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Should I help?
Should I stay quiet?
At the crossroads of two choices, Seong Na-yeon agonized countless times.
Manticores, A-grade monsters.
Three of them were evaluated as almost top-level among physical enhancement-type monsters.
With just two B-grade Holders…
And in a solo-carry combo at that, it seemed too burdensome to hunt down such a pack of monsters cleanly.
‘But…’Before she could make a decision, the battle began.
Do Jae-hyun and Moon Ga-eun.
There was no hesitation in their preparation.
As soon as they detected the monsters with exploration runes, they immediately took up battle formations, seized advantageous positions by attacking first before the monsters’ attacks, and kept the upper hand with nimble dagger techniques timed properly with jumps and calm combinations of magical attacks that seemed like skills.
Against A-grade monsters, the two were smoothly continuing the hunt.
‘Holder Do Jae-hyun…’
Na-yeon also knew Do Jae-hyun’s name well.
Assassin class, 1st year at the academy.
But regardless of his class, a multi-holder with various runes.
Not just wielding multiple weapons, but a talented multi-holder utilizing both magical and physical runes like herself.
Evaluations and stories about him were already spreading.
Especially being accepted as a short-term intern, breaking precedents in the <Judgment of Fire>, proved he was a promising prospect receiving much attention in the current Holder world.
‘He wouldn’t know this himself.’
Large clans don’t become large clans for nothing.
Even if they don’t openly show it externally, internally they record scouting reports on all promising academy prospects.
Among them, Do Jae-hyun was a key recruitment target for <Royal>.
Excluding Kang Juyeon, he had received almost the highest internal evaluations among 1st year academy students.
As a seasoned clan member with considerable status and reputation in the <Royal> clan herself, Seong Na-yeon was well aware of such key recruitment lists within the clan.
“He’s certainly living up to his name.”
While watching Do Jae-hyun and Moon Ga-eun’s party hunt, Seong Na-yeon nodded as if admitting it.
He is certainly a skilled Holder.
Ability scores, rune levels and utilization, senses and judgement.
He was lacking in almost nothing when it came to combat.
…Not completely nothing though.
Maybe because he gained great power at a young age, he had a somewhat arrogant side that couldn’t be ignored.
Taking the manticore’s poison attack head-on with his body.
Even with proper defensive measures equipped, this was not the best action as a tanker.
If possible, he should have kept evading until the end and completely blocked the opponent’s attacks – that was the combat method warrior-type Holders should pursue.
Well, that aside, he was demonstrating considerable ability.
“This will be fun.”
Seong Na-yeon looked at Do Jae-hyun with an interested gaze.
At first, just escorting Moon Ga-eun.
And curiosity about the two being a couple.
Though she had taken an interest in the mission for those reasons…
Now, she was also gaining personal interest in Do Jae-hyun.
***
Ippotranslation
***
“Jae-hyun! You okay?!”
Moon Ga-eun’s voice came from behind.
The scene of the scorpion-like tail stabbing into my forearm.
It was blatant enough that she would worry.
I also thought uh-oh to myself.
Since this was a poison attack, I was able to defend efficiently, but if it was another type of special attack, it could have been quite dangerous…
Even with [Descendant of the Barbarian King] and [Physical Defence] equipped, over-relying on runes in combat should be avoided.
“I’m fine! Give me cover fire instead!”
“Got it!”
As if she had finished preparations beforehand.
Moon Ga-eun’s arrow barrage filled the sky.
The target was the manticore I had leapt up to with [Staircase Slash].
My body had already moved to another manticore attacking me.
‘With blazing flames…’
[Sword of Penitent] stabbed into the nape of the manticore’s neck while summoning intense flames within it.
The magical attack following the successful physical attack was extremely effective.
Whoosh-!
Kuh, kuh-!!
Twisting in pain, the manticore crashed to the ground.
[Fiery Flames] was already level 8.
Unless they had considerable fire resistance, it wasn’t easy to block this attack timed properly.
“The rest too….”
The manticore that endured Moon Ga-eun’s arrow barrage and [Staircase Slash] also fell to the ground.
It seemed all the manticores would fall unconscious at this rate…
Kuh-!!
Kkiik-
…Not quite.
One was still flying properly in the sky.
It was the manticore that had charged forward first in the beginning.
Although it had taken [Quarter Knife] and [Extreme Shot] from us in the beginning, somehow it had recovered its status and was trying to counterattack.
‘Does it have magical resistance or something?’
To recover this quickly after taking our main skills…
Unlike the other manticores, this one seemed to have more advantage in enduring and recovering.
“But that’s not happening.”
Regardless of that oddity, I couldn’t let it attack.
I utilized [The Greatest Racehorse Under Heaven] and it then charged straight at Moon Ga-eun.
Where its counterattack would be aimed…
That was obvious.
Kuh-!!
Kang! Kagang!!
In a flash I arrived before it in front of Moon Ga-eun.
And without a moment to catch my breath, I lifted the [Goblin’s Bronze Shield].
Followed immediately by the derived skill, [Iron Wall Defence].
The physical attacks of manticores without charge runes could be handled without much difficulty.
Though the manticore tried to attack the ranged class, my defense with a skill blocked it futilely.
“Hut-!!”
After that, it was smooth sailing.
Lifting my sword again, I finished hunting them.
The last manticore I attacked seemed to have high resistance to magic compared to the others, but it couldn’t withstand the concentrated attacks from Moon Ga-eun and me.
[Wave Sword Technique] and [Water Sword Technique], plus various other magical rune combinations.
This was sufficient to hunt the exhausted manticores.
[You were victorious in the battle! Your high contribution in the battle is recognized, granting victory. With the mystical power of a rune hunter, you can copy one of the opponent’s runes. Please select the rune to copy.]
An information window appeared, signaling the end of combat.
Leaving it for the moment, I approached Moon Ga-eun and asked.
“You okay? Hurt anywhere?”
“Yeah. I used up quite a bit of magic, but should be fine after a potion. More than that…”
Moon Ga-eun looked around at the manticore corpses and said.
“You’re seriously amazing… How did you deal with three A-grade monsters so easily…”
“What’s with the flattery? You’ve seen it often.”
“It was never to this extent before.”
That’s true.
The last time I hunted with Moon Ga-eun was the academy underground dungeon, and me then and now were worlds apart.
“You got a lot stronger too, right? Compared to the end of last semester, it’s like you ate some great item during break?”
However, Moon Ga-eun’s skills had also improved tremendously.
Her physical attack accuracy was outstanding, and her magical attacks were delicate and elaborate.
Especially her timing in providing support fire at the right moments during battle was awe-inspiring.
Hunting three manticores cleanly without using her ultimate skill even once.
This wouldn’t have been possible without Moon Ga-eun’s support.
“Oh, stop… I was always at this level….”
No she wasn’t.
She had clearly grown a lot.
At my simple praise, Moon Ga-eun seemed strangely embarrassed.
…Have I not complemented her enough till now?
I scratched my head and asked another question.
“Moon Ga-eun. You’re B-grade now, right?”
Hunting together, I clearly felt it.
Moon Ga-eun’s level was definitely not C-grade.
Minimum B-grade…
And with plenty of hunting experience, she felt like a mature B-grade Holder.
However, Moon Ga-eun shook her head.
“No, not yet. I’m close to B-grade… but I think my strength score is still a bit lacking, so I’m raising it more to get promoted.”
“Achievements?”
“I filled those ages ago. Since I went hunting with a clan so often.”
Similar situation to me then.
B-grade Holder promotion requires an ability score of 50.
Exceeding 50 in just one of your main ability scores satisfies the promotion requirement.
In my case, acquiring [The Greatest Racehorse Under Heaven] rune raised my agility stat to 51, so I already met the promotion criteria.
After clearing this dungeon, it seemed Moon Ga-eun and I would both get promoted to B-grade together.
“Thanks anyway. Definitely helped with support.”
“You did better.”
“Puh- What are we doing? Hurry and grab the by-products then head to the midpoint.”
“Okay!”
Manticores are A-grade monsters.
Naturally, the by-products from hunting them included many high-grade materials.
Moon Ga-eun walked towards one of the crumpled manticores, while I first approached the frontmost manticore.
The one at the vanguard during the earlier battle.
The one enduring our attacks and counter attacking until the end.
“Hm?”
And the moment I tried extracting its magic stone first…
I noticed something odd.
The magic stone possessed by the manticore.
The large, chest-embedded magic stone…
“Black?”
Was tinged with a dark color I had never seen before.
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