Chapter 72: Spar
Chapter 72: Spar
“You’re really handsome, young man.”
“Ah, yes. Thank you, sir. And this is the Golden Arachnia. The bow that sir Ma-no mentioned earlier.”
Seok-jin was willing to buy Ji-woo’s weapon. He became interested in it after getting an appraisal by Ma-no. At first, he bargained for 300 million won. But, Ma-no negotiated with him and finally agreed on 320 million won.
Ji-woo was surprised when he first met Seok-jin. He thought he would be the same age as mister Lee and Ma-no.
However, Seok-jin was younger. He was about 40 years old.
“You did the right thing. If this weapon is bound to you, it will get difficult to unbound it later. Because magical items and weapons will only become free when they have no master.”
Ji-woo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The reason he didn’t bound the bow was that he didn’t have Mana.
It could be a good thing for something that needed to get sold. But, a bad thing for something that you want to own.
“Anyway, why do you want to buy it now? Even though at the beginning, you said you didn’t want to deal with magical items and weapons?”
Seok-jin went silent while holding the Golden Arachnia. After a while, he opened his mouth.
“You know. I have a good impression of you and Ma-no put words for that weapon too. Besides, you’re also Ik-jun hyung’s acquaintance. So, I won’t be hiding anything from you.
“If it only an ordinary magic weapon, I wouldn’t bother. But it’s unique. When Ma-no explained the bow to me, I realized that this bow might sell high if I sold it elsewhere. So, I plan to resell it.
“I don’t want to take advantage of you. So, you can decide whether you want to continue this transaction or not. I’m fine with whatever you choose.”
Seok-jin looked at Ji-woo. The mood became heavy and dreary.
Ji-woo knew what situation he was in it. He had met such a person several times in the Magical world. It was the way merchants usually did. He wanted to cancel it. And he was also curious about the place Seok-jin mentioned, where magic items and weapons might sell for more than an average armory shop could offer it.
However, he knew it would leave an unpleasant impression on the broker if he pushed it. It was a situation that couldn’t get solved with muscles. So, it was okay to take a few steps back. That would build a friendly relationship with the broker, and that was not a bad idea either.
Ji-woo smiled, breaking the heavy atmosphere. “I’m selling it to you, sir. Just treat it as a token of goodwill on my part. I hope you’ll look after me in the future too.”
Seok-jin’s face turned gleeful at the confirmation. He thanked Ji-woo for that.
“If you need anything in the future, you can let me know. I will help as long as I can. Also, I will send you the intelligence about the unique hunters later.”
“Oh. You don’t have to, sir.”
“No. No. Don’t stand on ceremony. It’s my token of gratitude to you in exchange for this.”
Haha–
Seok-jin laughed while swinging around the bow. He was so excited and didn’t realize that Ji-woo got a little clue about the price Seok-jin would get when he resold the weapon.
If information worth 40 million won could get easily tossed around, that would mean the resale price of the Golden Arachnia was about 380 million won. Even then, the price might reach 500 million won under certain conditions.
Ji-woo shook his head. It was not the time to worry about that. The most important thing for him now was to set up an intelligence agency. It would be his foundation to stand alone in the world of hunters and dungeons. It would let him know all sorts of things and stop making him look like an ignorant person. Therefore, he needed to attack the Portal Gate as much as possible.
On the other hand, at the Demigod guild headquarters’ Training Center.
Dong-hyun and the other hunters trained themselves on the last day of training. Tomorrow, they would have a break. And the day after tomorrow, it was the day the tier-3 Portal Gates hunts commenced.
The Training Center didn’t get crowded as some hunters had already returned after the training was over. Dong-hyun in the corner was getting ready to head home. Suddenly, there were three hunters standing in front of him.
“You’ve been diligent in your practice this time. You always come home earlier than the others. What’s wrong with you?”
“We also heard you asking around about spatial items lately.”
Dong-hyun sighed. He didn’t have any friends in the guild. So, he casually asked some hunters when he was looking for information about spatial items. “It’s okay. I’m just asking out of curiosity. That’s all.” He answered short.
“Yes, we heard about it. Hey, did you find any treasure? How come suddenly wondering about such luxury items? Do you want to buy it?”
“Please, don’t block my way.” Dong-hyun intended to ignore the hunters and head straight home.
“Don’t leave in a hurry. How about we play a game? If you can dodge our punches for a minute, we’ll tell you about the spatial items. I’ll bet that my information is authentic and exclusive.”
Dong-hyun stopped his tracks and stared at the three hunters. He could try his new technique by sparring with those hunters and at the same time getting information for his teacher. It killed two birds with one stone.
“Okay.”
The three hunters chuckled. It was a battle between the E-rank hunters, and according to them, Dong-hyun would always be at the bottom.
Boom!
A Mana Presence explosion occurred, and the three hunters jumped at Dong-hyun.
Dong-hyun still looked calm and assessed the attacks. ‘Relax. Let Mana flow in serenity.’
“No hard feelings, okay!?”
“Sorry if I go overboard!”
“Try to defend this!”
Dong-hyun saw the impending attack, directly applied his Mana to his legs. His Mana output was immense because it was focused. Thus, his speed increased even faster. He skillfully dodged the punches and kicks of the three hunters.
“Hah!?”
“What’s that!?”
“What have you done?!”
The three hunters were stunned when they realized that Dong-hyun was able to dodge their attacks. It was ridiculous. The three of them were clearly using Mana Presences, and their strength increased even more than Dong-hyun.
How could Dong-hyun dodge those attacks without using Mana Presence? Was he not an E-rank anymore that his body got enhanced by the upgraded Mana?
Dong-hyun smirked and tried to taunt those three hunters.
“Time is ticking. I think we can already see the winner of this game, can’t we!?”
“F*ck!”
The three hunters jump again simultaneously at Dong-hyun. They didn’t bother to think about it and just kept throwing attacks at Dong-hyun until it hit.
Dong-hyun was still able to maintain his Mana, which got channeled to his footwork. However, over time he was no longer able to dodge the attack perfectly. His evasion was already crippled, and several punches and kicks left marks on his clothes and skin. Fortunately, the time limit was about to end.
“Hey. Hey! Time’s up!” Dong-hyun cried out the end sign of the game.
The three hunters ignored it. They charged at Dong-hyun again. Now, their attack pattern changed from a full-brawl to a real hunters’ fight.
“Magic of Fire, Fire Punches!”
“Magic of Wind, Air Slash!”
Dong-hyun gritted his teeth. He had to defend well against those two magic spells.
“Sh*t! Magic of Fire, Flame Touch!”
Dong-hyun’s hand got covered in flames. He then bounced the small fireballs that flew toward him to the ground. However, the second attack could not get avoided even though his footwork had got enhanced with Mana. He had no choice but to block it with both hands.
“Darn it!”
Dong-hyun could felt his hands in pain and shaking. The slash of wind also left a red mark on his forearm. He didn’t have time to enjoy the pain because the third hunter came at him from the left.
Dong-hyun chose to hit back instead of just defending. The Mana that he channeled into the legs got pulled back. He concentrated and then gathered the Mana into his right hand.
The third hunter threw a punch aimed at Dong-hyun’s head.
Dong-hyun ducked and evaded the blow successfully with only a scratch on his left cheek. He twisted his right palm from below and hit the third hunter’s stomach.
Haaa!
Bang!
The third hunter flew over, past the two hunters who cast the magic spells earlier. But it wasn’t enough to scare them off. It instead made the remaining two furious.
“Magic of Fire, Fire Eruption!”
“Magic of Wind, Air Burst!”
It was a combination magic spells attack. The fire burst became fast and large toward Dong-hyun.
Dong-hyun clenched his fists. He planned to fight fire with fire, even though the difference in output was big. He needed to try it first before knowing if he could do it or not.
Suddenly, a phoenix-shaped fire element descended and halted the combination of magic spells attack.
Kaboom!
“Enough! All of you better leave before I tell Tae-hyun sunbae about this.”
The two hunters’ eyes widened at the magic spell that countered their combined attacks. When they shifted their face to the left, their faces turned green. They shouted a name in unison.
“Ahn Yu-jin!!”