Chapter 141: The Weapon Thief
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 141: The Weapon Thief
“Hey! You son of a bitch!”
What burst out from behind were, naturally, curses and screams. Glancing back, I saw Park Han Cheol running toward me, clutching the dagger tightly. But there was no way he could catch up to Ibar. He frantically threw the dagger in my direction, but it was never going to reach.
“Uwaaaaaaah!”
Seeing him smash through the surrounding trees as he ran, roaring, it was clear he was a powerful warrior. Watching his companions try to console him, I felt a slight pang of guilt. If I had fought him head-on before stealing his weapon, I probably would have been in danger. He must have earned a fair amount of points using this weapon, so I found myself thinking that if I got the chance, it might be worth visiting Park Han Cheol again.
This felt better than I expected. No matter how hard he ran, the gap between us only widened. In a flash, Park Han Cheol became nothing more than a dot.
After all, even agile swordsmen and assassins would have a hard time keeping up with Ibar. Even compared to Gurva, another Giant Wolf, Ibar is faster, which suggests she's probably one of the quickest of her kind. Maybe over a short distance, but over a long one, her speed is simply beyond what a human can match.
I glanced down at the blunt weapon I had stolen from him. It was a bat-like club made of some dark metal. The moment I gripped the handle, I could feel its immense weight and power.
[ Dark Bat ]
[ A blunt weapon designed to inflict internal, rather than external, shock. Its origins are unknown. It has no special additional functions, but it can deliver a powerful impact proportional to the target's defense. There is a chance to land an additional hit. ]
[ Vitality +5 ]
In other words, it was a specialized weapon for foes with high defense. I could see now why Park Han Cheol stood at the center of large monster hunts. Large monsters usually have thick hides or scales. The same goes for humans clad in plate armor. It was a weapon that rendered defense meaningless by transmitting the shock internally. I estimated its point value to be somewhere between two and three million. To have traded it for a dagger worth almost zero points was nothing short of a miracle.
It was like trading a kernel of corn for a diamond. Like swapping a toy car for a sports car. Truly, a miraculous exchange.
I couldn't stop the corners of my mouth from turning up.
‘Perfect.’
I felt a little sorry thinking about the trouble Park Han Cheol and his companions must have gone through to save up the points, but the operation itself was flawless. It was so perfect I even considered doing this more often. If I went deeper into the forest, I'd find even bigger monsters, and surely, raid parties hunting them.
Even though I had Archmage Isaac's Throwing Dagger, I'd brought along ordinary daggers to conserve a bit of mana and carry more weapons at once. But leaving a 'gift' for my victims felt pretty good too.
It felt like a waste to return to the settlement just yet. So, I began to roam the forest with Ibar, erasing our tracks as we went.
We were wandering in search of our next prey. No matter how skilled a warrior is at concealing their presence, they can't hide it while fighting a monster.
Only a top-level assassin could manage that. I stroked Ibar's fur, and she let out a cute whine. Then she lowered her body and began to walk. And so, we began to conceal our presence. I, too, erased my mana and crouched low with Ibar.
The deeper you go into the forest, the more sensitive the archers become.
Thanks to that, I had to be even more careful.
As we continued deeper into the forest, sure enough, I began to hear faint sounds. Focusing mana into my ears, the faint voices became loud and clear.
“Tanker, don't get pushed back!”
“Archers, prepare to fire! Prepare to fire!”
Somewhere, a large monster hunt was underway. Infusing my eyes with mana, I looked around and could sense smoke, explosions, and shaking trees in the distance.
“Ibar, let's go.”
I said to Ibar, and she nodded and began to run.
The scenery blurred past in an instant. We spotted some monsters along the way, but they didn't bother attacking, perhaps judging they couldn't catch us anyway. Thanks to that, we easily closed the distance to the hunting party.
There was a high chance their archer was scanning the surroundings even while attacking the monster, so I started by observing them from a distance. So far, I hadn't been spotted. It seemed they weren't exceptionally powerful warriors.
There were about twenty of them, fighting a rather large beast, and the hunt itself seemed to be going smoothly. The items I could see were the archer's bow, the magician's staff, and the warrior's axe and sword.
They weren't jackpot items like Park Han Cheol's, but they felt like things I could sell for a decent price. If I had to say, they were items of a lower grade than the Voice of Curse that Park Hyeri had... I'd succeeded in stealing an item I could use, so now it was time to get some items to earn points.
It would also be good to grab some gifts for my clan members. The difference from last time was that this time, there would probably be arrows flying at me. Ibar could definitely dodge them. If there was an arrow I couldn't dodge, I'd just block it.
They seemed to have enough strength to be called powerful, but not so much that I couldn't hit and run. Besides, they were currently distracted by the monster. It was the perfect time to strike.
“Run.”
“Grrrrr...”
At my word, Ibar let out a low growl and began to sprint forward. If they were aware of their surroundings, they would surely notice something charging toward them. We were still far away, but thankfully, they hadn't spotted me yet. If I were to emit my mana, they would notice me immediately.
It was then.
“Left flank! A demon riding a Giant Wolf is coming!”
“Archers, keep the demon in check with your arrows! Magician, focus your firepower on the monster we were hunting! Cheolsu! Get out there and protect the archers!”
Quick judgment. In an instant, their formation was reorganized. They seemed to be a party with solid fundamentals, as they set up a defense against me without hesitation. They probably thought they could hold me off and continue the hunt, since it was just a single demon on a wolf, but I had other plans.
As we kept running, we must have entered the archers' range, because they began to draw their bowstrings.
A volley of arrows reminiscent of Mev's rained down in an instant, but Ibar wasn't hit.
She veered from her straight path, using a large tree as a shield and began to approach in a wide arc. I blocked or deflected the occasional arrow that flew our way with my greatsword, and the distance closed quickly.
Just then, one of them fired an arrow filled with mana. In a flash, the arrow split into multiple shots and rained down on me.
'A unique ability,' or 'an item effect.'
Hoping it was the latter, I spoke to Ibar once more.
“Ibar!”
She leaped into the air, perhaps to escape the range of the attack, but the party's archers drew their bows again, aiming at us in mid-air.
“He's in the air!”
“Get him!”
They cheered, since an enemy in the air is a much easier target, but the situation wasn't bad for me at all.
The reason was that all of the raid's archers had just entered my range. I activated my unique ability. I felt an alien sensation as the daggers began to leave my hands. In an instant, all of their bows were in my hands. And in their hands were, of course, cheap daggers.
The sight of them trying to draw an arrow while holding a dagger looked quite ridiculous.
“F... Fuck! Wh-What is this!”
“It's the demon! Th-That bastard took it! That son of a bitch!”
It was a situation where curses were bound to fly. Looking at the items now in my hands, there seemed to be quite a few decent ones.
[ Mana Shotgun Bow ]
[ Elf's Bow ]
[ Call of Nature ]
A smile naturally formed on my lips. They had been an incredibly composed party at first, but it only took a moment for them to turn into common thugs.
Perhaps thinking that dealing with the monster was the priority, a female magician raised her staff, gathering mana, and at that moment, I swapped her staff for a dagger too.
[ Burning Branch Staff ]
A name and function that seemed decent enough.
“Fuck!”
“He's stealing weapons!”
“He's a weapon-stealing bastard! Everyone, be careful!”
Meanwhile, the monster was still silently doing its part. The beast's skill in slowly pressuring the tanker was truly a sight to behold. I maintained a distance of about two hundred meters and began to circle them.
When I swapped a dagger for a spear held by a decent-looking spearman, another scream erupted.
“My... My brother's keepsake! You bastard!”
[ Spear of Brotherhood ]
[ The final work of Kim Hyunsoo, left for his beloved younger brother. It contains no rare minerals, but it is filled with a brother's love... (Omitted)... ]
So, I'd even ended up with a spear that seemed to be crafted by a blacksmith. As I continued to run and check the item's functions, it seemed that, just as Lee Wanyong had said, items made by a skilled blacksmith weren't half bad.
“Hey, you son of a bitch!”
What they must be thinking is the worst part of this is that they can't break formation. Their ranged archers were completely sealed. The magician's power was drastically reduced without her staff. They were strong enough not to die so absurdly here, but I figured being left empty-handed would hurt even more.
'Weapon Switch.'
The short, one-handed sword the tanker was holding.
[ Glory of the Blue Earth ]
“Dammit...”
The guy whose sword I'd taken started tanking with the cheap dagger. Naturally, the cheap dagger couldn't handle the mana output and shattered. Deciding it would be better to fight bare-handed, he held up his shield and faced the beast with his fists.
'Weapon Switch.'
The large hammer held by a melee dealer.
[ War Hammer ]
“Damn it... I'm gonna kill that bastard!”
The guy who had been gleefully bashing the raid monster with his hammer was now tapping it with the hilt of a dagger. His base stats were high enough to endure and deal some damage, but continuing the hunt was impossible. They must be thinking that if I charged in alongside the monster, they would suffer casualties.
“Retreat! Retreat!”
In the end, they began to pull back. I still had mana to spare, so I stuck to them to the very end. The monster they had been hunting also let out a tremendous roar and began to chase the humans.
They were moving in a fairly orderly fashion, but their movements naturally slowed as they tried to shake off the monster. Once again, I swapped a warrior's axe for a dagger.
[ Black Iron Axe ]
“Not bad.”
Magic was flying my way, but I was at a distance where I could easily dodge it. Besides, I had more than enough speed to evade.
“You demonic bastard!”
What I heard was a scream filled with despair. I kept reaching out my hands toward them, smiling pleasantly.