#23 Item Drop
We lit a fire in a clearing a bit away from the woods and threw some meat on.
It was getting late, time to stock up.
"Hurts bad, huh?"
"Feels like I'm gonna die."
"Good job, Jin-tae."
"Whew. It definitely helped."
Jin-tae, with eyes swollen like plums, gnawed on some rabbit, replaying the fight in his head.
That 2-on-1 beatdown was rough, but those orcs didn't let up, which was a real eye-opener for Jin-tae.
He could learn a lot from how they moved. It was tough not to get clobbered with two of 'em coming at him, and he did get clobbered, but he learned a ton.
How to take a hit better, how to dodge the worst of it, how to hit them where it hurts, and how to keep attacking even when they try to protect themselves.
Fighting really comes down to one thing.
Don't get hit where it counts, and hit them where it counts.
Jin-tae learned that the hard way.
"You've gotten way tougher, Jin-tae."
"I think I get what it means to level up with those stat stones."
Those orbs boost your stats – strength, senses, agility, all that – but it's not just a freebie.
It's like, even if you go from 10 stairs to 20 or 30, it doesn't matter if you don't actually climb them.
He would've gotten used to it eventually just by sleeping and stuff, but fighting for his life seriously sped things up.
Cheol-du just gets it, no problem – just stretches a bit and he's good. Total freak of nature.
"Chow down. It's gonna be a long night."
"Okay."
Jin-tae was in pain, but he had no intention of stopping. Even if he couldn't beat his buddy, the barbarian, he couldn't look like a pushover compared to other humans.
Just look at Seo Jong-du back at base – that guy's a tough customer.
But Jin-tae had a feeling he could win if he kept this up.
‘Squad leader in name only.’
Jin-tae only got that title 'cause he was Cheol-du's friend. If Cheol-du vanished, Jin-tae wouldn't be able to keep Seo Jong-du in line.
He didn't want to be a boss just because of his friend.
"Let’s go!"
"Okay."
Cheol-du went deeper into the forest for his motivated friend. As long as they disarmed the orcs, Jin-tae wouldn't get killed.
He just hadn't gotten used to it yet, but he'd powered up with a ton of strength stones, and his muscles were already superhuman.
The only problems were in his head – getting over his limits, ditching old habits, and getting his body to work right.
Sticking to the edge of the forest, they ran into orcs every now and then – two or three at a time.
The orcs they'd seen in the clearing looked like hunters with spears, but these ones looked like lumberjacks.
Orc hunters.
Orc lumberjacks.
They dropped stat stones and a good chunk of change sometimes, but Cheol-du was kinda bummed.
‘No warriors around here or what?’
Stronger opponents.
I wanted to go all out.
Killing orc lumberjacks was no fun, so he mostly just swiped their axes and gave 'em to Jin-tae.
"Whew, I can actually handle this now."
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"Excellent, Jin-tae."
The more they fought, the harder he hit, and he got used to those 2-on-1s.
Even if he got sucker-punched from behind, he'd just grit his teeth and stick to one orc until he took him down – he was relentless.
That crazy fast improvement was thanks to the stat boosts.
Flash!
"Huuuuh."
Jin-tae, feeling that rush, finally got what Cheol-du was talking about.
"Hehehehe."
Jin-tae was drooling like a fiend.
I'm stronger now. Damn, this is addictive.
"Huh? A white orb."
Cheol-du picked up the second white orb that appeared.
Lets you channel magic for a stronger hit.
Costs 50 goblin coins to use.
"Here."
"Oh, a skill stone!"
Jin-tae's eyes lit up as he took the white orb and pondered for a while before handing it back.
"You learn it."
"You caught it, though?"
"I don’t have mana."
"Hmm."
"It'll do more good if you learn it."
"Okay."
Cheol-du did not refuse his friend's kindness.
Heh, gotta keep helping him out.
Flash.
Cheol-du activated the skill ‘Smash’.
"We gotta stash the next skill stone we find."
"Duh! You think we'd just leave it?"
They hadn't traded with anyone yet, so they didn't know what it was worth, but skill stones had to be valuable.
You could get coins just by killing monsters, but skill stones were super rare.
They had to be worth way more than stat stones.
"Not as many orcs around now that the sun's going down."
"Hmm. I'm this close to getting it."
Jin-tae was seriously bummed.
Cheol-du saw that and gave him a mental thumbs-up. This kid's turning into a real fighter.
"Okay. Jin-tae. Let’s go deeper into the forest."
"Okay."
Jin-tae didn't even ask 'You sure about this?' like he used to. Right away, you could see he was pumped – he was really getting into this whole fighting thing.
‘Heh. Kid's a natural.’
Cheol-du was pleased with his friend's change.
Hell, even he could feel himself getting stronger fast, and the new power and moves were real – how could he not get hooked?
Jin-tae was hooked on fighting now.
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Cheol-du and Jin-tae came down along the edge of the forest, and now actively explored the inside of the forest.
There was a risk of encountering monsters stronger than orcs, but they could just run away when that happened.
Well, worst case, we die, right?
Jin-tae chuckled at the thought that popped into his head.
‘Damn. Look at me.’
I've gotten way braver and crazier.
Gotta be to survive in this Nova place.
‘Damn, if only I'd had this kind of balls before.’
Thinking about his dad and brother made him feel kinda shitty.
Jin-tae was growing like a weed, inside and out.
"There."
Cheol-du's senses had already surpassed the realm of beasts.
He could just follow the mana he felt and find orcs or whatever other monsters were using magic.
"Four of 'em. It's dark, so I'll get two first."
"Okay."
Cheol-du took out two in a flash, grabbed the axes from the others, and kicked 'em away.
Thwack, thud!
"Damn it!"
Jin-tae thought 2-on-1 was a breeze now, but the dark changed everything.
Seeing is everything, and fighting in the dark when he could barely see was a whole different ballgame.
Thud, thwack!
"Turuk, ta!"
But the orcs couldn't see much better, so it was a slugfest – same hitting power, but everyone was easier to hit.
He learned to not just block the important spots, but to tense up or roll with the punches to take less damage even when he got hit where it hurt.
"Whew, barely scraped by that time."
"Good job, Jin-tae."
"I'd be dead meat without that sanctuary blessing."
"Hehehe, it really is a blessing. Don't even think about getting any shut-eye."
"Okay."
Cheol-du found orcs by relying on his senses, and Jin-tae became more and more accustomed to fighting.
After he popped another agility stone and two more strength stones, he could handle 2-on-1, even 3-on-1.
Orc punches weren't gonna kill Jin-tae anymore.
"Damn. If I had a weapon, I'd take on those axe-wielding bastards."
"Yeah, I'm not ready for that."
Having a blade or not makes a huge difference, and even guys who train for a living avoid knife fights.
Jin-tae wasn't ready to fight orcs with axes yet.
Just a scratch could kill you, so basically your whole body was a weak point.
"Hmm? Hmm."
"Why?"
"Something stronger just showed up."
Cheol-du was getting a kick out of watching his friend get stronger, but he was bored as hell.
But this thing had a ton of mana.
Way more mana than he felt when he used 'Smash'.
"Hehehe, let’s go."
"Yeah."
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He got pumped for the fight.
Cheol-du ran through the woods and crouched down when he saw a flickering light.
"That a torch?"
"Yeah."
Cheol-du crept closer, and there was a cabin nearby.
‘A cabin?’
‘What is this?’
There was one big cabin and two smaller ones in a clearing, and all the trees around had been chopped down.
Is this a new base or something?
Orc lumberjacks were hauling logs all over the place.
Too small for an orc village… maybe an orc logging camp?
It was a weird sight, but what really grabbed Cheol-du was the feeling coming from inside the big cabin.
‘Strong.’
Enough to make his heart pound.
"Cheol-du, tomorrow when the sun's up..."
"Uwooooo!"
Cheol-du let out a battle cry filled with excitement.
Hell yeah, feeling it now.
Everyone looked over, and the orc lumberjacks grabbed their axes and looked pissed.
"Ha, this crazy bastard."
Seeing Cheol-du go nuts, Jin-tae got ready to jump in too.
Flash, flash, flash!
Cheol-du crashed through the branches, ran right at an orc lumberjack, kicked him, and grabbed his axe.
Whooosh, crack!
He chucked it and split the head of the next orc, then started punching the crap out of any orc that came at him.
Some went down with one punch, and the ones that were still alive got their heads stomped on by Cheol-du.
"Tutu Anak! Cho!"
All the noise made the door of the big cabin open, and a huge orc came out.
He was a head taller than the other orcs.
He looked over 180cm tall.
He had broad shoulders and a ripped upper body – he was just as jacked as Cheol-du.
But he was dressed way different than the other orc lumberjacks, who were just wearing rags.
No helmet, but he had a tunic and shoulder pads on his upper body. And armor on his hips and thighs.
And the giant axe he was holding made the lumberjacks' axes look like toys.
"Uwooooo!"
"Tutu, Nurak!"
The orc warrior saw Cheol-du charging and roared back, then ran at him like lightning and they crashed together.
Clang!
Cheol-du dodged the axe swing and kicked him. The strongest attack Cheol-du had without a weapon.
Crack!
But his foot slipped on the armor, and Cheol-du stumbled.
Then the orc swung that nasty axe blade right at Cheol-du's head.
Whoosh!
‘Strong as an ogre.’
‘Well, as strong as a baby ogre.’
Crack!
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Cheol-du gripped the axe handle tightly with both hands.
"Kuuuuu Tura!"
"Uwooo!"
The two giants locked up, trying to overpower each other with the axe.
The orc was as strong as a baby ogre, but Cheol-du wasn't gonna lose.
He'd powered up with over 10 strength orbs since that last fight.
"Uwooooo!"
Cheol-du ripped the axe away, and the orc looked shocked. That was the last look on his face.
Crack!
Cheol-du swung the axe around, using all that momentum, and split the orc's head open.
"Huff, huff!"
Cheol-du was breathing hard, looking at the axe in his hands.
What a waste.
He watched the axe disappear into light, bummed he couldn't keep it.
‘Gotta buy a weapon when I get to New Seoul.’
Even enemies that are tough to beat hand-to-hand are easy with a weapon.
Cheol-du shook it off and looked at the spot where the orc warrior had been.
What loot did he drop?
"Gasp!"
Cheol-du actually gasped, which was weird for him.
There were 15 goblin coins, and the two-handed axe he'd just been using was sparkling there.
First time he'd seen an item drop since he got to Nova.
