The Return of the Genius Ranker of All Times - Chapter 166

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 166

Episode 166.

Using Imbue on magic.

It wasn’t a thought only Dohyun had.

Mages make a living with skills, so there’s no way mages who are most serious about utilizing their class skills wouldn’t have thought of this at least once.

Especially if it’s the ostracized ‘Imbue’ skill.

They pondered and pondered again on how to make this shit skill that only takes up a skill slot shine.

“Huh? What if we imbue magic?”

“Maybe it’s not about imbuing the body, but a skill that enhances magic power?”

This was the first thing they thought of.

If imbuing magic was the true way to use it, then being Hero-grade would make perfect sense.

It was an innovative change of perspective, but…

‘It failed immediately.’

It failed at the speed of light and was withdrawn.

The reason for failure was simple and utterly obvious.

You couldn’t imbue the same attribute onto elemental magic that already contained that attribute.

Darkness Imbue literally imbues darkness. What would change if you tried to imbue darkness onto dark attribute magic?

‘Still, it should at least boost damage a little.’

Basically, the effects attached to Imbue tend to show better effects than regular magic.

Like the true damage of Darkness Imbue, for instance.

Since the fundamental attributes are the same, players speculated that the system couldn’t recognize it as ‘imbuing’ systematically.

That’s how Imbue became the tragic Hero skill that was ostracized.

‘…But my attribute is different.’

But what about Dohyun?

The only player who could use Fire Ball with Darkness Imbue.

No, probably the only multi-attribute mage(?) in all of Godose – wouldn’t the story be different for him?

‘Maybe…’

…It might be possible?

Grooooar-

Slash- Thud!

[You have defeated a Blue Forest Troll.]

“Shut up, you bastard.”

After easily dealing with a troll that was making noise without understanding the situation, Dohyun just stared endlessly at his skill slot.

The mere 10-second cooldown felt incredibly long.

Calming his racing heart and enduring the eternity-like 10 seconds, the skill slot finally glowed.

[You can use Fire Ball.]

At the same time, Dohyun quickly scanned his surroundings as if he’d been waiting.

There were plenty of targets.

Just the trolls visible right now numbered over ten.

Extending his hand toward a spot where three of them were gathered, a Fire Ball flew out.

[Using Darkness Imbue on Fire Ball.]

Then he used Darkness Imbue on the flying Fire Ball.

‘Will it really work?’

Half nervous, half expectant.

As he watched with mixed feelings.

[You have imbued Fire Ball with darkness.]

[Darkness attribute effects are applied to Fire Ball.]

With a cheerful notification, the Fire Ball began to change.

Starting from the tail of the sphere, it turned black, instantly transforming into a sphere of darkness.

The characteristic crackling sound of burning air also disappeared.

Grooar?

Thanks to this, the troll that only felt the hot heat when it came right up close was startled and stepped back.

–!

The darkness-imbued Fire Ball exploded in a soundless blast.

Black flames burned not just the troll’s flesh but deep inside it, and the troll screamed in terrible agony.

[You have defeated a Blue Forest Troll.]

It was a death cry.

“Wow…”

At the same time, admiration escaped from Dohyun’s mouth.

The ridiculous power that one-shot a troll?

The unbelievable power for just a rare magic was shocking enough, but setting all that aside, something else was igniting a fire in Dohyun’s chest.

‘It’s so damn cool!’

That fireball wasn’t flashy, but it had the romance that properly stimulated a man’s heart.

It was overflowing with what you’d call swag.

Feeling moved, Dohyun was busy letting out continuous admiration.

‘I really didn’t think it would work.’

Honestly, Dohyun had tried it with just a slim hope.

It would be a lie to say he hadn’t expected it, but he still thought it probably wouldn’t work.

It was even more powerful than expected.

Probably because the darkness attribute’s defense-ignoring damage worked fatally against trolls, whose characteristics are recovery and toughness from their thick hide…

‘Even accounting for that, it’s beyond expectations.’

Right now it’s just Fire Ball, but what if he imbued higher-level magic?

Hellfire, no, what if he could imbue even Meteor?

Gulp.

Just imagining it made him dizzy.

Grooooar- Grooar-

Were they angry about their companion’s death?

Before he knew it, the number of creatures surrounding Dohyun’s party exceeded six.

Then Charlie stepped forward this time.

-I shall protect.

As he spoke solemnly, a notification rang out.

[Charlie has activated ‘Covenant’.]

[Among the three covenants, he wishes to form the Covenant of Protection.]

[Do you agree?]

“Yes.”

There was no reason to refuse.

In this situation, there was no covenant more appropriate than the Covenant of Protection.

As he nodded, a translucent circle soon formed between Charlie and Dohyun.

[You have formed the Covenant of Protection with Guardian ‘Charlie’.]

[When both parties coexist within a certain distance, all defense, magic resistance, and health are greatly increased.]

[However, if you leave the range, the above stats decrease by 30%.]

This was the range.

As long as they stayed within that range, all defensive stats of both the knight Charlie and Dohyun who made the covenant would increase.

Instead, if they left that range, all stats would conversely be reduced.

This was why coordination was important.

‘If either one leaves the range, both receive debuff effects.’

What if the target was a mage or healer?

Thinking they were trying to compensate for their lacking defense, you’d trust them only to get hit hard in the back of the head.

Already being glass cannon, you’d become a fragile body that takes critical damage even from grazes.

Since Dohyun didn’t need to worry about this, he stepped forward feeling his strengthened body.

-Should I summon the undead?

“No, I don’t think we’ll need them.”

There was no need for an undead legion.

Just some trolls like that – Charlie and Dohyun were more than enough for two people.

And he needed to check how much tougher he’d become, didn’t he?

Dohyun pulled something out of his inventory. Seeing it, Jihad spoke as if he didn’t understand.

-…Did you really have to buy that? It looks too crude.

“This guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This is all about stats, man.

-I think it’s a very fine mask, my lord.

It was a mask.

A mask he’d bought from an auxiliary equipment merchant in Pratel before receiving the quest from Luliel and heading to the field.

‘Being able to buy auxiliary equipment from shops is such a blessing.’

Starting from Pratel, the auxiliary equipment system was fully implemented, making it easy to obtain from NPCs.

Of course, as easy as they were to obtain, there wasn’t any equipment as good as what Dohyun had gotten before.

At best, normal grade to normal+ grade?

[You have equipped ‘Crude Black Mask’.]

[Agility increases by +2.]

What Dohyun wore was similarly a normal+ grade mask.

It had no special options, but it could raise agility even a little, so it was better than not wearing one.

‘Now I won’t have to bother with annoying mosaics when uploading videos.’

Above all, considering future convenience, there was no reason not to wear it.

With this, he wouldn’t have to worry as much about people’s gazes.

He’d been thinking it would be nice to have a mask, and fortunately one merchant happened to be selling one.

…Though he wondered if it would mean anything since Jihad and Charlie were so conspicuous anyway, but it was a matter of feeling.

Having completed all preparations, Dohyun took his stance.

“Then I’ll leave the rear to you, Charlie.”

-Yes, just trust me and leave it to me, my lord.

Six in front, four in back.

It might be burdensome for a single Guardian to handle four, but Charlie’s aggro skills had never failed to meet expectations.

For Charlie, who had received the Covenant of Protection, four trolls would be easy.

Dash!

Deciding not to worry needlessly, Dohyun immediately ran forward.

Gruh?

Thud!

Then he charged straight ahead for a body tackle!

With a heavy sound that didn’t seem like a human and troll had collided, the troll went flying.

But Dohyun wasn’t safe either.

Having charged into enemy lines, club attacks came flying from all directions.

[HP: 7,713 / 7,780]

[HP: 7,645 / 7,780]

[HP: 7,572 / 7,780]

‘It really does tickle.’

Even taking hits this openly, his HP barely decreased.

It was thanks to his already high base stats and equipment, plus the effect of the Covenant of Protection.

With the recovery power of Benevolent Light added on top, he felt like he could take a beating like this for several minutes and be fine.

‘This level should be useful even in boss fights.’

The covenant’s power was proportional to the knight’s level.

Charlie’s level was still low, so it couldn’t compare to those of rankers, but for the current stage, this was excellent.

‘For players with weak builds, or when facing bosses with strong raw damage, this would really be essential, wouldn’t it?’

There was a reason rankers preferred knights who had learned the covenant.

Having finished his performance test adequately, Dohyun didn’t waste more time and swung Heavenly Transformation.

Slash, stab-

Thunk!

Cleanly cutting and stabbing to take down two guys.

—-!

‘Nice!’

Exploding a Fire Ball that had become black flames to kill one guy.

Gruuuh-! Thud.

While admiring once again, he tripped the legs of a guy trying to ambush him, making him fall,

[You use Rising Dragon Kick.]

Grabbing the neck of a troll that slightly circled around the fallen one and using Rising Dragon Kick!

Then immediately stomping down to break the fallen one’s nose bridge and stabbing the heart to finish.

Gr, gruuuh-

The troll that had been sent flying by the initial body tackle, watching this scene from somewhat far away, ran away without looking back.

Animal instinct had felt fear before a predator.

But Dohyun wasn’t one to just let it go.

[Heavenly Transformation transforms into Raven’s Black Spear.]

[You use Shroud in Darkness on Heavenly Transformation.]

Whoooosh-

He threw Heavenly Transformation, which had changed into a long spear rather than a dagger, turning it into a skewer.

Naturally, a fuse – thread was attached to the spear tip.

Gr, gruh….

The thin thread attached to the spear tip that pierced the heart.

The moment the troll saw it and sensed death, an explosion occurred.

[You have defeated a Mutant Troll of the Blue Forest.]

[You obtain Mutant Troll Blood.]

“Oh, it was a mutant. No wonder it was tough.”

He was lucky.

He’d obtained mutant troll blood with just six trolls.

Having dealt with the last troll in an instant, Dohyun turned around to see Charlie, who had already taken down two guys.

-Hmm! What a foul smell…. Does your civilization have no intention of developing something called brushing teeth? With four of you gathered like this, it’s honestly a bit difficult, so I’m asking.

Gruuuuh!

‘…Still the same.’

Still boasting his verbal damage while perfectly holding aggro.

Such Charlie definitely looked more comfortable than before.

Previously, he would maximize his characteristic fluid swordsmanship to deflect attacks while holding aggro, but now he was appropriately taking hits he could take or parrying them.

It was confidence that he could sufficiently endure attacks from ordinary trolls.

‘If he uses Guardian’s Armor on top of that, he could even tank against bosses, couldn’t he?’

What was amazing was that this wasn’t even his full buffs yet.

With the definitive damage skill called Sword of Light, he felt like Charlie would be in high demand even if he went party recruiting right now.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]

[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]

While he was thinking, Charlie finished off the remaining two and approached with discipline, bowing his head.

-My lord’s sword has successfully completed the assigned mission.

-Hmm! Very excellent!

-Risa risa!

Jihad and Eliza, following Charlie’s example, straightened their backs and answered in the most solemn voices possible.

Those guys used to fight like fire and oil at first.

Now he thought they’d become quite close.

‘Well, they have been sticking together for a while now.’

It’s probably been more than two weeks.

I was chuckling to myself, thinking that this must be why they say time heals all wounds.

Ding-

An unexpected notification sounded.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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