Levelling Up In An Exclusive Dungeon

Chapter 16

Lucia witnessed a faint aura leaking from Kang Jin-hyuk’s hand.

It was a faint shimmer, almost embarrassing to even call it an aura, but the potential was definitely there.

‘I knew he was talented, but he learned it even faster than I expected.’

It was true that Clerics had an easier time learning about aura than ordinary humans.

Since they borrowed the power of faith rather than their own mana, it was like skipping 3~4 steps compared to ordinary people.

However, just because the conditions were relaxed didn’t mean that everyone could master aura.

If all Clerics could learn aura, Lucia’s world would have been overflowing with Paladins.

‘If he had strong faith, he might have awakened it on his own.’

Of course, Lucia could be certain that would never have happened.

Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t show any of the piety or faith-driven behavior characteristic of a clergyman.

If he hadn’t used Holy Shield, she wouldn’t have realized he was a Cleric until the very end.

“Sigh, I guess there’s no time to investigate this.”

Since they had to move forward faster than expected, the plan to investigate the magic circle needed to be adjusted.

But she didn’t feel any regret.

Even if she finished interpreting the magic circle, returning to her original dimension with her magic power alone was impossible.

Continuing the investigation was simply out of her own desire.

She just wanted to know why she was sent here in the first place.

Lucia thought it was more appropriate to help Kang Jin-hyuk take the next step than to satisfy her curiosity.

This was because she also knew the importance of the growth period.

As expected.

Kang Jin-hyuk, having acquired a new skill, was full of enthusiasm.

“There was a way to obtain skills besides job changing……!”

Kang Jin-hyuk checked the details of his newly acquired passive skill.

『Divine Power Application – Level 1』

Allows the user to utilize divine power at will, in addition to specific skills.

Current Skill Level: F

Grants Holy attribute when using divine power.

Increases attack power and defense power in proportion to the MP consumed.

After examining the skill description, Kang Jin-hyuk had a question.

“You can use divine power in addition to specific skills?”

It could be interpreted as being able to use divine power on skills that weren’t Cleric skills, but Kang Jin-hyuk had no way to confirm that.

“Since I don’t have any skills other than Cleric skills…….”

It was a shame that he couldn’t test out his new skill.

But since he had gained more than that, he wasn’t disappointed at all.

Lucia, who had approached Kang Jin-hyuk, noticed that the corners of his mouth were curved into a pleasant smile.

“What are you smirking about?”

“I got a new passive skill.”

“Passive…… what?”

Kang Jin-hyuk found it strange that Lucia reacted as if she had never heard of it before.

“Don’t you know passive skills? The ones that activate without you having to say the skill name.”

“I don’t know anything like that. What are skills in the first place?”

Kang Jin-hyuk was at a loss for words, not expecting her to ask what skills were.

“You know what I used a while ago, Holy Shield? That’s a skill.”

Lucia spoke as if she understood after hearing those words.

“So you call holy magic skills.”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt a strong sense of discomfort at this moment.

It felt awkward to simply think of it as a difference in language, as Lucia had said.

Kang Jin-hyuk asked her a question to confirm these facts for himself.

“Do you know what stats are?”

“What’s that again? It sounds similar to skills, so I guess you’re talking about magic.”

“You know, that window-like thing that pops up in front of you when you think about it? I’m talking about the stats that appear there.”

Lucia tilted her head, wondering what he was talking about.

“Where is there such a thing?”

She seemed to have no knowledge of stats, skills, or even the ‘window that pops up in front of your eyes’.

After continuing to question Lucia, Kang Jin-hyuk realized that such things didn’t exist in her world.

In Lucia’s world, people became stronger by training their bodies or awakening their mana.

They didn’t level up like in a game, as they did here.

Magic was also cast using mana through formulas and chanting, not by simply saying a skill name and having it automatically activate.

“Our way has the advantage of being simple, but the disadvantage of being difficult to apply.”

But fortunately, it wasn’t completely impossible to apply.

Just now, after repeating it countless times, he had learned a new passive skill.

With immediate proof, Kang Jin-hyuk believed that the methods used in Lucia’s world would also work here.

If he followed her training methods exactly, he would surely be able to acquire more skills.

Thinking that way, he couldn’t stay still any longer.

“Teach me the next method right away. How can I use this aura that’s leaking from my hand?”

“I was just about to tell you that.”

Lucia was also intrigued.

Skipping the process and casting something just by saying the skill name was the realm of no-chant casting in her world.

Lucia was curious about what results would come from combining Kang Jin-hyuk’s abilities with her knowledge.

‘This would be more interesting than trying to decipher formulas that don’t give me any answers.’

Lucia, her adventurer’s curiosity ignited after a long time, decided to seriously mentor Kang Jin-hyuk.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

The sudden increase in enthusiasm and intensity made the training brutal.

He had to practice aura control until he used up all his MP, and when his MP was depleted, he had to train his body until it automatically replenished.

When he questioned why he needed to move his body to use aura, Lucia replied that it was all for his benefit.

“You might even acquire warrior skills if you do well, right?”

“Damn it……! You said I might, not that I definitely will!”

“Why are you complaining so much? Even if you don’t gain skills, a healthy body houses a healthy mind, so it’ll be helpful.”

“We have that saying in our world too.”

It seemed that people thought alike even if they lived in different places.

While it made sense, hearing it when you were physically and mentally exhausted just made it sound like an old man’s nagging.

“Come on, stop complaining and come at me again. How long are you going to just sit there?”

Seeing Lucia beckoning with her finger, Kang Jin-hyuk reluctantly got up.

And without even getting into a ready stance, he swung the baseball bat at her.

It was an excessive action against a frail woman, but Kang Jin-hyuk didn’t hesitate at all.

He had expected from the beginning that Lucia would dodge it as if it were nothing.

“Surprise.”

From a step and a half away, Lucia said with a nonchalant expression.

“You surprised me. What’s with swinging it so suddenly?”

“Say that after you’ve at least grazed a single hair.”

“Ahahaha, I can’t do that. I have my pride as a Platinum-rank adventurer, how can I lose to a newbie like you?”

“Well, I’m sorry for being a newbie.”

Lucia explained that it was a spar to gain practical experience, but for Kang Jin-hyuk, it was nothing but torture.

A spar should involve some kind of clash, but with every swing missing, what kind of spar was this?

No matter how he looked at it, this was nothing more than a veteran bullying a newbie.

“At this rate, I’m going to ruin my shoulder.”

Kang Jin-hyuk felt like his arm was going to fall off from repeating full-power swings that missed.

“Wouldn’t it be better to practice against monsters?”

Lucia fell into thought after hearing those words.

Of course, she didn’t forget to dodge Kang Jin-hyuk’s attacks in the meantime.

“Right, you said your stats increase when you hunt monsters?”

“To be precise, they increase when you level up.”

“Leveling up……. It’s fascinating that you can get stronger through something like that.”

To Lucia, the idea of hunting monsters to level up was like saying you get stronger by slaughtering cows and pigs.

Even if it was absurd, she had to accept it if it was common sense here.

“Then let’s try hunting monsters using aura as much as possible. You might gain that skill.”

“How can I do that when I haven’t even practiced enough?”

Even though he had acquired a passive skill, Kang Jin-hyuk’s aura could only be maintained for 0.1 seconds at best.

Moreover, it was so faint that it was uncertain whether it even had any effect.

Although Lucia was well aware of this fact, unlike Kang Jin-hyuk, she didn’t think it was a big problem.

“You just need to time it right and use it.”

The moment the bat hit the opponent was shorter than 0.1 seconds, it couldn’t be longer.

Therefore, Lucia thought it was theoretically possible.

“Aren’t you thinking too much from your own perspective?”

Kang Jin-hyuk wasn’t confident that he could pull off such precise control yet.

It was too much to ask a child who had just started walking to run.

“Who said you have to succeed in one go? You can just keep doing it until you get it right.”

There were more than enough monsters in this dungeon.

With enough targets and a place to practice, all that was left was to act.

Kang Jin-hyuk had a feeling that a hellish time was approaching.

“K-Keep doing it until I get it right? Are you serious?”

“Why? Don’t tell me you’re backing out now? You’re the one who asked me to teach you how to use aura.”

“No…… it’s not that, it’s just that we’ve done a lot today, so I think it would be better to stop here and continue next time.”

Kang Jin-hyuk tried to add weight to his argument by saying that training with an exhausted body would be counterproductive.

However, Lucia had no intention of accepting his words.

She slowly approached and placed her arm on Kang Jin-hyuk’s shoulder.

“You have to push through when you’ve started making progress. If you stop halfway like this, it’ll be neither here nor there.”

Lucia had a personality that couldn’t rest until she saw a goal through to the end.

Therefore, once she decided to teach someone properly, she intended to push Kang Jin-hyuk until he was on the verge of collapse.

Seeing Kang Jin-hyuk’s pale face, Lucia smiled brightly.

“Don’t be so scared. I’ll help you if you feel like you’re going to die.”

“Does that mean you’ll only let me go when I’m about to die?”

“……So, shall we start now?”

“Hey, answer me before you go.”

Kang Jin-hyuk wondered if he had stirred up a hornet’s nest with his impulsive request.

As he sighed, anticipating the hardships ahead, Lucia slapped his back with a loud ‘Pang!’.

“Cheer up~ You should feel honored to be trained by this Platinum-rank adventurer.”

Kang Jin-hyuk couldn’t understand why this woman was suddenly so excited.

He thought she was just teaching him to kill time while deciphering the magic circle.

What on earth had gotten into her to make her such a passionate teacher?

“……Alright, let’s do it.”

Kang Jin-hyuk resolved to get what he wanted if he couldn’t avoid it.

If he could even mimic half the power Lucia had shown against the boss monster, he could gain abilities beyond that of an A-rank Hunter.