Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody

“What do we do…?” He said.

“Wish I knew. I’m no healer,” Korain huffed, “…That bastard Baek-Hyeon led us down here. Wasn’t he checking the damn basement? How did that thing slip through?”

Hearing Baek-Hyeon be questioned by somebody he held in high-regard made him feel justified, but before he could open his mouth, Xiaodan knelt by Eunji, placing his hands near the burn mark.

“What’re you–” Korain began to say.

“Quiet. I need to focus,” Xiaodan said calmly, yet sternly.

“Okay…”

The two men watched while Xiaodan held a focused stare, whispering tranquil, gentle words as a water-like emission flowed from his palms, guiding towards the scalding wound on Eunji’s arm.

“Hail to the jewel in the lotus.”

With those audible last words of Xiaodan’s silent mantra, the mystical flow of nearly-transparent water enveloped the wound on the girl’s bicep, washing away the burn as if scrubbing away a simple impurity.

Eunji’s heavy breathing settled down as she seemed to fall to sleep just moments after.

“She’s…?” Korain began to say.

“…Asleep. She’ll be fine,” Xiaodan stood up with a small smile._.

He looked at the silver-haired, lithe figure in surprise, “What was that? That doesn’t look like something a martial artist class would have.”

“Skill trees are quite diverse,” Xiaodan winked.

Korain’s stress dwindled heavily as Eunji was assured to be alright, letting out a drawn-out breath before holding a small smile towards the much smaller Xiaodan.

“Thanks, kid. After something like that, I’d be ashamed if I didn’t recognize you as a member of Gangcheori. Especially if Jeong-Hui here trusts you,” Korain said, patting them on the shoulder.

“I do,” he assured.

“Ehe, it was nothing…” Xiaodan bashfully chuckled, playing with his own hair.

Though there wasn’t much time for celebration as footsteps could be heard stamping down on the thin puddles of water present in the dank basement.

It wasn’t hard to see the identity of the invaders as the green flames that were produced from their burnt, lanky bodies made them impossible to miss in the darkness.

“…Shit. More of them? Baek-Hyeon is really dropping the ball on this one…I’m going to give that guy an earful later,” Korain clicked his tongue, holding his claymore with his singular arm.

“How’re they getting in?” He asked, getting ready for another confrontation.

“Let’s figure that out, first things first–we’re going to need to crush some fodder!” Korain announced, pointing his claymore towards the approaching Infernals.

There were four Infernals, each of them possessing different physiques, and stronger, thicker flames of exotic green.

“Korain, can you…?” He asked before pushing forward.

“Don’t you start worrying about me! I’ll handle two of them!” Korain smiled wide, splashing his claymore against the puddle, drawing the attention of the Infernals.

He hesitantly nodded, moving his gaze to Xiaodan, “Let’s go! I’ll take the left, you handle the right!”

“Gotcha!” Xiaodan nodded.

The two nimble fighters dashed away, allowing the two center Infernals to rush towards Korain, who coaxed them towards himself with a smile.

“Come and get it! I’m in a pretty awful mood–!” Korain grinned.

Even with one arm, the brute strength of Korain wasn’t dwindled as with a single arm, he gathered his immense power from “Abandon”–swinging his claymore against both of the Infernals with a devastating wind pressure exuding forth.

“Tch,” Korain clicked his tongue.

The slash was too shallow, only serving to knock the two Infernals back as they screeched out. With their rage, their flames grew, roaring out as a heat filled the clammy basement.

Guess this’ll take some getting used to…I’m left-handed, after all. Well, not anymore, Korain thought.

While Korain fought his two, he moved on, confronting a burly, gorilla-armed Infernal that immediately tried to slam its burning fist towards his nose.

He swiftly ducked beneath it, countering with a swipe of his dagger, though it only resulted in a superficial cut on its tough forearm.

It’s stronger than the other one…These things are each unique? He thought.

He was forced to flip backwards as it stomped its foot down towards him, unleashing a quick burst of verdant flames that stretched outward in a fiery roar.

Though he flipped back into the air to avoid the reach of the hellish inferno, he could still feel the impressive heat against his skin.

“Dark Edge.”

As he landed on the ground, preparing to assault the burly Infernal with his dark-enhanced daggers, he stopped as a sudden jolt of burning pain resounded against his soles.

–It was the puddles of water; the Infernal’s flames caused it to boil up. There wasn’t any damage caused by it, but the momentary distraction made him susceptible to the incoming, straight-punch launched towards him.

Even so, he managed to use his heightened reflexes to side-step the propelling, flaming fist, seeing it move past his face as he pushed forward for a counterattack.

Against heat like this, martial arts isn’t an option…so! He thought.

While inside of the Infernal’s guard, the mindless creature was unable to properly react as he sent his dagger upward from beneath its vision, slamming his blade through its chin and into its head.

“Gruuuu…”

The Infernal let out a groan as its flames went out after having its brain destroyed. As he slid his dagger out, the entity crumbled away into ash.

[“Infernal” Defeated | EXP + 250 | 600/13500]

“Phew…” He let out quietly.

Sweat left his pores from the brief encounter with the Infernal’s heat.

To his surprise, Xiaodan didn’t have much trouble with the fire-engulfed enemy despite being a hands-on fighter.

Xiaodan’s techniques were flawlessly executed, and powerful, at that–instead of attacking directly, he used the air pressure from swift, powerful strikes to discombobulate the Infernal.

“Graaah…!” It roared out.

Xiaodan planted his slippers against the ground, taking a wide stance.

“Hermit’s Untouchable Shell,” Xiaodan invoked.

While standing still, he unleashed simple, but perfect straight-punches towards the air, manifesting strikes of wind.

“Raa…! Raa–!”

Though the lanky Infernal desperately tried to lunge towards Xiaodan, the punches that produced air continued to keep it back, never letting it close in.

Each strike isn’t particularly powerful…Is he planning on just whittling it down? He questioned.

But his thoughts quickly subsided as he witnessed Xiaodan seamlessly switch stances, taking advantage of the discombobulated state of the Infernal, rushing forward with a nimble burst.

“Thunderbird Strike,” Xiaodan invoked.

It was an agile kick launched from a low, almost all-fours position, utilizing his arms and left leg to propel himself, putting all of his body weight behind a lightning-infused kick that landed directly against the Infernal’s chin.

The low-performed kick sounded out like a roar of thunder, kicking the Infernal’s green-blazing head straight from its shoulders as it instantly fell to ash.

“One and done,” Xiaodan quietly claimed victory.

At the same time, Korain managed to bisect the last of his two Infernals, using a wind-enhanced slash that left it split in two from its top and bottom half.

“One arm isn’t gonna let you scrawny bastards have a shot at me!” Korain roared out with a triumphant smile, huffing as the two Infernals returned to ash.

With all of the Infernals handled, they regrouped, though they were all surprisingly more tired than it seemed from the non-pressing battles.