A Gradual Misunderstanding
"Argh!"
Indomitable (SR) has been activated!
Remaining Stacks: 9
The passive trait activated the moment he stepped inside. It was the only SR-grade trait he possessed—an ability that negated damage within a certain threshold up to ten times a day.
The fact that this triggered means an attack of that caliber just swept through here.
He cautiously scanned his surroundings. The entrance of the Gate was in absolute tatters. Giant spiders lay dead, either flipped onto their backs or with their heads cleanly pierced through.
Lee Hyun-ho stood frozen in a daze. In the center of the destruction, a young girl was stretching her arms.
"W-what in the world...?"
Hyun-ho couldn't make sense of the situation. Why was this girl completely unharmed? How had she survived being caught in such a devastating blast? But he was a seasoned hunter. Rather than trying to wrap his head around the mystery, he prioritized action.
"Did you get swept into the Gate by accident, little girl?"
"Huh?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped Yumia's lips. What is this old guy babbling about?
"If you got dragged in here, come with this oppa. You'll at least be safe by my side."
Yumia scoffed, utterly incredulous.
"Hey, mister. Even if I look young, I'm at least five years older than you think."
Her response was surprisingly casual.
"...?"
Hyun-ho blinked. Only then did he realize he had made a hasty judgment based purely on her appearance.
"Ah, are you a hunter from another guild?"
So she was a fellow hunter. The person who had caused this carnage must have already gone ahead to clear the dungeon, and she had probably been hiding until now.
"Huh? A guild?"
"Are you not affiliated with one?"
"Well, for now, yeah."
An unaffiliated rookie hunter. Hyun-ho shed a silent tear inside. He remembered his own rookie days before joining the Baekho Guild. Back then, whenever a Gate opened, he had scrambled and struggled just to pick up whatever scraps he could find. He saw his past self reflected in her.
"So you're a junior! Don't you worry about a thing! I'll teach you everything you need to know!"
"...Uh, sure."
He noticed Yumia pointing her wand toward him, seemingly lost in deep thought. She's muttering something to herself, but I can't quite hear it. He studied her closely. Then, a realization struck him. She isn't wearing a single artifact? Normally, hunters equipped themselves with various artifacts before a fight. Yet, all this girl held was a single, crude wooden wand.
"Isn't it dangerous to carry around such a low-grade artifact?"
"Excuse me?! Low-grade?!"
Her eyes widened as she reacted with sudden defensiveness. To him, it looked like a simple piece of wood, barely of Common grade. Tsk, the poor girl doesn't even know the grade of her own artifact.
"You seem to be a magic-type hunter."
"Yeah, pretty much."
"As your senior, let me give you some advice. Magic-type hunters don't carry around such tiny wands."
"What?"
"I've heard it from other magic-types myself. They say the bigger the staff, and the larger the gem embedded at the tip, the better."
It was a valuable piece of advice, born of senior experience.
"Excuse me???"
See? She's so shocked she can't even speak. Seeing her clutch the back of her neck as if she were about to faint, he was certain she had just been struck by the harsh reality of her situation.
"Ah, we haven't properly introduced ourselves. I'm Lee Hyun-ho of the Baekho Guild."
"Yumia."
"If you don't mind, would you like to party up with me?"
"Why should I?"
"I'm a B-rank hunter."
"And again, why should I?"
Yumia walked past him with an utterly indifferent expression.
Damn, she's not listening. I get that she's a rookie, but being this arrogant in front of a Gate is begging for disaster. Magic-type hunters were rare. If she was unaffiliated, he was even considering scouting her for the Baekho Guild. But in her current state, entering the Gate recklessly could lead to tragedy. He needed to persuade her.
"Don't you want to be friends with a B-rank hunter?"
"A-rank hunter Lee Sera is my friend, though."
"Sigh... There's no way that's true. Junior, you might not know this, but Hunter Lee Sera isn't someone you can just casually refer to like that."
Lee Sera was practically on the verge of becoming an S-rank hunter. She was the second-in-command of the Baekho Guild and his personal idol. Naturally, there was no way the rookie's claim was true; it was likely just her way of showing she wasn't listening to a word he said.
Still, she probably wasn't entirely talentless. In fact, her potential might be incredible. She seemed to possess some ability that kept her completely unscathed amidst that devastating barrage. However, accumulated experience was not something to be ignored. Hyun-ho had seen far too many hunters meet an early grave because of such hubris. At least for now, I'm the stronger one. In that case, showing her his skills would be the fastest way to make her understand.
Skitter, skitter.
As they walked deeper into the Gate, giant spiders began to appear. ...But where did the person who unleashed that initial barrage go? The question crossed his mind, but now was not the time. He drew his spear.
"Haaah!"
With a fierce shout, he split the head of a giant spider right down the middle.
"How's th—"
He turned back to boast.
"Casting, Bullet, Triple."
Simultaneously, three streaks of light pierced straight through another spider's head.
"W-what...?!"
"How's that?" Yumia asked, resting her hands on her hips.
"Y-you're quite decent..."
Can magic-type hunters cast spells that quickly?
"But without a tank... it's dangerous!"
From behind, a spider lunged at them with lightning speed. It was relatively small—about the size of a soccer ball—but it was an Assassin Spider, possessing jaws as strong as steel.
"Sigh."
She casually drove a dagger straight into the spider's head.
Where did that dagger come from?
What was more, the area she stabbed was bubbling and melting away.
An artifact?!
Her technique was astonishing, resembling that of a seasoned assassin. But then, she suddenly shrieked. Her finger had lightly brushed against the tip of the blade.
"Ow, hot! Karnaroff! What kind of garbage did you give me?!"
...Didn't she burn herself because of her own clumsiness?
He finally realized. She's at my level, or maybe even higher.
"Casting, Bullet, Hexa, Guide."
A quadruple chant, a homing formula. Holding her wand, she muttered a spell in an unfamiliar tongue. Six arrows of mana erupted, unerringly piercing every single hidden spider without missing a single one.
How is that even possible?!
All he had to do was use his Taunt skill to buy her time to cast. Though, he wondered if there was even any point to it. The raw power of her spells was below that of a B-rank, or even a C-rank magic hunter. However, every single ounce of that power was delivered directly to the target without a single drop of waste.
"B-by any chance, what difficulty did you climb in the Tower...?"
"Secret."
Yumia smiled, placing an index finger over her lips. But where did the dagger she was using go?
"Oh, a treasure chest."
The dagger materialized in her hand once more.
Sssss...
"W-wait!"
"What? If you're planning to steal it, you'll have to beat me in a fight first."
"No, it's not that! There's a chance it's a Mimic—"
"As if. I don't feel any mana from it."
Melting the lock away, she checked the contents.
"Ah, dammit. Another elixir."
Another elixir?!
"Well..."
"I found it, so it's mine."
It was an incredibly shameless attitude... but then again, this girl had cleared almost every single spider in the Gate by herself. And she has a weapon inventory? He remembered how her weapon had vanished and reappeared. Judging by her swift movements earlier, she probably had some sort of high-speed movement trait as well. Just how many abilities and traits does she have?!
Magic-type hunters usually specialized in a single spell, or at most, used it in a few different ways. But Yumia was different. Her mana bullets exploded, curved, and fired simultaneously. At one point, a spider lunging at her was blocked by an invisible wall. It's as if her very ability morphs into exactly what she needs, precisely when she needs it. There was absolutely zero waste.
"Let's go!"
Yumia said, her mood visibly improved after thoroughly plundering all the gems and treasure chests the spiders had hidden away. But where did all those gems and treasures go, too? She was a mystery in every sense of the word.
Finally, they reached the core of the Gate. Hyun-ho could feel the mana thickening. It was so dense that even he, whose mana sensitivity was subpar, could clearly perceive it. Layers of spiderwebs formed a narrow entrance.
"This is the boss room."
"Looks like it."
They stepped inside. Just then, the radio-type artifact on his hip crackled to life. A panicked voice screamed through the speaker.
"W-what?!"
But it was already too late. The entrance to the boss room had been sealed shut by thick, tough spiderwebs. Then, eight crimson eyes gleamed in the darkness. A spider nearly the size of a house stared down at them from its web.
"Hyaaaah!"
Hyun-ho charged forward, attempting to thrust his spear, but the boss moved with blinding speed, dodging the attack and scattering sharp needles in every direction.
Clang!
Yumia blocked them with a defensive spell, but Hyun-ho was forced to consume another stack of his trait.
Indomitable (SR) has been activated!
Remaining Stacks: 8
It was a clear disadvantage. Yet, it wasn't entirely hopeless. If Yumia provided support while Hyun-ho tanked, they could easily hold out for at least three minutes.
"Let's try to hold out for a bit—"
"Hold out for what? That thing is worth the most money."
Yumia smirked. Her pupils slit into fearsome slits, and an ominous mana oozed from her eyes, flowing down into her wand.
"W-what are you planning to..."
"Casting, Bullet, Guide."
Only then did Lee Hyun-ho realize who had actually laid waste to the Gate's entrance. A crimson mana bullet tore straight through the boss monster.
BOOOOOOM!!!
Man, Dragon Mana really is the best! One-shotting a B-rank boss was a breeze. My pockets were stuffed, and my mood was through the roof. Of course, I only had three uses left now.
After casually destroying the core, I prepared a spell to tear open the sealed entrance and exit the boss room. But before I could even cast, a glowing blade sliced the entrance wide open.
"What the? Why are you in here?" Sera asked, her eyes widening in surprise.
"H-Hunter Lee Sera?!"
Lee Hyun-ho looked back and forth between me and Sera several times before stammering, "By any chance, are you two..."
"We're friends," I said, playfully throwing my arm around her shoulders.
Hyun-ho's face turned completely pale.