Infinite Evolution Hunter [NOVEL] - chapter 20
Keen Senses warned me to avoid Nayoung’s curse, but I stayed where I was and took the Blind.
In an instant, it went pitch-black like a blackout curtain had been pulled over my eyes, and my skin felt numb as if anesthetized. Even sound and smell were only a fraction of what they normally were. This much was already being dulled thanks to Iron Will; any other hunter would have all five senses stripped away and be unable to perceive anything.
It’s even more powerful than I thought. In my previous life, she used this to blind people and then strike with offensive skills, but right now she doesn’t have any truly potent attack skills and her mana pool isn’t large, so it looks like solo hunting isn’t possible.
I tried to focus my remaining senses as much as possible to read my surroundings, but it wasn’t easy.
“Nayoung, fire a Mana Ball at me.”
I spoke, looking at the faint silhouette of Nayoung.
Maybe because most of my senses were cut off, I could tell she was saying something, but it was so faint I couldn’t understand.
“I can’t hear you. Just shoot.”
When I asked again, Nayoung dispelled the Blind.
“Even if my Mana Ball is only E-rank, if it hits you, you’ll be seriously hurt.”
She looked worried and like she couldn’t understand why I’d do something like this.
“Don’t worry. You remember the contract terms. You have to do as I instruct. Please.”
“Okay.”
When I invoked the contract, she relented and cast Blind. A moment later, my sixth sense sent up a warning and I shifted slightly, but I reacted late and the Mana Ball grazed my leg. I thought I was facing her, but I must have turned without realizing it—the blast caught the side of my leg.
“Are you okay?!”
Bae Nayoung dispelled the Blind and rushed over, startled.
“I’m fine. See? Not a scratch.”
I stuck out my leg. The cheap protective pants were slightly torn, but the skin underneath was unharmed.
“You said your body was tough, but I didn’t know it was this tough. And that was still an E-rank skill.”
She peered close at my leg.
“Don’t stop now—keep firing until your mana runs dry.”
People like Sangheon and Nayoung are a bit too nice, which can be inconvenient.
She cast Blind. A moment later, I felt a Mana Ball coming via my sixth sense and tried to dodge, but failed and took it in the abdomen. I thought I’d adapted to fighting blind thanks to training with Sangheon, but with hearing and touch also suppressed, having to rely solely on intuition made it much harder.
And when your senses are stolen, the mental stress from combat skyrockets.
I concentrated to dodge the shots that came in succession, but I avoided only a few cleanly. If I ran around at random, it would be hard for Nayoung to hit me, but that wouldn’t help my practice. I always tried to evade at the very last instant.
Suddenly Keen Senses blasted a strong warning, but mental fatigue from the curse made me lose focus for a moment.
My reaction was slow, and I took a Mana Ball straight to the face.
[The skill level of Iron Will has risen from E to D.]
As my head snapped back, the skill leveled up.
“Kyaaah! Are you okay? Oh no!”
The Blind dropped and Nayoung ran to me.
Unable to hide my joy at the skill-up, I couldn’t help but smile.
“Eek!”
She froze when she saw me grinning with a nosebleed.
“Are… are you okay?”
“Very. Let’s continue. You still have mana left, right?”
“Y-yes.”
Shoulders slumped, she returned to her spot.
“A new kind of perv? Well… it’s for Mom. I can put up with this.”
She muttered to herself, but I heard it clearly. Perv? This is training.
“Blind!”
When her Blind washed over me this time, it felt different. My senses dulled, but it wasn’t completely pitch-black like before, and if I focused I could pick up some hearing and touch.
I could read incoming Mana Balls better than before the skill-up, and the mental load from the curse was lighter. The first few still grazed me, but soon I got used to it and was able to dodge every Mana Ball.
“Unbelievable… how are you doing that?”
“Told you—I adapt. Training’s sufficient now. I’ve got the feel. Next, let’s hunt monsters while you use Blind.”
An orc gate is no real threat now, and of course it’s easier to fight without Blind. This is practice for going into a D-rank gate together.
After we found a pack of orcs, I approached without attacking. If I wiped them alone, it wouldn’t be training.
The orcs charged when they spotted us.
“Blind!”
When they entered the area of effect, Nayoung’s Blind spread, and the orcs froze or toppled over. I was getting used to this sensation, but for them the loss of their senses triggered such panic and fear that they all just stopped moving.
The effect is massive. As expected from a B-rank skill.
If we had a party member who could attack now, that’d be ideal, but melee classes would be inside the curse radius too. You could attack from range outside the field, but with Nayoung at the center she’d be unprotected against blind flailing from the monsters.
Sure, you could come up with solutions if you tried, but people seem to recoil at the class “witch” and the skill “curse” itself; apparently no one has ever brainstormed with her.
I moved around tripping orcs, shoving them, and punching them in the face. They flailed and tried to strike back, but their aim was all over the place and some couldn’t even keep their balance.
Of course, that works because orcs are E-rank—higher-tier monsters have greater resistance to curses. This “total blackout” effect probably only holds up to about D-rank.
When I judged we’d tested enough, I started the cleanup.
I finished them one by one with single blows while they were defenseless. When all were down, Nayoung lifted the Blind. After having most of my senses suppressed and then getting them back at once, I felt light, like I’d just taken off ankle weights.
We kept clearing quickly while she used Blind. It’s faster without it, but building resistance to curses and getting her levels up mattered, so I had her use it on purpose.
The pace was fast, and we cleared the gate in no time.
“Still feeling okay? Think you can handle D-rank too?”
“Yes. I can do it.”
Now that her skill was finally helping, it looked like her rock-bottom self-esteem had recovered a little.
We called President Yang for retrieval and moved to a D-rank ogre gate.
“Ogre gate… are you sure we’re okay?”
At the mouth of the D-rank gate, Nayoung gripped her wand tight, nervous. I had shown my combat ability, but for an F-rank hunter to go one tier up with only me must be nerve-wracking. Understandable.
“It’s fine. Let’s go.”
I reassured her and stepped in. It wasn’t baseless confidence. I’d wrung everything I could out of countless E-rank orc gates. There was nothing left to gain there. Between special training with Sangheon and practice with Nayoung, I’d prepared everything I could.
—
Name: Lee Ji-seok Class: Unemployed Level: 15 Strength 49, Stamina 43, Agility 37, Intelligence 20, Vitality 390, Mana 158 Skills: Regeneration D, Hardened Body D, Iron Will D, Poison Resistance E, Keen Senses B
I checked my status before entry, and just looking at it made me smile.
Ogres often overestimate their strength and act alone. Not long after we entered, we found one roaming solo.
“Nayoung, it’s only one—don’t get tense. Do it like before.”
She nodded and cast Blind; darkness spread, and the ogre flinched, glancing around and rubbing its eyes.
With my senses partially suppressed, pinpointing it wasn’t hard thanks to Iron Will raised in the orc gate and my adaptation.
I stepped in and punched. With the thing standing three meters tall, my straight shot landed in its gut.
It staggered, but that was all. Its hide is thick, and the species is sturdy—definitely a cut above orcs. No wonder it’s D-rank.
The moment it was hit, it started swinging its club wildly. “Club” is generous—it was like a whole tree chopped and whittled, comically huge.
I tried to back out to avoid the random swings, but my heel caught on something and I lost balance. Without the curse, it’s a mistake I wouldn’t have made.
As I stumbled, the club came down; it smashed into the arm I’d raised to guard.
I caught the diagonal smash on my forearm and braced with strength.
Having found my position, the ogre whipped its club even more furiously.
I planted my legs and faced it head-on. My weight had gone up a lot recently, and my lower body felt rooted to the ground.
My bones and muscles creaked as my body began to grow. It was the D-rank Regeneration ability I’d gained during the hellhound hunt.
I’d managed about forty centimeters against the hellhound. With my level up since then and a bit more stored energy today, I grew roughly fifty centimeters. Muscle mass rose with it, and so did strength. But in this state, stamina and agility drop instead.
I countered while taking the club blows. At this close distance, the club lost leverage, while my strikes went in clean.
The ogre kept taking hits and backing up, and I doggedly pressed its torso.
It dropped the club and tried to grab me as I crowded in.
Before it could catch me, I drew my fist back, twisted my body, gathered force, and let fly with everything I had.
The ogre’s body ruptured and flew back.
Nayoung dispelled the curse and approached.
“Are you… okay? Your height?”
She hadn’t noticed from farther away; up close, she asked.
“It’s one of my skills. I can make my body bigger.”
“A gigantification skill?”
“Something like that.”
I can morph and reinforce my body in multiple ways, so it’s more versatile than simple growth. Still, it’s limited to simple imagery—changing a face or other complex shapes isn’t possible, which is a pity.
“You really have so many skills. Amazing… A D-rank hunter taking down an ogre alone.”
“Your curse made it easy.”
Beating a blinded, panicked target is obviously simpler. Otherwise I’d have burned more energy and time trading blows.
“But at that level, couldn’t you just do it solo?”
“Sure, but building curse resistance and speeding up the hunt benefits me. And your skills and level go up too—win-win-win.”
“In that case, I’m relieved.”
“Shall we find another?”
We started walking to hunt the next ogre.