The party, having recovered a bit of stamina, started running again at a light jogging pace.
“Heh-heh, if I ever step outside again, I’ll never touch a treadmill again.”
Among those whose stamina had already hit the limit, only Helen could still speak.
“Whew—it’s hard to focus.”
We were running on Course C. Just because it was labeled as a hunter’s route didn’t mean it was a perfectly paved road.
In fact, more than half of it twisted through densely packed forest areas, making it difficult to check messages while running from monsters. But the urge to confirm the job change was hard to resist.
“What do I do… Hmm…”
I tried to raise my focus and read the options, gripping my increasingly muddled brain.
The last presented choice seemed quite normal compared to the options that had come before. I thought that such a route would pop up when it was time for a job change. Yet, its plainness and simplicity made it appealing.
“Skeleton Knight…”
What I was worried about wasn’t just picking one out of four options, but the message that popped up next.
First a description of the Skeleton Knight appeared:
=====
Skeleton Knight
– If you’ve wandered onto the wrong path, you’ll need courage to turn back. You have realized a talent with the sword beyond the path of a Bombardier and possess a mindset to start anew.
Don’t worry about the road you’ve never walked. The moment you step into the space of martial arts, you already have more than enough qualifications to embark on the path of the sword.
– You will relinquish all abilities of the Skeleton Bombardier and focus your will on the sword.
– This job includes a quest for the next job change. Choose wisely.
– There will be restrictions on the growth of magic power.
– This is the fastest-growing class among the presented options.
• You will walk the path to becoming a Death Knight.
• You briefly step off the path to becoming a Lord of Shadows.
• You step away from the path toward the Grand Sorcerer dreaming of immortality.
• You completely step away from the path toward the Catastrophic Bombardier.
• You will take a step on the path to becoming the King of the Undead.
– The growth of the trait [Penetration] increases by 20%.
– The experience points requirement for leveling up decreases by 10%.
– You acquire the trait [Quick Sword].
– You receive one chance for stat reset.
– Strength +60
– Health +40
– Agility +35
– Resistance +5
Trait: A tiny increase in the probability of entering the space of martial arts, and a slight increase in the probability of gaining insight into the sword while in that space.
• Job Change Quest
– Defeat 20,000 enemies with great swords.
=====
“That white space where I acquired [Penetration] is called the space of martial arts. Is that what distinguishes it from the other options?”
The shocking premise of discarding all the abilities I had built up so far. However, future growth would be rapid, and I’d also get one chance for a stat reset.
“It’s really precious to get a stat reset…”
The chance of a stat reset that early awakening hunters burned with passion to find.
If I chose the Skeleton Knight, I would obtain it.
But something additional popped up to blow away these intriguing descriptions.
– You have faced a crisis unlike anything you have experienced before. If you can overcome this crisis with your own power, one of the current options will transform in a new way.
“… One of the current options will… change…”
The options given so far were: Skeleton Bombardier, Skeleton Fire Sorcerer, Skeleton Assassin, Skeleton Knight—those four.
“If I overcome this crisis without changing jobs, will a better option be presented than the current ones?”
It was highly probable given the conditions, but I couldn’t be sure.
Still, greed surged within me. I wanted to walk a more unique path, a path no one else had tread.
Surely, I wasn’t odd for wanting that. Anyone would find themselves in a similar dilemma.
“If things go as I think in the canyon… I could pull through without changing jobs. But if not, it’ll be total annihilation…”
Whew—
It was a tough choice. Should I push the limits for the future, or take the safer route right now?
After a fierce internal struggle, 20 more minutes passed.
“Is there still no sign…?”
Nod—
Now, Noh Ha-yoon had caught on that I had some unknown sensing ability.
That chattering little punk couldn’t help but spill the beans, and naturally, it was impossible not to notice. Or maybe she was already aware from the start.
Grin—
At my nod, Noh Ha-yoon looked very pleased, her smile curving up. What was she even thinking? Does she ever think?
“Connection’s cut! Approximately 200 meters!!”
Yeon-hee’s confident shout cut off any view between Ha-yoon and me. What did she mean by 200m?
Back when Sang-cheol and Hyung-jik were debating whether to party or not.
Yeon-hee approached me and said that she gained a new ability after surpassing level 40. That ability was to share vision when her summoned creatures were dismissed.
“That’s amazing.”
It was quite a useful ability. Right now, we could check how close the Lizardmen and Ddung-i we left behind were to getting attacked by orcs.
Of course, the information gained from sporadically positioned summons was limited, but with my abilities, it could be adequately supplemented.
Based on what we had now, it meant those guys had closed the gap to between 120-200 meters.
“This isn’t good! We’ll get surrounded before reaching the canyon!”
“What?! Damn it! Damn it!”
“Ahhhh, please save me!!”
Seeing the party members’ despair rise, Yeon-hee wore a seriously contemplative expression.
“I can’t use the summoning scroll…”
Even though her level had increased several stages, she still hadn’t used the scroll. It was hard to say it was due to moving, but she could have used it during our brief resting periods. But perhaps only a minute or two of rest would have made it hard.
I could only speculate whether there was some other constraint apart from not wanting to show the summoning ritual in front of others.
“Yeon-hee, how’s your mana?”
“Less than half!”
Still, the distance to the monsters was slowly closing because Yeon-hee continued to place summoned creatures behind us to block their advance.
“Haah… Haah…”
Her heavy breathing swept through my bones and rushed out again.
Total mana usage and fatigue are proportional. The amount of mana she used today nearly matched the mana used over the past few days.
Naturally, she had grown weary. Even though I was carrying her on my back, it was unavoidable that her mental state would decline.
“How much farther to the canyon?”
When Helen asked, I held up five fingers, causing the others to narrow their eyes.
“Haah— I can’t possibly run anymore.”
Ultimately, even Jin-kyung had collapsed.
“Lizardman 17! Carry Jin-kyung unnie!”
After nearly half an hour of sprinting at near-maximum effort, everyone except Helen and me ended up being carried by their summons. Naturally, this meant the time until we would meet the monsters was rapidly approaching.
Kwarugh—
If I looked back now, I could see their heads close enough.
They were salivating ravenously, their bloodshot eyes gleaming with hunger.
Stored Bombs: 23/62
“Should I buy some time with bombs?”
Just as I thought this, for the seventh time today, an Ice Field ravaged the back areas.
Kwahhhh…
“Grkr?”
Dozens of orcs appeared to be trapped in the freezing spell.
Kwah-jang-chang!!
“Th-this is bad!!”
Seeing the orc warriors easily break free from the ice, Noh Ha-yoon expressed rare panic in her voice.
“I rushed it too much.”
Casting magic is a very delicate task. In her hastiness, she failed to properly gather her mental strength, resulting in her magic being released at less than half its usual power, leaving the orc warriors with merely an ice massage level of freezing.
A large amount of her mana had dissipated, granting confidence to the enemies—this was the worst possible mistake a magician could make.
But no one could harbor any resentment towards her. Everyone knew that among us, Yeon-hee and Noh Ha-yoon had worked the hardest while being chased by those monsters.
I threw the potion bottle filled with Irmana’s lake water to both Noh Ha-yoon and Bae Joo-ah.
“Ah! Is this the one from earlier?”
Nod—
“Wow—!”
The rock-type sorceress Bae Joo-ah downed it instantly, and soon, her body started to tremble.
“Ah… I feel alive!! Is this amazing? It feels like it’s reducing fatigue too?”
“Definitely… I’ve never seen such a potion before.”
Noh Ha-yoon gazed at the empty potion bottle longingly.
“If you drank it, you should get to work, right?”
I pointed to the back, signaling the two sorceresses, who obediently began reciting spells again.
“Rock Rain!!”
“Multiple Ice Spikes!!”
“You guys… just throwing all your mana at it…”
Thud-thud-thud—
Of course, the magic from both sorceresses was incredibly powerful and effective enough to hold the frontline of orcs that had pushed close to us.
“Just a bit more!!”
“Lizardman, please run a bit faster!!”
Shuruhhh…!!
‘It seems we might just barely make it in time.’
.
.
.
“Gahh— Haah— Wow, we made it.”
The place we arrived at was a spot with a width of 7 meters and a sheer cliff that seemed to go on forever.
This location was perfect for defending. We walked to a comparably wide area at the canyon’s end and set it up as a defensive position.
“What if, like before, they throw rocks at us?”
As soon as Jin-kyung arrived, she wrapped her arms around herself, worried. Then Bae Joo-ah patted her reassuringly.
“I was too flustered before to do anything, but next time, I’ll be able to manage it. Don’t worry. Moreover, throwing a rock of that size with magic will likely burden them too. They can’t do that often.”
“Then that’s a relief, but ha…”
“L-let’s regroup. For now, Iryul, the summon, is free-roaming. The plan is for Ha-yoon’s freezing magic to go first, then Iryul will blow it up. For the rest, focus on preventing them from pushing us back.”
Continuing from Yeon-hee’s words, Noh Ha-yoon added.
“Also, the key to our defense is our magician Joo-ah, so please ensure our summons protect her as much as possible.”
Nod—
Kuguguguun—
Just as I was about to step away.
“Hehehe, foolish humans can’t escape.”
“You’ve trapped yourself. So dumb.”
“Blue-haired female. I’ll eat you.”
The orcs began to saunter in, smirking wickedly and licking their lips.
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