“I was lucky that I consistently invested in agility. Phew…”
I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Right now, that guy and I were judging each other purely based on physical abilities.
Thanks to my high agility, I was dodging attacks more comfortably than expected, but this fierce opponent had the power to shatter me into hundreds of pieces with just one hit. I couldn’t afford to relax.
“I wish I could use stealth.”
It was a bit risky to fight without using the variable of hiding my body.
Still, the reason I wasn’t using stealth was that other hunters were closely observing my movements even during this fierce battle.
“The temperature difference between using stealth and not using it might be the biggest problem with my combat style, right?”
That thought crossed my mind. So far, stealth had been effective, but I couldn’t count on that forever.
I needed to develop an absolute power that didn’t rely on unpredictable movements.
Many thoughts swirled in my head, but my body reacted honestly.
I climbed onto the arm of the Giant Skeleton Soldier, easily passing over its shoulder and reaching the exposed crown of its skull.
I kept receiving attacks from it during the climb, but my senses, concentrated around my body, wouldn’t allow those attacks to connect.
“Haah──”
[Flame Cut] [Flame Cut] [Flame Cut]
Kwah-zhik- Kwaah-zhik-! Kwaah-zhik!
…
“Wow… this thing is tough, for real. Come on! Break already! Just!”
Although I had put in a lot of effort to claim this high ground, I felt regret over my final attack.
The sound of my dagger clashing with bone echoed, but I still couldn’t pierce its head in one go. Of course, I knew it was a huge creature with exceptionally high defense… but still, how frustrating.
“Still, the damage from [Flame Cut] has increased, so it shouldn’t take much longer, right?”
The power of Flame Cut had definitely gone up. It wasn’t as clear as Fireball, but I could feel it. Maybe around 30%? Or even more.
Whoosh- Bang!
I focused and unleashed my cut, but I still had to swing dozens of times.
There’s a reason the phrase “size is king” exists. Damn it.
But there was one positive aspect.
I alternated striking with my dagger and the bony thorns growing from my left hand.
– The Giant Skeleton Soldier is paralyzed!
– The Giant Skeleton Soldier is paralyzed!
Thanks to the newly acquired trait [Fierce Claws], the creature kept falling into a state of paralysis and couldn’t make any proper attacks.
Of course, I couldn’t inflict a [Bleeding] effect, but even a short duration of [Paralysis] made a significant difference in reducing its attack frequency.
“With a 50% chance of paralysis, it feels like day and night. This is really good!”
Kwah-zhik-! Kwaah-zhik!
Someone once said it would open if you knock on it.
After dodging its attacks for about three minutes while repeatedly striking the same spot, I was finally able to drill a round hole into its skull, like ice fishing.
Inside that hole, I saw something round emanating intense magic power.
“It looks different from my core…”
Mine is just a simple orb, while that creature’s core seemed to wriggle as if it were a living heart.
“I don’t know, eat this instead.”
After dropping five bombs between the split skull, I leaped into the air.
– Bruuuuuh?!
Kwah-zhik-!
The explosion of the skeleton bombs inside the Giant Skeleton’s head was tremendous.
The immense light from the explosion shattered its skull, scattering the pieces everywhere.
Pew pew pew pew!
“Uaaah! Damn it!”
“Aah! Let’s at least ping before you blow it up!”
A few hunters who were hit by the flying skull fragments glared at me and shouted.
“… What am I supposed to ping with? Should I blow up some fireworks?”
I felt wronged, unable to say a word.
However, I saw a hunter who got badly hurt by a flying bone. That woman was rolling on the ground, clutching the coin-sized hole in her thigh, looking like she was in severe pain.
I guess I did screw up…
But in the distance, I saw Yeon-hee glaring at those shouting at me as if she wanted to kill them.
Her eyes were terrifying, Yeon-hee…
The moment I looked into her eyes, I remembered how she sent me to that fearsome creature called “Iris Cass,” sending a chill down my spine.
Instinctively, I wrapped my shoulders.
Whoooosh─!
The Giant Skeleton, with its head blown off, slowly tilted in slow motion before crashing onto the ground.
“You little brat, even when you die, you’re loud.”
– You have defeated the transformed Giant Skeleton!
– It is an entity without skills or traits.
– Experience points have significantly increased!
– The entity had excellent control over bones.
– Control over thorns has significantly increased!
“This is an unfamiliar style of message…”
Since I couldn’t take away skills and traits, it felt like they were giving me extra rewards instead? But I should be grateful that they are trying to give me something regardless.
“The ability to control bones…? Did that guy do that? Not that I noticed…”
It was all just mindless punching, but apparently, it had some hidden skills. Silly creature.
I focused on the thorns embedded in my body as stated in the message and tried to manipulate them with my left arm.
Ssssuuuuu-
Surprisingly, the thorns began to move toward where I wanted much faster than before.
“Wow… so this is what speed looks like. I’ve certainly improved a lot.”
When I thought back to when I first changed jobs, it felt like a tremendous leap forward, but in a heated battle, the speed of transformation was still a bit questionable.
“Hmmm…”
As I looked at the thorns clustered on my arm, I activated my will again.
“Grow…!”
Crack—
Suddenly, the clustered thorns dug into the bones before one thorn emerged like Wolverine’s from my knuckles.
“Whoa… what the…?”
It was about 30 cm long. For something made from half my body’s thorns, it seemed a bit short.
Why’s that? Did it get stronger despite being shorter?
It didn’t seem like that… I couldn’t figure it out. Perhaps it was due to my lack of control? If so, I should just keep at it.
In the meantime, the surface of the giant thorn bone shined, and it caught my attention, making me momentarily lose my focus.
How beautiful…
“Whoa?! Snap back to reality!”
I forcefully shook my head and started launching fireballs to exhaust the rising magic power.
Whoosh- Bang bang bang bang bang—!
The overwhelming heat and destructive power of the fireballs made the skeleton soldiers’ heads explode like fireworks. Even though it wasn’t that effective against skeletons, this still happened.
The hunters, engaged in the intense battle, looked up at me with stunned expressions as they watched the exploding skeletons.
“Umm… maybe I should hold back a little…”
Avoiding the gazes of the hunters, I dove into a mass of monsters to disperse their attention and entered stealth mode, continuing to take down beasts while occasionally glancing at the thorns still protruding from my body.
“……”
At this point, didn’t it kinda look like a greatsword? That crossed my mind.
So, I decided to poke the skull of a skeleton hopping on one leg.
Puff-!
– You have defeated the Skeleton Soldier!
“… Nope.”
I tried it just in case, but of course, the quest for the greatsword hadn’t progressed at all.
“I feel like if this was refined a bit, it could resemble a greatsword… Wouldn’t it be nice if it counted for the greatsword quest?”
……..
I guess not.
…….
After waiting a bit longer, but still, the system was quiet. Stubborn little thing…
Just as I was trying to shake off that regret.
– This is not a complete form of a greatsword.
– Please implement a proper greatsword for quest progression.
“Uh…? Implement? Wait a minute… so if I create something similar, it’ll count as a greatsword? Is that right?”
……..
“… I’ll take it as that.”
It wasn’t a strict demand to use a greatsword but rather to implement one… Wait, isn’t that exactly what the quest wanted from the start?
“Tch, forget it. The greatsword I entrusted to the blacksmith will be ready in a few days… but I should still practice from now on.”
While I might not be able to surpass a weapon crafted with care by an experienced expert, getting better at freely adjusting its form would provide a huge advantage in combat.
After embedding that info in my head, I grasped my dagger in my right hand and the thorn in my left and roamed the battlefield once more.
The rapidly increasing quest progress ignited my enthusiasm. I knew I shouldn’t get too reckless, but controlling it was proving difficult.
In my previous life, catching a single monster required careful attention, but now I could just slice through them as I pleased.
Endorphins that shouldn’t even exist felt like they were exploding in my mind.
As I struggled to keep my instincts in check while cleaving through enemies, I caught sight of Ah-rin dancing with a sword surrounded by skeleton soldiers.
“Wow… that’s amazing… so fluid. Hmm, is that the position?”
Ah-rin executed graceful cuts through the skulls, occasionally adopting stances, which, while maybe not efficient, certainly looked impressive.
Following the moves of my swordsmanship master, I tried to replicate her movements. But it soon became clear that doing that with a short dagger was pointless.
“… Let’s get back to what I was doing.”
After giving up on being fancy, I swung my thorn at a skeleton attempting to attack me. Without a blade, it almost felt like a blunt weapon.
Splash─!
“Haha, this is fun too.”
The fresh bursts of skeletons brought about a refreshing feeling.
Hmm… still, I think the dagger works a bit better.
Although Arghen’s dagger has lower attack power at 24, it gives a boost of 10 defense, so overall it’s still superior. Plus, it’s comfortable in my hands.
Anyway, while I maintained awareness of my party member’s safety, I focused on taking down the most threatening enemies.
I saw Yeon-hee, Ah-rin, and Eun-young with shimmering auras around them.
In a battle of this scale, leveling up should be easier than usual.
I had gained a massive boost in experience after taking down that giant earlier, so I might just level up again.
“Il-wol…!”
Bea Joo-ah, who hadn’t leveled up in this battle, frantically waved her hands from the back, calling for me. After she called my name, her lips formed a pouty expression that seemed to signal she needed a mana buff.
She’d definitely strayed too far from our party. With my senses heightened, I must have unconsciously wandered off too.
I moved closer to decrease the distance so that all my allies could fit within the range of the top-tier magic circuit.
– The number of allies that can be connected to the top-tier magic circuit is 5 or more.
– When connected with 5 or more allies, the magic recovery speed they receive increases by an additional 5%.
Joining forces with Noh Ha-yoon and Yeom Tae-seok had unveiled this new buff effect. I could even decide whether or not to grant the buff.
Maybe it’s because I didn’t consider them my allies yet that this option came up?
Anyway, the effect of the magic circuit was structured so that the more allies connected, the stronger it became. If it hit over ten, I might get even higher effects.
Of course, there would be no benefit for me, but this was a godsend for my team.
That said, I hadn’t planned to deliberately increase our party size, though I was curious how many would fit this effect.
As the buff reactivated, the one who responded first was Bea Joo-ah, the one with the smallest magic pool and the fastest mana consumption. I could see her face turning bright red.
“Ugh… huff…”
Her warm breath was coming out, indicating she was getting pretty overheated. It was dangerous to act that way during a battle…
In the end, I had no choice but to deal with the monsters surrounding her until she calmed down.
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