The One-Eyed Knight's Black Bundle
Handling a gun was harder than I'd thought. In all the movies and shows, it looked so damn easy—just pull the trigger and boom, problem solved. But nope. Aiming at the target and squeezing off a shot felt totally different from landing a ranged skill. Looked like I'd need some serious practice to get good with it.
Can't use it right now.
I stashed the gun back in my inventory. That's when the guards' shouts erupted from all directions.
"Over there! It's the attackers!"
"No way those guys caused the earthquake?"
"An earthquake? Get real. Something like that would've needed a grand earth mage at minimum! Must be a coincidence. Surround them first!"
Guards swarmed in from every side, a few of them looking like mercenaries. The guild must've gotten an emergency call-up. With the main street trashed like this, even a cat's paw would do.
Spent too long tying up loose ends.
Quest cleared, no point sticking around for scraps. Time to beat feet—thirty-six stratagems, best is flight.
"Sera, we're bugging out. Split up."
"Master, you sure that's okay~?"
"No problem."
"Then I'll draw those guys off~!"
Sera bolted forward, grabbing the guards' attention. No matter how many swarmed her, she'd slip away clean. Especially fresh off awakening her ability. Zero chance she'd get nabbed.
While she lured them, I bailed from the scene. Got out before the noose tightened. Most of the guards chased her. Crit's quake had the city in chaos—they were scrambling. The mercs blundered around like headless chickens, screwing up the pursuit even more. Sera amped the confusion in their midst, so barely anyone tailed me.
In my escape, I spotted the one-eyed knight. Clutching his severed stump, he ground his teeth.
"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Why the hell... Losing an arm like this means the count'll ditch me... Fuck!"
He punched the wall, venting. Everyone knew a swordsman dropping an arm tanked their combat power. For a one-eyed guy already? Death sentence.
"No future in the knights anymore. Better bail before the count cuts me loose!"
He muttered it with fire in his one good eye.
Didn't give a shit if a one-armed cripple ran or not. I ignored him and kept moving—until his next words hooked me.
"Grab a few slave girls, pool the cash I've been skimming on the sly, and I can live fat in some other territory... Fuck! If I'd known shit like this was coming, I'd have bolted ages ago! Fuck... Got my eyes glued to pussy."
Oh yeah, those arena slaves. Some real pretty faces. Might be worth grabbing a few to raise.
Skill sucked, but if the looks were there, she could grace my castle. Looks were my top pick for hires anyway. Plenty of hotties in that arena caught my eye.
Gotta check it out.
I shadowed the one-eyed knight quietly. Too panicked to notice. He snaked through alleys into a deserted backstreet lined with merchant warehouses. At the end sat a small, barren mansion—no windows, just grim concrete.
A massive padlock hung on the front gate. The kind that locked from outside. Kept whoever was inside from bolting.
Shitty mansion, but that lock looked solid.
He's stashing and breeding slaves here.
The one-eyed knight fumbled in his belt pouch for the key. One arm made it awkward as hell. Cripple. He ripped the pouch in frustration. Coins and key clattered to the ground.
Ignoring the coppers, he snatched the key rough. Fumbled it into the lock a few times—one hand sucked. Like a virgin on his wedding night. Cripple.
Finally unlocked, he kicked the door open with a thud and stormed in. Right after, a massive roar echoed from inside. Pissed-off big time.
"You fucking bitches! All of you, out here!"
I crouched low. Wanted to peek, but no windows. More warehouse than house. Waited patiently outside. He'd come out eventually.
Sure enough, another bellow.
"Move it, you cunts!"
The slaves trickled out, lightly dressed women eyeing each other nervously. Just as I remembered—total babes. Too good to waste.
Through the open door, I saw the one-eyed knight shredding a leather sofa. Hidden drawer in the frame—secret stash?
He yanked it open. Two pouches: one small, one bigger. He glared at the small one, face twisted in rage and regret. Voice boomed loud enough outside.
"Fuck. If I'd grabbed this sooner, those bastard knights wouldn't have gotten me... Fuck, hid it here to sell high, and it bit me in the ass."
Then he eyed the big pouch differently.
"Heh heh! Count bastard'd never guess. When that head steward grilled me on the blown knight funds, thought I was done for... But even he didn't know about this."
Big pouch was gold coins. He counted 'em out—forty total. One-armed one-eye tallying hidden loot while slaves gawked confused.
He scanned the girls.
"Fuck... Can't take too many... Need ones worth dragging..."
His gaze locked on a black-haired beauty. The one who'd led the girl gladiator in the arena. The swordswoman who'd stolen my stare.
"You. Come with me."
"Where to?"
She sensed the bad vibes. He backhanded her cheek with his one hand—no mercy, pure spite.
"Kyaa!"
She crumpled. He wasn't done—kicked her side.
"Shut your mouth and follow, you cunt!"
She screamed, twitching. Fury boiled up. Wanted to burst in and rip his limbs off. That's my property you're roughing up! Fuck, pissed me right off. Wouldn't forgive my own mom treating my stuff like that.
Scoped the slave spot, no reason to let him live. One-eyed cripple? Death row.
Thanks for the pocket money, though.
As I geared to kick the door, he untied the small pouch.
"Killing the rest sucks, but no loose ends."
Woooong! Ominous mana vortex from the pouch. Bad vibes. Massive, oppressive power dwarfed the cripple, radiating out.
He booted the black-haired babe again.
"Don't wanna die? Run, bitch!"
Black smoke poured from the pouch. Slaves screamed, sensing doom.
That was definitely...
"Kyaaaa!"
"What is this!?"
It.
I fired a Darkness Arrow at the one-eyed cripple. Dark energy shaped into arrows—three shots at head, heart, crotch. Lethal hits.
"Guh!? You bastard! Tracked me here!?"
Caught him flat-footed. But the pouch's foul darkness morphed into a thin wall, absorbing my arrows whole.
Dark element? Annoying.
All elements had counters. Key to exploiting matchups, so versatility mattered. Dark's counter: light. I'd stuck to dark under the black mask for cover, but no time now. One-eye was dying anyway—no need to hide.
"Holy Arrow!"
Sixteen holy arrows streaked at him—or his dark wall. Brighter but weaker than darkness ones. Still, matchup advantage crushed the gap.
Woooong! Boom~!
The shield's dark hue faded under holy assault. Matchup worked—wall crumbled bit by bit. Hit spots went transparent.
As I prepped the follow-up, a low, sinister voice boomed.
"Who is my contractor?"
Voice from the darkness itself. Knew what the pouch was.
Cunning's Black Bundle, as expected!
Cunning's Black Bundle summoned the dark spirit Cunning. Rare even in Solary World—summoning a formed nature spirit. And a dark one? Ultra-rare.
Cunning lived for discord and destruction—a psycho. Not all dark spirits, but this one craved slaughter. Unseal the bundle, make one destructive request for shits and giggles. Even killed his own contractors without blinking.
"Cunning! I'm your summoner! Kill that human! And all these women too... No, spare this one!"
I blasted magic at the cripple, but Cunning's wall blocked it all. Not spirit king level, but upper mid at least. Settings said mid-grade, but combat power upper. Tough even for me.
"Which woman? Plenty here."
"The black-hai—"
"S-Sisters! What's happening!? Black smoke out of nowhere... And weird voices!"
A light purple-haired girl peeked from an inner room. Waist-length lavender locks, porcelain skin, matching clear eyes, delicate flower face, manga-heroine terror. Stunner. Even yanked my focus mid-cast at the cripple.
Black-haired girl yelled.
"Lilac! Get back inside!"
"Heh heh! Forgot about her! Adult rite's days away, right!? Cunning! Kill everyone but the girl!"
"Got it."
One phrase hit my ears.
Spirit realm!? For real?
Missing a beauty like that? World'd call me a retard. Determination surged like magma.
Upper-mid dark spirit equivalent. No contractor weakens him, but still a beast. Beat him? Dump all bonus points!
Had 688 bonus points. 10 per stat point—680 usable. +68 stats.
Not strength or agility now. Need skill power for spirits.
Dumped it all into Intelligence. Ties direct to skill potency.
←Status→
Strength: 360 | Agility: 289 | Intelligence: 269 | Luck: 256
←Status→
Intelligence up 68. Intense mana flooded from my heart—could barely contain it.
Stats rise needs training to fully integrate.
Time to digest 68 points. But I had a cheat fix.
Heading to reality.
Reality freezes Solary time. Back home, hit my private training ground. Drilled skills till death. One week straight to own those stats. Dungeon hunter life—training's the job. Grit and obsession, done. Barely 2-3 sex sessions a day.
Convinced I'd mastered it, returned to Solary.
Dual-body cuts real stats to 70%, but enough! One-shot him!
No room for slop against upper dark spirit. Back, skill up.
Best ambush ever.
Time Pose!
←Skill→
[Time Pose 1Lv] (SS-grade)
↳Consumes 99% HP and MP to irrationally freeze time for 1 minute. Passive skills/items unaffected. Once per hour.
←Skill→
Time halted, defying nature—for me. Cost matched the cheat: near-total HP/MP drain for 60 seconds. But I had the perfect counter.
Cast it, world spun—double marathon vibes. Chewed jujubes from inventory for HP. Farmed from a Solary dungeon—top recovery item. Cost nullified.
HP/MP back, loaded holy arrows at Cunning. Boosted Intelligence birthed far stronger, precise arrows than ever. Beyond my reality drills. Peak focus unlocked insight.
Moment I sensed the new realm, alert popped.
[Holy Arrow evolves to Holy Missile.]
←Skill→
▼[Holy Missile 1Lv] (A-grade)
↳Consumes HP and MP to create light missiles.
←Skill→