The Seasoned Predator
All of us were trapped like butterflies in a web of mana, frozen in place. That was when the first ogre to shake off the skill charged straight at us.
Damn.
I clicked my tongue lightly and stomped my foot without hesitation.
Earth Strike.
Boom.
Mana, amplified even further through the mana heart pulsing in my body, surged into the ground and neutralized the ogre's mana, which had spread out like a spiderweb. If we'd stayed like that any longer, it would've been only a matter of time before one of us died.
"Huh? I can move again!"
"Everyone, dodge!"
Thankfully, in the chaos, no one seemed to notice I'd used a skill. My teammates leaped away in different directions, evading the three charging ogres. True to their experience as seasoned hunters, they even managed to lure the beasts apart in that split second, isolating them.
"How long you gonna lie there!"
At Jeong Hyeon-gu's shout, Kwon Yeong-woo—the first to go down—shook his head and staggered to his feet. Luckily, the gigantification skill's effects hadn't fully worn off yet, so aside from the blackout, he looked mostly fine.
"Tie its legs first!"
I yelled at Gwak Su-hyeon as I dashed right.
"Got it!"
He replied, sprinting in the opposite direction. As we charged in tandem, the rest of the team readied their attack skills.
When hunting massive monsters like these, the effective strategy was for fast hunters to draw aggro and bind the legs first, buying time for the heavy hitters to prepare their big damage skills. Most powerful one-shots took time to charge proportional to their output.
"Three minutes from now! Buy enough time!"
Jeong Hyeon-gu proved his captaincy wasn't bought as he barked orders at us.
Rich kid with skills too? Talk about bad luck.
I grumbled under my breath, circled swiftly to the side of the ogre's log-like right leg, and drove my fist hard into its ankle.
A strike skill triggered naturally with my movement.
Thud!
A shockwave rippled out, and the beast's right leg buckled.
Monster-level recoil.
I shook out my numb fist and leaped to the other side.
"Grrooar!"
Simultaneously, a massive fist slammed down where I'd just been.
Thoom.
The solid concrete floor caved in like tofu.
"Got your blind spot too~!"
Gwak Su-hyeon slipped into the gap, mimicking me by slashing at the opposite ankle.
Slash!
"Tch! Not enough, huh?"
His hand, which had pierced a hellhound's thick hide in one go before, smoked from friction. Yet the ogre's insanely tough skin—imbued with extreme anti-magic properties—didn't even scratch.
Combine that with its innate strength to churn concrete like mud, and it was no wonder ogres ranked high among A-rank monsters.
Gwak Su-hyeon grumbled lowly and drew his daggers. Ominous black energy writhed along the darkened blades. The moment he committed to a real attack, I swung in a wide arc, spinning toward the beast's flank.
Swiftness.
Whoosh, crack, crack.
The swiftness skill flowed as naturally as breathing. Since it became my innate skill, my control over it grew finer by the day. My body lightened, accelerating in an instant.
I closed in tight and leaped up its side.
Buff.
Buff effect: Target's attack speed and attack power increased by 10%.
Duration: 1 hour
Before the alert even finished, I channeled mana into my right leg. No ground in midair, but I maximized rotation using mana flow. That was the principle of fa jin—the essence of striking I'd newly grasped from Professor Go Taek-hyeon.
I kicked off its rock-hard thigh and launched into a spinning heel kick at its most vulnerable spot: the eye. The strike skill layered on naturally, birthing a devastating blow.
Splat!
"Groooaaar!"
The ogre's right eye, which would've shrugged off rifle rounds, burst outright.
"What the? Captain's got a ton of hidden tricks, huh?"
Gwak Su-hyeon marveled, having severed the beast's right Achilles tendon in that brief window. The other teammates, prepping skills from afar, watched our performance and whistled in awe. We weren't just buying time—we were dismantling it.
"Who the hell are those two? They're crushing it."
"Gwak Su-hyeon's always been a beast, but the new guy's no slouch either."
"Now I get why Chang-min got humiliated."
"Must have solid experience, whatever his background."
Thanks to us fully capturing the ogre's attention, the others finished charging.
"Done! Both of you, fall back!"
"Hyah!"
"On it!"
At the shout from behind, Gwak Su-hyeon and I rapidly distanced ourselves. Confirming we'd cleared space, Ma Jae-heon hurled the massive fireball hovering above him first.
Boom!Whoosh!
His face twisted slightly as he watched the blaze that should've incinerated the ogre rage fiercely.
Ogre's anti-magic is the best, alright.
Even amid the flames he'd unleashed, the beast's bulk didn't shrink a bit. Still, it wasn't useless—the fire devoured surrounding oxygen, keeping the ogre dazed.
"Outta the way!"
Next came the completed follow-up skill. Blades of vivid wind, shaped like giant scythes, surged at the ogre. Jeong Hyeon-gu, controlling them, sweated bullets from his brow.
Slash! Slash! Thwack! Thud!
The wind blades meant to shred its body clashed with sharp cutting sounds. Fireball into air cutter. The ogre, hunkered down, took hits across its body, thin blood spraying.
Hoo~ Not bad.
Magic-type awakeners were rare, yet here were two in one spot. Wind and fire synergized perfectly—the flames seeped into wounds from the blades. The acrid stench of burning flesh filled the air as mana burrowed inside, ravaging from within.
Finally, one knee hit the ground as the ogre clutched its face.
Thud-thud-thud-thud.
Kwon Yeong-woo rolled in like a mad bull.
"You bastard! Had fun swinging earlier, huh!"
His recovered body unleashed a barrage.
Thoom, thoom! Boom-boom!
"Groooaaar!"
The ogre screamed in agony under the brutal punches.
"Grrraaah."
Thud.
Unable to withstand the onslaught, it collapsed.
"Bye, asshole!"
Crack.
Even mangled, it thrashed to rise—until Kwon Yeong-woo snapped its neck.
"Looks like that one's done too."
"You okay where you got hit?"
"Eh, my body's tough."
Jeong Hyeon-gu checked on his man.
"Groooar!"
"Kraaah!"
The death cries from the other teams echoed similarly—they'd cleared around the same time.
"We heading to back up the professor like this? What's your take?"
Jeong Hyeon-gu asked, eyeing me.
"My take? You're the captain."
"Eh, just asking."
I tilted my head, and he shrugged.
He turned to the others. "Moving to back up the professor now. Location..."
Kaboom!
A massive explosion rocked the distance, buildings erupting.
"Over there, I guess."
Gwak Su-hyeon smirked at the direction.
"Let's go."
"Yeah."
The team leaped away lightly. I lingered, confirming they'd left, then approached the fallen ogre corpse.
Thump.
My mana heart pounded fiercely again. Like I was possessed, I stuck out my tongue long and placed my hand on the dead ogre.
Instantly, residual mana from its body flooded into me through my hand.
Sluuuurp.
It felt like a giant pump sucking it in. The mana seeped straight into my mana heart.
Thump!
The mana heart devoured it greedily, then pulsed hugely once.
Familiar alerts rang out in sequence.
Acquired skill Boiling Rage (A).
Acquired skill Skin Reinforcement (A).
You have comprehended the essence of mana absorption. Mana absorption has been registered as an innate skill.
Acquired innate skill Mana Absorption (Lv.1).
You can get skills like this too?
Touch a dead monster's body, and its mana gets sucked in—along with its skills. The mana heart handled the absorption, which must've turned it into my innate skill.
And the most crucial fact of all. Just thinking about it made my chest swell with excitement.
I'd assumed I needed to watch and comprehend skills in action, whether from people or monsters. But if I could snag them this way from corpses too?
That obliterated the biggest bottleneck in skill acquisition.
No more waiting for them to use skills.
Frankly, waiting around was getting annoying. And it required focused observation of mana flow—not something you picked up casually.
Jackpot!
I clenched my fist, cheering inwardly.
S-rank's still peanuts anyway.
The gap between me and monsters like that twin-head ogre—or Professor Kim Yo-han who'd lured it—was massive. Even catching up to them, that demonic bastard would see me as a snack.
I couldn't cower forever. Time to skyrocket in one go!
I eyed the approaching S-rank battlefield, gaze gleaming. Skill bundles ripe for devouring awaited—just a touch away.
A man slumped against a rooftop ledge, body torn, one arm useless. He gasped ragged breaths.
"Huff... huff."
Professor Kim Yo-han, who seemed so composed moments ago, was a wreck.
"Cough! Hack—ptui!"
He spat blood, then turned with a relieved expression.
Monster.
No attack phased the twin-headed beast. Worse, its speed and power grew over time. It even adapted faster to his mana bullets. Hell, it'd dodged a close-range shot earlier.
That stunned hesitation cost him his shredded left arm.
That's no S-rank.
An S-rank popping from an A-rank dungeon was shocking enough—but to him, this thing was at least SS-rank.
First, warn everyone and tell them to run. He bitterly recalled his comms, shattered in the shockwave.
He spotted incoming hunters in the distance.
Danger!
Forcing himself up, he kicked off the rooftop to relay the message.
"Groooaaar!"
The seasoned predator roared, sensing fresh prey.