Not Even a Warm-Up

The carapace of a Black Spider was hard as iron.

For a warrior-class hunter, the orthodox methods of hunting one came down to two options.

Either you used a weapon with a piercing-type option.

Or you aimed for the gaps between the plates.

"Have at thee!"

Seogeogeok!

The Black Spider's carapace, renowned for its hardness, parted cleanly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the moment it met a blade that possessed no special options beyond being sharp.

"A fine hand-feel. There is satisfaction in the cut."

Chwahak!

The Black Spider split cleanly in two. Body fluid surging from the severed gap glanced past Isra and splattered across the floor.

"A Black Spider in a single blow?!"

"No matter how you look at it, that looks like a Zombie Warrior."

"So the bit about taking down a C-class boss wasn't exaggeration."

The Mir hunters' gasps of admiration tickled my ears.

Those guys.

They'd missed the important part.

While bisecting a charging Black Spider, she had even controlled her motion so that not a single drop of fluid touched her body. That technique was the real highlight.

"For a sweaty knight, you're awfully particular about staying clean."

Blazing fireballs layered atop one another, and liberated winds spun in tight spirals over them, amplifying the explosive force.

It was the same spell I had used myself.

A Fireball, all right.

Yesterday afternoon, while I had been reinforcing our forces, Ingrid had poured herself into magical research, melting mana stones as she worked. After six straight hours of dedication she had added the spell. Six D-grade mana stones—roughly three million won in cash—had gone into it, but I didn't regret a single one. A Fireball skill book had a list price of over twenty million, after all.

The moment the fireball that flew into the heart of the Black Spider swarm was released—

Kwaaaaaaang!

A scorching heatwave stripped the moisture from the fine hairs on my arms.

"Oof."

Hot.

The power was incomparable to anything I had ever gotten from packing Flame Bits together. Who knew the gap between E and D could be this wide?

"The more spells I restore, the stronger they will become, so you may look forward to it."

All right.

I'll be looking forward to it.

More than half the Black Spider swarm died instantly, and the rest were in no condition to fight.

Isra blasted mana like a rocket and sliced through the Black Spiders clinging to the ceiling. There was no need to aim for the "grain" of the carapace as before. Exposed to the fire attack, the plates no longer held their former hardness.

Immediately after cutting down a Black Spider, residual leaping force still kept her suspended in midair. She spun her body. Both feet settled naturally against the ceiling, and she released mana once more—this time charging on a diagonal.

"She changed trajectory in midair?"

"Maybe she used some kind of flight skill."

"She kicked off with both feet."

"Does that make any sense? How can a Zombie Warrior pull off such complex movement!"

Isra was a specialty product.

Three-dimensional maneuvering that left the Black Spiders in the dust.

Huh.

Amazing. Truly amazing.

She was my own summon, yet my jaw still hung open.

Seogeogeok! Seogeok!

Black Spiders rained down onto the ground. In less than a minute the entire monster pack was wiped out. The support team scrambled to harvest the mana stones from the corpses.

"Hahaha! Not even enough for a warm-up."

"Controlling my strength is the harder part. Is that all?"

The two summons spoke deliberately loud enough for everyone to hear.

"……."

The Mir raid hunters fell silent. Only the sound of the support team slicing open flesh to collect mana stones echoed through the cave.

"Looks like the path splits here."

Once the Black Spider pack was cleared, a fork in the road came into view.

"Which way will Mir take?"

"Hunter Park Minho, why don't you choose first?"

The old "Gwidong Necromancer" label had finally dropped out of their mouths.

Damn right.

That was how it should be. Call me by the precious name my parents gave me, not some nickname.

"We'll take the left."

The words had barely left my mouth before Isra strode out in the lead.

"No monsters ahead."

"No need to rush. Let's take it slow."

"Hohoho. If any spider spawn show up, I'll burn them all."

Escorted by my two summons, I glanced back.

Oh wow.

The raid leader's eyes were practically sparking with fire.

"Let's go together, hyung-nim!"

The support-team hunters hurriedly gathered the mana stones and caught up.

The race to clear the gate was only beginning.

The path that had forked left and right.

After walking for a while, the light the Mir raid had been casting quickly fell behind.

"Krrrrr!"

Draco rose out of the darkness and shoved his head forward. His body had grown a little larger under the effects of predation, and his specs had risen to match—more than enough to offset the ability-reduction penalty and then some.

"There, there. Good boy."

"Krrr!"

When I stroked him, Draco rumbled low and rubbed his head against me. Looking at him, it was hard to believe he was really an undead built on a ghoul base.

"He looks just like our Poppy at home."

"I was thinking the same thing. We keep a poodle named Happy at my parents' place."

"Hyung-nim's a dog person too!"

Minsu shouted at the top of his lungs.

A dog person too— a dog person too, a dog person too……

Thanks to the cave structure, his voice resonated and rolled on forever.

Shiiit!

The noise seemed to have agitated the monsters on the far side.

"Ah! I'm so sorry!"

"It's fine. We were going to clear them all anyway."

"So this one makes the mistake and we clean it up?"

"Still, they are loyal servants who attend our lord. Any shortcomings can be corrected during training."

"Hohoho. Work that iron head of yours properly, metal skull."

"I was about to say the same to you, mage."

Mm.

Everyone.

Please accept my humble prayers for the repose of the departed.

Anyway, it didn't seem to be my fault.

A closed space like a cave. The amplified explosive force swallowed the Black Spider pack whole. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The fact that it was a gate and therefore wouldn't collapse was a nice bonus.

Sweat beaded under the searing heat, but it was nothing compared to the heat the Black Spiders were experiencing.

"You controlled the direction of the explosion with the wind from Wind Cutter?"

"You saw through it without even needing an explanation. As expected of Master!"

Well.

That's because I inherited your talent, isn't it?

"I, Isra, also acknowledge our lord's greatness."

It's thanks to my teachers' ridiculous abilities, you know.

Please stop inflating my ego.

"Ingrid."

"Yes, Master."

"Remaining mana?"

"A little over eighty percent left."

About ten percent per engagement. As a D-grade spell, Fireball consumed even more. Factoring in the mana recovered while moving, consecutive battles should be possible nine or ten times.

"Next fight, let's use Breath once."

"Krrr!"

After walking a while longer, another Black Spider swarm appeared. Maybe because it was a long-uncleared gate. They were packed in tight.

For pest control, fire really was best. Black Spiders swept by the flames Draco exhaled blackened and toppled over. Those in the rear ranks managed to endure—

—but Isra came howling in like a gale and finished the remaining monsters off.

"We prepared a fair bit for this…"

"Looks like we won't even need the items."

"Heh, heheh."

The support-team kids let out hollow laughs.

Come to think of it.

"What did President Baek have you prepare?"

He had made them work overtime to support the clear. We hadn't needed anything yet, but it never hurt to know in advance.

"First is Fairy Dust."

The powder currently enveloping the party. A consumable item vulgarly known as "X-dust." Its effect was simply to illuminate the dark.

"You could get a similar effect with glowgrass and undead bone. What a waste of money."

Shh.

And besides—if you're holding undead bone, that means one hand is occupied. This stuff was several times more expensive than a mana lantern. For him to hand it out so readily… President Baek was serious about this.

"Second is Toad fluid."

A large frog-type monster. Toad fluid was said to dissolve thread. Harmless to people, but effective against the silk of spider-type monsters like Black Spiders.

"The downside is that it melts clothing as well."

"Ah, um. We'll be careful."

I was unarmed. I was wearing a Robe, sure, but that item was thread-based too. I needed to avoid having its durability eaten away.

"The last item is a Fireball scroll."

"Ohhh."

A Fireball scroll. That brought back memories. Before I met Isra, I had kept a small zombie in a spare carrier. Built on a goblin corpse, with a Fireball scroll stuck to it—I had planned to send it charging in to detonate when things got dangerous. In the end I never used it, though.

"Since hyung-nim is so amazing, we probably won't need this either."

No.

It's fine, actually?

"Adding the spell contained in a scroll to the formula does cost a bit of mana."

Still better than you casting Fireball yourself. It saves time, so let's keep them as spares.

I collected every scroll President Baek had given them and handed the lot to Ingrid. Surely we wouldn't actually need to use them.

"I'll do a bit of mapping."

Just then Mijeong, holding an item that resembled a compass, began scratching something onto paper.

"Is that the path we've taken?"

"Yes. I crash-studied map reading under President Baek."

Huh.

President Baek's preparedness was one thing, but the person who could learn it on the fly and put it to use was impressive too.

"Map reading, is it? An unexpected talent."

"You know how?"

"Among the knowledge passed down to the Witch of the Solar Eclipse, such miscellaneous skills are not included."

She said "I don't know" with a surprising amount of pride.

"However, learning map reading so quickly means her spatial perception is excellent."

Among mages, space-related talent was said to be uncommon.

"That girl. I rather want to raise her properly."

"You teach her a moderate amount too."

Apparently she ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hadn't noticed the talent the first time she taught her. A stronger support-team hunter was a gain for me as well.

After that we kept advancing through the endless caves. Forks appeared and rejoined; sometimes three choices opened up at once.

"This way looks good."

Perhaps because she had roughly grasped the burrow's structure through map reading, we at least never chose a path that dead-ended.

"Gegel. Fireball!"

The additionally summoned Skeleton Mages poured out magic, and the Black Spiders were unable to make use of their characteristic three-dimensional mobility before they went down.

About three hours after the gate assault began, the end of the burrow opened into a wide cavern the likes of which we had never seen.

"I think this is the place."

A voice full of certainty.

Chaeng!

Far in the distance, the metallic ring of weapons clashing against carapace echoed.

Close.

The Mir Guild raid had drawn fairly near as well.

"Then shall we go?"

We hadn't come all this way just to lose, had we?

Time to put on a little speed.