Chapter 85 - Guild Expansion (3)

Didn't someone say humans were animals that adapted?

Che-haesol proficiently cut open a goblin that had been burnt to death. She pulled out the bloodstone.

“Aigo. I've excavated them all.”

Haesol put the bloodstone inside the bag, then stretched her back.

“Isn't it hard?”

“No.”

Haesol drank the water bottle that was handed to her by Sunggoo. Woojin had taken the water out from his amazing sub-dimension. It was clean water. She didn't have to worry about contamination. She knew they could get sick if they dared to eat and drink anything inside the Dungeon.

“Hoo. Still, the Reinforcement Stones I ate before I came here helped a lot.”

“Haha. Keep taking whatever he gives you immediately.”

It was Sunggoo's absolute ironclad rule.

Never turn down anything given by Woojin.

You do what he asks, and you don't do anything when he says no.

If one followed this rule, at the very least, one wouldn’t lose one's life.

Not long ago, Sunggoo was able to solo clear a 5 star Dungeon.

The stress and nervousness he had felt that time couldn't be compared to what he felt right now. He felt secure, and it was as if he had come to a picnic with Woojin to this Dungeon.

Still, he wasn't just playing around. He was letting out sweat as he gathered the bloodstones.

Thus, this couldn’t be compared to a picnic. He guessed it was akin to digging for spring herbs?

Anyways, he knew for sure his life wasn’t in danger.

This was also true for Haesol.

“I was very surprised. I didn't realized that the president could control so many Undead...”

The Summoning Type Roused could Summon or Tame. Moreover, the quality and quantity of one's summon varied based on one's ability. Even if each one of Woojin's Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Magicians were Rank C, he could control over a hundred of them.

“Right now I think he is summoning only half of what he could actually summon. I've never seen him summon up to his limit yet. Haha.”

“…….”

“Just stop trying to make sense of him.”

“Ha. The world still doesn't know even half of our president's true abilities.”

That's right. This was also true for Sunggoo, who raided the Dungeons with Woojin. Sunggoo had always watched Woojin from the side and had never seen his limit.

Woojin was continuously getting stronger.

“He's coming here right now.”

Woojin travelled up the destroyed path in the forest, leading his Skeleton Army. She knew they were her allies, yet her heart automatically beat faster when she saw the nefarious group of Skeletons. There were several hundreds of them.

Woojin walked in front of the group, but there was nothing extraordinary about his posture.

“Goo-uhhhh.”

Between the Skeleton Army, she saw a peerless being.

A Golem made out of boulders was walking forward with something in his hand.

“Haesol.”

“Yes, sir!”

When Woojin called her name, Haesol quickly ran towards him.

“Try taming this one.”

“T...that one?”

There was a white tiger struggling in Dolsae's hand.

No. If one compared it to a creature on earth, the monster was like the extinct sabre-toothed tiger.

Pah-paht.

Woojin summoned several bone spears and stuck them into the ground. When he injected his magical energy, they formed into a Bone Prison. Dolsae threw the sabre-toothed tiger inside.

Puh-uhk!

“Koo-roo-roo-roo-roo.”

The saber-toothed tiger was thrown roughly onto the flooR. It soon crouched in a low posture, growling.

From across the bars made out of bones, she could feel an incredible pressure emanating from the saber-toothed tiger as she faced it. The tiger was so large that it would be apt to describe it as a house-sized tiger.

“Y...you want me to enter there?”

Woojin grinned at Haesol's words.

He had captured it easily, but the saber-toothed tiger was level 57.

If Haesol entered the cage, she wouldn't even last three seconds before she was ripped into pieces.

“You want to die already?”

“…….”

“Hey, Sunggoo.”

"Yes, hyung-nim."

"Work it over so it'll be obedient."

"Yes, sir."

Sunngoo bravely jumped over the bars made out of bones.

Haesol's eyes turned round at his decisiveness. Sunggoo was Alandal's second Roused, and he had just reached Rank B a month ago.

He was Kahng-Woojin's man.

“Heh heh. Hello.”

“Koo-roo-roo-rook.”

Sunggoo grinned as he looked at the saber-toothed tiger.

“Kwahhhhhhhng!”

The saber-toothed tiger opened its mouth wide, then let out a roar. It couldn't affect an ogre, but the Fear was deadly enough to freeze small animals.

Haesol's body froze and she felt as if her legs were rooted to the floor. Sunggoo rubbed his ears.

“Well, I'm sorry about this.”

After he gave an apology, Sunggoo ran towards the saber-toothed tiger. The Bone Prison was about 5 meters in radius. There weren't that much space where one could dodge, but the saber-toothed tiger had no intention of dodging.

The saber-toothed tiger lowered its posture and waited for an opportunity to attack Sunggoo.

“Iron Skin.”

Sunggoo activated his Iron Skin to make his entire body hard. Then he started beating on the sabertooth tiger.

Puh-uhk, Puhk!

“Kwahhng.”

Puh-uhk, Puhk! Ggwahng!

Once in awhile, Sunggoo missed with his stomp and his foot would get stuck in the ground. However, this rarely happened. The saber-toothed tiger was too big and there were too many places to hit it.

The saber-toothed tiger's agility was useless.

It wasn't only because it was in a small cage.

Hoooong, puh-uhk, puhk!

Sunggoo recurrently took the Reinforcement Stones, therefore his Stats had already passed the realm of human limitation. He rivaled the saber-toothed tiger... No, he was better than it.

Sunggoo let out flashy strikes with his fists. He was like a professional boxer, attacking in a simple, but effective manner. With a minimum amount of movement, he dodged a swipe by the saber-toothed tiger's claw and continued his ruthless beating.

‘Director Hong was that strong?’

After she sent in her letter of application to the Alandal guild, Che-haesol had researched the guild thoroughly. She knew Director Sunggoo had started out as a Rank F and received a Rank B last month.

In her mind, she knew a Rank B would be somewhat strong. However, there was a world of differences between imagining it and actually seeing it with one's eyes.

Even amongst the Rank B Roused, he would be considered to be in the top tier of the physical-based Roused.

He was such a cheerful guy... She had gathered bloodstones with this young man. Haesol was shocked when she saw this unexpected side of Sunggoo.

She wasn't shocked by Sunggoo's fast movements.

He had on a cheerful face as he moved in a leisurely manner.

The relaxed manner Sunggoo was exhibiting confused Haesol.

When Haesol entered the Bone Prison, the saber-toothed tiger was barely holding on to its life. It had been worked over very thoroughly. It looked as if the saber-toothed tiger was exhausted, and one weak blow might send it to its death.

Haesol put her hand on the sabre-toothed tiger's head as she initiated her Taming Skill.

Pah-pah-paht.

The light gathered in her hand as it encased the saber-toothed tiger and Haesol before it disappeared. Haesol turned to look at Woojin with a dark expression.

“It failed.”

Woojin shrugged his shoulder.

Considering their discrepancy in level, it was quite unlikely that the Taming would succeed.

“Keep doing it until you succeed...”

“…Understood.”

Afterwards, Haesol tried twelve more times, and she failed every single one of them. Her body was soaked with sweat as she plopped down onto the floor.

“I...I don't have any more magic. It's depleted.”

Woojin sent a single soul towards her to fill up her energy.

An unknown energy was absorbed by her body, and she felt her magic fill up. Haesol looked towards Woojin with a confused expression.

“Keep at it...”

“…Yes.”

Haesol continued to use her Taming Skill, and kept failing. Sunggoo couldn't take it anymore, so he tried to give some advice.

“Try wishing for it in earnest as you use your skill. Maybe the universe might give you a helping hand.”

“…….”

Did he really think Taming would work if she did such a thing?

“Hey, Sunggoo. That bastard is eyeing Haesol's neck. Beat him a little bit more.”

“Uh? It recovered a little bit.”

Puh-puh-puhk.

The saber-toothed tiger, who had been on its last breath, had recovered some of its strength as it laid on the ground. It was waiting for an opportunity to attack Haesol, but Sunggoo immediately started beating up the saber-toothed tiger.

“Ggeeeng, ggaeng.”

Woojin gave a single advice to Haesol, who had retreated backwards.

“Don't be too impatient. Considering the level difference, this is a tough task.”

It would have been better if it was a lower rank monster. However, they were in a high rank Dungeon. There were goblins here, but it was harder to Tame a monster living in a tribal society. It was easier to Tame a wild animal like the saber-toothed tiger.

“There are two ways to Tame a monster. You have to feel a sense of closeness, and you have to become its friend. The other method is to dominate the monster into submission. What method do you think you are using right now?”

She watched as Sunggoo ruthlessly beat up the saber-toothed tiger. Haesol spoke in a careful manner.

“Aren’t we trying to dominate the monster?”

“Neither. Are you dominating the monster right now?”

As a Necromancer, Woojin had a Stat named 'Control.' Tamers had a Stat called ‘Intimacy'. This Stat has to be high for the Tamer to have a higher probability of Taming a high rank monster.

Woojin pointed towards Sunggoo, who was beating up the saber-toothed tiger.

“He is the villain.”

“…….”

Woojin pointed his finger towards the saber-toothed tiger that was being beaten.

“That bastard being beaten is your friend.”

“…….”

Woojin grabbed Haesol's shoulder with his hand.

“You want to become friend with that bastard, who is getting beaten.”

Woojin and Haesol looked at each other's face.

“What should you do?”

“I...I should stop it?”

“No. You have to protect him from the villain. ”

“…….”

What kind of situation was this? Did he expect her to perform in a skit?

“So you want me to act….”

“No. You have to act as if you mean it. You are protecting the cat from the villainous director of miscellaneous work. Go fight him. Defeat the villain.”

“…….”

Woojin yelled towards Sunggoo.

“Did you hear what I said?”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

“Just put on an adequate acting performance.”

“Yes!”

Woojin patted Haesol's back.

“Go save it. Then become friends with it."

“…yes.”

Sunggo yelled out when Haesol ran in.

“Ooh-heh heh. A person like you can't block me.”

It seemed Sunggoo watched some anime. Haesol wondered if she should say something back for the benefit of the saber-toothed tiger. However, Sunggoo's fist flew in towards her.

Haesol, unconsciously, brought her guard up to block the blow.

Puhk!

‘Uh?’

Sunggoo swung his fist in a slow motion, but the impact on her arm bones weren't light.

“Huh-ook!”

The pain was focused into a single moment, and she couldn't even scream. She let out a gasp. She spoke as she felt the pain coming from her fractured bones.

“D...director Hong. Y...you broke my arm.”

“Ooh-heh heh. You are so weak.”

“…D..director Hong.”

He was still laughing in a cheerful manner as he let out a kick. Haesol felt true fear when she saw the kick coming. She rolled on the ground to avoid the blow, feeling that her life was being threatened.

“You should quickly attack him, then try using Taming again.”

At Woojin's voice, Haesol approached Sunggoo and punched him in the chest. Sunggoo could have easily avoided it, but he flew backward from the blow… he jumped backwards.

Kwah-jeek!

Sunggoo flew backwards as he broke through the Bone bars. Sunggoo fell to the ground and he writhed on the ground.

“…….”

She knew she hadn't done it, but she still looked between her fist, and at Sunggoo who had been blown away.

“Hurry up and Tame it.”

“Yes, sir.”

Could such a dumb acting job be effective? Haesol turned back to looked at the saber-toothed tiger. It was beaten so badly that it could barely roll its eyes to look at her.

The eyes were filled with tears.

She could feel it even before she started taming it.

‘I...it's deeply moved by my gesture?’

Haesol approached the saber-toothed tiger, and she put her hand over its head. Light burst from her hand and a pillar of light surround both of them as the light made a strong connection between them.

“Koo-roong.”

The saber-toothed tiger let out a purr of pleasure, and its feelings were transferred directly to Haesol.

‘It was deeply moved. It was thankful. It wanted to repay her.’

It had been captured and beaten by the humans. It felt grateful towards the human who had stood up to the other humans to save him.

“You earned one guardian.”

Wooji grinned as he took out a soul stored in the Soul Armor. He immediately healed Haesol's broken arm and the saber-toothed tiger.

“Koo-roo-roo-rook.”

The recovered saber-toothed tiger showed its teeth towards Woojin and Sunggoo. However, it did not show any hostility towards Haesol, who had been by his side.

“That bastard should be enough to protect you from threats.”

“Thank you.”

“All right. Follow me as you excavate the bloodstones.”

“…Yes.”

“Also, train the Skills you learned today.”

“Yes, sir.”

Woojin worked Haesol hard to complete the Taming of the saber-toothed tiger, because he wanted to freely use Sunggoo. If Sunggoo was left behind as Haesol's bodyguard, he could excavate the bloodstones but their overall efficiency would suffer.

“Heh heh. How was my acting skills, hyung-nim?”

“You could win the award for best actor.”

“Ooh-heh heh heh.”

Even at Woojin's faint praise, Sunggoo was very much pleased.

Haesol shook her head from side to side. She looked at Sunggoo as she exaggerated her hardship.

“Hoo. Director Hong was quite scary before.”

“Heh heh. I hit you softly, since I was afraid you would die.”

“…….”

Maybe Director Hong was more dangerous than the president.

Sunggoo hadn't had a big presence inside Haesol's head. She didn't think too much of him. However, she quickly upgraded Sunggoo as a main player inside her head.

There were two other Roused in Alandal excluding her. She couldn't even fathom the level of power possessed by the first Roused. The other one was also quite excellent.

“Even in the Roused Division, it is rare to see a physical Roused of your caliber. Soon, you'll be able to receive your Rank A."

Sunggoo frowned at the compliment given by Haesol.

“But I'm a Mage?”

“…….”

What kind of a strange guild was this?