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Swordmaster Healer (Web Novel) - Chapter 18 – Collector (3)
Chapter 18 – Collector (3)
This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml
TL: Boko
Editor: Ren
The next day, Sung Joon went to the B-rank dungeon according to schedule.
He went underground, opened the steel gate and was immediately met with a patrol consisting of an Ogre and eight Orcs waiting for him.
Although the Ogre had a large build, it wasn’t really wearing any armor. Sung Joon drew the dagger at his waist.
The Orcs that Sung Joon had spotted acted; approaching quickly and throwing their axes at him. The Ogre also moved its heavy body.
Swoosh.
Sung Joon threw his dagger, piercing the middle of the Ogre’s forehead. The Ogre cried out briefly and collapsed.
Thud.
The ground shook where the Ogre had fallen. Sung Joon closed the distance to the Orcs and raised his left hand.
“Return.”
The dagger, ‘Returning Hatred’ reappeared in his left hand. In his right hand, he grasped his longsword, ‘Roel’. Sung Joon dashed towards them like a gale of wind and swung his sword.
The Orcs spurted blood and fell.
“What a superb showing of swordsmanship! As expected of my lord!”
When his synchronization rate had reached 20%, Sung Joon had further refined his combat swordsmanship, and Rishubalt earnestly marveled at the sight of it.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon absorbed the mana from his slain enemies, replenishing his mana and stamina, as well as his aura duration time.
Sung Joon continued to advance.
He moved forward for around three hours without rest. He observed that the Orcs were appearing less frequently than before and that Ogres had begun to take their place.
The Heavily-Armed Ogres, which were ranked high-tier amongst the B-rank monsters, began to appear. However, before Sung Joon’s aura, they were no different from normal Ogres.
“Is this the Boss Room…?”
Due to his Mana Absorption, he had tirelessly advanced and gotten all the way to the Boss Room.
There were two Heavily-Armed Ogres, an Orc Mage, and nineteen Orcs guarding the entrance of the Boss Room.
Sung Joon began the battle by throwing his dagger.
One of the Heavily-Armed Ogres appeared, wearing a can-like helmet over its head, but it did little to protect him against his aura-clad dagger.
The Heavily-Armed Ogre toppled to the floor and the other monsters attacked Sung Joon.
“Absorb.”
Sung Joon absorbed their mana after the battle.
He hadn’t sustained a single injury while battling the Heavily-Armed Ogre, as well as the Ogre Mage and the nineteen other Orcs.
It seemed as though the Ogre’s blade had grazed him a couple of times, but it hadn’t pierced the fabric of his ‘Empire’s Battle Priest Vestments’.
“I feel an unusual mana from within,” Rishubalt announced.
Sung Joon nodded his head. A magic circle had been engraved into the dungeon door, concealing the presences inside and their mana.
He would occasionally feel an overwhelmingly powerful presence from beyond those doors. This was one of those times.
“Should I try using the buff?”
Sung Joon’s vestments had an ability called ‘Blessing’. Since he was curious as to how effective it would be, he decided that he’d try the ability out right away.
After all, it was basic common sense to use a buff before a battle.
“Blessing,” he chanted, raising his left hand. A radiant light burst out from his body as mana was drawn out.
He felt like his body had become lighter.
“It seems to be quite effective…?” Sung Joon remarked admiringly.
He’d need to test it on the frontlines, but this buff was quite amazing.
“Your synchronization rate has temporarily increased by 2%.”
“Really? Nice.” Sung Joon nodded as he cautiously opened the steel gate. The Light Drone illuminated the darkness, revealing an Orc grasping a short sword in both hands.
Sung Joon ascertained the Ogre’s identity as soon as he saw the Orc’s well-maintained armor, as well as the fancy crest engraved upon it.
‘It’s an Orc Warlord.’
It was the only monster that could utilize aura, besides the Orc Blademaster. It was also a high-tier A-rank monster.
“Is it an Elite Dungeon…” Sung Joon spoke to himself.
Although it was common for A-rank monsters to be the Bosses of the B-rank dungeons, high-tier monsters would normally only appear in A-rank dungeons.
The only exception would be an Elite Dungeon.
“I’m really unlucky,” grumbled Sung Joon.
It wasn’t on the level of a Hidden Dungeon, but it was still difficult to figure out that it was a Elite Dungeon ahead of time.
“Hoo!”
Sung Joon took a deep breath, calmly grasped his sword, and slowly closed the distance. He had no choice but to fight when his enemy was right before him.
As they narrowed the distance, they both leapt at each other, shooting out like bullets. Unlike other Orcs, it didn’t utter a scream.
It just quietly and quickly closed the gap in an instant, like an experienced assassin.
“…!”
Their aura-clad blades clashed and a portion of their mana scattered into the air. The Orc Warlord aimed for Sung Joon’s waist with the short sword in its left hand..
Sung Joon attempted to block it with his dagger.
“Ugh!” Sung Joon groaned.
Although he had clad his dagger in aura, the force behind the short sword was too much to block with just a dagger. If he hadn’t improved his physical abilities with his blessing, he would’ve been crushed by the savage strength behind its short sword.
He was indeed buffed, but the Orc Warlord’s strength was still a little higher than his.
“AH!”
In the end, the Orc Warlord’s blade struck Sung Joon’s waist, and the blood splattered from the severe wound. In order to press its advantage, the Orc Warlord attacked Sung Joon in a continuous flurry.
If his combat swordsmanship had still been at a low level, he wouldn’t have been able to block the barrage.
“Flash Cut!”
There was a small gap in the Warlord’s attacks and Sung Joon seized the opportunity. He drew out his mana and quickly swung his sword, cutting through the Orc Warlord’s upper body.
The Orc Warlord screamed painfully, but retreated to avoid a follow-up strike. It had thought that that was the most sensible idea, but it was a mistake to widen the distance from Sung Joon.
“Heal!”
Sung Joon’s Heal was amplified by his vestments, so his waist injury healed instantly. It was a speed that astounded even Sung Joon.
The Orc Warlord snarled like a beast. Its low voice had definitely relayed its sense of anger to Sung Joon.
It started to move again in order to close the distance between them.
“Slash!” Sung Joon recited, and swung his sword in a large arc. An aura slash flew towards the Orc Warlord.
The Orc Warlord crossed its two short swords in order to block the oncoming aura slash, but while he was blocking it, Sung Joon had already breached its defenses and gotten close.
He stabbed his dagger into the Orc Warlord’s thigh and its body momentarily stiffened. Sung Joon seized that opportunity, letting go of his dagger, and grasped his sword with both hands and pierced the Orc Warlord’s chest.
At that moment, the Orc Warlord screamed.
“It’s a War Cry!” Rishubalt warned.
The mana-amplified scream was a high-rank skill that would momentarily paralyze an opponent. It was a skill that only an Orc Warlord or an Orc Blademaster could use.
It consumed a lot of mana, but its effectiveness was undeniable. While the hostile mana pressure momentarily paralyzed Sung Joon, the Orc Warlord retreated a few steps.
Using ‘War Cry’ would momentarily paralyze the caster’s muscles as well, so it couldn’t counterattack.
“Ugh!”
Although it was brief, Sung Joon had felt like that time had taken forever. Sung Joon quickly raised his hanging arm and assumed a defensive posture.
“The Orc Warlord is fatigued. There’s no need to attack. You can simply draw out the battle.” Rishubalt cautiously expressed his opinion.
Sung Joon nodded his head in agreement.
The thigh and upper body wounds that the Orc Warlord had sustained continued to bleed, while Sung Joon had fully treated his wounds through his ‘Heal’.
If he had been a normal Hunter, he would’ve consumed too much stamina and mana to get there, but because of his Mana Absorption ability, he was in tip-top condition.
“Hoo!”
Sung Joon took a calming breath and grasped his sword. He maintained a thorough defensive posture.
Sung Joon wouldn’t move first. He would just maintain a defensive stance; but the Orc Warlord was pressed for time.
It couldn’t stem the bleeding, so it had no choice but to attack.
It moved differently than it had at first. It didn’t move quickly and quietly, rather it screamed and dashed roughly towards him.
It had urgently attacked, leaving an opening. Sung Joon, who had further refined his combat swordsmanship, wholeheartedly seized that opportunity.
He swung his sword, severing the Orc Warlord’s left arm. However, it didn’t just take that lying down. The Orc Warlord swiftly pierced Sung Joon with its short sword.
“Ergh!” Sung Joon screamed from the sudden pain.
The Orc Warlord cleverly let go of its short sword, pulled out its axe, and followed up with another attack.
“Return!” Sung Joon shouted, and the dagger embedded in the Orc Warlord’s thigh returned to him. With it, he deflected the Orc Warlord’s axe.
Then, he swung his sword and cut deeply into the Orc Warlord’s thigh.
The wound splattered blood and the Orc Warlord lost its balance. It seemed as though it had aimed for a fatal blow with its axe, but it hadn’t gone as planned. Sung Joon was at the advantage right now.
“My lord! Your aura can be used for thirty more seconds!” Rishubalt cried.
He had almost reached the seven minute maximum duration for his aura, and there was only thirty seconds left for his fight with the Orc Warlord. However, the Orc Warlord was at as much of a disadvantage as him.
It dropped its short sword and pulled out a new short sword, but this time, its short sword didn’t gleam with aura.
‘This is my chance,’ thought Sung Joon.
He had to attack while it couldn’t use its aura. Sung Joon utilized his high-speed movement. The Orc Warlord’s eyes moved busily.
It had successfully tracked Sung Joon’s movements, but the problem was what came next.
It didn’t have any way of blocking Sung Joon’s aura and the bleeding hampered his physical abilities, so avoiding his blow would be impossible. It felt like it had momentarily seen the grim reaper.
Crunch.
Sung Joon swung his sword, splitting the Orc Warlord’s short sword in two, and severed the Orc Warlord’s head.
His neck spurted blood like a fountain and the body weakly fell over.
– Verifying assault, measurement complete. B-rank dungeon, clear.
The measuring tool responded. Sung Joon absorbed the mana from the body and looted the magic stone. The Orc Warlord hadn’t dropped any items.
“Rishubalt, what’s my synchronization rate?”
“It’s still at 20%. Although I cannot measure in decimal points, I can confirm that it has definitely gone up.”
“It’s a lot less than when I had taken out other Hunters.”
“The ‘Hunters’, as this world calls them, possess much more mana than monsters,” Rishubalt explained.
Sung Joon nodded his head. He hefted his magic stone-filled bag and started to walk out of the dungeon.
Sung Joon got out of the dungeon and reported to the worker on standby, but he hadn’t set a new record this time.
He sat in his car and started up the engine, but then…
Ring. Ring.
He heard his phone ring.
His phone screen showed Hyun Sung’s number. He brought his phone to his ear and picked up.
“Hello?”
“Mr. Kang Sung Joon! Something terrible has happened!”
Hyun Sung’s voice had certainly relayed a sense of urgency.
