Egypt (2)
Swish.
Seo Hwarang pulled a dull, ink-black staff from his inventory.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?"
"Relax. This'll be way more comfortable than rowing."
Thoom!
He slammed the staff down onto the deck of the boat.
1st Circle.
Master Telekinesis.
"Kyaaah!"
"Whoa—?"
All three figures floated gently up into the empty air.
Telekinesis was, by design, a psychokinetic spell meant for moving light objects — but Master Telekinesis was different. It could lift five separate objects at once, controlling up to a hundred kilograms each.
His staff, and the effect of his Intelligence stat, did the rest. Raise the damage output of a skill, and it could carry heavier loads — something like that.
But.
Floating alone wouldn't carry them across the distant sea. He'd have to make it a little easier.
Vweeeng!
He stirred the staff through the air.
1st Circle.
Master Aqua Splash.
Chwaaaah!
The quiet sea began to rise, dragged upward in towering waves.
And at the same time —
1st Circle.
Master Ice Needle.
Shaaaaak!
Five ice needles hanging in the air slammed down onto the drawn-up waves, one every hundred meters — and then:
2nd Circle.
Master Ice Shard.
KWA-BOOM! KWA-BOOM!
They detonated, and the water began freezing at a ferocious pace.
The sea itself wasn't freezing. Only the water he'd pulled up above it. But that was more than enough.
The feet of the three, lightened by telekinesis, touched down on the ice — and in the same instant:
2nd Circle.
Master Gust.
Gust.
A fierce wind, a raging gale, roared up from behind them and shoved the trio powerfully forward. Whoosh! They went skimming toward the coastline.
"WAAAAAAAH!"
"HUUUURGH!"
Yoo Seon-ah screamed at the insane speed, while Park Juhee's face had gone chalk white.
This was a woman who couldn't even ride amusement park rides out of sheer terror — and now she was flying through the air without so much as a seatbelt. Honestly, her reaction was only natural.
'Holy crap!'
Yoo Seon-ah, especially, was stunned.
That was because she was a magician herself.
Telekinesis, Aqua Splash, Ice Needle, Ice Shard, Gust. She had learned all five of those spells too.
But could she do this?
'Not a chance.'
These spells were never designed to be used this way. Seo Hwarang was forcibly bending them to his own understanding, warping them into applications they were never meant for.
Anyone who tried would understand just how absurd it was.
This was using a pickaxe built for mining to slice sashimi. Using a sword forged to cut men down to sew thread. That was how far beyond common sense it went.
'Probably.'
Being able to wield them to this degree must be what it took to push proficiency to 100. From 80 onward — the expert threshold — it was truly the realm of demons. You didn't level it by mindlessly spamming skills; you had to carve the path forward through genuine insight.
No one, not once in all of history, had ever reached proficiency 100 on a combat skill — and this was probably why. Production skills were a different story entirely.
Chwaaaaaaah!
Regardless, the three of them — gliding across the sea in a flight that wasn't quite flight — arrived safely in front of the coastline.
And at the same moment:
Proficiency of Master Aqua Splash increased by 5.
Proficiency of Master Telekinesis increased by 5.
Proficiency of Master Ice Needle increased by 5.
Proficiency of Master Ice Shard increased by 5.
Proficiency of Master Gust increased by 5.
'Nice.'
Seo Hwarang clenched his fist.
'Finally.'
The proficiency that had been frozen solid no matter how much he used the skills had finally started to climb.
'I'll have to keep putting them to good use.'
For each and every skill, he figured he'd need to experiment — fine-tuning his control, trying them this way and that.
First things first.
Who shows up to a new land and goes straight to sleep? He'd pulled an all-nighter today. He'd already slept on the plane, and again on the boat.
Swish.
To start, he'd lead with the Staff of Ruin — cut down any monster that showed its face as they went.
"This is probably Damietta here," Park Juhee explained as they walked up from the shore toward the city district. "It's famous for its antique furniture. Drive about three hours straight north and you hit the capital, Cairo. Though, well... obviously we can't take a car."
Abandoned wrecks were scattered everywhere nearby, but they didn't know the roads — and the conditions were probably a total disaster anyway.
Walking it was.
This kind of situation was familiar. He'd been through plenty of it on the Etherion Continent.
Ah. Though back then, at least there were carriages.
- Krrr.
- Krrrrrr!
About a minute after they hit the road?
One. Two.
Monsters began to reveal themselves.
"Quite the enthusiastic welcome party right out of the gate."
"D-rank white wolves."
Ten of them. They looked half-starved — a sharp glint showed on their fangs.
"Um... they're technically D-rank, but they travel in packs, so the difficulty's often treated as C-rank," Park Juhee said nervously.
"D-rank, C-rank, whatever."
Same difficulty tier as the dungeons he'd ground through endlessly.
Thoom!
He tapped the Staff of Ruin lightly against the ground.
FwaaarOOM!
Four Master Fire Bolts bloomed into existence alongside twenty Light Arrows, and came raining down on the wolves.
Pububuk! KWAAANG!
Even though he'd thrown them out as casually as if he were flicking trash away, every single one hit its mark.
- Kyeng!
- Keheung!
The wolves struck by Fire Bolts burst apart and burned to ash in an instant, while the ones who took Light Arrows through their vitals let out dying cries.
And then one of them —
"Kyaaa!"
charged low, lunging to tear into Park Juhee's calf —
Kadeuk!
— and clamped its teeth against the Magic Shield she'd already cast. The wolf gnawed away, baffled that nothing was giving way —
Seogak!
— and Seo Hwarang sliced it cleanly in half with a Wind Cutter.
And that was all ten of them, dispatched in the blink of an eye.
You have acquired 10 coins.
'Oh?'
Seo Hwarang's eyes gleamed.
Monsters outside dungeons drop coins too? Then this is seriously insane. Better than dungeons.
Dungeons made you spend time breaking through mazes and traps, while a dungeon break usually only spat out boss-tier monsters. Out here, you just found monsters and killed them. Simple as that.
"Phew."
Seo Hwarang whistled.
If he swept all of Egypt and all of Libya clean, how many coins would he rake in? His level was going to climb a fair amount this time too.
"Just a moment. I'll harvest them right away."
Swish.
This time he drew the Obsidian Skinner (Rare) from his coat.
Monster-infested as this place was, there was no way he was passing up the hides. The smell of blood would probably draw in worse things soon enough.
Skrrk, skrrk!
These days, he could separate a hide in under thirty seconds per carcass.
'I should raise my Leatherworking skill to advanced soon too.'
He suspected he might just manage it this trip.
Egypt, and Libya.
They were the archetypal lawless zones — called a monster hell — but among Awakeners they were also known as lands of opportunity.
Why?
Monsters. Everywhere!
The rewards they dropped — coins, experience, cores — carried tremendous value, and who knew, you might even stumble onto the fortune of a lifetime. Because of that, every city here teemed with countless Awakeners who'd slipped in illegally.
And these people were running their own economy on the inside, too. The land was vast and the population enormous, so the refugees who'd survived were still numerous beyond counting.
And then —
Central Damietta.
"Run!"
Two men were fleeing for their lives from a crimson lizard.
"Damn it, it's too fast!"
"Just evade! Don't engage!"
"Goddammit!"
Both were men — a strange pairing, though. One was an enormous Westerner built like a mountain. The other was a small-framed Asian man.
"JACKSOOOON!"
"Gravity Control's not holding!"
The giant was Jackson Steel. A defensive tanker whose class was Gravity Controller, nationality American. Boasting a massive, muscular frame, he barely managed to halt the lizard's advance in its tracks.
"Okay! Got it stopped! Minu! Attack that damn thing!"
"Ha — for the love of — I told you we should run!"
The man called Minu — Han Minwoo — turned back with a scowl. Nationality: South Korean. Class: an assassin specializing in the pure burst-damage role.
Both were A-rank Awakeners who'd illegally infiltrated Egypt. Their purpose?
Money, obviously!
Korea and the US had suffocating government regulation — no way to hog the rewards for yourself. But in a land of opportunity? Skill was the only barrier to entry, and the strong could feast on everything.
There was risk involved, sure, like right now. But if you could just hold out a little longer, explosive growth was waiting on the other side.
"HRAAAAAP!"
Han Minwoo drove his dagger in a reverse grip into the lizard's back —
FwaaarOOM!
— but the thing's power was stronger than they'd imagined.
Because this creature was none other than Igniras, the Immortal Flame Lizard — an A-rank boss monster, one of the disaster-grade beasts that dropped cores.
- Kieeeeeeek!
The creature, crushed under gravity's hold, twisted its body and began to struggle —
FWOOROOOOM!
— and fire erupted from its jaws.
"Shit! I'm burned!"
Han Minwoo screamed, throwing his arm up to shield himself. At the same time, he shot Jackson a resentful look and let out a long sigh.
"Haah — I told you, we should just RUN! Its regeneration is way too strong! The two of us can't do anything here!"
"But! It was almost dead, I swear — !"
Jackson clearly couldn't let it go. And fair enough.
The core that thing would drop was worth, at minimum, several hundred billion won.
"What choice do we have? Look at its recovery! Move your ass!"
Pschak!
Han Minwoo yanked his dagger free and sprinted back the way they'd come. Jackson released his hold on gravity and bolted too.
But in that instant —
- Kieeek!
Igniras clamped its razor teeth down hard on Jackson's calf.
"Kgh — AAAARGH!"
Jackson howled at the searing pain. Worse, the teeth seemed to run scorching hot — ssssss! — he could hear his own flesh sizzling.
'Oh no.'
Han Minwoo froze, torn in an instant of decision. Run, or save him?
He'd known Jackson a month now, since they'd met through an online community.
'But that thing...'
There was no answer there. Like a true disaster-grade beast, Igniras breathed fire and began coiling it around Jackson's body. Save him from that? Even an S-rank probably couldn't.
"KAAAAGH! RUN! RUN AWAY! MINU!"
Even through all of it, Jackson was screaming at him to flee — his face twisted with agony.
That was a tanker's fate. A damage dealer would have died on the spot in that moment, painless and instant — but overwhelming defense was what let him endure it.
"Ha... goddammit."
No choice, then.
The guy's screaming at you to run while he's being roasted alive — how are you supposed to just leave? That cursed thing called loyalty. Somebody had to honor it.
Hwiririk!
Han Minwoo gripped his dagger again and threw himself at the lizard.
Shadow Slash.
A dagger plunging in a single straight line out of the shadows — his very best burst-damage technique.
Shaaaak! PHOOK!
The dagger sank in —
- Kieeeeeeek!
— and only made Igniras angrier. The beast swung its tail like a whip and — swish! — coiled it around Han Minwoo's legs.
"Kugh!"
Chi-iiiiik!
Scorching flame began to eat into his calves. His hands scraped at the ground as he writhed, desperately trying to break free.
But —
'That's why they call it a disaster-grade beast, huh?'
Han Minwoo regretted it. Losing his life over a moment of greed.
Jackson too. And himself. They'd vanish from the world without anyone ever knowing they'd come here. Wiped away, like they'd never existed.
"Hnngh."
Just as he bit down on his lip —
CHWAAAAAK!
A column of water came flying in from somewhere and engulfed the lizard. The pressure was so ferocious that the thing — so solid and heavy just a moment ago — went boing! and floated up into the empty air.
"Hrghk!"
"Kehaaaaak!"
Jackson and Han Minwoo finally tore free of the creature's reach, both shrieking in pain. Then they scrambled to make sense of what was happening.
First of all —
"Huh?"
Three figures. One man, two women.
Anyone could tell they were Korean.
"You looked like you were in trouble, so I saved you — I hope that wasn't presumptuous?"
The man among them. Seo Hwarang.
Han Minwoo's face lit up and he nodded like a maniac.
'We're alive, holy shit!'
"You're fine! Absolutely fine! Please, save us!"
"Oh, Koreans. Well then — I can go ahead and take care of that monster, right?"
"Of course! Of course you can!"
Seo Hwarang nodded. He'd been hunting diligently when he heard the racket of screaming and come to look — and found this.
It even looked noticeably stronger than everything he'd killed so far. But so what?
A baptism of magic. How was it going to endure that?
Seo Hwarang unleashed the spells he'd just cooled down on the floating lizard, all at once.
KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAANG!
The lizard's hide burst apart like an overinflated balloon popping — and then, for the finale:
KWARRRRUNG!
A Thunder Strike, landing clean and true.
Hm?
A-rank. And immortal?
Why was this thing immortal, anyway?
Another level up, too. And then —
◈ A disaster-grade core, usable for epic-grade equipment or massive clean energy generation
Ooh. He'd snagged that legendary core as well.
And better yet than even that —
You have acquired 3,000 coins.
Wow.
That Blood Wolf back then didn't drop anything like this — but this thing does? And three thousand of them, no less!
Egypt really was as good as advertised, huh?
For Seo Hwarang, this place was quite literally a land flowing with milk and honey.