Junias, the most renowned Potion Brewer not just in their respective country but throughout the entire continent, authored a book titled "Encyclopedia of Potion Brewing" to pass on the knowledge to future generations. The book contained a wide array of recipes such as healing potions, support potions, and offensive potions. There were even potions that enhanced the effects of crafting materials, used in equipment production, and those that reinforced building structures during construction.
Kim Ki-Rok tossed a potion straight into a troll's mouth with pinpoint accuracy. After popping open a fresh potion bottle, he jumped down from Ji Cheol-Hyun's Transparent Shield. After neutralizing the rearmost troll, he looped around to flank the second one. Depending on the situation, he rotated through various artifacts, though some remained passively equipped.
Infusing his ring with mana, Kim Ki-Rok summoned a blue shield midair and used it as a springboard to leap onto the troll's shoulder.
The troll twisted its neck to see what had landed on it. Finding a human perched on its shoulder, it swung a massive hand to squash him and opened its mouth, intending to chomp down on the little human.
Kim Ki-Rok dodged with a sideways jump, throwing a potion into the gaping maw. With that, the second troll began to fall drowsily. The problem, however, was where it was falling.
Despite keeping some distance, trolls were still classified as giant humanoid monsters. If it toppled backward, it might smother the one already asleep on the ground and inadvertently wake it up.
Once Ji Cheol-Hyun realized this, he stopped trying to lift the third troll into the air and instead created a Transparent Shield behind the second one before it had fallen flat.
Luckily, both trolls were subdued without incident.
—We're dividing the unit into two teams. One will seal off the lead troll's movement. The other will eliminate the sleeping trolls.
They had succeeded in putting them to sleep, but leaving them unattended was not an option, as too many variables could arise on the battlefield. Therefore, Jang Bo-Hyun decided to modify the tactics on the spot to put all the trolls to sleep and then gang up on them one by one and eliminate them with concentrated firepower.
The Hunters waiting on the ice wall began to move. Roughly half of them jumped down to distract the approaching troll, while the remaining half approached one of the sleeping trolls once the coast was clear.
Before entering the area of silence created by a scroll, Kim Ki-Rok gave instructions to the Hunters. "We will be hunting the sitting troll first. If possible, make it fall to the side. The dust it kicks up may obstruct vision, so those with wind-type abilities, please be prepared to deal with that."
The Hunters followed his instructions and shot at the troll that had fallen asleep in a strange, upright position. Once assured that they had the situation under control, Kim Ki-Rok dashed toward the front line, where the active troll was locked in battle with his allies.
"Those with long-range abilities, please wait for a moment. Those with close-range, stop attacking on my count. Three... two, one."
Just as the troll began scanning for its next target, Kim Ki-Rok leaped into the air. He stepped on the troll's shoulder and threw a potion at the back of its head.
The sensory deprivation potion clanged against its skin, and it only took ten seconds for the effects to kick in.
"Grrraaaagh!" The troll roared, opening its mouth wide.
Kim Ki-Rok stretched his left hand out and channeled mana into his artifact ring. "Shield."
Placing his hand against the newly formed shield floating in the air, he gathered mana—
And overloaded it, forcing an explosion.
The blast launched him toward the ground at a speed that far surpassed that of his strongest leap. He circulated mana through his body to absorb the impact, but it didn't mean he escaped unscathed.
Landing in a crouch, he rolled sideways just in time to dodge the troll's stomping foot.
He didn't attack. He just watched and counted, monitoring the troll's condition. When its twisted expression finally relaxed, he sprang into action again.
"Team Leader," Kim Ki-Rok requested for assistance.
The troll's hand came swinging down from above. But Kim Ki-Rok remained calm. He reached upward to hoist himself onto the invisible platform made by Ji Cheol-Hyun, then flung his body backward.
"Shield. Shield." Kim Ki-Rok called upon his artifact twice, generating shields of his own.
This time, they were formed behind Kim Ki-Rok's back and under his feet. Using them as a foothold, Kim Ki-Rok kicked off and soared through the air again. Although doing so was a bit tedious and exhausting, he had made it. He lobbed a round potion bottle, perfect for throwing, straight into the troll's mouth.
Having consumed a sensory deprivation potion first, the troll would fall into a peaceful sleep until the effects wore off.
"Well, not that it'll be sleeping for long..."
By diligently practicing swinging a sword, one could acquire the skill Swordsmanship. Similarly, training hard with an axe would grant one Axemanship, and with a spear, Spearmanship.
Kim Ki-Rok was no exception. When he wielded a sword, he acquired Swordsmanship. When he wielded a spear, he acquired Spearmanship. The issue here was talent.
His weapon skills were limited to A-Class, while his elemental magic and spells were limited to B-Class. No matter how hard he tried, he could not push past this limit. As he repeated Attempts over and over again, the rate at which he acquired these skills and leveled them up increased, but there was a limit.
He simply lacked talent.
Thankfully, all of those Attempts he had spent changing weapons and combat styles were not in vain. He had accumulated a vast array of combat techniques and fighting styles.
He drew a crossbow from his subspace pocket and pulled the trigger.
The mana-charged bolt embedded itself into the troll's forearm. It had a rope attached to it, which Kim Ki-Rok grabbed onto as he tossed the crossbow aside.
As the troll raised its arm to swat a charging Hunter, Kim Ki-Rok's body floated into the air from the recoil. Letting go of the rope midair, he summoned another shield. After landing on it, he stabilized himself and drew a short spear made entirely of metal.
He was never destined for greatness—but that was fine. He would use everything he had learned over his countless lives.
The short spear burst into flames as he gripped it in reverse and jumped from the shield, aiming for the crown of the troll's head.The spear, reinforced with mana and enhanced with elemental magic, struck its skull.
It didn't penetrate completely due to the troll's thick skull, but that wasn't a problem. He let go of the spear and used it as a foothold to rise again. Then he pulled a war hammer from his pocket.
Since the spear was all-metal, including the shaft, it acted like a giant nail. With a grunt, Kim Ki-Rok slammed the hammer down on the butt end of the spear.
It pierced through the skull and into the brain. Sparing no time, he took out a sword, a single-edged blade, and was ready to swing when another massive hand loomed over him.
Discarding the sword he held, Kim Ki-Rok drew out a longsword, a weapon more suited for stabbing than slashing. Swiftly weaving through the gaps between the troll's fingers as he ran along the troll's head, Kim Ki-Rok gripped the sword with both hands and raised it above his shoulder.
He lunged forward and stabbed.
The longsword drove into the space between the troll's fingers. Given its size, this was just a tiny flesh wound. But that didn't matter; his goal was to tear the flesh.
Drawing a dagger, he hurled it into the same spot. It struck true, the poison coating it already beginning to take effect. Having done all he could, Kim Ki-Rok soared upward, then descended from above the troll's head.
The spear that had pierced the skull continued to burn with Aeple's flame. The poisoned dagger was embedded as well. Even if trolls had high regeneration and resistance, that persistent irritation would keep it from focusing on the other Hunters.
Satisfied, Kim Ki-Rok turned his body when he noticed a dark shadow looming. "Hmm?"
When Kim Ki-Rok looked up, he saw the white sole of the troll's foot. "Huh? Why me?"
To the troll, he was smaller than a fly. It didn't make sense. Still, getting crushed wasn't an option, so he leaped to the side.
The ground caved from the impact.
"My mana must be... Oh, it's Aeple," Kim Ki-Rok muttered.
The residual energy from the spear had drawn its attention. Perhaps he had been upgraded from a measly fly to a pesky mosquito. Rolling to his feet, Kim Ki-Rok retrieved his crossbow from his subspace pocket.
Crafted with mana-infused wood and monster tendons, it had greater penetration than an average bow, and the bolts were fully metallic. Kneeling down, he fired.
The bolt pierced its heel in a particular spot known as the Achilles tendon. Having completed his task, Kim Ki-Rok returned his unique crossbow to his subspace pocket and then struck the embedded bolt with his fist.
The metal bolt dug deeper into the flesh, causing it to roar in pain once again.
Kim Ki-Rok had gotten too close. As the troll's leg thrashed reflexively, he was caught in the movement. He jumped away and pulled out a massive shield, using it for cover.
The impact flung him backward. He tumbled across the ground, trying to absorb the shock. Even with a proper landing, he couldn't fully absorb the impact.
Kim Ki-Rok was thrown backward, rolling on the ground. Despite his attempt to break the fall, he couldn't fully mitigate the shock. Nevertheless, he managed to distance himself from the troll. After enduring several impacts against the ground, Kim Ki-Rok lay flat, stretching out his arm and looking up at the starlit sky.
"Cough! Cough! Ugh... That was too close."
Despite dodging the direct hit with the shield and dispersing the impact by levitating in the air, he still felt a considerable shock.
Stiffened by the impact, Kim Ki-Rok felt it difficult to get up. Instead, he raised only his upper body to assess the situation.
"It's coming dooooown!" shouted one of the Hunters.
The troll stumbled, its legs giving out at last. The Hunters seized this opportunity and rushed forward.
"This isn't what I expected..."
Trolls were known to be territorial. Kim Ki-Rok had expected them to appear individually or in small groups—maybe three at most. But the reality was different.
Initially, only one appeared, but then three... five... eight trolls emerged simultaneously from the Gate. With so many appearing at once, even the sleep tactic wouldn't be viable for much longer. The only fortunate part was that, out of the thirty-two trolls, they had already hunted sixteen.
Actually, two were still in the middle of being hunted, so there were fourteen confirmed kills.
"It's not going as expected... but it's going well enough..."
Kim Ki-Rok felt a huge mana wave behind him and an unprecedentedly loud footstep, and he turned his head to look at the Gate entrance. "Okay... I stand corrected."