The Summoner's Enlightenment
The old man with sharp instincts sparked a flurry of thoughts in my mind. Permanently remaining… The first thing that came to mind was stealth-capable hunters. A few faces pop up… Should I plant marks on them ahead of time? If I did, it would make dealing with hidden threats far easier in any future crises. The marks would shine clearly in my eyes, after all.
It would also be perfect for dragging tough opponents into a war of attrition. Hit and run until I’d etched all twenty-five marks. With the sword dragon’s mobility and Yeonhee’s ability to keep him summoned, it was entirely doable.
Marking future villains in advance would work too. Of course I’d have to detonate them before they actually committed any crimes, which meant keeping constant watch. That hassle could be handled later with artifacts I’d acquire. The future can change, just like it did with Cha Jin-hyeok. The moment I spot any signs of them turning, I pull the trigger. As a bonus, cleaning up those who had grown stronger would help with experience gains.
The only concern was Maeng Seong-yong’s reaction. It seemed the marked targets could see the flame emblem too. Cautious ones might simply slink deeper into the shadows. I’ll have to think this through carefully.
While I stared at the three marks on Maeng Seong-yong, I suddenly wondered what would happen if I stacked all five today and unleashed Flame Explosion on him.
The promotion test would be the least of our worries. That scenario would basically mean turning the Association into an enemy. But he’s the one who told us to give it everything we had.
Whoooosh— KWAAAAANG!
What snapped me out of my thoughts was the deafening crash of the fused Lizard No. 1 smashing through the examination room wall. No matter how much stronger the lizard had become, it couldn’t possibly stand up to Maeng Seong-yong one-on-one. Still, lasting long enough to pressure him was impressive enough.
Before long, most of the other summoned creatures followed the same path. Even the sword dragon was frantically clinging to the ceiling, darting around to avoid capture.
The sword dragon fights dirtier than I expected. Coming from me, that was the highest praise.
Maeng Seong-yong refused to let me have my way any longer. Even while dealing with the others, he never let his guard down around me.
“Hoo— I kill them and I kill them, but the summons just keep coming. It’s like fighting a damn zombie horde.”
Deciding he had cleaned up enough, Maeng Seong-yong provoked us again.
“Actually, this is great! Come at me with everything you’ve got, you pathetic worms! Stop nibbling around the edges and give me a real fight! KHAHAHAT!”
“W-worm…”
The word seemed to light a fire under Yeonhee. She gathered every drop of mana she possessed and unleashed a storm of summons. More than forty creatures materialized at once, completely encircling her. Even Maeng Seong-yong stared with his mouth hanging open, genuinely impressed.
Whoa—she can summon even more on top of her preset?
Yeonhee closed her eyes to focus on controlling the horde more aggressively, cutting off her other senses. At the same moment, every summoned creature’s eyes sharpened with lethal focus. I had never seen them radiate such power before, and Yeonhee’s will transmitted to me with crystal clarity.
And then, astonishingly—
My field of vision… just got wider?
The commands poured out like machine-gun fire.
Yeonhee’s orders imprinted themselves in my mind with an almost mystical speed. The summoned creatures’ movements grew far smoother in response, and the number of them getting hit by Maeng Seong-yong steadily decreased.
I see. I’m sharing her field of vision. It felt like several extra camera feeds had been added to my normal sight from different angles. Yeonhee was sensing Maeng Seong-yong’s movements in place of the creatures with weaker detection abilities and relaying the information.
Beside her, the Shadow Drake and Lizard No. 1—who had just pulled himself out of the wall—stood guard, protecting her.
Still alive after taking hits from Maeng Seong-yong. As expected from stamina king No. 1.
“Hmm?! This is getting faster—!”
Maeng Seong-yong looked more flustered now than when I had attacked him. He was purely on the defensive.
Is this… awakening?
Yeonhee’s body had even begun to float slightly off the ground. The muttering had stopped completely. She now moved like a conductor before an orchestra, freely manipulating dozens of mana threads at once.
I had sensed her enlightenment approaching, but I never expected it to happen this dramatically. Not that I wasn’t hoping for it.
Maeng Seong-yong’s aura was fierce, but he wasn’t actually trying to kill us. Yeonhee was in the middle of receiving and adapting to an entirely new ability.
The storm of summons… It’s practically the birth of a new skill.
She was controlling the creatures’ movements while simultaneously re-summoning the fallen ones—an incredible feat of multitasking.
Wow… Does she have multiple brains?
The leader of the “Dao” faction who had manifested hundreds of mana blades against Kang Yeonsu two days ago suddenly came to mind. But those had been inanimate objects. Yeonhee was commanding living beings. The two feats couldn’t even be compared.
In just two short months, Yeonhee had climbed steadily upward. Now she had finally stepped into the realm of enlightenment and was taking a massive leap forward.
The summoned creatures, their eyes now the same violet as hers, wove themselves into a meticulously crafted net that closed in on Maeng Seong-yong from every direction.
The Shadow Drake, which had been firing black orbs from beside Yeonhee, suddenly swelled its throat again.
“Hm?!”
Another torrent of horrifying black energy erupted from the sword dragon’s maw like a waterfall.
KWAAAAAAAA—!
“Not this time!”
Maeng Seong-yong had no intention of being hit again. He charged straight into the heart of the summoned swarm.
Bam! Pow! Thud!
The creatures had no mercy for the intruder who had broken their formation. They beat him savagely from all sides. Their strengthened attacks looked devastating, yet they still couldn’t inflict meaningful damage on him.
Even so, the way his lips pressed into a thin line told me Maeng Seong-yong wasn’t having an easy time. Just because the damage was negligible didn’t mean the impacts themselves disappeared. Getting pummeled from every direction would rattle anyone’s focus.
Even light attacks will eventually break through defenses if they keep landing.
His body was already speckled with blood from countless tiny explosions across his skin.
“Suuuup—!”
Then Maeng Seong-yong did something he hadn’t shown until now. He took a massive breath and formed a circular barrier around himself.
Flame Slash
Slash—!
Like I’d let him finish his skill.
Fwoooooosh—!
I had stacked three marks right before the barrier formed. Maeng Seong-yong took the hit without even trying to dodge. The follow-up strike couldn’t break through his shield, however. He glanced at the mark that had appeared on his shoulder, but he didn’t stop inhaling.
This… is getting dangerous. Are you insane?! You’re the examiner!
He finally exhaled the breath he had drawn in.
BOOOOM—!
It was a tyrannical skill that seemed to expand and rupture the very air inside the examination room.
Ziiiiiiing——
KYYYYAAAAA!
Maeng Seong-yong’s majestic roar hit the harpys first—the most sensitive to sound—then Chehwa. The rest of the monsters slammed their heads to the floor in agony. The orc squad bled from every orifice on their faces. Even the sword dragon, hovering in the air preparing its next breath, coughed up blood in torment.
The only ones relatively fine were me, Yeonhee, and the two zombies. Undead summons had heavily degraded senses, after all. Yeonhee had also worn earplugs made from Wangwang’s fur just in case. Since all of Maeng Seong-yong’s information was public, she had prepared for this exact moment. Thank goodness.
“Gwoooooor—!”
Maeng Seong-yong swatted a staggering zombie like a mosquito, exploding it on impact.
“You tiny little shits are actually getting me excited!! KHAHAHAT! Uuuugh!! My shoulder!”
He laughed heartily at first, then clutched the deeply caved-in shoulder and hopped around in place. The vertical drop in his expectations for the offer he would make us after the promotion test was almost audible.
Maeng Seong-yong of the Lion’s Roar.
Most tankers drew aggro to protect their allies. Maeng Seong-yong instead used Lion’s Roar as his primary weapon, inflicting various debuffs on enemies. The monstrous ability that had neutralized every summon in the area in a single strike proved just how absurd he was.
He looked at me, drew a finger across his throat, and spoke.
“Skeleton soldier. The energy of those marks keeps growing stronger. It seems something happens once they stack to a certain number.”
“Clack clack clack!”
“Three clacks means yes? KHAHAT! So, are you planning to stack more marks and set them off?”
“Clack clack clack!!”
“Hmm… I see. That’s a bit scary.”
Lies.
If he had used his full power from the beginning, three marks would never have accumulated. Yeonhee’s head would have flown off long before she could display her current level of ability.
My declaration of war made Maeng Seong-yong’s eyes widen. He raised his aura to its peak and said,
Is he finally getting serious?!
I tensed up and raised my senses to their maximum—
“……Shall we call it here?”
“……Huh?”
“Deputy Ha! The test is over! Shouting that much after so long has tired me out.”
“Wha—? I-it’s over?”
Yeonhee’s tension instantly evaporated. She opened her closed eyes, looking utterly bewildered.
He was actually scared?!
It was behavior uncharacteristic of Maeng Seong-yong’s personality, but on second thought, it showed just how good his instincts truly were.
The promotion test has concluded. The exit door is the same as the entrance.
“Eh? It’s really over?”
The abrupt ending left even Yeonhee feeling unsatisfied.
No… We’re the weird ones for taking a promotion test this seriously.
We had approached it as if we were fighting the Chaos Residue. We’d gotten far too immersed.
Maeng Seong-yong gestured at Yeonhee, who was still clutching the orb and hadn’t dismissed her summons.
“I don’t know if that monster Kang Yeonsu told you, but I’d like to talk with you for a moment.”
“Y-yes!”
“Deputy Ha! To the Room of Truth!”
……
For some reason I felt like running away, but we followed Deputy Ha’s guidance and moved together. After walking behind him for a while, we entered a pure white space where nothing could be sensed.
It feels exactly like stepping into a void.
In the completely white room, a single gray sofa sat awkwardly in the center.