Orc Shaman (3)
Jin-soo moved as if caught in a sword dance, beautiful and fluid. Baekcheonsingeom burned with pure white aura in one hand, the Blood-Sucking Sword with a crimson aura in the other, and the sweep of his body was almost elegant.
The aftermath was anything but.
Orcs charging in from every side burst apart and scattered in pieces, and the thick reek of blood flooded the earth. The Blood-Sucking Sword and the synthesized skill Blood Drain drank without pause, yet more blood welled up with every swing than either could swallow. Dropped items rose into a small hill. Blood ran off it in streams.
"Kuwaaaargh!"
"Krrrrk!"
Wreathed in a blood-red shimmer, the orcs paid no mind to their dying kin. They hurled themselves forward like berserkers, less like separate creatures than limbs of one vast colony. They were dying in staggering numbers. Even so, more poured in to replace them than fell in the same breath.
"Krrrrng!"
"Kyarrrk!"
And it was not only orcs. Goblins, gnolls, kobolds, trolls, lycanthropes, silver wolves, dire wolves, saber tigers, warbears, dark snakes—every species in the forest came at Jin-soo like a hive kicked open.
Something clacked. A mimic, of all things, barreling through the blood-red shimmer. Jin-soo glanced at it and let out a short breath of a laugh.
Doesn't matter whether they can fight or not.
So long as it was a monster, species meant nothing. The shaman turned it into a berserker that no longer feared death, and the sharp rise in combat power was merely a bonus.
No wonder they call it an Out-of-Spec Monster.
Through Kkami's eyes, the reach of the mana pouring off the Orc Shaman came clear at a glance. Feels like a tidal wave of monsters crashing in from every side. From every angle that vision could touch, they surged like a rising flood.
Might as well put in some real work on achievements today.
While he was at it, he meant to grind level-ups without end and push Stat Predation and Skill Predation as far as they would go. He spent mana without restraint. Aura, curses, magic, protection—every skill he had went into the sweep, and wherever he moved, monsters were ground apart in real time. It was brutally violent, and somehow wondrous.
"Munch, munch! Nyaang!"
Leo chewed monster meat from the spoils with noisy relish and tore through the horde like a fish back in water, laying bodies out with flurries of cat punches.
"Kuruk! Kuruk! Kuruk!"
Even watching the two of them, the Orc Shaman laughed, perfectly at ease. One human and one cat could thrash all they liked. Their limits were plain. No champion stands before sheer numbers, and the monsters he could call were near infinite. Even now they were converging from every side, and freshly respawned creatures linked to his mana at once, becoming berserkers that did not fear death.
Kin and subordinate monsters were dying by the horde in real time, and still he did not lose his composure. He was certain that no matter how strong that human and that cat might be, they could never harm him. More were being replenished every moment than were dying, and confidence followed as a matter of course. Recover health and mana in real time all you like—it changes nothing. So long as you are a living thing of blood and flesh, exhaustion claims you eventually, body or mind. The Orc Shaman was sure of his victory.
"Kwauuuuu!"
"Krrrrrrng!"
Then the sky darkened, and a roar heavy with immense mana split the air. The Bone Dragons that had been annihilating the other orc settlements had only now arrived. Both opened their jaws at once and unleashed Flash Breath. In an instant, monsters by the tens of thousands evaporated cleanly away. The two dropped to the earth, and the ground boomed under their weight. Hundreds of creatures crushed beneath those massive bodies were reduced to nothing but blood.
"Krrrrrk!"
"Kyaaaaang!"
The pair drove their wings down like spears and swung their tails like windmills. Monsters wrapped in blood-red aura were swept aside in a heartbeat.
"Kruk?"
The ease on the Orc Shaman's face shattered into shock. The Bone Dragons that had appeared were not monsters, and so his mana could not link to them. Through the flow of that mana, he understood that both were beings subordinate to the human—and that the two Bone Dragons were not the only ones. From their backs came Shadow Summons, Dragon Tooth Soldiers, Army Summons, and undead monsters.
They finally made it.
The reason the summons had been late was simple. The Bone Dragons had been sweeping orc settlements scattered across the region, carrying the summons posted there, and only then joining the fight. In truth, aside from the Shadow Summons, which had a cooldown, and the Dragon Tooth Soldiers, whose true bodies were the teeth of dragonkin, the Army Summons and the undead could have been called at once. He simply had not bothered.
Then I wouldn't get the items.
Recall them and summon them again, and they would have to abandon whatever loot they had already gathered.
It's not that urgent. No need.
However it might have looked to the Orc Shaman, Jin-soo had room to spare. The monsters were beneath him, and his health, mana, and mental strength were all still solid. There was no reason to take a loss just to gather his summons in a hurry. If things had truly been desperate, he might have called the Antlion Colony—but honestly, it was not worth it.
The Orc Shaman certainly deserved to be called an Out-of-Spec Monster. He held a skill that should have been impossible to possess on Tower Floor 150. His matchup against Jin-soo, though, was simply terrible.
What gives me trouble is a single overwhelmingly powerful body. A White Drake. A Bone Dragon.
A rabble that was nothing but numbers did not frighten him at all.
If anything, they're welcome.
Because the Orc Shaman was dragging every kind of monster in from all directions in real time, farming achievements had only gotten easier. Hunting creatures scattered one by one was work in itself, and the shaman had cut that work drastically short.
As a reward, I'll let you live as long as I can.
Even if the shaman eventually failed to draw in more monsters and the Curse of Immortality released on its own, Jin-soo had no intention of killing him.
I'll move him somewhere else and keep using him.
To Jin-soo, the Orc Shaman was not some Out-of-Spec Monster to fear. He was simply a delightfully useful monster with a wide-area taunt that outclassed even Leo's—and a tremendous help on the hunt.
"Kwauuuuu!"
The two Bone Dragons rampaged, sweeping monsters aside. The Shadow Summons and Dragon Tooth Soldiers refused to fall behind, forming ranks and smashing the wave head-on. A demilich summoned undead, and those undead joined the remaining Army Summons, a dullahan, a death wizard, and a skeleton knight until the formation locked into place. Zombies, skeletons, and ghouls held the front alongside the dullahan and the skeleton knight, while the demilich and the death wizard poured out area attacks, and the monsters were swept away with absurd ease.
Shin Sua, who had kept herself hidden until now, stepped out and joined them. She called her stone golem and supported the fight, scattering blessings and protection without pause.
No need to summon the Antlion Colony.
When he had first obtained that skill, it had been a real help. The drawback of consuming antlion carapaces could be covered by sheer weight of numbers. Not anymore. With the Dragon Tooth Soldiers strengthened and the Army Summons and undead added in, that massive swarm no longer moved the needle on his forces.
Well. I'll have a use for it someday.
The Antlion Colony skill still had considerable value as material for Skill Synthesis.
Not that I plan to synthesize it right now.
Jin-soo looked at the Orc Shaman with an unhurried expression.
"Kuwaaargh!"
Desperate, the shaman poured out enormous mana and stacked buff after buff onto the monsters. That much was nowhere near enough to turn the battle. When Jin-soo had fought alone, more monsters appeared in real time than died. Once the summons joined, the dead began to outnumber the reinforcements.
Guess I should put some effort in too.
Their arrival had given him a brief rest. Now he moved again. Baekcheonsingeom in white aura and the Blood-Sucking Sword in crimson cut elegant arcs and swept the monsters down. Watching still more of them drumming in from afar, he swapped to his mage equipment and cast fire-attribute attack magic. A massive wall of flame rose across their path.
"Kraaaang!"
"Kyaaaak!"
Mad with frenzy, they threw themselves into the barrier. Most burned to death. A few survived and kept running at him.
Flame Storm. Flame Explosion.
The spells he cast in succession struck them dead-on and reduced them to handfuls of ash. He burned through his mana with consecutive wide-area mage skills, then recovered it through the option effects of the Blood-Sucking Sword and Blood Drain, and settled into a war of attrition.
"Krururuk!"
Veins standing out on his neck, the Orc Shaman released still more mana. The replenishment rate, which had been slowing, picked up again.
Nice.
Faster reinforcements? From where Jin-soo stood, that was something to welcome, not resent.
Work harder.
Cheering the shaman on, he and his summons kept up the slaughter with enthusiasm. A long tug-of-war stretched between them. Whenever Jin-soo and the summons cut the monster count below a certain line, the Orc Shaman dragged in more. The sun went down. Mealtime came and went. The battle showed no sign of ending.
They don't call it Out-of-Spec for nothing.
These were not bamboo shoots, and yet they kept sprouting from bare earth without limit, appearing and appearing again.
The respawn cycle itself seems faster.
Monsters in the Tower had no young and no elderly. Only adults in their prime existed, and the Tower did not replenish them without rhyme or reason. There was a set cycle for it. Wipe out numbers like these under ordinary circumstances, and the monster population ought to be barren for a week at the very least. That was not happening. They were respawning almost without end.
Perfect.
Any other Players in his place would have chosen flight over fight. Against an invincible enemy whose forces replenished without limit, fighting on left nothing but defeat and death.
Not for me.
To other Players, the Orc Shaman could only be a vicious calamity. To Jin-soo, he was nothing more than a monster vending machine that restocked prey without end.
Getting hungry. Sleep was creeping in as well. Eat first. Then a nap.
The longer a battle ran, the more a full stomach and real rest mattered if you meant to endure it.
"Sua! Let's eat!"
He called Shin Sua over. Since things had come to this, he meant to raise Sanctuary, eat his fill of dinner, and sleep on top of it.
"Okay. On my way."
Shin Sua broke into a bright smile and ran to him.