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Chapter 82




SMH 82
Swordmaster Healer – Episode 82
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 27: Dragon’s Nest (3)
Roar!
The sleeping dragon soul deep within Roel momentarily awoke and threatened the giant creature which was acting hostile towards its master.
Dragon Fear.
The pinnacle of fear that threatened all beings; Roel’s howl was that of an Evil Dragon. Though it wasn’t mature, the Hatchling had dragon blood running through its veins, and its powerful mana responded to Roel, thus momentarily awakening the sleeping Evil Dragon’s soul.
– Verifying the existence of a new item.
It seemed that the rank had simultaneously increased, as his measuring tool reacted.
‘Now!’
The Spartoi had fallen, and even the Hatchling had felt fear, stopping its movements. There was no need to explain why it had stopped its magic casting.
The soul of the top tier Evil Dragon, Ruben, was sealed within. Though it wasn’t a flawless Dragon Fear, it still wasn’t at the level that a mere no-name dragon whelp could deal with.
“Illusionary Sword!”
Sung Joon didn’t lose the opportunity. A short while ago, he had used his Gale Sword and consumed a lot of mana, but now he drew on his mana and utilized his ‘Illusionary Sword’.
The illusionary swords rushed the Hatchling.
The Hatchling had stiffened, so it couldn’t react immediately.
Shriek!
The Hatchling’s sharp yell rang out, and the air was dyed with blood. The Hatchling, feeling intense pain for the first time, swung its arm into the air, and retreated.
However, Sung Joon didn’t allow it to widen the distance.
“Gale Sword.”
He unleashed powerful techniques in succession. If he hadn’t ‘absorbed’ the mana in between in order to replenish his mana and stamina, it would’ve been impossible to continuously use his techniques like this.
Shriek!
The Hatchling responded belatedly and attempted to unfold its magic, but it was too late. He charged forward fiercely, like a gale, and his blade pierced the Hatchling’s stomach.
The Hatchling’s scales were akin to steel and even its skin was tough as well, but it was all pointless before his aura.
As soon as Sung Joon pulled out the sword that had been lodged inside its stomach, blood spurted out like a fountain. At the same time, he sensed a group of presences approaching.
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon!”
“We’ll help too!”
“Don’t come!” he said urgently, using informal language*. (*No honorifics. He usually speaks formally.)
Although he had inflicted an injury upon the Hatchling, the Hatchling was still alive and well. It might’ve been different had the S-rank Hunter, Eun Joo, come, but if the other A-rank Hunter party members approached, they’d easily be counterattacked.
“Argh!”
“Ugh!”
Sure enough, the Hatchling swung its thorny tail, striking the other Hunters and blowing them away. They crashed into the back trees and it seemed as if their bones were crushed, as cries of agony rang out.
“Heal!”
Soo Young cast her Heal. They should still be alive.
“Mr. Sung Joon!”
Eun Joo joined up with him. Sung Joon didn’t restrain her, but wordlessly nodded his head. If they were a powerful S-rank Hunter, they would be able to properly react to the Hatchling’s physical abilities.
She closed the distance to the Hatchling and forcefully swung her greatsword, clad in white aura, and the Hatchling hurriedly utilized its defensive magic to block it.
Her aura was much greater than other aura-users’, but it wasn’t powerful enough to shatter the Hatchling’s defensive magic in one blow.
Sung Joon suggested, “If you can divert the Hatchling’s attention, I should be able to land a blow on it.”
He had enough mana to use the Illusionary Sword about two more times.
“That technique just a moment ago, it’ll be difficult to use it repeatedly, right?”
Though the Illusionary Sword was indeed a technique that consumed a lot of mana, it also possessed that much killing power in return. Eun Joo had noticed that, befitting of an S-rank Hunter.
“It’s difficult. If I space it out, I should be able to use it about two more times.”
“I’ll try to draw its attention.”
Ha Yeon, who had been listening to their conversation from the rear, focused on buffing Eun Joo and Sung Joon.
It was a wise decision.
“I’m going.”
After she gave Sung Joon a signal, she approached the Hatchling via her high-speed movement technique and swung her sword.
Though she was low in the rankings, she was also an S-rank Hunter.
The Hatchling was a Boss, and a large monster, but it wouldn’t be pushed back easily by similarly ranked monsters.
Shriek!
The Hatchling maintained its defense against her storm-like attacks while sustaining superficial injuries.
Due to its fierce, evasive movements, the wounds it had sustained against Sung Joon’s illusionary swords opened more and more, and Roel’s Bleeding Curse was added to that, so the Hatchling continued to bleed unceasingly.
‘This is my chance!’
His sharp intuition found a gap. He unleashed his high-speed movement and moved to the Hatchling’s back.
Its attention was focused on Eun Joo, and because it had happened instantaneously, the Hatchling hadn’t noticed.
“Illusionary Sword!”
The illusionary blades ambushed the Hatchling’s rear. The Hatchling belatedly sensed danger and utilized its defensive magic, but its defensive magic wasn’t complete.
Two of the illusionary blades had been used up, but they were able to pierce through the defensive magic, and four deep wounds appeared on the Hatchling’s back.
Shriek!
Sung Joon’s single strike had severely wounded the Hatchling, but as it was a large monster, it didn’t fall easily. Rather, it immediately counterattacked.
The Hatchling used its Bless, forcing Sung Joon and Eun Joo to back off. After that, it cast its offensive spells; the amount of mana that they felt coming from the one magic circle wasn’t much, but it was a multi-cast.
Blades of wind poured out from dozens of magic circles.
‘There are too many…!’
Sung Joon moved his eyes busily. He had read the trajectory of the wind cutters and had thrown his body to a safe location. Eun Joo had also succeeded in dodging them, but there was problem: the party members in the back.
“AH!”
“Ugh!”
Sharp cries rang out continuously. Since there were so many of them, it seemed impossible for Soo Young to handle the healing all on her own, so Sung Joon briefly turned around and stretched his hand towards the injured.
“Heal!”
With the consumption of his mana, the party members’ injuries were quickly healed.
“Amazing! It’s already starting to heal!” a party member said admiringly. They still continued to be astonished, no matter how many times they saw Sung Joon’s healing power.
After Sung Joon confirmed that the other party members were helping the injured retreat, he turned his attention back to the Hatchling.
Shriek!
The Hatchling had utilized its multi-casting despite its deep wounds and its severe bleeding, so it was exhausted. Sung Joon thought that he had taken the lead, but he wasn’t impatient.
Eun Joo was likewise the same.
“I’ll support you.”
Ki Hoon poured offensive spells upon the Hatchling. Though it had blocked the spells,, the Hatchling’s attention had become divided.
Sung Joon and Eun Joo once again closed the distance to the Hatchling. Since Ha Yeon was focused on their buffs, the two were able to overpower the injured Hatchling.
“We got it!” Eun Joo yelled.
Shriek!
She had shattered the defensive magic protecting its tail and even severed its tail.
Sung Joon rushed towards the struggling Hatchling and madly pierced its upper body and neck.
Blood spurted onto his face and obstructed his vision, but he didn’t stop stabbing.
Thud.
The Hatchling struggled for a while and weakly fell.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon carefully used his absorb. The faint mana flowed into him and was absorbed.
“Your synchronization rate has become 34%.”
Rishubalt, who had been maintaining his silence, informed him of his synchronization rate’s growth through his absorption.
– Verifying the existence of a new item.
– Verifying assault, measurement complete. S-rank dungeon, clear.
The measuring tool responded.
The Hatchling’s body disappeared and a magic stone, as well as an item in the form of a necklace, remained. The party leader, Ha Yeon, appraised the item first.
“Everyone, please come over here with your measuring tools and check for yourself.”
The party members gathered in order to check the item. Before he checked the dropped item, Sung Joon remembered that his measuring tool had responded to Roel and activated its appraisal feature.
[Awakened Roel +1]
A-rank.
Verifying Limited Dragon Fear effect.
Verifying Transform effect.
Verifying Lightweight effect.
Verifying Bleeding Curse effect.
Verifying Dormant Abilities effect.
Verifying Previous Life Awakening effect.
It had gained an additional effect: Dragon Fear.
“Just a little while ago, it was close to a ‘complete’ Dragon Fear. Since Roel hasn’t fully awakened yet, the Dragon Fear effect should be limited.”
Rishubalt, who had checked the measuring tool’s appraisal results, added an explanation. Sung Joon slightly nodded his head.
“Mr. Sung Joon, please come over here and check too,” Eun Joo said.
“I understand,” Sung Joon replied and started walking. The final party members, who had finished appraising the necklace-shaped item, passed it to Sung Joon.
[Dragon’s Protection]
S-rank.
Verifying Fire Attribute Resistance effect.
Verifying Block Ranged Attacks for a Limited Time effect.
Activation word: ‘Shield’
It had a Fire Attribute Resistance skill as well as a shield that would block ranged attacks. It didn’t have that many skills, but the abilities were solid.
“Is there anyone who’d like to bid on it?” Ha Yeon asked the group. There were three people who raised their hands, including Sung Joon. Ha Yeon nodded her head and said, “Since it’s an S-rank item, and the abilities are good, we’ll start with $15 million.”
The auction began and in the end, Sung Joon successfully bid for the item, ‘Dragon’s Protection’ at $20 million.
“What do you think about taking a look in the cave? Though it was a Hatchling, it was still a dragon, so it seems like it would hoard something.”
There would occasionally be an additional reward, so Ha Yeon nodded at Sung Joon’s suggestion.
“In any case, we need to find the gate in order to get out of here. Let’s search the cave.”
The party entered the cave. There was nothing inside. They gave up on the additional reward and tried to look for the gate, searching for a mana response.
Then when they got closer to the mana response…
Echo.
Roel, which had turned back into a ring after the battle, resonated. Sung Joon stretched his hand into the air. When he brought his hand to the right, Roel’s echo became louder.
‘There’s something here.’
Sung Joon walked in the direction that Roel reverberated and when he reached the area where Roel’s echoes were at its peak, he stopped. There lay a worn out box.
“Mr. Lee Ki Hoon!”
Sung Joon called Ki Hoon and he attempted to open it, but it wouldn’t open with magic. Just in case, he brought Roel close, and as soon as he did, he heard a clicking noise, and the box opened up.
There were heavy gold bars inside.
“Wow, there’s really a lot of gold inside.”
The party members gathered. When he got their attention, Sung Joon opened his mouth.
“For the issue of payment…”
“This was something that if not for you, Mr. Kang Sung Joon, we would’ve never been able to open. That’s why it’s fine if we give it all to you, right?” Ha Yeon said, taking the initiative.
It was something that would happen occasionally*. All the party members gladly smiled and opened their mouths. (*Giving all the rewards to one person; in this case, he gets all of the additional reward because he found it and was the only one who could open the box. Plus, he kind of… saved everyone.)
“I’m in agreement. It’s because of Mr. Kang Sung Joon that there wasn’t a single casualty.”
“Instead, the meal’s on Mr. Kang Sung Joon. I’d like beef.”
“I’ve no disagreements. Let’s proceed like this.”
The Dike and Royal Cross team members had a favorable impression of Sung Joon, so he was able to take ownership of all of the gold bars.
“I’ve found the gate!”
Ki Hoon had found the gate.
The party used the gate to get out of the dungeon. After that, they went to the Dungeon Bureau to sell their magic stones.
There, Sung Joon sold his gold bars.
The Bureau handled all items* found inside of the dungeon. He was even able to sell the gold bars he had found in the dungeon before, coming out to a sum of $8 million. (*Magic stones, items, gold bars, etc. Anything that has value and is found in the dungeon.)
“Mr. Sung Joon!”
Eun Joo approached Sung Joon, who was busy checking his account. She smiled brightly and opened her mouth.
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“It’s been unanimously decided that we’ll distribute the profits as if you were an S-rank Hunter!*” she exclaimed. (*It’s been established that S-rank Hunters make more than other Hunters. There’s a penalty when a Hunter goes into a dungeon a higher rank than them. In this case, Sung Joon would’ve been penalized and thus gotten a lower share because he’s an A-rank Hunter attacking an S-rank dungeon, but I guess they’re making an exception.)
Sung Joon’s role had been pivotal in the dungeon. If it wasn’t for his healing as well as his combat abilities, there would’ve been several casualties. Because the entire party had ample experience, they acknowledged that fact; they decided to share the profits as if he were an S-rank Hunter, in order to build a good relationship with him.
There wasn’t any dissention.
“Let’s go eat some Korean beef. I’ll buy,” Sung Joon said happily.