The Runesmith

Chapter 631: Torpedo Fishing.

“Rrrr…”

“It’s okay, Agni. It can’t hear or see you, just ignore it.”

Roland spoke while patting his wolf on the back. Not far from them, a large lesser dragon slid across the forest floor. It resembled an enormous anaconda with small horns jutting from its head. It was a drachinid, a creature that would eventually evolve into a true flying dragon with small limbs if given enough time.

The monster’s massive body moved with a faint hiss. Its scales resembled metal plates and carved a shallow groove in the earth as it pushed across the dead leaves. Suddenly, the drachinid paused. Its head lifted, and a forked tongue flicked into the air.

Roland froze and raised a hand to stop Agni from pouncing. Even with the spell hiding them, there was always a chance of their cover failing. Ever since entering this place, the danger had become clear. The area was filled with monsters on their level, and even the smallest mistake could mean death.

The runes still held. They bent the surrounding mana and hid the two of them as if they stood inside a pocket of still air. After a long moment, the creature lowered its head again and continued on its way.

“Was that instinct or did it sense something strange?”

When the monster’s shape finally vanished into the darkness, Roland let out a slow breath. Countless small things could expose him. A snapped twig, a shift in the airflow around his concealed body, or anything else that might feel unnatural to a monster born to hunt. There were many improvements he wanted to make to the spell, but for now, it was enough to move through this area, which was slowly turning into a swamp.

“Come on, Agni. Stay out of the shallow water. They even have dragon frogs here.”

Lesser dragons came in every shape and size. They were not only giant lizards but also creatures mixed with birds, fish, and amphibians. Some carried the power of water, ice, earth, fire, or wind. Each tried to claim its own element, and this dungeon section held all of them. It gave Roland many weaknesses to exploit, but for the moment, he was still at the early stage of his grind. He focused on areas far from the other adventurers and their fortified camp.

‘Once I am finished with this area, I wonder where I should go. It would be great if they had any undead drachinids here.’

His progress had been steady since arriving in this part of the dungeon, yet his mind was already drifting toward future plans. One problem continued to slow him down, as information gathering was never simple. His golems roamed far and wide, but there were places they could not infiltrate.

The first was the adventurer stronghold. He had to treat that area with caution. A few of his smallest spider drones had slipped inside, but he eventually forced them into dormancy because several mages had almost discovered them.

The second was the deeper region of the dungeon, where monsters exceeded level two hundred fifty. The mana density there was overwhelming. It prevented his smallest spiders from entering, disrupted his runes, and made mapping the area impossible. He would need to go in person, create stronger golems capable of surviving that environment, or obtain information that someone else had already gathered.

‘An infiltration mission…’

Roland never thought of himself as a skilled infiltrator or actor. He had managed to fool people at the magical academy and even during Robert’s trial, yet none of it had ever felt natural. Still, the quickest way to learn what he needed was to visit the stronghold where the adventurers lived. There, he could gather the information he wanted and leave right after. There was some danger involved, but his analysis suggested the risk was low.

“Woof!”

“Yeah, I see it, Agni. We are here.”

Lost in thought, Roland finally arrived at the area he had been searching for. On the map he had drawn, the lake did not look very spacious, but now that he was here, it stretched out far wider than he had expected. In the dim, false starlight of the cavern sky, its surface shone like polished obsidian. Mist drifted above the water, and thin threads of mana drifted through the air as if beckoning them toward the dark expanse.

“It looks peaceful, but…”

He moved closer to the shore and picked up a rock from the ground. Agni watched him and wiggled his tail as if he expected a game of fetch.

“No, Agni. Do not go into the water. Just watch for now.”

“Worf?”

Agni seemed disappointed, but he sat down and observed as his master tossed a hand-sized rock into the lake. It flew in a clean arc and was about to land more than one hundred meters away. However, before it touched the surface, a monster burst from the water and snapped at it.

“Woof!”

“See? I told you. This lake might have lesser dragons in it, but they are not the only creatures living here.”

The fish was about the size of a dolphin and had a wide jaw filled with sharp teeth. The rock fell lightly between its jaws and was crushed into dust in a single bite. The creature splashed back into the lake, and the water quickly settled.

This was one of the reasons no adventurers tried to hunt the deep lake drachinids. Anyone hoping to reach them first needed to get past swarms of flesh-eating monster fish that ranked at the lower end of tier three.

“This better work.”

Roland mumbled to himself as he deactivated his concealment spell and released several of his golems into the area. First, he needed to seal the place with a sound barrier because anything too loud would only cause trouble. The next step was dealing with the shark-sized piranhas. If he failed to lure them away, they would become a serious problem for his torpedoes. The toothy fish would swarm them at once and trigger them before he could draw in the drachinids he intended to hunt.

“Now then, strap in, Agni. This might take a while to set up.”

Night had just fallen, and the area around the lake was nearly empty, which made it the perfect moment to act. His golems fanned out in every direction, even rising above the lake itself. Before long, he had a complete map of the entire region along with a view from above. Even better, he could make out countless small dots within the lake, each representing a monster.

“Now then, time to get the sensors into the lake.”

With the outer perimeter prepared, he needed to determine what was happening underwater. The lake was enormous, far too large to fill with poison or to cook the monsters inside with magic, at least not within a reasonable amount of time. Instead, he intended to use more precise weapons after gathering most or possibly all of the creatures and eliminating them in a single strike.

From within his spatial storage, he took out another floating golem. It had the form of a dodecahedron similar to the one the adventurers had destroyed, although this version was slightly larger. It also carried what appeared to be an antenna on both its upper and lower sides. Once released, it drifted toward the section of the lake where he had seen the monster fish leap out. It hovered at a safe height, and then he activated the first phase of his plan.

‘Now then, let’s get the frequency right.’

When the floating golem activated, its two small antennas began to vibrate and produced a sound that resembled buzzing. Agni’s ears twitched as he whimpered and shifted uneasily from paw to paw.

“Just bear with it for now. You will get used to it.”

Roland whispered the reassurance while he adjusted the golem’s sound output. The buzzing deepened and changed into a low ripple that spread across the lake. At first, nothing happened. The surface remained still, lit only by the shimmering imitation starlight of the dungeon sky. Then a single ripple appeared, followed by another. Soon, the entire lake began to quiver as the monsters gathered.

“Good, they are reacting to the sound.”

Once the frequency stabilized, he watched the monster fish gather in one place. The flat surface of the lake shifted as several waves converged on the center. Moments later, directly beneath the floating golem, several monster fish leapt upward in an attempt to devour it.

“Good, it is working. Only the fish are reacting.”

When the swarm grew agitated enough, he tossed a few sensors into the water. The fish were too busy attacking his other creation to notice, so the sensors entered the lake without being disturbed. They detected a few monsters near the outer areas, but if he wanted a complete view of what lay within the depths, he would need more data.

“While the sensors are sinking, we should take care of these. Agni.”

“Woof!”

Immediately after his name was mentioned, Agni perked up. This particular resonance had gathered all the small fish while leaving the larger monsters asleep. When the fish leapt from the water in dense swarms like this, they became ideal target practice not only for Roland but also for his wolf.

“Use your ranged attack. Get as many as you can, just do not target the water.”

“Awoo!”

The entire area was now inside the silencing spell, and he was no longer worried about producing smoke as he had been with the other trap. Magical energy formed in his hand. Through his visor, several monsters were marked and locked on. He stretched out his palm, and the mana burst forth, splitting into multiple homing bolts. Even though he still wore his salamander armor and these creatures resisted fire magic, it did not matter because their levels did not exceed one hundred seventy.

Agni joined the target practice and lowered his head to bring his ruby horn into position. It took a moment to charge, but soon a concentrated beam of heated energy shot forward and struck one of the monsters.

The beam hit a leaping fish creature in midair. The monster split apart as the molten energy carved through its scaled hide. A second beam followed, then a third. Each time, Agni exhaled softly afterward, satisfied with the clean hits.

“Good.”

Roland murmured while adjusting the output of his own attack.

“Keep it up. We need to clear them all before we can move on to phase two of the plan.”

Roland’s homing projectiles collided with the leaping monsters that were drawn to his golem decoy. The experience they gained from this was almost nonexistent due to the large level difference, yet it did not matter. Roland kept one eye on the minimap, which continued to expand as the sensors descended deeper into the lake.

“Just as expected, they are not coming out yet.”

His plan was working, but only because of one key factor. They were inside a dungeon. Normally, the lesser dragons would have reacted in some way, and some would probably have surfaced to investigate the commotion. Instead, they remained in the depths of the lake, waiting at the bottom.

This was not their true habitat, and the dungeon restricted their behavior. In truth, the lake functioned as a kind of trigger trap. As long as he and Agni did not enter the water, the monsters would not react. After about fifteen minutes of magical barrages, the lake grew calm again.

“That is all of them, Agni. Take a rest.”

“Rrrrr!”

Agni growled with pride and lifted his snout high as if declaring victory over the lesser fish. His mouth began to water as some of the defeated monsters floated up, but Roland quickly reprimanded him.

“Do not even think about going into the lake to eat one of those. Once we are finished, we will gather what we can, and not a moment sooner.”

While his wolf was disappointed, he still turned back to his master after being tempted with some meat. Roland tossed the food aside so his overgrown puppy could munch on it along with a few shiny stones that served as a distraction. With Agni occupied, he could finally move on to the next step and determine whether this grinding spot was worth the effort.

‘I will probably hate this part, but I need to get it over with.’

After sighing, he began preparing his attack. The runes on his armor started to glow as he assumed the usual stance required to switch armor sets. The salamander red suit faded away and was replaced with the Rune Leviathan armor. It did not look very different on the outside, yet it had been reinforced to be waterproof and to provide breathable air even underwater. Fortunately, rune magic allowed for this so he did not have to carry a heavy oxygen tank.

Next came the runic torpedoes, which he placed into a special container. It was a rectangular metal box with separate compartments for each torpedo and a mechanism on one end that would launch them when the moment came. Each container held thirty torpedoes, and he had four in total.

”It should be enough. Now for the live test.”

With the help of magic, he set the torpedo containers in the water and allowed them to sink slowly. He then reached into his spatial pocket and drew out another round object. At first, it looked like a simple metal ball, but once activated, it opened to reveal several small holes on each side and something hidden within.

”Agni, if someone comes, hide somewhere and do not engage them.”

”Woof!”

Agni looked away from his food for a moment, but he seemed uninterested and returned to eating. Roland chuckled softly and then descended into the dark depths of the lake. His armor shimmered as a cloak of mana formed around him. It served two purposes. One was to keep the water from entering, and the other was to avoid triggering the trap hidden within the lake.

‘It is dark and cold…’

The sensation of sinking into these depths was deeply unsettling. To make matters worse, he could not use any source of light, since doing so would rouse the hidden lesser dragons and provoke an attack. Fortunately, he possessed something that allowed him to see within the depths quite well.

‘There you are…’

He activated his Eyes of Mana skill, and the darkness dissolved. Water shifted into drifting particles of mana, and in the distance, he could see the shapes of slumbering creatures.

Azure Scaled Sea Serpent

L 241

It was almost amusing to find a monster that belonged in the ocean resting in a lake, yet there they were. Several of these lesser dragons slept on the lakebed, coiled together as if they were waiting for a signal. Their bodies were far larger than those of the other lesser dragons he had encountered. Each measured anywhere from fifty to eighty meters in length, and any one of them could potentially swallow him whole.

Roland drifted slowly, careful not to disturb even a thread of mana. The lakebed stretched out before him like an endless abyss. The sea serpents were all there, and it was time to finish all of this.

‘Good… they’re still dormant.’

He eventually reached the exact center of the lake, where he planned to release his lure. He placed the small orb he had been carrying into position, and the runes etched across its surface began to glow. When he pulled his hands away, the orb remained suspended in the water, and its light intensified. It soon began to spin and release an almost invisible substance into the lake, similar to the one he had used to attract the plant-based drachinids.

With the trap set, he swam back at a steady pace, guiding the four containers that held the torpedoes. He would not have them with him for long. As expected, the sea monsters responded to the device, and the entire lake began to tremble. At first, only one creature rose to investigate, but it was quickly followed by a second, then a third, and soon more than ten were converging on the glowing lure. Their behavior resembled that of the lesser dragons, driven into a mild frenzy as they snapped their enormous jaws at one another.

Roland seized the opportunity. He positioned the torpedo launchers in strategic locations, aiming each one at the creatures circling the spinning orb. The monsters did not attack the device. Instead, they drank the water that now carried the diffused substance, greedily pulling in everything around them.

‘Perfect. They are all here. Here goes nothing.’

Roland retreated to a safe distance and triggered the trap. Lines of runes ignited across each metal container. Mechanisms locked into place, and four volleys of thirty torpedoes launched at once. Air runes propelled them toward the mass of sea monsters clustered around the lure, and a moment later the explosions began.