Bloodhound’s Regression Instinct

Chapter 13

Yan licked his tongue as he watched the skeleton fly far away.

The ‘monster’ he had brought out was an ancient lich, a being that was presumed to have existed since ancient times.

It was the same being that Yan had faced when he was the chief instructor of this project in his previous life.

‘Whenever I think of that time, I still…’

Yan brushed off the goosebumps that rose on his arms.

Unknown identity.

Mana that was close to infinite.

Endless stamina.

The magical bombardment that unfolded with just a flick of his hand.

As a result, only about a hundred trainees survived out of a thousand.

‘If it wasn’t for ‘Baldez’, the special task force training center would have been wiped out.’

Baldez was the instructor who was with Yan when he was in charge of the dragon soldier project, and he was the one who subdued the monster.

Yan led the instructors and fought the lich to buy time, and Baldez searched the entire mountain range to find and destroy the lich’s life, or the life vessel.

“Chief instructor, I found out why this guy flew away…”

“What’s the big deal?”

“…There was a fight among the trainees, and the corpse of one of the dead trainees fell into the guy’s lair, and that’s what caused this mess.”

“What? You’re telling me that the ancient lich, who is called the peak of magic, flew away because of such a trivial reason?”

“Well… Maybe he’s a germaphobe.”

At that time, it sounded like crazy talk, but the more he investigated, the more Baldez’s words weighed on the side of truth.

If it had ended there, he wouldn’t have had to summon the monster again.

But Baldez left the special task force right after the incident and started moving alone.

Not long after, he was called ‘Sword Demon’.

A ghost of the sword who wielded all kinds of swordsmanship at his will.

At that time, he wondered what had happened.

But then he had a chance to hear the details from him at a drinking session.

“Senior, do you know what I got from the Blade Mountain Range back then?”

“Back then? When are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, when the ancient lich went berserk!”

“Oh, yeah. So what did you get?”

“…The treasure in his lair.”

Thinking about it, Baldez wasn’t that special until then, but he seemed to have gotten stronger since then.

‘Maybe he got a treasure that could awaken his talent for mana.’

That was also what Baldez lacked.

Whether it was a treasure that increased his affinity for mana, or a spirit medicine that filled his mana, he didn’t know yet.

But whatever he got.

‘He could replace the mana storage, the biggest drawback of the current dragon’s breath.’

He couldn’t make a single shot with the half-baked ‘dragon’s breath’.

He could make a temporary mana storage that could replace the single shot.

‘If he could use mana more actively or fluidly, he wouldn’t have to strain his body like he does now.’ He had already been injured and bled several times because of that.

Yan’s eyes sparkled.

‘And besides, since the lich had existed since ancient times, wouldn’t there be other valuable treasures?’

It was a hopeful wish, but the possibility was high.

Magicians were greedy and collectible, whether in the past or present.

And if he kept getting the ties he knew in his previous life, one by one.

‘He could surpass the level of his previous life by far!’

Yan chuckled as he thought of the three people who were struggling against the lich.

Leon, the crown prince who killed him in his previous life.

The chief instructor who blocked his escape in this life.

And.

‘I don’t have much feelings for the current special task force leader. Anyway.’

He had prepared another way, but thanks to the sudden appearance of the crown prince and the special task force leader, he was able to use this method.

They would be able to hold the monster for much longer than dozens of instructors.

‘Maybe they could even catch it.’

Anyway.

It was time to move.

Yan’s gaze turned to the cliff below.

He felt a little dizzy at the tremendous height.

‘Wow, look at how high it is.’

But Yan didn’t hesitate and threw his body down the cliff.

It was time to ‘rob the empty house’.

There was no river or downstream below, so falling without safety equipment would make his body smash like a potato.

But Yan’s eyes didn’t waver.

And when he had fallen for a while.

Bang!

Something flashed and swallowed his body.

* * *

A cave where night pearls are shining brightly everywhere.

“It’s been a while.”

Yan didn’t look worried at all, even though he had fallen into a completely different space from the cliff he was falling from.

This was the entrance to the lich’s lair, which was distorted by space.

The blue rocks that filled the cave gave a mysterious feeling.

In front of him, there was a huge passage that looked like it had opened its mouth wide, as if it was welcoming him.

“The ancient lich’s lair.”

Or dungeon, as it was called.

But the lich here was different from other liches, and didn’t use chimeras, undead, or monsters as guardians.

‘Maybe he was disgusted by them just by looking at them because he was a germaphobe. Or maybe he had other reasons.’

But couldn’t he make undead pretty clean?

Yan walked slowly forward, thinking such nonsense.

The passage was a huge straight bridge with a lot of old-fashioned patterns carved on it.

Below it, there was only darkness that had no end.

It looked like a sturdy bridge that would never collapse.

‘But in reality, it’s so weak that it could collapse with a little shock, because of the countless traps.’

When he killed the ancient lich and investigated this place, the instructors who knew how to handle magic tilted their heads.

‘Magic circles’ originally needed a medium that could be engraved with the formula, because they had to go through a process called ‘discovery’.

But the medium that was engraved with the formula of the magic traps that were laid all over this lair was not visible.

It just changed mana into magic from somewhere when an intruder came in.

How was that possible?

The instructors who confirmed the reason were shocked.

“Simply put… he engraved the formula in the air.”

“Is that a big deal?”

“That’s… not a big deal! This is enough to cause a new paradigm in the academic world!”

Yan, who knew the types and characteristics of magic well, but was ignorant of the theory,
didn’t understand, but… well, it was amazing.

Come to think of it, the that led to this place was also engraved in the air.

“By the way, I never found out the identity of this lich.”

The lich’s lair, which was hidden inside, disappeared along with the ancient lich.

So he couldn’t figure out his identity clearly.

‘It’ll be different this time.’

The crown prince and the special task force leader would buy him plenty of time.

Yan stood in front of the passage and took a deep breath.

A bridge that looked sturdy, but in reality, it could collapse at any moment with a slight shock.

‘According to my memory, the number of magic traps laid here is… hundreds.’

Baldez said he had crossed safely with ‘luck’ before.

But Yan had no intention of risking his life on that ‘luck’.

‘Fortunately, most of the magic traps that had been left for too long couldn’t function properly.’

Yan’s eyes sank low.

He recalled his previous life’s memory.

“The magic traps were installed about… a thousand years ago.”

“There are a total of 492 magic traps in this place, but only about thirty of them work normally. High-level magic doesn’t work at all.”

It was impossible to break through 492 magic traps with his current body.

But.

“If you can’t break through the low-level magic, you should go and die.”

He had plenty of ways to destroy the low-level magic, and he had prepared for them.

‘He slept for so long that he couldn’t even repair the traps properly. That’s why he’s out of his mind right now, just waking up from his sleep.’

The magicians of his previous life had said.

If the ancient lich hadn’t been in a drowsy state of mind at that time, the special task force would have been wiped out before Baldez destroyed the life vessel.

‘This is the perfect opportunity to steal the treasure, when he’s only driven by his instinct.’

The reason why he ate the disgusting goblin heart raw, and wore the monster skin upside down.

It was all for this moment.

Yan took a deep breath.

Whoosh. Rough mana entered his body through his throat and started to rotate.

He took a step forward and recited the formula of ‘Wind Bird’s Wing Flap’.

Swoosh. Mana began to gather on his feet.

In that state, he bent his knees and pulled his thighs and calves tightly.

“Now!”

Bang!

When he was full of power, he stomped on the ground.

Like an arrow being shot.

Then, suddenly, a magic circle appeared in the air.

‘Left!’

His eyes quickly scanned the magic that was falling.

Tat!

He put strength on his left foot and flew to the right.

A fireball pierced through the bridge where Yan had been standing.

‘Low-level magic is no joke either?’

The size of the was several times larger than the usual fireball.

Yan wiped the sweat from his forehead without a moment to spare and kicked off his spot.

Crash, bang.

Boom!

As much as Yan was breaking the bridge with his feet, threatening magic poured down incessantly.

Among them, there were some magic that flew so precisely that it was hard to avoid right away.

‘Magic Arrow?’

Yan didn’t avoid the three magic arrows that flew as if they would pierce his skin, but tightened the leather he was wearing upside down.

Zzzt!

Shriek-

The magic arrows collided with the leather that Yan was wearing upside down and made a hissing sound as they disappeared.

‘Good thing I brought this.’

The leather that Yan was wearing upside down was the leather of an ‘armadillo’.

This creature, which had a hard shell similar to a turtle, had no attack power at all.

But its magic resistance was so high that it was known to be very difficult to hunt.

Its habitat was also a dark swamp where light didn’t reach well, so it was hard to find.

But Yan was able to catch a few after a long ambush.

‘I used it very handy when I assassinated the warmages on the battlefield, but I didn’t know I would use it like this.’

So Yan resisted the low-level magic that he could with the leather, and avoided the dangerous magic as he ran across the bridge.

He crossed over 80% of the bridge like that.

Whoosh.

This time, a mana storm started to swirl in the air.

A magic circle that was several times bigger than the usual magic circle was clearly drawn. Inside the magic circle, dozens of small magic circles were interlocking like gears and spinning fiercely.

“Damn it!”

Weren’t all the high-level magic circles broken?

At a glance, it was a grand magic circle that could be used in a battlefield.

At least the good thing was.

It looked like it was low on mana because it had been neglected for a long time.

It meant that it couldn’t exert its original power.

‘But it’s still much more powerful than low-level magic!’

Yan didn’t take his eyes off the magic circle and ran.

In the blink of an eye, a sinister vortex began to form from the completed magic circle.

The vortex grew in size in an instant, and began to swallow not only the bridge, but also Yan.

Kwakwakwa.

“Damn it! This is cheating!”

This would be no help even with the armadillo’s leather.

The only answer was to escape in time.

“Hooeup!”

He took a deep breath as his lungs tore.

Dense and dark mana began to push into his throat.

‘Am I going to die from overwork?’

Yan made a futile thought and began to recite a different formula from ‘Wind Bird’s Wing Flap’.

He didn’t use this vision unless he had to.

Dwoong.

A thump rang in his thighs and calves.

Tududuk.

The middle of his pants made a popping sound.

In between, Yan’s thighs were revealed to be strangely thick.

“Cough!”

A mouthful of blood spurted out of Yan’s mouth.

It was a natural result of using a high-level divine technique that was hard to even attempt with his current body.

“Dark Dragon Power – Rising Dragon”

A vision that only the special task force leader could use.

One of them unfolded in Yan’s body.

Explosive power began to rise from Yan’s swollen thighs.

The power continued from his thighs to his calves, feet, and toes.

And then.

Bang!

He smashed the spot and shot forward like a spring.

‘Faster, faster, faster.’

A whirlwind began to grow behind Yan.

Kwakwakwa.

The whirlwind and the human race continued for a while.

Thud.

The human won by a hair’s breadth.

Yan’s toes touched the ground, not the bridge, and the whirlwind that was flying behind him quickly subsided.

“Ueak! Wek!”

Blood and vomit poured out of Yan’s mouth.

He had suffered a lot of internal injuries from using the vision recklessly.

Yan vomited for a while and got up with a hard look.

“I just need to get the treasure, just the treasure.”

Then he wouldn’t have to ruin his body like this anymore.

Yan was grinding his teeth, but.

As soon as he saw the golden door standing proudly in front of him.

“Kee! This is it.”

His eyes sparkled.

It was the door leading to the treasure vault.