Change? That must be a class-exclusive skill.
Kai watched the situation with a relaxed posture, arms crossed. Although unlikely, he was ready to jump in immediately if anything went wrong.
Yoo Ha-Rin slowly stepped forward and looked ahead. Her gaze pierced through the darkness that Kai’s Sacred Flare hadn’t reached.
Stone Drake, Poison Snake, and...
The sound of leaves violently rustling and a scream from within the branches. It was the noise made by a Wild Monkey lurking in the trees, waiting for a chance to strike.
"Graaaah!"
The first to arrive was the Stone Drake, who had grown extremely savage after missing several meals. Its entire body was made of stone except for its eyes, making it a natural enemy of close-combat classes.
Yet Yoo Ha-Rin didn’t even blink at the sight of the Stone Drake.
"Kaaooh!"
Perhaps because it felt ignored as a predator, or because a tasty human seemed defenseless, the Stone Drake lunged at Yoo Ha-Rin without hesitation.
"Oh no..."
Kai was taken aback and about to rush in, but Yoo Ha-Rin extended her left hand behind her to stop him. At the same time, the Stone Drake opened its mouth wide. It was large enough to swallow Yoo Ha-Rin’s upper body in one bite. Just as its sharp fangs were about to sink into her, a pillar suddenly shot up from the ground and struck the Stone Drake’s jaw.
"Kyaaaaak!"
The jaw was one of the most vulnerable weak points in all creatures. Even with the Stone Drake’s high physical defense, it couldn’t avoid the sudden blow. Especially not when an enormous pillar struck its jaw out of nowhere. The creature thrashed its head violently and staggered backward.
Does the effect of the Change skill alter terrain?
Before Kai could finish the thought, a red aura rose from Yoo Ha-Rin’s body.
She finally drew her sword, and unlike before, her movement was rough and wild. That ferocity also influenced her swordsmanship. The Stone Drake’s body broke apart with each swing of her sword. It was a completely different style from the refined and agile swordplay she had shown before, and that wasn’t all.
"Fire attribute."
There was a reason why Wizards were so highly valued in party hunts. Not only could they deal stable damage from a distance, but more importantly, they could wield elemental attacks. When fighting monsters, matching the right element could deal several times the normal damage.
But it’s nearly impossible to do elemental attacks with a sword unless you’re a magic knight or have a rare item.
That was why Yoo Ha-Rin’s fire attribute attack was so surprising. Of course, that wasn’t the end of it.
"Skill activation, Change."
She used the Change skill once more as the Poison Snake that had arrived shortly after and was releasing a poisonous mist.
Ding!
[Poison Master skill activated.] Searᴄh the Nôvel(F)ire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
[You resist the poison.]
[You are not poisoned.]
[Collecting information about the poison.]
"Hm." Kai glanced at her with a slightly worried look.
The analysis rated the poison’s danger level at five stars. It might not affect him, but it would be fairly dangerous if she were to get poisoned. However, that concern proved unnecessary. The deep red aura she had been constantly emitting suddenly changed to green.
"Hah!"
Her swordplay style also changed accordingly. This time, it was a style that carried the gentleness and coolness of the wind. With every swing of her sword, a powerful wind slash scattered the poisonous mist.
That’s the Change skill?
It seemed like the characteristics of her swordplay changed each time she used it.
Definitely a powerful skill. It really suits someone like Ha-Rin, who has great game sense.
It would be overwhelming for any opponent if she could freely shift her sword style like that.
Not only would they fail to read her pattern, but it would be difficult to land a counterattack too.
Moreover, It still wasn’t known how many times she could use Change.
Maybe Knight of Change is a truly unmatched, all-countering class with no weaknesses.
Yoo Ha-Rin’s sword style continued to shift even as he admired her.
There’s many colors, and many abilities too, of course.
Yellow, white, blue, and even black. Her sword style changed each time, and she performed elemental attacks with every swing.
"Eek... Eek-eek!"
As the Stone Drake and Poison Drake were helplessly defeated, the Wild Monkey didn’t even bother coming down from the tree and tried to flee.
"Can’t let that happen." Yoo Ha-Rin’s sharp gaze landed on the monkey’s back. "Form shift."
The tree the monkey always used to ride twisted like a pretzel, slamming it into the ground.
"Eek-eek!"
Yoo Ha-Rin’s sword pierced the heart of the struggling creature.
Form shift. Is that the skill she used earlier to alter the terrain?
Knight of Change was proving to be more troublesome than expected. Not only did one have to face various swordplay styles, but she could also influence the environment around her.
"I feel like my stomach’s finally settling." Yoo Ha-Rin returned, patting her belly after taking down three high-level monsters in an instant.
"You’re joking, right? It hasn’t even been thirty minutes since we ate."
"O-of course it’s a joke."
It didn’t sound like one.
Kai let out a small laugh and said, "By the way, the Knight of Change really is as unpredictable as the name implies, huh. It must be a nightmare to fight against."
"I think so too. But the truly amazing part of this class is..." Yoo Ha-Rin trailed off and stared at Kai. "Well, you’ll find out in time."
"Wait. Are you saying what you just showed wasn’t everything?"
To that question, Yoo Ha-Rin just smiled sweetly and gave no answer. "I told you, you’ll find out little by little."
Having wrapped up that conversation, Yoo Ha-Rin looked around her. "Now that I’ve faced them, the monsters don’t seem that tough. I think we can just keep pushing forward."
"Keep pushing forward... Sure," Kai murmured profoundly and looked ahead toward the darkness up ahead. "It’ll be doable as long as nothing unexpected happens."
***
The hunting went smoothly. Somehow, hunting past level 500 felt easier than hunting as a beginner.
Well, that’s probably thanks to the Benevolence stats and the Witness titles.
He wouldn’t have been nearly as strong if he didn’t have even one of those two.
"As expected, you’re incredible, Kai." Yoo Ha-Rin gave a quiet round of applause, watching him hunting from behind.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your swordsmanship. To be honest, my sword skill is at Advanced Level 8. But the way you handle a sword looks even more natural than mine."
"Well, that’s because my swordsmanship skill is at Advanced Level 9."
"You’re amazing. But it’s not just that. Your situational judgment, your timing when using skills... and on top of that, your good eyesight and reflexes—you have everything it takes to be a knight."
Now that he thought about it, he should probably tell her that his class was Cleric. After all, he knew her class name and most of her skill effects.
But I can’t bring myself to say it with her saying things like that.
He wondered what kind of face she would make if she found out he had a lower swordsmanship level than a Priest.
Putting that curiosity aside, Kai looked ahead. "But something feels off. They said monsters get stronger the closer we get to the center of the Dark Zone, yet there aren’t many at all."
"Exactly. Honestly, I thought we wouldn’t even have time to talk like this and constantly have to be fighting.”
Kai’s thoughts were no different from hers. If the northern region had always been this empty, other guilds would’ve already explored it thoroughly.
"There’s probably a powerful entity nearby."
Kai turned his head and asked, "A powerful entity?"
"Yes. Even in the wild, other predators avoid a region that a powerful tiger claims as its territory.”
"Hmm... Now that you mention it, the monsters did seem to be clustered near the entrance. Almost like they were driven out."
"That’s what I mean... Shh!" Yoo Ha-Rin cut herself off mid-sentence and raised a slender finger to her lips.
Kai shut his mouth and focused all his attention on listening.
“Krrr... rrr.”
It was the sorrowful cry of a beast. It almost sounded like a small dog whimpering at a vet.
"Did you hear that?" Yoo Ha-Rin whispered softly.
"I did. I’m not sure which direction it came from, but it sounded like some kind of beast."
"It was from that direction," she pointed with her finger. "Let’s check it out. We might get a clue about the predator we were talking about."
"I’ll take the lead this time."
Volunteering to go first, Kai quietly stepped forward in the direction she had pointed. There, the bushes had grown as tall as his chest.
Kai exchanged a glance with Yoo Ha-Rin, then gently pushed aside the bush. Yoo Ha-Rin gasped. Beyond the brush were more than a hundred monsters.
Stay calm.
Kai calmed Yoo Ha-Rin, who was bewildered, and examined the monsters.
Those are lizardmen.
And their scales were pitch-black, just like Blizzard.
Are they the same tribe as Blizzard? No, that can’t be...
Blizzard had originally been a regular lizardman warrior. His scales had turned black due to the Essence of Darkness infused by the Church of Muldine.
Then what are these guys...?
Kai narrowed his eyes and observed them closely. Strangely enough, they were all covered in wounds.
"Krrr... Krr... khrrrk..."
The one in the worst condition was barely breathing, coughing up blood. It seemed the whimpering sound from earlier had come from it. And judging by the way the other lizardmen guarded it closely, it was probably a high-ranking one.
Long, thick, and sharp... Those are wounds made by something like claws.
A predator. With that thought, Kai pushed the bushes aside and stepped toward them.
"K-krrrr!"
"Kyaoo!"
Having spotted the intruder, the lizardmen grabbed their weapons and took a combat stance.
However, Kai just ignored their hostility and said, "Enhanced Summon, Blizzard."
Blizzard, with his imposing physique, was instantly summoned before him.
Wearing the Sea Dragon set, Blizzard looked around and said, "Master, who are these guys?"
"I don’t know. That’s what we’re about to find out."
"Meaning...?" Blizzard asked with a glint in his eye.
"Go ask them what they are.'"
"Understood."
Obedient Blizzard removed his helmet, tucked it under his arm, and walked forward.
Then he looked at the lizardmen who were still wary of him, and shouted boldly, "Karrrr!"
It was the impressive scene of a top-tier interpreter fluent in two languages.
The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!