Evan D. Sherden, Training the Core (7)

The summer of that year had been particularly hot. When one leveled up, they could resist the heat and cold to some extent, but there was always a limit there.

It was as if the devil had cast a curse on the world, but that couldnt be the case. Since if it was a curse, Evan could have blocked it with his curse resistance!

Evan, Im so hot.

You have an ice slime right next to you, how are you feeling hot?

But if it blows cold breath out, then Ill receive damage. Its hard to control it.

It was so hot that Serena had gotten rid of Ruby (Elite Fire Slime) whom she loved, and only hugged Lucy (Elite Ice Slime) as she rolled over on the couch. Rudy (Elite Lightning Slime) was busy comforting Ruby.

They were currently in the lobby of the first floor of the Dungeon Knights headquarters. Evan was sitting on the couch and popping up slimes with both hands as usual, and Serena was lying on the couch playfully pricking Evans knees with her toes.

Can I take off my clothes?

Stop behaving like a pervert.

Ill take off just one piece. Okay?

What do you mean one, you

Serena was only wearing a sleeveless dress. If she took anything off, there would be nothing.

Thats called public indecency. If its so hot, go to your room and do as you please.

Okay, come with me then.

Can you stop your temptation charades?

When Evan was astounded and questioned Serena, Serena didnt seem to quite understand why Evan was upset.

Why would I take my clothes off if youre not there with me?

Didnt you just say you were taking it off because it was hot?

You know, cant you pretend to be tricked and follow me?Owww!

Evan sighed and flicked Serenas forehead for talking nonsense.

This young lady was getting more dangerous by the day. For now, it was possible for Evan to treat her as a child and ignore it, but a few years later, he might give in to his natural temptations.

No, in fact, he could give in any second. The fact that he didnt dislike Serenas interest in him proved that. It was because of his indecisiveness that Evan was poked at by so many girls.

I have been training so much to control myself!

Evan sighed heavily and relaxed on the couch. He knew well that desires werent easy to master.

It was clear from the Immortality Project, where it involved the training of the body, it proceeded fine, but with everything else, it was going nowhere.

I hope she finds someone good soon

If Evan couldnt shake Serena off, all that was left was for Serena to leave him. Evan put his hands together and prayed quietly.

But perhaps Serena read his mind? At that precise moment, Serena sat close to him and smiled shyly.

Im sorry, I wont play with you, so dont abandon me, okay?

Whos abandoning who? Its hot, so just back off.

Hehe, I love you so much.

Yeah, yeah.

But Serena didnt move an inch from Evan. It must have been a lie about how hot she was. Evan grinned bitterly as he patted Serenas head who pushed her head into his chest like a cat.

Master Evan, Im back.

Welcome.

How much time has passed? The front door opened and Belois entered.

Excuse me, Master.

Oww, that was mean!

While Evan was admiring Belois bold action separating the two, Belois politely handed him the documents she was holding. It was a document bearing the seal of the Marquis.

I got the permit, Master Evan.

.. Whoa, finally.

It was a certificate that permitted Evan and the members of the Dungeon Knights expedition. The organization had not yet been officially established, but he handled it for he was afraid that it might cause problems in the future.

It is said that Duke Leonine also approved it. His Excellency Duke Leonine himself granted access to Menaton.

Well, it was expected.

Evan skimmed through the certificate and shoved it in his coat. This was precisely what he was waiting for, the reason why busy Evan was blanking out in the lobby with Serena.

Gather around, Dungeon Knights! We are going on an expedition!

Evans expedition served many purposes. The first was to let the Dungeon Knights members who have only experienced the Sherden Dungeon to experience a dungeon in the West of the Silk Line.

Just before the start of this summer, they led all of them, including Lin and Lan, to the 25th floor of the Sherden Dungeon (Evan, Shine, Belois, Raihan, Arisha, Serena went up to level 35). Despite their young age, it was for sure that they had the necessary strength to try conquering an outside dungeon.

The second was to obtain the Elixir material: the Evil Origin and the Grass of Innocence; which is said to be somewhere in the western part of the Silk Line. It was not likely that someone else would find it first, but it would be better to retrieve it when they could.

The third was to search for the witches. As it was a race that held the key to Yo-Ma Great War Series 5, it was of great importance to find them. It may have been prematurely decided that the witches were in the west based on Anastasias existence, but the decision was made by a process of elimination.

Most of the other regions have received enough attention in the previous series.

In Yo-Ma Great War Series 4, the new power of the west Silk Line appeared for the first time. And as you battled them, the game would give hints that they have many more secrets to come, so it seemed likely that they may be here.

Well, if theyre not here, we can look elsewhere. Like Beyfeka or somewhere else

One of the three dungeon cities, Merdin, was also located in Beyfeka. Evan was convinced that if there were no witches on the west side of the Silk Line, he would be able to find them in Beyfeka.

However, as a characteristic of the Yo-Ma Great War Series, which focused its main game contents on the Silk Line, it was pretty darn sure that they would be in the West of the Silk Line.

But actually, the fourth purpose is more important than thatDevil Rune!

Yes, it was the Devil Rune. The last purpose of the expedition, which was filled with Evans desire, was the search for the Devil Runes! Right now, Evan was filled with determination that he would be fine with not finding the witches, but he had to find Devil Runes.

Young Master, are you handling the devil energy again?

On the way to Menaton, the land owned by the Duke, Evan nodded at Shines question as he saw Evan gazing at his boots.

Yes, as a result of hours and hours of training, I somehow managed to transform the evil energy, but I cant connect it to the Devil Rune.

Yes, of course. Before, you were crying that you couldnt make a rune.

Hey, I didnt cry.

Evans evil energy control training, which is rooted from the crazy idea of controlling the evil energy from the boots and converting it to a Devil Rune, was making some progress thanks to his resistance to curse and resistance to evil energy.

He could now control the evil energy in the boots to form a question mark or an exclamation mark that was visible to the naked eye. However, that was all he could do. As soon as he let go, the evil energy went back to its original form, and the curse that restricted Evans stats was still intact.

But being able to control the evil spirit itself is an impressive skill, Master Evan. If you could transfer the Devil Rune to the boots

Well make it happen.

Evan nodded and rubbed his boots as he heard Belois words.

In fact, the boots still contained a part of the Devil Rune, which was transferred back to the boot from the Scimitar, which absorbed traces of the Devil Rune in the process of absorbing the blood of the Devil Rune Orc.

It didnt have any meaningful attributes, but Evan could confirm that traces of Devil Rune reacted whenever Evan controlled the evil energywhich meant it was absolute proof that Evans experiment was going in the right direction!

Since weve discovered that the traces of the Devil Rune can be trapped inside the boots, if we can transfer a whole Devil Rune onto the boots, well be able to activate it with the evil energy. If we collect enough Devil Runes, we may be able to create a new rune too!

Gathering rare ingredients and forging, isnt it all a manufacturers dream?

It was natural for Evan to be so excited by this feature, which did not exist in the previous Yo-Ma Great War Series. Old gamers always yearned for new content!

But of course, the old gamers would clear all of the updated contents within a day and complain about the game. However, it was different this time.

Devil Rune was a content of the unknown which you could not simply clear with a day or two. So Evan was completely focused on this Devil Rune.

I hope something like a Devil Rune Orc shows up quickly. No, I will be happy with Ogres, too. About thirty Ogres at a time

I will die trying to stop that, Master!

I believe in Raihans defense.

I think we should train one more Tank.

Tanking for a small party is different, but now that many of the Dungeon Knights were accompanying them in this expedition, it would bear a huge burden on Raihan. Especially on his body!

Well, looking through the talent pool list, there are potential candidates, but its hard to locate them. Should we try going to the capitals pub where I met you, Raihan?

You mean Amys Kick? Their steaks are great.

Are you going there again? Im going then!

Hey, I dont like you guys reminiscing without me I want to go next time.

For recruiting, as a tradition in the Yo-Ma Great War Series, it would be the pub, Amys Kick! Everyone seemed to like the idea, but Raihan, who was drunk when he first met Evan there, wasnt too excited.

What I was saying was training, not recruiting. Master, our members are largely focused on melee combats. People who have melee weapon specialties are bound to have some shield specialties as well. So I think its not a bad idea to teach either Ditto or Melson shield skills

Isnt it just that you dont want to go to Amys Kick?

Well, theres that too.

Ah, how cute of him! Evan loved that about him, how he was honest and could not lie for a second. He smirked and asked.

Oh, how far did you get with Serpina? You guys planned on going to the ocean this summer, right? She was blaming me since you guys couldnt go because of the expedition.

Why are you asking about it all of a sudden?! And.. and it was three of us, not two.

Oh, it was three. Youll need a waistband to tie the two of you together soon. Ill let Horta know.

Were just going on a trip. Nothing More. Its not a romantic getaway. I made sure the other two were aware of it too!

Ah, of course, it is, for now. But after having fun on the beach under the scorching sun, and when the sun is about to set, and you have a few drinks on you, and then hands overlap and then

Not true!

Evan wore a malicious grin, making fun of Raihan. Shine knew for sure that those words would come back to haunt Evan, but he knew it could always come to him, too, so he decided to stay silent.

I also want to go to the ocean with Evan.

For the ocean, you could always go to my hometown. Ill treat you exquisitely.

Is Pellati on the shore?

Even the dungeon has an oceanic background, didnt you know?

I want to go!

While they were chatting with excitement, changing the topics, the carriage, which was running automatically based on Evans design, gradually slowed down and came to a complete stop. Evan, who rolled up the covers and checked outside, smiled and spoke.

We have arrived at the first dungeon. Everyone, get ready for battle.