe frown on her face but followed her master’s actions.

“Shutra, let’s return to Chris oppa once we have confirmed that the portal is working. A more serious investigation into this cave is needed.”

They had to inform that main army of the existence of the portal and secure it as soon as possible. In-gong already had a lot of merits, so there was no big difference if Chris and Caitlin’s troops were committed to protecting it.

"Okay, then please do it again here.”

In-gong pointed to the crystal ball in the centre of the magic circle.

Caitlin nodded and touched the crystal ball, immediately inserting magic power.

&

It was already late at night when In-gong returned to the base. In spite of that fact, In-gong and Caitlin immediately headed to Chris’ tent.

"Oppa will be really surprised.”

Those were the only words Caitlin said and they made Chris shift his gaze to In-gong.

"Hey, what is it?”

"I’ll explain it.”

In-gong coughed and spread his map of the cave on the desk. Although it was unfinished and only drawn to the middle, Chris immediately found the value of the map.

"We can hit Kairam from behind.”

Kairam was Kaichin’s brother and the leader of the Red Lightning army currently confronting Chris.

Chris looked at Caitlin with surprise. Caitlin slowly smiled and shook her head.

“What? Is there something else?”

"There is.”

Caitlin remained silent again. This time, Chris looked at In-gong and In-gong explained everything that happened in the cave.

Chris was surprised by the talk about the portal.

He was confused about the part where In-gong could read dwarf characters and became expressionless after hearing that the portal was connected to the back of the Red Lightning tribe.

“Uh, Oppa?”

Caitlin asked cautiously as Chris’ reaction was different from what she had expected. Chris just stared at In-gong.

“You, what is your identity?”

“Eh?”

This time, In-gong was the one who panicked. Did he realize something strange about Shutra?

While In-gong was licking his lips and wondering about what to say, Chris suddenly burst into laughter. He spread his arms wide and embraced In-gong.

"Wow, this is a blessing! A blessing!”

It was like finding a vein of gold.

Caitlin sighed with relief after seeing Chris’ excitement and In-gong was the same.

"Okay, okay. The dwarves did something this cute in the Jishuka Mountains? We will use it a lot.”

It wasn’t just this battle. The use of these passages and portals could completely change the value of the Jishuka Mountains.

‘He is different from Caitlin.’

It wasn’t simply because he was two years older.

Chris was real royalty. He was an ambitious person and thought about more than what was in front of him. He had faced Chris and Caitlin when playing Zephyr but their natures were different. Caitlin was a powerful warrior and Chris was the king of the lycanthropes.

In-gong realized that Chris wasn’t as pure as Caitlin. His eyes saw In-gong’s value.

"Shutra, what do you want?”

"What do I want?”

"Yes, your wish. You will be rewarded by the Demon King’s Palace for your merits but I also want to give you a prize as your brother and captain.”

Chris, Caitlin and In-gong were children of the Demon King but Chris was the one in charge of the troops. It wasn’t strange for Chris to say that he would give a reward.

‘But...’

In-gong took a deep breath. In-gong might be mistaken but Chris was probably trying to grab hold of In-gong right now. It was different from when Chris said that he would teach Aura.

‘Come into my faction. Join me.’

Depending on what In-gong asked, his relationship with Chris might change.

“Is it okay even if it is a little unreasonable?”

In-gong’s words were somewhat provocative but Chris just smiled.

“Ho? A little unreasonable? What are you asking for?”

He could ask for a competent subordinate or he could ask for an item that couldn’t be handled by the current Shutra.

However, In-gong chose something completely different.

"Teach me Divine Beast Authority.”

“Shutra?”

Caitlin was shocked.

It was receiving. It was a powerful technique passed down through the royal family of the lycanthropes.

Even among the lycanthropes, only the royal family and the people closest to them could learn it. Therefore, it was a very symbolic technique.

How could they teach such a technique to In-gong?

‘Anyway, I have to go forward with Chris and Caitlin.’

There were three major factions in the Demon King’s Palace.

First Prince Baikal Ragnaros’ faction, Second Prince Zephyr Ragnaros’ faction and Fourth Princess Anastasia Nekrion’s faction.

Of course, he couldn’t enter Zephyr’s faction. Baikal’s faction was impossible because the gandharva were enemies with his mother’s family. The only possible one was Anastasia’s faction but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that she was a woman as bad as Zephyr.

'I'd rather create my own faction.’

In that sense, Chris and Caitlin were quite decent selections.

Caitlin’s birth secret could be called their biggest weakness. It would be good if he could somehow control that part.

Furthermore, today, Caitlin’s attitude in the dwarf cave had moved In-gong’s heart. Caitlin was a reliable person.

It wasn’t only because of the symbolism that In-gong chose Divine Beast Authority.

‘I can get subordinates later. Weapons are too good for my current level and ability.’

However, techniques were different. Moreover, Divine Beast Authority was a S ranked martial arts technique.

Inside Knight Saga, SS ranked martial arts and sword techniques were undisputedly recognized. S ranked techniques were virtually top class and Zephyr’s Heavenly King Sword was in this category.

That alone gave it value.

Chris stared at In-gong seriously before laughing. He shrugged slightly and said,

"Divine Beast Authority. Yes, it isn’t too bad. Up to a certain level, it is easy to disguise it as Beast Authority."

Beast Authority - it was a martial arts technique that lycanthropes learnt if they entered the army.

In-gong knew what it meant to be taught the Divine Beast Authority. From the outset, it was something that he had never learnt.

“As of now... I can’t teach past the vision section. Is that still okay?”

“It is okay.”

He could find clues to learn it later. Even if he didn’t know, he could learn it by increasing the skill level. The important thing was to learn Divine Beast Authority Lv1.

“Okay, this is interesting. Interesting. Just like Aura, Caitlin and I will teach you.”

Chris glanced towards Caitlin while speaking and she nodded with a somewhat ambiguous expression. It seemed like she was somewhat confused.

“Shutra.”

Chris reached out like he wanted to shake hands with In-gong. There was a mischievous smile on his face but his eyes contained a different light.

"In addition to Caitlin, can I also think about you as my younger sibling?”

The words were quite meaningful.

In-gong breathed out once and grabbed Chris’ hand. He shook it lightly.

“Of course.”

Then a clear voice rang in his head.

[An alliance with Chris Moonlight/Caitlin Moonlight has been formed.]

[Alliance Status: An ordinary alliance.]

In-gong grinned as he grabbed the hands in front of him.