Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

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Whooooa!!

A gigantic turtle, large enough to cover the entire huge river.

Due to its extremely bulky body, at first glance it looked like a whale, and with the trees surrounding its shell, it looked like an ‘Island’.

This turtle that introduced itself as Aspidochelon had very bright and shiny eyes as it looked at me.

‘…It’s a bit awkward.’

The words it uttered were like that.

The oathbound of the great existence, I will safely transfer you…

Somehow, its tone and gaze were as if it had been waiting for me.

But unfortunately, I didn’t have time to think deeply about that.

Swish-

Because Master had taken out her weapon due to the sudden appearance of the monster.

“I seem to have misunderstood. Jae-hyun, please wait here for a moment…”

“Wait, Master!”

I urgently stopped Master’s movement.

With her Assassin-type traits, she could easily take care of most monsters if she put her mind to it.

If I had been just 3 seconds late…

That turtle would have already become a corpse floating in the river.

Hearing my restraint, Master tilted her head and asked.

“Why?”

“I think it’s a monster related to my runes. I’ll take care of it.”

“Your runes, Jae-hyun?”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

I slowly approached Aspidochelon.

By then, it had already moved its long neck near the land, still looking at me with its bright eyes.

And soon, familiar information windows greeted me.

[An ancient monster that was thought to be extinct exerts its magical power. Aspidochelon, who has entrusted his body to the great existence due to special circumstances, is currently free. Its loyalty remains, but if the conditions are met, you can also make a contract with it.]

[The ‘Promise Bound by the Dragon’ rune and the ‘Forgotten Dragon Knight’s Pride’ rune resonate with the ancient monster. With all the hidden special conditions met, it becomes possible to make a ‘Contract with Aspidochelon’. This contract is not affected by the command value and rune level.]

The two legendary runes once again resonated, facing special circumstances.

It was an information window similar to when I canceled and re-contracted with Bon.

At this, I used the [Hand of Contract] skill without hesitation.

The reasons were that this monster was a contract partner at a level too high for me to contract using my own abilities, and that communication with it would only be possible if the contract was successful.

Although the [Language] rune allowed me to hear the words of monsters, I still couldn’t spit out their words at the same level.

[Contract successful! ‘Promise Bound by the Dragon’ rune’s contract target list adds ‘Aspidochelon (Water/Special)’. An abnormal contract, some abilities of the contractor are restricted.]

[Current Contract Monster List (2/3)]

[You have made a contract with an ancient and dignified existence. The astounding contract result sometimes drastically increases your understanding of runes.]

[The level of the ‘Promise Bound by the Dragon’ rune has increased.]

[You gain 4 Leadership from the inclination of the rune.]

Informing me that the contract was successful, a series of information windows appeared in succession, and soon a dazzling light enveloped Aspidochelon.

It was a signal indicating that we were connected in a contract relationship.

As if to prove that, Aspidochelon stretched out its long neck and took a bowing posture towards me.

– I, Aspidochelon, greet the oathbound of the great existence again.

Hearing that, I asked back.

‘By any chance, does oathbound mean Dragon Knight?’

– Yes, that’s the name commonly known to humans.

It was as I had expected.

I was able to instantly contract with this ancient monster that I saw for the first time, thanks to the two legendary runes I had being runes related to dragons.

I then asked in quick succession the questions I had been curious about.

‘So is this place where the Dragon… No, where the great existence lives?’

– No. This is the turf of the great existence’s former subordinates.

‘The turf of the subordinates…’

– That’s right. The territory of the great existence can be reached from the edge of this turf, the border between the river and the land. I am in charge of transporting guests of the great existence to the hidden warp gate there.

Only then did I understand what this guy had said earlier.

I will safely transfer you to the great existence.

In other words, ignoring the typical dungeon clearing route, it meant that it would instantly transport me to the end of the dungeon.

However, that place was not the boss room, but a double dungeon.

As Master had inferred, the double dungeon she found seemed to be a ‘dragon-related dungeon’.

After chatting with it for a while,

Master, who had been blankly watching us, approached me.

“Did you… Contract with that monster?”

Master is an S-grade Holder.

Although she became one at a young age, she is an S-grade Holder who has experienced many trials and errors.

So with just the phenomenon that happened in a few seconds, she immediately noticed our relationship.

However, she showed an expression that she could not believe it at all.

Normally, [Taming Contract] means that the monster has to be in an ‘magic exhaustion’ and ‘weakness’ state to be on the verge of death for the process to be possible…

Yet I went through the process smoothly and naturally, as if water flowing, and finished contracting.

Moreover, the target was an ancient monster that even she knew was a ‘post-attack type’.

Considering only the depth of magic and huge size, at least A-grade or above.

She probably couldn’t understand that I succeeded in contracting with such a monster as easily as befriending someone.

“Yes. It said it’ll take us down there.”

“Down there… You mean the boss room?”

“I’m not sure of the details either, but I think it’s referring to the double dungeon Master found.”

“……!”

Master’s expression was filled with surprise once again.

<The River Touched by the Breath of a Dragon>.

She had gathered the top-level party to clear this dungeon, and was clearing it by defeating high-level monsters one by one.

One of the fruits of that labor was this double dungeon.

However, the double dungeon that only she thought she had found actually had an official way to access it.

It was Aspidochelon, the giant turtle that everyone thought was a post-attack type monster or something like an Easter Egg in the dungeon.

‘Um… Aspidochelon?’

– You may call me in a more casual way, contractor.

Hearing that response, I hesitated for a moment before asking.

‘Then, can I shorten it and call you As?’

– It would be my honor.

[You have given the name ‘As’ to the contractor. From now on, this name will become a bridge to make your contract relationship even stronger.]

[By conversing and communicating, mutually satisfactory names have been decided. The intimacy with contractor ‘As’ has increased slightly, and some abilities have risen.]

Nice.

This time it worked properly.

As expected of an ancient monster who served the great existence.

Unlike some bad-tempered bone monster, it was very embracing.

With a satisfied smile, I continued the question I was asking earlier.

‘As. This lady next to me also wants to enter that territory, but is there a way? She doesn’t have riding-related runes.’

As the contractor I could ride contracted monsters even without related runes.

But Master was different.

Just like when Moon Ga-eun rode my Bon, having related runes was necessary to safely move around on monsters.

Hearing my words, As turned his long neck to look at Master for a moment.

Then looking back at me, it said.

– She is also a guest of the great existence. She holds the proof of the great oathbound. Also, I have transportation related runes so you don’t have to worry. I will safely transfer both of you.

After hearing that much, I turnd to look at Master.

“It said both of us can get on and move.”

“Is that really… True?”

“Yes. It has transportation related runes so even without riding runes, it seems we can travel safely.”

“Transportation runes….”

“As you saw, this thing movement speed is really fast… so riding it we’ll probably get there quickly.”

Hearing my words, Master nodded her head a few times.

While we could move cleanly following Master since she had finished clearing the dungeon…

Actually, if we could just go there, ignoring the standard clearing route was better.

Fighting dungeon monsters means accumulating fatigue, no matter the difficulty level.

No matter how many potions we brought, we could still easily get tired.

Our goal was not this dungeon itself but the double dungeon at the edge.

Minimizing the movement path was naturally advantageous.

‘It’s a shame not being able to fight new monsters though.’

Well for that, I could just tell Master later and come back to this dungeon anytime.

Besides, I already had 49 runes now so acquiring new ones would be difficult.

Papak- Pat-

Tak! Tap-

Having made the decision quickly, we soon moved our bodies and leapt onto As’s shell.

Its shell, which looked like a huge forest from afar.

When getting close, there really were lush trees growing on the shell.

“Amazing. It really is like an island here.”

“I know right.”

While we were admiring the peculiar shell of the giant turtle.

As, having finished preparing for movement, said to me.

– Then, I will get going. Please hold on tight.

…Where’s the handle though?

I didn’t even have time to ask that.

After finishing its preparation, Aspidochelon immediately moved at a tremendous speed, cutting through the waterway.

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