Chapter 34 – Forest of Orca (２)

The moment they first stepped into Orca Forest, the mages started cursing.

“Holy shit.”

“What the hell is this?”

“Agh, goddammit!”

Even just putting a foot down made it sink deep into the muck, making it a struggle just to walk forward.

And that wasn’t all.

Countless vines and nameless plants constantly blocked their view, while insects swarmed from every direction, launching attacks.

“This difficulty is absolute bullshit.”

“How the hell am I supposed to find something called an Orca in this place?”

“Augh, just piss off!”

The tiny, countless bugs—too small to even attack—kept gnawing away at the mages’ Stamina.

Of course, one person among them remained completely unaffected.

That was Gijun.

‘This Cutting Power effect is amazing.’

The moment he entered the forest, Gijun had cast Strong Wind to spread a barrier around himself.

His feet never sank into the marsh, and the bugs couldn’t even get close to him.

Anyone who tried was torn apart by the Cutting Power woven into Strong Wind.

While the mages floundered, Gijun moved swiftly ahead.

He walked far ahead of the mages.

Watching him, the mages spoke up.

“Where’s that guy going?”

“Does he even know the way?”

“How would he? If he doesn’t get swarmed by monsters and game-overed in a bit, we’ll be lucky.”

That was just ignorance talking.

Of course, they couldn’t have known.

“So you’re saying I just need to head this way?”

[Right. I know that Orca very well. How could I ever forget that wretched stench?]

Gijun was having a conversation no one could imagine right now.

“Feels like cheating, though.”

But so what?

What mattered to Gijun was completing this Quest and being appointed to the Special Task Force.

And beyond that, obtaining a God’s Fragment.

He’d do anything for that.

Plus, the Achievement too.

‘I have to take it down within an hour.’

Time was ticking even now.

He couldn’t afford to waste a single moment.

[Don’t worry about a thing—just follow me. I am a part of the ancient gods, who knows everything in this world and can do anything! Hahahahaha!]

Libre, brimming with excitement, shot through the air, leading the way.

No one except Gijun would even dare imagine it.

For him, this entire Quest was nothing more than a cakewalk.

*

“The terrain’s incredibly rough.”

Gijun said as he moved.

True to his words, the Orca Forest was an environment where even taking a single step was no easy task.

Without Strong Wind’s help, Gijun himself might have already been worn out.

Libre replied to his words.

[Of course. Orca never allows anyone into its territory. Even other monsters don’t loiter around it. One wrong move and your head might fly off at any moment.]

“So it’s that dangerous, huh?”

[Yes. Didn’t that human just say so? A forest closed to entry. In the past, humans set foot here several times to subjugate Orca, but they all died. After that, this forest was sealed off.]

‘Good thing I swapped my Equipment.’

Especially the moment he switched out three pieces of gear—Gijun’s firepower had already become incomparably stronger than before.

No, that wasn’t all.

The C-rank Mana Handling and even the D-rank Strong Wind pulled their weight without question.

[We should be arriving soon.]

That was when Libre spoke.

“···.”

A coarse breathing sound came from somewhere.

Grrrrr—grrrrrhhh···.

No, it sounded more like snoring than breathing.

[It’s definitely asleep. Once that thing fills its belly, it sleeps for days, even weeks on end. Of course, if it’s forcibly woken, it can’t control its rage.]

They walked a little further.

[There. Right there.]

A massive tree came into view.

At its base was a large hollow, and inside, something enormous stirred and shifted.

“That’s Orca···.”

He couldn’t yet make out its exact shape, but he could feel it clearly.

A bulk so massive it would make an elephant look like a joke.

‘Plenty of time.’

It’d taken about thirty minutes to get here.

Thanks to Libre, he’d found Orca without losing his way even once.

‘So I’ve got about thirty minutes left.’

Could he take that thing down in thirty minutes?

‘No way to know.’

Literally.

Right now, there was no telling.

But he had to try.

After steadying his breath for a moment, Gijun began casting Fireball.

Three Fireballs materialized around him, floating in the air.

Gijun grinned and launched them.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BLAST!

The Fireballs slammed into the tree where Orca lay sleeping.

Flash!

Then, from inside the hollow, a pair of eerie eyes blazed open.

[It’s coming. Prepare yourself!]

“Yeah.”

No sooner had Libre spoken than—

KRA-KOOOM!

A thunderous roar erupted.

Along with a vibration strong enough to shake that enormous tree, something shot up into the air.

‘Holy shit.’

A leap that defied belief for a creature that size—that kind of spring and speed.

In an instant, Orca vaulted over ten meters and let out a monstrous roar at Gijun.

Swooping down toward him, Orca’s massive frame—so huge it distorted any sense of distance—fell at terrifying speed.

But Gijun wasn’t afraid.

‘This is even better.’

In fact, he liked the sheer size.

‘More surface area to hit.’

Literally.

A bigger body meant more places to land a blow.

Just then.

[Proficiency in Mana Handling has increased!]

[Mana Handling]

>Grade : Legendary

>Can manipulate mana to condense energy.

>Proficiency : C

>Magic Attack +70%

>Casting Speed +50%

>MP Consumption -35%

>Skill Range +100% (new!)

‘Huh?’

A message saying Mana Handling’s proficiency had increased.

‘Skill Range increase.’

That was the new ability added to Mana Handling.

Which meant Fireball’s reach and Strong Wind’s area of effect had both grown even larger.

“This is seriously the best.”

Gijun couldn’t help but welcome it.

Fireball’s current range was about thirty meters.

If Skill Range increased by 100%, Fireball’s reach would stretch to a full sixty meters.

“Which means Strong Wind’s area expands too.”

That was right.

Strong Wind’s range would grow as well.

Strong Wind’s newly added option: Cutting Power.

This was the moment he could maximize that effect.

“This is the option I need most right now.”

If he could plunge into the middle of a monster horde and tear them apart with Strong Wind—

Wasn’t that exactly the spell a Battle Mage needed most?

“From far away, and up close…”

A skill combination that could handle enemies perfectly had been born.

“The best, really.”

A smile lingered on Gijun’s lips, refusing to fade.

“Now I need to raise Fireball’s Proficiency fast.”

Getting Fireball’s Proficiency up was the immediate goal.

Fireball at C-Grade.

Once he had that, Gijun’s firepower would clearly leap to a whole new level.

“Time to try it out, then.”

Gijun cast the skill.

Fwoooosh—!

A fierce gale surged.

The wind rushed toward Orca.

And then—

Shrrrk! Shrrshrrshrrshrrshrrk!

“!!!”

It began relentlessly tearing Orca’s entire body apart.

Kraaaah!

Strong Wind’s casting range fully enveloped Orca’s body and then some.

It ruthlessly whipped not only the Orca suspended in the air but even the surrounding tree branches, destroying everything in its path.

“This level… I’d say it far surpasses Wind Cutter.”

Literally.

A 1st-Circle Strong Wind had just surpassed even a 4th-Circle Wind Cutter in effect.

*

Boom! Krakoom!

The sound of explosions rang out in the distance.

Kraaaah! Keeeeeeek!

The terrified howls of monsters filled with fear.

The moment they heard it, the mages sensed it.

“It’s Orca!”

“No way—did that guy actually know something?”

That the Orca Raid had already begun.

“Shit!”

“Run!”

There was only one thing they could do.

Race toward where the fight had started.

“Get out of my way, you bastards!”

“Die!”

They unleashed spells without hesitation at the monsters blocking their path.

Sure, their running speed was far slower than walking on flat ground, but this was no time to care about that.

“Can’t afford to miss it.”

“How could I let this slip away!”

They absolutely didn’t want to miss this Quest.

After all, who could even guess what incredible rewards were hidden in a Quest like that?

And so, they kept running.

It took a long run before they reached the epicenter of the fight.

But then—

‘What the hell is this?’

‘What is that?’

An impossible scene unfolded before them.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BLAM!

Fireballs, bursting out nonstop.

‘F-Fireball? No way?’

They were undeniably Fireballs—balls of flame.

The problem was that the power of those Fireballs wasn’t the power they knew.

KROOOOAR!

Every time three Fireballs struck the Orca, massive flames erupted across its body.

It was a force too strong to believe came from soccer-ball-sized Fireballs.

Even worse, those Fireballs were being cast several times per second without pause, hammering the Orca’s entire body.

And that wasn’t all.

‘What’s that now?’

SHRRRR-SHRRRR-SHRRRR-SHRIEK!

Wind gusting from somewhere tore into the massive monster’s body—the Orca—like invisible blades.

It looked like something out of a martial-arts novel, a flying sword slicing the air.

And its power was nothing to scoff at either.

Not as strong as the Fireballs, sure, but each gust left fresh wounds on the Orca’s hide, stacking up fast.

But the most shocking part of all was—

‘Is that guy even a mage?’

‘Fuck, is that a knight pretending to be a mage with Fireballs?’

The mage’s movements.

He was dodging every attack from the Orca, which moved at a speed ill-suited to its bulk.

‘This is a swamp!’

Even though it was a swamp where one wrong step meant sinking ankle-deep into the muck.

He didn’t seem to care, weaving freely, toying with the Orca as if the terrain meant nothing.

‘It’s a bug.’

‘That’s a bug.’

‘It’s a goddamn bug!’

So they had no choice but to think that way.

That the weird mage was using a bug.

Of course, they knew.

There were no bugs in this game.

But they had to believe it anyway.

Because otherwise, there was no way to explain what they were seeing.

And then—

KROOOAR!

The Orca opened its mouth, roaring in pain.

In that instant, the mage’s body moved like lightning.

‘Crazy.’

The mage actually started climbing a tree.

Not with his hands—with his feet.

A scene straight out of a martial-arts novel.

And then—

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BLAM!

Fireballs surged straight into the Orca’s open mouth, triggering a violent explosion.

The blast was so massive that the Orca’s body swelled as if about to burst, and the ground shook violently, like an earthquake.

‘…’

‘No way.’

‘Why the hell is someone like that here? He’s gotta be way past Level 100, right?’

Nothing about him looked like a User who should be hunting in the Rotom Commercial District.

*

Grrrrroooan—

The Orca’s massive body began to tilt slowly.

Watching it, Gijun breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Fucking insane.’

BOOOOOOM!

And so, at last, the Orca fell.

It lay there, heaving out ragged breaths.

But whatever threat it had posed was gone now.

Left alone, it would draw its last on its own.

That much was true.

After roughly a minute of labored gasping, the Orca’s breathing stopped.

The moment its breath ceased, a message flickered into view.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

‘Alright, then.’

Now came the Seeker-exclusive Achievement.

The condition: defeat the Orca within an hour.

The frantic fight had left no time to track the clock.

All he could do was wait for the result.

And then—

[Seeker-exclusive Achievement unlocked!]

[All Stats increased by 10!]

[Skill ‘Orca’s Footsteps’ acquired!]

‘Yes!’

Gijun clenched his fist and breathed a sigh of triumph.

The Seeker-exclusive Achievement.

The moment its rewards were finally his.

‘I did it.’

It meant he’d taken the beast down in under thirty minutes.

Considering the levels of everyone involved in this quest, calling what he’d just done insane wouldn’t be an overstatement.

It also meant that Gijun had grown powerful enough to far surpass his current level.

‘Good. If I can get my hands on that second heart in this state…’

The corners of Gijun’s mouth were already dancing.

‘First, let’s check the skill.’