Chapter 103: S-rank Hunter?
Chapter 103: S-rank Hunter?
Dal-soo let out his Mana Presence, and both hands emitted blue lights. He jumped low toward Ji-woo.
He tried to paralyze Ji-woo with the touch of his hand. It was the same ability he used when he revived the leader of Team 3, Do-cheol. He could make the internal organs work again and vice versa.
Ji-woo easily dodged Dal-soo’s catch. He even taunted Dal-soo with a smirk when he did that.
“Look here. I don’t mean to be rude. But, following me from the start from the guild headquarters, isn’t that too much?
“Also, I don’t like my business being meddled all the time. There were also two bastards watching me almost every day before. Did I worth that much to be spied upon?”
Ji-woo ducked his head to avoid Dal-soo’s grip and kicked him straight in the chest.
Dal-soo managed to hold off the kick with both hands. But, he got thrown back because the blow was strong enough to push him away.
‘He’s strong. I have to give my all if I want to beat him.’ He thought.
Then, he dispelled the blue lights in his hands and magnified his Mana Presence. His body and muscles became enlarged. Ji-woo’s body shape would get covered when compared to him.
Dal-soo attacked Ji-woo at twice the speed of before, and his jump caused a small explosion on the ground.
Ji-woo slid to the side to avoid the blow that came from above that got aimed downward.
Kaboom!
The ground shattered and cracked from the missed blow. Ji-woo jumped lightly to the back, avoiding the cracks that could throw his balance off.
“Now, I’m a little worried that, if further damage occurs. Will the tier-3 Portal Gate get affected, such as disappearing maybe?”
Haarg!!
Dal-soo roared at Ji-woo’s words and chased after him to launch another blow.
Once again, Ji-woo dodged the blow with ease. There was no challenge at all from any of Dal-soo’s attacks. Regardless, he would have had to expend a bit of his strength to counterattack like before.
Twice, three times, four times, and so on, Dal-soo’s attacks still didn’t work. Just being able to touch Ji-woo’s clothes was the best thing for him. He even had to feel numbness in his hands every time he had to block Ji-woo’s kicks.
‘Darn it! This is getting out of nowhere!’
Dal-soo jumped back and clasped his palms together.
“The Ghosts of the Dead!”
Drrt, Creek–
Drrt, Creek–
The ground shook, and cracks opened around Ji-woo and Dal-soo. 13 Green translucent humans emerged from that.
Ji-woo raised one of his eyebrows. ‘Undead?’
It was different from the usual undead creatures. The ones that got summoned by Dal-soo using the form of Mana, not solid like the mummies from the previous tier-4 Portal Gate.
It also meant that the green translucent humans would disappear the moment they made contact with Ji-woo.
And sure enough, the thirteen translucent creatures dematerialized when they tried to attack Ji-woo.
The incident certainly made Dal-soo flustered and couldn’t believe his own eyes. He wondered about how it happened or if his eyes were okay.
“What’s that? How did that happen?? Impossible!”
Ji-woo responded by shrugging his shoulders.
Dal-soo, amid confusion, shouted. “What are you? No Mana! No sh*t, whatsoever! How could you do that? You’re higher than S-rank?”
He reduced his Mana Presence and spread his arms. “Life Death Threads!” The next time, blue translucent threads shot out from his ten fingers.
Ji-woo just watched with a cold gaze and a calm, natural expression. He then took a deep breath. ‘Let’s show him the difference.’ He decided to stand there and wait for the blue threads’ attack to come.
Dal-soo nimbly moved his wrists as well as his hands to control the blue threads. Those blue threads were fiercer and sharper than before when he used them at the Demigod Guild’s headquarters.
The soil and the few trees that were there all had cut from the blue threads.
Dal-soo intended to show that the blue threads were quite dangerous and could cut through what they had wrapped around. But, he reduced its power when the strings got to Ji-woo. So, he managed to catch Ji-woo because he didn’t mean to kill him.
“You’re strong. I admit it. You seem to be on par with an S-rank hunter. But, now you can’t do anything. Drop your resistance. It’s to no avail. You can’t move anymore.”
Contrary to the situation, Ji-woo was able to move his body with ease, and the blue threads wrapped around his body vanished from sight.
“What!!?”
Dal-soo widened his eyes. It was already beyond his understanding of magic. Those threads were the most formidable strands that even all S-rank hunters couldn’t break or dispel in the blink of an eye.
‘Apex-rank? No! No! It was impossible! Since earlier, he didn’t even use Mana or magic spells. There is no absolute indication that can show his level. I need to calm down and think clearly!’
Dal-soo slapped both cheeks with his hands to wake up from the ordeal. Unknowingly, his legs trembled when facing Ji-woo. However, he clicked his tongue and tightened his grip on both hands. He didn’t expect stealth tailing to be such a mistake.
Suddenly, Ji-woo disappeared. And in an instant, shortened the distance between him and Dal-soo. He was now in front of Dal-soo and swung his right arm.
Dal-soo, who was still in shock and a little scared, had no chance to dodge or block the attack. He resignedly accepted the blow while gritting his teeth. The strike hit him in the stomach and sent him flying backward while he backslid on the ground.
Ji-woo then appeared in the direction where Dal-soo was about to land, stopping the crash by putting his foot on Dal-soo’s shoulder. After stopping, he kicked Dal-soo up and followed, who also jumped high to match their height in the air.
Ji-woo spun 180 degrees in the air and performed a back kick to Dal-soo’s neck.
Kaboom!
Dal-soo fell and landed hard on the ground, making a deep pit on it.
Ji-woo landed on the side and stared at the sprawling Dal-soo. He considered whether or not to kill Dal-soo. Although the information gleaned from him was almost non-existent. However, those odd things were likely to be enough to attract the attention of other hunters later.
He lamented about the pros and cons, deciding to let Dal-soo live.
‘Sigh! This happened because of the headquarters incident. If I didn’t act impulsively like that, this person wouldn’t have followed me all the way here.’ Ji-woo thought.
He then entered the tier-3 Portal Gate, leaving Dal-soo unconscious and injured on the ground.
Zap, Zap–
Zip, Zip–
Ji-woo entered the Portal Gate and appeared in a mountain cave-type dungeon. The creatures he encountered this time were Spiderlings and Broodmother. It was different from what he had confronted with the Ganjang guild back then. The difference lies in the strength of each creature which was clearly mightier and had vast Mana than its predecessor.
Meanwhile, outside of the Portal Gate. Dal-soo woke up and felt sore all over his body after almost an hour. He caressed his entire body and checked for any fatal wounds. He also immediately began to heal gradually and quickly. He almost fully recovered after that. Right now, he just felt tired, and his body was a little heavy to move.
He stared at the tier-3 Portal Gate and pondered while sitting on the ground. He began to analyze everything from the moment he started following Ji-woo. He knew for a fact that he had gained nothing along the way. But, instead of getting information, he got endless surprises. Ji-woo’s figure became more and more mysterious. It was like digging a hole that had no end.
Dal-soo closed his eyes and hit his thigh.
‘I live. Why didn’t he kill me? I know I know nothing about him at all. But, at least, I’ve seen and understood a little of his secret.’
He didn’t understand why he was still alive when he knew that much. Commonly, only death would await him. Not only did he not die, but he was also pretty healthy with no serious injuries. He didn’t quite grasp the situation.
But, the thought drifted toward the mystery that Ji-woo had. The strength that Ji-woo had clearly lain in the S-rank.
Dal-soo put aside the notion that Ji-woo might be the equivalent of an Apex-ranker. But, he figured Ji-woo might be somewhere in between S-rank and Apex-rank.
At that moment, there was confusion that accompanied the conjecture. That was how Ji-woo was able to enter the tier-2 and tier-3 Portal Gate. The Mana Restriction of the Portal Gate was so strict that even Apex and ArchMage rankers couldn’t get past it at all. They would get flatly rejected by the Portal Gate. It was one of the two biggest mysteries he deduced from Ji-woo.
And the last one was about Mana. From the guild headquarters to this tier-3 Portal Gate, Dal-soo didn’t feel the slightest Mana from Ji-woo.
How was it possible to have such power without Mana? Was there an item capable of hiding Mana in such a way? That was not quite right. If Ji-woo used a magic spell or let out his Mana presence, Dal-soo might lose before the fight began.
Zap, Zap–
Suddenly, some noises interrupted Dal-soo’s contemplation.