I Became the Weakest Summon of the Genius Summoner

Chapter 4. The Essence of Kleptomancy

Goblins, orcs, and ogres.

These humanoid monsters, known as the three major humanoids, were extremely aggressive and never shied away from battle.

As I watched them, eyes bloodshot and gleaming as they searched for the archer whose location was unknown, I felt the air grow tense.

Cautiously approaching the closest one, I activated an attack skill for the first time in my life.

【Heavy Strike Lv.1】

- Strike with 250% of attack power.

Mana: 3/6 (-1)

Heavy Strike, deemed the most usable among regular skills, infused into my club, subtly layering blue magic power over its surface.

I then swung down with all my might onto the exposed back of the goblin's head.

Thwack-!

"Kehhk-!"

Despite my meager stats, inferior weapon, and the lowest-grade attack skill, it seemed there was no issue in taking down at least one goblin.

Was it a critical hit, given that it was an unexpected blow from behind?

I pummeled the goblin, collapsed on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut, with my club until the notification message appeared.

However, shaking off the letters from my head, I blocked the remaining one's retreat.

The goblin, flustered upon seeing its two partners taken down instantly, attempted to crouch and turn to flee, but I intercepted its path, squandering its opportunity.

Whoosh—!

Thud-!

"Kyaaak!"

This time, an arrow pierced the goblin's kneecap, embedding so deeply the arrowhead protruded visibly.

As expected of a skill with piercing enhancement.

As it flailed, the goblin revealed its grimy teeth and swung its club at me in anger, yet I couldn't help but scoff at such a feeble attack.

Contrary to my thoughts, my body wouldn't follow my intentions at all.

Crack-!

'This pathetic club...!'

Caught by the swift pressing attack, I hurriedly defended with my club, but the club's durability seemed to have already reached its limit.

'A goblin's club swung while sitting, and I can't even dodge it... Unbelievable...'

This was, in its own way, a fresh shock.

The goblin raised one corner of its mouth as if mocking my bewildered state.

'You shouldn't be laughing, should you? The intelligence level is indeed...'

Thunk-!

"Eghh...!"

Distracted by my presence, the goblin failed to notice the arrow flying from a diagonal and let out its deathly scream.

Was my presence so overwhelming that it made the goblin forget about the archer? Perhaps not.

Maybe it was the goblin's first battle as well?

Rustle-

Even though the battle, not particularly difficult, had ended, Yeon-hee emerged from the bushes, bow ready, vigilantly moving toward the clearing.

'Her basics have always been solid...'

Seeing a side of her that bore the nicknames like walking manual, young boomer, and zero flexibility, oddly enough, made me feel relieved.

And curious.

'Wasn't it this dungeon where she got injured? She doesn't seem terribly careless.'

Even though I had maximized my Sense stat to stay alert to our surroundings, I decided to observe a little longer.

"Click..."

And with a trembling heart, I checked the pending messages.

'Why am I so nervous about this...'

I eagerly anticipated what my trait 【Kleptomancy】 might have stolen. Surely there was no chance of not getting a single skill, right?

- You have defeated a goblin!
- You have gained a minuscule amount of experience.

- You have acquired a low-grade magic stone. The stone is transferred to the summoner's inventory.

'Hmm, the acquired magic stones go to Yeon-hee. That makes sense, I suppose.'

- The trait 【Kleptomancy】 activates.

- Randomly steals a goblin's skill.

- Acquired skill 【Dagger Throw】!

'... Huh? Dagger Throw? A goblin using a dagger?'

Even recalling back to hobgoblins or goblin champions, the higher ranks of goblins, I had never seen them use daggers...

- You assisted in defeating a goblin.

- You gain a minuscule amount of experience.

Though I had not directly struck the last goblin killed, blocking its path seemed to have earned me recognition for contribution.

"You're quite leisurely! Hehe."

Yeon-hee tossed the three magic stones in her small hand before starting to skillfully rummage through the goblins' pockets.

"Ilwol, collect some weapons too. Your club's broken."

Nodding, I stored the three clubs the goblins had been using into my inventory.

=====

Roughly Carved Wooden Club

- Attack power +2
- Durability 15/20

=====

'Ooh! So at least it's better than the worn-out ones!'

Obtaining equipment with double(?) the attack power of my previous gear uplifted my spirits a bit.

Jingle-

"Only 2 silvers, that's disappointing, goblin friends."

'Where did she pick up such uncle-like comments...'

Standing by Yeon-hee, who was clicking her tongue with a frown, she reached out towards me.

"Ilwol, shall we see what skill you got? Well then-"

Holding my hand bone, she nodded her head before tilting it in puzzlement.

"Dagger Throw? These guys had such a skill? Then why didn't they use it?"

I'm certain 100 out of 100 hunters would react the same way.

"Well, given their lack of intelligence, they might not even be aware of what they possess. Anyway, you really do steal skills! That's incredible!"

After carrying on for a while, she began cutting the goblin ears with a knife.

Slice-

"Ilwol, watch carefully. You cut the goblin ear tips and take them out for bounty rewards."

Familiar with this task, she clipped the goblins' ears and stored them in a brown leather pouch, securing it with a string before placing it in her inventory.

"Can you do it?"

"Clack, clack, clack-!"

What had I done most frequently in my past life as a guide?

Collecting these bounty tokens and dismantling byproducts was it.

When a certain number of monsters accumulate in a dungeon, the gate bursts open, and monsters spill outside, causing incidents.

It's a system designed to incentivize hunters to take down monsters.

Presenting these tokens at the office at the dungeon entrance gets your bounty verified, with a reward computed a few days later.

'I think it was 3,000 won per goblin...'

Though not much, every little bit adds up to a mountain.

"Let's go, Ilwol."

We resumed our search for the lake.

Monsters, after all, tend to congregate near bodies of water.

Yeon-hee refrained from speaking more than necessary compared to when we'd been in the room.

While cautious of attracting monsters with noise, the true danger in dungeons was clearly people.

In a low-grade dungeon like the Goblin Dungeon, the hunters were never noteworthy, but even so, incomprehensible incidents were not uncommon.

Just like those six men, embroiled in a fierce fight ahead of us.

The prime cause for such dungeon brawls, among others, is due to the extremely rare 【Rune】 drops.

All of them having relatively similar skills were sustaining bodily wounds and bleeding, yet none had sustained critical injuries.

There was a leather bag among them, adjacent to which lay a crimson, roughly fist-sized stone.

'A Rune of Vigor...'

Its familiar emblem featured three overlapping circles in intaglio.

Just having it in your inventory boosts your health stat.

The six men constantly shot wary glances toward the stone, eyeing their opponents cautiously.

'Did they try to kill the person with the rune to get it dropped, only for things to go awry?'

The loot in a dungeon is claimed by the participant with the highest contribution.

Until then, nobody can claim it.

However, once it has an owner, should they fall, equipment or runes drop at a certain chance.

While equipment often vanishes on the owner's death, runes drop at a significantly high rate, leading to such occurrences.

Perhaps while admiring the rune, a surprise attack caused it to be dropped.

'Risking their lives over a low-grade rune from a goblin dungeon... They're some cracked heads indeed.'

Yet, I too was tempted like those cracked heads.

Given that my skull was already fractured, perhaps this much was permissible.

Naturally, my eyes met Yeon-hee's.

(Ilwol... can you do this?)

The whispered, scant words conveyed a clear meaning.

Nod-

Mana: 1/6 (-2)

I activated stealth, consuming two mana, and bolted forward without hesitation.

Stealth consumes one mana every thirty seconds, making speed critical.

Yeon-hee had already secured an escape route, slowly moving backward.

- You pathetic bastards, making such a fuss over a regular rune!
- Hehe, none of this would've happened if you'd just handed it over. Better give it now before you truly regret it.
- As if!! You have to kill someone to drop a rune, so you better prepare to really finish us! Who do you think you're tricking?

Boom-!
- Kehhk-
- Cough, cough
- Damn!

One of the rune owner's team threw a small vial at the enemies, and as it shattered on the ground, thin green smoke billowed up.

'Poison smoke? Perfect timing.'

Having reached right in front of the bag, I hastily scooped up the fallen rune and sprinted back toward Yeon-hee with all my might.

- Where did it go? My rune?!