“Stop gawking and come dig graves with me!”
With that, Aya Tone pulled several hoes from his four-dimensional pocket behind him and tossed them to the three individuals.
“Teacher… this…” The three, having caught the hoes, were momentarily at a loss.
‘Digging graves? They had, after all, received moral education. This… this would surely harm their karma.’
“Tsk, never mind.” Aya Tone, surprised by their apparent incorrigibility, grabbed Liu Fei’s hand and turned to leave. He continued to grumble, “How foolish. All the treasures in the Ghost Domain are in the graves. It’s utterly idiotic to defeat a boss and not open the treasure chest.”
Liu Fei, passively following behind him, heard this and thought, ‘It seems I’m one of those idiots too.’ So she quietly asked, “Teacher, why did you pull me along?”
‘Being singled out by the teacher like this, could it be that I possess something special?’ A flicker of excitement stirred within Liu Fei at the thought.
“Didn’t you just scout the entire dungeon? Quickly, tell me where the graves are. I’m too lazy to look.”
Aya Tone didn’t turn around, but he faintly seemed to hear the sound of a heart breaking.
‘Hmm… it must be my imagination.’
Liu Fei: “…” ‘My hopes were ultimately misplaced.’
With a bitter expression, she began to point the way for the visibly excited Aya Tone.
‘The teacher’s strength surpassed hers by countless magnitudes; even if she didn’t speak, the teacher would still find them.’
“Alright, alright, Liu Fei. When I unearth something good, I’ll split it with you.”
Aya Tone was genuinely thrilled; he hadn’t anticipated that this Ghost Domain would contain nearly a dozen graves. ‘To think this is only an E-rank dungeon. Not bad, not bad at all.’
Approaching a small hill, he realized that what were called graves were merely small mounds of earth, devoid even of headstones. Aya Tone wielded the small hoe in his hand without hesitation, commencing the excavation. ‘Time was short, the task arduous; he needed to be swift.’
Liu Fei, meanwhile, turned her head away, unable to bear watching further. ‘Such an act of grave digging was not merely an insult to the ancestors, but a torment to the soul. If she could, she would leave at once.’ But how could reality bend to her wishes?
“Liu Fei, quickly, lend a hand! I can’t lift this out by myself.”
Aya Tone was no longer visible, his voice faintly emanating from within the pit.
“Ah, alright.” For some reason, Liu Fei inexplicably agreed. By the time she snapped back to reality, it was too late.
Resigned, she steeled herself, enduring the moral condemnation in her heart, and peered into the pit with a look of reluctance. ‘After all, she was but a sheltered flower, never having witnessed such a cruel act firsthand.’
Yet, as she leaned in to look, she discovered that the scene within was utterly different from what she had imagined. There were no coffins or skeletons as she’d expected, only a small, white-haired loli with slightly matted fur, cradling an unassuming box in her arms.
Spotting Liu Fei above, Aya Tone handed up the box, then skillfully clawed his way out of the pit, pushing aside the surrounding clumps of earth.
“Next one, next one!” Aya Tone muttered, then cast his gaze skyward. The yin and yang in the sky were already beginning to destabilize, indicating that the dungeon’s collapse was imminent. ‘Tsk, E-rank dungeons are so unstable. It’s already preparing to collapse after only digging up one. I wanted to experience opening more boxes, but never mind, I’d better hurry…’
“Liu Fei, stand back a bit.”
Liu Fei paused, bewildered by her teacher’s request to stand back, but she nonetheless hurried back to their side, clutching the dirt-covered treasure chest.
“Rise!”
Aya Tone gently patted the ground with his small hand, and his internal magic instantly spread throughout the entire Ghost Domain, flowing through his arm.
“Boom~”
Accompanied by several explosions, numerous treasure chests burst from the earth, then crashed heavily onto the ground.
“It seems my object manipulation failed again…” Aya Tone mumbled softly, yet his hands didn’t pause. He quickly circled, collecting all the treasure chests.
“Let’s go!”
****
A gulp of the chilled drink sent a refreshing shiver through Aya Tone, making him instinctively shudder. “Ah, refreshing!”
“Oh, you three, you really need to understand: a dungeon is a dungeon, and reality is reality. How can you bring your real-world mindset into a dungeon?” Holding a cup, Aya Tone chided the three with a smile playing on his lips. ‘He recalled how foolish he had been the first time he entered a monster dungeon. The only difference was that he had searched everywhere on the ground and found no treasures, while Lin Ling and the others were stuck in their real-world thinking, believing human remains would be buried in the dungeon. For so many years, no traces of human existence have ever been found in dungeons, only humanoid monsters at most. So why would there be buried humans? Still… It’s fine to be a little silly the first time; just be more careful next time.’
The three remained silent, their gazes fixed on the treasure chests resting on their laps.
Noticing the sudden chill in the atmosphere, Aya Tone remained unconcerned. ‘From those dozen or so graves, excluding eight empty ones, he had unearthed nine treasure chests. He was currently overjoyed and paid no mind to their silence. Moreover, once he cleared the remaining dungeons, he could collect another sum from the Guild Leader. Blissful.’
“Liu Fei, aren’t you going to open it and see? There might be a surprise inside.”
‘A surprise?’ The three were jolted back to attention by his words, raising their eyes to look at Aya Tone.
“It seems you don’t realize what the products from a Ghost Domain signify for magic users.” Aya Tone cleared his throat before continuing, “You know those fruits on the market that can enhance ability ranks, right?”
“Teacher, do you mean these treasure chests can yield such rare treasures?”
Instantly, the three’s gazes turned fervent as they looked at the treasure chests. ‘Fruits that could enhance ability ranks were priceless treasures. Obtaining even one would not only broaden their future path but also strengthen their control over energy.’
However, Aya Tone’s next words poured cold water on their enthusiasm.
“What are you thinking? I was just giving an example. For an E-rank dungeon to yield something like that would be defying the heavens. What I meant was that treasure chests from Ghost Domains *can* potentially contain items that boost mental power. While the effect might not be significant, it’s better than nothing.”
‘Boost mental power!?’ The dimming light in their eyes rekindled with renewed brilliance. At the same time, they looked at Aya Tone with playful reproach. ‘The teacher was too mischievous, only revealing such important information after letting them feel disappointed.’
‘For magic-type ability users, the importance of mental power strength surpassed even that of magic itself, if not more so. A powerful mage invariably possessed mental power far exceeding their raw strength.’
‘The ability to enhance mental power!’
Liu Fei swallowed shallowly, then extended a trembling hand to slowly rest it upon the treasure chest. She then turned to Lin Ling and Ye Liu and said, “Let’s do it together!”
‘Although this treasure chest had been given to her alone by the teacher, she had no intention of claiming it solely for herself. Since childhood, they had always shared good things, and this time was no exception.’
“Mm!” The two smiled warmly, nodding emphatically, and eagerly reached out to place their hands beside Liu Fei’s.
“One! Two!”
“Three!”
As the third count fell, the treasure chest suddenly sprang open, and all three peered inside with expectant eyes. ‘While they hoped to find the mental power-boosting item their teacher had mentioned, they also knew that if such treasures were so easily acquired, the market wouldn’t be so scarce of them.’
‘But…’
“Teacher… what does this mean?” The three hesitated for a moment, then decided to bring the opened treasure chest before Aya Tone.
“What’s wrong?” Aya Tone leaned forward curiously to look.
The next moment, his pupils abruptly constricted, and he said with a serious expression, “This! This is actually—!”