Chapter 26 Lizard Lair (3)
As Holder’s grade increases, the gap widens. Transitioning from an E-grade Holder to a D-grade Holder is relatively easy, but going from B-grade to A-grade is nearly impossible without achieving legendary runes or an extraordinary opportunity.
Long hours of effort and achievements, along with talent – when these three factors align, promotion to a higher grade becomes possible. Therefore, from C-grade and above, even Holders of the same grade often experience disparities among themselves.
“……”
It had only been half a year since Kang Juyeon became a B-grade holder. Despite rising to B-grade with overflowing talent and outstanding skills, in terms of Holder experience, achievements, and practical duel experience, she knew she was lacking compared to other B-grade Holders. Kang Juyeon was well aware of this fact.
The academy’s underground dungeon expedition, and Do Jae-hyun’s sudden proposal – she accepted it not just because she cared about him, but also because she realized she needed more experience.
The early part of the dungeon, where C-grade monster Lizardmen mainly appeared, was a safe and suitable hunting ground for someone like Kang Juyeon. The solid teamwork of Do Jae-hyun and Kang Juyeon’s friend, Moon Ga-eun, proved to be a great help even to Kang Juyeon, who had considerable experience in party expeditions.
Real combat always provided valuable combat experience for Holders.
‘But… ‘
After increasing the party members, suddenly, a B-grade monster appeared during the middle part of the dungeon.
Poisonous Iguana – a venomous lizard-type monster with fast speed.
To be honest, one or two B-grade monsters wouldn’t be a problem. Recently, even the B-grade monster Sizzling Salamander was easily taken down by Kang Juyeon and Moon Ga-eun in one hit. However, within the dungeon, the monsters could gather in groups and move together.
Powerful monsters moving in groups always created variables. And in battles, what is a variable? Variables are dangerous concepts, as they could instantly lead a Holder to death.
‘…I was careless.’
Kang Ju-yeon looked at the magic gathering at her fingertips.
[Magic Control], derived skill [Magic Barrier], the main defense skill of high-level mage-type Holders.
When the Poisonous Iguana launched its venomous attack, Kang Juyeon tried to defend herself with [Magic Barrier]. However, the hastily created defense skill’s performance plummeted rapidly. Perhaps the incomplete [Magic Barrier] allowed the poison to reach Kang Juyeon, leaving her helpless.
…The man who protected me just now, if it wasn’t for Do Jae-hyun.
“……”
Kang Juyeon gazed at Do Jae-hyun in silence. He had taken a seat on one side of the dungeon, healing himself with health potions and antidotes.
“Hey, how did you manage that? How did you quickly jump forward in that situation?”
“I-It’s possible, dude.”
“You won’t tell me that easily, will you?”
“You won’t tell me how you got so strong in just a week.”
“What? I can’t tell you that.”
“Same goes for me.”
As usual, Do Jae-hyun was engaging in a meaningless conversation with Park Jin-woo. He seemed unaffected, as if the recent battle had been nothing out of the ordinary. That’s how he had always been – not excited by victory, not losing his composure. He was always calm and unruffled by variables. That’s why he left a lasting impression on Kang Juyeon.
‘I should… tell him something.’
Something like… an apology or a thank you. She should have said something, but the rapid flow of events prevented her from uttering a word.
Kang Juyeon had been bothered by this. She briefly turned her gaze to the surroundings of Do Jae-hyun. Moon Ga-eun was laughing heartily at the two men’s conversation, seemingly enjoying their banter. And Kim Chae-eun…
…She acted like a caretaker or something.
Sitting beside Do Jae-hyun, wiping his sweat and taking care of him.
“……?”
Why is she doing that?
Kang Juyeon couldn’t quite understand. It… annoyed her.
To be more precise, it was difficult to explain, but something about Kim Chae-eun bothered her. It felt like there was something about her that was subtly unsettling.
‘……’
Despite her quiet personality, it didn’t stand out, but somehow, something else was adding to the sense of unease, as if another bothersome element was piling up.
***
ippotranslation
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As time passed, our party’s hunting efficiency improved. The Poisonous Iguana, which tormented us during our first hunt, also became easier to handle as we gained experience in dealing with them.
“Park Jin-woo!”
“Got it!”
Upon my signal, Park Jin-woo dashed forward. I quickly followed and engaged in a close duel to protect him. This was our hunting strategy.
Poisonous Iguanas were small-sized monsters with great speed. So, if we split up like we did against Lizardmen, we risked getting overwhelmed and putting the dealers in danger.
‘Then let’s fight in a straight line.’
So we came up with the straight-line formation. Park Jin-woo would tank and face the monsters on the frontline, and I would quickly follow up, engaging the Poisonous Iguanas.
This hunting method demanded high speed and reaction time, but with my speed stat at 30 and [Agile Agility] skill, it was manageable.
[You won the duel! Rune Hunter’s arcane power allows you to duplicate one of the opponent’s runes. The opponent has only one rune, so duplicate that rune.]
[You have gained a new rune.]
[You gained 1 Toughness, due to the rune’s affinity.]
[The venom becomes thicker as time passes. Your understanding of venom further increases.]
[The level of your rune has risen.]
[You gained poison resistance by 1 due to the rune’s attributes.]
Thanks to that, my growth knows no bounds.
The [Venom] rune allowed me to grow rapidly as we encountered poison-related monsters. It had already reached level 4, and my Poison Resistance stat was now at 7. At this point, I could hardly feel much pain even if I took a direct hit from a Poisonous Iguana’s venom.
But that’s not all. I had gained the [Sturdy Fangs] rune as well. [Sturdy Fangs] was a rare rune that strengthened the teeth among the body parts and provided powerful assistance when biting the enemy.
Its special effect was to pierce the opponent’s toughness when I bit them. This was why my [Hardening] had finally pierced the first monster.
‘Frankly, I don’t need this much, but…’
As a human, I rarely had the opportunity to use it. My primary weapons were the sword and dagger. Unless I focused on [Combat], it would be difficult to develop the [Sturdy Fangs] rune. However, regardless of whether I needed it or not, it was always good to have runes. They could immediately boost my stats and provide unexpected benefits in various situations, such as [Strengthen]. Furthermore, since my Toughness stat was the lowest among my main stats, runes that supported my toughness were valuable. Thanks to the level 3 [Sturdy Fangs], I had gained an additional 3 points in Toughness. Now, my Strength and Speed has exceeded 30, and my Toughness has surpassed 20. With these stats, I could easily be classified as an upper-tier C-grade Holder in the academy.
“Is that all of them?”
“Take a good look at them this time. Don’t miss one again like last time.”
“Oh, really. Is that not Moon Ga-eun’s fault?”
Park Jin-woo beat his chest as if it was unfair.
I chuckled and laughed as I looked at Moon Ga-eun.
“Do you think there are no more?”
“Let me check for a moment.”
Once again, Moon Ga-eun used [Dolphin’s Sonar]. With her eyes closed, she touched the ground. From her serene expression, I felt that there were no more formidable monsters nearby.
“Maybe two more Sizzling Salamanders? But they are too far away from us. It’s not worth going back just to catch two more.”
As expected, the Sizzling Salamander was a monster that appeared in the underground dungeon. One of the monsters that used to reside here had mysteriously broken through the [Magic Barrier] and appeared inside the academy through some sort of magical phenomenon.
The Poisonous Iguana and Sizzling Salamander, two of the most powerful B-grade monsters in the lizard family…
They were the main monsters in the middle section of this underground dungeon. We managed to handle these difficult monsters and finally reached the end of the middle section.
Most likely, the next stage would lead to the boss room, which had a high probability of being the dwelling place of the dungeon’s master.
“Going back is not a good idea.”
“Right. It takes too much time. Besides, catching two more won’t bring much benefit.”
“Kang Juyeon, what do you think?”
I turned my head to look at Kang Juyeon. While I was the practical leader of the party, she was the strongest Holder among us. I wanted to hear her opinion before entering the final boss room.
But Kang Juyeon slightly lowered her head and said in a small voice, “…Do as you wish.”
Why is she acting like this? It’s creepy. Kang Juyeon is not the kind of person who simply follows orders and even gives ‘answers’… I scratched my head and looked at my party members.
As long as Kang Juyeon was okay with it, the rest seemed to follow my opinion.
“Then let’s assume everyone is prepared, and we’ll go in right away?”
“Sure!”
“Let’s go…!!”
The final section of the underground dungeon in the academy.
The boss room, known as the pinnacle of dungeon exploration.
Finally, the moment had come to enter this unknown space that had never appeared in the original work.
[You have entered the boss room.]
[Grizzly Drake’s devastating aura is circulating. Your speed and strength as a Holder are decreased.]
And in the boss room, we encountered the ultimate ruler of this annoying Lizard Lair.
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