A Thread Severed

Who the hell came up with that name? The greatest threat to A-rin wouldn't be an opponent charging at her with brute force. Rather, having her location tracked posed a far greater danger to her safety. If someone could simply map out her comings and goings, they could strike at her vulnerable moments and take her life at any time. Since the duration of the same skill varied from person to person, I didn't know how long that [Scout] ability would last, but removing that woman alone would cut the risk by more than half. So I figured lending a hand like this while we were exchanging pointers wouldn't be out of line.

- Kwoooaaaargh—!

While I was organizing my thoughts and nodding to myself, orcs came charging down the hill, letting out wild roars as they rushed toward us like madmen. A force of a thousand. Their ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠momentum was intense as they charged without hesitation or looking back. The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠other hunters, overwhelmed by that pressure, could only swallow hard.

Uuuuung—

Yeonhee had already summoned every available summon, and at the same time we began moving forward. There was no need to stand stupidly in a corner and take the full force of their charge.

"A-rin! Don't use Lightning Step unless you have to! Just in case!"

"Got it!"

Jua and A-rin had decided to conserve their strength in case of emergencies. Since the Apex Guild was known for not easily removing targets once they marked them, their caution seemed wise. Feeling a bit more at ease with their careful approach, I fixed my gaze on the first target and waited for the melee to unfold. Around the current target, Apex Guild members were positioned at distances where they could assist at any moment. They maintained formation while constantly checking prearranged hand signals at regular intervals. As expected, they weren't some half-baked amateurs. My evaluation of them kept rising as time passed.

I looked again at the woman who had cast a skill on me. I figured the support-type hunter with [Scout] was a rare ability, so the guild would be managing her at an organizational level.

'Only one... Does she have some other trick up her sleeve?'

Still, it was strange that she only had a single escort. If it were a support hunter like Ham Eun-yeong, this battle would be too much for one person to guarantee her safety.

'I don't know. Maybe I should throw in a variable.'

The thread of mana she had connected to me was faintly visible between us. Casually raising my dagger, I infused both mana and my senses into the tip of the blade. A thin, black haze slowly rose from the blade that had been glowing blue.

'It's been a while since I did this.'

After briefly admiring Arhen's dagger, I swung it toward the mana thread.

Thud—!

- ......!!

When you imbue an ancient artifact with both mana and senses, even this kind of miracle becomes possible. Compared to the red-haired elf we met in the Lizardman Swamp who deflected my sensory waves with a single gesture, this was child's play, but for that woman it would be earth-shattering.

As expected, the woman began to panic and flail about. She turned her head to check on me, but I was already staring intently at Yeonhee's fresh profile. If [Scout], which could detect not only my stats but also my location, disappeared, she wouldn't be able to prove her worth to her comrades, at least for now. That would be extremely troublesome for her. She quickly relayed the situation to her escort, who immediately ran to the man with the snake tattoo who seemed to be the leader and shared the information.

(What?! What kind of nonsense is that! Suddenly the ability just cut off?)

Since the battle hadn't started yet, the exchange of information happened quickly.

- Haven't I told you before? You lack tension. To think your mental strength is so weak you can't even maintain a single skill. Unbelievable.

- It's not my fault! It just suddenly felt like someone cut it—

- Bullshit! Are you saying there's someone here using 'Calib,' which only top-tier hunters can pull off?

- Th-that's... I'm sorry! Let me try one more time—

- Forget it. Hey, release the escort and throw her into combat too. It's not like the guild ordered it anyway. Seon-jeong, you too—forget that useless ability. Just support from the rear.

- Yes!

- ......Understood.

The woman, who had nothing to say even if she had ten mouths, looked like she was about to burst into tears, unable to understand what had happened despite her apparent boyfriend trying to console her.

- Let's deal with the boss first. Don't worry too much. Got it?

- Yeah... Be careful, honey!

'The effect is better than I thought.'

In the end, she was left alone. Of course, she maintained some distance from her party members, but since she wasn't a frontline class, she seemed to be stepping back slightly to focus on support. Thanks to that, approaching her became much easier.

Kukukukukung—

- Kwoooaaaargh!!

'Orcs. Here we go.'

Kwakwakwakwakwang!!

The Skeleton Bombs I had thrown carefully aimed at the targets. With the explosions as the signal, the boss fight began.

- Purururuk...

The Orc Intermediate Warriors leading their subordinates at the front line staggered greatly after being hit by the bombs I threw. Thanks to that, the momentum of the charging orc unit noticeably decreased, and the skills of the hunters who had been prepared in advance exploded in succession, firmly seizing the early initiative.

Peopeopeopeopeong—!!

'I don't expect to level up today, so just go up within this week.'

With that sentiment, I fired Fireballs as well. I only needed one level, so why wasn't it going up?

- Ooh...! That's the Reaper, Iro-ra!

- Seeing it get a name, it really must be the number one pick summon. But it looks vicious—must be female?

'Damn it! Whoever gave it that name, I'm definitely going to find them and teach them a lesson.'

When I poured in over 50% of my mana in an instant, the hunters' gazes naturally focused on me.

- Did the skeleton soldier evolve from mage to lich? Monster evolutions are still a mystery no matter how much I see them.

- Do you have time to run your mouth like that?!

They even had the leisure to throw in a comment while looking at me, but that only lasted a moment. After a few minutes, we found ourselves surrounded by the orcs' overwhelming numbers in a semicircle, and as expected, the battle descended into chaos. When hunters and orcs became so entangled that they could barely be distinguished, the ranged attackers inevitably saw their accuracy drop and struggled to exert their power. The melee warriors were somewhat better off, but clashing with orcs who were born warriors was no light matter. Especially since their overall level had risen, it was even more difficult.

But even in the midst of this, I had work to do. Let's finish this as quickly as possible. After signaling Yeonhee, I left my position for a moment. Thankfully, she respected my decision without asking for details.

"Just come back quickly. Got it? You'll definitely run out of mana!"

"Clack clack clack!"

Tatatat—!

A large-scale battle between orcs and hunters. In the distance, someone's head was torn off and sent flying high into the sky. How long had it been since the fight started, and people were already dying. Anyway, I hid my body the moment people's gazes couldn't reach me.

'My body feels light.'

As the battle with the orcs began, power surged through my body as if lava were erupting. The high from the massive stat increase stimulated my entire body in succession. It felt like dozens of climaxes compressed together.

'Whew... This is exhilarating.'

And I wasn't the only one feeling that sensation. Yeonhee and Bae Jua staggered for a moment on the Lizardman's shoulder, clutching their knees in an awkward posture with flushed faces.

- Ugh... Uuugh...

It wasn't strange for them to experience this inevitable stimulation as their physical rank rose sharply. It was also proof that we hadn't yet fully harmonized with mana. The higher one climbed as a hunter, the less of this stimulation there would be. I decided to think of it as a memory from our chick days. But separate from that, the greatly increased stats significantly eased the burden on my mind about leaving my party members behind.

In stealth, I drew a graceful curve as I cut between people and orcs, advancing forward. I could feel that the sound of cutting through the wind had changed noticeably. The air brushed past as if it might slice my face, and I even had the illusion that I could crush an orc's head with my bare hands. Naturally, I was filled with the desire to test my strength. While passing between hunters and orcs, I stabbed orcs in vital points with my dagger whenever the opportunity arose. Since we weren't far from the Apex party, I quickly reached the target's location.

But when I arrived, an unexpected scene unfolded. The [Scout] ability user I had assumed was a support type was exchanging punches with orcs using her bare fists.

'Oh? She's using knuckledusters? Haha, so she was a martial artist. Did they plan for this too?'

While there was a stereotype that support-type ability users under escort would be weak in close combat, she displayed powerful strikes and showed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no signs of being pushed back in her duel with the orc. Since martial artists were hard to come by, I found myself unconsciously watching her battle for a moment. Her stats weren't enough to overwhelm an orc, but she had enough power and sense to protect herself. It seemed like it would be quite a sight if I pitted her against Lizardman No. 1.

A martial artist with the [Scout] ability... Really valuable. But I soon came to my senses and dashed straight toward her. As expected, once the battle began, the Apex party members' attention was greatly scattered. The conditions for assassination were sufficient. Core personnel of a group that valued human lives lightly as long as they made money. Even if they died to monsters in a dungeon, they wouldn't feel any resentment.

Seogeogeok—!

"Kieeeek—"

The dagger passed once across the neck of the woman who had just finished her battle, and droplets trying to gulp in outside air burst out in a fan shape from the drawn line, separating her from me. With her neck half-open, the woman flailed her hands as if dancing in a crimson rain before collapsing to the ground.

"Kkrrk- Kkeuuu..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

'Tch... So two conditions can't increase at the same time after all.'

Flame Slash was clearly a fire attribute, but no matter how many times I used it, the attribute quest count didn't rise. It seemed achieving two conditions simultaneously was out of the question. Killing ten thousand was already tough enough, and they had to make these conditions unnecessarily strict on top of that. It was really stingy. I earnestly hoped there wouldn't be any more job change quests of this format in the future, calling out Irmana's name.

'Rather than this, it'd be better to have a proper fight with an incredibly strong opponent.'