Chapter 148

Вуutеk tоok a lоng, dеер brеath and tensеd his еntire bodу.

Immediatеlу, his musсlеs аnd blоod vessеls exраnded аll оvеr his bоdу, incrеasing his sizе by abоut 1.5 timеs соmparеd to bеfore.

“Ugh, crееpy…!”

Sharin cоvеred her eyes аnd sсreamed upon sееing his apрeаrаnсе.

Even to Khаn, it lookеd а bit grоtesque.

Тhе hugе muscles аnd veins bulging out frоm between the аrmоr platеs wеre а bit exсessive evеn for аnоther man to see.

Whоosh…!

Вуutеk, who hаd lifted his massivе grеаtsword upwаrd with surprising lightnеss, swung it dоwn with fоrсе.

A mаssivе Swоrd Aurа flеw in the direction Byutek swung his sword.

‘He created Sword Aura without any Mana? That’s insane…’

A gigantic rock nearly twenty meters in diameter was instantly split in two the moment it was struck by the Sword Aura Byutek had launched.

Simultaneously, a loud roar spread out, and the cross-section of the split rock revealed a perfectly clean cut.

‘His strength alone is truly absurd. No, it seems not just his strength but his precision has increased tremendously as well.’

It was impossible to cleave a rock so cleanly with just brute strength.

One needed to have good control over their body’s center of gravity when swinging the sword and know exactly how to wield it to be able to cut such a massive rock.

‘So it’s true he learned from Dramos.’

The reason Byutek could grow so rapidly in such a short time was undoubtedly partly due to his innate Talent, but it was also possible because he had a Master of tremendous skill.

‘It seems Byutek possesses incredible Talent, not inferior to Sharin’s.’

Seeing this, Khan began to think that once the tournament actually started, if he happened to face Byutek or Sharin, he might actually lose.

‘Sharin or Byutek might even be dangerous…’

Of course, the most dangerous figure would be Dramos.

Dramos was a heavyweight among heavyweights, with a Level exceeding 400.

“Wow, Byutek Oppa… how did you get so strong? Is it really possible to cut such a huge rock with a sword…?”

“Kehahahaha! How about it, little sister?! Do you finally understand this big brother’s strength now?! What do you think, Sir Khan? I think I can now be worthy of being your right-hand man!”

“You still have a long way to go, so keep striving. But you’ve become much stronger than before.”

“Haha, understood! I plan to work even harder from now on!”

To Khan, the current Byutek seemed perfectly strong, lacking in nothing, but he couldn’t afford to be satisfied here.

‘I had definitely planned to take Sharin along, and if Byutek’s growth fell behind, I was thinking of leaving him in the city when entering the tower… but at this level, I can just keep taking him along.’

If Byutek became satisfied with his current strength here and neglected his training, he might stop growing further and stagnate.

That’s why Khan deliberately refrained from praising Byutek.

‘I should also check how he fares in actual combat against Monsters. Might as well gain some Experience Points for myself too.’

Khan wanted to reach Level 90 and obtain the Job-Exclusive Random Skill Selection Ticket within the day if possible, but that seemed impossible.

Still, it would be good to enter a nearby Gate and gain at least a bit more Experience Points.

‘Maybe the Monsters in a Gate around here give good Experience Points.’

Occasionally, even at the same Level, there were Monsters whose defeat reward Experience Points differed significantly.

Coincidentally, Khan was at a rocky mountain located north of Erindel, so he could just enter a rocky mountain Gate nearby.

‘The Gates in the rocky mountains definitely have Monsters around Level 120, right?’

Trying to recall, he remembered that the Gate at the top of the rocky mountain had Stone Golems, Level 120 Monsters.

Stone Golems were Monsters known for their immense defense, difficult to defeat by ordinary means.

They weren’t just simply high in defense; their attack patterns were also varied, making them quite tricky Monsters.

‘And among Level 120 Monsters, they are on the side that gives a lot of Experience Points.’

So Khan felt a bit of anticipation.

If he could gain quite a lot of Experience Points by defeating Stone Golems, he might be able to achieve Level 90 by relentlessly tackling this Gate day and night.

‘Should I check my current Experience Points first?’

◈ LV.89

◈ Khan (Lee Huseong)

◈ Mana: 19140/19140

◈ Talent: Magic

◈ Experience Points: 1.1%

◈ Skills: (10★)Sage’s Heart, (8★)Growth Acceleration, (1★)Arrow, (1★)Barrier, (2★)Fire Boom, (2★)Fireball, (2★)Mirror Defense, (2★)Mana Enhancement, (1★)Wind Cutter, (3★)Dragon’s Breath, (4★)Mana Circulation, (4★)Power Amplification, (4★)Space-Time Leap, (5★)Dark Flame, (1★)Wind Drill, (4★)Flame Curtain

Opening his Status Window to check his current Experience Points, it was still 1.1%, exactly the same as before.

He wondered if raising 98.9% in a single day was possible, but it was too early to give up, so Khan looked at Byutek and spoke slowly.

“Byutek, so you’ve been training here continuously for the past few days?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then you haven’t experienced actual combat. Before the Underground Arena Tournament starts, challenge yourself to battle Monsters as well.”

“Haha, understood! As expected, only you… no, only Hyungnim thinks of me!”

Byutek smiled happily, genuinely believing Khan was thinking of him.

‘Now perfect Auto Hunt is possible.’

Just the number of Gates Khan helped Byutek and Sharin clear in the early stages would amount to dozens.

In a way, all the training for Byutek and Sharin so far had been entirely Khan’s doing.

Now it was time to be repaid for all the hardships he endured by Sharin and Byutek.

“Coincidentally, there’s a Gate nearby, so let’s head up right away. Sharin.”

“Yes!”

Sharin immediately cast Advanced Flight Magic on Khan and Byutek.

The three of them arrived at the summit of the rocky mountain in an instant.

Right in the center of the rocky mountain summit, a blue Gate stood imposingly.

The three entered the Gate without hesitation.

* * *

Upon entering the Gate, what unfolded before them was a massive temple.

Here and there, gigantic Stone Golems about five meters tall stood motionless.

[LV.120 Stone Golem]

In the case of Stone Golems, they didn’t initiate attacks unless approached, so there was no immediate need to hastily defeat the Monsters.

“Should I join too, Master?”

“No. You stay put, Sharin. Let’s leave this place to Byutek alone for now.”

“Yes!”

Sharin briefly took out her Wand and held it while speaking, but Khan intended to have Sharin stay still this time.

In <Geo Arc>, there were occasionally Users who were only high in Level but weak in actual combat.

‘The so-called ‘trash characters’ were garbage with only high Levels but weak Combat Power.’

Just in case Byutek was also only high in Level but weak in actual combat, Khan wanted to properly gauge Byutek’s Combat Power.

He needed to properly know his comrades’ Combat Power to utilize them effectively later on.

“Haha, Sir Khan! I can easily clear a Gate of this level by myself! So don’t worry and just watch! Sharin, you just relax and watch too!”

“Hmm, I’m a bit doubtful…”

“This big brother is not the Byutek you used to know! Watch closely!”

“Ugh, could you stop with the ‘big brother’ talk? It’s making me nauseous.”

“Hahahaha!”

As Sharin genuinely pretended to gag, Byutek gave an awkward laugh and walked alone towards the inner part of the temple.

‘Let’s see.’

Usually, Knights or Swordsmen around Level 120 could take down a Stone Golem in three hits as the standard.

‘He needs to defeat it within at most five attacks… I wonder if Byutek can really do it.’

Byutek took one big deep breath and swung the massive greatsword he was gripping with both hands.

Immediately, a huge wind-based Sword Aura flew towards the five-meter-tall Stone Golem.

Sssshhk—

Kudukudukudung…!!

The Stone Golem’s body was sliced apart as easily as paper.

‘This is insane…’

It was a Stone Golem, famous for its incredibly high defense, yet Byutek took it down in one hit.

Thanks to ‘Sage’s Heart’, Khan’s surprised mind quickly calmed down, but the fact that this was something that shouldn’t be possible remained unchanged.

“Hryaaaaah!!!”

Every time Byutek swung his sword, heavy Sword Auras flew in all directions.

Their power was fiercely strong, yet the speed at which he swung his sword wasn’t slow either.

“Wow… that’s really amazing, Master…? I can’t even properly see him swinging his sword!”

“……”

Sharin was also genuinely impressed after seeing Byutek swing his sword.

Not only was Byutek’s sword-swinging form invisible to the eye, but the wind-based Sword Auras emanating from his sword were also completely unseen.

‘That guy Byutek, if he does well in this Underground Arena Tournament, he might even win… no, winning might be impossible, but he could get second place?’

Khan began to feel a bit worried as he watched Byutek mercilessly slaughter the Stone Golems.

He started to wonder if he could actually defeat Byutek if they met in this Underground Arena Tournament.

‘With my current strength, it would be a close call at best…’

If Byutek is this strong, how powerful must Dramos be?

He was already greatly worried, but Khan forcibly diverted his attention to the rapidly rising Experience Points.