Chapter-13
Unparalleled Strength
Ha-Jin woke up from the long dream of his arrival into this accursed rocky terrain that was horded by mana beasts, though unsuspecting at first glance.
It was Night-Time now, he stretched his limbs, he had gotten a good sleep without being attacked by mana beasts.
The stronger and smarter Mana Beasts stayed clear of him, knowing that they had little to no chance of beating him.
He looked down at the first scars he had gotten upon coming into this place. The scar on his right palm from the bone spear that he had caught while in Auto-Battle Mode, the scar on his stomach where he had been impaled by a Bone Spear, the 3 long slash marks that ran down diagonally from his right shoulder to his waist.
Though he had no visible scars from fighting the Bone Master, the darned A Rank beast that wasn't even supposed to be there had damaged his body severely internally.
"Quest Window." Ha-Jin called out, looking right in front of him. His eyes were clearer now, without a doubt of being killed in this place by a high-ranking mana beast.
After spending 2 years in this place, fighting and killing tens—no, hundreds of mana beasts every day, ranging from D all the way to B+.
[Quest: Getting Stronger]
[1. Train alone in the jungle. Status:Complete]
[2. Train in the jungle for 2 years. Status:Complete]
[3. Meet up with Jae-Woo. Status:In Progress]
[Time remaining: 05:13:47]
Reward: 2 legendary skills (Active Or Passive)
2 legendary consumable items
Ha-Jin let out a sigh, looking at the beautiful night sky, littered with twinkling stars. "The sky's beautiful tonight." He muttered to himself before getting up from the ground.
He was on the edge of a cliff, he had been fighting Mana Beasts here before he had fallen asleep.
The bodies of the mana beasts had disappeared as the mana inside them had been extinguished upon death. Ha-Jin looked down the cliff, it was a good 50 meters above the ground.
He grinned to himself before jumping off the cliff towards the rocky ground.
ALEX
Alex wandered the snow-covered ground to find a portal to return back to Jae-Woo. He had gotten the same quest as Ha-Jin.
Alex had landed into a snow biome through the portal Jae-Woo had pushed them into. The difficulty of this biome was the same as Ha-Jin's, though the weather conditions were much harsher in this biome than the rocky terrain Ha-Jin had landed in.
Thankfully Alex had obtained an Active Skill [Craft] which allowed him to craft items using different types of materials in his inventory.
He was dressed in a warm fur coat made of a Titan Snow Bear's fur and pants made of a giant wild Yak's skin. He was equipped with a pair of daggers covered in Beast blood made of a Sabertooth Lion's teeth, the hilt made of the tough outer hair layer of a wild yak.
He heard a guttural cry come from his right, spotting a Titan Snow Bear charging at him at full speed. It was covered in thick white fur that helped it stay warm during winter, red patterns covered its body, two long and sharp horns jutting out of its head.
Swiftly, he moved out of the way, sticking a dagger in its side, cutting its skin open as it ran past him. The bear let out a grunt and charged at Alex, attempting to impale him with its sharp horns.
Suddenly, the ground the bear stood on rose into the air, other rocks floating around it. The bear let out a guttural cry, knowing it was its end and possibly begging for mercy. The rocks collapsed over the bear, splattering blood over the ground.
Alex looked around, he could sense the presence of multiple Mana Beasts surrounding him. The blue Interface appeared in front of him once again, glowing in the sunlight.
[Active Skill:Mimic (Uncommon) has been used]
Alex mimicked the roar of a Titan bear, attracting the Mana Beasts surrounding him. Just as they came into sight, he coated his Daggers [Sabertooth] in a thick layer of mana, murmuring under his breath, "Activate." as the cold, harsh Interface appeared in front of his eyes once again.
[Main Skill: Enhancer has been activated]
As the Beasts noticed the killing intent radiating off of the boy in front of him, they let out terrifying roars to hopefully scare the frightening boy in front of them. They gathered into a natural formation they had picked up over time while living in this weird realm of some sort.
A Quest appeared in front of Alex as the Mana Beasts gathered into their formation.
[Quest is being created]
[Quest: Human Beast]
[Mimick leader Titan Bear: 1/1]
[Defeat all Mana Beasts: 1/17 Titan Bear
0/12 Sabertooth Lion]
Alex threw himself into the heart of the formation, surprising the Beasts as he instantly beheaded a Sabertooth Tiger. The Beasts tried to rush at him and throw him onto the ground where they had an advantage.
Alex dodged the sharp claws of the Beasts with practiced efficiency. Mana Beasts fell left and right, all brutally murdered by Alex, creating a pool of blood where Alex stood.
To the Beasts, it seemed almost as if Alex were dancing, his long auburn hair, previously tied into a bun was now flowing freely about as he dodged and weaved the attacks of the beasts. His lower body movements were like nothing the Beasts had seen before, not able to catch on where he would move next and upon whom death would fall next.
Alex was slashed on the back by a Sabertooth Lion, though barely. It made him remember that these Sabertooths weren't the normal animals found in extreme weather conditions, rather they were a stronger species, amplified with mana to boost their physical capabilities.
Alex immediately spun around, beheading the Titan bear in front of him as well as sticking one of his daggers into the Sabertooth's head as it let out one last guttural cry before collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood, dead.
The other Beasts, looking at the one-sided massacre tried to run away only to be ruthlessly slayed by the terrifying boy covered in blood, the blood on his Dagger appearing a dark reddish color in the dim moonlight.
[Quest has been updated]
[You have completed the Quest [Human Beast]]
[Rewards will be granted]
[You have been rewarded with 1 Rare Active Skill and 1 Rare Consumable Item]
Alex took a moment to rest on top of one of the many bodies littered on the ground. Though not really tired, it was nice to sit down and relax sometimes.
He let out a soft breath through his mouth, appearing in the form of mist, almost as dense as fog.
Alex took out the Sabertooth dagger still stuck in the Sabertooth Tiger's head, causing blood to spurt out of the Tiger's head as he walked away from the snow-covered ground strewn with bodies.
***
HA-JIN
[Quest [Getting Stronger] has been completed]
[Rewards will be given in a few moments]
The Interface appeared in front of him again as he stepped into the portal similar to the one he had landed onto the rocky terrain from.
He could only hope that the portal led to Jae-Woo and not some other accursed place like this rocky terrain strewn with deadly monsters everywhere you went.
Ha-Jin breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the Notification appear in front of him. He was back to his own world after everything.
He saw Jae-Woo standing right in front of him, a huge grin on his face. Though the man had thrown him into the place where he had almost died an innumerable amount of times, he couldn't help but feel a hint of affection for him, he was the one who had volunteered to help him get stronger and achieve his goal after all.
"Yo!" Jae-Woo exclaimed, the grin on his face unwavering. "How was the 'experience' inside there? Fun, right?" Jae-Woo said, clamping his hand over his mouth to hide the laughter that escaped his lips.
Ha-Jin couldn't help but chuckle at the grown man's childish behaviour. "Very Fun." Ha-Jin replied before looking around at his surroundings. They were in the forest from which he had ended up in that terrain for sure but… where was Alex? Surely he had not gotten himself killed right?
"Where's Alex?" Ha-Jin asked, curiosity and worry evident in his voice. "He's not gone and killed himself out of loneliness, right?" He added, remembering how he had clung to Jae-Woo the first time they had properly met, the tears running down his chin and everything.
"Of course not, despite how childish the boy looks, he is probably more mature than the both of us." Jae-Woo spoke, absolutely care-free with utmost trust in Alex's survival, though Ha-Jin could still make out the concern tucked beneath his usual cool facade.
Ha-Jin covered his eyes in surprise as another portal shimmered to life right beside him. The blinding light spread across the entire forest for a split second before dying out just as quickly, revealing a 15 year old boy in a fur coat with patches of blood and blood-covered daggers from which blood dripped onto the dirt covered floor of the Forest.
Jae-Woo's face lit up even more as he saw Alex, his original disciple. "Heya!" he called out to Alex as per usual.
Alex smiled, which was the first time Ha-Jin had seen him in the day he had known him for.
It seemed that he was just as glad to be seeing people other than Mana Beasts for the first time in well over 2 years.
Ha-Jin extended his hand towards Alex, whose hair was now again neatly tied into a bun behind his head. "Long time no see." Ha-Jin spoke "Though it's not like we've even met for more than a day." he added with a chuckle.
Alex firmly shook hands with Ha-Jin, it seemed like he had matured even more emotionally in the past two years spent in the "realm".
Their happy reunion was suddenly cut short by a suffocating pressure surrounding them as the "manager" of The Arena appeared before them.
"Be grateful for I have graced you with my presence, keke." He said with a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
Jae-Woo's grin turned into a frown as he moved past the paralyzed Ha-Jin and Alex gasping for air with ease, almost as if he weren't even affected by the drowning pressure the man in front of them was emitting.
Ha-Jin had never heard Jae-Woo sound so serious as he spoke to the man in front of them. "Why are you here? I thought I told you to stay out of my way." He said in a deep voice, dripping with malice, almost as if he was going to kill the man right then and there.
"And why do I have to obey you, human?" The man spoke, glorious wings sprouting out of his back, covering in thick, shiny and dark scales the color of space itself. "Do you really think you can win against us?" He added, his smirk widening into a full-on grin, he was extremely cocky.
Ha-Jin and Alex could only watch as the suffocating pressure only seemed to increase, it was unbelievable to them that just two people could exert such killing intent and power.
"I'm warning you Jae-Woo, this is a direct order from them. Stop this foolish act of training these bratty children." The man—no, beast spoke, running a sharp black claw across Jae-Woo's cheek, drawing blood with even the slightest touch. "Are these brats even worth your life? You're one of the greatest assets of the human race and you're helping these children just because they have a little bit of potential in them? I never knew you to be so foolish."
The beast's voice was now more beastly than human, low and dangerous, confident that he could kill them before they could even realise he had moved.
Ha-Jin and Alex had fallen unconscious. Ha-Jin's body sensing the danger, tried to activate Auto-Battle Mode but failed miserably as it was immediately cancelled out by the suffocating presence.
Silence and tension hung heavy in the air as Jae-Woo finally spoke after a minute of silence as if he were carefully selecting his choice of words. "I'm not afraid of any of you, I have nothing to lose." He spoke, his voice sharp and equally as dangerous as the Beast standing in front of them
"Kekekekekeke" The Beast put a clawed hand onto his face, letting out a dry chuckle. "The Alex kid's life is already in ruins and shambles… but… that Ha-Jin kid… say, he has a girlfriend in The Arena right? She lives in the nearby church?" He said, his voice dropping down to a whisper, making Jae-Woo's face pale.
"Don't you dare harm Ha-Jin's life…" Jae-Woo said, itching to start yelling at the Beast that stood before him.
"Ah, then you'll just have to uphold your promise like a good little slave right? That's what slaves are for~" The beast said, his hand caressing Jae-Woo's face as he bit his lower lip hard enough to draw blood. "Remember, if you don't… the sight that awaits you will not be a pleasant one."
The beast spread his wings, lifting himself above the ground with a big flap of his wings and flying away into the sky, disappearing before a second had passed.
All that was left from just the Beast's arrival was Ha-Jin and Alex strewn on the ground, unconscious, their noses bleeding and Jae-Woo left there as a mess, blood dripping from his lower lip where he had bit himself.
"Goddamn those dragons…"