Chapter 56 Raven Hunter (1)
“As the chairman instructed, we have assigned the support team and healers near the mock dungeon. The incident seems to be almost over, and we have instructed the other instructors to do their jobs.”
“Good job, Instructor Kim. How is the situation?”
Gu Ja-In asked this calmly as he rolled up the sleeves of his white dress shirt.
Kim Seok-Gi answered with his head bowed.
“It doesn’t seem like anyone has noticed anything.”
“That’s good.”
Gu Ja-In smiled in satisfaction as he listened to Instructor Kim Seok-Gi’s report.
‘If things continue in this manner, I will have that brat Min JaeHyun under my control.’
It was one of the biggest goals of the Dungeon Practicum this time around.
Putting Min JaeHyun under his control.
Gu Ja-In was confident, and willing to do anything he could to have JaeHyun under his control.
‘A rock that can become jade must be quickly held in your own hands, after all.’
In Gu Ja-In’s opinion, there was something special about JaeHyun when compared to other cadets.
There were many other cadets who were talented, such as Ahn HoYeon, Cha YooWon, Seo Ina, and Kim YooJung.
However, there was something about him that the others did not have.
A sense of ambition and an objective eye when looking back at his own actions.
‘Perhaps that ambition and objective view of himself are leading Min JaeHyun to higher places.’
“What happened to Min JaeHyun’s Team 3?”
“He hasn’t come out of the dungeon. Two of the other cadets have come out, but… Min JaeHyun and Seo Ina haven’t come out yet.”
“… Is that so?”
Gu Ja-In mumbled in slight disappointment.
‘This is disappointing…’
The JaeHyun he knew was an intelligent guy.
And an intelligent person would never fight against an opponent they knew they couldn’t win against.
Why? Because they wouldn’t win anyway.
There were numerous raiders who died because they couldn’t understand that simple fact.
Their colleagues, friends, family, etc… Those with such attachments that they felt they had to protect allowed their emotions to sway them and make them weak.
Gu Ja-In had believed that JaeHyun wasn’t such a stupid cadet.
However…
Sending out the other two first and continuing the raid?
‘The dungeon Team 3 entered couldn’t be cleared, even if it was Min JaeHyun.’
Gu Ja-In had manipulated everything, from the team composition to the assigned dungeon.
And, in the dungeon that Team 3 had entered, he had especially assigned a very powerful Kobold Lord.
He hadn’t wanted JaeHyun to clear the dungeon. The Kobold Lord in Team 3’s dungeon was a monster that was closer to a B-rank boss.
No matter how outstanding a cadet JaeHyun was, it would be difficult to deal with.
But he knew.
The stronger one’s self-esteem and ambition was, the easier it was to succumb to helplessness and desire for strength.
So, he secretly manipulated the dungeon so that the raid would fail.
It would turn him into an obedient dog.
With a stiff face, he regained his pretentious smile.
‘If you’re in a situation where you can’t survive in a dungeon, you’ll end up throwing away your teammates and running away. No matter how talented a cadet is, it’s always the same.’
In fact, Gu Ja-In had experimented with countless other situations like that.
The results were always the same.
He swiped his chin with his fingers and felt the texture of his beard.
“It’s slightly disappointing, but… Let’s wait a while longer. The two will most likely run out of the dungeon screaming and crying anyway. Keep me informed, Instructor Kim.”
“Yes, understood.”
Instructor Kim Seok-Gi left the chairman’s office after those words.
Left alone in the room, Gu Ja-In clasped his hands and leaned back in his chair.
“As expected, he’s a difficult guy. But that’s what makes him so fun to tame.”
Gu Ja-In planned to tame Min JaeHyun with this event and have him in his grasp, making it impossible for the cadet to grow stronger without his help.
If he did so, JaeHyun would never be able to betray him.
“A dog should never bite the hand that feeds it, after all. Fortunately, I used the strength I’d borrowed from ‘him’ and strengthened that Kobold Lord ahead of time.”
He smiled in satisfaction while nodding his head.
It seemed he would have a good night’s sleep.
* * *
You have equipped the weapon 《Mistilteinn》.
Due to not meeting all requirements, only some of the equipment effects may be used.
Alongside the system alert, a bracelet made of woven branches began to wrap around his left wrist.
‘… It wasn’t a sword, spear, or bow. Who would expect a bracelet to be a weapon?’
JaeHyun recalled what had happened in the raider department store.
When he’d first gotten 《Mistilteinn》, he was shocked after reading its skill’s information.
《Mana Perception》
A skill that allowed you to see the movement of mana exuded by all beings that used it.
In other words, he would be able to see how his opponent used and radiated mana. More than that, it meant he could clearly see what kind of spells his opponents would use.
Although it might not seem like much from the explanation, the reality was completely different.
Knowing what kind of spell the enemy was trying to use and how it was gathering its mana could help you make a plan according to several variables.
It even had great synergy with JaeHyun’s other skill, 《Universal Derivation》.
《Universal Derivation》 was a skill that reverse engineered and deconstructed an attack.
The newly acquired 《Mana Perception》 could be used right before activating 《Universal Derivation》. That would allow him to get a rough idea of the skills his opponents would use next, maximizing his efficiency.
Whoosh!
JaeHyun tilted his head to avoid the club swinging towards him, widening the distance between him and the monster.
The distance between them was about five meters.
And at that moment…
Due to having 《Mistilteinn》 equipped, the user’s field of vision has been expanded.
You can read your opponent’s movements more clearly.
Succeeding in equipping 《Mistilteinn》, JaeHyun’s nerves went into overdrive.
***
Translator – Rainypup
Proofreader – Harley
***
His sight turned blue briefly, then the movements of the monsters became easier to read.
At the same time, JaeHyun discovered a thread connected to the Kobold Lord leading somewhere else.
‘This is… Thread?’
JaeHyun poured more mana into his eyes to increase the clarity of his vision.
This time, he could see the slender thread stretching out more clearly.
It was a very thin thread with a bluish tinge.
The corners of JaeHyun’s mouth turned up.
“Yeah, that’s what it was. That thread is supplying mana to the Kobold Lord.”
Like a monk that reached Nirvana, JaeHyun’s focus reached a higher state.
Using 《Mistilteinn》 and his heightened sense of sight, he was able to see the thread linking his opponents together. Furthermore, he was able to accurately detect the section where the thread was connected.
The thread was connected to the back of the monster’s neck.
JaeHyun immediately started running towards the monster.
He could now see it clearly. The end of this tedious fight.
“Ina! Please cover me! Make sure its attacks don’t hit me. Can you do it?”
“… But I don’t have enough mana to create a shield…”
As Ina said, she had reached the limit of her mana capacity. It was a dangerous situation, one where it wouldn’t be strange if she passed out due to mana depletion.
JaeHyun shouted at her as she agonized over it.
“Use the potion I gave you! I’ll buy you some time!”
“… I’ll try my best!”
JaeHyun had asked JaeSang to create some high-level recovery potions a few days prior. He had given some of them to YooJung and Ina, in anticipation of a situation like the one they were currently in.
Ina didn’t hesitate, drinking the potion.
Mana quickly rose up and filled her with a vivid sensation. She waited for her mana to recover and gathered all the mana she had.
Bzzzzz….!!
Instantly gathering her mana to the very limit, she began to block all the attacks from the Kobold Lord with a shield.
The blue shield protected JaeHyun as he moved forward.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A shrill sound ripped through the air, as if it wanted to swallow JaeHyun whole.
But he merely smiled with clenched teeth.
JaeHyun believed in Ina’s abilities and didn’t use any defensive skills.
‘In our current situation, there’s no other way.’
There was no room for him to waste his mana, not in a situation where a powerful blow was needed to finish off the monster once and for all.
Additionally…
‘There’s nothing more tragic than dying because you couldn’t trust in your teammates.’
This was what Lee Myung-Ho had told him when he had been working as a Combat raider.
Right now, he had to believe in those words.
Right now, he had to believe in Ina, and do everything he could.
“Let’s go!”
Roooaaaarrrr……!!
The Kobold Lord roared and swung its club.
However, JaeHyun launched forward using 《Wind Boost》 and avoided its attacks, all while trusting Ina’s shield for the lighter hits.
He was heading towards the thing supplying mana to the Kobold Lord. The thing that could end this battle.
And finally.
JaeHyun reached the thread behind the Kobold Lord’s neck and immediately gathered all of his mana. He took out the mana blade he had purchased the other day from his inventory.
He had bought it the other day from the weapon shop to harvest the monsters.
‘Who would have thought I would use it like this?’
JaeHyun poured the maximum amount of mana he could into the mana blade.
The white sword turned blue and made a shrill sound, as if it were breaking.
He had only one chance.
Passive skill 《Trained Swordsmanship》 is assisting your sword skills.
Passive skill 《Quick Step》 is assisting your physical abilities.
Passive skill 《Flexible Body Movement》 is assisting your physical abilities.
The passive skills that he’d learned when he was a Warrior lent their power at the right moment.
With a smile, an incredible amount of mana poured out of him.
‘I saved it for a time like this.’
It was the mana he had stocked up with his daily breathing exercises.
The mana had been steadily accumulating in his body for more than ten days, and he hadn’t even touched it during the Freshman Hunt.
The bright mana was absorbed by JaeHyun’s body and immediately raised his capabilities.
In that moment…
Whoosh!
The Kobold Lord twisted and attacked JaeHyun unexpectedly.
A club that couldn’t possibly bend curved through the air.
It was an attack that was so fast, Ina couldn’t block it.
“N-no!”
Ina clenched her fist and tried to act quickly enough to block it.
Blue mana flowed out, but it wasn’t a speed she could achieve in the end.
But JaeHyun merely blinked and smiled slightly.
Shlink!
《Lightning Chains》 and suddenly shot out.
JaeHyun stepped on the chains he had put in place well in advance and poured mana into them.
Then.
Shlink!
JaeHyun’s body bent sharply in the air, along with the sharp sound of metal hitting metal.
Ina watched him manipulate mana with a frightened face.
She made a small sound.
“U-unbelievable…JaeHyun placed those chains in advance to do that?”
It was as she had said.
JaeHyun had laid the chains in advance and waited for a slight opening.
A single opportunity to avoid enemy attacks while stepping on the chains.
That gap would not appear twice, since there was a risk of the enemy catching on.
JaeHyun was using that slight opening.
As she was thinking, the monster’s great attack missed JaeHyun and hit the wall.
Boom!
There was a fierce explosion.
Ina exclaimed slightly in admiration.
In that situation, he had the wits to use the attack skill 《Lightning Chain》 like that?
While moving around?
It was impossible unless one was able to manipulate mana quite delicately, beyond the usual skill level.
‘But JaeHyun did it.’
While she stared blankly at JaeHyun’s movements, he climbed on the chain and maintained his balance as he headed to the back of the Kobold Lord’s neck.
“You won’t be able to regenerate so easily this time.”
All of JaeHyun’s mana was contained in the sword. The overwhelmingly powerful blade was aimed at the area between the monster and the thread and slashed down diagonally.
From the top left to the bottom right.
A perfect move, with no unnecessary movements.
And finally.
Roaaarrrr…!!
The thread supplying mana to the Kobold Lord was instantly cut.
At the same time, JaeHyun’s mana blade broke into pieces with a clear sound.
一The mana thread connecting the Kobold Lord and Odin’s raven has been broken!
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