Sharing Equipment Among Summons

The acceleration from the shared equipment made my body far more agile than before. My reaction speed had increased by ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠10 percent.

'Definitely… this is incredible.'

I nodded, personally experiencing the full power of the talkative Rainy. Though the increased agility didn’t show up as a clear numerical value, my bony body somehow felt more human. At this level…

With a snort, I turned my gaze toward the approaching herd of Big Boars. Two adults and four nearly full-grown juveniles. This was going to be tough.

From behind me came the sound of Yeonhee muttering another incantation. Soon after, Lime was summoned and wrapped itself around her arm. Taking that as the signal to begin, the Big Boars let out a deafening roar.

Kweeeeeeek—!!

Kweeeek!!

Apparently deciding they held the advantage, they activated Reckless Charge right from the start and came barreling toward us.

I whipped my head from left to right, scattering acid in a wide arc. The charging beasts faltered, and I seized the opening to rush straight at the juveniles first.

The moment I charged the juveniles, the two adult Big Boars flinched in surprise and immediately changed direction to follow me.

'Too late, you brats!'

My movements were far quicker than usual. I slammed straight into the center of the juveniles, who were still clumsily swiveling their heads in confusion.

Thud! Thud—!!

Two of the young boars were sent flying several meters by the impact of my shoulder. Using the momentum of my charge, I swung my club and caved in the skull of another with a sickening crunch.

Kweeeeeeet!!

Meanwhile, Yeonhee moved with noticeably livelier steps than before, rapidly firing arrows. Unfortunately, her accuracy while moving was terrible, and none of the blind shots actually hit their marks. Still, her attacks proved effective. By constantly interrupting the boars’ momentum-based charges, she was putting a serious damper on their offense.

'It really feels like I jumped three or four levels in an instant. We’ve gained an incredible ally…'

Just moments ago, I’d had to throw my body into their charges with perfect timing just to dodge. Now I could casually step aside in advance, target their weak points, and even land solid counterattacks.

Crack! Crunch—!

'My improved movement makes it so much easier to put power behind my strikes.'

“Kyaaak—!!”

Even so, dodging the Big Boars’ reckless charges while fighting wasn’t easy by any means. For Yeonhee, who had to attack from range, it must have been pure hell. After thoroughly breaking their formation, I slipped back into stealth and returned to her side.

I circled around to the flank of a Big Boar that already had several arrows embedded in its body and charged again.

Thuuud—!!

Kweeeek!!

Did the arrows sink even deeper from the impact? The beast’s short scream sounded ominous. After tumbling several times, it staggered badly and struggled to get back on its feet.

'One down…'

“Lime! Go to Ilwol!”

Yeonhee flicked her arm, launching the slime. It latched onto my right arm and immediately took on a shield-like form. Rainy remained perched on my head, continuously casting Acceleration.

Tatata—!

There was no reason to stand still and wait for their attacks anymore.

'I’ll draw all the aggro.'

With exaggerated movements, I charged straight into the center of their single-file formation. As expected, the boars pulled their hindquarters back slightly and braced for combat. But running headfirst into those massive, razor-sharp tusks would be suicidal.

I closed the distance, sprayed them with acid, then immediately retreated to the side. Whenever the gap widened, I closed in and sprayed again. All the while, Yeonhee’s arrows continued to rain down, and the juveniles began collapsing one by one.

'Their low intelligence is the only reason this hunting method works.'

If they were goblins, they definitely wouldn’t have just followed my tail like this.

Ugh— I can’t…

I felt the overflowing vitality suddenly drain away. The form of Rainy above my head began to grow hazy.

With those words, Rainy vanished completely.

'Still, she lasted quite a while. The power of that artifact is no joke.'

She was originally only supposed to last for a short time, yet she’d held on for several minutes. That was more than enough to be satisfied with.

Kweeeeeee…

I crushed the final Big Boar’s head with my club, bringing the battle to a close. A long string of kill notifications floated up, but as expected, I didn’t level up. However, a faint glow rose from Yeonhee’s body.

“Heheuu— I’m so tired.”

Yeonhee, who had worked so hard that dark circles had formed under her eyes, collapsed right where she stood. After catching her breath for a moment, she fell into deep thought, then pulled out a gray summoning scroll.

She must have received it as a reward for her recent level-up. Was she really planning to summon inside the dungeon this time?

“I think we need more summons after all.”

“Clack clack clack!!”

Before I could even finish my thought, she unfurled the scroll and began chanting. Fortunately there were no ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠enemies nearby, but we still needed to hurry. She must have realized that too, because her chanting speed was noticeably faster than usual.

Soon, a familiar portal opened, and something small stepped out from within.

'A kobold, huh.'

It had a similar build to a goblin, with pale lime-green skin. Like slimes, they mainly lived inside caves. Their intelligence was lower than goblins, but they were physically stronger and always carried a bundle over their shoulder filled with stones and ores.

Right now, it was carrying a small bundle about the size of its own head, looking around with a dazed expression.

“Whoa, I’ve never seen this one before. Is that a kobold?”

I nodded. Among the lowest-tier summons, there weren’t any particularly impressive ones, but this was still better than a skeleton soldier. Just the fact that it could carry that heavy ore bundle proved it had decent strength.

The kobold, with its long drooping ears perked up, walked over and suddenly dropped into a deep bow before me.

'Hm? What’s with this guy?'

Realizing it had bowed to the wrong person, it quickly stood up and prostrated itself before Yeonhee instead.

“Wow… that’s amazing… Can you understand what I’m saying?”

When Yeonhee asked, the kobold stared blankly for a moment before nodding vigorously.

'Its intelligence really is on the low side… I’ll have to give it only the simplest tasks. Something like pushing away anything that approaches Yeonhee.'

“Alright. Given the current situation, let’s quickly give it a name and get to work.”

I thought she could have just named it back at home, but I remembered that my own status window had only appeared after she called my name.

“Okay, your name is Ttungi. That pouty face of yours is perfect, hehe~”

It was an incredibly lazy name, but the moment it was given, the kobold began jumping up ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and down with joy. It rummaged through its bundle and suddenly pulled something out, offering it to Yeonhee.

“Huh? A gift right after we meet?”

Surprisingly, it was a low-grade magic stone.

“Heeeet?! You’re just giving this to me?”

The kobold nodded repeatedly. When Yeonhee thanked it, the creature began hopping around again like an excited child.

'What the hell is going on? Is this some kind of golden goblin situation?'

Anyway, that was beside the point. Yeonhee ordered the newly named Ttungi to stay near her and block any enemies that tried to attack.

The kobold nodded with a serious expression, then pulled several long, large throwing stones from its bundle and scattered them on the ground.

'Most people would assume it’s just going to throw rocks, but this one’s different. Though… these look a bit special.'

The stones on the ground were oddly uniform in shape. Upon closer inspection, they even had handles, as if someone had crafted tiny hammers perfectly sized for a child’s hand.

'Hmm… those look pretty nice.'

Equipment I wouldn’t have even glanced at before suddenly seemed incredibly valuable today.

'Whoa!! I can actually use it? The performance doesn’t drop at all? This is insane!!'

It had double the attack power of the roughly carved club I’d been using and ten more points of durability. I gripped the stone hammer, which was just a little longer than my palm, and swung it around experimentally.

Whirr— Whirr—

“Woooow~! Ilwol swinging that hammer looks so cool!”

Heh… After showing off a few more flashy spins, I nodded in satisfaction.

'It’s crude and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠small, but that actually makes it easier to handle.'

I had only summoned one kobold, yet I’d already gained a magic stone and new equipment. It felt like a massive windfall.

Yeonhee seemed to feel the same. She hummed a cheerful tune as she began skinning one of the juvenile Big Boars. We encountered a group of goblins that had followed the scent midway through, leading to one more battle, but we managed to finish the butchering without much trouble.

In that fight, Ttungi performed its role quite well. Although its reaction speed was slow, the simple presence of an extra ally beside Yeonhee made a huge difference in the overall battle.

Looking at that dazed face of his, I couldn’t help but want to smack it. I seriously wondered if it had a passive taunt ability.

After roughly washing the blood off at the lakeside, we began moving toward the exit once more.