The next day, Revivalâs members returned to where they belonged. Leon returned to America, Sophie returned to Britain, and Michel returned to France. However, Sumire and Van said they would remain in Korea.
âI want to stay and help Unni more. Also, I want to more seriously learn martial arts from Shin-nim.â
âBut SumireâŠâ
âTake good care of me!â
Apparently, Sumire was living by herself as both her parents passed away. As such, there was no problem deciding where she would stay. As people from her country practically worshipped her, it seemed she was somewhat reluctant to go back.
As for Ilayda Van, I was genuinely surprised that she wanted to remain in Korea. After all, Turkey was certain to have problems where her power could be of help. At our reaction, she spoke as she nodded her head.
âWhen I left Turkey, I already told them that I would not be coming back. Since Iâll have to focus on climbing the dungeon, I wonât have time to deal with other affairs.â
âMmm.â
âPlease accept me. Iâll serve you faithfully.â
âNo, you donât need to serve me at allâŠâ
It was then decided that she would be living in our guild house mansion. We would need someone to stay here after all. After we saw Ilayda Van enter the dungeon after contacting Laz Michel, we each went back to our work. I, of course, had to continue what I left off yesterday â choosing new explorers.
Then, when I was looking at the documents Hwaya printed that included new applications since yesterday, someone sat down next to me. Thinking it was Elfa, I turned my head to the side. There, I saw Ludia.
âLudia?â
âYou know how you⊠picked a new healing ability user.â
âYeah, didnât I tell you about it?â
âI was in the dungeon, so I didnât hear you well. Um, you know ShinâŠâ
A hint of uneasiness lingered on Ludiaâs eyes. I looked at Hwaya. She shrugged, gesturing that she didnât know what was going on.
âWhatâs up?â
âIâm doing my best. Iâll be Gold rank soon too. B-Because you said not to stick to you so much, Iâm stopping myself from going in your room. Because you said not to fight, Iâm not doing anything even with more girls joining in. So donât throw me away, aak!â
After flicking her forehead once, I did it three more times. Ludia looked at me with teary eyes.
âYou hit me!â
âIâll hit you more if you keep saying stupid things. Throw you away? Do you think youâre trash? Itâs better to have two healers than one. You at least know what 1 + 1 is right?â
âThen you wonât throw me awa⊠Ow!â
âWhat am I going to do with this girl.â
I thought she had gotten better since she had stopped being reliant on me physically, but it seemed that wasnât the case. As I sighed, Hwaya spoke instead of Ludia.
âLudiaâs just worried that sheâs not being of help to you.â
At Hwaya words, Ludia glared at her with malice.
âWhat do you know?â
âWe like the same guy. Isnât that enough to know each other?â
âI⊠I donât like him! I just canât live without ShinâŠâ
âYeah, yeah. If you want to say something, you can say it over a drink later. If you stay here, itâs going to hinder our work, so leave.â
âEeek, Hwaya Mastiford!â
Hwayaâs telekinetic magic slowly pushed Ludia out of the room. Ludia tried to use her power, but she soon suppressed it, seemingly afraid that sheâd destroy the mansion. In the end, she was chased out as she screamed. Ye-Eun, Walker, Yua, Father, and others who were peeking in were also pushed out like bowling pins by Hwayaâs magic power. I didnât know why they were watching us so curiously. To lighten up the awkward atmosphere, I purposely laughed aloud.
âHahaha, itâs great that everyoneâs so merry!â
âGo back to work, Guild Master.â
âYes, Maâam.â
That day, we chose four new explorers. They were all S+ ranks, and as we thought that they had potential, we made them all First Dungeon explorers.
Although we were slowly using up our appointments, with the four new explorers working hard, we would be able to recover them soon. It was also why we prioritized picking high ranked explorers.
Once we met them and had them sign the contracts, I finally found the time to enter the dungeon again. Beyondâs 14th floor. It was hell where Giant Ghouls and Skeleton Knights appeared together.
[Human⊠Your delicious smell is tickling my nose!]
[Cut him to shreds! Kill all living beâ Kuhuk!]
The moment I ran into them, I crazily shot my crossbow bolts. Peika and Ruyue were floating around me. Sharana was currently infused into my body.
âStop the Skeleton Knight! Prevent them from opening their mouths!â
[Thatâs easy!]
[Leave it to me, Shin!]
Ruyueâs freezing energy filled the area, while Peikaâs lightning quickly ravaged our enemies. At the same time, I charged through all the enemies and shot my bolts crazily. The target was the Skeleton Knightsâ skulls and the skeleton mountsâ legs! It would be my victory as long as I could stop their screams and charge.
[Humaaaaaaan!]
âElemental Blade!â
[N-No! I got on aga⊠Uuuk!]
[Whee~]
Countless number of elementals flooded toward me, and I swung the spear blade that had extended beyond 10 meters, instantly severing the legs of the skeleton mounts running toward me. Critical hits broke out, and with Skull Breakerâs effect, the damage extended to their entire bodies. I didnât even need to describe what happened to the Skeleton Knights riding on them.
[Guoooooooooo!]
At that moment, a Giant Ghoul roared and swung its claws, as if to protect the Skeleton Knight squadron that had lost its formation. I boldly jumped into the fray and shouted.
âRuyue!â
[Winter Curtain!]
The Giant Ghoulâs claws were slowed by the numerous ice crystals fluttering in the air. I smirked and jumped on top of its arm. I compressed the Elemental Blade and instantly re-expended it to penetrate the Giant Ghoulâs head. However, an undead monster wouldnât die from just having its head pierced.
âIf you want to win against me, youâll need to come by the hundreds!â
In the next moment, I jumped off the arm and slashed down with my spear. After splitting its head into two, the Elemental Blade continued down to its body, causing an explosion. Before Diehard could even activate, I had crushed it.
The Giant Ghoulâs corpse disappeared, and I could once again see the Skeleton Knights that had readied themselves to charge forward once again. Giant Ghouls as defense, Skeleton Knights as offense. It made sense.
âUnfortunately, thatâs not enough! Wind Kingâs Rage!â
Before they could charge toward me, I charged toward them first. Though they raised their heads to use Undead Roar, Peika and Ruyue didnât let that happen. Both ice and lightning were specialized in stopping the enemiesâ movements. With the two of them working together, not even Skeleton Knights could anything about it.
âHaaaap!â
The first Skeleton Knight I ran into made a silent scream as it was sent flying. This was only the beginning. As they had been preparing to charge together, they were all grouped. Since I couldnât use Wind Kingâs Rage for three hours once it was fully charged, I had to kill as many of them as I could.
âCome! Iâll crush you all!â
[You used Provoke! All enemies attack you uncontrollably!]
[Kuaaaaaaaa!]
[Kill him! Kill him!]
âDivine Speed!â
When they raised their weapons, I used Divine Speed. It went without saying that the faster I was, the more damage I dealt. One, two, three⊠Each time a Skeleton Knight was sent flying, the speed they flew and the distance they covered increased. All the skeleton mounts had already became dust.
This continued until not a single one of them remained with their feet on the ground. As I had been pushing them to a single spot, they were all piled on top of each other.
[Powerful⊠humanâŠ!]
[How? Itâs only a single humanâŠ!]
âIf I wasnât strong, would I be here?â
There were over 40 Skeleton Knights clumped together. I could tell how many Skeleton Knights were filling up a single passageway. The power of wind and lightning gathered by Wind Kingâs Rage was ready to go berserk. I charged into the mountain of bones made of Skeleton Knights and let it explode.
âHasta la vista!â
[Critical Hit!]
They were thoroughly annihilated.
âHuu, huuâŠâ
They turned to particles of light and scattered into the air, brightening up the slightly dark passageway. I stabbed my spear into the ground to catch my breath. I had managed to finish them without being hit a single time.
âHuu⊠That was easier than I thought!â
[I did well, right?]
[Huhu, how was it, Master?]
âYou guys are the best.â
I smiled and complimented the two elementals that flew next to me. Without their help in stopping the Skeleton Knights from using Undead Roar, it would have been difficult for me to defeat them. However, I had an effective way of stopping them from using Undead Roar. With that, I had no problem getting through this area.
The key was preventing them from using Undead Roar and crushing the skeleton mountsâ legs. Just with these, their strength would practically be halved. Although the Giant Ghouls acting as their shields were annoying, Beyondâs 14th floor was more or less a breeze. I was looking forward to who was waiting for me on the 15th floor.
âGhoul plus skeleton. Isnât that just a ghoul with bones?â
I laughed, imagining a monster that easily tripped on its own bones. Of course, when I thought about the Thunder Power Knight that appeared on the 10th floor, I knew that probably wouldnât be the case.
âHopefully, another skill of that type drops. It feels a bit lacking to use Skill Synthesis with just two skillsâŠâ
I thought about the skills I received from Beyondâs 10th floor boss and the First Dungeonâs 60th Floor Master and smirked. I was a bit worried that I had gotten too addicted to Skill Synthesis, but I couldnât help looking forward to the outcome. I raised the spear back up as I felt full of strength once more.
âLetâs go, guys! Weâre going to breeze through it!â
I successfully broke through Beyond 14th floor in just two days. Just by being full of fighting spirit, a person could do so much! When I left Beyond and returned to Earth, marveling at the infinite potential of humans, Hwaya gave me a report.