Chapter 18. First Gateway (2)

“Come down here, you chicken bastard!!”

Philip's bellow nearly made even Jeonghyeon dizzy enough to collapse on the spot, let alone the harpy.

Given the harpy's trait of sensing vibrations through the wind, the sonic wave's effect was doubled. Blood spurted from both its ears as it rolled its eyes back and plummeted to the ground.

“Nice one!”

Jeonghyeon rushed straight to the harpy and plunged his Blood Dissector, the epic harvesting knife, into its fragile neck—barely different from a chicken's.

The blade sank in deep like piercing tofu, claiming the harpy's life in an instant.

Only then did Jeonghyeon relax his tense legs and slump to the ground with a thud.

Philip came panting up behind him right after.

“You okay?! I didn't have time to ask...”

“You...”

“...Yes?”

Jeonghyeon let out a chuckle.

“No way the skill you got from Uldran is Shout, right?”

“...Yeah. Kinda funny, huh?”

“Nah, not at all. Looks like Uldran really thinks highly of you.”

“...?”

Even a rough, stingy guy like him was a discerning dragon when it came to picking talent.

Jeonghyeon explained Shout to Philip.

“Shout—or Feral Roar—has way more potential than you think.”

“Really? I figured it was just for yelling loud to pull aggro...”

“That's low-level stuff. What's your Shout level now?”

“Level 3. I don't use it much...”

'Yeah, using it in the field would've drawn every monster's fire.'

As Jeonghyeon started to explain, he belatedly noticed the mana still lingering in his eye from the lingering battle high.

“Ugh... I'd left Attribute Peering on this whole time...!”

And in that moment, as his eye overlapped with the Attribute Peering spell while looking at Philip, a status window popped up above him.

Only then did Jeonghyeon grasp the true nature of Attribute Peering, letting out a hollow sigh of admiration.

“Holy shit. Attribute Peering works on humans too...?”

The quest was complete. Jeonghyeon finally understood that quests unlocked probabilistically.

Attribute Domination required allies or subordinates to even be feasible—and a lone wolf like his past self would've never cleared it.

'Attribute Domination...?'

Setting aside the massive rewards for the next one, Jeonghyeon focused on the current quest and new skill.

It meant dominating something like the Philip in front of him. Jeonghyeon had enough experience to get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that much.

Plus, Philip's status from Attribute Peering showed he wasn't a domination target yet, with potential, utility, and loyalty marked as ???.

Probably visible only to him.

“Hey, Philip.”

“Yes.”

“Wanna be my subordinate?”

Jeonghyeon cut straight to it.

Philip didn't hesitate.

“Wasn't I already?”

“Good.”

Instinctively, Jeonghyeon poured mana into his right eye.

His mana was nearly depleted now—he had to hurry before it ran out completely. The next monster wouldn't be a pushover either.

“Attribute Domination.”

Nothing to lose, so he activated it right away.

Suddenly, unbearable agony exploded in his eyes.

“Argh!!”

Philip clutched his right eye and staggered too—the pain hit him the same.

“Gah! What the...!”

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The searing pain throughout their bodies faded after a moment.

“Huff... huff... What just happened?”

Philip pulled his hand from his eye, puzzled, and looked at Jeonghyeon. His iris now glowed red like Jeonghyeon's.

It wasn't just the eye color. Jeonghyeon felt Philip's power flowing into him—like mana connection.

He was sharing Philip's strength. The mana drain letting Jeonghyeon sustain the skill proved the link, but the clincher was Philip's updated status window.

Domination rank updated to subordinate, with new details on potential, utility, and loyalty. But that was just the start.

A flood of new abilities overwhelmed Jeonghyeon—it took a full five minutes to sort and grasp them.

No manual or guide, but through mana, he instinctively understood several things.

'Barely injured, and sky-high trust in me...!'

First, he could almost perfectly assess Philip's status.

Second, by channeling mana into his eye, he could issue commands to Philip.

He wasn't commanding now, but Philip stood silently by his side, any thought of interference erased.

“I asked what happened.”

And third—Jeonghyeon's senses and stats were boosted by Philip's connection values, unleashing unimaginable power. He felt closer to his prime self.

Philip's physical training focus made the stat surge immediately noticeable.

“I'll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠show you.”

With heightened senses, Jeonghyeon detected the final monster creeping from the darkness. Philip sensed it too, sharing senses.

'Another enemy?' Philip's thought rang like speech.

“Yeah. Third monster. You know it?”

“Yes...!”

Philip nodded.

The first trial of the first floor tested a newbie's power, the second grit, and the third endurance against 'numbers'.

“Arachnea... venomous spider swarm and their queen... right?”

No need to confirm—the linked hunters' eyes spotted spiders half the size of a grown man crawling up the walls and now-sealed ceiling.

Jeonghyeon gripped his Blood Dissector.

“Demon King Malekith... so this is the power you had.”

Calmer and colder now, Jeonghyeon murmured.

In his hand was no longer the knife, but a mace identical to Philip's—Soul of the Mountain.

Fourth effect of Attribute Domination: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The dominator could 'copy' the dominated's skills and abilities exactly. Not limited to weapons.

“You said you didn't know what Shout really was?”

Philip nodded tensely at Jeonghyeon's changed demeanor.

Jeonghyeon fixed his blood-red gaze on the massive, ferocious spiders.

“I'll show you what true Shout is.”

He raised his empty left hand.

“Kneel, you bugs.”

Jeonghyeon merely crooked a finger downward, and every spider prostrated itself like servants before a new master, heads bowed low.

The primal instinct thunder evoked in living beings was 'fear,' followed by 'terror.'

Shout wasn't just yelling—it crushed morale in equals and maximally triggered innate terror in weaker foes, stripping their will to fight. Area-wide.

Jeonghyeon was boosted by Philip's stats, meaning Uldran's blessing too.

The Arachnea's terror must've felt like Uldran's fiery breath.

“Self-destruct, you foolish spider shits.”

The Arachnea slammed their bodies down harder, joints snapping, fluids bursting, abdomens grinding into the floor until crushed.

Crack! Splurch!

One by one, starting with the weaker ones, countless spiders smashed themselves to death.

Beyond fear or terror—Jeonghyeon's command held absolute power.

“Shout dominates foes weaker than you. With this, you won't even need to fight most enemies head-on.”

“I had no idea it was this strong...!”

Watching the giant spiders burst apart before them, even Philip gazed at Jeonghyeon with near-reverent awe bordering on fear.

Uldran's status, meant for Philip, now appeared to Jeonghyeon too.

Proof he shared the dragon's favor.

Jeonghyeon grinned.

“Watch closely. I'll drag your awakener up by the collar.”

He took a step forward.

Each step under active Shout radiated overwhelming pressure.

Splat! Splatter!

Amid spiders dying in sprays of fluid, one barely held its lowered posture.

Eight legs, massive fangs up front, human torso in the middle—the Arachnea queen.

“Pathetic bug, playing human.”

The human body was fake, like an anglerfish lure or siren's song—to lure and deceive hunters.

Jeonghyeon aimed Soul of the Mountain at the queen.

“It's over, spider bitch.”

He swung lightly.

The epic weapon's Value Proof—storing swings and unleashing them at once—activated.

In that instant, the entire ground beneath Jeonghyeon and Philip vanished, collapsing below.