Chapter 5

Lоwеst-Rаnk Кnight Byutеk wаs оn his wау to meet Duzаn, thе Village Сhief of Вurun Villаgе.

‘Nо mаttеr how I think abоut it, I’m suspiciоus.’

Вyutеk, а nеw knight оf thе Sinsiniel tеrritorу.

The rеаsоn hе had cоme tо this remote villаgе in the Sinsiniel territorу wаs to exterminatе mоnsters.

Byutek knew his оwn skills wеre laсking, so аftеr hеаring from Duzan about thе typеs аnd numbеrs of monstеrs арpeаring, he lost сonfidence thаt hе could dеfеat thеm all.

‘If things go wrоng, I could die.’

Yеsterdау, a guy named Khаn suddenlу арpеared, саlling himsеlf a magе, and in а dаzе, hе еnded uр sауing he wоuld tаke down the monsters.

Byutek, who had just become a knight and thought he would only walk a smooth path forward, did not want to die.

‘I need to check if that guy… is really a mage.’

If Khan was someone impersonating a mage, he might really die fighting the monsters.

‘I need to protect myself first.’

With such thoughts, Byutek soon arrived in front of Duzan’s house.

Just as he was about to enter.

He saw Khan walking from afar.

He did not enter Duzan’s house and instead approached Khan.

“Ah, Sir Mage. Where have you been since early morning?”

“I had some business to attend to.”

“I see… Then shall we go in together?”

“Let’s.”

Khan opened the door to Duzan’s house with Byutek and entered, and Duzan welcomed them both.

“Haha, both of you are here. I’ve been quite worried lately because of the monsters, but with Sir Knight here and Sir Mage as well, I feel truly reassured.”

“Let’s hear about the monster appearances first.”

“Understood. Recently, monsters have started appearing in our village, and according to my investigation, they seem to be appearing near the rocky area located east of the village.”

“I see.”

“Yes, with Sir Knight and Sir Mage, you should be able to defeat them sufficiently.”

Khan thought that now that he had even obtained a Skill, this Quest would be no problem at all.

Although mages were relatively weak in close combat and ambushes, that could easily be resolved by placing Byutek at the front.

‘Thanks to that knight guy, I might even clear the Quest more easily.’

He had just obtained a ‘Hidden Skill’ in the rocky area and even leveled up.

In <Geo Arc>, there was no separate Stat system, so even if the Level increased, Stats could not be raised.

But it wasn’t bad that abilities automatically increased according to Class.

‘The amount of Mana also increased, though very slightly.’

Of course, the ‘Mana’ Penalty wasn’t a big problem for Khan now either.

The ‘Arrow’ Skill was an overpowered Skill even among Rank 1 Hidden Skills.

The reason for its good efficiency was that it could be used even without possessing Mana.

‘Originally, the Arrow Skill consumes no Mana at all.’

Of course, there was a Cooldown, but that wouldn’t be a big problem for Khan either.

‘I need to clear the Quest quickly and move on to the next one right away.’

The early part of the Quest was quite easy even in <Geo Arc>.

Of course, that was relatively easy compared to the Quests that would come later.

After finishing his thoughts, Khan spoke again.

“Then let’s go now.”

“Good. With Sir Mage by my side, I feel reassured too!”

“I’ll be counting on both of you.”

Seeing Khan looking more confident than expected, Byutek’s suspicions were gradually fading.

‘Seeing him that confident, he must be a fairly skilled mage.’

At least it seemed he wouldn’t lose his life while carrying out this mission.

Khan immediately got up from his seat and left Duzan’s house, and Byutek followed behind him.

* * *

The rocky area located east of Burun Village.

This place had large rocks scattered everywhere, and the paths were quite inconvenient.

For Khan, who was physically weak, moving quickly here was quite difficult.

He was slightly out of breath.

Khan’s footsteps gradually slowed, and soon he was quite far from Byutek.

Byutek asked Khan in a worried tone.

“Are you alright?”

“……I’m fine.”

Just yesterday, he had introduced himself as a mage while putting on all sorts of cool acts, so he couldn’t show weakness here.

“If it’s hard, please say so. I heard mages usually don’t have very good Stamina.”

“I’m fine.”

Byutek said this out of consideration for Khan, but he lightly waved his hand and refused.

He didn’t want to waste time like this from the beginning of the Quest.

‘Is he really okay?’

Byutek couldn’t hide his worry as he looked at Khan, who seemed to be struggling.

Stamina worse than that of ordinary people.

Although he seemed to be trying hard to act fine, to Byutek’s eyes, it was clear Khan was struggling.

‘Most mages are like that, but… I’ll have to see how he handles it when monsters appear.’

When he was in Kilpheon, at the center of the Sinsiniel territory, Byutek had seen many guys impersonating mages.

Those guys were all talk, frauds.

When it came down to it, all they could do was handle a very weak amount of Mana, not even enough to deal with monsters.

So Byutek continued to be worried.

‘A mage suddenly appearing in such a remote village… doesn’t make sense.’

Just how skilled was this guy named Khan, who called himself a mage?

Byutek, who had never seen a proper mage, grew increasingly uneasy.

Then, Khan spoke.

“Monsters will appear around this area.”

“Can you sense that?”

“Yes.”

Khan was already a Ranker who had played <Geo Arc>.

And not just any Ranker, but the undisputed Ranking 1st place.

Having mastered all Quests, he perfectly knew the clear conditions for this Quest.

‘The monsters here have already formed groups and settled in.’

The monsters appearing here are only a very small part.

We need to go to where they live in groups and defeat them all.

Then, the Quest clear notification will appear.

Khan knew all this, but the reason he stopped here for a moment was purely because he was tired.

Although he showed no outward signs, keeping up with the knight’s pace through this bumpy rocky area was quite difficult.

Khan and Byutek, standing in the center of the rocky area, taking a rest.

Just then, the figures of monsters began to appear one by two in the distance.

They must have come to drive out intruders, as they extremely disliked anyone invading their territory.

[LV.2 Kid Stone]

“Mo, monsters.”

“Yes, get ready now.”

“Understood.”

At some point, Byutek had begun treating Khan as if he were his superior.

Byutek, a Lowest-Rank Knight, had almost no experience fighting monsters.

Therefore, he was unknowingly relying on Khan, who seemed somewhat like a veteran.

Of course, he still doubted Khan’s current strength.

Swoosh…!

Byutek drew a long sword from his waist.

Then, he silently began staring at Khan.

About 3 seconds of silence passed between the two, and Byutek asked.

“What should I do now?”

“Go and defeat them.”

“Huh…?”

“Monsters of that level shouldn’t be a problem for your strength at all.”

“……Understood.”

Byutek made a momentarily dumbfounded expression but soon raised his sword and charged toward the three Kid Stones.

Whoosh!

Though a Lowest-Rank Knight, he moved quite nimbly, befitting a knight.

“Hyaap!!”

Byutek quickly approached the Kid Stones and swung his sword at them.

Swoosh!

Crunch…!

There was no clean cutting sound, but anyway, one Kid Stone’s head shattered under Byutek’s sword and turned into stone fragments.

“Kugh…!”

But there were three monsters in total.

Although he was a Level 3 Lowest-Rank Knight, dealing with three Level 2 Kid Stones was a bit difficult.

The Kid Stones jumped high and charged at Byutek, swinging their arms.

Clang!

Byutek barely blocked the Kid Stone’s attack and was looking for a timing to counterattack.

‘Why is that bastard just watching?’

Byutek, with almost no monster fighting experience, had recklessly charged at the Kid Stones entirely because he trusted the mage, Khan.

But Khan was still just watching even as he fought the Kid Stones.

‘A Level 3 knight… weaker than I thought.’

Byutek, a Level 3 knight, looked considerably weaker than Khan, who was now Level 2.

It was somewhat natural, since Khan had already obtained an attack Skill, ‘Arrow,’ and even had the overpowered Rank 10 Skill, ‘Sage’s Heart.’

Moreover, Khan had even obtained the ‘Growth Acceleration’ Skill, a Hidden Skill that would rapidly increase his future growth speed and a Rank 8 Skill at that.

‘Now there are only two monsters left, so it shouldn’t be a problem.’

Khan had a separate reason for not stepping in to kill the monsters himself.

Even if he killed those monsters, the Experience Points would barely increase, and there was no need to exhaust himself already.

‘Anyway, those three Kid Stones now are just a very small part.’

The Kid Stones inside the rocky area would number at least several dozen.

Khan was still slightly out of breath from climbing the rocky area.

A mage’s Stamina was basically truly garbage.

“Hwaap!!!”

Swoosh!!

Crunch!

Byutek was fighting them with his life on the line.

Only one Kid Stone remained now, and Byutek defeated even that last one.

“Huff, huff….”

Byutek looked quite tired from the fight with the Kid Stones.

Khan, having recovered some Stamina, slowly walked toward Byutek.

“Good work.”

“Huff, huff….”

Byutek silently looked at Khan.

Somehow, his eyes seemed mixed with a bit of irritation.

‘This bastard… is he really all talk?’

Byutek wanted to confront Khan right away, but the words wouldn’t come out easily.

The inexplicable pressure he felt from Khan since he introduced himself as a mage.

That’s why he couldn’t speak recklessly.

‘If we go inside, more monsters will appear. I need to find a chance to run away.’

Kid Stones had poor mobility, so if he ran at full speed, he could easily escape.

“Let’s go inside now. We need to find their den.”

“……Understood.”

Swoosh….

Byutek sheathed the sword he had drawn and followed behind Khan.

Khan’s walking pace was quite slow, but this time, he walked at his pace.

If he took the lead again, he might have to face the monsters alone once more.

And he needed to prepare to run away just in case.

The two began walking into the rocky area.

* * *

Before they knew it, Khan and Byutek arrived at the entrance of a cave inside the rocky area.

“This place is…”

“This is their den. They must have been living here in groups.”

“……Sir Khan, how do you know that?”

“If you use Mana, you can easily sense the presence of monsters.”

Khan lied naturally as if it were obvious.

With his current Mana, let alone sensing the presence of monsters, he might not even be able to properly fight monsters.

Of course, that was the case for Players who chose the ordinary Mage Class.

“Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Khan gave Byutek a look.

To go into the cave first.

In case the Kid Stones might ambush them.

“Why aren’t you going in?”

“……Sir Khan, you go in first.”

Well, even if Kid Stones ambushed them, with his current strength, they wouldn’t be that threatening.

Khan silently walked into the cave first, and Byutek followed behind him.

The inside of the cave was pitch dark, to the point nothing was visible.

Khan drew up the Mana within his body to secure his vision.

Whoong…!

A very tiny Mana orb floating above Khan’s head.

A faint blue light spread inside the cave.

“Ooh, that’s Mana…”

“Yes.”

Byutek pretended to be surprised at the blue Mana orb about 1 centimeter in diameter, but in his heart, he had already made a decision.

‘A mage who can only handle that much Mana… No, that’s embarrassing to even call a mage.’

When he was in Kilpheon, at the center of the Sinsiniel territory, even the guys impersonating mages could do at least that much.

No, he had seen guys who used even more Mana than that.

‘As expected, this guy is also a bug-like bastard impersonating a mage.’

Byutek felt a bit irritated that he had been fooled by Khan.

‘Just die in here.’

From the looks of it, with Khan’s Stamina, he absolutely couldn’t escape from the Kid Stones inside this cave.

The two silently walked into the cave.

After walking in for about ten minutes, Kid Stones began to appear one by two.

One, two, three, four—beyond that, they swarmed in exponentially.

[LV.2 Kid Stone]

Just the Kid Stones visible before their eyes numbered over ten.

Upon discovering them, Byutek gradually stepped backward.

But,

Thud….

Thud….

Thud….

The sound of Kid Stones approaching from behind could be heard as well.

[LV.2 Kid Stone]

Kid Stones that had appeared at some point.

From behind too, at a glance, over ten Kid Stones were approaching.

As things stood, they had to defeat all the Kid Stones here.

But defeating this many Kid Stones with Khan by his side now would be impossible.

Byutek was realizing that he would soon die.

“Damn it…!! Because of you, I’m going to die too!!!”

He suddenly grabbed Khan by the collar and shouted.

“What’s wrong?”

“Damn it, a bastard who can only handle that puny amount of Mana is a mage? Because of you, I’m going to die too!”

“Hmm… You were suspicious, huh.”

“Damn it! Aren’t you worried at all?! We’re about to be finished!”

Tap.

Khan lightly knocked down Byutek’s hand gripping his collar.

Then, adjusting the collar of his stretched clothes, he said.

“I think I told you. Mages don’t lie.”

Khan was showing tremendous calmness and composure even while looking at dozens of Kid Stones.

As if these guys were nothing.

“It’ll be tough for you, so stay still. This time, I’ll handle it.”

“What…?”

Byutek thought Khan had lost his mind now.

Because he was putting on all sorts of cool acts in a situation right before death.

Khan didn’t speak anymore.

Thud….

Thud….

Thud….

Dozens of Kid Stones approaching from the front and back inside the cave.

Khan chanted the Incantation in his heart.

‘Arrow.’

Whoong…!!

Mana Arrows formed around him.

Usually, Hidden Skills’ performance varied according to the user’s Level.

The total number of Mana Arrows Khan, now Level 2, could create at once was five.

Snap.

Khan stretched his hand toward the Kid Stones in front,

Sssswishhh!!!!

Sssswishhh!!!!

Crash!!

Crackle!!!

The Mana Arrows floating around him pierced through the bodies of the Kid Stones.