Level Up Machine

Chapter 13 Growth Potential (3)

“Chwiik! Chwiik!”

“Meat! Rabbit meat!”

The orcs, with excited snorts, crowded around the rabbit meat.

Yeong-sik’s group watched them, barely daring to breathe.

‘The rabbit meat works too well.’

Yeong-sik grimaced as he watched the ten or so orcs gather around the rabbit meat.

His plan to lure only three orcs had ended up attracting all the orcs in the vicinity.

“Shouldn’t we run?”

Kim Gil-soo, who was in front of Yeong-sik, turned his head with a tense expression and asked in a cautious voice.

The number of orcs had far exceeded their expectations.

Yeong-sik’s expression hardened at his words.

‘It’s already too late to run.’

The bushes they were hiding in were not far from where the orcs had gathered.

Even if they ran from here, the excited orcs would only chase after them.

Running away with monsters trailing behind them could also attract other monsters in the vicinity.

‘I need to decide quickly.’

Yeong-sik’s eyes gleamed sharply.

The rabbit meat was barely the size of a fist.

For the orcs, it wouldn’t even be a mouthful.

Orcs with only a slight taste of food would definitely start searching around driven by their hunger.

To survive, they had to either run or attack immediately.

Yeong-sik turned to Ara and signaled her to start casting a spell.

“Rea……

Really? You’re thinking of attacking?” Ara began to ask, but seeing Yeong-sik’s resolute expression, she nodded.

So far, he had saved her life several times, and he had never made a wrong decision.

“Phew.”

Ara took a deep breath and pointed her staff towards the orcs from within the bushes.

At the tip of her staff, a blue energy shimmered, and white ice particles began to gather.

Ice Boom.

It was the most powerful and wide-ranging attack spell she could use at the moment.

Due to the long casting time, it was a difficult skill to use recklessly, but in a situation like this where they could ambush from hiding, it was the most effective skill.

“Ice Boom.”

She whispered the skill name softly.

As the word left her lips, the magic manifested.

Large chunks of ice, about the size of a human head, formed at the tip of her staff.

Ara launched the Ice Boom into the midst of the orcs.

– Boom!

“Chwiieeek!”

“Grrrk!”

The Ice Boom exploded violently among the orcs, sending ice shards the size of finger joints flying in all directions.

The orcs caught in the blast writhed in agony, letting out tortured screams.

Only one orc died instantly, but three others around it were severely damaged by the explosion.

Yeong-sik’s eyes sparkled at the sight.

‘There’s definitely potential.’

Ara’s power was extraordinary.

Her attack had inflicted more damage on the orcs than he had expected, proving she wasn’t a Hidden Class for nothing.

Yeong-sik shouted toward Gil-soo.

“Gil-soo, ahjussi!”

“Got it!”

Hearing Yeong-sik’s shout, Gil-soo leaped forward from the bushes, swinging his axe.

His axe struck the neck of an orc that was staggering from the Ice Boom.

– Thud!

“Grrk!”

Dark red blood gushed from the orc’s neck.

The orcs’ attention shifted to Gil-soo.

Yeong-sik turned to Ara, who was panting heavily from casting the large spell, and spoke.

“Keep casting spells from behind whenever you can. Use weaker spells so you don’t draw too much aggro.”

“Ha, ha. Got it.”

Ara nodded in response.

The large spell had drained a lot of her mana at once, but she still had enough left to cast Ice Arrow and similar spells.

“Then…”

Yeong-sik looked forward and kicked off.

He ran towards an orc snarling fiercely at Gil-soo and extended his left hand.

– Clack.

A sound like gears meshing came from his body.

The back of his left hand opened slightly, and a blade about 30 centimeters long protruded from it.

Yeong-sik crouched and then sprang up, aiming for an orc’s armpit.

– Thud!

“Chwiieeek!”

The orc, stabbed in a vital spot, twisted violently and fell to the ground.

“Bulk Up!”

Gil-soo swung his axe back and used his buff skill.

His scrawny muscles bulged, filling with powerful strength.

With the axe held high, Gil-soo brought it down with both hands.

“Smash!”

– Crash!

A faint blue light shimmered on his axe as it swung towards the orc’s head.

The orc tried to block the attack with its sword, but Gil-soo’s strike shattered the poorly-made weapon and split the orc’s head in half.

“Huh…?”

Gil-soo stared in disbelief at the orc’s split head, unable to believe what he had just done.

While Gil-soo was momentarily distracted, another orc charged at him.

The orc swung a small hand axe towards him.

Seeing this, Yeong-sik’s expression hardened as he shouted.

“Dodge!”

“Ugh!”

Hearing Yeong-sik’s shout, Gil-soo turned his head with a desperate expression.

The hand axe grazed his shoulder, cutting into it.

“Grrk!”

“Ice Arrow!”

Gil-soo grabbed his bleeding shoulder, his face contorting in pain.

Ara’s timely spell struck the head of the orc that had swung the hand axe.

The orc clutched its forehead, letting out a scream.

– Slash!

“Get it together! Ahjussi!”

Yeong-sik, who had approached Gil-soo, finished off the orc by slicing its neck. He then spoke to Gil-soo in a slightly stern voice.

Gil-soo nodded apologetically.

“Got it.”

With that, Gil-soo gripped his axe with one hand and charged at the orcs again.

They had to finish off the orcs quickly before they completely recovered from their confusion.

– Slash!

“Grrrk!”

“Chwiik!”

Orcs fell with screams every time Yeong-sik’s sword and Gil-soo’s axe swung.

Gil-soo used his skills aggressively to drive the orcs back, while Yeong-sik moved swiftly, dodging their attacks and taking them down.

The most surprising thing was Yeong-sik’s combat prowess.

While Gil-soo fought by using his strength and skills, Yeong-sik was different.

The weapon Yeong-sik used, the blade that extended from his hand, required nimble movements like an assassin, targeting vital points. Such combat was not something a novice with little battle experience could execute.

Only a warrior who had undergone intense training and was completely familiar with handling weapons could show such movements.

– Slash!

“Grrk!”
“Hoo…”

Yeong-sik took a deep breath, his eyes sinking into a deep, cold gaze after slicing through the orc’s neck.

His eyes, now cold and dark, glinted fiercely.

From the moment Yeong-sik had started fighting with the blade from his hand, he had felt a hot sensation prickle the back of his neck.

‘This is strange.’

Looking at the fallen orcs around him, Yeong-sik thought so.

Wielding the blade felt completely natural.

No, it wasn’t just natural; it felt as if it was something he was thoroughly accustomed to.

He vividly knew how to handle the blade, how to dodge the orcs’ attacks while counterattacking, and where to strike to inflict fatal wounds.

It was as if he had fought like this before.

“Chwiik! This human is too strong!”

The last remaining orc shouted desperately and started to run away.

Yeong-sik extended his right arm towards the fleeing orc.

A powerful flame burst from his right elbow, launching his arm forward like a bullet.

– Crash!

“Grrrk!”

The orc, pierced through the back in a single blow, fell to the ground, twitching.

Yeong-sik approached and struck the fallen orc’s neck with his blade.

With a sickening sound, the orc’s life ended.

*Ding!*

[You have killed 11 orcs.]

[213 experience points and 24 silver have been distributed according to contribution.]

[Your level has increased.]

A blue message window appeared in front of Yeong-sik’s eyes, and a faint light enveloped his body before fading away.

Yeong-sik withdrew his right arm from the orc’s back, reattaching it to his body, and checked his status window.

‘I’ve reached level 2.’

Upon inspection, he confirmed that his level and overall stats had increased.

‘No bonus stats…’

Yeong-sik looked at his status window with a hint of disappointment.

It would have been nice to allocate stats as he wished, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“Ugh…”

With the battle over, Gil-soo clutched his shoulder, where the orc’s hand axe had cut him, swallowing painful groans.

Yeong-sik approached Gil-soo and took out a low-grade potion he had bought in advance from his inventory.

A red potion appeared from the blue inventory window floating in the air.

Although the inventory size increased with his level, Yeong-sik’s level 2 inventory was not very large, but it was sufficient to hold potions and bandages.

“Use this, ahjussi.”

“Ugh… But isn’t this worth 50 silver?”

“It’s better than wandering around injured and risking more danger.”

Yeong-sik said firmly.

At his words, Gil-soo sighed and replied.

“Alright. I’ll use just a little, then.”

Gil-soo poured the potion on his wound.

The gash from the axe healed rapidly, producing red foam as it closed.

Just in case, Yeong-sik also wrapped a bandage around Gil-soo’s arm before putting the half-used potion back into his inventory.

“Did everyone level up?”

Yeong-sik asked Gil-soo and Ara.

They both nodded in response.

“Yeah. My health, mana, and other stats increased.”

“I definitely feel a bit stronger after leveling up.”

Ara and Gil-soo looked at themselves in amazement.

Although the increase of just one level didn’t make a significant difference, they still felt somehow stronger.

“Great. Let’s quickly get ready and move out again.”

“Are you planning to hunt more?”

“Yes. We’ve realized our party is stronger than we thought.”

Through this battle, they had confirmed that they could handle the orcs without significant danger given their current strength.

It felt like a waste to return already.

At his words, Gil-soo and Ara nodded and approached the orcs’ corpses.

“We need to gather the orcs’ weapons, right?”

Ara recalled what Yeong-sik had mentioned before they started hunting and asked.

Yeong-sik nodded and began collecting the scattered orc weapons.

There was one reason Yeong-sik collected the orc weapons.

“Alright, let’s give this a try.”

Yeong-sik touched the pile of weapons lightly with his fingers.

Though crudely made, the weapons were clearly mixed with ‘iron.’ And iron was the foundational material for all mechanical parts.

Yeong-sik placed his hand over the weapons and spoke in a low voice.

“Extract.”

The skill unique to the Mechanic class activated.

Light extended from Yeong-sik’s hand, permeating the weapons on the ground.