Chapter 36. From Today, I’m an Official Explorer (6)
The Lizard Knight roared and thrust his spear toward me. Before his spear could touch my body, I parried it with my glaive. His spear shot up into the air, and as he was unable to withstand my strength, it separated from his grip. I used my glaive and quickly pushed it away.
All of this takes some time to describe, but actually happened in the s.p.a.ce of a second. Although I wasn"t weak, I was no match for the Lizard Knight in a direct exchange of strength. I had to rely on my techniques.
"No way, the Floor Master let go of his weapon!"
"I saw it too, so stop shaking me by my neck!"
I took my stance and pulled my spear back. The Lizard Knight let out a rage filled roar and swung his tail. It was exactly at the same time when the second attack team made their move.
"Whoa, dodge his tail first!"
"Hmph, Lion Strike!"
While the other damage dealers were running back, Ren shouted out and swung his claymore down at the Lizard Knight"s tail. Since he said Lion Strike, it was likely a skill.
His claymore, dyed gold, collided with the tail with a boom. Along with the explosive sound, I heard the Lizard Knight"s scream. I did not wait to find out what happened. I was certain Ren had crushed him.
"Enun, amplify me!"
"Got it! Amplification!"
The moment Enun used Amplification, I felt an instant surge of strength. I could certainly feel the amplification. It felt like the mana around me was flooding toward me. At the same time, I instinctively felt that this state would not last long.
"Everyone get back! Heroic Strike, Divine Speed!"
This was my first time using the Divine Speed skill, which quintupled my speed for 0.5 seconds. With faster speed, it was obvious that the attack power would increase. Although I could also use it to dodge attacks, the Lizard Knight"s attacks weren"t so fast that I needed to use Divine Speed to dodge them.
Divine Speed was truly powerful. When I thrust out with my spear as I normally did, I heard the sound of my spear cutting wind as it entered the Lizard Knight"s stomach. White light enveloped my glaive as it flickered with lightning from Spirit Aura. With the incredible boost from Divine Speed on top of everything else, my spear was no different from Zeus" lightning.
"Kuak!"
The Lizard Knight"s armor, as well as the scales protecting him, broke in an instant. With a shrill cry, the Lizard Knight coughed out a mouthful of blood. It seemed the amplification did its job.
Of course, I wasn"t doing so well either. Heroic Strike normally had a strong recoil. With the momentum from Divine Speed added, my arm throbbed like it was going to be ripped off.
"Is Ren okay!?"
"He"s alive! I"m healing him at the moment!"
"Kuk… I"m… fine!"
It seemed he received a huge recoil from his attack. As I was worrying about Ren, the Lizard Knight threw away his broken armor and became bare-skinned. It seemed that"s when he realized he did not have his spear as he rushed to where the spear went flying. Even I had no plans to block his charge head on. As such, I stepped back and shouted to the archers.
"Archers, attack!"
"Yes!"
To stop the Lizard Knight"s movements, the two archers endlessly shot out their arrows. Meanwhile, the priest and priestesses managed to restore Ren to fighting condition. Spitting out some blood, Ren held up his claymore and asked, "What happened to his tail?"
"Ah, it"s dangling, half-severed."
"Ah, I see…"
I answered Ren as I watched the Lizard Knight happily picking up his spear. Although Ren seemed depressed that he was unable to completely sever the Lizard Knight"s tail, I was surprised on the inside.
It was extremely difficult to cut the limbs or tail of a Floor Master. Their bodies were built completely different from normal monsters. Rather than cutting their limbs, it was much more efficient to continuously attack their pressure points.
However, Ren managed to crush a Floor Master"s tail with a single use of a skill. It was a questionable attack from a warrior"s point of view since he destroyed his body in the process, but that was why healers existed.
In truth, although the way he used his strength seemed foolish, I had to at least acknowledge the force it carried. Frankly, he was stronger than the current me. As his claymore suggested, his cla.s.s likely put great emphasis on his strength.
As I was thinking about Ren, the Lizard Knight, who managed to retrieve his spear, raised it up high. I, of course, would not miss this opening. Just as I pulled my spear back slightly to use Tempest…
"Haaap!"
Ren cut in with his stupidly large claymore.
"Lion Upper!"
Unlike his large body suggested, he moved rather nimbly. Having approached the Lizard Knight, Ren swung his claymore from the bottom to the top toward the Lizard Knight"s spear. It wasn"t a bad approach. However, unless he had a technique to make use of the enemy"s strength to maximize the counteractive force, it was better to just strike from top to bottom to mess up the enemy"s breathing!
"Kyaha! Human!"
"Die! Ugh, uwoaah!"
It was just as I expected. Ren was unable to win against the downward force of the Lizard Knight"s spear. His claymore was sent flying and the Lizard Knight"s spear ended up hitting the ground like he wanted.
Me? Because Ren made me miss my timing to use Tempest, I used Divine Speed to approach the Lizard Knight the moment his spear struck the ground.
"Cough!"
"Uwaaak!"
"Kuk, d.a.m.n it!"
[Party member Sherbitz died.]
[Party member Enun Von Karbia died.]
[Party member Rodlin Von Ionard died.]
[Party member Deruin died.]
d.a.m.n, just a single earthquake attack had killed four party members. They were the three healers and the magician, Enun. It seemed all he did was use Amplification once. At least the priest and priestesses healed Ren…
Me? I had leapt forward with Divine Speed"s 0.5 second boost and was flying toward the Lizard Knight.
"Kuaaak!"
"Kuk, hang on! Use your potions!"
"Crown Prince-nim!"
I was going to take care of it even if you didn"t call me!
I was near the Lizard Knight before I knew it. At a spear"s thrust distance away, I first attacked the Lizard Knight"s eye. Although he tried to intercept me, I was faster. My spear hit its eye perfectly, causing blood to explode out.
[Critical Hit!]
"Kuak!"
"Tempest!"
I first stunned the Lizard Knight from holding his spear up. In the instant when his body lost its tension, I once again made him lose his spear. After the earthquake ended, the Lizard Knight swung his half-severed tail at me with fury.
I was waiting for this moment.
"Elemental Tempest!"
[Whoooo!]
[Everyone gather up! Prince-nim is going to scold us otherwise!]
[Hurry, hurry! We"re going to be late!]
[That looks delicious! Someone fry it up!]
[There are no fire elementals here!]
I couldn"t believe it. Even the process in which the elementals gathered was shortening. Seeing the usually lax elementals rush to my spear, I shot my spear directly at the cut on the Lizard Knight"s tail.
With the swooshing sound of air being cut, a storm ripped the Lizard Knight"s tail apart.
"Kuaaak!"
"The tail got cut!"
"Please, does that look like it got cut? It got shredded!"
As expected, a skill that used half of my MP was indescribably strong. Heroic Strike, Divine Speed, and Elemental Tempest. Thanks to these skills, my MP was completely drained. As a result, I felt nauseous and my head throbbed.
Gulping down a lowest-grade Mana Potion, I landed. As it only restored 100 mana, it only helped to slightly alleviate the symptoms.
Lizard Knight was now using Dragon Skin.
"Kukuku, humans, you are strong, I admit! But that won"t matter now!"
"Yeah, the one I met yesterday said something similar."
"Kuk, I"ll finish him off!"
Ren the eager warrior said as he got up with his claymore. He was exactly the type of person who kept getting up after he was knocked down. However, if things were left to Ren, he would undoubtedly mess up like before. As such, I silently waved my hand at Ren.
"Just stand there and watch."
"But!"
"Because you couldn"t block his attack, four people lost a week of their time."
"Kuk!"
I deactivated Spirit Aura. I put my glaive aside and charged toward the Lizard Knight bare handed. He had to be severely damaged from Heroic Strike, Lion Strike, Elemental Tempest, and the archer"s focused atta… well maybe not that. In any case, his condition was obvious from his shaking legs. It was almost like he was begging for me to use my techniques!
"Here"s a two handed grip shoulder throw!"
"Uwuuk!"
"N-No way!"
"C-Crown Prince picked up and threw the Lizard Knight!"
"I can"t stop myself. I"m falling in love with him. I must marry him now!"
"But you"re a guy!"
Before I noticed it, the damage dealers from the second attack team had gotten up and were now spectating with popcorn in hand. However, as I was focused on the fight, I could not hear what they were murmuring about. I did not want to either!
I threw the Lizard Knight over and over again without stop. Because I had no mana left, I knew my body wouldn"t last the moment I missed a technique. I was in a more dangerous situation than yesterday. This was all Ren"s fault.
"Human! A mere human!"
"It happens, and sometimes you die before you know it!"
"Humaaaaaan!"
"What, Lizard Kniiiight! This is the end! Floating drop!"
This was the power of level 9 mid-rank martial arts technique and body strengthened with mana! As I threw the 2.3m giant down on the ground, the Lizard Knight coughed out blood.
"Kuk, human… Hero…!"
"That wasn"t even Heroic Strike, you fool!"
In case it was still alive after spitting out a mouthful of blood, I made sure it was dead with my spear. He soon disappeared and we finally heard the system message we were all used to hearing.
[You defeated the Floor Master!]
Chapter 37. From Today, I’m an Official Explorer (7)
[10,000 gold is distributed evenly among party members. You received 1667 gold.]
[Rewards will be distributed in order of contribution.]
[Kang Shin-nim"s contribution is the highest. Choose your reward.]
[1. Lizard Knight"s Silver Spear
2. Middle Potion
3. 1,000 Gold
4. Mid-rank Mana Potion
5. Scale Knife
6. 1,500 Gold]
Looking at the list of rewards, I became speechless. Could it get any worse!?
Although I got unlucky from time to time, today was too much. Was it because of Ren"s stupid move in the middle? Because I was interested in what "medicine" the Lizard Knight would drop, I couldn"t help but be disappointed. In the end, I grabbed the Lizard Knight"s Silver Spear.
I"d been meaning to replace my Orc Lord"s Glaive. I couldn"t keep tormenting it. It was time to use a spear that matched my level.
Silver Spear was certainly a good spear. It was made out of some silver-colored metal and was very hard. Although it wasn"t as long as the one Lizard Knight used, it was still about 3 meters long and had a very good thickness to it.
The blade on the spearhead seemed long enough to be used for slashing, and the tip of especially sharp. I loved it. Whether in function or look, it satisfied me completely.
Unlike with the Orc Lord"s Glaive, the moment I held the Silver Spear, a message popped up.
[By equipping the Lizard Knight"s Silver Spear, your strength and dexterity increase by 2. The Lizard Knight Master t.i.tle grants another 3 strength and dexterity.]
That"s right. It was about time that weapons had effects like this! With a satisfied smile, I looked around at my party members.
There wasn"t a happy atmosphere like I expected. Usually, when I defeated the Floor Master, everyone was happy no matter how big of a loss we suffered. However, the party members seemed to be angry. They were also all glaring at Ren.
"People died because Ren-nim did unnecessary things!"
"Your contribution points must have been cut too."
"Crown Prince-nim was doing perfectly fine on his own! Because of Ren-nim"s charge, Crown Prince-nim had to cancel his skill!"
"Haa, this is why you can"t party with people from Panan continent."
"Sorry. It"s all my fault. I have no excuse."
Ah, so that was it. I smirked. Dungeon explorers were people too. Most of them did nothing to contribute in the raid, and they must have felt bothered by it on the inside. It was a case of inferiority complex.
In that situation, however, someone who was worse than them appeared: Ren. Although he was eager and pa.s.sionate, his actions almost led to the party being wiped.
These people just wanted to gain self-satisfaction by confirming that there was someone who was worse than them. They were telling themselves that they were better than that person. That they had more qualification.
It was truly laughable.
What really surprised me was Ren. Unlike the fiery temperament he showed in battle, he fully acknowledged his faults and was bowing his head in apology. Although it wasn"t particularly commendable, most people in his place lashed out rather than apologize. He left a favorable impression on me. Since I also thought differently, I decided to cut in.
"Sorry. I should have told everyone about Lizard Knight"s skill. Because of my hubris that I could stop it easily, I forgot. It"s my fault. I apologize."
"N-No! Crown Prince-nim did fantastic given the circ.u.mstances!"
"That"s right! We could only beat the Lizard Knight thanks to Crown Prince-nim!"
"Ren-nim, you realize Crown Prince-nim is trying to cover for your mistakes, right?"
"Kuk… I apologize, your highness Crown Prince."
"No, I"m not a crown prince. Don"t naturally treat me like royalty!"
Thanks to me, the party members that were scolding Ren calmed down and left with their rewards. Even though Ren made the great contribution of almost cutting the Lizard Knight"s tail, because of a crucial mistake that led party members to their death, his final contribution was the lowest. As such, he held a Middle Potion and wore a melancholic expression. Middle Potion… I had only grabbed that thing once…
Ren clenched the hand with the Middle Potion and murmured as he trembled.
"d.a.m.n it, whenever I enter a battle, I…!"
"You can think calmly in normal situations, but you become hotheaded in battle, right?"
"Eh?"
Ren looked at me with blank eyes.
"You want to challenge even though you know the taste of losing. You want to surpa.s.s those stronger than you. Because you don"t want to lose, you do your best, or even bluff. Even when you end up becoming a mess and feel self-loathing, you can"t stop yourself from doing it again."
"T-That"s right! How did you know?"
"That"s simple."
I was once like that. Answering him with that, I smiled at Ren. Excited, Ren jumped at me.
"H-How can I fix it?"
"That"s even simpler. Do you want to fix it?"
"Of course! I"m the Panan continent"s only hope. Whether it"s for those that died or for Sir Lebuik who chose me to become the dungeon explorer rather than other talented young men, I have to get stronger!"
"I see. I like your determination. I think I can be of help."
I wanted one too, hehe. With all the new abilities I"d gathered, I wanted to organize them. Although fighting against monsters was nice, beating up… I mean, sparring with someone strong was also good. I nodded my head in satisfaction and took out the Silver Spear I just got.
"Alright, fight with me first. You"ll find your answer then."
"Ooooh! Thank you, thank you! Crown Prince really is different!"
"Not really. You won"t thank me for long."
"No, I will thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
You really won"t. Even as I murmured that, I smiled kindly. Just like that, I obtained a st.u.r.dy sandb… I mean, sparring partner.
"I hate you."
Ren, who was collapsed on the ground, blurted out with malice. He was still alive, surprisingly. Sipping on Loretta"s Fatigue Recovery Juice, I answered him.
"I told you, you won"t thank me for long."
"I thought you"d really kill me!"
"Without killing intent in your spear, how can you expect your enemy to bring out his all?"
I plugged a Fatigue Recovery Juice in Ren"s mouth as well. Ren began to immediately suck it down.
Loretta, who was watching me blankly from the side, asked.
"Customer, you know you can"t dispose corpses at my shop, right?"
"He"s not dead yet, don"t worry."
"Cough!"
Ren coughed out the juice he was drinking. It was a joke… but Ren seemed to have thought otherwise. I crouched down next to Ren.
"So? Do you feel better after the spar?"
"Huh?"
"You were attacking me with a do-or-die att.i.tude just now, but you"re not now."
"That"s because I"m all out of energy."
He was panting like he was about to die. However, his eyes were blazing even now. I liked it. He was just like me.
"So you"re saying, once you get your energy back, you"ll come at me again."
"That"s right. I really can"t do anything about my compet.i.tive instinct."
"Don"t worry. It"ll get fixed soon. Give it a month."
"That"s a rather specific number."
"That"s how long it took for father to fix my bad habits."
With a refreshing smile, I answered Ren as I reminisced about the old days. It was when I was 14 years old. I had just dominated the friendly match compet.i.tion against other martial arts clans" heirs and was feeling overly self-confident. I believed there was no one I couldn"t defeat. It was also the time when I pestered father to quickly let me become a dungeon explorer.
I still remembered it clearly. Father laughed, and staring into the sky, murmured, "so it"s that time for you too."
That afternoon, I sparred with father. He beat me up into oblivion. Really. From head to toe, the only place where his wooden spear didn"t hit were my t.e.s.t.i.c.l.es. Feeling spiteful, I challenged him again and again, like a moth to a flame. Father didn"t go easy just because I was his son and really beat me up. He really was childish in that respect.
That continued for a month.
"And during that one month, I learned not to charge at the enemy directly, but to take my time and a.n.a.lyze the opponent. I learned how to wait for an opening to strike, and learned that it was always better to go for a gap in defense than to fight head on."
"Apparently, people from my lineage always had a phase where our strength went over our heads. During this period, whoever our teacher was had to beat us to discipline us. Because the teachers thrashed us so much, we called it the thrashing phase."
When I first heard father talk about the thrashing phase, I felt it made great sense. However, Loretta who was listening from the side seemed to disagree.
"Customer"s father really is stupid. I didn"t think there could be a stupider person than customer in the world…"
"Like father like son…"
"Ren, if you"ve recovered enough to spout nonsense, you should be ready to go for a second round. Ah, we"re going on another Lizard Knight raid in an hour too."
"Eh? Raid? How?"
Ren tilted his head and asked. I was about to ask why he was asking such a stupid question, but realized that Ren did not know about the battle vouchers. When I looked at Loretta, she answered Ren"s question.
"Customer, do you wish to fight the Lizard Knight again?"
"T-There"s a way to do that? Of course I do! I"m Panan"s Ren. If I don"t get my revenge on the Lizard Knight, I will not be me anymore! I can only get stronger if I overcome him!"
"How about it, Loretta? He seems to have the qualifications you were talking about."
That"s what I liked about him in the first place. His fiery nature that was unlike other dungeon explorers. Of course, if I didn"t think he had talent, I would have just thought he was stupid.
When I asked Loretta with a wink, Loretta flushed her cheeks and dodged my gaze. Eh? Did I do something wrong just now?
"K-Kuhum. Fine. Although he doesn"t quite meet my standards, since cus… since Shin-nim is with him, I"ll sell it."
"Sell? Sell what?"
Ren tilted his head and asked with a naïve expression. Loretta beamed as she took out a handful of battle vouchers. Then, as usual, she said her sales line.
"The Floor Master Battle Voucher! Allowing you to overcome the limit of once per day fight and rechallenge the Floor Master! If you buy it now, you can get them for 4,000 gold each! Just 4,000 gold each, customer!"
You scammer!