Chapter 278. How Old Hands Train (1)

“ Mwaaaah! ”

“ Maaaah! ”

The one-eyed goblins swung their clubs, which were bigger than their own bodies.

“Spirit Special Forces! Tighten your waists and hips and hold on!”

The spirits at the front lines gritted their teeth at Jinhyuk’s command.

Gone was the image of the Undine happily enjoying lemonade. Instead, only the trembling figure of a spirit, shaking with its thin, delicate arms and legs, remained.

“ M-Master! ”

“These guys are too aggressive. Besides, we’re not even meant for close combat!”

“I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong.”

“Everyone, be quiet. You’re giving me a headache.”

Was this what it would be like for sinners repenting to God on Judgment Day?

Seeing them cry out for mercy made Jinhyuk feel a bit relieved from his pent-up frustration. Of course, only about 3% of his 100% irritation had dissipated. There was still a long way to go.

“Crunch. Munch. Crunch.”

Jinhyuk sat on the stairs, munching on some snacks. The savory and salty taste made him understand why everyone found them so delicious. Along with a drink with ice floating in it… ah, this is happiness.

“Can’t I stop now? And a rapier, of all things? I’ve never used this before!”

“Tweat, tweat.”

Alice and Goguma were sweating profusely. Alice was restricted to using only a rapier without her magical powers in combat, rendering her unable to use even a hundredth of her usual strength. Goguma was similarly limited to headbutting while wearing a helmet with a single horn on it. Officially, this was because the ancient species’ body slam had an ‘armor penetration’ effect, but practically, it was a punishment for not managing his subordinates properly and for goofing around.

“Shut up! Does it make sense for the head of Ataraxia, a clan that primarily uses rapiers, to not know how to handle one?”

“Well, I’m the queen…”

“So you just give orders from behind?”

“Yes!”

“Until you leave this dungeon, you’ll wield that rapier at the front lines. I’ll personally test your swordsmanship later, so make sure you improve.”

Although Master said to meet tomorrow morning, this dungeon couldn’t be fully cleared in a single day. At the shortest, it would take three days; at the longest, more than a week.

“By the way, I’ve eaten all the snacks and drinks you brought.”

“All of it?”

“So you’d better work hard. The only thing left in the lunchbox is pineapple pizza. Oh, and for dessert, I brought a lot of mint chocolate. This is going to be a fun raid.”

“…Pine…apple pizza? Mint…chocolate?”

“It’s a recent trend, and it suits my taste quite well. Sweet and crunchy, it’s pretty good. Plus, I added plenty of ‘cilantro’ for a healthy touch, so you can look forward to meal times.”

“…Ugh.”

Alice froze on the spot, her mouth agape. It seemed like she had just lost her soul.

“Tweat! Tweat!”

Sensing the crisis, Goguma desperately tried to appeal his innocence, asking to consider the merits of the treasures he brought from Kunlun.

“Yes, you did do some good work.”

“Tweat tweat! Tweeeeat!”

Goguma nodded vigorously. However, the first rule of being an old hand is to repay grace with half measures or forget it sometimes, but repay grudges a hundredfold.

“Until you can take down ten lower goblins or one mid-level goblin with a body slam, that’s your task. If you slack off, I’ll make you eat mint chocolate on a magic stone, so think carefully.”

“Tweat?”

Goguma froze in place as well.

＊＊＊

How many hours passed?

Once everyone got used to their roles, the real raid began.

The goblins in the dungeon of the Heavenly Demon Cult were originally practice targets for training the cult members. Specialized more in defense than offense, they also used various spells, which made them very useful for skill improvement.

Boom!

Boom!

Although they were outnumbered, the well-formed spirit forces held the front line firmly.

“Tweattttt!”

“Die! Die! Die!”

With Goguma throwing his body and Alice madly swinging her rapier, they had a formidable breakthrough power. They could now clear a group of twenty goblins in ten minutes.

‘I can clear this faster than I thought.’

Jinhyuk smiled with satisfaction. This must be what it feels like to read each other’s moves and thoughts perfectly. The team play was perfect. Trusting and working together really was important, like in those old comic books or animations where heroes save each other in times of crisis.

“Someday, when I’m in danger, my comrades might risk themselves to save me, and we’ll have those touching moments.”

Alice and Goguma might give a heartfelt eulogy in front of Chun Yoosung’s grave, thanking him for saving them. Given the favors he had done, it wasn’t impossible to imagine.

‘I must be silly. I almost teared up thinking about it.’

Thinking about the uncertain future made his nose tingle with emotion. But at that moment…

“Master! Stop daydreaming! A big one’s coming from that side!”

Rumble!

The stone wall on Jinhyuk’s side started to collapse. A massive pit, nearly 5 meters wide, appeared.

“Mwaaah!”

Two enormous goblins, at least three times the size of regular ones, emerged from the pit. Mid-level goblins, one a warrior type and the other holding talismans, capable of using spells.

Judging by the stairway leading to the second floor behind them, they seemed to be the final gatekeepers of the first floor.

‘Hmm.’

Jinhyuk’s lips curled upwards. Perfect timing. He had planned to use this visit to the Heavenly Demon Cult to refine and merge his skills.

“Leave this one to me. You guys keep doing what you’re doing.”

Without waiting for a response, Jinhyuk approached the mid-level goblins. In his hand was the greatsword ‘Armor Breaker,’ and his arm had transformed into the ‘Right Arm of Tombgrave,’ a legendary hero of the giant race.

“Mwa?”

The mid-level goblin tilted its head in confusion. The small figure in front of it suddenly seemed overwhelmingly large.

[‘Gap’ stat is activated.]

[The target is intimidated due to the level difference.]

Usually fighting stronger opponents, Jinhyuk didn’t notice this often, but the Gap stat not only narrowed the gap with stronger foes but also intimidated weaker ones due to the contempt effect.

“M-Mwaa?”

Intimidated by Jinhyuk’s menacing aura, the mid-level goblin involuntarily stepped back. But only for a moment.

[Mid-level Goblin activates the unique ability ‘Guardian of the Dungeon’!]

[Attack power and defense increase by 10%!]

[Immunity to status ailments increases by 30%!]

“Mwaaah!”

Determined to kill the intruder, the goblin suppressed its fear. It immediately swung its massive club at Jinhyuk’s head.

Boom!

With a loud crash, the ground cracked under the impact. But…

…Creeeeeak!

The screech of metal against metal. Jinhyuk calmly blocked the strike.

“Impressive strength for a goblin.”

Compared to the King of Giants or medium-to-large monsters like Antrath, it was still cute.

“But overpowering with strength should be done differently.”

With a smirk, Jinhyuk tilted his sword by about 3 degrees. As the balance broke, the goblin’s club slid down towards Jinhyuk’s head.

And at that moment,

[Unique ability ‘Domain of Wind’ is activated!]

Jinhyuk vanished. A gust of wind rose. He reappeared behind the goblin. Layers of wind amplified the sword pressure, making it even fiercer. Then,

[Unique ability ‘Rapid Sword’ is activated!]

A sword that made the weight of a greatsword feel negligible joined in. The blade disappeared. Following it, the hilt and the hand holding it became faint.

Though invisible, countless divided blades vibrated at high speed.

“Mwaaaah!”

Overwhelming despair. The mid-level goblin couldn’t even move a finger in the approaching storm.

Slash!

Countless sword strikes turned the goblin into countless pieces.

‘Combining close combat like this doesn’t seem bad.’

Despite using three powerful unique abilities, there was no strain on his body, thanks to his magic stat of 273.

Next…

Jinhyuk’s gaze turned to the other mid-level goblin casting spells. Three talismans in its hand simultaneously ignited, transforming into the character for flame.

Fwoooosh!

A huge, intense flame rose, seemingly swallowing its entire body.

“A fire spell…”

In a confined space, fire spells are most effective. But flames are always consumed by bigger flames.

[Lv1 ‘Hellfire’ is activated!]

The flames around Jinhyuk turned darker. The temperature of the dungeon sharply increased.

Despite the skill being only level 1, the heat was intense enough to make the skin tingle.

[Unique ability ‘Black Tear’ is activated!]

The copied skill from Maria combined with the skill obtained from the Weeping Witch. The flames turned a deep purple. The intense flames now vaguely took the shape of a dragon, a yet unnamed ancient species.

“Mwa…”

The goblin stared at the flames, mesmerized, unable to think of fighting back. The only choice left was to flee. The goblin’s body floated in the air and shot towards the second basement floor like a bullet.

“Sorry, but you can’t escape.”

In an instant, the purple flame caught up with the goblin’s back. In a split second, the flames engulfed the goblin’s upper body.

＊＊＊

“Wow… Master? Is this really the master I knew?”

“Strong. We struggled against small goblins.”

“Tweat.”

The spirits and Goguma exclaimed with wide eyes.

“Well… it’s impressive. But I can do that too. Watch.”

Alice clumsily swung her rapier and poked a lower goblin in the butt.

“Mwaah!”

“Eek!”

The goblin immediately clung to Alice’s head. Despite everyone leisurely wrapping up the raid, Jinhyuk’s eyes remained on the dead mid-level goblin’s body.

A small flame flickered inside a blue crystal. It was a byproduct known as ‘Goblin Fire.’

‘Individually, it’s nothing, but if you gather a lot and refine it, it can have unique effects to mesmerize people.’

Yes, that much he knew. The problem was…

This was not something that mid-level goblins from the 20th floor would drop. It was something that appeared at least on the 30th floor or higher.

‘It can’t be a natural phenomenon.’

Unless someone had deliberately planted it.