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As we continued our journey, we came across a small room. Exhausted from the fight with the shaman, we decided to make camp there and rest.
The little girl, clearly worn out, fell asleep first. Before I turned in, I spent some time reading the advanced sword skill book and practiced briefly.
The next morning, we packed our belongings and resumed our trek. Along the path, we encountered a mysterious man standing beside a merchant stall.
We approached cautiously. The merchant greeted us warmly, "Dear adventurers, welcome to my humble shop."
Curious, I asked, "What are you selling, merchant?"
He presented an array of swords, but what caught my attention was a magic book.
"How much for this magic book?" I asked.
"One S-rank core," he replied.
"One S-rank core? That's outrageous!" I exclaimed in disbelief.
The merchant remained calm and said, "In the Ruins of the Forgotten, there is no book of better quality than this."
Even so, the price was steep. But then, with a sigh, he added, "Since it's your first purchase, give me what you have, and I'll give you this book."
I looked at him, then handed over a single B-grade core. The merchant accepted it.
Since I had no intention of using magic, I gifted the book to the little girl. She accepted it with a quiet but heartfelt, "Thank you."
I then asked the merchant about the runes.
He explained, "These runes were created by the three gods. If you reach the end of the dungeon, you can become the new god."
Surprised, I asked, "Become a god? How do you know this?"
"I've seen it happen many times," he said.
I posed one final question: "Is there a way to escape the dungeon?"
"There is," he answered. "You must find the path stone. Ask it for the path that leads to nature, and you can escape. But the stone is rare—it can only be found in a mini-boss chest… or by killing another human."
With new hope in our hearts, we thanked the merchant and continued forward.
Eventually, we found a large door—a mini-boss room. Too tired to fight, we searched nearby and found smaller rooms where we could rest.
While setting up camp, the little girl began training with the magic book. A few hours later, to my amazement, she had already learned dark magic—specifically a spell called *Black Hole Ring*. For someone her age, this was nothing short of miraculous. She was a true magic prodigy.
She came to me and asked, "Is this good?"
I smiled. "It's great."
Beaming, she said, "I can finally help you now."
I gently patted her head and said, "Thanks for thinking about helping me."
Tired from her training, she yawned and soon drifted off to sleep.
I lay down and found my thoughts drifting to my friends, Elsa and Brody. I wondered if they were still alive—maybe even somewhere in these ruins. With those thoughts in mind, I slowly fell asleep, hoping we would reunite one day.
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