Chapter 13
Chapter 13
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Aura
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Targeting the golem's exposed core was a simple task.
The baseball bat swung with both hands struck the center of the golem's chest precisely.
But it only shattered the armor covering the core—its power fell just short of dealing solid damage to the core itself.
The golem, which appeared as the mid-boss, was a whopping level 120.
Kang Jin-hyuk's current level was a mere 55.
Even with the bat's enchantment massively boosting his stats, it wasn't enough to bridge a level gap of more than double.
Against regular monsters, he might have held his own to some extent, but this was a mid-boss.
With stats far superior to regular monsters, it was no opponent to take lightly.
"Damn."
The golem quickly regained its balance and raised its sword high.
It was obvious what that sword, lifted all the way overhead, was aiming for.
Kang Jin-hyuk dodged the blade meant to cleave him in two and tried to retreat swiftly.
But before he could, Lucia's shout rang out first.
"Don't chicken out—swing again!"
"Huh?"
With a house-sized sword about to crash down on his head, asking him not to retreat was too much.
Could he really bet his life on the words of someone he'd met just a day ago?
Kang Jin-hyuk entrusted his body to that gamble.
Of course, it wasn't a blind leap.
He had the armor from the dwarf, so even if he got hit, he figured it wouldn't be fatal—just a serious injury.
As long as he survived, he could heal with the potions he'd brought.
"Screw it!"
Kang Jin-hyuk gritted his teeth and charged forward.
From the outside, closing in even tighter on the descending sword looked like nothing short of suicide.
If the arrow flying from behind hadn't knocked the golem's sword aside, he would've been sliced clean.
Calming his pounding heart, Kang Jin-hyuk hurriedly swung the baseball bat.
"Die!"
Crack!
The moment the bat collided with the core, a satisfying impact rang out.
With the core shattering and scattering, the golem's massive body crumbled in a heap.
Watching it all, Kang Jin-hyuk collapsed right there, gasping for breath.
"Hoo... I thought I was done for."
Even trusting the armor, charging head-on at that enormous sword took more courage than most could muster.
Having pushed himself beyond his usual limits, his tension released, and his hands trembled uncontrollably.
Even as he noticed Lucia approaching, he couldn't stop it at will.
"If you were that scared, why didn't you just bail?"
Lucia had assumed Kang Jin-hyuk was seasoned in combat.
But seeing him now, she realized she'd been mistaken.
"You could've retreated without any real issue."
"Yeah..."
Thinking back, it had been an unnecessary gamble.
Betting half his life on something with low risk even in failure was foolish, perhaps.
Yet there was a reason Kang Jin-hyuk hadn't stopped and had pressed on.
"Still, I figured trusting you and going for it would make us click better down the line."
If he'd retreated once, Lucia would've adjusted her strategy accordingly.
From then on, no matter what happened, she'd act with the knowledge that he didn't trust her and prioritized his own safety.
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't want that.
It wasn't even a boss monster—just a mid-boss. Letting trust fracture here would've been all wrong.
Lucia picked up on his feelings.
"You're starting to grow on me."
Of course, she meant as a comrade, not romantically.
Kang Jin-hyuk wasn't fool enough to misread that.
"What was your name again?"
"Kang Jin-hyuk."
"Drop the formal speech. Just talk normally."
"Huh?"
Her suggestion to drop formalities was her way of acknowledging him.
But Kang Jin-hyuk couldn't accept so readily.
"That's a bit..."
"What? Am I intimidating?"
"No, it's not that. It's just... using casual speech with someone older feels off."
Mid-sentence, Kang Jin-hyuk felt a chill so intense it made his hair stand on end.
Wondering what was up, he looked up to see Lucia's face.
Her expression was blank, but her eyes held all the emotion.
He'd assumed, being a half-elf, she'd naturally lived longer than most humans—and that casual remark had struck her reverse scale.
"...What did you just say?"
The meaning behind Lucia's question was clear: think carefully and rephrase what you'd just said.
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't want to imagine what might happen if he chose the wrong words here.
A fleeting memory of his happy childhood flashed by—maybe his life flashing before his eyes.
* * *
He claimed it wasn't her age but her vast experience hunting monsters that he'd meant.
He broke out in a cold sweat spinning that absurd excuse with fervent elaboration.
Afraid of another slip-up, Kang Jin-hyuk barely spoke a word on the way to the next stage.
Lucia, her anger not fully subsided, maintained her silence as well.
Walking in stony silence was awfully uncomfortable.
Pondering how to lighten the mood, Kang Jin-hyuk pulled an item from his inventory.
"Want one of these?"
Feeling peckish, he offered a chocolate bar, and Lucia reacted.
"'Want one of these?'"
But contrary to expectation, what caught her interest more was his wording than the chocolate.
Ever since learning his formal speech stemmed from seeing her as an elder, she bristled at every polite phrase.
"Uh, wanna eat?"
"..."
Lucia watched his hand silently, then snatched the chocolate bar.
She tore open the wrapper in one go and took a big bite.
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't miss her eyes widening in surprise.
"What's this made of?"
"Not sure exactly, but probably cocoa powder and almonds."
"Never heard of them. Must be food from your world only."
Lucia liked it enough that, after finishing, she held out her hand to Kang Jin-hyuk.
"More?"
"Yeah. Quick."
Her homeland lacked such sweets, so the first taste of chocolate was a fresh shock.
Even accounting for that, devouring three whole boxes by the time they reached the boss room was excessive.
Did she normally eat that much?
If so, where did all those calories go?
Her slender arms and legs pointed to one obvious place.
"Ahem!"
Before that irreverent thought took hold, Kang Jin-hyuk cleared his throat to shake it off.
In front of the boss room, Lucia eyed his odd behavior curiously.
"What? Nervous?"
"Oh, nothing."
He brushed it off, but her gaze lingered.
Wondering if she'd caught him, Kang Jin-hyuk soon noticed her outstretched hand.
"What?"
"What do you mean? Gimme more."
"The chocolate bar? That was the last one."
"What?!"
Kang Jin-hyuk jumped at Lucia's shout.
He hadn't expected such a heated reaction.
"Don't mess around—hand it over."
"I'm serious, I'm out. Brought all I had."
"Then go back and get more!"
Lucia looked like a soldier starved of sugar for months.
Fervor like switching religions for a single choco pie.
She was showing even more extreme behavior.
Realizing it belatedly, Lucia let out an "Ah."
"S-Sorry. I must've lost it for a sec."
The first taste of sweets had clouded her judgment.
Even she couldn't understand her own reaction.
She'd managed to rein it in with superhuman patience, but her body still craved sugar.
Unbeknownst to her, it stemmed from the elven blood in her veins.
Why forest elves could survive on just fruit and water without proper food.
Their trait of deriving ample energy from minimal sugars was reacting strangely with her human blood.
That reaction was "appetite."
'This is driving me crazy.'
The massive sugar intake triggered all the suppressed hunger at once.
Holding it back felt like withdrawal for a drug addict.
"Hey, I can't take it. After this, bring more. I'll teach you something good in return."
"Something good?"
"You ever hear of 'aura'?"
"Aura?"
"If not, watch. I'll show you myself."
Before Kang Jin-hyuk could respond, Lucia shoved open the massive door and led into the room.
As he hurried after, the dark chamber lit up bright as day, like someone flipped a switch.
Vast and empty like an open field, the room held only one statue at its center.
Sensing Kang Jin-hyuk and Lucia, the statue let out a wailing cry and began to move.
"Groooar."
Clad in armor with sword and shield, it was far more refined than any golem they'd seen.
It resembled an ancient sculpture—more decorative than battle-ready.
Before the statue could charge, Lucia nocked an arrow.
"I'll show you once, so watch closely."
Kang Jin-hyuk witnessed the arrow tip glowing blue.
The light intensified, as if gathering power, until she released—the boom echoed.
Boom!
Like a bomb detonating, the arrow struck the statue's shield.
It blasted the shield—and the statue's left arm—with it.
The statue stared blankly at its shattered limb, as if disbelieving.
"Groooar."
Kang Jin-hyuk shared its disbelief at what he'd just seen.
He couldn't help but be stunned watching the statue crumble like a clay doll.
Only then did he realize Lucia had been holding back deliberately.
Killing every monster in one shot would've left no EXP for him, so she'd matched his level.
"What're you doing?"
Lucia grinned, pointing at the near-dead statue.
Having witnessed her true power firsthand.
Kang Jin-hyuk felt chills run down his spine at that smile.
"Go finish it off."
As she said, slaying the dying statue would yield massive EXP.
But more than that, Kang Jin-hyuk had a question for her first.
"How'd you do that just now?"
"How? I infused the arrow with aura and shot."
"Aura...? Can you use it on things besides arrows?"
"Of course—nothing says you can't."
Kang Jin-hyuk's eyes sparkled at her answer.
The power to turn a mere arrow into a missile, shattering a giant statue in one hit.
If he could channel that into his baseball bat, he'd never lack power like against the mid-boss.
Noticing his interest in aura, Lucia asked.
"What do you think? Wanna learn?"
Kang Jin-hyuk nodded vigorously without a second thought.
Who'd pass up a skill that turned a plain arrow into missile-grade firepower?