Chapter 30: The Trail of Blue Blood

“How?”

“Let’s hit level 90 and go back for maintenance. We’d need to restock before reaching 110 anyway, so this works out well.”

Their plan was to level up to 90 by grinding Lizardmen, then move to the next hunting ground to reach 110.

They had prepared thoroughly, but pushing all the way to 110 in one go was unrealistic.

A maintenance stop was inevitable.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

At Kim Seokju’s suggestion, Kang Juho nodded.

Just then, a group of Lizardmen appeared ahead.

They both stopped in their tracks.

“Seokju, ready?”

There were 7 Lizardmen—enough to restrain with Attribute Shackle or Multi-Chain.

“Yup. Physical Enhancement…”

Seokju responded and began casting buffs.

As soon as the casting ended, Kang Juho charged toward the Lizardman horde.

-KIEEEEEK!

The Lizardmen recognized him and screeched.

One of them broke away from the group.

Kang Juho grimaced slightly.

‘Sometimes Despise can be annoying.’

It wasn’t a big problem—just a minor delay.

The Lizardman arrived, and Juho blocked its attack, then countered.

WHAM!

-KIEEEK!

The hammer struck, and the Lizardman let out a cry, momentarily stunned.

Seizing the opening, Juho launched a flurry of hammer swings.

On the fourth hit, the Lizardman fell.

The rest of the group, watching from behind, now charged.

They surrounded Juho, brandishing tridents and twin blades.

“Attribute Shackle!”

Seokju cast his spell, immobilizing the Lizardmen.

“Hammer of Fury!”

Juho, who had been holding his defense, now retaliated.

WHAM! SHWAAA!

WHAM! SHWAAA!

WHAM! SHWAAA!

Three shockwaves later, the battle was over.

‘No need to worry after all.’

The Lizardmen had hit harder than expected, which made him cautious, but once they were shackled, the fight ended without taking another hit.

He drank a potion to recover HP.

“Hyung, over there—six more.”

At Seokju’s words, Juho turned to look.

More Lizardmen were wandering off to the left.

“Let’s go right away.”

Hammer of Fury was on cooldown, but the time to close in—and some solo fights thanks to Despise—would stall things enough.

“I’ll reset buffs in advance.”

“Okay.”

“Defence Boost… Speed Boost…”

[All defenses increase by 15% for 3 minutes.]

[All speed increases by 14% for 3 minutes.]

‘Did the proficiency go up?’

The buff effects had grown stronger.

‘This growth is insane.’

Juho looked at the system message with a bit of envy, then dashed toward the Lizardmen.

Not long after, the battle ended.

[Level Up!]

[You may learn the skill “Multi-Repair.”]

The new skill was a passive related to repairs—it allowed simultaneous repairs of multiple items.

But unlike “Sharpen,” it wasn’t guaranteed to unlock just from the level-up, and he hadn’t prepared the necessary materials.

Also, it wasn’t a particularly important skill.

So Juho ignored it and distributed his bonus stat points instead, then continued hunting.

“Attribute Shackle!”

“Hammer of Fury!”

“Attribute Shackle!”

“Hammer of Fury!”

“Multi-Chain!”

“Hammer of Fury!”

With Seokju, the hunt continued smoothly.

[Level Up!]

Thanks to their relentless hunting, Juho soon reached level 67.

Yet his expression held a hint of disappointment.

Despite the level-up, no skill appeared.

‘No skill, huh.’

He’d gotten Hammer of Fury at 57, and Relentless at 62.

He thought maybe new skills came every 5 levels and had hoped for another at 67.

But no such luck.

‘Well, I guess they shouldn’t come too often.’

Though skill details were locked, the total number of skills was known.

Getting too many early wasn’t ideal.

“Hyung, over there.”

Juho snapped out of his thoughts as Seokju pointed ahead—another group of Lizardmen.

“Buff me again.”

***

Meanwhile…

Romen Rodegas, the head of House Rodegas—governing the major city of Boredos and surrounding regions—stood silently at his desk.

Five reports lay open before him.

Srrrk.

Staring blankly at them, he finally rose with a frustrated sigh and paced the room.

Eventually, he stopped by the window.

“Phew…”

He looked out at the night sky, his expression clouded.

Then he turned back, returned to his desk, and reread the reports.

They detailed the “Evadore Mountain Incident.”

Four weeks ago, Robnyn—the vice-captain of the 1st Knight Order—had taken trainee knights to the Evadore Mountains for a two-week training session.

When they didn’t return on time, it wasn’t cause for alarm; previous exercises often ran a few days late.

But after an entire week with no word, Romen grew concerned.

He ordered his brother, Demen—the mayor of Boredos—to investigate.

Demen dispatched a team to the mountains.

Not long ago, Romen received news that stunned him:

“Robnyn and the entire group of trainee knights had been found dead.“

Not a single survivor.

“Just… who could’ve done this…”

Evadore wasn’t entirely safe—it had wolves, deer, and even ogres.

But the wounds found on the corpses weren’t from monsters.

They were inflicted by swords, spears—and spells.

That meant the attackers were not monsters, but humans or humanoid entities.

The mountains lay near the heart of Roderghas territory.

Who could have committed such an act?

“They’ll be caught soon.”

Another investigation was already underway—not by the city, but by a covert intelligence unit directly under House Roderghas.

Experts in tracking and scouting.

With their skill, they would surely uncover new clues.

“Whoever it is…”

Romen ground his teeth.

***

Ssshh. Ssshh.

Ael moved cautiously, scanning his surroundings.

Step.

He suddenly stopped, eyes wide in surprise.

A tree caught his attention—not the tree itself, but the blue stain at its base.

And the smell.

Ael approached and sniffed carefully.

It was familiar.

“Blood?”

He was sure of it—blue blood.

Dry, but unmistakable.

There were some beings with blue blood, but not in Evadore.

This mountain only housed ogres and wild animals like deer, wolves, and lions.

None of them bled blue.

“This is it.”

The clue they’d been waiting for.

Ael began tracing the blue stains through the brush.

Soon, he spotted more—blue-stained grass.

Following the trail, he discovered a cave.

“Too risky to enter alone…”

Even Robnyn, a vice-captain, had died.

Whoever was responsible was no ordinary foe.

He returned to the tree where the trail began, pulled out a whistle, inhaled deeply, and blew.

Tweet—

Birdsong echoed through the forest.

Moments later:

“What’s wrong?”

“Did you find something?”

“Huh? What’s that blue stuff?”

His teammates arrived one by one.

“I’ll explain when the team leader gets here.”

Finally, their leader, Lagaen, arrived.

“What happened?”

“See that blue stuff?”

Ael pointed to the base of the tree.

“It’s blood.”

“…!”

Lagaen’s face tensed.

“And it leads to a cave.”

Ael led the group onward, with Lagaen and the others following.

“There it is.”

They soon reached the cave.

“Doben, Leos.”

“Yes.”

“Yup.”

“You two return and report to the Marquis. The rest of us go in.”

The cave might be empty, but it might also hold their killer.

Whatever lay ahead, someone needed to inform the Marquis right away.

Doben and Leos departed.

Lagaen led the team into the cave.

“!”

A wave of stench slammed into them.

Everyone gagged, covering their noses.

‘What the hell is that smell?’

The stench was nauseating.

Lagaen soaked some cotton in water and plugged his nose.

Only then did it ease.

He proceeded deeper, cautiously.

“…!”

A faint noise made him raise a hand.

Step… Step…

Footsteps.

Growing louder.

‘Should we retreat?’

No.

He made his decision.

‘We check.’

The steps were steady—just one person.

Lagaen clenched and released his fist three times—a signal to prepare for battle.

Weapons came out.

Then—the figure appeared.

“…!”

Lagaen’s eyes widened.

The footsteps sounded human.

But the figure was not human.