022 episode. Hound (1)
“I heard there are foreigners here.”
For a moment, the air froze, and people rushed out like an ebb.
Only the shopkeeper remained with an anxious face.
‘Is it the end of three people? I don’t feel any signs outside.’
“There is one guy with a bad eye color just by looking at it.”
The guys came over and over.
The guy with the scar on the corner of his mouth pierced the meat on the plate with a jackknife.
Clap!
Dish shards splashed on food and drink everywhere.
Scar sat down, and the other two stood behind their backs as if escorting them.
“We are going to ask you something.”
“what.”
“Our colleagues were dead on the way. I followed the wheel traces and saw that it led all the way to here. Just in case he knows anything.”
His eyes had already determined the culprit.
I skimmed off any debris that had splattered on the food, and continued eating calmly.
“I don’t know.”
“No, think carefully. I looked at the bike I left and it was full of bullet marks. do you shoot some guns? First of all, let’s check the bulge on the coat… .”
His arm comes close to my chest.
I raised my mana and accelerated my body’s movements to the max.
I got up and pulled out my dining knife and the jackknife stuck in the meat.
Then, towards the back of both hands of the scar, it was struck like lightning.
thud!
Then he pulled out two pistols from his arms and aimed them at the guys behind his back.
“… … !”
“I’m sorry. I thought it was meat, but it turned out to be your hand.”
It happened like a flash of light.
Half a beat later, a scream of pain breaks out.
The two guys behind their backs stood still in the same posture they had pulled out their guns from.
“You two guys in the back, don’t move. The moment you lift one finger, your head will fly away.”
“Hey, such a dog, a bastard—.”
Scar’s voice trembles softly.
He tries to get out of the situation somehow, but his hands are fixed to the table and he is unable to move.
“… … .”
These guys are more like hyenas that eat anything.
However, they may have lost their sense of wildness by reigning as a top predator for too long in a place where there are no lions.
‘So you’re approaching it defenselessly like this. Even looking at the corpses of my colleagues.’
Even if they approached carefully, the outcome would not have changed.
“From now on, you will answer my questions sincerely.”
“Do not be ridiculous! Hey, what a cheeky, f*cking bird—!”
bang!
The pistol shoots fire, and a guy in the back collapses without a hitch. It hit me right in the forehead.
“… … !”
“I think we have something in common. If you ask me, I have a quick temper.”
I said to the shopkeeper who was sticking his head out at the bar.
“Master. Is there some kind of rope here?”
“Come on, what are you doing now!”
Scar looked at the owner and cried out in anguish.
“Yeah, there you are! Hurry up and do something with this guy! It’s an order!”
bang!
Another guy falls down.
The other guys didn’t need it. The one who has the most information is probably this guy who is the leader.
“… I no longer need the rope.”
The scar left alone, grating her teeth and staring at me.
“Tell me everything you know. Where is the location of the den, what is the personnel and weapon composition, and who is the boss?”
“Mom, I don’t know. Oh, I know, but I can’t talk.”
That’s nonsense.
Without asking twice, I reached out with a nailed knife.
“Gee, what are you going to do now?”
“If your head doesn’t know, let’s bury it directly on your body.”
I grabbed the handle.
And it swung back and forth as if holding a lever. No frills, very rough.
“aah-!”
A scream filled with pain echoed through the bar.
Through the dusty window, the afternoon sun and the eyes of the residents were reflected.
* * *
On the table, Scar is lying on his back, fainting. The back of the hand with the knife stuck in it was mangled.
“Hey, that’s crazy. Touching the hounds.”
People flocked to the entrance of the store. One of them came up to me and screamed like a squeeze.
“Do you know what you are doing now? It’s you, just leave this town, but we’re not! It’s over. They’ll be slaughtered by the hounds… .”
When our eyes met, the man’s words changed as if crawling at the end.
The man’s hand was rough.
It’s full of scratches from mining, but I’m sure you’ve never properly held a weapon in that hand.
“No such thing.”
“All right, how can you guarantee that? No, they’re both ferocious and the boss uses strange powers… !”
“Is this what you mean?”
Hwareuk.
Flames rose above my palms.
All of the people looked stunned for a moment.
“Hey, what is that?”
“Nonsense!”
No one spoke any more.
or bow down as if worshiping God.
To avoid harm or to stick to the wall.
Or take a stance to run.
‘The phenomenon of magic itself must be unfamiliar.’
It is not an exaggeration to say that people with high numbers live without contact with ‘mana’.
It is rare to encounter a mana user once.
Even if you are lucky enough to be gifted with the ability to feel mana, most of them die before they bloom.
If flowering is successful, head to the lower-numbered area to increase your status.
Then an old repairman came out of the crowd.
“I thought there was a possibility, but I was a mana user. Besides, he’s a wizard.”
People murmured at the word “magic”.
He is aware of the existence of mana and deals with machines. A highly probable guess popped into my mind.
“Were you in Clarkfield?”
“That’s right.”
There are two hextech holy places within the Empire.
The first is Latium.
It is a government agency located in the capital and produces cutting-edge products in conjunction with Matop.
The second is Clackfield.
It is located in the 50th division, and all kinds of illegal technology and equipment are distributed.
Although it tends to be more mechanical than magic, it is mainly the latter where innovative equipment is developed.
It is a place where all kinds of radical technology experiments are conducted to avoid the law.
There must be a story behind the fact that the villagers in the 50s are in the wilderness, but I didn’t ask about it.
“I will go into the den, clear them, and save the children.”
“That’s what the repair shop meant. But even if you’re a wizard, it’s unreasonable to deal with all of them… .”
I silently increased the size of the flames.
Wrath-!
Surprised people back off.
As the flame spreads, geometric patterns are embroidered in the air.
phlegmatic.
A blue lightning bolt fluttered over it.
Maximum mana reserve.
The ability to finely control mana.
The two are separate realms.
Even if the circuit level is high by training for a long time, mana control may be reduced.
In the case of Cain, the ability to feel and manipulate mana is unmatched.
Except for the main character and some characters, it’s enough to be called the number one in the worldview.
If the old man has some understanding of magic, he will understand my level well enough.
“Awesome… hahaha I’m proud to have seen more wizards than others, but I’ve never seen such a skill… .”
The old man couldn’t keep his mouth open. One of the villagers interrupted the conversation.
“Oh, old man. Well, does that mean he can really wipe out hounds? Can you save our children?”
“I heard that a skilled wizard costs a hundred per day. But we need an escort, and there’s a chance that their bosses will also use magic… .”
“You don’t need an escort, and there’s nothing the boss can’t beat.”
Silence passed for a moment.
“No, sorcerer! Help us!”
How many seconds have passed?
Starting with someone’s cry, people began to kneel on the floor.
“We, our children, have been arrested!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t know. Please help!”
Emotions and moods are highly contagious.
Even though I’ve already said I’d help, they’re showing these kinds of things in front of them.
It would be like catching even straw.
‘Or maybe I’m afraid I’ll change my mind.’
Of course, not everyone was like that.
There were a lot of people who were watching the situation with distrust or confused eyes.
I watched the scene with cold eyes and said to the old man.
“How long will it take to repair?”
“If you go back and work right away, it will be over by the end of the evening.”
I nodded. Then he turned around and said to the bar owner, who had a puzzled face.
“I wonder if there is a room where I can rest for a while.”
“Ah, yes, yes. I will guide you.”
“Wizard!”
I left the chaotic first floor behind and headed to the second floor.
Kick-.
“Actually, I didn’t think that people who stayed in this village would show up.”
A small room with only a bed and a table.
It was shabby, but it didn’t matter because it wasn’t a place to stay for long.
I took out a few coins and handed it to the owner.
“This would be about the cost of food, a room, and cleaning the first floor.”
The owner accepted it with a bewildered expression.
“… Can I bring the meal over here?”
I nodded.
Before the door closed, the owner’s voice could be heard through a small gap.
“… I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Do you have fire coming out of your hands? I thought it was possible only in legends and fairy tales.”
I stopped the hand closing the door.
“If you really have that kind of power… please My daughter is also held there.”
The owner’s palm came through the crack in the door. The coins I had just handed over were still there.
“… … .”
He stared intently at him and reached out his hand to retrieve the coin. The door closed, and soon silence came.
dump.
I laid down on the bed and organized the information I squeezed from the scar on the first floor.
the location of the hideout.
Personnel composition and building structure.
The main activity site and its own working system.
But I didn’t know much about the boss.
“Ba, ba, he came to me about half a year ago and killed the original boss and took his place. And he wears a mask and uses strange powers. He, I don’t know what to say I really don’t know.”
The possibility of being a wizard is quite high.
It is said that people are electrocuted just by touching them, and they lift rocks with their bare hands.
‘Anyway, it doesn’t change the fact that you have to go and check it out yourself.’
He took the gun and magazine out of his arms and laid them out on the table.
A few bullets were engraved with “Fire Explosion” and “Chain Lightning”.
[circuit level: 1]
[Mana: 25 / 305]
About 70 hunting dogs resided in the hideout. In order to deal with all of them, preliminary work was required.
‘The departure is tomorrow morning.’
The hounds form a team of three and reside in a nearby village and patrol the area. And they rotate every day on a lunch rotation.
Today, there are three residents in this village, including Scar.
In other words, it was said that today’s turmoil would not be known to the hideout until noon tomorrow, and rather, I could launch a surprise attack.
The children said they were still unharmed.
smart.
“It’s a meal.”
The owner came in with meat dishes, soup and alcohol on a tray. Tea seemed to have taken the utmost care in its own way.
After eating, I went to the repair shop on time to check the condition of the bike.
Along the way, the eyes of the locals were drawn close to each other.
“I changed a few parts other than the visible ones. It’s much better to move in secret. Unauthorized modification is illegal, but there is something to know about the law in a place like this.”
When I drove it myself, surprisingly, there was almost no gas sound. Almost to the point of being silent.
“I like it.”
I went back to my room, locked the door, and set the alarm magic.
He slept for a few hours, then woke up again and engraved a spell on the bullet whenever his mana was maxed out.
When the day was bright like that, a total of 16 magic bullets were completed.
“There are some young people who want to fight together. If we go together, even a little help… .”
There were quite a few residents at the entrance of the village.
At the end of a middle-aged man, I shifted my gaze to one side of the entrance.
“… … .”
A thin cloth was covered over the corpses of the hounds.
It was preserved intact, lest it be harmed by other gangs later.
Those who came out to help were also not very reliable.
or drifted out
Are you regretting going out for nothing?
Those kinds of things were strong.
Without realizing it, my lips twitched.
“I don’t need help.”
Boo-!
I got on the bike and immediately pulled the steering wheel.
The village moved away, and most of the landscape turned into a barren wilderness.
The sun was slowly rising in the blue sky, and the world was regaining its original color.
How long have you been running without a hitch?
Gradually a canyon appeared.
‘I said there are no guards outside the canyon.’
It was a kind of self-confidence.
The hideout is hidden inside the canyon.
squeaky.
Arriving at the entrance, I parked the bike next to a nearby scrap pile.
I opened the box, pulled out a crossbody bag, and loaded several guns and magazines.
‘It’s a shame it’s too much.’
After entering the interior and walking for a while, an abandoned building complex appeared.
It was a cemetery-like landscape of crumbling and collapsing buildings everywhere.
jerk. jerk.
All I could hear was the sound of my footsteps and the wind blowing through the frame of the building.
We walked diligently and reached the end of the canyon.
As the villagers said, a blue curtain fluttered, blocking the entrance.
‘Mana is heterogeneous. It’s definitely not a spell I wrote on my own.’
Then some hounds appeared from the building next door. It was a sentry guarding around the barrier.
“what. traveler… .”
Instantly accelerates movement, pulls out a gun and shoots.
bang! bang! bang!
The guys couldn’t even respond and the bullets pierced their foreheads and they fell.
“… … .”
I glance down and see the tattoos on their arms. You would need a pass to enter the hideout.
I paused for a moment and searched the database in my head.
‘Approximately 300 kinds of magic are officially registered in the Tower.’
That number gradually increases as the plot progresses and the level of magic in the entire continent increases.
But at this point, I know the correct usage of even all the magic that will be developed in the future.
Even if you have a small amount of mana, it is not difficult to use and apply as long as you lower the output.
wow.
Enter the form of the tattoo in your head and generate mana.
He walked on his forearm and drew it as it was, using mana as a dye.
A scorpion that seems to be alive and breathing soon was completed.
‘It’s not a face I like.’
Place your palms on my face.
Mana moves, and the palm is lifted.
When I took out my hand mirror and checked it, my face had changed to the same look as one of them.
It was a simple psychedelic magic.
If you get close, it will crack, and it will loosen in a few minutes, but for now, that’s enough.
I turned around and headed back into the canyon. After passing between the buildings, we arrived at the bottom of a cliff at a certain point.
I can feel the flow of mana.
The same type of psychedelic magic that I just used.
As I strode forward, my body crossed the cliff and landed on the other side.
A large open space surrounded by cliffs.
A five-story abandoned building in the middle.
Judging from its size, it looked like a building used as a large shopping mall.
‘There are four guys standing guard on the roof.’
One of the dogs put down the telescope and beckoned, then lowered the guns the others were aiming at.
I headed towards the entrance without stopping.
The door was a thick iron gate.
It appears that the building was renovated and replaced, not the original door.
thud. thud.
A knock opened the upper eye socket.
“what. Are you Mark? It’s not time for a shift yet… What, did you change your clothes? What else is that bag?”
“I caught a traveler. There was a strange thing in the bag. I think I should report to the boss.”
“Wait a minute.”
“Urgent. Please open it immediately.”
Chunkyung. squeaky.
“What is it?”
“He had something like this.”
shudder.
I took the gun out of my bag and put the gun to the guy’s forehead.