46

It's been a week since I defeated the Lich King for the first time.

I had almost built up immunity towards the smell by now.

My level was already 199.

With this clear, I should hit level 200.

Each time I leveled, I tried to use the skill book I had obtained.

But the results were the disappointing. Still impossible.

For someone like me who was only raising the Stamina stat, the worst case scenario would be the skill book not opening due to a lack of Dexterity stats.

I prayed that it was a level issue and continued to lv up.

[Your level rose.]

I was surrounded by a bright glow, along with the narration for the level up.

I had reached level 200 in 4 months.

Unlike usual, I held off on the all-important stat allocation.

And almost as if led by something, I pulled the book out from the bag and put it to my chest.

Exactly level 200.

That's why I couldn't help but hope that I could obtain it.

"Please! I'm so curious!"

Closing my eyes, I hoped that the 'condition is not met' wouldn't pop up again.

A moment pa.s.sed.

Almost as if to lessen the worry in my heart, a system announcement I've been looking forward to came.

[Would you like to obtain Dual Casting?]

"It worked!"

Guess the requirement was level based after all.

This was a skill that didn't appear even after scanning with the encyclopedia app.

I even searched online, but couldn't find any information on it.

Perhaps it was a skill book beyond ranking, as rumors had it.

A skill without any information released on it.

I cannot know what it does until I learn it.

But no reason to hesitate.

It's not like there is a limit to how many skills you could learn.

And I didn't have to worry about what cla.s.s the skill is for or the cost of the mana.

Because with infinite mana, I could use any skill as if it is mine.

"Of course I'm learning it!"

The skill book that appeared to be made of metal quickly became dust and faded away.

I wanted to test the skill's power immediately.

Since it was a skill without any information on it, my expectations soared.

"You won't know until you try. Let's try it for now."

I had not left the dungeon yet.

Like how I used other skills, I thought of the name in my head.

'Dual Casting.'

Soon its ident.i.ty will be revealed.

However.

I spread out my arms and waited for a powerful skill to announce its presence, but the surrounding remained silent.

Seems nothing had changed.

Wondering if it was a shield, I checked.

A self-buff? That wasn't it either.

Does it need a target? Many thoughts were racing through my head.

Stumped without answers, I opened my status tab.

I definitely obtained the skill.

A skill that didn't have an experience bar.

Like 'Teleport', it seemed that it could not level up.

But if you cast Teleport, you should be able to see the effect.

While pondering, it suddenly dawned on me.

My eyes focused in on my hands.

I feel so stupid for not realizing this earlier.

I was so excited that I forgot about the skill name.

Perhaps 'Dual Casting', as the name implies, allows me to use two skills at the same time?

Thinking about it further was a waste of time.

I casted Frost Orb with one hand.

Only a single Frost Orb struck against the ground.

Now I was sure that it wasn't a skill that gave twice the output with one cast.

"If that's the case…"

With one hand, I continued to cast Frost Orb while my other hand kept up the Mana Shield.

Filled with high expectations, I casted Teleport.

If Teleport does work….

The Teleport casted, allowing me to jump a short distance forward.

Now I understood.

Dual Casting gave me a 'third hand'.

I was able to cast two different spells at the same time with one hand.

This was already amazing, but imagine if I was able to obtain another one…

I would be able to cast four different spells simultaneously with two hands.

"Im.. Impossible…."

In combat, I lost out on my offensive capabilities due to needing one hand to keep my Mana Shield up.

To unleash more of my power, I let my shield go and was met with quite the critical situation.

I had now obtained a skill that covered that weakness perfectly.

But it seems that to use it well, I'll need some practice.

The aim needed to hit the targets was by the caster.

To be able to cast multiple skills to where I want them will take some practice.

Well, for someone who is obsessed with hunting, it shouldn't take long.

If I am able to master it, I should be 1.5 times stronger than before.

After learning the rankless skill Dual Casting, I had another issue to take care of.

My main skills were Meteor and Iceberg, as well as Fire Shock.

All of them required time to cast and/or cool downs.

After using all three skills, I had nothing left to continue putting on the pressure.

Let's say I use one hand for the shield, while the other for Gravity Laser.

But for my 'third hand'?

I couldn't just continue casting Frost Orb or Lightning Spray when they do almost nothing.

The skill I needed most.

A spell that didn't require time to cast and no cool down.

It didn't need to have a big impact radius.

Just something to allow me to continue dealing damage while the main spells were on cool down.

Currently I had way too much money to spend.

Right now, I was focusing on growth over money, and had nowhere to spend all this cash.

The last spell I used money to buy was Meteor Call after all.

While I was wondering what new spells to learn…

I remembered that I borrowed some Awakened Essences from the midget.

I hadn't paid him back because I was saving them for Meteor Call and Iceberg.

But it looked like it was going to be awhile before I could get them to level 100.

As the skill level rose, the experience required rose as well, while the delay time between each cast slowing me down.

Even if there was bad blood between us, I had 'borrowed' them, nothing different from stealing.

They followed through my requests and helped me with a few things here and there.

I could not be at ease knowing that.

I didn't want to be a vicious thug after all.

I carried the Awakened Essences with me and headed towards their office.

Chirp chirp.

A caller ring filled with the sounds of nature…?

It didn't take long for the midget to answer the phone with his business voice.

"Yes. Lee Sung Ho speaking."

"It's been awhile since I last called. Do you have anyone at the office at the moment?"

"Who is thi- … Huh! Yes. I'm still here at the moment… For what reason is it this time…"

From his voice, I could imagine his eyes filled with anxiety.

I could also almost hear the 'What request is it this time!' in his heart.

"Why are you so nervous? I was calling to return the essences I borrowed."

"Ah! You can take your time returning them… Where are you? Should we come and get you? We'll leave right away."

Unlike what he was saying before, he was blabbering non-stop.

"Nope. I'll be there in 5 minutes."

"Thank you. Thank you."

To be this happy for borrowed items being returned.

Well, these essences are worth about 100 to 200 million each.

I walked slowly to make sure I don't accidentally run into any civilians.

It would be a huge issue to run into anyone while running at abnormal speeds.

I arrived at the office.

His face was all smiles.

Almost as if he found a 10,000 won in his winter coat pocket from last year.

"You came!"

"Yes. Here are the essences."

"Oh my! I thought I'd never see the-… No no. Thank you for returning them so quickly."

Holding the essences tightly, he looked at them as if in love.

He was the splitting image of Gollum holding onto the Ring.

Since I'm here anyways, why not use the shady route once more.

I was planning to learn some A+ ranking spells after all.

"Like how I asked before, get me some skill books."

"….."

"While I was coming here, I decided on a few that I want, but there were none on the market."

"A+ ranking like before?"

"Yes. Don't worry about money and set me up a deal."

"Most things aren't that difficult to get…. but what skills are you talking about…?"

"Explosion and Holy Missile."

"Common magic like those, I can get them without much difficulty."

"That's good. 3 days should be plenty, right?"

"Y.. Yes? O-of course. Plenty."

"Ah! I also forgot to mention. Please get me 'Eye of Insight' as well."

"Isn't that a spell for the Cleric cla.s.s?"

"I think it is? Well whatever, I'll be relying on you. I'll be back in 3 days."

"O… Okay."

The chance for the Lich King appearing in the level 23 dungeon was incredibly low.

I've only fought him once. The weakest boss with the purple glowing eyes was it.

I was still amazed how I was able to get two Banwol Jincheons from Gwidon.

I didn't need essences at the moment.

But the gear they dropped were not things I just wanted, but needed.

"Ha… I wish at least a mimic would appear…."

Thanks to the ridiculous number of mobs, I was able to obtain a vast amount of blood stones.

But no matter how much money I had, there was no way for me to obtain a M/A+ level of gear.

I was not nervous in the slightest.

Like a machine, I continued to hunt systematically.

After taking care of all the ghouls, I headed for the exit with loot in tow.

I headed toward the exit with a hopeful heart and raised ears.

But all I could hear from the dungeon was my own steps.

"Ah! It's so hard to even encounter him!"

I arrived at the exit.

But in front of the gate, I couldn't help but rub my eyes.

There definitely was a gate leading out.

However, next to that gate was another gate open, slightly darker than the usual exit gates.

"… Have I gone crazy from all the scent of intestines?"

My self-doubt was brief.

I looked at the gate once more.

"Ah! Jong Ho hyung!"

I was sure of it.

Right before I entered the level 23 dungeon, Jong Ho was telling me any information that would be helpful.

It was information that I didn't pay much attention to with the mindset of 'go in and kill everything'.

But perhaps due to coincidences, there was a part I remembered clearly.

I was positive.

"Is it okay?"