The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 132

132. Drawn (2)

The demon beast was crouched like a rock. There was no suitable prey nearby. Since it was drawn to mana stones rather than blood and flesh, it chose to sleep, conserving its energy.

After several months, something worth eating finally appeared. It wasn’t ideal, but enough to satisfy its hunger. The demon beast slowly opened its eyes, its stiff body regaining vitality.

– Grrr.

Sensing something, it rumbled in satisfaction. New prey had been detected—a mana stone with an incomparably denser concentration of mana than the small prey scattered around. Usually, it would become prey against an opponent with that much mana, but this time was different.

A delicious, absurdly weak prey.

The demon beast couldn’t hide its excitement and bared its teeth.

* * *

Dungeon breaks proceed in stages. Monsters don’t appear all at once but in order, divided by floor and type. However, the order is random, so the last floor or boss monster might appear first.

The residential area was quiet, all lights off. The evacuation was swift, leaving no sounds or lights to attract the monsters. Instead…

Bang, boom!

Explosions and light erupted from inside the barricades. I didn’t know which Hunter had engaged the swarming monsters, but I hoped they were safe—preferably an A-rank who happened to be nearby.

“Red Fix Bees, around A to B rank, with a higher proportion of B-ranks.”

Several bee-like creatures, as large as wolves, scattered on the outskirts, approaching. They advanced with spear-like stingers at the ready, but in an instant,

Crack.

Song Tae-won grabbed a stinger and snapped it off. Almost simultaneously, his other hand tore off a wing, twisting and throwing the segmented body away.

Thud!

The thrown bee collided with an approaching comrade, and both exploded. The broken stinger flew like a projectile, piercing another bee. Without special skills or weapons, he instantly brought down three.

His lower body barely moved as he casually dealt with monsters that would instantly bisect a low-level Hunter and melt them with their stings.

“Judging by the general monster level, it seems like an A-rank dungeon break.”

He narrowed his eyes at the swarm of bees gathering like clouds.

“Based on the numbers, it’s at least mid-level, maybe even high-level. I don’t know if it’s the first or second floor, but the boss will be the Queen Bee. It will appear with several drones. It must have been a dungeon where honey and honeycomb were the main sources of income—expensive ingredients. If we trace it back, we can find the dungeon owner.”

The quantity wouldn’t have been that large. They broke something quite valuable. If they could safely recover it and restore the broken gate, it was a dungeon worth enough to quickly cover the damage compensation.

“Then, the skill—”

[The other party has refused.]

I saw this message again. Song Tae-won refused to share the skill. He said bluntly,

“It’s not necessary in this situation.”

He wasn’t wrong, but any high-level Hunter, or even a regular person, would have accepted out of curiosity, wondering how much more powerful my skill could make them… but this person didn’t care.

“Still, accept this. You don’t have a flight skill, do you?”

I didn’t know when a Hunter who could cast a flight skill would arrive. I cast the skill on Noah and Song Tae-won, feeling slight resistance from Song Tae-won. His presence was less than Sung Hyun-jae’s, but the burden felt greater. He seemed to unconsciously reject accepting the sensory sharing, as if he didn’t like it.

“Noah, please.”

– Yes. It would be faster to use poison.

That was true, but if it was a poisonous insect and a flying type, it would be a disaster if it didn’t die instantly from the poison and fled to a civilian area. I repeatedly told him not to use it unless it was really dangerous.

Noah circled the outskirts and turned. Song Tae-won took out a dagger and drew his arm back like pulling a bowstring. The muscles tensed, bulging as if they would tear his clothes. He threw the dagger at the swarm.

Kwajik—

The dagger, wrapped in a faint blue light, swept through dozens of bees in a straight line, like a laser beam from a sci-fi movie. Piercing and tearing, it stopped, embedded in the broken jaw of a sharp insect.

Thud, corpses fell like mosquitoes hit with insecticide. Meanwhile, Noah approached the swarm.

– Woooong.

The buzzing, like a chorus, struck the ears. Song Tae-won lightly bent his knees, looking at the swarm rushing in.

“I’m going.”

And then, thwack, he kicked off Noah’s back, plunging into the swarm. The bees shattered like fallen leaves swept by a typhoon, just from the impact of his body. It was an extremely unrealistic sight.

– Yoo-jin, I’ll catch you!

Noah spun, his scaled arms carefully wrapping around me, who had fallen out without resisting. He stiffened his wings and crossed the swarm at a terrifying speed.

Kwajik, Kudeudeuk.

The mottled red bodies tore apart each time they got caught in Noah’s wings. They tried to bite and sting, but it was impossible for A to B-rank poisonous insects with weak physical strength to penetrate the scales of an S-rank dragon.

Both Noah and Song Tae-won were excellent weapons with just their bodies. The remaining swarm, which looked frail, fell incessantly.

The golden wings sharply bent and changed direction. Song Tae-won landed accurately on the dragon’s back, which had descended and soared up, then jumped again. He stomped on and burst the bees, soaring up, squeezing into the center of the swarm, drawing a circular wave line around him.

Gugeugeugeuk—

With a heavy reverberation, the bees within a radius of about ten meters were instantly shredded. Noah quickly flew to Song Tae-won, who had lost his footing. Thanks to Teacher’s skill, their teamwork was perfect.

‘…I’m going to die.’

I was getting motion sickness. The damage nullification item prevented the gravitational load caused by high-speed movement, but not motion sickness. It’s natural, but…

– Are you okay, Yoo-jin?

“…I’m okay because it’s before dinner.”

It was fortunate that only stomach acid came out when I tried to gag. Next time, I should take motion sickness medicine in advance. …Can’t I because of poison resistance? Please develop motion sickness medicine that poison resistance can’t affect.

In the meantime, the number of bees swarming blackly was rapidly decreasing. I was most worried that they would escape beyond the barricades since they were flying types, but for some reason, no one was seen leaving the group. Was their sense of camaraderie that strong?

– I think the bees keep following me.

Noah said, smashing bees with his tail. Is that so, eugh.

At that moment, the distorted gate emitted light. It looked like the boss was coming out.

No sooner had I thought that than a giant bee appeared from beyond the gate—drones with bodies the size of a bear’s belly and shells as hard as armor. Among them, the Queen Bee, with sharp poisonous thorns all over her body, was positioned.

I quickly used Seed Leaf Skill. They’re all A-rank. One of the Queen Bee’s skills stood out: Trust of the Swarm, S-rank—obviously a buff skill for multiple targets.

“The Queen Bee has a group buff skill, take her out first! Also, they can’t fly.”

Song Tae-won jumped, using the few remaining bees as stepping stones. He reached above the Queen Bee and fell straight down.

Kwagwagwang!

Under the violence that crushed all the poisonous thorns and red shells, a huge hole was made in the Queen Bee’s body. Even an S-rank Hunter would have taken some damage from the poisonous thorns if they were barehanded, but he didn’t have a single scratch.

Before colliding with the Queen Bee, there was a faint black shadow that had a protective effect. Should I say it absorbs the opponent’s skills?

‘Is it a damage nullification skill?’

Almost nothing was known about Song Tae-won’s skills. He didn’t participate in ranking matches and didn’t appear on Hunter-related programs except for official business. It’s certain that he’s a combat type, though.

– Guuoong.

The drones trembled their small wings, unable to float their bodies, at the sight of the Queen Bee being torn to pieces. What answered them was the Queen Bee’s poisonous thorns. Song Tae-won’s toes swept up the shattered thorns from the floor. He kicked the thorns, floating in the air in a row, with a smoothly connected kick.

Thud, Kwadeuk—

The drone that had taken several thorns all over its body collapsed, and the remaining ones rushed towards the relatively small human.

Song Tae-won could have handled it alone, but Noah went down below for now. Then, about ten or so bees that were left followed Noah in a swarm.

“They’re really following me?”

Why? Is it because they’re the same flying type? Noah, who had put me down, turned towards the rushing bees.

– Please wait a moment. I’ll take care of it quickly.

The fully spread wings strongly flapped. The bees with thin wings couldn’t control their bodies and flipped over in the rough wind. Noah, who had skillfully manipulated the wind he created to gather the bees in one place, swung his claws at the prepared meal.

He neatly gathered and dealt with them at once, as if worried that they might come towards me. He’s really become very skilled at fighting in dragon form.

At that moment, one of the drones suddenly rushed towards this side—not Noah, but accurately extending its sharp, hooked forelimbs towards me.

– How dare you!

With a fierce growl, a long golden tail swung like a whip. The hook that had come right in front of my nose was crushed, and sharp claws pierced the bee’s head. The shell, thicker than armor, tore like paper.

Noah looked at me, pressing down on the drone that was trembling with only three legs left.

– Are you okay?

“Yes, but…”

Why did it rush at me, leaving Song Tae-won, who had killed the Queen Bee? Did it try to take out the weak one first? Noah, who had completely cut off the drone’s breath, stood close. His eyes, tinged with a faint light, curved round as if to reassure me. One wing spread out as if to protect me,

Kadeudeuk!

– Keueut!

Blood splattered. A large beast suddenly popped out, scratching Noah’s chest as if tearing it apart, then firmly biting and lifting my body. I faintly saw the golden dragon scattering blood and tumbling around.

“Noah! Ugh.”

The teeth, like saw blades, couldn’t penetrate even my clothes, let alone my skin, but there was no way to escape its mouth. The unidentified beast took a big leap with me in its mouth and quickly created distance. Watching the fear resistance message floating in front of me, I thought this was a bit troublesome.

– Kkaeng! Kkaeaeeng!

The beast screamed pathetically and tumbled. I, spat out of its mouth, also rolled on the floor. My skin scraped on the asphalt, and a little blood formed. I guess this level of impact isn’t enough to nullify. I have to use a potion so Yoo-hyun doesn’t find out.

‘He used Silent Scream [a skill that amplifies the pain of a wound].’

Noah’s skill that doubles the pain of the wound to the opponent. As I got up and used Seed Leaf on the beast writhing in pain, I saw it was a giant wolf.

[Level 1 Lycanthrope? King of the Black Rock

Current Stat Rank S

Awakening Possible Stat Rank S

Optimized Initial Skills

Acquire Black Dark Armor (SS)

Acquire Severing Claws (S)

Acquire Gigantification (A)]

‘…No, why is this guy coming out now?’

It definitely appeared more than a year later. It was a monster that suddenly intruded while dealing with an undiscovered B-rank dungeon that had broken out in this area. I still vividly remember the handling team, which consisted of A to B-ranks, being wiped out en masse thanks to it.

‘Did it come out because it was drawn to the A-rank dungeon break?’

Nickname: Gluttonous Wolf. It’s a difficult target to capture because it’s so fast and sturdy, but it’s an S-rank monster that caused little civilian damage because it’s easy to lure if it sees an upper-grade mana stone and tries to eat it with its eyes turned upside down.

But why did that bastard, who wasn’t very interested in weak humans, target innocent me—

– Keureureung!

The wolf raised its body again, drooling with pain. Its blue eyes seemed to burn. The black fur hardened and took on a dull light.

“That’s an SS-rank skill, so you can’t penetrate it easily. Don’t refuse this time.”

Instead of answering, Song Tae-won firmly pulled and held my body. The skill was shared, and the wolf, whose meal had been interrupted, roared fiercely.