Chapter 84: Victory?

Chapter 84: Chapter 84: Victory?

Tolu wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.

"I didn’t."

"Your face did."

Tolu charged.

---

Days blurred together.

Morning.

Training.

Pain.

Afternoon.

Training.

More pain.

Evening.

More training.

Every day ended the same way.

Tolu’s clothes were covered in dust.

His arms were sore.

His legs ached.

His ribs carried new bruises over old ones.

Sometimes he could barely lift the hammer after training.

Yet the next morning, he always returned.

And gradually, things changed.

His feet became faster.

His swings became cleaner.

He stopped wasting movement.

He learned to recover after missing.

He learned not to stare at the hammer when attacking.

He learned to watch Folami’s shoulders.

Then his hips.

Then his feet.

Then his eyes.

One afternoon, Folami stepped forward.

Tolu immediately moved back.

Folami stopped.

Tolu’s eyes narrowed.

He waited.

Folami suddenly lunged.

Tolu swung.

Folami ducked underneath.

Tolu expected the counterattack.

Instead, he released one hand from the hammer and drove his shoulder forward.

Folami’s dagger stopped against Tolu’s neck.

Tolu’s shoulder struck Folami’s chest.

For the first time, Folami was pushed back.

Only one step.

But he was pushed back.

They separated.

Tolu breathed heavily.

Folami looked at him.

"Good."

Tolu grinned.

Then Folami kicked his leg out from underneath him.

Tolu crashed onto his back.

"Don’t get excited."

Tolu groaned.

"You’re enjoying this."

"A little."

---

On another day, Tolu managed to land a hit.

It wasn’t clean.

It wasn’t powerful.

But the wooden training hammer clipped Folami’s shoulder.

Tolu froze.

Folami looked at the spot.

Then at Tolu.

Tolu’s grin slowly grew.

"I hit you."

"Yes."

"Actually hit you."

"Yes."

Tolu raised his hammer.

"I—"

Folami kicked him in the stomach.

Tolu flew backward.

"One hit doesn’t make you strong."

Tolu coughed from the ground.

"But it means I’m getting there."

Folami smiled.

"Now you’re learning."

---

There were days when Tolu became frustrated.

He would attack too aggressively.

Folami would punish him.

Other days, Tolu became too cautious.

Folami would punish that too.

When Tolu relied too much on strength, Folami forced him to fight without it.

When he relied too much on technique, Folami disrupted his rhythm.

When Tolu became predictable, Folami changed the pace.

Slow.

Fast.

Slow.

Then suddenly explosive.

Tolu was forced to adapt.

He hated every second of it.

But he improved.

---

By the fifth day, Tolu could stay standing through an entire sparring session.

By the sixth, he was forcing Folami to take him seriously.

By the seventh, something had changed.

Tolu charged.

His hammer came down.

Folami moved aside.

Tolu didn’t chase him.

Instead, he planted his foot and used the momentum of the missed strike to rotate.

The hammer came around again.

Folami blocked.

Tolu immediately stepped inside his guard.

His free hand grabbed Folami’s wrist.

Folami’s eyebrow rose.

Tolu pulled.

Folami twisted with the movement, using Tolu’s own strength against him.

Tolu was thrown over his shoulder.

He hit the ground hard.

For several seconds, he didn’t move.

Then his hand rose.

"Again."

Folami looked down at him.

A faint smile appeared.

"Now you’re beginning to understand."

---

The final morning was no different.

Tolu stood across from Folami, breathing heavily.

His body was covered in bruises.

His lip was split.

One eye was slightly swollen.

His arms were trembling.

Yet his stance was better than it had been a week ago.

His hammer rested firmly in his hands.

Folami looked at him.

"Ready?"

Tolu nodded.

"Yes."

They moved.

Hammer against dagger.

Footwork against raw strength.

Experience against determination.

Tolu attacked.

Folami avoided.

Tolu adjusted.

Folami countered.

Tolu blocked.

The hammer slammed against the ground.

Folami jumped over the strike.

Tolu immediately followed with an upward swing.

Folami twisted around it.

Tolu didn’t stop.

He turned with the momentum and attacked again.

This time, Folami blocked.

The impact echoed across the training ground.

Tolu pushed harder.

Folami’s feet slid backward.

Only slightly.

But they moved.

Tolu’s eyes sharpened.

He drove forward.

Folami suddenly disappeared from directly in front of him.

Tolu stopped himself.

He turned.

Folami was already behind him.

A dagger rested against his neck.

Tolu froze.

Folami lowered the weapon.

"Enough."

Tolu stood there, chest rising and falling.

Then he smiled.

"Tomorrow?"

Folami nodded.

"Tomorrow."

Tolu walked away.

He made it three steps before his legs gave out.

He caught himself against the wall.

Folami watched him.

"You’re getting stronger."

Tolu looked back.

"That’s the idea."

Then he disappeared into the manor.

---

The days continued.

And then, finally—

One afternoon, while Tolu and Folami were in the middle of another sparring session, the familiar feminine voice entered Tolu’s mind.

"My Lord."

Tolu’s hammer stopped halfway through a swing.

Folami immediately noticed.

"What is it?"

Tolu lowered the hammer.

The Dungeon Heart spoke again.

"It is time."

Tolu’s expression changed.

The fatigue disappeared from his face.

He looked at Folami.

"The war."

Folami’s expression became serious.

"So it begins."

Tolu tightened his grip around the hammer.

After days of preparation, bruises, exhaustion, and relentless training—

their next dungeon war had arrived.

.....

The war turned out to be nothing like the last one.

And that was exactly what Tolu had wanted.

The moment they entered the opposing dungeon, Tolu could feel the difference.

The dungeon was slightly larger than his own.

Its population was greater.

Its creatures were stronger.

But none of that mattered anymore.

Tolu was stronger too.

Much stronger.

He moved through the dungeon with Folami walking several steps behind him, completely relaxed.

The first group of creatures came charging through the trees.

Tolu didn’t stop.

His war hammer swung once.

BOOM!

The first beast was thrown sideways, crashing through a tree.

Tolu stepped forward.

Another attacked from his left.

He turned and drove the hammer into its body.

The creature slammed into the ground and didn’t rise again.

Three more came.

Tolu charged toward them instead of waiting.

His hammer carved through the first.

He ducked beneath the second’s claws and struck upward.

The third tried to circle behind him.

Tolu stomped his foot.

A jagged stone erupted from the earth beneath the creature.

It was over before the creatures could properly organize themselves.

Folami simply watched.

He didn’t draw his daggers.

He didn’t need to.

Tolu kept moving.

The deeper they went, the more creatures they encountered.

And the more obvious the difference in strength became.

During their first war, Tolu’s creatures had been the ones struggling against stronger opponents.

This time, Tolu himself was the strongest thing walking through the enemy dungeon.

He didn’t waste time.

He didn’t fight recklessly.

Everything Folami had drilled into him over the past days showed in his movements.

His footwork was cleaner.

His attacks were tighter.

His recovery was faster.

He didn’t chase enemies unnecessarily.

He didn’t swing wildly.

He struck once, repositioned, and struck again.

Within half an hour, they had already reached the deeper sections of the dungeon.

Folami looked around.

"You’re improving."

Tolu glanced at him.

"That’s all you have to say?"

"You wanted me to compliment you?"

Tolu grinned.

"No."

"Then keep moving."

Tolu laughed and continued forward.

Eventually, they reached the heart of the enemy territory.

The creatures guarding the dungeon’s leaders gathered around them.

There were several.

Tolu tightened his grip on his hammer.

"Stay back."

Folami stopped.

"I wasn’t planning to interfere."

The creatures attacked.

Tolu met them head-on.

The battle was brutal.

But it wasn’t difficult.

One creature lunged.

Tolu stepped aside and struck its neck.

Another charged from behind.

He spun and smashed the hammer into its ribs.

A third attempted to flee.

Tolu threw the hammer.

It struck the creature and sent it tumbling through the dirt.

Tolu walked over, retrieved his weapon, and continued.

Within minutes, the guards were dead.

Then came the leaders.

Two powerful creatures emerged from deeper inside the dungeon.

They were the strongest beasts the enemy Dungeon Lord possessed.

Tolu looked at them.

They looked at him.

The larger one roared.

Tolu grinned.

"Come on."

It charged.

Tolu planted his feet.

The creature swung.

Tolu blocked.

The impact shook the ground beneath him.

But he didn’t move.

The creature’s eyes widened.

Tolu’s grin disappeared.

He twisted his body.

The hammer struck.

BOOM!

The creature was launched across the chamber.

It crashed against the earth.

Before it could recover, Tolu was already there.

One final strike ended the fight.

The second leader attacked immediately.

Tolu didn’t even give it time to build momentum.

He stepped forward.

His hammer slammed into its chest.

The creature collapsed.

Silence followed.

Tolu stood among the bodies, breathing heavily.

He looked toward Folami.

"Done."

Folami nodded.

"You’ve gotten stronger."

Tolu smiled.

"Much stronger."

Then the dungeon reacted.

The surrounding earth trembled.

The energy flowing through the enemy territory began shifting.

The defeated dungeon was collapsing into the control of the victor.

Tolu felt the change immediately.

Energy rushed toward him.

Not into his body.

Into the dungeon itself.

The territory began expanding.

New sections opened.

The soil grew richer.

The plants became healthier.

The amount of dungeon energy increased dramatically.

Even the air felt different.

The Dungeon Heart spoke.

"My Lord."

Tolu closed his eyes.

He could feel it.

The dungeon had grown.

Its territory had expanded.

Its ecosystem had gained more room to develop.

And with the victory came something else.

Resources.

Naturally occurring resources scattered throughout the newly claimed territory.

Plants.

Gems.

Minerals.

And then Tolu felt something unusual.

He opened his eyes.

"What’s that?"

He walked toward a dark vein running through the rock.

Folami followed.

Tolu broke off a piece.

At first, it looked like ordinary stone.

Then he brushed the dirt away.

A deep metallic color appeared beneath it.

Tiny golden lines ran through the dark surface.

Folami’s expression changed the moment he saw it.

"Where did you get that?"

"The dungeon."

Folami took the piece from him.

He examined it carefully.

He turned it over.

Then he scratched the surface with one of his daggers.

The blade barely left a mark.

His expression became serious.

"Tolu."

"Hm?"

"Do you know what this is?"

Tolu shook his head.

Folami stared at the ore for several seconds.

"This is worth a lot."

"How much?"

Folami looked at him.

"Approximately nine hundred gold."

Tolu froze.

"What?"

"Nine hundred gold."

Tolu stared at the small piece in Folami’s hand.

The number didn’t seem real.

Nine hundred gold.

That was more money than Tolu had ever imagined holding.

And it had simply appeared naturally inside the dungeon.

Folami looked back toward the vein.

"This isn’t ordinary ore."

He crouched and examined the surrounding rock.

"If there’s more of it..."

Tolu’s eyes widened.

"Then?"

Folami stood.

"Then you may have just found something far more valuable than the herbs."

Tolu looked around the newly expanded dungeon.

The victory had given them more territory.

More energy.

More resources.

And now, possibly, an ore worth hundreds of gold.

Folami looked at him.

"Don’t get excited yet."

Tolu looked at him.

"Why?"

"Because if there’s a lot of this..."

Folami glanced toward the vein.

"...we need to figure out exactly what you have before you start selling it."

Tolu nodded.

For once, he completely agreed.

The shop had already been struggling to keep up with demand.

Now they had another problem.

A much more profitable one.