Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Facing the Spirit Rage
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Chapter 41
41
'This is bad, we need to run?'
That was Su-yeon's honest sentiment.
With the party's current strength, they couldn't handle the Spirit Rage.
Their only option was to concentrate on breaking through one side of the encirclement and sprint to the gate entrance.
It might get dangerous while being chased, but she figured she could cover that somehow.
That was why.
"What do you plan to do?"
She had asked a question that might come off as rude.
But in an emergency like this, who cared about manners?
As the most experienced hunter, it was only natural for her to ask.
Jeong-hyeon responded not with an explanation, but with orders.
"Sunhyeong, it'll be tough, but hold out as long as you can while taking the elemental hits. I'll back you up if it gets critical! Jeong-a, take your time but make sure each shot counts. Sang-su, focus on slows like always! Do-yun, prioritize Sunhyeong as much as possible."
It wasn't anything special.
In a surrounded battle, there weren't many strategies to speak of.
The realistic best was just to clash with everything they had.
Not taking unnecessary risks was already passing grade.
Not getting intimidated by the overwhelming power gap and not crumbling—that alone was a relief.
That was the nature of a surrounded fight.
'Wha, what?'
But what surprised the beastkin even more wasn't Jeong-hyeon's calm commands.
Jeong-hyeon aside, the other party members were rallying without a hint of hesitation at his orders.
It was like they'd been a fixed party syncing for years.
By her knowledge, this party had been formed less than two years ago.
And Jeong-hyeon had only joined a month ago, not even as a formal member yet.
Was it possible for them to unite around an outsider's focal point just from a command in a dire situation like this?
At least Su-yeon had never seen anything like it.
"Okay!"
"Got it!"
'Are they really going to try this?'
She seemed to be the only one thinking this fight was unrealistic.
A party of one unregistered and three E-ranks.
There was no way they could endure the Spirit Rage.
But before she could even point it out, the party finished preparing for battle.
Roar—
The spirits' attacks began.
First came the fire spirits' standard projectile assaults.
'Damn it, whatever! They're the lowest-grade spirits, it'll work out somehow!'
Su-yeon grimaced as she enchanted Sunhyeong with water-attribute magic.
Yet, oddly, no sense of inevitable doom washed over her.
Maybe they really could pull this off.
Maybe they could even win against the spirits surrounding them.
The vague belief that this man wouldn't order a fight without confidence had taken root in her heart without her realizing it.
Sunhyeong blocked the first attack without much damage,
And zzzt—
Sang-su's lightning magic sliced through the air wider than usual.
Lightning spirits tried to defend up front like before, but there was one variable:
"Water one, wind one!"
Two charging spirits from the rear failed to dodge and got caught in the area.
Charging spirits were faster than before, but only about normal speed—still, every little bit mattered now.
"Jeong-a, water spirit! Straight-line charge, easy to hit!"
Jeong-hyeon shouted.
Jeong-a, who had been nocking an arrow and waiting, pulled back the string taut at his command.
It was pretty fast, but as Jeong-hyeon said, charging straight at them.
With her skill, she could guarantee a hit once aimed.
Ping—
"Hit!"
It struck true, but the damage was a bit short.
The water spirit staggered back with the arrow in its core but didn't dissipate.
Jeong-a quickly fired another into the gap, but a fire spirit's timely intercept blocked it.
By then, the water spirit had fully retreated to the backline for recovery.
Forcing one spirit out was an achievement, but Jeong-hyeon had no time for that.
His senses, spread out to cover all directions, were strained just monitoring every spirit.
Then, a sharp presence shot in from behind.
'Behind!'
Jeong-hyeon's body spun quickly.
In a surround, front and back were relative, but the side opposite Sunhyeong was relatively vulnerable.
A lightning spirit was charging at high speed.
Its target: healer Do-yun.
A healer injured early would be a huge problem.
If needed, Jeong-hyeon would have to block it with his body.
Better him with his natural regen than someone else in the backline taking a hit.
"Su-yeon, earth attribute on the mace!"
"Got it!"
Earth countered lightning.
Not an extreme matchup for offense, but it blocked conduction through weapons and greatly weakened the spirit's electricity just by core contact—plenty effective.
Confirming the earthen aura on the mace, Jeong-hyeon dashed out, positioning between the spirit and Do-yun.
And luckily, it wasn't bad enough he'd have to tank it fully.
He could probably handle one attack on the edge.
'Core for sure!'
Against lightning and earth, anywhere but the core was pointless.
With his target locked, Jeong-hyeon lunged past toward Do-yun to intercept.
He inhaled, focusing all his senses on the incoming lightning spirit.
Time seemed to slow.
In that sensation, Jeong-hyeon eyed the faint red line toward Do-yun,
'Now!'
And swung the mace.
Crack—
The mace shattered the spirit's core completely.
The remnants crackled but clashed with the earth magic and vanished.
No way to compare threats, but it felt like swinging a baseball bat.
Jeong-hyeon glanced at the mace in his hand.
It was incomparable to his old one-hander.
Next to Do-il's mace, this one seemed crude.
But this mace fit from balance to impact point like custom-made.
Magic conduction was far better than expected too.
There his thoughts ended.
Finishing the split-second musing, Jeong-hyeon refocused on the battle.
They were holding so far.
One water spirit pushed back, one lightning spirit gone.
Especially the lightning one—annoying as it was, shrugging off Sang-su's slows—so reducing their numbers meant even more.
Su-yeon glanced at him in surprise before hurriedly enchanting Sunhyeong.
Just two exchanges in, and this much progress.
Still the probing phase, but losing even one spirit hurt them too.
Plus, Su-yeon had to drastically revise her view of Jeong-hyeon.
'Not throwing skill?'
She'd only seen him hunt by throwing daggers.
Impressive for F-rank level 3, so she'd assumed maybe E or D throwing trait.
Throwing was technically agility-based anyway.
Why such sharp senses for indirect stats, and why hide his trait? Still mysteries.
But swinging that mace now was another puzzle no low-rank thrower explained.
'What trait is it?'
The lightning spirit he killed had ignored Sang-su's slow too.
Throwing daggers vs. swinging a mace were incomparable in accuracy, but one-shotting a charging low-grade spirit needed at least near-level 2 D-rank weapon skill.
But that raised another question.
'Then what's the throwing?'
Having two traits was impossible.
So one trait way above spec?
'Maybe B-rank or higher?'
That was why her evaluation of Jeong-hyeon skyrocketed.
In truth, Jeong-hyeon succeeded more from layered senses, body buffs, and synergy prediction than mace skill.
The swing itself wasn't special—just hitting an obviously telegraphed ball.
To clueless Su-yeon, he looked like a monster.
"Jeong-a, wind spirit at 7 o'clock—can you hit it?"
"I'll try!"
Snapped from her thoughts by Jeong-hyeon's voice, Su-yeon returned to reality.
The wind spirit he mentioned wasn't charging but protruded far forward.
Su-yeon enchanted Jeong-a's arrowhead with fire attribute.
Ping—
The swift arrow flew a clean arc,
Roar—
Embedding in the spirit's core and igniting.
That was dissipation level.
"Uh... huh?"
Jeong-a's slightly dazed expression.
Then her face lit up as she shouted.
"I, I leveled up! Level 3 now!"
"Celebrate after—check 3 o'clock!"
Good hit on a tricky target, so level up made sense.
One more hand was huge; power boost welcome.
Everyone kept eyes on surrounding spirits, but smiles tugged lips.
Sang-su's lightning slowed spirits reliably,
Distant ones hit by Jeong-a,
Chargers met by Jeong-hyeon.
Do-yun and Sunhyeong dispersed the endless attacks safely.
Perfect synergy.
Su-yeon felt her chest swell with emotion.
Not top-tier rank, but solid C-rank nowhere lacking respect.
Rare magic enchantment trait too.
Joined vaunted Jeongjin Guild, under HR's Cha Jun-won with guaranteed future.
Days blurred into monotony unnoticed.
Hunts always with one-rank-up hunters like buses; low-rankers met at work were dull.
She'd expected the same this time.
'This is too fun!'
Crisis far from over.
Spirits bloodthirstily attacked with elements.
But hunters were those thrilling in hope of overcoming.
Like that first gate post-awakening with strangers.
And leading her, the party now: not dirt, but Jeong-hyeon.
Unregistered, throwing—irrelevant to him.
- Su-yeon, a hunter's worth isn't just rank and level.
His warm smile answering her grumbling about scouting mediocre low-ranks.
Now, Su-yeon finally thought she understood.