“Um, uh… could we maybe travel together from a bit further back?”
“My companion is hurt a little… his leg…”
Just as we managed to escape the wolf den, a mixed party of six asked to join us. All six of them were in a terrible state, their armor twisted and mangled, struggling to even stand upright.
Especially one guy, whose leg was wrapped in a massive bandage soaked in blood, was fainted and being carried by another guy.
The party leader, Ah-rin, asked her team for their thoughts, and they all nodded in agreement.
It’s true that we’ve seen a lot of bad situations in the dungeon, but I wasn’t the type to be so heartless that I could just walk away in this situation. I hadn’t even asked for consumables like potions.
In the end, we started marching while keeping a distance of about 20 meters from them. While marching, we discussed contributions, but a small disagreement arose.
“If we’re talking about contributions, Yeon-hee would be overwhelming, but I’m not so keen on the boss fight. Just sharing the mining profits would be enough to make me pay my respects several times over.”
“I think so too. Isn’t it fair for all the rewards from this boss battle to go to Yeon-hee?”
“Huh? No, that’s different… that’s one thing and this is another…”
Although this party was also supposed to split the rewards equally, Baek Ah-rin seemed to think that for this dungeon, it wasn’t fair.
So Ah-rin and Joo-ah continued trying to push the rewards onto Yeon-hee, but she refused time and again.
“That’s one thing, and this is another!”
“Sigh… Yeon-hee is so stubborn.”
Thanks to Yeon-hee’s insistence, the conclusion was that the runes acquired would be shared equally among us.
After concluding our discussion, when we looked at Ham Eun-young, who was staring at the mirror in silence, we finally heard her voice after a long time.
“Okay…”
Surprisingly, Ham Eun-young went up to Baek Ah-rin and whispered that it was fine if she lowered her share in the dungeon.
Of course, Yeon-hee rejected this as well.
No matter how low her contribution was today, thinking long-term, equal distribution made sense. If the differences in contributions became severe, it would be better to change members altogether.
If I were human, the profit distribution would be dramatically different, but I was curious about how Yeon-hee, who insisted on this method of sharing, would fare in the future.
Anyway, we wrapped up our discussion about rewards.
Glancing back while moving, Ah-rin didn’t let her guard down.
“Should we guard the back?”
Of course, that would be good from our perspective, but for them, it would significantly reduce the merits of traveling together. If I thought of it as following from behind, would they even be able to walk properly?
“I’ll just use my summoned creatures to create a wall.”
“No! If you exert too much energy, you might end up sick tomorrow, Yeon-hee.”
“How about we just take a break tomorrow? Today was really tough.”
“Hmm… let’s think about it as we walk.”
Since the other team members wanted Yeon-hee to refrain from using her powers, I changed my position to the rear while maintaining our formation.
The ones trailing us maintained the distance from us just as they initially mentioned.
In reality, there was quite a power gap between the two parties, and the ones who should be scared were them, not us, so this was only natural.
Yet, despite that, asking for help from a party much stronger than ours seemed to indicate that we looked kinder than the other parties. Aside from the summoned creatures, we were just a harmless group of early twenties girls.
The distance from the wolf den to the entrance was approximately 10 km.
Even at a fast pace, it would take about two hours to reach. As it was already dusk, by the time we arrived at the exit, it would be completely nighttime.
And at night, monsters notably enhanced their stats and became more aggressive.
For example, the Ents that would stay put during the day might initiate attacks at night, changing their behavior.
Furthermore, the chances of encountering champion-type mutants increased, and occasionally, one might even run into unique monsters, which are rarely found in dungeons.
Some hunters intentionally enter at night just to meet such monsters. But as it only slightly raises the odds, it usually leads to empty trips.
Even though we’ve faced many unusual circumstances recently, I believed such occurrences wouldn’t happen daily.
On our way back, strengthened mobs initiated the first attack, but they were all taken care of by the Specter ‘Chehwa.’
“I want to have just one Specter too… Boo hoo…”
Ah-rin seemed to be particularly fond of Chehwa. She commented on how its waistline looked pretty when swinging a dagger. I momentarily spaced out, wondering what that nonsense was, but I didn’t put much effort into understanding it.
“Hey – Ran? Could you pass a message to Yeon-hee?”
“Hey! How dare you mention the master’s name again so casually!”
After saying Yeon-hee’s name, I had to endure exactly one minute of scolding from Ran. Then, Ran stopped abruptly and asked me a rare question.
“Have you made any effort to speak?”
“……”
Actually, I had no answer for that. In order to not let Yeon-hee discover my secret of being human, I initially pretended to be a monster.
But now, she had completely changed from the person I once knew. She seemed to have reduced her aversion to people significantly.
So even if I managed to speak, she wouldn’t throw me away or stop summoning me.
Of course, I couldn’t speak as fluently as when I was human, but it would be beneficial for me if we could at least exchange thoughts.
“Effort… it feels a bit frustrating in situations like this, but I can’t help but think… is it really necessary?”
So far, we had been doing well without direct conversations. And she hadn’t forced me to speak either.
Since she’d most likely known I could read since the time we first named each other, I could try to have written communications, but…
But apart from that, I had no idea how to actually start speaking. I wasn’t some incredible genius who could achieve everything.
“……Hmm – isn’t there a way to communicate that doesn’t require vocalization?”
If I could obtain skills like [Whisper] or [Mind Transmission], it would be a problem solved in one go.
“Well… I might go to Jeju Island someday, but it will take some time to get there…”
The ultra-large dungeon ‘Nando’ that appeared between Jeju Island and Udo was home to monsters with telepathic-like abilities. If I managed to steal that monster’s skill, communication would definitely be possible.
But as suggested by the dungeon’s name, it was not an easy dungeon. The name stemmed from the complaints of the first hunters who attempted it, stating the difficulty was ridiculous.
If the Giant’s Dungeon in Geoje was the ultimate goal for early awakened ones and S-rank hunters, ‘Nando’ served as a crucial standard for determining A and S ranks.
Shaking my head lightly to rid my thoughts, I endured Ran’s scolding time and then conveyed the message to Yeon-hee.
“Il-wol said he needs a great sword. He wants to try making one using the ore we found earlier.”
“Huh? Really?! I thought he’d be making weapons out of bones from now on, but it looks like that’s not the case yet. Hehe-”
Worried about what reaction she might have, but Yeon-hee instead seemed oddly pleased.
“Is there anything else you need? Should we mass-produce something else while we’re at it? How about you talk to Il-wol a bit more, our cute Ran?”
“I’m not that cute… Heeek…”
As Yeon-hee patted Ran’s round little head, it puffed up like cotton candy and flew back over to me.
“Khuhum – tell me if there’s anything else needed. Or anything else at all-”
“Other than that… other things… ah!”
“Why does my Fireball go awry so often?”
“Hmm? Isn’t that because you lack magical talent?”
(…Well, that is true, but what do you know about me, you jerk! Just ask already. Don’t add your comments.)
“Fine. I’m in the mood today.”
Ran relayed my words, and Yeon-hee’s expression briefly looked gloomy before she turned to ask Joo-ah my question instead. Joo-ah, who had been fainted and carried by Dotti 2, suddenly gasped and looked at me after hearing Yeon-hee.
“It’s really absurd for a summoned creature to make efforts to tell itself what’s wrong, but since I have my own experience, I won’t be surprised anymore. First, Il-wol’s issue is something that often happens even to those who’ve awakened as Sorcerers. About 2% of them never manage to overcome it and give up the path of a Sorcerer.”
“Whoa…?”
I thought I had all the basic knowledge about Sorcerers, but this was something I had never heard before. She continued, almost reading my thoughts.
“The reason others don’t know this, despite it being a common experience, boils down to three factors. First is that they’re too proud to say anything. Second is the small number of those who go through it. Third is that the duration of such troubles is usually very short.”
Nod-nod-
“Of course, it’s also a reason why people take magic lightly. Those who don’t know think casting a Magic Missile is super easy, right? They believe that once they awaken, it’s as if they can aim and hit their target like it’s a game. But actually hitting a single Magic Missile properly is not nearly as simple as an archer nailing an arrow into the target.”
Nod-nod-nod-
“Now, when Il-wol casts a Fireball, why does it go to strange places? There are a few reasons I can think of, but first, let’s ask: what’s Il-wol’s main trait and type?”
“Um… hmm… our Il-wol is… like…”
My master Yeon-hee seemed to think this was the kind of question she had to answer, but she soon fell into deep contemplation, as she did not know the precise answer either.
“Honestly, I’m not quite sure. He has so many talents that it’s hard to just pin down one…”
“Yeah. I think so too. But this is definitely something we must address. A Sorcerer who doesn’t know where they’re headed? That’s unimaginable.”
“…I’m sorry… I have memories from books, but I hadn’t thought about checking that. It’s my negligence.”
“No, there’s nothing for you to apologize for, Yeon-hee.”
“Not knowing where you’re headed… does make sense?”
I thought there was some wisdom to be gained and moved slightly closer to Joo-ah.
“Um-um-”
She glanced at me when I got a bit closer, then licked her lips and continued speaking.
“First, Sorcerers are generally divided into three types: Offensive, Defensive, and Supportive. Among those, Fireball naturally falls under Offensive. You must first know which of the three types you are specialized in. Next is the element. There’s the elemental system, right? No Ha-yoon, who uses frost magic, is part of this. I also belong to the elemental category, but depending on the school, I sometimes claim to belong to the natural category.”
“Look at you casually using No Ha-yoon’s name as if it’s your first day at the Vision Guild. Impressive! Bae Joo-ah!”
“Shut up, you brat.”
She quickly showed a stop gesture to Ah-rin, who interrupted the flow, then turned back to me.
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