Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 333 – Yulia’s Betrayal (6)

"Hoho," Tia said, licking her lips as she glanced at Han-Yeol, "Arachnids are quite independent creatures."

Slurp~!

She appeared extremely sensual and seductive at that moment.

"H-Hiiik!" Han-Yeol shrieked in horror, completely forgetting to check what her other new skills did.

He gripped the Dimension Stone after confirming that Tia and Mavros had their second awakening. Then, he said, "Let's go back."

"But won't they be standing guard over there?" Tia replied.

"Hoho! This Dimension Stone has another secret only I know of. I can set a coordinate on where to open the dimensional gate!"

"Really? It has such an amazing function?"

"Hohoho!"

Han-Yeol mimicked Tia’s laugh as he confidently infused his mana into the Dimension Stone but...

"Huh?"

There was a problem.

"H-Huh?"

No matter how much mana he injected into it, the Dimension Stone did not react.

"What's going on?!" Han-Yeol exclaimed, not expecting such a problem.

The Dimension Stone consistently glowed brightly due to the immense mana it held, but its glow was nowhere to be seen right now. Han-Yeol couldn't sense any mana coming from it.

"W-What in the world is the problem...?"

"Oh? It seems that you have a problem, master."

“Kyu?”

Tia and Mavros approached him to inspect the issue.

"N-No... T-This isn't supposed to..." Han-Yeol stuttered, starting to panic.

Then, he suddenly remembered he had a skill that could identify the problem. ‘That's right! I can use Item Appraisal!’

He promptly activated his skill on the Dimension Stone.

Ding!

[Dimension Stone]

Type: Processed Mana Stone

Mana Capacity: 0/10,000

Activation Effect: Opens a dimensional gate connecting a selected first dimension to a second dimension.

Description: An ultimate treasure crafted from a high-grade mana stone with extreme precision and skill. It's designed to open an artificial dimensional gate between dimensions. However, it requires ten thousand mana to activate and will recover one thousand mana every twenty-four hours.

"..." Han-Yeol was left speechless after reading all the descriptions.

‘Ten days?! I’m stuck here for ten days?!’

Then, he began scratching his head in frustration. ‘Alone?! I'm stuck here alone?!’

Though Tia and Mavros were with him, they were more like his subordinates—or rather, family—so they didn't count. The absence of his most trusted companions within the Bastro Dimension, Riru and Kandir, dealt a heavy blow to his morale.

‘Haa... I guess there's nothing I can do about it,’ he quickly conceded.

After all, nothing would change even if he raged and complained. He still had to wait ten days for the Dimension Stone to recover its mana.

“Tia, Mavros.”

“Hmm?”

“Kyu?”

He explained the situation to them.

"...So that's what happened."

"Omo~ Does that mean I'll be on a lovely date with my master for the next ten days?"

“Kyu!”

"I'm envious of how you can stay so calm in this situation..."

"Hoho~ I actually like it. To be honest, there's no difference between Earth and the Bastro Dimension for me. No, I think I prefer this place more than Earth?"

"Sure, sure, I'm sure you do."

It was understandable why Tia would prefer the Bastro Dimension, as the Arachnids were creatures that loved death.

"Kyu!"

On the other hand, Mavros seemed happy to be anywhere as long as he was with Han-Yeol.

‘But you ditched me for some strange egg last time, didn't you?’ Han-Yeol grumbled inwardly.

"Kyu! Kyu!"

However, Mavros seemed oblivious to what Han-Yeol was thinking as he excitedly cried out and jumped up and down.

‘He's too cute!’ Han-Yeol couldn't bring himself to stay mad at him.

There was nothing else he could do, so he decided to start his ten-day project in the Bastro Dimension. Whether he ended up here intentionally or unintentionally was not important, as he immediately began his first day by scouting around his surroundings. It went without saying that he had to be discreet and thorough when exploring the area.

‘This cave is not that far from where we annihilated the Hyena Cleaners.’

Some might argue that it was quite far, but it definitely wasn't a distance where he could drop his guard.

‘Well, I doubt the hyenas are stupid enough to think the Bastrolings will remain anywhere near where the battle took place, but it won't hurt to be careful anyway.’

Han-Yeol had made sure to purify not only the dead hyenas but even the corrupted soldiers. Some of the Feline Warriors had reported that the Hyena Sorcerers possessed strange abilities that read the memories of the dead. Han-Yeol had effectively prevented them from doing so by purifying the corpses.

Scouting around the cave's surroundings wasn't difficult for Han-Yeol, thanks to his skill that allowed him to see within a six-kilometer radius.

‘Demon Eyes!’

Beep! Beep!

His skill activated and scanned every nook and cranny around him as if it were a submarine sonar radar. This went on for around thirty minutes as he maximized his focus and thoroughly searched his surroundings.

"Phew... There don't seem to be any hyenas in the vicinity," he sighed in relief after finishing his search.

The thought of being stuck in this narrow cave for the next ten days if there were any lurking hyenas already seemed dauntingly boring. Fortunately, while scouting the area with his Demon Eyes, he spotted a place that seemed to be a dungeon.

‘I guess the next ten days are going to be packed!’

He couldn't help but feel excited about the upcoming dungeon, despite having hunted in various dungeons in the Bastro Dimension. He was the type that never tired of fighting new monsters, and the fact that he could quickly become extremely powerful here only fueled his motivation.

‘Freemason... You might have the entire world on your side, but I'll crush every single one of you! Mark my words!’ he vowed to fight against the whole world if necessary.

But before that, he had to regain the same power he had possessed during his peak as Harkan. Regaining his skills wasn't too challenging, but achieving the same level as Harkan was the difficult part.

At Level 333, he was already quite strong, but what if he reached Level 800? He might then be powerful enough to face the entire world alone and emerge victorious.

“Omo, but master~”

“Hmm?”

“What are you going to fight with?”

"Huh...?" Han-Yeol stood stupefied for a moment.

Tia was right. He didn't have a single weapon with him. His shoulder cannons, Thousand Armed Bodhisattva Sword, and even his uniquely rated chain were all destroyed in the fight against the creature.

He did manage to win, but losing all his weapons turned it into a pyrrhic victory. Moreover, the fact that the creature only died after exhausting all of its mana added to the shame.

"Damn it... Do I have to fight with my fists?"

"Oh? I think you'll look quite cool, master."

"Are you trying to pour oil on a burning house right now, Tia?"

"Hmm? I can if you want me to~"

"Never mind... Sigh..."

Han-Yeol realized once again that Tia was not someone he could win against with words, so he decided it would be easier for him to simply give up.

‘Hold on... I have Delchant!’ he suddenly remembered.

The Demon Merchant, Delchant! While buying something as advanced as the shoulder cannon might not be possible, acquiring a sword or a chain from him seemed within reach.

Han-Yeol closed his eyes and visualized Delchant's sigil, but they say that bad things were bound to happen all at once.

Ding!

[The Demon Merchant, Delchant, is currently unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep.]

Beep!

“…”

Han-Yeol blinked a few times.

"Ah... I guess today is an unlucky day for me..."

Now, he truly had no choice but to fight bare-handed.

"I guess I have no choice but to make full use of my demons..."

Han-Yeol wasn't the type to shy away from a fight just because he lacked weapons. He possessed skills enabling him to fight both in melee and at a range. If needed, all he had to do was create a skill that would help him fight bare-handed.

Fortunately, it wasn't going to be difficult for him to fight without weapons, considering he had recently obtained the Magma Attribute skill.

“Let’s go in a bit.”

“Okay, master~”

“Kyu!”

“Haa…”

Han-Yeol felt his stress levels rise after the series of unfortunate events, so the first thing he did was open his dimensional inventory and take out a blanket to get some sleep. His body had already recovered from the fight against the creature, but nothing relieved stress quite like a good nap.

An hour later...

He woke up from his nap and decided to put the Magma Attribute to the test.

Wooong!

Bringing his hands together as if scooping water from a pond, he channeled his mana to conjure magma in his hands.

Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!

While some might argue it should be called lava instead of magma since it didn't come out from the ground, the distinction was minimal. After all, lava was essentially magma that flowed out of the ground, so it was technically correct to call it magma.

The magma Han-Yeol conjured was far more destructive and hotter than natural underground magma, but to his surprise, it felt quite warm to him, akin to warm water.

Mana was intricate, recognizing its owner, and the magma conjured by Han-Yeol acknowledged him as its owner, causing no harm.

He pondered what to do with this skill. The first thing that came to mind was a certain marine from a famous Japanese animation who used magma as his main weapon. Though impressive, Han-Yeol decided against pursuing it.

‘His entire body was made out of magma. That doesn't suit me.’

While he could conjure magma, his entire body wasn't made of it. Additionally, the animation only showcased the marine's skills and weaknesses without explaining the mechanism, making replication challenging for Han-Yeol.

So what now?

‘As expected, simplicity is the best policy!’ Han-Yeol, preferring simplicity, immediately got to work with his ideas.

Chwak…

“Hmm?”

He slightly shifted his fingers, feeling uncomfortable in the same position, but he noticed that the magma had a consistency similar to wet clay.

‘Oh right, magma was basically earth and metals melted in extreme temperatures.’

Magma wasn't a simple liquid but a complicated matter that would become extremely hard when it dried up.

‘That means... I can shape the magma into something if I play around with it!’

Of course, this would be considered insane if attempted with real magma. However, the magma he was using now was conjured from his own mana, making nothing impossible for him.

‘Hehe, this should be fun!’ Han-Yeol snickered in excitement at the thought of manipulating the magma.

"What's so funny, master?" Tia asked.

"Ah, that is…" Han-Yeol began explaining his plan to create a new skill while manipulating the magma to Tia.

He was always cautious about explaining his skills to others, usually sharing only forty-nine percent of his trust. However, he didn't keep any secrets from Mavros or Tia, as he considered both of them his own.

Tia's face lit up after hearing Han-Yeol's explanation. "Omo! That sounds fun!"

"Huh?” Han-Yeol felt a chill down his spine as Tia flashed a sinister smile upon hearing about his plan to create a new skill.