Chapter 23: Blood Knight

Thud! Vrrrooom!

Finally, the first ghoul collapsed, and the remaining ghouls hesitated again after being damaged by the shockwave.

“Nice, nice.”

When they hesitate, they don’t attack.

Which means, he could preserve more HP.

Kang Juho swung the final Hammer of Fury.

Thud! Vrrrooom! Swish…

With the last shockwave, the red glow vanished from the hammer.

Kang Juho started swinging the now-normal hammer again.

Thud! Thump!

The ghouls had already taken three shockwaves.

In other words, it was the same as being hit three times.

Thud! Thump!

Thud! Thump!

Each time the hammer landed, a ghoul fell.

“Wow…”

Having wiped out all the ghouls, Kang Juho let out a sigh of amazement and shivered from the thrill.

Normally, to kill 8 ghouls, it would’ve taken 32 hits.

But thanks to the Hammer of Fury, that number was drastically reduced to 12.

“Wow, hyung, that was amazing.”

Kim Seokju approached and mumbled in admiration.

“Right?”

“Yes, at this rate you’ll hit level 60 in no time.”

You couldn’t use Hammer of Fury in every battle, but it was clear the hunting speed had improved.

At this rate, they might leave Villemé sooner than planned.

***

<Job Change – Blood Knight>

[You’ve reached level 50 without using the Knight’s body.]

[You now qualify to become a Blood Knight.]

[Prove your strength through relentless hunting!]

[Level: 73/70]

[Monsters: 9994 / 10000]

[Quest Reward: Job Change – Blood Knight]

(Using the Knight’s body will cancel the quest)

(Changing jobs resets your class skills)

Kwon Na-yeon closed the quest window and muttered to herself:

“Just 6 left…!”

She had already met the first condition—level.

Now only one thing remained: kill 10,000 monsters.

Only 6 left to go.

“Let’s go!!!”

Hearing the shout near her ear, Kwon Na-yeon looked ahead.

The voice belonged to the party’s main tank, Gaste.

He was running toward them, leading an excited horde of Yellow Orcs—more than 20 in number.

“You brought quite a crowd.”

“If we mess up, we might die.”

“Maybe so.”

“Hehe, I’m hyped!”

Temu (an Assassin), Charpa (a Priest), Kim Sana (a Mage), and Jugan (a Hunter) each threw out comments in turn.

Then finally, Kwon Na-yeon stepped forward and said,

“Don’t hold back—blast your skills.”

This wasn’t a small group.

Trying to coordinate combos could get them killed.

Right now, the priority was to spam skills and kill the orcs as quickly as possible.

Gaste quickly turned around.

But since dozens couldn’t attack him all at once, their rage shifted to the rest of the party, including Kwon Na-yeon.

“AoE Taunt!”

Gaste, who had anticipated this, used Area Taunt—a skill that provokes monsters in a wide radius.

The orcs that had turned away from Gaste now focused their rage on him again.

In the chaos, they even tangled with each other and fell.

“Slow Heal! Fast Heal! Breath of Vitality!”

Charpa cast healing and buffs to keep Gaste alive.

“Fire Wall! Wind Cutter!”

“Explosion Poetry! Storm Poetry!”

“Assassinate!”

“Certain Kill!”

The rest of the party, including Kwon Na-yeon, unleashed their skills on the orcs.

The number of orcs rapidly decreased, and soon all of them were defeated.

As if on cue, everyone sat down to rest.

Kwon Na-yeon immediately opened the quest window.

The second condition had now been met.

Time to change jobs.

Smiling faintly, she pressed the “Complete” button.

[You have completed the Job Change Quest: Blood Knight.]

[Your Knight class skills have been reset.]

[You have changed to Blood Knight.]

[You’ve learned the skill: “Chivalry Soaked in Blood.”]

[You can learn new skills through the Skill Window.]

A message popped up, and Kwon Na-yeon’s eyes gleamed.

‘The base passive changed?’

The Knight’s original passive was “Chivalry”—

If HP dropped below 50%, it boosted attack and defense by 10%.

Now with “Soaked in Blood,” there had to be a difference.

Excited, she opened the skill window.

‘So this is how it looks. Way more convenient.’

The skill window had changed significantly compared to when she was a regular class.

Now she didn’t need to go visit Knights to learn new skills.

First, she checked her passive:

<Chivalry Soaked in Blood [Passive]>

[Mastery: 1 (0%)]

1. Deals +20% extra damage to enemies with HP under 50%
2. Recovers 1% HP when defeating a monster

Kwon Na-yeon was stunned.

‘Insane.’

The options were ridiculous.

‘What about the other skills…’

She checked the other available skills.

Although not all were visible due to her level, the currently available ones showed her one thing:

‘Totally offense-oriented.’

While some skills were shared with the Knight class, none of the skills were defensive.

Every single one was offensive.

She beamed with joy.

‘Perfect!’

Kwon Na-yeon had always felt the Knight class lacked offensive power.

Now, learning that Blood Knight focused entirely on attack, she couldn’t help but smile.

“Something good happen?”

Kim Sana approached and asked.

“Yeah, I just changed jobs.”

The rest of the party turned to her.

“Oh? How is it? Is it a good class?”

“It’s a pure offensive Knight. Even the passive’s great. The skills are…”

Trailing off, she clicked to learn the skills.

[Skill Quest ‘Weapon Handling’ has been created.]

“You get them through quests.”

She thought she could just click to learn them all, but it wasn’t that easy.

“Wow, so you don’t need to visit Knights anymore?”

“Yep!”

Kwon Na-yeon answered and clicked on all the skill acquisition buttons.

She checked the quest completion conditions.

50% could be completed with gold, but the rest required monster kills.

[Skill Quest ‘Sharp Blade’ Completed.]

[You have learned the skill ‘Sharp Blade.’]

After learning all the immediately completable skills, Kwon Na-yeon stood up.

“Anyone else need more rest? Let’s go.”

***

Character Name: Kang Juho

Nation: Paraville Kingdom

Class: Battle Blacksmith

Level: 59

EXP: 82%

HP: 16,250

Mana: 1,200

Satiety: 85%

Strength: 150 (+80)

Agility: 62 (+50)

Stamina: 325 (+85)

Wisdom: 60 (+50)

“Should hit 60 just by hunting on the way back, right?”

Kang Juho said, glancing at his EXP bar.

Only 18% left to reach 60—plenty to gain before reaching the entrance.

“Yeah, let’s head back!”

Kim Seokju agreed.

“And if we don’t, we can farm zombies to hit 60.”

If they reached the entrance and still weren’t level 60, they could just hunt nearby zombies.

Kang Juho and Kim Seokju began hunting ghouls while heading toward the entrance.

Zombies soon appeared, and eventually the ghouls vanished completely.

[Level Up!]

Kang Juho leveled up before reaching the entrance.

“Huh, guess it doesn’t have that skill.”

Kang Juho sighed, checking his message window.

“What skill?”

“Sharpness.”

“Huh? That’s not there?”

“Yeah. I thought it would be.”

“Sharpness” is a buff skill that increases weapon attack power and durability for a set time.

Normally available to blacksmiths at level 60.

But apparently, Battlefield Blacksmith couldn’t learn it.

“Maybe there’s a better skill instead?”

“Yeah, probably.”

As they talked, they kept moving and finally exited the desolate graveyard.

“Wow, still no players here. Maybe it’s the poison?”

“Yeah, that poison damage is no joke. Everyone probably went to hunt orcs.”

Just like in the Goblin Forest, they expected at least a few parties.

But there were no players at all—just zombies.

Chatting as they went, the two headed for Villemé.

Upon arrival, they immediately went to the general store to sell their loot.

“Wow…”

Kang Juho gasped after selling the byproducts.

Kim Seokju did the same.

“That ghoul hunting really paid off.”

“Seriously, didn’t expect this kind of difference…”

It was all thanks to the ghoul drops—much more valuable than zombie scraps.

“How much did you get?”

“5,200.”

“I got 4,800.”

The price difference exceeded expectations, and both earned a fortune.

“Let’s do a quick gear check, then buy new equipment in Boredos?”

“Yeah, let’s just learn our skills, stock up on food, and head out.”

Their next destination: Boredos, northeast of Villemé.

It was one of the top 10 cities in Paraville Kingdom—much larger than Villemé.

Spending gold in Villemé would be inefficient.

“You’re taking the delivery quest, right?”

“Of course.”

Some kingdoms had warp gates, but Paraville didn’t—

At least not between Villemé and Boredos.

There were warp gates only between the capital Paravilletta and its five satellite cities.

So travel between non-satellite cities required manual movement.

And for cities without gates, delivery quests were available.

“Then see you in front of the town hall!”

Delivery quests could be picked up from the town hall or merchant guild.

Villemé had no guild, so only the town hall.

“Okay! See you there!”

They split up for maintenance.

Kang Juho then headed straight to the blacksmith.