Leveling Up Alone

It seemed that the leader of the monsters judged there was no point in fighting against a monster they could not defeat, so it sounded the retreat.

Unfortunately, the monsters’ leader should not have said anything and stayed quiet, as one of Han-Yeol’s party members was observing the monsters’ each and every move.

Shwak!

“Hoho~ Are you the leader of these monsters?”

“K-Kyaha?! (W-When did you—?)”

Tia suddenly appeared behind the monsters’ leader. She was sneaking around between the trees and picking off the monsters one by one while trying to locate their leader, and she finally managed to locate them the moment the leader sounded the retreat.

“Hoho~ It would’ve been weird if this many monsters did not have a leader with them, and I figured you were probably hiding at the back trying to oversee the entire battle,” Tia said with a smile.

“Kyaha! (I will not die here!)”

The monsters’ leader tried to run away, but Tia already had two of her legs ready next to both sides of the monster’s waist.

Puuuk!

She pierced the monster’s body and severed it in half.

“K-Kya…!”

Chwak!

The monster’s bones, muscles, and organs were ripped apart, and a fountain of blood spurted out from its body. Then, Tia acted as any insect would after hunting a prey by biting off the monster’s head and devouring it.

C-Crack… Kwachik!

“Munch… Munch… Hmm… This poison tastes a bit salty,” she muttered while licking her lips.

“Kyaaaa!”

The sudden death of their leader threw the entire monster army into confusion, and they had no idea if they were supposed to continue fighting or retreat.

However, there was one thing they were unaware of.

“You don’t get to choose whether you want to leave or not, you insignificant creatures,” Stewart said before slamming his whip on the ground.

Chwak! Bam!

Then, Shurarmors suddenly appeared and completely encircled all of the monsters while the black balls were still floating in mid-air, devouring the monsters one by one.

“Kyah!”

Chwaaak!

The monsters fought for their lives after realizing that there was no escape. After all, even a rat cornered by a cat would not hesitate to fight with everything it had in a desperate bid for survival.

This was the reason that most armies would allow a small opening for their enemies to try and escape. Of course, this was just a bait to give them a false sense of hope and was just another strategy to make it easier to pick them off one by one.

However, human armies only used this strategy to limit their casualties, and that was not useful to Han-Yeol’s party.

Han-Yeol’s party had no reason to reduce casualties, and it was much better for them to just trap all of the monsters and kill them on the spot rather than let one of them get away.

“Han-Yeol-nim,” Stewart said.

“Yeah, leave it to me,” Han-Yeol replied with a grin and cracked his knuckles.

Crack! Crack!

‘Blood Strengthening!’

Wooong!

Han-Yeol’s body was enveloped by a red aura the moment he used his skill.

‘Oh right, my shirt!’ He hurriedly took off his shirt.

He had no idea why, but the intricate red tattoos that appeared on his upper body whenever he used Blood Strengthening tended to incinerate his shirt. Of course, whatever he was wearing on his lower body was fine.

‘I wish I could give this skill to Tayarana!’

[She will probably beat you to death with it.]

‘Haha… You think so?’

[Yes.]

‘Ahem…’

Blood Strengthening was a skill that turned the user into a mindless killing machine, but that did not seem to be the case judging by his conversation with Karvis.

That was how strong Han-Yeol’s mental fortitude was.

Woooong!

Well, that did not mean he was completely unaffected by the side effects of Blood Strengthening.

‘Argh… B-Blood…! I need blood!’

[Please kill the monsters then.]

‘Y-Yeah…!’

Chwak!

Han-Yeol reduced the length of his Jabberwock Chain and held it in his left hand while he held the Jabberwock Sword in his right hand. As if having two weapons in hand was not enough, he used Blood Legs to sprout those hideous limbs out of his back.

Then, he jumped into the midst of the enemies.

“Kyaaah!” The monsters shrieked and showed their resolve to attempt to bring Han-Yeol down with them.

“Good! Come at me all at once!” Han-Yeol exclaimed out of delight.

Baaam!

An explosion occurred the moment Han-Yeol and the monsters clashed, even though nobody had used a skill that could trigger one.

Kaboom!

The explosion was so powerful that it rocked the ground and a thick black cloud filled the entire forest.

***

Ding!

[Your level has risen.]

[Your level has risen.]

“Kyaaaa…! Ptooey! What the heck? I killed so many of them and yet I only gained two levels?” Han-Yeol complained.

[Han-Yeol-nim… You are already Level 523, and these monsters are no longer your match. I am actually surprised that you gained two levels from killing them.]

“Tsk… I had my hopes up since they were new monsters… Way to kill my mood…” Han-Yeol grumbled while sitting on top of the mountain of monsters. He had a habit of piling his victims up and sitting on top of them, and he was doing so right now with the masked monsters.

Ptooey!

Han-Yeol spat out the monster’s blood and grumbled, “These guys’ blood tastes disgusting. Why the hell do they have poison in their blood?”

The Blood Attribute skill allowed him to absorb blood simply by coming in contact with it instead of drinking it, and the absorbed blood would replenish his health and mana. In other words, he did not have to bite the monsters’ necks like a vampire just to suck their blood.

‘That’s actually a huge relief… It would be extremely embarrassing if I had to suck blood like that in front of them.’

He did instinctively bite Woo Han-Jong’s neck out of desperation that time, but he would probably refuse to do that again if he was aware of his actions.

Han-Yeol was leisurely enjoying his victory when…

Shwiiik!

[Han-Yeol-nim! Behind you!]

‘What?!’

Chwaaak! Puuuk!

Karvis instantly moved the Blood Legs and blocked the incoming object before Han-Yeol could even react.

“W-What was that?”

[Phew… That was a close one. Please take a look at this, Han-Yeol-nim.]

“What’s that?” Han-Yeol asked while looking at the strange creature that resembled a snake and an insect pierced by one of the Blood Legs.

The creature looked quite weird, but there was more to it than its appearance.

Pat… Pat… Tsshhh…!

“W-Whoa…” Han-Yeol gasped after seeing the creature’s blood melt through the rock on the ground. Most poison or acid would splash after coming into contact with a rock, but the creature’s blood was so potent that it actually drilled a hole through the rock.

“What would have happened if this thing bit me?”

[You would have died instantly.]

Of course, Han-Yeol would have survived regardless, as Karvis was there to force him to use Restore. This was probably one of the biggest advantages of having an Ego system in one’s body.

“Tsk… Damn it… Where the hell are we…?”

[I am wondering the same.]

Han-Yeol continued to discuss topics regarding the island with Karvis, but their conversation was cut short by sudden screams.

“Kyaaaah!”

“W-What was that?” Han-Yeol exclaimed.

[It came from one of the crew members.]

“Damn it! Did they finally cause an accident?!”

He did not have time to think and had to run as fast as he could toward the crew.

‘Did they get poisoned?!’

[I am not sure. The mana distortion on this island is so bad that I cannot tell for certain. I was only able to sense that venomous creature after it approached close enough.]

‘Ah… I just realized that even a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter like me almost got poisoned if not for you, Karvis.’

[…]

Han-Yeol’s mood soured in an instant, and Karvis had no idea how to reply to what he said.

Tak!

He arrived where the crew was and asked, “What happened here?”

The captain, who was the only dependable one, pointed and said, “O-Over there!”

A beautiful crew member was standing with her arms wrapped over her chest and trembling.

“Hey! What happened to you—Huh?” Han-Yeol was surprised after sensing something the moment he went near her.

“Han-Yeol-nim…!” she exclaimed with tears welling up in her eyes.

‘T-This is…!’

[Wow… I guess things will work out for lucky people one way or another…’

‘Ugh…’

“I think… I awakened…”

“Y-Yeah, I can feel mana coming from your heart.”

“W-What should I do?”

“Calm down and stabilize your breathing first.”

“Haa… Haa…”

Han-Yeol was the only person she could rely on as long as they were trapped on this island, so she did as he instructed.

‘Hmm, I wonder what skills she awakened with…?’

[I sense tremendous mana coming from her. She might be able to join us in combat if we train her a little bit.]

‘Train her a little bit?’

[Well, that will depend on how well you train her.]

‘Can you not be so irresponsible?’

[You’re just imagining it, Han-Yeol-nim.]

‘Ugh…’ Han-Yeol grimaced after realizing that he was arguing with his own Ego system.

“Haa… Haa…”

“Okay, I think you’re alright now. So, tell me, what kind of skills did you awaken with?”

The details of one’s skills were imprinted on their mind the moment one awakened. However, it was possible for them to miss or forget what they read if they were not paying attention.

In fact, there were plenty of cases where the person who awakened was unable to remember what skills they awakened with, and trying to figure out the skills they awakened with could be extremely troublesome.

Of course, that did not mean they would become weak like ordinary humans, as they would still have the physical capabilities of a Hunter.

They could slowly try and figure out their ability through hunting in the low-level hunting grounds, but they did not have that luxury right now, as they were stuck on this island.

“White Dragon!”

“Kyuing!”

Flap! Flap! Flap!

Han-Yeol hurriedly called the White Dragon over after seeing that the crew was unable to focus, and the White Dragon happily flapped its wings and landed on his head.

“Can I ask a favor?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Kyuing?” White Dragon tilted its head as if to ask what that favor was.

Suddenly, the crew jumped up and exclaimed after seeing White Dragon, “Kyah! So cute!”

It seemed that the White Dragon’s cuteness and ability to calm the people around her was extremely effective on the crew.

“How do you feel now?”

“Ah, I feel much better. Also, my skills are related to fire.”

“Fire?”

To be honest, Han-Yeol was disappointed the moment he heard it was related to fire. Not only did he already possess Fire Attribute, but fire related skills were one of the most common skills people awakened with.

‘She probably awakened with Fireball or Fire Wall but…’ Han-Yeol was about to disregard her awakening, but he did not do so, as he could not help but notice the mana density in her heart.

Of course, her mana was nothing compared to Han-Yeol’s, but that was only due to the fact that the mana of only the most elite Bastro Warriors or Tayarana, after she awakened as a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, could compare.

Some might ask why humans still lagged behind the Bastro Warriors when Earth had already transitioned to a second dimension. There were two reasons for that, but the simplest answer was the difference in racial traits.

After all, the Bastro Warriors worshiped power much more than the humans did.