Chapter 59

Confronting the Sabertooth

Jun-sang immediately recognized the approaching beast as a Sabertooth Tiger, several times larger and heavier than a human, with long, blade-like fangs protruding from its mouth. Enraged by Jun-sang’s audacious charge, it swung its paw, aiming to swat him away. The powerful blow, fueled by its momentum and massive size, was strong enough to snap a large tree. Any ordinary person would have frozen in fear. But Jun-sang was no ordinary human; he was on a completely different level than anything the Sabertooth had encountered.

Jun-sang tucked his elbows in, lowering his stance dramatically as if diving towards the ground. As the Sabertooth’s paw whistled past his head, he sprang upward like a coiled spring, extending his waist and legs to explode directly into the beast’s face. It was an extreme movement, enough to tear an ordinary human’s muscles. The Sabertooth experienced a momentary illusion of Jun-sang vanishing and reappearing before its eyes. The next instant, Jun-sang’s knuckle-clad fist exploded under its jaw.

“—ROAR!”

The Sabertooth’s body flipped backward with the force of its own charge, slamming into the ground and tumbling. The people who had been fleeing, never daring to contend with such a massive beast, gaped in disbelief at the impossible sight.

Just then, Henes, riding the Red Wolf, galloped up beside the rearguard’s carriage. “We’ve come at Mr. Getro’s request!”

“Ah!” The people’s eyes widened again, realizing the man who had suddenly appeared and knocked down the giant Sabertooth with a single blow, and the girl with brown hair waving like a victory flag on the back of the enormous Red Wolf, were allies.

“I’ll guide you! Follow me!” Henes called out.

“Y-yes, understood!”

As Henes led the rearguard towards the main caravan, Jun-sang charged towards the fallen Sabertooth to finish it off. However, despite the violent impact that had rattled its head and internal organs, the Sabertooth urgently struggled to its feet. The mere act of rising, even unsteadily, after such a fierce blow from Jun-sang proved its extraordinary toughness. The Sabertooth staggered, getting up, and saw the human, his blue eyes flashing, charging towards it. Even then, the beast bared its teeth in a gesture of threat. But that was all it could do.

In the blink of an eye, Jun-sang closed the distance, delivering a devastating right hook to the bridge of the beast’s nose as it bared its teeth. The Sabertooth felt its vision snap sharply to the right, against its will. It tried desperately to turn its head, but its body wouldn’t obey. The Fear Inducement effect had momentarily seized control of the massive beast’s body. Unaware of the reason, the Sabertooth plunged into another abyss of terror due to the bizarre, never-before-felt sensation of its body not obeying its will. This was the Chain of Fear. As Jun-sang’s fists rained down like a relentless chain, the Sabertooth’s mind became completely blank. Jun-sang ended the battle by shattering the convulsing, sprawling Sabertooth’s crown with a final punch.

“Hah… hah…” Jun-sang breathed deeply, calming his ragged breath from the intense exertion. He stored the Sabertooth’s carcass in his inventory, then set off to catch up with the rearguard, who had already headed towards the main caravan.

A Surprise Reunion and an Unexpected Quest

The rearguard hadn’t gone as far as Jun-sang expected. Part of this was due to Jun-sang’s swift defeat of the Sabertooth, but Henes had also deliberately regulated their speed. Henes turned back, her jaw dropping as she saw Jun-sang approaching in a cloud of dust. “My goodness…” Only then did Henes realize that Jun-sang had been adjusting his running speed out of consideration for her, as she was still unused to riding the wolf. Even Henes, who had witnessed his incredible abilities up close during their short time together, was dumbfounded, let alone the others whose astonishment was beyond words.

“I-impossible…” Seeing a human able to keep pace with galloping horses on two legs alone, the rearguard knew that his previous feat of instantly knocking down the Sabertooth was no mere coincidence. As Jun-sang pulled up alongside the Red Wolf, Henes asked, “Did you already defeat it?” As she asked, she noticed the faint shimmering heat radiating from his body. Even with superhuman abilities, such speed would naturally cause fatigue. Henes felt ashamed of her foolishness for not noticing his exertion and asking her question first.

However, Jun-sang’s breathing wasn’t as ragged as she imagined. The shimmering heat from his body was merely a lingering effect of starting a sprint immediately after intense movement. Because of this, Jun-sang could answer Henes’s question nonchalantly. “Of course.” It was only a short word, but neither Jun-sang himself nor Henes realized that in the past, he would have simply nodded without answering.

Led by Jun-sang and Henes, the rearguard soon safely caught up with the main caravan. Getro, who had been ready to depart at any moment, was overjoyed to see the rearguard approaching in a cloud of dust. “Oh, God! Thank you!” The rearguard was warmly welcomed and rejoined the main group, and Jun-sang and Henes were also greatly welcomed by the people.

Getro first went to the rearguard’s carriage to check on his granddaughter. She appeared to be about six or seven years old, a small, doll-like blonde girl with a pale face, led from the carriage by Getro’s hand. She had already been struggling with the strenuous journey, causing her to fall behind. The violent shaking of the carriage during the Sabertooth’s pursuit had caused her to become severely carsick. As Jun-sang quietly watched, a new quest appeared in his vision:

• (Sub) Jerin’s Carsickness: Alleviate Jerin’s carsickness caused by the violent movement of the carriage.

“…” Jun-sang frowned. This was the first time a quest had appeared so abruptly. The effect of the “Very, Very Special” title, obtained as a reward for achieving Triple S, was to reveal hidden quests in advance. This meant that if this quest had existed from the beginning, it should have appeared in Jun-sang’s quest information before he even saw the child. But it hadn’t. This implied that the quest had just been newly generated. Furthermore, to “alleviate carsickness”? While subduing a beast like a Sabertooth was one thing, this was, in a sense, a more difficult task for Jun-sang than his usual quests.

“Hmm…” He had first aid supplies in his cabinet for emergencies, but nothing specifically effective for motion sickness. After a moment of thought, Jun-sang remembered the pine resin incense he had received as a reward for finding the necklace in the slash-and-burn village. Just in case, he took out his cabinet from his inventory and retrieved the incense.

The people gasped in surprise at Jun-sang suddenly pulling a large metal box out of thin air. Jun-sang, feigning ignorance, approached the pale-faced little girl and placed the pine resin incense in her hand. Jerin, looking at the incense suddenly in her hand, inhaled its scent and felt a slight easing of her nausea and dizziness. “Thank you,” Jerin said, bowing her head in gratitude. Jun-sang patted her head and stood up. Getro, seeing his granddaughter’s complexion gradually returning to normal, was overjoyed and expressed his profound thanks. “Ah! Thank you so much. I don’t know how I can ever repay this kindness.”

“…” Jun-sang didn’t respond but looked at Henes. Recognizing his meaning, Henes immediately approached and began talking with Getro. Jun-sang, listening to their conversation with one ear, approached the Crimson Wolf, who looked a little tired. He opened his cabinet and took out a wild boar bone with plenty of meat still attached. The Crimson Wolf happily gnawed on it.

Little Jerin, holding the pine resin incense carefully in both hands, came and sat beside Jun-sang, who was quietly petting the Red Wolf. “…” Jun-sang looked at her silently, and Jerin, looking back at him, asked, “Is it a puppy?”

“…” A puppy? Jun-sang thought, wondering how anyone could associate the word “puppy” with this giant Red Wolf. But there was no need to argue with a child about such things, so he swallowed a chuckle and simply nodded. Jerin then carefully stood up and approached the Crimson Wolf, who was diligently gnawing on the boar bone, cautiously reaching out to touch its snout. “Puppy. Good boy…” The Crimson Wolf looked at the little girl trying to touch its snout without fear, with an annoyed expression. But when Jun-sang subtly frowned, it quickly lowered its head and accepted her touch.

While Jun-sang and the little girl were playing with the Red Wolf, Henes, having finished her conversation, returned to Jun-sang with a bulging coin purse. “Ta-da! How’s my skill?” Jun-sang, seeing two quests complete simultaneously with her words, claimed the rewards. Suddenly, a white light enveloped Jun-sang’s body, and his remaining fatigue instantly vanished.

“Ah!” Not only Henes but also Jerin, who was fearlessly petting the wolf’s snout, widened their eyes at the sudden burst of light.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang himself was surprised. Although he had completed a fair number of minor quests, considering the time it took to level up previously, it was far too early for a level increase. What had happened? The experience points from both the rearguard escort and alleviating Jerin’s motion sickness were listed as “a little.” This way of displaying experience was often ambiguous, as it was impossible to tell if “a little” meant a truly small amount or closer to a large amount.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang pondered for a moment. Nothing happened without reason in this world. If he had leveled up faster than before, there must be a reason he hadn’t noticed. What could it be? The answer was surprisingly simple. The only difference between his past self and his current self was the variable of Henes in the process of receiving and completing quests. Could her presence be affecting the quest rewards?

“Why… are you looking at me like that?” Henes blushed, flustered by Jun-sang’s sudden stare. Jun-sang chuckled, patted her head, and said, “You did well.”

“Oh, no. Not at all.”

“I look forward to working with you in the future.”

“…” Henes’s eyes widened at his words, but only for a moment. She then smiled brightly and replied with enthusiasm, “Yes! You can count on me!”

Jun-sang nodded and drew a random card.

A New Combo Card and an Overpowered Title

Card Info:

• Name: Morning Dew
• Level: 1Lv
• Experience: 0
• Grade: Common
• Category: Summon
• Growth: Late Bloomer (Small)
• Attribute: Water
• Effect: Summons 1 small water elemental.
• Cost: 10
• Seed: 1 slot

Jun-sang closed the information window, deciding to test its performance later, but a new message immediately appeared in his left vision.

Congratulations!

• Combo Card creation is now possible.
• Currently available Combo Cards are as follows:
  1. Agalahan’s Spirit Weaver [View Details]
• If you wish to create a Combo Card, press the corresponding number. If not, press ‘n’ (1/n) _

“Ooh…” Jun-sang nodded at the appearance of a new Combo Card and quickly checked its information.

Agalahan’s Spirit Weaver

• From ancient times, legends of Spirit Weavers have been passed down in Agalahan’s Forest. They are mystical beings who communicate with nature to wield its intrinsic power.
• [Combination Details]
  • 3 or more elemental summoning cards.
• Effects:
  1. For each elemental summoned, resistance to that attribute increases by 10%.
  2. It becomes possible to imbue summoned elemental power into weapons.

The combo effect was less impressive than he expected. It seemed to lack enough merit to use three miscellaneous slots for summoning. While attribute imbuement and resistance increase weren’t bad, they simply couldn’t compare to summoning wolves.

“Hmm…” Jun-sang hummed again, and Henes and Jerin, who were playing with the wolf, looked at him curiously. Jun-sang feigned ignorance, turned his head, and decided to activate the combo as a test. And sure enough, a new message appeared.

Congratulations!

• You have successfully created the ‘Agalahan’s Spirit Weaver’ combination for the first time!
• In praise of your achievement, you are granted the title ‘First Friend of Spirits’.
• [Click here to view detailed title information.]

Jun-sang nodded and checked the title information.

[First Friend of Spirits]

• Title granted to the first person to successfully create the ‘Agalahan’s Spirit Weaver’ combination.
• Effect: Allows the summoning of spirits and activation of their combo effects without needing to equip them in card slots.
• Title effects are applied automatically upon acquisition.

“Huh!” Jun-sang was startled by the title’s effect. To be able to summon spirits without equipping them in slots? And for the combo effects to still apply? Considering there was no limit to the number of spirits that could be summoned, this title was undeniably overpowered. While elemental attacks might be somewhat weak, as their grade increased and their numbers grew, they would become a force comparable to powerful magic. No, even setting aside attack power, considering the combo effect of increased elemental resistance for each summoned spirit, it was practically a natural enemy to mages. Of course, this came with the prerequisite of having enough elemental cards to summon that many spirits. The problem was that collecting that many cards would be impossible for anyone below a certain level. But even with that consideration, it was certainly overpowered.

“Impressive,” he murmured.

With the rewards from the quests sorted, Jun-sang and Henes prepared to part ways with the caravan. Getro looked regretful. “I wish I could ask you to accompany us further, but since you’re heading to the main house in Iberia, I suppose it can’t be helped. We hope to see you again if the opportunity arises.”

“Yes, please do visit,” Henes replied, saying goodbye to Getro. She then patted Jerin’s head, who was clutching the pine resin incense Jun-sang had given her. “You too, Jerin, take care.”

“Okay.”

As Henes finished her goodbyes and mounted the Red Wolf, Jerin scurried over to the Crimson Wolf. “Puppy, goodbye.” Jun-sang thought, First ‘Jong-i’ and now ‘Puppy’? The Crimson Wolf really goes through a lot. He then said to Henes, “Let’s go.”

“Yes!” Jun-sang began to run slowly towards their destination, Iberia, and Henes, waving goodbye to the caravan members, followed him on the Red Wolf.