The Howl of the Warrior

The rough sound of heavy breathing filled the air. "Churrrrak!!" The Lizardmen within range of the buff I had just cast all flicked their tongues in unison, welcoming the effect. Deonni No. 1 and No. 2 reacted with particular enthusiasm.

"Uwooooo!!"

"Kwaaaaa!!"

My strength had temporarily surged by a full ten points. 'As expected, the buff stacks even between summons.' It probably wouldn't stack indefinitely, but this was still a nice little bonus.

Thanks to that, my strength had finally broken past two hundred. I clenched my fist experimentally. The difference of ten points probably wouldn't create some earth-shattering change, yet I still felt a strange sense of satisfaction.

"Whoa! What the heck?! Isn't that an Orc skill? How can you even use that?"

"Hah... I had a feeling, but does Ilwol seriously have the ability to steal other traits?!"

"......"

Since the rest of our party had also received the Warrior's Howl buff I'd used, it was only natural they'd be confused about me wielding a skill that was supposed to be exclusive to Orcs. The first to react was, of course, Bae Jua. It seemed she'd already caught on to the fact that I could steal skills from monsters.

A monster that steals skills from other monsters? If this ever got out, the attention that would pour onto me—no, onto Yeonhee—would be on a completely different scale from what we dealt with now. It would explode.

"U-um... Miss Jua."

"Ah—don't worry, Yeonhee. My lips are sealed! I've had my suspicions for a while now, though. Ilwol's ability is... exactly..."

Gulp—

"...Huh?"

"Right? It's a real Hero-grade trait that you only hear about in stories. Wow... no wonder he uses so many different skills."

The trait Bae Jua had mentioned, Memory Bookmark, was an incredibly unique ability that let the user select and reuse one of the skills or effects they'd personally experienced a set number of times. It was said that fewer than a hundred people in the entire world possessed it. However, there were strict prerequisites for bookmarking abilities, and usage time was limited. The most famous holder of this trait, an American hunter named Carlson, had once given an interview stating that after bookmarking an ability, he could use it between one and five times depending on the rank of the borrowed power.

In terms of being able to use an ability after experiencing it once, it had some advantages over my own power. But in my opinion, Memory Bookmark was nothing more than a lesser version of Thievery. Still, it was undeniably a good ability, so I could understand why she'd assume I had it.

Even if it was just a summon with the bookmark ability, it would still be big news. But Yeonhee was doing her best to protect the secret I was trying to hide. Though honestly, the time for such caution had already passed.

"What? Ah... Y-yes, that's right... Anyway, thank you."

Yeonhee had unconsciously agreed with Bae Jua's guess.

"For real?! Wow—I've never seen someone with a Hero-grade trait before! Well, not a person, I guess. Anyway, it's my first time! So was that fireball you missed earlier also from a bookmark?"

"Clack!!"

I answered Baek A-rin's question with a firm no.

"Huh?"

"Arin. Two clacks from Ilwol means no. Three means yes."

"Waaah! So he just answered me? That's even more amazing than watching him use magic!!"

"Can you two stop chatting and finish cleaning up first?"

Slash—!

"I a-am!"

Even as she swung her blades, she kept catching her breath and making a fuss, but her sword trajectories were remarkably clean and disciplined. 'Wow, her form is really clean. Is that what proper training looks like?'

She alternated between two swords—shorter than a typical longsword but longer than a dagger—swinging them with both hands. There wasn't a single wasted movement in her stance. I didn't know much about swordsmanship, but just from watching her technique, it was clear she was several levels above me.

In contrast...

Crunch—

Squelch—!

My own crude slashes were clearly different from hers. Seeing them side by side made the gap painfully obvious. However, after a few minutes, the number of monsters we'd each killed wasn't all that different. While A-rin's swordsmanship was undoubtedly superior, I outperformed her in every other aspect. In fact, as time went on, I was the one pulling ahead in the kill count.

'Ugh! When the hell am I supposed to finish this?!'

The quest counter had finally started moving. The goal seemed impossibly far away, but at least it had a clear endpoint and a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guaranteed reward. That made it a lot less frustrating than it could have been.

Krrrrr!!

I rammed my shoulder—now covered in sharp spikes—into a wolf that had charged at me from the side. The massive creature's throat was pierced by the spikes embedded in my shoulder. It thrashed around in obvious agony, so I quickly finished it off with my dagger.

'It feels like these spikes on my body are stronger than cutting with a dagger...'

I was feeling a strange sense of defeat over such a bizarre point when a ragged panting reached my ears.

"Haa—ha—ugh, I'm dying here."

It was Baek A-rin. As expected of a rabbit beastman, her stamina was absolute trash. Seeing her gasping for breath, I could only shake my head. The battle had barely lasted ten minutes.

'But that's a racial trait, so there's not much she can do about it, right? Hmm...'

Bae Jua had raised stone walls to block the wolves' retreat, and once all of Yeonhee's summons were out, we had the wolves neatly surrounded. From that point on, it was a slaughter.

These creatures weren't balanced in the first place. Unless they could engage in hit-and-run tactics on open plains, isolated wolves like these couldn't display much power.

It was only after we'd killed well over ten of them that I managed to steal one of their traits. Obtaining a mid-grade Rune of Swiftness was a nice bonus ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠too. The rune that increased movement speed could serve as a replacement for the Rune of Giant depending on the situation.

'Oh-ho, so that's what it does. It's a shame that it specifies "body part," but this should be pretty useful.'

I now had another reason to make use of the spikes covering my body. An ability that shaved off HP by percentage was extremely valuable in single-target boss fights.

Crunch—!!

I stomped down on the head of the last remaining wolf, crushing it, and our first battle in the D-grade dungeon came to an end.

'That was easy.'

The Dire Wolves were supposed to drive their prey into a corner and overwhelm them with numbers. But at the Lesser rank, they couldn't make us feel even slightly threatened. If the strongest monster in this dungeon was only this level, the rest would be a piece of cake.

"What the heck. Were they really this weak?"

Despite her bold words, Baek A-rin's ears were folded into a perfect 'L-shape'. The angle of her ears, which reflected her stamina gauge, made it blatantly obvious that she was bluffing.

"Stand your ears ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠up straight before you talk, you idiot."

"Huh? Ah! T-this is! They do this when I'm hot!"

This dungeon had early spring weather. It was definitely not hot enough to justify that excuse, yet she was desperately trying to hide her weakness by yelling.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just start collecting the loot."

(Whoa— As expected of the skeleton. The master is on another level!)

(Skeleton is smart. Our master.)

(Sigh... I wasn't trying to get praise from you guys... Never mind. Just copy exactly what I just showed you.)

I demonstrated how to dissect a Lesser Dire Wolf to my summons one by one.

"Heee— You seem better at this than me?"

"I told you. He's not joking around."

"Our Ilwol is so talented at everything... Hehe..."

"......"

Baek A-rin and Bae Jua were practically orbiting around me, watching my every move. Yeonhee looked strangely proud as she watched them, and even Ham Eun-young seemed fascinated, staring at me with hazy eyes from a short distance away.

'But that girl really isn't doing anything, is she?'

In the battle just now, Ham Eun-young had only run around to positions where there were no monsters, doing absolutely nothing. She had smacked one wolf that bounced toward her with her round shield, but that was it. Strangely enough, that behavior actually raised my expectations. People who knew when to step forward and when to stay back tended to last longer. And since I knew she would eventually rise to a fairly high position, I planned to watch over her with patience.

"Three Runes of Swiftness from the very first battle... Hoo— That's pretty lucky."

Killing fifty wolves and getting three runes was definitely fortunate. There was no guarantee it would continue, but it was a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠good start.

The party handed over all the bones from the wolves except for the claws, which served as proof of subjugation. Since they already knew I used the bones to make bombs, they passed them over without hesitation.

Crack—

Snap—

'Ahh— This grip. Nothing beats making bombs. This is true healing.'

I kneaded the freshly harvested bones in my palm, shaping them into bombs. Baek A-rin, who was seeing me craft explosives for the first time, and the gloomy Ham Eun-young were both slowly inching closer to me.

"This looks even more amazing than magic, doesn't it, Jua?"

"Right?"

"Yeonhee, would it be okay if I called him Ilwol?"

"...Sure."

Yeonhee answered Baek A-rin's question after a slight pause, but A-rin didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, Ilwol?"

"......"

I paused my work and gave Baek A-rin a brief nod. She bounced with joy, practically jumping into the air.

'Why is she so happy about that...?'

"Ilwol... bombs..."

Beside her, Ham Eun-young was nodding with a serious expression.

'And what about you?'