The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 77

The aura is quite different from internal energy or mana.

Unlike internal energy and mana, which refine the energy scattered in the world and store it within oneself, the only moment the aura needs external energy is when planting the heart of the aura, the Heart, inside one's body.

After that, as long as the user's mental strength allows, they can create as much aura as they want.

On top of that, the aura has a high utility, so it can strengthen the body or weapons like a martial artist, and it can also gather and fire energy like a mage's magic.

Furthermore, it is even possible to heal others or oneself, so if the user has the talent, it is an energy that can be used in a literally versatile way... but of course, there are also disadvantages.

Its efficiency was only about half that of internal energy and mana.

In other words, it was inferior to internal energy in strengthening the body or weapons, and it was inferior to mana in firing energy.

Of course, the aura is real after [Flowering], but if you just look at the aura, it was just an ambiguous power that could do everything but nothing properly.

Therefore, when they were in Pantheon, the psychics who chose the aura, the aura users, played a considerable role when hunting, but their popularity in the arena was very low.

And one of the reasons for that was that it was difficult to harmonize the psychic powers that each individual had flowered and their body movements and sublimate them into a technique.

Let's explain using the martial arts of martial artists as an example.

The word martial arts contains the meaning of accumulating martial arts, and unless it is a special case, one naturally follows the path that someone before them has paved.

The records of the previous generation are passed down to the next.

However, in order for the next generation to receive and inherit the records of the previous generation like this, there had to be an unspoken promise between the two.

That the two must have the same conditions.

It may sound a bit grand, but if you break it down and explain it, it was simple.

It meant that if the person in front had two arms and two legs normally, the person behind also had to have two arms and two legs, and if the person in front was one-armed, the person behind also had to be one-armed to be able to share information.

It was a common-sense condition.

Because if a person with two arms teaches a one-armed person, there are bound to be various obstacles.

But the existence of a psychic was a more special case than a one-armed person.

Because among psychics, there were many who could transform their bodies to make about two arms pop out or a huge wing pop out from their back.

Would people with such peculiar abilities be suitable for learning martial arts made for ordinary people?

Of course not.

The energy-implementing type, not the body-transforming type, did not have a big physical difference from ordinary people, but that did not mean that it was easy to combine the flowered ability and martial arts into one.

Still, as a result of people with similar abilities gathering and putting their heads together, they succeeded in creating a kind of martial art that only those people could share.

However, since the flowered aura basically has its own unique characteristics that grow as it grows, there is a limit to sharing martial arts.

In the end, if you want to do close combat with psychic powers, there is no other way than to think for yourself through actual combat and then complete your own fighting style one by one, and that process was not simple.

Because it was common for movements that were thought to be unnecessary for ordinary people to be added, or for movements that were thought to be essential to be deleted, and it was not possible to be sure that it was the right answer.

Because of these things, there were few aura users who were skilled in close combat, and among them, there were very few who had the skill to win against martial artists in a PVP.

"Uryaaaaa!"

And Baek Hyun-woo was the king who reigned at the top of those very few people.

'An interesting fighting style.'

Lee Shin, while cutting the neck of the steel spider in front of him with his spear, glanced at Baek Hyun-woo's appearance.

He took a stance, stomped his foot, and swung his hand blade like a sword.

Woooong-

At that moment, the aura moved and created a single shape.

An aura blade in the shape of a crescent moon.

It flew in the direction the hand blade was swung and cut the bodies of numerous steel spiders.

'It's like a scene from an action comic.'

In action comics, there are sometimes such scenes.

A tiger appears behind a person who is swinging their fist, or the guys who were in front of the simply swung fist are hit by a strange shockwave and fly away.

And the appearance Baek Hyun-woo was showing now was a carbon copy of such a scene from a comic.

"Tiger Claw!"

Baek Hyun-woo, looking at the dense spiderweb net falling from above, swung his fingers in an X-shape.

At the same time, the front paw of a translucent tiger shining green appeared and made a large hole in the dense net.

The moment a hole was made in the net, Baek Hyun-woo jumped into it without hesitation and passed through it cleanly, to the point of admiration.

Lee Shin, who saw that, smiled broadly and said.

"You look tired."

Baek Hyun-woo's physical condition could not be said to be good even with empty words.

His body was stained red with wounds from the sharp spiderwebs, and his clothes were stained red to the point where it was difficult to guess their original shape.

A wounded beast.

That word suited the current Baek Hyun-woo perfectly.

But when a beast is truly scary is when it is wounded.

As if to prove that, the movement Baek Hyun-woo was showing now was more intense than the movement he had shown at the beginning.

Baek Hyun-woo, breathing heavily, smiled at Lee Shin instead.

"You're not in a good state either, hyung."

Lee Shin's body was also a mess, just like Baek Hyun-woo's.

His hair was limp, soaked in blood and sweat, and his clothes were also stained red and torn here and there.

"I'm still fine."

Lee Shin's words were clearly a provocation, but at the same time, they were the truth.

In the first place, his martial arts, reflecting the personality of its owner, were optimized for defeating the enemy with minimum force and using the enemy's power in reverse, and he also had [High-Speed Recovery].

As if to prove that, his breathing was calmer than Baek Hyun-woo's.

"Ah, is that so!"

Kwaaang--!!!

Baek Hyun-woo, who had noticed that, pouted his lips and swung his fist at his front.

Lee Shin, who had been looking at Baek Hyun-woo for a moment, dodged the spiderweb that was trying to wrap around him and checked the surrounding situation.

The surroundings were covered with pieces of the steel spiders' corpses, white spiderwebs, and fragments of broken trees, so that no normal ground could be seen.

The number of steel spiders that were in pieces on the floor easily exceeded 500 at a rough glance.

Although there was the help of potions and items, it was a feat that would have astonished not only LV.2 players but also LV.3 players if they had seen it.

But for the two, it was not a very surprising thing.

Woooooooong--

"Hoo, they're really disgusting."

Although Baek Hyun-woo's body was only at the top of LV.2, what was contained within it was the spirit of a superman who had stepped into the realm of the LV.7 absolute.

Pajijijik--

"Haa, it's been a while since I've had a hot fight, so it's fun."

Because Lee Shin, who had experienced hellish battles in the tutorial, where situations of having both arms cut off or one leg torn off were common, and who was more familiar than anyone with dealing with enemies that came in like a flood.

On top of that, for him, a wound of the degree of having some internal organs cut, some flesh torn off, and some blood flowing was just a stimulant of a good level.

Although they were wounded and tired, the confident appearance of the two said that they did not doubt their victory, and their momentum, which had grown more than at the beginning, overwhelmed the momentum of the remaining steel spiders.

Kkigik- Kkigigik-

And the remaining steel spiders also felt that.

Despite boasting overwhelming numbers, they instinctively realized that their victory was blurry.

The moment hesitation was born in the movements of the steel spiders.

Tiiing-

Their mother sent a single instruction through the spiderwebs in their heads.

A strategic retreat and the recovery of the magic stones of the dead steel spiders.

Kkigigik--!!!

The steel spiders that received the command roared loudly and began to move as their mother had said.

Half of them remained to buy time, and the other half took the corpses of their comrades in their mouths and dug into the holes in the ground.

To go to the place where their mother was.

***

Would it look like this if there were several bombings in the mountains?

The trees that had decorated the mountain were broken, and the soil was dug up by the impact.

And on top of that, the pieces of the giant spiders' corpses, the body fluids that were inside them, and the white spiderwebs decorated the floor and glittered.

That scenery, for those who knew the truth, would not be an exaggeration to call it an apocalyptic scenery, but for those who knew nothing, it was a pretty good scenery.

At least on the outside, the spiderwebs were white balls of thread, the green body fluids looked similar to grass or moss, and the pieces of the steel spiders' corpses could be seen as somewhat peculiar objects.

Even so, this strange smell could not be helped.

The story has become a little long, but to put it simply, it's this.

Gulp, gulp-

Chew, chew-

Nom, nom-

Chomp, chomp-

The place where the two were now filling their stomachs was not a suitable place for a pleasant meal.

Kyaa-

"Then what are you going to do now?"

Baek Hyun-woo, after drinking the 1.5L bottle of potion without leaving a single drop, asked with a refreshing smile.

The sensation of the water that had entered his stomach turning into the blood that had been lost and filling his whole body was a pleasure that could not be compared to most things.

Chew, chew-

"Hmm? What do you mean, what am I going to do?"

Lee Shin said, continuously putting the food that was in his carrier into his mouth.

For reference, this colorful yokan was developed by the alchemists of the 7th team of [Wonderland], and it was a meal substitute that contained a great deal of various nutrients and nutrients depending on each color.

"...Should I give you some potion?"

Baek Hyun-woo, who had been watching him eat for a moment, looked at him with a fed-up face and then handed him the potion that was in his carrier.

"Thanks."

Gulp-

Lee Shin drank the potion he had received from Baek Hyun-woo like water, quenched his thirst, and then opened his mouth.

"And it's obvious that we have to go in, isn't it?"

Lee Shin said, and pointed his finger at the cave that was gaping open in the distance.

While they were engrossed in catching the bugs that were rushing at them, the steel spiders that were behind them had entered the holes in the ground and the cave that his finger was pointing at and had hidden themselves.

For him, it was a pity.

Because just when his body had warmed up to a good degree, the steel spiders had disappeared, and it had cooled down in vain.

'Well. But since the boss monster is still left, let's think positively and move on. The stress that had been unknowingly accumulating recently has also disappeared, so I feel refreshed.'

Lee Shin put his carrier, which had revealed its bottom, into his inventory, stood up, and did a simple stretch.

If anyone other than the two had been in this place now, they would have stared blankly at him stretching.

Because his elastic muscles, visible between the torn equipment, were beautiful enough to evoke admiration.

But there was no one else in this place, and he was only focused on checking his own condition.

His stomach was filled with various nutrients, and [High-Speed Recovery] was activated, so his wounded body was healing quickly, and thanks to Irhegue's hard work while he was eating, his internal energy was also refilled.

Kkyuu-!

'Yeah, thanks. Thanks to you, I'm in perfect condition.'

Kyuuuuu-

At his praise, Irhegue let out a long cry and expressed his satisfaction.

Kyuu-

'Yeah, I know. When we get back, I'll let you eat whatever you want while I'm in your body. But you have to eat with chopsticks, okay?'

Kkyuu-

While he was checking his own condition and talking with Irhegue, Baek Hyun-woo was looking at his back and was lost in thought.

'He's a really strange hyung.'

The reason Baek Hyun-woo was interested in him was because he had heard from Cheon Yuhwa that he would one day become as strong as them.

But as a result of checking through the battles so far, it seemed that he had already caught up with them in his ability to deal with monsters.

No, in a chaotic battle where you don't know what will happen, and in a war of attrition where you have to fight continuously, his ability was overwhelming Baek Hyun-woo.

'Does that hyung also have a unique item-like weapon that grows like us?'

Baek Hyun-woo thought for a moment, but soon shook his head.

As a result of checking while resting, the items he was wearing were only of rare grade at best, so they were not that great.

'In other words, it's his pure skill... this is going to be fun.'

"Hyung."

"Hmm? Why?"

Baek Hyun-woo, smiling with interest, made eye contact with him.

"When we're done with these spiders, let's have a fight."

Baek Hyun-woo stared at him with eyes that shone like a beast's and smiled, revealing his fangs.

At that, he smiled provocatively and said.

"Alright, I'll fight you until you're tired. But do me one favor."

"Hmm, well. If it's not a very difficult request, I'll grant it."

Baek Hyun-woo said, put his carrier in his inventory, and stood up.

After a long fight, their stats, which had been sufficiently rested, had risen even further, making them stronger.

The condition of the two was at its peak.

(End of Chapter)