Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 150: Evolving Mavros (4)

It was then.

[Han-Yeol-nim.]

‘Ah! You scared me! W-What is it, Karvis?’?

Karvis suddenly spoke to Han-Yeol.

[I am no longer surprised whenever you get surprised.]

‘Huh? What’s with that dad joke? Bring back my old Karvis!’

[Anyway, new content has been updated.]

‘A new content?’

[Yes, you may see more details regarding Demon Summoning if you read its description.]

‘Really?’

[Yes.]

It had been a long time since Karvis had brought a useful piece of advice. She was an Ego that had awakened to help Han-Yeol, but she served more as a supporter in combat rather than a guide, as she could not recall a lot of things.

It was a breath of fresh air that Karvis suddenly provided useful advice to Han-Yeol.

‘Thanks! Demon Summoning description.’

[Summoner: Lee Han-Yeol (Newbie Summoner)]

Title: N/A

Blessings: N/A

Invoke: 200/230

<Currently Contracted Demons>

[Balrog]

Level: 15

Rank: Intermediate

Experience Points: 231/45,000

Innate Skill: Absorb Flames

Stats:

STR: 60

VIT: 77

AGI: 33

MAG: 95

TEN: 130

Skills: Fire Shield, Hell Spear, Breath of Fire

Invoke Required: 100

[Void Devil]

Level: 32

Rank: Low

Experience Points: 1,728/24,222

Innate Ability: Shadow Form

Skills: Void Wave, Void Strike, Void Shift, Void Step, Void Ambush, Void Conquer

Invoke Required: 50

[Void Devil]

Level: 30

Rank: Low

Experience Points: 12,085/34,311

Innate Ability: Shadow Form

Skills: Void Storm, Void Mind, Void Space, Void Silence, Void Artillery

Invoke Required: 50

<Invoke Requirement By Rank>

Low: 50 (Above Demon Summoning Rank F)

Intermediate: 100 (Above Demon Summoning Rank E)

High: 500 (Above Demon Summoning Rank D)

Top: 1,000 (Above Demon Summoning Rank C)

72 Devils: 10,000 (Above Demon Summoning Rank B)

*Invoke is not required for up to three demons.

‘C-Crazy!’?Han-Yeol exclaimed inwardly after reading the lengthy description.

As expected, Kajikar was not treated as one of his contracted demons, and neither was Delchant, the Demon Merchant, counted as well. However, what surprised Han-Yeol was not all of these, but the amount of invocation required that was displayed at the bottom of the description.

“Kyu?!”?Mavros was quite sensitive to Han-Yeol’s emotions, and he perked his head up the moment he felt a shift.

A monster pet was not simply a domesticated monster, but it was a comrade for a Hunter.

“Ah, it’s nothing, Mavros. I’m alright.”

“Kyu~”?Mavros rubbed his head on Han-Yeol’s chest after making sure that he was alright.

‘Phew… Yeah, nothing’s going to change even if I get all worked up. The problem is how am I going to solve this…’?

In the end, the demon proved to be exactly that—a demon. It wasn't a creature that Han-Yeol could simply call upon whenever he wanted. Nonetheless, what he needed to do now was set his target on summoning another intermediate demon and increase his Invoke stat by seventy.

‘Ah… I should’ve invested more in Invoke instead of spreading it out…’?

There was no reason to cry over spilled milk, but he could not help feeling regret and frustration over his actions.

‘Well, there’s no helping it. I can just start from now on and diligently hunt these gigantic lizards. I’ll invest everything I gain from them and summon another intermediate demon before we face the Thousand Armed Bodhisattva,’?Han-Yeol thought.

This was the first time he felt a wall ever since he gained his game-like ability. It was a bit frustrating, but he decided to brush it off as another opportunity for him to grow stronger.

‘Who would’ve known Invoke was so important? Wait a minute… Is LCK an important stat too…?’?he wondered.

He wanted to try investing some points into LCK if it was important, but he hesitated since it could be a useless stat in the end.

‘But… It won’t be there if it’s useless in the first place, right…?’?

Feeling conflicted, he pondered for quite a while before he finally made up his mind.

‘Whatever, I need to prioritize Invoke for now,’?he thought as he shrugged it off.

***

Chwak!

“Kwuooook!”

Blue blood splattered on Han-Yeol’s face, but he did not flinch as he was fully focused on the battle, and delivering the next attack was more important to him.

He was currently fighting with Demon Eyes on. He preferred not to use this skill during combat as it interfered with his vision, but the three-sixty-degree vision Demon Eyes offered made it quite convenient for him to check up on his allies’ status while fighting.

It was quite uncomfortable at first, but he slowly got used to it. No, it actually proved to be extremely convenient as he was able to read the flow of mana then and there.

[Wow… Our Vice Leader-nim is working too hard.]

[Yeah, he seems to be giving it his all. Did something happen?]

[Come on, nothing, I’m sure it’s nothing. We were trapped together here for the last few days so what could’ve happened?]

[Well, I guess you’re right…]

[Hey, quit chatting and focus on the battle!]

[Y-Yes!]

Han-Yeol’s extremely fast hunting speed gave the other Hunters the luxury to chat during the battle, but they were soon scolded by a raid party executive.

However, even the executive could not help but find it strange.

‘Why is he pushing himself all of a sudden?’

It wasn't strange at all for them to ask such a question, but they were probably not going to guess the reason behind it, even in their wildest dreams.

Han-Yeol had to deal as much damage as possible to obtain the maximum experience points whenever he was fighting with a party, and he didn't have the luxury of holding back if he wanted to level up quickly, considering the limited number of gigantic lizards available.

‘Vicious Stabs!’

Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk! Puk!?

“Gwuooooh!”

Thud!

Han-Yeol killed a gigantic lizard, but he did not even stop to catch his breath. He immediately ran over to help Mujahid.

Shwiiiiik! Puuuuk!

“Kieeeeek!”

The gigantic lizard was fully occupied with Mujahid, and it shrieked in agony when it was ambushed by Han-Yeol’s sword. The sword stabbed into the exposed part of its body, and the sword was brightly burning with flames, which was a natural weakness of reptiles.

“Haaap!”

“Kwuooh!”

Han-Yeol and the gigantic lizard let out a shout as they clashed with each other.

Chwak!

“Gwuoooh!”

Thud!

As expected, the gigantic lizard did not stand a chance against Han-Yeol and fell dead to the ground.

“Haa… Haa… Haa…”?Han-Yeol was exhausted after using too much mana in a short period of time.

It was then.

Ding! Ding!

[Your level has risen.]

[The rank of ‘Sword Breath’ has risen from (A) to (M),]

‘Oh! It finally reached Master Rank,’?Han-Yeol rejoiced at the message and expected an even better skill to appear.

His expectation was right on the money.

Ding!

[‘Sword Breath’ has reached Master-Rank.]

[A new skill has been created: ‘Explosion’.]

‘Huh? Explosion?’?Han-Yeol was confused by the appearance of a magic skill, Explosion, when he mastered a sword skill that engulfed his sword with flames.

[Explosion (F)]

Type: Active

Description: A powerful explosion will be triggered whenever a target is cut by the user’s sword engulfed with Sword Breath. The explosion damage will increase the higher this skill’s level becomes.

‘Wow…’?Han-Yeol realized that he was thinking too one-dimensionally after reading the skill’s description.

His ability was indeed game-like, but that did not mean that it was a hundred percent like the games he played.

Explosion was a magic spell often used by magicians in s or games, but this ‘Explosion’ was registered as a sword ability for Han-Yeol. Not only that, but the skill was actually quite powerful, and he dared say that it was the perfect skill he required right now against the gigantic lizards.

‘Alright, I should test this out on these reptile bastards,’?Han-Yeol thought while walking to replenish his mana.

Other Hunters had to wait until their mana naturally replenished, but Han-Yeol possessed a cheat-like skill that allowed him to replenish mana simply by walking around.

Mujahid approached Han-Yeol and patted him on the shoulder.

Pat!

[Aren’t you pushing yourself too much, hyung-nim? I heard from noonim that your mana capacity is quite big, but you will exhaust yourself if you keep pushing like that.]

Mujahid was speaking in his usual carefree way, but he was actually apologetic deep inside. He was an S Rank Hunter, but he was not able to do anything since the gigantic lizards directly countered his abilities. He wanted to apologize for his shortcomings, but he found it difficult to apologize to other people due to his personality.

In the end, this was his own way of apologizing to Han-Yeol.

Of course, his effort was not in vain as Han-Yeol could feel what Mujahid wanted to say deep inside.

[Well, it’s alright. This is a secret between you and me but… I actually have a skill that replenishes my mana, and that’s why I’m able to replenish mana so quickly and use more than other Hunters.]

[Wow! That’s an amazing skill! It seems like you’re monopolizing all of the rare skills in the world!] Mujahid was sincerely surprised and impressed by that revelation.

[I think I am. Haha!]

[Keke!]

The mood instantly lightened up after the two joked around for a bit.

It went without saying that Mavros ate one of the monster's corpses and its mana stone as soon as the battle concluded.

[Hmm… It seems that Mavros’ appetite has increased.]

[Yeah, I think so too…]

The difference in the baby black dragon's appetite was quite evident. It was a bit difficult to quantify, but anyone could see that he was eating more and more.

The increased appetite of the baby black dragon was not a concern for Han-Yeol, as what mattered to him the most was the change that was occurring in his pet.

‘Change will always bring results,’?Han-Yeol thought before he stretched his tired neck.

Crack! Crack!?

He felt that it was time for him to kick things up a notch now that he had obtained a new skill.

***

“Haaap!”

Puk!

“Kwuoooh!”

Han-Yeol stretched and asked Mariam to increase their hunting speed.

Mariam went to Tayarana to ask for her opinion, and Tayarana easily agreed after feeling that things had become a bit boring around here.

Thanks to that, the Horus raid party Hunters were on the verge of dying from exhaustion.

[Ah.. Damn it… These lizards are too damn stubborn… Die!]

[Argh!]

[Huff… Huff…]

Puk! Puk! Puk! Pukeok!

Of course, they had changed their formation to a three-shift rotation since the increased hunting speed was going to drain their stamina much faster than usual. With their already limited numbers, it would be a huge problem if the Hunters lost concentration due to fatigue, as it could result in casualties.

The Egyptian Hunters who were taking a break sat on the ground and meditated whenever they had the chance to replenish their mana. Concentrating was challenging amidst the ongoing battles, but they believed it was still better than idling around.

This time, the Horus raid party was facing four gigantic lizards.

[Bring it on, you reptiles!]

Han-Yeol unleashed his full firepower.

[Everything is meaningless…]

Balrog and the two Void Devils marked one of the gigantic lizards.

Han-Yeol used his demons sparingly as they cost resources to summon, but he figured now was the time to use them.

‘I can just toss them each a mana stone from the monster rabbits,’?he thought as he shrugged the cost off.

Bam!

There were no differences in Balrog and the gigantic lizard’s size. Balrog slammed his shield when the gigantic lizard attempted to body-smash him.

Kwachik!

[This punk’s attack packs quite the punch. Bring it on! I will block you until my body breaks! Bwahaha!]

It was impossible for Balrog, specializing in defense, and the two Void Devils, offensive but low-ranking demons, to defeat a gigantic lizard on their own. However, what Han-Yeol desired was for them to draw the attention of the gigantic lizard until he finished his task.

It was evident that this particular combination of demons was specialized for the required task.

1. Tenacity