Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 147: Evolving Mavros (1)

Mujahid started running his mouth once again without processing his thoughts.

‘Geez… This guy runs his mouth too casually. It’s really unbefitting of a prince…’?Han-Yeol shook his head.

The image of elite children he had were those who had received strict training from a young age and were very careful with what they said, but this prince, who was supposed to be the most elite among the elite, simply acted in such a casual manner.

It would have made sense if he was a normal person, but who would have known that a prince of Egypt was going to be like this…?

Han-Yeol decided to actively participate in the meeting.

[Hmm… I think we can easily find a spot to raid the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva based on the map, and the best route would be the one being guarded by the dragons. Do you agree?]

[Yes, I agree with you, Han-Yeol-nim.]

Beep!

Mariam pressed the remote controller and the hologram image changed, revealing all of the possible routes the raid party could take on the map.

[Are these the most efficient routes we can take to the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva?]

[Yes, that is correct.]

[I guess our enemies know about them too.]

[Pardon me?] Mariam tilted her head in confusion.

‘Cute…’?

Han-Yeol could not help but find Mariam to be quite cute. She might not be as beautiful as Tayarana, but she had her own set of charms.

‘She might act cold and tough, but she’s a cute softie inside. Hehe….’?Han-Yeol was now completely distracted.

[Han-Yeol-nim?]

Han-Yeol snapped out of it after Mariam called his name.

[Ah, right… Sorry about that. Where were we again?]

Mariam let out a sigh, and Han-Yeol flinched in response. She had a habit of nagging right after letting out a sigh, and Han-Yeol knew this all too well.

[We were discussing how the most efficient route is where the zodiac monsters, the dragons, are.]

[Ah, right. I noticed that the monster dragons possess the highest mana density among the twelve zodiac monsters. The boss monster stationed his most powerful minions at the route we’re likely to take, but I’m not sure if it was done on purpose or a mere coincidence.]

[I see…] Mariam nodded in agreement.

What Han-Yeol said just now completely made sense, but that did not mean that they were going to change their plans because of it. The twelve zodiac monsters were stationed around Mount Toham in two teams, with one half stationed in the outskirts of the mountain and the other stationed in the inner parts of the mountain.

They were eventually going to have to fight twice if they chose another route due to being afraid of the monster dragons. Not to mention, they were going to have to give up this basecamp they had painstakingly established if they decided to avoid the monster dragons.

[Tayarana-nim.]

Mariam looked at Tayarana. What mattered in the end was the decision of the leader no matter how much the underlings debated.

[Proceed.]

[I understand.]

[Hehehe… That’s great! I’m excited to go all out. Those rabbits weren’t even appetizers to me!]

[I shall repeat myself once again. I was not talking to you, Mujahid-nim.]

[You’re so mean!]

‘As expected.’?Han-Yeol smiled in satisfaction after getting the answer he expected.

Tayarana was the type who would think of a winning solution in the face of a strong opponent instead of finding ways to avoid them.

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!?

Han-Yeol stretched and cracked his itching bones. He might not be a battle maniac like Tayarana or Mujahid, but he loved fighting as well. There was no reason for him to back down from a fun fight just because he was scared of the enemy.

‘I should use this opportunity to level up my skills and start diligently collecting new skills,’?he thought.

The new hammer skills he had obtained reignited his drive to obtain as many skills as he could.

Han-Yeol recently developed a hobby of starting collections which began with the game consoles before moving on to the supercars. He was probably going to start collecting yachts and private jets once he made even more money.

However, there was one thing that he loved to collect more than anything.

‘As expected, nothing beats the satisfaction of collecting skills,’?

He explosively grew stronger after having awakened with the game-like ability that allowed him to collect skills. Ironically, even his ego system had no idea what his limit was, and so far it seemed like the sky was his limit.

His sudden growth made him complacent in recent times, which stunted his growth, but that was no longer the case now.

[Shall we go and kill those dragons if we’ve reached a decision?] Han-Yeol asked.

[Sure,] Tayarana replied.

[Hehehe… We’re going to fight against… A fight gives me the best high…!] Mujahid added.

[I will start preparations at once,] Mariam said with a bow.

Not a single hint of hesitation could be found in the Horus raid party. Tayarana, Han-Yeol, and Mujahid were going to stand at the forefront to hunt down the fifth zodiac, the dragons.

However, it was inevitable that some of the Hunters were going to be anxious. They knew that they were up against powerful enemies this time, unlike the monster rabbits.

The Horus raid party marched on.

[This is the boundary.]

Han-Yeol had been using his Demon Eyes ever since their march started, and he immediately gave the signal after they were right in front of the dragons’ territory.

Gulp!

[We will be entering their territory the moment we cross this boundary, and similar to the monster rabbits, we can expect them to react as soon as we set foot in their territory. Fortunately, these monsters are made up of few powerful creatures unlike the massive monster rabbit army, so we don’t have the risk of being surrounded. But that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be an easy fight.]

Tak!

Mujahid balled his fist and slammed them together at Han-Yeol’s words. It was probably painful to slam his fist together like that, judging by how powerful his punches were, but he was a hardened veteran Hunter who knew how to control his abilities. Also, the pain was just another physical sensation that he was all too familiar with.

Tayarana was the first one to step into the monster dragons’ territory.

“Kuuuuuoh!”

[As expected, they are reacting.]

The entire Horus raid party followed behind Tayarana and entered the monster dragons’ territory, and they were greeted by a rage-filled roar. It was soon followed by a small earthquake.

Some of the Hunters wondered if this was how it felt right before a volcano erupted to unleash its fury.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!?

The sound of something loudly stomping the ground reverberated throughout the surroundings.

[They’re coming! Stay alert, everyone!]

[Roger that!]

The special drone was still a prototype, so they could not afford to keep it on at all times. This was true especially during battle, and this meant that Han-Yeol was the Horus raid party’s only pair of eyes at this moment.

‘It was really a smart move for us to recruit him.’

‘It’s quite easy to communicate with him, and he is skilled in a lot of things, so getting help from him is quite easy… But the best thing is…’

‘He’s the most normal one among them…’

The Horus raid party Hunters whispered among themselves. They were quite impressed by the fact that Han-Yeol was not only a skilled fighter but he possessed quite a variety of useful skills as well.

[They’re coming!] Han-Yeol shouted.

Kwachik!

Kuuooh!

The trees on Earth were quite small, unlike the trees found in anime or fantasy s, and this made it so easy for the monster dragons to step on the trees that stood in their path.

[How the hell do those things look like dragons…?]

The dragon from the twelve zodiac monsters was not the same oriental dragon people from East Asia were accustomed to. The twelve zodiac monsters simply had some resemblance to the animals they represented, but they looked nothing like the animals that most people knew of.

A prime example of this was the monster dragons, which resembled gigantic lizards more than traditional dragons. However, these lizards were not your average lizards as they were equipped with rusted armor that covered their entire body except for their legs and stomach.

Kwachik!

Tayarana was the first to spread her wings after the gigantic lizards appeared. She flew up in the sky and turned into an eagle that was looking at her new prey.

[Alright! Excellent! I would feel ecstatic if I got hit by one of them!]

Flinch!

Han-Yeol was shocked, doubting the exclamation he had just heard Mujahid say.

‘Is this guy, by any chance, a masochist…?’?he wondered if his disciple had that tendency, and then he proceeded to curse the heavens, ‘My god! Why have you sent this tribulation to me?!’?

Anyway, he decided to put these issues at rest for now and focus on the task at hand.

Han-Yeol summoned a chain with a hammer attached to its end with his left hand, and he summoned his favorite sword with his right hand.

[Let’s go!]

[Here we go!]

[Waaaaaaaaah!]

Han-Yeol was the first one to jump at the lizards, followed by Mujahid, and then Tayarana, and lastly the Egyptian Hunters.

The gigantic lizards continued charging toward the Horus raid party without showing any signs of stopping, and their bulging muscles suggested that they were intent on bulldozing through their enemies.

[Stay alert and be careful. We don’t know anything about them, so you might get killed in a single strike from an unknown skill. Make sure you don’t become complacent.]

Mariam used her trademark skill to establish a telepathy network. The skill allowed her to speak directly into the minds of the Hunters and give them commands like a drill sergeant.

***

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!?

The gigantic lizards threatened the humans using their size.

[Keuk!]

They started with their most basic attack, stomping, followed by body smash, biting, tail whip, and a variety of other attacks.

These kinds of physically strong monsters that possessed a variety of attack patterns were not that common, and it was quite surprising that such a large monster was able to move so quickly and in such a versatile manner. After all, they were mere minions under a boss monster.

‘The fight’s getting interesting now,’?Han-Yeol thought as he was getting excited.

They could have fought the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva in a much better state if they chose a weaker zodiac monster, but having such an experience was not a bad thing at all.

‘Chain Smite!’?

Shiiiik! Clang!

‘Tsk!’

Han-Yeol used chain smite and threw the hammer attached to the end of his chain at the exposed area of the gigantic lizard, but the monster displayed great intelligence as it simply turned its body and blocked the strike with its armor.

‘That armor is full of rust, so why is it so sturdy?’?Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

As expected, monsters were not creatures that conformed to scientific common sense. The mana and abilities bestowed by the aliens could be deciphered using science and technology, and humanity was making great strides in improving them. However, the same could not be said for the monsters as they defied the very foundation of science itself.

Thirty years had passed since the monsters had first made their appearance, but humanity’s knowledge of them had not made any progress at all. In fact, the information the aliens had provided thirty years ago was the only knowledge they had until today.

The only thing that had made progress regarding the monsters was probably how to utilize their mana stones as a source of energy and how to manufacture products from their body parts.

Still, the scientists in charge of researching things about monsters were embarrassed to claim such progress. All of this progress had technically been made by material scientists.

Thud!

‘Keuk!’?

The gigantic lizard that parried Han-Yeol’s attack completely ignored the Egyptian Hunters attacking it. Instead, it proceeded to charge at Han-Yeol and swiped its tail at him. Surprisingly, the monster did not use all of its force in the attack. It appeared to be aware of the fact that it was probably strong enough to mince the human with a light swing of its tail.

Han-Yeol was already expecting the attack thanks to Sixth Sense, and he was able to easily evade it after time slowed. He tried to take a few steps back and easily avoid the attack, but the powerful gust of wind created by the tail still made him tumble backward.

Fortunately, he did not sustain any physical damage from the wind, but it was more than enough for the monster to make a statement out of it.

‘Eat this!’?Han-Yeol used Chain Smite one more time, but this time, he attacked from the monster’s blind spot while it was still in the motion of swinging its tail.

Puk!

“Kuek!”

Han-Yeol’s chain was mounted with the Ego system, Karvis, which possessed greater intelligence than most humans. In the end, he was able to hit the monster where he wanted without having to control the chain.

The hammer struck the gigantic lizard’s unarmored and exposed area thanks to Karvis, and the monster was obviously in pain after getting hit.

The gigantic lizard might be extremely tough, but there was no way it was going to be unscathed after receiving the brunt of Han-Yeol’s mana.

‘Tsk…’?

However, Han-Yeol clicked his tongue after confirming that he was not able to do much damage against the gigantic lizard.