“Churorarak!!”
The Lizardmen within my buff range welcomed me as they flicked their tongues in unison, especially Dotti 1 and 2, who were particularly enthusiastic.
“Uwooo!!”
“Kwaaa!!”
As two Orcs also proceeded to unleash their skills.
– The warrior’s shout invigorates the allies!
– Strength +4
– Strength +3
My strength temporarily surged to 10.
‘As expected, buffs stack even among summoned creatures.’
They won’t stack infinitely, but it’s still a decent gain.
Strength: 207(+10)
(* Iramana’s Blessing (Imperfect) in effect: Strength, Agility, Endurance, Magic, and Recovery +10)
Thanks to that, my strength exceeded 200.
Kuuuk—
A difference of 10 didn’t bring about a drastic change, but I couldn’t help but clench my fists.
“Oooo!! What’s this? Is this an Orc skill? How can I use it?”
“Huh… I was wondering, but could Il-wol have that ability to bring other traits?!”
“……”
My party members also received the [Warrior’s Shout] buff I used, so they would be curious as to how I could use a skill typically exclusive to Orcs. The first to react was, of course, Bae Joo-ah.
It seemed she caught on to my ability to steal skills from other monsters. A monster that steals skills from other monsters? If word gets out, the attention directed at me. No, it would be overwhelming for Yeon-hee compared to what it is now.
“Uh, um… Joo-ah.”
“Ah— don’t worry. Yeon-hee. I’m tight-lipped! I’ve actually been suspicious for a while. Il-wol’s ability is… as expected…”
Glug—
“[Memory Bookmark], right?”
“…Huh?”
“Am I right? It’s the legendary hero-level trait I’ve only heard of! No wonder you use so many diverse skills.”
The trait Bae Joo-ah mentioned, [Memory Bookmark], is a really unique ability that allows one to use a set number of abilities they’ve directly received or been attacked by. It’s said that fewer than a hundred people possess this trait worldwide.
However, there are preconditions needed to bookmark abilities, and I believe there’s a time limit, too. The most famous person with this ability, a hunter named Carlson from the U.S., claimed in an interview that once he bookmarks an ability, he can use it 1-5 times, depending on its grade.
In the aspect of being able to use abilities after experiencing them once, it’s superior to my ability, but in my opinion, [Memory Bookmark] is merely a subpar version of the [Thief] trait. Nevertheless, it is still a good ability, and I could understand how one might mistakenly think they possess it.
Anyway, even if I am a summoned creature with bookmarking abilities, it would still be a big issue, so that much is true, but Yeon-hee was doing her best to keep my actual ability a secret. Now though, that season has passed.
“Yeah? Ah… um, right. Thanks anyway.”
Yeon-hee inadvertently affirmed Bae Joo-ah’s guess.
“Is it true? Wow— I’ve never seen someone with a hero-level trait— wait, that’s not quite right. Anyway, I’m seeing this for the first time! So can that miss with the fireball earlier also be bookmarked?”
“Tap tap!!”
I answered Baek Ah-rin’s question with a no.
“Huh?”
“Ah-rin, when Il-wol says ‘tap tap’ twice, it means no. If it’s three times, that means yes.”
“Waaah! So you just answered my question with that? Understanding what you say is cooler than using magic!!”
“Could you all stop chatting and start cleaning up first?”
Scrape—!
“I am— doing it!”
She was flailing about while maintaining her sword strikes in perfect order, taking breaths in between, but her sword path was exceptionally neat and clean.
‘Wow— her form is seriously pristine. Is that the swing of someone who’s trained?’
She wielded a sword longer than a typical longsword but shorter than a dagger, switching between both hands without any extraneous movements. I couldn’t say for sure, but just judging from her swordsmanship, she seemed to be at a higher level than I was.
On the other hand…
Puhk—
Wuziziz—
My clumsy attempts at slashing were certainly no comparison to Ah-rin’s. It became painfully obvious when I compared just a few steps away.
But even after several minutes, my monster hunting results didn’t show a significant difference.
Ah-rin’s swordsmanship was undoubtedly at a higher level, but in all other aspects, I was ahead. Over time, I found myself increasing my kill count.
[Stealth]
Pew!
K Kehng—!
– Eliminate 10,000 enemies using dagger-type weapons while in stealth. (7/10,000)
‘Oh man! When will I finish this for real!’
The quest counter began updating. The achievement seemed a light-year away, but since the end and rewards were set, it wasn’t as hard as grumbling about it.
Kuhkahng!!
I forcefully pushed a wolf charging in with my shoulder, which had sharp thorns embedded in it. The massive wolf, pierced by the spikes in my shoulder, flailed for a while, showing quite a bit of suffering, so I swiftly ended its life with my dagger.
‘Somehow, it feels like the spikes on my body are stronger than my dagger…’
When I felt a strange sense of defeat in an odd context, a rough breathing tickled my ears.
“Heh-heh—ah, I’m gonna die.”
It was Baek Ah-rin. As expected, her stamina was pretty miserable for a Rabbit Beastman. I couldn’t help but shake my head as I watched her pant heavily. It hadn’t even been ten minutes since the battle started.
‘But that’s gotta be a racial trait, so it can’t be helped, right? Hmm…’
Bae Joo-ah was blocking the retreat route of the staggering enemies with stones, and with Yeon-hee’s summoned creatures all appearing, we soon began to round the wolves.
After that, it was time for some wolf slaughter. They weren’t beasts with balanced stats to begin with. Unless we were in an open-field protracted battle, isolated creatures wouldn’t be able to exert much strength.
– Defeated a Lesser Dire Wolf.
– It’s a creature without skills. [Thief] characteristic probability of stealing increased by 5%.
– [Thief] characteristic activated.
– Randomly stealing the characteristics of the Lesser Dire Wolf.
– Acquired the [Rough Claw] trait!
– Acquired experience points!
– Acquired Intermediate Mana Stone!
– Acquired Rune of Swiftness (Intermediate)!
And at a point where the opponents exceeded the number of defeated monsters, I could steal their traits. Obtaining an intermediate rune of swiftness was also a gain. The Rune of Swiftness, which increases movement speed, could potentially replace the Rune of Giants depending on the situation.
Rough Claw Lv.1
– When inflicting wounds to enemies using body parts, there’s a 25% chance to inflict the status effect [Bleeding].
– Bleeding: Decreases maximum health by 0.01% per second. The effectiveness doubles when fighting in a bleeding state.
‘Oh ho—so this is how it works. It’s a bit regrettable that there’s a clue about body parts, but I can see its practical use.’
This added another reason to utilize the thorns on my body. The ability to cut health in percentage units can be extremely useful in day boss battles.
Puhh—!!
I crushed the last remaining wolf’s head beneath my foot, ending my first battle in a D-grade dungeon.
‘That was easy.’
The Dire Wolves, who strategically cornered their opponents and pressed through numbers, couldn’t pose any tension to us as Lesser versions.
If the strongest monsters in this dungeon are at this level, then the others will likely be a walk in the park.
“What is this? Was it really this weak?”
Despite my bold statement, Baek Ah-rin’s ears were bent at a ‘ㄱ’ angle. The angle of her ears indicating her health gauge made it quite clear that her words were mere bluster.
“Stand your ears back up and speak, you fool.”
“Huh? Ah! This, this! I get like this when it’s hot!”
Although the dungeon was in early spring weather, I certainly wouldn’t call it hot, yet she was wailing, trying to hide her weakness.
“I get it already, just collect the loot.”
(Okay— cut here in this direction for a clean slice. How’s that? Pretty simple, right?)
(Ooooh— as expected of a skeleton. The master is different!)
(The skeleton is smart. Our master.)
(*Sigh… I didn’t do this to get compliments from you guys… No, just try following what you just saw.)
I took turns showing my dissection of the Lesser Dire Wolf to my summoned creatures.
“Heh— it seems like you’re better at this than I am?”
“I told you, it’s not a joke. I mean it.”
“Our Il-wol is all-rounder and good at everything… Hehe…”
“……”
Baek Ah-rin and Bae Joo-ah busied themselves circling around me, observing intently.
Yeon-hee felt a bit proud seeing that, and even Ham Eun-young seemed fascinated, staring at me from a short distance with dreamy eyes.
‘But she really isn’t doing anything.’
In the earlier battle, Ham Eun-young merely ran to places where there were no monsters, doing nothing extraordinary. She merely knocked out a wolf whose head bounced toward her with a round shield.
But oddly, that kind of behavior ignited my expectations. A person who can discern when to step up and when to step back is likely to last longer. And since I knew that she would rise to a significant position later, I planned to watch patiently.
“Having three Runes of Swiftness from our first battle… whew— lucky me.”
Killing just 50 monsters to get three was indeed lucky. There’s no guarantee it would continue like this, but the start looked promising.
The party handed over all bones except the claws of the wolves, the bounty tokens. They already knew I would use them to create bombs, so they naturally handed them over.
Lesser Dire Wolf Leg Bone
– Attack Power +13
A wolf’s bone with slightly higher attack power than a Lizardman.
Bok-gak- pa-gak—
‘Ah— this grip. Making bombs is the most comforting. This is healing.’
I began kneading the freshly butchered bones in my hand to craft bombs. Baek Ah-rin and the gloomy Ham Eun-young, who were witnessing me making bombs for the first time, were inching closer to me.
“This seems more amazing than magic, Joo-ah.”
“Right?”
“Yeon-hee, can I call you Il-wol?”
“… Yes.”
After a slight pause, Yeon-hee answered Baek Ah-rin’s question, but Ah-rin seemed oblivious to the time lag.
“Hey, Il-wol?”
“………”
I stopped my task and briefly acknowledged Baek Ah-rin with my eyes. Upon seeing that, Baek Ah-rin jumped with joy.
‘…Why so happy?’
“Il-wol… bomb…”
Next to her was Ham Eun-young, nodding with a serious expression.
‘…And what about you?’
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