Shadows of the Dark Forest
A sticky sensation crawled up his arm.
Puuk.
He shook off the now-familiar feeling and slammed his sword down once more.
Critical strikes!
One, two, then three users down.
"Sh, shit...!"
In that instant, as the dizziness faded, a few users scrambled to their feet and charged at Mu-hyuk.
As he backed away while eyeing the approaching foes, three Armor Knights stepped forward, blocking them with their shields.
"Ah, fuck off!"
"Skeletons of all things!"
Mu-hyuk smirked and nocked an arrow to his bowstring.
Pang!
The shot arrow buried itself in a user.
"Aaaargh! Fuck, that bastard—I'm gonna kill him!"
"Then you shouldn't have tried to kill me, right?"
Mu-hyuk's taunt flipped their eyes in rage.
"Kill him! Kill that fucker!"
But they weren't easy prey.
Weaving between Armor Knights and Bone Swords, whenever the users tried to follow, an Armor Knight or Bone Sword would block the path.
The arrows that flew in those brief blocks were vicious. Even though not much time had passed, the HP of those chasing Mu-hyuk plummeted to zero.
Blinded by fury, they repeated the same mistakes without checking their remaining HP.
Mage 1, 2, 3—magic.
Struck by the three mages' spells, they crumbled to dust.
Swipe.
He shifted his gaze to check the remaining hostile users.
Roughly fifteen.
Mu-hyuk himself?
The archers and mages were unscathed, but the Armor Knights and Bone Swords had taken heavy damage.
All three Armor Knights, and a whopping twelve Bone Swords had been forcibly dismissed.
Of course, Sung Min-woo had used them as shields, but there was no helping it. Sung Min-woo had to survive first.
Well, this much.
Not bad at all.
Good enough.
Mu-hyuk began moving again to deal with the remaining hostiles.
*
The traces of battle were quite gruesome.
"Sh, shit. Just you wait. You're all under execution orders..."
He slit the last user's throat.
Three Skeleton Mages.
Four Skeleton Archers.
Plus Burtan and two Armor Knights.
With just ten summons left, he'd finally subdued all the hostiles. If there had been only forty, it might've been dangerous.
But the rewards for overcoming would be greater too.
Thanks to killing thirty, there were fifteen items scattered on the ground.
Swipe.
He picked them all up and sat down.
"Fucking exhausting. We'll sell the items later."
"Kuh, if it was just me, I'd have taken out maybe four or five and called it quits. Your skeletons are the real MVPs."
Sung Min-woo's words carried a sigh.
His face full of regret.
And guilt for being too weak to help much.
"Hmm."
Sure enough, Sung Min-woo had shone briefly at the start but spent the rest hiding behind the skeletons, focused on survival.
"Regretting it?"
"Obviously. I wanted to help more."
Mu-hyuk chuckled.
"Well, shall we get going then?"
"Huh? Where to?"
"Let's get stronger before the real fight. Follow me."
He decided to put the commission on hold for now.
That wasn't the priority.
"Where we headed?"
"Dark Forest."
To grow the spirits.
A short while later.
After stopping by the Weibra Empire temple and general store, Mu-hyuk bought something.
Then, riding the warhorses for about thirty minutes, they reached their destination.
"That place...?"
"Yeah."
"Creepy vibe."
"Pretty dark, huh?"
"Understatement."
A forest that seemed to exist only in darkness.
A single line divided the world in two.
Outside: a world bathed in light. Inside: a space riddled with shadows.
And lurking in that darkness were spirits.
"Catch one of those spirits for real, and your summons' stats go up, right?"
"That's right."
"Whew, where do you even get info like that?"
"Secret."
"Tch, you're full of secrets."
Mu-hyuk gave an apologetic look.
"I'll tell you when there's a chance."
"Okay. Not the point anyway."
They pressed forward.
Clop clop.
Sung Min-woo's face tensed atop his warhorse.
Soon, they crossed the line.
Darkness swallowed their vision.
"Whoa, way too dark."
Mu-hyuk summoned a Skeleton Warrior. He took a Bone Sword's blade and handed it the lantern he'd prepared.
"Better now?"
"Yeah, good."
At least visibility improved.
"Dismiss warhorse."
Now to prepare for battle.
"Summon."
He called all the Skeleton Archers and Mages.
"Spirit Summon."
Sung Min-woo did the same.
They advanced cautiously.
How long had they walked?
Chirrrk.
A eerie sound tickled their ears. He whipped his head around, but nothing. The sound persisted.
"Ugh, fuck."
Chills raced from his toes—less like facing a monster, more like a ghost.
Chirrk!
In that instant, with the sound's end, something lunged forward.
Insane speed.
"Hup, what the—!"
Startled, Sung Min-woo swung his fist.
Whoosh.
The punch flew true. But no impact.
Like slicing air.
His fist passed straight through its body, and seeing it firsthand was nauseatingly gross.
Sung Min-woo recoiled in shock and fired Fire forward, but as a spirit, it phased right through. Magic offered slight resistance but no damage.
"Wh-what the hell?"
Then Mu-hyuk swung his sword.
Thud.
A heavy impact sent it flying far.
"That's a Dark Spirit."
"Ha, insane. What is this, a haunted house?"
"Scared?"
"Sc-scared? Nah! But why doesn't my attack work...?"
"Ah, this."
Mu-hyuk pulled a small vial from his inventory.
"Holy water diluted with regular water."
"You coated your sword with it?"
"Yeah, gotta for attacks to land."
Normal spirits take physical or magic damage, but Dark Spirits uniquely ignore everything without holy water.
Unless Mu-hyuk spilled it, this info would stay hidden for ages. It'd take countless users' trial and error.
"Gimme some too."
"Yeah, hold on."
He dripped diluted holy water on each Armor Knight's shield first, then one drop on Sung Min-woo's knuckles.
"Don't attack if it comes. Just wait."
"Got it."
They held position quietly.
Chirrrrk.
The Dark Spirit that had flown off returned.
As it neared, the Armor Knights surrounded it. They closed in, shields out.
The spirit ignored them, but couldn't pierce the holy water-coated shields.
Thump.
Blocked, it halted.
Chirrk?
Left, right, behind.
Every direction, a shield.
Chirrrk!
Spewing that grating screech, it tried fleeing skyward—the only gap.
Mu-hyuk kicked off the ground, leaped, pierced its body with his sword, and slammed it down. He released the hilt and backed off; the spirit thrashed, pinned.
"How's that?"
"Whoa, badass!"
"But holy water lasts 10 minutes. Finish before then."
"Gotcha!"
A pinned Dark Spirit was no monster.
Just prey.
Attacks poured in.
Kwa-gwang!
After countless blows, it fell.
Experience has increased.
'Fire', with the greatest contribution, absorbs the spirit's power.
Spirit 'Fire''s 'Vitality' increases by '0.1'.
Sung Min-woo grinned at the messages.
*
Hayaku Guild headquarters.
Guild master Miyamoto slammed the table.
Bam!
He snarled viciously.
"A brawl at the Imiho hunting grounds?"
"Uh, y-yeah."
"First ten guys. Then thirty more—and they got wiped by just two? That's what you're telling me?"
The executives bowed their heads.
A guild made for fun.
But Miyamoto's influence in Hayaku Guild was massive.
He'd poured in cash to gear up members.
Leave the guild? Execution order, pay for betrayal.
Rebellion was low. Swear loyalty, get top gear.
Poor users pledged allegiance for power. That's how it was built.
"Asked if that's right."
"Y-yeah."
"Ha, yeah? And you handed over items too?"
"..."
Miyamoto scowled.
"Fucking idiots."
They just shrank under his curses.
"So, where are those bastards now?"
"Probably still at Imiho hunting grounds..."
"Moron, they wouldn't still be there!"
"Ah...?"
"Issue execution order first. Find 'em, take at least seventy and finish it. Got it?"
"Y-yeah."
"Kill 'em at least ten times in a month."
"Uh-huh."
"Get out."
Vice guild master and executives left.
"Haa, pathetic."
Miyamoto muttered alone.
Time passed.
Regular report day, grand meeting.
"So, the dungeon we found this time..."
"Do that."
"Got it."
"Other reports?"
"Uh, that's all."
"Hmm, those guys?"
"Uh...?"
Vice guild master's face paled. Sensing something off, Miyamoto leaned forward.
"Those bastards from before. The ones who picked a fight at Imiho—what's the status?"
"Th-that's..."
"What?"
The mood chilled.
"Spit it out right."
"Sigh, truth is, we still haven't found where they are..."
"..."
Absurdity peaked into laughter.
Miyamoto laughed.
"Ha, can't find 'em?"
"Yeah."
"That's how you eat my money and gear?"
"S-sorry..."
"Get it right. Find 'em by tomorrow."
Vice nodded.
"Say it."
"Y-yeah! I'll find 'em, by tomorrow."
"Not words—move now!"
Vice and executives bolted.
Meanwhile.
Sung Min-woo and Mu-hyuk still hunted Dark Spirits.
"How many now?"
"Everyone but Wind at 10. Wind just needs strength."
"Hurry."
"Okay. Dismiss Fire, Earth, Water."
Another Dark Spirit appeared.
Same as before: pin with sword, finish it.
Experience has increased.
'Wind', with the greatest contribution, absorbs the spirit's power.
Spirit 'Wind''s 'Strength' increases by '0.1'.
Finally, goal achieved.
"Whew, all at 10 now."
"Yeah? Done then."
"But is 10 really the cap?"
"Yeah."
"Just in case, one more?"
"Sure."
One more Dark Spirit.
Experience has increased.
No stat-up message.
"Really done."
"Then let's head out."
"Okay!"
Long hunt over, they exited the Dark Forest.
"Skeleton Warhorse Summon."
Rode to village, used warp gate to Weibra Empire.
*
Two Hayaku Guild members watching Weibra Empire.
One tapped his buddy's shoulder.
"What?"
"They're here."
"What? For real?"
He'd been eyeing the warp gate.
"Who?"
"Those two just stepping off the gate."
"Sure?"
"Yeah, I got wrecked by 'em. Saw with my own eyes—unforgettable."
"Sweet. I'll report. Keep watch."
"Got it."
Their location reached Hayaku guild master Miyamoto.