Close-quarters brawls weren’t something a mage ran into often. If an enemy got that close, it usually meant the mage had already messed up. The only smart response was to either open up some distance again or hit the target hard and fast enough to make them regret closing in.0

If neither option worked, the fight was as good as lost. That was why mages rarely, if ever, found themselves locked in drawn-out hand-to-hand battles. But now, surrounded by waves of skeletons and zombies closing in on all sides, Do-Jin was doing the exact opposite. He was fighting bare-handed in the middle of full-on combat.0

And surprisingly, he was having a good time. It was a whole different sensation from blasting enemies with spells. The weight behind every punch, the vibration up his arm, the sharp feedback of bones shattering, none of that existed in regular casting. Even his pacing wasn’t the usual, controlled rhythm of spellcasting. It was raw, fast, relentless. He moved like a storm, throwing himself into the horde with ruthless precision.0

On Do-Jin’s third run through the dungeon, one of Capone’s long-time “residents” lunged at him with its mouth wide open. He snapped it shut with a short jab that ended in a wet crunch, then stepped back, pivoted,...0