Chapter 005 - Martial Arts Initiation (4)
Park Gwan-sik blocked the steel axe with his dented shield, then twisted his arm with all his might and swung the morningstar gripped in his right hand.
It was the perfect opening he'd carved out after a brutal fight.
The morningstar, stained with blood and chunks of flesh, smashed into the orc warrior's head.
Splat!
The brutish face crumpled, flesh spraying everywhere.
'Got him!'
This time, he felt the solid impact he'd been craving.
Park Gwan-sik's eyes widened in fierce satisfaction.
He bent his knees to spring forward, but the orc warrior—its head half-smashed—simply tumbled to the ground and went still.
"Hoo..."
Park Gwan-sik lowered his shield and morningstar, wiping the sweat from his brow.
Even for an E-rank hunter like him, taking on an orc warrior solo was no joke.
Normally, he'd have teamed up with his crew for a cautious takedown, but the situation left no choice.
If he, the team leader, didn't handle it, his team members would start dropping.
Park Gwan-sik wiped more sweat from his forehead and scanned the battlefield.
These were seasoned hunters from major guilds, grizzled veterans all.
In the chaos of melee, they were battered and bloody, but holding their own.
"There were definitely two of them."
Park Gwan-sik frowned, glancing around.
The two orc warriors had charged in with the fourth wave.
He'd figured some hunters had pinned the other one down, but it was nowhere in sight.
Whoosh!
Park Gwan-sik ignited his mana to probe the surroundings and soon detected a thick aura at the battlefield's edge.
He kicked off the ground, lowering his stance and tightening his grip on the morningstar.
'Not much stamina or mana left. I'll end it with a sneak attack.'
Pouring everything in, he could land a fatal blow.
Just as Park Gwan-sik closed in on the remaining orc warrior...
Stab—!
A single sword pierced straight through the orc warrior's throat from behind.
His first thought was that reinforcements from the center had finally arrived.
None of his team could drop an orc warrior in one hit solo.
But when he saw the face that emerged next, Park Gwan-sik muttered blankly.
"...Sun-woo?"
Kim Sun-woo panted heavily, staring down at the fallen orc warrior.
'Just luck?'
An F-rank hunter soloing an orc warrior? Impossible.
One solid hit from it would be fatal.
The best strategy was tanking with a frontliner to buy time, then whittling down vitals.
A plain thrust wouldn't pierce an orc warrior's neck...
"Sun-woo!!!"
Park Gwan-sik shouted urgently.
An orc was creeping up silently behind Kim Sun-woo, who was still gazing at his sword.
"...!"
Kim Sun-woo sensed it late, but the orc's rusted blade struck his lower back first.
'Damn it!'
He couldn't let his guard down, team leader or not.
But how could he? Watching an orc warrior's throat pierced in one strike right before his eyes.
Park Gwan-sik gritted his teeth and launched forward.
He might not beat the orc to the stab, but he'd save Kim Sun-woo somehow...
Swish.
But Kim Sun-woo's response was dazzling.
Without even confirming the orc's position, he spun his body toward the opposite direction of the incoming thrust.
The blade grazed his waist but only nicked his armor slightly.
'What the...!'
Dodging a point-blank ambush like that?
But the real shock came next.
Slash!
Spinning in place, Kim Sun-woo thrust his sword like lightning.
The blade traced a trajectory too fast to follow, severing the orc's head clean off in a spray of blood.
"...Hoo."
Kim Sun-woo, unscathed after felling two monsters, exhaled deeply and wiped the orc warrior's blood from his face.
"Sun-woo, you hurt?"
"Nah, Team Leader."
Kim Sun-woo swept back his sweat-matted hair and faced Park Gwan-sik, who approached.
"Thanks. I caught the ambush because of you."
"...Yeah. Anyway."
Park Gwan-sik stared at Kim Sun-woo, words bubbling up inside.
But the time and place weren't right, so he clamped his mouth shut and nodded.
"Taking down an orc warrior solo. Good work. Thanks to you, the team's safe."
"Just got lucky, I guess."
"...Right."
Luck or not, no F-rank hunter could down an orc warrior.
That dodge and decapitating strike? Way beyond F-rank.
"Nah. Still, don't push too hard. Looks like central support's inbound."
Whoosh!
As Park Gwan-sik finished speaking, crimson flames erupted from the distant darkness.
A fireball arced like a catapult shot, slamming into the battlefield's edge and igniting fiercely.
"Move!"
"It's coming!"
Seeing the flames spread, the hunters shook off their foes in unison and bolted.
Park Gwan-sik and Kim Sun-woo sprinted forward too.
They hid behind their weapons, maximizing distance from the blaze.
Fwoosh!
A colossal inferno surged up.
Like a tsunami of fire, it devoured everything nearby, reducing it to ash.
"Burns nice."
One hunter grinned, watching the spectacle.
A single spell wiping dozens of monsters—must be a main assault team's mage.
The flames died down quickly, and hunters finished off the stubborn survivors amid the hellfire.
Stab. Stab.
They swung mechanically, cleaving flesh and bone.
Roasted tender, the blades sank in easier than before.
"Hoo."
Kim Sun-woo exhaled, replaying the fight.
Short, but intense.
Dodge or deflect every orc warrior attack, lure it into gaps, strike vitals.
Easy in words—like tightroping between skyscrapers.
One slip, and that axe would've split him.
'I've definitely grown.'
Kim Sun-woo's heart raced uncontrollably.
Physical stats first.
Moves he'd only vaguely imagined or sketched mentally now manifested in reality.
Not smooth yet—clunky from inexperience—but practice would fix that.
Speed, strength—both up.
Otherwise, he couldn't have withstood those blows.
'Studying the main team's fights paid off big.'
Those acrobatic moves against the orc warrior? Straight from mimicking them.
Inefficient before, he'd have avoided them.
Now, elevated, every motion held purpose.
'Still itches, though.'
Kim Sun-woo chewed his lip, unsatisfied.
His combat skills? Eyeballed from hunter life and cheap online vids.
No formal style—just patterns for situations.
Crude at best; he craved true martial arts.
'With this body, proper swordsmanship and footwork...'
He'd climb beyond F-rank.
Soloing an orc warrior already set him apart.
'Reapply for rank retest soon?'
For the first time, his gray, aimless life had purpose.
He wanted to grow stronger.
Pure desire infused his mechanical hunter swings, once just for cash.
"Status report! Everyone okay?"
"Arm got stabbed, but potion fixed it."
"Sprained my ankle a bit."
"Head took a hit—kinda dizzy."
Defense Team 3's hunters raised hands, reporting injuries.
Teams 1 and 2 nearby seemed just as banged up.
Park Gwan-sik scowled, grumbling.
"Dungeon rating's off. This is a couple ranks higher. Monster numbers say we needed three, four more teams."
Main assault team's elite few wouldn't mind, but sub-ranks like them? Big problem.
If sides and rear didn't clear properly, the vanguard would get surrounded.
"Ah, can you hear me? We've got heavy casualties. Four waves at once is too much."
Hunters raided for loot or mining dungeon resources.
If pushing forward stalled on manpower, basing up to mine was smarter.
Like now.
Command agreed—halted advance, built a forward camp at the passage junction.
Then called in the external mining team to harvest ores and resources.
"Rest up. Monsters might swarm from the noise—stay alert."
"Got it."
Dungeons were unpredictable, even with sentries.
Team 3 slumped nearby, resting and chatting.
As they buzzed about the fierce fight, Team Leader Park Gwan-sik sat beside Kim Sun-woo, who drank atop a shattered rock.
"Good work. No injuries?"
"Yeah. Just orc blood."
"...Saw you solo that orc warrior."
Park Gwan-sik eyed him cautiously.
If he'd awakened an ability, he'd report up.
Special treatment and terms for ability users.
But personal info—tread lightly.
Team superior or not, hunters were strangers.
"Oh, no ability awakening. Started martial arts a few days back."
"Martial arts?"
"Yeah. Just formed my dantian. First real fight since—seems to suit me."
Kim Sun-woo grinned, twirling his arm.
He itched to circulate qi here, but dungeons demanded restraint.
Ambush mid-circulation? Defenseless.
"Ah, martial arts. Smart pick. Pricey lessons, but damn useful in the field."
No ability—disappointing, but made sense...
"Wait—a few days ago?"
Park Gwan-sik's eyes bulged.