Spirit Fighter's Trial by Fire
Sung Min-woo summoned his spirits.
"Summon."
Fire, Water, Earth, Wind.
The faint spirits took on distinct forms.
Fire manifested as a wolf flickering with flames.
Water as a female warrior wielding sword and shield.
Earth as a golem crafted from sand.
Wind as a sleek hawk soaring through the air.
Four spirits in total appeared around Sung Min-woo. He puffed out his chest and looked at Mu-hyuk.
"What do you think?"
Honestly, they were impressive.
Well, let's play along.
"Damn, that's cool as hell."
"Kekeke, right? Man, clearing that quest was a total pain in the ass and had me raging. But seeing these guys? All that frustration just melted away. Puhahaha!"
As Sung Min-woo's laughter died down—
Krrrng.
A single variant Mad Dog emerged.
"Watch this!"
The moment he spotted it, Sung Min-woo charged.
Uh, that's...
The variant Mad Dog was level 61.
Even if his four elemental spirits had evolved, taking on a monster five levels higher solo was no easy feat.
That's what Mu-hyuk had thought.
Kwaaaang!
But the battle unfolded differently than expected.
Even Mu-hyuk found himself glued to the action.
"Haaap!"
The synergy between Sung Min-woo and his spirits was almost too perfect.
The golem lumbered forward first, tanking the hits. Now that it had a physical form, it could engage directly in combat.
It had solid durability too, shrugging off the variant Mad Dog's attacks with ease while harassing it with all sorts of earth-shaking tricks—waving a hand to rumble the ground or erupt spikes from the floor.
The wolf-like Fire darted around at blinding speed, snapping at the Mad Dog's flanks. Flames erupted from every bite, scorching wounds and inflicting burn damage.
The sword-and-shield warrior Water excelled at both offense and defense. Successful strikes froze enemies solid, while blocks summoned watery barriers to mitigate damage.
The fastest was the hawk-form Wind. It buffeted Sung Min-woo with wingbeats to boost his speed, while debuffing the enemy with oppressive pressure for auxiliary support. Even so, it dove in with beak and talons at such velocity that it couldn't be ignored.
And Sung Min-woo, playing the starring role, was rampaging like a fish in water.
"Uraaaachaa!"
He grabbed the charging Mad Dog's jaws with both hands and hurled it skyward, then slammed a kick into its belly.
As it soared, the wolf Fire leaped and batted it higher, and the golem launched a massive sand clump to send it even further.
"Earth!"
At Sung Min-woo's shout, the golem swept its arm.
Kurrrung.
A staircase of sand erupted from the ground.
Pabat!
Sung Min-woo bounded up it, clamping both feet on the Mad Dog's neck and gripping its chest with his hands as he plummeted downward.
Kuung!
The Mad Dog's neck hit first.
Kwaaaak!
It let out a hideous screech.
In that instant, the hawk dove in, seizing the nape of its neck and yanking it into the sky.
Was that a skill?
Sung Min-woo's body glowed.
Kwaang!
An explosion propelled him airborne, and the three spirits converged from all sides.
They intertwined seamlessly, pummeling the Mad Dog at terrifying speed.
Sung Min-woo kicked, Fire bit, Earth smashed, and the warrior shoved.
Not a single motion out of sync.
Kwagwagwang!
Another explosion hurled the Mad Dog downward.
Simultaneously, the ground surged up.
Kwaang!
The impact velocity combined with Earth's technique amplified the damage.
Sung Min-woo landed gracefully and slowly rose.
"Hoo."
He glanced at Mu-hyuk, breathing steady.
"So, what'd you think?"
"Hmm..."
Mu-hyuk pondered before speaking.
"Half pass."
"What? What's wrong with the other half?!"
At that moment, the variant Mad Dog—thought to be down—staggered to its feet with a guttural growl.
Its eyes blazed like erupting volcanoes, and it lunged at the golem in front, tearing into it.
This was the change that kicked in below 20% HP.
Mu-hyuk had always lured them with raw meat first, so it wasn't much threat to him. But for Sung Min-woo, it was different.
Now that's the real variant Mad Dog.
"That thing's still up!"
"It didn't die?"
Sung Min-woo looked surprised too.
But he dove back in with confidence.
"Hup!"
Things didn't go as planned, though.
Pababat!
The variant Mad Dog exploded into hyper speed, mauling and clawing the golem relentlessly.
The sturdy defense crumbled as sand scattered from its body.
Fire charged in but got tangled and flung into a corner.
The soaring hawk had its wings ripped, crashing down.
Even the warrior couldn't land clean hits.
With crimson eyes, the Mad Dog's stats had skyrocketed across the board.
Underestimating it like before meant getting wrecked—like Sung Min-woo right now.
"Uh, uh...!"
But that phase didn't last.
Sweek.
Sung Min-woo snapped to attention and moved with greater caution.
*
Weight settled into Sung Min-woo's once-light steps.
Each stride carried seriousness, the next deliberation.
As he advanced, he extended a hand—his HP dipped, but the fallen spirits' recovered.
Soon, the four spirits flanked him from behind.
Thud.
They closed in on the Mad Dog.
Krrrng...
It growled low in threat, but only scraps of HP remained below 20%.
"Alright, let's go!"
Sung Min-woo kicked off.
Pabat.
They clashed fiercely midway.
Even in the chaos, Sung Min-woo and his spirits breathed in perfect harmony.
They amplified each other's strengths flawlessly.
But the variant Mad Dog was tenacious as hell.
Never corner a wounded beast. Was that the saying?
It clung on till the end, forcibly unsummoning Fire, Earth, and Water one by one.
"Crazy...!"
In the end, just Sung Min-woo, Wind, and the Mad Dog remained.
Sung Min-woo's HP teetered on empty—thanks to sharing it with his four spirits.
The Mad Dog was on death's door too, but victory wasn't guaranteed.
"Haa, this thing's no joke..."
Sung Min-woo's low mutter echoed.
"Having a tough time?"
"Yeah, can't do it. Help me out."
Mu-hyuk chuckled and pulled his staff from inventory.
He boosted his magic attack power, then extended his hand.
Blessing of the Dead
Unlike projectile spells, it hit instantly on activation—no dodging, even for the nimble Mad Dog.
-785 HP
A hefty chunk.
With its HP scraping bottom, the Mad Dog dropped dead from that single hit.
Experience gained.
Sung Min-woo stared blankly at Mu-hyuk.
"Hah, you made it way too easy!"
"Skill's nature."
Mu-hyuk performed Corpse Dissection on the Mad Dog while Sung Min-woo grumbled behind him.
"All the hype about the Red Tower had me thinking it was overblown, but nope."
"Overblown, huh..."
Mu-hyuk smiled softly.
Not at all. Not even close.
The rumors weren't exaggerated in the slightest—perfectly apt, even.
Of course, outsiders might think them inflated without knowing better. But the Red Tower was even tougher than the tales.
"Gonna kill me, seriously."
"Still, impressive."
"Impressive my ass. Can't even solo one."
"Solos are always tough."
"Yeah? Figures. Right?"
His attitude flipped at a single compliment, drawing an involuntary laugh from Mu-hyuk. But inwardly, he was genuinely awed.
A five-level gap. If he'd known about the massive stat boost below 20% HP, Sung Min-woo could've soloed for sure.
Spirit Fighter, huh.
Definitely an amazing class. And Sung Min-woo's skill in leveraging their traits and chaining smoothly was top-notch too.
"Need a break?"
"Little rest and I'll be good."
"Then let's go. My turn to hunt solo."
"Roger."
A few minutes of progress later.
This time, two Mad Dogs appeared.
"Whoa, two?"
"Yeah."
"You good?"
Mu-hyuk grinned.
"Just watch."
He summoned his skeletons.
As the 25 summons materialized with their signature rattles, the approaching Mad Dogs' menace evaporated.
Numerical superiority.
The security it brought.
"Damn, numbers do win."
Ignoring Sung Min-woo's mutter, Mu-hyuk issued commands.
The Bone Swords charged.
Pabang!
Bone Bows nocked bone arrows.
Mages raised staves.
"Attack."
They unleashed maximum firepower on cue.
Kwagwagwang!
Raw meat lured them in too, so—just like always—the Mad Dogs crumpled without grazing Mu-hyuk's hem.
Experience gained. ×2
Sung Min-woo's jaw dropped at the effortless takedown.
"What the— that raw meat!"
"This?"
"Yeah, that!"
"The strategy."
"No waaay...!"
Sung Min-woo shot to his feet.
"That's cheating as fuck! Should've told me sooner."
"You bolted before I could."
"W-Well, yeah, but...!"
"You know now. Let's roll. Time to power-level."
Why did "power-level" sound so sweet?
Sung Min-woo grinned like a bee drunk on honey.
*
They blazed through floor 2 at breakneck speed.
Experience gained.
Experience gained.
Experience gained...
They reached the stairs to floor 3 in a flash.
"Straight up?"
"Nah, hold up."
Before ascending, Mu-hyuk performed Bone Assembly using Mad Dog bones.
Starting with Enhanced Bone 1.
He pulled a rib first.
Enhanced Bone 1's Strength (-0.16)
Strength dropped.
He slotted a Mad Dog rib in its place.
Enhanced Bone 1's Agility (+0.24)
Agility rose instead.
Hm, not ideal, but whatever.
It went up overall, so he left it.
Next...
He eyed it a moment, then pulled the pelvis.
Enhanced Bone 1's Vitality (-0.26)
A bigger drop than expected.
Damn...
After deliberating, he wedged in the thickest Mad Dog bone there.
Enhanced Bone 1's Vitality (+0.34)
Lucky break.
"Phew."
Relieved, he continued the assemblies.
Enhanced Bone 1's Agility (-0.16)
Enhanced Bone 1's Strength (+0.24)
Enhanced Bone 1's Vitality (-0.26)
Enhanced Bone 1's Agility (+0.14)
Enhanced Bone 1 got two more assemblies, then he moved to Enhanced Bone 2.
That one traded agility for strength.
Bone Sword 3 unfortunately dipped a bit in strength and agility; Bone Sword 4 gained a touch in vitality and strength.
After evenly distributing Bone Assembly across all Bone Swords and Bone Bows, he headed up to floor 3.