Isra's Oath of Loyalty
Whoa.
Hsssss.
A chill ran down my spine.
“I’m still alive, right?”
Since the maiden did not die a second time, you are indeed still among the living.
Ingrid’s reply finally let the sense of reality catch up to me a beat late.
“Urgh.”
My arm muscles trembled violently.
It was a force so great it was a miracle the bone hadn’t snapped.
If I hadn’t learned the Imperial Sword Style, that downward claw strike would have sheared clean through my arm along with the nails.
This was my failing.
Dame Isra dragged her still-recovering body forward and dropped to one knee with a heavy thud.
It happened because I could not fully discharge my duty of holding the enemy in place.
Shiiing—
She held out the sword she had obtained after felling the Madou Soldier squad leader—the Serimis Magic Sword.
I am unworthy to serve as your blade, my lord. Therefore I return this to you.
Oh, come on.
Making that long face over letting the enemy slip once?
“And who decides whether you’re worthy or not?”
Well…
“Isn’t it me, your lord?”
You are correct.
“I have no intention of casting you aside.”
I folded my arms and met Dame Isra’s glowing eyes head-on.
“Do you pick and choose which lord you’ll serve?”
I swear upon my knighthood that such a thought has never once crossed my mind!
“If you make a mistake once, you should be thinking about making up for it next time. What good does it do asking to be discarded?”
Sheesh.
Really now.
There are limits even to being rigid.
“If you hadn’t held that thing down, it would all have been over long ago.”
The Blue Raptor’s astonishing breakthrough power!
Even while sporting sword wounds all over its body and getting hammered by fire magic, it had crushed the Armored Zombie Warrior’s head like a snack cracker and used every bit of its grip strength and speed to create an opening.
Look behind us.
It had been fast enough that the Phoenix Guild hunters waiting for a chance to intervene couldn’t even react.
I’ll give you this fight. Without you, we would have lost.
Even Ingrid, who always dismissed her as an iron-headed fool, conceded in a tone of acknowledgment.
…To cover for my failing like this. I know not how to repay your warm heart, my lord.
I’m not covering for you—it’s just the facts, okay?
I, Isra, swear upon my knighthood.
Dame Isra, who had been offering the sword reverse-grip, took it back and this time drove the tip deep into the ground.
I acknowledge Park Minho as my lord, and I shall serve him and devote my loyalty until this body turns to dust.
Flash!
Her blue eyes glowed a shade deeper.
Ah.
Mmm.
I see.
To draw out the true loyalty of that iron head… As expected of Master!
Yes.
I suppose so.
Anyway, let’s just chalk it up to me being awesome.
“Grrrrr.”
Draco, who had fetched the Blue Raptor’s corpse, wagged its tail hard.
It looked a lot like the expression Happy from my hometown used to make when he brought a bone…
Must be my imagination, right?
Confusing. So confusing.
Before examining the boss monster we had hunted through all that trouble—the Mutated Blue Raptor’s corpse—I shouted to the Phoenix Guild hunters.
“The rights. You acknowledge them, right?”
It wasn’t as if I had monopolized the Gate, and they hadn’t helped with the hunt at all.
But I had to settle the question of responsibility in advance to avoid trouble later.
I needed the body cam footage ready to submit if anyone started talking later.
The tanker who had first tried to stop me hung his head low.
“None.”
He looked completely drained.
With any potential future grievances eliminated…
Alright.
Time to check the rewards.
◈ Category: Consumable
◈ Restriction: None
◈ Durability: 1/1
◈ A book recording the Super Acceleration movement skill. Using it grants the Super Acceleration ability.
Type: Martial Art
Grade: B
Method: Active
Consumes mana to accelerate movement.
“Huh.”
My throat closed up; no sound came out.
Unique?
I didn’t misread that, right?
I rubbed my eyes again and again, but the grade stamped boldly on the status window remained the same.
“Crazy.”
A Unique-grade skill book.
I didn’t know how good the Super Acceleration skill actually was.
But I did know that a Unique skill book started at a minimum transaction unit of one billion won.
With no restrictions, it might sell for even more.
A rather useful ability, that.
“You know Super Acceleration, Dame?”
I do not.
You spoke as if you did and startled me.
Hohoho. Even that iron head is right sometimes.
Magic user. If you know, then explain it.
When used, it literally increases your speed.
Reflexes.
Perception speed.
Movement, and so on.
It wasn’t a skill that simply raised movement speed alone, she said.
Combat mages used to learn it as well, to accelerate their thinking.
The effect was weaker than for knights, but they could still benefit from the skill.
“That’s incredible.”
In close combat I could accelerate to overwhelm an enemy, or use it to flee when in danger.
And since it could be applied to magic as well…
It was practically a universal skill!
It shines all the more because Master owns it.
Hahaha. A reward that will further enhance my lord’s power.
“My lord?”
Having resolved to offer complete loyalty, I can hardly address you casually.
Fine.
Do as you please.
Using Super Acceleration Skill Book.
Skill registered.
I learned the skill without hesitation.
When the Blue Raptor had charged…
Honestly, I’d been just a tiny bit scared.
I could either make a tactical retreat or accelerate to add power to my strikes.
With Super Acceleration, I could choose either option.
Learning it would definitely help!
Gate cleared.
Evaluating grade based on the hunter’s performance.
Unlike usual, the evaluation didn’t appear right away.
Come to think of it, how is the grade decided in a case like this?
“By assessing the performance of the team or the individual.”
When I cleared with a support team and party, the grade came out as a five-person combined total.
But this Gate I had moved alone without forming a team with the Phoenix hunters, so I received an individual evaluation.
“Even the rift scholars don’t know the exact criteria.”
Time spent inside the Gate, mana distribution at the time, how much one contributed to the clear, and so on.
They supposedly compile various data to evaluate the grade.
Even if hunters take turns killing monsters and the most recent entrant only takes down the boss, it doesn’t automatically spit out SSS, they say.
Fascinating. To analyze all that one by one.
Ingrid showed her curiosity.
“Can’t magic handle it somehow?”
I could manage one or two places. But implementing it worldwide is impossible.
I see.
Someday I’d like to analyze the structure of Gates as well.
“Not with your current body, right?”
Hohoho. I trust Master will strengthen me.
Yeah, yeah.
To live up to that trust, I’ll have to get stronger.
Grade evaluation complete.
Grade – SSS
“Oh.”
I’d spent nearly half a day in the Gate and still got SSS.
No.
Think of it the other way.
Wasn’t that proof of just how vicious a Wave-type could be?
“Clear grade is D?”
“We blocked one wave, didn’t we?”
“I guess that doesn’t count as contributing enough.”
The Phoenix hunters kept glancing over, clearly curious about my grade.
SSS-class again this time.
For Master, it’s only natural.
Look at these two.
I quietly enjoyed the hunters’ gazes, which were dyed with shock.
Acquired 100 C-class mana stones.
I pretended not to notice and collected the mana stones.
But…
What am I supposed to do with the raptor corpses?
I’d better call President Baek.
Sorry, President!
[Primitive Wave] had been a headache for the Phoenix Guild.
When they first won the bid from the Rift Administration, they had thought it would be perfect for practical training of C-class and below hunters.
The problem was that the Gate’s clear difficulty was higher than expected.
“There are too many raptors!”
“Damn it. We don’t have enough force to block the waves and push to the stronghold.”
Primitive species with higher specs than ordinary monsters.
The fact that the opponents were raptors skilled at coordinated attacks was another issue.
An already high-volume Wave-type.
Driving back the raptor waves that repeated every two hours and still having the strength left to push the stronghold was difficult.
They were in a situation where they had to over-invest in a Gate they had contracted for training purposes.
Phoenix Guild Master Yang Seoyeon received the report late.
“Did I mishear you?”
“I’m sorry, Guild Master.”
“Haa. The C-class kids have gotten soft lately. Looks like they need special training.”
At the words “special training,” the face of the C-class supervisor hunter went deathly pale.
Yang Seoyeon’s training had much to teach, but it was also infamous for being far more brutal.
When the word “special” was attached, it was easy to imagine just how grueling it would be.
“Well, the mess has already been made. What’s the solution?”
“The C-class hunters in the guild are taking turns clearing it.”
“And you think that’ll solve it?”
“……No.”
“Throw them all in at once and push through.”
“Entry is limited to a maximum of twelve.”
“Then what about deliberately running a rotation war?”
“We need minimum personnel to manage the other Gates we’ve bid on……”
Bang!
“This won’t work, that won’t work. Am I paying your salary to hear that?”
“I-I’m sorry!”
The Phoenix Guild Master’s temper was famous for being fiery.
Put nicely, she was fiery.
Put poorly, she was impulsive and couldn’t control her anger.
She was popular with the guild members for being straightforward and easygoing without holding grudges, but once she flipped, she was the type who charged ahead without regard for anything.
“How about deliberately inducing a Gate Break instead?”
“Do you want to bring me a written apology, or write a resignation letter?”
“……I’ll go with the written apology.”
If the entry condition hadn’t been limited to C-class and below, they would have mobilized the B-class hunters in the guild and crushed it.
Yang Seoyeon furrowed her brow.
“Gates with these shitty conditions are the most annoying.”
“Shall we support them with additional equipment?”
Powerful items the guild possessed.
For example, a few consumables like [Fire Storm Scrolls] would let them clear a C-class Gate in no time.
The minor issue was that each one cost around three billion won.
For guilds like Chilseong or Mir, it was an amount they would spend without hesitation to protect the guild’s prestige.
“No. Let the C-classes try to resolve it among themselves once.”
Yang Seoyeon shook her head.
“It’s not about the money. Our kids need to take responsibility for what they’re responsible for.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“If the mana distribution exceeds 95 percent, use them then.”
“Understood.”
Just this morning, that had been the report.
But as soon as afternoon arrived, a report came in from the C-class hunters deployed to [Primitive Wave].
“They cleared it?”
“Yes.”
“Not our kids, but an outsider?”
“Hunter Park Minho is said to have taken down the boss.”
“The Guui-dong Necromancer. The guy who turned down our offer too.”
A strange light flickered in Yang Seoyeon’s eyes.
“Interesting. This guy.”
“Is… that so.”
“Set up a meeting through the agency.”
“Recruitment might be difficult for the time being. Is that alright?”
“I’m really just going to see his face.”
Yang Seoyeon spoke cheerfully, the displeasure gone from her expression.