Chapter 95: Restriction (1) (1/2)
There was a wetland continuing on without an end, waterlogged and humid. The land swallowed each step like a quagmire and made it difficult for people to travel through.
A pair of male and female was standing in front of an unnamed dungeon.
The dungeon was filled with water-attribute mana and was S- ranked, which was quite rare to find. It didn’t receive its S- rank due to its size, and instead was because there were a small number of elite monsters inside.
In order to find a place that suited the power level of the baby red dragon, the Regressor looked for this place. Yeorum, who had been fighting against monsters just then, was dropping beads of sweat.
“Huk, huk…”
She sat down on top of a monster. During the fight that continued for around 2 hours, she was forced to squeeze her dragon heart dry several times. She had used a tremendous amount of mana which seemed to have made her dizzy.
Yeorum buried her head inside her two hands.
“Let’s go.”
“W, wait.”
“We should move.”
“…Just wait a second. I, feel like throwing up.”
She was even drooling while collecting her breath.
Her proficiency level wasn’t high enough and the [Pulsation] always shook unstably.
Of course, it would be fine to leave it like that. She was a dragon and would gradually perfect her [Pulsation] as time passed even without taking all this toll on her body.
However, a real fight was the best method to make someone stronger as soon as possible.
“…”
Despite her body and her clothes being covered in dirt, Yeorum did not use magic to clean it off. In fact, it didn’t look like she even had the leisure to do so, but she obediently stood back up after collecting her breath.
“Go, go.”
He took her and walked through the quagmire. As they went deeper in, the sticky wetland became deeper so he relied on mana to walk on top. Yeorum arduously followed behind.
After walking for a long time, something was visible through the gaps of the dense forest. There was a fish that resembled a human, with a long fin travelling down the spine from the head to the tail. With pink gills on the neck and a large body, it carried a spear and swallowed a horrendous-looking fish.
It was the elite soldier of the fishman race, [Shakargin].
Yu Jitae hid his body behind a tree trunk. Yeorum followed suit with a slightly nervous look.
He quietly opened his mouth.
“Can you see them.”
“…Yeah.”
“What do you think.”
“…They look fucking strong.”
“How would you take them down.”
Yeorum clenched on her crimson lips. She then observed the area she and Yu Jitae were standing in.
“You brought me here on purpose right? To ambush them.”
Since he remained silent, Yeorum gave a frown and turned back to her enemy. The elite soldier was carrying a long spear, with two Shakargin mages standing behind it. They would both use water-attribute magic.
Since the entire area was covered in water, she had trouble finding a method.
“…Do I scorch them with a breath?”
There was an easy way out.
“Are you serious?”
“No. I was just joking.”
Looking back to the front, Yeorum once again contemplated as Yu Jitae quietly waited for the child to finish her line of thought.
The reason Yu Jitae gave such a trial to her was because she had been fighting until now without any plans. She had a physical body that could overwhelm current superhumans let alone the cadets of Lair, an elemental resistance that broke through the charts and a ridiculous control over mana.
Due to having all those things from birth, she had never thought or pondered before, regarding how to fight.
“Hmm… First off I’ll smack the shit out of the warrior.”
“And then.”
“I’ll take the spear and throw it.”
“And then.”
“When it’s in a panic from losing the spear, I’ll bash the mages up.”
“And then.”
“…And then just fight?”
“Alright.”
Yeorum threw a glance towards him.
“Is that correct?”
“Let’s first try doing what you said.”
Their strategy meeting came to an end.
She closed her eyes.
With a thump, her heart rate began slowing down. Then, she dashed forward like a bullet as the water splashed underneath her steps.
The situation didn’t go as she thought.
Just like her original plan, she succeeded in ambushing and smacking the shit out of the elite soldier, but the fishman’s arm muscles hideously enlarged itself and held tightly onto the spear.
She had gotten off on the wrong foot.
After that, a chaotic battle continued. Due to the interruption of the mages, she couldn’t deal with the elite soldier. Wounds stacked on top of another and blood oozed out of her body. When Yeorum was finally caught after being struck on her face with the spear shaft, Yu Jitae stepped forward and smashed the back of their necks.
“Let go, let go!”
While being dragged out by Yu Jitae, Yeorum couldn’t control herself and yelled at him to let go. Left with no other choice, he also struck the back of her neck.
[Knifehand Strike (D)]
He had to make the Shakargin elite soldier, the two mages and Yeorum faint, for the situation to be wrapped up.
“…”
When she woke back up after 2 hours or so, Yeorum glared at Yu Jitae.
“What was the problem.”
“…I don’t know.”
“…”
“Then what do you think the problem was?”
She reluctantly asked a question. During the learning process, she began to acknowledge the fact that she was weak.
“Everything was the problem.”
Yu Jitae gave his honest opinion as Yeorum revealed annoyance and irritation with her face.
“What do you mean, everything?”
“The start itself was full of problems. You didn’t make the most out of an ambush.”
“‘Make the most out’?”
“Right. At least you did realise that the location and the direction were good for ambush. However, the method was wrong. You were in too much of a hurry and weren’t stealthy enough.”
“Urgh… I don’t really understand what you’re saying. Wasn’t I quite stealthy? I did smack the fish on the back of its head. I was pretty fast.”
He shook his head.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Why focus on speed.”
“…?”
“The merit of an ambush is in its stealth and precision.”
“Then? Is speed a secondary thing?”
Once again he shook his head.
“To be frank, speed is unnecessary.”
“Why? It’s an ambush – an ambush. Shouldn’t I smack them as fast as possible?”
“Look.”
Yu Jitae extended his finger.
It was fast yet slow. Startled, Yeorum twisted her head trying to dodge it but the finger seemed to have predicted where she would go as it changed its trajectory.
Soon, it collided with her forehead.
“Huh? Fuck… what?”
She touched her forehead with astonishment. It was slow and yet she had been hit by it. She thought she could dodge it with ease but couldn’t.
“As long as you’re accurate, the speed doesn’t matter.”
Yu Jitae continued with a hushed voice.
“An ambush must be stealthy and precise every time. Sometimes, you would be better off walking up and slitting their throat, instead of chucking a knife at their back. Slow might be better.”
“…!”
“Don’t focus too much on general knowledge. This has to be this; that has to be that. Throw that away. Whenever you’re faced with something, you need to think what you really need in that situation.”
Realising something, she let out a faint gasp.