There was a wetland continuing on without an end, waterlogged and humid. The land swallowed each step like a quagmire and made it difficult for people to travel through.
A pair of male and female was standing in front of an unnamed dungeon.
The dungeon was filled with water-attribute mana and was S- ranked, which was quite rare to find. It didn’t receive its S- rank due to its size, and instead was because there were a small number of elite monsters inside.
In order to find a place that suited the power level of the baby red dragon, the Regressor looked for this place. Yeorum, who had been fighting against monsters just then, was dropping beads of sweat.
“Huk, huk…”
She sat down on top of a monster. During the fight that continued for around 2 hours, she was forced to squeeze her dragon heart dry several times. She had used a tremendous amount of mana which seemed to have made her dizzy.
Yeorum buried her head inside her two hands.
“Let’s go.”
“W, wait.”
“We should move.”
“…Just wait a second. I, feel like throwing up.”
She was even drooling while collecting her breath.
Her proficiency level wasn’t high enough and the [Pulsation] always shook unstably.
Of course, it would be fine to leave it like that. She was a dragon and would gradually perfect her [Pulsation] as time passed even without taking all this toll on her body.
However, a real fight was the best method to make someone stronger as soon as possible.
“…”
Despite her body and her clothes being covered in dirt, Yeorum did not use magic to clean it off. In fact, it didn’t look like she even had the leisure to do so, but she obediently stood back up after collecting her breath.
“Go, go.”
He took her and walked through the quagmire. As they went deeper in, the sticky wetland became deeper so he relied on mana to walk on top. Yeorum arduously followed behind.
After walking for a long time, something was visible through the gaps of the dense forest. There was a fish that resembled a human, with a long fin travelling down the spine from the head to the tail. With pink gills on the neck and a large body, it carried a spear and swallowed a horrendous-looking fish.
It was the elite soldier of the fishman race, [Shakargin].
Yu Jitae hid his body behind a tree trunk. Yeorum followed suit with a slightly nervous look.
He quietly opened his mouth.
“Can you see them.”
“…Yeah.”
“What do you think.”
“…They look fucking strong.”
“How would you take them down.”
Yeorum clenched on her crimson lips. She then observed the area she and Yu Jitae were standing in.
“You brought me here on purpose right? To ambush them.”
Since he remained silent, Yeorum gave a frown and turned back to her enemy. The elite soldier was carrying a long spear, with two Shakargin mages standing behind it. They would both use water-attribute magic.
Since the entire area was covered in water, she had trouble finding a method.
“…Do I scorch them with a breath?”
There was an easy way out.
“Are you serious?”
“No. I was just joking.”
Looking back to the front, Yeorum once again contemplated as Yu Jitae quietly waited for the child to finish her line of thought.
The reason Yu Jitae gave such a trial to her was because she had been fighting until now without any plans. She had a physical body that could overwhelm current superhumans let alone the cadets of Lair, an elemental resistance that broke through the charts and a ridiculous control over mana.
Due to having all those things from birth, she had never thought or pondered before, regarding how to fight.
“Hmm… First off I’ll smack the shit out of the warrior.”
“And then.”
“I’ll take the spear and throw it.”
“And then.”
“When it’s in a panic from losing the spear, I’ll bash the mages up.”
“And then.”
“…And then just fight?”
“Alright.”
Yeorum threw a glance towards him.
“Is that correct?”
“Let’s first try doing what you said.”
Their strategy meeting came to an end.
She closed her eyes.
With a thump, her heart rate began slowing down. Then, she dashed forward like a bullet as the water splashed underneath her steps.
The situation didn’t go as she thought.
Just like her original plan, she succeeded in ambushing and smacking the shit out of the elite soldier, but the fishman’s arm muscles hideously enlarged itself and held tightly onto the spear.
She had gotten off on the wrong foot.
After that, a chaotic battle continued. Due to the interruption of the mages, she couldn’t deal with the elite soldier. Wounds stacked on top of another and blood oozed out of her body. When Yeorum was finally caught after being struck on her face with the spear shaft, Yu Jitae stepped forward and smashed the back of their necks.
“Let go, let go!”
While being dragged out by Yu Jitae, Yeorum couldn’t control herself and yelled at him to let go. Left with no other choice, he also struck the back of her neck.
[Knifehand Strike (D)]
He had to make the Shakargin elite soldier, the two mages and Yeorum faint, for the situation to be wrapped up.
“…”
When she woke back up after 2 hours or so, Yeorum glared at Yu Jitae.
“What was the problem.”
“…I don’t know.”
“…”
“Then what do you think the problem was?”
She reluctantly asked a question. During the learning process, she began to acknowledge the fact that she was weak.
“Everything was the problem.”
Yu Jitae gave his honest opinion as Yeorum revealed annoyance and irritation with her face.
“What do you mean, everything?”
“The start itself was full of problems. You didn’t make the most out of an ambush.”
“‘Make the most out’?”
“Right. At least you did realise that the location and the direction were good for ambush. However, the method was wrong. You were in too much of a hurry and weren’t stealthy enough.”
“Urgh… I don’t really understand what you’re saying. Wasn’t I quite stealthy? I did smack the fish on the back of its head. I was pretty fast.”
He shook his head.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Why focus on speed.”
“…?”
“The merit of an ambush is in its stealth and precision.”
“Then? Is speed a secondary thing?”
Once again he shook his head.
“To be frank, speed is unnecessary.”
“Why? It’s an ambush – an ambush. Shouldn’t I smack them as fast as possible?”
“Look.”
Yu Jitae extended his finger.
It was fast yet slow. Startled, Yeorum twisted her head trying to dodge it but the finger seemed to have predicted where she would go as it changed its trajectory.
Soon, it collided with her forehead.
“Huh? Fuck… what?”
She touched her forehead with astonishment. It was slow and yet she had been hit by it. She thought she could dodge it with ease but couldn’t.
“As long as you’re accurate, the speed doesn’t matter.”
Yu Jitae continued with a hushed voice.
“An ambush must be stealthy and precise every time. Sometimes, you would be better off walking up and slitting their throat, instead of chucking a knife at their back. Slow might be better.”
“…!”
“Don’t focus too much on general knowledge. This has to be this; that has to be that. Throw that away. Whenever you’re faced with something, you need to think what you really need in that situation.”
Realising something, she let out a faint gasp.
“You understand?”
“Yeah, un. I think I do.”
“Then let’s think back to the start. Restructure the situation in your head. When you were trying to ambush them, where did you go wrong, and how could you change it to be more efficient.”
Yeorum closed her eyes and revisited her unforgetting memories. She vividly remembered the situation.
She remembered the path she took, the direction and speed. From there, she reflected on the direction the mages had been staring at and the move pattern of the elite soldier.
Assuredness began appearing on her face as Yu Jitae asked the previous question one more time.
“If you could do it over, how would you take them down.”
“…Nn. Hmm, I think I could’ve taken down the two mages first if I had done it right.”
“How.”
With a slightly excited look on her face, Yeorum began explaining something.
It was just a slight tweak to her knowledge but after understanding the principle of an ambush, her horizon had been broadened. She racked her brain to think of a strategy.
“…What do you think?”
She asked excitedly after finishing her explanation.
“Let’s try doing it first.”
The result of the battle will be her answer.
At a nearby place, there was another group of an elite soldier and two mages. At a similar yet different environment, Yeorum went through with her strategy and accurately dealt with the two mages. After controlling the flow of the battlefield, she then defeated the elite soldier as well with relative ease.
“I did it, I did it! These fishy and stinky bastards!”
In high spirits, Yeorum dashed back to Yu Jitae while carrying the head of the elite soldier.
She then asked with a bright expression.
“You want one?!”
***
The chill in the air was starting to disappear and cadets could be seen wearing one less garment.
Yeorum went around various dungeons with Yu Jitae and fought every single day. For 2 weeks, she trained without resting. Her battle sense and [Karl-Gullakwa Stand-up Martial Art] skills were growing rapidly.
Even then, the morning inside the dormitory was the same as always.
“Uwaaah it’s falling!”
“…!”
Kaeul and Gyeoul were sitting together playing jenga, while Bom was giving Yeorum a soup.
“Ukk, uuuk…”
Yeorum retched after drinking the soup.
“It seriously, seriously, tastes like shit… You could scoop up some drain water and it would taste better than this.”
She didn’t reject drinking the soup despite saying that. Bom gave a smile.
Meanwhile, Yu Jitae was looking at a world map, pondering about something.
From the 2 weeks of dungeon explorations with Yu Jitae, Yeorum’s dragon heart was slowly getting used to the basic [Pulsations]. She needed to move on to the next stage of her training.
“Go to the training room by yourself for today.”
He needed to get the tools ready.
“Why? Ah, is it for that new training method?”
“Yeah. You need to put on some chains.”
“Chains?”
She had succeeded in resonantly beating her heart with [Pulsations]. Now, she had to make sure it stayed firm and Yu Jitae knew the method already. It was an extremely unsophisticated yet certain method, but it couldn’t be done empty-handed and he needed a tool.
After listening to a short explanation, Yeorum gave a nod.
But when Yu Jitae was about to leave, her voice halted his feet.
“You know.”
He looked back and found Yeorum looking at him with expectant eyes.
“Didn’t I… like, get a little bit stronger?”
Unbefitting of her usual self, her voice sounded careful.
He pondered for a bit.
Yeorum did get stronger through the 2 weeks of training but if he was asked whether she had fulfilled his expectations or not, that would be a no. Yeorum was barely catching up.
If she couldn’t even do this, he would have taken her over to a volcano to push her into the lava.
When Yu Jitae’s silence continued for a long time, expectation began disappearing from her face. Soon, she turned her body around in depression.
“But you did diligently…”
After realising his mistake, the Regressor said to her back but it was already too late.
She flicked her head towards him. Her pride must have been hurt, judging from her irritated and melancholic expression. It seemed like she could shout something at any time.
“…!”
But thinking that it would be meaningless, she turned around with a sigh.
Yeorum was put in a pretty bad mood. For no reason she went up to Kaeul and Gyeoul and kicked the jenga.
“Why, why! What are you doing? You devil!”
“Is this your room? Do it on top of a table.”
Kaeul rebelled against her and they quarrelled.
***
Taktaktak…
Inside a very deep dungeon, the S- ranked boss ‘Elder Lich’, chattered its teeth. The Lich saw a human suddenly appear in the boss room before sitting down on its throne.
Powerlessly, the skeleton magician shivered from fear in a posture that didn’t suit its alias, the ‘High Priest of Death’.
Taktaktaktaktak…
Exactly 10 minutes ago, this human who somehow appeared from somewhere, threatened the Lich to “Stay quiet, without making a fuss”.
The Lich thought he was a crazy human and thought it would be fine to just kill him. However, the moment it looked into the eyes of the man, the Elder Lich realised the level this existence was in.
This intellectual boss-ranked monster thought to itself that its 500-years of life could end today.
Taktaktatakktakkktakk…
“Be quiet.”
…Tak.
The Lich grabbed its own chin. It then hid in a corner and stole glances at the man.
Sitting down on the Lich’s throne, Yu Jitae closed his eyes and went through his body. Inside the Regressor’s heart, there were [Chains of Hell], an artifact with a slightly childish name.
Having no reflection at all, it was a chain that was way too black.
In fact, it wasn’t made of metal. This had been gained from a black dragon whom he didn’t know the name of, and was created by stacking very very thin string-like substances on top of another. It was a device that had been set to manage his killing intent which had grown beyond his control over the countless regressions.
He easily untangled it inside Noah’s dream, but that couldn’t be done in the real world because of the aftermath.
That’s why he had come to this place.
Yu Jitae quietly undid the chain.
—-.
In that moment, a shockwave resonated across the world.
Soon, coarse killing intent shot forth from his body like an ocean wave and covered the world.
It travelled through the boss room, the underground graveyard, the forests and the desert.
Several hundreds of kilometres were destroyed inside the alternate dimension of the fissure.
*
After putting the Chains of Hell back on, Yu Jitae stood up from his spot. He looked at several tiny pieces of string – fragments of [Chains of Hell]. This would be enough.
Behind the strings, he could see the Lich’s dungeon in tatters, but it failed to ring his heart.
“Thanks for your seat.”
When he stood back up, the naked skeleton whose old robe had turned into dust, nodded its head while shivering.
“Stay here quietly.”
The human was looking into its eyes. Lowering its head, the Lich avoided eye-contact.
“You’ll die if you crawl out.”
…After saying that, the human vanished.
Left alone, the Elder Lich raised its body which had been holed up in the corner. It then placed the crown half-ruined from the killing intent, back on top of its head.
Crack–. The crown crumbled and fell in pieces.
Takk…
That day,
The Elder Lich quietly gave up on its ambitious dream of conquering the human world.