the shadow in the light
chapter twelve ; the high orcs
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"for the dead and living, we must bear witness."
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
"hae-in, what are we doing here?"
hae-in held onto y/n's hand as quickly led her to an open space. they were wearing casual clothes as it was their day off.
"isn't this the dungeon the B team of your guild is raiding?" y/n asked.
"it is. i wanted to check something which was why i came here," hae-in explained.
hae-in looked around, her eyebrows furrowing as the person she was looking for wasn't there.
"hunter cha, hunter y/n? isn't today your day off?" the leader of the mining team asked.
"it is, but hae-in dragged me out," y/n grumbled.
"hello, by any chance, did hunter sung jin-woo come out today?" hae-in asked.
"mister sung just entered the dungeon as a porter," the leader answered.
"a porter?!" y/n exclaimed. "you're saying he went through the gate?"
y/n clenched her fist, he must've volunteered himself! what was he thinking? he could be exposed by the magicians!
"i apologise, but y/n and i will have to enter the gate," hae-in stated.
"is there some sort of problem? should we call the guild for reinforcements?"
"no, it's a personal matter. you don't have to worry," hae-in responded.
she was about to enter the gate until she realised that she didn't have her weapon. she quickly turned around, "is it possible to borrow a weapon from you?"
"hey, bring over some equipment for her!"
after a few moments, hae-in looked at the pickaxe in her hold with a blunt face. y/n giggled as she pointed at it, "you're gonna fight with that?"
"is there...anything else?" hae-in asked.
"anything else?"
"like a sword or spear."
"asking for something like that from us is..."
"..."
hae-in sighed out under her breath and politely rejected the pickaxe, "i'll be fine. i'll just go in like this."
she quickly walked towards the gate with clenched hands as y/n looked at her with a smile.
"hae-in, do you really plan on going in empty-handed?" y/n questioned with a slight smile.
at the question, hae-in came to a abrupt stop and stood there for a moment before hurriedly walking back to grab the pickaxe.
"you made the right decision. it's better than leaving empty-handed, right?"
hae-in nodded her head, clearly embarrassed by the blush on her cheeks, "thank you..."
y/n laughed and waved the mining team goodbye before entering the dungeon with hae-in.
"this is one big cave," hae-in noted. she stopped in her tracks when she felt the urge to puke.
y/n was immediately alerted and looked at the ground, seeing the pools of blood along with the defeated bodies of the high orcs. the blood soon became a trail as it led to a certain way.
"they must've fought and been injured badly. the blood leads somewhere," y/n informed and pointed to the direction.
"please lead the way," hae-in whispered while covering her nose with her handkerchief.
y/n nodded her head, taking her sword out from her inventory and led the way. all of her senses were heightened after the sight of the blood.
"so, um y/n?"
"yeah?"
"do you like hunter sung jin-woo?"
at the sudden question, y/n almost tripped over a rock. she quickly turned around with wide eyes, "what?!"
"i mean, he's the first ever hunter i've seen you actually be carefree with other than baek-hyun and the others," hae-in said.
y/n anxiously laughed and looked away, "i don't like jin-woo."
hae-in stopped y/n by stepping in front of her, arms crossed as she gave a look, "then explain why you're blushing."
"me? blushing? pfft, i would never," y/n said with a laugh.
hae-in sighed and turned around, walking away from the hunter, "just accept that you like hunter sung jin-woo, y/n!"
"since when were you a love expert?!"
just then, the two hunters could sense a incredibly powerful magic energy wave. it was more of a magic tremor, one that they were not used to.
hae-in's baseball cap fell down to the floor and she immediately tied her hair, getting ready for a battle, "with such energy coming from the boss, there is no way that anyone from son ki-hoon's team would be able to survive."
the two female hunters shared a look before running to the boss room with all their might.
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✧∘* ೃ ⋆｡˚.
"summons?" hae-in questioned.
the two female hunters stood at the entrance of the boss room, clearly shocked by the huge number of summons.
"the raid team's over there!" y/n pointed out. she and hae-in quickly rushed to them, grimacing at the wounds they had.
"miss cha hae-in and miss y/n!"
"vice master!"
"are you alright? what happened?" hae-in asked them.
"we're not sure of it ourselves," one of the hunters responded. y/n stayed alert while hae-in attended to them, wary of the enemies around them.
her eyes locked onto jin-woo's figure, looking at him with worry. don't be reckless, jin-woo.
"your rubbish talent won't work on me anymore!" kargalan shouted. "hymn of rage, hymn of strengthening, hymn of giants, hymn of combustion!"
kargalan suddenly grew in size and power, causing hae-in to panic. "quickly get away from here!"
"i'll crush you all like insects!"
jin-woo sighed as he looked up at kargalan with a bored expression, "i have bad memories with giant enemies. you're kinda touching my sore spots."
"don't get so cocky because i played with you for a bit, human!" kargalan exclaimed in fury. "do i, kargalan, still look inferior to you?!"
"yup."
y/n looked at jin-woo in awe. he still managed to always surprise her no matter how many times she's seen him fight.
"w-what the...?"
y/n looked behind her, eyes widening when she saw jin-chul. the man in return was shocked to see her and hae-in just standing on the sidelines.
"what in the world is happening?" jin-chul asked.
"those are creatures summoned by that man," hae-in said.
"by that do you mean..."
a sudden and loud crash immediately caught y/n's attention again as she looked back at jin-woo.
kalgaran was now on the ground after jin-woo punched him. "the moment when a magician loses his guards, they have zero chance of winning."
"there's no way that this body of mine could crumble," kalgaran muttered before screaming as he died.
jin-woo turned around, looking at the rest of the high orcs which was being dealt with his summons. "should i collect the drops now? no, since this dungeon is property of the hunters guild, i shouldn't be too greedy. instead i'll just..."
jin-woo knelt down as he placed his hand over kalgaran, "arise."
an ominous wind brushed past both his cheeks as jin-woo smiled in victory. a mage covered in a black robe rose up from the dead body of kalgaran. "you're much quieter now that you're a shadow."
jin-woo looked at the soul's levels and saw it was an elite knight. he smiled as he sighed, "as expected from a shadow created with the boss of an a-rank dungeon."
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CHOOSE A NAME FOR THE SOLDIER
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"uh, what was his name again?" jin-woo asked. "it was kar...something."
y/n let out a snicker as jin-woo shrugged his shoulders, "sorry, i don't remember. whatever, i'll just think of something."
jin-woo's eyes widened as he snapped his fingers, "tusk. let's go with tusk."
"hunter sung jin-woo."
jin-woo turned around, eyes widening as his body stiffened.
chief woo jin-chul?! cha hae-in and y/n as well...! i'm screwed.
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