<Chapter 28. Kratia's Quest - 5>

Normally, there was a limit to how much a dungeon could hold. If no one were to visit the facility after such a long time, then it was obvious that the number of monsters within the dungeon would multiply as a result of them breeding or the dungeon forming new monsters, but when they reach their limit, the creation of monsters slows down or completely stops.

[Kuwaaaaaahk!]

"Tch, there's no end to them... Heup!"

[Critical Hit!]

But because the Royal Magician Leader had tied several dungeons together and broadened his magic, he had caused the facility to overcome that limitation.

Of course, he probably didn't intend for the dungeon to spawn an infinite amount of monsters. He had only created this facility to cultivate the skills of the Royal Magicians. However, none of them had come looking for the facility, and even the Royal Magician Leader himself hadn't visited; plus, several years had passed, so as a result, it had become something like an infinite monster spawner.

There were supposed to be 666 monsters in the nineteenth training facility, yet there were at least 60,000 of them.

"Hoooo... Huaaaap!"

[Critical Hit!]

Lee Shin Woo overlapped both his Breath of the Lightning Gods and swung downwards. The mana following through his blades transformed into a streak of lightning and exploded, eradicating the monsters in the whole area. In an instant, a section of the monsters was annihilated and the ground unearthed. Seeing that, Prince trembled.

"How is he... Is he a magician!?"

"Shin Woo's a better magician than you."

"Hey, stop chatting and kill monsters!"

One of Bursting Thunder's large-scale techniques: Lightningbolt. This high rank skill caused a large amount of lightning element mana to be discharged through a particular method, and the atmospheric mana would be gathered, creating a single lightningbolt, which would then be dropped from the sky.

Since it was a technique that could only be used with a specific method in a specific situation, it was very much inferior to Kratia's Catalyst Magic, which would unconditionally transform mana into ice. However, in terms of destructive power alone, it didn't lose out.

[Kihi, Kihaaaa...]

"Nice. Now I can finally see what's in front of me."

Lee Shin Woo had poked a hole through a section of the monsters, flashed a relaxed smile at the hesitating group of monsters, and straightened out his posture. He had refrained from using a technique that consumed so much mana before, but it was a bit of a different story when mana was pouring into him from every direction.

[Kyahaaaaaaaaahk!]

"Oh no you don't!"

[Kugugugugugagagahk!]

Even now, he was using more than 50% of his mana, but whenever the monsters died, they would release a ton of mana, which would then be instantly drawn into his body, compensating for more than half of his lost mana.

He seized that opportunity and pushed in with his two blades, using the lightning they created to cut through the monsters in the area in a single stroke. If he were training his mana, then he could say that this was the best training ever!

'The flow of the rushing mana is... I can feel it clearly. There's so much mana that I feel dizzy. But if I can control it completely, then...!'

All of his bones would absorb close to their limit in mana at each and every moment, and then he would discharge it, followed by absorbing that quantity of mana again.

It was like he was breathing through his bones; his bones needed to breathe in and out as much as they could. If his bones were lungs, then they would've either stopped functioning or exploded.

"One more time... Lightningbolt!"

[Critical Hit!]

However, he wasn't tired nor did he retreat. His body, which had been reinforced through Rule of Bone, would never break. Rather, his body seemed like it wanted more mana, as it breathed in even stronger than before, and absorbed more mana than his previous limitation, turning that mana into his own.

At that moment, his skill had surpassed its limitation and grew.

[The Intermediate Mana Bone skill has become Lv10 and has evolved into the high rank level! Magic has increased by 200! You can proficiently control mana with just your mind, and can now more easily manipulate the surrounding mana. You can now react more perfectly to any type of attack that involves mana.]

[The Rule of Bone skill has become Lv9. All stats have increased by 5. You can now strengthen your bones even further while using less mana.]

As expected, a comprehensive, high rank mana skill was different from any normal skill. Originally, Lee Shin Woo's magic was 2,025, so with the Mana Bone's level up to the high rank, his magic had increased by 10%. Moreover, the effectiveness of the skill had increased as well, so that 10% wasn't really just 10%.

He could release mana and absorb mana quicker than before. Since everything he did was related to mana, with just that rank up, his fighting strength increased. Moreover, Rule of Bone had leveled up as well, so the weight behind each and every blow would be even heavier!

[Critical Hit!]

[Critical Hit!]

Lee Shin Woo was like a thunderstorm, as he rushed in with two blades in hand, and cut the monsters to pieces.

"Hey, he got stronger all of a sudden!"

"I can't lose!"

Prince stirred as she saw what Lee Shin Woo was doing on the battlefield, and Kratia's eyes likewise lit up, as she cast more spells. They were losing to Lee Shin Woo in magic, even though they possessed karmas that specialized in only magic, so how could their pride not be hurt!?

"Eek, I can't lose to a newbie...!"

"Clear, clear..."

Though Prince had been daunted at her failure at the beginning, she shook it off, and sucked in the ambient mana; she concentrated on casting her most powerful spell as quickly as possible. She had to surpass her limitations in this pressing situation!

"Fire Demon - Explosion! All of you, burn! Fire Demon's kick!"

"Clear, clear, clear..."

On the other end, Kratia focused on more quickly disarming the traps within her absolute defense shield. According to her, this definitely wasn't the last of the facilities. There were a few more facilities filled with more powerful monsters and more vicious traps.

'We can't go on by just killing the monsters, and if we were to fail, even after killing this many monsters, I'm afraid of all the new variables that'll come from challenging it again.'

If that's the case, then her job wasn't to kill as many monsters as possible or find the traps set up here but to find the traps that were deeper in, so that she could disarm them immediately. After all, that was the purpose of this training exercise!

She'd already accomplished several feats by doing so and had even reached level 7, so she thought she could do this.

"Clear, clear... Shin Woo, there aren't that many traps left!"

"Then, I guess I just need to slaughter the rest of these guys!"

Lee Shin Woo took a deep breath. It wasn't like any oxygen would go into his lungs, but he was able to prepare himself for another large-scale attack.

'Heuuuuuup!'

Lee Shin Woo split the plentiful mana in his body into two: one part went into Lightning Sprint, and the other... went into Lightning Shadow, a technique he'd never actually used before. It was the general, Hansen Von Dorthe's namesake, and was a technique that processed mana into a unique state: a buff that strengthened the body!

Because Hansen Von Dorthe wasn't able to completely transform his body into lightning, the lightning damaged himself as well, but to Lee Shin Woo, who could freely change his interior mana, that didn't apply to him. At the very least, Lee Shin Woo far surpassed Hansen Von Dorthe in terms of mana control.

'As expected, the mana consumption is huge, but... there's nowhere else that I can practice the combination of Lightning Sprint and Lightning Shadow but here, where mana is just pouring in!'

Lightning Sprint, which coated the exterior in lightning.

Lightning Shadow, which altered his interior into lightning element mana.

If he combined the two into one, then what would be the result? It made his heart pound.

'Keuk, Kuhaaaa...!'

But combining the two skills together? He could barely breathe just from using both of the skills simultaneously. If Mana Bone hadn't leveled up to the high rank level, then he wouldn't have been able to even attempt this.

But even amidst the pain that felt like his body was breaking apart, Lee Shin Woo grit his teeth and kept his eyes wide open. A large number of sparks were emitted from his body, making it difficult to even see what was in front of him. The powerful lightning that flowed from inside and outside his body antagonized him and viciously bared its teeth at him.

It felt like that powerful energy would only be satisfied if either he or his enemies were destroyed.

'If that's the case, then...!'

The moment Lee Shin Woo's two blades became lightning teeth and shined, the lightning exploded. The earth exploded, and the sky cried out. The monsters' bodies scattered and vaporized into beads of blood.

[The Lightning Shadow skill has become Lv2. Strength and Magic have increased by 10. You can now more naturally control the lightning permeating your body.]

No one could see his skill. They would've either been swept up in it and exploded, or been cut apart by it and blown away.

He had gathered the surrounding mana and made it his own, and in the next moment, discharged the lightning, so it was much greater than Kratia's own Catalyst Magic.

"What is he... He's scary..."

"Clear, clear... Clear."

Prince, who had been gathering magic to cast her spell, stopped in shock. Contrary to her, Kratia remained calm and continued to disarm the magic traps. However, at some point, she stopped. She had finally disarmed all the magic traps.

'But the fact that the alarm's not ringing means that we really do have to kill all of the monsters.'

However, there weren't even that many monsters left. It would've been impossible if Kratia had come alone, even if she had a hundred years. Since new monsters would be created while she disarmed the magic traps and killed the monsters!

'Shin Woo didn't realize just how powerful he was, huh.'

Lee Shin Woo looked like an extremely impressive warrior while fighting against the monsters, but Kratia saw him more as a magician than a warrior.

Despite the fact that he was plenty skilled enough, he would stake his life in anything he did and fight against enemies where victory wasn't assured, so he would always prepare alternative methods to beat his enemies. Even if he was a good match, he would take a step back and calmly assess the situation and then respond.

However, that wasn't because of fear. It was so that he could completely overwhelm his opponent. Because of that, he had underestimated his own abilities. But honestly, his abilities were amazing, so could it even be said that he had a weakness? Kratia just shook her head.

[Kuha, Gaaaaaahk...]

"The end."

While Kratia was briefly caught up in her thoughts, Lee Shin Woo's blade pierced through the last monster's head. At that moment, Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint were released, and he felt drained, but at the same time, he was filled with joy. He hadn't succeeded the first time, but he had found a clue on how to combine Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint.

[Training exercise passed. Congratulations. You may now head into the next facility.]

Did it even know how difficult the training was? The appearance of the small world was hidden at the same time they heard the monotone voice.

They could now progress to the next training facility.