Leveling Up Alone

Han-Yeol's versatile skills were something even the First Hunter, Woo Han-Jong, had never seen before, nor could he understand them.

“Celestial One Star Death Slash!”

He was indeed stronger now, but that did not mean his physical prowess or swordsmanship had significantly improved compared to before. Using one hundred percent of his strength, the attacks Woo Han-Jong dished out placed a heavy burden on Han-Yeol’s body every time he blocked one.

However, it did not mean he was losing. He was forced to block the sword strikes simply because he was biding his time until an opportunity to use his chain presented itself.

The time for him to use his skill had come, but he hesitated for a second.

Then, he blocked Woo Han-Jong’s bamboo sword. But he purposely let it get past his guard.

However, Woo Han-Jong did not seem pleased by it.

Karvis suddenly cheered.

The mana in the air started to vibrate wildly the moment he used his skills. Then, the wound on his side started bubbling for some reason before a huge amount of blood gushed out from it.

His blood gushed into the air and drenched the chain swirling above them, and the chains continued flying around until they formed the pattern of a magic circle with his blood.

“W-What is this…?!” Woo Han-Jong exclaimed.

“Anyway, I haven’t really had the chance to use this talent of mine to the fullest—until now. I admit you’re as strong as me, and you’re much more experienced in combat than me, old man. I mean, it’s rare for anyone to block my Hard Counter, you know?

“Ah, I think I got sidetracked. What I wanted to say was… I’m going to give you a proper send-off with the most powerful skill combination I have ever created, so you better feel honored, old geezer.”

Karvis immediately notified him as soon as he finished speaking.

[The skills Enchant (A), Blood Drain (F), Crowd Restrain (A), and Tornado Smash (A) have been combined.]

[A combination skill has been activated – Blood Chain Tornado (M)]

The sound of crackling mana thundered above their heads, and the stench of blood filled the air. A few seconds later, the wind surrounding them started to blow wildly as a tornado made of blood raged as if it was trying to suck in everything around it.

However, the tornado only had one target—Woo Han-Jong.

“Hey, let’s finish this already, old man.”

“Hmm…”

The Jabberwock Chain returned to Han-Yeol’s hand after it summoned the Blood Chain Tornado.

“…”

Han-Yeol used his Jabberwock Chain and Jabberwock Sword to mount the pressure on the old man, and the momentum was clearly in his favor now.

“Hey, old man, are you done already? I’ll be disappointed if this is all you’ve got.”

“…?” Woo Han-Jong grimaced in response to the taunt, but he did not do anything aside from that.

He did not have the luxury to respond—no, this was not about having the luxury or not. The tornado raging around him was occupying too much of his attention that he could not focus on anything else at the moment.

He started to feel that this was futile, but that did not mean he would give up on this battle. He did not have many years left to live, but he still had a lot of things to accomplish, so he could not afford to die here.

Woo Han-Jong’s bamboo sword started fighting back against Han-Yeol’s Jabberwock Sword.

“That’s right, old man! Don’t make me grow bored of you!”

“Shut it, punk!”

Blood gushed out from the wound on his side once again, but this time, the blood spread all over his body and drew intricate tattoos all over it.

The blood tattoo infused mana into his body and not only strengthened him, but made him look cool, charismatic, and manly too.

“Whoa~ That stung but felt good at the same time.”

However, Woo Han-Jong knew that the quality of their skills was very different, and his skill was inferior to Han-Yeol’s.

“Here I come again, old man!”

Han-Yeol had become significantly faster and stronger since the battle began, surpassing Woo Han-Jong in both aspects, even though Woo Han-Jong used his skills to enhance his physical prowess.

The new skills he had received as gifts gave him the tools to overpower Woo Han-Jong now.

Han-Yeol suddenly appeared in front of Woo Han-Jong and raised his sword.

Unfortunately, Han-Yeol was so fast that Woo Han-Jong was forced to block the attack while he was off balance.

He ended up getting shoved back from the impact and landed inches away from the Blood Chain Tornado.

“T-This is…!” Woo Han-Jong exclaimed the moment the Blood Chain Tornado touched his body.

The tornado dragged him in and completely restrained him.

“Gotcha!” Han-Yeol exclaimed and jumped around like a little kid after seeing his opponent finally get caught in the trap he had set.

“Do you think your pathetic chain can stop me?!” Woo Han-Jong lashed out with his mana, but he was unable to snap the chain.

“Hey, it will be troublesome for me if you snap my chain, old man,” Han-Yeol sneered. He knew the old man was strong enough to snap his chain, so he did not waste time and immediately activated his skill once again.

The tornado completely surrounded the old man and started shredding him up.

Woo Han-Jong had trained his body almost every single day for decades, but he could not withstand the pain inflicted by the tornado and ended up screaming.

This was the first time he experienced such agonizing pain caused by mana. The pain was at least multiple times more painful than the pain Han-Yeol felt when he was stabbed in the chest.

Han-Yeol was someone who repaid those who wronged him at least a hundredfold.

Han-Yeol and Karvis watched the Blood Chain Tornado shred the old man, and neither of them ever wanted to have a taste of this skill.

Woo Han-Jong crashed into the ground after the Blood Chain Tornado dissipated.

Han-Yeol landed a short distance away from him and canceled his Wings of Light.

True enough, Woo Han-Jong was not dead yet.

Han-Yeol was about to use Demon Eyes to check if the old man was dead or alive, but there was no need for that as Woo Han-Jong slowly started getting up.

“Hey, do you still want to continue fighting, old man?” Han-Yeol asked.

Han-Yeol had clearly won this battle.

Han-Yeol readied his chain once again to put an end to this duel that had benefited him quite a bit.

Would others criticize him for being too harsh against an old man? Why would he attack someone who clearly could no longer defend himself?

He looked at Woo Han-Jong and said, “I was just stronger than you, that’s it. No hard feelings, old man.”

“Hmm? What did you say?”

Woo Han-Jong struggled to move his barely attached arm to his inner pocket and took out something tightly wrapped inside. He squeezed his remaining strength to unwrap it, and a pill appeared.

He threw the pill into his mouth before Han-Yeol could stop him.

He should have stopped him at all costs, just in case it was a pill that could heal all his wounds. Unfortunately, he was too confident that he had won and ended up dropping his guard for a moment.

Things were going to be extremely troublesome if Woo Han-Jong fully recovered. He had already encountered Han-Yeol’s skills once, so he was definitely going to be more careful from now on.

The mental fatigue he got from nearly dying, immediately followed by Astaroth’s appearance, greatly affected his mental state. Yes, he was able to fully recover and received a lot of good gifts from her, but that did not change the fact that it took a toll on him.

Of course, just because he was mentally tired did not mean he was weaker now.