Chapter 39 – Smash, Charge (2)
The daily repet.i.tive hunting and selling drops.
And the ma.s.sive amount of earnings matching it.
I was preparing to enter the dungeon at my usual time.
Then.
I felt a ma.s.sive crash and vibration that shook me.
My shield had a crack in it as if a bullet was embedded in bullet proof gla.s.s.
“What! Who"s the little s.h.i.t!”
My sights came on a few Awakened a.s.sembled at the entrance.
My shield had recovered at an incredible rate, regenerating thanks to my endless mana.
A situation where it looked like I swore loudly to myself.
To my yelling, everyone looked at me as if I was a weirdo.
But I definitely saw. And felt.
After leaving the guild, I made it a habit to always think of the shield cool down and constantly cast it to make sure it stays up.
A possibility that made me uneasy, I guess.
But now. Someone had attacked me on my way to the dungeon.
If my shield level was low, it was an attack that was lethal.
A sharp and precise attack that aimed for my vitals.
I tried to predict where the swift attack came from.
I quickly looked around but couldn"t find anyone.
Someone accidentally casted a spell? No way.
Incredible power. Stealthing swiftly. Someone had targeted me.
And an incredibly skilled one at that…..
I forced myself to calm down and acted as if nothing happened.
If I let myself get controlled by emotions, I would only reveal more weaknesses.
My composure only lasted for a moment though.
I felt someone looking at me from the roof of a building.
It wasn"t a distance where you could clearly make out a face, but it felt like he was smiling at me.
No, I was sure. He was laughing at me.
I ground my teeth.
He turned around as if to say he did what he came to do.
Looking at that, I wanted immediately land a meteor where he was at.
Who could it be.
There was a couple that I had in mind.
But suddenly like this?
And after attacking, appearing atop the roof as if wanting me to see him.
"It"s not over. Just the beginning." – Is the message he was trying to send.
I didn"t worry for long however.
"Hm….. Is it happening like Jong Ho-hyung predicted?"
The face that appeared on my mind!
n.o.blesse"s guild master Park Hyun.
It"s been a couple months since I quit the guild, about the time that I"d let my guard down thinking I was safe.
If my thinking is correct, it was definitely her fox-like crafty self who was behind this.
Her words that I didn"t understand and skipped over.
"If you do not need a guild, do as you wish. But you don"t know how life will turn out. If we do meet again and you return to us, I hope that you"ll be with us."
Thinking about the current situation, I could understand the meaning behind her words now.
She has already predicted my ability to a certain degree.
Otherwise she wouldn"t have offered such an enticing contract for me to join.
But I do not think she knows that I am wary of her.
If she knew, she wouldn"t say that as I quit and there would be no attacks like this.
Otherwise, after quitting, I"d disappear without a word.
I could also guess what she wants from me.
Instead of the constant danger, come over to the safe fenced side.
The image of me that reflected off her fox-like eyes was an 18 year old child.
"You"ll soon understand thoroughly that I"m not such a weak opponent."
I stared at where he stood for a while.
Seems it was time for me to make an important decision.
I"m sure the two goons and the midget hates me.
However. Hiring someone of that skill just because of revenge?
No matter how much money was involved, the chances were low.
And if they really did try getting at me, they"d attack until I was gravely wounded.
Also they would make sure that their ident.i.ty would be exposed.
It was the first time I was attacked by an Awakened instead of monsters.
I could almost feel the ma.s.sive shaking even now.
The call from Jong Ho came.
Just in case more issues would arise, I talked within the dungeon.
Of course I cleared out the dungeon first, and used the leftover time before the dungeon expired.
“How about it? Pretty sure?”
“Hm… No matter how I look at it, it"s done by n.o.blesse.”
“Hyung. There was nothing stuck to the shield. What skill was that?”
“Probably a.s.sa.s.sin Weapon Throw, and an Awakened version at that.”
“That"s something a.s.sa.s.sins use, right?”
“Yeah. It"s a skill to throw a small weapon toward a single target with perfect precision, but once you Awaken it, you can pressurize air and make it invisible.”
“Not a ranged attack, but a single target skill. A skill like that is incredibly hard to level up, but on top of that he Awakened it?”
“Definitely high skilled.”
“Guess it starts now?”
“What are you planning to do?”
“….. If I can buy more time, I could crush them. But looks like they caught on and are trying to take care of me quickly? Instead of just waiting and doing nothing, it"s probably better to strike first.”
“You"re saying you"re going to charge n.o.blesse first by yourself?”
“Solo? I have a hyung.”
Jong Ho"s eyes were filled with worry.
But I had a plan in mind.
Even if I go in without a plan, I probably wouldn"t lose.
Level 200s and 300s would only have 5 skills maxed at most.
n.o.blesse"s guild master Park Hyun was only early level 200.
But I had gained 150 levels in 4 months.
And all skills obtained were at master level.
I was already raising Awakened skills at the moment.
The one thing that I could improve on was the lack of shields to protect myself.
The only shields I currently have are Reflect Shield, Frozen Shield, and Spirit Armor.
The Reflect Shield was Awakened for reflecting purposes.
The other two skills had their duration and damage absorbed increased drastically as their level rose. However, they still had a cool down.
In the fight ahead, I would have to block a huge amount of damage with my shields.
If my shields broke faster than I planned, the results would be obvious.
I sorted out my thoughts and spoke to Jong Ho.
“Hyung. Does the a.s.sociation vendor Mana Shield?”
“Mana Shield? Even at the a.s.sociation, it would be hard to buy.”
“Is that so? Like Hold and Bind, there are just none on the market?”
“Mhm. It would be difficult to get one by using legal means.”
“I see. Then I"ll have to rely on the small fry.”
“Hm? Small fry? What do you mean?”
“Don"t worry about it. I"ll go first.”
“Okay. If something happens, contact me. Don"t ask rashly!”
“Don"t worry about a thing.”
“Together… Never mind. Said it out of habit. In this serious situation, you"re able to joke? Get home quick.”
“Pfft. I"ll be going!”
I headed toward the small fry"s office.
Originally I approximately knew where to contact him, but when I moved to the safe house, I was able to find his business card.
Since there was a pile of it that I could find, he probably threw one down each time he visited.
I entered by smashing through the office door.
I only came to ask for a favor, but I remembered how he used to treat my poor door.
Of course, the pile of business cards played a part in angering me.
Their eyes widened as they stared at me blankly with jajangmyeon in their hands.
“Sorry. I remembered how you bashed my door down. Are you well?”
“…… So you came?”
The two goons tossed aside the bowls and hurried greeted me.
As they greeted me, I walked in front of the midget.
Looking at him dead in the eyes, I told what I came for.
“I was. .h.i.t by an a.s.sa.s.sin Weapon Throw today. I"m asking just in case. You didn"t, right?”
“Me… What… Oh! No way. That"s absurd.”
“Well, whatever. The mission this time is "Mana Shield".”
“Huh?”
“I told you I don"t like repeating the same thing twice before.”
“Ah… Yes! Mana Shield. But the price can"t be compared with the previous items…..”
“Don"t worry about the costs; you just need to obtain it.”
“Yes…..”
“3 days. It"s urgent.”
“3 days is….. At least 1 we-”
One of the two goons spoke.
Before he could finish!
Around me were countless Banwol Jincheon"s coming out.
They should be aware of the weapon and Piercing Sword skill I have.
I casted the skill and asked.
“One week?”
Mr. Goon swallowed his words along with his food and continued.
“That"s not what I meant! 3 days. Plenty of time.”
“There"s one more thing I need to request.”
“What would it be….”
“I don"t want to do the trade face to face this time.”
“Yes. Not difficult at all.”
“Then I"ll be re-ly-ing on you.”
I said it as I stared down each of them one by one.
I never thought they could be this useful.
But there is a law in the world.
The law I"m talking about is how I get what I want and n.o.body gets hurt.
Well, not really my concern if these guys get hurt.
I left the midget"s office.
3 days. I had to get "Louver"s Necklace" and another "Banwol Jincheon" in 3 days.
I had the taxi change directions from the hunting grounds to the Awakened market.
If I get the right gear and weapon, I needed a physical attack skill to match it.
The skills I chose were "Gigantic Whirl" and "Typhoon Hole".
I remembered "Whirlwind" back in the guild war.
Spinning their body quickly to deal ma.s.sive damage with the weapon held.
If Whirlwind had the range of 4 to 5m radius, Gigantic Whirlwind had 10m.
It was as if you Awakened the regular Whirlwind spell.
Whirlwind and Gigantic Whirlwind were both A ranking spells.
Then it would be obvious to use Gigantic Whirlwind over the other.
However both had a different rate of mana consumption.
Most warrior skills used up percentage of mana.
It would depend on the skill level, but the base was 3% for Whirlwind while 10% for Gigantic Whirlwind.
Same damage and same type of attack.
But the added range increased the mana consumed as well.
If one gets caught up in this skill, they"d be ripped apart like food in a blender.
If used with a ma.s.sive amount of strength, it would make a huge impact against many opponents.
The next skill, "Typhoon Hole".
It was a skill mentioned in the additional information section of "Eye of the Storm".
The explanation stated that the skills have incredible synergy.
Eye of the Storm caused all living targets around the user to spin around the user, being dragged in closer and closer.
Typhoon Hole spun the other direction that Eye of the Storm did.
However, Typhoon Hole was an attack skill that incorporated sharp knife-like rain drops.
Eye of the Storm had increased damage dealt as it leveled, while Typhoon Hole spun the other way, dealing damage over time.
If both skills were leveled up, it will be able to display an incredible synergy.
“I"m here to purchase Gigantic Whirl and Typhoon Hole.”