WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR
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◈ The S-Classes That I Raised ◈
Chapter 132: Drawn To (2)
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A magical beast lay curled up like a rock. There was no suitable prey nearby. Drawn only to mana stones rather than hot blood and flesh, it had chosen to fall asleep instead of wasting energy.
After several months, something edible finally appeared. It was not satisfactory, but enough to ease its hunger, so the magical beast slowly opened its eyes. Just as its stiff body began to regain vitality.
Grrr.
Sensing something, it let out a satisfied rumble. New prey had entered its range. And not merely the small prey scattered around it, but mana stones with mana far more concentrated than anything nearby. Normally, an opponent carrying mana stones of that level would turn it into prey instead, but this time was different.
Prey that looked delicious, yet was absurdly weak.
Unable to contain its excitement, the magical beast bared its teeth.
* * *
A dungeon break occurred in stages. Monsters did not pour out all at once, but appeared in order by floor and species. The order was random, however, so the final floor or even the boss monster could appear first.
The residential area was quiet. Every light was off. The evacuation had been swift, and there were no sounds or lights to provoke the monsters. Instead.
Boom! Boom!
Explosions and flashes repeatedly burst from within the barricades. I didn’t know which Hunter had entered the swarm of monsters, but I hoped they were safe. Hopefully, they were at least A-Class and had simply been lucky enough to be nearby.
“Red Pix Bees. They range from A to B-Class, but B-Class seems more common.”
Several bees as large as wolves, which had been scattered around the outskirts, approached us. They attacked in an instant, leading with the spear-like stingers on their abdomens, but.
Crunch.
Song Taewon grabbed a bee’s stinger and snapped it in half. At nearly the same time, his other hand tore off its wing, twisted its segmented body, and threw it away.
Thud!
The bee struck another approaching bee, and both exploded apart. The broken stinger then shot out like a projectile and pierced another bee. Without using any particular skill or weapon, he had sent three bees plummeting to the ground in an instant.
His lower body barely moved. He disposed of monsters that could split a low-rank Hunter in two and melt them with a sting as lightly as though they were toys.
“Judging by the regular monsters’ ranks, this does seem to be an A-Class dungeon break.”
I continued, narrowing my eyes at the cloud-like swarm of bees.
“By their numbers, it’s at least mid-tier, perhaps even high-tier. I don’t know whether this is the first or second floor, but the boss will be a queen bee. It’ll probably appear with several drones. It must have been a dungeon where honey and honeycombs were the main source of profit. They’re expensive materials. If we trace it back, we should be able to find the dungeon’s owner.”
There probably wouldn't have been much honey or honeycomb. What an expensive dungeon to lose. If they handled this safely and restored the broken gate, it would be a dungeon valuable enough to quickly cover the damages.
“Then, the skill...”
[The target has refused.]
There was that message again. Song Taewon had refused to receive Skill Sharing. He spoke bluntly.
“It is unnecessary in the current situation.”
He wasn’t wrong, but any other high-rank Hunter, even an ordinary person, would have accepted out of curiosity if told their strength would increase. He wouldn’t be curious about how much more powerful his skills could become, though.
“Still, accept this one. You don’t have a flight skill.”
There was no telling when a Hunter capable of granting a flight skill would arrive. I used the Teacher skill on Noah and Song Taewon. At the same time, I felt slight resistance from Song Taewon. His presence was weaker than Seong Hyeonje’s, but the burden felt even greater. It seemed he unconsciously disliked accepting shared senses.
“Noah, please.”
- Yes. It would be faster if I used poison.
That was true, but they were poisonous flying insects. If any of them failed to die immediately and fled into the residential area while poisoned, it would be a disaster. I firmly told him again not to use it unless it was truly necessary.
Noah, who had been circling the outskirts, twisted his body. Song Taewon drew a dagger and pulled his arm back as though drawing a bowstring. The muscles in his arm tightened, bulging as if they might tear through his clothes, before he threw the dagger at the swarm.
Shrrk!
Wrapped in a faint blue glow, the dagger swept through dozens of bees in a straight line. It looked as though he had fired a laser beam from a science fiction movie. The dagger tore through the bees before smashing through a sharp insect jaw and coming to a stop.
Patter.
Bodies fell like a swarm of poisoned mosquitoes. In the meantime, Noah reached the swarm.
Bzzzz.
A chorus-like buzzing struck my ears. Watching the swarm rush in at once, Song Taewon bent his knees slightly.
“I’m going.”
Then, thump, he kicked hard off Noah’s back and plunged into the swarm. Bees scattered like leaves caught in a typhoon from nothing but the impact of his body. Both then and now, it must have been a thoroughly unreal sight to ordinary people.
- Yujin, I’ve got you!
Noah spun his body. Rather than resisting, I fell free, and his scaled arms carefully caught me. He spread his wings stiffly, then crossed through the swarm at a terrifying speed.
Crunch, crack.
Every time a bee caught on Noah’s wings, its mottled red body was cut in half. They tried to bite with their jaws and stab with their stingers, but it was impossible for poisonous insect monsters rated A to B-Class, with physical strength weak for their ranks, to pierce an S-Class dragon’s scales.
Both Noah and Song Taewon were excellent weapons even with their bodies alone. The swarms of bees, which seemed almost fragile, fell endlessly.
Golden wings sharply folded as Noah changed direction. Song Taewon landed precisely on the dragon’s back as it rose after diving downward. Then he leaped again. He crushed a bee beneath his foot and shot upward, forcing his way into the center of the enraged swarm. A circular ripple formed around him.
Rumble.
With a heavy vibration, every bee within a radius of over ten meters was shredded in an instant. Noah swiftly flew toward Song Taewon again after he lost his footing. Thanks to the Teacher skill, they worked together perfectly.
‘...I’m going to die.’
And I was getting motion sickness. My damage-nullification item prevented the gravitational strain of high-speed movement, but not motion sickness. Naturally.
- Are you all right, Yujin?
“...It’s fine since I haven’t eaten dinner yet.”
If I threw up, only stomach acid would come out, so that was fortunate at least. Next time, I should take motion sickness medicine beforehand. ...Would Poison Resistance prevent that too? Please develop motion sickness medicine that Poison Resistance doesn’t work on.
Even then, the number of bees that had gathered in a black mass rapidly decreased. Since they were flying monsters, I had been most worried they would escape over the barricades, but for some reason, none left the swarm. Did they have a strong sense of comradeship?
- I think the bees keep following me.
Noah spoke as he smashed bees with his tail. Was that it? Ugh.
Then the distorted gate lit up. The boss was probably coming out.
No sooner had I thought it than a giant bee appeared beyond the gate. Drones the size of a bear’s torso, with shells as hard as armor. Between them stood the queen bee, its entire body covered in sharp venomous stingers.
I quickly used Sprout. They were all A-Class. One of the queen bee’s skills caught my eye.
Hive’s Trust, S-Class. It was obviously a buff skill for multiple targets.
“The queen bee has a group buff skill. Take it out first! Also, those ones can’t fly.”
Song Taewon used the few remaining bees as footholds to leap upward. Reaching above the queen bee, he dropped straight down.
Crash!
Under the force that crushed both venomous stingers and red shell, a deep, large hole opened in the queen bee’s body. Even an S-Class Hunter would have suffered some damage from the venomous stingers if unarmed, but he hadn’t so much as a scratch.
Just before he collided with the queen bee, a faint black shadow had appeared, carrying a protective effect. Did it absorb the opponent’s skill?
‘A damage-nullification type skill?’
Almost nothing was known about Song Taewon’s skills. Not only did he never participate in ranking matches, he didn’t appear on Hunter-related programs unless it concerned official work. It was certain that he was combat-oriented, though.
Bzzzz.
At the sight of the queen bee being torn apart so miserably, the drones trembled their small wings, unable to lift themselves. The queen bee’s venomous stingers answered them. Song Taewon swept up the broken stingers scattered beneath his feet. The stingers rose one after another into the air, and he kicked them away in a smooth, continuous motion.
Thud, crunch.
A drone that took several stingers across its entire body collapsed, and the rest charged at the comparatively small human.
Song Taewon could have handled them alone, but Noah descended anyway. Then around ten remaining bees rushed after Noah.
“They really are following you?”
Why? Because he was also a flying species? After setting me down, Noah turned toward the charging bees.
- Please wait a moment. I’ll take care of them quickly.
His fully spread wings beat strongly. The bees with their thin wings were overturned by the harsh wind, unable to control their bodies. Noah cleverly controlled the wind he had created, gathering the bees in one place before swinging his claws at the prepared feast.
Perhaps worried they would come toward me, he gathered them neatly and disposed of them in one blow. He had truly become skilled at fighting in dragon form.
Then one of the drones suddenly charged toward us. Not at Noah, but directly at me, reaching out with its sharp hooked forelegs.
- How dare you!
With a fierce growl, Noah’s long golden tail lashed out like a whip. The hook that had reached right before my nose was crushed as though cut off, and sharp claws pierced the bee’s head. Its shell, thicker than iron armor, tore like paper.
Noah looked at me while pressing down on the drone, which trembled its three remaining legs.
- Are you all right?
“Yes, but...”
Why had it left Song Taewon, who had killed the queen bee, and charged at me? Was it trying to get rid of the weaker one first? Noah completely cut off the drone’s breath, then stood close beside me. His faintly glowing eyes curved as though to reassure me. Just as one wing spread protectively.
Crack!
- Urgh!
Blood sprayed. Immediately after a huge beast that had appeared out of nowhere raked at Noah’s chest as though tearing it apart, my body was firmly caught in its jaws. I could vaguely see the golden dragon scattering blood as it tumbled away.
“Noah! Urgh.”
Its saw-like teeth could not pierce even my clothes, let alone my skin, but I had no way to escape its jaws. The unidentified beast leaped far away in one bound while holding me in its mouth. As I watched the Fear Resistance message appear before my eyes, thinking this was a problem.
- Yip! Yipe!
The beast rolled around with an ugly cry. I rolled across the ground with it after being thrown from its mouth. My skin scraped against the asphalt, and a little blood welled up. Was that level of impact not enough to trigger damage nullification? I should use a potion before Yoohyun noticed.
‘He used Silent Scream.’
Noah’s skill that delivered double the pain of an injury to the target. As I got to my feet, I used Sprout on the beast writhing in pain, a huge wolf.
[Grade 1 Lycanthrope ? King of Black Rock
Current Stats Grade S
Awakenable Stats Grade S
Optimized Initial Skills
Dark Fur (SS) acquired
Severing Claws (S) acquired
Enlargement (A) acquired]
‘...Why is this bastard appearing now?’
It had definitely appeared over a year later. It was a monster that had suddenly intervened while an undiscovered B-Class dungeon that had broken nearby was being dealt with. I could still vividly remember the A to B-Class response team being wiped out in droves because of it.
‘Did it come out because it was drawn by the A-Class dungeon break?’
Its nickname was the Devouring Wolf. It was a difficult S-Class monster to deal with because it was so fast and tough, but it was easy to lure because it went mad over high-grade mana stones and tried to eat them. As a result, civilian casualties had been low.
But why was that bastard, who had barely cared about weak humans, coming after me for no reason?
Grrr.
Despite drooling from the pain, the wolf got back up. Its blue eyes seemed to burn. Like a rabid dog, the bastard pounced on me in an instant. Its forepaw pinned down my leg, and its snout touched my chest, specifically near my heart.
Something came to mind at that moment.
‘The dragonkin’s mana stone!’
Could it have sensed that an SS-Class mana stone was embedded in my chest? Damn it. There was even a fragment of Diarma’s mana stone, which had to be at least L-Class.
‘An F-Class carrying SS-Class or higher mana stones...’
I was a damn tasty feast that was easy to bite into. I could understand why the bastard had gone mad. Had the bees chased after me for mana stones too? Damn it, I had never imagined there would be a side effect like this. It wasn’t even in my memories. Diarma must have only embedded mana stones weaker than itself, so naturally, it would never have experienced something like this.
Grrr.
Its chillingly sharp fangs scraped at my chest, but it was useless. At worst, its claws caught on my clothes and tore them. Still, the sight of it looking at me like a nut that was difficult to crack, along with its hot breath and dripping saliva, felt thoroughly disgusting. But I didn’t have to endure it for long.
Thud!
The dog bastard was kicked hard and shoved aside. Song Taewon then grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet in one motion. His gaze quickly swept over my body.
“I’m fine. What about Noah?”
“He is unharmed. I asked him to guard the gate.”
Only one floor’s worth of monsters had emerged so far, so someone needed to block the gate. Unlike the bees that had burst apart at once, the wolf seemed barely harmed as it glared at Song Taewon and raised its fur. Its black coat hardened, taking on a dull gleam.
“That is an SS-Class skill, so you won’t get through it easily. Don’t refuse this time.”
Instead of replying, Song Taewon pulled me firmly against him. The skill was shared, and the wolf, interrupted in the middle of its meal, let out a fierce roar.
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