Chapter 18
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Skills and Growth (1)
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Kuwaaaah!
Staring at the boss monster that had opened its maw wide and roared at her, Lee Yu-rim focused her mind.
Above the spot she fixed her gaze on, the words "Vampiric Ape" floated, naming the boss monster.
True to its description, its eyes were blood-red, and its body was grotesquely swollen with protruding veins.
But this was her chance to prove her worth to the leader she had acknowledged, so she suppressed her disgust and drew closer to attack the boss monster.
Kuwoong!
A long arm, easily over two meters, swung toward her.
Lee Yu-rim swiftly ducked her head to dodge the arm, then kicked off the ground and shot forward like an arrow.
Its arms were long, granting it a wide attack range, but that also meant a longer recovery time, leaving it unable to block her approach.
"Hup!"
Tensing her core, she slashed at its chest with her twin daggers.
Each swing cut through the air with a sharp whistle.
Kiaaaang!
As the sound overlapped in rapid succession, it resembled the whir of a circular saw biting into rebar.
Spuuurt!
Dozens of strikes landed on the same spot in an instant, turning the wound not into a mere slash, but a ground-down mess.
Blood gushed out from the injury in a torrent.
Kuoooaaah!
The Vampiric Ape spat blood from its mouth and bellowed in rage.
The roar was so powerful that even Kang Sa-hu, watching from a distance, felt its effect.
Skill, Paralyzing Roar attempts to paralyze your body.
Invalidated due to paralysis immunity.
Kang Sa-hu merely twitched for a moment.
A message immediately appeared, confirming the skill effect had been nullified by his immunity to paralysis, allowing him to move without issue.
As a necromancer who had honed not only spirit summoning and control but also extensive knowledge and resistance to poisons, this was par for the course.
But Lee Yu-rim, lacking such immunity, stiffened like a wooden puppet, her body jerking awkwardly.
"Ugh, urgh!"
As she panicked, unsure what to do,
the enraged boss monster's fist slammed into her stomach.
Kuung!
"Aak!"
She had tried to dodge before the punch came, but its unexpectedly long reach clipped her, sending her tumbling backward.
"Kuhk, hup! I'm fine!"
Seeing Kang Sa-hu approach after she took the hit, Lee Yu-rim hurriedly shouted.
"It doesn't hurt much! I can keep fighting! Let me continue!"
At her desperate plea, Kang Sa-hu halted, and she let out a sigh of relief as she stood.
The boss monster, reeling from the earlier chest strikes, clutched its wound and couldn't press the attack while she caught her breath.
"Hoo—"
Her eyes grew calm as she regarded the boss monster.
Its actions made it clear she had dealt it a greater blow.
Moreover, though she'd taken a punch to the gut, it wasn't life-threatening pain.
It hurt, sure, but it was tolerable—something she could push through.
A normal person would have cracked ribs and internal bleeding, unable to rise, but she was an awakened hunter.
An A-rank hunter, second only to S-rank worldwide, with vastly superior physical prowess.
Gripping her daggers firmly, she advanced with measured steps.
She bounced lightly like a boxer stepping in rhythm, but each step teleported her forward in a blink.
Kue? Kuwee?!
Sensing the ominous aura, the boss monster whipped its arms like lashes in threat.
Each swing boomed like a club through the air.
But she kept stepping in steadily, unflinching, her eyes gleaming like a predator eyeing prey—neither rushing nor retreating.
The standoff held for a moment.
Then, after endless swings, the boss monster fatigued ever so slightly, its arm lagging by a beat.
That tiny delay was her opening. Spotting the gap, she surged forward like the wind.
Kukgek?!
The startled boss leaped back to widen the distance, but Lee Yu-rim gritted her teeth and poured more power into her legs.
Finally closing in on its exposed chest again, she thrust her dagger deep.
Kuke—!
The blade pierced through its ribs, drawing a scream from the boss.
But Kang Sa-hu, watching from afar, noticed it wasn't just pain—the creature seemed to relish something faintly amid the agony.
As he sensed, the boss monster wrapped its long limbs around Lee Yu-rim at its chest.
"This guy...!"
To think it had baited a trap at the risk of its own life.
Startled, she strained to drive the dagger deeper.
Even awakened, her human strength couldn't match the primate's overwhelming power squeezing her, and the dagger's short blade couldn't reach its heart.
Glancing desperately at Kang Sa-hu in panic, she saw him already preparing a spell, mouth moving rapidly—as if he'd deemed her defeated.
'No...!'
This was her chance to show her true power properly.
She'd finally found someone she could trust.
To fail so absurdly and rely on his aid again...
'I hate that...!'
Her eyes flashed with refusal to lose and determination to prove herself.
Her compressed muscles tensed, her grip strengthened.
"Aaaah—!"
Kuak?!
The Vampiric Ape panicked greatly as Lee Yu-rim, who should have been helpless in its grasp, unleashed tremendous strength.
With her burrowed into its chest, even prying her off was impossible, and her power only grew.
"Uwaaaah—!"
Ku, kuwooo!
As the dagger's tip dug into its innards, the boss instinctively sensed death and made its final stand.
Its pupils turned blood-red, and the blood from its chest congealed, trying to push the blade out.
Kuwaaaah!
"Iyaaaaah—!"
A test of strength ensued between Lee Yu-rim shoving the dagger in and the boss using its blood to repel it.
The forces were so evenly matched the dagger halted dead, humming with vibration like a scream.
"...!"
Kang Sa-hu, spell ready, paused and stared at her in astonishment.
Life or death hung in the balance.
Her spirit surged and receded like waves, visibly growing and shrinking at the precipice.
Even as he marveled, the deadlock persisted.
Whenever it tensed its limbs, it only aided her thrust, so the ape loosened them, focusing solely on its skill.
And at the peak of this tug-of-war...
Clang—!
With a clear ring, both daggers' blades snapped, flinging Lee Yu-rim away.
Kuak, kuak, kuak!
It had won.
With her daggers broken and attack lost, the boss crowed in triumph.
But Lee Yu-rim, flung back, gripped the hilts with shattered blades and charged again.
Kuwok!
Sneering derisively, as if daring her, the boss spread its arms wide.
As she closed in, it envisioned tearing her apart and devouring her whole, licking its upper lip with a long tongue.
The moment she swung her arm with the hilt-only dagger...
The boss's spilled blood gathered on the broken blade.
Acquired skill—Blood Blade.
Skill—Blood Blade activates.
Lost in a trance, unaware even of the broken blades, she swung.
The blood converged on the fractures, forming a new edge.
The crimson, solid blade of blood was longer and sharper than the original.
Puk.
It sank into the boss monster's body.
Slicing effortlessly through coarse fur, thick hide, muscle, and bone, the blood blade pierced its heart and protruded from its back.
The Vampiric Ape's mouth gaped in stunned disbelief as its body slowly collapsed.
Kuung!
With a heavy thud, the Vampiric Ape fell.
Lee Yu-rim panted raggedly, bending at the waist with hands on her knees.
"Hahk— hahk— Wh-what did I just do...?"
Her trembling eyes fixed on the corpse, then a hand on her shoulder startled her into readjusting her grip on the dagger.
Realizing it was Kang Sa-hu, her racing mind calmed.
"L-Leader."
"Good work. You must have been really tense. You didn't respond no matter how I called, so I had to place a hand on you."
"Y-You called? Sorry. I was... lost in thought, no, focused on the fight..."
Kang Sa-hu silently watched her ramble, then quickly chanted a spell.
Her churning stomach and frantic thoughts settled astonishingly calm.
"L-Leader. This is...?"
"Go rest."
"...Yes, just a bit then."
Following his calm order, she staggered off to find a place to rest.
He saw her slump onto a large brick like she'd collapsed, but Kang Sa-hu wasn't overly worried.
Others might not see it, but as a necromancer, he could tell her raging spirit had quieted.
Even more astonishing was the change in that spirit.
'The spirit... it's grown larger and more solid.'
A spirit mirrored one's power, potential, presence, and very nature.
Thus, Kang Sa-hu sensed she was now stronger, more composed, and more imposing than before entering the gate.
'Something definitely changed.'
The moment her dagger blades snapped and she lost her means of attack.
The composed Lee Yu-rim of before would have sought another way or called for help.
Yet she charged the boss in apparent frenzy despite the breakage.
And felled it with what seemed a skill.
'She definitely didn't know that skill before entering here.'
Otherwise, there'd be no reason to drag out a near-death struggle.
'Awakening isn't the end—post-awakening growth matters too.'
Observing the dramatic spirit growth and skill acquisition from a step back allowed Kang Sa-hu deeper insight into "awakeners."
As he pondered the connections, he sensed the forgotten spirits approaching.
Confirming the sensation, he gazed indifferently at the gathering spirits.
"It's complete."
In the roughly 40 minutes Lee Yu-rim battled the boss Vampiric Ape,
the spirits of the Corpse-Eating Apes, subdued by his spirit control arts, had autonomously formed into soul cores and converged on him.