Chapter 166 …

Using Envelopment on magic.

This wasn’t an idea that only Dohyun had.

After all, mages were people who made their living with skills. It was impossible that a mage—who would be the most passionate about utilizing their class skills—had never thought of something like this before.

Especially if that skill was the ostracized one known as “Envelopment.”

They had pondered and pondered how a trash skill that only took up a skill slot could somehow be made useful.

                                                         “Huh? What if you wrap it around magic?”
“What if it’s not meant to wrap around your body in the first place, but instead increases the power of                                                                                                   magic?”

That was the first idea that came to their minds.

If the true usage was to wrap it around magic, then it being a Hero-grade skill would make perfect sense.

It was an innovative shift in thinking, but…

                                                                            ‘It failed immediately.’

It failed at the speed of light and was quickly abandoned.

The reason was simple—and perfectly logical.

You couldn’t wrap the same attribute around elemental magic that already contained that attribute.

Darkness Envelopment literally meant wrapping something in darkness. Wrapping darkness around dark-attribute magic—what difference would that even make?

‘Still, it should’ve at least boosted the damage a bit…’

After all, the effects attached to Envelopment were usually better than those of ordinary magic.

Take the true damage effect of Darkness Envelopment, for example.

But since the fundamental attribute was the same, players guessed the system simply didn’t recognize it as “wrapping.”

Thus, Envelopment became a tragic Hero skill that was rejected by everyone.

‘…But my attributes are different.’

But what if it were Dohyun?

The only player capable of using Fireball with Darkness Envelopment.

No—perhaps the only multi-attribute mage in all of God of the Other World.

Wouldn’t that change things?

                                                                                         ‘Maybe…’

…Maybe it would work.

Grrr—

Slash— Thud!

[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]

“Shut up, you bastard.”

Dohyun casually killed the troll that had recklessly attacked without understanding the situation, then stared endlessly at his skill slots.

The cooldown—barely ten seconds—felt unbearably long.

He calmed his pounding heart as those eternal ten seconds passed.

Then the skill slot flashed.

[You can use Fireball.]

At the same moment, Dohyun quickly scanned the area as if he’d been waiting.

There were plenty of targets.

More than ten trolls were visible.

He stretched out his hand toward a group of three standing together, launching a Fireball.

[Using Darkness Envelopment on Fireball.]

He activated Darkness Envelopment toward the flying Fireball.

                                                                                    ‘Will it work?’

Half nervous, half excited.

Just as doubt crept in—

[Darkness has been wrapped around Fireball.]
[Darkness attribute effects have been applied to Fireball.]

With a cheerful notification, the Fireball began to change.

Starting from the tail of the sphere, it turned black, and in an instant it transformed into a sphere of darkness.

The distinctive roaring sound of burning air vanished as well.

“Grr—?”

The troll only felt the heat when it was right in front of its face and instinctively stepped back in shock.

Then—

—!

The darkness-wrapped Fireball exploded in complete silence.

Black flames burned through the troll’s flesh—and beyond it, deep into its insides.

The troll screamed in horrific agony.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]

Its final cry.

“Wow…”

Dohyun couldn’t help but gasp in admiration.

One-shotting a troll with a single hit?

That insane power from what was only supposed to be Rare-grade magic was shocking enough—but something else ignited a fire in his chest.

                                                                         ‘That looks insanely cool!’

The fireball wasn’t flashy.

But it had that romantic coolness that perfectly appealed to a man’s heart.

In short—it was stylish as hell.

Dohyun kept exclaiming in awe.

                                                               ‘I can’t believe that actually worked.’

Honestly, he’d only tried it on a whim.

He had some hope, sure—but he’d thought it probably wouldn’t work.

And yet, the power exceeded expectations.

Perhaps it was because trolls were known for their high regeneration and tough hide, making them durable—so the defense-ignoring damage of the Darkness attribute hit them especially hard.

‘Even considering that… it’s still better than I expected.’

Right now it was only Fireball.

But what if he wrapped it around stronger magic?

Hellfire.

Or even…

Meteor?

Gulp.

The thought alone was dizzying.

“Grrr—!”

“Grrr—!”

Were they angered by their comrade’s death?

Before he knew it, six trolls had surrounded Dohyun’s party.

This time, Charlie stepped forward.

                                                                               “I will protect you.”

A solemn voice echoed.

[Charlie has activated “Oath.”]
[Among the three oaths, he wishes to form the Oath of Protection.]
[Do you accept?]

“Of course.”

There was no reason to refuse.

In this situation, there was no oath more suitable than Protection.

As soon as he nodded, a translucent circle appeared between Charlie and Dohyun.

[You have formed the Oath of Protection with Guardian ‘Charlie’.]
[When both individuals remain within a certain distance, all Defense, Magic Resistance, and Health greatly increase.]
[However, if either leaves the range, the above stats decrease by 30%.]

This circle represented the range.

As long as they remained within it, both Charlie and Dohyun’s defensive stats increased.

But leaving the range would instead apply a debuff.

‘If either of us leaves the range, both of us get penalized.’

Imagine trusting this skill as a mage or healer with poor defense—

You’d think it was protecting you, only to get stabbed in the back.

Your already fragile body would become so fragile that even a graze could be fatal.

But Dohyun had no such worries.

Feeling his body grow sturdier, he stepped forward.

“Should I summon the undead?”
Jihad asked.

“No. I don’t think we’ll need them.”

There was no need for an undead army.

For trolls like these, Dohyun and Charlie alone were enough.

And besides—

He wanted to test just how tough he’d become.

Dohyun took something out of his inventory.

Jihad frowned.

                                                  “…Did you really have to buy that? It looks cheap.”

“What are you talking about? Stats are stats, man.”

Charlie added solemnly:

                                                            “I think it’s a very fine mask, my lord.”

It was a mask.

Before leaving for the field after receiving a quest from Luriel, Dohyun had bought it from an accessory merchant in Fratel.

‘Being able to buy accessories from shops is such a blessing.’

From Fratel onward, the auxiliary equipment system became fully available, so NPC merchants also sold them.

Of course, since they were easy to obtain, they weren’t very good.

At best Normal to Normal+ grade.

[You have equipped ‘Crude Black Mask’.]
[Agility +2.]

Dohyun’s mask was also Normal+ grade.

It had no special effects, but even a little Agility was better than nothing.

‘At least I won’t have to blur my face when uploading videos anymore.’

More importantly, it would make things convenient later.

With this mask, he wouldn’t have to worry about people recognizing him as much.

Though honestly… with Jihad and Charlie around, who stood out far more, it probably didn’t matter.

Still, it was the thought that counted.

Dohyun finished preparing.

“Alright, I’ll leave the back to you, Charlie.”

                                                                    “Yes. Leave it to me, my lord.”

Six in front.

Four behind.

Handling four enemies alone might be burdensome for a single guardian—but Charlie had never once failed to live up to expectations with his aggro control.

With the Oath of Protection, four trolls should be easy.

“Ha!”

Dohyun charged forward.

“Grr?”

BANG!

He slammed straight into a troll with a shoulder tackle.

The troll flew back with a heavy sound that didn’t seem possible from a human colliding with a monster.

But Dohyun wasn’t completely safe either.

Having jumped into the middle of enemy lines, clubs rained down from every direction.

[HP: 7,713 / 7,780]
[HP: 7,645 / 7,780]
[HP: 7,572 / 7,780]

                                                                               ‘Yeah… that tickles.’

Even while openly getting hit, his HP barely dropped.

His high base stats, equipment, and the Oath of Protection were working together.

Add in the regeneration of the Benevolent Light, and he probably could’ve stood there getting hit for minutes.

                                                                ‘This will be useful in boss fights too.’

The strength of an oath scaled with the knight’s level.

Charlie’s level wasn’t high enough yet to compare to rankers—but for this stage, it was excellent.

‘Against bosses with huge damage or for squishy classes… this would be mandatory.’

No wonder rankers preferred knights who had learned Oath skills.

Having tested the performance enough, Dohyun swung Cheonbyeon.

Slash—

Stab!

Two trolls were cleanly cut down.

Boom—!

A black-flame Fireball exploded, killing another.

“Grrr!”

He tripped the leg of a troll trying to ambush him.

[Using Rising Dragon Kick.]

He grabbed the neck of another troll approaching from the side and launched Rising Dragon Kick, then stomped down, crushing the fallen troll’s nose before stabbing its heart.

“G… Grr…”

The troll that had been blown away earlier by the shoulder tackle watched this scene from afar.

Then it turned and ran without looking back.

An animal instinctively sensing a predator.

But Dohyun wouldn’t let it escape.

[Cheonbyeon transforms into Raven’s Black Spear.]
[Using Darkness Envelopment on Cheonbyeon.]

Whoosh—

Cheonbyeon lengthened into a spear.

Dohyun threw it.

The fleeing troll was instantly skewered.

Of course, a thin fuse-thread was attached to the spear tip.

“Gr… gr…”

The troll saw the thin thread piercing its heart.

The moment it realized its death—

BOOM!

[You have defeated a Mutant Troll of the Blue Forest.]
[You have obtained Mutant Troll Blood.]

“Oh, it was a mutant. No wonder it was tougher.”

Lucky.

He’d gotten the Mutant Troll Blood after only six kills.

When Dohyun turned around after finishing the last troll, Charlie had already defeated two of his own.

“Hmm! What a foul smell… Does your civilization not believe in brushing teeth? Four of you together—frankly, it’s quite unpleasant!”

“GRRR!”

‘…Same as ever.’

Charlie held aggro perfectly while delivering savage verbal attacks.

But he definitely looked more comfortable than before.

Previously he relied entirely on elegant swordsmanship to deflect attacks.

Now he was simply blocking or taking some hits head-on.

He was confident ordinary troll attacks meant nothing.

‘If he uses Armor of Protection too, he could tank bosses.’

What was amazing was that this still wasn’t full buff.

He also had Sword of Light, a powerful offensive skill.

Even now, he could probably join a party and be highly sought after.

[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]
[You have defeated a Troll of the Blue Forest.]

Charlie approached with disciplined steps and bowed.

                                        “The sword of my lord has completed its mission successfully.”

Jihad replied in an exaggeratedly solemn voice while imitating him:

                                                                          “Hmm! Excellent work!”

Eliza chimed in as well.

                                                                                       “Lizard!”

Those two used to fight like oil and water.

Now they seemed surprisingly close.

                                                        ‘Well… they’ve been together for a while now.’

Probably over two weeks already.

Just as Dohyun smiled at the thought that time really healed things—

Ding—

An unexpected notification appeared.