Chapter 26
Kreeeh!
A giant lizard the size of a shipping container ran wild. It was a Radanmo, an Invasive Chaos of the nagas. To be more specific, it was a Bone Radanmo with a spine, skull, and a partially formed tailbone.
“Jun! It’s going to you!”
“Chaaa!”
[Activating Skill: Immovable.]
Shin Jun used a skill that enveloped him with a faint brown energy before, but its color was much more vivid now. The Radanmo headbutted Jun, but he was only pushed back roughly fifty centimeters. Seeing a human blocking the charge of a lizard the size of a shipping container was shocking.
“Keep it there! Hup!” Ho-Geun shouted as he charged with his sledgehammer.
[Activating Skill: Focus Strike.]
It seemed as if pressurized air was gathered at the end of Ho-Geun’s sledgehammer. He swung the hammer down on the Radanmo’s spine.
Kreeeh!
A few of the Radanmo’s vertebrae were destroyed, but it swung its tail like a whip and rammed it into Ho-Geun.
“Gah!”
Ho-Geun's armor caved in as he was blown away like a fly struck by a fly swatter.
“Ho-Geun!”
[Activating Skill: Melto’s Tongue.]
Hee-Gyeong caught Ho-Geun with her whip to minimize the damage done to him. Seung-Jun took the chance to climb onto the Radanmo’s back. He raised his sword and used a skill.
“Hup!”
[Activating Skill: Double Slash.]
Seung-Jun’s sword sank into where Ho-Geun destroyed the Radanmo’s spine.
Kreeeh!
The Radanmo thrashed about after sensing that it was in danger, but couldn’t get away because of the throwing knives targeting it from behind, the spear and sword stabbing it from the sides, and the manhole cover blocking its front. Just then, a high-pitched sound echoed throughout the battlefield.
[Activating Skill: Crush Arrow.]
An Old Iron Arrow with a blue tinge struck the Radanmo’s os deep inside its back, destroying it with the activated skill.
Kreeeh.
The Radanmo collapsed lifelessly and instantly turned into black blood, leaving only its bones.
“Ahhh! We did it! We finally beat one on our own!” Seong-Tae, who had been blocking the Radanmo from the left with his sword and shield, shouted joyfully.
“Huff, huuu! A Bone one, no less!” shouted Hwa-Yeon, who had stabbed the Radanmo’s right flank with a spear.
They had hunted a Radanmo without Seong-Hwi’s help for the first time. Radanmos were usually meant to be avoided. As more people gathered, the number and the strength of the Radanmos that appeared also increased. Hence, the Radanmos were always slightly stronger than the human groups they faced. The Radanmos existed solely to split up people who traveled in groups, but Jun’s team, run by excellent command, successfully hunted them.
“Huuu, but I wonder if we should be happy after seeing that,” Seung-Jun said as he stared at the battle next to them.
They could see the surging fire from explosions, and a Flesh Radanmo about fifty percent larger than the Bone Radanmo they faced was getting roasted. A man, staring at the fire, jumped upward, and a black bow appeared in his hand. He drew his bowstring, and an arrow created out of nowhere disappeared into the flames as if drawn to it.
Kreeeh!
The arrow somehow struck the Flesh Radanmo’s os despite being impossible to see in the flames, and it stopped moving. The man landed gracefully on the ground. He was Seong-Hwi, who regrouped with Jun’s team. It had been about five days since he wiped out the Chedbell gang.
[Progress: 90 / 100]
“Ten more to go.”
***
After the battle, they took a break. Eleven people sat in a circle in an open field under the crescent moon.
“It looks like you all are getting the hang of using mana,” Seong-Hwi said as he looked around Jun’s team.
Seong-Hwi regrouped with Jun’s team after wiping out the Chedbell gang and advanced to the third zone with them. At first, they had difficulty defeating a single Blood Radanmo, but could now defeat a Bone Radanmo.
“Heh! It’s all thanks to you teaching us, Card,” Ho-Geun remarked as he gave Seong-Hwi a thumbs-up.
As he mentioned, Seong-Hwi had been teaching Jun and his teammates how to use stats, activate skills, use their D Weapons, and more. They were initially uncomfortable around Seong-Hwi and had difficulty trusting him, but gradually came around once his methods proved effective.
Using fully grown humans might appear more beneficial than raising newbies to use, but I think not.
Countless humans existed in the Mirror World, and many were highly talented. However, they would surely scoff at Seong-Hwi and refuse if he suggested several methods to better their race. Talented humans would have already received enticing offers from clans hell-bent on growing their factions; the betterment of their persecuted race would be the last thing on their minds.
On the other hand, these guys are still a blank slate. If they’re raised well, they’ll be useful to me in the future.
“But what you said about D Weapons is still hard to understand,” Jun remarked.
“Yeah. I haven’t the faintest clue about why my D Weapon is a clutch bag,” Seong-Tae agreed.
Seong-Hwi explained in more detail, “D Weapons are bound to have some form of connection to you from Earth. It could be part of your subconscious, trauma, wish, background, culture, family history, or more. You have to think about those.”
“And if we do, can we use various skills like you?” Seung-Jun asked, his eyes gleaming.
Seong-Hwi shook his head and answered, “I told you that you can establish a rule for your D Weapon once its stat hits F(50), didn’t I?”
“Right. I got a message like that, too.”
“Me too, but I’m not sure what that means.”
The ones who invested stats into their D Weapons, as Seong-Hwi instructed, nodded.
“You can establish a rule anytime you want. Let’s take you as an example, Sword. You can create a unique skill for your cutlass if you want to.”
“Then I’ll make one right now!”
“What rule are you going to establish?”
“Uhhh,” Seung-Jun slurred hesitantly.
“All you can think of is making it harder or sharper, right?”
Seung-Jun remained silent.
Seong-Hwi continued, “I’m not saying that’s bad. It’s fine as long as you’re an enhancer.”
Ho-Geun joined, “Oh, that’s one of the categories you mentioned last time. Enhancement, emission, conjuration, manipulation, transformation, and... specialization.”
Seong-Hwi nodded and answered, “Yes. Each person has a category in which they are the most talented, and you can only know which one you belong to by understanding the properties of your D Weapon. You’ll have to take the long way to become stronger if you realize too late that you belong to a different category.”
Seong-Hwi was the perfect example. He only realized he was a specialist after starting with enhancement and going through the other categories. However, that experience allowed him to create his masterpiece, Symbol Embodiment.
“You want to use all kinds of skills like me? Then you have to be a specialist too.”
“Why is that?” Seung-Jun asked in dissatisfaction.
Seong-Hwi drew a pentagon with five lines from each corner converging in the middle, with ten perpendicular lines like a spider web. It was the Web of Categories, which was always used when explaining the categories of D Weapons.
“Most use one category as their main and one or two others as their sub,” Seong-Hwi explained as he circled the transformation category. “If you were a transformer, you could use powers corresponding to transformation at one hundred percent efficiency. You could display eighty percent efficiency of powers corresponding to manipulation and enhancement, which are only one space away, and powers corresponding to conjuration and emission, which are two spaces away, at fifty percent efficiency.”
Seong-Hwi drew lines connecting the various intersection points of the lines on the pentagon, forming a slightly distorted smaller pentagon where transformation took the full ten lines, eight for manipulation and enhancement, and five for conjuration and emission.
Jun nodded, understanding the chart. “I see. Your powers would only be at fifty percent efficiency if you make an enhancement rule without knowing which category you belong to and realize later that you are a conjurer.”
“Exactly. Adding a bunch of random rules will only make the restrictions to their effects harsher, and you might even have to throw away the skills you took precious time to polish.”
Seong-Hwi looked as if he had added several rules to his D Weapon, but had added only one. It made the embodiment of various symbols and freely using them extremely difficult, which required countless hours of practical experience, skill mastery, and talent.
Most people added three to five rules to their D Weapon because having too many blunted one’s focus during battle. Rather than establishing tons of unique skills while thinking the more the better, finding a few skills that matched one’s style was far more important.
Seong-Hwi remarked, “There are two ways to know which category you belong to. The first is what I’ve already mentioned: thinking about your subconscious, trauma, or wish on Earth.”
“Subconscious what? Isn’t it called the subconscious because we’re not conscious of it?” Seong-Tae asked, scratching his head in confusion.
Seong-Hwi smirked and continued, “The second is guessing based on the D Weapon’s outer appearance.” He pointed at Seung-Jun and Ho-Geun and said, “For example, D Weapons with a clear shape of a weapon like the ones these two have are highly likely to be part of the enhancement category.”
He then pointed at Min-Jae, whose D Weapon was a bow. “He’s likely an emitter.”
Next, he pointed at Ye-Ji, Hee-Gyeong, and Do-Hyun. Their D Weapons were a smartphone, a ball of yarn, and a yo-yo. “These three are likely manipulators.”
He pointed at Ha Rin and Hwa-Yeon. Rin’s D Weapon was the Yorkshire Terrier Chocho, and Hwa-Yeon’s was a compact. “Animal D Weapons are more often than not part of the transformation category. Cosmetic products like a compact can also be part of it.”
𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎
Next, he pointed at Seong-Tae, whose D Weapon was a clutch bag. “D Weapons that may be hiding or holding something unknown are often part of the conjuration category.”
He lastly pointed at Jun, whose D Weapon was a manhole cover. It was a circular heap of metal with a spider web pattern and small circular holes around it, and the word sewage was written in the middle.
“Hmmm, it might be part of enhancement since you’ve been using it like a shield all this time, but it’s not like it was meant to be used that way. Ambiguous D Weapons like this are sometimes part of the specialization category, but I can’t be sure since there are so few.” Seong-Hwi shook his head and continued, “In any case, this is all just speculation. If you want to be sure, you’re better off using the first method.”
“Subconscious, huh?”
“I don’t think I have anything worth calling a trauma.”
“Family history? Are you talking about stuff like hereditary diseases or what?”
The group fell into thought, but Jun had a question for Seong-Hwi. He had already asked several times and got the same answer each time, but couldn’t help but ask anyway.
“How do you know all this? Is that your D Weapon’s ability?”
Jun stared at Seong-Hwi in disbelief.
Seong-Hwi smiled and shuffled his tarot cards, answering, “I told you. I can see many things through tarot card readings.”
It was, of course, a lie. There were D Weapons with abilities that could see into the future, but they were extremely rare. Seong-Hwi had once tried to mimic a prophecy ability using his Borrowing Destiny skill, but its cost was so high that he got hurt badly, as if it were a profound secret that must not be divulged. Jun would never have believed Seong-Hwi’s lie if he knew things about the Mirror World.
Spend a decade in the Mirror World if you have a problem with that, newbie.
Seong-Hwi laughed internally as he watched Jun staring at him skeptically. The tradition of fooling newbies existed even on Earth and was passed down to the Mirror World.