Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 42

42. Manners Maketh Man (5)

Whoosh!

Ail, caught in the shockwave, regained his balance in mid-air and slid back, dragging his feet on the ground.

It was a pattern of Batora, the boss monster of the Ingold Forest, that sent him flying.

It was an attack that slammed both arms down with force, creating a shockwave and blowing away everything nearby.

The damage itself wasn’t very powerful, but the range was wide, making it difficult to avoid the shockwave. More than anything, it was a tricky move because it could completely disrupt an established siege or position.

Of course, since Ail was alone, he only needed to maintain his concentration.

‘Not bad.’

Ail thought, having seen all of Batora’s patterns, with that last shockwave.

Naturally, he had memorized all of the monster’s patterns in advance. It didn’t transition to a second phase based on health, nor did it have any separate pattern changes.

In other words, the cards he saw now were all it had.

During the brief reconnaissance, Ail used the special effect of his sub-weapon, a dagger, to inflict a slow debuff on it, and even inflicted burn damage with a sacred-fire-infused strike.

Of course, even though Batora had a small and simple number of patterns, it was still a force to be reckoned with, and it was basically a very sturdy monster.

Above all, he had to face a boss monster recommended for at least three people alone, so it was inevitable that he would have a hard time.

But at the same time, he began to get a rough estimate of how to defeat it.

If he could maintain a good flow and continue to maintain control of the situation, he could definitely succeed.

Kugugugu!

Batora showed its next action again.

The pattern it showed at the very beginning, and the one to be most careful of in the strategy.

Batora, who had curled up its black body as much as possible, became a grotesque figure befitting the modifier of a mass of thoughts, and charged at Ail, who was standing face to face with it, at a rapid speed.

Kwa Kwakwang!

The charging Batora completely smashed five or six tall trees typical of the Ingold Forest as it collided.

It was a straightforward and linear attack, but it was fast and powerful.

If hit even once, anyone other than a dedicated tank would die. It was an attack that could lead to a game over at any time if one failed to read the pattern change for even a moment and was careless.

But as powerful as the skill was, there was a penalty for it as well.

“Keereureuk…….”

The recoil from momentarily drawing up power and creating a strong impact was transmitted to Batora.

Unable to regain its posture, Batora staggered and couldn’t move from its spot.

Ail, who had read the path and timing in advance and dodged the charge to the side, did not miss the opportunity.

Ail narrowed the distance with Batora, raising his longsword.

This moment, when it was defenseless, was the most important.

He had to cram in as much damage as possible at this time to break through Batora’s high defense stats.

But at that very moment.

Pyoong!

Suddenly, an arrow flying from behind grazed Ail’s cheek.

The arrow, which appeared out of nowhere, stretched out and pierced Batora’s body.

Unlike his excited appearance while attacking until just now, Ail frowned in an instant and quickly turned around to look behind him. “Hey, can’t you see that the monster is burned?”

Ail said, suppressing his annoyance with superhuman patience.

As expected, three users who appeared to be the same party members were standing in the direction Ail was speaking.

As mentioned before, it was basic etiquette and an unspoken rule within Ingold Forest that the first to discover the boss had the right to defeat it.

They weren’t just clueless, lost users. Since they had even formed a party for the purpose of hunting bosses, there was no way they wouldn’t know about it.

Yet they still cut in.

From the perspective of a user whose important raid was being interfered with, it was a very unpleasant situation.

It was considered extremely rude within War Lord, regardless of the region or situation, for another party to join a boss raid that was already in progress without saying a word.

Moreover, appearing at a very important moment, such as when the boss monster was unable to move due to recoil, and cutting off the flow was not something that could be glossed over as a simple mistake.

But their attitude was even more absurd than Ail had expected.

“What are you talking about? We hit it first. Didn’t you see Batora getting hit by an arrow and running this way?”

“You’re the one who should wait your turn instead of touching other people’s mobs [monsters].”

“Okay, okay, it seems like there was a misunderstanding, so everyone calm down. It’s possible that he didn’t know.”

The party members approached, each saying a word.

“Ha, geez…….”

Ail let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity.

The scan of the monster in front of him had already been completed a long time ago, but there were obviously no arrow marks. In the first place, Batora was a monster that would rush in like crazy if attacked, not run away.

Most importantly, Ail had encountered Batora as soon as it respawned at the spawn location, so their words were truly ridiculous.

Even when he looked closely at the faces of the others, they weren’t strangers.

They were people he had encountered once while hunting while waiting for a boss in Ingold Forest.

They had simply nodded to each other and passed by without saying anything, but this was almost like wearing an iron mask on their faces.

“Are you going to act like that now?”

“No, are you saying we’re lying?”

“What are you even going to catch alone… just give up and step back. It’s a nuisance to others if you drag out the time without being able to succeed.”

“…….”

It was a tone that wouldn’t be strange to hear if they were furious, but Ail calmly looked around at the situation.

Due to the attacks he had made at the beginning, the boss monster’s aggro [aggression or attention] was fully drawn to him.

If he started a fight against the three of them here, it would be nothing more than gambling his life.

Drip.

A drop of red blood flowed down from the cheek where the arrow had grazed.

The blood was warm, but conversely, his head was chilling.

Ail quickly scanned the three men and women in front of him.

All of them had similar levels of equipment, and their equipment specs were above average.

Ail first opened the information window of the man standing in the very front.

Name: Beken

Faction: White Fang

Level: 21

Class: Swordsman

Not all information is public. But all the information Ail needed right now was there.

The first thing that caught Ail’s eye was the guild name ‘White Fang’ written in the affiliation section.

White Fang was a mid-sized guild that had established a firm position in this area.

They didn’t own a territory yet, but they had secured some level of influence in the area without being under the Nightmare Guild, the owner of the Esmair region.

Ail had initially wondered if the man in front of him was affiliated with White Fang, but seeing the white wolf emblem guild mark stamped on one side of his armor, he was sure it was the White Fang he knew.

However, White Fang was not a guild of a size that would have such low-level users, and it was hard to see it as a typical case.

‘A rookie recruited for the future? No, it must be a parachute hire [someone hired due to connections rather than merit].’

This kind of case was obvious.

The guy named Beken in front of him had his name on the guild roster thanks to being connected to one of the leaders of the White Fang guild through connections.

‘This has become complicated.’

Except for him, the other two companions he was with were not affiliated with any guild, but the biggest problem was that if he messed with that guy here, the White Fang guild wouldn’t stand still.

Even if they weren’t officially recognized guild members, the fact that a member with their guild name attached had been attacked was not something the guild could simply ignore.

Perhaps Beken’s confidence, as he proudly lifted his face and faced Ail, stemmed from that.

And if they targeted Ail, there was no way Ail, who had just reached level 18, could handle a mid-sized guild whose lowest members were easily over level 120.

But one thing…….

“Hey, what are you doing?”

They urged Ail, who was deep in thought. “Are you going to keep interfering from around here? The recoil on Batora will be released soon, are you going to take responsibility if it interferes with the raid?”

“Make a good choice. You don’t have an affiliation, so if you act unethically here, you won’t be able to handle it, you know? I’m giving you advice because it seems like you don’t know War Lord very well.”

“…I understand. I’ll have to look for the next opportunity.”

Ail shrugged and replied.

Then, without holding any regrets, he obediently turned around and stepped back.

Then, the woman with the bow smiled and waved her arm.

“Yes, go on in~.”

“You should have done that from the start…….”

Beken said, clicking his tongue so that Ail could hear him.

Ail, who didn’t react to that either, silently disappeared from his spot, and the man in heavy armor to Beken’s left opened his mouth as if surprised.

“Hmm? I thought he would say something, but he just quietly stepped aside?”

“Puhaha, there are three of us, what is he going to do? And can’t you see this thing embedded in my left arm? It’s the emblem of the White Fang, not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry [average person]. Just now, that guy’s eyes rolled over here and his face turned blue, I almost died trying not to laugh.”

Beken said, chuckling.

Then, the man nodded in agreement.

“Well, who around here would dare to challenge us after hearing the name White Fang? He’s probably around level 20 at best.”

“He doesn’t have a guild, so there’s no aftermath, and he just caught a sucker to take his place. It’s all thanks to having good friends. Got it?”

“Hehe, I hope a good item drops this time.”