Leveling Up Alone

“Ha.”

‘Why do you guys think Stewart and I are the only ones here?’

[Huh?]

The high-ranking sorcerers were slightly puzzled as the corners of Han-Yeol’s mouth turned up.

Punch! Whoosh!

But they soon realized the meaning of Han-Yeol’s smile. Tayarana and Tia ambushed them from behind.

[Argh!]

[C-Cough!]

[Ha!]

The high-ranking sorcerers could handle powerful spells with the contaminant attribute at will and were stronger than most sorcerers. However, due to their frail bodies, they were always vigilant, knowing that no matter how powerful their spells were, they would be useless if their bodies were destroyed.

Therefore, their senses were quite superior when it came to mana. Nonetheless, the two high-ranking sorcerers hadn’t noticed Tayarana and Tia’s surprise attack at all.

It wasn’t simply because they were incompetent, but because Han-Yeol’s light attribute had strongly shaken their contamination attribute, and their panic had caused them to be unaware of the ambush from behind.

“Wow, I prepared three levels of ambush, but you guys got caught on the first one. I knew you guys were weak, but I didn’t realize you guys were this crappy.”

Slurp.

[Damn itttt!]

Crunch!

Tayarana was always cool-headed and sharp in combat, and she slit the throat of her assigned sorcerer. On the other hand, Tia was a monster who enjoyed killing and seeing others in pain. She carefully taunted her sorcerer before ripping his throat out.

The high-ranking sorcerer that Tayarana had slit lost his strength but was still alive. In contrast, the high-ranking sorcerer that Tia had ambushed and torn apart was dead.

After the high-ranking sorcerers were attacked, the contaminants they controlled also lost their power and collapsed. The intermediate and low-ranking sorcerers had already lost their contaminants due to Han-Yeol’s flare. One by one, they struggled to survive, but Stewart eventually caught all of them.

Once again, Han-Yeol summoned the Arch Lich to use them as payment. His equipment was now different, but he still had the installment.

Ding!

[Your level has risen.]

‘Huh? My level went up even though Tia dealt the final blow. Did I have full experience points?’

In normal party hunts, Han-Yeol’s experience points would be awarded based on his contribution to the fight. However, the key to this battle was Tia’s ambush, and Han-Yeol hadn’t done much to destroy the high-ranking sorcerers, so it was only expected that he thought this way.

Han-Yeol shrugged.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter. Leveling up is a good thing anyway.’

Han-Yeol didn’t think too much about it since it was a good thing.

[Khaaaa! Those bastards! How dare they!]

Haruni, the high-ranking sorcerer who lost his body and all of his strength due to Tayarana’s ambush, screamed in agony. He sounded mortified. Things had already happened, and their feelings didn’t matter.

“Tia.”

“Hoo, hoo, leave it to me.”

Click, clack.

[D-Don’t come near me!]

Without his strength, the high-ranking sorcerer was now just a piece of flesh—too weak to even be called a sorcerer. With no allies to help him recover his lost flesh, he was weaker than a newborn.

Crush!

[Khaaa!]

Tia immediately picked up Haruni's head and chewed on it.

Watching someone being eaten alive was a very unpleasant sight, but knowing how many awful things the hyena sorcerers had done, no one from Han-Yeol’s group felt sorry for the sorcerer. Rather, they regretted not being able to inflict more pain.

Tsk.

“Hmm, as expected, the contamination attribute is a bit bitter after all.”

“Ugh, the more I look at it, the less pleasant it is.”

“Oh, Master, are you looking down on me?”

“Asking when you know I’m not is like you trying to start an argument with me, Tia.”

“Hoo, hoo, of course not. Why would I want to start an argument with you, Master?”

“Ha, that’s ridiculous. You’re talking as if you’re a well-behaved pet.”

“But I am?”

“Wow, how shameless of you!”

“Hahahaha.”

As usual, they were bantering with each other.

[...]

Tayarana looked at the two with sullen eyes.

“Haa, Han-Yeol-nim, that’s enough with Tia, and we should talk about what to do from now on.”

“Ah, haha. R-Right.”

Han-Yeol had been enjoying the banter for a while without paying much attention to the others, but when Mariam spoke up, he scratched his head in embarrassment. This definitely wasn’t the time for such chatter.

“Our next stop is simple.”

Even before Han-Yeol said anything, Noras reacted.

[N-No way. Great One, are you thinking of going there?]

“Wait, how’d you know?”

Han-Yeol was shocked. He hadn’t even told Noras where they were going, but he acted like he knew everything already.

[Weren’t you planning to go to the Tree of Beginnings?]

“T-That’s right, but… how’d you know?”

[Haha, aren’t these the qualities a good subordinate should have? Right, Great One?]

“Sure.”

[That’s right!]

Hna-Yeol shook his head in disbelief.

“Han-Yeol-nim, where is the Tree of Beginnings?”

“Ah, Mariam, that is...”

In response to Mariam’s question, Han-Yeol told her about the area of the Tree of Beginnings, including how they could launch a major counterattack against the hyena race if they could liberate that place.

“That sounds like a good plan.”

“Right?”

Han-Yeol nodded, patting himself on the back for being so smart.

“But I don’t think it’s a great plan.”

“Oh, come on!”

Mariam was beautiful but sassy as ever.

Nonetheless, Han-Yeol started to head toward the Tree of Beginnings.

It would’ve been better to use the spatial movement skill to get there right away, but the skill required the Han-Yeol to have a rough idea of the location. However, Han-Yeol had never been to the Tree of Beginnings even as Harkan, so it was impossible for him to get there in one go with the skill.

‘Tsk, I should’ve moved around a bit more when I was Harkan.’

Han-Yeol was so focused on battles that he had no reason to go to the Tree of Beginnings, a paradise beloved by gods for its peacefulness and abundance. From Harkan’s perspective, it was a very boring and uninteresting area.

‘Well, if I didn't know the future and I went back in time, I wouldn’t have bothered going there anyway.’

If he knew the future, he would’ve at least gone sightseeing.

The reason Han-Yeol was complaining so much was because the Bastro Dimension was very large, and it was quite a long distance to simply travel the normal way.

‘Wait a minute.’

Han-Yeol suddenly had a thought.

‘Why am I trying to walk all the way there?’

Up until this point, Han-Yeol had been traveling quietly because he didn’t want anyone to know that he had crossed over.

‘But now I don’t have to hide myself.’

He had long since been discovered and had already killed three high-ranking sorcerers. There was no point in hiding anymore.

‘And if Noras is right, the destruction of the magic circle has basically blinded the hyena sorcerers. Great!’

“Mavros, White Dragon.”

“Khu?”

“What is it, Human?”

“Ah, I need a favor.”

“A favor?”

“Khu?”

Unlike the expressionless White Dragon, Mavros cocked his head and looked up at Han-Yeol with cute eyes.

*

Whoosh!

Mavros and White Dragon spread their wings.

Han-Yeol decided to fly to the Tree of Beginnings.

[G-Great One, I-I don’t know what to say.]

Noras’s face reddened and he couldn't help but drop his head.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Whoosh!

Han-Yeol also spread out the wings of light on his heel, balancing himself so that he wouldn’t accidentally fall, even though he had already flown so many times that his body could instinctively balance itself.

[Tsk, why do I have to carry other creatures on my back other than you, Human?]

“Khee!”

[That’s right, Master!]

“Ahaha, hang in there. Otherwise, we’ll have to walk a lot.”

[Hmph!]

“Kheee!”

[Fine, but don’t make me do this unless it's really necessary.]

“Okay, but I had no other choice this time. Sorry.”

While about half the people in Han-Yeol’s group could fly and travel on their own, the other half couldn’t.

So Mariam flew with Tayarana, and Han-Yeol with Tia, while the rest of Noras’s men, the biggest in number, were split half and half between Mavros and White Dragon.

White Dragon and Mavros were in a very bad mood, as they disliked having anyone else other than Han-Yeol on their backs. If it weren’t for Han-Yeol’s constant apologies and mental care, they would’ve exploded much earlier.

‘A dragon’s pride is much higher and more fundamental than humans think. A simple act of letting go of one's pride for humans is like a life and death matter for dragons. The more I think about it, the more I feel sorry for White Dragon and Mavros.’

He really felt terrible about it, but he figured he’d ask for their understanding for now and do better later. Also, Noras knew a spell that allowed him to fly, so when he flew to China on Earth in the past, Han-Yeol spotted him and used the spatial transfer skill….

‘Huh?’

Han-Yeol suddenly remembered something.

‘Wait a minute, I could’ve traveled faster alone and used the spatial transfer skill to bring the rest of the group to my location.’

Gulp.

Han-Yeol kept a straight face as much as he could and tried not to show what he had just realized. If Mavros and White Dragon found out, Han-Yeol was sure they’d be furious.

‘I’ll keep this to myself.’

If they found out later, he planned to say that the distance wasn’t that far, considering they were flying.