Chapter 9 – Darker than the Devil (3)
Unique skills <Chantless> and 4000 AP were the rewards he gained from the last duel(?). He didn’t get a coin since he couldn’t advance to the next floor. Yoon-seok checked the new skills he got.
<Chantless> — Whenused, chant for the skill can be skipped.
Unlike <Multiply> or <Weapon Enhancement>, this skill isn’t too powerful. Nevertheless, he determined that it’s pretty good. ‘Back step.’ His body reacted as soon as he thought to do so in his head.
「Counter-attack is available.」
Yoon-seok smiled as he confirmed that he got back about 1 meter. Frankly, it was annoying to shout each skill name, but above all, it was embarrassing. It was one thing he found the most annoying. Yoon-seok was analyzing what advantages he could bring to the palate during the duel using <Chantless>.
‘I got something good.’ Now it will become much quicker to activate a skill than shout command for it. Not to mention he can hinder his opponents by not letting them know about what skill he would use next. This means that he can freely prepare a strategy beforehand. Unless the opponent is a fool, he’ll make a plan after the opponent shouted a command to activate skills. ‘Some people have the ability to know what skill is coming just by hearing the command.’ It can be leverage for those people. To do that, they must be familiar with the skills that the store sells. Yoon-seok himself has a plan to do the same. ‘If I can have a thought about it then everyone can do it too.’ Higher the floor he reaches, higher the chances to meet such a person.
Perhaps, like the characters in a game, there will be those who only listen to commands and play counter-attack skills as well. ‘I think it’s not a bad idea to keep shouting skill names and initiate a surprise attack.’ The more he thought about it, the more he got assured about the usefulness of <Chantless>. A duelist with such a unique skill still making such a suicidal choice… He was beyond belief. Well, it’s not like Yoon-seok didn’t understand his opponent because in the beginning, he thought <Chantless> wasn’t a very useful skill too. His opponent might be disheartened with why his skill is like this, even though he was armed with shields and mace. It was regrettable, but… not even one ounce of pity he had.
He didn’t know what the future has in store, but <Chantless> will shine in his hand. He had a short moment to do silent prayer and give condolence to his last opponent. ‘Come to think of it, my unique skills are very unfair.’ He acknowledged how good his <Predation> skill is. Unique skills are not sold in stores and have unusual prowess. <Predation> is top level for expanding power by obtaining additional unique skills. Of course, there is a pitfall which is to lose one of the skills he has if someone defeated him. ‘Still, it is an enormous benefit within this system.’
Duels are based on the total score. Without a doubt, in terms of balance, it’s a perfect system. Although, winners and losers are clearly divided. Why is that? The reason is simple. This is because the total score is just the total amount of AP earned by the duelist and doesn’t include meta, such as combat experience, synergies between acquired skills, challenger’s growth, unique skills, tactic, tenacity for victory, and so on. There are many meta attributes. The more he wins using <Predation> the more meta he will get like he is investing. ‘But let’s not get a big head. There might be someone out there with better skills…’ After pondering about what to use with 4000 AP, Yoon-seok decided to upgrade his basic ability this time. He chose the agility stats.
*Elixir of Agility (Rank F) — increases the level of agility below the Rank E by 1.
Price: 1500 AP
Raising mana might be a better option to make good use of <Weapon Enhancement> or <Multiply> which consumes mana. ‘If my guess is wrong, it’s just going to be wasted.’ It can be a lethal move if someone can operate two unique skills at once. But what’s the harm in going off the track for once? With that in mind, Yoon-seok made a bold decision.
「Agility (F-) ranked-up.」
「Agility (F) ranked-up.」
Since he decided to invest, he better be confident. Yoon-seok spent 3000 AP to upgrade his agility into an F+ rank. He could already feel something different in his body. He can tell that his body has become supple and can move fast. It seems the difference is twice from before. ‘But the downside is that I get tired real fast…’ Yoon-seok, who had been moving his body to adjust to his new body, clicked his tongue. It was an unexpected side effect. The next time he was going to increase his stats, it was going to be either mana or strength, but with how the things goes now, he will upgrade his stamina first.
‘Hm… Nothing is appropriate.’ After agonizing over how to use the remaining 1000 AP, he let out a sigh. He didn’t want any particular things. The AP he got is not enough to learn skills or raise stats. Even to buy low-rank equipment feels like a waste. Nonetheless, he already knew that equipment can only be used for a certain time period and then be replaced. Another thing is that it is impossible to sell equipment back to the store. To sum it up, as the level goes up, the equipment needs to be upgraded along the way.
‘I’ll just save it then.’
Settled down with what he needed, all the preparation for the next duel was done. However, Yoon-seok kept looking around the store’s window, studying equipment and skills, while stuck it to his head.
Knowledge is power.
One day, this process will become a habbit he uses for the duel, although it doesn’t work right away. However, he didn’t intend to repeat this for a few hours. If he kept going on, his prime orders would be reserved. ‘Let’s start steadily.’ After wandering around the store window for about two hours, Yoon-seok picked up his sword and shield. He started to hone his own skills as he had done before. Not long after, the time has come.
「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」
It’s time to dye the sword with blood, not sweat.
* * *
「START!」
As the countdown ended, Yoon-seok lifted his sword and shield, quickly took a position. A pale-skinned man looked at Yoon-seok, eyes gleamed with amusement. “Seeing that you’re ready to fight, you’re not like those idiots, are you?” It’s obvious who he referred to, those suicidal people who believed in rumors and chose to die. “Ah yes, that’s the interesting thing about humans.” The pale man giggled. Yoon-seok felt that the man was belittling him. Pitifully, it was easy for him to point out since he was sharp to that kind of thing. No matter who it was, when he saw the man’s eyes, the way those people think are the same.
The man kept rambling alone, uncaring whether Yoon-seok replied or not. “Some Orcs were fooled, some not. A human named Devil 666 who’s more evil than I am… Some humans are in ridiculous delusions thinking they are different.” He didn’t point who, but it was not difficult to guess that the last words were directed to Yoon-seok.
“Now then, come at me! I will watch your last-ditch effort!” With smugness, the man shouted while on the other hand, Yoon-seok stayed still. There was a particular word that he worried about during the conversation. ‘…A Devil?’ He called himself the devil. From the longhorns on his forehead, Yoon-seok guessed that he was not a human, but he never thought that devils were real. Somehow the scale has got bigger, however, he did not feel the need to be intimidated. ‘Anyway, since I met him in this arena that means our total score is no different. No, I have something that will be in my favor.’
Are the horns considered as a huge deal in respect of power? The green monster, his first opponent, has immense strength. In Yoon-seok’s eyes, the devil seemed the one who was delusional and failed to realize the reality. No matter what kind of strong power he originally had, he’s just a challenger on the same starting line as others. The man needed to suck it in and see himself to find out.
“Come on, your first attack will be to strike, right?”
“I didn’t say anything like that…”
It would have been better if he replied with “I’ll do it in the most secret way.” Sadly, the Devil’s words are correct. Yoon-seok gave the man ‘that’s right’ look. ‘Although he is pretentious like some 8th grader, he must still have a brain.’ Their conversation is over. Yoon-seok carefully narrowed the distance, no sign of fear. On the contrary, he showed his determination to win the duel. The man who was watching looked surprised.
“Hoo…”
He was dragged to The Tower of Heaven and lost his power, he was often being terrified by the other after seeing his horns, definite evidence of the Devil. It was all the same with Orcs, Hybrid creatures, and Fairies. As such, the Devil race became infamous in the other world for there prowess. The man came to a conclusion. “It looks like you’re a human who stands on your feet from Earth, huh?” Ignorance, that’s what the man called his reckless bravado. He might not know what the Devil is, that’s why he acted up like that.
“Though all my strength has been lost, my power still belongs to me under the name of unique skills. That’s the only difference!”
The cry of the man was interrupted. Yoon-seok jumped in quickly and struck his sword against the man who was still chattering. Thwack! His sword pierced the man center part of the upper body. Mountain of blood splattered as he pulled out his sword. ‘How come he is weak?’ Yoon-seok was at a loss after he attacked. “Gasp!” Yoon-seok lowered his head hurriedly to the counterattack that erupted so fast. It was an instinctive act when he felt danger. Yoon-seok’s instinct, which developed like an animal, was right again this time. When he ducked his head scaredly, the blood that was flying passed his head burst with a bang sound. “……” A little bit dizzy, Yoon-seok quickly put on a distance. The man looked fine despite a hole in his body.
When the man got a surprise attack while talking, he was red with anger and wrinkled his face. “That was a good one coming from the unmannered brat. Don’t ever think your death will be less painful.” Yoon-seok furrowed his brows. The murderous threat somehow felt good. His current problem is the blood drops, which have already permeated the ground, flew in air and returned to its owner’s body.
Psssshhhhh!
There is a sound like boiling water and smoke gently coming out. Then, the wound that was stabbed by the sword recovered in a minute. Yoon-seok was mesmerized. “Kekekeke! That trivial expression really suited for trivial human like you!” Yoon-seok barely could keep himself together as he was thinking. Aside from manipulating blood that can be used for attack, the man could recover his wounds in a fast manner as well? There were no such extraordinary skills from his meticulous research, within E-rank or below skills at least. Then there’s only one possibility left.
‘So it’s a unique skill? That’s a total fraud…’
The man walked toward Yoon-seok as if to challenge him. There were big gaps between them, he couldn’t cut the man down easily. If he did, he would use blood to attack again. But not attacking was not the right solution. “I think you’ve been thinking about it, yes, I can shape my blood to anything I desire.” The man tore apart his palm with his sharp nails. He reached out his palms and splattered the blood over to Yoon-seok.
Boom! Boom! Badaboom!
Yoon-seok dodged the explosion by rolling on the ground shrewdly. Is he having fun seeing him struggle? The man was laughing carefreely. ‘Now!’ Yoon-seok immediately rose from his rolling position using force and extended his sword to the man. But the man did not respond like before, as if what he did was nothing good.
「Unique skill, <Weapon Enhancement>, is activated.」
Thunk!
The sword, which glows red aura because of the <Weapon Enhancement> effect, pierces the man’s forehead. ‘He won’t be alive after he got pierced in the head…… right?’ Regeneration-related ability in all kinds of novel comics had almost that same weaknesses. Even zombies die when their heads are gouged. Still, Yoon-seok felt uneasy. As he expected, anxiety will always become a reality.
“Puhahahahaha!”
The man laughed with his head stabbed like a skewer. On the other hand, Yoon-seok felt hopeless in front of him. How can he beat a monster that recovers immediately no matter how much he cuts or stabs him, and does not die even if his head got slaughtered?