Training 3 [22]

Jin-Woo swung Legacy, Void Slash's pitch-black energy coating the blade. He swung his weapon again and again, sweat pooling down his face. At first it was easy, but as he pushed himself to his limits, he was forced to use less and less energy on Void Slash while trying to keep the skill efficient.

Eventually though, he was tuckered out, falling to the ground, panting.

He glanced at the progress of his proficiency, noting the "62.7%." It was surely rising, although it wasn't at a rate that he necessarily liked. He closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths before he heard soft footsteps approaching him, stopping a few feet away from him.

"You've been training? Good!" Lolikiano bent over and tapped the tip of Jin-Woo's nose. He opened his eyes and a small smile pulled at the edges of his mouth. "Okay, there's a lot to tell you! For once, I'll try to be a respectable teacher!"

Jin-Woo slowly rose from the ground, standing and meeting Lolikiano's gaze evenly.

"First of all, I need to know what I'm working with! Here!" Lolikiano held her hand out and a blue potion appeared in it. She handed it to Jin-Woo with a smile. "Drink it! It's a mana restoration potion!"

Jin-Woo looked at the potion with suspicious eyes. Advanced Observation activated immediately, informing him of the high price of the potion, as well as the impressive effects of it. His eyes widened and he blinked at Lolikiano.

She puffed up her cheeks. "What is it? Is it not high-quality enough? I wanted to start out small, but if you need something a bit more powerful, I can—"

Jin-Woo shook his head, deciding to drink the potion. Jin-Woo gulped it all down in a few seconds but didn't feel anything. It tasted like generic medicine, not awful, but not amazing either. He was positive that his MP bar hadn't moved up in the slightest.

Lolikiano noticed immediately. "It didn't work. It really didn't work!" Her tone wasn't angry, or even surprised, but rather curious and excited.

Jin-Woo squinted. Lolikiano shook her head a few times, a smile on her face.

"Don't worry, I'll explain in a minute! For now, try to drink this!" Lolikiano held her hand out again, but this time a purple, swampy potion appeared in her hands. She handed it to Jin-Woo happily, giggling excitedly.

He looked at the potion with a dark expression. He held it up and swishing the water around in its glass container. He could see chunks of something in it. His expression darkened, and he glanced down to see Lolikiano looking up at him with child-like glee.

When Advanced Observation activated, he couldn't see any important information about the potion. Rather, the only information that he could see was that the potion wouldn't be dangerous to his Health points, which was a little reassuring for the Necromancer.

'I feel like a science experiment,' he thought before taking in a breath and downing the potion. As soon as the chunks hit his tongue, they dissolved. Jin-Woo was pleasantly surprised by the decent taste of the potion despite its less than appealing visual.

A moment passed, only a fraction of a moment, before Jin-Woo felt insane power rushing through his body. His golden eyes shined with newfound energy as his body almost swore it would erupt if he didn't use his energy properly.

It was only then that Jin-Woo realized he'd never used a mana potion before, or at least, not one that successfully worked with him.

"Oooh, so that does work for you!" Lolikiano's eyes shimmered excitedly. "So, a potion made from highly dangerous Mana of Death that would be like poison for most actually works as a mana potion for you! Okay, show me your skills!"

'I am just a lab rat!' Jin-Woo sighed, but he pushed aside his worry and didn't hesitate to follow Lolikiano's orders. He normally would've, but after being given a potion that worked with his mana—even if it was tested on him—he couldn't help but shrug away his nervousness. He assumed Lolikiano would be able to keep up with what was happening, so he didn't bother to slow down or explain his skills in detail.

Firstly, he summoned Igris, Tempest, and a few of his other summons, specifically one white wolf and one knight. As Igris activated Ruinous Dawn and Tempest activated Black Lightning, Jin-Woo activated Void Slash and cut through the air before transforming the dagger into a shortsword and doing the same thing again. Immediately after, Jin-Woo summoned Lycaon's Claw.

The weapon was a nice silvery metal with a thin design and sharp edge. Jin-Woo swiped the sword towards the ground, activating the skill, Air Slash, and causing a powerful gust of wind to follow the blade and cut into the floor.

To finish, Jin-Woo spun around and activated Soul Mimicry, telekinetically pushed himself off the ground, before using Bloodlust on no specific target. He noticed a small notification in the corner of his eye.

[Skill: Bloodlust has failed to be activated due to user lacking any bloodlust.]

Absentmindedly noting Bloodlust's requirements, he landed on his feet to see the damage from Igris's Ruinous Dawn, a massive gash in the gym's flooring, while Tempest's Black Lightning left black streaks on the walls of the area. He turned to Lolikiano to ask her what she thought, but he saw an unexpectedly troubled expression on her face.

"That's… a lot. Too much for a newbie," she spoke instantly.

"Huh?"

"Your mana is probably around 45% now, right?" Lolikiano asked, tapping her chin absentmindedly. "Actually, you're probably closer to 30%."

Jin-Woo nervously chuckled. He thought about lying to the Witch of Slaughter but didn't. "I'm around 95%."

Lolikiano stopped speaking, looking up at Jin-Woo with simultaneously sparkly and perplexed eyes.

"Don't tell me…. Your summons…?"

"They have their own mana pools."

"And you have four of them? That's incredible…!"

Jin-Woo chuckled awkwardly. Lolikiano's eyes widened.

"How many…?"

"Just seven."

"'Just seven,'" Lolikiano repeated. She ran her hand over her face. "Okay, okay. How many of them can used skills?"

"Just these two," Jin-Woo gestured to Igris and Tempest softly.

Lolikiano sighed, nodding softly. "And they both only have one skill, right?"

Jin-Woo didn't speak.

[Igris is using the skill: Telekinesis.]

[Tempest is using the skill: Unchained Howl.]

Igris's sword left his hands, only to immediately come back. Tempest just let out an overwhelming howl, the skill tempting Lolikiano to attack the monster. However, after an instant, she dispelled the influenced desire easily.

"Okay, okay, okay. Is there anything else hidden in them?" Lolikiano asked, receiving a slow shake of Jin-Woo's head. She seemed satisfied, so Jin-Woo desummoned his Summons, causing them to fall into the ground and move into the nearby shadows. Lolikiano looked at that silently before continuing. "And for your skills?"

"I used everything I could do once," Jin-Woo confirmed, nodding.

Lolikiano nodded and thought about Jin-Woo's movements for a moment before nodding.

"For now, just work on the first skill you used. The one that coated that black dagger in Mana of Death," Lolikiano nodded, and although Jin-Woo was slightly confused, he nodded and started to swipe his dagger into the air as he used Void Slash. "Ah, and although it makes your training more convenient, I recommend that you keep most of your abilities a secret, especially with your summons. They're useful whether your opponent may know about them or not, but a completely unguarded attack against that red knight's skill could probably knock most A-Ranks and some low-tier S-Ranks off their feet."

Jin-Woo nodded between slashes.

Lolikiano sighed, "I'll try and keep this simple and clean."

"Mana of Life and Mana of Death are yin and yang. They can't exist without one another and have infinite similarities as well as infinite differences. Unfortunately, we know much more about Mana of Life than Mana of Death."

Between slashes Jin-Woo clicked his tongue. "I'm not getting it just yet."

Lolikiano sighed, nodding. "Yeah, that's fair. I didn't get it much either. How else can I help without becoming a boring encyclopedia?"

Jin-Woo stood silent for a moment before softly nodding to himself. "What's the biggest difference that would affect me?"

Lolikiano's eyes shined. "Direct, but a good question nonetheless." She tapped her chin for a few minutes before letting out a soft, "Aha."

"That ghostly aura of yours is Mana of Death, although you probably already figured that one out. And… you can't enhance your body with mana unlike people with Mana of Life can," Lolikiano nodded.

Jin-Woo nodded in agreement. "Everything checks out so far."

"You don't have an easily identifiable mana signature either, because your mana gets unconsciously soaked into your actual body, rather than gathering around it. That means you could have the power and physique of an A-Rank but still get identified as an E-Rank. Skilled Hunters—mostly Assassins—have a similar ability that allows them to hide their power in order to get the drop on unsuspecting enemies."

Jin-Woo gestured for Lolikiano to continue, interested.

"You can't use mana crystals to get stronger either, right? In that case, how do you get stronger?" Lolikiano asked, confusion rising to her face.

"I kill monsters."

Lolikiano was quiet for a moment, blinking. "Huh, got it."

Lolikiano shook her head after a few minutes. "On that line of thinking, did you by-chance get any of your skills from your summons?"

Jin-Woo very slowly nodded his head.

"Well, if there's any other trait that Mana of Death has its… unending greed. When I said earlier that I knew a person who'd seen Mana of Death devour a person, it was a bit of a lie. To be more direct, I've seen it happen myself," Lolikiano's gaze was steady, unflinching. She didn't look away from Jin-Woo's eyes, and he understood the seriousness of her words. "It's not pretty. I had enough mana to feed the darkness, but it left a friend different in a way that's impossible to explain. Her… her essence, her soul, was different, less than before."

"She's important to me, and what happened to her won't ever change that, but she knows more than anyone that she's not who she once was."

Lolikiano let her words sink in for a moment before continuing with a small laugh. "I didn't mean to make things all depressing, but I just wanted to stress the importance of your power. It's scary, to be honest. You will certainly grow to be a powerful person, possibly even surpassing the Sovereign of Hunters, but with that incredible power… well, you probably know the saying."

Jin-Woo was quiet, so Lolikiano continued.

"All I've ever seen Mana of Death do is take and destroy. But you… you're an example of how it may be more than that. You've saved my brother's life, and I will do absolutely everything in my power to thank you for that," Lolikiano smiled softly.

Jin-Woo stayed quiet, looking up to the ceiling for a moment as thoughts whizzed through his mind.

"I won't let this power devour myself or anyone around me, I'm confident in that," He spoke assuredly, his tone almost unnatural compared to how he normally sounded. In that exact moment, it was as if all the stars in the sky aligned just for him, and he looked attractive. His eyes shone with subtle determination.

Lolikiano blinked at him, turning away, and waving her hands towards her face. 'It's the black hair, it's definitely the black hair. I definitely have a thing for black hair! Or maybe it's the ridiculously good looks, I dunno!'

Lolikiano coughed into her hand. "Anyway, the black energy that covers your weapon, that's probably a weapon ability, right?"

Sung nodded.

"If it's a weapon ability, when you get good enough at it, you could use it whenever you want, with or without the weapon. You'll probably be able to enhance your speed, your strength, and your defense. Combine that with your reflexes—which we'll be working on as well—and you'll be able to easily knock Cha on her back!"

Jin-Woo's eyes widened, and the Necromancer nodded excitedly. But before Jin-Woo started up again, newfound energy in his eyes, Lolikiano looked at him with a darkening expression.

'But… everything going forward is completely unknown territory. I just hope that your body doesn't start giving out under the pressure of Mana of Death….'

-----

Ichigo swung her bat and slammed it into the approaching werewolf's head. The blow threw the monster off its feet, but it was quickly replaced with an onslaught of other monsters.

Ichigo took a dozen steps backwards, slamming her bat into the ground and sending cracks shooting towards her enemies. It tripped up a few of them, but the slime was essentially unbothered, several tentacles lashing out towards Ichigo.

Her bat whipped around, blurring, and destroying the tentacles as they came towards her. She started to get a foot forward before she swung her bat only to hit something extremely soft, the living-rotted plum.

Her bat sunk into the monster, and when she tried to pull it back, she was hit with one of the slime's tentacles, sending her sprawling across the ground. She got up quickly, rolling out of the way of a cephalopod, which tried to come down on top of her. She rose to her feet with her hands clenched.

A rage filled her gaze as she looked at the plum monster. Two werewolves rushed towards her, but she pushed through the monsters and slammed her fist into the monster's body, pounding it to a pulp and pulling her bat from its writhing body. It wasn't dead, but it didn't look like much of a threat either.

Ichigo leaned backwards and was hit by one of the large ants, sending her back into one of the cephalopods, who grabbed her with several of its suction cups, taking away her vision. She groaned and ripped the monster off her face, only for a werewolf's claws to rush towards her face. She barely moved out of the way, the monster's claws becoming wedged in her shoulder.

Ichigo let out a gasp of pain before kicking the monster back and throwing the cephalopod along with it. Blood rushed down her shoulder with a searing pain, but she kept her grip on her bat firm as she looked at her enemies. Some liquid from the cephalopod got into her eyes, causing her vision to blur.

'I won't lose, and I won't let anyone take my bat away…!' Ichigo grit her teeth as she was swept off her feet, then thrown into a wall by a werewolf. She slumped tiredly before looking around. The plum monster she'd seen before was starting to rise again, pounded, but still alive.

Her stomach growled.

'Ugh, I'm starving. I was planning on eating breakfast when Jin-Woo and I took a break, but…' Her stomach groaned again.

Ichigo barely rolled out of the way of an attack, the horrendous smells from the monsters invading her nose. She was hit by another blow before she carefully looked at her enemies. The smell they were giving off was anything but enticing, but Ichigo's mouth watered as she looked at her foes with blurred vision.

She could see a bowl of beautiful Jell-O, nicely plated luxurious fruit, exotic meats, and primed calamari waiting to be devoured.

Her enemies approached her all at once, and she opened her mouth, taking a bite. It was right then that she felt something change inside of her, something important unlocking from deep within her soul.

A voice that was certainly hers—although they weren't her thoughts—rang out from deep within her.

<We are the Gourmet. And if food is in the game, we'll never lose against anyone!>

-----

Jin-Chul's fist slammed into Fanzer's face immediately. The Thief was lifted from the ground and sent spiraling into the wall. He groaned before his enemy's fist slammed into the side of his head and sent him sprawling again.

'He's fast…!' Fanzer kept his eyes locked on his enemy, seeing the man charge towards him. Fanzer threw up his arms, blocking Jin-Chul's blow and sliding back. He summoned a card, but before he could activate it, Jin-Chul was gone.

The Korean Hunter appeared besides Fanzer, his fist slamming into Fanzer's ribs and lifting him off the ground. Then to follow up, he grabbed Fanzer's face and slammed him into the ground before kicking him away.

Fanzer gasped for air, his face swollen and his body aching. He groaned out a laugh.

"Damn, you're more aggressive than I remember. Faster too," Fanzer coughed. As he spoke, mana swelled inside of him. "Is that your Soul Attribute or something?"

Jin-Chul shrugged nonchalantly. He stretched, yawning. "Does it matter? Would you be able to win if you knew?"

'He's fast, but he's not maintaining his ridiculous speed forever. He probably needs to charge up enough energy for short bursts of additional speed and power, but unfortunately, I probably need more time to activate my skills,' Fanzer shrugged, smiling. "Eh, I've got a decent idea of how I'll win."

"Really now? Because all I've been seeing is you standing around and getting beat senseless," Woo Jin-Chul smiled.

Miyoung looked at the two with bored eyes, her mind drifting to a certain pink-haired witch.

"Well, you know how I can flip things around," Fanzer shrugged, the mana swirling inside of him starting to leak out.

"Uhuh. It seems like you forget that you've never won a fight against me," Woo Jin-Chul hummed.

The two were quiet for a moment, before Woo Jin-Chul bent down and dashed towards Fanzer, an explosion shooting out behind him and cracking the gym's floor in his wake.

At the same time, Fanzer's hand shot up several cards disappearing from his fingers. Electricity, water, and fire all being fired towards Jin-Chul. The Hunter crouched his legs before he leapt into the air, fierce cracks shooting out in all directions.

Woo Jin-Chul came down on Fanzer fast, but the Thief was just a bit faster. Fanzer's hand shot up, and just before Jin-Chul could hit him, powerful winds swirled in his hands.

"Wind Cyclone…!" The overwhelming mana with Fanzer spilled out and rushed towards Jin-Chul, but before it could hit him, the Korean Hunter threw his fist towards Fanzer's head with explosive speed. His fist didn't touch LeBlanc, but the air force of his blow did as if it was one of his blows.

Fanzer's Wind Cyclone slammed into Jin-Chul and threw the man into the air, slamming him against a wall. On the other hand, Jin-Chul's Air Force sent Fanzer skidding across the floor, dizzy.

Fanzer tried to regain his composure and looked up at Jin-Chul, seeing the man land on his feet with minimal damage. In his head, Fanzer could see Jin-Chul's incredible movements in slow-motion.

Jin-Chul increased the mana in his fists for a fraction of a second in his Air Force attack before moving all his mana on the front of his body to take all the damage of Fanzer's attack. And if that wasn't enough, his attack also pushed his body back, making sure that Fanzer's attack couldn't work with its full efficiency.

Fanzer let out a dry chuckle as Jin-Chul skulked forward.

"I guess I forgot that you've always been the better fighter between us," Fanzer sighed, rising from his spot softly. He stumbled a bit but didn't fall.

"After I win, you won't have to worry about being caught for being a thief. You can live a somewhat normal life, maybe get a girlfriend, and live out the rest of your days peacefully," Jin-Chul explained, getting into a relaxed fighting stance.

"'A somewhat normal life,' eh?" Fanzer repeated, shrugging with a wide grin. "And who the hell said I wanted that?"

"It'll be better in the long run," Jin-Chul tried to reason with Fanzer.

"But probably more boring too," Fanzer cracked his neck, his smile never fading.

Jin-Chul sighed. "I guess there's no reasoning with someone like you."

Fanzer laughed. "I'm happy you know me so well."

The air in the room changed. Jin-Chul's hair started standing up, little sparks of electricity rising from his skin. However, this wasn't electricity.

"You store kinetic energy and use it later, right?" Fanzer spoke, receiving a soft hum from Jin-Chul. "That's why you let me talk and gather energy, because you can do the same thing."

"You're still as sharp as ever. I call it Fa Jin," Jin-Chul added.

Just as Fanzer guessed, Jin-Chul's Soul Attribute was an ability that allowed Jin-Chul to absorb kinetic energy through low-energy movements and store that energy up to use to massively increase his speed and power. It was a Skill-Type Soul Attribute that awakened for him even he became an A-Rank.

The wind around Fanzer started racing, his hair flittering around dramatically.

"Thanks for the skill in advance, Miyoung," Fanzer grinned cockily, causing Jin-Chul to let out a small huff. He looked past Jin-Chul to see Miyoung with a slightly interested expression on her face. Although her emotionlessness didn't fade away in the slightest.

'I can't win head-on. He's stronger than me, faster than me, and he's always been more proficient in hand-to-hand combat than I was. No matter the combination of my skills, because I haven't gotten a good chance to stack up more cards, I can't create an easy road out of here. This is it then…! The biggest gamble of my lifetime! It's all or nothing, baby!'

All at once, something changed deep within Fanzer's soul. He heard a voice deep inside of himself, one that certainly sounded just like his own. He was positive that it wasn't his own thoughts.

<We are the Gambler. And we won't lose to anyone in a game of luck!>

-----

"…And you're sure we've met before?" Jin-Woo squinted his eyes at the unfamiliar black-haired man. Even while talking, he didn't stop his training, his pure black shortsword splitting through the air.

"Yes, I'm Kim Byung-Ho! I'm the super awesome Hunter that you met a few years ago!" Byung-Ho held his arms up, flexing his muscles. He looked at Jin-Woo, only to receive a blank expression.

"Did we go on a raid together…?" Jin-Woo asked, giving Lolikiano a glance. She shrugged.

"No, no, we met for like… ten minutes," Byung-Ho explained, receiving a soft shrug from Jin-Woo. His face began transforming into a scowl. "Ugh, it doesn't matter if you remember me or not! I'll make you remember me! I challenge you to a fight right here, right now!"

Jin-Woo stopped swinging Legacy, slowly craning his head towards Byung-Ho. He observed his mana for a moment.

It was certainly strong without a doubt, but it lacked much determination. It wasn't fiery like Choi's, nor was it flexible and intimidating like Cha's. His energy didn't have the ferocity of Lycaon's, nor did it have the subtle yet undeniable strength of Lolikiano's. And it was totally incomparable to Yogumunt's. It was just average. It was without depth, or individuality.

But it was still an A-Rank's energy.

Jin-Woo glanced over at Lolikiano, a small smile rising to his face. His eyes shined with interest. Lolikiano let out a soft sigh. "Can you really get anything from this? If anything, this seems like it'll be a waste of time more than anything."

Jin-Woo shook his head. "No, he's an A-Rank, so this'll be a good way for us to see how much I've grown!"

Byung-Ho's eyes widened with rage. His head whipped towards Lolikiano as thoughts flashed through his mind, 'He's looking down on me?! This kid needs a reality check! And who the hell is that anyway?!'

"True. You may've gotten used to Ichigo's movements, so this'll be a better representation of your development," Lolikiano gestured to Byung-Ho. "Ah, but you aren't allowed to use them."

Jin-Woo nodded silently, seeming unworried. Byung-Ho's eye twitched. 'Holding back against someone of a higher rank?! You damn E-Rank, I'll embarrass you!'

The two took a moment to get ready, but Byung-Ho didn't grab any weapons.

Jin-Woo quirked an eyebrow towards him. "You won't use any weapons?"

Byung-Ho smiled cockily, shaking his head. "Why would I need to use a weapon against a Hunter who can't even use mana crystals to grow? You're the exact same E-Rank from three years ago, so I'll win all the same."

A beep rung out in the gymnasium. Jin-Woo stored Legacy in his Inventory.

Jin-Woo blinked. "Ah, I remember you now. You're the one who stopped me from joining the Hunters Guild."

The second beep rung out. Jin-Woo took a breath and relaxed.

Kim Byung-Ho's smirk widened. "It took you long enough to remember! Now I'm gonna beat your ass like I did three years ago! And after, maybe I'll go see how Julie's—!"

As soon as the third beep rung out, Jin-Woo's gaze sharpened. His fist slammed into Byung-Ho's face.