Leveling Up Alone

“Really?”

Noras, the most skilled sorcerer, and the second most knowledgeable being along with the sage, quickly came up with an answer.

[Yes. At first, I thought those hyena bastards were just gathering more ingredients for a spell. Back then, I was on the run so I didn’t think too much about it, but looking back on it now, they didn’t have a base in the Mountain Rage of Beginnings, or at least they didn’t back then. It’s not the place to bring twenty wagon loads of ingredients for a spell, unless it was building materials for building a base. Ah, that’s probably where the magic circle is for this massive pollution!]

“I see. There’s no need to call the Rirus right now since they’re fighting well on their own, but I guess this points us to our next destination, the Mountain Range of Beginnings.”

[Yes, I think that would be best as well. I can’t believe the source of all this terrible disaster lies in the Mountain Range of Beginnings!]

Noras grit his teeth, not hiding his anger.

Han-Yeol wasn’t sure why Noras was so angry, but since most Bastrolings hated the hyenas, he merely shrugged.

“Ah, right, so those things… are all wild contaminants?”

[Yes.]

[Wild contaminants aren’t under the control of any particular hyena. They don’t have an owner, so there’s no way the hyenas would know even if we get rid of those contaminants.]

“That’s not too bad. We’re going to get caught eventually now that we’ve left Earth, but it’s better to get caught later than sooner.”

[I agree.]

When Han-Yeol was in China, he was under a lot of surveillance due to the spells from the hyena sorcerers. However, when he was traveling abroad in search of the stones and when he was in Korea, the hyenas couldn’t keep an eye on him. Even in China, Han-Yeol allowed himself to be watched in the first place. If he didn’t want to be monitored, he could’ve easily removed the monitoring contaminants.

Since he hadn’t been monitored after leaving China, the hyenas had no choice but to believe that he was still on Earth.

‘They probably still believe I’m on Earth since I didn’t leave even though the war between the Light and Dark Faction has been ongoing. I’ve been on Earth for quite some time now, showing my face occasionally.’

While searching for the stones, Han-Yeol used his movement skill to occasionally be photographed on purpose to make news on social media. That way, the hyenas would at least think that he hadn’t traveled to the Bastro Dimension.

“Wait, you said it was naturally occurring, right?”

[Yes, that’s right. Why?]

“Hmmm.”

‘Demon Eyes!’

Han-Yeol used his trademark skill, Demon Eyes.

‘Karvis.’

[Yes, after a quick analysis, it looks like it will go the way you expect it to, but… those guys are monsters. Is there really a need to purify them with Restore?]

‘Ah, of course I don’t intend to purify them, but I’m just going to ask if I can purify them when I see any wild contaminants among the Bastrolings.’

[I see. Yes, it’s possible.]

‘Great.’

“Mm.”

Han-Yeol smiled in satisfaction when he got the answer he wanted.

“Okay, then, Tayarana.”

[Yeah, Han-Yeol.]

“Do you want to take them on? It’s your first time fighting a contaminant here, so give it a try against these wild contaminants.”

[Sure, I’ll do that.]

Chuck. Shirrr!

Tayarana confidently nodded at Han-Yeol’s question, lowered her face shield, and unsheathed her sword from her waist.

[Tayarana-nim, I will help.]

Mariam tried to follow after Tayarana, but she rejected Mariam’s offer.

[No, it’s okay.]

[Sorry?]

Mariam was visibly confused by her rejection. Mariam usually didn’t express her emotions, especially in front of Tayarana, but even for her, Tayarana’s rejection was a bit of a shock.

[T-Tayarana-nim.]

[I want to enjoy my first fight with the contaminants by myself, so please don’t interrupt me.]

[Alright… I-I understand.]

With a sullen look, Mariam lowered her head and stepped back.

Tap.

“Don’t be too sad. It’s her first time fighting against a contaminant, so she’s probably just nervous.”

Han-Yeol was one of the few people who understood how Mariam felt about Tayarana, so he put his hand on her head and comforted her.

However, he was underestimating her too much.

“I’d like it if you took your hand off my head, please?”

“A-Ahaha. S-Sorry.”

Han-Yeol was simply(?) touching her to express his friendliness toward her. But Mariam had a high self-esteem and low dependence on others, so the act of stroking her head was an act of challenging her. Since it was Han-Yeol, she merely let it go with a glare and a fierce comment, but if it were anyone else, she would’ve immediately used mind control to reprimand them.

“Please be careful.”

“Y-Yeah.”

‘Dang, how scary.’

Even though Han-Yeol had known Mariam for some time, her murderous glare was still frightening. Just thinking about it made him break out in a cold sweat.

‘I’m more afraid of her nagging than I am of her mental attacks!’

Kwang!

While Han-Yeol was still trembling in terror at the thought of Mariam’s nagging, Tayarana activated her mana and wiped out the wild contaminants. She didn’t use the power of Ra because Han-Yeol had asked her beforehand not to unleash it.

‘The hyenas might spot us. Let’s pretend Ra’s power doesn’t exist in the Bastro Dimension. Even if the hyenas find us, I don’t want them to become interested in this strange power.’

Han-Yeol currently had one goal in mind.

‘Even if we get caught later on, let’s try to hold out until we’ve destroyed this great magic circle for the contaminants.’

Fortunately, the Mountain Range of Beginnings wasn’t too far.

The hyena sorcerers had surveillance spread far and wide to track down any Light Faction survivors and resistors, so Han-Yeol and his group could be discovered easily. However, Han-Yeol’s extraordinary senses made the distance manageable, so he had to exercise caution to avoid being detected.

Thwack!

A contaminant monster with a powerful saw-like jaw in its mouth aimed at Tayarana’s back charged forward. It looked like a grasshopper, but it had fuzzy fur all over its body and ten legs.

Swoosh!

“Kruk!”

But as soon as the monster entered the sword’s range, Tayarana didn’t even look behind her and swung her sword with insane timing.

She split the grasshopper’s body in half as it passed right by her, dying in its own pool of black blood.

‘Good job.’

Han-Yeol had hunted in the area before when he was Master-Rank Huner.

For Tayarana, a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter, ‘good job’ wasn’t a compliment but objective feedback.

[...]

Tayarana let her sword hang by her side and slowly scanned the area. About half of the contaminants were still present.

[Come at me.]

‘Ha, Tara, it’s funny when you say such things with that pretty face of yours.’

She was serious, but Han-Yeol knew her well, and he found it quite amusing.

***

The battle quickly ended. Tayarana easily annihilated the contaminants without breaking a sweat—an obvious and expected victory.

Phwaaaaa!

After the battle was over, the Lava Golems Han-Yeol summoned came out and burned the contaminants' corpses with lava. The contaminant corpses had to be incinerated to prevent any unforeseen consequences. If left unattended, they could come back to life at any moment. This was the nature of the contaminants.

“Well, that was quick, Noras!”

[Yes, Great One!]

“Let’s go to the Mountain Range of Beginnings.”

[As you wish!]

***

The road to the Mountain Range of Beginnings was not so smooth as wild contaminants filled the area. The only good news was that the place Han-Yeol had hidden the gate and the road to the Mountain Range of Beginnings was deserted, so there were no hyenas or survivors of the Light Faction around.

‘This is a good thing for us since we need to move as secretly as possible.’

Slice!

“Ka-ugh.”

Han-Yeol and his group moved quietly, using as little skills as possible to eliminate the contaminants in case the hyena sorcerers detected them, which wasn’t that hard to do.

“Haha, hunting in silence is not that difficult for me.”

“Tia, you’re the best!”

Han-Yeol gave Tia a thumbs-up for her skillful assassination.

‘I don’t lose anything by giving her a little praise.’

Tia’s assassination skills were indeed excellent—as expected of the god of spiders, or the Arachnid race.

[...]

Seeing Han-Yeol and Tia, Tayarana looked sullen.

She was usually expressionless and unemotional, which was barely noticeable unless one looked closely. However, Mariam had been by her side all her life, so she immediately sensed Tayarana's jealousy.

‘Tayarana-nim is jealous? To whom? And why?’

Mariam was confused.

Who in the world was capable of receiving the jealousy of a Transcendent Master-Rank Hunter?

‘It’s not Han-Yeol-nim, so who is it?’

Tayarana wasn’t staring at anything in particular. She was just walking forward and slumping, so Mariam couldn’t tell exactly why she was jealous.

“Huh, what’s this?”

“Master, what’s wrong? Oh my.”

“Tia, you felt it too, right?”

“Yeah, Master.”

“Everyone, stop!”

Han-Yeol and Tia sensed someone approaching them and signaled the group to stop.

“What’s wrong?” asked Stewart, following quietly behind.

“Someone’s coming this way.”

Stewart frowned slightly at Han-Yeol’s response.

“We have a long way to go, but have the hyenas spotted us?”

Han-Yeol shook his head at Stewart.

“No, this mana doesn’t belong to the hyenas.”

“That means it’s a Bastroling from the Light Faction.”

“I think so, but...”

“What’s the matter?”

“I-It’s nothing.”

Han-Yeol could tell that the mana clearly belonged to a Light Faction Bastroling, so there was no reason for him to be wary.

‘Well, I’m probably just being sensitive since I haven’t been here in a while.’

Han-Yeol shook off his uneasiness, but just in case, he kept looking in the direction of where those guys were coming from. The others did the same. Han-Yeol activated Demon Eyes to make sure he didn’t miss them.

Thump, thump, thump!

“Huh, what’s with this ignorant charge?”

Contrary to Han-Yeol’s cautious behavior, these mysterious beings suddenly started charging faster and faster. Perhaps they sensed Han-Yeol’s group, or they were within running distance.

As they approached, their shape and appearance began to materialize through the Demon Eyes.

‘Huh, wait, I feel like I recognize that figure…’

“Ah!”

“What’s wrong, Master?”