Five sets of furs and boots appeared out of thin air before his feet. Aside from Jin-Woo, each member of his group opened their eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
- Spatial magic?!
- How...?!
- Wow.
- Isn't that magic limited to one or two items? How is he able to summon so many?
- Who is he?
- Put these on before you freeze even more. - Jin-Woo ordered them sternly. - It wouldn't be fun if you died of hypothermia before we even encountered any monsters.
Jin-Woo handed one of the coats to Han Song-I who was looking at him with huge eyes.
- This weird magic... The arrow earlier... Who exactly are you?
To be honest, he didn't really feel like explaining to them. Too much time and hassle.
- I'm the one who brought you here so I'm responsible for your safety. - Jin-Woo stated seriously, placing his hand on top of her hooded head.
- But don't ask any questions. I simply won't answer them.
He raised his head and looked at Park Hee-Jin and the other two Hunters.
- That goes for you all too. No questions and no demands.
Truthfully, the other two Hunters had been following rank B huntress Park Hee-Jin up until now. But looking back and forth between the warm gear in their hands and Jin-Woo, they nodded vigorously.
Seeing their silent agreement, Jin-Woo sighed in relief. One less headache.
Next, he quietly opened his status window, glancing at it, Jin-woo quietly changed the title to "Wolf Slayer", knowing it would net him more experience points.
Just as he was about to close the status window, he realized something was approaching them. The other hunters noticed as well, starting to shout.
- Ice bear!
- Oh shit!
Sensing people on its territory, the ice bear slowly approached them. The huge beast's maw was slightly open, lips curled back so its sharp white fangs were visible as it kept growling.
The beast stood up on its hind legs, looming over the Hunters. Its body blocked most of its field of vision in that direction.
Although it looked like a polar bear, the beast was twice as big, and its chest was adorned with the characteristic magical core, glowing blue.
Hearing its roar, all the Hunters except Jin-Woo froze. Park Hee-Jin frowned,
- What was that whole thing about only having to worry about bears?! This is a high-level monster!
Was that something to be said while looking at such a powerful beast before them?! She was enchanted by Sung Jin-Woo's so-called logic.
Looking at the ice bear in person, she was certain of it now:
- Entering this forest was one huge mistake.
Considering herself the huntress with the highest rank among those gathered here, Park Hee-Jin stood before the team and shouted.
- I'll distract it, and you guys try to...Ah!
A significant strength grabbed the hood of her coat and pulled her back. The strength wasn't big enough to immediately send her to the ground, but she had to stumble back towards the force pulling her so as to not actually fall.
When she looked up, she saw Sung Jin-Woo standing before her, looking at her reproachfully.
- You really want that thing to hurt you? - The boy asked sternly, behaving as if scolding a disobedient five-year-old.
To Jin-Woo, these cute little bears were just an appetizer before the main course - the Elves.
Park Hee-Jin couldn't hide her confusion.
- Don't spout nonsense! You may be strong but that's a high-level monster.
The two rank C hunters looked at Jin-Woo in bewilderment, as if he'd lost his mind wanting to fight that thing.
Jin-Woo ignored the huntress' angry protest behind him and slowly approached the ice bear.
If he used the dagger, the blood would stain his clothes.
Instead, the man clenched his fists.
Jin-Woo met the ice bear's gaze.
The ice bear started swinging its tree trunk-sized paw at lightning speed.
But its attack struck the air.
After jumping over the bear's head, Jin-Woo realized why it had such a dangerous reputation.
The levels he had poured in hadn't gone to waste. Before the ice bear managed to lift its head, Jin-Woo used all his strength to strike it in the forehead.
The bear's head slammed into the ground. Its skull was smashed, the bear lolled its tongue out and didn't move anymore, its eyes becoming dull and empty.
[ YOU'VE LEVELED UP! ]
It was quite easy for him to gain this level. After killing just one bear. It was a really nice surprise. As expected, gaining experience differed along with difficulty level. The C-rank dungeon monsters were nothing compared to these ones.
- You... Just who are you?
He turned to face the trembling voice and looked at the four members of his group with their jaws dropped. Jin-Woo scratched his temple.
- No questions, remember?
Well, they probably all forgot after watching such a shocking scene. Jin-Woo honestly didn't blame them that much.
- Come on. I feel like looking for some more cute bears. - Jin-Woo stated surprisingly cheerfully.
***
The Hunters were enjoying a feast by the campfire.
Large pieces of bear meat roasted over the fire.
- This bear meat is a bit tough but surprisingly tasty.
- Want some?
- Ah, thank you.
The people by the campfire were Jin-Woo, Han Song-I, and their three companions.
Rank B mage Park Hee-Jin, rank C warrior Go Myung Hwan, and rank C tank Yoon Ki-Joong.
Somehow, they had all acclimated to this dungeon, so staying here seemed tolerable. Aside from the campfire, they even had tents and blankets for sleeping. Really, they didn't feel much discomfort or danger.
- Does Jin-Ah do nothing but study at home? I heard she has sayings hung on the walls instead of posters to memorize information while sleeping.
Hearing this, Jin-Woo laughed in surprise.
- She's no different than you guys. When at home she does nothing but play games, eat and sleep. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes I wonder when she finds the time to study.
- Then how does she get such good grades?
- I have no idea, to be honest. Maybe she remembers a lot from lessons. When we were younger we often went to gaming rooms together.
Finally, when Jin-Woo finished his meat, he stood up and stretched.
- Where are you going? - Park Hee-Jin asked, surprised.
- A short workout. I'll be back soon. - He promised, going deeper into the forest.
He had to complete the daily quest which was a bit cumbersome in the current circumstances.
He couldn't let the System send him to the penalty zone right now.
When he finally finished the whole workout, he figured since he was already here, he may as well hunt some.
Jin-Woo combed through the forest and pushed through bushes.
He sensed the presence of many ice bears from this area. He realized attacking bears were coming from the same direction which, after several attacks on them, wasn't hard to notice.
Finally, after some time of trudging...
On the other side of the shrubbery, he saw over a dozen caves. He felt more than one presence in each cave. Right before him, many ice bears were entering and leaving the caves. Approximately there were around 30. He was incredibly lucky.
The corners of Jin-Woo's mouth lifted in a triumphant smile.
He had come here alone on purpose.
This was a very good opportunity for his shadows' inaugural battle.
Come forth.
In response to his thoughts, black armored soldiers silently emerged from his shadow and stood behind him.
The Shadow Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder.
Jin-Woo smiled widely.
The ice bears caught Jin-Woo's scent and slowly started coming out of their caves.
Jin-Woo pointed his hand at the bears.
- This is your first battle, boys. Charge!
At his order, the Shadow Soldiers rushed towards the enemies, quickly closing the gap between them.
However, the ice bears' wild movements were much faster than his shadow soldiers.
The bears' individual swipes easily destroyed his soldiers with great ease. Had it been a human in that pitch-black armor instead of a shadow, it would be a gruesome sight.
Jin-Woo frowned.
Apparently, this was too much for his soldiers.
Regardless of whether it was strength or size, unfortunately, it looked like the Shadow Soldiers couldn't stand up to the ice bears.
But suddenly, something surprising happened.
Jin-Woo's eyes widened.
The body of the Shadow Soldier that was destroyed by the ice bear turned into black smoke before it fully hit the ground.
The black smoke gathered some distance away, then retook its original shape.
- Oh shit!
Jin-Woo's face brightened up.
Undead, of course.
He had forgotten the true nature of these shadows, after all his original job was supposed to be a necromancer. And these soldiers were already dead.
When the bears noticed their attacks didn't have a lasting effect in the long run, they became even more furious.
While the infantry kept the ice bears occupied, the three mages finished casting their spells.
Fireballs launched from the mages' hands exploded here and there. While infantry caught in the blasts immediately regenerated, the ice bears started burning, thrashing around in agony.
Their fur coats were so flammable.
The Shadow infantry kept attacking, swinging, and stabbing their swords at the burning bears. It didn't look very graceful, but it was effective.
Initially, the ice bears seemed to have the upper hand, but they were slowly pushed back by the combined attack of the infantry and mages.
Jin-Woo observed the battle with great interest.
The infantry's fast regeneration.
The mages' powerful fire magic.
They may not have been very strong, but that regeneration was phenomenal. Additionally, their weakness wasn't an insurmountable obstacle. After all, they could rank up and become stronger.
The might of the Shadow Soldiers exceeded his expectations. The bears were soon overwhelmed and pushed back into the caves. The battle seemed to have ended...
With a roar that made Jin-Woo's eardrums hurt, another bear revealed itself.
Significantly wider and taller than all the others. It had black longer fur on its head resembling a mohawk, and two deep clearly old scars intersecting on its chest below the core.
With one swipe of its paw, many Shadow Soldiers were swept off the face of the earth.
Even their fast regeneration couldn't keep up with the speed they were being killed at.
It looked like this guy was the alpha of this pack, or something.
Of course, he expected the bears' den to have an alpha bear. But the size and might of this bastard exceeded his expectations.
The soldiers died one after another, and after regenerating didn't even manage to lift their weapons before being destroyed again.
[ LACK OF MANA PREVENTS FURTHER SHADOW'S REGENERATION ]
[ LACK OF MANA PREVENTS FURTHER SHADOW'S REGENERATION ]
In a panic, he checked his mana. As the System said, his mana was zero.
[ MP: 0 / 1860 ]
When his mana ran out, the Shadow Soldiers no longer regenerated after being destroyed. Instead, they turned into shadows and returned to Jin-Woo's shadow. Now he understood that it was his mana that allowed the soldiers endless regeneration.
It made sense. Their energy couldn't come from nowhere.
He found yet another reason to raise his intelligence stat. Jin-Woo scratched his temple. The alpha's appearance completely turned the tide of battle. However, Jin-Woo still had an ace up his sleeve.
Igris, who had been standing calmly a bit behind him the whole time, took two steps forward and stood beside Jin-Woo.
- The bear is all yours.
Jin-Woo pointed at the alpha with his hand. Igris bowed his head before Jin-Woo, then shot towards the gigantic ice bear.
Igris avoided the alpha's blow and slipped between the ice bear's paws. While moving, he quickly took out daggers from his hips and severed the tendons of the beast's hind legs.
Drawing his long sword, Igris skillfully evaded the alpha's attacks while starting to cut it.
It didn't resemble mindless butchering, but rather... an artistic performance. Igris' movements and precise actions made it look truly spectacular.
Jin-Woo watched Igris' fluid, artistic motions with great admiration.
Finally, when blood seeped from many deep wounds, Igris decided to end this gruesome spectacle.
The gigantic ice bear's head was cleanly severed from its body at last. Before it managed to hit the ground, Igris caught it mid-air. The knight approached Jin-Woo and then knelt before the Hunter.
That's when Jin-Woo realized that if the knight had used the sword from the start during their fight, he wouldn't have had the slightest chance.
At his current level, they were quite equal as Jin-Woo assumed.
Igris placed the bear's head before Jin-Woo's feet as if offering a trophy to his king. The hunter stared at the knight in awe.
Jin-Woo chuckled.
- You really are amazing. - Igris bowed his head even deeper, as if embarrassed by the compliment. - Great job.
Seeing several visibly panicked bears still remaining nearby, Jin-Woo placed his hand on the kneeling Igris' shoulder.
- You've earned the right to finish the job with that excellent fight.
The remaining ice bears, after losing their leader and being incomparably weaker than their alpha, quickly fell to Igris' blade.
The battle ended, and its result greatly pleased Jin-Woo.
The soldiers ranked up here and there. Because the Soldiers themselves were Jin-Woo's skill, Jin-Woo also gained 3 whole levels. And most of all
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL ]
[ SHADOW EXTRACTION SUCCESSFUL ]
He gained new friends.
Including the alpha, Jin-Woo chose several ice bears. From their shadows, a large black mass grew.
[ SHADOW BEAST Lv.1 ]
[ SHADOW BEAST Lv.1 ]
[ SHADOW BEAST Lv.1 ]
[ SHADOW BEAST Lv.1 ]
[ SHADOW BEAST Lv.1 ]
The bears that were created retained some resemblance to their former selves, but at the same time had a form that seemed to shift between solid and gas. Black smoke constantly billowed out from their figures.
The most satisfying acquisition was the alpha which now looked amazing. All its old scars on the body glowed blue, the strange mane on its head stretching down its spine was also blue and looked more like flames than fur. The rest of the body was of course black.
Jin-Woo approached the alpha which lowered its head to the ground, shoving its nose in the snow. Smiling, Jin-Woo patted its head.
The bear emitted a quiet growl of contentment at his actions and narrowed its eyes.
Suddenly, from the distance, Jin-Woo heard more bear sounds.
It looked like there were more caves with bears around the area.
But it was getting quite late now, so Jin-Woo decided he would check that tomorrow.
***
While his teammates around him were screaming in pain and agony, Kim Chul's eyes were wide open.
What was happening now was impossible.
He had failed.
He was supposed to join the White Tiger's main force. For that purpose, he even underwent special training. And now he was to suffer defeat?! Such a powerful hunter like him?!
Their group survived the cold and hunger and fought the bears.
Then the yetis. They managed to defeat one even though two of his people died.
And then three more yetis appeared. Furious and bloodthirsty.
After that came the massacre. The hunters fell one by one, crushed, torn apart, and broken like thin dry sticks.
His shield and hammer were shattered and broken during that battle, they were useless now, half buried in the snow.
Kim Chul used the moment when his useless companions were being killed off and struggled heavily with the last yeti.
And then the Elves appeared.
In one second they came out of the forest as if waiting the whole time.
Seeing them and knowing two or three more hunters were still writhing and bleeding out in the snow around him, Kim Chul recoiled.
Seeing one of the arrows shot in his direction strike very close to his leg, Kim-Chul screamed in terror, turned around, and started running.
He ran into the forest and although there were bears there, they were nothing compared to the Yetis or Elves. Kim Chul ran with all his might. Watching as his figure disappeared into the distance, the White Demons raised their bows and took aim. But before they managed to shoot, the Elf standing before them raised his hand and stopped them.
Kim-Chul jumped over bushes
He felt like his lungs were burning. The image of the White Demons smiling at him soullessly was still fresh in his mind. The man looked at his hands. Frostbitten hands were losing their sense of touch. His fingers had long ago lost feeling. In his current state he couldn't fight properly.
This damn cold...
And the hunger, if only he wasn't so hungry.
Until the very end, Kim Chul couldn't admit defeat. Muttering to himself, he raised his head.
How deep into the forest was he?
He looked around. He smelled blood but didn't know where from. The man followed the scent. It was close. Moving between the trees, he came upon a clearing and couldn't believe his own eyes.
He would sooner expect to find the slaughtered second hunter group who idiotically entered the forest when they split up.
But it wasn't their corpses he saw now.
In front of the caves were over 20 bodies of dead bears.
Just a while ago he was wondering why he didn't encounter any of them!
He examined the corpses. All the bodies bore traces of deep cuts. Some of them also had burn marks. Sung Jin-Woo and his group immediately appeared in his mind again.
Was this their doing?
No. Kim Chul shook his head. The wounds on the ice bears' bodies were inflicted by a sword.
But how could two rank E hunters without weapons, two rank C and one rank B defeat so many bears?!
His full group could barely take on seven at once.
And here lay at least 20!
There was no way they could have survived here. Then there was only one sensible conclusion,
The white demons were here. And if they entered bear territory, they must have had a reason.
Were they looking for him?!
His heart froze. He thought he managed to escape from those elves. With great fear in his heart, Kim Chul held his breath and turned in the direction he came from.
He walked on. Faster.
He wanted to get out of those damned nasty elves' territory.
***
The ice bear fell to the ground. The Shadow Soldiers surrounded its body and made sure it was dead.
[ YOU'VE LEVELED UP! ]
Jin-Woo finished clearing another bear den.
Five days had passed since they went through the gate. During that time, he found three different dens.
Thanks to this, both his and his army's levels increased significantly. Initially, it took two soldiers to hold back one bear. Now, one soldier could win one-on-one against the beast. Jin-Woo was pleased. As his soldiers' abilities grew, he started assigning them different roles. His current limit was 30 shadows. 28 of them would be assigned to combat, and 2 to collecting magic cores and meat. Now that he didn't have to lift a finger to fight or collect cores, life became extremely convenient for him.
He no longer sensed any magical beasts.
It looked like he had cleared the entire forest.
Should he go after the boss now?
He didn't know exactly how strong a B-rank boss would be so he kept hesitating.
There was still plenty of time until the gate opened. At least for them, on this side of the gate. It happened after seven days. For them it would be just under six months here.
But there was no reason for them to linger here longer than seven days.
He wanted to defeat those arrogant annoying elves soon. That much was certain.
***
Kim Chul's nose caught a scent of roasted meat from somewhere.
The man's sense of smell became sensitive due to hunger. After entering the Gate, over the last few days he only ate one rabbit. His mouth watered at the smell of food.
Could it be possible that somewhere here the White Demons were simply eating, as if nothing had happened?
And if there were only a few of them...
He was convinced he could take care of them and steal the food. When he surprises them, he would have the advantage over a small number of enemies.
It was the faulty confidence born of hunger and desperation.
Kim Chul tried to silence his steps, because every time he put his foot on the snow it crunched under his boots, and carefully approached the place the smell was coming from.
Finally, he came upon a clearing where Jin-Woo's team was located. Kim Chul's eyes widened in shock.