Dungeon Practical Training (3)

Grrrr...

The ogre slowly turned its head, studying me the way a predator sizes up something it has never seen before. My heart kicked into a sprint to match it — the telltale prelude of Combat Sense. By now, that sensation was familiar.

Thump.

The ogre before me lived by instinct alone. Instinctive destruction and plunder. Whatever it could grab, it ate. Whatever moved, it smashed. This stupid monster knew nothing, yet its pointless curiosity ran wild, which was why it always observed anything it saw for the first time. It had the confidence that even if an attack came, it wouldn't be too late to counter.

Which meant I had to land a hit now, while it was still watching me.

Careful not to let the ogre notice, I slowly condensed mana inside my body. The moment mana moved outside of me, the ogre would charge. So I had to manifest the magic circles in an instant and deal damage before it could even register what had happened. That was my specialty. I was confident.

Three seconds.

The ogre was still looking at me. Now it was glancing at Baek A-young behind me as well.

Now.

Magic circles completed in a flash and unleashed their spells. With one hand I fired a fireball straight at the ogre's eyes. Blades of wind streaked toward its belly and shredded across its hide.

Boom! Boom! Hissss—

Smoke from the fireball swallowed the ogre whole. A moment later the creature reappeared with both arms covering its face.

"Ha. This thing's a complete freak."

Amazingly, the arms that had shielded its face were completely unscathed — not a single scratch. Only a tiny scrape marked the belly that dozens of blades had slashed apart.

The ogre let out a growl of displeasure.

ROAAAAR!

It stamped its foot, venting its rage. It had fully recognized me as an enemy now.

ROAR!

Eyes blood-red, the ogre charged, swinging its fist. Drool slobbered from its mouth. I really didn't want to get anywhere near that filthy thing.

I glanced behind me. Baek A-young was looking this way, trembling.

I spun the mana in my circuits as fast as it would go, activated Acceleration, and burst forward. To keep Baek A-young out of harm's way, it was better to fight out in front.

Thud! Crash!

Dodging the ogre's fists, I drew the battlefield farther and farther from where she stood.

ROAR!

Whoosh—!

The ogre's fist tore past my face, whipping my hair. If that connected properly, my ribs would be gone for sure.

I slowly lured the ogre farther from Baek A-young while gathering mana again.

What now?

Its hide was too tough. My magic could barely damage it. I didn't have the time or the mana to prepare a high-tier spell. Which meant I needed high destructive power on a thin budget of mana.

Thump.

My heart accelerated. My body felt the ogre's scorching breath as I weaved through its attacks, but my mind stayed ice-cold, working through a solution. To get high destructive power with little mana, I had to attack at close range — that way none of the force would be wasted in transit. On top of that, I needed to boost the attack's speed with Acceleration and squeeze out every last drop of efficiency.

I had the outline. Two options. Drive a mana-reinforced fist into the ogre's belly. Or create a new form of magic that could actually wound it, and drive that into its belly instead.

Fortunately, unlike the fireball that hadn't left so much as a scorch mark, the wind blades had at least managed a small scrape. That was the opening.

GRAAAH!

I ducked under the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fist flying at my head and, at the same time, condensed mana in my hand. I drew it out in the same spiral form I used when creating Cotton Guard. The helix that pursued solid defense could, conversely, become the hardest means of attack.

I imbued the hardened mana with the will of sharpness. The mana honed itself to a keen edge — but like this, it was no different from a wind blade. So I condensed the spiraled mana further, spinning it into a sphere. A helix-sphere whirling at that kind of speed would, little by little, gnaw through the ogre's hide.

THUD!

The ogre's arm came crashing down beside me once more.

I break through on the next attack.

I deliberately kept the distance close, baiting it into a big motion. The stupid ogre fell for it and slammed both hands into the ground.

BOOM!

Acceleration.

I drove the spinning helix-sphere in my hand into the ogre's side as it tried to lift its hands from the floor.

"GUAAAAARGH—!"

GRRRIND—!

With a vicious grinding sound, the hard outer hide was shaved away bit by bit. The ogre's flank became a mess of blood, and the moment the softer inner flesh was exposed, a massive crack opened in its belly.

Once the outer hide was breached even a little, it was over. My mana bored deep inside, spinning as it shredded the inner flesh. Blood and fragments scattered across the dungeon floor.

"It's over."

THUD!

The ogre died with a massive hole punched through its gut.

"Spiral?"

Only close-range skills I don't even want keep appearing. Fuck. This isn't what I had in mind at all.

"Ho-yeon! You—you! What were you thinking, fighting an ogre?!"

Baek A-young came over and scolded me, her face full of worry.

"I couldn't just abandon you, A-young. I'd rather die with you."

"...You!"

She looked angry on the surface, but Baek A-young didn't seem to be in a bad mood. I'd have loved to push her affection even higher here, but my current condition was a mess. My head was spinning. Mana exhaustion might be setting in. I needed to refill, fast.

"I'm going to meditate for a bit. Could you keep watch?"

"Uh, yeah. I'll tell you right away if anyone comes."

Using Baek A-young as a human alarm, I filled my mana through meditation. I'd been so low that I'd burned through almost everything in the last fight. Still, my meditation efficiency was high. It wouldn't take long.

"Hahh..."

I closed my eyes and slowly began drawing in the surrounding mana.

"Student Council President, please wait! I understand, but you need to calm down first!"

"Move. I need to see this man right now."

"Hey! Aigoo!"

Mun Su-rin shoved aside the secretary guarding the chairman's office and barged straight in.

"Su-rin. What brings you here?"

A white-haired man sat reclining on the sofa in the seat of honor, looking at her with a pleased expression.

"Is this really the time to be leisurely drinking coffee? Cadets are trapped in the dungeon."

Mun Su-rin poured out her complaints as if she had no interest whatsoever in the man's gaze. People were trapped because of a dungeon rampage. This was no time to be sitting around at ease.

"...Su-rin. You're not saying that without knowing I just finished assembling a rescue team, arranging supply support, and assigning mages, are you? And I haven't even drunk the coffee."

"I know all that. But do you have time to rest? Cadets are trapped."

"I've done everything I can. You know that."

"No. Go out there yourself. In person."

"...Su-rin!"

Talking about his body was taboo. But Mun Su-rin was in no position to mince words.

Lee Ho-yeon. The moment she heard he'd been trapped in the dungeon, her chest went hollow. Only then did she admit that she had feelings for him. And the instant she became aware of those feelings, she threw aside everything she had to do today and ran to the chairman's office.

Seeing Mun Su-rin's eyes completely unhinged, the chairman decided he needed to calm her down first.

"We've called in all the specialists, and a large number of active hunters will be deployed for the search. Don't worry and just wait."

"No. If you won't go, Chairman, then I'll go myself."

"Why on earth are you doing this? Is there a boy you like among the first-year cadets?"

"Th-that's not it! Th-the cadets are all members of our Victoria Academy, aren't they?!"

"..."

The chairman's face rapidly hardened. She turned her head toward an empty corner of the room, sneaking glances at him and then looking away. He'd seen this reaction from his granddaughter many times. It was the one she gave when she wanted to change the subject.

"A-anyway! I'll go in myself, so just know that! And I'm going on strike until this incident is over."

"S-Su-rin! The academy can't function without you!"

"That's not my problem. What's important right now is the dungeon rampage. We need to maximize the search scale and recruit additional hunters."

"Th-that's all academy budget, isn't it?!"

"The money I've brought in is far more than this."

Mun Su-rin glared at the chairman, spat the words coldly, and walked out of the office.

The chairman felt a deep, familiar frustration. Just who was this man, to drive his granddaughter to this? From a lifetime of experience, bastards like this didn't die easily. He'd have to take a look at this insolent punk's face if he made it out of the dungeon.

"I feel like I can live again. Thank you."

"Mm, don't mention it. I'm only doing well thanks to you anyway."

We explored the dungeon in a warm, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cheerful atmosphere. After taking down the ogre, my confidence had risen considerably. From what I'd heard, even active hunters struggled to take down an ogre alone. I'd taken down a monster like that by myself. That was something to be proud of, right?

"Still, nothing stronger than an ogre should show up. An ogre appearing in the first place was already absurd..."

An ogre appearing in a dungeon that spawned things like ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kobolds made no sense. Pandemic, the demon organization, had probably used something — but I had no memory of this from the original, which was frustrating.

"Yeah, probably. A silver lining, at least..."

Thud. Thud.

"Ah, fuck."

I swore in front of Baek A-young without thinking. Fortunately, she didn't seem to have heard. She was too busy listening to those ominous footsteps to catch my muttering.

And those footsteps weren't from just one.

Thud. Thud-thud. Thud. Thud-thud. Thud-thud. Thud.

Two. Two ogres were approaching.

Thump.

Combat Sense boiled up again. But it was fine. I'd already taken one down. Honestly, I wasn't scared. The method for killing a stupid ogre didn't change just because there were two. Dodge the simple attacks with Acceleration, then drive a Spiral into the gut. Done. Of course there were finer details the description left out, but that was the general idea.

ROAAAAR—!

The ogres' roars drew closer. This time, I wanted to cut one down from the start. Baek A-young's stamina was reaching a dangerous level. I needed to finish this fast and find a place to rest.

Spiral.

I generated a helix-sphere in my hand.

Acceleration.

Then I accelerated the mana around my body. I gathered mana at the tips of my feet and waited until the distance closed.

GRRRR—!

The instant before the ogre and I entered each other's line of sight, my vision enhanced by Insight caught it a step ahead.

KABOOM!

I launched myself at the ogre with enough force to blow the floor apart beneath my feet.

Grh?

The ogre registered me then, but it wasn't a high enough life-form to stop an attack sped up by Acceleration.

G-GUEEEEK—!

"Die. You bastard."

A hole opened in one ogre's belly, and it collapsed, vomiting blood.

G-gueek?!

The remaining one, the moment it saw the creature standing next to it get pulped, registered me and swung its club.

Thump.

My Combat Sense was telling me: get used to simple attacks like this already.

I lightly dodged the club and prepared a Spiral. Now I just had to drive it into the gut or the face.

"ROAAAR!"

The ogre swung its club, then couldn't contain itself and threw a punch. As I slipped the fist flying through accelerated space, just before driving the Spiral into its face, I thought:

This is my last chance.

The ogre was swinging its fist at me right now. I was far faster. At this speed, I could shatter its skull with Spiral and end its life before the fist connected.

But that wasn't my goal.

I didn't ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come in here just to kill monsters. The goal was Baek A-young. If not now, there wouldn't be another chance. Unlike the beginning, the dungeon's mana concentration had almost stabilized. At this density, there was no way a monster stronger than two ogres would appear. An ogre was already an absurd spec for this place. Something beyond that? No chance.

I'd already slaughtered one ogre right in front of Baek A-young. But a guy who'd easily taken down one ogre getting wounded to the brink of death by other monsters? That story would be way too awkward.

In the end, this was the last chance. The moment the opponents were two ogres. With Baek A-young here, I wouldn't die anyway.

I can do this. No — I have to.

To conquer Baek A-young, I needed a situation like this.

Watching the ogre's fist fly toward me in slow motion, I slightly reduced the speed of the hand holding my Spiral. I poured everything into making sure that even if I took the hit, the Spiral would already be in a position to kill the ogre.

CRACK—! SHLUK—!

I took the ogre's fist first, and immediately after, the ogre's head was shredded to pieces. Blood scattered through the air. Fragments splattered across my body.

"Khuh...! Guh..."

And blood began to pour from my mouth as well. It hurt. It hurt like I was actually going to die. Fuck. Ribs? Forget ribs. It felt like every organ had been torn apart.

"Ho-Ho-yeon...! No!"

Still, watching Baek A-young come running, the plan had succeeded.