Leon had actually been quite a good trainee and had scored especially well in marksmanship and hand to hand combat. However everything he had learned up to now, proved useless in this place. His enemies had been nightmarish monsters that he was only allowed to fight with a dagger. Leon remembered a trainee from Delta Force and wished he was here, instead of himself. Leon wanted to pit the man against the monster and see which was stronger. Of course, Leon knew what the result would be, as the monster would win. Monsters were called monsters for a reason, and Leon shuddered as he remembered the Pawn’s slavering mouth, lined with sharp teeth, the bulging muscles, and glistening rabid black eyes.
That was why Leon thought of Odin and Marie as worse than monsters. Despite being a petite woman, Marie changed completely in battle. Leon knew that she was not an ordinary woman from the first meeting, and that feeling only deepened. As for their leader, Odin, he needn’t say anything more.
Leon realised that he had been useless during the fights. He had fallen and been unable to move, only capable of watching Odin and Maria fight. Now, he finally remembered what had transpired. He remembered the horrors of cutting the throats of the wounded mutts, the gushing blood, red like his own, and their death-rattle, as their chests finally stopped heaving into the stillness of death.
It was hell, and Leon finally came back to reality. He saw monster corpses lying near him whenever he looked. Leon shouted and thrashed, but monster limbs blocked his movements. Not only that but he felt spilled intestines wrap around his legs.
“Take them off! [email protected] it, do something!”
Leon shouted to them, and he barely managed to stand up after a while.
“Calm down.”
“I…told you. I will just hold you back. I cannot do this.”
“What is so different here from what you had been trained for? You just don’t have a gun. The first time is hard for everyone. However, we managed this situation because there were only twelve of them. Next time, we may not be so lucky.”
“Only twelve?”
Leon realised that he was trapped in hell, with a madman and a madwoman. However, he could not flee into the dark, as that would be suicidal. The fact that the two were so calm agitated Leon even more. He regretted having tailed Odin that day. It would not have come to this if he had just remained in his room.
**
Leon was at the end of his ropes, and he had barely managed to stumble behind us, keeping up. However, now his eyes had become glassy, and his lips began to murmur something indescribable.
“His mind’s breaking.”
“It’s different from your first time, Marie.”
“I understand that.”
We did not call each other by our real names in front of Leon. Yeonhee spoke on.
“He cannot take care of himself now, and we’ve been walking without rest. I cannot leave him like this, so can I use Baldur’s Silence? As a test.” (EN: Chapter 102)
“He will know your skill name and effect.”
Baldur’s Silence was one of the highest mental healing skills, and Yeonhee had raised it to C class.
“He cannot take the test in this state, as he’s barely coherent. Don’t you want to see how he will act when he is pushed to his limits?”
“You’re right.”
“Then, I will begin.”
Yeonhee concentrated once I nodded, and an aura transferred from her to Leon. That was when Leon’s eyes became lively again, and he blinked at the sudden change. It took some time for Leon to read the message in front of him.
[Marie used Baldur’s Silence.]
“What…?”
“You can think clearly again, right? That’s what healers do.”
“This is amazing.”
Leon had become a completely different person, and he even looked confident now.
“I feel like I can do anything. Thank you, Marie. By the way, how long have we been here?”
“How long do you think it has been?”
“Three days?”
Yeonhee was the one who answered.
“No, we have been here six hours. Time will go slowly here, especially for you. Focus on the leader and me if things get too tough. Remember that you’re not alone when fighting.”
It seemed that Leon had not expected such words from Yeonhee, and he looked at her with mixed emotions before nodding. I spoke to Yeonhee in Korean.
“Did you feel pity?”
“I have never seen anyone so afraid. Let’s give him a chance, at least before the test. We have forced this test on him and we should give him at least that much. But, if he cannot pass…”
“I will leave him in the dungeon.”
“I hope he passes. He cried for his mother during that state.”
I realised that Yeonhee had been sorry for him because of that. Family was a trigger for Yeonhee, as she was still distant from them even after she became rich. Leon was looking at us without understanding, but his expression became anxious as he sensed that we were talking about him. Yeonhee spoke nonchalantly in English this time.
“We were saying that you were holding up better than our expectations.”
“I…”
“You’ve had military training. I had none at my first try. You can do better than me.”
“Thank you, Marie.”
**
Yeonhee completed the one-on-one quest, and Leon was completely astounded at her prowess. Yeonhee approached him, she nodded as he flinched at the blood on her face. She washed it with a bottle and told him he could do this one day. She was noticeably nicer to him, and I agreed. Since it was not my past life, it had been too harsh to bring him here without some preparation.
“I got the message about first and second place.”
“Marie is first as she finished it off, and I’m second as the leader.”
I renewed my contract with Yeonhee long ago.
“Just agree so we can get points.”
“What are first and second places?”
“You get reward boxes.”
Leon seemed to have many thoughts on that issue. However, he couldn’t think about them for a day as the next room almost killed him. While Yeonhee’s healing skill and a day’s rest healed his body, the pain left him fearful of his surroundings again. He was always anxious and did not even touch the dungeon boxes.
The next room was where he would be tested, and we were all dirty and bloodied when we reached the boss monster door room. Leon’s smile at realising that he was near the end froze on perceiving how many mutts were behind the door. He crumbled.
“There are too many…”
“Speak clearly.”
“There are too many to count.”
Yeonhee looked like she was fed up as she forced Leon to stand up and slapped his cheek.
“Are you going to kill all of us? That room is critical for OUR survival. If you want to live, you have to focus. We are together in this, and nod if you understand me.”
Leon glanced at me before nodding.
“I will say it again. Whether you will live or die will be decided in that room.”
“…I will try.”
I broke in.
“If you follow my orders, you will live. Remember that.”
I opened the door to see a herd of Canine Pawns and the boss monster lying on a high pedestal. For hunters, how one acted in moments of life and death decided the entire team’s fate. Therefore, Leon’s choice here would decide his future.