Leveling Up Alone

Chapter 406 – No Brakes In Han-Yeol’s Growth (2)

Chapter 406 – No Brakes In Han-Yeol’s Growth (2)

Han-Yeol's versatile skills were something even the First Hunter, Woo Han-Jong, had never seen before, nor could he understand them.

Shwiiik! Clang! Clang!

‘Heup!’ Woo Han-Jong closed the distance between them at all times and stuck to melee combat since he held the clear advantage in that.

“Celestial One Star Death Slash!”

Chwak! Chwak!

Woo Han-Jong’s enlarged body made it far easier for him to move, and now he could unleash all of the murim skills he had been saving thus far.

Krwaaang!

‘Argh...! This old geezer is quite strong...!’ Han-Yeol grimaced.

He was indeed stronger now, but that did not mean his physical prowess or swordsmanship had significantly improved compared to before. Using one hundred percent of his strength, the attacks Woo Han-Jong dished out placed a heavy burden on Han-Yeol’s body every time he blocked one.

However, it did not mean he was losing. He was forced to block the sword strikes simply because he was biding his time until an opportunity to use his chain presented itself.

[All preparations are complete, Han-Yeol-nim.]

‘Excellent! Hahaha!’

The time for him to use his skill had come, but he hesitated for a second.

‘First off... I really don’t like being in pain, but I guess I have no choice...’

Then, he blocked Woo Han-Jong’s bamboo sword. But he purposely let it get past his guard.

Chwak!

‘Argh!’ He felt a sharp pain as the bamboo sword cut his side.

However, Woo Han-Jong did not seem pleased by it.

“Hmph! Looks like you got lucky once again... but I’m not going to miss next time,” he said. He knew he had to cut off Han-Yeol’s neck in one clean swing, as these kinds of wounds were ineffective.

‘Ouch... That hurts...’ Han-Yeol winced in pain. He did get cut on purpose, but the sensation of steel cutting his flesh was never a pleasant one to begin with.

Karvis suddenly cheered.

[Finally!]

‘Shall we get started? Enchant! Blood Drain!’

Woooong!

The mana in the air started to vibrate wildly the moment he used his skills. Then, the wound on his side started bubbling for some reason before a huge amount of blood gushed out from it.

Shwaaaaa!

His blood gushed into the air and drenched the chain swirling above them, and the chains continued flying around until they formed the pattern of a magic circle with his blood.

“W-What is this...?!” Woo Han-Jong exclaimed.

“Haha! You should’ve noticed it earlier, old geezer. Well, I admit I’m very strong in combat, but that’s not the only thing I’m capable of. You see, I have more skills than you could ever imagine, and combining them in various ways is my main strength. I really haven’t given this talent of mine a name, but think of it as Skill Combination—or maybe Combine Skill?

“Anyway, I haven’t really had the chance to use this talent of mine to the fullest—until now. I admit you’re as strong as me, and you’re much more experienced in combat than me, old man. I mean, it’s rare for anyone to block my Hard Counter, you know?

“Ah, I think I got sidetracked. What I wanted to say was... I’m going to give you a proper send-off with the most powerful skill combination I have ever created, so you better feel honored, old geezer.”

Karvis immediately notified him as soon as he finished speaking.

[All preparations are complete. You are good to go, Han-Yeol-nim.]

‘Oh! Can I start now?’

[Yes, you may.]

Ding!

[The skills Enchant (A), Blood Drain (F), Crowd Restrain (A), and Tornado Smash (A) have been combined.]

[A combination skill has been activated – Blood Chain Tornado (M)]

Woooong...!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Krwaaaaang!

The sound of crackling mana thundered above their heads, and the stench of blood filled the air. A few seconds later, the wind surrounding them started to blow wildly as a tornado made of blood raged as if it was trying to suck in everything around it.

However, the tornado only had one target—Woo Han-Jong.

“Hey, let’s finish this already, old man.”

“Hmm...”

Shwiiik! Tak!

The Jabberwock Chain returned to Han-Yeol’s hand after it summoned the Blood Chain Tornado.

“Here I come, old man!” Han-Yeol exclaimed as he kicked off the air.

“...”

Clang! Clang!

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Han-Yeol used his Jabberwock Chain and Jabberwock Sword to mount the pressure on the old man, and the momentum was clearly in his favor now.

“Hey, old man, are you done already? I’ll be disappointed if this is all you’ve got.”

“...?” Woo Han-Jong grimaced in response to the taunt, but he did not do anything aside from that.

He did not have the luxury to respond—no, this was not about having the luxury or not. The tornado raging around him was occupying too much of his attention that he could not focus on anything else at the moment.

‘Haha...’ he laughed in disbelief.

He started to feel that this was futile, but that did not mean he would give up on this battle. He did not have many years left to live, but he still had a lot of things to accomplish, so he could not afford to die here.

‘And I can’t die to someone like him!’

Claaaang!

Woo Han-Jong’s bamboo sword started fighting back against Han-Yeol’s Jabberwock Sword.

“That’s right, old man! Don’t make me grow bored of you!”

“Shut it, punk!”

“Entertain me more, old man! Haha!” Han-Yeol said with a laugh. Then, he activated another one of his new skills.

‘Blood Strengthening!’

Blood gushed out from the wound on his side once again, but this time, the blood spread all over his body and drew intricate tattoos all over it.

Wooong!

The blood tattoo infused mana into his body and not only strengthened him, but made him look cool, charismatic, and manly too.

“Whoa~ That stung but felt good at the same time.”

“Argh!” Woo Han-Jong groaned. He clearly sensed Han-Yeol’s mana grow denser just now, and he was incomparably stronger than he was a while ago. It was as if the arrogant young man had used the same enhancement skill he used to expand his body.

However, Woo Han-Jong knew that the quality of their skills was very different, and his skill was inferior to Han-Yeol’s.

“Here I come again, old man!”

Boom!

‘H-He’s fast!’

Han-Yeol had become significantly faster and stronger since the battle began, surpassing Woo Han-Jong in both aspects, even though Woo Han-Jong used his skills to enhance his physical prowess.

The new skills he had received as gifts gave him the tools to overpower Woo Han-Jong now.

Whoosh!

Han-Yeol suddenly appeared in front of Woo Han-Jong and raised his sword.

“Argh!” Woo Han-Jong hurriedly raised his bamboo sword.

Baaaam!

“Kuheok!”

Unfortunately, Han-Yeol was so fast that Woo Han-Jong was forced to block the attack while he was off balance.

He ended up getting shoved back from the impact and landed inches away from the Blood Chain Tornado.

Shwiiik!

“T-This is...!” Woo Han-Jong exclaimed the moment the Blood Chain Tornado touched his body.

The tornado dragged him in and completely restrained him.

“Gotcha!” Han-Yeol exclaimed and jumped around like a little kid after seeing his opponent finally get caught in the trap he had set.

“Do you think your pathetic chain can stop me?!” Woo Han-Jong lashed out with his mana, but he was unable to snap the chain.

“Hey, it will be troublesome for me if you snap my chain, old man,” Han-Yeol sneered. He knew the old man was strong enough to snap his chain, so he did not waste time and immediately activated his skill once again.

‘Blood Chain Tornado!’

The tornado completely surrounded the old man and started shredding him up.

Sukeok! Sukeok! Sukeok!

Krwaaaang!

Woo Han-Jong had trained his body almost every single day for decades, but he could not withstand the pain inflicted by the tornado and ended up screaming.

“Aaaargh!”

This was the first time he experienced such agonizing pain caused by mana. The pain was at least multiple times more painful than the pain Han-Yeol felt when he was stabbed in the chest.

Han-Yeol was someone who repaid those who wronged him at least a hundredfold.

[That looks painful...]

‘Yeah, it looks very painful...’

Han-Yeol and Karvis watched the Blood Chain Tornado shred the old man, and neither of them ever wanted to have a taste of this skill.

Shwiiiik... Thud!

Woo Han-Jong crashed into the ground after the Blood Chain Tornado dissipated.

Han-Yeol landed a short distance away from him and canceled his Wings of Light.

‘There’s no way he’s dead. Not yet,’ he thought.

True enough, Woo Han-Jong was not dead yet.

“U-Ugh...!”

Han-Yeol was about to use Demon Eyes to check if the old man was dead or alive, but there was no need for that as Woo Han-Jong slowly started getting up.

He was a complete mess right now. The large body he had a while ago had already deflated, and his clothes were in tatters.

“Hey, do you still want to continue fighting, old man?” Han-Yeol asked.

“Cough! You arrogant punk...! I haven’t even started... Cough! Cough!”

Han-Yeol had clearly won this battle.

Shwik!

Han-Yeol readied his chain once again to put an end to this duel that had benefited him quite a bit.

Would others criticize him for being too harsh against an old man? Why would he attack someone who clearly could no longer defend himself?

‘There’s no such thing in war. The only thing that matters is who won,’ Han-Yeol thought.

He looked at Woo Han-Jong and said, “I was just stronger than you, that’s it. No hard feelings, old man.”

“Argh... I was hesitant to use this since that guy gave it to me... but it’s better than being humiliated by a brat like you.”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

Woo Han-Jong struggled to move his barely attached arm to his inner pocket and took out something tightly wrapped inside. He squeezed his remaining strength to unwrap it, and a pill appeared.

He threw the pill into his mouth before Han-Yeol could stop him.

Pop! Gulp!

‘D-Damn it!’ Han-Yeol cursed.

He should have stopped him at all costs, just in case it was a pill that could heal all his wounds. Unfortunately, he was too confident that he had won and ended up dropping his guard for a moment.

‘Damn it... That was definitely something that could heal his wounds...’

Things were going to be extremely troublesome if Woo Han-Jong fully recovered. He had already encountered Han-Yeol’s skills once, so he was definitely going to be more careful from now on.

‘Well, I can just create a new skill combination, but...’ Han-Yeol grimaced. He felt his mental fatigue building up. He had fought for days and nights without rest before, but the fatigue he felt this time was incomparably greater than anything else he had ever experienced in his life.

‘This battle was quite tiring, and the meeting with Astaroth-nim drained my brain too...’

The mental fatigue he got from nearly dying, immediately followed by Astaroth’s appearance, greatly affected his mental state. Yes, he was able to fully recover and received a lot of good gifts from her, but that did not change the fact that it took a toll on him.

Of course, just because he was mentally tired did not mean he was weaker now.