Whoosh—
I dashed into the tangled mess where the ‘Vizels’ had just passed.
[Weasel Step]
A passive skill that activates without conscious thought.
‘Passing—’
In an instant, an unusual sensation descended upon me as my body plummeted.
Crack—!
Crash!
I failed to pass through the hole and slammed straight into a tree.
It was the same even after a few more tries.
‘Ah, crap— why isn’t this working?’
“Hey? What’s Il-wol doing all by himself?”
“Il-wol~ why are you sticking your head into a tree?”
“Isn’t he testing the durability of his armor?”
My companions, seeing me stuck in the tree, displayed puzzled expressions. I shook off my embarrassing moment and ran towards another spot.
‘Seems like too narrow a gap won’t work.’
I looked for a hole that wasn’t too small to fit through and activated the skill again.
And then.
Swish—
‘Oh?! I made it through! This is amazing!!’
Barely squeezing my head through the tight space, I cheered inside.
‘This could be useful.’
In a chaotic battlefield filled with plenty of allies and enemies, the flexibility of movement would be a greater asset than I thought.
After a few more attempts, I found this skill required perfect timing. My body had to surrender to the fleeting moment of odd sensation. To use this properly in real combat would surely demand considerable practice.
Though I could use it three times in a row, the cooldown was significant, making it difficult to use constantly.
Nonetheless, feeling elated from unexpectedly acquiring a useful ability, I playfully tapped Azraelon’s head, who was fiercely shooting shockwaves to protect Eun-young, and returned to the battlefield.
(My, touching my head is only permitted for Eun-young!)
Ignoring Azraelon’s complaints, I investigated the remains of the defeated Orcs, examining my merged skill.
Fierce Claws Lv.Max
– Attacking with physical parts gives a 100% chance to induce status effects [Bleeding] and [Paralysis].
– Ignores 40% of enemy defense.
– Bleeding: Decreases maximum health by 0.1% every second.
– Paralysis: Rigidifies the body for 1 second.
The merging of Vizel’s skill raised the level of my existing Fierce Claws to its maximum, greatly amplifying its options as a result.
‘Guaranteed bleeding and paralysis along with 40% defense ignore… this is insane.’
This seemed to be the best performing skill I had ever fused. The one-second paralysis was incredibly effective; although the duration might vary based on an opponent’s species and resistance, there wouldn’t be a better debuff that divides a single second into countless tiny breaths in the midst of battle.
‘With this, a weapon made from my bones might actually be better than the sword forged by the Dwarves.’
Considering I needed to use physical parts, that seemed wiser.
‘Hmm… Should I ask the Dwarf to reforge my weapon? I do have an Ancient Rare Crystal.’
The bone weapon was quite usable, but it still fell short compared to the quality of those made by Dwarves. Therefore, requesting a reforge was certainly a viable option.
I decided to ask Yeon-hee about it.
“But isn’t it strange to have so many monsters right at the entrance?”
“You don’t think another rift has opened up or something, do you?”
Having already experienced several odd occurrences, we huddled together and set off down the path again.
What I needed to acquire in this dungeon was more than just monster skills.
‘This feels like a bad sign right from the start; should we head straight to where the artifact is?’
Deciding, I led my companions.
This dungeon was multi-layered, just like the one I navigated yesterday, and the hidden area I aimed for had stairs leading down.
My companions quickly noticed that I was moving at a quicker pace than usual, but after a short time, no one asked where I was heading or what my goal was.
While returning home with Yeon-hee, I had once mentioned that wherever I headed, it would always benefit us, and my companions seemed to trust that.
‘It’s nice having someone believe in me. More importantly, I’m worried about the day after tomorrow.’
Jo Gi-man had begun to grow while being distracted elsewhere, but surely a turning point would arise once the guild competition starts.
Although I was thinking of adjusting my strength appropriately, it was also important to show an impressive performance to empower Yeon-su, who was watching our backs.
Such information would be relayed to Jo Gi-man soon, and I might have to once again confront the killing intent I felt from that guy during the Great Beast encounter.
‘I don’t know to what extent I can enter dungeons, but first, I need to gather artifacts.’
I was a day late due to the Chimera incident, but it seemed best to tackle that first.
Fortunately, there were no other odd events as we approached the hidden space in this dungeon. The only concern was that the percentage of Orc Low-Rank Warriors steadily increased, causing my companions’ fatigue to rise sharply.
“The scariest dungeon is the one where Vizels swarm. Looks like it’s your fault, Il-wol. They’re just watching from a distance.”
The ‘Vizels’ were eyeing us from a considerable distance, only poking the ground with their sharp claws.
While I thought we might have an opportunity since we easily suppressed the Orcs, just as Yeon-hee said, my presence seemed to be obstructing their movements.
Even the slightest shift on my part made them bristle and retreat.
‘If they’re going to act this way, why not target another party? They just keep trailing us; truly mysterious creatures.’
Just as it was difficult to understand the actions of cats, many aspects of monsters still defied human logic.
Though the Vizels were surprisingly tame, they didn’t let their guard down.
‘Hmm… Observing them is taking far too long. I need to narrow down my range.’
With the trait I stole from the Were Croc, my sense stat increased, and my awareness expanded significantly.
Currently, the large group of ‘Vizels’ was pushing several parties into crisis situations, rather than the Orcs.
‘Another team down. Isn’t it a bit overkill for over 200 Vizels to rush in? Too much.’
Particularly, there were many groups congregating in unusually large sizes. Considering this, many teams were increasing their party sizes to over ten members, but even then, 200 was excessive.
Eventually, hunters were increasingly resorting to diving into clouds beneath the bridge to avoid the Vizels.
It seems they were in a position where enduring a ban on dungeon entries for three days was worthwhile.
Not only had the range of my search expanded, but the clarity of the entities sensed in my mind also seemed much improved.
‘It feels like the resolution has upgraded to 4K.’
Thus, we moved non-stop for several hours and arrived at the stairs leading down underground, long after lunch time.
“This is a safe zone!”
“Ah… Can we take a short break? Is it even normal to pierce through an entire floor without resting once?”
Joo-ah pleaded to Yeon-hee with a weary expression.
“I’ll give you just 10 minutes for a break.”
“What? Just that? Yeon-hee, you’ve been a bit too hardcore lately.”
“Really? Um… Is that so?”
“Sometimes you’re even harder than Il-wol. Is it because of the guild competition?”
“That’s not the reason…”
From my perspective, Yeon-hee was indeed showing remarkable ambition to grow lately.
It seemed I had surged ahead too far, which made me hope she wouldn’t overexert herself since, after all, I was part of her.
‘Haha, thinking by myself while being separated is kind of funny.’
In any case, the stairs down to the underground varied in their characteristics. Sometimes your body physically moved when crossing a gate, and other times, like this dungeon, you had to walk down.
From my experience, dungeons like these often contained many hidden spaces, so I needed to inspect carefully.
‘The location is just as I remember.’
Taking a rest and using my senses to observe below, I found it was no different from what I had discovered in my past life. The items asleep inside remained unchanged.
This time, the artifact I would acquire was peculiar, resembling a fingernail.
It’s an artifact that seeps into the surface, similar to fake nails you stick on.
I suspected the one who created this artifact didn’t want anyone to see that they were using the item.
The memory of nearly freaking out when I first saw it absorb under my fingernail resurfaced, causing my shoulders to shrug lightly.
(What’s with you laughing by yourself?)
Azraelon, who had recently been more talkative, tilted his head.
‘Just reminiscing about the old days. By the way, how do you feel fighting Orcs today? You seemed to be struggling a bit.’
(You’re saying I was struggling? Nonsense!!!)
Today, during the battles, Azraelon had finally shown signs of exhaustion.
‘It seems like using abilities consecutively is a bit tough for you.’
(Hmph! That will soon be resolved!)
Each attack was powerful enough that I couldn’t dismiss it, but he lacked endurance due to his relatively low absolute magic stats, which was somewhat disappointing.
‘Do you have any abilities other than the shockwave?’
In response to my question, Azraelon showed an expression of astonishment and bared his fangs.
(Are you saying that after seeing this damned sealed state?)
‘Oh, so transforming into a cat is also your ability? I thought it was Eun-young who did that?’
(I taught her everything. Half of it is my power. Hehe.)
So that’s how it is.
Azraelon mentioned he had many abilities, but there were great constraints hampering their expression.
Then he made a suggestion.
(Take me to the demon realm, and it will all be solved. What do you think?)
‘… Where even is the demon realm?’
First of all, I had no information that led to that.
Ham Eun-young’s grandmother was rather unfortunate, having gotten dragged there, and there were only records of ‘demonization’ incidents caused by crazed demons opening dimensional doors and rampaging—no records of us ever entering the demon realm.
(You must be undertaking a task assigned by an ‘guide,’ right?)
‘They say our world runs on a system.’
(The name doesn’t matter. You won’t have to do anything extraordinary. If you deeply express the will to go to the demon realm from the depths of your heart, a mission related to it will be assigned to you.)
It had been proven that the user’s will is reflected in the direction of ability development and skill acquisition, but could that be the case for quests as well?
‘… Really? Hmm… What’s good for me if I go there?’
(Hmm? Well, the stronger I get, the stronger Eun-young will become, and that should be good for you, right?)
‘Hmm…’
If this guy breaks free from his seal, wouldn’t that greatly diminish Eun-young’s power? Even if that wasn’t the case, from a mental management standpoint, it’s better for her to have this guy beside her constantly.
‘I’ll think about it.’
(Ohh… Please. Fellow comrade walking the path of kings.)
When did we become comrades?
Still, helping this creature might grant me other achievements, so it’s worth considering helping if given the opportunity.
However, that would be secondary to the various problems I’m currently facing, so I should probably think about it after everything else is settled. After defeating the Orc Legion Commander and taking care of Jo Gi-man, of course.
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