Chapter 98
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 98
Chapter Title: Monster Hunting #1
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"The energy of the deep night flows through your veins."
"You can select and acquire one talent."
"1. Walker of the Night: Removes the penalty of deep night. No damage even when walking in deep night. - Level limit 15"
"2. Path of the Inheritor: Unlocks exclusive skill - Level limit 15"
"3. Black Trickster: Advances all acquired graces by one level or more. - Level limit 15"
What!?
New passive skills have been unlocked!
And the first effect is game-changing.
‘Walking at night with no damage?’
It means I can farm just like those Erdari bastards, handed to me on a platter.
I wanted to pick it right away, but with surprising self-control even for me, I read through the rest.
‘What’s the second one? Unlocks an exclusive skill?’
My gut didn’t scream no, so it must be good if it’s appearing.
But my poor imagination couldn’t conjure up a single image.
Then the third option.
Advances graces by one level or more.
A simple choice that looked incredibly effective.
‘All three options are perfect!’
No wonder everyone was going crazy to get the Flower of the Night.
My choice here was obvious.
"1. Walker of the Night: Removes the penalty of deep night. No damage even when walking in deep night. - Level limit 15"
Fuck yeah! Now I can harvest even in the deep night!
That doubles my daily time!
Doubles my harvest time!
Just one catch: the level limit on this trait is 15.
My current level is 14.
To hit 15, I’d need about 80 million Ether.
The problem is I don’t have that kind of cash on hand.
Of course, after settling up the Ether I brought this time and selling all the treasures, I might scrape it together.
That thought made it impossible to sit still!
But with nothing to do right now, time for bed, fast!
The Flower of the Night was great for recovery.
Minor injuries were completely healed by morning.
It helped that they weren’t serious to begin with.
Truth be told, the really bad ones were on Felix and Hermit.
“Haa, ha!”
Early dawn.
Felix was swinging a wooden sword in the training grounds.
Crack! Crack!
The clear hits on the scarecrow chased away any sleepiness.
But his swordplay was somehow sloppy.
His right arm was gone from the shoulder down.
That’s what happened fighting Kroom.
“What’s a guy who lives by the blade supposed to do with a missing arm?”
I asked Felix out of genuine concern.
But the rude bastard just clicked his tongue.
“I can still beat you with one arm.”
“Bullshit.”
A normal Felix would be tough for me to beat.
But one-armed Felix? I might have a shot.
“Wanna test it?”
Whoosh.
Felix tossed me the wooden sword he was holding.
The moment I caught it, a heavy slash came at my head.
“Ugh! Hey! Where’s the warning for an ambush!”
Clanggg!
If I hadn’t blocked, my head might’ve been flattened like a wooden sword.
I protested, but Felix ignored it and pressed me with his left-handed wooden sword.
Grinddd.
His strikes were heavy.
Is this really one-armed?
Fuck, it’s because Felix’s stats are skewed toward strength.
Me? Thief class, agility-focused.
Frontal clashes like this? Nine times out of ten, I lose.
“Hey! You’re the pro swordsman! I’ve never even trained in fighting, this is unfair!”
“Unfair?”
“Give me five free shots!”
“Fine. Go for it.”
Five strikes.
Felix just defends, I attack.
Huuu.
I caught my breath and said to Felix.
“Felix, you know why they called me Yor of the Sandstorm?”
“Yor of the Sandstorm?”
“Because like a raging sandstorm, I don’t give you a moment to—”
Whoosh!
I kicked the training ground sand hard.
Shwaaaa.
Sand flew up in an instant.
“Ugh, you sneaky bastard!”
Felix suffered from sand in his eyes.
I didn’t miss the moment and slammed the wooden sword down on his head.
“Solar plexus strike!”
Then crack!
It hit his head dead-on.
“You bastard! Solar plexus, my ass!”
“Hehe! Sucker’s fault for falling for it!”
A feint mixed with sand in the eyes.
Classic Yor dirty trick.
But I was shocked speechless.
‘What the hell? His head’s like a rock?’
Like smashing a boulder with a wooden sword?
My hand that hit him actually hurt.
Throb throb.
No joke, my fingers tingled and my skin screamed.
“Dirty slash!”
But my attacks kept coming at Felix without pause.
With sand blurring his vision, Felix deftly blocked my strikes one-handed. Tap tap tap.
“Alright, my turn now?”
He’d blocked all five and rolled his shoulders.
At that moment, I dropped my wooden sword.
“I surrender. You win!”
“What? You little shit! After landing all your hits!”
“Felix, be real. You’re on my level or better.”
“You bastard!”
Felix was pissed and plopped down on the training ground bench.
Hammer, who’d been watching, draped a towel over Felix’s shoulder.
“Felix, don’t push too hard.”
“This is nothing.”
“Yona said if you offer your body to the false gods again, you might not come back.”
“I don’t care. As long as I get stronger…”
Felix stared at his palm as he spoke.
From swinging the wooden sword since dawn, it was soaked in blood.
“The bastards who killed my family are out there laughing and living it up. If I can make them suffer the same, they can tear my body to shreds.”
Felix’s resolve was intense.
Kinda cool, even.
Is that ruthless vibe what makes women swoon?
I’ll try it sometime.
“Haa, haa!”
Felix resumed swinging the wooden sword one-handed.
I left him behind and headed to the Great Wall armory.
“Hey, rookie! Your armor’s done!”
Dwarf Umbatu greeted me warmly.
He spread his hands in front of me.
“Rookie! Stab me hard with that knife of yours.”
“Huh? What’s that out of nowhere?”
“Do it! I won’t get hurt!”
Thud thud—he pounded his chest.
I shrugged and stabbed Umbatu with my dagger, whatever.
Then my wrist screamed instead. Crunch.
“Argh!”
“Umhahha! See? Thanks to this scale armor! Normal weapons don’t faze it!”
“Uh, scale armor?”
Rustle.
Umbatu took off what looked like chainmail and handed it to me.
“Made by melting the scales you gave me and processing them thin like chains! Wear it under your outer clothes!”
Pitch-black chainmail.
Flexible and soft like silk.
‘It’s finally done!’
‘Sabrannik’s Scale Armor!’
Feels safe to wear right on bare skin.
Light as a feather.
With this, I won’t get stabbed dead out of nowhere.
Worth the effort.
“You clean up nice, rookie!”
“Hehe, that’s thanks to the master craftsman.”
“You get it! Bring me any fun materials you find! I’ll whip up whatever, even for boredom’s sake.”
“Ooo!”
“Of course, crafting fees in Ether!”
Thus, the master smith Umbatu settled in the Great Wall armory.
On that note, I pulled out the Crescent Moon Crown and showed it to Umbatu.
“Umbatu, any idea what this is for?”
Stolen from Kroom.
Looks insanely valuable.
Maybe has some amazing effect.
If veteran smith Umbatu knew something... but he scowled and shook his head.
“Bah, get that away! Smells like magic tricks!”
“Magic smell?”
“Rookie! Leaning on magic bullshit won’t make you big! Steel! Blades! Hammers! Shields and armor! That’s the honest path to greatness!”
A dwarf half my size preaching about being big felt off.
Total scam.
Anyway, thanks to Umbatu, I learned this crown has some ‘magical value’.
‘Perfect timing. Our party has just the guy who’d freak for this.’
So I went to find Hermit.
“Hermit! Heard you’re discharged? How’s your condition?”
In front of Hermit’s room.
I called out loudly, but no answer.
That’s when I noticed the sign on her door: [Meditating - Do Not Disturb].
Discharged and straight to meditation?
Mages, man...
Now what?
I wanna grind Ether fast and hit level 15.
Party’s vibe after the big ordeal? Everyone’s focusing on recovery for a bit.
Nimble, the one who’s fine, took the Statue of the Grave Lord from me and vanished somewhere.
Shows up wild, leaves wild. Total feral animal.
Only one option left.
I entered the musky underground passage and navigated the twisting sewers.
Soon, a plaza full of rough-looking assholes appeared.
Thieves’ Guild of the Great Wall.
Germain, perched on a stack of crates, paused her talk with shady dangerous-looking men and waved at me.
“Ooh, little bro Yor, come on in.”
“Sis, got any lucrative jobs?”
“Lucrative jobs? Perfect timing!”
Nod.
Germain nodded toward the men.
“These guys have the best payout. Wanna chat?”
—Ugh, hate dealing with guys.
Curious what kinda guys, I scanned them top to bottom quick.
Humans in black leather, stakes and crossbows at their belts.
The one with black eye makeup grinned sleazily.
“You the famous Yor of the Jackpot? Thought from stories you’d be my age.”
“How old are you?”
“Name’s Gerilt. Thirty-three.”
Fuck, looks at least forty. Must be the beard making him look old as dirt.
“We’re monster hunters. We catch beasts threatening the Empire, sell their hides, teeth, whatever. Anyway, here’s our quarry.”
[Troll – Foal of the Fallen Idol]
[Mermaid – Song of Temptation]
[Vampire – Fangs in the Dark]
[Werewolf – Cursed Half-Beast]
Scroll posters with weird drawings.
Explanations below?
A hunter pointed at one.
“What we’re after here is this ‘Werewolf.’ Skin-changers shifting between human and cursed wolf forms.”
“Werewolf...?”
“Word is wolves keep showing up around here, biting people. We think it’s werewolf work.”
Fuck, anyone can tell that’s Nimble!
While I kept my face neutral, Germain narrowed her eyes.
“Bounty for capture?”
“Secret, but special for the guild master. Our sponsor’s put up a whopping 300 million Ether just for live-capturing the werewolf!”