Lightning Steps and the Limits of Imitation

Every hunter knows that infusing mana into your legs makes movement far faster. It's one of the first things people try after awakening and learning to manipulate mana. But it doesn't take long to realize that the legs are the hardest part of the body to strengthen with mana. They're the farthest from the head and heart, which govern mana flow, and unlike hands that we've used freely our entire lives, feet have a more limited range of motion. That's probably another reason.

I recalled Baek A-rin's movements again. Focusing on the mental image, I saw that she wasn't so much pushing off the ground as creating tiny explosions beneath her feet to propel herself forward. Did she really do that with every single step?

'Insane... How the hell does she keep her balance?'

And how could she unleash such massive bursts of energy from the tips of her feet? Even wrapping a single layer of mana around a weapon gripped in your hand isn't easy. Does the Ilseom Guild pass down some kind of secret technique for this?

Hmm... Countless questions came to mind, but there was no way I'd fully grasp a technique worthy of being called a trump card in one go.

'Activating a skill from the tips of your feet, huh...'

It was a movement I couldn't understand right now, but I believed the day I could imitate it—even clumsily—wasn't that far off.

Mimicking A-rin's Lightning Step, I dodged, blocked, and deflected the wolves' slashing attacks from all directions while frantically counterattacking. I couldn't match her ghostly movements, but by constantly glancing downward and struggling to do something with my feet, I found my field of vision felt a bit wider than usual.

'If I could just burst a fireball from my feet...!'

But of course, thinking about it wasn't enough. For the briefest instant, a flame the size of a match head flickered at the tip of my foot—then nothing.

'Haa... This is ridiculously hard. My mana is leaking everywhere.'

Even while training, the quest counter kept rising quickly, which at least kept me motivated. All I could see were wolves' claws, fangs, and splattering blood. Before I knew it, I'd fallen completely into the single-minded focus of killing my enemies.

And ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as my senses gradually expanded, my surroundings began to blur. It was that familiar sensation that often came after I'd entered a state of no-mind. Though I couldn't see it, I felt the circuits engraved in me during my class change flare up for just a moment.

The message told me I'd made a small achievement. I remembered seeing similar messages in my past life—things like senses expanded, slightly more agile, minor increase in illusion detection ability. They always seemed to pop up at unexpected moments and surprise me, but I don't think I'd ever grown this consciously through effort before.

And the improvement was so slight that I couldn't immediately tell what had gotten better.

'Couldn't you just show me the numerical value for that tiny improvement?'

I was starving for growth, and the system's encouragement felt woefully insufficient to satisfy my hunger.

I lightly swung my dagger sideways, slicing a wolf's throat. A perfectly straight line I'd drawn. While Baek A-rin's movements drew beautiful curves that resembled a sword dance, mine were nothing but crude, straight lines. Still, I didn't feel impatient about the difference.

After all, imitation would inevitably reflect my own individuality. Straight lines were the projection of my desire to reach the enemy by the shortest path, and I quite liked the straight, upright lines I created.

Slice—!

I severed the thick foreleg of a dire wolf that had swung at me in one clean cut, then drove the spike on my shoulder into its face.

Stab—!

The Rough Claws I'd obtained from the dire wolf activated continuously as the number of body charges during battle increased. Even a quick glance showed the wolf suffering from severe bleeding, causing its center of gravity to shift backward rather than forward toward me.

Crunch—!!

As I tried to finish off the creature that was backing away to create an escape angle, four more wolves latched onto my arms and legs from behind, desperately ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trying to drag me down.

Grrrrr—!

'Fine. Let's see who falls first.'

With those four still clinging to me, I activated Reckless Charge and charged blindly toward where the other wolves were clustered.

Boom—!

The wolves flew in every direction as if a fifteen-pound bowling ball had struck perfectly between the one and three pins. But the empty space was immediately filled by more hideous wolves, as if they couldn't tolerate any gap. Their persistence was starting to get on my nerves.

I grabbed the sharp fangs rushing toward my face with both hands and hurled the creature as far as I could.

Crunch—!

It slammed into the wall, its head exploding. It didn't even get to let out a final scream. Sometimes I needed to kill them this way to relieve stress. I couldn't lose interest in combat itself by becoming too obsessed with the quest.

Splat—!

Kiiieee—!

Slime acid proved surprisingly effective when used on vulnerable areas like the eyes. Seeing a wolf flailing helplessly after being hit by acid made a refreshing feeling bloom in my chest. Riding that high, I let out a battle cry.

"Clack clack clack!!"

The eyes of the hunters who happened to be near me widened when they received the Warrior's Howl buff. One of them even gave me a quick bow while I was briefly out of stealth.

'Hmm— you've got the right attitude. If someone helps you, you should show gratitude.'

I couldn't remember the man's face since it was unremarkable, but personally, I liked that kind of upright personality. Of course, only if he became one of my subordinates.

Since entering the cave, I'd already used seven active skills. Using that many skills meant my mana consumption had long surpassed my recovery rate. I would soon run out of mana, but I had no intention of stopping.

The wolves inside the cave were starting to stagger. The poison and paralysis were finally taking effect.

Booom—!!

After creating distance from the surrounding wolves with a fireball, I grabbed my Gliding Cloak—which I'd dampened with water before the battle—and leaped high into the air.

No matter how many Rune of Mana Absorption I had equipped, as long as my kill speed didn't outpace my skill usage speed, mana depletion was inevitable.

'It's not the lack of mana that's the problem—it's that this chaotic mess is driving me crazy. This is the first time I've fought such a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠messy battle since the orc invasion.'

The wolves that had been clinging to me like rabid dogs suddenly shifted their gaze to the other hunters as the stealth effect from gliding took hold. I floated in the air thanks to the cloak and hurled ten skeleton bombs downward all at once.

Whoooosh— Boomboomboomboom—!!

The wolves exploded in all directions from the powerful blast.

'Whew... Let's take a short break.'

It felt like I'd been fighting nonstop for nearly twenty minutes. I'd been so focused that there were gaps in my memory, like I'd briefly dozed off, and my mental strength had taken a noticeable hit. If I'd been a complete skeleton, I probably could've kept happily slicing through wolves without any of these difficulties.

The message I'd seen earlier appeared again. Once my body completely dried out, Irmana's Blessing vanished. I took out the Ancient Kettle from my inventory and immediately poured the otherworldly water over myself, soaking the cloak until it was dripping wet. It looked like I was taking a shower in the middle of battle, which was annoying, but there was no other way to maintain Irmana's Blessing.

Looking down, the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠number of wolves still seemed to outnumber the hunters by at least seven or eight to one. In terms of sheer numbers, it wasn't much different from when the first wave began—an absurd situation. Even considering it was a boss battle, this was... way too many. Seriously, what the hell?

I felt like I'd killed over seventy myself, yet more kept appearing. I'd hoped for a lot, but experiencing it firsthand made me think this was a bit much. I was fine, but the others were clearly struggling—

"Kiiiiiiik!! Pleeeease! Hey, you guys!! I was wrong, okay?! Please! S-save meeee!! My arm! Aaaagh! Stop shaking my arm!!"

From quite a distance away, I heard a woman's voice on the brink of death. It was her final desperate cry, poured out toward her comrades. But—

Crunch—!!

The woman, whose arms and legs were bitten by four wolves, was torn into five pieces and dragged into the cave. I didn't know how much those giant wolves' bellies would be filled by just one woman, but if any of the ones that ate humans mutated, it would be a huge pain.

I leaned my body forward sharply and flew to the opposite side like a flying squirrel. Then I dropped several bombs on the heads of the wolves dragging away the dismembered woman whose eyes had already lost their light.

Boomboomboomboomboom—!!

The wolves were shredded into much smaller pieces than the woman and scattered in all directions. Leaving them behind, I flew back to my original position and glanced at the hunters where the woman had been.

'Tsk... What the hell are those bastards doing?'

They were clearly her comrades. Since there was a bear beastman among them, their party had stood out from the beginning. Yet for some reason, they turned a blind eye to their dead companion. Watching them, my nose caught a stench like filthy sewage. They probably had their own circumstances, and I couldn't tell who was at fault, but it wasn't a pleasant sight.

Having experienced similar situations several times during my hunter life, I quickly averted my gaze. Paying attention wouldn't bring the woman back to life anyway.

Thanks to that, my mind felt slightly tainted. While still floating in the air, I quietly reflected on the recent melee and organized my thoughts.

'One-hit kill...'

I was still woefully inadequate at cutting down monsters in a single strike. Part of it was because my weapon was a dagger, but even if I had a greatsword, killing a monster with one blow wasn't easy. Flame Slash delivered fairly sharp attacks, but it was a heavy skill that couldn't be used consecutively. In short, it left a lot of openings afterward.

If I wanted to kill with normal attacks in one hit, improving my weapon would yield faster progress than raising my own skill level.

'I need to commission that greatsword soon. I should ask Ran to deliver the message.'

It felt strange for a summon to hand materials to its master and say "please buy me a weapon," but if I nitpicked every little thing like that, my next class change wouldn't happen until summer—and that was unacceptable.