Chapter 233: Black Mud Swamp (1)

「A-Rank Dungeon, Black Mud Swamp」

Monday, the day I was supposed to meet Do Sihee and the maid Eunbyul, came back surprisingly quickly.

Inside the dungeon, at the agreed-upon meeting spot, the girls and I formed a party and were in the midst of battling A-Rank monsters, the Wind Scorpions.

After just a few rounds since we started our proper group hunt, we had each found our positions and established a systematic party formation.

“Sihee-ssi, right!”

“Got it!”

Hearing me, Do Sihee nodded in acknowledgement.

Immediately after, the magic arrow fired by the blonde young lady drew a straight line as it soared into the sky.

Not long after the arrow left her hand, a single magic arrow precisely pierced the Wind Scorpion’s body.

-Padeudeudeuk!!

Perhaps due to the pain of the arrow embedded in its body, or maybe because its limbs were damaged from the injury.

The Wind Scorpion, suffering a penetrating wound to the exoskeleton on its chest, began to slowly fall to the ground with a loud flapping sound.

“Eunbyul, finish it!”

“Understood!”

Just as the staggering Wind Scorpion got close enough, a sharp sliver shot out from under Eunbyul’s wrist.

The second, more precise attack accurately lodged itself in the monster’s head.

-Pajyujyuj…

The Wind Scorpion, struck by the second attack following the magic arrow, fell powerlessly to the ground.

It was truly excellent teamwork, the kind you’d expect from two people who had practiced together for a long time.

…Yeah, this is party hunting.

“Kim Sungchul-nim! Behind you!”

“Got it!”

Just as I was getting lost in admiration of their teamwork, Eunbyul’s voice called out to me from behind.

A swarm of Wind Scorpion larvae, rolling their bulky bodies as they charged from behind, immediately came into my sight.

While they’re still B-Rank monsters in their larval stage, when they swarm like this, their danger level is comparable to an A-Rank monster.

I channeled the maximum amount of my inner energy into my greatsword, sharpening its blade, and swung it horizontally towards the swarm of monsters rushing towards me.

-Chwaahk! Tseupeuk!

With a loud sound, the bodies of the Wind Scorpion larvae, sliced by the sword energy, split in half, spilling their bodily fluids and insides.

…It wasn’t exactly a pretty sight.

Even though they were relatively harmless-looking, grub-like monsters, seeing their insides spill out after being torn by a greatsword blade couldn’t be described as pleasant, even generously.

Furthermore, even though I’d cut them with my sword, the monster corpse fragments were still flying towards us with the momentum of inertia.

If I didn’t want to be covered in the messy remains of monsters, I needed to handle the aftermath properly.

To block the Wind Scorpion larvae’s remains, I grabbed the ‘spear’ I took out from my spatial pocket in my right hand.

Just before throwing it using ‘Spear Throw’, I imbued the spear in my hand with 2nd Circle frost magic.

The most basic principle of frost magic is the lowering of temperature.

The simplest logic to cause a temperature drop is a substance’s vaporization reaction, and naturally, frost magic is created based on that principle.

Mana emission, vaporization, cohesion, condensation, vaporization.

My spear, imbued with the 5-step 2nd Circle frost magic, struck the center of the monster corpse mass along with my throwing ability.

My ice spear, which began reacting simultaneously, started freezing the surroundings into a single block of ice from that moment on.

Normally, it would be a difficult technique to use due to the tricky timing required between magic and throwing, but for me, using both myself, it wasn’t that hard.

Thanks to the successfully executed technique, I didn’t have to worry about being covered in monster remains during the hunt.

After finishing the hunt, which was already the third consecutive one.

As I was checking on Sihee and Eunbyul’s condition as the temporary party leader, the blonde young lady suddenly let out a reaction of disbelief.

“…Seriously, no matter how many times I see it, that’s just an unbelievable technique.”

“Huh?”

“I mean that thing you do, casually imbuing a thrown weapon with elemental magic all by yourself. If you count my time as a trainee hunter, I’ve been a hunter for over 5 years, and I’ve never seen anyone use a technique like that alone before.”

I wondered what she was talking about, only to realize she was commenting on the ice spear I had just used.

“Well, that’s probably true. Spear techniques and frost magic are awakened abilities operated by completely different types of inner energy. In the first place, there probably aren’t even hunters who use two awakened abilities simultaneously.”

“And you, saying that so nonchalantly, as if it’s the most natural thing… If I keep partying with you, Sungchul-ssi, I think my senses might start getting weird too.”

“You’ll be seeing it often from now on, though.”

It’s not like I planned to hide the level of my awakened abilities in front of Do Sihee or Eunbyul, who already knew them, unlike when I party with complete strangers I have no connection with.

If I reacted with surprise to things like this every time, it would only make it harder to get used to them later.

“Besides, while there might not be anyone else who uses it alone like me, isn’t the concept of combined techniques quite common? In fact, both techniques I used for the combination were only C-Rank or B-Rank level skills.”

“Are you saying that knowing how difficult it is for two hunters to use a combined technique with synchronized breathing?”

“Huh?”

“Even a simple ice spear, which combines throwing with frost magic, has a much higher chance of failure unless the synchronization is quite good, you know?”

Saying that, Sihee began to preach about the difficulty of combined techniques as if she were an experienced practitioner.

“If the frost magic is delayed longer than the throwing timing, the combination won’t work at all. Conversely, if the frost magic is too fast, it can freeze the spear before it’s thrown, or even freeze the hunter’s hand that’s performing the throw.”

“Well, I do hear about such cases occasionally.”

“And that’s only for techniques like the ice spear; techniques like fire spears or wind spears can lead to much more severe injuries.”

“I suppose that could happen depending on the situation.”

“You can adjust the timing yourself since you use both techniques alone, but for two hunters to actually use it together, it’s a technique that requires at least 2-3 years of synchronized practice!”

Hearing the explanation, which included oddly specific numbers, I found myself nodding along involuntarily.

“In reality, the number of hunters who use combined techniques in the field is extremely small, Kim Sungchul-nim. It takes a considerable amount of time to achieve perfect synchronization, and if even a small mistake occurs, they often have to abort the expedition for the day, return, and receive treatment.”

“Right, even a melee hunter would have a hard time fighting for long if their hands get burned or frozen by magic.”

“Yes. And besides, it’s much more efficient to fight using each individual’s awakened abilities rather than spending time on combined techniques in the middle of a battle where focus is crucial.”

So, if perfected, it’s powerful, but because it’s so difficult to handle perfectly, it’s a technique that hunters inevitably avoid using.

In aspects like this, I could really see how my multiple awakened abilities were a huge advantage in many ways.

…Come to think of it, she explained it quite detailedly, almost like she had experience using combined techniques herself.

I don’t like holding back my curiosity, so I called out to the two of them and asked further questions about combined techniques.

“Sihee-ssi, Eunbyul-ssi.”

“Yes?”

“What is it, Kim Sungchul-nim?”

“I heard you two have practiced together for quite a long time, so by any chance, do you have any combined techniques you can use?”

Hearing my question, Sihee and Eunbyul looked at each other, exchanged a brief glance, and then nodded almost simultaneously in response.

“We have a few miscellaneous techniques we created back when we were trainee hunters.”

“Since becoming official hunters, we’ve focused on improving our individual capabilities, so what we can show you isn’t exactly a proper technique.”

“Still, could you show me just once? I suddenly became curious about what kind of combined techniques other hunters use.”

“…Alright, then. Conveniently, there’s a suitable target right over there.”

-Padeudeudeudeuk!

Do Sihee pointed at a Wind Scorpion flying towards us just then and said, looking at Eunbyul.

“Eunbyul, shall we go with Technique #3?”

“Understood, Master.”

Do Sihee drew her bowstring, forming a magic arrow made of energy, and fired it towards the Wind Scorpion flying towards us, slightly altering its trajectory.

Soon after, with a strong gust of wind, two thin blades shot from Eunbyul’s hand, closely chasing the arrow.

The wind blades, chasing the tail of the magic arrow, passed vertically through the arrow as it flew in a parabolic arc in mid-air.

The magic arrow, which started as one, split into four pieces in mid-air and then, following their respective paths, all four pieces embedded themselves into the Wind Scorpion’s body.

-Tsujyujyuju…

The Wind Scorpion (or what was left of it) fell with a weak flapping sound.

The two, having demonstrated a combined technique of archery and magnetism, showed me puzzled expressions.

“That’s about it. It’s pretty pathetic compared to what you do, isn’t it?”

“It’s just a shabby little technique that I’m too embarrassed to show you, Kim Sungchul-nim.”

No way. This is f*ing awesome.