Stop, Friendly Fire!

<Chapter 28. Kratia's Quest - 6>

It had been a week since Lee Shin Woo's group had entered the magic training facility. They rested in between and were somehow able to clear the twentieth facility. They rested for almost an entire day and after they were completely ready, they entered the twenty-first facility and were struggling.

Lee Shin Woo thought this facility was the equivalent of 10 high level dungeons, but he didn't make the judgment solely based on the number of monsters.

"Kratia, they're spawning behind you!"

"Keuk, what level magic did they plant here...!?"

"All of you come out since I'll burn you all! Fire Demon's eyes!"

He said this several time before, but each facility was going in a different direction than what the producer had intended. It wasn't just the quantity of monsters; it also took into account the reinforcement magic that was set up, as well as the magic traps.

A few subspaces were overlapping, which caused the size of the facility to increase, and in the process of that expansion, the magic traps intensified due to the quantity of mana. What's worse, in the process of expanding, the spawn locations became much worse for them.

[Activating reinforcement magic. Activating reinforcement magic.]

[Kuhaahk!]

"Ah, wait a sec. Is that..."

"This is crazy... Kratia, get back. I said get back!"

Moreover, the reinforcement magic was supposed to activate only if they failed in disarming the magic traps, but because the magic traps had changed, they activated on their own without them even touching them and continuously reinforced the monsters.

And if a few chances stacked up, then something would appear that they couldn't be happy about.

[Lv7 Metal Ape Chimera]

Like a level 7 elite monster suddenly appearing when there should only be level 6 monsters residing within this facility.

[Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

"Ah, crap. What the hell is that!? What the hell is a chimera?"

"If you go that way, you'll really die, Senior! Wait no, the right side. Kratia, disarm that trap over there!"

"I'm doing it... Clear!"

There was an art technique known as decalcomania. One would paint on the surface of a material that wouldn't absorb the pigment, and then it would either be folded in half, or one would get a new piece of paper and cover it; either way, the original art would be transferred intact.

"Clear! Shin Woo!"

"Get back for now. I'll take it on, so get back!"

[Kuhwaaaaaaahk!]

Right now, the space was expanding and was repeatedly combining. Soon, rule and order was lost, and everything was mixed up; at the end of this chaos, everything was completely recreated. That Chimera, which was created from countless monsters overlapping in the same space, was the result of this chaos as well. If the Royal Magician Leader, Feotane Von Seldin's goal was to kill everyone inside, then he did a great job.

[Kiiiiiiiiiiiii!]

"T-There's no way we can beat it. How can we beat a level 7 elite? We'll die. There's no choice but to die."

"Senior, please take care of the weak mobs. I'll take care of it."

"You're level 6!"

Prince had fought bravely against the normal level 6 monsters without stopping, but once the elite level 7 monster, the Metal Ape Chimera appeared, she completely lost her will to fight.

However, Lee Shin Woo dual wielded the Breath of the Lightning Gods and grinned at her.

"You know that I'm no normal level 6."

"Keut..."

It was frustrating, but Prince had to nod at that.

Just conquering this facility should be considered karma due to the hardships they had to endure, and with her repeated, desperate struggles, Prince's skills had grown tremendously. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she'd become a different person.

It was the same for Kratia as well. Her magic control became more exquisite day by day, and her Catalyst Magic, which changed the mana around her through her orb, took a major step forward. Above all, her maximum capacity of magic had definitely increased.

'However...'

But whenever her affable and meek junior entered the battlefield, he would sweep through his enemies like a typhoon... Lee Shin Woo was beyond her understanding.

He had said that God had given him the ability to wrap powerful lightning around his body, so that was fine. Lee Shin Woo was also a warrior who could gather a ton of mana, which could also be explained away by his trip to God's garden, so she could somewhat understand that.

But when she put all that together and looked at her own growth, she could say that the biggest problem was that Lee Shin Woo far surpassed both her and Kratia. After they had rested and gone through the twentieth facility, she had passed it off as a high rank skill, but now she was sure.

Whenever he went through a facility, he got a lot stronger!

'He's definitely gotten faster than when he was in the twentieth facility. He's definitely gotten stronger too, and his magic has increased as well. So much so that even a person that isn't proficient in close combat like me can tell...'

His growth rate was much faster than hers. How was that even possible? Did he buy a pile of medicine from the secret shop and take it all?

No, they were splitting the Perium equally between the three of them, so she was well aware that he couldn't come up with that much Perium. He'd probably leveled up his skills only once or twice, and their achievements should've been relatively the same. Then how!?

'Of course, stat growth differs between individuals. Differences do exist. However! Even so, it's still too fast! It's way too fast!'

How about Lloyd? He was a level 6 warrior that was on the cusp of being level 7. He was tough, and with a buff, he would be able to take on monsters without retreating; it made him feel like a truly reliable iron wall.

She felt a sense of ease whenever Lloyd would stand in front of her and protect her, and it made her feel like she wanted to stay like that forever.

But right now, she didn't even really remember what his abilities were like. Instead, her memories were replaced by a storm, a lightning storm that disintegrated everything in its path.

'Keuk, no way. If he and Lloyd were to fight one on one, Lloyd wouldn't lose. He definitely wouldn't!'

She arduously muttered, even though she wasn't really sure of her own words. Plus, even if Lloyd could beat Lee Shin Woo right now, Lee Shin Woo would definitely become stronger than him soon with his monstrous growth rate.

"Kratia, can you use that debuff you used last time?"

"It'll be a bit weaker than last time. ...But you're a lot stronger than last time, Shin Woo."

"And our opponents are a lot weaker than last time, too."

"Hueut."

While Prince was half panicking, Lee Shin Woo and Kratia exchanged a few words, smiled, and turned around towards their enemy. Through the past week, he had continuously used these two skills and now that he knew they were compatible with each other, he instantly clad his body in both Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint.

[Kuwooooooooh!]

The Metal Ape Chimera was a level 7 elite that possessed a truly horrific form, as it was composed of different monsters, and it gained herculean strength, size, and armor once it hit level 7.

Plus, its intelligence must have improved as it leveled up as well; as it roared, it kept its guard up against Lee Shin Woo and couldn't move easily. It should've approximated Lee Shin Woo's strength, so it was the obvious move.

Somehow, my stats have increased by about 1,000.'

Prince didn't know how Lee Shin Woo had grown so quickly, but the answer was obvious. He had used Bone Reinforcement!

Tens of thousands of level 6 monsters had appeared, so obviously, tens of thousands of bones would drop. Kratia, who knew about his situation, gave the bones to Lee Shin Woo without him asking, and he told Prince that he had a lot of secret shop permits, so he'd sell them in her stead, so he received all the bones.

He kept half of them for Jin, but even so, there were more than 30,000 bones there. There was no way his stats wouldn't rise.

'This is a treasure trove. It wouldn't be this efficient, even if you combined 10, no 20 dungeons together. Plus, in such a short time... I have to thank the Royal Magician Leader if I meet him.'

From just the first facility, his stats had increased by 500, and with the second facility, his stats had increased by another 300. All of his skills leveled up as well, netting him another 100 plus stats, so the stat change was quite noticeable. Moreover, right now...

[Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

[You are fighting a high leveled foe. Through the Rebellion skill, all stats increase by an additional 16%!.]

Because he had been fighting such a large volume of enemies, his Rebellion skill had activated and his stats had already been increased, but his skill activated once more. The Rebellion skill had increased his stats by 43%. It was the same as a level up.

'Moreover, my stats have surpassed 6,000, so...'

It filled in the gap that his skills had left. Even if he didn't have Kratia's debuff, he could've taken on the level 7.

Because of the intense situation and the repeated battles that came in such a short period of time, Lee Shin Woo now had a somewhat objective grasp on his strength.

"Good. Shall we...!?"

[Gureureuraaaaaa!]

The lightning bared its fangs as he rushed towards the Metal Ape Chimera. The Metal Ape Chimera didn't seem to back down, as it snarled... suddenly, it ordered the nearby monsters to attack Lee Shin Woo!

"The strategy's fair and square, but it doesn't match it's appearance!"

"Prince!"

"Oh, I... I got it, damn it."

Kratia, who was watching the situation, spoke harshly. Fortunately, Prince responded on time. The fire that she'd shot out instantly burnt the monsters to a crisp and Lee Shin Woo cut down the dozens of monsters left in front with a forceful swing of his Breath of the Lightning God.

Black energy was mixed with the lightning, forming a giant horn. An extremely sharp and secretive horn: Shadow Horn!

"Shadow Horn!"

It was still impossible for him to project shadows, but he could activate a portion of the gigantification ability of the intermediate Shadow Horn ability, which caused the horn to become even larger.

With reflexes befitting a level 7 elite, the Metal Ape Chimera stretched out its arm covered in thick armor, and attempted to block it. Unfortunately, the armor broke into pieces and the shadow continued on, destroying its forearm.

[Critical Hit!]

[Kyaaaaaaaahk!]

It uttered a horrific cry, and its legs squirmed. Its movements caused the entire space to roll around, and all the magic traps simultaneously activated, aiming for Lee Shin Woo.

It could even control the traps!? Lee Shin Woo was inwardly taken aback, but he trusted in his comrades and took a step forward instead. The lightning intensified.

"Kuaaaaaaaaaah!"

[Gueeeeeeeeeh!]

Before the magic traps hit Lee Shin Woo, frost descended upon the entire area. The traps were temporarily disabled, and the Metal Ape Chimera's movements likewise slowed. The next moment, Lee Shin Woo exploded his inner energy and unleashed his new ability onto it.

"Twin Lightning Fall!"

As quick as lighting, and as weighty as a mountain. The lightning was concentrated in both his arms and blades and made each of them look like dragon teeth. He swung his two swords down upon the chimera's head. With a crackle, an electric current so large that it was goosebump inducing, passed through the Chimera.

[Keheeeeeeeehk!]

"Umph!"

"Clear, clear, clear!"

Lee Shin Woo, whose attack had succeeded, dodged the Chimera's powerful counterattack, and fell back for now; during that time, Kratia didn't even confirm Lee Shin Woo's status and continued to disable the traps.

Since they now knew that the Metal Ape Chimera had control over the magic traps, she had to disable the traps as quickly as possible so they wouldn't be put in more danger.

"Prince, take care of the mobs!"

"You guys are way too frantic...! Eeeeeeek!"

Prince was so busy helping them out that she felt like she'd cry. When she was with Lloyd, they would've waved their hands and ran away from a battle like this...! But what the hell was with these guys? They liked the situation and were full of energy!

"If you guys die, I'm going to run!"

"We won't die! If you do as you're supposed to!"

"Senior, please take care of this side too."

"Ah, seriously!"

With Kratia and Prince's superb assistance, the number of monsters blocking Lee Shin Woo's way was reduced, and the magic traps were disabled one or two at a time.

There were still some external factors that could endanger him, but he could take it. None of them could hurt Lee Shin Woo, who had become a streak of lightning as he ran, except for that level 7 gorilla.

[Kuhaaaaa!]

But when he briefly diverted his attention to the level 6 monsters, the Metal Ape Chimera seized that opportunity and signaled their counterattack.

Firstly, it sprayed its mana in all directions, and forcefully vibrated it, dispersing Lee Shin Woo's mana. It turned its armor into blades and attempted to cut him in half! But ironically, that gave Lee Shin Woo a chance to grow.

'It simultaneously canceled out both my internal and external mana...!?'

The moment Lee Shin Woo's interior and exterior were temporarily canceled out, he was able to use Lightning Sprint and Lightning Shadow together, even though he'd barely been able to use them separately until now.

[Kuha?]

The next moment, the ape's arm, which had been half cut, flew through the air. Right above it, a golden crack appeared. Lee Shin Woo started from its wrist to its shoulder, all the way to its neck and even reached its head!

"Ku, hoo..."

The crack stopped above its head, where Lee Shin Woo was. He deactivated both Lightning Sprint and Lightning Shadow and was gasping, but he couldn't forget that sense of unity he just felt.

'It felt like I was transcending the limits of my body.'

Unfortunately, he had only been able to use it for a split second, so he hadn't been able to learn the skill, but that was actually a relief. If he were given that skill now and he used it, he wouldn't be able to grow properly.

'This is plenty. Since I'm sure that if I train, I'll reach it.'

[Ka, Gaaaaah...]

Lee Shin Woo smiled proudly. Simultaneously, cracks spread throughout the ape's entire body. It muttered something incoherently and attempted to stretch its arm towards Lee Shin Woo, but it soon splintered into pieces.

[You faced a higher level, large monster with a small group of comrades head on and defeated it. Your overwhelming strength made the level difference meaningless. All stats have increased by 3. The High Rank Lightning Element has become Lv3, and Magic has increased by 20.]

[You have acquired 2,791,880 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Lv7 Metal Ape Chimera's rib bone.]

"Hey, if you're done, stop posturing and help us out already!"

"I'm going right now!"

Despite him defeating a level 7 elite, the training exercise hadn't ended yet. There were still several monsters and magic traps left.

It would probably be even worse in the next facility. Lee Shin Woo quickly picked up the loot from the ground and set his heart on one thing.