The S-Classes That I Raised [EN]: Chapter 34

The flames that had engulfed the entire basin had subsided considerably. The fire, which had been voraciously consuming the remaining grasshoppers, was now trampled under Yoo-hyun’s feet. Sparks flew and crackled, struggling against his advance, but Yoo-hyun’s shoes didn’t even get a scorch mark.

Once elemental resistance exceeds B-rank, it begins to affect not only the body but also the clothes and equipment worn. Han Yoo-hyun’s fire resistance was a whopping S-rank. Ordinary fire, of course, and even the powerful magic-infused flames of an S-rank monster had no effect on his younger brother. An A-rank was nothing to speak of.

– Bweeiii.

Seeing Yoo-hyun approaching, the Golden Beak Maiya [a type of bird monster] made an uncharacteristically thin sound. Its red eyes with horizontal pupils darted around, and it half-spread its folded wings, raising its neck feathers. It was clearly a defensive posture.

– Bweek bweek.

The strange bird, warning with a series of short cries, fluttered and flew into the sky.

Yoo-hyun stopped walking and looked up at the strange bird. A large shadow quickly swept across the burnt field. With each flap of its red wings, a rain of fire dripped from the sky. Some of it even reached Yoo-hyun, but as expected, it slid off and scattered without causing even a small burn.

Cheee.

The fire rain reached the ice fog spread like a curtain over our heads, constantly meeting its end in a burst of steam.

“I haven’t heard that Guild Leader has a flight skill. Will he be okay?”

Ye-rim said softly.

“He’s okay.”

Even if he doesn’t have a flight skill, he has skills to replace it.

But why isn’t he using them? Is he trying to make the opponent careless? Flying monsters often become careless when they think their opponent can’t fly, creating an opening. He’s being cautious.

– Bweeeeek!

After flying low a couple more times without the opponent making a move, the strange bird cried out as if it was enjoying itself. Simple, like a birdbrain. This is the perfect time to use the Blue Willow Leaf [a skill that allows temporary flight and disorientation], but… he’s not using it.

‘Why isn’t he moving?’

Being cautious is good, but this is too much. The Blue Willow Leaf also has a vision disruption effect, so he could end it in one go at this timing. What is he waiting for?

Pah—awk.

The wings of flame spread out to their maximum width. Using the tip of one wing as an axis, the firebird slowly circled. A preparatory action just before a nosedive attack. And then,

Thwack!

The wings folded, and the strange bird’s body dropped straight down. The sharp beak fiercely cut through the air, plunging towards Yoo-hyun. It was a speed that even my eyes couldn’t keep up with.

Literally in the blink of an eye, Kwaaaang! A loud collision sound erupted. There was no way an S-rank hunter would be taken down by such an attack, but my toes unconsciously twitched.

The ground was greatly dug up, and dirt and stones soared up with a cloud of dust. The moment I blinked again, I heard a scream.

– Bwee-ek!

It was the strange bird’s. Yoo-hyun’s figure was vaguely visible through the dust. The slender sword he held in his hand had skillfully pierced the wing joints, which were tightly closed for the nosedive.

The Golden Beak Maiya clawed at the ground with its feet and twisted its body, but Yoo-hyun didn’t budge, pulling the sword straight through.

Kwaddeuk, flesh tore and blood splattered. Splitting even the bone in one go, the wing was cut off.

– Bweek, kweek!

Taking advantage of the gap where the wing fell off, the strange bird quickly took out a spare wing and soared into the sky.

It flew higher and more frantically than before, as if utterly frightened.

That’s strange. I clearly said there was a spare wing, didn’t I? Why did he attack the wing instead of jumping up with the willow leaf and aiming for the head right away? Of course, if you don’t have flight skills, it’s standard to deal with the wings first, even if there’s a spare…

‘Could it be.’

He hasn’t gotten the Blue Willow Leaf yet? It wasn’t an initial skill, but I’m sure he got it quite early. Well, there’s a lot of fake information about hunters’ skills, so you can’t believe the rumors 100%.

“Wow, Yoo-hyun oppa moves so cleanly.”

Ye-rim exclaimed. The honorific has returned to oppa [older brother/term of endearment]. Ye-rim is S-rank, so she must have seen it in more detail than me.

“But isn’t that bird too scared to come down? Should I help after all? Fly up with Guild Leader and—”

“Then you’ll burn to death.”

If she approached without fire resistance, even an S-rank hunter would have a hard time staying safe. Especially since Ye-rim is still low level and can’t hold out with just her stats.

“Even though Yoo-hyun’s fire resistance area is quite wide, unless you stick completely close and hug him like I did earlier, he can’t cover other people. If you approach that close, your actions will be too restricted, and you’re more likely to be attacked. Still, Yoo-hyun would be safe, but Ye-rim, you’d have a hard time staying alive.”

“But it looks like he won’t move from the sky. Aren’t we trapped here?”

“Boss monsters have a strong instinct to protect their territory, so they’ll eventually come down. It’ll take a while, though.”

Fortunately, there’s only one pair of spare wings, so if we’re lucky, we can just cut off one more and finish it. It’ll take longer if the direction isn’t right or if he protects the wings well. I need to feed Peace, will I be able to get out by dinner?

– Bweek! Bweek!

The strange bird, having been severely attacked, only squawked and didn’t dare to lower its altitude rashly. Still, it didn’t run away completely, so it would attack again soon. The problem is when.

– Bweeeeee.

Well? Why does that bird keep glancing at us? Is it using its brain because it can’t win? And it was slowly lowering its altitude.

Yoo-hyun noticed it too and moved towards us, using a skill.

“Blue Willow Leaf.”

What, he has it… hey! Why is he using that!

To my dismay, Yoo-hyun was only using the Blue Willow Leaf as a check skill to interfere with the opponent’s vision and movement. He didn’t not get it, he’s just not skilled at using it!

Well, the skill description window wouldn’t kindly say, ‘Step on it and jump up~’ The Hunter System’s explanations are basically unfriendly and often unclear.

I raised my voice and shouted.

“Hey! Step on it!”

“What?”

“The leaf! Step on it and jump!”

Yoo-hyun, who was momentarily flustered, jumped upwards.

Then, my brother’s toes lightly stepped on the bluish-tinged leaf. If it were an ordinary leaf, it wouldn’t be able to withstand the weight, but the Blue Willow Leaf didn’t seem to be affected at all, swaying in the air as it was.

The first few steps were awkward, but Yoo-hyun soon adapted to moving by stepping on the leaves. As if running on flat ground, my brother’s body quickly crossed the air.

– Bbik!

Seeing Yoo-hyun approaching, Maiya panicked and flapped its wings. A hot gust of wind swirled, but my brother didn’t avoid it. Black hair fluttered briefly, and next to it, a group of blue leaves soared.

Like a school of swimming giant fish, the group of leaves swirled in front of the strange bird’s eyes. The Golden Beak Maiya, having lost sight of the enemy for a moment, looked around.

In that short time, Yoo-hyun’s body reached a higher position than the strange bird. None other than above its burning head.

‘It’s over.’

As soon as I thought that, a spearhead was embedded in Maiya’s crown,

Peo-uk!

The birdbrain exploded like a slapped pudding. The explosion just now was definitely that spear option, what was the spear’s name again.

Thud!

The strange bird, with half of its head blown away, crashed to the ground. Yoo-hyun lightly landed on the ground, still stepping on the remaining blue leaves. It ends quickly after all.

As soon as the strange bird died, a blue gate appeared in the place where the original boss mountain goat was.

“Hyung!”

Yoo-hyun ran to me with a very excited expression.

“Amazing! To be able to use the Blue Willow Leaf as a substitute for a flight skill! No, it was much better than a flight skill that someone else gives you!”

My brother was as happy as a child who received Christmas and Children’s Day presents at the same time.

“I was most disappointed that I didn’t have a flight skill! To have such a good thing and just let it rot, I feel so stupid! Hyung figured out how to apply it as soon as he saw it.”

No, I didn’t figure it out. Originally, it was you… did you discover it? I don’t know about that. Soon, the Awakening Center will be established, and research on Awakeners will become active, so large guilds will have skill researchers separately.

“Okay, calm down. It’s nothing special.”

“How is this nothing special? It’s like getting a new skill. And it’s the skill I need the most! I’m weak in long-range attacks due to my characteristics, so flying monsters were the most difficult. But now I don’t have to be frustrated and get someone else’s help. Besides, the guild members with flight support skills have low stat grades, so it was uneasy to take them around. It’s really the best!”

Yeah, yeah. I guess you’d be happy. Is he still weak in long-range attack ability? Later, he creates all sorts of things with black flames. Anyway, I’m happy that you’re happy, but I’m embarrassed that you keep admiring me for copying.

“More than that, shouldn’t we get out of here quickly? The dungeon grade has changed, so everyone must be worried.”

“Ah, it’s been quite a while, so the guild and the association must know.”

We hurriedly packed up the loot.

“If it’s okay, should I take a look at your skills?”

I said just before going outside. I also received the skill application method during the last favor, so now I know more about his skills than Yoo-hyun.

“Then I’d love to!”

Yoo-hyun replied with a bright face.

“I’ll clear the new A-grade dungeon and make time right away.”

“Ahjussi [term for older man], what about me?”

Ye-rim, who was listening to the conversation, chimed in. You, you little…

“I’ve already roughly sorted it out for you. Come back after you reach level 30.”

I’ll take a look when new skills appear. I don’t know if it will help, but it’s better than Ye-rim worrying alone.

When we came out, as expected, there were faces full of anxiety and nervousness gathered. There was even a small cheer at our safe appearance.

“I’m glad you’re safe, Guild Leader!”

“Hunter Park Ye-rim doesn’t seem to be injured either!”

Ah, of course, the attention was focused on Yoo-hyun and Ye-rim, and Myung-woo and I were just background 1 and 2. That was comfortable, and it should have continued to be like that.

“Han Yoo-jin ssi [formal address], are you okay?”

Kim Sung-han approached me. No, shouldn’t you ask about your guild leader first? Why are you talking to me first? Moreover, everyone is looking at me strangely because he is a Hae-yeon shield known for his high loyalty.

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.”

So please take care of the guild leader. Please. To make matters worse, even Yoo-hyun turned to look at me. Ah, attention is focused. Still, my brother is trying to hide me, so he won’t say anything unnecessary.

“I think I should stop by the association, so hyung [older brother], go back to the guild first.”

“Oh, okay.”

Unlike inside the dungeon, his voice was slightly stiff. He doesn’t show it when there are many eyes watching. That’s a great attitude.

Yoo-hyun, as well as Ye-rim, left first with the people from the Hunter Association. In the car returning to the guild, I opened my status window.

‘I definitely reached level 10 at the end.’

The boss monster receives a little experience just by being nearby. Thanks to that, the level-up message window popped up, but there was no news of the skill acquisition window.

‘The skills are still the same. But this…….’

Something strange caught my eye. I mean, the color seems to have changed a bit.

[Perfect Nurturer(L)]

Among the titles, Dragon Slayer remained the same, but only Perfect Nurturer changed color.

It was somewhat red. It’s red. It’s red. Is it three times faster?

‘This… something… like a landmine.’

I didn’t think I should check it. I just wanted to ignore it. But the problem was that I couldn’t ignore it again.

Person who made the system, what is your intention? Can’t you open the two-way chat window just one more time?

I muttered inwardly, but there was no answer. I sighed once and opened the Perfect Nurturer title window. Fortunately, there were no other changes to the skills. Except for one thing.

[My Baby is the Best(L)]

This also changed color.

Wow, this is red. It was already a landmine, but it turned red. I really don’t think I should look at this. It’s like shouting, ‘I’m a trap.’ But I can’t not check it forever.

Oh well.

[My Baby is the Best(L) – Growth rate of the target impressed by the keyword +100%(/>∀