Saber Tiger

I cinched my backpack straps tight and started climbing toward the summit. The way was brutally steep. In truth there was no path at all — we just pushed onward by the map, forcing our pace. The mountain was so rugged that every step was a struggle.

"If we let our guard down even a little, we could roll right off the back," Jisu said, glancing behind her with a worried look. "There's a sheer cliff back there. Fall that way and we won't walk away from it."

She wasn't wrong. The ground we were walking was so steep it was hard to even keep our footing. Anyone who wasn't a trained Dungeon Hunter would never have managed it under loads this heavy. We were well into the middle of the expedition, our packs stuffed nearly to bursting, and every step landed heavier than the last.

"Let's move as carefully as we can. Running into a monster in a place like this would be a real headache."

The instant the words left my mouth, a chill raced down my spine — a cold, prickling sensation. Speak of the devil. The old sayings never miss.

Yeonji, who had been taking point, dropped her backpack and dropped into a combat stance. Following her lead, the rest of us unslung our packs and stared ahead.

"Gray Wolf? Sharp Tiger? What is it?"

That bone-chilling prickle was coming from behind a flat boulder up ahead. A low, rumbling growl unique to a predator rolled toward us. Judging by the sound, it was a single creature. Gray Wolves typically ran in packs, so a Sharp Tiger was the likelier bet.

But that's too much killing intent for a Sharp Tiger. Is it something else?

Hallasan National Park hosted quite a few beast-type monsters. The representative ones were Dire Wolves, Gray Wolves, and Sharp Tigers, but we'd crossed paths with plenty of others on the way here. Aside from those three, none of them were worth much, so whenever we ran into that kind we avoided a fight whenever we could.

"Grrrrrng!"

With a bone-chilling threat-growl unlike anything we'd heard before, the monster revealed itself. It sprang through the air, landed atop the boulder, and roared. The form that bounded up onto that flat rock was easily twice the size of a Sharp Tiger. If a full moon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠had been hanging in the sky, it would have looked like some legendary wolf out of a myth.

"Cheetah markings, two sharp protruding fangs, and that size… It's a boss monster. The Saber Tiger!"

Lina, who was well-versed in dungeon lore, identified it in a single glance. The Saber Tiger — one of the boss monsters that appeared in Hallasan National Park.

The Saber Tiger glared at us with razor-sharp eyes. Classic predator's gaze, locking onto prey. Its stare was as keen as a blade honed by a master smith.

"This is the first boss monster we've run into since the Specter King."

Sujin showed not a trace of fear, even as the Saber Tiger glared at her like it meant to shred her skin to ribbons. We'd already faced a boss once before — the Specter King.

Of course, the Saber Tiger was a far stronger boss than the Specter King had been, but the experience of having beaten one already gave us a huge surge of courage. The first time is always the hardest; from the second time on, it gets easier. That's one of the reasons experience matters so much to a Dungeon Hunter.

"Form up. That thing… it's going to be expensive, right?"

"A Saber Tiger's fangs go for tens of millions of won each. Its bones sell for a pretty penny too, even if they're not quite at fang prices. And the hide? You can name your price."

Lina even had the Saber Tiger's market value memorized. You could have called her a walking monster encyclopedia and it wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

Of course she didn't know every monster in existence. She'd clearly studied up on the creatures that appeared in Hallasan National Park before this expedition.

"I've seen a bag made from Saber Tiger hide at a luxury boutique. Looked incredibly high-end. Heh! Jackpot."

A faint greed flickered in Yeonji's eyes as she said it. Did she want a designer bag? I'd have to buy her one later.

"It's a boss monster, so let's not get careless. Yeonji and Jisu, hold the front and pin its movements. Lina, is your bind skill ready?"

A bind skill was any technique that could restrict an opponent's movement. Lina's ability, Chain Disaster, was specialized for exactly that.

"Yes! Ready! But the Saber Tiger is way faster than a Sharp Tiger. To land a skill on it, we'll need to stop it even for a second."

"Yeonji! Jisu! You can do it, right?"

We'd drilled for situations like this until we were sick of it. Yeonji and Jisu both nodded at the same time. The Saber Tiger didn't wait for our huddle. Its body split the air like a thunderbolt — agility so extreme it was hard to even follow with the eyes.

"Not so fast!"

But the Saber Tiger's lunge was intercepted by Yeonji, who had been watching it the entire time. She made full use of her ability, Material Conversion. With her skin hardened to stone, she met the Saber Tiger's massive fangs at nearly matching speed.

A dull crash that was hard to believe came from two living bodies colliding, and the sound rolled out in every direction. Yeonji had rock-like hardness thanks to her ability, but it was still a surprise that the Saber Tiger's teeth were just as hard.

Then again, teeth are typically one of the hardest parts of any living creature. That a boss monster's fangs would have that kind of strength was, in a way, only natural.

"Grrrrrk!"

A bluish light leaked from the Saber Tiger's eyes. It was circulating mana on instinct. Dangerous. I ordered Yeonji to fall back.

"Back!"

"Got it!"

Yeonji was already pulling away before I even gave the order. The gap between her and the Saber Tiger opened to more than five meters. But five meters was a distance either of them could erase in a heartbeat if they wanted to.

"Unnie! I'll help!"

Jisu stepped up beside Yeonji with her rapier. I formed three arrows of light and trained them on the Saber Tiger. It turned its gaze toward me. Those vertically slit eyes seemed to gleam with something grotesque.

Switching targets?

From that clash just now, the Saber Tiger seemed to have realized Yeonji wasn't easy prey. In that case, finishing off the softer target first was the sound call — and the thing had the intelligence to make it.

"Watch out!"

This time the Saber Tiger shot toward me like a bullet. Yeonji threw herself desperately, but the Saber Tiger ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a step faster. We had something prepared on this end, though.

From Sujin's side, three roaring streams of water slammed into the charging Saber Tiger. The water pressure — like a waterfall crashing down from dozens of meters overhead — sent the beast that had been lunging as if to devour me flying backward.

But it landed with eerie composure, then weaved its body this way and that to slip Sujin's Water Cannon. The technique packed tremendous physical force, but it couldn't adjust direction on the fly. Even if it could, the Saber Tiger's swiftness probably wouldn't have allowed a hit anyway.

The three arrows I'd loaded flew toward it. The Saber Tiger dodged all three with movements so fast they left afterimages. Its motion wasn't linear — it curved.

I'm pretty confident in close combat myself. Sacred gauntlets covered both my hands. Then the Saber Tiger's fangs started glowing just as brightly — it had coated them in mana. Those fangs could chew through steel like tofu right now. I poured as much mana as I could into the Holy Gauntlets.

"Haaah!"

Thanks to Agility well over two hundred, I reacted even faster than the Saber Tiger. My left hand locked onto its right fang, and my right smashed hard into the left side of its face.

The force would have reduced an ordinary person to pulp without leaving a trace, but the Saber Tiger, being a boss, was hard as a boulder. The impact I delivered rebounded, buzzing up my arm in a jarring vibration.

"Kh!"

I stepped back two paces. But I didn't retreat any further. My punch had landed a real hit. I could see its eyes spinning.

"Haaah!"

Jisu, who'd already closed in on my side, slashed her rapier in an X. The blade was glowing as brightly as the Saber Tiger's fangs — she'd wrapped it in mana. Without a method like that, you couldn't even scratch this beast's hide.

"Kiiing!"

The attack connected. Viscous blood sprayed from its flank. The creature thrashed wildly, but I put everything I had into holding onto that fang.

"Nice! Binding it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now!"

Lina stretched her hand toward the Saber Tiger. Five chains wrapped tight around its four legs and its head. The Saber Tiger struggled violently, fighting the bind. Lina gritted her teeth and held it.

Yeonji piled on, pinning its movement. She climbed onto the Saber Tiger's back and locked her arms around its throat. It was like the Greek hero Heracles had been reincarnated. Even riding a monster that had to be twice the size of a normal tiger, Yeonji showed not a hint of fear.

The chains Lina had wrapped around the Saber Tiger began to glow. Through those links she was draining its life force and mana. Her Chain Drain was famous as a boss-killer technique. We pressed the Saber Tiger from every side, but its resistance was far more violent than we'd imagined.

"Kieeeeeek! Kieeeek! Grrrrrrrng!"

Its vertically elongated eyes flashed. At the same instant, a tremendous roar erupted from the Saber Tiger's mouth, as if it meant to split the world in two. Even I, who'd been playing tug-of-war with its fang, instinctively clapped my hands over my ears. A lion's roar — though in this case, calling it a tiger's roar would have been more accurate.

"Aaaaaah!"

I wasn't the only one caught off guard. The others clapped their hands over their ears and turned their faces away. Yeonji tumbled off the Saber Tiger's back. Lina's chains came undone. Jisu lost her grip and dropped her sword.

"It's a lion's roar! A sonic attack loaded with mana! Ugh — my head's spinning!"

Sujin clutched her left ear as she spoke. Her voice sounded terribly wrong. Blood was running from the ear she was holding, and my own ears were tingling — I was probably in the same state. The Saber Tiger's roar had ruptured our eardrums.

I activated the skill. Simple external injuries could be treated on the spot with Light Cure.

The blood running from my ears stopped. The dizziness in my head, though, didn't go away. I steadied myself and treated the rest of the party. Fortunately, the Saber Tiger — which had put some distance between us — didn't attack until I finished ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠healing. It must have burned through considerable stamina of its own.

"It really is a boss monster. Not an easy one…"

Sujin loaded five Water Arrows. I loaded Holy Arrows of my own. Jisu, rapier in hand again, stepped in front of us.

"If you can create an opening, I'll give it a shot. I have a boss-killer technique of my own, after all."

Jisu's ability was Sword Mastery. She could wield a blade with complete freedom. In terms of close-range damage, she was the strongest among us.

"Alright. Sujin — we drive it from both sides with a barrage of arrows."

"A driven hunt, huh. Sounds good."

Sujin and I poured out Holy Arrows and Water Arrows in rapid succession. The Saber Tiger slipped every shot with cunning, sinuous movement. We weren't shooting to hit, anyway. We herded it toward a large boulder.

"I'll help too!"

Lina's chains pressed the Saber Tiger like a seasoned snake. Arrows from above, chains from the left — the Saber Tiger naturally chose to dodge right. And waiting there, already in position, was Jisu, gripping her rapier with both hands.

"Haa."

Jisu exhaled a short breath. The rapier, held with her right hand on top, bent slightly.

Her eyes glowed as brightly as the Saber Tiger's, scattering a powerful aura around her. Her right foot stepped slightly forward. The fully extended rapier wrapped itself in vermilion light starting from the hilt — a near-perfect mana sword.

Jisu moved as a single streak of light. That light pierced through the Saber Tiger's torso from left to right.