Chapter 19: Hunting Grounds (4)
ud7woOBA virtuous-looking old man welcomed me inside the shed.OWZZ
Wa1k5“Ohh~. I was wondering why it was so boisterous outside but it seems like we have a guest already.”ZQd
JyQzy9The keeper of the forest maintaining this place, Mr. Harris walked up while stroking his lumpy beard.8zK
DqZy“I’m Korin Lork, sir.”QzK3
ktoSCM“Student Korin Lork. Hmm. Two blue armbands! That is… quite impressive.”9Ij
stN05s“I was just lucky.”nzN
86PhCv“Let’s see. Your score is… 117 points! Astounding! It’s my first time seeing such a number.”fco
vG1z6That was a natural result considering how I defeated two of the Grade 2 students who gave the most points in the forest, and thoroughly ran away from the 2nd year seniors.a0OzzR7
Kp7P“Can I choose my rewards now?”gTSE3x
kGAAAK“Of course. You can choose anything as long as you have enough points.”1G6r
O8W“Huhaha…”9RiGGnr
2JsAMr. Harris guided me to the items that were hanging on the wall of the shed. There were items like the fang knife of a Mat Boar and a Grade 3 leather protective coat, but the real deal here was the Shark Bear’s bile[mfn]Bile is a fluid that is made and released by the liver and stored in the gallbladder[/mfn].FSd3
meMG6s❰Ursa!❱lPzXU
a56MciVEven though you had to use 50 points for it, it increased strength by 20 points and gave you a skill called the Leather of a Shark Bear which made your skin more tenacious.vKD
SHS4qDuBut that wasn’t what I was after.Lvm
0urH5Y2“Hohh?”BnMLjv0
OFfVMr. Harris was impressed by my choice – the small inconspicuous seed that was at the very corner of the displayed items.fEo
hkm“You have great eyes, don’t you? Definitely wasn’t thinking you would go straight for the Seed of a Mandrake.”9tECo
KUipVgThis seed was the reason why old-timers of the game aimed for 100 points no matter what.gtf2HN
wzA❰Seed of a Mandrake❱X329D
T9UksMandrake was a powerful elixir that could significantly empower the low-leveled player in the beginning.0XU2M
xRcRDBut that wasn’t the end. Without cultivating this immediately, I could go to the ‘lake’ at the outskirts of the hunting grounds and obtain a unique hidden piece.GiKr1NQ
h6rb‘There are a lot of people today so let’s sneak into this forest tomorrow.’H2OFVyr
UgS“17 points left… Hmm. Please give me this and this one here.”Si9DV5
Cu14PI said while pointing at a plant nutrient that was worth 6 points and an earplug which cost 10 points.2K7QG
31gyThe nutrient was for the growth of the Mandrake and if I were to dump this on the flowerpot along with the seed, it could notably reduce the time it takes to fully grow from 1 year.TFZCh
9hRUThe earplug was made with the fur of the Northern Silver Fox and could pacify the intensity of the scream of the Mandrake, which was strong enough to kill a person.xrh
ITQUAiWith this, I had pretty much achieved my overall goal of this prac lesson. In the previous iteration, we had relied on all sorts of magic barriers and tools, but it was something I had to do alone, now that Park Sihu wasn’t here.g9a7r3g
W0p‘That is one heck of a shopping trip.’hti
qeSI left the shed and found Kranel Luden looking for the broken core amidst the remains of the golem.Hdrqr6h
YCZVu“Do you want me to help you?”Ywaf
BZl0HDf“…I’m good.”6rks0EC
vKdm“You should just say, ‘Thank you,’ in times like this, buddy.”gC6l8r
nOcSWoP“…”X5Dqm1b
LSg8fBThe wood golem that was created by absorbing the dirt and trees of the forest was insanely big so finding the core was quite a daunting task. But the core had to be found to repair it or something, so we couldn’t leave it behind either.ZM1wos7
kgeyWe were searching through the remains for a long time and barely discovered it when more students arrived from a distance.eaxNv
pKdVECS“Uah…! We’re finally here!”qnb1Dw
Buem“Huuk… Huuk…!”KsEJNGq
fzWPvqfUnexpected people came in 2nd and 3rd place. There was Jaeger carrying a large mace, and Lark, who was panting while carrying a heavy hardcover spell book.zwt
bu2Sh“Wait… Korin. How come you’re here already?”FVXwR
YVoWov“Are we, late…? Huuk… The seniors are just too cruel…”S9i4
Ij02YF“I’m 1st place. You guys are 2nd and 3rd.”EIMWXXt
MVo“…”yMeI
oBjumkj“…”RpPlX
zZz6The two of them turned to each other, before hurriedly dashing towards the shed without sharing another word. Naturally, Jaeger was a lot faster than Lark as a knight.YNE
aw3hH“Wahaha! 19 points!”QNlo6
fgSJv7MJaeger left the shed with a stretch. He seemed to have defeated quite a lot of Grade 3s and Grade 4s.wp7AI
Go0M“What about Lark?”5Ga6n
Cwwe“15 points.”aXT
tiUb0g“Were you two working together?”857THz
Gvn9We“Yeah. He summoned a ghost knight or something, and was good at controlling it. By the way, how did you reach here so quickly?”pP1Fnz
Zeh“It’s a long story.”Xg1sE
Fm207Ra“Oh yeah? Anyway, you wanna go to the training rooms today?”iz54h6q
NzFkrE“Sure. What about you, Kranel?”Ck3C
zFuFI shifted the conversation to Kranel.sPEa
2bWmVH“……Huh? Me?”6eOP0T
d6Hw“This must be fate in its own way. It would be nice for us to have some food together and go sweating afterwards.”e5JrLnn
NHgLba“Uhh… Sure.”VRb1f
TBBlWIn the previous iteration, I used to cooperate with Kranel Luden quite often.Y2wC1
tiV4eKUEven though I called him weak, that was only when it came to interpersonal fights. Against big demonic beasts, his golem was the best tanker / damage dealer with no room for doubt.16oWMd
ins“Let’s have kimchi udon today and not…”1s3
HoIk– Ruuumble!8RS6hO
XDyMncThat was when the forest jolted.FzSr7
OvyRW“Damn…”TWhGvF
GSVOPBS“That’s fancy… Is it the other Grade 2s?”AqR
KbN296y“……That can’t be.”YUN
5wjrUnlike Jaeger and the other freshmen, I denied that possibility. Three out of the named freshmen characters were unable to fight because of me.J7XApm
rtsfqdAlicia Arden, Dorron Warsky and Kranel Luden were all incapable of fighting anymore so the only one left behind should be Yuel, but she should have lost to Marie a long time ago.vCta
R1TThere was no way that the current Yuel could last more than 3 minutes against Marie.h4edm
FM5nU‘Marie isn’t the type to waste her power against students lower than Grade 3 though…’4msta
xVXp9Were there dozens running in at once or something? But if it was that, she could have just amplified the strength of her low-grade spells a little bit…E0sh9
eSSIt was then.xCtr
FWarbAn enormous wall of ice soared into the air while destroying a part of the forest. It was Marie’s Combination Spell, Frost… that was at the level of a high-grade.aaC
7Dpu3vL“The demonic beasts are running away…”tZ6Vb
2qFS‘What?’oexboGB
CRkDemonic beasts had no fear. Strength wasn’t the thing that was important when inducing anything similar to fear – one had to have a similar demonic nature to them.yAw3w
kCIuzNo matter how strong a human was, they would recklessly run in.NNmzF9
liv“…”PS9dMv
5Ue81rTMarie was forced to use the high-grade spell ❰Frost Combination – Multi-Shield❱ and the demonic beasts were running away. For something like this to occur…vVzE
IVAf“D, don’t tell me…”6fJd
MCGuOseA tremendous amount of force was roaring in the skies. The outburst of evil aura and signs of destruction were displaying their significance.UuH
Lbs****qE02uqd
ZenMarie Dunareff was a genius.1sIp
BG1XBorn as the first child of a family of farmers, she walked the path of magic and was praised as a genius by everyone around her.m20Qt
4t2xThis innocent and lively girl of the countryside had been walking up an easy slope that was far from the likes of frustration, failure and despair.Dt5QD
wCJhTThis did not change even after she entered the guardian academy.OxeMLX
LWF5k6tShe was innately gifted at interpreting formulae, and was blessed with mana.jJV9G
zTbjJAfter learning 1 thing, her mind could comprehend 10 things of a similar kind and she was referred to as the successor of the history’s greatest mage, Senior Professor Josephine.PmETOKl
vZNThat was why the thing in front of her eyes was ‘fear’ that denied everything about her from the core.H8jD8fy
h09“Huuk… huuk…!”xZq
cx1ZwThe tear next to her neck was scorching in pain and an unreal amount of pain was stopping her brain from functioning properly.LeDM
l6HAEd‘I… I have to analyze…’xFH
B9hBBut… What could she even do after an analysis?XZu
2YDnJShe saw it with her eyes and felt it with her skin, but her brain refused to admit it.VLJRuN
cgpNw20Thin and slender fingers of the opponent were like the poisonous claws of a god-slayer that ripped through her dimension.oqDPjZZ
kThPR0The red lips and white teeth of the opponent were cracked open like that of a rabid dog, and her blood-stained gaze was scarlet like it was drenched in the blood of her heart. And the white skin that appeared as soft as finely-ground flour was ridiculously thick enough to ignore an explosion of mana.UNvNl
L5VShe wasn’t using aura to protect her body nor were her claws sharpened thanks to a specialty.Iem
BuLfjIt was just an overwhelmingly strong physique that was in a whole different league. It was a disaster created by the combination of an Unbreakable Vajra Body and an abundance of demonic aura that was so dense that it could rip through adamantium.OHK
0UmU“No. L, low-grade spells won’t work…!”u44GbXS
GG0TfTo the point that she had to ignore the warning words of the Senior Professor that she couldn’t use offensive spells above medium-grade… Marie was pushed into a corner.7e5oOcF
38JTrzShe had already broken the rules by using multiple high-grade defensive spells… but that still didn’t allow her to stop the devil.Q8ONs
GqyCG– Kwang!2mS
hDbXd“Kyaa…!”zgD
vYCThe fragments of the shattered barrier struck her small body along with a shockwave.rZBYW10
MSsf5– Kung!0aCns1u
a26K6Her body crashed into a large tree. It was unknown whether it was a nosebleed or from the wound on her neck, but warm blood was dripping from her head.nI6Aw
obhkhaShe was scared.7u50MVo
oZ9Her eyes were dizzy and everything felt vacant as if the world had come to a stop.WPgxsC
1NwRThe noise that had been ringing her cochlea was no longer there, and the chaotic scene of the forest around her failed to even enter her sight.Dys
GYdG– Grrr…!xpMC
H3EZThe beast approached her.vus8xy
0BK“D, don’t come…”WEKtl
TQli8It was neither a knight nor a mage, but a personification of ‘violence’. It was a natural disaster suppressed into the shape of a human and Marie soon came to the judgment that defensive spells won’t be enough to save her.AxgQ7ZH
G1Ps“Don’t come here…!”EBEaV
0nE❰Frost Combination – Snow—❱eArBRJ
qQZlk“That’s enough.”5e3c
NOL2BXIn that pressing moment, what stopped the two of them was the sharp voice of the Senior Professor.tDUjS
t8ku“Stop there. Hua Ran.”HlX
rplitdAh, I’m alive.AcgQNw1
BXuGU4CI didn’t die.9O11gNt
Nh7Immediately after realizing that, Marie felt relieved as her consciousness quickly faded away.qV4aIQ
Q5DAj4F****UU9t5J
d5NThe practical lesson at the hunting grounds produced a very unexpected result.Y3KR
1CKFirst of all was that a Grade 5 student like me had come 1st place with the most number of points, and the other notable event was the fight between the strongest freshman Hua Ran, and the strongest 2nd year student, Marie Dunareff.MiSbMh
LdfsFoA battle between two Grade 1s.YQZba
vnu9ybEveryone inside the hunting grounds had seen the aftermath of their battle, but would anyone even guess that they hadn’t been using their full strength? Would they even possibly dare imagine that those two people, who were currently considered Grade 1, would eventually become lofty existences of the Unique Grade?O4fn
T4YV‘For now, it’s Hua Ran’s victory I guess.’aXnzQWE
2fN5A4UHua Ran, with her abilities sealed due to the restrictions, was an oppressed beast. Even though her original form was currently sleeping, her innate nature was that of a demonic beast, and stimulating her too much would end up awakening a Unique Grade monster.JJy
0poh8XJThat was why the fight between Marie and Hua Ran was not a good sign. It was something that ignited the fuse of the time bomb called Heavenly Yaksha.k765U
lJO“Who are you?”bxKrT
Vk0Pp“A freshman?”fXQPOx
j9xIn the corridor in front of the sick bay, I was stopped by a few of the senior students that were restlessly walking around.LzSTp
p0tZ7“I’m a freshman, Korin Lork. I came to visit Senior Marie.”lhYaeFO
tW1BlJxSeeing the candies and the bouquet of flowers in my hands, Marie’s peers took a step back. Soon, a girl with brown bob-hair, who if I recall correctly was Marie’s friend and the first victim… Isabelle received the bouquet of flowers.svTbx
kHxXpN“Sigh… She needs to rest for now. Apparently it’s only the doctor and the Senior Professor that can go inside. I will hold onto it for you so don’t worry.”pI3OY9
GMo“Thank you. Please say hello to Senior Marie for me.”hGaMDCO
VdxLeaving behind Isabelle and the 2nd year students, I walked out of the building.erX
9CDJu1DThe catalyst for Marie to awaken into being a Unique Grade was the encounter with the Murderer of the City of Fog, John Doe, which would be happening in a month. I wasn’t sure how the demonic molecules were working inside Marie’s body, but there was still a lot of time.RTIma
NYnAs long as I increased my stats through the weekend missions and received the help of the freshmen lads, it should definitely be possible.DYBf
UideD4oThere was no need to hit the last Phase 4, and as long as we could go up to the 3rd phase, my current arrangements should be enough.pxHYx6
aQrw‘It will be manageable as long as we go according to the main scenario. I can solve it even without the player.’vS2
8BZThe reason I bothered showing off my power to the Grade 2 named characters was also partially because of this, because there was no way they would help if a Grade 5 weakling suddenly came up to them and proposed a cooperation.1PRPkc1
ryO1Their first show of interest in the player is when the player displays their innate talents and strength. Thus, this practical lesson was like my self-introduction telling the Grade 2 students that I wasn’t someone to be ignored.i4S
zDLDPmR‘One more week and the named characters should be back to themselves. That’s when I’ll make an offer about forming a party.’o18
6VtjThe final boss of the 1st Arc of ❰Heroic Legends of Arhan❱, ‘Unique Grade Vampire, Marie Dunareff’.gX1u
caMokKWhile hoping that her story would not end in misfortune this time, I walked across the paved roads of the Academy.3le
hYdEnt****VRQkZgI
wokuShbOwls were crying at dusk when Marie opened her eyes.WdUbdXv
vxlG“Ah…”PO5UYOf
v3h6IBeneath the familiar ceiling, Marie raised her body in the dark sick bay.5C31hq
41c0Yx“Nnn… Marie?”USDiG
EJWIsabelle, who was leaning on the bed in sleep, woke up with a rustle. When she realized that her friend had woken up, she immediately raised her voice.0cso
iwdW“Marie! Are you okay? Is your neck alright?”pIDlG
wNwFQWithout paying any attention to her disheveled hair, Isabelle observed Marie’s condition.3yzFPvz
SIkN5mqAlthough most of the blood had been wiped off of her hair, there were still powders of dried blood slowly falling down, and the bandage around her shoulders still had signs of seeping blood.3Wn
J4H“That freshman… This is clearly too much! Even though you could only use low-grade spells…!”LoGV
lQWThe infuriated girl badmouthed the freshman student who had been isolated by Senior Professor Josephine. While saying that they weren’t under a fair condition, Isabelle told Marie that there was no reason for her to feel discouraged.yoI
5fekHowever, without listening to any of her words, Marie slowly turned her vacant gaze to the side.ai10h
tsmr2TjMoonlight was shining through the window.lk4DZcM
LYU7zThe neck of her friend that was gleaming under that dreamy shed of light–KfihE
gTOM6x1“…Thirsty.”XwxFKT
jWMgb7Seemed as appealing as a ripe fruit.aVKpUZ
ZrM3Au『Final Boss of the 1st Arc – Marie Dunareff』
Aura Rank: Upper Medium (9,400)bsZjUae
Gce4lbbMana Rank: Upper Unique (66,700)19m1
bB9Specialty: Mana Amplification, Blood Law, Summon Familiar, Blood RealmLde
e133vOverall Grade: Unique Gradew14xAE
K5u『Main Quest: Marie Dunareff』
※ Difficulty: SGz4chk
YbQe8e1※ Time Limit: Failure upon Marie Dunareff’s Deathdll7wB
BCNcZKI※ Reward: ?????c79UGf
What did you think of this chapter?
Report comment
Please select the reason for reporting this comment. False reports may result in account suspension.
0 Comments
There are no comments yet. Be the first!