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Ethan breathed raggedly.

If he was any slower or faster, he would never have won.

‘If it wasn’t for Heo’s Acupuncture. If I hadn’t realized about the Hero’s Breathing while facing the Goblin Rider King.’

He would have died. More likely, he would have died for nothing.

‘But I’m alive.’

Ethan breathed urgently.

The red dot on the Beast King was tiny, and Hero’s Breathing supported his stamina as he stabbed it.

Add to that the delicate movements of his because of Heo’s Acupuncture.

-Hero’s Breathing proficiency increases significantly!

As if to prove it, the proficiency of both skills increased significantly.

“Heok, heok. I’m sorry, Young Master.”

“No. You should be proud of yourself for holding on, Schudlen.”

Breaking out in a cold sweat and letting out a ragged breath, Schudlen somehow managed to straighten up, his eyes burning with anger.

Anger at himself for standing by and doing nothing while his young master was in danger.

Ethan smiled inwardly as he looked at Schudlen.

‘This will either break him or make him stronger. I’m sure he’ll find this a very good experience.’

And he would be even stronger than he was now.

And then he’d be able to fit right into Ethan’s plan.

‘It turned out better than I thought.’

Ethan quickly checked his rewards.

It was certainly a great achievement.

The level difference between the Beast King and Ethan was insurmountable.

Under such circumstances, he had achieved a perfect victory.

[Perfect Hunt]

You hunted a monster with a large level difference without getting hit once. You’re a natural hunter!

First up was the achievement of Perfect Hunt. It was exactly what it sounded like, an achievement for killing monsters of different levels without getting hit by a single one.

‘You can only get it if there’s at least a level difference of 50.’

Of course, the rewards for killing a relatively high-level monster were always going to be high.

That was because they were more difficult.

But that was one thing, and at level 50, it was a different story.

Plus, it was an achievement for killing it without taking a single hit.

‘From Heo’s Acupuncture to skills I learned from Hercules. I’m sure people will love this if I put it in the reviews.’

Ethan felt quite grateful to these two gods.

‘First of all, I wrote a review for Heo Jun, because I’m going to watch his later videos anyway.’

It would be nice to write a review for them now that he was their subscriber.

‘Maybe they’ll give me something more, like, the skills I’m learning were originally used by the gods, so maybe they’ll give me more tips.’

Ethan then checked his reward.

“Hmm!”

The reward was a single item.

[Beast King’s Claw Sword] [Grade S]

A sword used by the Beast King. One of the weapons made from his powerful claws.

Made by a master blacksmith, it boasts a beautiful blade.

[Special Skill] Fear: You can use the fear emitted by the beasts.

‘I’ve got a good one. It said there’d be extra rewards. I didn’t expect to get this.’

The Beast King’s claw sword was a useful weapon in many ways.

‘He used to use his own claws to make the swords in the first place.’

The Beast King’s Claw Sword was a fairly cost-effective weapon.

‘If it’s an S-grade claw sword, it’s much better than the others.’

Ethan put the new claw sword in his subspace pouch for now.

Then he knelt down on the ground and approached Yerica, who was still unable to move.

“We’ve finally met.”

Yerica stretched out her hand and eyed Ethan warily.

She was completely drained, but she still had the strength to cast her magic.

“Don’t come any closer. First of all, I appreciate your help, but who are you and why are you looking for me?”

That was a question Schudlen wondered as well.

Who was this person Ethan was looking for, and why was she being attacked by such a powerful man?

“It doesn’t really matter who am I. What matters is your ability.”

Ethan held out his hand.

“I need your abilities, Yerica von Hyde.”

* * *

Yerica couldn’t remember a time in her life when trusting someone had ever paid off.

Most humans had all been nice and then tried to take everything from her, and then betrayed her trust, hurting her deeply.

So for her, trusting someone was the equivalent of saying she was willing to walk into the pits of hell yourself.

So she chose not to trust anyone.

She didn’t need to trust anyone for her own purposes anyway, and that was just as well.

It was a hand held out in such circumstances.

That hand was overlaid with so many people.

And so did he. Many words were spoken as the hand was extended. But in the end, they were all the same, and most likely the man in front of him.

“You need my abilities?”

Did he come for her grimoire, too?

Ethan gave her a sickly smile as he spoke.

“Yes, my name is Ethan Whickers. Enough with the small talk, let’s get to the point. Yerica, I need your ability.”

Ethan said.

“As you can see, I am weak. My complexion and the bags under my eyes suggest I haven’t slept in ten days, but I actually had a good night’s sleep last night, and yet I look like this. I’m too weak to be healthy.”

Ethan’s words were credible.

Ethan’s complexion was indeed quite unhealthy. The sentence “sickly young master from noble family” seemed to fit him quite well.

But what did that have to do with his need?

“I can’t wander around, even if I wanted to, because, in this state, I don’t know when I’ll die.”

Wandering around was a fairly normal thing to do, but for the current Ethan, even such normal things were dangerous.

“So…….”

Now he was getting down to business.

Yerica turned up her senses to the max.

If there was any mention of grimoires here, she was going to use magic and run.

“I need an escort.”

“Yes?”

Yerica, who had been preparing her magic, was momentarily stunned.

What, an escort? Didn’t he come to get the grimoire?

She asked, letting her guard down a bit.

“Aren’t you here for the grimoire?”

“What am I supposed to do with it? You see, I’m a swordsman, and there’s nothing for me to learn magic for. I don’t have enough mana.”

Ethan shook his head.

The sincerity in his expression confused Yerica.

She’d thought he’d come for the grimoire, but he wanted her as an escort.

Never in her life had she heard such an offer.

“So you came to me because you wanted me to be your escort?”

“Yes. I was a little surprised to see the Beast King here, but I took care of him.”

“You’re good enough to kill the Beast King, and yet you need an escort?”

She said to Ethan, and Schudlen, who was behind him, shrugged.

Ethan smiled bitterly.`

“My health is not that good. As for defeating the Beast King. I was lucky. If I hadn’t gotten a good hit, I would have been dead.”

“Lucky? If you were able to defeat the Beast King by luck, why would the world give him such a nickname? They would have just called him an ogre, a human-like ogre, or maybe the other way around.”

Yerica shook her head in disbelief.

He wasn’t someone she could take down by saying she got lucky.

But in response, Ethan merely shrugged his shoulders.

Ethan’s appearance was decidedly weak.

He looked like he could collapse at any moment, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he did.

“Then why me?”

“Because if I was going to have an escort, it would have been someone who was an archmage.”

“I can’t use proper magic right now, and I’m sure you’re all aware of that. The reason the Beast King was trying to kill me like that, and I couldn’t even fight back, is because I can’t use proper magic.”

Yerika continued to show a strong sense of caution.

Currently, she wasn’t able to use her magic as well as she said she could.

To recruit her and use her as an escort?

No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense. Even if she thought about it, her current self was not worthy of recruitment.

She thought he was just trying to convince her to take his grandfather’s magic.

But the other man wasted no time in answering her question.

“I’ll fix it.”

“What?”

“Why you can’t use magic. I’ll remove the curse from your body so I can use you as an escort.”

* * *

Unpredictable.

Each of his words was unexpected.

He said he would remove the curse on her, he said he was sick, and he said he wanted an escort.

These were words she had never heard before.

She’d heard of people offering to remove the curse, but no one had ever actually done it.

It was always just a ploy to get the grimoire out of her hands.

But this time, something was different.

“I can get rid of it. I came here to make you my escort, and I didn’t even think about that? You can’t be my escort if I can’t get rid of your curse in the first place. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s right, I know I say I can use magic, but I’m not really a proper mage. But how?”

“There are ways. You just have to answer me. Will you be my escort or not?”

Ethan smiled at that.

The certainty in his tone made her feel momentarily uncomfortable.

But she quickly shook her head.

She hadn’t been able to get rid of it, despite her best efforts, and now a man she didn’t even know where he came from said he could.

A man who appeared to be a swordsman, not a mage.

She wanted to ask him again, beyond whether it was possible or not.

She couldn’t trust him yet.

“Why do you want me to be your escort, and why do you want to wander around?”

And so, back to the beginning, she had to ask why.

Because the Ethan in her mind couldn’t be argued with.

She couldn’t comprehend him, couldn’t measure him, couldn’t figure him out, so she had to ask.

This time, he answered clearly.

“I need someone on my side. I need someone to protect me from those who threaten me. But I can’t get someone strong right away, and if I can’t, the solution is simple: take someone who will grow stronger as an escort.”

Ethan pointed to her.

The granddaughter of an Archmage who had been cursed.

She had the elements to be strong.

“And the reason for me to wander around? I’ll answer that too.”

Ethan’s eyes glowed intensely.

“Because I want to live. I die when I stand still. I’m looking for a way to live now.”

Those words stunned her into silence.

She couldn’t trust him completely, not with a single word or action.

But she could trust that he wanted to live. She could see the intense desire to live in his eyes.

“As you know, my name is Yerica von Hyde.”

“Let me introduce myself again. Ethan Whickers.”

Ethan held out his hand, and she took it.

Ding-!

Then an alarm sounded in Ethan’s ears.

-Your chances of survival have increased!