Moon's Labyrinths

Magic Resistance.

He knew what it was in concept. However, the situation was as Hyunwoo had said. Sungyoon hadn’t considered Magic Resistance as a factor in his fight.

“You are using two different ranked magic Gems. The first one is an Orange Gem, second in the ranks of Rainbow Gems, and the other one was the one you evolved to a Green Gem earlier, right? First, any magic Gem around the level of Green rank doesn’t work well against the Centaur. Its Magic Resistance is fairly high. An Orange rank Gem might be somewhat effective, but it can’t inflict critical damage to the Centaur.”

Sungyoon thought about the Centaur destroying his earth magic with its hooves, and the monster had also mostly ignored the gravity magic as it had charged towards him.

“This is a common mistake Connectors make when they start hunting higher rank monsters. Even if they have the knowledge that these monsters have Magic Resistance, they forget about it in the heat of the battle.”

Koo-uhhhhhh!

While Hyunwoo was giving his explanation, the Centaur charged toward them.

Sungyoon furrowed his brows. He knew the Centaur wouldn’t do him a favor by waiting. It was unfortunate as Sungyoon wanted to hear the full explanation from Hyunwoo before making the decision on whether to continue this fight or not.

However, he had been worried for no reason.

Chul-kuhk!

Two plates fell away from Hyunwoo’s shield.

Shooooong!

Both of them shot towards the Centaur like a bullet. It seemed the monster felt threatened by the objects flying toward it, so it tried to strike them down. Its weapons clashed against Hyunwoo’s plates.

Kwahhhhhng!

A loud sound rang out. It was a sound similar to the one that had erupted when Sungyoon and the Centaur had clashed their weapons against each other. However, the result was different in both cases.

Koo-ehhhhhhk!

At that time, as he couldn’t withstand the Centaur’s enormous strength, Sungyoon had been sent flying. But the opposite happened this time. The Centaur was sent flying backward a long way.

Koo-oooooooong!

The enormous Centaur was sent tumbling across the floor, and it let out a raucous sound. Its sword and mace, which had clashed against Hyunwoo’s two plates, had been flung to the floor.

“Don’t fucking attack when a person is talking.”

Hyunwoo grumbled as he turned to look at Sungyoon.

“Where was I?”

“… Connectors forget about Magic Resistance in the heat of the battle.”

The Centaur was an opponent that had almost killed him, yet this man had just slapped it aside as if it were an annoying mosquito. A dumbfounded look appeared on Sungyoon's face as he answered Hyunwoo's question.

“Ah ah. Yes. That’s right. In a word, you can’t lose your cool. You should have fought it like you always fight. You should have been deliberate and cool-headed. If you had done that, you wouldn’t have fallen in danger so quickly. Magic Resistance is annoying, but it is only a different form of power. The level might be low, but even the Ogres and Trolls have some Magic Resistance.”

Sungyoon had hunted both those monsters before.

“It is good that you are trying to incorporate your spells into your fight. However, you can’t be taken aback if you find out they aren't that effective. You have to use that information to attack your opponent in a different way.”

‘Normally, I don’t think he would have lost this badly..’

In Hyunwoo’s assessment, Sungyoon should have dispatched this opponent. However, it seemed his presence was making Sungyoon subconsciously relax a little bit.

However, this wasn't a bad result. If one experienced failure, one couldn’t forget about it even if one wanted to. Moreover, this was a situation where Sungyooon could afford to fail.

‘This will be a good experience for him.’

Hyunwoo pointed towards the Centaur. The monster had just gotten up, and it was about to pick up its weapons.

“I’ll stop nagging you like an old man. What do you think? Would you like to fight it once again?”

Sungyoon didn’t hesitate as he nodded.

“Alright.”

Hyunwoo clapped once, and then, he took a step backward. He folded his arms as he stood there.

Sungyoon reacted in the opposite manner. He took up his weapon and walked forward.

Koo-ohhhhhhhhhh!

The Centaur roared. It felt humiliated due to its one-sided exchange with Hyunwoo. At a glance, one could tell the monster would come at Sungyoon with a more violent attitude.

Tah-aht!

It started galloping forward once again. As always, its charge was terrifying, so Sungyoon put his shield forward like before.

Kwahng!

The four weapons hit the shield.

Sungyoon’s body was once again sent flying into the air.

However, the situation this time was different from before.

Sungyoon had jumped into the air as he received the blow. Of course, he was sent flying at a higher speed.

Ssssk!

He unsummoned his shield and took up the halberd.

The man was still in the air, so he couldn't put any strength behind any attack. Moreover, he was being sent flying backward away from the Centaur. However, he wasn’t aiming to hurt the monster's body.

Sungyoon placed the hook behind one of the Centaur’s legs.

Tuh-uhk!

The hook got stuck. The halberd was traveling along with Sungyoon, who was sent flying, and the weapon's hook pulled the monster's leg along.

Hwee-chung!

The Centaur’s body faltered. It had just swung its weapons, so it was slightly off balance. Moreover, Sungyoon’s body had been sent flying with great momentum, so there was a great amount of force behind the halberd.

Therefore, the Centaur was quickly starting to fall over.

However, unlike the bipedal monsters, the monster possessed four legs. It was quite stable on its feet, so it didn’t fall over easily. Moreover, it planted its spear in the ground to stabilize itself.

Unfortunately for the Centaur, Sungyoon didn’t plan on trying to make it fall over. It was enough that the monster had lost a bit of its balance.

‘Now!’

Sungyoon’s Earth magic Gem flashed once again.

Too-wahk!

Sharp stalagmites erupted from the ground.

It seemed the Centaur had sensed what the human was trying to do, so it tried to jump in order to dodge the attack. However, it had lost its balance, and one of its forelegs wasn’t touching the ground.

Puh-uhk!

This time, the stalagmites impacted the Centaur’s body.

Kwahhhhhhhhhhh!

It screamed out in pain.

Its body was lifted into the air.

The sharp ends of the stalagmites pierced through the monster's lower body.

However, the Centaur’s Magic Resistance was too high. The stalagmites couldn’t completely pierce through.

But it didn’t matter. Sungyoon didn’t think he could completely kill it with that one attack. And it was enough that he had damaged the Centaur to a certain extent.

‘Still, I should make the wound a little deeper.

This time Sungyoon activated his Gravity Gem.

The Centaur’s weight increased.

The Earth magic Gem was 2nd highest in the ranks of Rainbow Gems. And unlike the Orange rank Gem, the Gravity magic Gem, a Green Gem, was 4th in rank.

Of course, the Centaur’s Magic Resistance reduced the amount of increase in Gravity.

However, it was rising into the air while being pierced by stalagmites. The increase in weight was enough to create bigger wounds.

Koo-uhhhhhhh!

The Centaur struggled. The more the monster slid down the stalagmite, the more it got hurt. It was as if it were a bug stuck in an Antlion’s pit. Its wounds were just getting larger and larger.

‘Would you look at that?’

Hyunwoo’s eyes shone. The man had kept a bit of distance while watching the fight.

‘He heard about the Magic Resistance, yet he chose to use the spells?’

Moreover, he didn’t use it in a stupid manner where he used the spells for the sake of using them. He created a scenario that would make the spells effective, and he was able to damage the monster. It was quite splendid.

As the strongest Connector in his company, Hyunwoo had to train a lot of low rank Connectors at one point. He had given many warnings to them about the Magic Resistance. And when they received the warning, the Connectors usually abandoned magic spells and went straight into fighting an up-close battle.

However, Hyunwoo never warned them not to use magic.

‘If you completely stop yourself from using spells, you can’t kill the monster.’

Of course, there were the outliers where the monsters were physically weak, but enhanced physical abilities and enhanced constitution came alongside Magic Resistance. There were a lot of scary monsters out there.

The trick was to not panic on finding about a monster’s special attributes. One had to use one’s arsenal in an effective manner to kill the monster.

Few people had realized this lesson when listening to Hyunwoo’s warning for the first time, and an extremely few people immediately used this lesson in a real battle.

‘His battle sense is exceptional. He is a natural.’

How many times would he be impressed by this person?

‘Jimin really found a legit Connector this time.’

At that moment, Sungyoon was still fighting the Centaur and couldn't know that Hyunwoo thought so highly of him.

The Centaur was barely able to pull itself off the stalagmites. Blood dripped down from its lower body. It was a horrible sight.

However, it didn’t seem the monster had suffered a life-threatening wound. Its Magic Resistance was that outstanding. Still, damage was damage, and of course, its movements were affected.

Koo-uhhhhhhhh!

The Centaur once again charged toward Sungyoon. It was clear that the monster was as mad as it could be.

However, the awkwardness in its movements was apparent.

It reached Sungyoon in a flash and swung its weapons once again. Sungyoon blocked with his shield.

Boom!

Once again Sungyoon was lifted into the air. Even if he tried, he couldn’t overcome his opponent's massive strength.

But unlike before, he wasn’t helpless. He placed the Gravity magic on himself. His weight quickly increased, and he fell downwards. And right before his feet touched the ground, Sungyoon dismissed the spell.

Chwahhhhhk!

As his weight returned to normal, he softly landed on the ground. He had flown a much shorter distance than before.

Taht!

Sungyoon then ran toward the monster.

It was still in the process of retracting its weapons.

Sungyoon summoned his halberd and swung it at the monster's front leg.

Puh-uhhhhhk!

The ax blade sliced through the hard muscles. Blood erupted, and the Centaur screamed once again.

It quickly brought down two of its weapons toward Sungyoon, but the man had already moved forward. The weapons uselessly cut through empty air.

The Centaur was a fourlegged monster. Therefore, since Sungyoon had dodged the frontal attack by going forward, the Centaur’s hind legs were now in his sight.

He didn’t hesitate as he summoned his ax and used it.

Kwah-jeek!

Once again, blood erupted from its newly-formed wounds.

Its left front leg and both hind legs were damaged.

The Centaur’s body wobbled. It used its long spear to avoid falling over. Then it raised its hind legs.

‘Shit!’

Sungyoon knew what this motion meant. Normal herbivores used this move in defense when threatened by a carnivore. So, the man quickly raised his shield.

Puh-uh-uhk!

Its rear hooves impacted on his shield. It was a powerful attack, and Sungyoon was sent sliding backward for a long distance.

He barely regained control of his body. He then looked at his opponent, which limped as it turned toward Sungyoon.

The man bit his lips. He ran toward the Centaur once again.

The monster did the same.

The two clashed. Sungyoon and the Centaur fought a desperate battle in order to kill each other.

After a while...

Boooom!

The large body bonelessly fell to the ground.

The Centaur’s body had become a bloody mess before it died. Sungyoon looked down at the bloody corpse.

He was the victor.

“Cough!”

The man let out a light cough. He tasted the metallic taste of blood when a little blood came up his throat.

His left arm had been broken, so it just hung there. A large dent had formed on the left side of his armor. He had defeated the Centaur, but in doing so, he had taken a significant amount of damage.

He quickly started to heal his wounds.

His wounds slowly started to get better when he activated his healing Gem and used all the healing spells he could use.

Luckily, he fully recovered from his wounds after a while.

And then, he immediately sunk to the floor, staring at the Centaur’s corpse. He felt a small sense of achievement arise from deep within his heart as he had defeated this monster by himself.

“Good job.”

In no time, Hyunwoo appeared beside him and patted his shoulder.