Swordmaster Healer - Episode 25
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
Chapter 9 - The First Test (1)
Sung Joon decided to buy a dagger in order to apply his memories' knowledge of dagger throwing. He walked to the Hunter Mart close by.
The Hunter Mart was where Hunters sold their items after they finished their dungeon runs.
He eventually arrived at the Hunter Mart and as soon as he entered the building, one worker approached him.
"Welcome. May I see your license, please?" the worker asked.
Verification was needed, since only Hunters were allowed in. After he was verified, Sung Joon was able to go inside.
The inside of the Hunter's Mart was vast and the items were all assorted neatly. Sung Joon walked over to the section where daggers were gathered.
There were several types of daggers on display.
He hesitated over a dagger with a Homing effect and another dagger with a Returning effect, but eventually decided on the one with the Returning effect and purchased the C-rank dagger called 'Returning Hatred'.
"Please give me the bill," Sung Joon said.
He paid for his dagger and went over to the Dungeon Bureau. There, he applied for a C-rank dungeon solo play.
'Since I just bought this, I have to try it out.' Sung Joon smiled.
"Hunter, we have just scheduled an appointment. It's tomorrow at two o'clock. We plan to guide you there separately," said the clerk.
"Thank you," replied Sung Joon.
When he arrived home, he received a message from the Dungeon Bureau containing the location of his dungeon.
The next day, Sung Joon arrived at the promised location before the arranged two o'clock time.
"You can go in now," the Dungeon Bureau worker on standby said.
After he was quickly verified by the worker, the Dungeon Bureau worker stepped aside. Sung Joon opened the dungeon entrance and went down into the basement.
Two Light Drones illuminated the darkness.
He couldn't see any monsters at the entrance. There was a worn out steel gate at the end of the short corridor. Sung Joon put his ear to the door and concentrated.
'One, two… Are there thirteen of them?'
He couldn't tell the type of monsters but he could tell the number of monsters.
Sung Joon opened the door and three Orc Riders cried out fiercely and rushed forward. They were far from him but they were quickly shortening the distance.
'Let's try my new technique.'
He drew his dagger, 'Returning Hatred' that he had bought yesterday. The dagger flew through the air and pierced through the Blood Wolf's skull and brain.
The Orc Rider's' mount, the Blood Wolf, collapsed and rolled ungracefully onto the floor. The Orc Rider might've had a serious fracture since he didn't get up easily.
'There are two left.'
He lifted his hand and uttered a single word.
"Return."
Just like the Hunter Mart salesman had taught him, he ordered it to return and the dagger returned to the hand he held upright, facing the sky. The speed at which it returned was much faster than he had expected.
Sung Joon marked his next target without hesitation.
He swiftly threw the dagger and it pierced through the Orc Rider's leather armor and into its heart. Now, there were only two Blood Wolves and one Orc Rider remaining.
'There are ten monsters behind me,' realized Sung Joon.
There were ten trolls running towards him from behind. The trolls were equipped with swords and spears.
Instead of commanding his dagger to return, he drew his sword. When he passed by the monsters, blood spurted out like a fountain and they collapsed.
He finished off the collapsed Orc Rider, which had a fracture, and faced off against the incoming trolls.
To Sung Joon, who could easily take on a Troll Berserker or a Troll High Priest, normal trolls were no threat to him. He didn't even need to use aura.
He swung his sword and took care of the trolls.
"Absorb."
After he finished absorbing the mana from the monster corpses, he set his sights on the next room and walked over.
'I've gotten faster,' he thought.
Sung Joon had cleared through the second room. Due to his throwing dagger skills, his hunting speed became faster and he felt as if the dungeon had gotten a lot easier.
He had taken care of three or four enemies right after the battle had started, so he truly felt like his hunting speed had gotten much faster than before.
'I'm already at the Boss Room.'
Since he hadn't rested, but just progressed through the dungeon, he quickly reached the Boss Room. Sung Joon opened the door without hesitation. The drones brightened up the Boss Room's interior and he could faintly see the silhouette of the Boss.
"Are there no minions?" Sung Joon wondered.
Sung Joon grasped his sword and went inside. At that moment, the Boss's silhouette disappeared and the clearing began to shake violently.
The doors closed and something enormous burst from the ground. The drone illuminated the huge body and Sung Joon learned of its identity.
'A Stone Golem? Is it a Hidden Dungeon…?'
A Stone Golem was a monster that would appear in a B-rank dungeon's Boss Room or would mostly appear in the rank dungeons. There was no way it would appear in a C-rank dungeon.
It looked like he had found a rare Hidden Dungeon.
'The core is obviously at the top of its head.'
Sung Joon quickly examined the golem's body. It was about three meters tall and its body looked like it was made of solid rock.
The only thing that wasn't made of solid rock was the golem's 'core' atop its head.
'I have to destroy its core.'
Though it would be difficult to aim for its core alone, Sung Joon was overflowing with confidence. With his current speed, he thought he could easily evade the golem's attack and annihilate its core.
Fortunately, he didn't see any minions around.
'I'll win with my speed.'
Sung Joon ran towards the slowly approaching golem. He threw his dagger at the golem's core but the golem blocked it with its arm.
Though it had protected its core, it had blocked its own sight and so Sung Joon went behind the golem.
'If it's about three meters tall, it's not a problem.'
Sung Joon's eyes gleamed.
He could reach the golem's head with one leap. Sung Joon jumped and landed on the back of its neck. He grasped his sword, climbed up the golem, and strongly brought down his sword onto its core.
Kwang!
The strength behind his sword was immense. With a single blow, the 'core' shattered and the golem collapsed weakly.
"For a Hidden Dungeon, it wasn't so tough. Was it one of the easier Hidden Dungeons?" Sung Joon thought aloud.
-Verifying dungeon assault, measurement complete. B-rank dungeon, clear.
As he had thought, its difficulty wasn't very high for a Hidden Dungeon.
"Absorb."
Sung Joon absorbed the mana from the remains of the golem and its remains dissipated, leaving behind a magic stone and a necklace.
-Verifying the existence of a new item.
The measuring tool responded. Sung Joon put the magic stone into his bag and brought his measuring tool close to the necklace.
[The Memory of the Dead]B-rank.
Verifying Summoning effect.
'Summoning?'
Summoning was a rare ability. Sung Joon curiously put the necklace around his neck. Generally, these kinds of items would activate once the correct activation words were spoken.
If he wasn't mistaken, the activation word for summoning was…
"Summon."
Sung Joon felt a small amount of mana escaping his body. The necklace, which had absorbed his mana, spat out a blue light.
The mana that the necklace had spat out into the air slowly took on a human shape. A little bit later, the blue mana had completely taken on the shape of a long-haired knight.
It was a face he had seen for the first time but it wasn't an unfamiliar face.
- Greetings, my lord.
The long-haired knight greeted him with a bitter smile.
- As I thought, it seems you don't remember me. I, too, do not have my complete memory.
"Who are you?" queried Sung Joon.
- I apologize for my late greeting. I am Rishubalt. I am a knight that pledged my loyalty to you, - Rishubalt explained.
Sung Joon understood the situation to an extent after Rishubalt explained himself. Rishubalt was likely a knight that had assisted his past self, Roukel.
He also felt like Rishubalt's name had come up in his hazy past memories.
"Fine. Rishubalt, what can you do?" he asked.
- The only thing I can do right now is checking my lord's synchronization rate, - the knight replied.
"Synchronization rate? What is that?" Sung Joon asked.
Rishubalt raised his head.
- My lord, it's your synchronization rate with your past life. My lord, if you regain your past memories, your synchronization rate will go up and your lost strength will return to you. - Rishubalt explained.
Sung Joon asked, "If that's the case, what's the method to increase my synchronization rate?"
- Continuous training and increasing your mana supply through Mana Absorption. - Rishubalt replied.
Sung Joon nodded his head. He was relieved, since his methods until now hadn't been wrong.
"Rishubalt, is there a way to check my synchronization rate right now?" Sung Joon asked.
Rishubalt smiled and spoke.
- My lord, right now your synchronization rate is at 5%.
//