Gates: Volume 1

Chapter 6

 When Eunjung came to the camp it looked like something out of a movie. Goblins, both normal and mutated, were dancing around a fire with tribal paint covering them. To the young hunter it looked like, through all their grunting, they were singing something in their own goblin language. However, even with all the goblins, Eunjung was able to piece together that the real threat was the monster sitting in the throne overlooking them all, A goblin chief.

The goblin chief, while only being around three and a half feet tall, had an incredibly menacing aura. The mana leaking off that monster was thicker and more dangerous than all the goblins dancing combined, him being the true danger. He was a dark green, similar to the mutants, with golden eyes, long nose, long ears, and jagged teeth. He was covered in red tribal marking and paint, adding to his intimidation and sign as the leader of the camp. Finally he wore a large bone crown and held a dagger made of bone around the size of his arm. That dagger was what Eunjung wanted. She was getting stronger with the use of LongClaw alone, but with another she would be able to use Hyeon's dagger play to its best abilities. If she cleared this instant dungeon she would get that dagger.

Yet Eunjung knew she wasn't strong enough to take them all on. She had gotten stronger, yes, but there was no way she could kill all the goblins and the goblin chief by herself. It would take all her focus just to kill the chief, there was no way she could split her attention on both him and the other goblins. She needed a way to remove the dancing goblins from the equation.

That's when she got an idea. If she couldn't take them all head on, she would sneak in. Activating True Concealment, Eunjung snuck her way into the camp. In comparison to the last time she used True Concealment, the fatigue gained from the ability was negligible. She had more than enough mana and endurance now to hold True Concealment for around an hour, giving her plenty of time for her infiltration. Eunjung, quietly and stealthy, made her way towards the dancing goblins, cutting down the stragglers along the outskirts and hiding them away. Eventually she made it to the large group in the center, finding her way to the center of their circle. From there the black haired hunter held her dagger with confidence and uncloaked herself with a smile.

"Cleave!" she shouted, spinning in a circle and carving all the dancing Goblins into bits. Every single one of them held a shocked expression before death, it only registering after that their torsos had been separated from the rest of their body.

<Adaption [50%]>

"AUGH!" grunted the goblin chief, standing up from his throne. Eunjung could see the startled expression on his face go from shock to rage as soon as it registered that it was her who cut down his men. The goblin gritted its teeth at her, unsheathing its dagger and pointing it right at her: as if to taunt the black haired hunter. Eunjung in response cracked her neck and grinned at him, her eyes being a cool blue.

Gripping onto LongClaw, she deflected the oncoming slash from the goblin chief. The little boss monster growled with intensity at the hunter, him ruthlessly trying to tear her apart with his bone dagger. Eunjung, however, was able to keep up thanks to her own skills adapted from Hyeon. Eventually, through enough dagger play, she was able to find an opening. Coating LongClaw in the cool blue color of mana, Eunjung swung her dagger down at the goblin chief activating Cleave. However, the attack didn't land: only leaving a crater in the ground. Startled, Eunjung sucked in a breath before having it knocked out of her: a giant slash cutting open her back.

"Gegegege..." The goblin chief laughed. He had moved at supersonic speeds and got behind the raven haired girl: cutting her open with his dagger. She didn't know how he did that, none at all. He wasn't that fast before. She thought to herself. Eunjung could feel herself losing consciousness from the blood-loss, her eyes fluttering as she stumbled forward trying to catch herself. However that didn't stop her from wanting to attack, swinging wildly towards the goblin. He just dodged again, cutting her across the chest and kicking her to the otherside of the camp.

Is this the end...she thought to herself, laying on the ground as the boss goblin approached. It all just started, my story can't end here. She thought again. Though, her body was telling her otherwise. The goblin chief had broken her body with his cuts and brute force. She couldn't feel her body, it being numb all over from the blood-loss. That wasn't even mentioning her on the edge of consciousness: just wanting to pass out and not wake up.

<Adaptation completed!>

<Giving temporary movement reading to player [Eunjung Han]>

<Player [Eunjung Han] has adapted to knowledge fitting for [D-Rank Instant Dungeon]>

<Boosting all stats of player [Eunjung Han]>

<Boosting natural talent of player [Eunjung Han]>

<Player [Eunjung Han] has been given the skill [Minor Restoration, D-Rank] as a result of Adaptability>

<Player [Eunjung Han]'s mana has been restored!>

Eunjung dashed forward, crushing the goblin chief's face with pure strength, sending him crashing through the huts of the camp. Mana erupted from Eunjung's body in vapors of steam, a lime green color covering her wounds and healing her.

"Minor restoration takes a lot of mana but heals me to near 100%." she thought to herself, cracking her knuckles with a grin. Minor restoration was a powerful ability that much was for sure. She also knew now that how the goblin chief moved so fast was thanks to the skill Haste, increasing his movements to supersonic levels. She also knew that his dagger was called Bone Cleaver, a powerful C-Rank weapon that increases the strength stat by 25: adding a 6% bonus to the Critical Strike skill.

She was also starting to finally get an idea of what Adaptability did. It was an innate buff skill that, once the conditions were met, gave her so many advantages due to her "adapting" so to speak to her situation. She was given information about the dungeon and her opponents that she didn't have before, read her opponent's movements, buffed her stats, and even created new skills. Yet, what made it so strong to her was how it boosted her talent. She could feel herself brimming over with talent: her body just knowing what to do now thanks to Adaptability.

There was a National Rank hunter Eunjung looked up to from China, his name was Shenlong Chen. He was known as the "Champion of China" and the Fire Dragon thanks to his mastery over the Cultivation art of the Roaring Dragon. It was a technique that required precise breath control and heating of your breathing and internal body, all in order to super charge it. Eunjung needed that power in order to keep up with the goblin chief, his Haste skill making him far faster than what she could keep up with.

So, she began to control her breath. Eunjung took in long deep breaths, calming her nerves. She heated the breath held in her stomach, churning it and turning it into fuel for her body. She let the heat travel throughout her body till it released in powerful mana steam. She could feel the heat tearing through her body and damaging her internal organs but she pushed through. It was hard to do and incredibly taxing, but it was worth it. She finally returned LongClaw to her inventory, mimicking Shenlong's battle stance to a tee.

<Skill [Cultivation Art: The Roaring Dragon, lv-1] has been created>

<Skill [Cultivation Art: The Roaring Dragon] has leveled up thanks to Player [Eunjung Han's] Adaptability>

Pushing off the ground with steam coming out of her nose, Eunjung blitzed the goblin chief and slammed her fist into his stomach, seemingly catching on fire due to the heat of the mana around her. The goblin chief clawed and tried to get away, but the black haired hunter just held him down: beating him down with two more full power strikes. Eventually, the goblin chief turned to mush under her, leaving Eunjung out of heaving and panting for air.

"I-I did it, I won."

<Congrats!>