Kang Oh had taken Mayanes Orga's weapon, the Bow of Anger, after killing him. That was exactly what he'd pulled out of his inventory.

"Do you know what this is?" Kang Oh asked.

"It's definitely a Mayanes weapon. It reeks of their energy."

Akite instantly figured out what it was.

"Exactly. This is the weapon that I got from Orga. You can have it."

"Really?"

"Of course. It's a gift for a great dragon like yourself. Plus, it's proof that Lord Gainus and I vanquished the lowly Mayanes. It's the spoils of war."

"I'm really thankful. You're an ok human."

Akite accepted the Bow of Anger. He would probably store it inside his treasure house.

[You have given an extremely valuable gift.]

[Closeness with Bone Dragon Akite has increased significantly.]

[Closeness with Bone Dragon Akite has been maxed out.]

[Akite recognizes you as the dungeon's true master.]

"Master!"

This was the first time he'd heard 'Master' from Akite's mouth.

"Ooh, yeah!" Kang Oh beamed.

However, the guardian summoning scroll hadn't been added to his dungeon rewards. It was to be expected.

'I haven't satisfied one of the conditions yet.'

According to Teynos, he needed to invest a certain amount of gold or repel points into the dungeon in order to receive the guardian summoning scroll.

Almost no one came to the Saul Graveyard. The only people that did came from the Storm Guild, which operated in the Goddess's Land.

Thus, he didn't really have a way of earning repel points. He also didn't have much of a reason to invest money into the dungeon either.

But now he had a reason.

"Give me the soul stone."

"Got it."

Kang Oh held the triangular stone, which was engraved with a dragon's skull, and opened the Dungeon Management window.

[Repel Points: 89]

[Maintenance Fee: 0]

Apparently, the Storm Guild had come to his dungeon before. However, he hadn't created any guardians or set up any traps, so he hadn't earned that many repel points.

Even if he had, the only people that'd come here is the Storm Guild, and only a handful of them even came here. Thus, he wouldn't be able to make that many repel points either way.

In any case, that's why he didn't have enough repel points for his first dungeon expansion.

'It doesn't matter.'

Kang Oh picked the Guardian Reinforcement tab. He could just spend gold to upgrade Akite.

However...!

His face soon stiffened.

'Holy shit!'

He couldn't have imagined that reinforcing Bone Dragon Akite would cost this much.

Bone Dragons lacked scales or skin, so their defense was weaker than a real dragon's. Even so, the cheapest 'Bone Reinforcement' ability would cost him 20,000 gold. It would've cost him 2,000 repel points.

Kang Oh recalled investing 1 million gold into this place.

'You money grubbing dragon!'

However, there was no way he'd be able to earn enough repel points to upgrade Akite.

If he wanted to earn repel points, then he'd need to bring people to the Goddess's Land. The problem is that he'd already agreed not to bring outsiders here.

He didn't really want to change the terms of their agreement, nor did he want to ask the Storm Guild for their help. After all, there was no way the Storm Guild would help him out for free.

'I have to spend my hard earned money if I want to get one of those scrolls. How much will it cost?'

"Akite."

"What is it?"

"I want a summoning scroll."

"You haven't satisfied the conditions yet."

"I know. I've satisfied the closeness and the Master conditions. So how much do I have to invest into the dungeon to get a scroll? Tell me in terms of gold!"

"100,000 gold."

"Keheok."

'100,000 gold? 1 gold is equal to 3,000 won ($3 USD), so... that's 3 million won ($300,000 USD)!'

"It's not much."

"How can you say that!?" Kang Oh retorted.

"Eh, do what you want." Akite lied down.

'I don't need to take care of it right away, so...'

Kang Oh decided to postpone it. After all, the value of gold might drop below 3,000 won. If it did, he'd be able to buy the scroll for even cheaper.

If he urgently needed Akite's scroll, then he could worry about it then.

"Give me my rewards," Kang Oh said.

A sphere of light dispersed in front of Kang Oh. Then, all sorts of dragon materials fell to the floor.

Kang Oh collected them, and then picked up the piece of the Dragon's Heart last.

'This makes four.'

Just two more pieces and he'd have a complete Dragon's Heart.

'Should I try making a belt with it?'

He had his demon swords, the Avenger set, Kunta's Ring and the Cassio Ring, and the Moonlight Beast's Necklace. None of those needed replacing; they were the best of the best!

His Fire Bomb Belt was the only exception. It had become absolutely useless after he'd learned Weapon Bombardment.

After all, he could throw one of his demon swords, which held far more power than a Fire Bomb.

At the same time, he didn't really have an urgent need to replace his belt.

A worthwhile belt would cost a fortune, and any dragon belt that Hoffman had crafted thus far wasn't top of the line, so it would be better if he just kept the belt and sold it later.

In any case, Kang Oh wouldn't have to worry about a belt in the future if he obtained a completed Dragon's Heart and used that to create a new belt.

"I'll be back." Kang Oh waved his hand. He had no more business here.

"Take care, Master."

"Yeah."

Kang Oh stepped onto the transfer magic circle. His next destination was the Beast's Tower, which was located in the western grasslands.

* * *

Violf, the platinum coated lion, cut quite the gallant figure.

Contrary to its appearance, however, it was sleeping quite deeply. It was almost as if it slept 20 hours a day.

Lo and behold, Violf was asleep.

Kuheong, kuheong!

Kang Oh was greeted by the sight of a lazy lion snoring away with its belly exposed.

'Jeez, he's even drooling.'

Normally, he'd give Violf an earful. He would say something like, 'Your master's going through hell, yet you're living the life!'.

However, Kang Oh spoke softly instead. "Violf, I'm here."

Kuheong!

It didn't wake up.

Kang Oh smiled, walked over, and softly petted its stomach.

Only then did Violf open its eyes.

"Mm." Violf wiped its drool using its paw. "I wasn't sleeping," Violf said.

He remembered Kang Oh giving him an earful for sleeping last time.

"It's alright. If you're feeling tired, you can sleep." Kang Oh smiled, and let him off the hook.

"Really?" Violf couldn't believe what he was hearing. 'Why's he acting like this?'

"Of course." Kang Oh maintained his smile and nodded his head. Then, Violf's face completely relaxed.

"Hehe, you're right. If I'm tired, I can just go to sleep."

"Yeah. Anyhow, did anything happen around here?"

"Not really. No one came."

Entering the tower's soul dungeon was quite complicated.

It was essentially a timed run. A player or NPC had to ascend the tower and defeat the named monster at the top within a certain amount of time.

If this were a dungeon in the central or southern regions, where several players resided, then plenty of people would've discovered it already.

However, this was the west, the land mostly inhabited by non-humans. Thus, there had been almost no one that had discovered the soul dungeon as of yet.

That hadn't changed, even after Kang Oh had persuaded Balduk to host the mercenary licensure test here.

"Master."

"Yeah?"

"I can sense your nobility."

The guardians were all unique.

Violf's personality revolved around nobility. It made sense, he supposed. After all, Violf was a lion made of platinum.

Thus, he sought a noble individual as a master. Of course, Kang Oh had become his master by overpowering him.

[Closeness with Platinum Wolf Violf has increased significantly.]

[Now, Violf considers you a suitable master.]

"Is that so?"

'He can sense my nobility, huh...?'

It must be because he became a Master. If not, then it could be because he'd surpassed the limitations of a human being. Perhaps it was a combination of the two.

"You're cool too."

He sensed that this was an opportunity to increase his closeness with Violf, so he started to flatter him.

"That's obvious." Violf puffed out its chest and boasted.

"No, you're cooler than you think!" Kang Oh gave him two thumbs up.

"Really?"

"Of course!"

After that, Kang Oh kept flattering him. However, his closeness with Violf wouldn't go up any higher.

'I guess I have no choice but to increase my 'nobility'.'

As expected, nobility was the only thing it'd recognize. If he wanted to increase his closeness with Violf, then he'd need to increase his nobility.

It wasn't something he could accomplish overnight. If this weren't a game, that is.

However, there was a side stat called 'Nobility' in the game.

There were also items that increased the Nobility stat. Complete junk that only looked good like diamond necklaces or ruby rings.

If he were to buy such items and then appear before Violf, then his closeness would probably increase.

'Of course, I won't buy such items. You can rent luxury items like them.'

He'd come equipped with a ton of luxury goods next time.

"Give me the soul stone."

Kang Oh accepted the soul stone and opened the Dungeon Management window.

[Repel Points: 2,137]

[Maintenance Fee: 100]

The Beast's Tower was sought out by those who wished to become a mercenary, or those who wished to increase their mercenary rank.

Most players didn't come here, so the Great Change didn't have much of an effect on his earnings. In other words, he could keep getting the same amount of repel points from now on.

'I should be able to expand this place.'

He should be able to pay the maintenance cost every month.

Kang Oh immediately expanded the dungeon.

[You have expanded the Beast's Tower!]

[The Beast's Tower's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors have been expanded. Thus, the tower's appearance has changed.]

[The monsters that inhabit the Beast's Tower have become stronger. Applicable Monsters: Blade Beast, Horned Beast, Crow Beast, Flaming Beast.]

[A new monster, the Giant Beast, will now spawn in the Beast's Tower. This beast will appear in the first three floors and the basement.]

[New traps have been added to the Beast's Tower. Repel Points can be used to move these traps around or to replace them with more dangerous ones.]

[The dungeon has a maintenance fee. The maintenance fee is 1,000 repel points per month.]

[Remaining Repel Points: 1,137]

Kang Oh surveyed the dungeon using the Dungeon Management tab.

The Beast's Tower was previously a cylindrical building that resembled a telephone pole. However, by expanding the first three floors, the tower now more closely resembled a three tiered cake.

'I should go tell Balduk about this.'

The Beast's Tower was the location where the mercenaries took their licensure test. The testing ground had not only changed, but new monsters appeared within it now too.

He obviously needed to let the Mercenary Association's President, Balduk, know.

'But before that...'

Kang Oh checked his dungeon rewards.

[Dungeon Rewards (Monthly Payment)]

2,500 gold.

100 Beast Skin.

20 Crow Beast's Eyes.

20 Flaming Beast's Embers.

2 Giant Beast's Claws.

2 Violf's Platinum.

The dungeon rewards had increased significantly.

It had gone from 1,000 to 2,500 gold, and it gave him a lot more materials too. Not only that, but the precious material, Violf's Platinum, would come in twos now.

"Nice. Give me my rewards."

"Understood."

Kang Oh pocketed the dungeon rewards, left the dungeon, and headed for the Kasten Mercenary Association.

His talk with Balduk had ended well. They had decided to keep using the Beast's Tower as the location of the mercenary licensure test.

Of course, it didn't come without cost. He had been forced to deal with an annoying request.

It was a request pertaining to a new tribe that'd appeared via Great Change.

Kang Oh had completed several of these quests because of his duty as the Guardian of the Continent, all of which were far more difficult, so he was able to deal with the issue rather quickly.

However, he couldn't freeze time. In the end, time passed quickly, and night had fallen.

'I'll visit Alaka Cave early in the morning.'

Kang Oh's day had ended.