Chapter 13. Record of a Thousand Lives
The wasteland was burning hot with the sun"s heat.
The couple walked the dry land.
The difficulty and challenges of travelers going through a wasteland couldn"t be easily described to begin with.
However, the two were different.
Shanette had an incredible tolerance to heat.
Therefore, it was much easier for her to overcome thirst or heat, even if it was her first journey.
On the other hand, Kang Yoonsoo walked by calibrating his power.
From the dawn of the day, until the end of the day, tiredness couldn"t be detected in him.
As if they were a harmonious couple, their paces of their steps were exactly the same.
The two walked for many days and nights and slept in the field.
However, it was somewhat difficult for Shanette to get used to Kang Yoonsoo.
Even when Shanette tried to engage in conversations on variety of topics, Kang Yoonsoo just replied in short responses.
All that she could find out about this person was the fact that he strangely had a very broad knowledge in everything.
“You have to conserve water while in the wasteland. Based on the map, there is a rather good spring nearby from here.”
“That place has been contaminated.”
Shanette could not believe Kang Yoonsoo"s response.
How did he know without even having been there?
Stubbornly, she led the way to go to the spring.
The spring water which was clean not too long ago has already been turned muddy.
Fluttered by it, Shanette apologized.
“….I, I"m sorry. Had I known this, the time would have been better spent by searching for food.”
Then Kang Yoonsoo folded up the sleeves and extended out his right arm.
Shrrreeek!
He caught and picked up a coiling snake out of the muddy water.
On that day, they prepared the snake and ate meat for the first time in a long while.
That"s how it has been.
Whenever Shanette was about to say something, Kang Yoonsoo replied from several steps ahead of her.
In normal situations, something like that couldn"t possibly happen.
That wasn"t everything.
Unlike his appearance, Kang Yoonsoo drank wine as if he was infatuated with drinking.
The whisky that Hermione had prepared for them has run out within half a day.
It was because Kang Yoonsoo"s lips never separated from the wine bottle for almost the whole day.
“You don"t even get drunk after having drunk all that much wine? I can"t feel any difference in you, before and after drinking.”
“Yeah.”
“Then why do you like wine so much? For the taste?”
“Because my head hurts.”
“What?”
“I like the pain in my head when I drink.”
…..He was certainly a strange person.
It was the 5th day after they have left Kellyine Territory.
Kang Yoonsoo who was walking suddenly stopped.
It was when Shanette put on a curious expression.
There came a small tremor from the land as they were walking through the wasteland.
“Kurrrrieg-!”
From the cracked land jumped out a thick worm.
It looked like a worm, but its mouth was filled with sharp teeth.
The land worm made a shrill crying sound.
“Shrrrrrrrreeek-!”
There wasn"t just one worm.
“Kurrrrieg!”
“Kurieg! Kurrrrieg!”
Extending their heads upwards out of the wasteland, the groups of 10 land worms shrilled in search of food.
The land worms were the pack hunters that hunted in the wasteland.
The two were seen as the land worm"s preys.
"Land worm."
Kang Yoonsoo did not like the land worms.
They were the first monsters that he was facing right after returning.
It was because it seemed that everything must be restarted from the very beginning.
"….Although such feelings don"t even remain anymore."
He took out a machete and held it.
The strengthened blade of the large sword had bluish light flowing down on it.
Kang Yoonsoo"s present level was 34.
The land worm"s level was approximately 50.
Although he was outnumbered in terms of the levels and in numbers, he wasn"t too worried.
"Hunt lightly with the mindset of doing warm up exercises."
Kang Yoonsoo immediately charged.
The land worms" teeth burst out of the ground.
Slightly bending low, Kang Yoonsoo swung the machete in an angle.
The powerful long sword precisely destroyed the pressure point between the teeth.
“Kurrrrrieg!”
He then jumped up real high and walked on the head of the land worm as a platform.
Although the land worm inexhaustibly moved underground and cried out in wrath, Kang Yoonsoo responded calmly.
Whenever the large sword grazed by, at least one land worm either fell, or took on serious injury.
“Life drain.”
Bluish white colored energy extended out of his arm and absorbed the life of the land worm.
[Your life drain skill has been raised.
The quant.i.ty of life force that can be absorbed is increasing.]
He completely filled in the gap created by the differences in the levels with his skill.
As Kang Yoonsoo was not an easy target, the land worms went after Shanette.
The land worms dug in to the ground and tried to tear up the weak woman"s body.
Shanette took out her weapon from her waist hoist.
“Kurrrieg!”
One of the land worms came after her by targeting the back of her head.
Immediately turning around, Shanette swung her scythe.
Puuck-!
The attacking land worm"s head was split and severed in half.
A scythe was a sickle with a long handle.
It was the weapon that she could handle the best when she was a soldier of the territory"s lord.
Shanette swung the scythe and killed the land worm by slicing it.
There was no hesitation in her maneuvers.
The reason behind Shanette having served under the lord of the territory wasn"t just because she had a relations.h.i.+p with Hermione.
From the birth, she had great physical strength that was different from others.
She even trained several times more intensely than other soldiers.
On top of that, as a soldier of the lord of the territory, she had the experience of fighting it on several occasions.
Was it because she had attained the sculpture of power?
She felt several times lighter than ordinary times.
No matter how long or how hard she wielded the scythe, she could not feel any pain in her hand.
Although Shanette was easily victorious, land worms kept coming up out of the ground with no end.
Taking out his secret iron dagger from his bosom, Kang Yoonsoo threw it.
The land worm that was about to bite down on Shanette"s shoulder was. .h.i.t in the gum and fell down.
“Thank you!”
There was no sign that the number of land worms was going to decrease, no matter how much time has pa.s.sed.
Kang Yoonsoo immediately extended out his right arm.
“Summoning 78 skeletons. Summoning giant hobgoblin and zombies.”
The undead has been summoned.
Kang Yoonsoo continuously executed body explosion magic by twirling his hand as well.
A lot of the land worms were immediately killed.
Kang Yoonsoo"s level also rose by one.
However, the skeletons, the lowest level undead, were all killed.
Shanette let out a sigh of relief as she removed the sticky by-product from her hair.
Kang Yoonsoo"s action was highly appreciated, but she had one question.
“Wouldn"t it be simple if we just let the undead fight?”
“If you don"t engage in the fight yourself, the experience level that can be gained decreases.”
Had the undead weren"t summoned and just finished off the land worms, he could have increased the levels by even more.
Kang Yoonsoo sent the hobgoblin zombie back to the summoning world.
Observing how he fought, in a close range, Shanette began to have a peculiar question.
"No… That probably was not true…."
She asked feeling what if.
“Kang Yoonsoo, could you please hold my hand for a moment?”
Without saying anything, Kang Yoonsoo put out his hand.
Holding his hand, Shanette put a small pressure in her grip.
Then he cringed.
“It hurts.”
“…..By any chance, have you exerted pressure?”
“Yeah.”
Shanette was wildly bewildered inside.
"It"s weak!"
During the time of fighting the dragon mercenaries, it couldn"t be felt as the battle had been fierce.
However, now that she was able to experience the battle together, she could know for sure.
Kang Yoonsoo was much weaker than her.
Of course, his ability to target the pressure points, and movements in dodging opponent"s attacks were much better than Shanette.
However, in terms of physical capacity, Kang Yoonsoo was extremely weak.
“What is your level?”
“35.”
Presently, Shanette"s level was 72.
It all depended on the capability distribution, but it meant that she was over 2 times stronger than Kang Yoonsoo.
“Then, then your occupation?”
“None.”
Shanette could not help, but be surprised again.
Choosing a cla.s.s was much more prudent when it was done at lower levels.
Even for production occupations, if one inherited the occupational characteristics, one can obtain many benefits, and that one could also learn one or more high level skills.
Since Shanette was a troop of the territory"s lord, her present cla.s.s was a "soldier".
A troop could attain advantages with respect to battles, and could also earn the society"s trust when the soldier served the territory"s lord or an emperor.
However, in the case of no occupation, no benefits could be reaped.
“Kang Yoonsoo, I"m sorry, but how long has it been since you"ve moved over to this world?”
“7 days ago.”
“No way!”
Shanette finally exclaimed.
Has he achieved level 35 within just 7 days of moving over?
The ordinary travelers would have tough time just to stay alive, let alone experience growth since they would be too busy getting used to the new and unfamiliar world.
On top of that, his battle skill was beyond ordinary.
On the other hand, without any expression, Kang Yoonsoo was thinking about other things.
"In order to kill the demon king, it is imperative to take the necessary steps of preparation."
He was confident that he could come out on top in the recent battle, even without having summoned the undead.
However, much time would have been lost, and that Shanette could have been either hurt or even killed.
There were still 20 years of time before the demon king would appear.
It was much better to keep the safety of his comrade than choosing acute growth at this time.
"And growing alone is not good enough."
Kang Yoonsoo approached Shanette.
He moved close enough to have his breath touch her face.
Shanette was fluttered, but he pressed on her forehead with his finger as if it was nothing.
[Shanette Elogran]
798 hours until the 1st opening of the sculpture of power.
Waiting time would decrease as the growth took place.
“Long way to go.”
“What happens to me if the sculpture of power is opened?”
“You get stronger.”
Kang Yoonsoo grabbed machete then cut off the land worm"s feelers, and placed them in to the front pouch of his knapsack.
He gathered the feelers from the tens of the dead land worms.
“Why are you taking the feelers?”
“They are potion ingredients.”
“…. You also know how to make potions?”
“Yeah.”
Shanette"s eyes opened wide.
Making potions or secret medicine were the sole proprietors.h.i.+ps of alchemist.
The alchemists made potions by mixing materials gathered from the tree roots, herbs, or monsters" corpses.
Since potion concoction was difficult, it was even hard to try it unless one was an expert or had great hand skills.
Shanette"s curiosity as to who Kang Yoonsoo was has grown.
Seeing him wield the large sword, he appeared to be a swordsman or a mercenary, but thinking about his ability to wake up the dead bodies, he was also a necromancer.
On top of that, he could make potions?
She could not believe that he was a traveler who had no occupation, and that it has only been 7 days since he has come into this world.
Kang Yoonsoo extended out his right arm after gathering all the feelers.
“Resurrection of the corpses in ma.s.s scale.”
The corpses of land worms began to rise up one, and two at a time.
They were risen up as undead with their flesh decayed and blackened.
Then after sending the dark land worms to the summoning world, he said.
[You kept 54 dark land worms in the summoning world.
The total number that could be summoned in the summon world – 54 dark land worms, salamander Sally.
The possible number that could be kept – 445]
“Let"s stop by the Ultica ruins before going to Hillerdan.”
Shanette raised both her eye brows.
“The ruins?”
The ruins.
The place where there lived hundreds of monsters, and precious treasures were kept in the heart of it.
As ordinary clans knew the dangers of the ruin, they wouldn"t go there without having formed a group of at least 200.
To such a dangerous place, this man was audaciously saying that we ought to go as if it was a picnic.
Kang Yoonsoo has already begun walking.
Shanette quickly caught up with him.
“If it"s a ruin then there would also be strong monsters?”
“A lot.”
“Could, could just the two of us be victorious in such a ruin? Ordinarily, before a raid on any ruins, the landscape and the entrance path must first have to be a.n.a.lyzed by the runners! This is a suicide mission!”
“It"s alright.”
Kang Yoonsoo"s reply just made Shanette to have more questions.
“We"ll just extract the rewards.”