Shadows of the Bengal Tribe
After continuing the search until evening, the results were in.
Acquired 'Katar Leather (Quest)'.
He'd collected a whopping 47 pieces of Katar leather.
"This quest is gonna clear fast."
"Yeah, but we gotta thoroughly sweep the entrance area first."
Mu-hyuk wasn't bothering to hunt down every Katar.
He focused more on wandering the entrance to the Yabbe Mountains, searching for Groion's belongings. He scoured the ground, checked tree trunks, even shoved massive boulders aside.
In truth, gathering those 47 leathers was mostly Sung Min-woo's doing. The guy never stopped moving, searching tirelessly while luring Katars over.
If they'd focused purely on hunting instead of searching, they probably would've cleared the quest ages ago.
"Sorry to make you do all the work..."
"Nah, cut it out."
"Still."
"Thanks to you, I'm all-in on Illusion and living the good life now. When else was I gonna pull in close to a million a month? Gotta do this much to call myself human."
With that, Sung Min-woo headed off again.
Mu-hyuk watched his back and smiled.
An unchanging friend.
Having even one like that was a huge comfort in life.
The rascal.
Mu-hyuk resumed the search.
Not long after, Sung Min-woo's shout rang out.
"I'm back!"
"Skeleton Summon."
He halted the search and took in the sight: a rhinoceros charging straight at them, with a Katar mounted on top.
"Dodge to the side!"
"Got it!"
Sung Min-woo, barreling in head-on, timed it perfectly and leaped aside. In that instant, magic from five Mages engulfed the Katar.
Kwa-gwang!
He closed the distance with Wind Step.
Piercing the dust, he sliced the rhinoceros's leg.
The rhino was only level 60—lower than the Katar. There was no way it could withstand Mu-hyuk's attack swung at blinding speed.
Kwee-ee-eek!
One ankle severed clean off.
The rhino lost balance and crashed, sending the mounted Katar tumbling to the ground.
Before it could rise, Mu-hyuk closed in and unleashed a barrage of sword strikes. The cutting power from Wind Step shone through.
The Katar's tough armor crumpled in seconds. It scrambled up desperately, but Mu-hyuk's overwhelming stats kept shoving it back.
Hraaaah!
The bellowing Katar changed nothing.
Spot.
Suddenly, it retreated.
"Hoo."
His MP had dipped below half.
Enhanced Bone, Bone Sword—surround it.
Then the indiscriminate assault began.
Kuh-heok.
With that grotesque cry, the creature stopped moving.
Experience gained.
Acquired 'Katar Leather (Quest)'.
He brushed past the fallen Katar.
It never dropped anything anyway. He'd tried Corpse Dissection several times before and knew.
But the rhino, just starting to fade gray, had strength-attribute bones worth dissecting.
"Corpse Dissection."
Mu-hyuk's hands moved swiftly.
Shruk, shruk.
He carved through the rhino's flesh.
Corpse Dissection complete.
Acquired 'Rhinoceros Bone (x2)'.
Two bones secured.
He headed to Strongbow 1 and yanked out a rib-like armor bone.
Strongbow 1's Strength (0.04) decreased.
Then slotted in the rhino bone.
Strongbow 1's Strength (0.26) increased.
After assembling the remaining bone too, he began scanning the mountain entrance again.
*
Two days invested in probing the entrance, but no suspicious spots linked to Groion's items turned up. They'd amassed a staggering 220 Katar leathers so far.
"Entrance done now?"
"Yeah, we've covered it all."
The entrance felt deceptively vast.
The mid-slope wouldn't be easy either.
It might take a week—no, two—depending. Sung Min-woo, already clued in, brought it up first with his usual nonchalance.
"Just think of it as chill hunting."
"Yeah, thanks."
"Psh, thanks."
Chatting as they ascended the Yabbe Mountains.
The terrain was brutally rugged.
Still, they didn't slack on inspection.
Scrutinizing every nook.
Krrrng.
Then, midway up, they ran into a Bengal tribe warrior staking out. Tiger-faced, standing bipedally like a man. No weapon, but its claws gleamed like swords.
"Archer behind it too."
Bengal tribe archer as well.
"Skeleton Summon."
But what was there to fear?
With his reliable summons.
Keerik, keeri-keerik.
In that moment, the Bengal warrior ducked behind a tree.
Hiding?
Mu-hyuk tilted his head in confusion—
Pah-at.
—when the Bengal warrior materialized in mid-air.
"Hup!"
Startled, he sucked in a sharp breath.
Dodged left in a hurry.
Enhanced Bone there took the hit instead.
Kak!
He ordered it to block with the shield, but the warrior's claws packed more punch than expected—Enhanced Bone 1 kept getting shoved back.
Enhanced Bone 2 from the right latched on, forcing the warrior to pull away. Mu-hyuk, not letting it escape, nocked an arrow.
Powerful Arrow Shot.
Strongbow, Bone Bows—rapid fire.
Just as the arrow left the string—
Swoosh.
The Bengal warrior vanished.
"Huh...?"
Gone from sight entirely.
Sung Min-woo looked flustered too.
"Wh-what the hell?"
"No way..."
Then, a chill from behind.
He ducked.
A thick claw whistled overhead, sending shivers.
He rolled on the ground and looked up at the spot.
A Bengal warrior glared down—then blurred and vanished again.
Confirmation.
Stealth...!
He knew that trait too.
Mu-hyuk's eyes flashed cold as he released the drawn string.
Pang!
The arrow plunged into empty air.
Kwoooar!
The Bengal warrior appeared from nowhere, clutching the arrow in its gut.
Invisible didn't mean gone—just hidden. Predicting its path, he'd struck true.
Krrrng...
It yanked the arrow free, but silver light leaked from its belly.
Now he could track it. Unaware, the warrior stealthed again. The silver drifted left.
Strongbows, Bone Bows—all fire.
Mu-hyuk smirked coldly and commanded.
Puk, pububuk.
Bone arrows riddled it.
Then an incoming arrow.
-417 HP
Even with over 110 defense, HP plummeted.
Swoosh.
He whipped around, but no sign of the Bengal archer. Probably stealthed too.
"Warrior's yours."
"No worries."
Sung Min-woo pressured the warrior with his spirits.
Mu-hyuk waited.
For the archer to strike again.
"..."
Tedious minutes passed.
Sasak.
A rustle.
He spun, nocking an arrow lightning-fast.
Pang!
It thunked into a tree.
Missed.
Immediately, an arrow pierced leaves at him.
He twisted aside.
Wind Step.
Tracing shot origin and angle, the bastard was atop the tree for sure.
In slowed time, he ordered the Mages.
Magic ready.
Miss, and blast the area.
Some splash damage at least.
He kicked off the trunk and leaped up.
A thick branch there.
Perfect...
Sword slash diagonal.
Whoosh.
Nothing.
Side-step left, horizontal cut.
Nothing again.
Magic attack!
Magic erupted left and right from Mu-hyuk, ravaging surroundings.
Explosions boomed.
A faint groan hit his ear.
Right!
He lunged toward the sound, thrusting.
Puk.
Mu-hyuk's lips twisted.
Gotcha.
Pulling the sword, silver sprayed as the archer appeared. It swung the bow shaft, but Mu-hyuk had already slipped behind.
Shruk.
Targeted wrist first.
Then ankle.
Half-severed, they dangled.
MP...
Mu-hyuk frowned and retreated.
~500 MP left.
Bone Sword 3, 4, 5, 6—unsummon.
Reverse-summoned to conserve MP. Commanded the rest to finish the archer.
Experience gained.
Acquired 'Bengal Archer's Tooth (Quest)'.
Approached the fallen one and activated the skill.
Performing Corpse Dissection.
Progress...
Corpse Dissection complete.
Acquired 'Bengal Archer's Bone (x1)'.
A bone dropped.
Attribute: Agility
Agility attribute.
Sung Min-woo had just finished the warrior too.
Experience gained.
Acquired 'Bengal Warrior's Tooth (Quest)'.
Hurried to the warrior.
Performing Corpse Dissection.
Progress...
Dagger flashed.
Ripping through flesh.
Corpse Dissection complete.
Acquired 'Bengal Warrior's Bone (x1)'.
The Bengal warrior's bone had strength attribute. Mu-hyuk swapped it straight into Bone Sword 13, which sorely lacked agility.
Bone Sword 13's Strength (0.14) decreased.
Strength dropped,
Bone Sword 13's Agility (0.36) increased.
but agility surged.
Hmm, good enough.
After mulling, he gave it the warrior's bone too.
Bone Sword 13's Strength (0.14) decreased.
Bone Sword 13's Strength (0.26) increased.
Sung Min-woo, watching, spoke up.
"Hey, though."
"Yeah?"
"If Bengals have stealth, hunting's gonna suck."
"Looks like it."
Of course, ways to break stealth existed.
First: land a solid hit.
Silver from the wound reveals position. What he'd just done—but hard to land the first.
Second: spray special solution via wind magic everywhere.
One drop spreads color body-wide, exposing hiders easily.
Problem: hadn't prepped, never expecting stealth monsters here so soon.
He knew next to nothing about Yabbe Mountains monsters.
It vanished early on.
Even if "early," it was around year two.
Anyway, gone.
Why? No clue.
Empire swept it, not users.
Big news, but truth stayed buried.
"Gotta find a way."
No solution, but alternatives should work.
Wait—mud...
Sticky mud leaves traces too. No water, can't wipe clean perfectly.
"Min-woo."
"Yeah?"
"Let's make mud."
"Mud?"
"Make it and scatter with wind—should work, right?"
Sung Min-woo pondered.
Then eyes lit up, nodding.
"Yeah, that could do it!"
They got right to mud-making.
Earth spirit floated sand into the air first.
"Water."
Water spirit doused it.
Kneaded around, got nice sticky sludge. Tested by slapping on hand, shaking off.
"Ho."
A grin spread on Mu-hyuk's face.