novelraw Chapter 141 : Adamant (2)
Chapter 141 : Adamant (2)
Adamantragos.
A demonic beast with ridiculous teeth and jaw strength capable of crunching and swallowing steel, and with highly developed hearing and touch compared to its atrophied eyes due to primarily operating underground.
Its estimated rank is among the upper ranks of B+.
However, it was a more troublesome opponent than its simple rank would suggest.
'First, I need to lure it to the surface, or it'll be difficult to fight.'
Fighting it underground would be no different from fighting a shark in the sea.
'But that problem is easier than expected.'
Swish.
I took out the sword I received from Lim Eun-seo and slightly cut my finger.
'This should do.'
I let a few drops of blood fall to the ground.
'The smell of human blood. As long as it's a demonic beast, it's bait it can't help but be attracted to.'
Moreover, since its sense of smell was developed dozens of times better than a dog's, this much blood was sufficient.
'It's crafty. If there's no smell of blood, it would cautiously observe the situation even if humans are present, but it instinctively knows that a human who's bleeding is weakened.'
Of course, regardless of how crafty it is, that's as far as it goes.
It can't beat the craftiness of a hunter.
How long did I wait?
Woooong.
A small vibration was felt beneath the ground.
"Here it comes."
I lightly retreated, and.
Crash!
The maw of the demonic beast that suddenly emerged from beneath my feet swallowed the spot where I had been standing, dirt and all.
'If I were an amateur hunter, I would have already become the beast's meal at this point.'
"Keurrrrrk!"
The Adamantragos, having failed its ambush, crawled onto the surface and glared at me with eyes full of killing intent.
"Quite a large one I've caught."
Its visual appearance resembled a mix of half mole and half snapping turtle, and its size was as massive as a sub-adult elephant.
"It should yield enough adamant to make one sword."
"Kieeeeek!"
The demonic beast charged toward me.
There are exactly two attacks to be cautious of.
Biting with its powerful jaw strength, and charging while swinging its sharp claws.
'The first move is with the claws, huh.'
I parried its claws with my sword, which I'd infused with sword energy.
Chaeeeeeng!
Deflecting the front paw attack of a demonic beast as large as an elephant with just a single sword.
And without even using Liberation!
'I have excess strength.'
The effects of the mandrake, beyond simply increasing mana quantity, also made the body more robust.
Cheng! Chaeng!
I parried each incoming attack, and.
Each time, the beast's claws were visibly dented.
"Soft."
Though it's fairly solid for its rank, apart from the adamant gathered in its inner core, the rest was clearly lower in grade in terms of hardness.
"Don't thrash around too much."
I said.
"I need to finish this with minimal injuries."
It probably couldn't understand what I said anyway.
"Kieeeeek!"
Feeling that I wasn't to be taken lightly, the Adamantragos suddenly went berserk and thrust its maw forward to bite me.
'Slow.'
I easily dodge to the side.
Clack!
The sound of its teeth colliding was quite loud.
'The bite force of an Adamantragos is said to be transcendent.'
"Hmm. Let's see how strong it really is."
Woooong.
I wrapped my left arm with a Mana Shield.
The shield, created by injecting a massive amount of mana, had a much darker and purer color than before.
"Try to bite it."
I extended my left arm to the beast.
Crunch!
It didn't hesitate and bit my arm strongly.
But.
"Kirrrrr."
Its teeth couldn't properly penetrate even my Mana Shield, let alone my skin.
'The bite force is considerable, but not enough to crush my bones and muscles.'
"Weaker than I thought."
I smiled.
Stab!
I stabbed its snout with my sword.
"Kieeeeeek!"
It thrashed around in pain, but I lightly retreated and watched.
"Kuooooo!"
Bang bang bang!
The enraged Adamantragos struck the ground repeatedly, shooting rock fragments at me.
'Eye Power activated.'
Kiing!
At that moment.
I could clearly see not only the fragments flying toward me but even each particle of dust rising into the air.
Truly overwhelming perception.
As my mana quantity had greatly increased, the specs of my basic skills had also risen by a level.
'I can see everything.'
I fluttered like a leaf in the wind, avoiding the fragments, then stepped on a Mana Shield I created in mid-air and flew into the sky.
The beast's face lifted up, following my movement.
"Huup!"
I delivered an overhead kick like a striker with my foot wrapped in a Mana Shield.
Bwaaang!
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
At that time.
Hwang Ji-su, who had been rejected by Su-hyeon in the morning, was not in a good mood.
"That guy, how dare he reject my offer outright? He thinks he's so great."
Kwon Seung-yeon chuckled at Hwang Ji-su's grumbling.
"What can you do? He had prior plans with Tae-hoon. Yu-jin and In-hyeon were rejected too."
"Hmph."
Hwang Ji-su pouted like a duck.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"Just, you know."
Hwang Ji-su turned her head away, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"I was going to ask what he's doing during the vacation."
"Were you going to invite him to your home?"
"Why, is that not allowed?"
"Who said it wasn't allowed?"
Kwon Seung-yeon grinned.
"It's just that this is the first time you've invited a boy to your home."
"And you have no thoughts about it?"
"Hmmmm. Well."
Kwon Seung-yeon scratched her cheek.
"My house is a bit shabby to bring him over, isn't it?"
"What does that matter?"
"Hmhm, then shall I invite him once?"
"Do as you please."
Hwang Ji-su clicked her tongue.
"Uuuugh."
Kim A-yun was making groaning sounds and fidgeting with her phone.
'To be able to meet just the two of us outside. I can't miss this opportunity.'
But she had no pretext.
'Uuugh. I'm too timid.'
How nice would it be if she could speak up confidently like Hwang Ji-su, Lee Yu-jin, or Kwon Seung-yeon?
'They're all so cool compared to me.'
But she wasn't ready to give up easily either.
'Let me think. There must be a way to naturally set up a date.'
Su-hyeon wouldn't refuse if she just asked him to have a meal together.
But it's human nature that makes it difficult to speak up so easily.
'...I might be at this until dawn.'
Her roommate watching her softly sighed.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
Bang! Crash!
Each time Su-hyeon pounded the demonic beast with overwhelming destructive power, its armor-like hard skin and carapace shattered.
"Kieee..."
With both its fighting spirit and killing intent drained, the Adamantragos breathed heavily and retreated step by step.
The outcome was clear to anyone watching.
"I'll send you off peacefully."
Su-hyeon's sword drew a clean arc, and the beast's massive head separated from its body and fell to the ground.
Splash!
Su-hyeon looked at the blood gushing like a fountain and swung his sword in the air to shake off the blood.
'...The blade didn't chip.'
It was evidence that his sword energy had risen by a level.
[You have processed the demonic beast, Adamantragos!]
[You overwhelmed a B+-rank demonic beast too easily!]
[Achievement points 150 awarded!]
'Good. A clean ending.'
Su-hyeon took work clothes out of his bag and changed.
'Since I don't have much time, I'll extract the adamant first.'
Demonic beast dissection.
Another field of Su-hyeon's expertise.
"Done."
Su-hyeon, having completed the dissection, looked with satisfaction at the round, dark-colored metal.
Adamant.
It was undoubtedly the finest material he could access at present.
-(Photo)
-Hunt complete
-I've collected the adamant, so you can process the rest, take your commission and send it to me
Less than five minutes later, Park Min-cheol sent a reply.
-Wow, you really caught it?
-It's freaking huge
-How much adamant did you get?
-About the size of a cantaloupes?
-That's insane, insane
-How much is that worth in money?
-Can't you sell some if there's any left after making the sword?
Su-hyeon casually ignored the messages and cut two fangs from the Adamantragos's severed head.
'I should give these to Lim Eun-seo.'
To maximize efficiency, you had to use carrots well.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
"Wow, you really brought it."
That afternoon.
Lim Eun-seo stuck out her tongue in amazement as Su-hyeon brought adamant as casually as if he had gone to a neighborhood supermarket.
"I thought you said you wouldn't be surprised by anything I do anymore."
"That's just a saying."
Lim Eun-seo shook her head.
"Anyway, good job. With this quantity and purity, I can create a masterpiece."
"Is it possible before vacation starts?"
"Huh?"
Lim Eun-seo widened her eyes.
"Even though this noona is a genius meister, that's a bit intense. It's not like I'm only making your stuff..."
"Is it difficult?"
Of course it is.
Lim Eun-seo, who was about to say that, closed her mouth upon seeing the Adamantragos fangs that Su-hyeon took out.
"If you make it for me by the time vacation starts, I'll give you these."
"...Su-hyeon."
"Yes?"
"Do you know you're starting to feel like an exploitative farm owner lately?"
"No way. That's a misunderstanding."
Su-hyeon asked.
"So are you saying you don't need them?"
"Ahem."
Having quickly taken the bait, Lim Eun-seo's mouth was cleanly washed.
"Just wait. This noona will take care of everything."
"Thank you."
'Making the sword itself doesn't take that long. If I save on sleep, I should be able to meet the deadline.'
Knowing the other person's limits and extracting just to the tipping point.
This was the level that Su-hyeon's skilled art of using people had reached.
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
The day before the academy's vacation ceremony.
It wasn't just the cadets who were waiting for the vacation.
"Finally tomorrow."
Park Min-cheol.
Dressed to the nines, he was raiding a department store, saying he would pick up Su-hyeon and save his face.
"Hmm. This jacket doesn't seem to suit oppa very well."
Helping with his shopping was Kim Chae-young, the treasured daughter of Director Kim and one year younger than Park Min-cheol.
She was enjoying their date while naturally helping with Park Min-cheol's coordination.
"Umm. Is that so?"
Kim Chae-young chuckled as she looked at Park Min-cheol, who was scratching his head with a dumb face and nodding.
"Oppa needs a bit more training in fashion sense."
"Living with my face, I never paid attention."
"There's no such thing. What's wrong with oppa?"
Scratch scratch scratch.
Park Min-cheol's increasingly red face looked quite cute to Kim Chae-young.
"Let's check over there too."
"Oh, sure."
She hadn't been attracted to him from the beginning.
From a few months ago, before she had even seen his face, her father, Director Kim, had been praising the newly hired employee.
And after working with him a bit, her father and brother kept nudging her, saying he would be a good match for Chae-young.
Due to their continued hints, she unconsciously became curious.
'The more I look at oppa, the more decent he seems.'
Diligence, loyalty, character.
And the confidence that gradually emerged as he gained more leeway.
At first, she was annoyed because they kept trying to set them up so forcefully, but as time passed, his good points became more noticeable.
The most decisive moment when she realized her feelings was during Park Min-cheol's recent kidnapping incident.
For some reason, he didn't come to work in the morning, and when they went to his house, they found it had been attacked and was in shambles. She was so shocked.
When he returned not long after, rescued with Su-hyeon's help, in a disheveled state, Kim Chae-young, who had burst into tears without even realizing it, realized her feelings that day.
'He's a bit careless, but.'
She could take care of that, couldn't she?
'By the way, I wonder what kind of person Su-hyeon is?'
Park Min-cheol practically revered him even though he was four years younger.
She heard that lately, he had been growing his business through him.
Plus, she had heard the story of how he came rushing to save him and demolished the Big Bear Gang before leaving.
Even Park Min-cheol's behavior, making such a fuss to save Su-hyeon's face, seemed cute.
If there was one problem, though.
"Oppa doesn't really think this suit suits him, right?"
"Huh, why?"
It was that Park Min-cheol's fashion sense was even more terrible than she had thought.
"Since it's a special occasion, I'd like to try a tuxedo style. Is it that strange?"
"Oppa."
"Yes?"
Kim Chae-young grimaced.
"If you do that, Su-hyeon-ssi will pretend not to know you."
"...That bad?"
"That bad."