Chapter 55 – Dragon (2)
by Heavenly CatMonsters were struggling and falling down beside Sun-woo who was shooting upward, and a long-eared woman was also following behind them with her eyes closed.
In an instant, the distance between Sun-woo and the woman narrowed, and Sun-woo leaped from the rising earth pillar toward the woman.
Jumping diagonally upward, he succeeded in catching the woman, and then fell downward together with her.
The height at which he caught the woman was nearly 20 meters. Sun-woo embraced the woman with one arm while fully activating <Body Enhancement> and thrust his hand toward the air.
Bang!
A sound of air bursting came from Sun-woo’s hand, then internal energy poured out from his hand.
It was a kind of energy blast released with peak-level internal energy. Though it was an energy blast scattered into the air without a target, instead Sun-woo’s body was pushed by the energy blast and moved in the opposite direction.
And shortly after,
Thud!
With a loud sound, Sun-woo and the woman crashed to the ground.
Daniel hurriedly ran to where Sun-woo had crashed, and Sun-woo groaned while holding the woman.
Despite the crash, Sun-woo and the woman didn’t seem to have any major problems.
There was the fact that Sun-woo had acted as a cushion under the woman with his <Body Enhancement>-strengthened body, but it was more thanks to the monster that had become a burst balloon crushed under the two.
Fortunately, Sun-woo’s energy blast had pushed the two so they could fall onto the monster Sun-woo had aimed for.
After confirming the woman was safe, Daniel carried her into the cave.
Sun-woo, left behind, could only give a somewhat hollow laugh. Because Daniel’s appearance was different from usual.
“So she wasn’t just a colleague.”
Sun-woo looked at his clothes that had been dirtied once again with monster blood and clicked his tongue. The outer garment that had become rags and he had barely been wearing was now even harder to continue wearing.
After the woman fell, there were no more monsters crashing down, and the fallen monsters, including the one Sun-woo had crushed, had all died from the impact of hitting the ground.
Sun-woo checked the surroundings with sorcery, then threw several stones at the cave entrance before going inside. After he entered, the thrown stones gradually grew larger and soon blocked the cave entrance. It was Sun-woo’s <Illusion Arts>.
Inside the cave, Daniel was caring for the woman who was lying on the ground. The woman still seemed unable to regain consciousness.
Sun-woo approached and examined the woman’s appearance.
She wore leather armor and had distinct features, bleached-looking blonde hair, and skin that looked somewhat pale and white. She was truly a remarkable beauty.
Her two perked-up ears clearly indicated she had elven blood, but her other features didn’t look very different from humans.
The dead elves he had seen recently and the elves Daniel had told him about had felt very different from humans, but this elf was definitely a half-elf mixed with human and elf.
“Her body seems fine, but why can’t she regain consciousness? Was the shock severe?”
Daniel, who was examining the half-elf, spoke with a worried tone.
“She probably didn’t receive that much shock… May I take a look?”
At Sun-woo’s suspicious-sounding words, Daniel nodded, and Sun-woo sat down next to Daniel and placed his finger on the half-elf’s arm.
Energy flowed from Sun-woo’s finger into the half-elf’s body.
“It seems her energy, or should I call it mana here? Anyway, that energy seems almost completely depleted. The pathways where energy passes are completely empty.”
Even before placing his finger, Sun-woo’s eyes had faintly seen the sleeping half-elf’s mana.
When Sun-woo reached peak level, he could somewhat see the flow of energy in martial artists of equal or lower level. This was probably similar to how Chang-jeol, who was a transcendent master, had grasped Sun-woo’s martial arts.
However, perhaps because he was an energy user, he couldn’t properly understand other energies, especially energies like the mana Daniel used.
But after gaining the skill just yesterday, he became able to understand Daniel’s energy. The <Body Enhancement> skill seemed to have allowed him to understand not only the flow of energy but also the flow of mana.
“Ah, mana depletion. That’s fortunate.”
Daniel sighed in relief at Sun-woo’s words. The half-elf had simply exhausted herself by using mana to her limits.
Daniel, who had become relaxed, sat next to the half-elf and stroked her hair. At Daniel’s expression, Sun-woo couldn’t help but ask.
“It seems you were quite close…”
At Sun-woo’s words, Daniel’s expression darkened slightly.
“Well, it’s true that I liked her, but it was unrequited love. Since she has half elven blood anyway. For her, I was probably just a colleague.”
But Daniel’s darkened expression became gentle again.
“Still, I’m grateful to be able to see her again.”
Daniel continued to gaze wistfully at the exhausted half-elf.
***
The half-elf woman woke up after half a day had passed.
In the meantime, monsters that had smelled the crashed monsters had feasted in front of the cave, but fortunately Sun-woo’s <Illusion Arts> didn’t break, so inside the cave was safe.
When she first opened her eyes, the woman looked at Daniel who appeared before her eyes and blinked several times. Then a smile bloomed across her entire face.
“Little Daniel!”
She immediately got up and hugged Daniel, and Daniel also smiled gently and embraced her back.
After the embrace time passed like that for a moment, the woman smiled calmly and this time looked at Sun-woo.
“You must be Daniel’s companion.”
“My name is Min Sun-woo.”
“Min. Sun. Woo. That’s an interesting name. I’m called Isabel.”
After greeting Sun-woo, she gave thanks to both of them.
“Thank you for saving my life.”
At her appearance, Daniel smiled and Sun-woo felt somewhat bewildered. It felt like the story was progressing without intermediate processes.
He could now understand the story about her being a wise woman that had been mentioned before she woke up.
‘Rather than wisdom, it feels like talking to those called geniuses…’
Her ability to immediately grasp situations and draw conclusions definitely didn’t seem like an ordinary human.
“But ‘little Daniel’?”
At Sun-woo’s question, Daniel gave a bitter smile and scratched his head.
“It’s already been over 10 years since we met… When we first met, I wasn’t yet twenty.”
“Ah, I see. I shouldn’t call you little anymore. Should I call you Sir Daniel?”
“Just calling me Daniel is fine.”
For Sun-woo, it wasn’t easy to follow the conversation.
“Isabel is a half-elf. She can’t compare to elves who live hundreds of years, but she’s still lived quite a long time.”
“You shouldn’t talk about a woman’s age in front of her.”
“Ah, I’m sorry. But Isabel hasn’t changed at all from before.”
Though he could feel experience in her way of speaking, to Sun-woo’s eyes too, Isabel looked like she was in her early twenties, or if she didn’t speak, she could even be seen as late teens.
Only then did Sun-woo understand why Daniel had said it was unrequited love.
‘Daniel was into older sister types.’
A girl-like face with older sister-like warmth – a passionate boy in his late teens from ten years ago couldn’t help but fall in love.
After the introductions ended, Sun-woo asked a question. Daniel was still grinning while looking at her.
“I was surprised when you fell from the cliff with monsters. Could you tell us what happened?”
“Ah, right. I’m curious too. Have you been staying in this mountain range continuously since we parted?”
When Sun-woo asked his question, Daniel finally became serious and followed up with his own question. It seemed it would take time for Daniel to come to his senses.
“Hmm, how should I explain this well.”
At their questions, she tilted her head for a moment then began her story.
“Even after parting with Daniel and other companions, I continued traveling. I went to distant desert kingdoms, and to cold places in the north and seas in the south…”
Memories seemed to faintly pass across her face as she spoke.
“But recently I heard strange things were happening in my hometown, this eastern mountain range, so I rushed here.”
After avoiding human villages and entering the mountain range, she encountered monsters that had become ferocious.
“Even among monsters, there were many species that wouldn’t fight if you didn’t invade their territory, but they had all changed strangely.”
After confirming the situation, she tried to go to where a friend who had told her the news lived.
The friend lived in the center of the mountain range, so she had to pass through many monster territories, but for her who had lived in this mountain range for many years, it wasn’t difficult.
But the situation changed when she entered the center of the mountain range. Monsters controlled by the dragon, guardians, blocked her path.
“I was somewhat confident in martial arts and magic, but guardians are too much. I ran desperately and was cornered at a cliff edge, so I used large-scale magic and crashed together with them.”
She calmly told the story of what happened on the cliff.
“It was too dangerous. If it hadn’t been for Sun-woo here, your life would have been in danger.”
“There weren’t many other options. I thought if I was lucky and fell on other monsters, I might not die, so I took the risk. Thanks to that, I saved my life and met Daniel, so it was a good decision.”
While speaking, she smiled at Sun-woo once more. It seemed to be a sign of gratitude, but Sun-woo was somewhat shocked.
‘Terrifyingly charming.’
“So what will you do now?”
“I have to go look again. Since the guardians have also become strange and are wandering around everywhere, I’ll have to find a way to avoid them.”
It seemed she had no intention of giving up on finding her friend.
“I’ll go with you too. Unlike before, this time I’ll be properly helpful.”
Daniel pounded his chest and shouted bravely, but his appearance in underwear with a breastplate didn’t look very impressive.
Sun-woo inwardly sighed at Daniel’s words. He wanted to quickly escape the mountain range, but it wasn’t easy to get out alone.
Moreover, Daniel’s appearance of looking at Sun-woo with sparkling eyes after finishing his words was putting even more pressure on him.
“Ah, the shortcut to escape the mountain range is in the direction I’m going. If we go together, we can escape the mountain range much faster.”
Sun-woo couldn’t help but break out in cold sweat. She was definitely no ordinary opponent.
“Then let’s depart! With Isabel guiding and Sun-woo going together, we’ll be able to reach our destination without difficulty.”
At Isabel’s words, Daniel made Sun-woo’s participation a foregone conclusion, and Sun-woo could only sigh softly.
‘He became a passionate fool after meeting his first love.’
Anyway, Isabel the half-elf became a new party member, and they were to set off on their journey with Isabel’s guidance.
“But where is our destination?”
Shortly after, while walking beside the cliff, Sun-woo asked, and
“Zigmund Valley in the eastern mountain range.”
“What?”
At her words, Daniel’s steps stopped abruptly.
“That’s the valley where the dragon’s nest is. Don’t tell me the friend you mentioned is…”
At Daniel’s question, Isabel smiled brightly.
“Yes, the dragon of the eastern mountain range. Zigmund.”
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