Then, around half a day later, Carl and the candidates finally made it through the forest and picked a proper place to rest and calm their emotions after all the trouble that had just happened.
Yeah, it was a shock for everyone — after spending so long together, they had started forming bonds, building some kind of relationship. Of course, except Carl. He barely showed any sadness on his face.
"Haizz... what a pity for them," Carl muttered, sitting on a random patch of grass and chewing on a chicken leg at his own pace.
He swallowed the last bite, then glanced at the others, who were still sitting there. They looked unhealthy and pale, like they still couldn’t clear their heads after waking from the worst nightmare of their lives.
"What a pity... I suppose that really was a huge mental shock."
Paisley broke the silence — though his voice was weaker than he probably intended.
"We should move on! I... I want to finish this damn dungeon."
Wilbur let out a sigh, glancing over at his comrades, carefully gauging their state. He tried to keep his tone soft, hoping to give them more time to rest.
"No! I’ll wait until you all get your strength back."
But the rest of the candidates quickly shook their heads.
"Paisley’s right... We’ve waited too long for this. We’re at our limit. More importantly, we need to get out of here fast so we can get treated outside," one guy said between ragged breaths.
"Wilbur, please. If we waste any more time here doing nothing, we’ll never make it to the academy."
Wilbur looked into their eyes, clearly torn inside, but after a moment, he made up his mind.
"You guys are right! Let’s go — we should get moving."
Carl just clicked his tongue in surprise at Wilbur’s decision. In his opinion, Wilbur had made the right call — but for some reason, Carl felt a strange tinge of pity for those guys.
"The chance of them clearing this dungeon is zero!" he muttered.
Just like that, their not-yet-complete journey resumed. They headed toward the final boss’s lair. The place where they had rested earlier was close, so they only lost a few minutes getting to the cave entrance.
Standing there in nervous anticipation, thinking about the challenge ahead, the four of them had their own private thoughts. Did they even have a chance to defeat the boss? And what would happen to them if they failed inside the cave?
Without letting fear or doubt cloud their decision, they stepped inside without hesitation.
"This cave doesn’t look like a normal boss room," Carl said, rubbing his chin while scanning the cave walls. Read complete versıon only at NoveI~Fire.net
Before entering, he’d expected a bloody, savage place — but what he saw completely betrayed his expectations.
The walls here looked like some ancient structure, crafted by the hands of master artisans long ago.
And he wasn’t the only one who thought so — everyone had the same stunned expression on their faces.
"Do you guys want to hear a short tale?"
Carl frowned and glanced at Wilbur, thinking to himself:
"Are you serious? Right now, of all times, you want to tell a story?"
But Carl didn’t say anything. He just shrugged.
"Whatever," a few of the candidates mumbled weakly, too tired to care.
A short tale could kill boredom. He hoped it would be a funny one, but he didn’t expect too much from a guy like Wilbur.
A gentleman would always tell some weird story anyway. Carl’s thought felt logical when he heard about it then.
Wilbur stared at the cave wall, where patterns were carved with surprising artistry, for a few seconds before speaking with a hint of nostalgia in his voice.
"According to what I read on my scroll..." He paused, taking a slow breath before continuing.
"There’s a tale about an ancient dragon from hundreds of centuries ago. It’s a sacred creature that brings fortune to anyone who sees it, even granting power to those it chooses. The holy dragon had created a host of new mystery dragon classes over its journey with the goal of being like a god dragon. But one day, it made the wrong decision—it granted power to the wrong tribe."
"And this place was built by that tribe."
"What? I guess you just created that scrap tale." Carl raised an eyebrow in confusion, but gave a small nod for Wilbur to go on. It was valuable information, sure, even if Wilbur was a terrible storyteller.
The frail guys nearby started paying attention.
Wilbur nodded and went on.
"The dragon gave that tribe a power no one had ever seen before. They were just a small, weak tribe at first, but with that gift, they rose up with a brand-new Dragon Class."
"That Dragon Class made them rivals to some of the nobles in the world."
Carl rolled his eyes, curious despite himself.
"I wonder what power they got. But it must’ve been strong if they could rival nobles."
Yes, there were six Dragon Classes in the world:
Boulder Class — earth users.
Sharp Class — their bodies were sharp and hard.
Stoker Class — fire users.
Strike Class — masters of sonic strikes.
Tidal Class — lightning users.
Mystery Class — still undiscovered.
All of them carried special abilities. And if there really was a sacred dragon capable of creating a new Dragon Class, Wilbur would definitely put it under the Mystery Class.
"Yes. It was strong enough to invade some wealthy lands... but one day, their greed boiled over."
"What do you think they did?"
Paisley spoke up for the first time.
"Use brute force to make the dragon do something else?"
"Nope." Wilbur shook his head.
Others around him guessed too, but all of them were wrong until Carl spoke.
"Well, well, let me think... If the dragon couldn’t give them anything more... they probably captured it and tried whatever crazy ideas they had to satisfy themselves for selfish desire — eating it, cooking it, whatever."
"What a stupid thought! If they really did that... they’d be cursed forever." Paisley scoffed, mocking Carl — then suddenly coughed up blood mid-performance.
Wilbur smiled and glanced at his comrades.
"Carl’s right! That foolish tribe actually did it... and they were punished for their reckless actions. Their whole tribe is gone now. But... some remnants still try to revive their tribe somewhere in the world."
The man standing behind them sighed.
"That’s what endless greed leads to."
Yeah. There was no limit to humans — even their greed — even when they knew the consequences waiting for them.