343 Chapter 343: Dead Pool (2/2)

”What, you didn't think we were the only ones down here, did you? Did you forget what this place is called?”

The Den of Dragons. How could I forget?

…oh.

I instinctively took a step back, and immediately began casting Draco. Given how he was my strongest Constellation spirit, he would take a long while to summon. That was fine. As long as the dragon didn't notice me, I should have ample time to cast the spell. I hoped.

”No, no, no. don't worry about it.” Ryan waved his hand airily. ”You're not here to pick a fight with the owner of the cave. And I don't think he will bother you as long as you don't wake him up. You can just sneak past him. As long as you don't make too much noise and accidentally hit him with a hammer…I mean, a spell, he would be too lazy to wake up to deal with you. We humans are ants to the majestic beings that are dragons. Most of the time, they couldn't be bothered to deal with the likes of us. Not unless we irritate them too much…or if they are hungry.”

”How do we know this guy isn't hungry?”

”If he was, he wouldn't be sleeping. He would be looking for food.”

I guessed Ryan had a point there. With a sigh, I nodded and cautiously took a step forward. When I did so, Ryan immediately gestured at my hands.

”Put out the fire. I know it is cold as fuck, but we don't want to wake the guy up by accidentally burning him. No point taking risks unnecessarily eh?”

”…right.”

I obeyed and extinguished the flames. The cold didn't hit me totally yet, but as I walked on for a few seconds, my fingers and toes began to feel numb. Suppressing a sigh, I stepped into the colossal cavern just beyond the winding passage.

An enormous dragon lay in the center, fast asleep. Its body shook gently, heaving as it breathed. Large clouds of fog were expelled from its nostrils, drifting lazily in the freezing air and shrouding the beast's face in white. Unlike the crimson Hellfire Drake that I had encountered in the past, this particular dragon was covered in sapphire scales that sparkled in the dim light of the cave.

”A Frost Dragon,” I muttered under my breath. Needless to say, it was a rank A Behemoth type dragon that could wield ice magic. Beside me, the hovering Ryan nodded.

”That's right. And you don't want to wake him up.”

”…yeah. You're right.”

Taking a deep breath, I gingerly crept around the Frost Dragon, taking care to maintain as much distance between us as possible. Before I knew it, I managed to circle around the massive monster and reach the other end of the cavern, where another passageway awaited.

”…phew.”

Exhaling, I realized how tense my body had been this entire time. Swallowing, I stepped into the tunnel and hopefully out of sight of the Frost Dragon. After a few steps deeper into the icy corridor, I cast my little fire spell to warm myself up and return some sensation to my fingers and toes.

”Was that Frost Dragon hibernating?”

”Nah. He will wake up when he's hungry. Hopefully you'll be out of here by then.”

”…right.” I hoped that would be the case. I sure as hell didn't want to be present when the Frost Dragon woke up. I had no intention of becoming his breakfast. Taking a deep breath, and wincing when the icy air chilled my lungs, I hastened my pace.

”Relax. You want to stick around for a bit longer. Especially when we reach our destination.”

”Huh?” I looked up at the hovering Ryan, confused. He was gliding in a relaxed manner, staying a few steps ahead of me. ”Destination? Aren't we getting out of here?”

”If it was that easy, then I wouldn't need you to show up to help me get out of here. No, my friend. You need to get your powerup. Then only I would be released from being locked in this godforsaken place.”

That bullshit powerup thing again. I tried not to sigh and roll my eyes. Something about Ryan's statements rubbed me the wrong way.

”There's no way something so convenient would exist.”

”Well, you're right. It's not so convenient as to suddenly increase your mana, or hand you a new technique or treasure weapon. I mean, look at this place! Who the hell would hide some stupid martial arts or cultivation scroll in here? Or bury their treasures here? Even if you want to keep them out of the hands of other people, why would you go through all the trouble of braving the dangers of dragons, digging your way into the deepest part of an icy mountain, and hiding your treasure far from human civilization? Then…if you want to retrieve it, are you going to make that perilous journey and spend hours digging through the mountain and hiding from dragons again? Sometimes, these so-called cultivators or whatever just don't make any sense.”

”This is not a cultivation story,” I reminded Ryan impatiently. ”It's reality.”

”Yeah, yeah. Anyway, remember the Holy Spring that helped you with your cultivation magic like two hundred chapters ago?”

”…yeah?” I nodded, remembering the Holy Spring hidden underneath Jing Tian City. Training next to it had helped me improve my summoning magic, mostly by increasing the amount of mana I had in order to maintain them for longer durations.

”I have something similar for you!” I swear the guy was grinning under his mask. Floating through a mouth toward another cavern, Ryan threw out both hands in a celebratory manner. ”Introducing the Dead Pool!”

”…huh?”

Following him into the cavern, my jaw dropped when I saw the gigantic pool that he was presenting to me.

…it wasn't so much a pool as it was a gargantuan block of ice. An iceberg, if you will.

”Whoops…I meant the frozen pool,” Ryan corrected what he evidently thought was a witty punchline.

”…cool, I guess?” I tried not to roll my eyes. ”And…what am I supposed to do with this…uh, giant ice?”

”Well…” Ryan paused dramatically for a few seconds, and then bowed exaggeratedly. ”Devour the whole thing, of course!”