The all-knowing Player (Solo Leveling)

Park's question (1)

Our armies rush over to the bears, ready to slash them in pieces. Orion slices a bear open, burning the wound with his long sword. The dragons work together, dark ones imprisoning monsters with their roots of darkness to let the light ones shoot their lasers at the enemies. And, unlike the dogs' that I fought, their eyes don't lose their spark. The bears try to fight against our soldiers, but, as the two armies work well together and my followers fight ferociously for the promised reward, this battle turns out to be a simple, one-sided massacre.

"Your soldiers are skilled and motivated. Where did they learn to work this well together? No, where did you even find dragons in the first place?" Jin-Woo asks, bewildered.

"I create them. Look," I point towards two corpses of dragons.

My followers can't regenerate but there's still something I can do for them. I extract their skills and send them towards me.

"Rise up."

The air twists itself, divides light and darkness to create two dragons who integrate the skills. They bow in front of me to express their respect then throw themselves in the melée. Even if I can't heal my followers, I can create other ones to replace the dead ones, as long as they are an even number.

"What's your class?" he asks.

"I'm a Sage. I've never heard of that class before, though. My title is the Guardian of Balance. What about you?"

"Shadow Monarch, necromancer. I guess that's why my soldiers can regenerate. Their insane regenerative capabilities make them basically immortal. They're already dead, after all. It does drain a lot of mana, though."

"I told you to invest more ability points in intelligence," I remind him.

"Yeah. I should have listened," he admits with a sigh.

Our attention is soon taken by the appearance of a larger bear with scars around its eyes. It roars loudly and swings its heavy paw at our soldiers, instantly wiping them off. I squint my eyes, anger rising in me as I see the monster slaughter my followers one after the other.

"Followers, come back!" I shout and open my dungeon. They immediately disappear in the gate and I recreate the dead ones, letting them join the other soldiers in the dungeon. "Orion, stay."

Next to me, Jin-Woo curses, seeing that he drained all of his mana, and calls his shadows back too. Only Igris stays.

"Want to make them work together?" I offer.

He nods.

"Igris, Orion. It's your turn."

I don't need to repeat myself. They rush over to the giant bear, each taking a side like Jin-Woo and I always do. In perfect symmetry, they cut the monster's shoulders cleanly. Igris slashes its arm while Orion uses the distraction to attack its ankles, forbidding it to move and burning its back paws. I watch, amazed, as they share a meaningful glance. Igris steps back, letting Orion inflict the final blow. He slashes the head of the bear off with one swing, Igris catches it in its fall and sets it at our feet. My knight joins him to kneel in front of us next to Jin-Woo's.

The battle didn't last over ten seconds. I can't believe it. How did I manage to defeat such a strong knight in the first place? It's a mystery. But now, Orion follows my every word. I couldn't be more grateful to have him as one of my followers.

"Good job," Jin-Woo congratulates Igris.

I put my hand on Orion's shoulder. Had I not had the Fire resistance skill, my skin would have burned. But its warmth simply spreads through my fingers. It's reassuring, like a promise to protect me until the end.