《Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger!》 Chapter 1: Will To Live

Chapter 1: Will To Live

Inside a fairlyrge and luxurious house, a twelve-year-old boy with ash-colored hair waited at the door as he stared into the distance. The young man had a look of longing as though he had been waiting for someone for a long time. "Big brother Shye, the food is ready, let''s eat." A ten-year-old girl with identical features to Shye spoke with a depressed voice. After hearing what his little sister said, Shye slowly closed the door. He then proceeded to eat his meal,prising only hard bread and a in soup crafted from water and salt. It has been three months since theyst ate a proper meal and today marked theirst day in thisrge and luxurious house. Shye and his sister, Maia, didn''t want to believe that their parents had already perished during their mission but the facts were right before their eyes. Their parents'' adventurer party took on a mithril-ranked mission in hopes of ranking up but unfortunately, they failed the mission, and their whole party was wiped out. Shye wanted to at least see their parents'' dead bodies onest time but it seemed that even that would be impossible to do so as their parents reportedly died inside a dangerous zone. Failing a mission that is ranked diamond and above had dire consequences. As a result, their house was taken away from them as payment for failing the mission. The two of them couldn''t do anything but cry as they were kicked out of their own house. Two little children, who weren''t even teenagers yet, had nowhere to go. The two of them roamed the streets, desperately begging for coins and leftovers just to survive one day after the other. At night, the siblings couldn''t do anything but shiver as cold winds ruthlessly assaulted their young, vulnerable skin. Fortunately, a few weekster, Shye found a dpidated hut near a beginner adventurer zone. The siblings then used the hut as shelter while Shye, as the big brother, desperately tried to hunt small animals in the beginner adventurer zone, entering through a slight gap in the zone''s fence. As a child of diamond-ranked adventurers, Shye was trained by his parents ever since he was 8 years old. And so, he had fairly above-average hunting skills for his age. However, going out to hunt in adventurer zones was illegal if one didn''t have an adventurer card. Still, Shye managed to asionally sneak in and hunt small animals like rabbits, pheasants, and wild ducks. However, on a bad day, they wouldn''t even be able to eat a single meal in a whole day. Luckily, Shye managed to pick up an old worn-down dagger which made hunting a little bit easier. This is how each day went for the siblings and in the blink of an eye, four years passed. Shye was now sixteen years old while Maia¡ªwas fourteen. He has finally reached the age where he could take their city''s adventurer academy entrance exam. This...was hisst hope, if he managed to pass the entrance exam, then he would be able to procure food for his little sister. The said exam would happen a week from now. Naturally, he made whatever preparations he could¡ªno matter how small, to increase his chances of passing After a short training session, Shye entered the dpidated hut. Well, their food sources were limited, hence, he could not train too much. Upon entering, his eyes widened in shock after noticing that his little sister copsed on the floor. Shye madly dashed towards her and quickly checked Maia''s condition. Upon confirming that she was burning with fever, he quickly lifted her in a princess carry and ran to the nearest clinic to try his luck. After around seven minutes of desperate sprinting, he finally arrived. Knocking at the clinic doors with a pitiful expression, Shye begged: "P-Please...help my little sister, she copsed earlier and is currently burning with fever..." Tears welled in his eyes. He had nothing to offer as payment, thus, he could only beg for help. Seeing the filthy kids in front of the clinic, the staff scanned them with his eyes, promptly judging them as incapable of paying the clinic''s fees. "Do you have money to pay for the clinic''s fees?" "N-No, but I¨C" "Then get the hell out of here! My boss doesn''t treat anyone for free!" *BANG* Pitiful as they appeared, the clinic staff rudely closed the door after confirming that Shye had no money. "Please! I can probably pay you back in a month...Just please, save my sister, she''s all I have...Please..." He tried for another quarter of an hour outside the clinic but to no avail. The clinic staff didn''t even spare another nce at him. Left with no choice, Shye carried Maia to different hospitals to beg for help. Even though his arms were sore, he didn''t let go of his little sister¡ªnot even once. Unfortunately for him, the results were the same as no hospital was kind-hearted enough to treat his little sister for free. Due to this, Shye got a glimpse of the cruel reality of the world that they were living in. He stood petrified on the spot while carrying his little sister who was still unconscious. "Will I lose my little sister?" "Why? Why is this happening to us? I only needed one more week...Why am I so unlucky..." He started to sob as he nced at his little sister who was evidently in pain. "I''m sorry Maia...Big brother is useless...Please, hold on...Please don''t leave me..." He couldn''t do anything but pray to the Gods to give him a miracle. A few secondster, as though the Gods were answering his prayers, he suddenly recalled two adventurers gossiping about a strong and scary hermit residing in the woods. Although no one has seen the hermit, the authorities confirmed that there is indeed such a dangerous individual hiding inside the beginner adventurer zone. An idea then popped into Shye''s mind. He swiftly carried his little sister into the beginner adventurer zone in desperate hopes of obtaining help from the strong hermit. He didn''t even know whether the hermit was a kind or dangerous individual. Although it was confirmed that the so-called "dangerous individual" was strong, there was no guarantee that his little sister would be saved. Still, armed with nothing but an old dagger and affection for his dying little sister, Shye carried Maia on his back and trudged deeper into the woods, fighting off dangerous small creatures such as rabid rabbits and red foxes as he did so. Unfortunately, it seemed that the heavens were determined to take his little sister away from him today as he encountered a greyback wolf, one of the most dangerous predators one can encounter inside the beginner adventurer zone. "Haaahh...Haaaahh...Leave! Us! Alone!" Shye tried his best to defeat the wolf as soon as possible, but it was too agile. Fortunately, after half an hour, he managed tond a fatal strike on the wolf''s neck in exchange for a badly bitten left hand. He then proceeded to walk deeper into the woods, paying no heed to the fact that his hand was bleeding at an rming rate. He didn''t care about himself, as long as he could save his little sister, he would happily exchange his life for hers. Finally, after another half an hour, Shye''s body couldn''t take it anymore and he copsed to the ground¡ªhis unconscious little sister still on his back. ''Is this it for us? Well, this isn''t so bad...At least we get to die together...'' Exhausted and weary, he was on the brink of losing consciousness, yet his eyes snapped wide open as he caught a glimpse of someone standing behind arge tree. The individual donned an old ragged hood, appearing to be someone of old age. The rumored Hermit! Shye realized that the person he was looking for was right there¡ªin front of them. He couldn''t give up now for the sake of his sister! Hisplexion resembled that of a ghost, his left hand numb, and his eyes threatened to shut several times. However, through sheer willpower and determination to save his sister, Shye slowly stood up and walked unsteadily toward the hermit. "What a toughd..." The hermit murmured. Finally, after a few minutes of struggling, Shye arrived in front of the hermit. Upon seeing the hermit''s facial features up close, a hint of wariness crept into Shye''s eyes. The hermit was as pale as a ghost and had at least twenty scars all over his face. Moreover, one of his eye sockets was empty while his other eye glowed purple. The individual not only appeared dangerous but also scary. Still, Shye clenched his fists and gritted his teeth as he forced himself to ask for help. "S-Sir hermit...We came here to seek your help...Please...help my little sister..." The hermit didn''t speak for a long time and just stared straight into his eyes, seemingly peering into the depths of his soul. Shye...was naturally scared, however, he didn''t shrink back, staring straight back at the hermit with a desperate expression. Finally, the hermit spoke. "I can indeed help you and your sister. However, you must ept my conditions." "I ept! I''ll do anything! You can even kill me! Just please help my little sister and let her live." "You haven''t even heard of my condition yet." "I don''t care what it is! I''ll do anything in exchange for my little sister''s life." "Very well then, sleep for a while, I shall take you to my ce." Chapter 2: System Acquired!

Chapter 2: System Acquired!

Six days passed before Shye was able to wake up. His body was badly damaged so the hermit prioritized his recovery first. Shye looked around after opening his eyes. They seem to be in some kind of wooden shack deep inside the beginner adventurer zone. He suddenly remembered that his little sister was still sick so he hurriedly got out of bed and tried to look for his little sister. Shye saw a small room at the corner of the wooden shack so he hurriedly ran towards the room to check if his little sister was there. His eyes widened upon seeing his little sister lying on the bed. She was sleeping so peacefully to the point that Shye thought that she was already dead. His heartbeat started to slow down after realizing that his little sister was just asleep. It seems that her condition is fine for now. Shye sat on the floor with tears welling up in his eyes. "Maia...Thank God you''re alright!" He thought to himself. "Oh? You seem to be fine now youngd." Shye hurriedly turned to look in the direction of the unfamiliar voice. Upon turning around, he saw a regr old man. The old man was so ordinary that you would think that he was just a next-door grandpa. "W-Who might you be?" Shye asked apprehensively. "Hmmm? Oh, pardon my change in appearance. I''m the person who you called a hermit a few days ago." "S-Sir Hermit?! I must say your appearance change is quite likable" "Hahahaha what a straightforward brat! Well then, Ipleted my end of the deal. Shall we discuss yours?" Hearing what the hermit said, Shye''s expression became serious. "Thank you for saving me and my sister, I will never forget this favor as long as I live. As for your conditions, I''m all ears. "Hohoho what a polited. Well then, let''s start with my story, shall we? Oh boy, this will be a long one!" "You see, I''m not originally from this world. I was hit by a vehicle called a "truck" in a world called Earth and lost consciousness." "By the time I regained my consciousness, I was already in this world along with some of my stuff from the other world." "W-What? H-How can such things happen? Are you sure you''re not making this all up? Maybe Sir Hermit has gone senile! Oh no! How could I repay him if he''s already senile?!" Veins popped on the hermit''s head after being called a senile old fart by Shye. "Listen here, kid! I''m totally fine! All that I said was true. Whether you believe it or not, it''s up to you!" Shye was confused but he just chose to believe the old man. After seeing that the kid was finally willing to listen again, the hermit continued talking. "Anyway, I was a pretty talented adventurer when I first started. I had tremendous talents as a mage and after graduating at the top of my mage ss at an adventurer academy, I rapidly raised my adventurer rank. "I eventually reached the top around fifty years ago. My name is ... Sanada Eiichiro..." Upon hearing the name of the old man, Shye''s eyes widened in shock. Sanada Eiichiro "The Voidweaver!" Seeing Shye''s shocked facial expression, The old man smiled in satisfaction. "S-S-Sir Voidweaver! W-Why are you hiding in this beginner adventurer zone?!" Shye couldn''t help but ask. He just knew of the Voidweaver''s feats but he didn''t know what happened after they sealed the abyssal dragon. In response, the old manughed self-deprecatingly and said "So much for being the "Voidweaver", in the end, I''m just a wanted old man now hiding in the forest from authorities." "After sealing the ck dragon, can you believe that the share that I got from the rewards can be considered peanuts whenpared to that bastard Dweezel?!" "Oh! Just remembering it makes me quiver with anger up until this day!" Dweezel Hawkins! The leader of the hero party that sealed the abyssal dragon! "In addition to the reward, even my name pales inparison to him! But if you just knew what happened, that Dweezel only had minor contributions and even almost cost us our lives!" "If only I did things in a shier way! It should be me who''s acknowledged as the number one contributor in that fight!" Shye could feel the regrets and resentment of the old man through his words. He felt bad for the old man because it was indeed Dweezel Hawkins who was hailed as the strongest adventurer fifty years ago and even now, he''s still famous while the old man''s name is only mentioned because of Dweezel. Shye snapped out of his thoughts as the old man suddenly took out a device. "This is called aptop and this device helped meplete my creation called a system." "System?" Shye asked with a confused face. "Yes, a system. Bybining my knowledge in magic along with a bit of knowledge in soul arts, I finally found a way to transfer this system to the body of another person." "Unfortunately, I cannot transfer it to myself because I''m a fugitive and I''m also already old now." "Soul Arts! No wonder Sir Voidweaver was hunted down." Shye thought to himself. "My request to you is, I want you to be the inheritor of the system I created." "Through this system, my soul and consciousness can feel specific feelings from other people that are directed towards you." "Two feelings, namely, awe and admiration. As respect for the inheritor, I made sure to only be able to feel these two feelings." "Other feelings directed towards you such as "lust" for example, will not be transmitted to me." "I see, will there be bad side effects? How does the system work?" Shye asked old man Sanada. In response, old man Sanada chuckled and said "There are no side effects. As for how the system works, I will only tell you the basics, as for the rest, you can study it yourself." "With your intellect, it should be easy for you to figure out how to use the system to its full potential." "The system can detect feelings of awe and admiration directed towards you and for each person that admires you or is in awe of your feats, you shall be rewarded with a point." "You can then use the points to purchase various advantages for yourself through the system. As for the specific advantages, just check them yourself." "That''s basically how it works." After hearing how the so-called "system" works, Shye was pleasantly surprised. He thought that the old man had some kind of ridiculous request but it turns out, he just wanted to feel the awe and admiration he should''ve felt back when he was a member of the hero party. Shye was surprised at the simplicity of the request. Not only were there no disadvantages, but he even felt that he was lucky to be chosen by old man Sanada for this lifelong mission! "I gratefully ept your request, Sir Sanada. I feel honored to be chosen but...Are you really fine with entrusting your life''s work to me? I''m pretty sure that there are a lot of people stronger than me..." Shye honestly said "Hohoho, Don''t worry, strength wille naturally to you. The reason why I chose you is because of your trustworthy character and your strong willpower so don''t overthink it and just use my system to your heart''s content!" Old man Sanada said as he smiled at Shye. "Well then, do you have any more questions? If none, then I shall install the system to your body!" Shye took a deep breath and said "I''m ready Sir Sanada, you can begin transferring the system to me." Sanada smiled after hearing Shye''s response. "Thank you,d, I owe you one..." Sanada muttered to himself. He then took a booger-shaped pill made of edible metal and fed it to Shye. Shye didn''t resist and just ate the pill as instructed by old man Sanada. He felt sleepy after taking the pill and after a few more minutes, Shye lost consciousness. Old man Sanada quickly used theptop to boot the installer of the system. A holographic user interface appeared in front of the unconscious Shye. [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Do you wish to select this person as the host?] [Yes/No] [Yes] [Initiating Instation!] [25%...50%...75%...99%...99.9%.....Instation Complete!] [Rebooting Host''s Consciousness!] Chapter 3: Colzen Adventurer Academy’s Entrance Exam

Chapter 3: Colzen Adventurer Academy¡¯s Entrance Exam

"Ughhh..." Shye groaned upon waking up. He looked around but old man Sanada was nowhere to be found. "Hmm? We''re back at our hut?" He recognized that they weren''t in old man Sanada''s shack anymore and he suddenly remembered his little sister. Shye quickly looked around but Maia was nowhere to be found. He stood up and ran outside the hut to look for her. "Big brother?" Fortunately for him, his worries were cut short after running into Maia in front of their dpidated hut. "Maia!" Shye couldn''t help but hug Maia as tears welled up in his eyes. He truly thought that they were about to part ways forever. It seems like the heavens had eyes and they were given a second shot at life. Maia saw her big brother''s relieved look so she hugged Shye in return. She didn''t know what happened after she copsed but it seems that her big brother did everything he could to save her life. After a few dramatic minutes, Shye suddenly remembered about the system. It should have been already installed inside his body...right? Unfortunately, he doesn''t know how to open the system. While Maia was preparing a small meal which consisted of random vegetables that she managed to pick up on the outskirts of the beginner adventurer zone, Shye headed towards a hidden ce inside the beginner adventurer zone. He then began saying different words such as "Activate!" and "Open!" but nothing happened. Shye was starting to get frustrated. "How the hell am I supposed to open this system?!" After saying the word "system", a holographic interface that was only visible to him appeared right in front of his face. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 0] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye jumped back after being startled by the holographic screen but he soon realized that this must be the system installed inside him. "Oh...So it activates once I shout "system" huh?" "Well then, let''s explore a bit shall we?" Shye muttered to himself as he clicked [Status]. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 3 [ss]: Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength: 6] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility: 4] [Dexterity : 3] [Stamina: 5] [Vitality: 5]: [Wisdom: 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm...so these are my stats huh? It''s pretty convenient that I can see it anytime I want instead of going to an adventurer guild to check my status." Shye clicked [Back]. As he was about to check the other options, he suddenly remembered that old man Sanada told him that he slept for six days inside his shack when he was injured. "Oh no! I forgot about the entrance exam!" Fortunately, he managed to wake up early today so he still has a chance. Shye clicked the exit system option and quickly rushed towards Colzen City which was only a quarter of an hour away from their hut. Upon arrival, he quickly approached someone. "Sir! Do you know what day it is today?" "Oh? Hmm...let me check... Today is the 11th day of autumn of the year 1672" Fortunately, the guy he asked was kind. So instead of telling him to go away, the guy actually answered him patiently. "11th day of autumn! Today is the Colzen Adventurer Academy Entrance Exam!" Shye quickly thanked the guy and then sped off in the direction of the examination grounds. After ten minutes of sprinting, Shye was panting hard. Fortunately, he barely arrived on time for the registration. He quickly went to the back of the line to wait for his turn. After a few minutes of waiting, his turn finally arrived. The staff gave him a pen and paper and told him to fill up the required information. Once he was done, he was given his applicant number. Shye found an empty spot and sat there to recover a little bit of stamina that he spent earlier. After a few more minutes, the entrance examination finally started. The examiner walked up to the stage and exined the assessments that they needed to take for each ss. As for Shye, he was applying for the warrior ss. The examination for the warrior ss consists of three assessments. First is the raw strength test which measures your attack power through a training dummy. After hitting the dummy, a number will appear on top of its head which indicates the examinee''s score. As long as the examinee''s score reaches the passing mark, then they may proceed to the second test. As for the second test, it is the overallbat power test which converts your overall status into numbers to determine your overallbat power. Upon entering a magic formation, numbers will appear above the examinee''s head, and again, as long as the examinee''s score passes the threshold, he/she may then proceed to the third test. As for the third assessment, it was a little bit moreplicated. The participants who passed the first and second assessments will be registered in a mock tournament to determine each examinee''s final ranking. Once an examinee reaches the third assessment, it means that they have already passed the entrance exam and have sessfully earned a spot in the academy. However, the third assessment will determine an examinee''s overall rank which will affect how much resources they will get per month. A lower ranking means fewer resources and slower improvement while a higher ranking means more resources and faster improvement. Not only that, they will gain some fame within the academy if they get a high ranking during the third assessment. In the world of adventurers, fame is a huge part of an adventurer''s identity. A famous adventurer will always be given more chances to rank up than the others and that''s why the third assessment is very important. Once the examiner had finished his exnations, the first assessment immediately started. "Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, please proceed to training dummy number seventeen." After waiting for a while, it was finally Shye''s turn. *PAH* "152 points!" Shye shed the training dummy with everything he had but he only got a slightly above-average score. The passing mark is 140 and he only exceeded that by 12 points. Currently, the single-digit seeded examinees have already broken through the 220-point mark. He was evidently behind. These seeded examinees were sons and daughters of famous high-ranked adventurers like their parents. If their parents didn''t die, perhaps Shye would be a seeded examinee too. Unfortunately, luck wasn''t on his side. At least his score managed to get him through the first assessment. After a few more minutes, the first assessment was finally done. Out of 852 warrior ss examinees, 740 passed. It seems like the examinees of Colzen City prepared meticulously for this entrance exam. It was understandable though because being an adventurer is the most profitable career in this world so it was natural that the examinees would do everything to pass the entrance examinations. The second assessment finally started and after waiting for a few hours, Shye finally got his turn again. "Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, please proceed to magic formation number thirteen." Shye quickly proceeded to the assigned magic formation and stepped inside. The formation immediately lit up after he stood in the middle. "161 CP" The formation assessed that he had 161bat power which is only slightly above average again, nothing special at all. The passing mark is 150 so Shye sessfully passed the second round and he has sessfully made it into the academy! Shye clenched his fists and celebrated in a lowkey manner. For him, it''s enough as long as he can feed Maia. He will still try his best in the third assessment of course but the second assessment was more important for him because this marks his admission to the academy. After the second assessment was done, a total of 500 students passed and made it into the academy. However, among the 500 passers, only a few celebrated. It seems that most of them weren''t content with just passing, they wanted a higher ranking! Shye sat in an empty corner while waiting for the third assessment''s mock tournament bracket. After an hour, the brackets were finally out! He walked towards the bulletin board to see who his opponent was. "Examinee number 92, Edwin Greendale...Hmmm...doesn''t ring a bell..." Shye muttered to himself. There were some famous individuals among the regr examinees and others even called those examinees "dark horses of the assessment". The only reason that these dark horses were not seeded was that they weren''t sons or daughters of high-rank adventurers. Luckily, his first opponent isn''t someone like that. "Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, and examinee number 92, Edwin Greendale, please proceed to sparring grounds number twenty-five!" Shye was surprised that his match was scheduled this early. He quickly carried his sword and walked towards the assigned sparring grounds. Upon arriving, he met face to face with his opponent. His opponent was a red-haired guy with the same height as him. The guy was staring daggers at him in an attempt to intimidate Shye. Shye''s expression turned serious and he didn''t shrink back at all from his opponent''s stare. "I almost lost my little sister a few days ago. You think you can scare me with just a stare?" Shye muttered to himself as he walked towards the middle of the sparring grounds for his first match. Chapter 4: The Third Assessment, Mock Tournament Begins

Chapter 4: The Third Assessment, Mock Tournament Begins

"Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, please stand on the left side of the ring. Examinee number 92, Edwin Greendale, please stand on the right." "You have ten seconds to prepare. I shall start the countdown, once I say begin, then you may begin the mock battle." "You will be dered as the winner if either your opponent gives up or if he/she is incapacitated." "Ten...nine...eight...seven" The examiner immediately began counting down after seeing that the two examinees were already prepared for battle. "Three...Two...One...Begin!" "Haaaaahhh!! Take this!" After the referee announced the start of the match, Edwin immediately charged towards Shye. *PAH* "K-Kuuhhh..." Shye was sent sliding back after the first sh of wooden swords. It seems like his opponent is more powerful than him in terms of raw strength. However, a battle is not all about raw strength, Shye quickly tried a hit-and-run approach in which he quickly retreats a safe distance away from the opponent after attacking. Fortunately, he managed to hit his opponent a few times before the opponent managed to adapt to his strategy. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* In the blink of an eye, the two of them had already shed more than 50 times, sometimes it was Shye who was struck, and sometimes, it was his opponent. Both Shye and Edwin''s bodies were battered by their opponent''s wooden swords. Shye''s first match seems to be getting closer and closer to the end. The two examinees were panting hard as they circled each other in the middle of the ring. Although Shye and his opponent were both unknown persons, a neck-and-neck fight like this is bound to attract some attention. In just a few moments, more than a hundred people were watching their fight. Edwin was the first one to attack, he charged at Shye to try and stab him in the neck. He knew that Shye was as tired as him and at this point, the stab was the hardest move to defend against. He thought that Shye would panic which would give him a chance to finish Shye off even if his stab didn''t hit. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated Shye''s battle experience. He already fought to the death with a grey wolf so why would he panic in a sparring match? Shye tilted his body and leaned towards the right to gracefully dodge the stab before striking Edwin cleanly on the neck. *PAH* *THUD* The small audience erupted in cheers after seeing that Shye managed to knockout Edwin after a beautiful side dodge. "Winner, examinee number 352, Shye Crowley! Please stand by and wait for your next match." "Oh, so his name is Shye Crowley huh? That was gutsy!" "Yeah, that dodge was beautiful...I''ll remember this guy." Shye couldn''t help but feel happy because of the attention that he was getting from the crowd. It sure feels nice to win a close fight! However, after a few more seconds, a small holographic notification appeared in front of him. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 87 points!] Shye was pleasantly surprised. He temporarily forgot about the system since he was focusing on the assessments. It seems that he managed to impress 87 people this time. After seeing the notification, Shye wasn''t in the mood to continue celebrating his victory. The points that he earned piqued his interest so he wanted to explore the system. "System" ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 87] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye clicked [Shop]. A list of options such as skills, armor, weapons, and consumables appeared. Although some of the options were still locked, he still had a variety of items to choose from. However, he knew that he couldn''t use these items at the mock battles because they could only use the wooden sword provided by the examiners. He clicked [Back] and then clicked the [Upgrades] button. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 87] [Upgrade Armor] [Upgrade Weapon] [Upgrade Status] [Option Locked] [Option Locked] ¡ª-------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Hmm...So currently, I have three options avable for upgrades. It''s really not worth it to upgrade my current armor and weapon...Maybe I should upgrade my status first so I can try to fight for a better ranking." Shye muttered to himself. He then selected the [Upgrade Status] option. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 3 [ss]: Warrior [Current cost to upgrade an attribute: 20 points] [Upgradeable Attributes] [Strength : 6] + [Intelligence : 3] + [Agility : 4] + [Dexterity : 3] + ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Locked] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hmm...twenty points per upgrade so I can upgrade four times. Based on the fight earlier, the best attributes to upgrade right now are strength and agility." Shye upgraded his strength and agility attributes two times each. [Please click confirm to apply the upgrades] [Confirm] After Shye clicked confirm, he felt a sudden burst of warm energy inside his body. "Oh...Howfortable, that feeling must be due to the attribute upgrade." Shye quickly opened his status to check if it was upgraded and sure enough, his attributes were upgraded by two points each. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 5 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 8] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 6] [Dexterity : 3] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just as Shye clicked [Exit System], his name was called. "Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, examinee number 127, Jason Wilshire, please proceed to sparring grounds number thirteen for your second round match." Shye walked towards the assigned training grounds in anticipation after being called for his second-round match. Upon arriving, he could hear the gossip of the small crowd gathered around their sparring ground. "Shye Crowley? Never heard of him...This will probably be another quick fight for this Jason guy. I watched his match earlier and he smoked his opponent in just three minutes!" "Yeah! I saw it too, although this guy Jason Wilshire is not seeded and is also not a dark horse, he''s got some skill, and he probably will rank around the top 100 if nothing goes wrong." It seems that his next opponent is quite strong. "Well, no matter, I''ll just do my best. I already passed the assessment anyway. Shye walked towards the middle of the sparring grounds with an "I''ll just do my best attitude". Meanwhile, his opponent was already in the middle of the sparring grounds waiting for him with a confident smirk on his face. "Yo...Shye Crowley is it? I asked around and some of the people who watched your match told me that you barely won. I suggest that you give up now, there''s no way you will win against me when you just barely won your first match." Shye didn''t respond to Jason''s taunts at all and just assumed his fighting stance. "Heh, I''ll show you the difference between us." Jason taunted Shye again. After a few seconds, the examiner who was in charge of their match spoke "Same rules as earlier! Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...Begin!" "HAAAAHH!! Let''s see if you can handle...This!" *PAH* After the countdown, Jason attacked first. He nned to overwhelm Shye with a series of strikes but his delusional n was immediately destroyed after he was sent sliding back after their first sh. "What?! How is this guy so strong?! I thought he barely won?! Was he hiding his true strength?!" Jason didn''t even have time to recover as Shye immediately followed up with his own series of blows. In just two short minutes, Jason couldn''t hold on any longer. Shye struck him on the neck which caused him to pass out. "Winner, examinee number 352, Shye Crowley! Please stand by and wait for your next match." [Congrattions! You''ve earned 152 points!] Chapter 5: Seeded Examinees

Chapter 5: Seeded Examinees

"Holy shit! Who said that this Shye Crowley guy would lose quickly?!" "Damn! I saw this Jason guy finish off his opponent within 3 minutes but he got finished off in 2 minutes?!" "I''ll remember this guy...Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley!" Shye himself was shocked at how fast he was able to beat Jason Wilshire. He had a small amount of hope that he would be able to beat his next opponent because of his recent upgrade but who would''ve thought that he would win in such a dominant manner? Shye wanted to jump like a child and celebrate but for some reason, something inside him told him not to do that because it would be "uncool". So instead, he followed his instincts. Shye simply turned around without saying anything. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 21 points!] "Shit, did you see that? He didn''t even care about his quick victory. He must''ve known he would win easily!" "Is this guy another dark horse?! Why did no one tell us about this Shye Crowley?!" Shye was getting very giddy because of all the attention he was getting. Today was the first time that he was admired by people so he couldn''t help but feel excited. However, again, something inside him tells him to not do anything uncool so he simply took a deep breath and calmed himself down. "Phew...Calm down...The assessment is not over yet." After taking a few deep breaths, Shye opened the system again. He currently has 180 points which is enough for 9 attribute upgrades. However, when he tried to upgrade the strength attribute to 11, he was deducted 40 points instead. "W-What? Why did it deduct 40 points this time? Now I only have 100 points left..." Shye was confused so he tried to upgrade the agility attribute with his remaining points. He managed to sessfully upgrade it to 10 but he only had 20 points left after that. Again, for some reason, the system was asking for 40 points to upgrade the agility attribute to 11. "Oh...maybe every time I upgrade an attribute past 10, I will need double the amount of points to upgrade? Oh well, I''ll just put the remaining points to dexterity and see how it goes." Shye spected. However, he didn''t mind because he was very grateful that he even had a system like this. With the overallbat power boost he got earlier just from upgrading strength and agility by two points each, he wondered how strong he would be after upgrading strength by three points, agility by four points, and dexterity by one point. Shye pressed confirm and felt the same warmfortable feeling like the one earlier. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 6 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 11] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 10] [Dexterity : 4] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Ahhh...That felt great" Shye thought to himself." After his fight with Jason Wilshire, he fought two more times. However, he had difficulty against a guy who was not only good at parrying but had a faster attack rate than him. Fortunately, he managed to squeeze out a win after trading blow for blow due to his superior strength. He only earned a total of 80 points in those two fights because of his somewhat questionable performance against the guy who was good at parrying. "That was close...Good thing I still managed to win...Seems like I need to improve my dexterity as well or I''ll lose." Shye quickly spent all of his points to raise his dexterity stat from 4 to 8. He then walked towards the bulletin board to see the progress of the third assessment. "I''m already in the top 32 huh? I didn''t even dream of entering the top 100 but thanks to the system, I''m doing so well...Thank you old man Sanada for giving me this chance..." Shye thought to himself. He then checked who his next opponent was and as expected, it was a seeded examinee. Most of the ordinary examinees were already out of the tournament. The top 32 consists of mostly the 20 seeded examinees and the 10 dark horses so aside from Shye, there was only one more ordinary examinee in the mock tournament. "Examinee number 352, Shye Crowley, and examinee number 16, Alexander Smith, please proceed to sparring grounds number eight." After hearing that he was called, he proceeded to the assigned training grounds with a serious face. While on the way, he couldn''t help but think about his opponent. "16th strongest out of all the seeded examinees huh? I''m pretty lucky to not run into the single-digit examinees." After a few minutes of walking, he finally reached sparring grounds number eight. His opponent wasn''t there yet so he entered the sparring grounds first. As he was taking deep breaths to improve his concentration, his opponent, Alexander Smith, finally arrived. He arrogantly walked toward the middle of the sparring grounds without even looking at Shye. Once he arrived, he even said something rude out loud. "How did I get paired up with amoner like this? How unpleasant. No one will be impressed even if I beat this no-name guy. Tch, how unlucky." Shye didn''t mind his arrogant attitude though, because he already expected that most of the seeded examinees would be arrogant. "Same rules! Ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one...Begin!" Chapter 6: Shye Crowley vs 16th Seeded Examinee

Chapter 6: Shye Crowley vs 16th Seeded Examinee

"Get lost! Don''t waste my time!" Alexander Smith immediately charged at Shye after the match began. In response, Shye also charged forward because he believed that he could overwhelm this arrogant seeded examinee with his upgraded attributes. *PAH* Bothpetitors were shocked at the result of their sh because none of the two was able to get an advantage. It seems that their strength attributes were around the same. "Hoh? Not bad for a no-name like you!" *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* In the blink of an eye, Shye''s and Alexander''s swords shed more than 50 times. "Who''s that guy?! How is he able to hold his own for so long against a seeded examinee?!" "That''s Shye Crowley! I saw his earlier battles and except for his first andst one, the rest of his battles were all about him destroying his opponents with abination of blows!" "Yeah, I also watched this guy''s match earlier, I thought he would be defeated here because he had some trouble in hisst fight. Looks like he''s only hiding his true strength!" Amotion started after the crowd saw Shye standing his ground against a seeded examinee. Due to this, more and more people were attracted to watch Shye''s match. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 4 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 8 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 13 points!] Shye was pleasantly surprised because this was the first time that he earned points in the middle of a match. He was seriously thinking hard earlier about how he could beat Alexander. Fortunately, he could earn points in the middle of a fight! Shye smiled confidently and he started to focus on his match even more. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* "They''re still neck and neck! What a great fight!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 6 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 10 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 14 points!] It seems that simply being "equal" to this seeded examinee will earn him points. It was understandable though, because these seeded examinees were trained by high-ranked adventurers ever since they were young so being equal with them as a no-namer gave him some fame. On the contrary, Alexander Smith was getting annoyed. He couldn''t stand all the attention that Shye was getting from the crowd. All this attention was supposed to be his! This no-name guy was supposed to lose quickly! Unfortunately for him, Shye has already made a n on how to make this battle even more "dramatic" *PAH* Shye was sent sliding back and he knelt on the ground as if he was out of energy. "The exchanges must''ve been taxing for Shye Crowley''s body!" "In the end, it''s still too hard to beat a seeded examinee..." "Looks like this fight is ending soon." Traces of disappointment and regret appeared in the faces of the crowd. They wanted to see a no-name defeat a seeded examinee but it seems that it wouldn''t happen this time. Even Alexander Smith smiled upon seeing Shye''s pathetic state. Unbeknownst to him, Shye has already amassed a total of 80 points. He quickly allocated one point in strength and two points in dexterity. [Confirm!] After clicking confirm, Shye quickly checked his status while Alexander Smith slowly walked closer in a triumphant manner to end the match. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 7 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 12] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 10] [Dexterity : 10] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Exit System!] "In the end, you''re only mediocre. You no-names will never beat the likes of us elites!" Alexander said as he shed his sword downwards to finish off Shye. *PAH* Unfortunately for him, Shye stood up and shed with him again. However, this time, everyone''s eyes widened upon seeing the result of the sh. Alexander was sent sliding two meters back and even Alexander himself could not process what just happened. By the time he was able to gather his wits, Shye was already charging towards him. Veins popped in Alexander Smith''s head. He couldn''t believe that he fell into a disadvantage against a no-name! Not only that, this no-name is even charging forward to try and finish him! How audacious! "You no-name! Know your ce!" Alexander also charged forward to sh Shye. He didn''t believe that he was inferior to this no-name at all. However, reality is cruel. Alexander was sent sliding back even farther this time and Shye didn''t give him any room to recover. Shye stuck to Alexander like glue as he continued attacking him with consecutive shes and after a while, Alexander finally couldn''t hold on to his sword. His sword was sent flying by Shye and itnded at the edge of the sparring grounds. However, Shye didn''t stop attacking him because there were no rules about disarmed weapons, and continued beating the crap out of Alexander with a wooden sword. In the end, Alexander fell to the ground, unconscious. "End of the match! Winner, examinee number 352, Shye Crowley!" After the examiner announced Shye''s victory, the crowd was ecstatic and they erupted in cheers. "Holy shit! This Shye Crowley guy actually did it! He defeated a seeded examinee!" "What a major upset!" "Damn! This guy is insane!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 80 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 180 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 150 points!] After his match, he earned a whopping 410 points! However, just as he was about to open the system, Shye felt a wave of exhaustion course through his body and after a few more seconds, he also fell to the ground unconscious. "H-Hey! Shye Crowley fell unconscious!" "The fight must''ve been tougher than it seemed." "Yeah, he was about to lose before he miraculously pulled thateback so his copse is understandable." The examiner quickly ordered a staff member to bring Shye to the examination infirmary. During the third assessment, examinees falling unconscious is amon thing so they were already prepared for this and they already had certain arrangements for this kind of things. As Shye was being carried towards the infirmary, A middle-aged man rubbed his chin among the crowd. "Hmm...Shye Crowley is it? Interesting..." Chapter 7: Welcome to Colzen Adventurer Academy

Chapter 7: Wee to Colzen Adventurer Academy

"Ughh..." Shye groaned upon waking up in another unfamiliar ce. Thest thing he remembered was his glorious victory. He looked around and saw lots of beds beside him. Although only some of the beds were upied, it looked like those who upied the beds were all injured. Is this the infirmary?! "W-What?! N-No way...Did I actually lose? Was it all a dream?" Shye started to doubt his victory and panicked but fortunately, a beautiful nurse came in. He quickly asked the nurse what happened to him. "Hello, I''m examinee number 352, Shye Crowley. I would like to ask why am I in the infirmary?" "Oh...I guess you don''t remember huh? Well, all of those who get sent here mostly don''t remember what happened so your case is understandable." His heart started to beat even faster upon hearing the reply of the nurse. "D-Did I lose?..." Shye asked the nurse with a downcast expression. The nurse was stupefied upon hearing his question. Shortly after, the nurse started tough. "S-Sorry forughing, I guess my reply was a bit misleading. No, you didn''t lose, however, you passed out right after your victory." "O-Oh...I see, that''s a relief..." Shye breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that he had indeed won. "However, it''s a pity that you were disqualified in your quarterfinal match. You weren''t able to wake up on time so your opponent was awarded the win." "Still, defeating a seeded examinee is no easy feat and I greatly admire you, Sir Crowley, for being able to defeat one." "You ended your tournament run with a final rank of 16th ce. Congrattions, Sir Crowley, I believe that with the rank you achieved, you would be able to live afortable academy life." "T-Thank you." Shye thanked the nurse for congratting him and also, for informing him about his current situation. "16th ce huh? Not bad...After all, I wasn''t even hoping to be in the top 100 in the first ce...16th ce should give me lots of resources and I can finally secure a lot of food for Maia! He happily muttered to himself. After resting for another half an hour, a staff member suddenly entered the infirmary and informed all the examinees who regained their consciousness that there would be a closing ceremony for all the passers two hours from now. Shye thanked the staff member and then proceeded to rest for two more hours. He underestimated the effects of all his battles on his body. He thought that he was fine even after the fight with Alexander Smith but it turns out that his body couldn''t handle any more burden so he passed out. After two hours, Shye felt that his body had somewhat recovered so he got up from the infirmary bed and proceeded to the ceremony area. Upon arriving, he was surprised because of how grand the ceremony was. There were lots of colorful gs inside the ceremony area and fireworks were exploding in the sky. Even though they were only freshmen, he still felt how sincere the Colzen Adventurer Academy was in weing them. After a few more minutes, the head examiner walked onto the stage and finally started the ceremony. "To all 500 of you who passed the assessments, I congratte all of you. As a prestigious adventurer academy, we promise to make your talents shine and prepare you for the real world of adventurers." "However, the resources are finite so as you all know, we would be prioritizing the improvement of those who are ranked higher in the third assessment." "For those of you who achieved a low ranking this time, fret not. There are still a lot of chances for you to prove your worth inside the academy." "Although it will be harder and harder for you to defeat those in the higher rankings in the future, the chance isn''t zero." "Remember, although not all who worked hard have seeded, all of those who seeded have worked hard." "Two days from now, the new semester and your academy life will begin. Make sure to leave all your distractions behind and focus on your studies." "Your examinee numbers will serve as your proof that you passed. Make sure to bring them on your first day. The admission staff will guide you further on the day of your admission." "That''s all from me, see you at the academy grounds two days from now. Wee to Colzen Adventurer Academy!" Everyone pped as the head examiner finished his speech and walked down from the stage. After the ceremony, the people dispersed and Shye excitedly rushed back home. Upon arriving, he immediately hugged Maia and told her the good news. As expected, Maia jumped up and down happily after hearing that her big brother passed the entrance examination. She knew that her big brother had been working hard for this and she was d that his efforts were rewarded. At the same time, she was touched because she knew that her big brother dreamt about being an adventurer for the past four years to procure food for her. However, she was also a bit sad that her big brother would be at the academy most of the time and they would probably only see each other early in the morning andte at night. She was used to having her big brother by her side all the time so her reaction was understandable. Still, after two more years, she would also be eligible for the entrance exam. In addition to this, she would finally be able to train for more than two hours since his big brother would be providing food for her. It was impossible to train hard on an empty stomach so she currently cannot overexert herself. Overall, it was a very happy day for both of them. Not only did she survive her weird illness, but her big brother even passed the Colzen Adventurer Academy entrance exam. Unfortunately, all they had as celebratory food were a few vegetables and hard bread. Still, they ate and slept happily that night. Chapter 8: Adventurer Academy Life Begins

Chapter 8: Adventurer Academy Life Begins

Two dayster, Shye''s eyes were sparkling as he arrived at the majestic entrance of the Colzen Adventurer Academy. The words "Colzen Adventurer Academy" were written in a huge and exotic font while the signboard was made from frostfire wood, one of the most luxurious types of wood avable in their region. After being mesmerized for a while, Shye was finally able to gather his wits and he proceeded forward. Not long after he entered, he heard some mocking voices around the entrance. They were mocking the other guys who were still dumbstruck in front of the academy gates. Fortunately, he managed to avoid the embarrassing encounter by being able to gather his wits a few seconds faster than the other guys who were still dumbstruck. His thoughts were cut short after he spotted a staff member who seemed to be one of the admission staff who would guide them through their admission process. Shye walked toward the end of the line and waited for his turn. While waiting, Shye looked at the academy grounds and his little heart couldn''t help but thump in anticipation. Just imagining the fun academy life ahead of him filled his heart with hope and excitement about their future. After waiting for a quarter of an hour, it was finally his turn. "Examinee number please." "Oh, here is my examinee number." He handed over his examinee number after the admission staff asked for it. "O-Oh! Examinee number 352, sir Shye Crowley, please proceed to premium dormitory number 76 on the west side of the academy grounds." "The top 20 examinees can either go home or choose to stay at the premium dormitories. In addition to this, they can bring one family member to live with them inside the academy grounds if they want." "However, please be informed that the family member would only be able to roam the academy grounds when apanied by the academy student who brought him/her inside the dormitories." "Your ss schedule is already inside your premium dormitory so there''s no need for you to queue up at the registrar''s office like the other low-ranked examinees." "Do you have any other questions, Sir Shye?" "Oh yes, I do have a question. I was informed that we will be given a f-few silver coins as one of the top 20 examinees. Where can I im it? Also, in what establishment are we supposed to im the monthly allowance?" Shye asked the admission staff. After hearing Shye''s question, the admission staff member pped his forehead. "Oh my! How could I forget about that? You may im the monthly allowance in the benefit and rewards building on the east side of the academy grounds. As for the 100 silver coins provided to those who finished in the top 20, they are already inside your premium dormitory." "A hundred silver coins...I see, thanks. I''ll head to my dorm now." "T-Thank you as well Sir Crowley, I wish you a happy academy life!" After exchanging a few pleasantries with the staff member, Shye walked quickly towards his premium dormitory. "I can''t believe it! A hundred silver coins right off the bat! That would be enough to feed Maia properly for a whole month!" He was very happy that he got a hundred silver coins on his first day at the academy. It seems that finishing at a high ranking really does help a lot! While walking, he couldn''t help but be mesmerized again. Just the sheer size of the campus grounds left him awestruck. In addition to therge campus grounds, there were huge signboards everywhere, multiple training grounds with weapon racks and equipment boxes, an archery range, fancy restaurants, and many more huge buildings with different purposes. The academy was like a little city! After a few more minutes of walking, Shye arrived in front of his premium dormitory. "W-We''ll get to live here?" His eyes opened wide after seeing how huge the dormitory was. In his opinion, it should be called a manor! A few minutester, his shock was reced by a happy smile because he thought about how Maia would finally be able to sleep in afortable bed under a roof without holes. Shye tried turning the door knob to enter his dormitory but it was locked. "Hm? How do I open this?" He tried cing his examinee number in front of a device that seemed like a scanner of some sort. *CLACK* After hearing the sound of the door being unlocked, Shye tried opening the door again. "Oh, so that''s how you unlock it." This time, he was able to open the door sessfully. Shye eagerly entered his new premium dormitory and upon entering, he was shocked again. The walls of the entire dormitory were made from luxurious smooth stones with bright colors and there was high-quality furniture such as tables, soft chairs, a magic stone-powered television, In addition to this, there were two rooms with king-sized beds, lots of soft pillows, and a cozy nket. Just imagining Maia walking around in this huge manor and eating everything she wants fills his heart with happiness. He snapped out of his wonderful thoughts after seeing a sack of coins and a high-quality paper which seemed to be his daily schedule for the first semester on the table. Shye quickly grabbed the sack of coins and felt happy again after confirming that there were indeed a hundred silver coins there. He ns to fetch Maiater and bring her back here so they can eat to their heart''s content together. After checking the bag of silver coins, he checked the paper that contained his daily ss schedule. "Hmm...So my sses would be from 7:00 AM up to 2:00 PM every day huh? Good thing that I still have lots of time to train on my own." "My training time was limited due to our limited food sources but now, I can train to my heart''s content!" Shye thought to himself. After settling down, it was finally time for his first ss. He left his dormitory and quickly headed to the assigned ssroom with a bit of excitement in his heart. Unbeknownst to him, after using his examinee number card to unlock the dormitory, it magically changed into a gold identification card. Shye finally arrived at his ssroom after a few minutes of walking and once he entered the room, his ssmates started whispering among themselves. "Hey, look! That''s Shye Crowley. He defeated Alexander Smith who was ranked 16 as a seeded candidate!" "Holy shit! I can''t believe that I''m in the same ss as Shye Crowley!" After hearing the whispers from the male students, some of the female students started to blush as they looked at Shye with sparkling eyes. On the contrary, Shye was feeling ufortable since he wasn''t used to such treatment yet. Still, he didn''t know why but deep inside him, he was feeling good about all the attention that he was getting from his ssmates. [Congrattions, You''ve earned 57 points!] He was even more embarrassed after getting confirmation from the system that some of his ssmates were currently admiring him. Shye took a seat at the back of the ssroom and stared out at the window while waiting for the ss to start. A few minutester, a sexy woman dressed in skin-tight office attire entered the room. He and his male ssmates couldn''t help but stare at the hot woman who just entered. "What are you guys looking at? Am I sexy? Huh? You want me to kill you guys right now?!" Shye''s lewd thoughts were cut short after hearing that the woman was furious due to their lustful stares. Seeing that the male students stopped staring lustfully at her, the woman was satisfied and introduced herself. "I''m Fienna Evans and I shall be your beginnerbat instructor." Chapter 9: Combat Strength Assessment

Chapter 9: Combat Strength Assessment

"Oh...So she''s ourbat instructor huh? She must be strong...I wonder what her adventurer rank is?" Shye muttered to himself. After scanning the whole ssroom with her eyes, Instructor Fienna checked if everyone was present. "James Harrison?" ... "I''m here!" "Lia Sullivan?" ... "Present!" ... "Shye Crowley?"... "Here!" After Shye raised his hands, some of the students who had been sleeping earlier looked in his direction. Not only them, but even Instructor Fienna looked at him for a while. "So he''s Shye Crowley huh? Other than his good looks, this guy seems...Ordinary? Doesn''t look like an arrogant person either..." Instructor Fienna thought to herself. After calling a few more names, the attendance check was finally over, and seeing that the ss wasplete on the first day, Instructor Fienna was satisfied. "Alright, everyone, follow me to the training fields. Since I will be your ss advisor, I need to see how strong you guys are." Instructor Fienna walked out of the ssroom and into the training fields. Shye, along with his ssmates, also walked out and followed their instructor to the training fields. After ten minutes of walking, they arrived at the training fields. Instructor Fienna took out a yellow scroll with runes inscribed in it. She then channeled her mana into the yellow scroll and after a few moments, a spirit wolf appeared from the runes. "Everyone, pay attention! This is a spirit wolf created from my mana, you guys will fight this spirit wolf and I shall rank your strength based on your performance." Instructor Fienna knew that although the entrance examination rankings were not that far off the mark, it is also not urate. To make her ss the strongest among all the first years, she had to urately calcte their strength. This is because the ss budget is different from the personal monthly allowance provided to each student based on their rankings per year level. Although the personal monthly allowance is enough to make a student strong, it will fall short whenpared to a student who has both a high personal monthly allowance and a high ss budget. This is why Instructor Fienna must make sure that her ss will get the highest ranking possible at the end of the semester since it would be her ss'' ranking for a while. After a few more minutes, the first student was called. This guy named James Harrison is ranked on the lower end during the entrance examination so he wasn''t confident at all. *HOWL* The spirit wolf howled and then charged at James. "It''s fast!" James and the other students thought to themselves. Fortunately, James was able to dodge the spirit wolf''s first attack. However, just as he was about to counterattack, he was surprised that the wolf''s paw was already in front of his face! "No!!" James cried in despair. He thought that his life would end here. *BANG* The wolf''s pawnded on James'' face and he was sent rolling on the ground, unconscious. "Tch...How weak..." Instructor Fienna muttered to herself as she walked towards James and fed him a lesser health potion. After a few moments, James was back to full health. Instructor Fienna turned around and looked at everyone. "Everyone, as you can see, the wolf only deals blunt damage so the worst it can do to you is knock you out." "This spirit wolf scroll was made to test each student''s strength so there''s no need to worry about your safety and just fight to your heart''s content!" After hearing that their lives wouldn''t be in danger, the students breathed a sigh of relief and they were able to focus more on the assessment. Unfortunately for James, he became the guinea pig. A few momentster, the next student was called. The girl named Lia walked towards the middle and unsheathed her hatchet and shield. "Oh? A hatchet-type warrior...How rare..." Instructor Fienna muttered to herself. Unfortunately, Instructor Fienna was disappointed after Lia was defeated in only four attacks. The next few students were also defeated in less than ten moves but Instructor Fienna wasn''t too disappointed. This isn''t her first time teaching first-year students so she already saw some students suddenly be stronger after a few months. Fortunately, the stronger guys in their ss were able tost more than thirty moves against the wolf and they were even able to deal a small amount of damage to the spirit wolf. Due to this, Instructor Fienna saw some hope for their ss. "I thought that this ss was really bad but it doesn''t look that way anymore...Out of the ten first-year sses, they should rank around 7th or 8th... Not bad...I can make them stronger..." Instructor Fienna thought to herself. Finally, the strongest guys were calledst. "Shirley Locke, it''s your turn" Instructor Fienna called the girl named Shirley Locke. During the entrance examination, this girl ranked twentieth overall so she was also given her own premium dormitory. Shye noticed this girl earlier, she was one of the girls who didn''t pay much attention to him. "So she was also part of the top 20 huh?" Shye muttered to himself. After a few more moments, Shirley''s assessment started. Her battle against the spirit wolf was intense. Shye was surprised to see that this girl named Shirley was slowly winning against the wolf. Finally, after ten minutes of intense battle, Shirley Locke defeated the spirit wolf. However, she was also spent after the fight. Instructor Fienna was satisfied after seeing that someone was finally able to defeat the spirit wolf and she let Shirley rest on the sidelines before calling the next student. "Anthony Hawkmoore...You''re up." A slightmotion happened after the guy named Anthony was called. It seems that Anthony was ranked 18th during the entrance exam. Shye watched Anthony''s assessment closely. Anthony indeed deserves to be higher ranked than Shirley because he defeated the wolf in less than ten minutes and he wasn''t as spent as Shirley even after his victory. "Hmm...He''s strong indeed...I won''t be able to earn points like this...I need to increase my stats." Shye knew that it was only a matter of time before his name was called so he quickly opened the shy Adventurer System and clicked [Upgrades]. Currently, he has 467 unused points but he didn''t want to spend them when there''s no need to so he only upgraded his strength, dexterity, and agility by two points each which set him back 240 points. He saved the remaining 227 points for emergency purposes. "Shye Crowley...Your turn" Finally, his name was called. Shye smiled excitedly as he walked towards the newly summoned spirit wolf. "Time to earn some more points!" Chapter 10: Class Captain

Chapter 10: ss Captain

"It''s Shye Crowley''s turn!" "Let''s see if he deserves the 16th spot!" There was anothermotion after his name was called. It seems like his ssmates were looking forward to his performance. Even Shirley, Anthony, and Instructor Fienna were very curious about how strong he was. All of those in the top 20 knew how strong Alexander Smith was so they were surprised that he lost to this guy named Shye Crowley. Finally, after a few more moments, his battle with the wolf started. As usual, the wolf aggressively attacked first. Shye easily dodged the wolf''s attack and he even sessfully inflicted a deep cut before the wolf could turn around and attack again. The wolf quickly attacked again but Shye predicted the swift second attack from the spirit wolf so he easily cut off its right front paw before it even knew what happened. Instructor Fienna watched Shye''s assessment closely and smiled upon seeing him easily dodge and block the spirit wolf''s next attacks. "Hoh...He''s just toying with the wolf huh? With his strength, he should''ve been able to secure a higher ranking for himself." Instructor Fienna thought to herself. Even Anthony had no choice but to admit that he was inferior. "Tch...How scary..." Someone like him could see that Shye was just toying with the wolf, unlike them who went all out just to defeat it. On the other hand, the "uninterested" Shirley began to show some interest. It looked like she was a bit mesmerized by how cool Shye handled the spirit wolf. Finally, in less than 5 minutes, Shye finished off the wolf. [Congrattions, You''ve earned 50 points!] He could''ve killed the wolf even faster but if he revealed all of his strength from the get-go, then he would get fewer chances to surprise and impress others. "Alright, that''s it for ourbat strength assessment. Another reason why I made you undergo an assessment on the first day is to decide who will be the ss captain." After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, the ordinary students in Shye''s ss whispered among themselves. Everyone knew that the strongest person in the ss would be assigned as the ss captain. The ss captain status is very important because not only would it help you on your debut in the real adventurer world, but it would also mean that you would have a chance to establish your adventurer party in the future without undergoing a separate "party leader" training. However, it was very difficult to achieve this because you would have to be a ss captain every year until you graduate. "I believe everyone saw earlier that Shye Crowley was the strongest out of all of you so I will be assigning him as the ss captain." "If you guys think that you would be a better ss captain, then you may challenge Shye Crowley." "Anyone who wants to challenge Crowley for the ss captain position?" Instructor Fienna looked at the ss while waiting for challengers. Seeing that there was none, she officially announced Shye as the ss captain. "Alright then, it''s set. Shye Crowley, you are the ss captain. I hope you can lead the ss to a higher ranking during the inter-sspetition." "I''ll do my best, instructor." Shye bowed to Instructor Fienna after he took on the role of a ss captain. "Everyone, gather up! That''s it for ourbat strength assessment. We shall start our stamina training now." "Your training uniforms should have arrived at the ssroom by now. Go and change into your training uniforms. I expect you to be back here in ten minutes, I will deduct academy points from those who will not arrive on time." "T-Ten minutes?" The students were shocked, they were quite far from the ssroom so they had to hurry to make it back in ten minutes. Shye and his ssmates hurriedly sprinted back to the ssroom to retrieve their training uniforms and upon arriving, the boys immediately took off their clothes and changed into their training uniforms on the spot. "Kyaaaaaa!!" The girls immediately screamed after seeing the ridiculous scene. Even Shirley blushed a little as she gritted her teeth. As warrior ss students, the bodies of their ssmates looked extremely good so even the girls had a lot of trouble as they resisted their urge to look at the bodies of their male ssmates. Once Anthony and Shye took off their clothes, the girls finally couldn''t resist and some of them took nces while the other bolder girls stared at him openly. Shye blushed a little but he knew he couldn''t hesitate here, he wanted to provide a good life for Maia so he absolutely could not afford to lose any academy points. Fortunately, the girls were able to gather their wits and immediately grabbed their training uniforms. However, there was a problem...The changing rooms were a bit far away and they definitely wouldn''t make it back on time if they didn''t change their clothes right here, right now. Shirley was a very decisive girl so she took the lead. She removed her clothes until only her undergarments were left. Some of the boys fell on their butt after seeing Shirley''s sexy body. Seeing the reaction of the boys, the other girls followed Shirley''s example and they stripped down to their undergarments. The boys finally couldn''t hold on anymore as some of them grabbed their crotch area to prevent their little brothers from waking up. After changing, the girls quickly rushed out of the room and headed back to the training fields. The boys with stronger willpower were able to quickly snap out of the heavenly scenarios in their heads and finish changing. Then, they immediately rushed out of the room leaving only a small percentage of the boys struggling to change clothes. The boys who got left behind looked at each other and their eyes widened due to utter shock and disbelief. Shye Crowley...Was there with them struggling to change his clothes while his little brother was fully awake. "Pfft! Hahahaha Captain Shye! I see you''re a man of culture as well!" The other male students couldn''t help butugh and it helped them focus. They were finally able to finish changing clothes so they quickly sprinted out of the room leaving Shye alone. "Damn! That was embarrassing! Shit! There''s only two minutes left!" Shye quickly finished changing his clothes as well and sprinted out of the ssroom. "I won''t make it at this rate!" He gnashed his teeth as he reluctantly opened his system and clicked [Upgrades] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 10 [ss] : Warrior [Upgradeable Attributes] [Strength : 14] + [Intelligence : 3] + [Agility : 12] + [Dexterity : 12] + ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Locked] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ He then upgraded his agility status two times. [Confirm!] After confirming that his agility status was upgraded, Shye hovered his finger on the [Exit System] button. He was really pissed off at himself for having to use his "emergency" points for this type of emergency so he upgraded his intelligence status once out of anger before closing the system and sprinting back to the training grounds Chapter 11: A New Skill and A New Home

Chapter 11: A New Skill and A New Home

"Haaah...Haaahh..." Shye was panting hard after arriving at the training fields. Fortunately, he made it back on time. "Oh? Crowley, what happened? I didn''t expect you to arrivest!" Instructor Fienna walked towards Shye to tease him. She already knew what happened because the same thing happened every year. The female changing rooms were deliberately built far away from the warrior ss ssrooms. The purpose of having the warrior students strip in front of each other during the first stamina training is to enhance their decision-making skills and prevent them from hesitating when ites to important matters. For example, what if they identally got stripped naked by a monster''s attack? Should they exchange their lives just to cover up their bodies? Of course not! However, Instructor Fienna didn''t expect that Shye would be thest one to arrive. "What a lecherous kid! I saw him staring at me too when I entered the ssroom." She chuckled while muttering to herself. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Instructor Fienna didn''t give them any time to rest and immediately ordered them to sprint for an entire hour. After an hour, all of the students in Shye''s ss were gasping for air and this includes Shye, Anthony, and Shirley. "Hohoh...I found another weakness of yours, Crowley." Instructor Fienna muttered to herself. Shye is indeedcking when ites to stamina. This is because the stamina attribute upgrade is locked in the system. After his ss today, he shall explore the system and then fetch Maia. Aside from stamina, Instructor Fienna discovered that Shye''s body wasn''t that sturdy. She thought that it was normal though because how strong can a 16-year-old young man be? If he''s currently strong in offense, he''s bound to have a few weaknesses in other areas. Finally, after a few more training sessions on the first day, their ss was dismissed a bit earlier than expected. After seeing Shye in such a funny state earlier, some of his ssmates tried to get close to him during the ss. They were surprised to know that Shye wasn''t arrogant at all, unlike the other students in the top 20, and by the time the ss ended, they were already pretty familiar with each other. Shye bid his ssmates goodbye as he started to walk at a decent pace toward their dpidated hut. While walking, he opened his system because he wanted to explore it. After seeing the options, he decided to open the system''s [Shop] ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wee to shy Adventurer System''s Shop! User: Shye Crowley Current Points: 127 [Armor] [Weapon] [Tools] [Resources] [Consumables] [Ammunition] [Scrolls] [Skills] [System Functions] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "There''s so many options here...Oh? I can buy skills here?" Shye clicked [Skills] [Dash Lv.1 - 500 points] [Power sh Lv.1 - 500 points] [Shield Bash Lv.1. - 500 points] ... "Damn, the skills here are so expensive! 500 points for a single level 1 skill?" Shyeined. He only had 100 points right now so he couldn''t even buy a single skill. He kept scrolling down and the prices only got higher and higher. However, just as he was about to close the system... [Appraisal Lv.1 - 100 points] "Oh? I can afford this one...Appraisal?" Shye muttered to himself as he clicked the skill [Appraisal - A skill used to gain information on someone or something] "Hmm...I might need this one..." He ultimately decided to learn the skill since it only cost 100 points anyway. [Confirm!] [Congrattions, You''ve learned Appraisal Lv.1] [Note: To use a skill, think of the skill''s name after choosing a target] "Alright! I finally got my first skill. I should try it on something." Shye thought of the word "Appraisal" after looking at a rock. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rock Level : 0 Description: A normal rock ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------- "What? That''s it?" Shye was a bit disappointed. He tried it on other things but the result was the same. Desperate for results, Shye finally tried it on an adventurer who had just walked by him. "Appraisal!" ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------- Name: Allison Ferd Level : 18 Description: An adventurer ¡ª-------------------------------------------------------- Shye sighed in disappointment. "I spent 100 points for this? Well, at least I can see their levels..." Indeed, seeing a person''s level can at least inform him of how strong a person is. His thoughts were cut short as he finally arrived in front of their dpidated hut and upon entering, he saw Maia sleeping on the wooden floor of the hut. Seeing his little sister ufortably sleeping on the floor, Shye''s heart ached. "I''m sorry for letting you suffer...We have a proper house to stay in now..." Shye muttered to himself. He then walked towards Maia and woke her up. "Maia...Hey...Maia..." "Hmm? Big brother? You''re back so early?" "Yeah...We got dismissed early...I have good news for you! I lucked out during the entrance exam and got 16th ce overall. I didn''t expect that they would provide arge house for me inside the academy!" "O-Oh...Good for you, big brother..." Contrary to his expectations, Maia was sad upon learning that he had a huge manor inside the academy. She wanted to live together with her big brother but it seemed that it was impossible for now so she was sad. Maia knew that her big brother would always visit her but she was still sad that they wouldn''t be able to sleep at the same house anymore. Shye smiled after seeing Maia''s dejected look, he then rubbed her head and said "You silly! You''reing with me! The academy allowed us to bring in one family member. I came here to pick you up!" He was pleased seeing Maia''s dejected look turn into a look of confusion and then happiness. "R-Really? Yayy!!" Maia ran towards Shye and hugged him. She didn''t care that much about a fancy house, she cared more about whether she would be able to stay together with her big brother or not. After Maia''s short moment of celebration, the two of them started walking towards the academy. "Maia! Look at this!" While on the way, Shye remembered that he had a bag of silver coins so he brought it out and showed it to his little sister. "Woaahh!! Big brother! How did you get so much money?!" Ever since their parents died, she rarely saw silver coins so Maia couldn''t believe how much money Shye had right now. "It''s a reward for those in the top 20! Isn''t your big brother amazing?" "Amazing! My big brother is the best!" Maia said with a wide smile on her face. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1 point!] Shye blushed upon hearing his little sister''s praise and he even earned a point from it. He was just joking with Maia but instead, he got sincere praise as a reply. "My little sister is indeed the cutest!" Shye thought to himself as he rubbed Maia''s head again. "As a celebration! We will buy everything we want to eat tonight!" Maia''s eyes sparkled after hearing what her big brother said. "Really?! Yayy!!!" Maia jumped up and down in happiness after Shye promised to buy her whatever food she wanted. Shye smiled widely after seeing how happy his little sister was. The two of them took a bit of a detour and went to the food district of Colzen City where there were many restaurants and some merchants were selling freshly cooked foods. "Woaaahh! So many foods!" Maia''s eyes sparkled as she checked the food at each food stall and of course, Shye made sure to buy everything she wanted. After buying everything they wanted at the food stalls, the two of them entered a restaurant where they ordered more food and once they finished buying all the foods that they wanted to eat, the two of them left the food district and headed towards Colzen Adventurer Academy. Upon arriving at the entrance, Shye saw some of his ssmates so he took the chance to introduce Maia to them. "I-I''m Maia Crowley! N-N-Nice to meet you!" Maia was nervous during her introduction so she couldn''t help but stutter a bit. Little did she know, her nervous appearance left his big brother''s ssmates a bit stupefied. "S-So cute...I wish she was my little sister..." After the short conversation with his ssmates, Shye bid them goodbye and continued walking to the premium dormitory with Maia cutely trailing behind him. A few minutester, they finally arrived at the premium dormitory. Maia''s eyes sparkled and her mouth was wide open after seeing their new fancy house. It was almost as big as their old house so she couldn''t help but feel both shocked and excited. She happily entered the manor and ran around the house to check everything. Then, after seeing all the rooms, she chose the room that she liked best. Maia excitedly entered her new room and rolled around her newfortable bed with a blissful expression on her face. Seeing his little sister so happy, Shye couldn''t help but smile from ear to ear. He then let her roll around a bit more on her new bed while he prepared their food and drinks on therge table. As a sensible little sister, Maia quickly left herfortable bed and helped her big brother prepare the food. She had a lot of time to enjoy her new bedter anyway. Once the food was ready, Shye and Maia excitedly sat down to eat. They purchased a lot of food including burgers, meat buns, vegetables, rice meals, fries, and soda. The two of them grabbed a meat bun as tears welled up in their eyes after their first bite. How many years has it been since theyst ate a proper meal like this? Although teary-eyed, they looked at each other happily as they ate to their heart''s content. Chapter 12: Creature Ranks

Chapter 12: Creature Ranks

After a good night''s sleep with his little sister for the first time in four years, Shye woke up early to prepare for another day at school. Waking up early like this is not a problem for him at all. This is because he needed to always wake up early when they were living in the dpidated hut to try and look for vegetables or hunt small animals. Fortunately, after four long years, they didn''t have to live like that anymore. Shye took a thorough bath in their new fancy bathroom before changing into his academy uniform. Then, he put his newly washed training uniform inside his bag. Before leaving, he took onest look at his room to make sure that he didn''t forget anything. He then opened the door of Maia''s room to check on his little sister before leaving for school. Maia had a serene look and a slight smile on her face as she sleptfortably on her new bed. After seeing that Maia was peacefully sleeping, Shye left the dormitory with a wide smile on his face. "Oh? Captain! Are you going to school now?" While on the way, Shye heard a female voice behind him so he quickly turned to look. The girl who called him had red hair that was tied into pigtails, an athletic body with an above-average-sized chest, and a perky rounded booty. In addition to this, the girl was almost the same height as Shye. He was surprised because the one who called him captain was Shirley Locke. He thought that this girl was very arrogant but who would''ve thought that she would reach out to him first? "Oh...Hello Shirley! Shall we go together to the ssroom?" "Yeah!" After hearing Shye invite her to walk together, Shirley felt happy. She then positioned herself beside Shye as the two started walking towards the ssroom together. On the way, Shye and Shirley chatted casually and grew a little bit closer to each other. A few minutester, the two of them entered the ssroom together and their ssmates couldn''t help but be surprised. They knew that Shye was humble but this girl Shirley was nowhere near the word humble. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 21 points!] Shirley didn''t care about the weird stares going their way but Shye couldn''t do the same, he was a bit embarrassed, especially after earning an unexpected 21 points from his ssmates. "Why are you guys admiring me?! For what?!" Shye inwardlyined in a confused manner. Still, he pretended to not notice the weird stares as he continued walking towards his seat without saying anything. Unfortunately for him, that wasn''t the end of it. His seatmate slowly leaned closer to him and whispered "Oh?? You sure move fast captain! Did her huge booty captivate you?" Shye gave his ssmate a "what the fuck are you saying" look before ignoring him. His ssmate was about to double down on teasing him but fortunately, their instructor arrived so his ssmate had no choice but to go back to his seat for now. Their instructor this time looked a bit old and strict so no one dared to cause any trouble. Shye breathed a sigh of relief after getting a break from the weird and "knowing" stares of his male ssmates. "My name is Per Hackett, call me Instructor Per at all times. I shall be the one to teach you what you need to know regarding creatures." Instructor Per scanned the seats and seeing that there were no excess seats, he simply marked everyone as present. He then took out his feather pen and ink that he would be using to write on the whiteboard. His actions puzzled the students a bit because no one would be able to see anything on the whiteboard with such a small feather pen as a writing tool. In just a few moments though, their questions were answered as the feather pen suddenly becamerger and thicker. "Hmm? Is Instructor Per a mage? How could he do such a thing?" Shye wondered. "Today, our lesson shall be about creature grades. As adventurers, you must learn as much as possible regarding creatures that you will possibly face once you graduate from this academy." Instructor Per started scribbling words on the whiteboard using his erged feather pen. Iron-ranked adventurer = E- ranked creature Steel-ranked adventurer = E ranked creature Bronze-ranked adventurer = D- ranked creature Silver-ranked adventurer = D ranked creature Gold-ranked adventurer = C- ranked creature tinum-ranked adventurer = C ranked creature Ruby-ranked adventurer = B- ranked creature Emerald-ranked adventurer = B ranked creature Diamond-ranked adventurer = A- ranked creature Mithril-ranked adventurer = A ranked creature Adamantite-ranked adventurer = S- ranked creature Titled Adventurer = S ranked creature Hero = Mythical creature ... "Now, everyone please look at the whiteboard. I''ve written the corresponding creature ranks for each adventurer rank." "Although thisparison is mostly true for an adventurer party, it would be hard for a single adventurer to defeat a creature of the same rank." "For example, if a tinum-ranked adventurer tries to fight a C ranked creature one on one, he will most likely be defeated." "However, there are some elite adventurers who can defeat creatures of the same rank." "Once you graduate, I would rmend you to join adventurer parties first before attempting a solo mission. It would be a waste of time and effort if you simply die due to biting off more than you can chew." "Are there any questions?" "None, Instructor Per!" The ss answered. "Good! That''s it for today! Dismissed!" Instructor Per immediately walked out of the room after announcing the dismissal. The whole ss went silent, only thirty minutes passed since the lesson began and they were already dismissed?! "D-Dismissed already? This baldy is toozy, don''t you think?" "Shhh! He might hear you!" Shye inwardly chuckled after hearing the conversations of his ssmates. Still, an early dismissal was good for him. He had ns after school and it looks like he can act on them way earlier than expected. Chapter 13: New Weapon

Chapter 13: New Weapon

After the dismissal, Shye immediately stood up and walked towards the exit of their ssroom. "H-Hey captain!" Shirley hesitantly called out to Shye who then turned to look at her. "Hmm? What is it?" "I-I''m just wondering if you want to train together with me?" Shirley courageously asked "Oh...Sorry, I have ns today." Shye replied After being rejected by Shye, Shirley was visibly downcast. Seeing her pitiful appearance made him feel bad so he promised to go with her some other day. "But maybe we can train together some other day, I just have something important to do today..." Shirley cheered up a little bit after hearing Shye''s promise. "Okay then! Just tell me whenever you''re avable!" Shirley said before turning around to leave. After their short conversation, Shye went out of the academy to purchase some meat, vegetables, eggs, snacks, and other things that Maia could eat throughout the week. He wouldn''t be able to stay with her most of the time so he bought some groceries for her to cook. Now that they had the money to eat properly, he definitely wouldn''t be stingy when it came to buying food and drinks for his little sister. Once he finished purchasing everything they needed for a week, Shye returned to his dormitory. Upon arriving, he immediately stored each item in their respective ces. The meat and veggies went inside the fridge while the eggs and snacks were stored on the pantry shelves. "Big brother? Didn''t you go to ss?" Shye heard Maia''s morning voice behind him as he was storing away the eggs carefully. "Oh? Good morning Maia! Did you sleep well? And yeah, I did go to ss but we were dismissed early so I bought some groceries for you to eat." "Yep! I slept really well. The bed was sofortable so I had a bit of trouble waking up" Maia responded. Shye chuckled after hearing her cute response. "She must''ve slept really well, that''s good" He thought to himself. "That''s good, don''t worry about anything, and just sleep for as long as you like ok?" "Okay!" Maia responded happily. "Well then, I still have things to do, will you be ok here by yourself?" "Yeah, I''ll train hard in my roomter since I''ve got lots of energy now." Maia said as she raised her right arm and flexed her nonexistent biceps. Shyeughed at his little sister''s cute antics. "Alright, but don''t overdo it ok?" "Okay!" After making sure that his little sister would be fine alone, Shye left the dormitory. Today, he ns to explore deeper into the beginner adventurer zone to not only get some battle experience but also to kill some creatures and sell their body parts to earn money. Although he still had 80 silver coins, he didn''t even have proper armor and weapons. All his ssmates had aplete set of armor and weapons already while all he had was a rusty old dagger. "I really need a decent weapon right now to go hunting..." Shye thought to himself. He opened the system to try and look for a decent beginner''s weapon but the floor price of the weapons was 150 points. Shye only had 100 points right now so he couldn''t buy anything from the system. "Maybe I can purchase some weapons in the academy weapon shop?" He wondered. He wouldn''t know if he didn''t try so he walked towards the academy weapon shop to look for some decent weapons for himself. Upon arriving at the academy weapon shop, Shye was surprised to see that there were many students like him looking for weapons. "Hey, look at that guy''s identification card! Looks like he''s someone from the top 20!" "Yeah, but I don''t remember his face. Maybe he''s the no-name guy who defeated the 16th-seeded candidate in the warrior course?" "Oh? That Shye Crowley?" The other first-year students looked at him curiously while he was looking around for a weapon. Shye was quite used to such things by now so he didn''t pay any attention to them and just continued checking the swords on disy. "Hmmm...So the price range is from forty silver coins to sixty silver coins for beginner weapons huh? Not bad...I''ll probably earn my money back anyway so I shouldn''t be stingy..." Shye picked up a short iron sword from the shelf and tried swinging it at an empty corner. "Hmm...Too light for me, I''d like something heavier..." After raising his strength attribute by a lot of points, such short iron swords were too light for him so he returned it to its disy case and looked for other swords. "Iron Longsword? Hmmm...It has a long range but it is still a bit light for me, I might have trouble using this in a close-range fight..." "Rapier? Nah...too light and it doesn''t suit my fighting style..." Shye tried a variety of swords before finally spotting an Iron Greatsword on the far end of the shop. He picked up the Iron Greatsword and tried lifting it with one hand. "Hmm...A bit heavy but as long as I upgrade my strength attribute, I shouldn''t have any trouble using this." Shye liked the feeling of using the Iron Greatsword so he chose it as his weapon. He put the Iron Greatsword back to its case and then, he carried the case to the counter. He ced the huge case in front of the counter to pay for it. "Oh? This is quite rare, adventurers rarely choose the greatsword as a weapon because it leaves the adventurer more susceptible to attacks in exchange for a stronger attack power." "In addition to this, if you do not have sufficient strength to wield it, you would only be putting yourself in danger. Sir, are you sure you want to purchase this weapon?" The talkative shopkeeper asked. "Yes, I like the feel of this weapon so I would likely be using this as my main weapon." Shye replied "I see, then I shall not stop you anymore! That would be 75 silver coins." Shye was shocked after hearing the price of the Iron Greatsword. "What?! 75 silver coins?! That would only leave me with 5 silver coins! Why didn''t I check the price first?!" Shye felt the urge to p his face. There was already a long line behind him so it would be toome to back out now just because of the price... His face twitched and his heart ached as he handed over 75 silver coins to the shopkeeper. "At least I''ve got a proper weapon now, I should be able to earn enough money as long as I work hard and hunt creatures in the beginner adventurer zone." Shye consoled himself. He already purchased the Iron Greatsword so there''s no merit in regretting his choices now. Not to mention, he really did like the sword. After paying for the weapon, Shye asked the shopkeeper for the sword strap that goes along with the Iron Greatsword since it would be very hard to carry such a huge weapon around without a sword strap. "Oh, the sword straps are sold differently, if you want one it would cost you another 5 silver coins. Would you like to purchase one?" "..." In the end, Shye decided to purchase the sword strap with a heavy heart. Although he left the weapon shop with zero remaining silver coins, at least he can now start earning money on his own. After leaving the academy weapon shop, Shye headed towards the beginner adventurer zone. "Time to explore deep into the beginner adventurer zone!" Chapter 14: Venturing Deep into the Beginner Adventurer Zone

Chapter 14: Venturing Deep into the Beginner Adventurer Zone

Upon arriving, Shye saw two guards at the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone. He almost went back to his old ways of sneaking his way inside but fortunately, although he didn''t have an adventurer badge, he had a Colzen Adventurer Academy identification card. ording to thews of Colzen City, students of the adventurer academy are allowed to go inside the beginner adventurer zone. However, they weren''t allowed to go inside intermediate adventurer zones without an intermediate badge from the academy. Knowing this, Shye walked toward the two guards and showed them his identification card as he patiently waited for the guards to finish examining his identification card. After the guards confirmed that he was indeed a student of the Colzen Adventurer Academy, the guards allowed him to go inside. Once the guards granted him ess to the beginner adventurer zone, Shye took his identification card from the guards and walked towards the forest. Once Shye''s silhouette disappeared into the forest, the two guards breathed a sigh of relief. "Damn! I talked to him so casually! I didn''t know that he was someone in the top 20!" "Yeah, me too. Fortunately, he was in a good mood and didn''t cause any trouble for us!" Shye didn''t know that the guards talked about him nor did he care. He simply walked deeper and deeper into the forest to look for creatures. After a few minutes of walking, he finally encountered a red fox. Even before he got the system, he could already kill red foxes after exerting a bit of effort so this small red fox didn''t pose any threat to him at all. He quickly killed the fox with a single swing of his greatsword and harvested its small fangs, pelt, and ws. "These should sell for a good few silvers." Shye thought to himself Previously, he didn''t have a student identification card so he wouldn''t be able to sell the parts even if he harvested them so he just harvested the meat and took it home for Maia to eat. In addition to this, he couldn''t venture very deep before because he was still very weak and didn''t have a proper weapon. But now, Shye could finally harvest the dead bodies of every creature that he kills and earn money from it. He carefully stored the harvested parts inside a huge sack bag that he brought with him earlier. Once he was done, he then proceeded deeper into the forest. On the way, Shye encountered many creatures such as rabid rabbits, rough-skinned roons, and red foxes. Of course, he easily killed them all and harvested the seble body parts. Finally, after walking for a few more minutes, he encountered a foe which almost cost them their lives, a Greywolf." "Greywolf huh?" Shye reminisced about the time when he almost lost his life while trying to look for old man Sanada. "Let''s see how much I''ve improved!" Shye quickly charged at the greywolf and it was visibly shocked by Shye''s speed. It tried to swipe at him once he was in range but he easily dodged the swipe by sidestepping. "Too slow!" Shye swung his greatsword downwards with all his might and as a result, the Greywolf was cleanly shed vertically into two parts, making scarlet blood stter all over the ground. After killing the Greywolf so easily, Shye clenched his fists excitedly. He was ted after seeing how strong he had be in just a little over a week after obtaining the system from old man Sanada. Previously, he didn''t dare to have any big dreams. As long as he could feed his little sister, then that''s good enough for him. However, after realizing that he had the potential to rise quickly among the ranks of adventurers, he started to dream that maybe one day, not only would he be able to provide a good life for his little sister, but he might also be able to investigate what happened to their parents. He thought about how he and his little sister could live in a huge mansion, hire some servants, and purchase everything they wanted. Not only that, thoughts such as helping those in need became very realistic for him. Lately, he felt that his outlook on various things was changing. Previously, he didn''t care about things such as fame but after feeling the glory of being admired by those around him, he couldn''t lie to himself any longer because he enjoyed it, every single moment was enjoyable for him. "With this system, nothing is impossible for me!" Shye smiled confidently and continued heading deeper and deeper into the forest. He was amazed at how huge the beginner adventurer zone was and the deeper he went, the stronger the creatures he encountered. Thest creature he fought, the Irontusk boar, surprised him with how strong it was. He got a bitcent so he didn''t bother dodging its charge and directly shed at it head-on. To his surprise, his Iron Greatsword wasn''t able to break through the tough tusks of the boar. In addition to this, the boar was slightly stronger than him in terms of raw strength so he was pushed back after the sh. Due to this, he was given another dose of reality. He had to remain vignt! He couldn''t be overconfident here or he might lose his life! After the boar gave him a wake-up call, Shye''s expression turned serious. He started carefully dodging the Irontusk boar''s charges while slowly dealing damage to it whenever he got the chance. The Irontusk boar finally copsed from the umted damage after half an hour of fighting against Shye. "That boar was tough, I have to remain vignt. I was pretty lucky that the boar''s attacks were predictable or the fight might''ve ended differently because I was too overconfident." Shye reminded himself. He quickly butchered the boar and harvested some of its meat. This was the first time he killed an irontusk boar so he wanted to taste its meat. Once he was finished harvesting the meat, pelt, and tusks, Shye continued exploring the forest. Then, after just a few minutes of walking, he arrived at a beautifulke with lots of aquatic nts such as water lilies, tall trees, and beautiful flowers. A smile appeared on Shye''s face after identally walking into such a beautiful ce inside the beginner adventurer zone. While he was admiring the view, Unbeknownst to him, a creature with glowing green eyes was staring at him from a thick branch of a tall tree behind him. Chapter 15: Gale Leopard

Chapter 15: Gale Leopard

*GROWL* Shye quickly looked behind him after hearing a growl. He couldn''t immediately spot where the creature who growled at him was but as the creature slowly descended from the branches of a tree, he finally saw its whole body. His pupils dted upon recognizing the creature. A gale leopard! He knew that a gale leopard was one of the apex predators of the beginner adventurer zone so Shye was a bit intimidated. He unconsciously backed away but he tripped on something and fell on his butt. Upon looking at the thing that tripped him, Shye''s eyes widened. Badly mangled corpses of two adventurers were rotting behind the dense shrubbery. Fortunately, Shye was able to quickly gather his wits as he stood back up and assumed his battle stance. He knew that there was no way he could outrun a gale leopard right now so his only choice was to defeat it inbat. The gale leopard slowly crept towards him as it bared its fangs. Saliva slowly dripped from its open mouth as the leopard fantasized about feeding on his corpse. Finally, the leopard couldn''t wait any longer and pounced at Shye. He quickly moved to the side as the gale leopard''s two front pawsnded at the ce where he previously stood. A chance! Shye quickly shed his Iron Greatsword at the gale leopard''s body but unfortunately, the leopard was too quick. He had perfect timing on the dodge which opened up a chance for him but he still wasn''t able to touch the gale leopard''s body. "Damn...This big cat is too quick!" Shye thought to himself. After dodging his sh, the gale leopard immediately pounced at him again but unfortunately, this time, he wasn''t able to escape scot-free. The leopard''s w managed to open up a small w wound on his left arm. Shye blocked the small wound with his right hand to momentarily stop the bleeding as he tried to think of a way to defeat the gale leopard. "This gale leopard is quicker than me but it is a bit weaker when ites to raw strength..." Shye muttered to himself as he continued to ponder. Unfortunately, the leopard wasn''t gonna give him some free time to think as it immediately tried to swipe at his left arm again. This time, Shye saw this as a chance so he tried to use the same tactics he used against the greywolf back when he was still weak. The leopard''s ws dug deep into his left arm but in exchange, Shye cleanly shed the leopard''s right front paw. *GROWL* The leopard growled in pain and blood sttered on the ground as the leopard''s paw separated from its right front leg. On the other hand, Shye gnashed his teeth due to how painful the deep wounds on his left arm were. His left arm limped down as he tried holding the Iron Greatsword with a single hand. The gale leopard had difficulties walking due to its severed right front paw. However, as a wild animal who operated on instincts, it charged towards Shye even while struggling on three legs. Shye''s determined eyes looked straight at the charging gale leopard. It had already pounced at him multiple times so he was confident that he could find the right timing to defeat it. As the leopard awkwardly pounced, Shye stepped back by half a step and shed his Iron Greatsword horizontally. ... At the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone, the two guards were chatting casually. However, as they saw a limping silhouette walking out from the forest, the two of them stopped chatting and immediately dashed towards the figure to help. They''re already familiar with such a scene and arriving a split second faster might decide the life or death of that individual. This is why the two of them didn''t hesitate and immediately dashed at the figure who limped out from the forest. Their pupils dted after seeing that the figure was a bloody Shye. He limped out of the forest through sheer willpower after harvesting the remains of the gale leopard. He knew that he might die if he didn''t get treatment right away but he still risked harvesting the gale leopard''s carcass first. Shye was low on money right now and although he didn''t know how much would the gale leopard''s important parts sell for, he knew that it was valuable since it was from an apex predator of the beginner adventurer zone. "H-Hey! Are you alright?" "Do I look like I''m alright?" Shye thought to himself. "I''m bleeding heavily from my left arm and I feel weak because of it..." He honestly admitted to the guards. "Wait here!" A guard swiftly ran towards the guard house while the other guard helped him sit down. A few momentster, the other guard ran back to them while holding some sort of healing salve on his left hand and a leaf bandage on his right hand. Fortunately for Shye, these two guards knew what to do so his wounds were treated quickly. He sincerely thanked the two guards for treating him and promised to bring back some food for them some other time. After hearing Shye''s promise, the two guards smiled happily. They weren''t happy about the promise regarding food but they were happy about a student in the top 20 owing his life to them. In addition to this, the student seemed like a good kid so the guards were happy that they were able to save him. Once he felt better, Shye left the two guards and headed home to rest. It was almost night time and Maia was probably worried about him so he decided to go home first and eat a warm dinner with his beloved little sister. Chapter 16: Challenged To A Duel

Chapter 16: Challenged To A Duel

"Big brother...? Don''t you have a ss today?" Maia lightly nudged Shye who was still out like a log. The fierce battle yesterday against the fierce leopard took too much out of him. Due to being continuously nudged by Maia, he finally woke up. Shye rubbed his eyes while yawning as he looked at Maia groggily. "Hmmm? Maia? Why are you up early today?" Shye asked with a morning voice. "Big brother...It''s already 8:45 am..." Shye''s eyes opened wide after hearing what time it was already. "Damn! Today''s ss isbat ss! Instructor Fienna will kill me!" Shye hurriedly got out of bed and prepared himself for ss. He only had 15 minutes to prepare so he only took a not-so-thorough bath and ate bread for breakfast. Fortunately for him, Maia was a sensible little sister so she ironed his clothes for him in advance. Shye was already prepared to go to school with wrinkled clothes, Maia really saved him this time. With 5 minutes left, he dashed towards their ssroom. ... "Shye Crowley!... Is Crowley here?" Instructor Fienna asked the ss. "Reporting to the instructor! Captain Crowley is not h¨C" "I''m here! Haaah...Haaah...Sorry...for...being..te!" Shye panted hard to catch his breath. Fortunately, he arrived just before Instructor Fienna marked him as absent. "No need to tell me the reason, the two guards at the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone reported to us what happened. I shall excuse you from a te" mark this time..." "Thank you, Instructor!" Shye bowed to Instructor Fienna gratefully. He didn''t want to bete but unfortunately, he was too tired and wounded. He couldn''t even move his left arm properly yet but he didn''t have any money to purchase potions so he had no choice. He wanted to sell his loot early in the morning but he wasn''t able to wake up early so he couldn''t buy a potion for his wounds. Fortunately, the healing salve provided by the two guards helped in healing his wounds by a fair bit. "Crowley, go to the infirmary for now and give them this small card. They should give you a regr health potion in exchange for this, then once you''re done, meet us at the training fields." "Thank you! Instructor!" Shye quickly thanked Instructor Fienna after receiving a free potion card from her. He immediately headed towards the infirmary to exchange the card for a potion. Shye was used to being poor so he didn''t hesitate at all when he received help from the instructor. He then knocked at the infirmary door before opening it. "Hmm? How can I help you?" A nurse asked "Hello, I''m here to exchange this potion card for a regr health potion..." Shye replied "Oh! Let me see your card..." Shye handed over his card to the nurse and the nurse was a bit shocked after seeing the card. "You''re quite lucky! Instructor Fienna is very stingy when ites to rewarding students but seeing that you got a potion card from her on the third day of ss, she must like you a lot..." He was a bit shy and surprised after hearing the nurse''s praise. Shye couldn''t think of a response so he didn''t say anything and just received the regr health potion from the nurse. After receiving the potion, Shye thanked the nurse before heading towards the training fields. *GULP* On the way, he drank the regr health potion in one gulp and in just a few moments, he could feel that his wound was slowly healing. By the time Shye reached the training field, he could move his left arm with no problem. "Crowley!,e here I have something for you..." Shye walked towards Instructor Fienna with curiosity. "Here, this will be your customized training menu. You don''t have to join the ss'' training regimen. Instead, do this customized training regimen." Instructor Fienna handed over a piece of paper to him containing his new customized training regimen. Shye checked the list and noticed that the training regimen is focused on physical endurance and stamina. He didn''t notice that he was slightly smiling while reading the list of workouts and Instructor Fienna also smiled upon seeing that Shye was happy with his new training regimen. "This kid seems to be aware of his own weaknesses..." Instructor Fienna thought to herself. "Thank you for this customized training regimen, instructor!" Shye bowed gratefully towards Instructor Fienna after reading the contents of the training regimen. Instructor Fienna simply waved her hands and said "No problem, you may go now and start training!" Shye bowed one more time and left. He chose an empty corner and finished every single workout in the training regimen. "One!...Two!...Three!...Four!..." ... After three hours, Shye finished everything in his training regimen. He was then shocked after suddenly receiving a notification from the system. [Congrattions! Your stamina attribute went up from 5 >> 6!] "Oh? So training hard in a specific attribute will actually make it improve huh..." Shye thought to himself. His thoughts were cut short after hearing lots of footsteps behind him. Shye turned to look and saw that another ss was walking toward the training fields. "Yo! Fienna, you''re still going to teach this year? Why don''t you just continue adventuring? You have no talent in teaching students anyway!" The instructor of the other ss walked towards Instructor Fienna and said such rude words. "Hmmph! Brodley! If even the likes of you are still here, then how am I not qualified to teach? Abat instructor must be strong. How is a weak fly like you qualified to teach here?" "K...Kuhhh...Watch your words Fienna! I''m with my ss!" "HA! If you didn''t go out of your way to taunt me, then why would I care about a prancing clown like you?" Brodley''s students managed to connect the dots and they were a bit disappointed after learning that their instructor is weaker than another ss'' instructor. However, the instructors'' banter was cut short when a student from another ss walked towards Shye''s direction. The student stared daggers at Shye and said "Ash colored hair...You must be Shye Crowley. I''ve been hearing things about how you''re making some small pitiful waves in the academy and I''m getting a bit annoyed." "How about a duel with me? I, Cleo Pord, shall expose to everyone how much of a fraud you are!" Chapter 17: Duel (1)

Chapter 17: Duel (1)

"14th rank, Cleo Pord...With my current stats, I should be able to win...I also need more points..." Shye thought to himself as he stared right back at Cleo. "Hmmm? Sure! I''ll do it, on one condition..." Shye replied "A condition?" Cleo raised one of his eyebrows in curiosity as he replied "Yeah...Let''s have a bet. The winner gets 200 silver coins from the loser, what do you say?" He needed money right now and if he''s gonna duel this guy anyway, he might as well profit from him as much as he can. Shye believes that he wouldn''t lose this duel anyway because after fighting to the death against the gale leopard, he already has a bit of life and death experiencepared to this greenhorn Cleo. In addition to this, he was stronger and quickerpared to that time when he defeated Alexander Smith. Meanwhile, Cleo scoffed, he couldn''t believe what Shye just said. "Ohoh? You? want to bet against me? Howughable! Just because you got too lucky during the past few days, you think you can win against me?!" Cleo said in a loud voice to purposely garner attention In response, Shye smirked confidently and said "What? Are you scared?" Veins popped on Cleo''s head after hearing Shye''s words. "Me?! Scared?! Of you?! Delusional! Absolutely delusional! Let''s do it then, how about we increase the bet to 300 silver coins huh?!" Shye was stunned, he couldn''t believe that instead of 200 silver coins, this guy was willing to give him 300 silver coins instead! "You think I''ll be scared off by a mere 300 silver coins? Let''s do this!" After Shye agreed to the duel, the two of them started to walk towards a wide empty space in the middle of the training fields. On the way, Shye was surprised as a notification popped up in front of him. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 30 points!] "What the...? How did I earn points from a simple conversation?!" He then looked around and saw his ssmates admiring how cool he was for epting the duel. Some of his female ssmates even looked dreamily at him. "Ohh...? So I can earn more points just by spicing up a conversation and responding in a cool manner huh?" Shye grinned after discovering another way to earn points. Shye and Cleo walked towards the weapon rack in a corner to retrieve a wooden weapon before walking toward the middle of the training grounds to begin their duel. The two of them stood a fair distance away as they stared daggers at each other while holding wooden weapons. Cleo had a long wooden halberd while Shye picked a wooden greatsword as his weapon. Seeing that the duel was about to start, their ssmates excitedly walked towards the dueling area to watch the spicy duel between two students in the top 20. As for their instructors, they had a bit of bad blood between them so they didn''t stop the duel at all. Instructor Brodley knew that his student, Cleo Pord, was higher ranked than Shye, and seeing how confident Cleo was, he believed that Cleo could easily beat Shye. On the other hand, Instructor Fienna smiled coldly. She already saw Shye''s true skills and she even got a report from the guards that he managed to take down a gale leopard on his own. Although the gale leopard was only an E- ranked creature, it was an apex creature. Even second-year students might not be able to defeat a gale leopard alone. In addition to this, she suspected that Shye might even be able to get a spot among the top 10 with his current skills. Instructor Fienna watched the duel with anticipation. She couldn''t wait to insult Instructor Brodley after Shye won. The duel finally began, the twopetitors were circling each other while slowly closing in. Most of Shye''s ssmates were a bit nervous because Shye was their captain. If their captain loses here, it would be a heavy blow to them as a ss. In addition to this, the fact that Cleo is higher ranked than Shye makes them even more anxious. Upon seeing a chance, Shye made the first move and shed his sword downwards with only fifty percent of his strength. *PAH* Unfortunately for him, Cleo was very skilled in using the halberd so his downward strike was easily blocked by Cleo. "Hahahaha! Is this all Shye Crowley is about? I admit that your strike is indeed a bit heavy, but if this is everything you''ve got, then this duel will be too easy for me!" Cleo arrogantly said as he pushed his weapon forward which made Shye step back. A shadow of a smile appeared on the corner of Shye''s lips as he thought to himself. "Cleo, Cleo, Cleo, arrogant guys like you are the easiest ones to defeat!" Chapter 18: Duel (2)

Chapter 18: Duel (2)

"This is how you attack! HAAAAAH!" Cleo charged at Shye and swung his halberd diagonally to try and hit Shye''s neck. He wanted to end the fight as quickly as possible to not only humiliate Shye, but also to give a good boost to his fame. If everyone learned that he defeated Shye Crowley with a single hit to the neck, he was bound to attract attention. Unfortunately for him, his delusions didn''te true. On the contrary, due to his excessively wide swing, Shye was able to easily dodge to the side and hit him with a horizontal sh. Cleo felt that a few rib cages cracked after being struck cleanly by a wooden greatsword. Although the greatsword he was using was made of wood, it was still very heavy. "Kuhaahhkk!!" Cleo couldn''t help but spit a bit of blood after being hit cleanly while Shye smirked afternding a clean hit. He then rested his greatsword on his right shoulder and said "Why are you swinging so wide like an amateur? Come, I''ll give you another chance." [Congrattions! You''ve earned 40 points!] Shye couldn''t help but smile after earning more points. "Ohhhh!!! Captainnded the first blow!" "Captain Crowley! You''re so cool!" Shye''s ssmates started cheering loudly after seeing that their ss captain had the advantage against the 14th-ranked Cleo Pord. Cleo gnashed his teeth in anger after everything that happened. Not only was he humiliated, his body was also damaged pretty badly. "Shit! Shit! Shit! How could I have been so careless?!" Cleo regretted underestimating Shye. Still, he believes that he still has a chance to turn this around. This time, Cleo advanced carefully while holding his halberd in front of him. Shye couldn''t help but chuckle after seeing how careful Cleo was. He then assumed his fighting stance while also slowly walking closer to Cleo. *PAH* Shye''s greatsword shed against Cleo''s halberd. "K...Kuhhh..." Cleo expected that he would be able to overpower Shye in a straightforward sh of weapons but unfortunately, he was the one getting pushed back. He still wasn''t convinced though so he continued the straightforward shes against Shye. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* After three more direct shes, Cleo almost couldn''t hold on to his halberd. "You were hiding your strength earlier?!" Cleo shouted furiously "Hahahaha! You''ve figured it out just now? Seeing how arrogant you were earlier, I knew you were easy to trick!" Shye retorted and smiled mockingly. Instructor Brodley was getting more and more uneasy. At this rate, one of his top students would lose and he would be humiliated by Instructor Fienna. "Tch! How disappointing, I expected more from you, Cleo." A student from Brodley''s ss muttered to himself. After a few more minutes of desperately struggling to keep up with Shye, Cleo finally couldn''t hold on to his halberd. Shye quickly rushed forward to finish off the weaponless Cleo as he swung his heavy wooden greatsword downwards with full strength. Having no other options, Cleo blocked the attack with his right forearm. *CRACK* "ARRRRGHHHH!!" A nauseating crack was heard throughout the dueling area as Shye''s greatsword cleanly struck Cleo''s right forearm. Cleo couldn''t help but scream loudly in pain as his right forearm bent inwards in a strange angle. "Stop!!! Enough! The match is over!" Instructor Brodley immediately dashed to try and save Cleo from further damage but unfortunately, he was too far. Shye shed his wooden greatsword diagonally with just the right amount of force toward Cleo''s neck area. *PAH* *THUD* His wooden greatsword struck the defenseless Cleo cleanly on the neck and knocked him out cold. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 70 points!] "Captain Crowleeeeeyyyy!!" "Captain Crowley is mighty!" Shye''s ssmates cheered loudly after seeing their captain easily beat the 14th-ranked freshman student, Cleo Pord. "Tch! As strong as ever..." "Why do you keep getting more and more handsome?" Even Anthony and Shirley, his ssmates ranked in the top 20, couldn''t help butment after seeing his smooth victory. Instructor Fienna smiled widely after the result was set in stone and slowly walked towards the rushing Brodley. In contrast, Cleo''s ssmates were a bit dejected and disappointed. Although Cleo wasn''t their captain, he was one of their "ace" fighters. Seeing him being defeated by the other ss'' captain so easily made them feel a bit inferior. "How ruthless! You''re still so young but already so ruthless! You need to be taught a lesson!" Brodley finally arrived and rushed towards Shye. He tried to hurt Shye under the pretense of "teaching him a lesson" *PAH* "Oi, Brodley, what the hell are you doing? If you want to hurt my student, you have to ask permission from me first!" After just a single sh, it was evident which instructor was stronger. Instructor Brodley was pushed back after crossing swords with Instructor Fienna. Brodley felt humiliated after not only failing to avenge his student but also because he was pushed back by Fienna. He felt his face burning and he knew that he couldn''t stay here any longer or he would lose more face. He gnashed his teeth in anger as he picked up the unconscious Cleo and walked towards the infirmary. "Instructor Brodley!" "Huh?! What do you want?!" Brodley wasn''t in a good mood after such a humiliating experience. He didn''t want to stay here any longer so being called like this naturally annoyed him. He turned his head to look and after seeing that the one who called him was Shye, he was even more pissed off. "Please give me my 300 silver coins from that guy''s pockets..." Shye respectfully bowed while asking Instructor Brodley for the 300 hundred coins that he won from the bet. Veins popped on Instructor Brodley''s after hearing his request. However, he knew that trying to renege on a bet would have a huge negative effect on a student''s reputation. Although he didn''t want to, Brodley had no choice but to rummage through Cleo''s sack bag to retrieve 300 silver coins. "267...268...269...270..." Unfortunately for him, Cleo''s money pouch only had 270 silver coins. Instructor Brodley''s hands were shaking due to mixed emotions of intense anger and humiliation. In the end, he was forced to take the remaining 30 silver coins from his own pockets and handed the money over to Shye. He then gave Shye a very fierce and furious look before continuing to walk towards the infirmary. After Brodley was gone, Shye''s ssmates immediately swarmed him, some of them jumped up and down in excitement, some said congrattory words to him, and some of his female ssmates even took advantage of the situation and hugged him. Although it was a bit chaotic, it was another happy and glorious day for him. Chapter 19: Quests

Chapter 19: Quests

A few days passed since he defeated Cleo Pord in a duel. It has been 14 days since he obtained the system and a holographic notification which was only visible to him suddenly popped up. [Congrattions Shye Crowley! Today marks the 14th day of you being the system''s host.] [Quests are now avable!] "Oh?" Shye was intrigued, he quickly opened the system and then tapped [Quests]. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- Host: Shye Crowley ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- [Daily Quests] Hunt: Irontusk boar - 0/5 Hunt: Greywolf - 0/10 Gather: Jadespine flower - 0/3 Daily questpletion reward: 20 points per quest Note: Daily quests refresh daily. The previous day''s progress will be lost on the next day. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- "20 points per quest! Not bad at all! I finally have another source of points!" Lately, Shye has been mulling over how to earn more points. It was getting harder and harder for him to earn points and he''s been stuck on 240 points for two weeks now. In the beginning, he earned a lot of points so he thought that it would be easy as long as he kept winning and doing shy things. Unfortunately, he learned the hard way that he needed "events" to happen before he could even have a chance to earn points. For example, if there''s a tournament and he exceeds everyone''s expectations, then he could earn more points. The catch here is the word "expectation", every time he achieves something new or every time his fame grows, the people''s expectations increase which makes it harder for him to impress them and earn points. Although the quests were a bit hard for a mere 20 points, it''s better than not earning points at all. In addition, he will improve and gain more experience every time hepletes the quests. Lastly, the materials retrieved from the carcasses of the monsters can be sold in exchange for silver coins. There were lots of merits in doing the quests so he ns onpleting them whenever he has the time to. Currently, Shye is inside his house preparing to go out and train inside the beginner adventurer zone again. Fortunately, he can now gain points from doing so! Before leaving the house, Shye walked towards Maia''s room and knocked on the door. However, even after a few seconds, there was still no response from Maia so he decided to enter the room. "Maia? I''ming in!" Upon opening the door, Maia was there wearing skin-tight training shorts and a skin-tight training top. "Oh? Big brother! Sorry, I didn''t hear you knocking at the door..." Maia said after noticing that Shye entered her room. "No worries! I''m going inside the beginner adventurer zone for a bit. Make sure to take proper breaks and hydrate yourself!" "Yes, Big Brother! Have a safe trip!" After saying some reminders to Maia, Shye left his dormitory and walked towards the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone. Upon arriving, he saw the two guards smiling at him so he said hello to them and chatted with them for a while before proceeding inside the beginner adventurer zone. ... *SPURT* Shye was drenched in wolf blood as a holographic notification appeared in front of him. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Greywolves! You''ve earned 20 points as a reward!] After two hours of hunting, he has just finished killing his tenth wolf and is in a good mood after receiving the 20 points upon questpletion. Shye had a crazy idea so he checked the daily quests again to see if thepleted quest had been reced by another quest. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- Host: Shye Crowley ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- [Daily Quests] Hunt: Irontusk boar - 0/5 Hunt: Greywolf - 10/10 [Completed] Gather: Jadespine flower - 0/3 Daily questpletion reward: 20 points per quest Note: Daily quests refresh daily. The previous day''s progress will be lost on the next day. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------- Unfortunately, his fantasies of infinitely grinding points weren''t possible because currently, he can only earn a maximum of 60 points per day even if he manages toplete every daily quest. Still, for Shye, as long as he could at least gain points every day then it was enough. He quickly proceeded deeper into the forest to look for Irontusk boars. It''s very dangerous to hunt inside at night time so he had toplete all three quests before the sun went down. *SPURT* *SPURT* After two more hours of hunting, Shyepleted another hunting quest. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Irontusk Boar! You''ve earned 20 points as a reward!] Shye smiled happily after seeing his total points go up from 240 to 280. Albeit slowly, there was still progress. As he was about to run off to do hisst quest, he suddenly remembered that he didn''t even know what a Jadespine flower looked like. "Hmmm...Gathering quests will be a bit trickier for me..." He pondered about using the appraisal tool but he couldn''t possibly use appraisal on each and every nt he encountered so he quickly disregarded that idea. So, Shye decided to open the system shop to see if there was anything that could help him. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wee to shy Adventurer System''s Shop! [User: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 280] [Armor] [Weapon] [Tools] [Resources] [Consumables] [Ammunition] [Scrolls] [Skills] [System Functions] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shye was getting a bit frustrated. He has already spent an hour looking for items in the shop that could help him but unfortunately, he hasn''t found anything yet. He was now down to hisst option which is the [System Functions]. After tapping the [System Functions], he was a bit surprised. There was only one option avable and everything was [Locked]. [Adventurer Encyclopedia Lv.1 - 250 points] "This is it! This might contain information about the Jadespine Flower!" Shye decided to invest 250 points in the Adventurer Encyclopedia. [Thank you for purchasing the Adventurer Encyclopedia! You may now use it by opening it from the [Inventory]] Chapter 20: Adventurer Encyclopedia

Chapter 20: Adventurer Encyclopedia

Shye opened the system and tapped [Inventory] He quickly opened the Adventurer Encyclopedia to check if there was any information about the Jadespine flower. A holographicrge book suddenly opened in front of Shye containing information about not only nts, but also treasures, creatures, and famous adventurers. Unfortunately, most of the information inside the encyclopedia was locked. It seems that he had to upgrade it before getting more information. He could only hope that information about the Jadespine flower was avable. Shye flipped through the pages one by one and he noticed that the information was arranged in alphabetical order. Currently, he is still at the letter "A". He tapped [Next Page] a few times but there was no progress and he was still at the letter "A"! "Ughhh...This will never end...Is there an option to jump pages?" Shyeined as he quickly checked the bottom of the screen, and sure enough, he could jump pages. He tried jumping pages many times but he only reached the letter "C". "Tch! This is getting annoying...Is there any easier way to..." Fortunately, while he was in the middle ofining, a tip appeared in front of him. [Tip: You may use the search button if you already know what you''re looking for, just click the search icon on the upper right of your screen and think about the name of the herb, creature, treasure, or adventurer that you are searching for!] Shye pped his forehead in frustration. "I wasted almost an entire hour when there was an easier way..." He had no time to waste though because he wanted toplete the final daily quest before the daily quests reset. Shye quickly tapped the search icon and thought about "Jadespine Flower". [Search Complete!] [Jadespine Flower: A greenish-brown tall flower around the same height as a human''s waist. The Jadespine flower is a [Common] flower typically found inside beginner adventurer zones around an area where there is ake. Mostly used for brewing basic potions and can be sold for a fair amount of silver coins] A clear picture of the Jadespine flower was also disyed above the description. "How convenient!" Shye smiled in satisfaction, he felt that purchasing the adventurer encyclopedia was the correct decision! As an inexperienced adventurer, this encyclopedia will not only make information gathering easy for him, it might even save his life! However, he knew that he couldn''t dilly-dally here, it was almost night time and he still had to look for the Jadespine flower. He would like to avoid walking inside the beginner adventurer zone alone at night so he dashed towards theke area where he fought against the gale leopard. While he was running he suddenly remembered his [Inventory]. He nced at the sack bag that he was carrying which contained the materials he harvested from the creatures that he killed earlier. Shye wondered if he could put his loot inside the inventory. However, his thoughts were cut short once he arrived at theke area. "Jadespine flower!" He immediately saw a Jadespine flower and harvested it. He then tried storing the flower in the [Inventory] but he failed. Shye tried multiple ways such as "thinking about putting the flower in an inventory slot", cing the flower in front of an inventory slot, and shouting "Store in inventory!" but nothing was working. He was a bit sad that he couldn''t use the system''s inventory to store items he obtained from the beginner adventurer zone. However, he quickly got over it because he remembered that he saw an option in [Upgrades] called "[Upgrade System to Lv.2]" so he thought that he might unlock some more features of the system in the future. For now, Shye carefully stored the Jadespine flower inside his sack bag along with his other loot. He then continued searching the area for more Jadespine flowers and after only thirty minutes, Shyepleted all of his daily quests. [Congrattions forpleting the quest: Gather: Jadespine Flower! You''ve earned 20 points as a reward!] "Phew! Finally done!" Shye wiped his sweat and then proceeded to walk towards the entrance of the beginner adventurer zone with a wide smile on his face. It was almost night time but he barely made it thanks to the Adventurer Encyclopedia. The guards saw that he was in a good mood so they approached and teased him. "Oh? Crowley, you look very happy! Let me guess, you gained a lot today?" "Oh! Keaton! Harry! Yeah, I had quite a good harvest today!" "Hahahaha, that''s good. Well then, you better hurry now or the material shops will close!" "Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me! Bye!" After a short conversation with the guards, Shye sprinted towards the material shop where he sold the Gale leopard''s materialsst time. He checked almost every shop inside Colzen Cityst time and confirmed that the "Materials'' Mothend" was not only the most prestigious, but it also buys materials from adventurers at a fair price. Unlike the other shops that try to take advantage of rookie adventurers'' inexperience. Upon arriving at the Materials'' Mothend Colzen branch, the pretty shopkeeper greeted him with a smile on his face. "Hello, Sir Crowley! Are you here to sell materials again?" Shye was surprised. He didn''t expect that the shopkeeper would know his name since this was only his second time selling his raw materials in this shop. It seems that the shopkeeper saw his Colzen Adventurer Academy identification card and did some research on their own. After deducing how the shopkeeper knew about his name, Shye was impressed. "It seems that well-known shops with multiple branches operate differently and that''s why they''re more sessful than other shops..." Shye thought to himself. He then ced his sack bag in front of the counter and took out its contents one by one. This time, it was the shopkeeper''s turn to be impressed. "Woah...This many materials from dangerous creatures while only being a first-year student..." The shopkeeper thought to herself. "Hmmm...Five Irontusk Boar hide and ten tusks, ten Greywolf hide and 40 Greywolf paws, then three Jadespine flowers..." "The total price of everything here is around 86 silver coins but with this impressive bulk amount, I can round it up and buy everything for 90 silver coins...Is this price eptable to Sir Crowley?" The shopkeeper asked "Y-Yes...That''s an eptable price for me!" Shye replied "Well then, here''s a pouch of 90 silver coins! It''s a pleasure doing business with you Sir Crowley! If you have other things to sell in the future, you''re very wee to sell them here and we will surely give you apetitive and honest price!" "Thank you! I will make sure to consider selling my loot to your shop first!" "Thank you, Sir Crowley! Have a nice day!" After exiting the shop, Shye happily walked back to his dormitory. It was already night time and it was almost time for dinner with his little sister. While walking, he opened his coin pouch and checked how much money he currently had. "Oh? 440 silver coins! This should be enough to buy aplete set of armor..." Chapter 21: Armor Shopping

Chapter 21: Armor Shopping

Shye immediately sleptst night after eating dinner with his little sister because he needed to get up early to buy armor. Fortunately, he was able to wake up early this time. He groggily got out of bed and took a quick bath. Then, before leaving, he checked on Maia and after seeing that she was still sleeping peacefully, Shye silently left the dormitory. *YAWN* "Ughh...I still want to sleep..." Shye muttered to himself while walking towards the academy''s armor shop. He really needed to buy a decent set of armor now because not only would it potentially save his life while doing daily quests, but he would also need armor topete with the best students in their year level. 5 months from now, the first-year students'' tournament which will decide the ss budget until they graduate will happen. After asking his ssmates, he knew that he needed to perform well there because the fourth-year students would be watching. Some of these fourth-year students are either scouts, vice presidents, or the presidents themselves of Adventurer Academy Societies. A student won''t be able to graduate from the academy without being a part of a society and of course, there are also Academy Society rankings for Colzen Adventurer Academy. The higher-ranked societies will obviously have their eyes on the top 20 students of each year so he needed to perform well in the tournament to be recruited by the top societies. Naturally, the higher-ranked societies will have better benefits than the average or bottom-feeders so joining a top-tier society is the goal of every student. This included Shye so he ns to farm points and upgrade his attributes as much as possible for the next five months. Of course, if he didn''t even have a proper set of armor, he wouldn''t stand a chance against the fully equipped and strong high rankers in his year level. Finally, after half an hour of walking, he arrived at the academy''s armor shop. Shye slowly opened the door and upon seeing that there were only a few customers early in the morning, he was quite happy. "Wee to Colzen Adventurer Academy''s Armor Shop!" The shopkeeper said in a loud voice from behind the counter. Shye gave a slight bow to the shopkeeper before entering and checking out the armor pieces. "Ohh...So there are three different types of armor huh? Cloth armor which seems to be for mages, leather armor for scouts and archers, and heavy armor for warriors..." He then walked towards the heavy armor section and looked at the prices of the most basic iron armor. "Ughh...Looks like I will be broke again after this..." Shye dejectedly muttered to himself. However, he needs to buy armor anyway so he can try and hunt the apex creatures inside the beginner adventurer zone. Shye knew that he would be able to quickly earn his money back once he went back to hunting and having armor would make hunting creatures slightly safer and easier. He checked the most expensive iron armor and saw that it was made by a famous cksmith. "Ohhh! So this one is made most likely by Doran''s qualified apprentices huh? Not only does it look nice, it also looks durable!" Shye was hooked. He started having fun looking at every armor piece. "Kuuuhh...I really want to buy a Doran brand armor..." Unfortunately, Shye knew that he wouldn''t be able to purchase an entire set of Doran brand iron armor right now so he temporarily settled for the iron armor set with an unknown brand. "Hello, shopkeeper! I would like to purchase the Meido brand iron armor set please..." "Oh? You''ve got good eyes! The Meido brand is indeed unknown right now since the cksmith, Meido Chan, is still a rookie but she''s a promising one!" "The entire Meido iron armor set costs 430 silver coins." The shopkeeper said Shye felt a little better after hearing the shopkeeper''s assessment of the Meido brand so he immediately paid the 430 silver coins and excitedly wore the Meido iron armor set. "Thank you for your purchase!" He slightly bowed to the shopkeeper before leaving the armor shop in great spirits. Fortunately, he still had 10 silver coins left this time so he would at least be able to purchase food for Maia while he hunts creatures to earn more money. After purchasing his armor Shye was running a littlete for ss so he picked up the pace because their instructor for the day was the bald Instructor Per. Although Instructor Per ends his ss early most of the time, he really hates it when a student iste. Fortunately, he made it to ss on time and just a few minutes after he arrived, Instructor Per entered the ssroom. "Everyone sit down! Let''s start the ss so we can all go home early." Chapter 22: Adventurer Zones

Chapter 22: Adventurer Zones

Instructor Per, who always looks like he''s in a hurry to go home, immediately took everyone''s attendance. "Good, looks like everyone is present. The lesson today is about adventurer zones." After confirming that everyone was present, Instructor Per nodded in satisfaction. "As you all know, there is a beginner adventurer zone just outside the city and I''m pretty sure that most of you know about the intermediate adventurer zone just half an hour away from Colzen City." "However, as I saidst time about the creature ranks, there are also different ranks for adventurer zones, and knowing what rank of creatures inhabit these zones will surely be a big help. He then stopped speaking, took out his feathered writing pen, erged the writing pen, and wrote the following: ----------------- Adventurer Zones and Creatures Inside Each Zone: Beginner Adventurer Zone = E- Intermediate Adventurer Zone = E , D- , D, Advanced Adventurer Zone = C-, C, B-, B Expert Adventurer Zone = A- , A Death Zone = S-, S Mythical Zone = Mythical creatures ---------------- The whole ss went silent because they were all focusing on Instructor Per''s lesson. Although this instructor always dismissed his ss early, all of his lessons were actually not only important but also enjoyable. Seeing that the whole ss was still attentive and waiting for him to speak, Instructor Per continued. "As you can see here, the beginner adventurer zone outside the city only has E- creatures at best, and obviously, that''s why they are called beginner adventurer zones." "Still, the strength of each E- ranked creature varies and the strongest ones possess strength that can endanger the lives of even second-year students so do not underestimate the E- ranked creatures." "However, I believe that some of you here have already started adventuring and were even regr visitors of the beginner adventurer zone." Instructor Per gave a deep look to Shye, Anthony, and Shirley before continuing "In addition, I even heard about a report where a guy from your ss managed to take down an apex E- ranked creature, the gale leopard." "Although I know that some of you are very strongpared to others within the same age group, please do not overestimate yourselves and put your life in danger. Always remember to advance cautiously." There was a bit ofmotion after Instructor Per said that there was someone in their ss who took down a gale leopard alone. They all nced at Shye, it was easy to guess who it was because their captain, Shye Crowley was the strongest in their ss. "Silence! Let''s continue the lesson. As for intermediate zones, these zones are one of the most famous zones because most of the ordinary adventurers make a living inside these zones." "These ordinary adventurers were the ones who either startedte or didn''t make it into adventurer academies so they were mostly stuck in steel, bronze, and silver ranks." "This is because these adventurers didn''t have any sort of guidance from experienced adventurers so they struggled to improve because they had to take a trial and error approach to everything and sometimes, even lose their lives in the process." "Not only these adventurers, the third-year and fourth-year students of adventurer academies mostly spend their time inside intermediate adventurer zones, and sometimes, even a few of the stronger second year students go inside to hunt." "However, this only applies to average adventurer academies like ours. The top tier adventurer academies on the same level as Freia Adventurer Academy, An Adventurer Academy, and Eusford Adventurer Academy, have students who go inside advanced adventurer zones to hunt." Shye and his ssmates were amazed. It seems there is quite a gap between Colzen Adventurer Academy and the top-tier academies. "There''s no need to wonder how strong those guys are since every year there will be a huge tournament that involves all adventurer academies in our region, you will see the strength of the top academies of our region there." The whole ss was excited upon hearing that there would be a huge tournament involving every academy in the region at the end of the year. It would be their chance to see the prowess of not only the top academies in the region but also the prowess of their upperssmen. "Now, for the advanced adventurer zones and above, since it wouldn''t be realistic for you guys to go inside the advanced adventurer zones yet, let''s discuss it next time." "That''s all for the ss today. Dismissed!" "..." "This baldy is indeed toozy!" Chapter 23: The End of Semester Tournament Begins!

Chapter 23: The End of Semester Tournament Begins!

Five uneventful months passed wherein Shye focused on self-training. Not only did he consistentlyplete his quests inside the beginner adventure zone, but he also regrly trained his body ording to the specialized training regimen given to him by Instructor Fienna. During the past five months, Shye only used the points he earned to either upgrade his attributes or purchase a necessary skill from the system. This is because the end-of-semester tournament which would decide their ss budget is starting soon. Not only would the tournament decide their ss budget, but it would also be the scouting grounds for the fourth-year students to recruit worthy first-year students into their societies. At the start of the second semester, the first years are required to join a society and of course, Shye wanted to have a lot of options when joining a society so he ns to perform well in the end-of-semester tournament. *SPURT* [Congrattions forpleting the quest: Hunt: Red-spotted Jaguar! You''ve earned 20 points as a reward!] "Phew...Finally done with my quests for the day...Tomorrow is the start of the end-of-semester tournament so maybe I should rest early today." Shye muttered to himself after easily killing an apex creature called Red-spotted Jaguar. He then used his remaining points to upgrade his attributes. After feeling the familiar warm sensation that coursed through his body, Shye opened his status. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 24 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.1][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 37] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 32] [Dexterity : 35] [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ He nodded in satisfaction after seeing his current status. "This should be enough to secure a high ranking for our ss..." ... The day of the tournament finally came, fireworks were exploding in the sky and food stalls were set up in the entire academy. The end-of-semester tournament is always treated as a happy event in the academy where the students can enjoy themselves whilepeting against other sses. Watching fights in other courses such as the mages, the scouts, and the archers is also very enjoyable. Not only will a student be able to see the prowess of the top students in other courses, but they could also potentially scout out future party members. An adventurer party normally consists of two warriors, one scout, one priest, one archer, and one mage. When they be third-year students, they need to coborate with the other courses and form an adventurer party for them toplete the tasks assigned by the instructors and graduate. As third-year and fourth-year students, they will have to constantly enter intermediate adventurer zones toplete academic requirements so scouting out potential party members is very important. Shye followed behind Instructor Fienna while the whole ss followed behind him and they were on their way to their designated seats in front of the warriorbat stage. Upon arriving, they noticed that their whole ss was seated beside Instructor Brodley''s ss. "Crowley!! You''ll pay for what you did to me!" Cleo Pord gnashed his teeth as he called out to Shye, however, Shye didn''t even spare him a nce which made him look very stupid. Instead, Shye looked around and checked the other sses'' captains out. He knew that these captains were the only threat to him and small fries like Cleo don''t even deserve his attention now. Upon seeing that all warrior sses were present, the dean of the warrior ss walked up to the stage to announce the start of the tournament. The other courses have already begun their ss ranking battles and the fourth-year students from various societies were already actively scouting for prospects. "Warrior students, I, Dean Sven Snowcrest, will now announce the rules of the tournament." "The tournament format will be double elimination which means that if your ss loses two times, then you''re out of the tournament and your final ranking is decided." "Thebat rules are simple, you will all choose a wooden weapon from the weapon rack at the corner and then the whole ss will fight in a 50 vs 50 skirmish." "If a whole ss is incapacitated or the captain admits defeat, then the match is decided, That''s all." "Captains of each ss, go up the stage and draw lots." A huge holographic screen then appeared above the stage which disyed the uing matches between sses. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------- [Matchups] #1 vs #10 #2 vs #9 #3 vs #8 #4 vs #7 #5 vs #6 ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------- Shye walked up to the stage and drew a number. While waiting for everyone to finish drawing lots, the captains checked each other out. The other captains knew that Shye defeated Cleo in a duel a few months ago so they didn''t underestimate him even though he was only ranked 16th. After all of the captains drew their lots, they simultaneously opened the small piece of paper in their hands. "#6 huh..." Chapter 24: First Match

Chapter 24: First Match

After returning to his seat, Shye nced at the huge holographic screen where the ss numbers were already reced with the captains'' surnames. "Hmm...So our first match is against 8th-rank Peter Valesworth''s ss huh? There''s still some time left before our match..." Although their ss was up against a fairly strong ss, Shye wasn''t bothered. He knew how strong he is right now so they would probably be able to hold their own against strong opponents. In addition, he saw his two ssmates, Anthony and Shirley, multiple times inside the beginner adventurer zone seemingly training together for this very day. Shye pondered whether he should go and scout out potential future party members or watch the other matches in his own course first. In the end, he decided to focus on their own course first. They wouldn''t need to coborate with other courses until their third year anyway so he should focus on their ss ranking first. It didn''t take long before the first match started. To his surprise, the first ss to go up on stage was Instructor Brodley''s ss. Just like Shye''s ss, there were three top 20 rankers in Cleo''s ss. The 19th rank, Jason Wood, 14th-rank Cleo Pord, and their captain, 11th rank, Leonardo Regulus. They were up against the 12th-rank Morris Hensley''s ss and they also had three top twenty rankers. The crowd was fired up because the two sses seemed to be equal in overall strength so everyone was looking forward to which ss would win. Instructor Brodley led his ss towards the center of the huge stage where the other ss was already waiting. Although the tournament format seemed simple, it is actually not that simple. If a ss chooses to fight an overwhelmingly strong opponent, their ss might lose two in a row if everyone was injured so as a captain, it was better to just give up your first fight if you know that your ss cannot win. If you do, then you may get a chance to continuously win in the lower bracket and secure a higher rank for your ss. If you choose to fight, however, although there will always be a chance for your ss to win, you will most likely be spending a lot of manpower to do so. Because of this, although your ss might win the first fight, you might lose consecutively due to spending too much manpower on the first fight. This concept makes the tournament harder than it looks, especially for the ss captains because they will be the ones to decide whether they will take a tactical loss or risk it all for a chance to win. Of course, if your ss is very strong then you can choose to just destroy everyone. However, it doesn''t seem like that concept is applicable in this current matchup since they were both very close in strength and no one will run away from a winnable battle. The captains of both sses stared at each other fiercely, they were both ready to fight. "Begin!" After a few more minutes, the first 50 vs 50 ss skirmish of the warrior course began. Some outsiders applied for a pass earlier in the month so they were allowed to watch the preliminary battles. In addition to the outsiders, there were also students from other courses who were watching the matches with the intention of looking for future party members. Lastly, there were fourth-year students who were watching the matches closely to scout for potential prospects. The crowd was very enthusiastic and lively as they watched the two warrior sses sh. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* "AAAGHKK!!" Unfortunately for the weaker students, they were the first ones to get eliminated and due to this, these students had no chance to get picked up by the top-tier societies anymore. Although the battle between the ordinary students of each ss was intense, everyone was watching the battle of the rankers. 19th-rank vs 17th-rank 14th-rank vs 15th rank 11th-rank captain vs 12th-rank captain. The three matches were intense but unfortunately for Instructor Brodley''s ss, there was quite a gap between the 19th-rank and 17th-rank. It was only a matter of time before 19th-rank Jason Wood was defeated by his opponent. Seeing the disadvantageous developments, 11th-rank captain Leonardo Regulus was annoyed. "Tch! Why am I so unlucky to have such a weakling in my ss...Seems like I have to show them my true strength now or we will be forced to use more manpower than necessary..." Leonardo Regulus thought to himself. He then looked at his opponent and said. "I would like to y with you a bit longer but unfortunately, I still need my ssmates to perform at their best so I''m gonna end you now." After hearing what Leonardo said, 12th-ranked captain Morris Hensley was incredibly angry. "Huh?! What the hell are you saying? Aren''t you struggling right now against me? Just ept defeat and maybe you can win your next match!" Leonardo merely smirked at his response though. As their swords shed again, Morris'' pupils constricted after feeling Leonardo''s strength. "Kuaaahkk!! Y-You were hiding your strength?" The crowd went wild as Leonardo sent Morris flying. Leonardo didn''t even bother to reply to Morris, he just directly sent Morris'' sword flying before chopping him with full strength on the right side of his neck. "C-Captain!!" Seeing that their captain was knocked out, the whole ss panicked and their morale was low. They started to lose their individual battles but unfortunately for them, since their captain was knocked out, he couldn''t call out the surrender. As a result, the whole ss including the 17th-rank and 15th-ranked were knocked unconscious. It seems like this ss would have no chance to win any more matches. This specific match highlighted how important it is for the captain to remain inmand. If they were too weak, they would get knocked out like this and drag the whole ss down. "Enough! The match is over! Regulus'' ss wins and moves on!" Chapter 25: A Swift Conclusion

Chapter 25: A Swift Conclusion

The crowd went wild after Leonardo''s ss was announced as the winner. He sent the other ss'' captain flying which was very exciting in the eyes of the audience. As he was walking down the stage, Leonardo Regulus stared at Shye and smirked. Although he saw how his ssmate Cleo was defeated by Shye, he wasn''t threatened at all. He was hiding his strength anyway and that''s why he only imed the 11th spot in the entrance examination. In his mind, he was sure that he could defeat Shye. "Hahahahaha! Did you see that? You better pray that your ss doesn''t run into my ss early or you will suffer the same fate!" Instructor Brodley looked at Instructor Fienna''s direction and taunted. "Hmmph! With just that? Crowley will just p you guys back down to the ground again!" Instructor Fienna retorted. She was confident that Shye would not let her down against such low-ranked opponents. Shye didn''t shrink back as he stared back at Leonardo. "Oh?! Look at those two! I think they have bad blood between them!" The crowd, the students from other courses, and the fourth-year students didn''t miss this small interaction between the two captains. After a few seconds of reading between the lines, they realized that these two sses were mortal enemies. Because of this interaction, the crowd waited for Shye''s match in anticipation. They already saw Leonardo''s strength so they also wanted to see how strong the other guy was. The next three matches involved the top 1, top 2, and top 3 students and as expected, they easily won their matches. The crowd was in awe while the fourth-year students went silent and their expressions turned serious after witnessing the prowess of the top three students of this year''s warrior freshmen. "This year''s freshmen surpasses even our generation when ites to potential...I would love to see them fight in the inter-academy tournament four years from now..." "We must try to recruit them to our society at all costs!" The fourth-year students thought to themselves. Shye''s expression also turned serious upon seeing the top three students''bat prowess. He thought that he would be able to easily defeat everyone this time due to his shocking growth. Turns out that he was still too naive, the top three students were on another levelpared to the likes of Cleo. Still, he believes that he stands a chance against them. Although he knew that this wasn''t the full power of the top three, he himself had his own trump cards. "Crowley''s ss, Valesworth''s ss, pleasee up on stage. After a few more idle minutes, their ss was finally called on stage. The crowd was excited, however, a few also voiced their doubts because the captain, Shye, is only 16th-rank. "So much for that 11th-rank guy''s rival turns out, he was only ranked 16th!" Some of them believed that Peter Valesworth''s ss would win easily. However, those who were from the warrior course knew that Shye Crowley was probably the most mysterious one among the top 20 students. No one exactly knows how strong he is but everyone knows that he was definitely way above 14th-rank due to how he defeated Cleo so easily five months ago. The two sses stood across from each other and the captains, Shye and Peter stood in front of their ss waiting for the start of the match. "Begin!" After the referee announced the start of the match, the ordinary students immediately charged at each other. Anthony and Shirley teamed up to fight the 10th-ranked student, Jason Grayfield, while Shye took on Peter Valesworth alone. Another one-on-one between captains! The crowd cheered wildly and the fourth-year students were impressed upon seeing Shye''s gutsy decision. Everyone thought that Shye would decide to fight together with the other rankers from his ss but it turns out that he was confident enough to take on the 8th-ranked Peter Valesworth alone! Instructor Brodley scoffed while Instructor Fienna smiled. She knew that Shye was capable of holding his own even against Peter. A few minutes into the skirmish, the weaker students started to get eliminated. Anthony and Shirley were holding their own against the 10th-ranked Jason but they couldn''t get any advantage either. *BANG!* What they didn''t expect was, in just a single sh, the battle against the captains already ended. Everyone who was fighting on the stage stopped and turned their heads to see what happened. The crowd gasped followed by a sound of disappointment. After being hyped up so much, the fight ended just like that? The fourth-year students from the top-tier societies shook their heads in disappointment. They wanted to at least see the guy named Shye Crowley hold his own for a while before being defeated. If he did, then they would consider inviting them to their societies. After a while, the smoke finally dissipated and the two captains were revealed. Everyone''s pupils constricted upon seeing the unbelievable scene on the stage. Shye Crowley was unharmed while Peter was lying on the ground, unconscious. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 550 points!] The match was decided with a single hit from Shye. After processing what happened, the crowd cheered wildly. They were ecstatic after seeing such exciting and unexpected developments. Some of the students from other courses immediately decided to try and form a party with Shye in the future. As for the fourth-year students, they were speechless. The lower-ranked societies already made up their minds to invite Shye while the fourth-year students from the top-tier societies were forced to reconsider their decisions. "This guy was definitely hiding his true strength!" The fourth-year students thought to themselves. They estimated that Shye was at least on the level of the top 5 students just from the raw strength he disyed earlier. The top 1 student looked at the stage with excitement and a wide smile on his face. "Shye Crowley...How exciting!" It seems that thepetition for the top spots in the warrior course is going to be lively. Chapter 26: Spectating

Chapter 26: Spectating

Shye walked down from the stage and returned to his seat with a smile on his face. Although he was indeed a bit happy after garnering lots of attention, the main thing that made him happy was the 550 points that he earned from just one match. It seemed that he would be able to earn a lot of points today! Shye looked around and saw Leonardo staring at him with narrowed eyes and a serious expression. In response, he simply smirked at Leonardo and then ignored him afterward. "You probably think that it would be easy to defeat me, don''t you?" He chuckled as he thought to himself. Two hands patted him on his shoulder so Shye quickly turned his head to look. "Hmm? Anthony, Shirley, what is it?" Shye asked with a confused expression on his face. "W-What do you mean what is it? How did you beat their captain with a single hit?!" "Y-Yeah! I couldn''t ask back at the stage but you have to exin now!" The two hands were from his ssmates who were also in the top 20, Anthony and Shirley. It seems that they were pretty shocked after seeing what happened to Peter Valesworth. Although the two of them can take on Peter Valesworth together, they don''t know if they will be able to win. On the other hand, Shye destroyed Peter with a single sh of his wooden greatsword. They thought that Shye was only a bit stronger than the two of them so they were initially worried about the battle n. Who would''ve thought that they were worried for nothing? It seems that this captain of theirs is pretty secretive when ites to his true strength. "Oh, that? I obviously hid my strength in the beginning and I am showing it now..." Shye exined. The truth is, he was indeed weaker than Peter Valesworth in the beginning. However, with the help of the quests from the system in addition to the points gained from his duel with Cleo, Shye managed to upgrade his attributes to the point where he can one-hit someone like Peter. He only said that he was hiding his strength since it was the easiest way to exin his explosive growth without exposing the system. "O-Oh...Yeah, we also thought that it would be like that..." "Yeah...That exins it, thanks..." Anthony and Shirley were satisfied after Shye exined the "truth" to them. Anthony was even a bit embarrassed because, in the past, he thought that he could hold his own against Shye and it would only be a matter of time before the ss regrets epting Shye as the ss captain. Today, he felt embarrassed at how delusional he was. Still, he didn''t harbor any negative thoughts for Shye and there was only respect in his heart after seeing how strong their captain actually was. The crowd eventually settled down after Shye''s match and there was a two-hour break before the next round started. In addition, since they won, they were now in the upper bracket of the tournament and they wouldn''t have to fight untilter in the afternoon. Due to this, he decided to eat lunch first and then watch the matches of the students from other courses. Shye stood up from his seat and informed Instructor Fienna about his ns during the break. "Sure, just make sure to get back on time" "I will, thank you Instructor Fienna!" He slightly bowed at Instructor Fienna and then proceeded to walk towards the academy canteen. "C-Crowley! Where are you going?" Shye recognized Shirley''s voice so he turned to look at her. "Hmm? Oh, I''m going to eat in the academy canteen and then watch some matches of the students from other courses." "O-Oh, I see...C-C-Can I go e-eat and watch with you?" "Sure!" He happily agreed while obviously not getting the underlying meaning of Shirley''s invitation. Their ssmates saw everything and tried their best not to react lest they spoil Shirley''s ns. "Go go, Shirley! We''re rooting for you~" The ss thought to themselves. ... At the academy canteen, Shye was eating happily while Shirley was a bit nervous making it quite obvious that she was treating this as a date. Unfortunately for her, Shye wasn''t thinking about such things right now. The only thing he''s thinking about right now is where to spend his points. Still, the two of them chatted from time to time while eating. "Ahh~ that was delicious..." Shye rubbed his satisfied belly after eating everything he wanted from the canteen. He didn''t hold back at all because he knew that he would never have to go back to living life as a street rat. Even if they ran out of money, he could just hunt some creatures and sell their parts for money. Unfortunately, eating luxurious food at restaurants is still a bit too expensive for him so he has to eat at the canteen for now. After eating, Shye and Shirley walked out of the canteen and walked towards the mage course arena. Upon arriving, the two of them were excited after hearing about the current match-up. "1st-rank David Houdini''s ss, 2nd-rank Harry Copperfield''s ss, pleasee up to the stage!" Chapter 27: Battle of the Top Mages

Chapter 27: Battle of the Top Mages

Shye and Shirley quickly walked towards the area designated for spectators from other courses. Fortunately, they had a better viewpared to the outsiders who wanted to watch the matches for fun. As students from other courses, the academy reserved a good and uncrowded spot for those who wanted to scout for some potential party members from other courses. They watched in anticipation as the sses of the top two students slowly walked up to the stage. The top 1 and 2 students stared daggers at each other while standing in the middle of the stage. Meanwhile, their ssmates were assuming their battle positions. Mage skirmishes are different from warrior skirmishes. As mages, most of them had area-of-effect spells so the students could not stand close to each other or they might be taken out together. Themon battle n for mage skirmishes is to stand as far apart as possible and target those who aren''t paying attention to the attacker. As defenders, however, they had to watch their ssmates'' backs or their whole ss would be taken out one by one. Mage ss matches are very chaotic so they were given thergest stage out of all the courses. In addition to this, they had to wear protective gear so that they wouldn''t sustain any life-threatening damage. But in exchange, once the gear has taken way too much damage, their consciousness will be shut down by the protective gear. After a few minutes of preparation, the two sses were ready. "Begin!" The referee signaled the start of the match and as soon as the match started, fireballs, icicle spears, rock bullets, and other elemental spells flew all over the stage. Shye and Shirley were stupefied, this was their first time watching mages fight each other so they were utterly shocked at how chaotic the match was. "Hahahaha! I like your reaction...You''re Shye Crowley aren''t you?" Shye snapped back to reality after hearing someone call him from behind. He turned his head to look at the guy but he couldn''t recognize him at all. "Yes, I''m Shye Crowley and you are?" "I''m Carlnus Magsen, 3rd-rank on the mage course, you can call me Carl. I saw your match earlier and I have to say that I was impressed by your strength." "Howe you''re only ranked 16th?" The guy named Carlnus introduced himself and immediately asked Shye a blunt question. "Oh, yeah, I hid my strength during the entrance exam." "Hmmm...I see." Carl gave Shye a serious look and there was an awkward silence for around 10 seconds while the two of them stared at each other. "MHM!" Shirley cleared her throat and asked, "How may we help you?" The awkward silence finally ended as Shye and Carl snapped back to reality. "Oh, where are my manners? As I said, I watched Shye Crowley''s match earlier and saw him as a potential party member in the future so I came here to befriend you." Carl said as he extended his hands towards Shye. Shye briefly looked at the extended hand before smiling and extending his hand as well. The two of them shook hands with smiles on their faces. "I didn''t expect you to be so...approachable..." "Hahahaha! Well that''s understandable, high-ranked students are mostly arrogant like those two over there..." Carl said as he looked towards the direction of the stage. Shye immediately understood what Carl meant when he looked at the stage. It seems that the top 1 and top 2 mage students were very arrogant. Still, he wanted to see who was stronger between the two so he watched the match together with Carl and Shirley. The skirmish on the stage was currently reaching its climax as more than half of the students from each ss were unconscious. Only the stronger students from each ss remained standing on the stage. "Why don''t you give up now? Your ssmates look like they will fall unconscious anytime now" "Huh? What the hell are you saying? Aren''t your ssmates the same? How about you admit defeat now before you suffer a humiliating defeat again?" The top two students kept on talking trash to each other as the match went on. Finally, after a few more minutes, all of their ssmates fell unconscious and they were locked in a heated one-on-one battle. The two kept firing projectiles at each other and it seemed that the projectiles fired by the 1st-rank mage David were slightly stronger than the projectiles of the 2nd-ranked mage, Harry. However, just as everyone thought that Harry was about to be defeated, he did something crazy. He dashed straight into David''s fireball while chanting his own fireball spell which confused David. When he was about to get hit, he suddenly disappeared in front of the fireball. Harry then reappeared in front of David and unloaded the fireball spell that he was chanting at almost point-nk range. "AAAAAHHHHHH!!" David screamed after getting hit cleanly by Harry''s fireball before falling unconscious. "OHHHHH!!!" The crowd, including Shye and Shirley, went wild after the intense battle ended. They weren''t that familiar with mage spells since they were only freshmen students so the way the battle ended looked amazing to them. Fortunately, Carl was there to exin what happened. It seems that Harry was hiding a trump card skill called "blink" which was a very hard-to-learn skill with attributes of space maniption. Carl was also amazed that Harry was able to learn the spell at such a young age, truly unbelievable. "It seems that they''re tied up again in terms of wins and losses..." Earlier, Shye found out from Carl that these top two students had been rivals since childhood and that they were always tied up in wins and losses. It was just unlucky for Harry that he was the one who lost on the entrance exam day and so, he got the title of number two. But everyone from the mage ss knew that Harry was on the same level as David. Still, Shye didn''t want anything to do with these two arrogant students. In his opinion, partying up with Carl in the future was way better. Shye looked at the time and realized that they had to go back. Their second match was starting soon! Chapter 28: Theoden Bathory

Chapter 28: Theoden Bathory

There were five winners and five losers during the first round. Since the winners'' and losers'' brackets had one ss that would not have an opponent, It was decided that the ss with the highest-ranked captain get to move on to the next round without any opponent. For the winners'' bracket, it would be the first-ranked Siegfried Lionheart''s ss that would be seeded. As for the losers'' bracket, it would be the fourth-ranked Jean ckborne''s ss. Upon arriving at the warrior course arena, Shye and Shirley immediately checked the brackets. The losers'' bracket matches just ended and the first two sses to be eliminated were 12th-rank Morris Hensley''s ss and shockingly, their opponents, Peter Valesworth''s ss were eliminated by a ss with a lower ranking. It seems that many students in the top 20 were actually hiding their strengths. Hence, the only remaining sses in the losers'' bracket were 4th-rank Jean ckborne''s ss, 5th-rank Noah Holler''s ss, and 9th-rank ude Kirnd''s ss. It was time for the upper-bracket matches to continue. The first match was 11th-rank Leonardo Regulus'' ss versus 2nd-rank Eusford Banehollow''s ss. Unfortunately, the crowd was disappointed as Leonardo immediately gave up the fight. However, everyone knew that it was the logical decision to make since it would be unwise for Leonardo to use his ss'' manpower to bring down the 2nd-ranked student. It is better to let the top 1, top 2, and top 3 battle it out before trying to fight them in the lower bracket. "Regulus'' ss forfeits the match, you may now return to your seats. 16th-ranked Crowley''s ss, 3rd-ranked Bathory''s ss, pleasee up to the stage." Shye, Shirley, and Anthony nodded at each other and walked toward the stage with their remaining ssmates. Theoden Bathoryzily walked up the stage with his ssmates. He casually chatted with his ssmates while waiting for Shye to surrender. Even the crowd expected Shye to surrender here since it was the logical thing to do to save manpower. "Hey, aren''t you going to fight?" Shye asked Theoden Bathory in a confused manner. Theoden''s expression froze after hearing what Shye said. After a few seconds, Theodenughed loudly. "Hahahahaha...Hoh? So you''re not giving me this round for free huh? How courageous." Theoden''s ss was confused as well but after realizing that they weren''t going to get a free round this time, they hurriedly assumed their battle positions. Upon seeing that everyone on the stage assumed battle positions and stances, the crowd went wild and their respect for Shye grew. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 220 points!] Shye smiled after seeing that he earned 220 points, it seemed like he would be able to save up a lot of points today! "Begin!" After the referee announced the start of the match, everyone was bewildered as a loud voice sounded from behind Theoden Bathory''s ss. "CROWLEYYYY!!" Alexander Smith, the guy who was defeated by Shye in the entrance examination, came charging at him red-eyed. *PAH* "You want to fight our captain? You have to get through us first!" Anthony and Shirley charged forward and stopped Alexander Smith. "Tch! I''ll destroy you two!" "Thanks, Anthony, Shirley..." Shye muttered to himself as he slowly walked toward Theoden Bathory and Theoden Bathory also walked toward him. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* Sounds of wooden weapons shing can be heard all over the stage as the skirmish between Shye''s and Theoden''s ss begins. While circling each other, Shye''s eyes narrowed into slits upon seeing Theoden muttering something. He hurriedly raised his wooden greatsword horizontally to block Theoden''s sudden attack. "A skill!" Shye thought to himself. Fortunately, he reacted quickly as Theoden suddenly appeared in front of him and shed downwards with his wooden long sword. *PAH* He sessfully managed to block Theoden''s blink strike but he wasn''t ready for another attack so he was kicked by Theoden in the chest and was sent flying. "Captain!" "Crowley!!" Shye''s ssmates called out to him with a worried expression. This was the first time that they saw their captain Shye lose the first exchange. "Hahahaha! That''s what happens when you don''t know your ce!" Alexander Smith said in a loud voice. "Tch! Shut the fuck up! Crowley defeated you in the entrance exam so you''re the one who doesn''t know his ce!" Shirley retorted in a rage as she continued coordinating with Anthony to try and defeat Alexander. "Ahh...Shit, that hurts..." Shye muttered to himself as he slowly shook off the dust in his clothes and armor. "Hoh? You''re still fine?" Theoden Bathory looked arrogantly at Shye and taunted. "Well, your kicks don''t really hurt that much so yeah, I''m fine..." Shye retorted. Veins popped on Theoden Bathory''s head after hearing Shye''s words. "Hahahaha! You still dare act tough after being humiliated? I''ll tear your pretentious mask down!" -------------------------------------------- Note: If you guys are enjoying the novel, please consider adding it to your library as this gives me confirmation to continue and more motivation to write lots and lots of chapters for you guys. Chapter 29: One Hit Delete

Chapter 29: One Hit Delete

Theoden Bathory immediately charged toward Shye again after activating two physique buff skills. *PAH* *PAH* *BANG* *PAH* *BANG* He attacked Shye with abination of shes, punches, and kicks. Shye was able to block most of the sword attacks but he was always struck by the sudden punches and kicks. The crowd cheered as they watched Theoden slowly but surely win his captain vs captain matchup against Shye. "Ahhkk..." Shye was sent sliding back after another kick from Theoden. "Yes...That''s it...Just keep showing me all your skills and attack patterns..." He inwardly smiled as he endured everything that Theoden threw at him. By this time, Shye already knew that Theoden had at least three skills. Blink Strike, Enhance Arm Dexterity and Enhance Agility. This is why he patiently endured all of Theoden''s attacks while waiting for the buff skills to run out. In contrast, Theoden happily beats up and humiliates Shye while assuming that Shye doesn''t have any skills. It was understandable for Theoden to think this way because everyone knew that Shye had a poor background. Skill books are really expensive even for high-ranked adventurers so most of them only learn skills from either practicing a skill repeatedly or luckily obtaining a skill book from their adventures. As for students, only students born with a silver spoon in their mouths can afford to have a skill while still in the academy. And so, everyone believed that Shye was losing because he didn''t have any skills. Even Instructor Fienna looked at Shye with a bit of regret. If only he had skills, then he might be able to fight toe to toe with the top 3 students. Unbeknownst to them, Shye also had skills. He was just waiting for the right moment to use it to catch Theoden Bathory off guard and defeat him. "Hey, Hey! Shye Crowley! Is this what all the hype is about?! Huh?!" Theoden Bathory mocked as he continuednding punches and kicks here and there. "Tch...I have to finish this soon, my buff will run out soon...Well, no matter, at his current state, I can beat him up even without my buff!" Theoden thought to himself. Anthony and Shirley couldn''t help but asionally check Shye''s battle and every time they turned their heads to look, their morale slowly got lower and lower. Even Shye''s other ssmates slowly lost hope and started to lose their own battles. Fortunately, Shye focused on training his vitality and stamina attributes. After a few more minutes, Theoden''s buffs finally ran out and after noticing that Theoden was still adjusting to his slower agility and dexterity, Shye''s eyes widened. "Chance!" He gripped his wooden greatsword tight and activated [Dash Lv.1]. Upon activating [Dash Lv.1] Shye felt an explosive power in his legs. His legs kicked up a huge amount of dust from the ground as he suddenly arrived in front of Theoden in just a single explosive step. "Yo, do you think you''re the only one with skills? Go to hell!!" Shye loudly said with all of his pent-up anger. He then activated [Power sh Lv.1] and swung his greatsword down with all of his strength. Theoden''s pupils constricted, he was shocked after Shye immediately appeared in front of him like a ghost. He wasn''t ready at all and he couldn''t raise his sword up in time. "CROWLEY!!" *BANG* Theoden couldn''t do anything but shout as Shye''s wooden greatswordnded cleanly on the area between his right shoulder and neck. His eyes rolled up as he slowly fell down to the ground, unconscious. Shye didn''t rx after defeating Theoden. He immediately dashed towards Alexander and sent him flying with a single sh. "Wipe them out!!" He wanted to eliminate Theoden''s ss once and for all so he mercilessly ordered his ssmates to wipe out Theoden''s entire ss. In just a few seconds, Shye, Anthony, Shirley, and their ssmates defeated every single student on the opposing side. Everyone including the instructors, the fourth-year students, the students from other sses, and the students from other courses were stupefied. Their brains still hadn''t processed Theoden''s defeat and in the blink of an eye, the whole ss including Alexander Smith was defeated! [Congrattions! You earned 1280 points!] After a few seconds of stupefied silence, cheers erupted from the crowd. "Holy Shit!! Shye Crowley turned everything around!" "Damn! From now on I''m a Shye Crowley fan!" Even Instructor Fienna couldn''t believe the way Shye turned the battle around. She thought that there was no way for him to win but who would''ve thought that he also had skills? Although it was a bit suspicious how Shye managed to obtain skill books, she knew that everyone had their own secrets. So instead of questioning him, she just happily watched her ss walk down victoriously from the stage. Meanwhile, the top-tier societies made up their mind to recruit Shye Crowley at all costs after seeing him patiently dismantle the 3rd-ranked student, Theoden Bathory. Today, the name "Shye Crowley" reverberated in the whole academy after his miraculouseback victory. Chapter 30: The Order of the Black Sword

Chapter 30: The Order of the ck Sword

After Shye returned to his seat, Instructor Fienna immediately walked towards him. "Hahaha! I thought I already had a good grasp of your strength after teaching you for so long but it seems you were still hiding things from me huh?" "Oh? Instructor Fienna! Yes, I had to keep some cards close to me since everyone was kind of eyeing me..." "Don''t worry, Ipletely understand. Anyway, I''m just d that you managed to win today." Instructor Fienna then faced her whole ss and made an announcement. "Good work today! Since you all have won your matches for the day, you''re all dismissed. Your winners'' semi-final match will be scheduled tomorrow morning so make sure to arrive on time!" "Thank you, Instructor Fienna!" The whole ss answered in unison and happily left their seats. Some of them excitedly went to watch the matches from other courses while others went directly home to rest. As for Shye, he was beaten up pretty badly by Theoden so he was among those who immediately headed home. Shirley was a bit disappointed since she wanted to watch more matches with Shye but she also understood that he had a tough fight today against Theoden so she didn''t bother him. Shye didn''t go home straight away though, he happily bought some snacks for Maia first before continuing to walk home. Maia really likes snacks so Shye buys her snacks every time he has the chance to. While walking towards his dormitory, a group of fourth-year students approached Shye. "Y-Yo! You''re Shye Crowley, aren''t you? Be honored! Our Pink Unicorn Society has set our eyes on you!" A short fourth-year student said. Before Shye could reject these sketchy-looking fourth-years, a tall but very thin fourth-year student with tworge front teeth and thick lips walked forward and followed up on the short guy''s speech. "Our Pink Unicorn Society is ranked 47th in the overall Academy Society rankings! In addition to giving you a high position in our society, we will give you three body-strengthening pills! So how about it? Have you decided to join us?" Shye inwardly sneered. "Are these guys treating me like an idiot? These guys even openly admitted that their society was ranked 47th! Do they think that I don''t know there are only sixty societies inside Colzen Academy? And who the fuck would join a society named Pink Unicorn?!" He thought to himself. "Hello, yeah, I''m indeed Shye Crowley. I am very grateful for your invitation but I have already decided which society to join so I cannot ept your offer." Shye slightly bowed to the fourth-year students before continuing to walk towards his dormitory. His reply was so good that the fourth-year students forgot that they had to recruit him at all costs! Luckily for them, the short guy managed to gather his wits so he immediately gave chase to Shye and obstructed his way. "Hmmph! A mere first-year student dares to defy us fourth years?! You''re three years too early to do that!" *CLANG* Fortunately, Shye was alert and he managed to draw his iron greatsword fast enough to block the short fourth-year student''s attack. "K...Kuuhh..." Shye was sent sliding back by the seemingly no-name fourth-year student. "Tch! So it was still too early for me to fight fourth-year students huh..." Shye thought to himself as he desperately used his brain to look for a way out of this situation. "Bah! What am I scared of? The worst that these no-names can do to me is beat me up! They won''t dare kill me!" Just as Shye had decided to use his full power to fight against the fourth-year students, another fourth-year student appeared. "Hoh? You worthless pieces of trash dare to recruit one of the top freshmen students? If you don''t want me to teach you a lesson, then scram!" The sketchy fourth-year students looked toward the direction of the voice and their eyes constricted in fear. "Hiiiiih!! R-Ren Beckmann! S-Sorry! We''ll leave now!!" After recognizing who the owner of the voice was, the sketchy fourth-year students quickly left the area. Shye looked at the fourth-year student named Ren Beckmann. He was a tall, slightly tanned guy with a well-proportioned upper and lower body. In addition to this, his body seemed like it was specialized for speed, not the bulky type of body that most warriors have. Not only that, he had slightly droopy eyes and a small dagger earring on his left ear, someone you would call a tall, slightly dark, and handsome guy. "Hello, Senior Ren! Thank you for saving me earlier." Shye gave a slight bow to Ren Beckmann who was surprised by his gestures. Ren himself was a slightly arrogant man when he was a freshman so he thought that Shye would be the same since he was one of the strongest freshmen this year. He was pleasantly surprised that Shye wasn''t that type of guy at all and he seems like someone who is easy to talk to. "No worries. Shye Crowley right? I saw your match earlier and I must say that I am impressed by youreback victory!" Ren Beckmann said as he shed a wide smile at Shye. Although he was arrogant when he was a freshman, his experiences during the past three years at the academy made him learn that everyone in the academy should be allies. He lost quite a few ssmates on the way and saw some of his upperssmen die right in front of him and because of that, not only did he learn humility, he also learned to be kind to his fellow adventurers. As a fourth-year student, he already saw a glimpse of the real world and it wasn''t even close to how "warm" the academy life was. Adventurers betraying each other for a lion''s share of the loot, whole parties getting wiped out, losing one of your closest friends in a mission, adventurers starving to death because they tried to live in a high-cost city with inadequate skills to maintain their lifestyle, adventurers killing their own party members due to jealousy, and many more. Because of those experiences, it was rare to find an "arrogant" fourth-year student in average academies like the Colzen Adventurer Academy. Shye was also surprised by Ren''s attitude. Since he was used to arrogant first-year students, this was his first time seeing a strong and respectable fourth-year student who wasn''t arrogant. "Thank you for the praise, Senior Ren." Shye gave a slight bow again as he thanked Ren Beckmann. "Well, enough of that. I''vee here to invite you to our society, the order of the ck sword." Chapter 31: Official Member

Chapter 31: Official Member

Shye''s eyes widened after hearing that Ren was from the famous Order of the ck Sword. Not only did he not expect an invite from an adventurer society this early, but he also didn''t expect to get an invite from the 4th-ranked society. Getting into a society in the top 10 was good enough for him so this invite was really a blessing for him. Although he believed that he would get epted into one of the top 5 societies after the tournament, he didn''t expect that a society would be willing to bet on his strength this early on just to secure him. Shye was touched after hearing Ren''s sincerity in inviting him. He also had a good impression of this senior of his so he was leaning towards epting the invitation. However, Shye decided to ask some things first before epting the invitation. "I''m honored to be invited by such a distinguished adventurer society but I''m just curious, the tournament isn''t over yet and it wouldn''t be toote for you guys to invite me after the tournament so why have you decided to invite me this early?" Ren smiled after hearing Shye''s question. It seems like this guy isn''t someone who was easily blinded by fame and status. "Ahh...Actually, you''re wrong when you say that it wouldn''t be toote to invite you after the tournament. With your strength, there will be loads of societies who will invite you after seeing your true strength." "Thus, we have decided to trust our instincts and invite you early on to show you our sincerity." After hearing Ren Beckmann''s answer, Shye smiled widely because he appreciated this kind of straightforward answer the most. He also knew that the top twenty adventurer societies can only pick one of the top twenty freshmen so most of them usually decide to wait until the end of the tournament before sending invites. "Thank you for such an honest answer, Senior Ren! I dly ept the invitation of the Order of the ck Sword!" "Great! A truly great decision!" Ren Beckmann repeatedly nodded in happiness and satisfaction after managing to snatch Shye under the noses of many top-tier adventurer societies. He foolishly grinned as he imagined the face of his best friend from another society after learning that they were toote and that Shye Crowley had already been obtained by the Order of the ck Sword. "Hehe...Senior Ren, the Pink Unicorn Society offered me some stuff in exchange for joining them so I was just wondering..." Ren Beckmann snapped back to reality after hearing Shye''s words. He thenughed heartily as he was amused by Shye''s straightforwardness. "Hahahahaha! I truly made the right decision to recruit you! Of course, we will give you far more stuff than what those Pink Unicorn guys can ever provide! Do you want me to list all of it down right now?" This time, it was Shye''s turn to smile widely. "No, No, No! There''s no need to! I trust Senior Ren. You can just tell me once I drop by the society headquarters." "Alright then! I''ll wait for you to drop by!" Shye and Ren went their own separate ways with smiles on their faces. They both knew that once a student had already chosen an adventurer society, it would be his adventurer society until he graduates from the academy. This is also the reason why Ren nned to spare no resources and groom Shye to take over the society in the future. Just as Shye was about to leave the area... "Crowley!" He heard Ren Beckmann''s voice behind him so he turned his head to look. "Hmm? Senior Ren? Did you forget something?" "Actually, yeah. Here, take this badge." Shye looked at the badge that he received from Ren. "Oh? This is...The Order of the ck Sword''s badge?" Ren Beckmann craftily smiled and said "Yes, I want you to wear it tomorrow on stage!" Chapter 32: An Unexpectedly Easy Win

Chapter 32: An Unexpectedly Easy Win

After a good night''s sleep, Shye''s body recovered to its peak and he was now on the way towards the warrior course arena. Their match was scheduled early today so he had to leave home early. "Crowley! You''re finally here! Why are you alwayste?!" Instructor Fienna frustratedly said after seeing the arriving Shye. The whole ss was already walking up the stage and Anthony was ready to immediately give up once the battle began if Shye didn''t arrive on time. Fortunately for Anthony, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief after seeing their captain arrive since they stood no chance against the ss of the 2nd-ranked Eusford Banehollow without Shye. After getting a smack on the back of his head, Shye walked up the stage with an embarrassed expression. While he was walking up the stage, the eyes of the fourth-year students almost popped out of their sockets due to the badge that Shye was wearing. The Order of the ck Sword! The tournament hasn''t ended yet but Shye Crowley has already been obtained by The Order of the ck Sword?! The fourth-year students who were eyeing Shye panicked. They were entrusted by the leaders of their society to obtain the best freshman student possible for their society and while they were indecisive about Shye Crowley''s true strength, The Order of the ck Sword decisively recruited him If Shye Crowley turned out to be the best student out of all the freshmen, then they would be in trouble. The other fourth-year students from the top-tier adventurer societies also had the idea to invite Shye Crowley yesterday. However, they ultimately decided to watch a bit more to see his actual abilities and make sure that he didn''t just get lucky. That small window of opportunity, however, was immediately grabbed by The Order of the ck Sword. They could only hope and pray that Shye Crowley wouldn''t turn out to be the best prospect. After a few minutes of preparation on stage, the two sses were ready to battle it out. Eusford Banehollow stared deeply into Shye''s eyes as if he were trying to unveil his every secret. "Begin!" Once the referee announced the start of the match, the dark horses during the start of the tournament which were a part of Eusford''s ss immediately charged at Shye. It was three versus one. Meanwhile, Eusford himself charged towards Anthony and Shirley. Shye was annoyed. He thought that everyone in the top three would have a huge ego but this Eusford guy seems like he''s the type of guy that will do anything to get the win. Eusford believed that he could defeat Anthony and Shirley faster than Shye could defeat the three dark horses. "Tch!" Shye immediately unleashed his full power, he activated [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1] to perfectly dodge an attack of one of his opponents by a hair''s breadth and made his opponent fall unconscious with a single horizontal sh to the guy''s neck. Then, he didn''t spare any skills and immediately used his [Dash Lv.1] + [Power sh Lv.1]bo to take out another dark horse. On the other hand, Eusford wasn''t able to take either Anthony or Shirley out. He was a bit surprised that the two had perfect coordination and that he wasn''t able to defeat them as fast as he thought. However, Eusford smiled after ncing at Shye and seeing him normally run towards his third opponent. "Hmmm...So you''ve run out of skills huh? Let me guess...[Dash Lv.1], [Power sh, Lv.1], and [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1]. Not a badbination of skills but unfortunately, you''ve already disyed all of your skills." Eusford muttered to himself. "We surrender!" Everyone was shocked after hearing Eusford''s surrender. It was a bit too early to give up just because two of your ssmates were taken out, wasn''t it? However, Eusford didn''t care. He could stand losing to Siegfried Lionheart but he couldn''t stand losing to a nobody. Still, he was satisfied because he knew that it would be hard for Shye to defeat Siegfried when all of his skills had already been exposed. He smirked annoyingly at Shye before walking down towards the stage. His strategy would have been effective against anyone else but unfortunately, he was up against Shye and his system. Unbeknownst to Eusford, Shye was inwardly sneering at his ineffective n. Not only were two of his dependable ssmates taken out, but even his n of exposing Shye''s skills weren''t effective at all. "You want to y games with me? Let''s see you y games with my system then!" Chapter 33: Ian Izanagi

Chapter 33: Ian Izanagi

Inside the academy canteen, a guy and a girl were eating together while chatting casually. After their victory against Eusford Banehollow''s ss, Shirley invited Shye again to eat together and watch matches from other courses. The two of them were currently having their lunch while waiting for a match that they wanted to watch in the scout course. While they were eating, a man walked towards them. "Ha! Look who it is! Shye Crowley, fooling around with a woman after a lucky victory against Eusford. Aren''t you bing too arrogant?" Shye quickly turned his head to look at the man and his eyes narrowed into slits after seeing who it was. "Leonardo Regulus...Are you so lonely that you have the time to meddle in other people''s lives? Or is your ss eliminated already?" Leonardo scoffed after hearing Shye''s reply. "You think you''re already the best just because you luckily managed to win against Theoden Bathory? Your victory against Eusford wasn''t even legit!" Leonardo retorted. Their argument started amotion inside the huge academy canteen and lots of people started to pay attention to their argument, even those who weren''t from the warrior course. "Hey look, isn''t that Shye Crowley? The biggest dark horse of the warrior ss? I heard that he defeated the third-ranked freshman yesterday..." "Who''s the other guy trying to mess with Shye Crowley and his woman? Does he have a death wish?" The people started whispering among themselves which left Leonardo Regulus annoyed. Currently, he was the unknown one whenpared to Shye. He gnashed his teeth in anger and frustration while clenching his fists. However, he knew that this wasn''t the ce to lose control of his emotions so he took a deep breath and stared daggers at Shye. "Keep talking while you still can, let''s see you talk back when I expose how much of a fraud you are!" Leonardo Regulus said as he walked away from the academy canteen. Shye wondered why Leonardo was still confident in defeating him even after he showed all of his skills in his battle against Eusford. After pondering for a while, he determined that this Leonardo either had a trump card that would counter his trump cards or he was way stronger than what he was showing on the surface. Worst case scenario, it might be both. Still, Shye was confident. He had a lot of points right now and these guys would be in for an unpleasant surprise if they think that he already showed his full power. Since he knew that he still had a high chance of winning the entire tournament for his ss, Shye stopped thinking about this prancing clown Leonardo. He suddenly remembered that he was with Shirley so he quickly turned his head to check if the earliermotion made her uneasy in some way. Shye was confused after seeing her "bashful" and "happy" expression but he didn''t take it to heart. As long as she was alright then everything''s fine. Shirley was blushing because of some of the whispers she heard while Shye and Leonardo were arguing. Most of the people were calling her "his woman" so she couldn''t help but daydream about the day when she really became Shye''s woman. "Shirley? Shirley! Hey!" Her daydreams were cut short as Shye repeatedly called her name. "O-Oh! I''m sorry! Are you done eating now? Shall we go?" "Yeah, the scout course match that we are nning to watch is starting soon so we should go..." ... ... ... "Hahaha! You won''t defeat me like this!" "As if you''re one to talk! You can''t defeat me by dodging!" Currently, two fighters are locked in an intense battle of agility and dexterity. The crowd is going wild due to the insane shy techniques disyed by the two scout freshmen. Scout course matches were only second to warrior course matches when it came to poprity and this is because of the shybos, skills, and maneuvers of the scout students. While the warrior course matches are more popr due to the head-to-head raw strength and skill battles, theyck the nimblebos and dodges that can be seen in the scout course matches. In the current match, the two fighters locked in an intense battle were the 2nd-ranked scout student and the 3rd-ranked scout student. The reason why Shye was interested in this specific match was because the 1st-ranked scout student was knocked down to the losers'' bracket by the third-ranked student which was a major upset. He wanted to see how this third-ranked student named Ian Izanagi managed to defeat the top-ranked student in their course. The battle between the two scout students seemed to be nearing its end as both students already sustained considerable amounts of damage. "Hahahaha! Izanagi, just surrender! I already know your trump card and there''s no way for you to win! After I defeat you, I will wipe out your whole ss!" Izanagi inwardly sneered at the 2nd-ranked student''s deration. He then activated his skill called [Backstab] which can make him suddenly appear behind his opponent. The 2nd-ranked scout student smiled widely as if he had already expected this move from Izanagi. He then used his own skill called [Bloody Stab] to stab the empty air behind him. "Where are you aiming?" The 2nd-ranked student''s pupils constricted after hearing Izanagi''s voice behind him. He didn''t expect that Ian Izanagi would appear in front of him so his [Bloody Stab] didn''t hit anything. "IZANAGI!!!" *BANG* "The match is over! Izanagi''s ss advances to the finals!" Chapter 34: 1st-ranked Siegfried Lionheart

Chapter 34: 1st-ranked Siegfried Lionheart

Shye and Shirley were on the way back to the warrior course arena. After witnessing an amazing scout course match, the two couldn''t help but talk about it on the way back. "Scouts are scary in their own way, aren''t they? They''re all so fast and so good at reading moves!" Shirley said "Yeah, it would probably be annoying for us warriors to defeat them in a duel but it seems that their bodies aren''t that sturdy though so I think we can defeat them in just one or two hits." Shye replied He honestly thinks that although the scouts would be annoying and hard to fight against, it wasn''t impossible to win since their bodies weren''t tough at all. After a few more minutes of walking while casually chatting, Shye and Shirley arrived at the warrior course arena and as usual, their ssmates teased them for a bit before letting them off. Recently, the two of them were always together whenever there was free time in between their matches so their ssmates couldn''t help but tease them whenever they got the chance to. By now, no matter how dense Shye was, there was no way he wouldn''t notice Shirley''s intentions after being teased most of the time by their ssmates. Still, there was no harm in seeing how this would y out. He didn''t have a girlfriend anyway and Shirley was a hot and beautiful woman. In addition to this, he actually enjoys being together with Shirley so he might as well give it a try. Instructor Fienna looked at the two of them and smiled. She was relieved that Shye didn''t lose himself due to fame and was still the same old him, approachable and easygoing most of the time. Most talented young adventurers lose their own way after experiencing too much admiration from others. Not only do they be a bitzy, they also tend to grow more arrogant as time goes by. As a result, they grow up to be overly arrogant but mediocre adventurers who lose their lives because of overestimating their own abilities. Fienna was really fond of Shye as her student so she didn''t want him to end up like that. It was better for him to enjoy himself together with a woman than lose himself to fame and glory. "16th-ranked Shye Crowley''s ss, 1st-ranked Siegfried Lionheart''s ss, pleasee up to the stage." While everyone in Shye''s ss was busy doing their own things, the referee suddenly called their ss to go up on stage. They weren''t ready at all because they thought that the match before theirs would take a long time to finish and who would''ve thought that a ss would surrender in the losers'' bracket? Unexpectedly, 9th-ranked Kirnd willingly surrendered so their match finished too early and both Shye''s and Siegfried''s sses were caught unprepared for the sudden match. Still, whether they were ready or not, they had to fight. Both sses slowly walked towards the stage after retrieving their desired weapons from the weapon rack. Although Shye knew that Siegfried was strong, he didn''t know anything about his personality so by default, he assumed him to be someone arrogant. Shye stared fiercely at Siegfried as they met face-to-face on the stage with their ssmates right behind them. Siegfried smiled widely at Shye and said "That''s a good look! Makes me want to fight you even more. However, I also do think that you deserve to go to the finals after all of your hard-fought matches." "As for me, I have been too idle in this tournament so I shall give you a free victory just this once. Let''s fight in the finals. He then looked at the referee and said "I surrender" Shye was in utter shock and disbelief at what just happened. He didn''t expect Siegfried to be an honorable and battle-maniac type of guy. He didn''t have an ounce of arrogance in him at all, unlike the other top-ranked students. Shye was already prepared for a tough fight but was instead rewarded with an easy win. Still, this was better for him because he didn''t have to reveal his new cards immediately after Eusford exposed all of his skills. Both sses walked down from the stage and returned to their seats. The crowd seemed a bit disappointed due to today''sck of action. Both Kirnd and Siegfried surrendered their matches so there was nothing to watch. Just as he was about to sit, Shye suddenly remembered something so he quickly looked at Leonardo Regulus with a mocking smile on his face. As expected, Leonardo was currently gnashing his teeth and clenching his fists in anger. He willingly surrendered early because he nned to have the top-ranked warrior students battle it out first in the winners'' bracket while he advanced steadily in the lower bracket against the lower-ranked warrior students. Leonardo was already pissed off at Theoden''s defeat and now, Eusford and Siegfried were also in the losers'' bracket while the guy he hated, Shye Crowley, was chilling alone in the winners'' bracket. He at least hoped that the loser between Shye and Siegfried would be either exhausted or unconscious but unluckily for him, they were both unscathed. Leonardo couldn''t help but regret the fact that he surrendered against Eusford. He was confident that he had a chance to win against Eusford if he used all his cards right but now, all his ns were foiled since he had to fight all top three students before earning a fight against Shye. If he couldn''t even have a shot against Shye after everything that he said to him, then he would be a campus clown! "Serves you right..." Shye muttered to himself before turning his attention away from Leonardo. He then opened his system and checked his points. His eyes almost popped out of their sockets after seeing that he had 2100 unused points. Shye smiled as he excitedly browsed the system''s [Shop] and [Upgrades] Chapter 35: Preparation for the Grand Finals

Chapter 35: Preparation for the Grand Finals

The first thing Shye opened was the [Shop] and then he opened the [Skills] option. All of his skills were exposed by Eusford so he needed to purchase new skills or upgrade his old ones. Unfortunately, upgrading skills to the next level was very expensive. He needed to spend 1000 points to upgrade a single skill which meant that he could only upgrade two skills with his 2000 points. Shye quickly scratched the idea of upgrading his skills and instead, he chose to acquire two new ones for only 500 points per skill. Their next match would be scheduled tomorrow along with the grand finals of the other courses. Thanks to Siegfried''s honorable personality, he didn''t need to fight too hard before securing a grand finals spot for his ss which meant that their ss ranking would at least be 2nd even if they lost in the grand finals tomorrow. Due to this, Shye had a lot of time to prepare so he patiently scrolled down and checked each and every skill''s description. There were some skills that were inapplicable to him like the [Shield Bash Lv.1] so he skipped reading the description of those skills to save a bit of time. After half an hour of scrolling, Shye was interrupted by a voice. "Crowley? What are you doing?" Shirley asked with a curious voice. She had been observing Shye since earlier and he was wiggling his fingers in the air like some kind of weirdo so she couldn''t help but ask. "Oh...Me?...Just hanging around..." Shye nervously replied, he couldn''t think of a proper answer instantly so he just identally blurted out some nonsense which made Shirley even more confused. Since there were no more matches for their ss today, Shye decided to go home so he could browse his shy Adventurer System in peace. "Uhm...I need to go home early today...Since there would be no more matches, I would like to eat lunch with my little sister. See you tomorrow, Shirley." Although Shirley was a bit disappointed after hearing that Shye was going home early, she didn''t take it to heart too much. On the contrary, she felt that going home to eat lunch with his little sister was very cute. "Okay! See you tomorrow!" Shirley simply bid Shye goodbye because she knew that she couldn''t rush things between them. It was good enough for her as long as they had a bit of progress every day. Shye smiled at Shirley before leaving the warrior course arena. He would like to see Siegfried''s battles but preparing for the grand finals without exposing his system was more important. After a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the front door of his dormitory. Shye swiped his identification card to unlock the door before entering. "Hello big brother! You''re back early again today." He was greeted by Maia who was currently sitting on the sofa while watching the television. "Yeah, our opponent today surrendered so I had some free time and I need to make some preparations for our finals match tomorrow." Shye patiently exined. "Yeah, I know, I''m always watching your matches on the TV and you''re always so cool when you win! How are you always doing that?" Maia''s eyes sparkled as she asked Shye an impossible question to answer. Shye couldn''t help but chuckle a bit after seeing the admiration in his little sister''s eyes so he tried his best to answer the impossible question. "Well...I admit that there is a bit of luck involved and that''s how I always manage to win in a cool manner but training hard definitely helps create chances for me. If you continue to work hard you''ll probably be like me!" Shye said as he rubbed Maia''s head. "Leave it to me big brother! I will surely be a big star like big brother in the future!" "That''s good... Well then, I''m going to rest in my room for a bit" "Okay big brother, have a nice rest!" ... Inside his room, Shye slowly but continuously scrolled down to try and find a good skill that would help him get the win in the grand finals tomorrow. Finally, after half an hour, he found a skill that attracted his attention. [Stoic Lv.1] - Reduces the opponent''s damage to the user''s body by 50% for five seconds. While [Stoic Lv.1] is active, the user cannot be knocked out or blown back. "This is it! This is what I need as a greatsword user!" Shye excitedly purchased [Stoic Lv.1]. As a greatsword user, he is very susceptible to quick attacks which may sometimes disrupt his own attacks but with [Stoic Lv.1], he can trade a weak quick attack from the enemy with one of his full-powered blows. Every warrior knows that the greatsword has the greatest amount of destructive damage. For example, let''s say that there are two dueling warriors. One warrior uses an iron shortsword as a weapon while the other one has an iron greatsword. If the two warriors took each other''s attack cleanly, the iron shortsword might be able to cut a deep wound on the body of the opponent but an iron greatsword would cut the entire body in half. With [Stoic Lv.1] Shye can willingly receive the damage from the iron shortsword while he focuses on cleaving the opponent in half using his iron greatsword. A truly fitting skill for his weapon! Due to the acquisition of this skill, Shye changed his decision. Instead of purchasing another skill, he decided to use 1000 points to level up his burst damage skill to [Power sh Lv.2] Then, with the remaining 600 points, he upgraded his attributes. Unfortunately, it now costs 60 points each to upgrade his attributes. Shye allocated the ten points that he could purchase to the attributes that will help him secure the victory in his final match tomorrow. After the warm feeling coursed through his body, Shye opened his [Status]. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 40] (+3) [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 35] (+3) [Dexterity : 39] (+4) [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After seeing the huge improvements in his attributes and skills, Shye smiled widely as he waited for tomorrow''s match in anticipation. Chapter 36: The Grand Finals

Chapter 36: The Grand Finals

*YAWN* Shye slept way too early yesterday which caused him to wake up way too early today. He felt a little cold as he rubbed his belly while yawning. Still, he felt refreshed after a good long rest so he didn''t go back to bed and instead, he chose to have an early breakfast. Shye carefully walked down the stairs and headed straight to the kitchen. On the way, he saw Maia sleeping on the soft couch and It seemed like she fell asleep while watching the matches yesterday. Although Maia seemed like a cute and innocent little girl, she liked watching skirmishes and duels inside the academy through the television. Her daily routine consists of eating, training, and watching matches. She couldn''t roam around on her own so there''s nothing for her to do anyway. Shye retrieved a nket from Maia''s room and covered her with it to prevent her from feeling cold. He then continued on towards the kitchen to prepare his breakfast and after half an hour of cooking, breakfast was ready. Shye cooked Maia''s portion as well but he didn''t want to wake her up so he simply covered her portion with a te and left it on the table. He felt like having rice today with fried egg and pork so that''s what he ate for breakfast. After enjoying a hearty meal, Shye took a bath, prepared himself, and left the dormitory. ... ... A guy with ash-colored hair stood in front of a whiteboard. After leaving early, he nned to check the tournament brackets to see who advanced. Shockingly, the first ss to be eliminated in the losers'' bracket was 3rd-ranked Theoden Bathory''s ss. 11th-ranked Leonardo Regulus made a name for himself yesterday but he fell a bit short when he fought the crafty 2nd-ranked Eusford Banehollow''s ss. Fortunately, one of Shye''s ssmates was the type of person to always arrive too early in ss. He was currently beside Shye exining to him what happened yesterday in the losers'' bracket matches. It seems that everyone was shocked when Leonardo defeated Theoden. "So that''s why he was so confident in winning against me..." Shye thought to himself. He didn''t pay any more attention to Leonardo though since his ss was already eliminated. In addition to this, Shye had improved a lot through the system upgradespared to when he defeated Theoden. His ssmate also told him that the battle between Eusford and Siegfried yesterday in the losers'' finals made the crowd go wild in excitement. The seemingly crafty Eusford fought Siegfried head-on for a long time before the battle maniac Siegfried came out on top after using a skill that allowed his sword to phase through Eusford''s sword. Eusford was caught off guard and was sent flying out of the stage and his ss was ultimately eliminated. Theoden''s ss finished in fifth ce, Leonardo''s ss finished in fourth ce and Eusford''s ss finished in third ce. Due to ranking lower than they expected, these three hated Shye to the core for taking their spots from them and they vowed to have their revenge. Unfortunately for them, it wasn''t going to happen in this end-of-semester tournament since it would be Siegfried''s ss vs Shye''s ss in the grand finals. The reason why they were so angry was because the ss rankings that would be decided for this tournament would be the rankings until they graduate. They felt that they let their ss down by losing to the other captains because their ss activities for the second year up to the fourth year would be limited by their ss budget. The three of them med Shye instead of Siegfried because they felt that it was easier to me Shye than the 1st-ranked Siegfried who was like a mountain towering over all of the first-year students in the warrior course. Shye and his ssmate returned to their seats after their conversation about what happened in the losers'' bracket. As time passed by, their ssmates arrived one by one, and after half an hour, everyone wasplete. Instructor Fienna looked at Shye and smiled upon seeing his confident attitude. "If he''s not nervous then everything should be fine..." Fienna muttered to herself The crowd went wild as the referee walked up to the stage and called two sses for the first grand finals match of the day. "16th-ranked Shye Crowley''s ss, 1st-ranked Siegfried Lionheart''s ss, pleasee up to the stage." Chapter 37: Shye Crowley vs Siegfried Lionheart

Chapter 37: Shye Crowley vs Siegfried Lionheart

The grand finals matches were a bit differentpared to the bracket stage. Although the format is the same, there were now twomentators behind a long desk to boost the poprity and spice up the matches. In addition to this, outsiders can now simply pay for tickets to watch the grand finals matches. The tickets weren''t cheap but they weren''t that expensive either so the locals of Colzen City watched the grand finals with their families and friends as they treated this as a once-in-a-year event. More seats were provided for the outsiders and the location of the food stalls was adjusted so that the crowd could buy food and drinks anytime they wanted without missing a single bit of the action from the stage. At least seven to eight thousand citizens from Colzen City bought tickets to watch the grand finals of the four different courses. As Shye''s ss slowly walked up the stage, thementator masterfully told the story of how the ss of a 16th-ranked underdog wed their way to the top as their captain, Shye Crowley, led the ss to the grand finals of the tournament by bringing miraculous victories one after another. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 120 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 150 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 210 points!] [Congrattions... ... .. Shye looked at thementator in awe and gratitude. The guy was so masterful with his work that he managed to earn a lot of points for Shye when all he did was walk up the stage together with his ss. Of course, thementator also mentioned how Siegfried honorably gave Shye a grand finals spot while fighting for his own. The crowd waited for the match to start in anticipation after hearing the achievements of both sses. Truly a well-deserved grand finals match! On the other hand, there were some people who felt hatred and bitterness as they watched the grand finals on the sidelines. Naturally, these people were Leonardo, Theoden, and Eusford. They gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists in hatred as they watched Shye and Siegfried get all the glory. Unfortunately for them, they cannot do anything but watch since their sses were already eliminated. Finally, after a few minutes of preparation, both sses were ready to fight. Shye and Siegfried stood in front of their sses as they held their weapons tightly while staring at each other fiercely. "Ohoh look at that! Your new member is raring to go!" Ren Beckmann smiled after hearing the words of his best friend from another adventurer society. "Isn''t he quite the catch? I told you that I''m the best when ites to eyeing people''s talents!" "Hmmph! Despicable! You''re still so proud even though you just snatched him a bit earlier than the rest of us!" "Ha! Didn''t that brilliant move of mine give us the advantage in the end? Next time, you better act quick like me!" Ren and his best friend bantered jokingly while waiting for the match to start. "Begin!" The referee didn''t let them wait any longer as he immediately announced the start of the match after seeing that both sides were ready. Shye and Siegfried immediately charged at each other and this time, it was Shye who attacked first. He swung his greatsword down vertically to challenge Siegfried in a head-on match. Contrary to his battle-maniac personality, Siegfried chose to dodge by sidestepping Shye''s attack and then countering him with a horizontal sh to his rib area. *PAH* Siegfried''s wooden longsword struck Shye cleanly on the rib area. He was caught off guard because he thought that the battle-hungry Siegfried would choose to fight him in a head-on match. Unfortunately for him, Siegfried was the type of guy who enjoyed using different kinds ofbat techniques along with his raw strength and that''s why he was so hard to defeat. He had both the brains and the brawn. "Aghk..." Shye couldn''t help but groan in pain after being struck cleanly by Siegfried''s wooden longsword. He then chose to step back to reassess his battle n since Siegfried''s fighting style wasn''t what he expected it to be. "Tch! He got me...I didn''t expect him to fight smart..." Shye rubbed his aching left rib area while thinking about what to do next. Unfortunately for him, Siegfried was sharp and the guy didn''t give him any chance to breathe and think of a new battle n. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* Their swords shed for more than ten times and each time, it was Shye who got the advantage as Siegfried was pushed back bit by bit after every sh. Shye inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. If he couldn''t get the advantage in terms of raw strength even after using a greatsword, then he''s in big trouble. Chapter 38: Trump Card Showdown

Chapter 38: Trump Card Showdown

Shye expected to easily overwhelm Siegfried after his attribute upgrades but who would''ve thought that it would still be a hard fight for him? His opponent, Siegfried, seems to be very proficient in a lot ofbat techniques and he also seems to have a lot of experience in duels. In addition to this, Siegfried''s attacks were always sharp, concise, and lethal. It was like he could always attack his opponent''s vital spots from any angle in any circumstance. Due to how hard the fight was, Shye couldn''t help but imagine what would happen if he fought Siegfried in the winners'' finals that day. He would have probably been smoked by Siegfried on their first encounter. Luckily for him, Siegfried chose to give him the win which gave him more time to prepare *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *BANG* The two of them shed more than twenty times before Shye managed tond a kick which sent Siegfried flying. "Hahahahaha! Nice kick! Again!" This time, Siegfried charged in with a n. He baited Shye to attack first before shing his longsword forward in an attempt to face Shye''s wooden greatsword head-on. The move left Shye confused and he nked out since he couldn''t think of the reason why Siegfried did this. In the end, he just chose to go through with the head-on sh. Just after he decided to go through with the sh, Siegfried suddenly activated a skill... [Power sh Lv.2] *BANG* "CROWLEY!!!" "Captain!!" His ssmates called out to him worriedly after seeing that he was sent flying by Siegfried. "Aghkkk... Damn, that hurts..." Shye struggled to get up with his battered body as blood trickled down from both corners of his mouth. "Hahahaha! How''s that Crowley?" Siegfried said with a loud voice "Tch...yeah, you got me that time..." Shye thought to himself. However, he chose to not answer Siegfried''s words as he quickly charged towards Siegfried again. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* Shye continuously shed with Siegfried again after getting up. Seeing that their captain managed to stand up, Shye''s ssmates breathed a sigh of relief as they continued fighting their own opponents in the ss vs ss skirmish. Their morale fell dangerously low after seeing that their captain was losing but they suddenly remembered the time when Shye defeated Theoden after being battered so badly so they vowed to not give up until Shye was actually defeated. "It''s about time to use my trump card..." Shye thought to himself. Both he and Siegfried were starting to get tired and they both suffered quite a few blows from each other. He himself is on the verge of being incapacitated so he had to enact his n now or he might lose before he could even use his trump card. Shye decided to bet it all in abat sequence he had been envisioning in his mind ever since he purchased the [Stoic Lv.1] skill. "Siegfried, let''s end this...What do you say?" Shye said in a loud voice as he tried to hype up the crowd. If he manages to win here, then his points will shoot through the roof. Of course, Siegfried the battle maniac immediately agreed with a wide smile on his face. "HAHAHAHAHA! I like you more and more, Crowley! I agree, let''s end this!" The two warriors immediately assumed their battle stances. Siegfried seemed to know what Shye was nning so instead of charging forward, he stood his ground as he waited for Shye''s charge. Siegfried''s battle instincts were a hundred percent correct as Shye immediately activated his [Dash Lv.1] skill to instantly arrive in front of Siegfried. "Read you like a book, CROWLEY!!!" Both warriors activated [Power sh Lv.2] at the same time and just as their swords were about to sh against each other, Siegfried activated his trump card [Ethereal Sword Lv.1]. His sword phased through Shye''s sword and since he was using a longsword, his sword would hit Shye one second earlier. "I''ve won!" Siegfried thought to himself. A wild grin appeared on Shye''s face as he also activated his trump card [Stoic Lv.1] *PAH* Upon hitting Shye, Siegfried''s longsword produced a dull sound that distracted him. He didn''t feel the "solid hit" feeling that he usually feels after his sword phases through the opponent''s sword. His eyes widened after realizing that Shye seemed to have used a skill to reduce the damage of his skill and as a result, he wasn''t able to finish Shye off. "What an excellent move" *BANG* Shye''s fully powered [Power sh Lv.2]nded cleanly on Siegfried''s shoulder and he was sent flying out of the stage, unconscious. Cheers erupted from the crowd as Shye snatched victory once again from the jaws of defeat. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 6050 points!] Chapter 39: Nightbringer

Chapter 39: Nightbringer

Shye opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of his room. His victory against Siegfried yesterday still felt unrealistic to him so he opened his system to make sure that he wasn''t dreaming. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 6050] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "It wasn''t a dream huh?..." Shye clenched his fists in excitement as the feeling of snatching the number one spot finally sunk in. After he got home yesterday, Maia jumped up and down in excitement while her eyes sparkled as she continued spouting words of admiration. Shye continued reminiscing about everything that happened yesterday for a while before he was finally forced to get up from his bed due to his agenda for the day. Instructor Fienna told him to meet her today at 7 AM because the dean wanted to talk to him about something. Shye walked down the stairs, quickly prepared and ate a meal, then took a bath and left the dormitory. He got up a bitte from his bed so he didn''t have the time to cook whatever food he wanted and so, he just settled for fried eggs, bacon, and toasted bread. While walking, he ran into someone he didn''t expect, Siegfried. "Yo! Crowley! Good morning! I had fun yesterday, how about you?" Shye smiled after hearing Siegfried''s words, with how happy he looked, one would think that he was the one who won yesterday. It seems like the guy simply enjoyed a good fight and didn''t even care if he wins or loses. "Oh hey, Siegfried. Yeah, yesterday''s match was fun. Among everyone I''ve fought, you gave me the hardest fight." "Hahahaha! I''m d to hear that! That won''t be ourst battle though so you better prepare!" The two of them walked side by side while chatting casually as they headed toward the direction of the dean''s office. Shye really enjoyed chatting with a straightforward guy like Siegfried so he was a bit disappointed after finding out that Siegfried wasn''t called into the dean''s office as well. Their ssrooms were really far away from each other so it would be hard for them to develop their friendship if no one went out of their way to asionally visit the other guy. Unfortunately, both of them had their own agendas so after Shye reached the dean''s office, the two of them parted ways. "Oh? Howe you''re notte today? I guess you''re scared of the dean huh?" Instructor Fienna couldn''t help but chuckle as she teased Shye since he waste most of the time. Shye showed her an embarrassed smile as he awkwardly scratched his head while apologizing. "S-Sorry, Instructor Fienna, I''ll try to be on time from now on..." "Hahahaha! No worries, you can bete all you want since you secured the highest ss ranking possible for our ss. Jokes aside, shall we enter the office?" "Yes..." After a short conversation outside the dean''s office, Instructor Fienna knocked on the door and led the way inside the dean''s office. Upon entering, Shye was amazed at howrge the dean''s office was. "T-This is just an office? This is more like a main hall in a castle!" Shye thought to himself. It took them a few minutes of walking before they finally reached the huge desk where Dean Sven Snowcrest was working. "Dean Snowcrest, I''ve brought Shye Crowley with me." "Oh? Fienna! Wee to my office. Hmm...So you''re Shye Crowley huh?" Dean Sven Snowcrest rubbed his chin as he stared at Shye with intrigue. It was as if he was trying to learn everything about Shye. "H-Hello Dean Snowcrest..." Shye couldn''t help but speak ufortably after being stared at by Dean Snowcrest. Fortunately, Instructor Fienna helped him out. "MHM! Dean Snowcrest, I believe we''re here because you wanted to give something to Crowley?" Instructor Fienna cleared her throat which sessfully captured Dean Snowcrest''s attention. "Oh, pardon my rudeness, Crowley. Indeed, after your amazing performance, I started to dream that maybe you would be able to bring our academy to new heights." "I''ve been watching you ever since the entrance examinations and I must say that although you started out pretty weak, I can confidently say that your rate of improvement was the fastest throughout the entire history of Colzen Adventurer Academy." "I''ve never seen someone grow so fast in my life but I do understand that everyone has their own secrets so I shall not pry any further." "Because of your amazing feats, I have decided to ce the hopes and dreams of Colzen Adventurer Academy in your hands." Dean Snowcrest said with fire zing in his eyes. He then took out a huge ck greatsword which resembles a huge cross. "This is a sword that I used when I was younger. I got this from defeating a B ranked creature, the Demonic Orc Chief, and I can confidently say that this is one of the peak weapons for warrior-ss adventurers ranked tinum and below." "I shall bestow this sword, the Nightbringer, to you and I sincerely hope that you will shine the brightest in the Adventurer Academy Competition three and a half years from now." Chapter 40: News About Their Parents

Chapter 40: News About Their Parents

Shye looked at the Nightbringer with sparkling eyes. After purchasing his first set of armor, window shopping for equipment became his beloved hobby. During the past five months, he focused on increasing his strength so he didn''t get the chance to improve his equipment and now, the equipment enthusiast, Shye, was given a sick-looking weapon which he had no chance of obtaining anytime soon. He was practically inwardly jumping up and down in excitement and happiness as he took the Nightbringer from Dean Snowcrest with shaking hands. "T-Thank you for your trust, Dean Snowcrest. I, Shye Crowley, promise to not let down Colzen Adventurer Academy in thepetition three years from now." Shye wasn''t the type to make promises like this but his mind wasn''t clear at the moment due to how excited he was so he unconsciously blurted out a guarantee to Dean Snowcrest. After hearing Shye''s guarantee, a wide smile appeared on Dean Snowcrest''s face. He had high expectations for this talented guy and he would do everything to groom him to the best of his abilities. During the pastpetitions, Colzen Adventurer Academy always failed to get out of the group stages. It has been two decades since theyst managed to get into the top 64 in the region rankings and even then, they immediately lost the first match. Due to this, the budget provided to them by the World Adventurer Association is slowly getting smaller and smaller which makes it harder and harder for them to make aeback. Simrly, the top ten adventurer academies of the region have always been consistent so their budgets aren''t changing that much which lets them cement their top position for decades. But this year, the four deans of Colzen Adventurer Academy had high hopes of not only making it to the top 64 but also possibly making it into the top 16. This is because the Colzen Monastery managed to obtain a genius freshman priestess which gave them a bit of hope. But they knew that a genius freshman priestess alone wouldn''t be able to carry them throughout the entire Adventurer Academy Competition. Fortunately, the recent batch of freshman students from all courses gave them lots of pleasant surprises. For the mage course, there were two rival mages David Houdini and Harry Copperfield. Next, for the scout course, there was the unexpected dark horse, Ian Izanagi who defeated both the top 1 and top 2 scouts. As for the archer ss, the top 1 archer, Kiin Wujin, destroyed the other sses by himself. Lastly, for the warrior ss, Siegfried Lionheart was one of the most talented warriors to ever grace Colzen Adventurer Academy and of course, the guy who defeated him, Shye Crowley, was probably the most talented and mysterious dark horse in the history of the academy. With this lineup, Colzen Adventurer Academy had the strongest batch of freshmen in the entire history of the academy which made them hope for a higher ranking. Three years from now, they hoped that their academy would finally make waves in the region. After their agenda with the dean, Shye and Instructor Fienna turned around to leave the office but just as Shye reached the door, Dean Snowcrest stopped them. "Wait! I have wanted to ask since earlier but...Are you rted to the diamond-ranked Crowley couple who went missing four and a half years ago?" Shye''s pupils constricted after hearing about his parents. Although his heart has been healing steadily during the past four and a half years, there''s still a part of him that longs for his parents. Hearing about them today, he couldn''t help but be agitated. Missing? Weren''t they confirmed to be dead already? He was confused but he started to have some hope that his parents were alive. "Yes! I''m their son! Do you have any news or at least a clue about what happened to them?" Shye asked Dean Snowcrest with a desperate look. Dean Snowcrest and Instructor Fienna looked at each other before shaking their heads. The dean looked deeply at Shye and said "Now is not the time to tell you, trust me on this one. Continue to grow stronger and once the time is right, I shall tell you what I know." Shye clenched his fists after hearing Dean Snowcrest''s reply. He wanted to be angry at them but he knew that they were correct and he was still too weak and inexperienced to aplish anything. Thus, Shye vowed to do everything to improve as much as possible in the next four years. Chapter 41: Flashy Adventurer System - Lv.2

Chapter 41: shy Adventurer System - Lv.2

Currently, Shye is alone in his room. The lights inside his room were turned off and he was sitting on his bed with a lost expression as he remembered the moments that he and Maia shared with their parents. After hearing that their parents aren''t confirmed to be dead yet, Shye started to harbor some hope inside his heart. However, he didn''t tell Maia anything yet since it was still unknown if their parents were still alive. Shye knew that he couldn''t rush things or he himself might end up dead. If fate allows it then they shall reunite again with their parents but for now, he has to grow as strong as possible. He forced himself to snap out of his thoughts because he knew that idling around like this wouldn''t help him aplish anything. To cheer himself up, he took out the Nightbringer and tried swinging it around inside his spacious room. His mood visibly lightened upon feeling that the weight of the Nightbringer seemed to be tailor-made for him. "What an amazing sword!" Shye couldn''t help butpliment the sword. Not only was it aesthetically pleasing, it was also perfect for killing creatures. [Congrattions, You''ve gained an attribute: Strength + 1] "Oh?" Shye was pleasantly surprised, failing to notice that he had already been swinging the Nightbringer for around two hours and that he even gained one point of strength from it. Due to the system notification, Shye suddenly remembered that this seemed to be the perfect time to explore the system further. The sses for this semester had just ended and he had nothing to do. It was toote to go adventuring now and he wasn''t really in the mood for it so he might as well just explore the shy Adventurer System. Shye''s mood improved again after seeing the total points that he earned in the final match against Siegfried. [Current Points: 7580] If he pumped all of his points into his attributes, he would probably be undefeatable even whenpared to second-year students. Shye excitedly tried to upgrade his strength attribute which currently had a value of 41 however, his ns were immediately ruined after a notification suddenly popped up. [Failed to upgrade the attribute, please upgrade the system.] His brows furrowed after seeing the notification. "Oh...So there''s an attribute upgrade limit per system level huh?" Shye tried upgrading other attributes and there was no problem until the attributes hit 40. Upgrading his agility by 5 and dexterity by 1 didn''t affect his points that much and he still had 7220 points left. He checked his status to see if he could upgrade anything else and upon seeing that only the intelligence status was left, Shye felt that as a warrior, upgrading the intelligence attribute wasn''t really worth it right now. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 41] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 40] (+5) [Dexterity : 40] (+1) [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye decided to click the [Upgrade System to Lv.2] button and a prompt appeared asking him to confirm if he wanted to spend his points to upgrade the system. [Do you want to spend 5000 points to upgrade the system to level 2?] [Y/N] His eyes widened upon seeing the cost of the system upgrade. However, he knew that he had to upgrade the system if he wanted to unlock more of its functionality so he clicked [Y] with a heavy heart. [Y] A dark aura suddenly surrounded him and although he didn''t feel any difort, he was quite surprised by what was happening. Fortunately, he upgraded the system inside his room. If he decided to upgrade it outside, he would surely attract unwanted attention. Finally, after a few more minutes, the dark aura dispersed and a notification popped up in front of him. [Congrattions, Shye Crowley, you have sessfully upgraded the shy Adventurer System to Lv.2! Please see the list of unlocked functions below] > Attributes can now be upgraded up to 80 points > Vitality attribute can now be upgraded through the system > Some items and skills have now been unlocked and you may purchase them through the system > You have unlocked [Regr Quests] > You can now upgrade the Adventurer Encyclopedia to Lv.2 Shye clenched his fists in excitement. If the system is already like this at level 2, then how many more secrets will he unlock in the future? Chapter 42: New Inventory Functions

Chapter 42: New Inventory Functions

After upgrading the system to level 2, Shye still had 2200 points so he continued exploring the shy Adventurer System. Upon checking the [Regr Quests], he was pleasantly surprised. The regr quests are the same as those in the adventurer guild quest boards where the difficulty, description, and rewards of a quest are disyed. There were hundreds if not thousands of quests avable, however, these quests had a time limit. If the user cannotplete the quest within the time limit or if he abandons the quest, then twice the amount of point rewards will be deducted. For example, if the reward for a quest is 200 points, then the system will deduct 400 points upon failure. Still, Shye was happy since this would be another source of points for him. After checking the [Regr Quests], Shye excitedly opened the [Shop]. Last time, he saw that only tier 1 items were unlocked which consists of items usable for iron-ranked and steel-ranked Adventurers. This time however, after upgrading the system to level 2, tier 2 items which are effective for bronze-ranked and silver-ranked adventurers have been unlocked. Shye checked the tier 2 section of each item type and as expected, more brands of weapons and armor were unlocked. He also saw the Meido brand which he was currently using among them. Shye was amazed, he couldn''t fathom how old man Sanada managed to create thisplicated system. In the end, he concluded that theplicated stuff must''ve been done using soul arts which was illegal to study. If there was a downside to the system, it would be that it is too time-consuming to explore. Many hours or even days will pass before you manage to check everything. After an hour of scrolling, Shye finally found an item that attracted his attention. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------------- [Training Elixir(Lv.1) - Stamina] Description: Enhances stamina training speed by 100% for 2 hours Cost: 50 points ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------- "This! I need to purchase some of this!" Shye immediately clicked [Purchase] and entered [10] as quantity. [Do you want to purchase 10 [Training Elixir(Lv.1) - Stamina] for 500 points?] [Y/N] [Y] [Thank you for your purchase, the item is now avable in your inventory!] He quickly opened the inventory and saw the elixirs on the second empty slot right next to the adventurer encyclopedia. When he was about to tap on the elixirs, Shye remembered something. A while back, he tried to put the Jadespine flower in the inventory. However, he wasn''t sessful that time but now, he upgraded the system to level 2 so he wondered if he could do it now. Shye saw a pillow beside him and decided to test it out. His first attempt was to hold the pillow right in front of an inventory slot but unfortunately, nothing happened. Next, he tried holding the pillow as he thought of the words [Store in Inventory] and suddenly a prompt appeared in front of him which caught him off guard. [Do you want to store [Pillow] in the inventory?] [Y/N] [Y] Upon clicking yes, the pillow disappeared from his hands and appeared on the slot beside the training elixirs. ¡ª--------------------------------------------- [Pillow] Description: A soft pillow ¡ª--------------------------------------------- Shye was ecstatic, he didn''t expect that his second attempt would work since he was just trying his luck. Now, he didn''t have to worry about his items. After a short celebration, Shye suddenly thought that if he could store items in the inventory then he could probably take out an item...right? He didn''t know how to do it nor were there guidelines in the system on how to do it so he had to find out for himself. Fortunately, it didn''t take long for him to find out because after tapping on the pillow, a small selection of options lined up vertically. [Withdraw] [Destroy] Shye clicked [Withdraw] and upon clicking the confirm button, the pillow suddenly reappeared in his hands. "Hahahaha! What a convenient function!" He continued exploring the system for another half an hour before Shye started to feel sleepy. It was gettingte and he had ns to hunt creatures early tomorrow to not onlyplete the daily quests but also to farm seble items and exchange them for silver coins. Since he couldn''t find anything that he wanted to purchase for now, Shye decided to simply upgrade his attributes again. He allocated four points for strength, five points for agility and dexterity, then ten points for vitality. After clicking confirm, the familiar warm feeling coursed through his body and of course, Shye checked his status to confirm the attribute upgrades Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 45] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 45] [Dexterity : 45] [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 24]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ However, he was shocked upon seeing that a total of 2120 points were deducted which only left him a measly 80 points. Upon calcting how this happened, Shye was shocked to find that the vitality upgrades cost 100 points each instead of 40 points! It seems that the unlockable attributes cost way more than the regr attributes. Shye didn''t think too much of it though, having the system was already a big bonus to him and although it was getting harder and harder, he could still farm more points. Chapter 43: Shye Takes the Initiative!

Chapter 43: Shye Takes the Initiative!

Since they had no sses for two weeks, Shye decided to grind points continuously. After hunting creatures andpleting quests for a whole day, Shye only managed to gather 180 points. He had to admit, farming points through the admiration of others was way faster than grinding points daily like this. Unfortunately, there were only limited events and so, he couldn''t gain huge amounts of points every time. Still, if he wanted to improve as fast as possible, he had to grind daily even if the point earnings were minuscule. Not only that, he also had to give time to train his stamina or the other attributes would leave it behind. Once he was done hunting for the day, he left the beginner adventurer zone. He then started walking towards the Materials'' Mothend to sell his loot. While on the way, he remembered that he couldn''t expose the existence of his system so Shye looked for a safe area to transfer his loot inside his huge sack bag. Fortunately, all of his loot for the day did fit inside the sack bag. Shye made a mental note to store multiple sack bags in his inventory in the future. After sessfully transferring all of his loot, Shye carried his sack bag and started to walk towards the shop again and after a few minutes of walking, he arrived at the shop. "Wee Sir Crowley! Are you here to sell your loot?" "Hello Shopkeeper Alyssa! Yes, I''m here to sell my loot." Shye lifted the heavy sack bag and ced it on the huge counter. He then took out his loot one by one for Shopkeeper Alyssa to check. Alyssa excitedly checked Shye''s loot one by one because she knew that every time Shye came to sell his loot, he always had items from apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone. Although the loot from apex predators was rare it was still a bitmon whenpared to loot from intermediate adventurer zones. However, Alyssa always makes sure to be enthusiastic when purchasing materials from Shye because she knows that he is a good prospect. Alyssa knew that Shye was very talented because he was already bringing loot from such dangerous apex predators as if they weremon creatures at such a young age. In addition to this, she recently got news that Shye was now the 1st-ranked student of the Colzen Adventurer Academy''s warrior course. If she takes care of him now, then he will surely take care of her shop in the future! Finally, after half an hour of meticulous checking, Alyssa offered Shye 120 silver coins in exchange for all of his loot which Shye epted happily. If he keeps up this pace then he would be able to purchase a better armor set in just a month! After the sessful and pleasant transaction, Shye thanked Shopkeeper Alyssa before leaving the shop. On the way back to his dormitory, Shye met Shirley who also just got back from selling her loot to another shop. "Crowley! Did you just finish hunting?" "Hmm? Oh, Shirley! Yeah, I just got back from hunting and selling my loot, how about you?" "Yeah, me too! Should we walk together back to our dormitories?" "Sure!" Shye and Shirley chatted casually as they walked back together. Some of their ssmates saw them together but they were used to it by now so they just let the two of them enjoy their day. Just before the two of them reached the dormitories, Shye took the initiative this time and asked Shirley out on a date thising weekend, and as expected, Shirley enthusiastically agreed with a wide smile on her face. This was the first time that Shye took the initiative to ask her out so she was over the moon due to happiness. After a few more minutes of walking, Shirley arrived at her dormitory. "Well then, see you this weekend!" "See you!" Shye bid Shirley goodbye and returned to his own dormitory with a wide smile on his face. This was also his first time going on a date so he couldn''t help but feel giddy as he excitedly waited for the day toe. Chapter 44: First Date

Chapter 44: First Date

A few days passed wherein Shye continued monotonously hunting, selling loot, and training his stamina. He didn''t have anything else to do during the break except the date with Shirley anyway so he might as well improve his strength as much as possible. Currently, Shye is staring at the ceiling. He just woke up and upon remembering that today was his first official date with Shirley, he excitedly got up from his bed. He then happily walked down the stairs in a visibly good mood. Unexpectedly, Maia woke up early this time and was already chilling on the living room sofa. "Hmm? Big Brother, you seem to be in a good mood?" Maia said as she looked at Shye innocently. "O-Oh, Maia! Good morning! You''re up unusually early today huh?" "Yes, Big Brother, but you didn''t answer my question!" Maia said as she pouted her face. For some reason, she didn''t like her big brother''s good mood right now. "O-Oh, y-yeah! I''m going out with a ssmate today and I''m kind of enthusiastic about it so that''s why I''m in a good mood, hahahaha..." Shye replied with a hint of nervousness and of course, as a girl, Maia''s instincts were very sharp. Her eyes narrowed into slits upon sensing that something was amiss. "Hmm...A friend huh? Is it a boy or a girl?" *GULP* Shye couldn''t help but swallow his saliva due to nervousness. He didn''t know why he was hiding his date from his little sister but his instincts told him not to admit it at all costs. Unfortunately for him, the gulping sound gave him away. Without even him answering, Maia already determined that he was going out with a girl. "Hmm...So it''s a girl huh?..." Maia''s face with narrowed eyes slowly crept closer and closer to Shye''s nervous face making him slowly avoid eye contact. "Pfft! Hahahahaha! Why are you so nervous, big brother? It''s not like I will stop you if you want to go on a date with a girl!" Shye was bewildered after suddenly hearing Maia''sugh and words. Wasn''t she investigating him like a detective just now? Was she just joking? He looked at Maia whose eyes were tearing up due toughing too much. It was just then that he realized that Maia was just messing with him and she wasn''t actually angry about him going on a date. "Ohh? So you think you can stand up to your big brother now huh?! Take this! And that!" ... ... ... *Huff* *Huff* Shye panted hard as he sprinted towards the ce where he would meet Shirley for their first official date. He had way too much fun tickling Maia after she messed with him so he didn''t notice that he was running a bitte. Fortunately for him, Shirley wasn''t an early bird either so Shye still arrived a few minutes earlier than Shirley giving him time to catch his breath and fix his appearance. After a few more minutes, Shirley arrived. "C-Crowley! Haaaah....Sorry...I didn''t notice the time!" *Gulp* Shye couldn''t help but swallow his saliva again after seeing Shirley''s attire. He expected her to be quite conservative based on her personality but who would''ve thought that she liked wearing revealing clothes? Shirley wore a jacket outside of a tight-fitting tank crop top and shorts that barely covered her perky booty. Her attire perfectly highlighted her toned body so Shye couldn''t help but be mesmerized by how hot and cute she looked. "N-No worries! I just got here as well...You look amazing, Shirley." "T-Thank you...You look dashing as well, Crowley" The two slightly blushed after hearing each other''spliments but fortunately, Shye managed to prevent the situation from bing awkward by immediately asking her a question. "W-Well then, shall we go? How about we eat first? I''m a bit hungry..." "Yeah! I''d love to eat first! I''m a bit hungry as well..." Shye and Shirley walked towards a fancy restaurant where he urged Shirley to order everything she wanted and not hold back. As a man, Shye didn''t want Shirley to pay especially since he was the one who invited her to a date. Fortunately for him, he had earned lots of silver coins during the past few days so treating Shirley to everything she wanted inside a fancy restaurant wasn''t a problem at all The two of them ate their fill and left the restaurant after Shye paid for everything. After leaving the restaurant, the two of them visited temples, watched movies, and chatted casually while walking towards their next destination, the Araya River which is a famous spot for couples to hang out. On the way, they passed through a small alley where there were lots of couples kissing and doing lewd stuff. However, they had to pass through here before they could arrive at the Araya River. After a few more minutes of walking in the alley, the two of them couldn''t hold themselves back as they started to breathe heavily while Shirley fidgeted ufortably. "Hello! What a lovely couple~ you two seem tired, how about you rest inside our hotel first? I guarantee you that our rooms are spacious and our beds are soft! So? How about it?" The words of the youngdy who seemed to be just a bit older than the two of them were the final straw that broke the camel''s back. Shye and Shirley looked at each other while breathing heavily. However, Shye didn''t make a move and waited for Shirley''s approval. "Haaah...Fuck it! Why not?" Shirley thought to herself as she pulled Shye inside the hotel where the two of them rented a room and enjoyed their "private time" together. Chapter 45: Start of the Second Semester

Chapter 45: Start of the Second Semester

Shye woke up, stared at the ceiling, then grinned like an idiot. The "private time" he shared with Shirley was still fresh in his mind and it still felt surreal to him. That was his first time experiencing something as pleasant as that ever and he thinks that he wouldn''t be able to say no to that anytime soon. Shye wanted to enjoy reminiscing about his private time with Shirley but unfortunately, today was the start of the second semester so he had to get up and prepare for school. He was running a littlete again so he quickly walked downstairs, prepared and ate a simple meal of fried rice and eggs, before walking to school with a quickened pace. Fortunately, he wasn''tte this time. Upon arriving at the entrance of their ssroom, his eyes met Shirley''s and the two of them slightly blushed. Some of their attentive ssmates didn''t miss the small interaction between them and immediately started amotion. "Oh?! What''s going on between you two?! Could it b-" "Could it be that you want me to smack your head off?" Luckily, Shye and Shirley managed to get off easy because Instructor Fienna arrived at the perfect time. "I-Instructor Fiena...I''m sorry..." Their ssmate who was causing amotionughed awkwardly and apologetically bowed toward Instructor Fienna. "Whatever, just go back to your seats so we can start the ss!" Everyone in the ss who was standing quickly returned back to their seats as Instructor Fienna started taking everyone''s attendance. No one dared to be absent on their first day so Instructor Fienna was satisfied. After the attendance, everyone expected Instructor Fienna to lead them out to the training grounds but they were wrong. Instead, Fienna took out a stack of rectangr cards which left everyone confused. "Now, everyone thank Crowley, these are beginner skill cards which you may use to select one skill of your choice in the Skills Pavilion" "There should have been no way that you weaklings would get a skill during your entire four years here but because Crowley defeated Lionheart, Dean Snowcrest has decided to reward the entire ss with these beginner skill cards." After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, all of Shye''s ssmates including Anthony and Shirley were stupefied. Even for the two of them, acquiring a skill inside the academy was very hard because although they were seeded candidates, their parents didn''t have a high rank as adventurers. Anthony''s parents were both ruby-ranked while Shirley''s parents were simply tinum-ranked. Due to this, buying skill books for them would make their families go broke. However, Colzen Adventurer Academy gave them a pleasant surprise by providing skill cards for them. Now, they would at least secure one skill for themselves before they graduate! Everyone looked at Shye and gave him a bow. Some of his ssmates who were in a desperate situation even kowtowed in front of him which made him very ufortable. "E-Everyone please raise your heads! All of us took part in the end-of-semester tournament so you guys also earned this yourselves!" After hearing what Shye said, his ssmates felt even more thankful to him. However, they felt that they were closer to Shye now due to everything they experienced at the end-of-semester tournament so they didn''t stand on ceremony and excitedly received their beginner skill cards from Instructor Fienna. "Did everyone receive their cards?" Fienna asked "Yes, Instructor Fienna!" The ss answered in unison. "Good, now, the reason why I gave you the skill cards this early is because we will be conducting our very first novice ss practicum next week." "The whole ss will go adventuring inside the beginner adventurer zone in teams of 7 so before I let you all go inside the beginner adventurer zone, I want all of you to select one skill from the skills pavilion and at least achieve basic mastery within a week." After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, everyone except Shye, Anthony, and Shirley, clenched their fists in excitement. For most of their ssmates, this would be their actual first time adventuring inside the beginner adventurer zone so they were excited. In contrast, the three rankers, Shye, Anthony, and Shirley, were already regrs inside the beginner adventurer zone so they weren''t that excited. What made the three of them excited was the free skill provided by Colzen Adventurer Academy to them. "Are there any more questions about the ss practicum?" Instructor Fienna scanned her eyes over the entire ss and since no one asked any questions, she assumed that there were none. "Alright, good, for today, run a hundredps around the training field!" "Yes, Instructor Fienna!" The entire ss enthusiastically stood up from their seats and sprinted towards the training fields because after receiving a skill card, everyone started to dream that maybe, if they kept working hard, they would exceed the gold rank which was the lifetime goal of "ordinary" adventurers. Chapter 46: Dual Wielding

Chapter 46: Dual Wielding

*SPURT* "Haaaah...This is getting a bit boring..." Shye sighed after killing another Gale Leopard. Although hunting the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone still makes him sweat a bit, he already knows their attack patterns and they really couldn''t pose a threat to him right now. After Instructor Fienna''s ss, Shye didn''t go together with his ssmates to the skills pavilion because he wanted to keep his trump cards close to his chest. If they learn about the skill that he selected in the skills pavilion, then there is a chance that they might talk about it with their friends from other sses. Shye didn''t want those who had bad blood with him to learn about his skills so easily and that''s why he chose to just train inside the beginner adventurer zone for now while waiting for his ssmates to finish selecting their skills. Once he finished harvesting the carcass of the Gale Leopard, Shye stored the seble parts inside his inventory and proceeded toward the skills pavilion. "They must be done selecting their skills by now..." Shye thought to himself. ... ... "Wee to the Skills Pavilion! How may I help you?" The staff at the counter enthusiastically said as Shye entered the Skills Pavilion. He then walked towards the staff and asked "Hello, here is my skill card and I would like to select a skill." The staff was a bit surprised after seeing the card that Shye ced in front of him. "A premium skill card?!" The staff thought to himself. He then straightened his back unconsciously and spoke in a slightly more formal tone. "I have been informed of your arrival, Sir Crowley. Pleasee this way." The staff led the way towards the premium skills area but Shye didn''t have an idea that his card was a premium skill card. He thought that he got the beginner skill card just like everyone else. However, how could Dean Snowcrest not give him any advantages when he was the one who won the tournament for his entire ss? Not to mention, he was one of the six people who the deans ced their hopes into for the Adventurer Academy Competition three and a half yearster. Upon arriving at the premium skills section, Shye enthusiastically read the description of each skill booklet while the staff followed behind him as he waited for Shye to select a skill book. After reading skill booklet descriptions for almost an hour, Shye finally found something that piqued his interest. ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------- [Dual Wield] Description: Aligns the dexterity and strength of a person''s weak hand with his or her strong hand allowing the person to wield two weapons of their choice ¡ª--------------------------------------------------------------- Shye couldn''t help but think about him wielding dual greatswords and wreaking havoc on the battlefield. He had no doubts that this skill would not only strengthen him but also strengthen his ability to earn points for the shy Adventurer System. "This! I need this!" He turned around to look at the staff member. "I choose this skill." Shye said The staff member furrowed his brows upon seeing the skill that Shye chose. "If I may be so presumptuous, Sir Crowley, this skill would indeed allow you to wield two weapons but that''s about it. You would have to train and master wielding two weapons by yourself which isn''t an easy task." "Are you sure you want this skill?" The staff member asked for Shye''s confirmation. He felt that he was obligated to tell him about the hidden loopholes of this skill and while many have enthusiastically tried to master it before, they ended up losing their lives inside the adventurer zones due to how hard it was to master two weapons at once. "Yes, I''m sure." Shye replied with a serious face. Seeing that he couldn''t change Shye''s mind even after telling him about the loopholes, he didn''t stop Shye anymore. "I see, then please step inside this Skills Cylinder. You may feel a bit of difort but that''s just because the Cylinder is embedding the skill into your body." Shye nodded to the staff member and then proceeded to step inside the Skills Cylinder. The staff member ced the skill booklet in its designated area on the administrator panel before pulling a lever down to activate the Skills Cylinder. Shye couldn''t help but flinch a bit after seeing something that resembled a thunderbolt strike his body but fortunately for him, although it was a bit ufortable, it wasn''t painful at all. After a few minutes of enduring the ufortable feeling, the Skills Cylinder stopped its operations and the staff member allowed Shye to step out of the Cylinder. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley, you''ve now learned the skill Dual Wield. If I may ask, what kind of weapon would you like to try dual-wielding?" "I would like to try a greatsword" "I see, please wait one moment." The staff member quickly walked towards a storage room inside the Skills Pavilion and retrieved an Iron Greatsword before returning to where Shye was. "Here, Sir Crowley, please try if the skill booklet worked" Shye took the Iron Greatsword from the staff member and held it using his dominant hand while he used the Nightbringer on his "weak hand". "Oh! I don''t feel any difference at all between my dominant hand and my weak hand. I can indeed wield two weapons without a problem now!" Shye enthusiastically swung both of his greatswords around while the staff member happily looked at him as he excitedly tried his new skill. Chapter 47: Start of the Class Practicum

Chapter 47: Start of the ss Practicum

A week passed since everyone got their first skill. Currently, the entire ss is gathered in front of the beginner adventurer zone. However, they weren''t the only ss there. It seems that the faculty has decided to let the freshmen sses go inside together in groups of six. In their minds, going inside at the same time would be a bit safer since there was a higher chance for the students to hear each other''s call for help. As instructors, they cannot go inside the beginner adventurer zone because the freshmen wouldn''t get that much experience if they knew that an instructor is just behind them waiting to rescue anyone who gets in trouble. Unfortunately, the instructors underestimated the ck-heartedness of some of the students. Three students were currently having a secret meeting, Leonardo Regulus, Theoden Bathory, and Eusford Banehollow. They were formting a n on how to dispose of Shye because once inside the adventurer zone, no one would be able to save him. "Huhh?! What?! You wanna have a go right now?! Huh?!" "Huh?!! How dare you talk to me like that when you lost to me during the end-of-semester tournament?!" Theoden and Leonardo butted heads in anger. The two of them had different ns but neither one was willing to back down due to their huge ego. Eusford couldn''t help but p his forehead in frustration. "You two idiots! We''re running out of time! Why are you arguing now?! Let''s agree on a n first!" "If the two of you can''t agree on each other''s ns then how about you listen to mine?" Eusford said Fortunately for him, the two seem to have snapped back to reality after hearing his words. It was more important for them to dispose of Shye first before dealing with each other so they looked at Eusford and listened closely to his n. Seeing that the two stopped butting heads and were now listening to him, Eusford was satisfied. "Alright, here''s the n, I have a scarlet rage flower here which we will use to lure an ember tiger toward the location of Crowley''s party." "Then, amidst the chaos, we will try to separate him from his party members before we try to take him out three-on-one, what do you say?" "A-An ember tiger? Isn''t that too ruthless? What if too many freshmen students die because of it?" Theoden asked "None of our business, as simple as that." Leonardo''s eyes sparkled upon hearing Eusford''s n. "Alright! I agree! Let''s do that..." ... ... ... "Seems like everyone is here. I''ve already divided everyone into parties of 6 so please refer to this sheet and form mini-circles with your party members." Instructor Fienna looked at her students as they started to form mini circles together with the party members assigned to them. However, since they have fifty students per ss, there would be two parties with seven members instead of six. Shye and Anthony were given the task of leading the two parties with seven members each because their members were among the weakest in the ss. In order for them to be as safe as possible, they were assigned together with the strongest members of their ss. The weaker members breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that they were grouped up with their captain because they weren''t confident at all. They think that they were still too weak to go adventuring so they couldn''t help but feel nervous. However, with their captain around, they could fight the weaker creatures in peace. After seeing that her ss was ready, Instructor Fienna made eye contact with the other instructors as they nodded at each other. "Alright, everyone seems to be ready, you may enter the beginner adventurer zone! Remember, no one is allowed to go out of the zone for three days and two nights unless it is an emergency, understood?" "Yes, Instructor Fienna!" "Good, you may go." Once everyone heard Instructor Fienna''s confirmation, they started walking together with their party members as they went on separate ways with other parties. Some students were excited, some felt bored, some were nervous, while some were outright scared. Still, they had to do this because it is one of the requirements before they can be sophomore students. After seeing Shye''s party enter the beginner adventurer zone, Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford made eye contact with each other and smirked. "You better enjoy yourst moments Crowley, you won''t be getting out of this adventurer zone alive!" Chapter 48: First Night

Chapter 48: First Night

Shye and his party members were currently walking towards an unexplored area even for Shye. He led his party members here because he wanted to continue exploring the beginner adventurer zone while letting his party members fight against suitable creatures and every time they encounter an apex predator, Shye protects his party members by fighting it alone. However, he still hasn''t revealed the fact that he can dual-wield now because keeping a few trump cards close to his chest will surely save him in the future. Not to mention, his ssmates were all chatterboxes so it would be unwise to reveal it here when there was no need to. After killing a few red foxes, rough-skinned roons, and Greywolves, his ssmates finally got the hang of hunting creatures. They were now more confident to move a bit farther away from Shye to look for creatures to battle. Of course, Shye wasn''t a despicable person who would abuse his power and steal the loot of his ssmates who worked very hard to y the creatures. One of his ssmates even directly asked him if he would be taking a portion of their loot. Upon hearing that all their loot would belong to them, his ssmates jumped up and down in happiness. Shye was the one protecting all of them so they felt that they had to share a portion of their loot with him but fortunately for them, their captain let them share it among themselves. However, Shye also took all the loot of every apex predator he killed without sharing it with his ssmates. They didn''t mind it though since they would be lucky to survive encountering one and it would currently be impossible for them to kill one anyway even if all six of them joined forces. Having their captain protect them and let them share the loot among themselves is good enough for them and they dare not ask for more. After a whole day of hunting, the first night finally came. Shye himself hadn''t experienced nighttime inside the beginner adventurer zone so even he was a bit uneasy. Shye and his party members decided to set up camp in a spacious and clear area. They decided to camp here so that the one assigned as a sentry for the night would be able to spot the enemies and have ample time to wake everyone up and prepare forbat. His party members were having trouble deciding if they should light up a campfire because they weren''t sure if they would attract apex creatures if they did so. Fortunately for them, they were together with Shye so he told them to just light up a campfire and leave the first shift of the sentry to him. After hearing their captain''s words, his ssmates started to feel at ease. They happily lit up a huge campfire and set up their sleeping bags near it. Since Shye would be the one to assume the first shift as a sentry, they let him have a quick nap while they were roasting the meat from an Irontusk Boar that they managed to defeat before they stopped hunting for the day. After an hour, Shye naturally woke up due to the fantastic smell of the roasted pork meat. Although his ssmates were very weakpared to them, he was no match to them when it came to roasting pork. He vowed to study the art of roasting meat because he wanted to enjoy meals like this when he went adventuring after graduating from the academy. Everyone happily chatted with each other about casual things as they ate the delicious roasted pork for dinner. After everyone was done eating, his ssmates slept in early because one of them needed to wake up early to change shifts with Shye. Just like this, Shye and his party members'' first night in the beginner adventurer zone passed without any problems. ... ... ... "Since everyone is ready, let''s continue adventuring" The sun slowly rose as Shye and his party members finished packing their camping stuff. They decided to continue adventuring early so they could find some shade and rest at noon time. Meanwhile, in an area not far from Shye''s party, Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford met up. "I''ve already located Crowley''s party. Have you found the ember tiger?" "Yeah, luckily it wasn''t that far from Crowley''s party." The three of them looked at each other and smiled wickedly. "Now then...Shall we execute our n?" Chapter 49: Ember Tiger Appears!

Chapter 49: Ember Tiger Appears!

It was currently around 10 AM. Shye and his party members were peacefully hunting creatures while moving deeper inside the beginner adventurer zone. Due to their recent experiences, Shye''s ssmates could now take down Irontusk boars fairly easily. The next step for them would be to try and confront an apex predator with only a little bit of help from him. Finally, after a few more minutes of walking, they encountered a red-spotted jaguar which was one of the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone. Shye immediately charged forward to gauge the strength of this red-spotted jaguar and fortunately, its strength was within the capabilities of his ssmates. If they work together, although some of them might be wounded, Shye believed that they could take down this red-spotted jaguar. He immediately went to the back and signaled his ssmates to fight it. *GULP* Some of his party members gulped in nervousness while others were excited to try their hand against an apex predator. If they wanted to be adventurers, then they would have to fight creatures who are stronger than them most of the time. This is the reason why adventurer parties are the norm and solo adventurers are very rare. Only the strongest adventurers dare to venture alone. Seeing that the human who engaged it first seemed to be using it as educational material, the red-spotted jaguar was infuriated. It growled in anger for a brief moment before charging towards one of Shye''s party members. A wild creature''s instincts were always razor sharp so the red-spotted jaguar sensed which one of them was the weakest and the most scared in an instant. Upon seeing that the red-spotted jaguar was charging towards him, the party member immediately panicked. He thought that he was ready to face an apex predator but it was only when he actually faced one did he realize that he was still far too inexperienced. "AAAHHHH!!!" The guy named Tom immediately turned around and screamed in fear after realizing that the red-spotted jaguar was targeting him. If this was a normal situation, turning your back on an apex predator is basically wishing for death but fortunately for Tom, Shye wouldn''t let him die. *BANG* Shye kicked the red-spotted jaguar who was sent flying for a few meters before managing to stabilize its footing. "Tom! Don''t turn your back! Analyze the creature''s attack as calmly as possible before dodging at thest moment!" "If you keep doing this, even if you graduate from the academy, you will not survive in the adventurer zones!" Shye was a bit angry. He wanted all of them to improve and he didn''t want anyone to die so he couldn''t help but give some advice to the guy named Tom. Sometimes, Shye is happily thinking about the future where he would meet some of his ssmates in other cities and high-level adventurer zones where they would greet each other, happy to see the other person again after a long time. Such daydreams made him excited to be stronger and achieve higher heights together with his ssmates while they were still in the academy. This is because he knew that once they graduated, it would be every man for himself. He wanted his ssmates to thrive so he couldn''t stand seeing them like this. After hearing Shye''s words, the guy named Tom seemed to have sessfully gathered his wits. He nodded at Shye and looked straight at the red-spotted jaguar as he assumed his battle stance. Although he wasn''t totally calm yet, he could at least protect himself now. ... ... ... "Haaah...Haaah...Haaah...W-WE DID IT!!!!" "Let''s freaking goooooo!!!" Shye''s party members celebrated as they copsed on their butts in exhaustion, the carcass of the dead red-spotted jaguar was right in front of Tom, who dealt the final killing blow. Shye was ecstatic after seeing his ssmates improve so much in just a single battle. Indeed, a life-or-death struggle is the fastest way to grow inbat. Tom, who turned around and screamed in fear, improved so much to the point that he had developed the guts to narrowly avoid the red-spotted jaguar''s attack by a hair''s breadth in order to give himself and his ssmates the chance to deal huge amounts of damage. Finally, after a desperate struggle, the red-spotted jaguar copsed and died. Unfortunately, their celebration was cut short as a huge tree suddenly toppled over revealing an angry creature who wasn''t supposed to be inside the beginner adventurer zone. "E-E-Ember Tiger! Why?! Why is it here?!" Even Shye was in utter shock and disbelief upon seeing a raging ember tiger right in front of him. Fortunately, he managed to quickly gather his wits and so, he immediately sprinted in front of the entire party to protect everyone. "Everyone, run towards the safe zone we marked earlier! Let me handle this ember tiger." Chapter 50: Shye vs Ember Tiger

Chapter 50: Shye vs Ember Tiger

The ember tiger stared menacingly at Shye. It was evidently enraged and seeing that this puny human dared to stand in its way, the ember tiger felt even more furious. It knew that it had somehow stumbled into an area where it could be an undisputed king so it didn''t respect Shye''s strength at all. The ember tiger eagerly pounced towards Shye who easily dodged the tiger''s predictable attack. Due to his recent experiences against feline-type creatures such as the gale leopard and the red-spotted jaguar, Shye already knew that the ember tiger''s first attack would be a straightforward pounce. Not only does this show that the tiger did not think of him as a threat, it even thinks of him as a prey. However, little did it know that Shye''s abilities were already way beyond the apex creatures of the beginner adventurer zone. If Shye wanted to, he could even fight against ten apex creatures at the same time and still win. Unfortunately, this ember tiger wasn''t aware of that and so, its first attack was easily dodged by Shye and he was even able to inflict a fairly deep horizontal wound on the right side of the tiger''s body. *ROAR* It roared in pain after getting shed, however, a few momentster, Shye''s eyes widened as he saw that the ember tiger''s wound ignited and although the wound didn''t close, it stopped bleeding immediately. "Tch! What an annoying ability" He was caught off guard by the ember tiger''s swipe attack after being distracted by the tiger''s unique ability. Fortunately, he managed to raise his Nightbringer greatsword in time to defend against the tiger''s attack. However, the tiger was physically stronger than him so he was sted away by the paw swipe attack. "Aghh...Shit...That hurt...Seems like I have to end this quick or I''ll be in trouble..." Shye muttered to himself. He resolutely looked straight at the ember tiger''s eyes before taking the initiative to attack. *ROAR* The ember tiger roared in fury upon seeing that the human took the initiative to attack and so, it also charged towards Shye. One man and one tiger faced each other in a frontal sh. The tiger looked ted after its paw sessfully smashed the puny human to the ground. However, the tiger was then shocked to see that the human was still alive. Shye used his skill [Stoic Lv.1] to sessfully tank the tiger''s attack before using [Dash Lv.1] to suddenly appear below the tiger''s neck. Then, he used [Power sh Lv.2] to slice the tiger''s head clean off. The tiger didn''t even notice that it had already died as its headless body suddenly copsed to the ground with a loud thud. "Haaahh...Haaahh...That tiger was pretty strong..." Shye muttered to himself as he sat down to rest. [Congrattions, Your vitality attribute went up from 24 >> 25] He was pleasantly surprised upon seeing his vitality attribute improve, he thought that it must be due to him tanking the tiger''s blow with [Stoic Lv.1] After resting for a few minutes, Shye excitedly stood up to butcher the tiger''s body and harvest the seble parts. However, just as he was about to start skinning the ember tiger, he suddenly heard three guysughing behind him. "Well, well, well, Crowley, we were hoping that the tiger could aplish the deed for us but who knew that you would be hard to kill like a cockroach?" "We didn''t want to do the deed ourselves but you left us with no choice!" Shye''s eyes narrowed as he immediately recognized Leonardo Regulus'' voice. His eyes narrowed even more upon seeing that Theoden and Eusford were also present. No matter how kind his heart was, he would be stupid if he still didn''t notice the evil intentions of these three after everything they said. It seems that they were here to dispose of him and luring the ember tiger towards their location was also due to these three. Shye clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth in anger upon realizing how ck-hearted people can be. He immediately stared daggers at the three of them as he stood up and assumed his battle stance. "You three better be sure that you want to do this, if you start attacking me there''s no going back." Shye gave the three of them a warning. However, the three simplyughed at his words as they started to circle him like thugs while holding their weapons. "Oh don''t worry Crowley, we are very sure about this. If only you acknowledged your ce beneath us, then this wouldn''t have happened." Shye scoffed upon hearing how petty their reason was. His anger rose to its peak and thest bits of his kindness towards these three immediately disappeared. "Alright then, since you guys are so sure, then let''s end this once and for all." Chapter 51: Assassination Attempt

Chapter 51: Assassination Attempt

Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford didn''t waste any time and immediately began attacking Shye. As the one with the highest raw strength and sturdiest body among the three, Theoden took the role of the main attacker while Eusford and Leonardo constantly rotated toward Shye''s blind spots. Theoden used [Blink Strike Lv.1] to instantly appear behind Shye. He then swung his longsword downwards but Shye managed to block his attack by raising his Nightbringer horizontally. *CLANG* Shye sensed someone trying to attack him from behind so he immediately threw a side kick behind him after defending against Theoden''s attack. *PAH* "Tch!" Leonardo was annoyed as he was sent flying after blocking Shye''s kick. However, Shye is only one person against three attackers. Due to a small window of carelessness, Eusford managed to inflict a fairly deep cut on the left side of Shye''s body. "Hahahaha! Give it up Crowley. I see that you''ve improved again after your fight with Siegfried but it''s useless. There are three of us here and there''s nowhere for you to run!" Shye gnashed his teeth, Eusford''s attack really did hurt him. He was already spent after fighting the ember tiger and now, he had to deal with three assassins. He used the small window wherein the three were talking shit to purchase an intermediate restoration potion from the system and one lesser health potion which reduced his points to zero. *GULP* Shye drank the lesser health potion and slowly felt rejuvenated. "Pfft! Was that a lesser health potion? Do you think a lesser health potion would save you here? Naive!" However, Shye merely ignored their remarks and assumed his battle stance. Seeing Shye''s unyielding attitude, Eusford was annoyed. He wanted Shye to beg for mercy, to expose his pathetic true self before them but unfortunately for them, Shye isn''t one to beg for his life. He nearly died a couple of times already so threats to his life like this weren''t anything new to him. "Still keeping up the tough facade I see, let''s see how long you can keep this up. Theoden, Leonardo, Again!" The three confidently executed their battle n again but unfortunately for them, Shye had already chosen to reveal his trump card to immediately catch one of them off guard. Theoden used [Blink Strike Lv.1] again to instantly appear behind Shye but Shye simply used the same move as earlier to block his attacks. This time, however, to mix it up, it was Eusford who attacked next and as expected he sessfully blocked Shye''s kick. Leonardo licked his lips as he excitedly used his skill [Lacerate Lv.1] to try and finish off Shye. However, little did he know that he was the unlucky person who would fall victim to Shye''s trump card. Leonardopletely let his guard down since he believed that Shye couldn''t do anything to defend against his attack. "Die! Crowley!" A shadow of a smile appeared on the corner of Shye''s lips as an iron greatsword suddenly appeared in his left hand. Then, he used [Stoic Lv.1] to withstand Leonardo''s skill before shing his greatsword down with all his might as he used [Power sh Lv.2]. "NOOOO!!!" Leonardo couldn''t do anything but scream in despair as Shye swung his greatsword downwards. This is a battle to the death, unlike their duels inside the academy wherein they used wooden swords to knock each other out. Shye''s [Power sh Lv.2] hit Leonardo squarely on the shoulder down to the middle of the torso. The wound was so deep that Leonardo would die if he didn''t get any help within thirty seconds. "Regulus!!" Eusford screamed in horror. He didn''t expect that things would go this way because they expected that they would easily kill Shye and go out of the adventurer zone before the instructors noticed anything strange. Unfortunately for them, Shye isn''t some greenhorn in life-or-death situations and since Leonardo was now incapacitated, it would only be easier for him to fight the two. However, Theoden wasn''t like Eusford, he didn''t care about Leonardo''s life or death at all since he hated him as well so he simplyunched an attack towards Shye who was still a bit dazed after cleanly hitting a person with an iron greatsword. Fortunately for Shye, [Stoic Lv.1] was still active so he managed to survive Theoden''s attack. He was then forcefully brought back to reality after getting hit and he quickly fell back temporarily. "Eusford! Quit being a wuss! Didn''t we already decide to go through with this?! Why are you just standing there like an idiot?! Let''s finish this guy off immediately so we can quickly get the hell out of here before the instructors notice!" After hearing what Theoden said, Eusford was finally able to gather his wits. This was his actual first time seeing someone die right in front of him so he was a bit paralyzed. Indeed, they had to get out of this ce before the instructors found out! In addition to this, the smell of Leonardo''s blood started attracting the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone so they had to wrap this up or they might die. Chapter 52: Guilt

Chapter 52: Guilt

This time, it was Eusford who took the role of the main attacker while Theoden looked for blind spots from time to time. However, it was getting harder and harder for the two of them to even deal any kind of damage to Shye. On the contrary, they were the ones being suppressed by Shye. "Theoden! Should we retreat for now?" Eusford suggested. He couldn''t see how they would win here seeing that Shye could now dual wield. "Are you stupid? How would you exin what happened to Leonardo if Crowley is still alive?!" Theoden couldn''t help but yell in frustration. Eusford was usually the smart guy among the three of them but who would''ve thought that he would be stupid when it came to life-or-death situations? In fact, he also wanted to run away but they had to see this through to the end. The only good ending for them is if they manage to kill Shye. After hearing what Theoden said, Eusford stopped hesitating anymore and charged toward Shye again as he desperately wished for Theoden tond a solid hit on Shye''s body. They knew that he was spent and was also probably on the verge of copse. This small hope kept them sane and focused as they tried to murder Shye. Finally, after a few more minutes of intensebat, a chance appeared for the two of them. Theoden''s [Blink Strike Lv.1] was finally off cooldown and he quickly used it to appear behind Shye. However, this was actually what Shye was waiting for. He quickly drank the intermediate restoration potion which had instant healing effects to endure Theoden''s attack. *SPURT* Shye''s blood dripped down from his shoulders as Theoden''s [Blink Strike Lv.1] + downward shbo inflicted a deep wound on him. If he was using a greatsword he would''ve probably finished Shye off but unfortunately, a long sword''s weight wasn''t enough to do the job. Shye managed to endure his attack and in return, he was shed diagonally by Shye''s Nightbringer. ck mes suddenly ignited from Theoden''s wound as the hidden passive skill of the sword [Nightburn] activated. [Nightburn] only had a 5% chance to activate after inflicting a wound on the enemy. Luckily for Shye, the passive skill activated and burned Theoden''s body slowly. "AAAAAHHH!! EUSFORD!! SAVE ME!!" Eusford looked at Theoden in horror. His mind nked out and he dropped his sword due to how scared he was. After seeing that Shye was looking at him, every hair in his body stood up and he screamed in horror as he tried to flee. "AAAAHHH!!" However, how could Shye let him go? He quickly used [Dash Lv.1] followed by [Power sh Lv.2] to sh the fleeing Eusford in half. "Haaahh...Haaahh...Haaahh..." Shye panted in exhaustion as he copsed on his knees due to the mortal wound inflicted by Theoden. He then looked around and after seeing the dead bodies around him, he started vomiting. Although he had been in life-or-death situations before, it was usually against a creature and this was his first time killing a human like himself. Shye continued vomiting as he slowly lost consciousness due to his wound. He couldn''t think about anything and all he was thinking about was "How nice would it be if he simply closed his eyes right now" After a few more seconds, Shyepletely fell unconscious. Fortunately for him, someone arrived. The person noticed that Shye was still alive so he quickly carried him out of the beginner adventurer zone. ... ... ... Shye woke up staring at an unfamiliar ceiling again. He was currently inside the academy''s infirmary but since he was still a bit dazed, his brain didn''t process anything as he absent-mindedly looked around the infirmary. "Big brother! I''m so d you''re okay!" A tired voice sounded beside his bed as Maia hugged him while crying buckets of tears. She was horrified after seeing him being carried in a stretcher towards the infirmary. For Maia, her big brother was all she had left so she begged the infirmary to let her stay beside him and take care of him even when she wasn''t allowed to walk around the academy grounds alone. Fortunately, Instructor Fienna helped her out and gave her special permission to look after her big brother. After a few days, her big brother finally woke up so a heavy weight was finally lifted off her chest. As for Shye, everything slowly sunk in and upon remembering that he killed three people with his own hands, cold sweat drenched his back as he anxiously thought about the punishment that he would receive from the academy. Still, he was happy to be alive. He had to kill them or they would kill him so if he was given the same choice, he would probably choose to kill them again. Chapter 53: Advice from an Experienced Person

Chapter 53: Advice from an Experienced Person

After a few days inside the infirmary, Shye fully recovered and he was finally allowed to attend sses again. He was released yesterday so after one more day of rest, Shye decided to attend his ss today which happened to be Instructor Fienna''s ss. On the way towards his ssroom, Shye couldn''t help but feel nervous. He didn''t know what his ssmates would think of him after killing Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford. After a few more minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of his ssroom. He then entered with a slightly nervous expression on his face but what he didn''t expect was, after he entered, his ssmates came swarming towards him. Some of them hugged him, some spoke words of gratitude, while some asked about his condition. Shirley didn''t think about anything and simply hugged Shye tightly. She was also horrified after finding out that he faced an ember tiger alone and was sent to the infirmary in a very bad state. Shye''s ssmates also weren''t in the mood to tease him because they were worried about his condition. In their minds, Shye was their benefactor. Not only was he always protecting them, he was also the one who bestowed them skills and a high ss budget. In addition to this, they found out from their ssmates that Shye protected them from the ember tiger and that''s why he was in that current state. Shye was stupefied, he didn''t expect such a warm reaction from his ssmates. He thought that they would look at him in fear and disgust after finding out that he killed three people. However, it seems that no one knew about it so he anxiously waited until the end of the ss before asking Instructor Fienna about what happened to him. "Oh, so you don''t remember anything huh? That''s understandable though since you were in a very bad condition when Siegfried brought you to me." Shye didn''t show it on his face but his heart was beating fast as he pondered whether he should tell Instructor Fienna that he killed Theoden, Eusford, and Leonardo. "Oh...I see, so Siegfried was the one who carried me huh? Thank you, instructor, I will go to Siegfried''s ssroom and thank him." "Alright, that''s good to hear." In the end, he didn''t mention anything and decided to talk to Siegfried first. After his conversation with Instructor Fienna, Shye immediately headed towards Siegfried''s ssroom but since his ss was still ongoing, he decided to wait outside. Half an hour passed before Siegfried''s ss finally ended. However, Siegfried loves cleaning the ssroom so he didn''t walk out of the room immediately. Meanwhile, Siegfried''s ssmates curiously took nces at Shye who was waiting outside their ssroom. "Oh, look! Crowley seems to be fine now..." "Yeah, I heard that he saved his ssmates from an ember tiger...How heroic!" "I also identally heard from two instructors that he was the hope of the academy in the uing adventurer academypetition three and a half years from now so losing him would be a big blow to our academy..." Shye could hear some of their whispers and he couldn''t help but feel guilty. "If only they knew that I was a murderer..." He thought to himself. Such depressing thoughts started popping up in his mind every now and then whenever he remembered the bloody scene of him killing Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford. After a few more minutes of waiting, Siegfried finally came out. He saw Shye waiting outside the ssroom so he approached him with a smile on his face. "Yo, Crowley! Good to see you alive and kicking!" "H-Hey, Siegfried. Thanks for saving me that day...If you have the time maybe we can talk?" Siegfried''s expression became a little more serious but a slight smile could still be seen on his face. He knew that Shye wanted to talk about what he saw that day and he also knew that it was an important matter that could not be dyed so he agreed. After walking for quite a long time, the two of them arrived at the dpidated hut where Shye and Maia used to live. Shye knew that this would be the perfect ce to talk about that matter so he brought Siegfried here. The two of them faced each other and Siegfried was the first one to speak. "You want to ask about what I saw that day right?" Shye nodded nervously as he waited for Siegfried''s next words. Siegfried was intrigued after realizing that Shye looked very nervous so he purposely dyed his next words. After a few seconds of awkward silence, Siegfried finally spoke. "Hahahaha! I could determine at a single nce that those three tried to assassinate you but they simply failed because they were weaker so why are you so nervous?" "Even if the school found out about what happened, they would side with you so you should stop feeling guilty about killing them. You only did it to protect yourself right? It wasn''t like you wanted to kill them anyway so just chill." "Fortunately for you, I was the one who arrived. I decided to help you clean up a bit but after seeing so many apex predators eyeing their corpses, I knew that I didn''t have to do anything." "You could probably guess what happened to their bodies. Currently, the academy thinks that they were ambushed by arge group of apex predators so there''s no need for you to worry." Shye was in utter shock and disbelief after hearing everything that Siegfried said. He couldn''t believe that the straightforward Siegfried helped him cover up the dark truth. After gathering his wits, Shye couldn''t help but ask Siegfried. "Y-You seem to be quite experienced...H-Have you killed people before?" In response, Siegfried simply smiled and said "What do you think?" Siegfried''s response basically confirmed that he had killed people before and because of it, Shye felt that a few thorns were removed from his chest. However, there was still a slight feeling of guilt so Siegfried told him that he should just give himself some time and the feeling would gradually disappear from his heart. Chapter 54: Reward for Slaying the Ember Tiger

Chapter 54: Reward for ying the Ember Tiger

After talking with Siegfried, Shye felt a little bit better. Although he was walking towards the dormitory with a slight guilt in his heart, he started repeatedly telling himself that he didn''t do anything wrong and simply killed them to protect himself. Upon arriving in front of his dormitory, his eyebrows rose after seeing such an unexpected scene. Maia was there, happily chatting with Instructor Fienna who seemed to be waiting for him to return. A few momentster, Instructor Fienna noticed him. "Oh, Crowley, there you are. Sorry for intruding but Dean Snowcrest told me that the City Lord of Colzen City summoned you. If you still have some time today maybe you can drop by the city hall? Instructor Fienna said "Hmm? The City Lord? Why?" Shye was confused, he couldn''t think of any reason why the city lord would summon him. "You silly, after getting rid of a major threat inside the beginner adventurer zone, why else would he summon you?" Instructor Fienna exined with a smile on her face. After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, Shye was pleasantly surprised. It seems that he would get another reward. "I see! Thanks for telling me, instructor. I''ll drop by today!" Shye said to Instructor Fienna before turning his head to look at Maia. "Maia, I''ll go to the City Hall for a bit, I''ll buy snacks for you before I return!" After hearing what her big brother said, a wide smile appeared on Maia''s face and her eyes sparkled in excitement. "Okay! Be careful Big Brother! I want some fried octopus balls okay?" "Sure!" Instructor Fienna smiled after hearing the conversation between the siblings. "How nostalgic...I wonder where are you right now...Big Brother?" Instructor Fienna muttered to herself. ... ... ... Shye wanted to hop and skip toward the city hall as he daydreamed about what reward the City Lord would give him. However, he knew that he would look silly if he did that and he might run into one of his ssmates so he suppressed the urge to hop and skip. Still, there was a wide smile on his face as he walked towards the city hall and after fifteen minutes of walking, he finally arrived. Shye was surprised at howrge the city hall was. Although he lived his entire life in Colzen City, there wasn''t any reason for him to visit the city hall before and so, this was his first time here. He admired how pretty the flower beds were in front of the city hall, the nts and trees seemed to be regrly maintained and the building itself was made from one of the finest materials you can find around Colzen City, the Primrose blocks. After being awestruck for a few seconds, Shye gathered his wits and walked toward the end of the queue to wait for his turn as the guards interviewed each person. Fortunately, he managed to save a bit of time after an idle guard asked him about his agenda inside the city hall. Shye told the guard that he was from Colzen Adventurer Academy and that he was summoned here by the City Lord. The guard was a bit skeptical after hearing what Shye''s agenda was, however, after thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered about the matter regarding the ember tiger. "Oh! Are you Shye Crowley?" The guard asked. "Yes, I''m Shye Crowley..." Shye humbly replied. "I see, sorry for not realizing immediately...Can I see your identification card?" Shye handed over his identification card and after the guard verified the authenticity of the card, he directly led Shye towards the City Lord''s office. On the way, Shye enthusiastically looked around. The interior of the city hall was finely designed so the guard understood his enthusiasm because he also experienced the same thing when he entered the city hall for the first time. Finally, after a few minutes of walking, the two of them arrived in front of the City Lord''s office. *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "City Lord, Shye Crowley has arrived." "You maye in" After the City Lord gave his permission, the guard opened the door for Shye but he didn''t enter with him. On the other hand, Shye looked at the City Lord and bowed as a sign of respect. The City Lord was a middle-aged man who seemed to be simr in age to Dean Snowcrest. He had a thin body which obviously wasn''t trained for closebat, however, he had a dignified aura and a constant stern look on his face. Due to his observations, Shye concluded that the City Lord was probably either a mage or a priest. "Hello, Shye Crowley, wee to Colzen City Hall. I''m Elijah Winston, you may call me City Lord Elijah." "I''ve summoned you here after hearing about your heroic deeds. On behalf of Colzen City, I would like to thank you for removing a dangerous threat inside the beginner adventurer zone." City Lord Elijah slightly bowed towards Shye who also bowed in return. "Thank you, City Lord, however, I simply did my duty to protect my ssmates and was lucky enough to narrowly defeat the ember tiger." Elijah''s eyebrows rose after hearing Shye''s words. He didn''t expect that such a young man would be devoid of arrogance. He then smiled towards Shye and said "Still, you prevented the death of many rookie adventurers and for that, I would like to give you a reward." Shye''s ears practically pped in glee after hearing that he would receive another reward but he forcefully suppressed his happiness and remained serious. City Lord Elijah took out a huge bag of silver coins and ced it on the table. He then looked at Shye and said "Inside this bag are one thousand silver coins. Please take it as a reward for your effort and heroic spirit." Chapter 55: Shopping (1)

Chapter 55: Shopping (1)

After receiving 1000 silver coins from City Lord Elijah, Shye left the city hall with a wide smile on his face. He then checked the time and after seeing that the weapon and armor shops were about to close, Shye decided to postpone purchasing a new set of equipment for now. Instead, he headed straight toward the food district to purchase fried octopus balls for his little sister. After purchasing fried octopus balls, Shye also purchased some ready-made meals and beverages to have a small celebration at home. Maia''s eyes sparkled after seeing that her big brother not only purchased snacks for her but also ready-made meals. "Woah! Big Brother, why is there so much food? Did the city lord reward you?" "Yeah! I got lots of silver coins as a reward so I purchased lots of food as a mini celebration." "Yayy! Let me help you prepare the food then, let''s eat early today!" ... ... ... After a night of celebration with his little sister, Shye woke up for another day of school. He had lots of ns today and fortunately, the instructor today was Instructor Per who always dismisses them early. Since he expects to be dismissed early today, he could act on his agenda right after his ss ends. After he finished his preparations, Shye bid Maia goodbye and left the dormitory. Once he arrived in front of his ssroom, Shye took a deep breath and entered normally. After finding out that Siegfried helped him cover up what happened to Theoden, Leonardo, and Eusford, he could finally go to school without feeling anxious. A few momentster, Instructor Per arrived. As usual, everyone listened closely to his lessons because although his lessons were short, they were interesting and full of insights. However, for Shye, the lesson today was quite boring since it was all about the gale leopard. After training almost every day inside the beginner adventurer zone, Shye already knew everything about the gale leopard and he could kill one in less than three minutes. Instructor Per also knew this so he didn''t get angry at Shye even though he caught him spacing out a few times. "That''s it for today, dismissed!" Again, they were dismissed after around half an hour of discussion but everyone was used to it by now so they simply left the ssroom after the dismissal. Shye had some agendas as well so he bid Shirley and his ssmates goodbye before excitedly running toward the weapons and armor shop. Although the shop inside the academy was huge, the options were a bit limited so Shye decided to head towards one of the most famous equipment shops in Colzen City, the Hephaestus Armaments. Not only was this shop famous in Colzen City, but it also had over a hundred branches across cities in all regions. Although it was still a bit smallpared to the top-tier and prominent equipment shops, it was one of the best among the up-anding equipment shops. After a few minutes of walking, Shye arrived in front of the shop. He was amazed at how huge the shop was. Not only was it spacious, but it also had multiple floors. This specific branch seemed to be newly built so it didn''t have many decorations, however, Shye didn''t care about the decorations, all that mattered to him was if there were many choices for each equipment tier. Upon entering, Shye nodded in satisfaction. There were indeed way more options herepared to the equipment shop inside the academy. "Wee to Hephaestus Armaments Colzen Branch, may I know what this young sir is looking for?" The shopkeeper smiled widely at Shye as she enthusiastically tried to assist him. "I''m looking for a bronze-tier armor set and a silver-tier weapon." Shye replied "Ahh! If that''s what you''re looking for, all bronze and silver tier equipment is located on the second floor." "I see, thanks for the help!" Shye thanked the shopkeeper before enthusiastically walking up the stairs toward the second floor. Upon arriving, Shye''s eyes sparkled as he excitedly checked each armor set. After a few minutes of looking around, Shye saw a Doran brand bronze armor set. "Ooh! A Doran brand bronze armor set! 700 silver coins huh? A bit expensive but it''s a Doran brand after all...Hnngghh..." Shye was in a dilemma, he wanted to try purchasing a Doran brand armor but he didn''t know if his 1200 silver coins budget would be enough to purchase both a Doran brand armor set and a silver tier greatsword. "Hmm...For now, let''s try wearing it first!" He excitedly equipped the Doran brand armor set, however, once he finished equipping it, he frowned. "Hmm...Although this armor set indeed protects more parts of my body, it''s a bit hard to move..." Shye nced at his armor set and remembered howfortable it was to wear the Meido brand armor set. He thenpared it to the Doran brand armor set and realized that he preferred the Meido brand armor set better. "Hnngghh...But...But this is a Doran brand..." He thought long and hard before finally deciding to look for the Meido brand bronze armor set and after a few minutes, he finally saw it. Shye picked up the Meido brand bronze armor set and felt that it was the same weight as his Meido brand iron armor set. "Hmm? Must be my imagination...Bronze should be heavier right?" However, he was shocked after he actuallypared the two. There was no difference in weight! Due to this, Shye was pleasantly surprised and finally decided to purchase the Meido brand bronze armor set again for only 600 silver coins. He decided to purchase the same brand because not only did he like the feeling of not being restricted while moving, but he also liked the fact that he didn''t need to adjust because there was no weight difference. Shye took note of this specific characteristic of Meido brand armor sets because he wanted to check in the future if all tiers of Meido brand armor sets wouldn''t have any difference in weight. Chapter 56: Shopping (2)

Chapter 56: Shopping (2)

After sessfully purchasing an armor set for 600 silver coins, Shye still had 600 silver coins left to purchase a greatsword. He slowly walked towards the greatswords section on the second floor and happily checked each brand of greatsword. Recently, he thought that the iron greatsword he bought was made by the local cksmiths and so, it wasn''t branded yet. It was only a few months ago when he found out that his iron greatsword was actually a Doran brand iron greatsword and that was why it felt so nice to use. There was only a single iron greatsword inside the academy weapon shop so it wasn''t like he had any other choice. This time, he wanted to give a chance to other brands so he meticulously tried and tested each silver-tier greatsword. However, upon seeing that the Doran brand silver greatsword was only priced at 340 silver coins, he thought that maybe he could afford a gold-tier greatsword right now so he left the second floor and headed towards the third floor. He then headed towards the gold-tier greatsword section and sure enough, he had enough funds to purchase most of the gold-tier greatswords except for the Doran brand. Upon seeing the Doran brand''s price, he started to develop a bit of negative feelings for the said brand. "Tch...Why is it so expensive? There isn''t even any notable difference whenpared to most of the other brands..." Since he couldn''t afford the Doran brand, he stopped paying attention to it and enthusiastically checked the other brands. He took a liking to a few brands such as the Alfredo brand, the Ludwig brand, and the Oberon brand but since there were still a few gold-tier greatswords left unchecked, Shye continued trying and testing the remaining ones. His eyebrows rose upon seeing that thest greatsword was from the Meido brand again. He picked up the Meido brand gold-tier greatsword and swung it a few times. "Damn! Why do I feel that this brand was tailor-made for me?!" Shyeined with a smile on his face. Again, he loved the feeling of using the greatsword made by this up-anding cksmith, Meido Chan. Not only did he like the quality and feeling of using the greatsword, but it was also cheaper than the Doran brand. The Doran brand gold-tier greatsword was priced at 650 silver coins while the Meido brand only costs 500 silver coins which is a whole 150 silver coins cheaper than the Doran brand. Shye happily brought the Meido brand gold-tier greatsword named Daybreak towards the counter and upon seeing the greatsword, the shopkeeper''s eyebrows rose. "Oh? The Meido brand again? I have to admit, the young sir indeed had good eyes. I thought that you choosing the Meido brand earlier was nothing but a coincidence but I see now that you took a liking to the Meido brand" The shopkeeper said The equipment enthusiast Shye Crowley liked talking about equipment so he smiled widely after hearing the words of the shopkeeper. "I don''t know but I do feel that the Meido brand perfectly fits my tastes as a warrior. Not only is the weight of their products perfect for me, but the body maneuverability offered by the armor set is also very convenient." This time, it was the shopkeeper''s turn to smile. "You really do know your stuff, may I know the name of this young sir?" "I''m Shye Crowley, a freshman student at the Colzen Adventurer Academy. I''ll probably visit your shop regrly so may I also know the shopkeeper''s name?" "So it''s Sir Crowley, my name is Jericho Adler, pleased to make your acquaintance." "Likewise!" After a few introductory words and pleasantries, Shye paid for the greatsword and happily left Hephaestus Armaments. He then proceeded to walk towards the academy because he had another important agenda today. The beginner adventurer zone is a bit too easy for him now so he would like to start adventuring inside the intermediate adventurer zone half an hour away from Colzen City. However, he still didn''t have an intermediate adventurer badge so he had to return to the academy and head to the Permissions Pavilion to apply for one. Chapter 57: Applying for an Intermediate Adventurer Badge

Chapter 57: Applying for an Intermediate Adventurer Badge

Although buying a weapon took a bit of time, they were dismissed early by Instructor Per so it was currently only noon time. After realizing that the Permissions Pavilion might be on break, Shye decided to eat first. He only had a hundred coins left so he chose to save money and dine inside the academy canteen. He wanted to use his money to take his little sister out to eat inside a fancy restaurant and that''s why he chose to not have a fancy meal today. Shye ordered a simple meal and ate slowly to pass the time. After an hour, he finally finished eating and headed towards the Permissions Pavilion. As expected, the staff members of the Permissions Pavilion were already done with their lunch break so Shye walked towards the applications desk to apply for an intermediate adventurer badge. "Hello, I would like to apply for an intermediate adventurer badge" Shye said to the staff member who was in charge of the applications desk. "Sure, may I see your Identification card?" the staff member replied Shye gave his identification card to the staff member and after a few minutes of verification, the staff member frowned. "Shye Crowley, freshman student of the warrior course, correct? Pardon me for being rude but don''t you think that it is a bit too early for you to go into the intermediate adventurer zone?" Shye didn''t get angry after hearing what the staff member said. Although it was indeed a bit rude to judge his skills simply because he was a freshman student, he also understood that the staff member was only worried that he might lose his life. In response, Shye merely smiled and patiently exined that the beginner adventurer zone was already too easy for him so he wanted to hone his skills inside the intermediate adventurer zone. He even brought out an ember tiger''s w and showed it to the staff member as proof that he could handle the dangers inside the intermediate adventurer zone. After seeing the ember tiger''s w, the staff member was stupefied. He then remembered that the instructors were talking about a freshman student who was rewarded by the city lord for killing an ember tiger inside the beginner adventurer zone. "W-Wait...S-So you''re the one rewarded by the city lord for defeating an ember tiger?!" The staff member asked while stuttering. "Yes, that''s me. I had to protect the lives of my ssmates and after a hard-fought battle, I managed to luckily win." Shye humbly replied "I see...W-Well, since you have the capability to take down an ember tiger, I shall give you a quest. If youplete this quest then I shall give you an intermediate adventurer badge." Shye''s eyes lit up after hearing that the staff member would give him a chance to prove that he was worthy. Applying for an intermediate adventurer badge as a freshman has never happened in the entire history of the Colzen Adventurer Academy so the staff member was confused about what he should do to handle the situation properly. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and thought of a good solution on the fly. "Alright then, listen carefully, I need you to hunt three armored hyenas, one ckwood boar, and one ember tiger inside the intermediate adventurer zone. If you can bring the seble parts of those creatures back to me as proof, then I shall grant you an intermediate adventurer badge." "Please take this temporary pass and show it to the guards stationed at the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone, this pass should be enough for them to let you pass." "However, this is a one-time use pass so if you cannotplete the quest in one try, then it means you failed the quest." After hearing the details of the quest, Shye frowned. The quest was a bit hard for him to aplish in a single go and he might need to stay for a night or two inside the intermediate adventurer zone before he couldplete it. However, Shye believed in his strength. Although it was hard, he knew that he couldplete the quest. "I see, is there a time limit?" Shye looked at the staff member and asked. "No, however, should you fail this quest, you will have to wait until you are a second-year student before applying for an intermediate adventurer badge again." Shye nodded to the staff member and left the Permissions Pavilion with a serious look on his face. As for the staff member, he breathed a sigh of relief after Shye epted the difficult quest. He believed that there was no way that Shye could aplish the quest in a single go and so, he thought that he handled the situation perfectly. He wanted to let Shye experience a dangerous situation inside the intermediate adventurer zone so that he would obediently wait until he became a second-year student before applying for an intermediate adventurer badge again. The staff member was confident that Shye could escape from the creatures listed on the quest so he wasn''t too worried that Shye would lose his life. However, he was also sure that Shye would fail and this quest would serve as a lesson for him not to underestimate the dangers inside the intermediate adventurer zone. Little did he know that Shye was actually strong enough to defeat the creatures that he mentioned and that he was already formting a n inside his head on how to efficientlyplete the quest without putting his own life in danger. Chapter 58: Intermediate Adventurer Zone

Chapter 58: Intermediate Adventurer Zone

Shye made a few preparations before heading towards the intermediate adventurer zone toplete the required quest for him to receive an intermediate adventurer badge. He bought a few potions, rations, scent-altering perfumes, bandages, disinfectants, and many more. There were quite a few creatures he had to hunt and all of those creatures were higher-ranked than the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone so Shye didn''t want to underestimate those creatures and lose his life. He also honestly told Maia about the situation because she would probably be worried if he didn''t tell her. At first, Maia was absolutely against the idea but after patiently exining to her that the beginner adventurer zone cannot help him grow stronger anymore, Maia finally understood. She made him a few good luck charms to increase the likelihood of him surviving the dangers of the intermediate adventurer zone and after everything was settled, Shye excitedly headed toward the intermediate adventurer zone. He didn''t know why but he wasn''t nervous at all, in fact, he was actually a bit excited to go adventuring inside the intermediate adventurer zone. Shye could take a horse carriage towards the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone but he hadn''t explored the pathway towards the intermediate adventurer zone yet so he chose to walk simply because he felt that it was more fun that way. After half an hour of walking, he finally arrived at the entrance. Shye was surprised because, outside the entrance, there were lots of adventurers making preparations while others were trying to recruit party members. It was way more lively herepared to the beginner adventurer zone. Once Shye arrived, some of the adventurers sneered. "Hmmph! Another arrogant student of the academy!" "He''s still so young but he thinks that he could already go inside the intermediate adventurer zone? Delusional!" A wave of negative and rudements hit him after simply arriving. He was a bit perplexed because he didn''t do anything to deserve the anger of the adventurers around him. However, what he didn''t know was, that most of these veteran adventurers failed the Colzen Adventurer Academy entrance exam when they were younger so they were annoyed every time they saw students from the academy. These adventurers were stuck at their current skill levels because they had no guidance from the academy and gold rank would probably be their highest achievement in their lifetime. In contrast, the prospects of those who graduated from the academy were immeasurable. At the very least, even the most ordinary graduates of the academy had a chance to surpass the gold rank which was considered as the great divide between "ordinary" and "great" adventurers. Once an adventurer achieves the tinum rank, then they can consider themselves to have achieved something in life and they can hold their heads high among themon popce. They could choose a city they want to start a family in and their children would probably be considered as seeded examinees just like Shirley. The higher the rank an adventurer achieves, the morefortable their life will be when it is time to settle down and start a family. As an example, the children of Adamantite ranked adventurers, titled adventurers, and heroes were regrly featured in the most famous magazines and newspapers. In addition to this, some of them who were blessed in the looks department were even hired as advertisement models by the most prominent shops. This is the reason why the "ordinary" adventurers were always envious of students from the adventurer academies, it was because they knew that their lifetime achievements would pale inparison to the students. Although Shye was a bit bewildered by the amount of hate he received, he took a deep breath and walked towards the guards at the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone. In contrast to the envious ordinary adventurers, the guards spoke to the students with enthusiasm. This is because they believed that these students would be great adventurers in the future and they wanted to secure some good connections while the adventurers were still young. "Hello, are you a student from Colzen Adventurer Academy?" A guard asked "Hello, yes, but I''m in the middle of a quest to obtain my intermediate adventurer badge so the staff member in charge of the badge applications gave me this temporary pass." The guards furrowed their brows upon hearing what Shye said. However, upon checking the validity of the temporary pass, wide smiles returned on their faces as they enthusiastically let Shye enter the intermediate adventurer zone. Chapter 59: Armored Hyenas

Chapter 59: Armored Hyenas

Upon entering the intermediate adventurer zone, Shye immediately saw something he had never seen in the beginner adventurer zone. Teary-eyed, deeply wounded adventurers supported each other as they desperately walked toward the exit of the intermediate adventurer zone. Shye immediately looked towards the guards but all they did was support the wounded adventurers towards the exit. No such thing as healing salves or leaf bandages were given to the poor adventurers. Although Colzen City wanted to save as many adventurers as possible, there were just too many adventurers going inside the intermediate adventurer zone and Colzen City didn''t have the funds to help everyone. In the beginning, Colzen City gave healing salves and leaf bandages to the wounded adventurers but there was an instance when the guards ran out of supplies and someone died because of that. Instead of thanking the guards for saving whoever they could, the adventurers filed aint demandingpensation from the city hall and demanded that the guards should be reced. After hearing about the outrageous demands of the adventurers, City Lord Elijah was infuriated and two years ago, the citypletely stopped giving out healing salves and leaf bandages outside the intermediate adventurer zone. Shye clenched his fists after seeing the pitiful state of the adventurers but he had no power to help others right now so he vowed to help other adventurers in the future as much as possible. Once the wounded adventurers made it out, Shye continued walking inside the intermediate adventurer zone with a heavy heart and it was only after walking for around half an hour that he managed to get the matter out of his head. During his preparation phase earlier, Shye searched for information about his targets in the adventurer encyclopedia. He then found out that it was easier to hunt the armored hyenas during the day because they would have a slight speed boost during the night and this is the reason why he decided to target the armored hyenas first. Shye checked the map that he purchased earlier to look for spots where there might be armored hyenas and after spotting three locations on the map, he quickly walked toward those locations in an attempt to hunt armored hyenas. Upon reaching one of the locations, Shye vigntly advanced while looking for the hyenas and then, a few minutester, he finally heard someughing sounds. Armored Hyenas! Shye slowly moved closer and observed the hyenas while hiding behind the shrubbery. "Tch...Five hyenas huh?" Shye muttered to himself as he carefully estimated if he could fight against all five hyenas at once. The adventurer encyclopedia stated that although the armored hyenas weren''t strong individually, they had impable teamwork which means that with every extra hyena, the difficulty bes exponentially harder. After thinking about the matter carefully, Shye decided to wait a little longer before going in to attack. He nned to wait a bit and start attacking them once there were only three hyenas. Unfortunately for him, the hyenas stuck together like glue, and only after two hours did one hyena leave to look for food. Shye was torn, he wanted to wait a little longer but there were only two hours before the sun went down so after a little bit of dilemma, he decided to fight the four hyenas. He quickly activated [Dash Lv.1] and [Power sh Lv.2] to instantly sh an armored hyena into three parts. After killing the first hyena, Shye''s eyes lit up in excitement after seeing that both of his greatswords managed to activate the [Power sh Lv.2] skill. He tried it before but somehow, only the dominant hand could activate the skill. Fortunately, he could activate the skill on both swords now which multiplied the damage of his [Power sh Lv.2] skill by two. He concluded that the changes must be because of the [Dual Wield Lv.1] skill that he recently learned. Shye was forced to snap back to reality as two armored hyenas immediately pounced on him to avenge their fallen packmate while the other one circled him to try and bite him on his hind leg. This was amon tactic of the hyenas and fortunately, Shye already read about this tactic in the adventurer encyclopedia. He chose to activate [Stoic Lv.1] and take the attacks of the hyenas head-on in exchange for the life of one more armored hyena. *SPURT* Now, two hyenas were dead and thest two started hesitating if they should continue fighting or if they should retreat. Although he was bleeding quite a bit, Shye smiled confidently upon seeing that the two hyenas didn''t know if they should fight or run with their tails between their legs. He knows that the armored hyenas start to be anxious when fighting a strong opponent while having less than three members so while the hyenas were still hesitating, he took the chance to charge toward one armored hyena in an attempt to lure thest two to fight him. The quest requirement for the armored hyena was to hunt three hyenas so he couldn''t let thest two go or he would have to fight a new pack of hyenas toplete the quest. The armored hyena who was targeted by Shye knew that it couldn''t escape from the human right now because it still wasn''t nighttime yet and it didn''t feel the speed boost yet so it had no other choice but to fight Shye head-on. Meanwhile, upon seeing that its packmate was under attack, the other hyena stopped hesitating and also attacked Shye to help. After realizing that he managed to sessfully lure the two hyenas to continue fighting, Shye was satisfied. It would be harder for him if he had to look for another pack of hyenas so this was already the best-case scenario for him. However, the problem is, he ran out of skills to use. He only had [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1] while the other skills were still on cooldown. Chapter 60: Blackwood Boar

Chapter 60: ckwood Boar

"Tch! So it isn''t gonna be that easy huh?" Shye muttered to himself after being wounded on the left side of his body. However, this is what he was looking for, fighting creatures that could threaten his life so he could improve because if he only kept fighting the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone, then he would stagnate. Finally, after a few minutes of intensebat, some of his skills became avable again and he was able to y one armored hyena while the other one ran away with its tail tucked between its legs. "Haaahh...Haaahh..." Shye fell on his butt after a quick but hard-fought match. The teamwork of the hyenas was indeed impable and there were a few times when they almost had him but fortunately, due to the skill [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1], he was able to narrowly dodge the hyenas'' killing blows. After resting for a few minutes, Shye butchered the carcasses of the hyenas in a hurry. It was almost night time and he still had to look for a safe ce to rest for the night. Once he was done butchering the hyenas, Shye headed for a safe spot marked on the map. However, he remained vignt because the information on the map might be outdated, and just because it was marked as a safe spot doesn''t mean that there was no chance of being attacked at all. Just to be sure, Shye only ate dried rations for the night and applied scent-altering perfumes to decrease the chances of a nocturnal creature attacking him while he was sleeping. In addition to this, he slept on a branch of a tall tree after thoroughly checking if there were any poisonous creatures living in it. Fortunately for Shye, his first night alone in the intermediate adventurer zone went without a hitch and in fact, he even managed to have a good rest. *YAWN* Shye woke up as rays of sunlight made contact with his eyelids. He felt that he had quite a nice rest so he took the time to roast the meat of an armored hyena. It wasn''t the brightest of ideas though because although the meat tasted fine, it was quite pungent. Shye vowed to never roast hyena meat ever again. After eating a not-so-pleasant breakfast, Shye headed towards a location that might have ember tigers roaming around. Sure enough, after only half an hour of searching, he managed to find an ember tiger. He used the same efficient method he did when fighting an ember tiger inside the beginner adventurer zone and in only a few minutes, he managed to behead the ember tiger andplete two out of the three quest requirements. Fortunately, he had experience fighting ember tigers before and knew that they were arrogant creatures. In addition to this, he knew that the tigers were built for long battles so beheading them in exchange for tanking one attack with the help of [Stoic Lv.1] skill was the best course of action. Shye was happy, he thought that he would need three days toplete the quests but it turns out that he might be able to finish his quest today without needing to stay another night inside. It seems that these E ranked creatures were still fairly easy to defeat for him. Although their attack power was way higherpared to the E- ranked creatures, their bodies weren''t that much tougher. What made it easy for him to defeat E ranked creatures quickly was the skill [Stoic Lv.1] because it allowed him to endure the enemy''s attack while the enemy couldn''t take one full power strike from his [Power sh Lv.2] skill. After butchering the ember tiger''s carcass, he decided to have a quick break. Shye ate a few rations, drank some potions, and applied bandages on the wounded parts of his body before heading towards a specific location inside the intermediate adventurer zone, the ckwood forest where the ckwood boars reside. "Ahhh shit...When will I arrive?!" Shye couldn''t help butin, he has already been walking continuously for six hours now and he still hadn''t arrived in the ckwood forest. He threw away all of his daydreams that he would be able to return to the academy today after experiencing how huge the intermediate adventurer zone was. The ckwood forest was considered to be a location that was quite near the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone and the shocking part is, it''s true. There were many locations farther awaypared to this one and some locations would even take days of walking before an adventurer could reach those locations. Shye realized that it was truly naive of him to think that he could finish his quests and return in two days. If he didn''t have [Stoic Lv.1] skill then he would need an even longer time to aplish the quest. After a few more minutes of walking, Shye finally arrived at the entrance of the ckwood forest. Upon entering the ckwood forest, he didn''t even need to look. In front of him, there was a ckwood boar in the middle of the pathway feasting on the dead carcass of what seemed to be a doe. Chapter 61: Quest Complete

Chapter 61: Quest Complete

*BANG* Shye was suddenly sent flying by a ckwood boar which seemed to be an adult male. Fortunately, he saw the boar charging in his peripheral vision and managed to raise his greatswords to defend or he might''ve died right there and then. Shye broke out in a cold sweat as he slowly got up from the ground. "Ahh...Shit...That was close..." The male boar came charging out of nowhere while he was focused on looking for openings to attack the feasting female boar so he was caught off guard. Shye didn''t even have any room to recover as the male boar immediately charged at him again. He was ready this time though so he managed to easily dodge the charge but the charging speed of the boar was a bit too fast so he didn''t manage tond any hit after dodging. "Tch!" Shye clicked his tongue in annoyance. One thing he learned from fighting boars was that one shouldn''t ever attempt to stop a boar''s charge using a head-on attack and he almost injured himself by attempting it before so he would never try such an unwise thing again. Unfortunately for him, the difficulty ofpleting his quest went up again as the female ckwood boar noticed the ongoing battle, and now, two adult boars were simultaneously charging at him. He didn''t dare use the [Stoic Lv.1] skill this time to tank the attacks of the two adult boars because although the skill prevents him from getting knocked off his feet, it simply reduces the damage of the boars'' charge by 50% and since there were two boars charging at him, there was a high chance that he would die on the spot if he attempted to tank it. In addition to this, the boars had a tough constitution so he was sure that even his full-powered [Power sh Lv.2] would only be enough to gravely wound a single boar but his strength wouldn''t be enough to finish it off However, boar-type creatures always had a weakness and it is their one-dimensional attack pattern. All they do is continuously charge toward their opponent until they manage to kill their enemy, so after a few charges, Shye finally manages to get the perfect timing and inflicts a fairly deep wound on the boar''s body. *SQUEAL* The male boar squealed in pain as both of Shye''s greatswords shed the left side of its body. Shye saw this as a chance and quickly activated [Stoic Lv.1] to tank the female boar''s charge. He then used [Power sh Lv.2] to sh at the forehead of the female boar who instantly died after Shye''s greatswords broke through the defenses of its skull and destroyed its brain. *BANG* The body of the huge female ckwood boar toppled over as Shye was forced to use his [Dash Lv.1] skill to dodge the wounded male boar''s furious charge. After taking one boar down, Shye smiled confidently. He knew that he could easily take on the remaining boar and sure enough, after another quarter of an hour, the male boar also sumbed to the damage umted by its body. "Haaahh...Finally over..." Shye breathed a sigh of relief afterpleting the quest assigned to him by the staff member. He wanted to return to the academy today but it was almost nighttime and it would be dangerous for him to travel at night so Shye decided to spend the night in a safe spot instead of going back. Although he was in a different safe spot this time, Shye made the same arrangements as yesterday and slept on the branches of a tall tree after checking if there were any poisonous creatures living there. The night quickly passed and morning came. This time, Shye decided to have a proper meal. He roasted a portion of the ckwood boar''s meat and seasoned it with salt and pepper. After a few minutes of diligently roasting the boar''s meat, Shye was rewarded with a fragrant and mouthwatering aroma. He suppressed the urge to drool and quickly grabbed a small piece of the roasted meat and put it into his mouth. "MHM!" Shye smiled in bliss as he enjoyed the sulent meat of the ckwood boar. He expected it to taste better than the hyena meat but he didn''t expect it to be this good. Fortunately, he decided to take a lot of meat for him and Maia to enjoy. After a wonderful eating experience in the intermediate adventurer zone, Shye walked for around six and a half hours before arriving at the academy. He then enthusiastically headed straight for the Permissions Pavilion toplete the quest and receive his intermediate adventurer badge. Shye queued up and after fifteen minutes, it was finally his turn. "Hello, I''ve returned toplete my quest." The staff member immediately remembered his face and breathed a sigh of relief. Yesterday, he was reprimanded by Dean Snowcrest after the dean found out that he let Shye, one of the six rising stars of the academy, go inside the intermediate adventurer zone. Fortunately for him, Shye managed to return alive or he would''ve been fired from his position. "O-Oh, so it''s you, Sir Crowley! It''s alright to fail, you still ha¨C?!" He was so lost in his thoughts earlier that he didn''t hear what Shye just said. However, when Shye took out the quest items one by one as proof of his sess, the eyes of the staff member widened in disbelief. "Y-Y-You seeded?!" The staff member said with a shocked expression on his face. "Yes, it was indeed a bit challenging but I managed to pull it off. So...Can I have my intermediate adventurer badge please?" The staff member still couldn''t process what just happened so he subconsciously gave Shye an intermediate adventurer badge. "Thank you." Shye happily left the Permissions Pavilion after receiving his intermediate adventurer badge leaving the staff member still dumbstruck about what happened. A few seconds after Shye was gone, the staff member managed to gather his wits and panicked upon realizing what just happened. "Oh no! I have to report this to Dean Snowcrest!" Chapter 62: Order of the Black Sword Headquarters

Chapter 62: Order of the ck Sword Headquarters

Inside his office, Dean Snowcrest was working on some papers with a slightly worried heart when suddenly, someone knocked on the door. "Hmm? Who could it be?" Dean Snowcrest pondered with a confused look on his face. He tried his best to remember if he missed any appointments but even after thinking hard about it, he couldn''t think of anyone who was supposed to go to his office today. He then decided to pick up a small apparatus that lets him speak to the person in front of his office through arge speaker. "You maye in" Upon hearing Dean Snowcrest''s voice, the staff member flinched for a few seconds before he managed to gather his courage and nervously entered the warrior dean''s office. After walking for a few minutes, the staff member arrived in front of Dean Snowcrest''s desk. "You! What have you done this time?!" The dean yelled in a slightly angry voice. Up until today, he was still worried about Shye because of the stupidity of this staff member. He believed that giving Shye a quest to hunt dangerous creatures inside the intermediate adventurer zone just to make him give up early was a very stupid idea. After all, what if he died while attempting toplete the mission? Fortunately, the next words of the staff member finally gave him slight peace of mind. "D-D-Dean...I apologize again for my mistakes the other day...However, Shye Crowley has returned and he actuallypleted the quest!" After hearing what the staff member said, Dean Snowcrest was pleasantly surprised so he started to calm down. "What? Do you mean Crowley was able to take down three armored hyenas, a ckwood boar, and an ember tiger within three days?" Dean Snowcrest replied with a calmer tone but he never thought that the next words of the staff member would be so infuriating. "Y-Yes Dean, that''s what happened so as per our agreements...I...gave him an intermediate adventurer badge..." *BANG* Dean Snowcrest mmed his table in anger. "WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU BE SO STUPID?! HE''S JUST A FIRST YEAR STUDENT!! HOW WILL YOU TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF SUCH A TALENTED STUDENT DIES WHILE ADVENTURING?! HUH?!!" Fortunately for the staff member, Instructor Fienna entered the office so the anger of the dean was dyed for now. "Dean Snowcrest, I apologize for identally eavesdropping about the matter concerning Crowley. However, I do believe that a rough gem will never shine if one does not polish it. I believe that we shouldn''t pamper Crowley too much or he might not reach his full potential." After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, Dean Snowcrest continuously took deep breaths to calm himself down. Indeed, if he pampers Crowley too much, Crowley might not reach his full potential. As a dean of the academy, he should look at the bigger picture and not worry all the time whether Shye would survive inside the intermediate adventurer zone. Dean Snowcrest then looked at the staff member and dismissed him after realizing that he was indeed pampering Crowley too much. The staff member looked gratefully at Instructor Fienna before leaving the dean''s office and returning to his desk in the Permissions Pavillion. After the staff member left his office, Dean Snowcrest rubbed the temples of his head before looking at Instructor Fienna again. "Fienna, thank you for reminding me, I was getting a bit too preupied by the thought of avenging our academy''s humiliating defeat five years ago." "No worries, Dean Snowcrest, I fully understand your intentions." ... ... ... Meanwhile, Shye was at home happily enjoying a meal with his little sister while telling her stories about her encounters inside the intermediate adventurer zone. "Woah! So you defeated two of those huge boars alone?!" "Hahahaha! Isn''t your big brother amazing?" "Yes! Now I can''t wait to start adventuring!" *KNOCK* *KNOCK* The siblings were chatting happily when suddenly, someone knocked on the door of Shye''s dormitory. Shye and Maia went silent and looked at each other for a few seconds before Shye stood up and opened the door. "Yo! Shye Crowley right? I see that you''re currently eating and I apologize for disturbing you. I''m Li Xin, a third-year student from the mage course and a member of the Order of the ck Sword." "Senior Ren asked me to tell you to drop by the society headquarters, I believe he wants to introduce you to the other society members." "Oh, I see. Thanks for telling me, Senior Xin. I''ll drop byter after I finish my meal." ... ... ... "Oh...So this is the society headquarters huh?" Shye was amazed, he had always been wondering where the headquarters of the adventurer societies were located but after asking around, it turned out that the academy had purchased a vast amount ofnd fifteen minutes away from the academy where each adventurer society could develop their headquarters. The vastnd had around 60 buildings, some buildings were shabby while some looked grand and imposing. These buildings were the headquarters of all the adventurer societies and although thend was provided for them, the buildings were built entirely by the students. It was evident which adventurer societies were more sessful than the others because the headquarters of the top adventurer societies looked way betterpared to the shabby headquarters of adventurer societies such as the Pink Unicorn Society. This was because the top societies not only had more budget provided to them by the academy, they also had more sessful activities which further increased their budgetpared to the lower ranked societies. Chapter 63: Celebration

Chapter 63: Celebration

It didn''t take long for Shye to find the headquarters of the Order of the ck Sword since it stuck out like a sore thumb. The building had the unique shape of a huge rock with a huge ck sword stabbed into the rock. However, although the shape was unique, the headquarters was very spacious. Shye entered from the huge front door of the headquarters where two members who seemed to be on guard duty stopped him from entering. "Yo, we haven''t seen you here before...Could it be?! You''re a spy?!" "Oh?! Definitely a spy! What do you have to say for yourself huh?! Spy?!" The two members who were guarding the entrance immediately used him of being a spy from another society so in just a few seconds, the two of them got whacked on the head. "S-Senior Ren! Why did you whack us?! This guy is a sp¨C" "This guy is not a spy, he''s Shye Crowley, our new top prospect from the warrior course." Shye was bewildered, upon arriving, he was already used of being a spy by these two crazy upperssmen who were guarding the entrance. Fortunately for him, Ren Beckmann arrived and exined that he wasn''t a spy. These two upperssmen seemed to have very peculiar personalities. After hearing that he wasn''t a spy and that he was a new prospect, the attitude of the two guards immediately took a 180-degree turn. "Oh?! The top prospect of this year''s warrior freshmen?! Then how did you manage to recruit him?" "Hohh? Now that I look at him again, this guy seems to have a heroic aura! Definitely a fitting member of our society!" Shye was confused, he couldn''t keep up with the thought processes of these two unique members. Just a second ago, he was used of being a spy but the next moment, they were already praising him. "Aiihh...Sorry for these two idiots, Crowley. Although it''s very hard to have a proper conversation with these two, they''re good people." Ren Beckmann said to Shye "Ahh, No worries, Senior Xin dropped by my dormitory earlier and told me that you wanted to introduce me to the other members?" Shye replied "Oh, yes,e I shall introduce you to everyone who''s currently here." Ren immediately led Shye towards what seemed to be a huge hall that resembled an adventurer guild. Upon entering the huge hall, Shye was amazed. There were some members drinking booze together at arge table, there was a counter with a prettydy behind it, and some members were looking at what seemed to be the quest board. "Ohh...So they''ve replicated the ambiance of an adventurer''s guild huh?" Shye muttered to himself. The headquarters did look like an adventurer''s guild and it was a good training ground for students. They even have quests here albeit a little easierpared to the ones in a real adventurer''s guild. While Shye was admiring the ce, Ren Beckmann suddenly spoke with a loud voice that got everyone''s attention. "Yo! Everyone! Crowley is here!" After hearing what Ren Beckmann said, all of the members who were currently in the huge hall excitedly looked towards Ren''s direction. "Oh? Shye Crowley? The current 1st-ranked warrior student?!" "Huh? Shye Crowley? Who''s that?" "Hohoh! What a huge catch eh? Senior Ren!" "BAHAHAHAHA! Senior Ren! So that''s why you were being secretive about the new members huh? You gave us a pleasant surprise!" Amotion started after Ren Beckmann introduced Shye. Most of the members already knew who he was but some of them didn''t so they curiously asked the person next to them about who Shye was. After a few exnations, everyone felt excited. This was the first time their society managed to recruit a 1st-ranked freshman so they had high hopes that Shye would be able to lead their society to greater heights three yearster. Once they were done with the introductions, Ren smiled widely and announced that they should celebrate and the drinks would be provided by the society. Everyone cheered wildly upon hearing that there would be a celebration and that the drinks were free. "Crowley! Come! Let''s enjoy ourselves!" One of the members immediately put his arms around Shye''s neck and pulled him towards therge table in the middle of the huge hall. Ren smiled after seeing the warm scene and also joined the fun. "Cheers to Crowley!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!" "Cheers!" ... ... ... After celebrating for a few hours with the members who were present in the headquarters, Shye started to feel a sense of belonging to his society. However, all good things muste to an end. As much as everyone wanted to continue celebrating, they all had sses tomorrow so they couldn''t allow themselves to be too drunk, especially the third-year and fourth-year students. As seniors, academy points were very important to them and a single day of being absent due to an irresponsible reason would cost them a huge amount of academy points so eventually, everyone said their goodbyes. Just as Shye was about to leave, Senior Ren called out to him. "Yo, Crowley. Come with me for a while." Chapter 64: Faculty Meeting

Chapter 64: Faculty Meeting

Shye was puzzled, he didn''t know what Ren was up to but he trusted him so he didn''t ask any questions and simply followed him inside a meeting room. "Sit here and wait for a bit. I''ll just retrieve some things from the storage room." "Okay" Shye nodded and explored the system since there was nothing for him to do while waiting. After waiting for a few minutes, Ren Beckmann returned while carrying a medium-sized box. He then started taking out the items inside the box while Shye happily waited for him to take everything out. Shye knew that these items were his "signing bonus" for joining the Order of the ck Sword. As for Ren, he almostughed upon seeing Shye''s excited expression because ever since he got to know him, Shye has never been a person who pretentiously rejects whenever someone gives him free benefits. He openly shows how happy he was and to Ren, his personality was like a breath of fresh air. Most of the people pretentiously reject the benefits but in the end, they would still choose to "reluctantly" ept. Ren Beckmann has never been fond of such pretentious persons ever since he was a freshman so he was pleasantly surprised upon learning that Shye wasn''t such a person. "That''s everything, please check if I missed something." Ren said after transferring everything inside the box onto the meeting room''s table. Meanwhile, Shye was even humming a tune while checking the quantity of each promised item. "Yep, it''s all here! Thanks, Senior Ren! I n to focus on training inside the intermediate adventurer zone so these training items will be a big help to me." Shye said as he gave a sincere bow to Ren who was utterly shocked after hearing what Shye said. "W-Wait, did you say that you''ll train inside the intermediate adventurer zone?" "Hmm? Yeah, I just got my intermediate adventurer badge today afterpleting the quest given by the staff member in charge of the badge applications. Why? Is there a problem?" Shye asked with a confused expression. "N-Nothing, be careful when going inside the intermediate adventurer zone. If possible, try to look for a buddy to help watch your back." "Got it! Thanks, Senior Ren! I''ll be leaving now!" Shye happily stored all the items on the table in his sack bag before leaving the headquarters of the Order of the ck Sword. ... ... ... Two days have passed since the celebration at the society headquarters. For some reason, the instructors of their ss announced that they would have an asynchronous ss today because the instructors had an important meeting to attend to. Due to this, Shye headed towards the intermediate adventurer zone again toplete some daily and regr quests given by the system. However, he didn''t venture too far and just hunted creatures near the entrance so he could return before nighttime. Meanwhile, all thebat instructors in all four courses and all four deans gathered inside a meeting room. Dean Snowcrest was chosen to lead the discussions because most of the meeting agendas were about warrior course students. "I believe everyone is here so let''s start the meeting. Our first meeting agenda of the day is to talk about theints filed by the parents of three warrior course students who perished during the first ss practicum." "Although it was unfortunate that the three talented students, Theoden Bathory, Leonardo Regulus, and Eusford Banehollow, died too early, such is the fate of an adventurer." After Dean Snowcrest opened up the discussion about the three warrior course students who died, Instructor Brodley spoke up. "Your Excellency! I believe that the three students were murdered by someone! There was simply no way for them to lose against such creatures inside the beginner adventurer zone!" "I agree, your excellency. I believe those three were strong enough to defend themselves against those kinds of creatures." "I agree!" Two instructors immediately voiced their support, the dead students were under their tutge so they had to at least get justice for them. Dean Snowcrest''s eyes narrowed after hearing about Brodley''s opinion. Indeed, there was a low chance for the three of them to be defeated by a bunch of apex creatures inside the beginner adventurer zone. "Oh? This is a pretty big im, Instructor Brodley. Who would dare to murder three talented students inside the beginner adventurer zone? Not to mention, the beginner adventurer zone was only essible to the students that day so there were no outsiders at all..." Dean Snowcrest asked Brodley "Who else but Shye Crowley? Even Lionheart lost to him so who else but him?!" Instructor Brodley said with a loud voice, he believed that Shye murdered the three students. "Hmmph! How stupid! You don''t even have any proof yet you me my student? Airheaded instructors like you shouldn''t be teaching students. Not to mention, Crowley fought the ember tiger and ended up in a bad state so how could he have the strength to murder three students?" Instructor Fienna immediately defended her favorite student with logical reasoning. After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, most of the instructors agreed. Indeed, it was impossible for Shye to murder three top students after fighting the ember tiger. Except...they didn''t know that Shye was actually strong enough to do so and it was indeed him who killed the three students. "Brodley, I get your point, however, Fienna''s point is a bit more logical, there was no way for Crowley to defeat three top students together after fighting an intense battle against an ember tiger." Dean Snowcrest said. He didn''t side with Instructor Fienna simply because he favors Shye but because it was indeed hard to believe that Shye could kill three top students who were working together after an intense battle against an E ranked creature. "B-But, only Crowley could..." "Enough! It''s decided, we shall exin to the parents of the three students that it was the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone who killed their children." Chapter 65: Class Exemption Pass

Chapter 65: ss Exemption Pass

Instructor Brodley and the two other instructors hung their heads down after being reprimanded by Dean Snowcrest. They wanted to use Shye of murder but they didn''t have any proof so they could only ept the final decision of the dean. In addition to this, Siegfried Lionheart imed to have witnessed that Shye narrowly won against the ember tiger so they couldn''t think of anything to refute Instructor Fienna''s words. "Moving on to our next agenda, the six freshmen students have started to move on their own earlier than expected. We have to decide whether to give them the ss exemption pass now or should we wait until they be third-year students?" After hearing the next agenda, everyone''s faces turned serious except the three instructors who still couldn''t ept the final decision of Dean Snowcrest. It wasn''t an overstatement to say that the next agenda would decide the fate of their academy three and a half yearster. Would they remain a mediocre academy? Or will they rise to join the ranks of the top academies in their region? This is the reason why they had to carefully consider what to do. These freshmen students were the best batch they had in the history of the academy. If they couldn''t capitalize on this chance given to them, then they were doomed to remain a mediocre academy forever. The reason why this decision was hard for them was because the students were still too young right now so if they overestimated the abilities of the students and let them do whatever they wanted, they might die before they reached their peak potential. On the other hand, if they wait until they be third-year students before giving them the ss exemption pass, they might end up hindering the growth of these young students. Instructor Fienna decisively took the lead and raised her right hand to give her opinion about the matter. "Fienna, you may speak." "If I may be so presumptuous, Your Excellency, I believe we should give the six freshmen students the ss exemption pass now." Instructor Fienna boldly gave her honest opinion. "Oh? Why do you think so?" The deans raised their eyebrows in curiosity. Everyone seemed to be in a dilemma except this young female instructor who immediately decided that it would be better to give the six freshmen students the ss exemption pass as early as now. "If we pamper these students too much, I believe that we would hinder their growth and possibly blow our chance to rise to the top." "If we wait until they be third-year students before giving them the passes, although they might reach the top 32, or possibly top 16, I believe that they wouldn''t be able to get a higher ranking than that. "However, if we give them the passes now, I believe that they might even be able to get the top spot for our academy." Everyone''s eyes widened after hearing the bold ims of this young female instructor. Even the deans seemed to have been enticed by the thought of being the best adventurer academy in the region. However, after just a few seconds, the older instructors suddenly voiced their conservative thoughts. "Reckless! I know that young people always dream big but I believe that it would be too hard to secure the rank 1 spot against the likes of Eusford, An, and Freia Adventurer Academies. Instead, we should ensure that these six freshmen students make it into the Adventurer Academy Competition!" "I agree, I believe that we should wait until they be third-year students until we give them the passes." "I agree!" "Me too!" Instructor Fienna''s voice was quickly drowned out by the opinions of the conservative instructors. Some younger instructors thought that Instructor Fienna was right but they were scared to go against the older, veteran instructors. The four deans were in a dilemma. After hearing everyone''s opinions, it was like a cold bucket of water was poured over their heads, waking them up. They were already daydreaming about being one of the best academies in the region but the voices of the conservative instructors woke them up and made them hesitate. "I know that I might be the only one here who thinks that we should give them the ss exemption passes now but I stand true to my beliefs." "I believe in the potential of these students, not only are they talented inbat, but they are also wiserpared to our past top students. If we don''t even have the guts to take this chance, then how could we be qualified to teach them how to be an adventurer?" Instructor Fienna''s words rubbed many of the veteran instructors the wrong way. They thought that she was simply arrogant and reckless. However, the hearts of the deans were moved. Indeed, an adventurer must be courageous or they wouldn''t amount to anything. If their academy were conservative every time they have to make such important decisions, then their academy would forever remain mediocre. This message was not only for the six freshmen students but also for everyone present. Ever since they''ve be instructors and deans of the academy, it seems that they''ve forgotten that they were also adventurers. After hearing what Fienna said, the deans nodded at each other with decisive looks in their eyes. Chapter 66: Massive Improvements

Chapter 66: Massive Improvements

Five and a half months passed since the deans decided to give Shye and the other top freshmen students from other courses the ss exemption pass. He was currently inside the intermediate adventurer zone hunting D- ranked creatures. Although there were no events during the past five and a half months that would let him earn loads of points, he was at least grinding the daily quests, regr quests, along with some quests from the Order of the ck Sword''s quest board. Of course, Shye made sure to pick quests that had the same requirements to maximize the rewards that he would get from eachpleted quest. *SPURT* [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Silverwood Stag! You''ve earned 20 points as a reward!] "That should be enough points..." Shye smiled as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. He then walked towards a safe spot to rest, and check his current status. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 35 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.2][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.2] [Destructive Chop Lv.1] [Rush Stab Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 55] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 51] [Dexterity : 53] [Stamina : 23] [Vitality : 45]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye nodded in satisfaction after seeing his current stats. Not only was there a massive boost in his attributes, but he also managed to upgrade his skills [Dash Lv.2] and [Stoic Lv.2]. His skills [Power sh Lv.2], [Dash Lv.2], and [Stoic Lv.2] were the most important ones in his current arsenal since he usually uses these three skills to catch an opponent off guard and y them with a single powerful hit. However, Shye noticed that whenever his [Power sh Lv.2] was on cooldown, he couldn''t execute his killingbinations due to theck of burst-type damaging skills. As a greatsword user, Shye should overwhelm his opponent with a series of powerful blows so he decided to invest his points and learn two new skills, [Destructive Chop Lv.1] and [Rush Stab Lv.1]. He liked both skills especially [Rush Stab Lv.1] since not only was it a gap closer skill that he could use against fast opponents and opponents who like to keep their distance such as mages and archers, but it was also a lethal skill that would instantly kill an enemy if used properly. The ss exemption pass did indeed let him improve faster since he could freely choose which sses to attend. For example, he would sit in ss and wait for the lesson but as soon as he sees that the lesson would not be beneficial for him, then he could freely leave the ss as long as he leaves the ssroom respectfully. Due to this, instead of listening to an entire three-hour lecture about the beginner adventurer zone, he could leave and focus on training instead. Of course, Shye attends every lesson that is beneficial to him. Due to this arrangement, he was able to improve way faster than he normally would. The ss exemption pass was truly a pleasant surprise given to him by Instructor Fienna and Dean Snowcrest. Simr things were happening in the other areas of the intermediate adventurer zone. Siegfried and the other top freshmen students who were given the ss exemption pass somehow managed to get their intermediate badges so they go inside the intermediate adventurer zone almost every day to train. There were even a few times when all six of them formed a party toplete high-difficulty quests. Due to this, their teamwork and respect for each other slowly grew and by the time they became fourth-year students, their party would be an absolute menace in the Regional Adventurer Academy Competition. Once he was done checking his status, Shye decided to leave the intermediate adventurer zone to get the rewards for the quests hepleted from the society''s quest board. After an hour of walking, Shye arrived at the Order of the ck Sword''s headquarters. He then entered and walked towards the counter with the pretty big sister. "Hello, Senior Emi, here are the questpletion items." "What? You''re done already?" Senior Emi said with a shocked expression on her face. It hadn''t been six hours since Shye epted all three quests and now he was already done. Anyone would be shocked at such a fast questpletion time, especially since he was only a freshman student. After verifying the quest items, Senior Emi gave Shye the appropriate rewards. "Thanks Senior Emi! I''ll be leaving now." "Likewise! Take Care!" Once he was done with everything he needed to do regarding his quests, Shye headed towards the food district to purchase snacks for his little sister before returning to the dormitory. Maia would be taking the Colzen Adventurer Academy entrance exam next year so Shye saved up some points in the system to help her achieve a high rank on the third assessment. Chapter 67: Sibling Sparring

Chapter 67: Sibling Sparring

While exploring the system during the past five and a half months, Shye learned that an additional option has been added when purchasing a skill from the system. He could now choose to purchase a skill but instead of learning it, he could convert it into a skill book, then, the skill book would be ced in the inventory. Shye didn''t know if it was due to the system upgrade to level two but it was the only possible exnation so he concluded that it must be due to that. Anyway, this feature is very helpful because he could help Maia by using this new feature. He ns to purchase some skills for her through the system, convert it into a skill book, then withdraw it from the inventory and give it to Maia. During the past year, although Maia was able to train hard for at least eight to ten hours a day, Shye wasn''t sure if her current skills would be enough to give her a high ranking in the academy entrance exam. This is why today, Shye decided to apany her and check herbat skills inside abat practice establishment where the two of them could spar together. Of course, Shye would give her a bit of handicap, he would just use enough strength to see how far Maia can go. As a scout, she should be able to cause some problems for Shye in a one-on-one sparring session due to how nimble scouts are. After walking for a few minutes, the two of them finally arrived at thebat practice establishment where Shye rented a practice room that cost 50 silver coins per hour. He rented the practice room for two hours which set him back for a total of 100 silver coins. Although a bit pricey, he decided to go through with it because it would be hard for Maia to go all out without a properbat space. In addition to this, he would be able to earn 100 silver coins in around two days anyway so he didn''t mind spending this much for his little sister. After everything was settled the siblings entered the practice room and stood across from each other. Shye thought that Maia would be a little uneasy since this would be the first time they would fight each other but upon looking at her determined and excited facial expression, he was surprised. "Maia, don''t tell me you''re a battle maniac like Siegfried?" Shye thought to himself as he remembered the times when Maia excitedly watched every match of the end-of-the-semester tournament through the television screen. "Prepare yourself, Big Brother!" Maia answered his questions as she unhesitatingly charged at him with a wooden dagger in her hands. *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* "Absolutely just like Siegfried!" Shye inwardly chuckled after seeing Maia''s excited facial expressions as she continued attacking Shye with punches, stabs, shes, and kicks from different angles. Although she hadn''tnded a single clean hit yet, she didn''t get frustrated or nervous or anything like that, and instead, Maia enjoyed every single moment of their sparring. Shye was affected by Maia''s enthusiasm and so, instead of just letting her attack, he decided to fight back a bit. *BANG* Maia was sent flying after Shyended a side kick on her abdomen. "M-Maia! Are you okay? I''m sorry I¨C?!" *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* *PAH* To Shye''s surprise, Maia was unfazed. She simply stood up, charged at him, and continued attacking again with the same facial expression. "Maia...You''re absolutely bonkers!" Shye said as he decided to stop holding back. Maia was obviously the same type of fighter as Siegfried and such fighters hated being looked down on. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* After blocking one of Maia''s attacks, he decided to hit her with a flurry of blows to have her learn that she had a lot of openings that the opponents could exploit. *PLOP* Maia plopped to the ground after a thorough beating from her big brother. "Y-You''re indeed amazing...Big brother. I couldn''t evennd a single hit on you!" Maia sincerely said with a hint of admiration in her eyes. As for Shye, he wasn''t in the mood to enjoy his little sister''s sincere praises. He took out a lesser health potion and immediately made her drink it. "How are you feeling?" Shye asked Maia while waiting for the potion to take effect. A few momentster, Maia stood up as if nothing had happened. "I feel great! That was a good experience for me! Can we...try again? I learned a lot from that sparring session and I''d like to try if I could do better this time..." Maia said as her eyes sparkled in anticipation. There was no way that Shye could bear to reject her request after seeing how enthusiastic and excited she was. "Oh well, it seems like I would have to use a lot of health potions today." Shye chuckled as he returned to his position and assumed his battle stance. Chapter 68: Skills and Elixirs for the Beloved Little Sister

Chapter 68: Skills and Elixirs for the Beloved Little Sister

"Haaah...Haaah...I still...Haaah...Can''t...Win..." Maia said with a smile on her face as shey on the ground, thoroughly beaten up by her big brother. "If you could beat me right now then that would be too embarrassing for me wouldn''t it?" Shye smiled and thought to himself as he took out another lesser health potion for Maia. After seven rounds of sparring, Shye fully understood Maia''s current capabilities. She was about as strong as Alexander Smith when the two of them fought during the entrance examination. However, the fact that Maia managed to be this strong one year earlier than Alexander Smith without any sort of guidance from anyone proved her overwhelming talent. If Shye didn''t have the shy Adventurer System, then Maia would probably be able to catch up to him in a few years. It seems that she was even more talented than their mother. However, although her current progress satisfied him, it wasn''t enough for her to achieve a high rank during the assessment one year from now. Thus, Shye decided to properly think about what skillbinations would suit her fighting style and which elixirs would help her grow the fastest. She already had the best possible attitude of an adventurer anyway so as long as she could raise her strength, she was bound to achieve something in life. Maia wanted to continue sparring with her big brother but unfortunately, their time was up and since Shye already got the information that he needed from Maia, there was no point in continuing for now. The siblings didn''t wait for the staff and left the establishment a few minutes before their time was up. Since Maia got beaten up pretty badly today, Shye decided to have lunch together with her in a fancy restaurant to cheer her up even though she was obviously happy even after losing seven rounds of sparring against her big brother. He didn''t hold back at all and ordered everything that Maia wanted since they could just request the restaurant staff members to pack the food if they couldn''t finish it anyway so there was no problem ordering a few extra dishes in exchange for his little sister''s smiling face. After waiting for a few minutes, seafood dishes, meat dishes, vegetables, rice, and a sweet dessert were served on their table which made Maia''s eyes sparkle in delight. "Thank you for the food!" ... ... The two of them went back to the dormitory after a fantastic meal at a fancy restaurant and to Shye''s surprise, the two of them managed to finish everything that they ordered even though it looked a bit too excessive at the beginning. Once they returned to the dormitory, Maia felt sleepy and immediately went back to her room to rest. It seems that she underestimated the fatigue of engaging in seven straight sparring sessions. Not to mention, she was beaten up pretty badly every time. As for Shye, he returned to his room to ponder and purchase everything that Maia needed to achieve a high rank in the Colzen Adventurer Academy entrance exam one year from now. After hours of thorough consideration, Shye purchased two skills for Maia which cost him 1000 points. He wanted to purchase three skills for her but unfortunately, his points weren''t enough for now. In addition to this, he still had to purchase elixirs for Maia so he decided to purchase two skills for now. The skills he chose were [Blink Strike Lv.1] and [Footwork Lv.1]. Shye believes that these two skills wouldplement his little sister''s way too aggressive fighting style and would help her achieve a high rank in the third assessment of the entrance exam. There was still one skill he wanted to purchase for her and he still had one more year so he could probably purchase it before Maia''s entrance exam. After spending all his points purchasing skill books and elixirs, Shye went to sleep. Tomorrow was a big day not only for him but also for the entire Colzen Adventurer Academy. This is because tomorrow, the chosen participants for the Adventurer Academy Competition will be announced. In addition to this, a few people from each year level would be chosen to apany the participants to expand their horizons and gain a bit of experience. Of course, the few people who will be chosen by the academy are those who have the skills to be future participants in the saidpetition. After a good night''s sleep, Shye excitedly went to school. Although he had the ss exemption pass, he decided to go to school today because not only did he want to know who the chosen fourth-year students were, but he was also expecting that his name would be called as one of the chosen first-year students who would apany the participants to watch the said event. Chapter 69: Colzen Adventurer Academy’s Representatives

Chapter 69: Colzen Adventurer Academy¡¯s Representatives

Just a few minutester, Shye arrived inside the ssroom. However, he was shocked to find that there was no one inside. Fortunately, Shirley left a note on his seat saying that everyone was ordered to assemble in front of the grand stage today for a huge announcement. Since Shye rarely attended lectures, he wasn''t updated regarding the exact arrangements of the school so he was quite lucky that he had a girlfriend who regrly gave him updates regarding the academy''s arrangements. After being informed through the note that the ss was to assemble in front of the grand stage, Shye immediately turned around and left the ssroom. Fortunately for him, the grand stage wasn''t that far from the warrior course building so he was only five minuteste when he arrived. He then sat beside Shirley while waiting for the huge announcement from the four deans. Finally, after a few more minutes, Dean Evelyn Privett, the dean of the mage course stepped forward and began the important announcement. "Students, today is a once-a-year important day for the entire Colzen Adventurer Academy. As you all know, the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition will start one and a half months from now." "As an Adventurer Academy established in the said region, we are required to select the six most outstanding fourth-year students from our academy to represent us in the uingpetition." "Once I call your name, it means you are one of the chosen representatives of the academy. Raise your head high and walk proudly towards the stage." "From the warrior course, fourth-year student Allyson ire!" The crowd erupted into cheers, especially the male students. Allyson ire, one of the four beauties of the academy was chosen as a warrior representative. The first-year students felt their hairs stand on end because this was the first time they heard the entire academy''s passionate cheers. Previously, although the outsiders cheered for them in the end-of-semester tournament, they were simply cheering after watching a great show but the second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students didn''t cheer too passionately. However, this time, their passionate cheers resounded throughout the entire academy as they entrusted their dreams and pride as a Colzen Adventurer Academy student to the hands of the six most outstanding students. Even Shye couldn''t help but feel goosebumps due to how passionate the cheers of their upperssmen were. All of the first-year students were soon infected and they also cheered at the top of their lungs. Dean Privett watched with a smile on her face and didn''t stop the cheers at all because this was a glorious moment for this year''s six most outstanding students. It took at least five minutes of continuous cheering before the cheers gradually stopped, only then did Dean Privett call the next student. "The second representative of the warrior course, fourth-year student, Ral Petrov!" Again, everyone cheered wildly. Although the cheers weren''t as loud as when one of the four beauties was called, it was still way louderpared to the end-of-semester tournament. Even the first-year students recognize the faces of these outstanding individuals due to how often they were featured in Colzen City''s newspapers. "From the mage course, fourth-year student Giovanni Covenpeak!" "From the archer course, fourth-year student Shin Fernandez!" Shye cheered as loudly as any other student every time a fourth-year student was called but hearing the name of the next student left him dumbstruck. "From the scout course, fourth-year student Ren Beckmann!" He was stupefied for a few seconds before he stood up and cheered so loud that his ssmates were shocked. Although they knew that their captain wasn''t someone who hid his emotions, they were a bit puzzled about why he cheered so loudly for the scout course student when they were from the warrior course. However, after a few seconds, they realized that this student, Ren Beckmann, was from the same society as Shye so they also cheered loudly for him. Ren believed that he would be fairly unknownpared to the other students because the fact that he challenged the 1st-ranked scout student, Mon Lothar, for the scout course slot one month ago was kept under wraps by the academy. After a few seconds of stunned silence, the crowd cheered so loud that Ren Beckmann was surprised, he couldn''t believe that the cheers for him were so loud that it was second only to Allyson ire''s He scanned the crowd to see which year-level was cheering for him the most and he was surprised to see that the first-year warrior course students were among those who were cheering for him the loudest. Ren was a bit puzzled at first but upon seeing Shye passionately cheering for him, he immediately understood why. Shye, as the strongest first-year warrior course student, infected the entire warrior freshmen students with his passionate cheering to the point that they also started to cheer for him even though they didn''t actually know him. His heart felt warm as he bowed towards the crowd, clenched his fists, and vowed to himself to not let Colzen Adventurer Academy down. Chapter 70: The “Substitute†Representative

Chapter 70: The ¡°Substitute¡± Representative

What the first-year students didn''t know was, that thest representative was considered as a "substitute student" and that this "substitute" coulde from any year level. In addition to this, most of the students who were chosen as the substitute representatives were the best third-year students in all four courses. This was because the substitute students rarely ever got the chance to fight and they were mostly there to observe and gain experience from a representative''s point of view so that next year, when their actual turnes, they would be able to calmly lead the other representative students. This means that the substitute representative was also next year''s leading representative and that''s how it usually goes every year. Although there were some rare cases where truly gifted second-year students were chosen as the substitute representative, there weren''t any cases of a first-year student bing the substitute representative. "Everyone, a round of apuse for this year''s representatives!" Dean Privett said as she smiled and gracefully pped her hands for a few seconds. Once the pping noises died down, Dean Privett walked forward again with a graceful smile on her face. "Now, as most of you know, thest representative is the substitute representative and although the substitute representative rarely has a chance to fight, he should be ready at all times. In addition to this, the substitute representative is tasked to lead the future representatives of Colzen Adventurer Academy." "If your name is called, it means you are the pir of the future representatives. Observe the battles closely and learn everything you can! Combat techniques, formations, teamwork, skillbinations, and many more.`` "The future of Colzen Adventurer Academy is in your hands! Although many may doubt your capabilities now, hold your head high because the academy entrusts its future to you!" "From the warrior course, first-year student, Shye Crowley!" Shye''s eyes almost popped from their sockets due to how shocked he was after hearing that he was the substitute representative. He expected that he would be included in the list of first-year students who would apany the representatives and watch from the crowd but he never would have dreamt that he would be watching them fight from the representatives'' point of view. Not only Shye, but everyone forgot to cheer as all of them were stupefied by the announcement. This was the first time that a first-year student was chosen as the substitute representative in the entire history of Colzen Adventurer Academy so everyone was struggling to gather their wits. The first ones who managed to snap back to reality were Shye''s ssmates who roared their throats out as they cheered wildly for their captain. Their cheers started a chain reaction which made almost all the first-year students across all four courses cheer wildly for him. On the other hand, the strongest second-year and third-year students gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists in defiance. They refused to believe that this first-year student got thest slot as if they, the top students of their generation, weren''t even in the eyes of the deans. As a result, only the first-year students and a small number of second-year, third-year, and fourth-year students cheered for Shye. However, Shye couldn''t even bring himself to care about how loud the cheers were. Until now, he couldn''t believe that he, a first-year student, would be a representative as well. Fortunately, the ever-reliable Instructor Fienna gave him one solid whack on the back of his head which snapped him back to reality. Dean Snowcrest couldn''t help but let out a chuckle after seeing Shye''s reaction. Although the four deans agreed on sending Shye as the substitute representative, they were met with a lot of resistance from the conservative instructors. In their opinion, sending the top third-year students would be the best course of action. However, the deans knew that the next two generations of students after Ren Beckmann''s generation were very mediocre and it was highly likely that their academy wouldn''t be able to achieve anything during the next two adventurer academypetitions. Fortunately, Shye''s generation, considered the new golden generation by the deans, was the greatest lineup of geniuses that they had in the entire history of Colzen Adventurer Academy. Even the generation who achieved the top 64 spot wasn''t even close to how talented Shye''s generation was. This is why, although harsh, the deans decided to minimize their support for the next two generations and bet it all on Shye''s generation for a chance to be the top academy in Valenzia Region. Even if they fail to hold the position after Shye''s generation graduates, a single year of being one of the top three academies in Valenzia Region will allow them to receive a massive budget from the World Adventurer Association which would forever let them escape the fate of being a mediocre academy. Unless the next generation of deans and instructors were incredibly ipetent, it would be hard for them to not achieve at least the top 64. Of course, the pre-requisite for this to happen is that Shye''s generation must grab one of the top three spots in Valenzia. It was easier said than done though, even their previous "golden generation" was only able to achieve the top 64. They could do nothing but hope that Shye''s generation would let them escape the fate of mediocrity. Finally, after another round of apuse from the audience, Shye and the other five representatives returned to their seats as Dean Privett began announcing the names of thepanions who would be able to go with the representatives to watch the matches from the crowd''s point of view. As expected, it was the top six students of each generation. For the first-year students, the six students who will apany the representatives were: First-year warrior course, Siegfried Lionheart First-year mage course, David Houdini First-year mage course, Harry Copperfield First-year archer course, Kiin Wujin First-year scout course, Ian Izanagi Then, thest spot went to the genius freshman priestess who is currently being nurtured in the Colzen Monastery. Shye and the other five students haven''t even seen this teammate of theirs yet so they hoped that they would be able to see her this time. "That''s all for today''s announcement. Although we are only able to send the cream of the crop to thepetition venue, I hope that everyone would wholeheartedly support our representatives from behind your television screens." "As for the representatives, please im your Colzen Adventurer Academy core student uniform from your respective dean''s offices and immediately prepare your belongings. We shall leave in two days. That''s all from me, dismissed!" Chapter 71: Unconvinced Second-Year Students

Chapter 71: Unconvinced Second-Year Students

After the announcement ceremony, Shye was swarmed by his ssmates. Heck, even those who weren''t that close to him joined the fun and wished him good luck in the adventurer academypetition. It was only after a few chaotic minutes passed that Shye was able to go to the dean''s office to im his core student uniform from Dean Snowcrest. Dean Snowcrest spoke a few inspirational words and reminders before giving him his core student uniform and allowing him to leave his office. Shye happily walked back to his dormitory while admiring his core student uniform. He never even dreamt that he would get one as a freshman in the academy so the whole thing of him being the substitute representative still felt a bit surreal to him. However, some people were bound to be unhappy after the unexpected announcement from the deans. On the way back to his dormitory, a few second-year students stood in his way with clenched fists. These were the top second-year students who refused to believe that Shye deserved the spot more than them. Fortunately for Shye, although unsatisfied with the current arrangements, the third-year students were mature enough to swallow the bitter pill so they didn''t challenge him. In addition to this, they also believed that Shye was more talented than them so although a bit painful, they chose to give way. However, the second-year students weren''t as mature as the third-year students and they couldn''t stand Shye overshadowing them. In their minds, they were also just as talented so they couldn''t ept the fact that Shye was chosen instead of them or the third-year students. Hence, they stood in his path to teach him a lesson that there is always a queue and that a person must line up before getting his turn. "Crowley, we''ve watched some of your matches and I agree that you might be a bit more talentedpared to us. However, I do not believe that your talent is so great to the point that you can skip the queue." "You''re lucky that the third years were mature enough to let you go but unfortunately for you, we''re still quite hot-blooded. Do you have the guts to fight me in a duel? If I win, give me the slot. What do you say?" Shye recognized the guy who spoke, he was the best among all the second-year students, scout course 1st-ranked Havan Lestor. Shye''s eyes narrowed into slits after hearing the challenge of the second-year student, Havan. It just so happens that he also needed to test his current capabilities after training for five and a half months inside the intermediate adventurer zone. He expected that he would be challenged by someone sooner orter due to the unexpected decision of the deans so Shye wasn''t really that surprised. Even if the opponent was a third-year student, Shye had no intentions of backing down so there''s no way that he would be intimidated by this second-year student. On the contrary, he felt excited. This guy seems to be the perfect opponent for him to test his current capabilities. However, Shye wasn''t someone who would do something without benefits and since his opponent was the first one to suggest wagers, he would be happy toply. "Sure, I''ll fight you." Shye replied After hearing that Shye was willing to fight him in a duel, Havan inwardly rejoiced. If Shye declines the duel, then there would be no chance for him to take the substitute representative spot. "However, doesn''t a wager go both ways? You want the substitute representative spot if you win but what do I get when I win?" Havan was stupefied for a few seconds before his smile became even wider. "Hahaha! Do you actually think you can win against me? Very well, state your conditions." On the other hand, Shye showed them a serious facial expression while inwardlyughing because these were the words he wanted to hear from Havan. Even if he loses here, all he would give up is the substitute representative spot, he had plenty of chances in the future to be the substitute representative but this was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to earn something from the pockets of the richest second-year students. "What I want is simple...give me five thousand silver coins if I win!" Havan''s eyes widened after hearing Shye''s outrageous demand. Even if he was the top second-year student, there was no way he would have five thousand silver coins on him. However, just as he was about tosh out at Shye, an idea popped up into his head. "Hmm? Maybe he''s just scared and he wants me to back off by demanding outrageous amounts of silver coins?" Havan thought to himself. Although he doesn''t have 5000 silver coins on him, he has at least one thousand and three hundred silver coins. If the other second-year students chip in, then they would be able to afford the five thousand silver coin wager. Havan suddenly turned around and huddled with the other second-year students which left Shye a little confused. "Guys, lend me your silver coins, there''s no way I would lose to someone a year younger than me and if I manage to obtain the substitute representative spot, I would owe you a favor, how''s that?" Havan said "What?! Why use our silver coins?! What if you lose?" "That''s right! How will you pay us if you lose?" The other second-year students replied. "Are you guys stupid?! How will I lose to someone a year younger than me?! Didn''t I defeat all of you?! Do you guys think that you will lose to this guy?" Havan tried to convince them by targeting their sore spots. "Absolutely not! No way I''ll lose to this guy!" "Me? Lose against this guy? Fat chance!" The other second-year students retorted. "See? Then how will I lose to him if even you guys won''t lose?! Just lend me the money and once I get the substitute representative spot, you can call me to help you on a quest or something." After a few more minutes, Havan finally convinced the other second-year students and threw a huge sack containing 5000 silver coins on the ground. "There, 5000 silver coins. If you win, you get the silver coins, however, if you lose...hehehe..." Chapter 72: Duel for the Substitute Representative Spot

Chapter 72: Duel for the Substitute Representative Spot

"Dean Snowcrest, should we stop them?" "No, this is bound to happen and Crowley must defend his spot. If he couldn''t even defend his spot against someone less talented than him, then perhaps it is indeed a bit too early for him to be the substitute representative." On the highest floor of the warrior course building, Instructor Fienna and Dean Snowcrest were having a conversation while observing everything that was happening between Shye and the second-year students. They already knew that Shye would receive a challenge from the unconvinced students. However, Dean Snowcrest decided that they should give a chance to the sophomores because he felt a bit guilty regarding their decision to give up on them. The generation of the second-year and third-year students was a bitcking when it came to talent so the deans didn''t believe that they could achieve a high ranking in the Adventurer Academy Competition. Hence, the deans decided to focus on grooming Shye''s generation. In addition to this reason, Dean Snowcrest knew that a warrior must be courageous and defiant in the face of strong adversaries so if Shye didn''t even dare to ept the duel, Dean Snowcrest would be incredibly disappointed. Fortunately, Shye didn''t let him down and epted the duel. Meanwhile, Havan and the other sophomores led Shye towards the dueling stage and they purposefully spread the word regarding the duel to destroy Shye''s reputation once he lost to Havan. "Hey! Did you hear about it? Havan challenged the freshman who was selected as the substitute representative to a duel!" "What?! This is big! Where are they fighting?" "They''re headed towards the Colzen dueling stage! Let''s go! I don''t want to miss this action." One of Shye''s ssmates heard the conversations of the other second-year students and he was shocked upon hearing that their captain was challenged to a duel by the top second-year student. He hurriedly gathered all of their ssmates including Shirley and Anthony to cheer for Shye. Upon arriving at the Colzen dueling stage, their eyes widened after seeing the unfamiliar scene. Their captain, Shye Crowley, was being beaten to a pulp by Havan. "Captain!" "Crowley!" After hearing his ssmates call out to him worriedly, Shye clicked his tongue. "How did these guys learn about the duel so fast...Shit...I look so uncool right now..." Shye muttered to himself as he struggled to stand up. However, there wasn''t a hint of panic on his face as if everything that was happening was under his control. It''s the truth though because after experiencing Havan''s raw strength, he was...a bit disappointed. Shye understood that scouts mostly train their agility and dexterity but who would''ve thought that the top second-year student would be so weak? If the two of them were fighting with real weapons, he might have a chance against Shye but they were using wooden weapons for the duel so although Shye was getting thrashed around, he wasn''t really hurt. It''s just that...he looked so pathetic right now. On the contrary, Shye decided to use this chance to improve his vitality attribute and after forty-five minutes of a one-sided beatdown, Shye earned three points in vitality. Upgrading his attributes cost quite a lot of points now so getting three free points in vitality is huge for him. "Hahahahaha! Is this the best first-year student?! Pathetic!" On the other hand, Havan was having a great time beating Shye up while showing off to the crowd who was starting to feel bad for Shye. Of course, some people wereughing at his "misfortune" and they openly mocked him saying words such as "He deserves it for being so arrogant!" and "That''s what you get for not knowing your ce!" Shye didn''t care about their insults at all though because he was satisfied after earning three points in vitality which now costs 150 points per upgrade. Due to the beatdown, Shye was able to save a whopping 450 points. However, he also noticed that his body was starting to ache so Shye decided to finish the match and take the 5000 silver coins for himself. He quickly used his killerbo of [Stoic Lv.2] + [Power sh Lv.2] but it seems that Havan was already aware of his skills and had some counter skills prepared to defeat Shye. Havan expected that Shye would willingly receive his [Bloody Stab Lv.2] skill using his [Stoic Lv.2] skill before catching him off guard with a [Power sh Lv.2]. However, Havan quickly activated his skill [Parry Lv.2] to deflect Shye''s [Power sh Lv.2] before falling back andughing. "Hahahaha! Now that you don''t have your skill, [Power sh Lv.2], how will you defeat m¨C?!" While Havan was talking shit, Shye quickly activated his [Dash Lv.2] skill and followed it up with one of his new skills, [Destructive Chop Lv.1]. Although he was quite arrogant and a bbermouth, Havan was still the top-ranked second-year student so he was able to react on time and narrowly avoid Shye''s unexpectedbination by using the trump card that he was hiding, [Sparrow Step Lv.1]. Havan''s skill allowed him to quickly step back and narrowly dodge Shye''s [Destructive Chop Lv.1]. "Hahahaha! I admit that you almost got me there, howev¨C?!" *BANG* Havan thought that he had already escaped from Shye''s clutches but who would''ve known that he had another skill? Shye used his new skill, [Rush Stab Lv.1], to quickly close the gap and send Havan flying out of the stage, unconscious. The mages and archer students gulped upon seeing Shye stick to his opponent like glue. As archers and mages, they had to keep their distance for them to win but could they escape against such a warrior who suddenly dashed two times in a row? Even his teammates who watched the match, Kiin Wujin, David Houdini, and Harry Copperfield broke out in a cold sweat after seeing his full power. If they were in Havan''s situation, they believed that they wouldn''t be able to escape from him as well. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 450 points!] Meanwhile, Shye, the victor of the duel, simply took the huge sack containing 5000 silver coins and happily walked back towards his dormitory leaving a dumbstruck audience. Chapter 73: Valenzia City, The City of Dreams

Chapter 73: Valenzia City, The City of Dreams

It has been a month since Colzen Adventurer Academy''s representatives left the academy with a few chosen instructors and Dean Snowcrest as the leader of their entourage. The representatives left a bit earlier than the chosenpanions because they would still have to register for thepetition. Finally, after a long journey with multiple rest stops in different cities, the Colzen representatives arrived at the venue of the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition, Valenzia City. The World Adventurer Association''s Headquarters in the Valenzia Region was located in Valenzia City so to preventints from the other adventurer academies, the World Adventurer Association (WAA) decided that no adventurer academy would be established in Valenzia City. Instead, Valenzia City would be the venue for the Adventurer Academy Competition every year. Upon arriving at the gates, Shye was awestruck. Just the city gates alone showed him how small Colzen City waspared to Valenzia City. ording to his estimates, Valenzia City was at least ten times bigger than Colzen City. It was understandable though since it was the central hub of the top adventurer guilds of Valenzia Region. In addition to this, Valenzia City was the most advanced city that Shye had ever seen and even those huge cities where they stopped by were nothingpared to how advanced and luxurious Valenzia City was. Once their entourage was granted entry, Shye was even more awestruck. Even the fourth-year students who have been here before couldn''t help but appreciate Valenzia City again. Main branches of prominent shops, headquarters of the top adventurer guilds, wide streets that could amodate tenrge carriages side by side, loads of people wearing luxurious clothing, and many more. Shye felt like Valenzia City was the "City of Dreams" and he couldn''t help but clench his fists and vow to return here someday on his own. Even the fourth-year students repeatedly vow to themselves to return here in the future. However, it was easier said than done. The cost of living here is astronomically high and even Shye''s parents who were already diamond-ranked adventurers couldn''t afford to live here and had to settle down in Colzen City to be able to give Shye and Maia everything they needed without breaking the bank. In addition to this, you have to obtain a Valenzia pass before you can go in and out of the city or stay inside for as long as you like. For visitors, Valenzia City issues a visitor''s badge which could be purchased for 200 silver coins and this visitor''s badge would only allow you to stay inside for two days. Every time your visitor''s badge expires, you have to get out of the city and purchase another one for another 200 silver coins. Just from this rule, it can be concluded that Valenzia City was a premium city for premium adventurers who could afford premium lifestyles. This is the reason why all of the adventurers in the Valenzia Region dream of obtaining a Valenzia pass. Unfortunately, 90 percent of the adventurers in Valenzia Region could only dream and there was no hope for them to ever stay inside Valenzia City for a long time. For example, the adventurers outside the intermediate adventurer zone near Colzen City would never have a chance to obtain a Valenzia pass. All they could afford was the visitor''s pass and even if they could get inside, it would be hard for them to afford a room they could stay in for two days. In addition to this, there was no way for these adventurers to afford food inside a restaurant in Valenzia City so even if they managed to enter using the visitor''s pass they could only sightsee inside the city. Even Shye and Maia''s parents would have to use their silver coins sparingly whenever they visited Valenzia City for an important agenda. Finally, after another hour, they arrived at the inn designated for Colzen Adventurer Academy and of course, the World Adventurer Association (WAA) would pay for their amodation. However, Colzen Adventurer Academy would have to pay for half of the amodation fees of thepanions. The inn designated for them was way fancierpared to the inns inside Colzen City but among all the inns inside Valenzia City, their inn could only bebeled as mediocre. Shye and the other representatives chatted with each other while waiting for Dean Snowcrest to settle the paperwork required for them to be able to stay at the inn. During their long journey, Shye found out that most of the fourth-year students were kind and there wasn''t an ounce of arrogance in them. He thought that his Senior Ren was already one of a kind but it seemed like most of the fourth-year students had pleasant dispositions unlike most of the freshmen students. The reason why the fourth-year students were like this was because they were humbled by their experiences during their four years inside the academy and they had already been pped by the reality that they were nothing special at all and that there were many people as strong as them or even stronger than them. Finally, after half an hour, Dean Snowcrest finished the required paperwork and the inn staff led them to their respective rooms. The representatives of course get one room each but thepanions would have to share the rooms among themselves to save as many silver coins as possible. Chapter 74: Shadowglade Academy

Chapter 74: Shadowde Academy

There are still three days left before thepetition starts and all the registration stuff has already been finished by Dean Snowcrest. The representatives andpanions have nothing to do while waiting so the dean allowed them to walk around the city after a few reminders. Shye decided to go out of the inn to look around the city so he walked towards the room of the first-yearpanions. He knocked before opening the door and upon seeing that most of them were still asleep while Siegfried was nowhere to be found, Shye closed the door and decided to go alone. While walking around, Shye wondered about what rank of adventurer could afford to live in such a luxurious city when suddenly, he stumbled upon a unique adventurer guild headquarters. A huge and luxurious signboard which had a wild feel to it was hung in front of the headquarters entrance and the words "Raven''s de Adventurer Guild" were written on it. What surprised him was, that the headquarters had the same unique shape as the Order of the ck Sword''s headquarters back in Colzen City. Although the quality of both the materials and architecture were utterly iparable, Shye felt familiar vibes after seeing the headquarters of the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild so he couldn''t help but wonder if there was a connection between the two. "Heh! Look, isn''t this guy a first-year student? Are Colzen Academy''s students so untalented that they had to pick some random freshman as a representative? Laughable!" "Hahahaha! Yo, Bernard, chill out, you''re scaring the poor freshman..." Shye was forced to snap back to reality after hearing mocking voices behind him so he turned around to see who spoke. His eyes narrowed into slits upon recognizing that the students were from Shadowde Adventurer Academy. Shye remembered their conversations while on the way to Valenzia City where Dean Snowcrest told them that three academies had bad blood with Colzen Adventurer Academy. These three academies were Shadowde Adventurer Academy, Orion Adventurer Academy, and finally, An Adventurer Academy. Although Colzen Adventurer Academy and An Adventurer Academy weren''t on the same level at all, the reason for the bad blood was that someone from the old golden generation of Colzen Adventurer Academy somehow managed to defeat a student from An Adventurer Academy. The other students and the instructors of An Adventurer Academy couldn''t ept the fact that they lost one battle to a mediocre academy like Colzen so the other An students retaliated when it was their turn to fight and excessively beat up the other students of Colzen Adventurer Academy. One Colzen Academy student even lost his life on the stage. Unfortunately, it was Colzen who always ended up on the losing side of this conflict between the two academies. Every year, An Adventurer Academy finds a way to humiliate Colzen Adventurer Academy even if they don''t get matched up in thepetition brackets. On the other hand, the rivalry between Colzen, Shadowde, and Orion Adventurer Academies was born due to these three academies regrly fighting each other for a spot in the top 64. However, during the recent years, Colzen Academy struggled to find sess in the Adventurer Academy Competition so the students of Shadowde Academy and Orion Academy started to bully and suppress Colzen Academy students. Shye knew that he was simply unlucky to run into this group of Shadowde Academy students who were trying to humiliate him. "Hmm? Merepanion students dare to mock me? A representative? Aren''t you guys a bit too cocky for some random characters who are only here to watch me fight?" Of course, Shye wasn''t someone who would take an insult lying down, especially from students who weren''t even representatives. Veins popped on the heads of the Shadowde Academypanion students. Due to the recent bad performance of Colzen Adventurer Academy, these Shadowde Academy students couldn''t stand the fact that a freshman representative of their rival academy dared to talk back to them who were second-year students. Even though they were onlypanion students, they believed that they could beat the crap out of this arrogant freshman student who was probably the substitute representative. *SHING* The leader of the second-yearpanion students from Shadowde Academy drew his sword and pointed it at Shye which meant that he was challenging him to a duel to the death. In Valenzia City, duels to the death were allowed as long as they went through the proper challenge-and-ept process. If Shye points his sword toward this student from Shadowde Academy, it means that he epted the deathmatch. Students from other academies and other professional adventurers were attracted by themotion caused by the Shadowde students so they started to form a circle with Shye and the other student in the middle even though Shye hasn''t epted the duel yet. This development made it hard for him to reject the duel because if he did, the crowd would be disappointed and he would bebeled as a cowardly representative who backed down against apanion student. However, how could Shye let go of a precious chance to earn system points? Not to mention, he already defeated Havan, the top-ranked second-year student in Colzen Academy and although it was unknown if this guy was stronger than Havan, it didn''t even matter to him because he simply toyed with Havan and made him a vitality point generator. Shye dramatically pulled out his greatsword, the Nightbringer from the sword strap on his back and pointed it towards the Shadowde student as the crowd erupted into cheers. The death match was on. Chapter 75: A Prancing Clown

Chapter 75: A Prancing Clown

"Hahahaha! Bernard! This is your chance! I believe the instructors will reward you if you manage to kill this guy and humiliate Colzen Academy!" "Yeah! Hahahaha! Bernard, make sure to humiliate this guy before ending his life!" The otherpanion students of Shadowde Academy cheered for their schoolmate, Bernard, with excited smiles on their faces. In their minds, a first-year student epting a life-and-death duel against a second-year student was a purely stupid decision. They didn''t doubt in their minds that Bernard would end this substitute representative''s life and humiliate Colzen Academy. Who knows? They might even get a few rewards for inciting this duel. Bernard smiled confidently as hezily got into his battle stance. He didn''t think that Shye could threaten him at all. On the other hand, Shye sneered inwardly. He also didn''t think that this Bernard guy could pose a threat to him. He didn''t even think that he needed to reveal his dual wielding against this guy. Meanwhile, the professional adventurers who were at least diamond-ranked and above watched the duel with interest. Duels to the death were umon among top-tier adventurers since all of them focused on their quests while ignoring those from other adventurer guilds most of the time. In addition to this, top-tier adventurers didn''t want to ruin their reputations by having a duel to the death inside the city so they preferred fighting outside and that''s why they watched Shye and Bernard''s duel with intrigue. After a few more seconds, the duel to the death finally began. Bernard was also a warrior like Shye so their duel was pretty straightforward and they charged straight at each other, however, they had different intentions. Shye wanted to probe his opponent but Bernard directly wanted to overwhelm Shye with raw strength even though he didn''t know how strong Shye was. As a result, Shye easily managed to pull back his attack and dodge Bernard''s full-powered blow. Then, after dodging Bernard''s excessively wide sh, Shye managed tond a deep cut on Bernard''s right leg. In a duel to the death, being wounded in the leg is fatal since it would be hard for the wounded person to move around and dodge which means Bernard was now a fish on the chopping board. "AGGHH!" "Bernard!" Bernard groaned loudly in pain and his schoolmates called out to him worriedly. They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. In Shadowde Academy, the first-year students respected the second-years because the top-ranked first-year knew that he couldn''t defeat any of the top-ranked second-year students so they broke out in a cold sweat upon realizing that Bernard was in danger. On the other hand, the professional adventurers and the students from other academies were disappointed. After bragging so much, this Bernard guy was already on the verge of losing to a student a year younger than him. Bernard realized that the crowd was starting to think of him as a prancing clown so he failed to make a rational decision due to how humiliated and enraged he was. He immediately used his killingbination to avenge the humiliation he suffered after just a single sh. Bernard used [Dash Lv.2] to suddenly appear in front of Shye then used [Pierce Strike Lv.2] to try and kill Shye in one hit. *SPURT* Bernard''s attack proved to have strong piercing capabilities because Shye bled even after using [Stoic Lv.2], however, as Shye expected, Bernard''s attack wasn''t enough to kill him so he immediately retaliated with [Power sh Lv.2] "NO!!" Bernard screamed in despair after seeing Shye''s greatsword directly heading towards him but he refused to die so even if it hurt like hell, he desperately tried to dodge. However, how could his desperate maneuvers let him escape unscathed? His entire left arm separated from his body as he screamed louder due to how painful it was. "ARRRRGHHHHH!!" "STOP!!" "BERNARD!!" The other students from Shadowde Academy charged forward to try and save their schoolmate but they were too slow. Fortunately for Bernard, just when Shye''s greatsword almost cut him in half, an instructor from Shadowde Academy appeared and deflected his killing blow. *CLANG* Shye managed to hold on to his sword but he was sent sliding a few meters back. "How ruthless! Still so young but already so merciless! The world should get rid of scourges like you to prevent future problems!" The instructor from Shadowdes Academy charged toward Shye to kill him on the spot when suddenly, he was sent flying by an instructor from Colzen Academy. "Instructor Fienna!" Shye eximed with a slight smile on his face. He was racking his brains to look for a way out of this sticky situation but luckily, Instructor Fienna not only saved him on time, but she even humiliated the other academy''s instructor who was forced to retreat after recognizing her. "Tch! Fienna Evans! It''s always you! You better pray that our academies don''t get matched up! Our current generation of representatives will surely destroy yours like always!" The other instructor threatened before hastily leaving the area together with the otherpanion students. "Hmmph! bber all you want, our current generation is as equally talented as our previous golden generation, it''s you guys who should pray that our two academies don''t get matched up." Instructor Fienna muttered to herself as she watched the Shadowde Academy group leave the area like defeated dogs. Chapter 76: Valenzia Region’s Adventurer Academy Competition Begins!

Chapter 76: Valenzia Region¡¯s Adventurer Academy Competition Begins!

Shye was quite happy after earning 320 points from the duel three days ago. Although 320 system points aren''t that much, it was enough to increase his attributes by a few points. Although it was highly unlikely that he would have to fight in thepetition, he had to make preparations just in case. After spending all the points he earned from his duels against Havan and Bernard, Shye looked at status and nodded in satisfaction Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 38 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.2][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.2] [Destructive Chop Lv.1] [Rush Stab Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 59] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 55] [Dexterity : 55] [Stamina : 23] [Vitality : 50]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye doubted that he would be able to win but he was fairly confident that he could put up a fight against the third-year or fourth-year students and not embarrass Colzen Academy. Finally, after a few more minutes, Dean Snowcrest ordered the instructors to call the representatives and thepanion students, then, once everyone was ready, they left the inn and headed towards the enormous arena in the middle of Valenzia City. Upon arriving, Dean Snowcrest immediately showed the guards the appropriate paperwork and led Colzen Academy''s group toward their respective seats. Shye was awestruck again after seeing how enormous the arena was. There were hundreds of small battle stages and four medium-sized stages surrounding a single huge stage in the middle of the arena. As you progress through thepetition, your academy gets to fight on bigger stages, gain the attention of the audience, and make your academy even more famous to attract more talent in the future. After an hour of waiting, Valenzia Region''s most famous MC, Ivy Collins, walked up the center stage and announced the start of the Adventurer Academy Competition. Unlike thepetitions inside their academy, there was a designated holographic bracket board for every academy wherein the representatives would be able to see the academy that they would be fighting next. In addition to this, the holographic bracket board automatically updates every time an academy advances deeper into thepetition. The setup for each academy was, that thepanion students of each academy were assigned to sit directly behind their representatives, however, they were seated in the audience''s seats while the representatives had designated academy stations inside the arena, beside the small stages. Although the academy station assigned to Colzen Academy was mediocre, they had no right toin because ranks decide everything. If they want fancier and eye-catching stations next year, they have to achieve a higher rank in this year''spetition. Finally, after all of the representatives, instructors, and deans had settled down at their designated academy stations, the holographic bracket boards lit up and disyed the currentpetition bracket. Dean Snowcrest''s brows furrowed upon seeing that they were in bracket D together with An Academy and Shadowde Academy. If nothing goes wrong and they manage to win their first three matches, then they would have to face Shadowde Academy and win before they could get a spot in the top 64 but unfortunately, if they want to progress further and achieve the top 32, they have to fight against An Academy and win. Dean Snowcrest and the instructors were fairly confident in the abilities of the current batch of representatives. They knew that their current representatives rivaled the talents of the previous golden generation who managed to get a spot in the top 64. However, although they were fairly confident that they could fight toe-to-toe against the Shadowde Academy this year, An Academy is an entirely different matter. Unless the current batch of An representatives were among the most ipetent batches in the history of their academy, Colzen Academy would find it difficult to win against them. After a few more minutes, the staff member who was assigned to assist the Colzen Academy''s representatives walked closer and told Dean Snowcrest that it was time for their first match. Dean Snowcrest gave Shye and the other representatives a deep look and said "Go, the entire Colzen City is behind you, fight to your heart''s content, and don''t leave any room for regrets!" Shye and the other representatives looked at Dean Snowcrest and nodded with a determined look before following the staff member towards the designated stage of their first match. Chapter 77: The Prowess of Colzen Academy

Chapter 77: The Prowess of Colzen Academy

Upon arriving at the stage, their opponents looked at them with determined looks on their faces. Their first opponent was Archelion Adventurer Academy who''s one of the lowest-ranked academies in the entire Valenzia Region. After finding out that Colzen Academy was their first opponent, Archelion Academy dared to hope that perhaps, they would get the win against Colzen who started to rank lower and lower in thepetition in the past few years. This batch of students was the golden generation of Archelion Academy so they hoped to at least achieve a top 128 finish in this year''s tournament which would give them the capital to start growing and at least be a mediocre academy. Currently, people think that Archelion Academy is utter trash so they wanted to change that impression this year by defeating a fairly known but mediocre Colzen Academy. The format of each match was two rounds of one-on-one matches followed by a two-on-two match, then a three-on-three match. In the event that the two academies get two wins each, the substitute representatives will fight in a one-on-one match which will decide the winner of the match. In addition to this, an academy can choose one representative to fight twice but the one marked as the strongest representative can only fight once. The reason why substitute representative matches were rare in the mediocre and low-ranked academies was because the battles were usually one-sided and ended with a 3-1 or 3-0 match record. On the other hand, top-ranked academies usually engage in neck-and-neck battles which alwayses down to the battle of the substitute representatives. This is the reason why the top-ranked academies didn''t dare to put third-year students or below as substitute representatives. In addition to this, the approach of the top-ranked academies was different from the mediocre academies such as Colzen Academy. Things such as "get experience to get a higher ranking next year" aren''t eptable to them because they were already at the top. What''s important to these academies was to get the rank 1 spot for their academies every year so they couldn''t afford to risk losing a match just for the sake of "preparing the younger generation for next year''s tournament." In their opinion, that mentality was the mentality of losers which is, in their case, true to a certain extent because why do they have to prepare the younger generation to achieve a higher rank next year when they can take the number one spot this year? Failure is not an option for these top-ranked academies because all that''s eptable to them is a victory. Finally, after a few minutes of preparation, the first one-on-one match began. First up was the beauty, Allyson ire who easily beat the crap out of her opponent in just fifteen exchanges. The Archelion Academy group consoled themselves by thinking that Allyson was already the strongest representative of Colzen Academy so their next representative pumped himself up to get a win for Archelion Academy. It was a scout vs scout battle where Ren Beckmann defeated his opponent in a single hit. Archelion Academy''s scout representative didn''t even realize that Ren was already behind him so he was knocked out by a single blunt blow to the back of his neck. After realizing that Colzen Academy''s representatives this year weren''t pushovers, the light in the eyes of the Archelion representatives dimmed and their hopes were extinguished. They couldn''t do anything but me their bad luck for getting matched up against a strong batch of Colzen Academy representatives. As expected, since the Archelion Academy had already given up, the two-on-two battles were also easily won by Colzen Academy. Shye and thepanion students loudly cheered after finally seeing the prowess of their seniors. They knew that their seniors were strong but they were utterly shocked upon actually witnessing how strong they were. They estimated that they would be beaten just as quickly as the Archelion representatives if they fought against their seniors right now. "Hey, did you see that? Colzen Academy''s representatives seem way strongerpared tost year..." "Yeah, especially the scout, who would''ve thought that he would be able to defeat his opponent in less than ten seconds?" "I''ve heard that Shadowde Academy''s representatives were also strong this year. Seems like there would be quite a show to watch in the fourth round of matches!" The people who tuned in to Colzen Academy''s match enthusiastically chatted about Colzen Academy representatives'' current prowess as Shye and the other senior students returned triumphantly to their academy station. Chapter 78: Huge Advantage

Chapter 78: Huge Advantage

After their first victory, Colzen Academy''s streak continued and they easily defeated their opponents in the second and third round matches. By this time, they''ve already garnered the attention of quite a few people and some professional adventurers who were watching the matches to decide where to settle down with their families in the future started to consider Colzen City as a potential base of operations. "Damn! Colzen Academy is on a hot streak this year! They might easily get top 64!" "I doubt it, I''ve watched the matches of Shadowde Academy and they''re just as strong as Colzen." The people started debating about who would advance to the top 64 in Bracket D, some people rooted for Colzen while some people rooted for Shadowde. Finally, after a few minutes, the staff walked closer to Dean Snowcrest and told him that it was time for their fourth-round match against their rival, Shadowde Academy. Before letting the Colzen representatives go, Dean Snowcrest repeatedly reminded them not to be overconfident against the representatives of Shadowde Academy because in a close fight, a slight moment of carelessness might result in one''s defeat. No one would ever want to lose against a rival academy in an important fourth-round match and the dean has already experienced this kind of bitter defeat a few times in the past decade so he didn''t want this batch of talented representatives to experience the same fate simply because they got overconfident. Shye had to admit, the series of easy victories made them slightlycent so even though he wasn''t sure whether he would get to fight in this match, he repeatedly reminded himself that Shadowde was just as strong as them and that he should prepare himself to fight just in case. The Colzen Representatives left the academy station with serious looks on their faces which made Dean Snowcrest breathe a sigh of relief. He believed that their representatives could win as long as they did not fight their opponents carelessly. Upon arriving at the designated stage, the Colzen representatives saw that their opponents, the Shadowde representatives, were staring daggers at them as if they couldn''t wait to rip the Colzen representatives apart. Of course, the Colzen representatives knew that their academies were already at odds with each other and Shye''s duel only served to fan the mes of their rivalry so they stared right back at the Shadowde representatives with mocking looks on their faces. The humiliation suffered by Shadowde Academy under Shye''s hands allowed them to get revenge and mock the Shadowde representatives who repeatedly bullied and suppressed the Colzen representatives in the past few years. However, all of them knew that this year''s battle was just starting and they had to make sure to defeat Shadowde Academy before they could get the finalugh in this year''spetition. Finally, after a few more moments, the first one-on-one match between the two rival academies began. It was a warrior vs mage battle where the beauty, Allyson ire got thestugh and won the first match for Colzen Academy after a hard-fought battle. Colzen Academy''spanion students along with the people in the crowd who supported Colzen Academy erupted into cheers upon seeing the result of the first match. In addition to this, Allyson''s victory was so narrow that her armor and undergarments got so damaged to the point where her smooth and fair skin was revealed leaving little to the crowd''s imagination. Truly an eye candy for the male audience! Fortunately, no vital parts were revealed so Allyson wasn''t too affected by what happened. Also, she knew that this would be amon urrence in the future so she should train her mentality to keep her focus even under such ufortable circumstances or she might lose her life. In the second match, Ren Beckmann fought against a skilled warrior representative from Shadowde academy. He got hit by quite a few power blows which left those who supported him on the edge of their seats. However, after baiting the opponent to use a skill to finish him off, he turned the match around by narrowly dodging the opponent''s destructive attack using a skill of his own before mercilessly using [Bloody Stab Lv.3] to inflict a grievous wound on his opponent which almost ended the Shadowde representative''s life. Fortunately, the medics managed to save the Shadowde representative''s life on time. Ren Beckmann wasn''t an evil person and he didn''t intend for the match to end that way but he had no choice. His opponent was just as skilled as him so if he didn''t give it his all to finish off his opponent, he might get finished off by his opponent instead. After a huge 2-0 advantage against the Shadowde Academy, Dean Snowcrest and the instructors had wide smiles on their faces and even those who were watching the match from a huge screen inside Colzen Academy were visibly excited. If they win one more match, then they would be in the top 64 and would enter another golden age for the academy because the budget provided to them by the World Adventurer Association would be way biggerpared tost year. Chapter 79: Shadowglade Academy’s Despicable Plan

Chapter 79: Shadowde Academy¡¯s Despicable n

*BANG* Dean Greendale, the dean responsible for this year''s Shadowde representatives mmed the armrest of his chair in anger. At this rate, they would be humiliated by their rivals but unfortunately for them, it seemed that this generation of students from Colzen Academy was very strong. The dean racked his brains hard before finally managing to think of something to win the next match but he knew that this n wouldn''t be enough to change the tides of the match so he looked around in hopes of finding something that could help him. He even thought of using illegal pills to boost one''s strength just to prolong the match. "Tch! If only we can get to the substitute representative match..." While he was thinking of a solution, Dean Greendale tapped a button on the microphone beside him which allowed him tomunicate to the representatives. "Genzo, change of ns, go and participate in the two-on-two battle. We can''t allow them to win this easily" Dean Greendale said to the strongest Shadowde representative named Genzo. "I understand, Dean Greendale. However, what should we do about the three-on-three battle? I doubt that we would be able to win if things continue this way" Genzo replied "Just wait for my orders, I''ll think of something before your match ends. Make sure to buy lots of time for me and don''t forget to humiliate your opponents if you get the chance." "If I can''t reach out to you before your match ends, order the guys who will participate in the three-on-three battle to consume the booster pills." Dean Greendale said with a cold look on his face. "Got it" *BLEEP* Genzo replied before cutting his call with Dean Greendale. He then walked towards the stage to participate in the two-on-two match. On the other hand, Dean Snowcrest furrowed his brow upon seeing that the guy named Genzo, who everyone knew was the strongest representative of Shadowde Academy, participated in the two-on-two match. He understood that the Shadowde Academy couldn''t risk losing the third match but at least they had a chance to turn things around if they managed to win in the two-on-two match without using Genzo. If things continue like this, then even if Shadowde Academy wins the third match, they will get destroyed in the three-on-three battle without their strongest representative, Genzo. However, things were advantageous for them this way so Dean Snowcrest simply waited for their victory. Meanwhile, the Colzen Representative from Colzen Monastery, Fazzio Nieva, left for a short while to go to the toilet before participating in the three-on-three match. Unfortunately for him, Dean Greendale saw him leave and immediately whispered something to one of his instructors who then left to act on the dean''s orders. ... ... ... "AGHH!" The Colzen representatives groaned in pain after being sted to the edge of the stage by Genzo who smiled yfully while taking his time to humiliate the two. By this time, Shye was clenching his fists in anger. Ren had a chance to kill one of the Shadowde representatives but chose to strike his opponent in a slightly less vital spot because he didn''t want to kill someone due to some petty rivalry. Unfortunately, it seems that Shadowde Academy was very petty and wanted to take revenge even on the smallest things so they were humiliating the two Colzen representatives on purpose. However, Genzo didn''t actually want to humiliate the two Colzen representatives. He was only acting on Dean Greendale''s orders and buying time for him to think of a solution. Fortunately, he didn''t have to continue with the ruthless humiliation as the speaker on the cor of his uniform rang. "Go, finish them, I already have a solution." After hearing the dean''s orders, Genzo inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn''t want to continue humiliating the Colzen representatives for a long time under the eyes of professional adventurers because they might think that he was an evil person which might ruin his reputation and his chances of joining a reputable adventurer guild when the truth was, it was Dean Greendale who was evil and petty. *BANG* The two Colzen representatives were sted off the stage and the two-on-two match ended with Shadowde Academy as the victor. Although he was a bit angry due to the humiliation suffered by two of his students, Dean Snowcrest didn''t feel too bad about this loss. The Shadowde Academy already used their ace, Genzo, to win in the third match and they had no hope of winning the fourth match because of it. While waiting for the fourth match to start, Dean Snowcrest noticed while watching on the screen that the Colzen representatives seemed jittery so he pressed the button on the microphone in the Colzen Academy station to talk with Shin Fernandez, their ace representative. *BLEEP* "Shin, what''s wrong?" Dean Snowcrest asked with a slightly anxious tone. "Dean, Fazzio mentioned he only went to the restroom, but we got concerned when he didn''t return for a while so we decided to check on him in the toilet." "H-He wasn''t there and we couldn''t contact him at all!" Shin said with an anxious voice. *BANG* This time, it was Dean Snowcrest who mmed the armrest of his chair in anger. "Despicable!!" He already knew that this was Greendale''s plot and although he knew that Fazzio would be safe, it would be impossible for him to participate in the three-on-three match. After hearing the dean''s angry voice, Shin knew that they didn''t have a chance to fight together with Fazzio anymore. In addition to this, even if they choose Ren Beckmann as the representative who would fight twice, they would still need someone to fight in Fazzio''s ce but all the other representatives have already fought at least once except for one person. "D-Dean, what should we do?" Shin started panicking because the match would start in a minute and the Dean still hadn''t given him any instructions. After realizing that Shin was already panicking due to his indecisiveness, Dean Snowcrest took a deep breath before deciding to risk it all on a crazy decision. "Crowley will take Fazzio''s ce and participate in the three-on-three match!" Chapter 80 Three-on-Three 80 Three-on-Three "D-D-Dean Snowcrest aren''t we perhaps rushing things a bit too much?" "Dean, If I may be so presumptuous, I don''t think Crowley is ready at all!" The conservative instructors immediately voiced their disagreements but Dean Snowcrest didn''t listen to them. He chose to trust his instincts that perhaps, Crowley could pull out a miracle again. Instructor Fienna smiled but she didn''t say anything because she also believed that her student could do something about the current situation. Meanwhile, back in the academy, everyone went nuts when Shye started to walk up the stage. The crowd, who were watching the match through a huge holographic screen, couldn''t believe what was happening. They asked the instructors for an exnation regarding this decision by the dean but unfortunately, even the instructors couldn''t exin why Dean Snowcrest made this decision. To clear up the confusion, Dean Privett was forced to spend a precious long-distancemunication crystal to ask for an exnation from Dean Snowcrest. *BANG* "Despicable!" The other two deans were shocked, the usually calm and collected Dean Privett lost her nerve after talking to Dean Snowcrest. She then proceeded to exin to the other deans why Dean Snowcrest made such a decision. *BANG* As expected, the two other deans, Dean Gaston Shadowvale and Dean Luster Vanz mmed their armrests in fury. The Shadowde Academy couldn''t ept the fact that they were about to lose so they did something to one of the members participating in the three-on-three match. Unfortunately, they were far away from thepetition so they couldn''t do anything but gnash their teeth in anger as they watched their most talented first-year student walk up the stage to fight against the top fourth-year students of their rival academy. Of course, the instructors started asking the deans for an exnation regarding what was happening so Dean Privett exined to them why. Upon learning why Dean Snowcrest decided to let Shye participate, they were infuriated. They couldn''t believe that the Shadowde Academy would stoop so low as to kidnap one of their fourth-year students. The deans ordered the instructors to keep the reason a secret but unfortunately, the crowd was too persistent and kept asking the instructors about the reason. Finally, one instructor couldn''t help it and told the reason to one of his favorite students so whispers regarding the reason started to spread like wildfire, and in just a few minutes, every student clenched their fists in indignation. They then started to root for Shye and hoped that the three chosen representatives for the fourth match would be able to teach this dirty Shadowde Academy a lesson. On the other hand, Maia was jumping up and down in excitement after seeing that her big brother had been chosen to participate in the fourth match. She didn''t care about the reason or anythingplicated like that, as long as she could watch her big brother fight, she was happy. Meanwhile, on the stage, Shye was taking deep breaths to calm himself down. He waspletely caught off guard by the sudden change of ns but he knew he had to step up as the substitute representative. He realized that Fazzio had been gone for way too long and that he wasn''ting back until the match was over. However, Shye believed that Dean Snowcrest made the right decision by letting him participate in the three-on-three battle because the substitute representative of the Shadowde Academy was their top third-year student. He knew that it would be harder for him to win in a one-on-one battle against a top-tier third-year student than to make a contribution in the three-on-three match to help his team win. If he could effectively fight with his team and go out with a one-for-one trade, he was sure that his senior, Shin Fernandez, would finish the job for Colzen Academy. Due to Shye participating in the fourth match as a first-year student, their match garnered lots of attention. Thepanion students from other academies, the professional adventurers, and the ordinary rich folks who decided to watch the tournament for fun tuned in to their match with intrigue. Even the City Lord of Valenzia City watched their match with interest as he pondered about the reason why Colzen Academy decided to let a first-year student participate in the all-important fourth-round match. N?v(el)B\\jnn Finally, under thousands of eyes, the fourth match began. Shye stood in front together with Ren Beckmann while Shin Fernandez stood at the back. In contrast, the opponents had chosen one warrior, one scout, and one priest for their lineup. The two teams stared at each other with focused eyes when suddenly, Ren Beckmann disappeared and then reappeared behind the enemy priest. However, the priest didn''t seem bothered at all as if he was already expecting it so he simply focused on casting a team buff skill that would help his team. *CLANG* Two daggers shed as the enemy scout suddenly appeared in front of Ren to block his attack and protect his teammate who was casting team buff skills. Meanwhile, Shye and the Shadowde Academy''s warrior representative stood protectively in front of their teammates. Shye protected Shin while he was shooting arrows towards the enemies and simrly, the opposing warrior deflected Shin''s arrows while waiting for the buffs. Finally, a huge change happened once the priest finished casting the buff skills. The warrior who was protecting the priest suddenly charged towards Shin with unbelievable speed. Unexpectedly, Shin didn''t even pay attention to him. He continued focusing on taking down the priest together with Ren while fully trusting Shye, a first-year warrior student to protect him. He didn''t expect Shye to win. In fact, he expected Shye to get beat up by the opposing warrior, however, what he believed in was, that Shye would do his best to do his job as a warrior and protect him. Of course, Shye didn''t let him down. He already knew he couldn''t win so his final goal was to go out in a ze of glory and take one opponent down with him. Shye charged toward the warrior student and immediately activated [Power sh Lv.2] to try and block the enemy''s attack. *CLANG* "Puhahh!" Unfortunately, Shye was sent sliding backward while spitting out blood after just one sh against the Shadowde warrior representative. Chapter 81: Becoming A Legend The crazy thing was, instead of panicking, Shye and Shin had slight smiles on the corner of their mouths and the reason for this was, yes, Shye was blown back and he couldn''t stand up to the raw strength of the warrior representative, but guess what? He managed to do his job and protect Shin. Due to this, all of Shin''s subconscious doubts flew out the window and he was able to fully focus on taking down either the scout student or the priest student as he worked wlessly with Ren Beckmann while entrusting his safety to Shye. "Tch! Filthy freshman¡­" The warrior student from Shadowde Academy clicked his tongue in annoyance, he felt a bit humiliated that he wasn''t able to defeat Shye in a single hit. However, he knew that he had a job so after removing Shye out of the way, he continued charging towards Shin. Unfortunately for him, Shye wouldn''t let him go so easily. He activated [Dash Lv.2] to instantly arrive in front of the warrior representative who was surprised that Shye still had the courage to stand in his way once more. "Annoying freshman, you don''t belong here, get the fuck out of my way!" *BANG* "PUHAAH!" Shye rmingly spat out more blood after fully tanking the fourth-year student''s attack using his skill, [Stoic Lv.2] however, he was able to buy five more seconds for Shin and Ren. On the other hand, the two-on-two battle between Ren, Shin, and the Shadowde representatives was getting heated. The enemy scout was evidently less skilledpared to Ren so he was slowly getting overwhelmed while the priest was struggling to help the scout and protect himself at the same time. In addition to this, the priest was slowly running out of skills to protect himself. However, it wasn''t only the priest who was running out of skills. Shye''s [Stoic Lv.2] just expired but the warrior representative named Acro still continued to charge toward Shin albeit with a very annoyed facial expression. Finally, after another attack from Acro which was blocked using [Destructive Chop Lv.1], Shye couldn''t hold on and was blown back to the edge of the stage. "Hahahaha! You fucking pipsqueak, how dare you stand in my way? I''ll deal with youter." Acro said to Shye before looking menacingly toward Shin who was focusing on taking down the priest. He believed that Shye was out of the fight and that he could freely charge towards Shin now. Unfortunately, he had to act fast because the final protective skill of the Shadowde Academy''s priest, [Barrier Lv.2], had just expired and he had no other way to protect himself. Unless their scout representative could somehow manage to defeat Ren Beckmann in a short time and protect the priest, then the priest was bound to get taken out. However, at this rate, it seems that Acro would be able to take Shin out before Ren and Shin could take out the priest. "Hahahaha! Farewell, Colzen Academy! Taste my de, Shin Fernandez!!" Acro had a crazy look on his face as he excitedly charged towards Shin who gnashed his teeth in defiance. "Shit¡­Is this it for us?" Shin thought to himself. However, he ultimately decided to take the priest down with him, and perhaps, Ren and Shye could work out a miracle even without him. The deans, the instructors, thepanion students, the representatives who were watching at the sidelines, and everyone else who was rooting for Colzen Academy clenched their fists. They thought that this would be the end of Colzen Academy''s run in this year''s Adventurer Academypetition. However, just as everyone started to give up, Shye, who was seemingly down and out of skills appeared out of nowhere and skewered Acro away from Shin using his skill [Rush Stab Lv.1]. "PUHAAAH!" Acro spat out blood as he was skewered by Shye''s Daybreak and Nightbringer towards the edge of the stage. "Dual Wielding!" Everyone was shocked after Shye revealed all of his cards. They didn''t expect that this first-year substitute representative, who was seemingly down for the count, would appear out of nowhere and save the day for Colzen Academy. After getting cleanly hit by Shye''s skill, although he wasn''t hurt that much, Acro was sent violently sliding back towards the edge of the stage as Shye''s greatswords stabbed quite deeply into the sides of his body. Acro was a warrior and had a tough body so the damage wasn''t even enough to cause problems for him. What caused problems for him was, he was now at the edge of the stage and was very far from Shin. Veins popped on the sides of Acro''s head as he looked down towards the first year who was panting and spitting out blood. "YOU AGAIN! UNTIL WHEN WILL YOU CONTINUE TO BUG ME YOU LITTLE ANT?!" *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Acro excessively beat up Shye due to anger before remembering that he had to help his teammates. "Haaah¡­Haaahh¡­Shit! What happened to th¨C?!" He quickly looked at the direction of the two-on-two battle between Ren, Shin, and two of their representatives, then, his eyes widened in shock but it quickly dimmed after seeing the results of the two-on-two. His teammates¡­were both knocked out and only he was left standing to fight for Shadowde Academy. Acro already gave up after seeing that his teammates were defeated so he was quickly defeated by Ren and Shin. "UOOHHHH!!!! COLZEN!!" "GLORY TO COLZEN ACADEMY!!" "CROWLEY!!" The crowd erupted into cheers after Colzen Academy pulled off a miraculouseback. Everyone was on the edge of their seats while waiting for Acro to take Shin out but he was suddenly dragged to the edge of the stage by the first-year substitute representative. Due to Acro''s failure to take out Shin on time, his teammates were wiped out. Meanwhile, the students of Colzen Academy erupted into cheers and jumped up and down in celebration as they raised their fists in the air and repeatedly shouted Shye''s name once the victory was confirmed. Of course, Maia herself was jumping up and down because she knew that although her big brother was simply beaten ck and blue by his opponent, he was the MVP of the match. Without his courage and dedication to protect Shin, coupled with his brilliant skill usage, Colzen Academy would have lost. Unfortunately, Shye was unconscious so he didn''t know that he became a legend after his magnificent performance against Shadowde Academy. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 35,290 points!] Chapter 82: Brutal Defeat "UGHH¡­" Shye groaned as he woke up to an unfamiliar ceiling again. However, due to simr experiences in the past, he immediately realized that he was sent to the infirmary after falling unconscious. He didn''t know if Colzen Academy won so he looked around the infirmary room to look for someone to ask. Fortunately, Instructor Fienna was there to look after him. "Oh? Crowley, you''re finally awake." Fienna said with a slight smile on her face. "Instructor Fienna¡­Did we win the match?" Shye anxiously asked. Before responding to his question, Instructor Fienna looked down with a slightly bitter expression on her face. After seeing her facial expression, Shye didn''t even need to hear what she had to say. From the looks of it, it seemed like they lost so he couldn''t help but clench his fists in bitterness, however, before he even got a chance to me himself for the loss, Instructor Fiennaughed. "PFFT! Hahahaha! I''m just kidding. You were amazing, after you dragged the Shadowde Academy''s warrior representative to the edge of the stage, Shin and Ren defeated his teammates so the warrior representative had no choice but to fight two of them alone." "In just a few minutes, Ren and Shin finished him off and Colzen Academy once again managed to grab a spot in the top 64" After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, Shye''s bitter expression turned into one of happiness and he balled his hands into a fist before striking a small victory pose as he sat on the infirmary bed. There wasn''t really anything else he could do right now because he couldn''t get out of bed due to his injuries. Fortunately, a holographic screen was inside his infirmary room where he could watch Colzen Academy''s next match against the renowned An Academy. In the holographic screen, he could see that Allyson ire was the first match representative again and she was up against a female warrior representative from the renowned An Adventurer Academy who walked up the stage with an annoying grin on her face. The crowd went wild as two beautiful female warriors faced each other on the stage. Shye knew that his Senior, Allyson ire, was monstrously strong because she had never lost a one-on-one match yet in thest four matches and she was always able to get the first point for Colzen Academy. However, this time, she was up against a female warrior representative from the famous An Adventurer Academy so he couldn''t help but wonder how she would fare against the best students of the top-tier academies. Once both fighters were ready, the referee announced the start of the first match between Colzen Academy and An Academy. *BANG* Shye''s eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief after seeing that the strong and beautiful Allyson ire was sent flying to the edge of the stage in just a single sh. Fortunately, although she was hurt, she wasn''t out yet. Allyson struggled to get up as blood trickled down from the corners of her mouth. She gnashed her teeth and clenched the handles of her sword tightly. She knew that she had to prepare her heart for what wasing because Colzen Academy and An Academy had bad blood. Allyson knew that she would be mercilessly humiliated if she lost but her opponent was overwhelmingly strong and her chances of winning were slim. Still, she refused to give up as she lifted her sword and assumed her battle stance again. "Hahahaha! How pathetic¡­Is this the best warrior in Colzen Academy?" The An representative said as her lips curved into a yful smile before charging towards Allyson again. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Allyson did everything she could but the An representative was simply toying with her. In the end, Allyson was beaten up until she fell face-first to the ground, unconscious. However, even before the referee managed to call the end of the match, the female warrior representative from An Academy, grabbed the hair of the unconscious Allyson and pulled it upwards until her face was revealed to the crowd. Then, the female representative from An Academy mercilessly dragged Allyson''s limp and unconscious body across the stage for a few seconds while raising her fists high in the air, looking extremely triumphant. *BANG* "OUTRAGEOUS! REFEREE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! CALL THE END OF THE MATCH!" Dean Snowcrest mmed the armrest of his chair in anger as he shouted at the top of his lungs. He was infuriated by the slow reactions of the referee which gave the An Academy ample time to humiliate Allyson. On the other hand, everyone who was supporting Colzen Academy clenched their fists in frustration and anger. Especially Shye, who slowly grew fond of the likable fourth-year students after a month of interacting with each other. However, they couldn''t do anything because everyone knew that An Academy was a top-tier academy and if they wanted to get revenge, their representatives had to at least be as strong as them. Unfortunately, this batch of representatives wasn''t strong enough and even one of their strongest fighters, the beautiful and strong Allyson ire, was mercilessly humiliated on the stage by one of An Academy''s representatives. "Match over! Please return to your corners!" Finally, the referee announced the end of the match which allowed the medics toe up on the stage, take Allyson out on a stretcher, and bring her to an infirmary room to recover. Shye couldn''t bear to watch any longer but he forced himself to watch the remaining matches and engrave the humiliation brought upon them by An Academy into his heart. He watched his senior, Ren Beckmann get destroyed by his opponents as he ended up with at least twenty broken bones all over his body. Simrly, the two-on-two match ended in the favor of An Academy. The Colzen representatives were beaten up and humiliated as their unconscious bodies were piled on top of each other. Even the dean and the other instructors couldn''t do anything but watch as their students were humiliated one after another. However, such is the fate of a mediocre academy that had no choice but to bear the humiliation brought upon them by the top-tier academies simply because they were inferior. Chapter 83: Farewell, Seniors Ten days quickly passed since the day of Colzen Academy''s disastrous defeat at the hands of An Academy. Thepanion students already left nine days ago and were already on their way back to the academy. Meanwhile, Shye and the other representative students had just recovered from their injuries. Fortunately, not all of them were injured, however, all of them were dejected. Although they achieved the same things as the old golden generation, they were unhappy since most of them were humiliated during their final match, especially Allyson who suffered the most humiliation out of all of them. Sadly, there wasn''t anything they could do. Reality pped them hard by teaching them that they were only mediocrepared to the top-tier academies. Fortunately, Dean Snowcrest and the instructors were very supportive and kept on cheering the representatives up by repeatedly telling them to focus on what they achieved instead of focusing on their defeat. Due to this, the mood slightly lightened up when it was time for them to leave Valenzia City and return to the academy. Shye looked back at Valenzia City with a resolute look on his face as he vowed to return here in the future to avenge his beloved seniors. Not only that, he made it his goal to settle down in Valenzia City in the future. With his system, he was confident that he could do it. On the way, Shye tried his best to cheer his seniors up and after a month and a half of traveling, they finally arrived at Colzen Academy with slight smiles on their faces. The depressed representatives thought about their defeat multiple times while traveling and they finally realized that this was just a small chapter of their adventurer life and very insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Due to this, although there were still some regrets inside their hearts, they raised their heads high as they proudly walked inside Colzen Academy after a top 64 finish. Of course, the students of Colzen Academy gathered at the gates in an orderly manner and warmly weed the representatives as they walked towards the faculty room for a final meeting after the conclusion of this year''s Adventurer Academypetition. After a month and a half, the students already forgot about the defeat of their representatives at the hands of An Academy and what remained in their minds was the glorious victory against Shadowde Academy. After all, it was expected that they would lose against An Academy so the other students of Colzen Academy didn''t take their representatives'' defeat to heart. Of course, the representatives were overwhelmed after feeling the love and support of their fellow students. In their hearts, after the disastrous defeat, they thought that they disappointed their fellow students which was clearly not the case because the students wouldn''t wee them like this if they were disappointed at their performance. Due to this, thest vestiges of regret and sadnesspletely left their hearts and all that remained inside was their glorious victory against Shadowde Academy. Indeed, they''ve achieved something in the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition so why would they be ashamed of losing to an Adventurer Academy in the top three? After a few minutes of walking, they finally arrived in the faculty room where the four deans spoke words of gratitude to them and also, some words of apology. They were apologizing because they believed that they couldn''t bring out the true potential of these representatives. However, the representatives firmly rejected their apology and instead, thanked the deans and instructors for guiding them throughout their four years in the academy and for doing all they could to prepare them for the harsh world of professional adventurers. Finally, after giving the representatives some rewards, the deans allowed them to leave the office and rest in their dormitories. ¡­ *KNOCK* *KNOCK* "Oh?" Maia heard some knocking sounds and upon realizing that it might be her big brother, she excitedly ran towards the door. *CLACK* "Maia, I''m home" Shye said to his little sister as he gave her a warm smile. After months of not seeing each other, Shye truly missed this cute little sister of his. On the other hand, Maia jumped towards Shye and hugged him while crying tears of joy. "Uaaah! Big brother! I missed you! Did you know how boring it was to be left alone here?! All I''m allowed to do every day is eat, train, and watch matches on the holographic television!" "Well, It was kind of exciting when it was your turn to fight though! Especially your three-on-three match! You were so cool!" *CHATTER* *CHATTER* Maia kept on bbering but Shye wasn''t annoyed. In fact, he was filled with enthusiasm while chatting with his little sister who he didn''t see for around three months. The siblings continued chatting the whole night until it was finally time to sleep. ¡­ Two regr days passed and it was finally time for the graduation ceremony of the fourth-year students. Of course, Shye would attend this graduation ceremony because he wanted to send his beloved seniors off and wish them luck. After the graduation ceremony, they would be given the Colzen alumni badge and leave the academy to be professional adventurers. Shye watched the entire ceremony while waiting for it to end so that he could walk toward his seniors and talk to them onest time before they left the academy. Finally, after a few more minutes, the graduation ceremony ended. The fourth-year students who were chosen as Colzen representatives gathered together and upon seeing Shye approaching them, they smiled warmly towards him. "Crowley, It''s up to you to bring glory to the academy, we fell a little short but I know you can do it. Teach those bastards from the An Academy a lesson for us!" Shin Fernandez said as he tapped Shye''s right shoulder. Of course, the other seniors also said words of encouragement to him and they chatted for a few minutes before it was time for the seniors to leave the academy. "Crowley, Let''s meet again as professional adventurers. We''ll be waiting for the day Colzen Academy bes the number one academy in Valenzia Region." "Well then, farewell for now, I wish you luck." Ren Beckmann said as he smiled towards Shye before turning around to leave with the other fourth-year students. Seeing his beloved and respectable seniors leaving the academy to face the harsh realities of life, tears welled in the corner of Shye''s eyes. He then deeply bowed towards them, although he wasn''t sure if his beloved seniors would hear him, he still shouted his heartfelt words at the top of his lungs. "Seniors! We''ve only been together for a short amount of time but I''ve learned a lot from all of you! I''m sure we will see each other again in the future so until then¡­until then¡­Please take care of yourselves!" He then looked at them onest time and smiled while crying tears of joy upon realizing that they were waving their hands at him. Although they didn''t look back, they heard his words loud and clear. Chapter 84: Sophomore A week passed since the graduation ceremony of the fourth-year students and in just two weeks, Shye himself would be a second-year student. Some of his ssmates invited him to watch the Colzen Academy entrance exam but he refused their invitation. He would rather spend his time training inside the intermediate adventurer zone than waste his time watching the entrance exam for no reason. However, next year, he would watch the entrance exam for sure since his little sister would be participating. Speaking of Maia, she was currently training very hard because Shye already gave her the elixirs and skills so she felt motivated to train harder than ever. Her regr training hours were around 8-10 hours a day, six times a week but now, she trains for at least twelve hours a day, six times a week because she made it her personal goal to try and grab the number one spot in the scout course entrance exams. On the other hand, Shye was also busy training himself and he was just like Maia, very motivated to train but his motivation stems from his vow to avenge his seniors who recently graduated. In addition to this, he wanted to make the entire academy proud by hopefully defeating some big-name academies and grabbing at least one of the top three spots in the Adventurer Academypetition three years from now. By now, Shye has be adept at solo adventuring and he has already developed some strategies on how to stay safe every night even while sleeping soundly. It wasn''t only him who was training hard, his future teammates, the first-yearpanion students, were also training very hard because the humiliation suffered by Colzen Academy was also engraved in their hearts. They didn''t want to experience anything like that so they vowed to grow stronger and defeat the top tier academies. Days passed just like this and after two weeks, it was finally time for Shye''s first day as a sophomore. Shockingly, even though he got backte from adventuring yesterday inside the intermediate adventurer zone, he was able to wake up early. He quickly prepared breakfast, took a bath, wore his sophomore uniform, and left his dormitory. On the way, he saw many new faces wearing freshmen uniforms so he couldn''t help but reminisce about his first day as a freshman at Colzen Academy. Unfortunately, his nostalgic thoughts were cut short once he arrived in front of their ssroom which was now located in a different building so it finally hit him that he was now a sophomore student. Upon entering the ssroom, Shye saw the familiar faces of his ssmates and heard their familiar morning greetings and it made him smile warmly. "Haaah...How nice would it be if this couldst forever..." Shye thought to himself. His graduation ceremony experience gave him a wake-up call that all of this is temporary and that he should cherish these rtionships while he still has a chance to. He then turned his head, looked at his girlfriend, Shirley Locke, and sat right next to her with a slight smile on his face. On the other hand, Shirley was confused, she didn''t know what was going through Shye''s thoughts and all she felt was that today was just like any other ss day albeit a little special since it was their first day as a sophomore. "Hmm? You look happy today, did something happen?" Shirley asked with a curious expression on her face "Oh, nothing, I''m just in a rarely good mood today" Shye replied By this time, everyone already knew that they were a couple so although their ssmates were slightly envious, they didn''t have the urge to tease the two of them for simply sitting beside each other anymore. After settling down on his new seat and casually chatting with Shirley for a little while, Shye suddenly remembered someone. "If only Instructor Fienna could be ourbat instructor again then everything would be perfect¡­" Shye couldn''t help but think of Instructor Fienna who helped him a lot during his first year. She was always the first one to believe in his capability and even argued against most of the veteran instructors in order to give him the chance to reach his peak potential. In his eyes, she was the perfectbat instructor anyone could ever wish for. However, he also understood that he must move forward so it was inevitable that some people were just a temporary part of his life. Except¡­ "Go back to your seats! Or do you guys want me to smack your heads off before you get seated?" After hearing the familiar voice, everyone was stupefied. "Instructor Fienna!" Everyone simultaneously called out the name of the most excellentbat instructor in their hearts, Instructor Fienna Evans. "What? Why do you guys look like you''ve seen a ghost?" Instructor Fienna furrowed her brows after seeing the surprised expressions on the faces of her students. "N-No, it''s just that¡­we didn''t expect that you would still be ourbat instructor¡­" One of Shye''s ssmates replied "Huh? Are you guys stupid? You''re all stuck with me until you graduate and the higher the year level, the harder the training regimen bes so you guys better prepare yourselves!" After hearing Instructor Fienna''s words, although everyone showed horrified expressions, deep inside, they were pleased that their beloved Instructor Fienna would be the one who would teach them everything aboutbat until they graduated. Once everyone was seated, Instructor Fienna nodded in satisfaction and immediately opened her attendance book to check everyone''s attendance. Of course, no one dared to be absent on the first day and even Shye, who had the ss exemption pass, didn''t dare to skip on the first day of sses. "Alright, it seems like everyone is here, let''s start the discussion" "As you all know, you are sophomores now and the entire education system for sophomores, juniors, and seniors is different from the education system for freshmen students." "As freshmen, you get to attend sses for free. However, as sophomores, you have to pay using academy points before you can attend what we call the "premium sses" "These premium sses will teach you knowledge that is unavable to the masses and will set you apart from ordinary adventurers" Chapter 85: Academy Points and Premium Classes When they were freshmen students, on the first day of their stamina training, Instructor Fienna told them to retrieve their training uniforms inside the ssroom but they had to be back in ten minutes or she would deduct academy points from those who would not be able to return on time. At that time, they didn''t really know what academy points were but they didn''t want to lose anything due to a stupid reason like not being able to return on time so they tried their hardest to return to the training grounds in ten minutes. This is why the whole ss, including Shye, listened closely after hearing about the terms "academy points" and "premium sses" Seeing that she sessfully captured the attention of her students, Instructor Fienna was satisfied and decided to continue with her lesson. "Unfortunately, not everyone can afford the premium sses every day and this is the reason why some of you will get left behind by your ssmates in terms of knowledge" The weaker students gulped upon hearing that those who wouldn''t be able to afford the premium sses would get left behind by their ssmates so one of them couldn''t help but raise his right hand to ask an important question. "T-Then how can we earn academy points? And how many points does each premium ss cost?" The student asked "Well, there are quite a few ways to earn academy points but the most reliable way is toplete quests in the quest hall" Shye and the other students furrowed their brows as confused expressions appeared on their faces. "The quest hall? Why haven''t we heard of it before?" Shirley asked "This is because only sophomore students and above are allowed to enter the quest hall so there was no point in telling freshmen students the location of the quest hall" "In addition to this, to avoid freshmen from getting any funny ideas, the quest hall was deliberately kept a secret." After a patient exnation, Instructor Fienna scanned the entire ss, and seeing that they understood what she said, she decided to continue her lesson "Quests from the quest hall are quite dangerous and the quests mainly consist of hunting top apex predators in the beginner adventurer zone and hunting ordinary creatures in the intermediate adventurer zone" "There are no quests there that involve creatures like Irontusk boars or grey wolves. Only apex E- ranked creatures and above." "In addition to this, you have to know that you will not get to keep the loot you get from hunting quests. You have to turn the materials in as well before the quest can be considered asplete." "Lastly, the only reward given in the quest hall are academy points, no mary rewards or anything, just academy points." After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, Shye finally understood how Colzen Academy was able to fund the education of freshmen students and they were even able to provide fancy amodations to the talented ones for free. It was because the sophomores and above had to pay for their sses which gave Colzen Academy enough funds. After all, the funds given by the World Adventurer Association would certainly not be enough to fund everyone''s education and if they cannot find a way to earn silver coins themselves, then the academy would have to close down. Thus, Colzen Academy created a currency called academy points which the sophomores, juniors, and seniors have to earn through quests before they could attend the premium sses. If they wanted to be excellent adventurers, then they had toplete quests in the quest hall, give every loot they got from the hunted creatures, and pay for the premium sses using academy points. Colzen Academy then sells the materials in exchange for silver coins which are used to fund the education of the freshmen for free. Then, once the freshmen be sophomore students, it would be their turn to keep the academy going and provide free education for the next batch of freshmen students. Truly a wonderful cycle of setting a good example for the younger generation. Meanwhile, after hearing how difficult it was to earn academy points, the weaker students panicked and continued asking questions. "T-T-Then, can we at least form a party with people from other courses to maximize the hunting efficiency?" Instructor Fienna looked at the student who asked and smiled "Of course, what do you think the purpose of the end-of-semester tournament was? Wasn''t it to allow you guys to look for future party members?" After hearing what Instructor Fienna said, the students felt enlightened and excited because they would finally get to act like true adventurers. There would be no supervision from the instructors when they''re on a quest and they could form adventurer parties with other course students. Due to this, they realized that Colzen Academy wasn''t just an academy, it was awork tform where they had the chance to grow theirwork while they were still young. As an adventurer, you have to have a widework of contacts so that you will have a higher chance of learning about something that most adventurers don''t know, have a higher chance to get your hands on limited opportunities, and have contacts on other adventurer guilds. Unfortunately, the "ordinary" adventurers wouldn''t have this opportunity and they were bound to struggle at the bottom of the adventurer hierarchy. Once everyone had this realization, they vowed towork as much as possible while they were still inside the academy and Shye was no exception. However, just when everyone thought that getting academy points wasn''t that hard after all, Instructor Fienna poured a bucket of cold water over their heads. "However, just know that if you decide to take a quest as a party, the academy point reward will be divided among the party members" "For example, let''s say a quest had a reward of 50 academy points uponpletion. If there were five of you whopleted the quest together, you get ten academy points each" The weaker students'' faces slightly paled upon hearing about the rules regarding questpletion while in an adventurer party. However, they consoled themselves by thinking that at least they had a chance to safely earn academy points. "Lastly, premium sses cost somewhere around fifty academy points to a hundred and fifty academy points. The more expensive the ss is, the more important it is." "If you want to look up the schedules of premium sses, they''re posted in the quest hall. That''s all for today, dismissed!" Chapter 86: Partying Up After hearing Instructor Fienna''s exnation about academy points and the ss system for sophomores, juniors, and seniors, the weaker students were slightly rmed. They knew they weren''t as strong as their captain, Shye, or even the other top twenty students so they had to act fast. From the looks of it, they had toplete multiple quests in a day before they would be able to attend a premium ss the next day. In addition to this, deep in their hearts, they knew that they would not be able to attend all of the premium sses so they should just attend what they could and ept that it was inevitable for each student to have gaps. Unfortunately, every time a student attends a premium ss, there is a waiver one has to sign, and if one tells another person about what he/she learned in the premium ss, the deans and instructors would know through the waiver and thewbreaker would be kicked out of the academy. A bit harsh but they had to keep the environmentpetitive. If they give out free premium sses here and there, the students would lose their edge and they wouldn''t grow to their peak potential. After all, sses were simply knowledge and although important, an adventurer''s strength and actual experience is what would make him a true adventurer in the end. Once Instructor Fienna dismissed the ss, everyone except Shye, Anthony, and Shirley, sprinted out of the ssroom. Some of them went towards the quest hall while some immediately rushed towards the buildings of other courses to look for potential party members. Fortunately, they were given a week to farm as many points as they could because starting next week, the premium sses will begin. However, those in the top twenty didn''t have the same problems as the ordinary students. For example, although Anthony and Shirley rank pretty low on the top twenty rankings, killing apex predators in the beginner adventurer zone is already like child''s y to them and their next goal is to apply for an intermediate adventurer badge so that they could enter the intermediate adventurer zone. This means that they can independently umte academy points if they choose to do so. Additionally, should they decide to take on more challenging quests, they can simply form a party with other top twenty students from other courses and their gains would still be significantly biggerpared to the ordinary students even if the rewards would be divided amongst all of them. Of course, there are always exceptions like Shye, Siegfried, and the other top-ranked sophomore students who couldplete difficult quests inside the intermediate adventurer zone alone which means they wouldn''t have to worry about academy points at all. "Shirley, do you want to party up with me?" Shye looked at Shirley and asked After hearing what Shye said, Shirley''s eyes sparkled. This was the first time Shye asked her to go adventuring with him and although she was his girlfriend, she didn''t dare ask him to go adventuring with her due to a few reasons. First, she knows that they have a huge gap in capabilities. Shye could solo hunt in the middle parts of the intermediate adventurer zone while she didn''t even have an intermediate adventurer badge. Second, she didn''t want to be a burden and slow his progress down because he was the most talented student in the history of Colzen Academy and the deans have entrusted the future of the academy to him. Third andst reason, she wanted to try and catch up to him through her own abilities but unfortunately, it seemed that it was impossible so she was secretly worried about their romantic rtionship. Shirley knew that she wasn''t as talented as Shye and she would eventually get left behind if things continued like this. However, she decided to stick around and see what would happen. If therees a day they couldn''t be together anymore, so be it. For now, she was happy that she got to go adventuring with Shye. The two of them left the ssroom and headed towards the Permissions Pavilion to apply for Shirley''s intermediate adventurer badge. Since they were now sophomores, Shirley easily got her intermediate adventurer badge after a few verifications, unlike Shye who had to go through a hard quest just to get one. Once Shirley got her badge, the two of them went to the quest hall to get some quests and farm academy points. The reason why Shye invited Shirley was because he knew that she was about to enter the intermediate adventurer zone and he wanted to help her adapt to the environment first before letting her train alone. Looking back, during the past six months, Shye realized that he hadn''t been a good romantic partner to Shirley at all. He mostly acts on his own while neglecting her because he wants to improve as fast as possible. Although he knew that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, he didn''t want to simply leave Shirley behind. Shye wanted to do something for her which would give her the capital to at least keep up with him and hopefully, in the future, they could go adventuring together as professional adventurers. If that is impossible, then at least he wanted the two of them to be in the same guild. Shirley had been very understanding during the past six months so he realized that although they had a huge gap in abilities right now, there would be a time in the future when he had to settle down somewhere and Shirley seemed like a potentially good wife who he could settle down with. However, if the gap between the two of them bes too big, then they would have to stay in different cities and their rtionship might eventually fall apart so Shye decided to asionally help her. Shirley is talented,however, it''s just that, her talent pales inparison to Shye but with a little help from him, Shye believed that she would be able to keep up. In terms of beauty, She was on par with the top beauty, Allyson ire and her facial features were definitely good enough to be an advertisement model. In addition to this, she had a smoking hot body so there wasn''t really anything wrong with taking her as his wife. This is the reason why Shye resolved himself to help her keep up with him. Chapter 87: Quest Hall Finally, after a few minutes of walking, the two of them arrived at the quest hall. The quest hall looked impressive, it was built from the rarest materials you can find around Colzen City which were frostfire wood nks and wrobblestone bricks. In addition to this, the exterior looked amazing as five huge banners stood proudly in front bearing the crest of the top four academy societies while the middle banner had the insignia of Colzen Academy. Of course, the Order of the ck Sword''s emblem was disyed in one of the four banners because it has consistently managed to grab one of the top four spots in the society rankings. However, although he stood right in front of the majestic quest hall, Shye wasn''t overwhelmed because after seeing the amazing establishments inside Valenzia City, it was hard to feel amazed again at the structures inside Colzen City. In contrast, Shirley''s mouth was agape while her eyes sparkled as she admired the quest hall for a few minutes before managing to snap back to reality. Beside her, Shye chuckled. This was the first time he saw this side of Shirley so he thought that it was quite cute. "Shall we go inside?" "Okay" The two of them entered together and once they were inside, Shye and Shirley felt excited. The inside of the quest hall looked so simr to an adventurer guild! Unlike the society headquarters which only resembled the inside of an adventurer guild, the quest hall actually looked like one. Student adventurers flowed in and out, armed and ready, as some sought quests in front of the massive quest board. Others scanned the area for potential party members, and a few even indulged in a meal amidst the bustling activity. The two of them continued to look around and they were amazed to see that there were even some waiters who were taking the orders of the students who wanted to eat and drink. Although no liquor was served, there were lots of other drinks to choose from. Of course, the iconic huge desk with pretty big sisters was also present on the far side of the quest hall. In contrast to the headquarters of the society, there were lots of pretty big sisters who managed the selection of quests undertaken by the students. In addition to this, Colzen Academy also employed a considerable number of staff members in an attempt to amodate various requests of the students as fast as possible. While looking around, Shye saw a huge banner that was hung right in the middle of the quest hall which says that the society rankingpetition will start today and willst for an entire month. Due to this, Shye was intrigued. He felt obligated to help his society, The Order of the ck Sword, grab the number one spot. Shye grabbed Shirley''s hands and gently pulled her towards one of the staff members in charge of the information desk to ask about the society rankingpetition. "Hello, I would like to ask about the mechanics of the society rankingpetition" Shye looked at the staff member and asked "Ahh! It''s actually straightforward since each student''s name is already linked to the society they''ve joined, as long as youplete quests inside the quest hall, the academy points that were rewarded to you would be added towards the total academy points of your society" "However, there''s no need to worry since your academy points will still be yours and you can still use them to pay for premium sses" "Thepetition willst for thirty days and the society rankings will be decided depending on the total points a society has on thest day of thepetition" The staff member patiently exined to the two of them. After hearing about the mechanics of the society rankingpetition, Shye was fired up. Not only could he earn academy points for himself and Shirley, but they would also be able to help their society achieve a higher rank. As for Shirley, she felt lucky to be able to party up with Shye because not only would she not need to worry about her academy points, but she would also be able to contribute to her society, The Crimson Guardians. Unfortunately, although the name of her society sounded cool, it was only ranked 20th overall so if she could help her seniors get a higher ranking for their society, then she would be happy to do so. Once they knew the mechanics of the society rankingpetition, the two of them proceeded toward the huge quest board to look for quests. Of course, Shye chose the quests with the same requirements as the daily quests and regr quests in the shy Adventurer System to obtain the maximum benefits with the same amount of effort. Shirley was a total beginner in the intermediate adventurer zone so she didn''t have any qualms about the quests Shye chose. In addition to this, she trusted that Shye would take care of her inside the zone so she didn''t have any worries whatsoever. After choosing a few moderate and high-reward quests, the two of them walked towards one of the pretty big sisters to have their quests processed and once the quests were sessfully linked to their adventurer profiles, the two of them exited the quest hall. It was around noon time so the two of them decided to have a quick lunch date before walking towards the intermediate adventurer zone half an hour away from Colzen City. Once they arrived, Shirley was shocked because of how lively the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone waspared to the beginner zone. Shye chuckled after seeing her reaction because he was also the same when he first came here. However, just a short whileter, Shye couldn''t help but frown because of the hateful stares going their way. It was usually just simple annoyed looks but now, the adventurers simply stared at them with hatred. After realizing how tightly, Shirley was clinging on his right arm, Shye realized why these guys were angry. It was because of the fact that the two of them were students of Colzen Academy and that they were a lovey-dovey couple. Shye inwardly chuckled after realizing the reason why the adventurers looked at him with so much hatred. Not only was his girlfriend beautiful, but she also had a sexy body that would stoke the mes of jealousy in any man''s heart. Chapter 88: Shirley is Poisoned?! "Hello, Sir Crowley! Going inside with your¡­Girlfriend, I suppose?" The guards at the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone enthusiastically greeted Shye as the two of them approached the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone under the hatred-filled eyes of the ordinary adventurers. "Oh, Carlo! Yeah, this is her first time going inside the intermediate adventurer zone so I thought I''d show her the ropes first" Shye replied with a smile on his face. He grew fond of the jolly guards of the intermediate adventurer zone and he even asionally brings some food for them to eat. As a result, the guards also grew fond of Shye. Not only did they always greet him enthusiastically whenever he went inside the intermediate adventurer zone, but they even gave him an emergency talisman. Naturally, the guards made sure to show the adventurers that they gave Shye an emergency talisman to deter them from trying anything funny to him inside the intermediate adventurer zone. This is because once Shye crushes the talisman, it will inform the guards that he is in danger. In addition to this, small bits and pieces of the talisman wouldtch on to the troublemakers which would let the guards know who they were. Many people tried to take apart the talisman, but regr adventurers like them didn''t have enough power to remove all the small pieces. As a result, everyone who tried before got caught and put in jail. Thus, nobody dared to make trouble for Shye simply because of his good rtionship with the guards. "I see, can I see the young Miss'' intermediate adventurer badge?" Shirley immediately handed over her intermediate adventurer badge to the guards and after a few simple verifications, the guards let them through. "Well, then, Sir Crowley and Miss Shirley, take care" After a pleasant conversation with the guards, the two of them continued walking towards the location of their first quest which was to hunt five armored hyenas. Shye chose toplete a regr quest first to help Shirley adapt to the environment of the intermediate adventurer zone and to help her gauge the strength of the creatures inside the zone. After half an hour of walking, the two of them arrived at a location where there were lots of armored hyenas. Unlike half a month ago, Shye was already adept when it came to the intermediate adventurer zone. Although he hasn''t explored the deepest parts yet, he already knows the location of the creatures they need to hunt. Surely enough, after just a few minutes of waiting, a pack of five armored hyenas appeared right in front of them, dragging what seemed to be the corpse of a dead Galewood Stag. *GULP* Shirley gulped after seeing the sinister appearances of the armored hyenas. After hearing the gulping sound beside him, Shye turned his head and looked at Shirley who was obviously uneasy. Upon seeing her anxious expression, Shye quickly tapped her shoulders and smiled at her as if saying "Don''t sweat it, I''m here" and sure enough, his words easily made Shirley rx. Indeed, wasn''t her boyfriend the strongest student among all of the sophomores? What was she afraid of? After gathering her courage for a few seconds, Shirley dashed out from the shrubbery and charged towards one of the hyenas. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t let her fight five hyenas by herself so he also charged forward and intercepted four of the hyenas while Shirley fought the alpha of the hyena pack. The fight was intense but the alpha hyena was slowly losing ground against Shirley. Finally, after half an hour, Shirley managed to sessfully take down a creature from the intermediate adventurer zone. During the encounter, Shye made efforts to control the quantity of hyenas engaging with Shirley simultaneously. Then, after another hour, Shirley sessfully defeated four of the hyenas while Shye disposed of the remaining one attempting to escape. "Nice work!" Shye tapped Shirley, who was panting in exhaustion, on the shoulder and gave her a big thumbs up for a job well done. Afterpleting their first quest, the two of them immediately headed towards the next area. They had a total of three quests today and it would be best if they couldplete all three before night fell. All their targets were conveniently located near the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone. As a result, they did not have to set up camp inside; once theypleted their quests, they could easily depart. Half an hour passed before Shye and Shirley arrived at the next location where Thousandfume flowers grew aplenty and upon arriving, it didn''t take a long time for them to find one. Although easy to spot, nt-type creatures were quite tricky to deal with because even though they were slower than beast-type creatures, most of them were poisonous and if one wasn''t careful, they would die. Luckily, dealing with the Thousandfume Flower wasn''t too challenging, and Shirley approached the fight methodically, preventing the creature from causing her any harm. However, when the Thousandfume Flower was on its final bits of strength, Shirley got careless and was hit by a poisonous fume attack. "Shirley!" Due to this, Shye decides to intervene and kill the Thousandfume flower before rushing toward Shirley to give her an antidote. The challenging aspecty in the fact that the Thousandfume Flower emitted thousands of distinct fumes and while the majority of these fumes were rtively mild poisons, some proved to be outright deadly. Therefore, Shye''s initial action was to ascertain the specific poison the flower had unleashed upon Shirley. However, when his face got closer to hers, a shocking thing happened. Shirley, who was supposed to be poisoned, suddenly pounced on Shye, her breathing, ragged. She looked so intoxicated and¡­sexually aroused. Aphrodisiac! After seeing Shirley''s condition, Shye was shocked, however, a few momentster, he breathed a sigh of relief because the flower seemed to have released an aphrodisiac-type poison which isn''t fatal. The problem is¡­ Shye had to help her get rid of the toxins inside her by engaging in sexual intercourse. Shirley had difficulties controlling her urges and as a result, she ended up removing her clothes. Naturally, Shye was simply all too happy to help her remove the toxins. Chapter 89: Training for a Year Shye''s life as a sophomore passed by very quickly. There weren''t a lot of notable events during his second year at Colzen Academy since all he did was mainly train his stamina, upgrade his other attributes through the system, grind academy and system points, go adventuring with Shirley once in a while, spar with his little sister, and have duels against Siegfried or other challengers from time to time. Needless to say, he won all his duels and although he was surprised that Siegfried could still put up a fight against him, in the end, he was always the winner. Naturally, he was also able to help his society, the Order of the ck Sword, grab the number one spot for the first time in the history of the society during this past year. After a training-focused year, thest day of his sophomore student life finally came. However, he still chose to not attend the premium ss today since he knew that the topic wasn''t of any benefit to him and instead, he decided toplete a few quests. In addition to this, he refused thepanion student slot in this year''s Adventurer Academypetition because he felt that two and a half months of traveling wouldn''t benefit him at all so instead, he chose to just stay in Colzen City and continuously train. Of course, he watched thepetition from the holographic television every time it was Colzen Academy''s turn to fight. Unfortunately, as expected, Colzen Academy lost to Orion Academy in the third round of the matches and only achieved a top 128 finish. In addition to this, the chosen substitute representative, Kiin Wujin, one of Shye''s future teammates in the Adventurer Academypetition, was unsatisfied because he didn''t get to fight a single battle at all. Due to this, Shye and his other future teammates decided not to attend next year''s Adventurer Academypetition because they felt that focusing on training would be much more beneficial than going to Valenzia City to watch. During the past year, although Shye didn''t experience anything big, the year was very eventful for his girlfriend, Shirley, who sted through the ranks during the past three months which garnered everyone''s attention. With asional invitations from Shye for adventures, along with the provision of elixirs and, at times, skill books, Shirley''s strength experienced significant growth. Herst official duel a month ago was against 4th-ranked sophomore warrior student, Noah Holler, where she came out on top after a very intense fight. Everyone was shocked because Shirley kept on challenging higher-ranked warrior students every month until she officially became the 4th-ranked warrior student. However, everyone knew that Shye was helping her and some people talked behind her back out of jealousy, but most of the students understood that if she didn''t work hard, even if Shye helped her, then it wouldn''t mean anything. That''s why only the narrow-minded students talked behind her back while the others acknowledged that she worked as hard as a mule to get to where she was right now. Currently, Shye is on his way back to the academy after another sessful day inside the intermediate adventurer zone. He had already explored even the deeper parts of the zone and although some of the most dangerous creatures inside the zone still gave him trouble, it was only a matter of time before he needed to consult Dean Snowcrest on where he should train next. While on the way back to the academy, Shye checked his current status. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 48 [ss] : Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.3][Power sh Lv.3][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2][Stoic Lv.3] [Destructive Chop Lv.2] [Rush Stab Lv.2][Draconian Roar Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 75] [Intelligence : 15] [Agility : 73] [Dexterity : 74] [Stamina : 45] [Vitality : 63]: [Wisdom : 10] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ After seeing his massive improvements within the year, Shye nodded in satisfaction. Although he had no system points left, he was as happy as a m. He couldn''t help but wonder what would happen if he were put into the same situation one year ago when he had to protect his senior, Shin Fernandez, from Acro, the warrior representative from Shadowde Academy. Shye believed that he could now fight neck-and-neck against the Acro from one year ago and to achieve that during the end of his second year was proof of his terrifying growth rate. If Dean Snowcrest knew how strong he was right now, he would be jumping up and down in happiness like a child. Finally, after walking for a few more minutes, he arrived in front of his dormitory where he swiped his identification card and unlocked the door only to find his little sister, Maia, in the middle of an intense training session in the wide living room. After seeing how hard his little sister was working, Shye smiled satisfactorily. At this rate, Maia might have a chance to grab the number one scout course spot! "Oh? Big Brother, you''re finally back! You''ve been inside the intermediate adventurer zone for a week and I was starting to get a bit worried you know!" Maia said with a slight frown on her face and puffed cheeks after realizing that Shye was back. "Sorry, I had a bit of trouble tracking and killing the Drasper Barracuda. I had to get in and out of the Drasper Lake multiple times before I managed to kill it." Shye exined "Haaah¡­At least you''re back, that''s what matters¡­" Maia responded with a sigh "Yeah¡­Well, enough about me, how''s your training during the past week? Do you think you''re ready for the Colzen Academy Entrance Exam?" Maia''s smile reappeared on her face upon hearing her older brother''s question. "Of course! I believe that I would be able to get a high ranking even if the entrance exam happens today, so two weeks from now, I''ll make sure to defeat all of them!" "Then, I''ll finally be a student adventurer and then I can go adventuring inside the beginner adventurer zone!" Maia said as she looked at Shye with fire burning in her eyes. She looked really fired up and couldn''t wait to fight lots of strong guys in the third assessment. Shye chuckled after seeing how excited Maia was. "Hahahaha! That''s good. I''ll be watching so you better do your best in the entrance exam two weeks from now alright?" "You bet! I''ll show everyone my true strength!" Chapter 90: Maia’s Entrance Examination Begins Two weeks quickly passed and once again, it was time for one of Colzen City''s most anticipated events of the year, the Colzen Academy Entrance Examinations. Maia trained arduously for this day so she excitedly went to her big brother''s room to wake him up. It was still very early though so the two of them had lots of time to prepare, unlike Shye who almost didn''t make it to the registration on time. After eating a sumptuous breakfast, Shye and Maia took a bath, wore their chosen attire, and left the dormitory side by side. The two of them walked together towards the examination grounds, and then, after around twenty minutes of walking, they arrived at the examination site. Upon arrival, a few students from Colzen Academy who had gone to the examination grounds to witness the proceedings immediately identified him. "It''s Shye Crowley! Who''s that beside him?" "That little girl resembles him, maybe his little sister?" "Yeah, it must be his little sister! Shit! He has a little sister?! If his little sister is even half as talented as him, then this year''s entrance exams will be exciting!" Shye''s arrival caused a significant stir, piquing the curiosity of many examinees who were unaware of his identity. They couldn''t resist respectfully inquiring about Shye from the Colzen Academy students who hade to observe the entrance exams. Of course, the students were simply all too d to amodate their respectful request and so, they enthusiastically exined to the curious examinees who Shye Crowley was. "Well then, let me tell you. This guy, Shye Crowley, is a legend within the academy!" "Currently, he is an uing third-year warrior course student, and although he kept a low profile as a sophomore, his feats as a freshman were nothing short of legendary!" The Colzen Academy student bragged as if he was Shye himself. However, his story stoked the mes of curiosity and admiration in the hearts of the examinees so they quickly urged the student to tell them about Shye''s feats in detail. Observing the examinees'' curiosity, the student chuckled before proceeding with his narrative. "His first notable achievement was winning the end-of-semester ss budget tournament for his ss¡­As a 16th-ranked ss captain! Every time his ss was on the verge of losing, this guy miraculously turned the tides of the battle by defeating the enemy''s ss captain!" "If only you poor souls had the chance to see his battle with the 1st-ranked warrior student at the time, Siegfried Lionheart, you''d be so inspired to work harder than you''ve ever worked in your entire life!" The student''s spittle flew everywhere as he passionately told everyone about Shye''s achievements. "Not only that, he was the first ever freshman student in the history of the entire academy who managed to defeat an ember tiger!" "Furthermore, he achieved the unprecedented feat of being the first freshman to obtain an intermediate adventurer badge in addition to being granted a ss exemption pass!" "And undoubtedly, the most legendary out of all his aplishments..." "He was chosen as the first freshman substitute representative in Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition where he yed a key role in the three-on-three match, helping Colzen Academy win against their rivals, Shadowde Academy!" At this point, the examinees were practically wide-eyed and open-mouthed, utterly astonished by his remarkable aplishments as a freshman student. They resolved themselves to give their utmost effort and strive to be the next Shye Crowley of Colzen Academy. Meanwhile, the protagonist of the legends, Shye, and his little sister, Maia, didn''t pay too much attention to themotion and simply headed towards the registration desk. Fortunately, the queue wasn''t long and after just a few minutes of waiting, it was already Maia''s turn. "Name?" "Maia Crowley" Upon hearing her name, the staff member was taken aback, instinctively turning his gaze towards Maia. Upon noticing a striking resemnce between the examinee named Maia Crowley and the academy''s legend, Shye Crowley, the staff member couldn''t resist inquiring if the two of them were rted to each other. "Yep! Shye Crowley is my big brother" Maia replied honestly. Little did she know that her honest answer made the staff member panic. "I-I-Is that so? P-please wait here for a bit, I have to ask for instructions." After seeing the reaction of the staff member to her reply, Maia was confused. What did the staff member need instructions for? Shouldn''t he just register her like all the other examinees? Unbeknownst to her, the staff member didn''t know whether to add her to the list of seeded examinees or not. After a few minutes of waiting, the staff member returned and gave her a card which contained her examinee number just like a regr examinee. Ultimately, as she wasn''t initially on Colzen Academy''s radar, the head examiner didn''t allow her to be a seeded examinee, so she had to go through the standard examination process. Naturally, Maia couldn''t care less about the concept of seeded examinees whatsoever. All she cared about was fighting strong people in the third assessment so after she finished her registration, she simply returned to her big brother''s side and chatted with him casually while waiting for the assessments to start. Since the two of them arrived early, Maia had to wait for an hour before the head examiner walked up the stage and announced the rules of the entrance exam. As expected, there were no changes to the rules and after passing the first and second assessments, it means that the examinee has already passed the entrance exam. Then, the third assessment which is the mock tournament, would decide the final overall rankings of each student in every course. Once the head examiner finished announcing the rules, the Colzen Academy entrance exam finally began. What the two of them didn''t expect was, that Maia would be the first one to be called. "Examinee number 21, Maia Crowley, please proceed to training dummy number one for your first assessment!" After hearing that her name was called, Maia excitedly walked towards the designated training dummy. With enthusiasm, she positioned herself in front of the training dummy while tightly gripping a short wooden dagger. She then thrust the dagger into the dummy with all her might. *DING* "230 points!" Chapter 91: Ridiculous Scores The eyes of the examiner almost popped out of their sockets after seeing the value above training dummy number one. "What the fu*k?! 230 points?!" The examiner thought to himself. Such a high score can only be seen in the warrior course assessments but someone in the scout course managed to score 230 points? "T-That''s enough! You pass!" Maia balled her right hand into fists and struck a small victory pose after passing the first assessment. Unbeknownst to her, the examiner immediately left his desk after she finished her first assessment to report her results to the head examiner. "Sir Paul! Someone from the scout course ss managed to score 230 points in the first assessment!" On the other hand, the head examiner, Paul, was annoyed. He didn''t understand why this subordinate of his was getting too worked up. 230 points was indeed a high score for a scout student but¡­ Wait¡­did he say a scout student?! After realizing that his subordinate said scout student instead of warrior student, the eyes of Head Examiner Paul almost fell from his seat. "D-D-Did you say scout course student?! Did I hear it right?!" Paul said to his subordinate examiner. "Hmmph! Didn''t you look annoyed when I told you the first time?!" The subordinate inwardly thought. However, he didn''t have the guts to say what was on his mind to Paul, thus, he could only respectfully reply. "Yes, it was a scout course student who achieved the 230 points" "This is huge! This guy might be on the level of Shye Crowley! Tell me, which seeded examinee managed to achieve such a high score?" Paul said with excitement visible on his face. He could hear the *KACHING* sounds of silver coins, he was sure that they would be given another mary bonus after this year''s entrance examination. "She''s a girl, Sir Paul, and she isn''t a seeded examinee¡­" The subordinate examiner replied "What?! How the hell did we not know about such a talented examinee?!" Veins popped on the sides of Paul''s head, he couldn''t fathom how such a talented examinee escaped their radar. On the other hand, the subordinate examiner was equally as pissed but of course, he couldn''t show it to Paul since he was only a lowly subordinate. "B-But Sir Paul, I asked you earlier if we should make her a seeded examinee and you immediately refused without listening to me¡­" After hearing his subordinate''s exnation, Head Examiner Paul cleared his throat with a slightly embarrassed expression on his face. Indeed, he remembered such a thing happening but there was no way he could admit his mistakes right now so he simply carried on with the conversation. "MHM! Anyway, what''s her name again?" Paul asked "Maia Crowley, Sir¡­" Head Examiner Paul''s eyes widened again after hearing the name of the scout course student who scored a monumental 230 points in the raw strength test. "C-C-Crowley? Is this girl perhaps¡­" "Yes, Sir Paul, this girl is Shye Crowley''s little sister¡­" ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ "Examinee number 21, Maia Crowley, please proceed to magic formation number 10 for your second assessment!" After waiting for a while, Maia''s name was finally called for the second assessment. She wondered how high her currentbat power was so she excitedly headed towards magic formation number 10. Meanwhile, Paul and the subordinate examiner just got out of their tent after a long discussion when they heard Maia''s name being called for the second assessment. The subordinate examiner looked towards Paul and asked "Sir Paul, should we stop them and let Maia Crowley proceed to the third assessment?" Paul thought about it but ultimately decided to let her take the second assessment because not only were there no merits in stopping the assessment right now, but he also wanted to see how strong Shye Crowley''s little sister was with his own eyes. *DING* "315 points!" A value of 315 points floated above Maia''s head which made Paul almost faint due to the unbelievable score. Even the most talented generation two years ago didn''t get such a high score in thebat power assessment. The guy with the highest score back then, Kiin Wujin, from the archer course only scored 265 points in thebat power assessment. He could only imagine that this little girl might be even more talented than her big brother, Shye Crowley. Indeed, when it came to raw talent, Maia was undoubtedly more talented than Shye. However, they didn''t know that Shye had the shy Adventurer System so there was no way for Maia to surpass her big brother. Still, she was the second most talented prospect to ever appear in the history of Colzen Academy so they had to make sure to treat her appropriately. Maia excitedly went back to her big brother''s side to proudly tell him about her score. "Big Brother! I scored 315 points, is that good enough?" On the other hand, Shye almost choked after hearing her score. ''W-Wha? You scored what?!'' Shye thought inwardly but of course, as her big brother and her idol, he couldn''t act too surprised. He suddenly remembered asking his future representative teammates what score they had during thebat power test and the ranking was as follows 1. Kiin Wujin, 265 points 2. Siegfried Lionheart, 262 points 3. David Houdini, 245 points 4. Harry Copperfield, 244 points 5. Ian Izanagi, 240 points 6. Shye Crowley, 161 points Of course, Siegfried and his other teammates believed that he simply hid his strength in the assessment and that''s how he got such a low score. "T-That''s a good score yeah¡­" Shye''s reply made Maia strike another small cute victory pose, if only she knew her big brother''s score, she wouldn''t be able to believe how high her score was. After waiting for around an hour and a half, all examinees finally finished their second assessments and surprisingly, the passing rate was very high. It seems that their top 64 finish a few years ago attracted many professional adventurers to settle down with their families in Colzen City. "Everyone, the third assessment brackets are now up, you may now go to the bulletin board of your respective courses to see who your next opponent is." Maia''s eyes sparkled after hearing the announcement, it was finally time for her long awaited third assessment, the mock tournament where she would get to fight strong guys around her age and test her currentbat capabilities. Chapter 92: Easy Peasy Shye wanted to tell her that there was no way anybody could stand up to her right now but he didn''t want to rain on her parade so he simply kept his mouth shut and let his little sister enjoy herself. After another half an hour, Maia''s name was finally called. "Examinee number 21, Maia Crowley, Examinee number 57, Jeremy Fern, please proceed to sparring grounds number ten for your first round match." Maia looked at her big brother with a big smile on her face before sprinting off to sparring grounds number ten. Shye couldn''t help but chuckle at his little sister''s antics, the little battle maniac was absolutely enjoying this with no nervousness or anxiousness whatsoever. Of course, he, as the big brother, walked towards sparring grounds number ten to watch how his little sister would beat the crap out of her first opponent. Upon arriving, the crowd naturally moved aside to clear a way for him so Shye felt embarrassed due to the special treatment he was getting and he couldn''t help but inwardly sigh. "Oh well, it seems that I would just have to get used to this kind of treatment" Shye thought to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest to focus on Maia''s match. He estimated that Maia''s opponent wouldn''t evenst 20 seconds against her. "Begin!" Once the referee announced the start of the match, Maia immediately disappeared from where she stood and suddenly reappeared behind her opponent. *BANG* Maia quickly struck the back of her opponent''s neck with all of her strength which made her opponent fall unconscious in a single hit. Everybody except Shye who saw what happened broke out in a cold sweat. They couldn''t believe that an entrance examinee could be so strong. On the other hand, in the eyes of the more inexperiencedbatants such as the other examinees, all they knew was that Maia was strong but they didn''t know to what extent. The other seeded examinees who saw her match had serious looks on their faces as they looked at Maia. "Hoh? This girl isn''t bad at all, do you know her?" "Heh, I heard this one is Shye Crowley''s little sister. We can use her to prove to the world that we are more talented than Shye Crowley." "Exactly my thoughts" Two seeded examinees, one boy, and one girl, talked to each other with annoying smirks on their faces. They seem very confident in their abilities to defeat Maia. Meanwhile, the little sister in question was slightly dissatisfied because of how quickly her opponent lost to her, she couldn''t even enjoy herself. "This guy must be one of the weaker examinees¡­Maybe I''ll get to fight stronger guys if I keep winning¡­" Maia consoled herself as she returned to her big brother''s side to wait for her next match. "Nice work!" Shye said as he gave Maia a high five with a wide smile on his face. On the other hand, although Maia was dissatisfied with her first match, she felt happy after being praised by her big brother. Unbeknownst to her, Paul and his subordinate were freaking out. "What the hell¡­isn''t that guy Jeremy Fern considered as a dark horse in this tournament?!" Paul asked his subordinate with a shocked expression on his face. "Y-Yes sir, I believe so¡­let me double check¡­" The subordinate examiner looked through the list of participants and saw that Jeremy Fern was indeed considered a dark horse in the third assessment. "R-Reporting to Sir Paul, I''ve just checked and confirmed that J-Jeremy Fern is indeed a dark horse¡­" "Then that means¡­" The two examiners looked at each other with excited looks on their faces. It seems that Colzen Academy will finally escape the fate of mediocrity this time for real. Two hours passed and Maia defeated two more opponents just as quickly as she did to the first one which made her incredibly disappointed. She couldn''t help but look at her big brother and ask with a depressed look : "Big Brother, why am I so unlucky? Everyone who gets matched up with me is a weakling¡­I want to fight strong guys¡­When would I be able to fight the ones everyone is calling a "seeded examinee"?" Shye almost choked on his saliva after hearing his little sister''s "sincere rant", he truly couldn''t think of where his little sister got this kind of attitude toward fighting. Still, he answered her truthfully. "Well, the first three matches are always against the weaker opponents but don''t worry, you''ll fight the strong guys soon as long as you keep on advancing¡­" Maia''s eyes sparkled with anticipation after hearing what his big brother said, she really hoped that someone could give her a nice fight soon. Finally, after fifteen minutes, her name was called again for her fourth-round match, this time, against a seeded examinee. "Examinee number 14, Razzie Han, Examinee number 21, Maia Crowley, please proceed to sparring grounds number five for your fourth round match!" After hearing the announcement, Shye smiled at Maia and said "Oh? It seems like you would be fighting the fourteenth-ranked seeded examinee this time" As a response, Maia simply nodded at him with an excited expression on her face before sprinting off towards sparring ground number five. Upon arriving, Maia saw her opponent, Razzie, looking at her with a serious look on his face. Razzie already knew that Maia was absurdly strong after watching a few of her past matches so he nned to go all out from the beginning. In addition to this, he heard some rumors that his opponent was the little sister of the legendary Shye Crowley so he didn''t dare let his guard down against her. On the other hand, Maia didn''t give a single shit about everything that''s happening around her. She simply assumed her battle stance with a battle-crazed expression on her face. "Begin!" Right after the referee announced the start of the match, Razzie used his only skill [Blink Strike Lv.1] to suddenly appear behind Maia and take her out in one hit. Unfortunately, his delusions were easily crushed by Maia as he was sent flying after being kicked squarely in his abdomen. "Kuhaahkk¡­" Razzie was sent flying to the edge of the sparring grounds and before he could even get up, Maia was already in front of him holding her dagger close to his throat. "Enough! Maia Crowley wins this match and proceeds to the quarterfinals!" Chapter 93: Maia Crowley vs Alicia Felton After smoking the 14th-ranked seeded examinee, Razzie Han, Maia returned to his big brother''s side while puffing her cheeks out of discontent. Her opponent didn''t evenst ten seconds against her so she thought that her big brother was pranking her again. "Big brother! You said that my next opponent was strong! Why didn''t he evenst ten seconds against me?!" Maia asked with dissatisfaction written all over her face. On the other hand, Shye didn''t know whether tough or cry because he didn''t expect that his little sister would beat the crap out of the 14th-ranked examinee in less than ten seconds so he didn''t know what to say to her this time. "W-Well, h-he should''ve been strong¡­ I guess he wasn''t huh? Just keep on fighting and eventually, you''ll run into some really strong guys" Shye said with a slightly embarrassed and awkward look, he couldn''t help but me Razzie in his mind. "Isn''t this 14th-ranked examinee too weak?!" Shye inwardlyined. Meanwhile, Maia was slowly losing hope, if she knew that it would be like this then she wouldn''t have gotten her hopes up in the first ce. Shye couldn''t stand seeing her so disappointed so he thought of something to cheer her up. "Maia, how about we go watch the matches of the high-ranked seeded examinees?" After hearing her big brother''s suggestion, Maia''s eyes lit up again. Indeed, why didn''t she go look at the strongest seeded examinees to see how strong they were? "Oooh! Yes! Let''s go watch!" Maia enthusiastically followed her big brother as they walked towards sparring grounds number seven where an ongoing match between the second-ranked Alicia Felton and sixth-ranked Geoffrey Gar was getting heated. "That girl looks strong! I want to fight her!" Maia said as she excitedly pointed her finger towards Alicia who was winning the fight. Finally, after a few more minutes, Geoffrey couldn''t keep up with Alicia and was knocked out by a swift blow to his neck. "Enough! Alicia Felton wins and moves on to the quarterfinals!" After her win, Alicia noticed someone pointing a finger at her and she was annoyed. However, upon seeing who it was, she smirked, walked closer to the person and said: "Oh? Maia Crowley, the sister of the legendary Shye Crowley, I presume?" Alicia said with an annoying smirk on her face. On the other hand, Maia was confused after looking at Alicia. She didn''t know how this seeded examinee knew her name. Unbeknownst to her, she was getting quite famous now after her sessive easy victories in addition to the fact that she was Shye''s younger sister. All she cared about was fighting strong opponents so she was oblivious to everything that was happening around her. "Yes, I''m Maia, nice to meet you! What''s your name?" Alicia''s face twitched after hearing what Maia said, she thought that Maia was mocking her by telling her "Who the hell are you?" even though Maia perfectly knew who she was. Unbeknownst to her, Maia''s introduction was simply as sincere as it sounded, and she truly didn''t know her. She even wanted to be friends with Alicia but unfortunately, Alicia misunderstood her intentions and thought that Maia was being arrogant simply because she was Shye''s younger sister. Thus, Alicia scoffed at her reply and red at her. "Hmmph! Quite the sharp tongue I see, your big brother won''t be able to help you inside the sparring grounds so you better watch out" Alicia said before turning around to leave with clenched fists and a furious face. Meanwhile, Maia was utterly confused, she didn''t know why Alicia was so angry at her when all she did was introduce herself. Shye chuckled after seeing the confused expression on his little sister''s face. However, he decided to not intervene to let Maia experience the world for herself. Finally, Maia''s name was called again for her fifth-round quarterfinal match which she easily won again but this time, her opponent was able tost around 20 seconds so she was quite pleasedpared to her previous matches. However, it still wasn''t enough for her, she longed for a match where her opponent could force her to at least use her skills. In her eyes, her past opponents were no fun and she would have rather sparred against her big brother if possible. Fortunately, all the matches finished quickly since there were only a few examinees left and soon, it was finally time for her semifinal match against Alicia. Maia and Alicia stood face-to-face in the middle of sparring ground number one, all eyes on them. The outsiders, some ordinary professional adventurers, the other examinees, students from Colzen Academy, and the examiners all tuned in to this semifinal match between two well-known examinees. Even the scout course dean, Gaston Shadowvale, heard about how Maia destroyed every opponent she faced including the seeded examinees so he couldn''t help but leave his office and go to the entrance exam''s venue to secretly watch Maia''s match against Alicia. In the eyes of the examiners and the dean, this would be Maia''s first real test because Alicia Felton''s parents were both emerald-ranked adventurers and they were fairly famous in Colzen City. This was also the first time he ever heard about Shye having a little sister so this was a big piece of news for him especially since she was a scout course examinee. If she was as talented as her big brother then Colzen Academy would have another golden era just two years after Shye graduated. "Begin!" Finally, the long-awaited match began. Alicia didn''t even bother about probing Maia and directly used one of the mostmon scout skills, [Blink Strike Lv.1] to suddenly appear behind Maia. Unfortunately for her, such tricks were toomon and weren''t enough to even make Maia step back. *CLANG* Two daggers shed but one person was evidently stronger than the other. Alicia was sent sliding back after a single sh against Maia and it seems that Maia had the edge when it came to raw strength. However, Alicia wasn''t worried, she still had a few aces up her sleeves and she didn''t believe that Maia would have skills to counter hers so she decisively charged at her again to continue attacking. Chapter 94: A Furious Maia *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Finally, after continuously attacking Maia, Alicia saw an opening which she immediately tried to take advantage of. She moved in and tried to stab Maia but unfortunately for her, it was all a trap. Maia easily dodged her stab and kicked her squarely in the abdomen which sent her flying to the edge of the stage. Shye felt so proud after seeing his little sister perfectly pull off a move he taught her. On the other hand, Alicia remained focused even though her abdomen was in pain. She immediately tried to regain her footing without taking her eyes off Maia because she knew that a singlepse in focus might result in her defeat against such a strong opponent. *CLANG* Seeing that she failed to finish Alicia off, Maia smiled widely as she thought to herself "This is the battle I''ve always wanted!". Her bored expression was reced by a battle-hungry smile which surprised the examiners and Dean Gaston. "W-What?! This little girl dared to hold back against the second-ranked seeded examinee?" Dean Gaston felt his head spinning because who the hell would dare to hold back in an all-important entrance exam ranking match? *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* "K-Kuuhhh¡­You were holding back?!" Alicia said as she gnashed her teeth in anger, she had never felt so humiliated in her entire life. Right after Maia decided to get serious, she was constantly on the back foot without any chance to retaliate which made her even more furious. "Tch! Things can''t go on like this!" Alicia thought to herself as she finally revealed another one of her skills, [Afterimage Lv.1], which would create two fake Alicias on the stage to confuse her opponent. Unfortunately for her, Maia didn''t give a single shit about trying to determine which one was real and which one isn''t. She directly charged towards all the Alicias and attacked all of them to determine which one was real. "Got you!" While Maia was charging towards one of the clones, Alicia made use of this opportunity to attack Maia''s exposed back. "So that''s the real one!" Maia suddenly eximed as she disappeared and reappeared behind Alicia using [Blink Strike Lv.1] "Shit!" *BANG* Alicia''s unconscious body fell to the ground after being caught off guard by Maia''s [Blink Strike Lv.1] "Enough! Maia Crowley wins and proceeds to the finals!" The crowd erupted into cheers as Maia, the biggest dark horse of the tournament took out the well-known seeded examinee, Alicia Felton. Meanwhile, Dean Gaston clenched his fists while shaking with excitement. He wasn''t sure if Maia had the same unbelievable growth rate her big brother had but there was one thing he was sure of. Maia had unbelievable battle hunger andbat IQparable to that of Siegfried Lionheart from the warrior course, if she had the same explosive growth rate her big brother had, then she would undoubtedly surpass her big brother. Unbeknownst to the dean, although Maia was indeedparable to or even more talented than Siegfried when it came tobat, there was no way for her to match the explosive growth rate Shye had because his absurd growth rate came from the shy Adventurer System. Still, Maia was undoubtedly a good catch. Although she couldn''t match her big brother''s absurd growth rate, she had an impable discipline and work ethic which would put most high-ranked adventurers to shame. While Dean Gaston was daydreaming about Maia''s potential, the third assessment was reaching its final stretch as the finals across all four courses were decided. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ It took an hour and a half for the warrior, archer, and mage courses to conclude their final matches and determine the final rankings of their examinees. Now, it was finally time for thest match of the day, the scout course finals match. Dean Gaston already knew how this would go because there wasn''t such a huge difference between the abilities of the second-ranked Alicia Felton and her twin brother, Dave Felton. The question is, can Dave push Maia hard enough for her to reveal all her cards? Meanwhile, Dave was getting extremely annoyed. He never would have imagined that he would enter the final match as the underdog. Although he saw how Maia defeated her sister, he thought that Alicia simply got careless and that''s why she lost. He didn''t believe that Maia was stronger than him at all so after hearing the instructors talking about "how long will hest" against Maia, he couldn''t help but gnash his teeth in anger. While Dave was having internal struggles, Maia arrived at the sparring grounds with an excited look on her face. Seeing how carefree she was, Dave was even more annoyed so he couldn''t help but insult her. "Heh! Look at this idiot, still not realizing the gravity of the situation she was in. I bet your big brother is as stupid as you!" After hearing what Dave said, for the first time in forever, the sweet, innocent, and understanding Maia Crowley had veins popping out on the sides of her head in anger. She didn''t mind being insulted herself but she didn''t want to hear anyone talking shit about her big brother. Still, she remained silent, however, she had a serious expression on her face as she stared at Dave with an ice-cold gaze. On the other hand, Dave wasn''t affected. In fact, he felt quite satisfied after seeing the anger in his opponent''s eyes. Dave assumed his fighting stance and not long after, the examiner in charge of their match announced the start of their match. "Begin!" Unfortunately for Dave, Maia wasn''t ying around this time. She immediately used [Blink Strike Lv.1] to appear behind Dave who expected her to do so. Dave used [Bloody Stab Lv.1] to try and heavily injure Maia but unfortunately, all he hit was an afterimage conjured by Maia''s final hidden skill [Bloodthirsty Feint Lv.1]. Her skill allowed her to conjure an attacking afterimage which has the same aura and attack patterns as the original body but has no actual capability to hurt the opponent. Dave didn''t even notice Maia''s real body behind him as she quickly finished him off with a [Bloody Stab Lv.1] while he was still confused as to why he felt nothing after hitting Maia''s afterimage. "E-Enough! Maia Crowley wins and gets the 1st-ranked spot!" Everyone was stupefied after Maia showed all her cards and went all out. They didn''t expect that the 1st-ranked seeded examinee, Dave Felton, couldn''t evenst twenty seconds against a furious Maia Crowley. Chapter 95: Appraisal - Level 2 One week passed since Maia became a well-known scout course student of Colzen Academy and she could finally roam the campus grounds any time she wanted to. She was also given her own premium dormitory but she refused to stay there, and instead, she insisted that she wanted to stay in the same dormitory as her big brother. The premium dormitories were way too big for one person anyway and she didn''t want to be separated from her big brother so she decided to stay inside Shye''s dormitory. "Big Brother! Let''s go! We''re gonna bete!" Maia said with a loud voice before leaving the dormitory with an excited look on her face. Shye couldn''t help but chuckle after seeing his little sister''s overly enthusiastic antics. It was still way too early for school but he didn''t want to rain on his little sister''s parade so he just decided to go to school early today. On the way, Shye casually talked with Maia as they walked toward their respective buildings. Unfortunately, after walking for ten minutes, the two of them had to go their separate ways since the scout and warrior course buildings were in different directions. "Well then, big brother, I''ll see youter!" "See you." Shye bid his little sister goodbye before continuing to walk towards the warrior course building once Maia''s silhouette was gone. Then, after a few more minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of his ssroom. "Wahh¡­The ssroom is empty¡­Seems like I got here way too early¡­" He thought to himself as he yawnedzily and entered the ssroom. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to open the system and explore its features once again. Upon checking his status, he noticed one skill that he had neglected because after using it hundreds of times in the past, it was still useless. [Appraisal Lv.1] "Well, it only cost me a hundred points anyway¡­" Shye sighed as he decided to use the skill onest time beforepletely giving up on it. ¡ª----------------------------------- Name: Wooden Chair Level : N/A Description: A wooden chair. ¡ª----------------------------------- "Haaah¡­" Shye couldn''t help but sigh once again in disappointment, it seemed that the skill was still as useless as ever. However, while he was in the middle of sighing, a holographic notification suddenly appeared right in front of him. [Congrattions, Your skill [Appraisal Lv.1] leveled up to [Appraisal Lv.2] !] His eyes lit up after the unexpected pleasant surprise and due to this level up, Shye realized something. "It seems that there is an option to not upgrade skills using points¡­If I simply continuously use a skill, it will eventually level up¡­" This was a huge discovery for him because although he could earn lots of points in a single huge event, the price of each attribute upgrade has gone up tremendously and the value of each point is slowly bing lower and lower. Knowing that he could save lots of points from skill upgrades would be a big help to him because he believed that upgrading his attributes should be his priority right now. A single skill level-up wouldn''t allow him to win when there''s a huge gap in attributes between him and his opponent. "Oh? Captain! You''re early today, how rare!" One of Shye''s ssmates suddenly arrived which snapped him back to reality. He then remembered that he had yet to test the effects of [Appraisal Lv.2] so he looked at his ssmate and thought of the skill name in his head to activate it. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Jeffrie Boush [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior [Strength : 45] [Intelligence : 13] [Agility : 42] [Dexterity : 38] [Stamina : 28] [Vitality : 30]: [Wisdom : 10] Description: A warrior-course student from Colzen Academy [Exit] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shye felt ecstatic upon witnessing the oues of [Appraisal Lv.2]. He had anticipated that the skill might bring him a pleasant surprise, and indeed, it did. Seeing the attributes of a person with just one look will allow him to urately estimate if the person was stronger or weaker than him and because of this, he would be able to immediately spot his opponent''s weakness. For example, if he saw that his opponent''s stamina attribute was lower than his, then he could simply fight him in a battle of attrition. Another example is if the opponent has higher stamina than him but way lower strength and dexterity, then he could choose to be aggressive. To summarize everything, [Appraisal Lv.2] could help Shye achieve a dynamic fighting style that would allow him to adapt and use the most efficientbat strategy against his opponent in just a few seconds. In addition to this, he could immediately see if an opponent was too strong for him which would increase his chances of surviving. "Hmm? Hello? Captain? W-Why are you staring at me while smiling like that?" Jeff Boush couldn''t help but take a step back and have goosebumps after seeing Shye smile at him like some kind of weirdo. Meanwhile, Shye, the weirdo in question, regained hisposure after Jeff confronted him about his peculiar conduct. He then cleared his throat and made some random excuse to clear his name lest this guy tells everybody that he''s a weirdo and a creep. The two of them chatted casually while waiting for the ss to start and after around 45 minutes, everyone arrived including theirbat instructor, Fienna Evans. "Everyone, sit down, and let''s start the ss!" Once everyone was seated, Instructor Fienna took everyone''s attendance and as expected, everyone was present since it was their first day as junior students. "Alright, since everyone is here, let me take this chance to tell everyone what is expected of you as a junior student." "As a junior student, you are expected to be an example to the freshmen and sophomores so you cannot act irresponsibly anymore." "As you all know, your ss is doing good since everyone is still healthy but I believe you all heard about the tragedies happening in the other sses correct?" Instructor Fienna scanned the ssroom and upon seeing that almost everyone was nodding with serious looks on their faces, she continued with her lesson. "Good, as third-year students, you are now all expected to hunt inside the intermediate adventurer zones and the requirements are now way harderpared to when you were sophomores." "Let me give you an example. As a third-year student, one of the requirements is to hunt a D- ranked creature alone." "If you fail to do this during your entire third year in the academy, I am sorry to tell you this but you will be kicked out of the academy." Most of the students in Shye''s ss gulped after hearing only one of the requirements. If the other requirements were on a simr level as this one, then it was inevitable that some of them would be heavily injured or worse, die inside the intermediate adventurer zone. Chapter 96: A Priestess From Colzen Monastery Those in the top twenty didn''t have any problem with the requirements of this level because even though they might not be able to do it right now, in just a few months, they would be able to aplish it. As for Shye, these kinds of requirements were considered nothing because killing (D-) ranked creatures was simply too easy for him now and only the apex (D) ranked creatures inside the intermediate adventurer zone posed a threat to his life. After giving the ss a short overview of what to expect as junior students, Instructor Fienna signaled everyone to follow her to the training grounds for anotherbat training session but this time, it would be way harderpared to when they were sophomores. Of course, Instructor Fienna knew that Shye had better things to do than participate in thebat training session so she signaled him that he could leave whenever he wanted. Shye gave Instructor Fienna a sincere bow before going off on his own. He nned to go to the quest hall toplete his requirements early so that he would be free to do anything he wanted in thetter part of the school year. On the way, he didn''t forget to use appraisal on literally everything and everyone to level it up to level three as soon as possible. What he didn''t expect was, when he arrived in front of the quest hall, he suddenly suffered from a huge headache followed by a notification. [Congrattions! Your intelligence attribute leveled up from 15 >> 16] "Ughhh..What the hell?" Shye was confused, he had absolutely no clue about what was happening to him. Five seconds ago he suddenly had a major headache but now, it''s gone and his intelligence attribute leveled up? What the hell is happening? Is there a connection between [Appraisal] and [Intelligence]? Does improving the intelligence attribute benefit a warrior-ss adventurer? Such questions suddenly started popping up in his mind. He had neglected the [Intelligence] and [Wisdom] attributes because the warrior course instructors always lectured them about strength, hand dexterity, speed, footwork, stamina, and physique. However, after what happened just now, he was forced to finally look at these two attributes closely. He asionally gets some intelligence and wisdom level-up notifications whenever he learns something important in ss but apart from that, he basically ignored them. Shye made a mental note to explore these two attributes in depth in the future but for now, he decided to enter the quest hall and receive his junior requirement quests first because...He was starting to look like a weirdo again while loitering at the entrance of the quest hall. Once he was done receiving all the junior requirement quests he could finish alone, Shye left the quest hall and headed toward the intermediate adventurer zone. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Two and a half days passed since Shye took all the solo junior student requirement quests in the quest hall and he was currently in the middle ofpleting his fifth quest. He was now pretty deep inside the intermediate adventurer zone but he was already ustomed to it by now so even though he was alone, there were no problems at all. *SPURT* *THUD* Blood sprayed through the air as the head of a (D-) ranked creature, the Icefire Smander, separated from its body and fell to the ground with a thud. "Phew¡­Two more quests and my solo requirements are done¡­" Shye thought to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead after another sessful kill. He then took out a cold beverage from his inventory to rest and chill for a bit when suddenly, the tall bushes right beside him started rustling. Shye''s eyes narrowed into slits as he returned the cold beverage to the inventory and quickly assumed his battle stance. However, his eyes widened because instead of an angry creature charging at him, a battered and bruised beautiful woman holding a life staff charged out of the shrubbery. ''Hmm? A Priestess?'' The woman was a little bit shorter than Shye, had long blue hair, ice-cold blue eyes, a fairly toned body, huge breasts, and beautiful facial featuresparable to those of an ice fairy. Of course, her fairly athletic body wasn''tparable to Shirley''s since she was an actual warrior student but she looked very fit and athletic for a priestess student. Upon closer look, Shye noticed that she was wearing a third-year Colzen Monastery priestess student uniform which made him confused because from what he knew, only fourth-year students were allowed to leave the Colzen Monastery. The priestess student from Colzen Monastery seemed to be running away from something and sure enough, only a few seconds after the priestess passed by, a raging Steelfeather Ostrich came out of the bushes and madly darted towards the fleeing priestess. It looked so furious and determined to end her life. Of course, Shye wouldn''t let a fellow student die so easily so he followed the two of them in an attempt to save the priestess from the ostrich. Upon realizing that the ostrich was having a hard time catching up to the priestess, Shye was surprised. One wouldn''t expect that a priestess would be so fast at running away. Unfortunately, she was still slower than the ostrich so after a few more seconds, the Steelfeather Ostrich finally caught up to her. Shye''s eyes widened after seeing the ridiculous scene that happened next. *WHACK* The priestess, who should be using her life staff to cast support-type skills, held it like a baseball bat and used it to whack the shit out of the ostrich''s head. Shockingly, the ostrich was sent flying backward towards Shye like a huge feathery ball. Fortunately, Shye was quickly able to snap out of his stupor, draw his greatsword, and sh the Steelfeather Ostrich in half. Upon realization of what happened, the Colzen Monastery priestess student stopped running, turned around, and walked towards Shye. She then stopped in front of him and said : "Thanks for helping me, I shall give you one ostrich egg as a reward" with a reluctant look on her face. Shye almost choked on his saliva after hearing what the priestess said. He couldn''t believe that a third-year priestess, who shouldn''t even be in the intermediate adventurer zone in the first ce, would act like a thief and steal a few eggs from a Steelfeather Ostrich. Chapter 97: Wendy Primrose Shye''s face slightly twitched as he received the ostrich egg from the Colzen Monastery priestess. He still couldn''t get over the reason why this priestess was being chased by a steelfeather ostrich. Still, he knew that refusing a thank-you gift was impolite so he chose to receive the ostrich egg and store it inside his sack bag for now. After storing the ostrich egg, Shye looked at the priestess and smiled. "I see that you are a third-year student from Colzen Monastery¡­I''m Shye Crowley, a third-year student from Colzen Academy, pleased to make your acquaintance!" "Wendy Primrose, a third-year student from Colzen Monastery, pleased to make your acquaintance" Wendy replied as she deeply bowed towards Shye. Contrary to her ice-cold facial expression and seemingly unfriendly demeanor, Shye realized that Wendy was actually quite well-mannered. "I''m just curious, aren''t Colzen Monastery students only allowed to go adventuring when they be fourth-year students?" Shye slightly tilted his head as he asked Wendy with a confused expression on his face. In contrast, Wendy stepped back with a nervous expression as she struggled to justify why she was inside the intermediate adventurer zone. "W-W-Well, we indeed aren''t allowed to go out until we''re fourth-year students but I got bored inside so I¡­snuck out¡­Then, I found a magazine about how delicious and savory Steelfeather Ostrich eggs were, so I went inside the intermediate adventurer zone to grab some¡­" Shye almost facepalmed after hearing what Wendy said. From what he knew, Colzen Monastery was very strict in handling problem students so he couldn''t help but think that Wendy would be kicked out of the monastery even if she managed to return. In addition to this, he couldn''t believe that she put herself in extreme danger just for a taste of Steelfeather Ostrich eggs. Shye felt that he was about to get a headache because of this unruly and stubborn Wendy, however, he took a deep breath and decided to do things one step at a time. For now, he believes that the best course of action would be to help Wendy get out of the intermediate adventurer zone alive before returning to continuepleting his quests. "I see¡­Well then, for now, let''s get you out of here." Shye said as he turned around to lead the way back to the entrance of the intermediate adventurer zone. After hearing what Shye said, Wendy''s face paled. She then adamantly shook her head in refusal as she looked at him and replied "N-No, I don''t want to return so soon¡­" "But it''s too dangerous for you here¡­" Shye exined with a helpless expression. He couldn''t just start using brute force to take her outside the intermediate adventurer zone simply because she didn''t listen to him so he was truly having a hard time dealing with Wendy who was as stubborn as a mule. The two of them stared at each other for two whole minutes before Shye sighed deeply and said "Haaah¡­Then what do you want to do? You can''t just continue adventuring alone" Of course, Wendy also knew that it would be hard for a priestess to go solo adventuring because a priestess'' role was to support her party members. If she had no teammates to deal actual damage to the enemy creatures, then her skills would be utterly useless. Fortunately, an idea suddenly popped up inside her head. "T-Then, how about you party up with me and take me adventuring with you for a while before we return? Don''t you have quests or something?" Wendy asked with a slightly nervous expression on her face. She fully understands that she might be causing trouble for Shye here but she really doesn''t want to return to the monastery yet. Because if she does, who knows when will she be allowed to go out again? On the other hand, Shye weighed the pros and cons of her party proposal. There was one quest in the system with a huge reward of 1500 system points right now, however, it was a bit hard for him toplete alone. Perhaps¡­If this priestess was good enough, the two of them might be able to take down the Jadepaw Grizzly which was an apex (D) ranked creature. Shye remained silent for a whole minute which made Wendy uneasy. She really wanted to go adventuring but there was no way for her to do so alone. After a few more nerve-wracking moments for Wendy, Shye finally opened his mouth. "Well, I still have three more quests¡­I guess we canplete it first" Shye said with a helpless smile on his face. ''Haahh¡­I guess it wouldn''t hurt to bring her along¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he started to walk towards the next quest''s location. Meanwhile, Wendy''s face had the same ice-cold look, however, her body''s gestures says otherwise. She couldn''t suppress herself from striking a small victory pose while practically skipping in happiness as she followed Shye toward the next quest location. On the way, Shye and Wendy chatted casually, and then, after around two hours of walking, the two of them finally arrived at the location where tri-horned rhinos thrived. Shye nned to test Wendy''sbat skills and experience first to see if she would be able to help him defeat the Jadepaw Grizzly. The two of them trod carefully as they looked for a lone tri-horned rhino, unfortunately, it was way too evident that Wendy had zero experience as she made some mistakes that exposed their location. *ROOOOOOAAARR* Two tri-horned rhinos noticed their presence at the same time due to Wendy identally making a loud noise by stepping on a twig. "Stay behind me!" Shye eximed as he charged toward one of the tri-horned rhinos. He then narrowly dodged the rhino''s charge by sliding under the huge rhino''s body before using [Power sh Lv.3] to inflict a deep wound on the right side of the first tri-horned rhino''s body. "Shit!" After sessfully dealing a decent amount of damage to the first rhino''s body, Shye''s eyes widened upon realizing that the second rhino was already right beside him. He underestimated the charge speed of the second rhino so now, he had no choice but to use [Stoic Lv.3] to tank its full-powered charge. However, just when he was about to activate his skill, an unbelievably thick barrier suddenly covered his body. Shockingly, the barrier wasn''t affected at all even after receiving a full-powered tri-horn rhino''s charge. Chapter 98: Wendy’s Abilities Shye''s eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief after witnessing the strength of Wendy''s barrier. She was only a third-year student but her barrier was already stronger and thickerpared to the barrier of his senior, Fazzio Nieva, who was one of his teammates during Colzen Academy''s top 64 finish in the Adventurer Academypetition. Due to this, Shye suddenly remembered theirst remaining teammate from Colzen Monastery whom they hadn''t met yet. Colzen Monastery''s Archpriest proudly stated that theirst teammate was the most talented priestess to ever grace the monastery and judging from Wendy''s thick barrier, it was highly likely that she was theirst teammate. Not to mention, the two of them were currently in the same year level. Unfortunately, Shye didn''t have the time to follow through on his current deductions as the two rhinos turned their attention to the defenseless Wendy. "U-Uhmm¡­W-Why are you looking at me? Him! Attack him! He''s the warrior!" Wendy pointed her index finger towards Shye and eximed to the rhinos with a slightly panicked expression on her stiff and cold face as the two tri-horned rhinos looked at her and started winding up their charge. "Tch!" Naturally, Shye wouldn''t just let the two rhinos bulldoze Wendy. He quickly got out of the barrier''s radius and used [Rush Stab Lv.2] to try and finish off the wounded tri-horned rhino by targeting the grievously wounded part of its body. *SPURT* *ROAAAAR* The wounded rhino roared in pain as both of Shye''s greatswords stabbed deep into its wound. Regrettably, the rhino proved to be too resilient as it still didn''t die after another direct hit from Shye. Meanwhile, Wendy was getting ready to defend herself from the remaining healthy rhino. Unfortunately, her barrier was still on cooldown so the first thing that came to her mind was to hold her life staff like a baseball bat as the second rhino furiously charged towards her. "Wendy! Don''t! You can''t fight it head o¨C?!" *WHACK* Shye''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets after seeing that the tri-horned rhino, who was as heavy as a tank, suffered the same fate as the Steelfeather Ostrich and was sent flying like a huge cannonball. ''Wendy?! What the sh-'' He didn''t even have time to curse because he soon realized that the tri-horned rhino''s humongous body was flying towards him. *BANG* Luckily, Shye managed to sessfully get out of the flying rhino''s way by using his [Dash Lv.3] skill causing it to crash into a tree. He felt that it was such a waste to use an important skill like [Dash Lv.3] just to get out of a flying rhino''s way. However, he had no choice but to do so because every bone in his body would break if the rhino crashed into him. *SPURT* While the healthy rhino was struggling to get up, Shye took the chance to finish off the wounded rhino, who was in itsst breath, before returning in front of Wendy to protect her. As he stood protectively in front of Wendy, he was surprised when he suddenly felt Wendy''s life staff touch his back and he couldn''t help but anxiously ask why she was doing this. "Wendy?" Shye slightly turned his head and asked with a confused look on his face. Unfortunately, Wendy didn''t have time to exin because the other tri-horned rhino was already charging towards them. Thus, she decided to just continue casting her buff skill, [Boost Strength Lv.2], and let her skills do the talking. *SHING* A red light suddenly enveloped Shye''s entire body as Wendy finished casting her buff skill. Meanwhile, Shye, who felt the effects of Wendy''s [Boost Strength Lv.2] was dumbfounded once again and he couldn''t help butpare her buff skill to his senior''s. Fazzio Nieva, casted buff spells for him during their journey to Valenzia City to help him get ustomed to the changes in his physique while the buff skills were active. The reason for this was that, as a warrior, he would be the one who would receive a lot of buffs from the priests/priestesses so he needed to limate himself to the sudden boost. What made him shocked was, that the changes he felt in his body were so overwhelming that Fazzio''s [Boost Strength Lv.2] could be considered as a jokepared to Wendy''s. In fact, the effects of the two buff skills weren''t evenparable. The shocking thing was, that she was only a third-year student. Shye didn''t have the time to thoroughly examine the changes in his body though as the second tri-horned rhino was already right in front of him. Shockingly, his body''s instincts urged him to stop overthinking and just sh with the tri-horned rhino head-on instead of dodging to the side. ''Damn it, I shall trust her this one time!'' Shye inwardly thought as he gritted his teeth and decisively charged forward. He then shed both of his greatswords downwards to engage in a frontal sh with a charging tri-horned rhino. "HAAAAAHHHH!" *SPURT* To his surprise, his greatswords cut the tri-horned rhino vertically in half as if it were a hot knife slicing through butter. *THUD* Naturally, Shye was dumbfounded after killing the tri-horned rhino with ease. He never would have imagined that killing creatures together with a capable priestess would be this efficient. He couldn''t help but look at Wendy whose facial expressions didn''t even change even though she was shing a cute victory peace sign at him. Of course, Shye was happy after their wless victory as well so he gave her a thumbs up for a job well done. Upon realization of how overpowered Wendy''s skills were, Shye was sure that even the Jadepaw Grizzly would have trouble against the two of them. Although she was indeed severelycking inbat experience right now, her absurdly strong abilities more than made up for her inexperience. Not to mention, she seems to be a fast learner. Due to this, Shye finally decided to take down the Jadepaw Grizzly. However, just to be sure, Shye brought her along to finish his other quests first before attempting to take out the Jadepaw Grizzly. On the way to their next quest location, Shye asked Wendy about her skills in detail and found that what makes her abilities so strong is her almost infinite mana pool and a rare talent that she already had when she was born, [Contact Casting]. This talent of hers allowed her to directly triple the effects of every spell she cast if either her limbs or her life staff touched her target. Truly the definition of a talented individual. Chapter 99: D Ranked Creature, Jadepaw Grizzly Wendy pinched her nose as she helped Shye butcher the carcasses of two tri-horned rhinos. This was her first time experiencing something like this so it was understandable that she couldn''t stand the smell of blood. Seeing that she was struggling, Shye told her that she didn''t need to help him butcher the carcasses but she stubbornly insisted on helping so he decided to just let her do what she wanted. Only after two whole hours did the two of them finish butchering the tri-horned rhinos. It was already close to nighttime when they finished so Shye decided to bring Wendy to the nearest safe zone and camp for the night since it wouldn''t be safe for the two of them to continue hunting. Shye secretly took out lots of different stuff such as sleeping bags, skewers, firewood, and other camping necessities from the inventory of the system. Then, once the camp was ready, he took out some boar meat and seasonings from his sack bag and started a fire to roast meat for dinner. During the past three years, Shye had been diligently studying the sacred art of roasting meat because he wanted to be able to eat delicious meals like these even when he was out adventuring. Meanwhile, Wendy, who inhaled the fantastic aroma of the roasted boar meat, was attracted to the fire, however, she was too shy to ask Shye for food so she couldn''t do anything but gulp down a mouthful of saliva as she stared at the excellently roasted meat. After realizing that Wendy was yearning for his roasted meat, Shye inwardlyughed as he felt proud of his roasting skills which he had been honing for two years now. Naturally, once the meat was ready, Shye tore a huge piece of the meat and gave it to Wendy before eating the other half with an excited smile on his face. For Shye, eating roasted meat was a bliss that he wouldn''t get tired of anytime soon. Once the two of them were done eating, Shye exined to Wendy how sentry roles work when adventuring inside the intermediate adventurer zone, however, Wendy couldn''t understand why someone had to keep watch during the night. Just as Shye was about to patiently exin why, Wendy''s life staff touched the ground and a huge barrier appeared which covered their entire camp. This time it was Wendy''s time to speak as Shye was dumbfounded upon seeing such arge barrier. "D-Do you think this will work instead? The barrier won''t disappear even after I sleep so¡­" Wendy asked with a hopeful expression on her face, if this n of hers worked, then the two of them could sleep peacefully. Shye snapped back to reality after hearing Wendy''s words. He wanted to say "No, this is too unfair for the other adventurers" but he also wanted to sleep for a longer time if he could so he weighed the pros and cons of sleeping inside the huge barrier. After pondering for a few minutes, he realized that the only disadvantage of this n was¡­That he might sleep toofortably to the point where he would yearn to sleep like this every night while adventuring. However, Wendy''s abilities were far too convenient and it was a shame not to try and sleep like this whenever he got the chance to. Thus, he decided to go with Wendy''s ns. "I''ve thought about it and this n seems feasible, if you can promise that you can keep this barrier up throughout the night then there should be no problem¡­" Shye replied "Yes! I promise this barrier won''t disappear!" Wendy guaranteed. And just like that, Shye had the mostfortable sleep he ever had while adventuring. ¡­ Nighttime passed and the sun slowly rose in the sky. Shye and Wendy woke up after a peaceful sleep as rays of sunlight touched their eyelids. *YAWN* ''Ahh, that was the mostfortable sleep I ever had inside the intermediate adventurer zone¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he stretched his body. He then started a fire to roast some meat for breakfast, but this time, he roasted the fish meat of a Drasper Barracuda which made Wendy smile in delight due to another delectable meal. After eating breakfast, Shye led the way and proceeded toward the next two quest locations toplete the remaining quests before attempting to defeat the Jadepaw Grizzly. Whilepleting his other two quests, the two of them encountered many creatures, rare herbs, and a few picturesque locations which made Wendy''s eyes sparkle. ''If only I could go adventuring every day¡­'' Wendy couldn''t help but think about the future, hopes and dreams blossoming in her heart. She really wanted to go adventuring every day if possible but once she returned to the monastery she wouldn''t be able to go out again for a whole year. As for Shye, he was already used to being inside the intermediate adventurer zone so such things aren''t really new to him. However, he noticed that Wendy was indeed very talented, and after just a few days inside the intermediate adventurer zone, she was already getting the hang of being an adventurer. After quickly defeating another D- ranked creature which was a part of his junior requirement quest, it was finally time for the two of them to try their hand against the notorious Jadepaw Grizzly. Before walking towards their of the bear, Shye tried to get some information on the grizzly through the Adventurer Encyclopedia. He then found out that Jadepaw Grizzlies have a very soft belly which could be considered its weak spot. However, contrary to themon knowledge that bears have powerful raw strength, Jadepaw Grizzlies were weaker in powerpared to other bear-type creatures, however, their agility more than made up for theirck of strength. This was because a Jadepaw Grizzly''s body was made for speed rather than pure overwhelming strength. Still, although these grizzlies were weaker in terms of raw strengthpared to other bear-type creatures, they were way strongerpared to humans and it would be unwise to face it head-on unless you are a high-ranked adventurer. After analyzing the information he got from the Adventurer Encyclopedia, Shye formted two battle ns. The first was to fight it head-on with strength and speed buffs from Wendy and the second was to perform a high-risk high-rewardbo move with Wendy. If the first tactic does not work, then the two of them will have no choice but to try the second one. Finally, after around three hours of walking, the two of them arrived in front of a Jadepaw Grizzly''sir. Shye quickly ran through the battle n with Wendy onest time before taking a deep breath and entering their. Chapter 100: A Successful Hunt *ROAAAAARRR* Shye immediately ran outside their after sessfully pissing the target off, behind him was a 2-meter-tall greenish-brown grizzly bear with jade-colored paws. The bear looked so furious that one could only imagine what a human could do to it to anger the creature this badly. What better way to anger a sleeping bear than to poke its butt with a skill-empowered attack from two greatswords. While he was on the run, Shye looked at Wendy and waved his hands, signaling her to execute the n. "Wendy! Now!" After hearing Shye''s signal, Wendy started casting one of her buff skills, [Boost Strength Lv.2]. Shye already received [Boost Agility Lv.2] from Wendy before he went inside the cave and that''s why he''s managing to easily outrun the speed-type grizzly right now. However, it would be a death sentence for him to fight the grizzly in a closed space so he had to lure it out of itsir before the two of them could start fighting it. Shye directly ran towards Wendy and just as shepleted casting [Boost Strength Lv.2], Shye was already in front of her. *SHING* Immediately after Shye felt the effects of the buff skill, he turned around and fought the grizzly head-on while Wendy retreated and circled around the bear. *CLANG* "TCH! Who said this thing was weak?!" Shyeined as he was sent sliding back after a head-on collision against the Jadepaw Grizzly. He initially thought that the bear should only be slightly stronger than the tri-horned rhino in terms of strength since the adventurer encyclopedia stated that it was built for speed. However, who would''ve thought that even his buffed-up state was still insufficient to fight against the grizzly head-on? Today was the day Shye understood the reason why bears were considered a symbol of strength. Heck, even speed-type bears were this strong so he couldn''t help but shudder as he thought about the other power-type species of bear-type creatures. Fortunately, he decided to confront the grizzly today or he might die in the future due to overestimation of his raw strength. "HAAAAAH!!" Unfortunately, Shye had to take the initiative to attack because once the buff skills ran out, it would be difficult for them toplete the quest without paying a huge price. *ROAAAAARR* The Jadepaw Grizzly roared at the top of its lungs before pouncing towards Shye like an agile leopard. ''What the f--?!'' Fortunately, Shye was able to dodge to the side before using one of his skills, [Destructive Chop Lv.2], to deal moderate damage to the grizzly. The grizzly roared in pain, but not for long as it immediately got back to attacking Shye. "Wendy!" *SHING* Fortunately for Shye, a timely barrier from Wendy suddenly appeared and protected him from a quick paw swipe from the grizzly just as the agility buff ran out. Since his agility returned to its original value, Shye had no choice but to fight a dangerous head-on fight against the grizzly. ''Chance!'' While the bear was still a bit confused after its paw was blocked by the barrier, Shye immediately used [Dash Lv.3] to instantly appear below the grizzly''s soft belly. He then used [Power sh Lv.3] to carve a deep wound on the Jadepaw Grizzly''s belly. *ROOOOOAAAAAARR* The grizzly roared in pain as both of Shye''s greatswords shed deep into its belly making its blood gush out in rming volume. Unfortunately, there was no time for him to escape since he was right below the grizzly. *BANG* The bear tried to smash him using both of its front paws but fortunately, Shye was able to activate [Stoic Lv.3] on time or he might''ve died on the spot. "Puhaaahh¡­" Shye spat out blood as he narrowly avoided death by using the 60% damage reduction of [Stoic Lv.3]. The Jadepaw Grizzly was a (D) ranked creature but it wasn''t just a simple (D) ranked, it was one of the apex predators in the intermediate adventurer zone so Shye and Wendy wouldn''t be able to avoid a tough battle even though both of them were really strong for their age. Still, Shye valiantly stood in front of the grizzly and counterattacked after sessfully tanking a deadly blow. He then used [Destructive Chop Lv.2] in an attempt to finish off the Jadepaw Grizzly but s! The bear jumped and nimbly dodged as if it was expecting his attack. The Jadepaw grizzly then tried to drop down on him to crush him using its sheer weight. ''Shit! How the hell did this huge ass bear dodge my attack?!'' Shyeined in disbelief as he desperately looked around for a way out of this sticky situation. He tried using [Dash Lv.3] to escape but no magic circles appeared around his legs meaning that the skill was still on cooldown. ''Shit! Think! Think!'' Still, he didn''t give up and continued looking around for a solution, fortunately, when his eyes saw Wendy who had a worried expression on her face, he suddenly got an idea. Shye used his other gap closer skill, [Rush Stab Lv.2] on Wendy. Naturally, the inexperienced Wendy panicked upon realizing that Shye was rushing towards her with a fierce expression on his face. She thought that he was angry at her for not being able to provide help at a crucial moment. Of course, Shye wasn''t angry at her, he just had no other choice but to use [Rush Stab Lv.2] with Wendy as the target to avoid the grizzly''s body m attack. Fortunately, just as Shye expected, Wendy did what she always does when she is panicking. She held her life staff like a baseball bat and used [Knockback Lv.3] as she smacked Shye with it to send him flying back to the Jadepaw Grizzly which automatically redirected his skill, [Rush Stab Lv.2], to the creature. "Great job, Wendy!!" *SPURT* A huge bear''s head flew through the air as its headless body copsed to the ground with a thud. [Congrattions onpleting the regr quest: Hunt: Jadepaw Grizzly! You''ve earned 1500 points as a reward!] ''Pheww¡­'' Shye took a deep breath and wiped the sweat on his forehead before turning around to look at Wendy. He then gave her a huge thumbs up which changed her facial expression from one of confusion to that of happiness. Seeing another party member almost die right in front of her made her go through a roller coaster of emotions but fortunately, nothing bad happened to both of them and they were able to sessfully take down a dangerous (D) ranked apex creature. The battle only went on for a few minutes, however, the pace was intense and the two of them were forced to bring out all of their skills in addition to utilizing their brain to outwit and defeat the grizzly. Chapter 101: Permanent Blessing Two adventurers walked towards the exit of the intermediate adventurer zone with contrasting emotions. One adventurer was obviously in a good mood while the other one was depressed. The two adventurers were naturally Shye and Wendy who were on their way out of the intermediate adventurer zone after hunting continuously for a few days. Shye was happy because he unexpectedly achieved three things within a few days. First, he managed toplete all of his solo junior requirement quests, second, he managed to finally save up enough system points to purchase a talent andstly, he unexpectedly got some lesser enchantment jades inside the Jadepaw Grizzly''sir. In contrast, Wendy was utterly depressed because she didn''t want to go back inside the Colzen Monastery. Unfortunately, she knew that to be a respected adventurer in the future and do whatever she wanted, she had to graduate from Colzen Monastery whether she liked it or not. After another hour of walking, the two of them finally arrived in front of Colzen Monastery. "So this is what a monastery looks like huh?" Shye thought to himself as he observed Colzen Monastery with intrigue. The ce was huge and spacious, however, in contrast to Colzen Academy, the monastery didn''t have a single decoration which gave it an ancient but holy vibe. "Haaaaah¡­" His thoughts were cut short after hearing a depressed sigh beside him so he couldn''t help but look at Wendy. Upon seeing her face which somehow radiates utter depression even though it was as cold as ever, Shye couldn''t help but inwardly chuckle at her antics. After partying with her during the past few days, he knew that Wendy was the most stubborn person he ever met. Once she decides to do something, it would be hard to convince her to do something else. "WENDY!" An angry voice sounded from inside the monastery which made Wendy flinch. The voice was all too familiar to her because the owner of the voice was the person in charge of her development as a priestess, the Colzen Monastery''s Archpriest. "A-A-Archpriest, I-I apologize, I somehow got lost and¡­" "Enough!" The Archpriest seemed to be truly angry this time and he looked exhausted due to theck of sleep during the past few days. His eyes were bloodshot and there were dark circles underneath. As for Wendy, she was frozen stiff. Although she was stubborn, she didn''t dare talk back to the archpriest especially when she knew that she was at fault. Meanwhile, the archpriest who had been huffing and puffing in anger noticed Shye and immediately recognized him. As the leader of Colzen Monastery, Archpriest Deo Holyblight was considered the fifth dean of the academy. It just so happened that it wouldn''t be beneficial for the priest/priestess students to be together with a bunch of students from other courses so the monasteries were built at a different location to ensure that the students could grow to their peak potential. Upon realizing that his student, the most talented priestess in the history of Colzen Monastery, seemed to be friends with the most talented warrior in the history of Colzen Academy, Shye Crowley, the archpriest was confused. There should have been no chance for the two of them to meet so he couldn''t help but look at Shye and ask. "Shye Crowley, correct?" "Yes, Your Excellency, I am indeed Shye Crowley from Colzen Academy." After confirming that the guy beside his student was indeed Shye Crowley, the eyes of the archpriest narrowed into slits. From what he heard, this guy already had a girlfriend so why was he with his student? "I see, Shye Crowley, may I know the reason why you and Wendy are together?" The archpriest asked with a serious voice. If something happened to the chastity of his student this early in her life, it would ruin her potential as a priestess. Meanwhile, Shye, who got the underlying message from the question of the archpriest, broke out in a cold sweat. He knew that the archpriest was suspecting him of ruining Wendy. "Y-Your excellency, the two of us met by ident! I saw her getting chased by a Steelfeather Ostrich so I decided to help her and take her along with me toplete a few quests before escorting her back to Colzen Monastery." Veins popped at the corners of Archpriest Deo''s head after hearing that Wendy went inside the intermediate adventurer zone. No wonder they couldn''t find her anywhere in the city! The archpriest then looked towards Wendy with a menacing re before saying: "Go inside, you''ll have a lot of exining to do." Wendy, who had no choice but to face the wrath of the archpriest, bid Shye goodbye before entering the monastery in a depressed state. Just as Shye thought that he would be reprimanded, Archpriest Deo slightly bowed towards him and said: "Crowley, I apologize for my rudeness. I would like to thank you for saving Wendy so if you''re willing to receive a permanent blessing, I am willing to use one of our permanent blessing scrolls as a token of gratitude." "Although our permanent blessing scrolls are of low quality, they would at least aid you in your future endeavors." Shye, who didn''t expect to benefit from this situation, was in seventh heaven after hearing that the archpriest would reward him with a permanent blessing. The reason why he was so happy is because a permanent blessing is one of the things that would raise the ceiling of one''s maximum potential as an adventurer. How? Well, a permanent blessing only has benefits and no disadvantages. An example of a permanent blessing''s effect is to raise one''s affinity in gaining specific attributes, let''s say agility. A blessing of lesser agility would enable a person to gain one additional agility point for every five points of improvement and of course, the higher the quality of the scroll, the greater the effects. However, what makes a permanent blessing so desirable is that it stacks with other permanent blessings and there are no limits to the number of permanent blessings an adventurer can receive. As long as one can obtain lots of permanent blessings, then one can even escape from the fate of mediocrity. As for Shye, this would be the first time he would receive a permanent blessing so he enthusiastically followed Archpriest Deo to the blessing chamber inside Colzen Monastery to receive his first permanent blessing. Chapter 102: Blessing of Lesser What? Shye enthusiastically looked around the periphery of Colzen Monastery. Meanwhile, the other priest/priestess students looked at him with intrigue. They knew that he was wearing the outfit of a warrior student from Colzen Academy and they were curious as to why he was invited by the archpriest to enter the monastery. There weren''t any holographic televisions or any mana-powered devices inside Colzen Monastery so this was the first time they saw a student from Colzen Academy. Due to this encounter, the freshmen, sophomore, and junior priest/priestess started to daydream about their adventurer life in the future where they would be free and not stuck inside the monastery like this. Finally, after around fifteen minutes of walking, the two of them arrived in front of the blessing chamber. ''Oh? This chamber is quite small.'' Shye thought to himself as he followed Archpriest Deo inside. Unbeknownst to him, blessing chambers were expensive to build because not only were the specific materials hard to find, but the chamber itself needed to be built by experienced carpenters who trained inside a monastery for at least two years. Currently, the blessing chamber they were in was a tier 2 blessing chamber which was obviously not the most ideal blessing chamber. However, this chamber was all Colzen City could afford. Fortunately, a tier 2 blessing chamber is more than enough to bestow a lesser blessing to a person. "Crowley, please step inside the blessing circle and wait for me for a few moments while I retrieve a permanent blessing scroll of lesser intelligence." Shye gave a slight bow to Archpriest Deo to acknowledge his words before walking towards the blessing circle in the middle of the small blessing chamber. In his heart, Shye couldn''t help but hate the name of the blessing that would be bestowed upon him. First, he didn''t know if the intelligence attribute would benefit him as a warrior, and second, a blessing of lesser intelligence¡­sounded like it would only make him stupider. Still, a permanent blessing is a permanent blessing and the more blessings he has, the stronger he will be. His thoughts were cut short as Archpriest Deo emerged from the scroll room and walked towards him. The archpriest then ced the permanent blessing scroll of lesser intelligence in its designated spot in the blessing circle before activating it using his life staff. *SHING* After a few seconds, a bright blue light emerged from the blessing circle and enveloped Shye as the blessing bestowment process began. Although it looked like Shye was being obliterated by the light, he was in fact, veryfortable inside the blessing circle as a crest of lesser intelligence was slowly engraved on his back. Naturally, Shye didn''t know this. He thought that there was no way for other people to know how many blessings he got but unfortunately for him, each blessing would engrave a very small crest on his back. However, the crests were as small as a mung bean so other people wouldn''t really notice it at first nce even if they somehow saw his back. Finally, after around ten minutes, the blessing bestowment process ended and a small crest resembling a raven was engraved on his back. Once the blessing bestowment process was done, Archpriest Deo walked closer to Shye and said: "Again, thank you for helping Wendy. I hope that this permanent blessing will aid you in your future endeavors." *** After a few more pleasantries with Archpriest Deo, Shye left the monastery with a huge smile on his face. He then dropped by the Materials'' Mothend to sell his loot for 250 silver coins before excitedly heading towards Hephaestus Armaments to enchant one of his greatswords. "Hello, wee to Hephaestus Armaments! Oh? Sir Crowley, we''ve got some new weapons in stock. Would you like to see them?" Upon arriving, Shye was enthusiastically greeted by Shopkeeper Jericho. "Hello, Shopkeeper Jericho. I''ll check out the new items next time but for now, please check these out." Shye replied with a smile as he took out five pieces of lesser enchantment jades that he got from the Jadepaw Grizzly''sir. "Oh? Are you here to enchant your weapon?" Shopkeeper Jericho asked upon seeing the lesser enchantment jades. "Yes, I would like to enchant this weapon please" Shye said as he took out his gold-tier greatsword, Daybreak. The reason why he chose to enchant Daybreak was because once you enchant a weapon, there is no way to remove or upgrade the enchantment. Shye felt that it would be too much of a waste to enchant an exotic weapon like the Nightbringer, which was given to him by Dean Snowcrest, using a simple lesser enchantment jade. There were many enchantment gemstones of various qualities and effects so he would at least like to find a slightly higher quality gemstone with a rarer effect before enchanting his Nightbringer. Still, this simple lesser enchantment jade costs at least 250 coins each and was out of reach for ordinary adventurers who are only earning enough for amodation and food. Since five gemstones were needed to enchant a weapon, an enchantment of the most basic type would cost around 1400 to 1600 silver coins including the service fee. Naturally, the higher the grade of the gemstone, the more difficult the enchantment process was so the service fee also increases ordingly. "Since Sir Crowley already has the gemstones, you only have to pay for the service fee of 200 silver coins." Shye was pretty happy with the price Shopkeeper Jericho gave him so he took out a coin sack which contained the 250 silver coins he got from selling his loot and handed it over to Jericho. "Here''s 250 silver coins, please take it as a token of gratitude from me for always letting me browse around the shop." Shye sincerely said with a smile on his face. Shopkeeper Jericho didn''t stand on ceremony and received the sack of 250 silver coins with a smile on his face. He truly liked having a transaction with Shye because he was always straightforward and pleasant to talk to. "Thank you for the tip of fifty silver coins, Sir Crowley. The enchantment process will be finished by early morning so you cane and retrieve your weapon at around 8 AM" After a few pleasantries, Shye excitedly left the shop and headed straight to his dormitory. It was finally time for him to browse the system and purchase his first talent. Chapter 103: Shopping for Talent *CLACK* Shye excitedly ran to his room after locking the door. Maia was usually out adventuring at this time so it was the perfect time for him to purchase a talent. Two months ago, when he was in the middle of exploring the system, he found the existence of talents in the [Upgrades] section of the system. It seems that talent actually exists and although most people weren''t born with talent, some people were. Unfortunately for those with no talent, there was no way for them to ever have one in this lifetime. The only thing they could do to get an advantage against those who had talent was to work hard and obtain as many permanent blessings as they could. As for Shye, he couldn''t see any talent indicated in his status every time he opened it from the system so he just assumed that he had no talent as well. He didn''t mind it though¨Cwith the right price, he could just buy one from the system. Still, talent seemed to be very valuable because even the lowest-ranked talents cost around ten thousand points in the system and these lowest-ranked talents barely had any advantages; some of them were even outright useless. This is why Shye diligently saved up thirty thousand points to purchase a decent talent for himself. In the future, he could always purchase more but for now, he shall settle with an umon or rare talent. Shye directly ignored themon talents and enthusiastically scrolled down to the umon talents section. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Steel Physique] (Umon) - 15,000 points Description: Boost one''s vitality attribute by 5% permanently. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- ''Hmm¡­This one looks good but isn''t a 5% boost too small?'' Shye pondered before continuing to scroll down and check other options. A stronger physique was indeed attractive but the boost on this one is too small. After around ten minutes, he found another talent that got his attention. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Cat Reflexes] (Umon) - 18,000 points Description: Gain the reaction time of a cat. ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- ''That''s it? What the hell is this description?'' Shye inwardlyined but he had to admit that cats have faster reaction time than humans and this talent might save him one day. He pondered for quite a while before deciding that there were still lots of options and he had thirty thousand points to spend so he shouldn''t decide on a talent hastily. He then continued scrolling for half an hour before sighing. "Haah¡­It seems that these umon talents were pretty mediocre¡­" Shye thought to himself. Unfortunately, the umon talents weren''t enough to satisfy him so he directly scrolled down to the rare talents section in hopes of finding a decent talent to get him through his academy days. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Fire Affinity] (Rare) - 26,000 points Description: Increases fire elemental damage by 20% ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- Upon seeing the first talent in the rare section, Shye smiled widely as his enthusiasm returned. ''Now we''re talkin''!'' Shye inwardly thought as he continued scrolling down the rare talents section. The boosts provided by rare talents were enough for him and he only needed to find a talent that would benefit him the most After scrolling for another half an hour, Shye couldn''t help butin again. ''You mean there are this many talents in the world and I don''t even have one?'' He thought that it was unfair that some people get to be born with bullshit ridiculous talents while he doesn''t even have a freaking [Mathematician](Common) talent. However, he understands that the world is inherently unfair and he was quite lucky to obtain the shy Adventurer System from Old Man Sanada so he didn''t have the right toin. Finally, after scrolling for a total of two and a half hours, he found the talent he was looking for. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] - 30,000 points Description: Increase one''s attributes when using a greatsword as a weapon Strength - 15% increase Agility - 10% increase Dexterity - 10% increase Stamina - 10% increase Vitality - 10% increase Skill Mastery - 10% faster ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- ''What the actual f¨C, how is this a rare talent?! Shouldn''t this one be ranked higher?!'' Shye thought to himself before immediately clicking purchase. [Are you sure you want to purchase the talent : [Greatsword Meister] (Rare) for 30,000 points?] [Y/N] [Y] *SHING* After tapping [Y], Shye''s body was suddenly swallowed up by a thick ck aura followed by an intense wave of pain. His entire body felt like it was gonna shatter in a thousand small pieces but fortunately, the pain onlysted for ten seconds before the thick ck aura subsided along with the intense wave of pain. "Aghh¡­Haaaah¡­W-What the hell¡­I wasn''t ready for that¡­" Shye didn''t think for a second that he would feel pain after purchasing a talent. However, it does make sense to at least feel pain because how else would his body evolve in such a short amount of time? Shyeid down on his bed for a few minutes to rest his body before standing up and holding two greatswords, his spare Iron Greatsword, and the Nightbringer. He then opened his status to check if the talent was working as expected. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 50 [ss]: Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.2] [Dash Lv.3][Power sh Lv.3][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2][Stoic Lv.3] [Destructive Chop Lv.2] [Rush Stab Lv.2][Draconian Roar Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ¡ª----------------------------- Blessings : [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent) [Attributes] [Strength: 98 (75+22.5)] [Intelligence: 18] [Agility: 88 (73+14.6)] [Dexterity: 89 (74+14.8)] [Stamina: 54 (45+9)] [Vitality: 76 (63+12.6)]: [Wisdom: 12] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Hmm?" After thoroughly checking his status, Shye saw two things that made him confused. First was the question mark talent visible beside the talent he purchased and the second one was, that the attributes exceeded his expectations. He took some pen and paper to manuallypute the correct values and sure enough, the values were doubled. Shye pondered for a while before smiling widely after guessing the reason why the values doubled. He then returned one of his greatswords to the inventory and checked the values again. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 50 [ss]: Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.2] [Dash Lv.3][Power sh Lv.3][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2][Stoic Lv.3] [Destructive Chop Lv.2] [Rush Stab Lv.2][Draconian Roar Lv.1] ¡ª----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ¡ª----------------------------- Blessings : [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent) [Attributes] [Strength: 86 (75+11.25)] [Intelligence: 18] [Agility: 80 (73+7.3)] [Dexterity: 81 (74+7.4)] [Stamina: 50 (45+4.5)] [Vitality: 69 (63+6.3)]: [Wisdom: 12] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Seems like I hit the jackpot this time." Chapter 104: Redwood Academy’s Challenge Upon realizing that his passive skill, [Dual Wielding], was a perfect fit for his chosen talent, [Greatsword Meister (Rare)], Shye was on cloud nine. The regr effects of the talent he acquired already satisfied him, but little did he expect that using both of his greatswords would double its effects. ''It''s already nighttime huh?'' Observing the stars and the pair of moons in the sky, Shye pondered silently. He wanted to look into the intelligence attribute and its effects but unfortunately, he took too much time looking for the perfect talent to purchase. Shye needed to sleep early today because the dean left him a note stating that he needed to go to school tomorrow for the reason that there would be a few visitors from other academies. Hence, he decided to just explore the intelligence attribute once he was done with the matter regarding visitors from other academies. Since he had zero points at the moment, he realized that delving into the attribute study wouldn''t be feasible. The wisest course of action seemed to be postponing it until after tomorrow''s event. Who knows? He might have the opportunity to umte some points by then. Thus, Shye decided to sleep. ¡­ ''Crap!'' Shye quickly got up from his bed in a panic. He slept quite early yesterday so he didn''t think that he would still oversleep. Unfortunately, it seems that he slept a little toofortably. The dean told him to go to school at least ten minutes before the visitors arrived but it seems that even if he rushed now, he would be at least ten minuteste. Shye couldn''t help but shiver as he imagined Dean Snowcrest''s stern and angry expression. Still, he had to arrive as early as possible so he just took a quick bath and stuffed a huge piece of bread in his mouth before sprinting out of the door. Meanwhile, Dean Snowcrest sat beside a dean from a different academy as his face twitched while suppressing his fury. ''Hahahaha! Dean Snowcrest, I must admit, that young female freshman scout student of yours was indeed strong, however, it seems like your second-year students were nothing special?" The dean from another academy said as he "tried his hardest" to suppress a mocking smile. "Hahahaha! Dean Aran, your mouth is as vicious as always. Aren''t you talking a bit too much when all of your freshmen got decimated by a little girl?" Dean Snowcrest shot back. "Hahahaha! It seems that Dean Snowcrest was still clinging to the victory of a single freshman student." The two deans hurled insults at each other as their students engaged inbat under the pretense of paring notes". Thispetition between the two academies stemmed from the fact that the Redwood Academy, consistently ranking in the top 32 and top 64 of the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition, would asionally visit solely to mock the nearby Colzen Academy to the ground whenever they had an exceptional batch of students. However, their hatred for Colzen Academy had a reason. The old golden generation of Colzen Academy students were somewhat arrogant and they excessively humiliated the Redwood Academy during their top 64 finish at the Adventurer Academypetition. Not only did Redwood Academy fail to finish in the top 64 for the first time, but they were also humiliated ruthlessly by the Colzen Academy students. This is why they asionally visit Colzen Academy bringing students from all four year-levels to pare notes" with the Colzen Academy students. Despite Redwood Academy''s unfriendly intentions, Dean Snowcrest is convinced that periodically sparring with students from other academies would be advantageous for his own students. Thus, he willingly epts their challenges each time. Currently, Colzen Academy ran out of sophomores to challenge the sophomore students of Redwood Academy so it was concluded that the sophomore round was won by Redwood Academy and the score tally was now back to 1-1. Redwood Academy was taken aback when their first-year students got decimated by Maia but fortunately, their sophomores retaliated and now, it was time for the battle of the third-year students. The first student in the third-year roster of the Redwood Academy stepped onto the stage and waited for his opponent with an arrogant expression on his face. Meanwhile, Dean Snowcrest gnashed his teeth in anger. He called all six of his strongest third-year students and not a single one was here! "I apologize for the tardiness of my students, Dean Aran. Can we proceed with the fourth-year matches first?" Dean Snowcrest requested with an embarrassed expression. Naturally, after hearing Dean Snowcrest''s request, Dean Aran roared inughter. "Hahahahahahaha! Wasn''t the current third-year students the strongest batch you had in the history of your academy? Why do they all seem like wusses?" Dean Snowcrest finally couldn''t take it anymore and frowned as he said: "Dean Aran, watch your words, our students are only tardy but none of them are cowards." In response, Dean Aran simplyughed even louder after sessfully angering Dean Snowcrest. However, in the end, he decided to not press Dean Snowcrest too much or things might get ugly. Dean Aran pretended to sigh and said: "Haaaah¡­Why is it so hard to find an opponent for our third-year students¡­Well, I don''t have a choice, do I? Let''s proceed with the fourth-year matches first." Unfortunately for Colzen Academy, Havan''s batch was among one of the weakest batches they had in the academy and they gotpletely decimated by Redwood Academy''s fourth-year students. Due to this, the crowd from Colzen Academy was dejected. Being humiliated inside your own academy wasn''t a good experience. How they wish someone could bail them out of this situation right now¡­ Fortunately, as though the heavens were answering the desperate plea of the Colzen Academy crowd, a familiar voice sounded from behind them. "D-Dean! I apologize for my tardiness" Shye said with an apologetic and embarrassed look on his face. Meanwhile, Maia was stupefied. Had she known that her big brother was also called by the Dean to participate in this event, then she would''ve gone out of her way to wake him up. Chapter 105: Colzen Academy’s Legend Arrives *LOUD CHEERING* The Colzen crowd erupted into cheers upon realizing the identity of the person who arrived. "Crowley! Crowley! Crowley! Crowley! Crowley!" Shye felt a bit embarrassed upon hearing that everyone was still chanting his name even though he arrivedte. Meanwhile, the frown on Dean Snowcrest''s face seems to lessen with every "Crowley!" chant from the Colzen crowd. The dean was really proud of this student so hearing the Colzen Crowd chant his favorite student''s name as if he was some sort of messiah makes his heart tingle, especially after seeing the stern looks on the faces of the Redwood Academy group. ''Hmmph! Take that! Weren''t you arrogant earlier? Let''s see if you can deal with my best student!'' Dean Snowcrest thought to himself as his anger towards Shye vanished into thin smoke. After a few more moments, the third-year students from Redwood Academy couldn''t stand hearing the chants any longer. They were on the same year level as this guy and upon seeing how famous he was among the students of Colzen Academy, they couldn''t help but feel the pangs of jealousy. Thus, they wanted to teach him a lesson. The third-year students of Redwood Academy heard quite a bit about him from the conversations of the Colzen Academy students, however, they didn''t believe the Colzen students at all. In their opinion, these students from Colzen Academy were simply exaggerating his strength because he was their pir of psychological support, hence, if they manage to defeat this guy, the morale of the entire Colzen Academy will crumble. Fully convinced that Shye was a fraud, a third-year student from Redwood Academy suddenly jumped onto the stage while daydreaming about crushing the hopes and dreams of the Colzen Academy students. "Hmmph! I''m sick and tired of frauds like you. Many I have encountered and many I have exposed, just count yourself unlucky for being born in the same year level as me!" The third-year student from Redwood Academy said with a confident expression. He saw how badly Colzen Academy lost to Orion Academy in the most recent Adventurer Academypetition and he refused to believe that such a mediocre academy that thinks grabbing a top 64 spot is an achievement, could produce such a strong student. And for this reason, he concluded that Shye was a fraud and he couldn''t wait to humiliate him. ''Ohh¡­How nice would it feel to be the person who ruins the hopes and dreams of an entire academy.'' The student thought to himself. On the other hand, Shye, who was unaware of his opponent''s delusions, made eye contact with Dean Snowcrest, and upon getting the confirmation that he was indeed called here to fight, hezily walked up the stage. ''This little shit...'' The student from Redwood Academy was incensed due to how slow andzy Shye walked up the stage, heck, he was even yawning. Finally, after a few more seconds, the student couldn''t stand his antics anymore so he pointed his dagger toward Shye and said: "How pretentious¡­I''m Roi Verdante, a third-year scout course student from Redwood Academy." "It seems that your ignorant schoolmates think you''re strong. Maybe on the standards of mediocre academies but on the standards of a consistent top 64 academy like ours, you''re nothing." Meanwhile, Shye was annoyed after hearing Roi''s words. He hasn''t even said anything rude to this Roi guy and the guy immediately starts spouting bullshit towards him? Unfortunately for Roi, Shye just woke up so he was feeling a bit cranky. He didn''t have the patience to put up with Roi''s bullshit right now so he didn''t say anything, he just looked at him, drew his sword, and assumed his battle stance. As for Roi, the delusional guy, he misinterpreted Shye''s silence as a sign of fear and so, he grew more confident in the battle. "Begin!" Once the referee announced the start of their match, Roi immediately disappeared from his position and reappeared behind Shye. He then proceeded to thrust his dagger with full force toward Shye''s neck. ''Haaah¡­This opening attack pattern again? Is this a scout course temte or something?" Shye thought to himself while inwardly sighing. Then, just as Roi reappeared behind him, a full-powered [Power sh Lv.3] was already on its way to cut Roi in half. "Not good!" Roi eximed as he raised his dagger horizontally to block Shye''s borderline prophetic attack Unfortunately for him, how could the frail body of a scout course student tank the full-powered blow of a top-tier warrior student like Shye? "PUHAAAHK" Roi spat out blood as his limp body flew across the stage andnded on the ground in front of the Redwood Academy students. *CHEERS* The Colzen Academy students cheered wildly after seeing how their ace student, Shye Crowley, defeated his opponent in one move. This enthusiasm was particrly evident among the freshman students, who were witnessing his strength for the first time. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 6400 points!] ''Damn! 6400 points in one easy match?! My schoolmates must''ve been so down huh?'' Shye thought to himself "Roi!" Meanwhile, the Redwood Academy students cried out worriedly as they stood up and assessed the condition of their schoolmate, Roi Verdante. Fortunately, although most of the bones on his body were broken, he would fully recover after drinking around four to five greater health potions. The thing is, his wallet would probably ache from such an expenditure. However, spending money was better than dying so it wasn''t like Roi had any choice. Once Roi''s schoolmates ascertained that he was fine, they looked menacingly towards Shye. Then one of them volunteered and started to walk towards the stage with a vengeful look in his eyes. However, after taking a few steps, the student who volunteered was stopped by another female student. "Dave, leave this one to me, I rarely get angry at anyone but this one sessfully pissed me off. I''ll teach him a lesson on behalf of Redwood Academy." The student named Dave smiled widely after hearing the words of the female student. He then looked at Shye with schadenfreude as he thought to himself: "Heh! I''ve got to hand it to this guy for sessfully pissing off Ae, the second-most talented student in the entire history of Redwood Academy. Now, let''s see how you fight your way out of this one you pretentious little shit!" Chapter 106: The Kind-Hearted Aella "Hahahaha! I can''t believe this guy managed to piss off the kind-hearted Ae!" "Ae! Teach this guy a lesson on our behalf!" The small group of Redwood Academy students cheered once the girl named Ae volunteered to pare notes" with Shye. Even Dean Aran had a slight smile on his face because although he brought Ae here, he didn''t know if he would be able to convince her to fight. Fortunately, this famous Colzen student managed to anger her to the point that she volunteered to avenge Roi Verdante. Unbeknownst to the Redwood Academy students, this "kind-hearted" Ae had a slight smile on the corners of her mouth as she slowly walked towards the stage to avenge her schoolmate. She really enjoyed the feeling of being admired as a strong but kind-hearted individual because it felt like whenever she did something, justice, and moral high ground were on her side. Although it was hard to keep acting in front of people, for her, it was all worth it. Naturally, Shye caught the subtle smile she had on the corners of her mouth so he couldn''t help but inwardlyugh at this student named Ae. ''Pfft, these guys keep calling me pretentious when they''re the ones posing and pretending here and there!'' Shye thought to himself in amusement as he assumed his battle stance. Then, as expected, this "righteous" Ae pointed her elemental staff at him and spouted some bullshit words about righteousness. "Hmph! How dare you hurt my schoolmate? He just said a few fighting words to raise the morale of our academy and what did you do?" "You ruthlessly injured him even though this was just a friendly sparring between our academies! I truly cannot fathom how someone could be so evil! Prepare yourself! I shall send you back to the right path!" The Colzen Academy students frowned and most of them couldn''t help but scoff after hearing the words of this crazy woman. RUTHLESSLY injured her schoolmate in a FRIENDLY sparring? How the hell did this crazy woman manage to portray their idol, Shye, as an evil person? Didn''t her schoolmate lose simply because he was weakerpared to Shye? The Colzen Academy students couldn''t help but shiver. If they didn''t know Shye''s personality, they might''ve also believed the twisted words of this "kind-hearted" Ae Meanwhile, the Redwood Academy students had indignant looks on their faces as if Shye burned their homes and killed their parents. When in reality, all he did was defeat a Redwood Academy student in a sparring match. As for Shye, he didn''t even have the energy to argue with an unreasonable and hypocritical person like Ae. Hence, he simply decided to wait for the start of the match¨Cfortunately, the referee didn''t make him wait too long. "Begin!" Once the match began, Shye immediately rushed forward using his [Dash Lv.3] + [Power sh Lv.3]bo. *BANG* Unfortunately, his attack struck nothing as the mage, Ae, suddenly reappeared a few meters away from her original spot. ''As expected, she has [Blink]...'' Shye muttered to himself as he continued using his gap closer skills to probe how many repositioning skills Ae had. He unforgivingly used [Rush Stab Lv.2] to try and hunt down Ae but sadly, she had another reposition skill, [Spatial Tunnel Lv2] wherein a spatial tunnel would randomly teleport her twenty meters from her original location. Due to another escape skill, Shye''s skill hit nothing but air. "Hahahaha! Keep trying, idiot! You won''t be able to catch Ae no matter how hard you try!" A student from Redwood Academy said loudly which in turn, made Ae slightly smirk while feeling proud. ''Hmm, two repositioning skills huh? This is a bit tricky¡­'' Shye pondered While waiting for the cooldown of his two gap closer skills, Shye took a defensive stance. On the other hand, the smile on Ae''s face grewrger after seeing that Shye was out of gap-closer moves. If it''s like this then there was no way for this guy to beat her no matter how hard he tries! Ae grew more confident as she waved her staff to cast her first offensive skill [Fireball Lv.2]. *FWOOSH* A moderately huge fireball flew through the air straight towards Shye who had a stern expression on his face. However, after a closer look, Shye was¡­disappointed. ''After all that talk, you mean to tell me that your offensive skills are this weak?'' Shye thought to himself as he destroyed the firewall with a simple sh as if it were nothing. Ae''s face turned stern as she cast two more skills, [Icicle Spear Lv.2] and [Rock Barrage Lv.2] to try and obliterate Shye. *CLANG* *CLANG* Unfortunately, her two skills suffered the same fate and were dismissed with a few random waves of Shye''s greatsword. "Hahahaha! Look at this twerp! He couldn''t even do anything against our Ae!" Another student from Redwood Academy barked with a smug look on his face. Shye was annoyed, this little shithead from the Redwood Academy group keeps on yapping when he obviously doesn''t know anything about what was happening to the fight. Meanwhile, Ae was slightly panicking. Those three spells were on the stronger side of her arsenal and seeing Shye swat her skills like they were some random house fly gnawed at her morale. ''It''s ok¡­It''s ok¡­I still have my strongest spell¡­Besides, he can''t catch me...'' Ae consoled herself as she focused on defense for now. She believes that her opponent''s gap closer skills were already off cooldown so she had to prepare for his attacks. Unbeknownst to her, while Shye was swatting away her offensive skills, he already purchased another gap closer skill from the system. ''Now, let''s see if you can still escape¡­'' Shye muttered as he started his onught of attacks again. As expected, Ae dodged his first two gap closer skills with the same repositioning skills but then, just when Ae was starting to cast her offensive skills again, Shye used his new gap closer skill, [Lunge Pierce Lv.1] to chase her down. "W-What?!" Ae eximed in a panic, fortunately, she reacted fast and cast another one of her escape skills [Knockback Lv.3] which sent Shye flying backward, unable to close the gap once again. Chapter 107: [Boost] ''Tch!'' Shye clicked his tongue in annoyance. He thought that he already had her but who would''ve thought that she had another life-saving spell? Still, Shye wasn''t too concerned. Unless this girl could show him an offensive skill that can threaten him, then it would only be a matter of time before he hunts her down. As if retorting to Shye''s inner thoughts, Ae consecutively used three skills, [Fireball Lv.2], [Icicle Spear Lv.2], and [Rock Barrage Lv.2] before finally using one of her strongest skills, [Wind Cutters Lv.3]. Crescent moon-shaped wind cutters appeared from Ae''s elemental staff as she started to run in one direction while asionally jumping to diversify the angles from which the wind cutters were fired. Sure enough, the wind cutters finally caused some trouble for Shye as he struggled to dodge and block the wind cutters. Seeing their representative, Ae, pushing back the so-called "ace student" of Colzen Academy, the Redwood Academy group cheered. Meanwhile, Siegfried and the other top-ranked third-year students who just arrived yawned in boredom as they thought to themselves: "What are these idiots cheering for? Do they really think that such a basic skill would be enough to defeat Crowley? How naive¡­" As for Ae, she was infected by the cheers of the Redwood students. She then started to believe that she was actually winning so she pointed her staff towards Shye and said: "Hmmph! Now, Do you see the difference between us? Just surrender and I won''t make things too difficult for you!" Siegfried and the others couldn''t help but facepalm after hearing her words. It seems that this crazy woman thinks that she is winning. Naturally, the Redwood Academy group cheered wildly after hearing Ae''s bold words. Shye however, was starting to get annoyed. ''Will these people die if they don''t spout bullshit?'' Shye thought to himself as he decisively purchased his first (Rare) skill from the system, [Boost Lv.1] [Current Boost Limit: 2] Shye had already been eyeing this skill for the past few months but purchasing a talent was more important and this skill costs 4000 points so he had no choice but to save some points first before he could buy it. Fortunately, he earned 6400 points from his battle against Roi which allowed him to finally purchase the skill. The way the skill works is that you can use it to boost your other skills. The higher the level of the [Boost] skill, the higher the limit of its usage was before going on cooldown. Currently, he could use it consecutively for 2 times before entering a cooldown period. After sessfully defending against Ae''s barrage of skills, it was finally his turn again. ''Time to shut these people up.'' Shye muttered to himself as a smile appeared on his face. He then started the same skill sequence to hunt Ae down. [Dash Lv.3] + [Power sh Lv.3] Combo -> Dodged using [Blink] [Rush Stab Lv.2] -> Dodged using [Spatial Tunnel] However, for the third attack sequence, Shye was now prepared for the [Knockback]. He used [Lunge Pierce Lv.1] and as expected, while he was in the middle of his lunge, Ae used [Knockback Lv.3] again. ''Hmmph! You never learn!'' Ae thought to herself. Just a few momentster though, Ae''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets after realizing that Shye wasn''t affected by her skill and was still lunging towards her. ''Crap!'' Ae quickly used herst remaining escape skill, [Fast Teleport Lv.2], to narrowly dodge Shye''s [Lunge Pierce Lv.1]. The mage from Redwood Academy heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing that she was now safe, however, it didn''t take long for Shye to make her panic again. Just when the [Lunge Pierce Lv.1] skill was about to hit nothing, he used one charge of [Boost] to continue the chase. "What?!" Ae didn''t hesitate and immediately used one of her protection spells, [Earth Barrier Lv.2] because she ran out of escape skills. *RUMBLE* Two thick rock tablets rose from the ground and formed twoyers of rock walls to protect Ae. *BANG* Unfortunately for her, Shye''s raw strength was way too strong to be stopped by such a low-level protection skill. He immediately destroyed the two rock walls as Ae started to retreat to increase the distance between the two of them. She then cast the strongest skill in her entire arsenal, [Luminous st Lv.3] to try and finish Shye off. *FWOOSH* A ray of tri-colored light appeared from Ae''s elemental staff and beamed towards Shye who fortunately still had his [Stoic Lv.3] skill active. He then used thest charge of [Boost] to prolong the [Stoic Lv.3] skill and tanked the attack head-on. The entire Redwood Academy group burst into cheers as they saw Ae''s strongest skill directly hit Shye. In contrast, the Colzen Academy students were on the edge of their seats upon realizing that Shye was directly hit by the destructive-looking beam. Meanwhile, Shirley, Maia, Siegfried, and the others who knew Shye understood that he wasn''t even using his full power. Indeed, this mage made him use lots of skills but that was because the mage was fleeing like a prey while Shye hunted her down like a hungry lion. Heck, she couldn''t even force Shye to use his trump card, [Dual Wielding]. However, they all kept quiet as they watched the proceedings with smirks on their faces. The Adventurer Academypetition was looming closer and none of them were willing to show other academies their trump cards just to win a simple sparring match like this. Thus, all of them understood why Shye held back. Still, even if he held back, they saw how he dominated the match while this silly mage student from Redwood Academy lived inside her delusions. Naturally, Shye proved that their assumptions were correct as he emerged from the st with a fully charged [Power sh Lv.3] ''NO!'' *BANG* Shye''s full-powered [Power sh Lv.3] sent the unconscious Ae flying through the air back to her seat in the designated Redwood Academy area. Fortunately for her, Shye rotated his sword and used the t part of the sword to whack her like she was a baseball. Although a few of her bones were broken, her life wasn''t in any danger. The Colzen Academy crowd once again erupted into cheers after their hero, Shye Crowley, came out on top. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 6540 points!] "A-Ae!!" This time, Dean Aran couldn''t keep his facade anymore as he worriedly rushed towards Ae and checked her condition. Upon realizing that she was fine, he quickly picked her up, gave her a few greater health potions, and immediately led the Redwood Academy group to the gates of Colzen Academy, seemingly in a hurry to leave. "Hmmph! Dean Snowcrest, consider yourselves lucky since our strongest third-year student isn''t avable today. We shall settle this in next year''s Adventurer Academy Competition." Dean Aran said as the Redwood Academy group hurriedly left Colzen Academy like defeated dogs. ''Hmmph! Next year, our academies wouldn''t even be on the same level anymore'' Dean Snowcrest inwardly retorted with a smile on his face, pretty happy about the way his favorite student won. Getting the final win sure felt damn good! Chapter 108: Access to the Advanced Adventurer Zone A few weeks passed since Shye''s glorious victory against Ae from Redwood Academy. As usual, during the uneventful times, he attends important premium sses andpletes quests inside the intermediate adventurer zone. However, today, he was summoned by Dean Snowcrest so Shye was on his way to the faculty''s meeting hall. Upon arrival, Shye knocked on the door and entered once he heard Dean Privett''s approval. ''Hmm? The deans are together? Seems like this would be quite the announcement¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he bowed to the four deans who were seated in front of arge meeting table in the middle of the faculty meeting hall. He then looked around and saw that Ian Izanagi was already sitting on a couch while seemingly waiting for others to arrive. "Crowley, you may sit with Izanagi while we wait for the others to arrive." Dean Snowcrest said Shye walked towards Izanagi, sat down on the couch, and chatted casually with him as the two of them waited for Siegfried and the others to arrive. Fortunately, the two of them didn''t have to wait for a long time as Siegfried and the others arrived just a few minutes after Shye did. Once they wereplete, the deans decided to start the meeting. Shye and the others chose their own seats at the meeting table and sat down as they waited attentively for the deans to speak. "Students, I''m sure you guys know each other very well by now so I''ll skip the formalities and go straight to the point." Dean Privett said in a serious voice as she scanned her eyes over Shye and the other students. Seeing that they were listening attentively, the dean continued speaking. "As you all know, your generation is the most talented generation in the history of the academy, and next year, it will be your turn to represent Colzen Academy in the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition." "Sost week, we had a meeting with your instructors and decided that we shall raise the difficulty of your requirements since your current requirements are too easy and will not push you to bring out your full potential." Shye and the others nodded in agreement after hearing what Dean Privett said. Indeed, their current requirements were too easy for them. "Thus, we have decided to give all of you ess to the advanced adventurer zone two hours away from Colzen City." The students'' eyes sparkled in excitement after hearing that they could go to the nearest advanced adventurer zone. The deans saw their excessive eagerness so Dean Privett immediately poured cold water over their heads upon realizing that these students would most likely rush to the advanced adventurer zone immediately after this meeting if they did not exin the conditions properly. "However, as third-year students, you are not allowed to go to the advanced adventurer zone alone. We will be giving you guys a full-party badge which means you can only enter the advanced adventurer zone when all of you are together." "Fret not, when you be fourth-year students, we shall give you advanced adventurer badges and you may start solo adventuring, understood?" Shye and the other students felt that it was a hassle for them to assemble as a party before going inside the advanced adventurer zone especially since all of them were equally tardy, however, they knew that it was the right thing to do. There were still some creatures inside the intermediate adventurer zone who gave them trouble as solo adventurers so they would probably just lose their lives if they went solo adventuring inside the advanced adventurer zone right now. "Understood!" Dean Privett smiled upon confirmation that the students understood the gravity of the situation and didn''t let their egos blind their judgment. Usually, young and talented adventurers tend to overestimate their strength and lose their lives doing so. Fortunately, it appears that this current generation of students exhibits a level of wisdom beyond their years, which proved to the deans that it was the right decision to entrust the future of Colzen Academy to this particr group of students. "Dean! I have a question" The ever-sharp Kiin Wujin raised his right hand after realizing something important. "Go ahead" Dean Privett replied "Your Excellency said that we must go inside as a full party but there are only six of us here¡­" In response to Kiin''s question, Dean Privett smiled before answering: "Talks are currently ongoing with Archpriest Deo of Colzen Monastery and if nothing goes wrong, you will be meeting yourst member a few months from now." "By then, the four of us shall personally send you off inside the Advanced Adventurer Zone toplete your first party hunt." Shye and the others were visibly excited after hearing about the new arrangements made by the deans. Honestly, they were starting to get bored of the intermediate adventurer zone because although they would have some troubles against a few creatures when solo adventuring, it would simply be too easy for them if they go in as a full party. Fortunately, the deans seemed to be closely monitoring their progress and already made some arrangements for them. "Do you guys have any more questions?" Dean Privett said as she scanned her eyes over the students again. Since no one raised their hands, the dean concluded that they had no more questions. She then retrieved something from her spatial storage bag before walking closer to the students. "Here, take this, after the meeting today, you may proceed to the Permissions Pavillion to get your advanced full-party badge. Just give the staff member our rmendation letters and you shouldn''t have any trouble." Shye looked at the rmendation letter with a smile on his face while Dean Privett continued handing out the letters to the other students. Finally, after a few moments, everyone got their own rmendation letters. "That''s all from us, you''re all dismissed!" Shye and the other students left the faculty meeting hall with huge smiles on their faces. Despite being unable to enter until their final member from Colzen Monastery arrived at the academy, they chose to secure their badges early, ensuring they would be prepared to go adventuring at any moment. Chapter 109: The Last Member Months flew by since Shye and his teammates got their advanced full-party badge. Their initial excitement died down after months of waiting for theirst member. They even thought that they wouldn''t be able to go inside the advanced adventurer zone this semester due to how difficult Archpriest Deo was being in the talks. It seems that he grew too fond of his student to the point that he wasn''t willing to his student go inside the advanced adventurer zone. It took the deans months before they were able to convince the archpriest to let his beloved student experience the world. Fortunately, three weeks before the semester ended, Archpriest Deo gave in after realizing that he shouldn''t spoon-feed his student too much or his student might perish early after graduating from the monastery. Thus, the Colzen Avengers squad was set to bepleted today. Shye and the other Avengers were curiously waiting inside the faculty meeting hall. They couldn''t help but think about theirst member. Is thest member a boy or a girl? Is he/she kind? Foulmouthed? No one knew. Shye however, had an idea. If his suspicions were correct, then he already met thisst member. Fortunately, Archpriest Deo didn''t keep them waiting for long as he entered the faculty hall with a beautiful young woman wearing pristine white priestess attire embroidered with an insignia of the Colzen Monastery. Kiin Wujin, Harry Copperfield, David Houdini, Ian Izanagi, and even the usually battle-minded Siegfried couldn''t help but be mesmerized by the young woman''s beauty which was akin to an ice fairy. David, who was especially fond of women, almost couldn''t stop himself from saying a few words of appreciation to the girl. However, a shocking thing happened. While Shye''s avenger mates were in the middle of admiring the young priestess'' beauty, the young girl suddenly sprinted excitedly towards Shye and held his hands. "Ohh! Crowley! I was worried that I might not get along with the students of Colzen Academy¡­It''s good that you''re here!" Wendy sincerely said with a smile on her face. She was actually quite worried earlier because she wasn''t good at making friends so upon realization that Shye was one of her teammates, she felt like all of her sociability problems were wiped away. As long as Shye could properly introduce her to the other teammates, then there should be no problem getting along with them. Unfortunately, this subtly intimate action of hers utterly shocked Kiin and the others. Although Siegfried didn''t mind too much, the other four surrounded him and cracked their fists as they demanded an exnation from Shye. "Y-Y-Yo¡­Crowley!! What''s the meaning of this? Huh?!" "A proper exnation will solve things heree on, why don''t you patiently tell us huh?!" "Didn''t you have Shirley already?! What is the meaning of this? Crowley?!" Shye couldn''t help but take a few steps back as his face twitched after seeing the intense reactions of his teammates. ''Damn! Somebody give these guys a girlfriend!'' Shye thought to himself as he struggled to find words. Unfortunately for him, Wendy decided to make things worse. "Can you guys step back for a bit? Can''t you see that Crowley is bing ufortable?" Wendy innocently said to Kiin and the others although her facial expression didn''t change much. Naturally, the mesmerized teammates couldn''t do anything but back down in the face of such beauty. They all gave Shye a death re which basically meant "This is not over yet, you have lots of exining to do" before temporarily letting him off. Meanwhile, the deans were surprised that Shye and Wendy had already met. Archpriest Deo deliberately didn''t tell the deans that the two already knew each other in hopes of dying Wendy''s involvement but in the end, he chose to give up for Wendy''s sake. "Oh? These two already met each other?" Dean Snowcrest asked just a second earlier than the other deans. "Ahh¡­yes, I apologize for my poor memory. Crowley met and saved Wendy inside the intermediate adventurer zone." "This student of mine was a bit too willful and escaped from the monastery. She then somehow managed to sneak past the guards, fortunately, she bumped into Crowley and was able to get out safely." Kiin''s, the other students, and the deans'' faces morphed into a look of understanding after hearing Archpriest Deo''s exnation. The students, especially David, heaved a sigh of relief upon realizing that this girl still wasn''t in love with Shye. It seems that they truly liked her appearance. As for Shye, he was just happy that his interactions with Wendy weren''t misunderstood by others anymore. "Wendy, why don''t you introduce yourself to the others?" Archpriest Deo said as he looked at Wendy. "Okay" Wendy replied before looking towards Kiin and the others. "Hello, I''m Wendy Primrose, a third-year priestess from Colzen Monastery, nice to meet you." A verymon and basic introduction, nheless, it made David''s heart skip a beat. David boldly walked forward and gently shook Wendy''s hands before introducing himself. "Ahh, Wendy Primrose, a truly fitting name for someone as beautiful as you. I''m David Houdini, the first-ranked mage course student from Colzen Academy. If I may be so bold, are you free after this? I have lots of money and I can take you everywhere you want!" As for Shye, he couldn''t help but cringe at David''s words. ''Ughh¡­No wonder this guy is single¡­'' Shye thought to himself. Even Kiin and the others inwardlyughed at David''s stupid introduction, in their minds, they already had one lesspetitor in the battle for Wendy, the ice fairy''s heart. However, the next moment, their eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets after hearing Wendy''s reply. "Really? Well then, I''d like to eat at a fancy restaurant, can you take me there after the expedition?" As innocent as ever, Wendy''s ice-cold facial expression remained the same, however, the tone of her voice gave away her excitement as she agreed to David''s invitation. Naturally, she didn''t know that David was trying to capture her heart. All she cared about was being able to eat for free in a fancy restaurant. "MHM! Everyone, please focus on the task at hand. The seven of you will enter the advanced adventurer zone today so please refrain from doing irrelevant things as much as possible." "Also, if you want to court Wendy, please know that priestesses couldn''t engage in such activities until they turn 21 years old so I suggest that you guys wait for 2 more years before trying to capture her heart. Naturally, Archpriest Deo, wouldn''t let themy their filthy paws on his precious student so easily so he loudly cleared his throat to get everyone''s attention before pouring an ice-cold bucket of water on Kiin and the others'' heads through his ruthless reminder. Chapter 110: Advanced Adventurer Zone : First Adventure After the chaotic introductions inside the faculty meeting hall, the Colzen Avengers'' most anticipated moment finally came¨Cadventuring for the first time inside the advanced adventurer zone. The deans and the archpriest made this activity their final requirement as third-year students so that starting next semester, they would be free to do anything they wanted. However, their activities inside the advanced adventurer zone would still be limited to full-party quests since they were still third-year students. Finally, after two hours of travel, the archpriest, the deans, and the students arrived in front of the advanced adventurer zone. Upon arrival, the eyes of Shye and the other students sparkled in excitement, especially Wendy who lived thest three years of her life holed up inside Colzen Monastery. In front of the Advanced Adventurer Zone''s entrance was a huge lobby about five hundred meters long and five hundred meters wide. The floor was finely crafted using luxurious wrobblestone bricks and there were benches, tables, andmps scattered across the lobby. There were hundreds if not thousands of professional adventurers d in various types of shiny and sturdy-looking armor sets while their weapons were hung at their backs, looking extremely tough and formidable. Most of the adventurers noticed the arrival of their strange group of seven students escorted by five middle-aged men and women. "Hoh? Students of Colzen Academy? Aren''t they getting a bit too cockytely?" "This is the first time they dared to send their students inside the Passean Advanced Adventurer Zone no?" "Heh! How I wish to see the faces of these deans once their students fail to return." Various rudements reached the ears of Colzen Academy''s group which angered the deans. These mere Gold to Emerald-ranked adventurers dare disrespect them? Dean Snowcrest cracked his fists as he started to walk toward the adventurer who said something about his students noting back. Although these deans are acting on the orders of the World Adventurer Association, they were once Diamond-ranked adventurers and above so these adventurers in front of the Advanced Adventurer zone were the ones acting too cocky. Thus, Dean Snowcrest wanted to teach them a lesson. Archpriest Deo and the other deans were also enraged by the rudements so they didn''t stop Dean Snowcrest at all. In fact, they were waiting for him to teach these adventurers a lesson with slight smiles on their faces. Upon arrival, Dean Snowcrest continued cracking his fists in front of the adventurer as he gave him a menacing look akin to a thug''s. "Yo¡­What did you say about my students again?" Dean Snowcrest asked Meanwhile, the ill-informed gold-ranked adventurer thought that this dean was simply trying to recover some face in front of their students and was only acting tough. Hence, the gold-ranked adventurer wasn''t scared one bit. Naturally, the well-informed tinum-ranked and above adventurers didn''t dare say anything rude. These guys know that to be an academy''s dean, an adventurer had to be diamond-ranked and above. In addition to this, the adventurer had to pass a series of tests before being epted by the World Adventurer Association as a dean candidate. Unfortunately, these rude gold-ranked adventurers didn''t know about such information, hence, he was bound to be taught a lesson sooner orter. This is the difference between gold-ranked and tinum-ranked which was also considered as the threshold of ordinary and elite adventurers. "Huh?! What? A dull middle-aged dean like you thinks you can stand up to a seasoned adventurer like me? Don''t make meu¨C" *PAH* A vicious p cut off the words of the gold-ranked adventurer and sent him flying across the huge lobby. Needless to say, the guy fell unconscious and was slightly foaming at the mouth after falling back down to the ground. "You!" The party members of the gold-ranked adventurer who just got the shit pped out of him by Dean Snowcrest stood up, drew their weapons, and assumed their battle stances. Meanwhile, Dean Snowcrest was as chill as ever. "What? You guys want to try me too?" Dean Snowcrest said with an arrogant look on his face. Seeing how confident the dean was, the gold-ranked adventurer party hesitated. None of them could send that teammate of theirs flying with a single p so they weren''t sure if they could take down this dean even if they attacked him together. Fortunately for them, a concerned tinum-ranked adventurer walked closer to the adventurer who seemed to be the leader of this gold-ranked party and whispered something. After a few seconds, the adventurer party leader broke out in a cold sweat and he immediately stopped his party members from trying to avenge the member who was sent flying. He then bowed towards Dean Snowcrest with a fearful and respectful expression before saying: "D-D-Dean, we apologize for the rudeness of our member. We are ill-informed so please forgive us this one time!" The party members felt ashamed and immediately wanted to question their party leader. However, the party leader was also the strongest member of their party and if even he was shaking in fear in front of this middle-aged dean, then the most sensible thing for them to do was bow for now and askter. "Hmmph! This will be thest time I let offenders go. These students are the cream of the crop of our academy and if anything happens to them, the lifeforce talismans we gave them will inform us who the killers were so none of you here better not try anything funny!" Dean Snowcrest threatened as he turned around and returned to the Colzen group. After hearing what the dean said, the other gold-ranked adventurers who wanted to make trouble for Shye''s party dropped their ideas immediately. Currently, they couldn''t afford to offend an entire academy so they could do nothing but keep their evil wishes to themselves. Upon Dean Snowcrest''s return, Wendy gave him a thumbs up and said: "You''re so cool, Dean Snowcrest!" The dean couldn''t help but chuckle upon witnessing Wendy''s cute antics. He then smiled widely at her and also gave her a thumbs up. Meanwhile, Shye and the other students were pleasantly surprised. They expected the deans to be strong but they didn''t know that they were THIS strong. pping the shit out of a gold-ranked adventurer wasn''t an easy feat and they could only guess what rank Dean Snowcrest had before he became a dean. Finally, once Dean Snowcrest had resolved the issue regarding the hostile adventurers, Dean Privett gave the students a few final reminders before sending them off with a mix of proud and worried looks. This was the first time they ever sent students to go adventuring inside the advanced adventurer zone so they couldn''t help but worry about them. At the same time, they felt proud because it seemed like it was only yesterday when this generation of students were freshmen. Now, they''re already strong enough to go inside the advanced adventurer zone and have already surpassed their seniors. Chapter 111: First encounter with a C- Ranked creature, Orc Grunt "Hey, Hey, Wendy~ would you like some candy? Look, I have strawberry-vored ones here!" David said with a smile on his face, looking fullymitted to simping for Wendy. "Yes, I like candies, thank you" Naturally, the naive and food-loving Wendy wouldn''t reject the free snacks. Although her face looked as cold as usual, her eyes sparkled as she grabbed the strawberry-vored candy from David''s hands. Meanwhile, Shye slightly chuckled after seeing David acting so silly. He was currently chatting casually with Kiin and Siegfried, however, it was really hard for him to ignore David''s funny antics. Just like this, the Colzen Avengers party steadily made progress towards their destination. Since this was their first time entering the advanced adventurer zone, the deans gave them lots of reminders and even chose their first quest to make sure that they would be able to handle the creature they needed to hunt. Recently, a small orcish tribe was reportedly growing in numbers and was starting to be a huge threat to both humans and creatures inside the advanced adventurer zone so Colzen City and the other surrounding cities issued a hunting quest to trim down the numbers of the said orcish tribe. Thus, they were now on their way to hunt an orc grunt, a (C-) ranked creature. Fortunately, although their party encountered a few of the weaker creatures inside the zone, they managed to easily dispose of them without breaking too much sweat. Finally, after two hours of walking, they arrived at the borders of their destination. "Everyone, raise your vignce, we''re now approaching orc territory. Let''s advance carefully to not rm the other orcs, remember, we only need to kill one and then immediately return to the academy" As the party leader, Shye was the one responsible for the safety of his party so he gave them a few reminders as they carefully advanced through the orc territory in hopes of finding a lone orc grunt. They had to be careful because although an orc grunt was the lowest-ranked member of the orc warrior ss, they were still physically stronger than human adventurers ranked gold and below. In addition to this, the grunts usually guard the periphery of the orc territory in groups of two so it was hard to find the right timing but they had to since it would be difficult for their party to fight two orc grunts at once. If they somehow made an error and were forced to fight two orc grunts simultaneously, then somebody might lose their life. Fortunately, today seemed to be their party''s lucky day as they spotted an orc grunt wandering alone. They didn''t have an idea where the grunt''srade was but not seeing it anywhere close was a good start. Still, they can''t let their guard down so the six of them remain hidden while Ian Izanagi checks the surrounding area. Ian was like a ck panther on the prowl as he silently moved, totally undetected by the lone orc grunt. He roamed a 30-meter radius and upon confirming that the orc''srade wasn''t nearby, Izanagi stealthily returned to their party''s hiding ce. "Crowley, I checked the surroundings and this guy is indeed alone, we can take this guy down." Izanagi said with a slight grin on his face, looking a bit excited to fight the orc grunt. During their past hunts as a party of six inside the intermediate adventurer zone, everything was too easy because not only were the creatures weak, but Shye and the others were also very skilled so they hardly experienced difficulties inside the intermediate adventurer zone as a party. Hence, he wanted to see how their extremely strong party would handle a challenge and this orc grunt seemed to be the perfect creature for the job. All members of the Colzen Avengers were confident in their skills except Wendy since she was a bit inexperienced. Still, she had her strong points which were her stubborn curiosity and adventurous spirit so none of them felt any anxiety or nervousness. In fact, they even felt excited to fight the orc grunt. "Let''s go then, everyone, stick to the n." Shye said as he and the other members assumed their designated positions. Everyone focused on Shye''s hand signals and finally, after a few more moments, Shye waved his hand forward which was the signal everyone was waiting for to start the operation. *FWOOSH* As nned, Shye and Siegfried charged out of the shrubbery, however, Shye attacked from the left side while Siegfried attacked from the right. The orc grunt heard the rustling of the bushes so it turned its head and upon realizing that it was being attacked, the grunt roared in rage. *ROAAAAR* A primal bellow reverberated across the forest as the orc exposed its razor-sharp tusks to the humans, its sinewy muscles tensing as it gripped the makeshift lodestone axe that served as its weapon. The axe, massive and resembling a two-handed weapon, belied its weight, yet the orc''s sheer brute force enabled it to wield the hefty weapon effortlessly with just one hand. Unfortunately for the orc, it was alone so it had to choose one target at a time. With its limited intelligence, it opted to confront the human it perceived as the more formidable adversary out of the pair. Hence, it aggressively rushed toward Shye. *CLANG* "K-Kuuhh..." Although armed with two greatswords and a strength blessing from Wendy, Shye was still sent sliding back a good few meters after a direct sh against the orc. *SPURT* Naturally, Siegfried, armed with his new tachi and an agility blessing from Wendy, took advantage of the opportunity granted to him by Shye as he shed his sword downwards with all of his strength. "Tch! Too shallow!" Siegfried muttered to himself in frustration. The toughness of the orc''s flesh exceeded his imagination. He thought that he would be able to heavily wound the orc but it turns out that he was a bit too naive with his assumptions. Chapter 112: Gone Berserk *ROAAAR* Nheless, a shallow cut is still a cut and although tough, the orc still felt pain. It roared in rage as it turned around to look at the human who inflicted a shallow cut on its back. Immediately after seeing Siegfried, the orc''s furious eyes locked onto him as it vengefully chopped its axe downward in an attempt to sh Siegfried in half. ''Shit, it''s fast!'' *CLANG* "Puhahhkk..." Siegfried spat out blood. He slightly underestimated the dexterity of the orc and was forced to block its attack head-on. Fortunately, the next attacker, Izanagi, was there to bail him out. Ian appeared behind the orc using his skill, [Blink Strike Lv.3] and stabbed the orc''s neck with his dagger. *SPURT* ''Shit! How the hell can flesh be this tough?!'' Izanagi thought to himself as his dagger failed to stab deep into the orc''s neck. Still, the neck is a vital part and although the damage was minimal, the orc still felt the pain of being stabbed. *FWOOOSH* Naturally, the orc tried to retaliate but a scout was way faster than a warrior so the grunt''s axe hit nothing but air as Izanagi somersaulted to dodge its strike. As Izanaginded on the ground, the trio of melee attackers formed a triangle with the orc in the middle. Meanwhile, the ranged attackers finished casting their skills. From the northwest direction, Harry sted out a [Fireball Lv.3] while David shot out [Icicle Spear Lv.3] from the southeast, leaving the orc confused which allowed both skills to hit their mark. *BANG* *SPURT* *SPURT* *SPURT* *ROAAAAR* The orc roared in pain as the fireball burnt and bruised its skin while three icicle spears shallowly stabbed its back, the frigidness slowly seeping through its flesh. Kiin Wujin, naturally wouldn''t let this chance go to waste as he also fired a [Powershot Lv.3] toward the creature''s neck. *SPURT* The orc grunt, disoriented, didn''t even detect the iing arrow as it stabbed quite deep into its neck and it was finally forced to spit out blood. "Nice, Kiin!" Wendy said as she gave Kiin a thumbs up which made his heart flutter a bit. ''Damn it! Wendy! Now is not the time to be cute!'' Kiin inwardly thought as he tried his best to focus on the orc grunt. As for Shye, he had a confident grin on his face as he thought ''If we can keep this up then we can probably take this guy out.'' Indeed, they had a fairly high chance to defeat this orc grunt unscathed as long as they took their time and coordinated perfectly. However, the prerequisite was that therade of the orc grunt didn''t appear. If it does, then things will get messy. Realizing it was in a dire situation, the orc chose to go all in, aiming to endure until itsrade took notice of the unfolding battle. *ROAAAAR* The orc roared as it charged towards Shye who was nning to take its attack head-on again since Wendy''s strength blessing was still active. What Shye didn''t expect was, that orcs...were capable of using skills. The grunt''s lodestone axe lit up as it chopped downwards empowered by the orc''s skill, [Brutish sh] ''Shit!'' Shye eximed as he hurriedly activated his [Power sh Lv.3] and brandished his greatswords to block the orc''s attack. *BANG* After shing against the orc''s skill-empowered attack, Shye spat out blood as he was sent flying towards the nearby shrubbery and finally mmed his back into a sturdy tree. "Crowley!!" The other party members eximed in utter shock and disbelief. This was the first time they saw the top warrior of their academy, Shye Crowley, lose so miserably in a direct sh. "Focus! Don''t worry about me...I''m fine...Wendy, can you please cast a heal on me?" Shye said in a loud voice as he struggled to stand up. His internal organs were badly battered in the exchange so he immediately drank a regr health potion and asked for a heal from Wendy. While Wendy was on the way to heal Shye with the help of [Contact Casting] to amplify its effects, the orc threw caution to the wind as it went crazy on Siegfried, aiming to incapacitate him next. Fortunately, Siegfried was skilled and although he was unable to deal any damage to the orc while dodging and parrying its blows, the other party members were able to. Thus, slowly but surely, the grunt''s vitality was whittled down by the Colzen Avengers. Miraculously, after an hour of intensebat, the orc''srade still hasn''t noticed the battle. Meanwhile, the orc grunt was down to its final reserves of strength and vitality as it panted in exhaustion, its body, extremely bloodied. The Colzen Avengers'' teamwork was impable leaving no room for the orc to finish off even a single one of them. However, the orc grunt refused to go down easily so it activated itsst resort skill, [Berserk]. It already gave up on its life and instead, it vowed to take at least one human down with it. *ROAAAAAR* A resounding roar echoed across the forest as the grunt''s skin turned crimson and blood flowed from the corner of its eyes akin to tears. "Everyone! This is itsst resort! As long as we hold out for fifteen minutes, then it''s our win!" Shye said in a loud voice. The entire party clenched their weapons tightly as they prepared their mind and body to engage in a tough battle against a creature who they assumed was desperately fighting for its life. Unbeknownst to them, the creature was fully resolved to die as long as it could take one of them down. If Shye and the others weren''t careful, then one of them might lose their life due to the unexpected and crazy attacks of this dying orc grunt. Meanwhile, not far from the venue of their battle, the ear of another green-skinned creature with bulging muscles twitched upon hearing the distant warcry. It then turned around and madly darted towards the direction of the ongoing battle to see what was going on. Another orc grunt...was on its way. Chapter 113: Flaw "Everyone! Keep up the pace! No need to force things, in a few more minutes this grunt would die on its own!" Shye said in a loud voice to remind his party members to remain careful until the end. It was pretty evident that the orc grunt, although in a berserk state, was having a hard time finishing one of them off due to their impable teamwork. Sure, the orc sends them flying asionally, making them spit out blood, but with a single [Contact Casting] heal from Wendy, it was as if their internal and external wounds never happened so as long as they fight the berserk grunt carefully and not allow it to one shot them, everything should be fine. Unfortunately, their battle n was about to be ruined as heavy footsteps sounded from the nearby shrubbery. "Ian, can you check what that sound is?" Shye said as he took a nce at Ian before focusing on the berserk orc again. "Yeah, leave it to me" Under party leader Shye''s orders, Ian Izanagi, the scout of the party, used one of his skills, [Enhanced Senses Lv.2], to check what was going on behind the shrubbery. Ian''s pupils constricted upon realizing what was going on. Another towering bipedal creature with the same green skin, bulging muscles, and lodestone axe was madly sprinting toward their location. "Shit! Crowley! The other orc grunt is here!" Ian said as he looked towards Shye, waiting for instructions from their party leader. ''Tch! Well, it''s about time it noticed themotion...'' Shye inwardly thought as he calmly analyzed the situation. Wendy was located right behind him, the two of them were the closest ones to the dying berserk orc while Kiin, Siegfried, Ian, David, and Harry were the ones in an optimal position to fight the healthy rushing orc. It would be a disaster if they tried to fight this orc grunt duo together so it would be better to separate the two. The dying orc would onlyst for about ten minutes anyway so he thought that he and Wendy could lure it away and take it out while the other five work together to try and fight the other orc grunt. ''Yeah, I guess that''s the best course of action right now.'' *BANG* After narrowly dodging the berserk orc''s attack by leaning to the side, Shye took a few steps back and looked at his party members before saying: "Here''s the n, Me and Wendy shall take out this dying orc while the five of you work together to fight the healthy one!" Shye urgently said. There was no time to hesitate so he immediately used [Rush Stab Lv.2] to not only dodge the berserk orc''s downward chop but also to deal a bit of damage to it. *ROAAAR* Naturally, the dying berserk orc was enraged, it quickly tried to grab Shye with its free hand but Shye was faster as he was sprinting madly in another direction with Wendy after instantly escaping from the orc''s attack range using [Dash Lv.3]. Upon realization that the most hateful human out of the seven, the one it wanted to kill the most was fleeing, the orc furiously roared before chasing the human. Its rationality was long gone due to the berserk state so it failed to realize that working together with the healthy orc grunt would be the best way to take out a few humans with it. Seeing the berserk orc madly chasing them, Shye was satisfied. This way, the other five party members would be safer, though, he still had to figure out how to either hold out long enough for the berserk orc to die or if they can manage to, finish it off. At worst, he could choose to fight the orc alone if fighting it two-on-one would put Wendy in danger. He wasn''t overestimating himself but it''s just his sense of responsibility as a party leader, making him want to ensure the safety of his members over his own. He decided to just think of a solution on the fly. After around three minutes of running at full speed, the orc finally caught up to the two of them. Still, that''s three minutes off the clock so they just had to hold out for seven more minutes. The problem is...How? *CLANG* Once again, Shye was sent sliding back for a few meters as he shed directly with the berserk orc. Fortunately, Wendy''s strength and agility blessing was finally off cooldown so he had another 40 seconds to think of a solution while fighting the orc. ''Think! Think!'' Shye thought as his eyes took every chance they could get to nce at the surroundings in hopes of finding something that could help them out. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Shye shed with the orc multiple times and his arms were starting to feel numb, he had to think of a solution, and fast. Fortunately, 20 seconds before the blessings ran out, Shye noticed something. During their shes, the orc seemed ufortable lingering on a certain spot, the area where the sunlight pierced through the leafless part of a tree. Although the orc was fine fighting in that area for a few seconds, it immediately left the spot whenever it had the chance to. ''Does it hate sunlight? Why?'' After realizing this weird behavior, Shye had an idea. He quickly nced at Wendy and said: "Wendy! Cast a barrier on me when I give the signal!" before dodging a deadly strike and rushing towards the spot with sunlight. "Got it!" Naturally, the berserk orc chased Shye as he ran to the spot with sunlight, then, once he arrived, he quickly turned around to face the orc and said: "Wendy! Now!" *SHING* A small but thick barrier covered Shye as the orc used its skill again [Brutish sh] to chop him in half. *CRACK* Even Wendy''s thick barrier failed topletely block the orc''s skill-empowered attack as it cracked and was finally destroyed after taking the brunt of the orc''s strike. Fortunately, the barrier was enough to let Shye follow through with his experiment. Immediately after the barrier was destroyed, Shye used [Dash Lv.3] to dash past the orc. Then, under the majestic rays of sunlight, he used [Power sh Lv.3] to try and cut through the orc''s right leg as he passed through the brute using his dash skill, hoping that he could at least inflict a deep wound on the orc''s leg making it hard for the grunt to move. *SPURT* To his surprise, the orc''s entire leg... Chapter 114: Lizard From Hell The orc''s entire leg...separated from its body. *ROAAAAR* Even the berserk orc, who had a reduced sense of pain couldn''t help but roar in misery after getting its right leg cut off. Dark red blood spurted and gushed out of the amputated leg as the orc lost its bnce and fell to the ground, writhing in agony. ''So sunlight softens the orc''s flesh!'' Shye muttered as a triumphant grin appeared on his face. He then walked towards the orc with his greatswords resting on top of his shoulders, a confident smile stered on his face. Naturally, to the battle-hungry and prideful orc, his smile was the most infuriating thing in the world especially since Shye hasn''t won a single head-on confrontation against it. With its limited intelligence, It failed to understand that although humans weren''t inherently strong when it came to raw strength, they were one of the most intelligent creatures in the world. This high level of intelligence makes humans one of the most sessful and dangerous creatures in the world. Not to mention, humans can achieve a destructive level of strength after training for a long time giving some of them the potential to catch up to or even surpass the raw strength of orcs. Although the orc despised losing to humans due to their weaker physiques, this one had no choice but to ept that it was defeated miserably by the human''s intelligence. No, even if this grunt doesn''t ept it, it''s a fact that it was defeated by humans. The orc, refusing to ept its defeat, tried to stand up and fight once again but unfortunately, it was still exposed to sunlight. Thus, Shye easily decapitated the orc. Its head rolled on the ground as dark red blood fountained from its neck. ''Phew, that was close...Luckily, I noticed its weakness before things went sour...'' Shye thought to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead. Seeing that the orc was dead, Wendy walked closer and tried to poke the orc''s body with her life staff to check if it was really dead. Upon confirmation that the brutish grunt was indeed deceased, Wendy looked at Shye and gave him her signature cold face thumbs up. Naturally, Shye reciprocated her gesture by smiling towards her and also giving her a thumbs up. He then squatted and observed the corpse of the grunt. After a few moments of observation, he noticed that the lodestone axe was still being held by the orc. He gently took the axe from the limp hands of the orc and inspected it using [Appraisal Lv.2]. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Name]: Orcish Lodestone Axe [Tier]: Silver [Rarity] Umon [Description]: A makeshift axe made from Bromntree wood, Tae vines, and Lodestone. Commonly used by orc grunts to hunt prey and y invaders. Effects: [Strength] + 10 [Dexterity] + 5 [Intelligence] - 3 [Back] [Exit System] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Oh? What a decent piece of weapon...Hmm? Is this what they call a drop?'' Shye pondered with a curious look on his face. He then continued scanning the body of the dead orc before realizing that it was wearing some kind of crude bracelet. ''Hmm? Is this perhaps...'' [Appraisal Lv.2] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Name]: Orcish Bracelet [Tier]: Bronze [Rarity] Umon [Description]: A crude bracelet made from Tae vines and Bromntree bark. Rarely does an orc grunt have the patience to craft one. Effects: [Strength] + 7 [Dexterity] + 3 [Intelligence] - 1 [Back] [Exit System] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Oh?! Can I use this one?'' Shye pondered as he tried equipping the bracelet while Wendy stood behind him, curious about his actions. After wearing the orcish bracelet, Shye felt the familiar warm sensation course through his body, however, this time, it was followed by an ufortable cold sensation. ''Hmm? Is the cold sensation the intelligence penalty?'' He was pretty sure it was the intelligence penalty but he didn''t mind since the pros outweigh the cons. Thus, he decided to take the bracelet for himself. Naturally, he decided to give the other loot, the lodestone axe to Wendy and the others since they all contributed to taking down the orc grunt. In addition to this, he nned to have the orcish bracelet appraised to know its actual price before paying the appropriate amount of silver coins to his party members to ensure fair distribution of loot. While he and Wendy were in the middle of looting the orc grunt''s corpse, resounding footsteps suddenly sounded behind the nearby shrubbery followed by loud sniffs which made Shye''s hair stand on end. He quickly looked at Wendy and whispered "Hide!" before silently sprinting towards a bush not far from the orc''s corpse. Just as the two of them found their safe hiding spots, a 4-meter tall reptile with razor-sharp teeth, sinister-looking crimson-colored eyes, a double-horned head, and a long tail appeared from behind the tall shrubbery. It was standing on its two hind legs while its arms seemed to be too short to be of any use. ''What the hell is that thing?'' Shye said as he tried to suppress his beating heart. This was the first time he saw such arge and dangerous-looking creature. Thus, he decided to use [Appraisal Lv.2] on the creature. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Name]: Hellspawn Bull-Lizard [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] Armed with overwhelming strength and extremely fast eleration speed, the hellspawn lizard''s deadly charge makes it an absolute menace inside advanced adventurer zones. [Strength: 168] [Intelligence: 8] [Agility: 110] [Dexterity : 60] [Stamina: 250] [Vitality: 5]: [Wisdom: 2] [Back] [Exit System] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Crap! We absolutely can''t let this thing see us!'' There was no way for him and Wendy to outrun the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard due to its ridiculous agility and stamina so if this thing sees them, then it would spell their end. The problem is, that Wendy is hiding in a different bush so it is hard for the two of them tomunicate. In addition, the inexperienced Wendy was closer to the savage creature than he was. Her face looked ice-cold as usual but in her heart, she was absolutely horrified which was pretty evident since she was breathing quite heavily in trepidation. Unfortunately, her inexperience once again caused her to make a mistake, one that could end her existence in this worldpletely. *SNAP* The Bull-Lizard''s head jerked up after hearing a twig snapping from a nearby bush. It then looked carefully at the bush and started sniffing around, ignoring the appetizing corpse temporarily. After a few more moments... *ROOOOOOAAAAAARRR* "Wendy!!!" Chapter 115: Cornered "Wendy!!!" Shye eximed in a mix of horror and worry. He decisively used [Rush Stab Lv.2] on the creature to get its attention away from Wendy. *SPURT* To his unpleasant surprise, his skill-empowered stab was only enough to pierce through the creature''s thick skin, not even strong enough to pierce through its flesh. Noticing the human hriously trying to wound it, the Bull-Lizard swiped its tail in an attempt to send Shye flying. However, Shye wasn''t any random adventurer, his battle-hardened instincts allowed him to narrowly avoid the tail swipe attack by jumping. Not giving the creature any time to react, he immediately transitioned into a [Destructive Chop Lv.3] as he swung both of his greatswords downwards in an attempt to sever the bipedal lizard''s tail. *SPURT* This time, the result was different. The tail wasn''t as tough as the lizard''s body so Shye''s attack managed to cut deeply. Unfortunately, his strength wasn''t enough topletely cut through the tail, hence, the lizard still had the option to use its tail swipe attack anytime. Still, the damage was enough topletely attract the Bull-Lizard''s attention away from Wendy. Meanwhile, Wendy, who was recently in a bad spot quickly realized that Shye was helping her so she forcefully snapped out of her stupor and immediately ran away. They wanted to help their teammates finish off the other orc grunt but it seemed that it would be impossible to do so since they were in a precarious situation themselves. The creature''s body was blocking the way back to where their teammates were so the two of them had no choice but to flee in the opposite direction, moving farther and farther away from their teammates. Fortunately, the corpse of the orc grunt was wayrger than the two of thembined so the Bull-Lizard hesitated for a few moments. It was struggling to decide whether it was worth it to chase after two puny humans since there was an easy meal right in front of it, gaining a few precious seconds for the escaping Shye and Wendy. After around ten seconds, the creature suddenly felt the pain from its tail which reminded it that those two puny humans dared to fight and wound it. Enraged, the creature chose to chase after the two of them, deciding to ignore the corpse of the orc grunt. As they ran desperately, Shye hoped that the Bull-Lizard would choose to eat the orc grunt instead of chasing after the two of them. Sadly, his hopes were crushed as dirt flew everywhere, behind them, the lizard was in hot pursuit, gradually getting closer and closer. ''Shit! That grunt was clearly more tasty than us. Why is this bastard still chasing?!'' Shyeined as he stopped to face the creature, giving Wendy a chance to run a little bit further. "Just continue running! I''ll catch up!" Naturally, Shye had the means to temporarily fight off the creature without putting himself in danger. The problemes afterward when all of his skills are on cooldown. As the creature known for its fearsome charge was getting closer and closer, Shye activated [Power sh Lv.3] along with two charges of [Boost]. Then, once the hellspawn creature was in range, he shed both of his greatswords downwards in an attempt to crack the skull of the charging titan. *BANG* As Shye''s greatswords shed with the creature''s skull, he felt his internal organs shake violently and he was sent flying towards Wendy while spewing blood from his mouth. Fortunately, Wendy was smart, while Shye was in the middle of engaging the creature, she determined that the creature would defeat Shye and send him flying back to her side. Thus, once Shye was rolling right in front of her, she quickly helped him get back to his feet and cast [Heal Lv.3] on him. Feeling the warm andfortable energy coursing through his body and healing his internal organs, Shye couldn''t help but slightly moan infort. However, he then realized that Wendy cast [Heal Lv.3] far too quickly as if she was expecting him to... ''Did thisss just expect me to lose the sh?!'' Shye didn''t whether tough or cry. He wanted toin to her in indignation but he wasn''t in a position to do so. Not only did she heal him, but they were also in the middle of escaping so he decided to temporarily put the matter on the back of his head. Unfortunately, although they managed to cover a bit more distance, the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard started catching up again. ''Shit! Shit! Think!'' Shye couldn''t help but remember the intelligence attribute. Would upgrading it allow him to think of a solution? ''Wait...What am I thinking about?! Focus!'' He forcefully stopped his mind from wandering off as he looked around, hoping to find something that would help them escape. s, as if the gods and goddesses of fate and victory were mocking them, a hundred-foot-fall cliff suddenly appeared in front of them. "Curses!" Shye eximed as he continued running closer and closer to the edge of the cliff, after all, the bull-lizard was right behind them so turning back wasn''t an option. In just a few more steps, they would have to either stop running or jump down, which would most likely end their lives anyway, thus, he determined that they had to take their chances and fight the massive bipedaled lizard. The gears in Shye''s brain shifted and turned as he tried his hardest to look for a way out of this nasty situation. *ROAAAAAARR* ''Shit! Why are we so unlucky?! ...Or...Actually...'' Fortunately, just before arriving at the edge of the cliff, Shye managed to think of a brilliant n. Quite risky, however, he had no choice but to try it since they would die anyway if he didn''t. "Wendy! Sorry about this! There''s no time to exin...I trust that you will be able to figure out what to do." Shye said as he grabbed Wendy''s hands and threw her to a bush momentarily confusing the charging Bull-Lizard. However, in just a few moments, the lizard determined that the male human in front of it was the threat so it decided to temporarily ignore Wendy and focused on killing Shye, the hateful bastard who badly wounded its tail. Seeing the (B-) ranked creature winding up its charge right in front of him, Shye took a deep breath. "Hoooh...This n has to work or I''m dead...Wendy, I''m counting on you." Chapter 116: Bull-Lizard Airlines "Hey! Throwing someone is rude you kn-" Wendy couldn''t help butin after being thrown to the side like some sort of garbage. However, upon realizing the dangerous situation her teammate was in, she stopped speaking and closely observed the battle while hiding in the safety of the bushes. She then remembered that Shye said something to her about figuring out what to do. ''What do you expect me, a priestess, to do in this situation?'' Wendy slightlyined with a confused expression on her face. She was quite irked at Shye but upon seeing him put his life on the line fearlessly for a chance to get both of them out of this dangerous situation, she couldn''t bring herself to be mad at him anymore. Thus, she decided to focus on their battle and try to figure out how to help Shye while safely observing them from a distance. The Bull-Lizard finally charged toward Shye after a long wind-up, aiming to skewer and kill the hateful human with one powerful charge. As for Shye, the hateful human, he had just seen this massive creature put on the brakes earlier which seemed to defy thews of inertia. He knew that he couldn''t bait this thing to charge towards its death by normally dodging with a quick sidestep, thus, he had to be a bit creative. *SHING* Meanwhile, Wendy tried to do whatever she could as she gave Shye strength and agility buffs again,sting for forty seconds. Although this set of buffs wasn''t as strong as usual due to the long-range casting instead of [Contact Casting], it was still better than nothing. Shye knew that it would be a death wish to confront this thing''s charge so he quickly used his life-saving skill, [Dash Lv.3], to safely dodge the creature''s charge. However, as expected, after the creature activated its inertia-defying brakes, its massive body miraculously came to aplete stop right at the edge of the cliff, preventing it from falling to its death. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t allow the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard to charge at him again so immediately used [Pierce Lunge Lv.1], swiftly lunging forward to return right in front of the massive creature. Fighting the Bull-Lizard in closebat might be dangerous due to its overwhelming strength attribute. Suffering one clean hit from its ridiculously strong and tough head would either mean a grievous wound or outright death but it was his best course of action. Even his [Power sh Lv.3] along with two charges of [Boost] wasn''t enough to fight against the creature''s full-powered charge so closebat seemed to be his only option. As expected, his [Pierce Lunge Lv.1], being a low-leveled skill, didn''t even pierce the skin of the creature, however, he at least achieved his goal of instantly closing the gap between him and the bipedaled lizard, disabling its charge attack. Now, herees the hard part. He had to stall this thing without getting blown away until Wendy figured out what to do. Fortunately for him, Wendy, with a high intelligence and wisdom attribute value, instantly realized what he was aiming for, thus, she started to sneakily move around the battlefield and started the execution of their n. Shye however, had no time to nce around. He had no way of knowing if Wendy was already on the move so he could only hope that she would be able to aplish her job before this horned behemoth rips him apart. After narrowly dodging the creature''s maw, Shye used [Destructive Chop Lv.3] and chopped viciously at the creature''s neck, optimistically aiming to separate it from the body. *SPURT* His greatswords did manage to chop through the skin of the neck, however, that''s all it did, nothing but a shallow cut. He was then sent flying by a ruthless tail-swipe attack from the massive creature, spitting out blood and breaking quite a few rib cages as hended on his back with a thud. If not for the damage sustained by the Bull-Lizard''s tail earlier, he might''ve died right then and there. Shye struggled to stand up as the creature walked closer and closer, its jaws wide open, ready to shred him into little pieces of meat. Fortunately, a timely long-range [Heal Lv.3] from Wendy, though not enough to fully heal him, allowed him to stand up on time. He then quickly got out of the way by rolling backward, narrowly avoiding another close brush with the grim reaper. Still, he only avoided death temporarily. The dangerous creature was still rampaging right in front of him- his only option: focus on surviving and hope for the best. ''Crap, that was way too close...'' Shye thought to himself as he quickly assumed a defensive battle stance. When the creature opened its maw to bite down on him again, Shye desperately dived to save his little life, but unfortunately for him, although he managed to dodge the massive creature''s frightening jaw, the tail-swipe attack was already in motion. Although he managed to dodge the bite, dodging the tail-swipe attack was physically impossible. *SHING* Luckily, a timely thinner-than-usual barrier from Wendy suddenly appeared and protected him. Although it was immediately destroyed by the tail swipe attack, it still managed to weaken the blow allowing Shye to tank the remaining damage using his skill, [Stoic Lv.3] "Puhaahkk" Shye spat out rming volumes of blood as he valiantly held his ground in front of the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard akin to a brave little soul courageously staring death in the eye. Heroic as he may be, Shye only had one avable skill left along with one recently replenished charge of [Boost]. Hisst avable skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.1], had a very limited range, however, with how close he was to the massive creature right now, Shye was sure that this skill would hit its target. ''This is myst card so you better be there...Wendy!!!'' *ROOOOOAAAAAAAR* A [Boost] empowered deafening roar which resembled those of dragons reverberated right beside the Bull-Lizard''s ear making it scared and confused, trepidation evident in its eyes, giving Shye a few precious seconds of survival. Then, just when the effect of the skill was about to run out... *BANG* For the first time in its entire life, the massive creature felt its feet leave the ground as it was sent flying like a massive leathery baseball after getting hit by Wendy''s [Contact Casting]-empowered [Knockback Lv.3]. *ROOOAAAR* The creature roared in hatred and defiance as its enormous body flew through the air, fell down the cliff, and hit the ground with a resounding thud, ending the dangerous creature''s life once and for all. After enthusiastically watching the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard Airlines soar to the skies, Shye and Wendy looked at each other before giving each other another thumbs-up for a job well done. This time, their teamwork was wless allowing them to survive a disaster that would''ve surely ended both of their lives. Chapter 117: Unknown Labyrinth ''Pheww...That was dangerously close...'' Shye inwardly thought as he plopped down on his butt after a nail-biting close brush with death. Fortunately, Wendy managed to do what she had to before the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard could end his life. "Hey, Crowley, are you alright?" Wendy asked as she attached her life staff to his body and cast [Heal Lv.3] to heal him back to full health. "Yeah, I''m alright now, thanks." Shye replied as he looked at the dead body of the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard at the foot of the cliff. ''Haaah...If only we could harvest the carcass of that creature, we would probably make a lot of money out of it...'' Shye inwardly sighed. It was indeed a pity and a waste that it was next to impossible for them to descend and harvest the remains of the bipedaled lizard. However, making the lizard fall off the cliff was the only way for them to survive so Shye consoled himself by thinking that at least they got to keep their little lives. "Hey, Crowley, earlier, when I was circling that huge creature, I stumbled upon something that looked like an entrance...Do you want to see it?" Wendy said, snapping Shye out of his thoughts. Naturally, as an adventurer, Shye would be curious to at least take a look at the entrance Wendy was talking about. Thus, after hearing Shye agree, Wendy led the way toward the entrance. It wasn''t very far though, after just a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the entrance of what seemed to be either abyrinth or a tomb. The entrance was well hidden behind lots of bushes and one might even fall down the stairs if one isn''t careful. In addition to this, no one really goes around these parts since the cliff is nothing but a dead end to most of the adventurers. Shye and Wendy slowly descended the stairs of thebyrinth. As they went further down though, their visions were impaired by the neverending darkness making Shye hesitate. They already achieved their goal of killing an orc grunt and there was no need to put their lives in danger by venturing into the unknown right after a hard-fought battle. "Wendy, let''s go back for now...We can explore thisbyrinth next time." Shye said with a serious expression. He also wanted to explore thebyrinth but it was more logical for them to do it next time, maybe when they be fourth-year students, it would be easier for them to explore thebyrinth. Thus, the two of them decided to head back. *CLICK* Unfortunately, the Goddess of Fate had a different n in mind. Immediately after the two of them turned around, Shye stepped on something, and then, with a loud clicking sound, a huge trap door suddenly opened below the two of them. Armed with fast reflexes due to constant closebat battles, Shye managed to quickly react and immediately activated [Dash Lv.3] to avoid falling into the trapdoor. However, Wendy didn''t have such reflexes so she wasn''t able to react. She doesn''t have any skills to escape the situation anyway so her falling down was inevitable. "Wendy!" Shye eximed in a worried tone as Wendy''s silhouette gradually faded. Gnashing his teeth in defiance, he unhesitantly jumped back to the abyss, targeted Wendy with a [Rush Stab Lv.2] to instantly close the gap then, put his greatswords back into the inventory to avoid hitting Wendy. He then grabbed Wendy''s shaking hands and threw her back to the surface with everything he had, saving her life as his silhouette disappeared in the endless darkness. *THUD* Wendy''s bodynded on the stairs of thebyrinth with a thud, and then, after realizing that she was safe and sound while Shye was nowhere to be found, she immediately stood up and stared at the abyss. "Crowley!!!" Wendy tried to call out as she gazed upon the endless darkness. Hearing no reply from Shye, she panicked. ''Oh no...What should I do?! I shouldn''t have told him about the entrance...'' Wendy muttered to herself, her hands, shaking, her heart, filled with guilt. After a long while of confusion and self-me, Wendy managed to reorganize her thoughts. She realized that it was useless to stare at the abyss, thus, she immediately sprinted out of the entrance in hopes of asking for help. *** Meanwhile, at the bottom of the abyss, a young man was lying on the cold and hard floor of thebyrinth. Miraculously, Shye was able to survive the fall by using some of his system points to upgrade the vitality attribute, however, his entire body was broken, the mes of his life dangerously close to being snuffed out. If not for his quick decision-making, he would likely die even if he survived the fall. Right before he hit the ground, he managed to remove the loose cork of a greater health potion before biting the neck of the potion''s bottle. However, he was very careful not to drink the potion until he hit the ground, else, everything would be for naught. *GULP* Upon realizing that he survived, Shye immediately gulped the bottle of greater health potion. Although it was nowhere near enough to heal half of the internal and external wounds of his battered body, it allowed him to move his arms and hands, thus, allowing him to retrieve more potions from his inventory, gradually restoring his health to full over time. Once he felt better, Shye slowly stood up and stretched his body, the pain of hitting the ground still fresh in his mind. ''How did I survive that...'' Shye thought to himself as he shuddered at the thought of going through the fall again. He looked around and to his surprise, some strange crystals were growing here and there illuminating theplex pathways of thebyrinth. ''Shit...Where the hell am I?'' Shye muttered as he picked up a few pieces of crystals as a sample and stored them in the inventory of the system. Although the current circumstances weren''t the best, at least the crystals provided him with some vision, giving him a chance to navigate the unknownbyrinth and a chance to live. Chapter 118: Kobolds -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Name]: Fluorescence Crystal [Tier]: Bronze [Rarity] Common [Description]: A glowing crystalmonly found in dark caves,byrinths, and dungeons. Mostly used to create bioluminescent products such as light bulbs. Effects: Lights up a radius of 1 meter per 1 gram of crystal. Note: Effects vary when processed. [Back] [Exit System] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Haaah...I thought it would fetch a high price but it seems like this crystal is prettymon'' Shye thought to himself and sighed as he walked through the dark hallways of the unknownbyrinth. He had been walking for an hour now and he hadn''t encountered any monsters yet. Although there were a few traps, they were nothing he couldn''t handle. Unfortunately, peaceful times were bound to end as Shye heard some noises on the next left turn. *WAAARF* *WAAARF* He quickly stuck close to the walls as he slowly peeked out from the corner. ''What are those?'' Shye''s brows furrowed after seeing three dog-like creatures standing on two legs while holding different weapons. They were also equipped with what seemed like makeshift leather armor. Naturally, Shye used [Appraisal Lv.2] to check out the creatures'' status. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Name]: Kobold Militia [Creature Rank] : D [Description] A versatile bipedal dog, fairly powerful and speedy. Although its intelligence isn''t as high as a human''s, it is capable of fighting in groups and understandingbat mechanics. [Strength: 90] [Intelligence: 10] [Agility: 80] [Dexterity: 85 ] [Stamina: 140] [Vitality: 50]: [Wisdom: 5] [Back] [Exit System] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ''Hmm...So these things are called kobolds huh...These little bastards are (D) ranked? You mean these guys are as dangerous as Jadepaw Grizzlies?'' Shye thought to himself. His brows rxed upon seeing that the kobolds were only (D) ranked creatures, way weaker than the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard. However, he couldn''t fathom how these guys were ranked as D, not only were they small, but they seemed weak too. Still, Shye knew better than to underestimate his foes. He calmly analyzed the situation before trying to fight these kobolds. From the looks of it, there were three kobold militias, a campfire in the middle of the hallway, and no other pathways to take. ''Tch...Looks like I need to fight these three kobolds...Can I take them out? If these three are indeed as dangerous as the Jadepaw Grizzlies then I might be biting off more than I can chew...'' Shye pondered as the gears of his brain turned-thinking of the most efficient way to take out the kobold trio. ''I need to at least take out one instantly before trying to fight the other two...'' In the end, he decided to wait until at least one of the kobolds were asleep, he would then take out that kobold and fight the other two. While waiting, Shye regrly checked the kobolds while scrolling through the regr quests in the system. Unfortunately, there were no kobolds in the daily quests so he was hoping that he could find a quest regarding kobolds in the regr quests section where there were thousands of quests listed. He tapped the search bar, and thought of the word ''kobold'', then, instantly, there were seven quests rted to kobolds. ''Let''s see...Kobold militias...Ah! There we go'' Shye epted the regr quest to hunt three kobold militias for 700 points. He was currently low on points since he just pumped everything into the vitality attribute These 700 points might mean life or death for him since he had no other way to procure supplies than to purchase them from the system. He didn''t know if old man Sanada designed it that way but it was really inefficient to purchase weapons and supplies in the system. Not only were the weapons and suppliesmon, but after doing a few calctions, the prices of the said items were at least two and a half times more expensive than if you purchased them from the shops. It seems that old man Sanada wanted the user of the system to procure his/her own weapons and supplies before adventuring. It made sense though because he would be nothing but an irresponsible adventurer if he could just get everything from the system, thus, he didn''t dare me the old man for the current design. Heck, he doesn''t even have the right to me him since he felt that he was already very lucky after being chosen by the old man. He had to be careful and strategic in using his remaining points since a misuse might be equivalent to his death in this dark and unfamiliarbyrinth. After waiting for around three hours, a kobold finally fell asleep. Since one of the kobolds was roasting some meat from who knows where, Shye decided to strike. *SPURT* He used [Rush Stab Lv.2] to instantly stab the sleeping kobold who was startled awake as its blood spurted out from its neck in rming volumes. ''Tch, that wasn''t enough to instantly kill it?!'' Shye clicked his tongue and immediately used another skill, [Destructive Chop Lv.3] to make sure that the sleeping kobold would die. *WAAAARF!* *WAAAARRRF* Although he felt that it was a waste to use another precious skill to finish off the sleeping kobold, it would be too much of a disaster if he didn''t manage to do so. A skill woulde off cooldown but a dead kobold wouldn''t resurrect. The two remaining kobolds wanted to save theirrade but unfortunately, they were toote. Theirrade had already been split in half by Shye''s [Destructive Chop Lv.3]. Shye hoped that one of them, or both if possible, would charge at him out of anger, but reality pped him hard. ''Tch...They wouldn''t recklessly charge out of anger huh?'' He hoped to take out a reckless and angry one by surprise but it seems that these two immediately determined that he was a dangerous opponent so they decided to team up instead. Still, Shye was pretty satisfied. This was his initial n anyway and he felt lucky about the fact that although the kobolds were smart, powerful, and speedy, they didn''t have tough bodies so his burst-type fighting style gave him a pretty decent chance of winning even though the battle was two on one. Chapter 119: Grim News Outside the gates of Colzen Academy, six third-year students¨Cfive of them slightly wounded, were walking in a hurry. One of the students was carrying a bloody sack bag containing the head of an orc grunt, and had a grim expression on his face while the others had varied emotions of guilt, dejection, and worry. These students were the Colzen Avengers squad who were in a rush to meet the deans to report what happened inside the advanced adventurer zone and ask for help regarding Shye''s situation. Naturally, the worried deans immediately caught wind of their return and didn''t wait for them to arrive at the faculty meeting hall. Instead, the deans hurriedly rushed out of their offices to meet their students. Although of different sses as adventurers, the deans somehow arrived in front of the gates at the same time which slightly surprised the Colzen Avengers. Upon realizing that there were only six, Dean Snowcrest spoke first: "Where''s Crowley? Why isn''t he with you guys?" the dean asked with a curious expression. He wasn''t worried at all because Shye''s talisman hadn''t sent a notification to him yet so he knew that he was still alive. He even thought that he simply dropped by the shops or something to sell loot. What he didn''t expect was that his favorite student was in grave danger. Feeling guilty about Shye''s situation, Wendy voluntarily stepped forward and stuttered as she tried her best to report what happened. "D-Deans¡­Everything is my fault¡­After killing the dying berserk orc grunt, we were attacked by a Hellspawn Bull-Lizard. We got lucky and somehow managed to kill the Bull-Lizard after pushing it off a cliff." "However¡­While I was circling the Bull-Lizard, I stumbled upon some sort ofbyrinth or tomb entrance. The two of us tried to explore around the stairways of the entrance but just when we were about to head back¡­A trap door suddenly opened below us¡­" "Crowley managed to escape but I¡­couldn''t¡­He dived back in to save me and fell down instead¡­If only¡­If only I didn''t suggest checking the entrance¡­Or If I was capable enough to escape the trap on my own¡­none of this would''ve happened¡­" After stating what happened without hiding anything, Wendy''s hands were shaking and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, feeling guilty about Shye''s current situation. She didn''t even know if he managed to survive the fall so in her heart, she was the one who killed Shye. The hearts of the deans and her teammates shattered after seeing her pitiful appearance, especially the deans who were former adventurers. They knew the feeling of losing a party member and ming oneself for the unintended death of a party member was nothing tough or scoff at. The deans thought that Wendy might be traumatized due to this tragic episode so they hurriedly consoled her. "Wendy, don''t me yourself. It wasn''t your fault at all, besides, Crowley is still alive. His talisman hasn''t sent any notification that he died yet so what we need you to do now is tell us where thebyrinth is so we could save him as early as possible." Hearing that Shye was still alive, Wendy''s tears momentarily stopped flowing as she looked at the deans with hope in her eyes. She then nodded repeatedly before leading the way to thebyrinth. They just got back from the advanced adventurer zone but they had to save Shye as soon as possible so although Wendy was totally spent, she willingly led the way, temporarily forgetting about her exhaustion. *** Meanwhile, in an old hallway inside a darkbyrinth, a young man was locked in a fierce battle with two kobolds. ''Tch! It''s hard to find an opening against these guys¡­They work too damn well together!'' Shyeined as he slightly panted in exhaustion. It had been a whole hour since he started fighting these two kobolds and he still couldn''t kill one because the other one was just too ready to kill him once he fully focused his attention on one of them. He tried almost every trick he currently had. Trying to tank the damage of these kobolds using [Stoic Lv.3] almost got him killed so he didn''t dare try that tactic again. However, even if he failed to get an advantage against the kobolds during the past hour, the kobolds didn''t gain any on him either. In addition to this, he already knew the attack patterns and teamwork strategies of these kobolds, thus, he already had a n in mind. But for the n to work, he needed two charges of his [Boost] skill so he was fending off the attacks of the two little creatures while waiting for the final charge of [Boost] to be replenished. Finally, after ten more minutes, his entire skill set was back. ''It''s time¡­'' Shye thought to himself as his eyes narrowed into slits, looking for the slightest opening to execute his n. He calmly observed their movements for quite a while but unfortunately, these two were too focused on keeping each other alive or at least taking him down with one of them. ''Tch¡­Since these kobolds aren''t showing any openings, then I just have to create one!'' Shye muttered to himself as he used his weakest and slowest gap closer skill, [Pierce Lunge Lv.1], to purposely show them an opening to exploit. Finally, after trying to bait them tens of times, one of the kobolds fell for this one. [Pierce Lunge Lv.1] was slowerpared to [Rush Stab Lv.2] or [Dash Lv.3] so one of the kobolds thought that it could exploit this opening, however, little did he know that it was Shye''s trap. While pretending to target the other kobold, he immediately activated [Stoic Lv.3] along with two charges of [Boost] to increase the overall defense of the skill, thus, allowing him to tank one of the kobolds'' damage. His skill, [Pierce Lunge Lv.1] was easily blocked by the targeted kobold but it was all ording to his n. Then, like an absolute beginner, he fully exposed his whole body for the targeted kobold to attack however the hell it wanted as he turned his attention towards the opening exploiter kobold. ''Got you!'' A fierce expression appeared on Shye''s face as he immediately used [Draconian Roar Lv.1] on the baited kobold, paralyzing it on the spot due to fear and trepidation. He then used [Power sh Lv.3] to instantly sh the disoriented kobold in half while itsrade desperately hacked and shed at Shye''s body in an attempt to save itsrade. Unfortunately for thest kobold, the double-boosted [Stoic Lv.3] could fully tank its damage for around six seconds which was more than enough for Shye to end the life of itsrade. Thus, it was now left alone, unsure if it was better to continue fighting or to flee. In the end, it decided to flee in hopes of finding another group of kobolds to work with, however, how could Shye let the remaining kobold go? He already considered that thest one might flee so he saved up two of his strongest gap-closer skills just for this moment. *SPURT* Aradeless kobold was just too easy for Shye to kill so after using his entire skill set masterfully, Shye sessfullypleted the execution of three kobolds. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: 3 - Kobold Militias! You''ve earned 700 points as a reward!] Chapter 120: Failed Rescue Mission Two moons hung high in the sky, casting a subtle silver glow, illuminating thendscape below in a soft, ethereal light. The stars scattered across the cosmic canvas, shimmering gently as they calmly observed the happenings of the night, which seemed to stretch endlessly, embracing the world in a serene and timeless embrace. Below the dark starry sky, six people are standing close to a cliff, seemingly frustrated and lost, not knowing what to do. These six people are the four deans, the archpriest, and Wendy, who entered the advanced adventurer zone in an attempt to save Shye. Unfortunately, when they arrived at the entrance under Wendy''s lead, the entrance was nowhere to be found, in its ce was normal grass growing on a patch of loamy dirt. The deans even tried digging in desperation but they didn''t find any stairway and instead, all they dug up was dirt and stone. "I¡­I swear it was right here¡­" Wendy said, her panic-stricken heart slowly being consumed by fear, despair, and overwhelming guilt. She didn''t know what to do anymore since this location was truly where the entrance was. Naturally, the deans wouldn''t me her. They''ve had their share of adventures as well so they knew that there were indeed somebyrinths wherein the entrance either disappears or relocates when someone enters. Mostly though, those kinds ofbyrinths were tombs of former great adventurers and were guarded by lots of sentient creatures. The deans gnashed their teeth and clenched their fists, having no choice but to ept that they don''t have the capability to rescue Shye since the strength of the owner of the tomb was way beyond theirs. They could do nothing but hope that the creatures inside thebyrinth were something Shye could handle giving him a chance to get out of thebyrinth alive. Utterly dejected, the six of them returned to the academy, achieving nothing in their endeavors to save their beloved student. *** Months flew by since the deans returned to the academy after a failed rescue mission. Naturally, Dean Snowcrest regrly observed his half of Shye''s lifeforce talisman. Seeing that it hadn''t shattered yet, the deans gradually grew calmer and calmer as days went by. It seems like this student of theirs was blessed by the heavens, not only talented in growth rate and duels but also talented in survival. Today, Maia and Shirley anxiously dropped by the dean''s office once again to check if Shye was still alive. The two then breathed a sigh of relief upon confirmation that this half of the lifeforce talisman was still intact meaning that he was still fine. As long as he was alive, they were willing to wait for his return no matter how long it took. Meanwhile, akin to an unkible cockroach roaming the dark and nasty sewers, Shye adeptly navigated through the dark hallways of thebyrinth. He already lost track of time, leaving him with no idea regarding what date it is today or whether it was day or night¨Chis body clock was absolutely fucked up. Surviving alone in the cold and darkbyrinth filled with kobolds wasn''t easy and he has already started to try eating kobold meat since he had to save his points for emergencies. Fortunately, kobold meat tasted decent and although it wasn''t delicious, it wasn''t nasty either. Sprinkling a bit of salt and pepper does the job. ''Once I escape from this goddamn ce I vow to order everything on the menu of a fancy restaurant!'' Shye vowed to himself as his teeth dug into a huge piece of kobold meat. He had just finished harvesting the remains of two kobold soldiers earning him 800 points. By this time, he had already drawn a partial map of thebyrinth, making sure to update the map every time he sessfully explored a new area. Although he didn''t know exactly howrge thebyrinth was, at least he already had a few safe zones and hiding spots wherein he could rest without a care in the world, drastically increasing his chances of survival. As long as he carefully navigates his way inside thebyrinth, then it should only be a matter of time before he escapes the dastardly ce. As for how long it would take, only the gods knew. Still, he was getting more and more ustomed to thebyrinth and even the daily quests had already adjusted, giving him mostly hunt: kobolds and material gathering daily quests. Due to this, the initially perilous situation suddenly became a huge training opportunity. The kobolds were the perfect creatures to fight at his current skill level, thus allowing him to grow to his maximum potential, not only honing his physical attributes but also hisbat and survival instincts. If only he could get some sort of absurd reward for surviving alone in a god-forsaken ce like this, then it would be perfect. After consuming a kobold soldier''s meat which tasted slightly better than a kobold militia''s meat, Shye quickly extinguished the fire and left his safe zone, once again traversing the creepy hallways of thebyrinth in hopes of finally locating the exit. Months of navigating thebyrinth made him strongerpared to when he fought the Bull-Lizard as the constant life-or-death battles rapidly increased his physical attributes. In view of this, Shye realized that the fastest and most reliable way to increase your physical attributes was still through harsh life-and-death battles. His current strength allowed him to have fewer troubles when dealing with kobold militias and a fair chance of winning against kobold soldiers who were ranked C- creatures provided that he yed his cards right. Still, he knew that his current level wouldn''t allow him to move recklessly inside thebyrinth as there were creatures such as kobold sergeants which were a rank above the soldiers, and kobold captains, which were of even higher rank than the sergeants. Such creatures would easily tear him apart if he did not advance carefully. Were there creatures of higher rank than the Kobold Captains? He didn''t know¡­Thus, he nned to take things slowly. He could only hope and pray that he would be able to get out of this ce before the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition began. Such a huge event would surely allow him to harvest lots of points and even training inside thisbyrinth wouldn''t make up for the losses if he failed to participate. Not only would he disappoint the deans, Maia, Shirley, his teammates, and the students of Colzen Academy, but he would also lose a shitload of points. Hence, with mes of determination burning in his eyes, Shye continued advancing inside the cold, dark, and eerie hallways of the unknownbyrinth. Chapter 121: Three Rooms, Three Runic Locks It was unknown to Shye how many months or even years passed since he fell down the trap door, growing weary and tired of navigating thebyrinth every day. Yet, there he was, in the familiar hallways of thebyrinth, trying his best to get out of the God-forsaken ce as soon as possible. His current hygiene and appearance weren''t the best but he was trying his hardest to at least stay as clean as possible, purchasing huge bottles of water in the system, and using them sparingly to clean his face and body. A few hours ago, he sessfully killed another (C-) ranked creature, the kobold captain, after two hours of intensebat, allowing him to earn 2000 points in a single quest. As he walked towards his destination, Shye opened the system and looked at his status. Status: ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 60 [ss]: Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.2] [Dash Lv.3][Power sh Lv.4][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2][Stoic Lv.3] [Destructive Chop Lv.3] [Rush Stab Lv.3][Draconian Roar Lv.1][Boost Lv.1(Rare)] ¡ª----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ¡ª----------------------------- Blessings : [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent) [Attributes] [Strength: 125 (95+29.5)] [Intelligence: 37 (38-1)] [Agility: 110 (95+14.6)] [Dexterity: 114 (96+17.8)] [Stamina: 70 (61+9)] [Vitality: 95 (82+12.6)]: [Wisdom: 25] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''I''ve already be this strong without me noticing huh¡­The life-and-death battles really doe with huge rewards¡­'' Shye muttered as he continued traversing thebyrinth with a contented smile on his face. By now, he was sure he had already explored the entirebyrinth. Most of the low-ranking kobolds were dead and there were only a few kobolds left, mostly kobold captains. What frustrated him was, that he couldn''t find an exit, thus, he had to check every single room inside thebyrinth which he didn''t want to do at all. The rooms were dangerous, not only were there higher leveled traps inside, it was almost guaranteed that a kobold captain resided in a room. A few months ago was Shye''s first attempt at exploring a room and it ended in a disaster that almost cost him his life. Not only was he struck by a poisonous arrow, but he also almost died as a kobold captain managed tond a lethal sh on his chest, resulting in a grievous wound. If not for his vast knowledge of the hallways and a safe hiding spot close by, he would''ve died already. Fortunately, he managed to survive the disastrous encounter, and now, he was the one actively hunting the kobold captains for points. After all, the bastards give a shit-ton of points as a reward once killed. Thus, although it was always a close battle, with every kobold captain killed, the feat slightly became easier and easier. As of now, only three rooms were left unexplored. The three rooms were locked by some sort of runic locks which Shye had to study and solve before he could attempt opening the rooms. He was quite lucky because the runes could be appraised, allowing him to learn which set of runes were the locks a part of. After diligently studying different sets of runes for a few months via the upgraded Adventurer Encyclopedia, Shye finally managed to solve how to unlock the runic locks, increasing his intelligence and wisdom attributes in the process. Today, he nned to open the three mysterious locked rooms, giving him a slight sense of both anticipation and nervousness. The interconnected rooms demanded a specific sequence of lock activation, requiring him to channel his mana through the runic nerves using precise runic procedures. The task was quiteplicated for him though, especially given his limited mana pool. Unlike mages and priests who utilized mana for their skills, as a warrior, he primarily relied on stamina to trigger his abilities. Still, as long as he didn''t make any mistakes, his current mana pool, albeit a little small, was enough to open the runic locks. Fully prepared to take on the locks, Shye stood in front of the first runic lock. With a determined look on his face, he ced the palm of his right hand at the rune before closing his eyes as he focused on making the mana flow correctly using the first runic procedure. As his mana flowed through the runic veins, the first runic lock slowly lit up, getting brighter and brighter with each passing minute. Then, after what seemed like months of mental torture for Shye, a loud clicking sound rang from the first rune, permanently lighting the rune up even after he removed the palm of his hand. ''Haaaahh¡­Haaaahhh¡­What the hell, that was way harder than I expected¡­'' Shye inwardlyined as he panted in exhaustion. There were still two more runic locks to unlock so he can''t afford to rx. Empowered by his longing to leave the goddamnedbyrinth, Shye immediately proceeded towards the next runic lock, dead set on escaping the dark and gloomy ce. Then, just a few minutester, he arrived in front of the second lock. Shye resolutely stared at the lock as he took out a few mana potions he purchased from the system, opened the loose corks, and drank the potions to replenish his dried-up mana pool. He then took a deep breath and this time, ced both of his palms at the second runic lock before using the correct runic procedure to unlock the second rune. Just like the first rune, the second rune slowly lit up as Shye, fueled by his desire to find an exit, desperately resisted the agonizing mental torture. Fortunately, just a short while after, the second rune was sessfully unlocked with a loud clicking sound, leaving Shye gasping for air as the temples of his head ached in excruciating pain. ''Shit¡­Should''ve¡­upgraded¡­my intelligence and wisdom¡­'' Shye muttered in regret as he forced himself to stand up before proceeding to thest runic lock, unsure if his mental strength would allow him to finish the job. Still, he braved through the pain and continued walking. He didn''t know if one of the rooms was an exit but he could only hope so, otherwise, he was doomed to rot inside thisbyrinth for an eternity. Again, after a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived in front of the third runic lock. Fortunately, he decided to wipe out most of the kobolds before attempting to unlock the rooms or he would''ve been in trouble had the kobolds attacked him while he was mentally exhausted. Before attempting to unlock the third rune, Shye drank three regr mana potions and one potion of enhanced focus which he purchased for a total of 400 points before cing both of his hands at the two minor runes just beside the huge major rune in the middle. The problem was¡­He was alone. He needed one more contact point from either the balls of his feet, which was theoretically and physically impossible, or¡­his face¡­to activate the major rune. Left with no choice, Shye cursed at the wind as he slowly ced his face at the major rune in the middle, looking extremely stupid. Chapter 122: Mimic Seemingly gone crazy as he "kissed" thebyrinth walls, Shye felt fortunate that no one was around to watch him. Not that he still needed to do this stupid pose if there was someone to ce his/her hands in the major rune anyway. After a few minutes, Shye had no choice but to stop paying attention to his stupid pose as the mental pain he had to endure gradually grew more painful with each passing second. There were even a few times when he almost gave up but his desire to escape the dastardly ce empowered his determination to pull through. Shye didn''t even bother checking the progress of the rune even though it was right in front of him. He simply closed his eyes and used everyst bit of his mental strength toplete the runic procedure using what remained of his little mana pool. Then, after what felt like an eternity due to the extremely unbearable pain, thest clicking sound felt like heavenly music to his ears as he quickly removed his face from the walls and used both his hands to hold his head, hoping to ease the excruciating pain by even a little. However, upon realizing that the doors of the room were opening, Shye knew that he had to leave immediately. Thus, he forced himself to stay focused as he used [Dash Lv.3] immediately to instantly disappear in front of the opening door. He wasn''t in a condition to fight right now so the best course of action was to temporarily retreat to the closest hiding spot and recover before going back to check the contents of the room. His decision proved to be right because after barely making it out of the hallway on time, Shye heard footsteps of what seemed like a kobold captain rushing out of the room, barking and growling in anger as it looked for the creature who dared open the room it was guarding. Although it was a mystery how this kobold survived being holed up in thebyrinth room with nothing to eat, Shye was already sick of using his head so he simply hid in the closest hiding spot and took a quick nap. Only¡­his quick nap wasn''t so quick at all and turned out to be an eight-hour sleep. *YAWN* ''Crap¡­I slept, didn''t I? Well¡­Not like another extra 8 hours inside thebyrinth would matter¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he stretchedzily and ate a quick meal before walking back to the hallway of the third room. Sleeping for eight hours turned out to be the correct course of action as he felt fully refreshed, ready to face anything that came his way. Feeling that his body was ready forbat, Shye walked out of his hiding spot and carefully peeked from a corner to check if the kobold captain was patrolling the hallway. Unbeknownst to him, the creature he was looking for was right behind him, ferocious eyes glowing, battle axes raised high, ready to chop down at any moment. *FWOOSH* The battle axes whistled through the air as the kobold captain chopped down with all of its strength, aiming to cleave the loathsome trespasser into two pieces. Luckily, his survival instincts tingled. Shye felt his hair stand on end and just before he was chopped in half, he decisively rolled forward, not even bothering to look back, allowing him to narrowly dodge the murderous attack of the kobold captain ''Curses! It was behind me all this time?!'' Shye inwardly cursed as he quickly drew both of his greatswords, feeling the attribute boost from his purchased talent course through his body. The survival instincts he developed through numerous life-and-death battles saved his life this time as he broke out in a cold sweat, not daring to imagine what would happen to him if he failed to instantly recognize the danger and take the appropriate course of action, all in a single split second. Fortunately, although this kobold captain was stronger than those he had in in the past, it was still defeated by him after two and a half hours of intensebat, the deciding factor being the mental attack, [Draconian Roar Lv.1]. He was starting to like the skill more and more after determining its range and learning how to effectively use it. Although it was quite hard to use inbat, once he sessfully hit his opponent with the skill, it was either guaranteed grievous wound or outright a kill. Thus, he vowed to upgrade this skill in the future. After killing the kobold captain, Shye drank a few health potions before cautiously exploring the insides of the first room. As expected, there were a few traps but Shye already had countermeasures to such traps so they didn''t really give him too many problems. Upon entering the room, Shye was¡­disappointed. There wasn''t an exit and it was just a in old room with a kobold captain as a guard and a few traps. However, there was something in the corner that caught his eye¡­A treasure chest filled with silver coins. "I''m rich!!" Shye eximed as he ran towards the treasure chest before suddenly acting all crazy as he activated [Power sh Lv.4] to instantly destroy the chest. *SPURT* Shockingly, ck blood sprayed all over the room as Shye killed the mimic in one hit. Fortunately, he developed a habit of using appraisal on everything before checking it out which immediately informed him that the treasure chest was nothing but a treacherous mimic. In the past, he stumbled upon information regarding mimics in the Adventurer Encyclopedia, thus, he knew that the mimics could understand humannguage although it could not speak thenguage at all. Hence, he pretended to fall for the mimic''s money trap before killing it in one hit. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Mimic! You''ve earned 900 points as a reward!] ''Tch¡­How filthy¡­'' Shyeined as he purchased a bottle of water in the system to wash off the sticky ck blood of the mimic. He then walked deeper inside the room, checking every nook and cranny before walking out of the room in a slightly dejected manner. There was nothing but traps and monsters in that room. The only reward he got was 900 points for killing the mimic and around ten pieces of weird stones that made unusually loud noises upon hitting the ground. He decided to keep the weird-ass stones in his inventory, thinking that it might be some sort of key to an exit. ''Haaahh¡­Last two rooms¡­Please have an exit¡­'' Shye prayed to the gods and goddesses of fate as he anxiously walked towards the second room, not daring to hope for treasures. An exit was the most precious thing in the world for him right now. After all, there was no way for him to use all the treasures if he couldn''t bring it out of the goddamnedbyrinth. Chapter 123: The Exit After a disappointing first room, Shye walked towards and was currently standing in front of the dark second room, struggling to decide whether to go in or not. The second room was wayrger than the first one so he suspected that the exit might be located in this room. However, the room¡­gives him eerie and dangerous vibes, his instincts as a human screaming at him to turn back. Thus, he decided to check out the third room first and if there was no exit in the third room, then he would go through the entirebyrinth again, carefully checking each area, before going inside the second room. Hopefully, there would be an exit in the third room because he didn''t want to go through the entirebyrinth again, or worse, go inside the second room. ''Yeah¡­Fairly good n¡­'' Shye muttered to himself as he walked towards the third room. After half an hour of walking, he arrived in front of the third room, then, his eyes widened, almost popping out of their sockets as he looked inside. Inside the third room was¡­Small hills of silver coins, A huge chest of unknown quality weapons, a chest of gemstones that seemed to be of higher qualitypared to the lesser enchantment jade he got from the Jadepaw Grizzly''sir, and¡­An unusually wide coffin. Although he''s feeling a dangerous vibeing from the third room, his instincts tell him that the threat inside this room is less dangerouspared to the second one. Is it a high-level trap? Poisonous gas? A ridiculously strong creature? He didn''t know. He had to go in and carefully scour the room for an exit so he had no choice, if he wanted to leave this dastardly ce, then he had to make some moves. Shye carefully walked into the room, fully vignt, not daring to walk too quickly for fear of triggering something he should not. Surprisingly, there were no traps at all as he easily reached the treasures and the coffin without any problems. In addition to this, the initial feeling of apprehension and danger was suddenly gone, making him think that it might only be an illusion created by the third room to ward off invaders. Given this, Shye started to rx. He carefully stored the hills of silver coins, the weapon chest, and the gemstone chest in the inventory of the system before looking around the dark room with a fluorescence crystal in hand. ''Haaah¡­Still no exit¡­'' Shye sighed in dejection and slight despair. These treasures would be worth nothing if he could not escape thisbyrinth¨Cor more urately, a tomb of some sort since there was an odd wide coffin in the middle. Depressed, Shye decided to open the coffin to nce at the corpse of the great adventurer who built this bullshitbyrinth. Although he doesn''t n to disrespect the corpse, he at least wants to see who managed to build a ce with an entrance but no exits. He had been looking for the staircase entrance they found but even after scouring the entirebyrinth, there were no staircase exits. After a few more moments, Shye pushed the cover of the coffin, attempting to open it. Upon seeing what was inside, his eyes widened as tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, threatening to stream down his face at any moment. Rays of sunlight unexpectedly appeared from the coffin, gently caressing his face with its warmth, giving him not only some much-needed vitamin D but also hope to live on. ''The exit¡­So it was here¡­'' Shye muttered to himself as he gently wiped the tears streaming down his cheeks. Although there were some sort of metal bars, defiantly refusing his exit to the outside world, upon appraisal, it was nothing he couldn''t destroy. If he focused on destroying the metal bars, then in three days at most, he would be out of this gloomy ce. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Shye eagerly started hacking and shing at the metal bars with both of his greatswords, asionally using some skills to speed up the process. Finally¡­Finally¡­He could get out of this damnedbyrinth! ''Maia¡­Shirley¡­Wait a bit longer¡­'' Shye muttered to himself as he continued destroying the metal bars. Unfortunately for him, things were never meant to be easy. In contrast to the metal bar, standing in the way between the gloomybyrinth and the lively outside world, the silence is what separates his fate of living from his fate of dying. The loud nging sound had dire consequences as a three-meter-tall wolf-like creature was startled awake by the jarring noise. Shye overlooked the creature, originally responsible for the ominous atmosphere within the room, because of its unconventional sleeping location. It was sleeping in a moderately huge cave located just above the entrance of the room. Although it was a mystery how the cave was formed and how the creature managed to climb up, it was a fact that the creature was there, sleeping soundly before being startled awake by Shye who was enthusiastically destroying the metal bars. The ears of the creature twitched, intently listening to where the loud noise wasing from. After figuring out that the noise came from the metal bars, the creature took out its big ive and jumped down from the cave, roaring loudly at Shye, the intruder. *ROOOAAAR* Shye almost jumped up in fright after hearing the sudden resounding roar of the exit''s guardian as the pupils of his eyes constricted; the rays of sunlight revealing the creature in its entirety. The creature looked like a massive kobold, its huge fangs threatening to tear him apart limb from limb. It was slightly taller than the orc grunt, standing at three meters tall, dressed in aplete set of seemingly high-quality leather armor tailored for its kind, and armed with an enormous ive, looking extremely ferocious and deadly. Although its eyes seemed a bit cloudy and weird, this lone feature didn''t prevent it from looking like it came straight out of someone''s nightmare. "What¡­the hell¡­is that¡­" Shye muttered to himself as his hands slightly shook in trepidation. Fortunately, Shye managed to quickly reorganize his thoughts as he activated his most trusty skill, [Appraisal Lv.2]. Chapter 124: Guardian of the Third Room ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Kobold General [Creature Rank]: B [Description] A rare massive kobold leader usually found inbyrinths, tombs, andrge kobold settlements. Powerful and agile, the kobold general uses its massive weapon to y its enemies. [Strength: 180] [Intelligence: 20] [Agility: 150] [Dexterity: 85] [Stamina: 200] [Vitality: 130]: [Wisdom: 15] [Close] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Crap! Crap! Crap! Where the hell did this thinge from?!'' Shye inwardlyined while breaking out in a cold sweat, hisbat stance, fully defensive. He slowly started circling the kobold general who suddenly brandished its massive ive downwards forcing Shye to perform a side roll to dodge the lethal blow. *BANG* Shye''s eyes widened upon realizing that the kobold general''s ive embedded itself deep into the earth after he sessfully dodged the general''s attack, not daring to imagine what would happen if he tried blocking such a deadly strike. Fully vignt, Shye forced himself to calm down as he observed the behavior of the kobold who suddenly looked in his direction, raised its ive, and proceeded to attack him again. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* In Shye''s battle against the kobold general, it was the ground that suffered the most as dirt and broken ancient tiles flew everywhere, his greatswords nging with each sessful roll dodge. Unfortunately, he could do nothing but continue dodging each deadly blow as thoughts of escaping the room crept into his mind, slowly weakening his resolve to face the nightmarish creature. *BANG* Shye narrowly avoided a fatal hit as one of his greatswords, the daybreak, was sent flying. His entire right arm went numb upon feeling the power of the kobold general, making him momentarily turn his attention to the numbed arm. ''Shit!'' Shye inwardly cursed as he forcefully tried to refocus his attention on the next attack of the massive kobold, he thought that his momentarypse of focus would be thest mistake he ever made in his life but then, a shocking thing happened. Just when he thought that the kobold general''s next attack was already on the way threatening to sh him in half, there¡­Wasn''t a next attack. Instead, the kobold general suddenly performed a crazy action which left Shye utterly confused. As his sword, Daybreak, made nging noises uponnding on the ground a few meters away from him, the kobold general ferociously rushed towards the sword. It then swung its massive ive downwards, urately hitting the weak spot and destroying the gold-tier greatsword. ''No! My 2100 silver coins!'' Shye inwardly cried upon seeing his lesser jade-enchanted greatsword split into two pieces. He could barely fight the creature with two swords! How would he be able to¡ª Shye''s pessimistic thought process was suddenly cut short upon realizing something important, making him temporarily forget the pain of losing his gold-tier greatsword. The kobold¡­reacted to the sound of his greatsword and struck it down as if he was there which meant that¡­ ''This kobold general is blind!'' Shye thought to himself as hope returned in his heart. He was pondering whether trying to escape from the kobold general would be the wisest choice right now but there was no other way out of thebyrinth except this room so he decided to stay and try his luck. In addition to this, he wasn''t sure if the kobold general would leave him alone once he left the room or if it would chase him down the hallways of thebyrinth. With its superior agility, there was no hope of him ever escaping the massive creature so he decided that he might as well try to fight it and see what he could do. Fortunately, the Grim Reaper was a bit lenient this time, giving him a chance to keep his life if he yed his cards right. Shye''s brain started working. The gears in his mind shifted and turned as he calmly analyzed the situation and schemed to kill the nightmarish kobold. ''For starters¡­Let''s see how tough this thing''s flesh is¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he carefully sneaked behind the kobold general who was standing still. *SPURT* Shye easily managed tond a hit on the creature''s kneepit, hoping to cause movement difficulties to the kobold general but unfortunately, his [Power sh Lv.4] simply managed to inflict a shallow cut. *ROOOAAAR* Still, the kobold was quite hurt since the area he targeted was a vital spot. Although the cut was shallow, it was enough to slightly impair the movement of the kobold general, not allowing it to move as quickly as before. Naturally, the massive kobold knew that he was behind so it quickly turned around and smashed the ground he was previously standing on. Fortunately, he was quick-witted and immediately retreated after inflicting a cut. He then smiled confidently as he continued tiptoeing to make as little noise as possible. However, the kobold general''s next actions utterly stupefied Shye, making him confused once again. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* As if it was never blind in the first ce, the kobold general urately knew where he was, raining down an onught of fierce and deadly strikes making Shye desperately roll over the ce, not giving him any chance to retaliate again. ''Shit! Shit! Shit! What the hell! How is this kobold general pinpointing my location so urately?!'' Shye anxiously thought to himself as he continued dodging. Finally, one awkward dodge made him identally swing his sword, making the kobold general perform the crazy movement of charging towards nothing as it swung its ive down ferociously. Then, after not feeling anything from the hit, the kobold general stood still again. ''What the fuck¡­Is this creature ying with me?'' Shye couldn''t help but think that the creature was being yful. He couldn''t understand some of its random movements, however, those full-powered swings didn''t seem like it wasn''t ying around at all. ''There must be something¡­'' Shye gnashed his teeth as he closely observed the area where it crazily charged and struck nothing but the ground, hoping to get some clues. Finally, after fifteen seconds of close observation, he saw something on the ground. He then looked at his greatsword, then looked at the struck ground again, and¡­smiled. Chapter 125: Old Dog and New Tricks ''So that''s what it was!'' Shye thought to himself after finally solving the mystery of how the blind kobold was able to precisely track him down. It was¡­the scent of blood. After shallowly cutting the kneepit of the kobold general, its blood stuck to the des of his sword. As a blind creature, although it couldn''t see, its other senses like hearing and smelling were enhanced, thus, the strong scent of blood in his sword allowed the kobold general to urately pinpoint his location. ''So it reacts when it hears a sound and when it smells blood huh?'' Shye pondered as he revised the n in his head. Meanwhile, the kobold general started crawling on all fours, looking rmingly chilling as it sniffed around in hopes of locating the little loathsome bastard who dared to disturb its peaceful slumber. Finally, after a minute of sniffing around, the kobold general smelled something. It suddenly pounced toward the scent, however, its attack struck nothing but the ground again. Before the kobold general realized what was going on, it suddenly felt pain from its other kneepit. Naturally, the cause of this pain was Shye, who took out and equipped his spare iron greatsword for the sake of the attribute bonus from his talent, [Greatsword Meister (Rare)]. He then swung his greatswords striking nothing but air, attempting to redirect the smell of blood towards the ground a few meters away from him before the massive kobold could retaliate. Sure enough, it charged and shed at the ground again, giving Shye another opportunity to hack and sh at the creature''s joints and nerves in hopes of weakening it. The same battle sequence happened around six more times before the kobold general stopped falling for Shye''s trick. ''Tch¡­It finally realized my tricks huh?'' Shye thought to himself while opening yet another small vial emitting a bloody scent, purchased for 50 points from the system''s store, to confirm if the kobold general already knew his tricks. The kobold general looked in the direction of the scent before turning its head away, once again sniffing around in hopes of locating Shye, basically confirming that it wasn''t gonna respond to bloody scents on the ground anymore. Still, this trick earned him eight free hits and although these eight full-powered hits weren''t even close to grievously wounding the creature, it was at least enough to slightly impair some of its vital movements such as swinging its ive and moving quickly, thus giving him a chance to defeat the massive kobold. Unfortunately, things weren''t bound to proceed smoothly as the kobold general suddenly turned its head in his direction, smiled creepily, and jumped towards him as it swung its ive horizontally in an attempt to slice him into two parts. ''How the hell are you able to detect me this time?!'' Shye inwardlyined as he was forced to use his life-saving skill, [Dash Lv.3] to dodge the sudden attack. Due to this, [Dash Lv.3] went on cooldown and was unavable for thirty seconds. Then, right after missing, the massive kobold went back to crawling creepily on all fours, attempting to detect some sort of scent again. This time, Shye made sure to keep his distance from the creature while waiting for his life-saving skill to go off cooldown, as he tried to determine how the blind creature managed to detect him. ''Probably some sort of scent again huh?'' Shye inwardly thought as he tried hard to think of a solution. Fortunately, his intelligence and wisdom attributes have grown tremendously as he traversed thebyrinth, thus, allowing him to finally think of a solution. Shye opened the system and purchased a bunch of cheap but absurdly strong perfumes for a mere price of five points per bottle. Then, once his [Dash Lv.3] skill was off cooldown, he boldly sprinted across the entire area, allowing the kobold general to hear his loud footsteps as he repeatedly pressed the sprayer of the perfume bottle like his life depended on it. ''Crap! Crap! Crap!'' *PSSSH* *PSSSH* *PSSSH* *PSSSH* *PSSSH* The strong scent of the cheap perfume started to spread in the entire room as Shye tried his best to avoid every attack while continuing to spray perfume everywhere. Finally, after using threerge bottles of the cheap perfume, a shockingly urate attack from the blind kobold almost severed his body in half, forcing him to use his [Dash Lv.3] again to escape. However, that was it. Upon looking at the blind kobold who was desperately trying to sniff around with a furious expression on its face, Shye smiled widely. The kobold general''s sense of smell¡­Was now impaired. Now, the only thing the kobold could rely on to locate him was sound. Due to the strong smell of perfume, the kobold general gave up on trying to smell him and instead, perked up its ears as it desperately tried to locate him through the most subtle of sounds. Shye calmly observed the kobold general as he carefully nned his next move, knowing that it could only detect him using its ears. Its¡­ears¡­ Upon realizing something important, Shye almost impulsively facepalmed which would''ve allowed the creature to detect him. Fortunately, he managed to stop himself from doing so, and instead, he settled with inwardly scolding himself for being so stupid. ''Its ears¡­Yes! It''s freakin'' ears! Why didn''t I think of destroying its goddamned ears first?! I had eight free hits! Eight!'' Shye inwardly raged as he vowed to improve his intelligence status in the future. The battle could''ve been so much easier, however, getting angry right now wouldn''t do him any good so he took a silent deep breath before investing ten points to intelligence. ''There¡­Now I should be able to make smarter decisions¡­Right?'' Shye thought to himself as he calmly analyzed the current advantageous situation, knowing that he could not afford to blow this chance. One clean hit from the kobold would turn the fight around so he must n his next moves carefully and end the life of the kobold general as efficiently and safely as possible. Shye was struggling, the kobold knew most of his tricks now and he needed something new to trick the kobold at least one more time so that he could destroy both of its ears. Chapter 126: Walkin’ on Sunshine Shye carefully scurried across the now chaotic room, walking towards the most optimal position to strike before retrieving two pieces of the unusually noisy stones he looted from the first room. He didn''t expect that the weird stones would have a purpose so he felt that it was a wise decision to hold on to the stones. It seems the creator of the tomb was willing to give a chance to worthy adventurers to retrieve his treasures and get out alive, else, with the creator''s strength, he could''ve just captured an absurdly strong creature and made it guard the treasure room. Or, the creator could''ve at least captured a healthy kobold general. ''Hmm¡­Who would''ve expected that the owner of this tomb was quite a nice guy¡­'' Shye thought to himself. Upon arriving at the most optimal position, which happened to be near the metal bars blocking his exit to the lively outside world, Shye started to execute his n. Since his victory was around 90% assured, he wanted to make use of the kobold''s strength to escape two days earlier as he stomped on the metal bars, making it produce a resounding nging sound before immediately using [Dash Lv.3] to escape the area. *FWOOSH* *CLANG* Dirt, broken stones, and¡­broken metal bars, flew everywhere as the ive of the huge kobold urately struck the metallic rods,pletely destroying the only barrier separating Shye from his sister, his girlfriend, his friends, and his mentors. Upon realizing that his n worked, Shye almost wanted to cry in tion. He could even choose to escape right now, leaving the wounded kobold general behind. Unfortunately, men are greedy, perhaps Shye, even more so because he lived on the streets with his little sister for four years. In his mind, the kobold general would be helpless once he destroyed both of its ears, thus, in the end, he chose to take this calcted risk. ''How could I be a great adventurer if I don''t even dare to take on a wounded and blind kobold general?!'' Shye repeatedly thought to himself, trying to justify his greedy decision when no one was even around to care. Fortunately for him, although fate wanted to teach him a lesson about greed, that day was not today as his n of throwing the weird noisy stones to the walls beside him to attract the kobold general worked brilliantly. *RING* *RING* The stone weirdly stuck to the wall producing ringing sounds as the kobold immediately pounced on the new sound, thinking that it was Shye trying to activate some skills. *BANG* As expected, a decent chunk of the wall was destroyed as the kobold general''s ive dug deep into the walls, dirt and debris flying everywhere. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t let this chance go to waste. He activated [Power sh Lv.4] as he jumped and shed at the kobold''s ears, one sword, one ear, destroying both in one fell swoop, leaving the kobold general helpless and without any means to resist his onught of attacksing from different tricky angles, each attack catching the massive kobold off guard as it gradually grew weaker due to the umted injuries. After thirty minutes of brutal onught, the blind kobold general finally sumbed to its injuries as its massive body fell to the ground in a reverberating thud. ''The bastard is finally dead!'' Shye rejoiced as he panted in exhaustion, not expecting the sheerbor of repeatedly hacking and shing at the creature to be this tiresome. Still, in the end, he managed to y the kobold general. Although the creature was blind, no one can deny the courage, wits, determination to survive, andbat prowess he disyed in the battle against the nightmarish creature. Well, there was no one around to deny it anyway since he was alone at the dastardly ce. [Congrattions, your Strength attribute has increased from 95 >> 97!] [Congrattions, your Agility attribute has increased from 95 >> 98!] [Congrattions, your Dexterity attribute has increased from 96 >> 98!] [Congrattions, your Stamina attribute has increased from 61 >> 64!] [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Kobold General! You''ve earned 3500 points as a reward!] Right after he slew the kobold general, euphonious notifications rang one after another akin to a heavenly melody exclusively ying inside his mind. Fortunately, the ten attribute points invested in intelligence worked wonders as he made sure to ept a regr hunting quest involving a kobold general, giving him a hefty reward of 3500 points. If he failed to do so before he killed the kobold general, then that would be 3500 points down the drain, hence, Shye was on cloud nine. Not only did he get free attribute improvements due to the tough battle, but he could also leave the gloomy tomb anytime he wanted. Naturally, he wouldn''t let the kobold general''s corpse go unbutchered. He already stayed inside the goddamn ce for who knows how long, staying for another hour or two doesn''t bother him one bit as he masterfully harvested the important body parts and the drops of the massive kobold. And then, finally, after making sure that there was nothing else he needed to do inside thebyrinth, Shye proceeded towards the staircases inside the unusually wide coffin. ncing onest time at the cold and dark entrance of the third room before enthusiastically stepping out of thebyrinth, excitement written all over his face. After a few minutes of ascending the staircase, Shye started to hear the rustling of leaves and the chirping of birds. Rays of sunlight warmly caressed his slightly cold body as fresh air entered and exited his lungs through his nostrils. Shye slowly closed his eyes and slightly smiled as he savored the long-forgotten sensation of being outdoors, relishing each moment. ''I never realized that freedom was so sweet¡­It seems that you would never truly appreciate freedom until you lose it'' Shye muttered to himself. He then looked at the staircases once more before shuddering in fear, the staircases were¡­gone. Fortunately, he managed to get out of the mysterious tomb before the exit somehow closed or he would have really cried himself to death if he got trapped for a long duration again. Shye decided to stop thinking about such negative thoughts and instead, he chose to enjoy nature once again before having another epiphany a few momentster. ''One would never truly value a moment until¨CWait¡­What the hell am I doing? Acting all sage-like when people are waiting for me to return?!'' Shye inwardly reprimanded himself before excitedly sprinting off towards the direction of the exit. Finally, having spent over a year and a few months within the somber tomb, it was time for him to return home. Chapter 127: Hope Dark clouds loomed over the skies of Colzen Academy as a seldom chilly wind blew past the deste training fields and empty ssrooms of the academy. Today was the Representative Selection Day for the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition but for some reason, the normally lively atmosphere was nonexistent as students unenthusiastically walked towards their designated seats in front of the Colzen Academy grand stage. For the first time in two decades, the students kinda lost interest in the Adventurer Academy Competition. It was understandable though as Havan Lestor''s generation got brutally destroyed by the golden generation of Prociere Academy, a usually trashy academy that couldn''t even achieve a top 256 finish. Colzen Academy became a mere stepping stone for the usually garbage Prociere Academy who ultimately ended up losing to Colzen''s rivals, the Shadowde Academy, by a narrow margin, only achieving top 128 in the end. As for Colzen, this was the third time in the history of the academy that they were defeated in the first round of the tournament which not only ruthlessly destroyed the enthusiasm of Colzen students, but also decimated the reputation of the academy. Naturally, the deans, the instructors, the representatives, and the students of Colzen Academy were heartbroken and ashamed due to the unexpected early exit. This year, the greatest golden generation of Colzen Academy was supposed to restore the glory of the academy and even surpass the academy''s previous achievements under the leadership of the legendary Shye Crowley. However, who would''ve thought that he would disappear inside the advanced adventurer zone after an unfortunate ident one and a half years ago? Although the rumors stated that he was alive, the students didn''t believe so. They thought that the academy was just keeping his death a secret to prevent the morale of the students from plummeting. Most of the students tried to discern something from the expressions of the "potential" representatives such as Kiin Wujin, Ian Izanagi, Siegfried Lionheart, Harry Copperfield, and David Houdini. Unfortunately, the representatives seemed to be as still as water, as if the disappearance of Shye Crowley didn''t have anything to do with them. Even the deans and instructors had the same enthusiastic expressions stered on their faces, seemingly not caring one bit about Shye Crowley. Naturally, they weren''t as calm as they seemed. Their hearts were currently consumed by endless regret and dejection as thoughts of "If Crowley was here then we would surely achieve a higher rank." were popping up in their uneasy minds. Although every single one of the potential representatives was confident in themselves, they couldn''t help but think about what could the results be if Shye was around, unknowingly setting themselves up for failure. Still, their calm exteriors managed to convince the students that although Shye Crowley wasn''t here, the remaining representatives would continue on and achieve what the past representatives couldn''t, gradually bringing life to the gloomy Representative Selection Day. Seeing that the atmosphere was changing for the better, Dean Privett masterfully grabbed the chance to start the ceremony as different kinds and colors of fireworks erupted in the skies, blowing away the dark clouds looming over the academy¨C everyone''s mood bing livelier and livelier. "Students of Colzen Academy, rejoice! An auspicious future is upon us. This year, seven of the most talented students in the history of the academy shall carry everyone''s hopes and dreams!" "We, the deans, are aware that the unfortunate events during the recent year cast a dark cloud in everyone''s hearts." "It might be difficult for some of you to believe in the capabilities of the academy right now, however, let me set an example to everyone." In just a few sentences, Dean Privett managed to skillfully grab everyone''s attention and then turn their uninterested expressions into one of confusion. ''Set an example? About what?'' ''Will Dean Privett show off her strength to show everyone the potential of the academy?'' Such questions popped up in the minds of the students as they fully invested their attention towards the grand stage. Unknowingly, although they were currently unconvinced, they were at least interested in listening to the deans now, which was Dean Privett''s main goal. Naturally, the dean didn''t n to stop at just grabbing the attention of the students, she had a n on how to stimte the students'' expectations. Such a gloomy mood in the academy will not only lessen the motivation of the students to work harder but it would also set up the academy for an endless cycle of mediocrity. Fed up with such a notion, the four deans decided to risk everything in an all-or-nothing gamble. If the remaining representatives manage to pull off the impossible even without their best student, Shye Crowley, then their academy''s rise shall be inevitable. If the representatives fail, however, then the academy will probably slowly decline, bing a shadow of its former glorious self, possibly even failing to retain its status of mediocrity in the future. Still, they were willing to risk everything. These representatives were the best batch they ever had even without Crowley and they still had a fair chance of pulling off the impossible, thus, after a long meeting with almost endless arguments, the deans forcefully decided to go through with the operation: risk everything. Preparing herself to answer the questions in the minds of the students, Dean Privett silently took a deep breath before dropping a verbal bomb. "How, you ask? I shall set an example in "believing". As proof, I shall proudly dere that this year, the academy will surely achieve at least a top 8 finish in the Adventurer Academypetition!" Almost every student, staff, and instructor was stupefied after hearing the bold deration from Dean Privett as varied emotions swirled in each of their hearts. Yet, in that very moment, amid the diverse array of emotions, amon sentiment resonated in their hearts ¡ª Hope. It didn''t matter whether the person was a simple staff member, a seasoned instructor, or an innocent student. Their experiences in life varied but all of them hoped that their beloved academy would indeed soar to the skies in the uing Adventurer Academy Competition. Even the instructors who strongly argued against such bold derations hoped that the deans and the representatives would prove them wrong. Thus, after a few moments of deafening silence, the students erupted into wild cheers; by far the wildest in the history of the academy while the staff members and instructors clenched their fists, experiencing goosebumps as they let themselves be swept away by the waves of faith. Chapter 128: The Legend’s Return Meanwhile, just a few hundred meters away from the academy, a dashing young man with ash-colored short hair was madly sprinting towards Colzen Academy, it was unknown whether he was feeling anxious or excited as his facial expression changed every few minutes. Naturally, the young man was Shye, who just got out of the mysterious tomb after a year and a half. ''Crap! Crap! Gods¡­Goddesses¡­Please allow me to make it on time for the selection.'' After hearing the deafening cheersing from Colzen Academy''s direction, Shye knew that the representative selection had already started, thus, he was sprinting like crazy while hoping that the deans would still consider adding him to the roster after a year and a half of disappearance. Earlier, upon arriving at Colzen City, the first thing he did was enter a building which luckily happened to be an inn. He then immediately asked the manager of the inn what the current date and time was, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief upon confirming that he barely made it back in time. Realizing that today''s date held the possibility of being a representative selection day, Shye had the urge to immediately sprint toward Colzen Academy. However, something inside him prevented him from doing so while looking utterly disgusting as flies followed him wherever he went, his clothes looking filthy¨C his hair, crusty. Thus, he decided to rent a room, take a quick bath, and change into a fresh set of clothes before making a mad dash towards the academy, hoping and praying that he would make it into the roster. Heck, it was unknown whether the deans would still ept him as a fourth-year student after failing toplete his requirements on time so he could do nothing but hope and pray as he dashed toward the grand stage. Tears threatened to stream down his cheeks as he saw the familiar Colzen Academy Entrance Arc. However, he understood that this wasn''t the time to reminisce. He could indulge in it as much as he wanted after aplishing what he needed to do. For now, showing up in the area of the grand stage was more important. Hence, after a momentary stop in front of the entrance, Shye immediately continued sprinting, this time, towards the grand stage. "Huff¡­Huff¡­" Shye breathed heavily as he madly darted towards his destination, leaving a trail of dirt and dust swirling in his wake. *** Meanwhile, on the grand stage, the deans had already finished announcing five of the representatives and as expected, they were: 1. Kiin Wujin 2. Siegfried Lionheart 3. Ian Izanagi 4. Harry Copperfield 5. David Houdini Naturally, the seventh member was Wendy from Colzen Monastery, thus leaving only one representative spot avable. The four deans and the five representatives couldn''t help but inwardly sigh. Though their outward appearances show nothing but pride and confidence, they were inwardly regretting Shye''s absence. Fortunately, one warrior student stepped up in Shye''s absence, shocking everyone with her borderline impossible and unexpected achievements. Starting as the weakest top twenty warrior student when they were freshmen, Shirley Locke was expected to remain above average at best with no one caring about her somewhat mediocre skills in the beginning and the only thing everyone talked about her was her beauty and elegant demeanor. However, her unexpected growth started when she became a sophomore, her growth rate intensifying after the disappearance of her beloved Shye Crowley. Currently, although her beauty remained, her innocence and elegant demeanor had long vanished. In their ce was an aura of toughness and savagery, her once slightly innocent and ssy disposition reced by an ice-cold and valiant expression. The freshmen only knew her as the beautiful, strong, tough, and cold senior Shirley, not knowing that beneath the fearsome exterior was a lonely maiden''s heart, longing for her beloved to return. After a few moments of regret and dejection, Dean Privett forced herself to reorganize her thoughts and carry on with the selection. "This year, I regret to inform other year-levels that since we are gunning for at least a top 8 finish, we will be selecting another fourth-year student on par with the earlier chosen individuals as the substitute representative." Hearing the dean''s words, the third-year students weren''t disappointed at all, in fact, they felt even more excited to watch this year''s Adventurer Academypetition even though all of them would be watching from the stands. Seeing that the other year-levels didn''t take her words negatively, she unhesitatingly announced the substitute representative. "This year''s substitute representative! A fourth-year student from the warrior course, Shirley Locke!" Everyone erupted into wild cheers, especially the freshmen who were mesmerized by Shirley''s demeanor and beauty. In their arrogant and naive minds, since they hadn''t seen the so-called legend, Shye Crowley, in action, they believed that he didn''t deserve to be this beautiful senior''s partner at all. Hence, most of them thought that Shirley deserved the final spot, which to an extent is true since she worked very hard to get to where she was now. However, to say so without seeing Shye in action was too naive, though no one could me them since he disappeared one and a half years ago. Hearing her name called, Shirley stood up and slowly walked towards the stage. She wanted to watch her beloved Shye Crowley participate in the adventurer academypetition but unfortunately, since it seemed like he wouldn''t be able to get out of thebyrinth on time, then she had no choice but to participate in his ce. Unbeknownst to her, she was about to get the most pleasant of surprises in her entire life as a low-ranking staff member suddenly ran in the direction of the grand stage, seemingly not caring at all about making a scene. The staff member screamed unintelligible words at the top of his lungs, his facial expression showing nothing but pure excitement. "DEAN!!! S-S-S-S-S-Shy! S-S-S-S-S-Shy!! Returned!! There!!! Running!! Haaah¡­Haaah¡­" Everyone''s attention including Shirley''s, the representatives'', and the deans'' was captured by this hysterical staff member, their brows furrowed as they felt a bit annoyed by the staff member''s interruption, robbing Shirley of her glorious entrance. With an irked expression stered on her face, Dean Privett looked coldly at the staff member, however, she gave him a chance to exin. "Take a few moments and catch your breath then exin." The staff member felt nervous as everyone waited for him to catch his breath but upon remembering how important the news he bore was, he gradually calmed down. After a few breaths, the staff member managed to reorganize his thoughts, he then looked at Dean Privett with sparkling eyes and proimed with a loud voice: "Deans! Shye Crowley¡­Has returned!" Chapter 129: Newborn Calves Are Not Afraid of Tigers Everyone was stupefied for a few moments before all four deans suddenly stood up from their seats, obviously shaken by the news, especially Dean Snowcrest, the warrior course dean. "Where?! Where is Crowley?!" Dean Snowcrest disappeared from the stage and suddenly reappeared in front of the staff member, looking all worked up as he gripped the staff member''s shoulders with a little too much force. Naturally, Maia and Shirley also reappeared beside the staff member, looking just as worked up as the dean was if not more. "Where?! Where''s big brother?!" "Where is Crowley?!" The staff member started to feel dizzy, evidently overwhelmed by the presence of three well-known people in the academy namely: Dean Snowcrest, Maia Crowley, and Shirley Locke. Fortunately, the staff member''s suffering was short-lived as a voice familiar to the dean, Maia, and Shirley, sounded from behind the crowd. "D-Dean Snowcrest, Maia, Shirley¡­I''m back¡­" Shye said awkwardly as he tried to maintain a straight face. He wanted to cry and hug his little sister and his girlfriend but this wasn''t the right time to do it. Maia and Shirley couldn''t care less though as they immediately threw themselves into his embrace. "Big brother¡­Uuuuhh...It''s good that you''re back¡­It''s good that you''re back¡­" "Crowley¡­I was so worried¡­" Shye didn''t even notice the envious looks of the first-year students, especially the top-ranked first-year students who grew more arrogant after almost one year of training inside the academy. They felt stronger than ever to the point that they thought they could take on this so-called legend, Shye Crowley and at least fight him to a draw. During the most recent end-of-semester tournament, one freshman warrior course student stood out even whenpared to the champions of other courses. The talented freshman student, Tyson Lee, was the son of two diamond-ranked adventurers who settled down in Colzen City a few years ago. Labeled "The next Siegfried Lionheart", Tyson grew more and more arrogant after repeatedly being told that his talent wasparable to their great senior, Siegfried. Naturally, he idolized Siegfried and over the course of one year, he slowly increased his interactions with his idol. Watching him defeat the third-ranked Shirley Locke every time he was challenged to a duel by Shirley, Tyson''s respect for Siegfried grew tremendously to the point that he would never believe that his idol has never won a single duel against the so-called legend, Shye Crowley. In his inexperienced mind, Siegfried was the epitome of a warrior, fighting with both brains and brawn. Not only was his idol''sbat skills refined to perfection, but he also had oundish strength rivaling those of brutish creatures such as an orc grunt. Thus, he refused to believe that his idol would lose to Shye Crowley if the two of them fought again. Since Shye was gone for one and a half years, someone like Tyson would naturally not respect him as thoughts of challenging Shye slowly formed in Tyson''s mind. A few secondster, the top-ranked freshmen students gathered together and whispered something in Tyson''s ear, making his urge to test himself against the legend grow stronger and stronger. Finally, the words that came out of Shirley''s mouth made Tyson decide to go through with his challenge. "Deans¡­Since Crowley is already back, I believe there is no reason for me to represent the academy." Shirley said as she respectfully bowed towards the deans before slowly returning to her seat while holding hands with her boyfriend, Shye. Over the years, Maia and Shirley grew closer so such an affectionate disy didn''t make Maia jealous instead, she even felt happy for the two of them as she slowly returned to her seat, knowing that this wasn''t the right time to catch up with her big brother. Naturally, the sophomores, the juniors, the seniors, the staff members, the instructors, and the deans felt that her decision was sensible as Shye was just too famous in the academy to ignore. Not to mention, he was the one who helped Shirley grow rmingly stronger, thus, everyone except the freshmen felt that it was only right for Shye, the leader of this batch of students, to represent the academy, in fact, no one was more fitting than him. ''Just like that, he''s chosen as a representative? You''ve gotta be fucking around with me!'' Tyson inwardly thought as he gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists in anger. He saw how his senior, Shirley, worked her way up the rankings so he couldn''t ept that some random guy who returned after pathetically getting trapped inside abyrinth deserved to represent the academy. With indignation and fury written all over his face, Tyson stepped forward and said in a loud voice: "Your Excellency, If I may be so presumptuous, we, the freshmen students, refuse to ept such an arrangement. If some random guy whoes back after a long absence from the academy can be a representative just like that, then what''s the point of climbing the rankings?" "If Senior Crowley wants to represent the academy, shouldn''t he at least prove to us freshmen that he is reliable?" Naturally, the deans, the instructors, the representatives, and the other students on the smarter side immediately realized what this guy was aiming for. Siegfried, who took a liking to this guy''s talent but disliked his arrogance almost bursted outughing upon realizing what the youngster''s n was. However, he wanted to see his rival''s progress as well so he kept his mouth shut and watched the proceedings with intrigue. The deans also felt that they needed to see Crowley''s progress over the past year so they were willing to let this kid challenge him. This way, not only would they see Shye''s prowess, but they would also be able to curb the arrogance of this freshman student as early as now, not needing to wait before the guy bes a third-year student before doing so. Thus, Dean Privett pretended to not notice the youngster''s n and asked: "Oh? Tyson Lee, first-year warrior course student, correct? Tell us, in what way can Crowley prove himself to the freshmen students?" Seeing that the developments were going the way he wanted them to, Tyson smiled and replied: "Simple, let me, the overall first-ranked freshman, fight him in a duel!" Chapter 130: El Clásico Naturally, Tyson''s words caused an uproar, temporarily boosting his fame within the academy. "Hahaha! This freshman dared to challenge Senior Crowley?! This guy''s nuts!" "I do admire his courage though! I mean, who would dare challenge Senior Crowley except for the representatives?" "This is gonna be one good show! I wanna see Senior Crowley''s current strength." Hearing the words of the students from higher year levels slightly irked Tyson, however, he did like some of their words about how courageous he was. ''Now¡­Senior Crowley, you''ve got no choice but to fight me now don''t you?'' Tyson inwardly thought, a confident smirk stered on his face. If he could fight the so-called legend to at least a draw, then his reputation would shoot through the roof. As for Shye, he was reluctant to fight this freshman because he didn''t want to bully a lowerssman, hence, he looked towards the deans as if asking for guidance. Since the deans wanted to see at least a glimpse of his current strength, Dean Snowcrest crushed a cheap whisper talisman and secretly told Shye: "Go, fight him, but take it a bit easy, and don''t destroy his ego too much." Recognizing the dean''s voice, Shye turned his head and looked toward Dean Snowcrest before giving him a nod of affirmation. He didn''t really want to do this but it seemed like he had no choice. Shye gently unsped his hands from Shirley''s before walking towards the clearing in the middle of the crowd and the grand stage, giving the audience a good view of the uing duel between an academy legend and an uing talented freshman. Naturally, Shirley and Maia were all too happy to watch him fight again. As for Shye, since the dean told him to take it easy, he decided to draw a wooden shortsword from his inventory as he waited for the freshman to arrive. The deans and the representatives noticed this casual action but they didn''t pay too much attention to it as they simply thought that Shye must''ve purchased or obtained some sort of spatial storage item which wasn''t that rare as long as you had the money to pay for one. Upon arriving in front of Shye, Tyson realized that the so-called legend had decided to use a wooden shortsword against him, making Tyson feel a bit irritated. ''How arrogant¡­I''ll make you pay for underestimating me¡­'' Tyson inwardly thought as he drew his Doran-brand iron dius and equipped a reinforced circr shield before assuming his battle stance with a cold expression on his face. Finally, after a few more moments, under the warm rays of sunlight, in front of thousands of students, the duel between the legend and the uing talent began. Hot-blooded and eager to prove himself, Tyson instantly used his finisherbo [Dash Lv.2] and [Shield Bash Lv.1] to try and catch Shye off guard. Unfortunately, the attribute gap between the two of them was just toorge. His finisherbo which looked speedy in the eyes of the freshman students was as slow as a turtle in Shye''s eyes. Hence, after determining the course of his attack, Shye gracefully dodged thebo by skillfully pivoting off his left foot before smoothly transitioning into a spinning neck sh. ''Ah¡­I shouldn''t hit him too hard¡­'' Shye suddenly remembered Dean Snowcrest''s words so he purposely didn''t put too much strength in this attack. However, who would''ve thought that Tyson''s vitality attribute wasn''t that high even though he looked like the typical defensive specialist tank-type warrior? *PAH* Shye''s wooden shortsword squarely struck the left side of Tyson''s neck making his body slowly go limp as he lost the strength to even grip his sword and shield. *THUD* ''Ah¡­Crap¡­Did I hit him a bit too hard?'' Shye inwardly thought, a bit horrified as Tyson''s body limped and fell to the ground with a thud. Naturally, after seeing the results of the duel, the freshmen students were stupefied. They couldn''t believe that the strongest warrior in their year-level, Tyson Lee, who decimated everyone in the end-of-semester tournament, couldn''t even hold a candle and was knocked out cold in one graceful clean hit to the neck. Still, everyone loved a good show so after a clean victory, the students erupted into wild cheers. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 3000 points!] ''Oohh! This! Earning 3000 points just like that! I''ve missed this!'' Shye almost wanted to cry in tion. Inside thebyrinth, he had to work for every single point, even defeating the dangerous kobold general only gave him 3500 points. However, inside the academy, he earned 3000 points while barely doing anything so he couldn''t help but feel giddy. ''Haaah¡­The gap is thatrge huh?'' Meanwhile, Dean Snowcrest couldn''t help but inwardly sigh. He knew that Shye already took it way too easy so Tyson could only me himself. Hopefully, he could recover from this humiliating loss and make aeback in the future. Naturally, witnessing how Shye easily defeated Tyson, the battle-maniac, Siegfried, felt his blood boiling, urging him to once again sh des with his rival. ''As strong as ever!'' Siegfried thought to himself as he jumped down from the stage, drew his tachi, and pointed it towards Shye. "What a bully! How dare you bully a freshman! Come! Fight me!" Siegfried said in a joking manner. He didn''t even wait for Shye to agree and immediately assumed his battle stance. He was sure that Shye also wanted to fight him after a long time. As for Shye, he merely chuckled at Siegfried''s antics. He knew that the guy would use every excuse possible just for a chance to fight against him. Heck, the bastard even med him for purchasing thest meat bun in the academy canteen in the past just to challenge him to a fight so this wasn''t anything new to him. Shye also wanted to test Siegfried''s current strength so he enthusiastically took out his Nightbringer and assumed his battle stance. "Holy crap! Senior Crowley and Senior Siegfried are going to fight!" "Do they have bad blood between them?" "No, you idiots! Those two are best friends and this is just a friendly match!" Naturally, Siegfried''s challenge started an even biggermotion, igniting the mes of passion in every student''s heart as they eagerly waited for their duel to begin. Even the other representatives wanted to throw it down with Shye right now but unfortunately, the deans would probably only allow one fight between representatives at most and the bastard, Siegfried, beat them to the punch. Although the two of them always used to fight each other before, theirst battle was around a year and seven months ago so Siegfried was excited as hell to fight Shye again. Finally, after a few moments of a fierce staredown, the battle between the two strongest warrior students of Colzen Academy began. Chapter 131: Shyes Prowess The deans felt that Tyson was a bit too useless so although they didn''t want to allow this battle between two representatives, especially before the Adventurer Academy Competition, they had no choice but to do so because they wanted to see their ace student''s current capabilities. Was he still the same untouchable Shye Crowley? Or has Siegfried and the other representatives overtaken him after such a long absence? The results of this battle will tell them everything they need. In contrast to the usual duels between warriors, these two started slow. Circling each other as they slowly got in range, not willing to show the slightest bit of opening to their opponent. The silence was deafening as everyone watched the battle between two legends unfold. By this time, Tyson, who had just regained consciousness forced himself to stand up as he groggily watched the battle. He didn''t even know how he lost so he was a bit dejected, as he watched on the sidelines like a true side character. Although he was forced to respect Shye Crowley, he wanted his Senior Siegfried to avenge him so he closely watched their battle which was bound to be a little too fast for the untrained eye to see. *CLANG* ''Tch¡­He''s still stronger huh?'' Siegfried inwardly thought after being slightly beaten back in the first exchange. It wasn''t a surprise to him though, not only was Shye using a greatsword, but he had always been physically stronger than him before, thus, he wasn''t bothered. Siegfried continued probing Shye''s abilities as he skillfully weaved in and out of battle as he hacked, shed, and stabbed his tachi toward Shye who easily deflected all of his blows. There were even a few moments where he almost had to block a full-powered swing which he wanted to avoid at all costs since Shye''s raw power usually numbed his arms every time. After getting a good feel of Shye''s current capabilities, Siegfried felt that there was no need to test the waters anymore. It seems that he managed to catch up so he felt that he had a good chance of beating Shye this time. ''Siegfried''sbat techniques are more refined now huh? Knowing him, he must be preparing to attack seriously¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he activated his skill [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2] in advance to prepare for Siegfried''s onught. Sure enough, upon realizing that he didn''t have to y it too safe since their attributes seemed to be mostly equal, Siegfried immediately activated both of his self-buff skills, [Enhanced Agility Lv.3] and [Enhanced Dexterity Lv.3], before decisively charging towards Shye. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Now having greater agility and dexteritypared to Shye, Siegfried''s masterfulbat techniques were on full disy as Shye was slowly pushed back, barely able to deflect Siegfried''s quick butpact swings, even suffering a few small cuts in the process. "Oh!! Senior Siegfried is serious now! It seems that Senior Crowley, the so-called legend, was a bit overrated huh?" "Hmpph! I knew he was a sham! I simply cannot imagine Senior Siegfried''s refinedbat style losing against anybody!" Seeing that Siegfried was decisively pushing back Shye, the freshmen students who hadn''t seen him fight before, started to believe that he was nothing but an overrated senior. They do respect him for being able to fight on equal grounds with the strongest warrior in their hearts, Siegfried Lionheart, but seeing the current developments, they''re having a hard time believing that he was as legendary as everyone said. However, just when the hearts of even the second-years were wavering¡­ "Until when will you hold back? Come on, don''t I at least deserve to fight you at full power?" Siegfried said in a loud voice and a slightly annoyed tone. He never cared about fame and those kinds of stuff, all he wanted was a nice all-out fight between him and Shye so he felt a bit angry that his rival still hadn''t used his signature skill. Hearing what their Senior Siegfried said, the freshmen students were confused. "What did Senior Siegfried mean by Senior Crowley holding back?" Shortly after though, their questions were answered as Shye took out another tinum-tier greatsword from the weapon chest he obtained from the tomb. "My bad¡­Now, let''s continue" Shye said, slightly feeling guilty for underestimating Siegfried. It seemed that the guy worked very hard to catch up to him so he didn''t want to ruin Siegfried''s expectations of a good fight. Holding two tinum-tier greatswords in his hands, Shye rose to the asion as the familiar warm sensation coursed through his body, evening up the agility and dexterity difference through the talent [Greatsword Meister (Rare)]. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* ''Tch!'' Siegfried clicked his tongue, feeling annoyed and confused regarding the fact that there seemed to be no difference in agility and dexterity in the first ce even though he started winning when he used his self-buff skills which were about to run out soon. ''Did he deliberately hold himself back to not make me look bad in front of the lowerssmen?'' ''How is it that we''re equal in agility and dexterity now?'' ''A single greatsword addition should increase his options in parrying and blocking my blows but it shouldn''t be enough to bridge the gap in attributes¡­Did he actually dare hold back against me? '' Such questions popped up in Siegfried''s mind as he slowly failed to keep up, getting blown further and further back with each collision of swords. By this time, the freshmen students were agape as they watched their senior, Shye Crowley, go berserk like a frenzied war god, swinging both of his swords around with destructive strength and frightening precision, each blow staggering the strongest warrior student in their hearts, Siegfried Lionheart. Due to this, they started to realize how wrong they were about the academy''s legend, and immense respect flooded their hearts. Their horizons slowly expanded as Shye ruthlessly shattered Siegfried''s untouchable image in their minds. Although Siegfried had way more refinedbat techniquespared to Shye, he didn''t have the same life-and-death instincts Shye had developed due to numerous close brushes with death, hence making his attacks deadly and difficult to predict. When ites to fighting styles, if Siegfried could bepared to a graceful but battle-hungry knight, then Shye was akin to a bloodthirsty predator with a mindset of kill or be killed. Still, being the battle maniac that he was, Siegfried immediately realized that he would get absolutely demolished after his buff skills ran out. Thus, he started using all of the skills in his arsenal to try and defeat Shye within the time limit of his buffs. After sessfully pulling off a risky dodge, Siegfried immediately used [Power sh Lv.3] to begin the graceful knight''sst stand against the bloodthirsty predator. *CLANG* Fortunately for him, it seemed that a skill-empowered attack was enough to stop the berserk dual-wielder in his tracks, sending him sliding back a few meters, slightly struggling to stabilize his footing. Seeing that his skill created an opening for him, Siegfried fearlessly capitalized, immediately using [Dash Lv.3] to instantly appear in front of his staggered opponent, followed by two consecutive skills, [Empower Lv.3] and his trump card, [Ethereal Sword Lv.3 (Rare)]. It seems that Siegfried had already shown all of his cards, risking everything on his finisher sequence. He knew that it was a bit too early to do so but he had no choice as his buff skills were running out. Shye knew that Siegfried already gave everything he had so as a sign of respect, he used his new killingbination to finish him off. "Puhaahk" Shye spat out blood as Siegfried''s sword sunk deep into his shoulders, however, even his double skill-empowered attack wasn''t enough to defeat Shye in a single hit due to his skill, [Stoic Lv.3] ''Hahahaha damn it, I still lost in the end huh?'' Siegfried inwardly thought as fear and trepidation consumed his little heart shortly after epting his defeat. A draconic roar reverberated in the entire academy, bringing fear to even the hearts of the audience who were watching the fight from a distance. Siegfried, who bore the brunt of the mental attack, was left shaking in fear, his signature battle-hungry look temporarily fading into inexistence as Shye finished off his petrified rival using [Power sh Lv.4]. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t want to kill his friend so the des of his swords stopped just inches away from Siegfried''s neck. Realizing the situation he was in, Siegfried sighed and acknowledged his defeat with elegance and ss. "Haaah¡­You win again¡­" Following his words were resounding cheers from students of all year levels, staff members, and seasoned instructors. Naturally, Maia was one of the people cheering her lungs out after witnessing the prowess of her beloved big brother. As for Tyson and the other top-ranked freshmen, they could do nothing but clench their fists in humility as a single thought resonated in their minds. "So that''s why he''s a legend¡­" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 4500 points!] Chapter 132: Onwards to Valenzia City! "Hey! Run faster or we''ll miss the representatives'' departure!" Students of various year levels were scrambling towards Colzen Academy''s entrance arc, slight desperation visible on their faces as they fiercely fought for a front-row view of the representatives'' convoy. Amidst thepetition, two random first-year students managed to somehow sneak their way in front, allowing them to enjoy a nice view of the grandest convoy in the entire history of the academy. "Look! Isn''t that Maia Crowley? Senior Shye''s little sister? Uwaahh¡­She looks cute as heck¡­" "Heh, wake up, not like she would pay any attention to the likes of you! Instead, look over there! If you''re gonna dream, then dream big! Senior Shirley looks as hot as ever¡­" "You idiot! I still want to live! You dare covet Senior Shye''s woman? I''ll never dare look her way! Oh! Look! The third-yearpanion students are over there¡­" Simr conversations happened all over the entrance arc as the most famous students of Colzen Academy slowly gathered together for the grand send-off ceremony. Multiple majestic armored white horses representing the peak of elegance were lined up in a loose wedge formation in front of multiple grand carriages adorned with intricate carvings, gilded ents, and luxurious fabrics. Connecting the two essentialponents were the ssy but sturdy Embrion alloy shafts and luxurious Giddletwine ropes, masterfully held by seasoned coachmen as thepanion students proudly boarded their designated carriages so huge that they could fit fifteen people inside. Still, regardless of how grand the other carriages were, they were nothingpared to the carriage in front. Bearing the proud insignia of Colzen Academy, the front carriage wasn''t only wayrger than the others, but it also looked way grander than the other carriages, looking like a true masterpiece of craftsmanship and design. Finally, once all of thepanion students boarded their designated carriages, it was the Colzen Representatives'' turn. Under the awestruck stares and respectful gazes of every Colzen Academy student, the seven most talented representatives in the history of the academy slowly boarded the front carriage one by one. Endless excitement apanied by high expectations flooded the hearts of the Colzen Academy students as they dared to imagine the wildest and most glorious scenarios in their minds. Somehow, although the students knew that their academy was simply somewhere in the middle of the pack, their hearts were strangely filled with confidence, confidence that this batch of representatives would rise above the rest, possibly even winning against the most fearsome of adversaries. They saw how strong their current seniors were and the students were sure that it was alright to entrust all of their hopes and dreams on their broad and warm shoulders. Thus, once all the relevant people were ready, the grandest Colzen Academy convoy set off. Hooves of the majestic white horses thundered as the convoy left the academy, slowly garnering more and more attention as they proudly paraded, their banners raised high as they were escorted out of the city by Colzen Academy students. The origin of the mysterious tradition involving the presence of two deans as a symbol of confidence in reaching the top 8 remains uncertain. Nevertheless, each year, a minimum of 10-12 academies adhere to this practice, boldly dering their ambition to be recognized as a top 8 academy for that year. Needless to say, those academies that brought two deans and didn''t make it to the top 8 became nothing but aughingstock. Still, academies were willing to participate in this illogical and unwritten rule to proudly dere that they were top 8 academy material. As for Colzen Academy, they never had the courage or the capability to participate in this tradition in the past but this year¡­This year, they dared to proim that they will at least be a top 8 academy, sending Dean Evelyn Privett and Dean Sven Snowcrest to lead the current batch of representatives and guide them to victory. The deans and probably even the representative andpanion students knew that they would be treated like clowns in Valenzia City after such a horrible first-round exitst year. However, they didn''t care because once thepetition began, everyone who mocked them andughed at them would naturally be silenced so there wasn''t any point in paying any attention to them. *** Around six hourster, the initial excitement died down and everyone in the convoy, regardless of their designated carriages, had nothing to do. Not only did they run out of casual topics to chat about, but they were also a bit tired so most of them took a nap. Even the two deans were no exception. The journey was long and it was way too early for them to talk about important matters, thus, the deans allowed everyone to do what they wanted, which was to take a nap. As for Shye, he sincerely enjoyed the scenery so he couldn''t bring himself to take a nap. After a year and a half inside the gloomy tomb, even the simplest of sceneries bring serenity and happiness to his heart, thus, he took his time enjoying the surroundings, finding joy in breathing the fresh air. It was inevitable that he would grow tired of it after a while though so once his enthusiasm started to dwindle, he opened the system to see what else it could offer him. The one thing he would never grow tired of was exploring the system. There were still lots of things he never fully understood so not only was exploring the system fun, but it was also the most productive thing he could do while chilling in the carriage. Thus, he looked around to check if anyone was awake, and seeing that they were all asleep, Shye decided to open the system. Recently, he found out that mental attack skills were very effective in one-on-one duels especially in his case since most of his opponents never dare to face him head-on. If he could find something that could either force the opponent to fight him head-on or immobilize him/her, then he would benefit greatly. A few thousand point investment would not only make him grow stronger, but it would also allow him to earn even more points in the adventurer academypetition. After all, the more matches they win, the more battles they would have, meaning more chances for him to show off and earn points. Chapter 133: Semi-Passive Skills With high levels of enthusiasm, Shye directly scrolled to the umon skills section, feeling that he already had enoughmon skills in his arsenal. If he wanted to make it big, he shouldn''t settle formon skills. The higher the skill''s rarity, the farther it would take him in life. However, although he had a wide array of skills to choose from, purchasing the skills with points was another story. The higher the rarity of the skill, the more exponentially expensive it bes. Unfortunately, there are only limited opportunities for him to earn a shitload of points in one go, and while skills are important, he couldn''t neglect his attributes. In the future, it would only get harder and harder for him to earn points, upgrade his attributes, and purchase skills. Still, the system was a huge advantage for him providing not only convenience but also lots of other advantages. Though he would have to rely on himself more and more as he grew stronger, the system could still give him benefits provided that he had the strength to earn those benefits for himself. ''Hmm¡­passive skills huh?'' Shye pondered as he scrolled through a few passive skills that were quite simr to talents. However, the main difference was, that if you can find and obtain a skill book of such a skill, you can go to any skill shop and learn it through skill cylinders for a price. Unlike talents that you had to be born with, totally unobtainable using "legal" means. Though there were some rumors that talents could be transferred to another person, the prerequisite was that the original owner of the talent had to be dead. Plus, these are only rumors, still unproven. Thus, passive skills were very helpful to adventurers, only, some of them had undesirable side effects, unlike permanent blessings. Not only were passive skills hard to find on the market, but they were expensive as heck as well. For Shye, this is one advantage of the system. As long as he could earn enough points, then theoretically, he could learn all the skills he wanted, not needing to go out of his way to look for skill books in different locations. Currently, he has around 11,000 points saved up and level one rare skills cost around 4000 to 7000 points depending on its effects. Upgrading such skills was a different story though as it would cost around double or triple the initial price to upgrade it to the next level. Shye wanted to purchase unique skills which were a rarity tier higher than rare skills but unfortunately, the options past rare skills were currently locked. It seems that he had to upgrade the system first before he could purchase such skills. Thus, he had to settle for umon and rare skills for now. After scrolling for around fifteen minutes, he didn''t see anything he wanted in the umon skills section. Perhaps he scrolled past a few of them but his 11,000 points didn''t really allow him to focus that much on the umon skills. Humans are inherently greedy and Shye was no exception, thus, he gave up on trying to find a skill in the umon section and directly scrolled to the rare section. He had the points to purchase a rare skill or two anyway so why deprive himself of rarer skills? Fortunately, the rare skills section didn''t disappoint him. Just ten minutes after he began scrolling down, he found an interesting semi-passive skill that might be of use to him. ¡ª------------------------------- [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1] (Semi-Passive) (Rare) - 6,500 points Main Effects: Automatically adds 1 stack of [Fear] to a perceived enemy every 20 seconds. 500 stack limit for the current level Stackable with all other aura skills except those of (Light) type Side Effects: Effectiveness reduced to half against anything of the (Light) category When the skill is active near a creature of the (Light) category, the user receives 1 permanent stack of [Hate (Light)], every half an hour. Note: Users can decide to turn semi-passive skills on/off without any restrictions/cooldown. Note #2: This skill levels up thrice as fast when used against creatures of the (Light) category. ¡ª------------------------------- ''Oh? This skill smells like trouble¡­But I do like its effects. It''s just that, it seems like I would gradually be an enemy of (Light) category creatures the more I use the skill¡­'' Shye pondered, feeling tempted to purchase the skill. He understood that the skill had tremendous psychological effects which would be more evident the longer a fightsts. Not only would he get the advantage in drawn-out duels against humans, but the skill was effective against creatures of different affinities such as [Fire] as well. Except for bing a hated enemy of [Light] category creatures, there wasn''t really much downside to the skill. Not to mention, he would only get a permanent stack of [Hate] which affects light creatures when he uses the skill on one or in the vicinity of one. The best part was, that he could choose to turn the skill on/off anytime without any mana/stamina/cooldown restrictions. Simply a steal for 6500 points in his opinion. However, the thought of bing an enemy of the [Light] was quite a disturbing thought to him because to humans, [Light] is somehow linked to kindness, justice, and all sorts of positive words. Thus, he couldn''t help but think if he would slowly be evil if he started to use such psychological skills of the (Dark) category. He felt like he was making a deal with the devil as he pondered whether to purchase the skill or not. ''Aihhh¡­I might be overthinking things too much here¡­Who says that being hated by [Light] type creatures would be equivalent to bing a viin anyway?'' Shye inwardly thought He really liked the skill, it''s just that he''s facing some morality and justice sort of problems, making him hesitate if he should purchase it or not. In the end, he decided to purchase the skill. The advantages simply outweigh the disadvantages far too much in his opinion. [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1 (Semi-Passive)(Rare)]!] After deciding to not think too much about his decision to purchase the skill, Shye gradually rxed not knowing that this skill that he purchased would end up bing one of his major headaches and one of his greatest lifesavers at the same time. Chapter 134: Windleton City Shye quickly closed the system upon realizing that someone inside their carriage was waking up after a rxing nap. The one who woke up, Wendy, looked around and realized that only she and Shye were awake, prompting her to turn her eyes away and look out the window, not daring to meet Shye eye-to-eye. Naturally, Shye noticed her awkwardness ever since they boarded the carriage. Not only did she sit as far away from him as possible, but she also didn''t talk much. It seems that even after a year and a half, Wendy still felt guilty about what happened. Shye inwardly sighed, Wendy was a good friend of his, and her antics before the unfortunate incident truly made him chuckle most of the time so he couldn''t bear seeing her look dejected and guilty. "Hey, Wendy¡­Are you still guilty about what happened back then?" Shye bluntly asked in an attempt to help her move on. Hearing Shye''s question, Wendy quickly turned her head and looked at Shye. She opened her mouth, seemingly wanting to say something important but in the end, decided not to. She then looked outside again, pretending to enjoy the scenery as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. In the end, she couldn''t bring herself to speak to him. Her naive and innocent heart truly didn''t allow her to move on as fast as others did. Shye wanted to speak to her again but unfortunately, the other representatives started waking up one by one so he had no choice but to look for another chance in the future. He knew that it was just a regrettable incident and that being trapped inside thebyrinth for a long time wasn''t anyone''s fault. Not to mention, he was the one who stepped on the trigger of the loathsome trapdoor so he could only me himself. Besides, he also decided to take a look so Wendy was truly innocent. Unfortunately, Shye didn''t know that Shirley contributed a bit to Wendy''s trauma. Being Shye''s girlfriend, it was inevitable for a young woman like Shirley to easily ept what happened to him so she made a mistake due to endless grief, thinking that her lover was gone forever. Although she knew Wendy wasn''t at fault, she couldn''t stop herself from looking for someone to me as a coping mechanism. Thus, she made a scene in Colzen Monastery, ming Wendy for everything that happened. Even though she sincerely apologized to Wendy after a month, the incident left a scar on Wendy''s heart. Shye didn''t know any of this since he just returned but he was ready to help Wendy forgive herself, though this wasn''t the proper time to talk as the grand convoy arrived in Windleton City after a day of travel. The deans had something important to do in Windleton City so the convoy would probably stay here for around two to three days before departing for Valenzia City again. This arrangement was perfect for Shye though since he also had onest preparation to do to increase his chances of winning his battles which was to enchant both of his weapons, the Nightbringer and Darkripper, using the high-quality gemstones he found inside thebyrinth''s third locked room. He didn''t know how much time the enchantment process would take so he could only hope that it wouldn''t take more than two days or he would have to fight without weapon enchantments. While chatting with the other representatives, Shye found out that they had already managed to enchant their weapons with enchantment gems, Siegfried even managing to enchant his greaves with a wind enchantment for a speed boost in addition to enchanting his tachi with a void gem which he obtained from who knows where. [Void] type creatures and materials were truly hard to find so one could only imagine the difficulties Siegfried faced before obtaining the lesser void gemstone. The deans told them that the students from the top 16 academies all had low-grade relics (weapons enchanted with lesser gems) while the higher-ranked academies even had some mid-grade relics. Although rarely did a student have a full set of enchanted equipment, it wasn''t impossible. Thus, they believed that they would be at a disadvantage against these academies when it came to equipment since they only had one low-grade relic as a weapon with only Siegfried managing to procure two low-grade relics. They weren''t that bothered though since the equipment was only an amplifier and each student still had to rely on their actual capabilities to win their matches. The Colzen Representatives were confident that they could fight on equal footing against the top-tier academies so having a low-grade relic was enough for them. Unfortunately, their ace representative, Shye, currently did not have a single low-grade relic on him ever since his gold-tier greatsword, Daybreak, which cost him 2100 silver coins total, got wrecked in the battle against the kobold general. Slightly desperate to procure a low-grade relic for himself, Shye quickly left the inn they were staying at and looked for the Hephaestus'' Armaments Windleton City branch in hopes of upgrading his greatswords into relics. ''Hmmm¡­Seems like Windleton City is a bit more developedpared to Colzen City'' Shye pondered as he looked at the busy streets of the city. Each street having full rows and columns of variousmercial shops as children happily yed on the developed and clean alleyways of the city, adding a jolly vibe to the busy streets littered with hard working citizens, moving to and fro from one location to another with serious looks on their faces. While walking, he passed by a few notable establishments including Windleton Academy, making Shye wonder why such an academy only had a mediocre reputation in the adventurer academypetition, filling his mind with a bunch of random thoughts. Shye continued traversing the streets of Windleton City before his attention was once again captured by the branch of the renowned adventurer''s guild, the Raven''s de Adventurers Guild. The architectural resemnce to the society he was part of, the Order of the ck Sword, prompted him to ponder once more about any potential connections between the two. Chapter 135: Another Idiot Finally, after around one and a half hours of light-minded wandering, he found the shop he was looking for, Hephaestus'' Armaments. ''Hmm¡­Even this branch seemed to berger than the one in Colzen City¡­'' Shye thought as he extended his right hand and opened the door. "Wee to Hephaestus Armaments! I''m Shopkeeper Alice. How can I help you?" The shopkeeper greeted with a wide smile and the right amount of enthusiasm, making Shye feel weed as he entered the renowned equipment shop. "Hello, I''m here to enchant my weapons with these gemsto¨C" "Hmmph! A student from Colzen, the trashy academy huh? Well, will you move out of the way or do I have to do it myself? A piss poor student from a piss poor academy wouldn''t have much money anyway so get out of my face before you humiliate yourself." A young recently graduated adventurer arrogantly said, forcefully cutting off Shye''s words. The young adventurer then rudely pushed him to the sides and brought out two pieces of equipment along with ten pieces of lesser-grade enchantment gemstones. Shye furrowed his brows as he coldly looked at the arrogant young adventurer. "Hello shopkeeper, I''m Arnold Parker, a recent top 20 graduate from Eusford Adventurer Academy and I would like to upgrade these two pieces of equipment into a low-grade relic please." Although it seemed like Arnold was just arrogantly showing off by saying that he was a top 20 graduate from one of the top 3 academies, Eusford Adventurer Academy, his words had a deeper meaning. He was reminding the shopkeeper to give him the discounted price which was a privilege of the top 20 graduates of each course from the top four academies. Naturally, their discount only applies to all Hephaestus'' Armaments branches in Valenzia Region. Arnold was far from being capable enough to be able to participate in the Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academypetition when it was their generation''s turn but that reason wasn''t enough for him to not be arrogant. In his petty little mind, everyone should make way for the ranked graduates of the top three academies and such a puny Colzen Academy student should naturally step aside for someone as great as him, representative or not. Shye was about to speak out but fortunately, he didn''t have to as the shopkeepers of Hephaestus Armaments acted like true professionals. "I apologize sir Arnold but this sir here arrived first and as per our shop''s protocols, I have to process his transaction first" Shopkeeper Alice said as she deeply bowed towards Arnold, a sincere apologetic look stered on her face. Just as Shye expected, pretentious frauds like these Arnold hated being humiliated the most so the guy decided to make a scene in the shop, bothering even those who were simply browsing. "Do my ears deceive me? A little shopkeeper from a little Windleton City dares to not make an exception for me? A Eusford Academy graduate? Unbelievable!" Arnold scoffed as he spoke loudly nning to humiliate Shye and the shopkeeper by attracting as much attention as possible before continuing: "Hah! Alright then. You! The student from Colzen Trashcademy! Process your transaction first and let everyone see how important your transaction is!" The loathsome bastard said as he coldly smiled towards Shye. If Shye''s transaction was indeed too littlepared to Arnold''s transaction of two low-grade relic enchantments worth 3000 coins, then he was bound to be humiliated although he was the one who was in the right. As for Shye, he looked around before responding. ''It seems that at least a thousand people including those from the outside were attracted by this idiot''s loud voice.'' Shye thought inwardly before turning his attention back to Arnold. Seeing that Shye went silent after his dare, Arnold grew more confident, eager to see Shye''s moment of humiliation. Shye inwardly sneered upon realizing that this guy didn''t even have any second thoughts about humiliating another person no matter how petty the reason was. Thus, Shye decided to teach the idiot a lesson he will never forget, while¡­Earning as much as he could in the process. "Hmmph! There is no benefit inpeting with you so I shall make our deal private!" Shye said, pretending that he would use the confidential transaction option for an additional cost of 100 silver coins. Naturally, Arnold viewed this as Shye trying to escape the trap heid out and immediately replied: "Hahahaha! I say your transaction is just too puny! Could it be that the 100 silver coins you would pay for the confidential transaction would be more expensive than your actual transaction? Hahahaha!" Arnold mocked, attempting to hinder Shye from using the confidential transaction option. Shye secretly smiled after hearing Arnold''s reply. He then faked an angry expression and doubled down on his initial point. "Hmmph! Just like I said, there is nothing to gain frompeting with you so why should I bother?!" Shye said, his voice "slightly cracking" in "nervousness". Realizing that Shye was trying so hard to escape, Arnold immediately cut off his path of retreat. "Hah! There''s nothing to gain inpeting with me? Fine! If your transaction proved to be greater than mine then I shall give you all of these along with 3000 silver coins to pay for the upgrade! However, if your transaction proved to be lesser, then you have to kowtow to me three times, kiss both of my feet and curse the name of Colzen Academy! What do you say?!" Arnold loudly proimed, the smile on his face growing wider and wider after seeing that Shye seemed to be breathing heavily, looking utterly ufortable. Unbeknownst to him, Shye was already inwardlyughing at his stupidity as he sessfully baits another stupid one into giving him free items and money. Still, Shye had to make sure that he would get the goods or his act was all for nothing. "H-Hmpph! How would I b-be s-sure that you w-will not renege on the bet?!" Shye said, panic slightly evident on his face though he seemed to be trying to suppress it. Of course, Arnold wouldn''t let a cornered prey go so he didn''t think too much and did something he would truly regret doing. Chapter 136: Utterly Humiliated "Ha! That''s it? Then what about this? Make sure you record this in an audiovisual crystal lest you make more excuses!" And so, Shye did. He took out an audiovisual crystal he purchased from the system a few minutes ago while he was trying to lure Arnold into a bet and activated it to record everything Arnold said. "I, Arnold Parker, swear on the name of the illustrious Eusford Academy, that I will give everything on the counter along with three thousand silver coins to this Colzen Academy student should his transaction be greater than mine!" Right after capturing what he needed to, Shye immediately stored the audiovisual crystal in the safety of the system''s inventory as his "slightly panicked" look disappeared without a trace, reced by a wide smile and a confident look. Seeing the sudden change in Shye''s disposition made Arnold shiver and he couldn''t help but slightly panic as if a bucket of cold water was suddenly poured onto him. Unfortunately, it was toote for him to pull back on the agreement as he already swore on the name of his academy which was equivalent to a life guarantee. If he reneged on this bet then he would be tarnishing the name of Eusford Academy which also meant that the academy would hunt him down to every edge of the world to protect their reputation. Should that happen, then his life would be as good as over. With an anxiety-filled heart, Arnold couldn''t do anything but watch as Shye confidently walked closer to the counter and took out his stuff in front of thousands of people. He then took out two greatswords, the Nightbringer which was given to him by Dean Snowcrest, and the Darkripper, another tinum-tier greatsword he got from the weapon chest inside the third room of thebyrinth. Upon realizing what Shye took out, Arnold was momentarily horrified. However, upon realizing that thepetition was about the "value of the transaction" and not the value of the items themselves, he slightly calmed down. Even if Shye takes out ten pieces of lesser-grade enchantment gemstones, it just means that they were both going for a low-grade relic upgrade, meaning his transaction was simply equal to his and not "greater" Arnold''s confidence temporarily returned before being utterly crushed once again as Shye took out five pieces of mid-grade enchantment sapphire and five pieces of mid-grade enchantment opal. "N-No¡­How can someone like you¡­T-This isn''t real! I see now! You two are in cahoots!" Arnold eximed, his heart consumed by a mix of shock, disbelief, anger, and humiliation. Desperate to find a way out for himself, he even used Shopkeeper Alice and Shye of being in cahoots with each other. Naturally, this stupid im was easily debunked by Shye. "In cahoots? How would we be in cahoots when I arrived here just a few seconds before you did? If you don''t believe me you can ask everyone here. I believe someone saw me enter just now." Shye said as his eyes scanned the crowd. As expected, with schadenfreude written all over his face, a man stepped up and said: "Indeed, I can testify that he just arrived here so your usations are not only baseless, they are outright wrong." Even Arnold didn''t think that the two were in cahoots, he just blurted the words out of desperation. Arnold was starting to go crazy, he was used to humiliating people in public but this was his first time being humiliated himself. But then, he realized something. ''How could someone from a trashy Colzen Academy have money to pay for this transaction? Two mid-grade relic upgrades would cost at least 7000 silver coins.'' ''I, a recent graduate from the renowned Eusford Academy who has been adventuring for almost a year didn''t even have that amount so how could this guy have it?'' Arnold thought as his confidence returned once again. He then looked at Shye and said: "Ha! I admit that you almost got me by purposely showing me such stuff. However, how could we determine if your transaction is really greater when you haven''t even paid for it?! Do you even have the money to pay for it?! If you can pay for it then I''ll dly ept my loss!" Hearing his logical argument, the people were swayed. He''s right, 7000 silver coins is a huge amount. Could this Colzen Academy student pay for it? If not, then he was indeed just bluffing. As for Shye, he simplyughed before rummaging through his sack bag, pretending to take out coin sacks from the bag when in fact, he was retrieving it from the system''s inventory. At that moment, time slowed down to a crawl for Arnold as the onlookers excitedly watched the proceedings. Would it be the Eusford Academy graduate or the Colzen Academy student who will be humiliated? 1000 silver coins¡­2000 silver coins¡­3000 silver coins¡­ Shye continuously took out coin sacks containing a thousand silver coins each, igniting the fires of envy in the hearts of the onlookers as ideas of robbing Shye surfaced in their greedy minds. He expected this to happen but he didn''t care. These punks can''t take action inside the city anyway and they could only try to rob him outside the city gates. If these guys can defeat the two deans along with around 40 elite students working together, then sure, they can take all of his stuff. The notion of defeating two diamond-ranked adventurers along with 40 adventurers who were around steel-ranked to gold-ranked in strength was almost impossible for these greedy bastards anyway so he wasn''t too concerned. Finally, after a few moments which seemed like an eternity for Arnold, Shye finished taking out 7 coin sacks containing one thousand silver coins each. Shopkeeper Alice counted the coins using a magic device and once the value 7000 was disyed on the device''s screen, Arnold felt all of his strength leave his body. He felt like he was going insane as he slowly fell on his butt, not daring to believe what just happened. Seeing his pathetic state just felt too damn satisfying to Shye. They were often humiliated by these arrogant rich people when he and Maia were living as street rats so it felt good to defeat these people in their own game. Fortunately, the third room in the tomb contained hills of silver coins which he estimated to be around 50,000 silver coins, allowing him to survive today''s encounter while gaining an additional three thousand silver coins along with two pieces of equipment and ten low-grade enchantment gemstones. "Thank you for your transaction Sir Crowley, that would be a total of 10,000 silver coins for four pieces of equipment. You may return in 30 hours to retrieve your upgraded equipment!" Shopkeeper Alice said with a beaming smile, seemingly very happy afternding a huge transaction. As for Shye, he simply ignored the humiliated and destroyed Arnold sitting on the ground, leaving the shop with a contented and happy heart. After the conclusion of the bet has been decided, the people watching gradually dispersed while whispering mockeries, infuriating the humiliated Arnold even further. Gnashing his teeth in fury and humiliation, Arnold stood up and left the shop 3000 silver coins, two pieces of equipment, and ten pieces of lesser enchantment jade poorer, achieving nothing but embarrassment for himself. He then walked towards an empty corner, took out some sort of device, and inserted amunication talisman worth 100 silver coins before clicking a button, seemingly calling someone for help in getting revenge. "Hmm? Hello? Senior Arnold? What''s up? We''re in the middle of preparations for the uing Adventurer Academy Competition so please make it quick." A young man said from the other side of themunication device. Hearing the young man''s voice, Arnold coldly smiled as he replied: "Harper, I''ve encountered an arrogant representative student from Colzen Academy, not even putting our Eusford Academy in his eyes. The guy seems to be named Crowley, make sure to destroy his ego and dignity in the uing adventurer academypetition." The young man grinned, feeling intrigued after hearing what Arnold said. Although he didn''t regard this senior of his too highly, he liked the feeling of humiliating students from lower-ranked academies, especially when he had a reason to. Thus, he took a mental note of this student named Crowley from the insignificant Colzen Academy, aiming to humiliate him through his underlings from other academies or even better, humiliate the guy personally if their academies somehow get matched in thepetition. "Got it." Chapter 137: In-depth Analyzation As the proud sun starts to descend, a breathtaking spectacle unfolds over Windleton City as the once vibrant blue sky transforms into a canvas of warm hues, with shades of orange, pink, and purple painting the heavens. Beneath the magnificent sky, a young man was walking, seemingly deep in thought. His recent huge victory was already at the back of his head as he focused on another important matter: the benefits of upgrading the intelligence attribute. Although he looked absent-minded as he walked idly in the dimming streets of Windleton City, Shye was actually mentally busy, currentlypiling everything he knew about the intelligence attribute. As permon knowledge, the intelligence attribute increases mana pool and elemental skill damage. This is the reason why Shye decided to neglect the intelligence and wisdom attributes, since at first nce, it seemed that these two attributes weren''t that beneficial to warriors. However, after his recent experience inside thebyrinth, he found out that the intelligence attribute not only seemed to increase one''s problem-solving abilities but also increased a person''s decision-making speed. Due to this, he had to seriously reconsider if he should put the intelligence attribute''s importance on the same level as strength, dexterity, agility, stamina, and vitality attributes. Looking at it closely, the four listed effects, although important, weren''t enough for him to put the intelligence attribute on the same level as the five main attributes of a warrior. While thinking, Shye suddenly thought of one of his skills [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.2]. ''What about reaction time? Isn''t it somehow linked to one''s brain? If so, then will my reaction time be enhanced if I upgrade the intelligence attribute?'' He pondered as he walked towards the inn they were staying at. "Oh? Big brother!!" Shye''s thought was cut short as a familiar voice sounded just across the street. He quickly looked towards the direction of the voice and saw that Maia and Shirley were waving at him with smiles on their faces. It seems that the two of them grew closer during the times Shye was trapped inside thebyrinth. Seeing such a warm scene made his heart flutter a bit as he walked closer to the two. "Yo, where are you two headed?" Shye asked with a warm smile. "We''re going to one of the famous training centers inside Windleton City. I heard they had some advanced training machines that one can use to train their reaction time! There wasn''t anything like that in the training centers inside Colzen City so big sis Shirley and I were nning to check the ce out." "Oh? Reaction time training machines? I have something to try regarding reaction times as well so I''ll be tagging along" "Yay! Let''s go then! The three of us!" *** The training center was quite far, around half an hour of walking from the inn so the three of them casually chatted on the way to catch up after being separated for a year and a half. Upon arrival, the three of them couldn''t help but admire the architecture of ck Bull Training Center, one of Windleton City''s mostmercially sessful training centers. In front of them was a huge state-of-the-art building with intricately carved wall designs giving off a luxurious but vigorous vibe, bright but not blinding lights that elegantly illuminate the entire periphery, and high-quality see-through ss panels allowing onlookers to have a sneak peek of the lively interior of the training center. Just the atmosphere surrounding the ce would make one crave a training session, especially if one is a motivated adventurer. Lastly, on top of the building was a finely sculpted ck bull biting a majestic signboard containing the words "ck Bull Training Center". The three of them marveled at the sight of the majestic building for a while before managing to reorganize their thoughts and entering the ce¨Ceagerness to train visible in their young faces. "Hello, Wee to ck Bull Training Center! I''m staff member Gideon, the one who will assist the three of you today. The prices of our training rooms are posted over there." Gideon said as he elegantly waved his hands to guide the three customers toward a huge bulletin board in the corner. "Thank you, we''ll check the prices first and get back to you." Shye replied as the three of them walked towards the bulletin board. "Let''s see¡­" Sparring Room - 100 silver coins per hour Strength training room - 200 silver coins per hour Agility training room - 200 silver coins per hour Dexterity training room - 200 silver coins per hour Vitality training room - 250 silver coins per hour Stamina training room - 250 silver coins per hour Mental Fortitude training room - 350 silver coins per hour Reaction Time training room - 400 silver coins per hour "Geh¡­This expensive? 400 silver coins per hour for the renowned reaction time training room huh? Uh oh¡­" Maia muttered, seemingly wanting to back out after seeing the ridiculous prices of the training rooms. She really wanted to improve her reaction time since it is one of the most importantbat boons for a scout like her but she didn''t have the money to even rent the room for three hours so she was quite dejected. As for Shirley, she took out her coin sack and started counting how many silver coins she had. She knew that a second-year student like Maia might not afford more than two hours so she wanted to check if she had enough extra funds to provide Maia with an additional two hours of training time. Upon realizing that her budget wouldn''t be enough, Shirley''s brows furrowed, seemingly trying to think of a solution. Seeing their actions, Shye''s heart slightly ached as he inwardly vowed to provide better lives for the two of them in the future. "B-Big brother, sorry, we didn''t know that the prices were this high¡­" Maia said with an apologetic look on her face. She knew that her big brother was a representative of Colzen Academy so it was quite humiliating for him to back out due to the ridiculous prices, thus, she felt that she dragged her big brother down by taking him to this overpriced training center. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t let them suffer such a humiliation so he simply smiled at Maia and said: "Hmm? Why are you apologizing? Isn''t your big brother here? Come! Tell me! How many hours do you two want to train?" Hearing what Shye said, the slightly panicked and awkward expression on Maia and Shirley''s faces disappeared as their hearts were filled with warmth. "I want to train for three hours!" Maia unhesitantly said. As for Shirley, she was quite embarrassed to ask for help even though Shye was her beloved boyfriend so she tried to reject his money thinking that 1200 silver coins for three hours is a huge amount. She had the money to pay for herself anyway, though she had to live on a tight budget afterward. "N-No need, I can pay for myself." Of course, Shye wouldn''t let her pay. Not only did he neglect her for one and a half years, but he also didn''t buy much stuff for her even before he got trapped. Thus, after a few minutes of determined persuasion, Shye managed to convince Shirley to let him pay. "Well then, see you in three hours!" Shye said as he enthusiastically entered his training room, evidently in a good mood. "O-Okay¡­ See you, big brother¡­" "S-See you¡­" Meanwhile, Maia and Shirley also entered their respective training rooms with dumbfounded looks on their faces, still dazed and bewildered after Shye easily took out 3600 silver coins as if the huge amount of money was nothing to him. Chapter 138: Reaction Time Training Inside the reaction time training room that he rented for three hours, Shye stared at the various machines designed to improve one''s reaction time. Below each machine was a printed manual on how to operate the training devices. Shye took his time and diligently read the manuals of each machine in hopes of understanding how the machines would improve his reaction time. Around fifteen minutester, he finished reading all of the manuals and chose the most appropriate machine for his experiment, the Fastball Dodge. The machine was fairly simple, Shye just had to set the speed of the balls which would randomly shoot fastballs from the small cannon attached to the main body of the machine, press the start button, and stand in front of the machine to either dodge or catch each ball. He could also stand either farther or closer to the machine to further adjust the difficulty ording to his preferences. ''For starters, let''s try the standard speed of 80mph fastballs¡­'' Shye thought as he walked towards the control panel of the machine, set the desired fastball speed, and pressed the start button. He then walked towards a line marked as "standard" and stood in front of it as he waited for the fastballs to start flying out of the small cannon. There were still no balls after thirty seconds though so Shye couldn''t help but doubt if he correctly operated the machine. Just when he was about to leave the "standard" line and walk towards the machine¡­ *FWOOSH* A white ball suddenly flew out of the cannon''s barrel and headed straight toward Shye''s face. "S-Shit!" *BONK* Caught off guard, the legend of Colzen Academy suffered a humiliating defeat from the fastball machine. The ball wasn''t that fast but he wasn''t focused so his face was struck by the white fastball. Shockingly, although the ball seemed to be quite heavy, it didn''t hurt one bit. All Shye felt was that he was struck by a huge marshmallow. ''Oh? This reaction time machine is quite great¡­'' Shye inwardlyplimented as he returned towards the "standard" line and waited for the next ball toe flying at him. *FWOOSH* Sure enough, after a few seconds, another ball flew out which was easily dodged by Shye this time, considering that he chose the most standard machine set-up. *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* After easily dodging two more balls, Shye walked toward the machine and pressed the stop button. He then changed the speed of the fastballs to 95mph, to identify his limits. *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* Unfortunately, although way harder to evade, 95mph was still dodgeable for him. Hence, he decided to increase the speed of the ball again, this time to 105 mph. *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* The balls flew out absurdly fast, however, Shye was still able to narrowly dodge them so he concluded that the limit of his current reaction time was 105 mph. Now, he can begin the experiment. First, he changed the speed of the balls to 110 mph and tried to dodge the balls. *FWOOSH* *POP* *FWOOSH* *POP* Unfortunately, out of five balls, he couldn''t dodge a single one, thus, he temporarily turned off the machine and opened the shy Adventurer System. After purchasing the semi-passive skill [(Dark) Harrowing Aura Lv.1 (Semi-Passive)(Rare)] for 6500 points, Shye had 4500 points left. The intelligence attribute currently costs 80 points per upgrade but Shye knew that every ten-point increase corresponds to a 20-point increase in cost. In addition to this, he also knew that a single-point upgrade wasn''t enough to test if the intelligence attribute does indeed improve reaction time. Thus, he decided to take a deep breath and upgrade the intelligence attribute 20 times (47 -> 67) for a total cost of 2080 (240 + 1000 + 840) points. 2080 points wasn''t small but he had to do this or he might be missing an importantbat factor that he needed. Finally, after the familiar warm feeling coursed through his body, Shye pressed the start button again and focused on the small cannon as he waited for 110mph balls to start flying. At that moment, time seemed to slow down for Shye. Feeling extremely nervous after using 2080 points which was supposed to be a sizable part of his emergency points for the uing Adventurer Academy Competition, Shye started to breathe heavily. Fortunately, the small cannon didn''t make him wait for too long as a small white fastball the size of his fist zed out of the barrel and ferociously flew toward his face. *FWOOOSH* Shye was stupefied. He hoped that the intelligence attribute would improve his reaction time and it sure as hell did. After the massive 20 attribute point pump, Shye felt that the 110 mph fastball was as fast as the 95mph one from earlier, challenging to avoid, yet it didn''tpel him to exert much effort in attempting to evade it. *POP* Dazed in tion, Shye was hit by the next ball squarely in the face but he didn''t care. To him, the experiment was a huge sess which would not only aid him in winning his matches in the adventurer academypetition but would also aid him in fighting against fast and deadly creatures inside the adventurer zones. Based on his experience, if he had to fight the blind kobold general again, then he wouldn''t have been on edge as he did back then. Happy about the results of his experiment, Shye continued testing the limits of his new reaction time as he gradually increased the speed of the fastballs until he reached his current limit of 125mph. He reckoned that the pesky scout course opponents wouldn''t give him as much of a difficult time now. Still, Shye didn''t bezy andcent upon learning the secrets of improving his reaction time. He still had some questions unanswered such as: ''If learning new knowledge from reading books would increase one''s intelligence attribute, then how the hell is reading books connected to faster reaction times?'' Due to these absurd questions, Shye felt that training reaction times without relying on the intelligence attribute could also be done. It''s just that, increasing the intelligence status directly affects one''s brain and so, it also improves one''s reaction time in the process. Naturally, to further increase his knowledge about reaction times, Shye continued to enthusiastically train inside the reaction time training room in hopes of proving that reaction time could be increased without increasing the intelligence attribute. This time, he didn''t increase his intelligence attribute at all and simply tried to exceed his 125mph limit by continuously trying to dodge 126 mph fastballs though all of them were currently undodgeable for him. Finally, after three hours of intense training, Shye clenched his fists, a wide smile stered on his face as he marveled at the joys of bing stronger as an adventurer. By the end of his training session, he was already dodging 129 mph fastballs without upgrading a single point of intelligence proving that his guess was right. Now, the only question in his brain was: does the intelligence attribute corrte to one''s potential regarding reaction time improvement? To know the answer to this question, he had to continue experimenting. However, now was not the time to do it since their training time was up and it was alreadyte at night. The deans must be looking for them so although he wanted to train more, he had no choice but to stop for now. He would have a lot of chances to train his reaction time in the future anyway so there was no need for him to rush. What''s important is that he found an improvement path that might be unknown to other warrior-ss adventurers or even outright impossible for them given the limited time every human had. Chapter 139: Colzen Grand Convoy Arrives in Valenzia City Another day quickly flew by. The deans reminded everyone to finish their businesses in Windleton City since they would leave the city after a few more hours. Fortunately, Hephaestus'' Armaments finished Shye''s relic upgrades on time around two hours before they left. Thus, he still had a bit of time to enjoy admiring his new relics. Shye equipped both of his greatswords, Nightbringer and Darkripper, before swinging them around to see how strong a mid-grade enchantment is. *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* Shye tried swinging the Darkripper first to see the capabilities of a mid-grade sapphire enchantment. Water wildly sshed around as an aqua-coating resembling a water chainsaw appeared on the des of Darkripper, not only increasing the weight of his blows but also its cutting power. He could only imagine flesh and blood flying around every time he managed to cleanlynd a sh using this greatsword. It seems that once a person enchants his/her weapon, then it bes a killing weapon, not suited for friendly duels. Fortunately, grievously wounding an opponent is allowed in the Adventurer Academypetition, allowing him to use this absurdly strong mid-grade relic inbat. One can even kill an opponent in thepetition, however, what''s uneptable is, deliberately killing a downed opponent when there was no need to. For example, if a participant is incapacitated and it is obvious that the battle has been decided, it is forbidden to kill your opponent. However, if an opponent dies due to losing a head-on sh, then the winner will not be punished. Thus, his current greatswords were perfect for the job. Shye didn''t like killing if he could help it anyway so he wasn''t too concerned about the rules of thepetition. Satisfied with his mid-grade sapphire-enchanted Darkripper, Shye tried swinging his mid-grade opal-enchanted Nightbringer. *BZZZZT* *BZZZZTT* This time, sparks lingered in the afterimages of the Nightbringer as a purple-colored thunderbolt coiled around the body of the de, adding a paralyzing effect to every attack. Individually, Shye''s greatswords were both a menace. However, their true strength would only be fully disyed when used together. Shye deliberately chose a sapphire and opal enchantment due to one reason, Elemental Synergies. A sapphire''s element was water while opal''s was thunder. Naturally, water will amplify the effect of thunder making his greatswords even more of a menace. A few seconds of numbness or paralyzation was lethal in a duel, thus making this elemental synergy very tricky to deal with. The prerequisite though was, that one has the capability to obtain these two gemstones. Although mid-grade sapphires were expensive, they were fairly easy to find in shops, unlike opals which were not only rare but also way more expensive. Shye was pretty lucky to obtain a treasure chest full of mid-grade gemstones, allowing him to enchant his greatswords with this lethalbination. Satisfied with both of his greatswords, Shye stored the Nightbringer in the sword strap attached to his back while he kept the Darkripper in the system''s inventory. He then brought out the two pieces of low-grade relics that he got for free from Arnold and checked them out. The two pieces of equipment were gauntlets and greaves, both enchanted with lesser enchantment jades giving him a slight boost in agility and dexterity. Now armed with four relics, Shye returned to the inn in a good mood. "Big brother! Over here!!" Maia said with a loud voice, trying to get her big brother''s attention who was returning to the inn. It seemed that he lost track of time while testing his new relics and didn''t notice that everyone had already boarded their carriages. ''Crap! I''mte!'' Shye doubled his pace as he quickly boarded the front carriage with an apologetic look on his face. Fortunately, the deans seemed to be in a good mood so he wasn''t reprimanded. He breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on his designated seat, and stared out the window as the grand convoy of Colzen Academy continued their imposing march towards Valenzia City, the city of dreams. *** A month and a half quickly passed as the familiar majestic city walls of Valenzia City stood tall in front of a grand convoy bearing the banners of Colzen Academy. Upon arrival, it was inevitable that their awe-inspiring convoy would garner people''s attention. Only, most of the people had nothing but mocking looks on their faces as they stared at the Colzen convoy and whispered among themselves. "Pfft¡­Colzen Academy? Who the hell are they trying to impress?" "Hahaha¡­Brother, look, I remembered that this academy went out in a ze of gloryst year, in the first round that is!" "Hahahaha acting like top-tiered academies isn''t gonna make you one! What the hell is this Colzen Academy doing?!" Fortunately, the deans already advised all of the students and instructors to ignore everyone''s mocking words ahead of time so although the inexperienced first-year and second-year students were gnashing their teeth in anger, they managed to hold themselves back from picking fights. Shye and the other representatives coldly smiled at the onlookers, mes of passion burning in their hearts as they daydreamed of shutting these haters up. Although the actual knockout stage would begin a few dayster, as an academy that exited in the first round ofst year''spetition, they had to fight earlier than the others to earn a spot in the knockout stage. Quite humiliating for an academy with a top 64 finish on their resume but they had no choice, Havan''s generation was just too pathetic that Shye''s generation had to clean up after their mess. Still, Shye was quite happy with this arrangement since more matches were equivalent to more points. As usual, upon entering the city, the deanspleted the required paperwork with frowns on their faces. Not only was the work tedious, but the inn assigned to them this year was too shabby. Reminding them of their horrible finishst year. However, the deans and thepanion students consoled themselves by thinking that these arrangements would onlyst for a few days. Once their representatives st their way through thepetition, their amodations would improve ordingly. Thus, they have to make do with the current arrangements for now. Chapter 140: Colzen Avengers, Assemble : Adventurer Academy Competition Begins! As the proud sun was high in the sky, various types and colors of fireworks exploded right beneath it, lighting up the heavens and changing the serious vibes of the city below into one of liveliness. Percussion bands littered the vibrant streets, as glorious melodies resounded from their instruments, adding vitality to the already exuberant event. The shopkeepersment the empty streets as people from all directions excitedly converge in one area: Valenzia Arena, the venue of the Adventurer Academy Competition. Although the first day was the day wherein the biggest losers ofst year battled it out for a spot in the knockout stage, it was also the day when the biggest dark horses were born, a day of hope and defiance as low-tiered academies rise from the ashes and soared like a reborn phoenix. Naturally, as a fallen academy, Colzen had to participate in the first day''s matches. Among 512 academies who had to fight on the first day, only 128 would be able to advance to the knockout stage which meant that an academy had to win two times before earning a spot. "Yo, Kiin, you look nervous! Don''t worry, you can rely on me!" David said in a joking tone as he tapped Kiin''s shoulder as if he was consoling him. "Haah? What the hell are you saying? Could it be? You''re the nervous one?" Kiin retorted with a mocking grin on his face. Shye smiled after hearing the usual friendly banter between his teammates. It seems that most of them were as rxed as always even though the deans currently have something important to do leaving only Instructor Fienna and a few otherbat instructors as their supervisors. Naturally, their arrangement made them stand out from the other 511 academies since their dean''s seats were empty, looking extremely arrogant in the eyes of other academies. It wasn''t the deans'' intentions at all though as they truly had something important to do in Valenzia City. They believed that their representatives could pull through on the first day without them anyway. "Hmmph! Isn''t this Colzen Academy too arrogant? I heard that their convoy was unusually grand this year too¡­" "Ha! Isn''t it obvious that they''re just desperate for attention after a horrible exitst year?" Everyone in the Colzen Academy station heard mocking words from the crowd but this was nothing new to them so they simply ignored it. The youngerpanion students weren''t having it though, just a few more words away from picking a fight. "Colzen Academy Representatives, please proceed to mini arena number 1 for your first match against Aritha Academy." Fortunately, just before thepanion students lost their cool, Colzen Academy was called for their first match, finally having an outlet to vent all of their frustrations. "Oh? Look! The seniors are up!" The Colzen Academy crowd was hyped, even though this was just the first day with no notable opponents, they were just so frustrated after hearing endless mockeries. Even though a win against insignificant opponents wasn''t enough topletely remove the frustration in their hearts, it was at least enough to lessen it. Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of the crowd near mini arena number 1, a group of students became the center of attention as the tough-looking bunch looked towards the group of Colzen representatives yfully. "Hoh? Harper, are they the unlucky ones?" A student said. "Haha yeah, one of these bastards named Crowley dared to humiliate that stupid Arnold. Although I don''t give a single shit about Arnold, I just can''t allow these mongrels to disrespect our illustrious academy like that." "Ehhh~? But they don''t look strong at all¡­Wouldn''t this just be a boring chore?" The group of students conversed as if Shye and the others were simply little fishies on a chopping board. Ian Izanagi, who was yawning while walking along with Shye and the others, overheard the arrogant students'' conversation and couldn''t help but re at them with a cold look. Naturally, His movements quickly caught the attention of his fellow representatives, prompting them to turn their gaze in the same direction Ian was focused on. "Hmm? Eusford Academy students? Why are these bastards staring at us?" Kiin muttered as veins popped on the sides of his head after seeing the annoying looks on the faces of the Eusford Academy students. "Heh, I heard these arrogant shitheads mutter something about Crowley humiliating one of their fellow students back at Windleton City. We''re nothing but a boring chore? I''ll show these bastards who''s the boring chore¡­" Izanagi replied as the two groups of students stared at each other, attracting the attention of countless eyes. Shye remembered the guy named Arnold who lost a sizable amount of his fortune to him during a bet back in Windleton City so he immediately realized that this group of students from Eusford Academy was out for revenge. "Hey! Look! The Colzen representatives are having a staredown with the Eusford Academy students!" "Hahahaha! These guys have gone crazy! They dare to challenge the illustrious Eusford Academy?!" Obviously, the staredown of the two groups of students started amotion, adding spice to the already spicy Adventurer Academypetition with lots of ongoing rivalries from various academies. No matter how intense, all staredowns doe to an end as the referee warned Shye and the others that failure to arrive onstage in five minutes would mean disqualification. Naturally, they had no choice but to look away first as they walked towards Mini Arena 1. Seeing that their "prey" already left, the Eusford Academy representatives also left, uninterested in watching Colzen Academy''s match. In their minds, although the Colzen representatives dared to have a staredown with them, it was impossible for them to be on the same level as the Eusford representatives, and they were nothing but prancing clowns. Seeing that their opponents had arrived, Aritha Academy representatives huddled together to pump themselves up and strategize on how to win. "Allen, you go first, I heard some rumors regarding this batch of Colzen Academy students. Although they are one of the expected academies to advance to the knockout stage, we still have a chance. I''m sure they will underestimate us so we need to let our strongest representatives go first and take them out 3-0, understood?" "Understood! Your Excellency!" Going out with a solid n, the warrior student named Allen jumped up the stage and introduced himself. "Allen Perrin, fourth-year warrior student from Aritha Academy!" "Siegfried Lionheart, fourth-year warrior student from Colzen Academy." Seeing that the twopetitors had introduced themselves, the referee waved his hands. "Begin!" Chapter 141: Steamrolling The Gauntlet Armed with a full set of bronze-tier armor and a bronze-tier katana as a weapon, Allen took his time as he slowly circled Siegfried, looking for any small openings he could exploit. As for Siegfried, he stood still, calmly observing Allen''s movements, hoping that this underdog could give him a good fight. ''As expected, these guys are underestimating us¡­'' Allen inwardly thought as he prepared to go all out. Siegfried was starting to get bored so he purposely showed Allen an opening which Allen immediately took advantage of by instantly activating three buff skills, [Enhanced Agility Lv.2], [Enhanced Strength Lv.2], and [Enhanced Dexterity Lv.2], fully showing his prowess as a representative. He then immediately used themon warriorbo [Dash Lv.2] + [Power sh Lv.2] to instantly close the gap between him and his opponent. "Tch, even Noah or Jean can easily defeat this guy¡­" Siegfried clicked his tongue in regret as he easily avoided thebo by simply moving his shoulders and leaning to the side. He wanted to have a nice fight but it seemed like the academies fighting for a spot in the knockout stages were too weak. Thus, he decided to simply end the match as quickly as possible and move on to the knockout stages. "Oh no!" With a fully extended wide swing, Allen was wide open and to make things worse, Siegfried was in a prime position to punish his mistake. As if simply swatting a fly, Siegfried used the pommel of his sword to gracefully strike Allen''s neck, knocking him out cold as his body limped to the ground making him fall face first towards the cold-hard ground of mini arena 1. The curious audience who came to watch their match out of curiosity due to their earlier staredown with the Eusford Academy representatives were stupefied by how easily he defeated his opponent. They were so impressed that they went silent as they pondered whether this guy could carry the entire Colzen Academy on his back until they made it to the top 32 matches in the knockout stages, automatically assuming that he was the strongest student in the group. However, just after Siegfried jumped down from the stage, Shye immediately jumped up, not even giving the other representatives any chance to argue. Heck, even Siegfried was surprised, he didn''t think that Shye would be interested in such low-level opponents so all of them couldn''t understand why he decided to participate. In the end, Siegfried simply thought that Shye''s passion was ignited by his disy of skills, making him feel proud to be recognized by the legend as a rival. Unbeknownst to Siegfried, his thoughts couldn''t be farther from the truth. Shye was simply running low on points so he decided to participate in every battle he could to replenish his stock of emergency points just in case he needed to use them in the matches against the top-tier academies. "Emerson Grayfield, fourth-year scout student from Aritha Academy!" "Shye Crowley, fourth-year warrior student from Colzen Academy." "Begin!" *PAH* Under the dumbstruck faces of what small audience they had, Shye simply moved way faster than the scout student, disappearing and reappearing behind Emerson, easily knocking him out with a blunt blow to the back of his neck. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 620 points!] Before the audience could even react, Shye already jumped down the stage with a slightly disappointed look on his face. ''Tch¡­You mean only 620 people were watching? Well, points are points¡­I should be d I earned some. Yes, 620 points are almost equivalent to three kobold militias! I shouldn''t expect more from such an easy fight¡­'' Shye consoled himself as he sat back down inside the academy station, feeling slightly better. Although only a small part, the audience who watched their matches was starting to acknowledge their strength. After two matches ending in a single blow, those who were watching would surely deduce something. ording to the estimates of the 620 people who watched, the current Colzen had the capability to at least achieve a top 64 finish, making some of them who shouted mockeries shut their mouths for good. Still, two people carrying an entire academy to the championship stage was nigh impossible so it was still too early for them to decide if they should consider Colzen Academy as a dark horse. Thus, they decided to closely watch the remaining matches of Colzen Academy. Who knows? Maybe they could be rich by betting on Colzen Academy''s victory until the odds correct themselves. As of now, only a few of them knew how strong Colzen was and most of them were thinking of the same thing: bet on Colzen Academy in the knockout stages without letting too many people know about their true strength. Instantly, the haters turned into fans, looking at the Colzen representatives like a bunch of golden geese. Now, if the other representatives could at least show half the level of skill of the first two representatives, then they would be willing to bet a sizable part of their fortune for a chance to make it big. As the former haters now fans waited for the next match while breathing heavily, the next two representatives who walked out from the Colzen Academy station, made their brows furrow, seemingly confused about the weird decision to send a priestess and a mage in the two on two battle. Unbeknownst to them, Colzen only wanted Wendy to experience a match so they sent her to fight while the ultimate loverboy, David Houdini, simply refused to allow anyone else except himself to team up with Wendy, hence, the weird duo of mage and priestess stepped up to fight for Colzen Academy in the two-on-two match. ''Nice, if the opponents are these two then our duo of scout students could probably win! Easily at that!'' Aritha Academy''s dean inwardly thought, feeling good about the next match-up. Scouts were considered as a hard match-up if one is a mage or a priest so it was understandable why the dean thought this way. Unfortunately, his hopes and dreams were crushed as an enormous barrier suddenly appeared and enveloped the two, protecting Wendy and David from the scout students'' [Blink Strike Lv.2]. Then, before the scout students could even react, an enormous fireball appeared from David''s elemental staff, blowing the two scout course students out of the arena as a burnt smell permeated the air. Thus, with an easy 3-0 win, Colzen Academy advanced to the next round. If they can win the next match, then they will qualify for the knockout stages. Meanwhile, the audience who were watching the match was on cloud nine. Forget the top 64, they were sure that this lineup could make it to the top 32! "Crap¡­Did you see that? We''re definitely going to be rich if we vote all our fortune on Colzen Academy!" Chapter 142: Bets Even after an impressive and easy 3-0 win, Colzen Academy really didn''t garner that much attention because first of all, the first day didn''t even have 30% of the total audience of the second day onwards Second, most of those who attended to watch the first day of matches were just here for fun and they don''t believe even for a single moment that these losers participating on the first day would make a great run in the knockout stages. Except for those who closely observed the Colzen Academy matches of course. After an easy 3-0 win in the first match, around 700 people in total were convinced that Colzen might be the real deal as they closely watched the potential and prowess of the said academy, feeling that it was a wise decision toe to the arena and watch the first day of matches. Then came the second match which ended in the same way, an easy 3-0 victory for Colzen Academy, bing the final nail in the coffin as the 700 people thanked the gods and their lucky stars for giving them this opportunity to strike it rich. The representatives who didn''t get to fight in the first match, Ian Izanagi, Kiin Wujin, and Harry Copperfield, showed the same level of skills as the other representatives making the 700 people watching believe that there wasn''t a single weak link in the Colzen roster. Due to this, the 700 people realized that Colzen Academy wasn''t ying around this year and that their grand disys were actually backed by strong representatives, far stronger than their previous ones. Thus, with 128 academies qualifying including Colzen Academy, the darkest horse in the hearts of the 700 people, the curtains closed on the first day of the matches. Since their matches ended early, the Colzen representatives along with the happypanion students gloriously returned to their shabby amodation, happy with the fact that starting tomorrow, they would be moved into amodations fit for a knockout stage academy. As for Shye, he was invited by Maia and Shirley to check out the streets of Valenzia City and since he wasn''t able to explore this part of the city during his first Adventurer Academy Competition, he naturally agreed. Bright night lights illuminated the lively streets of Valenzia City as Shye, Maia, and Shirley admired the enormous size, fine architecture, and intricate designs of each building igniting the mes of determination in the hearts of the three young adventurers. Every single person who had been to Valenzia City desired to stay in this vast and elegant city filled with towering buildings, wide but clean streets and alleys, the most prominent shops, headquarters of renowned adventurer guilds, and every form of entertainment one could possibly imagine. However, even the most talented of rookie adventurers had to toil like mules if they wanted to settle down here. Being the sons and daughters of famous adventurers slightly helps but it was nothing but a small boon. Everyone can visit but only the strongest, richest, and most famous adventurers get to enjoy the luxuries of this premium city every single day. Naturally, Shye, Maia, and Shirley were among the young hopefuls who were dreaming of settling down here in the future. As they happily walked on the vibrant streets, Shye saw a restaurant serving luxurious seafood. Hungry and craving for some, he decided to eat at the restaurant and treat the two girls beside him. "Hey, Maia, Shirley, wanna eat some seafood?" Shye asked with a beaming smile on his face. "S-Seafood? Big brother, aren''t restaurants here too expensive?" "Y-Yeah¡­I don''t think we should¡­" Deep inside, the two girls naturally wanted to try eating at such a fancy and prominent seafood restaurant chain. However, as children who at one point suffered due to financial problems, Shirley and Maia naturally voiced their rejections, not feeling that eating out at such luxurious restaurants was worth it given their current standing as student adventurers. "Don''t worry! My treat, we won''t be able to return here for a long time so let''s relish the experience okay?" Shye said as he grabbed the hands of the two girls and pulled them to enter the restaurant. After being warmly weed by the restaurant staff, Shye casually chose a good seat for the three of them and sat down before looking at the menu and ordering what the two girls wanted along with some of his preferences for a total of 1200 silver coins (Also equivalent to 12 gold coins) While waiting for the food, Shye noticed that the two girls were feeling quite uneasy so he started a casual conversation to calm them down. Fortunately, after a while of casual conversations, Maia and Shirley gradually calmed down. Then, after a few more minutes, their food finally arrived. The waiter skillfully arranged various tes of different sizes and designs on the table, containing diverse kinds of seafood dishes such as crabs, shrimps, squid, rare fishes, and many others, making the three young adventurers have the urge to drool. They knew better than to look stupid though so they waited for the waiter to finish arranging the array of dishes on the table first before picking up their cutleries and digging in. As the three of them took their first bite, their facial expressions turned into one of bliss as they tasted the mouth-watering vor of each dish seeping through every corner of their taste buds. "Hey, brother, have you already ced your bets on who''s gonna be in the top 8 in this year''s Adventurer Academypetition?" "Well, it''s actually easy to bet on Eusford, An, and Freia adventurer academies but the payout is just way too low. Aside from those three, betting on other academies who made it to the top 8 in the past was just too risky¡­" "Aih¡­That''s my problem as well¡­Aside from the top three, thest five spots in the top 8 are just way too hard to predict. Although the payout was alright, the usual top 16 academies were just too close in terms of strength and achievements so it''s hard to predict who among them would make it¡­" "Haaah¡­Tell me about it¡­To make things worse, we only have until 10 AM tomorrow to lock in our bets for the top 8¡­" While enjoying his meal, Shye overheard the conversation of the two adventurers eating at a table behind him. ''Bets huh?'' Chapter 143: Those Who Want To Become Rich, Come With Me! "Thank you for choosing to dine in our establishment!" After having the most wonderful meal they had in their entire lives, Shye, Maia, and Shirley left the seafood restaurant with satisfied smiles on their faces. On the way back to the inn, Shye couldn''t help but think about the words of the two adventurers regarding bets. It seems that everyone could ce a bet on who they think would make it into the top 8. Naturally, he nned to make a fortune by betting on themselves. He even nned on telling Siegfried and the others about the betting opportunities so they could make a killing as well. He didn''t know where to bet though so he nned to gather information at the inn first before going to sleep, maybe the manager knew. The restaurant they ate at was quite far from the inn so it took them around half an hour of walking before arriving in front of the inn where they were warmly greeted by somepanion students who were chilling outside. Shye wasn''t some sort of dumb snob so he warmly reciprocated their greetings before entering the inn. He then looked at the two girls and said: "You guys go first, there''s something important I have to do" "Okay, see you big bro!" "Later, S-Shye¡­" Maia and Shirley replied, which slightly surprised Shye, making his little heart beat a little faster. ''After three years¡­You finally called me Shye.'' He thought as he headed towards the counter where the manager of the inn was stationed. "Hello" "Hmm? Hello, what can I do for this young sir?" "I would like to ask if you know where the betting stations are?" "Oh¡­Yes, it''s located at¡­" *** *RING* *RING* *RING* ''Ughh¡­I want to sleep more¡­'' Startled awake by the rm he set, Shye groggily stood up, washed his face, and looked at the time. ''8AM huh? Guess I''ll have to skip breakfast¡­'' ording to the inn manager, the betting stations were around an hour''s walk away from the inn so he had to move fast if he wanted to make it on time. He didn''t want to miss this massive opportunity to strike it rich so he paraded the hallways of the inn, knocked at every door, and said in a loud voice: "Those who want to be rich,e with me! I''ll wait for five minutes in front of the inn!" Dazed and confused, thepanion and representative students who heard his voice looked at each other and raised their brows. "Isn''t that Crowley? What the hell is he on about?" "Hmm? Senior Crowley? He said something about bing rich..." Still, they got curious so after a few preparations, most of them left their rooms and followed Shye to see what was going on. Then, after five minutes, everyone, even Wendy, followed him making Shye chuckle again. It seems that Wendy still had the same stubborn and curious personality, although she matured a lot after the unfortunate incident. Shye knew that this wasn''t the time to fix his friendship with Wendy, so he simply let her tag along without saying anything lest she back out. Naturally, such a hugemotion attracted the attention of the deans and the instructors. *PAH* Ahh¡­A nostalgic p at the back of the head from Instructor Fienna¡­ The abrupt p caught Shye off guard, prompting him to turn and re at the person responsible. Though, after seeing that it was Instructor Fienna, his initial bravado vanished into thin air. "I-Instructor Fienna, w-why did you p me?" "How about you ask yourself why? What the hell are you nning here? Are you rebelling?!" "H-How could I rebel?! I just want to g-give my fellow students an opportunity" Shye replied as he inwardly reprimanded himself for causing such a ruckus. Hearing what Shye said, Instructor Fienna''s expression turned into one of intrigue. "Hoh? Opportunity? What opportunity are you giving them?" (Fienna) "O-Opportunity to earn money¡­" (Shye) "Opportunity to earn money? How?" Instructor Fienna and Shye turned their heads after hearing Dean Snowcrest''s stern voice, making Shye shudder. "A-Ahh¡­D-Dean¡­It''s nothing¡­This is nothing¡­" Shye replied, stuttering in anxiousness after getting caught red-handed by the deans. "I''M ASKING YOU PROPERLY! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY OPPORTUNITY TO EARN MONEY?!" Dean Snowcrest asked in an intimidating voice, seemingly very angry, prompting Shye to respond honestly. "I heard that¡­There are betting stations in which one could bet on who will make it to the top 8¡­I¡­I just wanted to bet on Colzen¡­" Shye responded anxiously, praying that the dean would let him off this time. "Oh? That''s it? We''re on the way to bet actually, let''s go together then, board the carriages!" "Eh?" "Eh?" Under the dumbfounded gazes of the students, the two deans took the lead in boarding the carriages. *PAH* *PAH* "Oh, you should''ve told me sooner if you''re just taking them out to bet!" Instructor Fienna said as she enthusiastically pped Shye''s back as ifplimenting him for a job well done. She then boarded the carriages along with the other instructors. Naturally, after realizing what the n was, the students gave their Senior Crowley a grateful look before excitedly boarding their carriages. Meanwhile, Shye, who was the perpetrator of this whole thing, breathed a sigh of relief and boarded his own carriage with a smile on his face. *** "Sir Elmer! As of now, around 60,000 people have chosen our betting station, and as expected, due to the odds that we put out, around 83.5% of them are betting for Acacia, Wilhelmburg, Petersen, ckrock, Hockwarts, Ozenia, Kossin, and Springvale academies to make the top 8!" "Meanwhile, only 5% chose to bet on our expected winners, Beelhorn, Bluestone, Jenzin, Phillipps, and Amarantha academies along with 10% voting for the sure winners, Eusford, An, and Freia." "Our estimated earnings after this is around¡­ 13,320 gold coins!" After hearing the report of one of his employees, the manager, Elmer Cruz, of the betting station, ELMBets, was in seventh heaven. "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good job, it seems that we will earn a lot again this year. Fucking up the odds sure fool a lot of idiots! In their little minds, all they think about is, the higher the odds, the stronger the academy! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" However, while Elmer wasughing, his subordinate suddenly continued his report. "H-However, there were some weird people who bet on a fairly known mediocre academy called Colzen. Around 700 people bet unusually huge amounts of money on Colzen Academy, currently totaling 600 gold coins with odds of 80:1." Just when Elmer was about to speak, another one of his employees rushed over and spoke with a slightly nervous voice. "S-Sir Elmer, just now, around 45 people from Colzen Academy came and bet on themselves¡­Their bet totaled at around 500 gold coins¡­" "What?!" After hearing the report of his employees, Elmer was forced to pay attention to Colzen Academy. With around 745 people betting on the academy totaling 1100 gold coins with 80:1 odds meant that all of them were probably betting their entire fortune in this academy. Which means that¡­Something was up with Colzen this year¡­ Unfortunately for him, the bets with 80:1 odds were already locked in and each bettor got their receipts as proof. Even if he changed the odds now, it wouldn''t matter. In addition to this, Valenzia City is strict when ites to handling matters regarding betting stations so in the event that Colzen Academy managed to indeed enter the top 8 then¡­He needs to fork out a whopping 88,000 gold coins in total. Over the years, Elmer has earned a lot. However, 88,000 gold coins would make his betting station go bankrupt. Imagining the scene where he needed to fork out the winnings of the Colzen bettors, Elmer broke out in a cold sweat as he immediately ordered his men to dig up everything they could about this year''s Colzen representatives. Chapter 144: Knockout Stages Begin In a dazzling disy of light and color, fireworks burst forth into the sky during the opening ceremony. Glittering sparks vigorously danced, leaving trails of ephemeral brilliance in their wake as they watched over a vast and enormous arena. Percussion bands yed a harmonious melody that seemed to tell a marvelous tale about bravery and passion as confetti endlessly rained down from above, seemingly celebrating the uing glorious moments of heaven''s proud sons and daughters. Finally, the most anticipated day of the year for student adventurers began with overflowing vitality as the representatives of the 512 academies who qualified in the knockout stages entered one by one, proudly bearing the insignia of their academies in addition to the hopes and dreams of their fellow students. Among the 512 academies that entered, the three kings, Eusford, An, and Freia, garnered the most attention along with one other academy. The other academy''s representatives wore pristine white and blue uniforms as they proudly marched toward their designated spot in the middle of the arena. Shockingly, in front of this fairly known mediocre academy''s representatives were two deans, one male, and one female, symbolizing their fiery ambitions and confidence in bing one of the 8 elite academies who will tower over the rest like kings looking down on their subjects. Naturally, Colzen Academy''s bold disy of aspirations garnered so much attention that it even rivaled those given by the audience to the three kingly academies of Valenzia. Most of it was still mockery though. However, to the Colzen representatives andpanion students, this was of little concern. They knew how strong they were this year and in a few hours or days, they would forcefully make the haters shut the hell up. After an hour of pleasantries, encouraging words, and rule setting, four huge holographic televisions projected the different matchups on all four brackets, making the crowd go wild in anticipation. Naturally, the top three academies were put into different brackets, as if they were kings watching over their domains. The less fortunate academies who got matched up against the kings early had no choice but to me their luck, especially those who had to fight them in the first round. Dean Snowcrest and Dean Privett looked at the matchups and clenched their fists in happiness. They were ced in bracket C and although thepetition was a bit tougher than other brackets, they wouldn''t encounter the three kings until the semi-finals which was by far their luckiest draw, as if the heavens were rewarding them for daring to dream. That said, their bracket wasn''t easy either. As an academy that advanced from the first day''s matches, their bracket was filled with renowned and strongpetitors. Just their first-round match was already against a regr top 128 finisher, Edenson Academy, and from there, the difficulty would only increase. To advance to the top 32 matches, also known as the championship stage, an academy had to win four consecutive matches. Unfortunately, Colzen Academy had to go through a trial of fire before bing one of the top 32 academies in the entire Valenzia Region. Even if they win their first match, their second match would immediately be against one of their long-time rivals, Orion Academy. Then, as they advanced through the bracket, they would be greeted by their hostile neighbors, Redwood Academy, for their third match. If one would use the usual strength range of the Colzen representatives as a baseline forparison, then this lineup of opponents would be considered terrifying, possibly taking everything out of them even before they reach their third match. However, this time, they''ve got seven of the most dazzling students in the entire history of Colzen Academy to represent them, making the feat of advancing to the top 32 doable. Still, the fourth round match''s difficulty would be nothing like the first three matches as they would have to fight either Springvale Academy or Amarantha Academy depending on who advances, both regr top 16 finishers. Unfortunately for them, due to the brackets, one of them was bound to fall early since they would have to fight each other in the third round which is a huge boon for Colzen. Once the opening ceremony ended and the brackets were finalized, the assigned staff members led each dean, instructor, and representative to their designated academy stations. ''Tch, what a shitty academy station¡­'' Shye clicked his tongue and frowned after seeing how shabby their academy station this year was. When he was the substitute representative, their academy station at least had softfortable seats, a few magic-powered fans, two holographic televisions, a cold water dispenser, and a few snacks on a decently sized table. This time, only the deans'' seats were soft andfortable while the seats for the instructors and representatives were nothing but wooden stools. In addition to this, there were no magic-powered fans or anything, only a few pieces of paper fans to ward off the heat, a single holographic television of poor quality, bottles of lukewarm water on the sides, and two small wooden tables without any snacks. Shye even started to doubt if the staff would deliver food for them at lunchtime. Maybe they would have to procure their meals. Fortunately, everything was temporary. Once they advance to the top 32, then the quality of their academy station would improve drastically. For now, they had no choice but to make do with what they had. "Your Excellencies, Dean Snowcrest, Dean Privett, it''s time for the first match." The staff member leaned closer to the ears of the two deans and whispered, prompting the serene looks on the faces of the two deans to change into one of ambition. The two deans then looked and nodded at each other before Dean Privett stood up, faced the representatives, and said with a confident smile: "Representatives, it''s time for your first match. I believe there is no need for instructions as you all know each other''s strengths and weaknesses better than anyone. No need to hold back, Go wild." Chapter 145: Colzen Academy Makes A Statement The interest of quite a sizeable crowd was piqued after seeing the representatives of Colzen Academy, the mediocre academy that dared partake in the "two deans" tradition, walk out of their academy station for their first match. "Oh? Look! Colzen is up, let''s see what they got!" "Their first match is against Edenson Academy huh? A decent academy¡­If Colzen is as strong as they im to be, then beating Edenson Academy should be easy for them¡­" Under the curious and mocking gazes of around 8,000 people, including the 700 who bet their entire fortune on Colzen, Shye and the others sat down on their designated seats on the ringside. Across them were the sneering faces of Edenson representatives who simply don''t believe that they have what it takes to be a top 8 academy. That said, the Edenson representatives weren''t taking them lightly at all. In their minds, the current Colzen representatives should be stronger than their past representatives and that''s why they dared to im that they would im one of the top 8 spots. "Who''s fighting first?" Shye looked at the other representatives and asked. Naturally, the battle maniac, Siegfried, was the first person to volunteer. Without even checking whether somebody else wanted to fight in the first match, he enthusiastically jumped up the stage. As for Edenson Academy, a bald scout student volunteered and jumped up the stage. "Aaron Gonzalez, fourth-year scout student from Edenson Academy" "Siegfried Lionheart." Hearing theckluster and somewhatzy introduction from Siegfried, Aaron was immediately pissed off, vowing to teach the arrogant guy a lesson. Siegfried sensed Aaron''s anger but he couldn''t care less. After a disappointing first day whichcked thrilling battles, Siegfried couldn''t bring himself to be enthusiastic in the early rounds of thepetition anymore. "Begin!" Fortunately, the referee didn''t let Aaron wait for too long and announced the start of the match just a few seconds after their introduction. *FWOOSH* Contrary to Siegfried''s expectations, Aaron didn''t use [Blink Strike] at the start of the match, instead, Aaron valiantly dashed forward and closed in on Siegfried. His shy actions gained the respect of Edenson Academy''spanion students, prompting them to erupt into cheers. *BANG* However, just before their cheers could even gain momentum, a bald guy was sent flying out of the stage, clearly unconscious. "Wha¨C?" "Senior Aaron!!" Worried and furious exmations could be heard from Edenson Academy''s side as Siegfried turned around and walked back to his seat. ''Tch, how stupid¡­You, a scout course student, dare to fight me head-on? Clearly, you''ve be a little too delusional.'' Siegfried thought to himself as hezily sat back down. Meanwhile, the other representatives from Edenson Academy clenched their fists and gnashed their teeth in fury while watching Aaron get treated by the medical staff. Fortunately, Siegfried didn''t strike him too hard so one greater health potion was enough to restore the guy to full health. Still, the Edenson Academy representatives didn''t appreciate his actions and instead, they even thought that he was simply an arrogant bastard. Thus, they immediately sent out their best representative, a mage student named Zel, to avenge Aaron in the next match. Unfortunately for them, the system points chaser, Shye Crowley, was up next. This time, Zel didn''t introduce himself which meant that this match was personal. He wanted to teach these arrogant bastards from Colzen Academy a lesson so with an ice-cold expression on his face, he gracefully jumped up the stage, staring daggers at his opponent who was slowly walking up the stage with an indifferent expression Shye already used [Appraisal Lv.2] on the guy earlier and he knew that this was just another clown show so the fierce expression on Zel''s face simply looked hrious to him. "Wait! I know this representative from Edenson Academy, I saw him kill a (D) ranked Diamondback Ape alone in the Loretta intermediate adventurer zone near Edenson City around four months ago! This guy from Colzen Academy is finished!" Upon hearing the words of the random guy in the crowd, Zel''s mood improved slightly as he felt the gazes of admirationing from the audience. Meanwhile, Shye almost failed to suppress his urge tough. "Begin!" Finally, after an unusually long entrance from both fighters, the referee announced the start of the match. "Die!!" Zel eximed as he decided to immediately use his finisherbo, [Mana Bind Lv.2] and [Fireball Lv.4] to end his opponent as quickly as Siegfried did to Aaron. Just as Shye was about to move, mana vines appeared from the ground and grabbed tightly onto his feet, not allowing him to move a single inch. ''Oh? This guy''s [Fireball] is actually decent¡­'' Shye thought, impressed by Zel''s fireball. Unfortunately for Zel, his [Mana Bind Lv.2] was just too weak, allowing Shye to simply rip off the mana vines using his bare hands. After removing the mana vines, Shye easily dodged the enormous fireball before using [Dash Lv.3] to close the gap. Naturally, Zel, the best representative of Edenson Academy, was quite skilled as well. Before Shye could sh Zel with his sword, the guy suddenly disappeared and reappeared a few meters away using [Blink Lv.2] Zel having some repositioning skills was within Shye''s expectations though so he quickly followed him using [Lunge Pierce Lv.2]. "NO!!" *BANG* Shye was disappointed as Zel''s frail body flew through the air, unconscious. After making himself look so tough, Zel disappointingly panicked after Shye followed up with another gap-closer skill, forgetting that he still had a barrier he could use to protect himself. It seems like this guy wasn''t too experienced in duels, or, maybe he was just too used to one-shotting his opponent with his killerbination, making him way too dependent on thebo. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 3,500 points!] Either way, Shye was pretty happy to earn such a huge sum of points in an easy fight. Meanwhile, the Colzenpanion students erupted into cheers as Shye easily destroyed the so-called strongest representative of Edenson Academy, once again bringing pride to the hearts of the Colzen Academy students. In contrast, Edenson Academy was silent, their students, representative or not, felt depressed after two straight losses with even their strongest representative losing so easily. Naturally, after a heartbreaking loss, Edenson Academy''s morale plummeted, thus, Ian and Kiin easily took the two-on-two battle ending the match with an easy 3-0. A resounding statement from a defiant mediocre academy! Chapter 146: Unpleasant Encounter After witnessing that the Colzen Academy they saw on the first day was as strong as ever, the 700 people who bet enormous sums of money on Colzen Academy making the top 8 breathed a sigh of relief. If Colzen struggled against a mediocre academy, then they better say farewell to their money as early as now. Fortunately, Colzen didn''t disappoint them by winning easily against Edenson Academy with three straight wins. Still, it was too early for them to celebrate. There were two more top 64 finisher academies on the way along with a top 16 finisher as a round-four opponent. If Colzen could win in the fourth round of matches, then it means that they have a fair chance of actually achieving a top 8 finish. Meanwhile, Shye and the others returned to their academy station in a good mood. Although their goal was far from such mediocrity, a win is a win and they''re pretty happy about it. Upon arriving at their academy station, they were greeted by smiles from the instructors along with a few high-fives from the friendlier ones, improving their mood even further. As for the deans, they watched the proceedings with smiles on their faces. Last year was just too much of a disaster so they couldn''t help but relish the feeling of victory again. They didn''t have too much time to rest though as they still had to strategize against another one of their long-time rivals, Orion Academy. Thus, after around ten minutes, the deans sat down on the shabby wooden tables and called the representatives for a meeting. "Students, I believe you know that we''re up against Orion Academy next and as you all know, Orion Academy and Colzen Academy have been butting heads for a long time now." "We, the faculty, believe in your skills and capabilities. However, it doesn''t hurt to take a few extra precautions." "From the information we''ve gathered, it seems that Orion Academy had strong representatives this year, some even going so far as to call it on par with their old golden generation which achieved a top 32 finish." "Still, I believe that you guys are stronger so as long as you don''t underestimate them too much then we should have a high chance of winning." "In addition to this, they would probably underestimate you in the first one-on-one match so capitalize on that." "Lastly, check this list containing some relevant information regarding their representatives." Dean Privett patiently said as she handed over a small piece of paper to each representative before dismissing them and returning to her seat. Shye returned to his seat and checked the piece of paper handed to him by Dean Privett. Jefferson Grayleaf - warrior student, Weapon: Warhammer, has destructive power, and excels in head-on battles and breaking shields or barriers. Grace Haney - warrior student, Weapon: Shortsword and shield, has an excellent sense of teamwork, excels in dying the opponent for a long time. Jonathan ck - mage student, Weapon: Elemental staff, has a wide arsenal of decently powerful skills, has a huge mana pool, extremely skilled in one-on-one battles. Ashley Perkins - archer student, Weapon: Shortbow, extremely hard to catch, has swift but deadly close-range attacks, extremely good in dueling warriors. Harvey Newton - archer student, Weapon: Longbow, has lethal long-range attacks, extremely good aim and tracking, extremely bad at close-range duels. Andrew Forthsky - scout student (strongest representative), good in team fights and duels, extremely good in fighting fellow scouts and hunting down priests, archers, and mages, Gaurav Prochazka - priest student, weak buff skills but a wide arsenal of control-type skills, has an excellent team fight sense, extremely vulnerable in close-range battles. After carefully reading the piece of paper, Shye frowned. He didn''t know exactly how strong these representatives were but it seemed like their strengths and weaknesses synergized well with each other so he reckoned that it would be best if they could take two victories in the one-on-one matches. The Colzen representatives looked at each other and started to n for their next match. Meanwhile, the deans smiled after seeing them take the Orion representatives seriously. Even though they believed that their students could win without any problems even if they don''t n ahead like this, one can never be too sure of a victory. After all, most of them bet a huge amount of money on themselves, especially Shye, who suddenly took out 12,000 silver coins, shocking even the deans who couldn''t fathom how a student could amass such a huge amount of money. In just twenty minutes, the Colzen Avengers had already formted a battle n and even a few countermeasures against Orion Academy''s strongest representative should they decide to let him fight in either the two-on-two or three-on-three matches. Their battle ended early so they got quite a bit of time to rx, thus, Shye decided to step out and watch the ongoing match in the nearby arena while the other representatives opted to rx inside the academy station. *BUMP* On the way to the nearby arena, someone intentionally bumped his shoulder and said in a loud voice. "Aihh¡­Can you guys believe it? I bumped into shit of all things!" "Hahahaha!" After hearing the rude remarks, Shye couldn''t help but frown and turned his head to look at the owner of the voice and hisckeys. ''An Academy huh?'' Shye inwardly thought, continuing to stare daggers at the An Academy representative. "What? You dare fight me?" The An representative fiercely stared right back at him as the lively atmosphere turned into one of animosity. Shye didn''t say anything in return and just continued staring at the An representative, ready to strike back if the bastard dared to start the fight. There would be huge consequences for both academies if a fight urred between representatives outside of the official matches so even the An representative didn''t dare start the fight willy-nilly. Shye didn''t care though. He would never start a fight but he would never back away from one. Fortunately, just before things went out of hand, Dean Privett called him back since their second match was already starting. "Ha! Why am I even wasting my time on shit like you? Your trash academy probably wouldn''t even make it past the third round anyway so why bother?" The An representative said before ignoring Shye and continuing to walk toward his destination. As for Shye, he had no choice but to drop the matter for now. ''We''ll settle this in the championship stages'' Shye thought to himself. Memories of how his seniors were humiliated by An representatives reyed in his mind as he quickened his pace, catching up to the other representatives who were already walking towards the venue of their second match. With confident smiles on their faces except for Shye who was still a bit irked, the Colzen representatives proudly marched towards Small Arena 7 for their second match. Chapter 147: Dismantled Kiin and Ian instantly noticed Shye who was in a rare bad mood. As his close friends, they had the sudden urge to piss him off even more. However, this was Shye they were talking about. The guy was so easygoing that it was hard to legitimately anger him, making them shudder at the thought of Shye redirecting his anger toward them. Thus, after a silent consensus, the two of them decided to not go through with their n lest they suffer the consequences. After an unusually silent walk with no one talking, the Colzen representatives arrived at Small Arena 7, where their opponents, the Orion Academy representatives, were looking at them with mocking smiles on the other side of the arena. Meanwhile, the crowd was hyped. They knew that there was bad blood between these two academies so although they were both known to be fairly mediocre, there were a lot of people who tuned in to their match. "Oohh, this will be one spicy match!" "I saw Colzen''s match earlier, I think they will win this time around¡­" "You''re joking, right? Let me give you guys some insider information. This batch of Orion Academy representatives is the best they had in two decades! There''s no way Colzen will win!" Again, people took sides.Some of them watched how Orion Academy won, while some, Colzen. Thus, with a few friendly arguments here and there, the atmosphere changed into one of fierypetition, slowly garnering more and more attention from the other audiences including professional adventurers who are here to scout out some potential prospects. Both sides were confident so it would alle down to actual skill and preparation. Speaking of preparation, Colzen Academy took quite a bit of time to prepare for this match, only, the other representatives didn''t expect that their ns would be thrown out the window in the next second as an irked Shye Crowley suddenly jumped up the stage and quickly drew one of his des, the Darkripper. The initial n was to have Ian Izanagi go first, however, just when Kiin was about to speak, Ian stopped him with a grin on his face. "Let him, don''t you want to see him fight when he''s angry? I''d like to watch this. Anyway, just let me fight the second match against that so-called strongest representative. The bastard is extremely good at fighting other scouts, they say? Let me test that." Seeing that Ian was fired up as well, Kiin simply shrugged his shoulders, deciding to throw their n out the window. Glittering sparks surrounded Shye''s Darkripper, threatening to zap anyone who dared to stand in its way as purple-colored lightning snaked all over the des of the greatsword. Meanwhile, on Orion Academy''s side, it seems that the representatives were arguing since one of them wanted to throw their n out the window as well. After a warning from the referee, the one rebelling to go onstage first, Jefferson Grayleaf, finally convinced the others to let him fight first. The mes of passion were ignited in his heart upon seeing that the opponent was a rare greatsword user, meaning that he would get to fight a burst-type warrior in apetition of pure raw strength to see who woulde out on top. Excited and enthusiastic, Jefferson jumped up the stage and drew out his enormous and heavy-looking Warhammer, looking extremely menacing and destructive. Shye didn''t care one bit about him though, as he simply looked at Jefferson with a cold look, imagining him to be the arrogant An representative he met earlier. "Begin!" Like two wild beasts pouncing on each other in a battle for survival, the two warriors immediately opened up with a [Dash Lv.3] followed by a [Power Smash Lv.3] for Jefferson while Shye used [Power sh Lv.4] to engage in a heated frontal sh in the middle of the stage, prompting the audience stand up in excitement after witnessing such a zing start. *CLANG* The results were even spicier as one warrior waspletely overwhelmed in terms of strength, spitting out blood in disbelief while sliding backward in an attempt to stabilize his footing. After a sh between Warhammer and Greatsword, it was the Warhammer user, Jefferson, who was sent sliding back, still struggling to process what happened. Hisck of focus became the start of his immediate downfall though as the ruthless and angry Shye Crowley, immediately followed up with [Rush Stab Lv.3]. Just when Jefferson was about to stabilize his footing, the tip of Shye''s greatsword sunk deep into his abdomen, mercilessly skewering him to the edge of the stage, as he spat out rming volumes of blood. "Jefferson!" The Orion representatives couldn''t believe what they were seeing. Jefferson wasn''t the best when it came to dueling but they were sure as hell that he was the strongest when it came to raw strength. Seeing him lose like this in a head-on battle gnawed at their morale. Without even letting Jefferson recover, Shye used two charges of [Boost] on his right foot and stomp-kicked on the poor guy''s chest, making it slightly cave in as Jefferson flew through the air,nding on the ground a few meters away from the stage, conscious but incapacitated. "JEFF!" The Orion representatives immediately rushed towards Jefferson''s side and gave him three greater health potions from their own pockets just so he could survive until the medical staff arrived at his side. As for Shye, the cold look on his face was reced by a satisfied and happy smile as he jumped down from the stage, imagining that he just demolished the guy from An Academy making his anger vanish into thin air. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 7000 points!] His mood was further improved after seeing that he earned 7000 points in one go. ''Ahhh that felt great!'' Shye inwardly thought as he returned to his ringside seat. "Senior Crowley!!!" "Senior Crowley is mighty!!" Thepanion students cheered their lungs out after witnessing how Shye methodically but destructively dismantled his opponent in a frontal sh, his prowessid bare for everyone to see. Even the people in the crowd who rooted for Orion Academy wavered after seeing how much of a menace Shye was. As for the crazy ones who bet on Colzen making it to the top 8, they were ecstatic. At this rate, they might actually be rich! "You sure know how to show off!" Ian said as he stood up and gave Shye a fist bump with a smile on his face. "Hahaha! My bad for ruining the n, I just had to vent." "No worries, I want to test this so-called strongest representative as well so I did like the change in ns. Well then, off I go." Izanagi said as he jumped up the stage, excited to test his mettle against Andrew Forthsky, Orion''s strongest representative. Chapter 148: The Stronger Scout Out for revenge, Andrew Forthsky, the strongest representative of Orion Academy, jumped up the stage. ''Hoh? They dare to send a scout student out even though I have a reputation for being good in scout vs scout duels? Interesting¡­'' Andrew inwardly thought while looking at Ian with a cold smile stered on his face. Meanwhile, Ian had thoughts of his own, an annoying smirk stered on his face as he stared mockingly toward Andrew, not believing one bit that this pretentious bastard was as strong as he was iming to be. He himself was good in scout vs scout duels so he really wanted to take this fight but the initial n was to have Siegfried go against Andrew while he was assigned to fight in the first match. Fortunately, their captain, Shye, who was in a bad mood, chose to throw everything out the window due to a stupid reason like venting anger. Due to this, not only did he get the matchup that he wanted, but he was also quite relieved to see that Shye was no machine and that he also had a young hot-blooded side to him just like the rest of them. More motivated than ever, Ian Izanagi drew out his ming dagger from a specialized sheathe, impressing the crowd as he walked into the middle of the stage and assumed his fighting stance. Contrary to his arrogant outside appearance, Andrew seems to be quite well-mannered. Although enraged, he still introduced himself as he drew his water-infused pair of katars and assumed his battle stance. "Andrew Forthsky, scout student from Orion Academy." "Ian Izanagi, scout student from Colzen Academy" Scout vs scout duels were bound to be shy so from the original 8,000 people who were watching, the numbers ramped up to around 12,000, making Ian and Andrew the center of quite a lot of attention. A few seconds before the referee announced the start of the match, time seemed to slow down. Two opposing scout students stood across each other in a fierce staredown as the audience waited for the banger match to start with bated breaths. Two rival academies, two scout students. "Begin!" *FWOOSH* Under the eyes of thousands of audiences, the two scouts suddenly disappeared, before reappearing in front of the other. *CLANG* A pair of water-infused katars shed against a fiery dagger emitting thick white vapor on the point of contact as the two ipatible elements of fire and water struggled for superiority. It was hard to see who was the better scout in just a single sh, however, after a few more shes, it was evident that Andrew was slightly getting beaten back by Ian who was attacking relentlessly. Lethal stabs and concise cuts along with somepact punches and kicks slightly staggered Andrew who was having a hard time epting that he was the inferior scout. Still, he was no slouch. Andrew skillfully parried and blocked most of Ian''s blows while backpedaling as if his life depended on it. Unfortunately, Ian was too aggressive and relentless, not allowing him even a short moment to breathe. idents were bound to happen in a fast-paced match. "Arrgh!" Failing to notice the small puddle of blood behind him, Andrew slightly slipped allowing Ian tond an impairing stab on his left deltoid, forcing him to let go of one of his katars. Fortunately for him, the ident wasn''t enough to end the match. Still, the major match progress made most of the audience including the Colzenpanion students cheer at the top of their lungs. As for the Orion Academy crowd, they were naturally dejected. Seeing their senior whom they idolized for so long get pressed so hard was so heartbreaking for them. Unfortunately, in a battle, there are always winners and losers. Ian quickly capitalized on his advantage and twisted his dagger inside Andrew''s left deltoid, mercilessly destroying the flesh and making Andrew''s face twist in agony. Upon remembering that he was carrying the hopes and dreams of Orion Academy students on his shoulders, Andrew vehemently refused to lose. Even a lowly prey courageously fights back when cornered by a predator. As Ian''s fiery dagger mangled his left deltoid and burned his flesh, Andrew struck back with reckless abandon, stabbing the water-infused katar on his right hand deep into the left side of Ian''s body, even slightly touching one of his rib cages. "Puhaahk" Ian couldn''t help but spit out blood. He was no stranger to scout battles and knew that he would receive a few stabs and cuts once he stabbed his dagger deep into his enemy''s flesh. Still, limbs were important in a duel and although he suffered a stab himself, he clearly knew that destroying Andrew''s deltoids would allow him to slowly dismantle his opponent. Thus, after a one-for-one exchange, Ian willingly stepped back and reset his attacks. After all, with one arm down, things would only be harder for Andrew. Ian knew that the time was right to start using skills so he immediately used [Blink Strike Lv.3] to reappear behind Andrew, who expected him to do so, clearly experienced in dealing with other scouts. *CLANG* Their weapons sh again, however, this time, Andrew makes Ian ufortable. Just when Ian was about to inflict a deep cut on Andrew''s neck, possibly even killing him in the process of doing so, Andrew retaliated by targeting Ian''s neck as well, forcing him to change the trajectory of his attack and use his dagger to deflect Andrew''s katar. He nned topletely disregard defense, willing to receive Ian''s attacks but inflicting one on him in the process. ''Hmmph¡­You think I''m scared of you?'' Ian thought as he activated [Enhanced Agility Lv.3] before closing in on Andrew, opting for another melee. Realizing that Ian already used his self-buff skill, Andrew did the same. Thus, in a high-speed melee battle a bit too fast for the untrained eye, the two scout students started exchanging blows again. Ian changed his initial dagger grip into a hammer grip before shing horizontally towards the left side of Andrew''s neck forcing him to turn his body to retaliate. Just when Andrew thought that they would go down together seeing that both of their attacks targeted each other''s neck, he was shocked upon realizing that his katar simply passed through Ian''s body. A mirage! "You''re mine!" *SPURT* Crimson blood chillingly spurted out in rming volumes as Ian cleanly shed Andrew''s throat open from behind. Chapter 149: Rise of a New Dark Horse However, before Andrew''s body could even copse to the ground, Ian caught him and unhesitatingly made him drink two full restoration potions which totaled a whopping 400 silver coins. The inexperienced people in the crowd were initially horrified after seeing the bone-chilling throat sh but after realizing that Ian, the one who shed Andrew''s throat open, immediately acted to save his opponent, the audience couldn''t help but p and cheer enthusiastically. Such kind-hearted gestures were rare in thepetition, gaining Ian a sizable amount of fans after such a heartwarming but ssy act. Due to the timely assistance, Andrew narrowly escaped the clutches of the grim reaper making his girlfriend who was watching from the crowd breathe a sigh of relief. Still, the poor girl was shaking after witnessing such a traumatizing scene. Fortunately, Ian wasn''t such an evil individual, prompting the girl to thank the gods and goddesses for allowing her beloved to remain by her side. Naturally, the girl was extremely grateful to Ian as well for deciding to spare Andrew. As for the other representatives of Orion Academy, their hearts and fighting spirits were deeply shaken, making them almost decide to quit. They were grateful that Ian decided to spare Andrew but at the same time, they were frustrated. Coming into the Adventurer Academypetition bearing high expectations from the faculty and their fellow students, the remaining representatives found it hard to simply quit. After all, if they lost, then they would only achieve a top 128 finish which was uneptable for them. Still, they understand in their hearts that if even Andrew was defeated quite easily, then they never stood a chance in the first ce. However, they were so used to mocking Colzen Academy that they couldn''t bring themselves to surrender. Thus, after going through a dilemma, the representatives decided to continue fighting until the end. Jonathan and Grace, the assigned representatives to fight in the two-on-two battles, hopped onto the stage with unexinable facial expressions, visibly going through some internal struggles. As for Kiin and Siegfried, they were as happy as a m when they stepped on the stage. The two of them really liked the fact that Ian didn''t deliberately kill the guy since they would be graduating soon and such kills during the Adventurer Academypetition might be detrimental to their future careers as adventurers. In other words, they were happy that Colzen''s reputation would probably increase due to Ian''s actions, and they, as his teammates, would probably benefit as well both in the short term and long term. Kiin and Siegfried looked at their opponents then looked and nodded at each other before drawing their weapons. Judging from the look in the eyes of their opponents, they would probably win easily. "Begin!" Sure enough, just a few seconds into the battle, Jonathan and Grace were already in trouble. Due to her unstable state of mind, Grace was failing spectacrly in holding off Siegfried who was graceful yet relentless with his attacks, making Grace stagger with each swing of his sword. Unfocused, Grace used her skills [Stoic Lv.3] and [Iron Fortress Lv.2] badly, wasting two precious skills that could be used to protect the mage, Jonathan. Meanwhile, although doing better than Grace, Jonathan was also having trouble dodging Kiin''s arrows while trying to burst down Siegfried who was relentlessly attacking. Methodically whittled down by Siegfried''s and Kiin''s attacks, the two heartbroken Orion representatives lost in two minutes, making the already dejected Orion crowd even more depressed after getting steamrolled by their rivals, Colzen Academy, who once again won with a resounding 3-0. "H-Hey¡­Isn''t Colzen bad news right now?" "They''re just too strong! A true dark horse!" "S-Shit¡­Maybe they could even get into the championship stage?" "Don''t be ridiculous! They would have to defeat either Springvale or Amarantha to advance to the championship stage, just impossible in my opinion!" Naturally, their easy peasy 3-0 win against an academy that had given them trouble in the past started a hugemotion in the crowd, finally making their name reverberate in the entirepetition as a potential academy that would make it into the championship stages. Although Orion Academy was fairly mediocre, they were considered as a gatekeeper academy which separates the elites from the mediocre ones. Since Colzen defeated them fairly easily, there was no way for other people to dismiss Colzen as a shitty academy anymore, officially entering the ranks of the elites in this year''s adventurer academypetition. Suddenly, some people who saw Colzen''s grand convoy remembered that Colzen dared to send two deans this year, making them shudder at the thought of Colzen actually making it into the top 8. Still, two more notable opponents stood in Colzen''s way so people didn''t dare hype up Colzen too much for fear of embarrassment. As for the Colzen representatives, they were happy about everything, be it the win or themotion since all of those would benefit them. Instantly after arriving at their academy station, Shye and the others were greeted by warm smiles, words of praise, a few high fives, and even some hugs from emotional instructors. As for Instructor Fienna, She simply gave them a smile and a nod of acknowledgment after a job well done. She wasn''t one to show her emotions easily and the representatives knew that so her smile and nod were just as good as a hug and a high-five in Shye''s eyes. *GROWL* A sudden low-growl reverberated inside the academy station prompting everyone to look in the direction of the sound. "Ahh¡­" Wendy was inwardly embarrassed, however, it was not evident in her ice-cold expression. Fortunately for her, everyone simply thought that it was cute. One of the few benefits of being a good-looking person. Realizing that it was almost lunchtime, Dean Privett stood up, cleared her throat, and gave each representative a¡­coupon. A bit embarrassed that they had to procure their own lunch due to a horrible lossst year, Dean Privett gave the students coupons that they could use to purchase something in the arena''s canteen. Naturally, the representatives understood their current status as a lousy academy that wasn''t expected to get past the second round of matches, thus, no food was delivered to their academy station. The representatives except for Wendy clenched their fists, inwardly vowing to change the fate of their academy with their own hands as the seven of them walked towards the canteen to grab some well-needed lunch. Chapter 150: The Three Dark Horses of the Competition "Ahh¡­Shit. This city keeps motivating me toe back¡­" Ian said as the seven of them arrived in the arena''s canteen, awestruck by what they were seeing. The canteen exuded a grand and opulent but lively ambiance, with high ceilings adorned with currently inactive, finely crafted, unique-shaped lights that cast a warm glow during the night. Expansive windows allow natural sunlight to illuminate the vast canteen during the daytime, entuating the simple yet ssy decorations littered on the sides of the canteen. Neat rows of chic wooden tables and plush seats were scattered in the entire canteen as if inviting everyone who dared enter to drown in the cardinal sin of gluttony. However, the luxurious decorations, seats, and tables weren''t the best part for Shye and the others. The best part for them was the diverse array of unique dishes stretched for as far as their eyes could see, each section manned by a disciplined staff member tasked to give them the portions they ordered and collect their payment. After admiring thevish canteen for a while, the seven of them temporarily dispersed, each one checking different food stations excitedly. ''This isn''t so bad¡­'' Shye thought as he enthusiastically checked each dish. A few minutester, the seven of them converged on a fairly huge table in the middle of the canteen and ate their meals happily. "Hey, have you heard?" "Heard what?" "About the three dark horses." "Psh¡­There you go again, dark horses this, dark horses that, when have these so-called dark horses dethroned the three kings?" "They haven''t¡­But! There''s a high chance this year that the three dark horses would throw the rankings into chaos. People said that the strength of these three dark horses is possibly on par with the regr top 16 finishers, possibly even grabbing one of the top 8 spots from the veterans!" "Hmmph! You say this every year but haven''t the top 16 academies remained the same? it''s only their rankings that differ each year¡­" "Yes¡­But you''ve got to believe me on this one! There are rumors that quite a few people bet their entire fortune on these three dark horses making it to the top 8! If they win, they''ll be rich as heck!" "Oh? If it''s like this then there must be some information others know and we don''t¡­right? Tell me then, who are these three dark horses?" Hearing the conversation of the two men at the table behind them, Shye and the others'' interests were piqued, prompting them to eavesdrop while eating. Except for Wendy of course, who was way too focused on eating her meal. "The first dark horse is Grumblethorne Academy, who easily defeated a regr championship stage academy like they were some sort of trash!" "Oh? Then you''re right! They might indeed have the ability to contend against the top 16!" "Didn''t I tell you already?! The next one is Poiper Academy, which usually only finishes around the top 128 or top 64, your usual mediocre academy I would say." "What did they do for them to be regarded as a dark horse?" "They¡­defeated Belfort Academy, an academy that has been a regr championship stage academy, and had once stood proud in the top 16!" "Holy shit!! Then is this Poiper Academy the biggest dark horse then?" "Well¡­It''s hard to tell¡­because¡­the third dark horse is the most mysterious¡­" "Oh? Which academy? And what did they do?" "Well it''s¡­Colzen Academy, all their wins from the first day until now were all quick 3-0s and that includes a battle against a gatekeeper Orion Academy." "Hmm? Well, that is indeed impressive but not on the level as the other two, no?" "I agree but there''s one more thing which makes this academy the most mysterious¡­" "Aiih! Why are you being mysterious?! Just tell me in full you little shit!!" "Shut up! It''s my story so wait for me to say it!! As I was saying, the thing that made them mysterious are the bets¡­" "Bets? Why?" "A friend of my friend heard from his friend that around a few hundred people bet their entire fortune on Colzen making it to the top 8!" "What?! They''re crazy!" Shye and the other representatives chuckled after hearing the conversation between the two and they couldn''t help but feel proud after knowing that they were considered a dark horse. ''Well, those few hundred people aside from us are indeed crazy for thinking that we would actually make it into the top 8 without knowing everything about us¡­'' Shye pondered. After a few more minutes, the Colzen representatives were done eating so they stood up with satisfied smiles on their faces and walked towards the exit of the canteen. Their next match wasing up soon so they had to return or they might be disqualified. While walking, the two men having a conversation behind them noticed the pristine white and blue uniform along with the proud insignia of Colzen Academy. "S-Shit! That''s Colzen! They were in front of us all this time?! D-Do you think they heard our conversation?" "Who cares?! Let''s follow them and watch their matches!" "H-Hey! Wait for me!" *** After a strength-restoring and peaceful lunch break, all the representatives from the academies who weren''t eliminated yet were pumped up and ready to fight again. With determined looks and confident smiles stered on their faces, they valiantly walk towards the arena of their next match, hungry to prove that their academies were better. Naturally, Shye and the others were among the people who wanted to prove themselves the most. Especially now that he learned of the few hundred people who bet their entire fortune on them. He wasn''t too concerned if they lost their money or not since they were the ones who decided to bet but he was sure that it would feel damn good if he managed to make these guys rich simply because they trusted him and his team. Finally, after a few more minutes, the staff member whispered something in the ears of the two deans. It was time for the third round of matches. Chapter 151: Return of the “Kind-Hearted†Aella "Look, there''s Colzen!" In the beginning, all they received were mockeries whenever they made an entrance. But now, the exuberant crowd was looking at them like an actual contender, the haters bing fewer and fewer as they sted through thepetition with straight 3-0 victories. After a few minutes of walking, the Colzen representatives arrived at the designated arena for their third-round match. "Tch¡­This Redwood Academy sure loves posturing. Do they think arrivingte would make them seem stronger than us? Delusional shitheads¡­" Kiin muttered upon realizing that they still arrived first even though the arena assigned to them was very far from their academy station. They didn''t mind letting these fraudulent clowns make fools out of themselves though. The more the Redwood representatives elevate their own statuses, the harder they fall when Shye and the others shit on their team. While waiting, Shye and the others couldn''t help but look at the foam-padded fancy wooden seats beside Intermediate Arena 2 and decided to make themselvesfortable. This was the first time that Colzen was ever assigned to fight in an intermediate arena so the representatives couldn''t help but feel proud that they were living up to the expectations of the deans and the students, even having a chance to surpass a top 8 finish. It seems that they managed to attract the attention of the tournament organizers by officially getting recognized as a dark horse by the crowd. Naturally, they n to use this chance not only to further increase the reputation of Colzen Academy but also to build up a reputation for themselves as rookie professional adventurers. The Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition was also considered as the scouting grounds of the various renowned adventurer guilds so they had to do their best not only for their academies but also for themselves. If they manage to catch the attention of such renowned adventurer guilds, then they would be off to a zing start as rookie adventurers. Finally, after waiting for a while, a group of students wearing brown uniforms with crimson-colored short capes arrived at the ringside across theirs with vengeful looks on their faces. Most of them were ring towards Shye who simply looked at them with a nonchnt expression on his face. He recognized the faces of these people and these are the same guys who visited their academy, with Ae and Roi looking the most vengeful out of everyone. They were raring to settle the score with Shye. In front of the group of students was a tough-looking warrior student with a scar on his left eye. His eye-catching hair was akin to scarlet grass, and his refined muscles told tales of discipline and maturity. ''So that''s their best representative who couldn''t make itst time huh?'' Shye inwardly thought, slightly licking his lips as thoughts of having a banger match against the strongest representative of Redwood Academy flooded his mind. "H-Hey g-guys¡­Can I¡­Fight that guy?" Shye looked at his teammates and said while stuttering in embarrassment, this was the second time that he chose to throw the n out the window which was quite irresponsible as the strongest representative. "Aiihh¡­Again? When will you ever stick to the n?!" Kiin scowled. Their n was for Shye to participate in the third match, the two-on-two, to secure the most crucial round. One of Ian''s strengths is one-on-one duels against warriors and the guy''s fighting style isn''t suited for team fights so he was supposed to be the one to fight the strongest representative of Redwood Academy. Just when Shye was reluctantly about to give up the chance to earn massive points, Ian spoke: "I''m okay with it. I want to teach that pretentious girl a lesson anyway so you can have that spiky-haired dude." "Aiih this is why he''s a¨C" "Colzen Academy, in the first match, you''re the ones who have to send out a fighter first. Please decide quickly or I have no choice but to give the first round to Redwood Academy." Kiin''s words were cut short as the referee walked closer to their seats and gave them a warning. "Well, then, I''m off!" Ian said as he quickly jumped up the stage without waiting for Kiin''s reply. "Aiih! Do what you want!" Kiin replied as he sat down, frustrated about the fact that their team had never once followed the n. From the very first match, someone would always act selfishly and throw the n out the window. Meanwhile, Siegfried simply chuckled at Kiin''s frustration and said: "Now, now, don''t worry too much, and let''s enjoy ourselves" "Tch¡­I give up, just do what you guys want!" After Ian gracefullynded on the stage, a young woman who was deemed "second-best" in Redwood Academy stepped forth carrying a cerulean elemental staff. As expected, it was Ae who fought first. It is a standard strategy to send your second-best representative on the first match because not only would your academy be able to have a higher chance of winning the first match, but the representative would also be able to recover in time for the three-on-three or two-on-two match. A really strong but versatile tactic. After all, the strongest representative couldn''t fight twice so the second-strongest would be the perfect one to do so. Still, strong and versatile as it may be, the tactic had a drawback. If the second-best representative lost the first match badly, then he/she couldn''t fight again. "Hmmph! Instead of acting humble and being a good role model to your lower ssmen, you representatives from Colzen are simply way too arrogant! Let me humble you for the sake of your lowe¨C" "Cut the crap, I don''t care about anything you''re saying, I sure don''t care about being a good role model as well, just assume your battle stance and let''s fight!" Ian said, rudely cutting Ae''s words. He absolutely abhorred pretentious people like her and couldn''t stand listening to the bullshit thates out of their mouths one bit. Thus, with a cold smile on his face, Ian drew his ming dagger and held it in a dagger grip as he assumed his battle stance. ''Unfortunately for you, unlike Crowley, I don''t like holding back against people like you¡­'' Chapter 152: Redwood Academy’s Strongest Representative ''Hmmph! You rude little shit! Let''s see if you can catch me!'' Ae thought to herself as she red at Ian who was eagerly waiting for the match to start. She was quite excited about this match-up because scouts were considered a nightmare for mages. Ae believes that only Shye was a threat in the entire Colzen roster and that such an unknown scout would simply be her stepping stone to greatness. "Begin!" Unfortunately for her, although Ian currently had a meager reputation, his skills were the real deal. Immediately after the referee announced the start of the match, Ian used [Blink Strike Lv.3] to reappear behind Ae. ''Hmmph! Such pitiful tricks won''t be ab¨C?!'' Ae was horrified, she tried activating her repositioning skills but for some reason she¡­couldn''t. *CRACK* "AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" A nauseating crack followed by a bone-chilling scream reverberated in the vicinity of Intermediate Arena 2 as Ian ruthlessly destroyed Ae''s right arm, forcing her to let go of her staff. He then immediately followed up by destroying all four of her limbs, making Ae go insane from the sheer amount of pain. "AELLA!!" The spiky-haired man eximed in a worried and distressed tone, almost jumping up the stage to avenge his girlfriend right then and there. Fortunately, the other representatives worked together and managed to hold him back, otherwise, he would be disqualified for breaking the rules. As for Ae, her suffering finally ended as she fell into theforting embrace of oblivion. Seeing that the representative from Redwood Academy was incapacitated just a few seconds after the match started, the referee snapped out of his stupor and announced Ian''s win. Naturally, the Colzenpanion students cheered their lungs out after another decisive victory, slowly forgetting the bitter defeatst year as they got drunk on the feeling of continuous victories. It was understandable though as their representatives haven''t lost a single battle up to now. "Pfft! This girl¡­after everything she said about teaching the scout a lesson, she was the one who got taught a lesson!" "Hahaha¡­talk aboutme¡­" "She shouldn''t speak so much if she doesn''t have any skills¡­" Hearing the mocking words of the crowd infuriated the spiky-haired student, who was clenching his fists so hard that blood started flowing due to his nails digging into his palm. The guy knew that Ae was done for and she wouldn''t be able to participate in the tournament anymore even if they managed to win this match against Colzen. Although broken bones could be healed with different kinds of potions and medicines, it would take around ten to twelve days for the bones to regenerate so Ae was definitely not joining the battles any time soon. ''You ruthless and arrogant bastards¡­I''ll make you pay¡­'' The spiky-haired guy said as he slowly walked up the stage with a cold look on his face, eager to avenge Ae. "Gray! Avenge Ae for us!" Roi yelled at the top of his lungs, visibly desperate to immediately take back a win against their rivals, Colzen. The Redwood crowd was visibly excited as their strongest representative, Gray, went up the stage. One would naturally have the urge to shut the opposing group up after hearing how loud their cheers are, or at least cheer for one''s own representative in a louder and more explosive voice. "Oh! Senior Crowley''s going to fight their strongest representative!" Thus, when Shye walked up the stage, the Colzen crowd counter-attacked with loud cheers of their own. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Gray Elliot [Level]: 53 [ss]: Warrior [Strength: 87] [Intelligence: 15] [Agility: 77] [Dexterity: 74] [Stamina: 65] [Vitality: 80]: [Wisdom: 10] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Hoh? He''s pretty strong¡­still weaker than Siegfried though¡­'' Shye pondered as he stared at Gray with slightly narrowed eyes. "Heh, you seem to be quite famous in your academy. Unfortunately, you''re up against me. I''ll make you pay for your academy''s sins" Celebrated by his academy as the most talented warrior student in the history of the academy, Gray believed that he could even stand up against the students of the top three academies. Thus, he didn''t believe that the so-called strongest representative of Colzen could hold a candle against him. He heard that the guy only defeated Ae by a "narrow margin" before and the scout from earlier who defeated Ae easily simply had the skill to counter mages with lots of repositioning skills. In other words, he wasn''t convinced that these representatives from Colzen were as skilled as people say. Blue lightning snaked around the des of Gray''s falchion as he drew it out of its sheath, making him look like an indomitable lightning god as he gracefully walked closer to Shye, his sword pointed to the ground. Just from his poise, one would think that no one would be his match in the knockout stages. Seeing his boyfriend looking extremely cool, Ae, who just woke up, slightly blushed. Although she couldn''t wave her arms around due to her broken bones, she wanted to cheer for Gray, eager to see the downfall of the arrogant bastards from Colzen Academy. Unfortunately, such intimidation tactics would work on anyone but Shye. He already knew that he was ahead in terms of attributes so why would his enemy''s pretentious antics scare him? ''Hmm¡­Should I test my harrowing aura on this guy? It said that I could select my target¡­right? There shouldn''t be any light creatures around either¡­'' Shye pondered as he drew his favorite de, Nightbringer. This time, purple sparks glittered as a purple lightning snake coiled around the greatsword''s de, looking slightly more intimidating than Gray''s falchion. ''Hmmph! Mid-grade enchantment? Colzen was actually willing to invest mid-grade enchantment gemstones in this guy? Hrious!'' Gray thought to himself as he coldly stared at Shye who naturally didn''t shrink back. Two strongest representatives, both warrior students stood face to face as the crowd waited for the match to start with bated breaths. "Begin!" Gray nned to immediately overwhelm Shye right at the start of the match but for some reason, he felt ufortable. A bit fidgety, Gray decided to take things slowly. Chapter 153: Fear Under the rays of the scorching sun, two warriors circled each other as sweat trickled down their necks. "HYAAH!" Finally, after a few seconds of observing each other''s movements, the silence was broken as Gray ferociously lunged towards Shye. shing his lightning falchion diagonally, Gray bravely stepped forward. *CLANG* The first sh of swords told everyone what they wanted to know: who was stronger. Unfortunately, they didn''t see any spicy developments as both warriors seemed to be fairly equal in strength, the only difference was, that one was more aggressive than the other. ''Hmmph! Let''s see if you can keep up with me'' Gray thought to himself as he bravely rushed towards Shye once again. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Gray hacked, shed, and stabbed his falchion toward the Colzen representative, drowning Shye in a relentless onught of attacks. The intensity of his moves was diverse, sometimes soft and adaptable, often hard and forceful. Under Gray''s ruthless assault, the so-called "legend" of Colzen Academy slowly fell into a disadvantage. At least that''s what''s visible on the surface level. Unbeknownst to them, Shye was experimenting. He was deliberately making the matchst longer than it should to test out the effects of his semi-passive skill, [(Dark) Harrowing Aura Lv.1 (Semi-Passive)(Rare)]. Seeing that their representative, Gray, was "slowly winning" against Colzen''s strongest representative, the Redwood crowd was going crazy, their cheers bing louder with every fierce strike. In contrast, the Colzen crowd was calm. They knew better than to count their Senior Crowley out. Heck, he hadn''t even shown his berserk fighting style so they knew that their senior wasn''t serious yet. Seconds flew by turning into minutes while minutes gradually turned into a whole hour. ''Why?! Why can''t I defeat him?!'' Gray inwardly thought, panic evident on his face, the rate of his heartbeat, unusually high. By now, a total of 181 stacks of [Fear] has engraved itself in Gray''s heart. Although the stacks weren''t permanent, they would only continue to go up as he continued to stay inside the skill''s range. Meanwhile, inside a luxurious office with vast windows, an elegant chandelier, and intricately designed walls, a person was sitting in afortable yet imposing chair. The person was a middle-aged man with short maple hair, thick but sharp eyebrows, mesmerizing lips, and eyes akin to an eagle''s. Although already slightly past his prime, the man looked extremely dashing, charisma oozing out of his pores, making people want to follow him naturally. "Oh? Such a young man already got his hands on a darkness element semi-passive skill? I wonder how he got it¡­" The middle-aged man muttered to himself as he rubbed his chin, looking extremely interested in watching a certain battle from afar. The man then sharply nced towards his subordinate and said: "Increase the poprity of Colzen, spread rumors that they are on the same level as the top 16 academies." "Will do, Sir s" *** In Intermediate Arena 2, the battle was reaching its peak. The crowd rooting for Colzen was going wild while those who wanted Redwood to win were currently silent. This was due to the recent developments where the Colzen representative, who was on the losing end of the exchanges for an entire hour, seemed to suddenly turn into the predator hunting its prey. Gray backpedaled desperately as the initially passive Shye now hunted him like a bloodthirsty beast. In his eyes, Shye was slowly looking like some sort of sinister beast. ''Shit! Shit! What''s happening I''m¡­scared? Of who?!'' Gray inwardly raged as he struggled to fend off Shye''s attacks. Finally, after a few more minutes, the stacks of fear exceeded 200. "D-Demon! AAAAAAHHHHH!" Everyone was stupefied as the initial aggressor, Gray, who went in with a quest for revenge, suddenly turned around and ran away from his opponent like a mentally ill man. *SPURT* Unfortunately for him, Shye had better attributes so running away was impossible. After being hit cleanly in the back by a [Power sh Lv.4]-empowered attack, a harrowing wound opened up, allowing everyone to slightly see Gray''s white spine. Blood spurted out from the wound in rming volumes as Gray''s body fell to the ground with a thud, no one knew whether he was dead or alive. "GRAY!" Ae shrieked in a horrified voice. She wanted to rush to Gray''s side but her bones were broken and she couldn''t even stand up. If there was one thing Shye learned from Ian, it was that people appreciated a ssy act of saving one''s opponent. Thus, he unhesitatingly opened two bottles of greater health potion and made the unconscious and dying Gray drink them. Then¡­As expected¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 12,490 points!] The heavenly sound of the system''s notification was followed by a mad explosion of cheers from the audience. Naturally, the Colzenpanion students were among those who were cheering the loudest as their undefeated war god, Shye Crowley, pulled out another win, continuing his miraculous legend of invincibility. Seeing the current developments, a small group of people who were watching in the crowd started panicking. "Shit¡­How is this Colzen so strong?! Why didn''t we learn about this earlier?!" The captain of the Odds Department of ELMBets, Roger, was frustrated. He inwardly reprimanded himself for not doing his job properly of scouting the lower-ranked academies. Over the years, no lower-ranked academy managed to topple the top 16 academies so his thinking was, that as long as he regrly checked on the strength of those in the top 32, they would never encounter a problem. Which was true to some extent. Unfortunately for him, Colzen was just too abnormal this year so he really fucked up by putting out an 80:1 odds for Colzen. If Colzen Academy actually managed to pull off the impossible and achieve a top 8 finish, then their betting station would be bankrupt. Roger started biting his nails in frustration and anxiety, trying to think of a solution. Although no one was sure if Colzen could indeed make it in the top 8, having a few extra precautions wouldn''t hurt. As long as their betting station could survive this ordeal, then he would have another chance to do his job properly. The gears in Roger''s head shifted and turned for a few minutes before he managed to think of a solution. "Haaah¡­I hope this solves it¡­" he thought to himself as he stood up and returned to his workce, hoping that his n would be approved by Elmer. Chapter 154: Amarantha vs Springvale "Crap! Colzen is the real deal!" "Another 3-0! They''re looking just like the top 16 academies!" Due to Gray''s embarrassing loss, Redwood Academy didn''t have the heart to continue fighting. Dean Aran smartly decided to cut their losses and call the representatives back, choosing to surrender in the two-on-two match lest they just add embarrassment to themselves. After an impressive win streak all of which were smooth 3-0 victories, the doubters whoughed at the notion of Colzen being a dark horse were forced to pay attention to the rising academy. Currently, they''ve already secured a respectable top 64 finish, however, Shye and the others were naturally gunning for the top spots so such a mediocre finish wasn''t enough for them. With minimal celebration upon returning to their academy station, the two deans, the instructors, and the representatives immediately tuned in to the holographic television to watch the intense fight between the substitute representatives of Springvale and Amarantha academies. The score was currently 2-2 and this fierce battle would decide their next opponent. Visible on the moderatelyrge holographic screen were two people, a young man and a young woman, both scouts. The young man who donned a dirty-white and green Springvale Academy uniform had a slender but toned body, long tied-up hair, and average facial features. Meanwhile, the young woman wore a light-magenta uniform that represented Amarantha Academy, had short blueberry hair, mesmerizing facial features, alluring curves, a bountiful chest, and a perky butt, looking extremely gorgeous. Based on the developments of the substitute representative duel, it seems that the young woman was narrowly winning. However, the young man maintained a calm demeanor, looking as if he would be able to handle everything even if the world copsed on his shoulders today. After a short break to catch their breaths, the two scout students immediately got back to attacking each other. Their contrasting styles were like fire and water as the young man''s attacks were fast, forceful, and destructive while the young woman''s was like water, soft, graceful, and adaptable. Finally, the young man seemed to be a little frustrated. After attacking so much, he had a hard time believing that the young woman was still keeping up with his fast-paced attacks. A single excessive swing of his ming dagger caused the young man the match as the young woman dodged his attack with frightening precision before counterattacking with a vicious stab towards the young man''s neck. *SPURT* Blood fountained from the hole in the young man''s neck as the defeated representative''s body limped to the ground. It was unknown whether he would live or die. Such ruthlessness made Wendy swallow a mouthful of saliva as she repeatedly told herself that this was just how cruel the world was and that she had to ept and adapt to it. Else, she wouldn''tst long. Fortunately, the masterful medics managed to save the life of the young man in time as the crowd went wild after the gorgeous young woman''s victory. "So it''s gonna be Amarantha Academy huh¡­" Dean Privett muttered. She then immediately ordered everyone to gather around the wooden tables to strategize. Their next match will decide whether they had the capabilities to grab one of the top eight spots so the two deans didn''t dare take a willy-nilly approach. This wasn''t their first time fighting against such strong academies but this was the first time they had an actual chance to defeat them. Before, they would simply me themselves for being unlucky when matched up against such academies, however, now, their hearts were zing with excitement and anticipation. Be it the deans, the instructors, or the representatives, all of them were raring to pit themselves against strong opponents. "Everyone, the next match is thest match of the day. It will also decide whether we advance to the championship stage for the first time in the entire history of the academy." "A firm mountain that stood tall for thest couple of decades is standing in our way in the form of Amarantha Academy" "Today, we shall make history by ttening that mountain down." After hearing such bold words of trust from Dean Privett, the Colzen Avengers were pumped up. Seeing that her short speech managed to achieve the desired effect, the dean immediately materialized a pen and paper out of thin air. She then started to masterfully scribble words on the small piece of paper for a few seconds and once she was done, she cast some sort of magic to replicate the paper into seven pieces. Watching someone write was definitely a boring task but the way Dean Privett did it was nothing short of mesmerizing and before they knew it, the papers were already handed to them. Carlos Andrade (Strongest Representative) - Sorcery gauntlet user, a battle-mage that fights like a warrior, a strong fire element user, good at both close-range and long-range battles, good in dueling every ss, great team fight sense, always cool, calm, and collected. Shenaya Boulders - Tank-type warrior, equipment is top-notch, patient, and steady, does her job of protecting teammates well, decent in duels against archers, scouts, and other warriors, not good in fighting mages, extremely high team fight IQ. Ryden Thunderp - warrior (Tachi user), weapon is enchanted with a mid-grade enchantment opal, extremely hot-headed, impatient, and aggressive, good in dueling all sses but bad at team fights. Ho-bin Rood - Archer (Crossbow user), extremely good in close-range and mid-range battles but still decent in long-range battles, extremely good in two-on-two battles, has a body built for speed. ¡­ ¡­ ¡­ Shye and the other representatives patiently read all the information regarding their next opponents. They were so immersed that the gears of their brains kept shifting and turning as they imagined how they would fight each Amarantha representative. Seeing how focused they were, the two deans smiled and waited for them to finish their thought processes. Once the representatives were done, their eyes shimmered as a look of determination and anticipation emerged on their young faces. From the looks of it, their next opponents were the real deal and they couldn''t wait to test their mettle against such apetent roster. Chapter 155: Way Too Infuriating The deans trusted them to make their own decisions for the uing match, only giving them one instruction which they had to absolutelyply with. Dean Privett''s lone instruction was for Shye to fight in the third match and that selfishness shall not be tolerated even if they win. Aside from that, the representatives themselves have the final call on who to send out for each round. "Deans, it''s time. Please proceed to Large Arena 4 for your academy''s fourth-round match" Hearing what the staff member said, everyone inside the Colzen Academy station was shocked. Thebination of words that the staff member said felt like a heavenly tune as everyone''s heart started beating faster. This was a huge chance to gain poprity! There were only fourrge arenas beside the main arena in the middle and three of thoserge arenas were already reserved for the matches of the top three academies so they couldn''t believe that their match against Amarantha Academy would be held in arge arena. Fully prepared and giddy with anticipation, the Colzen representatives strode out of the academy station and energetically walked towards Large Arena 4. Meanwhile, inside the luxurious office with vast windows providing a full view of the tournament, the middle-aged man''s subordinate spoke: "Is this arrangement alright sir? Wouldn''t the other academiesin if Colzen turned out to be too ipetent?" The middle-aged man, s, simply chuckled at his subordinate''s remark. He then took a hit of the premium quality cigar stuck between his index and middle fingers before replying: "Alex, do you not trust my decisions anymore?" "I do sir but¨C" "Then just watch, Colzen will give everyone a big surprise." Seeing the confident look on s'' face, Alex didn''t dare speak again and simply watched as the Colzen representatives made themselvesfortable on thevish and plush ringside seats of Large Arena 4. "Hey, look! Colzen and Amarantha''s match will be held on Large Arena 4!" "What? Are the organizers crazy? Why would they let such a trashy academy like Colzen fight in such arge arena? Wouldn''t they just quickly lose?" "Ha! You ill-informed lowlife! If only you saw how fierce Colzen''s representatives were!" "What did you call me?!" Naturally, such a curveball of a decision was met with lots of questioning from the passionate crowd. Although some people were defending Colzen, they were too few and far betweenpared to the haters. As for Shye and the others, they were too busy enjoying their cozy ringside station to care about the opinions of the crowd. Seeing their happy looks made the representatives of Amarantha sneer in disdain. Earlier, they were a bit displeased about the fact that the deans didn''t even let them rest for a bit before calling them for another urgent meeting. They were aware of the brackets and thought that their toughest battle would be against Springvale Academy which they already won. Thus, they couldn''t understand the decision to call an urgent meeting due to a puny Colzen Academy. Sure, they heard that Colzen had a few amazing feats like winning 3-0 against gatekeeper academies but in their egoistic opinion, everyone in the top 16 could easily shit on those gatekeeper academies so they didn''t think that Colzen would be a threat. In addition to this, an unpleasant thought crept into their minds. ''Does the deans not even trust us to take care of such a mediocre academy?'' The stern expressions on the faces of the deans and the instructors only added to their frustration. Still, they were from a powerhouse academy and knew that failure wasn''t an option so they forced themselves to actively participate in the urgent meeting even though they were displeased. "Look at the hillbillies, aren''t they too happy about fighting in arge arena?" "Hahaha! I bet they would die contented if the administrators assigned them to fight in the main arena!" Hearing mocking words from across the arena, the short-tempered Colzen representatives immediately turned their heads and stared daggers at the Amarantha representatives. However, their threatening res were met with nothing but further ridicule andughter. It was pretty evident that although they participated in the emergency meeting, they didn''t take the words of their deans to heart. They just couldn''t see themselves losing against such a mediocre academy no matter how talented its current batch is. The Colzen representatives understood that the Amarantha representatives were sincerely looking down on them, thus, they had no ns to respect the bastards as they did not deserve respect. At that moment, time seemed to slow down to a crawl for Shye and the others. The Amarantha representatives were just too infuriating and they couldn''t wait to teach them a lesson. Being a perennial contender on the championship stage, Amarantha Academy had the responsibility of selecting and presenting their representative first, allowing the Colzen representatives to choose a fitting representative in response. A slight advantage given to the underdogs. They didn''t think too hard though and nonchntly sent their hotheaded representative, Ryden Thunderp. Naturally, such a guy wouldn''t have good manners. Immediately uponnding on the stage, Ryden drew his mid-grade opal-enchanted Tachi prompting purple sparks to emerge as a purple lightning snake coiled around the des of his weapon, looking extremely menacing. He then looked at the Colzen representatives with an arrogant smirk on his face and said in a loud voice: "Come on, just pick anyone. It wouldn''t matter anyway. Lowlives like you guys are bound to lose to the true elites so stop posturing and just let me expose you frauds." The Amarantha representatives seemed way too talented at pissing people off as even Siegfried couldn''t help but slightly gnash his teeth, fed up with the bullshiting out of the Amarantha representatives'' mouths. "Let me handle this" Siegfried said as he unhesitatingly jumped up the stage, grabbed the handle of his tachi, and gracefully pulled it out of its customized sheath. As the tachi moved through the air, a purple sh marksted in the air for a few seconds, temporarily devouring the air that surrounded it before slowly dissipating into nothingness. Naturally, the lingering sh mark immediately revealed the element of the low-grade relic. People couldn''t help but stare at him dumbfoundedly, wondering how the hell could a student from a mediocre academy procure low-grade void enchantment gemstones. Chapter 156: Failed Riposte "Hoh? It''s truly fascinating that a lowlife like you could get his hands on a low-grade void gemstone. How about a bet?" Ryden smiled and said as he greedily eyed Siegfried''s tachi. After hearing Ryden''s words and seeing his expression, Siegfried''s eyes narrowed into slits. It seems that his opponent took a liking to his weapon. He knew that the value of his tachi was exorbitant for a student and regr people wouldn''t be willing to risk losing it in a bet. However, Siegfried wasn''t someone who would shrink back from a challenge. In addition to this, he liked bets, especially bets on who would win in a fight. Thus, after seemingly pondering for a bit, Siegfried smiled before replying: "Alright then, let''s bet. If I win, then give me all of your equipment including your sword. If you win, you can have my low-grade void relic." "Hahahaha! You must be dreaming. You dare eye all of my equipment? Even if your sword is a low-grade void relic, the total cost of my equipment still surpasses the price of your relic." "Heh, after all that tough talk you''re gonna wuss out? Fine then, we don''t have to bet if you''re too scared of losing." Veins popped on the sides of Ryden''s head, feeling utterly infuriated after being insulted by someone he deemed a lowlife. Although Ryden knew that his opponent was just riling him up to trick him into a disadvantageous bet, he wasn''t willing to take insults from this Colzen Academy mongrel. Thus, fully aware that he was at a disadvantage, Ryden decided to go through with the bet. "Hah, delusional people like you are bing way too arrogant. Fine then, I shall bet all of my current equipment in exchange for your tachi. There''s no way a little countryside mongrel like you could defeat me anyway." After saying his piece, Ryden immediately assumed his battle stance with a sneer on his face. As for Siegfried, he was quite happy. He wasn''t worried that Ryden would renege on the bet since there were lots of eyes on them right now. If he still had the gall to do so, then Siegfried didn''t mind forcefully taking the items from him. Seeing that the two representatives were done talking, the referee extended his hands forward before jerking them upwards, signaling the start of the match. "Begin!" Ryden immediately charged at Siegfried, not respecting him in the slightest as he raised his sword and chopped it downwards in one swift motion. ''Hoh? This guy is pretty skilled¡­'' Siegfried smilingly thought as he slightly stepped back and raised his sword, angling it perfectly to gracefully parry Ryden''s downward chop. Not expecting Siegfried to easily receive his blow, Ryden''s chopping motion continued until his sword almost hit the ground, giving Siegfried a huge opening to counterattack. Siegfried decisively stepped his right foot forward before pivoting to face Ryden, viciously shing diagonally downwards as he aimed to separate Ryden''s head from his body. Unfortunately, Ryden wasn''t one to be defeated so easily. Although done awkwardly, Ryden managed to retreat on time but he was not able to escape unscathed as a shallow cut scarred his slightly handsome face. Feeling warm blood dripping down his cheeks, Ryden was infuriated. He couldn''t believe that the lowly mongrel managed to wound him first. "You¡­Little¡­Shit!!" In a fit of rage, Ryden immediately activated his self-buff skills, [Enhanced Agility Lv.3], [Enhanced Dexterity Lv.3], and [Enhanced Strength Lv.3]. He then charged at Siegfried once again with a furious expression as he ferociously hacked, shed, and stabbed at him, attempting to overwhelm Siegfried with a flurry of quick but ferocious blows. Naturally, Siegfried realized that Ryden already used his self-buff skills so he also did the same in order to keep up. Once his self-buff skills were active, Siegfried managed to recover. Although he was still on the back foot due to Ryden''s relentless onught, he was as cool as a cucumber. While backpedaling, Siegfried calmly blocked, parried, and dodged Ryden''s blows while asionally counterattacking with shes and stabs of his own. "Hahaha! Stay curled up like a turtle! Let''s see if you can win like that!" Ryden said as he smiled crazily while continuing to attack. Siegfried simply ignored his taunts though because ording to the piece of paper handed to them by Dean Privett, Ryden was a hotheaded and impatient individual so Siegfried was sure that as long as he took his time, Ryden would give him an opening to exploit. Sure enough, after around five minutes of continuous aggression, Ryden started bing angrier and angrier. His swings slowly lostpactness as he unknowingly began to attack with reckless abandon. Unbeknownst to him, the current circumstances are where Siegfried shines best. His chilling calmness in battle forged through numerous duels allowed him to dodge Ryden''s blows with increasingly terrifying precision. Finally, after narrowly dodging one of Ryden''s blows, Siegfried''s honed instincts told him to bet it all on the next attack. Unhesitatingly, Siegfried immediately used his trump cardbination, [Power sh Lv.3] + [Ethereal Sword Lv.3] to not only increase his attack power but also allow his sword to phase through Ryden''s sword. Still, Ryden was no slouch, he immediately sensed the danger and unhesitatingly used his reposition skill, [Swallow step Lv.3] to immediately recover his bnce. Subsequently, he used a defensive skill, [Riposte Lv.3] to counterattack immediately after their swords shed. However, who would''ve thought that there would be no sh of swords? Ryden''s skill was rendered useless as Siegfried''s ghostly skill-empowered attack simply passed through Ryden''s sword and struck him squarely in the chest. "Puhaahk!" Fortunately for Ryden, he was d in a low-grade earth element enchanted breastte or he would''ve been shed in half by the skill-empowered sh while the purple sh mark would have devoured small bits of his flesh. Due to his earth element armor, Ryden managed to avoid a brutal death. Still, he was left in terrible shape after receiving Siegfried''s attack, spitting out blood in rming volumes as thepetitive glow in his eyes slowly dimmed. Chapter 157: Gorgeous Young Woman The match developments simply happened too fast and before everyone''s brains could process what happened, Ryden was already lying on the ground, incapacitated. Siegfried''s decisive victory was soon followed by reverberating cheers from the massive crowd as the underdog from Colzen turned the match around with a single ghostly but powerful blow. Those who bet their entire fortune on Colzen heaved a sigh of relief and almost wanted to cry in tion. Although Colzen hasn''t won yet, the fact that they could get a win against the top 16 academies proved that they have what it takes to achieve a top 8 finish. Meanwhile, everyone on Amarantha Academy''s side was stupefied, shaken by Ryden''s by far most brutal loss. Being defeated in such a manner after talking so much shit was just too humiliating so the other representatives from Amarantha Academy simply froze as they looked at Ryden''s incapacitated body; their brains failing to think about what to do next. Siegfried looked down on Ryden who was lying on the ground for a few moments, further highlighting his glorious victory before suddenly doing something which brought even the petrified Amarantha back to their senses. Before the medical staff could even arrive, Siegfried swiftly took all of Ryden''s equipment including his mid-grade opal-enchanted tachi, and stored them inside his spatial bag. Then, under everyone''s dumbstruck gazes, Siegfried stepped down and returned to the ringside station of Colzen Academy. *BANG* Seeing how the Colzen representative mercilessly looted Ryden''s incapacitated body as if he were a corpse, Amarantha Academy''s dean was enraged. The armrest of his plush chair was destroyed as he mmed his hands down in fury. Although he heard about the bet between the Colzen representative and Ryden, he couldn''t believe that these Colzen representatives dared to collect their winnings in such a manner. *BLEEP* The enraged dean pressed the button of his mana-powered microphone to contact their strongest representative, Carlos Andrade, and give him an instruction. "Carlos, what happened?! Didn''t I tell you guys not to underestimate Colzen?!" "Apologies, Dean Agra. I should''ve reminded Ryden before he went up on stage¡­" "Do not make such a mistake again. We need to sweep the remaining rounds, no need to hide Ava''s skills anymore, let her go wild." "Understood" *BLEEP* The usually calm and collected Carlos clenched his fists tightly after the call from Dean Agra, slightly regretting the fact that he initially didn''t take the words of the deans and the instructors to heart which caused them to lose the first round. Now he understood why Dean Agra called for an urgent meeting. Carlos took a few moments to calm his negative emotion-filled heart before deciding to ept the fact that their opponents were indeed a threat, cing them on the same level as the other top 16 academies. After what just happened, he couldn''t treat these representatives from Colzen like trash anymore. He also instructed his teammates to shut the hell up until they take back the lead from Colzen, saving Amarantha Academy from further reputation damage. While the Amarantha representatives were having slight internal struggles, Colzen already sent their next representative up the stage. Ian had an annoying smirk stered on his face as he looked at the Amarantha representatives like a bunch of clowns. Earlier, he was truly infuriated about the fact that the Amarantha representatives were genuinely regarding them as lowlives not for the purpose of pissing them off, but "from the bottom of their heart" way. Seeing the Amarantha representatives shut their mouths as they looked at him warily was truly satisfying. ''Hmm? Her? I thought she was just a substitute representative?'' Ian thought to himself as he watched the gorgeous young woman with blueberry hair walk up the stage with intrigue. "Ava Rosan, fourth-year scout course student from Amarantha Academy" Ava said before doing a respectful bow, catching Ian off-guard. "I-Ian Izanagi, fourth year scout course student from Colzen Academy" Ian awkwardly introduced himself as he bowed to reciprocate the gorgeous woman''s polite gesture. ''I guess she wasn''t an arrogant one huh¡­'' he thought, fully spaced out. "Ian!" Due to the pleasant interaction, Ian didn''t notice that the referee already announced the start of the match so he almost got beheaded by a ferocious horizontal neck sh from Ava Fortunately, a timely call from Kiin woke him up from his stupor on time, allowing him to forcibly jerk his dagger upwards and gracelessly block Ava''s attack. *CLANG* ''Crap! That was way too close! This woman''s face is freaking dangerous¡­'' Ian inwardly thought as he struggled to stabilize his footing. Unfortunately for him, Ava wouldn''t let him recover so easily. As Ian was sliding back, Ava decisively used her skill [Blink Strike Lv.3] to suddenly reappear behind Ian who was still struggling to stand firmly, and savagely plunged her dagger deep into his neck. *FWOOSH* Ava was already prepared to bathe in Ian''s blood, however, shockingly, as her dagger dug deep into Ian''s neck, there was no blood at all. Instead, her dagger simply passed through him as if he were nothing but a ghost. "You''re pretty good." rm bells rang inside Ava''s head after hearing Ian''s voice behind her. She hurriedly gripped her dagger backward before quickly spinning to stab her dagger in Ian''s neck, masterfully determining his exact location through his voice. Unfortunately, she was still a second toote as she felt a sharp pain on the left side of her waist. Warm blood flowed through the stab wound as Ava momentarily felt her strength leave her body causing her spinning neck stab to miss by a small margin. She was then kicked by Ian squarely in the chest, sending her rolling on the ground, and creating a horrifying trail of blood in the process. "Puhaahk!" Ava spat out a mouthful of blood as she gently blocked the grievous wound on her waist with the palm of her left hand to temporarily stop the bleeding. However, in the next second, a shocking thing happened. A small emerald light illuminated her palms as the deep wound closed at a speed visible to the human eye, making Ian regret not capitalizing on his advantage. Chapter 158: Shadow Dancer ''Shit! Thisss had a self-healing skill?'' Ian thought as he quickly used [Blink Strike Lv.3] to reappear behind Ava in an attempt to stop her from healing the stab wound he inflicted. Unfortunately, he was a little toote. Upon reappearing behind Ava, the wound was already closed. In addition to this, the experienced Amarantha representative seemed to have predicted that he would do this. Thus, his sneaky but slightly predictable strike ended up being cleanly blocked by Ava. ''Tch, so it wouldn''t be that easy huh? Come then, show me what you got.'' Ian thought as he jumped back from Ava, a confident smile stered on his face. The crowd was going crazy due to the insane high-speed exchanges between the two representatives. One moment, the young woman was pressing the Colzen representative but then, the next moment, she ended up getting stabbed after getting tricked by an afterimage from the skilled young man. Such quick high-level battle sequences were the main essence of a scout vs. scout battle, so such a match-up had always been a banger match. ''Haaah¡­Look at Ian, hogging all the glory¡­I bet he would get around twenty to thirty thousand points just from this battle if he had the system¡­'' Shye sighed in regret as he watched Ian and Ava''s intense battle like a jealous side character. He consoled himself by saying that he would get to fight soon. Meanwhile, inside the luxurious office, s chuckled as he watched the ongoing battle in Large Arena 4. He then turned his head to look at Alex and said: "What do you think about Colzen?" "Yes, Sir s is correct about Colzen. It seems that they are indeed a top 8 contender. However, if this is all they have, I don''t think that they would be able to defeat the three kings so I shall rank them at around fourth or fifth strongest." "Hohoh¡­Well then, let''s continue watching them, shall we? It seems that the battle ising to an end." ¡­ Warm scarlet blood flowed out of Ava''s dreadful injuries. Coming in with overflowing confidence, Ava thought that this young man would end up as another stepping stone for her career as an adventurer. However, as time went by, the young man seemed to be getting better and better. Not only was he predicting her attack patterns but he was also punishing her for the slightest mistakes. The three grievous wounds she suffered were strong evidence of this fact. One stab wound on her lower abdomen, a fairly deep cut on her left forearm, and the most impairing of the three, a deep cut on her left leg. In addition to this, her flesh was slightly burnt due to the me element of Ian''s dagger. Desperation was slightly visible on Ava''s gorgeous face as she clumsily dodged a deadly horizontal neck sh by ducking. ''I can''t let him attack or I''ll be in deep trouble¡­'' Ava inwardly thought as she decided to be the aggressor. It was hard due to her wounded leg but as long as she could still move, she had a chance. Thus, she decided to use the trump card that she was hiding. After all, there would be no sense in hiding her skills if they failed to advance to the championship stages. Ava''s body started emitting ck vapor as the irises of her eyes turned red, looking extremely sinister after her trump card skill, [Shadow Dance Lv.1 (Rare)] was fully activated. Unexpectedly though, instead of feeling apprehension, Ian felt¡­his heartstrings tingle. In his eyes, the sinister-looking young woman looked extremely mesmerizing. Fortunately, he managed to stop himself from daydreaming again as he shook his head and focused his attention on his opponent in front¡­of him¡­ ''Crap! She''s fast!'' *BANG* "Puhahk" Ian spat out blood after being sent flying by a vicious kick to his ribcage. ''Tch, that fuckin hurt¡­this is probably herst stand so I should stop holding back¡­'' Ian immediately activated one of his life-saving skills, [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.3], to keep up with Ava''s current empowered state. Sure enough, Ava didn''t even let himnd on the ground as she quickly capitalized on the fact that he was still flying through the air. She quickly reappeared beside Ian and viciously stabbed her sword downwards. If nothing goes wrong for her, then her dagger would stab straight into his heart. Unfortunately for her, Ian was simply too skilled. After deciding to stop holding back, Ian fully showcased his dueling skills. The crowd''s mouths were agape as he cleanly dodged Ava''s dagger in mid-air by using the initial force of Ava''s kick to smoothly transition into a somersault beforending gracefully on the ground. Ava was mesmerized by Ian''s graceful maneuvers but she knew that she had no time to admire him since she was currently fighting on a timer. If she couldn''t defeat Ian before her skill''s effects ran out, then she was done for. Hence, Ava gritted her teeth and immediately continued hunting Ian like a wild beast. She viciously shed and stabbed her dagger toward Ian but no matter what she did, Ian managed to avoid getting hit by either leaning to the sides, jumping back, parrying, or blocking He was simply as slippery as an eel. As the clock continued ticking, Ava became more and more desperate, her gorgeous face changed into a pitiful expression as it seemed like she would cry any moment now. Nevertheless, she continued relentlessly hounding him with ferocious attacks. Finally, after a few more minutes of attacking with reckless abandon, Ava''s body stopped emitting ck vapor and the red irises of her eyes returned to normal. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her unconscious body slowly fell forward. "Oops¡­" Ian swore to not do anything nice for the Amarantha representatives after all of the infuriating things they did but for some reason, he couldn''t stop himself from doing so when it came to Ava. Not only was she polite unlike her other teammates, but she seemed to be also very passionate about victory which was proven by the tears on her face upon realizing that she lost. Thus, he quickly jumped in and caught her falling body, preventing her head from hitting the cold and hard arena floor. Chapter 159: The Knot In Wendy’s Heart Ian simply did what he wanted to do. By the end of the match, he had already inwardly admitted that he was charmed by Ava, hence, he decided to pursue her in the future. Unknowingly, his ssy act once again bolstered his reputation as a "cool and kind" guy, prompting the crowd to cheer wildly while apuding him for his good deed. More people started to cheer for Colzen as Ian''s fans grew in number. Meanwhile, two groups of people were not thrilled with the developments of the Colzen vs Amarantha match. Naturally, the first group of people were those from Amarantha Academy. Be it the deans, the instructors, the other representatives, or thepanion students, all of them were slightly panicking. As a regr top 16 finisher, the current 0-2 match record against Colzen Academy already made them look bad. If they lose 3-0, then they might be the butt of jokes. As for the second group of people, they were naturally from the betting station, ELMBets. They were even more panickedpared to Amarantha because their bankruptcy was at stake. The owner, Elmer, was sincerely praying for Amarantha''s victory because if Colzen won, then it would mean that they had a chance to enter the top 8. If they did so, then his betting station was finished. Seeing Amarantha on the verge of losing felt like a nightmare to him. Unfortunately, one must pay a price for their mistakes, and for ELMBets, the price of carelessness was bankruptcy. Still, Elmer wouldn''t let his betting station fall so easily. If Amarantha Academy loses here, then he would execute their n even at the expense of a sizable sum of money. Naturally, after a 0-2 deficit, Amarantha Academy had no choice but to send out their strongest representative, Carlos Andrade. A rare battle mage who seemed to have no weakness on paper. ''Damn, this guy looks more like a warrior than I do!'' Shye inwardly thought as he observed Carlos, a towering young man with bulky but refined muscles,medium-length curly hazelnut hair, a square face, a cross-shaped scar on his right cheek, and dark-brown hawk eyes, looking extremely mighty as he walked up the stage. He was apanied by another young man who, in contrast, had a slim but toned body, a heart-shaped face, long ck hair tied up in a bun, soft-angled low-arch eyebrows, and eyes that resembled an eagle''s, making girls'' hearts flutter as he walked side by side with Carlos. The entrance of the two was naturally followed by loud cheering from the Amaranthapanion students. Were their cheers still due to their belief in the strength of their representatives or was it just because they were desperate for at least one victory? Nobody knew. Still, Amarantha had to fight for the reputation of their school. If they lose here, then their hundred-year streak of being in the top 16 would end, disappointing the former leaders who brought glory to the school. Thus, with unwavering resolve, Carlos shed his knuckles together, prompting mes to ignite on the sides of his mid-grade me-enchanted sorcery gauntlets. At the same time, Ho-bin drew his crossbow out. Although it was only enchanted with low-grade enchantment jades for a slight speed boost, the crossbow itself is rare, consuming his mana to automatically reload itself with magic arrows which gave him a massive mobility boost since he doesn''t need to carry a quiver around. The Amarantha representatives looked ready. On the other hand, Colzen Academy looked like they had a hard time choosing their representatives for the third match. It was understandable though since this was Colzen''s first time being this close to the championship stages. Their highest achievements had always been top 64 finishes and not once, ever, did they manage to enter the championship stages. On one side, David, Ian, Kiin, Harry, and Siegfried, wanted Kiin to be Shye''s partner in the third round. On the other, Shye was pushing for Wendy to be his partner. Although part of his decision was to fix his friendship with Wendy, another part of it is that he actually thinks that Wendy would be the perfect partner for him in this two-on-two. Fortunately for him, although five of his teammates were against his decision, their respect for him as the strongest representative made them simply decide to trust him even though they didn''t think that it was a smart move to let Wendy fight in the two-on-two. Thus, after an intense logical argument, Shye and Wendy walked up the stage from Colzen Academy''s ringside. Thisbination of representatives confused the crowd, they couldn''t determine if Colzen decided to throw this two-on-two match since they also sent out their strongest representative. Even thepanion students were befuddled by the decision. Everyone could only wait for the start of the match to see what would happen. "Hey, Wendy, stop thinking about the past, that wasn''t your fault at all. If anything, I was the one who stepped on that stupid trap door. Look at me, aren''t I alive and well?" Shye whispered consolingly as the two of them walked up the stage. What Shye didn''t know was, that after continuous consoling words from the deans, the archpriest, and the other representatives, Wendy already epted deep inside her heart that Shye falling down the trapdoor wasn''t her fault. However, the reason for Wendy''s struggles was the fact that she wasn''t able to do anything to help him during the entire one-and-a-half years that he had been trapped. Uncertain whether Shye harbored any resentment due to the said situation, and being somewhat socially awkward, she found it challenging to broach the topic with Shye. Seeing that Wendy still wasn''t speaking, Shye sighed. Their time was running out so he could only put the matter aside for now. He just hoped that he could help resolve the knot in Wendy''s heart before they parted ways after graduation so that she could focus wholeheartedly on her career as an adventurer. Thus, with a slightly heavy heart, both representatives from Colzen drew their weapons. Shye took out one of his swords, the Nightbringer while Wendy took out her life staff, assuming the standard position of a warrior in front and the priestess at the back. Chapter 160: Demolished The hearts of the two Colzen representatives were a bit shaky, however, they had no choice but to fight since they had to do their part as a representative student. Evening was fast approaching, the darkness of the night was threatening to consume everything as the once bright blue sky started to turn into a mixed hue of orange, purple, and blue. In some of the arenas, other academies were already going back to their academy stations as theirst matches of the day concluded. Some academies were surrounded by a dejected aura while others walked back with smiles on their faces¨Ca sharp contrast between winners and losers. The referee looked at his wristwatch. Seeing that it was already time to start the match, he didn''t wait for the two parties to introduce themselves. They didn''t look like they wanted to anyway. Thus, under thousands of eager eyes, the referee decided to start what was possibly thest round between the underdog Colzen and the proven elite, Amarantha. Though, ironically, it was the underdog who was winning decisively. "Begin!" Colzen''s duo had limited aggression options since Wendy was a priestess, hence, Shye couldn''t simply attack and leave Wendy unguarded. He was really quite lucky that Ho-bin was a crossbow user so if the guy wanted to be effective, he had toe a little closer, unlike longbow users who could simply snipe him from afar and annoy him to death. Immediately after hearing the start of the match, Wendy ced her life staff on Shye''s right shoulder. Her life staff then glowed in different colors of aquamarine, crimson, and emerald in a span of two seconds as Wendy used her talent [Contact Casting] to boost Shye''s strength, agility, and dexterity with three times the effectiveness. Naturally, everyone was shocked at the priestess'' casting speed. Three buff skills in three seconds were already considered fast so casting three buff skills in two seconds was truly a bit insane for a 20-year-old young woman. Experienced adventurers on a scouting mission nodded approvingly as they observed Wendy''s skills, contemting extending a recruitment offer to her. Carlos did try to stop Wendy from casting as he ferociously charged towards her, his sorcery gauntlets were aze as he viciously threw a right straight towards Wendy''s face. Although he wasn''t able to stop her casting, his strategy proved clever, as itpelled Shye to reposition to shield Wendy, making it more challenging for him to safeguard her. He also expected Shye to intercept him but what he didn''t expect was the tremendous attribute boost. As Carlos'' ming gauntlets shed against Shye''s thunderous greatsword, a nightmare for the Amaranthian crowd ensued. Carlos Andrade, the strongest representative of Amarantha Academy, known to have no weaknesses¨Can overall beast of an adventurer, flew across the stage while puking a massive amount of blood. Carlos felt his gauntlets crack as his internal organs churned due to the absurdly strong blow. ''How¡­the fuck is he so strong?!'' Carlos inwardly thought while thanking the gods that he decided to train his body. The path of the battle-mage is hard. Not only does one have to train like a warrior, but they also have to increase their intelligence and wisdom or their elemental skills wouldn''t be as effective. However, being a battle mage is a boon in the long run since one would have a higher growth ceiling than staff or wand-type mages. Unfortunately, he didn''t expect to encounter such a brutish warrior student whose blows made him feel like he was hit by a mana-powered iron train. On the bright side, he was still conscious. As long as Ho-bin could give him some time to recover, then they would have a chance to turn things around. As for Ho-Bin who suddenly became Amarantha''sst hope, he was dumbfounded and horrified for a few seconds as his head slowly turned to watch Carlos'' massive body fly through the air. He even thought that Carlos died on the spot so a small part of his heart was consumed by despair. *BANG* Carlos crashed on the cold and hard ground of Large Arena 4, making the crowd go absolutely bonkers as the strongest representative of Amarantha Academy struggled to get up while spitting out blood. As an archer with fast reflexes, Ho-Bin immediately realized that Carlos was fine so he quickly turned his focus on the two opponents in front of him. His thoughts resonated with Carlos'' as he strived to hold the Colzen representatives back to give his teammate some time to recover. However, how could Shye let such a huge chance go to waste? He immediately decided that now was the time to reveal one of his trump cards so he quickly used [Dash Lv.3] to instantly appear in front of Amarantha Academy''s archer. Ho-Bin wasn''t your everyday crossbow archer though. His insanely fast reflexes allowed him to instantly determine the threat in front of him and like a swift cat, was able to get out of harm''s way by using one of his short cooldown repositioning skills, [Tumble Lv.3]. The cat-and-mouse game continued for a while as Ho-Bin skillfully dodged Shye''s attacks with the help of his masterful skill usage, allowing him to weave back and forth as he kept the Colzen warrior at bay. ''Tch! This slippery bastard¡­I can''t get in range¡­'' Shyeined as he struggled tond his skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.2]. Although the range increased upon leveling up, it still wasn''t enough to catch the slick Amarantha representative. When he was starting to contemte revealing his dual wielding for a stat boost that would help him chase Ho-Bin down, azure mana roots suddenly sprang out from the ground catching Ho-Bin''s left foot. ''Crap!'' Ho-Bin inwardly cursed as the Colzen priestess sessfully managed to impair his movements. Unfortunately for him, the short dy gave Shye enough time to get in range. A primal roar suddenly bellowed across the entire Valenzia Arena, capturing the attention of even those watching other matches as Shye''s skill squarely hit his target. Ho-Bin, who was the primary target, was petrified on the spot. His entire body was shaking in fear as he fell on his butt, even forgetting to grab his crossbow tightly. Meanwhile, Shye was akin to a modern-day golf yer as he swatted the petrified Ho-Bin out of the Arena using the blunt part of his greatsword. He could''ve killed him if he wanted to but he wasn''t that type of person so even though all of them were initially angry towards the Amarantha representatives for treating them like lowlives, he would never use this as a reason to intentionally kill someone. Ho-Bin flew out of the Arena, his once sharp eagle eyes now turnedpletely white as his unconscious body violently skidded through the ground afternding. Chapter 161: Untied Knots The entire Valenzia Arena erupted into cheers as a thunderous greatsword threatened to sever Carlos'' neck. Carlos was barely able to get up after struggling through immense pain, his face contorting in agony as he did so. He tried so hard only to end up having a de inches away from his neck. Carlos was having internal struggles. He refused to lose this badly, however, if he didn''t surrender, although his opponent might not kill him, the crowd would jeer at him. Not to mention, his teammate was already incapacitated so his chances of winning were truly feeble. Thus, after a thorough consideration, Carlos decided to surrender. "I¡­Surrender¡­" Although the crowd somewhat expected him to do so, their mouths still went agape once he finished saying his words of surrender through gritted teeth. Then, after a few seconds of dumbfounded silence, the ground violently shook as Carlos'' surrender was met with thunderous cheers and a typhoon of apuse. The bettors were jumping for joy, the Colzenpanion students and some of the instructors had tears streaming down their faces as they hugged each other, and the deans subtly struck victory poses. Every person who was rooting for Colzen celebrated in their own little ways. Meanwhile, the Amarantha supporters were silent as the depressing air of dejection lingered around them. They were utterly devastated. After all, their most respected and invincible senior, Carlos Andrade, was defeated in a single sh against the strongest representative of Colzen. Very few things were harder to swallow than seeing the pride of your academy lose to the pride of another academy in a head-on sh. They couldn''t think of an excuse even if they wanted to. They were simply outssed in every way. After a few awkward moments of the Amaranthapanion students being petrified due to the major upset loss, one of them finally managed to snap out of his depressing thoughts. The one guy then took the lead in guiding the devastated students towards their rendezvous point, most of them stared emptily into the ground as they walked towards their destination. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 48,920 points!] Meanwhile, Shye heaved a sigh of relief after hearing Carlos'' surrender. He was quite nervous because there was a slim possibility of Carlos not choosing to surrender. If so, then he would have to slit his throat to show everyone that he was no pushover. He didn''t want to do it as much as possible but if it everes down to it, he wouldn''t hesitate to do so. Fortunately, Carlos chose to surrender. As the feeling of victory finally sunk in after a few seconds, Shye wanted to jump up and down in celebration. Due to the overwhelming tion in his heart, he temporarily forgot the initial awkward interactions between him and Wendy so he gave her a smiling thumbs up, just as they''ve always done after a win. As for Wendy, she was exactly in the same situation as Shye. Temporarily forgetting the knot in her heart, she also gave him a thumbs up. "Oh? It seems like they''ve made up?" Kiin said, his arms crossed over his chest as he happily observed their teammates who ended up shocking everyone by such a swift victory. They thought that it would take a herculean amount of effort to take down the strongest representative of Amarantha Academy. Fortunately, it seems that Wendy''s absurd buff skills managed to catch their opponents off guard, allowing Shye to capitalize on the huge advantage and finish their opponents off. A few momentster, Wendy realized what just happened and shrunk away again. However, this time, there was a shadow of a smile on the corners of her mouth as she awkwardly looked at the ground. As for Shye, he shrugged with a helpless smile and started to walk down the stage. If Wendy wasn''t ready yet then he wouldn''t force her. "C-Crowley¡­" To his pleasant surprise, Wendy suddenly called out, prompting Shye to slowly turn his head as he looked at her with a beaming smile. "Oh, hey, what is it?" "I¡­I''m sorry for not being able to help you for one and a half years¡­" After hearing what Wendy said, Shye raised his eyebrows in surprise andprehension. ''So that''s what has been bugging her all this time!'' He thought to himself as he slowly walked towards Wendy. "Oh, that? No worries. I knew that help woulde if possible so I understand your difficulties. I even gained lots of benefits in thatbyrinth so stop ming yourself for what happened in the past okay?" Shye said as he gave Wendy a gentle downward chop on the forehead and warmly smiled at her before jumping down the stage. The forehead chop seemed to untie all the knots in Wendy''s heart as she stood still for a few more seconds, relishing the forgotten feeling of lightheartedness. She was looking at the ground so no one knew if she was smiling. However, one could be sure that she was crying as drops of glistening tears intermittently fell, creating a miniature puddle on the ground. The other Colzen representatives, the instructors, and the deans smiled warmly at her, patiently waiting for her to sort out her feelings, not rushing her in the slightest. Finally, after two minutes of being dramatic onstage, Wendy managed to take control of her emotions. The usual cold look was back on her face but something was different. Her usual ice-cold expression now had a hint of vulnerability due to her puffy eyes, making one want to protect her. Naturally, most of the males who saw her current state felt their heartstrings tingle, making themment theirck of ability to pursue such a beautiful and talented young woman. After the short heartwarming moment, the Colzen representatives walked back to the academy station with proud smiles stered on their faces. Ceaseless chants of "Colzen" resounded as almost half of the total crowd poption celebrated their glorious 3-0 underdog victory against a well-known powerhouse academy. At longst, Colzen Academy¡­has entered the ranks of the elites. Chapter 162: A Grand Celebration "Great job, representatives! You truly showed everyone the Colzen spirit and I would like to thank all of you on behalf of Colzen Academy for helping the academy enter the championship stages." Dean Privett said as she warmly smiled at the students, feeling truly grateful to them for choosing to trust Colzen Academy with their studies. With their talents, these students could actually make it in bigger academies and they would probably shine even brighter so for the deans and the instructors, it was truly quite an experience helping such talented individuals grow to their peak. After a few high-fives, hugs, and words of praise, the Colzen group packed up and left the academy station to meet thepanion students and the other instructors at the rendezvous point. Once everyone was ready, Dean Snowcrest opened the academy station door and led the Colzen representative group out. What they didn''t expect was, after taking a few steps outside, they were greeted by another round of thunderous cheers and overwhelming apuse. The Colzen representative group was dumbfounded. It was already quitete so they didn''t expect that some people who watched their matches would still be waiting for them. Naturally, the hearts of everyone in the representative group including the deans were filled with warmth, pride, and joy. They''ve never experienced such a treatment in the past. Before, no one even spared them a nce every time they exited the arena after either a top 128 or a top 64 finish so this was a new experience even for the deans. Thus, after managing to organize their wits, the representatives smiled widely and waved their hands toward the crowd as they exited the arena, pride welling in their hearts. Meanwhile, the two deans couldn''t help but reminisce. In the past, even though they were happy to achieve a top 64 finish, exiting after losing to strong academies still gave them a bittersweet feeling as thoughts of "I hope one day we could make it to the championship stages", flooded their minds. Today, they managed to achieve their long-time dream of making it through the knockout stages, giving them one whole day to explore and y around Valenzia City before the championship stage starts. Of course, the deans wouldn''t y around as they had some work to do. After walking for a few minutes, the Colzen representative group finally saw the silhouette of around thirty-plus people, jumping, cheering, and waving at them. These people were thepanion group who were waiting for them to exit the arena. Naturally, those who doubted Shye before, namely, Tyson and his friends were now Shye fanatics. His position in their hearts surpasses even Siegfried''s after such a dominant win. The seven representatives warmly walked towards thepanion students and socialized with them for a while as they absentmindedly followed the deans toward the destination. They thought that they were simply heading to the hotel since they were going in its direction. However, after a while, the students were slightly dumbfounded upon realizing they were now in front of a luxurious restaurant and Dean Privett was already in talks with the manager to make some arrangements since they were such arge group. The students were naturally excited. Although most of them were sons and daughters of fairly prominent adventurers, this was the first time they''d ever been to such an opulent restaurant, let alone dined in one. Thus, once Dean Privett gave them a signal that they could now enter, the students'' eyes sparkled as they excitedly entered the restaurant. Fortunately, most of them knew better than to look stupid so although they were excited, they tried hard to not show it, making the two deans smile, thankful for having such sensible students. Upon arriving inside though, the students couldn''t suppress their awestruck expressions as they were greeted by majestically high walls covered in chic wallpapers. The ceiling had aesthetically pleasing carved wood designs along with sophisticated chandeliers that cast a warm elegant glow to the restaurant''s interior. Below the grand ceiling were tables made of intricately carved pristine white marble, generously spaced to ensure privacy among customers while the single, high-back chairs had plush cushioned seats, adding a ssy vibe to the already luxurious interior. On the far left end of the restaurant was an adult-only bar and behind its polished granite countertop were long t ckwood nks, fully stocked with the finest, most prominent brands of liquor which seemed to subtly allure customers to take a sip¨Can indistinct trap. After admiring the stylish and sophisticated restaurant interior, the highly-trained personnel of the restaurant led the students to their designated seats. As their backsides made contact with the cushion of the plush chairs, the students had the sudden urge to moan infort. Fortunately, they managed to stop themselves from doing so as they made themselvesfortable in their seats. It was quite unbelievable that Colzen Academy had the budget to rent the entire luxurious ce out but the deans wanted to make this celebration memorable since this was the first time that their academy managed to enter the championship stage. After all, the academy would receive a higher budget from the World Adventurer Association (WAA) after the event so this kind of expense is still within the academy''s capabilities. In addition to this, it wasn''t like they would immediately lose the next match and the academy could still rank way higher, making the expenses of this celebration nearly negligible. Seeing that the students were already settled, Dean Privett took the chance to stand up and announce something in a loud voice: "Everyone, after decades of mediocrity, our academy has finally officially made it into the ranks of the elites! Please give a huge round of apuse to our representatives for their truly exemry performance!" Naturally, after hearing Dean Privett''s words, not only did thepanion students and the instructors give them a round of apuse, but some of them also cheered at the top of their lungs, making the elegant restaurant a bit too rowdy. The personnel of the restaurant seemed to not mind it though as they observed the proceedings with smiles on their faces. Dean Privett gave the students a few moments to show their enthusiasm before signaling them to stop. She then continued her speech and said: "Today is a happy day for not only Colzen Academy but also for the entire Colzen City and we shall celebrate our hearts out for those people who wanted to be here but could note." "However, aside from our celebration, I also have something to announce so please listen carefully." "As you all know, tomorrow will be a day off and everyone will be free to roam Valenzia City but I do encourage everyone to watch the cksmithpetition in Valenzia Square as this will help you in your journey as an adventurer in the future." "Equipment is a part of an adventurer''s identity and strength. A faulty equipment could mean death so I want you guys to observe the skills of all the cksmiths in Valenzia Region so that you will be able to skillfully choose appropriate equipment in the future." "That''s all from me, please enjoy the food and celebrate to your heart''s content." After finishing her announcement, Dean Privett warmly smiled before sitting back down. Shortly after the announcement, the long-awaited food finally arrived and a wide selection of luxurious cuisines were served on each table. There were premium vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, mushrooms, carrots, potatoes, and many more. Naturally, different varieties of seafood and meat were also served. The students couldn''t help but take a huge gulp as the rich and savory aroma of the dishes assaulted their olfactory senses, making the food service process seem like an eternity. Finally, once the highly-trained staff members were done serving, the students started to dig in. An expression of utter bliss appeared on their faces as their taste buds made contact with the heavenly taste of various dishes. Chapter 163: Valenzia Region’s Blacksmith Competition *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* "Big brother?...Big brother!" Shye was startled awake by resounding knocks on the door of his new room. Yesterday, after their grand celebration at the luxurious restaurant, the deans gave them another pleasant surprise. Instead of returning to their old shabby amodation, the deans led them to a hotel fit for a championship stage academy. The hotel''s exterior was majestic, leaving the students and a few instructors awestruck. Standing at a height of fifteen floors, the hotel was constructed using the finest brand of opulent wrobblestone bricks. It boasts a symmetrical rectangr shape and is adorned with a top-tier beige paint finish. However, when the entire Colzen cohort entered, they were even more bbergasted. The inexperienced group was greeted by a vast and luxurious gray-themed lobby with enormous square ss windows, a widevish pelt carpet from some kind of creature below numerous grey marble tables, and the corresponding grey marble chairs with plush cushions. Around twenty meters away from the opulent automatic ss door was an elegant gray granite countertop with highly-trained personnel right behind it, ready to receive new guests. Dean Privett quickly sorted out the paperwork since everyone was already tired after such a grand celebration, especially the representatives who had to fight four matches in a single day. Once the paperwork was done, squads of trained personnel suddenly came out of nowhere and led every student to their corresponding rooms. Naturally, the representatives were given one room each. "Here''s your room sir, if you need anything just press this button right here." Upon arriving in front of his new room, the service staff gave him a few reminders and a deep bow before leaving. Shortly after, Shye entered the room and was once again awestruck. In front of him was a ridiculously spacious room with vast windows giving him ess to a majestic thirteenth-floor view of a huge part of Valenzia City. The elegant walls of the room adorned with a top-tier gray paint finish were connected to an intricately designed ckwood high ceiling. Attached to the ceiling was an opulent chandelier casting a warm golden glow to the entire room, washing away the biting darkness of the night. Below, there were various furniture and appliances such as a luxurious ckwood working table with a corresponding single high-back plush chair, a huge holographic television, a mana-powered kettle and stove, cooking and dining utensils, and many more. There was also a decent-sized bathroom with a spacious bathtub and hygiene necessities. However, what immediately got his attention was the immense bed in the middle of the room, it looked so soft andfortable. It was like a crafty demon urging Shye to lie down and enjoy its cozy embrace. Naturally, Shye immediately changed into his pajamas and fell onto the bed. Only, it was toofortable so he wasn''t able to wake up on time resulting in Maia having to knock loudly just to wake him up. ''Crap! I woke upte again!'' It was already past noon when he woke up¨Cthe damned bed was just toofortable. Shye quickly got up and washed his face before opening the door where he was greeted by a fuming Maia who couldn''t believe how tardy he was. When the two of them were living in the dpidated hut, her big brother always woke up early to train and hunt small animals for them to eat. But now, after years of living inside the school dormitory with a ss exemption pass, it would be a miracle if he managed to get up at 8 AM. "Big brother! Do you know what time it is already?! It''s 1 PM! Quickly prepare, I''ll wait for you in the lobby. The cksmithpetition already started a few hours ago!" "Shit, I will receive an earful from the deans again¡­" Shye muttered as he facepalmed, inwardly reprimanding himself for another blunder. He quickly ran to the bathroom, took a quick bath, and put on his Colzen representative uniform before rushing to the lobby where Maia was waiting. Upon arriving at the vast and luxurious lobby, he was shocked to find that Shirley and Wendy were also there. It seems that the three of them were starting to get along after such rough interactions in the past. Naturally, Shye was happy to see this since it would be quite ufortable if your friend and your girlfriend weren''t getting along. Fortunately, they made up. "Yo, Shirley, Wendy.." "Shye¡­you''rete again¡­" "Yo, Crowley." After short greetings, the four of them immediately headed towards Valenzia Square, the venue of the cksmithpetition. The square was quite far, luckily, they managed to find an empty horse cart. Although the fare of 500 silver coins for a short travel time of 30 minutes was a bit expensive, it was better than missing the cksmithpetition. Finally, after thirty minutes, they arrived at Valenzia Square. Unlike Valenzia Arena, the square was an open area without high walls and it was usually free for everyone to ess. However, today, there were luxurious giddletwine ropes barring people from entering unless they paid an entrance fee of three hundred silver coins to watch the cksmithpetition. Fortunately, as a Colzen Academy student, their entry fees had already been paid by the deans and all they had to do was show up. Upon spotting their Colzen uniforms, the staff member overseeing admissions promptly opened a dedicated entrance exclusively for them, granting them entry under the envious gaze of those patiently waiting in the queue. Shye was pumped. The special treatment for a championship stage academy felt good, making the fires of passion ignite inside his heart. He knew that in the future, such special treatment would only be reserved for the best adventurers of the best adventurer guilds. Thus, he vowed to never settle for mediocrity. He also needed to gather news about his parents so the more prominent he was as an adventurer, the more privy he would be to insider information. Upon entry, Shye raised his hands to block the overwhelming sunlight that was impairing his vision as he narrowed his eyes to see what was going on at the vast and enormous stage in the middle of the square. Although he was struggling to see what was happening as they walked towards their designated seat, the resounding voice of thementator helped him know. "After such a brutal elimination rate in the second round, 16 cksmiths remain! Next up is the final stage of the Valenzia cksmith Competition. Who will reign supreme?! Will the renowned Doran keep his crown?! Or will another cksmith finally stop his dominion?!" Chapter 164: Shye’s Favorite Brand After a few minutes of walking, Shye finally arrived at his designated seat. He felt nervous as he walked through the crowded seats, thinking that he would be reprimanded big time by the deans once he arrived. Fortunately, it seems that the deans and the instructors were on a different business so they shouldn''t be able to know that he waste, unless¡­ ''They wouldn''t rat me out¡­right?'' Shye nervously thought as he looked at the Colzen students. Judging from their smiles, the deans probably wouldn''t know so he decided to stop thinking about it and just sat down to watch the proceedings of the cksmithpetition. Based on what thementator said, the second round of matches had just finished; they were now down to the final stage and the sixteen cksmiths who survived were currently the top 16 best cksmiths in Valenzia Region. Shye was curious. He wanted to know who the sixteen cksmiths were. Fortunately, thepetition didn''t make them wait too long. "Without further ado, let''s introduce the three judges who will score the contestants'' works." Cheers of smithing enthusiasts reverberated across the entire square as three judges of varying ages proudly walked up the stage, confidence oozing out of the pores of their bodies. Apparently, these judges were well-known. Unfortunately, this was the first time Shye was able to attend and watch such apetition. Thus, these judges were unknown to him and he could only wait for thementator to introduce the distinguished individuals. "Introducing the first judge, he is currently one of the best appraisers in Valenzia City if not the best. From Oracle Appraisers, Nick Tackton!" Thementator said as he gently waved his right hand and pointed it towards a short middle-aged man with short curly ck hair, tan-coloured skin, not-so-endearing eyes, a nose akin to a small pumpkin, and thick lips. Nick politely bowed to the crowd after thementator introduced him, making the crowd cheer wildly after such a ssy and respectful gesture from such a distinguished individual. He then sat down once his introduction was done. Thementator introduced the other two judges in a simr manner. Vulcan Smith, a tall old man with long white hair, a hulk-like body, and sharp facial features; Doran''s mentor, former greatest cksmith, and the proud owner of Vulcan Equippables. Erwin Freign, a moderately tall young man with brown medium-length wavy hair, a toned body, thick raised eyebrows, almond-shaped eyes, sharp nose, and attractive lips; one of the youngest appraisal masters and a visitor from another region. As the resounding cheers of the crowd filled the air, Shye''s eardrums began to ache, while the other two judges reveled in the glory, savoring the fruits of their dedicated efforts that had brought them to their esteemed positions in life. Seeing how passionate the crowd was, thementator smiled. It was now time to introduce the cksmiths who made it to the final stage as the cheers for the judges started to die down. The well-crafted wooden stairs of the stage rumbled as sixteen people walked up the stage, their chins raised high as they walked towards their designated working stations. All of the cksmiths had simr huge physiques and were male except for one cksmith. In Shye''s eyes, two cksmiths stood out from the rest. One of the two interesting cksmiths was quite old, he had a huge hulking body like everyone else but he radiated the most dignified, disciplined, and stern aura out of everyone. ''So that''s Doran huh?'' Shye surmised before turning his head to the other cksmith. The second cksmith was the sole female cksmith out of the sixteen who made it into the final stage of thepetition. She had long ck hair messily tied up into a ponytail by some white torn fabric, refined but not overbearing muscles, bow-shaped lips, high nose, and upturned eyes with crimson lotus irises, looking extremely attractive. However, she had the same facial expression as Doran. Dignified, disciplined, and stern, albeit a little less intense probably due to her young age. After all, how could someone so young go through so much in lifepared to an old man? Still, it didn''t look like she was far off though. Once all the cksmiths had settled down, thementator introduced them one by one; the crowd''s cheers were divided as each person rooted for the owner of their favorite cksmith brands. Thunderous acmations reverberated in the entire square as thementator finally introduced Doran, the crowd favorite. It seems that his poprity was still unmatched even whenpared to the other prominent cksmiths of nearly the same caliber. When it was time to introduce the young female cksmith, everyone''s ears perked up, curious to know who she was. "Next, a promising young cksmith, the champion of the rookie cksmithpetition, and the only female cksmith to make it into the final stages. Hailing from Kossin City, give it up for Meido Chan!" Contrary to everyone''s expectations, the cheers for the young cksmith surpassed even those of the more prominent ones, second only to Doran''s. Naturally, Shye was among those who were cheering loudly, startling the entire Colzen group of students. After hearing the name of the cksmith, Shye subconsciously stood up and cheered at the top of his lungs. He was a big fan of Meido Chan''s crafts so he was already cheering hard before his brain could even process what happened. The Colzen group of students looked at the rookie cksmith with interested eyes, engraving her name into their minds as they vowed to check her crafts in the future. If their respected Senior Crowley was a big fan of this cksmith, then her works must be of high quality. Finally, once the introductions were done, a huge dome of transparent barrier suddenly appeared, enveloping the stage and isting the cksmiths inside their own small world¨Cfree of all distractions. The purpose of the transparent barrier was to make sure that any noise from the crowd wouldn''t affect the focus of the cksmiths. After all, one mistake could mean a disaster in such a high-levelpetition. Once everything was ready, the administrators finally gave the signal to start, prompting the cksmiths to quickly look inside the huge box of materials provided to them. Chapter 165: Smithing Skills on Parade Diverse sounds filled the air. Different kinds of ores shed with each other making a distinct nging sound, gemstones rolling around, tools hitting metal, and many more as the cksmiths began the tedious and rigorous crafting process. The transparent barrier effectively istes external sounds, but it doesn''t impede the transmission of sound beyond its radius. Hence, the crowd can easily hear everything transpiring on the stage. The cksmiths had different temperaments and styles. Some of the more organized ones neatly arranged the materials they needed close to their workstations before starting while some intense ones immediately started heating the ore. The theme of this year''s final stage is a steel-ranked weapon, meaning that the main material of the weapon should be steel. Each cksmith''s spatial container had various high-quality gemstones for the cksmiths to use in upgrading their steel-ranked weapon into a relic. Naturally, this is the part where each cksmith''s prowess will be fully tested. Due to the different styles of enchanting a weapon, the weapon quality will be diversified. Those who weren''t good enough would only be able to produce lower-quality weapons while those who were truly skilled would shine like the proud morning sun. A few minutes passed and almost every cksmith started to heat their steel ores including Meido Chan who was one of the more organized ones. So organized that she was thest to start the heating process. Sweat trickled down the necks of the cksmiths as their eyes remained glued on the ores they were heating, their focus as sharp as a sword. One by one, the ores turned yellow due to the immense heat of the forge. Molten steel gripped by iron tongs plopped on the anvil as the smiths started hammering away, skillfully shaping the ore to the best of their abilities. After a good while of hammering, the molten steel started to take shape. Most of them took on the shape of swords. However, there were around four cksmiths who chose to create a different type of weapon. Three of them including Doran chose to create axes while Meido chose to craft a dagger. The nging noises of hammers hitting steel grew louder as the cksmiths finished shaping the molten ores, fully transitioning into ttening the des of their chosen weapons. Everyone was hooked as they witnessed the blunt and heavy steel ingots slowly turn into killing weapons. What the audience anticipated as a tedious and monotonous hammering disy unexpectedly transformed into a visually pleasing spectacle. Seeing the blunt edges transform into sharp des was truly satisfying. Before they knew it, the ttening process was already done. The smiths tightened the grip of their iron tongs on the now cold steel des before putting them back on their forges to reheat, adjusting the heat of the forge ordingly, then, once the steel des had turned crimson, the cksmiths took it out of the forges, letting it cool down at room temperature. The forgers had to repeat the same process three times so they couldn''t allow their concentration to slip, else, they would miss the best time to reheat the steel des again. The durability of their des depended on these minute details. In a hugepetition such as this, the most minor of slip-ups might trante into a lower ranking, thus, the cksmiths couldn''t afford to be careless. After all, the skills of these three judges were no joke. The fascinating color transitions of the steel des kept the attention of the people from wandering off, some of the people watching were so mesmerized to the point of almost drooling like an idiot. Fortunately, before such people embarrassed themselves, most of the cksmiths finished the heat-and-cool process, moving on to the next phase which is sanding the steel des. Rough screeching sounds assaulted the spectators'' ears as steel made contact with the sanders. Some smiths preferred the mana-powered automatic belt sanders while some preferred to do it manually. Either way, after a good while of sanding, the edges of the smiths'' steel des became nice and smooth. When the sanding process was done, it was finally time for one of the most important parts of the smithing process¨Cquenching. The steel des once again glowed scarlet as the cksmiths returned them inside the forge to reheat and when the desired temperature was achieved, the forgers removed the cherry red steel des from the furnace. Hot liquid droplets sshed everywhere as the smiths dipped their scalding steel des in a small drum of water. Some cksmiths used in water, some used salt water, while others¨Coil water. Unbeknownst to the viewers, winners and losers were being decided right at this moment as the durability of each de started to differ in ordance with the skills of the cksmiths. As for the king of cksmiths, Doran, he used salt water toplete the quenching process of his steel ax de. In contrast, the rookie, Meido, used oil-water to cool her dagger-de down. The spectators, including Shye, were amazed by the sheer amount of effort these cksmiths were dedicating to their beloved des as if it was their own children, making each and every one of them appreciate the weapons that they had. Once the quenching process was done, the smiths once again reheated their des. But this time, at a lower temperature to rx the stress inflicted by the quenching process, making the steel des tougher. Consecutive nging noises once again rang out from the stage as the grips of the smiths'' iron tongs let go of the steel de, letting it rest on the sidelines as they started another crucial process: creating the hilt. Crimson mes roared. Subtle crackling noises sounded as smaller pieces of steel ores were melted into the forge, going through a trial of fire before being masterfully shaped into an intricate guard and pommel that deserved to hold the ferocious steel de in ce. The entire process was like a hypnosis spell with a hint of time attribute as it toyed with the minds of the spectators, preventing them from realizing that an hour already passed. Without realizing it, the once-blue sky has now turned dark. Finally, just when the hypnotizing spell of the hilt creation process was about to run out, the cksmiths finished their beloved crafts. The ferocious des were now tamed, firmly held by the well-crafted handles be it sword-des, ax-des, or dagger des. Now, only the finishing touches remained¨Cenchanting and sharpening the des. The exhausted smiths took deep breaths, stretched their sore limbs, and rehydrated themselves in preparation for theplicated enchantment process. Not as time-consuming, tedious, and rigorous as the weapon crafting itself, however, it demanded an absurd amount of focus. Thus, they only began the enchantment process once they were ready. Shockingly, the one who startedst was now in the lead as Meido Chan decisively crushed a high-grade ceruleite into small pieces using her hammer. She then put the ceruleite pieces in a small high-grade metal container before putting the container inside the forge. Loud cracking noises and blurbing sounds filled the air as the expensive gemstone was melted into a blue liquid before being poured and evenly spread on the edges of Meido''s dagger. Once the spreading process was done, Meido lifted her dagger up using her left hand and raised the index and middle fingers of her right hand. Subtle blue light illuminated the surroundings as Meido closed her eyes and unhesitatingly glossed her glowing fingers through the edges of the de, unafraid that it would slice her fingers open. Astoundingly, it didn''t. Instead, the melted gemstone slowly hardened, sapping Meido''s energy at an rming rate. After what seemed like an eternity for Meido, the dagger finally glowed purple for a few seconds before returning to its original appearance, only, this time, the des of the dagger emitted thick purple vapor. Naturally, Meido now handled the dagger with care, evidently unwilling to get sliced by it. Finally, after continuously working for around six whole hours, Meido finished her masterpiece. Momentster, simr scenes urred in the workstations of other cksmiths as all of thempleted their weapons one by one. Seeing the developments, thementator gracefully walked up the stage. It was time to decide who was the king. Chapter 166: Weapon Testing Begins In the middle of the vast night sky, two moons helped each otherbat the crippling darkness, illuminating the entire world with their subtle silvery glow. Beneath the shimmering constetions, a vibrant city was in the middle of a huge festivity. Sixteen of the year''s most skilled and prominent cksmiths stood in front of their workstations, slight anticipation evident on their faces as they waited for the proceedings. In front of them was one of their life''s greatest masterpieces containing their experiences, their hearts, and even a piece of their souls. All of the smiths had slight confident smiles stered on their faces. They believed that their craft¨Cthe embodiment of their skills, would bring them endless glory. Unfortunately, although they would receive rankings, in the end, only one will be crowned as king. The stage rumbled as a huge hole miraculously opened up on the floor, then, a huge metallic machine astoundingly rose from the dark pit. In the middle of the well-built contraption was a medium-sized diamond. Although only the most informed of adventurers could distinguish what kind of diamond it was, everyone knew it was beyond tough. "Ladies and gentlemen! After such a masterful disy from our honorable cksmiths, it is now time to decide who among them is the best. Naturally, we will use the three methods adapted from the most renowned smithing region, Weaven, to fairly and urately decide which weapon towers over the rest like a king looking down on its subjects." After thementator finished saying his opening piece, loud footsteps echoed across the silent but vivacious Valenzia Square. Naturally, the spectators, including Shye, turned their heads to look at the source of the slightly startling noise. Everyone''s eyes widened as a towering creature d in teal-colored heavy armor made its way into the stage. Was it a human? A monstrous creature? No one knew. Seeing the crowd''s dumbfounded reactions, thementator smiled before answering the question in everyone''s minds. "Although we have the three distinguished judges here, regrettably, their raw physical strength isn''t enough for them to be judges of the durability test. Thus, we''ve asked the adamantite-ranked warrior-ss adventurer, Vyse Eustass, for help." "The durability test is simple, Sir Vyse shall strike this diamond with all of his strength using the cksmiths'' weapons five times in a row. If the weapon breaks, then the cksmith is eliminated and will be ranked ordingly." Shye gulped after hearing the rules of the brutal durability test. ''That monster of a man? Use his full strength to strike the diamond with the cksmiths'' weapons? Heck¡­Aren''t the weapons steel-tier only?!'' Heined, feeling anxious for the cksmiths as if he was the one who crafted the weapons. Vyse walked towards the workstation of a prominent cksmith named Scott. He then grabbed the greatsword in Scott''s workstation, rotated the handle, and gave it a thorough observation. "Good sword!" Vyse eximed before walking in front of the diamond and viciously shing the greatsword towards the diamond. *FWOOSH* Water droplets sshed everywhere as the high-grade sapphire-enchanted steel greatsword ferociously cleaved through the air. *CLANG!* An ear-rending nging sound echoed in Valenzia Square as the greatsword struck the diamond; multiple swirls of wind and dust made their way to the audience. Seeing the horrifying raw strength of the adamantite-ranked adventurer, Shye was petrified. ''What monstrous strength! You mean that greatsword has to survive four more of those hits?!'' He thought to himself, doubting that any swords would survive this ordeal. *CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!**CLANG!* The familiar sequence happened four more times but to Shye''s surprise, the steel-tiered greatsword actually survived. He couldn''t help but look at the cksmith''s face which didn''t even budge. It seemed that Scott wasn''t even surprised that his greatsword survived five strikes. Newfound respect grew in Shye''s heart. With the typical hulking middle-aged man look, Shye immediately assumed that these guys were nothing but Meido''s stepping stones and Doran''s wannabes. He was ashamed to even have thought of things like those simply because these cksmith brands were inferior to Doran''s and he didn''t like their crafts that much whenever he went window shopping at Hephaestus Armaments. Shye vowed in his heart to try his best not to underestimate people¨Cintentionally or unintentionally. After Scott, the crafts of the other cksmiths underwent the same test. Shockingly, none of them broke. Shye was worried that Meido''s dagger would be at a disadvantage seeing that its de was so thinpared to the swords and axes of other cksmiths, however, he quickly found out that his concerns were for naught. As thin as the dagger looked, it was just as tough as the other weapons, if not more. Naturally, Doran''s battle axes made it through the test just as easily as Meido''s dagger. Once the durability test was over, the ground rumbled once more as the familiar circr hole opened up and swallowed the durability testing machine, putting an official end to the first test. Astoundingly, no one was eliminated. It seems like these cksmiths were neck and neck in terms of skills in crafting a weapon, making a statement to the adventurers who were watching that they could entrust their lives to the armaments these cksmiths created. Still, this was apetition so winners and losers must be decided. Thus, thementator once again stepped in to smoothly facilitate the transition from one test to the other. "Formidable!! Who would''ve thought that no one would be eliminated?! NO ONE!" Thementator emphasized before continuing: "Hence, we shall continue to put these otherworldly weapons to the test! As you all know, the primary purpose of a weapon is to deal damage to the enemy and, hopefully, even kill the loathsome bastards in one hit." "Thus, we have prepared the most fitting test to see the extent of destruction these astounding weapons bring to the table." Right after thementator finished his transition piece, sounds of chains scraping against metal filled the air, making the crowd confused as to where the sound wasing from. After a while, most of them finally determined that it seemed to being from¡­above? Shye looked up. Subsequently, as his mindprehended the nature of the object held by the chains, he began to tremble in fear and apprehension, mirroring the reactions of the rest of the audience. Chapter 167: The Final Eight Who wouldn''t? After all, right above them was a gaping maw of a humongous flying creature resembling a dragon. The creature had tangerine-colored tough scales, two vast wings almost covering the entire Valenzia Square, and spikes on the sides of its face, neck, and spine. In contrast to a dragon with four functioning limbs, the creature only had two hind legs. Its main weapon seemed to be its gigantic maw, capable of devouring two or three houses in one bite, looking absolutely terrifying. As a mere student adventurer, how could Shye not tremble in front of such a majestic creature of enormous size? He hadn''t even seen one half the size of this creature let alone something this big. As the chains went lower and lower, the fear gnawing at the people''s hearts gradually diminished upon realizing that the creature was already dead. Shye took a few deep breaths before managing to tame his chaotic heart, allowing him to closely look at the creature. ''If I want to reach the top, I eventually have to deal with creatures like this one¡­'' He mused. The fear in his eyes¨Cgone without a trace as he bravely faced what seemed like the innate aura of the creature head-on. Sort of like a [Talent] but exclusive to the creature''s species. "I apologize for startling everyone, however, as you can see, this (A) ranked ember wyvern ispletely dead and I assure everyone that your lives aren''t in any sort of peril." "That said, this ember wyvern will be our main testing material for the damage test. As you all can see, the scales of this creature are absurdly tough, and for a cksmith to remain in thepetition, their steel-tier masterpieces had to at least break through the scales and deal some sort of damage to the creature¨Cwith the help of Sir Vyse of course." "Now, Sir Vyse, if you would¡­" With timing on his side, thementator skillfully stepped in, snapping Shye and the others out of their stupor and bringing their focus back to thepetition. Loud footsteps once again reverberated in Valenzia Square as Vyse walked around and grabbed the first weapon, this time, from another cksmith named Gozen. Grabbing the handle of Gozen''s tachi with one hand, Vyse walked in front of the massive creature and diagonally shed, violently splitting the air as the Tachi ferociously advanced towards the wyvern''s carcass. *CLANG* An ear-splitting ringing noise echoed in the entire square as the tachi violently shed with the wyvern''s tough tangerine scales, unfortunately, although the scale was dented, the tachi didn''t sh through. Vyse gave it four more tries but the results were the same. Seeing the oue, Shye was shocked. He never would''ve imagined that such fierce-looking killing weapons with high-grade enchantment gemstones couldn''t even go through the wyvern''s armor. Realizing something, he looked at Gozen, feeling slightly heartbroken for the man. Shye saw how much effort these cksmiths invested in their weapons so he felt sad for Gozen. Subsequently, he was dumbfounded after realizing that there wasn''t a single trace of sadness in Gozen''s expression. Instead, he had a pondering look, trying to think of the things he could''ve done to improve the quality of his work before shrugging his shoulders with a nonchnt expression as if the elimination had nothing to do with him. Seeing the prominent smith''s reaction, Shye was fascinated. The gears of his brain shifted and turned upon learning something new from one of the best cksmiths in the region. It seemed that to reach the top, one had to have a constant learning and improvement mindset. Wallowing in self-pity or sadness just seemed like a waste of time for these guys. Truly standing at the epitome of their craft. *CLANG* A startling noise pulled Shye back from his daydreams as Vyse started hacking and shing at the scales of the wyvern once again, but this time, with the works of other cksmiths. One by one, Vyse finished testing all of the cksmith''s weapons. Astoundingly, eight cksmiths passed the damage test. Things were looking kind of bleak after the first three cksmiths failed and Shye started to think that maybe even Doran''s battle axes wouldn''t make it. The damned wyvern''s scales were just too hard. If things progressed towards that direction then the entire event would go horribly wrong. Fortunately, it seems that he was too naive as 8 cksmiths passed including Meido and Doran. As a Meido fanboy, Shye was naturally happy that his favorite cksmith passed the test. He couldn''t forget the moment when Meido''s poison dagger pierced through the scale like a hot knife through butter, sending reddish-blue blood spurting out of the stab wound. Although it was a bittersweet feeling that there were now more Meido fanboys and fangirls, Shye was happy. After all, his favorite cksmith would be able to make a lot more equipment in the future if her smithing business did well. "Fierce! The weapons of these 8 cksmiths are just too fierce!! Who would''ve thought that the scales of an (A) rank monstrosity could be pierced by mere mortal steel-tier weapons?! Absolutely mindblowing!" Once again, the masterfulmentator stepped in at just the right time, taking the reins of the proceedings and skillfully driving the event towards its climax. "Although it was regrettable that eight cksmiths fell short, not a single one of their weapons failed to leave a legacy and this fact is proven by the dented scales of this wyvern." "Still, with or without them, thepetition has to go on." "We shall now head to thest part of thepetition where a king will be crowned. Will the renowned Doran keep his crown?! Or will another cksmith ascend as the new king?! Tune in folks as things are about to get wild!" "Thest test is the simplest. The three judges will appraise the weapons created by the cksmiths and name out a price in silver coins." "We shall thenpute the averages of the three prices which would then be the final score of the cksmith." "The higher the price of the weapon, the higher the ranking." Chapter 168: The King of Blacksmiths Shye slightly narrowed his eyes and smiled upon hearing the rules of thest round. Just like everyone else, he was dying to know the price of such masterpieces. Would these steel-tier weapons surpass the price of higher-tiered weapons? Possibly. After all, high-grade gemstones were used to enchant these crafts. It was gettingte and most of the viewers were starting to feel the pangs of hunger so thementator decided to start thest round lest the people watching start to lose interest. "Since our distinguished judges and honorable cksmiths are ready, I shall not prolong things. We shall start from Sir Doran." Shockingly, the administrators decided to start with the king, Doran Birmingham. Slow footsteps sounded. Doran took his time walking towards the judges, deep-seethed confidence oozing out of his pores as he walked towards the judging table while carrying his steel-tier battle axe in front of him. Then, once he arrived at the judging table, he gently put down his battle ax in front of his mentor, Vulcan. "Haha¡­You don''t greet me now? You cheeky little bastard¡­" Vulcan crudely said as he grabbed the handles of Doran''s battle ax and proceeded to inspect it. He knew that his student was still angry at him and the guy had every right to be. After all, he suddenly left Doran alone, went to another city, and started his own corporation, Vulcan Equippables. Naturally, even though he was angry, Doran still respected the guy so he kept his mouth shut lest he shoot his mouth off and humiliate the old man. As for Vulcan, he was a professional so he wouldn''t let his feelings get in the way of his job. The World cksmith Association paid him a lot of money to be one of the judges after all. "Well-crafted as always. I''d price this at around 21,000 silver coins" A psychological explosion happened inside Shye''s brain upon hearing the price that one of the judges gave. He couldn''t believe that a steel-tier weapon could cost so much. ''What the shit is this old man talking about¡­21,000 silver coins?! Isn''t he too biased?!'' Shye inwardlyined. The cksmith king of Valenzia, Doran, had a special ce in every Valenzia adventurer''s heart. However, he was just too much of a Meido fanboy right now, thus, hearing Doran''s battle ax fetch such a high price sounded like an unholy hymn to his ears. Shye was skeptical. He didn''t believe one bit that the true cost of the steel tier battle ax was 21,000 silver coins so he waited for the other judges to debunk the crazy old man''s im. Unfortunately, it seems like he was the crazy one as the next judge, Nick Tackton, priced it even higher than Vulcan. "I''d say you''re selling him short Sir Vulcan! A weapon shop could definitely sell this for 23,000 silver coins!" Shye felt dizzy after hearing the ridiculous numbers. He already couldn''t believe the price of 21,000 so his psychological wallet underwent a tribtion after confirming that the sky-high price was basically true. He was having a hard time epting such ridiculous prices. However, the price must be true since even the professional appraiser said so. ''Okay¡­My bad, old man¡­Let''s say that the price is indeed around 20,000ish¡­'' Shye thought. Still, there was a bit of hope that thest judge would bring all of them out of this nightmare. Another reason why Shye was so affected by the ridiculous prices was because as an adventurer, he naturally dreamt that someday, he would be able to make a custom request to his preferred cksmith, Meido Chan. If Meido bes the best cksmith someday, then the prices of her work would naturally cost the same, possibly even more. If a customized steel-tier weapon already costs this much, then a higher-tiered request would be even more expensive. Slightly dejected, Shye waited for thest judge''s verdict. Once Nick was done, he handed the battle ax to thest judge. Erwin grabbed the handles of Doran''s craft and inspected it for a good few minutes, rotating the handles, slightly swinging the ax, checking minute details that even Nick didn''t. A frown then appeared on his face, making thest bit of hope in Shye''s heart ignite. "Hmm¡­to be fair¡­even if youpare this work to the works of the top cksmiths in other regions, I''d say this work would be able to hold its own¡­but!" Just when Shye was about to smile, Erwin''s next words stupefied him. "I don''t like its design¡­I''d say 22,000¡­" Shye almost fell from his seat, he really got his hopes up for nothing. ''So that steel-tier battle ax is indeed worth that much huh?'' He inwardly sighed. Even after luckily obtaining a shitload of silver coins from thebyrinth, he couldn''t even purchase this Doran brand steel-tier battle ax. ''I''ll just have to work harder if I want to have such quality equipment¡­I guess¡­'' His high-quality equipment addiction was bing more and more severe as he grew stronger. Just like a modern-day passionate gamer''s addiction to a brand-new, faster, better gaming rig. Not only Shye but even the other adventurers who watched the proceedings were slightly dejected. After all, everyone wants to don a full set of Doran brand equipment but unfortunately, the reality is, that not all of them could. Thus, the equipment of the other cksmiths started to look better in everyone''s eyes. Once Doran''s final score of 22,000 silver coins was decided, the judges moved on to inspect the works of the other cksmiths. 15,000 silver coins¡­18,000 silver coins¡­19,500 silver coins¡­20,000 silver coins¡­ The other cksmiths were close¡­However, none of them managed to shake the king''s throne. Finally, after a series of rigorous appraisals, the judges were down to onest cksmith¨CMeido Chan. Light footsteps sounded as the young female cksmith walked toward the judging table with a rebellious aura. She simply refuses to bow down to the king, Doran. Then, upon reaching the judging table, She gentlyid down her dagger in front of Vulcan, the first judge, whose eyes suddenly widened upon seeing her dagger closely. "This!...Hohoho¡­Doran, my dear student. You have a feisty little challenger¡­21,000!" Amotion started after Vulcan priced Meido''s dagger the same as Doran''s ax. As for Shye, he clenched his fists in happiness, thinking that he did have a good eye for good products. Meanwhile, the dagger had already made it to the next judge, Nick who after knitting his brows for a good few minutes, priced the dagger at 22,500. "Formidable!! cksmith Meido is truly formidable!! However, her dagger is 500 silver coins short!! Will our distinguished judge, Erwin see a hidden value in her dagger?! Will she snatch cksmith Doran''s crown?! " Suddenly, thementator''s vibrant voice sounded from the corner of the stage upon realizing that Doran finally had a challenger. The audience, including the entire Colzen student group, waited for Erwin''s judgment with bated breaths. For the past few decades, Doran reigned supreme so this would truly be history in the making if such a young cksmith dethroned him right now. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity for the viewers, Erwin opened his mouth. "Truly fascinating¡­what a talented young cksmith¡­I liked everything, even the design of your dagger. However¡­I truly think that the battle ax earlier was a wee bit superior. 21,900!" Shye''s heart went through a roller coaster of emotions. After a promising opening, it seemed like Meido would be crowned the new king. Unfortunately, even she fell a little short. Meido subtly gnashed her teeth and lightly clenched her fists in frustration. She was so close! Chapter 169: Championship Stage The proud morning sun slowly rose from its slumber and from it, came warm golden rays of light that purged the darkness of the night, piercing through a certain ss window. Blinding warm lights touched Shye''s eyelids, waking him up, and prompting him to yawn as he groggily got up from his bed with a slightly heavy heart. Yesterday''s scene of his favorite cksmith, Meido Chan''s defeat reyed in his mind and he couldn''t help but feel slightly bitter. It was like watching your favorite sports team lose in the grand finals. Still, his Meido fanboy heart didn''t waver. If anything, being able to fight neck and neck against Doran at such a young age strengthened it. Yesterday was the battle of the cksmiths, but today, it was the representatives'' turn. From what he heard from the deans, all 200 cksmiths who joined thepetition would be among the spectators this time, scouting for a student to advertise their brand. Remembering this news cured the bitterness in Shye''s heart. Although it would be hard tond a deal with his favorite cksmith, Meido, he would try his best to get her attention. He had a slight advantage, after all, except for his tinum-tier weapons, his entire body was d in Meido brand armor. Hopefully, this would help him garner Meido''s attention. He didn''t know how partnerships with cksmiths work but he was sure that it would help him in his career as an adventurer. After stretching his limbs for a good few minutes, Shye took a quick bath, donned his representative uniform, and equipped his armor on top of it before striding out of the room to meet the other people from Colzen in the inn''s luxurious dining hall. Upon arriving, he saw that most of the students were already in the hall so he quickly grabbed a te, chose the dishes he wanted, and sat down beside Shirley and Maia to enjoy his meal. Subsequently, once everyone was done eating, the deans stood up and led the entire Colzen group as they walked towards the majestic Colzen carriages waiting for them outside the inn. With a dignified aura, the grand Colzen convoy proudly marched towards Valenzia Arena. *** *** Loud explosions reverberated in the skies of Valenzia Arena as fireworks exploded in a dazzling radiance of diverse hues, bringing vitality to the championship stage opening ceremony. Beneath the exuberant sky were percussion bands marching in an organized formation as the glorious notes of their instruments filled the air, telling the tales of the timeless valiance of adventurers. Amid the vibrant proceedings, thirty-two different academy groups entered one by one. The arena seats were fully packed as 200,000 people in attendance cheered their hearts out, sending chills down the Colzen group''s spine. Even the deans were no exception. One by one, the academy groups arrived and proudly stood at their designated areas as they waited for the opening ceremony tomence. The resounding cheers continued for a good few minutes before eventually dying down. Naturally, the masterful host of thepetition saw this as the perfect chance to take control of the proceedings. "Everyone, I''m Bart, your host for this year''s championship stage opening ceremony." Bart''s lively introduction was met with a few cheers and thundering apuse. The regr yearly spectators knew this guy and had always appreciated his efforts in making the event more exciting. After appreciating the crowd''s love for a while, Bart continued: "This year, we have¡­I dare say a chaotic tournament. For two decades, the top 16 academies have remained constant. There were many dark horses before but few managed to shake the hierarchy." "But this year¡­this year, three out of the regr top 16 academies failed to make it and in their ce were three dark horses born out of the shadows to challenge the kings, making this year''s Adventurer Academy Competition more exciting and unpredictable." "Will this year''s three dark horses cause chaos to the three kings'' domain?! Only time will tell!" "Speaking of time, I shall not dy things further so let me introduce to everyone this year''s championship stage participants!" "Hailing from Newfort City, these guys sted their way through hard-fought battles and knocked out numerouspetent academies to earn a spot in the championship stages. Everyone, please give a round of apuse for¡­Newfort Academy!!" ¡­ Bart masterfully told tales of each academy''s journey and summarized it in a few groundbreaking sentences as he patiently introduced every single one of them His pace was neither too fast nor too slow, perfectly capturing the attention of the audience and igniting the mes of excitement in their hearts. Finally, after a skillful introduction of 28 academies, it was Colzen Academy''s turn. It was unknown whether the organizers arranged for it to be this way but Colzen was introduced right before the three king academies. "And now!! Introducing the darkest horse in the entire history of thepetition! Deemed mediocre in every single way possible, this academy fought through the heaps of scraps on the first day. In the beginning, nobody believed in them except themselves as they demolished their opponents in an unbelievable streak of 3-0s, leaving a trail of mass destruction in their wake." "Even the well-known Amarantha Academy fell victim to their absurd prowess and not a single academy exuded such a menacing rebellious aura in the past. Are they the destined academy that will topple the three kings'' rule?! Give it up for Colzen Academy!!" A mix of thunderous cheers and apuse resounded in the entire arena as the Colzen supporters cheered their hearts out, surprising even the supporters of the three kings. Astoundingly, the cheers went on for five whole minutes, sending chills down Bart''s spine. He didn''t even notice that Colzen was already that famous. If he knew then he could''ve introduced them a little more appropriately. Finally, once the cheers died down, Bart once again took control of the proceedings and introduced the top three academies who definitely needed no introduction due to how famous they already were. Subsequently, once the introductions were done, it was time for Valenzia''s City lord, the head organizer of the event, to talk about the rules of the championship stage. Chapter 170: New Format Bart waited for the thunderous cheers to die down before speaking again: "Everyone, I''m sure all of you are excited for the championship stage to start so I shall hand things over to the one who will exin the rules. Ladies and gentlemen, please wee Valenzia City''s City Lord, s Alinsky." A sharp-looking middle-aged man who donned a long ck robe with a golden dragon print at the back slowly ascended the stage with a dignified aura, charisma oozing out of every pore in his body. Beside him was a young man who seemed to be one of his close aides. Upon arriving onstage, the middle-aged man faced the crowd and gracefully bowed before opening his mouth to speak. "Everyone, just as host Bart said, I am Valenzia''s city lord, the one who is spearheading the proceedings of this tournament." "I''m sure everyone wants to see these brilliant representatives face off against each other as soon as possible so let me directly proceed to exining the rules." "This year, we made a few changes to the rules in order to test the depth of each roster" "First one is, the championship stage this year will not follow the format of the knockout stage because ultimately, these young representatives are adventurers so we added a few different methods to decide which academy is better." s paused for a bit and waited for his assistant, Alex, to step forward and show everyone a small mana-powered jar. "Everyone, this is one of the two new mana-powered machines developed by Manasoft Corporation. Inside this small jar are five different formats of matches and each match-up will have topete using the format that this small jar generates at random." "Due to this, the representative rosters'' entire skillset, be it duels, survival, and creaturebat, will be tested." "As such, I want to introduce another invention of Manasoft Corporation." Multiple thin blueser lights suddenly shot out from the corners of the fourrge arenas and the main arena, slowly making contact with each other to form a hugeser dome. Shockingly, once the blueser dome was formed, a simted ecosystem appeared in the middle looking like an exact copy of an adventurer zone. There were tall trees, creatures roaming around, blue skies, rare herbs, and many more. It was like the dome contained its own small world. Naturally, upon seeing such awe-inspiring developments, everyone''s mouths were agape. Feeling utterly amazed by the new technology introduced by the world''s leading mana-powered device corporation. "As you can see, as long as one is capable of controlling the contents of this simted world, we can even simte creature hunts inside which is one of the formats contained inside the small mana-powered jar." "Fret not, even if we generate a strong creature inside, the representatives can only damage it while it wouldn''t be able to hurt the representatives." "However, if the creature kills a representative inside the dome, the representative will be transported out, meaning that he/she is already eliminated." "Are there any questions?" s asked in a stern voice as he scanned his eyes amongst the sea of representatives and nodded upon confirming that they had no questions before continuing: "As for the specific format, the first three matches will be decided in a single match while the semifinals will be a best of three, then,stly, the finals will be a best-of-five series." "That''s all from me, the match-ups will be posted on the huge holographic screen a few moments from now." s slightly bowed before gracefully descending from the stage along with his assistant, Alex. A few momentster, the huge holographic screen lit up, prompting some of the more passionate people in the crowd to cheer upon realizing the zing hot match-ups. Meanwhile, Shye looked lost in his musings as the designated staff member led the Colzen representative group toward their academy station. ''We got pretty lucky in our first match huh?'' He thought as he absent-mindedly followed the staff member. Their first match was against another championship-stage first-timer, Oboni Academy. Shye believed that Amarantha Academy was stronger than these guys so they shouldn''t be a problem. However, after that, it would be constant hard battles and if he wanted to win, he had to adjust his mentality. After a few minutes of walking, Shye snapped back to reality upon seeing their championship stage academy station. Akin to a small luxurious suite, they were greeted by wide ss windows embedded on intricately designed beige-colored walls. The ceiling of their academy station had a gentle dandelion lighting and in the middle was an opulent inactive ceiling fan. The entire academy station already had the perfect temperature due to the mana-powered air-conditioner so turning the ceiling fan on waspletely optional. At the far end of the academy station was a huge ckwood table with corresponding ckwood chairs where one could dine or have a meeting. In addition to this, There were also other mana-powered appliances such as a refrigerator, a hot-and-cold water dispenser, and an enormous mana-powered holographic television. Lastly, two sets of sectional sofa chairs were neatly arranged in two different locations, allowing those inside to enjoy a close view of Large Arena 3. Seeing such a huge disparity between their knockout stage academy station and their championship stage academy station, Shye was slightly dumbfounded. He didn''t expect that there would be academy stations like these. After recovering from their initial stupefaction, the Colzen representatives enthusiastically settled in as they waited for their first match. ''Well, their first match should not be a problem for them so it wouldn''t hurt to let them rx a bit¡­'' Dean Privett thought to herself, a warm smile stered on her face as she observed her studentsfortably sit down on the plush sofas. Unfortunately for them, the organizers were too efficient. Just a few minutes after they sat down, the designated staff member already walked closer to the deans, informing them that it was time for their first match. Of course, Shye and the others were already familiar with this sequence. ''Well then¡­Let''s go earn some points¡­'' Chapter 171: Championship Stage, First Match Shye, as the strongest representative, walked in front of the group and was the one who opened the academy station''s door. "Hey look! Colzen''s up!" "I haven''t paid any attention to them during the tournament so let''s see how strong they are¡­" Amotion started just from theming out of their academy station. It looks like all their efforts finally paid off and they''ve be one of the most talked about teams in the entirepetition. As they walked towards Large Arena 2, the designated arena of their first match, two people stared at them with sneers on their faces. "Heh, Damien, who would''ve thought that the guy you talked down on was their strongest representative? Howughable." "Hahaha, right? He did stare back but he didn''t even dare start the fight. Such a wuss wouldn''t make it big, destined to be a third-rate adventurer for eternity." Naturally, Shye didn''t know that someone was talking about him but if he had a chance to see the guy''s face, then he would recognize the man named Damien as the An representative who tried to stir up trouble in front of their academy station during the knockout stages. It seems that after dominating Amarantha Academy, they entered the radar of these representatives from the top three academies. Still, it didn''t mean that these representatives acknowledged them. In their eyes, Colzen Academy was simply a prancing clown. Meanwhile, Shye''s representative squad finally arrived in front of Large Arena 2 where they were greeted by wary and apprehensive stares from the Oboni Academy representatives. ''Oh? Seems like we''re finally deemed as a dangerous opponent huh?'' Shye inwardly thought, feeling slightly giddy upon realizing that more and more people were starting to respect them. ''Aihh¡­Why am I feeling happy about bing famous and respected? Have I always been like this?'' He pondered as their squad made themselvesfortable on the luxurious ringside seats. Once everyone was seated, the referee brought out a small mana-powered random selection jar and pressed a small button to start the match theme selection. A small blue circr holograph which contained words that were changing too fast for the eyes to see andprehend then appeared on top of the small jar. After a few seconds, the word rotation stopped, disying the selected theme of the match. "One-on-One" Seeing the words disyed on the small jar in the huge holographic screen above the stage, Shye smiled. A one-on-one battle is a directparison of strength and skills between two fighters so there was no way for the Oboni representatives to cheese their way out of this match theme. ''We got lucky¡­I guess¡­'' Shye thought to himself before looking in the direction of their opponents. His eyes widened upon realizing that the enemy priest representative initiated the casting of buff skills on their selected fighter, a scout student. "Referee! Is casting buff skills before the match allowed?" The referee turned his head and looked at Shye after hearing his question. He then looked at the Oboni representatives before tapping some sort of apparatus attached to his right ear, seemingly asking for guidance from his superiors. "Sir Alex, I have something to report. The chosen theme of the match is a one-on-one duel and I would like to ask if casting buff skills before the match is allowed. Or shall I disqualify Oboni Academy?" Alex, s'' assistant, subtly clicked his tongue in annoyance. It was already the championship stages yet these Oboni representatives were still trying every little way possible to get an unfair advantage, just like in the knockout stages. His first impulse was to ask the city lord for instructions but after remembering that the city lord was giving him an opportunity and a test, he clenched his fists tightly and said: "Allow it" Hearing the words of his subordinate, a shadow of a smile crept in the corners of s'' mouth. ''You''re finally daring to make bold decisions.'' Meanwhile, the referee looked at the Colzen representatives and told them that the organizers allowed it and gave them a bit more preparation time before starting the match. Shye almost couldn''t suppress augh upon hearing the referee''s words. These Oboni representatives really shot themselves in the foot this time, after all, he was confident that no one could defeat Wendy when it came to buff skills. He then descended from the stage and walked towards Wendy who already knew what to do. She then ced her life staff on Shye''s shoulder, closed her eyes, and started casting buff skills. The life staff glowed in various colors of red, blue, and green, and this time, an additional yellow glow as Shye felt the familiar overwhelminglyfortable warm sensation from Wendy''s [Contact Casting]-empowered buff skills. Subsequently, once both sides were done with their preparations, both fighters jumped up the stage, ready to fight. The Oboni representative looked very confident in winning. Shye checked the guy''s attributes just to be sure and upon seeing that although the buff skills of the Oboni priest was top-tier, it was no matchpared to Wendy''s. ''Hmm¡­seems like I wouldn''t encounter any problems here¡­no need to show my trump cards¡­'' He thought as took out the Nightbringer from his inventory. Small purple glittering sparks lingered around the greatswords periphery as a purple lightning snake coiled around the body of the de, making Shye look extremely menacing as he assumed his battle stance. Astoundingly, it seems that the Oboni representative had no idea that he was in for a world of hurt. Heck, there was even a slight confident smirk on the guy''s face. This match was a best-of-one match so whoever loses this round will be eliminated from the tournament. A fair chance for underdogs to snatch a win through sneaky means. "Begin!" Unfortunately for Oboni''s scout representative, he wouldn''t even be given a chance to do so as Shye immediately appeared in front of him using [Dash Lv.3], leaving a slight crack on the ground where Shye previously stood. Shye then pped the Oboni representative hard with the blunt part of his sword, aiming to knock him out instead of killing him. ''Crap!'' Chapter 172: Loathsome Aslan Representative A nauseating crack sounded from Large Arena 2 as the scout representative''s arm contorted at a horrifying angle. Scout students had innately fast reflexes so the Oboni representative managed to raise his dagger in time to block the blow, however, the guy didn''t expect the unbelievable amount of force behind Shye''s attack. His body couldn''t take it. His right arm holding the dagger was destroyed while he was sent flying outside of the arena, unconscious. Not only due to the force of the blow but also due to the overwhelming pain of his arm instantly breaking. Once the crowd''s brain caught up, they erupted into thunderous cheers and apuse. "Holy crap¡­Why didn''t I watch Colzen before?!" "Hahaha! That''s what you get for being a bandwagon fan!" Everyone knew that Oboni was the underdog in this match but nobody expected them to lose in a single move. Imagine going through a lot just to secure a spot in the championship stage only to be defeated in one move. Brutal. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 26,780 points!] Meanwhile, Shye''s face changed into a slight frown of dissatisfaction as he descended from the arena. ''Tch¡­only 26,780 people? I guess being an underdog is the best way to earn points¡­'' Shye thought inwardly. Still, points are points so after a few moments, his dissatisfied heart went back to being happy. "Hahaha, that was fast¡­" Siegfried said, wrapping his arms around Shye''s neck as the Colzen group victoriously returned to their academy station. On the way back, a shocking thing happened. Something whistled through the air, flying in the direction of the Colzen representatives. Fortunately, Ian noticed the projectile on time and warned everyone, extending his arms to stop the other representatives from walking as they waited for the projectile to pass through. ''Who the f¨C'' Shye''s thoughts were cut short upon realizing what the projectile was. It was¡­an unconscious person. They subconsciously turned their heads in the direction where the person came from and saw Damien''s loathsome face. The guy was staring at them with a mocking smile on his face. ''This bastard¡­'' Shye''s immediately turned hostile, his joyful expression turning into one of cold fury. He had not once forgotten the brutal scenes of his seniors being mercilessly humiliated by the An representatives. If one asked him which academy he hated the most, he would answer An Academy without a second thought. Shye heard from the deans that the current generation of An representatives was among the strongest they''ve ever had and that they were the favorites to win the entirepetition. However, Shye didn''t give a single damn whether they were strong or not. He swore that once he got his hands on an An representative, he would return the favor. Naturally, it wasn''t only Shye who stared daggers at Damien. Except for Wendy who usually didn''t give a single shit to such offensive actions, all six representatives, including Siegfried, were quite pissed. "Oh?! Did you guys see that, the An representative seems to be beefing with Colzen!" "I hope they get matched up soon!" As for the crowd, they were simply all too happy to see such developments unfold. Some of them even wanted things to get a bit more chaotic, after all, the more intense the rivalry, the spicier the matches will be. However, the deans, knowing that most of them were hot-blooded, repeatedly reminded them never to engage in brawls outside of matches since it would be detrimental to their future careers as adventurers. The top-tier academies had been arrogant for a long time so the professional adventurers who came to scout things out, felt that their behavior was normal for a top-tier academy student. Or rather, the adventurer guilds already expect these top three academy students to be arrogant so even if Damien acted like this, there would be no severe repercussions for him. Thus, the Colzen representative squad forced themselves to calm down by taking a few deep breaths before continuing to walk toward their academy station, deciding to ignore Damien. Meanwhile, somewhere in the crowd, a person clenched his fists so hard that his nails started digging into his skin. ''Why?! Why did they decide to change the rules this year?!'' Elmer inwardlymented. If Colzen wins one more time, then his betting station will be history. He made a few arrangements to help Colzen''s next opponent but a best-of-one match was just too nerve-wracking for him. If somehow Colzen manages to pull off a sneaky win, then¡­ ''No! Never! They will never be able to defeat their next opponents!'' Elmer consoled himself, his heart beating absurdly fast due to anxiety as he sincerely prayed for Colzen''s defeat. *** After an hour, all first-round matches were finally done. Shye and the others had already calmed down and they were chilling inside the academy station, pleasantly surprised about the fact that they hadn''t been called for their second match yet. Soon, they understood why. As they looked at the enormous holographic screen inside their academy station, they saw the host, Bart, gracefully walk up the stage, seemingly about to announce something important. "Everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first round of matches. I apologize for the abrupt interruption, but I have a few things to say." "First, representatives, please know that using buff skills to aid your teammates before a match is only applicable in one-on-one battles, it is not allowed in other match types." "Second, I''m happy to announce that all the next matches will happen in the main arena." "That''s all from me, thank you for listening. The next round of matches shall continue shortly." After hearing Bart''s announcement, Shye and the other representatives felt a little excited. At the beginning of thepetition, theirpetitive spiritspelled them to strive for this moment and finally, they would be able to step into the main arena. Slight smiles appeared on their faces as they daydreamed about gloriously showing everyone their true prowess, garnering the attention of the professional adventurers and possibly, evennding a brand partnership deal with a well-known cksmith. Chapter 173: Chill, I Know What To Do "Deans, it''s time¡­" Seeing the familiar sequce, Shye and the other represtatives stood up and looked at the two deans, waiting for some sort of words or instructions. However, they were met with nothing but warm smiles and simple nods. The deans had nothing to say. They knew how capable Shye and the others were and trusted that they could deal with any kind of unfavorable situation by themselves. Thus, with ttered hearts, the Colz represtatives strode out of their academy station and proudly marched towards the main ara. Upon arriving near the Main Stage, the Colz represtatives were slightly disorited as a loud voice suddly introduced them. "Here theye, the darkest out of all the horses! Everyone, please give it up for Colz Academy!!" Thunderous cheers reverberated across the tire ara as almost half of the tire crowd chanted Colz''s proud name. Their poprity seemed to now be on par with the top three academies. Were they as strong? No one knew for sure. If they wanted to know, th there''s only one way to find out¨Ctune in to their matches. Meanwhile, Shye and the others momtarily halted, a bit overwhelmed by the amount of atttion they were receiving. Raging waves of passion and glory rampaged inside their young hearts,pelling them to work harder and strive to be the best versions of themselves. This was the first time in their lives they ever felt such glory. They loved the feeling. They wanted more. After suppressing their emotions with much difficulty, the represtative cohort donning the proud but pure colors of and blue carried on. Arriving at the ringside, the Colz represtatives wer''t in the mood to appreciate the most luxurious ringside seats they''d ever se. All they wanted was to win. To grab their bright futures with their own hardworking young hands. Right across them were simrly young faces of equal passion and hot-bloodedness. Hailing from the promint Bluestone Academy, the young represtatives donned a ck and blue uniform. Unbelievably, these young studts all wore a full set of relics, including their weapons. ''Tch¡­How the hell did these guys manage to procure such equipmt? Ev Amarantha didn''t have a full set¡­'' Shye pondered, highly doubtful that these young studts provided the relics for themselves. He was right though. Most of the relics were provided by Elmer, to increase Bluestone Academy''s chances of winning. Initially, the people of Bluestone Academy were infuriated upon hearing Elmer''s offer, thinking that the bastard thought that they would lose against Colz. However, upon hearing his exnation of why he was doing this, the Bluestone Academy deans allowed the transaction to happ. After all, win or lose, the studts would retain ownership of the relics. Elmer was basically giving it to them for free so why refuse? Not to mtion that if they manage to win, th they will get more rewards. Seeing that the studts were ready, the referee boldly stepped into the middle of the main stage and pressed the button on the small jar. Subsequtly, the familiar small blue holographic scre appeared, its words changed at a pace too fast for the human eye before evtually stopping. "Simted Survival: (D) ranked - goblin horde (3 represtatives)" The match type has be decided. A total of six represtatives¨Cthree from each side, shall gage against an dless horde of goblins. Based on the creature rank specified, there would be no (C-) ranked creatures and above. However, the represtatives were only young advturers. Ev if goblins were weak, an dless amount of them would spell doom for ev adamantite-ranked advturers so the challge was to see who could survive for a longer period. Upon seeing the match type, ideas flooded inside the represtatives'' minds,pelling them to huddle and strategize. Kiin, Ian, and Harry, actively voiced out their ideas while Shye and Siegfried were deep in thought. As usual, zero damns were giv by Wdy. She simply waited for the guys to decide on a strategy. The quick brainstorming session was getting intse as Kiin and two others started arguing. To make matters worse, the Bluestone represtatives were already onstage, smiling mockingly at their indecisive bunch. Fortunately, like a beacon of light in the crippling darkness, an imaginary light bulb lit up in Shye''s head upon remembering something in the past. He th suppressed his urge tough and took a deep breath before oping his mouth to speak with a jolly expression on his face. "Guys, chill. I know what to do. I guarantee you they''ll cry from this." Hearing how confidt Shye was, the three people who were arguing stopped talking and listed to him with furrowed brows. "Let me, Siegfried, and Wdy, handle this." Kiin''s brows furrowed ev further upon hearing Shye''s n to include Wdy once again. He simply couldn''t understand the logic behind the captain''s decisions. Just wh Ian and Harry were about to object, Kiin extded his arms and stopped them. "Alright th," Kiin said. "Your ns, although weird most of the time, have always worked so I shall trust you again." Hearing what Kiin said, Ian and Harry decided to shut their mouths and trust Shye. Indeed, Shye''s ns had always worked. He also guaranteed their victory so what''s the harm in trusting him like they''ve always done? They were simply too lost in the sauce of arguing so their judgmt got a bit clouded. Fortunately, Kiin brought them back to their sses. "Colz, you have twty seconds to choose your represtatives or I shall disqualify you by default." Hearing the referee''s words, Kiin and the others quickly urged the three chos represtatives to go onstage. As the three of them ascded, Siegfried noticed Shye trying so hard to suppress augh. "What''s the matter?" Siegfried asked with a puzzled expression. Meanwhile, Shye took a deep breath, looked at Siegfried, and asked: "Hey Sieg, wanna do something crazy with me?" A smile appeared on Siegfried''s face upon hearing Shye''s words. "Count me in!" "Nice! List closely, here''s the n¡­" Chapter 174: Trolling Bluestone Academy Arriving onstage, the Colz trio was shocked. Blue lights shot at them, looking as if it was trying to eliminate them, the intruders. However, the truth was, that it was simply coating them with a protective mana ray equivalt to how much damage their body could take. Once the mana shield is destroyed, th they would be eliminated. Equally astonished were their opponts donning the well-known ck and blue uniform of Bluestone Academy. Ever prest as they were in the championship stages, this was their first time countering such an advanced technology so their astonishmt was understandable. Prevting both sides from interfering with each other''s survival was a thick barrier in the middle of the blue dome, separating one huge simted world into two. The crowd waited with bated breaths as the represtatives'' expressions turned into one of intse focus andpetitivess. "Begin!" Upon hearing the referee''s signal, the machine administrator pressed a button on the control panel, releasing an ocean of simted raged gre goblins. In their hands were various crude weapons of their choice¨Cmakeshift spears, shortswords, and axes as they charged toward six young humans. "Aaaand¡­The goblins are finally out!! Such a hair-raising amount of goblins! Who could resist such a force of nature?! It''s only a matter of time before the six young advturers copse but the question is, who would be devoured by the horde first?!" "Is it studts donning ck and blue?! Or and blue?!" Spittle flew everywhere as the passionatemtator''s voice resounded in the tire ara, bringing vitality and excitemt to the crowd. "Oh? Bluestone Academy''s mages have already started casting their elemtal skills!" "A mass devastation!! Too formidable!! These Bluestone Academy mages are just too strong!! If they could keep this up they might be able to resist for an tire hour!! Could this be Colz''sst match?!" Themtator said, turning his atttion towards the Colz trio, curious about how they would respond. "They¡­pulled out a¡­sleeping bag?! Wha¡­" For a while, themtator was at a loss for words. He couldn''t understand what Colz was doing. How will a sleeping bag befit them in this situation? Themtator''s mind was a huge mess, utterly confused about what was happing. Is Colz perhaps bribed so they were throwing the match? Isn''t this too obvious? Fortunately, the bewilderedmtator soon got his answers as a huge, thick, and transpart barrier appeared, veloping the Colz trio from the goblins who tried their hardest to destroy the barrier but to no avail. Their strgth lies in numbers, not raw strgth, hce, their attempts at destroying the barrier proved futile. Just wh themtator was about to praise Wdy''s tough barrier, the subsequt evts utterly fried everyone''s minds, including the city lord''s. "Wha¨C Wahz¡­What the he¨C Colz!! The Colz trio!! They¡­They''re rxing!! Rxing on the sleeping bags!! What is happing?! Is Colz throwing the match?! No¡­They''re mocking the Bluestone represtatives!!" "Pffhah¡­This is next-level disrespect!! Who would dare read a book in the middle of a survival match?! Unbelievable!!" Themtator wanted tough. However, he had to act professionally or his job would be in peril. The first time he ever felt the urge to praise and curse someone at the same time. After all,ughing felt good. But the currt evts made it expontially harder for him to do his job. What was he gonna say? That the strongest represtative of Colz is in a fierce mtal battle against the page 3 of a book? He thought that this was just an oping act to capture the hearts of the people. As tough as the barrier might be, he expected it to break after a few minutes of reltless attacks from the gre goblins. Who would''ve thought that his expectations were way off the mark? Not only did the barrier not break after t whole minutes, it looked as strong as ever and it seemed like it wouldn''t break for days. In contrast, the Bluestone trio was struggling. They were doing their best to use their skills in rotation to maximize cooldown efficicy. Unfortunately for them, the mages evtually depleted their mana reserves, leaving the warrior to grapple fiercely with the goblins in a desperate attempt to dure for a few additional seconds. Seeing the currt developmts, two groups of people are on the verge of pulling their hair out in frustration. They wanted to file aint about the "cheating" Colz trio. Naturally, the first group was those from Bluestone Academy. The hearts of the instructors and the two deans of Bluestone Academy ached upon seeing the huge contrast betwe the two groups of represtatives. They looked like fools inparison to Colz. If not for the full set of relics provided by Elmer, their represtatives would have copsed already. Speaking of Elmer, his group was the second group who wanted to file aint. ''Just like this? My empire copses just like this?!!'' Elmer was starting to go insane. He didn''t want his betting station to be bankrupt. However, by the look of things, not only would he be bankrupt, but he would be bankrupt in the most humiliating way possible. Meanwhile, inside the city lord''s office¡­ "Sir s, should we let things go on?" Alex asked, "Bluestone Academy filed twoints. One for disrespectful behavior and one for cheating." In response, s merely chuckled, took a hit from his cigar, exhaled, and replied: "Howughable. These elite academies mock studts from other schools as if these people don''t have feelings but wh they get mocked, they fileints. Reject theints and allow things to continue." "As you wish¡­" *** Astoundingly, the Bluestone represtatives were still surviving at the 30th-minute mark. ''Hold off¡­Just hold off until the administrators disqualify these bastards¡­'' The warrior represtative from Bluestone Academy thought, gritting his teeth as he fought hard to salvage his dignity. If the bastards from Colz get disqualified, th they could mock them dlessly in return. Unfortunately, nothing happed. Theirints were rejected and they finally sumbed to their injuries. Three rays of blue light shot out from inside the blue dome, turning into the exhausted Bluestone trio after its overly bright glow died down. Chapter 175: Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop "No¡­This can''t be real¡­This isn''t happing¡­" As thunderous cheers reverberated in the ara after Colz Academy''s tertaining win, one man was despairing. Elmer knelt on the g and grabbed his head with both hands, struggling to breathe as the reality of his betting station going bankrupt slowly sank in. He wanted to run with all of his money but he would simply be hunted down by the authorities if he did so. He knew how ruthless the city lord was wh it came to punishing betting stations who didn''t want to pay up. In the d, he remained petrified in his kneeling formation. Too overwhelmed to make proper decisions. To make things worse, the people a him startedughing at his misfortune. Nothing was left of everything he worked hard for. All of it. Gone. Unfortunately, such is the nature of his business. ELMBets was just one of the many betting stations in Valzia City so he wouldn''t get any special treatmt that would save him from this nightmare. He was finished. *** "I could not believe that just happed folks! There was just no way Colz won that easily. Someone! p me awake! That Colz Priestess is just too strong!" Themtator said in a loud voice, emphasizing how Wdy single-handedly carried the tire match for Colz. Such an overpowered barrier convinced some mysterious people from the crowd to act on their ideas¨Cimmediately, lest others do it first. Watching Shye descd from the stage as he faked a stern expression, Kiin and the other represtatives almost died ofughter. They''ve known each other for a long time and they knew that it was Shye who wanted tough the most right now. Not only did they easily win, but they also probably secured a lot of fans. After a shortughing session, the Colz group strode back to their academy stations in a good mood. Daydreaming about various purchases they would make after iming their winnings. Speaking of winnings, it seemed that Bart had another important announcemt to make. Armed with overflowing confidce and a jolly smile, Bart ascded the stage and raised the microphone close to his mouth. "Everyone! Are you not tertained?! Colz sure loves to surprise everybody, don''t they? Speaking of surprises, Valzia City has a surprise for bettors." "We proudly announce that Valzia iming Station is now op." "The iming station shall act as a regtor, suring that the bettors could im their winnings without any worries." "Regardless of the betting station, as long as you have your receipts with you, the iming station will give you your winnings fairly." "That''s all from me, please joy your winnings and your meal. The quarterfinals shall begin in two hours." Bart gave the crowd a graceful bow before descding from the stage. After Bart''s announcemt, the crowd immediately dispersed. Some dejectedly left Valzia City after losing a huge amount of money, some wt to eat, and some excitedly collected their winnings. Naturally, everyone from Colz Academy was in the third group, immediately meeting at the rdezvous point to collect their winnings together, th, once the whole crew was together, they marched towards the newly oped iming station with giddy hearts. Their thusiasm didn''tst long though. Excited faces turned into frowns as a vast sea of people stood betwe them and their winnings. Surely they wouldn''t have time to eat lunch or make it on time for the quarterfinals should they decide to brave the bettor queues. Luckily, their striking appearance made them discernible from the crowd. Seeing the slightly distressed looks on the faces of the Colz bunch, a service staff approached, reducing the frown on the deans'' faces. "Hello, Your Excellcies." The service staff said, "Are you here to im your winnings?" "Yes, but it seems like we would have to return another time or we wouldn''t make it in time for the quarterfinals." Dean Privett replied with a sigh. "May we know the operating hours of the iming station?" Dean Snowcrest added. "Actually, there''s no need to return another time." The service staff replied with a smile, "We have a special iming counter for those who were still in the tournamt." Hearing the staff''s words, the frowns on the deans'' faces vanished. "Please follow me." *** After half an hour, the Colz group left the iming station with the widest smile they ever had in their lives. Who wouldn''t wh your initial bet is multiplied by eighty? As for Shye, he was on cloud nine. His initial bet of ,000 silver coins came back as a whopping 9,600 gold coins. With this, he could ev choose to live in Valzia City for a a month and a half. He wouldn''t do such a thing though. After all, he had many years ahead of him so he shouldn''t let himself be short-sighted and splurge carelessly. He nned to choose an advturer guild, stay in a rookie advturer-fridly city, and get some experice there. The money would naturallye to him once he''s capable ough as an advturer. Deep in thought, he didn''t notice that they already arrived back at the rdezvous point where they would go their separate ways to eat lunch. Some of the instructors along with thepanion studts shall eat at a nearby cante while the represtatives along with the deans and a few other instructors will have food delivered to them inside the academy station. Splitting up with thepanion group, the represtative group returned to the academy station. Their faces turned into one of confusion as they arrived in front of the academy station due to the small group of unknown people d in pristine silk robes with a gold wing insignia on the right chest area of their robes. Shye couldn''t recognize the insignia but the deans could and it was pretty evidt that something big was happing upon seeing the excited looks on the deans'' faces. "Hello, Dean Evelyn Privett, Dean Sv Snowcrest. We are from the Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop. Please forgive us for reaching out with such inappropriate timing but I hope that you would find it in your hearts to understand us." "If it''s possible, we would like to talk to one of your studts, Wdy Primrose." Chapter 176: Partnership Deal A puzzled, slightly scared expression appeared on Wdy''s face. Taking a few steps back, her brain''s initial response was to run away as she didn''t want to talk to these weird strangers who specifically asked for her. However, just wh she was about to sneak away, Dean Privett grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer to the people from Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop. She tried to subtly struggle with an awkward expression on her face but how could she escape from an ex-diamond-ranked advturer like Dean Privett? "No worries" replied Dean Privett with a wide smile on her face, "We still have an hour and a half of lunch break so you can have a quick talk with Wdy." Hearing the Dean''s words, Wdy felt that she had be sold off to hooligans. She shot a pitiful look towards Shye, asking for help. Her way off the mark rm bells ringing at maximum output inside her head. Archpriest Deo told her to never talk to strangers so somehow, she convinced herself that talking to these strangers would be the d of her. Seeing Shye''s confused reaction to her plea, she couldn''t help but miss the archpriest who she didn''t know would do the same thing as Dean Privett upon countering these people from the promint sorcery shop. With the same ice-cold look she always had, Wdy inwardly despaired, resigning herself to fate as she decided to face her fears of talking to the weird strangers. "Hello Wdy Primrose, correct?" The middle-aged woman, leader of the weird strangers, said with a creepy smile on her face, at least that''s what it looked like to Wdy. "I''m H us, head of the rookie partnerships departmt of Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop. Have you heard of it?" Having not heard of the goddamned shop, Wdy panicked. However, the archpriest told her that lying is bad so although she felt nervous, she mustered up her courage and told the truth. "N-No¡­I apologize." Wdy replied, "I hav''t be out of the monastery much so¡­" "Oh, that''spletely understandable. After all, I''ve be through the same thing." H said with a warm smile on her face. Hearing the middle-aged woman''spassionate words, Wdy started to think that these strangers might not be so evil after all. After a few seconds of awkward silce, H once again oped her mouth and spoke. "I also understand that since you''re from the monastery, talking to some weird stranger like me must be one of the most horrifying things to you as I''ve once felt the same. However, I''m not here to hurt you in any form or way so please hear me out." "I''m here to offer you a partnership deal." Hearing H''s words, the eyes of the other represtatives, including Shye''s, wided in a mix of surprise and a bit of vy. They didn''t expect that it would be Wdy who wouldnd a partnership deal first. Still, they were happy for her. Albeit a little awkward to talk to, Wdy was a good girl with a pure heart. So pure that David didn''t dare tarnish it anymore with his cheap words of admiration. In the d, the partnership offer from Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop made Shye and the others more determined than ever. They wanted tond at least one rookie partnership deal for themselves be it from a cksmith or a promint shop. Thus, with focused looks on their faces, the represtatives tried to learn everything they could from Wdy''s partnership offer. "A¡­partnership deal? What''s that? D-Do I perhaps owe you something?" Wdy asked with a slightly trembling voice. The touch of inappropriate horror in their voice almost made Shye and the others m their heads on the nearest wall. This girl was truly clueless. In contrast to the represtatives'' reaction, H merely smiled at Wdy and patitly exined what a partnership deal was. "Rest assured, you do not owe us anything. A partnership deal is an agreemt where two parties, namely the rookie advturer and the shop, officially partner with each other to provide mutual befits to each other, helping both parties grow." "Oh, I see¡­" Wdy said, a slightly confused look still stered on her face, "I would love to help you if I could but I don''t think that I have the capability to do that¡­" "Oh, but you do." "I¡­do?" "Yes, not now, but in the future wh you be a promint advturer." "But how could you be so sure that I would be one?" "We''re not tirely sure¡­but we''re choosing to invest in your skills. We saw your match earlier and I gotta say, that barrier¡­I''ve never se anything quite like it from others your age. Hce, we''re offering you a partnership deal. You shall represt our brand and only our brand in the future in exchange for a lot of befits." Hearing thest few words from H''s mouth, Wdy''s eyes sparkled. The initial feeling of apprehsion¨Cgone like the wind. "B-Befits? W-What befits do I get for represting your brand? And does it mean that I can''t purchase items from other shops?" A shadow of a crafty smile appeared on the corners of H''s mouth upon seeing that Wdy seemed to be hooked after hearing the word befits, just like every other rookie advturer. This is the reason why shops td to extd partnership deal offers to uing rookie advturers to secure them early on. Though the terms would change as the advturer grows in value, it is of little consequce to the shop. In fact, they would like to see the advturer grow in value because the more promint the partnered advturer became, the greater their pottial for increased sales. "You would still be able to purchase from other shops but it wouldn''t be as beficialpared to buying from the shop you represt." "Because aside from five thousand silver coins a month, we would also be providing you with equipmt of your choice once every three months. On top of that, you will be getting a thirty perct discount every time you buy in our shops." "What do you say?" Chapter 177: You Demand A What? ''T-T-That''s a lot of money, isn''t it¡­What are they scheming¡­why are they offering me this huge amount of silver coins?! T-They wouldn''t make me do inappropriate things right? Oh! What if they¡­'' With the same ice-cold expression on her face, it was impossible for others to know that she was currently panicking in her heart. She did want the five thousand silver coins per month, the equipment every three months, and the discount but she was concerned about what she would have to do in return. If¡­If they make her do impure things¡­ Thinking of the responsibilities that came along with the rewards, Wendy''s face turned even colder, making Helena''s heart beat a little faster. ''Haaah¡­'' Seeing Wendy''s reaction to her initial offer, Helena sighed. ''Five thousand silver coins was a bit too low for her huh? Then how''s this?'' Just when Helena was about to make another offer, Wendy spoke sternly, adding a bit more anxiousness to Helena''s heart. "What do I have to do in return?" Wendy said, her heart beating faster and faster, "It can''t be that you just want to give me free stuff¡­right?" Various emotions swirled in Helena''s heart upon hearing Wendy''s words. She assumed that Wendy was innocent but it seems like the young girl was just pretending to see if they were sincere or not in partnering with her. "W-Well, for starters, we shall have you wear an entire set of priestess equipment, all of them would be low-grade relics and they will have a huge carved insignia of the Gold Wing Spellcaster shop." Helena said without knowing that she was overthinking things. After all, Wendy was truly clueless and everything she asked was simply due to her skepticism when it came to strangers, all of which were engraved in her pure mind by the teachings of Archpriest Deo. Inappropriate things were a big no-no for her, at least until she...turned 21. "T-That doesn''t seem so bad¡­but¡­I just find it hard to believe that I would be paid for simply wearing a set of equipment. Are you sure that''s all?" Wendy said, her natural poker face adding a slight touch of intimidation to her words. ''Tch¡­She even knows about that? Well, at least I''m now sure that she would be worth partnering with in the long run¡­'' Making crazy assumptions inside her head, Helena sighed, deciding to honestly tell Wendy everything. In her head, she thought that "these types" of smart individuals hate liars. Hence, the best way to entice such "sharp" people into partnership was sincerity. Aze with determination to secure Wendy as a partner, Helena looked straight into Wendy''s eyes, making her inwardly shiver in anxiety. "I apologize for myck of sincerity, we do indeed require you to do a bit more but that is for the future when you be a prominent adventurer. I assure you that there would be no inappropriate demands asked of you." "Also, although five thousand silver coins might seem much to you as a rookie adventurer, this amount is nothing to us and we are willing to help you on your journey to prominence, in exchange, we only wish that you consider partnering up with our shop in the future once you''ve grown to your peak." "Lastly, let me revise the offer. Seven thousand silver coins and two pieces of equipment every three months in addition to a 40% discount on all purchases." After saying her honest piece, Helena brought out the contract,id it out on the table, and gave Wendy a sincere smile. She already told Wendy everything so if the young adventurer still didn''t ept the partnership, then it wasn''t destined to happen. Not now, nor in the future. Various emotions raged in Wendy''s heart. This was her first time signing such contracts so she couldn''t help but feel nervous. However, the conditions were truly too good. If she signed the contract, then she would at least be able to secure decent amodations and meals per month even if she can''t earn much at the beginning of her career as an adventurer. Unknowingly, her already stern expression turned into a deep frown,pelling Helena to ask if there was anything else she wanted. If it was still within their shop''s capabilities, then Helena would add it to the contract without any hesitation. "I-Is there anything else you want? Please do tell me, if it is within our means then we can add it to the contract." Meanwhile, Wendy remained silent, looking as if she was pondering deeply whether it was a good decision to sign the contract. ''W-What? I can demand¡­more? Well¡­there is something I indeed want that is not in the contract¡­maybe I should give it a try? This might be a good thing for me, the deans are also smiling so it should be¡­'' After a few seconds which seemed like an eternity for Helena, Wendy opened her mouth to speak. "I¡­shall sign the contract", Wendy said, prompting Helena''s anxious expression into one of joy. "But¡­there is indeed something I want which is not in the contract¡­" "Please do tell, if your demands aren''t too much then we shall add it to your benefits." "O-Okay¡­I want¡­te¨C no, fifteen! fifteen Steelfeather ostrich eggs a month¡­" "A¡­what?" "Fifteen Steelfeather ostrich eggs a month." "..." *** After having a goodugh and a good meal, the Colzen representatives strode out of the academy station with smiles on their faces. They were honestly dumbfounded for a few seconds after hearing Wendy''s request. Who would demand eggs from a spellcaster shop partnership deal? Probably only her. After a few minutes of walking, the Colzen representatives finally arrived in front of the main stage for their quarterfinal match against Kossin Academy, another regr top-16 academy. It was unknown whether the organizers deliberately arranged the match-ups this way but somehow, Colzen hadn''t encountered the top three academies yet. Maybe the organizers wanted the semi-finals to be zing hot and that''s why they made such matchups. Nevertheless, this was good for them. After all, it would be optimal for them to reserve their strongest assets until the finals. The chances of that happening were bleak though as they would have to face one of the top three academies in the semi-finals if¡­nothing went wrong. Chapter 178: Hunting Match Currently, the match-ups are piping hot. Only eight teams remained and shockingly, all three dark horses managed to make it into the quarterfinals, baring their fangs and striking down the elite academies to forcefully take their spots. However, two of the three dark horses, Grumblethorne and Poiper, were now in front of two behemoths. If they want to grab a spot in the semi-finals, then they would have to defeat one of the top three academies. Grumblethorne was matched up against Eusford while Poiper was pitted against the expected champions of this year, An. Luckily, Colzen was matched up against Kossin and although strong, Kossin wasn''t on the same level as the top three academies. Since the Dark Horse vs Kingly Academy matches were banger matches, Colzen and Kossin were assigned to fight first, bing mere undercards for the anticipated battles. However, what could they do? In their world, ranking decides worth and value. If you want better treatment, you need to achieve a better rank¡­and remain unshaken for a long time and since they were deemed as the "less important academies", they had no choice but to be the opening act¡­for now. If they make it through the quarterfinals, they would be one of the top four academies so both Colzen and Kossin treated this match as a blessing in disguise. The quarter-finals would still be a best of one though so they had to carefully decide which representatives to send out. Under the searing heat of the sun''s rays, the referee stood in the middle of the stage, unbothered. He was holding a small jar while waiting for the representatives from both sides to settle down in the ringside seats. Once they were ready, the professional arbitrator finally pressed the button on the jar, prompting the familiar small holographic screen to appear. The words on the screen changed rapidly, unbothered whether people understood what was disyed or not. After a few seconds, the selection stopped, disying the type of match in which Colzen and Kossin would engage. "Hunt: (C) ranked - Orc Captain" Sighs of relief sounded on the left ringside where the Kossin representatives were stationed, knowing that it would be challenging to defeat Colzen in a survival match after witnessing the protective capabilities of the Colzen priestess representative. Luckily, the match type was "Hunt". If there is anything the Kossin representatives were proud of, it was their teamwork. They''ve been hunting creatures together for over a year now and they were confident that as long as the creature isn''t way too out of their league, then they would be able to bring it down faster than anyone. An orc captain was strong, however, they''ve already brought one down before. As long as they approach the battle using their past hunting strategies, then they should win. Equally as confident were the Colzen representatives who were quite pumped due to the chosen match type. This was the first time that they would be able to show their prowess as a party of seven. Thus, after a few quick stretching exercises, all seven representatives ascended the stage. Multiple azure rays shot from the sides of the dome, covering all representatives inside with a protective mana coating, ensuring their safety regardless of what happens inside the blue dome. Subsequently, an azure barrier rose in the middle of the dome, preventing both sides from interfering with each other. Once again, the dome was separated into two little worlds. "People, are you ready?! Colzen vs Kossin, the first quarterfinal match. Both sides are looking good and both parties seem confident, however, only one shall walk out victorious. Will it be Colzen?! Will it be Kossin?!" The vigorous and resounding voice of thementator once again reverberated from four huge mana-powered speakers, hyping up the undercard quarterfinal match. Following thementator''s voice was a primal bellow, rumbling across the entire arena as a three-meter tall creature with green skin, bulging muscles, and two protruding sharp tusks on the lower corners of its mouth, appeared in front of the representatives. It wore a full set of makeshift leather armor and held a huge two-handed battle-ax as a weapon, looking extremely daunting. However, its appearance didn''t intimidate the representatives in the slightest. On the contrary, the tough-looking creature simply ignited the fighting spirits of thepetitive young adventurers. How glorious would it be to methodically take down such a mighty creature in front of hundreds of thousands of eyes? Finally, after a few more seconds, the orc captains fiercely rushed towards the representatives at the same time, signaling the start of the match. To urately determine the winner, a running timer suddenly appeared on the upper part of each half of the dome, indicating how much time it took for the representatives to take down the creature. It would only stop counting once the dome registers the death of the simted creature. The main stage rumbled as the fierce charge of the two orc captains violently kicked up dust and dirt. Brandishing their battle axes, the two orc captains swung their weapons downwards in an attempt to destroy the puny representatives in front of them, unfortunately hitting nothing but the ground as the representatives nimbly dodged the heavy blows. Like a well-oiled machine, the Colzen representative party efficiently got into formation and before the orc captain could even regain its bnce, Wendy had already finished casting four buff skills, strengthening their main attacker, Shye. Feeling the familiar warm feeling coursing through his body, Shye charged out, gripping the Nightbringer with both hands, he bravely engaged in a head-on sh against the orc captain. He felt his innards shake due to the absurdly strong blow of the orc captain, however, he could take a few heavy hits head-on so this one wasn''t a problem for him. Meanwhile, Kiin, Harry, and David fired projectiles at the stationary orc captain who was busy shing against Shye. At the same time, Siegfried and Ian activated their self-buff skills as they hacked, shed, and stabbed at the orc captain. In just a few seconds, the orc captain who was in charge of fighting the Colzen representatives was chillingly bloodied, sending waves of panic into the hearts of the Kossin representatives. Chapter 179: Wiped Out "Shit! How could these bastards be so fast in killing such a monstrosity?!" A Kossin representative cursed. Although they were doing good themselves, probably the best start they ever had when hunting such arge creature, they were still way behindpared to the Colzen representatives who seemed to give zero damns about the creature''s strength, one of them even daring to fight it head-on. Unbeknownst to them, although the Colzen Orc Captain looked like it would copse any moment now, its wounds were far from taking its life any time soon. It was beyond tough and as bloodied as it was, the wounds were simply superficial to the creature. Unfortunately, the Kossin representatives were rattled by its heavily-wounded appearance and some of them started doing things that weren''t in the battle n, taking bigger risks and improvising on the fly, causing their formation to slowly copse. To make things worse, the Kossin representatives didn''t have the same opinions and approach to deal with Colzen''s ridiculous killing speed. Some of them believed that it would be better to continue the execution of their initial n because improvising on the fly was too risky and they might even be wiped out for doing so. However, some also believed that they should take a risk or they would lose to Colzen in terms of killing speed. Both sides had logical reasoning but the differences in mentality made their team chemistry copse. Finally, after a few more risky maneuvers, the fears of the conservative side came true. "Jones! Fall back! " The scout representative named Jones took the risk and attacked a few more times than usual resulting in the orc captain''s battle axe shing him in half as he retreated. If the hunt wasn''t simted, Jones would''ve been dead. Fortunately, the mana coating simply sent him out of the main stage which was way better than being sent to theherworld. "Why?! Why didn''t they stick to the n?!" The dean of Kossin Academy raged, he couldn''t ept losing this way. It would be better to lose by time difference than by party wipe. Unfortunately, his two warrior representatives weren''t strong enough to hold the frontline as none of the two could face the orc captain in a head-on sh. Hence, their formation slowly started to copse as the orc captain viciously brandished its giant battle axe toward the remaining Kossin representatives in a destructive rampage. The warrior representatives tried to contain the orc captain for as long as possible but narrowly dodging its blows slowly gnawed at the courage in their hearts. Finally, after a few more minutes of valiant struggles, one of the warriors was overwhelmed by the orc captain''s onught and was shed in half. The familiar azure ray shot out from the dome, leaving only five more Kossin representatives inside. In contrast, the Colzen party was cruising. Blood sshed everywhere as Shye, Ian, and Siegfried took turns containing the orc captain, allowing someone else to freely inflict wounds on the creature, slowly but surely whittling down its vitality. As for the ranged attackers, they were chilling at the backlines, shooting projectiles continuously without worrying about repercussions as their skilled front liners sessfully kept the orc captain at bay. A world of differencepared to the pitiful state of the Kossin representatives. ''Crap! Crap! I knew we should''ve stuck to the n!'' The remaining Kossin warrior representative inwardly cursed, his sweat sshing everywhere as he desperately dodged the orc captain''s strong and swift attacks. Unfortunately, try as he might, there was no way for him to contain the orc captain alone and although the orc captain found it difficult to kill thest warrior representative, it was the backliners who suffered. As the warrior representative deftly escaped a fatal strike, his forced retreat allowed the orc captain to aggress the mages and archers, throwing the entire back line into chaos. The mages and the archers had repositioning skills so they managed to temporarily escape the orc captain''s onught but the priest representative wasn''t so lucky. His azure mana roots didn''t do a single damn thing to the monstrosity while his barrier got destroyed in a single hit. Subsequently, once he was out of protective skills, the priest representative was sent out of the arena by the familiar azure ray of light as the orc captain split his simted avatar vertically in half. The simted death of their allies gnawed at the remaining representatives'' morale. Remembering that if this was the real deal, then it meant that three of their allies had just been killed. Seeing your members fall one by one ¨Can absolute nightmare for adventurer parties Their temporarypses of focus ultimately cost them the match as the remaining four were gradually eliminated one by one. Kossin''s strongest representative, the remaining warrior, valiantly threw everything he had at the orc captain, unleashing every hidden skill in his arsenal in hopes of taking down the orc captain alone. Unfortunately, his efforts were futile. Although able to bring the orc captain to half of its entire vitality, his lone strength wasn''t enough, and soon after he used up everything he had, thest representative of Kossin Academy was sent out of the blue dome. ''Hmm¡­a pity that my hometown academy wasn''t able to win.''A young well-built woman from the crowd mused, closely observing the current match. ''Well, that warrior from the Colzen is using my crafts so this isn''t so bad.'' Unbeknownst to Shye, he already managed to capture the attention of her favorite cksmith. Still, Meido was quite a prideful young cksmith so she nned to observe a bit more. ''He''s quite a good candidate, quite¡­handsome as well. If he does my crafts justice in the following matches then I shall consider partnering up with him.'' While the orc captain annihted the entire Kossin party, the Colzen party seeded in defeating their monstrous adversary. A stark contrast of results. As the Colzen representatives gloriously descended from the stage, they were met with deafening cheers, sending waves of jolly emotions in their hearts. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 32,621 points!] Never in the deans'' wildest dreams did they expect to one day finally be one of the top four academies. Chapter 180: The Annoying B*tch The skies of Colzen City seemed particrly bright on this day. Birds chirped in harmony and leaves serenely rustled as the winds blew by. Somehow, the usually bustling streets of Colzen City were empty. It was as if time stopped for the entire city as the ordinary folks along with the adventurers who made Colzen City their base of operations gathered in the city square for the same purpose: to watch the ongoing Adventurer Academy Competition through arge holographic screen. Upon witnessing Colzen Academy''s glorious quarterfinal victory, the city square erupted into wild cheers as the citizens of Colzen City jumped up and down in tion, pride welling in their hearts. In the past, they would consider it glorious to defeat gatekeeper academies like Shadowde and Orion so one could only imagine the happiness in their hearts as their very own Colzen Academy enters the semi-finals. Naturally, the same scenes were happening inside Colzen Academy. Thunderous cheers and apuse reverberated in the entire academy as the students chanted their academy''s name at the top of their lungs for five whole minutes after Colzen''s victory against Kossin was announced. The instructors and staff members hugged each other in utter tion while the remaining deans struggled hard to suppress the tears welling in the corners of their eyes. Long have they dreamt of such a glorious moment. Finally, after decades of diligence, their hard work was rewarded with sweet consecutive victories in the prestigious Adventurer Academy Competition. *** "Excellence! They''re the incarnation of excellence! Colzen Academy once again makes a resounding statement through a stark contrast of results! Kossin fought valiantly but they were simply outssed at every turn!" Thementator''s passionate voice resounded, making their already glorious victory even more glorious. Pride welled in the hearts of every Colzenpanion student as their respected seniors victoriously marched back to the academy station under thousands of awestruck stares. "Damn! Shye Crowley was a beast again today. Who the hell could fight such a monstrosity head-on?!" "He was buffed by my goddess Wendy so his performance was understandable." "Hah! Look at these filthy casuals! All you guys state are the obvious! Clearly, the two front liners, Ian Izanagi and Siegfried Lionheart also contributed greatly to the win!" Spittle flew everywhere as the crowd passionately discussed the performance of the Colzen roster. Clearly, they had no weak links. Every single one of them was a monster in their own right. The question is¡­how would they fare against the three kings? Will Colzen be able to dethrone them? Such intriguing questions infested the minds of the audience, their curiosity reaching its peak as they waited with bated breaths for the next match to start. Entering their academy station, the representatives were weed with fist bumps, high-fives, and hugs along with words of praise from the deans. However, they didn''t have much time to enjoy their victory. Starting from the semi-finals, their matches would all against be the top three academies so they had to carefully strategize. The semi-finals would be a best of three so it was impossible to beat their opponents through sheer luck. They could only rely on their own skills. Looking at the holographic screen, everyone''s expression turned grim upon witnessing how Freia Academy''s representative easily defeated the Beelhorn Academy representative in only ten seconds. Judging how strong the Freia representatives are, the Eusford representatives must be around the same level while An, the expected champion, should be slightly above the two in terms of total roster strength. Although they didn''t know for sure, it was better for them to assume so. After all, if they want to be champions, then they would have to defeat these strong academies. They weren''t slouches either though. Challenging as it may be, the Colzen representatives at least believed that they weren''t inferior. In fact, the most confident ones among them namely, Ian, Siegfried, Shye, and Kiin, believed that they were stronger than their adversaries. Still, they had to prove it through victories so the Colzen representatives focused on the task at hand which was to watch the matches of the three kingly academies and develop a strategy for each match type, increasing their chances of winning. After a few idle minutes, the loud and enthusiastic voice of thementator got their attention as the first banger match between a dark horse and a kingly academy finally began. The match type was once again a one-on-one battle, the most direct and straightforward type of match where the strongest representatives of each academy battle it out in the name of their academies. On the side of Grumblethorne Academy, a tall well-built man with short straight ck hair, tan-coloured skin, a t nose, brown round eyes, and thin lips slowly ascended the stage. On his face was a stern but dignified expression, looking like a sturdy mountain that everyone could rely on. The man was Grumblethorne Academy''s strongest representative, Toph Mann. On the other hand, a young woman with long blonde hair, baby blue droopy eyes, high arch eyebrows, an attractive button nose, and heart-shaped lips, walked up the stage for Eusford Academy. In addition to her attractive facial features, she also had bountiful breasts, an hourss body figure, and a perky bottom, looking extremely seductive. Seeing how attractive Eusford Academy''s representative was, a bunch of men who were watching from the crowd couldn''t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva as they imagined how passionate a night with her would be. As for Shye and the other Colzen representatives, they weren''t attracted to the young woman in the slightest. After all, she was one of the people who participated in a staredown with them. Among the Eusford representatives, her condescending look was the most irritating of them all and even Wendy, who usually doesn''t give any crap about most things, slightly frowned upon seeing her annoying face once more. Still, irksome as she was, Colzen didn''t dare underestimate her. They all knew better than to belittle their adversaries, especially when the young woman was chosen as a representative of the illustrious Eusford Academy. Chapter 181: Fallen Dark Horses The mild afternoon sun cast a rxing warm glow on Valenzia Arena as two people, one young man and one young woman faced each other in the middle of an enormous stage. On their faces were contrasting expressions. The young man had a stoic expression while the young woman looked arrogantly yful. Her vexing attitude seemed to not have any impact on the young man though as if he was only here to do one job: to take the number one spot for his academy. The quarterfinal matches are brutal, due to the nature of a best-of-one match type, anything could happen. One mistake and Eusford Academy was gone from the top three. This was also the first time the rules of the championship stages had been changed like this which was a bit of an advantageous match type for the dark horses. After all, they only needed one win to upset their opponents. Knowing this, it was truly unfathomable how this young woman could still look so confident, as if all of this was nothing but a farce and that her win was inevitable. Realizing that both sides were ready, the slightly disoriented referee announced the start of the first anticipated banger match. "Dark horse, Grumblethorn. One of the three kings, Eusford, which academy wille out on top?! Hold on to your seat folks! This banger match is about to¡­" "Begin!" The referee''s passionate but stern voice resounded in the entire arena, signaling the two fighters to begin. ''Oh? A greatsword user?'' Shye mused, slightly surprised to see another greatsword user in the quarterfinals. Brandishing his enormous greatsword, seemingly a bit heavier than Shye''s, Toph ferociously charged towards the Eusford representative. However, his opening blow was easily dodged by a simple swift backstep. "Pfft! I knew it. Judging from your body size, it was evident that your brain is also made up of muscles. How could I, Abegail Fury, be hit with such a straightforward attack." Abegail mocked, drawing her mana-powered short bow as she increased the distance between her and Toph by jumping backward for a few meters. A little setback like this was nothing to Toph, only, as minutes passed, the fight slowly became a nightmare for Grumblethorne Academy. The scene of Toph hitting nothing but air reyed over and over. His body started to look like a porcupine as multiple mana arrows embedded themselves deep in his flesh. "Senior Toph!" A Grumblethornepanion student worriedly eximed. Not a single time did their respectable senior manage to hit his opponent who was as slippery as an eel. All of his attacks hit nothing but air as Abegail nimbly dodged everything Toph threw at her. There were a few times where he almost managed to hit her but ultimately, she always managed to get away using her repositioning skills. Not only was she skilled in dodging, but she was also good at counterattacking, leaving Toph no room to dodge her arrows. Toph is tough but he would inevitably sumb to his injuries if things went on. "Hahaha! Pathetic, and they call you the strongest representative of Garbageton Academy?" Abegail mocked as she walked closer to Toph who was excessively panting in exhaustion and kneeling on one knee. "Still, I shall give you a chance. Come, I shall fight you in a close-range duel." ?%§ñ§à????#§ä-§ä&¦Ò+-?§à$?@-@§¼-?+-& After saying her insulting piece, Abegail slightly stepped back and threw her shortbow away. She then retrieved a small dagger from one of her leg straps and assumed the basic fighting stance of a scout student. Hearing her words, Toph clenched his fists in frustration, vowing to teach her a lesson to never underestimate her opponents. Unfortunately, the nightmare simply continued as Abegail easily dodged all of Toph''s attacks, sneaking in a few slices and stabs in the process. At this point, the people from Grumblethorne Academy were silent. All of them clenched their fists in frustration and humiliation, wishing for the nightmare to end as soon as possible. Fortunately, they didn''t have to wait long. "Haaahh¡­this is starting to get boring¡­I''ll do you a favor and end this match." Abegail said as she brilliantly jumped sideways to dodge another downward sh from Toph before throwing her dagger while still in mid-air. *THUD* A slightly nauseating dull thud sounded as Abegail''s daggernded and stabbed deep into Toph''s forehead forcing the azure mana barrier to send him out of the stage. From start to finish, it was The Abegail Show as Toph managed to achieve nothing except invite humiliation for himself. Realizing that he was sent out of the main stage, Toph clenched his fists in frustration. He wished to disappear from this ce right here right now. Seeing the traumatized faces of everyone from Grumblethorne made him almost want to kill himself. Still, he braved on and said nothing as he returned to where the other Grumblethorne representatives were. "Hahahaha! Oh, how pitiful¡­." Not forgetting to say onest insult, Abegail, and the other representatives returned to their academy station whileughing at the dejected Grumblethorne students. Upon seeing the developments, thementator found it difficult to speak. However, he must do his job. "Brutal!! What everyone thought would be a banger match suddenly became a one-man¨Cor rather, a one-woman show! Abegail, the Eusford archer representative, makes a resounding statement!" "The three kings remain unshaken!" After such a dominant disy from Eusford Academy, the crowd yearned for the next dark horse, Poiper Academy, to pull an upset against An Academy. Unfortunately, just like Grumblethorne, they were utterly destroyed in a hunt-type match. An Academy dismantled the selected creature, a (B-) ranked Hellspawn bull-lizard a whopping ten minutes earlier than the Poiper representatives. ''Tch, I really can''t stand these arrogant bastards.'' Shye inwardlyined. ''Couldn''t they just act nicer towards others? Why do they have to be such dicks?'' "Regrettable! Utterly regrettable! Two dark horses have fallen at the hands of two of the three kingly academies, only one remains." "Can Colzen show us something unexpected?! Or will thepetition boil down to the three kings once more?! "Stay tuned folks! The much-anticipated semi-final draws will be posted on the center holographic screen shortly!" Chapter 182: Semi Finals Witnessing the prowess of the kingly academies, the faces of the Colzen representatives turned serious. They clenched their fists, only, it wasn''t due to frustration and anxiety but due to excitement. The bastards, hateful as they may be, were truly top-tier, stoking the mes ofpetence in the hearts of the Colzen representatives. *BLEEP* A bleep sounded from the holographic television inside the Colzen Academy station disying the semi-final match-ups. Freia vs. An Colzen vs. Eusford "Oh? We already got the chance to teach that annoying bi*ch a lesson?" Ian said, excitement visible on his face as they waited for the staff member''s signal. As they watched the next matches after theirs, the Colzen representative group already formed standard ns for each match type, however, they were responsible for improvising on the fly if anything went wrong. After all, the deans could only give them so much guidance. In the end, they have to rely on themselves if they want to grab the number one spot for Colzen. After a few more minutes, the designated staff member informed them to prepare and head out towards the main stage. Finally, it was time for them to prove themselves against Valenzia''s mightiest of academies. Pushing the door open, the Colzen cohort found themselves drowned in a typhoon of cheers and apuse. As thest remaining dark horse and the biggest underdog, they''ve unknowingly captured the hearts of around sixty percent of the crowd. Shockingly, they were now the crowd favorites. The Colzen representatives waved at the audience as they enthusiastically walked towards the enormous stage in the middle of the arena. "Here theye! The bravest of challengers, the darkest of horses, the ground rumbles at their arrival, and the kings raise their vignce at the mention of their proud name, Let us all wee, the champions of themon popce, Colzen Academy!" The hype-inducing voice of thementator resounded in the entire arena, prompting the crowd to cheer even wilder as the Colzen representatives arrived at the ringside. Across them were the sneering and mocking faces of the Eusford representatives, who were a bit annoyed since thementator seemed to favor their underdog opponents. They all inwardly vowed to humiliate Colzen every chance they got. Naturally, this was s'' arrangement and thementator was only doing his job. s wanted to make Colzen the protagonist of thepetition because it has always been the top three academies who were in the limelight during the semi-final matches and this was the first time when the fourth academy actually stood a chance. Hence, to spice things up, he arranged for thementator to hype Colzen up as much as possible. After all, if the same thing happens in every semi-final match where the three kingly academies just destroy others and fight for the number one spot, then people are bound to get bored. Proof of this was the dwindling viewership numbers in recent years, making the sponsors of the tournament, the prominent shops, and the WAA,in. If the trend continued then he would probably be reced. For reasons way deeper than superficial fame and power, he couldn''t allow anyone else to sit in the position. §Ô#¦Å§Ñ?+??#¨À$-#??*§ñ??*-?-§á%- He even prepared a sessor, Alex, to take over, once he retires to ensure that no chaos will ensue in Valenzia Region. Fortunately for him, Colzen appeared out of nowhere and gave him a way out of the situation. If they could retain a simr level of strength in the nextingpetitions albeit inconsistent, then more people would surely watch, allowing him to secure his position. Naturally, it would be best if Colzen won. However, he didn''t n on giving them any unfair advantage as it would be detrimental to the integrity of thepetition. "Since both sides are here, let us proceed with the introductions!" Hearing what thementator said, Shye and the other Colzen representatives were surprised. They didn''t expect that there would be introductions. Naturally, they were happy about it. As nobodies from a rtively mediocre academy, they needed more publicity especially now that they were about to graduate as it would help them secure more sponsorships and partnerships in the future. "Is everyone ready?! Ourpetitors are so you guys better be!" As thementator delivered his introduction, the initial group ted for introduction had already positioned themselves behind an organizer. Shockingly, they were the representatives from Eusford Academy. Usually, it was the underdogs who were introduced first so one could only imagine the rage welling up in the hearts of the Eusford representatives. However, what could they do? Everything was up to the organizers of thepetition. Faking a smile, each of them ascended the stage one by one as their names were called by thementator. Shye and the others already knew their names due to the meeting earlier but they didn''t know who was who so they made sure to remember their faces. Hriously, each Eusford representative red at them before walking down the stage, visibly furious due to being introduced first. They wouldn''t feel anything if the match was against their rivals, Freia and An, but to be introduced first against some random dark horse? Uneptable. Naturally, seeing their mocking faces turn into one of fury felt satisfying for the Colzen representatives. Ever since they first met this group of Eusford representatives, all they saw in their faces was disdain and mocking smiles. ''Hahaha, serves you right.'' Shye mused. "Everyone, please give a round of apuse to the Eusford representatives." Thementator said while enthusiastically pping his hands, setting a very good example to the audience. However, instead of improving, their mood simply worsened. What infuriated the Eusford representatives even more was the fact that although lots of people cheered and apuded them, it was way lesspared to the previous years. They listened to the crowd cheer for their seniors as apanion student so they were irked that fewer people seemed to be cheering for their academy this year. Unbeknownst to them, their feelings of frustration had just started. Chapter 183: Eusford vs Colzen: First Match Seeing that the Eusford representatives were back to their ringside seats, thementator proceeded to introduce the other team. Shye and the others were already waiting behind an organizer. All of them were a bit excited, pride welling in their hearts as they waited for thementator to call their names. Except for Wendy of course, who wasn''t too fond of being in the limelight. Ironically, it was she who was called first. "Introduce Colzen the crowd demands, introduce Colzen I shall!" "First representative, the most talented priestess to ever grace Colzen Monastery, let us all wee¨CWendy Primrose!" Wendy timidly ascended the stage, slightly nervous due to the amount of attention she was getting. She was having a hard time believing that she was already quite famous among the audience since she didn''t remember doing anything that would make her stand out. Unbeknownst to her, the huge thick barrier and Shye''s ridiculous performance against Oboni Academy were living rent-free inside the heads of those who saw it. It was the first time they witnessed such a thing in the Adventurer Academy Competition. ''Please call the next one already¡­'' thought Wendy as she stood uneasy in the middle of the stage. Fortunately, just a short whileter, thementator proceeded to the next representative. "Second representative, Mr. Cool and clean-hearted, the gentle throat sher, the scout representative, Ian Izanagi!" Hearing how thementator introduced him, Ian felt giddy as he walked up the stage under thunderous cheers of the cool and clean-hearted fan club. "Ian Izanagi huh? I shall observe him a bit more¡­" "Hmm so his name is Ian Izanagi¡­alright then mister cool and clean-hearted, show me what you got." A few professional adventurers murmured, seemingly pondering whether to send a recruitment invite to Ian or not. Spittle flew everywhere as the same introductions happened over and over again, only, the wordsing out of thementator''s mouth started bing more and more ridiculous after each introduction. MVLeMpYr-content By the time it was Shye''s turn, it was already this bad: "The seventh representative, dubbed as Colzen''s strongest, the academy''s legend, a monstrous creature in human form, the one sh man, destroyer of worlds, and unifier of the gxies! Let us wee, Shye Crowley!!!" Although they were mostly hyperboles, the other Colzen representatives couldn''t help but suppress theirughter at his exaggerated introduction. They thought theirs were bad but who would''ve thought that Shye would be called a freaking unifier of gxies? Meanwhile, the Eusford representatives were not in the mood tough, a dark expression was stered on every single one of their faces. Their introductions were way too quickpared to Colzen no? Why does it seem like this biasedmentator is siding with Colzen? Just because they were underdogs? Such thoughts flooded the minds of the Eusford representatives, worsening their mood. ''No matter, once we destroy these clowns, these noisy nobodies will shut up.'' thought Harper as he shot a menacing look towards the Colzen representatives who were bowing on stage. Once everyone''s introductions were done, it was time to decide the match types. The semifinals will follow a best-of-three format, requiring a team to secure victory in two matches to advance. Seeing that the representatives were back to their ringside seats, the referee pressed the button on the small jar three times, showing the three randomly selected match types after a short word rotation. Two-on-Two One-on-One Survival : (D ~ B-) Kobold Army ''Hmm¡­Two-on-two huh?'' Shye mused. Fortunately, as the underdogs, they had the leeway to wait for the opponents to send their representatives out first before choosing appropriate representatives of their own. Only in the first round though. In the second match, they had to choose first. Immediately after the first match was announced, two Eusford representatives ascended the stage. It seems that they already had a solid n since it didn''t take long for them to send out their representatives. "Scout student, Finn Sevens, and warrior student, Lev Dawson¡­" Shye muttered. He recognized these two due to the earlier introduction and from what he knew, these two were on the stronger end of the Eusford roster. If they could get the win here, then they might be able to sweep Eusford Academy. After a quick discussion, two Colzen representatives jumped up the stage: Kiin and Harry. Although they didn''t have a single warrior onstage which was usually a standard when fighting two-on-two battles, Kiin and Harry were confident that they could win. Out of their entire roster, the two of them were the most slippery since they had lots of repositioning skills. If they y their cards right, then they would be able to make life hell for these two Eusford representatives. Provided that they didn''t have any unexpected overpowered skills of course. Realizing that their opponents were ready to fight, Kiin and Harry also drew their weapons out. A strong gust of wind along with a slight rumble on the ground caused chaos on the main stage as the two Colzen representatives aimed their weapons towards Finn and Lev. ''Now, let''s see what the top three academies are made of.'' "Begin!" Hearing the referee''s signal, Finn and Lev immediately tried to close the distance. Finn used [Blink Strike Lv.4] while Lev used [Dash Lv.4], both picking their targets. None of the two expected that their opening attacks wouldnd, however, they also didn''t expect that it would be dodged so easily. ''Tch¡­I get the archer but even the mage has fast reflexes?'' thought Lev. The two of them then continued attacking, using gap closer skills continuously until both sides ran out. Unfortunately for the Eusford representatives, the distance remained the same. Although they haven''t sustained any damage while ferociously hunting the two Colzen representatives, they also haven''t achieved anything. Hence, as neither side gained an advantage, the four representatives locked eyes, instantly plunging into a deadlock from the very start. "Slick!! The Colzen representatives are just too slick!! The Eusford representatives tried their hardest but none of their moves reached their opponents! Will the Eusford representatives ever manage to corner the Colzen duo?!" Chapter 184: Kiin In Trouble The high-intensity sh right off the bat naturally stunned the crowd,pelling them to cheer their lungs out as two opposing parties stared menacingly at each other. "Hoh? I must admit, you lowlives are quite slippery¡­" Finn said before whispering something in Lev''s ears. "Well then, let''s see how long you can keep this up. After a short break to catch their breaths, Finn and Lev ferociously charged towards the ranged duo from Colzen. All of their gap-closer and repositioning skills were still on cooldown so they had no choice but to try their best to close the gap through normal means. Naturally, it wasn''t easy to reach Kiin and Harry using such a straightforward attack pattern. They had to duck, sidestep, and run in a zigzag before they were able to sessfully close the distance. Lev even suffered a few burns from Harry''s fireballs. However, as they arrived within striking distance, the ground suddenly rumbled. *ROAR* A strange mystical roar reverberated in the entire arena as a three-meter-tall rock golem suddenly emerged from the main stage. It then looked around and upon spotting the two Eusford representatives, the golem roared once more before it started mming its fists onto Finn and Lev. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* With gigantic earthen fists trying to find their way toward their flesh, the two Eusford representatives had no choice but to drop their attacks and let the two Colzen representatives create distance, jumping backward and backpedaling continuously as the shockingly fast fists of stone caused utter destruction on their previous locations. To make things worse, projectiles such as mana arrows and elemental spells shot straight towards them. Being a scout, Finn was nimble, allowing him to dodge the fists along with the projectiles but Lev wasn''t so lucky. He wasn''t as agile as Finn so he was struck by a few arrows and fireballs, though, it didn''t look like he was hurt much. With how things were progressing, it was pretty evident that the Colzen duo was winning. Initially, those who were rooting for Colzen were a bit worried since the two representatives they sent out were both ranged attackers, meaning that there was no front liner to protect them. However, who would''ve thought that they didn''t need one since the mage could summon a sturdy and strong rock golem? Seeing the current turn of events, the crowd couldn''t help but chant "Colzen", making the two Eusford representatives gnash their teeth in frustration. In their minds, they were the protagonists of this battle but the crowd says otherwise so they were quite pissed. Just when the two Eusford representatives were at their wits'' end, the enormous rock golem suddenly stopped moving. ''Hmm? Why did it stop moving? Is the mage out of mana? No¡­maybe it has a range restriction?'' Finn pondered, trying to think of a smart way to destroy the golem. After all, this might be a trap. On the other hand, Lev didn''t waste any time thinking and immediately attacked the golem upon realizing that it stopped moving. "No, Lev! Wait!" Finn tried to stop his teammate but it was toote, he was already mid-air. *FWOOSH* The stationary rock golem who seemed to have returned to being a statue, suddenly moved once again and punched forward. *BANG* A body hurtled through the air, prompting the Colzen crowd to erupt into cheers. However, contrary to everyone''s expectations, although a bit bruised, Lev was fine, managing to regain his bnce after spinning for a few times. "Tch¡­these lowlives are tougher than I thought¡­Well, no matter." Lev said as he nced at Finn. "My skills are already up, shall we try our n?" "Let''s do it." Hearing the conversation between their opponents, Kiin''s and Harry''s brows furrowed. They gripped their weapons tighter as they focused on the movements of the two Eusford representatives who were once again beginning to move. Suddenly, Finn disappeared from their field of vision. However, as if the attack was engraved into every bit of their being, the Colzen representatives reacted ordingly. Kiin, realizing that he was targeted, quickly used one of his repositioning skills [Swallow Step Lv.4] to once again increase the distance between him and Finn. Naturally, since the two Eusford representatives were in range, the huge golem once again moved and madly darted towards Lev who then disappeared as he used [Dash Lv.4]. Shockingly the target was once again Kiin. ''Tch, so that''s their n huh?'' thought Kiin as he once again used one of his repositioning skills to evade Lev''s attack. ''It''s inevitable that I would be chased down. If that''s the case, then¡­'' "Harry, don''t worry about me, focus on taking them out. These guys won''t attack you until they take me down!" A sh of enlightenment dawned upon Harry, finally realizing what the opponent''s ns were after hearing Kiin''s words. "Tch, so that''s their n¡­" Harry muttered, ordering his rock golem, Golteb, to focus on attacking the warrior, Lev. Meanwhile, he himself tried to hit Finn using spells but the bastard was too quick. Akin to a slithery snake, Finn dodged the projectiles Harry threw with rtive ease, showing everyone why mages were bad in match-ups against scouts. "Harry! Stop hesitating! Use your trump card!" Kiin eximed. He was reaching his limit, in a few more seconds he would probably be eliminated. Thus, Harry had to take one out before Kiin was eliminated, Finn¨Cif possible. Gnashing his teeth upon hearing Kiin''s resolve, artificial storm clouds formed over the entire arena as Harry waved his staff and started chanting unintelligible words. ''Tch, what is that mage up to?'' Finn thought, slightly wary. It didn''t take long for him to get his answers though as his hair stood on end, every pore on his body screaming for him to escape from the area. However, he decided to ignore it thinking that as long as they stuck close to the archer, then the mage should have limited attacking options. Unfortunately, just a short whileter, he found out the hard way that he was very wrong. Chapter 185: Sneaky Scouts Initially, Harry had been hesitating whether to use his trump card or not due to the fact that he would probably hit Kiin as well if he did decide to use it. However, Kiin''s resolve dispelled all of his worries. He wouldn''t actually be hurt anyway due to the mana barrier. In addition to this, as friends, they usually piss each other off so having a chance to give Kiin a big one without any repercussions sounded truly appealing. Thus, after hearing Kiin''s words, Harry even felt a bit excited. If he could take both of the Eusford representatives down along with Kiin, then he would be gloriously standing on the stage alone. Daydreaming about the pleasant near future, Harry continued casting, the storm clouds bing thicker and darker as seconds went by. By this time, the rm signals in Finn''s head were ringing like crazy. ''This bastard¡­is he nning to strike his teammate down?!'' thought Finn. "Lev, let''s finish this guy off! We need to get out of here, quick!" "I know that even if you don''t tell me!" retorted Lev. Gnashing his teeth due to the pressure looming above them, Lev and Finn used their trump cards almost simultaneously. Azure wings suddenly appeared on Lev''s back, temples, and ankles, boosting his physical capabilities. Once his transformation was done, he immediately charged towards the defenseless Kiin,pletely out of skills to use. "Do it, Harry!" *BANG* As Lev''s sword touched Kiin''s neck, a terrifying lightning bolt struck the spot where Kiin and the other two Eusford representatives converged, sending fragments of destroyed tiles flying everywhere, some even dangerously flying toward the crowd. Luckily no one except those who should be were hurt. Harry smiled menacingly. Seeing his skill [Thunder Strike Lv.3 (Umon)], squarely hitting his opponents and his annoying friend was a good feeling. As the dust settled, two azure rays flew out of the stage. One flew toward the Colzen ringside whilst the other shot straight to the Eusford ringside. "Shit! I was too slow!" raged Lev as he punched the ground multiple times in frustration. In contrast, Kiin was in a good mood, thinking that his elimination in exchange for the elimination of both their opponents was a good deal. However, Harry noticed that there were only two azure rays, and if one was Kiin and one was Lev, then¡­ ''Crap!'' "Toote, drop dead" Another azure ray suddenly shot from the stage towards¡­the Colzen ringside. Who would''ve thought that Finn would decisively use his trump card against Harry instead of Kiin? Not only did he avoid the thunder strike, but he also managed to take out the remaining Colzen representative, Harry, to sessfully take the first match for the illustrious Eusford Academy. "Wha¨C What''s? What?! The monstrous mage was suddenly eliminated! Too sneaky! Too stealthy! Eusford''s representative, Finn Sevens, snatches match number one from the jaws of defeat!! The illustrious Eusford Academy remains unshaken!! The dark horse, Colzen, falters in the first match!! Their first-ever defeat in the entirepetition!" Realizing they lost, Kiin and Harry clenched their fists so hard. Both of them couldn''t understand how Finn survived the lightning strike when clearly, he was there in front of Kiin when the lightning sted everything into pieces around Kiin''s periphery. Unbeknownst to them, everything was due to Finn''s skill, [Mirage Trickster Lv.3 (Umon)], where his true body would go invisible while a controble clone remained in Finn''s initial position which he then used to attack Kiin as if the clone was him. Subsequently, once Finn saw that Harry''s guard was down, he sneaked right behind him and slit his throat. A truly brilliant move fitting for a top-tier scout. Upon realizing the turn of events, the Eusford crowd cheered wildly, some of them even talking trash to the Colzen fans beside them. Naturally, the Colzen fans were both dejected and frustrated. Would they lose to one of the three kings like everyone else? Would the grand finals be between two of the three kingly academies once again? Adding to their frustrations was an irksome voice, resounding from the left side of the main stage. "Hahahaha! I told you. You lowlives should just stay down in the dumps where you belong. Everyone thinks they''re strong until they face us, the true elites." Finn arrogantly said as he descended from the stage whileughing. Hearing the words of their adversary, the Colzen representatives couldn''t help but re furiously at Finn. Harry and Kiin felt so frustrated that their fingernails started digging into their skin due to how tight they were clenching their fists. They knew that lingering on their defeat like this was not beneficial though so Shye and the other Colzen representatives took a deep breath to calm their raging emotions down and prepare for the next match. They haven''t lost yet and they still have a chance to return the favor. Unfortunately, they were the ones who had to send a representative out first so they really couldn''t choose. Due to this, the best bet would''ve been Shye. However, the dilemma is, that if Shye went out right now, then theirst match, the survival match, might be at risk. Thus, after a quick discussion, Ian jumped up onto the stage. As one of the three best duelists on the Colzen roster and probably an unfitting representative for the survival match, Ian was the next best choice. He also hasn''t lost even once so he was the perfect choice for the one-on-one match. "Oh? A scout this time huh? I''ll make sure to take my time putting you in your ce. Imagining you unable to hold your head high after this match is truly delightful." A familiar annoying voice sounded from the staircase as a seductive young woman ascended the stage with a yful expression on her face. ''Heh, I knew it was gonna be you.'' thought Ian as he drew his ming dagger out of its customized sheathe, embers lingering in the air for a few moments with every wave. ''I''ll make you cry.'' Chapter 186: One Satisfying Vicious Slap Although the Colzen representatives weren''t a hundred percent sure, they knew that the arrogant Eusford representatives wouldn''t care about things such as "bad matchups" against dark horse academies like theirs. They were too prideful to care. Thus, they dared send Ian instead of Shye knowing that there was a high chance the opponents would pick Abegail again as their one-on-one representative. Sure enough, they did pick her, allowing the Colzen students to obtain the matchup advantage. Seeing the smirk on Ian''s face made Abegail seductively lick her lips in excitement. Destroying such confident-looking guys has always been one of her twisted hobbies. She couldn''t pinpoint the reason, but witnessing them sumb to depression, utterly devastated by the humiliating defeat she had delivered, brought her a sense of satisfaction. thank-you-for-using-MvLeMpYr The two participants stretched for a short while before assuming their battle stances. Donning a cold look on his face, Ian shot Abegail a menacing re as they stood in front of each other, waiting for the referee to announce the start of the match. "Begin!" Immediately after hearing the start of the match, Ian charged forward, unwilling to use his skills this early in the fight. Upon realizing what her opponent was doing, Abegail nimbly backpedaled, shooting arrows from different angles while retreating. An arrogant smile still stered on her attractive face. Due to the sharp projectiles, Ian had to run in a zigzag to avoid most of the arrows, though he had to deflect some which slowed down his ferocious advance. Still, he was decisively closing the distance. If nothing happened, he would be able to corner Abegail within the next few seconds. "Hoh? I see you''re quite skilled, Mister cool and clean-hearted guy." Abegail said, her face turning slightly serious. "If you weren''t from such a dirty, mediocre academy, I might''ve allowed you to sleep with me." Hearing Abegail''s words as he slowly cornered her, Ian sneered in disdain while deflecting an arrow flying towards his neck. "Heh, even if you allow me, I won''t allow someone so promiscuous to sleep with me. Judging from your actions and your words, you probably don''t have a father to guide you, and your thing¡­must be way overused by now so¡­no thank you." Hearing Ian''s retort, veins popped at the sides of Abegail''s head. It was always her who was insulting others and this was the first time in her life she sincerely wanted to strangle someone to death. The bastard was calling her a prostitute?! Outrageous! Meanwhile, Ian, who unknowingly won the diss fight was in the middle of remembering a certain gorgeous blueberry-haired girl''s appearance. ''My Ava is still the best. Inparison, this harlot is just way too dusty.'' thought Ian, his ming dagger slicing and dicing in an attempt to hit the slippery Abegail. Although he was missing, he was slowly cornering his opponent. Finally, after a few more seconds, the girl had nowhere to run. "Come on, stop running. I saw you fighting a melee against the Grumblethorne representative. Why don''t you try doing the same with me?" Ian said, smiling menacingly. Meanwhile harlo¨C Abegail, had a dark expression on her face. "Fine, you''re getting a bit too cocky. Time to put you in your ce." retorted the Eusford representative as she drew the short dagger strapped on her left leg. She refused to believe that such a lowlife could defeat her in terms of actual dueling skills. After a short staredown, both representatives charged at each other. A cacophony of metal shing against metal continuously rang out from the main stage as Ian and Abegail engaged in a fierce melee where one of them quickly found out how wrong they were. In the beginning, the two were fairly equal. However, as seconds went by, Abegail quickly found herself in a deep pit. Challenging a top-tier scout like Ian turned out to be a huge mistake as he was nothing like Toph, the Grumblethorne representative. After all, how could an archer holding a dagger be a match for a pure-blooded scout student? The bnce quickly copsed when Ian started mixing in a few punches and kicks, sending Abegail staggering backward, regretting her decision to fight Ian in a melee. She then attempted to use a skill to escape, however, it didn''t activate fast enough allowing Ian to sneak in one vicious p on the right side of her face, sending her hurtling through the air. Upon stabilizing her footing andprehending the situation, the audience was already mocking her withughter. As for Ian, he had a serene smile on his face, looking extremely satisfied. "You!!! Loathsome rat!!! You''ve sessfully angered me. I''ll show you why lowlives like you shouldn''t dare resist us, the true elites!" Abegail raged. She then deftly returned the dagger to its strap and pulled out a bow and quiver from her small spatial bag. An unusually strong gust of wind suddenly formed four small tornadoes around Abegail before seemingly converging in the jade embedded in the bow''s grip. ''What? High-grade enchantment jades? Talk about being born with a silver spoon...'' Ian thought, his expression turning serious. Abegail''s weapon reminded everyone of the difference between a kingly academy and a mediocre one. "Hahaha! Now, let''s see if you can still speak arrogantly." the young woman said as she took an arrow from the quiver strapped on her back. She then ced the arrow on the high-grade gold-tier relic in her hands and pulled the bowstrings with a dark look on her face. *FWOOSH* Ian barely had time to react. The arrow was so fast that if his reaction time was one millisecond slower, his simted head would''ve popped and he would''ve been sent out of the arena right then and there, ending Colzen Academy''s run. ''Crap, that was way too close.'' Ian thought, sidestepping as he desperately dodged the absurdly fast arrows. This time, it was Ian who was slowly cornered. Abegail didn''t even need to move, all she had to do was focus on shooting her arrows and it was enough to stop Ian from advancing. Naturally, Ian wouldn''t allow himself to remain in a disadvantageous position, thus, he quickly decided that it was time to use his skills. Like a phantom, he disappeared under hundreds of thousands of eyes and reappeared behind Abegail, viciously stabbing his ming dagger toward her neck. "Naive!" Chapter 187: The Surgeon Abegail, although arrogant and twisted, was incredibly skilled in duels. Kicking up a cloud of dust, she reappeared a few meters away from Ian, dodging his skill with one of her own. Subsequently, when Ian tried to advance, he was met with another fierce flurry of arrows, giving him no choice but to focus on either deflecting or dodging. If he forcefully tried to break through, then his head might pop. Ian tried to use all of his gap-closer skills but it was no use, Abegail had just as many repositioning skills, allowing her to maintain her distance and continuously shoot her annoying arrows. ''Tch¡­Seems like I can''t hold back anymore or I''ll lose¡­'' thought Ian as he skillfully blocked a few more arrows, sending them flying in different directions. "Hahahaha! What now? I told you already that hillbillies like you shouldn''t talk too much. Colzen Academy? Where the fuck is that? Come on, why don''t you talk arrogantly now?!" Letting out all of her frustrations, Abegail rapidly fired more arrows, steadily advancing as if showing everyone how superior she was. However, in the next second, uneasiness crept into her heart as multiple dark shadows chillingly crawled out from Ian''s feet, heading in different directions, neither too fast nor too slow. Still, she kept firing arrows at Ian while asionally checking the progress of the unknown shadows, lurking around her periphery. She didn''t know what Ian was up to so she couldn''t help but slow down her fire rate to see what he was up to and if needed, quickly escape. It didn''t take long for her to find out what Ian was plotting as a shadowy aura emerged from within Ian while the shadows on the edges of the stage suddenly turned into his exact copies, exuding the same shadowy aura as him. By this time, Abegail was already overwhelmed by uneasiness and her fire rate drastically decreased. This was the first time she saw such a skill so she raised her vignce to the maximum. Once the clones made of shadows were done materializing, all of them, including Ian, smiled creepily and their auras vanished along with their existence. They were there, yet¡­Abegail couldn''t sense them. Even Ian''s aurapletely vanished. He was there in front of her but she couldn''t sense him at all. It was like he was nothing but air. Taken aback, Abegail furiously shot a few arrows in Ian''s direction, however, the arrows¡­simply passed through his body. Gnashing her teeth in anxiety, she used her offensive skills, aiming to destroy the shadows one by one. Fierce gales apanied by high screeches caused chaos on the main stage as different hues of arrows flew toward the shadows, attempting to destroy all of them almost simultaneously. However, the same thing happened. All of the arrows passed through the shadows as if they were nothing but air, destroying the walls on the sides of the arena instead. ''What the fuck is this skill?!'' Abegail inwardly raged. She felt helpless, after all, how could you kill someone if they seemed to not exist? To make things worse, the smiling shadows slowly walked closer to her, some of them weirdly stopping at different locations within the main stage as if they were covering their own specific areas. As a result, Abegail didn''t dare move and was petrified in the middle of the stage, surrounding her were a total of ten shadows scattered across the arena. Subsequently, once the shadows seemed to have arrived at their designated positions, the one in front of her which she assumed was the "true" Ian, slowly walked forward while donning a frightening smile. "Now, how about you guess which one is real?" Hearing all of the shadows talk at the same time, something finally snapped inside Abegail''s brain. "You coward! Face me! Hiding behind your wacky shadows is unfair! Face me! In a fair fight!" All the shadows burst outughing after hearing what Abegail said. "Hahahahaha! Oh please, that high-grade relic of yours is fair? If you truly want to have a fair fight, then how about we discard our weapons and have a fistfight? Do you dare? If not, then stop spouting bullshit and just find a solution instead of yapping senselessly." Naturally, Abegail wasn''t willing to engage in a fistfight against Ian so she stopped speaking and started firing arrows again even though all of them simply passed through. Finally, her dreaded moment hade. Ian charged towards her and she tried shooting him with arrows, certain that he was the real one but the arrows simply passed through him once more. A crazy idea then entered her head which was to allow Ian to simply attack her thinking that his dagger would simply pass through her like a phantom. Well¡­ She tried but she couldn''t do it. She didn''t have the guts to. Thus, with an agitated expression on her face, she desperately retreated while shooting arrows. However, whenever she enters the area guarded by another shadow, the shadow seems toe alive and be the real Ian. Finally, after struggling for a few minutes, she was caught by a ruthless p once more sending her flying toward another shadow who then materialized once again and pped her towards another shadow. The sequence continued for a long time and Abegail was mercilessly pped around. At the beginning, she screamed in pain. However, after a few minutes of being ruthlessly pped, she has now gone silent. read-first-on-MVLeMpYr Her limbs iled everywhere as her limp body hurtled through the air. Seeing the current developments, everyone from Eusford Academy gnashed their teeth in fury. Especially the other male representatives including Harper. After all, who wouldn''t be furious seeing their woman get pped around, only, they didn''t expect that they all had the same thought. As for the deans of Eusford Academy, it was their poor armrests who received the brunt of their rage. "Brutal!! He''s no clean-hearted guy! Ian Izanagi viciously ps Abegail Fury around!! When will this torture end?!" The sound of thementator''s loud voice reverberated once again, prompting the stupefied crowd to cheer and mock her in delight. Most of them saw how this young woman humiliated the Grumblethorne representative so in their eyes, this was just a much deserved retribution. Although Ian''s clean-hearted guy title was now gone, it was reced by another, more menacing title which he absolutely loved. "Surgeon of the Shadows" Part of it is due to how methodical he was in dismantling his opponents while another part of it is¡­due to his exceptional skill in rearranging the faces of his adversaries. Chapter 188: Colzen vs Eusford: Final Match Begins! The people from Eusford Academy didn''t know what to do. Their representative, Abegail Fury, was unconscious and couldn''t surrender. In addition to this, since the battle was only between their simted avatars, her life wasn''t really in danger so until the blue dome determines that she "died" then the pfest shall continue. Fortunately for her, just a few momentster, the system finally determined that she died due to excessive ps and was transported out of the dome in an azure ray. Materializing outside the dome, Abegail regained her consciousness and looked around. Thest thing she could remember was that she was pped for the fifth time then nothing after that. Realizing that she might''ve been pped to oblivion, Abegail looked at the huge holographic screen with a distressed and panicking look. Sure enough, in the instant rey, she was pped until she died, and the bastard who captured the rey even made sure to zoom her face in with every p. "I''LL KILL YOU!!!!" Ultimately, Abegail couldn''t stand the mental torture anymore, feeling that she was going to go insane if she didn''t let her boiling rage out, hence, she charged toward Ian who was descending from the stage with a contented smile. Fortunately for her, the Eusford representatives arrived on time and restrained her from doing anything outside the match. If things progressed without anyone''s intervention, then Eusford would''ve been disqualified. As they walked towards the Eusford ringside seats, Harper and another Eusford representative supported Abegail, who was visibly shaking, traumatized by what happened to her. This was the first time in her life she suffered such humiliation and would probably scar her for a long time if not for a lifetime. Naturally, seeing their daughter suffer such dishonor, her parents, who were high-ranked adventurers and were watching the match from somewhere, remembered Ian''s face and name. If they encountered him in the future, then they would teach him a lesson he would never forget. Unbeknownst to Ian, he already made a few enemies. That was for the future though, right now, Colzen celebrated as they tied the score up 1-1. Upon returning to Colzen''s ringside seats, Ian was met with high-fives, fist-bumps, and words of praise from his teammates. Unfortunately, he didn''t have time to relish in the feeling of his victory as the referee, with the same old stern look on his face, walked towards the middle of the stage and pressed a specific button on the jar. This time, although the same blue holographic screen appeared, it didn''t contain words but single-digit numbers from one to seven. Then, after multiple quick number rotations, it suddenly stopped, disying the selected number of participants for the next match type. ''Four representatives on each side huh? I guess that will have to be me, Sieg, Wendy, and David¡­'' mused Shye as he nced at his teammates. After a quick talk, Kiin, Harry, and Ian didn''t argue much and simply agreed to let the four of them handle thest match. After all, the three of them already had their turn. In addition to this, two warriors along with one mage and one priestess seemed to be a solidbination. Just when they were about to finish their strategy meeting, the familiar azure rays shot out from the grid of the blue dome, shooting straight towards four individuals donning pristine white academy uniforms along with gold capelets on their backs. The four chosen representatives of Eusford Academy, with fury written all over their faces, had arrived onstage and were ring straight toward the Colzen ringside. Seeing their ugly faces, Shye, Siegfried, and David couldn''t help but chuckle as they slowly ascended the stage with Wendy. "What a turn of events folks! What a scorching hot match!! The score is currently tied at 1-1, the academy that wins the next match shall proceed while the other one shall exit. Eusford has never been pressed this hard by a dark horse before, will they fall here?! Will Colzen pull a massive upset against one of the three kings?!" Thementator''s vibrant voice once again reverberated in the entire arena, casting a magic spell on the crowd''s hearts, making them almost fidget in excitement as they waited for the third match with bated breaths. read-first-on-MVLeMpYr More than a century has passed since one of the three kingly academies has been dethroned. It would be a treat for everyone present should they witness a historical moment today. What made the match even more interesting was the fact that Eusford and Colzen seemed to have developed a brand-new rivalry that didn''t exist before. Their representatives stared daggers at each other while waiting for the match to start. Seeing that everyone was ready, the referee didn''t make the crowd wait for more than necessary and announced the start of the match. "Begin!" *BEEP* After the beeping sound from the control panel, the huge blue wall preventing both sides from interfering with one another sprang out from the middle of the stage as thousands of kobolds appeared out of nowhere in different shapes and sizes. ''Ahh old friends¡­'' Shye reminisced. Seeing the familiar faces of the kobolds made him recall his nightmarish experiences alone in the somberbyrinth and he couldn''t help but slightly smile. ''I really survived that huh?...'' He knew that he had time to reminisce since Wendy was here and although the barrier would probably break this time after continuous attacks from the kobold captains, Shye wasn''t fazed. He was already familiar with the attack patterns of these kobolds and was confident that none of the Eusford representatives knew the characteristics of the kobolds better than he did. Thus, realizing that they had a few minutes before the barrier broke, Shye decided to annoy the Eusford representatives. The four of them took out their signature sleeping bags and rxed as they waited for the kobolds to break the barrier. "C-C-C-Colzen!!!! Audacious!! They dared to do this even against one of the three kings!! This has turned into a full-blown rebellion!! They are determined to dethrone the kings and take their kingdom for themselves!!!" Chapter 189: An Old Friend The actions of the Colzen representatives were met with reverberating cheers from the crowd, adding liveliness to the entire match. Naturally, such irksome maneuvers got the attention of the Eusford representatives. "You Colzen lowlives¡­how dare you¡­HOW DARE YOU?!" raged Harper as he killed three more kobold militias with a single wave of his sword. "Harper! Focus! You know this tactic of theirs wouldn''t work against higher-ranked enemies. Once the Kobold Captains start attacking their barrier, it will crumble so don''t mind these clowns!" Indeed, Wendy''s barrier was indestructible for the weaker ones like kobold militias but it would crumble under the continuous attacks of stronger foes. Seeing his n only half-worked, Shye clicked his tongue and stood up, signaling the other Colzen representatives to prepare for battle. After a few more seconds, the Kobold captains arrived on the frontlines, hacking, and shing at the barrier using their makeshift spears and battle axes. Of course, Shye and the others wouldn''t wait for the barrier to break. Embers lingered in the air for a few seconds as David waved his elemental staff, casting one of the stronger targeted area skills in his arsenal, [me Tornado Lv.3] Then, just when Wendy''s barrier cracked¡­ *FWOOSH* A huge me tornado appeared in front of the Colzen representatives, violently burning the kobold militias that dared step forward to attack them. Subsequently, whilst the ranks of the kobolds were in utter chaos, two savage warriors lunged forth and wreaked further havoc, quickly eliminating the weaker kobolds at an rming pace. Meanwhile, the priestess, Wendy, albeit a bit idle, used all of the avable skills in her arsenal to assist her allies, casting buffs, barriers, and mana roots at appropriate timings, making the job easier for her allies. Such a shy start naturally prompted the crowd to cheer once more. The intense action continued for a few minutes before all the representatives onstage noticed something. ''Hmm? The kobolds¡­don''t seem to be respawning?'' Shye mused. Although he wasn''t entirely sure since new kobolds were introduced every passing minute, all of them were higher ranked than the kobold militias whose numbers quickly dwindled. Due to this observation, Shye and the others couldn''t help but suspect that there was an end to this kobold army. Such a thought invigorated their hearts, making them imagine scenes of wiping out the entire kobold army and raising their hands in victory. Suddenly, the survival match turned into a hunting match between Colzen and Eusford. Unbeknownst to them, their thinking was far too naive as a nightmarish surprise was waiting for them at the end of it all. Metal shed against metal and elements lingered in the air as the cacophony of dying screams from the kobolds filled the air. Although everyone knew that everything was simted, they couldn''t help but slightly grimace at the gory sight. Absolutely not fit for children to watch. Seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into an hour. By this time, all of the representatives were panting in exhaustion including Wendy who almost got herself killed a few times due to being distracted by the bloody scene around her, making her almost go crazy. Fortunately, she managed to ovee her fears in time as she eventually got used to the fake scent of blood and metal wafting in the air. Although there was no way for her to kill a single one, she could at least protect herself while her teammates were busy dealing with the kobolds. The match was reaching its climax. By now, only around a hundred kobolds remain, however, all of them were elites. 80 kobold sergeants and 20 kobold captains remain on each half of the dome, baring their fangs on the exhausted representatives. All of the representatives'' skills were now on cooldown and what remained were their trump cards. Chaos ensued on the main stage as the three mages, David from Colzen and two mages from Eusford waved their staff and started casting their ultimate skills On the Colzen side, two gigantic earthen walls rose from the simted floor and faced each other. In the middle of the walls were all the remaining kobolds, looking distressed as they observed the earthen barricades warily. On the other hand, a mix of gale and a humongous fireball appeared on the Eusford side, instantly eradicating around 80% of the remaining kobolds, turning them into charred carcasses littering the simted floor. Meanwhile, David stabbed the foot of his staff deep into the ground and violently pped his hands together, looking as if he was praying to the earthen gods. A few secondster, the two gigantic earth walls moved at an rming speed, squishing all of the kobolds inside who couldn''t escape in time. However, there was a bit of a discrepancy with the results. David only managed to destroy around 65 percent of the remaining kobolds on the Colzen side. He was only a single mage after all, it would be hard to contend against two. Right after the mages cast their ultimate skills, they turned into azure rays and were transported out of the arena, determined "dead" by the blue dome due to mana depletion. On the bright side, there were only two representatives left on the side of Eusford while Colzen had three. On the darker side, Colzen had around 35 elite kobolds left on their side while Eusford only had twenty. experience-MVLeMpYr Siegfried and Shye tried their hardest to y the kobolds even while their skills were on cooldown but in the end, if they wanted to catch up to the Eusford representatives, one of them had to use their trump card. And so, Siegfried did. Wings of light appeared on Siegfried''s back and a bright extension of light suddenly appeared on the tip of his tachi, making his weapon grow longer than a jumping pole. He then lunged towards the remaining kobolds, taking the limelight from everyone as he slew kobold after kobold, slowly but surely catching up to the Eusford representatives. Naturally, Shye and Wendy didn''t stay idle either. Unknowingly, they turned the match into a race on who would be able to y the remaining kobolds faster. Everyone on the stage thought that whoever wiped the Kobold army out first would win. Even the crowd thought so, forgetting that the theme of the match was survival. The hearts of the crowd, the deans, thepanion students, and even thementator started beating faster. "Who will y the kobolds first?! Will it be Colzen?!! Will it be Eusford?! Aaaaandd¡­Thest kobold has been in!! It looked like both sides finished at the same time. Let''s look at the instant rey." Just when everyone thought that the match was about to be decided by the instant rey, primal howls reverberated in the entire arena as the simted ground of the main stage started to rumble. The match¡­was not over yet. Two massive kobolds with bulging muscles appeared out of nowhere, wearing high-quality leather armor with steel pauldrons on their shoulders. In their hands were enormous ives, threatening to rip the remaining representatives apart. ''Now this¡­is nostalgic.'' Chapter 190: Eusfords Strongest Vs Colzens Strongest "K-K-Kobold General!! Ruthless! This survival match is ruthless!!! How could these young exhausted representatives match up against such monstrosity?!" Realizing how dire the situation was, Siegfried reacted quickly. "Crowley, recuperate and buff yourself up with the help of Wendy, I''ll stall for as long as I can!" Shye knew better than anyone how dangerous this creature was and it was true that he needed to prepare for a bit to deal with it. your-chapter-source Seeing Siegfried charge towards the creature, Shye quickly jumped to Wendy''s side, receiving a few buffs and heals. As for the Eusford duo, the priest had decided to use all of his remaining mana and entrust the battle to Harper, their strongest representative. Huge mana roots suddenly sprang out of the ground and grabbed the Eusford Kobold General''s legs, preventing it from moving forward for a few seconds as it focused on destroying the unusual green-colored mana roots. It seems that this variation of mana roots was tougher than usual since it managed to dy the Eusford Kobold General for quite some time. While their opponent was entangled, the Eusford priest representative, Isaac, vigorously waved his life staff and started casting another one of his ultimate skills, [Divine Restoration Lv.3]. After a few seconds of casting, a glowing seed the size of a golf ball appeared in front of Isaac and floated towards Harper, enveloping him in a gentle holy light, restoring not only his health but also his stamina. By the time the Eusford Kobold General managed to rip the green mana roots apart, Harper was fully rejuvenated. In contrast, Shye was still panting slightly in exhaustion. Wendy was right behind him casting buff skills after healing him back to full health. Unfortunately, it seems that Harper would have a slight advantage of full staminapared to Shye. Meanwhile, Shye was facing Wendy whose eyes were closed as she continuously cast buff skills after buff skills, going all out in giving Shye some much-needed boosts. Even her weaker buff skills such as [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence Lv.1] made their way into Shye''s body. Seeing that very few people could see what he was doing, Shye decisively opened the system. He didn''t want anyone to see him acting weird but there was no choice, he needed to upgrade his attributes and purchase a few skills so some of the people watching were bound to see his weird actions. Hopefully, no one suspects anything. He tried before and was sure that no one could see the system''s interface except for him so in case anyone asks about what he was doing, he could simply say that he was casting a rare skill. In addition, no one probably knew about the system so unless they stalked him with the intent of exposing his secrets then the system would remain private. Knowing this, he tapped away, upgrading all the attributes he needed and purchasing two rare skills for a total price of 40,000 points, leaving him with around 94,351 points. An astronomical amount at first nce, however, Shye checked the system upgrade to level three and it cost 200,000 points so he had to earn more if he wanted to purchase higher-ranked skills. After all, upgrading the system to level three without getting anything right after would just be too pointless. Thus, with an investment of 40,000 points, he hoped to gain more. There were 200,000 people in attendance, if he could earn something close to that number¡­hehehehe¡­ [You''ve learned [(Dark) Fallen''s Howl Lv.1 (Rare)] [You''ve learned [(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.1 (Rare)] Shye wanted to check his current status after maxing every needed attribute out within the limits of his level 2 system, unfortunately, he didn''t have the luxury of doing so as three azure rays of light shot out from inside the blue dome. Siegfried was eliminated by the Kobold General while Wendy and Isaac were sent out of the main stage due to mana depletion. Seeing the current developments, the crowd once again erupted into cheers, standing up and waving their fists around in excitement. "CAN YOU NAME A BETTER MATCHUP THAN THIS?!! The score tied up at 1-1, two warrior representatives left, one from Colzen and one from Eusford. Both hailed as the strongest in their academies." "Who will win?! Will it be Eusford Academy''s Harper Blythe?! Or Colzen Academy''s Shye Crowley?!! We''re about to find out!" Shye and Harper were both warriors, however, they adopted an approach different from each other. As a sword and shield user, Harper decided tost for as long as possible, opting for a defensive approach. He knew that they could take down the Kobold General as a party but it would be impossible to do so alone. Knowing that he had the better defensive stats, Harper was confident, thinking that Shye''s aggressive approach was not optimal for the current situation. Unfortunately for him, Shye had other ns. He was already familiar with the attack patterns of this creature and he already took one down. Although the one he killed was blind, it was just as physically strong as this healthy kobold general. However, he couldn''t trick his way out of this battle so he had to focus. One clean shot and he was gone. The Kobold Generals didn''t wait long and immediately pounced like a nightmarish hound towards the two puny human representatives, brandishing their ives downwards in an attempt to hack Shye and Harper in half. From there, the battle stopped being identical. Harper didn''t dare block such a momentum-charged blow so he rolled to the sides, causing dust and dirt to fly everywhere as the gigantic ive smashed the ground. As for Shye, he knew he could still fight the Kobold General head-on as long as Wendy''s buffs were active. He had around forty seconds. Knowing this, Shye charged forward and courageously shed his de upwards, directly shing with the Kobold General. Although he was sent sliding a few meters back, it could be considered a win. After all, he was human and not a monstrous creature. Seeing the results of Shye''s heroic sh against the massive kobold, thementator mmed his desk with his hands in utter disbelief. "S-S-S-Shye Crowley!! Did everyone see what just happened?! Such monstrous strength!! Colzen''s strongest once again makes a resounding statement!! Who?! Who would even have the guts to fight such a nightmarish creature head-on at such a young age?!" Chapter 191: Release The Trump Cards! ''This showoff!'' Harper gnashed his teeth as he clumsily blocked an attack from the Eusford Kobold General. He hated the fact that Shye''s aggressive fighting style was garnering more attention. Although he knew deep inside his heart that what he was doing was boring, he felt annoyed that he, the supposedly main character, had be a side character. ''No matter, once his buff runs out and he gets shed in half, then I will get thestugh. I''ll make sure to rub premium quality salt in his wounds¡­'' Consoling himself with the idea of winning in the end, Harper carried on, trying to hold on for as long as he could. Meanwhile, Shye nimbly dodged most of the Kobold General''s attacks, only shing when necessary. Whenever the Kobold General does an attack pattern he already knew, Shye would always avoid the strike with mind-boggling precision before counterattacking with a sh of his own. Since he was way stronger nowpared to when he was fighting the blind kobold general, Shye''s attacks were doing way more damage, his de digging way deeper into the flesh of the monstrous creature with every hack, sh, and stab, making the kobold general howl in pain. However, the damage sustained by the Colzen Kobold General was far from enough to take it out. To make things worse, his buffs from Wendy already timed out. ''That guy''s buffs probably timed out as well so we are in the same position. Now, it''s up to who''s better¡­'' Shye thought, slightly licking his lips in excitement. He didn''t know when but he somehow started to enjoy high-intensity, high-stakes matches like this one, especially when lots of people were watching. Clenching the grip of his Nightbringer tightly, Shye advanced. He then tried to avoid the blows once again but he wasn''t able to do it smoothly this time and there were a few moments when he almost got killed by the Colzen Kobold General, prompting the Colzen crowd to stand up in anxiety. As Shye struggled to stabilize his footing, the monstrous kobold swung its ive horizontally, aiming to cleanly decapitate him. He managed to block the blow but he was sent flying and to make things worse, his sword hand was blown back. Unfortunately for him, the Kobold General was relentless. As Shye remained suspended in mid-air, with one arm thrown back from deflecting the initial assault, another strike swiftly approached him. Seeing that there was no way for him to block or dodge the iing blow, the faint-hearted Colzen supporters immediately closed their eyes, not willing to see Colzen''s moment of defeat. Deep in trouble as he was, Harper somehow also had the chance to witness this moment. Smiling widely, he felt grateful to the gods and goddesses of victory for siding with him and letting him watch his moment of triumph. But then, just when Shye was about to get hit¡­ A second greatsword appeared on Shye''s left hand apanied by the familiar warm energy coursing through his body as his attributes increased once again due to the talent, [Greatsword Meister (Rare)]. Now armed with another weapon, he quickly used the momentum of the nightmarish kobold''s first attack and spun while in mid-air, allowing him to use his other sword to block the iing blow. Although he was sent flying, he was able tond on his feet and stabilize his footing after a few meters of sliding backward. The crowd was dumbfounded and couldn''t help but go silent for a few seconds before erupting into the wildest cheers the arena had ever produced. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 35,890 points!] Regrettably, many closed their eyes so he was only able to amass close to 36,000 points, even after plotting his trump card reveal for a long time. Still, once again, points were points. Sadly, He didn''t have the luxury of enjoying the cheers because although the crowd and thementator were impressed, the Colzen Kobold General wasn''t and it simply kept on attacking relentlessly. "D-D-D-DUAL WIELDING!! DO MY EYES DECEIVE ME?! SHYE CROWLEY STILL HAD SOMETHING UP HIS SLEEVES!!" Thementator''s bewildered voice suddenly resounded in the entire arena, adding even more hype to the already hyped crowd. ''F*CK! F*CK! F*CK! This bastard still has a trump card?!'' Harper inwardly raged. He was already at his wits'' end. Not only was he running out of defensive skills to use, but he was also running out of stamina due to constant dodging. Realizing that Shye could still keep up with the Colzen Kobold General, Harper knew that he would lose if he still held back. ''I was nning to use this in the finals but I guess I have to show off now! It''s my turn!'' With a confident smirk on his face, Harper faced the iing attack from the Eusford Kobold General. Then, just when the ive of the Kobold General was about to hit Harper, a giant glowing golden Shield appeared in front of Harper, moving in ordance with how he moved his shield. Shockingly, the Kobold General''s attack couldn''t even make the shield budge. Although it was unknown how long the golden shield wouldst, Harper could be considered invincible while it was still active. Only, his grand trump card reveal seemed¡­a littleckluster. Compared to the thunderous cheers for Shye''s trump card, only a few thousand people cheered their lungs out for Harper''s [Golden Fort Lv.3 (Rare)]. Naturally, hearing such dull cheers made Harper feel irritated and¡­a bit mortified. ''Why?! Why are the cheers for him louder than mine?! He''s just a lowlife! Nothing but a lowlife!!!'' Although infuriated, Harper didn''t dare fight like Shye. All he did was y turtle behind his golden shield and naturally, such a boring disy wouldn''t garner too much attention, especially whenpared to Shye who was like a warlord, courageously shing head-on against the massive kobold. Everyone loved heroes and even though he was losing, he looked way more heroicpared to Harper. It wasn''t even close. Chapter 192: Conclusion of Colzen Versus Eusford ''Come on! F*cking die already!'' Harper inwardly raged as he watched Shye who was battered and bruised, struggling to fight against the Colzen Kobold General. Although Shye''s adversary was also badly damaged, there was no way that it would copse first and unless he was willing to release his two other trump cards, defeating the kobold general was nigh impossible in his current state. Still, his valiant disy made Harper, who already forgot about revenge, nervous. After all, Harper was also on hisst legs. Once his golden shield times out, he would probablyst a few more seconds at most, and sadly, his trump card, the golden shield, was indeed about to time out. Thus, desperation slowly crept into his heart and at this moment, he wished for nothing more but to see Shye enveloped in an azure ray of light. Unfortunately, the scene he sincerely wanted to see didn''t happen and instead, it was his golden shield who timed out first. Ironically, when the crowd saw that Harper''s shield was gone, it was then that they cheered their lungs out. Hearing the crowd cheering at his misfortune, Harper felt indignant as he realized that the crowd wanted him to lose. He wanted to shut all of them up but he was also out of options. The only thing he could do now was spend the rest of his stamina blocking and dodging the Eusford Kobold General''s blows while sincerely praying for Shye to be defeated before him. Both representatives panted hard in exhaustion and the match was down to itsst stretch. Naturally, such developments made the crowd stand up, visibly on edge due to a mix of excitement and nervousness. Realizing that their opponents were out of steam, the Kobold Generals went on a rampage, ferociously hacking and shing their weapons toward their adversaries. After surviving for a few more minutes, both Shye and Harper were out of everything, be it skills or stamina. In front of them were lethal ives, advancing closer and closer with each passing millisecond. *CLANG* With thest bits of their energy, Shye and Harper blocked the Kobold Generals'' attack. However, there was an unpleasant discrepancy that happened after both representatives sessfully defended. Shye''s greatswords were blown away a few meters away from him while Harper''s shield, albeit bent, was still firmly in Harper''s grip. Due to this, it would take the Eusford Kobold General two hits before it could take out Harper while the Colzen Kobold General only needed one hit to defeat Shye. Seeing the current developments, Harper felt excited and a confident mocking smile returned to his face. "Hahahaha! After a lot of pretentious acts, in the end, I''m the winner!" Harper loudly mocked as the Kobold Generals once again lunged towards them, aiming to finish the representatives off. Naturally, Harper focused on the attack of the massive kobold first, temporarily ignoring Shye as he braced for impact. *CLANG* A ive shed against a shield, sending Harper flying while his shield flew in a different direction. However, he didn''t care, and he couldn''t care less. At this moment, all he cared about was seeing the sweet azure glow of the protective mana barrier sending his opponent out of the main stage. Unfortunately, as he turned his head and eagerly looked at Shye, his eyes widened. Instead of an azure ray, what he saw was the Kobold General, petrified on the spot, seemingly trembling in trepidation and hesitating whether to attack Shye, who was fiercely ring at the massive kobold. "WHAT THE F*CK ARE YOU DOING?!! KILL HIM!!" shouted Harper. Of course, the Kobold General wanted to kill Shye but the 200 stacks of [Fear] prevented it from doing so. While Harper was busy looking at Shye, a massive ive passed through his neck, sending it flying and rolling on the ground a few meters away. An azure ray of light then shot out from the left half of the main stage and flew straight towards the Eusford ringside, materializing into an unharmed Harper Blythe shortly after. Due to the shocking nature of the upset, it took the crowd a few seconds longer than usual before their brains were able to process what happened. Realizing that Colzen won, the crowd burst into reverberating cheers and apuse, continuously chanting "Colzen" as they waved their fists in the air after witnessing the biggest upset of the century. Naturally, the hero, Shye, was met with enthusiastic high-fives and fistbumps upon returning to the Colzen ringside. Even his teammates couldn''t help but be thoroughly impressed at his heroic performance and ask him tons of questions regarding the Kobold General''s hesitation. "COLZEN ACADEMY SUCCESSFULLY DETHRONES EUSFORD!! SHYE CROWLEY MIRACULOUSLY TURNS THE MATCH AROUND!!" Thementator''s voice trembled as he passionately narrated the end of the Colzen versus Eusford matchup, still in utter disbelief. He wanted to see Colzen dethrone Eusford and they did. Just when thementator was about to speak again, a series of salty jeers erupted from the Eusford crowd. The way Shye won looked sketchy to them and they wanted an exnation. Naturally, Harper, who was mortified about his defeat, took this chance and voiced his suspicions. "The crowd is right! He didn''t do anything, yet, the Kobold General willingly let him off!" Harper said, his heart filled with indignance. "I demand an exnation!" Hearing Harper support their ims, the diehard Eusford fans quickly doubled down and unhesitatingly voiced their suspicions. Some of them even had the gall to use the organizers of ying favorites and helping Colzen win by forcefully stopping the movements of the Kobold General The situation spiraled out of control, prompting the city lord himself to deal with the situation. "Everyone, settle down. I, Valenzia''s City Lord, swear on the name of the World Adventurer Association that the battle was fair and that we know the reason why the Kobold General suddenly stopped attacking." "It was due to the Colzen representative, Shye Crowley''s semi-passive skill. However, disclosing the effects of the semi-passive skill would be unfair for Colzen Academy since they are still in thepetition." NovelBin-your-story-source "If anyone still dares to cause a ruckus¡­then I have no choice but to kick you out of Valenzia Arena and ban you from entering the city for a decade." Chapter 193: The Burden on Blas’ Shoulders Hearing s'' words, the salty Eusford fans immediately shut their mouths. They still wanted to watch the finals and being banned from the City of Dreams was certainly not a good fate as well. Thus, they decided to stop forcing the issue. Although some of them were still not convinced, they didn''t dare press the city lord of Valenzia any further. Seeing that the situation was under control, s gave the crowd a slight bow before turning around to leave. However, just when he was about to descend the stage, a voice suddenly sounded from behind him. "With all due respect Lord s, I''m afraid it would be hard for us to ept this loss without knowing why, I plead that you please enlighten everyone." One of the two deans of Eusford Academy spoke, the tone of his voice: indignant but respectful. Naturally, s wasn''t happy. This was the first time somebody ever questioned the integrity of his words and his brows couldn''t help but furrow as he gave the Eusford Academy dean a stern look. "Oh? Dean Featherlite, I believe I already swore on the name of the World Adventurer Association. Are you doubting my integrity?" s said as he gave Dean Featherlite a cold look. "I don''t mean any disrespect but how many people here dare to challenge your promise? No one would be able to prove if you are lying or not. If you can find it in your heart to answer our questions, we will be able to leave peacefully. Dean Featherlite replied, a hint of anger discernible from his tone. "Alright then, since you doubt the integrity of Colzen''s victory, put your money where your mouth is. I shall disclose the secret to Colzen''s victory and if Shye Crowley could prove my statement, then I shall ban your Academy from entering thepetition for a decade." "Now, Dean Featherlite, let me ask you again, are you willing to take this risk?" s said, evidently angry from the tone of his voice. Seeing how firm s was, Dean Featherlite wavered. Ultimately, he decided to let things go. A decade of not participating meant that they would receive the lowest budget possible for ten years. The consequences simply far outweigh the advantages. Thus, with a heavy heart, Dean Featherlite backed down. "I apologize, Lord s, my sorrow overcame me. This shall never happen again." Featherlite said before turning around and returning to the Eusford Academy station. Hearing Dean Featherlite''s words, s breathed a sigh of relief. Valenzia was already one of the weaker regions. If Eusford Academy falls from grace, then Colzen''s rise shall be for naught. There were more pressing problems to face and if they want their region to survive a potential cmity, then they must not fight amongst themselves. As Valenzia City''s Lord, s must persevere. He promised a certain somebody after all. powered-by-NovelBin Hopefully, the young adventurers of Valenzia would be able to grow to their peak on time, else, Valenzia might be doomed. Out of the ten regions they ranked at the bottom when it came to the total number of titled adventurers. Currently, there were only a total of six titled adventurers in their region. In addition to this, they didn''t have a single hero candidate. They needed at least seven to form a hero party. Among the ten regions, they were one of the two regions that didn''t have a hero party to hold the fort. Even the cksmithing region, Weaven, had its own hero party. As years passed, the disparity only grewrger andrger because the young talented adventurers of Valenzia always decided to settle down in the more prominent regions upon reaching the peak of their career rather than staying at Valenzia and helping develop the region. Fortunately, Valenzia had no shortage of talented young adventurers and recently, more and more of them were deciding to stay. If nothing goes wrong, then in a few years, Valenzia might have a few titled parties along with hopefully, a hero party of their own. *** Inside Colzen''s academy station, the atmosphere was merry. Why wouldn''t they when they''ve sessfully entered the grand finals? The deans allowed the representatives to rx for a bit before calling them for onest meeting, it was too early to have one anyway as it was still unknown whether it was Freia or An who would advance. After a few celebratory hugs, high-fives, and fistbumps from their instructors along with a few words of praise from the deans, the representatives made themselvesfortable. David even decided to take a quick nap, feeling quite spent after the final match. Meanwhile, in the holographic screen, the Freia and An representatives were being introduced onstage. Since Shye vowed to avenge his seniors, he prayed for An to win so that he could carry on with his quest for revenge. He wanted to defeat An with his own two hands. ''Hmm¡­ So the bastard is called Damien huh?'' Shye mused as he watched the introductions closely. Shortly after, the match type was decided. Three-on-Three Hunt: (B-) Two-faced Spider One-on-One Seeing the match types, everyone inside the Colzen Academy station felt that they were lucky, especially on the three-on-three. The more representatives seen in action, the more abilities they could see which would give them a slight advantage. Well, it''s not like the Colzen representatives hadn''t shown their entire arsenal so their final opponents surely knew most of what they had now. Except for Shye''s new skills of course. In addition to this, he had a shit-ton of points waiting in reserve. Although he wouldn''t be able to upgrade his attributes anymore due to the limits of the level 2 system, he could still purchase skills as needed. Hopefully, the two new skills will suffice. He wanted to purchase some unique and legendary skills after all. "Now, on to the second match! This time, two kings are fighting for a chance to bag the one true crown, the championship of the Adventurer Academy Competition. Will Freia debunk the myths of An''s supremacy this year? Or will they fall just like everyone who stood in An''s way?!" Chapter 194: A Gathering "Hey! David! Wake up!" Harry said in a stern voice, still a bit shocked after witnessing An''s prowess in the Three-on-Three match. Thinking that they would be able to witness lots of abilities and trump cards, most of the representatives except for David and Wendy tuned in to the match. However, who would''ve thought that the Three-on-Three match would end as soon as it began? Fortunately, although they weren''t able to witness lots of trump cards, they witnessed one which was probably the most important trump card An Academy had. The trump card belonged to An''s priest representative, Horcus, who astoundingly acquired the powers of time. From what they saw, after around three seconds of casting, a small bluish-transparent cube materialized out of nowhere, abruptly stopping the Freia representatives from moving. What came next were easy killings by the other two An representatives, easily decapitating all three of their adversaries in a span of three seconds. Seeing how thest Freia representative could move before he was killed, they estimated that the effect of the time cubested for around three seconds. The problem is, even though they knew the effects of the skill, the Colzen representatives still didn''t know how they would deal with the said ability. At worst, they would have to concede the Three-on-Three match. The reason why Harry immediately woke David up was because it seemed that An Academy would win 2-0. Although the hunt match was still ongoing, it was evident that An was winning, hence, they must strategize, and fast. Still groggy, David forced himself to get up and walk towards the meeting table. *** "Terrifying!! A fitting word to describe this year''s An roster! Who would''ve thought that even Freia, one of the three kings, would be swept?! Will Colzen simply suffer the same fate?!!" Thementator''s passionate voice once again sounded on all four enormous mana-powered speakers. However, the Colzen crowd wasn''t in the mood to be excited. They were a bit shaken after witnessing An Academy''s might. It seems that they were indeed a notch above even whenpared to Eusford and Freia. As a result, Colzen supporters couldn''t shake off their concerns that Colzen might face a fate simr to all those who opposed An. Meanwhile, inside s'' office, there was a massive gathering of around fifty men, all aged forty to sixty-five. All of them wore majestic capelets embroidered with different insignias. Some of them stared out the window while some gathered around s, however, although a few of them seemed to not care about the ongoing discussion, in truth, they were all closely listening. "I must say, Lord s. There seem to be lots of good seedlings this year, especially at Colzen Academy. Who would''ve thought that such a mediocre academy could produce such fine young adventurers? Thanks to them, we wouldn''t have as fierce of apetition amongst ourselves this year. Hahahaha!" "Hahaha! I was about to say that, Guild Master Jin. In the past, all fifty of us here had topete for 21 students from An, Eusford, and Freia. Although the seedlings from the other top 16 academies were quite good, they just weren''t at the level of the seedlings from the three academies." "Heh, what you say is true, Guild Master Rock, however, how many of these golden prospects were actually true talents? Aren''t there more sessful adventurers from the other championship stage academiespared to those from the big three?" "Hahaha, you''re spitting facts, Guild Master Peck. Indeed, although the seedlings from An, Eusford, and Freia were indeed the best seeds at first nce, in the end, they were always overtaken by those from other academies. They''re simply too used to being spoon-fed!" "Hahaha! Alright then, I guess Guild Master Lish will notpete with us for the students of the big three academies. That''s good news." NovelBin-exclusive "Ahk..No! I would stillpete for them¡­of course." Hearing the lively discussions from the guild masters of the top fifty guilds, s smiled, thinking about how true their words were. Indeed, although the seedlings from An, Eusford, and Freia were always off to a zing start as adventurers, most of them were overtaken by their peers after a few years. However, there were exceptions. After all, two of them even attained the status of one of the six titled adventurers. "Lord s, who do you think will win? Colzen or An?" Guild Master Jin asked, snapping s out of his musings. "It is quite hard to predict, however, there is one thing I''m sure of," s said, shing a mysterious smile towards the guild masters whose ears perked up, curious about what s had to say. "Oh? What is it that you find certain, Lord s?" Guild Master Rock replied, rubbing his stubble as he curiously waited for s'' reply. "I wouldn''t go so far as to call this a prediction, however, if things went down to the wire and Colzen Academy''s Shye Crowley is participating, then there is a high chance for Colzen to win." Hearing s'' words, the guild masters were pleasantly surprised. Most of them got their eyes on Shye and hearing s praise him immediately increased their interest. One guild master, in particr, Guild Master Soaring Raven, had immense interest in him. If not for the finals, then he would''ve already extended him an invitation. Nevertheless, Shye would need to start his career at a guild branch and progress through the ranks to reach the main headquarters of his guild. That''s how it usually goes after graduation from an adventurer academy. Although it looks like the guild masters of the main branch weren''t sincere in their invitations due to this arrangement, every young adventurer knows that it wasn''t like that. After all, all of them were nothing but young unproven adventurers and although they might secure some fame for themselves through the Adventurer Academy Competition, ultimately, they have to prove themselves in a professional setting¨Cin the real world. Suppose these young adventurers couldn''t even secure a promotion for themselves. In that case, it just means that they were nothing but false prodigies and it was better for them to rot in other guild branches than be devoured by thepetition in Valenzia City. Chapter 195: The Grand Finals In the past, the most talented graduates were immediately ordered to report to the main headquarters in Valenzia City, sadly, most of them simply perished in the first two months. Even veteran adventurers die almost daily in the adventurer zones near Valenzia City so one could only imagine how recently graduated adventurers would fare. The absurdly high death rate of rookie adventurers led to the current protocol of the most prominent guilds. Thus, for the past century, all rookie adventurers were ordered to report to the branch guilds in different cities first, then, once they were ready for Valenzia, they were given rmendation letters which were equivalent to promotions. As for the guild masters surrounding s, they were the guild masters of the main branches of their guilds. "Oh? They''re out!" One of the guild masters looking out the window said in a loud voice, sessfully capturing the attention of the other guild masters. Under the eyes of fifty guild masters, the Colzen representatives strode out of their academy stations and walked towards the main stage, fully prepared to fight the hardest battle of their lives. Although they were confident in putting up a fight, they weren''t sure if they could win, however, they wouldn''t like it any other way. They longed for intense battles like this. Knowing that this would be thest time they would fight both as a team and as friends, the Colzen Avengers wanted to make the most of this experience. Once they graduate, this illustrious event would turn into a memory and there wouldn''t be anything quite like it in the world of professional adventurers. cing the experience of enjoying the tournament in front of his desire for revenge, Shye felt more lighthearted than ever. "Here theye!! Introducing first, the challengers, hailing from the southern region of Valenzia, this academy was once known as the epitome of mediocrity. After a disastrous exitst year, they are back¨Caze with determination." "Starting from the first day, they fought more battles than anyone else and naturally, defeated more academies than anyone else. Their path to the top was nothing short of hellish, encountering tough academies one after the other." "However, none of those academies managed to topple their zing resolve to escape their fate, even Eusford, one of the three kings, couldn''t stop their violent rebellion." "Please wee, Colzen Academy!!" Hearing the brilliant introduction of thementator, the Colzen supporters cheered their lungs out, chanting "Colzen" andwaving their fists passionately in the air as they hoped for another miracle. They all saw how strong An was this year and they weren''t sure if Colzen could beat them. However, they''ve decided to support Colzen''s rebellion against the king, An. Win or lose, this year, they bled white and blue. Hearing how passionate the crowd was, the reality of bing a grand finalist sank in. Raging waves of passion,petence, and determination to win suddenly flooded their hearts. Shockingly, even Wendy, who was usually apathetic to such things, felt an unfamiliar rush of energy coursing through her body, making her feel more excited than usual. Upon reaching the ringside seats, the Colzen representatives settled infortably while thementator shifted his focus to a different group of representatives emerging from their academy station. "Introducing their opponents, one of the three kings, hailing from the northern region of Valenzia, this academy won more championships than any other academy. A sign of their lifelongmitment to excellence. "Present to suppress the ongoing Colzen rebellion, let''s give a warm wee to An Academy!" Observing the formidable strength of the An roster this year, more individuals were convinced. Despite their enthusiasm for Colzen, the crowd struggled to believe in their ability to triumph over An. Hence, the bandwagon fans swiftly switched allegiance, throwing their support behind An. Ultimately, fifty percent of the crowd supported Colzen while the other fifty percent ended up wishing for An''s victory. Some of them disliked the thought of Colzen dethroning all three. In their opinions, the order must be maintained and An had to stand up in the name of the three kingly academies. Thus, with an equal number of supporters for both academies, the grand finals began. Thementator handed the proceedings over to the referee who stood in the middle with his usual stern look while holding the small mana-powered theme-selection jar. *BEEP* A few seconds after the familiar beeping sound, all five types of matchups were listed. Two-on-Two Hunt (B) Ranked: Forest Troll Berserker (7) One-on-One Survival: (A) Ranked: Ember Wyvern (7) Three-on-Three Seeing the results on the huge holographic screen, Shye frowned. ''Tch, I''m not sure if the Three-on-Three as the fifth match type is a blessing or a disaster but¡­it is what it is. We just have to deal with it. Hopefully, we could end the match before ites down to the fifth¡­'' He thought as he nced at his teammates who were also deep in thought. An''s performance in the three-on-three against Freia was just too terrifying and until now, they haven''t found a solution to the time cube skill of the An priest representative. Thus, they could only try and end the match before it got to their dreaded match type. As for the first match, the two-on-two, it was An Academy who had to send out their representatives first. In a best-of-five final, getting the first win is very important to boost your team''s morale, thus, Colzen had to choose the most appropriate representatives depending on who An Academy sends out. In addition to this, as per the rules of the championship match, Although each representative''s participation will not be limited in the survival and hunt-type matches, they can only participate once in either the one-on-one, the two-on-two, or the three-on-three. Thus, in a best-of-five, one representative can participate a maximum of three times. see-more-NovelBin Aware of this, An ultimately dispatched their selected representatives, causing the Colzen representatives to narrow their eyes in contemtion, each considering whom to send out. Chapter 196: Grand Finals: Colzen vs. Aslan ''Warrior representative, Breion Sunre, and mage representative, Asha Ylyndar¡­'' Shye mused. "If that''s the case, then we needn''t deviate from our standard two-on-two tactic¡­'' The other Colzen representatives weren''t dumb either, they knew that there was no need to change tactics. It wasn''t like they lost trust in Kiin and Harry after their defeat. The only thing they were waiting for was Shye''s approval and seeing him nodding at them, Kiin and Harry were ecstatic. They wanted to avenge their loss. Although defeating the An representatives would be an even taller taskpared to defeating the Eusford representatives, Kiin and Harry weren''t intimidated in the slightest. In fact, they felt even more pumped to avenge their loss. Walking up the stage, the Colzen duo were met with a smile of disdain from Asha, a young attractive woman wearing the renowned charcoal ck An uniform along with a golden capelet. She had a slender body, a gorgeous face, a fairly average chest, and an unexpectedly huge backside for someone her size. On the other hand, there wasn''t a single ounce of arroganceing from Breion, the warrior representative with jade short curly hair, the usual well-built warrior body, and average facial features. The guy even slightly bowed at them before the referee announced the start of the match. Caught off guard by Breion''s polite gesture, Kiin and Harry didn''t know what to do, ultimately deciding not to reciprocate the guy''s gestures. Drawing their weapons, the familiar gale and rumble caused a slight disturbance onstage as Kiin and Harry assumed their battle stances. Seeing that their opponents were ready, Asha sneered in disdain before pulling out her mid-grade relic which was a water elemental staff while Breion pulled out a shortsword and a tower shield, causing the ground to slightly shake due to its weight. The referee looked at both sides and upon determining that the representatives were ready forbat, he didn''t make the eager crowd wait any longer. "Begin!" After hearing the referee''s signal, Breion immediately charged toward Kiin and Harry. ''Heh, I saw thating from a mile away.'' thought Harry, aiming his staff towards the ground as he chanted unintelligible words. *ROAR* A familiar mystical roar reverberated in the arena as the three-meter-tall rock golem, Golteb, emerged from the ground right before Breion arrived within striking distance, stopping him in his tracks as a giant stone hand punched out. Caught off guard by the giant''s dexterity, Breion had no choice but to receive the punch head-on using his tower shield. Shockingly, Breion, although sent sliding back, was able to withstand the full force of the golem¨C his feet remained firmly nted on the ground. ''Tch, isn''t this guy basically a moving fortress? Who the hell could withstand a punch from my golem? And at such a young age?'' Harry inwardlyined, even Eusford''s representative, Lev Dawson, was sent hurtling through the air. How could two top-tier warriors have such a gap when it came to toughness? "Harry! What are you doing?!" Harry''s thoughts were cut short after hearing Kiin''s voice, finally realizing that a gigantic fireball was headed straight towards him, only, it came from a weird angle¨Cfrom the sky, as if it was a meteor. ''Crap!'' Fortunately, just before the fireball hit him, Harry was able to escape using his repositioning skill, [Blink Lv.4]. ''F*ck, that was close¡­It was clearly a fireball though so how could she cast it from such a strange angle?'' Harry mused, once again lost in his thoughts. His confusion was understandable because a mage''s spells would inevitably alwayse from his/her elemental staff so casting it downwards from the sky was impossible through normal means which meant that Asha was either using another skill or¡­it was her talent. ''Tch worrying about it wouldn''t do me any good would it?'' Harry thought, narrowly dodging razor-sharp icicle spears, this time,ing from behind. Ultimately, he decided to stop worrying about the strange angles of Asha''s spell and just dodge them as they came. "Asha, help me take down this golem first, we wouldn''t be able to take them down like this!" Breion sternly said in a loud voice. "SHUT UP! I know what to do!" Asha retorted¨Cutterly annoyed. Unwilling to take orders from anyone except Damien. Still, she knew that their opponents were already aware of her skills and it would be difficult for her to take them out without Breion''s help, thus, sheplied and sted away with her low-cooldown skills. Various explosions of different elements caused chaos on the main stage as Asha''s skillsnded squarely on Golteb''s earthen physique, sending the golem staggering backward¨Cits rocky limbs threatening to copse. Naturally, Kiin and Harry wouldn''t allow Golteb to be destroyed without them achieving anything in return. Thus, they fired away with projectiles of their own. Their target? Breion. ''You want to take our tank out? Then let''s have a fair trade.'' Harry thought, waving his staff around as low-cooldown projectiles shot out continuously. Breion was quite slow and his agility attribute wasn''t enough to dodge the spells and arrows thrown his way, hence, he tanked all of the Colzen duo''s attacks using his trusty tower shield. Inevitably, a few arrows and spells sneaked past his battered shield, piercing, burning, and exploding right in front of him. Staggering backward, Breion received another punch from Golteb, making him slide further back as blood streamed down the corners of his mouth. Simr sequences continued for a few more minutes before a shocking thing happened. The sounds of rocks and pebbles falling on the ground resounded from the main stage as the crowd''s eyes and mouths opened wide, utterly dumbfounded after seeing the rock golem copse. "U-U-UNBELIEVABLE!! BREION SUNFLARE OUTLASTS A ROCK GOLEM!! WHAT BEASTLY RESILIENCE!!" ''How the hell is this guy still standing?! He must''ve eaten around fifteen projectiles both from Kiin and me!'' Harry gnashed his teeth and inwardlyined, still having trouble epting that his rock golem copsed first. Meanwhile, Breion, although battered and bruised, stood proud in the middle of the main stage, basking in the glorious cheers of the An crowd as he once again assumed his battle stance. Advancing steadily with his robust tower shield in front, he gradually cornered the Colzen duo. Despite their relentless attacks in an attempt to bring down the resilient warrior, he pressed on undeterred. Chapter 197: Kiin Wujin ''How the f*ck is this guy still standing?!'' Kiin inwardlyined, tempted to pull his hair out in frustration. He already shot more than a hundred arrows, and although only a few of themnded cleanly, if youbine the damage from his arrows with the damage dealt by Harry, there was just no way the guy was still alive. However, if there was anything they couldn''t doubt, it was the system of the blue dome which so far had been frighteningly urate. Since it determined that the damage sustained by Breion was still within his capabilities, then it must be so. Unfortunately, they''ve been having a rough time since Golteb copsed. Icicle spears, rock bullets, wind slicers, and fireballs continuously shot at them from various tricky angles, all while Breion slowly advanced. Since his advance was slow, the Colzen duo ended up using their repositioning skills to evade the projectiles thrown their way by Asha. Not to mention, Breion wasn''t dumb. He always used his immobilizing skills at the right moment, making Harry and Kiin suffer a clean hit each from Asha''s skills. Battered and bruised, the Colzen duo looked like they were about to lose once more. Their difficulties were all due to the moving fortress, Breion. The Colzen duo already tried ignoring him, focusing all their attacks on Asha, however, none of them managed to hit Asha. She was just as slippery as the two of them. In addition to this, whenever she is about to get hit, Breion always gets in the way of the projectile, sessfully protecting her each time. check out m-v-l-e-m-p-y-r Thus, Kiin and Harry decided to take Breion down first. "Honestly, this is getting boring. I''ve expected more from you, Colzen representatives, Khan and Hairy¡­Is this everything you got? If so, then I shall end this now." Hearing what Breion just said, veins popped at the sides of Kiin and Harry''s heads. What infuriated them the most was how sincere Breion was. It didn''t look like he had any ill intent and was just telling the two of them how he really felt about the match. "Harry, this guy is begging to be destroyed so leave him to me. You focus on that mage." Kiin said, his voice slightly trembling from immense frustration and realization. This was the first time he felt so disrespected, albeit unintentionally. It seemed that he had been overthinking things too much to the point that his offensive capabilities went down. He used to be much more brazen and aggressive, letting his hands go without thinking about anything except destroying his opponent. Memories of when he was an arrogant first year resurfaced. "It appears I''ve grown overly enamored with the concept of teamwork and strategic maneuvers..." thought Kiin as he momentarily closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Harry wanted toin, however, seeing Kiin''s current state, he chose to back down and started attacking Asha. "Oh? And what do you wish to achieve alone? Khan? The two of youbined couldn''t do anything to me so what makes you think you alone could achieve something?" Breion said as a golden avatar of an armed-to-the-teeth warrior appeared behind him, enveloping his body with a golden aura, looking extremely daunting as he slowly advanced. "First of all, my name is Kiin. Second, you really think I can''t take you down?" Kiin retorted as green tears suddenly started streaming down his cheeks before solidifying into green runes a few secondster. Shockingly, once the runes were formed, four huge tornadoes apanied by loud screeching sounds appeared and orbited around Kiin, preventing Breion from moving any closer. ''No, stop thinking about right timings and all that shitty stuff, just use everything and obliterate them before the timer runs out.'' Kiin thought to himself, deciding to use everything in his arsenal. Save some forter? Screw that! Just when Breion and Asha thought that Kiin''s trump card was pretty formidable, green smoke rings suddenly pulsated from his wrists and ankles, neither too fast nor too slow. "Now, let''s see if I''m still boring." Kiin loudly said, prompting Breion to narrow his eyes into slits and grip his tower shield tighter as he braced for Kiin''s attacks. This was the first time he saw such a skill and he wasn''t sure what to expect, thus, he decided to try blocking Kiin''s next attacks with his golden warrior avatar first. Even for Harry, this was the first time he had seen Kiin use such a skill. It seems that the guy loved to keep his trump cards close to his chest. Curious, the two mages temporarily stopped fighting to watch what Kiin would do. Finally, under hundreds of thousands of eyes, Kiin fired one arrow. Shockingly, the arrow, as it flew, was apanied by a gale and was rotating faster and faster. *CLANG* A loud sound of metal hitting metal reverberated across the arena as the golden warrior avatar blocked the arrow with its shield. However, what Breion didn''t expect was that Kiin''s arrow would send him staggering backward even with the help of his avatar. He was sure that if his trump card, [Guardian''s Avatar Lv.3 (Rare)], wasn''t active, the arrow would pierce right through his shield. "I admit, your attack was strong but if that''s all th¨C" *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Just when Breion was about to speak after sessfully receiving Kiin''s first attack, his words were interrupted as a barrage of identically destructive arrows continuously battered his avatar. "Huh? What did you say again?" Kiin retorted, continuously firing arrow after arrow. Not only did the strength of his arrows vastly improve, but even his fire rate drastically increased. In just a few seconds, the golden avatar cracked before disintegrating into golden dust that scattered to the four winds. "I apologize, Kiin. I take back my words, you''re not boring at all." Breion loudly proimed before being obliterated by countless arrows and turning into an azure ray that shot out of the blue dome, shooting straight towards the An ringside seats. "R-R-R-Representative Kiin!!! Who?! Who would''ve thought that he was still hiding his trump cards?!! The resilient guardian of An Academy, Breion Sunre, gets instantly annihted by Kiin Wujin of Colzen Academy!!" Chapter 198: Colzen Vs Aslan: Second Match Seeing the sudden turn of events, the Colzen crowd was dumbfounded for a few seconds before erupting into deafening cheers. It seemed like it was only a matter of time before the Colzen duo lost when Kiin suddenly revealed that he still had two trump cards, used them simultaneously, and then obliterated the warrior representative of An Academy in a few seconds. Even the deans were slightly dazed after witnessing Kiin go full ham. Petrified in utter shock, Asha only managed to gather her wits upon noticing that Kiin''s bow was aimed right at her. ''F*ck!'' Inwardly cursing, Asha dodged the first few arrows by using her repositioning skills. Unfortunately, all skills have a cooldown and her arsenal of escape skills was quickly drying up. The gears in Asha''s brain whirred and churned as she tried to find a way to win. When she realized it was impossible, she quickly made a surprising decision. Immediately after using herst repositioning skill, Asha jumped down the stage. "Wha¨C What is representative Asha doing?! If she fails to return to the stage within three seconds, she will be disqualified!" Naturally, the crowd was confused, however, her next words immediately exined her actions. "Ahh, to hell with this. I quit!" Asha said as she grumpily walked back to the An ringside. While walking under the stunned gazes of hundreds of thousands of eyes, she suddenly turned around and red at the Colzen representatives. "Hmmp! You didn''t defeat me, you understand?! You defeated Breion but not me!" She said before storming off. Stupefied, Kiin and Harry simply shot her a look of disdain before returning to the Colzen ringside. ''Heh, what a sore loser.'' thought the Colzen duo. As she arrived at their designated ringside, Asha was greeted by a frowning Breion. "Why didn''t you at least try? You could''ve taken at least one down with you if you went all out." "OH SHUT UP! IF YOU HADN''T LOST TO THAT DUSTY ARCHER THEN WE WOULD HAVE WON!! EVERYTHING WAS YOUR FAULT SO DON''T YOU MOUTH OFF ON ME!" Knowing that it was impossible to reason with her, Breion chose to back down after a deep sigh. It is what it is. She had a point anyway, if he managed to stop Kiin''s ferocious and relentless attacks, then they might''ve won. Naturally, Damien wasn''t happy about Asha''s decision either. However, he knew her and even he would have difficulties making her take ountability for her actions, thus, they simply decided to brush off the defeat. It was the first round anyway and there were still plenty of chances toe back. ''Consider yourselves lucky that you weren''t up against me.'' inwardly scowled Damien as he stared daggers at the Colzen representatives. Coincidentally, Shye was looking at the An representatives. Seeing Damien look his way, he gave him a mocking smile along with a quick sneaky middle finger before immediately looking away, not allowing the An strongest representative to retaliate. ''Wha? HOW DARE THIS LOWLIFE!!'' Infuriated, Damien had the sudden urge to throw everything out the window and charge at Shye to strangle him. Fortunately, in the end, his rationality won. He took a deep breath to calm his raging anger, coping with the fact that he could retaliate all he wanted once their victory was set. Still, although Damien refused to admit it, he was inwardly shocked at how skilled the Colzen representatives were. They were at least stronger than the Freia representatives judging from the results of the first match. However, he never once believed that they would lose. Fully confident and fueled by anger, Damien led the entire An representative group and strode menacingly toward the main stage. They couldn''t allow the hillbillies to sully the proud name of their academy. They wanted revenge. The next match type was a full party hunt-type match and the creature they would have to y was a (B) ranked Forest Troll Berserker who was notorious for being strong, tough, and recklessly aggressive. Fortunately, it was known to be extremely stupid. Thus, it would be a battle of both brains and brawn for Colzen and An. Seeing their opponents ascend the stage, the Colzen representative group also moved. "Unexpected! Truly unexpected that the kings, An Academy, would lose in the first round. Will Colzen be able to perform a miraculous sweep? Or will An strike back?!" As two opposing teams of representatives primed themselves, thementator masterfully stepped in, adding more hype and vibrant enthusiasm to the ongoing grand finals. After a few seconds of preparation, both teams were ready. Then, once both party leaders gave their approval, the referee promptly signaled the beginning of the second match. "Begin!" *BEEP* Hearing the referee''s words, the administrator of the blue dome pressed two buttons summoning a simted blue-skinned creature with two protruding fangs, a sharp nose, and ugly facial features. Its bulging muscles threatened to snap the connecting fibers of its makeshift leather armor as it menacingly brandished two battle axes while letting out a deep roar from its ridiculously thick throat. With one nce, one could immediately discern that it would be a daunting task to defeat the monstrous creature. However, no one on the stage was intimidated. The representatives were confident not only in their own abilities but also in those of their teammates. None of them even thought that they would lose to the creature and it was simply a matter of who could defeat it faster. Finally, afterpleting materialization, the two creatures from both halves of the main stage charged ferociously with reckless abandon, chopping away with their battle axes without worrying about repercussions. Naturally, it was up to the warrior students to stop the monster. The determining factor hinges on who can manage the monster''s aggression more effectively. If they somehow failed to hold the monster back, then their backline would be in trouble, drastically reducing their firepower. Hence, with glints of bravery in their eyes, Shye, Siegfried, Damien, and Breion, charged forth and courageously took the monster''s attention away from their allies. Chapter 199: (B) Ranked, Forest Troll Berserker There was no need for Shye to hide his dual wielding anymore, thus freeing him from any sense of movement restriction. Engaging opponents with only a single greatsword to conceal one of his trump cards for their uing battle against the top three academies proved somewhat exhausting and frustrating. Fortunately, he could now fightfortably. As the crowd watched the battle unfold, one of them had a sudden moment of realization. "Wait¡­Wait!! I remember him!" a person from the crowd eximed, garnering the attention of those around him. "Huh? What are you on about? Remember who?" "Colzen Academy''s strongest representative, Shye Crowley!" "Hmm? I''ve been watching the Adventurer Academy Competition for two decades straight and I didn''t have any initial impression on him, stop lying." "Wha¨C? I''m not lying, you bastard! You wanna have a go?! Huh?!" "Ha! You chatan! Stop trying to get attention for yourself and just watch the match!" Initially, those who''ve been watching thepetition consistently agreed with the second guy, however, the words of the first guy kept bugging them so they tried to recall the things that happened in the Adventurer Academy Competition in the past three years. A few momentster¡­ "W-W-Wait! I think I remember him as well!" "Me too!" More and more people started iming that they remembered Shye, thus, the second guy finally couldn''t stand it and snapped. "Just f*cking spill the beans! Stop iming and all that shit! Tell me! Who is he?!" After hearing the second guy admit defeat, the first guy chuckled. He then cleared his throat and stuck his nose in the air before exining: "Do you guys remember the legendary first-year substitute representative from Colzen three years ago? The one who got beaten up by the Shadowde representatives but helped his team attain victory? That''s him! Shye Crowley!" Hearing the first guy''s exnation, a wave of enlightenment enveloped the nearby crowd and soon, the news of Shye''s first appearance in the Adventurer Academy Competition spread like wildfire. "Indeed, the legendary first year back then wielded dual greatswords! So it was him!" Due to this, some of the An supporters wavered. Remembering Shye from three years ago made an impact on their hearts, urging them to support him. Ultimately, the crowd ended up splitting 60% to 40% in favor of Colzen. Had Shye been aware of the happenings among the audience, he would have been overjoyed at the prospect of additional support, potentially tranting into points. Unfortunately, his hands were full dealing with the Colzen Forest Troll Berserker who had no chill, continuously trying to chop either him, Ian, or Siegfried with its battle axes. So far, they''ve been able to contain it properly, allowing the back liners, Harry, Kiin, David, and Wendy, to perform their tasks without any disturbances. Slowly but surely, they whittled down the health of the troll. If not for its innate absurd recovery rate, then things would''ve been easier. ''Tch! At our current pace, it would take forever to bring this stupid troll down!'' Shye inwardly grumbled as he watched the wounds they inflicted on the creature slowly heal right before his eyes. Frustrated, Shye subconsciously nced at the An representatives to see how they were faring. His eyes then widened upon realizing that they were considerably behind. Somehow, the An representatives managed to damage the berserk troll significantly more than they were able to. For the first time in the entire tournament, Shye felt pressure. . In the past, it was always them who were in the lead when it came to hunt-type matches, thus, the current situation made him anxious. ''So this was how the Kossin representatives felt huh?'' thought Shye as he took one deep breath to calm himself down. ''Let''s observe them for a bit.'' Since Wendy''s buffs were still active, Shye had a bit of leeway to look around, hence, he observed how the An representatives dealt with the Forest Troll Berserker. After closely observing for a few moments, he noticed something unusual. Instead of being the main source of damage, the backliners only used their skills to help the frontliners contain the attacks of the troll. ''Why though?'' Shye mused, continuing to study the tactics of the An representatives. While the An Forest Troll Berserker continued its relentless attack, Asha found a way to time her fireball perfectly, striking the creature''s arms as it swung downward. This action caused the troll''s limbs to be knocked aside, creating a significant opening for the An party. "Now!" shouted Damien. Hearing their party leader''s signal, the four melee attackers, Breion, Damien, Abel, and Lesurii, immediately closed in. The four then hacked, shed, and stabbed at the tough creature as many times as possible. Noticeably, the An attackers only targeted a few specific spots on the troll''s body, namely, the flesh around the joints. A few more momentster, Shye finally realized what the An party was up to. ''Attacks on the joint areas weaken the troll''s regenerative abilities!'' Knowing this, he immediately shouted new orders. "Everyone! Change of ns! Ian, Siegfried, and I, shall be the main attackers. Focus on attacking the flesh around their joints! Kiin, Harry, David, and Wendy, no need to use your abilities to damage the troll berserker, instead, use them to give the three of us openings!" Hearing Shye''s orders, the Colzen party immediatelyplied without even asking why. They trusted him so there was no need for them to know the reason. Not to mention, they didn''t have the time to ask since they were way behind the An representatives. Quickly repositioning to provide better support for the melee attackers, the Colzen backliners used their skills ording to Shye''s instructions, skillfully knocking the arms of the Colzen Forest Troll Berserker away as often as possible. Naturally, Shye, Ian, and Siegfried dared not dally and shed their hearts out, desperate to catch up to the An representatives. "Tch! The hillbillies have noticed! Pick up the pace!" Realizing that the Colzen party was in hot pursuit, Damien stopped holding back and immediately started using his offensive skills to bring the Forest Troll Berserker down as fast as possible. Chapter 200: Fallen’s Wings ''The bastard''s reaction is fast¡­He already realized that we''re catching up.'' thought Shye, gritting his teeth as he hacked and shed at the massive troll. Luckily, due to the synergy of his dual greatswords, the temporary paralyzation effect gave them more openingspared to the An representatives. Hence, although the An representatives picked up their pace, the Colzen representatives slowly caught up. powered by mvle-mp|y|r "These two parties are way too ferocious for student adventurers, no?! The poor Forest Troll Berserker stood no chance! Our finalists are just way too strong!!" Thementator said as he stepped his right foot on top of his desk, not suppressing his burning emotions in the slightest. Just when the representatives were feelingfortable and confident in dealing with the enormous troll, red stripes suddenly appeared on the troll''s body. It then started to drool before roaring wildly. "Shit! The troll went berserk!" Ian eximed, giving Shye a quick nce as he waited for his instructions. Hearing Ian''s words, Shye temporarily went silent and gave the An party a brief look. ''They''re adopting a defensive approach huh?'' he mused. ying it safe would probably be the better choice but they were behind. Shye knew they had to adapt differently or the gap would remain the same. Gnashing his teeth after making a bold decision, Shye gripped the handles of his greatswords tighter before opening his mouth to speak: "Don''t fall back! Let''s fight fire with fire!" Then, right after saying his piece, Shye courageously charged toward the berserk troll. ''The hillbillies have gone crazy! They dare fight the troll while its berserk state is active? Delusional!'' thought Damien after ncing at the Colzen party who decided to adopt an aggressive approach. "S-Shye Crowley charges towards the Forest Troll Berserker!! While An steps back, He chooses to advance!! If the Colzen party pulls this off, it would be bad for the An representatives!!" Thementator shouted, his voice slightly trembling from excitement. Even the crowd cheered after seeing the difference in approach. Fighting defensively might be the safer choice but an aggressive stance would always be the more exciting one. Hence, the Colzen crowd once again burst into cheers as the captain of the Colzen party showed everyone what it meant to be an adventurer¨Cbraving dangers for the sake of a brighter tomorrow. "Hoh¡­I must say, Lord s. This Shye Crowley has never disappointed me even once this entire tournament. All his choices would''ve been my choices if I was younger¡­" "Hahahaha! Guild Master Dong, you sure love to make everyoneugh. You? Choosing aggressiveness? From what I remember, when we were in the same adventurer party in the past, you were the first one to run at the sight of the (S-) ranked Poison Drake!" "Wha¨C? You old dog, Sparrow! How dare you nder me in front of other guild masters?! You wanna have a go right now?! Huh?!!" "Hahaha! Do you think I''m scared of you?! Come then! I shall teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents!" Seeing two prominent guild masters act like children in front of him, s felt his head ache. "Guild Master Dong! Guild Master Sparrow! Please act appropriately or I will have to step in." s said with a frowning face and a stern tone. Realizing that the city lord was angry, the two guild masters cleared their throats before speaking to try and calm s down. "Hahaha! We were just jesting, Lord s. Me and Guild Master Sparrow are good friends, right? Guild Master Sparrow?" "Bahahah! Guild Master Dong is correct, Lord s. We were just joking, please don''t take our words to heart¡­" While Guild Master Dong and Guild Master Sparrow are performing in their clown show, the other guild masters have already made a decision. Win or lose, they would try to secure Shye for their guilds. As for Shye, who unknowingly became a hot prospect for the guild masters, his charge was warmly greeted by two full-powered diagonal chops from the Forest Troll Berserker''s battle axes. "Crowley!" eximed Wendy. She wasn''t adept at close-rangebat so the current situation looked dangerous in her eyes. Well, it was dangerous but¡­Shye has a n and has already decided to reveal one of his trump cards. Just before the sharp edges of the troll''s battle axes made contact with his head, Shye suddenly disappeared, leaving the troll confused. "H-Hey! Look! Shye Crowley is flying!!" Hearing the words of someone in the crowd, everyone looked at the sky and sure enough, Shye was there. On his back was a pair of rotting angel wings, gray-colored and transparent. Even for his party members, this was the first time they saw Shye use such a skill so they were left dumbstruck for a few moments. Fortunately for them, the troll was currently confused; its slow brain failed to process where the puny human was. His new skill, [(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.1 (Rare)], provided him with not only a massive agility boost but also the ability to fly for one and a half seconds with a short cooldown of two seconds. The skill would be active for one whole minute, giving him the appropriate capabilities to evade the berserk troll''s attacks. Using the downward momentum of gravity to his advantage, Shye pointed his greatswords downwards and held them in an ice-pick grip, attempting to viciously stab the troll''s small brain. No matter how tough the creature was, once its brain was stabbed, then it would undoubtedly die. "Die!" Shye eximed, activating his skill, [Rush Stab Lv.3], to further increase his momentum. *CRACK* "ROOOOOAAAAAR!" The troll roared in agony as Shye''s greatswords sessfully cracked its skull, unfortunately, his raw strength wasn''t enough to push the greatswords through the troll''s brain. "Tch!" Realizing that he failed to kill the troll, Shye clicked his tongue and immediately kicked at the troll''s face, allowing him to pull his greatswords out and escape before the creature managed to retaliate. ''Phew¡­This f*cking hillbilly, scaring me like that¡­'' Damien inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. ''We need to step up or these bastards will take the lead!'' Chapter 201: Archer Showdown After nearly dealing a fatal blow to the Forest Troll Berserker with a single strike, Shye persisted in confronting the creature directly, narrowly avoiding its attacks with the help of his decaying mana wings. Meanwhile, kicking up a cloud of dust were the An representatives who were transitioning into an aggressive stance. They realized that Colzen would catch up if they remained passive, hence, they sprang into action. As the party''s tank, Breion courageously charged forth¨Ca heroic glint visible in his eyes. Instinctively drawn to the sight of a human adorned in gleaming armor charging towards it, the berserk troll''s focus was immediately seized. It then roared in a wild frenzy before madly darting towards Breion, chopping both battle axes with ferocity. ''Guardian''s Avatar!'' Breion thought, activating his trump card. A huge golden avatar d in full heavy armor then materialized, sessfully blocking the iing berserk state-empowered attack. *CLANG* *CLANG* *CLANG* Fully living up to its berserk nature, the troll didn''t even stop for a single millisecond to think, immediately deciding that the best way to destroy the guardian''s avatar was through sheer force. Thus, it chopped away¨Cgenerating nging noises with every blow. "Damien! Move quickly! I wouldn''t be able to contain this thing for long!" ''Tch! Stop f*cking ordering everyone! This is why you and Asha never get along!'' Damien thought. Wasting no time, Damien along with the two other scouts, Abel and Lesurii, quickly got into their respective positions. The two scouts circled behind the troll while Damien positioned himself on the left side of the troll. Once everyone was in position, they once again resumed attacking the troll, more or less producing the same damage output as the Colzen party. Feeling his innards shake with every blow, Breion valiantly controlled the troll''s aggression. Just when the An party was feeling confident again, someone from the Colzen party stepped up, once again making their hearts beat anxiously. Kiin, knowing that two of his ultimate skills are now off cooldown, activated both at the same time once again. As the familiar runes solidified on his cheeks and the recognizable green smoke started pulsating out of his wrists and ankles, the Colzen crowd erupted into cheers while the An crowd felt nervous. Kiin, with his ultimates active, was the most menacing archer they had seen in their entire lives. If his spinning arrows manage to pierce the troll''s flesh, then one could only imagine the troll''s bleak fate once Kiin continuously fired arrows until his ultimates timed out. *FWOOOSH* As the first arrow shot through the air apanied by gale and loud screeching sounds, everyone supporting An swallowed a mouthful of saliva. The results of the second match depended on whether Kiin''s arrow could pierce through the troll''s berserk state-empowered skin and flesh. For the An crowd, time seemed to slow down to a crawl as Kiin''s first arrow whistled through the air with terrifying piercing power. Finally, under hundreds of thousands of both excited and anxious eyes, the tip of the first arrow made contact with the troll''s skin. *SPURT* Dark-red blood fountained through the wound as the arrow continuously spun after piercing the troll''s skin. Seeing the initial results, the hearts of the An crowd dropped, thinking that the fight would be over soon. Fortunately for them, right after piercing the skin, although Kiin''s arrow dug deep into the berserk troll''s flesh, it wasn''t able to pierce through the entire body, only remaining embedded deep in the troll''s flesh. Soon after, more arrows flew at the troll, however, the results were the same. The arrows whittled the troll''s vitality down but it wasn''t enough to instantly bring the troll down. Realizing the extent of Kiin''s damage, the An supporters breathed a sigh of relief. On the other hand, the An representatives weren''t too enthusiastic. They were the ones fighting the troll so they knew that although Kiin wasn''t able to bring the troll down instantly, he would deal a horrifying amount of damage to the creature. Thus, the An archer representative, Mauro Chen, stepped up and used his own ultimate skill, [Arrow Rainstorm Lv.3]. An emerald magic circle suddenly appeared in front of Mauro, consuming the air around it as if it were an endless void. Subsequently, once the magic circle had fully materialized, the An archer representative immediately started shooting arrows at the magic circle. Shockingly, after the first arrow passed through the magic circle in front of Mauro, a huge magic circle appeared right above the berserk troll''s head, looking as if a god was about to smite it to smithereens. However, instead of an obliteration beam, a rain of around ten arrows appeared from the magic circle, piercing the troll''s body from above. Although its power was weaker than Kiin''s, the number of arrows made up for theck of piercing capabilities. Mauro didn''t stop there though, after the first arrow, he continuously shot more at the magic circle in front of him. discover m,v,l,e,m,p,y,r novels The magic circle then multiplied the number of arrows by ten before raining it down on the berserk troll, turning it into a porcupine. Witnessing the archer showdown, the crowd was hyped. They burst into cheers¨Cwaving their fists in the air in excitement. Unfortunately for the An representatives, they soon realized that the exchange of ultimates wasn''t equal. This is because although the damage output of the two archers was more or less the same, Kiin only shot his arrows from a single direction allowing his allies to continue attacking the troll along with him. On the other hand, Mauro''s arrow rain restricted his allies from approaching too close, else, they would be struck by the rain of arrows as well. Due to this, the Colzen party once again slowly caught up, making Damien gnash his teeth in anxiety. If he ordered Mauro to stop, it might damage Mauro''s pride in addition to wasting the ultimate skill. If he didn''t then the Colzen party would catch up. Stuck between a rock and a hard ce, Damien gripped the handles of his katana tighter. Chapter 202: Over The Moon "Tch! This isn''t working!" eximed Mauro. Recognizing that he was only cing his team at a disadvantage, Mauro voluntarily ceased using his skill. Fortunately for Damien, Mauro was not only sensible but also talented when it came to seeing the bigger picture. Hence, he was spared from making a difficult decision. exclusive content NovelBin-lempyr Heaving a sigh of relief, Damien was forced to use one of his trump cards¨Ca few momentster to maintain a slight lead against the Colzen party. The space around Damien''s katana wildly distorted as a mix of red and ck aura suddenly enveloped it, enhancing its cutting power tremendously. Even though his skill, [(Semi-Passive) Sword Intent Lv.3 (Rare)], didn''t directly enhance any of his attributes, it granted unparalleled sharpness to his weapon, enabling it to slice through materials tougher than the sword itself. Gripping his absurdly sharp water-infused relic, Damien ferociously charged forth, viciously shing his sword towards the Forest Troll Berserker''s neck. As a monstrous creature, the troll had sharp instincts. rm bells rang inside the creature''s head as it detected the imminent threat approaching from its left side. The berserk troll then turned its head to look. Realizing that it was nothing but a puny human, the troll roared in rage before viciously striking back, chopping its battle axes towards Damien. Like a proud king, Damien sneered in disdain. He simply continued charging towards the troll, fearlessly opting for a head-on sh. A few millisecondster, as the katana and the battle axes collided, there was no nging sound, instead, a subtle clean slicing sound was heard. Surprisingly, the formidable battle axes crafted from an unidentified material were effortlessly severed, along with a massive monstrous head, catching the Colzen party off guard with no time to react. The An crowd erupted into cheers as the An Forest Troll Berserker''s headless body plopped onto the simted ground before disintegrating into blue mana bits and scattering to the four winds. "D-Damien Martinez carries the entire match on his shoulders!! The Colzen party stands dumbfounded on the stage as An''s strongest ends the match in emphatic fashion!!" Thementator''s words couldn''t have been more perfect. Shye''s party was indeed petrified, only realizing that they already lost after hearing the An crowd''s cheers. With a frown and a heavy heart, Shye looked at the huge holographic screen, hoping to see how they lost. On the screen, he saw how Damien''s red and ck aura-infused sword cleanly sliced through not only the battle axe but also the troll''s head, killing it in an instant. ''The bastard does have some skills¡­'' Shye thought as he looked in the direction of the An representatives with a serious expression on his face only to be met by Damien''s mocking face¨Chis tongue hanging out of his mouth along with two raised middle fingers. Shye felt an intense wave of anger flood his heart after seeing Damien''s loathsome appearance. He wanted to charge at him right then and there but again, something inside him prevented him from doing something uncool, allowing reason and logic to overpower his sudden urge to lunge at Damien and bash his face in. Briefly closing his eyes, Shye took a deep breath before turning around to leave the stage¨Cwith an irked expression on his face of course. It wasn''t only him, even the other Colzen representatives weren''t in a good mood, however, they had no choice but to ept it. Although the An representatives were able to tie the score 1-1, at least they were able to see one of Damien''s trump cards, giving them time to think of countermeasures. The bastard hasn''t fought in representative versus representative matches yet so discovering one of his key abilities served as a decent constion for their defeat. Upon arriving at their ringside station, Shye and the other Colzen representatives were surprised. There was a staff member present, telling them to temporarily return to their academy station. Apparently, the system of the blue dome needed emergency maintenance, hence, a short break. After one hour, thepetition shall once again resume. It was now around 5 PM so although it was a little early, the crowd decided to eat first. As they vacated their seats, the enthusiastic audience eagerly conversed with their friends about the thrilling grand finals. Everyone thought that Colzen would simply get steamrolled by An so the current 1-1 scoreline was truly unexpected for them. Some of the more fervent individuals even engaged in arguments with their friends who supported the opposing team, their chests heaving up and down in frustration. Meanwhile, the Colzen representatives stood petrified. In front of their academy station were around ten cksmiths, although some of them were eliminated before the final stage, there were four notable ones. All four cksmiths advanced to the top 16, but only one captured Shye''s attention, Meido Chan. Eagerly conversing with the cksmiths as they awaited the arrival of the Colzen representatives, the deans swiftly sprang into action upon noticing Shye and the others, with Dean Snowcrest and Dean Privett promptly organizing arrangements for their students. Within mere minutes, the enthusiastic representatives were engaged in meetings with the cksmiths eager to forge partnership deals with them, effectively dispelling the negative emotions stemming from their defeat in the second round. As for Shye, he was over the moon. In front of him was the cksmith he admired the most, Meido Chan, who was responsible for crafting all thefortable and trustworthy armor he had worn over the past four years. He wanted to ask for her autograph. However, he adamantly stopped himself from doing so because he knew that it would be detrimental to the partnership. ''Good thing I started investing points in intelligence¡­'' Shye mused, realizing that the intelligence stat was truly worth every point investment. "H-Hello, S-Shye C-C-Crowley, correct? I-I''m M-M-Meido Chan, a cksmith. Do you know me? Oh¡­I guess you do¡­you''re wearing my armor after all¡­Wait, ugh what am I saying?" Hearing her stuttering like an absolute beginner, Shye couldn''t help letting out a stifledugh. The contrast between her and Helena from the Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop was just too stark! Chapter 203: Partnership Offer "Ahh! You''reughing at me, aren''t you?! Hmmph! I''ll let you know, this is my first time attempting a partnership deal so I couldn''t help but be nervous, you understand?!" "Ahh¡­crap¡­I shouldn''t have said that¡­Should I just have hired those sharks from the agency?" Hearing her subsequent words and seeing her rubbing her temples in frustration, Shye couldn''t suppress hisugh anymore. It appears that Meido''s intense focus on smithing left her entirely unaware of the workings of the business world. ''No wonder most of her crafts could only be found inside Hephaestus Armaments¡­'' He mused after a goodugh, thinking that Meido was pretty lucky since Hephaestus Armaments was an honest shop. ''She likely would have been taken advantage of had she attempted to sell her items at other shops¡­'' "Hey! Are you listening? Let''s start over. I''m here to establish a partnership deal with you. You look handsome, and would probably be famous a few years down the line due to your skills so I chose you as the bearer of my brand. Do you ept it?" Meido''s loud and assertive voice snapped Shye out of his musings, prompting him to focus on the partnership deal that she was trying to establish. "I appreciate you calling me handsome but¡­what do you mean do I ept? You haven''t even told me the benefits of partnering with you yet!" Shye retorted. Realizing that she had forgotten one of the most important parts of a partnership deal, Meido got the sudden urge to m her head on the table in embarrassment. story source m vl e mp yr Indeed, how could someone be so stupid as to sign a partnership deal without any benefits? "O-Oh, I forgot, I''m sorry. Well¡­I¡­don''t have a lot of money right now since I recently purchased a few rare materials to experiment with. How about this? I shall give your request the highest priority in addition to a 40% discount?" Meido offered, trying hard to mask the nervousness in her heart. The book she was currently reading as a guide: "A Beginner''s Guide to Partnership Deals", stated that she must make her first offer excessively low because the other party is guaranteed to demand more. Hence the 40% discount offer. Only, she didn''t know that a 40% discount was an absurdly huge discount. If the writer of the book witnessed how she interpreted his words, he would have the urge to strangle himself for not putting examples in his book. As for Shye, he couldn''t help but frown. He wasn''t sure if Meido was simply being sincere in her offer or if she was selling herself short. However, the current offer was already very advantageous for him and he didn''t feel the need to haggle. After all, he was sure that a few months from now, Meido''s workshop would be stormed by famous adventurers and it would be difficult to even get the opportunity to have her create equipment for him. The highest request priority was already enough for him to sign the partnership deal, hence, he felt like he was taking advantage of Meido if he epted the 40% discount. Even the deans were a bit shocked that Meido was offering Shye such a huge discount. Unbeknownst to them, Meido was simply ill-informed when it came to business deals. Fortunately for the young female cksmith, Shye wasn''t a heartless bastard who would be willing to take advantage of others. "Hey, I love your brand and I''ve always been using it since I started as a freshman at Colzen Academy so don''t you dare sell yourself short! Don''t you think 40% is a bit too much? People will think your brand is cheap! How about 20%? Hearing Shye''s words, Meido felt even more embarrassed. Only, not because she was selling herself short but because of her ignorance. She honestly thought that a 40% discount was "excessively low". With mixed emotions of embarrassment, gratefulness, and admiration, Meido offered Shye a profound bow before meeting his sincere gaze head-on. "I''ll admit that I am quite inexperienced when ites to business deals so I deeply appreciate your honesty, Shye Crowley. With your character, I''m sure that you will be a great adventurer." "Prioritizing your requests above all else and offering a 40% discount is a small concession to make when coborating with someone asmendable as yourself. The only condition I have for you is that you promote my brand and only my brand in the future. So? How about it? My offer remains the same. Are you willing to enter into a partnership deal with me?" Naturally, Meido''s words sounded like heavenly tunes in Shye''s ears, touching the deepest parts of his heart. The young female cksmith might not be talented in terms of business but she was definitely gifted in terms of smithing, sooner orter, people would be begging her to create equipment for them and she would naturally be aware of her actual value by then. Shye lucked out by getting the highest request priority and a 40% discount which would be the only thing that matters when Meido grows to her peak. With how sincere Meido was, it would have been rude to reject her offer, hence, Shye epted the partnership offer. Unbeknownst to the two of them, they''ve just established one of the most legendary partnerships that would shake the adventurer world in the future. "Well then, Shye Crowley, my workshop is currently in my hometown, Kossin City, however, I do n to move to Valenzia City in the future. If you have an equipment request for me, then please bring your materials to Kossin City, and I''ll surely give you a fair price." "Alright then, cksmith Meido. It''s been a pleasure talking to you, I look forward to working with you in the future." "Likewise, Shye Crowley¡­" After a somewhat¡­unprofessional business talk, Meido left the Colzen Academy station. There were a few cksmiths who wanted to strike a partnership deal with Shye, confident that they could offer more than what Meido could offer, however, after hearing how much he loved using Meido''s equipment, they knew they had no choice but to give up. Hence, Siegfried and the other Colzen representatives managed to strike multiple partnership deals. Although Shye only managed tond one, it was all he needed for now. Once he and Meido achieve sess in the future, they could revisit their business discussions and potentially renegotiate the terms of their agreement. For now, Shye wanted to focus on winning the Adventurer Academy Competition and st through the ranks as a rookie adventurer so representing one brand was enough. Chapter 204: Battle Maniac, Mistaken For A Lecher After the short break, the Colzen party''s mood tremendously improved. Who wouldn''t when all of them got at least one partnership deal? Heck, Siegfried even secured two. The guy was just too well-rounded, not only was he a talented adventurer but also a seemingly talented business person. Emerging from their academy station in high spirits, the Colzen Avengers majestically sauntered towards the main stage, ready for the third round, a one-on-one match. "Hey, look at the Colzen representatives!" one person from the crowd eximed, prompting the people around him to subconsciously look at Shye and the others. "Oh? Look at their equipment!" "You''re right! Why didn''t they wear such relics in the first ce?" "You idiots! Don''t you see how huge the cksmith insignia on their relics are? They must''ve recently secured partnerships during the break!" Hearing the hubbub from the nearby crowd, the An representative couldn''t help but turn their heads. ''Hmmph, as if being d in a full set of low-grade equipment would allow you hillbillies to win. In the end, you need actual skills!'' inwardly snorted Damien as they settled down on the An ringside seats. Shortly after, the Colzen representatives also arrived, appearing primed and prepared. Noticing that both sides were ready, the referee raised his hands, motioning for Colzen to send out their one-on-one representative. Having meticulously strategized for the uing three matches, Siegfried promptly ascended the stage. Radiating confidence, he gracefully touched down, the Scott brand emblem on his armor shining brightly under the dazzling night lights. Siegfried then drew out his low-grade relic, the void-enchanted tachi, leaving menacing purple sh marks in the air. "Colzen leaves the third match up to their tachi warrior, Siegfried Lionheart! Who will An send out?" Thementator said, prompting everyone to subconsciously turn their heads towards the An ringside seats as if under gentle hypnotism. As though on queue, a young female An representative with hazel brown eyes, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and an athletically slim body with huge knockers and a perky bottom, sauntered up the stage, appearing calm and unshakeable. A stark contrast to Siegfried, who was aze with fierce fighting spirit. Recognizing who the An representative was, a mild frown emerged on Siegfried''s young and attractive face. ''Lesurii Kusanagi¡­I thought she would be part of the three-on-three¡­Well, her fighting style is a really good counter against mine so I get why they chose her to fight against me.'' Siegfried pondered quietly as a faint smile graced the corners of his mouth. ''She''ll probably give me a hard fight¡­right?...hehehehe¡­'' Noticing the Colzen representative''s creepy smile, Lesurii inwardly shivered. ''W-Why is this guy staring at me like that? Is he perhaps interested in m-my hot body?'' She pondered, subconsciously covering her bountiful chest as she walked towards the middle of the stage. Being the highly intelligent person that he was, Siegfried promptly realized what Lesurii was thinking, hence, he awkwardly cleared his throat and temporarily averted his gaze. ''Hmmph! That''s more like it!'' Lesurii inwardly nodded in satisfaction after witnessing the handsome Colzen representative''s actions. discover m,v,l,e,m,p,y,r novels She then proceeded to grab the handle of her gold-tier mid-grade relic, a lightning-infused kunai, pulling it out of a specialized bag strapped on her right hip before crossing one arm in front of the other¨Ca typical scout battle stance. Noticing that both representatives were primed forbat, the referee jerked his arm upwards,mencing the one-on-one match. Right after the match began, Lesurii disappeared, leaving a realistic afterimage behind before reappearing behind Siegfried¨Csilent as a shadow. Siegfried though, with his insane battle instincts and highbat IQ, immediately realized that the Lesurii in front of him was nothing but a sham. Decisively turning around, Siegfried used one of the most basic warrior skills, [Power sh Lv.4] to try and end the fight with a single strike. Realizing a bit toote that her opponent''s tachi was swiftly approaching, Lesurii could do nothing but grit her teeth in preparation for the iing sh. She was already performing the necessary motion for her attack so it would be impossible for her to pull back. The best thing she could hope for was mutual destruction. "No!" Lesurii eximed, her mouth still wide open as Siegfried''s tachi viciously shed her neck. Shockingly, there was no blood, and instead, Siegfried''s tachi simply passed through Lesurii whose mouth was still agape. Siegfried was confused for a few milliseconds before realizing that what he struck was nothing but another afterimage, a chillingly realistic one with a facial expression and a voice. If not for his inhuman battle instincts, Lesurii would have slit his throat right then and there. Fortunately, he managed to avoid a direct hit on his neck by desperately shifting his body, barely dodging a lethal blow. However, escaping the situation unharmed was impossible. Blood spurted out of Siegfried''s left shoulder as Lesurii''s kunai stabbed deep into his flesh, momentarily paralyzing him due to the lightning shock from the An representative''s weapon and allowing her to sneak one kick to his abdomen before he could recover. With a limping left arm, Siegfried slid backward, only managing to stabilize his footing after struggling for a few seconds. "Senior Siegfried!!" the Colzenpanion students worriedly eximed, such a harrowing wound at the beginning of the match didn''t look promising. ''Tch, she got me¡­'' Siegfried thought, the gears of his brain working endlessly as he tried to think of ways to turn things around. He already knew that Lesurii''s deceptive fighting style wouldn''t be a good fit for hisbat theory-reliant style. However, he didn''t expect to get duped in the first few seconds of the match, not giving him enough time to adapt¨Can innate skill he relied on the most. He wasn''t the type to surrender when faced with challenges though. On the contrary, he actively sought out difficult battles like this one because, even in defeat, there were ample opportunities for learning and self-reflection. Hence, with a positive outlook, Siegfried bravely charged forth. Chapter 205: The Most Unusual Of Defeats Somewhere in the stands, a bald geezer watched the proceedings with intrigue. ''Oh? Thed''s team made it to the finals? He''s doing quite good for himself, no?'' Based on his thoughts, it seems that the man had just arrived. Looking towards the main stage, the old man saw Siegfried, struggling tond a blow on his absurdly nimble opponent. He frowned. ''Why does thisd look so much like him?'' mused the old man, taking a deep breath before deciding to stop thinking about the matter in his head. He came all the way here so it would be a shame for him to not enjoy thepetition. It''s been decades after all. On the stage, Siegfried shed away. Although he was getting beaten ck and blue, one wouldn''t think so after seeing the smile on his face. ''Why is this bastard still smiling?! Is he a masochist?! Filthy! Filthy! Filthy!'' Lesurii thought as she skillfully backpedaled while dodging, parrying, and blocking Siegfried''s blows. She was decisively winning, however, one wouldn''t think so at first nce. Gnashing her teeth in frustration and all. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of nightmare for the Colzen crowd, their respected senior, Siegfried Lionheart, finallynded a hit¨Ca shallow one. Blood spurted out from a rtively minor cut on Lesurii''s wrist after failing to perfectly parry Siegfried''s increasingly urate blows¨Chis frightening adaptability skills starting to have an effect. ''Tch, how is this bastard keeping up?! Just stay down! You lecher!'' With frustration welling up in her heart, Lesurii decided to end the match, jumping back to create some distance and activate her trump card. Although nothing special happened except for a sinister red aura oozing out of her pores, Siegfried raised his vignce¨Chis battle instincts telling him that Lesurii was trying to end the duel. Right before his eyes, she once again disappeared. However, this was nothing new to him. As per the premium lessons they had back in the academy, scouts can only reappear either behind him or in front of him. With his insane battle instincts, he already determined where Lesurii would reappear¨Cbehind him. Once again, Siegfried decisively turned around and entered a shing motion, however, right before he hit Lesurii, he turned around once again. ''What?!'' *CLANG* A petite figure was sent flying as the tachi and kunai shed, prompting the Colzen crowd to cheer wildly, however, right at the next moment, their cheers quickly died down, reced by horror. Blood spurted out once again, this time, from Siegfried who barely managed to shift his body to avoid a one-shot kill from Lesurii, who suddenly reappeared behind him. He didn''t know how but there she was¨Cbehind him again... Although this blow seemed to hurt quite less than usual. Unbeknownst to the Colzen crowd, their nightmare was just beginning. Lesurii''s skill allowed her to continuously teleport behind her target with no cooldown at all, however, the caveat was, that her strength was reduced by 70% so she had to continuously stab Siegfried before her trump card, [Phantom Assault Lv.3(Umon)], timed out. Still, it would almost be impossible for Siegfried to keep up with continuous teleports, he was only human after all. Hence, after a whole minute, Siegfried''s body was riddled with holes. However, to people''s surprise, he was still standing¨Ceven gradually performing better and better. Naturally, Lesurii''s heart was slowly consumed by frustration. She felt as if her opponent was an unkible cockroach who became harder and harder to y as time went by. Her eyes and instincts weren''t fooling her though, Siegfried was good at adapting to his opponent''sbat style so the more she dragged the match on, the stronger Siegfried became. Slowly overwhelmed by the crippling fear in her heart, Lesurii became desperate¨Cher moves bing more and more predictable. Finally, a few more minutester, as if abat prophet, Siegfried blocked all of Lesurii''s attacks, sending her flying with each sh, though, she always reappeared behind him right after so theical scene of Lesurii hurtling through the air reyed multiple times, gnawing at her dignity and morale. Eventually, she decided to temporarily stop teleporting behind Siegfried to preserve both her sanity and honor. However, how could she have predicted that Siegfried knew that she would do so at some point? Activating his trump card, [(Light) Seraphim''s Rage Lv.3 (Rare)], Wings of Light suddenly grew from Siegfried''s back, not only enhancing his physical abilities but also his overall appearance. Aside from the temporary attribute enhancements brought about by the transparent golden wings, his tachi de was also enveloped by the same familiar light, improving both its range and cutting power by a notch. Sensing the changes in her opponent whilst mid-air, rm bells rang in Lesurii''s head. Unfortunately, She was now caught between a rock and a hard ce. If she decides to teleport, the prophetic bastard might simply read her moves and y her in one hit, conversely, if she chooses to keep hurtling through the air, Siegfried would likely catch up and trap her. -mpyr. If only her strength attribute wasn''t reduced by 70 percent¡­ Never had she wished for her ultimate skill to time out so quickly. Just a short while after Siegfried''s transformation, he immediately used [Dash Lv.4] to catch up to Lesurii who was still fiercely shooting through the air. Out of desperation, she tried to do something that Siegfried would never expect¨Cteleport right in front of him. Sure enough, Siegfried, even with his insane battle instincts didn''t expect her to perform such a crazy maneuver. Only, she hadn''t nned her next move. After appearing in front of the charging Siegfried, both representatives had no time to react. Lesurii was caught off guard by the astonishing speed of Siegfried''s empowered dash, just as Siegfried was surprised by her sudden appearance in front of him. Consequently, their lips¡­ identally met. However, contrary to the myths that touching lips with the other sex would feel good, this one didn''t. How would it be when the guy''s lips were zooming at a terrifying speed? shing head-to-head or rather¨C lips-to-lips, the nauseating sound of a skull hitting another skull reverberated in the entire arena. As a skill-empowered warrior representative, Siegfried was naturally the tougher one, hence, after the fearsome sh of lips, an azure ray enveloped Lesurii, sending her out of the main stage back to the An ringside seats. Chapter 206: Facing A Wyvern "Ah¡­f*ck that hurts¡­" mumbled Siegfried who sauntered down the stage while rubbing his poor face. He was a bit disappointed by how their match ended, however, a win''s a win so he''ll take it. "YOU BASTARD!!!" a rampaging Lesurii shouted, furiously charging towards Siegfried who just got down from the stage. Startled by the sudden loud and angry voice, Siegfried promptly turned around, not realizing that Lesurii was right in front of him already. His eyes widened as he skillfully grabbed Lesurii''s wrist which was already in a stabbing motion. "H-Hey! You crazy woman! Why are you attacking me outside the stage?!" he raged, "Just ept your loss! Your academy will suffer the consequences of your idiotic actions!" "As if I care about the loss! How dare you k-k-kiss me?! I can''t get married now so you better take responsibility, you bastard!!" Hearing her insane reply, Siegfried began to shiver and couldn''t stop. He was an all-rounder with both brains and brawn but was truly clueless when it came to matters like these, hence, he¡­believed Lesurii. His dreams of bing a strong and respectable adventurer shed right before his eyes, his dream battles against equally skilled or possibly even stronger individuals¨Cgone¨Creced by scenes of family life together with the crazydy next to him. "N-No¡­I refuse!! It was your fault anyway for teleporting in front of me! Hmph! This might even be your scheme from the beginning! I refuse your senseless ims!" scowled Siegfried, fully defiant in the face of familial responsibilities. As the clown show unfolded before the Colzen ringside, magnified on the enormous holographic screen for all to witness, the deans of Colzen Academy averted their gaze, massaged their temples, and shook their heads in embarrassment. How could twenty-year-old students be so clueless?! How could a simple kiss seal one''s fate?! Absurd! As for the An deans, they were faring much worse when it came to handling the embarrassment. One of them, Dean Virille, stormed out of the academy station and dragged Lesurii back to the An ringside to stop the farce¨Chis face cherry red. "BAHAHAHAHAHA! Young''uns nowadays are too funny." "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Spot on, Guild Master Jin. Now, how about you concede that young man, Siegfried, to me?" "HUH?! Do you think I''m stupid? There''s no way I''ll concede such a talented individual." *** ,mp _y,r. Due to the momentary farce, the Colzen representatives were in a much better mood¨Cexcept for Siegfried of course, who just experienced the biggest scare in his life. The poor guy was still a bit distressed¨Ctrying his hardest to conceal it, yet, his sessive deep breaths betrayed his true feelings. "MHMM! E-Everyone, please settle down. The next match will begin shortly." intervened thementator, attempting to calm the rowdy crowd down. Fortunately, it didn''t take long for things to cool off. "Both parties, please ascend the stage." Realizing that now was the perfect time to step in, the referee promptly decided to start the next match, redirecting the audience''s attention to drown out the memories of the earlier clown show. With sour faces, as though they had just sipped vinegar straight from the bottle, the An party ascended the stage, one of them¡ªLesurii¡ªeven sporting puffy eyes. Their unpleasant moods were understandable though, they lost the recent third-round match after all. As a prestigious kingly academy, it was already uneptable for them to lose to their rivals, let alone to some unknown dark horse academy they were beefing with. Hence, with a fierce determination to tie up the score, the An representatives drew their weapons¨Cmostly mid-grade to high-grade relics, causing utter chaos and disturbance inside the blue dome as various elements roared. On the other hand, the scene of the Colzen party drawing their weapons out wasn''t as impressive. Although the recent partnership deals provided them with better equipment, it still wasn''t up to the level of the An representatives''. Paying little to no attention to the discrepancy in equipment, the Colzen party stood by¨Cready for battle. Mighty as they were among their age group, both parties of representatives suddenly felt their hairs stand on end¨Cendless fear slowly consuming their hearts after the administrator pressed a certain button on the control panel. A majestically terrifying predatory aura enveloped the entire arena, causing even those who were only watching to break out into cold sweat¨Csome even having difficulties breathing normally. ''Isn''t this creature way too advanced for mere students?'' mused the bald old man. Shortly after, a blood-curdling roar reverberated in the arena followed by a slowly materializing creature d in tough tangerine scales and had massive spikes on the sides of its head and spine. Its pair of enormous draconic wings pped mightily, stirring up gusts of wind and clouds of dust in its wake. With widened eyes and trembling hearts, the representatives recognized the creature. They all saw it once in the cksmithpetition, but back then, it had been lifeless, allowing them to endure its intense draconic aura. This time, they have to fight it¨Calive and healthy. All of the representatives onstage tried their best, however, they remained petrified¨Cthey couldn''t move a single step; their young mortal bodies didn''t allow them to. "E-E-Ember Wyvern!! What monstrosity!! I''m barely able to withstand its aura even though I''m already this far away. Will the students evenst a few minutes against this draconic creature?!" Thementator eximed, trying his best to do his job while withstanding the terrifying pressure brought about by the creature''s aura. After another deafening roar, both ember wyverns ferociously pped their wings and flew towards the representatives¨Cits horrifying maw wide open. The slightly more faint-hearted ones¨Cnamely¨CWendy, David, Lesurii, and Horcus, failed to reorganize their wits on time and were devoured by the gigantic maw, turning into four azure rays of light and shooting towards their respective ringside seats, still trembling in fear after materializing outside the blue dome. In an instant, both parties were down to five members each. Unfortunately, for those remaining onstage, the draconic creature didn''t n on stopping its attacks anytime soon. If they allow themselves to be consumed by fear every time they face such overwhelming danger, then they won''tst for a long time¨Cneither in this simted realm nor in the real world. Chapter 207: Disastrous Vermillion Orb The youngsters tried hard to suppress their fear, however, the wyvern was simply too high-level of a creature for them. Adding in its innate draconic aura, it was almost impossible to maintainposure. After killing their first four victims, the two ember wyverns did a one-eighty, performing the same attack it first did¨Cflying towards the representatives with a gaping maw. No one was hit this time though, prompting the wyverns to change their attack patterns upon realizing that the remaining representatives weren''t so easy to kill. Surviving the second attack, the representatives slowly grew ustomed to the draconic pressure¨Ctheir tense muscles gradually rxing. This allowed them to move much more freely. Not as free as a flying wyvern though, in the end, they are only human¨Cbound by thews of gravity. Promptly after changing its attack to cmitous downward dives, another four representatives perished in the simted realm¨Csent back to their ringside seats. In just one minute, only three representatives remained on both sides. For An Academy, the surviving ones were Asha, Abel, and naturally, Damien. On the other hand, for Colzen, it was the three strongest duelists: Shye, Siegfried, and Ian. The remaining representatives pondered whether to use their trump cards in this match or not considering that most of them would participate in the next match, the three-on-three. The An representatives faced particrly difficult decision-making because a loss here would result in Colzen being crowned as the king of Valenzia for the year. However, if they decided to deploy their trump cards, there''s a risk they might not recharge in time, leading to another defeat in the pivotal fifth match. Once again, Damien was in a tight spot. The bastards from Colzen are just too full of surprises, who knows if they had some sort of scheme to escape from Horcus'' [(Time)Chrono Cube Lv.3 (Unique)] in the next match? ''Hmph, they''re just as hard-pressed as I am, no need to impulsively use trump cards.'' thought Damien as he narrowly avoided another dive attack from the ember wyvern. Regrettably, he found it difficult to stick to his decision of withholding his trump cards, as the draconic creature promptly lost patience. The wyvern pped its wings vigorously, flying higher and higher until it reached the height it was aiming for. Its fear-inducing eyes then stared menacingly at the representatives below as it opened its enormous jaws. Shortly after, under hundreds of thousands of horrified eyes, vermillion-colored particles slowly converged a few meters away from its mouth, eventually turning into a huge ball equivalent to a fourth of the dome''s size. Seeing the huge sphere taking shape right above them, rm bells rang inside the remaining representatives'' heads. They knew that their chances of dodging the vermillion orb were bleak. However, none of them gave up¨Ctheir eyes narrowed into slits. "Horrifying!! These ember wyverns aren''t ying around!! Can the representatives survive?!" Thementator said, his loud voice rumbling across the entire arena. He, too, felt the pressure, however, he carried on¨Cdoing his job like a true professional. Shortly after, the huge vermillion orb sted through the air, emitting a spiraling pattern of energy apanied by a faint draconic roar. Naturally, on the stage, it was every man for himself. Some representatives decided to use their trump cards to survive while some tried their hardest to survive knowing that their trump cards were essential in the next round. Unfortunately for those who decided to save their trump cards, they failed to survive the massive destruction brought about by the vermillion sphere, transforming into two azure rays¨Csent back to their ringside seats. Shockingly, the An representatives all survived while on the Colzen side, only Shye remained. Promptly after Siegfried and Ian materialized in front of the Colzen ringside seats, the two of them punched the ground in frustration. Both of them were on the brink of survival; unfortunately, they fell just short. Once more, the fate of Colzen in this round hinged on Shye''s shoulders. Seeing the results, the An crowd burst into cheers, continuously chanting "An" as Damien, Asha, and Abel gloriously stood on the stage¨Cproud smiles stered on their young faces. Realizing at thest moment that they would perish should they decide to save the aces up their sleeves, the An representatives unhesitatingly revealed their trump cards. They have Horcus'' overpowered ability for thest match anyway so they had fewer things to fearpared to Colzen, though, it was unknown whether Damien still had something or not. As the simted realm inside the blue dome burned, the huge holographic screen suddenly split into four parts, each part showing how the four remaining students onstage survived the terrifying st. Amongst the four, Shye''s method was the simplest one. A pair of rotten wings appeared on his back and with a single powerful p, he flew, avoiding the immense devastation. As for Abel, the other scout representative of An, he suddenly dove at his own shadow, disappearing into the ground. Simrly, Asha herself sunk into the ground like a mole, however, instead of a shadow, she hid in a void pocket before reappearing a few secondster. Shockingly, the pocket exploded right after, causing devastation of a smaller scalepared to the wyvern''s vermilion orb. The wyvern was flying though so it wasn''t hit by the void explosion. Well, even if it was, it wouldn''t suffer any sort of damage anyway. Its defense was simply beyond what mere students could prate. Thest one, Damien Martinez, did the craziest thing among the four, prompting the An crowd to cheer louder. Coating his katana with the familiar sword intent, Damien used another trump card, [Fortified Dash Lv.3 (Umon)], which not only enveloped him in a tough protective barrier but also allowed him to dash forward with unprecedented speed. Combining two trump cards along with a [Power sh Lv.4], Damien valiantly shed through the vermilion orb, barely managing to create a small safe space for himself on the edge of the stage, right below the enormous wyvern. At that moment, Shye seemingly faded into the background¨Ca side character to Damien''s story. Chapter 208: Hawk Inside a huge mansion somewhere in a different region, a bespectacled middle-aged man donning a formal scarlet uniform, white capelet, and brown pants knocked on a certain office guarded by two adventurers d in the highest quality of armor. Engraved on the back of their cuirasses were the insignia of a hawk soaring in the middle of the sun. "You may enter" An old raspy voice sounded from behind the closed adamantite doors¨Cdignified and calm yet powerful and assertive. Judging from his voice, the old man seemed to have withstood countless trials of father time. However, there was nary even a hint of exhaustion. Hearing the old man''s approval, the middle-aged man entered the office, fiercely resisting the urge to frown as the repulsive stench of rotting flesh assaulted his olfactory senses. Nauseated as he was, the middle-aged man didn''t dare show the subtlest of hints to the old man. "Milord, as per our agents, the Adventurer Academy Competition was proceeding as expected in most regions except for Valenzia." "Hmm? Why? What happened in Valenzia?" the old man rasped. "Colzen Academy, which had always been known as a mediocre academy, made it to the finals, defeating even Eusford who has been a consistent top three academy in the region." The old man''s brows furrowed, falling silent after hearing the middle-aged man''s words. He seemed to be pondering about a few things. Naturally, the middle-aged man didn''t dare rush the old man for answers¨Che didn''t have the guts to. Pressed for time as he was, he could only wait. Fortunately, just a short whileter, the old man looked at him once more and asked a few things. "I see, is there anyone noteworthy among the Colzen students?" "Their ace representative named Shye Crowley was strong, the agent was still unsure about the extent of the guy''s abilities, however, he could only be considered mediocrepared to the ace representatives of the strongest academies from other regions." "Hmm¡­Did this ace representative single-handedly bring Colzen Academy to the finals?" "No, Milord. Albeit truly the strongest amongst his fellow representatives, the others were strong enough to fight on equal terms with the representatives from Valenzia''s top three academies." "I understand. There''s no need to continue monitoring Colzen; I already have an agent keeping an eye on the target there. You''re free to leave." "Understood, Milord." After the middle-aged man left, the old man stood up and looked out the window. ''Now then, which one of you little dogs is the real deal that can provide what I require?'' *** Meanwhile, inside Valenzia Arena, the crowd was going bonkers¨Cwaving their fists in excitement¨Cand screaming at the top of their lungs from time to time. The reason was that Colzen''s remaining representative, Shye, was still somehow miraculously surviving the devastating attacks of a frustrated ember wyvern. He was panting hard¨Crunning low on stamina, and his stepscked stability, yet, he was still inside the blue dome. On the other hand, the An representatives, albeit faring a bit better than the lone Shye, were now reduced to only two people: Asha and Damien. The scout representative, Abel, was recently caught by a fierce tail swipe, breaking all the bones in his body and turning him into an azure ray of light. The two remaining An representatives onstage, just like Shye, were running low on both stamina and skills to use. Estimating fairly, if their adversary, Shye, somehow managed tost for a few more minutes, then it would be one of the most embarrassing defeats for not only Damien but also for the entire An Academy. Luckily for them, Shye only had two more skills to use¨Cunwilling to reveal one of them but ultimately decided to do so since he had a fair chance of ending the match right here and now. ''F*ck! If only I purchased a few more skills before this match¡­'' inwardly regretted Shye. He expected the An representatives to have a lot of trump cards but not to this extent. Still, it was good to know. In the next match, they would have a fair chance¨Cas long as they manage to somehow evade Horcus'' time cube of course. The survival match is on its final stretch, both wyverns are in the middle of performing yet another attack. Diving from a high altitude, the majestic creatures extended their talons, masterfully maneuvering in the air by slightly shifting the position of their enormous draconic wings, making sure that the puny humans would not be able to escape. A blood-curdling scream echoed from An''s half of the dome, sessfully capturing the attention of the crowd. Everyone''s eyes then widened in horror upon witnessing how the ember wyvern viciously tore Asha''s head off her body¨Cshowing everyone how brutally an adventurer can lose his/her little life in just a single dangerous mission. Fortunately for Asha, everything was simted, hence, after a few seconds, she materialized near the An ringside¨Calive and healthy. That said, Shye managed to evade the lethal talons of the Colzen ember wyvern by using his skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.3]. Shockingly, the skill didn''t scare off the monstrous adversary¨Conly confuse it, allowing Shye to barely avoid elimination. Looking towards the Colzen half, Damien''s eyes widened in disbelief. He thought that Shye would suffer the same fate as Asha, however, akin to a cockroach, Shye was still somehow alive. ''F*CK! WHY IS THIS HILLBILLY SO PERSISTENT?! JUST ACCEPT YOUR POSITION BENEATH MINE!'' raged Damien. He himself was running low on skills, if the bastard could still persist then he might¡­ ''NO! NEVER! I''LL NEVER LOSE TO THE LIKES OF THESE BACKWATER DOGS!'' Steadfast in his belief that he was the better representative, Damien was fully ready tomit everything to this match. Well, not like he had a choice anyway. If they lose here, not only would they be humiliated after losing a three-on-one match, but there would also be no sense in hiding his trump cards. Assuming his battle stance with a determined look and a hint of deep-seethed arrogance, Damien was primed and ready for his showdown against Shye. Chapter 209: Realization Of A New Development Path "Hohoho, what a challenge. Hang in there, youngd." The bald old man murmured. Tired of dealing with the puny humans, both wyverns slowlynded on the ground after realizing something. Their elusive targets continued to evade their attacks by leaping and darting away, prompting both of them to opt for a more patient approach to finally put an end to the slippery adversaries. Moving one leg in front of the other, the wyverns menacingly marched towards Shye and Damien, asionally craning their necks and tilting their heads as they trotted closer and closer. Realizing what the wyverns were nning, both representatives gripped their weapons tighter. Their little hearts couldn''t help but tremble as the distance between them and the wyverns gradually shrunk. Naturally, both representatives wouldn''t allow themselves to be cornered so easily. Sprinting around the edges of the stage were the two representatives, engaging in a game of tag against wyverns, only, the stakes were too high. The academy of the representative who gets "tagged" first, loses the pivotal round. Unfortunately, try as they might, the wyverns easily caught up with a single weak p of its enormous wings, once again pressuring them¨Ctrying to get both Shye and Damien to use up their skills in a bad way. However, how could the finest of young adventurers from Valenzia be fooled by such tactics from a monstrous creature? At the end of the day, the greatest strength of humans is their intelligence. Although struggling, Shye and Damien managed to keep theirposure¨Ctheir remaining trump cards¨Cclose to their chest. Finally, thest fibers of the wyverns'' patience snapped, prompting them to open their mouths and start attacking once again. A mix of scarlet and smander orange-colored me threatened to st out of the gaping maws. Fortunately for Shye, the face of the Colzen ember wyvern was close, allowing him to use his remaining ability: [(Dark) Fallen''s Howl Lv.1(Rare)]. Shye''s newfound ability might be considered rtively weak for a "rare" skill. However, whenbined with otherpatible (Dark)-type skills, its effects undergo a significant boost. When used independently, [(Dark) Fallen''s Howl Lv.1(Rare)] would simply provide Shye with a mediocre strength, dexterity, stamina, and vitality attribute boost. Underwhelming for a skill of such rarity. However, when his adversaries had stacks of [Fear], the skill would instantly double the [Fear] stacks. In addition to this, when used along with other Fallen skills, the effectiveness of the attribute boost would increase by ten percent for each active fallen skill, making [(Dark) Fallen''s Howl Lv.1(Rare)] extremelypatible with [(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.1(Rare)] and [(Semi-Passive)(Dark) Harrowing Aura Lv.1(Rare)]. Overpowered as the skillbination might be, it was only possible because Shye had the system, if not, then he could consider himself lucky should he manage to obtain even one of these three rare skills. Just when both ember wyverns were about to incinerate Shye and Damien with ming breaths, the two young representatives immediately activated their trump cards. A blood-curdling howl resembling those of demons in ancient legends echoed across Valenzia Arena, making the crowd''s hairs stand on end. The ember wyvern was no exception. Since the wyvern already had a hundred stacks of [Fear], Shye''s howl immediately doubled the stacks, promptly after, the wyvern stood petrified, not daring to breathe its mes out. Naturally, Shye didn''t stay idle. Realizing that his gamble paid off, he immediately darted the hell out of the wyvern''s face. On the other hand, it looked like Damien failed to avoid the point-nk methrower. Seeing the current developments, the Colzen crowd erupted into cheers, however, shortly after, they stopped. Damien was right there¨Cunharmed. Enveloping him was a cracked barrier. It was damaged, however, it seems like even the ember wyvern failed to destroy the barrier from Damien''s armor. While escaping, Shye nced at Damien. ''BULLSHIT! WHERE THE HELL DID THIS BARRIER COME FROM?!'' inwardly cursed Shye. He already used his final skill and his ordinary skills would probably still need around a minute to go off cooldown. He was out of options. At this rate, he would lose. ''F*CK IT! I''m ending the match right here! System!'' After thinking of the word "System" the familiar blue holographic interface appeared in front of him. One thing he noticed was that the stronger an opponent was, the shorter the effects of [Fear] would be, hence, he only had a few seconds to think of a solution. Since he was out of skills, it was either risk revealing the existence of his system or face defeat. Fortunately, he recently invested a lot of points in intelligence. He never felt his brain work this fast before. In just a single second, he already thought of a solution to lessen the risk of divulging his greatest secret. Pretending to grab something from the "spatial bag" strapped around his left hip, Shye took out one of the weapons he looted from thebyrinth''s weapon chest: An old emerald-colored life staff. He then aimed the life staff at the creature before tapping away, appearing as if he was casting some sort of priest-ss spell. He already had a few skills in mind and all he had to do was purchase them. "H-Hey! Look at Shye Crowley!! Why is he using a life staff?!" "Could it be that¡­he can cast the skills of a priest?! Wait, does he even have the mana pool to do that?" "Impossible! To have a subss at such a young age¡­" Naturally, his weird actions caught the crowd''s attention, however, not a single one amongst the people in the crowd except for the bald old man knew what he was actually doing. His acting was simply too perfect. [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Fake Death Lv.1(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Fake Death Lv.1(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Fake Death Lv.2(Umon)]] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [(Water)Aqua Barrier Lv.1(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [(Water)Aqua Barrier Lv.1(Umon), leveled up to >> [(Water)Aqua Barrier Lv.2(Umon)]] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [(Water)Hydro Wall Lv.1(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [(Water)Hydro Wall Lv.1(Umon)], leveled up to >>[(Water)Hydro Wall Lv.2(Umon)]] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Physical Barrier Lv.1(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Physical Barrier Lv.1(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)]] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Swallow Step Lv.1]] Shye wanted to level up [Swallow Step Lv.1], however, he ran out of time. Realizing that the Colzen Ember Wyvern was out for him again, Shye started running¨Cin contrast to Damien who stood still, confident that his barrier would oust the hillbilly Colzen representative. He didn''t have the ability to escape the wyvern anyway so he decided to hole up. As for Shye, who was low on stamina but still high on mana, he decided to learn a bunch of umon skills from other sses. There was no rule regarding warriors learning and using skills from other sses, in fact, top-tier warrior adventurers do learn a few non-warrior skills whichplement their fighting styles. Only, it was hard to findpatible skills, unlike for Shye who simply had to tap and learn any skill he wanted as long as he had the points to do so. Realizing this fact, Shye couldn''t help but smile. It seems that he would have a development path designed for him and only him. Who knows? If he managed to earn enough points in the future he might have three or more sses¨Cbasically a one-man army. It would be a tall task to do so though. After all, it would only be harder and harder to earn points in the future. If he wanted to earn a lot of points, then he had to constantly surprise those around him. ======================= Standard release: 2 chap/day For every 300 power stones = 1 extra chapter For every 100 golden tickets = 1 extra chapter Chapter 210: Tales of the Darkest Horse Feeling nervous about going ham, Shye swallowed a few mouthfuls of saliva, breathing heavily as he tried to dy his doom. There was a chance of him inviting disaster should he show too much talent. After all, there were rumors of people who could extract talent from adventurers through some kind of sinister method. These were the people he wanted to avoid the most, however, it didn''t mean that he was scared to go up against them. If encountering them was inevitable as he climbed the adventurer ranks, he might as well secure some much-needed support from a prominent guild. How would he do that? By showing them that he was worth nurturing of course! Dispelling the doubt shrouding his heart, Shye firmly mped down on the life staff, grasping it between his teeth¡ªhis gaze aze with resolve to dethrone An. ''F*ck it all, it''s showtime!'' Shye thought, returning one of his greatswords to the system''s inventory by pretending to put his hands inside his fake spatial bag, then, once his left hand was free, he took out another weapon thatpletely destroyed everyone''s sense of reality. On his left hand was an elemental staff usually used by mages to increase the power of their elemental skills. "R-R-REPRESENTATIVE CROWLEY TAKES OUT AN ELEMENTAL STAFF!!! WHAT DOES HE PLAN TO DO WITH IT?! T-THERE''S JUST NO F*CKING WAY THAT HE¨C" While the bbergastedmentator was speaking, multiple scorching-hot orange balls of fire hovered around the periphery of both ember wyverns before slowly floating towards the representatives as though modern-day homing missiles. Subsequently, once the ming balls were about to hit Shye, a huge thick stationary water wall appeared in front of him, protecting him from the wyvern''s attack. ncing in his direction, Damien, whose barrier was being ruthlessly battered by the ming balls, went wide-eyed. "What?!" eximed Damien. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. ''HOW?! HOW COULD THIS MERE HILLBILLY HAVE A SUBCLASS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE?!'' Initially, he believed Shye had exhausted his arsenal, so he never anticipated any further abilities, let alone the use of mage abilities. On the other hand, Siegfried narrowed his eyes. ''You¡­have a lot of secrets, my friend¡­'' "S-S-SENIOR CROWLEY IS MIGHTY!!" "SENIOR CROWLEY IS MIGHTY!!" cheered the Colzen crowd upon witnessing their respected Senior Crowley perform another miracle right before their eyes. Unfortunately for Shye, although the hydro wall managed to weaken the wyvern''s attack, it wasn''t enough topletely block it. Seeing the ming balls continue on their way towards Shye, Damien smiled widely. His barrier was on itsst legs as well but from the look of things, Shye would perish first. The crowd cheered like crazy¡ªmost of them standing while waving their fists around. They knew that the pivotal round was nearing its conclusion. Eagerly waiting for Shye''s moment of defeat, Damien gloated, however, just a short whileter, the smile on his face was slowly reced by shock as a thick aqua sphere covered Shye, protecting him from the weakened ming balls. Witnessing Shye performing miracles one after the other, Damien was in utter disbelief, overlooking the fact that his barrier was also on the verge of breaking. The balls of fire mercilessly battered the representatives'' barriers¡ªmassive cracks appearing on both before scattering to the four winds. Sess! Both representatives withstood another attack from the wyvern! Regrettably, after protecting their users from the remaining fireballs, both barriers were depleted, disintegrating into small particles and leaving the two young representatives defenseless against the next attack from the wyverns. Realizing this fact, Shye and Damien swiftly sprinted away from their respective wyverns. Luckily for Damien, one of his self-buff skills, [Enhance Agility Lv.4] had recentlye off cooldown. Since the rune barrier engraved on his armor was triggered using mana, he still had the stamina to activate this final skill, allowing him to dy his impending doom for a few more milliseconds. Seeing the developments onstage, everyone supporting Colzen, both those in the arena and Colzen City, gasped in horror. At this rate, Shye would lose! Even Damien was already celebrating inwardly. Who could have imagined that a simplemon skill would determine the victor? As much as he hated Shye, he had to admit that the hillbilly gave him a hard time, however, in the end, it was him who won. Or so he thought¡­ Just as the wyvern''s enormous tail struck Shye, the life staff on his mouth shone brilliantly before a thick white barrier appeared around him. Although his new skill, [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)], provided no defense against elemental attacks such as the balls of fire, the vermilion orb, and the me breath, it was a perfect countermeasure against a physical tail swipe attack. Still, the attribute gap between him and the ember wyvern was vast. Hence, although the barrier managed to temporarily block and partially reduce the power of the wyvern''s attack, it was destroyed in just a single second. The wyvern''s tail then continued forth, seemingly tearing the air around it as it viciously advanced towards Shye. However, just before the wyvern''s tail made contact with Shye''s body, he used hisst remaining skill, [Swallow Step Lv.1], to put a bit more distance between him and the wyvern''s tail. Since the skill was only level one, the distance it covered didn''t allow him to dodge the attack, even so, it was enough to make someone cry in anguish. "NO!!" A voice filled with desperation and despair emanated from the half dome next to Shye''s, followed shortly by a sickening crack that echoed throughout the entire arena as Damien was struck squarely in the chest by the wyvern''s tail. Before everyone could process what happened, an azure ray of light flew straight towards the An ringside seats, materializing into An''s strongest representative¨Cstaring at the ground, empty-eyed. "No¡­T-There''s no way¡­I''m¡­I''m from An¡­" mumbled Damien, who miserably lost against someone he deemed beneath him. A few momentster, the crowd burst into the loudest cheers that would exceed one''s imagination. The two Colzen deans, the Colzen instructors, thepanion students, the students watching thepetition back at the academy, and the staff members all jumped and hugged each other in utter tion. They expected a top-eight finish, who would''ve thought? "CAN?! YOU?! BELIEVE IT?!! ONCE. UPON A TIME, THERE WAS A MEDIOCRE ACADEMY!! A MEDIOCRE ACADEMY THAT DETHRONED ALL THREE KINGS!! THE CAPTAIN OF THE REBELS, SHYE CROWLEY, BRILLIANTLY WINS THE CHAMPIONSHIP FOR COLZEN ACADEMY!!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 179,621 points!] Chapter 211: Closing Ceremony The guild masters of various prominent guilds in Valenzia already considered the Colzen representatives to have won upon taking the lead 2-1. They would never believe that a prestigious academy like An would permit their students to genuinely lose to underdogs. Considering that Colzen Academy''s budget is not even close to half of An''s, it would be unrealistic to expect their representatives to match up to An''s representatives on the matter of trump cards. Although Colzen took the lead, the guild masters didn''t believe that they would win¨C and that it would be An who would grab the championship in the end. Hence, upon seeing Shye pull out trump card after trump card¡ªeven showing everyone that he already had subsses at such a young age, they were all stupefied. Perhaps in other regions, this was the standard of a talented youngster. They had lots of various resources to support their younger generation after all. It was truly mind-boggling how such a young representative could achieve such heights without the resources of a high-ranking academy. Right after the official announcement of Colzen''s victory, the eyes of the top ten guild masters changed and the easygoing ambiance was reced by gazes of cutthroatpetition. They all wanted to secure Shye for themselves. On the other hand, seeing the attitudes of the highest-ranking guild masters made the other guild masters curse inwardly. If the best guilds wanted the best representatives, what could they do? Realizing this fact, most of them immediately gave up and turned their attention to other talented prospects such as Siegfried, Kiin, Ian, and Wendy. David and Harry performed well, however, they didn''t shine that much, hence, the other guild masters prioritized the other four. Still, it didn''t mean that none of the guild masters were interested in extending invitations to them. On the contrary, David and Harry were the top two and top three mage prospects, with Asha being the first. In an instant, the once lively city lord''s office was enveloped by a stern business atmosphere¡ªall of the guild masters decisively crushing high-quality sound istionmunication talismans here and there, ordering their subordinates to send invitations to prospects of their choice. Amongst the crowd, the bald old man smiled before vanishing into thin air as though he wasn''t there in the first ce. Meanwhile, at the An ringside, Damien stared at the ground. His ck hair obscured his expression, but it was clear that he was upset judging from the tight grip of his clenched fists. He wanted toin and use Shye of cheating, however, he knew that it would only make the bastard from Colzen appear more talented than him. Hence, after going through a tough internal struggle, he ultimately decided to let him go for now. ''I''ll see you in the world of professional adventurers¡­you m*therf*cker¡­'' thought Damien as he led the dejected and frustrated An party back to their academy station. In contrast, the Colzen party was practically prancing in happiness¡ªwide smiles stered on their faces as though they were in seventh heaven. Siegfried and Ian wrapped their arms around Shye, punching him yfully as they praised him like what truly close friends do. Upon arriving at their academy station, the Colzen representatives were shocked as both deans walked closer and gave each of them a hug¡ªtears threatening to stream down their faces. The deans loved their academy and had been toiling nonstop to increase the rank of Colzen. No matter how small the rank increase was, they would ept it with open arms. Hence, with such a significant advancement, the deans almost couldn''t stop their tears. They were just too overwhelmed with emotions. After a few minutes of light-hearted drama, the preparations for the closing ceremony wereplete. In the center of the stage stood four winners'' podiums: two bronze-colored, one silver, and one gold. It was gettingte so the organizers wasted no time and immediately started the ceremony. Striding up the stage was Bart, who was back after being on the sidelines for quite some time. After a few pleasantries, Bart promptly called the third and fourth-ce winners: Eusford and Freia. Witnessing the unhappy expressions on the faces of the representatives, one wouldn''t think that they were being awarded bronze medals. Their faces simply looked too sour. Well, for the top three academies, bronze medals were definitely not a cause for celebration, and at every closing ceremony, two of the three academies ascend the winners'' podium with frowns on their faces so such a sight wasn''t new to most of the people watching. Only, this time around, there were three academies with frowns on their faces. A newly risen academy took the top spot after all. Although they lost, the three kingly academies had a special ce in the hearts of the crowd so the cheers for them were nothing to scoff at. Eventually, the cheers died down and it was time for this year''s true kings to im their throne. "And now, this year''s top academy, please ascend the gold podium, Colzen Academy!!" Hearing Bart''s cue, the Colzen seven emerged from their academy station, prompting the crowd to once again burst into cheers. In the past hundred years, never once have the three academies conceded any of the top three spots to another academy, let alone the top spot. This is the reason why the crowd was going wild. They were witnessing history in the making. As the Colzen representatives climbed onto the gold podium individually, the cheers intensified, and the realization of bing this year''s champions gradually dawned on them. ''Damn, we really did it huh?...'' thought Shye as he scanned his eyes across his teammates, feeling proud of their achievements both as friends and as representatives. Shortly after though, another realization struck him. After this, they would all go their separate ways. He suddenly felt like crying as a bittersweet feeling consumed his heart¡ªtears welling in the corners of his eyes. ''Ahh¡­f*ck this¡­ why am I so sentimental? Well, with how talented these guys are I''m sure we''ll meet again¡­here¡­in Valenzia City¡­'' Consoling himself, Shye decided to enjoy their victory, waving at the crowd with a smile on his face and drowning the bitter feeling in his heart beneath the glorious cheers of the audience. Chapter 212: Flashy Adventurer System Level 3 As the rising sun painted the heavenly canvas in shades of blue, red, and orange, golden rays illuminated Valenzia City in a subtle dandelion. Gradually intensifying as minutes went by, the golden rays eventually pierced through a certain window, touching the eyelids of a sleeping young man with ash-colored hair, attractive facial features, and the fine, muscr body of a warrior. Feeling the sunlight''s gentle assault on his eyelids, Shye opened his eyes. ''Ahh¡­crap¡­my head hurts¡­'' groaned Shye as he slowly sat on the edge of the inn''s luxurious bed. Yesterday night''s celebration was a bit too much for him. The deans allowed everyone to go wild and crazy, and so¡­they did. Ultimately, he drank four bottles of gin and fifteen bottles of beer, hence, he was excessively intoxicatedst night. Fortunately, Shirley could handle her alcoholic beverages slightly better than he could so she ended up supporting him back to his room. Upon recollection, Shye looked downward¡ªto his bare torso¡ªbefore turning his head to nce at the young woman with short orange hair peacefully sleeping beside him. Her torso was also bare¡ªher bountiful chest which has grownrger over the years on full disy including the sweetest cherries in the middle. Witnessing this heavenly sight, Shye''s manhood vigorously awakened. Exactly at that moment, Shirley also woke up, and upon realizing what state Shye was in, she smiled seductively. The Colzen convoy would leave in the afternoon so they had lots of time for another round. Thus, both of them immediately went to the bathroom, brushed their teeth, and prepared their bodies for a round of steamy morning s*x. A few minutester, heat-inducing moans echoed out of Shye''s room, stirring envy in those who were merely passing by. Luckily for Shye, although a few Colzen students passed by, none of them were his little sister who remained sound asleep inside her room. However, one of them was Wendy. Hearing Shirley''s moans, the young girl couldn''t help but blush as she walked past the door of Shye''s room, even stopping by for a few seconds to sneakily hear a bit more. Despite her innocence, as she approached the ripe age of 21, curiosity began to take hold of her. ording to the Archpriest, she was permitted to partake in such activities once she reached that age so she couldn''t help but let her imagination run wild as she walked away. Her current inexperienced mind could never have urately envisioned what was going on inside though, simple kisses on the cheek and in hugs were the extent of her fantasies. *** They had approximately three hours before the Colzen convoy departed from Valenzia, and Shirley still needed to get ready for the lengthy journey ahead. Hence, after one passionate hour, she left Shye''s room with a satisfied smile on her face and returned to hers to prepare. Meanwhile, Shye wore a serene smile as he lounged on his bed for a few more minutes before finally sitting up. ''System'' ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 268,572] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''I''ve amassed a total of 268,572 points huh? Not bad¡­Not bad at all!'' mused Shye, smiling ear to ear. ''Well then, let''s do a quick check on my status¡­'' Shye tapped [Status]. Prompting the familiar blue screen containing his non-greatsword-boosted attributes to appear in front of him. ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 74 [ss]: Warrior ¡ª----------------------------- [Active Skills]: [Swallow Step Lv.1] [Appraisal Lv.2] [Dash Lv.4] [Power sh Lv.4][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.3][Stoic Lv.4] [Destructive Chop Lv.3] [Rush Stab Lv.3][Lunge Pierce Lv3][Draconian Roar Lv.2][Boost Lv.1(Rare)]... [See More] [Semi-Passive Skills]: [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1(Rare)] [Passive Skills]: [Dual Wield(Rare)] ¡ª----------------------------- Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Attributes] [Strength: 120] [Intelligence: 94] [Agility: 120] [Dexterity: 120] [Stamina: 90] [Vitality: 105] [Wisdom: 28] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Hmm¡­so 120 points was the maximum attribute upgrade for a level 2 system huh¡­?'' Shye pondered as he took a nce at his intelligence attribute. ''I should probably upgrade the system first before I use the remaining points for other upgrades¡­'' [Do you want to spend 200,000 points to upgrade the system to level 3?] [Y/N] [Y] Promptly after tapping on [Y], a sinister aura abruptly manifested around Shye, cloaking him in a shroud of pitch-ck energy. Shockingly, the ebony-colored thunderbolts continuously striking him inside the veil of darkness didn''t hurt one bit, in fact, it even feltfortable. The seemingly baleful phenomenonsted for around five minutes before the dark energy slowly dispersed. [Congrattions! You have sessfully upgraded the shy Adventurer System to Level 3!] Seeing the notification in front of him, Shye rxed. Being surrounded by dark energy wasn''t pleasant so he was slightly distressed earlier and he couldn''t help but reminisce. In the past, every time he upgraded or purchased something significant in the system, such as talents and system upgrades, it would always start with him being enveloped in sinister energy. Heck, he even felt pain when he purchased his talent, [Greatsword Meister(Rare)]. ''I-I''m not being demonized¡­Am I?'' Shye wondered as he recalled Old Man Sanada''s face. "Well, there''s no point dwelling on it. He saved my little sister''s life before, and I made a promise to him that I would do anything in return..." Recalling that his current life of glory and joy was granted by old man Sanada and his system, Shye resolved to stop doubting him. Whether he was being demonized or facing any other challenge, this life was no longer solely his own, so fretting over such matters wouldn''t benefit him. Instead, he resolved to embrace life to the fullest. Just when he was about to get out of hisfy bed, another notification appeared in front of him. [Congrattions! You''ve unlocked [Mandatory Quests]!] Seeing the notification panel in front of him, Shye''s brows furrowed, and immediately checked the [Quests] section promptly after. After swiftly skimming through the daily and routine quests, he eventually reached the mandatory quests section, then, shortly after seeing its contents, his eyes widened, and his heart began to race... Chapter 213: Mandatory Quest Under thousands of eyes, a majestic white and blue-themed convoy left Valenzia City. Initially, upon their arrival, this very convoy was met with nothing but scorn and insults. However, this time, as they marched out of the city gates, people cheered for them¡ªa stark contrast to their arrival. Shye was naturally seated inside the front carriage, looking out the window and seemingly pondering about something important. The mandatory quest truly shook his heart and he couldn''t help but think that the old man''s request wasn''t as simple as it seemed. However, it appeared he was already deeply involved in this situation. His options boiled down to eitherpleting the quests andplying with the old man''s demands or forfeiting the system''s benefits. Although Shye wasn''t sure whether Sanada had good intentions or not, it was a fact that the old man helped him and his sister so his decision was leaning towards assisting the old man. Hopefully, things wouldn''t unfold in a direction he found unfavorable¡ªspecifically, the evil path. ''The old man shouldn''t be an actual viin¡­right?'' Shye wondered as he checked the mandatory quest again. ¡ª----------------------------------- Quest: Super Rookie Requirements: Be a Ruby-ranked Adventurer Current Progress: (N/A) Remaining Time: 10,956:32:41 (H:M:S) Completion Rewards: + 40 to all attributes (Permanent), 300,000 points Upon failure: - 70 to all attributes (Permanent), points would be reset to zero ¡ª----------------------------------- Shye took a deep breath, discreetly closed the system''s interface, and stared out the window again. Based on hisputations, the time limit of this mandatory quest was a year and three months, which meant that he had to be a ruby-ranked adventurer a year and three months from now or he would suffer severe attribute consequences. ''Can I do it?'' Shye wondered. It was too early for him to give up since he hadn''t even joined a professional adventurer''s guild yet. ''Maybe there''s a way to st through the lower ranks?'' he mused. Shye didn''t dare underestimate the higher ranks, however, if he was strong enough, then there must be a way to quickly go through the lower ranks or well-known super rookie adventurers wouldn''t exist. After consoling his distressed heart, Shye''s mood improved, allowing him to participate in casual chats with the other representatives inside the carriage. The return journey was lengthy though so it was inevitable that they would run out of topics to talk about. Bored, the representatives¡ªincluding Shye¡ªtook a nap. *** Two hourster, Shye woke up, stretching his arms and legs inside the spacious carriage as he looked around. Realizing that everyone was still asleep, he decided to explore his upgraded system. ''System.'' thought Shye, prompting the familiar blue screen of the system to appear in front of him. With the enthusiasm of a kid, he opened the shop and tapped [Talents] Immediately after, he was greeted by a new interface on the left side of the [Talents] screen. ¡ª--------------------- [Common] [Umon] [Rare] [Unique] [Epic] [Legendary (Locked)] [???(Locked)] [???(Locked)] ¡ª--------------------- ''Yo¡­This is pretty neat¡­Oh? Unique and Epic talents are now essible!'' inwardly enthused Shye as he tapped on the [Unique] button on the new interface. When the system was still level 2, he had no choice but to scroll through thousands of talents before arriving at the rare section; now, with just a single tap, the new [Unique] talents were already on disy. Not only did the level 3 system offer new benefits but it also made the system more convenient to use. ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Child of mes] (Unique) - 80,000 points Description: Boost the damage of one''s (Fire) type attacks by 50% Cooldown of (Fire) type skills reduced by 30% Mana/Stamina consumption when using (Fire) type skills reduced by 40% Mastery rate of (Fire) type skills enhanced by 20% ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- ¡ª----------------------------------------------------------- [Space Phenom] (Unique) - 100,000 points Description: One''s instincts would naturally guide one towards the location of (Space) type items such as skill books, void gemstones, etc¡­ Boost the damage of one''s (Space) type attacks by 35% Cooldown of (Space) type skills reduced by 30% Mana/Stamina consumption when using (Space) type skills reduced by 20% Mastery rate of (Space) type skills enhanced by 50% ¡ª---------------------------------------------------------- After reading the effects of the first two unique talents, Shye''s eyes opened wide¡ªhis mouth¡ªagape. ''W-What the hell are these talents?! If people were born with such ridiculously overpowered talents, wouldn''t they be already set up for sess?!'' inwardlyined Shye with a shocked expression. ''If unique talents were already this powerful then¡­'' ncing at the [Epic] button, Shye moved his shaking fingers to check a few samples of [Epic] talents. Unfortunately, the carriage came to an abrupt halt, waking everyone up inside Shye''s carriage. ''Well, I still have lots of time to explore in the future, no rush¡­'' he thought, promptly closing the system right after. The sudden stop wasn''t anything new to the students and if anything, these stops were something most of them were eagerly waiting for¡ªcamping and dinner time. This was how every other day went for the Colzen convoy after all. Following a satisfying meal and a good night''s sleep, their majestic white horses were fully rested, enabling them to resume their journey. As the proud morning sun watched over everything, their convoy victoriously marched back home, sometimes passing through rocky terrains¡ªother times¡ªthrough well-built marble roads. However, there were a few times they had to traverse dangerous adventurer zones. It can''t be helped, there was no other way after all. The convoy had two former diamond-ranked adventurer deans and a few strong instructors like Instructor Fienna so moving through such zones wasn''t a problem. Just like this, three weeks quickly passed. Currently, the Grand Colzen convoy had already covered more than half the distance back to Colzen City. Suddenly, their carriages stopped. Looking out the window, Shye was confused. They were currently passing through a pathway inside an adventurer zone called Orze Advanced Adventurer Zone. It was a necessity for them to pass through this area and they''d already done so before, however, they''d never once stopped inside to rest, hence, Shye''s puzzlement at the abrupt halt. In the next moment, grating chuckles and voices with mocking tones echoed from different directions. "Hahaha, a bunch of talented young prospects not even making it back home. What a shame." "You all unted too much! If only you grasped the concept of ''keeping it low-key,'' perhaps you''d have lived longer!" Chapter 214: Colzen Convoy: Ambushed! Immediately after realizing that they were being ambushed, the deans and instructors swiftly burst out of the carriages. They didn''t know who was targeting them but they would never allow these bastards to murder their precious students. "Kekeke, what a bunch of clowns. Do you think two rusty diamond-ranked adventurers could protect a bunch of chicks from five hungry tigers? Delusional!" a thin middle-aged adventurer d in a full set of emerald-tier relics eximed. "Wolfe, Turner, Bjorn, Hakeem, get in position. Let''s end this quickly and im our reward as early as possible!" From the words of the thin middle-aged man, it was evident that he was the leader of this small assassination party of five. Crushing twomunication talismans, the deans ordered the instructors to work together and try to hold back two assassins while they handled one assassin each. Now, the problem is, could their representative party hold on long enough against thest assassin? If they could do so until help from the deans or the instructors arrived, then it would be their win. However, if they couldn''t¡­then all of the students and probably some instructors would die as well. The assassins didn''t give them too much time to strategize, promptly springing into action by gripping their weapons tightly as they charged toward the Colzen representatives. Naturally, the deans responded ordingly. They intercepted two of the assassins: one warrior and one scout, allowing only three assassins to pass including the thin middle-aged man. "Bakko! Leave these instructors to me and Wolfe, you go ahead and murder those youngsters!" Hearing Bjorn ordering him around, the thin middle-aged man named Bakko was annoyed. "Don''t f*cking order me around, I know what to do!" eximed Bakko before leaping past the small group of instructors and into the midst of the young representatives, sporting a murderous smile on his face. Realizing that they had to fight a diamond-ranked adventurer like Bakko for their lives, the faces of the Colzen seven turned stern. They had to hold him off somehow or their entire convoy would be wiped out. "Everyone, get in position! Herees the scrawny old goat!" insulted Shye as he took out both of his greatswords from his inventory, causing a slight disturbance as the synergizing elements of water and lightning roared threateningly toward Bakko. Hearing what the leader of the Colzen seven called him, Bakko was utterly infuriated¡ªVeins popped out at the sides of his head¡ª his old face turning beet red due to anger. "A little twerp like you dares call me a scrawny old goat?! DIE!!" raged Bakko as he shed his dagger at Shye who just finished receiving buffs from Wendy. *CLANG* A metallic sound reverberated across the pathway as Shye brandished his greatswords diagonally, effectively shing against Bakko''s emerald-tier dagger. "Puhaahk!" Shockingly, it was Shye who was sent sliding back while spitting out blood, feeling his internal organs shake from Bakko''s raw strength. Initially, he thought that the old goat, Bakko, made a grave mistake by trying to face him in a direct confrontation. Scouts were known to have way less strengthpared to warriors after all. However, he never thought that it would actually be him on the losing side of a head-on sh. The old goat was so thin that he couldn''t help but underestimate the guy''s strength attribute. "Hahahaha! Tell me, twerp. How embarrassed are you right now after losing to me, a scout, in a direct powerparison?" mocked Bakko as he yfully waited for Shye''s furious answer. "Hahaha! Well, I must admit, it''s a bit embarrassing. However, it''s certainly not as severe as the embarrassment of an old goat who has already lived through at least three goat lifetimes, yet still failed to defeat a youngster with a single blow." retorted Shye after receiving a timely heal from Wendy. Unfortunately for Bakko, instead of deriving pleasure and joy from Shye''s reply, what he ended up with was nothing but infuriation. The twerp''s mouth was simply too vicious! Regretting the fact that he even allowed Shye to speak, Bakko disappeared for a few milliseconds before reappearing behind Shye with an outraged expression. He then tried to stab the young hateful bastard to end his life in a single blow¡ªjust like what Shye wished for. Unfortunately for him, Siegfried, who understood the ins and outs ofbat, knew that he was gonna teleport behind Shye after receiving such a ruthless insult. Therefore, he advanced and shed at the air behind Shye, prompting Bakko, who had just reappeared, to choose between persisting with his attack on Shye and risking an attack from Siegfried, or abandoning the idea of attacking Shye and defending himself from Siegfried''s assault. Ultimately, Bakko decided to defend. After all, it would be too humiliating for a fairly high-ranked professional adventurer like him to suffer a grievous wound from a graduating adventurer academy student. *CLANG* Astoundingly, although Bakko''s block was hurried, a simple slight push from his dagger sent Siegfried sliding back¡ªa resounding statement regarding the stark difference in strength between a high-ranking veteran and an uing rookie. ''Heh, unfortunately for you unripe youngsters, your naive attacks would never touch someone like me!'' thought Bakko after stabilizing his footing. Lost in his own thoughts, Bakko failed to realize that the Colzen seven was already in hunting formation¡ªwith him standing cluelessly in the middle. "Bakko! What on earth are you doing?! Why haven''t you killed a single one?!" raged Bjorn, upon realizing that their arrogant leader, Bakko, hadn''t managed to kill a single representative from Colzen. Previously, Bakko had told him to be quiet because he knew what he was doing; hence, he was infuriated upon witnessing Bakko''s ipetence. ''If we fail here, I''m holding you fully ountable¡­you arrogant bastard¡­'' thought Bjorn as he blocked a downward sh from Instructor Fienna. Meanwhile, atop a cliff several hundred meters from the ongoing assassination stood a tall, well-built middle-aged man with handsome facial features. He was adorned in aplete set of peak-tier warrior equipment, draped in a ck and purple robe, observing the unfolding events with keen interest. "Hoh? They''re holding up pretty well¡­" Chapter 215: A Desperate Old Goat On a certain secluded area inside Orze Advanced Adventurer Zone, sounds of metal shing against metal resounded along with a cacophony of resolute battle cries. As evening approached rapidly, the dimming heavenly canvas slowly provided the five assassins with additional cover as they carried out their bloody operation to eradicate an entire academy convoy. Fiercely fighting for their lives were the people from Colzen Academy who were currently the target of the aforementioned assassins¡ªthey were ferociously defiant in the face of death, regrettably, they were simply outnumbered five to two in terms of high-ranking veterans. The instructors worked together brilliantly to fend off two assassins, however, that''s all they could manage and the seven strongest students of Colzen must manage on their own. Unfortunately, despite what most would consider a "good start", Bakko was proving too tough of an adversary for them¡ªfar faster, far stronger. Their well-practiced hunting formation easily copsed as soon as the loathsome old goat used skills¡ªtheir front liners, including Shye¡ªbeaten ck and blue as Bakko unpredictably maneuvered, skillfully dodging their skills and masterfully counterattacking promptly after. Still, the Colzen seven vehemently resisted. They knew that if the hateful scrawny bastard managed to get past them, he would massacre thepanion students. Of course, Shye wouldn''t permit any harm toe to his beloved little sister and girlfriend. Even though a few of his bones were already broken, he relentlessly tried to cause problems for Bakko, standing up and charging right back into the fray even after multiple failures. The Colzen Seven''s chaotic struggle continued for around ten minutes before Bakko decided to go all out. Clenching his fists tightly in utter fury, Bakko performed some hand and finger seals. "You little pipsqueaks¡­I''m done ying along with all your bullshit¡­" said Bakko with a quivering voice, extremely irked at the fact that he still hadn''t killed a single one after trying for ten minutes. Somehow, one of the little twerps would always jump in when he was about to finish someone off. Earlier, he was reluctant to use his ultimate skill because the other assassins mightugh at him but now, he couldn''t care less. It would be more embarrassing if he failed to kill them in the next minute. "Bakko! You still haven''t killed them?! Quickly finish them off! These deans are stronger than we expected! We need help!" eximed Turner, the assassin who was fighting Dean Snowcrest. ''Tch, I know what to do¡­just shut the hell up¡­all of you¡­'' Bakko inwardly reprimanded, he didn''t dare say it out loud to them though, deep in his heart, he knew that he was f*cking the mission up. After performing hand seals, Bakko mmed his palm on his chest, prompting some sort of dark rune to appear. Subsequently, six shadows rose from the ground, materializing into exact copies of Bakko, though these copies had stiff facial expressions making it easy to determine which of them was the real old goat. "Hmmph!" Seeing the clones, Ian promptly teleported behind one and stabbed at its neck. As a scout he was more familiar with the properties of clonespared to the other representatives, hence, he decided to step up. Unfortunately for him, the clone had fast reflexes, allowing it to raise its dagger ordingly and block Ian''s stab with brilliant precision. Still, Ian was unshaken by the clone''s excellent block. As though he already expected his first attack to be blocked, Ian somersaulted and charged once more. This time, the clone wasn''t able to cleanly block Ian''s attack, allowing him to shallowly cut the clone''s neck. Normally, clones were fragile. Suffering a single shallow cut was enough to dispel them. Shockingly, this clone was still alive and well, prompting Ian to narrow his eyes before informing everyone of the clone''s characteristics. "Everyone! Careful, these clones can''t be taken down in one hit, however, they''re weaker than the true body, probably around 50 to 60 percent of that old goat''s actual strength¡­" Hearing Ian''s words, the other representatives gripped their weapons tighter, realizing that six of them would have to deal with the clones while thest one dealt with the one true goat. Instinctively, Shye recognized this and promptly offered to handle the elderly goat. "Crowley! Hold on for a few more seconds! Once I finish this mutt off, I''lle help you!" Dean Snowcrest eximed, relentlessly attacking his opponent with consecutive vicious skill-empowered shes, stirring up clouds of dust and gusts of wind as he ferociously hacked away. Shye genuinely struggled with how to handle Bakko, part of him acknowledging that some of them might not survive the day, including himself. Therefore, Dean Snowcrest''s words truly brought him hope. ''A few seconds¡­just a few seconds¡­'' thought Shye, his heart zing with the resolve to survive. As for Bakko, rm bells rang inside his head as the gravity of the situation finally struck him. If he failed to finish this little bastard on time, then they might actually fail their mission. ''Crap¡­I gotta finish him off now!'' thought Bakko, warping the air at his initial location as he disappeared once more. Realizing that the old goat was trying to finish him off, Shye unhesitatingly used [Power sh Lv.4] to empower his next attack before shing at the air behind him¡ªa technique he learned from Siegfried. *CLANG* Shye''s greatswords shed fiercely with Bakko''s dagger, igniting a cacophony of fire, water, and thunder, causing white vapor to billow as Shye was forcefully pushed back, sliding across the ground. Knowing that Bakko was now truly desperate to take him out, a pair of rotten wings promptly materialized on his back apanied by a bone-chilling howl as Shye unhesitatingly used all of his trump cards. To make matters worse for Bakko, he also activated [Stoic Lv.4], reducing all iing damage by 65% for five seconds. Feeling the changes in Shye''s body, the old goat cursed at the wind before swiftly teleporting behind Shye again, promptly attempting to slice his neck off right after. Unfortunately for Bakko, he quickly found out how badly he underestimated the little twerp. Armed with a bunch of skills, Shye managed to stand his ground this time, fighting on equal footing against the old goat who had a ratherical desperate look on his face¡ªcurved lips, visibly gritting his teeth, brows hriously furrowed while his eyes were wide open. Regrettably, this magnificent scene of a graduating youngster valiantly standing his ground against a veteran adventurer would onlyst for five seconds at maximum. Chapter 216: Soaring Raven Meanwhile, the middle-aged man who was watching from afar couldn''t believe what he was seeing. Just a few moments ago, it seemed that the Colzen convoy''s chances of surviving the ambush were bleak, however, due to the unexpected strength of their deans along with the brilliant teamwork and excellent individual skills of the Colzen representatives, the situation suddenly turned around¡ªthough, most of the fault was due to the old goat ying around. Still, the middle-aged man standing atop a cliff was impressed. ''F*ck¡­do they seriously not need my help? Haah¡­better make a move now or lose this once-in-a-lifetime chance¡­'' Shortly after, the middle-aged man disappeared. Not knowing anything except that they were in a dangerous situation, Shye ferociously held his ground against Bakko, suffering shallow cuts here and there but was ultimately able to block all of the old goat''s lethal attacks. "JUST! F*CKING! DIE! ALREADY!" Bakko cursed as he grew increasingly frustrated because despite going all out, he couldn''t instantly dispatch Shye. Luckily for the old goat, Shye''s [Stoic Lv.4] timed out, hence, on their next sh Shye was sent sliding back¡ªstruggling to stabilize his footing. Bakko, desperate to end Shye, would never allow even the smallest of openings such as this one to go to waste. As he charged towards Shye, Bakko kicked up a cloud of dust, his dagger emitting low screeches and glowing scarlet before leaving a mesmerizing sh mark in the air as it aimed straight for Shye''s neck. *CLANG* Luckily, Shye was able to cross both greatswords in front of him on time, allowing him to block the old goat''s vicious blow, however, the skill-empowered blow was too much for a youngster like Shye to handle. Hence, he was not only blown further back but one of his greatswords also escaped his hands, spinning a few times beforending on the ground a few meters away from him. "DIE! LITTLE RAT!" eximed Bakko¡ªhis next attack, a vicious stab to the forehead¡ªalready on its way. "Big Brother!!" "Shye!!" Maia and Shirley eximed with horrified expressions. After all, Shye was in no position to defend himself and it looked like he was done for. However, a few milliseconds before Bakko''s dagger collided with Shye''s forehead, the middle-aged man, who was watching from afar, suddenly appeared between the two, sending the old goat sliding backward with a gentle swing of his shamshir. While both the people from Colzen and the assassins were dumbstruck, Shye''s presence of mind remained intact. Recognizing the recently arrived middle-aged man as an ally on top of witnessing Bakko struggling to stabilize his footing, Shye acted fast, promptly standing up and using [Dash Lv.4] to close the gap between him and the unsteady old goat in an instant. Subsequently, while in dashing motion, Shye viciously swung his right arm diagonally upwards¡ªhis right hand wide open. Immediately after Bakko stabilized his footing¡­ *PAK* The crisp sound of a palm making a forceful contact with a cheek reverberated across the dimming forest. Before the old goat was able to realize what was happening he was already hurtling through the air¡ªhis feet, once again not in contact with the ground. After blocking Bakko''s blow for Shye, the middle-aged man followed up by giving the old goat a menacing re to deter him from going after the young Colzen representative again. Hence, when Shye, who was supposed to be sitting on the ground behind him, suddenly appeared in his line of vision and pped the sh*t out of Bakko, the middle-aged man''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He had the urge to burst outughing, however, the situation didn''t permit him to. The bewildered and enraged goatly assassin wasing for the young representative with the most furious expression he had seen after all¡ªprobably desperate to salvage what remained of his dignity as a veteran adventurer. Fortunately for the middle-aged man, the young Colzen representative was sensible, immediately fleeing back to safety behind him before the old goat could catch up and attack him. As for Bakko, who was madly chasing after the little bastard who dared p him hard, he recognized that the middle-aged man was stronger than him, thus, no matter how angry he was, he didn''t dare continue attacking the loathsome little bastard. "Sir, have we done you any wrong? Why are you protecting this little basta¨C...this young man?" the old goat asked, not expecting what would happen next. Without exining his actions, the middle-aged man simply proceeded to subdue Bakko and the other three assassins who tried to resist but were overpowered as though the middle-aged man was a full-grown adult while they were nothing but five year-old kids. Regarding the final assassin, Dean Snowcrest appeared to handle the situation without requiring any assistance, so the middle-aged man patiently waited a few seconds for him to defeat the remaining opponent. Subsequently, once all the assassins were tied up and unconscious, the two deans approached the middle-aged man. "Sir, we want to convey our deepest gratitude to you for your timely assistance," Dean Privett said, bowing, with Dean Snowcrest, the instructors, and the seven representatives promptly following suit. "No worries, I have my own motives for helping all of you" replied the middle-aged man honestly. Realizing something, Dean Snowcrest stepped forward. "May we know our honorable benefactor''s name?" the dean asked. In response, the middle-aged man simply chuckled. He then scanned the Colzen representatives with his gaze, pausing briefly on Shye before redirecting his attention to the dean in front of him. "Well, I guess I haven''t made many public appearances over the years so your inquiry is understandable." "I''m known as Soaring Raven, Guild Master of Raven''s de Adventurer Guild. As for my motives, I believe you already have an inkling," Soaring Raven replied, turning his head slowly to nce at Shye, subtly signaling to the deans which representative he was interested in recruiting. Instinctively, Shye recalled the adventurer guild, its distinctive headquarters in Valenzia was deeply etched in his memory. =========================== Standard release: 2 chap/day For every 300 power stones = 1 extra chapter For every 100 golden tickets = 1 extra chapter Chapter 217: Raven’s Blade Adventurer Guild There are more than a hundred established guilds in Valenzia¡ªall of them¡ªwell-known and famous throughout the region. However, among even the best guilds who managed to establish a foothold in the city of dreams through blood, sweat, and tears, only the top fifty were acknowledged. Naturally, the higher the guild''s rank, the more famous its adventurers would be amongst themon popce¡ªliterally treated as celebrities no matter which city they go to. As for Raven''s de, they were well within the top fifty. Ranking sixteenth among all the adventurer''s guilds in Valenzia, Soaring Raven''s guild was quite prominent. After all, it has only been around three decades since the guild had managed to establish its footing in Valenzia City. In adventurer terms, one might call it a "Super Rookie Guild". A decade ago, the guild''s founder, Soaring Raven''s father, met his demise due to the umted effects of a curse inflicted by one of the ck dragon''s generals. This urred when he attempted to aid the renowned hero party fifty years ago in sealing the ck dragon. Since then, the title of "Soaring Raven" has been inherited by him as the guildmaster, and though he hasn''t held the position for an extended period, he is no novice either. In fact, under his brilliant lead, the ranking of Raven''s de skyrocketed from thirty-fourth to sixteenth in the span of a decade, however, as excellent as Soaring Raven was, he was only one man. They''ve been stuck at the sixteenth rank for three years now and if he wanted their rank to improve, then he must recruit as many talented rookies as he could. Unfortunately, the best prospects tend to join those in the top ten and although the rookies they were able to recruit in the past three years were not bad, they simply weren''t the best. Hence, Soaring Raven had to think outside the box¡ªalways plotting and scheming a few steps ahead of other guild masters to secure talented prospects for his guild. Recognizing that Colzen Academy may have incurred the ire of numerous prestigious academies during this year''s Adventurer Academy Competition, he understood that the Colzen Convoy was at a fairly decent risk of ambush. Therefore, he acted swiftly and decisively, steadfastly holding onto the slim possibility that the Colzen representatives might be targeted for assassination. With the hope of rescuing them at precisely the right moment, he aimed to secure at least one of the Colzen representatives, preferably Shye Crowley. "I see, so that''s how it is," Dean Snowcrest nodded understandingly, his respect for the guild master burgeoning within him. "Although I cannot guarantee that any of them will agree, the floor is yours, Guild Master Soaring Raven." Obtaining Dean Snowcrest''s approval, Soaring Raven smiled widely as he sauntered towards the curious Colzen representatives. As for the two deans, they had slight smiles on their faces as they watched the proceedings with keen interest, enthusiastically wondering how the sly guild master would convince their students to join his guild. Their students possessed wisdom surpassing their age after all. What they hadn''t anticipated was that the guild master was more cunning than they had imagined, opting to openly confess his ns in the hope that the students would admire his honesty and cleverness. "Hello, representatives of Colzen, allow me to introduce myself once again. I am Soaring Raven, the guild master of Raven''s de Adventurer Guild, the sixteenth-ranked guild in all of Valenzia." "Long story short, I''m here to recruit you guys to my guild." "As a sly fox myself, I knew that some high-and-mighty people from high-ranked academies would send people after you guys and since guilds outside the top ten usually had no business recruiting the champions of the Adventurer Academy Competition, I had to think outside the box and move a few steps ahead of thepetition." "Hence, I''ve been closely following your group, waiting to see if assants would show up, hoping to get at least a shot at recruiting you guys after saving your entire convoy." Hearing what Soaring Raven said, a turbulent mix of emotions assaulted the hearts of the Colzen representatives. They simply didn''t expect his honesty. Usually, guild masters tend to prioritize their own images, choosing to lie if necessary to recruit prospects of their choice, thus, Soaring Raven''s actions were truly a curveball. Fortunately for Soaring Raven, his n mostly worked, convincing four out of the seven representatives to ponder about joining his guild. He subtly showed them hispetence as a guild master after all. Kiin, Harry, David, and Wendy, thought that even though the guild was currently not at the peak of the rankings, as long as they worked together, pushing the guild''s rank toward the top wouldn''t be impossible. Moreover, they''ve recently discovered that gradually ascending to the summit brings greater satisfaction and rewards than attaining instant sess from the get-go, or worse¡ªonly attaining fame due to the guild''s illustrious name and not because of one''s own capabilities. Lastly, the guild master made an effort to watch over them from afar even though he was unsure if assassins would indeed go after the Colzen convoy. This fact not only showed the guild master''s sincerity in wanting to recruit them to his guild but also his capabilities as a strong, smart, and decisive leader¡ªproven by the fact that it was only he who managed to predict what would happen and decisively act on his ideas, all for a higher sess rate in recruiting them as guild rookies. Thus, the four mentioned representatives were thoroughly impressed. A good start for Soaring Raven. However, it was unavoidable that among the Colzen representatives, a select few, shaped by numerous life-and-death encounters, began to exhibit innovative thinking, rendering them slightly more cunning than their counterparts. Namely¡ªSiegfried, Ian, and Shye. "With all due respect and gratitude for saving our lives, Guild Master Soaring Raven. Although your story was indeed believable, I couldn''t help but think that these assassins might be your paid actors. If so, then I apologize for the rudeness, but you¡ªsaving our lives¡ªwouldn''t be considered "sincere"." Chapter 218: Soaring Raven in Seventh Heaven Hearing Siegfried''s words, Guild Master Soaring Raven was dumbstruck for a few seconds. However, shortly after, he burst into a heartyugh. "Hahahaha! It seems my intuition about you all was spot on. Not only are you guys highly proficient inbat, but your intelligence belies your age. I''m d I chose to be transparent about everything." Soaring Raven replied, nodding approvingly towards Siegfried with a smile. Keenly observing Soaring Raven''s response, Siegfried smiled. It seems like the guild master was sincere and that his words were the truth based on how he acted after his bold question. Just when the guild master was about to speak again, Ian boldly interrupted him. "With all due respect, sir guild master. How would we know if you are speaking the truth about "you being transparent?" Although Siegfried was a good judge of character and he more-or-less believed Soaring Raven after his positive response, he couldn''t be a hundred percent sure, hence, he nodded upon hearing Ian''s question. "Aihh¡­Why is it so hard to convince youngsters nowadays? Well, I don''t me you. Sly foxes like me are everywhere so I would advise you guys to keep this attitude of yours lest you die without knowing why in the future." sighed Soaring Raven, however, he appreciated the youngsters'' questioning attitudes. In his opinion, if they continued operating this way, very few old foxes would be able to take advantage of them. Subsequently, Soaring Raven took out a small crystal orb filled with what seemed to be liquified mana inside. He then gave his thumb a shallow cut and allowed a few drops of blood to fall onto the small crystal orb, causing the hue of the liquid within to shift from blue to purple. Witnessing the guild master''s actions, the representatives gazed curiously, patiently waiting for Soaring Raven''s exnation of what the little crystal orb was used for. "This is an orb of truth, a single-use item typically employed during interrogations of captured criminals. It''s quite costly. Nevertheless, to demonstrate my sincerity to you all, I''ll make an exception and use one." "After dropping three or more drops of blood, the orb will be able to determine if the blood owner is lying or not. I believe the deans can confirm that what I''m saying is true." Hearing Soaring Raven''s initial exnation, the representatives looked at the deans, waiting for their confirmation. Naturally, the deans, who had been at least diamond-ranked adventurers in the past, knew what the orb of truth was, hence, they unhesitatingly confirmed the guild master''s ims and since the representatives trusted their deans, they no longer questioned Soaring Raven''s exnation of what the orb''s function was. Seeing that the doubts in the minds of the representatives no longer exist, Soaring Raven smiled before speaking again: "Now, your question was if I was telling the truth regarding my opting to be transparent with you guys, right? Here''s my answer." "Yes, everything I said was the truth. My intentions in helping you are purely due to me hoping to recruit you guys into my guild." Immediately after the guild master spoke, the purple orb again turned blue before reverting to purple a few secondster. The representatives didn''t know what blue meant though so they turned to the deans, waiting for their exnation. "Guild Master Soaring Raven is indeed speaking the truth here since the orb momentarily turned blue. If it turned red, then it meant that he was lying." Again, since Dean Privett said so, the Colzen representatives now wholeheartedly believe the guild master. Shockingly, right after the dean''s exnation, Wendy stepped forward and gave Soaring Raven a deep bow. "Thank you for watching over us and saving our lives, Guild Master Soaring Raven. I, Wendy Primrose, would be happy to join your guild." Naturally, her words made the other representatives'' eyes open wide. "W-Wendy¡­Aren''t you being too hasty? It would be hard to switch guilds in the future so you should probably think this through before deciding¡­" Kiin, usually the most logical out of the seven, voiced out. In response, Wendy simply looked at Kiin with her usual ice-cold expression before replying: "Well, you guys can think it through. The archpriest told me to always return someone''s kindness and since Guild Master Soaring Raven saved my life, I am indebted to him. If I can repay him by simply joining his guild then I''ll do it." "Besides, I trust the guild master''spetence. He was the only one who managed to predict that our lives would be in danger on our way back after all. If he''s this capable, then the guild will rise under his leadership sooner orter so I don''t see any drawbacks in joining his guild." Hearing her reply, the other representatives, including Shye, were inwardly shocked. Despite her apparent naivety stemming from herck of experience, her intelligence is undeniable. After all, she is a priestess who ces great emphasis on this attribute. Indeed, isn''t this a good deal? Not only would they be able to repay the guild master for saving their lives, but they would also be joining a guild with tremendous potential to make it to the top so what''s there to hesitate for? After a few seconds of pondering, instead of being able to convince Wendy, it was Wendy who managed to convince them. A short whileter, David, Harry, Kiin, and Ian also stepped forward and expressed their willingness to join the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild. Recognizing the immense sess of his n, Soaring Raven felt the urge to burst outughing in victory. Yet, he remained mindful that the task was not yetplete, with two representatives yet to voice their decisions regarding joining his guild. As for the deans, they were thoroughly impressed. They were a bit experienced in guild politics after all so they knew that this matter of Guild Master Soaring Raven sessfully securing five of the seven representatives from the champion academy would stir huge waves in Valenzia City. If he could somehow get all of them to join his guild, then the other guild masters would probably pull their hair out in frustration. Imagining the ratherical scene made the two deans inwardly chuckle. Chapter 219: Shye’s Decision Two moons hung high in the sky, illuminating the entire world with their subtle silvery glow as countless stars littered the dark heavenly canvas¡ªever-present¡ªtimelessly watching the world''s past, present, and future unfold. Beneath the constetions was Valenzia City, the city of dreams. For some reason, tonight, the city was busier than usual. Mighty adventurers donning full sets of high-tier equipment and guild staff members carrying random stuff¡ªletters, gift boxes, and paperwork, sprinted here and there, seemingly working hard to aplish the tasks given to them. The reason for the unusually busy night was that the Adventurer Academy Competition had just concluded, prompting various prominent guilds to extend invitations to prospects of their choice, hoping to secure talented rookies for their guilds¡ªhopefully, faster than any other guild. Inside one specific guild¡ª The Titan''s Fist Adventurer Guild, Guild Master Jin tirelessly crushedmunication talismans. "Orlie, are the preparationsplete? Send invitation letters to Colzen Academy RIGHT AWAY! Send Vurg immediately; there''s no need to wait for the mailingpanies. Tell Vurg not to spare any expense; he should use as many teleporters as necessary to ensure he arrives in Colzen City first!" "Understood, guild master!" *BEEP* After making thest call he needed for the night, Guild Master Jin looked out the window with a satisfied smile on his face before bursting into heartyughter. "KEKEKEKE¡­I wonder what your ugly faces would look like upon learning of the difference in wits between you guys and me?! BAHAHAHAHAHA!!" *** Meanwhile, in the Orze Advanced Adventurer Zone, lots of heads turned towards Siegfried and Shye, waiting for their decision. If both do decide to join the guild, then Soaring Raven would be the biggest winner of this year''s rookie recruitment frenzy. Self-aware that Shye was the star, Siegfried spoke first. "Well, I would also love to join, however, I do want to ask what benefits do we get for joining your guild?" Hearing Siegfried''s question, Soaring Raven couldn''t help but chuckle. ''You really can''t make this guy say yes in an instant huh?'' Soaring Raven thought before opening his mouth to speak: "Naturally, since you guys are the guild''s first-ever super rookies, we will hand out joining rewards appropriate for prospects of your level." "Each new Colzen recruit would receive one [Unique]-tier skill of their choice, a piece of high-grade ruby-tier relic, again, of their choice, andstly we shall instantly register you guys as gold-tier adventurers." "Although I would be assigning each of you to different branches to test your true mettle, I will make sure that the branch guild masters of your branches would take good care of you, giving you priority to the best quests which would allow you to take a quick but hard path should you desire so." "Lastly, if all seven of you join, then I shall give each of you one greater permanent blessing of your choice. What do you think?" Upon hearing what Soaring Raven was offering their students in exchange for joining his guild, the two deans experienced a sense of relief. They held immense gratitude towards this group of students and would be distressed to see them treated unfairly or taken advantage of. Fortunately, Soaring Raven seemed to be very sincere in grooming their students, hence, the deans'' relief. Naturally, the students who had never even seen the items offered by their soon-to-be guild master, had their mouths agape in utter shock and disbelief. It seems that joining the guild was the correct decision. Overly satisfied with the guild master''s offer, Siegfried naturally voiced his willingness to join shortly after. He was looking for a challenge anyway so he would never join a top guild even if they begged him, plus, the items and treatment he would receive from the guild would give him a good head start, thus, with barely any contemtion, he decided to join. After Siegfried chose to join, all eyes turned to Shye. All of them were eager to hear his decision. As for Soaring Raven, for a sly fox such as him, his heart was beating a little too fast. It was understandable though as this was the first time such a super rookie popped out of nowhere in Valenzia. He believes that if he manages to secure Shye, then his guild entering the inter-regional guild rankings wouldn''t remain a dream anymore. No one except himself knew, however, Shye already decided to try joining the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild even without Soaring Raven doing all this. His reason? Simple. He needed to disappear from the eyes of the crowd for a short while to create opportunities for himself to earn points. If he simply joined the top guild, then it would be harder for him to earn points. Furthermore, top guilds like these were known for their ruthlesspetition, inevitably leading to internal conflicts. Shye wasn''t a fan of killing guildmates so he did some research and coincidentally, it turned out that Raven''s de was the perfect guild for him to join, not too high, but also not too low on the rankings in addition to having a strict internal conflict policy. Thus, Soaring Raven throwing in such massive benefits was a huge win for Shye. However, since it was clear that the guild master regarded them highly, he nned to obtain a few more benefits for not only himself but for his loved ones. Pretending to have a difficult expression on his face, Shye opened his mouth, making everyone go silent as they waited for his words. "Honestly, since my friends are all joining, I''m also inclined to join. However, I don''t want to be in apetition with my beloved little sister and my girlfriend, Shirley, in the future." "I''m not asking for the esteemed guild master to ensure their admission as I''m sure they wouldn''t like that, however, if you could guarantee to give them at least a seeded token for the guild''s admission exam, then I would greatly appreciate the guild master''s generosity." "My little sister will probably be representing Colzen in the Adventurer Academy Competition two years from now so if you appreciate her talents, then you can talk it out with her in the future." "Those are my conditions for joining. If Guild Master Soaring Raven deems them excessive, then I''ll have to seek other means to repay the favor of saving my life." Chapter 220: The Heroic Convoy’s Return Before the Adventurer Academy Competition concluded, Shye, Shirley, and Maia, already talked about their future ns. Long story short, they decided to join the same guild, though Shirley and Maia nned to enter a different branch from Shye''s. The two of them didn''t want to keep depending on Shye so even though it was a hard decision for them to be temporarily apart, it was for the best. Shye knew that he had to respect their wishes, hence, albeit reluctant, he ultimately agreed. Both his little sister and his girlfriend were strong so they should be able to pass the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild admission exam. The tokens he requested from Soaring Raven were merely intended to ensure that the branch guild master would give them a bit more attention. Moreover, Maia would probably be directly recruited in two years so Shye wasn''t worried about her making it into the guild. In fact, Soaring Raven would probably be begging her to join in the future. She was absurdly way more naturally talented than Shye after all. After voicing out his thoughts, Shye gave Soaring Raven a deep look¡ªhoping that he would agree. "Deal, here." Shockingly¡ªor not really, the guild master instantly agreed. Two seeded tokens for a super prospect was an absurdly small price to pay. Initially, he thought Shye would ask for a [Legendary] skill or something, and he was already pondering how to deal with the situation. He was willing to give Shye such a skill but not in front of others as the guild only had two of those and the adamantite-ranked adventurers of the guild had been eyeing it like crazy. Luckily for him, Shye''s request didn''t require him to think much. Extending his hand out to receive the seeded tokens, Shye gave Soaring Raven a contented smile. "Thank you for indulging my requests, guild master. I, Shye Crowley, swear allegiance to Raven''s de." Shye''s subsequent words sounded like heavenly tunes to Soaring Raven, tickling not only his ears but also his heart. He had never been so excited since he was a kid. Just imagining the frustrated and shocked faces of his rival guild masters brings so much joy to his heart "Great! Great! A truly great decision! The guild will surely not let you down" Soaring Raven said as he nodded repeatedly with a satisfied smile on his face. From his words, one could see how confident he was in himself and his guild, even daring to say that their sixteenth-ranked guild would surely live up to an entire champion academy roster''s expectation. Of course, it wasn''t only the guild master who was ted. The representatives, who were to receive an additional permanent blessing of their choosing alongside a [Unique]-tier skill, a high-grade relic of ruby-tier quality, and priority in missions, were also over the moon. As for the deans, they had no objections as long as their students were treated fairly. The recruitment discussions concluded with both sides feeling content. With the darkness of night once again shrouding the world, the Colzen Convoy opted to set up camp inside the Orze Advanced Adventurer Zone. Guild Master Soaring Raven was here anyway so no matter what monstrosity leaps out of the shadows, it would never be a threat. After eating a hearty meal, the convoy had nothing to do. The horses were still resting so they couldn''t leave. As a result, the Colzen representatives convened around their future guild master to inquire about various details, including their assigned locations, reporting schedules for their respective branches, and other pertinent information. Naturally, Soaring Raven answered each of their questions patiently¡ªsporting a gentle smile on his face as he looked at each one of them as though they were the most precious treasures in the world. The night quickly passed. As the proud sun slowly peeked from the horizon, its warm golden rays lit up the world, gently caressing the eyelids of those who were slumbering. Somehow, even the deans fell asleep, and upon waking up, Soaring Raven was nowhere to be found. As experienced adventurers, the deans knew that the guild master was likely very busy and had already returned to his guild, hence, they continued on their journey towards Colzen City. The majestic white horses kicked up clouds of dust as the Colzen convoy resumed their glorious march back home. Shockingly, they encountered another group of assassins, however, the organizer of the assassination squad seemed to be stupidpared to the first one, sending only three diamond-ranked adventurers allowing the deans and the instructors to easily protect their students. Shye and the others didn''t even have to fight as Instructor Fienna showed everyone her true strength, valiantly holding her ground against a diamond-ranked adventurer which allowed the other instructors to finish the assants off. However, despite the significant scare caused by the assassinations, it proved to be a valuable life lesson for the students. Now, they know that life isn''t all rainbows and butterflies. Once they graduate from the academy, they have to be smart in how they handle things lest they offend someone they shouldn''t. They''re not all promising rookies after all. Some of them just want to live a normal life¡ªept fairly safe quests, save up silver coins, and provide for their future families. The students pondered about their futures as the convoy gradually progressed towards their home city. Two weekster, the familiar city walls emerged from the horizon. To their pleasant surprise, the citizens of Colzen City¡ªboth adventurers and normal people¡ªwere waiting at the city gates, eagerly waiting for their heroes to return. Due to Colzen''s victory at the Adventurer Academy Competition, Colzen City will likely prosper along with Colzen Academy, hence, the citizens wanted to warmly wee them as a small token of gratitude. Naturally, the Colzen convoy, especially the deans and the representatives, felt their heartstrings tingle as chants of "Colzen Academy" continuously reverberated as they entered the city. Shortly after, the citizens energetically escorted them back to the academy gates, seemingly having endless enthusiasm. They knew returning as heroes would feel good, however, they didn''t expect it to feel THIS good. Chapter 221: Graduation Ceremony (1) A pair of attractive eyes slowly opened, revealing a familiar ceiling. After residing in this high-quality dormitory for four years, gazing at this ceiling consistently heralded a fresh day filled with hope and advancement for Shye. Nheless, today signifies his final awakening beneath this ceiling. The semester has long been over and the seniors'' graduation has long been dyed. It can''t be helped; traveling with such a grand convoy was bound to be slowerpared to traveling with a few small carriages as they did previously. Moreover, they spent way more time in Valenzia City this time; they won the whole thing after all. Due to this, the graduation ceremony was moved to today. It couldn''t be dyed any longer as the next semester was fast approaching and the academy still had to make preparations to amodate probably thergest influx of entrance examinees in the history of the academy. Hence, Shye only had a few hours to indulge his sentimental heart. Groggily standing up from his bed, Shye gently rubbed his eyes as he yawned. He wanted to sleep a bit longer, regrettably, he couldn''t do so today. After washing his face, thest bits of sleepiness faded away, allowing him to descend the stairs, fix and relish a hearty breakfast, before ambling out of his dormitory. It was a great day. Temperate winds gently caressed his skin, moving in and out of his lungs as Shye took one deep breath. Strolling through the academy grounds in a good mood, he visited all the facilities onest time. The quest hall, the skills pavilion, the reward hall, the academy shops, the academy canteen, the dueling grounds, andst but not least, the training grounds where he spent most of his time as a freshman student. Memories of training under his favorite instructor, Fienna, resurfaced in his mind and he couldn''t help but smile gently. ''I should make time and visit them once in a while in the future¡­'' thought Shye as he observed the unusually busy training grounds. Despite it being the semester break, numerous freshmen and sophomores were training fervently, their eyes aze with determination. Shye wasn''t stupid¡ªwell, not anymore at least so he had an inkling of why these students were training so hard; they were inspired by their academy''s victory in the recent Adventurer Academy Competition. ''Hehehe¡­Bing an academy celebrity who inspires others to work hard sure feels good¡­'' thought Shye before checking the time. "Crap! I''m gonna bete again!" he eximed before making a mad dash towards the dormitory. He still needed to prepare and look good for the graduation ceremony after all. *** An hour and a half quickly passed. Under the proud gaze of the zing sun in the sky, seven dormitory doors swung open simultaneously, as if the upants of those seven rooms had orchestrated the action. Naturally, the seven upants were the seven Colzen representatives. Usually, the graduation of Colzen Monastery students was done inside the monastery itself, however, just this once, the archpriest was willing to make concessions, allowing not only Wendy but also other senior priest and priestess students to graduate with their friends from the academy. Due to this, the Colzen Academy square, where the graduation ceremony was held, was quite packed this year. There were lots of priest and priestess students after all. However, this distinctive graduation ceremony was bound to leave asting impression, eventually evolving into a tradition at Colzen Academy¡ªobserved solely when the academy secures a spot in the grand finals of the Adventurer Academy Competition. Coincidentally meeting each other halfway towards the square, the Colzen representatives happily chatted with each other as they walked towards the ceremony''s venue, unknowingly forming a striking group. They didn''t realize that their graduation uniforms were different from the regr graduates, hence, when they arrived, heads inevitably turned towards their direction. It wasn''t solely the strikingly different robes that drew attention, although they certainly contributed; rather, it was their status as the seven heroes of the academy that caused heads to turn in the square. Astoundingly, a few momentster, the crowd began to cheer upon their arrival, as though no other graduating students mattered except for the seven distinguished individuals. Things got chaotic. However, the five deans (including the archpriest) merely smiled; they had no intention to stop the ongoing ruckus. As novice adventurers with promising futures ahead, these seven individuals had to limate to such attention in order to maintain theirposure and prevent themselves from appearing foolish in future endeavors. Hence, the deans waited for things to calm down before starting the ceremony. After a while, Dean Privett stood up, stepped forward, and grabbed the mana-powered microphone. "Students, instructors, and staff members, today signifies the asion of our 108th Graduation Ceremony. Let us apud not only for our achievements but also for the cherished institution that has nurtured us." said the dean, taking the lead in apuding themselves for a great academic year¡ªthe others, promptly following suit. Pausing to allow the atmosphere to settle, the dean cast her gaze over the crowd, her expression a blend of gentleness and dignity, before resuming her speech. "As most of you know, our academy customarily holds the graduation ceremony a bit earlier, however, due to certain extremely wee circumstances, we were dyed and we, the deans, sincerely apologize to everyone." "The graduates of our beloved academy have always been excellent¡ªconsistently a notch above others as they entered the world of professional adventurers. This batch was naturally not any different and I, Evelyn Privett, congratte each of you for four years of a job well done." "As faculty members, we watched with pride as you, our cherished students, conquered the most challenging obstacles. While we wish every one of you could have seeded, it''s an unavoidable reality for adventurers to suffer mishaps as it''s an inherent part of our duty to bravely confront dangers in pursuit of a better future." "To those of you who have reached this milestone, hold your heads high with pride. While this signifies the conclusion of your time at the academy, it also marks themencement of your journey as bona fide adventurers. Remember, you are never alone; your instructors and we, the deans, will always be rooting for you." Chapter 222: Graduation Ceremony (2) As the first part of the graduation ceremony concluded with Dean Privett''s opening words, tears threatened to stream down the graduating students'' cheeks. Memories of their ssmates and friends who didn''t make it through the academy''s trials resurfaced in their young minds¡ªit seemed like it was just yesterday when the unfortunate moments happened. Heartbroken as they might be, they had to carry on for their friends¡ªsome even lovers, who perished. Hence, once the veteran instructor, Colby, started calling names, the graduating students quickly wiped their puffy eyes. It was a special day after all so they should be happy. "Chloe Batchest!" Colby eximed, beckoning a young woman with short red hair, bearing a striking resemnce to her father, to ascend the stage. As apuse filled the air, Chloe exchanged customary handshakes with the four deans before epting her Colzen Academy graduation token¡ªa credential essential for her future applications to adventurer guilds. When positioned atop a mana-powered token checker, the token would activate, projecting a small scroble holographic screen. This feature allows the guild''s receptionist to review her academy grades and register her as an adventurer of suitable rank. Colzen graduates typically have a head start in their adventurer careerspared to those who didn''t graduate from any academy, thanks to their strength and grades upon graduation. This advantage often enables them tomence their careers at ranks around steel and silver. After receiving her token, Chloe descended the stage with a bittersweet feeling in her heart. She will surely miss this academy, her instructors, and her friends. Hopefully, someday, they will meet again. "Azrael Idesanya" ¡­ "Alexis Pereira" ¡­ As being called onstage to receive graduation tokens was a significant moment for the graduating students, Colby ensured that each of them had ample time to relish it. He allowed the students to take their time onstage, without rushing them in the slightest, so they could do as they pleased. The ones with a jolly personality even dared to perform a few dance moves, prompting the crowd to cheer andugh, adding more vibrance to the already exuberant ceremony. As for Shye and the others, although they weren''t that close with a lot of their batch mates, they were at least familiar with their faces, so even they couldn''t help but slightly chuckle at their batchmates'' merry antics. Since everyone was having fun, no one noticed the flow of time. In the blink of an eye, a few hours already passed. At approximately 3 PM, all graduating students wearing standard graduation robes had already received their tokens, leaving only seven students without tokens: the Colzen representatives adorned in custom white and blue graduation robes. By this time, the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, were watching the proceedings with keen interest. The champions of Valenzia Region''s Adventurer Academy Competition were up next after all. "Colzen Archer representative, Kiin Wujin!" Hearing Colby call his name, Kiin stood up and strode up the stage sporting a confident smile on his face. He was also delighted to solidify his legacy in the academy by securing victory for Colzen in the Adventurer Academy Competition before his graduation. Surely, their names would be talked about for centuries as the pioneers who made Colzen Academy a powerhouse. Even if future representatives were to win championships for the academy, no batch would ever match the glory of theirs, and for that, he felt immense pride. After shaking hands and an unexpected hug from his respected dean, Luster Vanz, Kiin received a special customized golden token engraved with a bow insignia. It looked sick, causing Kiin to feel inwardly excited. Unlike the jolly graduating students, he didn''t do much on stage, calmly raising his hands with his fists clenched tight¡ªhis confident smile never left his face. However, as effortless as his gestures were, they were met with ear-deafening cheers along with thunderous apuse, especially from the archer course students who began chanting his illustrious name, infecting other courses and creating a glorious wave of cheers that resounded throughout not only the academy but almost half of the entire Colzen City. A solid proof that he, Kiin Wujin, entered the ranks of the academy legends alongside his friend, Shye Crowley. When he was about to descend the stage, an instructor stationed at the stairs instructed him to remain onstage. And so, he did. As Kiin walked towards his designated space onstage, Colby called the next representative. "Priestess representative from our respected Colzen Monastery, Wendy Primrose!" Upon realizing that she was called, Wendy nervously stood up, however, none of her inner feelings were revealed to the crowd as her ice-cold expression remained steadfast. Unbeknownst to her, the nickname "Ice Fairy" was already widespread throughout the academy even though she rarely made appearances. She looked beautiful. The tailored representative graduation robes fit her wonderfully, entuating her captivating curves, particrly her enormous-would-be-an-understatement bosom, which had grown fantastically over the years. Hence, when she ascended the stage, the heavenly bounces of her chest prompted the male crowd to cheer their hearts out. Wendy, who typically avoided attention, felt embarrassed. However, her naturally icy expression concealed her true feelings, leading the crowd to believe she was proud of her endowed figure. This misconception prompted them to cheer even louder, leaving Kiin feeling somewhat betrayed when he noticed that the archer course students were cheering louder for her than for him. After shaking the hands of the deans and the respected archpriest Deo who guided her every step of the way, Wendy received her own customized golden token with a life-staff insignia in the middle before walking in front to do something Maia told her to¡ªstrike a cute peace sign pose in front of the crowd. This unexpected move of hers caught even the other representatives off-guard. Naturally, the already rowdy crowd cheered even louder, borderline damaging their throat as they deemed Wendy their one and only "Goddess of Ice". Heck, with how cute she looked, even Siegfried, who typically paid little attention to such things, found his heart racing. As for Shye, he was just like every other male student, however, since he already had a girlfriend, difficult as it was, he tried his hardest not to look lest unholy thoughts flood his young hotblooded mind. It turned out to be the correct decision though as in her seat, Shirley sternly observed him with a menacing re, all too ready to punish him should he act inappropriately. Chapter 223: Farewell, Colzen Academy Simr scenes yed out as Colby called Ian, Harry, David, and Siegfried onstage; the scout course started a wave of cheers for Ian, the mage course for Harry and David, while the warrior course destroyed their throats for Siegfried. As more of the representatives stood onstage, the longer it took for cheers to die down¡ªpure chaos. It wasn''t even over as the ace representative, the one who took the championship for Colzen in a hopeless one-versus-three situation still hasn''t gone up the stage. Shye repeatedly took deep breaths¡ªhe just felt too giddy. The feeling of loving the crowd''s attention burgeoning in his heart. It felt good. After all, who wouldn''t want to be a hometown hero? What he didn''t expect was that the academy had something for him. "Colzen''s ace representative, Shye Crowley!" called Colby, signaling something with his hands as he made eye contact with a staff member holding some sort of remote control for a certain mana-powered device. Hearing his name, Shye proudly stood up and strode up the stage with a wide smile on his face. As he did so, huge holographic screens appeared in four corners of the square allowing everyone to witness a certain glorious scene y out. They all saw it before and they sure as hell want to watch it again. After all, it was the final moments of their ace representative''s battle with An Academy''s ace representative. Witnessing once more how Shye, despite being battered, bruised, and exhausted, struggled fiercely to survive the onught of the ember wyvern as though a brave general who would never allow his beloved mothend to fall while the An representatives fell one by one, the people watching the rey couldn''t help but cheer at the top of their lungs¡ªthunderous would be a slight understatement¡ªeven louder than the cheers for Wendy''s cute antics. People love heroes, and Shye was Colzen''s hero; their pride. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1890 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 502 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1051 points!] [Congrattions! ¡­] As a bunch of notifications appeared in front of him, Shye''s heart felt warm¡ªColzen City would always have a special ce in it. Even as he soared through the skies as a prominent adventurer, he would always proudly say that this city nurtured him to be who he was. If therees a time when he could pay the academy and the city back for everything it has done for him, then he would do it without a second thought. Although there were a few unpleasant encounters here and there, the entire city and the academy have mostly been supportive of his growth, not holding him back for petty and stupid reasons such as being jealous of his talents. Hence, he vowed to give back in the future. Hopefully, Colzen will be one of the most prominent and well-developed cities in the future. However, that''s for the future. As he is now, he was far too weak and poor to be of help. With a positive outlook, Shye sentimentally shook the hands of the deans (and the archpriest), who had been so supportive of him throughout his entire journey. The deans of other courses¡ªDean Evelyn Privett, Dean Gaston Shadowvale, and Dean Luster Vanz¡ªextended him the same treatment as if he were one of their own students, evoking immense gratitude and appreciation from him towards them. Following the handshake with Dean Snowcrest, Shye offered him a brief hug, epted his personalized graduation token, and then pivoted to make his way toward his allotted spot on stage. What caught him off guard was the dean whispering something into his ear, causing his heart to quicken its pace unexpectedly. Still, he pretended that it was nothing important, proceeding to walk beside Siegfried while waving to the crowd with a smile. In the midst of another resounding wave of cheers and thunderous apuse, the Colzen Seven bowed. Dean Privett then stood up from her seat, signaling for Shye and the others to descend from the stage, subsequently, as she approached the podium, she grasped the mana-powered microphone to deliver her closing remarks. Speaking a few heartwarming, inspiring, and sentimental words, Dean Privett smiled at the graduating students¡ªsome of them already crying their hearts out. There will never be another episode quite like this in their lives, that much is certain. As they transition into adulthood and embark on their journeys as professional adventurers, none of them will ever forget the youthful, enjoyable, and demanding experiences of their adventurer academy life. Shye¡­was quite a sentimental person so he couldn''t help but shed a few tears. It could be quite some time before he reunites with the significant people in his life, after all. Still, they must carry on and ept that the fun academy life was nothing but a small part of their journey as an adventurer and although some friendships might end here, he would be able to forge new and deeper ones with his uing guildmates. Realizing this fact, Shye felt better. Momentster, the graduating students tossed their caps, robes, and capelets into the air. Some wind specialist mages even cast gentle [Wind]-type spells to extend the duration of their airborne celebration. This marked the end of the graduation ceremony. A few graduates remained rooted in their spots, shedding tears of emotion; others cheerfully bid farewell to their friends; some embraced their beloved instructors; while a few simply departed from the academy, wearing nonchnt expressions. As for Shye, he was currently sobbing while hugging Maia, who was crying even harder than him. "B¡­Big¡­uuuu¡­Big brother¡­stay¡­uhuu¡­in contact, okay? If you forget to send me a letter, I''ll be angry and sad¡­uuuu¡­" "Don''t worry, Maia. I promise to stay in touch, alright? I''ll be residing in Balkrow City, so if you ever miss me, feel free to visit anytime, okay? And Shirley, you too. Please let me know which city you''ll be staying in so I can visit." After a few heartfelt moments with his two beloveds, Shye went over to his favorite instructor, Fienna, engaging in conversation with her. They reminisced about memorable moments together, sharingughter, until Fienna offered him a reassuring pat on the back followed by a tender hug. "Goodbye, Crowley. Take care of yourself. It''s been a pleasure teaching you. May we cross paths again in the future, perhaps as rivals, so give it your all." Hearing his respected instructor''s words, a dawn of realization struck Shye, prompting him to nod excitedly. Indeed, Instructor Fienna was still young, likely eight years his senior at most. Her words hinted at her imminent return to adventuring, which filled him with excitement. Being rivals with your former instructor¡­Now, isn''t that thrilling? "Shye, Siegfried and the others are waiting for us. Shall we go?" Shirley asked as he concluded his farewells with Instructor Fienna. "Let''s go." As Shye and Shirley walked towards Siegfried and the others who were already waiting, a few lowerssmen swarmed him, saying their heartfelt goodbyes and words of gratitude for inspiring them to be better versions of themselves. Naturally, Shye warmly returned their sentiments, taking a moment to say his goodbyes before proceeding with his walk toward where his friends awaited. The eight of them (including Shirley), then walked together towards the gate, bidding each other temporary goodbyes. Their voices slightly trembled with the intensity of their emotions, as they all struggled to mask them; yet, despite their efforts, slender streams of tears inevitably trickled down their cheeks. Even Wendy''s usually icy expression cracked. Shye and the other representatives were the only friends she had, so one could only fathom the anguish she must have been experiencing¡ªparting ways after growing ustomed to each other, with the duration of their separation uncertain. Still, although goodbyes mark the end of a chapter in their lives, it also symbolizes a new beginning. As the eight of them arrived at the exit gates, Siegfried was the first to go his own way. He already bid his goodbyes and he wasn''t as sentimental as all of them, hence, with a simplest nce¡ªhis face adorned with a gentle smile, Siegfried walked off. "Well then, Crowley, everyone, see you in Valenzia City," Kiin remarked, striding away in a direction separate from Siegfried''s. "Bye guys, take care of yourselves, we''re all so talented, and we''re bound to see each other again, so don''t make that face, Wendy," David said, ruffling Wendy''s hair before walking off with Harry while waving their hands with a smile. After David left, Wendy became even sadder. Throughout the years, David was the person she conversed with the most. Despite her inability to reciprocate his romantic affection, they maintained a close friendship. Hence, tears once again streamed down her cheeks as she watched one of her close friends leave. Seeing her pitiful appearance, Shye and Shirley rubbed her back, making her feel slightly better. Once Wendy regained control of her emotions, Shirley, Ian, and Wendy grouped. "Shye, take care of yourself okay? Don''t bezy in preparing a proper meal and always take a bath. I''ll inform you through a letter once I''ve settled down in Nookbury City." "Well then, see you around, Crowley." "Okay, take care you three. Ian, make sure to drop Wendy off at her guild branch before you go off on your own." "Yeah, don''t worry. I''ll ensure her safety." "Thanks." After a short conversation, Ian, Wendy, and Shirley walked off, leaving Shye alone in front of the gate. Feeling the weight of solitude, Shye took a few moments to close his eyes, reflecting on several cherished memories from his time at the academy. He then cast one final nce at the familiar academy gates and drew in a deep breath before setting off in a new direction under the dimming dandelion skies. ''Farewell, my beloved academy. Thanks for everything.'' ================= END OF VOLUME 1 - Adventurer Academy Chapter 224: Conspiracy As the tired sun slowly descended from its throne in the dimming skies, the warm golden rays illuminating the entire world withdrew, allowing everything below to once more feel the chilling yet peaceful embrace of the night. Beneath the transitioning skies, a young man with ash-colored hair, outright handsome facial features, and a well-built body leisurely walked along a less-trodden path. He wore aplete set of gold-tier Meido brand equipment, all of which were low-grade relics, over a ck long-sleeve shirt and fitted ck pants. The young man looked dashing¡ªa pity that no one was there to enjoy him as an eye candy. However, it appeared to be for the best, as Shye was lost in thought, his expression stern as he mulled over the words whispered to him by Dean Snowcrest. A few momentster, he left the path, walking at a quicker pace toward a secluded area behind a huge oak tree. "Crowley, this way," a familiar voice called out, catching Shye''s attention and causing him to turn toward its source. Following the voice, he soon saw Dean Snowcrest standing on a branch of another huge oak tree, looking at him with a stern expression. As a fairly strong adventurer himself, climbing such trees wasn''t a problem at all for Shye. Although he couldn''t simply jump on top of the branch as Dean Snowcrest did, climbing swiftly was easy for him. "Dean Snowcrest, thank you foring all this way for my sake¡­" "Don''t mention it, this is an important matter for you so doing this much isn''t anything big." Following brief pleasantries, there was a moment of silence as the dean and Shye exchanged nces, neither uttering a word. "Crowley, I promised you that I would tell you what I know about your parents when you became strong enough, and you... are now capable enough to at least know what I know," Dean Snowcrest said, reminiscing about the time when Shye was nothing but a little squirt of a freshman. Now, he looked like a fine young adult¡ªtime sure strikes differently. Shye didn''t reply. He simply stared at the dean with a serious expression and a racing heart. Eight years ago, when he wasn''t even a teenager, he and his little sister thought that their parents had already died. Although it might still be true now, there was also a chance that they were still alive, hence, with a hopeful but anxious outlook, Shye awaited the dean''s words. Meeting Shye''s gaze directly, Dean Snowcrest discerned his thoughts, feeling a slight pang in his heart for his favorite student. Oh, how he wished he possessed more knowledge than what he currently held. "First of all, I want you to know that you and your little sister have once been one of our most anticipated examinees when you two were young. Upon settling down in our mediocre city, your parents slightly caused an uproar." "After all, there were only a few diamond-ranked adventurers who would choose to settle down here as the nearest expert adventurer zone was around two and a half hours away from the city, and our academy¡­as you know was fairly mediocre." "Therefore, you two siblings were once considered among our most promising prospects for the future, prompting us to eagerly anticipate your enrollment in our academy. But then, the unfortunate news of the Crowley couple perishing upon taking up a mithril-ranked quest swept the entire city." "Evelyn and I sent people to check on you and your siblings when your parents disappeared. But the reports showed that you, the older brother, had started training just two and a half years ago. So, we thought we had lost two great prospects... but we were wrong. I''m sorry for giving up on you both." After speaking hisst few sentences, the dean''s stern expression turned into one of pain and embarrassment as he offered Shye a deep bow of apology¡ªgentle night winds caressing his skin as he did so. There was no way for him to know what would happen in the future so he could only prioritize the deteriorating state of the academy at that time. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t hold the dean ountable for their sufferings in the past as he now understood that in the world they live in, only those who show promise and results would be treated well and since they didn''t look promising when they were young, no one would care about them. "Your Excellency, please raise your head. I''m not a kid anymore and I now understand how this world works so there''s no need for you to feel guilty about not helping us in the past. I would never resent someone who helped me grow into a fine rookie adventurer." Shye replied with a gentle smile on his face. Upon hearing Shye''s words, all the guilt that had burdened Sven Snowcrest''s heart for the past four years instantly dissipated. As a dean, he knew that prioritizing the state of his academy wasn''t wrong, fortunately, his favorite student didn''t resent him for his decision. Lighthearted, Dean Snowcrest lifted his head and returned Shye''s warm smile, then gave him a thankful pat on the shoulder. "Thank you, Crowley. Well then, I''ll proceed with my story. At that time, I was genuinely disappointed with what had urred. Consequently, I crushed a few high-grade long-distancemunication talismans to contact some of my former party members who were operating in the Darkzero Expert Adventurer Zone. I asked them to discreetly investigate the Crowley couple''s situation." "What they found out reeked of utter conspiracy. The Crowley couple¡­ wasn''t a part of the Mithril adventurer party that was wiped out. They continued asking around and it seemed that the Crowley couple went missing a few hours before the party departed for the mithril-ranked quest, hence, they were reced by two other adventurers." "However, strangely enough, the disappearance of the two didn''t stir anymotion. Not even their guildmates made any effort to search for them as if they simply ceased to exist. One of my former party members, Efren Mendoza, then dared to approach one of the couple''s closest friends, Poruka Dotts, to ask about what happened." "Efren said that Poruka¡­seemed to be scared to answer, hence, she simply pretended that she didn''t know anything. Sensing that something was amiss, Efren didn''t dare probe deeper. As a dean, I also stopped gathering information about the matter lest I implicate my academy." "That''s all I can tell you... If you''re looking to investigate, you might want to start in Beelhorn City. Look for my friend, Efren, and your parents'' acquaintance, Poruka. They might be able to provide you with some leads. Chapter 225: No Different From Bandits Two moons graced the sky, countering the night''s darkness with their soft silver light, gently illuminating the world alongside countless shimmering stars. Beneath the ck heavenly canvas were two individuals¡ªboth going their own ways. After talking about what they had to, Dean Snowcrest bid Shye farewell. As winners of the most recent Adventurer Academy Competition, the dean recognized the impending responsibilities ahead. With a likely surge in entrance examinees expected, it was essential to ensure that everything remained organized and in order. Hence, he couldn''t leave the academy for too long. At least not at this time. As for Shye, he went on with his journey towards Balkrow City. With nothing but moonlight lighting up the unfrequented path he was walking on, Shye advanced, relishing the tranquil serenity of the night. One hourter, the small town by the name of Pem appeared on the horizon, bringing a smile to Shye''s face. He thought that the information brought about by Dean Snowcrest would cast a shadow of gloom in his heart, yet, for some reason, the effect was the exact opposite. Knowing the current unknown state of their parents instead brought him peace. In his mind, as long as they weren''t confirmed dead, then he would keep on believing. His head filled with various thoughts, Shye didn''t notice that he was already in front of the town''s gates¡ªtwo guards looking at him warily. The poor town had been piged by bandits before so most of its residents lived in anxiety every day. These two guards were merely part of the town''s minimally trained militia. While they might deter some bandits, they wouldn''t pose a threat to experienced adventurers intent on raiding the town and seizing whatever little the residents possessed. Luckily, most adventurers simply choose to focus on their careers, and very seldom were there instances of decent-ranked adventurers piging a poor vige. After all, not only would they risk having their adventurer licenses revoked, but the loot obtained from plundering an entire impoverished town would probably be no greater than the rewards from a single silver-ranked quest¡ªclearly not worth jeopardizing their licenses. Still, seldom as it may be, it happens, hence, the two guards'' anxiety. They would surely die should they fight against Shye, who was clearly an adventurer so why wouldn''t they be nervous? Fortunately for them, Shye was only here for temporary lodging. "W-What brings you to our humble town, s-sir adventurer?" one of the guards asked courageously. "Good evening, I''m a recent graduate of Colzen Academy, and I''m traveling to Balkrow City, passing through the advanced adventurer zone near your town. However, since it''s already nighttime, I believe it would be best to seek temporary lodging in your town and continue my journey tomorrow morning." "I-I see, can I please see some proof?" asked one of the guards, leaving the other guard horrified. If the adventurer in front of them snaps, they''re toast! "Oh? Sure, here. My Colzen identification card and my graduation token." Shye replied with a smile. Realizing that the adventurer in front of them wasn''t the usual arrogant and condescending one, the two guards rxed. The guard who received Shye''s credentials then did a quick check to confirm the validity of his ims before allowing him inside the town. "Seems all good. Wee to our humble Pem Town, sir Crowley." said the guards as they bowed towards Shye who warmly reciprocated their gestures and bowed in return. "Thank you," replied Shye as he entered the town. Since the town was small, Shye quickly found a below-satisfactory inn and rented a room for himself, giving the manager of the inn a few extra silver coins to brighten his day. ''Hmm¡­Well, this is a part of being an adventurer so I shouldn''tin¡­At least I have a ce to sleep for the night¡­" thought Shye as he entered the room he rented. It was¡­shabby. The walls were cracked, the green paint was peeling, and the wooden floor creaked with every step. Well, at least the room smelled nice and the small bed lookedfortable. cing his sack bag on the chair next to the bed, Shye let his body sink onto the mattress. ''It''s been a long day¡­I guess I''ll sleep early today¡­'' Shye mused, closing his eyes and letting his weary body and mind rx. As Shye drifted off to sleep, time seemed to elerate, with the clouds swiftly drifting past the two moons as if on fast-forward. In the blink of an eye, seven hours had already psed. "P-Please! Don''t take my daughter away!" Shye nned to oversleep, however, sudden loud noisesing from outside the inn disrupted his peaceful rest and woke him up. ''Who the hell is being so noisy?!'' Shye inwardlyined as he rubbed his eyes, his mouth wide open as he yawned while groggily getting out of bed. Grabbing his sack bag, Shye grumpily left his room¡ªan irked expression stered on his face as he went out to see who was causing such a ruckus so early in the morning. Upon arriving outside the inn though, all his anger flew out the window, momentarily reced by shock before returning twofold. Around eighty meters from the inn he was staying at was a small group of five adventurers, all middle-aged men. The one in the middle, who appeared to be a warrior, was roughly dragging a young woman, who was not even at the legal age of eighteen, by her hair, while an elderly couple could do nothing but beg for them to release their daughter. "Hahaha! I''ll wife her up and give her a good life so what are you peasants crying for?!" said the warrior-ss adventurer. Witnessing fellow adventurers act no different from bandits, Shye was utterly infuriated. He wanted to immediately cut the heads of the goons, fortunately, his high intelligence attribute allowed him to think rationally. If he did kill this bunch of goons without proof, then he might be the one punished instead, hence, he decided to do a few quick preparations first. ''System.'' Chapter 226: Seeds Of Good Karma Expensive as it may be, the item was needed, hence, for 3000 points, Shye purchased an intermediate orb of memories. ''You filthy bastards¡­'' Shye inwardly raged, ring menacingly at the hooligan adventurers'' antics for a few seconds before kicking up a cloud of dust as he furiously charged at the nasty bunch. Although evidently not high-ranked due to mismatching sets of non-relic equipment, the dastardly adventurers were veterans, thus, their refined instincts allowed them to sense the impending danger from behind. "H-Hey, Peter, someone''s attacking us!" eximed one of the five, prompting the middle-aged man in the middle, Peter, to turn his head with an annoyed expression. "Haa? That unripe squirt? Hold this b*tch, I''ll teach this idiot a lesson he''ll never forget!" replied Peter, tossing the young girl to one of his underlings before dashing toward Shye with a cold smile on his face. ''Hmmph, too slow!'' Shye thought, activating [Power sh Lv.4] as he ferociously swung his Nightbringer downwards. "Relic!" eximed one of the four underlings upon realizing that Shye''s weapon had an element. "Hahahaha! Since you''re kind enough to deliver a relic to me, I won''t make it hard for you and end you in a single hit!"ughed Peter as he swung his longsword diagonally upwards to counter Shye''s skill-empowered hit. As an arrogant bully among themon popce, Peter had never encountered a setback since he was skilled at choosing his opponents¡ªbullying the weak and fearing the strong. Although he was indeed strong (gold-rank) whenpared tomon adventurers and had secretly in a few fresh graduates from mediocre academies, he had never gone up against a representative student, thus, he always thought that fresh graduates like Shye were easy pickings. In addition to this, since Shye was staying in a poor town like this one, then there''s next to no chance that he was someone significant at the academy he graduated from. At least that''s what Peter thought. Unfortunately for him, the one he was fighting was the ace representative of Valenzia Region''s strongest academy. *CLANG!* A metallic sound reverberated across the town as longsword and greatsword met, however, the results were shocking¡ªfor the onlookers at least. They anticipated the valiant young man to be sent flying backward after the sh, so the current scene, where Peter''s longsword snapped in half as he hurtled through the air, caught thempletely off guard. "P-PETER!!" the underling holding the young girl worriedly eximed¡ªdisbelief written all over his face. His momentarypse of focus cost him their greatest asset against Shye: the young girl; their hostage, as Shye quickly pped the sh*t out of him and seized the young girl from his arms, swiftly bringing her back to her parents'' side before the hooligan adventurers could even reorganize their wits. "Brown!! Hey, Brown! Are you okay? Say something! Brown!!" one of the adventurers who was near Brown, the man who was pped, shouted as he rushed to his friend''s side, vigorously shaking his unconscious body in an attempt to wake him up. Regrettably, all the shaking aplished was causing Brown, who was unconscious, to foam at the mouth. With two members down, the remaining thugs panicked. They were weaker than their boss though so they didn''t fare any better. A few momentster, Shye already finished subduing all five. To make sure that they won''t do anything stupid, he spent another 2000 points to purchase five tough metal chains and tied each one of them up¡ªextra tight. He then confiscated all of their weapons, storing them inside the system''s inventory before giving Peter, who gnashed his teeth while crazily attempting to escape, one solid p on his left cheek, sending a few of his teeth flying out. Peter wasn''t naive, he knew that he was toast should he allow the inhabitants of the town to file aint. Hence, despite his bloodied face, he vigorously squirmed like a worm, flexing his muscles in an attempt to break through the chains. Unfortunately for him, the chains Shye purchased from the system were too tough. To ensure everything went smoothly, Shye invested 500 points in purchasing tranquilizer arrows. He then used the tranquilizer arrowheads to administer five stabs to Peter and three stabs each to his aplices. A few secondster, they all limped¡ªunconscious. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 210 points!] Realizing that the matter was over, the parents of the young girl and the onlookers walked closer to Shye, thanking him for saving their town from the hoodlums. "S-Sir adventurer¡­Thank you¡­Thank you so much for helping my daughter¡­I thought we''d lose her forever¡­" the mother of the young girl said, crying her heart out with tears of gratitude. She was just so relieved. The bully adventurers looked so strong and her husband would probably die should he go against them, hence, they profusely thanked Shye and their lucky stars for saving their daughter. Naturally, the daughter herself gave Shye a deep bow, her voice quivering as she sincerely thanked him for this huge favor of saving her life. In a few weeks'' time, the young girl nned to take the Colzen Academy entrance exam. She had dedicated her life to training for this moment, so she felt confident in her ability to pass, despite hearing the recent news that Colzen unexpectedly won the Adventurer Academy Competition. The dastardly hoodlums just had to ruin her dreams of bing a respectable adventurer and give her parents a good life. Luckily, the heavens weren''t blind as a heroic young adventurer suddenly stepped up and saved her from the pits of despair. "S-Sir, I''m an aspiring adventurer, m-may I at least know the young sir''s name so that I can pay you back in the future¡­" The young girl courageously asked. Naturally, Shye didn''t really expect her to be able to pay him back, as long as she lived a good life, then it was enough of a payback for him. The hoodlums didn''t pose much of a threat to him anyway. Still, he respectfully answered her question even if her chances of paying him back were next to none. "I''m Shye Crowley, a Colzen Academy graduate. Not to brag or anything but as you can see I''m quite talented hehehe¡­so if you want to pay me back, then do your best and let''s see each other in a city called Valenzia, okay?" Realizing how cool, kind, and...handsome the young adventurer in front of her was, the eyes of the young girl shimmered as she enthusiastically replied: "Okay!" ============ Third chapter for the day to make up for yesterday :D, I shall try to upload one more today or another three tomorrow for the 300 Power Stone extra chapter. Chapter 227: These F*cking Gua– Despite a less-than-ideal start to his day, Shye felt happiness in helping others, and thus, the ugly frown on his face transformed into a jolly smile as he resumed his journey toward Balkrow City. Naturally, he made sure that the dastardly hoodlums would have their adventurer licenses revoked on top of rotting in prison for a few years. Before he left, he handed over the tied-up nasty bunch and the intermediate orb of memories to the town''s mayor who was coincidentally the young girl''s uncle. Hearing about what happened to his niece, the mayor was fuming in anger, however, he didn''t really have much power so he couldn''t have done much even if he learned about the matter on time. Luckily for them, a powerful individual with a sense of justice such as Shye was nearby to help. Upon getting his hands on the bastards who attempted to assault his niece along with the orb containing solid proof of their filthy deeds, the mayor promptly left the town. Personally heading straight towards the nearest city, which happened to be Colzen, to file aint to the city lord and have the adventurer licenses of the bastards revoked. Once this matter is resolved, Peter and his thugs would rot in prison for a good decade due to attempted rape. Knowing that there were five less evil individuals in the world, Shye felt ecstatic¡ªpractically prancing as he headed towards Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone¡ªan area he needed to pass through before arriving at Balkrow City. Around half an hourter, his good mood was gone, reced by slight annoyance. ''Ahh¡­why the heck is it so hot today?'' Shyemented inwardly, dabbing his face with a towel while using his ck long-sleeved shirt to fan away the heat enveloping his body. Still, he continued walking. ''Whatever, I''ll just purchase a cold drink from the system¡­'' he thought, tapping away and spending 200 points to spoil himself with an ice-cold fruity drink, washing away the irked expression on his face. ''Ahhh¡­that was refreshing¡­'' After around two hours of walking while appreciating the scenery around the unfrequented path, a huge marble-floored lobby with a bunch of wooden benches and tables emerged a few hundred meters in front of him. This was the lobby of an advanced adventurer zone, yet, there were only a few adventurer parties which, in Shye''s opinion, was a bit underwhelmingpared to the advanced adventurer zone where the somber tomb with kobolds was located. A bit impatient to know the situation, Shye sprinted towards the lobby, covering the remaining distance in just a few minutes. Upon arriving at the lobby, he took a few moments to catch his breath. By this time, the adventurer parties already noticed his presence and they were looking at him with a diverse array of emotions. Some adventurers appeared apathetic, while others wore mocking smiles; however, there were a chosen few that seemed approachable, casting curious nces in his direction. Tired of arrogant and condescending bastards, Shye developed the skills to discern which ones were approachable, hence, after scanning his eyes over the lobby, he walked towards a female adventurer¡ªseemingly a scout¡ªto ask about the situation. "Hello." Shye greeted with a slight smile on his face. Annoyingly, his simple greeting towards the short cyan-haired female adventurer with a fairly attractive face and body was mistaken for him being sleazy. Shye was slightly irked, however, picking a fight has never been a wise choice. As long as those who had an antagonistic attitude towards him kept their hands to themselves, then he would not retaliate. "Oh, hello, are you a new adventurer? Or a recent academy graduate?" the girl asked in reply¡ªa kind smile stered on her face. "I''m a recent academy graduate," Shye replied, "I have to pass through this adventurer zone but this lobby seemed unusually empty so I''d like to ask if there''s some kind of important information I need to know before I enter. Like¡­some sort of important reason why nobody enters this zone?" Hearing Shye''s words, the female adventurer was dumbfounded for a few seconds beforeughing cutely. "S-Sorry, I didn''t mean tough, I just found your question kinda¡­adorable," the female adventurer replied, "There''s no special reason, it''s just that this entrance is not the usual one since there''s not a single city near this one, only a small town." "O-Oh, I see, thanks." Shye replied, slightly bowing in gratitude before walking towards the guards who seemed to be yawning in boredom. Realizing that he was approaching, thezy guards looked at him with an irked expression. ''Why the hell is this ce so infuriating?!'' Shye inwardlyined. Of all the guards he had encountered in the adventurer zones he had visited, these two were the only ones disying such an attitude. Typically, guards were enthusiastic in greeting adventurers because they could reap various benefits from doing so. ''Well, everyone''s different so let''s just get this over with.'' Pretending to not know the protocols, Shye decided to directly walk inside the adventurer zone. Shockingly, the guards didn''t even stop him. ''So they don''t even care if I have a license to enter or not?! Whether I, a rookie adventurer, would live or die?!'' Shye inwardly raged. He was about to mouth off on the guards when he suddenly realized something. ''Wait, wait¡­wait¡­why is my temper so bad these days?'' he sighed. There was no need to start something. He knows for a fact that he wasn''t like this before so he was actually quite rmed upon realizing that his temper was bing worse. ''Did the sessive victories actually affect me? Am I¡­bing arrogant?''mented Shye, sighing one more time before continuing on his journey¡ªslightly dejected. If the guards didn''t care then why should he? He knows that he isn''t some newbie who would easily die inside the zone anyway. ''Well, at least I realized early. I should try to keep my emotions in check¡­'' he thought, proceeding deeper into the Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone with a turbulent heart. Chapter 228: A Life Lesson After a few hours of rest, the majestic sun was back in the sky, watching over everything as though a sovereign looking down on its subjects, illuminating thend beneath and marking the beginning of another hopeful day. It was a good day, and it started great for Shye. But for some reason, he was currently unhappy as he marched solo along a safe path toward the exit/entrance near Balkrow City. By "safe," it implied that taking the path would likely result in encountering fewer hostile creatures. It would be in one''s best interest to raise one''s vignce as he/she advanced towards his/her destination. However, it did not guaranteeplete safety. It would be prudent for one to remain vignt as they advance toward their destination. Luckily for Shye, even after two hours of nonstop walking, no creature attacked him. It appears that the creatures are aware of the danger posed by encountering adventurer parties, so they tend to avoid the safer path as much as possible. They likely only attempt to attack adventurers when they are hungry and have been unsessful in hunting throughout the day. Except for the apex creatures of course, however, those creatures had their own domain inside the zone, hence, encountering such beings was also unlikely. His peaceful walk didn''tst for long though as sounds of an ongoing fierce battle resounded a few hundred meters away from his location. ''Ohh? It seems like an adventurer party is hunting a monstrous creature nearby¡­'' Shye mused, turning his head in the direction of the hunt. ''Well then, let''s take a quick look¡­'' Walking alone was boring so he opted for a slight change of pace. Nimbly jumping from time to time as he sprinted through the trees, Shye took out his sword just in case something suddenly attacked him. He was inside an advanced adventurer zone after all so he could never be too careful. The urring hunt wasn''t far, hence, after a few minutes of sprinting, Shye arrived at the location. He then climbed a nearby adult birch tree for a better view. ''What in the flying f*ck is that thing?'' Shye thought upon seeing the creature the adventurer party was up against¡ªhis brows furrowed. The creature had the head of a wild boar, the body of a tiger, and... the wings of a dragonfly; only, there were three pairs of wings instead of two. Shye had never seen such a crazy-looking creature before. ''Appraisal'' ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Winged Boarger [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] A [???]-type creature with the fierce charge of a boar, the agility of a tiger, and wings resembling a dragonfly''s. Although it could only fly for short periods, the creature is extremely deadly¡ªthe bane of solo adventurers. [Strength: 160] [Intelligence: 20] [Agility: 130] [Dexterity: 110] [Stamina: 100] [Vitality: 110]: [Wisdom: 10] [Back][Exit System] ¡ª------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Crap¡­that thing''s bad news¡­'' thought Shye, looking around for a safer ce to watch. After all, if that... thing...es after him, those adventurers would probably not help him, especially considering how they looked at him with mocking smiles earlier in the lobby. Climbing at a farther, safer birch tree, Shye keenly observed how a professional adventurer party operated. ''Hmm¡­they''re pretty much doing the standard formation¡­'' he mused, checking the stats of the adventurers when there''s not much action going on. What he found out was that these adventurers were probably not of the same rank. Based on their attributes, probably two or three of these guys are ruby-ranked while the rest were tinum-ranked. Meanwhile, the freaking¡­Winged Boarger¡­was probably on the lower ranks of (B-) creatures so Shye thought that the adventurer party had a pretty solid chance of ying it without suffering any setbacks. Little did he know, the average intelligence and wisdom attributes of a Winged Boarger were around ten for intelligence and five for wisdom, making the creature in front of him quite intelligent for its species. Since the battle has been ongoing for around a quarter of an hour now, both sides more or less already determined a few weaknesses of their adversaries. Unfortunately for the adventurers, they underestimated the intelligence of this Winged Boarger. "Kelly! It''s weak against [Lightning]-type elemental attacks. I''ll cast my strongest lightning spell, you and Burrson contain it for at least three seconds!" The mage, who seemed to be a ruby-ranked adventurer and the leader of the party, ordered. Since the two warriors, Kelly, and Burrson, were only tinum-ranked, they felt inclined to listen to their party leader''s orders, hence, hard as it may be for the two of them, they charged forward to face the flying monstrosity¡ªlike true warriors. Seeing that everything was falling into ce, the mage closed his eyes and started casting his ultimate skill, [(Lightning)Thunder Fury Lv.3(Umon)], which took eighty percent of his focus. Although the two warriors were a fair bit weaker than him, the mage chose to trust his party members If they could stall the Winged Boarger for at least three seconds, then this hunt would be over. However, who would have anticipated that the Boarger would disregard the two warriors, opting to endure one sh each from both of them in exchange for charging directly at the mage? Realizing what was happening, the other party members called out to the mage with utter urgency, worry, and horrified expressions. "ALAN!!! WATCH OUT!!" *SPURT* A blood-curdling scream reverberated through the forest as the Winged Boarger''s sharp, thick tusks pierced n''s body, causing him to expel rming amounts of blood while a nauseating cracking sound of his ribs being crushed echoed afterward. The winged creature''s charge was so fierce that it demolished two birch trees before the Boarger managed toe to a halt. At the tip of its tusks was n, the mage and party leader¡ªlifeless; his corpse, slightly mangled. Such a horrifying scene made Shye''s heart race and breathe heavily as he smelled the familiar scent of blood¡ªcold sweat emerging from his pores. During the Adventurer Academy Competition, whenever his teammate was killed, they would simply transform into azure rays of light before reappearing outside the stage, alive and well. Hence, this harrowing sight of an adventurer''s actual fate reminded him that as talented as they were, they were mortals, and that such a fate could befall him, his friends, his girlfriend, and his little sister should they underestimate their adversary or not take preparations seriously. [Congrattions! Your Wisdom attribute increased from 28 to 35!] Chapter 229: Never Again Witnessing the massacre in front of him, Shye was petrified as n''s mangled corpse and lifeless eyes made his heart tremble. Being killed by a monstrous beast looked way more painful and brutal. "AAAAHHHH!!" A few seconds after n''s death, another scream reverberated across the forest, snapping Shye out of his negative thoughts and prompting him to once again look at the savage proceedings a few hundred meters from his location. This time, the scream came from the lone priestess of the group. The only reason why the tinum-ruby adventurer party managed to contain the Winged Boarger earlier was due to n''s lightning spells which forced the creature to prioritize dodging over attacking. Now that n was gone, the entire party easily crumbled as not a single one of them posed a threat to the weird creature. Recognizing that the once cocky yet vibrant party was on the brink of being annihted, Shye''s mind raced with the decision of whether to assist the troubled adventurers or prioritize his own survival. ''H-Hmmph¡­These bastards weren''t kind to me so why should I help them?'' he thought, gnashing his teeth as he forced himself to leave the scene with a heavy heart. He was nothing but a rookie unregistered adventurer while these guys were already tinum to ruby-tier veterans. Moreover, not only was the help he could provide limited, but he would probably be in trouble himself should he choose to help them, hence, he was torn. Still, he decided to prioritize his own little life. The adventurers were already veterans and they should''ve prepared extensively. He had no obligation to help them at all. However, his heart vehemently protested; he wanted to aid them, even if it meant putting his own life in jeopardy. "ARGHH! TO HELL WITH IT! WHY CAN''T I JUST MIND MY OWN BUSINESS?!" Shye eximed in frustration as he unsheathed both greatswords¡ªone imbued with the power of water, the other crackling with lightning. He then turned around and madly rushed towards the Winged Boarger who was currently chasing one of the tinum-ranked warrior adventurers, Kelly. As he reached the optimal distance, Shye executed the ssic warriorbination, [Dash Lv.4] followed by [Power sh Lv.4], wielding both greatswords horizontally as the harmonizing forces of water and lightning roared in tandem, surging in unison. Of course, as a monstrous creature, the Boarger''s instincts were absurdly sharp, allowing it to sense Shye''s fierce attack almost instantly. Understanding that the human charging toward it posed a greater threat than the one fleeing before it, the creature emitted a terrifying roar before pivoting its direction, rushing toward Shye with menacing intent. ''Crap! It already sensed me?!''mented Shye as he activated [Stoic Lv.4] just for good measure. It turned out to be the correct decision though as the head-on sh heavily rocked his internal organs. Fortunately, his attack at least did damage. Green blood spurted out of the Winged Boarger''s moderately deep snout wound making it roar in pain. Albeit small, Shye won this exchange. Unfortunately, the damage he inflicted was far from being able to take the creature''s life as all it did was allow the dastardly adventurers to flee, leaving him alone. He...shouldn''t have helped them. With mixed emotions of disappointment, disbelief, and anger raging in his heart, Shye ferociously fought the creature, this time, for his own life as the despicable adventurers he helped left him by his lonesome¡ªkicking their benefactor in the teeth. [Congrattions! Your Wisdom attribute increased from 35 to 50!] ''F*ck this! I''m done helping people I don''t like!'' Shye cursed, finding that even the substantial increase in his wisdom attribute did little to quell the anger and disappointment festering in his heart. To make things worse, his [Stoic Lv.4] timed out, hence, the Boarger''s next attack, a paw swipe, sent him flying across the forest. Fortunately, his brain now works fast, enabling him to swiftly exploit his backward momentum for an escape, promptly sprinting away from the ferocious creature as hended on the ground and quickly putting significant distance between them. Realizing what Shye''s n was, the winged creature roared in anger. It then started its mad chase, asionally pping its wings to easily close the distance. As for Shye, who was supposed to be chilling on the safe path but was now being hounded by a f*cking flying tiger pig, he gnashed his teeth so hard that it started producing weird noises. He made a solemn promise to himself never to offer assistance without thorough analysis in the future¡ªever again. Luckily, Shye wasn''tpletely overpowered in terms of strength. Thus, despite being sent flying back and spitting out blood after each sh, he managed to cover a significant distance. Hopefully, the dastardly thing would stop chasing him. As if the heavens heard his plea, the Winged Boarger stopped chasing him a short whileter, seemingly afraid to enter the area he ran off to. Given that Shye couldn''t afford to retrace his steps, he remained oblivious to the fate of the creature pursuing him, leaving him clueless about the area he was currently in. If only he had noticed the Winged Boarger''s moment of hesitation, he might have deduced that the area he had entered was far more perilous than where he had been before. Fortunately, humans had their own sharp instincts when it came to sensing danger, albeit not as sharp as a monstrous creature''s. Hence, upon recognizing the misty surroundings he had entered, Shye raised his vignce, proceeding with caution and silence to avoid drawing the attention of any other perilous creatures. As he walked through the shrubbery, it was inevitable for Shye to step on a few twigs, prompting it to produce a sharp snapping sound that reverberated in the silent forest. By this time, Shye''s heart was pounding out of his chest in anxiousness. Somehow, he felt that someone, or rather¡ªsomething, was watching him from somewhere. Waiting patiently as he walked deeper and deeper into the mist''s embrace. Chapter 230: Mist Arachne Surprisingly, an hour has psed since Shye began his meandering journey through the misty forest, seeking an escape route. Despite the lingering sensation of being watched, no assant had made a move. Still, Shye couldn''t calm down. If anything, the rm bells ringing inside his head had never been so loud, seemingly desperate as it tried to warn him of the impending yet unknown danger. He could do nothing but remain vignt as he braved the unsettling mist. A few minutester, he stumbled upon an area that sent shivers down his spine. The harrowing sight of what appeared to be hundreds of purple cocoons hanging on trees, infested with thousands of irregr flesh growths, gnawed at his sanity, while the repulsive smell of rot assaulted his olfactory senses. Trembling in distress and fear, Shye carefully took a few steps back. At this point, he yearned to return to where the darned Boarger was at. He would rather fight the flying tiger pig than go through this mental torture. ''Crap, Crap, Crap¡­I shouldn''t have walked deeper into the mist¡­''mented Shye as he resolved himself to go back from whence he came. However, just when he was about to turn back, he saw a glimpse of what seemed to be the continuation of the safe path he was initially walking along, only, it was a bit far from where he stood. If the¡­thing¡­that was watching him decided to attack, he was unsure if he coulde out alive. The cocoons were definitely not simple decorations after all. Gnashing his teeth as he struggled to make a decision, Shye looked at the path with a yearning look. ''The longer I stay here the more dangerous it will be for me, I have to take my chances!'' Shye thought, courageously passing through the cocoons¡ªvignce raised sky high. Anticipating an imminent attack, he stood prepared to deploy his trump cards, aiming to break through the area and, with luck, encounter a few fellow adventurers willing to assist him on the journey to safety. He did not believe that the creature watching him this entire time would allow him to return to the safe path without attacking him. Therefore, he needed to employ cunning in his efforts to flee. Pretending to still be lost and trembling in fear, Shye walked, one foot in front of the other as he slowly decreased the distance between him and the safe path. Upon reaching the optimal distance, Shye''s fearful expression dissipated like thin smoke, giving way to a fiercely determined gaze as he bolted towards the path with reckless abandon. His heart raced alongside him as the distance between him and what he perceived to be "safety" shrunk. Witnessing the unexpectedly cunning prey''s attempt to flee, a creature hanging from atop a young Hyperion tree made its move, madly chasing after Shye with an eerie smile on its ''face''. When he was just a few hundred meters away from the path, Shye used one of his recently learned skills (during his final fight with Damien), [Swallow Step Lv.1], along with one charge of [Boost Lv.2(Rare)] to increase his chances of making it to safety. He was¡­so close. The path was right in front of him, yet, he could no longer move forward to approach it. Realizing that he was trapped in a thin yet absurdly tough and sticky web, Shye struggled fiercely¡ªhis eyes reflecting desperation. A short whileter came his dreaded scene. Eerie ughing" noises echoed from a nearby tree as a spider half the size of a human torso calmly crawled its way toward Shye who was fiercely struggling. Noticing the spider, Shye immediately used appraisal to at least discern what he was up against. [Name]: Mist Arachne [Creature Rank]: B [Description] An ominous arachnid, skilled at gradually eroding its prey''s sanity. While itcks strength in direct confrontations, its ability to emit mist from its abdomen induces fear and hallucinations, making distant objects seem perilously close, rendering escape nearly impossible. A head bearing a visage akin to its favored prey would begin to supnt its original head, its resemnce growing increasingly lifelike with each consumption of that particr prey. [Strength: 70] [Intelligence: 240] [Agility: 150] [Dexterity: 70] [Stamina: 70] [Vitality: 60]: [Wisdom: 70] [Back][Exit System] ''F*CK, F*CK, F*CK!!!'' Shye inwardly cursed, struggling even more desperately as the Arachne drew nearer and nearer. Out of all the creatures he encountered, a spider would be hisst preference if he were to be considered as a meal. That creepy, hairy thing eating him as a meal? No freaking way! Unfortunately, the web was too tough and sticky for him to get out of, hence, he decided to struggle for the sake of it but his mind was already thinking of a n. He would never give up on his life. A few momentster, the spider was right in front of him smiling at him with its underdeveloped and distorted "human face". Although the thing shockingly didn''t have a mandible, imagining himself being mauled by that eerie face sent chills down his spine. Shye didn''t know what the spider was up to and he could only watch what it would do to him. Unbeknownst to the spider, what seemed like Shye''s desperate struggle was actually him forcefully pressing certain buttons on the system, acquiring skills that would aid in securing the opportunity to execute his escape n. [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Poison Resistance Lv.1(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Poison Resistance Lv.1(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Poison Resistance Lv.2(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Poison Resistance Lv.2(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Poison Resistance Lv.3(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Poison Resistance Lv.3(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Poison Resistance Lv.4(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Poison Resistance Lv.4(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Poison Resistance Lv.5(Umon)]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Poison Resistance Lv.5(Umon)], leveled up to >> [Intermediate Poison Resistance Lv.1(Rare)]] Shye was saving up points to purchase an epic talent, however, he would never have the chance to purchase one should he die today so he used most of his remaining points earned from the grand finals of the Adventurer Academy Competition to decisively purchase a poison resistance skill. Before he did so, he used the [Adventurer Encyclopedia Lv.2] to check for information regarding the spider and found that it uses some sort of poisonous gas to incapacitate its prey before wrapping them up in a cocoon. He was quite lucky that the spider was yful, giving him ample time to implement countermeasures. Shye didn''t know how potent the poison gas was so he purchased and upgraded the poison resistance skill as much as time allowed him to. Chapter 231: Squished Calmly toying with its food, the spider crawled around Shye, "checking him out" as itughed eerily¡ªsounding simr to a distorted human child''sugh. It was cunning, way morepared to Shye. However, it was also arrogant and yful. The Mist Arachne believed that the young human in front of it had no chance of escaping its grasp, hence, it felt that it had the luxury of indulging in its sinister hobby: scaring its prey into insanity. Unfortunately, it didn''t get what it wanted out of Shye. The young adventurer was annoyingly persistent in struggling so the arachnid failed to derive pleasure from this particr prey. Deciding that toying with this one isn''t fun, the Mist Arachne turned around and aimed the hole in its abdomen toward Shye before emitting purple gas right in front of his face. The gas proved remarkably potent, causing the spider webs that had ensnared him to dissolve, resulting in his copse onto the ground. [Warning: You''ve been poisoned!] Almost immediately after inhaling the purple gas, a notification appeared in front of Shye. He wanted to try tapping on the notification but the gas made him feel lightheaded. As Shye prayed to the Gods and Goddesses for his safety, he gradually sumbed to the poison. His head and limbs grew limp, eliciting an eerie smile from the arachnid, who inwardly celebrated another delectable prey. It could tell that this human was young which meant that the flesh it would be feasting on would not only be tender but also juicy and slightly sweet¡ªits favorite kind. The arachnid was cunning and it was quite experienced in hunting humans; fairly evident on its underdeveloped human face. Hence, it knew that feigning unconsciousness was amon human tactic. It almost died that way in the past after all. As a precautionary measure, it ensured to dy for a full two minutes before cocooning its victims and administering another bite to inject the killing poison into its prey. Unfortunately for it, this very same countermeasure gave its current prey a chance. Due to Shye''s new poison resistance passive skill, the poison gas'' efficiency was diminished by a great deal, allowing his consciousness to return exactly fifteen seconds before the Mist Arachne came in for the kill. Realizing that he was still alive, Shye inwardly thanked the Gods, the Goddesses, and his lucky stars as he continued to feign unconsciousness, waiting for the right moment to strike. Based on its attributes, the Mist Arachne was way too weak for a (B) ranked creature, however, its cunning nature made it a very dangerous adversary, hence, its rank. Shye was confident in ying it in a single hit, however, he had to make sure that his attack would hit as the arachnid''s high agility would probably allow it to easily flee from him should he miss. Such a creature was too dangerous to be left alive. After exactly two minutes, the Mist Arachne slowly crept closer, checking all angles to make sure that its prey was out cold. Confirming that its prey was indeed unconscious, the Arachneughed once again before crawling towards Shye''s head to give him one good bite. Humans always die once their brains turn into wet puddles after all. As for Shye, he carefully gauged the Arachne''s distance solely by its subtle footsteps and upon determining that it was close enough, he swiftly raised his head and used one of his trump cards, [Draconian Roar Lv.2]. It was a strong skill, limited only by its range, however, for some reason it was deemedmon by the system and probably this world. Still, its price was high for its rarity so it should be one of the strongestmon skills in existence. *ROAR A draconic roar echoed through the forest, causing creatures of all ranks to turn their heads toward its source. Some felt wary, others puzzled, and a few narrowed their eyes with curiosity. Utterly stupefied at the sudden head movement, the Mist Arachne was squarely hit by the roar, left trembling in fear and confusion as Shye swiftly stood up and drew both of his greatswords. He then quickly followed up by deploying two additional trump cards, [(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.1(Rare)] and [(Dark)Fallen''s Howl Lv.1(Rare)], further adding to the confusion and fear of the already trembling arachnid. Regrettably, as he dashed towards the spider, it somehow managed to forcefully snap back to its senses. ''Crap, it already recovered?!''mented Shye as he quickly used [Rush Stab Lv.3] to close the gap, unfortunately, the spider was not only small but also nimble, hence, he wasn''t able tond a clean hit. Still, the spider was way too fragile for its rank. Shye''s simple attack managed to cut two of its eight legs, effectively decreasing its overall agility as green blood sprayed out from the wound. At this point, there was no hint of amusement on the face of the Mist Arachne, only desperation. It wanted to escape. However, how could Shye let it do so? It would probably kill a lot more adventurers should he allow it to escape, thus, with zing determination in his eyes, Shye chased it down with another skill: [Dash Lv.4] Due to movement difficulties brought about by two missing legs, Shye easily caught up to the Arachne, brandishing his greatswords downwards to sh it in half using [Power sh Lv.4]. The arachnid was equally resolved to survive, hence, after a clumsy sidestep, the Mist Arachne narrowly avoided a fatal strike. Still, it was unable to escape unscathed as three other legs on the left side of its body were severed, leaving only three more on the right side. At this point, the Arachne couldn''t flee. Knowing full well that it would die today, the Arachne vowed to take the human down with it, thus, it devised a n. Pretending weakness and desperation, the arachnid feigned a desperate crawl away, fully exposing its back to Shye. Naturally, Shye''s instinct was to finish it off, using another of his skills, [Lunge Pierce Lv.2] to close the gap and end the little shit''s life without knowing that this is exactly what the Arachne wanted¡ªfor him to let his guard down. Then, just as he was about to strike the spider, it jumped off, utilizing its remaining legs to spin in the air and exploit its unsteady bnce, narrowly evading his attack. The Mist Arachne then fiercely bit him on the neck. Fortunately for Shye, having lost a significant amount of blood, the bite was weaker than expected, narrowly sparing him from instant death. Still, it was painful as heck, prompting him to scream in agony as poison droplets invaded his body. The poison then began its slow infiltration, leaving behind purple vein-like marks as it spread through his system. ''F*ck! F*ck! It got me!'' Shye cursed, fully understanding his situation.''I have to finish this and seek medical help in Balkrow City as fast as possible or I''m dead!'' Grabbing the spider, who was stilltched on his neck, by its legs, Shye decisively pulled, causing purple blood to fountain out of the harrowing bite wound, making him feel like he would die any second. Memories of his little sister, girlfriend, friends, and instructors flooded his mind in a series of shbacks, prompting a sudden realization: ''Am¡­I going to die? Just like this? Me? '' he thought. ''LIKE HELL I WOULD!'' Summoning thest shreds of his consciousness, Shye hurled the spider onto the ground with all his strength, inflicting significant damage to its body. He then unleashed a relentless barrage of stomps, exerting the most force he had ever mustered in his life. He desired nothing more than to crush the pesky insect into oblivion. What better way to achieve satisfaction than to stomp on it like how one should? Chapter 232: Money Saves Lives Outside a bustling city protected by high walls and guards d in high-tier equipment, three fairly decent-ranked adventurers talked enthusiastically as they waited for their party members to finish their preparations. However, it wasn''t only them. Simr scenes happened everywhere near the city''s entrance. Some waited inside the city; others on the city gates chatting with the guards, while a few waited outside the city. Dubbed as an "adventurer hub", cities such as this one did not have an adventurer academy. The reason for this is there were no beginner adventurer zones in its periphery. In short, adventurer hubs are cities where veterans and promising rookies gather. Thepetition of guilds and adventurers in such cities was way more intensepared to an academy city like Colzen. On a well-traveled path near the city, a young male adventurer with ash-colored hair had desperation and agony written all over his face as he trudged along. Shye didn''t look as attractive as usual, however, he couldn''t care less. Why would he bother, considering that a potent poison had already permeated nearly half of his body? If not for him drinking random expensive, high-grade, no-harmful-effect antidotes and expensive high-grade health potions every thirty minutes, he wouldn''t have survived. Although he felt pained that he had to spend the points he saved up through countless battles, at least he was alive. Moreover, he had purchased a few life-saving passive skills along with lots of attribute upgrades so it wasn''t like the points went down the drain. Shye had to use it for less ideal purposes, however, it was definitely more ideal than dying. As he drew nearer to the city, his bone-chilling poison-vein-infested appearance easily captured the attention of the adventurer parties waiting outside the city. This time, a few of them were actually kind-hearted enough to sprint towards him and check his condition¡ªall too ready to help him. However, for some reason, seeing them approaching him brought nothing but vignce in his heart and a scowl on his face. The thought of them trying to help him didn''t even cross his mind. Naturally, seeing his a-bit-too-intense reaction, the approaching kind-hearted adventurers didn''t dare walk closer to him. Instead, they simply watched him trudge along with slightly worried expressions. A few minutester, he finally arrived in front of Balkrow City''s gates. By this point, nearly everyone had their eyes fixed on him. Some showed concern, others indifference, and a few even wore mocking expressions on their faces. He paid no attention to the onlookers though, his sole focus being on seeking medical assistance as swiftly as he could. "I haven''t seen you around, do you have any sort of valid ID?" a guard with a stern countenance said, prioritizing his job over Shye''s horrendous condition. Shye didn''t have the energy to reply. Breathing heavily, he clumsily took out his expired academy ID, graduation token, and rmendation letter. The guard didn''t have any ill intentions toward him, however, the guard also didn''t feel the need to give him special treatment even though he was in a terrible state which was a bit frustrating. Still, he understood that protocols are protocols so he had to endure. Well, at least the guard was sensible. Recognizing Shye''s awful condition, the guard did not dally and checked his documents as quickly as possible, giving him a Balkrow Adventurer token before allowing him entry shortly after. Setting foot inside the city, Shye did not have time to appreciate the bustling wide marble streets and the prominent establishments made from high-quality construction materials such as refined bricks, granite, and smooth wrobblestone. Should he manage to endure this ordeal, he would then have ample time to relish the delights of the city. The poison was bing more and more unbearable as minutes went by. After asking the guards for directions, Shye promptly headed towards the nearest hospital. While he was on the way to the hospital, a short, grape-haired young adventurer with fairly attractive facial features and a slim yet toned body¡ªseemingly only a few years older than Shye¡ªshivered upon seeing his terrible condition. ''What the heck¡­how is that guy still alive?'' thought the young female adventurer. Luckily for Shye, one of the good hospitals was close. In just a few minutes, he was already in front of one¡ªadventurers¡ªa good deal of them priests/priestesses¡ªwalking in and out of the wide wooden doorways. Momentarily pausing, Shye entered the hospital, attracting the attention of almost everyone in the lobby due to his striking yet terrifying appearance. This was the first instance in their lives witnessing someone so severely poisoned yet still alive. "I¡­I have money. I can pay for the treatment." he eximed, taking out a small, filled-to-the-brim sack of silver coins before copsing onto the ground. He is all too aware that many hospitals would turn away individualscking funds, even if they were facing death. He and his little sister had experienced this firsthand, after all. His absurd final move turned out to be the correct decision as the hospital staff immediately sprang into action after momentarily looking into each other''s eyes. Controlled chaos unfolded in the hospital lobby as various staff members suddenly emerged from different rooms, carrying a stretcher and essential medical equipment. They moved swiftly to securely ce Shye in one of the rooms and efficiently stabilize his condition for the time being. A few momentster, a bespectacled slim old man entered the room with a stern expression. "Doctor Stein, the patient seems to be badly poisoned. We''ve given him poison stabilizers for the time being." Hearing the head nurse''s report, Stein nodded, sitting beside Shye to check his condition. A few minutester, Stein couldn''t help but furrow his brows. ''How the hell is this young man still alive?'' he thought before looking at the head nurse beside him and giving out instructions. "It''s poison from a Mist Arachne, make sure to give him an appropriate antidote and have a priest heal him back to full health." "Understood, Doctor Stein." Chapter 233: The Rookie Arrives After another two cycles of the sun and two moons watching over thend beneath, a young man with ashen hair woke up to yet another unfamiliar ceiling. Still a bit groggy and numb due to the hellish torture he experienced, Shye gently held his neck. Realizing that the bite wound was gone along with the poison''s sharp and agonizing sting, he took one deep breath. "I survived again huh?" he mumbled as shbacks of the disappointing and infuriating moment when the adventurers he helped left him to fend for himself flooded his mind. This caused his expression to shift once more from serenity to profound anger. Taking a few deep breaths to calm his raging heart, Shye stood up and walked out of his hospital room. "Oh? Hello sir. How are you feeling?" asked the nurse who was about to enter the room to check on him. "I''m fine now, thanks for helping me cure the poison," Shye replied, giving the nurse a slight bow. "Oh don''t mention it, sir, it''s our job after all." the nurse said, smiling. "Are you out to settle your bills?" "Yes, I don''t know where to do it though. Can you help me?" "Sure, right this way sir." *** Inside a certain office in a guild headquarters in Balkrow City, a middle-aged man paced back and forth, worry prevalent on his face. "Why?! Why hasn''t he arrived yet?!" the manmented. He already sent a few men to investigate, however, none of them came back with pleasing reports. Continuing his anxious pacing, the gears of the middle-aged man''s brain shifted and turned, trying to think of all the possibilities. Although he knew that the main guild master wouldn''t hold him ountable should anything happen to the young man he was waiting for, it was still impossible for him to not feel distressed. Fortunately, he didn''t have to worry for much longer as urgent knocks sounded from his door, capturing the troubled middle-aged man''s attention. "Guild master! Someone fitting the description arrived at the reception desk!" the man''s subordinate said before the middle-aged man, who seemed to be a guild master, could allow him toe in. "What?! Let me see him!" the guild master eximed, forcefully pushing open the door and striding purposefully toward the reception desk. A few secondster, the guild master and his subordinate cautiously peered out from behind a wall, confirming if the young man they were expecting was indeed at the reception desk. "That''s the young man who arrived, guild master." the subordinate said, sneakily pointing his index finger at the young man. As for the guild master, he remained silent, causing the subordinate to think that the young man at the reception desk wasn''t the one they were expecting. However, contrary to the subordinate''s disappointment, the guild master was inwardly celebrating. He watched the Adventurer Academy Competition after all, so seeing the familiar face of the champion academy''s ace representative in front of his guild''s reception desk prompted him to thank his lucky stars, inwardly celebrating that nothing bad had happened. When he, Branch Guild Master Corvus, received a call from the main guild master, Soaring Raven, around three and a half weeks ago, he was confused. Corvus couldn''t think of a reason why Soaring Raven would call him so when the main guild master told him that he would be sending a fresh recruit from the adventurer academypetition, he felt excited. He thought that the guild master was finally giving him a chance. Only, he didn''t fathom how huge the chance was until Soaring Raven dropped a bomb on him towards the end of their call. Hearing that the recruit was the champion academy''s ace representative, Shye Crowley, Corvus was dumbstruck for almost ten seconds. Naturally, Soaring Raven understood his feelings so he patiently waited for a few seconds for Corvus'' response, fully knowing that the guy was too stunned to speak at that moment. Committing to grooming the guild''s most significant prospect, Corvus immediately sprang into action, dispatching individuals to monitor the safe path. Unfortunately, their prospect did not traverse through, causing Corvus to nearly sumb to anxiety. Fortunately, albeit a few dayste, the prospect, Shye Crowley, finally arrived, removing the huge thorn in Corvus'' heart. Appearing in such a ce would be unsuitable for him, as the guild master should maintain an air of elusiveness and high status. If he were essible to anyone at any time, his prestige would diminish. Hence, although he wanted to speak to the recruit, he forced himself not to, returning to his office after confirming Shye''s arrival. Meanwhile, at the reception desk, Shye was waiting for the guild receptionist to process his documents. Left with nothing to do, he looked around the branch headquarters. Contrary to his expectations, the branch wasn''t small at all and was in fact, quite huge. The reception desk, situated in the middle corner, served as a focal point. To his left was a sizable board presenting quests of different difficulties and capturing the interest of several adventurers outfitted in respectable gear as they searched for potential tasks to take on. Meanwhile, on the opposite end, a second desk crafted fromvish ckwood nks stood, where adventurers seemed to exchange quest items for rewards. The rewards desk, as Shye would like to call it. Lastly, adjacent to the reception desk''s left side was an expansive lobby adorned with numerous wooden tables and chairs¡ªdensely popted by adventurers who seemed to be his guildmates, drinking booze and eating food as they chatted andughed merrily. The lively scene didn''tst for long though as his unexpected arrival and unfamiliar face finally got the attention of one of his guildmates who was partying in the lobby, prompting more and more heads to turn his way. Shye, bold as he was, felt embarrassed. Being stared at was ufortable. However, he understood that he was a new face and that this was a natural reaction so he didn''t me them for staring at him. What he didn''t appreciate was the individuals giving him unfriendly looks. After his recent near-death experience at the Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone, his tolerance for those who antagonized him had never been thinner. Chapter 234: Raven Blade’s Rookie: Officially Registered "Hey, look. Could that guy be a rookie with a rmendation letter?" a young male adventurer with short ck hair, tan skin, and toned body whispered. "What else could he be? There''s still two weeks before the guild''s admission exammences." another young adventurer replied. "Well, it''s just that we rarely get rookies with rmendations from the main branch." The two adventurers continued whispering, making everyone in the guild more and more curious about Shye. Naturally, in every guild, there are a few bad apples. These insecure, rotten eggs naturally hated such perceived talented neers. After all, when they were rookies, they had to go through a tough admission exam, only to be made fun of by the veterans and since their personalities were rotten¡ªand rather¡­sensitive, they took the jests to heart. Unfortunately, since those veterans either perished while undertaking quests or had already been promoted to a higher ranking branch¡ªsome even promoted to the main branch in Valenzia, these once rookies had nowhere to vent. Thus, picking on rookies slowly became their hobby. There were a few rmended individuals who had actually been ruined by them and in their minds, Shye would be no different should he dare cross them. As for Shye, he was fully aware that he already be a hot topic but he chose not to care. His admission hasn''t even beenpleted yet so he deemed such hubbub superficial as he focused on the task at hand which was toplete his guild registration. Fortunately, he didn''t have to wait long. Recognizing the credentials of the young man in front of her, the guild receptionist suddenly became nervous. With her experience, checking Shye''s documents and rmendation letter should have been a breeze. However, since this was the first time she had encountered such impressive credentials throughout her entire career, she couldn''t help but feel slightly dumbfounded with every turn of a page. This made the document-checking process take longer than usual. "S-S-Shye C-Crowley, correct? V-Very impressive credentials you got there. This is the first time we ever got an ace representative of the AAC''s Champion Academy as a rookie, however, worry not, I''m sure the guild would be able to make such a talented rookie like you shine. Wee to Raven''s de Balkrow Branch." The guild receptionist said, appearing very nervous in the beginning but confident towards the end. "My name is Aya Rougenfort, Raven''s de Adventurer Guild Balkrow Branch''s guild receptionist. I''m in charge of basic information, rookie admissions, and quest distribution. If you want to take on a quest, you may select one from the quest board over there and hand it over to me so I can register the quest under your name." "If you look to the right, the desk over there is where you can turn in your quests afterpletion while on the left is the lobby where you can order food and refreshments. In addition to these two areas, we have a huge basement training area which you can ess from the stairs over there." "If you have any questions you can ask me, however, please do note that quest registration would be prioritized over inquiries. Here''s your gold-ranked adventurer badge, your adventurer license, and your Raven''s de emblem. I believe that''s all from me. Congrattions and once again, wee to the guild!" Receptionist Aya said with a sweet smile on her face. She looked beautiful. Her long green hairplemented her attractive oval-shaped face while her moderately tight guild uniform entuated her slender neck, ample bosom, and curvaceous hips. With how gorgeous Aya was, it was inevitable for some of the guildsmen to fall for her. Unfortunately for Shye, among those few were the insecure troublemakers, so when Aya directed an unusually sweet smile at him, it immediately garnered the full-blown ire of these loathsome individuals. Aya always smiles, however, her smile usually felt distant, as though their simple attempts to flirt would never be able to get through a huge chasm. Seeing her smile like that towards some rookie? Uneptable! A subtle example demonstrating how beauty has the potential to lead a city to its downfall. The bad eggs wanted to make a move, however, they did not have ample time to n, hence, they could only watch as Shye left the guild branch to look for amodations. Striding out of the guild branch in a slightly better mood, Shye decided to tour the entire city first¡ªspoil himself a bit. There was no need for him to rush. After narrowly escaping a life-threatening situation, he certainly deserves some rxation time. Meandering about in the marble streets of Balkrow City, Shye had a slight smile on his face as he enjoyed staring at various high-rise establishments in the city, engraving their locations in his mind. Contrary to his expectations, children were ying in the streets, looking foolish as they chased each other along narrow corners¡ªprobably sons and daughters of fairly prominent adventurers. Although Balkrow City wasn''t at the level of Valenzia, it was certainly not that far away¡ªway better than the likes of Colzen and Windleton City. Unlike academy cities, professional adventurers littered the marble streets¡ªeach looking mightier than thest. Such a sight naturally ignited the passion in Shye''s heart. Although there were only a few young adventurers around the same age as him, he knew that things wouldn''t be the same two weeks from now when various fresh graduates from other cities converged in Balkrow. Feeling pumped in anticipation of the intensepetition between rookies two weeks from now, Shye couldn''t help but feel giddy. ''There would probably be a rookiepetition among guilds. If I join and win¡­hehehe¡­'' In need of a way to expel the excess energy coursing through his body, Shye dashed across the street like a child, drawing the attention of professional adventurers as he kicked up clouds of dust and gusts of wind. While in the middle of his run, he suddenly remembered something. Consequently, he scanned through various establishments as he ran past them, searching for the specific one he needed to enter. Chapter 235: Trouble, Again "Haaah¡­Haaah¡­I might''ve overdone it a little¡­" Shye mumbled as he panted in exhaustion. "Well, at least I found it quicker¡­" Looking up at the sign which says "Constantine Consumables", Shye smiled. In the past, he didn''t put much importance on purchasing consumables because of a few reasons. Initially, he wasn''t financially secure. Secondly, he thought he could buy them as necessary using system points. And thirdly, he... never truly valued them because he hadn''t faced a setback as severe as the recent one. Defeating the blind kobold general unknowingly made him overconfident. Only now did he realize that purchasing consumables in the system was the least efficient thing to use his points for. As he struggled towards Balkrow City, he spent a total of 11,000 points in consumables for him to survive leaving him with only a little more than 21,000 points¡ªa far cry from being able to purchase an epic talent for himself. It seems that the old man truly wanted him to be a responsible adventurer, teaching him to never skip the preparation phase. After all, if he purchased all those consumables he used to stay alive, it would only set him back for around three to four thousand silver coins. Expensive? Yes, but ultimately, with his capabilities, it would be a fair bit easier and safer for him to earn silver coins than system points. It''s not every day you have an audience of 200,000 people and a legitimate reason to beat people up, after all. Momentarily admiring the huge shop''s simple yet elegant exterior, Shye entered. Immediately after he arrived inside, he was greeted by a huge shelf disying the shop''s specialties such as potent training potions, appearance enhancers, and other various tonics. ''A-Aren''t these products too expensive? Shye thought before looking around. The shop''s vast ss windows allowed warm sunlight to stream in, casting a valiant golden glow across each floor and fully entuating the shop''s opulent aesthetics. Numerous high-end shelves showcased an extensive range of products, seemingly enchanting customers and urging them to approach and make a purchase. Beside the wide entrance were neatly arranged spatial shopping baskets that could store ten cubic meters worth of consumables while on the far left corner was a vast granite countertop manned by two staff members who were processing purchases and various other transactions. ''I like this shop.'' Shye pondered as he gazed at the hanging signboards, designed to help customers find their desired products effortlessly. ''Hmm¡­let''s see, potions first¡­'' Grabbing a spatial shopping basket, Shye sauntered towards the potion section, admiring products from other shelves on the way. Upon arriving at the said section, Shye grabbed potions like there was no tomorrow, prompting those shopping near him to turn their heads and widen their eyes in disbelief. He looked like a young adventurer so they doubted his capabilities to pay for the products. Unintentionally, he stirred a smallmotion, attracting the attention of more shoppers as he explored different sections and floors, grabbing excessive amounts of each product. After shopping for almost an hour and a half, Shye felt satisfied. ''Well, that should be everything I need¡­probably even more¡­'' he thought, walking towards the granite countertop to pay for the products. When he entered the shop, there were two staff members in charge of processing the purchases, however, at this time, there was only one avable counter. Luckily, there wasn''t a queue. Feeling fortunate, Shye quickened his pace, cing the spatial shopping basket atop the granite desk promptly after arriving. What he didn''t anticipate was that there were three people behind him, seemingly impatient and in a bad mood for having to wait for him to finish his transaction. We all know what these people would do in the next few seconds. You''ve guessed it right! Start trouble. "Ha! Poor stray dogs from Raven''s de could afford to shop here now?" the man in the middle donning a full set of gold-tier mage equipment said with a mocking tone, prompting Shye to turn his head and halting the cashier''s attempt at taking Shye''s products out of the shopping basket. Naturally, Shye, who was easily angered the past few days, felt rage once again boiling inside his heart. If not for him actively observing his emotions, he would''ve responded in a way that would result in trouble for sure. ''Calm down¡­these stupid shitheads aren''t worth your time¡­'' he thought, taking a deep breath to try and calm his infuriated heart down. In most cases, he wouldn''t back down, however, he hated his current emotional fragility so for the sake of trying to control his anger, Shye simply grabbed his shopping basket and allowed the loathsome bastards to process their transaction first. "Hmmph, at least you know your ce." The idiot in the middle followed up, once again igniting the anger in Shye''s heart. Luckily, just before trouble escted, another cashier hurried to the counter, breathing heavily as she gestured for Shye to bring his items. Due to this, the fury in Shye''s heart diminished by a small bit, enough for him to temporarily ignore the hateful bastards, however, the irked expression never left his face even as he helped the cashier take the items out. Just a short whileter though, he learned another valuable life lesson: if you seem vulnerable in front of bullies, they will walk all over you. "Sir, do you happen to have a Constantine Consumables membership card?" the cashier inquired, as it was customary for them to ask customers, allowing cashiers to swipe the card and provide an appropriate discount based on the tier of membership. Shye was about to reply "no", however, just before he could do so, the familiar irritating voice of the man in the middle of the three sounded beside him. "Hahahaha! How could this poor dog even afford one? Surely you jest." [Congrattions! Your wisdom attribute increased from 50 to 53!] The middle man''s words were the final straw that broke the camel''s back, or in this case, the final insult that snapped Shye''s thinning patience. ''Haaah¡­I tried¡­I tried¡­Why do people always insist? Alright then, I''ll give all of you the trouble that you want.'' Chapter 236: Constantine Consumables Membership Card "Pffft¡­I knew it, that guy was probably just stupid, taking everything he wanted from the shelves without checking the price." "Hahaha, turns out this showoff doesn''t even have a membership card!" "Poor guy¡­this should serve as a lesson for him. I hope he doesn''t put himself in this embarrassing situation in the future¡­" Hoarding various high-grade potions and tonics half an hour ago, Shye inevitably captured the attention of other shoppers, discreetly following him around while pretending to window shop. Talk about having nothing better to do for the day. Shye wasn''t an idiot and he noticed that there were people following him around as he shopped, looking at him as though he had apulsive buying disorder. Well, as long as they weren''t antagonizing his merry shopping experience then he wouldn''t care. Unknowingly, he gathered around 500 onlookers as he shopped around. Unfortunately for him, a few of those 500 were now mocking him for being humiliated by the dastardly trio. Shye couldn''t me anyone but himself though, he knew that conceding his spot wasn''t the correct decision, however, he still decided to do so in hopes of controlling his easily irritated heart. He hated it. He was sure that he wasn''t so easily angered before. Well, during the Adventurer Academy Competition at least. Despite experiencing asional anger, those instances were primarily fueled by longstanding animosity between his academy and another. ''When could this have started?'' was a question frequenting his mind nowadays. Regrettably, the bastards he conceded the transaction spot to were utter troublemakers, pushing him to the brink of rage with every word. Hence, he decided to stop controlling his easily angered heart and see where fate takes him with his newfound attitude. Bastards be damned. He''ll be kind when he wants to and be an assh*le should his heart decide to. From now on, only those he deemed worthy would receive his respect and kind treatment. Only those he wanted to help would receive help. He learned a few days ago¡ªthe hard way¡ªthat not everyone deserves his kindness, after all. "Dogs really do keep barking if you don''t discipline them," Shye eximed loudly, surprising the onlookers who had previously perceived him as a timid young adventurer, afraid of the three troublemakers. "Hahahaha you wanted me to move aside, yet, your transaction seems¡­meager¡­You''re probably just another envious broke-ass adventurer so I shall not argue with you anymore," he added, looking at the small amount of potions, tonics, and antidotes atop the counter beside his with a mocking smile before turning his head to look at the cashier in front of him. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" The leader of the trio replied in utter fury, however, upon seeing how¡­huge¡­the bastard''s transaction was, he couldn''t help but shut up for a few seconds, wracking his brains to think of a goodeback. There was no way for him to insult the guy''s purchases after all. The amount suggested that the guy purchasing them was either crazy rich or just straight-up crazy. "I don''t have a membership card right now, however, I do want to purchase one. Could you please kindly exin to me the various membership tiers?" Taking advantage of the other party''s silence, Shye respectfully asked the cashier. Upon hearing Shye''s words, both cashiers felt ted, knowing that the sale of a membership card would result in a significantmission for each of them, depending on the tier of the card sold. It didn''t matter who sold the card, both of them would receive money for it, hence, the cashier enthusiastically exined each tier. "We have a total of five membership tiers, Bronze, Silver, Gold, tinum, and Diamond. The membership cards are valid for a lifetime and would provide customers with discounts proportionate to the membership tier. Please check this pamphlet for the specific discount offers per membership tier." The cashier said, handing a small pamphlet made from high-quality paper. Taking the pamphlet from the cashier''s hands, Shye looked at its contents¡ªthe arrogant smile never left his face, pissing the three troublemakers off even more. Bronze membership - 10% discount for every purchase, limited to three uses each month. Silver membership - 15% discount for every purchase, limited to five uses each month. Gold membership - 20% discount for every purchase, limited to seven uses each month. tinum membership - 25% discount for every purchase, limited to nine uses each month. Diamond membership - 32% discount for every purchase, limited to twelve uses each month. While he was reading the pamphlet, the other cashier processing the transactions of the troublemakers asked the same question, prompting the troublemakers to proudly take out a gold membership card, looking at Shye with smirks on their faces as they handed their card over to the cashier. Naturally, the onlookers were amazed. They were regr shoppers at Constantine Consumables and most of them knew the prices of the membership cards as they attempted to purchase one before but were only able to afford the bronze one. The higher-tier cards offered a better price-to-benefit ratio, but despite their clear value, the onlookers found themselves unable to pay for them. Nheless, as regr shoppers, their membership cards had proven invaluable over the past few years, and they could confidently dere that they had no regrets about purchasing them. "So he has a gold-tier card¡­I''d say his arrogance has an actual basis¡­" "Yeah, I''d need to save up for at least three years before I could afford one. If I tried saving silver coins for that long, I''d probably be long gone before I could purchase one." Commented the spectators as they looked at the trio in awe. "Hahaha, what a clown. Just because my transaction is a bit smaller than yours, it doesn''t mean you have more money. It''s just that we prefer to shop regrly." The leader of the trio said, an arrogant smirk stered on his face as he retrieved his gold card from the cashier. Just as a few observers were poised to voice their agreement with the trio who possessed a gold-tier membership card, hoping to gain favor with them, a voice of even greater arrogance echoed from the adjacent counter. "I would like to purchase a diamond-tier membership please." Chapter 237: Just Because You’re Broke Doesn’t Mean I Am Too "W-What did you s-s-say sir? Did I hear correctly? You want to purchase a diamond-tier membership?" "Yes please, a diamond-tier membership." Hearing Shye''s confirmation sounded like heavenly tunes to the cashier''s ears, leaving her dumbstruck for a few moments. Throughout their seven years working as cashiers at Constantine Consumables, the two of them had never had the fortune of encountering a customer interested in purchasing a diamond-tier membership. The highest-tier membership for which they were able to earn amission was tinum-tier, an urrence that took ce several years ago when they were stationed at a different branch. They sure as hell livedfortably that entire year. Since then, they could count themselves fortunate if they came across a customer interested in purchasing a gold-tier membership. As for Shye, he was unaware that this diamond-tier membership purchase inadvertently assisted an average-ranking manager to rapidly ascend the ranks, earning a promotion to a branch with a higher status than Balkrow''s. All he cared about was to give the three bastards beside him the trouble and humiliation they were asking for. The bastards think that he, who just won eighty times his initial bet of 12,000 silver coins would be poor? Laughable! "O-Of course, sir! Let me quickly calcte the total price," the cashier handling his transaction eagerly responded, her heart racing with anticipation as she envisioned thefortable life awaiting her in the days ahead. Naturally, the cashier who was processing the trio''s transactions was in the same state of tion, causing her to make a few small mistakes whileputing the total price of the trio''s purchases, making the transaction take longer than usual. She was also entitled to half themission after all so she could hardly focus on the trio''s mediocre transaction, bringing further anger and humiliation upon the hearts of the three troublemakers. "BULLSHIT!! You?! Purchase a diamond-tier membership!? Who do you think you''re kidding? Quit pretending to be someone you''re not!" the trio''s leader¡ªowner of the gold-tier membership card¡ªraged. He would never believe that someone who appeared so young, perhaps only two years into their career at most, could possess the means to purchase a diamond-tier membership, especially when he, an adventurer of eight years, couldn''t afford it himself. "After eight years as an adventurer, I still couldn''t afford a diamond membership. And now you''re iming that you, a mere kid, could? Utterly delusional!" the man added. However, Shye simplyughed at him, making sure that hisugh was extra condescending as he waited for the cashier to finishputing the total price of his purchases, including the membership fees. With his teeth gnashed in utter fury, the man desired to speak once more. However, the cashier had alreadypleted herputations, identally blurting out the total price in a loud voice due to her excitement. "Sir, the total price would be 230,000 silver coins!" eximed the cashier unintentionally, causing the onlookers to gasp and the trio beside him tough in glee. 230,000 silver coins was an astronomical amount and he doubted that the young inexperienced adventurer from Raven''s de could afford it. Anticipating a spectacle, the trio assumed rxed postures, crossing their arms over their chests while wearing mocking smiles as they observed Shye. They believed that the young inexperienced bastard overestimated his wallet and underestimated the prices. Shye''s appearance of being "stunned," while he was actually just withdrawing money from the system, boosted the trio''s confidence, leading them to mock him once again. "Hahahahaha! What''s wrong?! Did an additional zero catch you off guard?! Come, show us how you pay 230,000 silver coins!" As a response, Shye merely smirked at them. He knew that he would probably be targeted as a fat sheep after this, however, he stopped caring ever since a few minutes ago upon deeperprehension of old man Sanada''s request. That''s right¡­he must be shy¡­highkey¡­ Even if it meant that he would be in danger more frequently than the average Joe, so be it. It was a price he had to pay for the benefits he obtained from the shy adventurer system. Heck, the system even had "shy" in its name so what took him so long to realize how he was expected to act by the old man? His current easily agitated emotions probably came with the system upgrade as he couldn''t think of any other reason than that. ''I guess I have to meet the old man once more to ask him a few questions¡­'' he thought, decisively pulling out small sacks of silver coins one after the other with an annoying smirk on his face. Every sack he took out prompted the mouths of the onlookers, including the dastardly trio, to open a bit wider. After taking out 24 sacks, Shye stopped, looking at the cashier with a smile. "Here, 240,000 silver coins, the extra ten thousand silver coins are for you and your friend." Shye said, "Please do count them." "R-Right away sir!" the cashier, feeling both nervous and excited, replied. At this point, the three idiots were utterly stupefied for the entire duration of the cashier counting the money. "T-This is indeed 240,000 silver coins¡­Thank you so much for the tip, young sir." the cashier said, both of them deeply bowing towards Shye in gratefulness. "No worries," Shye replied, a kind smile stered on his face. "Sir, please follow me inside, it is customary for our corporation''s managers to meet diamond members." the cashier said, motioning for Shye to follow her through a door after processing Shye''s payment. His diamond membership card would likely be given to him by the manager himself. Storing his purchases inside the system''s inventory, Shye looked at the three troublemakers with a mocking smile. "Heh, just because you can''t afford it doesn''t mean that others are as poor as you" Shye insulted, proceeding to ignore the three idiots who couldn''t say anything but "YOU!!" as he followed the other cashier through a door to meet the Balkrow Branch manager of Constantine Consumables. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 672 points!] Chapter 238: Befriending A Manager "HRRRRGH!!!! THAT LITTLE¡­" the leader of the trio raged¡ªoutside Constantine Consumables, of course. Troublesome as the guy might be, he wouldn''t dare cause trouble inside a well-known shop. He wouldn''t have pleasant days ahead if he did so after all. Naturally, the idiot and his stooges wouldn''t allow such humiliation to go unavenged, hence, they waited for Shye at a dark alley near the shop. ¡­ "Good day, Sir Crowley. I am Drone, the branch manager of Balkrow City. Allow me to extend our sincerest apologies for any shorings in our handling of the previous issue," Drone expressed, respectfully bowing his head towards Shye as they sat facing each other within the confines of the manager''s office. "No worries, Manager Drone. Such bastards need to be taught a lesson sooner orter." Shye replied, slightly smiling at Drone. He was in a good mood. Humiliating the three little idiots in front of numerous spectators brought him immense satisfaction and his heart felt lighter than ever after releasing all the fury he was suppressing. Why did he even try to control it in the first ce? It wasn''t like he was initiating trouble, he was just responding to the troublemakers ordingly! "We appreciate your understanding of our challenges, Sir Crowley. If I may be so bold as to inquire, are you a neer from Raven''s de?" asked Drone, slightly nervous. If this young diamond member turned out to be an *ssh*le and filed a report to the main branch due to his questions, all his hard work would go down the drain. However, he still dared to ask since it was necessary for him to try and establish a deeper connection with this client. If this rookie turns out to be some big shot in the future, then he could ride his glorious momentum and be promoted all the way to the high-ranking branches¡ªor better, have his current branch be a high-ranking one. After all, who else could take out 240,000 silver coins as though they were random pebbles littering the streets? At a young age at that. Either the individual before him possessed exceptional talent or held connections to influential figures. Drone had to take his chances, otherwise, he would remain a mediocre manager in a mediocre-ranking shop. Fortunately for him, although slightly hotheaded nowadays, Shye was a good person at his core. "Yes, I''ve just graduated this year. Raven''s de seemed like a good choice so I joined them" Shye replied. He knew that Drone was trying to probe his capabilities and since he also needed a few connections in Balkrow City, Shye decided to show Drone his worth. Who knows? He mightnd another partnership deal. Unbeknownst to them, both had intentions oftching on to the other to pursue greatness. Procuring high-quality consumables such as potions, training elixirs, tonics, and antidotes for oneself was an essential part of being an adventurer, hence, Shye thought that if he could obtain ess to a few¡­good stuff¡­by simply befriending Drone, then he would have a huge advantage over other adventurers. "I see¡­I must say, Sir Crowley. I am impressed by your capabilities. So young yet so heroic. The way you dealt with those troublemakers was simply brilliant!" "Hahahaha! Manager Drone is too nice. I''m just a humble rookie adventurer¡­" Shye and Drone continued praising each other for a few exchanges before the manager took out a small box. Based on their interaction, Shye was probably not only strong but also intelligent for his age, hence Drone decided that it was worth befriending such a talent even if it meant helping him behind the scenes. If this rookie manages to make it big, then his future in the corporation is also secured. Noticing the manager''s actions, Shye inwardly smiled. It seems that he managed to obtain a decent backer. A good start to his career. "Sir Crowley, the troublemakers may still be lingering outside our establishment. While I have confidence in your abilities, it would be prudent for you to utilize this," Drone suggested, unveiling the small box in his grasp. "Contained within is a scroll of lesser teleportation embedded with specific coordinates. Employing it will transport you to our secret establishment in Balkrow City, where one of our staff members will be ready to assist you." Shye received Drone''s gift with a smile on his face. Although he wasn''t scared of those three idiots, it would indeed be better to avoid trouble if he could. Moreover, imagining those three waiting for nothing was truly hrious, hence, he decided to heed Drone''s advice. Naturally, Shye had to show his sincerity as well, however, the question is¡­how? Shye''s mind whirled as he pondered what gift to present to Drone. He wasn''t ready for this sudden meeting so he wasn''t able to prepare a gift beforehand. Fortunately, he had the system. "Thank you, Manager Drone, for such a nice gift. I would like to give you one as well." Shye said, temporarily turning around to press a few buttons. Drone wanted to decline, however, he was interested in the rookie''s gift. It seems that the young man actually knew what was happening as well so he dropped his pretentious antics and simply waited for Shye to finish preparing his gift. Of course, Shye had no idea what this crafty manager would want, hence, he simply purchased the most expensive item in the consumables category for 3000 points. While 3000 points may have seemed costly, for Shye, it was a small price to pay for securing Manager Drone''s support. In truth, Shye didn''t bother reading the potion''sbel; he merely bought it because of its high price. Pretending to retrieve it from his counterfeit spatial bag, he handed it over to Drone, who, though intrigued, hadn''t anticipated much from Shye''s gift. He couldn''t afford to behave suspiciously for too long, as it might raise doubts in Drone''s mind. What Shye didn''t expect was Drone''s intense reaction to his gift. "This... Sir Crowley, I cannot ept such a rare gift!" eximed Drone, adamantly refusing Shye''s present. Honestly, Shye was shocked. He randomly bought the damned thing so who would expect that it would be considered rare in Drone''s eyes? Taking advantage of the pleasant surprise, Shye smiled. "I insist, Manager Drone. I believe you also know what I''m after so if you think I''m worth partnering with, please ept this small token of my appreciation." Hearing Shye finally voice out his true thoughts, Drone''s face turned serious, ultimately deciding to give Shye a profound bow of appreciation before receiving his gift. "Well, then, Manager Drone, if you need me, you can contact me through my guild. I shall drop by when I need something as well." Shye said, smiling at Drone. "It''s gettingte and I still have to look for amodation so I shall take my leave for now." "Again, I would like to extend my gratitude for this wonderful gift, Sir Crowley. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors as a rookie adventurer." Nodding appreciatively towards Drone, Shye used the scroll of lesser teleportation, disappearing from Drone''s office and reappearing at an establishment one kilometer away from the shop. Meanwhile, at a dark alleyway near Constantine Consumables¡­ "When the f*ck will that turtlee out?!" Chapter 239: Quest Priority It was still quite dark. The well-rested sun has just begun its ascent back to its heavenly throne, yet, there are already quite a few people walking to and fro on the streets of Balkrow City. Among these early birds was an ashen-haired young man. Deciding to look for permanent amodations another time, Shye opted to turn in early for the night at a decent inn. Two weeks from now, rookies woulde in droves, hence, he nned toplete a quest or two before thepetition arrived. As he sauntered towards the guild, Shye hummed a merry tune. The inn he stayed at was quite far from the guild so it took him around half an hour of walking before he arrived. Still, he arrived earlier than most of his idle guildmates¡ªsome still dozing off. Adventurers are free spirits, they could opt to bezy for a few days as long as they still have funds to live off of. Shye didn''t have such luxury though as he still had toplete the darned mandatory quest before he could rx. Pushing the doors of the guild open, heads subconsciously turned to see who arrived. Realizing it was the neer, the guildsmen had varying reactions. Some were apathetic; a few wore condescending smiles, while others pondered whether to befriend Shye or not. Ultimately, most of them decided to temporarily observe him. If he seemed approachable and promising, then they would try to invite him to their adventurer party. Naturally, Shye didn''t care about most of them. He had to rank up as fast as possible and to do that, he had to try and aplish most quests by himself. Partying up with others, albeit safer, would divide the guild contribution points obtained frompleting a quest among all the party members. As a result, it would take a longer time for him to rank up. Moreover, he somehow finds it hard to trust fellow adventurers these days. Walking towards the quest board after receiving a customary greeting from the guild receptionist, Aya, Shye crossed his arms over his chest and checked the quests posted on the board. There were a lot of avable quests. A testimony to his guild''s excellence in providing solutions to those in need of it. ''Let''s see¡­I should probably take on C rank quests for now¡­'' Shye thought, scanning his eyes over the quests printed in yellow scrolls. To facilitate adventurers in finding quests suitable for their ranks, the guild staff neatly organized the quests on the board ording to the color of the scrolls¡ªyellow indicating (C) ranked quests. Even so, it was difficult to look for a suitable one. Finding himself in the position of the adventurers who stood in front of the quest board for a long time, a dawn of realization struck Shye. ''Haaah¡­Who would''ve thought that looking for suitable quests would be this challenging? He thought, ncing at those adventurers idling in the lobby. ''Those guys are probably waiting for a suitable quest to be posted on the board¡­'' Initially, Shye thought that the guys in the lobby were simplyzy, hence, he didn''t have a good first impression of them. However, upon realizing that those guys were probably just picking quests wisely, Shye saw them in a new light. They only have one life after all. After thoroughly reading quest details of various quests on the board for around an hour and a half, Shye finally found a suitable one. ==== Hunt: Ripper Ko Quest Rank: C Details: Retrieve thirteen pieces of titanium ivory ws from a MATURE Ripper Ko. Location: Bloody Eucalypt Forest, Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone Rmended Party Size: 3 or more Rewards: 2,500 silver coins and 500 contribution points. Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 15 days ==== ''Ripper Kos huh?'' Shye mused. "These guys are probably a good opponent for me right now, not too strong, not too weak¡­moreover, the rewards are quite nice¡­'' Deciding to take the quest, Shye extended his arms to grab the scroll from the quest board to have it registered under his name. Unfortunately for neers like him, things weren''t meant to be peaceful, as another hand reached for the quest at the same moment as his. "Whoops, I found it first, hands-off, you lowly beginner." An annoying voice only a few years older than his sounded beside him with a mocking tone. "(C) rank quest? How arrogant. You''ll just cause trouble for the guild and the client so hand it over, NOW!" The guy was quite tall, looking down at him with a condescending smile. Naturally, Shye was annoyed, however, he also felt excited. ''Heh, another idiot begging for humiliation.'' he thought, not backing down one bit. "Who the hell are you? With how weak you look, you will just embarrass the guild." Shye retorted, looking at Receptionist Aya right after. "Miss, Aya, please register this quest under my name. Thank you." Aya was fairly familiar with the troublemakers in the guild. Although they couldn''t touch her since she was a guild staff, many rookies fell under their wicked schemes. Upon seeing him approach, she already anticipated that the guy next to Shye, Candor, intended to bully the neer. However, what she didn''t expect was that instead of moving aside, like what most rookies do, Shye dared to talk back, ferociously at that. "R-Right away, Sir Crowley," Aya replied. After Shye''s official registration with the guild, the guild master immediately summoned her to his office and instructed her that the neer, Shye Crowley, would be given priority on quests he wished to undertake, without exceptions. If he desires a quest, it must be registered under his name immediately, and he should not be denied his preferred quest under any circumstances. Aya was a smart woman, she knew what the branch guild master meant. This was probably orders from the main branch, hence, she would not be foolish enough to defy them as not even the toughest of adventurers in this branch of their guild could handle the wrath of the higher-ups. Hearing Aya''s words¡ªalmost subservient, Candor and the onlookers were stupefied. As for Shye, the arrogant smile on his face grew more prevalent. Soaring Raven promised them quest priority so Candor''s idiotic attempt of making trouble for him was nothing but pureedy in his eyes. Chapter 240: Bullied Bully Frowning in embarrassment and fury, Candor let go of the quest scroll and stomped towards Aya''s desk. "Miss Aya, Aren''t you being a bit too biased here? Everyone saw that we reached for the quest at the same time. Isn''t it guild protocol to have a friendly duel for the quest registration rights?" Candor asked as he mmed Aya''s countertop in anger. "Yes, Sir Candor, while that may be the standard protocol, I am merely following orders," Aya replied calmly. "Under orders? Whose orders? Your heart''s?" Candor retorted disrespectfully. He saw Aya''s sweet smile towards Shye, hence, he believed that Aya was merely following the orders of her little heart. In his mind, he would never believe that the guild master would favor this neer over him, a veteran tinum-ranked guild member who had been serving the guild for five years. Just when Aya was about to respond, Shye''s mocking voice echoed from behind Candor. "Hahahaha, stop making trouble for Miss Aya. The development of talented people would naturally be prioritized over those of mediocre talents. There really isn''t much toprehend here." Shye said, luring the bastard''s attention away from Aya. He knows the truth and Aya was indeed just acting on orders, hence, he felt obligated to at least help her escape the ire of this bastard named Candor. Hearing the arrogant rookie''s words, veins popped at the sides of Candor''s head. This little shithead of a neer actually dared to call him untalented?! "Yo¡­isn''t this neer too fiery?" "Hahahaha, out of all the rookies, this one is indeed the most vicious-mouthed" "BAHAHAHA! Candor finally met his match. That''s what you get for not respecting beginners!" The guildsmen, who were spectating,mented, intensifying the anger and humiliation welling in Candor''s heart. "YOU ARROGANT LITTLE PRICK! DO YOU DARE FIGHT ME IN A DUEL?!" Candor raged, drawing his shortsword and pointing it at Shye¡ªa customary pose to officially challenge someone. Hearing Candor''s words, Shye merely sneered in disdain. He knew that it woulde to this sooner orter. ''Heh, alright then, since you''re begging to be physically and mentally crushed in front of your guildmates, I''ll grant your wish.'' Shye thought as he looked at Candor with a condescending smile. Candor was strong, however, he wasn''t someone Shye couldn''t handle. "Heh, Do you think I''m scared of untalented bullies like you? You''re asmon as pebbles on random roads! Fine then, since you want a duel, how about we take it up a notch? Bet your adventurer license. The one who loses gets their adventurer license revoked. What do you say?" Upon hearing the arrogant rookie''s words, the onlookers, who intended to confront Shye after Candor, broke out in a cold sweat. The rookie was just too confident. Moreover, the way he issued his counter-challenge suggested that the guy wasn''t a simple overconfident idiot. Would they be willing to ept the rookie''s challenge if they dared mess with him? Most of them wouldn''t. An adventurer license was equal to an adventurer''s livelihood. Losing it would mean losing their only means of ie. Sure, they could apply to mundane positions in the guild, but they would be bidding farewell to their aspirations of leading dream lives if they choose to do so. Betting one''s adventurer license was simply not worth it, especially for a stupid reason such as bullying a rookie. Thanking their lucky stars that they weren''t in Candor''s position, most of the guildsmen with wicked thoughts to suppress Shye immediately decided to drop their ns lest they end up in the same situation as Candor¡ªstuck between a rock and a hard ce. If Candor decides to fight, there is a fair chance of losing considering how confident the rookie was. On the other hand, if he backs down, his reputation would sink to the darkest depths of the ocean. All eyes on him, Candor perspired nervously. Throughout his five years in the guild, Candor had never encountered such a confident and reckless rookie, not caring about the repercussions of offending him, a guild veteran. Pressured by the spectator''s gazes, Candor made an unexpected decision. "H-Hmpph! C-Consider yourself lucky, brat. While I do want to test the mettle of arrogant rookies like you, I''m not fond of destroying someone''s future."Candor said, his voice slightly quivering as he walked away. Unfortunately for him, Shye was keen on showing everyone his fangs today. Candor started this shit and he was merely retaliating. If he allowed Candor to walk away without making him look like a clown, then others might start bullshitting with him every other day. "Hahahaha! What aedian. Issuing a challenge then backing away when a wager is involved? Can one get any wussier than that?Yeah, go. Continue walking, You''re all talk anyway. Just don''t show up in front of me too often or I might die ofughter." Shye ruthlessly said, each word stabbing deep into Candor''s heart, gnawing at both his sanity and self-respect. Candor wanted to turn around and throw caution to the wind, however, ultimately, he didn''t dare, further deepening his shock and burgeoning seeds of depression in his heart. He regretted going after the neer. How could he have expected that an inexperienced rookie would be so vicious and ruthless? Not leaving him even a single ounce of reputation. ''Sure he tried to bully the neer¡­but¡­did he deserve such heartless humiliation? Aren''t they guildmates?'' was a thought that continuously infested Candor''s heart and mind as he dejectedly walked out of the branch headquarters. His reputation just went down the drain and he was not in the mood to look for suitable quests. In fact, if given a choice, he would¡­leave the guild and apply for another one. Only, it wasn''t advisable to do so as his credibility would diminish should he leave his guild for such a stupid reason. What would he say? That he was bullied by a rookie in his previous guild? He would be aughingstock! Watching the troublemaker, Candor, leave the guild establishment in a depressed state, Shye felt immense satisfaction. ''Ahh¡­crap, I shouldn''t get addicted to this feeling¡­'' [Congrattions! You''ve earned 69 points!] Chapter 241: Appraisal Lv.3 "Thank you, Miss Aya," Shye said, slightly bowing towards the guild receptionist for registering the quest under his name without questions. Realizing that the spicy matter ended with the neer''s victory, the guildsmen started to disperse, returning to their seats while talking about how fierce the new rookie was and how much of a clown Candor became. With that, they thought themotion caused by the rookie was over. However, just a few secondster, Aya, who just realized what Shye''s desired quest was, started a new one. "R-Ripper Kos?! S-Sir Crowley¡­If I may be so presumptuous¡­Ripper Kos are extremely dangerous marsupials and they can attack you from anywhere¡­I rmend looking for party members to watch your back¡­" "I truly appreciate your concern, Miss Aya. Nevertheless, there''s truly no cause for worry on my behalf. With that said, I shall be departing for the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone. Please excuse me." Shye responded politely, offering a slight bow of gratitude to the guild receptionist before exiting through the guild door. Unbeknownst to him, his simple conversation with Aya before he left stirred yet another ruckus inside the branch headquarters. "D-Did I hear correctly? Is he actually taking on Ripper Kos? Alone?" "This rookie is just too sick in the head! Candor shouldn''t have f*cked with such a crazy guy¡­." "He''s either very confident in his abilities or outright reckless!" "Hmmph! What an arrogant neer...He''ll surely return a corpse!" Well, Shye truly didn''t know how strong Ripper Kos are, however, he was confident in his ability to take down a (C) ranked creature. Although it would probably be hard, he needed to temper himself through various challenges. Moreover, he had to reach ruby rank in a single year, otherwise, he would suffer major permanent status setbacks. Walking across the streets of Balkrow, Shye looked around. He then sneakily opened the system and essed the adventurer encyclopedia to check for information regarding Ripper Kos. === Creature Name: Ripper Ko Creature Rank: C Description: An agile and powerful marsupial inhabiting diverse eucalypt forests, Ripper Kos are typically dormant during daylight hours, only to be active at night. Emerging from their towering eucalyptus perches, they venture forth to hunt camping adventurers. While primarily solitary, they may sometimes be encountered in small clusters of two or three individuals. === ''Tch¡­this might be troublesome¡­'' Shye thought, his fairly inexperienced mind churned as he thought of ways to hunt the darned nocturnal creatures. It would be next to impossible for him to hunt the kos resting atop the tall blood-eucalyptus trees, hence, he somehow had to hunt one during nighttime. Only, hecked experience in nocturnal hunts, and engaging inbat with a marsupial boasting exceptional night vision could pose a significant danger to him. Swiftly passed three hours of walking, yet, Shye still couldn''t think of how to properly hunt one. He was at his wits'' end. Fortunately, just before he arrived at the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, an idea suddenly popped up in his head. A crazy one. Borderline tugging at his moral values. ''Well, it''s the n with the highest probability of working so¡­I guess I just have to do it.'' Shye thought as he arrived at a vast marble lobby¡ªBalkrow and the nearby Fernham City''s entrance to the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone. The vibrant scene before him was familiar. Numerous adventurers of various ranks, ranging from gold to emerald, and diverse sses, grouped up. All were d in assorted tiers of equipment as they checked the conditions of their weapons, the avability of consumables in their spatial bags, and the quest requirements as some of them were called to join partiesst minute. As for Shye, he pretended to do the same. He hade not to farm materials, but solely to fulfill a single quest. Moreover, he already restocked his potions by a tremendous amount and his weapons were still in fairly good condition, hence, his current actions of pretending to inspect his weapons were actually him already executing his n. Using appraisal on each and every adventurer who he suspected was of the gold and tinum rank, Shye tried to remember all of them, unexpectedly making another pleasant breakthrough as he did so. [Congrattions! Your skill: [Appraisal Lv.2], leveled up to >> [Appraisal Lv.3]!] ''Oh? Finally!'' Shye thought, suppressing a smile from emerging on his face. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Fear Randamach [Level]: 59 [upation]: Adventurer (Gold) [ss]: Swordsman [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.3] [Dash Lv.3] [Stoic Lv.1] [Enhance Agility Lv.2] [Enhance Strength Lv.3] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.1] [Lethal Edge Lv.1(Umon)] [Strength: 85] [Intelligence: 18] [Agility: 90] [Dexterity: 83] [Stamina: 52] [Vitality: 81]: [Wisdom: 25] [Back][Exit System] ''Holy crap¡­I can even see their upation and skills now?'' He mused, utterly excited about the additional details provided by his trusty appraisal skill. His imagination ran wild, thinking about how he could use the additional information brought about by the skill to his advantage. ''Heh, this is a bit too big of an advantage, no? With this, no bastards and b*tches can hide their trump cards from me! In terms of skills¡­at least. I should still be wary of trump cards embedded in various items, weapons, and armor though¡­'' Lost in his own thoughts, Shye was forcefully dragged back to reality as one of the adventurer parties he was keenly observing,posed of gold and tinum-ranked adventurers, left the lobby and entered the zone. ''Whoops, gotta follow¡­'' Standing up from the spot he was squatting on as he feigned preparation, Shye jogged towards the entrance where the guards temporarily stopped him to check his adventurer license and adventurer badge. Naturally, Shye took out his credentials swiftly, lest he lose track of the adventurer party. Unfortunately, the guards had other ns. "Brother, I know this isn''t part of my job but¡­I rmend you form a party of three or four first before entering. You only have one life¡­" One of the guards said, concerned about his safety. Shye understood that the guard was simply concerned about his safety, however, he almostshed out at them again. Fortunately, he managed to grab hold of his emotions on time, taking one deep breath to calm his raging heart before responding as politely as he could. "Thank you for your concern. Nevertheless, my guild has authorized me to undertake this quest solo, and I am confident in my ability to navigate the hazards within the zone," Shye replied, offering the guards a slight bow before retrieving his credentials from their grasp. ''F*ck!, my temper is spiraling out of control... There''s definitely something amiss...'' Chapter 242: First Quest: Preparations Sighing deeply as he entered the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, Shye swiftly scanned the surroundings, looking for the adventurer party that had just left. ''The left path huh? Haaah¡­so they''re not going near the blood eucalypt forest¡­'' Shyemented. He then looked around to search for shrubberies where he could hide and wait for the next gold-tinum adventurer party to enter the zone. Luckily, there were a lot of random bushes around, allowing him to find a suitable spot in just a few minutes. Making himselffortable, Shye waited and opened the system, scanning for epic talents to purchase. There were a lot and he shouldn''t decide willy-nilly. Points are bing harder and harder to obtain after all. After around thirty minutes of scrolling, he suddenly remembered something. ''Crap, that was close¡­'' Shye thought, navigating through the regr quests section and searching for one which involves hunting Ripper Kos. ''Gotta get those extra few points!'' === Hunt: Ripper Ko Creature Rank: C Requirements: y 1 mature or 2 adolescent Ripper Ko(s) Rewards: 3500 points === ''Oh? Is it just me or did the point reward increase?'' Shye mused as he recalled the 3500 points regr quest reward he got for ying the blind kobold general which is a (B) ranked creature. If the rewards for Shye''s current quest, which involves hunting the C-ranked ripper ko, match those for a B-ranked creature from when the system was only at level two, then there may be a small chance that his spections were urate. ''Well, I can always take my time in confirming this theory¡­'' Finally, after waiting for around one more hour, a party of five gold-ranked adventurers entered, heading toward the direction of the blood-eucalypt forest. Although Shye is unsure if they will head to the forest itself, as long as they hunt near it, then he can at least bet on his n. Sneakily navigating through the forest¡ªvignce raised sky high, Shye followed the party. He was sure that the party''s scout would detect his movements if he followed too closely. Thus, he maintained a significant distance from the adventurer party. It proved challenging. Especially since he was alone, he became an ideal target for monstrous creatures. Fortunately, the creatures that attacked him were mostly of the (C-) rank, allowing him to dispose of them easily, harvest a few important parts, and promptly return to stalking the adventurer party. Half an hourter, the party finally arrived at an area known as the silver grass savanna¡ªa location fairly close to the blood-eucalypt forest. Eavesdropping earlier, Shye heard that the party had to hunt ten Zephyr Gazelles, a fairly weak yet absurdly nimble (C-) rank creature. It was hard to catch even a single one and it would probably take the party a few days before they could aplish their quest. This specific party was simply the perfect one for him to stalk. As the adventurer party established their camp¡ªtheir base of operations for theing days, Shye also did the same. He searched for a suitable area. Neither too far, nor too close to the adventurer party. ''Hmm¡­this is a fairly good area to stay at¡­'' Shye pondered as he stumbled upon a somewhat concealed spot behind some shrubs, beneath a young acacia tree. Opting to stay at the said spot, Shye took out a sleeping bag, unhurriedlyying it down on the ground. He would probably stay here for almost as long as the adventurer party does, hence, there was no need for him to rush. In his n, prudence and patience are key. ''Those guys would probably try to hunt at least one gazelle before the sun goes down¡­'' Shye thought, observing the party who just finished setting up camp before ncing at the sky which was still fairly bright. ''Well, there''s nothing for me to do, is there? Better chill then!'' Searching for afortable position as he sat down on his sleeping bag, Shye appreciated the slightly earthy and grassy smell caressing his olfactory senses as a temperate wind blew past him, making the surrounding shrubs and leaves rustle¡ªa peaceful melody tickling his eardrums. ''Damn, this is cozy as f*ck¡­'' he mused, deciding to take out another sleeping bag to give himself a bit more room to roll around. Scanning his eyes over what suddenly became hisfortable secret base, Shye nodded satisfactorily¡ªa serene smile stered on his face. Observing him in his present condition, one would never suspect that he was in the middle of a perilous quest. One that a regr solo adventurer wouldn''t be expected to pull off sessfully. ''There''s still quite some time before the sun goes down¡­I want to take a quick nap¡­'' pondered Shye, deciding whether it would be wise to use a few of his¡­strategic¡­powders¡­in exchange for afy rest. "Well, why not? I purchased a few extra anyway..." Deciding that a quick cozy nap was worth it, Shye retrieved two sachets from the system''s inventory¡ªone of earthen scent powder, and another of lesser camouge. Applying both on his skin, it would be impossible for (C) rank creatures and below to spot him¡­for two hours at least. ''That should do the trick¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he nestled into one of the sleeping bags, closing his eyes and relishing in his snug outdoor nap. What he hadn''t anticipated was that his nap would extend beyond two hours, gradually heightening the risk as additional minutes passed by. Luckily, his sixty silver coin nap proved to be worth it. Waking up to two moons illuminating the darknds beneath along with the countless stars timelessly watching over the world, Shye felt refreshed. With a satisfied yawn, he peered out from the nearby shrubbery to observe the resting adventurers, noting how the small fire in the center of their camp served multiple purposes, one of which would directly aid him inpleting his quest. ''Well then, time to work!'' In anticipation ofpleting his quest that night, Shye took precautions for his safety by arranging several nylon tripwires, each equipped with small yet loud bells, around the perimeter of his little secret base, serving as rudimentary rm traps. Chapter 243: Failed Plan? Seven full cycles of the sun and two moons alternating in watching over the world have passed since Drone had a meeting with Shye, the new diamond member of Constantine Consumables. Since then, he journeyed nonstop for six days, traveling from city to city, teleporter to teleporter, to reach his corporation''s headquarters in Valenzia City as soon as possible, eager to attend this quarter''s manager summit. Wearing a formal coat, tie, and perfectly fitted ck pants, Drone stood before a mirror inside his room at a luxury inn. He looked dashing. Slightly tilting his head to the sides as he admired his appearance, Drone smiled satisfactorily. ''Heh, you look dashing again today, Manager Drone.'' he thought to himself as he strode out of two doors¡ªhis room''s and the inn''s. He then entered the carriage waiting for him in front of the inn, making onest short journey towards Constantine Consumables'' Main Headquarters. Half an hourter, his elegant carriage arrived in front of a vast, towering, and majestic building made from a mix of luxurious smooth granite blocks, top-quality cement, and mild steel, exuding simplicity and elegance. In front of the building were multiple banners, each disying different insignias corresponding to various long-standing partnerships¡ªa testament to Constantine Consumables'' businesspetence. Taking one deep breath before exiting his carriage, Drone entered the bustling building in a dignified manner, capturing the attention of customers, staff members, and managers like himself. His entrance was captivating, yet, it triggered different reactions from those of the same upation as him. Some looked at him in utter disdain; a few smiled kindly, while most were apathetic. Drone wasn''t new to this though, this meeting happens four times a year after all. Ignoring the unfriendly managers, Drone smiled warmly as he exchanged greetings with several amicable ones, leisurely strolling around the lobby and shaking hands with them, all the while exuding an unusual sense of calm confidence. Promptly after, he chose an empty seat in the vast lobby, waiting for the meeting to start like everyone else. Regrettably, it was inevitable that a certain manager would appear, and the moment he did, Drone realized that his tranquil wait was about to be disrupted. "Oh? Hahaha! Drone, you''re still here? How delightful. Please ept my sincere gratitude. The corporation values your consistency. Frankly, your steadfastness in remaining in the mid-lower rankings for an extended period is absolutely outstanding. Truly one of a kind!" An irritating voice filled with mockery and sarcasm echoed from the entrance, drawing attention to a fat middle-aged man with a receding hairline. Observers couldn''t help but feel sympathy for the strain his coat and tie endured as his ample frame fought fiercely against the confines of the buttons. Drone naturally opted to ignore the fat bastard, unfortunately, it wouldn''t be so easy as Saille, his bald nemesis whose branch recently managed to enter the top fifty, was adamant about inflicting humiliation upon him. The fat baldy even dared to walk and stand in front of Drone, crossing his arms as he looked condescendingly at the dashing middle-aged manager. Drone knew that the fatty''s hate for him wasn''t unfounded though, after all, they once pursued the same woman, only for that woman to end up marrying him. Well, he looked extremely dashingpared to Saille so the baldy''s chances were as fat as his physique. It was inevitable for the insecure and narrow-minded Saille to hate him. He tried tolerating the fatty as much as possible, however, the guy''s antagonizing antics did nothing but worsen as years went by. Drone''s patience wore thin. "What do you want? Saille, please get your unpleasant face out of my sight. I''m not in the mood to banter with you." Drone said as he red at the fat baldy. "Hahahahaha! I just want to greet an old friend, why are you acting like this? Could it be that¡­you hate me?!" Saille snickered, the annoying smile on his face growing even wider. "Hmph" Not wanting to engage in a conversation with the annoying fatty any longer, Drone simply snorted in reply. "Hey there, old buddy,e on, let''s chat. How''s your shop?" Saille asked again, but Drone remained silent. "Hahaha! Probably not thriving as usual. Well, keep at it. It''s thanks to underachievers like you that I get to stay on top. Hahahahahaha!" The fatty''s voice echoed as he finally walked away from Drone, a satisfied smile stered on his plump face. Just a few seconds after themotion caused by Saille died down, a staff member tasked to help run the manager summit walked towards the lobby. "Honorable Managers, the executives are ready, please enter the summit room" Hearing the staff member''s words, all of the managers waiting in the lobby stood up and proceeded toward the summit room. *** Meanwhile, inside the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, in an area called the silver grass savanna, an ashen-haired young manyzily on his sleeping bags. ''Haaah¡­It''s been five days... They''ve already hunted seven gazelles... Just three more, and my n goes up in smoke¡­'' Shye sighed, momentarily checking the progress of the adventurer party. After another half an hour ofzing around, the cold night arrived, once again shrouding the world in a veil of biting darkness. As usual, Shye got up, preparing himself for another night of waiting in vain. His anticipation of failure proved to be correct as the evening was once again uneventful. The adventurers took turns in sentry duty, none the wiser that someone was doing so from the shadows of the shrubs. Hours quickly passed. In just two more hours, the sun would rise again. Shye was losing hope in his n, prompting him to think of other ways toplete his quest. ''Haaah¡­Should I try my luck and climb a bloody tall eucalypt tree?'' he sighed, deciding to pack up and head towards the blood-eucalypt forest instead of continuing to idle at his current location. However, just as he was preparing to rise, eerie and spine-chilling roars reverberated from two mature acacia trees, while two pairs of red dots, resembling the eyes of monstrous creatures, emerged atop the trees. "W-WAKE UP!! WE''RE BEING ATTACKED!!" Chapter 244: Sadly, You’re Nothing But A Side Character As the sentry''s terrified voice reverberated across the nearby periphery of the savanna, a pair of two-meter-tall shadows emerged from the chilling darkness. The hair-raising sound of massive ws asionally scraping against dirt and stones sent chills down the sentry''s spine. Waking up to two pairs of horrifying scarlet eyes, the gold-ranked adventurers momentarily screamed, clumsily drawing their weapons in utter distress. A few secondster, Shye and the adventurers finally beheld the creatures in all their glory. The creatures looked identical, only, one was slightly smaller than the other, however, both were eerily crawling on all fours, appearing extremely menacing as their massive ws made Shye and the gold-ranked party swallow anxiously. Undoubtedly, a single swift strike from those ws, reminiscent of the grim reaper''s scythe, would end their lives. ''Appraisal'' [Name]: Ripper Ko [upation]: Monstrous Creature [Creature Rank]: C [Description] An agile and powerful marsupial inhabiting diverse eucalypt forests, Ripper Kos are typically dormant during daylight hours, only to be active at night. Emerging from their towering eucalyptus perches, they venture forth to hunt camping adventurers. While primarily solitary, they may sometimes be encountered in small clusters of two or three individuals. [Skills] [w Swipe Lv.(N/A)] [Eucalyptus Chomp Lv.(N/A)] [Ripper''s Rage Lv. (N/A)] [Fake Death Lv.(N/A)] [Pounce Lv.(N/A)] [Climb Tree Lv.(N/A)] [Strength: 155] [Intelligence: 40] [Agility: 150] [Dexterity: 140] [Stamina: 70] [Vitality: 110]: [Wisdom: 40] [Back][Exit System] ''Finally! The darned things appeared!'' Shye celebrated as a crazy smile emerged on his face. In contrast to Shye''s tion, the adventurer party was horrified. They were mere gold-ranked adventurers, although there were five of them, they would be lucky if they could hold out for half an hour. After all, even tinum-ranked adventurers would find it hard to defeat ripper kos. Shortly afterward, one of the five adventurers, a rtively young female mage, recognized the creatures and dropped to her knees, her face contorted with profound despair. "N-No¡­T-there''s just no way¡­we''re gonna die¡­we''re all gonna die!!!'' the woman crazily shrilled. She meticulously selected her quests as she progressed from bronze to her current rank: gold. Hence, she had never been in such a dangerous situation. Realizing that she will most likely die today, the poor adventurer''s mind broke down. "BERYL!! PICK UP YOUR STAFF!! DON''T GIVE UP SO EASILY!!" One of the adventurers eximed, gnashing his teeth in frustration. Ever since their rookie year, the five of them had been together. Initially, their interactions were awkward, stemming from their diverse backgrounds in different academies, however, they have since be close friends. The party leader, Fisher, had big dreams. ''As long as the five of us are together, we can do anything'' was his steadfast belief, hence, he never thought that the day woulde when they would be in such a deadly situation. He, as the party leader, had been careful in choosing quests. As a result, their entire party, "The Fearsome Five", as they call themselves, steadily climbed from bronze and silver to gold. Unfortunately, it seems that their smooth streak would end today as not only one but probably all five of them would perish. Fisher also knows this. However, he didn''t want things to end; he refused to simply give up on their lives and dreams. Meanwhile, Shye prepared himself to help the poor adventurers. Equipping both of his greatswords, Shye decided to check his status, expecting that his rare talent,[Greatsword Meister (Rare)], would grant him enough attributes to fight on equal footing with at least one Ripper Ko. [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 74 [ss]: Warrior [Active Skills]: [Swallow Step Lv.1] [Appraisal Lv.2] [Dash Lv.4] [Power sh Lv.4][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.3][Stoic Lv.4] [Destructive Chop Lv.3] [Rush Stab Lv.3][Lunge Pierce Lv3][Draconian Roar Lv.2][Boost Lv.1(Rare)]... [See More] [Semi-Passive Skills]: [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1(Rare)] [Passive Skills]: [Dual Wield(Rare)] Talent: [Lim??(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Attributes]: [Strength: 120(+36)] [Intelligence: 94] [Agility: 120(+24)] [Dexterity: 120(+24)] [Stamina: 90(+18)] [Vitality: 105(+21)] [Wisdom: 53] [Back][Exit System] ''Hmm¡­Still a bit short but this should be enough to work with¡­'' Shye thought, returning his attention to the ongoing camp attack. What he didn''t expect was that one of the adventurers would do something idiotic. Shye didn''t want them to die, not even one. The reason is guilt. He didn''t want to feel guilty for using them as bait, hence, he vowed to do his best to protect them, however, it seems that fate had other ns. Fisher, as both the party''s warrior and leader, courageously charged forth, empowered by his delusions that they would somehow make it as long as they fought fiercely for their lives. Unfortunately, he wasn''t the main character he thought he was. As his charge''s momentum brought him closer to the kos, Fisher''s resolute face was reced by utter horror as both kos shed him an eerie smile, as though they wereughing at him for being delusional. With a single swipe of their ws, Fisher, along with his sword, was shed into six pieces. Blood sttered everywhere as various dismembered body parts hurtled through the air, a fewnding beside the dead man''s party members, prompting all of them to scream, their sanity¡ªutterly destroyed. A few minutes prior, they were peacefully sleeping. Everyone''s presence brought serenity to everyone. Now, their greatest pir of mental fortitude, their party leader Fisher, became nothing but scattered bits of flesh. Realizing that the party wouldn''t evenst two minutes without his help, Shye gnashed his teeth, activating his semi-passive skill, [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1(Rare)], to inflict fear stacks upon one ko while he swiftly charged towards the other. Naturally, the kos who not only had absurdly sharp instincts but also perfect synergy due to hunting together for several years, immediately sensed the dangering from the nearby shrubbery. Seemingly conversing with each other using shrill, chilling cries, one ko charged toward Shye while the other continued attacking the bewildered gold-ranked adventurer party. Chapter 245: The Stuff Of Nightmares "FIFTEEN MINUTES!! SURVIVE FOR FIFTEEN MINUTES AND YOU WILL LIVE!!" A voice unfamiliar to the four remaining adventurers reverberated from the shadows, forcefully snapping them out of bewilderment. Realizing that someone, probably a high-ranked adventurer, was there to help them, the frightened four finally managed to regather their wits. They grasped their weapons tightly as desperate yet determined expressions emerged on their faces, a single thought resonating in their minds. ''Fifteen minutes! I will live if I can hold on for fifteen minutes!'' As the party started to make moves to defend themselves, Shye heaved a sigh of relief, refocusing on the opponent in front of him. The charging ko drew closer. Raising its long right arm, the ripper ko swiped its ws diagonally, aiming to rip Shye apart into three pieces. However, how could such a basic attack hit the ace representative of a champion academy? Recognizing the swipe attack as nothing but an opening, Shye charged forth, kicking up clouds of dust as he disappeared from his original position, reappearing close to the ko by using his skill, [Dash Lv.4], to skillfully dodge the ko''s attack and ce himself in a position to counterattack at the same time. ''Let''s test how tough this thing is.'' he thought as he ferociously swung both greatswords downwards, aiming to sever the ko''s extended right arm. *SPURT* As nimble and strong as the ko might be, it seems like it wasn''t blessed with a quick reaction time, allowing both greatswords to sh deep into the ko''s right arm, prompting purple blood to spurt out of the horrifying wound. Therger Ripper Ko howled in agony as the synergizing elements of water and lightning momentarily paralyzed it, giving the loathsome ashen-haired adventurer in front of it ample time to retreat to safety. Sessfully making it through a momentary suffering, the ko''s scarlet eyes locked onto Shye. The darned thing was absolutely furious. However, Shye wasn''t intimidated. Not a single bit. Why would he when the ko''s dominant arm was limping, just a few muscle fibers away frompletely separating from the rest of its body? Although his [Power sh Lv.4]-powered attack failed to cut through the creature''s right armpletely, it achieved his desired result. With one arm basically useless, the ko struggled. Having just one arm for offense made it simple to anticipate the creature''s assaults, enabling Shye to elegantly evade and dodge its subsequent attacks. However, the ko already learned its lesson. It refrained from extending its arms too far, wary of another lethal blow, thus opting for slightly less forceful yet morepact attacks. Realizing that its partner was in trouble, the slightly smaller ko stopped attacking the gold-ranked adventurer party, promptly turning its attention towards Shye to help therger ko who seemed to be losing the battle. As he noticed a huge shadow charging at him from his peripheral vision, Shye turned his head to look. ''Crap!'' Shye inwardly cursed upon recognition that the other Ripper Ko was out for him. He swiftly jumped backward to reposition, ensuring that both Kos would be in front of him as it would be hard for him to fight both should one manage to position itself behind him. Gnashing his teeth as unpleasant memories resurfaced in his mind, Shye resolved to fight the two monstrous creatures by himself, not expecting any help from the adventurer party. ''Come then, you damned kos!'' Shye inwardly scowled, fiercely gazing at the kos as he opted to take an aggressive approach instead of a defensive one¡ªjust as he had always done. Without waiting for the charging ko to close the distance, he fiercely dashed towards the injured one, aiming to either incapacitate itpletely or inflict severe wounds before fighting both of them in a two-versus-one. There was no room for holding back. Transparent and decaying mana wings materialized on Shye''s back followed shortly by a hair-raising howl that reverberated across the savanna, capturing the attention of other predators. However, since such a howl couldn''te from prey, the monstrous creatures who heard it opted to stay away. As for the charging smaller ko whom Shye inflicted with a few stacks of [Fear], it was momentarily stunned, unsure whether to continue charging for a short single second. Short as it may be, the slight hesitation was a difference maker, allowing Shye to arrive in front of the wounded ko, dodge its bite attack by jumping, and cleanlynd one of his trump cards: [Draconian Roar Lv.2] With yet another terrifying roar reverberating across the savanna, the few creatures who decided to check things out threw their instinctive ns out the window. The draconian roar seemed way too dangerous after all. As for the poor wounded Ripper Ko, it was trembling in fear. Naturally, Shye, who knew what would happen should his roar hit its mark, was able to swiftly capitalize on the opening, cutting deep into the neck of therger, one-armed ko. Unfortunately, his strength attribute was still a bitcking. Since he was only able to cut through around two-thirds of the ko''s neck, its head tilted to the side, threatening to fall off anytime soon. Shockingly though, the ko¡­was still alive and was able to activate one more skill, [Ripper''s Rage Lv. (N/A)], as it hovered around the edges of life and death, unsure of which side it was on. The following bone-chilling scenes appeared as though they came straight out of a nightmare. With its head harrowingly tilted to one side, therger ko''s eyes turned pitch ck. The fur in its body then fell off revealing its muscr marsupial physique which suddenly turned red¡ªmuscles bulging as though it would escape the confines of the scarlet skin at any given time. Shortly after, the ko, who didn''t know whether it was dead or alive, charged towards Shye, its tilted¡ªalmost decapitated head hung nearly upside down, shaking disturbingly as the ko''s not-far-from-headless body unnervingly advanced towards him, making his hairs stand on end. Chapter 246: Oh, Right, I Have Wings ''What the f*ck! What the f*ck! What the f*ck!!!'' Shye inwardly cursed as he ran away from the charging nightmare. It was evident that the creature would die soon and there was no need to fight it head-on. Unfortunately for him, things wouldn''t be that easy as the other, smaller ko suddenly appeared beside him, swiping its ws horizontally in an attempt to rip him apart. ''Crap, I forgot about this bastard!'' he inwardly cursed once more as he narrowly avoided the swipe by jumping thanks to his swift reaction time brought about by his unusually high intelligence as a warrior. Landing on the smaller ko''s arms, Shye used it as a pathway to advance towards the unwounded ko''s face, then, he used one of his skills, [Rush Stab Lv.3] to try and inflict damage upon its eyes. Regrettably, this time, things didn''t go his way as this specific ko had a faster reaction time than therger, almost-dead one. Without the slightest bit of fear in its eyes, the smaller ko moved its head forward, stopping Shye''s attack by courageously biting both greatswords. Now, Shye not only found himself unable to move forward but also suspended in mid-air. He waspletely exposed for the other ko to shred to pieces. rm bells rang in Shye''s head as the nightmarish ko drew nearer from behind. With how bulged and veined its current muscles were, he was sure that he would end up in theherworld should he receive a hit. However, he also couldn''t let go of his greatswords as his attributes would drastically decrease if he decided to do so. Stuck in a dilemma, Shye couldn''t help but slightly panic, luckily, mere moments before he decided to let go of his greatswords, he remembered something. ''Oh, right, I have wings¡­'' *FWOOSH* With a single powerful p, Shye not only retrieved both greatswords but also evaded the berserk ko''s attack, causing it to strike its own ally''s right arm instead. The smaller ko howled in anguish as its partner''s ws dug deep into its flesh. Satisfied with the unexpected results of a simple dodge, Shye smiled,nding a few meters away from the monstrous creatures. A few momentster, the wings behind his back slowly dissipated into nothingness, however, Shye wasn''t rmed. Why? Because the familiar notification rang right after, pleasantly caressing Shye''s eardrums. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Ripper Ko! You''ve earned 3500 points as a reward!] Therger Ripper Ko finally crossed over to the afterlife. Due to this, Shye''s confidence skyrocketed as the smaller ko, albeit faster, was slightly weaker in terms of strengthpared to therger one, hence, Shye knew that the remainder of this battle would be easy peasy for him. ncing over to where the adventurers were, Shye simply snorted. They were gone. Once again, he was left to fend for himself, however, he didn''t mind as he now didn''t feel a shred of guilt for using them as bait. Returning his attention to the remaining Ripper Ko, Shye smirked confidently. ''Well then, let''s finish things off here¡­'' *** As the proud sun reimed its rightful spot in the vast blue sky, its warm rays once again washed away the darkness of the night, providing yet another day of life and hope for thends below. On a certain frequented path inside the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, an ashen-haired young man walked with a serene smile on his face. He relished in the feeling of yet another peaceful morning walk as the merry tunes of singing birds echoed from the nearby trees. The gentle smell of morning dew made its way to his nostrils as he sauntered towards the zone''s exit. Remembering how smoothly he dodged, blocked, and parried the remaining Ripper Ko''s attacks as he swiftly counterattacked mere moments after, Shye was satisfied. ''Heh, that quest was easier than I thought.'' he mused. A total of only six and a half days has passed since he registered the quest under his name, hopefully, a lot of guildmates will be present when he returns. Meanwhile, inside Constantine Consumables'' main branch, the manager''s summit has been ongoing for eight straight hours. By this time, most of the managers were done reporting, however, a few, including Drone, were still waiting for their turn. Usually, the reporting sequence was based on the previous quarter''s branch rankings. Strangely, this time, Saille was somehow scheduled to report right before Drone. Drone wasn''t stupid, he knew that the fat bastard pulled a few strings to arrange things this way. ''Heh, you shot your foot this time¡­baldy¡­'' He mused as he focused on listening to Saille''s report. Standing from his seat with a proud and confident smile, Saille opened the folder in front of him containing his branch''s quarterly report. He then opened his mouth and started to report each product''s sales, masterfully rying the required information out of him, then, after a good quarter of an hour came Saille''s most anticipated part: the membership sales report. "Now, let''s proceed to my branch''s membership sales. This quarter, my branch sold a total of 500 bronze memberships, 115 memberships, five gold ones, and...two tinum memberships!" Saille eximed proudly. Two tinum memberships in a single quarter were very impressive, especially for a branch shop that was barely in the top fifty. Due to this, the executives once again took note of the fatty''s name. Noticing the surrounding managers'' envious nces, Saille felt great, slowly turning his head to see his rival''s reaction with an arrogant smirk on his face. Unfortunately, he wasn''t able to derive pleasure from Drone''s face this time as instead of envy, it was disdain that was written all over. Inwardly gnashing his teeth in fury, Saille forced himself to calm down, realizing shortly after that his rival seemed to be strangely confident. However, upon hearing Drone''sckluster sales reportpared to his, Saille''s confidence returned only to be destroyed once more as Drone reported Balkrow branch''s membership sales. "Proceeding to the membership sales, Balkrow branch was able to sell a total of 420 bronze memberships, 105 silver memberships, three gold ones, zero tinum memberships, and¡­one diamond membership!" Drone proudly eximed, giving Saille a quick disdainful nce shortly after. As Drone''s glorious diamond membership sail assaulted Saille''s ears, his heart erupted into utter turmoil. He wanted to strangle Drone right there and then. However, they were managers and if he did try to strangle his rival, he would be fined and fired on the spot, hence, albeit wrathful, Saille forced himself to calm down. ''HOW?!! HOW DID THIS BASTARD OBTAIN A DIAMOND MEMBERSHIP?!!!'' Saille seethed inwardly, while outwardly pretending to apud his rival''s excellence. Unfortunately for him, most of the managers present knew about the bad blood between him and Drone, some higher-ranked ones even knew that he pulled a few strings only for him to end up as the loser. Inevitably, Saille caught glimpses of the other manager''s condescending and mocking smiles, further fanning the mes of rage burning in his heart. ''JUST YOU WAIT!! NEXT QUARTER I''LL HUMILIATE YOU!'' Saille vowed wrathfully. Unbeknownst to him, Drone was thinking the same. ''Heh, Saille, Saille, Saille, you''re lucky that my branch hadn''t finished researching how to recreate the potion Sir Crowley gifted, else you''ll probably be crying right now." Chapter 247: The Notorious Rookie Returns After another busy day of watching over and illuminating the world with its majestic golden rays, the proud sun started to retreat, painting the cosmic canvas in hues of pink, orange, and blue. Shye, sauntering beneath this picturesque sky, walked eight hours straight. He really wanted to enjoy a nice bed tonight, hence, he had to sacrifice a decent lunch, eating only dried rations on the way back in exchange for a sumptuous dinner and a nice room at an inn. As Balkrow City''s familiar wall appeared in his line of sight, Shye smiled. ''Finally¡­I can have a good rest tonight¡­'' he mused, retrieving his Balkrow Token and showing it to the guards before entering the city and heading straight toward his guild. Despite it being only around 6 PM, Shye was already tired. Well, he barely had any peaceful sleep in the Silvergrass Savanna, however, Shye knew that such is the life of an adventurer. To preserve one''s life, particrly when embarking on a solo quest, it''s crucial not to sleep too deeply, otherwise, one might awaken as a wandering soul in the afterlife. After around twenty-five minutes of walking, Shye arrived in front of Raven''s de''s branch headquarters, prompting the expressions of his guildmates, who were just outside the guild,to turn into one of either confusion or disbelief upon recognizing who he was and remembering that he embarked on a quest to hunt for Ripper Kos. Curious, they couldn''t help but follow him to see what''s up. Intentionally pushing the door open with a loud creak, Shye maintained a stoic expression as he stepped into the building, effectively capturing everyone''s attention. "Hey, look, that''s the notorious rookie we''ve all been telling you guys about." "The arrogant one who dared humiliate Candor? Hmmph! He doesn''t look tough to me!" "Heh, didn''t he take on a quest involving Ripper Kos? Why is he back so soon?" "Hahaha, he obviously failed, duh. But wait¡­why does he look familiar?" Hearing the loudmotion he managed to stir up as he entered, Shye inwardly celebrated. Not only because he would probably earn quite a few extra points but also because he¡­enjoyed it. It seems that his decision to turn his quest in tonight was the correct one as there were significantly more people inside the branch headquarterspared to early in the morning. After a momentary pause, Shye proceeded to the rewards desk, further deepening the curiosity of his guildmates¡ªa few even stood up from their tables in the lobby to see what he would do. "Did he actuallyplete the quest? In seven days? Solo?" "Impossible, maybe this guy thought that he could have the rewards receptionist cancel the quest for him to avoid embarrassment!" Just when the doubters were voicing their skepticism about himpleting the Ripper Ko quest, Shye took out a sack bag¡ªits base, purple. The more experienced ones knew that the Ripper Ko''s blood was purple, hence, as they observed Shye cing the sack bag on the counter, the true veterans already knew that hepleted it. They remained silent though, satisfied with smiling knowingly as they waited for the reactions of their guildmates. In the hearts of the true veterans of the Balkrow branch¡ªthe elites, they knew that Shye was the real deal. After all, at the same age, none of them was sure if they could do the same as they weren''t crazy enough to try. Noticing the ashen-haired young man in front of her, the rewards desk receptionist shed her usual "duty smile", however, this time, it was a bit sincere. She heard from her friend Aya that this rookie was probably the most excellent one they had in the history of the branch guild, after all. "Hello, Sir Crowley, correct?" Shauna asked, introducing herself right after. "I''m Shauna, the rewards desk receptionist." "Hello, yes, I''m here to turn the quest items in andplete my quest," Shye replied, in a tone neither too polite nor too arrogant as the stoic expression on his face remained steadfast. "I-I see, let me check the quest registered under your name. One moment please." Pretending to check what Shye''s quest was as it was customary, Shauna picked up the small mana crystal on the side and ced it in the small hole on her desk, prompting a holographic screen to appear shortly after. Shye briefly saw Aya activating this type of device as well, however, he wasn''t able to focus on it that time since Candor was trying to bullshit with him. ''This screen looks a bit like my system, doesn''t it? But I can see it so maybe not? Only I can see my system after all¡­'' Shye mused as he waited for Shauna to check the details of the quest registered under his name. Little did he know, he was currently the hottest topic among the guildsmen and that Shauna already knew about it a few days prior. His craziness for daring to take the quest solo was one of the trending subjects, after all. Due to this, the interest of the guildmates who weren''t around when he registered, even the elites, was piqued. They wanted to see the notorious rookie. Luckily, quite a few of those who missed his appearancest time, were present, allowing them to witness the so-called "vicious-mouthed and arrogant" rookie in his full glory. Well, speaking about his appearance, there was nothing to criticize. Not only was he handsome, but his physique was also well-built. A few promiscuous women in the guild even licked their lips as they schemed on how they could "have a taste" of this rumored, manly rookie. Unfortunately for these¡­unchastedies, not one of them stood a chance against Shirley. Not in looks, nor physique, nor disposition. Their dreams of ever having a taste of the notorious rookie were bound to forever remain a dream. A few momentster, Shauna was finally done "checking" the registered quest under his name. Refocusing on the ashen-haired young man in front of her, Shauna spoke: "A-As per the requirements, you need to turn in thirteen titanium ivory ws from a mature ripper ko. May I please see the quest items?" Hearing Rewards Receptionist Shauna''s words, the guildsmen waited with bated breaths. "Here, 36 titanium ivory ws in total. Miss Shauna, please check." Chapter 248: Quest Completion and Rank Advancement Process "W-Wait¡­did he actually¡­" "T-T-There''s just no way he actually hunted a Ripper Ko alone¡­" "Did he just say 36 ws?! Did he kill two kos?!" Once again the center of attention, Shye felt the satisfying tingling sensation in his heart. Well, it''s fair to say that he has always enjoyed being in the spotlight, although his desire for attention seems to have increased significantlypared to before. Shye stopped caring about it a few days ago though. He knew that the system was probably altering something inside him, however, for Shye, it was enough as long as he was aware. There was nothing he could do anyway as he promised to help the old man. In his heart, no matter what happened to him, as long as he could spend the rest of his days with his loved ones after helping the old man with his seemingly trivial yet profoundly deep request, then it was enough. Should the Gods and Goddesses grant him the chance to reunite with his parents and extend their lives, then he would be willing to act as crazy as the old man wished him to. In the end, they owed their lives to the old man, so until he helped him achieve his goal, his life was not his own. After around 45 seconds, Shauna finished counting the ws and upon confirming that there were indeed 36, she couldn''t help but be slightly dumbfounded. "T-There''s indeed thirty-six¡­" Noticing her shocked reaction coupled with a few notifications popping up, Shye felt great. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 210 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 81 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 113 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned¡­] ¡­ After enjoying everyone''s reaction and attention for a while, he spoke once more, this time for a proper objective. "Uhm¡­Miss Shauna, I believe there''s a quest use correct? I would like to sell and exchange the excess titanium ivory ws please." Hearing Shye''s voice brought Shauna back to reality, slightly stuttering as he tried her best to reply. "U-Uhh, oh! Yes, you have the option to exchange up to ten titanium ivory ws for guild points. As for the remaining ones, the quest client is willing to purchase them for 150 silver coins each." "Thanks, I will exchange ten for guild coins and sell all the remaining ones to the client." "O-Okay, Sir Crowley, let me process thepletion for you¡­" This time, it was Shye''s turn to be slightly shocked as Shauna showed her mastery, processing the questpletion and rewards in just a minute and a half. "All done, Sir Crowley, here''s your guild badge, you may put it on top of that device over there at the center of that table to check how many guild contribution points you''ve earned. Also, here''s the 2500 silver coins quest reward along with the extra 1950 silver coins for the excess ws. Thank you for your contributions to the guild." Shauna patiently said, bowing profoundly towards Shye after the questpletion process. "Thank you for processing my questpletion, Miss Shauna." Shye replied, slightly bowing towards the rewards receptionist before continuing: "Oh, right, I don''t know if you''re the right person to ask but do you know how adventurer rank advancements work? I would like to know the exact number of quests I shouldplete per rank to advance¡­" Hearing how polite the rookie was, Shauna smiled. It seems like one shouldn''t simply trust the rumors floating around the guild. Normally, it was Aya''s job to exin the stuff regarding rank advancement, however, she decided to make an exception for Shye. "Sure, Sir Crowley. I believe you''re currently gold rank, correct? To rank up to tinum, you have to earn a total of 2800 guild contribution points as for how many quests you have toplete to rank up, it depends on what quest you are going for." "As per the guild''s rules, an adventurer can take on a quest of any rank, however, if the quest rank exceeds the adventurer''s by two whole ranks, then it would be posted up to the contention board for three days." "Should an adventurer with a higher rank wish to take on the quest, then the lower-ranked adventurer would have to give it up, otherwise, he/she would have to fight the higher-ranked adventurer in a friendly duel at the guild''s basement training grounds," Shauna exined with nary the least bit of impatience. They, as guild staff, knew how to seed in their own way. Since their positions were a bit mundanepared to the adventurers, they had to be sharp and pay a bit more attention to the talented ones. Who knows? Maybe one day, when the talented ones grow to their peak, they will receive a few benefits. In this world, things have always worked that way. Only the best would receive the best and the rest would receive the rest. "Thank you for your patient and detailed exnation, Miss Shauna," Shye replied, taking out two small pouches, each containing 100 silver coins, and handing them to Shauna. "It may not be much, but please ept it as a token of my gratitude. Also, could you kindly pass the other one to Miss Aya for me?" "T-Thank you very much, Sir Crowley, I shall give the other one to Receptionist Aya," Shauna replied, a little excited. It seems that not only was this rookie capable but also generous! In addition to this, being Aya''s close friend, she was privy to a bit more informationpared to other staff members. Hence, she knew that this rookie was kinda special. To what extent? Aya didn''t tell her. Still, it was enough for her to inwardly vow to give special attention to this specific guildsman. As for Shye, he was oblivious to the mental turmoil going on inside Shauna''s head so after giving her a small tip, Shye walked towards the device, ced his guild badge to check his guild contribution points, and headed towards the exit. From start to finish, he was all business, with a little bit of¡­ attention-seeking, that is. However, as exhaustion set in, Shye couldn''t care less about such shallow stuff anymore. There are plenty of chances in the future to do it again anyway. Leaving through the guild''s front door, Shye felt like spending a bit today, hence, he looked for a top-notch inn to dine at and sleep in for the night. Considering how much he earned, indulging himself for one night shouldn''t be overly extravagant. Everyone who has worked diligently deserves a reward. Chapter 249: A True-Blooded Extrovert Appears! After leaving the branch headquarters, Shye was oblivious to the subsequent happenings inside. He knew he managed to impress his guildmates, however, he didn''t know that a few of them were kinda going crazy right now in disbelief. First of all, not everyone was crazy enough to take a quest one rank higher than what corresponds to their adventurer rank. Second, very few would be able to actuallyplete it, hence, they''re having a tough time epting that this rumored "vicious-mouthed and arrogant" rookie was one of those talented, chosen individuals. Due to utter disbelief, one guildsman who hated Shye''s guts stomped towards the rewards desk. "Miss Shauna, did that rookie trulyplete his quest?" asked the guildsman with furrowed brows. Shauna was a smart woman so she immediately discerned that this specific guildsman thought the two of them were in cahoots, making it seem like the rookiepleted the quest when he in fact, didn''t. In short, he suspected that the earlier interactions were nothing but a clown show. Unfortunately for him, Shauna, although good at hiding her actual emotions, was not one to take bullshit silently, hence, she directly took out the sack bag that Shye turned in, opening it wide to allow everyone curious to see that there were actual Ripper Ko ws inside. "Yes, Sir Dorck, here''s the proof. Sir Crowley did indeedplete this specific quest one rank higher than his adventurer rank. Alone." replied Shauna with a fake innocent smile. Faced with undeniable proof, the hater guildsman, Dorcke, had nothing else to say as it would be embarrassing for him to use the rookie of cheating when he had no actual evidence. Vowing to expose the arrogant neer, Dorck returned to his seat in the lobby and resumed eating, his mind churning as he formted various plots and schemes to show everyone the rookie''s true color. He doesn''t buy that the rookie was as ridiculously talented as he appeared to be. Not one bit. Fortunately, idiots like him weren''t that many in Raven''s de as the veterans, instead of plotting how to humiliate the rookie, opted to gather with their closestpanions, discussing whether or not to extend an invitation to the rookie to embark on a few quests with them. In the end, they were guildmates and it would only be more beneficial to help than antagonize one another. As for the notorious rookie that everyone was talking about, he was already inside a seafood restaurant, feasting on lobsters, oysters, crabs, and scallops, dipping them in specialized sour, spicy, and savory sauce before slowly putting them in his mouth, enjoying everything with an expression of pure bliss. ''Sacrificing a proper lunch for this was absolutely worth it!'' he thought, grabbing yet another lobster tail. If he had been born in Old Man Sanada''s original world, he would''ve earned money for making a few recordings of him eating such delectable food. After eating a sumptuous meal, Shye billed out, leaving a few silver coins as a tip for the waiter. He then looked for a somewhat luxurious inn, rented a premium room, and slept like a log for the night, indulging in the sweet confines of a soft bed, a cold room, and a warm, thickforter. Inevitably, he overslept, however, he didn''t mind. epting a quest when there are few people around was less beneficial to him anyway. Staring at the opulent ceiling, Shye''s thoughts wandered. ''700 guild contribution points in one quest huh? Ranking up to tinum is faster than I thought¡­Maybe ruby isn''t so distant after all?'' he mused. A few more thoughts entered and exited his mind before another crazy idea popped up. ''Hoh? Since this mandatory quest seemed to be a warm-up, I have time to try this idea out!'' Shye thought, excitement written all over his face. If he manages to pull this new bullshit of his off, then he might earn another huge shitload of points depending on the timing of his revtion. Eager to try his idea, Shye quickly hopped out of his bed and rushed to the bathroom, where he took a brisk bath and changed into clean clothes before leaving the inn. He then walked towards the guild with a fake stoic countenance. Deep inside, he''s as excited as a child. Arriving in front of the branch headquarters around fifteen minutester, heads once again turned as the notorious rookie ambled towards the door, loudly pushed it open, and proceeded towards the quest board. Although almost everyone now recognized him, he didn''t expect that someone would recognize him in apletely different way. "Ahh! The badly-poisoned young adventurer!" a short young woman with short grape-colored hair, an attractive face, and a curvaceous body with both an ample bosom and bottom, eximed. "How the heck are you still alive? I thought you perished in that hospital!" Naturally, her loud voice attracted Shye''s attention, prompting him to turn his head in her direction. Unfortunately, Shye didn''t recognize her face, hence, he simply stared at her nkly. "Hmm? Seira, do you know each other?" a guildsman sitting at the same table as Seira, asked. However, his question was ignored as Seira promptly stood up from her seat and walked towards Shye. "Do I know you?" Shye asked, following Seira''s movement with his gaze. "Oh, I''m sorry, probably not," Seira responded. "However, I do know you as I was near the city''s entrance when you suddenly entered, in the worst condition I have ever witnessed in my entire life!" Realizing that this girl was probably someone who babbled endlessly, Shye decided to end the conversation right then and there. He wasn''t against making new friends in the guild, however, his recent experiences made it hard for him to trust others. Hence, he opted to temporarily do everything solo. At least until he aplishes the darned mandatory quest that popped out of nowhere. "Oh, I see¡­" Shye coldly replied, refocusing on the quests posted on the board in front of him. Unfortunately for him, he underestimated the energy and persistence of true-blooded extroverts. Chapter 250: Partying Up With The Extrovert "Hey, hey, are you looking for a quest?" "What''s your adventurer rank? What''s your ss?" "Hey! Don''t ignore me! How about we go on a quest together huh? Hey!" Shye''s patience, already stretched thin, wore even thinner. However, he restrained himself fromshing out at the young woman, recognizing his current struggles with anger management. "Haaah¡­what do you want? Can''t you see I''m busy? And no, I need all the contribution points in a quest so I won''t be going on a quest with you¡­" Shye sighed as he exined his reasons patiently without revealing too much information, hoping to usher the young woman away as politely as possible What he didn''t expect was how adamant the young woman would be in befriending him. "Oh,e on don''t say that¡­Please, just one quest? All of my friends'' parties are full now since I recently tried to embark on a solo quest to advance to the next rank and it was boring as heck! Come on, just this once, next time I''ll join another party." ''WOULD BOREDOM KILL YOU?! WHY DON''T YOU JUST MAKE NEW FRIENDS AND JOIN THEIR PARTIES?!'' Shye inwardly raged, failing to recognize that what upied his thoughts mirrored Seira''s current actions. "Haaah, alright then, if you promise to leave me alone in the future, then I shall go with you this one time." "I promise! Alright then, how about we introduce ourselves? I''m Seira Ramah, a recently promoted tinum-ranked adventurer of the warrior ss." Seira eximed with enthusiasm, reaching out her arms in an attempt to initiate a handshake with Shye. Smiling helplessly as he shrugged his shoulders, Shye extended his arms and shook Seira''s hands. He didn''t sense even a bit of hostility from this friendly guildmate so partying up with her for one quest shouldn''t hurt. "Shye Crowley, a gold-ranked mage." "Well then, Shye. Oh wait, can I call you Shye?" "Do as you wish." "Okay then, Shye, you can choose whatever quest you want, I''ll be right over there to finish my meal so call me after choosing one." "Alright." After a quick conversation, Shye once again crossed his arms over his chest to read the details of various (C) ranked quests. Initially, he nned to take a (C-) ranked quest because he nned to embark on a few solo quests as a mage to train, allowing him to once again shock everyone by having a subss at such a young age. This is also why he decided to ept Seira''s party invitation. After all, how would rumors about him being a mage spread inside the guild if none of his guildmates knew? Moreover, Seira seemed to be the bbermouth type so she was the perfect person for the job. Patiently reading through each yellow scroll, Shye finally found a suitable one, neither too dangerous nor too easy. === Hunt: Haemotoxin Vipers Quest Rank: C Details: y fifteen (C-) ranked Haemotoxin Vipers and retrieve fifteen Haemotoxin poison sacs. Location: Ominous Rainforest, Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone Rmended Party Size: 4 Rewards: 2,000 silver coins and 600 contribution points. Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 9 days === ''Hmmm¡­Haemotoxin Vipers huh¡­this quest seems to be the perfect fit¡­''Shye thought, extending his hands to grab the quest scroll. This time, no one dared to make trouble for him for fear of suffering the same fate as Candor. Meanwhile, at Seira''s table¡­ "No way! How did you manage to invite that arrogant prick to go adventuring with you?!" one of Seira''s friends asked, his countenance one of utter disbelief. "What? Orson! What are you talking about? He''s not arrogant in the slightest! In my view, he''s actually quite pleasant. So, where did you get the idea that he''s some kind of arrogant jerk?" Seira responded, expressing her own disbelief at her friend Orson''s perception of Shye. "What do you mean?! That guy''s the arrogant rookie everyone is talking about. Also, didn''t you agree that what he did to Candor was a bit ruthless?!" Orson retorted, visibly a bit worked up. He was among those who formed a negative opinion of Shye solely based on the rumors circting about how Candor, a seasoned member of the guild, was shamefully humiliated by a neer. In the version Orson heard about, Candor did nothing wrong, yet, Shye still mercilessly humiliated him. Well, Shye couldn''t really fault him for it, considering that the rumors were spread by those who harbored animosity toward him, portraying him as the "vicious-mouthed and arrogant" rookie. "Oh, that''s him? Hmm¡­but based on our interaction, he''s truly not arrogant¡­maybe Candor provoked him first? You know him¡­the guy''s quite the troublemaker!" Seira responded. Just when Orson was about to retort again, the "vicious-mouthed and arrogant" rookie''s voice sounded beside their table, almost causing him to experience a cardiac arrest. "Hey, Seira, I''m done choosing a quest, let''s have it registered." "Oh? Shye, let''s go then. See you, Orson." After sessfully calling Seira from the lobby, the two of them walked towards the quest counter to have the chosen quest registered under their names. Shye actually overheard a fair amount of Orson and Seira''s conversation, which is why he understood why Seira was unusually quiet as they made their way toward Receptionist Aya''s counter. He didn''t mind though, in fact, he preferred the silent Seira. Arriving at the quest counter a short whileter, Shye handed the yellow quest scroll over to Miss Aya, enabling her to register the quest under his and Seira''s name in just a few seconds. "All set, Sir Crowley, Miss Ramah. I wish both of you the best of luck!" "Thank you, Miss Aya," Shye responded, giving Aya a slight bow before casting a nce at Seira. "Wait for me outside the guild. I just need to use the restroom for a moment." "Okay," Seira replied before walking towards the branch headquarters'' exit while whistling a merry tune. As for Shye, he quickly headed to the bathroom and chose an empty cubicle. ''System'' [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Fireball Lv.1]] ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Fireball Lv.2]], leveled up to >> [Fireball Lv.3]] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Icicle Spear Lv.1]] ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Icicle Spear Lv.2], leveled up to >> [Icicle Spear Lv.3]] ¡­ ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Rock Bullets Lv.2], leveled up to >> [Rock Bullets Lv.3]] ¡­ ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Blink Lv.1], leveled up to >> [Blink Lv.2]] Chapter 251: Shye Crowley, The Mage Super Rookie ''That should be enough to make me look like a mage¡­right?'' Shye wondered as he sauntered out of the restroom and the branch headquarters. "Shye! I''m over here!" A loud voice resounded from his right, prompting him to turn his head and walk toward its direction. "Haaah¡­It''s alright. I understand why it took you so long toe out of the restroom." Seira suddenly sighed, causing Shye to knit his brows in confusion. "Must''ve been a pretty massive dump huh? It''s alright no need to be shy about it. Well then, shall we go?" Hearing her words, Shye couldn''t help but snap this time. "Hey! Don''t just blurt out nasty words like that! Also, I didn''t take a dump! I just made a few preparations for the quest!" He eximed in anger, causing people who were passing by to turn their heads towards him. Luckily, they were merely startled by his loud voice, and none of them actually heard what he or Seira had said. "Hmmm¡­preparations¡­huh?" Seira said, shooting a knowing nce toward Shye. "Whatever you say. Let''s go, the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone is quite far from here and we only have 9 days toplete the quest. We have no time to lose." After uttering words that did nothing but infuriate Shye, Seira proceeded to stroll towards the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, whistling a cheerful tune, seemingly unconcerned. As for Shye, he was left clenching his fists and gnashing his teeth in fury. ''This midget¡­.'' Shye inwardly insulted, taking one deep breath to calm his heart. Never had he met such an infuriating woman. His anger quickly subsided though as such shallow matters didn''t warrant actual hate. Once he finished calming himself down, Shye followed the grape-haired midget who was acting like a party leader. During their journey to the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, Shye found himself more frequently angered by Seira than by all other individualsbined throughout his entire life. However, for some reason, he just couldn''t hate her. The midget was just too innocently yful. After walking for around three hours, the two of them stopped to rest in a town called Panza due to the supposed party leader, Seira,ining that she was tired and hungry. Well, to be fair, it was already lunchtime so her hunger wasn''t unfounded. ''Haaah¡­I really wanted to try fighting as a mage as soon as possible¡­well, it can''t be helped.'' Shye inwardly sighed as he waited for the food they ordered at a local eatery in Panza Town. Fortunately, the food was unexpectedly great, improving the duo''s mood. It was fairly cheap for its quality too. Due to this, the two of them ordered more than they should''ve, including one dessert that would make Seira regret her decision. "H-Hey, Shye, wait for me for a while¡­okay? I¡­I just have to make a few preparations for the quest!" Seira whispered, walking awkwardly towards the direction of the restroom. Shye simply nodded, feigning indifference as he savored another bite of salted pork cutlet. Finally, after around half an hour, Seira returned with a serene smile on her face. "Haaah¡­It''s alright. I understand why it took you so long toe out of the restroom." Shye suddenly sighed, causing Seira to knit her brows in confusion. "Must''ve been a pretty massive dump huh? It''s alright no need to be shy about it. Well then, shall we go?" *** "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Hoooh¡­I''m dying¡­Seira, hey! Stop that! Don''t hit me so hard! Why are you so angry? Didn''t you say the same thing to me earlier?!" Shye eximed, dying ofughter as he and Seira walked along a well-trodden path toward the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone. Experiencing revenge most satisfyingly was truly exhrating! "YOU!! YOU''RE STILL LAUGHING?! I DID SAY THAT TO YOU BUT NOBODY HEARD MY WORDS! HOW COULD YOU MERCILESSLY SAY THAT IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE?! YOU!! YOU BASTARD!!" Seira raged, her face flushed red in embarrassment as she repeatedly punched Shye with her fists. Fortunately, Seira wasn''t one to hold grudges. By the time the two of them arrived in the vast lobby of the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, her anger had already subsided. Well, provided that Shye wouldn''tugh again, which he didn''t, as he didn''t want to push too far in teasing her. "Wait, I almost forgot. Let me check the condition of my greatsword." Seira said, taking out a greatsword almost as big as Shye''s from her spatial bag. ''Hmm¡­so she''s a greatsword user like me huh¡­'' Shye mused, as he took out the gold tier elemental staff he looted from the weapon treasure chest in the somber tomb. "If I''m going to master the mage ss next, then I should probably upgrade it to at least a low-grade relic." Lost in his thoughts, Shye was brought back to reality by Seira''s subsequent words. "Uhh, hey, Shye. Will you enter the zone like that?" "Huh? Like what?" responded Shye, confusion written all over his face. "I mean, don''t you have mage robes or something? Why are you wearing casual clothes? Oh, I see! Are those customized mage robes?" Seira replied, answering her own question. ''Crap! I forgot to buy mage robes!'' Shye inwardly cursed, his face twitching as he decided to go with Seira''s excuse. "U-Uhh¡­yeah! This is customized mage robes but I will probably purchase a new set as this one is pretty worn out¡­" "Hmm¡­Alright then, finish up your preparations, I''m almost done here." "I''m ready." "Let''s go then." After making sure that both of them were ready, the duo walked towards the guards, showed their guild badges, and entered the adventurer zone with slight smiles on their faces. This would be their first time partying up so they didn''t know how capable the other was, however, both of them were confident in their own abilities. Disying the poise of a seasoned mage, Shye grasped his gold-tier elemental staff in his right hand, mimicking the stride of Harry and David with an amused smile adorning his face. ''Hehehe...the legend of Shye Crowley, the mage super rookie, shall now begin!'' Chapter 252: The Mage Who Speaks No Gibberish As the afternoon sun''s fading golden rays attempted to illuminate thends below, two young adventurers harmonized a cheerful tune together. The female adventurer, fully immersed in the melody, even closed her eyes as she hummed along. Walking in a fairly less-trodden path, Shye and Seira looked carefree as they headed towards a dangerous area, the ominous rainforest where Haemotoxin Vipers were aplenty. Well, Seira seemed to be well-versed in this area so Shye couldn''t help but be infected by her lighthearted approach. A few momentster though, her carefree countenance turned into one of focused vignce, prompting Shye to do the same. ''Geh¡­what stance am I supposed to take?'' he mused, feeling awkward as he nced at the elemental staff in his right hand. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the ominous rainforest, however, their targets, the Haemotoxin Vipers resided in the deeper parts of the rainforest, hence, the two of them had to walk deeper. Fortunately, the sight of a few adventurer parties somewhat eased the ominous feeling the two of them had in their hearts. ''Hmmm¡­I wonder what this feeling is¡­could it be some sort of aura? Nheless, I now understand why this ce is called the ominous rainforest¡­'' Somehow, although the area''s aura was ominous, nothing had attacked them yet, which was a bit unfortunate in Shye''s opinion as he wanted to try firing a few mage spells. A little whileter, his wish was finally granted as one of their targets finally appeared. "Haemotoxin Viper!" Shye eximed, alerting Seira of a viper hanging from a young birch tree, waiting for them to walk closer. "Allow me to test how strong this thing is." Aiming his staff towards the viper, Shye thought of a skill''s name, just like how he used skills as a warrior. ''Fireball!'' Shortly thereafter, a moderately sized fireball materialized in front of his staff. It then hurtled towards the viper momentster, creating a dazzling path of embers as it flew through the air. *FWOOSH* What he didn''t expect was that the viper would actually be hit by such a straightforward attack, burning it to crisp as a smell of roasted snake meat wafted in the air. For some reason, it smelled delicious. ''Well, that viper is a wee bit stupid, isn''t it? I mean, how can you get hit by the first skill an opponent throws at you?'' Shye thought, inwardly reprimanding the viper for being a bit too ipetent. Unbeknownst to him, the first skill he fired, albeit not that impressive in terms of firepower, left Seira dumbfounded, only recovering a few secondster. "W-Wait, how did you do that?" "Huh? Do what?" "Like I said, t-t-that! How did you use that fireball without chanting?! Weren''t mages supposed to like¡­speak a little gibberish before firing?" Seira said, kinda losing her mind after seeing Shye''s "chantless" fireball. It was only upon hearing Seira''s words that Shye experienced a moment of profound realization. ''Hohoh? Looks like I''m even more talented as a mage¡­.'' mused Shye as his heart raced with excitement. He expected to be fairly mediocre at the beginning stages of his mage career since he was currently running low on points due to the darned mist arachne. However, who would''ve thought that the system would give him another huge surprise? Just imagining the scene of him casting powerful skills in an instant made his heart race. "Hah! You see my true strength now? How else will I be able to hunt Ripper Kos alone if I''m not strong?" Shye replied, his nose raised sky high. "Hmmph! I thought you would be nothing but a burden! Good thing you have some things going for ya huh?" retorted Seira. Unknowingly, they''ve already be quite close due to roasting each other on the way. Well, not exactly close, but it''s a promising beginning. This is especially true for Shye, who has been struggling to trust others in recent days. "A-AHH!! You destroyed the poison sac!! You''re forbidden from using fireballs from now on! Just use either those sharp ice thingies or the rock bullets okay?" "Oh! Crap, I forgot¡­" After a sessful first kill, the two young adventurers proceeded deeper into the ominous rainforest in search of Haemotoxin Vipers. Although they do encounter one from time to time, it is far from enough for them toplete the quest. "Haaah¡­well, it''s just the first day. No need to rush¡­" Seira sighed. She didn''t want to sleep inside the ominous rainforest but it seemed that there was no choice. "Let''s stop for now. It''s getting kinda dark so let''s head towards the nearest safe zone. Again, by safe zone, it simply meant a bit safer than random zones as the area was slightly advantageous for adventurers like them. Shye shared the same opinion as Seira. It was best for them to avoid hunting at night as most monstrous creatures had better night vision than humans. After looting their most recent kill, the two young adventurers headed straight toward the safe zone inside the ominous rainforest. To their surprise, upon arriving, there were at least three parties of adventurers resting at the safe zone as well making things even safer. "Looks like we''ll be able to sleep well tonight!" Seira said giddily, immediately walking over to the resting adventurers to strike up a sentry deal. As for Shye, he immediately started setting up their camp, taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking at him to take out camping items from the system''s inventory. Outdoor camping was one of the things he recently started enjoying. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do so in every quest. Hopefully, Seira can strike a nice deal with the other adventurers. After a few minutes, Seira returned with a wide smile on her face, basically confirming that the two of them would be able to sleep well tonight. "What did they say?" Shye asked, expecting a positive answer. "Well, they said that they already had a sentry agreement so they would let us join as long as we pay the sentries sixty silver coins each," Seira replied, as she took out a small pouch and counted the silver coins inside. As for Shye, he did the same. Sixty silver coins seemed a bit pricey, but they both agreed it was worth it for a nice nightly rest. Receiving sixty silver coins from Shye, Seira once again headed towards the adventurers and gave the sentries the payment they requested. Hence, that night, as the cold winds caressed their skin, Shye enjoyed yet another night of peaceful sleep nestled snugly in his sleeping bag. After casting a transparent physical barrier on both him and Seira of course. Should these bastards try something idiotic, he won''t hesitate to slit each of their little throats. Having already assessed them using his trusty appraisal skill, Shye determined that none posed an actual threat. Thus, he feltfortable enough to enjoy a good night''s sleep. To him, they were only useful as some form of rm. Chapter 253: Skill Experiment Success! As warm rays of sunlight caressed Shye''s eyelids, he slowly woke up, gently stretching his limbs and yawning as he groggily sat up. Luckily, these adventurers didn''t harbor any sinister ns. Looking around, Shye saw that two adventurer parties seemed to have woken up earlier than him and were already packing up to continue their quests. On the other hand, the other adventurer party and the self-proimed party leader beside him were still out like a log. Thess even had a stupid smile on her face as she slept serenely. ''How the heck can one sleep so peacefully inside an adventurer zone?'' he mused, inwardly reprimanding Seira. With how she operated inside the Drokka Advanced Adventurer Zone, one would truly wonder how the heck this seemingly naive young woman was still alive. Shrugging off his shallow frustrations, Shye stood up and prepared a hearty breakfast using Haemotoxin Viper meat. ording to the Adventurer Encyclopedia, not only was Haemotoxin Viper meat not poisonous, but it was even both nutritious and delectable. As the mouth-watering smell of roasted meat seasoned with salt and pepper wafted in the air, the gluttonous grape-haired young woman finally woke up. "Ughmm? Shye? What are you cooking?" Seira asked. Shye didn''t respond though as he simply took a huge bite of the roasted viper meat, his expression changing into one of utter bliss as a small amount of oil streamed down the corners of Shye''s mouth. Swallowing in envy, Seira forced herself to swiftly stand up and walk towards Shye with a slight scowl on her face. "Hmmph! How selfish! You didn''t even wake me up! Were you nning on enjoying all of these¡­these yummy¡­roasted viper meat all by yourself?!" eximed Seira in annoyance, taking one huge piece for herself and quickly stuffing it in her mouth. As her teeth sunk into the supple and juicy roasted meat, all the negative emotions in her heart promptly scattered to the four winds, vastly improving her mood as the meat''s savory aroma and heavenly vor assaulted her senses. After enjoying their morning meal for a few minutes, Shye and Seira packed up, resuming their hunt for Haemotoxin vipers immediately after. Returning to the area where they managed to hunt four vipers yesterday, Shye grasped his gold-tier elemental staff, eager to try out another concept. Unfortunately, even after looking for almost an hour, they didn''t encounter a single Haemotoxin Viper. "Haaah¡­where could those vipers be? Weren''t there quite a few in this area yesterday?" Seira sighed with a disappointed expression before continuing to walk while looking in every direction possible in hopes of spotting one. "Oh well, I guess we just have to walk deeper into the forest." And so, the two of them did. It proved to be effective as just another hourter, two vipers unexpectedlyunched an attack from the nearby shrubs, nearly seeding in their ambush. "Shye!" Seira eximed with a touch of concern after narrowly evading the strike of one of the Haemotoxin Vipers. ncing in Shye''s direction, she saw that he was safe and sound, allowing her to breathe a sigh of relief. After four easy encounters yesterday, the two of them subconsciously started to underestimate the fragile vipers, forgetting the fact that their venom was their most deadly weapon. One bite and their flesh would turn into puddles over the course of two hours. Regarding Shye, while he skillfully evaded the viper''s ambush even more seamlessly than Seira, he achieved it by using [Swallow Step Lv.1]. "I''m fine," Shye replied, feeling lucky that Seira didn''t see what he just did to evade the sneaky strike. Being a warrior, Shye was ustomed to using either [Swallow Step Lv.1] for straightforward evasions or [Dash Lv.4] to evade area-of-effect attacks. Employing the mage skill, [Blink Lv.2], didn''t even cross his mind. ''Crap! That was close¡­gotta use blink next time¡­'' Now that the sneaky vipers were in front of them, the little fragile bastards stood no chance. Waving his elemental staff and aiming it towards the viper who attacked him, Shye tried the new idea in his mind. ''Icicle Spear!'' Sharp pieces of ice materialized one after the other, immediately shooting toward the snake, who barely managed to dodge the first two icicle spears before being ripped apart by the subsequent three. Shye easily defeated the viper, however, there was no trace of happiness on his face. ''Hmm¡­if the skill immediately starts shooting¡­then how can I boost it?'' he pondered, looking deeply lost in his own thoughts. "Shye? What''s wrong? Were you bitten? Are you dying?" Seira asked, aiming to piss Shye off again. Unfortunately, Shye was too deep in thought so her attempts were simply ignored. The two of them continued walking, however, Shye was absentminded as he followed Seira. A few minutester¡­ "I got it!!" Shye suddenly eximed, making Seira jump up in fright. "Hey! Don''t just shout like that! Phew¡­you scared me!" Seira angrily said. "You got what?" "Hehehe let me handle the next viper, I''ll show you." Shye chuckled confidently, excited to encounter another Haemotoxin Viper. Luckily, it didn''t take them long to discover another one, concealed beneath the foliage, under the impression that the two humans ahead of it were still unaware of its presence. "Seira, watch and learn! Big Brother Shye will show you how it''s done!" He boasted, once again aiming his staff towards the viper who remained still, basically acting like a practice dummy for Shye''s new idea. "Hmmph! Big Brother my butt! I''m older than you so you should be calling me big sis Seira!" retorted Seira as she keenly observed Shye''s subsequent actions. ''Icicle Spear!'' Promptly after thinking of the skill''s name, five icicle spears materialized, shooting straight towards the viper. ''Boost'' He then looked at the flying icicle spears and used one charge of his rare skill, [Boost Lv.1]. Shockingly, just when the sharp projectiles were about to hit the hiding Haemotoxin Viper, one of the five spears suddenly grewrger, decimating not only the viper but also the ground beneath. A short whileter, the boosted Icicle Spear suddenly exploded, sending sharp shards of ice hurtling in every direction, unintentionally killing another viper who was hiding on top of a young oak tree. ''Holy..sh¨C'' [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1 point!] Chapter 254: Boss Big Brother Shye "H-Hmpph! I do admit that your attack looked¡­fairly decent, however, it''s nothing special so I''m not really that impressed!" Seira eximed, slightly stuttering. Her tough front didn''t look convincing at all. Seeing her current state, Shye couldn''t help but inwardly chuckle. This grape-haired midget was truly a bitical at times. There was no way he would believe Seira''s words, especially when he earned a point from her. ted that his experiment worked, Shye quickly harvested the poison sack from the viper who died from the stray shard. His attack killed two Haemotoxin Vipers, however, he could only harvest one poison sac as the viper who was hit squarely by the huge icicle spear exploded into more than a hundred pieces, including its poison sac. ''Well, it can''t be helped, the boosted icicle spear was just too damn strong!'' Shye mused, singing his own praises as the two of them continued on their journey to search for more vipers. Seira, still a bit shocked at what she just witnessed, remained silent, asionally stealing nces at Shye as that was the first time she saw such a powerful icicle spear, making her wonder how one of the five suddenly grew and exploded. ''Hmm¡­seems like this guy indeed has the capital to be arrogant¡­he''s a recent graduate, yet, he''s like a fish in water inside the adventurer zones. He doesn''t even panic when ambushed¡­'' she mused as she walked behind Shye who was in a merry mood, humming tunes as he excitedly looked for more vipers. It was only the second day, yet they''d already killed seven vipers. At this rate, it might not even take them five days toplete the quest. Unfortunately, things almost always never go smoothly in life. What they expected to be a five-day breeze of a quest suddenly became a seven-day nightmare. With only one day left to hunt (as walking back to Balkrow City takes around 8-10 hours), the two of them still had to hunt three more vipers. The problem was, the little bastards seemed to be hiding from them. Due to this, Shye had to open the adventurer encyclopedia once more, learning another important life lesson. [Congrattions! Your Wisdom increased from 53 to 55!] He already read a lot of information about Haemotoxin Vipers, only, he didn''t finish reading the entire thing. At the bottom of the page, a note highlighted that skinning Haemotoxin Vipers with bare hands would impart a distinct strong odor, detectable only by Haemotoxin Vipers, enabling them to identify the individual responsible for ying many of their kind. This odor allowed the Haemotoxin Vipers to get out of harm''s way and preserve their lives. After reading this specific information, Shye and Seira had the urge to bang their heads on a nearby birch tree. So that''s why this quest was ranked C even though the creatures they needed to hunt were only of the (C-) rank! Fortunately, he sensed that something was amiss, otherwise, he had to return to the guild and report a failed quest. For a show-off like him, such a setback would not be ideal. "What should we do now?" the self-proimed party leader, Seira, asked. She wasn''t that good in the brains department, hence, she subconsciously waited for Shye to think of something. Shye knew that now was not the time, however, he couldn''t help but chuckle inwardly after seeing Seira''s desperate face. "Hah! Look at you, Seira, panicking like a little kitty cat. How about this? If I sessfully resolve this issue for us, you''ll address me as Boss Big Brother Shye from now on." Shye said with an annoying smirk on his face. "H-H-Huh?! W-W-Why would I call you that?! Stop dreaming!" Seira retorted, panicking even more upon hearing Shye''s condition. She was torn. On one side, it would be embarrassing for her, a self-proimed seasoned adventurer, to flounder on a rookie''s quest after insisting on embarking on it together. On the other hand, the rookie could potentially resolve the situation. Yet, she would be obligated to address him as Boss Big Brother Shye thereafter. "Now, little sister Seira, what will your decision be?! Come on, calling me Boss Big Brother Shye isn''t so badpared to returning to the branch headquarters as a failure, no?" Shye gently whispered. ''I-Indeed, h-how could calling him big brother be that badpared to failing the quest? W-We both know who''s the actual b-big sister anyway, right?'' Seira inwardly thought, not knowing that things wouldn''t work as such. "Tch, tch, tch¡­time is ticking¡­should you take too much time to decide, even if my n works, we might not be able to return on time!" Due to her mind being clouded by the thought of failure along with Shye''s subtle demonic whispers, Seira made a decision she would regret for quite some time. "W-Well then, B-B-Boss B-Big Brother Shye¡­can you please solve our current predicament?" "NYAHAHAHAHAHA! Very well then, little sister Seira, I shall solve our current predicament for us," Shye replied victoriously, taking out a pouch of greater powder for scent removal shortly after. "Here, apply this on your hands" With a bullied look, little sister Seira angrily took the pouch from Shye''s hands and applied it to her hands. ''You hateful bully, if this n of yours doesn''t work, I''m holding you fully ountable!'' thought Seira. Regrettably, for her, they swiftly encountered Haemotoxin Vipers and harvested their poison sacs only a few hourster, following the application of the powder. ¡­ [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Haemotoxin Vipers You''ve earned 2300 points as a reward!] ¡­ As the weary sun gradually sank to rest, two youthful adventurers, one assuming the role of the elder brother and the other as the younger sister, strolled along a familiar path. The two of them had contrasting emotions. The big brother walked merrily, humming a jolly tune while the little sister looked depressed. They sessfullypleted their quest, managing to harvest 15 poison sacs within nine days, however, instead of being happy, Seira felt dejected. Well, why wouldn''t she, especially when she was tricked into using such a ridiculous title like Boss Big Brother? Afterpleting their quest, her mind once again cleared up, allowing her to realize that Shye would probably solve the problem regardless of whether she promised to call him Boss Big Brother or not. Unfortunately, she already promised and as someone who hates liars, she can''t afford to be one herself. Chapter 255: Rookie Showdown "H-Hey! That arrogant rookie is back!" "Oh? This is going to be a great show!" "S-Senior Park, who is everyone talking about?" "The first rookie who arrived two weeks ago named Shye Crowley" "Oh¡­I see¡­wait¡­why does that name sound so familiar?" As soon as Shye and Seira appeared in sight, one of the guildsmen chilling at the bench outside the guild branch headquarters suddenly stood up and sprinted inside, informing everyone that Shye was back¡ªexcitement written all over his face. Noticing the strange actions of their guildmate, the two young adventurers who just got back afterpleting the requirements of their quest looked at each other with confused expressions. "Boss Big Brother Shye, why does it seem like our guildmates were waiting for our arrival?" "Beats me." Their questions were immediately answered upon arriving in front of the headquarters'' door though as a small group of young individuals blocked the way, looking at Shye with a condescending gaze and an annoying smirk. "So you''re that so-called arrogant rookie?" A tall, well-built young man with short ck hair donning luxurious clothes and a full set of gold-tier mid-grade relics, seemingly the small group''s leader, arrogantly asked. "You don''t seem that strong to me¡­" "Move, I need to turn my quest in," Shye replied, just as arrogant if not more so than the small group''s leader. "Heh, why are you in such a rush? I just want to see if you have the capital to be this arrogant in front of people like me, the child of a Valenzia City Adventurer." Hearing the young man''s words, Shye narrowed his eyes. ''Hoh? So the guild''s rookie admission exam is over¡­Appraisal'' [Name]: Mason Randall [Level]: 65 [upation]: Adventurer (Silver) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.4][Fierce Lunge Lv.4] [Dash Lv.4] [Decimate Lv.2(Umon)][Tri-Moon Slice Lv.2(Umon)][Hush and Hack Lv.3(Umon)][(Light)Holy Sword Lv.3(Rare)] [Enhance Strength Lv.3] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.3] [Strength: 102] [Intelligence: 15] [Agility: 100] [Dexterity: 93] [Stamina: 80] [Vitality: 100]: [Wisdom: 12] [Back][Exit System] ''Hmmm¡­so there are a few rookies like these who hail from Valenzia City huh?'' Shye mused, staring at the small group with an arrogant smirk. "Heh, I don''t give a single f*ck about where you''re from. Move or I''ll get you out of the way myself." "You!! How dare you talk to Boss Mason that way?!" one of Mason''sckeys, another rookie, eximed angrily. "Hmmph, Arthur, no need to anger yourself over this countryside mongrel," Mason said, extending his arms to stop hisckey, Arthur, from making a move before looking at Shye with narrowed eyes. "Mongrel, I heard that you love bets. Let''s have one then." Hearing that this delusional guy named Mason dared challenge him to a bet, Shye almost burst outughing. He loved bets. "Oh? And what are you willing to wager?" inquired Shye, his eyes narrowing into horizontal slits. "Simple, I heard that you''re into betting your adventurer license so how about you wager it again? But this time, against me." Mason replied with a confident smile. By this time, most of the guildmates, including the newly registered rookies, were gathered around the two small groups¡ªmost standing behind Mason not because they sided with him but due to them chilling in the lobby when themotion started. They were simply here to join in on the fun and witness two arrogant, hot-blooded rookies fight. Meanwhile, Seira was a bit dumbstruck as this was the first time she saw this side of Shye. "Hahahaha! I''m sorry as I''m not fond of such a wager right now." Shye replied, making the crowd sneer in disdain and disappointment, prompting them to think that he cowered out, only to once again shock them with his subsequent words. "I''m in the mood for some serious stakes. How about this? Let''s put both our adventurer licenses on the line, along with a hundred thousand silver coins. Are you up for it? If you can''t handle the wager or don''t have the nerve, feel free to step away." Hearing Shye''s words, Mason narrowed his eyes into slits once more. He believes that this arrogant rookie was simply bluffing his way out of wagers. ''Heh, you think I''ll fall for your cheap-ass trick?'' Mason mused, a faint smile creeping onto his lips as he reflected on his astuteness in avoiding the rookie''s deceptive tactics. "Hahahaha! You sure talk big. However, I do wonder if you can back your talk up. Show me the hundred thousand silver coins and then I¨C" Before Mason could even finish his words, Shye already took out a medium-sized pouch containing 1000 gold coins and threw it on the ground in front of him. "Here''s my hundred thousand silver coins. Now, how about you take yours out? Or do you not even have this small bit of money? If so then I sincerely apologize for making you look like a poor beggar. We can call the bet off if you want as long as you move aside. Witnessing how annoyingly confident the so-called notorious rookie was, Mason was taken aback. He thought that Shye was simply bluffing. Now, he''s stuck between a rock and a hard ce, just like the veteran guildsman in everyone''s story. It was either to ept the wager and risk losing his adventurer license along with a hundred thousand silver coins or ept defeat and bow down to the notorious rookie just like the veteran guildsman. "Well, Mason, what''s your answer? Are you brave enough? Or are you just another cocky fool who backs down when it''s time to prove oneself?" Shye sneered in disdain. Not expecting the "notorious rookie" to be this fierce, Mason''sckeys broke out in a cold sweat. All of them were there when the top ten of the rookie admission exam showed their skills. Opting to be ninth-ranked, Mason Randall''sckeys, they believed that those in the top ten were absolute and no other rookies could possibly be stronger than the ten. Hence, they genuinely couldn''t fathom where this overconfident neer, who relied on connections to get in, derived his confidence from. Still, the guy''s confidence didn''t look fake as he unhesitatingly took out a hundred thousand silver coins, looking eager to have a duel with their boss, Mason. Noticing their boss'' slight hesitation, theckeys couldn''t help but panic even more. He was the source of their courage and pride so if their boss backs down, they would be humiliated by theckeys of the other top ten rookies as well. At that point, they would probably regret choosing Mason as their leader. Fortunately for them, after a brief moment of hesitation, a confident smile made its way back to their boss'' face. "Heh, you think I''m scared of chatans like you? Fine then, here''s my hundred thousand silver coins, I shall teach you a lesson you''ll never forget. Hopefully, you stop pretending to be something you''re not in the future!" Chapter 256: A Sudden Mini-Event Mason was initially hesitant as the notorious rookie''s confidence seemed to be sky-high, making him temporarily doubt if his skills would be enough to bring this arrogant rookie down. However, upon remembering that his parents, both mithril-ranked Valenzia City adventurers, provided him abundant resources such as top-quality training potions and physique-enhancing tonics from a young age in addition to training him diligently since when he was ten years old, all the doubts in Mason''s mind simply flew out the window. That''s right. How could someone like this arrogant guy be stronger than him? This so-called notorious rookie most probably graduated as a top student of some random academy and that''s why he was so confident, thinking that he was untouchable by mere recruits who took the rookie admission exam. Not only did this chatan have to fight for his own resources like some stray dog, but thepetition he had was probably low-level as well. Unlike him, a true-blooded elite who grew up in the city of dreams. Aside from abundant resources and dedicated tutoring from his parents, thepetition they had amongst themselves as children of Valenzia City adventurers was something he deemed higher than that of the shitty Adventurer Academy Competition. That is also the reason why they, the true elites from Valenzia, disdained watching the saidpetition. There was no way such a frog in the bottom of a well could know that there''s always someone stronger out there. Hearing that two arrogant rookies would face off in a high-stakes duel, the Raven''s de guildsmen were hyped as f*ck, shouting at the top of their lungs in celebration, causing those who were from other guilds to notice themotion. Inevitably, the curious ones walked closer. "Hey, brother, what''s happening here? Why are you guys so excited?" An adventurer from another guild asked with a slight smile on his face; he wanted to join in on the fun. "Oh? Brother, you want to know? Then listen closely, this one right here was an arrogant rookie who got in through some rmendation letter so he didn''t have to participate in our guild''s annual rookie admission exam¡­" ¡­ "H-Holy shit! And these two are gonna fight in such a high-stakes duel with their future on the line?!" "That''s right! This is the reason why we''re so excited." "My guildsmen have to hear of this!" Promptly after learning about what was going on, the curious adventurers returned to their guilds and told their guildsmen about the ongoingmotion in Raven''s de. People loved duels, high-stake ones? Even more so. In just a few moments, the number of people who surrounded the two rookies increased like thriving cancer cells. "Hoh? Looks like people want to watch how I beat the crap out of you¡­" Mason snickered. "How about let''s fight in the small dueling arena over there?" Naturally, Shye felt happy about the current developments. The more people he could show off to, the better. "Haha, good thing you dare, I want to show everyone how much of a clown you are after all," Shye replied, taking the lead in walking toward the small dueling arena. Meanwhile, inside a simple yet elegant office, two men observed the escting proceedings with torn looks. "S-Sir Corvus, should we stop them?" "Tch¡­these little bastards are so troublesome¡­" Branch Guild Master Corvus struggled, however, he knew that he shouldn''t intervene as this is what adventurers should be; courageous, arrogant, and always wanting to rise above the rest. Ultimately, he decided to allow the rookie showdown. ¡­ "H-Hey, Boss Big Brother Shye, is this really okay? A-Aren''t the stakes a bit too high? Seira asked nervously. She wasn''t fond of huge conflicts involving huge stakes like this one, especially when one of the parties involved was someone she considered a friend. "Little sister Seira, don''t worry, your Boss Big Brother is strong, this delusional bastard stands no chance against someone like me!" Shye lightheartedly jested, even daring to point his index finger towards Mason, directly calling him a delusional bastard. Being on the receiving end of the disrespect, Mason naturally fumed in anger. "YOU!! I''LL F*CKING TEACH YOU WHO''S THE DELUSIONAL BASTARD RIGHT NOW!" "B-Boss Mason! Calm down! We''re near the arena! You will face legal consequences if you attack here!" Luckily for him, one of hisckeys was courageous enough to try and pull him back, allowing logic to regain control over his head. Seeing that Mason doesn''t dare attack once more upon realizing the repercussions of doing so, Shye sneered at him in disdain, further deepening the hatred burgeoning in Mason''s heart. The small dueling arena wasn''t far. Hence, a quarter of an hourter, the twopetitors, along with their huge entourage of spectators arrived. Upon arriving, a few overly enthusiastic individuals from various guilds took the lead in organizing the mini-event; scheduling the duel twenty minutes from now and setting up a bet with almost equal odds, Shye being the underdog by the slightest of margins. Unknowingly, what was supposed to be a duel enjoyed only by those from Raven''s de suddenly turned into a mini-event for adventurers whose guild headquarters were located on the same wide street as Raven''s de. Currently, there are at least 7,000 people who are waiting to watch the duel. Shye hoped for there to be more, however, it is what it is. Attracting a crowd as an unfamiliar rookie adventurer proved to be much more challenging than doing so as a renowned student, even from a fairly mediocre academy. "B-Boss Big Brother Shye, most of them are betting on your opponent. Should I bet a few silver coins on you?" Seira asked with a slightly concerned expression, thinking that Shye''s confidence might be affected due to most of the spectators betting on Mason. Little did she know that Shye''s confidence would never waver. After all, he already knew how strong Mason was and what his skills were. He estimated that the bastard was slightly weaker than Harper Blythe, Eusford Academy''s ace representative. There was just no way for him to lose. In his eyes, the people betting on Mason were simply throwing their money away. He tried to bet on himself. Unfortunately, the betting station which was crazy enough to put up odds for their fight did not allow it. Left with no other choice, Shye beckoned Seira to move her ears closer to his mouth. "My dear little sister Seira, do you want to earn a lot of money? If so, then please bet this twenty thousand silver coins for me. I shall give you thirty percent of the winnings." Chapter 257: Whacked Shye desired to ce arger bet, yet the manager of the betting station, being both astute and cautious, imposed a betting limit of 20,000 silver coins. Well, he''ll take what he could get. This chance to earn both points and money was a pie that dropped from the sky anyway. As a bonus, he also gets to indulge in one of his recent twisted hobbies: ruthlessly destroying those who daree after him. Overall, today was a nice day for Shye. As time ticked away, more and more people came to watch. Even adventurers from guilds located on different streets went out of their way to watch two rookies destroy each other''s futures. When it was time for their duel, there were around 10,000 spectators. "Well then, little sister Seira, I''m off." "O-Okay, make sure you win!" Heading towards the center of the small local arena, Shye made his way as Seira nervously searched for an empty seat among the audience. Luckily, one of the seats near a few of her friends was empty. "Heh, you''ve been talking smack since earlier. Let''s see if you can back it up." Mason confidently said as he faced off with Shye in the middle of the small arena. He recently learned that Shye was a mage, making him more confident of his victory. Although he''s bad at fighting slippery archers, mages were easy pickings for him. Well, based on his experience in the past that is. He never struggled in sparring against mages. "Hahaha, I can more than back it up. I told you, you have no chance against me. I''m not insulting you, I''m just stating the facts. You''re far too weak and idiotic to be a threat to me." Shye retorted with a condescending smile. Hearing Shye''s words of absolute confidence, a raging mix of anger and apprehension filled Mason''s heart. Shye was just too confident. As though the bastard was sure that he was better than him, the son of mithril-ranked adventurers. ''Don''t overthink this, Mason. This bastard is just a frog in the bottom of a well, nothing but an inexperienced idiot¡­'' Mason thought to himself, realizing that the nerves were kicking in. He felt nervous. On the contrary, the bastard was chill as f*ck, making him doubt himself more and more. Taking out his gold-tier elemental staff, Shye copied Harry''s stance, making him look like a seasoned mage. On the other hand, Mason took his katana out, prompting zing embers to arch in the air as Mason waved his de to assume his fighting stance. His gold-tier mid-grade relic katana looked menacing, however, Shye was unperturbed. The guy''s attributes were all below him by quite a decent margin. If ites down to him using his greatswords to win, then he wouldn''t hesitate to do so. Hopefully, he wouldn''t have to. As the two guys stared each other down, the arena''s referee, who was more than happy to help facilitate this duel, jerked his arms upward, signaling the start of the duel. Immediately after the match started, Shye aimed his staff towards Mason and "chanted" a few gibberish looking like he was casting some sort of spell. Fully anticipating Shye to do so, Mason swiftly kicked up a fierce cloud of dust as he ferociously charged towards Shye to close the gap instantly using his skill [Dash Lv.4]. He then followed up with a warrior''s trusty skill, [Power sh Lv.4], creating a dazzling trail of embers as Mason''s katana viciously shed diagonally toward Shye who still seemed to be in the middle of casting a spell. A few more millisecondster, a fireball suddenly appeared in front of Mason, forcing him to use his skill to sh the decent-sized fireball apart. This was within his expectations though. Now that he was close to this dastardly arrogant yet ipetent mage, the fight would surely go in his favor. Or so he thought¡­ Mason expected Shye to use blink now that he closed the gap, nning to chase him down with another gap-closer skill. However, who would''ve expected that Shye would stand his ground with an arrogant smirk on his face? Enraged, Mason stuck to Shye like glue, hacking, shing, and stabbing from different angles as he gracefully advanced, chasing down the arrogant mage who dared fight him head-on. Shockingly though, none of his attacks managed tond cleanly as Shye masterfully used his staff to parry and block Mason''s blows, no matter which angle it came from. What everyone couldn''tprehend was, that no matter how Mason tried, he couldn''t force Shye off-bnce. It was as though¡­as though he was weaker in terms of raw strength. Heck, the darned mage even managed to sneak in a few staff whacks here and there, causing Mason''s face to slightly swell up. F*cking embarrassing. The whacks slowly piled up, leaving undeniable marks on Mason''s face and gnawing at both his dignity and sanity. Fully determined to strike back, Mason decided to use his ultimate skill, [(Light)Holy Sword Lv.3(Rare)], slowly coating his katana with a golden glow. Unfortunately for him, Shye predicted that he would use his ultimate skill right at his most desperate moment, allowing him to capitalize and blink right in front of Mason, who hadn''t finished casting his skill. He then held his staff as if it was a two-handed greatsword, swinging it horizontally like a baseball bat with all his might towards Mason''s unguarded right cheek, enhanced his blow''s power using [Power sh Lv.4], or in this case¡ª[Power Bonk Lv.4]. *WHACK* A resounding whacking sound reverberated across the entire arena as a limp body hurtled across the air, uncontrobly spitting a mixture of saliva, blood, and teeth, looking extremely miserable. Shye wasn''t an idiot who would wait for his opponent to finish casting a skill. He knew that whacking the shit out of Mason while he was in the middle of a power-up was the best course of action. Witnessing their respected boss limply rolling on the ground like some sort of tumbleweed, Mason''sckeys were horrified¡ªtheir mouths¡ªagape. "B-BOSS MASON!!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 9,820 points!] Chapter 258: Boner "Damn! I saw this Mason guy wreak havoc at the rookie admission exam. I can''t believe Shye Crowley simply toyed with him!" "H-Holy shit!! This arrogant rookie is the real f*cking deal! I want to see how he would fare against those monsters from the top 5 of this year''s rookie admission exam." "It seems that Candor''s decision was correct¡­F*cking with this guy isn''t the least bit ideal." Naturally, a significant uproar erupted among the guild members of Raven''s de. The majority were present to witness the recent rookie admission exam, and even a few veterans with over five years of adventuring experience knew they''d have a hard time defeating those in the top ten. Hence, the scene of Shye destroying the 9th-ranked Mason utterly shocked their little hearts, making a single thought resonate in their minds: ''This rookie indeed has the capital to be arrogant!'' They wanted to see him sh against the higher-ranked rookies, unfortunately, those in the top five all left for quests before Shye could return so they would probably not be able to see them fight anytime soon. Well, no matter. The annual Raven''s de rookiepetition is just six months away anyway. Allowing some time for the rookies to develop was actually advantageous in determining who was the most talented among them. Following his victory over Mason, Shye didn''t spare a nce and promptly made his way directly to the desk where they ced the sack pouches containing 200,000 silver coins and their adventurer licenses,id out for the victor to im. Grabbing everything on the table, Shye waved at Seira, beckoning for her toe closer before the two of them swiftly left the small arena. Seira then imed her 41,900 silver coin winnings from the betting station, returning to Shye''s side promptly after. "Here, 6570 silver coins," Shye said, handing over a huge sum of money equivalent to the earnings of around three solo quests as though it was nothing. Well, it was nothing to him¡ªright now, at least. Taking the money from Shye''s hands, Seira''s expression turned from a lost to a happy one. The realization of what had actually urred finally sank in deep within her heart. "H-Holy Crap! Boss Big Brother Shye! You''re really strong, aren''t you? Even I don''t believe I can defeat you," Seira confessed, her eyes devoid of any hint of ttery, expressing only pure honesty. "How could you be so strong at duels?" "HAHAHAHAHAHA! You finally acknowledge my strength now? Well then, let''s turn our quest in shall we?" "Oh, crap! I forgot about that! Let''s go." *** "All set, Sir Crowley, Miss Ramah. Once again, thank you very much for contributing to the guild!" "Thank you, Miss Shauna" "Thanks, Shauna." After sessfully receiving their rewards for the quest, the two of them parted ways. Seira went to chill in the lobby and talk to her friends while Shye left the branch headquarters under the respectful gazes of his guildmates. Now, they know that Shye wasn''t a guy one should f*ck with. With a contented stroll along the bustling street, Shye opted to treat himself to another delightful dinner, relishing the attention from onlookers who pointed fingers and whispered about his victory over Mason in their duel as he walked towards the seafood restaurant. Another lovely day for Shye the show-off. Enjoying the subtle night lights and the gentle evening hubbub of the city''s residents, it took Shye around twenty minutes before he arrived at the seafood restaurant and enjoyed another generous serving of delectable seafood, delicately assaulting his taste buds and his olfactory senses as he chewed and swallowed with an expression of utter bliss. Once he was full, he paid the four hundred silver coin bill and left a tip of fifty silver coins for the waiter who remembered him and took the initiative to serve him again today. He was slowly bing a regr. ''Ahhhh¡­great food as always!'' Shye inwardlyplimented the seafood restaurant, taking his time as he looked around for a fairly high-quality inn to sleep in for the night. While in search of a good ce to sleep, Shye remembered that two weeks had already passed since their batch graduated. ''Shirley has probably settled down in Nookbury City by now¡­I''ll drop by the post office tomorrow¡­'' A few minutester, his gaze was captured by a towering pavilion, resembling an inn with a distinct theme. ''Oh? Should I try sleeping here?'' thought Shye, ultimately deciding to try the ce out. It looked luxurious after all. Humming a merry tune as he headed inside, Shye was greeted by subtle red lights illuminating the vast marble lobby and giving it a¡­spicy vibe. ''Hmm¡­well, the red lights are quite strange but¡­it must be part of the theme.'' He had a few doubts, however, he simply shrugged it off and headed towards the opulent granite countertop manned by a disastrously beautiful receptionist with an ample bosom. Although one couldn''t see her behind from the counter, one could be sure that it was just as blessed as her front. ¡­ "Thank you, young master, for booking a premium room! Along with your amodation, you''re entitled to unlimited drinks from the bar on the left, just around this corner." "I see, thank you." Having sessfully booked a room, Shye suddenly felt the urge to enjoy a few alcoholic drinks at the bar, hence, he turned the corner and headed in its direction. However, upon arriving, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets. In front of the bar was a medium-sized circr stage where three attractive women danced seductively while wearing minimal clothing, entertaining the mature crowd who in turn tossed gold coins on the stage, pleased at the women''s performance. Unexpectedly seeing what he shouldn''t Shye''s little brother woke up. Fortunately, before a waiter could arrive by his side, he managed to regather his wits, allowing him to sprint out of the unholy area, straight to the room he booked. "Darn it! I didn''t realize this was that kind of establishment!" he cursed to himself as he locked the door, silently promising to stick to renting rooms in traditional inns. That specific night, Shye wasn''t able to have a great night''s sleep as his little brother kept bugging him. Chapter 259: Letters Waking up after a not-so-ideal sleep, Shye yawned, groggily getting out of bed to wash his face and leave the darned ce as soon as possible. Subsequently, once he was done with his preparations, Shye swiftly headed towards the counter to check out, not daring to turn his head left or right for fear of seeing something inappropriate again. Due to the unholy visions he saw at the bar''s stage, Shye couldn''t help but think about Shirley and their past loving experiences. How delightful it would be if they could reside together! Unfortunately, his dreams of having sexual intimacy with Shirley every day would have to remain a dream for the time being. Shaking his head to throw the pesky inappropriate thoughts out the window, Shye checked out of the strange inn. He then headed towards a nearby restaurant to have a simple breakfast before heading towards the post office. Perhaps Shirley has already sent a letter to him! A quarter of an hourter, he finally arrived at a huge stone building. It wasn''t elegant, however, it was majestic. Entering the post office with a hopeful smile, Shye looked around. ''Luckily, I came early.'' He mused, walking towards the end of the short line. While waiting for his turn, Shye suddenly remembered that he currently had lots of money and it would be a shame to not use it to improve his overall strength. The question is, how? Wracking his brain to think of ways to improve himself the "normal" way, Shye looked lost in his thoughts. Fortunately, just a few secondster, a good one popped up in his mind. ''Hmm¡­maybe I can purchase lots of basic mage spells using silver coins along with spell mastery tonics and mana potions?'' Shye pondered. He wasn''t satisfied with his current arsenal as a mage. Shye knew that he could level up his skills by simply spamming its usage, hence, in theory, as long as he had lots of mana potions, he could swiftly level the new skills up to at least level three. After that, he should have an easier time grinding system points and guild contribution points. ''Alright then, let''s try that!'' Shye thought inwardly. Shortly after he formted a solid n on how to improve as a mage, he was called by the staff member manning the stone counter as it was already his turn. "Hello sir, Do you have any valid IDs so we can check if somebody sent you a letter?" The staff member asked with a slight smile on his face. He hated his current job, however, he had no choice but to smile since he would be fired if he didn''t. Should that happen, his beloved wife and son would have nothing to eat. "Hello, here''s my adventurer license" Shye replied, reciprocating the staff member''s slight smile. It was still morning so his recent innate crankiness is still easily controble. The staff member worked masterfully, handing over his adventurer license along with two letters within one and a half minutes, widening the smile on Shye''s face. Feeling generous, Shye gave the staff member a twenty silver coin tip, in turn making the staff member thank him profusely. The underpaid staff member not onlycks properpensation but also finds little time to rest until his shift concludes. Unbeknownst to Shye, his casual tip meant a great deal to the staff member, enabling him to buy numerous essentials as well as some delicious snacks and decent-quality meat. Twenty silver coins was a small amount to Shye, yet, to the staff member it was equivalent to a third of his ie for a month. Truly a huge unexpected blessing. As for the nice guy, Shye, he already left the post office. Heading straight towards thergest mage shop in Balkrow City which also happened to be the shop Wendy was partnered with, Shye opened the contents of the first letter. "Shye, my beloved, are you doing well? Make sure to eat and bathe properly alright? I sessfully passed the Raven''s de Nookbury Branch''s rookie admission exam and ced fourth overall. As expected, there were quite a few annoying individuals in this branch and I believe it''s the same over there. I believe in you and I''m sure you''ll easily work your way to the top. I will do my best to do the same so don''t worry about me. I hope we can see each other soon. If you somehow have the time to visit me, then you can look for me in the Nookbury branch or at an inn called "The White Forge". Love, Shirley." Reading his girlfriend''s heartfelt letter, Shye couldn''t help but slightly tear up. ''Ahh crap¡­I really want to see her right now¡­.'' Shyemented. ''Well, probably not until I be a ruby-ranked adventurer. I must do my best to shorten her waiting time!'' After reading Shirley''s letter, Shye gently opened the other one. "Big Brother, I hope you''re doing great. Please eat proper meals and take regr baths. You stink sometimes when you''re too focused after all. You don''t have to worry about me, I''m doing well in the academy. However, sometimes, it does feel a bit lonely remembering the fact that you''re so far away. I''ll do my best so we can live near each other as soon as possible. I miss you, Big Brother. Love, Maia" Once he was done, Shye wiped the tears welling on the corners of his eyes as it would be a bit embarrassing to cry in public. Both letters were heartfelt so it was hard for him to hold his emotions back. ''We''ll see each other again¡­For now, I shall focus!'' he thought, a resolute glint appearing in his eyes. Due to the energy build-up brought about by his raging emotions, Shye started sprinting towards the Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop, causing lots of heads to turn his way as he kicked up small clouds of dust and stirred up small gusts of wind. He was a bit excited now as he wanted to surprise not only Shirley and Maia but also his friends. ''Heh, I wonder how David and Harry would react once they learn of my subss and how strong of a mage I am?'' Chapter 260: A Mage’s Shopping Spree (1) "Hoh¡­So this is the Gold Wing Spellcaster Shop?" Shye muttered while gazing upon the grandeur of the opulent structure crafted from polished marble, its facade adorned with borate wing motifs and ents of gold. ''For starters, let''s go in¡­'' Grabbing the golden door handles, Shye entered the shop, prompting heads to turn his way subconsciously. As his basic mage equipmentcked distinction, people quickly lost interest in him and resumed their activities in the shop. Fortunately, Shye noticed their gazes, otherwise, he would forget to purchase better quality mage robes again as he was too focused on purchasing skills. Spellcaster shops like Gold Wing sell almost everything a mage and priest could ever need, including the mage robes, gloves, boots, pants, and hats. Looking around the shop, Shye appreciated its interior design. Instead of using warm golden sun rays to illuminate the shop during the daytime, the shop opted to use luxurious blinds to block the sunlight, allowing the subtle yet elegant golden glow of the chandeliers suspended on the moderately high ceilings of each floor to suffuse the entire premises with light. Beneath the chandeliers were neatly arranged and generously spaced rows of shelves containing various products such as robes, wands, elemental and life staffs, and many more. On the far left end of each floor were luxurious marble counters with a gold wing carving in the middle. ''Sheesh, Wendy got herself a nice partnership deal, didn''t she?'' He mused, walking towards the equipment section shortly after. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Tailor Marsha''s All-rounder Robe [Tier]: Gold [Rarity] Umon [Description]: An all-rounder robe made by a tailor named Marsha Hodgkins. Enhances a mage''s attributes instead of giving him/her an elemental damage boost. Effects: [Intelligence] + 10 [Wisdom] + 7 [Agility] + 3 [Back][Exit System] ''Appraisal!'' ¡­ ¡­ Since mage equipment looked light, Shye reckoned that most of them would befortable for him to wear, hence, he opted for the ones with bonuses he liked the most. Ultimately, he ended up with a mixed gold-tier set from different tailors which would provide him with bonuses such as the ones below (including the gold-tier staff he got from thebyrinth): [Intelligence] + 40 [Wisdom] + 30 [Agility] + 25 Increase [Fire] elemental damage by 15% Increase [Ice] elemental damage by 15% Increase [Earth] elemental damage by 5% Increase [Wind] elemental damage by 5% Increase [Lightning] elemental damage by 3% ''Not bad for a gold-tier starter set!'' Shye inwardly thought, nodding satisfactorily as he ced each piece of equipment inside the spatial shopping basket. Shye then proceeded toward the skills section. ''Ohh! There''s lots of skill books here!'' he inwardly eximed, excitement prevalent on his face as he enthusiastically checked each skill book. Naturally, he skipped the basic spells such as [Fireball], [Icicle Spear], [Rock Bullet], and [Blink] as he already had those. He wanted to purchase a few moremon skills for the sake of a wider arsenal, however, he also needed to purchase a few high-damage spells to increase his damage output as it would be hard to rely on a mere quantity of basic spells to y monstrous creatures which typically possess naturally higher vitality than humans. If he wanted to be a top-tier mage, it''s all about the nukes! ''Hoh¡­8000 silver coins for a basic spell such as this? No wonder only a select few in the academy had skills upon admission¡­'' Shye thought, as he looked through the skill book of themon skill, [Fiery Wall]. The skill was one of the mostmon skills of the [Fire] element and since he always purchased level 1mon skills through the system for a modest 500-1500 points, he never truly appreciated the overwhelming advantage he had over others. Currently, he only had 8,400 points remaining so he thought that it would be better to temporarily use silver coins to purchase skill books. He had around 850,000 silver coins lying around anyway. It would be better to use it for self-improvement than let it rot in the inventory. After all, enhancing his strength would make it easier to umte wealth in the future. Meticulously checking the contents of eachmon skill book, Shye decided to purchase four offensive spells ([Wind Slicer], [Earthen Spikes], [Ice Rain], and [ze Missiles]), two for repositioning ([Spatial Tunnel] and [Quick Teleport]), and another two for protection ([Earthen Wall] and [Ice Wall]). ''That should be a decent arsenal of spells¡­right?'' Shye wondered, reluctantly leaving themon skills section shortly after. He wasn''t satisfied and he wanted to purchase more skills. Little did he know, once he finished learning all the new skills in his spatial shopping basket, hismon skill arsenal would put most mages'' (including David and Harry''s) arsenal to shame. The shop was huge. It took Shye around five minutes of walking before arriving at the umon and rare skills section. For starters, he wanted to purchase two offensive umon skills and one offensive rare skill. ''Hmmm¡­since I have the "no-chant" advantage, maybe I should go for the huge nukes with long casting times¡­'' Shye pondered as he flipped through the books, He was now a bit more experienced in searching for appropriate skills. Well, there was a good rule of thumb. It was that those who have longer chants are generally more powerful than those with lesser ones. Although there was more to it than that, it didn''t matter to Shye as he could just pick all the strong ones with long casting times (that would synergize well with his other skills) and instantly cast it to destroy his opponents. Should they somehow manage toe close to him, it wouldn''t matter as well since he was a brute-strength-type warrior in the first ce. Imagining how much of a menace he would be, Shye chuckled evilly. A few minutester, he found two skills that he thought would provide him the best benefits. === [(Fire)Fire Bomb Assault(Umon)] Description: Once the chant ispleted, exploding fireballs will continuously shoot from one''s arcane weapon of choice at a rate of three fireballs per second for seven seconds. Chant: *Five seconds of gibberish* === [(Ice)Frozen Thorn Barrage(Umon)] Description: Once the chant ispleted, lethal ice shards will continuously shoot from one''s arcane weapon of choice at a rate of four ice shards per second for six seconds. Chant: *Six seconds of gibberish* === Chapter 261: A Mage’s Shopping Spree (2) ''Heh¡­Hehe¡­Hehehe¡­Won''t I breeze through quests should I purchase these two?!'' Shye inwardly thought,ughing creepily as he looked at the two skill books as though they were treasures. The excessively long casting durations of both skills were justified by the immense offensive power they wielded. Normally, such skills can only be used when hunting monstrous creatures with a party that can protect the mage long enough for the mage to finish the long chant. However, in Shye''s hands, such destructive spells can be used in duels should he desire to do so. It would probably result in either a death or a grievous wound though. Putting away the two umon skills inside the spatial shopping basket, Shye proceeded toward the rare skills section. Immediately after arriving, a certain rare skill bookbeled as the "best seller" captured Shye''s attention. He quickly grabbed it in excitement only to be disappointed in the next second. === [Magic Field(Rare)] Description: Create a huge magic field that would reduce one''s casting time by half. Chant: *Two seconds of gibberish* === ''Meh¡­What ame skill¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, not knowing that most mages would kill if they could purchase this skill. After all, the skill only has a two-second chant, boasts an expansive effective range, and unlocks a myriad of possibilities for mages once activated. Only, it was useless for Shye who had instantaneous casting time. What he needed was¡­yes¡­NUKES!!! Resuming his search for his trump card as a mage, Shye meticulously checked each rare skill book. While doing so, he couldn''t help but overhear the conversation of the two adventurers shopping in a section of the store near him. "Hey, will you be going to the auction?" "Haahh¡­I don''t know¡­I''m trying hard to continuously take on quests to increase my savings but I''m not sure if I can make it. If I can''t save up at least 50,000 silver coins in three weeks, I might as well not go." "Aihh¡­I''m in the same position¡­Well, it''s still a month from now so we still have a chance." "Well, we don''t have an actual month though. Maybe three weeks and a half at most as we still need to travel to ckburrow City¡­" Upon hearing the contents of the conversation, Shye''s ears perked up. He then momentarily stopped reading the contents of the rare skill book in his hands, once again lost in his thoughts. ''Hoh? An auction? Good thing I have lots of silver coins right now¡­ckburrow City huh?'' Shye pondered. He wanted to go to the auction but he didn''t know the exact date and time. ''Oh well, Seira or Miss Aya probably knows about it. I''ll just ask themter.'' Putting the matter of the auction at the back of his head, Shye resumed his search for a trump card, meticulously flipping through rare skill book pages¡ªone after the other. Finally, after around half an hour, he found the skill book he was looking for. === [(Void)(Dark) Gravitational Drain (Rare)] Description: Create arge gravitational magic circle on the ground, drawing the enemy forcefully towards the center while sapping their life force. Chant: *Fifteen seconds of gibberish* === ''H-Holy crap! Isn''t this skill too overpowered?!'' Shye thought, forgetting the fact that the spell would''ve been almost impossible to cast in the middle ofbat under normal circumstances. Employing such a perilous spell was bound to attract the notice of monstrous creatures with a sharp sense of danger,pelling them to eliminate the caster before they couldplete the incantation. His ability to cast instantaneously was the sole reason why the skill became so overwhelmingly powerful in his eyes as most mages wouldn''t even spare a second nce to such an unusable spell. After all, if one was interrupted in the middle of one''s chant, then one would suffer a bacsh, making the caster pay 50% of the skill''s mana cost for nothing. Quick and powerful spells were the name of the game for mages. Absurdly strong yet extremely slow spells were simply too disadvantageous. ''Well, that should be it!'' Deciding to purchase [(Void)(Dark) Gravitational Drain (Rare)], Shye put the skill book inside the spatial shopping basket. He then walked towards the counter with a smile on his face. However, just when he was about to queue, Shye suddenly remembered something. ''Wait¡­'' Pondering for a short amount of time, Shye decided that trying his theory was worth it. Weapons weren''t as expensive as skills anyway. Walking quickly towards the elemental staff section, he searched for an appropriate one to purchase. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find the staff he was looking for¡ªone with dark and void bonuses. He even asked a staff member who was stocking the shelves but all he got was a confirmation that this branch doesn''t sell such rare stuff. He was then given a list of Gold Wing branches that sold the kind of staff he was looking for. Shye didn''t have the time to visit those cities for now though, hence, he had no choice but to grab one with a high intelligence and ice elemental bonus. Still, he was satisfied with his shopping haul. Shye once more walked towards the counter, queued for around half an hour, and then paid a total price of 165,000 silver coins for everything he purchased, leaving him with only around 685,000 for the uing auction. Well, that was still a lot. Compared to the adventurer who nned to attend with only 50,000 silver coins, that is. "Hello sir, you''re the customer who purchased a lot of skill books, correct? Do you want to use our skill cylinder to learn your skills?" A staff member offered with a smile on his face. Shye was about to ept. Thankfully, he recalled that his ability for instantaneous casting stemmed from skills acquired through the system. Therefore, before responding, he discreetly essed the adventurer system and stashed a skill book into his inventory. Subsequently, he pressed the skill book''s icon in the inventory and nervously waited for the options to pop up. [Withdraw] [Learn] [Destroy] Seeing that there was an option to learn the skill through the system, Shye heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you for the offer, however, I''ll be using these as a gift so I won''t be taking you up on that." "I see, thank you for your purchase, young sir!" Chapter 262: Training Of The Mage Who Speaks No Gibberish (1) ''Alright then, time for training!'' Under the midday sun, a spirited young man with ash-colored hair emerged boisterously from a shop named Constantine Consumables. After purchasing a shitload of mana potions and spell mastery tonics for a total of 15,000 silver coins, Shye was now ready to grind the level of his skills for an entire week. ''Hmm¡­should I rent a training facility?'' Shye pondered. He might attract the attention of a few unpleasant individuals should he train outside the city. Moreover, if those individuals decide to f*ck with him, it might be a bit dangerous, considering that there are emerald-tier adventurers in Balkrow City, albeit not many. ''Well, let''s check the prices first¡­'' Walking for around twenty minutes, Shye arrived at a training facility called "The Ranged", a training facility specifically made for archers, mages, and priests, to practice their skills The training facility was vast, however, it was a bit run down. It was exactly what Shye was looking for though as he didn''t want to pay extra for mere aesthetics. Entering through the worn-down wooden front door, Shye was surprised. He didn''t expect the ce to be famous, especially since it looked like the facility had been hit by a poopstorm. There were at least hundreds of adventurers, either alone or in groups of two training inside different rooms with different functions. Unbeknownst to him, the facility was actually quite new. It was just that the clever owner used a worn-down design to attract potential customers. Naturally, the rates of the facility were quite cheappared to others while ultimately providing the same experience, making it a popr choice among ranged adventurers. ''Oh? 50 silver coins per hour? What a reasonable price!'' Shye inwardly eximed. If the rates were this cheap then he could train all day for a week without worrying about annoying bastards! Shye enthusiastically walked towards the counter where he was greeted by yet another beautiful staff member. The darned store owner seems to really know what he''s doing. "Hello, young sir. Would you like to rent a training room?" "Hello, yes. I would like to rent a mage training room please." "I see, for mages, we still have four regr training rooms and one premium training room remaining. The rate for the regr room is 50 silver coins per hour while it is 70 silver coins per hour for premium training rooms." "Hmm¡­What''s the difference between a regr and a premium training room?" "The magic absorption target crystal has a significantlyrger capacity in the premium training room, allowing for the practice of skills up to the unique tier. In contrast, the regr training room only amodates skills up to the rare tier." "Oh, I see. I would like to rent one regr training room please, for seven hours." After a short conversation, Shye took out 350 silver coins and handed them over to the staff member in charge, heading towards the assigned training room shortly after. ''Oh? Even the regr training rooms are this spacious?'' Shye mused, cing his sack bag at the side of the room before taking out his newly bought gold-tier elemental staff with ice bonuses. He then took out a bottle of high-grade spell mastery tonic which was azure in color. Doesn''t really look appetizing but Shye didn''t care and simply drank the whole bottle. ''Ooh, tastes like melted candy.'' Shye mused, focusing his attention on therge crystal in front of him. ''For starters, let''s level up the four basic offensive spells¡­'' Aiming his staff towards the crystal, Shye fired a skill. ''Wind slicer!'' Four small gusts of wind suddenly formed in front of Shye, turning into small crescent moon-shaped projectiles with sharp edges before shooting toward the target crystal. *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* *FWOOSH* Shockingly, after the four slicers hit the crystal, it vanished, seemingly absorbed by the peculiar target. Then, a few millisecondster, a numeric value appeared on top of the crystal. "69" ''Oh? 69 huh? What''s 69 though?'' He didn''t know how potent 69 was, but for now, he''ll use it as a baseline. ''Hmm¡­How do I know how much mana it drained out of me though?'' Shye wondered, opening his status window to see if there were some kind of mana values or something. Unfortunately, there were none. ''Haah¡­Well, I''ll probably feel it if I''m at my limit¡­for now, I shall keep firing spells.'' His skill, [Wind Slicer Lv.1] didn''t really tire him out that much so he reckoned that the mana consumption was probably minuscule. With the considerable increase in his intelligence and wisdom stats from the bonuses provided by his new gold-tier set, Shye''s mana pool likely expanded as a result. Feeling a bit more confident, Shye fired the three other basic offensive spells in session. "74" "98" "82" [Earthen Spikes Lv.1] scored 74, [Ice Rain Lv.1] scored 98, and [ze Missiles Lv.1] scored 82. ''Hmm¡­so 69 is weak¡­'' Shye pondered. ''Well then, let''s check each skill''s cooldown¡­'' After going through all of his skills including his existing ones for around half an hour, Shye found out that the cooldown of eachmon mage skill was lower than what he expected. "Hmm, so the basic offensive skills have a cooldown range of 3 to 10 seconds huh?" Shye muttered to himself, realizing that he had been underestimating mages in the past. "Well, good thing I know now. It''s not like I can spam the skills without thinking about proper usage as everyone''s mana is limited¡­" Contented about his findings regarding the limits of his skills'' damage and cooldown, Shye proceeded to level each one of them up, casting the four new offensive spells in rotation to level them up. The entire time, Shye was counting. He wanted to know how many times he should cast a skill before it levels up. Regrettably, following twelve repetitions of each of the new basic spells, Shye suddenly experienced dizziness, with a subtle throbbing pain in his head. ''Ahh¡­crap¡­is this the limit of my current mana pool?'' Chapter 263: Training Of The Mage Who Speaks No Gibberish (2) "Phew¡­hadn''t felt anything like that before¡­" After gulping down two high-grade mana potions, Shye finally started feeling better. Although he didn''t know whether his mana pool was back to full after only two potions, there was no point in guessing. He would be able to determine the number of mana potions required to fully replenish his mana pool as long as he persisted with his training anyway. Shye rested for around five minutes before going through twelve iterations of each spell again. It seems that two high-grade mana potions were indeed enough to restore his mana to full. Strangely though, this time, although his head still did ache, it wasn''t as severe asst time. Hence, Shye decided to try and cast one more skill ''Wind Slicer!'' Sure enough, after another skill, the familiar level of mental pain resurfaced, bringing him down to his knees¡ªsweating profusely. ''Ahh¡­f*ck¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed, taking out two bottles of high-grade mana potions before continuing. ''So my mana pool will go up as long as I endure this tearing pain in my head huh?'' Smiling as he found another way to be stronger, Shye started firing away, casting spells continuously as much as his mana pool permitted him to. Finally, after around seventy iterations of each spell¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Wind Slicer Lv.1], leveled up to >> [Wind Slicer Lv.2]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Earthen Spikes Lv.1], leveled up to >> [Earthen Spikes Lv.2] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Ice Rain Lv.1], leveled up to >> [Ice Rain Lv.2]] [Congrattions! Your skill: [ze Missiles Lv.1], leveled up to >> [ze Missiles Lv.2]] ''Hoh¡­so 70 uses and a skill would level up to 2 huh?'' Shye mused, deciding to level up the umon skills next. ''Oops¡­gotta drink spell mastery tonics¡­'' Aiming his staff towards the crystal once more, Shye tried the damage of his umon skills. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' Promptly after Shye thought of the skill''s name, moderately sized balls of fire materialized in front of Shye¡ªone ball every third of a second. The balls then continuously flew towards the target, one after the other, wreaking fiery havoc as they exploded before disappearing¡ªabsorbed by the crystal. "230" ''H-Holy sh*t¡­Isn''t this too destructive at level 1?!'' Earlier, Shye tried using his level three fireball. It was quite strong, scoring 178 points after hitting therge crystal. However, who would''ve thought that a level 1 umon skill would surpass a level threemon skill''s offensive capabilities? The absurdly long cast time was worth it. Only, Shye''s cast was instantaneous so the skill was simply too overpowered in his hands. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' ¡­ At exactly every second, Shye thought of the skill''s name, counting each failed attempt to determine the skill''s cooldown, which he discovered to be around 30 to 31 seconds. Next, he tried his other umon spell, [(Ice) Frozen Thorn Barrage (Umon)], once again aiming his staff towards the crystal. This prompted decent-sized, lethal ice shards to materialize in front of his staff, shooting straight toward the crystal at a rate of one shard every fourth of a second. Shockingly, this one scored way higher at 275 with a cooldown of 34 seconds. Shye was ted. The offensive capabilities of his spell made him satisfied, however, what made him truly happy was the fact that his mana pool allowed him to cast both spells without drinking a high-grade mana potion. Hence, he can try another one of his crazy ideas. Drinking one high-grade and one intermediate mana potion to fully restore his mana pool, Shye took out his other elemental staff from the inventory and grasped it with his left hand. He then proceeded to wave the staff in his left hand, testing its uracy and speed to see if he could aim it as precisely as his dominant hand. After a few seconds, a creepy grin emerged on Shye''s face. "Hahahahahaha! Who would''ve thought that I could even dual wield as a mage?!" Shye eximed in glee, failing to suppress the happiness in his heart. Taking one deep breath to calm his excessively ecstatic heart, Shye aimed both elemental staffs toward therge crystal. He then nced at the staff in his right hand, ''Frozen Thorn Barrage!'', before swiftly shifting his gaze to the elemental staff in his left hand, contemting the name of the other skill. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' A few millisecondster, embers emerged from nowhere, forming into modest-sized ming balls, making the temperature rise as the zing projectiles fired continuously shortly after. Simultaneously, the staff in his right hand conjured cold winds, transforming into lethal ice shards at a swifter pace than the ming balls, shooting straight toward the crystal alongside the exploding fiery orbs. Seeing the ridiculous scene in front of him, Shye''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. The numbers on the crystal kept piling up as both skills, when used simultaneously, seemed to cause much more damage than when used independently. It seemed like the crystal was on the brink of being destroyed, fortunately, before it did, his machine gu¨Cerr, his elemental staffs stopped firing. The score of 682 then remained suspended on top of it, making Shye almost go crazy with happiness. ''W-W-What the f*ck is that damage?! Isn''t this crystal supposed to be able to take damage from spells up to the rare rank? Does this mean that the two umon skills have almost the same damage as a rare-tier nuke?!'' Shye inwardly thought, his mind going absolutely bonkers as he imagined firing such spells on creatures like the Winged Boarger, the Kobold General, and the hellspawn bull-lizard. They would likely suffer a lot, if not outright perish. Shye felt excited. He desired to witness the extent of devastation his new skills could inflict on monstrous creatures. The crazy thing is, that the skills were currently only level one. Once he levels them up to levels two and three, the destruction would be even greater. ''Well, there''s only one way to find out!'' Chapter 264: Observers Hiding In The Shadows Shye expected the training to take at least a week, however, he didn''t expect that it would take him two weeks even though he had all the necessary high-grade resources to level up almost all of the new skills to level 3. He could only imagine how much time it would take for an average adventurer, who doesn''t have the luxury of using high-grade potions and tonics for the sake of training, to level up their skills as these guys had no other options than to wait for their mana and stamina to recover over time naturally. Due to this sudden realization, Shye couldn''t help but appreciate his overwhelming advantages again. There was just no way in hell his strength would be remotely close to what it is now if he didn''t have the system even if he trained his guts out. Still, he couldn''t level his rare skill up to three as its mana consumption was just too huge. One needed to use the skill 250 times, employing the aid of a high-grade spell mastery tonic, to be able to level it up to three, after all. Moreover, he couldn''t urately test its destructive damage since the crystal has no life force for the skill to drain, hence, the crystal kept on disying zero as its score. Shye didn''t doubt its capabilities though. Witnessing its impressive effective range that would render most escape skills ineffective, it was almost impossible for one to escape the spell once caught. Now, he just needed to test its actual offensive capabilities on monstrous creatures. "Goodbye, Sir Crowley! Thank you for choosing The Ranged Training Center!" Contented with the skill, [(Void)(Dark) Gravitational Drain (Rare)], being level two for now, Shye left the establishment with a satisfied smile. The sun appeared exhausted, seemingly about to descend in just a few minutes. The impending dusk didn''t dampen Shye''s enthusiasm though. After exiting the training center, Shye immediately headed towards the guild, eager to take on a quest to test the true extent of his capabilities as a mage. On the way, he checked his status. [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 76 [ss]: Mage [Subss]: Warrior === [Active Skills] [Scout Skills]: N/A [Archer Skills] : [Swallow Step Lv.1] [Warrior Skills] : [Dash Lv.4] [Power sh Lv.4][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.3][Stoic Lv.4] [Destructive Chop Lv.3] [Rush Stab Lv.3][Lunge Pierce Lv3] [Draconian Roar Lv.2] [(Dark)Fallen''s Howl Lv.1(Rare)][(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.1(Rare)] [Mage Skills]:[Fireball Lv.3] [Icicle Spear Lv.3] [Rock Bullets Lv.3] [Wind Slicer Lv.3] [Earthen Spikes Lv.3] [Ice Rain Lv.3] [ze Missiles Lv.3] [Aqua Barrier Lv.2(Umon)][Hydro Wall Lv.2(Umon)] [Fire Bomb Assault Lv.3(Umon)] [Frozen Thorn Barrage Lv.3(Umon)] [(Dark)Gravitational Drain Lv.2(Rare)] [Priest skills]: [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)] [Semi-Passive Skills]: [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.1(Rare)] [Passive Skills]: [Dual Wield(Rare)] [Intermediate Poison Resistance Lv.1(Rare)] [Utility Skills]: [Boost Lv.2(Rare)] [Fake Death Lv.2(Umon)] [System Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.3] === Talent: [Lim??(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Attributes]: [Strength: 120] [Intelligence: 94(+44)] [Agility: 120(+25)] [Dexterity: 120] [Stamina: 90] [Vitality: 105] [Wisdom : 55(+30)] [Back][Exit System] === ''W-What the¡­why did mage be my main ss now?'' Shye pondered, inwardly shocked at the fact that the system now recognized him as a mage. ''Is it because of the total number of skills? Well¡­it must be as I don''t see how the system would recognize me as a mage except for the sheer number of skills. I like the way it neatly arranged the skills though.'' Although he wanted the system to identify him as a warrior since his missing father trained him to be one, Shye didn''t feel too bad about the system''s identification of his main ss. It''s not like he would lose his abilities as a warrior. It was nothing but abel decided by the system. Shye snapped back to reality as he arrived in front of the guild branch headquarters, sensing the respect, wariness, and a hint of fanaticism from his guildmates¡ªboth veterans and rookies. Little did he know, before he entered the guild establishment, three people from various dark alleys watched his every move, lurking in the shadows as they waited for him toe out. Upon entering, Shye immediately headed towards the quest board, not caring one bit about the gazesing his way. He then started searching for suitable quests. This time, he wanted to try facing a (B-) ranked monstrous creature, preferably one he had encountered previously, allowing him to more urately assess his progress. While searching, a familiar voice sounded behind him. "Hey, Boss Big Brother Shye, can I tag along? I promise you''re the boss this time!" Seira asked with enthusiasm. She still couldn''t forget the huge fortune she made from joining Shye on just a single mission. Now, the quest rewards, when divided among five or six individuals, were simply too meager for her. Since she has a boss big brother that she can rely on, why not try her luck? "No. Didn''t you say that you''ll only join me for one quest?" Shye replied, instantly rejecting Seira''s request. "Y-Yes but after our recent sessful quest together, dividing the rewards between five or six people just doesn''t feel sufficient for me anymore... Please¡­if you have any conditions we can talk about it¡­" Seira replied, looking like a desperate puppy begging someone to take her in. "A-Actually I¡­I have my reasons for wanting to rank up quickly¡­" Witnessing her current appearance, Shye felt bad. He truly considered Seira as a friend¡ªwell, a close acquaintance at least. Hence, he finds it a bit hard to ruthlessly reject her. ''You have your reasons¡­huh?'' Shye pondered, gazing intently at Seira. He understood that everyone had their own difficulties and it would definitely be safer for him if he had someone decently skilled to watch his back, however, it''s just that¡­his quests might be a bit too dangerous for Seira. Facing Shye''s intense gaze, Seira stood her ground, returning his stare with equal determination, intent on persuading him to agree. "Haaaah¡­Fine then, let''s talk about terms." Chapter 265: The Figures In The Shadows Makes Their Move Temporarily postponing his quest selection, Shye dragged Seira into an empty corner, prompting eyes to turn their way as their guildmates'' imaginations went wild. Shye and Seira weren''t in any rtionship of that sort though. They resembled more of a boss and subordinate dynamic at the moment, given Seira''s willingness to agree to Shye''s terms to be epted into his party. Although slightly nervous, Seira''s eyes remained determined. It seems that beneath her jolly disposition lies a desperate young woman with a thorny problem. Well, at least for now, Shye didn''t give a single damn about her problem. "I''m not gonna ask you about your reasons, however, I want you to know that it would be very dangerous to join me. For instance, the quest I''m looking for right now is of (B-) rank." Shye whispered, his face¡ªdead serious. Naturally, such a ridiculous statement dumbfounded Seira. A gold-ranked adventurer taking on a (B-) quest? Normally, one would bebeled crazy, however, after watching how easily Shye dismantled a rookie who would probably give her some trouble should the two of them fight, Seira couldn''t help but think that maybe Shye could do it. Promptly after though, the questions that truly mattered popped up in her mind. ''Can I do it? Will I survive if I go with him?'' Her heart momentarily gripped by fear and reality, Seira clenched her fists tighter. "I see¡­even so, I still want to try¡­I really need to rise the ranks quickly¡­" Seira replied, her eyes aze with determination. Seeing her resolve, Shye was moved. "Fine, you better listen to me at all times, otherwise, you have to deal with the consequences of your actions by yourself. Also, whatever happens, stays a secret between the two of us, understood? You''ll have to swear on a memory crystal for this one. If you can''t agree to my conditions then I''m afraid we can''t form a party anymore." Seira wasn''t that stupid. She knows that Shye likely has some secrets he needs to keep. However, she couldn''t care less about his secrets, all she cared about was promotion to the main branch. Previously, she had no clue how to aplish that goal within two and a half years. However, now she at least has a chance, and she''s determined not to squander it, even if it means losing a few friends in exchange for obtaining the trust of a new, much more talented one. She knows she isn''t as talented as Shye but she''s at least confident in her skills. "O-Okay, I agree to your conditions." Nodding with a stern expression on his face, Shye and Seira headed towards the quest board. Shye already saw a suitable quest earlier, hence, upon arriving at the quest board, he simply grabbed the (B-) ranked quest he was gunning for. ==== Hunt: Winged Boarger Quest Rank: B- Details: Retrieve ten pieces of ws, two tusks, and a pair of wings from a Winged Boarger. Location: Side Birch Forest, Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone Rmended Party Size: 4 and above Rewards: 5,000 silver coins and 800 contribution points. Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 14 days ==== Catching a glimpse of what their target was, Seira gulped nervously. She couldn''t help but shake in fear and anxiety, making her question if her decisions were right, however, she also knew that there might be no other way to achieve promotion in two and a half years if she didn''t cling tightly to this super rookie. Thus, albeit trembling, Seira didn''t say anything, allowing Shye to register the quest under both of their names. Now, it was do or die. "S-Sir Crowley, I do understand that I''m not in a position to question your decisions, however, Winged Boargers are weak against full parties but extremely dangerous for a two-man party. Are you sure you want to register this quest under your name?" Receptionist Aya asked anxiously. She was aware that Shye was a special rookie, however, she just couldn''t fathom how a young, recently graduated adventurer could take down a creature that could rip apart an entire party of tinum-ranked adventurers. Under normal circumstances, a party must have at least two or three ruby-ranked adventurers to even have a chance to defeat this vicious creature. Shye and Seira''s two-man party simply seemed insufficient in her eyes. "Yes, Miss Aya. I appreciate the concern, however, I assure you that our capabilities are enough for us to seed on this quest." Shye politely replied, making Seira even more uneasy. "Right, Seira?" She didn''t know what Shye was nning but she was sure of one thing: her abilities were certainly nowhere near enough! Still, she hadn''t seen this boss big brother of hers fail before. He must have some kind of n. Forcing a stiff smile to emerge on her face, Seira backed Shye''s ims up. "Y-Yes, Aya, w-we will s-seed on this quest so don''t worry!" Hearing Seira''s words, Aya couldn''t help but sigh. She already did her part. All she could do now was hope that these two likable individuals wouldn''t perish. "The quest is now registered under your names, Sir Crowley and Miss Ramah. I wish you luck." Aya said, slightly dejected as she bowed toward Shye and Seira. "Thank you, Miss Aya." After politely reciprocating Aya''s sincere bow Shye and Seira left the branch headquarters. Stepping out of the establishment, the two moon''s subtle silver glow caressed their eyelids. It was already nighttime, however, Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone wasn''t that far. To maximize efficiency, the two-man, gold-tinum party headed straight towards the zone''s lobby which was around four hours away. This time, Seira didn''t darein and she wasn''t in the mood to talk as she was still worried about her uing fate. She didn''t want to die. Due to her unusual silence, the two-man party enjoyed a serene night walk, basking in the moon''s gentle light as they sauntered along the dimly lit pathway towards the Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone''s lobby where the two of them would sleep. It was only around 7 in the evening. Shye estimated that they would arrive at the zone''s lobby at exactly 11 PM so there was still ample time for them to sleep. Only, he didn''t expect that their serene amble would be disturbed as grating chuckles sounded from the shadows. Shye quickly looked around. Promptly after, his countenance darkened as he realized the situation they were in. The specific area they were in was simply perfect for assassinations. Once the surroundingughter died down, around ten figures emerged from the shadows, prompting Shye to narrow his eyes into slits as he recognized who the leader of the assassination squad was. "Heh, Mason, you still haven''t learned your lesson? Your brain sure is small." Chapter 266: Utter Destruction "I see that you still don''t understand the situation you''re in, Crowley. Do you think this is as simple as beating you up? No, you idiot. You''re. Going to. Die." Mason replied, delivering his words as menacingly as possible. He wanted to see Shye beg for his life before slowly torturing him to death. As for the young woman with a blessed physique beside him, she would serve as a great toy. "Hahahaha! Surely, you jest. Who''s going to kill me? You idiotic lot? Even if you brought a hundred men as idiotic as you, none of you would be a threat to me." Shye retorted with confidence, making Mason clench his fists in frustration. Instead of pleasure, all he derived from Shye''s reaction was nothing but infuriation. Meanwhile, Seira was having a hard time understanding what was happening. Well, she had an inkling, however, she couldn''t believe that their guildmates would try to assassinate them. A few more momentster, reality finally sunk into her heart, prompting myriad emotions to stir out of control. "Y-YOU!! ARE YOU REALLY GOING TO KILL SOMEONE JUST BECAUSE HE DEFEATED YOU IN A DUEL?! ARDEN! WHY ARE YOU HELPING THEM COMMIT CRIME?! I''VE MISJUDGED YOU!!" Seira eximed in utter rage at the unfolding events. Truly naive. As expected, her words reeking of inexperience were met with nothing butughter, including Arden, the guy she considered one of her friends. "Hahahaha! You''re truly stupid, aren''t you? You think I''m your friend? The only reason I''ve been tolerating your annoying mouth is so that I can stick my meat stick inside it to shut you up! You should thank the Gods and Goddesses for blessing you with a fine physique, otherwise, you would be dying at exactly the same time or even earlier than this arrogant idiot." Arden snickered, scanning his filthy eyes over Seira''s body, clearly desiring her. "Y-YOU FIEND!!! DISGUSTING!! UTTERLY DISGUSTING!! I TRULY REGRET EVEN CONSIDERING YOU AS A FRIEND!!" "Hahaha, shut your mouth, none of us here cares about what you think. If you stay quiet and obedient, we won''t give you a hard timeter." Mason retorted, temporarily shifting his attention to Shye promptly after. "As for you, let''s see if you can still talkter once Arden beats the crap out of you. I''ll make sure to listen in bliss as you beg for mercy." "Heh, shut the hell up, we also don''t care about what you think. If you stay well-behaved, I will give you a quick death." Shye replied with his recent signature condescending smile. He already inspected this guy named Arden using appraisal and learned that the bastard was a ruby-ranked scout-ss adventurer who had slightly higher agility and dexterity attributes than him, without both of his greatswords, that is. The guy had decent stats, but if Mason expected Arden to defeat him, then he was just foolishly daydreaming. They should have brought around six or seven guys at the same level as Arden if they truly wanted to take him down. "Mason, can I fuck this guy up already? I''m tired of hearing his bullshit" Arden said, shing a menacing smile towards Shye, who simply sneered at him in disdain, enabling even more anger to take over his heart. "By all means, please do f*ck him up good." Hearing Mason''s go signal, Arden gave the other eight tinum-ranked guys a quick nce, motioning for them to start the assassination. Knowing that shit was about to go down, Shye sternly signaled Seira to hide behind him. She wanted to protest that she could fight as well. However, upon seeing Shye''s stern look, she knew she had to obey or he was dropping her from the party, hence, albeit worried about her boss big brother''s safety, she obedientlyplied. To be fair, Shye knew Seira could fight a few of these guys but killing them? He doubted Seira could do it. It would be better for her to stay back for now and watch for her to obtain knowledge about the darker side of things. After all, life isn''t always rainbows and butterflies, quests and friendships. Evil people were everywhere. ''A mage, an archer, four scouts, and three warriors¡­'' Shye thought inwardly, gazing menacingly at the approaching melee attackers while recognizing the two ranged threats. ''The easiest ones to kill would be¡­you idiots!'' Grasping two elemental staffs, Shye aimed both toward the charging warriors. Initially, everyone, including Mason and Seira, was taken aback and confused upon witnessing Shye''s dual-wielding antics. However, just a short while after, the assassins regained theirposure. After all, even if Shye brings out a hundred elemental staffs, in the end, he has to chant for a few seconds¡­right? Wrong! Very f*cking wrong! Shye, the mage who speaks no gibberish, needs no chants. Just when the small group of warriors were about to split up to make things difficult for Shye, a barrage of exploding orbs of me was already headed their way. *BOOM* *BOOM**BOOM* Consecutive explosions urred¡ªhuge ones, prompting smoke to rise and dust to fly everywhere from the area of devastation. Shortly after, the nauseating smell of roasted human flesh wafted in the air, causing Seira''s stomach to churn in disgust. She tried hard to suppress her urge to vomit, however, she failed¡ªhard. "Don''t get distracted! Take advantage of his vulnerability!" Arden''s slightly panicking voice sounded from where the scouts were, prompting the dazed scouts to continue charging toward Shye¡ªdesperation evident on their ugly faces. Unfortunately, there were no such "vulnerabilities" for them to take advantage of as Shye''s other staff were already aimed towards them. All of them were simply too used to mages chanting gibberish before firing a spell. None of them understood what happened earlier but they couldn''t hesitate now, otherwise, the assassination would fail. Once again caught off guard by Shye''s chantless spell, three of the scouts suffered lethal hits from a horizontal rain of frozen thorns¡ªsome gruesomely stabbed in the throat with the leader, Arden, barely managing to escape. "Y-YOU!! HOW CAN YOU FIRE SPELLS WITHOUT CHANTING?!" Chapter 267: Scared Witless After six people perished, it was only then that Mason and Arden understood what actually happened. The bastard could cast spells instantly! "MASON, YOU STUPID F*CK! DON''T JUST STAND AROUND! HELP US!" Arden was no slouch though, and it seemed like this wasn''t his first time assassinating people as he quickly recovered from his stupor and used the skill, [Blink Strike Lv.4] to instantly appear behind Shye in an attempt to catch him off guard. Unfortunately, this stupid scout opening temte was overused in Shye''s eyes, allowing him to react instantly. Facing the desperate Arden with a confident smile on his face, a draconic roar resounded into the night, prompting others who heard it to look warily in the direction of the ongoing assassination¡ªor rather, justified massacre. Shortly after, a nauseating smell of urine permeated the air. Poor Arden was scared out of his wits. "Filthy," Shyemented, the two elemental staffs in his hands vanishing into thin smoke, reced shortly after by two enormous, menacing greatswords, causing everyone''s eyes to almost pop out of their sockets. *SPURT* A severed head hurtled through the air, making scarlet blood fountain in chilling volumes from the cleanly sliced neck. Soon after, Arden''s headless body copsed to the ground. "M-M-MONSTER!! W-WHO ARE YOU?! WHY ARE YOU IN THIS CITY?!" Mason eximed crazily, his mental state in utter chaos as he plopped on his butt in panic and despair. "Bingbong! Correct. I''m indeed a monster, so you should me your idiotic self for attempting to assassinate me. I would''ve forgotten about you already if you hadn''t foolishly tried to kill me." Shye replied, shing a menacingly crazy smile at Mason, further scaring the f*ck out of him. Meanwhile, Seira stared at the gruesome chaos with a horrified look. She had never seen people kill each other before, hence, the current scene was a bit too much for her naive eyes. Shye, whom she thought was a pleasant and easygoing guy, turned out to be someone who could kill people without batting an eyelid. *SPURT* As scarlet blood spurted out of a horrifying torso wound, Mason''s lifeless body fell on the ground with no one to witness his demise except for Seira, two others who were about to die, and a few dying embers from the charred body of the warriors. Shortly after, the petrified ranged attackers attempted to flee, each heading in a different direction. However, how could they escape from Shye''s clutches? With countless gap closer skills, Shye arrived behind the desperately escaping archer, shing him horizontally in half as his greatsword''s hidden skill, [Nightburn], with insanely low trigger chance, activated and incinerated the lifeless body into ck cinders before scattering to the four winds. Shye didn''t stop there though, chasing the fleeing mage with vicious intent. He isn''t afraid of an investigation, as he already captured the entire scene of the fools revealing their assassination ns using a recording crystal. However, he wasn''t fond of wasting time. It would be preferable for him to simply eliminate everyone and tidy up before anyone noticed the disturbance, sparing himself the inconvenience of interrogation and other bothersome matters. In just mere seconds, he caught up to the mage. "W-Wait! Don''t ki¨CAHHH!" As the body of thest assassin fell limply to the ground, Shye took a deep breath to calm his unsteady emotions. Despite Seira''s perception of him, Shye wasn''t someone who could kill without hesitation. He only resorted to it because he knew sparing his enemies would lead to endless problems. Thus, albeit ufortable, Shye chose to kill. "Seira," Shye said, causing Seira, who was scared out of her wits, to snap back to reality. "Y-You¡­you killed them¡­" "Yes, because they would kill us if I didn''t." Seira didn''t reply for a while, still deeply shocked about the gruesome scenes she witnessed. Seeing that Seira was still out of it, Shye decided to burn the corpses first, casting [Fire] type skills one after the other to turn each one to mere ashes. Subsequently, he used his trump card, gravitational drain, to gather all the warm blood littered across the area in one ce before using one of his protective skills, [Earthen Wall Lv.3], to cover the gathered blood with dirt. His cleanup wasn''t perfect but it will do. The pathway wasn''t in the vicinity of a city anyway so unless Mason''s parents from Valenzia made an effort to try and uncover what happened, there wouldn''t even be a single soul who would care about what happened in this ce. It would also be difficult for Mason''s parents to track him. Even if they did manage to do so, he had undeniable proof that he was simply protecting himself. "Seira, follow me," Shye said, forcefully dragging Seira back to reality. His tone remained calm, much like how he always spoke to Seira. However, to her ears, it seemed to carry a slightly darker undertone. Although trembling, Seira followed Shye. Her mind was in chaos and she couldn''t determine if Shye would silence her or not, hence, as a subconscious response, she docilelyplied. Shye was indeed thinking of silencing her, however, not in a dark way Seira thought of. Upon reaching a mature birch tree concealed by dense shrubbery, Shye retrieved a recording crystal before gazing sternly upon Seira, who seemed to be confused and slightly scared of what he was about to do. Contrary to her now overly active imagination, Shye simply wanted her to do a bit of oath-taking. She witnessed quite a lot of his secrets, after all. "You remember our terms, right? Now, I need you to swear that you will not disclose any of my secrets that you witnessed today or may witness in the future, otherwise, I can legally strike you down." Shye said with a serious countenance, activating the recording crystal promptly after. Naturally, he had no intention of actually harming someone like Seira, even if she were to break her promise. He simply asked her to swear to ensure she wouldn''t entertain any notions of ndestinely revealing his secret. "O-Okay, I, Seira Ramah, swear to not reveal any of Shye Crowley''s secrets, otherwise, I authorize him to strike me down legally." Chapter 268: Auction Details As the proud morning sun rose to once again watch over thends beneath, its golden rays illuminated the world, washing away the biting darkness of the night and touching upon the eyelids of two young adventurers who were sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags. Seira thought that she wouldn''t be able to sleep tonight, however, not only did she sleep, but she slept even better than Shye did. What a wonderful coping mechanism. Woken up by the sunlight, Shye and Seira groggily sat up¡ªShye yawned, still yearning for a few more minutes of sleep while Seira had a smile on her face as though nothing happened yesterday. A few momentster though, as memories came flooding back, the smile on Seira''s face vanished. The world isn''t as colorful as it used to be. She was d that she witnessed this side of humans though, otherwise, she would probably have died without knowing why had she maintained her previous naivety. Surprisingly though, she retained the core of her identity¡ªfriendliness, unlike most people after going through some sort of trauma. While she would now exercise caution in trusting others hastily, she remained open to forming new friendships and unafraid of approaching unfamiliar individuals¡ªnot in the least. She was a bit afraid of Shye right now though, and Shye knew it as well. Hence, he made an active effort to at least reduce the fear gripping her heart. "Hey, are you scared of your boss big brother? Hmmph! You should be as I can whoop your ass anytime I want!" Shye taunted¡ªfirst thing in the morning. "W-Wha? Who''s scared of you?! W-Whoop my ass? Are you a filthy pervert like Arden?!" Seira retorted, crossing her arms over her bountiful bosom. "S-SHHH!! Quiet, you stupid little¡­That''s not what I meant!" ¡­ The two of them once again argued like idiots for a few exchanges before stopping. Realizing that the slight barrier made of fear had already dissolved, both of them felt happy¡ªalbeit secretly. Shye didn''t want the atmosphere to remain stiff every time they went on a quest so this was a much-preferred development for him. As for Seira, she was just relieved. She didn''t want to be some sort of threatened underling, after all. "Here," Shye said, tossing a pack of meat jerky towards Seira, making her feel even morefortable around him. Realizing that his subtle n had worked, Shye inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. After the two of them finished eating their pack of jerky, they promptly packed up and headed toward the nearby entrance. On the way towards Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zone''s lobby, Shye and Seira didn''t talk. The former understood the mental turmoil thetter was going through since he went through the same troubles in the past, hence, he gave her time to process things inside her head. A good night''s sleep proved to be an effective recovery potion for their cracked friendship. Upon arriving at the entrance, customarily checked their credentials before letting the two of them inside the zone. Shye didn''t have any positive feelings for this specific zone. After all, he faced betrayal from a group of adventurers, was pursued by a viinous flying tiger-pig, and narrowly avoided bing a meal for a sinister spider in this location. It didn''t mean he was scared of this zone though, in fact, he specifically chose this quest in hopes of achieving some sort of revenge. "Hmm¡­Side Birch Forest huh?" Shye pondered, looking at the map in his hands as a guide. As for Seira, she looked around enthusiastically. She avoided epting quests situated in this area due to rumors circting about a human-faced spider known to prey on humans, which made her wary. However, with her ridiculously powerful Boss Big Brother right beside her, there was nothing to fear! Heck, she didn''t even know whether Shye was a warrior or a mage since he disyed terrifying prowess in both sses. By now, if she couldn''t recognize that Shye was someone special, then her mind must surely be overrun with flies! As the two of them walked along amon path, Shye suddenly remembered something. "Hey, Seira, have you heard of the auction in ckburrow City?" He curiously inquired. "Hmm? Oh, yeah, why? Will you attend?" "Yeah, do you know the auction''s exact date and time?" "Heh! Who do you think I am? Of course, I know! It''s exactly 15 days from now and will start at exactly 10 in the morning. However, White Clover Auction House would sell passes the day before and you must purchase one if you want to attend." "Oh, I see, how did you know all this? You''re quite formidable, Seira!" Shye ttered, prompting Seira''s ears to p in glee and her nose to point skywards. Hearing Shye''s praises absolutely pleased her, almost washing away the fear and wariness in her heart. "Hahahaha! You have eyes, Boss Big Brother! You have eyes! I, Seira, am indeed good at gathering information! As long as it''s within a few cities away from Balkrow, you can count on me! Nyahahaha!" Seeing how pleased she was, Shye almostughed out loud. Seira was simply too amusing. Just yesterday night, she was scared witless. Look at her now, boasting and sh*t. Shye felt delighted as the previously awkward atmosphere between them had dissipatedpletely. Subsequently, when he was about to switch the topic to a random one suitable for chatting, Seira suddenly spoke again. "For you to want to attend the auction in ckburrow City¡­I guess you''ve heard of the rumors huh?" "Rumors? Well, I''ve heard that there will be an auction but I don''t know what will be sold¡­Will you please enlighten me, O'' formidable Seira?" "Hahaha! Tch! It can''t be helped then, I shall tell you what I know. From what I heard from the friend of a friend''s cousin, there would be a little bit of everything. Unique and Epic skills, a few rare herbs, high-grade unique gemstones, and finally, the star of the show, crafting materials from (S) ranked creatures!" Chapter 269: So We Meet Again, You Bastard Satisfied with what they obtained from each other, Shye and Seira chatted casually and marched merrily towards their destination: The Side Birch Forest. Soon enough though, Shye suddenly recognized the surrounding areas. After all, this area was the ce where he, the benefactor, was kicked in the teeth, betrayed by the dastardly adventurers he saved. ''Hoh?'' Shye looked around curiously, confirming shortly after that this was the area where he was chased around by the Winged Boarger. As for Seira, she was quite nervous. Well, the damned Boarger can rip her apart easily so the fear in her heart was understandable. If not for Shye, she wouldn''t even dare loiter on the safe path near this ce. Winged Boargers are quite territorial creatures, hence, it didn''t take long for them to hear something that made Seira tremble in fear¡ªher heart racing wildly. "HYAAAARRR!!" A primal high-pitched roar resembling the squeal of a boar and the roar of a tiger reverberated across the forest, almost making Seira jump up in fright. Shye immediately recognized that the roar came from a Winged Boarger, promptly drawing out a greatsword in his right hand, and an elemental staff in his left¡ªraring to throw it down with the darned creature. Shortly after, a winged silhouette burst out from the dense shrubbery on the left,nding menacingly in front of them. Shye stared at it for a few seconds. "Hoh? So we meet again, you bastard." He said with an ted yet partially crazy smile on his face. He recognized the creature''s deep snout wound. After all, it was inflicted by none other than him. As for Seira, her disposition was nowhere near as collected as Shye''s, trembling in fear were her legs as she tried her hardest to assume a battle stance. Shye quickly nced at her, inwardlymending her bravery as he noticed her efforts. He didn''t have the luxury to look around for too long though. Shortly after tilting its head and roaring in anger upon recognizing the young man in front of it, the Winged Boarger fiercely pounced toward the two of them. Unfortunately for the Boarger, Shye was way too ready. Aiming his staff at the flying f*cker, cold winds converged in the air in front of his staff, materializing into modest-sized frozen shards at a rate of four shards per second, viciously hurtling towards the Winged Boarger and making it cry in agony as the sharp points of the shards dug deeply into its flesh. Shockingly, it braved the cial onught through sheer ferociousness and savagery, managing tond a forced paw-swipe attack on Shye''s chest. "Puhaahk!" "Shye!" Seira eximed worriedly. The dastardly creature was strong for sure. If not for the low-grade gold-tier relic protecting his chest, then Shye would probably suffer a grievous wound. Even so, the fearsome attack made Shye''s innards tremble, prompting him to vomit blood. Fortunately, he wasn''t so fragile himself, sessfully stabilizing his footing after struggling for a few seconds. "Not bad, you flying f*ck. That hit would be yourst though, you should''ve made the most out of it." Shye had to admit, the dastardly Boarger''s ferociousness caught him off guard, however, he was sure that such a thing would happen again. He was a human with excellent learning capabilities, after all. The boarger didn''t understand his words, nor did it care as it concerned itself with only one thing: ripping the loathsome humans in front of it to pieces. Unfortunately for it, the chances of such a scene happening were bleak as Shye reced the greatsword in his right hand with another staff. He then fired basic spells such as fireballs, icicle spears, rock bullets, wind slicers, and many more¡ªcontinuously, giving the Winged Boarger little to no chance of counterattacking as it jumped sideways and ran around, desperately dodging all the projectiles thrown its way. Seira watched everything¡ªdumbstruck. She had no business butting in at such a high-level fight, however, she didn''t want to stay a burden. Knowing that this was a chance for her to grow ustomed to the nimble yet forceful movements of such high-ranked creatures, Seira keenly observed the battle, cautiously waiting for a chance to help Shye. Meanwhile, the battle quickly reached its peak. Shye''s simple spells began to strike the Boarger, causing light wounds all over its body. However, the damage gradually built up, and soon the winged creature''s movements slowed down. It wasn''t stupid, especially when it came to matters of life and death, hence, it already knew that it would die if it allowed things to continue this way. Swiftly deciding to make an all-or-nothing bet, the boarger roared proudly, making the muscles on its tiger''s torso swell, seemingly trying to escape the confines of its thick skin. It looked horrifying after its transformation, however, Shye wasn''t fazed. He knew that the Boarger was on itsst legs. Shye didn''t stop firing spells¡ªnot for a second, zing embers, freezing thorns, sharp winds, and vicious rocks hurtled toward the transformed creature, producing a cacophony of chaotic sounds¡ªexplosions and screeches. Unfortunately, this time, none of the projectiles hit. It seems that the transformation drastically increased the creature''s physical capabilities. Pouncing around in a zigzagging motion, the Winged Boarger masterfully dodged all of Shye''s skills, gradually reducing the distance between the two of them. Seira wanted to help, however, after the Boarger transformed, she knew that it would be impossible for her to do so, hence, she decided to behave in the background, praying for Shye''s victory. As the Winged Boarger arrived in front of Shye, it seemingly shed a menacing smile as if to say "got you!", ripping the air surrounding its paw as it swiped downwards with ferocious momentum. Unfortunately for the flying f*ck, Shye was waiting for this exact moment. With his elemental staffs already aimed in front, Shye used his skill, [Blink Lv.3], and reappeared a few meters away. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' ''Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' A flurry of exploding fiery balls and lethally sharp frozen shards materialized out of thin air, fiercely shooting towards the Boarger whose paws were slightly embedded in the ground after missing its attack big time, exposing its entire body to the fierce onught of fire and ice. *BOOM* *SPURT* *BOOM* *SPURT* The frozen shards embedded themselves deep into the creature''s flesh while the modest-sized fire bombs exploded, ruthlessly tearing and charring its flesh apart. Shye''s ferocious barrage continued for seven seconds, causing Seira''s mouth to gape and her eyes to almost pop out of their sockets. Since the boarger was covered by gray smoke, it was impossible to see what happened to it. However, Seira was sure as hell that it wasn''t breathing anymore. After all that? No way. Chapter 270: Attention-Seeking Idiot As the serene yet chilling dusk approached, two young adventurers ambled along a well-trodden path. The ashen-haired young man had a slight smile, visibly in a good mood even though his pants were soiled with green blood. On the other hand, the smol grape-haired young woman had the expression of a diehard fan, enthusiastically jumping around Shye as she reenacted his finishing move like an excited child. Naturally, Shye appreciated such merry antics, further improving his mood. They were lucky that the Boarger''s final physical enhancement skill improved its flesh''s toughness, allowing them to harvest the quest items. Otherwise, they would be pulling their hairs out in frustration as they had to find another Winged Boarger to y if Shye''s spell onught destroyed the fallen creature''s body. He had to admit, what he did was quite overkill. The two of them started the hunt early, unfortunately, the side birch forest was quite far from the zone''s entrance, hence, they had to head towards the nearby safe zone and camp there for the night. After walking for around half an hour, Shye and Seira arrived at a clearing where four adventurer parties established their camps for the night. ''Hmm... this safe zone seems quite renowned, doesn''t it? Well, with such an expansive clearing, it does appear to be the most ideal camp location.'' Shye inwardly thought, iming an empty spot quite a few meters away from other parties. Unexpectedly, Seira refrained from approaching them to negotiate, instead opting to help Shye establish their camp faster. Witnessing her actions, Shye smiled satisfactorily. Yesterday''s dark events seemed to have worked wonders for Seira. Even though she didn''t have a system like he did, Shye was sure that Seira''s wisdom attribute increased by quite a lot, proven by the fact that she now realized her previous antics of trusting others to watch over her while she slept were truly a wee bit careless and stupid. Unfortunately, it didn''t mean that others wouldn''t approach them. One particr party leader didn''t like the way the two of them ignored everybody, hence, the guy stood up and headed straight towards their camp with an unfriendly expression¡ªvisibly pissed for such a stupid reason. "Oi, oi, why so cold? You didn''t even greet a single soul." said the party leader, shing a fake smile at Shye and Seira. Naturally, Shye sensed the guy''s hostility, prompting him to use his trusty appraisal skill to check the guy''s attributes, giving them a sizable advantage in decision-making. Seeing the guy''s mediocre attributes, Shye simply sneered in disdain and proceeded to ignore the bastard. "Why you¡­" Infuriated, the party leader gnashed his teeth and attempted to kick Shye, who was trying toy out his sleeping bags. Sadly for the attention-seeking bastard, a kicknded squarely on his waist, sending him staggering sideways before his kick hit Shye. "Ahh¡­f*ck that hurts¡­You little b*tch, how dare you kick me?! Do you want me to cut you down where you stand?!" The man eximed, staring furiously at Seira. "H-Hey! D-Don''t you dare start sh*t here! I''m warning you, don''t test my boss'' patience, otherwise, y-y-you might not live to see another day!" Seira threatened back. She wasn''t used to saying such things, hence, her voice trembled as she did so, diminishing the intended effects of her threat. The other three adventurer parties didn''t care about Shye and Seira''s cold attitude, however, they did care about such a funmotion. A smile appeared on their faces as they enthusiastically watched the two parties sh. After hearing Seira''s threat, the attention-seeker''s entire party rose from their seats, promptly backing up their troublemaking party leader. "Hoh? What can you two do to the seven of us? Look, this boss of yours doesn''t even dare to get u¨C" *PAK!* Before the party leader could even finish his words, the crispy and satisfying sound of a palm cleanly striking a cheek reverberated across the safe zone. Shortly after, a body hurtled through the air¡ªlimp and unconscious. "Goro!!" "Boss Goro!!" The party members eximed worriedly, they couldn''t believe that their fierce and aggressive leader got knocked the sh*t out by a single p. "Hahahaha! I told you, idiots! You shouldn''t have challenged my boss or you''ll regret it!" Seira said victoriously, her nervousnesspletely gone. Goro''s party members weren''t convinced though. In their opinion, Shye only managed to defeat Goro since he sneak attacked him, if not for that, then it was impossible for this young man to defeat their fierce, aggressive, and skilled party leader. Due to their borderline blind faith in their party leader who had just been pped to oblivion, the party members'' decisions were clouded. Normally, after the boss is defeated, the underlings don''t dare fight back, however, in this case, they even dared threaten Shye and Seira, taking their weapons out and aiming them at the two. "Hoh? Your boss only dared kick me and that''s why I only pped him. I''m just reminding you, if you dare swing your des or fire your projectiles at me, I''ll take that as you trying to take my life. Should you do that, I''ll take yours so decide carefully." Shye said in a cold threat, gazing at the party in front of him in a menacing yet calm manner. He wasn''t scared of their boss so why would he be scared of a bunch of clowns? He didn''t want to kill but if they tried to kill him then he wouldn''t hesitate to kill them back¡ªan eye for an eye: a new principle he decided to live by. Fortunately, his ferocious front reminded the party members of their boss, allowing logic to regain control of their minds again. Ultimately, Goro''s party members decided to back down, intimidated by Shye''s fierce resistance. "Y-You better watch your back, you arrogant prick. Someday, you''ll get what''sing for you!" threatened one of Goro''s party members before turning back, picking their unconscious boss up, and dragging him back to their camp like defeated dogs. Meanwhile one of the other party leaders with curly ck short hair rubbed his chin, looking at Shye and Seira with keen interest. "Hoh? Raven''s de huh?" Chapter 271: Ghosts Entering Through The Front Door "Haahh¡­that should be enough¡­" Shye said, wiping the sweat off his face after yet another good harvest. Instead of going back the morning after they hunted the Winged Boarger, Shye decided to hunt a few more creatures for around five more days since he was already in the zone anyway, collecting system point rewards and loot after every kill. This was their sixth day hunting creatures ranging from (C-) to (B-) rank and so far, Shye has sessfully disposed of each one with unmatched ferocity and skill. Initially, Seira trembled in fear. She couldn''t fathom how they, a two-man party of gold and tinum rank, would defeat the (B-) ranked flying creature. Well, Shye showed her how, and since then, her courage and insight in battle slowly grew, allowing her to contribute to the uing battles, adding value and convenience for Shye. Seira wanted to continue hunting, however, they had to go back for now and turn their initial quest in. Shye still had to head towards ckburrow City and attend the auction, after all. Walking in the direction of the zone''s exit under the afternoon sun, Shye and Seira chatted merrily about their sessful hunt. A few hours quickly passed. Since the two of them preferred to sleep inside the city today, they continuously walked since the afternoon, allowing them to arrive at the city gates at around 10 in the evening. An hour earlier than the two of them expected. Upon entering the guild branch headquarters, a few people looked at them in suppressed disbelief, prompting Shye to narrow his eyes. ''Heh, what? Why are you guys acting as if you''ve seen ghosts? Should we be mere ghosts right now?'' Shye inwardly sneered in disdain, remembering the faces of those who knew about the assassination. He would never trust these guys. Not now, not in the future. On the other hand, some were shocked due to the fact that they tried to take on a (B-) ranked quest and survived. After everything that happened in the past few weeks, they knew that Shye wasn''t some sort of pretentious bastard and he could more or less back up every im he had, turning a few haters into mild fans as people slowly understood his true nature and respected it. He was indeed arrogant, however, only to those hostile to him. Seira was living proof that the guy had at least decent life principles. Since the two of them just returned from a crazy quest, holding a brown sack bag with a green base at that, the people couldn''t help but specte that they seeded. Only, if such a thing was true, then it would simply be too crazy. After all, how could a mere two-man partyposed of a gold and a tinum-ranked adventurer, defeat a (B-) ranked creature which would be difficult for even a party of three or four ruby-ranked adventurers to take down? Curious, a few of them once more stood up from their lobby seats, discreetly walking closer to the rewards desk to see if Shye and Seira really took out a Winged Boarger. Even Receptionist Aya temporarily left her post to see if they actually seeded. She didn''t expect to see them again, after all. Shortly after, everyone got the mind-boggling answer they wanted yet refused to believe. "S-Sir Crowley, M-Miss Ramah, I see the two of you are back. May I please see the quest items?" "Here, please confirm if the quantity is correct." Handing over the sack bag, Shye calmly waited for Shauna to count the items for a few minutes, and by the time she almost finished counting, her hands were visibly shaking in disbelief. "T-The quest items are indeed cplete¡­let me process the questpletion for you¡­" In just a few more seconds, the silver coin and guild contribution point rewards were sessfully processed, bringing a satisfied smile to Shye''s face. As for Seira, She was practically on cloud nine. This was the first time in her life she earned 2500 silver coins (which didn''t even include the silver coins from the loot yet) and 400 contribution points in a single quest, after all. Before following Shye around, she would consider herself lucky if she managed to earn around 800 silver coins and 150 contribution points in a single quest. But now, after sessfully persuading Shye to allow her to join his party, her ie and point earnings practically tripled. It was the opposite for Shye though, who was used to receiving the full rewards of a quest. Well, he still thought it was better this way though. Having apanion to help you in times of emergency was priceless as it could trante to one''s life or death. It seems that the first mandatory quest was just a warm-up anyway. It wasn''t that hard to aplish. Still, he didn''t allow himself to be toocent. After upgrading his intelligence attribute, things became clearer to him, hence, he knew that this might be some sort of preparation phase for the uing mandatory quests. If he didn''t take this chance to grow as strong as possible, he was sure he would regret it in the future. Somehow, he could sense that things wouldn''t be as calm for him once the true mandatory quests unveil themselves. Still, he was determined. He started to have ambitions of grandeur, however, achieving such lofty goals wasn''t mandatory for him. What he truly wanted was for his little sister, his parents (if still alive), and his future family, to have high-quality lives in the future, and for that, he''s willing to go through everything. Such things were still too far off in the future though, for now, earning 2500 silver coins, 400 guild contribution points, and a total of 18,000 system points in a single quest was enough to make Shye happy. Now that he has 1200 guild contribution points, he just needs maybe four or five more quests to rank up to tinum. The next quests would have to wait for quite a bit though as the White Clover Auction in ckburrow City will start in six days. Chapter 272: Blackburrow City "Hoh? So this is ckburrow City huh?" Shye mused, observing the city from atop a nearby cliff with interest. After turning the Winged Boarger quest in, Shye decided to have a good night''s sleep inside Balkrow City before leaving for ckburrow City three days earlier than nned. Hence, he didn''t go straight towards his destination, opting to hunt for three days solo inside an advanced adventurer zone near ckburrow City to grind for system points through various regr and daily quests. It would be pointless and inefficient for him to enter the city a few days earlier so he might as wellplete system quests during his downtime. As a result, his system points were now back to around 35,000. Still, it was a far cry from his goal of saving up 250,000 points to purchase an epic-tier talent. Walking closer, Shye stared at the city in awe, now understanding why it was called ckburrow City. The city was founded within an enormous basin, encircled by three expansive teaus stretching from the north, east, and west, with their reach extending to epass even the southern direction. Due to this uniquendform as a base, the city was protected by natural barriers, however, it only had a single entrance and exit located in its southern part. Established on the teaus were tall ck tungsten walls, manned by a rotation of fairly high-ranked adventurers with strength ranging from emerald to mithril. The city looked like a rabbit''s burrow, only, unlike an actual burrow, you can see the city in its entirety from above. Eager to enter, Shye walked around the top of the cliff and swiftly headed towards the city''s entrance. It was a good decision that he did so because, unlike most cities, there were "frontier cities" like ckburrow where there are a few expert adventurer zones around¡ªsome even having death zones which were territories of (S-) and (S) ranked creatures. It was impossible to contain such creatures, hence, no guards were assigned to the entrances of such zones. On the other hand, expert adventurer zones are a bit more manageable, hence, there were a few highly skilled guards stationed at the entrances of the said zones, however, these guards were only tasked to inform the nearby cities if a creature decided to hunt outside the zones. If they could contain the creatures, then they would, however, if the creature''s strength is out of their league, then they could opt to prioritize their own safety. Nevertheless, they must inform the authorities of neighboring cities about the presence of any roaming creature, enabling the city to assemble a suitable adventurer party to either hunt down the creature or at least drive it back to its habitat. Shye was a bit ill-informed regarding such things as frontier cities though, and that''s the reason why he had the crazy courage to loiter outside the city, chilling atop a cliff while chewing on some gummy candy. Fortunately, he decided to end his subtle joyous whimsy, otherwise, his life might be in actual danger as there were currently around seven creatures ranging from the (A) rank to the (S) rank lurking around the city''s periphery. "Are you an adventurer? If so, please hand your adventurer license and guild badge over." One of the city guards said, prompting Shye to retrieve the said items and hand them over for inspection. While the guard checked his credentials, Shye looked around with a puzzled expression on his face. ''Wouldn''t the auction start tomorrow? Why am I the only one here?'' Shye mused, a bit disappointed at theck of bustle at the city gates. "Uhm, excuse me, I''ve heard that the White Clover auction will start tomorrow, was it canceled? There seems to be quite a low volume of people at the gates." "Hmm? Oh, yes, the auction will indeed happen tomorrow, you may purchase a pass in front of the White Clover Auction House if you want to attend. As for the low volume of people at the gates, it has always been this way. ckburrow is a frontier city after all. I''d say you''re actually the odd one out, opting to enter through the gate when there are reportedly seven high-ranked creatures on the loose. Most of the other attendees used teleporters from other cities to enter ckburrow." Hearing the guard''s words, Shye broke out in a cold sweat, thanking his lucky stars for not encountering one on the way to the city. Heck, he even hummed a jolly tune and rxed atop a cliff before entering! ''S-Seven high-ranked creatures on the loose? What the heck is a frontier city anyway?'' He inwardly thought, retrieving his adventurer license and guild badge from the guard and thanking him for the exnation before entering the city. The guard was indeed correct. Upon entering, Shye was met with the city''s hustle and bustle. Adventurers and mundane folks littered the wide streets, walking to and fro from one ce to another as they went about with their businesses for the day. Skyscrapers of different themes partially block out the sun''s golden rays, creating a contrasting yet serene scene of sunlight and shadows and generating a few resting havens for those who want to momentarily hide from the scorching sun. Traversing the busy streets with enthusiasm, Shye noticed that most of the people were headed in a single direction. With his now high intelligence attribute, it was impossible for things to not click inside his head. He knew that these people were out to buy auction passes, hence, after following the majority for a while, he arrived in front of a majestic building built from pristine white smooth marble¡ªelegant is an understatement. The logo of a white clover in the center of the building was especially eye-catching. In front of the building were multiple wide tables manned by various professionally dressed staff and behind them was a huge signboard that said "White Clover Auction Passes". Smiling after sessfully finding the auction house easily, Shye walked closer. ''Haaah¡­I hope what I have is enough to purchase a few good items¡­'' Chapter 273: A Shocking News Flash "Hoh, so there are different tiers of passes huh?" Shye muttered, visibly curious. He''s aware that he possesses a considerable amount of money; nevertheless, if he squanders it recklessly, he might find himself unable to afford the items that caught his interest. On the other hand, if he didn''t purchase an auction pass of the appropriate tier, then there was a possibility of his head separating from his body. Humans are inherently greedy, after all. Scanning his eyes over different queues with a difficult expression on his face, Shye took a deep breath. ''Haaah, let''s take our time and think of the pros and cons of each tier.'' Shye pondered, as he looked at the first of the four queues starting from the left. ''Basic pass huh? I''m nning to purchase quite a few big items so a basic pass would probably get me killed. As for an elite pass¡­it provides nothing other than clout, utterly useless. This leaves me with just two options, the super deluxe pass, and the VIP pass¡­'' The super deluxe pass provides Shye with a private room which would aid him in keeping his identity a secret, however, that''s all it provides. On the other hand, a VIP pass would not only give him a spacious room but also lots of amenities including a plush seat, snacks, alcoholic beverages, and a private attendant. Naturally, Shye wanted such a rxing experience at the auction, only, the price of a VIP pass is an absurdly high 20,000 silver coins. To be honest, he does have the means to afford it, but he''s concerned that opting for the VIP pass might influence whether he ultimately acquires an item or not. After thinking hard for a few minutes, Shye ultimately decided to queue up on the third one, the super deluxe pass queue. ''Haaah... I was really eyeing that VIP pass, but the super deluxe option appears to be more suitable for my current circumstances¡­'' He inwardly sighed. ''Well, as long as I earn a lot of money, there are lots of chances to do so in the future.'' Silently consoling himself, Shye waited for his turn. The White Clover Auction House''s sales process was efficient, it was just that there were lots of people who wanted to join the auction, hence, it took Shye around an hour and a half before he managed to purchase a pass. Still, if the rumored items would actually be up for sale, then everything would be worth it. Leaving the queue after sessfully purchasing an appropriate pass, Shye had nothing to do. ''Guess I''ll chill and explore the city for the rest of the day!'' Since he has a lot of time on his hands, why not walk around the entire city and note the locations of the important establishments and facilities? And so, Shye did. One foot in front of the other, Shye sauntered along the wide streets, enjoying everything within the city. He purchased a few snacks, entered a few shops, and rxed at the city''s za for a short period, where a huge holographic screen suddenly appeared. It seemed to be some kind of "news sh". Disyed in the holographic screen was a party of adventurers¡ªall of them looking extremely mighty and menacing as various peak-tier equipment with customized designs covered their bodies. The adventurer party appears to be engaged in an intense battle with a creature resembling an ember wyvern. However, the creature on the screen was muchrger, and its scales had a unique coloration, blending ck, purple, and green hues. ''Adamantite Adventurers!'' Shye inwardly eximed, he had seen one before in Valenzia''s cksmith Competition. Without a doubt, these guys are adamantite adventurers. If the region had to assemble a huge strike force such as this, then it meant only one thing: the creature they were hunting was at least of the (S-) rank. Suddenly, a smart idea spontaneously popped up in Shye''s mind due to his zealous curiosity about the winged creature. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Poison Drake [Creature Rank]: S- [Description] Possessing incredibly resilient scales and harboring one of the deadliest poisons known to Adthiopia, the poison drake stands as a formidable adversary for most beings, including seasoned high-ranked adventurers. Even a faint exposure to its poison is sufficient to incapacitate four fully grown and trained individuals. While there are items offering poison resistance and antidotes avable, their exorbitant cost renders them impractical for many. Furthermore, the creature''s physical prowess is unparalleled. Essentially, meeting this creature is akin to encountering a flying nightmare. Warning: if you are below the adamantite rank, immediately flee if you encounter this creature. [Skills]: [Draconian Poison Breath (Unique)] [Drake''s Aura (Epic)][Draconian Dive (Rare)][Draconian Rage (Unique)] [??? (???)] [??? (???)] [Strength: ???] [Intelligence: ???] [Agility: ???] [Dexterity: 180] [Stamina: ???] [Vitality: ???]: [Wisdom: 260] [Exit System] "H-Holy crap! Even the third level of my appraisal skill isn''t enough to fully uncover this monstrosity''s secrets?!" Shye identally eximed in utter shock. Fortunately, the people in the za were too absorbed in what was happening on the screen, allowing him to avoid a less ideal situation. Realizing that no one paid any attention to him, Shye breathed a sigh of relief and focused his attention on the holographic screen once more. The adventurers, albeit dozens of times smaller than the drake, seemed unperturbed. Their lofty dispositions remained steadfast even in the face of such a flying nightmare as though nothing in this world would be able to bring chaos to their seasoned and serene hearts. Most of them were in their 40s except for two who seemed to be in their early 30s. As purple poison balls, green gasses, and terrifying dives wreaked havoc on the vast empty clearing, the seven adventurers gracefully avoided everything the drake threw at them, skillfully rolling and masterfully jumping sideways to evade various projectiles and strikes, leaving the Poison Drake frustrated. In addition to this, the adventurers who aren''t being targeted by the fierce draconian use terrifyingly mighty skills to whittle down the creature''s vitality, causing a myriad of elements, sh marks, arrow lines, and holy essence to roar and rage across the spacious battleground. The news sh seemed to have startedte and the battle seems to have been ongoing for at least a few hours now. Hence, after around fifteen more minutes, the creature roared onest time before copsing on the ground¡ªdevoid of life. "Dear citizens and fellow adventurers of ckburrow! We are thrilled to announce that one of the seven perils, the (S-) ranked Poison Drake, has been sessfully subdued, all thanks to the valiant efforts of our adamantite-ranked adventurers hailing from Iron Jin, Crimson Embers, Raven''s de, Yudaina Yama, Bloodsteel, and Hong Yun Adventurer Guilds. While six threats still roam free, we assure you that our heroic champions will swiftly address these challenges in theing days, enabling the adventurers of ckburrow to resume their activities without dy. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and support!" Chapter 274: White Clover Auction Commences The proud sun hung high in the sky, signaling the start of yet another new day; a special day for those in a city called ckburrow. As the start of the White Clover Auction drew near, the participants swiftly made their preparations to ensure their safety, especially those who were nning to purchase a few top-tier auction items. Naturally, Shye was one of these people. He didn''t know where his 650,000 silver coins would take him since this was the first time he would attend an auction, however, he does believe that he could at least purchase one good top-tier item. In his mind, he already concluded that this seemingly easy mandatory quest had to be some sort of preparation phase for an exponentially harder one. Hence, he decided to prepare for the worst. Hopefully, after he achieves the ruby rank, his improved self will be able to handle the next quest. To increase his chances of doing so, he had to be sessful in this auction. "Hohoh, I look perfect today¡­" A middle-aged man with long ck hair, average facial features, and lean physique muttered to himself as he appreciated how he looked in the mirror. Normally, such an average face wouldn''t receive the "perfect" evaluation; however, for the auction, Shye indeed looked perfect as there were no traces of his original looks. With his current disguise, he believed that he was safe. ''Oh, crap, I almost forgot¡­'' Realizing that his voice didn''t match his appearance, Shye recalled the pill he purchased from Constantine Consumables for a discounted price of two thousand silver coins. His connection with Drone proved to be useful as with a single request, the trusty manager immediately took out their hidden wares, reserved only for important partners like him. Among the items was a voice-changing pill that would change one''s voice to that of a high-pitched middle-aged man¡ªthe extremely annoying type. After consuming the pill, Shye tried speaking. "20,000 silver coins!" Shye eximed, his voice annoyingly high-pitched¡ªone that would attract a solid p on the face. "Damn, this voice is just perfect!" ¡­ In the sky, fireworks exploded in the shape of clovers as most of the people from ckburrow City converged in a single spacious location: The White Clover Auction House. The expansive lobby at the building''s entrance seemed spacious at first nce. However, with a steady influx of people arriving from various directions, it wouldn''t be long before the lobby became overcrowded. ''Good thing I disguised myself today¡­'' Shye mused as he scanned his eyes over the people lining up in various queues. ''Given the sheer number of people here, it''s almost certain that there are a few troublemakers among them.'' Walking over to the queue meant for super deluxe customers, Shye felt relieved. Only about fifty individuals opted for the super deluxe passes, and despite arrivingte, he found no issues with the auction house''s protocols and processes, which appeared to be well-executed. In just approximately thirty minutes of waiting, it was already Shye''s turn. "Hello, may I see your super deluxe pass?" One of the staff members assigned to assist him said with a weing smile. "Oh, yes, here," Shye replied, his annoying voice assaulting the eardrums of the staff member. "Thank you, sir, please follow me." Following a swift verification process, Shye was escorted through a concealed underground entrance, leading him tomend the White Clover Auction House for itsmitment to ensuring the safety of its clientele. Shockingly, the entrance had countless small hallways, each leading to a room. The auction house''s protocol ensured that no super deluxe/VIP client would enter at the same time, guaranteeing each customer''s privacy and safety. Naturally, Shye was satisfied with such arrangements, enabling White Clover Auction House''s reputation to soar to the skies in his heart¡ªrespect, burgeoning within. In just five short minutes, Shye arrived at the stairs which served as the only entrance and exit of his room. "Here''s your assigned room, room number thirty-six. Once the auction is over, a staff member will hand your purchased items over and lead you out of the room. I hope you enjoy the auction, esteemed customer." The staff member said, profoundly bowing towards Shye before leaving him. Now alone, Shye scanned his eyes over the entire room. Well, the room was a simple one, containing only a plush seat, a one-way ss window, and a small table with a mana-powered microphone on the right side of the seat. "Sigh... one can''t be too picky," Shye muttered as he settled into his seat. "Next time, I''ll definitely aim for the VIP experience." With nothing to do, Shye browsed the system, trying to search for a suitable epic talent to purchase among hundreds if not thousands of choices. Regrettably, despite half an hour of searching, he couldn''t locate the talent he sought before the auction began. "Wee, esteemed guests, to The White Clover Auction! I am Liu Meixiu, your auctioneer for today''s event. With immense pleasure and excitement, we convene here to unveil a remarkable collection of rare and exquisite items, certain to captivate all who have graciously chosen to join us for this prestigious asion. Without dy, I dere themencement of The White Clover Auction!" Auctioneer Liu Meixiu''s voice sounded, prompting heads to turn her way as she gracefully ascended the stage with a merry disposition. She looked stunning. Her heart-shaped face was perfectlyplemented by twin buns, entuating her long ck hair. Coupled with an athletic physique adorned with ample curves, including a generous bosom and perky buttocks, her slender neck added to her allure, prompting sinful thoughts in the minds of those who beheld her stunning appearance. Her drop-dead gorgeous physical appearance was further enhanced by her skin-tight, ck qipao dress adorned with white clover markings. Even Shye couldn''t help but swallow upon witnessing her beauty. Fortunately, before inappropriate thoughts took over the brains of the auction''s esteemed guests, Liu Meixiu''s soothing yet jolly voice once again resounded throughout the entire venue, snapping people out of their reverie. "Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present our first item for today, a drop-dead gorgeous ve!" Chapter 275: Crazy Bid War For A Crazy First Item ''W-What? Did I hear correctly? A¡­ve?'' Shye was confused. The first item caught him utterly off-guard. He didn''t know that auction houses sell ves! Heck, he didn''t even know that ves existed in this world in the first ce! Well, his reaction was understandable as ves actually do not exist in Adthiopia and this one is nothing but an absolute nutcase of an exception. Soon enough, Liu Meixiu rified the situation and revealed the "first item", providing answers to the questions in Shye''s mind. Gracefully grabbing the thin red nket covering the contents of an aluminum cage, the auctioneer pulled, revealing a brown-haired woman seemingly mid-20s in age. She was gorgeous. Her skin was silky smooth; her facial features were beautiful, her bosom and bottom¡ªample. The skin-tight short red dress only added to her allure, entuating her mature, attractive curves, triggering sinful thoughts to burgeon in the brains of the guests. "I understand that everyone is a bit bbergasted right now, however, allow me to rify that White Clover Auction House does not engage in human trafficking." "This gorgeous young woman walked in, informing us of her desire to auction herself off to someone rich to secure an opulent future, stating that she would be willing to do everything, even indecent requests to the guest who would purchase her as she was fond of doing such deeds. However, it''s important to note that any proceeds from the sale would go directly to her." "To ensure that she wouldn''t be mistreated by the one who purchased her, one must sign a soul contract with us, The White Clover Auction House. One that is connected to a soul brand imprinted within her body. Should one break the rules of the contract, then the soul brand would inform our auction house and we will for sure be taking legal actions for the sake of our courageous and peculiar client." Liu Meixiu patiently exined, scanning her eyes over the audience whose confused expressions suddenly turned into one of incredible, burning desire. Seeing how effective her exnation was, Liu Meixiu smiled. It seems that these esteemed guests would be more than willing to sign the contract, ensuring not only a huge profit for the auction house but also the safety of their client. Truth be told, she didn''t care one bit about the well-being of the crazy clientele/product, all she cared about were the profits to be made from this transaction. As long as the customer who would purchase her wouldn''t treat her too badly, then their White Clover Auction House would only benefit from this "first-of-its-kind" transaction. It might even start a new trend. The customers looked pleased, after all. However, it was inevitable for some smart guests to realize that Liu Meixiu omitted the most important aspect of this sale: her virginity. "Excuse me, Auctioneer Liu. I have a question." Being the smart woman that she was, Liu Meixiu expected that somebody would question the "first item for sale". "Yes, esteemed guest. What is your question." "Is she¡­a virgin?" After hearing the man''s question, Liu Meixiu beamed, as though the transaction that was happening wasn''t peculiar in any way. "Yes, esteemed sir. The ve imed that she was a virgin. She was saving her virginity for this day as she wanted to increase her value and secure a luxurious life for herself in the future. Of course, we did a thorough check and confirmed that she was indeed a virgin." "Are there any more questions?" Auctioneer Meixiu asked, skimming her eyes over the crowd who seemed to have no more questions. They looked utterly eager to bid. Satisfied, Meixiu finally gave them what they wanted. "With no further questions from our esteemed guests, we shall now move on to the next stage," the auctioneer dered, skillfully building anticipation with a brief pause. "For our first item, we will begin the bidding at 50,000 silver coins, with increments of at least one thousand silver coins. Let the bidding begin!" "60,000!" "65,000!" "75,000!" Shye was bbergasted at what he was seeing. He couldn''t believe that someone would just sell herself off and that people would actually engage in a fierce bidding war to obtain her. [Congrattions! Your Wisdom attribute has increased from 55 to 60!] Naturally, Shye didn''t participate, however, he watched the entire proceedings with intrigue. The crazy expressions on the faces of the bidders made his hair stand on end, enabling him to learn that most people would kill for carnal desires. Hearing the astronomical bids, the "product" was on cloud nine, her ears pping in glee as she imagined the luxurious life that awaited her. With how crazy the guests were bidding she was sure that they would immediately sign the contract without reading it too much. Certainly, she had no intention of exploiting the wealthy individuals. She genuinely embraced the notion of fulfilling indecent requests, striving to do so with utmost dedication, as it aligned with her personal preferences. Nevertheless, if anyone presumed they could treat her as an actual ve, they were sorely mistaken. At worst, she would be a sugar baby. As the bidding war approached its ultimatum, only two parties¡ªboth from VIP rooms, remained in contention. "250,000 silver coins!" "260,000!" Shockingly, one of the voices was a woman''s¡ªassertive yet soothing. On the other hand, her opponent was a man, who seemed to be desperate to win the bidding war. "340,000 from our esteemed guest at VIP room three!" "Going once." "Going twice." "Sold! Congrattions to the guest in VIP room three for acquiring ownership of our stunningpanion. A member of our staff will promptly join you to finalize the necessary contract." Naturally, the ve felt happy after amassing a total of 340,000 silver coins. As a mundane person unwilling to risk her life in adventurer zones, the 300,000 silver coins that would end up in her pockets would allow her to livefortably her entire life. However, she was now confused since she had to serve a woman like herself. She was so sure that it would be a man, hence, the results were such a curveball for her and she couldn''t help but wonder what the goals of her "new owner" were. Unbeknownst to her, the woman who emerged victorious in the bidding war harbored the same intentions as all the other bidders: to engage in indecent acts with her. As for Shye, who just witnessed the crazy bid war resulting in an astronomical sum for the first item, he was slightly dumbfounded. ''Damn¡­People are crazy like that?'' Chapter 276: Legendary Bracelet "Ten bottles of top-grade physique training tonics, sold to the young man on seat number 42 for 35,000 silver coins! Congrattions!" Liu Meixiu''s alluring voice once again resounded in the entire venue, bringing Shye, who was still thinking about how crazy people could get, back to reality. ''Well, at least that''s 340,000 coins less for one of my potentialpetitors!'' Shye thought to himself, realizing that the crazy bidding war earlier slightly worked out in his favor. Refocusing his attention on the next item, ten bottles of peak-grade mana pool enhancement tonic, Shye couldn''t help but ponder whether he should join in or not. If one thing was normal about him as a mage, it would be his mana pool. He wanted to upgrade it; however, he also didn''t want to lose the chance to bid for better items, thus, he was stuck in a dilemma. His inexperience in auctions, biting at him hard. "37,000 silver coins!" "38,500 silver coins!" The bids already surpassed thest item''s price, hence, Shye restrained his urge to bid on it, considering that Drone might be able to procure him simr consumables with simr effects. If so, then it would be better for him to use his partnership than meaninglessly bid here. As Shye observed the ten bottles of peak-grade mana enhancement tonics slip into another bidder''s possession, a pang of disappointment tugged at his heart. Nheless, he consoled himself by thinking that this was a strategic move that would allow him to purchase a better itemter. The next two items didn''t catch his attention, making him yawn in boredom. "Congrattions to the winner of our fifth item! Now, for the sixth, we have this¡­seemingly obsolete bracelet. However, do not underestimate this item as this was retrieved by a powerful adventurer from a tomb protected by an (A) ss monstrous creature. The starting bid for this item is 10,000 silver coins with increments of 500. Let the biddingmence!" Liu Meixiu eximed with enthusiasm, mirroring her customary fervor disyed for previous items. Deep down, she felt nervous. This item was the most mysterious of them all, and since it came through connections, they had to give it a shot, even though she wasn''t sure if it was any good. At worst, it would be nothing but an overpriced essory. Hopefully, someone would purchase it, otherwise, her reputation as ckburrow City''s top-ranked auctioneer would suffer a blow. Unfortunately for her, most of the people attending this auction were either broke or experienced, hence, people hesitated to bid on such a hit-or-miss item. Moreover, they knew that auctions would throw in an item or two such as this one in the middle of the event. The atmosphere quickly turned awkward, making Liu Meixiu inwardly panic¡ªa stark contrast to her jolly and enthusiastic exterior. ''Appraisal'' [Name]: Hallowed Bracelet of the Holy Order (Drained/Inactive) [Tier]: Adamantite [Rarity] Legendary [Description]: One of the four lost, consecrated bracelets of thete holy order. ??? Effects: Maximum Mana + 30,000 (Disabled) Boost one''s [Holy] type damage by 40% (Disabled) [Wisdom] + 200 (Disabled) [Intelligence] + 150 (Disabled) [Exit] ''H-Holy sh*t¡­a l-legendary item?!'' Shye inwardly eximed in utter shock and disbelief. This was the first time he ever encountered an item of such rarity. It seemed to be dysfunctional though. Still, he would be a fool to not grab such a huge piece of pie that fell from the sky. Although the item wasn''t working right now, it didn''t mean that it would stay defective forever, thus, with a barely suppressed excited voice, Shye eximed a bid through the microphone located at the table beside him. "5,500 silver coins!" Naturally, his irksome high-pitched voice immediately earned him the ire of a few individuals, prompting them to think that he was simply bidding for the item to get on Liu Meixiu''s good side. They sneered at him in disdain. Little did they know, Shye was trembling in excitement right now. Albeit defective, if he could get such an item for only 5,500 silver coins, then it would simply be a steal! As for Auctioneer Meixiu, she was ecstatic. It didn''t matter to her whether the item fetched a high price or not. As long as it was sold, then her reputation was safe, hence, with an enthusiastic tone, she spoke: "5,500 silver coins, going once." "Going twice" "Sold! Congrattions to our esteemed guest at super deluxe room 36. One of our staff members shall deliver the item to you shortly." Now that her lone problem was solved, Liu Meixiu became even more energetic, immediately pulling the next cart containing the seventh item: a unique-tier herb. Shye had no use for such things though¡ªnot right now, at least. Out of the next three items, Shye bid on the ninth item, ten bottles of peak-grade, recovery potions; and obtained it for 25,000 silver coins. This item would be useful for him, someone who is both a warrior and a mage, potentially even rescuing him in the midst of battle by swiftly replenishing his health and mana reserves to a significant extent. If there was anything hecked now, it was life-saving items, hence, purchasing a few for 25,000 silver coins was actually a nice deal. Finally, following the auction of ten preceding items, one of the items he was aiming for was presented. As two staff members pushed a small cart adorned with a delicate yet refined nket towards the center of the stage, Auctioneer Meixiu approached, gently pulling back the cover to unveil the eleventh item: a skill book of unique tier. "Warrior-ss adventurers, celebrate! Our eleventh item is a [Unique]-tier skill book. While it may not inflict direct damage, it promises to pose significant challenges for all foes, whether monstrous creatures or fellow adventurers. For further details, please consult the holographic screen that will soon appear above me." === [(Semi-Passive) de of Despair (Unique)] Description: When activated, one''s de will turn ethereal, rendering it unblockable. Effects: With each strike, deplete the opponent''s mana and stamina by a percentage of their maximum, determined by the force of one''s attack. Note: This skill can be used simultaneously with other skills. === Chapter 277: Fighting For A Unique-Tier Skill ''Damn, this skill is quite fire, no?'' Shye inwardly thought as he waited for the bidding to start with bated breath. It wasn''t only him though. Such a strong, unblockable, and versatile skill, would naturally capture the attention of all warrior-ss adventurers in the venue. Things were bound to be a bidding war. Waiting for just the appropriate duration to foster eagerness and longing among the auction attendees, Liu Meixiu spoke again. "The starting bid for this skill book is 60,000 silver coins with increments of 1,000. Let the bidding begin!" "65,000!" "75,000!" "78,000!" The price of the skill quickly rose, however, Shye didn''t bid yet. He knew that it would simply be a waste of breath since the price was bound to go higher. In just a few minutes, his theory proved to be correct as the price went up to about 130,000 silver coins before slowing down. The current market price for unique tier skills was 120,000 silver coins to 170,000 silver coins depending on its effects. Usually, those that were sold for the maximum price of 170,000 silver coins were those skills that could decide the oue of battles in one hit, hence, upon reaching the 130,000 silver coin mark, people started to give up on the skill. In their eyes, the skill was not worth more than 130,000 silver coins. Shye begged to differ though. He was sure that the skill would be a menace in his hands, thus, he was a bit more willing than others to spend money on it. "140,000!" Shye bid, his grating voice assaulting the ears of everyone in the venue. Following such a significant surge in bids, many promptly withdrew, yet there appeared to be around two more people as enthusiastic as him to acquire the skill. With three bidders in contention, the bidding war for the first unique-tier skill approached its climax. "142,000!" "145,000!" A bidder from VIP room ten remarked with a faint undertone of anger, surprised that two individuals from lesser super deluxe rooms would dare to challenge him. Hailing from Valenzia City, the man''s impression of the skill wasn''t really that great. Still, he intended to utilize it as a present for an uing warrior-ss super rookie from his guild, aiming to curry favor with him and secure a favorable future for himself. He was strong himself, however, he wasn''t bound to be one of the strongest in the entire region, hence, he decided to y it smart and be a close ally of someone who had the potential to. Irksomely, two individuals he deemed lesser dared make things difficult for him. There was an item he wanted to purchase so he couldn''t spend too much on a gift. "150,000!" Shye bid again, his irritating voice only exacerbating the fury within the VIP''s heart. "150,000 from the gentleman in room number thirty-six! Anyone who wishes to challenge?" Liu Meixiu''s soothing yet vibrant voice sounded from the stage, consoling the hearts of those who were forced to give up. "Going once!" "151,000! I really need this item and I would appreciate it if the two gentlemen from rooms thirty-six and twenty-seven could give me some fa¨C" "155,000!" Unfortunately for the VIP,Shye didn''t even give him the slightest bit of face, rudely cutting the former''s words as thetter eximed a counter-bid. Since this was the first time Larzen, the VIP guy, experienced such disrespect and humiliation, he was utterly furious. The obviously suppressedughter from the surrounding guests only served to further ignite the rage in his heart. "It seems the gentleman in room number thirty-six is quite eager to acquire the skill book. In that case, I will graciously step back this time. However, I suggest you take heed of my advice: be sure to watch your back." Larzen said, his voice containing an underlying threat, causing those who daredugh earlier to shut up for fear of attracting the man''s wrath. "Heh, no one cares about you so there wasn''t any need to exin your actions is there? If you don''t have the money to bid then just close your mouth, simple as that." Shye sneered in disdain, the power of his high-pitched annoying voice on full disy. He had the perfect n today and he was sure that no one would be able to catch him, hence, there was zero worry in his heart. Disrespect those who deserve it. Sensing the escting situation, Liu Meixiu stepped in and did her job. She was ustomed to VIP guests threatening others if their desires weren''t met, as such distasteful urrences weremon in nearly every auction. It wasn''t the responsibility of their auction house to safeguard guests beyond its premises though; therefore, Shye could only rely on himself once the auction ended. "155,000 going once!" "Going twice!" "The winning bid of 155,000 silver coins goes to the gentleman in super deluxe room thirty-six! Our staff will promptly deliver your item to your room." Once the bidding war for the unique-tier warrior skill was finished, the three guests in contention had varying reactions. The gentleman inside super deluxe room twenty-seven had a nonchnt expression, as though the earlier bidding war had nothing to do with him. On the other hand, Shye was naturally ecstatic. Such a skill suits him, a greatsword dual-wielder with a high damage output. He was sure that with each sh of the unblockable semi-passive skill, a huge chunk of his opponent''s mana and stamina would be depleted, making it almost impossible for anyone to defeat him in a long, drawn-out battle. As for Larzen, who not only suffered defeat in the bidding war but also endured humiliation from someone he considered inferior, he seethed with rage inside the VIP room, promptly shattering amunication talisman in his hand. "Porz, you''ve witnessed what happened just now, correct? Track down the arrogant fool in super-deluxe room thirty-six, tail him throughout the city, and apprehend him. I intend to personally deal with this hateful bastard." Chapter 278: High-Grade, Unique Gemstones [Congrattions! You''ve learned [(Semi-Passive) de of Despair (Unique)]!] Shye smiled upon seeing the notification in front of him. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to learn the skill. It was just a few taps away anyway. Refocusing on the twelfth item, it was yet another skill book, however, it was for archers so Shye quickly lost interest. Mastering two sses is already difficult for him, so for now, he wouldn''t entertain the notion of adding another subss. For a period, the auction grew rather dull for Shye as the thirteenth to seventeenth auction items held little usefulness for him, making him question Seira''s "rumors". Fortunately, the items he expected to appear didn''t remain a rumor for too long. "Up next, our 18th itemprises four pieces of high-grade, unique gemstones." Liu Meixiu enthusiastically introduced, her right hand working to open a small chest, revealing four shiny gemstones of different hues inside. Gently grabbing one of the four gemstones¡ªthe red one, Liu Meixiu alluringly looked at the audience. "This here is a high-grade inferno stone, capable of incinerating foes to mere ashes once used to enhance one''s weapon. Moreover, it can also be used to enchant pieces of armor, allowing one to gain additional fire resistance, and possibly, an activatable me shield." Liu Meixiu proudly announced, causing the average adventurer in attendance to gasp in shock. They could only dream of obtaining such a precious gemstone as their coin reserves are now either low or empty. As for the stronger ones like Larzen, their eyes were aze with the desire to obtain the gemstone set¡ªsome of them were even willing to use all of their silver coin reserves. Witnessing the enthusiasm and desire burning in the eyes of the audience, Auctioneer Meixiu swiftly followed up, exining the effects of the other three gemstones. Gently returning the high-grade inferno stone to its rightful spot inside the small chest, she grabbed the bluish-white one. She then raised it, allowing people to admire its beauty. "Let''s move on to the next gemstone, a high-grade, absolute-zero cierstone." the auctioneer began, pausing masterfully for a few seconds before proceeding to patiently unfold its effects to the auction''s enamored guests. "This gemstone, albeit a bit smaller than the inferno stone, isn''t the least bit lesser in terms of potency. Best used to enchant elemental staffs and all kinds of bows, the absolute-zero cierstone will be able to provide a huge ice elemental boost. However, this doesn''t mean that one cannot use the gemstone to enchant melee weapons and armor pieces." Returning the bluish-white gemstone to its spot inside the miniature chest, Meixiu took the third one and showcased it in the same manner as the first two. "This right here is a high-grade earthcore gemstone, although generally not advisable for weapon enchantment, this gemstone boasts the greatest of defensive bonuses when used to enchant various armor pieces. Moreover, since this piece isrge, it can be used to enhance two pieces of equipment." At this point, the hearts of the adventurers were already racing wildly, screaming at them to obtain the prized gemstone set. Liu Meixiu didn''t allow them to rx though, further agitating their already raging hearts by taking out thest gemstone, raising it high with an alluring yet proud smile on her face. "Now, let us proceed to the star product of our four-piece, high-grade gemstone set. This one is a high-grade expelvoid stone, most lethal when used to enchant swords, daggers, bows, and void gauntlets. Albeit inefficient when used to enchant armor pieces, it is the epitome of offensive enchantments." "Are there any questions?" Liu Meixiu inquired, scanning her eyes over the crowd. "Since there are none, then let the biddingmence! The price shall start at 50,000 silver coins with increments of 1,000." "55,000!" "68,000!" "75,000!" Immediately after the auctioneer finished her piece, a fierce bidding war erupted, causing utter chaos at the venue as myriad voices drowned each other out, trying to outbid theirpetition. Liu Meixiu and the organizers of the auction event simply beamed at the vibrant sight. They''re aware that once the price reaches a certain threshold, adventurers with fewer funds will inevitably withdraw, restoring order to the chaotic auction. Sure enough, after the price reached a hundred and twenty silver coins, only five remained in contention, including the woman who obtained the ve, Larzen, and Shye. "124,000!" "130,000!" Hearing Shye''s familiar grating voice, Larzen clenched his fists in anger. ''This bastard still has the reserves to bid for this gemstone set?!'' he inwardly raged, struggling to believe that someone who couldn''t even afford a VIP room would have the money to continuously make trouble for him. "135,000!" "140,000!" "145,000!" "148,000!" "150,000!" After the gemstone set exceeded 150,000 silver coins, the other two bidders, including the woman, withdrew. Now, only the three original bidders for the unique-tier warrior skill remained: the gentleman in room twenty-seven, Shye, and Larzen. The fierce bidding war continued until the price went up to 165,000, causing Larzen to almost rampage inside his VIP room. The price of the item had now far exceeded its perceived value, after all. Larzen thought that since most of hispetitors already used their money on the earlier items, it would be easy for him to obtain this gemstone set. However, who would''ve thought that the loathsome middle-aged man in room thirty-six still had silver coins? ''This guy probably doesn''t n to bid on thest item¡­'' Larzen inwardly deduced. He had to obtain at least one of the crafting materials from (S) tier monstrous creatures, hence, he had no choice but to give the gemstone setup. Realizing that he would''ve probably obtained the gemstone set if he had opted for a super deluxe room, Larzen clenched his fists so hard that his nails started to dig into the skin of his palms. Regrettably, there was no medicine for regret. Thus, for a whopping 168,000 silver coins, the four-piece, high-grade gemstone set once again ended up in Shye''s hands. Chapter 279: (S) Tier Crafting Materials Emerge "Let''s f*cking go!! I already got two out of the three items I''m gunning for!" Shye celebrated after confirming that the staff member who delivered the items and imed the payment had already left. "Wait¡­Aren''t I already the biggest winner of this auction?" The legendary-tier holy bracelet would probably be his greatest haul should he manage to find a way to restore it. Realizing that tion was taking over him, Shye forced himself to calm down with one deep breath. The auction isn''t over yet and he still has 321,500 silver coins remaining. Hopefully, he could still afford at least one of the crafting materials from (S) tier creatures with his remaining coin reserves. After a few more moments, Liu Meixiu introduced the 19th item: an epic-tier skill book for mages¡ªone of the highlights of the White Clover Auction. Since the information provided by the holographic screen would be way more urate than her exnation, the auctioneer pressed a button from the remote she was holding, prompting an enormous bluish-transparent holographic screen to emerge in front of the auction participants. === [Mana Eruption (Epic)] Description: Open one''s pores, allowing mana to freely flow in and out of the body, temporarily enhancing one''s mana pool, mana regeneration rate, casting time, skill cooldown, and all forms of damage that utilize mana as a catalyst. Effects: Increase mana pool by 2000 Mana regeneration + 50% Casting time of all skills reduced by 30% Cooldown of all skills reduced by 30% Damage of all skills utilizing mana as a catalyst + 15% Chant: *Three seconds of gibberish* === ''Oh? This skill is quite good¡­even though the casting time reduction is useless to me, the other effects would still be a great help¡­'' Shye pondered, thinking about trying to participate in the bid for this epic-tier mage skill. While he was still weighing the pros and cons of purchasing the skill, Liu Meixiu''s lovely voice once again resounded throughout the venue. "The starting bid for this item is 100,000 silver coins with increments of 3,000. Everyone, you may now exim your bids!" "110,000!" "115,000!" "128,000!" As the more prominent adventurers eximed their outrageous bids, the average ones could do nothing but watch; their mediocrity gnawing at the hope and excitement in their hearts. They wanted to at least bid! Unfortunately, they didn''t have the silver coins to do so as most of them only brought 50,000 to 80,000 silver coins, thinking that purchasing a few opening items would be enough to satisfy their hearts. Lamenting with the average adventurers was Shye, who ultimately decided to give up on the epic-tier mage skill. His greatswords are kind of getting old now and he needed higher-tiered recements, hence, he decided to prioritize the (S) tier crafting materials over the skill. If he would have the luxury to purchase it through system points in the future, then he would. At present, all he could do was observe as the woman who acquired the ve secured the epic-tier mage skill for 210,000 silver coins. ''Well, at least I know the skill name¡­'' Shye consoled himself. ''Nheless, that woman sure is rich¡­'' As he became absorbed in his thoughts, Auctioneer Meixiu signaled for three staff members to maneuver the carts carrying the final three items¡ªthe main attractions of the auction¡ªonto the expansive stage. Just from the finely crafted and generously designed carts alone, one would know that these three are the main items for sale. Hence, the adventurers who refrained from purchasing anything just to obtain one of the three, rubbed their hands together, eager to show everyone that they, the disciplined ones who resisted the urge to splurge their money on the less important items, would have thestugh. Larzen, a man of slender build with medium-length brown hair and unremarkable facial features, found himself among those who exercised restraint¡ªor more urately, he was simply outbid by Shye on the first two items he desired, leaving him with no option but to refrain from further bidding. If he failed to obtain one of the three items, he was toast. He didn''t believe that there was still someone who could stand in his way after all the spending spree that happened earlier in the auction. Larzen harbored no doubts whatsoever that one of the three main attractions of the auction would ultimately belong to him. Consequently, he remainedpletely unworried. A few momentster, Liu Meixiu finally decided to unveil the first item, causing the broke crowd to gasp in awe and envy. "In my hand is the prime scale of a mighty flood dragon, obtained by a party of adamantite adventurers from the nearby stormy sea, braving its perils and taking out the fearsome creature by baiting it out of its habitat. This particr scale is the toughest one in the flood dragon''s body, moreover, this material, in the hands of a capable cksmith, would turn into at least a diamond-ranked weapon or armor piece." The auctioneer patiently exined, momentarily scanning her eyes over the crowd before continuing: "The starting bid for this item will be¡­150,000 silver coins with increments of 5,000. Everyone may now ce their bids!" Such a mind-boggling item¡­The fact that it even appeared in an auction house in a mere above-average frontier city was a blessing in itself. Of course, the auction attendees wouldn''t miss out on such a significant opportunity. Acquiring such items in top-tier cities like Valenzia would be nearly impossible due to the inevitable skyrocketing prices in the city of dreams. Hence, they couldn''t miss this opportunity. After a few seconds of silence, overly eager voices drowned each other out, revealing the crouching tigers and hidden dragons of the auction. "160,000!" "165,000!" "175,000!" As a fierce bidding war ensued, a few individuals had calm expressions on their faces. Shye naturally belonged to those who awaited the unfolding events. After all, it was improbable for the price of such a superb item to remain below the 200,000 silver coin mark. Why waste your breath bidding early when you could bidter? Chapter 280: Prime Dragon Scale, Secured! In just a few minutes, the bidding war for the first star product swiftly reached its climax. Shye hasn''t voiced out his bid yet, intending to further observe the chaos that was now starting to mellow down; bidders backed out as the product''s price slowly escaped the reach of their reserves. After two more minutes, only eight bidders remain. "250,000!" Shye eximed through the small microphone, his grating voice reverberating across the entire venue. At this point, Shye, upying super deluxe room thirty-six, has unwittingly established quite a reputation for himself, given that his annoying voice has made him easily identifiable. A few of the more observant participants waited for him to make a move, however, since he was quiet throughout the entire seven minutes of bidding chaos, they all thought that his coin reserves already ran low. Hence, his bid of 250,000 silver coins made everyone shocked and wary, prompting them to wonder who he could be. He already obtained two top-tier items earlier for a total of 323,000 silver coins in addition to one crappy ornament priced at 5,500 silver coins. 328,500 silver coins isn''t a small amount. Heck, some of the people who considered themselves the "big dawgs" of the auction didn''t even have that amount of money in their pockets. For the guy to still bid 250,000 silver coins after spending such a huge amount¡­there was no way he was some random dude. Well¡­they couldn''t be more wrong. Shye, who currently still had to prove himself through the dog-eat-dog world of mediocre adventurers, had no solid backing. Everything in his possession, he had to work hard for, proving himself time and time again to obtain such resources, including the huge amount of money he gained through betting on themselves to be quarter finalists of the prestigious Adventurer Academy Competition. Although the Colzen Seven made the bet look easy and low-risk, it wasn''t actually the case. Betting on themselves, some random students from a mediocre academy, to achieve the top 8 out of several hundreds of academies ranked higher than theirs was nothing short of mental. It takes an absurd amount of self-confidence to pull such a miracle off. And now, Shye was enjoying the fruits of his high-risk high-reward bet. If not for that, he would probably be among the average ones who only had 50,000 to 80,000 silver coinsing into the auction. Such a false impression worked well in Shye''s favor though, despite him not knowing about it. He had an escape n anyway so there were zero worries in his heart. Larzen, hearing Shye''s voice once more gnashed his teeth in anger, however, he didn''t dare underestimate the loathsome bastard now. He couldn''t help but respect the fact that his current silver coin reserves were inferior to Shye''s initial coin reserves. While Larzen wasn''t certain whether this bothersome middle-aged man in super deluxe room thirty-six could still contend for one of the three items, he couldn''t help but feel wary of him. ''You greedy bastard¡­still trying to obtain one of the three (S) tier crafting materials?'' Larzen inwardly cursed, gazing in the direction of Shye''s room as he intensely grabbed the microphone. ''I''ll show you the full extent of my auction budget this time." "260,000!" "270,000!" "280,000!" As the price went up, the other "big dawgs" of the auction dropped out of contention, shaking their heads in disappointment as they realized that they would have no business acquiring the first two items. Still, they didn''t give up easily. Most of them crushedmunication talismans, trying to borrow money from their friends to increase their reserves and their chances of obtaining the next two items. And since this is amon urrence during auctions, it has been decades since the auction houses mastered its processes, building numerous partnerships with various banks to make money lending transactions easier for the auction participants which in turn increases the potential profits of their auction events while the banks profit from transaction fees. A business procedure in which the sole potential loser is the individual seeking to borrow money. However, the banks wouldn''t personally loan money to just anyone. An individual would have to sign a contract with the bank before the event should they want to have a reliable backup n. On the other hand, there is an alternative way wherein the banks would process lightning-fast, emergency transactions from the loaner for a sizable fee. As for how the loanee and the loaner would settle ounts, the bank didn''t give a single sh*t as they already profited. That said, albeit "lightning-fast", it would be impossible to process the transactions instantly, hence, this was the best time for Shye to obtain one of the three. He was unaware of this huge chance though. Fortunately, he truly liked the prime dragon scale, making him willing to spend all of his remaining reserves on it. His thinking was quite simple. The crafting material was sourced from a dragon? It would undoubtedly lead to the creation of a formidable weapon! Especially in the hands of a master cksmith such as Meido. It would be impossible for him to predict whether the other two would be superior anyway, so he might as well take a chance on something that caught his eye without overthinking whether the next ones would be better. Once the price went up to 290,000 silver coins, Larzen suddenly slowed down, gnashing his teeth in frustration as he eximed his bid. "295,000!" All he desired was to strangle the living sh*t out of Shye, fervently praying to the Gods and Goddesses for the detestable fellow to exhaust his funds. And soon. "300,000!" Unfortunately, his wish was crushed after hearing the grating voice, once more increasing the bid. Gritting his teeth, Larzen went all in. "307,000!!" Naturally, Shye immediately noticed the strange 7,000 silver coin raise, causing him to smile victoriously as things clicked in his head. Since 5,000 silver coins were the minimum increment, if Larzen didn''t go all in, he wouldn''t be able to bid again, capping himself at 305,000 silver coins, hence, Shye was sure that 307,000 silver coins were all Larzen had. Shye was starting to get anxious as he was nearing his fund cap of 321,500 silver coins, fortunately, Larzen ran out of money first. "312,000!" He eximed, his annoying voice containing a hint of triumphant glee. *BANG!* The unfortunate table before Larzen endured a powerful blow as he couldn''t resist mming his hands down upon it forcefully. Remembering the 20,000 silver coin cost of the VIP room, Larzen regretted his decision. If only he opted for the super deluxe room, he would''ve had a bit more funds, possibly allowing him to secure the prime dragon scale. Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret. He could do nothing but observe as the star product was meticulously packed into an opulent chest and transported to Shye''s room. Recalling his mission, Larzen swallowed hard; anxiety creeping into his little heart. He wasn''t a novice in auctions, so he understood that the people around him, whom he had previously outbid, now likely had more funds avable, perhaps from emergency loans or transactions prepared beforehand. ''It was all because of that bastard!!'' he inwardly raged, red-eyed as he shot a fierce re towards Shye''s room in utter fury, imagining what his hateful face looked like. However, he knew that he had no time to lose, hence, he immediately crushed his emergencymunication talisman, asking for emergency funds to increase his chances for the next two items. Underestimating the detestable fellow, he believed the man had no remaining funds topete against him, overly confident that the prime dragon scale would ultimately belong to him. Realizing how wrong he had been, panic invaded his heart and mind as the threat of death loomed over his head. If he failed to obtain one of the three items, his boss would definitely kill him. ''I''ll deal with youter.'' he inwardly thought, turning his heightened attention towards the next item as he waited for the bank''s notification. Chapter 281: Panicking Larzen As footsteps sounded below his room along with the heavenly melody of a cart being pushed, Shye felt giddy; his heart dancing in glee as he waited for the prime dragon scale to arrive. *CLACK* "Hello sir, here''s your item." "Thank you, here''s the payment." Following a swift conversation to settle the payment, the White Clover staff exited his room, giving him the chance to finally jump up and down in celebration after a tremendous sess. ''Who would''ve thought that I would be so talented in auctions?'' Shye praised himself, ill-informed that his final win against Larzen was nothing but pure luck. With how much he overspent his coin reserves on the unique-tier skill and the four-piece high-grade gemstone set, his remaining 321,500 coins would normally not be enough to secure him any of the three (S) tier crafting materials. However, through some stroke of luck, the supposedly "big dawgs" with emergency funds thought that they would be the main star as Shye and the others already spent a lot of money on the prior items. Hence, they didn''t immediately avail the emergency funds, only reaching out to their banks and loaners upon realizing that things wouldn''t be as easy as they imagined. Well, the fees were exceedingly high, so availing the funds recklessly was not advisable. This brief stroke of luck,bined with Shye''s decisive action in acquiring the prime dragon scale, enabled him to obtain it purely through beginner''s luck. He had no emergency funds to depend on, after all. Nheless, even though he only had 9,500 silver coins in his possession, he didn''t regret a single one of his purchases. With a joyful heart, Shye observed the remainder of the auction, knowing that there was a rule for a systematic exit, especially for those from the super deluxe rooms and VIP rooms. They cannot leave early and have to exit one by one "to ensure maximum privacy and safety" as per White Clover. Shye thought that this specific rule by the auction house was rather strange, however, he had toply since he chose to attend the event. After a few more moments, the upants of various VIP rooms were prepared to partake in a fierce and chaotic bidding war, as their "ammunition," the emergency silver coins, arrived in their bank ounts. As for Larzen, he was panic-stricken. His emergency funds had yet to arrive, and if the "lightning-fast" emergency transaction didn''te through quickly enough, he would miss the opportunity to bid for the second item, leaving him with only one more chance. If he somehow lost the bid for thest item, then his life¡­ Shivering as he thought of failure''s dire consequences, Larzen couldn''t help but stand up, desperately pacing back and forth as he fervently prayed for the auction to slow down and for his emergency funds to arrive faster. ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Why hadn''t the funds arrived yet?!'' Larsen inwardly raged in anxiety. At this point, the frenzied bidding war for the second item, the antlers of an (S) tier Void Elk, was in full swing, driving him almost to the brink of insanity with anxiety. Fortunately, a minute before the bidding war concluded, a voice suddenly sounded beside his right ear, telling him that his 70,000 silver coins emergency fund had been deposited sessfully. There was no one inside the VIP room except him and White Clover''s designated servant, however, the voice sounded as if the bank''s staff member was right next to him. This was precisely howmunication talismans functioned, and Larzen was well-acquainted with their operation. Thus, there was not a trace of surprise in his eyes; only sheer delight. ''Yes! Finally!'' He inwardly celebrated, swiftly shifting his attention towards the ongoing bidding war. With a whopping 377,000 silver coins in his bank ount, Larzen was confident of at least obtaining one of the two remaining (S) tier crafting materials. "310,000!" He eximed, his eyes aze with the determination to obtain the second item. Unfortunately, things didn''t go his way easily as a few people who were fully determined to obtain the (S) tier antlers, continued bidding with reckless abandon, not caring about the consequences of using up all of the emergency funds. In their minds, acquiring such an item would significantly enhance their strength and enable them to repay the exorbitant interest on the emergency loans. This crazy, all-in attitude was something Larzen was reluctant to adapt as he knew how hard it was to pay the loan''s interests. Hence, once the gentleman from super deluxe room twenty-seven, another one of his familiar foes, bid 360,000 to obtain the antlers, Larzen chose to give up. ''Everything''s fine¡­there should be no one now who could contend against me¡­if ites down to it, then I''ll just go all-in myself!'' Larzen consoled himself after yet another defeat. He surrendered because he believed he could acquire the third and final item for slightly less than the price of the second one. Earlier, as the price went past 330,000 silver coins, Larzen noticed that others stopped bidding, making him think that except for the guy who upied super deluxe room twenty-seven, no one else had the funds topete with him for the third item. Since he didn''t have to acquire this particr item (as he only needed to acquire at least one of the three), Larzen thought that it would be a smart move to give this item up and obtain thest one for 335,000 silver coins, allowing him to save a whopping 30,000 silver coins of emergency funds. A smart move if one thinks about it logically. Unbeknownst to Larzen, 360,000 silver coins was his opponent''sst bid. If he pushed through and bid 365,000, he would''ve obtained the antlers, unfortunately, his "smart idea" led him to believe that giving up on the antlers was the correct choice. With full confidence in securing the third item, Larzen swiftly moved on from the void antlers, eagerly anticipating Liu Meixiu''s unveiling of the final item, which he was certain would be his. Chapter 282: White Clover Auction Concludes "And now, for our final item!" Auctioneer Meixiu''s sweet voice resounded across the auction house as she grabbed the third chest and opened it, revealing its content under the eager and anxious gazes of the auction participants. "This here is the core of an (S) tier Dream Golem¡­" ¡­ "The starting bid for this item is 160,000 silver coins with increments of 5,000. Everyone may now bid!" Promptly after Liu Meixiu said her piece, the participants roared their bids, desperate to obtain thest item after making yet another call to increase their funds by however little they could, knowing that if they didn''t do so, Larzen would obtain thest item. "180,000!" ¡­ "210,000!" ¡­ "300,000!" In just around seven minutes, the chaotic bidding war for the final auction item reached its peak. This time though, people kept bidding even after the price surpassed 330,000 silver coins, making Larzen feel slightly anxious. ''It''s ok¡­It''s ok¡­'' Larzen consoled himself, ''these guys probably think I only have 355,000 since I gave up after that bastard from super deluxe room twenty-seven bid 360,000¡­'' After a few more moments, the bids reached the decisive threshold: 355,000. "360,000!!!" the man from VIP room 6 eximed with a proud and triumphant smile, thinking that thest item would fall into his hands. Hearing how proud the man''s voice was, Larzen himself chuckled victoriously. ''Hahaha, you fool. You think I only have 355,000?'' Despite not having saved a substantial amount of silver coins for himself, Larzen didn''t have the chance to feel sad, or even care about it. After all, his life was on the line. This item was hisst chance and he had to do everything to obtain it. His "boss" permitted him to establish and ess as many emergency funds as necessary. If the guy found out that he had only arranged for a single backup fund and failed to secure one of the three items because he attempted to save silver coins for himself, his life would undoubtedly be forfeit. Fortunately, 360,000 silver coins seemed to be the final barrier between him and (S) tier Dream Golem''s core. "365,000!" Larzen victoriously eximed, his heart beaming with pride after beating most of the opposition. Consistently losing to the individuals from the super deluxe rooms truly weighed heavily on his heart. Thankfully, he managed to reveal his "true strength" in the end. "365,000! From the gentleman upying VIP room ten! Is there anyone who wishes to challenge him? Going once?" "Going twice!" "380,000!" Just when the mildly uncertain expression on Larzen''s face turned into one of a beaming smile¡ªthe world bing a bit more colorful through the lenses of his eyes¡ªa woman''s sudden voice turned everything dark and gray. For a few moments, Larzen''s brain failed to process what just happened¡ªor rather, his brain didn''t want to process it. However, it was inevitable for things to sink in after some time. "NO!!!! WHERE THE F*CK DID YOU COME FROM YOU B*TCH?!!! WHY WEREN''T YOU BIDDING EARLIER?! I''LL KILL YOU!! I''LL F*CKING KILL YOU!!!" Larzen raged, his heart and mind couldn''t help but urge him to do so, otherwise he would probably go insane. Well, he didn''t appear any less crazy at the moment. The staff member designated to serve him couldn''t help but look at him with a hint of schadenfreude, Larzen''s idiotic act of destroying multiple wine bottles and wine sses looked extremely satisfying in his eyes. After all, Larzen would have to pay for all the damages and a small percentage of the proceeds wouldnd in his pockets. ''Hahaha! Yes, rage more, you idiot.'' the servant inwardly thought in utter glee. Larzen''s delusional and enraged outburst truly entertained him. "No! This can''t be happening! NO!!!" Larzen continued raging, further amusing the servant. Surprisingly though, a few momentster, he suddenly calmed down as an idea popped up in his head. That''s right! What was he panicking for? Wasn''t this the best oue for him? His insider agent, Porz, was already acquainted with the appearance of the middle-aged man residing in super deluxe room thirty-six. It would be rather easy for him and his associates to discreetly track the man and eliminate him when the opportunity presented itself. Once that happens, the prime dragon scale held by the middle-aged man would be his, enabling him to easily repay the bank loan and pocket an additional 300,000 silver coins. As Larzen''s heart gradually calmed down, a faint smile crept back onto his face, causing him to appear mentally unstable in front of the servant, who was astonished by how rapidly his mood shifted. "And that concludes our 67th White Clover Auction! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of you who attended. I hope you all enjoyed the event. Please remain seated, and our staff members will ensure an orderly exit for everyone." The auction''s resolution elicited a myriad of emotions from the attendees. Some were as happy as a m; A few were apathetic, while most were disappointed. Of course, Shye was among the content ones, desiring nothing more than to embark on a few quests, hunt formidable creatures, and sell loot to umte funds. These savings would then be allocated towards paying for Meido''s smithing fees. As Shye daydreamed inside super deluxe room thirty-six, someone knocked from the entrance/exit on the ground. "You maye in." "Hello sir, I''m the one tasked to assist you out of the establishment. If you are done with your preparations, please follow me. Well, there was nothing for Shye to prepare for except an impending attempt on his life, hence, he swiftly followed the staff member, leading him out of the room and into one of the six exits of the establishment. As the familiar scorching rays of the high-noon sun gently assaulted his skin, Shye smiled as he looked around. ''Now then¡­when will the bastards strike?'' Chapter 283: Killing Rodents ''They''re definitely following me¡­'' Shye mused as he noticed the sneaky actions of three individuals. ''Hnngh¡­I can leave right now but¡­I wanna piss them off first¡­Should I do it?'' He could easily leave right now if he wanted to. However, he has this twisted hobby of pissing off his enemies before utterly destroying their ns, hence, a dilemma. ''Well¡­Drone guaranteed that it would work so it should be ok¡­Moreover, these rats wouldn''t be able to instantly kill me.'' Deciding to go through with a bad decision for the sake of satisfying his ego, Shye walked towards a dark alley where the rats would have the opportunity to make a move. Well, there was also another reason why he wanted to go through with this. He was running low on silver coins and the guys who were tailing him seemed to be on par with ruby-ranked adventurers. Which means¡­they have money. It was forbidden to kill someone inside a city, however, that''s only if you get caught. With the ace in his sleeves, he could escape anytime he needed to. Shye continued walking, pretending to not notice the people following him until finally, they arrived at a secluded area. "Well, then, why don''t you guys show yourselves?" His grating voice echoed, prompting three individuals to emerge from the shadows. "Hoh? Not bad, geezer." A man in histe 20s with short blue hair and a slender yet toned physique snickered. "Regrettably, today would be thest day you get to use your sharp instincts. "Hahaha, Ray, this geezer is still acting tough, should we severely beat him up first before sending him to the afterlife?" Meanwhile, as the unfriendly banter between Shye and two of the rats was unfolding, the third rat contacted his boss. "Boss, we found him, we''re on the second dark alley near Thames Street." "Good, I''ll be there in ten minutes, make him suffer while waiting for me." "Roger." After the call, the third rat made eye contact with the leader of the trio, Ray, before slowly circling behind Shye. Shye wasn''t too worried though, Although three ruby-ranked adventurers were indeed a threat to him, he was equally a threat to them. As long as he can catch and kill one guy, the remaining two would find it difficult to y him. ''Three scouts huh? This might be a bit difficult¡­'' Shye thought, assuming his mage battle stance. "Hahaha! And what do you n to do with two elemental staffs you idiot? Such absurd bluffs wouldn''t work on us." Ray sneered in disdain, fully convinced that Shye was simply bluffing. *FWIIING* A loud screech shot across the tight alley as a transparent sphere enveloped the area, making Shye feel ufortable inside shortly after. ''They sealed my mana huh?'' Shye pondered, remembering that Ian had a simr skill. ''Well, doesn''t matter does it? I still have the option to slice these rats in half¡­'' Believing that Shye''s silence was due to panic, Rayughed even louder. "Hahahaha! There''s nothing you can do here, geezer. Just hand over the prime dragon scale and we shall consider giving you a quick and painless death." "Heh, why don''t you try if there''s nothing I can do? Come, I''ll give you guys a good whacking." Seeing that Shye still dared to talk smack even after being cornered, Ray frowned in dissatisfaction. He wanted to see the geezer beg for mercy. "Bones, Summer, beat this damned goat up." Immediately after ordering the other two rats, Ray disappeared, reappearing behind Shye shortly after. Ray wasn''t some one-dimensional or stupid guy, he knew that Shye would easily predict where he would reappear, however, there was simply nothing a manaless mage could do to defend himself so there was no point in knowing where he would reappear. Knowing this, Ray confidently performed the most basic scout opening temte. Unfortunately for him, he encountered an anomaly like Shye who was not only a strong mage but a strong warrior as well. Giddy, Shye turned around, immediately recing the elemental staffs in his hands with two menacing greatswords. He then used one of his lethal warrior skills, [Draconian Roar Lv.2], which uses one''s stamina as a catalyst, to lock Ray in ce. Finally, with one swift diagonal shing motion, Shye empowered his attack with [Power sh Lv.4] to neatly cut Ray in half¡ªblood spurting everywhere as the rat leader''s body split into two. "R-RAY!!" screamed the man named Bones, his focus momentarilypsing as the harrowing sight of Ray being ruthlessly killed in one hit gnawed at his courage and sanity. Unfortunately for him, Shye was adept at capitalizing on small windows of opportunity such as these to thoroughly dismantle assassins. Instantly appearing in front of Bones with the help of his skill, [Dash Lv.4], Shye raised both greatswords, shing them downwards right after as he executed another skill, [Destructive Chop Lv.3]. Bones wasn''t some random beginner who would freeze up in front of death. Recognizing that there was no time for him to execute an escape skill, he opted for an aggressive approach¡ªmutual destruction. Thunder sparks lingered in the air as Bones stabbed his dagger straight toward Shye''s neck, a vicious look emerging on his face as he resolved to die along with Shye¡ªor better, scare the bastard off through this simple yet effective tactic. However, how could such an exchange faze someone like Shye? Activating his skill, [Stoic Lv.4] which reduces all iing physical damage by 60% for 5 seconds, Shye willingly received Bones'' attack, his dagger not even managing to pierce through his glowing skin. In exchange, he ruthlessly shed the second rat vertically in half, causing blood to once again stter everywhere. "H-Hiih!!" Summer, the third rat, was scared witless. Wasn''t the guy a mage? What the f*ck was going on? These were the questions in his head, however, he didn''t dare look for answers, opting to swiftly escape the area instead. As long as he makes it out of the long, dark alleyway, his chances of surviving would tremendously increase. Today wasn''t his lucky day though. While he was madly darting towards the light at the end of the alley, the skill, [Seal Mana Lv.4], timed out, giving Shye ess to multiple mage repositioning skills. Due to this, Shye easily caught up to him, grabbing him by the neck and raising him in the air. "Now, tell me, who sent you?" Chapter 284: Mamba Out "Hehehe, when I get my hands on you¡­" As the scorching golden rays of sunlight illuminated ckburrow City, a man in his 30s walked quickly with a clear destination in mind. After settling ounts with his insider agent, Porz, Larzen immediately walked towards the location Summer informed him of, eager to torture the bastard who repeatedly made things difficult for him in the auction. He was sure that his underlings would easily subdue the darned individual. Arriving at Thames Street, he enthusiastically walked towards the second alleyway, looking around for a few seconds before decisively entering. "Ray, where''s the basta¨C." Larzen eagerly spoke, only to be dumbfounded by the harrowing scene in front of him. Blood sttered across the ground, painting a gruesome sight of ruthless ughter as corpses littered the filthy ground of the second alleyway. A grating voice then suddenly echoed from the shadows, causing Larzen to almost jump up in fright; his heart inevitably skipping a beat. "Larzen Holmes, a diamond-ranked scout from Ninth ze Adventurer Guild¡­You dare order men to steal my auction haul? Make sure you watch your back from now on. One day, I''ming for you." Shye threatened, his initially irksome voice sounding extremely spine-chilling. Shortly after, he disappeared without a trace, leaving Larzen confused for a few seconds. "No¡­Wait¡­WAIT!!! WHERE THE F*CK ARE YOU?! NO!! NOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!" Realizing that Shye was now gone without a trace, Larzen raged like a mentally ill person¡ªShye''s threat serving no purpose. How could Larzen afford to concern himself with threats when his life would be forfeited long before then? As Larzen insanely moved about in the dark alley in hopes of finding traces of Shye, thetter had already reappeared in a certain private room inside a run-down tea shop with no customers. On the floor was the magic circle for single-person teleportation. ''Phew¡­Drone truly made things easy for me this time¡­'' He sighed in relief. If Drone lied about the fixed point long-distance teleportation scroll''s almost instantaneous effects, things would''ve turned ugly for him. Larzen was a diamond-ranked scout after all. He reckoned that the bastard would be at least as strong as the old goat who tried to assassinate their academy''s convoy on the way back. Looking around the private room, Shye noticed that he was alone. ''Well then, I''m done being an annoying old goat.'' He mused, swiftly yet carefully removing his disguise shortly after. Once he was done, he promptly left the room. "Hello, esteemed sir. If you''re ready, please follow me to the exit." The Constantine Consumables staff stationed in the secret establishment said before walking in a certain direction,pelling Shye to follow. "Thank you for trusting our shop. Have a nice day, sir." "My gratitude as well," Shye replied. He then looked around the street where the secret establishment is located and found that although bustling, there weren''t many people paying attention to him in this particr street, making him feel satisfied with Constantine Consumables'' emergency escape scrolls. The item cost him 40,000 silver coins though, and that price was already discounted. Luckily, he opted to hunt numerous creatures ahead of the auction, enabling him to replenish the funds expended on his auction preparations. ''Based on Drone''s exnation, I must currently be in Grove Street, Feralmick City¡­'' Shye pondered. Well, there was nothing for him to do in this city, especially now that he was rather low on funds. Although he looted the bodies of the three rats, the total amount of silver coins in their hands was merely 25,000, far from what he previously had. Still, it was enough to provide him with a sizable fund for day-to-day living. Satisfied with everything that just happened, Shye sauntered towards the teleporter inside the city, admiring the city''s wide streets and various establishments. Well, the city was only on the same level as Balkrow so there wasn''t much to see, except for the teleporter, an important facility that Balkrow didn''t have. It was only possible to set up a teleporter in cities built near a mana vein so it was inevitable for some cities to not have one. After walking for around twenty minutes, he finally arrived at a spacious, semi-outdoor stone lobby. There were two entrances to the lobby, both adorned by miniature stone sculptures of what seemed to be dragons. From what he heard from the ckburrow city guard, teleporters were jam-packed, however, for some reason this one wasn''t. Little did he know, it was actually the opposite. Only the teleporter in ckburrow City was bustling with activity. This is due to the high cost of teleportation, which is why most adventurers typically opt to walk to their destination. After all, a single use ranges from 3,000 to 10,000 silver coins depending on the distance. Such a huge amount was equivalent to around five to fifteen quest rewards for normal adventurers who could onlyplete quests with the help of an entire party. As for Shye, he was capable ofpleting quests solo, so the cost wasn''t overly burdensome for him, especially considering it would take him around one and a half months to travel back to Balkrow from Feralmick. A month would allow him toplete around three to five quests, enabling him not only to recoup the five thousand silver coin teleportation fee but also to earn additional ie. Knowing this, it was better for him to take the teleporter. He tried asking for a different fixed-point emergency long-distance teleportation scroll from Drone, unfortunately, the only one in stock was the Feralmick one. "Hello, young adventurer. Would you like to use the city''s teleporter?" "Hello, yes please, to Utenburg City please." "I understand, that would be five thousand silver coins." "Here, please confirm if the amount is correct." After a short and swift transactional conversation with the mage, the one responsible for activating the teleportation formation, Shye was allowed to enter the magic circle. Shortly after, the mage activated the enormous magic crystal that was supplying power to the formation, prompting small blue orbs to rise from the ground, gradually escting to a medium-sized beam that stretched onto the heavens. Naturally, such a majestic sight prompted people from all over the city to look in the teleporter''s direction. Subsequently, once the blue heavenward beam disappeared, so did Shye. Chapter 285: Another Challenger "Phew, finally back at Balkrow¡­" Shye muttered with a slight smile on his face. Since he managed to obtain a rather great harvest from the auction and escape the dastardly pursuer¡ªleaving no traces¡ªShye was in a fantastic mood. Somehow, the familiar sight of Balkrow''s gates gave him a feeling of safety. Perhaps due to his near-death experience with the misty arachne. Utenburg City was the city nearest to Balkrow with a teleporter¡ªonly around two days away, hence, after traveling for¡­well¡­two days, he finally arrived at the aforementioned city, his current base of operations. Since it was still early in the morning, and he had a great night''s sleep at a nearby townst night, Shye was raring to take a few quests, rank up to tinum, and save a sizable amount of money. It was a great time to start grinding, and so, he did. Entering the city after showing his Balkrow token to the guards, Shye immediately headed toward his guild''s branch headquarters. After a short and quick twenty-minute walk, he finally arrived. Again, he didn''t know why but his guildmates seemed excited that he was back, there was probably some new, higher-ranked-than-Mason, rookie inside. Well, his guess was correct. Ignoring the excited gazes of his guildmates, Shye entered, prompting heads to turn his way. "Boss! You''re finally back!" A young woman''s voice shot across the entire establishment, causing some of the people she considered friends to facepalm. "Hey! Seira! Stop calling him boss! Aren''t you embarrassed to call a rookie your boss when you''ve been an adventurer for a few years already?" reprimanded one of them. "Hmmph! I don''t care. Why would I be embarrassed to call him boss? I''m telling you, the boss is the real deal and you could consider yourself lucky if you make it into his party!" Seira boasted, proudly licking Shye''s boots without a single ounce of shame. She then stood up from her seat and enthusiastically walked towards Shye. "Are we going on a quest today?" Seira asked with the countenance of an excited kid. Witnessing her antics, Shye couldn''t help but inwardly chuckle. Seira was getting a little too into being his underling, no? Well, this is good for him though¡ªin terms of convenience, at least. Having someone you can trust to at least watch your back inside an adventurer zone was truly a huge help "Yeah, we''re going on lots of quests," Shye replied with a smile. As Shye and Seira''s friendly conversation unfolded in front of a quest board, a certain someone¡ªa short young male adventurer with medium-length orange hair tied up in a ponytail, schrly physique, and dashing facial features, stared daggers at Shye. The guy was surrounded by a few of his underlings, seemingly gnashing their teeth in frustration at the sight. "This bastard!! How dare hey his hands on the boss'' woman?!" "What utter idiocy! Doesn''t he see that a short, cute woman like Miss Seira would only be a perfect match for a sho¨C... v-valiant man like boss Chiizai?!" "And the way she calls him! Are they into some sort of roley?!" Hearing his underlings'' words did little to calm Chiizai''s raging heart. If anything, they only served to fuel his hate and anger towards Shye. ''These little shits¡­'' Chiizai seethed inwardly, briefly directing his intense re at his foolish subordinates before returning it to Shye after a few seconds. ''Heh, no matter. Miss Seira will see who''s the superior one in the rookie representative selection tournament less than five months from now¡­No need to rush.'' Chiizai, being a mage with high intelligence attributes, knew that there would be no point in trying to pick a fight with this so-called notorious rookie right now. First, the guy was famous for challenging people to bet their adventurer licenses which he, a smart man, isn''t willing to do. Second, he would have the chance to fight the bastard, humiliate him, and capture Seira''s heart in the rookie representative selection tournament so why should he rush things? He didn''t believe that the bastard would outgrow him, a naturally talented mage with an affinity for mana. If not for him being a year younger than most participants, he was sure that he could''ve ranked higher than fourth in the recent rookie admission exam. There was simply no doubt in his heart that he would outgrow all the rookies in his generation. Well, not everyone was as patient as him though. As Shye and Seira carefully chose their next quest, a tall and slender rookie with short hibiscus hair and dashing facial features enhanced by an arrowhead-shaped earring on his left earlobe, approached, oozing arrogance from every pore of his body as he looked condescendingly at Shye who was negligibly a bit shorter. Judging by his looks, the individual seemed to be an archer. The premium leather armor he wore along with his shortbow spoke volumes about his adventurer ss. "Heh, so you''re the so-called super rookie everyone is talking about?" The hotshot said, prompting the guildsmen to turn their heads excitedly towards yet another spicy showdown between two rookies¡ªone ranked sixth in the recent rookie admission exam and one mysteriously arrogant who got in through some form of connection. Watching Shye, the notoriously arrogant rookie, fight was always a treat for the eyes, hence, the utter excitement. Everyone waited for Shye''s famously vicious retort, including the sixth-ranked rookie, Farhann Cupid. Unfortunately, Farhann''s arrogant remarks were¡­ignored, making the guy look extremely stupid as he posed haughtily behind Shye. Naturally, after suffering such humiliation, the hotshot wasn''t thrilled. "You dare humiliate me?! Face me! Coward!" the frustrated rookie added. "Hmm? Seira? Do you hear that?" "Boss? Hear what?" "A buzzing fly¡­" "Oh, yes. Now that you mention it... I do believe I hear a fly buzzing around behind us..." Hearing the short skit performed by the duo in front of the quest board, a few guildmates couldn''t help but suppress theirughter, further increasing the hate and anger raging inside Farhann''s heart. "Y-YOU!! FIGHT ME! BACK YOUR ARROGANCE UP!" After officially hearing the humiliated hotshot''s challenge, Shye beamed, swiftly turning around and facing Farhann. "Oh, so you just want a fight? Unfortunately, I''m not fond of entertaining people for free. However, I''ll give a poor fly like you a discount. Let''s have a 35,000 silver coin bet." Chapter 286: A Spicy Duel In The Guild’s Training Hall Shye Crowley¡ªNot exactly a poor fly, but a poor guy. He almost blurted out a hundred thousand silver coin bet, luckily, before he did, he remembered that he currently didn''t have such a huge amount of money in his possession. Failing to produce a hundred thousand silver coins after proposing such a high-stakes bet would only result in him bing a subject of ridicule. Well, even 35,000 silver coins were out of his reach as he only had around 29,000 in his pockets. Naturally, he had a backup n which is why he suggested 35,000 silver coins. "Seira, lend me 6,000 silver coins. I''m running a little low on funds after the auction. In exchange, I''ll give you 8,000 silver coins after I win." Shye whispered as the two of them walked toward the guild''s underground training hall. Hearing her boss'' words, Seira''s eyes lit up. She then swiftly took out 6,000 silver coins before secretly handing them over to Shye. There was nary a hint of hesitation in her eyes, only pure excitement. Somehow, she was so sure that her Boss Big Brother would win. Shye was simply invincible in her heart. 35,000 silver coins was a sizable portion of Farhann''s coin reserves, however, such a bet can only be considered mid-stakes at best, and of course, a hotshot like him would never back down from such a challenge. So, another spicy duel was set to ur between two talented rookies, adding yet another exciting event to an otherwise dull and ordinary day. ''Haaah¡­Only around 400 to 500 people huh?'' Shyemented in disappointment. ''I guess the Adventurer Academy Competition is indeed a once-in-a-lifetime chance to earn points¡­'' He couldn''t help but regret taking the points he earned for granted. When he was a student, it was really easy to earn points. All he had to do was cause amotion and he would earn more than ten thousand points for a single duel in which all he had to do was p the sh*t out of his opponent, but now, such a spicy rookie vs rookie battle would only him 500 points at best. Well, what else could he expect? He was currently in the dog-eat-dog world of average adventurers. He would have to work his a*s off to escape this hell hole. "Rx. It''s just temporary. Once I''m back in Valenzia City, there will be plenty more opportunities to earn points," Shye consoled himself. For now, he had no choice but to ept that his main source of points would be through regr and daily quests. Luckily, ever since he upgraded the system to level 3, the system point rewards from the said quests have increased substantially, mildly easing the difficulties of his current situation of not having enough points. As Shye descended the stairs leading to the guild''s underground training hall, his depressed countenance changed into one of utter shock. Initially, he thought that the underground training hall would be shabby¡ªrather decent at best. How could he have imagined it to be four timesrger than the lobby on the ground floor of the branch headquarters? Thousands of adventurers upied the spacious grounds, training their bodies, minds, and skills in small groups¡ªsome, alone. The scene in front of him was chaotic, however, it would ignite mes of passion in the hearts of those who would see it. Suddenly, as Shye was admiring the inspiring view, a pleasant thought urred to him. ''Oh? Isn''t there at least two thousand people here?'' He mused, a slight smile gracing the corners of his mouth. Now, he was a bit more motivated. |le|mp|yr Upon arriving at the training hall, one of their guildmates, who was a bit too enthusiastic about the duel, took the lead in talking to the guildsmen who were training in the hall. Shortly after, those who were training in the center of the hall, eagerly gave way, creating a dueling space in the middle. Naturally, it was inevitable that amotion would ensue when 500 people suddenly entered the training hall together, following behind two seemingly young guildsmen. Consequently, just a short whileter, around 2400 onlookers gathered in a spacious circle, eager to witness the showdown between two arrogant rookies. "Hey, who are these two? This is the first time I''ve seen both of them." "Hahaha, how would you know them when all you do is spend every day training here? These two are among this year''s most talented rookies. One of them finished sixth in the recent admission exam while the ash-haired guy got in through rmendation." "Hmmm¡­Wouldn''t this be an easy match for the redhead then? Rookies who managed to get in through rmendations are usually spineless turds¡­" "Hahaha! And that''s why you''re an obsolete hermit! This ashen-haired guy right here named Shye Crowley is probably the most vicious-mouthed and arrogant rookie our branch had ever seen. Naturally, these two wouldn''t see eye-to-eye." Naturally, being insulted as the bbermouth sided with Shye, the man who was called an obsolete hermit was displeased,pelling him to root for the redhead. "Hmmph! Anyone could have a vicious mouth, however, I truly doubt whether he could back his arrogant attitude up. I say the redhead wins this by andslide!" "Ha! The bold im of someone who doesn''t know what he''s talking about. An absolute ssic. Let me tell you right now, I''m pretty sure Shye Crowley would win." "Hmmph! Let''s see then!" Simr conversations echoed throughout the area, with those unfamiliar with both rookies curiously asking those in the know, thereby further intensifying the anticipation surrounding the duel. A few more momentster, both rookies faced each other in the middle of the circr space¡ªconfidence oozing from every pore of their bodies as they took their weapons out. Purple sparks lingered in the air and produced cracking sounds as Farhann drew his tinum-tier, mid-grade shortbow relic, prompting the onlookers to gasp in amazement. The thunderous disy of the redhead rookie''s weapon mesmerized them. On the other hand, Shye simply took out a gold-tier elemental staff with zero upgrades whatsoever, causing those who didn''t know him to shake their heads in disappointment¡ªa single thought resonating in their ill-informed minds: ''This would probably be an easy fight for the red-haired rookie¡­'' Chapter 287: Too Easy For Farhann "Hey, look! Axel, Kai, and Vera! A few emeralds are here to watch!" "Holy crap! Aren''t these rookies too lucky?" "If they manage to impress even one of these three, their future within the branch would basically be secured!" Just when the overly enthusiastic guildsman finished collecting the bets from both participants for safekeeping, three individuals descended the stairs, stirring yet anothermotion among the onlookers. Naturally, Shye and Farhann were alsopelled to turn their heads to nce at the three seemingly "big shot" adventurers. ''Hmm¡­One warrior, one scout, and one priestess huh?'' Shye mused as he momentarily gazed at the three emerald-ranked adventurers. Based on what Seira shared during their conversation, there existed a distinct lounge for the branch''s elite members on the second floor, essible only to those authorized by the guild master. There appeared to be no explicit requirement that individuals must hold an emerald rank to qualify. In the past, there were instances where ruby-ranked adventurers gained ess to the special lounge. However, it has long be an unwritten rule that one should at least be of emerald rank to not be looked down upon by others in that very same lounge. Hence, during the past decade, talented ruby-ranked adventurers only epted the lounge badge but refrained from entering until they rank up to emerald. Every time a particr adventurer ascended to the guild''s second floor, people would follow the individual with envious yet respectful gazes, and their name would echo proudly throughout the entire branch, bing a hot topic amongst the guildsmen. Naturally, once those "ascended individuals" descend to mundane facilities such as the training hall, they would undoubtedly attract attention. As for Shye, not once did he believe that these emerald-ranked adventurers genuinely cared about the duel between two rookies. He surmised that the three individuals were either vying for the guildsmen''s attention or attempting to recruit the victor into their ranks. Well, as long as they do not cause any inconveniences to him, he couldn''t care less whether they watch or not. "Heh, what are you looking at the emeralds for? There is literally no chance for you to win so why worry whether you can impress them or not?" Farhann suddenly spoke, snapping Shye and the onlookers out of their musings. "Hahahaha! Good one. If you''re such a talentededian, why did you choose to be an adventurer? I bet you''d rake in the cash if you opened your ownedy bar. Maybe I''d even be a regr." Shye viciously retorted, sessfully infuriating his opponent. Farhann heard that Shye had a vicious mouth and he was fairly good at insulting people himself, hence, he decided to try engaging in a battle of words. Only now did he realize that it was a bad decision to do so. The notorious ashen-haired rookie was indeed too infuriating. "Enough talk! Start the match! I''ll shut your mouth for good!" Farhann raged, gazing at the overly enthusiastic guildsman with a hint of anger, signaling him to start the match already. "B-Begin!" After the match began, Farhann eagerly pulled on the bowstring of his lightning-infused shortbow, prompting mana arrows to materialize and absorb the lightning element of the bow. He then fired the arrow in a straight line, probing the dastardly mage using a standard attack. On the other hand, Shye''s first move was to aim his gold-tier staff towards Farhann, pretending to chant a spell. There was a point-earning theory he wanted to try. If he could sessfully pull it off, then he would have the chance to earn way more points than the total number of people watching. As the redhead archer''s arrow flew closer and closer, Shye stopped "chanting" and dodged the arrow, making it appear as if his "casting" was sessfully disrupted by Farhann. Seeing that things went just like how he imagined it to be, the arrogant redhead''s confidence improved by leaps and bounds. While he struggled against scouts inbat andcked the strength to swiftly take down priests, engaging warriors and mages posed no difficulty for him as a shortbow user. This was particrly true for thetter, as the quick reload times of shortbows enabled him to consistently disrupt their spellcasting. In his mind, he believed that Shye could consider himself lucky if he could fire a spell or two. In reality, Farhann anticipated Shye toe up with various excuses to evade a confrontation, given that a mage is inherently at a disadvantage against a shortbow user. Therefore, when Shye proposed a bet, Farhann felt an overwhelming sense of joy. He was so sure that he could win and currently, he was indeed winning¡ªeasily. Every time Shye attempted to cast a spell, Farhann effectively disrupted it with either a normal arrow or a skill with a low cooldown. There seemed to be nothing Shye could do to touch the arrogant redhead. "Heh, Seira, look at the rookie you are calling "boss". Is this what you call invincible? He''s getting toyed with!" "Hahaha! The fraud finally got exposed!" "Ha! Who are you calling an obsolete hermit? Look, isn''t my prediction correct?" Stay connected with m-vl_e Observing how effortlessly Farhann suppressed Shye, consistently interrupting his spellcasting, the onlookers who were forced to restrain their hate for Shye, unleashed their pent-up feelings, mercilessly ridiculing him as if he had already been defeated. Naturally, Seira was infuriated, however, at the same time, she also felt excited. No one but her know Shye''s true strength and it was pretty obvious that her boss was fooling around, considering how he was "chanting" and sh*t. Oh, how she wishes to witness their shocked expressions when her Boss Big Brother, reveals his true prowess to everyone. "Pfft! Hahahahaha! You sure can talk. Is this it? Is this the so-called notorious rookie?! You''re nothing special at all!" Farhann insulted with a condescending smile. With how arrogant Shye had been, he thought that he would have a harder time. ''Heh, looks like everyone wants me to lose¡­Unfortunately for you guys, such a thing will never happen. Me? Lose to this idiot? Fat chance!'' Chapter 288: Shye’s Point Extraction Plan "Boss! Stop ying around!" Seira eximed in a frustrated manner, prompting the surrounding onlookers tough at her in utter disdain and amusement. No one believed that she was a mere underling. In their eyes, she was somewhat of an underling with benefits, hence, her frustrated countenance satisfied the sexually unsatisfied and single adventurers. Witnessing Shye losing in front of Seira, who thought that he was invincible, was truly satisfying for them. Little did they know, Shye has truly been ying too much because based on his experience, aeback win alwaysted him the most points. After dodging around¡ªappearing suppressed in front of the onlookers, Shye decided that it was time for him to show off. Swiftly aiming his elemental staff towards Farhann, another fierce arrow came flying his way, causing the wind to part aggressively and thunder to roar in the training hall. Shockingly for the onlookers, Shye didn''t dodge this time. Heck, he didn''t even chant before a scorching ball of me materialized out of thin air in front of his elemental staff, ferociously hurtling towards the shocked Farhann shortly after. *FWOOSH* As the modest-sized ming ball roared, the lightning-infused mana arrow was easily blown away. If not for Farhann''s swift reaction time which allowed him to quickly use one of his escape skills, [Swallow Step Lv.4], he would''ve burned to ashes. Watching the ferocious fireball narrowly ze past him, Farhann broke out in a cold sweat. That sh*t was way too close. Well, it wasn''t only him who was lucky. If not for the emerald-ranked priestess, Vera, the onlookers wouldn''t be able to watch the battle this close. Due to the huge dome-like barrier she unleashed, the projectiles had a low chance of wreaking havoc in the training hall. Perhaps she was sent here by the guild master himself to minimize property damage. "Y-You! How did you do that?!" Farhann eximed, his heart still racing after a narrow brush with death. "Hahahaha! Do what? Find it out for yourself, idiot!" Shye retorted. This time, he didn''t hold back, firing spells one after the other, causing utter chaos as myriad elements roared simultaneously, creating a loud cacophony that assaulted the onlookers'' eardrums. ''F*ck! F*ck! F*ck!!!'' Farhann inwardly cursed as he tried his hardest to dodge every projectile that wasing for his life. His body was nowhere near as tough as a warrior''s and he was sure that he would perish should he allow one to hit him squarely. Therefore, Farhann desperately sprinted, rolled, leaped, and sidestepped to narrowly evade the projectiles, though a few still managed to inflict shallow cuts across his body. "I-I can''t believe it! This rookie!" One of the emerald-ranked adventurers, Axel, suddenly eximed, prompting heads with confused expressions to turn his way. All of them realized that Shye Crowley, the arrogant ashen-haired rookie, was firing spells without chanting, however, they didn''t know how he was doing it. "This man is indeed very talented as a mage, no, he was in fact born to be a mage!" The scout ss emerald-ranked adventurer, Kai, added. Just when the height of everyone''s curiosity reached the peak, Axel finally exined what he thought was "happening". "To be born with a [Epic]-tier talent called Chantless casting¡­This guy is definitely one blessed by the Gods and Goddesses!" "Then¡­earlier¡­" A random onlooker said. "Yes, he was simply toying with his opponent¡­" *BOOM!* After such a revtion, the guildsmen were stupefied for a few seconds before¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 2,390 points!] Seeing the familiar notification and the number of points he earned, a smile emerged on Shye''s face as he continued bombarding Farhann with various spells. With the exception of around thirteen individuals, Shye managed to impress everyone. He also heard Axel''s exnation and he couldn''t help but chuckle. It seemed that the system''s instant skill cast was equivalent to an [Epic] tier talent called [Chantless Casting], nearly causing him to burst outughing with sheer delight. ''Well, who would''ve known that the old man would gift me with an [Epic]-tier talent?'' Shye mused as he continued firing spells, one after another, rather impressed that his opponent was still hanging on, albeit barely. "Hoh? You''ve got some slick moves. What an impressive true-blooded housefly. When will you shoot back though? You won''t win by buzzing around like this." Shye insulted, causing Farhann to fiercely gnash his teeth in anger. Indeed, he wouldn''t win like this. He had to take his chances. Unfortunately for him, before he could even "take a chance" on things, a second elemental staff appeared on Shye''s left hand, causing the onlookers'' eyes, including those of the emeralds, to almost pop out of their sockets¡ªa thought resonating in their minds: ''What is he nning to do?!'' Well, isn''t it obvious? He was nning to fire spells from both elemental staffs! "Now then, little fly. Let''s see if you can still dodge." Shye''s n was to gradually build up excitement and dazzle people by slowly unveiling his true prowess to them, multiplying his point earnings by repeatedly impressing the onlookers. As long as he ensured that each subsequent disy was "more shocking" than thest, he was certain to umte points from them multiple times within a single fight. In ordance with his n, Shye didn''t immediately use his [Umon] tier skills, opting to fire basic spells at a faster rate first. Naturally, now that he was shooting spells faster, the desperate Farhann was hit more often, and the slightly shallow cuts and burns turned moderate. The redhead fly''s slick maneuvers didn''t work too well this time. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 2395 points!] Realizing that his n to repeatedly extract points was effective, Shye inwardly celebrated, ready to end things in the next few seconds. Well, it wasn''t only him who was ready as Farhann, fully knowing that he was about to lose, forcefully stopped his forward momentum and aimed his shortbow toward Shye. His eyes reflected his fierce resolve to win the duel. "I''m done ying your games! Eat this!!" Chapter 289: Didn’t I Tell All Of You? My Boss Is Invincible! "Hundred-arm Barrage!!" Farhann''s partly desperate voice echoed across the training hall as 98 indigo arms the size of a human spread out neatly in a circle behind him. Simultaneously, an enormous magic circle appeared in front of Farhann, prompting Shye''s brows to slightly furrow, however, the confident smile on his face remained steadfast. He would try to fight it head-on but if his skills would prove inferior, he could just dodge around like a nimble rat. At worst, he would have to unveil that he was a warrior as well. Shye hoped it wouldn''t get to that point though as it would be unwise to reveal all of his trump cards for a mere 35,000 silver coin duel. Right as Shye''s spell, the rock bullets, were on the brink of striking Farhann''s slender frame, a fierce onught of fifty mana arrows per second burst forth from the colossal magic circle, ruthlessly piercing through the air and trailing purple lightning in its wake. At the same time, the 98 indigo arms copied Farhann''s motion of holding the bow and pulling on the bowstrings, making Farhann appear as though he was some sort of archery deity. Unfortunately for him, even if his mana arrows fired at a rate of 100 arrows per second, Shye wouldn''t back down from such regr-looking arrows. It was obvious that Farhann''s skill relied on quantity, not quality unlike Kiin''s ultimate skill, hence, Shye didn''t feel threatened even though the skill appeared overwhelming. In his eyes, Farhann was nothing but a fraud! What is the best way to deal with frauds? Expose them, of course! Aiming both elemental staffs towards his opponent who was also channeling a so-called "trump card", Shye inwardly eximed: ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' Shortly after, chaos ensued as medium-sized ming orbs and cial thorns materialized in front of Shye''s staff, firing at a rate of three to four projectiles per second. The fire bombs increased the surrounding air temperature, while the frozen thorns had the opposite effect, causing nearby projectiles to generate white mist as they interacted. Menacing as his counterattack might look, it was overshadowed by Farhann''s ultimate skill¡ªwell, in terms of appearance at least. Offensive capabilities? That''s apletely different matter. As soon as Farhann''s mana arrows and Shye''s projectiles of fire and ice shed, one side ruthlessly demolished the other. Although numerous, the mana arrowscked power, hence, they were easily blown away by the exploding balls of fire and the lethal yet sturdy frozen thorns. Witnessing how his skill was overpowered by Shye''s, Farhann''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Normally, his opponents would swiftly try to escape, and since they were fighting inside a bluish-transparent dome created by Vera, Farhann was confident of his abilities to corner his foe. However, instead of fleeing, his opponent opted to instead fight his trump card head-on, instantly exposing the weakness of his trump card in front of everyone. Naturally, since the exploding me orbs and sharp frozen shards were fast approaching, Farhann had no choice but to cancel the skill of his own volition as no matter how many mana arrows he fired, everything was easily blown away. ''How?! How is this bastard so powerful?!'' Farhann cursed, desperately sprinting away from Shye''s ferocious projectiles. Unfortunately for him, a fire rate of seven projectiles per second proved too difficult to evade. After managing to dodge for around two seconds, a frozen thorn ruthlessly pierced his ankle, causing blood to spurt out of the chilling wound and Farhann to suddenly plop on the ground. "AAARRGHH!" Farhann howled in agony. Soon after, he observed several more projectiles approaching, causing him to momentarily disregard the pain as he fought to evade them. "NOOO!!" *BOOM!* *BOOM!* Farhann could do nothing but scream in despair as fireballs and frozen thorns devoured him. White mist emitted from the devastation of fire and ice as the desperate screams slowly died down, sending chills down the onlookers'' spines. Naturally, Shye did his utmost to promptly deactivate his skill upon realizing that Farhann was already caught. However, being only human, he could only cease his attack so swiftly. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 2392 points!] Shye was ted that his n of repeatedly extracting points worked, but Farhann''s unknown fate dampened his mood. Although the bastard was indeed annoying, he didn''t want to kill people willy-nilly even if there wouldn''t be any repercussions for him. He could only hope that Farhann had a sliver of life force left in him. Emerald-ranked Vera didn''t hesitate and swiftly deactivated her bluish-transparent barrier, not noticing the severe cracks it suffered from Shye''s ferocious projectile barrage. The clear bluish dome wasn''t any random barrier in her arsenal and was in fact, one of her three best self-preservation skills. Had she noticed the massive damage it suffered, she would have looked at Shye in a new light¡ªnot as a rookie, but probably as an equal. Farhann''s current situation demanded Vera''s immediate attention so her not detecting the anomaly in her barrier was understandable. Moreover, it was better for Shye this way. Braving the white mist, Vera looked for Farhann''s body, quickly casting three healing spells after locating him: [High Heal Lv.4], [Natural Recovery Lv.4], and [Restore Lv.4]. She went a bit over the top to ensure Farhann''s safety. "He''s unharmed. Excellent restraint, Crowley," Vera calmly dered, offering a slight bow to Shye as she acknowledged his assistance in easing her task. Guild Master Corvus told her to keep everyone safe during the rookie duel. If anyone got hurt while she was watching, the guild master might reprimand her. Luckily, the so-called notorious and arrogant rookie turned out to be a rather¡­nice guy. Hearing that Farhann was fine, Shye breathed a sigh of relief before walking towards the overly enthusiastic guildsman named Bravo. He then imed his winnings before sauntering towards the stairs, ascending as he counted his winnings with a smile. "Ha! HAHAHAHAHA! Didn''t I tell all of you? My boss is invincible! NYAHAHAHA! Where are the haters?! I can''t hear you!" Chapter 290: Duel Aftermath "Here, your 8,000 silver coins." "Nice! Easy money! Thanks, boss! If you''re gonna engage in duels, let me join the bet, okay?" "Sure." Both in a great mood, Shye and Seira returned to the front of the quest board to look for suitable quests. From what he heard, there will be a rookie representative selection tournament around four months and three weeks from now. He didn''t know a single damn thing about it but he was sure that as long as he emerged as the overall champion, everything would be fine. To increase his chances of winning, he must prepare. For now, Shye nned to focus on amassing system points through regr and daily quests and silver coins by selling loot and guild quest rewards. Ranking up to tinum would surelye as a bonus as long as he focused on his short-term goals. While patiently reading through numerous purple scrolls in the quest board under a mix of respectful and angry gazes from his guildmates, a certain quest easily captured his attention. ==== Quest Description: Destroy Goblin Vige Quest Rank: B- Details: A (B-) ranked Goblin Chieftain led a group of goblins and decided to set up a vige just beyond the Vanderwald Advanced Adventurer Zone. This vige is positioned close to three human towns, where the goblins abduct young women for reproductive purposes. Use a recording crystal to document the destroyed vige and bring back the Goblin Chieftain''s head. Location: 2.5 Kilometers south of Vanderwald Advanced Adventurer Zone Rmended Party Size: 6 Rewards: 10,000 silver coins and 1400 contribution points. Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 21 days Note: For every living viger rescued, rewards would increase by 200 silver coins and 10 contribution points. ==== ''Hmmm¡­A (B-) ranked quest with a rmended party size of 6¡­'' Shye pondered. He wasn''t sure if he should take the quest. Although the rewards were excellent, the two of them could only receive it if theypleted the quest. Well, he was mainly worried about Seira''s safety. "Boss, let''s choose that one!" Upon hearing Seira''s sudden exmation, Shye instinctively turned his head towards her, noticing her pointing her index finger at a particr quest on the board. His gaze inevitably shifted towards the quest she indicated, realizing that it was the same quest he had been considering taking. "Seira, you do realize that this quest might be too dangerous for you, right?" "Yes, I also know that you''re worrying about me and that''s why you''re hesitating. However, please don''t hold back, boss! I''ll somehow survive!" Seira assured, her smile radiant and her fist pressed against her chest. "I have to somehow make it to the main headquarters within three years so I can''t dally for too long. If I die attempting to achieve my goals, so be it." Seeing the usually goofy Seira act all serious, Shye realized that her friendly disposition might be due to her trying to find ways to aplish her goal. And that''s probably why she stopped making new friends and decided to stick with him no matter what happened. Although she was weaker than him, as long as their shared goal of rapidly increasing their strength remained aligned, they could coborate to find a solution together. At least Seira wouldn''t hold him back. If she somehow loses her life¡­Well, Shye doesn''t want to think about it. Naturally, he would do his best to help her survive and grow stronger but that''s about it. If she couldn''t manage the quests Shye would undertake, that responsibility fell solely on her shoulders. Nodding seriously at Seira, Shye stopped hesitating and grabbed the purple quest scroll, registering it under their names. Shortly after, the two of them left the branch headquarters to embark on another deadly quest. "F*ck, this Shye Crowley is unstoppable, no?" "Yeah, this guy hasn''t lost a single duel or failed a single quest yet. Do you guys think he would dare ascend to the second-floor lobby before reaching emerald rank?" "If it''s any other guy, I''d answer no. However, this Shye Crowley is truly too much of an anomaly." "Agreed, I bet this guy would even dare fightthe emeralds." "Hahaha! Sounds like him!" After leaving the guild branch, Shye didn''t realize that his reputation as an anomaly had grown, and many of his former critics now had neutral opinions about him¡ªa few even bing his fans. Well, he was the rookie who had been tested the most, engaging in duels and embarking on deadly quests one after the other. To their surprise, he always emerged victorious,pelling them to finally put some respect on his name. As for the defeated rookie, Farhann Cupid, he was currently sitting alone at a table in the branch headquarters'' vast lobby, wallowing in sorrow as the bitter fangs of defeat sunk into his heart, causing him to feel depressed. There were a few people among the top ten rookies who witnessed his humiliating defeat. The 4th-ranked Chiizai, the 8th-ranked Bordo, and the 3rd-ranked Damon¡ªall of them didn''t even hide the fact that they wereughing at him, making Farhann sink into the pits of despair¡ªhis arrogant disposition, gone. This is the result when someone who believes they''re exceptional suddenly faces the reality that they''re merely a minor character in someone else''s narrative. The other rookies in the top 10 who witnessed the duel didn''t have the chance to enjoy Farhann''s misfortune though as the sudden realization that they would have to confront Shye in the uing rookie representative selection tournament left them feeling uneasy. They had to make a few preparations themselves! Meanwhile, the rookie in question was already humming a merry tune with his underling, marching towards the location of the goblin vige. "O'' great Seira, do you know anything about the rookie representative selection tournament? Can you please bless me with words of enlightenment?" "Hahahaha! You sure know how to get information out of me now, boss! Don''t worry, even if you stop acting like that, I will still tell you what you want to know. For I, Seira, know everything happening in the guild!" Chapter 291: Rookie Competition Details And A Much Needed Upgrade Three days have already passed since Shye and Seira left Balkrow City. However, they only reached the lobby of the Vanderwald Advanced Adventurer Zonest night, as the zone was frustratingly distant. The two of them decided that it was better to turn in early for the night and begin their search for the goblin vige in the morning¡ªonce both of them were well rested. And so, they did. Hours quickly passed. The biting darkness of the night was soon washed away by the golden rays of the morning sun that slowly emerged from the horizon, casting light upon the mundanends below. As the duo felt the warm sunlight touch their eyelids, they inevitably woke up. "Yawn¡­Ahh¡­what a nice rest." Shye muttered in satisfaction as he gently stretched his limbs. An eight-hour sleep was truly a great start to one''s day. Shortly after, as though on cue, Shye and Seira swiftly got up and put their sleeping bags away. Shye then took out ready-made meals kept in the inventory¡ªas fresh and hot as the moment they were prepared. Two days ago, Shye suddenly had an epiphany about the corrtion between freshly cooked meals ordered from a town''s local diner and the system''s inventory. Since all the meat he stored inside the inventory didn''t age a single second, he figured that ready-made meals might have the same behavior. Naturally, Shye immediately tried his theory, ordering fifteen ready-made meals at a town called Chenwood before storing all of them in the system''s inventory. Then, upon finding out that the system once again didn''t disappoint, Shye was on cloud nine. While he asionally craved freshly roasted meat, there were also times when he longed to indulge in meals from his favorite seafood restaurant. Now that he had the option to do so, Shye was ecstatic. Regrettably, he found out about this pleasant and convenient surprise a little toote, so for now, the meals from the local diner in Chenwood Town would have to do. Handing Seira her portion, the duo conveniently ate ready-made warm meals and drank ice-cold sodas. While doing so Shye couldn''t help but remember the details of the rookie representative selection tournament. As per Seira, the said tournament was only an appetizer to a bigger one, a huge yearly event of some sort for all guilds¡ªnot just Raven''s de. In four months, the Raven''s de rookie representative selection tournament will take ce. The champion of this tournament will represent the guild in another city-widepetition: the annual Rookie Adventurer Competition in Balkrow City. Naturally, Shye understood that thispetition presented a prime opportunity to earn a substantial number of points all at once, and he was determined not to let this chance slip away under any circumstances. ''The city-widepetition... I hope there will be at least a quarter of the audience that attended the Adventurer Academy Competition¡­'' He mused, thinking about how it would temporarily be better for him to upgrade his attributes instead of saving for a 250,000 point [Epic] tier talent. Presently, Shye possesses approximately 42,000 points. However, he realized that due to his recent neglect of improving his attributes, his advantage in attributes was no longer as significant. The attribute gap that once gave him an edge during the Adventurer Academy Competition was now mostly negligible, especially whenpeting against individuals like Farhann, who benefited from the resources and attention of his parents, two prominent adventurers ranked as adamantite and mithril. Without the instant-cast benefit provided by the system, Shye was confident that he would have been forced to disclose his identity as a warrior by now. Well, he felt that he was quite lucky that no one recognized him yet, probably mostly because he was currently known as a mage and was donning mage robes. Also, he was lucky enough that he hadn''t encountered a rookie from an academy they fought during the Adventurer Academy Competition. There were thousands of cities dubbed as "adventurer hubs"¡ªwhile some super rookies even went to other regions to try and make a name for themselves in and where the grass is perceived to be greener. Hence, it was understandable that no one recognized him here. Yet, he couldn''t shake off the slight sting of disappointment that came from nobody recognizing him. ''Well, just means that I''m not famous enough. There are new Adventurer Academy Competition "champions" every year, after all.'' Shye consoled himself. ''Anyway, I''ve got to invest in my attributes and not solely rely on [Epic] tier talent. Moreover, I will be able to farm points faster the stronger I am¡­'' Deciding that it would be wiser to invest his points in upgrading attributes, Shye opened the system. ''Hmm, for strength, agility, and dexterity, a single upgrade would cost me 240 points while it would cost me 180 points for a single point in intelligence. A bit unfortunate that the wisdom stat is still locked for an upgrade but at least I know that one needs life experiences to increase it. Lastly, for stamina and vitality, it would be 320, and 360 points per upgrade due to these two being treated as some sort of "premium attribute" by the system. Well, it''s not like I can do anything about it except to strategize the most efficient system point distribution¡­'' After a while, Shye finally finished eating and strategizing about the point distribution, and by the time he finished upgrading his attributes, the attribute section looked something like this: [Attributes]: [Strength: 140] [Intelligence: 140] [Agility: 135] [Dexterity: 135] [Stamina: 105] [Vitality: 120] [Wisdom: 57] ''I''d say my current strength is now around low to mid emerald¡­'' Shye mused. ''Heh, those damned Winged Boargers would probably be easy pickings for me now¡­'' The quest they are undertaking might pose a risk to their lives simply because the ranks of the (B-) ranked Goblin Chieftain''s underlings are unknown. If there were a bunch of (C) ranked creatures in the vige, then it would be too difficult for him to help Seira. With his increased attributes, their likelihood of sess in a quest requiring a rmended party of six has also risen. ncing at Seira, Shye noticed that she was also done eating. "Well then, shall we go?" Chapter 292: Consequences Of A Bad Habit "Boss! Look, a goblin!" After walking for an hour, Shye and Seira finally reached the location where the goblin vige was supposed to be. Unfortunately, probably due to fear, the location reported by the nearby towns'' residents was a bit off. They were mere mundane folks and walking close to such a dangerous creature settlement would be the end of them, hence, Shye understood their difficulties in even reporting the vige''s approximate location. However, since the residents'' wives and daughters had been kidnapped, the mayors knew they had to do something. And that something was to post a request to adventurer guilds. Fortunately, after looking for almost an hour and a half, Seira spotted a lone goblin, seemingly patrolling the nearby shrubbery¡ªmost likely on guard duty. Seeing the goblin''s repulsive appearance, Shye had the sudden urge to kill the darned thing in one hit. Short, scrawny physique, bald, long ears, green skin, scarlet-eyed, and sharp-fanged¡ªthe best way to describe it. The goblin wore a tattered human garment that was clearly oversized for its small frame, serving as its makeshift armor, and wielded a small stone axe as its weapon. It looked so weak. However, Shye knew that this seemingly weak creature was way faster and way stronger than a regr, full-grown human adult. It was (D-) ranked after all. Still, for adventurers like him and Seira, this goblin can indeed be considered weak. They could throw a random punch at it and it would die. The two of them knew better than to kill their only lead though, hence, they nced at each other, nodded, and slowly faded into the background to observe its actions. Well, he had a choice to simply kill the goblin and go for the front-door approach as stealth is obviously not listed in the quest requirements. However, because they were unsure of the strength of the Goblin Chieftain''s top underlings, it would be unwise to engage openly, as it might put them in danger. For now, the smarter decision is to follow the small, green creature. After thirty minutes, a change finally urred. The goblin cautiously scanned its surroundings one final time before deviating from its patrol route, vanishing into a dense thicket momentster. Witnessing its strange actions, Shye and Seira swiftly left their hiding ce and followed the goblin, almost losing track of it as it went through numerous shrubs before arriving at an empty clearing and standing idly in the middle of it. A few secondster, the goblin suddenly cackled. Hearing itsughter, Shye''s eyes suddenly widened, promptly realizing that this was a trap. Unfortunately, there was no chance for them to retreat as gratingughter echoed across the clearing¡ªfrom all directions. They were surrounded! Naturally, Shye gritted his teeth, unable to ept the fact that he had been outsmarted by a mere goblin. If his friends from Colzen learned of this, they would make fun of him endlessly. This f*cking goblin almost ended his career as an adventurer! Imagine, the ace representative of the champion academy, outsmarted by a goblin. Diabolical. Luckily, only he and Seira were present, so this... slight... embarrassment would remain between them as a secret. Well, Seira wasn''t even aware that they were being mocked by the goblin as she was too focused on the impending danger and the pressure of being surrounded by numerous monstrous creatures. "B-Boss! What''s the n?" she asked with a subtle hint of panic. Shye couldn''t answer immediately as his attention was still glued to the dastardly and cunning goblin. [Name]: Goblin Scout [Creature Rank] : D [Description] A goblin who learned the concept of adventurer sses and went on to try and master the scout ss. This goblin has exceptional detection abilities and is usually more agile and smarter than average goblins. [Skills]: [Echolocation Lv.3] [Sneak Lv.2] [Swift Slit Lv.2] [Strength: 40] [Intelligence: 60] [Agility: 65] [Dexterity: 58] [Stamina: 30] [Vitality: 35]: [Wisdom: 20] [Exit System] ''F*ck! F*ck!'' Shye inwardly cursed, finding it hard to believe that these goblins could devise such a clever trap to protect their vige from invaders. He was so pissed at himself as he had the tool to avoid the trap but due to a stupid reason such as carelessness, they now found themselves surrounded. ''F*ck! I have this damn appraisal skill and I always forget to use it on weak opponents!'' This¡­was one of his bad habits. Once he perceives a foe to be "surely" weaker than him, he always forgets to use his trusty [Appraisal Lv.3] skill. Well, to be fair, the goblin was indeed way too cunning, donning the attire and weapon of amon goblin to hide the fact that it was actually a higher-ranked creature. Shye didn''t know whether it was the goblin scout''s n or if it was ordered by a higher-ranked, smarter goblin. However, as thirty other goblins of various sizes unveiled themselves from the cover of the shadows, he quickly found out the answer to his question. There were other goblin scouts like this one dressed asmon goblins! ''Tch¡­so it was under orders¡­'' Since he had no time to use appraisal on each goblin, Shye used the skill on the seemingly more menacing ones, then, upon realizing that the strongest of the bunch seemed to be of (C) ranked, he breathed a sigh of relief. ''Phew¡­Luckily, the (B-) ranked Goblin Chieftain isn''t here¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, ncing at Seira who was gritting her teeth hard¡ªher arms and legs, positioned for battle. "Seira, as long as we watch each other''s backs we can take these guys. However, be careful as these bastards seem to be well coordinated." Shye warned, not holding back at all as he armed himself with two elemental staffs. "The Goblin Chieftain isn''t here so just fight like you normally do and you''ll be fine." Shye''s words proved to be effective as Seira, who was initially nervous, gradually calmed down. Finally, after a few more moments, the cackling goblins started their advance, drooling as they looked at Seira as though she was some sort of snack. Gripping their weapons tightly in response, the duo stood back to back. "Come then, you little green shits¡­" Chapter 293: Reinforcements Arrive Seira Ramah, a tinum-ranked warrior, was by no means weak. Although she was mostly being "carried" by Shye right now, she was always the one doing most of the work in a tinum adventurer party of five or six. In fact, Shye would rank her to be as strong as the Freia Academy representative students. Well, considering that she was already a few years into professional adventuring, it wasn''t exactly impressive as well. Still, to reach such a level of strength without attending academies or having any substantial background was an impressive aplishment in its own right. Her strength and skills were obtained solely through sheer hard work and unwavering determination. This is also the reason why Shye thought that she was a party member worth partying with. He was sure that with a little help, Seira''s talents would flourish. Having a few reliable allies in the future would inevitably be a huge boon. After all, if he wanted to reach the top, he would certainly need help from a few reliable allies. If he allowed himself to be a lone wolf simply because a few random adventurers betrayed him, he would only make things infinitely harder for himself. "HAAAAGH!! Take this! And this!" Seira eximed with a fierce tone, her arms working nonstop as she ferociously hacked and shed at the goblins akin to a valiant Valkyrie. Although she wasn''t able to kill the weaker goblins in a single hit like Shye, most of them died within two or three hits, green blood sttering on the ground with every creature in. What made the two of them gnash their teeth in frustration was, the goblin kept on screeching in gibberish, seemingly calling for reinforcements. This fact naturally made Shye and Seira uneasy as the (C) ranked Goblin Elites already made things very difficult for them, always lunging at the two of them at the most opportune of times. There were even a few times when Seira almost suffered lethal wounds due to their sneaky attacks. The Goblin Elites weren''t strong in terms of raw strength. It''s just that the goblins were too numerous and were very good at fighting as a group, causing trouble for even Shye. "Tch! We''ll be in trouble if we let these bastards live until their reinforcement arrives!" Shye urgently eximed. "Seira! Let''s swiftly dispose of these bastards, no need to hold back anymore!" Hearing Shye''s orders, Seira stopped hesitating and swiftly used her trump card: [sh of the Crescent Moon Lv.4 (Umon)]. Upon activation, a white aura slowly enveloped Seira''s greatsword. "DIE!!" Subsequently, with one ferocious sh, a three-and-a-half meter tall crescent moon sh mark materialized, causing winds to violently part as it hurtled straight towards two of the ten goblin elites and around ten goblins ranked (D) and below. As the enormous sh neared the goblins, dust and debris flew everywhere, making the scene look utterly chaotic as the goblins scrambled to get out of harm''s way. Unfortunately for them, Seira''s ferocious attack was too fast. In the blink of an eye, all ten low-ranked goblins along with one goblin elite perished, causing green blood to spurt and stter across the ground that bore witness to the bloody ughter that urred in this ce. There was one lucky goblin elite who managed to somehow evade the swift and powerful crescent, however, its left arm and leg were now missing, green blood leaking in rming volumes from the harrowing amputation. It was impossible for it to move or survive for a long time. Its eyes empty as it plopped violently on the ground¡ªlife force dissipating swiftly. As for Shye, the damage he inflicted upon the goblins was significantly more severe. His ultimate mage skill, [(Dark)Gravitational Drain Lv.2(Rare)], harvested the lives of at least 15 goblins, including most of the goblin elites who failed to escape the gravitational pull of the skill on time. Their bodies¡ªdried up, disturbingly scattered across the ground akin to dead nts. Witnessing the spine-chilling fate of their kin, the three remaining goblin elites couldn''t help but step a few steps back¡ªpanic evident on their faces. Just when the frightened monstrous creatures were about to flee, a high-pitched, raspy roar reverberated from behind a dense patch of thicket, followed by numerous grating cackles. Hearing how numerous the goblin reinforcements were, Shye''s brows furrowed, his eyes¡ªring fiercely at the newly arrived monstrous opposition. As for Seira, she reacted way less calmly than Shye. Her breathing becamebored, her heart racing wildly as a small voice inside her urged her to surrender. Well, it was understandable why her disposition didn''t look so goodpared to Shye. Men would simply be killed while she, a young woman with a well-maintained physique, would suffer a fate worse than death. How could she stay calm when there were around a hundred and fifty goblins of various sizes surrounding them? Out of the 153 goblins, there were 110 goblins ranked (D) and below, 35 (C) ranked Goblin elites, six unidentified goblins that seemed to be a wee bit stronger than the elites, and two human-sized ones standing at the back of the small goblin army. One of the two held a huge greatsword while the other one held a wooden staff with a red gem embedded on top, looking extremely mighty and menacingpared to their underlings. Shye was sure that these two were the leaders of the goblin vige. ''What the f*ck! Aren''t we a bit underpaid here?! One (B-) ranked Goblin Chieftain already posed a problem and now, you''re telling me there''s this other schrly shithead?!'' He inwardlyined. ''A quest of this difficulty should be of (B) rank, no? I''m definitely going toin once we get back!'' If others knew what he was thinking, they would be utterly stupefied. The fact he believed he would survive such a daunting army of goblins was rather¡­impressive. After a few more moments, the goblins carefully advanced, slowly encircling them. "Seira! Keep close and face them with me! If they manage to get behind us, we''re in trouble!" Chapter 294: Goblin Onslaught ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Goblin High Shaman [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] A one in ten thousand goblin who was born with a high natural affinity for mana and through sheer hard work, determination, and a stroke of luck, managed to evolve and ascend to a goblin ss known as [High Shaman]. [Skills]: [Mana st Lv.5] [Recovery Totem Lv.4(Umon)] [Summon Spirit Wolves Lv.4] [Lightning Field Lv.3] [Summon Spirit Serpent Lv.3(Rare)] [Strength: 70] [Intelligence: 240] [Agility: 120] [Dexterity: 80] [Stamina: 50] [Vitality: 100]: [Wisdom: 80] [Exit System] ''Crap¡­this one''s trouble!'' Shye inwardly cursed, realizing that this Goblin High Shaman must be the true leader of the settlement; likely also the one who devised the clever goblin scout trap. However, this didn''t mean that he could simply ignore the darned Goblin Chieftain. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Goblin Chieftain [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] Amon goblin, born with an exceptional drive for conquest, wed its way to the top by eliminating rivals and consuming various species, including humans. This granted it the power to lead an entire goblin settlement through sheer intimidation and dominance. [Skills]: [A Chieftain''s Pride Lv.3 (Umon)] [Goblin sh Lv.5] [Chomp Lv.5] [Goblin Punch Lv.5] [Goblin Kick Lv.5] [Dash Lv.4] [Goblin Rage Lv.5] [Strength: 210] [Intelligence: 30] [Agility: 160] [Dexterity: 160] [Stamina: 200] [Vitality: 160]: [Wisdom: 40] [Exit System] ''F*ck¡­aren''t we screwed here?'' Shye inwardly thought as he gnashed his teeth in frustration. If only he used the darned appraisal skill, none of this would have urred, and the two of them could have devised a strategy to systematically dismantle the goblins one by one. Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret and if they wanted to survive, they had to focus and fight both wisely and ferociously, otherwise, these goblins would surely overwhelm them. It was an absolutely bloody tall task¡ªan uphill battle. The lower-ranked goblins let out sinister cackles as they steadily elerated their pace, eventually sprinting full speed towards them after just two more seconds. On the other hand, the goblin elites took their time, donning crafty smiles as they strategically circled Shye and Seira. ''We can''t let these little shits mob us!'' "Seira! Fall back temporarily, I''ll wipe the floor with the low-ranked ones!" Promptly after hearing Shye''s instructions, Seira swiftly retreated, allowing Shye to cast his spells without any worry. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' ''Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' Hot and cold winds converged in front of their respective elemental staffs, swiftly materializing into exploding balls of me and lethally sharp cial thorns shortly after before hurtling towards the goblins. As winds violently parted and heated up, the sinister smiles on the goblins'' faces were reced by utter panic¡ªtheir initial confidence¡ªgone as they chaotically scrambled to escape from the lethal projectiles thrown their way. Unfortunately, they were nothing but pawns¡ªtoo weak to even protect their little lives. In a battle where only elites could participate, they were present for a sole reason: to serve as mere distractions. *BOOM!* *SPURT* *BOOM!* *SPURT* Horrifying explosions urred one after the other, wreaking havoc and ruthlessly reaping the lives of fifty low-ranked goblins along with five elites, significantly whittling their numbers. Ice shards were crushed, scattering everywhere, while ck smoke billowed into the sky from the areas of the explosions, prompting the low-ranked goblins to gaze at the two humans warily, realizing they had no ce participating in a battle of this magnitude. As a result, the goblins'' wless group hunting tactics started to have a few cracks as the lower-ranked goblins hesitated. No matter how stupid they were, it was simply too easy to see that they would have no chance of even making it close to the humans; hence, the hesitation. Naturally, witnessing the cowardice of its underlings, the goblin chief was infuriated. *GRAAAAAHRR!* A high-pitched roar reverberated across the clearing, causing the nearby avifauna to flee and dispelling the fear in the hearts of the low-ranked goblins. However, the fear was swiftly reced with a new one: the dread of the chieftain personally executing them. What made them respect the chieftain was its reasonability. Although it was telling them to go and stare at death in the eyes, it made a few arrangements to ensure that they, the lower-ranked goblins, could make a change. This time, the goblin elites stood in front of the formation, trying their best to deflect all the projectiles Shye threw at their small army. Regrettably, as formidable as the elites might appear, Shye''s spells proved stronger. Thus, whenever an elite encountered a skill they couldn''t manage, they quickly chose to dodge, inadvertently exposing the weaker ones to the lethal force of the spell. Due to this, the goblins'' numbers quickly dwindled. However, they were closing in and Shye knew that it would be impossible to defend himself as a mage, hence, he decisively switched weapons. Storing both elemental staffs back to the system''s inventory, two menacing greatswords appeared in his hands. A thin water stream enveloped one of the swords, while a purple lightning snake coiled around the other, looking extremely fearsome as the synergizing elements of water and thunder ferociously roared at the charging goblins. A few more momentster, both sides finally shed. *CLANG!* With a single horizontal swing of her greatsword, Seira sent a goblin elite flying. However, her blow was cleanly blocked, so there wasn''t really much damage done to the other side. As for Shye, he fared much better due to his overwhelmingly strong attributes, drastically enhanced by the two greatswords in his hands. A single diagonal sh of his immediately ripped a goblin elite apart in half along with the sword in its hands. Goblins then leaped at him one after the other, prompting him to continuously swing his arms violently, fiercely fighting for his life. The repulsive smell of a goblin''s blood permeated the air, growing stronger the more goblins they slew. This, in turn, decreased Shye and Seira''s ability to focus. Shye valiantly endured, suffering a few shallow hits from the goblin elites as he courageously fought in the middle of a fierce goblin onught. Employing various skills to y goblins one after the other. Finally grasping a short chance to catch his breath, Shye nced at Seira. His eyes then widened shortly after. "SEIRA!!" Chapter 295: A Dire Situation Red blood slowly dripped onto the ground as a steel sword resembling a dius stabbed deep into a young woman''s abdomen. "Puhaahk!" A goblin elite managed to sessfully stab Seira! Instinctively, the harrowing sight prompted Shye to swiftly leap toward Seira''s side, barely managing to avoid a goblin elite''s attack as he did so. He had to swiftly aid her as the goblin onught proved to be a bit too much. However, just before Shye was able to help, a huge crescent moon once again decimated around fifteen low-ranked goblins and three goblin elites, including the one who managed to plunge its sword deep into her body. Observing her face, which bore the ferocious expression of a cornered beast, Shye couldn''t help but feel impressed. A human''s true potential as a survivor truly shines when one faces death head-on. Shye recognized the feeling, as he had been in a simr situation when he fought a fierce battle against the gale leopard during his freshman year at Colzen Academy. He was well aware that currently, Seira was evolving at a rapid pace. The closer one''s brush with death is, the stronger one will be upon sessfully surviving. Shye reckoned that if she sessfully survived this, the aura she would radiate would be that of a true veteran, hence, Shye decided to let her fight for her life. Naturally, he stayed at a distance where he could rush to her aid in an instant once she could no longer hold on. Unfortunately, things were bound to be chaotic and dangerous as the two bosses, the Goblin Chieftain and the Goblin High Shaman, ordered the six unidentified goblins to join the fray¡ªone of the six swiftly blending into the surroundings¡ªvanishing into thin air. It didn''t stop there. A primal high-pitched roar carrying a hint of regality reverberated across the clearing, the nearby thickets, and the trees. Scarlet aura then started to envelop all the goblins within what seemed to be the effective range of the chieftain''s skill, [A Chieftain''s Pride Lv.3 (Umon)]. Soon after, the physical capabilities of all the goblins, including the low-ranked ones, evidently increased. Shye could still hold his ground, but Seira was being pushed deeper and deeper toward the brink of death. ''Tch¡­She needs to recover for a short while.'' Shye thought inwardly. He knew that it would be hard for Seira to survive in her current state. Feeling someone violently grab her wrists, Seira swung her greatswords wildly at Shye¡ªadrenaline evidently coursing through her body. If not for his presence of mind, Shye''s head would have flown off. Fortunately, before he even attempted to pull her wrists, he recognized that there was a fairly high chance of Seira attacking him instinctively. And so, he was able to dodge. "Seira! It''s me, Shye! Drink these and rest for a few seconds, then help me!" Shye eximed, ensuring that Seira heard him loud and clear. Stuffing two potions in her hands¡ªone of instantaneous recovery and one of greater stamina¡ªShye swiftly threw her to the side like yesterday''s garbage. Of course, he wanted to help her retreat as gently as possible but the circumstances didn''t allow him to as his hair suddenly stood on end and the rm bells in his head vigorously rang, informing him of the impending danger. Shortly after, his instinct proved to be spot on. Promptly after Shye threw Seira, a goblin suddenly emerged from thin air¡ªits dagger, ferociously stabbing at Seira''s recent location. Had Shye not violently thrown her, she might have died right then and there. Well, it wasn''t like she fared much better after Shye threw her. As her back forcefully hit the ground, Seira spat out rming volumes of blood¡ªbarely alive. She knew that if she allowed her consciousness to slip into oblivion, she would perish. Hence, difficult as it may be, she gritted her teeth and held on¡ªtightly¡ªto the remaining shreds of her consciousness. Her body ached all over and it was difficult to even breathe. Nevertheless, she clung to life; she didn''t want to die; she couldn''t. Painful as it was, Seira struggled to open the bottle of instantaneous recovery potion. Then, with great difficulty, she managed to pour its contents into her mouth. As the glistening scarlet liquid made its way into Seira''s body, the painful sensation, especially the one originating from her abdomen was reced by utter warmth. A seemingly luxuriousfort she had never felt before. Shortly after, her wounds began healing at a speed visible to the naked eye¡ªthe stab wound, swiftly closing. In a short span of five seconds, she was fully healed. A truly miraculous potion. ncing at her right hand, she noticed another potion bottle¡ªa yellow one. She didn''t know what kind of potion it was as she thought that health potions would be everything she needed and that other potions simply weren''t worth it. Well, since it was handed to her for free, she would obviously consume it. Meanwhile, at the frontlines, Shye had a frenzied expression on his face as he ferociously fought for not only his life but also for Seira''s. The damned goblins had a drastic increase in stats so he was having a hard time. Especially now that six goblins of different sses¡ªadept in the hunting ways of adventurers¡ªsurrounded him as though he was the monster. Currently, two (C) ranked Goblin Warriors took the brunt of his attacks. Although the little bastards were weaker than him, they were doing their job well, preventing him from ying the Goblin Sorcerer and the Goblin Archer who wasfortably firing projectiles at him while the Goblin Shaman ensured that the entire goblin party''s wounds were healed promptly. Lastly, the Goblin Assassinwould annoyingly emerge from tricky angles at opportune times, causing further trouble for him. ''This is too f*cking difficult!'' Shye inwardlyined, a bit furious about the fact that the quest description was way too off. Still, he had no choice but toplete it as the repercussions were death. Gnashing his teeth as he gripped his greatswords tighter, Shye shot a menacing look at the Goblin High Shaman who seemed to be cackling sinisterly at his struggles. Not for long though as the goblin party once again started attacking systematically. The two Goblin warriors tried their hardest to employ switch tactics, sessfully containing Shye in the middle of the hunting formation. Naturally, he couldn''t protect himself from all angles, hence, a golden opportunity presented itself for the Goblin Assassin to capitalize on. Emerging from the shadows, the Goblin Assassin ferociously lunged at Shye, using one of its skills to ignite its dagger on fire and slit Shye''s throat. Unfortunately for it, its entire party was about to encounter the challenges that every adventurer party faces when they fail in their istion tactics. Chapter 296: Goblin Bosses Makes Their Move *SPURT!* "GHIIIHK!!" A loud, high-pitched growl resounded across the forest as a slender yet muscr green arm hurtled through the air,nding on the ground a few tens of meters away from Shye. The Goblin Assassin, not expecting the other, dying human to suddenly stand up and charge at it, was caught off guard. It got a little too excited and forced the issue as it ruthlessly stabbed at Shye''s neck, thinking that it would obtain a huge reward for ying the mighty male human. Unfortunately, this overexcitement led to its downfall, allowing Seira the chance to cleanly slice its right arm off. She then swiftly pivoted her feet and lunged at the disoriented Goblin Assassin, grabbing it by the head and mming it on the ground. *CRACK* A warrior''s strength attribute is no joke, hence, as the goblin''s skull touched the ground, a nauseating crack echoed across the clearing. Shortly after, its entire skull crumbled, exploding into smaller pieces as green blood sttered violently on the ground. "Boss! I''ve recovered!" Seira eximed vigorously, the previous traces of fear on her face¡ªgone Seeing her now bright disposition, appearing as though they weren''t in the middle of a dangerous situation, a slight smile graced the corners of Shye''s mouth. ''Hoh, that expression looks good.'' Shye inwardly praised. "Nice! Hold these bastards off temporarily for me, I''ll murk those little shits hiding at the back!" "Got it!" After a short conversation, Seira jumped in front while Shye retreated, swapping one of the greatswords in his hands with an elemental staff. "Now that my ultimate skill is off cooldown, you all can die!" ''Gravitational Drain!'' Without the slightest signs, a modest-sized ck core emerged in the middle of the goblin army who was watching the goblin party''s impable teamwork. A strong gravitational pull then violently sucked everyone towards the ck core. The goblin elites standing at the edge of the gravitational pull''s effective range managed to somehow escape, other than them, all the remaining goblins were ruthlessly sucked towards the middle, slowly drained of their life force. A few more momentster, the horrifying scene of at least 60 goblins drying up like dead nts sent chills down the Goblin Chieftain and Goblin High Shaman''s spine. "Ha! Take that you little¡­unripe mangoes!!!" Seira insulted while fending off two Goblin warriors. After getting hit squarely by Shye''s Gravitational Drain, the goblin army took a massive hit¡ªtheir numbers dwindling from an initial number of 153 goblins to a mere 12¡ª5 Goblin Elites, 5 "adventurer" goblins, and the two bosses at the back. Witnessing the massive devastation caused by the male adventurer, the Goblin Chieftain turned red-eyed as it gnashed its teeth in utter fury. It worked so hard to establish the vige and grow its poption only for these two human adventurers to wreck everything. Naturally, it wouldn''t let the darned humans cause further damage, regretting the fact that it opted to watch its underlings kill the humans instead of doing the deed himself. Its wisdom attribute definitely increased by a great deal after such a catastrophe. After a few low growls, the Goblin Chieftain drew its greatsword and charged forth, targeting Seira who was evidently the weaker one out of the two. Having very little time to celebrate the damage he dealt to the dastardly goblins, Shye also charged forth to meet the chieftain''s de. Shooting two more basic spells toward two goblin elites who were also charging toward Seira and killing them before swapping the elemental staff in his hand for another greatsword, boosting his warrior attributes by a notch. He then shed both greatswords horizontally, effectively shing against the Goblin Chieftain who swung its greatsword vertically downwards. *CLANG!* "K-Kuuhhh¡­" As three greatswords shed, it was Shye who was blown back, his arms¡ªslightly numb. It seems that even after a sizable attribute upgrade, it was hard to fight monstrous creatures head-on. Well, it was only fair. After all, humans had the potential to learn lots of skills while monstrous creatures were restricted by their race. If humans were also naturally stronger than monstrous creatures, then the said creatures would''ve been extinct or endangered by now. Still, although at a disadvantage, Shye was pretty happy with the results of the sh. As long as he could take a few hits from the Goblin Chieftain, then he would have the chance to y it. Unfortunately for him, the Goblin High Shaman also decided to make its move, summoning fourrge, bluish-transparent spirit wolves, ordering two of them to attack Shye. The green bastard then spammed its [Mana st Lv.5] skill, rapidly firing blue orbs that modestly exploded upon contact. These small mana sts weren''t powerful enough to instantly kill an individual, however, if one was squarely hit, then one would at least suffer a moderate injury. Naturally, all these additional factors made things extremely hard for Shye. Flying mana balls, pouncing spirit wolves, and a ferocious and aggressive Goblin Chieftain made it impossible for Shye to help Seira, who was slowly being overwhelmed by the remaining eight goblins¡ªthree elites and five "adventurers". Earlier, she learned from Shye that allowing the goblins to maneuver behind her would spell her doom. Hence, hard as it was, she fought ferociously to keep them in front of her. Only, she was slowly getting cornered and if nothing was done, she would surely sumb to the overwhelming goblin assault. ''Tch, it''s a little early but¡­'' *FWOOSH!* A pair of transparent-gray, rotten wings emerged on Shye''s back, spreading majestically and exuding an aura of fallen regality. Then, shortly after, an ear-piercing, horrifying howl of myriad pitches reverberated across the clearing, sending chills down the goblins'' spine and causing a few goblins to enter a chaotic state of utter fear and confusion. Shye, expecting this to happen, swiftly made his move, vigorously pping his wings to instantly appear in front of the confused goblins who were assaulting Seira. *SPURT!* *SPURT!* *SPURT!* Five confused and fearful green heads instantly separated from their bodies and rolled on the ground, causing the headless bodies to shake violently and fall to the ground¡ªviolently convulsing as filthy green blood sttered across the ground. The five "adventurer" goblins¡­nowy lifeless atop dirt and debris. Chapter 297: Victory Smiles Upon Those Who Persevere *GHRAAAAARK!!!* Furious, high-pitched roars shot across the entire clearing, startling the nearby critters and avifauna, prompting them to swiftly free from their homes. Witnessing what just happened to all of their trusty subordinates, the Goblin Chieftain and Goblin High Shaman roared in utter anger. Their hard work¡ªgone. The six "adventurer" goblins were subordinates who had been with them ever since they resided in the periphery of the Vanderwald Advanced Adventurer Zone. These six were the ones they trusted the most, painstakingly training them until they learned the ways of the adventurers. Although their talents were limited, their teamwork was impable, enabling them to cause trouble for even Shye. Before Shye and Seira came along, these six victimized a lot of solo adventurers, slowly but steadily learning about their habits, reactions, capabilities, and even the rank of their gear. Every time a high-ranked adventurer came to destroy the goblin settlement, all of the goblins, including the two bosses, would simply hide until the dangerous adventurer was gone before rebuilding the structures and resuming operations. Just like that, the goblin vige slowly but steadily grew under the leadership of one fierce Goblin Chieftain and one wise Goblin High Shaman. The bastards were simply too slippery. The reason why they dared fight Shye and Seira was because the two of them donned nothing but gold and tinum-tier equipment. Moreover, the two of them were young, making them prime targets for the goblins. The male would be a meal while the woman would be used for reproduction. Unfortunately, the two bosses didn''t expect Shye and Seira, who respectively wore gold-tier and tinum-tier equipment, to be stronger than they appeared, causing irreversible damage to the vige they worked hard to establish and nurture. Now, only two goblin elites and the two bosses remained from their once 180-strong goblin settlement. Never had the Goblin Chieftain and the Goblin High Shaman suffered such severe losses. Even if they sessfully kill the two dastardly humans, it wouldn''t be enough to soothe the rage in the two leaders'' hearts. Still, that didn''t mean that they would simply let the humans escape. Ovee by rage, the Goblin High Shaman promptly used its ultimate skill. After a five-second chant, a twenty-meter-long spirit serpent materialized out of thin air, hissing ferociously toward Shye and Seira, its eyes¡ªring fiercely at them. "Seira! I''m leaving those two goblin elites to you! Finish them off quickly and help me deal with the Goblin Chieftain and the Goblin High Shaman!" "Got it!" Promptly after a short conversation, Seiraplied, courageously dashing towards the two remaining (C) ranked Goblin Elites. Under typical circumstances, Seira would find it challenging to defeat even a single (C) ranked creature by herself. However, facing mere goblins, considered one of the weakest and mostmon races, she could hold her ground against two and even possessed a slight advantage. Still, winning and winning quickly are two different matters. Thetter was a tall task for her, however, instead of cowering and panicking like she initially would, her eyes now contained a trace of heavy determination and confidence. For her, it ceased to be a question of "could she do it?" and became a certainty that "she would undoubtedly aplish it." This was the effect of staring at death in the eyes and surviving; the confidence of a true veteran adventurer. Fiercely charging forth, Seira swung her greatsword horizontally, causing the first elite to vomit green blood after blocking her heavy attack head-on. Naturally, the second goblin wouldn''t let the sacrifices of its kin go to waste. It lunged at Seira with vengeful eyes, stabbing its greatsword towards Seira''s neck with unmatched ferocity. The goblins were so used to capitalizing on the misfortunes of their allies that Seira barely had time to react, fortunately, just before she was stabbed in the neck, she had a sudden epiphany. She had a skill¡ªone that she deemed useless. Only now that she found herself in a dire situation did she realize how valuable the random skill she learned was. It was a mage''s skill and the skill uses mana as a catalyst to activate, however, it was an instant cast skill. It was simply that the effects seemed initially underwhelming to her, to the point where she regretted spending her entire savings of 15,000 silver coins on it. She didn''t expect¡ªnot even once, that her life would be saved by her "useless skill". Just when the sword was about to ruthlessly stab her neck, a thinyer of mana covered her entire body in an instant, and then, the next moment, a shocking thing happened. As though Seira was nothing but a phantom, the second elite''s sword and its entire body passed through her, making the goblin struggle to find its footing as itnded with a dumbfounded expression¡ªits brain finding it hard to fathom what just happened. As for Seira, promptly after the goblin passed through her, the thinyer of mana coating her entire body disappeared. She then swiftly charged at the disoriented goblin and neatly shed its head off, causing green blood to fountain from its headless neck¡ªits body, convulsing as it fell on the ground. Witnessing the death of yet another kin, the remaining goblin elite was enraged,pelling it to lunge at Seira without thinking. Naturally, such a predictable straightforward attack was too easy for Seira to deal with. She simply leaned to the right and shed her sword diagonally upwards in a backhand motion, empowering it with [Power sh Lv.4] in an attempt to y the remaining elite with a single sh. Green blood spurted out of the goblin''s headless neck as a small, green head hurtled through the air,nding just a few meters from the Goblin Chieftain, who was locked in a fierce battle with Shye. Then, just a short whileter¡­ "HELL YEAH!!" A deafening roar of victory suddenly reverberated across the clearing, putting a smile on Shye''s face. After desperately surviving for minutes even though the situation was bleak, the Gods and Goddesses of victory finally smiled upon Seira who was relishing in the sweet feeling of vanquishing her foes after a difficult battle. Chapter 298: Seira’s Resolve Hearing the young woman''s triumphant roar, the Goblin bosses gnashed their teeth in anger as a slight pang of loneliness assaulted their hearts. All the goblins¡ªboth their subordinates and children, have perished. Now, only the two of them remained. If the bosses wished to persist in living outside the adventurer zones, they would need to exert themselves and begin anew, engaging in the task of kidnapping and reproducing on their own. Well, first, they must y the male human and capture the female one. "GHRAAAARRK!!" After another high-pitched roar of anger, the Goblin Chieftain ignored Shye, opting to attack Seira instead to make sure that no one would be able to help the unfathomably strong human male. Madly dashing towards Seira with sinister intentions, the chieftain raised its greatsword, ferociously swinging it downwards. "SEIRA!" Hearing Shye''s worried voice, Seira swiftly turned around, realizing shortly after that she was under attack. Unfortunately, her skill, [Mana Shift Lv.1] was still on cooldown. If only she realized its importance earlier, she would''ve worked damn hard to level the skill up. Left with no choice, Seira roared back, raising her greatswords horizontally as she braced herself for a strong impact. *CLANG!* The chieftain''s greatsword shed against Seira''s, producing a grating metallic sound that assaulted one''s ears, followed by the sound of someone vomiting blood. "Puhaahk!" Scarlet blood forcefully spurted out of Seira''s mouth as she struggled to receive the blow¡ªthe bones in her body¡ªscreaming in pain. Still, she managed to hold on through sheer grit and willpower, panting hard in exhaustion as she struggled to breathe after just a single attack from the chieftain. ''Boss is really amazing¡­He''s been fighting this dastardly thing this whole time?'' Seira thought. However, even though she was admiring Shye, her eyes never once left the Goblin Chieftain¡ªshining with a courageous glint. Subsequently, as she struggled to hold the darned chieftain back, Seira nced at Shye and eximed in a loud voice: "B-Boss! Don''t worry about me! Finish that old green goat off then help me! I think I can hold this brute off!" Hearing Seira''s words, Shye was utterly surprised. The girl who consistently took cover behind him whenever they faced formidable creatures was now volunteering to confront one he never anticipated she could handle. He wanted to reject her suggestion, however, upon seeing the bravery and¡­confidence burning in her eyes, he just couldn''t find the heart to do so. Gritting his teeth as he dodged another diving bite attack from the Goblin High Shaman''s Spirit Serpent, Shye decided to trust her. If Seira herself was determined to grow stronger and face difficult challenges even at the risk of her own life, who was he to limit her? "G-Got it! You must survive until I defeat this old goat you understand?!" "Of course! Don''t worry, boss! This green brute wouldn''t be enough to take down someone like me!" Seira assured, jumping back with great difficulty promptly after. Shye then observed Seira for a few more seconds, barely avoiding the Spirit Serpent''s attacks as he did so. Her focus was unmatched, allowing her to barely dodge and parry the Goblin Chieftain''s attacks. She knew that it would be unwise to block the brutish creature''s attacks as it was too strong for her to receive head-on. What''smendable is her bravery in deflecting the attacks and attempting new techniques she had never tried before, like sliding under the greatsword to evade it. If it was the previous Seira, she would be too scared to even try such an insane thing. But now, she wasn''t only attempting it, but also pulling it off with unexpected grace. Witnessing how decisive and skillful Seira was with her maneuvers, Shye breathed a sigh of relief and was finally able to focus on the opponent in front of him¡ªthree healthy Spirit Wolves, one enormous Spirit Serpent, and a dastardly green old goat who kept firing blue projectiles and terrifying lightning from time to time. ''Now then, how can I take this old goat down?'' Gripping his greatswords tighter, Shye stood his ground with a fierce expression, waiting for the spirit wolves, who were charging at him, to pounce. He then pped his wings onest time before they expired to dodge the Spirit Serpent''s tail swipe attack, simultaneously charging towards the wolves with unexpected speed. The wolves pounced from different angles, hence, it was impossible for Shye to take them all down in one hit. Activating his skill, [Stoic Lv.4], he decisively allowed two wolves to bite him, ughtering the unlucky one in the middle with a single, violent swing of his greatswords. As the in spirit wolf dissolved into blue orbs and scattered to the four winds, Shye kicked the one biting his right arm, and stabbed the other in the neck, once again killing it and reducing his opponents from five to three. "Ahhk!" Unfortunately, even for him, five opponents were a handful and it was inevitable for the projectiles to finally hit him. Hit squarely by three mana sts and a lightning bolt from the activated lightning field that was following him around, Shye violently spat out blood. If not for his trusty stoic skill, he for sure would have perished right then and there. To top everything off, his boosts from the fallen skill set had now timed out and he had to wait for five whole minutes before he could reactivate both. Luckily, his brain now worked fast. Remembering the fact that there were only a total of four enemies from a whopping 153, Shye swiftly retreated, swapping his entire warrior equipment set for the mage one. That''s right, there was no need for him to make things difficult for himself! Holding two elemental staffs, Shye targeted both at the remaining spirit wolf, swiftly taking it out with a barrage of basic spells. Various elements roared as they violently vanquished the summoned creature, causing it to dissolve into blue particles shortly after. Now, all the nuisances are gone. It was only him, the darned serpent, and the ugly, green old goat. Chapter 299: Demise Of A Reliable Comrade "Tch¡­spells don''t work against this stupid snake?" Shye muttered as he clicked his tongue in annoyance. Seira clung on, despite her battered and bruised state, however, if he couldn''t defeat this dastardly goat of a goblin on time, then she would surely perish. Pressed for time, Shye switched targets, aiming his staff at the Goblin High Shaman as he fired basic spells with reckless abandon. Unfortunately, the enormous serpent was under the darned shaman''s control, swiftly slithering in front of its summoner to block Shye''s spells. ''This serpent is a huge problem¡­should I take it out first?'' He pondered, thinking of swapping back to warrior equipment as the Spirit Serpent could only be wounded by melee weapons. ''If I still had my fallen skills, I would at least have a chance to get close to this damn shaman¡­'' His "Fallen" trump cards were still on cooldown for four minutes and there was no way Seira could hold on for that long. He had to think of something. identally ncing at Seira as he tried to think of a solution, Shye''s eyes widened upon witnessing Seira''s impending demise. The Goblin Chieftain''s left arm was already in full punching motion, viciously parting the winds as a green aura covered its fists. If Seira was hit, her cheekbones would surely cave in and she would most likely end up unconscious¡ªripe for reproductive purposes. "SEIRA!!" Nevertheless, contrary to Shye''s expectation of witnessing a gruesome scene with Seira spinning in the air while spitting out a mixture of blood and teeth, nothing of the sort urred. Instead, the chieftain''s arm simply passed through Seira, who was covered in a thinyer of bluish-transparent mana. Then, shortly after, she sidestepped to the right, pivoted her left foot to face the brutish goblin, and swung her greatsword down with reckless abandon. *SPURT!* Empowered by the basic yet dependable [Power sh Lv.4], a temporary spine-chilling crack sounded, followed by the sound of blood sttering across the ground. Shockingly, Seira managed to not only hold her own but also sever the Goblin Chieftain''s left arm, causing it to howl in agony. Shye was utterly surprised, however, his killer instincts kicked in as soon as he saw the chance. Swiftly using one of his mage gap closer skills, Shye used [Blink Lv.3] to reappear beside the Goblin Chieftain, surprising both Seira and the Goblin High Shaman, who swiftly realized his ns and ordered the Spirit Serpent to charge at him. Unfortunately, how could a mere serpent be faster than the speed of sound? A primal draconic roar echoed across the clearing, bringing fear into the hearts of everyone present, including Seira. As for the Goblin Chieftain, who was the primary target of the skill, the unfortunate creature trembled, its eyes unfocused as it gripped its head and curled up on the ground. "Seira! Help me finish this one off!" Shye''s urgent voice suddenly sounded beside Seira, forcefully bringing her back to reality. Witnessing her boss'' attempt to y the cowering Goblin Chieftain, Seira waspelled to help. However, upon realizing that the Spirit Serpent was charging furiously towards Shye, hoping to at least kill him after he finished off the chieftain, a decisive and courageous gleam sparked in her eyes. Boldly rushing in front of the serpent to divert its focus, Seira courageously lunged forward, feigning a reckless sword sh. Seeing how fierce the young woman was, the serpent subconsciously changed its target, opting to eliminate Seira first. With vicious intent, the serpent eerily slithered across the ground before suddenly diving towards Seira, its vicious mouth¡ªwide open as it threatened to rip her apart with one vicious chomp. Unfortunately, the spirit fangs simply passed through the young woman, who, having expended most of her meager mana reserves, copsed onto one knee in exhaustion. On the other hand, the Spirit Serpent violently plummeted to the ground, its fangs embedding into nothing but dirt. *SPURT!* Meanwhile, a green head the size of a human''s flew across the air, leaking green blood as it disturbingly spun,nding and rolling on the ground fairly close to the Goblin High Shaman''s right foot. Witnessing the demise of its most reliablerade and kin, pangs of loneliness struck the monstrous shaman''s heart. The two of them had huge dreams of establishing a goblin empire. Unfortunately, due to these two loathsome humans, it was now alone¡ªuncertain whether it should continue pursuing its dream or give up and return to its original settlement as a loser¡ªa clown. However, before determining its next course of action, the loathsome humans must first perish. mming the foot of its makeshift wooden staff on the ground, a huge wooden totem suddenly rose from the ground, sending green pulses across the clearing and healing what little damage the Spirit Serpent took. ''F*ck¡­is this the recovery totem skill?'' Shye inwardly cursed, not even having the time to celebrate after ying what was supposedly one of the mission requirements. Now, he had to y this old goat with a huge-ass snake too. He and Seira were already tired of fighting goblins. If not for the potions in his possession, even he would''ve crumbled long ago. Luckily, even though things were chaotic earlier, the two of them were able to open opportunities up for each other, resulting in the current favorable situation. Still, "favorable" simply meant more favorable than their situation earlier where they were surrounded by more than a hundred goblins. The Goblin High Shaman was no joke, especially the damned Spirit Serpent in front of them who just now turned unkible due to the totem. "Seira, you have some sort of skill that allows you to be invulnerable for a few moments, correct?" "Yes, boss. What''s the n?" "Alright then, listen up. You shall distract the Spirit Serpent while I attempt to destroy the totem." " I see, okay, leave the snake to me!" Promptly after saying her piece, Seira drank the mana potion given by Shye and courageously advanced, charging straight toward the enormous serpent without a hint of fear. "Hey! You overgrown worm! I''m your opponent!" Chapter 300 : Trust Summoned beings, especially those of the [Spirit] type, weren''t sentient as they were merely formed from mana and were only fighting off basicbat instincts and orders. Hence, Seira''s insult didn''t affect the Spirit Serpent one bit. Discover what''s next on m-vl-em,py-r However, who it did affect was the owner of the summoned being, the Goblin High Shaman. Due to its high intelligence, it was able to learn a bit of humannguage and although it cannot speak thenguage, it can understand significant bits of conversation. Instinctively, the monstrous shaman grasped that the young female human was referring to its summoned Spirit Serpent as a worm, utterly enraging it. "GHARARRK!" The Goblin High Shaman shrieked, ordering the Spirit Serpent to devour the impudent young woman. Following its boss'' orders, the enormous serpent slithered aggressively, its pupil turning into vertical slits as it used its powerful abdomen to pounce on the short female adventurer, its massive maw¡ªwide open. Again, Seira simply used her skill, [Mana Shift Lv.1], to easily dodge the serpent''s fangs, swiftly jumping farther from the summoned creature shortly after. Naturally, Shye didn''t waste the opportunity created by Seira, promptly using one of his gap closer skills, [Rush Stab Lv.3], in hopes of destroying the recovery totem. *THUD* Unfortunately, it seemed that he overestimated his strength as his greatswords simply made a dull thud upon making contact with the totem. The massive totem trembled violently, and though the sharp edges of his weapons left a small mark, that was the extent of the damage. The healing waves, only reaching the Goblin High Shaman and the Spirit Serpent, kept pulsing as if nothing had urred. Shye didn''t give up easily, using basic skills such as [Power sh Lv.4] and [Destructive Chop Lv.3] to try and topple the totem but to no avail. He wasn''t stupid, quickly realizing that melee weapons were likely ineffective against such a totem, hence, Shye quickly changed his entire equipment set to those of a mage. Subsequently, he aimed both of his elemental staffs toward the sturdy totem, summoning a ferocious barrage of fire and ice with an excited expression. These two skills of his, when used in tandem, never failed him before. He believed that the darned totem wouldn''t survive the fierce onught of his umon spells. Unfortunately, reality pped him hard as not even his well-trustedbination was able to destroy the insanely tough totem. ''How the f*ck is this thing so hard?!'' Shye inwardlyined, ncing at the Goblin High Shaman with an irked expression. Witnessing the loathsome humans'' difficulties, the monstrous shaman cackled evilly, confident that its current setup was as impregnable as a fortress. Indeed, it would truly be tough for Shye and Seira to break through such a fortified setup, especially due to the darned projectiles flying their way and the annoying lightning field following them everywhere they go. If the two of them stopped moving, they would be struck by the shaman''s darned elemental spells. As blue mana balls and thunder strikes wreaked havoc in the periphery of the recovery totem, Shye had no choice but to retreat, stirring up clouds of dust as he masterfully backpedaled. Realizing that Seira was in trouble, Shye used [Blink Lv.4] to instantly appear beside the serpent, shing downwards with all his might in an attempt to save her. Luckily, his disruptive attack worked as the serpent jerked its head backward to dodge the blow, giving Seira ample time to retreat. Almost at the same time, the Goblin High Shaman waved its staff once more, gathering the surrounding mana into blue particles and forming four spirit wolves. ''Tch¡­This isn''t working¡­we must strike down the darned green old goat¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, his eyes moved swiftly and his brain worked fast as he tried to think of a solution to their thorny problem. The Spirit Serpent didn''t allow him to ponder in peace though, violently thrashing around with a gaping maw as it tried to devour the two humans but to no avail. Finally, after one more minute of desperately running around, a great idea entered Shye''s exhausted mind. "Seira! Come closer! I have a n!" Upon hearing Shye''s words, the proud underling attempted toply to the best of her ability. However, finding it too challenging, Shye quickly moved and seized her wrists, pulling her along as he fled from the enormous serpent. "Listen, there''s no time for detailed exnations. Your task is to concentrate on cutting the shaman''s head clean off. Understand? Pay no attention to anything else and focus solely on defeating the Goblin High Shaman!" "Roger!" Right after receiving confirmation from Seira, Shye swiftly turned around and activated his skill, [Dash Lv.4], which had juste off cooldown, narrowly dodging the serpent''s attack. He then threw Seira with all his strength toward the Goblin High Shaman, making her scream in utter shock. Shortly after though, she recalled her boss'' instructions¡ªfocus on decapitating the green old goat. A fiercely determined expression reced the confusion and disbelief on her face, enabling her to refocus¡ªher eyes¡ªviciously locked onto the Goblin High Shaman''s neck. With intense concentration, Seira quickly discerned the shaman''s subtle movements, enabling her to react ordingly to one of its trump cards. This was the second form of the skill, [Lightning Field Lv.3], which permitted the Goblin High Shaman to gather lightning from the field and store it inside its makeshift staff, firing it in a straight line shortly thereafter. Then, at the perfect timing, Seira used her trusty [Mana Shift Lv.1] to dodge the lethal bolt, allowing her to continue charging straight toward the green shaman. The problem was¡­upon reaching the optimal distance, the wolves viciously pounced,pelling her to use the momentum from Shye''s throw to destroy all four wolves in a single sh. However, just as she was about to act, Seira recalled Shye''s instruction to "focus on decapitating the Goblin High Shaman." ''I shall trust you, boss!'' Gripping her greatsword tighter, Seira activated [Power sh Lv.4] to empower her next attack. Surprisingly, she refrained from using it to dispatch the wolves, whose jaws were perilously close to tearing her limb from limb. Instead, her eyes were glued to one thing: the Goblin High Shaman''s neck. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t let her down. Lethally sharp earthen spikes suddenly emerged from the ground, impaling two of the wolves while the other two were finished off by a violent rain of cial shards. Remarkably, as Seira was on the verge of traversing the chaotic spell zone, the earthen spikes receded and the ice rain ceased at the perfect moment, enabling her to pass through effortlessly. "Die! You ugly pervert!!" "GHIIIIIIHKK!!" *SPURT!* Chapter 301 : Extending A Helping Hand To The Poor Underling ''Phew¡­I can''t believe we lived through all of that¡­'' Shye mused as he hurled an entire makeshift tent towards the raging mes. He then nced at Seira, who lifted yet another tent made of sticks, palm leaves, and vines, tossing it into the fire soon after. Shye must admit, he was impressed at Seira''s performance. As soon as he saw more than a hundred goblins surrounding them, his heart was promptly assaulted by pangs of loneliness, thinking that Seira probably wouldn''t live through the day. After all, he could escape if things went out of hand while Seira¡­would have no business fleeing from the Goblin Chieftain who was superior to her in every aspect. Shockingly though, when the grim reaper came knocking at her door, she vehemently refused to go, fighting ferociously¡ªlike a cornered beast¡ªto keep her little life. Consequently, her hidden potential seemed to have been unlocked through that battle. Shye was genuinely astonished by Seira''s extraordinary focus during the most challenging moments. Who knew that this little worrywart would turn out to be someone who thrives on pressure? While recording their clean-up of the goblin vige, a sudden idea entered Shye''s mind. ''Hmm¡­I dislike using appraisal on my friends but¡­just this once should be okay. Yes¡­this is just¡­for research purposes!'' Shye inwardly convinced himself. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Seira Ramah [Level]: 65 [upation]: Adventurer (tinum) [ss]: Warrior (Greatsword) [Skills]: [Bloody Hack Lv.4] [Power sh Lv.4] [Dash Lv.4] [Mana Shift Lv.2 (Umon)] [sh of the Crescent Moon Lv.4 (Umon)] [Talents]: [Hyperfocus (Umon)] [Strength: 109] [Intelligence: 20] [Agility: 101] [Dexterity: 95] [Stamina: 67] [Vitality: 90]: [Wisdom: 15] [Back] [Exit System] ''Oh? Her attributes are not bad, she''s definitely someone who trains hard. However, her skill pool is a bit too limited¡­'' Seeing Seira''s status, Shye couldn''t help but feel bad for her. She was a talented one¡ªprobably on the level of his friends from Colzen. Regrettably, she appeared to be someone who hadn''t been born near an academy city and had no one but herself to depend on. It was inevitable for someone like Seira, who was born under such unfortunate circumstances, to not achieve much, considering all the difficulties she went through. If shecked such a fierce determination to break free from her mediocre fate, she would likely be stuck in a mundane job by now. Shye felt the urge to help her. Granting her a few skills in exchange for system points wouldn''t be a problem, especially since he had recently amassed a substantial amount of points bypleting the regr system quests, earning a whopping 19,000 points after annihting the entire poption of the goblin vige. Still, he pondered whether to give Seira a rare skill. After all, the cost of such skills wasn''t small, ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 system points for a level one skill. He didn''t close the possibility of it happening though. It''s just that Seira''s "contributions" weren''t sufficient to earn herself a rare skill from Shye. In the future, if Shye thinks she deserves a rare skill, then he will buy her one from the system. She would have to level it up herself though. For now, three level 1mon skills and one umon skill should suffice. [Congrattions! You''ve purchased a skill book: [Swallow Step Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve purchased a skill book: [Destructive Chop Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve purchased a skill book: [Rush Stab Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve purchased a skill book: [Air Shift Lv.1 (Umon)] for 3,500 points!] ''These should be a decent addition to her limited skill pool'' Shye mused as he nced at Seira, who just tossed the final goblin tent into the fire. "Boss! I''m done. Shall we go back?" *** Three days quickly passed since the entire goblin vige was eradicated and today¡­was a fine day for the duo. The quest''s deadline was twenty-one days and for them to finish it in less than seven was naturally a cause for celebration. If they stuck to their initial n of conducting a patient study of the entire vige for seven days before taking action, it would likely take them around 15 days toplete the quest. And even that can be considered quick. Hence, their currentpletion time of four and a half days was truly astonishing. The entire matter would probably stir yet anothermotion in the guild. Well, they tradedpletion time for massive risk, and as luck would have it, they emerged victorious, thus, they get to live Recalling the skill books in his inventory, Shye nced at Seira, who was humming a jolly tune. "Hey, Seira. Come, I''ll give you something." "Hmm? What is it, boss?" "Here." Shye handed all four skill books over to Seira, whose confused expression suddenly turned into utter glee. "Y-You''re giving all of this to me for free, boss?!" "No, you owe me 100,000 silver coins for those." "W-W-What? Then I refuse! I don''t have 100,000 silver coins¡­" "Hahahaha! I''m just joking, stupid." "Oh¡­then that means¡­" "Yeah, all yours! You''ve done well this time and I, as the boss, thought I should be generous and reward you." "Holy crap!! Thanks, boss!" Arriving in front of Balkrow City''s gates, Seira practically hopped and skipped like a child as she entered, making Shye chuckle in amusement. His jolly mood didn''tst for long though. Recalling their experiences in the goblin vige mission once again ignited the fury in his heart. He wasn''t angry anymore about the difficulty since they survived and seeded, however, what infuriated him was the unjust rewards for such a high-difficulty quest. Walking for around twenty minutes, the two of them finally arrived in front of their guild''s branch headquarters. "Well then, here''s my adventurer license and guild token, boss. Do your thing. I''ll be back after learning the skills you gave me." "Sure, leave this to me." Entering the branch headquarters with a rather mild scowl on his face, Shye proceeded towards the rewards desk. Chapter 302: Quest Complaint "H-Hello, Sir Crowley¡­I see that you''re back early¡­w-where''s Miss Seira?" Seeing that Shye was alone, Shauna, the rewards receptionist couldn''t help but ask nervously. Lately, it''s be customary among the guild gossipers to learn which quest Shye has taken. The reason for this is that, despite always selecting quests far beyond his league, they never appear on the guild''s quest contention board. Always, without fail, the quest would be registered under his name immediately. Naturally, this fact stirred up controversy amongst the guildsmen, a myriad of theories popping up here and there as they tried to deduce who Shye was and why he was so special. As someone who practically lives and breathes inside the guild, it was inevitable for Shauna to know that the quest undertaken by Shye and Seira was a bit too dangerous this time¡ªnot even close to the Winged Boarger one hepleted a few days ago. Hence, seeing him back so early and¡­alone, made Shauna''s heart race. She was rather fond of the congenial Seira and news of her death would genuinely make her sad. Breathing heavily as he waited for Shye''s answer, Shauna swallowed. Of course, Shye noticed her subtle anxiety and he couldn''t help but chuckle inwardly, pondering whether to y a prank on her or not. In the end, he decided to do it. There''s no harm in having a little fun. Feigning a rather sad and difficult expression, Shye clenched his fists, staying silent for a few seconds as he looked at the ground. "I-I see¡­so Miss Seira¡­" Shauna assumed, a sad expression emerging on her pretty face. "Seira¡­is¡­looking for a skill cylinder. She wants to learn a few skills." Shye replied, trying hard to suppress hisugh shortly after seeing Shauna''s dumbfounded expression. "Ahh! Sir Crowley! You''re so mean! Oh! I thought Miss Seira was¡­A-Anyway, please don''t do that again!" Shauna unintentionally eximed in frustration and relief, not expecting the notorious rookie to y pranks on her. "Hahahaha! I''m sorry, I won''t do it again, forgive me, Miss Shauna. I just found your worried expression rather adorable and amusing." Shye said in all honesty, not intending to flirt with Shauna at all. Unfortunately, he didn''t expect that using the word adorable would make Shauna blush. ''C-Crap¡­Why am I so stupid when ites to matters like this?!'' Shye inwardly cursed, realizing that he unintentionally flirted with the rewards receptionist. The guildsmen''s hubbub didn''t help. "Damn, isn''t this rookie too talented? Rizzing up even the receptionists¡­" "Huh? What does rizz even mean? Are you sure you''re not born in the wrong era? Anyway, I agree with you. No one has ever been able to make the receptionists blush. Not even the emeralds!" "Holy crap, I think I''m bing a fan of this Shye Crowley for real!" Hearing the guildsmen''s not-so-discreet gossip, Shye felt his head throb, regretting his word choices. He doesn''t have the energy and the patience to exin himself, hence, with a deep sigh, Shye changed the topic. "Uhh¡­By the way, Miss Shauna, I''m here toin." He said with a stern expression, not concealing the fact that there was something about the quest that made him unhappy. "C-Comin? What''s wrong, Sir Crowley? Did something wrong go with the quest?" Shauna asked with a slightly worried tone. The quest registration and rewards system had always been the same and this has been the firstint she received in quite a while. "Yes, actually, things went like this¡­" Shye spoke at length, patiently detailing what had urred in a deliberately loud voice, ensuring that the guild members could easily overhear his conversation with Shauna. "H-Holy crap, defeating a Goblin Chieftain and a Goblin High Shaman in a single battle?! This rookie is simply too good at boasting!" "Nahh¡­brother, there''s just no way!" "Damn! Seira''s cold like that?" Naturally, Shye''s stories sounded oundish in their ears and they found it very difficult to believe him¡ªsome of them even thought that he was just trying to impress Shauna with nonsensical lies. However, when Shye ced two sack bags with a green-colored base and a recording crystal on Shauna''s countertop, their doubtful expressions turned into one of stupefaction. "No¡­there''s just no way what he just said was true¡­" Deny it hard as they might, the facts were right in front of their eyes. Their eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief as Shye opened the two sack bags and revealed their contents: two green heads¡ªboth the same size as a human''s. Just from the massive size of both heads, they all knew that these two goblins were extremely dangerous creatures. A normal goblin''s head wasn''t thatrge, after all. "I-I acknowledge your concern, Sir Crowley, and I believe it''s valid. However, Ick the authority to decide on such matters. Please apany me to the guild master''s office. The guild master will address this issue with you." Shauna replied, momentarily leaving her post to guide Shye toward the guild master''s office. After walking for around three minutes, the two of them arrived in front of a majestic door made of pure, tough adamantite. Decorated with opulent and visually pleasing gemstones, the emblem of Raven''s de was intricately carved, with one half on each door, emanating a sense of pride and dignity. Shauna then knocked at the huge door. "Guild Master, it''s me, Shauna. I have something to report." "Come in." Obtaining permission from Corvus, Shauna entered, temporarily leaving Shye outside the office to exin Shye''sint. Guild Master Corvus was someone who bnced both heart and logic, so he readily grasped why Shye lodged a questint. It would indeed be unjust to receive such paltry rewards for a quest of such difficulty. "Hmm¡­I understand. Thanks for your hard work, Shauna. You may now return to your post. Tell Shye Crowley to enter." "Yes, Guild Master." Offering a profound bow to Corvus, Shauna left the office, motioning for Shye toe in before returning to her post. Shye nodded gratefully at Shauna before taking one deep breath, grabbing the guild master office''s right door handle soon after. ''Now, let''s find out what my guild master looks like and observe his reaction to myint.'' Chapter 303: A “Friendly†Conversation "Hoh, we finally meet, Shye Crowley, ace representative of this year''s finest academy. I find it sad that our first meeting was because of aint, however, worry not as I do understand where you''reing from." "Hello, Guild Master Corvus, it''s a pleasure to finally meet you." After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shye offered a deep bow to his guild master, whom he quickly found himself liking. Just from Corvus'' initial words, it was evident that while he might not possess the same level of skill as Soaring Raven as an adventurer, he was undeniably a fair and empathetic guild master. "Hahaha! I''ve heard of your epic tales as the notorious rookie. Makes me wonder how not even a single guildsman has recognized you." Corvus said with a beaming smile, probing how Shye would react. Being a guild master, he understood the importance of knowing the personalities of his guild members, particrly someone like Shye, who was likely to elevate the overall rank of his branch. A good casual conversation will surely do the trick. "Hahaha, well, I''m donning mage equipment and is known as a mage by the guildsmen. Maybe that''s the reason why." Shye replied with a mildugh. Even he found it weird that no one recognized him yet. Well, it works in his favor though, hence, he had no qualms about his current situation. After all, suddenly revealing the fact that he was also a mighty warrior would surely him a hefty amount of points. As for Corvus, he hadn''t expected Shye''s easygoing reply at all. He thought that such a talented rookie would surely be someone prideful and arrogant. He even heard quite a few rumors about Shye''s unbridled arrogance, thus, he prepared himself for an unpleasant conversation. Well, Corvus wasn''t wrong. As ofte, Shye had indeed been someone rather prideful and arrogant. However, he only reveals his arrogant side to those individuals who deserve it, while amiable individuals like Corvus would undoubtedly be treated with respect. Corvus didn''t immediately buy his "well-mannered" act though. "Hahaha! Well, you''re more amiable than I thought, however, I also know that you''re not someone so innocent and I am aware of your¡­unfortunate encounter with the rookie, Mason Randall." Corvus replied with a mysterious smile. While he had no intention of taking sides, he was curious to observe how Shye would react to the revtion of one of his darkest secrets. ''Now then, Shye Crowley, show me who you truly are.'' "I see that you already know what happened, Guild Master. However, it pains me to know that you didn''t even do anything as one of your rookies was about to be assassinated." Shye craftily replied¡ªhis expression¡ªturned into one of utter disappointment. Witnessing the drastic changes in Shye''s countenance, it was Corvus who panicked. Indeed, it was he who was at fault why the unfortunate event even happened. He had the chance to stop it but he didn''t. To be fair, Corvus desired to halt Mason''s actions. However, his authority wasn''t sufficient to intervene in matters involving "challenges that would aid a talented rookie in reaching their peak." Soaring Raven warned him to not intervene too much and let Shye solve his own problems, hence, he had no choice but to simply watch as his guildsmen attempted to assassinate the ace representative of the strongest academy¡ªhis most promising rookie. ''Crap¡­me and my stupid mouth!'' Corvus inwardly cursed, he wanted to pin the me on Soaring Raven, however, if the main guild master finds out¡­ Suppressing his urge to shiver at the thought, Corvus cleared his throat before feigning a dignified look as he gazed straight toward Shye''s eyes. "Well, I apologize for merely observing as they carried out their assassination attempt. However, as a guild master, I must refrain from excessive intervention, or you won''t reach your full potential. I believe you do understand that oveing challenges leads to greater strength. Therefore, I permitted them to proceed, confident that you would emerge victorious." Spouting out some bullshit reasoning that was only partly true, Corvus observed Shye''s reaction. Naturally, Shye knew that Corvus was probably under orders from Soaring Raven and that''s why he didn''t dare intervene. It was just that he found Corvus'' probing words unpleasant, hence, Shye decided to make things slightly difficult for the guild master. Since Corvus at least made an effort to appease his heart, Shye didn''t feel the need to escte the situation. Hence, he replied "cordially"¡ªfeigning ignorance. "Oh! So that''s what it was! I totally believe you, guild master! I now understand that you only want the best for me." Hearing Shye''s words, Corvus almost choked on his saliva and didn''t know whether tough or cry. This rookie was indeed a bit too vengeful. His words sounded sincere, however, one couldn''t know if he was being sarcastic or not. Hence, Corvus opted to just change the topic. "MHMM! I''m d you understand. Now, let''s get down to business. Regarding yourint, I do agree that the rewards seem way too meagerpared to the difficulty and danger you and Ramah faced. Tell me, what is it you desire?" Hearing Corvus'' words Shye''s ears almost pped in glee. With such an advantageous position in a negotiation, he might as well kill himself if he couldn''t capitalize This time, the guild master couldn''t hold back a shiver from creeping down his spine. He knew that the rookie¡­was about to extort rewards from him like a veteran bandit. However, what options did he have? He was unquestionably at fault for not verifying the information before permitting such a high-level quest to be posted on the quest board. If it were any other guild members ranked lower than Emerald who took on the quest, they would undoubtedly have perished by now, all due to his negligence. Upon realizing this, Corvus suddenly felt that rewarding this rookie for not onlypleting the quest but also saving a few guild members from certain doom was justified. The initial stinginess he felt had now dissipated. "Thank you, guild master, for indulging me. Here are my conditions¡­" Chapter 304: Soaring Raven’s Promise Hearing Shye''s demands, Corvus couldn''t agree right away, pondering about the repercussions of agreeing to the super rookie''s demands. ''1800 guild contribution points each which basically means an instant rank up for him, an additional 50,000 silver coins, and ess to the special lounge on the second floor¡­'' Shye''s demands were a bit excessive, however, Corvus was impressed. He knew that these are exactly what Shye needed to grow to his peak as soon as possible and for the young man himself to recognize it demonstrated his exceptional foresight. His primary concern had always been "not giving Shye Crowley preferential treatment", but in this case, the super rookie earned the rewards himself, and so, the situation could not be considered as him favoring Shye over others. Hence, after around ten seconds of pondering, Corvus decided to give the rookie what he wanted. The guild master knew that decisions on such matters werepletely within his jurisdiction and was Soaring Raven''s way of giving him both a trial and an opportunity. If he could prove his excellence by nurturing the ace representative of this year''s champion academy¡ªmake sure he wouldn''t end up like the usual "buried academy talents"- then his branch would receive way more attention and resources from the main headquarters. Corvus understood the immense responsibility and opportunity bestowed upon him by the main guild master. After all, he had been eagerly anticipating this opportunity for years. Naturally, he would show everyone his talents as a guild master and that would begin today, by giving Shye the excessive rewards he wanted. Well, seeing how wise Shye was for his age, Corvus believed that he wouldn''t have to do much to secure a higher rank and more resources for his branch. "Fine, since this is my mistake, I shall not be stingy. You may inform Shauna of the results of our discussion and show her this token as proof." Hearing the guild master agree, Shye was on cloud nine. With just this one specific reward, he aplished three things: rank up to tinum, save enough money to request twin greatswords from Meido, and gain ess to higher-difficulty quests¡ªthe ones in the special lounge quest board. Satisfied with the results of the negotiation, Shye shed a bright smile towards Guild Master Corvus. "Thank you, guild master!" Naturally, such a bright countenance affected Corvus, making him inwardly chuckle. "Well, then! If there''s nothing else, I''ll im my rewards from Miss Shauna. Goodbye, Guild Master Corvus!" Shye continued with excitement written all over his face. Right after turning around to exit Corvus'' office, someone knocked on the door. "You may enter." Upon hearing the guild master''s confirmation, the individual waiting outside promptly entered with a loud creak. "Hello, Guild Master Corvus. This parcel is from Raven''s de Main Headquarters, addressed to someone named Shye Crowley." The delivery man said with a slight smile. Naturally, Shye felt excited after hearing what the man said, fully knowing what the contents of the parcel were. ''Soaring Raven''s promised gifts are finally here!'' "Perfect timing, please ce it on top of my desk," Corvus said respectfully, not disrespecting the delivery man in the slightest. Because of the esteemed status and strength of adventurerspared to themon popce, many of them tend to regard those who have mundane jobs with disdain. Hence, Corvus'' respectful attitude made respect burgeon in Shye''s heart,pelling him to like the guild master a bit more. At that moment, Shye knew he was in good hands. ''Guild Master Soaring Raven is indeed an excellent individual.'' Shye thought, impressed by the main guild master''s eye for people. *THUD* After cing the carefully wrapped box on top of Corvus'' desk with a dull thud, the delivery man bowed, leaving the office soon after. Subsequently, once the courier was gone, Corvus looked at Shye, nearly causing him to burst intoughter at Shye''s reaction. The young man¡­looked foolish. Observing his current silly expression, with hands rubbing excitedly and a foolish smile adorning his face, one would never guess that this guy was the ace representative of Valenzia''s strongest academy. In the end, Corvus couldn''t stifle hisughter. "Hahahaha! Wipe that stupid expression off your face, will you? Aren''t you the ace representative of a champion academy?" Corvus said, snapping Shye back to reality. The excited smile remained steadfast on his face though. "Hahahaha, I apologize, Guild Master Corvus. It''s just that I''ve been waiting for Guild Master Soaring Raven to send the goods, you know?" Shye honestly replied, further dissolving the thinning ice barrier between the two of them. "Hahahaha! Don''t worry, I understand. May I see the contents as well?" "Yeah, sure!" After obtaining Shye''s approval, even Guild Master Corvus felt excited. He was unaware of what Soaring Raven had offered to secure this year''s top academy prospect ahead of the top ten guilds, but now, he was about to find out. Naturally, he wouldn''t be so impolite as to open the box himself, wisely waiting for the intended recipient to do so. Excited, Shye walked closer and carefully removed the simple box''s lid, revealing three eye-catching items that utterly surprised Corvus. ''W-What the hell? You tell me to not give him any preferential treatment¡­but what the f*ck is this?!'' the Balkrow branch guild master inwardly cursed as he gazed at the three items. ''One unique-tier warrior skill, a ruby tier, high-grade elemental staff, and a permanent blessing of greater strength?!'' Even he would covet thest one. ''No wonder this guy would agree¡­ However, what sets him apart that the guild master decided to go all out this year?'' Corvus wondered. Every year, there were ace representatives of champion academies but Soaring Raven didn''t make a move to try and secure them, making Corvus think that this guy might be one of the strongest rookies in the history of Valenzia. "Hehehe, looks like Guild Master Soaring Raven gave everything he promised! Well, then, Guild Master Corvus. I shall take my leave." "Y-Yeah sure, Just make sure to attend the rookie representative selection tournament four months from now okay?" "Okay." Chapter 305: Balkrow City Rankings "The rewards have been processed, Sir Crowley. Here are your and Miss Seira''s adventurer licenses and guild tokens. Additionally, this bag contains 50,000 silver coins. Congrattions on ranking up to tinum, Sir Crowley, and thank you for once again contributing to the guild!" "Thank you for your efforts, Miss Shauna. I''ll be taking my leave." "Goodbye, Sir Crowley." After sessfully redeeming his quest rewards from Shauna, Shye walked towards the branch headquarters'' exit. Since he finished the goblin vige quest a week and a half earlier than expected, he figured that this would be the best time to write letters to Maia and his friends, visit Shirley in Nookbury City, and order twin greatswords from Meido. Before the goblin vige questpletion, he still needed 1,800 guild contribution points to rank up which would require him toplete at least two more quests before he could rank up to tinum. Had the goblin vige quest not been unexpectedly difficult, he wouldn''t have been able to rank up instantly and umte a hundred thousand silver coins to request a weapon from Meido. Instead, he would have had to undertake two more quests, leaving him with no free time to visit Shirley. Truly, dangers and opportunities go hand in hand. Reaching the exit of the branch headquarters, Shye was met by a panting young woman with grape-colored hair. She appeared exhausted, resembling a child who had been running back and forth and was now tired from overexerting herself. "B-Boss! The skills you gave me were amazing! It''s like you can read minds! They''re simply perfect for my fighting style!" Seira enthusiastically exined, capturing the attention of the guildsmen who were chilling near the exit. "Especially the u¨C!" "Shh! Don''t tell everybody! Anyway, I''m d you like them." Shye replied, quickly covering Seira''s mouth to prevent her from adding to the misconception that they were friends with benefits. "MMPMPHH!!" Shye waited for her to stop bbering before letting go. "I understand, boss! I will not speak of such matters in the future!" "Alright. Well then, I need to head to Kossin City to upgrade my weapons. I''ll likely be away for three weeks to a month, so feel free to do as you please during that time. You can take on solo quests or whatever you prefer." "Oh, I see. Perfect timing! I wanted to train and level up my skills. Maybe take one solo quest to put them to the test." "That''s good, well then, see you." "See you next month, boss!" After a short conversation with Seira, Shye left, deciding to have a meal in a newly opened seafood restaurant close to the city square. Although its location was a bit far, Shye thought that he at least deserved to rx today after a job well done, thus, he made a special effort to visit the restaurant and sample its food. On the way, Shye hummed a jolly tune, enjoying the perfect mix of warm sunlight and cold winds as he strolled through the well-built, smooth, and wide marble streets of Balkrow City. His stomach growled in protest as the savory smell of roasted meat from a restaurant he passed through assaulted his olfactory senses. ''No, resist the temptation, Shye Crowley! Weren''t we going to eat seafood today?!'' The roasted meat''s assault was simply too fierce! However, in the end, his love for seafood won, allowing him to resist the demonic whispers of roasted pig meat. After the fierce internal battle was decided, Shye continued walking, stumbling upon an enormous holographic board hovering near the middle of the city square. With his interest piqued, Shye walked closer to the ranking board. ''Hoh? Rankings?'' He mused, slightly squinting his eyes as he enthusiastically started to read the board''s contents. ¡ª Balkrow City''s Guild Rankings: 1. Iron Jin 2. Dark Sentinels 3. Yudaina Yama 4. Bloodsteel 5. Hong Yun 6. ck Balisong 7. Raven''s de 8. Sandstorm 9. Scarlet Angel 10. Wack Donalds ¡ª ''Hmm¡­I didn''t expect my guild to be in the top 10¡­'' Shye thought inwardly. In Valenzia City, his guild held only the 16th rank, and given that those within the top 10 often had numerous guild branches, it was challenging for a guild ranked 16th to secure a position within the top 10 even in other cities, let alone the 7th rank. ''Hoh? Guild Master Corvus is pretty impressive¡­'' Soon after, he looked at the other rankings. ¡ª Balkrow City''s Top 10 Adventurers (Total Contribution Points): 1. Leon Gray (Emerald - Iron Jin Adventurer Guild) 2. Porter McSimpings (Emerald - Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild) 3. Violet Neverguard (Emerald - Bloodsteel Adventurer Guild) 4. Ibrahim Abara (Emerald - Yudaina Yama Adventurer Guild) 5. Bao Chen (Emerald - Hong Yun Adventurer Guild) 6. Ethan Bat (Emerald - Sandstorm Adventurer Guild) 7. Luna Gonzales (Emerald - Raven''s de Adventurer Guild) 8. Rndo Dalisay (Emerald - ck Balisong Adventurer Guild) 9. Bunnybal Harca (Emerald - Wack Donalds Adventurer Guild) 10. Gyeon Jung-Hee (Emerald - Scarlet Angel Adventurer Guild) ¡ª ''Oh? So the strongest in our branch is an emerald-ranked adventurer named Luna Gonzales¡­'' Shye mused, his eyes slowly shifting towards thest ranking list. ¡ª Balkrow City''s Top 10 Rookie Adventurers (2 years and below): 1. Arthur Vermillion (tinum - Iron Jin Adventurer Guild: 4,500 contribution points [575 days]) 2. John Oni (tinum - Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild: 4,250 contribution points[574 days]) 3. Lin Zi (tinum - Yudaina Yama Adventurer Guild: 3,990 contribution points[575 days]) 4. Almira ck (tinum - Hong Yun Adventurer Guild: 3,970 contribution points[573 days]) 5. Carl Bloodthorn (tinum - Bloodsteel Adventurer Guild: 3,895 contribution points[565 days]) 6. Brooke Hayes (tinum - Sandstorm Adventurer Guild: 3,720 contribution points[572 days]) 7. Mateo meheart (tinum - Raven''s de Adventurer Guild: 3,610 contribution points[571 days]) 8. Jones Jon (tinum - ck Balisong Adventurer Guild: 3,350 contribution points[568 days]) 9. Shye Crowley (tinum - Raven''s de Adventurer Guild: 3,000 contribution points[57 days]) 10. Payne Keller (tinum - Wack Donalds Adventurer Guild: 2,920 contribution points[564 days]) ''W-What? I''m in the rankings?!'' Shye inwardly eximed with an utterly shocked expression ''F*ck! Why do they have to show the number of active days as well?!'' Seeing his name on the rankings with "active days" that appear as though the holographic ranking board has glitched, Shye didn''t have the heart to enjoy a hearty meal. He was happy that he would be in the limelight again but that goofy-ass active days would probably get him in trouble. ''Oh well, I''ll just have to view this as an opportunity. After all, danger has always been a constant factor!'' Chapter 306 : Nookbury City "HOLY SH*T! HOLY SH*T! HOLY SH*T!! EVERYONE! URGENT NEWS!!" A ck-haired young man with a schrly physique and the most average of faces suddenly entered Raven''s de''s branch headquarters with a loud bang. The young man appeared exhausted, however, he looked excited, as though he couldn''t even wait to finish breathing. Naturally, upon hearing the words of the ck-haired young man, both guild members and staff, including Aya and Shauna, couldn''t help but subconsciously turn their attention to the panting guild member, eager to hear what he had to say. "What happened, Jimmy?" A concerned guildsman with red hair and muscr physique asked Jimmy, the exhausted guildsman, with a curious expression. "I-I just checked Balkrow City''s Rookie Rankings, and there are now two Raven''s de rookies on the board!" Jimmy excitedly replied, appearing as though the rookie who made it on the rankings was none other than himself. "Oh?! Who is it? Did Apollo finally make it to the top ten?! Hahaha! That bastard¡­Why is he being so secretive?!" "N-No, silly! It''s not Apollo." "Huh? Then who is it? Phoebe?" "No! It''s that notorious rookie, Shye Crowley!" Everyone who heard Jimmy''s sudden announcement was naturally stunned. Nearly all of them were aware that in the entire history of Balkrow City''s Rookie Rankings, not once had a rookie in their first year managed to break into the top ten. If what Jimmy said was true, then the notorious rookie, Shye Crowley, was the first one to have done it. "Hahahaha! Jimmy, you dare prank us like this?! I must say, I''m impressed. Your acting looks too perfect!" Another guildsman, who was listening to Jimmy, jestingly eximed, expecting Jimmy to admit that he was simply pranking them. However, when he was met with Jimmy''s confused expression, the expression of the guildsman also changed into one of disbelief. "Y-You''re joking¡­right?" "No, I''m not. You guys can check the rankings board if you don''t believe me!" Observing Jimmy''s response, an increasing number of guild members became convinced. Soon after, a frenzy ensued as they dashed out the door, hurrying towards the city square to confirm whether the infamous neer, Shye Crowley, had truly made it in the top 10 rookie rankings. *** A week and a half quickly passed. Shye still had no answers about where the random 500 system points came from when he was in the middle of his journey. However, contemting answers would have to wait for another day, as towering city walls crafted from maroon stones began to materialize on the horizon. Mighty adventurers of myriad ranks walked in and out of the daunting city gates as the guards cordially greeted everyone, even the mundane folks barely making a living in the said city. ''Hoh¡­So this is Nookbury City¡­I''d say this city is just as developed as Balkrow, if not more.'' Shye mused, walking closer to the city gates with a bright countenance. The city guards here seemed to take their job more seriously than the ones in Balkrow, hence, there was a short queue. After waiting for a few minutes, it was finally Shye''s turn. "Hello, may I please see your Nookbury badge?" The guard respectfully asked. For adventurers who call the city their base of operations and seek entry, a mere nce suffices initially; they only need to present their badge to the guard. However, if one is visiting from another city, a thorough inspection is required. This protocol, mandated by the World Adventurer Association, is a security measure that all cities are obligated to follow. "Hello, I''m just visiting from Balkrow City, I don''t have a Nookbury badge." Shye cordially replied. "I see, in that case, I would need to check your adventurer license and guild token." "Sure, here''s my license, and here''s my token." Handing the necessary identification cards and tokens to the city guards, Shye waited for quite a while, his easily angered heart once again pulling pranks on him. There wasn''t a need to get angry over such simple matters. Being aware of the recent developments in his temper truly was a huge help. After around two minutes, the guard finished checking his identification documents and gave him a temporary pass valid for two weeks. "Uhm, do you know where the White Forge Inn and the Raven''s de branch headquarters are?" Shye respectfully asked before entering the city. He wasn''t going to wander the city aimlessly once more, attempting to locate the establishments he needed to visit. "The White Forge Inn is situated in the central area of 4th Street, whereas the Raven''s de branch headquarters can be found in the 2nd." "I see, thank you!" "No worries, wee to Nookbury City!" Giving the guard a slight bow, Shye continued on his way, heading towards the second street where the branch headquarters was located. Knowing Shirley, if she was in the city right now, she would be inside the guild branch headquarters, either looking for a quest or training in the branch''s training hall. She wasn''t someone who would idle away at the inn. Strolling along Nookbury''s wide streets, Shye admired the city''s hustle and bustle. Temperate winds blew as children ran back and forth across the wide streets, engaged in yful pursuits; Adventurers moved about, entering different establishments, while marketing personnel from various shops warmly weed passersby into their stores. The city looked just as neat and orderly as Balkrow, bringing a sense of joy to Shye as he thought about his girlfriend residing in such a great ce. ''Haaah¡­I hope she isn''t out on a quest right now¡­'' Shye inwardly wished as he rounded the corner marked by the street sign reading "Second Street". ''Well, I can train and level up my skills in a training center while I wait anyway.'' Walking for a few minutes along 2nd street, Shye''s head turned left and right as he patiently searched for the branch headquarters. Well, it wasn''t so hard considering the establishment''s¡­weird design, hence, after just a few more minutes, he finally arrived at the branch headquarters. Soon after, he entered, prompting heads to turn his way. "Huh? Who''s that guy?" Chapter 307 : Why The Hell Are You Looking For My Girlfriend? "Um... Greetings, esteemed adventurer. I''m Eva, the receptionist here at Raven''s de Nookbury Branch. Your presence is unfamiliar to me. Might I inquire if you''re seeking someone or something specific?" Eva asked, maintaining the utmost politeness in her expression. Unfortunately, Shye didn''t even get the chance to cordially respond as three hulking adventurers¡ªseemingly warriors¡ªsurrounded him and rudely spoke. "Hey, why are you making trouble for Miss Eva? Can''t you see that outsiders aren''t wee here?" remarked one of the adventurers, his voice dripping with hostility. "Heh, let me warn you, boy, don''t cross my boss, Jason. Things wouldn''t end well for you if you do!" another adventurer threatened. Sadly, they wasted their saliva for nothing as Shye merely ignored them and proceeded to answer Receptionist Eva''s question. "Hello, Miss Eva. I''m from Raven''s de Balkrow Branch and I''m looking for someone named Shirley Locke." "H-HEY! YOU DARE IGNORE US?! WE''RE TALKING TO YOU, LITTLE BASTARD!" the third adventurer angrily eximed. However, soon after, Jason, the leader of the three, stopped the third adventurer from attacking, motioning for him to listen to why the bastard was looking for Shirley Locke, this year''s most beautiful and strongest female rookie. He, Jason, narrowly lost to Shirley and ended up in fifth ce, hence, she earned not only his respect but also his heart. Lately, Jason found his motivation to excel not only in climbing the adventurer ranks but also in honing his physique and skills, all driven by his desire to win over Shirley''s heart, the coveted female rookie admired by all. Not only was her face beautiful, but her body was also attractive, and her cold demeanor seemed to ignite men''s desire to conquer her. Unfortunately, thepetition was cutthroat as even the first and second-ranked rookies had ideas to woo her. This is the reason why Jason was working so hard. He wanted to be the man who would bring the belle home. Now, this young man from who knows where popped up and was looking for Shirley, the goddess amongst rookies. Sensing the hostility in the atmosphere, Eva swallowed nervously. She didn''t want to be part of such skirmishes as she was nothing but a mundane receptionist. Still, she wasn''t stupid and she knew that the rookie named Jason wanted her to ask what the young man from another branch was up to. "I-I see, may I have the honor of knowing your name?" "Shye Crowley." Instantly upon hearing the familiar name, a few guildsmen who were chilling in the lobby, stood up¡ªa few of them excited while most were dumbfounded. "Did he really im to be Shye Crowley?! Am I hearing things correctly?!" "S-S-Shye Crowley!" "T-There''s no mistake! That guy is indeed Shye Crowley!!" "Why?! Why is he at Raven''s de?!" Upon confirming that the young man in front of the counter was indeed Shye Crowley, the guildsmen who were rookies from various academies suddenly went crazy, leaving their seats and walking closer to him with fanatical looks. Of course, such peculiar, almost reverential reactions would inevitably cause a stir among the veterans. "Shye Crowley? Who the f*ck is that?" "Why are these guys worshiping this rookie from another branch? Simr questions flooded the minds of the guildsmen, both veterans and rookies who didn''t know who Shye was. Jason and his two stooges were amongst those who didn''t know who Shye was as they were rookie adventurers who didn''t attend an academy and were instead trained by their high-ranked parents. Still, the fervent expressions on the faces of the other rookies prompted the three of them to take a step back and gather some information about their opponent first before proceeding to drive him away from the branch headquarters. Eva was among the curious ones who wanted to know who "Shye Crowley" was, however, she had a job to do. Hence, she temporarily suppressed the curiosity burgeoning in her heart and epted the identification documents that Shye handed over. "Let me verify the documents for a few moments, Sir Crowley." "Sure" Meanwhile, the veterans asked the rookies in the know about who the heck Shye Crowley was. The darned guy seemed like some super celebrity and they felt like hillbillies for not knowing who he was. After a short while, the veterans finally understood why some of the rookies went wild with crazy, finding their responses to be reasonable. "Oh! So this guy is the ace representative of this year''s champion academy huh? Damn¡­How did Raven''s de secure such a super rookie?" "Holy crap¡­this guy''s a literal celebrity, no?" "I heard he is looking for that new smokeshow of a rookie, Shirley Locke. Could it be¡­?" "Nah, there''s no way. Didn''t you see with your own eyes how cold that female rookie was? I have a hunch she''s not interested in men, but rather in women!" "I think so too!" Hearing the words of a few guild veterans, Shye almost burst outughing, fortunately, he was able to suppress it, opting to listen to their amusing conversations instead. On the other hand, Jason and hisckeys were utterly shocked. No wonder the guy was so arrogant! However, Jason didn''t feel the need to back down. Wasn''t this the ideal moment to demonstrate that the graduates from the academies will always pale inparison to them, the genuine elites meticulously trained by their esteemed adventurer parents? Although there were indeed quite a few talented individuals amongst the academy graduates, Jason believed that a top-tier "true elite" would almost alwayse out on top against a top-tier academy graduate. Those were only based on his experience sparring against the so-called "top-tier true elites" though so there wasn''t any solid proof that true elites were better than academy graduates. Well, if there isn''t any, then why doesn''t he just create one? Walking closer towards Shye, Jason decided to say the stupidest thing he could have ever said. "Hoh, Shye Crowley, a top-tier academy graduate huh? And why the hell are you looking for my girlfriend?" Chapter 308: In Four Days "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I-I''m sorry. Your what?" This time, Shye couldn''t stifle hisughter. These so-called true elites are truly amusing. Their idiocy knows no bounds! "My girlfriend. For you toe all the way from Balkrow¡­you must be desperate for her affection. Unfortunately for you, she has someone like me so why don''t you just cry in some random corner?" Jason doubled down, prompting the eyebrows of the veterans and other rookies to rise¡ªshocked at his insane ims. Well, they all knew what Jason was up to and to be honest, they kinda want to see a "true elite" go up against a top-tier academy graduate like Shye. Hence, they kept their mouths shut and watched the exciting show unfold. "How can she be your girlfriend when she''s MY girlfriend?" Shye replied with a mocking tone. He also liked where this was going because he needed to earn points. Now¡­if he could just make this farce blow up¡­ Hearing Shye''s reply, Jason inwardly panicked. If Shye''s ims were somehow true, then his career as an adventurer would be over, instead, he might find himself embarking on a new path as aedian! ''I can''t back away now! As long as I defeat him, everything should be fine¡­'' "Ha! Hahahaha! You? Shirley''s boyfriend?! Delusional! You know what? I''m feeling the urge to f*ck chatans like you up. How about a duel?" Jason replied with feigned confidence, trying his best to deduce something from Shye''s reactions. Naturally, Jason''s confident response did little to diminish Shye''s spirits; instead, it sounded like heavenly music to his ears. "Oh? I''m down for that, but how about we postpone it to another day? I''m not fond of dueling in the training hall; it feels too cramped for my liking. Isn''t there an arena in this city? Also, let''s wait for the woman in question to arrive. It would be more satisfying if she could witness our duel." Shye replied with equal confidence, appearing to have endless enthusiasm about the duel. However, Shye''s response eradicated thest remnants of fear gnawing at Jason''s heart. ''Heh, continue with the charade. It''s clear to me that you''re trying to impress Shirley by having her watch our duel. Well, this works out perfectly for me too.'' Jason inwardly thought, believing that such a setup would work well in his favor. If he could defeat the ace representative of the champion academy in front of Shirley, then he would undoubtedly score some points in her heart! "Continue, I shall allow you to state your conditions," Jason said with a slight smile. Realizing that he could blow this sh*t up however he wanted, Shye was on cloud nine. Points were bing harder and harder to earn, hence, he had to cook something up. "First, let''s hear from Miss Eva about Shirley''s whereabouts," Shye calmly suggested, briefly redirecting the focus to the receptionist in charge of quest registration. "Oh! Right! Miss Locke is currently undertaking a (C) ranked quest with a few rookies and veterans. Considering that the quest''s time limit is 14 days, they would probably be back in around two or three days." Receptionist Eva patiently exined. "I see, thank you for enlightening us, Miss Eva," Shye replied, offering Eva a slight bow before turning his attention toward Jason. "You heard her, let''s settle this in Nookbury Arena four days from now. Also, you won''t mind a nine hundred gold coin bet¡­will you?" "Hmmph! Of course not! A bet simply makes this more fun and worthwhile!" ¡­ Once everything was settled with the assistance of yet another overly enthusiastic individual, Shye departed from the Nookbury branch headquarters with a contented smile. Before leaving, he ensured that Eva would pass along the message to Shirley, that he was searching for her. ''Four days huh¡­I might as well level my warrior skills up¡­'' Since he had nothing to do for four days, Shye decided to level up his warrior skills through normal means. He was a bit short on points, and he just realized that it wasn''t that ideal to upgrade the level of his skills through system points, as he could just spam them in a training center to level them all up. With a solid n in mind, Shye walked towards the street where the training centers were located. Temperate winds blew as he strolled along Nookbury City''s streets as vivid images of Shirley seemingly emerged in the blue heavenly canvas. ''Sigh¡­I miss her¡­'' Shye inwardly sighed, dampening his jolly mood. ''Well, in four more days, we''ll see each other. I''ll make sure to take "extra good care" of her.'' Consoling himself with thoughts of intimacy with Shirley, Shye continued walking towards the training center, arriving around fifteen minutester. ''Hoh? There are quite a lot of training centers to choose from¡­'' He mused, his head swiveling left and right as he attempted to determine which option was best for him. ''Well, how will I know which one is the best without even entering?'' Finally, after around twenty minutes of "training center-hopping" Shye opted to rent a warrior training room in a training center called "Gale der". The room rates were mostly the same with other training centers: 70 silver coins per hour for a regr training room and 120 silver coins per hour for a premium one. However, the rooms of this training center were a bit more private than the others,pelling Shye to choose it over the others. With a bit more experience under his belt, Shye decided to rent a regr room to focus on leveling up all his warrior skills to level three before considering switching to the premium option. ''Hoh? The heck is this?'' Shye wondered as he stared at a training dummy made of some sort of metal. This was the first time he encountered this type of metal dummy, hence, he couldn''t help but try hitting it with a regr attack. *CLANG!* "96!" ''Oh? That felt good¡­Then how about this?'' *CLANG!* "195!" Content with the sensation of striking the dummy, Shye set aside all his belongings and proceeded to perform a few warm-up routines. Then, afterpleting his warm-up, he retrieved both greatswords from his inventory and proceeded to sh and stab at the metal dummy, using various skills until eventually, he started to receive the notifications he yearned for. Chapter 309: The Lovestruck Ice Queen "Haaah! Finally! I thought we wouldn''t make it!" "Tch! Look at you, if not for Miss Shirley motivating you, then we actually wouldn''t have!" "Hahaha! Vienjoe, why are you some?" As a party of six adventurers¡ªa mix of both veterans and rookies¡ªtraveled along a well-trodden path, a young woman with short marmde hair, eye-catching facial aesthetics, and a smokeshow of a body, gazed at the familiar city gates of Nookbury city with a sigh. ''At this rate¡­I''ll never catch up to him¡­'' Shirley inwardlymented, dissatisfaction written all over her face. Their quest was a sess, yet, she didn''t feel happy. She knew that if it was Shye, he would''vepleted the quest alone AND in a shorter time. Naturally, Shirley, who was trying to catch up, would end up frustrated. She felt like Shye was slowly flying away from her. No matter how hard she worked, she wasn''t able to catch up¡ªthe gap simply became wider and wider. She was even able to close the enormous gap between her and the other Colzen representatives, hence, she couldn''t understand how Shye could grow so fast. Something just doesn''t add up! ''Haah¡­Perhaps he belongs to the type of individuals who could be considered as ''sons of heaven''...'' She inwardly sighed as their party neared the Nookbury city gates. ''Well, the only thing I can do is work harder¡­maybe I need to take a few crazy risks like him?'' "Nookbury badges, please." The city guard''s sudden enthusiastic voice dragged Shirley back to reality, prompting her to swiftly retrieve her Nookbury badge from her newly bought spatial bag and hand it over for inspection. The guard worked masterfully, finishing the verification for all party members in just a single minute. Allowed entry, the party made its way towards the branch headquarters, chatting merrily as they did so. "M-Miss Shirley, I apologize if we''re too noisy." The man named Vienjoe said. The guy was actually someone who finished in the top 10, however, with how subservient he was acting towards Shirley, one would think that he was some random loser. "Ahh¡­Don''t worry about me, I''m just tired¡­" Shirley replied awkwardly, not very used to such overly caring teammates. "Ahh¡­haha¡­hahaha, that''s good then." Vienjoe replied in an even more cloddish manner. Fortunately, Shirley didn''t have to deal with such conversations any longer as their party arrived in front of the branch headquarters. What she didn''t expect was that she would have to deal with a different type of bullcrap. "H-Hey, look! The ice queen has returned!" "Oh? Nice! Just in time to watch the duel!" "I wonder if she would actually fall for the winner?" "The illustrious ice queen? I highly doubt it!" Hearing the hubbub as soon as she got back, Shirley felt her head throb in mild pain. Judging from people enthusiastically talking about her, the freaking "ice queen", she knew that something big happened in the guild again. ''Haaah¡­Why can''t I just focus on my career in peace?!'' She inwardly raged as she looked coldly at her guildmates chilling outside the headquarters. ''It would''ve been easier if I wasn''t attractive¡­No, wait. I take it back¡­'' Now that she was a professional adventurer, she felt that her attractive looks and physique were nothing but a burden. However, upon remembering that she probably wouldn''t have captured Shye''s heart otherwise, she instantly regretted her thoughts for fear that the Gods and Goddesses might retract such blessings. Her boyfriend was quite the lecher, after all. Naturally, such amotion captured the attention of Shirley''s party members, prompting them to temporarily go their separate ways to ask their friends about what happened. On the other hand, the ice queen herself doesn''t have many friends, hence, she simply decided to wait in the lobby in front of the rewards desk. "Oh! There you are! Miss Shirley, I''ve been waiting for your arrival." Eva''s soothing voice suddenly sounded from near the quest board, prompting Shirley to turn her head in surprise, not expecting Receptionist Eva to approach her. "Hello, Miss Eva. May I know the reason?" Shirley politely replied, her face adorned with a confused expression. "Ah, yes. Someone named Shye Crowley, a rookie from the Balkrow branch, dropped by, telling me to hand you this note." Eva said, expecting Shirley''s expression to turn into one of cold annoyance. From what little Eva understood about Shirley, she believed that Shirley wasn''t someone fond of entertaining suitors, believing that such a beautiful and talented young female adventurer would be out of reach for someone in a simr age group. As a woman herself, Eva naturally wanted to be under a capable man''s care, hence, by default, she promptly assumed that such a capable young woman would be looking towards a more mature and equally, if not more capable man. Shye Crowley, the ace representative of this year''s champion academy, indeed had an impressive resume, probably enough to shake the ice queen''s heart. However, every year there is a new "ace representative of this year''s champion academy", thus, she didn''t believe that Shye''s aplishments were enough to snatch Shirley Locke''s heart. Only, she didn''t expect Shirley''s subsequent reactions. Never had she seen the ice queen show such intense emotions. "W-Who? Did you just say, Shye Crowley? Did I hear correctly?" Shirley unintentionally said in a loud voice, garnering everyone''s attention. "W-where is he?" "H-He didn''t tell me where he went¡­however, there will be a duel tomorrow at 10 AM in Nookbury arena between him and Sir Jason Mulch¡­" "A¡­duel?" "Y-Yes, Miss Shirley. That''s all he instructed me to do. Now then, if you''ll excuse me." Realizing that there was now a short line in front of her counter, Eva offered Shirley a profound bow before swiftly returning to her post. As for Shirley, a dumbfounded expression remained steadfast on her face for a few seconds before turning into the sweetest of smiles, tugging a few heartstrings in the hearts of the guildsmen and allowing them to deduce that things probably weren''t as simple as they initially thought between the two. Then, shortly after reading the note, Shirley swiftly walked towards Vienjoe. "H-Hey, Vienjoe, here''s my adventurer license and guild token, can you please hand them over to Miss Macy for me when you guys turn the quest requirements in?" Shirley politely asked, slightly bowing at Vienjoe who was so captivated at her rare cute appearance to the point that he immediately agreed without thinking. "Y-Yeah, sure, leave it to m-me!" "Thanks! I owe you one!" Handing the mentioned items over with a sweet smile, Shirley sprinted out of the branch headquarters like a lovestruck young maiden. Chapter 310: One Sweet Night (1) ''Status'' [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 81 [ss]: [Subss]: Warrior === [Active Skills] [Scout Skills]: N/A [Archer Skills] : [Swallow Step Lv.1] [Warrior Skills] : [Dash Lv.5] [Power sh Lv.5][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.4][Stoic Lv.4] [Destructive Chop Lv.4] [Rush Stab Lv.4][Lunge Pierce Lv4] [Draconian Roar Lv.3] [(Dark)Fallen''s Howl Lv.3(Rare)][(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.3(Rare)] [Sword Realm Lv.1 (Unique)] [Mage Skills]:[Fireball Lv.3] [Icicle Spear Lv.3] [Rock Bullets Lv.3] [Wind Slicer Lv.3] [Earthen Spikes Lv.3] [Ice Rain Lv.3] [ze Missiles Lv.3] [Aqua Barrier Lv.2(Umon)][Hydro Wall Lv.2(Umon)] [Fire Bomb Assault Lv.3(Umon)] [Frozen Thorn Barrage Lv.3(Umon)] [(Dark)Gravitational Drain Lv.2(Rare)] [Priest skills]: [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)] [Semi-Passive Skills]: [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.2(Rare)] [de of Despair Lv.2 (Unique)] [Passive Skills]: [Dual Wield(Rare)] [Intermediate Poison Resistance Lv.1(Rare)] [Utility Skills]: [Boost Lv.3(Rare)] [Fake Death Lv.2(Umon)] [System Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.3] === Talent: [Lim??(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Attributes]: [Strength: 140] [Intelligence: 140] [Agility: 135] [Dexterity: 135] [Stamina: 105] [Vitality: 120] [Wisdom: 57] [Back][Exit System] ''Nice¡­this should be enough for now!'' Shye thought inwardly, very pleased as he patiently checked his status. He sessfully leveled up the unique tier warrior skill, de of Despair, to level two and he wanted to do the same for the other one gifted by Soaring Raven called Sword Realm. Unfortunately, no matter how he tried to target the metal dummy, nothing happened. Hence, he decided to call the training off for now. It was prettyte in the evening and Shirley might''ve already received his note. Putting away his weapons back to the system''s inventory, Shye picked up his sack bag in the corner of the training room, offering a profound bow towards the staff member manning the counter before leaving the training center with an unusually strange yet jolly grin. ¡­ ''He''s here! He''s actually here to visit me!'' Shirley inwardly thought with a slight blush and an eager expression. ''We''ve already talked about this before parting, that he would rank up to ruby first before he would visit me¡­did he achieve such a rank already?'' In the note, Shye exined that he was leveling up his skills at a training center within the city and would meet her outside the White Forge Inn once he was done. A bit excited to see her beloved, Shirley ended up sprinting like a child towards the inn she was staying at, rather disappointed that Shye wasn''t there. Well, she appreciated that he took the time to visit her this early in their career, hence, she didn''t mind waiting for a short while. Finally, as Shirley basked in the gentle glow of the two moons, hurried footsteps sounded in the distance, prompting her to turn her head towards the source of the noise excitedly. At that moment, the entire world seemed to have slowed down for Shirley as an ashen-haired young man sprinted towards her with an equally eager and excited expression. Tonight, Shye looked especially handsome in her eyes. "Shye!" Unable to suppress her emotions, Shirley rushed towards Shye and gave him a sweet hug, staring straight into his eyes shortly after with the most affectionate smile she could muster. After almost two months of being apart, this meeting was simply as sweet and soothing as honey. "Hey, Shirley. I got some free time and was able to visit." Shye replied with an equally affectionate smile, gazing gently back at Shirley. "I was so shocked after Miss Eva told me that you visited me. Did you already rank up to Ruby?" Hearing her question, Shye couldn''t help but chuckle. "Hahaha! No, silly. Even if it''s me, I cannot rank up to Ruby that quickly! It''s just that I need to travel to Kossin City to request new greatswords from my partnered cksmith and since I was able to rank up to tinum way faster than I expected, I decided toe visit and see how you''re doing." "I-I see¡­You''re tinum already¡­And here I am¡­still stuck at silver¡­" Shirley replied with a bittersweet expression. She was happy that Shye already ranked up, but at the same time, she felt sad that the gap between the two of them was widening. If things continue like this, it would be nothing but a pipe dream to be in the same party as him. Naturally, Shye noticed the subtle hint of sadness creeping into her heart, immediately deducing that it was due to the gap between the two of them. Well, Shye already knew from the beginning that she wouldn''t be able to catch up to him no matter what she did, and he was already prepared for things to turn out that way. He didn''t mind it that much, to be honest as Shye didn''t want her to participate in the absurdly dangerous quests he usually embarks on. Hence, Shye believed that this was actually the best oue for both of them. Still, he naturally wouldn''t allow his beloved girlfriend to remain sad. "Hey, with your skill, you''ll rank up to gold in no time! We just have a huge head start because Guild Master Soaring Raven promised to allow us, the representatives, to begin our careers as a gold-ranked adventurer. If not for that, the gap wouldn''t be so huge." Shye consoled, putting his arms around her neck before continuing: "I know! How about we eat at your favorite restaurant? You can order everything you want, my treat!" Shirley was a simple girl. Hearing that she would be able to eat anything she wanted, the darkness looming over her heart was suddenly washed away by feelings of excitement. "I want to eat steak!" "Let''s go then, lead the way!" The luxurious steak restaurant wasn''t far from the White Forge Inn, hence, after just a few minutes of walking, they arrived. Shirley could afford to eat at the restaurant by herself, however, she couldn''t go ham in ordering dishes or she would risk sleeping at the guild''s lobby should an emergency happen¡ªutterly embarrassing. Thus, when Shye offered to treat her to basically an all-you-can-eat at one of the fanciest restaurants in Nookbury City, the sadness in her heart was quickly reced by joy as she came to a realization. ''Well, as long as he still loves me, why would adventurer ranks matter?'' Chapter 311: One Sweet Night (2) "Haaah¡­That was delicious¡­" Shirley said with an expression of pure bliss, walking slightly in front of Shye as she reminisced about the sulent and vorful ribeye steaks she had just eaten. She ate about seven huge pieces, pleasantly surprising Shye who didn''t expect her to really "buy everything she wanted". In the past, Shirley had always been a sensible woman, agreeing to "buy everything she wanted" every time Shye treated her but in reality, she would hold back, causing Shye to feel that there was still a bit of distance between them. Well, they hadn''t bonded much except for a few quests back in the academy and sexy nights here and there. For a couple who had been together for four years, they weren''t as close as others who had been together for the same amount of time. Consequently, Shye felt happy now that Shirley stopped being so sensible with him. He wanted to spoil her, the problem was, she didn''t want to be spoiled. Admiring her alluring curves from the back, a strange yet excited grin once again emerged on Shye''s face¡ªhis eyes glued to her well-rounded buttocks. Shirley wasn''t stupid and she knew that Shye was probably already checking her out, however, she didn''t mind. On the contrary, she felt happy. Although they didn''t have a lot of passionate nights together, Shirley utterly enjoyed every single one of them, and tonight, she couldn''t help but feel excited about the thought of having another. Imagining Shye''s vigorous motions, Shirley''s crotch area started to react, prompting her to breathe heavily as they neared the White Forge Inn. Naturally, Shye, being the rather¡­libidinous individual that he was, immediately sensed Shirley''s ragged breathing, prompting him to take action. He was having trouble resisting Shirley''s allure; thus, seeing her in such a state destroyed every bit of logical resistance in Shye''s mind. Grabbing her wrists, Shye dragged Shirley towards a dark alley near the inn and preyed on the poor young woman. After a momentary touching of lips, a fierce battle ensued between two tongues, intertwining forcefully as the twobatants breathed heavily. Shortly after, Shye''s hands roamed Shirley''s body, giving her perky bottom a good squeeze before changing locations to the abundant twin peaks. This time, Shirley couldn''t help but let out a soft moan as Shye''s hands passionately grabbed her bountiful bosom before giving the sweet cherries in the middle a gentle rub with his fingers. "S-Shye, let''s continue this back at the inn¡­" Shirley lightly pushed, bringing logical reasoning back to Shye''s head. Knowing this wasn''t the optimal spot to do the deed, Shye forced himself to calm down, breathing heavily as they walked towards the inn. Promptly after arriving, Shye walked towards the counter. "Give us one of your best rooms." "Right away, sir. That would be 20 silver coins for a night." "Here''s 200 silver coins, please book seven nights for me." After one of the swiftest bookings he had ever done, Shye grabbed the fidgeting Shirley''s wrists and gently dragged her toward premium room seven. A luxurious chandelier suspended in the room''s elegant ceiling greeted the two as they entered, casting a gentle golden glow over the room including the enormous bed in the middle. Performing a quick check and confirming that brown, high-quality blinds properly covered the vast windows of the premium room, the couple couldn''t hold themselves back any longer. Closing the door with a bang as Shye once again assaulted Shirley''s sweet lips with his tongue, the young woman fought back, grabbing Shye''s huge and hard rod and rubbing it passionately. Shortly after, the two of them stripped all of their clothing, revealing two, naked and well-toned bodies, further increasing the urge to feel each other''s passionate embrace. After a few times doing the deed, Shirley already knew Shye''s preferences, promptly kneeling before opening her mouth to amodate Shye''s reproductive rod. Her tongue masterfully massaged the little brother as she skillfully moved her head forward and backward, producing stifled gagging sounds as the rod''s tip repeatedly hit her throat. Subsequently, after a few minutes, Shirley eventually stopped her passionate slurp upon realizing that their crotches were ready for action. She then walked towards the bed and promptly bent over, highlighting her perky bottom and the rose quartz dungeon in the middle of her legs. Witnessing Shirley''s seasoned actions, Shye''s little brother throbbed vigorously, prompting him to walk closer andunch a swift assault toward the dripping rosy cavern. "Hyaaahnn!" Shirley had long yearned for this moment, thinking that it wouldn''t happen for at least another year, thus, when their bodies interconnected as one, she couldn''t help but let out the most seductive moan, further triggering Shye''s primal instincts to mate. She didn''t even know she could produce such alluring sounds. It didn''t stop there though. As Shye repeatedly thrust his manhood inside Shirley''s little sister, moans of myriad tones escaped one after another, causing the already energetic Shye to thrust even more vigorously, skillfully hitting the sweet spots inside the rosy cavern. Consequently, every time the mentioned spots were squarely hit, Shirley''s eyes slowly rolled upwards, ultimately disying mostly the whites as her saliva continuously dripped from her subconsciously wide open mouth. She was going crazy¡ªall thoughts were reced by one word: pleasure. Being both warrior-ss adventurers, their bodies were rather robust, allowing them tost longer than most, especially Shye who was way stronger than Shirley, making her feel dominated in bed as Shye put her through various positions, each feeling more pleasurable than thest. Finally, after shifting through four different positions, Shye blew his load, fully trusting the contraceptive potion Shirley drank while on the way to the inn. Rather lucky that the one he bought worked, otherwise, his dreams would temporarily crumble in front of his eyes, all due to the massive volume of gooey white liquid. Feeling the warmth of Shye''s almost never-ending load, Shirley couldn''t help but finish shortly after, transparent liquid spraying out in a fountain as she slowly faded into oblivion with her buttocks raised high. A few minutester, she found herself lying in Shye''s embrace, his eyes looking at her with unmatched affection. That specific night, passionate moans echoed in premium room seven as the couple mated multiple times, each one bringing more pleasure than thest. Chapter 312: The Much Anticipated Duel For The Ice Queen’s Heart Waking up to one of the best mornings, Shye lightly stretched as he looked around. As discussed, he and Shirley wouldn''t go to the Nookbury guild branch together since today was his duel with Jason. He wanted to teach the bastard a lesson for pretending to be Shirley''s boyfriend and he didn''t want to spoil the fun by immediately proving his lies. Shirley felt that he was a bit mean for doing so, however, she ultimately supported him after hearing that her dastardly guild branchmate imed to be her boyfriend. She would never fall for such a delusional chatan as her heart belonged to only Shye. Being the early bird that she always was, Shirley decided to leave first, leaving the naked Shye alone in the enormous bed. The duel was ultimately scheduled at 9 AM and since it was only 8, Shye had ample time to prepare. He was about to p faces and break hearts, hence, he had to look as dashing as possible. Enthusiastically getting up, Shye lightly brushed his teeth before taking out a pre-packed seafood pae, causing a mouth-watering aroma to waft in the air as he savored his meal¡ªnot too quick, neither too slow. Shortly after, he rested for around five minutes before taking a good, thorough bath, washing off hints of yesternight''s fierce battle. Once done, he donned a simple gray shirt and khaki-colored pants before equipping his warrior equipment set. Since lots of people recognized him in this branch, it would be better to introduce himself as a warrior and then surprise them by revealing the fact that he was a mage if needed. ''Nice, looking like someone worthy of the ice queen!'' Inwardly praising his dashing look, Shye confidently left the inn and wore his signature "arrogant smile" as he walked towards the Nookbury guild branch. ¡­ "Jason''s here!" "Will Shye Crowley show up?" "I''m sure he will! That guy''s famous for not backing down even against the top-tier students from top-tier academies. I''m sure he won''t wuss out here!" While everyone was waiting for Shye to arrive, the guildsmen couldn''t help but nce at the ice queen, who silently sat in the rewards desk lobby, causing them to feel excited. They thought that it would be difficult to convince her to watch the duel. Who would''ve expected that she would willingly nod her head? "Is she actually willing to give the duelpetitors a chance?" "Well, they were both courageous for epting the duel so maybe they managed to thaw the ice queen''s cial heart." "Are you both blind? Didn''t you see how swiftly she sprinted through the branch''s exit door after being notified that Shye Crowley visited her? She must already be cheering for him in her heart!" "That''s true, however, it isn''t impossible for Jason to turn things around if he manages to defeat this so-called ace representative of a champion academy." On this particr day, the Nookbury guild branch was rather lively, and since there was still a bit of time, a few guildsmen contacted some of their friends from other guilds and invited them to watch the duel, briefly exining to them why it happened in the first ce. Naturally, two young men fighting it out to win the heart of the so-called Raven''s de Nookbury Branch''s Ice queen, adventurers from other guilds immediately agreed to watch the duel. Some wanted to see who would win, others were interested in seeing Shye Crowley again, and some just wanted to admire the ice queen''s beauty. Within a mere five minutes, approximately 5000 individuals had swiftly assembled in front of the headquarters of the Raven''s de branch, leaving Shye, who had just arrived, feeling giddy. It seems that he would earn a sizable amount of points today as long as he yed his cards right. Unbeknownst to Shye, a pleasant surprise awaited him at the Nookbury arena. "Hey, look Shye Crowley''s here!" "He really didn''t wuss out, very admirable." "Holy shit!! It''s indeed Shye Crowley! What is he doing joining Raven''s de?! He could have joined a top-ten Valenzia guild like Iron Jin!" Naturally, his arrival stirred up yet anothermotion as spittle flew out from the academy graduates'' mouths. Well, he was dubbed as this year''s strongest academy graduate, hence, the other graduates naturally rallied under his banner, especially since the arrogant "true elites" endlessly mocked and humiliated them whenever they got the chance. Unfortunately, it was hard for them to prove that academy graduates aren''t trash because the cream of the crop was always obtained by the strongest of guilds. Shye Crowley''s unexpected appearance truly lit a beacon of hope in their hearts¡ªa single thought resonated in their minds: ''Let''s see if you can still mock academy graduates after you guys witness Shye Crowley''s strength!'' The graduates continuously singing Shye Crowley''s praises irritated the true elites,pelling them to wish for his defeat in the hands of the rookie named Jason. They wanted to shut the mediocre academy graduates up as they didn''t believe that the top-tier true elites would lose to top-tier academy graduates. If this Jason could somehow defeat the graduates'' bastion of hope, it would spell immense satisfaction for them. Since everyone important was already present, the overly enthusiastic individual responsible for scheduling the duel in Nookbury arena took the lead as 5000 people chaotically marched towards the venue, chatting excitedly about the match-up as they did so. The less-informed ones curiously asked those in the know about thepetitors'' backgrounds, receiving satisfactory responses which increased their enthusiasm for the said event. As for Shirley, she followed the crowd without a care in the world, pleasantly reminiscing the passionate night she had with Shye, yearning to replicate the pleasurable feeling as soon as possible. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin She had no doubts that Shye would win, hence, the results weren''t even something exciting for her. Upon reaching the Nookbury Arena, Jason cast a nce at Shirley, stirring mes of passion within him as he indulged in daydreams of Shirley finally granting him an opportunity to woo her after he triumphed over the so-called top-tier academy graduate, Shye Crowley. He then turned his head and looked at his opponent who didn''t appear nervous in the slightest. ''You bastard¡­let''s see if you can still act like this once I''m done with you!'' Chapter 313: In One Blow? "Your bets, please." spoke the elderly gentleman d in the distinguished ck uniform of Nookbury Arena, his arms outstretched with a small basket, awaiting the 90,000 silver coin wagers from the participants. Hearing the old man''s words, the two participants retrieved a few sack bags containing the said amount before extending their arms to drop the bags into the old man''s basket. Now, whoever wins will have the right to im the contents of the basket. Returning to the middle of the arena amidst the fervent gazes of an unexpected crowd suddenly growing to a whopping 10,000, Shye and Jason stood behind their respective lines, looking at each other with vastly contrasting expressions. Jason had an irked yet eager look on his face while Shye was calm and nonchnt¡ªa shadow of a smile visible on the corners of his mouth. Just from the face-off, the few emerald-ranked adventurers who decided to watch the duel already had an inkling of who would win. The ashen-haired young man appeared way too calm in their eyes, and based on their experiences, it was always the calm ones who were sure of themselves. The guy named Jason reeked of insecurities. Unbeknownst to Shye, he was already the favorite in the eyes of the experienced adventurers. Meanwhile, Jason repeatedly nced at the stands, checking if Shirley was watching them. Noticing a slight smile on her face as she seemingly daydreamed, Jason''s mood slightly improved. ''Watch me, my Shirley.'' He inwardly thought, forcefully dragged back to reality by the referee''s voice. "Please draw your weapons." The assigned referee said, prompting both Shye and Jason to draw their des out. Jason took out a shortsword and shield while Shye retrieved one of his greatswords from the system''s inventory. "Hoh¡­so you''re a greatsword user huh? Too bad you''re a bit disadvantaged in our match-up." Jason taunted as he looked at Shye with a mocking smile. As permon knowledge amongst adventurers, greatsword users are rather disadvantaged in a duel against a sword and shield user. The reason for this is that the usualmon shield skills like [Shield Bash] and [Fortress] could easily absorb and deflect most sword skills. And because the typical greatsword user had high strength and low dexterity, it was simply too easy for the sword and shield users to sneak in a fewpact attacks, whittling down the greatsword user''s vitality slowly but surely. Unfortunately for Jason, Shye was nowhere near the wordmon¡ªhe was a huge anomaly amongst adventurers. "Hahahaha! I see your goals now. You n to capture Miss Shirley''s heart by making herugh to death! A feasible scheme!" Shye retorted, assuming his battle stance shortly after. Shye''s rather sharp reply made a few peopleugh, causing Jason who had just recovered his mood, to be furious once more. "You bastard¡­" Jason gnashed his teeth in utter fury, no one had ever dared mock him to this extent. Luckily, he didn''t have to wait for too long. "Begin!" Right after the referee announced the start of the match, Jason stirred up a cloud of dust as he madly dashed towards Shye, a rather fierce expression emerging on his face as his heavy armor and shield nged loudly. He looked daunting, prompting his underlings to cheer vigorously upon witnessing his valiant disposition. ''This! This is what a true man is!'' They thought. ''The sole individual worthy of the ice queen''s affections!'' They''ve been following Jason around since they were young and he had always been a fierce man, always willing to spar even the toughest of true elites back when they were residing in Valenzia City with their parents. Consequently, Jason earned their respect. They were aware that their boss wasn''t among the strongest of true elites, however, his manly acts impressed them, making them inwardly vow to follow him for life. To them, Jason was a great role model, a great friend, and a great boss. The two of them saw him lose against the top true elites, however, never once did he lose in a humiliating manner. On the other hand, Shye was as cool as a cucumber, looking extremely serene as he waited for Jason to arrive in front of him. Why would he exhaust his stamina by moving when the idiot was furiously charging at him in a straight line? If he were to miss his next skill while his opponent attacks in the most straightforward manner, he might as well end his own life. Upon arriving at the optimal distance, Jason used one of his gap closer skills, [Shield Charge Lv.4], in an attempt to push Shye off his feet and make him look extremely wimpy, stirring up clouds of dust as his charging speed significantly increased. Unfortunately, as swift as the charge was, it was still not as fast as the staple warrior skill, [Dash]. Hence, Shye easily reacted to it. *ROAAAAR* A primal draconic roar reverberated across the arena, making Jason, who was hit squarely by the skill, tremble as his mind was consumed by fear. Now standing still, Jason became an easy target for Shye, who suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him using [Blink Lv.3]. Then, just before the trembling guy could recover, Shye rotated his greatsword and ruthlessly whacked the back of Jason''s head, causing the wind to violently part as Jason flew across the arena. "B-BOSS!" Stay connected through m-v l|e-NovelBin "Boss Jason!!" The twockeys eximed worriedly. Witnessing it firsthand, for the very first time, the stalwart and resilient Jason was sent flying with a single blow, crashing face-first into the edge of the Nookbury Arena with a loud bang. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 9,824 points!] "W-What? Just like that?" "T-There''s no way¡­this very same Jason? Who made the top-ranked rookie in our branch sweat?" "T-The ferocious Ice Queen barely won against this guy¡­Is this the true strength of top-tier academy graduates?" "Hahahahaha! I told you! All of you! Don''t mess with top-tier academy graduates!" Naturally, such a swift victory stirred up a hugemotion amongst the Nookbury branch guildmates. Having observed Jason''s toughness firsthand during the rookie admission exam, they found it hard to believe that he could be defeated with just one blow. "Hahaha! Get up. I didn''t hit you that hard." Chapter 314: Draconic Moan Lv.3 ''K-Kuhh¡­f*ck¡­'' Waking up to a splitting headache, Jason groaned as he inwardly cursed, momentarily forgetting that he was in the middle of a duel. "Hahaha! Get up. I didn''t hit you that hard." Hearing the infuriating voice of his opponent reminded Jason that this was no time to be crawling on the ground. "G-Get up! Boss!" "You can still turn things around! Boss!" Jason found himself unable to recall anything after the sudden, frightening roar, suspecting it might have been his opponent''s skill, as he rose to his feet, clutching his head. Of course, Shye wasn''t in a rush to end things as he still needed to extract as many points as possible from Jason''s misfortune, hence, he gave him ample time to recover. Unfortunately for Jason, although his battered body had time to recover, his rattled mind was ruthlessly assaulted as the huge holographic screen suspended above the middle of the arena suddenly lit up, revealing to all present an instant rey of the recent events. Naturally, Jason was among those who wanted to see how he was taken out. ''Tch¡­so it was indeed his skill huh¡­'' He pondered as Shye roared in the instant rey. ''This skill is a one-time use as it could only be used to catch opponents off guard. It won''t work on me again¡­'' Jason tried his best to remain calm and think of countermeasures, however, despite his efforts, when the holographic screen showed everyone how Shye whacked the shit out of his skull as though it was a baseball, an intense mix of emotions raged in his heart. Fury and shame were among the most dominant ones. He was doing well in controlling his emotions up to that point but when the holographic screen zoomed in and revealed a beautiful young woman with short marmde hair trying her best to stifle herughter, Jasonpletely lost it. Shirley, the ice queen, wasughing at him. "HRAAAAAAGHH!!" Enraged and embarrassed, Jason once again madly charged toward Shye to redeem himself. This time, he wouldn''t be caught by that damned skill. ''Hoh¡­he''s furious but could still think. Admirable.'' Shye thought as he simply smiled confidently in the face of the charging tank. A recognizable battle scene unfolded, with Jason charging straight ahead while Shye patiently waited for him to draw near. Finally, when Jason reached the point where he had previously been struck by the terrifying roar skill, he suddenly halted his charge, just as Shye began to enter the motion of the roar skill once more. Jason then skillfully jumped backwards to dodge Shye''s roar skill only to be humiliated again a few momentster. What came out of Shye''s mouth wasn''t a roar but¡­a yful moan, causing most of the audience tough hard¡ªtears streaming down their cheeks. As for Shirley, she was in a simr state to everyone else. Her icy countenance utterly broke as sheughed just as hard as everyone else. She knew that Shye was quite talented at pissing his opponents off but this was just too much! A yful moan instead of a terrifying roar. Crazy. Jason felt like he was going insane as anger took control of his heart. "YOU BASTARD!!! YOU DARE NOT TAKE ME SERIOUSLY?! WHY DON''T YOU FIGHT LIKE A MAN INSTEAD OF PLAYING PRANKS?! IS THIS THE SO-CALLED STRONGEST ACADEMY GRADUATE?!" He raged as he stared daggers at Shye. "Woah, woah, calm down. You want me to fight you seriously? How could I when you''re this weak and stupid? Even pretending to be Shirley''s girlfriend¡­outrageous." Shye retorted with a mocking grin. His meaning was clear: if you want me to fight you seriously, you better step up and make me! Naturally, Jason also understood his meaning, hence, he finally stopped holding back. "I was going to use this in the rookie representative selection tournament, however, since you wanted to die, I''ll give you death!" "Hahahaha! You sound way too mighty for someone who kissed the arena walls." Realizing that Shye''s mouth was way too vicious for him to engage in a verbal battle, Jason opted to just shut his mouth and let his skills do the talking. ''Dark Bulwark!'' Dark energy streams formed subtle tornadoes as they slowly converged towards Jason''s location, making his body appear wayrger, dwarfing Shye. Shortly after, even his heavy armor set, shortsword, and shield were shrouded by the dark energy, expanding just like the muscles in his body. Once Jason''s transformation was done, he looked like a moving fortress, appearing as though nothing in the world could harm him while he could y even the Gods in a single hit. Shye simply sneered at his transformation though as it obviously wasn''t as menacing as it looked. With just one appraisal, Shye immediately noticed that Jason''s strength, stamina, and vitality attributes were enhanced in exchange for a steep decline in agility and a bit of intelligence while the dexterity stat remained the same. ''Well then, let''s see what you got, big guy.'' Grasping his Nightbringer tightly, purple lightning coiled around the greatsword''s edges, roaring violently towards Jason as Shye charged forward and used his recent skill training upgraded basic skill, [Power sh Lv.5], in a diagonal shing motion. Jason smiled upon realizing that Shye dared confront him head-on. Explore more at m,v l''e-NovelBin In his current state, he was even confident of taking on (B-) ranked creatures alone. Charging forward, Jason shed his shortsword diagonally upwards in an attempt to blow Shye''s greatsword away in a single hit, highlighting his superiority in terms of strength. *CLANG!* Not long after, Shye''s greatsword shed with Jason''s shortsword, producing an ear-rending metallic noise as two power-type warriors shed. Seeing the results where Shye was the one who was slightly blown back, Shirley was shocked. She was just so used to Shye winning in a head-on strength battle. As for Shye, he wasn''t too surprised as currently, Jason''s strength attribute surpassed his and the reason why he attempted a head-on sh was to see how huge of a strength gap can a greatsword bridge. Unfortunately, a fifteen-point gap seemed to be a bit too much for a greatsword to handle. Still, Shye wasn''t disheartened. At least he now knows the limits of his greatsword.'' Extending his left arm sideways, Shye smiled confidently as another greatsword appeared on his empty hand. ''Time for phase 2 of my point extraction n!'' Chapter 315: Dark Bulwhacked [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1,588 points!] ''What?! Why aren''t you guys impressed?! Isn''t a dual wielder all cool and sh*t?'' Shye inwardly cursed, rather dissatisfied about the small number of points he earned upon revealing that he was a dual wielder. ''Tch, I guess I have to actually do something with dual swords first huh? People are getting harder and harder to please!'' "Hoh? And what do you n on doing with two swords? Is that supposed to boost your strength attribute up to be on par with mine?" Jason taunted as he mockingly looked at Shye who was slightly dumbfounded. The bastard guessed it correctly. Only, Jason''s words were insincere; he merely intended to mock Shye for unting something rare but ultimately useless in the present circumstance. Shye knew this to be the case, thus, after being initially surprised, his characteristic arrogant smile reappeared on his face. "How about we try again? Fat oaf." Shye retorted, charging straight toward Jason without waiting for his reply. "Y-You dare call me fat oaf?! I''ll f*cking kill you!" Never even once did Jason encounter someone around the same age range as him who dared fight him head-on while his Dark Bulwark was active, giving him a false sense of security that he was unbeatable in such a state. Even the top-ranked rookie of the Nookbury branch had no choice but to run around and wait for his skill to time out. Hence, Jason believed that Shye was simply being stupid in trying to engage against him in a directparison of strength. Charging forward, the fat oaf once again swung his shortsword diagonally upwards, aiming to prove that Shye''s dual wielding wouldn''t do him any good in this situation. *CLANG!* Another ear-rending metallic noise was produced as two tinum-tier weapons shed. Astonishingly though, this time, no one was blown back¡ªboth duelists standing firm in the middle of the arena. Jason was naturally shocked. In the first sh, his forearms felt the satisfying sensation of overpowering his opponent, causing him to feel confident that nothing would change. After all, how could an additional greatsword increase one''s attributes? Unfortunately for the fat oaf, that was exactly what happened as Shye''s rare talent once again shone through. ''Tch! This pretentious bastard probably used a self-buff skill! Just to show off? Despicable!'' Jason thought as the two of them stepped back simultaneously to reset the distance. ''My Dark Bulwark''s time is almost up¡­I have to finish this!'' Jason''s Dark Bulwark skill was indeed strong, however, it isn''t that strong when used alone. The Nookbury true elite also knows this. Hence, he tried hard to look for a skill toplement the strong trump card. After around one and a half years of searching, Jason finally found it. He was saving this trump cardbination for him to obtain a real shot at the rookie representative selection tournament. However, he couldn''t allow himself to be humiliated in front of ten thousand people, thus, he decided to go all out today. If he could defeat Shye, then everything would at least be worth it as 900 gold coins isn''t a small amount even for him. As a bonus, he would be able to clean up his tarnished name in the ice queen''s heart. Hopefully, he would also obtain a real chance to woo the love of his life. Nevertheless, everything hinged on the condition that he could defeat Shye. With a firm resolve to emerge victorious, Jason lowered the base of his tower shield to the ground, taking cover behind it as he menacingly aimed his shortsword toward Shye. He then slowly advanced, carefully stalking Shye as he prepared to use his ultimate skill. ''Bruiser Box!'' Right after mentally invoking the skill''s name, blue mana lines slithered across the ground, swiftly enveloping Shye and Jason within a massive mana cube that appeared to shrink with each passing second. ''Hoh? So we''re forced to duel each other head-on huh?'' Shye inwardly deduced as he looked at Jason with a cold smile. ''You think I''m scared of you in a direct sh? Well, then I shall beat you up to let you know how insignificant you truly are.'' *HYAAAOOOOHH!* Rotten mana wings suddenly emerged from Shye''s back followed by a blood-curdling howl which sent chills down Jason''s spine. The fear stacks hadn''t reached their peak yet, so when Shye utilized his [Fallen] skills, Jason managed to withstand the effects of the fear stacks. Shye didn''t mind though as he would like to engage in an all-out battle against Jason. It wasn''t every day that he could fight a head-on duel to his heart''s content while trapped in a small cube, after all. He wanted to make the most out of this experience. Feeling the massive attribute boosts provided by his [Fallen] skills, Shye smiled sinisterly at Jason. "Heh, you brought this upon yourself so you better notin!" Hearing Shye''s words, Jason narrowed his eyes. ''Those skills of his do look rather unsettling. However, as long as I carefully corner him with the help of my skills and my still active Dark Bulwark, there''s no way he could win against me in such a closed space¡­'' After consoling himself to reinforce his confidence, Jason slowly marched forward, hoping to overwhelm Shye with sheer size and strength. Only, he didn''t expect how strong Shye was right now. With a single wave of Shye''s greatswords, Jason''s gold-tier mid-grade relic shield was bent in the middle, causing the eyes of Jason and the onlookers, including Shirley, to almost pop out of their sockets. "Hahahaha, thank you for cornering yourself for me, fat oaf." Shye mocked, once again ruthlessly battering Jason''s shield with powerful shes. *CLANG!* *CLANG!* *CLANG!* Finally, after around five full powered hits, Jason''s shield gave in, utterly unusable as it was bent in half. ''HOW?! HOW IS THIS TINY BASTARD STILL STRONGER THAN ME?!'' Jason was out of options and all he could do wasin as Shye went in to beat him up half-dead. Clouds of dust covered the tiny mana cube as Shye ruthlessly whacked the shit out of Jason, prompting the crowd to crane their necks in hopes of seeing what was going on inside the mana cube. Unfortunately, they didn''t see anything until the clouds of dust cleared, at least revealing a beaten-up Jason who had already reverted back to his original body size. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 9,950 points!] Chapter 316: Last Day "B-BOSS!!" Realizing that their boss was beaten unconscious, Jason''s two underlings jumped down from the stands, rushing towards their boss'' side. "B-Boss! Hang in there, I have some potions here!" Witnessing how loyal Jason''s underlings were, Shye was impressed. It was hard to find such loyal people, after all. ''Too bad their boss is quite the arrogant idiot.'' Shye inwardly thought before proceeding towards the old man who was holding the rewards basket. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley. Here''s your winnings." "Thank you." Eagerly grabbing each coin sack with a wide smile on his face, Shye stored them in the system''s inventory before sauntering towards the arena''s exit to execute phase number three of his point extraction n. Upon arriving at the exit, Shye abruptly stopped walking and turned around, gazing intensely at Shirley who was looking back at him with a confused expression. Then, once Shye had sessfully established eye contact with her, he motioned for Shirley toe and exit the arena together with him. Shirley wasn''t stupid. She immediately realized that Shye wanted to show everyone that she was his woman. Naturally, she felt happy that Shye, who typically refrained from showing his affection publicly, chose to do so to ward off any potential suitors from her branch by letting them know that she was already taken. Shirley disliked being called the ice queen and only wanted to grow stronger and raise her rank in peace. Hopefully, Shye''s assertive yet affectionate actions would be able to sessfully eliminate the funny ideas in the heads of her guild branchmates, or at least reduce the unnecessary attention she was receiving every time she entered the guild branch headquarters. Well, she wasn''t wrong as Shye partially wanted to ward off the guys who had ideas about her, however, that wasn''t the only reason. The other reason was, of course, to show off! And earn more points! Shirley''s actions naturally attracted the attention of everyone in the arena as she was the main reason why the twopetitors fought in the first ce. Intense gazes of admiration followed her as she bashfully walked towards the exit¡ªthe bashful expression on her face, further ensnaring the hearts of the lovestruck audience. Unfortunately, their hearts were meant to break today. Upon reaching the exit gates, Shirley found herself pleasantly surprised as Shye casually wrapped his arm over her shoulder, nting a gentle smooch on her cheek shortly after. Such affectionate actions naturally destroyed everyone''s hearts, including Jason''s, who just recovered physically only to be broken emotionally promptly after. Naturally, there were a few crazy ones amongst the crowd who couldn''t ept the fact that the ice queen''s heart was captured by someone from a different city, hence, one of them desperately asked. "A-Are you two dating now?" asked a courageous yet desperate bald guy near the exit. Hearing the guy''s question, Shirley turned her head, smiling as she looked at the bald guy. "Hmm? We''ve been dating right from the start. A bit over four years now." Shirley proudly said, walking out of the arena with a blush on her face. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 10,000 points!] ¡­ "Hahahaha! Ice Queen! Why are you still blushing? You''ve seen everything I have, yet, you blush because of a simple kiss on the cheek? I truly cannot fathom your thoughts¡­" "Shut up! Idiot! Stop calling me Ice Queen! Of course, I''ll blush. This is the first time you kissed me in front of 10,000 people!" "Hmmph! Those loathsome rookies in your branch had funny thoughts in their minds. I had to set boundaries." Hearing Shye''s words, Shirley blushed even more. However, upon realizing that Shye would have to leave tomorrow, a pang of sorrow struck her heart. Who knows how long it would take for both of them to see each other again? ''Well, such an excellent man would always be busy¡­'' Sheforted herself with the notion that it would be more beneficial to seize the opportunity to cherish their time together rather than indulging in preemptive sorrow. With that thought in mind, Shirley took the initiative. "Hey, Shye, will you please treat me to steak again?" "Oh? Ah! Yeah, of course! It''ll be my pleasure, Miss Ice Queen!" "I told you to stop calling me that!" "Hahahaha! My bad, your majesty." The couple lightly bantered as they sauntered towards Shirley''s preferred steak restaurant, making Shye feel ted as the distance between the two of them slowly shrunk. In the past, he could only dream of conversations like this with Shirley as she always had an air of seriousness when she was with him. Probably because of his academy celebrity status. However, ever since thebyrinth incident, he noticed that Shirley made active efforts to shorten the gap between them. Although it was unfortunate that they didn''t have ample time to enjoy each other''spany to the fullest before they parted, as long as they continued grinding away, they would inevitably end up together in Valenzia City. Good conversations, good times together, and good s*x are surely a great way to start. Upon reaching the steak restaurant, Shye assumed the lead, selecting a prime seating arrangement and promptly ordering all of Shirley''s preferences with a beaming smile, delighted that his girlfriend had taken the initiative to indulge herself. After chatting for a short while, the food arrived, assaulting their olfactory senses as the savory smell of a well-seasoned steak entered their nostrils. The food was good. What''s next? Good s*x of course! Once they were done eating, Shye settled the bill, leaving a sizable tip to share a small blessing with the mundane waiter. "H-Hey! Slow down!" Shye eximed, breathing heavily as Shirley dragged him by the wrist towards the inn. Seeing her so turned on and excited to engage in sexual activities, a me of sensual passion lit up and burned fiercely in his heart. Just thinking of f*cking the smokeshow of a body in front of him made his little brother stand up vigorously. Since Shye paid for seven nights, they didn''t have to stop by the counter, directly heading to premium room seven promptly after arriving at the inn. "Haaah¡­Haaah¡­" *BANG!* Shirley breathed heavily as she mmed the room''s door, clumsily locking it. Naturally, now that the two of them were in a prime location to do the enjoyable deed, Shye wouldn''t hold back, swiftly pouncing at Shirley''s lips akin to a ferocious predator. From that, the situation only escted. Moans continuously echoed subtly along the empty corridors of the premium floor and eyeballs rolled upwards as the couple enjoyed theirst day together. Chapter 317: I’ll Never Choose You So It’s Pointless To Make You Wait ''Hoh? So this is Kossin City huh?'' Shye thought as Kossin City''s green-colored walls emerged from the horizon. A week and a half swiftly passed since he bitterly parted with Shirley¡ªher stifled sobs unfitting for someone called "Ice Queen", still fresh in his mind. Well, focusing on their careers as adventurers was the correct thing to do, hence, they had to temporarilybat the loneliness of living alone¡ªall for a bright future. They were still young and they both had many years ahead of them. No need to rush. Approaching the gates of Kossin City, an academy renowned for its consistent presence in the championship stage of the Adventurer Academy Competition, Shye made his way toward the guards. He didn''t know why Meido would choose an academy city as her base of operations but hey, each individual is entitled to their own preferences. "Hello, may I please see your Kossin badge?" "Hello, I''m just visiting, here''s my adventurer license and guild token." "Ahh, I see. Please wait for a moment as I verify your identification documents." The Kossin city guard worked efficiently,pleting the verification process in just 30 seconds, and granting Shye entry promptly afterward. ''Hoh? So this is Kossin City hu¨C wait¡­did I already say that?'' Upon entering, Shye was utterly impressed. Balkrow City, a frontier city, was nowhere near this developed! ''Is the budget given by the World Adventurer Association truly that significant?'' He wondered. There was no other usible exnation considering that the adventurer zones he passed by near the city were all either beginner, intermediate, or advanced. There weren''t even expert adventurer zones nearby unlike Balkrow. "Oh, by the way, do you know where cksmith Meido''s smithy is?" Shye asked the guard, who suddenlyughed in response. "Hahaha! I knew it, there was a recent influx of adventurers due to cksmith Meido''s performance in the cksmithpetition so I figured you would be one of those adventurers. However, let me give you a warning. You probably won''t even have the chance to meet her so it would be better for you to give up for now and try another time." Hearing the guard''s long reply which didn''t even contain a single word that was rted to his question, Shye''s easily angered heart naturally red up. He currently didn''t have the patience to put up with such a bullcrap of an answer. Still, he tried to be as nice as possible. "And? Where is it located?" Shye disrespectfully replied, causing the guard to furrow his brows in response. "Wha¨C? Didn''t I tell you that it would be pointless? You think you''re someone special? Fine, if you still want to try, her smithy is located in the middle of Parker Street." "Thanks" Shye and the guard didn''t develop any positive impressions towards each other, however, Shye didn''t think that he needed to escte such a light beef, hence, he simply decided to end their conversation with a rude "thanks." "Heh! I''ll remember you, kid. I shallugh at your disappointed faceter." The loathsome guard added as he watched Shye walk towards Parker Street. ''Heh, I''ll make sure to rub my Meido brand greatswords in your faceter.'' Shye thought, giving the guard onest nce before turning the corner. ''Hoh, such a long queue¡­'' Witnessing how long the queue was for Meido''s shop, Shye couldn''t help but chuckle. ''Luckily, I have order priority.'' He mused as he calmly walked past the long queue, causing heads with hostile expressions to turn his way. Well, most of them had been waiting for around a week now, yet, it seemed like they still had to wait for another week to get their turn¡ªsome even longer. Not Shye''s problem though. He got the order priority and partnership through his own skills as an adventurer and honesty in doing business with Meido, hence, it was only natural that he would use it. "Hey, little idiot. Go to the back of the line." One angry adventurer who had been waiting for a week said. Unfortunately, he was merely ignored by Shye who directly waited in front of the door, right beside the first in line who was utterly irked by his actions. Luckily, the guy wasn''t a random idiot who would force him to go to the back of the queue, allowing him to stay in front, albeit with a hint of a mocking smile. Shye was aware that the man intended to mock and belittle him, once Meidopelled him to join the back of the queue like any other adventurer. Unfortunately for the guy in front, such an oue was unlikely to ur. *CREAK!* Once the door opened, the adventurers perked up, fixing their clothes in hopes of attracting Meido''s attention. The young cksmith was quite peculiar, after all. Although the one in front had the highest chance of being chosen next, there were a few instances where individuals were chosen simply because cksmith Meido took a liking to them. Hence, regardless of how exhausted and irate the adventurers felt, none of them dared to disy their negative attitudes for fear of making a poor impression on Meido. "Now then, who''s next?" Meido''s familiar voice sounded, causing Shye to smile excitedly as he waited for Meido to notice him. The young cksmith asked a question, yet, no one answered. It appeared that the adventurers hesitated to respond with "me." Experience new tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin Well, it was understandable though, as Meido never chose someone who answered her question. Satisfied that the adventurers already learned their lesson, Meido nodded in satisfaction, only to be irked the next second as the young man in front suddenly answered. "Me!" Hearing Shye''s idiotic response, the guy in front almost burst out inughter. ''Hahahaha! You idiot! Now, Meido will never choose you!'' Only, his assumption was way off as Meido''s eyes suddenly widened upon seeing Shye. "Oh? Crowley! What brings you here?" "Hello, cksmith Chan, I''m here to trouble you to craft a weapon for me." "Just call me Meido, we''re around the same age anyway. Come, let''s talk inside." Naturally, the young cksmith''s reply stupefied them, especially the guy in front who finally couldn''t help but speak out. "B-cksmith Meido! I''ve been here for a week and a half and I believe I at least deserve to go first!" The front guy said with an irked yet desperate expression. "Can you at least exin how this bastard, who arrived just now, got chosen over me?" "Hmmm? I believe I don''t owe you an exnation. If you can''t wait for your turn, then go somewhere else! I don''t want to craft a weapon for someone as impatient as you. Actually, will you please leave now? I''ll never choose you so it would be pointless to make you wait." "N-No! I apologize, cksmith Meido. Please! Give me another ch¨C" *BANG!* The front guy''s words were rudely cut off as Meido ruthlessly mmed the door shut right in front of his face. ''A week and a half of waiting¡ªgone just like that'' Was the thought that echoed in the front guy''s mind. Chapter 318: First Partnered Transaction "I didn''t expect you toe looking for me this early." "Well, I unexpectedly got my hands on a few good crafting materials. "Oh? What material?" "This." Pretending to grab something out of his sack bag, Shye retrieved the prime flood dragon scale from the system''s inventory, proudly showing it to Meido soon after. "OHHHHH!!! IS THIS?! A PRIME DRAGON SCALE?!" Witnessing the prime flood dragon scale in its full glory, Meido stood up from her seat in utter shock and repeatedly jumped in small motions like an excited child. She hadn''t anticipated getting another opportunity to work with an (S) tier crafting material so quickly. Meido had quite a few experiences dealing with (S) tier crafting materials in the past and each one had truly been a st for her, allowing her to learn and improve far more quickly than crafting lower-tiered weapons. Still, she understood that it was hard for adventurers to harvest such peak-tier materials. Even Doran, the most seasoned cksmith in the Valenzia Region, likely gained his expertise primarily from working with adamantite ore, the lowest-ranked among all (S) tier materials. The scarcity didn''t stem from the difficulty of hunting high-level creatures, as Valenzia boasted more than hundreds of adamantite-ranked adventurers capable of such feats. Heck, even a few of the highest-ranked ones could defeat a flood dragon alone. However, the reason was primarily because for example, for each flood dragon, there is only one prime dragon scale¡ªits size and quality varying depending on the size and age of the flood dragon. Only, it was almost impossible to harvest such scales without damaging them as it could cause the downfall of an entire party should they hold back against such a dangerous (S) ranked creature. Hence, although flood dragons were quite numerous and weren''t that hard to y for high-ranked adamantite adventurers, the challengey in killing the creature without harming the (S) tier crafting material. The better the material''s condition was, the higher its price would be. As for Shye''s prime flood dragon scale, it was somewhat below average in terms of quality but its size was enormous, probably enough for two or even three pieces of equipment depending on the cksmith''s skill. The likelihood of the crafted equipment reaching the adamantite tier was slim though, given that the material was somewhat damaged for such a purpose. Well, Shye didn''t expect the scales to provide him with adamantite-tier equipment in the first ce so all was good. As long as Meido could at least craft him high-quality diamond-ranked greatswords, then he would be satisfied. Waiting for the young cksmith to calm down, Shye stared, trying his best to stifle hisughter upon remembering that Meido didn''t like beingughed at. Finally, after around half a minute, the young cksmith took a deep breath, forcefully calming her raging emotions, before clearing her throat upon realizing that she probably appeared stupid in front of Shye. "MHRRMM! I must admit. I''m impressed that you''re able to procure a crafting material of this level as a rookie. I truly did the right thing by partnering with you." Meido honestly praised, evidently pleased to have the chance to work on a flood dragon''s prime scale. "Now, tell me what you want." The young cksmith''s straightforward personality was truly like a breath of fresh air for Shye. "Can you craft a pair of adamantite-tier greatswords for me?" Shye inquired, curious to discover the maximum weapon tier achievable with the prime dragon scale he had provided. *PAH!* Unfortunately, what he received as a response was a solid p from Meido''s enormous paper fan. Explore more stories with m,v l''e-NovelBin "Stop dreaming. Your prime dragon scale is amazing, however, it is of below-average quality. If I''m on a roll, maybe I can craft you mithril-tier greatswords. Adamantite-tier is simply out of the question." "I see¡­I understand¡­" Shye replied, feigning a downcast countenance when in fact, he was very satisfied with the results. Witnessing Shye''s disappointed expression, Meido couldn''t help but follow up. "B-But don''t worry! I''ll try my best. I guarantee at least one mithril ranked greatsword!" Promptly after hearing the young cksmith''s guarantee, Shye''s downcast expression vanished into thin air, reced by the widest smile Meido had ever seen. "I see! cksmith Meido is truly skilled also, please take a look at this." The young cksmith was taken aback by the rapid emotional changes disyed by Shye''s face, however, her attention was quickly redirected to the modest-sized chest Shye held in his hands. "What''s that?" Meido curiously asked, eager to see what the chest contained. Shye didn''t reply and instead, he let the contents do the talking for him. "T-THIS IS!!" "Yes, high-grade unique gemstones," Shye said with a smile. "I would like to use the high-grade expelvoid gemstone to enchant the mithril-ranked greatsword that you guaranteed. As for the other greatsword, please use the high-grade inferno stone." Hearing Shye''s request, Meido almost started jumping in excitement again, momentarily forgetting something important. (S) tier crafting materials and high-grade unique gemstones?! Count her in! "How much would all of this cost me?" Shye''s voice once again sounded, snapping Meido back to reality. "R-Right. It would cost you 2,500 gold coins." Meido seriously replied, causing Shye''s eyeballs to almost pop out of their sockets. ''F-F*ck! I only got 1,800 gold coins on me right now!'' Fortunately, Meido wasn''t done speaking yet. "However, since you have a 40% discount due to our partnership, everything would only cost you 1,500 gold coins." She said with a gentle smile, allowing Shye to breathe a sigh of relief soon after. If not for him epting the 40% discount the young cksmith offered back at Valenzia City, he would''ve humiliated himself today. ''I should use this transaction as a reference in the future¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, feeling lucky that he escaped embarrassment today. Retrieving 1,500 gold coins from the system''s inventory, Shye attempted to hand them over to Meido, who had a confused expression. "Huh? What''s this?" "My payment." "Hold it for now. Once I finish your greatswords, then pay me." "I-I see, okay then. How long will it take for you to finish them?" "Three days." "Okay, I''ll be back in three days then." After finalizing his transaction with his partnered cksmith, Meido Chan, Shye left the smithy, ignoring countless hostile gazes as the young cksmith mmed the door shut. In the lengthy line of adventurers, a singr individual gazed at Shye with not just hostility, but also with a sense of excitement. Chapter 319: Intensive Limit Check (1) ''Hmm¡­How should I spend my system points?'' Shye had recently amassed a lot of points: 19,000 in total from wiping out an entire goblin vige, and around 31,360 from his recent duel with Jason. Add that to his remaining 6,000 points, Shye had around 56,362 points to utilize. ''For now, let''s allocate around 26,000 points to upgrade my stats¡­'' After pondering and tapping away for around five minutes, here''s what his stats looked like in exchange for 21,600 points. [Attributes]: [Strength: 150] [Intelligence: 150] [Agility: 150] [Dexterity: 150] [Stamina: 115] [Vitality: 130] [Wisdom: 57] Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin He would''ve allocated a few points in Wisdom had it been unlocked. Unfortunately, the system leveling up to level 3 was not enough to unlock the attribute, leading Shye to believe that Wisdom is much more important than it seemed. ''Now then, let''s try how strong I am with my newly upgraded attributes.'' Since he had three days of free time, Shye decided toplete a few system quests to recover at least a small part of the points he spent to upgrade his attributes. After doing an inventory check, just like what most responsible adventurers do, Shye entered the Derke Advanced Adventurer Zone. ''I should also do an intensive limit check¡­'' Shye thought as he looked at the map in his hands, proceeding towards an area where (C-) ranked creatures were aplenty. [You''ve epted the quest: Hunt: 10 Blood Bulls] The scarlet grasnds, where the (C-) ranked Blood Bulls reside, weren''t that far from the zone''s entrance. Moreover, Blood Bulls were among the most dangerous of (C-) ranked creatures as they always stayed in close proximity to each other, hence, they were the perfect target for Shye''s intensive limit check. In just thirty minutes, Shye arrived at the grasnds, immediately encountering a huge herd of 18 Blood Bulls. ''Oops, gotta practice using appraisal on weaker targets! Appraisal!'' Confirming that there was nothing special about the 18 Blood Bulls on the field, Shye charged at them head-on "Moo? MOOOO!!!" Monstrous creatures had naturally sharp instincts, hence, they were able to sense the charging Shye, mooing at him aggressively before charging as a group. ''Dash!'' ''Power sh!'' *SPURT!* In just one simple yet swift warrior skillbo, more than half of the Blood Bulls dropped dead, including the herd''s leader. Still, the darned creatures were born with unmatched courage, the loss of a leader simply meant the birth of a new one. "MOOOO!!" With one bull seemingly awakening, the others followed its lead, once again charging straight towards Shye, however, this time, the entire herd had a scarlet aura surrounding them. Unfortunately, none of it mattered as they were in by Shye as easily as mowing grass down. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: 10 Blood Bulls! You''ve earned 400 points as a reward!] ''Alright, everything went as expected.'' Shye inwardly thought, satisfied about the results of his head-on sh against the bulls. ''Well then, time to harvest the goods!'' He had an additional motive for selecting Blood Bulls as his target: to obtain their delicious meat and prepare pre-made steaks for himself, influenced by Shirley''s recent obsession with steaks. With a smile on his face, Shye took out his skinning knife, skillfully separating the bull''s hide from its meat. He had done simr things to other creatures in the past. Butchering a mere overgrown cow was nothing to him. In just another thirty minutes, he was done butchering all 18 Blood Bulls harvesting a total of 23 tons of meat. ''Sh*t¡­this is too much beef, no?'' Shye inwardly thought upon seeing the total weight of the meat stored in the system''s inventory. ''Oh well, at least I won''t starve for the next few months!'' Done with his (C-) rank agenda, Shye proceeded to the next ones. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Metal Lizard! You''ve earned 650 points as a reward!] His (C) rank hunt mission ended in the exact same manner, only taking him a few minutes to aplish. Heck, the time it took to travel from the scarlet grasnds to the metallic cliffs was longer than the time it took for him to take out the darned metallic lizard. Once again satisfied with the results of his (C) rank hunt, Shye proceeded to hunt what he believed to be his current limit: (B-) ranked creatures. At his current level, Shye didn''t know whether he could defeat the apex (B-) ranked creatures such as Titanium Demon Apes, hence, he decided to try. [You''ve epted the quest: Hunt: Titanium Demon Ape] After walking for an hour and a half, Shye finally arrived at the location where such apes reside: The Hollow Rainforest. ''F*ck this ce looks dangerous¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed upon seeing the vine and shrubbery-infested rainforest. Once he entered the area, he knew his vision would bepromised. Therefore, he opted to apply several powders on his body to ensure he could detect his opponent before being detected himself. ''Aiihh¡­This darned rainforest!'' Shye inwardlyined as he carefully walked through the vines and dense thickets. Fortunately, the rainforest wasn''t all vines and bushes. After going through numerous thickets¡ªhis heart throbbing in anxiousness, Shye finally arrived at an area that actually looked like a rainforest. ''Haaah¡­Finally.'' Shye heaved a sigh of relief. Now, he could once again focus on his goal of searching for a Titanium Demon Ape. Unfortunately, things wouldn''t be so easy every time, especially now that he was trying to hunt a smart monstrous creature. It took him approximately four hours of wandering before finally stumbling upon what appeared to be air, extending further underground. ''Tch¡­I can''t just go down this narrowir now, can I?'' Smarter than he once was, Shye opted to wait atop a tree. He searched for information about the Titanium Demon Ape in the Adventurer Encyclopedia and it stated that such apes indeed sometimes buildirs extending underground. ''This is starting to get way too dangerous¡­'' Shye thought to himself upon witnessing the sun''s descent. ''If this darned monkey doesn''te out in the next hour, I will have to continue this tomorrow¡­'' After a string of unfortunate events during his hunt for a Titanium Demon Ape, he finally caught his first stroke of luck. "OOOAAOOHH!" Just when Shye was about to leave, he suddenly heard a spine-chilling monkey howl, prompting him to turn his head and look at their once more. The entrance slightly shook, revealing a harrowing creature in its full glory. Chapter 320: Destroying an Apex (B-) Creature ''Damn, this creature looks way too creepy, no?'' Shye inwardly thought as he gazed at the Titanium Demon Ape. It looked strong. At a height of 2.25 meters, its body resembled that of a gori, while its head looked simr to that of an orangutan''s, adorned with two short horns protruding from either side of its forehead. Its appearance was profoundly unsettling, especially amplified by thezy yet faintly smiling expression and droopy eyes. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Titanium Demon Ape [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] A ridiculously tough and powerful ape with a mild demonic bloodline. Although this ape appears intelligent, it actually isn''t as it prefers direct strength confrontations than witty maneuvers. Still, this primate has the capability to at least set basic traps to lure adventurers. [Skills]: [Primate Hook Lv.5] [Primate Smash Lv.5] [Bite Lv.5] [Primate Backfist Lv.5] [Demonic Rage Lv.3 (Rare)] [Strength: 235] [Intelligence: 50 ] [Agility: 155] [Dexterity: 140] [Stamina: 200] [Vitality: 250]: [Wisdom: 40] [Exit System] ''What an absolute f*cking machine of a monstrous creature!'' Shye inwardly eximed upon seeing the ridiculous stats of the Titanium Demon Ape. ''250 points on vitality? You''ve got to be kidding me¡­How is this thing only (B-) ranked?!'' Shye didn''t want to fight the darned thing, absolutely despising the lethargic yet slightly confident look on its face. The creature looked like it would be able to predict all of his attacks and kill him in a few seconds! He knew that this impression of his would only remain an impression though as the creature clearly didn''t have a high intelligence stat and was obviously built for head-on battles. Forcefully shaking off the doubts in his head, Shye decided to strike first. ''Dash!'' *FWOOSH* Leaves slightly rustled as Shye pushed off from a tree branch, charging straight towards the Titanium Demon Ape with a resolute look. ''If even those bloody cows could sense my attack, there''s no way this thing wouldn''t¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, deciding to finally try one of his new skills. ''de of Despair!'' *SHING!* Promptly after Shye''s hunch about the ape noticing his attack came true, a mix of ck and purple aura shrouded both of his greatswords, appearing extremely menacing. However, since the ape sensed no threat from Shye''s dark-coated greatswords, it chose to disregard the strike and instead aimed to incapacitate the young adventurer with a single swift yet powerful punch. To the Titanium Demon Ape''s misfortune, Shye had the element of surprise on his side. Hence, before the creature could even initiate its punching motion, Shye swiftly moved past it, his sword slicing smoothly through the ape''s body. Shockingly, nothing seemed to have happened, leaving the demonic primate utterly confused. However, after around two more seconds, the de of Despair''s effect kicked in, destroying a sizable chunk of the primates'' stamina and small mana pool. The Titanium Demon Ape started breathing rather raggedly while beads of sweat slowly formed on its creepy face. After feeling the unique warrior skill''s effects, the ape now recognized the danger posed by Shye''s ck and purple des. Gazing at the young adventurer with equal parts ferociousness and wary, the demonic ape stalked Shye, walking closer and closer with its unsettling look. Shye took a deep breath. The ape''s harrowing expression still sent chills down his spine, however, Shye knew that he would have to face even more scary-looking creatures in the future. He had to ovee his fear of spine-chilling creatures. As the Titanium Demon Ape reached the optimal distance, Shye once again charged forth, aiming to sh at the ape''s hind legs. This time, the ape was ready. With its arms entering a back fist motion, it swiped low, aiming to strike the left side of Shye''s body. This attack served two purposes. The first was to force Shye to either dodge or fight it head-on in a contest of strength. The Second was to further study the effects of the ck and purple-coated greatswords. ''Nice, it seems that this ape still doesn''t fully understand the effects of my skill¡­" Choosing to attack the confident ape''s forearms instead, Shye jumped, masterfully dodging the fist before rotating mid-air to sh at the Titanium Demon Ape''s forearm. Again, the ape was confused. It couldn''t fathom how the sword managed to cut through its fur which was almost as tough as titanium. "OOAAOHH¡­HOOHH¡­HOOHH¡­" After two seconds, the effects of the de once again kicked in, causing the ape to feel even more exhausted¡ªits head starting to slightly throb in pain as its mana reserves ran low. Unfortunately, the ape wasn''t able to figure out that the skill was unblockable, hence, itpletely suffered under Shye''s relentless assault, masterfully dodging everything the ape threw while chipping away at the demonic primate''s mana and stamina withpact yet forceful shes. Discover more content at m,v l''e-NovelBin Within a mere five minutes, the ape struggled to concentrate as excruciating pain seared through its head, its mana reserves depletedpletely¡ªits absurdly high stamina¡ªnow running low, causing it to pant heavily in exhaustion. Since the ape''s movement was now way slowerpared to when the fight began, Shye dared to fight it head-on, experimenting with the de of Despair''s effects. He kept the skill activated on the Darkripper in his left hand while deactivating it on the Nightbringer in his right. ''Now, let''s dance you ugly monkey!'' Surging with confidence, Shye stood in front of the Titanium Demon Ape, skillfully ducking to dodge the ape''smon skill, [Primate Hook Lv.5], which was now the only remaining activatable skill in its arsenal as its stamina was close to hitting zero. He then tried shing both greatswords upwards¡ªone easily passing through while one remained embedded in the skin, leaving Shye in an awkward position. If not for the ape''s utter exhaustion he would for sure be smashed by the demonic primate''s downward punch. ''Crap¡­That was close¡­'' Still, after experiencing the awkward sensation of one de passing through while the other didn''t, Shye temporarily stopped experimenting, deciding to finish the ape off. Deactivating de of Despair on both greatswords, Shye once again stood his ground in front of the ape who was breathing heavily while looking at him in utter fury. Albeit tired, the ape continuously attacked. Unfortunately, Shye was simply too fast for such exhausted attacks, allowing him to dodge the ape''s punches and hammer fists by gracefully jumping, sidestepping, and ducking, making the ape even more tired as its attack hit nothing but air. In the middle of each dodge, Shye masterfully sneaked in a few counterattacks, wounding the tough ape all over its body. Unfortunately, his raw strength wasn''t enough to pierce deep into the Titanium Demon Ape''s tough body. Hence, Shye activated both of his now level 3 [Fallen] skills¡ªhis trump cards. The ape''s heart was momentarily enveloped by fear as a pair of now ck-colored, rotting mana wings emerged from Shye''s back, followed by a blood-curdling how which resembled those of ancient demons, and since the ape''s gics were closely rted to demons, it was intensely affected by the howl¡ªfearing it way more than other creatures. As warm energy brought about by the temporary attribute buffs of the howl coursed through Shye''s body, he felt more confident than ever. The confidence wasn''t unfounded though as with just a single, [Power sh Lv.5]-empowered sh, an enormous head hurtled through the air, prompting ck, viscous blood to spurt out weakly from the headless neck. Shortly after, the ape''s body copsed on the ground. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Titanium Demon Ape! You''ve earned 4,000 points as a reward!] Chapter 321: Ady and Mithy ''Huff¡­Huff¡­F*ck! F*ck! Is it still chasing me?!'' One moment, Shye was celebrating an easy victory against an apex (B-) ranked creature; the next, he found himself frantically fleeing for his life. He was about to harvest the seble goods from the ape''s corpse when suddenly, he sensed a spine-tingling sensation from behind him. Promptly after, he made a mad dash towards the direction opposite to where he felt the dangerous sensation, only toe face to face with the monster itself who smiled creepily at him as though mocking him: "Hahaha, you fell for my trap, idiot. Now, you''re mine." What he came face to face with was a huge green bug standing on two muscr legs with feet that only had two fingers as sharp as ws. In the ce of its two hands were sharp scythes that could easily split his body in half while in its back were three pairs of dragonfly wings. The creature didn''t look as unsettling as the ape, however, Shye''s internal rm bells told him that the creature was way more dangerous than the ape. Subconsciously, he swung both of its greatswords in a diagonal shing motion, only for it to be cleanly blocked by the bug using its scythes. Shortly afterward, Shye experienced intense abdominal pain as the creature''s foot ws sank moderately into his body during a ferocious kick, sending him hurtling through the air. If not for his tough body, he would''ve probably suffered a grievous injury. Since he was able to at least take the kick without losing consciousness, Shye was able to use the strong momentum to his advantage, allowing him to disappear from the darned creature''s line of sight with a single strong p of his ck, rotten mana wings. Naturally, the creature didn''t give up so easily, attempting to chase him for two whole minutes before Shye was able to sessfully shake it off with abination of every repositioning skill in his arsenal and various emergency powders to prevent the terrifying bug from easily tracking him. He would have rather faced being devoured by anything other than those cursed insect mandibles. Regrettably, Shye couldn''t even afford the luxury of using appraisal to identify the bug creature''s name. Nheless, he was certain it was an apex (B) ranked creature, judging from the spine-tingling sensation it evoked¡ªa sensation less intense than that of the (A-) ranked ember wyvern but far surpassing that of the Titanium Demon Ape. Shye didn''t dare ck off, continuing to madly run for his life for fifteen whole minutes before momentarily stopping to look back. Upon realizing that the spine-chilling sensation of danger was gone, Shye breathed a sigh of relief¡ªhis heart still racing wildly. Had it not been for the Titanium Demon Ape''s corpse, which the bug creature could consume, it likely wouldn''t have given up on chasing him so easily. After that specific incident, Shye temporarily avoided potentially dangerous ces like the hollow rainforest, opting to heed the map''s warning regarding perilous zones within the Derke Advanced Adventurer Zone. For the next two days, Shye continuously hunted inside the mentioned adventurer zone, primarily targeting (C-) to (B-) ranked creatures, allowing him to earn 6,300 points in two days. ¡­ "Who''s next?" Meido''s familiar voice sounded, prompting the people in the queue to stand up with excited looks on their faces. It had been three days since Meido epted an order, and many among them pointed fingers at the troublesome ashen-haired young man who had jumped the queue and somehow been chosen by Meido. What other reason could there be for her staying confined within her smithy, if not to fulfill the young man''s order? This specific young man! "Me!" "Oh? Crowley! Wee. I''m done with your order,e, I''ll show you." *BANG!* This time, it was Shye who mmed the door shut, further enraging the adventurers outside Meido''s shop. As the two of them walked towards the smithing area, the young cksmith suddenly spoke: "Well, I thought I should let you know. As promised I was able to craft a high-quality mithril-tier greatsword for you. However¡­the other one¡­" Hearing Meido''s sudden words, Shye felt anxious. He was ted to finally have an expelvoid mithril-tier greatsword. However, if Meido happened to fail in crafting the other greatsword, it would be a significant setback for him, enough to overshadow the joy brought by the mithril-tier one. Hopefully, he could at least retrieve the high-grade inferno stone. Shye knew that there was a chance that cksmiths would fail in creating a high-tier weapon, especially when the crafting material wasn''t an ore but something harvested from a monstrous creature. Nheless, experiencing it for himself was rather disheartening. "W-What happened to the other one? Did you fail?" Shye asked with a racing heart and a worried expression. "Huh? What are you talking about? Are you still half asleep? Me? Fail? Stop dreaming. The other greatsword ended up as a low-quality adamantite-tier greatsword with a high-grade inferno stone enchantment." *BOOM!* Hearing Meido''s words, Shye suddenly felt his head spinning, confused whether what he heard was real or not. "D-D-Did you just say adamantite-tier? Did I hear correctly?" "Yes, I said adamantite-tier. I advise you to clean your ears regrly as it would help you hear things better." "B-But why did you use the inferno stone to enchant the adamantite-tier instead of the expelvoid gemstone?" "Huh? Didn''t you ask me to use the expelvoid gemstone on the mithril-tier greatsword? That''s why I used the inferno gemstone on the adamantite-tier one." Recalling his instructions four days ago, Shye couldn''t help but p his forehead. Well, he couldn''t really me himself, after all, how could he have expected that the young cksmith would overdeliver? "Do you remember now?" "Yeah, I remember now. Still, I can''t believe you managed to craft an adamantite-tier greatsword from a below-average quality prime dragon scale!" "Heh, who do you think I am? I''m a future legend smith!" "Hahaha! I do believe you. Oh, by the way, have you named them?" "Hmmph! Of course, they can be considered my children, after all. The adamantite-tier greatsword is called Ady while the mithril-tier one is called Mithy!" "..." Chapter 322: Sword Realm "The heck do you mean by Ady and Mithy?! I''ll do the poor greatswords a favor and call them Adamance and Mithra!" Shye mutterediningly to himself as he strolled along the streets of Kossin City after a very sessful transaction. Except for the diabolical names, everything about the greatswords was perfect, making Shye feel extremely lucky that he was able to enter into a partnership deal with Meido. ''Speaking of partnership¡­Isn''t the Meido brand logo carved in the body of my greatswords way too big?!'' Shye once againined. Unfortunately, he could onlyin to himself as he wouldn''t even have the chance to ask the young, talented cksmith to craft anything for him if not for their partnership thates with a huge 40% discount. ''Well, it shouldn''t affect the performance of the greatswords so¡­it''s fine, I guess¡­'' After a few more minutes of walking, a sudden burst of appreciation for Meido shrouded his little heart. ''Now, I should do my part and bring more high-quality customers to her¡­'' Upon seeing the long line of customers in front of Meido''s shop, one would think that her business was doing great. However, the truth was, even after cing second in the cksmithpetition, her shop could be considered doing good at best. Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin It wasn''t going "great" at all as most of the adventurers in the long queue were ranked silver to tinum. Although there were a few ruby and emerald-ranked adventurers in the queue, there weren''t any diamond-ranked or higher which simply meant that the high-ranked adventurers didn''t believe that she would do a good job when it came to crafting higher-ranked weapons and armor using higher-ranked materials. The theme of the cksmithpetition finals was a high-grade relic of only the steel tier, after all. Naturally, since Meido was quite young, the high-ranked adventurers were finding it hard to risk their hard-earned materials on a young and unproven cksmith. In their minds, the older the cksmith was, the more experienced he/she would be when it came to handling higher-ranked and rarer crafting materials. Nheless, if he could rise to prominence and prove to them that Meido brand equipment could take one to the pinnacle of adventurers, then they would surelye rushing to her door. For now, she had to make do with the low-ranked clients. Arriving at the city gates, he suddenly remembered something which made him don a mocking smile. Pausing briefly, Shye withdrew Mithra, one of his newly acquired Meido brand greatswords, and fetched a sword strap from the system''s inventory. With pride, he affixed Mithra onto his back, prominently disying the sizable Meido brand emblem at its center. He then proceeded to exit the city gates while looking straight at the loathsome city guard''s eyes. "Oh? Hahahaha! I remember you, boy. Didn''t I tell you that you wouldn''t achieve anything? You wasted four d¨C?!" "Huh? If you still can''t see such a huge Meido brand emblem on my newly crafted greatsword, then I advise you to resign from your position! You would probably mistake a criminal for a regr adventurer!" Shye mocked before swiftly leaving the city, not waiting for the guard''s reply. As a result, the guard became so angry that he wanted to challenge Shye to a duel. Unfortunately, Shye was already too far, and he couldn''t leave his post. Hence, he had no choice but to swallow his anger, leaving him frustrated and ill-tempered for three days after being humiliated by an arrogant young adventurer. As for Shye, he was in one of the greatest moods he ever had in his life. After all, not only did he manage to visit and have a lot of good s*x with his girlfriend but he also managed to earn a lot of points in the process. In addition to this, he obtained Adamance and Mithra. Pissing the loathsome guard off was also a good bonus. ''What a sessful trip this has been¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, pleased about the results of his trip. Now, all he had to do was walk towards Joltren City, the nearest city with a teleporter, and teleport back to Utenburg City¡ªanother teleporter-equipped city merely two days'' travel from Balkrow. Only, exiting Meido''s cksmith shop with a huge smile on one''s face was bound to attract unwanted attention. From who? Robbers, of course! As Shye arrived at a less-frequented path in the middle of an intermediate adventurer zone, an area he needed to pass through to arrive faster at Joltren City, grating chuckles echoed from the shadows of mature spruce trees. Soon after, human silhouettes emerged one by one, prompting Shye to furrow his brows in annoyance. ''Tch¡­I should''ve known that there would always be a few idiots in that long queue of adventurers¡­'' Shye thought, not the least bit intimidated by the clowns who dared assassinate him. "Heh, you should''ve been a good boy and queued at the back of the line!" An unfamiliar middle-aged adventurer with medium-length ck hair tied up in a bun and schrly physique said. "No way. Why would I do that when I have order priority? Please use your brain¡­Well, if you have one." Shye retorted, appraising all seven assassins as his mouth fought a verbal battle with the assassins'' leader. Shortly after, Shye couldn''t help but burst out intoughter, bringing anger to the middle-aged man''s heart. "Heh, let''s see if you can stillugh after we slit your throat, kid." Shye couldn''t care less about the middle-aged man''s idiotic threat. ''Five adventurers of tinum rank,prising two archers, three mages, and two adventurers of ruby rank¡ªa warrior and a scout¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he eyed the assassins with disdain. ''These prancing clowns will serve as great targets for my new unique skill¡­'' "Go, kill him." Upon hearing their leader''smand, the ruby-ranked warrior immediately charged toward Shye while the leader, the ruby-ranked scout, circled Shye to look for an opportune time to strike. As for the mages and the archers, they started firing away. Had Shye been a regr tinum-ranked adventurer, he would''ve surely perished. Unfortunately for the assassins, he was as far as one can get from words like "standard" and "regr". ''Sword Realm.'' Promptly after Shye thought of his new unique-tier skill''s name, a purple canvas materialized beneath his feet, swiftly expanding at the speed of sound to envelop him and the assassins, forming a small purple world around them. Subsequently, ck silhouettes representing various types of swords began to appear one by one, totaling 439 in number, before slowly rotating above them. The assassins'' nightmare didn''t stop there, in fact, it only began as a pair of ck, rotten mana wings emerged from Shye''s back, followed by a blood-curdling howl of a myriad of tones and voices, sending chills down the assassins'' spines. "B-Boss Gadon! I can''t use my mana!" "M-Me too! I can''t fire a single mana arrow!" "Sh*t! Me too!" Hearing his underlings'' panic-stricken voices, Gadon broke out in a cold sweat. As a scout, he had a few skills that utilize mana as a catalyst, however, when he tried using those skills, he wasn''t able to activate even a single one. "Y-You bastard! What did you do?!" "Nothing, just setting the tone for when I murder all of you like the helpless littlembs you are." Indeed, the assassins'' were now like helpless littlembs as Shye''s unique-tier skill not only disabled mana-activated skills but also enhanced all attributes of those holding a sword¡ªmeaning him and the other ruby-ranked warrior, who was the assassins'' best hope of taking him down. In addition to this, the attributes of everyone who doesn''t have a sword in his/her hands were reduced by a sizable 30 percent. With a single p of his rotten wings, Shye appeared in front of Gadon, stunning him with his skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.3], before decapitating his head¡ªall in one swift motion. Witnessing their leader''s terrifying final moments when his headless body twitched lifelessly on the ground, the morale of the remaining assassins finally copsed. The mages screamed in terror as they used their staff like baseball bats, attempting to hit the purple canvas in hopes of escaping the darned realm. On the other hand, one of the archers sat in despair, clutching his head like a lunatic while the other charged at Shye, stabbing at him with aughable skinning knife. As for the ruby-ranked warrior, he tried fighting the ashen-haired young man head-on. He also benefited from the buffs of the sword realm, unfortunately, his attributes were way too lowpared to Shye. In just a single sh, Adamance and Mithra shed the ruby-ranked warrior''s falchion in half along with his body. Naturally, once the warrior was dead, everyone was just easy pickings. Shye killed the fragile archer who dared charge at him with a skinning knife by temporarily returning Mithra to the inventory before and pping the shit out of the idiotic ranged adventurer. He then watched the remaining four go insane with fear, not noticing a creepy smile emerging from the corners of his mouth as he did so, before separating their heads from their bodies. As their headless corpses plopped to the ground, Shye deactivated the sword realm. Looting all of the bodies for a total of 43,000 silver coins before equipping the high-grade ruby-tier elemental staff relic he got from Soaring Raven and burning each corpse to ashes. He didn''t even make much effort to clean up the crime scene. After all, he recorded everything in a recording crystal, hence, he had proof that he was only defending himself from assassins. Moreover, he would be long gone before someone could even notice the unusual amount of ashes on the ground. With an eerily satisfied smile, Shye left the area and continued on his journey toward Balkrow. Chapter 323: Megan Wolfe "Phew¡­Finally back¡­" Staring with a slight smile at the familiar Balkrow city gates, Shye entered, heading straight towards the guild branch headquarters. If one would ask him, his inclination would lean towards spending every moment with Shirley. Regrettably, the current circumstances didn''t permit it, as he found himself encumbered by the demands of the system''s mandatory quest. He could opt to not strive toplete the mandatory quests, however, the repercussions would be far too severe should he do so. First, he wouldck the strength to even consider searching for his parents. Second, all the benefits he obtained from the system would cease to exist and he would revert to being an average adventurer. One who would probably not be able to keep the affection of an excellent and driven young woman like Shirley. Third, he would be betraying his benefactor''s expectations. And fourth, his little sister would cease to have a strong pir of support. All that just for the short-term happiness of a few months or years before it alles crashing down upon him? No, thank you. The wiser course of action would naturally be to finish everything he had to do as early as possible. Once everything was over, he could opt to live a peaceful life with Shirley, start a family with her, engage in asional adventures to sustain their livelihood, visit his younger sister and, if possible, reunite with his parents, and eventually pass away peacefully in old age. His dream was rather simple. However, the amount of work he had to put in before achieving such a simple dream was bound to be astronomical. Nheless, he would never back down. For now, it would be better for him to focus on his career so that in the future, hopefully by his 30s, he would be chilling with his children. It all starts right there, on the building right in front of him: Raven''s de Adventurer Guild Balkrow Branch. Entering the branch headquarters, Shye was greeted by a familiar, loud feminine voice. "Boss! You''re finally back!" Seira said with a wide smile on her face. She had already raised all the skills Shye had bestowed upon him to level three, and she hadpleted a (C)-ranked quest solo, astonishing everyone in the guild and cementing her reputation as an elite adventurer. In the end, true elite status is attained only through the sessfulpletion of a solo quest where the quest''s rank matches that of the adventurer as it''s widely known that an average adventurer would always be weaker against a creature of equivalent rank. Hence, it would be impossible for one toplete a quest of the equivalent rank unless one is an elite adventurer. "So, boss, are we going on a quest tod¨C" "So you''re the notorious rookie everyone has been talking about? Hahahaha! I truly cannot fathom how the illustrious Shye Crowley, ace representative of this year''s champion academy, had not been recognized by a single soul in the guild." A young woman''s soothing voice suddenly sounded from the rewards desk''s lobby, prompting everyone to turn their heads toward its source, including Shye. ''Someone finally recognized me huh?'' Shye inwardlymented, a bit sad that he wouldn''t have the opportunity to umte a substantial number of points by unveiling his identity before thousands. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 542 points!] ''Haaah¡­I knew it. Well, it can''t be helped.'' Meanwhile, the guildsmen chilling in the lobby were going crazy at the sudden revtion. "H-Holy sh*t!! This guy''s the ace representative of this year''s champion academy?! No wonder he would get admitted without going through the examination!" "C-Crap. Indeed¡­How did no one recognize him?!" "I-I knew it! That''s why his name sounds so familiar!" "How did our guild manage to recruit such an illustrious individual?! It''s typically the top-ranked guild, Divine Judgement Adventurer Guild, that attracts such super rookies." "F*ck! F*ck! And I dared despise him! Do you guys think he''s the type to hold grudges?" Hearing the hubbub that she started, the young woman was slightly irked, not expecting her guildsman to stir up such a hugemotion over a mere ace representative of a champion academy. Well, those who consider themselves true elites don''t hold academy graduates in any regard whatsoever and their first instinct was to prove that even the top-tier academy graduates, who had to engage in a scrap fight with other students just to obtain what they needed from the academy, wouldn''t be able to hold a candle against top-tier true elites. And she, Megan Wolfe, the second-ranked true elite in the Balkrow branch, believes that she would wipe the floor with this so-called strongest academy graduate. "So? Who the hell are you?" Shye asked the young woman with long pink hair and a slender physique with a cold expression. This darned chick just ruined one of his schemes to earn a lot of points; naturally, he would be annoyed. "I''m Megan Wolfe, Balkrow branch''s second-ranked rookie, the one who will expose how much of a fraud you are in the uing rookie representative selection tournament!" "This crap again? The 9th-ranked Mason and the sixth-ranked redhead both said the same thing. Didn''t I just destroy them both? You so-called true elites never learn, do you? I''m telling you now, you won''t win against me so quit your pretentious and idiotic acts. That way, you won''t bring embarrassment upon yourselves once I destroy you just like how I would everyone else." Shye sneered in disdain, tired of the bullshit spewed out by the annoying true elites. He wasn''t even bragging and was simply stating facts. Find your next read on m_v l|e-NovelBin Shye just doesn''t believe that someone in the same generation as him would be able to defeat him. Well, not in Valenzia Region, at least. Shockingly though, Megan wasn''t annoyed by Shye''s words in the slightest and instead, smiled sweetly upon hearing his sharp retort. "I heard that you were arrogant and it seems that the rumors were true. I just hope that you can keep this arrogant act of yours up when I humiliate you in front of all our guildmates, including the emeralds." The pink-haired young woman said before proceeding to ignore Shye and exiting the branch headquarters with a smile. ''Heh, I truly can''t help butugh at idiots like these. You''re gonna defeat me? How? You''re a mage!'' Chapter 324: Scuffling With Emeralds Since Megan decided to end their conversation, Shye was all too happy toply. Turning his attention back to Seira, Shye replied: "Yeah, we''re going on a quest." "N-N-Nevermind that, b¨Cboss! You''re the ace representative of this year''s champion academy?! Why didn''t you tell me that you''re such a big shot?!" "What do you mean by big shot? Aren''t I a mere tinum-ranked adventurer right now?" "S-Still! Not everyone can be the ace representative of a champion academy, you know?!" "Yeah, yeah, I already know I''m amazing. Come, I need to ask Miss Aya something." She wanted to sing her boss'' praises more, but regrettably, Shye just wasn''t interested. Hence, she could only follow along while suppressing the urge to bber on. "Hello, Miss Aya." "H-Hello, Sir Crowley. Wee back." "Thank you. I have a question. I''ve gained ess to the special lounge on the second floor recently, while Seira hasn''t. Can I return the quest scroll to you and request that you register quests under both our names?" "Ah¡­yes. That''s feasible, however¡­" "What?" "The emerald-ranked adventurers might give you trouble if you proceed with that, as they are not fond of ruby-ranked adventurers and below reducing their quest options..." "Ahh¡­You don''t have to worry about that. So basically, as long as I can bring the quest scroll back to you, Seira can join me, correct?" "Yes, Sir Crowley, that''s correct." "I see, thank you, Miss Aya. I''ll be back." Knowing what he needed to do next, Shye instructed the worried Seira to wait for him in the first floor''s lobby. "H-Hey! Look! Where is he going?!" "There''s just no way he already obtained ess to the special lounge!" "At this point, everything just makes sense. He''s the ace representative of this year''s champion academy. His actions are not something meremoners like us could fathom." Amidst over five hundred astonished gazes, Shye ascended towards the second floor, once again etching his name in Balkrow Guild Branch''s history as the first tinum-ranked member to be granted ess to the special lounge. However, shortly after, the onlookers recalled something and couldn''t contain their excitement. Many of them stood up and gathered near the staircases, eager to eavesdrop. The emeralds were aloof individuals as they were the ones up for promotion to a different, higher-ranked branch, and most of them didn''t like lower-ranked adventurers entering the special lounge regardless of whether they had ess or not. On the other hand, the notorious rookie, who turned out to be such a super rookie, was someone who never backed down from a confrontation. This could only mean one thing: another sh was imminent. Upon arriving in front of the lounge''s open entrance, heads inevitably turned Shye''s way. Most had cold looks on their faces; others were confused, while a few were apathetic. As usual, Shye didn''t give a single flying f*ck about what the emeralds thought of him, Nonchntly entering and proceeding straight towards the special lounge''s quest board. He then crossed his arms over his chest as he started to carefully read each quest on the board. Such unrestrained actions naturally earned him the ire of a few bad-tempered emeralds, who then looked at each other before deciding on who would show this ill-informed rookie "the ropes". The man who volunteered to teach Shye a lesson was a recently promoted emerald-ranked scout. Given that he, Darius Gaynard, wasmonly regarded as the weakest among the emeralds, he would be the most suitable candidate for the task. Standing up from his seat with a cold smile, Darius approached the ashen-haired rookie, whom everyone has been talking about in recent months, with a not-so-kind intention. "Hey, Shye Crowley, correct?" Hearing someone call his name, Shye subconsciously turned around to look at the individual. "Yes, I''m indeed Shye Crowley." "I know that you think you''re a hotshot and all, but seriously, are you truly that much of an idiot? Don''t you realize there''s an unwritten rule prohibiting adventurers ranked lower than Emerald from entering the special lounge?!" "Huh? And why the hell would I care if there''s an unwritten rule? Write the damn rule first if you want me toply. Idiot." Hearing Shye''s vicious retort¡ªobviouslycking respect for a senior¡ªDarius gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists in utter fury. "I can see you''re just as arrogant as the rumors suggest... If not for my patience and goodwill as a senior adventurer, you''d be lying unconscious on the first floor by now." Darius Gaynard began, staring daggers at Shye as he continued: "I''ll count to three. If you still don''t leave, I''ll beat the sh*t out of you." Unfortunately, such threats would never instill fear in Shye''s heart, especially when it came from a shitty and weak emerald-ranked scout like Darius. Shye already appraised the guy and Darius had nothing else to offer except for his agility and dexterity attributes, which were only a few points higher than Shye''s and were totally bridgeable by his [Fallen] skills. The senior scout''s trump card was a level three [Rare] ability named "Four Clone Assault," which essentially served as a less effective variation of his friend Ian Izanagi''s trump card. Darius was simply the weakest emerald-ranked adventurer he had ever seen. Even Vera, the priestess who watched his duel with the sixth-ranked Farhann, had better stats than Darius. "Oh? Come then. However, make sure that you would beat the sh*t out of me, otherwise, I''ll beat the shit out of you in front of everyone present." Shye retorted with a cold smile, not the least bit intimidated by Darius'' threat. Naturally, the senior scout had heard enough. If this notoriously arrogant rookie wouldn''t respect him, then he shall make the bastard do so. Drawing his dagger out from its sheath, the wooden floor creaked as Darius momentarily disappeared, reappearing behind Shye soon after. He was aware that this was the textbook opening of a scout, however, the emerald scout didn''t care as he didn''t believe that Shye would be able to react. Unfortunately for him, Shye was so damn used to this opening that he was even able to predict when and exactly where Darius would reappear. Summoning his new high-grade, ruby-tier elemental staff, Shye grasped it with both arms and shed diagonally as though the staff was a greatsword. ''Power sh.'' *FWOOSH!* Promptly after Darius reappeared, Shye''s elemental staff was already near the senior scout''s face and if not for Darius'' fast reflexes, he would''ve been whacked in the face rather heavily. Swiftly jerking his arm upwards, Darius angled the de of his dagger to block the strike. However, what he didn''t expect was how powerful the blow was. A sickening crack reverberated through the special lounge as Darius'' right arm contorted unnaturally, his right shoulder dislocating as he violently hurtled through the air, crashing back into his vacant seat under the rmed stares of the emeralds. "A-AAARGHHH!! H-HELP ME!! MY ARM!!" Darius screamed in agony, prompting Shye to smile coldly and another emerald-ranked warrior to stand up and charge toward Shye. As the warrior''s tachi entered a shing motion, a red aura suddenly enveloped the sword, generating gusts of wind as it ruthlessly aimed to slice Shye''s right arm off. Naturally, Shye immediately sensed the danger and was about to switch to his greatswords. However, before the emerald-ranked warrior could even reach the optimal striking distance, a middle-aged man abruptly materialized between them. He kicked the warrior''s tachi away, sending it flying briefly before skidding to a stop on the ground a few meters away from Vera. "Enough!" Chapter 325: Ex-Emeralds "W-We greet the guild master!" The emeralds said in unison as they offered Corvus a profound bow, prompting the confused Shye to do the same. "What''s going on here? Why did Darius end up like that?" Corvus asked¡ªa hint of fury visible on his face. "Reporting to the guild master! Shye Crowley suddenly attacked Darius after the slightest of arguments and misunderstanding, leading to his current injured state!" Hearing the emerald warrior''s words, Corvus raised his eyebrows as he turned his head to look at Shye. "Crowley, is what Bert said true?" "Heh, the slightest of arguments and misunderstanding? Didn''t all of you see him attack me first? Guild Master Corvus, I was merely utilizing my ess to the special lounge and was searching for a quest when suddenly, that bastard over there opted to pick a fight with me, saying something about an unwritten rule that tinum-ranked adventurers like me don''t have the right to enter the special lounge regardless of whether I have ess or not. In my opinion, these guys simply don''t respect you." Shye bluntly stated, causing most of the emeralds to pale in fright. They indeed don''t like lower-ranked adventurers entering the special lounge which they deemed "emeralds only". However, they would never dare disrespect Corvus. Well, intentionally, at least¡ªsince in this case, "not caring" whether the tinum-ranked adventurer had ess or not to the special lounge was indeed disrespecting the permissions granted by Corvus. As for Corvus, he was already aware of the unwritten rule set by the emeralds long ago. However, he required evidence and someone willing to confront the emeralds to issue a warning they couldn''t casually dismiss with mere bows and awkward smiles. Thanks to Shye, he could finally abolish the foolish unwritten rule, enabling talented lower-ranked adventurers to reach their peak much faster. "T-T-That''s absolutely not true! Guild Master Corvus! You must believe me!" Bert desperately begged, unfortunately, Corvus wasn''t an idiot. Moreover, there was someone in the lounge who would never lie: Luna Gonzales, the strongest adventurer of Raven''s de Balkrow Branch. ncing sternly at Luna, who was among the apathetic ones when Shye entered, Corvus asked: "Luna, what happened here?" "Reporting to the guild master. Crowley is telling the truth, he was simply looking for a quest when that weakling over there suddenly stood up, picked a fight, and attacked him." Hearing Luna''s words, Darius forced himself to stand up, joining Bert in kneeling on the ground. "G-Guild Master! We''re wrong! We''ll never do it again! Please, forgive us!" They pleaded in unison. Unfortunately, Corvus was determined to abolish their stupid unwritten rule today and if he didn''t punish them ordingly for disobeying and lying, the Emeralds would simply continue to bully talented rookies. Hence, it was inevitable for the two of them to end up as good examples of what would happen to those who dared disrespect and lie to the guild master. "Hmmph! If I forgive you, people will think I''m a pushover. Hand over your adventurer licenses and guild tokens. Don''t make me take them by force." Corvus threatened with a furious face, prompting Darius and Bert to swiftly retrieve the requested items before giving them to the guild master. "Good. From now on you are no longer adventurers. Do not even consider registering with other guilds, as this revocation will be reported to the World Adventurer Association. That concludes our business; you are now free to depart the guild." Hearing Corvus'' words, the two emeralds paled in fright, repeatedly begging but to no avail. Ultimately, they were expelled by the very emerald-ranked adventurers they once considered friends. As for Shye, he simply sneered in disdain before resuming his search for an appropriate quest. ''Hoh? So all the quests here are (B-) and above huh?'' Shye inwardly thought as he briefly scanned the (B-) quests before proceeding to check the (B) ranked ones. He had approximately two and a half months remaining before the rookie representative selection tournament. His goal was to umte as many points as possible and invest them all into enhancing his attributes, aiming to emerge victorious in thepetition and secure his spot in Balkrow City''s Rookie Competition. There, he would seize the opportunity to earn even more points. After scanning the special lounge''s quest board for a few minutes, a particr (B) ranked quest caught his attention as this was the first time he saw such a request. ==== Quest Description: Kill or Capture Bandit Leader, Connthor McGregory Quest Rank: B Details: Conn''Thor McGregory, an ex-emerald-ranked warrior-ss adventurer whose license was revoked after being proven guilty of human trafficking, established a bandit group called Notorious Bandits and started kidnapping young women aged 12 and below from nearby viges and towns. Capturing Conn-Thor will yield double rewards. Location: Somewhere near Valvan Vige located close to the Axsenzure Intermediate Adventurer Zone Rmended Party Size: 4 (Emerald), Experience tales at m v|l e''-NovelBin Rewards: 20,000 silver coins and 2,000 contribution points. Time limit (Countdown starts upon registration): 30 days Note: An additional 200 silver coins and 30 contribution points will be awarded for each hostage rescued. ==== ''Hmm¡­This mission looks good¡­However, I have to make a few preparations¡­'' Shye inwardly thought as he grabbed the quest scroll and strode out of the special lounge under the furious gazes of the gatekeeper emeralds. Witnessing Shye''s carefree walk as he exited the special lounge, the onlookers who were eagerly eavesdropping were in utter disbelief. From what they heard, Darius, the most recently promoted emerald, picked a fight with Shye. Unfortunately, they weren''t able to hear anything regarding the victor of the scuffle, leaving them and the other spectators feeling rather disappointed as they awaited the news. However, seeing Shye''s calm and carefree disposition, they would be stupid if they still couldn''t figure out who won. Only, the truth was simply too hard for them to take in. Defeating a scout-ss emerald in a one-on-one fight as a tinum-ranked adventurer? Who else can do that except for a true super rookie like Shye? [Congrattions! You''ve earned 550 points!] Instantly, Shye''s standing in their estimation for rookie rankings soared to the top spot. However, it merely implied that they thought he could, at the very least,pete evenly with the top-ranked rookie of this year''s admission exam, Ace Silva. It didn''t suggest that they considered him stronger, as Ace was virtually unstoppable in the rookie admission exam. Waiting for Shye below the staircases was Seira, who gave him a thumbs up for proving yet again that he was an invincible boss, following him shortly after toward Aya''s desk. "W-Wait one moment, Sir Crowley. I shall register the quest under your and Miss Ramah''s name." Chapter 326: Sinister Plan Working Wonders "F*ck! We''ve been looking for that darnedir for days!" Shye couldn''t help but curse as he kicked a pebble with full force, sending it flying toward a rock and shattering it. "B-Boss! Calm down! We''ll be able to find their soon! H-How about we try waiting for them to abduct a twelve-year-old girl from some vige?!" She wasn''t used to seeing this side of Shye, hence, in a panic, she blurted out one of the most evil ns her slightly naive mind would''ve thought of. Hearing Seira''s suggestion, Shye subconsciously looked at her with an expression of disbelief, causing her to have a sudden realization of how evil her n was. What she didn''t expect was Shye''s reaction to her sinister n. "That! Yes¡­Maybe we can do that¡­" This time, it was Seira who looked at Shye with disbelief written all over her face. ''T-This guy even dares to use a little girl as bait?'' Well, she couldn''t really reprimand him now, could she? After all, the n came straight out of her mouth and she was even receiving praise from her boss for it! ¡­ As the exhausted sun''s golden rays started to fade, darkness threatened to consume the world, causing the blue heavenly canvas to turn a chaoticbination of orange, azure, and pink hues. Beneath, two young adventurers were in the middle of executing the most devious n they''ve ever thought of in their lives: waiting for someone to abduct the ten-year-old girl picking berries in the bushes right in front of them. Shye already used an entire adventurer party as bait before so he was faring a bit betterpared to Seira who couldn''t believe that such a sinister n came straight out of her mouth. Unfortunately, they''ve already been trying to locate their for two whole weeks but to no avail. They had no more time to waste as the mission had a deadline of 30 days, hence, the two of them had no choice but to bank on Seira''s genius yet distressing n. After another half-hour of fruitless waiting, the sun finally set, prompting the ten-year-old girl to return to the vige and head straight home, knowing that most of the reported abductions ur at night. Sadly, the kid''s decision to return was a wee bit toote as a young man with short ck hair, slender yet toned physique, and was around the same age as Shye was already looking at her from atop a tree branch with a creepy smile. "Ahahh¡­what a beautiful kid¡­The boss will probably give me a few extra silver coins tonight if I manage to capture this little angel." the young man muttered, springing into action the next moment. Jumping down from the tree branch, the young mannded on grass, causing it to rustle and attract the young girl''s reaction. Noticing the eerie smile on the young man''s face, the little girl immediately realized that this guy was probably one of those people who abducted young girls like her. "Help!! Help me!! Someone!! Help!!" With a racing heart, the young girl screamed, running as fast as she could towards the vige. Sadly, there was no way for her to outrun an ex-adventurer turned bandit. After just two seconds, the young bandit grabbed the little girl by her waist and knocked her out by giving her one moderate chop to the neck. Witnessing the abduction happening right in front of her, Seira was about to throw the entire n out the window and charge towards the young bandit, however, a strong hand grabbed her wrists and swiftly pulled her back. "Shh! Stay strong. Don''t worry, I won''t let anything happen to the little girl. For now, trust me, and let''s follow this guy back to their." Shye whispered while breathing heavily. He almost jumped out. Fortunately, his rationality won, allowing his brain, instead of his emotions, to take control of his actions. Allowing the young bandit to create the optimal distance, the young adventurers followed with stifled rage, their hearts racing wildly as they gave everything they had to focus on the task at hand. After all, one mistake could mean the young girl''s life. Tracking the bandit while maintaining optimal distance was very difficult, and a lot of times, Seira was left behind. However, Shye left decent tracks for her to follow, hence, she was able to catch up from time to time, only to be left behind again. Stay connected via m-v l|e''-NovelBin She didn''t hold it against her boss though, fully knowing that the young girl''s safety was of utmost importance. The young bandit looked around from time to time, ensuring that no one was following him before silently rushing towards the next area. They traversed dense shrubbery, small forests, and a tiny swamp before eventually reaching an area beneath a mountain, where Shye discovered what appeared to be a beast den nestled between tworge rocks. A few secondster, Seira arrived next to Shye, slightly panting and sweating, yet her gaze remained fixed on the bandit, poised to act at a moment''s notice. Looking around to ensure that he wasn''t followed, the bandit momentarily dropped the unconscious young girl on the ground, pushing therge rock on the left shortly after. Once done, the young bandit turned his head to pick up the young girl, however, she¡­was gone. "Oh no! I''ve been foll¨C" *CHOP!* "Yes, you''ve been followed, idiot," Shye whispered as he caught the young bandit''s limping body after chopping the bandit''s neck with his right hand. ''Phew¡­phase one sessful¡­'' Shye was about to order Seira to tie the bastard up. However, before he could even speak, his underling was already on it, tying the young bandit up¡ªextra f*cking tight, with fury written all over her face. "Scum." She whispered in a satisfied manner after sessfully capturing the bandit for interrogation. Shye motioned for Seira to hold onto the little girl while he took charge of carrying the unconscious bandit. "Let''s go, return the little girl to the vige first and meet me at the area we agreed on to interrogate this bastard." "Roger, Boss!" Chapter 327: Interrogation "Uwaaaaahh!! Mama!!" The little girl cried as she rushed towards her mom, who had her arms wide open, prepared to embrace her child while also sobbing. "Anna! I thought I lost you forever!" Anna''s mom said, lifting Anna and strongly embracing her. Her husband was already gone and her sole reason to live was her ten-year-old kid. She was already prepared to end her life. Fortunately, some kind-hearted adventurers saved her from the evil clutches of the bandits. Witnessing the mother and daughter''s emotional reunion, guilt slowly consumed Seira''s heart, simply worsening as Anna''s mom thanked her profusely. With an awkward smile, Seira left the mother and daughter pair who continued to hug each other. ''F*ck! F*ck! Why did I even suggest that kind of sinister n!'' Seira inwardly cursed. Your next journey awaits at m v|l-e''-NovelBin If they somehow f*cked the n up, the earlier heartwarming scene would never have happened. Inwardly vowing never to suggest anything like that again, Seira headed toward where she and Shye agreed to meet. "You! Ugly! F*ck! Still won''t talk?!" Shye''s voice, apanied by a few whipping sounds, echoed throughout the night, aiding Seira in locating him effortlessly. "Boss! I''m here!" Seira eximed upon arriving, looking at the terrified young bandit with utter hostility. "MMPPH!!" The bandit screamed in agony, prompting Seira to slightly wince as she imagined how painful that power-sh-empowered whip was. "Come on!! Talk!! Tell me the answers to my questions!!" Shye shouted at the top of his lungs with every ruthless whip strike. Angry as she was at the bandit, Seira couldn''t help but speak out after realizing the injustice the bandit was suffering. The guy was basically being bullied. "B-Boss! How can he answer if you haven''t asked anything? And how could he talk if he''s still gagged?" "Hmm? Oh, you''re right. You!! Why didn''t you say anything when you''re suffering such injustice?! This should teach you to speak like a man! Hyaah! Take this! And That!" Hearing her boss'' words, she finally realized that Shye was venting and that the interrogation hadn''t truly begun yet. However, just when Shye removed the young bandit''s gag to start the true interrogation, the duo was dumbstruck as the young man suddenly desperately uttered his subsequent words. "Puhaah! Please! Just ask your question¡­I''m willing to answer everything¡­Stop hitting me¡­" Clearing his throat after feeling slightly guilty, Shye gave the young bandit a chance. "Alright then, I shall properly ask you a question. However, before that¡­" *SPURT!* "AIIIEHHH!!" The young man once again squealed like a pig as Shye sliced one of his fingers clean off, causing blood to flood out of the harrowing injury. Shye then took out a lesser orb of truth, a weaker variant of what Soaring Raven used to prove his sincerity to them, and then helped himself to the man''s blood that was gushing out of the finger wound. Since his orb of truth was of lower quality, it required more bloodpared to the one Soaring Raven used, to urately tell if the young bandit was lying. This was also the reason why Shye ruthlessly harvested the man''s blood through his sliced finger. "Now then, scum. Tell me, what is the goal of your shitty group?" Shye asked with an arrogant tone, prepared to p the shit out of the young bandit if the guy dared lie to him. "B-Boss Conn simply told us to gather young girls aged twelve and below! I truly don''t know anything else!" The young man stated, prompting the orb to turn blue which meant that he was telling the truth. "Lies!!" *PAH!* A mix of blood and saliva flew out of the young bandit''s mouth as Shye pped the hell out of the man''s right cheek without warning. "DIDN''T IT TURN BLUE?!" The young bandit raged despairingly after being ruthlessly pped even when he was telling the truth. "MHMM! Is it blue? Seira, can you confirm if the orb turned blue?" "Y-Yes, boss! The orb indeed turned blue!" "I see, apologies, I''m a little color blind." "THEN WHY DID YOU SLAP ME IF YOU''RE NOT SURE IF IT TURNED RED OR BLUE?!" "YOU DARE ASK QUESTIONS?!" *PAH!* "Remember, you are only allowed to answer the question. If you talk any more bullshit with that mouth of yours I will p you unconscious. Also, call me supreme boss, you understand?!" "I-I understand, supreme boss¡­" Hearing the young bandit''s satisfactory reply, Shye smiled before continuing: "Good. Second question, how strong are the leading figures of your group? borate in terms of adventurer ranks." "R-Reporting to the supreme boss. Boss Conn-Thor is as strong as a veteran emerald-ranked adventurer. Although his strength is still far from a diamond''s he is stronger than the average emerald-ranked adventurers." The young man honestly replied in hopes of surviving his current predicament. "Below him are the two vice-leaders, the twins Arven and Arsel, both as strong as peak ruby or low-emerald adventurers. Lastly, there are the ten squad captains, all of them as strong as low rubies!" As the lesser orb of truth turned blue, Seira couldn''t help but gulp nervously. With how strong she currently was, she could at least fight on equal footing against the ten squad captains¡ªpossibly even overpower a few of them. However, she would undoubtedly croak when faced with the two vice-captains. Hopefully, her boss could pull out another miracle, otherwise, they''re toast. "Good answer. Third question, do you have a map of yourir?" "N-No, their isn''t that huge so it wasn''t really hard to maneuver inside¡­" Seeing that the orb once again turned blue, Shye nodded satisfactorily. Meanwhile, the young bandit was utterly unsatisfied. ''Didn''t you say you were color blind?!'' The bandit inwardly raged, not daring to voice his thoughts out for fear of getting pped. "Last question, are the young girls still alive? If so, where do you guys keep them?" "A-Answering the supreme boss! M-Most of the young girls are still alive and are held hostage at a small makeshift prison inside their. However, I don''t have any idea about the fate of those who have been summoned to the leader''s room!" The bandit didn''t dare lie once, hence, Shye thought that he should reward the guy. "Good, good, good! Since you''ve been very cooperative. I shall not make things hard for you. In fact, I''ll even reward you." Grabbing something inside his fake spatial bag, hope burgeoned within the young bandit''s heart. Unfortunately, Shye''s reward for him was a quick death instead of a slow and painful one. *SPURT!* Before the young bandit and Seira could even react, a head suddenly flew through the air, causing blood to fountain out of the headless neck. Again, although Seira had already seen Shye kill lots of people before, she still couldn''t get used to the harrowing sight. Nheless, she was progressing slowly but surely. Chapter 328: Roleplay ''This should be enough¡­Status!'' The young bandit''s revtions regarding the strength of the Notorious Bandits'' upper echelons stirred up waves in not only Seira''s heart but also Shye''s. Hence, he made a few preparations outside the entrance of the bandits''ir, and that included upgrading his attributes. == [Attributes (Base)]: [Strength: 180] [Intelligence: 160] [Agility: 170] [Dexterity: 170] [Stamina: 130] [Vitality: 140] [Wisdom: 57] == [Attributes (With two greatswords equipped)]: [Strength: 234] [Intelligence: 160] [Agility: 204] [Dexterity: 204] [Stamina: 156] [Vitality: 168] [Wisdom: 57] == Shye used almost all of his points (35,800), to upgrade his attributes, leaving him with only around 1,104 points. However, he believed that the upgrades were worth it as they would greatly increase their chances of wiping out the bandits andpleting the quest. After all, failure meant death¡ªfor a woman like Seira, possibly even worse. Moreover, their opponents this time weren''t monstrous creatures who mostly acted based on wild instincts but real thinking, sinister humans. "Seira, are you done with your preparations?" Shye whisperingly asked as he nced at Seira. "All done, boss! I''m ready!" Hearing Seira''s resolute answer, Shye nodded satisfactorily, crouch-walking near the entrance of their shortly after. He then slightly peered out from behind therge rock and checked if anyone was exiting. Seira already had her bandit cape which she got from the young bandit''s corpse, and although the size was a little too big for her, it would at least allow her to blend in more naturally once they entered their. On the other hand, Shye still needed his cape¡ªor not¡­ While checking their out, another feasible idea entered his head. "Seira! Let''s temporarily return to our hidden preparation area, I have a n!" "Roger, boss!" Swiftly returning to where they initially were, Shye patiently exined his n to Seira. "Listen carefully. You¡­shall be the bait." Shye said, making Seira slightly pale in fright. This boss of hers was truly ruthless! She couldn''t even imagine how she would be able to hold off the low-emerald vice captains! Nheless, she trusted her boss so she allowed him to continue exining and borate further. "O-Okay¡­What should I do?" "First, hand over the bandit cape. I''ll wear it and create a distraction by pretending to fight you near the entrance to catch the squad captains'' attention. The twin vice-leaders probably won''t bother with you as long as the captains can handle it. But if they do, I''ll take care of them so you don''t have to worry. I''ll also act like I''m losing, so go all out. Got it?" "Yes, boss!" "Good. Now, once we manage to lure at least seven captains, we''ll kill them all and I''ll leave the rest to you. I shall deal with the bandit boss and the vice leaders myself." After hearing Shye''s n, Seira was impressed. Seira thought that her role as the bait would be pretty bad. However, upon hearing Shye''s entire n, she realized her role wasn''t as perilous as she thought. All she had to do was defend herself until seven squad captains arrived. Once they appeared, Shye would then reveal himself and eliminate all seven captains and their followers alongside her. Although more than five squad captains would probably be a bit difficult for her to handle, if Shye''s n worked and they managed to eliminate seven in one fell swoop, she would be able to handle the remaining three by herself. As for her boss¡­Her belief that he was invincible remained steadfast, and there was no doubt in her mind that Shye would defeat the upper echelons of these scums. Prepared in both mind and body, Shye and Seira once again crouch-walked towards their''s entrance. *BANG!* "UAAAHH!!" Shye suddenly screamed in agony as he flew backward for a few meters,nding on his back inside their. "Scum! I finally found yourir! Hahahaha! You idiot! You think you can detect me, the mighty Seira?! You must be dreaming!" After saying her loud and obnoxious piece, Seira once again charged towards the downed Shye, ruthlessly shing her greatsword downwards. Swiftly kneeling up, Shye raised his shortsword horizontally to block Seira''s vicious attack, pretending to struggle¡ªslowly pushed back by Seira, the invader. Naturally, such a loudmotion near one of the entrances instantly attracted the attention of a bandit squad. "Ice, bring everyone and see what''s going on at the right entrance." In aposed manner, a middle-aged man with short, spiky blue hair issued orders, prompting Ice, a young man with a bald head, a muscr build, and a cold expression, to rise and lead a group of approximately ten bandits toward the entrance where Shye and Seira were engaged inbat. Upon their arrival, they witnessed a scene where a member of their group was under attack by a young female adventurer who appeared to be an intruder, likely having followed their foolishrade back to their. "You fool! Which squad do you belong to?! Didn''t your captain always emphasize triple-checking before entering?! You won''t escape punishment for this!" Ice eximed angrily. Throughout the brief history of their bandit group, such incidents had never urred before, thanks to the group''s diligence in training recruits. Hence, Ice was infuriated. He wanted to see this specific member get punished. However, before that, they must eliminate the invaders first. "Help! This young adventurer is strong! Quick! Help me!" Shye pleaded. As angry as he was, Ice still charged forward to aid Shye. After all, he was "one of them." Ice was a promising ex-tinum-ranked adventurer and he was fairly strong. Unfortunately, the current Seira was stronger than him, thus, after the first sh of swords, Ice was sent sliding backward for a good few meters, inciting panic amongst hisckeys. "Hahaha! I, the great Seira, will be the one to wipe your scummy group out! Are you the leader here?! Weak!" ''Tch¡­This b*tch is indeed strong, however, if you think I''m the strongest here, then you''re sorely mistaken! I shall have fun looking at your face once my captain makes you his ything. Who knows? Maybe I''ll get my turn!'' Ice sinisterly thought as he shed a cold smile at Seira who was posing like a heroic idiot in the entrance. "Darter, call the boss! We can''t stop her by ourselves. I''ll try to hold her off for as long as I can!" Chapter 329: First Kill "Boss!! Boss Rain!!" Darter urgently screamed, bringing a frown upon Captain Rain''s face. "Shut the fuck up! Darter! Didn''t I tell you to stop acting like a wuss?! You''re going to give our squad a bad name! Do it one more time and I''ll punish you myself!" Rain eximed angrily, causing Darter to tremble in fear and panic. "I-I apologize boss. Reporting to the captain, someone managed to track down one of our men and is now invading ourir from the right entrance in hopes of wiping all of us out!" "Who from which ipetent squad messed up?! How strong is the intruder?!" Rain was utterly infuriated. He''s aware that their entire group could be obliterated by just one diamond-ranked adventurer or higher, which is why they''ve always been exceedingly cautious when ites to abducting young girls for their boss. "Reporting to the captain. The young female intruder is slightly stronger than Vice-Captain Ice, which is why he requested your backup!" Experience exclusive tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin Hearing Darter''s subsequent words, the rage in Rain''s heart promptly vanished¡ªreced by a hint of excitement. "Oh? A young female intruder? How old is she?" "Around twenty-three to twenty-four years old, captain!" "Hohoh? Hohohoh? And she''s alone?" "Yes, captain! The intruder said that she was called Seira and that she would be the one who would wipe all of us out!" "BAHAHAHAHAHA! What an idiot. Go, lead the way. I''ll teach this young idiotic woman how the world works." Noticing that his captain''s mood had turned for the better, Darter heaved a sigh of relief before enthusiastically leading the way. He was quite new to the group and he wanted to see the prowess of the captain, hence, he felt excited. Arriving at the chaotic scene where Ice was visibly beaten up along with a few of their squad members who were already unconscious, Rain couldn''t help but narrow his eyes. Ice wasn''t weak and although this vice-captain of his was still a bit inexperienced, the guy was talented. Thus, Rain couldn''t believe that he was being dismantled by someone in the same age group. ''Well, no matter. This littless with an ample bosom and butt will serve as a great ything for me¡­'' The captain excitedly thought, scanning his dirty eyes over Seira''s body as he did so. The boss only required them to hand over young girls aged 12 and below; anything older than that, they could retain for themselves. Noticing Rain''s arrival, Seira arrogantly pointed her greatsword at the middle-aged man. "You! Are you the boss of this scummy bandit group?! Well then, prepare to die! I, Seira, shall bring retribution upon you! HAAAAAH!!" Shortly after yet another over-the-top heroic speech, Seira charged forth, kicking Ice to the sides before redirecting her attention towards Rain. "Die! Old scourge!" Winds violently parted as Seira viciously shed her greatsword diagonally, attempting to cleave Rain in half in a single attack. She was inwardly nervous as this was the first time she fought a real human to the death; uncertain if she could muster the will to end a life if necessary. For the moment, she resolved to press on with her relentless assault, cing her trust in her boss, all the while hoping she wouldn''t be forced to take a life with her own hands. "Heh, little girl, are you that eager to be my ything?" Rain retorted, unsheathing his dagger with a sinister smile before charging straight at Seira. He then narrowly dodged Seira''s diagonal strike by skillfully leaning towards the left, swiftly counter-attacking with a neck sh of his own soon after. Seeing how easily he outmaneuvered Seira in just a single sh, Rain grewcent. He already mastered the art of leaving a person half-dead, hence, he wasn''t worried and shed away at a specific part of Seira''s neck, fantasizing about how he would y with her promptly after. Unfortunately for him, everything was within the hyper-focused Seira''s expectations. She allowed Rain to think that he had already won. Then, just when the edges of Rain''s dagger almost made contact with her neck, a thin blue manayer covered her entire body, causing the dagger to simply pass through her neck. Not feeling the satisfying sensation of his dagger cutting through flesh, the satisfied expression on Rain''s face turned into one of confusion. Regrettably, he didn''t react fast enough as Seira''s greatsword was already on the way back. Seeing her opponent unable to dodge or block, Seira panicked, torn over whether to kill Rain or not. Shye immediately realized that Seira was having internal struggles over killing someone for the first time, and he was tempted to shout, "Kill him!" However, should he do so, their entire n would go down the drain. Hence, Shye was forced to watch on as Seira indecisively tilted her greatsword''s body. Ultimately though, her determination to grow and shed every trace of naivety won out, leading her to adjust her de once more at the final moment. "HRAAAAAAGH!!" *SPURT!* Scarlet blood fountained as Rain''s head hurtled through the air, his eyes wide open as the severed headnded and rolled a few meters near Seira''s feet. "H-HWAAAAAAA!!!" Seira couldn''t help but scream and tremble in horror upon realizing that she had actually taken someone''s life with her own hands. "BLEEEURGH!!" Vomit spurted out of Seira''s mouth as she swayed left and right, feeling weak in the knees. Shye felt bad for her, however, at the same time, he felt proud. Following this experience, although she might still appear foolish and inexperienced to others, she wouldn''t be, as taking someone''s life for the first time would change something within her and she would be way sharper when it came to life and death matters. Inwardly praising her for a job well done, Shye took the lead in inciting panic amongst the bandits. "C-CAPTAIN RAIN!! F*CK! I''M OUTTA HERE!" Shye eximed before running deeper into their. Witnessing his actions, the other bandits, including Ice, ran for their lives, hoping to ask the other bandit captains to deal with the invader who just killed their captain, Rain Faust. Chapter 330: Seira Versus Bandit Squad Captains "I-I killed him¡­I actually killed him¡­" Seira muttered with listless eyes, her greatsword almost slipping out of her hands. If not for Shye''s timely "horrified scream", then Ice probably would''ve attacked. Should that happen, their n would surely go down the drain. For a time, Seira lingered near the entrance, casting frantic nces around as if she had lost her sanity. Shye knew she needed some time to recover, hence, he did everything he could, slowly decreasing his speed and allowing Ice, a vice-squad captain, to overtake him. Like this, he could simply follow them and take note of the important locations inside their. What the young bandit said was true. Their wasn''t that huge and it was easy to navigate through the pathways inside. Hence, after a short while of running, Shye quickly found the prison where the bandits kept the young girls. Seeing their listless faces as he passed through, an intense wave of fury consumed Shye''s heart. He wanted to ughter all of these darned bandits right here, right now, however, he couldn''t as he at least needed to know where the boss'' room was. Unfortunately, small as the hideout may be, he didn''t have the luck of passing through the Conn-Thor''s room. Within a few brief minutes, their small group assembled four squad captains. "Who?! Who messed up?!" One of the squad captains named Byson, raged. Naturally, Byson wouldn''t let go of this chance to point fingers at Shye. "Him! Captain Byson! That idiot was the one who led the intruder here! And now, Captain Rain is dead!" Hearing Ice''s words, Byson slowly turned and looked at Shye menacingly, staring straight into his eyes as though Byson was peering through his soul. Shye felt the urge to p the sh*t out of the pretentious captain, however, for the sake of the quest, he couldn''t. Therefore, rather than pping Byson, Shye feigned horror. "C-Captain Byson! Please! Spare me! I''m just a recruit! I''ll do anything!" Shye "pleaded", appearing extremely pitiful. Byson, who liked the feeling of being feared, instantly developed a liking for Shye, who "knows his ce". "Fine, I shall give you a chance." "Amir, Hearns, Fox, and all of you, including you, recruit! Follow me, let''s kill the darned delusional invader! Ice, go tell the other squad captains to help!" Byson assertively ordered, immediately taking control of the situation as though he were the bandits'' boss himself. Naturally, the three other squad captains: Amir, Hearns, and Fox, didn''t like the way Byson ordered them as though they were hisckeys. However, Byson was indeed the highest in seniority amongst the four of them, thus, they had no choice but toply. ''Let''s see if you can still act this way once the other captains arrive!'' The vengeful Amir thought as the four of them, along with a fewckeys, rushed towards the right entrance. Meanwhile, Seira had already recovered. Though somewhat naive and tender-hearted, she harbored a resilient and experienced spirit, forged from the personal challenges she currently faced. The thought that saved her from the guilt of killing someone was: ''Everything I''m doing is for my family.'' Rain was clearly out to get her and if she didn''t kill him first, she would suffer a fate worse than death and the fate of her family would be sealed. Hence, her murdering someone was justified. Furthermore, the individual she eliminated was a despicable person, and Adthiopia was undoubtedly better off with one less individual of such garbage values. Nheless, although she was able to regather her wits, her hands and legs were still trembling from the shock. To make things worse, she could hear heavy footsteps¡ªlikely from the other squad captains. ''I-I need to prepare¡­'' With shaking hands, Seira forcefully gripped her greatsword and assumed a battle stance¡ªher eyes appearing lost and uncertain. Witnessing her courageous actions, Shye inwardly apuded Seira in his heart. ''As long as you make it past this day, things will get better¡­'' He inwardly thought as he sprinted along with the bandits. A few momentster, the bandit squad captains, along with Shye and the otherckeys, arrived in front of Seira. Seeing Shye among those who returned, Seira inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. As of now, her pir of moral support was her invincible big boss, and she truly didn''t know if she could take control of her nerves if he wasn''t among the ones who returned. Still, it didn''t mean that she would obtain immediate help. Seira knew that she had to defend herself, well, at least until two more squad captains arrived. She already killed one of them so the two of them only needed to wait for two more squad captains before Shye could help her kill everyone on sight. With a clear goal in mind, a hint of resolve glimmered in Seira''s eyes. She was still distressed, however, she would fight for her life in the name of her suffering family, and she was ready to kill whoever she needed to. "Hahahaha! This is the intruder who killed Rain?! What the f*ck happened? Isn''t your squad captain a bit too ipetent?!" Byson mocked, pulling his mace out of his spatial bag as he did so, prompting the other three captains to follow suit and retrieve their weapons of choice: a bow, an elemental staff, and a katar. Shortly after, Byson and Fox both rushed toward Seira, maneuvering in a zigzag pattern, while Amir unleashed a barrage of arrows and Hearns began chanting at the same time. Witnessing their fierce assault, Shye couldn''t help but prepare himself to step in at any time. If he had to throw half the n out the window, then so be it. Five squad captains were already a sizable harvest anyway. However, the problem was, if the two of them only managed to kill five here, then things would only be more dangerous for Seirater on. After all, once Shye began fighting the top dogs of the bandit group, there was no way for him to guarantee Seira''s safety. *CLANG!* Seira''s greatsword shed against Byson''s mace. Surprisingly, they matched each other in raw strength, leaving Bysonpletely stunned. He thought that defeating the little girl would be a breeze, however, it seemed that he was wrong as the female intruder was at least as strong as him. ''Well, no matter¡­'' Byson inwardly thought as he followed Fox''s movements with his eyes, signaling for him to finish Seira off. Sessfully finding an opportune time to attack, Fox appeared behind Seira, viciously stabbing his katar at her neck in hopes of at least incapacitating her in one hit. He was a veteran scout, and he knew that Seira didn''t have any other options but to receive the stab. Only, he didn''t expect that a thin blueyer of mana would suddenly cover her, causing him and his katar to simply pass through. Hriously, the one he stabbed was Byson, whose blood gushed out from the harrowing shoulder stab wound. "AAARRGHH!! YOU IDIOT! WHY DID YOU STAB ME?!" Byson raged. "I-I apologize, you saw what happened¡­" While the two squad captains argued, the remaining two continuedunching projectiles, keeping Seira on the move and leaving her no room to catch her breath. Byson and Fox temporarily set the matter of identally hitting arade aside to focus on cornering Seira. What they didn''t expect was how resilient the young girl was. She simply refused to be defeated! Although she suffered quite a few arrows and spell wounds here and there, they were nothing lethal. On the other hand, Byson and Fox simply failed to effectively corner her and deal the killing blow due to that pesky bluish pass-through skill of hers. Just like this, five minutes quickly passed. At this point, Byson was already so frustrated. "Where the fuck are the others?! We at least need one more captain and this little fly is toast!" He raged, cursing at the other squad captains for being sote. Atst, after another grueling minute, three additional squad captains arrived, bringing a smile to both Byson''s and Seira''s faces, as both sides believed that the arrival of the three captains would seal the bleak fate of their adversaries. ''It''s your time to shine, boss!'' Chapter 331: Saving Young Lives "Hahahaha! You''re done for you little nitwit!" Byson celebrated as three more captains drew their weapons, donning menacing smiles as they joined Fox and the others. "Is this the idiot who dared invade us alone?" "Yes, Head Captain Balkan, this girl dared im that she would wipe us out when she''s already having trouble from just the four of us! Hahahaha! She wouldn''t evenst a second against the vice-leaders!" Byson replied as he looked at Seira with a mocking smile. What surprised him was, that Seira, who was currently in a precarious situation, looked straight back at them with a mocking smile of their own. It didn''t take long for him to find out why though. *SPURT!* An old head flew through the air, causing crimson blood to stter across the cold, hard ground,nding and rolling just a few meters beside Byson''s feet and sessfully capturing his attention. "H-H-HEAD CAPTAIN BALKAN!!!" Byson and a few other captains screamed in unison, confused and horrified at Balkan''s fate. They didn''t even know who killed him. However, after Fox''s head flew, the captains finally realized who had been killing them: the sinner who led the young female adventurer inside their. "YOU!! Y-You''re not one of us!!" "Bingbong! Correct, I am not. Unfortunately, none of you will live long enough to warn the others." Shye said with a spine-chilling smile, not noticing that he was slowly growing fond of killing people, albeit only the bad ones. "Leave the girl forter! Jump this guy!" Byson once again tookmand, unhesitatingly charging first as he brandished his mace with a ferocious expression, aiming to destroy Shye''s head akin to popping a watermelon. Unfortunately, his metal mace along with his entire body was easily split in two as Shye shed diagonally upwards, causing a mixture of guts and blood to paint the ground red. Witnessing Byson''s fate, the other captains immediately knew that they were no match for Shye. Hence, a few of them started hesitating, and as a result, their cohesiveness fell apart, making it easier for Shye to rip them apart one by one. Nheless, there were a few captains who tried their hardest to resist. Regrettably, all of them suffered the same fate as their weapons, along with their bodies, were shed in half. Seira didn''t stay idle, proactively charging at one of the captains who arrived as reinforcement and swinging her greatsword vertically downwards with a fierce and resolute expression¡ªfully prepared to take another life for the sake of her growth as an adventurer. Shye easily ughtered six of the captains, leaving only one alive: Aljo, a mage ss captain who was as slippery as a snake. There were a few times when the hyper-focused Seira managed to lightly wound Aljo, however, she was far from killing him. ''She should be able to take this guy down even without my help¡­'' Shye inwardly thought as he observed the ongoing duel to the death. ''I''ll give you this chance to grow¡­'' Leaving Seira and Aljo at the entrance, Shye once again walked deeper into their. Seira noticed Shye''s departure and couldn''t help but feel a surge of warmth and enthusiasm in her heart, knowing that her boss had confidence in her to defeat her adversary. Hence, with invigorated spirits, Seira charged forth once more. ¡­ ''The prison should be somewhere around here¡­Aha!'' Strolling inside their as though it were his home, Shye sessfully located the prison where the bandits kept the young girls. ''Tch¡­those damned sick bastards¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed upon seeing the listless dispositions of the young girl. They were in grave despair. A few of the stronger-willed ones noticed and reacted to Shye''s arrival, while the others simply continued staring at the ground. Witnessing such a sorrowful scene caused a twinge of difort in Shye''s heart. "I''m an adventurer and I''m on a quest to save all of you," Shye eximed, sessfully capturing the attention of the young girls. Hearing his words, hope immediately returned to the eyes of the young girls, and most of them started crying. ''I''m finally saved!'' was the thought that resonated in their minds. Well, this time, indeed they were as Shye simply destroyed the prison doors and easily removed the ropes tying their arms and legs. "B-Big brother adventurer¡­M-My little sister¡­they took her to the boss'' room earlier today¡­please¡­will you save her?" A young girl begged, tears welling in the corners of her eyes as she did so. Hearing her plea, Shye would naturally help. He needed to kill the bandit boss anyway. "I will try. If your little sister is still alive, I promise to save her." Shye said. He wanted topletely remove the worry in the young girl''s heart, however, he didn''t dare make empty promises. After all, how could he save the girl''s little sister if she''s already dead? Around ten minutester, Shye finished removing the young girls'' bindings. "Follow me, my teammate shall send you back to your viges." As Shye led the young girls towards the entrance, the young girls cried harder and harder. They thought they wouldn''t see their family again. After a few minutes of walking, they arrived near the right entrance, where the sounds of fighting echoed and brought fear to the hearts of the young girls. Noticing their distressed state, Shye calmed them down. "Don''t worry, one of them is my friend and she will be the one to take you back to your viges." Naturally, hearing their savior''s confident words brought peace to their hearts, however, they were still slightly scared. Remembering that he shouldn''t let such innocent girls witness a scene of carnage, Shye abruptly halted and turned around. "Wait here for a bit. If you see a bandit, scream. Big brother will take them out for you, okay?" "Okay." The girls answered in unison. Shye thought that he would have to help Seira kill thest guy. Fortunately, once he arrived in front of the right entrance, he stumbled upon the pleasant scene of Seira shing Aljo in half¡ªshe had a crazy look on her face as though what she just did was torture for both herself and her opponent. Well, this was only her second kill so it was quite understandable. *p!* *p! *p!* "Good job, Seira, remember, you killed him because he would kill you if you didn''t. Moreover, he was nothing but scum, and you''re doing the world a favor by reducing the number of such fiends." Hearing Shye''s voice, Seira turned her head. "B-Boss¡­" "First, help me gather the bodies, then I''ll show you something." Although confused, Seiraplied, carrying each dead body with a disgusted and distressed expression, especially when she relocated the bodies of Aljo and Rain, the bandit captains that she killed. Shortly after, Shye burned the corpses to ashes. Although the nauseating scent of blood and iron lingered in the air, at least the harrowing scene of utter carnage was cleaned up. Continue your adventure with m|v-l''e -NovelBin Satisfied, Shye called the young girls. "Everyone,e. Big brother and big sister had already dealt with the bad guys." Hearing the big brother adventurer''s voice, the young girls hurriedly walked towards the source of the voice, the older ones covering the eyes of those who were less than ten years old upon arriving at the right entrance. "Look, Seira. Because you killed those two scourges, these little angels get to live. Now, tell me. Is what you did right or wrong?" Shye''s words struck something in Seira''s heart and mind, allowing her to feel a lot better. Indeed, she didn''t take lives indiscriminately. She took lives to save her own and these little angels''. Noticing her expression changing for the better, Shye nodded satisfactorily, giving her instructions soon after. "You can leave the rest to me. Return these little ones to their viges and wait for me at our rendezvous point." "R-Roger¡­Boss!'' Chapter 332: Slapfest "Where could those damned bandits be?" Shye muttered as he walked deeper into their, passing through the prison and the captains'' quarters while looking for the remaining bandits. He was sure that the bandits he and Seira killed were but a small number of their total poption. Upon arriving at a suspiciously empty lobby, Shye''s assumptions were proven correct as grating chuckles echoed from the surrounding hallways. Soon after, around eighty bandits, including the two remaining captains, appeared. "Hehehe, I thought the invader was a female?" A muscr yet feminine man with long pink hair, unusually long eyshes, and make-up on his face said, licking his lips as he looked seductively at Shye. "Can I have a taste of that delectable, attractive lips and muscr physique after we capture him, big brother?" Hearing the man''s voice and seeing him emerge from the shadows, Shye felt a distressing chill down his spine, rm bells rang inside his head as a single thought echoed in his mind: ''I can allow myself to be captured by anyone except for this strange bastard!'' Somehow, he understood that he would have the most unpleasant of experiences should he allow himself to fall into the clutches of this¡­weird man. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Arsel Rouge [Level]: 69 [upation]: Bandit (Vice-leader) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.5] [Dash Lv.5] [Enhance Agility Lv.3] [Enhance Strength Lv.3] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.3] [(Dark)Dark Stab Lv.3(Umon)] [Tri-Sword Cut Lv.3(Umon)] [ck Lightning Sword Lv.2 (Umon)] [Thousand-de sh Lv.2 (Rare)] [Strength: 140] [Intelligence: 30] [Agility: 130] [Dexterity: 135] [Stamina: 110] [Vitality: 120]: [Wisdom: 25] [Back][Exit System] ''Heh¡­This weirdo''s stats aren''t bad¡­However, it''s far from being enough to deal with me!'' Shye confidently thought, ncing at the man beside Arsel, whom thetter called big brother. ''Appraisal!'' Seeing that the man''s stats were only slightly higher than Arsel''s, Shye looked at the bandits in disdain, not intimidated in the slightest. ''It seems that only the boss could pose a threat to me¡­'' "We shall hand him over to the boss first. After that, let''s see if he would give this intruder to you." "Ehh~ Stingy¡­" Hearing the brothers talk about him as though he had already been captured, a hint of anger made its way into Shye''s heart. "Hahaha! An idiot and a weirdo¡­capturing me? Stop dreaming. I can kill both of you in one hit!" Shye insulted, capturing the attention of the twins. "Hoh? Big brother¡­this toy dares speak to us like this? I like him more and more¡­Can I be the one to teach him a lesson? Pleasee~?" "Tch, as the big brother, I should be the one beating him to a pulp for what he said¡­However, I shall allow you this once." "Thank you! My big brother is truly the best!" Shye cringed at the twins'' delusional conversation, however, it fueled his desire to p them so hard to the point where all of their teeth would fall out. If he allowed even one of them to retain a single tooth after he was done with them, then he wouldn''t be Shye Crowley! "Heh, delusional. Come on, let''s start this already. I can''t waste time here as I still need to beat the crap out of your boss." Realizing that Shye was still acting arrogant, the strange Arsel finally couldn''t take it anymore and charged forward with a hint of fury. Continue reading at m|v-l''e -NovelBin He liked young men with aesthetically pleasing facial features and muscr physiques, however, he liked them submissive. Hence, he wanted to beat Shye into submission. Unfortunately, all that was beaten up was his face as the wind violently parted, making way for a wide-open hand with an exposed palm. *PAH!* The crisp sound of a palm making a forceful yet intimate contact with a cheek echoed across their, causing the surrounding bandits to slightly wince, including Arven. Not long after, 32 teeth were forcefully expelled, apanied by saliva and blood, scattering across the ground as a pitiful "UEEEH!" erupted from Arsel''s mouth. Unfortunately, before Arven was able to gather his wits to help his younger brother, Shye already grabbed the cor of Arsel''s shirt, giving him five more full-powered ps, causing him to immediately pass out. "Y-YOU BASTARD!! ARSEL!! HOW DARE YOU BEAT MY LITTLE BROTHER UP?! EVERYONE, CHAAAARGE!!" Utterly furious, Arsel ordered all of hisckeys, including the two captains, to charge forward and jump Shye. Throwing the unconscious Arsel to the side as though he was yesterday''s garbage, Shye courageously advanced. He then started pping the crap out of everyone who got in range. Even Arven, who had a tough physique, passed out after three ps. Naturally, the banditckeys, who had weaker constitutions, fainted after just one¡ªtheir teeth, blood, and saliva littered the ground as unconscious bodies swiftly piled up. Witnessing the humiliating fate of hisckeys, whose numbers were quickly dwindling, Arven sprang into action, drawing the long sunderde on his back before madly rushing towards Shye with a fierce expression. He was a stern guy and never had he and his little brother experienced such humiliation. Hence, fury swiftly took control of his heart, prompting him to advance without thinking much. Due to the anger in his heart, Arven didn''t even realize that his little brother, who was almost as strong as him, was pped unconscious, and that he would probably suffer the same fate. Indeed, after the two captains were pped to oblivion, Shye immediately turned his attention to the angry Arven. "Hahahaha! I told you, I can easily kill all of you. I''m not even using my greatswords yet!" Shye''s words allowed logic to once again take control of Arven''s mind, prompting him to quickly analyze the situation. Realizing that he still had around fourckeys to use as a meat shield, Arven swiftly turned around, madly darting towards his boss Conn-Thor''s room. Shye naturally observed Arven''s actions, sparking an immediate urge in him to pursue and incapacitate Arven. However, his mind quickly intervened, presenting another sound n that halted his actions. Ultimately, he allowed Arven to escape, knocking the remaining four bandits out before swiftly giving chase. With all of the gap closers he had in his arsenal, Shye quickly caught up. He then secretly followed Arven. ''Why should I look for the boss'' room when I can simply use one of hisckeys as a guide?'' Chapter 333: Bandit Boss "B-Boss Conn-Thor!" "WHAT?! DIDN''T I TELL YOU NOT TO ENTER MY ROOM UNLESS I ALLOW YOU TO?! DON''T YOU SEE I''M IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING?!" Find more chapters on m_v l|e-NovelBin Inside an unexpectedly wide stone room adorned with simple furniture and a weird apparatus resembling a ridiculously huge scientific condenser located in the far left corner of the room, Conn-Thor raged. He was in the middle of performing a ritual to absorb the young girl''s pure soul, hence, when Arven suddenly entered, his focus was disrupted, causing the ritual to fail. Now, he needed to do everything all over again which would waste another half a day of his time. Arven wasn''t stupid. He immediately realized what his boss was doing, sending chills down his spine. Soul Arts! However, Arven didn''t dare show a shocked expression as Conn-Thor might consume his soul should he do so. Feigning ignorance, Arven raised his hands and pointed his finger at the room''s entrance. "B-Boss! Intruder! Everyone, including my little brother, had already been taken out! I plead for the boss to take the enemy out!" Initially, Arven wasn''t sure if Conn-Thor could defeat the intruder as even his younger brother was simply pped to oblivion. However, upon seeing that his boss was dabbling in soul arts¡ªpossibly consuming the little girl''s soul upon his arrival, his shaken confidence returned. Hopefully, his boss could defeat the intruder. "Hmm? And who from which idiotic squad messed up?! Huh?!" "N-No one knows sir, as everything happened too fast. The intruder is an unusually strong young man, possibly a talented rookie adventurer¡­" "AND YOU GUYS LOST TO A YOUNG MAN?! F*CKING PATHETIC! WHERE''S THE BASTARD?! LET''S GET THIS SH*T OVER WITH!" Arven didn''t dare talk back, quickly turning around to lead Conn-Thor to where Shye was. However, immediately after walking out of the entrance¡­ *PAH!* The crisp sound of a solid p reverberated across their, sending Arven hurtling through the air¡ªthe whites of his eyes showing. Conn-Thor''s eyes momentarily widened upon witnessing his second-inmand shoot through the air. Arven was weaker than him, but he was by no means weak. Hence, Conn-Thor immediately became wary of Shye''s strength. One could say that Shye sneak attacked Arven and that''s why he was able to send him flying across the hallway with a single p. Well, Conn-Thor was capable of such a thing too should he and Shye swap ces. However, that''s exactly why he raised his vignce. This darned intruder was at least close to him in terms of strength, meaning that there was a fair chance he would lose. Conn-Thor disliked fair fights, however, it didn''t mean that he was scared of one. Promptly after regathering his wits, the bandit boss drew his sword out¡ªtwo¡­swords. This time, it was Shye who was surprised. This was his first time fighting a dual-wielder like himself. Although Conn-Thor''s swords were smaller¡ªboth being katanas¡ªShye didn''t dare underestimate the sinister old dog, narrowing his eyes into slits as he quickly scanned his eyes over the room. Realizing that the old dog had nowhere to run, Shye smiled. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Conn-Thor McGregory [Level]: 81 [upation]: Bandit (Boss) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.5] [Dash Lv.5][Rush Stab Lv.5] [Tiger Cut Lv.5] [Enhance Agility Lv.4] [Enhance Strength Lv.4] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.4][Lethal Edge Lv.3(Umon)][(Soul)Devour Soul Lv.3(Rare)(Forbidden)][(Soul)Soul Rage Lv.3(Rare)(Forbidden)][(Soul)Oversoul Lv.3(Rare)(Forbidden)] [Dual Wielding Lv.3 (Rare)] [Strength: 160(???)] [Intelligence: 45] [Agility: 147(???)] [Dexterity: 149(???)] [Stamina: 120(???)] [Vitality: 130(???)]: [Wisdom: 65] [Back][Exit System] Seeing Conn-Thor''s attributes, which were way lower than his, especially once he equipped his greatswords, Shye couldn''t help but sneer at Conn-Thor in disdain. However, as his eyes scanned over the bandit boss'' skills, Shye couldn''t help but narrow his eyes in apprehension. ''Soul-type skills? Is this guy a soul arts practitioner? Then those young girls¡­'' Shivering at the thought of the young girls'' fate, Shye stared daggers at the sinister old dog. The bandit group has been around for quite some time, and he couldn''t help but feel bad for those little girls who fell victim to this evil bastard. He couldn''t even wish them "May your souls rest in peace". Now, he finally realized the grave repercussions of dabbling with an individual''s soul, understanding why it was forbidden by the World Adventurer Association. ''Scourges like this guy shouldn''t be allowed to live¡­'' Shye inwardly vowed in rage as he drew both of his greatswords, surprising Conn-Thor right back. "Oh? You''re also a dual wielder? This should be fun¡­" The sinister old dog said as he started pacing back and forth with a menacing smile, his confidence soaring through the roof as he thought of his "illegal" trump cards. "Come on then, youngster. I''m right here. Let''s fight! Hahahaha!" Naturally, Shye wasn''t someone who would be intimidated by mere "crazy" antics as he had already seen his fair share ofbat lunatics, namely: Siegfried and Maia. This crafty old dog was weaker than him so what was there to fear? "Fine then, let''s see how long you can bark around, you forbidden old dog!" Winds violently parted as Shye charged straight toward the old dog, attacking with the most basic [Power sh Lv.5]-empowered diagonal sh. As warriors, it was customary to see who was stronger in terms of raw strength, hence, even though Shye was using greatswords, Conn-Thor didn''t Shye away counter-attacked with a [Power sh Lv.5]-empowered diagonal sh of his own. *CLANG!* When their swords shed, the bandit boss was taken aback to find that his strength paledpared to Shye''s. In just one sh, his arms bent at an rming angle, causing Conn-Thor to vomit blood as he hurtled through the air like a broken kite. "AAARGGH!!" ''How?! How is this bastard so strong!? I''ve been consuming young girls'' souls for about two years now!'''' the bandit boss inwardly raged, and the rm bells inside his head rang vigorously. His heart and mind told him that he wouldn''tst long against this young invader if he still held back. Chapter 334: Conn-Thor’s Trump Cards ''Hoh¡­So this is a forbidden skill¡­'' Shye mused as he stood face to face with a three-meter-tall monstrosity. Conn-Thor appeared menacing, however, his appearance wasn''t of the mutated type. Instead, his body only grewrger and his muscles became more defined. In addition to this, a transparent purple aura shrouded the bandit boss'' entire being. Shye didn''t know what happened to Conn-Thor''s body but what he did know was that the bandit boss'' attributes tremendously grew. Was it temporary? Shye didn''t know. However, for some reason, Shye wasn''t scared. Not one bit. In fact, he was excited to test his prowess against someone who was relying on an illegal advantage. "Now, little boy. Let''s see if you still have the capability to stand in front of me! GRAAAAGHH!!" Crimson embers lingered in the air as Conn-Thor viciously shed both of his katanas in an X motion, prompting a ming X mark to emerge. It then ferociously flew straight towards Shye at an rming speed, forcing him to take the attack head-on. Expecting to enjoy a difficult expression on Shye''s face, Conn-Thor was disappointed as Shye merely sneered at his attack in disdain. Then, in one swift motion, Shye shed both greatswords vertically downwards, easily destroying the X-sh mark. Conn-Thor was shocked. However, since he didn''t put that much effort into that X-mark attack, Conn-Thor wasn''t shaken by how easily Shye dismissed it. Still, he was impressed. Even the average emerald-ranked adventurer would have to expend quite a bit of effort to resist that attack, hence, he was truly surprised at how Shye handled his attack. The bandit boss had seen his fair share of talents and among them, Shye was easily the best. "I admit, you''re strong. However, can you handle¡­this?!" After saying yet another set of confident words, Conn-Thor disappeared, reappearing next to Shye the next moment. If not for Shye''s trained reflexes, he might''ve been killed on the spot. *CLANG!* A metallic noise reverberated across their as Shye sessfully blocked Conn-Thor''s downward sh by raising his greatswords horizontally, causing Shye''s feet to sink a few centimeters into the ground. However, the bandit boss'' attack didn''t stop there, in fact, it had only begun. Conn-Thor''s arms worked non-stop, continuously shing his swords at Shye with reckless abandon, believing that offense was the best defense. He fought against a few emerald-ranked adventurers and none of them lived once he activated his illegal trump cards. Hence, the bandit boss didn''t believe that Shye would be able to deal with his relentless assault which was not only fast but also powerful. Unfortunately for him, the scene where Shye was slowly overwhelmed by his attacks didn''t happen as everything he threw was either easily blocked or parried¡ªnone made it past Shye''s guard. The most infuriating thing for Conn-Thor was the fact that Shye''s arrogant smirk never left his face, as though Conn-Thor''s full-powered assault was nothing to him. "HRAAAAAGHHHH!!!" Enraged, the bandit boss used everything he had, increasing his rate of attack. However, nothing happened. Shye was still able to deflect everything he threw with a smile. Realizing that he was simply wasting energy, the three-meter-tall Conn-Thor temporarily retreated, staring daggers at Shye while gnashing his teeth in anger. "Heh, that''s all you got? Weren''t you an ex-emerald adventurer? Are all emeralds this weak?" Shye mocked, slightly disappointed that he didn''t even lose in terms of strength. Well, even Shye was shocked at his rapid growth. After investing all of his points in upgrading his attributes, naturally, he expected that he would grow stronger. However, not this strong. His rare talent called Greatsword Meister, enhanced all of his warrior attributes by 30% and 20% respectively when holding two greatswords. Hence, as his attributes increased, the bonuses also grewrger andrger. This specific talent was the reason why Shye was able to easily fend off Conn-Thor''s assault. If the bandit boss had nothing else, then this fight would be over soon. "Hah¡­Hahaha¡­HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Lad, you''re indeed strong and I admit that I am indeed unlucky to meet someone like you, however, if you think you''ve already won, then you''re gravely mistaken." Conn-Thor began, shing a crazy smile at Shye who was looking at him as though he was nothing but a bbering idiot. "Oversoul!!" After the sinister old dog eximed the name of his trump card, the transparent-purple aura shrouding his body started to turn ck, appearing to flow in and out of Conn-Thor''s pores as his massive form reverted to its usual size. Yet, his physique now seemed even more chiseled, his eyes aze with crimson intensity. "Hoh? Now we''re talking¡­" Shye muttered as he observed the changes in Conn-Thor''s body with a confident grin. The guy looked way more menacing nowpared to his gigantic form earlier. "Now, let''s see if you dare disrespect me still, you little shit..." Conn-Thor''s words echoed with a blend of one monstrous voice and the soft tones of twenty-seven young girls, sending chills down Shye''s spine. Shye took one deep breath to calm his unstable emotions, wiping the arrogant smirk off his face and recing it with a serious countenance. This time, he didn''t dare underestimate the bandit boss. *FWOOSH!* Clouds of dust lingered in the air as Conn-Thor once again disappeared, reappearing beside Shye a second and a halfter. Shockingly, the sinister old dog didn''t even use his [Dash Lv.5] skill this time as his normal charging speed was enough for it to almost have the same effects as the dash skill. Still, Shye was able to react, swiftly raising his greatswords and forming an X to effectively block the ripped old dog''s downward sh. This time, Conn-Thor and Shye achieved their desired oue: Shye staggered backward, overwhelmed by the force of the old dog''s attack. "Hahaha! What now, kid? You better think fast, otherwise, I''ll separate your head and your spine from your body in the next few moments!" the bandit boss mocked, looking extremely demonic as he smiled crazily at Shye. "Heh, delusional old dog, you think you''re the only one who can transform? Fine then, I''ll show you how insignificant you are." Chapter 335: Defeated Old Dog *GYAAAAAOOOOHHH!!* ck, rotten mana wings suddenly emerged from Shye''s back followed by a blood-curdling howl with a myriad of demonic tones, escaping from Shye''s mouth and reverberating across their, causing Conn-Thor''s hairs to stand on end. After feeling thefortable warm sensation coursing through his body, Shye smiled confidently. "Now, you want to try again?" Hearing Shye''s confident words, Conn-Thor frowned, however, he didn''t believe that such a simple transformation would allow Shye to overpower him, who literally consumed human souls just to strengthen himself. "Hmmph! You think I''m scared of you? Let''s go then!" *FWOOSH!* Even before the bandit boss finished his words, he already stirred up clouds of dust as he disappeared and reappeared beside Shye, hoping to catch him off-guard by even a few milliseconds¡ªa testament to hisck of confidence that Conn-Thor himself hadn''t noticed. Attacking Shye with a power sh-empowered diagonal sh, Conn-Thor gritted his teeth. Unfortunately, Shye, in his current state, easily noticed the sinister old dog''s attack and was in fact, even ready for it. Shye wore a confident smile as pivoted his left foot to adjust his stance and face Conn-Thor, he then counter-attacked with a power sh-empowered diagonal sh of his own. *CLANG!* An ear-rending metallic noise reverberated followed by a snapping sound as Shye''s greatswords, Adamance and Mithra, ferociously shed against the sinister old dog''s katanas. "PUHAAAHK!" After one second of awkward silence, Conn-Thor finally couldn''t take it anymore and violently spat out a mouthful of blood. It wasn''t only him who couldn''t take the sh though as shortly after, both of his katanas snapped in half, their upper sections ringing out with a ng as they dropped to the ground. "Heh, would you look at that? You lost badly, old dog." "NO! NO!! NO!!! HOW?! HOW THE HELL DID YOU BREAK MY EMERALD-TIER RELICS!? YOU!! ARE YOU A SOUL ART PRACTITIONER LIKE ME?!" In utter disbelief, Conn-Thor couldn''t help but use Shye of being a soul art practitioner like himself. After all, how could a young man from such a shitty region possibly defeat someone like him, who had traded everything for power, unless he possessed simr qualities himself? Naturally, such bold yet desperate ims only served to make Shyeugh in disdain. "Hahahaha! Old dog, you sure reek of idiocy. Why would I, a talented youngster, exchange everything else for power when I can obtain it easily using¡­well¡­my talents!" Talent¡­was something the sinister old dog indeed didn''t have. Hence, every time talented people insulted him, his temper almost always blew up. Continue your adventure at m|v-l''e -NovelBin Today, even using forbidden trump cards couldn''t surpass the talent of this young man, filling his heart with both envy and sorrow. "Hahahaha! Old dog?! Why don''t you speak now?! Were you hurt by my words?! Well then, let me end your misery of being a talentless person. May your soul never return to this world! You scum!" With a triumphant grin, Shye charged forth, shing his greatswords horizontally in an attempt to decapitate Conn-Thor. Unfortunately, the bandit boss had other ns¡­ "HAHAHAHAHA!!! FINE THEN!! I''M UNTALENTED AND THIS LIFE OF MINE HAD INDEED BEEN WORTHLESS, HOWEVER, IF I CAN DESTROY SOMEONE''S BLESSED LIFE LIKE YOURS, THEN I SHALL EMBRACE DEATH WITH A SMILE!" After eximing words that will send chills down one''s spine, the dense ck aura veiling Conn-Thor''s body intensified, further increasing the sinister old dog''s attributes in exchange for shortening his life span with every passing second. He was burning his soul for a chance to drag Shye to the pits of hell with him! Regrettably, the bandit boss made one fatal mistake: throwing his broken katanas to the side¡ªthe remaining thing preventing Shye from activating one of his finishers. ''Sword Realm!'' Promptly after Shye thought of the skill''s name, a purple canvas materialized beneath his feet, swiftly expanding at the speed of sound to envelop him and the sinister old dog, enveloping them in a small purple world with 439 ck sword silhouettes rotating calmly above. Feeling the huge attribute bonuses brought about by the sword realm to those who were holding swords, Shye grew more confident. On the other hand, being enveloped by such a strange skill stirred unease and apprehension in Conn-Thor''s heart. Nheless, there was no going back. He was dead after this fight anyway so fearing whether he would be killed by the talented youngster shouldn''t matter. Moreover, hisir had already been discovered¡ªhis men¡ªincapacitated. Nothing was tying him down. "YOU LITTLE BASTARD!! DIE!!" Determined to go out in a ze of glory, Conn-Thor charged forward with his arms in a grabbing motion, aiming to capture Shye''s neck and crush it in one swift motion. Unfortunately, he was in Shye''s world. Hence, not only did Shye easily dodge his desperate attack, but he was also able to cut Conn-Thor''s extended forearm, prompting the sinister old dog to howl in agony. Upon hearing the harrowing howl with a myriad of voices, Shye couldn''t help but tremble in rage as he imagined how the young, innocent girls suffered because of this selfish idiot. If he didn''t p the f*ck out of this guy, then he wouldn''t be Shye Crowley! However, he couldn''t p Conn-Thor as much as he wanted if the guy was still full of energy, thus, Shye decided to activate his other trump card. ''des of Despair!'' A ck and purple aura enveloped both of Shye''s greatswords, appearing extremely menacing and adding yet anotheryer of fear in Conn-Thor''s heart. However, having nothing left to live for was truly a different kind of beast when motivating people to act recklessly. Thus, the sinister old dog was able to shake the fear off easily, once again resuming his reckless attacks even though his cut forearm was bleeding at an rming rate. Regrettably for Conn-Thor, he never managed to hit Shye, suffering sh after sh and stab after stab from Shye''s de of despair, drastically weakening the old dog. Shockingly, when the old dog''s mana and stamina got low enough, his oversoul skill automatically deactivated. "Hahahaha! Old dog, hand that face over and let me give it a few ps!" Chapter 336: Exterminated "H-Hwease¡­Hop¡­Hitting we¡­" Conn-Thor begged with a swollen face, his cheeks were so red and puffed that he couldn''t speak clearly¡ªa look unfitting for a bandit boss like him. However, although his current appearance was ratherical, there was a hint of eeriness to it as he looked drastically older than when Shye first met him. Shye didn''t care one bit though, witheringly old or not, the man deserved to be pped for being a scum who preyed on young girls. At this point, the sinister old dog just wanted to die as he didn''t want to suffer under Shye''s hands. Unfortunately, he couldn''t even activate a single skill due to the weird sword skill that sapped all of his mana and stamina. Thus, Conn-Thor had no choice but to get pped while tied up like some piece of withered meat. After a good while of face-pping, Shye stopped as he noticed that the sinister old dog had already fainted. "Phew¡­I guess that''s that¡­" Shye mused, wiping the sweat off his face. "That was easier than I thought it would be¡­" For the first time since he obtained the system, Shye failed to estimate the growth brought about by the system upgrades. Hence, he couldn''t help but feel giddy as he imagined how bright his future would be, believing that he probably wouldn''t lose in terms of growth against the geniuses from other, more prominent regions. "Well, for now, let''s clean up here¡­" Going back to where the majority of the bandits were after tying up Arven and Conn-Thor, Shye gave the unconscious Arsel onest solid p, partially waking him up before tying him nice and tight. "H-HIIIH!! LET ME GO! Y-YOU EVIL SCOUNDREL!!" "Huh? It seems that you''re not fully awake yet, shall I give you another p?" "..." "Good¡­You better stay silent or I''ll p the sh*t out of you again." To Arsel''s horror, Shye suddenly started killing all of the unconscious banditckeys with nary a hint of remorse. In fact, there was a slight smile of satisfaction on his face as he "cleaned" their up. After a while, only four people were alive inside their: Shye, Arven, Arsel, and the withering Conn-Thor. The three bandits were tied up with Shye fully in control. To ensure that they wouldn''t try anything funny, Shye forcefully fed them restraining pills which would reduce their attributes by 80% for a day. These restraining pills were something he prepared ahead of time to make it easier for Seira and himself to transport the captured leaders back to Balkrow City. Only, it seems that Conn-Thor didn''t even need it as he was already as weak as a newborn kitten. Dragging the three of them with a cold smile, Shye traveled towards the rendezvous point. Then, upon reaching the right entrance, he suddenly remembered something and again, dragged the scummy bastards back to Conn-Thor''s room. Shye then looked around, his eyes widening upon spotting something in front of the weird apparatus. ¡­ In the heart of the vige, numerous middle-aged residents dashed towards a particr spot upon learning of the delightful and unexpected news they had longed for but doubted they would ever receive. They were in the middle of doing their daily chores, utterly depressed about the unknown situation of their missing children, however, what could they do except wait for adventurers to take on andplete the quest posted up by the four surrounding viges in hopes of saving the young girls on time? Some of them even considered their children already dead as not a single missing child, except for the one saved by the young female adventurer, made it back alive. Thus, the sudden heavenly news brought hope and smiles back to their hearts and faces. Stay connected through m-v l|e''-NovelBin "ARA!! I thought I''d never see you again!!" "Jenny! Come! Give Mommy a hug! I thought I''d lost you forever!" "Weili! I profusely thank the heavens!! It''s good that you''re back¡­It''s good that you''re back¡­" Watching the touching parent and child reunions, a warm smile crept its way into Seira''s face, prompting her to recall memories of her family. Unfortunately, things weren''t all rainbows and butterflies as some residents, upon realizing that their children weren''t among the rescued ones, suddenly knelt on the ground with despair and sorrow, wailing their hearts out as the final embers of hope were ruthlessly snuffed out. Why?! Why weren''t their children among the ones who were saved?! Naturally, Seira, apassionate individual, couldn''t help but shed a few tears on their behalf as a slight pang of guilt assaulted her heart. However, she also wasn''t as naive as she was before, hence, she understood that they couldn''t save everyone. After all, they were mere rookies and the bandits have already been doing their scummy deeds for quite a while now. It was inevitable that the majority of the young girls who had been abducted earlier than the others had already perished. Still, since she was able to save a lot of girls from this specific vige, her aching heart felt a little better after receiving the deepest of gratitudes from the parents whose children were among those who were saved. "M-Miss Adventurer! This isn''t much as our vige is very poor, however, please take this as a token of our appreciation! " The vige chief said, handing over a small bag of silver coins to Seira. Taking one quick nce inside the bag, Seira estimated that there were at least 3,000 silver coins inside, and for a small and poor vige like this one, such an amount was definitely huge. "Vige Chief, I appreciate the gesture, however, please use this to improve the living conditions of everyone in the vige instead," Seira replied, returning the bag of silver coins to the vige chief. "Well, then I entrust the vige chief to return the other children to their respective viges. I shall take my leave as myrade still needs my help. Farewell." Heroically walking out of the vige, Seira deactivated the recording crystal that would serve as proof that they''d rescued more than twenty young girls. She then headed straight towards their rendezvous point and waited for her boss to arrive. Chapter 337: Yet Another Triumphant Return "Hey, Aria, are you sure this is the way to your vige?" "Hmm? Yes, big brother must trust Aria!" "Haaah¡­Fine¡­" After dragging the three bandit leaders for about ten minutes, the unconscious little girl whom Shye found in Conn-Thor''s room abruptly regained consciousness, proving to be quite a handful with her constant chatter, causing a considerable headache due to her inability to keep quiet. ''Well, at least she''s fine and healthy¡­'' Shye mused as he nced at Aria who was resting on his shoulder, holding on like a cat as he ran at speeds considered as terrifying for a mundane human like her. Yet, somehow, there was no fear in her eyes, only excitement. Amused, Shye continued running for a few more minutes, ncing asionally to see if the bandits were still behind him. Finally, after around five more minutes, shaky wooden walls came into view, leaving Shye amazed at Aria''s memory. Entering the vige, people looked towards Shye''s direction as though he was a ghost. Well, there was someone who was supposed to be a ghost beside him: Aria. "Little Aria!! You''re back!! What happened to you?! We heard from your parents that you were abducted a week ago. We thought you were already gone!" "Oh?! Little Aria is back?!" "Little Aria! It''s great that you''re safe!" "Little Aria, where''s your sister? I heard she was abducted too. Did you two meet?" Upon realizing that the little girl was Aria, who was abducted a week ago, the vigers suddenly dropped what they were doing and swarmed her, asking her all kinds of questions regarding what happened to her, what the bandits'' hideout looked like, and was the boss scary. Being the chatterbox that she was, Aria answered all of their questions, making Shye almost pull his hair out in frustration. Fortunately, Aria''s father swiftly caught wind of his daughter''s return and promptly rushed towards the vige entrance with tears and snot on his face, tripping all over before arriving at the scene after five more minutes. "ARIA!!" "Hmm? Father!! Aria is back!! And Aria will never leave you again!!" "Father promises that you will never go through such trauma again! I love you, little one!" "I love you too, father!" Shye, being quite the emotional young man himself, couldn''t help but shed a few tears at the father-daughter reunion, hoping that one day, he could experience it himself. After a few emotional minutes, the father suddenly asked Aria: "W-Where''s your sister? S-She was abducted by those damned bandits as well¡­Did you two meet?" "Yes, father. Me and my big sister Amelia were locked up in the same prison cell, however, I was summoned to the boss'' room first so I don''t know what happened to her¡­" Hearing the father''s question, Shye immediately stepped in. "Hello, sir. I''m Shye Crowley, the adventurer who epted your vige chief''s request. You don''t have to worry about Aria''s big sister as she was the one who asked me to save Aria, whom I found unconscious in the bandit boss'' room. I believe that myrade had already escorted your other daughter back to Carlton Vige and would be escorted here soon by the residents of the said vige." "Thank heavens!! My children are alive!! My only reason to live!! May the Gods bless you, sir adventurer! Thank you for saving my daughters'' lives!" *** A few days quickly passed. "Haaah¡­that was a stressful quest wasn''t it, boss?" "Hmm? I''d say it was pretty chill. I thought that sinister old dog would be stronger." "..." Hearing Shye''s words, Seira couldn''t help but nce at him. She was a wee bit stupid, however, even she could deduce that Shye had a few secrets. After all, Conn-Thor was considered to have the strength of a mid-emerald-ranked adventurer; possibly even stronger. If her boss could take the bastard down easily, then it meant that he at least had the strength of a high-emerald-ranked adventurer (Emeralds approaching the Diamond rank). Seeing that Seira didn''t respond, Shye looked at her, causing her to slightly panic and change the topic. "O-Oh! It''s feeding time. Wait, boss. Let me feed these darned bastards or we wouldn''t get double the rewards!" Sessfully finding a valid reason, Seira swiftly acted, taking out a few pieces of bread and jerkies and stuffing them inside the hungry bandits'' mouths. They were already close to Balkrow City and it would be a shame if the bastards died before they could hand them over to the appropriate authorities. Sure enough, after walking for around twenty more minutes, the familiar Balkrow City walls and gates came into view, bringing a smile to the duo''s faces. Arriving at the gates, the eyes of the guards widened upon seeing what Shye and Seira had in tow: three humans¡ªbattered and bruised, especially on their faces which seemed to have encountered a tribtion of fire. After a quick token check and a few questions regarding the bandits, the guards let the two of them through. Naturally, dragging such battered individuals inevitably captured the surrounding people''s attention¡ªboth residents and adventurers. Shye initially didn''t care, however¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 50 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 37 points!] ''Hoh? It seems that there were quite a few who knew who these bastards were¡­'' Shye mused as another clever idea popped up in his brain. "EHEM! Uhm¡­Seira, let''s go this way¡­I kinda missed the city so¡­let''s walk around for a bit." "Oh? Okay? I guess that''s fine¡­" Seira thought Shye''s request was weird, however, he was the boss so she could onlyply. After walking for around half an hour inside the city while flexing his "catch", Shye earned around 4,500 points, bringing a satisfied smile to his face as the two of them walked towards the guild''s Balkrow branch headquarters. A few minutester, the two of them arrived in front of the branch headquarters, prompting heads to turn their way. "H-Hey, look! Shye Crowley has returned!" "D-Do you guys think the rumors about their quest were true?" "You idiot! Wasn''t it basically confirmed to be true by Miss Aya''s mildly flustered expression when Gordon asked her?" "B-But if she didn''t admit th¨C" "Shut up! Didn''t one of our Rubies, Mark Granger, who is a close friend of one of the emeralds, already confirm it?!" Again, their arrival stirred up amotion. After all, their quest was one from the special lounge¡ªout of reach from low-ranked adventurers like most of their guildmates. Hence, they had a lot of questions in their minds. However, once Shye and Seira entered, dragging the three bandit leaders inside the guild, all of their questions vanished into thin air. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 742 points!] Chapter 338: Solo For A While "Hey, that rookie is back." "Hahaha! The one who beat the crap out of Darius with an elemental staff?" "Yeah, he and his party member are turning their quest in right now. "For real? They caught the darned bandits?" "Yeah, you guys wanna check it out?" "Yeah, let''s go." "L-Luna, how about you?" Shye and Seira''s arrival even caused a slightmotion in the special lounge, prompting the emeralds to talk about the quest they took. After all, even for some of the emeralds, the Notorious Bandits quest proved to be a bit too difficult to handle solo, hence, most of them thought that the payout wouldn''t be worth the risk and avoided the quest as though it was a gue. Once thirty days passed from the day of posting and none of them still took on the quest, the guild will enforce apulsory selection, requiring four adventurers to undertake the quest together, whether they like it or not. Well, the quest itself wouldn''t be a problem, however, as veterans, they knew that bandits were too damn slippery and the main challenge would lie in searching for theirir. Moreover, finishing the quest solo would be a wee bit too hard, hence, they had to bring at least onerade along. The issue with this arrangement was that splitting the quest rewards among two or more people would result in such small shares that the quest wouldn''t be worth pursuing. Unfortunately, this was one of the brutal realities of the world. Most adventurers only thought of whether the quest would be worth pursuing by weighing the difficulty/hassle to reward ratio. Very few cared about the situation of the clients. Even Shye was unknowingly falling into this mindset. Well, everyone had their problems so it would take someone with apassionate heart and a heroic spirit to go out of their way toplete quests for the sake of helping the clients instead of caring about the rewards. Sadly, the world wouldn''t treat one better just because one was kind. Hence, everyone naturally developed an "every man for himself" mentality. "Why would I waste my energy sneaking around and caring about someone else''s achievements? I''d rather embark on a quest." Luna said with a cold and detached expression. She didn''t intend to respond rudely; it''s just that she''s a bit oblivious about such matters. She often speaks her mind without considering whether she might offend someone, as she doesn''t care about such things. "I-I see¡­" Receiving yet another cold reply, nobody dared talk to Luna anymore. ¡­ "Hello, Sir Crowley, Seira." "Hello, Miss Shauna, we''re here to turn our quest in. Here are the recording crystals serving as proof that we wiped the bandits out and saved 27 young girls who were held captive. Also¡­uhm¡­here are the bandit leaders¡­" "..." "..." Shauna thought that Shye was cute and wanted to giggle at the fact that he brought the bandits to the branch headquarters. However, she knew that Shye was a rookie and it would be inappropriate tough at him, resulting in a few seconds of awkward silence. Sessfully stifling herughter, Shauna spoke: "A few moments, Sir Crowley. I shall process your questpletion. Also, next time, you may directly take the bandits to the city jail. All you need to present is another recording crystal as proof." "I-I see¡­I didn''t know. Thank you." Smiling at Shye, Shauna continued to process Shye''s questpletion rewards which would be more than doubled since they caught Conn-Thor alive and saved twenty-seven young girls. After a short while, the rewards receptionist finally stopped typing and looked at the two of them with a smile. "I''m done processing the questpletion rewards, Sir Crowley, Seira. Here are 40,000 silver coins, your adventurer licenses, and guild tokens. Also, I''ve added 2,405 guild contribution points to each of your ounts. Again, thank you for your contributions to the guild!" Shauna said as she offered a customary profound bow to Shye and Seira. Just when she was about to process the rewards of the next adventurer in line, Seira suddenly spoke. "U-Uhm¡­Shauna¡­Can you transfer 1,000 contribution points to Shye''s ount from mine? I didn''t do much and he deserves the lion''s share of the contribution points. 1,405 points is enough for me¡­" "Hmm? Oh, sure¡­I''d suggest giving prior notice next time, before I process the quest rewards, as transferring points would cost you a hundred guild contribution points per transfer." "Oh¡­I understand, please continue with the transfer." Seira decisively said, as obtaining just as many points as Shye didn''t sit well with her. Desperate as she might be, she had her own set of moral values that she abided by. 2,405 points was truly a bit too much for her conscience. "Hey, Seira¡­" Shye tried to stop her, however, she remained adamant about her decision. "Boss, please ept this arrangement. I''m progressing quickly as it is, and if we keep taking on simr-level quests in the future, I fear that I''ll rank up too quickly and be an adventurer who is way too ipetent for my rank. Thirty percent of the rewards are already enough to help me aplish my goals on time; you should have the remaining seventy percent." "W-Well, if this arrangement is alright with you, then I shall take the seventy percent every time." "Thanks, boss!" Hearing their somewhat touching conversation, Shauna couldn''t help but smile warmly, processing the point transfer shortly after. "All done, Seira, Sir Crowley. Any other requests?" "Nope, all done! Thanks, Shauna!" "No worries, Seira!" After a short conversation, Shye and Seira left, proceeding toward the exit with smiles on their faces, nning to rx for the rest of the day before departing for another quest. Only, Shye didn''t expect Seira''s subsequent words. "Boss, I''m truly grateful for your support. Thanks to you, I''m on track to meet my goals. I need to return to my vige to visit my family, so I''ll be away for about a month. But I''ll be back in time to see you dominate in the rookie representative selection tournament. Take care, boss. See you in a month!" Chapter 339: Rank-up Quest Shye was surprised about Seira''s decision to temporarily take a break from adventuring since from what he knew, she was rushing to rank up as fast as possible. ''Oh well, seems like she''s on track if she could afford to take a one-month break." Putting Seira''s matter aside, Shye fell into deep thought as he recalled that he earned a total of 3,405 points in one quest. To rank up to Ruby, he needed to earn a total of 7,000 guild contribution points and he was currently at 6,405 points. Suddenly, reaching the Ruby rank before the rookie representative selection tournament and Balkrow City''s Rookie Tournament seemed easily attainable. He only needed 595 points, after all. "40 points to all attributes plus 300,000 points¡­" Shye muttered the mandatory quest''s rewards in excitement. Forty points to all attributes was an absurdly huge increase in stats. It was likely enough to make him as strong as a diamond-ranked adventurer, especially considering the tremendous bonuses he would also receive from his rare talent, Greatsword Meister. As for the extra 300,000 points as a reward¡­Well, he could only imagine the explosive growth he would experience. Eager to rank up, Shye swiftly returned to the branch headquarters and quickly took another (B-) ranked quest. *** Meanwhile, at the city square, some particrly eager individuals who frequently checked the ranking boards were going about their almost daily routine when a significant change suddenly urred. A name who was recently kicked out of the top ten rookie rankings due to inactivity popped up and soared to the top of the rankings. "H-HEY! D-DID YOU GUYS JUST SEE THAT?!" "Yeah man, what the f*ck was that?! Do you guys think this Shye Crowley guy is cheating?" "I-I don''t think anyone can cheat the guild contribution points but I also don''t know how the guy is doing this!" "Thest time I saw this guy''s name was when he caused a slightmotion for suddenly grabbing the ninth spot with a little less than two months of adventuring!" "Yeah, his points back then were around 3,000, I believe. How the hell did he earn 3,405 points in one go?!" As for the person in question, who was already heading towards the Balkrow City gates for another random (B-) hunting quest, a notification suddenly popped up before him. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 34 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 53 points!] ''Oh? What the f*ck? Why are so many people admiring me? And from where?'' Shye mused upon seeing the notification in front of him. He wouldn''t reject free points, hence, he decided to loiter around the city gates for a bit and see how many points he would receive. What he didn''t expect was that, somehow, the random unknown thing making random people admire him, would blow up. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 102 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 158 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 562 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1042 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1,567 points!] ''W-What the hell is going on?! What heroic sh*t did I do to deserve this?!'' Finally, after around ten more minutes, the notifications stopped. ''W-Well, a total of around 7,800 points? I''ll take that any day!'' Happy about the recent random influx of system points, Shye headed towards the nearest Avenida Advanced Adventurer Zone with a smile. The zone was only around three hours away from Balkrow, hence, Shye quickly arrived. In addition to his overwhelming confidence, Shye''s enthusiasm for this quest was way off the charts so he didn''t even prepare before walking towards the area where the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard that he was targeting. Shye already killed one before in the Advanced Adventurer Zone near Colzen City, albeit through wits and a bit of luck, so he already knew the creature''s attack patterns. He was confident that he could take the monstrous lizard down easily as he only needed 595 more points to rank up, thus, there was no need for him to select a strong creature to hunt, opting for a weaker (B-) target instead. After another five hours of walking, Shye arrived at the area indicated on the quest. The developments matched his enthusiasm as shortly after arriving, he immediately found footprints belonging to his targeted creature. Only, Shye was a bit confused as this footprint was wayrger than the footprint of the one he fought back at the Advanced Adventurer Zone near Colzen. "Tch, could the one I fought back then have been a juvenile?" Shye muttered as he carefully followed the footprint. Find exclusive stories on m_v l|e-NovelBin It seemed that this mission would be a wee bit harder than he expected. Well, it didn''t change the fact that the creature was (B-) ranked, hence, he didn''t worry too much. Finally, after meticulously following the monstrous lizard''s trail, he heard a familiar roar reverberate behind the dense thickets on his left. "ROOOAAAR!!" Subconsciously turning his head to look with a smile, Shye carefully peered out of the bushes, narrowing his eyes into slits as he looked at the ridiculously huge Hellspawn Bull-Lizard. ''What the f*ck? This thing should be at least five meters tall¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed upon seeing the creature that was almost twice the size of the one he took down. Now, he was sure that the one he killed was nothing but a juvenile. ''Appraisal!'' == [Name]: Hellspawn Bull-Lizard [Creature Rank]: B- [Description] Armed with overwhelming strength in its legs and an absurdly tough skull, the hellspawn-bull lizard mostly uses its relentless lethal charge and inertia-defying maneuvers to catch its adversaries off-guard and y them. [Skills]: [Bullish Charge Lv.5] [Bite Lv.5] [Tail Swipe Lv.5] [Brake Lv.5] [Defiance Lv.3 (Rare)] [Strength: 230] [Intelligence: 20 ] [Agility: 210] [Dexterity: 180] [Stamina: 300] [Vitality: 210]: [Wisdom: 10] [Exit System] == Seeing the monstrous lizard''s stats, Shye inwardly heaved a sigh of relief. Due to its unbelievable size, Shye thought that it would be stronger than the Titanium Demon Ape, fortunately, it was considerably weaker. Moreover, its skillset was truly way too limited. Shye simply couldn''t see himself losing to this creature as he had more than five ways of toying with and defeating it. Knowing that he could easily defeat his adversary, Shye opted for the head-on approach. Blue, three-dimensional sh marks that seemed to constantly warp the area in front of it lingered menacingly in the air as Shye drew out Mithra, grasping its handles with his left hand. Almost simultaneously, Shye took out his other greatsword, Adamance, causing scarlet embers to roar fiercely, raising the temperature around Shye''s right hand to rming degrees as he shed both greatswords forward. Since Shye didn''t care about using the element of surprise to his advantage, the bull-lizard easily spotted him. *ROOOAAAR!!* It was in the middle of a nice meal, hence, it was utterly infuriated after realizing that it was being attacked by a measly human. Unfortunately, anger and a straightforward charge were often not enough to ovee a confident, skilled, and strong adventurer. After easily baiting out the creature''s attack, Shye nimbly evaded to the left, skillfully pivoting his right foot before jumping on top of the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard. From that point on, it was simply a one-sided ughter as Shye shed his heart out. Chapter 340: Ruby-ranked Rookie "Haaah! Haaah! Why did I sign up for this sh*t?!" Shye cursed as he pulled the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard''s whole corpse by its tail¡ªhis muscles bulging as he did so. [Congrattions! Your strength attribute has increased from 183 >> 184!] Shye didn''t read the quest description much, confident that he would be able to take the darned lizard down. Well, he did. Experience more tales on m v|l e''-NovelBin Easily at that. However, when he opened the quest scroll to see what he needed to harvest after ying the creature, he found out that he had to bring back the WHOLE corpse as the client who posted the quest up was an owner of some random upstart museum. That specific day, Shye started to hate museums¡ªall due to his stu¨C...carelessness. Fortunately, Balkrow City was only three hours away from Avenida Advanced Adventurer Zone, hence, Shye simply treated the arduous three-hour task as one intense strength training session. Most of the adventurers in Balkrow were around the ranks of Silver, Gold, and tinum. A good amount were rubies, and only around five percent were emeralds¡ªBalkrow''s cream of the crop. Naturally, such a huge corpse would inevitably attract the attention of the adventurers, especially the low-ranked ones whose eyes almost popped out of their sockets¡ªtheir mouths agape. A few of them had seen one such creature before, however, only a small percentage of the adventurers preparing near the city gates knew exactly how strong the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard was. Witnessing a solo adventurer, especially someone so young, take one down was bound to create huge waves as only emerald-ranked adventurers were capable of such feats. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 480 points!] ''Haaah¡­that''s better than nothing, I guess¡­'' Dragging the corpse in front of the city gates under hundreds of awestruck eyes, Shye approached the guards. He then showed them his Balkrow token and the quest description from the scroll before requesting them to open the massive gate. This wasn''t the first time such a thing happened, hence, the guards readily epted his request. "Phew¡­just a bit more¡­" Shye muttered wearily under his breath as he once more grasped the tip of the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard''s massive tail, pressing on with his arduous journey towards the guild branch headquarters. Unbeknownst to him, someone in the top ten of Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Rankings was amongst the crowd, specifically, the fourth-ranked Lin Zi from Yudaina Yama Adventurer Guild. "Hey, Boss Lin, do you think he''s that Shye Crowley guy from Raven''s de?" One of Lin Zi''sckeys asked with a curious face. "Yeah¡­That¡­exins why he was able to burst through the rankings¡­" Lin Zi replied while looking at the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard''s corpse. "Who''s stronger, him or you?" "Well¡­I''m not entirely sure. If he truly killed that monster without assistance, it might be a bit difficult for me to defeat him. However, if I used all of my trump cards, it would also be difficult for him to defeat me." "Would you win?" "..." "Nah, I''d lose¡­" ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 120 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 57 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 105 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 79 points!] *BANG!* "Haaah¡­Finally made it¡­" Shye muttered while wiping sweat off his forehead after letting go of the enormous lizard''s tail. He was pleased to discover he could earn points just by showcasing the high-ranked creatures he hunted within the city. He vowed to take on more quests like this one in the future. "Doing this in Valenzia City would probably earn me a sh*tload of points¡­" Temporarily leaving the huge corpse outside the branch headquarters, Shye entered, ignoring the shocked reactions of his guildmates as he was already used to it. Still, he can''t deny that being the center of attention felt good. "Hello, Miss Shauna, I''m here to turn my rank-up quest in!" Shye said excitedly with an innocent smile on his face. He was quite decent at hiding his emotions, except for excitement and happiness, that is. Hence, his rarely-seen innocent disposition tugged a few strings inside Shauna''s heart, causing her to reply somewhat flusteredly. "R-R-Right away, Sir Crowley. Let me check your quest requirements for a few moments¡­" "Sure." After one minute, Shauna looked at Shye again. "Haaah... Thank you, Sir Crowley, for epting this quest. It''s been posted for nearly thirty days, and no one wanted to take it on due to the challenge of bringing the corpse back. Speaking of which... how did you manage to bring it back, and where did you leave it?" Shauna sighed in relief before asking Shye with a curious face. It would be hard for even a whole party of ruby-ranked adventurers to bring the corpse back, hence, Shauna was truly curious about the Shye''s methods. "Well¡­I grabbed its tail like this and pulled like this, all the way back to Balkrow. I left it there, just outside the door." Shye replied, demonstrating how he did it with moderate enthusiasm for the sake of a proper exnation. Again, Shauna almost burst outughing, a hundred percent amused at Shye''s antics. In her opinion, Shye was a misunderstood rookie. Although there were times when he was indeed arrogant, he never started any trouble inside the guild, only retaliating to defend himself. "Miss Shauna?" "A-Ah!! Y-Yes¡­I see. I''ve granted you one-time ess to the guild warehouse behind this building, you may leave the creature''s corpse there. Once you''re done, I shall process the questpletion for you." Eager to rank up and receive the mandatory quest rewards, Shye swiftly finished the task of storing the Hellspawn Bull-Lizard''s corpse at the guild warehouse, returning to the rewards desk promptly after. "I''m done storing the corpse in the guild warehouse. Here''s the receipt given by the staff manning the warehouse." Shye enthusiastically said, handing the receipt right over along with his adventurer license and guild token. Receiving the identification documents along with the receipt, Shauna verified its authenticity, processing Shye''s questpletion shortly after. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley! You''ve reached the ruby rank as an adventurer. Inside this bag is your quest reward of 13,000 silver coins. Thank you once again for your contributions to the guild!" Shauna said, offering a profound bow toward Shye. Naturally, Shye reciprocated the polite gesture, forcing himself to stay calm even after receiving one of the best notifications he ever received from the system. [Congrattions! You''vepleted the mandatory quest: Super Rookie. You may receive the rewards manually through the mandatory quest screen. Note: Please find a secluded ce before collecting your reward.] Chapter 341: Suffering For A Brighter Tomorrow [Please confirm if you would like to receive the mandatory quest rewards for: Super Rookie] [Y/N] Seeing the prompt in front of him, Shye took a deep breath. Contrary to his expectations of eagerness and excitement, a trace of fear and worry consumed his heart, stemming from his previous experiences of purchasing a talent and upgrading the system. It hurt like hell and he didn''t want to experience such pain again. However, for the sake of those he cared about, to repay the old man''s kindness, and for his own sake, Shye understood that he needed to persevere. His true quest of trying to save his parents and aplishing whatever the old man needed him to was just beginning. There was no room for hesitation. ''Hooooh¡­Let''s do this.'' Ultimately deciding that continuing to purchase important upgrades inside inn rooms would be too risky, Shye decided to make his own safe haven inside an intermediate adventurer zone four hours away from Balkrow City. There, he chased a Jadepaw Grizzly out of itsir, made a few modifications to their such as adding a huge rock that he could use to cover the entrance, and set up a few defensive traps inside to ensure his safety from outside threats when undergoing a tribtion from the system. Currently, he was inside the veryir he prepared for himself. [Y] [Congrattions! You have epted the mandatory quest reward! Bestowment will begin in 5¡­] [4¡­] [3¡­] [2¡­] [1¡­] *FWOOOSH!* Shortly after the count reached [1], an intense surge of dark aura suddenly enveloped Shye, shrouding the entireir in pitch-ck vapor which originated from the system''s host himself. At this point, Shye couldn''t see anything, hence, he decided to close his eyes and brace himself for what would happen next. Sure enough, around three seconds after closing his eyes, sharp pain began to assault Shye''s entire body, originating from his heart and slowly permeating throughout his torso, neck, arms, legs, and head. Heck, even his "other head" wasn''t exempted from the pain. As Shye''s little brother began to throb in pain, he also started to scream in agony, rolling around on the ground while clutching his dong. Pain in one''s genitals was truly a different kind of beast. If not for Shye''s resolve and presence of mind to force himself to stay conscious, he would''ve long sumbed to the pain. Although he wasn''t sure whether falling unconscious would pose a danger to his life, Shye didn''t dare take the risk, opting instead to try his best to stay awake. Fortunately, the bestowment of rewards didn''t take that long,sting for only five minutes. However, for Shye, it felt like an eternity. "Haaaaahh¡­Haaaahh¡­Haaaahh¡­" Shye panted in exhaustion and a hint of weariness. He knew that he somehow made it through this time but what about next time? And the next one after that? Such questions battered his already exhausted mind and body, wearing him down even before his true battle even began. He just wanted to live a normal life with his parents, little sister, and girlfriend. Was that too much to ask? Sadly, he was already in deep sh*t, and if he wanted to live the dream life he wanted, he had to put his entire body and soul to work. ''Calm down¡­Let''s do this one step at a time¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, suppressing the tears welling in the corners of his eyes. He missed his little sister; he missed his girlfriend, and he yearned for his parents'' safe return. Struggling to get up as the ck vapor began to subside, Shye recovered his vision. ''Status.'' [Attributes]: [Strength: 224] [Intelligence: 200] [Agility: 210] [Dexterity: 210] [Stamina: 170] [Vitality: 180] [Wisdom: 97] ''Well, at least the suffering was worth it.'' He thought as he navigated through the system to check his points. [Current Points: 316,626] ''Hehehe¡­Nice!'' Sad and weary as he was, a sh*tload of points never failed to cheer him up. With his mind suddenly clearing up, Shye had an epiphany: If even he failed to estimate his explosive growth, then achieving his final goal might not take as long as he imagined! This abrupt thought rejuvenated his spirits, allowing him to carry on andmence yet another hellish torture in exchange for strength. Navigating through the talents screen with a resolute expression, Shye tapped on the 250,000-point epic talent he had been eyeing for a long time. == [Mana''s Beloved Child] (Epic) - 250,000 points Description: Mana''s dearest, arise, for you are one among the scarce few embraced by the world''s most primordial element. Effects: Increase damage dealt by all spells using mana as a catalyst by 80% Increase one''s mana pool by 500% Increase mana recovery rate by 200% Permanently increase one''s intelligence by 50 points Permanently increase one''s wisdom by 50 points [Back] [Learn] === ''Learn!'' Promptly after tapping [Learn], Shye braced himself for yet another session of utter anguish, clinging to the belief that the more he suffered now, the sooner he would achieve his goal. Fortunately, this time, even though the painsted about three minutes longer than before, his other head was excluded from the suffering, enabling him to endure this trial more effectively. Once the dark aura subsided, Shye panted in exhaustion once again; his consciousness hanging by a thread. He looked so battered both physically and mentally. However, there was a wide, triumphant smile on his face. He survived again! ''Status!'' == Talent: [Lim??(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] [Mana''s Beloved Child(Epic)] == [Strength: 224] [Intelligence: 250] [Agility: 210] [Dexterity: 210] [Stamina: 170] [Vitality: 180] [Wisdom: 147] == ''Crap¡­Aren''t I a menace right now?'' Shye couldn''t help but smile excitedly as he thought about the uing rookiepetitions. ''Hahaha! With this, wouldn''t I still be fine even if I participated in the tournament for veterans?!'' After celebrating for a while, Shye emerged from his makeshift tribtion cave, walking in merry strides towards Balkrow City. There was still around a month before the tournament, and he had no ns of rxing. Gaining a few extra guild contribution points while waiting for the event would surely help him achieve his goals faster, even if only earlier by a day or two. Chapter 342: Cursed Family "Mom! Big sister is back!" Outside a run-down yet fairly spacious wooden hut, a seemingly frail young boy with short purple hair, decent facial features, and a scrawny frame, excitedly ran back inside. Upon hearing the boy''s words, a middle-aged woman who bore a striking resemnce to the boy, except for her long hair, identally dropped the basket she was carrying, scattering various vegetables on the ground. However, she couldn''t care less. Tears began streaming down her cheeks as she madly rushed towards the wooden door, eager to see her daughter again after three years. "Seira!! My daughter!" Seira''s mom eximed upon seeing her daughter, Seira, who was also crying as she ran towards the wooden hut. Extending their arms to embrace each other with tears in their eyes, the mother-daughter pair cried their hearts out for a while before letting go. Seira then hugged her little brother tightly for a short while before turning her attention back to her mother. Seeing her mother and younger brother looking unhealthy, her heart broke into a million pieces. Two years and ten months ago, they only looked slightly unhealthy, but now¡­it looked like they would onlyst for two more years at most. She had to act fast. If not for her boss, she wouldn''t even have the chance to see their current conditions. Seira''s family¡­was actually not poor as herte father was once a ruby-ranked adventurer, and although her mother was only a mundane person, her father had always earned enough for them to live decently at a fairly decent house inside a fairly decent city in the past. Unfortunately, being an adventurer was a perilous job. One day, her father was cursed by a high-ranked monstrous creature, and even though her father and hisrades were able to escape, the curse slowly ate away at their vitality. After a while, their conditions worsened and the entire party slowly withered, dying one by one. Seira''s father was quite tenacious, fighting the curse for months while employing the help of priests and hospitals in hopes of removing the curse but s! Only after spending their entire fortune did her father find out that the curse could only be removed through curse cleansing, a ritual performed by ten diamond-ranked or above priests/priestesses with a specific skill called Curse Reversal, meaning that the darned priests and hospitals merely scammed them out of their money, knowing full well that there was no way in hell they could remove the curse from her father''s body. To make things worse, although the curse wasn''t transmissible to adventurers whose bodies were tougher than the mundane folks, it was contagious to ordinary people like her mother and younger brother, who had only just started training. Seira was quite lucky that her body was already as strong as a silver-ranked adventurer by the time her father was cursed, else their family would have no hope. Three and a half years ago, her father finally perished while harboring resentment to the heartless chatans who scammed him. The unfortunate man couldn''t even find peace in his passing, as he discovered just before he died that his wife and son were also cursed. Adding to his miserable final moments was the fact that he couldn''t even leave money for them to continue living inside the city. ''I''m a failure of a father!'' These were the man''s final thoughts as he crossed over to the afterlife. Consequently, Seira''s family was forced to live in a poverty-stricken vige, and if not for the few remaining silver coins her father left them, they wouldn''t even be able to purchase a dpidated wooden hut for themselves! Seira knew that she had to act, and fast. Otherwise, her beloved mother and little brother, her only remaining family in this world, would die. Driven by a fierce determination to save her family, Seira left the vige two years and ten months ago to pursue a career as an adventurer, managing to pass the Raven''s de admission exam with mediocre scores through sheer grit and determination. At this point, she still had no idea how to employ the aid of ten diamond-ranked priests/priestesses. Hence, she believed that the only thing she could do was embark on quests and rank up as fast as she could. She was initially an introvert who hated talking to people. However, her circumstances forced her to constantly approach people, learning what little she could through incessant chatter until finally, she learned that the guild''s main branch in valenzia had thousands of members¡ªall ranked diamond and above. In addition to this, those who would be promoted to the main branch would receive a gift from the guild, and she was ready to give her gift up in exchange for a chance to remove the curse from her mother and little brother''s bodies. ''As long as she could make it to the main branch, she would be able to find ways¡­'' Was the thought that kept her going. It seemed that it would be impossible for her to rank up fast enough to save her family''s lives. Fortunately, Shye suddenly popped out of nowhere and joined their guild branch, shining light on her almost impossible endeavor. Today, she finally saved enough money to at least bring her mother and little brother back to Balkrow City with her and let them live afortable life. "Mother, Soren, I''vee to pick you two up." Hearing her daughter''s words, Sarah looked at Seira with a confused expression. Living in the city wasfortable, however, it was also expensive. Her daughter must have been barely getting by, so she was puzzled as to why Seira had returned to take them away. "S-Seira, you don''t have to worry about us. Forget us and just focus on living your life okay? We¡­don''t have long to live¡­so please¡­please promise me that you will stay strong and alive even when we''re gone¡­" Sarah bitterly said as tears once again fiercely streamed down her cheeks. Clearly, she already lost hope. Well, her despair was understandable as it would be nearly impossible for her daughter, who only started adventuring two years and ten months ago, to employ the aid of ten diamond-ranked priests/priestesses. Hence, Sarah decided to just cherish what little time she had with her son while allowing her daughter to live her own life and get used to a life without them. As a mundane individual, this was the best she could do. She didn''t want to part with her children but what else could she do? Hoping for a miracle was simply too painful for her. "Mother! Don''t say things like that! I will never give up on you and Soren! Come, I''ll help you pack. I''ll exin my circumstances on the way¡­" Chapter 343: The Super Rookie’s Prowess A month quickly flew by Shye, not wanting to waste time, immediately tested the limits of his newfound prowess, daring to take on two (B) ranked quests in a single month. The first one he dared to take was the usual hunting quest wherein he was required to hunt a (B) ranked Dark Orthrus, a three-meter-tall, two-headed dog that was not only agile but also deft and mighty. Although it wasn''t the toughest of (B) ranked monstrous creatures, it was quite the handful as it could also fight from long range by spewing out ck exploding balls, dark-purple beam attacks, and gray-coloured X-sts. Unfortunately for the Orthrus, Shye was the same. To be specific, he was stronger than the Dark Orthrus in both melee and rangedbat. The poor two-headed canine got toyed with as though it was nothing but a random harmless puppy. As a warrior, Shye was able to easily dodge its paw smash, bite, and pounce attacks due to both his high agility and high intelligence, allowing him to see through the doggy''s attacks as though it was a modern-day video yed on 0.75x speed. Sneaking in a few counter-attacks to gradually split its tough hide wide open along with its flesh was also achieved rather easily by Shye. Hence, upon realizing that it couldn''t win in closebat against the unbelievably strong young male human, the Dark Orthrus opted for a long-range approach, decisively switching to maintaining distance while spewing out ck balls¡­dark beams, and X-sts. Unfortunately for the dark dual-headed doggy, nothing it threw at Shye worked, as even the simplest of the ashen-haired young man''s skills, namely the fireball, the icicle spears, the wind cutters, and the earthen spikes, slightly overpowered all of the Orthrus'' ranged skills. A monstrous creature''s instincts had always been razor sharp, thus, it immediately activated its trump card called rabid rage, turning its entire body purple¡ªits eyes¡ªpitch ck, appearing extremely sinister and unsettling as its ck fur was reced by purple-colored toned muscles. It was able to fight back for quite a while¡ªalbeit only to a stalemate. When Shye activated his transformation skills though, the (B) ranked Orthrus didn''t evenst ten seconds, and he was able to finish his first quest in mere eight days,ting him a hefty reward of 1,700 contribution points and 16,000 silver coins. As for his second one, it was a gathering quest, however, it proved to be a bit more difficult topletepared to hunting a Dark Orthrus. The quest to gather Earth Lingzhi was ranked (B), as all he had to do was retrieve the unique-tier herb called Earth Lingzhi, with its exact location already specified in the quest scroll. There was a catch though. The quest''s location was inside an expert adventurer zone, where the lowest-ranked creature was (C) and the highest was (A) rank. A vast area that would surely spell death for regr ruby-ranked adventurers. In addition to this, the darned lingzhi was located right in the middle of the territories of two (A-) ranked creatures: an Ironhide Centaur and a Hignd Harpy. Shye was confident of his strength, however, he didn''t dare risk fighting both creatures at once. Hence, he had no choice but to wait until one of them left to hunt food. Only, Shye didn''t expect that the lingzhi''s mystical allure would be enough to lure in lower-ranked creatures, making them dare tread upon the dangerous territory of the two dangerous (A-) ranked creatures in hopes of obtaining and consuming the earthen lingzhi. Consequently, the two creatures did not need to leave their territories as there were always hypnotized creatures walking in by themselves. Still, although seldom, there were days when the lingzhi failed to attract prey for the centaur and the harpy, thus, they had to leave their territories and hunt. However, neither of the two was willing to let go of the lingzhi as it made both of their lives many times easier, causing them to enter an agreement that when one was away, the other had to guard. This was the situation Shye was waiting for. There were a few times when he was tempted to throw caution to the wind and snatch the lingzhi under the two (A-) ranked creatures'' watch. Fortunately, his experience in fighting a simted (A-) ranked Ember Wyvern during the Adventurer Academy Competition Finals ultimately allowed him to refrain from doing something stupid. Opting to patiently wait for an opportune time to snatch the lingzhi, days flew by. Fortunately, three days before the rookie representative selection tournament, the Hignd Harpy left to hunt, allowing Shye to jump in and snatch the lingzhi, earning the ire of the Ironhide Centaur as he did so. Forced to fight the four-meter-tall creature holding an enormous, two-handed battle-axe for his life, Shye drew his greatswords. He didn''t dare underestimate the daunting centaur, hence, his ultimate goal was to safely retreat out of the centaur''s territory but unfortunately, the (A-) ranked centaur guarding the lingzhi didn''t fancy the thought of allowing him to escape easily. It had four strong legs, making it impossible for Shye to outrun it through normal means, forcing him to fight it head-on for a few times. Metallic noises reverberated across the centaur''s territory as Shye''s greatswords repeatedly shed with the centaur''s battle axe. To his surprise, despite being pushed back in their direct shes and feeling his arms go numb from the centaur''s strength, he never felt that his life was in danger. This tempted him to use his trump cards and try to defeat the centaur. Ultimately though, he opted to safely retreat for fear of having to deal with both creatures and put himself in unnecessary danger. He would have ample chances to explore his current limits in the future, hence, there was no need for him to force things right now. *ROOOAAAR!* Clouds of dust lingered in the air as Shye gradually left the centaur behind, employing the use of his mana wings and various repositioning skills to sessfully flee from the perilous territory. Realizing that the ashen-haired young adventurer was slowly leaving it in the dust, a terrifying, exasperated roar escaped from the (A-) ranked monstrous creature''s throat, prompting the harpy to return. Unfortunately for it, by the time it returned, the young, sneaky thief was already long gone. Unbeknownst to Shye, the elusive night thief, a fierce battle erupted that night between two creatures who were once allies, resulting in the death of the Ironhide Centaur. The reason for their battle? Anger. Meanwhile, the culprit was already marching happily along a well-trodden path, on the way back to Balkrow City to turn yet another quest in, earning him a whopping 22,000 silver coins and 2,100 guild contribution points. Chapter 344: Balkrow City’s Rookie Adventurer Competition Qualifiers As the majestic sun hung proudly in the sky, its warm golden rays illuminated the blue cosmic canvas and thends beneath, giving the world''s inhabitants yet another great day to live and dream. Today, the skies were especially vibrant as various guilds established in Balkrowunched colorful fireworks¡ªone after the other, violently painting the azure heavens with a myriad of hues. The beginning of Balkrow City''s most exciting time of the year. The reason for this was that there would be two tournaments to test the mettle of each guild''s rookies and decide who the best rookie of the year was. As per Balkrow City''s rules, an adventurer whose active time was less than 730 days would be qualified to join which meant that each rookie would have two chances to join Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition. Well, that''s assuming one bes their guild''s representative, of course, as only one slot was avable per guild, except for Iron Jin, the top-ranked guild in Balkrow City, which could send out two representatives. There are precisely 127 guilds in Balkrow City, and to simplify the single-elimination tournament format, the City Lord granted the city''s top-ranked guild two slots, bringing the total number of participants to 128. However, the Balkrow City Rookie Adventurer Competition would onlymence four days from now, once each guild had already determined their rookie representatives. Over the next three days, each guild would hold their own rookie representative selection tournament to determine their rookie representatives. Guilds ranked outside the top ten in Balkrow City''s Guild Rankings would conduct their qualifiers inside their guild training halls. On the other hand, those in the top ten such as Raven''s de would be granted their schedules inside Balkrow Arena where other guilds would have the option to watch. Iron Jin, whose qualifiers would determine two representatives with the best chances of winning the Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition, always garnered the most viewership. This time though, all eyes were on Raven''s de. The reason? Shye Crowley, of course, as his guild contribution points reeked of cheating. Almost every year, the guilds behind the top three rookies remained the same, hence, Raven de''s sudden appearance at the top and the seventh spot blew their minds. Especially when the guy named Shye Crowley''s active days were still only in the two-digit mark. Moreover, his guild contribution points were way above the points of the second-ranked Arthur Vermillion from Iron Jin, leaving him in the dust by over four thousand points. Although there were a considerable number of people who recognized his illustrious name in Balkrow City, in the end, he was a rookie in his first year. Thus, his current achievements truly reeked of dishonesty. As a result, many were eager to see his skills, and the Balkrow Arena would undoubtedly be packed when the Raven''s de qualifiers took ce. ''Hmm¡­So we''re scheduled to fight on the morning of the second day huh?'' Shye mused upon seeing the announcement inside the branch headquarters. ''Well, since I have nothing to do, I might as well watch the qualifiers of other guilds.'' Saunteringzily out of the guild headquarters, Shye heard a voice he hadn''t heard in some time. "Boss! I''m back!" Seira said, evidently way more jolly than she normally was. "Oh? Seems like my days wouldn''t be peaceful again¡­" Shye jokingly sighed. "Ahh! You''re so cold! By the way, boss. Where are you going?" "To Balkrow Arena, you want to tag along?" "Naturally!" *** The entire day swiftly passed as Shye and Seira watched three qualifiers from three different top-ten guilds: Wack Donalds, Scarlet Angel, and Sandstorm Adventurer Guilds. Seira was very impressed by the rookies from the three guilds, especially the rookie representative from the tenth-ranked Wack Donalds who she deemed stronger than the two from Scarlet Angel and Sandstorm. On the other hand, the qualifiers were simply as boring as watching paint dry for Shye. Even the rookie from Wack Donalds who impressed Seira was no exception. In his eyes, everyone looked weak as f*ck. ''Well, at least the day passed. Hopefully, many will watch our matches tomorrow¡­'' Going home with an uncaring expression, Seira couldn''t help but ask: "Boss, that rookie from Wack Donalds was very strong, do you think you can defeat him?" "Huh? The heck do you mean? Do you think your boss would lose to such random rookies? I can defeat that guy easily with one of my hands tied behind my back!" Shye boasted exaggeratedly, bringing a smile to Seira''s face. "Hahahaha! The boss is still the boss! Sigh¡­I can only hope for the day of the Rookie Adventurer Competition to arrive faster¡­" As evening approached the duo eventually split up. Seira returned to her rented house in the city, while Shye dined at his favorite seafood restaurant before checking into an inn. His sleep was so peaceful that one would think the city''s current events had nothing to do with him. Finally, morning came. Your adventure continues at mvl The city was extra vibrant today as Raven''s de''s rookie qualifiers were scheduled today, allowing everyone to finally see whether Shye Crowley was legit or just a cheat. If not for other guilds having their qualifiers, there would be way more people than the current 30,000 in attendance. It was still early, yet, the gates of Balkrow Arena were already teeming with life as onlookers from all over the city queued up at the betting stations. Most believed that Shye was nothing but a chatan, hence, they voted for Mateo meheart to be Raven''s de''s rookie representative. Still, there were quite a few people who dared bet on Shye''s victory with all of their savings, praying for a miracle that would instantly triple their earnings. Naturally, Seira was among the people who bet her entire savings of 300 gold coins on her boss'' triumph, with the boss himself right behind her in the queue to bet a whopping 1,000 gold coins on his victory. If he won, which he was confident he would, he''d receive a total of 3,000 gold coins as prize money. Putting his betting receipt into the system''s inventory, Shye nced at Seira. "Well then, watch me crush these weaklings," he dered, bidding her farewell and heading directly to the waiting area in the center of the arena to wait for his match. Chapter 345: Raven’s Blade Qualifiers: First Match "Ladies and gentlemen! Wee to the second day of Balkrow City''s Rookie Qualifiers! I''m your host, Corey. Today, we''re about to begin the highly anticipated Raven''s de Rookie Representative Selection!" Corey''s vibrant voice boomed across the entire arena, increasing everyone''s excitement and anticipation towards the uing matches. "Will the recently famous Shye Crowley, ace representative of this year''s champion academy, live up to his legend?! Or will he prove to be yet another disappointment?! Sit back and rx as the 32 rookies with the highest contribution points in Raven''s de battle it out for a spot in Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition!" Hearing Corey''s masterful opening, Shye was impressed. ''This guy''s almost as good as that Bart guy from Valenzia!'' He mused as he watched the host walk with a professional smile towards a staff member who was holding a mana-powered device. *BLEEP!* A bleep sounded after Corey pressed a certain button on the device, prompting a huge holographic screen to appear above the stage¡ªvisible no matter which side of the arena one was watching from. Disyed on the screen were the matchups, causing a few overeager individuals to sigh in disappointment upon seeing that Shye and Mateo were on both ends of the brackets, meaning that they probably wouldn''t meet until the finals. Well, if Shye was the real deal, that is. After all, the majority of the chosen rookies were from the previous year''s batch, with only about six rookies from Shye''s generation making it to the top 32. Once the matchups were decided, Corey descended from the stage and sat at thementator''s desk. It seemed that he would also be the one who would cast the matches. Shortly after Corey settled down on his desk, a staff member, who was also the referee, raised his arms, seemingly motioning for someone to do something. Shockingly, a blue dome then appeared and enveloped the stage, causing Shye''s eyes to widen in surprise. ''Balkrow has one too?'' He thought as he reminisced about the blue dome that ensured the safety of the representatives in the Adventurer Academy Competition. ''This one is way smaller than the one in Valenzia though¡­'' Balkrow Arena was only about a fifth of Valenzia Arena''s size, and there was only a single vast stage in the middle. Hence, the Manasoft Simtion Safety Dome Balkrow City purchased was only a fifth of the one in Valenzia, also, it only had two options: a one-on-one duel and a party skirmish. It didn''t haveplicated modes such as hunt and survival. Well, Balkrow was certainly less well-off than Valenzia so it was understandable. In fact, Shye was already amazed that Balkrow City''s governing bodies were able to purchase one. However, the resources needed to activate the dome would be provided by the guilds themselves, otherwise, they would have to conduct their qualifiers without the dome which would be not only embarrassing as the guild would appear broke as f*ck, but it would also be detrimental to the well-being of the members. After all, such fierce duels were bound to end up with casualties, and so, the blue-dome would be the perfect solution that would allow everyone to go all out without worrying about their safety. Since the event organizers knew that everyone wanted to see a glimpse of Shye''s strength, they gave the audience what they wanted: Shye Crowley in the first match. His opponent, Neil Armwick, was ranked 20th among all the rookies in Raven''s de¡ªneither too strong nor too weak¡ªthe perfect opponent to gauge Shye''s strength. Noticing that the audience''s anticipation was at its peak, Corey decided to call the rookies participating in the first match onto the stage. "Without further ado, let''s begin the first match! Ascending from the left side of the stage, the 20th-ranked rookie in Raven''s de, Neil Armwick!" Corey enthusiastically eximed, prompting a few Shye Crowley haters to stand up and cheer. Hearing the crowd cheering for him, a confident smile made its way into Neil''s face. He was always out on a quest, hence, he only heard stories about Shye every time he returned to the headquarters to turn his quests in. And since he wasn''t there to witness the so-called notorious super-rookie''s feats for himself, Neil found it hard to believe that a mere year-one rookie would have the capabilities to aplish such things even if he''s the ace representative of this year''s champion academy. After all, one''s imagination would be more or less limited by his/her personal experiences. Neil felt that the crowd''s cheers affirmed his suspicions of Shye resorting to dishonesty in exchange for fame. Explore new worlds at mvl ''I''ll expose this fraud¡­'' He thought as he waited for Shye in the middle of the stage. "Now, from the right side of the stage, the rookie everyone''s been watching, the ace representative of this year''s champion academy, Balkrow''s top-ranked rookie! Please wee... Shye Crowley!" As Shye took the stage, a good number of people cheered for him¡ªmostly those who had bet on him and guild members who had witnessed his skills firsthand. However, for "Balkrow City''s top-ranked rookie", such cheers seemed ratherckluster. Shye didn''t care though. In the end, all of them would give him system points. As Shye arrived in the middle of the stage donning mage equipment, a considerable number of people who were watching were utterly confused¡ªa single thought resonating in their minds: ''Wasn''t this guy a warrior?!'' The people in the audience who watched Shye''s matches in the Adventurer Academy Competition were 110% sure that he was a warrior. However, since they were curious about what his ns were for donning mage equipment, they temporarily kept their mouths shut and watched how the duel would unfold. "Heh, Shye Crowley, the top-ranked rookie. It would be an honor to be the one to reveal how much of a fraud you are." Neil mocked, staring right at Shye''s eyes as though he could see the "fear and panic" in Shye''s heart. "Delusional. Honor my ass. Once this match is done, you will have zero honor left." The short trash-talk session further intensified the crowd''s enthusiasm for this match, prompting the referee to jerk his arms upwards as it would be unwise to make such an eager crowd wait. "Begin!" Chapter 346: Mateo Flameheart "W-What just happened folks?! What skill was that?! There was just no way that was a simple fireball from a rookie!!" After a few minutes of shocked silence, Corey''s voice resounded across Balkrow Arena, forcefully restoring the audience''s shattered wits. Right after the referee announced the start of the match, Neil, a scout, confidently reappeared behind Shye using the most basic scout skill, blink strike. Having an overwhelming ss advantage was also the reason why Neil was so confident in winning against Shye. After all, every mage had to chant for at least three-fourths of a second even with the help of various casting speed improvement buffs be it through equipment, blessings, or skills. Thus, Shye''s sudden chantless fireball caught Neil off-guard. The match didn''t evenst ten seconds as an enormous fireball akin to a small sun roared to the skies, obliterating Neil and turning him into an azure ray of light that shot out of the stadium. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 8,780 points!] ''Hmm? What the hell? Why only 8,780 points? Isn''t there around 30,000 in attendance?!'' Shye inwardly cursed in disappointment. Unbeknownst to him, the audience''s brains still haven''t caught up yet. "L-Let''s watch the instant rey! That fireball was a bit too fast, no?" Corey said in the mana-powered microphone, motioning for a staff member to rey everything that just happened on the blue holographic screen. "C-Chantless casting! S-Shye Crowley is a chantless caster!! One of the chosen few among millions, if not hundred millions of mages! A true son of heaven!" After Corey confirmed that Shye was "born" with the [Chantless Casting] talent, the people gasped in utter shock and disbelief. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 29,999 points!] ''That''s more like it!'' Shye thought inwardly with a satisfactory smile. Throughout the entire history of Adthiopia, there had only been 37 recorded individuals who were born with the [Chantless Casting] talent. Among the 37, only three came from Valenzia, while the rest were from other regions. The first one was born three hundred years ago, the second one a hundred, while the third was currently one of the titled adventurers in Valenzia: Frozen End And now, Shye''s name would once again reverberate proudly across the entire Valenzia Region for being the fourth chantless mage. Stepping down from the stage with a smile under tens of thousands of awestruck gazes, Shye returned to his seat. As he did so, a pair of narrowed eyes sternly gazed at him. ''This guy''s indeed capable. Fortunately, I prepared a few countermeasures. If I didn''t believe their ridiculous ims that this guy could cast skills without chanting, I probably wouldn''t have a chance¡­'' Mateo meheart, the 7th-ranked overall rookie in Balkrow, inwardly thought, feeling grateful that he decided to believe the crazy rumors surrounding the so-called notorious rookie. The crowd, including the other participants, remained in disbelief for quite a while, only brought back to reality by Corey''s slightly stuttering voice¡ªstill in disbelief himself. The next fourteen matches proceeded as scheduled, and they looked way more exciting than Shye''s, whose match ended as soon as it began. The rookies struggled fiercely against each other¡ªmost of them evenly matched, prompting the crowd to stand up and cheer wildly as the rookies of Raven''s de disyed their prowess, eliciting a few jealous snorts from the rookies of other, higher-ranked guilds who were watching and believed they could do better. There were a few shocking moments wherein members of Shye''s generation such as the fourth-ranked (In this year''s Raven''s de Rookie Admission Exam) Chiizai Otoko, the second-ranked Megan Wolfe, and the first-ranked Percy Phone, defeated their opponents, who were rookies already in their second year as professional adventurers, with ease. Naturally, their feats stirred quite a hugemotion, prompting the audience to discuss if the said rookies could pose a challenge to Shye Crowley or Mateo meheart. After about an hour, it was finally Mateo meheart''s turn to take the stage, ranked seventh among all rookies in Balkrow City. Across from him stood his opponent, Bernard Whoppers Jr., ranked seventh among the rookies in Raven''s de in terms of guild contribution points. A powerful opponent. However, Mateo wasn''t concerned. He already fought Bernard, a mage, multiple times, all of which resulted in his victory. Hence, there was no doubt in Mateo''s heart that he would easily win as he already got Bernard''s number down. Sure enough, promptly after the referee announced the start of the match, Mateo drew his tachi and charged toward Bernard in a straight line, his heavy armor nking loudly as he did so. Bernard couldn''t help but frown after seeing Mateo''s speed once more. ''Fast, but this time, I shall take you down!'' Using his repositioning skills to create significant distance between himself and Mateo, Bernard began chanting. He summoned a series of defensive spells, including earthen walls, me walls, ice barricades, and aqua barriers, stacking them one in front of the other. Then, immediately after, Bernard started speaking gibberish once more, casting his new trump card, [Cosmic Impact Lv.2 (Rare)], in hopes of one-shotting Mateo. Initially, his n seemed effective as Mateo had no choice but to destroy his defensive spells one by one, buying him ample time toplete his chant. ''Tch, this damn Bernard¡­forcing me to use the trump card I prepared for Crowley¡­'' Mateo inwardly cursed. He was confident he could defeat Bernard, but he didn''t expect Bernard to unveil a new skill that sent chills down his spine. The feeling of danger was gradually intensifying, allowing him to sense that Bernard almost finished casting his skill. ''Fine, you made me fight you seriously, you can consider this a small win.'' Assuming a sideways horseback riding stance, Mateo extended his left arm forward, aiming his palm at Bernard, who was chanting a deadly spell. He then lifted his right arm and aimed his tachi at Bernard. ''Piercing Void!'' Instantly after Mateo thought of his trump card''s name, his body turned into a purple blur as he ferociously dashed forward, piercing everything in his wake including Bernard''s cosmic impact, a beam attack consisting of a myriad of hues and elements that he just finished casting. Subsequently, an azure ray of light shot out of the dome, materializing into a shaking Bernard shortly after. ''Hoh? This guy can fight.'' Chapter 347: Idiotic Challengers Shye was impressed by Mateo''s trump card. However, that was it. No matter what Mateo does, Shye wouldn''t be threatened by him, especially now that Shye''s attribute was quite literally way off the chartspared to his adventurer rank. Shye believed that he was strong enough to contend against the strongest adventurers in Raven''s de Balkrow Branch. Hence, there was no way this cringe-a*s tinums would have a chance to defeat him. Hriously though, it seemed that Mateo had other ns in his head as he shot a cold, mocking smile towards Shye right after his victory was announced. A stifledugh escaped Shye''s mouth upon noticing the stupid expression on Mateo''s face. He thought Mateo was someone with a decent personality, and he had no intentions of humiliating him. However, since the guy was begging for humiliation, Shye would happily amodate his wishes. Not hesitating to fire back with a straight-up middle finger + mocking smilebo, his actions were inevitably noticed by a few people in the crowd. "H-Hey! Look! Look at Shye Crowley!" "Hahahaha! I''ve never seen such a straightforward rookie. This guy will never be bullied in the future." "Hmmph! Only in his first year as an adventurer and he''s already this arrogant?! I hope Mateo meheart teaches him a lesson!" "Hahaha! You''re delusional! You think this guy is so simple? If you saw his matches in the Adventurer Academy Competition, you wouldn''t be speaking this way!" "Indeed, people like him are special¡­" As for Mateo, the target of Shye''s tant mockery and disrespect, he was utterly fuming. Why wouldn''t he when he was hit by a viciousbo? Subsequently, when he was about to retaliate with a vicious middle finger of his own, the guy had already looked away, giving him zero chance to recover his lost face. ''YOU LITTLE BASTARD!! I''LL SHOW YOU WHY YOU SHOULD RESPECT SOMEONE OLDER THAN YOU!'' Mateo''s match signaled the end of the first round of matches. Now, only 16 rookies remain¡ªfour from Shye''s generation. After a quick five-minute break to decide the order of the matches, Corey''s vibrant voice once again sounded. "What a great first round of matches! Adventurers from Raven''s de are truly in a league of their own!" He eximed, once again eliciting irked snorts from the adventurers from other, higher-ranked guilds. "Now, let''s begin the second round of matches!" The first match was between Megan Wolfe, the second-ranked rookie from Shye''s generation, and George Yannsen, the ninth-ranked Raven''s de rookie in terms of total contribution points. Megan was a mage while George was an archer. Hence, a fierce projectile battle ensued after the referee announced the start of their match. Embers and arrow rays lingered in the air, painting the stage in a colorful chaos of myriad elements, yet, somehow, both remained unscathed. Upon taking a closer look, one would notice how gracefully both rookies dodged the other''s attacks¡ªteleporting, sidestepping, and tumbling out of each projectile''s way with unmatched finesse. However, such a fast-paced, intense match would inevitably burn the mana and stamina reserves of both fighters at an insane rate. Sure enough, after only around five minutes of battling at the same intense pace, both rookies panted in exhaustion. The projectiles didn''t stop flying though. Although the fighters'' graceful maneuvers weren''t so graceful anymore, the two were still able to barely dodge. Realizing that nothing would happen should both of them hide their trump cards, a resolute expression appeared on Megan and George''s faces. "Hmmph! You should''ve realized that nothing would happen if things continued like this, correct? How about we end this with a direct battle, rookie?" "Hmmph! Aren''t you also a rookie yourself? Fine. I''m done ying games with ugly men like you. Let''s end this!" ''Uninterrupted Casting!'' Both stepping back to cast their ultimate skills at the optimal distance, elements roared. Megan seemed to be casting some sort of multi-element skill as gusts of wind, embers, and lightning spun around her staff. On the other hand, George''s skill harnessed the power of wind alone to rotate the mana arrow at an absurd speed, generating gusts as its piercing power rose to unprecedented levels. The conclusion of the fight was about to be decided in the next few moments. Two secondster, it was George who finished casting his ultimate skill first. Letting go of the bowstrings, the vicious rotating arrow apanied by a howling gale flew towards Megan, aiming to take her simted life. It should''ve been easy for the rotating arrow to rip Megan apart, however, she suddenly disappeared, reappearing in front of George the next moment. "Goodbye, you ugly man!" *FWOOOSH!* *BOOM!* An ear-rending explosion urred, eliciting screams from some of the weaker-hearted individuals in the crowd as a tri-colored ball exploded right in front of George''s face, turning him into an azure ray of light. Due to how huge the explosion was, everyone thought that Megan herself would be transported out of the dome herself. However, for some reason, she stood right where she was¡ªunscathed and smiling mockingly towards George who was gnashing his teeth so hard in frustration. He couldn''t believe he lost to a rookie in her first year! Megan didn''t continue mocking George for a long time though, opting to shoot instead a challenging gaze and a confident smirk towards Shye as though saying: ''You think I''ll lose to you in a battle of mages? Fat chance!'' Shye was watching her match, thus, he inevitably noticed the idiotic expression on her face. ''Hahahaha! This idiot truly amuses me. I''ll take my time teaching you a lesson not to act so idioticter¡­'' Shye mused as he serenely returned Megan''s gaze with a smile. His peaceful expression irked Megan, however, she knew better than to show her emotions. Thus, she opted to look away lest the rage in her heart burgeoned further. Realizing that Megan already looked away, Shye also did the same. After all, empty talk was useless and he preferred hands-on facepping over a war of words. Chapter 348: Prowess Of The First Years "Boss Chiizai!! You can do it!!" "Boss Chiizai!" "Boss!! I believe in you!!" The subordinates of Chiizai Otoko, who ranked fourth in this year''s rookie admission exam, shouted with all their might. Even though Chiizai''s temper was as short as his height, in their hearts, he was a kind and understanding boss, always taking care of them and making sure they advanced as safely as possible as adventurers. Also, since they were very close with each other unlike other boss-subordinate rtionships, they were aware that Chiizai had a significant n in mind, and they didn''t want to see it crumble before their boss even had the opportunity to set it in motion. Well, what could they do except cheer their hearts out? Meanwhile, in the middle of the ring, the boss in question was locked in a fierce battle against a second-year warrior rookie. Hence, although Chiizai was disadvantaged as a mage, it was only rather mildpared to fighting a scout. Still, the duel was close. Way too close. Chiizai had several sh and stab wounds on his body, while his opponent bore burns and frosty punctures¡ªboth had blood streaming down the corners of their mouths, evidently barely hanging on. Hearing the cheers from his subordinates, a surge of energy and determination coursed through Chiizai''s body. ''That''s right! Wasn''t I doing this for the sake of saving my beloved from the clutches of that evil Shye Crowley?!'' Chiizai thought inwardly, a gleam of courage burning fiercely in his eyes. ''I can''t falter here!'' "Die, first year!!" Murphy, Chiizai''s opponent, fiercely eximed as he bolted forward and shed his dius downward with vicious intent. "Hmmph! Naive! What are you fighting for? If you can''t answer my question, then you will never be able to defeat me. For I, Chiizai, have a deep reason to not lose! Someone to fight for! HYAAAAAAAHH!!" Gracefully dodging Murphy''s katana by blinking a few meters away, Chiizai immediately started casting a skill no one expected him to have. ''This is one of my aces against Shye Crowley but¡­I have to reveal it now!'' ''Hentacles!'' After two seconds of chanting, thick mana tentacles resembling those of a creature called Krakken emerged from the ground beneath Murphy, coiling around Murphy''s legs, arms, and neck, preventing him from moving an inch. Chiizai then followed up with one of his stronger offensive skills, holding his staff up and aiming at Murphy while he chanted gibberish for around four seconds. Four seconds was a long time in one-on-onebat and Murphy would definitely interrupt Chiizai''s casting if he could. However, the hentacles were just too tough, and although they dealt no damage, he simply couldn''t move. Hence, after four seconds, a magic circle appeared beneath Murphy''s feet, releasing a roaring tornado of scarlet embers that annihted him. In just two seconds, Murphy''s perfectly roasted body turned into an azure ray of light that shot straight out of the blue dome. "UOOOOHHHH!! THE BOSS IS MIGHTY!" "BOSS CHIIZAI IS MIGHTY!!" Hearing the glorious cheers of the crowd, especially those of his underlings, Chiizai felt heroic. A bit overwhelmed by the moment, he clenched his fist in victory, raising his arms high before turning to Seira with a smile that was both triumphant and tender. Chills crawled down Seira''s spine upon witnessing Chiizai''s actions, causing a creeped-out and confused expression to emerge on her face. ''W-Why the hell is this dude looking at me like that?!'' Horrified, Seira looked away. Unfortunately for her, Chiizai''s levels of delusion were oundish. He truly thought that Seira was blushing and that''s why she looked away. Satisfied with eliciting a reaction he believed to be positive from Seira, Chiizai descended the stage with a wide smile. After Chiizai and Megan''s exciting matches, the next few ones were rather¡­boring. Well, the audience understood that not all matches were exciting, hence, they remained seated, thinking that thetter matches were bound to be way more exciting once the weaker rookies were out of the tournament. Of course, the match everyone was looking forward to was between Shye and Mateo. However, it wasn''t scheduled to take ce any time soon as the guild''s event organizers had nned for it to be the final showdown. Finally, after three more matches, it was time for yet another rookie in Shye''s generation to take the stage. The strongest out of all the applicants in this year''s rookie admission exam: Percy Phone Unlike Chiizai and Megan who were rather¡­intense, Percy looked very calm, appearing as though nothing in this world could shake his stoic heart. Based on Shye''s personal experience, such individuals were likable. Only, he didn''t expect his intuition to fail him this time. Walking up to the stage, Percy drew his tachi. As soon as the tip of the de was released from the sheath, a shocking red lightning cobra coiled around the body of the de, eliciting loud gasps from the audience. High-grade relic! It wasmon knowledge that the color of the element represents the rank of the enchantment. For lightning: low grade was blue, mid grade was purple, high grade was red, and peak grade was ck. Hence, the red lightning cobra immediately gave away the enchantment rank of Percy''s de. ''Ohoh¡­Yet another rookie born with a silver spoon¡­'' Shye mused as he observed Percy with intrigue. Soon after Percy''s opponent drew his dagger, the referee announced the start of the match. Winds violently parted as Apollo, Percy''s prideful opponent who was also second-only to Mateo in terms of guild-contribution points and strength, confidently bolted forward. Even though Percy was a warrior, it seemed that there wasn''t the slightest hint of fear in his eyes as he opted for a head-on confrontation. Still, it didn''t mean that he was willing to fight Percy in a strength contest as he nned to nimbly evade and skillfully parry each of Percy''s attacks, sneaking in a few counterattacks in the process. However, just a few momentster, everyone''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets, including Mateo, who was well aware of his rival''s capabilities. *SPURT!* Simted scarlet blood sttered on the ground as Apollo suddenly halted in front of Percy, appearing as though he was throwing the match. Yet, the shocked and defiant expression on his face told everyone a different story. His abrupt stop resulted in him being cleanly sliced into two by Percy whose stoic face suddenly turned into a mocking smile for a brief second. Though subtle, the split-second change in Percy''s countenance was noticed by Shye. Subsequently, after Apollo turned into an azure ray of light, the top-ranked rookie in Shye''s generation suddenly turned to look at him with an arrogant smirk before looking away and descending the stage. ''Heh, what a pretentious bastard. Oh well, it appears that everyone is after my head today. Probably the consequence of being too high-key.'' Chapter 349: Saving The Damsel In Distress From Shye Crowley’s Evil Hands As expected, Shye and Mateo advanced easily, allowing the Raven''s de Rookie Representative Qualifiers to proceed faster than expected. In just an hour and a half, it was already the quarterfinals. After another short five-minute break, the referee walked toward the center of the stage, pressing yet another button to randomize the sequence of matches. This time, it was Shye who was scheduled to fight first. His opponent? The short yet delusionally heroic Chiizai. Introducing bothpetitors, Corey''s passionate voice reverberated across the stadium, gently intensifying the excitement inside the hearts of the crowd akin to a hypnotic spell. Shortly after, two rookies within the same generation stood face to face¡ªone donning a face of righteous fury while the other wore a nonchntly confident yet calm smile. "Crowley! Today''s the day I save Miss Seira from your evil hands! Prepare yourself. I''m now well aware of how strong you are. However, with justice on my side, I shall strike you down!" "Hahahaha! Shut the hell up, you midget. You watch too many heroic cartoons. Still, do your best to save Seira, otherwise, she will suffer even more mistreatment from me if you fail! Mwahahahaha!" Explore stories on mvl "K-Kuhh¡­You''ve finally admitted it, you viin! Hang on for a few more minutes, Miss Seira! I shall be the light at the end of your dark tunnel!" Hearing the loud conversation between the two, Seira was horrified. It appeared that the rookie named Chiizai was so infatuated with her that he started imagining things. Her boss? Mistreating her? How could providing her with various skills be seen as mistreatment?! ''What a delusional midget!'' thought another purple-haired midget who almost started pulling her hair out in frustration. "BOSS! WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?! IN WHAT WAY ARE YOU MISTREATING ME?!" Seira''s loud voice reverberated across the arena, bringing a frown to Chiizai''s face. Naturally, Shye, who enjoys pissing people off, ignored Seira''s desperate attempt at rifying the situation. "Bahahaha! See that? Didn''t I train her well?" "YOU BASTARD! SCUM! I''ll eliminate you, scourge!" Chiizai''s anger was already at its peak, fortunately, it didn''t take long for the match to begin as soon after, the referee jerked his right arm upwards. "Begin!" Contrary to the intense face-off, both mages jumped backward, one started chanting to cast a basic fireball spell while the other¡­stood idly on the spot. "O-Oh? What is Shye Crowley nning?! Why is he just standing around?!" Corey eximed in confusion, asking the question in everyone''s hearts out loud. The crowd and thementator''s curiosity didn''tst for long though as shortly after, they got the answer to their question. Shye¡­was waiting for Chiizai to finish casting his spell so that the battle would be fair and square. What an evil viin. Noticing the slight mocking smile on Shye''s face, Chiizai immediately deduced the viin''s intentions, prompting him to inwardly curse and gnash his teeth in anger. ''You''ll regret underestimating me, Shye Crowley!'' Soon after, an enormous fireball emerged from Chiizai''s staff, roaring violently as it ferociously shot towards Shye, causing the temperature to rise and the ground beneath to char. "DIE! CROWLEY!" "Heroic" as he was, Chiizai yed a bit underhandedly, seizing the opportunity Shye presented to him by casting the rare skill Grand Fireball instead of the usual fireball. He made it seem as if the grand version was just his "ordinary" fireball by employing the help of casting time buffs embedded in his mage equipment. "HAHAHAHA! You''re quite skilled as a chatan, heroic shrimp." Shye eximed loudly as he aimed his staff at Chiizai who was standing directly behind the grand fireball, fully knowing that the skill in front of him was a higher variation of the regr fireball. Shye''s words made Chiizai''s heart race. After all, it would be too embarrassing if he was caught lying in front of Seira. Fortunately, the "scum" didn''t expose him. Or so he thought¡­ "Fireball!" Shye said in a loud voice, prompting an absurdly enormous fireball¡ªwayrger than the one Chiizai fired, to materialize in front of his staff. The fireball then shot straight toward Chiizai''s grand fireball, utterly obliterating it. If not for Chiizai''s quick reactions, the match would''ve ended right there and then. "Hahahaha! What a weak rare-tier grand fireball! How will you save Seira like that?" "W-W-What are you talking about?! That was merely a fireball! You mean there''s a higher variation of fireball?! Grand Fireball was it?" "HAHAHAHAHA! Stop lying, you pretentious midget! What you just fired was a grand fireball!" "H-Hmmph!! If that was a grand fireball, then how could your regr fireball berger and stronger?!" "Heh, isn''t the answer obvious? It''s because you''re ipetent!" "W-Wha¨C You!! You dare call me ipetent?! You liar! The reason why my regr fireball lost against yours was because your fireball was the grand one! F*cking liar!" "Oh? So that''s how we''re ying, you little shrimp? Fine then¡­" Realizing that Chiizai was trying to make him look like a liar, Shye promptly sprang into action, suddenly disappearing from his original position and reappearing in front of the shrimp. Due to the significant difference in their attributes, Chiizai couldn''t react as Shye seized him by the neck with his right hand and simultaneously grabbed the midget''s staff with his left, hurling it off the stage. "Now, let''s see who''s the liar¡­" *PAH!* The satisfyingly crisp sound of Shye''s broad palm squarely hitting a midget''s cheek reverberated across the arena, causing a mixture of blood and saliva to stter onto the ground a few meters beside Chiizai, who almost fell unconscious after just one p. His pping technique was so refined that if he was born in an eastern fantasy world, he could establish his own sect with his picture-perfect p as the core skill. Unfortunately for Chiizai, who was on the receiving end of such a divine p, his torturous experiences were only just beginning. "Speak, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!" "F-F*ck you! I''ve always been an honest individual! You''re the one who used a grand fireball!" *PAH!* "Wrong answer! Again, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!" "I-It wa¨C" *PAH!* "Liar! Speak truthfully or I will p you unconscious, feed you health potions, and then p you again. I will repeat this cycle until you tell the truth." *PAH!" "Now, was your skill a grand fireball or not?!" "I¨C" "PAH!* "Hou haven''t even leh me hpik!" "What did you say?! Why are you talking like a shrimp?! Talk properly!" *PAH!* "M-My ssshkill wah a grand wireball¡­" With a face beaten beyond recognition, the heroic midget finally sumbed to the humiliating torture of the viinous Shye Crowley, passing out shortly after. Unfortunately, this time, the viin prevailed as the hero was ruthlessly humiliated in front of the damsel, who was in utter distress due to the damned misunderstandings created by her boss. Chapter 350: Raven’s Blade Rookie Representative Selection Tournament: Semi-Finals! [Congrattions! You''ve earned 15,632 points!] ''Tch¡­only half?'' Shye thought and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. ''This midget was a bit too weak so¡­I guess my victory wasn''t that impressive¡­'' Consoling himself, Shye walked down the stage, ignoring Chiizai who was struggling to descend the stage while sobbing with a bit of snot streaming down his nostrils. Fortunately, his ever-reliable and loyal underlings quickly caught up and exited the arena with him, relieving a fair bit of his sadness. Friendships. Truly a beautiful thing. Still, Chiizai deserved what he got as he was the one who antagonized Shye first, even daring to resort to lying to save his face while attempting to sacrifice Shye''s. Well, Chiizai was quite the man. Even though he was short, his heart was quite huge¡ª supportive and loyal to his allies and friends, only, he often judged others harshly and disliked being outperformed by them. Unbeknownst to the shrimp, this experience was one he would be thankful for in the future as it would mold him to be the man he always desired to be, allowing him to¡­finally capture the heart of the woman he loved for a long time. However, that would be for the future, for now, he had to suffer and undergo a few essential changes in character. ¡­ Once Shye''s match was done, next up was Megan''s. Again, her match wasn''t that shy, however, her maneuvers were very graceful, making it seem like nothing in the world could ever hope to catch her nimble figure, especially the warrior-ss rookie in front of her, who in just five minutes, was already panting for breath and groaning in pain. The guy was still standing but clearly, the match wouldn''tst long. And it indeed didn''t, as two minutester, the man failed to dodge and was impaled by an enormous cial spike, turning him into an azure ray of light shortly after. Subsequently, in the next two matches, both Percy and Mateo won, stirring up a hugemotion amongst the crowd as for the first time in history, three first-years made it to the semifinals with only one second-year remaining among the initial 26. "CAN, YOU, BELIEVE IT! STRONG!! RAVEN''S BLADE''S FIRST YEARS ARE JUST TOO STRONG!! NOW, ONLY MATEO REMAINS TO DEFEND THE HONOR OF THE SECOND-YEAR ROOKIES!! WILL HE BE ABLE TO DO IT?!" Corey''s voice rang true, inducing both anxiety and anticipation in the hearts of the second years. If Mateo could miraculously win here, they would be able to raise their heads high against the first years, however, should he lose¡­their batch would appear ipetent and way fewer people would respect them. Hence, Mateo had to win not only for himself but also for his entire batch. Only two hours passed since the Raven''s de Rookie Representative Selection Tournament began, yet, it was already the semifinals and the next matches were scorching hot: Shye Crowley versus Megan Wolfe Percy Phone versus Mateo meheart The crowd was curious as to how Shye would deal with the slippery and graceful Megan Wolfe, however, that was it. The exciting semi-final match for them was Percy Phone, the first-ranked rookie of this year''s rookie admission exam, versus Mateo meheart, the first-ranked rookie ofst year''s rookie admission exam and seventh-ranked overall in Balkrow City. On paper, Mateo''s achievements were way more impressivepared to Percy''s, and so, he should be able to school Percy quite easily provided that they were both warriors and tachi-users. However, Percy Phone was quite the mysterious individual and his fights always ended up with him winning rather easily without moving much. Hence, the audience couldn''t help but give Percy the benefit of the doubt. There were even a few people who bet all of their savings on his victory, seemingly very confident of Percy''s victory as though they knew something others don''t. Since the Percy versus Mateo match was quite the banger, the Shye and Megan Wolfe match was forced to be the opening card. Your next chapter is on mvl Shye didn''t care much about the match arrangements though as he did not doubt that he would be the one crowned as Raven''s de''s Rookie Representative. Naturally, Megan Wolfe had other ideas, believing that she would be the one to move on to the finals. She couldn''t deny that Shye Crowley was strong, however, she had her trump cards and was confident that as long as she could hit Shye a few times, he would copse just like everyone else. In fact, she even considered Percy a greater threat than Shye because she had already suffered a defeat at his hands. Therefore, Megan made extensive preparations to improve her odds against Percy, while putting in only minimal effort when preparing for Shye¡ªa rather massive mistake. Still, she confidently ascended the stage as Corey once again introduced her, masterfully ying with her staff while staring yfully at Shye. Unfortunately for her, such shallow intimidation tactics were never going to work on Shye, who was already in the middle of checking her status window. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Megan Wolfe [Level]: 72 [upation]: Adventurer (Gold) [ss]: Mage [Skills]:[Blink Lv.4] [Spatial Tunnel Lv.4][Spatial Swap Lv.4] [Random Teleport Lv.4] [Fireball Lv.4] [Wind Cutters Lv.4] [Rock Barrage Lv.4] [Icicle Spears Lv.4][Lesser Poison Resistance Lv.4] [Poison Gas Lv.4] [Knockback Lv.4] [cial Thorn Lv.3(Umon)] [me Tornado Lv.3(Umon)] [Mana Counter Lv.3(Umon)] [Seize Spell Lv.3(Umon)] [Lesser Hentacles Lv.3(Umon)] [Uninterrupted Casting Lv.3(Umon)] [Increase Spell Duration Lv.3(Umon)] [Rapid Mana Channeling Lv.3(Rare)][Tri-Element Sphere Lv.3(Rare)] [Strength: 50] [Intelligence: 170] [Agility: 140] [Dexterity: 80] [Stamina: 60] [Vitality: 90]: [Wisdom: 60] [Back][Exit System] Hence, he simply sneered at her in disdain as he ascended the stage. Observing Megan''s extensive collection of spells, Shye gained insight into herbat style and started understanding her strategy on how she nned to defeat him. ''Heh, quite feasible, if I was a normal chantless mage relying solely on instantaneous casts and the sheer power of my spells, that is.'' Chapter 351: Stalemate? "Begin!" Promptly after the referee jerked his right arm upwards, both mages jumped back. However, this time, Shye wanted to teach this young woman a lesson for posing haughtily in front of him time and time again. Hence, he didn''t toy with her like he did with the midget. Aiming his high-grade ruby tier elemental staff relic towards Megan, Shye put her n to the test as roaring fireballs, howling wind cutters, and other basic yet vicious projectiles flew her way. ''Hmmph! Relying on your talent¡­Lame!'' Megan inwardly thought, slightly irked at the fact that Shye didn''t give her time to cast her skill. ''At least you know when to respect someone more skilled than you! If I had your talent I would''ve achieved much more!'' Megan didn''t want to admit it, however, she was clearly envious of Shye''s chantless casting, thinking that it would suit her better as she believed that she was the better adventurer be it in terms of fighting monstrous creatures or duels. An obvious case of severe narcissism. There were at least a million people like her in Adthiopia, those who thought they were better than everyone at everything when in fact, there were a hundred million people way better than them. Delusional individuals, basically. Blinking away from the space she previously stood after chanting for half a second, Megan reappeared a few meters away. She knew that she had to use the skills she prepared for this day or she wouldn''t even be able to cast a single offensive spell. ''Hmmph! No matter, I''ll show you the difference between us¡­by utterly defeating you even if you were born with an epic-tier talent!'' ''*2 seconds of gibberish*, uninterrupted casting!'' After sessfully casting the most important skill in her arsenal, a confident smile emerged on Megan''s face. Now, even if Shye fired everything in his arsenal to disrupt her spellcasting, it would be futile. This skill was essential in the first phase of her n. Subsequently, Megan jumped back to dodge Shye''s earthen spikes, allowing her to cast her ace in the hole to bridge the gap between her and Shye''s casting time. ''*3 seconds of gibberish*, rapid mana channeling!!'' This specific rare skill would reduce her casting time by 90%, allowing her to fight on almost equal footing with Shye. Unfortunately, both skills would onlyst for 60 seconds, hence, she had to supplement it with another: [Increase Spell Duration Lv.3(Umon)]. ''*3 seconds of gibberish*, increase spell duration!!'' Readtest chapters at mvl After gracefully dodging Shye''s icicle spears and rock bullets by madly sprinting sideways, Megan sessfully finished casting the supplemental skill, increasing uninterrupted casting and rapid mana channeling''s initial 60 seconds to three hundred seconds. Now, even if both skills timed out after five minutes, she would simply be able to recast them again as they would already be off-cooldown by then. "Hmmph! Now that I''ve bridged the gap brought about by your talent, everyone will see who''s the better mage!" Megan eximed with a confident smirk, thinking that she was being all mysterious and sh*t. "Hoh? Is that so? Come then, let''s show everyone who''s the better mage." Shye said while smiling arrogantly, igniting a small me of anger in Megan''s heart. She was quite proud of her skills in pissing people off. However, everything she did simply doesn''t seem to work on this Shye Crowley, in fact, she found herself angered by his arrogant antics instead. Her yful mood ruined, a serious expression emerged on Megan''s face, deciding to let her actual skills do the talking. Aiming her staff towards Shye, anger mildly clouded her judgment, causing her to fight Shye''s fireball head-on with a fireball of her own. The result? Her fireball was absolutely annihted, forcing her to use one of her repositioning skills, spatial tunnel, to dodge. She felt slightly humiliated, causing fury to burgeon further inside her slightly distressed heart. ''Better than me? This arrogant bastard who only attained what he had by relying on his [Chantless Casting] talent? I''ll never buy such crappy stuff!'' She inwardly roared in defiance as she prepared herself to unload her skills and fight fire with fire. Not in a direct manner, but she would fire back after masterfully dodging Shye''s skills, overwhelming him with superior fighting technique. Embers zed, icy winds shrieked, the earth trembled, and powerful gusts whistled in the intense battle between Shye and Megan. They fought fiercely, like a zing fire one moment, and then retreated with fluid grace, reminiscent of flowing water, the next. Their ferocious spellcasting duelsted for around four minutes until Shye suddenly stopped firing projectiles, tired of all the shit Megan was saying mid-fight. "Haaah, I''m tired of ying with your bullshit. I shall end this." Shye eximed with a sigh. Naturally, his words confused the audience, prompting most of them to jeer at him, thinking that Shye was merely speaking empty words. After all, the two of them had been in a stalemate for thest four minutes. If Shye truly could end the match whenever he wanted, then there wouldn''t be a stalemate, would there? Moreover, who would dare hold back in such an important fight? Witnessing this specific pathetic moment, those who were sent by other guilds to see how strong Shye Crowley was, sneered in disdain as a single thought resonated in their minds: ''Heh, so this was what the hype was all about? This is THE Shye Crowley? Laughable!'' Only, they didn''t expect that Shye truly dared to y around in the semi-finals of an important tournament as the next few moments blew their minds. ''Sword realm!'' A dark canvas suddenly materialized beneath Shye''s feet, swiftly expanding at the speed of sound to envelop the entire stage in a purple world, causing unease and anxiety to consume Megan''s heart as this was the first time she had ever seen such a skill. Subsequently, she felt a familiar cold sensation envelop her entire body. This¡­was the feeling of having her mana sealed and her attributes reduced! With a panicking heart, Megan tried casting a spell, only to confirm that she indeed couldn''t. However, upon noticing that Shye also wasn''t casting any spells, she gradually calmed down, believing that everything was nothing but a bluff intended to strike fear into her heart. After all, if the user of the skill himself, a mage just like her, had his mana sealed, then how would he end the fight? "Hmmph! Stop bluffing. I know your mana is sealed inside this space too so what could you do to me when you''re also a mage, you pretentious clown?" "Heh, who told you that I can''t cast spells inside my own space? Watch this!" Chapter 352: Bamboozlement Of The Century ''Tch, why is this bastard walking closer?'' Megan thought inwardly as she slowly backed off, feeling the pressure of Shye''s menacing advance. She kept telling herself that she wasn''t scared of the arrogant prick, however, her body acted otherwise¡ª a human''s primal instinct when threatened by a stronger creature. Arriving at "the optimal distance", Shye suddenly raised his left arm, nimbly moving his fingers to adapt a random menacing pose, ultimately leading to him identally doing a pran mudra finger pose. Naturally, his movements meant nothing more than utter bullcrap, serving no purpose but to intimidate the crazy chick in front of him. However, due to how masterful Shye was at bullshitting other people, Megan''s sense of danger sent her false signals, prompting her to sprint away and avoid being cornered by Shye. She didn''t even realize that her expression had turned desperate, and the final vestiges of grace had already departed from her face. Currently, she looked like a cornered rat. Explore new worlds at mvl Well, it was the truth though as Shye could snap her in half with his bare hands once he captured her. Fortunately for her, Shye had other ns. Observing her desperate actions, Shye immediately gave chase, all while keeping up his bullshit of aiming his elemental staff at Megan while maintaining the pran mudra finger pose as though he was about to cast a spell that would obliterate her from the face of Adthiopia. Megan, being a mage herself, was quite smart and her brain worked fast. Noticing Shye''s finger pose, an idea popped up in her mind¡ªa bright one! She believed¡­ ''Heh, this pose would probably allow me to channel my mana! Unfortunately for you, I''m too smart!'' Megan thought inwardly as she raised her left arm, copying Shye''s finger pose. Seeing her actions, Shye almost burst outughing as he immediately deduced what was going on in her head. Still, for the sake of continuing the bullshit he started, Shye forcefully stifled hisugh, maintaining a stoic expression as he gave chase. Inevitably, Shye caught up due to the disparity in physical attributes. Shockingly, even though he was already in front of Megan, her face changed into a mocking smile, utterly confusing Shye. Well, the reason why she was confident was because she already finished chanting and was ready to use the blink spell anytime. Hence, she believed that Shye wouldn''t be able to harm her with the spell he was about to cast. Almost simultaneously, both mages yelled the name of their spells¡ªone subconsciously, the other deliberately. "Blink!" "Fireball!" Time seemed to slow down to a crawl for not only both rookies on the stage, but also for everyone who was watching. After what seemed like an entire hour, the onlookers'' eyes almost popped out of their sockets as they witnessed the most shocking mage spell in the history of Adthiopia¡ªa single thought resonated in their minds: ''What part of that is a f*cking fireball?!'' Indeed. Shye Crowley, please answer the question in everyone''s minds. What part of whacking one''s opponent''s face with an elemental staff resembles a roaring ball of fire? Megan, who thought that she would be dodging a fireball with her blink spell, never expected to get whacked squarely in the face. Hence, the solid bonk immediately knocked her out cold. She then inevitably fell backward due to the devastating force of the blunt blow powered by two hundred and twenty-four points of strength, causing her to plop on her back¡ªher limbs spread eagle and her eyes: whited out. "W-What a sinister move by Shye Crowley! Wilier than an old fox! More treacherous than a snake! A true devil incarnate!! Who?! Who would''ve thought that he was bluffing all this time and that even he couldn''t cast a spell inside the purple world he created for himself?! Megan Wolfe was caught way off guard and was defeated with a solid whack on the head in the semi-finals!! Shye Crowley, Balkrow''s top-ranked rookie, advances to the finals!!" Corey''s voice, brimming with excitement, resounded loudly throughout Balkrow Arena, snapping people out of their disbelief and eliciting thunderous cheers and apuse for Shye. They simply couldn''t believe that the official top-ranked Balkrow rookie in terms of guild contribution points, would have the guts to execute such a crazy n in an all-important semi-finals match and actually win with it. As a result, their respect for Shye deepened, as his determination to do whatever it took to win struck a chord with ordinary adventurers like them. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 29,800 points!] ''Not bad¡­You''ve served your purpose, idiotic girl¡­'' Shye mused as he calmly descended the stage under thousands of awestruck gazes, appearing as though pulling off the bamboozlement of the century was nothing but a daily urrence to him. Heck, even Mateo started to develop respect in his heart after witnessing Shye''s antics, slowly liking the guy''s unexpected craziness. He didn''t have the chance to gaze at Shye for long though as his match against Percy Phone was up next. "What a wild match! But now, let''s move on to the next semi-final bout. Who will face off against the illustrious yet cunning Shye Crowley next? Could it be our contestant making their way to the stage from the left? Let''s give a warm wee to Percy Phone!" Percy donned a serene expression as he arrived at the center of the stage, appearing as though nothing in the world could shake him, not even Shye Crowley. Noticing that Percy stood ready, Corey immediately shifted his attention to the rookie at the right side of the stage¡ªthe one expected to fight Shye Crowley for the rookie representative spot: Mateo meheart. "And now! Introducing Raven''s de''s fallen king of rookies. He''s here to reim his throne! Please wee, ascending from the right side of the stage, the seventh-ranked rookie in all of Balkrow, Mateo meheart!!" While Percy wore a calm expression, Mateo''s fierce demeanor clearly conveyed: "I will be the one to represent Raven''s de." Truly akin to a fallen king who had returned to reim his throne from the usurper, Shye Crowley, treating Percy as nothing but another wall he would demolish on the path to regain supremacy amongst Raven''s de rookies. Witnessing the unfolding events, a deafening roar of cheers erupted as the two participants faced each other, locking eyes. Both were clearly ready for the most intense, thrilling, and fierce battle of their lives. Masterfully taking advantage of the onlookers'' excitement, the referee delivered, jerking his arms upwards with fiery passion as everyone''s most anticipated words made their way out of his mouth. "Begin!" Chapter 353: Upset Metallic sounds echoed across the arena as two young warriors unsheathed their des¡ªone as serene as still water, the other as violent as a raging fire. Shortly after, both rookies charged forward, shing their tachis diagonally in a synchronized manner. *CLANG!* The weirdly pleasant sound of a sharp de hitting another sharp de sounded as Percy and Mateo shed head-on, customarily checking who the stronger warrior was. A few millisecondster, the winner of the strength battle was decided as one warrior was sent sliding back¡ªalbeit slightly. Mildly struggling to stabilize his footing, Percy looked unperturbed, appearing as though the one who lost the sh wasn''t him. Well, losing a head-on sh didn''t mean that one had already lost the match so his nonchnce towards his defeat was quite understandable. Still, It was rather unsettling to see someone so young maintain such control over their emotions. Typically, young warriors would be deeply affected by losing a direct confrontation, which would then impact their performance, ultimately leading to them losing the match. Hence, Percy was eerily remarkable in this regard as one could tell that the serene yet confident smile on his face wasn''t the least bit fake. ''Tch, I''ll break that silent confidence of yours!'' Mateo inwardly thought as he once again charged forth, not allowing Percy any opportunity to catch his breath. Swinging his tachi vertically downwards this time, Mateo empowered his attack with [Power sh Lv.5], hoping, yet not expecting, to end the match early. He himself didn''t believe that Percy would be defeated this easily as the guy hadn''t even used the weird skill that freezes his opponent. Though a bit hurried, Percy was still able to raise his tachi horizontally, sessfully blocking Mateo''s skill-empowered blow. Only, since he wasn''t able to empower his de, Percy felt blood surging out of his throat. Luckily, although unpleasant, he was able to swallow it back down, allowing him to maintain his calm exterior. "Hmmph! That shit hurts, doesn''t it? Come, use your trump card, otherwise, you won''t have the chance to!" Mateo eximed, immediately following up with a horizontal sh to the neck. Aggressive and confident as Mateo''s words sounded, it was far from the truth. He was wary of Percy''s "freeze" skill, hence, he nned to bait it out and masterfully dodge it before going ham. Unfortunately for him, Percy was too calm and wise to fall for his tricks. *CLANG!* Again, Percy was able to block the horizontal neck sh, this time, a bit morefortably¡ªthe serene expression remaining steadfast on his face. ''Tch!'' Unbeknownst to Mateo, he was slowly growing impatient as the whole time, he was the one on the offensive. Yet, he continuously failed in dealing grievous damage to Percy, who appeared to be barely hanging on after merely three shes. If he could at least break that annoyingly calm exterior¡­ Taking one deep breath, Mateo advanced once more. ''Hmpph! If you don''t want to use your trump card, then so be it! However, don''t cry if you don''t get to use it until the end!'' Hesitating no more, Mateo decided to use his trump card. However, before he could do so to one shot Percy, he had to set it up for sess. ''This sneaky guy likely won''t use his freeze skill unless he''s confident it''llnd,'' Mateo thought to himself, tightening his grip on his tachi''s handle. ''It probably has a short range, making it tough to catch a nimble warrior like me.'' Believing that he had Percy all figured out, a confident smile emerged on Mateo''s face. His assumptions proved to be correct as Percy, although fighting back, didn''t "dare" use his freeze skill. Thus, the more Mateo pushed Percy back with shes and stabs, the more confident he grew. ''Heh, experience is a scary thing, no?'' He mused as he shed his sword diagonally upwards, aiming to blow the attribute-disadvantaged Percy away. *CLANG!* An unpleasant metallic noise sounded as the sharp edges of both tachis shed, causing yet another elemental enchantment mayhem onstage. The red lightning cobra seemingly fought with a ferocious ming tiger head as the most violent of elements, me, and lightning, performed an eternal dance of death as they roared to the skies. However, the results of the elements and the sh differed. Even though the red lightning cobra destroyed the ming tiger''s head, sending a few tiny crimson sparks toward Mateo''s arm and briefly paralyzing him, Percy, the one controlling the cobra, was thrown back several meters. He couldn''t hold back a mouthful of blood from spilling out. ''Tch, if not for that high-grade tachi of his, this would''ve been over long ago! I doubt that even Apollo would lose to this weakling if not for that sneaky freeze skill¡­To be sure, I shall corner him even more before using my ultimate skill¡­'' Mateo continued his relentless assault on Percy, using a mix of bothmon and umon-tier warrior skills. This clearly highlighted the difference in their abilities as Percy was pushed back further and further, showing signs of weakening. In Mateo''s view, this would pressure Percy into hastily and poorly deploying his ultimate skill. Finally after three more shes, Mateo''s strongest burst-type umon-tier skill came off cooldown, allowing him to use it one more time on a diagonally upward shing from the left. Again, Percy was quite skilled and he was able to block Mateo''s attack by shing his own de diagonally downwards. Unfortunately, his attributes didn''t quite match up to Mateo''s, hence, his battered body was sent flying backward, causing him to stagger uponnding, almost falling on his butt. Witnessing this scene, Mateo''s eyes reacted. ''Chance!'' Swiftly assuming the stance of his ultimate skill, Mateo extended his left arm forward¡ªhis palm aimed at Percy, before raising his sword hand high¡ªhis tachi, the same as his left palm, aimed at his adversary. ''Piercing Void!'' Discover stories with mvl Watching Mateo turn into the familiar, destructive purple blur as he advanced forward, the crowd waited. Most of them were excited while a few had panicked expressions. They bet everything they had on Percy, if he lost here, they were done for! In the next few moments, the crowd eagerly waited for the scene where Mateo ripped Percy apart but shockingly, no such scene happened. Instead, the match suddenly turned into a nightmare for those who bet on Mateo as a creepy smile emerged on the corners of Percy''s mouth. ''Timekeeper''s Fortress!'' A transparent white orb swiftly extended at the speed of sound from within Percy, sessfully receiving and halting Mateo, who was in the middle of a ferocious dash, utterly disrespecting and disregarding thews of inertia and gravity as Balkrow''s 7th-ranked rookie remained suspended in mid-air with a furious expression. "Haha, got you, idiot!" Percy said as he ruthlessly shed his tachi horizontally, separating Mateo''s head from his body, and causing him to turn into an azure ray of light. The crowd gasped in horror as Mateo meheart¡­suffered an unexpected crushing defeat at the hands of the top-ranked rookie of this year''s rookie admission exam, Percy Phone. Chapter 354: Raven’s Blade Qualifiers: Finals! "N-NO!!! MY MONEY!!!" "N-No¡­T-This can''t be happening! W-Where will I get the money to pay off my child''s medical bills?! This has to be rigged!" Cries of despair resounded one after the other as a sweating Mateo meheart materialized outside the stage, in utter disbelief that he actually lost to someone other than Shye Crowley. For one whole year, he¡­was the king of rookies in Raven''s de Balkrow Branch. Now¡­he was merely third at best. Realizing this fact, his disbelieving and shocked expression turned listless as his pride shattered, prompting those who hated Mateo for a long time to gaze at him with undisguised schadenfreude. This day was simply the best day of their lives! Mateo wasn''t an evil person, however, he wasn''t exactly likable either as he was rather arrogant¡ªjust like all the rookies of his caliber. Percy wanted to mock Mateo as the defeated rookie left the arena, broken and dejected. However, he also didn''t want to tarnish the almost nonexistent calm and stoic reputation he built up for himself. People were not as stupid as Percy deemed them to be, hence, most of his subtle insults were noticed by almost every person he came across, instantly putting him in the category of arrogant rookies in their heads. It was only in his delusional head that he was a cool, calm, and approachable down-to-earth rookie. Still, his delusions were enough to stop him from further damaging Mateo''s broken ego. Thus, Mateo''s departure marked the end of the match. "CAN, YOU, BELIEVE IT?! Mateo meheart, the seventh-ranked rookie in all of Balkrow, falters in the semi-finals! Raven''s de, a guild of crouching tigers and hidden dragons!!" Corey''s bbergasted yet excited voice echoed across the four corners of the arena, bringing excitement to those who bet on Percy''s victory and despair to those who bet on Mateo. As for Shye, his yful expression as he watched the two rookies fight slowly faded, reced by a slightly serious gaze as he looked at Percy. ''That time stop or freeze or whatever skill is quite troublesome¡­'' He thought inwardly, swiftly standing up and walking towards the restroom shortly after. ''I need to make a few preparations.'' Once inside, he looked around, checking if there were other people inside. Since there was one, he had to enter a cubicle. ''System.'' Seeing the familiar holographic screen, Shye tapped on the skills shop menu. In the past, while browsing the system in his idle time, he found and remembered a few skills that would help him defeat Percy. Hence, it didn''t take long for him to search for the skills. Well, Shye believed that there was a fairly high chance for him to defeat Percy even without purchasing new skills. However, the Balkrow City Rookie Adventurer Competition was simply too huge of a chance to earn points. He can''t risk missing it. [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill: [Fake out Lv.1 (Umon)]!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill: [Shadow Swap Lv.1 (Umon)]!] ''These two should be enough¡­'' Shye thought as he confidently strode out of the cubicle, returning to his seat with a smile. Naturally, his return immediately captured everyone''s attention as he was one of the remaining two rookies in the Raven''s de qualifiers. Even Percy turned his head to look. Noticing the confident expression on Shye''s face as though everything was within his control, Percy frowned. ''This bastard¡­Why is he still so confident? Doesn''t he realize that no matter how strong his attributes are, I have the advantage as a warrior and my Timekeeper''s Fortress skill would be the end of him?'' Percy mused, suspecting that Shye might have a trump card that would allow him to escape his clutches. ''Well, no matter. If he believes that I rely on a sole skill to win, he''s gonna end up just like that delusional Mateo!'' The qualifiers of the next scheduled guild would start in an hour, hence, the break cannot be too long. After ten more minutes, Corey''s voice once again echoed across the four corners of Balkrow Arena, capturing the attention of the chatting crowd¡ªmost of them arguing whether Shye would defeat Percy or not. Based on pure domination alone, Shye was the favorite, as everyone already saw Mateo overpowering Percy. However, when the topic changed to who would most likely win, most of them believed that Percy''s freeze skill was too overpowered and would allow him to pull off another upset win. This time, against Shye Crowley. Your journey continues at §Þ?? Of course, although the majority swung Percy''s way due to his recent performance, someone in the crowd ferociously argued with everyone around her¡ªdefending Shye. "Hmmmph! You know nothing about Raven''s de, you noobie! My boss is invincible and even this Percy, amazing as he was with his time-stopper bullcrap or whatever, will have no chance of winning against my noble boss!" "Hmmph! Why should we believe you when you''re clearly biased, little girlie?" "Yeah, brother Bo is correct. Your connections with this Shye Crowley obviously cloud your words. Hmmph! If it''s even true!" "W-Wha! You baldy! Of course, it''s true! I''m done talking to all of you! I''ll just let my boss do the talking for me!" Utterly fuming, Seira ignored the bunch of men sitting beside her. ''Hmmph! Show these idiots how formidable you are, boss!'' Fortunately, Seira didn''t have to wait long in frustrated anticipation. "And now, the moment you''ve all been waiting for!! The Raven''s de Rookie Representative Selection Finals!! To everyone''s surprise, the fan-favorite, Mateo meheart, was knocked out in the semi-finals of the selection tournament. Now, just two first-year rookies remain. One shines brightly like a star, renowned in Balkrow, while the other is a shadow that quietly envelops everything in its path. Who will emerge victorious? Will it be the radiant Shye Crowley or the enigmatic Percy Phone? We''re about to find out!!" As Corey''s exuberant voice rang true, the hearts of the audience burned with anticipation. At the same time, two rookies approached the stage, each with their unique blend of confidence¡ªone cloaked in subtle arrogance, and the other radiating pure self-assurance. Chapter 355: The Ultimate Poser ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Percy Phone [Level]: 81 [upation]: Adventurer (tinum) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.5] [Dash Lv.5] [Stoic Lv.5][Rush Stab Lv.5][Chase Lv.5] [Enhance Agility Lv.3] [Enhance Strength Lv.3] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.3] [Lethal Edge Lv.4(Umon)][Cross sh Lv.4(Umon)][ckstar''s de Lv.4(Umon)][Warrior''s Resolve Lv.3(Rare)][Target Locked Lv.3(Rare)][Timekeeper''s Fortress Lv.2(Unique)][Timekeeper''s Sentinels Lv.2(Unique)] [Timekeeper''s Rage Lv.2(Unique)] [Strength: 160] [Intelligence: 50] [Agility: 140] [Dexterity: 140] [Stamina: 140] [Vitality: 140]: [Wisdom: 40] [Back][Exit System] ''Hoh? Three unique skills? That''s pretty crazy¡­This guy was not only born with a silver spoon but a gold one¡­'' Shye mused, unknowingly looking straight at Percy with intrigued eyes. ''This guy''s attributes are well rounded too. Exins how he was able to endure Mateo''s onught for so long¡­'' "Ah¡­Shye Crowley, the adventurer academypetition''s legend. We finally met. I''ve heard of your greatness for quite a while." Percy said with a hint of a mocking tone¡ªone that would be impossible to detect for those who were not perceptive enough. As for Shye, with his high intelligence and wisdom stat, it would be impossible for him to not detect such hints. Discover more stories at §Þ?? "Ah, is that so? Unfortunately, I haven''t heard from you much. I apologize. Your feats must''ve been rather mediocre. However, worry not as I will still fight you to the best of my abilities." Shye "sincerely" said with a pat on his chest. Hearing Shye''s unexpected reply, Percy fumed inwardly. He wanted to skin Shye alive. Yet, his mistaken belief in his own cool, calm, and mysterious persona held him back from even raging. As a result, Percy had no choice but to swallow his anger and let it boil inside him, causing unnecessary additional stress to himself. The guy was enduring everything for the stupid reason of keeping up appearances which literally didn''t even exist in the first ce as there were more than a few times he lost control of his emotion, letting heartless mocking smiles slip out here and there. He simply wasn''t cut out for it. Seeing the frozen smile on Percy''s face, Shyeughed inwardly. ''You want to see whose mouth is more vicious? You''re ten years too early!'' Disoriented, Percy responded absentmindedly with, "Th-Thanks, I''ll try my best too," inadvertently casting himself in a foolish light both to Shye and in his own eyes. "Pfft!" Shye''s stifledughter at his stupid reply almost became thest straw that broke the camel''s back. Ultimately though, Percy was able to endure, remaining steadfast in his futile endeavor. Naturally, Shye couldn''t care less about Percy''s internal struggles, all he cared about was his glorious victory in their war of words. Stepping back a little, Shye took out two elemental staffs¡ªone ruby tier and one gold tier. Well, he only had one high-grade ruby-tier elemental staff relic so he didn''t have any other choice than to pull out one of his gold-tier ones. "Hoh, you only used one staff against the others. I am rather honored that you chose to immediately pull out two against me." "Yes, you should indeed feel honored. I am a man of my word so I won''t lie to you. When I say I won''t hold back, then I won''t, no matter how mediocre you are." Sounds of gnashing teeth sounded at a moderate volume near Shye¡ªenough for him to hear it but not for others. ''Pfft! This idiot, why is he still pretending? He should just show everyone his true colors! It would feel much better!'' Fortunately for Percy, the referee didn''t wait much longer and announced the start of the match, giving him a chance to finally avenge the verbal grievances he suffered. Violently splitting winds apart as he madly bolted forward, Percy ran in a zigzag, appearing very confident in advancing even while fully knowing that Shye could fire spells without chanting. The guy wasn''t even as fast as Mateo. Shye truly couldn''t help but wonder where Percy''s confidence wasing from. ''Oh well then, eat this!'' ''Fireball!'' ''Icicle Spears!'' ''Rock Bullets!'' ''Wind Cutters!'' ''Earthen Spikes!'' ''Ice Rain!'' ¡­ Shye fired spells one after the other, causing various elements of fire, ice, earth, and wind, to roar and howl, creating massive shard explosions. The delusional Percy¡­Was squarely hit by a few wind cutters and a fireball, causing considerable damage as he was forced to stop and temporarily retreat. He needed a better n. As for Shye, he couldn''t help butugh again. ''This guy must be the ultimate poser I''ve ever f*cking seen¡­'' Clearly, the guy was underestimating him. Well, he understands that the guy had a lot of gap-closer skills to hunt down mages and archers, however, the poser didn''t even use any. Slowly, Shye was losing respect for his idiotic opponent. Percy was indeed skilled but at least half of his focus was spent on keeping up appearances, if this poser could eliminate such foolish thoughts out of his mind, Shye believed that the guy would be even stronger. Again disoriented that his n to show off failed, Percy was almost hit by another one of Shye''s basic spells. ''Tch, fine, I shall use my skills to close the gap!'' *FWOOSH!* This time, winds parted even more violently as Percy used his dash skill, arriving instantly in front of Shye while ruthlessly brandishing his tachi downwards¡ªempowered by a power sh. "Whoops!" Shye yfully eximed as he reappeared a few meters away using his blink skill. Naturally, Percy already expected this to happen, hence, he immediately followed up with [Rush Stab], and then [Chase]. Still, the distance remained the same as Shye burned through his repositioning skills. He only had one remaining, however, he believed that Percy had no more gap closer skills. Which was utterly wrong¡­ The next moment, Shye was momentarily caught off guard as Percy''s pretentious face appeared in front of him¡ªadorned with the ugliest mocking smile he had ever seen. "Die, Shye Crowley¡­" Chapter 356: Shye Crowley In Trouble? "Die, my ass! Why the fuck are you whispering?! Can you stop posing? Everyone already knows your true colors, stop pretending to be someone you''re not, idiot!" Shye deliberately eximed loudly, bringing yet another wave of difort and humiliation in Percy''s heart. The poser wanted to scream "stop" or "shut up!" However, his stupid, delusional mask prevented him from doing so. Percy was simply locked in. Still, there was a limit to how much psychological abuse a man could take, hence, although the poser tried his hardest not to show any emotions, remaining the "calm, cool, and approachable" rookie that he was in his head, a hint of anger was clearly written on his face. Even the onlookers noticed. Stay connected with §Þ?? Utterly fuming inside, Percy used thest and most reliable gap-closer skill he had: [Target Locked Lv.3(Rare)]. Basically, the skill''s effects were great for hunting down mages and archers as the farther one''s target was, the bigger the agility boost one would obtain from the skill. For example, if the target was around 501 meters to 1 kilometer away from the skill''s user, the user would obtain a 100% agility boost. Then, as the distance shrunk, the boost would get smaller and smaller until it caps out at around 15% agility boost. Still, fighting a tachi-user at point-nk range with a 15% agility boost as a mage was nothing short of a death sentence. This was also the reason why Percy was so confident against Shye. In fact, he saw Mateo as more of a threat than Shye, who he believed he countered hard in terms of skills. Witnessing Percy''s absurd charging speed as he zigzagged, Shye narrowed his eyes. He had no more repositioning skills, and if he allowed this guy to get in range¡­ ''Well, if ites down to it then why not?'' Aiming both staffs at Percy, Shye used his ultimate Gatling projectilebo. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' ''Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' Frosty winds and embers gathered around Shye''s elemental staffs, materializing into sharp cial shards and fiery, exploding balls of me, shooting continuously at Percy with vicious intent. There was a huge disparity between the strength of the spells though. The ming bombs were akin to huge fireballs, appearing extremely devastating as one after the other materialized in front of the high-grade ruby-tier elemental staff relic. On the other hand, the frozen thorns, albeitrger than usual due to the 15% ice element bonus of one of his gold-tier elemental staff, were way weakerpared to the zing spheres. Still, it was nothing to scoff at, leaving Percy confused about whether he should execute phase number two of his n, which was to tank a few projectiles to close the gap and finally have the chance to finish Shye Crowley off. In the end, Percy decided to temporarily back off¡ªthe most sober decision he had ever made. Shye''s barrage would onlyst for around six to seven seconds while his skill, [Target Locked] would be active for an entire minute. There was no need to rush. Sounds of horrifying fiery explosions and shattering ice violently reverberated across the four corners of Balkrow Arena, leaving the crowd dumbstruck¡ªtheir mouths, agape. Most monstrous creatures weren''t good at dodging, however, their bodies were tough. Even so, imagining this devastating barrage of projectilesnding on the body of a huge, easily hit monstrous creature cleared the doubts in everyone''s minds regarding how Shye Crowley, the top-ranked rookie in Balkrow, was able to earn guild contribution points and rank up so easily. The Emeralds, who had a good idea of how strong (B-) and (B) ranked monstrous creatures were, knew that only the toughest of (B) ranked creatures would survive such an attack. Meanwhile, unless the (B-) ranked ones could dodge, there was no way for them to survive this ferocious onught of spells. Realizing that Shye could solo most high-ranked quests, everyone suddenly felt that he deserved the top 1 rookie spot in Balkrow. Well, in terms of guild contribution points, at least. What can they say? The man was the bane of monstrous creatures. Duels, however, were a different story. Mighty as Shye might be against creatures that mostly act on instinct and rarely on intelligence, and were very easy to hit, fighting against fellow humans wasn''t the same. Humans¡­mostly try to defeat their opponents without getting hit. Although it was inevitable to suffer a few hits here and there, humans mostly avoided everything they could due to their naturally weaker physique, unlike monstrous creatures. Just like the current unfolding events, menacing as Shye''s barrage might be, it was useless if it didn''t hit its target. Percy wasn''t able to escape unscathed, suffering a few burns and frosty punctures here and there as he desperately dodged. However, such minor damages weren''t enough to stop the well-rounded poser. ''Tch'' Realizing that he failed to finish Percy off, Shye clicked his tongue¡ªannoyed. All he had now was his gravitational drain. He doubted that its sucking power would be enough to keep the ridiculously nimble poser within its range. Still, Shye had to try. Meanwhile, Shye''s shadow suddenly detached from his body and crept towards the edge of the stage. This was one of his new skills: [Shadow Swap Lv.1(Umon)] ''Gravitational Drain!'' Just when Percy was resuming his mad chase, a terrifying ckhole howled menacingly as it appeared in the space between him and Shye, sucking him straight towards its center. ''W-What the hell is this skill?!'' Feeling his energy and his consciousness leaving him, rm bells rang in Percy''s head. Luckily, most of his basic gap-closer skills were already off cooldown. Hence, after desperately running half the distance, Percy used Dash to finally get out of the gravitational drain''s range. "Haaah¡­Haaah¡­That was way too close¡­" The poser muttered under his breath. Soon after, he began chasing Shye down again. This time, it was easier, Shye swiftly burned through all of his repositioning skills which had juste off cooldown. However, he still couldn''t shake Percy off, who only used his skill, [Target Locked], to chase him down. And by the time the skill timed out, Shye was already out of repositioning skills. On the other hand, Percy still had three, and¡­he was already standing in front of Shye. "AFTER BRAVINGA FIERCE ONSLAUGHT OF SPELLS, THE ENIGMATIC PERCY PHONE, FINALLY CORNERS SHYE CROWLEY!! WILL THE TOP-RANKED ROOKIE OF BALKROW JUSTIFY WHY HE IS NUMBER 1?! OR WAS HIS TIME AT THE TOP TICKING AWAY?!" Corey''s vibrant voice echoed once more, bringing excitement to the hearts of the crowd and causing them to stand up and cheer loudly for the underdog, Percy Phone. Meanwhile, the expression on Shye''s face didn''t change. ''Poser, poser, poser, you think I''m scared of fighting you at this range? Hrious!'' Chapter 357: Angry Poser "Checkmate, Shye Crowley." Percy''s voice sounded, a few tones deeper than usual. On his face was a serenely confident smile as he pointed his tachi at Shye, all while in a "cool" sideways pose. ''This poser¡­'' Shye mused, smiling mockingly at the delusional rookie. "Hahahaha! What checkmate? Look at yourself, you look dusty and ugly as heck. I think you''re the one about to copse!" He insulted, bringing yet another wave of intense frustration in Percy''s heart. Shye had been mocking him since earlier, yet, people still took the bastard''s side,ughing at his mocking words aimed at him. ''Being a kind and approachable person¡­is it truly a disadvantage in the world?'' The posermented as though he was one such person. "Hmmph! I see that you still don''t understand the position you are in. Fine then, let''s continue!" "Yeah, just continue. I don''t even understand why you stopped attacking just to pose, idiot." Gnashing his teeth in anger, Percy once again charged forth, closing the almost nonexistent gap between the two of them. He then shed his tachi diagonally downwards, aiming to split Shye into two pieces. Unfortunately for him, Shye, a warrior, would never panic in such a point-nk range, hence, he was easily able to swiftly aim his staff towards Percy and shoot a basic fireball. ''Tch!'' Having no choice but to deal with the enormous zing ball, the poser was forced to redirect his attack towards Shye''s spell, sessfully splitting it in half. However, he underestimated its power. Although destroyed, the fireball was so potent that Percy suffered a few moderate burns from its lingering embers. Now, his once handsome look was utterly ruined, making it so that even if he posed the coolest pose he could think of, he would still look ugly. Percy knew that this was only temporary but still, it annoyed him to no end. ''SHYE CROWLEY!! I VOW I''LL MAKE YOU PAY!!'' Finally, the poser exploded¡ªalbeit inwardly. Soon after, a fierce point-nk duel ensued, Shye continued firing projectiles, causing gusts of frosty winds, embers, and earthen shards to roar. On the other hand, Percy courageously advanced, deftly destroying each of Shye''s projectiles as he steadily advanced. Then¡­finally came the poser''s most awaited moment: Shye Crowley within striking range. "Let''s see how you can fire spells now, chantless caster!" All of a sudden, Percy''s calm and serene style was thrown out the window as he violently shed and stabbed his heart out¡ªakin to a wild beast. There was definitely not just a "hint" of anger mixed in with every attack. Still, Shye would never panic from such idiotic wild shes. "Aren''t you a warrior? Why are you swinging like an idiot? Weren''t you supposed to like¡­swing morepactly? Like this!" Shye babbled as he backpedaled, skillfully dodging and parrying all of Percy''s blows, even sneaking in one counterattack, swinging his elemental staff educationally to show the poser how a warrior should swing his sword by whacking him with the staff directly on his forehead. Unfortunately for Percy¡­the hit¡­produced a huge, hrious bump on his forehead, ruthlessly tearing down what little dignity he had left as the crowdughed at him. "YOU BASTARD!!! I AM SO DONE WITH YOUR BULLSHIT!! YOU DARE LECTURE ME?! A WARRIOR!! I''LL KILL YOU!!" The poor poser raged, throwing all thoughts of keeping up appearances out the window. "Hahahaha! See? Doesn''t it feel better to just let all your emotions out? Why are you pretending to be someone you''re not? Look, didn''t you just suffer under my evil hands?! Hahahaha! Shye mocked, further enraging Percy, who was now swinging with reckless abandon. Meanwhile, among the crowd, a certain purple-haired girlughed uproariously. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! Look, is that your so-called enigmatic rookie?! What the hell is that?! He looks feral! Someone''s dog has escaped, quickly! Capture it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! You guys truly suck at judging people''s strengths and weaknesses. I advise all of you guys to not bet in the future or you''ll just lose everything with how blind you guys are!" Seira ruthlessly mocked, utterly enraging everyone around her without a care in the world. "H-Hmmph! The fight is not over yet, what are you celebrating for? T-This might be one of Percy Phone''s tactics!" "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Delusional old dog, clearly, your brain is already rotting away! Do you remember the way back home? Worry not, I will assist youter and make sure you arrive home safely! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Her voice was so loud that even Shye, who was fighting in the middle of the stage, could hear it, bringing a slight smile to his face. Continue reading at §Þ?? ''Hahahaha! That damn midget. She learned well!'' Shye mused. He was so rxed that he even had the luxury to indulge in his thoughts while defending himself at point-nk range from Percy''s furious attacks. Naturally, suchx expression only served to increase the anger in Percy''s heart. Luckily, after one more sh between an elemental staff and a tachi, the poser was able to grab Shye''s staff. "Caught you, bastard!! Timekeeper''s fortress!" Overwhelmed by emotions, Percy eximed the name of his skill, giving Shye, who already had insanely fast reflexes, ample time to react. ''Idiot¡­Shadow Swap!'' Just when the transparent orb was about to touch and freeze him, Shye suddenly disappeared, erasing the furious yet triumphant smile on Percy''s face. If one was perceptive enough to look at the ground, one would see that Percy''s hands were now grabbing the shadow of Shye''s elemental staff. "Why? Why the hell would you shout your skill''s name? Why are you such an idiot?" Shye''s voice sounded from beside Percy, causing him to turn his head with an angry expression upon realizing what happened. One of his trump cards¡­Timekeeper''s fortress¡­was evaded by the hateful bastard. "YOU!!" Percy, out of words as his heart dangerously raced in anger, could do nothing but point his tachi angrily at Shye while shaking in utter fury. To make things worse, Corey''s voice suddenly echoed: "P-PERCY PHONE''S TRUMP CARD LANDED ON NOTHING BUT AIR!! SHYE CROWLEY OUTWITS THE ENIGMATIC ROOKIE, HIS ENRAGED SELF EXPOSED FOR EVERYONE TO SEE!!!" Shortly after, someone on the stage¡­turned into an azure ray of light. Chapter 358: Cause Of Death "W-What just happened folks? Why was Percy Phone transported out of the stage? Did the blue dome malfunction?! What a blunder!" Corey''s confused and disappointed voice once again sounded, making everyone feel the exact same emotions in their hearts. The duel was right in the middle of its¡­intense climax. Hence, the audience would naturally be disappointed if it was disrupted due to a system malfunction. Even Shye felt the same. Well, what could he do? For now, he decided just to descend the stage and wait for the event organizers'' decision. Unfortunately, someone had other ns. Promptly after Shye stepped out of the stage, a furious voice sounded from behind him. "CROWLEY!! YOU DESTROYED EVERYTHING I WORKED HARD FOR!! I''LL KILL YOU!! RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!!" Subconsciously turning around, Shye saw Percy''s angry face, zooming in as the guy madly bolted towards him, brandishing his tachi with vicious intent. "P-Percy Phone has gone insane! Organizers!" Corey shouted in an anxious tone, causing four men, who were standing on their designated corners, to charge toward Percy in hopes of stopping him. Should he sessfully strike Shye, the consequences would be dire as the two of them were no longer inside the blue dome. A death here would be permanent. Shye, upon witnessing Percy''s furious rush, merely sneered in disdain. ''Fine then, since you''re not convinced that you''re no match for me, then I''ll change your mind.'' Fully turning around, Shye himself charged towards Percy. ''Fake out!'' "TIMEKEEPER''S FORTRESS!!" In the next instant, the hearts of Corey, the Balkrow Arena staff, and the Raven''s de event organizers, almost stopped beating in anxiousness. Well, who could me them when all four arena guards were frozen in time, along with Shye Crowley, whose neck was utterly exposed? "HAHAHAHAHA! DIE!! CROWLEY!!" At the moment, time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Everyone watching reacted differently to Shye''s impending demise. Most of those watching had wide, excited smiles on their faces; a few watched the events unfold with nonchnt expressions, while others were horrified and worried. Naturally, Seira and Corvus were among those whose hearts dropped and almost stopped beating after seeing that Shye was caught by the time freeze skill. "BOSS!!" "NO!! SOMEONE! STOP THAT BASTARD!!" Unfortunately, no one was in a position to help as most of them were too far. Meanwhile, Percy had a wide, sinister smile on his face as he viciously shed his tachi towards the frozen Shye''s neck, empowering it with a power sh to make sure that today would be Shye Crowley''sst day in Adthiopia. *FWOOOSH!* The tachi¡­went through Shye''s neck, however, there was no blood at all. Also, Percy didn''t feel the satisfying sensation of slicing someone''s flesh, hence, he was utterly confused after "killing" Shye. Shortly after though, the exnation itself came to him¡­violently. *WHACK!* Emerging from invisibility was Shye, who swung his elemental staff like a baseball bat, hitting Percy''s face as cleanly as Megan''s if not more. As a result, the enraged poser was sent flying backward, appearing extremely cartoonish as his face spun around and hit the stone walls of the arena. Needless to say, the whack knocked the living daylights out of Percy. A few momentster, the arena staff skillfully handled the situation, checking both Shye and Percy''s condition. Then, after making sure that both were not in any life-threatening situation, Corey''s voice once again sounded. "MHMM! Everyone, I''ve talked with the blue dome''s operator and there was a valid exnation for what happened. First of all, to clear things up, the system did not malfunction and simply sent contestant Percy out of the dome after determining that he indeed "died"." Corey''s words naturally stirred up a hugemotion amongst the crowd. After all, his words meant that Shye Crowley won fair and square, and would be crowned as Raven''s de''s Rookie Representative. Only, if the exnation that Percy died inside the dome was true, then how? From their perspective, the man simply turned into an azure ray of light. Shye Crowley didn''t even attack him. Well, technically, they were wrong as Shye did attack him that time: verbally. "MHHHRMM! Well then, I shall now exin the cause of Percy Phone''s death. As per the licensed operator of the Blue Dome, Percy''s cause of death was¡­e¡­emotional damage. Right before contestant Percy''s death, his blood pressure rose to unprecedented levels, specifically, after contestant Crowley¡­called contestant Percy¡­an idiot. As a result, his mind suffered from mild aneurysm while his heart: from heart failure." The exnation was so absurd the people remained stupefied for ten good seconds, unable to make sense of what just happened. However, after a while, their brains automatically tranted what happened in simpler terms: Percy Phone¡­was angered to death. After a while, a loud yet refreshingugh echoed across the arena. "PFFT!! HAHAHAHAHAHA Boss! You''ve finally, officially angered someone to death!" Hearing Seira''s outburst, almost everyone followed suit, drowning the entire arena in an ocean ofughter. Luckily for Percy, he was currently unconscious, utterly oblivious to what was happening. For a poser like him, beingughed at after dying due to such a stupid reason would be worse than death, and so¡­he might actually die in anger and humiliation. Once theughter died down, Corey left thementator''s desk and once again ascended the stage, this time with a wide, celebratory smile on his face. "Ladies and gentlemen! The Raven''s de qualifiers have been a wild ride! However, in the end, only one rookie would obtain the representative spot. After taking down fearsome opponents with unmatched ease, one after the other, this man cemented himself as the best. Everyone, please give a round of apuse to our Raven''s de rookie representative, Shye Crowley!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 29,991 points!] With a satisfied smile, Shye bowed towards the crowd before proceeding to exit the arena. Seeing his actions, Seira hurriedly followed him, not forgetting to hurl onest insult to the annoying middle-aged men who ganged up on her¡­in doubting Shye, of course¡­ Chapter 359: Rising Stars and Heroes "You''ve truly shown them who''s the boss, boss!" Seira eximed excitedly after catching up. There were two things she would never regret: arguing against Shye''s haters and betting all of her money on Shye''s victory. Speaking of bets, both were on the way to the betting station to im their winnings with bright smiles on their faces. After all, 3000 gold coins was not a small sum for Shye. On the flip side, while Seira''s winnings of 900 gold coins were less than Shye''s, they still left her ecstatic. She had never saved more than two hundred gold coins before, and to her, that sum was enormous as it was more than enough to ensure that her family would live afortable life for as long as they remained in this world. Moreover, she could purchase a few life-saving medicines that would prolong their lives for a few more months, giving her more time to achieve her goals. On the way, the two of them casually chatted, eventually leading to a conversation that piqued Shye''s interest. "Ahhh¡­I wonder if you would be one of our region''s rising stars?" Seira absentmindedly said, causing Shye''s eyebrows to rise in curiosity. "Rising stars? What''s that?" "Hmm? You seriously don''t know, boss? I thought you''d been gunning for that status this whole time!" "How could I go for it when I don''t even know what "rising star" meant?" "Haha... Hahahaha! Alright, then, let me enlighten you! I, the all-knowing Seira, will tell you! In every region, there''s a rising star ranking, open only to rookies who''ve been adventuring for three years or less." Seira said, walking in front of Shye and posing mysteriously with her hands behind her back as though she was some sort of wise sage. ''This midget¡­'' Amused, Shye watched her subsequent actions and listened intently to her words. "Rising stars... the region''s brightest hopes. Each year, only up to three rookies earn a spot: the champion of the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition, the first-year rookie with the highest guild contribution points across the region, and the rookie whopletes the special rising star quest posted on all guild quest boards." Hearing Seira''s words, Shye''s brows furrowed. "Which meant that a maximum of nine rookies would be present on the list each year, correct?" "As expected of my smart boss, you are correct. However, there were a few instances in the past where there were only five rookies on the list. This could mean both ways, either the generation was untalented or absurdly talented." "Oh? And why is that?" "Well, sometimes no rookies manage toplete the special quest. And on asion, the champion of the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition also happens to be the rookie with the most guild contribution points..." "Hmm¡­then what happens when a rookie achieves all three?" "Then that rookie would be the only one to make it onto the rising star list for that year, and would also be the region''s first-ever hero candidate. While there were a few more milestones to achieve before being recognized as a regional hero, bing a candidate was the most challenging step. Although there were various paths to be a candidate, this method was likely the simplest and most direct." "Hoh? Hero candidate huh? And what benefits does one obtain when one bes a regional hero?" "That¡­I don''t know¡­" "Hah! And I thought you were the all-knowing Seira! What a fraud! A sham!" "W-Wha? Boss! I''m not an encyclopedia! How could I possibly know everything?" "Hahahaha! Stupid, I''m just joking. How do I join the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition then?" "Hmm? Just win Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition and you will be sent to Valenzia City half a yearter to participate in the most prestigious rookiepetition in Valenzia Region!" "Hoh? I see¡­" Grinning from ear to ear at the thought of earning more points, Shye continued asking. ¡­ ¡­ After squeezing all the important information out of Seira, the two of them arrived at the betting station two minutester. Luckily, this one didn''t make things hard for them and simply gave them their winnings¡ªalbeit sourly. Well, it was hard to let go of 3,900 gold coins so the manager''s slightly bitter reaction when he handed the money over to Shye and Seira was understandable. The two of them didn''t care though, as long as they got their money¡ªall goods. "Well then, boss! I shall return home for now. Thank you for yet another gift!" Seira enthusiastically said, bowing to Shye as she did so. "You''re the one who dared bet on me, no need to thank me." Going their separate ways, Shye went and enjoyed the rest of his day by touring Balkrow, sending letters to Shirley and Maia, and eating in fancy restaurants. Then, once the blue heavenly canvas turned dark, he returned to Heaven''s Gate, the inn he always rested at. Thoughts of buying property in Balkrow City crossed his mind, but he ultimately chose not to. Considering how things were progressing, it wouldn''t be long before he earned a promotion. To a higher-ranked branch? To the main branch in Valenzia? He didn''t know. Still, the thought of finally having enough strength to at least look for his parents excited him to no end. ''Soon¡­'' Doing something was always better than doing nothing and would undoubtedly make him feel even better. Lost in his thoughts, Shye realized that his fame was growing by the day. ''A few evil bastards would probably set their eyes on me soon and it might be difficult to evenplete a quest¡­'' He sighed as he entered the room he rented. There were lots of evil organizations in Adthiopia and he was sure that there were bound to be a few powerful ones in Valenzia. He knew the guild would do their best to protect him, but... they couldn''t be there to guard him every moment, especially when he was out solo adventuring. ''I have lots of money and points now, might as well prepare for the future and purchase a few life-saving skills and items!'' Chapter 360: Mana Pulse ''Hmmm¡­so¡­it would mostly be scout skills that would help me in survival¡­'' Shye mused as he scrolled through numerous scout skills. After purchasing the epic-tier talent, [Mana''s Beloved Child], Shye was left with around 66,000 points. He then earned around 120,000 in the recent qualifiers. Armed with 180,000 points, Shye was ready to purchase life-saving skills. After all, his absurd growth speed wouldn''t be useful in the afterlife. ''For starters¡­I need a strong detection-type skill¡­'' He pondered as he scrolled through the scout skills. Indeed, in the past, he had always struggled because most of the time, he would either have to track and manually look for his target using his eyes, or defend himself because he was detected first. A strong detection-type skill would solve most of his problems, especially when out on a solo quest. ''Yeah, let''s not be stingy¡­'' After pondering for a while, Shye decided it would be unwise to purchase weak detection skills as they might do more harm than good. Hence, he skipped through themon and umon scout skills and directly tapped the rare skills option on the side of the holographic system screen. Noticing how small the scroll bar on the side of the screen was, Shye couldn''t help but sigh. ''Haaah¡­Sh*t¡­here we go again¡­'' He knew what wasing: hours of scrolling to check each rare-tier scout skill thoroughly. And so, he did. Sadly, this time, every bit of his expectations came through as two hourster, he still hadn''t found a suitable skill. ''Haaah¡­I really hate doing this crap¡­'' Shye inwardlymented. Well, honestly, checking each skill was fun for him, it was just too tiring and monotonous so he couldn''t help but feel bored after a while. After around ten more minutes, he found a few detection-type skills. However, for some reason, he wasn''t satisfied with them. Hence, he went ham and checked for unique-tier skills, fully knowing that there was no turning back. Unique-tier skills and above were just too addicting and one would never feel satisfied¡ªever again, when looking at skills of the same type but of lower rarity. Detection skills were worth it though so although unique-tier skills start at 50,000 points, he was willing to purchase one. Luckily, this time, it didn''t take long for him to find a suitable unique-tier detection skill¡ªone that would provide him a huge advantage. === [(Semi-Passive) Mana Pulse (Unique)] - 70,000 points Description: Upon activation, the individual emits mana pulses spanning a 30-meter radius (at level 1) every two seconds. These pulses ry information to the user''s brain about their surroundings. Additionally, activating vignce mode triggers mental rms whenever the pulses detect any activity. The pulses extend in all directions, including skyward and beneath the ground. Mana cost: 2 per pulse Note: Only the user would be able to see each pulse. === "This one!!" Shye couldn''t help but exim excitedly. With this skill, he would no longer have sleepless nights on solo adventures as he could just activate vignce mode when he sleeps. Due to his new epic-tier talent, Shye''s mana pool had drastically increased. Such a minuscule mana cost was nothing to him. Heck, he could even leave the skill active for a week and he wouldn''t run out of mana! [Would you like to learn the skill [(Semi-Passive) Mana Pulse Lv.1 (Unique)] for 70,000 points?] [Y/N] [Y] *FWOOSH* Unexpectedly though, after Shye tapped on [Y], a ck aura suddenly enveloped him, bringing panic to his heart. Luckily, the aura was rather¡­tame, hence, learning the skill didn''t jeopardize his life. Realizing that nothing huge happened, Shye''s heart gradually calmed down. Subsequently, after a few minutes of enduring a slightly ufortable, cold sensation coursing through his body, the learning process finally stopped as the ck aura slowly subsided. ''Phew¡­I didn''t expect that learning unique-tier skills from the system would cause such amotion¡­'' Shye had two unique-tier warrior skills. However, both skills were learned from skill books which might be the reason why no ck aura emerged and devoured his body upon learning them. This was the first time he learned a unique-tier skill through the system so he was truly caught off guard. ''Will epic-tier skills call upon an even darker and more intense aura?'' Shye pondered as he checked his status. Confirming that the new skill was added to the list of his semi-passive skills, Shye immediately gave it a try¡ªenthusiastically. ''Mana Pulse!'' Initially, nothing happened, leaving Shye confused as to whether he used the skill correctly or not. However, two secondster, the first mana pulse emerged from his body, extending in all directions. The most precise way to describe it would be as a faintly discernible sphere of mana, initially small but expanding steadily until it reached a radius of thirty meters. Two more secondster, the second pulse was released, and then, almost simultaneously, the first pulse returned to Shye, bringing with it all sorts of information. ''H-Holy sh*t! This skill is insane!'' Shye was utterly surprised. The skill told him exactly how many people there were in the inn and its surroundings and their respective locations, yet, the way the skill fed him information was gentle¡ªnot overwhelming in the slightest. ''A great skill!'' Shye inwardly praised. He then tried to activate the other mode¡ªa decision which he immediately regretted. ''Mana Pulse: Vignce Mode!'' Promptly after the first pulse returned, annoying mental rms continuously rang in his head, causing his head to throb in pain due to the information overload. This time, the information¡­didn''t enter gently at all, going inside his head as rowdily as possible. ''ARGHH!¡­W-what the hell! Mana Pulse: Deactivate!'' Luckily, Shye was able to deactivate the skill on time, otherwise, he would''ve probably lost consciousness. Activating such a mode inside the city turned out to be a bad idea. Still, annoying as vignce mode might be, Shye was very satisfied with it, ted that he didn''t have to go to various safe zones inside an adventurer zone just to rest for the night. After all, not only was locating safe zones such a hassle, but it was also rather difficult for him to sleep around other adventurers as he believed that they were more dangerous than monstrous creatures, especially when consumed by greed. With this skill, he could simply search for a location with no monstrous creatures and sleep there with vignce mode active. Unbeknownst to Shye, purchasing this skill was probably one of the best decisions he had ever made in his life as it would aid him many times in the future. Chapter 361: Recall Shye''s life-saving skill shopping spree didn''t end there as detection skills wouldn''t truly allow him to escape death. He needed toplement it with a high-tier escape skill. Unfortunately, even after scrolling through everything on the unique-tier scout skill list, there wasn''t a single skill that fitted the escape skill criteria in his mind. Most of the unique-tier scout skills granted him invisibility and aura suppression, however, what he believed he needed was some sort of long-distance, or at least medium-distance teleportation that would instantly save his little life. Well, he would probably need such invisibility and aura suppression skills in the future, but for now, an escape skill would do him wonders. ''Maybe mages have such skills?'' Shye pondered, swiftly tapping on the mage skills button on the left side of the screen before tapping the [Unique-tier] category. Once again, began the arduous task of scrolling while reading through the skill descriptions. Fortunately, since he was only looking for escape skills, he could skip reading the description of aggressive-sounding skills such as "Devastation Orb" and "Mass Incineration". This time, it took him only half an hour to find a skill simr to what he had in mind. === [Recall (Unique)] - 65,000 points Description: Upon activation, the user would return to the recall point. However, one would need to establish both the recall point and the long-distance magic circle ahead of time before one could chant and activate the spell itself. Recall point chant: *10 seconds of gibberish* Long Distance Magic Circle: *Circle drawn inside a pentagon with a small star in the middle* Chant: *10 seconds of gibberish* Mana cost: 15,000 Activation Requirements: 1 Long Distance Magic Circle Note: The spell wouldn''t activate if the user chants outside the magic circle. === ''Hmmm¡­this one is a bitplicated to use but¡­it''s the closest one to what I had in mind¡­'' Shye had to admit, a teleportation spell that would take him to somewhere far in an instant without any preparations might be a bit too unrealistic. Hence, this one would do. [Would you like to learn the skill [Recall Lv.1 (Unique)] for 65,000 points?] [Y/N] [Y] *FWOOSH* Again, the familiar ck aura shrouded his silhouette. However, this time, Shye was as serene as a summer''s day, patiently waiting for the dark veil to subside without a hint of panic or anxiety. After a few minutes, the dark aura subsided, bringing a smile to Shye''s face. Confirming that the skill has been added to the list of his mage skills, Shye decided to try it. ''Hmmm¡­how will I draw the magic circle though? Do mundane pens work?'' Shye pondered, a bit annoyed at theck of information. ''Oh? What about the mana pen skill used by instructor Per?'' He remembered that in one of his sses, one of his instructors, Per Hackett, used mana to draw something on the ground. The guy then easily erased the drawing afterward with a simple snap of his fingers. ''Yeah, maybe I could use that skill.'' And so, Shye learned anothermon-tier skill named [Mana Pen Lv.1] for 500 points. ''So¡­first things first¡­let''s summon a recall point¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, realizing something shortly after. ''Haaah¡­and how do I summon a recall point? Well, there''s nothing else to do but try, is there?'' ''Recall point!'' ''Recall: Summon recall point!'' ''Summon recall point!'' He tried every phrase he could think of, however, none of them worked. ''T-There''s just no way I wasted 65,000 points on this crap!'' He panicked slightly. However, upon ncing at the screen again, he realized that there was another way to summon the recall point, it''s just that¡­he had never tried doing it in his entire life. ''Oh¡­right. Maybe I can try chanting¡­'' This time, Shye realized how hard it actually was to be a mage. Although he easily memorized the chant due to his high intelligence and wisdom attributes, actually reciting it proved to be hard as his tongue hadn''t recited a single chant word in the past. Fortunately, after around ten tries, he finally seeded. "Hmm... so this is a recall point?" Shye pondered, observing the small magic circle that appeared beneath his elemental staff. "Alright, let''s set up the long-distance magic circle now..." Wasting no time, he went over to the other end of the room and tried his best to replicate the strange magic circle disyed below the skill''s description. Again, due to his unfamiliarity regarding the mana pen''s usage and his bad drawing skills, it took him a few tries before sessfully replicating the said magic circle. ''W-What¡­will this work? It looks in as heck¡­'' Shye mused, a bit doubtful that the crappy long-distance magic circle he prepared would work. Still, he had to try as it would be too dangerous to entrust his life to the skill without even using it once. ''Alright... So, the instructions mention that I need to perform the spell within the magic circle for it to be effective. But if my quick cast doesn''t function, then everything would be useless in an emergency¡­'' Suddenly, Shye felt nervous. He used a whopping 65,000 system points to purchase this skill. If by some chance his instant cast failed¡­ ''Ughh¡­I don''t even want to think about it¡­'' Taking one deep breath, Shye stepped inside the magic circle. ''Phew¡­here goes my 65,000 points¡­Recall!'' Nothing¡­happened¡­or so Shye thought. The scenery remained the same. He was inside the room, however, he failed to immediately notice that he was standing in a different part of the room. "F*ck! F*ck!" Shye cursed in frustration. "One more time! I refuse to believe that my 65,000 points went down the drain like this!" Looking down to check if his entire body was inside the magic circle, Shye frowned. "Hmm? What the heck am I doing¡­So I was standing at the recall point all this time? Silly m¨C?!" Finally realizing what happened,the frustration in Shye''s heart vanished into thin air. "YES! YES!!!" Chapter 362: Balkrow City’s Rookie Adventurer Competition Scorching days and chilling nights quickly passed. Thegodly sun once again took over its heavenly throne, watching over its subjects while providing light and life for thends beneath the blue heavenly canvas. Colorful fireworks once again painted the skies of Balkrow City with a myriad of hues, exploding in various astonishing shapes and sizes while producing violent yet exuberant sounds. Today, one of the most anticipated rookie events was scheduled to begin: Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition. Thepetition will decide Balkrow''s rookie representative in therger and more prominent regionalpetition. ¡­The streets¡­were talking. Each rookie representative was the strongest in their guilds, and now, those very same "strongest rookies" wouldpete against each other in a city-widepetition. Naturally, such apetition was bound to be exciting. However, even among the "strongest rookies" there were five particr individuals who stood out. Ranking fifth overall but fourth in terms of actualbat strength in the hearts of the residents and veterans, Almira ck from Hong Yun Adventurer Guild. Next was the fourth-ranked rookie in terms of overall guild contribution points but fifth overall in terms of strength, Lin Zi from Yudaina Yama Adventurer Guild. Ranked third both overall and in terms of strength, from Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild: John Oni. Now, the second-ranked rookie in the hearts of the residents and the veteran adventurers was none other than Shye Crowley from Raven''s de Adventurer Guild. His overall guild contribution points surpassed the points of the number one, the crowd favorite, Arthur Vermillion, by over 4000 points. However, they simply couldn''t see Arthur losing to Shye. That''s why the unofficial rankings of the top five rookie powerhouses, based on street gossip, were established. Of course, such information would never escape the clutches of the all-knowing Seira, who was currently fuming in frustration as she walked alongside the "second-ranked" rookie, her big boss: Shye Crowley. "I simply can''t believe how blind these idiots are! Can you believe them, boss? Ranking you second to that Arthur Weakshitmillion or whatever his name was?! Ooooh! I can''t wait to talk down to those idiots after you win!" Hearing the grape-haired midget''s words, Shye almost burst outughing. Seira was just too invested! If one didn''t know, one might think SHE was Shye Crowley. However, he truly appreciated her borderline blind faith in him. "Heh, let the fools speak. This way, the payout for my victory would be higher. No?" "Oh! That''s true! Hahahaha! The boss is smart!" With smiles on their faces, the duo enthusiastically walked towards Fa1rbets Betting Station, the so-called "most reliable and honest betting station in Balkrow City", ready to once again wreak havoc upon the mentioned station''s finances. Upon arriving, Shye and Seira felt rather¡­disappointed, but there was also a part of them that felt a sense of contentment. Why? Well, Shye''s odds weren''t as high as the two of them believed it would be. It seemed that these betting stations learned to not fuck around when it came to raising his odds to earn money as their profits for the past year were utterly ruined by Shye''s victory in the Raven''s de Rookie Representative Selection. Hence, most of the betting stations used John Oni, the strongest rookie of Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild, as their golden goose, raising his odds¡­well, one can say a bit too much, to lure a few greedy people and heavy gamblers to bet on his victory. Naturally, upon learning of this fact, John Oni was utterly enraged, causing him to bet a whopping 2000 gold coins on his victory. Such an amount was around 75% of his total coin reserves, however, he didn''t care. He wanted to teach these damned betting stations a harsh lesson to not f*ck around with his odds. Arthur Vermillion was indeed strong but he, John Oni, was no slouch either. He had been preparing for this exact moment to grab the number one spot from Arthur''s hands. As for Shye Crowley? Who the fook is that guy? He sent a few of his underlings to watch and record the Raven''s de''s Rookie Representative Selection finals, and naturally, John took a bit of time to watch Shye''s match. In his eyes, Shye was strong. However, the Raven''s de rookie representative couldn''t be farther from being a threat to him, a scout-ss adventurer. Moreover, he didn''t believe that the guy would be a threat to his rival, Arthur Vermillion, thus, it would be the two of them who would fight in the finals of Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition. To sum everything up, in John Oni''s eyes, Shye was nothing but a clown. If he would be lucky enough to get matched up with Shye in the quarterfinals or the semi-finals of thepetition, John vowed to obliterate Shye''s reputation. After all, the betting stations dared f*ck around with his odds because they didn''t dare do the same to Shye. Naturally, John would harbor some resentment towards Shye. ¡­ "Sigh¡­only 1.7 times the initial amount huh?" Seiramented the "unsatisfactory" payouts of her 850 gold coin bet. "Sigh¡­what can we do? It seemed that these betting stations don''t dare f*ck around with the odds of your boss anymore¡­" Shye did the same, acting as though the 5100 gold coin payout for his 3000 gold coin bet were mere peanuts. Again, the duo bet almost everything they had. What surprised both of them was that people could recognize Shye even when he was wearing a hoodie. "H-Hey! Isn''t that Shye Crowley?!" "I think so¡­look, that purple-haired shorty was the guy''s underling no?" "Yeah, I believe so. This is huge! Didn''t you all see him bring out a huge sack of gold coins?! There must be at least 1000 gold coins in there!" "Are you blind?! There must be at least 2000!" Unsurprisingly, such hubbubs made their way into the ears of a tall vermillion-haired young man with a ripped physique, causing the guy to chuckle in amusement. "Hoh? This Shye Crowley is a bit overly confident, no? The clown thinks he could easily win thepetition just because he has a 4000-point lead over me. It makes me want to embarrass him in front of Balkrow''s audience so he won''t dare to show his face around me anymore." Chapter 363: John Oni "Ladies and gentlemen! Today kicks off the highly awaited rookie event in our beloved city, the Balkrow City Rookie Adventurer Competition. We have 128 outstanding rookies, each a standout in their guilds, ready to battle it out. Let''s see who emerges as the top talent among Balkrow''s young adventurers!" Corey''s vibrant voice filled the air, spurring all 60,000 spectators to rise to their feet and erupt in deafening apuse. All of them were excited to find out who would represent Balkrow in the region''s most prestigious rookie event and hopefully, bring honor to their beloved city. Although the residents and the ordinary adventurers mostly see thepetition as entertainment, it was actually not the case as there was a lot more at stake than what meets the eye. One such stake was the rate of development of Balkrow City. Last year, Balkrow''s Rookie Representative, Sebastian Evergreen, made a not-so-impressive run in the Valenzia Region''s Rookie Adventurer Competition, only achieving a top 128 exit despite being stronger than the usual representative. Well, the guy was unlucky fighting against such a talented generation of rookies from other cities. His talents, although enough to conquer a city like Balkrow, became a mere stepping stone for other, more talented rookies from other cities. Still, since Sebastian failed to meet the city''s expectations of at least a top 32 finish, the poor young man from Iron Jin Adventurer Guild lost confidence in himself, slowly deteriorating to mediocrity as time went by. By this time, even one of the guy''s juniors, the current crowd favorite, Arthur Vermillion, hadpletely lost respect for him, witnessing the stark transformation brought upon him by harsh realities. And because the man failed, there were fewer rookies this year, affecting not only the city''s economy but also its potential. If this trend continued, less and less talented rookies would choose Balkrow as their home base which in turn would result in the city ranking lower and lower in futurepetitions, ultimately deteriorating into utter mediocrity while other cities rise and soar like burning phoenixes. This was the reason why rookiepetitions were so important. It was because it set the direction and speed of the city''s development. On a more profound, local scale, there''s a subtle suggestion that the city''s survival hinges on swift development, given the escting challenges confronting each and every region in Adthiopia. This very dilemma weighs heavily on the mind of City Lord s of Valenzia City. Unfortunately, he was but one man. He cannot save an entire region on his own, hence, it was every city for himself. Develop faster or perish, basically. Well, except for a select few, almost all of the cities were oblivious to their actual situation. And s wasn''t nning on letting them know¡­for now, at least, since it would probably cause unnecessary panic amongst both mundane folks and adventurers. There wasn''t a single safe ce in the entire world, after all. Such a problem was for the future though. Currently, everyone was happy and excited, believing that thispetition was just like the previous year, or the year before that¡ªmere entertainment. Thepetition followed a single-elimination format, guaranteeing peakpetitiveness, with only one undefeated young contestant destined to reign as the ultimate rookie champion in Balkrow. This victor would then go on to represent the city in arger-scalepetition six monthster. ¡­Despite being one of the potential winners, neither Arthur nor Shye would be granted a free win. Both of them would have to fight in the first round, just like everybody else, to ensure fairness. Naturally, the top five rookies, both in guild contribution points and perceived strength, were kept as far away from each other as possible in the brackets, ensuring a healthy and excitingpetition. Again, the fact that Shye and Arthur were on both ends of the brackets infuriated John Oni. It should''ve been him! ''Hmmph! At least I''m on that clown''s side of the bracket. If nothing goes wrong, I''ll have a chance to destroy him in the semi-finals!'' John Oni inwardlyforted himself as he walked out of his locker room under the supportive gazes of his guild master, the Dark Sentinels guild staff, and a few of his close friends. With perfect timing, John Oni entered the arena, eliciting loud cheers from the crowd as quite a sizable number of people believed that he deserved better treatment in the brackets. Sadly, the tournament organizers didn''t think so as they favored the newly-risen Shye Crowley over John. ''Hmmph! I''ll show all of you!'' John''s opponent, Boren Matthews, a fairly strong rookie representative from Celestial Eye Adventurer Guild, was already waiting for him onstage with a determined expression. The man knew his chances of winning were slim, however, it wasn''t zero. Hence, the guy was pumped. Meanwhile, Corey''s voice once again sounded as John Oni ascended the stage. "...The fallen general! The Crownless King! From the prestigious Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild, let us all wee, John "Sinister Shadow" Oni!!" Overwhelmed by both the frustration in his heart and the crowd''s cheers, John, who was usually calm and calcting, raised his arms and clenched his fists, appealing to the crowd. Witnessing this scene, Boren frowned. However, his determination didn''t wane in the slightest, in fact, it burgeoned even more. ''Hmpph, fine then, let''s see what you got, number three!'' Once both contestants were on the stage, the referee stepped down and activated the blue dome, enveloping both John and Boren in a subtle azure aura. "Begin!" Shortly after, the referee announced the start of the match. Boren was waiting for this moment, he nned to immediately go all out at the start, hoping to catch John off guard. Drawing his katar, Boren immediately used his trump card, [Phantom Rush Lv.3(Rare)], allowing him to disappear and reappear wherever he wanted. Boren chose to reappear below John, who looked unprepared to deal with his sneaky attack. He then thrust his katar upward toward John''s throat, unleashing yet another of his aces to seal John''s fate: [(Dark) Sinister Stab Lv.3 (Rare)]. Shortly after, a sinister ck aura that reeked of death and decay enveloped both his weapon and his arms. ''It''s now or never! Die, John Oni!'' The next instant, an azure ray of light shot out of the blue dome¡­ Chapter 364: Rivalry "W-What the¡­What¡­just happened? THE FIGHT!! THE FIGHT¡¯S ALREADY OVER!! AND THE VICTOR WAS, OF COURSE, NONE OTHER THAN THE POWERHOUSE FROM DARK SENTINELS ADVENTURER GUILD, JOHN ONI!!" Corey¡¯s voice resounded in a shocked tone, his voice slightly cracking in utter disbelief. One moment, thementator¡¯s eyes widened as it seemed like John Oni was about to be instantly in, however, the next, it was Boren¡¯s head that separated from his body, turning him into nothing but a mere azure mana ray. Even Boren had a confused and disbelieving expression upon materializing beside the stage. Amongst the 60,000 in attendance, only the veteran, emerald-ranked adventurers, and the top ten rookies were able to clearly see what happened. As for the ordinary ruby-ranked adventurers, although most of them saw what happened, they didn¡¯t see it as clearly as the emeralds or the top ten rookies did. Still, even such a rough view was enough topel them to stand up and cheer wildly¡ªutterly amazed by John¡¯s masterful maneuver. What the third-ranked rookie did was truly borderline miraculous. Faced with a ferocious trump cardbo, John Oni did not panic. Instead, he calmly activated one of his skills, [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.5], and stared right back at death with a fearless expression, dodging the katar by a hair¡¯s breadth nonchntly before countering with a lethal downward neck slice of his own. The young rookie did everything so fast that even Boren, his opponent, didn¡¯t notice that his neck had been sliced clean off. Witnessing John Oni¡¯s dueling skills, Shye¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡¯Hoh? I hope this guy can make our fight interesting and¡­allow me to earn lots of points, hehehehe¡­.¡¯ If John heard what he was thinking, the poor Dark Sentinels rookie would probably be infuriated again. Luckily, all the young man heard was the crowd praising him to the high heavens. "Damn! John Oni is still John Oni!" "Why did the organizers even seed Shye Crowley higher than John? Although that rookie from Raven¡¯s de was truly one of a kind because of his chantless casting talent, there¡¯s just no way for him to defeat such a masterful and talented scout in a duel!" "I agree, I just can¡¯t see that unripe rookie taking down such a nimble, deft, and vicious scout!" "At this rate, won¡¯t John even have the chance to defeat Arthur?!" Such generous praises naturally pleased John, writing off all the infuriation in his heart and recing it with a pleasant renewed pride and confidence. During the past year, his name was mentioned only because of Arthur Vermillion, who was hailed as a heaven-defying genius in their generation. Although the two of them never actually crossed des in Balkrow yet, they sparred plenty of times back at Roddentrodge City, the second-ranked city in the entire region. John lost a bit more than he won, however, he had his moments of victory too against Arthur. If he could take down the heir of the Vermillion Adventurer n here¡ªin apetition that mattered¡ªhe would feel immense satisfaction even if only temporarily as he was sure that Arthur would settle the score with him. The two of them have been true rivals since they were young. Upon learning that Arthur wasing to Balkrow City to join the renowned Iron Jin Adventurer Guild, ranked fourth among all the guilds in the entire Valenzia Region, John was fired up, deciding to follow his rival and join the sixth-ranked overall guild in Valenzia, the Dark Sentinels Adventurer Guild. To him, only the two of them were inpetition¡­well¡­In Balkrow City, at least. Experience exclusive tales on NovelBin.C?m Hence, Shye¡¯s sudden entrance to the rookie scene utterly ruined the perfectpetitive world he was building in his mind between him and Arthur. To make things worse, the darned guy was actually ranked higher than him in the unofficialpetition seedings, causing people to think that the true final battle would happen between the bastard and his rival, relegating him to the role of an inconsequential side character destined for defeat, merely serving as a stepping stone in the contemptible Shye Crowley¡¯s narrative. Naturally, he would never buy such bullcrap, especially not when the rookie in question was a mere mage that he could destroy as easily as snapping his finger. Burning with anticipation, John descended the stage, making way for the next scheduled match. As time swiftly psed, matches concluded one after another, leaving half of thepetitors reveling in sheer delight while the remaining halfnguished in self-disappointment and sorrow. In their eyes, they were all "sons of heavens", undefeated in their guilds. However, as the level ofpetition increased¡ªcurrently city-wide¡ªreality immediately pped half of them hard. With more to follow. They were not sons of heaven, but mere stepping stones to those who were deemed true sons of heaven. Everything was proven by victory and defeat. Although they were ranked lowerpared to others, not a single one of them believed that they would lose as they were champions themselves¡ªalbeit in their guild branches. Hence, actually losing broke not only their ego but also their hearts. As the truth that they were not special slowly sank into their hearts and minds, most of them, in fact, almost all of them, were bound to deteriorate as the self-confidence they once banked themselves on ruthlessly shattered. Lost in the four winds and never to be recovered ever again. Such is the truth of the real world, outside of the protective havens of their parents, guardians, ns, and academies. Only the fittest¡­shall be hailed as true kings. Of course, the so-called perceived true kings amongst rookies won all of their matches, including Shye, who decimated the f*ck out of his opponent with a barrage of skills. The poor rookie wasn¡¯t even on the level of Percy, only close to that of Chiizai. [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 8,142 points!] ¡¯Tch¡­There are sixty thousand people in attendance, are there not?! Why did I only earn around 8,000 points?! Sigh... I suppose this is one of the downsides of being expected to make it to the finals...¡¯ Chapter 365: Third Round Of Matches In the second round, there were still a lot of¡­let¡¯s say¡­lesser rookies. Hence, there weren¡¯t any meaningful matches, and everyone who was expected to advance, advanced again, this time, to the top 32. [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 10,050 points!] ¡¯Haaah¡­Better than nothing¡­I guess¡­¡¯ Shyeforted himself. Your next read is at NovelBin.C?m He was starting to get greedy again after earning 30,000 points per victory, forgetting how hard it was to grind points outsidepetitions. Humans are inherently greedy. Shye? A bit greedier than most. Well, he had a few important missions to fulfill, and the earlier he aplished them, the more time he would have to live the simple life he always wanted. One of his missions was to look for his parents, whose situations were unknown. He didn¡¯t even know if they were still alive. However, he would never give up before even trying. Such an urgent goal weighed heavily in his heart, though, causing him to act a bit too greedy sometimes in pursuit of power. Who could me him? They were his parents, after all. Moving on to the third round of matches, there were finally a few spicy matchups disyed on the holographic screen suspended above the stage¡ªvisible to all corners of the arena. Although such matchups could only be considered as mere appetizers to the battles between those in the top ten Balkrow City rookies, the matches were still way more excitingpared to the ratherckluster first and second-round matchups. Shye didn¡¯t know if it was intentional or not but in the third round, his match was one of the "highlight matchups" as he was matched up against the 11th-ranked Bonza is. ¡¯The organizers likely intend to either assess my abilities or want me to prove myself to the crowd¡­¡¯ Shye mused with a slight smile. Though some people would feel disrespected when "told" to prove themselves, Shye was not one such person. On the contrary, he appreciated the tough matchup as it would give him the chance to earn points. In his mind, the organizers should just keep the tough guysing his way! Lin Chi, Almira White, John Bony, Arthur Miller, or whoever the f*ck it is, Shye is willing to fight them all in the name of system points! Excited as he was, his match wasn¡¯t the first scheduled match for the third round of matches, hence, he could only sit back and wait. Luckily, although the first match was rather boring, the next one wasn¡¯t as Lin Zi, also one of the top five rookies, was scheduled to fight some unknown rookie who somehow made it to the top 32. Ascending the stage, the young man of average height, long ck hair tied up in a ponytail, and sharp yet attractive facial features drew his bow, appearing extremely calm, even looking a little bit too approachable in Shye¡¯s eyes. However, he didn¡¯t dare make conclusions again about someone¡¯s character after his experience with Percy and Mateo who initially appeared likable, turning out to be utter delusional bastards in the end. Hence, he simply watched the match unfold. To his surprise, the match¡­turned out to be quite boring as Lin Zi was what one would call a "textbook archer". His opponent, a warrior-ss rookie named Kevin Johnson, tried his hardest to close the gap and attack Lin Zi. And the guy¡­did manage to do so. The problem was, that Lin Zi was just too calm and knowledgeable. Whenever Kevin sessfully closed the gap after taking a few mana arrow shots, Lin Zi stood his ground and calmly dodged the attack before creating distance again. The same thing happened over and over. Even when Kevin got in the prime position to use his trump card, Lin Zi calmly evaded as though no skills or attacks in the world could shake his heart. In the end, the fight ended with Kevin looking like a porcupine with mana quills, turning into an azure ray of light. As the poor man¡¯s body materialized outside the stage, the young man looked extremely dejected as he had multiple chances to end the match in one hit. Unfortunately, all of his attacks were dodged, and he didn¡¯t know how Lin Zi managed to do it as the guy didn¡¯t even use aggressive skills, only a few repositioning skills. Due to this, Kevin felt that he had been so close yet so far to victory. ¡¯Hmm¡­I can¡¯t tell if this guy is just boring or if he was saving his skills forter, more important matches¡­¡¯ Shye mused with narrowed eyes, following Lin Zi with his gaze. Shockingly, the man looked back at him and smiled amiably, even nodding slightly at him before continuing to walk. ¡¯Hoh? He sensed my¡­gaze? How sharp¡­¡¯ ¡­ After a few more matches, it was finally time for the highlight of the third round: Shye Crowley vs the 11th-ranked Bonza is. Ascending the stage, only around a fourth of the crowd cheered for him as even though more than half of them saw his prowess in the Raven¡¯s de Qualifiers, they didn¡¯t believe he could win against Arthur Vermillion. Heck, most of them didn¡¯t even believe that he would make it past John Oni. As usual, Shye did not give a single f*ck about what everyone thought. All he cared about right now was the opportunity to make points. He had to show off his skills! Not only how strong his spells were but actual maneuvers that would impress the audience. ¡­His opponent, Bonza is, was a scout, hence, Shye realized that this match was some kind of a trial match to see how he would deal with tricky scout-ss opponents. Naturally, everyone was pumped. Bonza was no slouch as he had been a part of the top ten before Shye zed through the rankings, kicking Bonza out of his 10th spot. The guy probably had a slight grudge judging from the look on his face. Drawing two elemental staffs out, Shye assumed his fighting stance. ¡¯Fine then, since everyone wants to see how I deal with scouts, I shall p you, doubters, with the reality that I¡¯m not all about chantless casting and oversized spells!¡¯¡¯ Chapter 366: The Slick Shye Crowley "Go, go, boss!! sh that Bonsai tree or whatever in half!! Err¡­I mean, burn him to ashes!!" Seira''s loud but cute voice sounded from the stands, causing heads to subconsciously turn in her direction. She¡­had unknowingly built quite a reputation for herself. As who? Well¡­she unknowingly goes by many names. "Shye Crowley''sckey", "Shye Crowley''s friend with benefits", and for those who started hating her after being humiliated by her: "Shye Crowley''s Worshipper". Her reputation was built from her borderline blind faith in Shye Crowley''s victory, tested time and again by numerous people, only to be humiliated by her in the end. Hence, upon hearing her notorious voice, there were a few people who immediately acted to challenge her im about Shye Crowley''s invincibility. "Hmmph! You must be Shye Crowley''s pipsqueak of ackey. Unfortunately for you, your clown of a boss was destined to be humiliated today by none other than Arthur Vermillion, the illustrious heir of the renowned Vermillion Adventurer n!" "Hah! You''re correct, brother Banar, however, you forgot one thing: Shye Crowley would face John Oni in the semi-finals¡­if the guy could even reach that far! Hahahahaha!" "Oh, silly me, brother n. I do agree that Shye Crowley might not even make it past John Oni! Hahahaha" Hearing the words of those around her, a smile crept up in the corners of Seira''s mouth. She was waiting for this! "Hmm? Arthur Vermicelli? John Ong? Who the hell are those guys? Never heard of them! Anyway, whoever they are, they''re destined to be mere stepping stones for my invincible boss!" "Heh, it seems that the rumors about you were true. Let''s see then, for now, I shall watch how your boss would "barely" handle his 11th-ranked scout-ss opponent! Hahahahaha!" As an enormous ball of roaring mes zed through the confines of the blue dome, Seira couldn''t help but temporarily ignore the increasing number of men¡ªboth young and middle-aged, and turn her attention to the ongoing match between her invincible boss and his fairly renowned opponent, Bonza is. Shye, being a mage, naturally had the advantage in attacking first, summoning various projectiles of frost, wind, fire, and earth, creating a cacophony of elemental roars as he wreaked hellish havoc inside the blue dome under the shocked gazes of the audience. This was their first time witnessing the prowess of a chantless, dual-wielding mage¡ªa concept they never even thought would be usible in their imagination. Naturally, they were mesmerized by his destructive power. Suddenly, in their minds, his 4000-point lead over Arthur Vermicel¨Cerr¡­Arthur Vermillion didn''t seem so strange anymore. After all, monstrous creatures could never get out of such a devastating harm''s way as fast as Bonza, a scout-ss adventurer does. They could imagine Shye easily obliterating a monstrous creature with a barrage of spells without much effort. Shortly after, respect for him burgeoned in their hearts. He deserved the number one spot¡ªin terms of guild contribution points, at least. Still, it didn''t mean that they respected him as the strongest among the rookies as that matter would be decided through good old victory and defeat in thepetition. Dodging a few final projectiles in the form of icicle spears, Bonza finally managed to close the gap between him and Shye. He could simply teleport behind the dual-wielding mage, however, he didn''t dare do so after watching Shye annihte one of his guildmates who did the same in the Raven''s de Rookie Representative Selection Tournament. Bonza could only take the straightforward way of charging towards Shye while running in a zigzag to dodge his spells. Fortunately, although he suffered a few frosty grazes and fiery burns here and there, the damage he sustained wasn''t serious, only enough to make him slightly wince in pain. A small price to pay for him to close the gap between him and the incarnation of destruction. Still, he believed that the guy would simply blink away. However, this time, he can use his gap closer abilities to stick to Shye like glue as it would be too difficult for the dastardly mage to urately guess and aim at the area where he would reappear. Only, Shye¡­didn''t blink away at all, smiling confidently while daring Bonza to walk closer as though saying "Come then, I''m right here, I''ll fight you the way you want!". Feeling tantly disrespected, Bonza gnashed his teeth in utter fury. ''You dare take me lightly? I''ll cut your head off!'' Bolting forward, Bonza sliced his dagger toward Shye''s neck, utterly unconvinced that the arrogant mage could engage in a head-on fight against him. Although a scout''s strength attribute wasn''t as high as a warrior''s, it was definitely higher than a mere mage''s. Unless¡­the very same mage was also a warrior. Chapter Explore: Fortunately for Bonza, Shye''s goal wasn''t to reveal how strong he was but to show everyone his slick "melee" fighting skills that he "worked on" to fend off scouts and warriors in close range. Raising his high-grade ruby-tier elemental staff, Shye angled it perfectly, gently receiving Bonza''s dagger and parrying it with unmatched grace and finesse. He then used his other elemental staff to hit the scout''s wrist, making his strike appear light but effective when in reality, it was his shockingly high strength attribute that knocked the dagger out of Bonza''s right hand. The poor scout couldn''t even understand what happened before another vicious blow came his way. This time, from the ruby-tier elemental staff. The satisfying yet unpleasant sound of ck steelwood hitting someone''s skull echoed across the four corners of the arena, prompting the crowd to gasp in utter shock and disbelief. Wasting no time, Shye aimed his staff at his opponent and fired a scorching ball of fire, incinerating Bonza to ashes just like what Seira said and causing him to turn into an azure ray of light that shot out of the blue dome. "S-Shye Crowley easily fends off Bonza''s ferocious melee assault!! Who?! Who would''ve thought that things would turn out this way?! Slick!! The menacing top-ranked mage disys astonishing melee prowess to eliminate the 11th-ranked Bonza and advance to the top 16!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 35,620 points!] ''Heh, take that, doubters!'' Chapter 367: Firm, Dominant, Absolute "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! See that?! That! Is what my boss will do to that John Ong of yours! NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" The purple-haired midget''s voice once again resounded, capturing the attention of almost a fourth of the audience as it was second only to Corey''s microphone-amplified voice in terms of loudness. Being on the receiving end of Seira''s words was utterly unpleasant, and the experience made those around her inwardly gnash their teeth and clench their fists in anger. However, their champions, John Oni and Arthur Vermillion were still in thepetition¡ªas strong as ever¡ªso why should they infuriate themselves over the defeat of the 11th-ranked Bonza? Wasn''t the guy just a test of Shye Crowley''s abilities? Moreover, they couldn''t allow themselves to loseposure so early against this notorious grape-haired midget. "H-Hmmph! How could this Bonza is measure up to someone like John Oni? Your boss'' meager melee defense skills wouldn''t be enough to save his skin against someone like John! The young master of the Oni family!" Chapter Your: "Indeed! Ahh¡­How I wish to see the look on your face once John Oni shows your boss the difference between an above-average and a master scout!" "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Typical words of sore losers. Fine then, I shall wait until my boss thrashes John Looney before making you losers cry again!" Emerging as the victor in the first round of squabbles, Seira was in a good mood, giving Shye an enthusiastic thumbs up as she sat back down with a smile on her face after her boss returned her thumbs up with a smile. ¡­In the third round of thepetition, there were a total of 16 matches, ten of which were elite skill parades of the top ten rookies, hence, the third round was far from the word boring. The crowd gasped in amazement from time to time as the cream of the crop amongst all the rookies in Balkrow City performed magnificent maneuvers to outwit and outmatch their opponents, defeating them methodically in less than twenty moves, with a few managing to do so in less than ten moves. Even the veteran adventurers learned a thing or two from the matches of the best rookies, prompting them to think that watching thepetition was well worth it as most of them didn''t expect to pick things up from the young adventurers. Finally after, in thest match of the third round, the second-most exciting match-up was bound to happen. Arthur Vermillion versus Marlon Fuego, a fairly high-ranked mage¡ªreportedly around the 13th rank¡ªwas famous for his extremely short casting times and powerful fire-type spells. This match should''ve been of not much importance since everyone expects Arthur Vermillion to win. However, because it will show glimpses of how Arthur would deal with Shye Crowley, the match suddenly became anticipated¡ªmainly due to the recent spread of Marlon Fuego''s fighting style which was rather simr to Shye''s. Ascending the stage, the crowd favorite, Arthur Vermillion, raised his arms with a stoic expression, appearing utterly unshakable and dominant as he drew his katana out. On the other end of the stage ascended Marlon. Armed with a faint smile and a fair bit of self-confidence, the man didn''t bother raising his hands as there was no way he would garner cheers as loud as that of Arthur''s. Hence, he walked up the stairs in a simple manner, eliciting cheers from his guildmates and a few mundane fans. Marlon then drew his mid-grade tinum-tier elemental staff with unreal bonuses in terms of me-type spells and stood ready, raring to test his mettle against the unofficial reigning king of Balkrow rookies. ¡­Since the crowd was extremely eager to see how the match would go the referee didn''t make them wait long. "Begin!" Surprisingly, the match started with Arthur calmly walking closer to his opponent, as though he was a monstrous creature slowly stalking and ying with his food. On the other hand, Marlon appeared extremely busy, weaving hand signs and chanting non-stop to reduce his casting times and buff himself up. Then, after a few seconds, the mage was finally ready to rumble. Aiming his staff at Arthur, Marlon cast for a mere 0.8 seconds before an enormous fireball that was only smaller than Shye''s emerged from his fiery elemental staff, causing the temperature around him to drastically increase as the fireball propelled forth, roaring and burning everything in its wake. Astonishingly, Arthur''s expression was as stoic as ever. The so-called king of Balkrow rookies steadily advanced, shing at the fireball with a firm and unshakable disposition. His arrogant actions prompted the onlookers¡ªeven those who were cheering for him, to frown. Marlon was known for his fire-type spells and this fireball didn''t look like something that could be swatted away with a simple wave of one''s hand. If Arthur unexpectedly loses here, some of them will be ruined, as they bet their whole savings¡ªsome even their humble homes¡ªon Arthur''s victory. Fortunately for them, their champion didn''t disappoint. In one swift motion, Arthur split the fireball in two, causing it to dissipate shortly after. Such a¡­let''s say¡­"cool" move, left the crowd awestruck for a few moments before they erupted in thunderous cheers, which only got louder and louder as Arthur gradually increased his stalking speed. Marlon did everything he could to maintain the distance and fire spells in hopes of defeating Arthur, however, almost all of his spells were either shed apart or dodged with minimal movements. Such invincibility gnawed at Marlon''s morale. Ultimately, the man ran out of skills, which signaled the beginning of Arthur''s ferocious onught. Using nothing butmon warrior skills such as [Dash], [Power sh], [Destructive Chop], and a few others, Arthur cornered Marlon. "Tch! I won''t go down like this!" Marlon cursed to the skies as he cast his ultimate fire spell. Unfortunately, for some reason, at thest moment, he failed to cast the skill, leading to his defeat by decapitation. "STRONG!! ABSOLUTE!! ARTHUR VERMILLION EASILY DISMANTLES MARLON FUEGO!! IS THIS A SNEAK PEEK AT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN HIS MATCH AGAINST SHYE CROWLEY?! OR DOES THE YOUNGER ROOKIE HAVE AN ACE UP HIS SLEEVE TO TURN THE MATCH AROUND?! STAY TUNED FOLKS! THE FOURTH ROUND OF MATCHES WILL BEGIN SHORTLY!!" Chapter 368: Upset "BAHAHAHAHA! Did you see that, brother Banar?! That, right there, is the fate of Shye Crowley! BAHAHAHAHA!" "KEKEKEKEKE! Indeed, brother n! Arthur didn''t even use a single skill higher than those of themon tier, and the "quick-cast mage" was defeated so easily! Even if Shye Crowley performs a bit better than this Marlon Fuego, his chances of victory against such a heaven-defying genius would be close to zero!" This time, it was Seira who was on the receiving end of the insults as more people sided with Arthur Vermillion. Indeed, although Shye Crowley was a stronger magepared to Marlon Fuego, what could he do against such a dominant and unshakeable warrior like Arthur? Even if his spells were a bit faster to cast and a bit stronger than that of Marlon, they could see him suffering the same fate. It seemed that the match between the two wouldn''t even be close judging from how Arthur dominated the me specialist. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the notoriousckey. "HAH! Why is it so smelly here? Probably due to casuals talking about shit, they don''t know again¡­Eughh¡­Clearly, you guys don''t know how strong my boss is! If this Arthur Vermicelli attempts to do this pretentiousness against my boss, all he will receive is a solid p on the face!" This time, other people couldn''t help but join the squabble. Seira was truly getting on their nerves! "Hmmph! You worship your boss too much, midget. Obviously, he hasn''t experienced the world yet! Once he fights someone of Arthur''s caliber¡ªJohn Oni, for example¡ªhe will crumble like an old house!" "YOU will crumble like an old house! After all, you look like an old house, dusty and ugly!" ¡­ The squabbles went on for a while, even though she was alone, Seira stood her ground firmly akin to a loyal general who will never let her city fall. As for Shye, he couldn''t help butugh at Seira. The little midget truly had a vicious mouth like him¡ªa worthy underling! ¡­While Seira and a few angry young and middle-aged men were squabbling, the fourth round finally got underway, Corey''s voice once again echoing across the four corners of the arena. "Did everyone have a nice short break? I hope you guys did as the fourth round of the Balkrow City Rookie Adventurer Competition will now begin! Referee, please show us the fourth-round matchups and the schedule randomization of each match!" Nodding at Corey, the referee pressed a button on the small mana-powered device he was holding. This action prompted the letters and numbers on the holographic screen suspended above the stage to change rapidly for a few seconds before eventually stopping and revealing the match-ups and sequence of the matches. Pausing for a few moments to read the words on the holographic screen, thousands of eyes widened. Finally... There were two matches where four of the top ten rookies were pitted against each other! Naturally, such exciting matchups were bound to elicit thunderous cheers from the audience. As anticipated, due to the initial brackets, Shye found himself among the four "fortunate" top ten rookies matched against each other. His opponent was the ninth-ranked Payne Keller, an archer-ss rookie from the Bloodsteel Adventurer guild. ''Nice!'' Shye inwardly celebrated yet another chance to earn a sizable amount of points. Recently, he had a breakthrough in terms of earning system points, realizing that he had to put a bit of effort into analyzing what the crowd wanted instead of just showing off the way he wanted to. For example, if he simply obliterated Bonza with a barrage of skills while not even letting him get close, the crowd would be impressed, sure; however, what they wanted was different. They wanted to see glimpses of how his match against John Oni would go. And so, he did just that. Promptly after showing everyone how skilled he was in defending himself against the ruthless attacks of scouts in the form of his graceful and masterful melee defense, the points he earned skyrocketed to more than triple what he was initially earning. ''Hmm¡­What could the crowd possibly want in a mage versus archer matchup?'' Shye pondered. His match was scheduledst as one of the highlights of the fourth round, hence, Shye took his time to think of what the crowd wanted. He was slowly getting better as an entertainer¡ªa side job that he needed to master as someone who needed to show off to grow stronger. ¡­As Shye pondered deeply, the matchesmenced To everyone''s surprise, the opening match featured John Oni facing off against a rookie known as Pokyuu Pine from White Peak Adventurer Guild, who had remained rtively unnoticed until his third-round match against the 12th-ranked rookie Jeremiah Howard, where he decisively revealed his true strength by utterly dominating the fairly renowned rookie in a head-on sh between warriors. Astonishingly, even though his opponent this time was none other than the famous John Oni, there wasn''t a hint of nervousness in his face, only enthusiastic anticipation. If he could defeat John Oni here, his fame would skyrocket throughout the city! "Begin!" Bolting forward like a true warrior, Pokyuu''s shield nged as he raised his weapon horizontally, seemingly "casting" a few enchantments on his shortsword. John Oni, being a master scout himself, knew that Pokyuu had a fair chance of defeating him should he underestimate the guy, hence, he didn''t dare use the basic scout opening temte, opting instead to assume a defensive stance while waiting for the warrior to attack. John''s n was to let Pokyuu attack first, dodge his attacks by a hair''s breadth, and counterattack masterfully to see what the guy was up to. He was sure that the dark horse knew his fighting style, hence, he decided to allow the guy to counter it while being vignt himself. Upon sensing the first sign of danger, John nned to momentarily retreat and assess the situation¡ªa brilliant n from a master scout. After a few more milliseconds, Pokyuu finally arrived in front of John, courageously brandishing his shortsword diagonally downwards, making it difficult for John to dodge. His n worked as he was able to force John Oni to face him head-on. Only, a downward diagonal sh was too easy for John to parry. Masterfully angling his dagger, John effortlessly parried Pokyuu''s attack, however, just as their weapons made contact, de shards made of mana suddenly exploded from the sword. *SPURT!* "J-JOHN ONI HAS BEEN WOUNDED!!POKYUU, THE CROUCHING TIGER, DRAWS FIRST BLOOD!!" Chapter 369: Not Even Close "B-Boss John!!" John Oni''s underlings simultaneously eximed, not expecting the fact that their boss would be wounded first, quite terribly at that as a few of his limbs were pierced rather deeply by Pokyuu Pine''s de shards. Meanwhile, Pokyuu was inwardly celebrating. At this rate, his fame would skyrocket! ''Hahahaha! Is this it? Is this the so-called "Sinister Shadow"? He doesn''t seem strong to me!'' Sensing victory right at the tips of his fingers, Pokyuu didn''t give John even a few milliseconds to catch his breath, madly bolting towards his retreating figure in hopes of ending the fight early. "Heh, why is the almighty Sinister Shadow retreating from me? Could it be that my trump card is a bit too hard for you to handle?" Pokyuu mocked, convinced that his victory was only a matter of time. "How about you show me that you deserve your fame?" Hearing Pokyuu''s words, something snapped inside John. ''Huh? Does this little punk actually think he could win? Against who? Me?'' John was so angry that his eyes suddenly appeared empty and listless. ''Fine then, since you don''t want tost a little longer, I''ll happily cater to your wishes.'' "Fast! Who would''ve thought that Pokyuu would be this fast?! John Oni is in trouble, will this fight end unexpectedly?! Will John Oni lose to the dark horse?! Oh? John suddenly stood still, has he given up?!" "Hahahaha! Good, just ept your fate, Fraudulent Shadow!! HAAARRGHH!" The crowd gasped in utter shock and disbelief as they witnessed what they thought was John Oni''sst moments, marking the apparent end of his promising career and the emergence of a new prodigy named Pokyuu. John can''t even parry Pokyuu''s sword as it would shoot de sharps too quick for a mere human to dodge, and since sinister shadow was a fragile scout, he might turn into an azure ray of light after just two or three shes. Hence, people concluded that Pokyuu was just a bad matchup for John. Even Shye thought that John had no business winning the fight as it would be impossible for scouts to contend against warriors by simply dodging all blows; masterful blocks and skillful parries were a huge part of a scout''s defense. Or so everyone thought. Just when Pokyuu was about to finish the wounded scout off, John''s body suddenly started emitting ck vapor; his ck hair grew longer, the irises and pupils of his eyes became pitch ck, and his muscles grew smaller but more defined. ''Shadow Rage'' *FWOOSH!* Shockingly, Pokyuu''s sword simply passed through John''s body. At least that''s what it looked like to the untrained eye. As for Shye, Arthur, Almira, Lin Zi, and the emerald-ranked adventurers, they saw something entirely different. John Oni¡­dodged the attack so swiftly and smoothly that it appeared like he didn''t move a muscle. "Wha¨C? Hmmph! A mere desperate attempt! No matter what you do, your fragile body will not be able tost under my de quills. What can you do without blocking or parrying? Just give it up and be a stepping stone for me, John Oni!!" Winds howled as Pokyuu decisively used yet another trump card, causing blood to stream down his cheeks from his seven orifices, drastically boosting not only the power of every attack but also his dexterity. He then shed his shortsword repeatedly towards John Oni akin to a berserk war, aiming to slice and dice him into a hundred pieces. *FWOOSH!* *FWOOSH!* *FWOOSH!* After a while though, Pokyuu''s eyes widened in utter disbelief upon realizing that¡­none of his attacks¡­even touched John. "You''ll finish me? With this? Laughable." A nightmarish voice that seemed to be abination of aughing child, a monstrous creature''s demonic howl, and a whispering shadow, sounded from John''s mouth, striking fear into the hearts of the mundane folks and low-ranked adventurers. Naturally, terror also crept into Pokyuu''s heart upon hearing John''s sinister voice. However, he couldn''t show any weakness, not when victory was right in front of him. He can''t stop now! "HAAAAARRRRGHHH!!" Pokyuu continued shing away with reckless abandon, appearing to have lost his sanity upon hearing the demonic voice. "Heh, pathetic." *SPURT!* John didn''t even make a move, however, Pokyuu suddenly suffered from a moderate cut on his left cheek. ''No! No! No! This guy cannot be this strong! Today was supposed to be my day! You fraud! Die! Die! Die!!!'' *SPURT!* The crazy exchange where Pokyuu was seemingly slicing and dicing John''s body continued for a few more seconds before a head full of hatred and frustration flew through the air, leaving the crowd confused¡ªtheir mouths agape. In their eyes, it looked like John was barely hanging on under Pokyuu''s crazy attacks, who would''ve expected that in the next moment, the fierce aggressor''s head would be sliced clean off? Many of them were already excited at the thought of witnessing a huge upset. Hence, Pokyuu''s sudden, harrowing fate left most of them stunned. The guy was so close¡­or so they thought. Only the emerald-ranked adventurers and the other rookies in the top four knew what actually happened. Other than the somewhat lucky de shards, none of Pokyuu''s attacks hit John. From that point on, the angry Sinister Shadow merely toyed with the so-called dark horse of thepetition, effortlessly evading all of his strikes, returning to his initial stance, andunching a few counterattacks in the process, before ultimately deciding to end everything out of sheer boredom. "NO!! How did I even lose?! This guy must be cheating!" The desperate and frustrated voice of Pokyuu suddenly sounded from outside the stage, waking everyone up from their stupor. "Heavens!! The crouching tiger, Pokyuu Pine, suffered defeat from the jaws of victory!! Just when it seemed like the genius, John Oni was fading, he returned with a lethal neck sh and seized the victory!! What an intensely close match! However, in the end, the dark horse stumbled!! John Oni advances!!" Hearing the words "close match", Shye and the other rookies within the top five couldn''t help but sneer in disdain. The match¡­was not even close. Chapter 370: The Villain After John Oni''s astonishing disy, no one dared doubt him anymore. Even Seira couldn''t help but ask herself whether her boss could defeat such a slippery and vicious guy. ''Hmmph! The boss is invincible, what am I even thinking?'' On the other hand, the boss in question was deep in thought, thinking long and hard about two things: firstly, discerning what the audience desires in a showdown between a mage and an archer, and secondly, deliberating whether to unveil one of hismon-tier warrior skills to easily defeat John Oni or to engage him in a battle of equals, thus enhancing the spectacle of the fight. ¡­The matches went on, and those who were expected to win, all won their matches. John Oni''s slight mishap served as a fine warning to the top ten rookies that their promising positions would be jeopardized if they yed around too much. Hence, upon facing the top ten rookies who were in serious mode after the rude wake-up call from Pokyuu, the five other remaining rookies who somehow survived up to the fourth round were all eliminated. They all fought valiantly, decisively revealing their shocking aces one after the other, utterly defiant and unconvinced of their current position in the rookie status quo. Unfortunately, as the top ten rookies with deeper backgrounds than the talented challengers revealed their trump cards, the strongest skills of the five remaining underdogs were thwarted, ultimately leading to their defeat in the hands of the expected winners. If only the Pokyuu Pine versus John Oni match hadn''t been scheduled first, a few of them might''ve been sessful in creating miraculous upsets. Sadly, it seemed that even the Gods and Goddesses of victory favored those who were born with a silver spoon¡ªsome even gold¡ªin their mouth. Finally, after thest of the rebellious rookies outside of the top ten had been eliminated, it was time for the highlight of the fourth-round matches: Shye Crowley versus Payne Keller. Two matches ago, Shye was asked by an arena staff to enter his designated preparation room inside the arena where he met Guild Master Corvus and a few other important personnel of their guild branch. Members of his guild then offered him several pointers: firstly, to remain vignt and not lower his defenses; secondly, to exercise patience when facing Payne, as he was known for his elusive nature; and thirdly, to have confidence in his own strength as the superior rookie. Shye didn''t need the reminders, however, since Corvus and his men only did so in goodwill, he gave them the appropriate respect they deserved and simply nodded in earnest agreement, demonstrating his sincerity in heeding their advice. The members had to admit, after hearing of Shye''s¡­arrogant tales, they prepared their hearts for an unpleasant conversation. Hence, they were surprised at his easygoing, cordial, and cooperative attitude, finding themselves liking the rookie more and more. Now, they sincerely wished for his victory. Not only for the guild branch but also for the pleasant and likable Shye Crowley''s future career. It has been quite a long time since theyst encountered such a respectful rookie representative and their hearts couldn''t help but wish him well. "Sir Crowley, it''s time for your match, please follow me." "Well then, respected guild seniors, I''m off." Exiting the preparation room, Shye strode towards the stage with a confident smile, arriving after a short while of following the arena staff. As he ascended under thousands of doubting, fanatical, curious, and excited gazes, he noticed that his opponent, Payne Keller, was already standing there, his expression stern as he awaited Shye''s arrival. ''Oh? Atst, someone who seems to be grounded in reality...'' Shye mused, thinking about how most of the opponents he faced were some kind of delusional idiot. Abruptly a weird thought entered his mind. ''Maybe I''m the delusional one?'' After all, how could other people, who didn''t have the system, believe his absurd rate of growth? Their imaginations were simply limited by their life experiences. Arriving in front of his opponent, Shye dismissed the unnecessary thoughts and focused on his opponent, staring at him from head to toe. The moss-haired guy was quite short, standing at only 160 centimeters. In addition to this, his body was slim but toned. ''Ahh¡­I can see why he''s so hard to hit¡­'' In modern terms, the guy''s "hitbox" was significantly smaller than others, hence, the notoriety in being a slippery bastard. Shye didn''t care though as what he cared about was¡­of course, system points! Grasping two elemental staffs with his hands, Shye appreciated Payne''s silence as he was rather¡­sick of delusional yapping. If he had to engage in a verbal war, he would prefer it to be against John Oni or Arthur Vermillion since it would probably trante into actual system points. Payne, although famous, just wasn''t famous enough. "Oh? Contestant Keller suddenly takes out a crossbow! What does he intend to do with it?! Is this one of his trump cards to take down the chantless mage?!" Corey''s voice sounded, prompting the crowd to look at Keller''s hands with a confused and excited expression. Meanwhile, Shye couldn''t help but narrow his eyes into slits. Indeed. Wasn''t Payne a shortbow user? Why was he using a crossbow now? Well, Shye didn''t feel intimidated in the slightest; in fact, he felt a surge of excitement. This unexpected turn meant that his strategy to entertain the audience would work even better. Stepping back a little to maintain the optimal distance, Shye assumed his battle stance, prompting the way too-serious Payne to do the same. Surprisingly, the audience cheered wildly even before the match began, bringing a smile to Shye''s face. Only, if he knew that most of the audience was eager to see if Payne could pull out an upset against him, he wouldn''t feel as happy. He was the neer in the rookie rankings. In addition to this, he was younger than the other top ten rookies by an entire year; hence, in the minds of the audience, he was somewhat the invader, the viin. Someone who doesn''t belong. Naturally, just like every other viin, the crowd wanted¡­to see him lose. Chapter 371: Lackluster Performance "Begin!" Finally, after a few more moments, the audience''s most awaited words came out of the referee''s mouth, prompting both rookies onstage to make their moves. The highly anticipated match immediately left everyone dumbstruck as soon as it began. Why? Well, the archer and the mage suddenly started charging at each other as though they were both warriors. Shye wasn''t really surprised as crossbows had a fairly limited effective range. Also, against mages, it would be advantageous for the users of the mentioned weapon to fight at a somewhat close range. Typically, crossbow users had low-cooldown, short-distance repositioning skills that would help them easily outmaneuver warriors and mages while simultaneously peppering them with mana arrows, effectively turning them into porcupines. This¡­was exactly Payne''s n, hence, he, like the crowd, was utterly surprised and confused to see Shye charging straight at him. He couldn''t tell what Shye was thinking at all. However, his confused state didn''tst for long as the questions in his mind were answered by none other than Shye himself. Upon arriving at the optimal range, Shye suddenly started firing spells, causing embers to roar and frosty winds to howl inside the blue dome. Shooting enchanted mana arrows in retaliation while nimbly evading elemental spells, Payne suddenly felt a surge of anger welling up within him. It seemed that the bastard''s n was very simple: beat him at his own game! Realizing this fact naturally infuriated Payne. He felt disrespected. Shye''s intention wasn''t to ridicule Payne though as all he wanted was to maximize his system point earnings. Unfortunately, the current Payne didn''t bother to ask him about his intentions. All the guy wanted now was to "return the favor" and humiliate Shye. After dodging a few rock bullets, Payne used a few skills in hopes of catching his dastardly adversary off guard. ''Aim Assist!'' ''Finger Frenzy!'' The first augmentation boosted his uracy when firing at Shye while in motion, while the second one enhanced the reload speed and fire rate of his medium-grade tinum-tier wind crossbow relic. Mere simple enhancements. However, they truly worked wonders for Payne. As Payneunched three mana arrows in rapid session, Shye adeptly evaded the first, narrowly avoided the second, and was grazed by the third, sustaining a superficial wound. ''Hoh? This guy''s uracy is rather good. Did he use a skill?'' Shye mused, ncing at the shallow wound on the left side of his body, staining his pristine white mage attire with a hint of scarlet. Shockingly, the next moment, the crowd erupted into cheers, leaving Shye utterly confused. ''Wha¨C? Pfft¡­These guys wanted me to lose so badly that they cheered for a mere graze? Fine then, I''ll take the viin''s role all the way through and conquer this entire city!'' Opting to y Payne''s game for a few more exchanges, Shye fired back, almost catching Payne a few times with fireballs and icicle spears, leaving a trace of fear inside the guy''s heart. Unfortunately, in the end, fighting an experienced crossbow user at such a distance proved rather difficult as the guy turned out to be very nimble. Well, it wasn''t that Shye couldn''t force the issue but it would simply be unwise to reveal all of his cards in a mere fourth-round match. It would be much better to just change his approach a little bit. Suffering a few more arrow wounds which prompted the crowd to cheer even louder, Shye abruptly stopped casting spells, and instead, stood right where he was. ''Phase one, show everyone that my projectiles are way more powerful.'' "Heh, what? Do you understand now how inferior you are to me at this distance? That''ll teach you a bit of respect!" Hearing Payne''s words, Shye was confused. When did he ever disrespect this guy? "Oh? Perhaps it was when I decided to engage him at a crossbowman''s range..." Shye mused, returning Payne''s enthusiasm with a nonchnt gaze. ''Oh well¡­it doesn''t change the situation. I still need to do what''s necessary to umte plenty of points.'' "I''ll turn you into a porcupine, Shye Crowley!!" *FWOOSH!* As Payne''s loud voice echoed across the arena, three bigger-than-usual mana arrows infused with the ferocious element of fire, the gentle yet deadly element of wind, and the violent element of lightning, shot forth, roaring viciously as they flew toward Shye. ''Hoh? Decent power, however, your arrows are still a bit too weakpared to my spells! Earthen spikes!'' The unyielding element of earth shed against the three elemental arrows, producing a cacophony of elemental explosions. Shockingly though, the earthen spikes remained nted on the ground¡ªfirm, unshaken. On the other hand, the elemental arrows were utterly obliterated, revealing the difference in power between the two projectiles. To make things worse for Payne, the disappointing performance of his arrows elicited dismayed gasps and noises from the crowd, bringing shame to his heart. Abashed and enraged, the 9th-ranked rookie swiftly returned to action, eager to recover from his earlier embarrassment in the hands of Shye. Aiming his crossbow at Shye, Payne smiled crazily. "Let''s see how you deal with this then! Thunder Arrow Barrage!!" *BZZT!* Lightning ferociously crackled as Payne''s crossbow released one huge lightning-infused mana arrow after the other at a rate of three arrows per second, evoking shocked gasps from the crowd which then brought a satisfied smirk on his face. "Die, Shye Crowley!" Unfortunately, as fierce as Payne''s [Thunder Arrow Barrage] skill appeared, it didn''t even cause tiny ripples in Shye''s heart¡ªhis expression still nonchnt. ''Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' Frosty winds howled as lethal cial thorns materialized one after the other, shooting at a rate of four shards per second toward the stationary crossbowman. Soon after, the two skills shed. Again, sadly for Payne, as menacing as his skill was in terms of appearance, it was easily obliterated by Shye''s frozen thorn barrage, forcing him to dodge the remaining shards of ice to save his skin. Naturally, the underwhelming performance of his strongest skill in terms of burst-type damage elicited yet another wave of disappointed sighs from the crowd. "Sigh¡­it appears that we expected a bit too much from Payne¡­" "Indeed, in the end, he''s only ninth-ranked while Shye Crowley was ranked second overall in terms of strength." "I guess we can only depend on those in the top five to defeat Shye Crowley for us¡­" Such dismayed sighs utterly crushed Payne''s heart, drowning his heart in mixed feelings of shame and anger. Chapter 372: Wingfight [Congrattions! You''ve earned 15,724 points!] ''Hoh¡­not bad for phase one¡­'' Shye mused as he looked at Payne, who was probably suffering at the moment. Being on the receiving end of disappointed sighs was no joke, after all. ''Shye Crowley! This shame...I''ll return it to you tenfold, no... a hundredfold!!'' Payne inwardly raged. His little heart couldn''t take the humiliation and disappointment. Thus, as a subconscious self-preservation mechanism, Payne med everything on Shye. Well...what should Shye do then? Hold back and let him win? ...With a rather distressed and furious heart, the crossbowman suddenly started sprinting again, activating various skills in preparation for releasing yet another trump card. Receiving a tremendous buff in agility, Payne''s speed almost doubled, reigniting hope in the hearts of those rooting for Shye''s defeat. "Oh? Does Payne still have another ace?" "He''s too fast! It would be impossible for Shye Crowley to deal with this kind of speed!" "Go, Payne!" Upon hearing the crowd''s encouraging words, the pain in Payne''s heart subsided considerably, enabling him to refocus once more. However, due to his eagerness to recover bits and pieces of his damaged reputation, a small seed of impatience thrived inside him, threatening to burgeon into a surge of rage once more. "I admit, the power of your spells is top-notch. However, there is no way for you to deal with this so be obedient and die for me, Shye Crowley! Ultimate Rapid Fire!" Activating his other rare-tier trump card called [Ultimate Rapid Fire], mana arrows continuously fired from Payne''s crossbow at an astonishing rate of five mana arrows per second, and although these mana arrows weren''t as strong as the lightning-infused ones, they were relentless. Furthermore, Payne maneuvered around Shye as he dashed, causing the mana arrows to constantly assault his adversary from deceptive angles. Astonishingly though, even such a tricky attack didn''t faze Shye, in fact, a shadow of a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. ''Nice, time for phase two of my system point farming n then.'' Blinking away, Shye dodged the initial wave of arrows, simultaneously allowing him to position himself close to the edge of the stage. Like this, it would be impossible for arrows toe from behind no matter how fast Payne was. Shye smiled as he changed the way he was holding his elemental staffs. Gripping his arcane weapon like a sword, Shye assumed a defensive position, waiting for the next wave of mana arrows to arrive within striking distance. ''Time to show off!'' ''Enhanced Reaction Time!'' In the subsequent moments, the unfolding events slowly caused the crowd''s eyes to almost pop out of their sockets and their mouths to open wide in utter shock and disbelief as Shye¡­disyed incredible deftness in handling the elemental staffs for defensive purposes, masterfully deflecting each mana arrow and sending them back where they came from¡ªa few even grazing Payne. "S-Shye Crowley disys incredible defensive prowess!! He''s not allowing a single arrow to pass through his tough guard!! Payne''s attacks once again proved ineffective!!" Corey''s voice reverberated across the arena, bringing people back to their senses, even if only slightly. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 8,350 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 10,300 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve earned 10,000 points!] ¡­ ''Nice!'' Shye continued showing off for a while before eventually stopping upon realizing that he wasn''t gaining points anymore. Well, if one simply kept on doing something for a long time, people would eventually get bored, hence, it was impossible to continue farming points with a single trick. ¡­Since more than half of the crowd were rooting for Payne''s victory, Shye''s impressive disy wasn''t enough to earn points from the haters. Nevertheless, his deflection of the barrage of arrows bordered on the miraculous, further diminishing the negative bias that most people harbored against him. Their prejudicergely originated from Shye''s questionable amount of guild contribution points and the suspiciously effortless manner in which he imed the top spot from Arthur, leaving them with lingering doubts. Naturally, these facts made it more challenging for the crowd to support Shyepared to the "tried and tested" second-year rookies like Payne, whose progress appeared transparent to ordinary folks and regr adventurers, making it easier for their hearts to resonate with the ninth-ranked rookie''s experiences. Meanwhile, someone¡­was on the verge of losing his sanity. "SHYE CROWLEY!! I''LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS HUMILIATION YOU INFLICTED UPON ME FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE!! IF YOU THINK YOU''VE ALREADY WON, THEN I SHALL WAKE YOU UP. I, PAYNE KELLER, IS NOT SOMEONE YOU CAN SIMPLY MESS WITH AS YOU PLEASE!! HOOOOOOOOGHHHH!!" After eximing an enraged battle cry, wings resembling those of the evil insect Shye encountered in the same advanced adventurer zone as the titanium demon ape emerged on Payne''s back, drastically increasing his mobility. "LET''S SEE IF YOU CAN DEAL WITH ME NOW, SHYE CROWLEY!!" With multiple strong ps of his insect wings, Payne flew unpredictably, suddenly disappearing and reappearing all over the stage at speeds too fast for ordinary eyes to see. "W-WHAT IS THIS INCREDIBLE SPEED?! PAYNE KELLER BARES HIS FANGS!!! HOW WILL SHYE CROWLEY DEAL WITH THIS?!" Corey''s words prompted the crowd to look at Shye. Surely, Payne''s skill would cause him to at least frown¡­right? Certainly, Shye wore a frown, though not out of feeling threatened by Payne, but rather contemting how to conclude the match with maximum efficiency. ''Sigh¡­in the end I would have to reveal one warrior skill¡­Well, it''s probably better to use the lesser-known one. Hopefully, no one would recognize the skill.'' Finally deciding on a shy yet efficient way to end the match, Shye sternly gazed at Payne, who was flying all over the ce while shooting mana arrows andughing crazily. The frustration overwhelmed the poor guy to the extent that he temporarily lost his sanity. ''Aqua Barrier!''¡­ ''Fallen''s Wings!'' Employing the aqua barrier to neutralize the potency of Payne''s mana arrows, Shye conjured his own set of transparent-ck, decaying mana wings, enveloping his body in a temporary shroud of dark aura. Subsequently, once the aura subsided, people''s eyes widened upon witnessing Shye''s transformation. "OH?! SHYE CROWLEY CALLS UPON THE POWER OF HIS OWN WINGS!! WHAT IS HE PLANNING TO DO?!" Hearing Corey''s voice, Payne couldn''t help but narrow his eyes into slits. Indeed¡­what was Shye nning to do? What Payne didn''t expect was that it wouldn''t take a long time for him to find out what Shye was up to as in the next moment, Shye reappeared in front of him with an eerie smile, grabbed his neck, and mmed him onto the ground. "Puhaahk!" Shye''s unexpected maneuvers caught everyone off guard, including Payne, who spat out a generous amount of blood. Slightly disoriented, Shye''s voice brought the ninth-ranked rookie back to his senses. "Heh, did you really think you''re faster than me? Delusional¡­" Whispering a few mocking words in retaliation to his opponent''s crap talk since the beginning of the match, Shye aimed his ruby-tier elemental staff towards Payne, who was pinned on the ground. ''Fireball.'' Chapter 373: Arthur Vermicelli "TOO FAST!! THINGS SIMPLY HAPPENED WAY TOO FAST!! ONE INSTANT, PAYNE WAS SOARING AND STRIKING WITH UNPREDICTABILITY, AND IN THE NEXT, HE WAS SUDDENLY PINNED TO THE GROUND! GRASPED BY HIS THROAT BY SHYE CROWLEY!!WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE TURN OF EVENTS!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 35,020 points!] "H-Hey¡­Did you guys see that?" "Y-yeah¡­It seemed that Shye Crowley was faster than Payne all along¡­Was he simply toying with Payne?" "He must''ve been¡­what a viin¡­" "What he did was kinda cool though, no? I mean, grabbing Payne by his throat mid-flight, pinning him to the ground, then finishing him off with a fireball at point-nk range? Who else could im that they would be able to win so dominantly against a rookie in the top ten like that?" "This guy must''ve trained so hard to be so powerful and fast at the same time¡­" Hearing the audience''s hubbub, Payne felt utterly defeated. Well¡­he was defeated, in fact, he was destroyed. None of his attacks ever worked. Rumors had a certain degree of truth in them, hence, he knew that Shye Crowley was strong. Still, actually being confronted with the harsh reality of his utter inferiority despite his one-year seniority and their close ranks... shattered hispetitive drive. Payne hadn''t anticipated that one day, he would be confronting the thing that only fallen geniuses faced: Inner Demons. An inner demon is a kernel of self-doubt that takes root in the hearts of gifted adventurers who once thought themselves among the finest of their generation. From there, it thrives on one''s insecurities, steadily expanding over time, ultimately shattering their confidence irreparably. Those afflicted with such demons gradually grow lethargic and timid, descending from the heights of greatness into utter mediocrity. The first hurdle in conquering such a cursed affliction was the most challenging: acknowledging the presence of their inner demons. Why? Because doing so was equivalent to acknowledging that one was indeed inferior to others. Without proper guidance, Payne''s promising future would be jeopardized, leading him to either perish on quests due to theck of confidence in key situations orpletely shrink away from challenging endeavors, ultimately leaving himgging behind his peers. This¡­was what it meant by a genius bing a mere stepping stone to other geniuses. At the top, things like these were inevitable and it just so happened that Payne was the one who ended up as a stepping stone. Meanwhile, as Shye descended the stairs, two pairs of eyes gazed sternly at him, seemingly looking at him with newfound wariness. The pairs of eyes came from none other than John Oni and Arthur Vermillion, who couldn''t help but acknowledge that Shye was a threat after watching his match with Payne. Such speed¡­They would probably have a hard time catching him. Fortunately, they had ample time to strategize as the quarterfinals will begin after the lunch break. "Dear guests and participants, as part of our schedule, we''ll now be entering a brief hour-and-a-half lunch break. This intermission is designed to offer both our audience andpetitors the opportunity to recharge and refocus. We look forward to reconvening in ny minutes. Enjoy your break, everyone!" After Corey''s speech, Shye immediately entered the preparation room to engage in a short congrattory conversation with Corvus and his guild personnel, then, once done, all of them exited the preparation room together. Shye met up with Seira, who seemed to be in a good mood, and the two of them walked toward the nearby seafood restaurant. On the way, the purple-haired midget babbled on. "Boss! I can''t believe you just grabbed that Payne guy by his neck, mmed him as though he was a weightless kitten, and roasted him like a chicken! I''m not gonna lie, I thought his speed at that time would give you a bit of trouble. Who would''ve expected that you would deal with him that easily?! It seems like I will be swimming in silver coins again tonight! Nyahahahaha!" Hearing Seira''s words, Shyeughed. "Hahahaha! Didn''t I tell you? Your boss is invincible!" "Hoh? Big words, Shye Crowley. I wonder if you can back them up?" A young man''s voice suddenly sounded from behind, prompting the Raven''s de duo to turn their heads to look. Realizing who the man was, Shye narrowed his eyes and assumed his signature arrogant smile. ''Arthur Vermillion¡­'' "Heh, what? Why don''t you say it again? This time, in front of me." Arthur said with a cold look and a condescending smile. "Huh? And who are you? I don''t talk to random nobodies on the street. Also, your breath stinks, brush your teeth first before talking to me again." Of course, Arthur Vermillion''s breath didn''t stink, Shye just said so to piss the guy off and then started walking away. Hearing Shye''s nasty words, veins popped at the sides of Arthur''s head. He wanted tosh out, however, like Percy Phone, he was someone who wanted to keep his stoic appearance. The only difference between them was, that people truly believed that Arthur was a stoic individual, unlike Percy who wasn''t blessed in the art of pretentiousness. Luckily, one of hisckeys bailed him out of his infuriating situation as this was the first time he ever encountered someone who dared disrespect him in such a direct and distasteful way, hence, his brain failed to think of a sharp retort on the fly. "YOU! HOW DARE YOU TALK TO MY BOSS, ARTHUR VERMILLION, THAT WAY?! AN OVERRATED ROOKIE LIKE YOU WILL BE EXPOSED BY MY BOSS IN NO TIME! YOU BETTER BEG FOR FORGIVENESS NOW OR DO IT ONSTAGE!" While theckey was speaking, Shye was whispering to Seira. ''Hey, Seira, do you have any annoying nicknames for this stupid Arthur?'' ''Hmph! Of course, boss! Who do you think you''re talking to? Just call him Arthur Vermicelli and he''s sure to erupt!'' ''Hahahaha! I like that name!'' Turning around, Shye sneered at the group in disdain. "Heh, why would I be scared of your boss? Arthur¡­Vermicelli, was it? I understand that it would be embarrassing to speak with a smelly breath, however, how will you amount to anything if you can''t even speak for yourself? I advise you to gather your courage first and¡­again, brush your teeth before you speak to me, the great Shye Crowley!" Right after speaking yet another thick bundle of insults, Shye immediately turned around, ignored Arthur''s group, and kept walking towards the seafood restaurant. The transition from hurling insults to going about on his day was simply too smooth and fast for Arthur to even have a chance to respond. If he called out again, he''d risk appearing foolish, especially with the growing crowd drawn to the spectacle of his group''s dispute with Shye Crowley. Left with no choice, Arthur suffered his first-ever verbal war defeat, leaving him inwardly fuming. ''Shye Crowley!! You dare disrespect me?! The heir of the Vermillion Adventurer n?! I''ll make you beg for your life!'' Chapter 374: Balkrow City’s Rookie Adventurer Competition: The Quarterfinals Begins! "Haaah¡­That was a nice meal!" "You''ve said it, boss! That lobster dish was truly heavenly! A food fit for the gods! What time is it though? Oh no! Boss! You''ll bete!" "Ahh¡­Crap!" Swiftly settling the bill and leaving a sizable tip, Shye left the seafood restaurant in a hurry. ¡­ "Haaah¡­Haaah¡­I thought we wouldn''t make it in time¡­Well then, boss, show them all why you''re invincible! Leave the squabbling to me!" Going their separate ways, Seira made her way back to her seat among the crowd, while Shye returned to his ringside seat, as his match was scheduled third out of the four quarterfinal matches. Speaking of quarterfinal matches, Shye nced at the bluish transparent holographic screen to check the matchups. 1st-ranked Arthur Vermillion (Iron Jin) versus 10th-ranked Parme San (Wack Donalds) 3rd-ranked John Oni (Dark Sentinels) versus 6th-ranked Carl Bloodthorn (Bloodsteel) 2nd-ranked Shye Crowley (Raven''s de) versus 7th-ranked Brooke Hayes (Sandstorm) 4th-ranked Almira ck (Hong Yun) versus 5th-ranked Lin Zi (Yudaina Yama) ''Hmm, these matches are pretty intense... except for Arthur Vermicelli''s and mine. Likely due to the unofficial seedings and to build up excitement for our match...'' Shye mused. He was pretty happy with the current arrangements though, as it would help him conceal his trump cards for a grand reveal at the grand finals, hopefully tranting into a shitload of system points. ''Almira ck versus Lin Zi huh¡­finally a battle between two rookies in the top five¡­'' Shye thought inwardly. Though he might not appear so, Siegfried and Maia''s influence had turned him into quite the duel enthusiast himself. Thus, like everyone else in the crowd, he was eagerly anticipating the highlight match of the quarterfinals. ''Oops¡­dangerous¡­almost got sidetracked again¡­I must focus on my match first.'' Shye nced at his next opponent, Brooke Hayes. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Brooke Hayes [Level]: 76 [upation]: Adventurer (tinum) [ss]: Mage [Skills]: [Blink Lv.4] [Spatial Tunnel Lv.4][Spatial Swap Lv.4] [Random Teleport Lv.4][Aqua Barrier Lv.4] [Earthen Barricade Lv.4] [me Wall Lv.4][Fireball Lv.5] [Icicle Spears Lv.5] [Rock Barrage Lv.5] [Wind Cutters Lv.5] [Earthen Spikes Lv.5] [(Dark) Spectral Grab Lv.4 (Umon)] [(Dark) Shadow st Lv.4 (Umon)] [(Dark) Summon Wraiths Lv.3 (Rare)] [(Void)(Dark) Gravitational Drain Lv.3 (Rare)] [Strength: 60] [Intelligence: 190] [Agility: 150] [Dexterity: 80] [Stamina: 80] [Vitality: 110]: [Wisdom: 60] [Back][Exit System] ''Oh? This woman is quite well-rounded. Although her arsenal of skills is smaller than that of Megan''s from my guild, almost all of her basic skills are maxed out in addition to her umon and rare-tier skills being of high level. Furthermore, all of her attributes are higher than what I expected. Lastly, one of her trump cards¡­is the same as mine. Seems like this will be an interesting mage versus mage match!'' Shye mused as he stared at Brooke. Naturally, such a straightforward gaze would attract the young woman''s attention, prompting her to look back at him. ''Ahh¡­crap¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed, thinking that he would be on the receiving end of yet another disgusted look. ''I''m not a creep, I swear¡­'' Surprisingly though, Brooke¡­momentarily narrowed her eyes and shed a seductive smile at him soon after. Receiving the unexpected smile¡­a suggestive one at that, Shye was utterly taken aback. ''This woman is dangerous¡­in multiple ways¡­'' A bit flustered, Shye looked away, eliciting a cute giggle from Brooke. ''Phew¡­Well, at least my next opponent wasn''t a hateful bastard¡­'' He mused as he redirected his focus on the ongoing match between Arthur Vermillion and Parme San. As usual, Arthur''s stoic, firm, and unyielding fighting style garnered awe and appreciation from the crowd. His opponent, Parme San from Wack Donald''s adventurer guild, the one who impressed Seira when the two of them watched the Wack Donalds Qualifiers, was a tall, ck-haired young man who had a godly physique: big, strong, fast. Whenparing the two, although Arthur''s facial aesthetics were way superior to Parme''s, the former''s physique appeared rathercklusterpared to thetter''s. Thus, the current match developments were truly a bit confusing as Arthur, the smaller man holding the smaller katana, unstoppably advanced at a steady pace toward Parme, the bigger man using a greatsword as a weapon. Every time the des of their swords shed, it was the rookie from Wack Donalds who was blown back. A truly ratherical sight to behold. Still, although inferior, Parme San fought valiantly against the renowned Arthur Vermillion, fearlessly facing each of thetter''s strikes head-on without backing down. In the end, his persistence bore fruit, enabling him to inflict a superficial wound on Arthur with the assistance of a skill. This empowered his diagonally upward sh to surpass Arthur''s indomitability, shattering his unshakeable facade. Unfortunately, suffering such a hit inwardly infuriated Arthur, hence, Parme was ruthlessly beheaded on the next exchange. Still, brutal as his defeat might be, Parme won the hearts of the crowd, bringing honor not only to himself but also to his guild. Overall, achieving a top 8 finish was supposed to be "good enough" for someone like him, who was merely ranked tenth. Exiting the stage under thunderous cheers and numerous apuses, Parme looked glorious on the outside, however, only the man himself knew how disappointed he was. He worked hard for this moment and truly believed he could win, only to be pped by the harsh reality that true geniuses were way out of his league. If only he wasn''t matched against Arthur in the quarterfinals, he might''ve made it into the semi-finals, or possibly the grand finals. Unfortunately, his dreams shattered and no one but himself cared. After all, the world only celebrates winners. Losers can be buried under a pile of shit and no one would care. In fact, a few of those who cheered for him might actually be gloating at his defeat. Joining the ranks of the fallen geniuses, there were two choices for people like Parme: Sumb to inner demons and fade into utter mediocrity, or realize the fact that inferiority was temporary and rise like a reborn phoenix. As for Shye, he couldn''t care less about such matters. Proud sons of heaven? Fallen Geniuses? Shallow! All he cared about was grasping at his dream of living a happy life with his loved ones, and he would stop at nothing, not even defeat, to achieve it. Fall seven times? Stand up eight! Chapter 375: The Third Quarterfinal Match Shye wanted to watch John Oni''s match from the ringside seats, however, since his match was up next, he had no choice but to watch from inside the preparation room, together with Corvus and the Raven''s de guild personnel. Surprisingly, watching the match with a bunch of middle-aged and old men didn''t turn out to be as boring as he thought. The outdated words used by the old men turned out to be rather amusing for Shye. Furthermore, since both John Oni and Carl Bloodthorne were scouts, it was impossible for their match to not be exciting, as it was filled with shy, speedy maneuvers, deft melee exchanges, and nail-biting moments. In the untrained eyes of the mundane folks and low-level adventurers, there were quite a few times when Carl almost upset the 3rd-ranked John. However, in the eyes of the truly skilled ones, John was always one step ahead. The instances where everyone believed John had merely lucked out in evading Carl''s assaults were, in fact, instances of John immactely calcting the distance between his neck and the opponent''s weapon, enabling him to seize the opportunity and inflict deep wounds on Carl. As a result, Carl eventually grew weaker and weaker, and in the final sh of trump cards, the deep right shoulder wound he sustained while shing against John in the earlier stages of their fight cost him the match. With decisive intent, Carl aimed a sh at John''s throat, but his shoulder faltered at the final moment, causing the trajectory of his attack to veer slightly away from its intended target. Promptly after, his neck was sliced clean off by John. The scout duel was exciting, however, it was also brutal. Had they done everything without the assistance of the blue dome, a genius would''ve lost his life right then and there. ¡­Anyway, the match ended as expected, with John Oni advancing to the semi-finals. The young man''s victory was glorious and he looked cool while raising his hands victoriously, however, he failed epicly the next moment. As he turned around, John gestured with a thumbs down towards the ringside seats where Shye was¡­ expected to be. Only, he forgot the fact that Shye''s match was next, and thus, the guy was in the preparation room. This oversight made John appear extremely foolish, slightly tarnishing the image he had earned from his recent triumphant victory over Carl. "HAHAHAHAHA! What an idiot!" Shye couldn''t help butugh out loud, eliciting chuckles from everyone inside the preparation room, including Corvus. Indeed, what John did was ratherical. If they were in the young man''s awkward position, they would''ve died of embarrassment. The fun atmosphere didn''tst for long though¡­well¡­at least for Corvus and his old men. After all, their rookies only make it as far as the quarterfinals every year. Rarely had there been cases wherein a Raven''s de rookie managed to make it to the semi-finals. As for the finals? Not once. Shye¡­was the most talented rookie they ever had in the history of their branch, hence, they couldn''t help but feel slightly nervous as all of them had big hopes for him. Expecting him to at least reach the semi-finals. If Shye could be the first Raven''s de Balkrow Branch rookie to make it to the finals of the intracitypetition, then regardless of whether he won or lost, the ranking of their branch would soar, allowing them to secure even more resources from the main headquarters. For now, the finals seemed a bit too far-fetched as even if Shye won his match against Brooke, his next opponent would be John Oni. In addition to facing a considerable ss disadvantage, his opponent wasn''t just any scout either; he was the former second-ranked rookie in all of Balkrow. The likelihood of Shye making it to the grand finals just seemed too bleak. "Well then, guild master, esteemed seniors, I''m heading out. Just sit back and enjoy the show; I''ll definitely secure this victory for the guild!" Shye assured, lightly tapping his chest. Although he merely said such words to curry favor with the guild branch''s higher-ups in hopes of an easier and faster promotion in the future, Shye wasn''t boasting. He was truly sure that he would win. Exiting the preparation room, Shye followed the arena staff and headed towards the stage where his opponent, the 7th-ranked Brooke Hayes, was already waiting. Inevitably, the two of them met gazes. Again, Brooke had a seductive smile on her face as she looked at Shye, even winking at him as he ascended the stage. This time though, Shye had his nonchnt mask on, not embarrassed in the slightest as he looked straight at Brooke''s eyes. ''Tch¡­It''s not working anymore huh?...'' Brooke inwardly thought. Since Shye''s mouth was a bit too vicious for her, she opted for the "sweet" approach in hopes of at least disrupting her opponent''s focus. Unfortunately, although her n worked rather nicely the first time, it seemed that Shye had already resolved himself for a battle¡ªat least temporarily, and it seemed that he wouldn''t be affected by her subsequent actions. ''Sigh¡­what a tough nut to crack¡­'' After witnessing Shye''s dominant win over Payne, one of her rivals, Brooke''s confidence was shaken, and even though she knew she had a chance to win, Brooke was also aware that her chances of winning were lower than her chances of losing. ''Hmmph, no matter. I''m not weak either. If this guy dares underestimate me, I''ll make him regret it!'' "And now! For the third match of the quarterfinals¡­It''s another scorching hot matchup between two mages. Standing on the left, this young woman had proven herself time and again over the past two years, consistentlypleting quests one rank higher than her own. Astonishingly, she was able to do so with a small party of four adventurers! Four! Let us all wee, Brooke Hayes!" Hearing the crowd''s thunderous cheers, Brooke received a sudden surge of confidence in her heart. The people wanted her to win. Surely, this will affect and rattle Shye Crowley''s heart even if only a little. She can do this! Chapter 376: You Must Be Dreaming Unfortunately for Brooke, she would never have expected that Shye was simply all too used to being everyone''s most hated rookie. If she thought that Shye''s heart would be shaken merely by people hating on him, she was dead wrong. Satisfied with how Corey introduced him, Shye took both of his elemental staffs out. Then, he assumed his fighting stance soon after, prompting Brooke to do the same. "Brooke! You can do it!" "It''s impossible for someone to be invincible! This Shye Crowley has a weakness, just like everyone else!" "Brooke! You can''t do it! My boss is too strong! He''s literally invincible, don''t listen to these guys!" ¡­Brooke was in the middle of appreciating the crowd''s support when suddenly, a loud young woman''s voice that seemed to have the same tone as those who supported her, sounded from the stands. Only, the young woman''s words contradicted the tone of her voice. ''This little sl¨C...Hmmph! Shye Crowley''s underling¡­What a hateful wench¡­I better not listen to this infuriating woman¡­'' Forcing herself to ignore Seira, Brooke''s good mood was spoiled. Still, in a great mood or not, she had to fight. "Begin!" Finally, under thousands of excited gazes, the referee announced themencement of the anticipated mage versus mage battle. Stepping away from each other, Shye narrowed his eyes. ''For starters, let''s see who has the stronger spells¡­Fireball!'' As Shye aimed his ruby-tier elemental staff at Brooke, a roaring ball of me suddenly materialized out of thin air, causing the temperature to drastically rise as the fiery spell shot ferociously across the stage. Surprisingly, from the other side of the stage, the same zing sphere flew, this time, toward Shye. Embers roared and lingered in the air as the two fireballs shed, illuminating the stage in mesmerizing hues of tangerine and scarlet. However, as shy as the collision of spells was, the results weren''t as exciting as one side was utterly overpowered by the other. Even though her fireball spell was of a superior level, Brooke lost the head-on sh of spells. There were several determining factors at y, including the discrepancy in their intelligence attributes, Shye''s overall mana reserves, and the contrast between their tinum-tier and ruby-tier weapons. Despite his fireball being only level 4, Shye''s superiority in the aforementioned aspects led to his fireball overpowering Brooke''s. It wasn''t even close. Blinking away to dodge the roaring spherical me flying towards her, Brooke clicked her tongue in annoyance. She expected to lose the head-on sh but¡­not this badly. ''Seems like I have to rethink my approach¡­'' Brooke inwardly thought, narrowing her eyes at Shye, who was smiling as though his victory was already official. While she didn''t harbor genuine hatred toward Shye, she couldn''t suppress the urge to grit her teeth in frustration at the sight of his stupid, self-satisfied expression. Well¡­if she was Shye, she would also be smiling widely. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 17,890 points!] ''Nice! phase one of my point extraction n: done!'' Shye didn''t expect to obtain such a huge amount of points from a simple fireball sh, hence, he couldn''t suppress a smile from emerging on his face, pissing off Brooke in the process. Nheless, there existed no genuine animosity between them, and as long as Brooke refrained from taking things too personally, Shye wouldn''t either. Fortunately, Brooke had no intentions of doing so as first of all, she wasn''t too prideful despite being one of the top ten Balkrow rookies, fully knowing that she was nothing but a big fish in a small pond. On the grand stage, she might discover herself to be average. Thus, to spare herself the potential humiliation, Brooke wisely kept her ego in check, preventing it from inting too much. As a result, not only was she grounded in reality, but she was also consistently determined to grow stronger. In short, Brooke¡­wasn''t a delusionaldy. If the two of them met under different circumstances, they might have been even friends. Maybe in the future, they could, but for now, they were enemies. Since she wasn''t egotistical, Brooke was able to easily adjust her approach. She can''t win in a head-on sh of spells? Fine, try winning in other areas! A wise decision from someone who wasn''t clouded by delusions of grandeur. ''Spell el!'' Casting a buff spell that would increase the eleration speed of her offensive spells, Brooke barely dodged yet anotherrger-than-usual wind cutter from Shye. She then chanted gibberish for one second, summoning violent winds and turning it into a wind cutter of her own. The next moment blew everyone''s minds. *FWOOSH!* The wind cutter shot across the air at terrifying speeds, catching even Shye, who had ridiculously fast reflexes, off guard. As a result, the wind cutter cleanly hit his body, eliciting thunderous cheers from the crowd and bringing unexpected tion to Brooke''s heart. ''Hahaha! You''ve been careless, Shye Crowley! Turns out, you''re not as invincible as what your underling was saying! Hahaha!'' Brooke inwardly celebrated as she watched Shye being forcefully propelled nearly ten meters back by the direct impact of her spell. She was confident that not even a tough warrior could take her full-powered skill unscathed, hence, Brooke was sure that Shye suffered tremendous damage, with another spell or two, she would win! Eager to upset the renowned Shye Crowley, Brooke swiftly cast another spell, only for her focus to be disrupted the next moment. "Oh? Your spells are quite strong, unfortunately, you''ll need to hit me with a lot of those before you can win." Shye said, wiping the thin stream of blood trickling down the corners of his mouth with a nonchnt expression. Upon hearing Shye''s calm voice, Brooke couldn''t resist halting her incantation, her gaze shifting to him with a perplexed expression. "How?!" At first, she had the urge to tell Shye to stop pretending, however, such a calm demeanor cannot be faked. This could mean only one thing: her spell...truly didn''t hurt her adversary that much... "NYAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Didn''t I tell all of you?! My boss is invincible! Like, literally! How can a single spell take him out?! You guys must be dreaming!" Chapter 377: Last Stand [Congrattions! You''ve earned 21,800 points!] "B-Brooke! He must be acting! There''s no way your spell didn''t hurt him! Believe in yourself!" "That''s right! Don''t lose heart, this guy is probably on the verge of defeat! Push him a little more and he''ll go down!" Brooke''s guildmates swiftly interjected to counter Seira''s words, concerned that they might shake her heart. Indeed, they made the right choice by providing words of encouragement as Seira''s irritating voice and words further unsettled Brooke''s heart which was already in utter shock and disbelief. ''Right¡­This guy must be bluffing¡­'' Reorganizing her thoughts after a subtle deep breath, Brooke narrowed her eyes and faked a yful smile. "Wow... Your physique is surprisingly robust for a mage. Though, I''m skeptical it''s as sturdy as you im, hahaha!" She said while hiding a deep gaze beneath a naughty one, keenly observing even the subtlest of Shye''s movements in hopes of exposing his inner thoughts. Unfortunately, even with her sharp senses, she didn''t notice anything out of the blue. She knew that there was a high possibility that Shye was faking everything, however, she couldn''t help but doubt her judgment as Shye''s expression appeared to be genuine. ''No, it can''t be, I refuse to believe that a clean hit like that did nothing!'' Well... her attack did have some effect, but whatever it aplished was insignificant against Shye''s sturdy constitution. Sadly, she would never have the chance to know that Shye had two sses: mage and warrior. If she knew, her morale would probably remain intact. Still, although in shambles internally, Brooke tried her best to valiantly fight back. Equipped solely with sheer determination, she wielded her elemental staff against Shye, adeptly evading his incredibly lethal spells using her repositioning skills. She then ferociously fought back, firing spells with ridiculously fast eleration speed,pelling Shye to employ his own repositioning skills to evade. Witnessing the intense back-and-forth projectile battle, the crowd slowly stood up, awestruck as they erupted into thunderous cheers a few secondster. This! Was what they were looking for! A ferocious all-out duel between two of the top ten rookies¡ªboth the best of the best amongst mages. Such a fast-paced, high-intensity fight would surely take a toll on anyone. Sure enough, after a few more seconds, Brooke panted in exhaustion as her mana reserves plummeted down to half. Subconsciously looking at Shye''s expression, Brooke''s heart sank. There was no trace of exhaustion on her opponent''s face. Shye was as rxed as ever. ''Impossible!'' Brooke inwardly eximed. She tried her hardest to remain as calm as possible and encourage herself, however, Shye¡­slowly became as invincible as his underling advertised as the battle went on. ''I refuse to believe such an absurd im!'' Gnashing her teeth in frustration, Brooke initiated another spellcasting duel at the same intensity as the one earlier, bringing joy and excitement to the hearts of the crowd. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 500 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 130 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1,290 points!] ¡­ [Congrattions!....] Brooke tenaciously held on, however, after around two more minutes of nonstop exchanges, she finally fell to her knees¡ªutterly spent. Shortly after, she looked again at Shye''s expression¡ªa move she shouldn''t have done. ''F-F*ck! T-There''s just no way this guy''s truly invincible! Isn''t he just human like the rest of us?! Or¡­is he not?! What the f*ck is this?!'' Finally, after vehemently resisting for a while, her morale finally copsed. One couldn''t me her though, as Shye''s face was still as rxed as ever, appearing as though his spells didn''t cost a single mana to cast. It was inevitable that Brooke''s morale would copse. Surprisingly, her brain was working rather well despite her heart''s copse. ''I still have my dark elemental spells, I shall make onest stand'' Brooke inwardly thought, creating some distance to give herself ample time to cast her strongest spells. ''He should be out of repositioning spells¡­Spectral Grab!'' Chanting for around two and a half seconds, Shye''s frozen thorn barrage almost annihted her. Fortunately, she was able to cast her spell and reposition before the lethal ice shards arrived at her previous location. On the other hand, Shye''s entire lower body was now grasped by dark purple abyssal arms, preventing him from moving an inch. He tried blinking away but unfortunately, the spectral hands prevented him from doing so as it also locked down the space around him. There was no escape. Realizing that her n worked, a somewhat insanely wide smile graced Brooke''s face as she inwardly celebrated: ''Yes! I''ve got you now!...*3 seconds of gibberish*...Summon Wraiths!'' A blood-curdling, ghostly howl suddenly echoed across the four corners of Balkrow Arena, inflicting distress upon the hearts of the mundane folks in the crowd. Shortly after, three two-meter-tall, floating wraiths emerged from nothingness, looking extremely horrifying in the eyes of the residents and a few of the lower-ranked adventurers. "GYAOOOOHH!" The wraiths howled once more before floating aggressively towards Shye, their bony hands armed with sharp ws extending harrowingly as though the three summons couldn''t wait to rip Shye apart and devour his soul. ''Tch¡­what a shitty situation¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed in annoyance. He could easily get himself out of this situation, however, he would have to reveal that he was a warrior. It seemed that even those who recognized him temporarily forgot the fact that he was a warrior due to his astonishing performance as a mage. If he, the showoff, didn''t take this chance to earn lots of points by performing a grand reveal¡ªhopefully in the finals, then he wouldn''t be Shye Crowley. Aiming both of his elemental staffs toward the unholy spectres, Shye used his reliable barragebo of fire and ice. On his left, icy winds coalesced, shaping into sizable, deadly ice shards, while on his right, enormous fiery orbs materialized, raising and lowering the temperature simultaneously. Soon after, the projectiles continuously flew toward the wraiths, causing a cacophony of fiery explosions and frosty crashes to assault the eardrums of the onlookers. As the white mist generated by his barragebo dissipated, Shye''s eyes widened. The wraiths¡­were unharmed. Chapter 378: Shye’s Huge Blunder "Hahahaha! My wraiths have excellent resistance against spells, it''s over for you, Shye Crowley! Die and be a stepping stone for me!" Brooke eximed crazily, thinking that she already won. Although utterly excited at the prospect of potentially upsetting Shye, Brooke was rather meticulous, swiftly casting yet another one of her dark elemental spells,[(Dark) Shadow st Lv.4 (Umon)], to ensure her perceived victory. ''...Shadow st!'' Chanting for around three seconds, a pitch-ck ball materialized in front of Brooke''s elemental staff. The ball made of shadows was eerie, it was silent, and it didn''t have an aura. One wouldn''t even feel the slightest hint of danger emanating from it. However, the experienced adventurers knew all too well that it was exactly these types of spells that were the most lethal, especially out in the real world. As the shadowy ball silently shot towards Shye, a loud sound resembling those of destroyed bones echoed across the arena, redirecting everyone''s focus from the silent ck orb to the source of the noise. Witnessing probably the most absurd scene in their lives, everyone''s eyes, including Brooke''s widened. Shye¡­was ripping apart the wraiths and the spectral movement restriction with his bare hands¡­ ''How¡­how is he so strong at such a young age? Based on our shes, his intelligence attribute was way higher than mine. And now, you''re telling me his strength attribute is also higher than 80 points?'' Brooke inwardly mumbled in utter resignation. She was so done dealing with this¡­invincible bastard. ''Sigh¡­maybe the midget was right¡­maybe this guy is indeed invincible¡­'' Naturally, since there were no more distractions for Shye to deal with, he noticed the shadowy ball sneakily approaching him. Although he didn''t feel anything from it, he was sure that the attack came from Brooke, hence, to ensure safety, Shye destroyed it with an enormous fireball. The shadowy ball''s strengthy not in its raw destructive power but in its sneakiness. Thus, when the moment Shye noticed it, the spell already failed. "I must say, I''m impressed at your capabilities. However, it would take more than that to¨C" "I surrender." Shye was in the middle of making himself look cool when suddenly, words he didn''t expect came straight out of Brooke''s mouth without hesitation. "W-Wait, you what?" "I said, I surrender. There''s no point in continuing." "W-what? Don''t you have some¡­uhh¡­genius'' pride or something?" "Hahahaha, what are you talking about, maybe others do but me? Not really. Congrattions, Shye Crowley. I hope you win so that my defeat will look lighter in everyone''s eyes." For the first time in his career as a professional adventurer, Shye found himself at a loss for words, unable to think of a response on the spot. He wanted to say: "No! You can''t surrender! I need to earn more points from you!", but he would appear foolish if he did so, hence, with a disappointed, almost despairing heart, Shye allowed Brooke to descend the stage. "C-C-COMPETITOR BROOKE HAYES HAS SURRENDERED!! I CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHAT JUST HAPPENED!! ONE MOMENT, SHE WAS ON THE VERGE OF WINNING, ONLY TO SURRENDER THE NEXT!! SHYE CROWLEY SOMEHOW ADVANCES TO THE SEMI-FINALS!!" Hearing Corey''s voice which contained a hint of a disappointed undertone, the people were inclined to believe the same. This was a huge blunder on Corey''s part as it would make him appear biased, which, as amentator and host, he should never do. As a result, the crowd jeered at Shye, thinking that there was something fishy going on behind the scenes. Naturally, the loyal midget was infuriated. She tried her best to defend her boss, but unfortunately, her voice was drowned out by the crowd''s scorn. ''Hmmph! Jeer all you want, I won fair and square!'' Shye inwardly thought, descending the stage with a nonchnt expression. However, his heart was filled with resentment. If only Brooke didn''t surrender, none of this would''ve happened. ''I would probably earn some points as well! What a hateful woman¡­.'' Just when Shye''s anger towards Brooke was reaching its peak, the young woman''s voice sounded, as soothing as a heavenly tune. "Everyone, please don''t doubt Shye Crowley''s win as he truly deserved it. I threw everything I had at him, however, it wasn''t even enough to heavily wound him. I have nothing else in my arsenal of skills and it was impossible for me to continue. Even if we did, I surely would''ve lost so I ask for everyone''s understanding regarding this matter of my surrender." Brooke said, offering a profound bow towards the crowd to show her sincerity. She then continued walking towards the preparation room assigned to her and her guild. ''Damn, thisss knows how to have a graceful exit! Commendable, I guess¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, the fury inside his heart dissipatingpletely. Hearing Brooke''s sincere words, the crowd settled down, rather ashamed of their actions. Indeed, if Shye Crowley won fair and square, then their jeers were truly unfair. On the other hand, a certain someone''s protests were finally heard. "I TOLD YOU!! I F*CKING TOLD ALL OF YOU DIDN''T I?! MY BOSS WILL NEVER CHEAT!! HE''S INVINCIBLE SO THERE''S NO NEED FOR HIM TO CHEAT!! YOU BUNCH OF SORE LOSERS!! HATEFUL BASTARDS!! YOU''RE ALL UGLY!! HAAAAAAH¡­HAAAAAH¡­." Screaming her heart out for an entire minute in hopes of defending her boss, the midget finally felt the satisfaction of being heard. Still, she was a bit unsatisfied. Why? Because no one dared argue with her! Inwardly cursing as she was already out of breath, Seira vowed to verbally destroy all of them once her boss defeats John Baloney and Arthur Vermicelli. Meanwhile, the boss in question was already on the way back to their guild''s assigned preparation room with a slightly dissatisfied heart. He wanted to earn a lot of points and he already had a n on how to end the battle that would allow him to do so. Unfortunately, he didn''t expect that Brooke would surrender. ''Oh well¡­I suppose I''ll just have to make up for my losses by earning more points in my next match.'' Chapter 379: The Battle Priestess "Y-You heard her, folks! Let''s give a big congrattions to Shye Crowley for securing a spot in the semi-finals, where he''ll face off against John Oni. Now, onto the next exciting match-up in the quarterfinals: Almira ck, ranked fourth and known as the battle priestess, will be squaring off against Lin Zi, the fifth-ranked archer. Get ready for some intense action!" After hearing Corey''s words, the crowd was reminded of the scorching hot next match. Almira ck was amongst the few who took the path of a battle priestess. However, the priestess ss was widely recognized as primarily a support role, with its offensive capabilities often consideredcking inbat effectiveness. Furthermore, across the world, only a handful of battle priests/priestesses had achieved significant sess. Thus, despite Almira''s wless victory record, doubts lingered in the minds of the crowd. After all, her path to the quarterfinals had been the smoothest amongst the top five rookies. It seemed as if she had been blessed with extraordinary luck by the divinities above. Unfortunately, this very fact also led people to question the authenticity of the rumors about her achievements as an adventurer. Their sentiments were understandable though, as battle priestesses were simply way too rare. They wanted to see how she would fare against someone like Lin Zi, a well-rounded archer who possessed strong offensive capabilities, was nimble, and smart. If she could at least give Lin Zi some trouble, they would consider her worthy of her fame as they all knew that rumors were usually exaggerated. Ascending the stage first was Lin Zi, who, contrary to the crowd''s expectations, wore a grim, serious look on his face. He didn''t dare take Almira lightly as he was aware of her actual capabilities, especially in duels. Stepping into the center of the stage, the archer offered a slight bow to the crowd before retrieving his mid-grade tinum-tier shortbow relic, summoning frosty winds to howl around him. He then stared at the opposite end of the stage grimly, waiting for the arrival of his adversary. In contrast to Lin Zi''s serious countenance, Almira ascended the stage with a serene expression, appearing as though the results of the match had nothing to do with her. It was fairly evident that Lin Zi didn''t faze her one bit. Unfortunately, in the eyes of the crowd, her calm appearance was misunderstood as her acting arrogantly. Hence, around seventy percent of them supported Lin Zi while only thirty percent supported Almira. The battle priestess was perceptive enough to discern that the crowd favored her opponent, however, she was one of those people who gave zero f*cks about what other people thought. The crowd could do whatever they want and she would never give a single shit about it. Realizing that the crowd''s anticipation was at its highest, the referee extended his right arm and jerked it upwards before swiftly jumping down the stage. "Begin!" Surprisingly, as soon as the match began, Lin Zi frantically jumped back and continued sprinting all over the stage in a zigzag motion. It seemed that he was not nning to stop anytime soon. "Oh? What''s this? Why ispetitor Lin Zi running around like a distressed ostrich? Could it be thatpetitor Almira has already begun attacking?!" Corey''s enthusiastic voice sounded, asking the question in everyone''s mind. Thementator was a mere mundane folk talented in the art of hosting andmentating, however, his senses were rather sharp. His guess was, in fact, correct this time, as Almira had indeed already started attacking. Although it appeared that the battle priestess was simply standing in the center of the stage while doing nothing, the truth was, that she already summoned five almost-transparent balls of me, slowly but continuously floating towards Lin Zi. This was the reason why Lin Zi frantically ran across the stage. He wanted to create enough distance from the transparent balls of me which would allow him to start firing back. Unfortunately for him, Almira wouldn''t allow him to aplish his goal so easily. Raising her left arm, the battle priestess assumed a knife-hand pose and aimed both the extended arm and her vitality mace at Lin Zi, who was madly dashing all over the ce. Then, a few momentster, blue mana orbs continuously materialized in front of Lin Zi, generating moderate mana explosions with enough power to heavily wound the nimble archer if hit squarely. Due to such annoying hindrances, the distance between Lin Zi and the transparent balls of me gradually shrunk. Had it not been for his past experience, during which he had witnessed Almira employing the same skill, thus enabling him to recognize that the transparent balls of me were indestructible but would dissipate after two minutes, he might have followed the same path as every other victim of the ming orbs: attempting to destroy them with his own skills. Thus, Lin Zi knew he had no choice but to continue running around, for now, at least. Unfortunately for him, the battle priestess had long mastered thisbat style. Carefully watching Lin Zi''s movements as he skillfully dodged all of her skills, Almira suddenly bolted towards the preupied archer, brandishing her vitality mace with unexpected ferocity. Sessfully dodging another mana st, Lin Zi sensed something wrong and turned around. ''Crap!'' *CRACK* A sickening crack reverberated through the air as Almira''s mid-grade tinum-tier earth-enchanted vitality mace squarely struck Lin Zi''s left forearm, the limb he raised hurriedly to absorb the blow. Well, he had little choice. It was either his forearm or his face. Such a daunting vitality mace made of metal¡­there''s no way Lin Zi would choose his face as his means of receiving the fierce blow. Flying through the air for a few meters, the archer struggled for a while to stabilize his footing¡ªhis broken left forearm¡ªdangling limply. "W-WHAT A SWIFT TURN OF EVENTS!! IN JUST A SINGLE MINUTE OF COMBAT, LIN ZI''S LEFT FOREARM IS ALREADY BROKEN!! ALMIRA BLACK, THE FEROCIOUS BATTLE-PRIESTESS, VICIOUSLY STRIKES FIRST BLOOD!!" "Tch¡­She got me¡­" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 380: Balkrow’s Big Four "B-Boss Lin!!" Lin Zi''s underlings eximed in utter horror. Initially, they thought Almira would be fortunate to keep pace with their boss, only to be confronted with the harsh reality that it was Lin Zi, their esteemed leader, who found himself on the defensive mere seconds into the match. Not only on the defensive but already injured at that! Witnessing Lin Zi''s pathetic state, everyone concluded that the match was already over. After all, how could an archer pull bowstrings back without his other hand? Well¡­in the next moment, the seemingly fading Lin Zi showed them how. Holding the grip of his bow using his right hand, Lin Zi stood on one foot, using the other to pull the bowstrings back. Such unbelievable skills and tenacity naturally shocked the crowd¡ªevery bit ofmon sense slowly leaking out of them. Lin Zi¡­was still nning to fight back. Shortly after assuming his odd fighting stance, the now one-legged archer summoned gusts of wind at his location, slowly converging at his feet and granting him unimaginable speed. "Let''s go boss! The counterattack starts now!!" Lin Zi''s underlings eximed with exaggerated enthusiasm. They were desperate to show everyone that their boss still had something up his sleeves and that he should never be counted out. With one strong push using his right leg, the one-legged archer repositioned with unbelievable speed¡ªhis other leg already pulling back at the bowstrings. ''Hunter Arrows!'' Releasing the bowstrings, twelve mana arrows with violent wind enchantments fired off in different directions, astonishingly changing trajectory and shooting toward Almira shortly after. "Go! Boss!" Unfortunately for the enthusiastic underlings, the battle priestess was way too focused, immediately summoning a thick barrier around herself to absorb the arrows. Then, once the barrier cracked, she dodged thest arrow and finished casting one more spell at the same time. After sessfully doing so, a shadow of a smile graced the corners of her mouth. Meanwhile, Lin Zi had also finished casting another skill. Releasing his bowstrings that were pulled back by his left foot, a thunderous arrow roared across the arena, snaking unpredictably in the air while covered with lethal red lightning. Shockingly, this time, the arrow hit Almira, prompting the archer''s underlings to cheer wildly, infecting the Lin Zi supporters beside them with their enthusiasm. Unfortunately for them, the battle priestess was dead set on breaking their hearts. It seemed that she already prepared a protective spell beforehand, suffering from the arrow but dispelling the red lightning''s effects, resulting in the attack inflicting nothing but a superficial wound which she easily healed. On the other hand, the spell she cast earlier after dodging the hunter arrows finally bared its fangs, encasing Lin Zi in a mana cage like a little trapped birdy. ''Sh*t! What the f*ck is this skill?'' the rookie archer inwardly cursed. The mana cage didn''t even give him much room to move around, making him a mere fish on a cutting board. To make matters worse, it seemed that his thunderous arrow didn''t do sh*t to Almira. The battle priestess was relentless, not even giving Lin Zi the slightest room to fight back as she had already begun to cast yet another spell. A few momentster, a magic circle appeared above the stage, conjuring mana vines that bound all of the archer rookie''s limbs. Even his neck wasn''t spared. ¡­At least the mana vines didn''t deal any damage. However, this fact did little to improve his current situation. "Boss Lin!" Lin Zi''s underlings eximed worriedly, still utterly unconvinced at the fact that their boss wasn''t even able to do anything to Almira. From start to finish, the spells and skills she used have mostly been of the restraining type, allowing her to control her opponent''s movements with terrifying precision. "Prepare yourself, Lin Zi." Almira aimed her vitality mace at Lin Zi and began chanting. For the first time in their lives, the crowd felt danger emanating from the light energy particles that were converging in front of the battle priestess'' weapon. Only now have they seen the light element being harnessed for offensive purposes. ''F*ck! F*ck! I can''t lose like this!'' Lin Zi inwardly cursed as he struggled with reckless abandon, biting the mana vines in hopes of escaping in time. Unfortunately, he didn''t have enough time. "Divine Annihtion!" A golden magic circle appeared in front of Almira''s vitality mace, sucking the light energy particles she gathered on one side before firing them off on the other as a blinding ray of golden light. Naturally, this enormous ray of light did not feel soothing at all as it made contact with Lin Zi''s body, annihting him and turning him into an azure ray of light under the awestruck gazes of the crowd. "NO!!! BOSS LIN!!" The underlings screamed in despair. Their boss¡­had lost the quarterfinal match against the relentless battle priestess. Hearing their words of despair, even Seira felt a little bad. She was rooting for Almira simply because she was suffering unjust treatment from the crowd¡ªjust like her boss. But this Lin guy didn''t appear to be some rotten apple, hence, she couldn''t help but feel sorry for the guy who seemed to be dejected after materializing near the stage. "H-HEAVENS!! BALKROW CITY''S ONE AND ONLY BATTLE PRIESTESS, UPSETS LIN ZI!! ALMIRA BLACK MOVES ON TO THE SEMI-FINALS TO FACE ARTHUR VERMILLION!! WILL SHE BE ABLE TO CONTROL THE INDOMITABLE WARRIOR? OR WILL SHE BE CUT DOWN LIKE EVERYONE ELSE WHO STOOD IN HIS PATH? STAY TUNED FOLKS, THE SEMI-FINALS WILL BEGIN AFTER A SHORT BREAK!" Corey''s voice carried a hint of shocked undertone as it reverberated across the arena, signaling the end of the quarterfinals. Now, only fourpetitors remain¡ªthe top four rookies, to be exact. Although the tournament had a few mind-blowing upsets, in the end, the top four firmly held their ground, dominating everyone unlucky enough to stand in their way. Having nothing to do, the crowd thought of the past matches of the remaining fourpetitors and they couldn''t help but feel excited. Why? Because the championship is in anyone''s hands. Chapter 381: Balkrow City’s Rookie Adventurer Competition: Semi-Finals "No, I still think the winner will be the indomitable Arthur Vermillion." "I get that Arthur is strong but didn''t you see how John Oni moved? He was like a demon! I doubt Arthur could catch him." "Didn''t you guys forget how Shye Crowley took everything Brooke threw at him and still stood like nothing happened? I don''t know¡­something''s a bit off with that guy. "Same here, I can''t help but think he''s still holding back¡­" "Hmmph! You''re all too high on Shye Crowley, his next opponent is John, remember? There''s just no way for him to win against such a highly skilled scout!" "I think you''re all sleeping on Almira, if she could perform just like she did against Lin Zi, there''s no way Arthur can even get close to her!" "I don''t know¡­somehow I feel that it would be John versus Almira in the grand finals¡­I''ve never been wrong in my predictions either¡­Almira might actually win it all¡­She''s so beautiful¡­" Hearing the crowd''s hubbub, Seira looked around and smiled. She was just as excited as everyone else. However, she couldn''t help but feel that something was missing. ''Hmm¡­But what''s missing?'' "Ha! You midget, it''s finally time for our battle once more, right? Brother Banar?" "Kekekeke! Correct, brother n. It''s time for the demise of your reputation, notorious midget! John will end your boss'' streak, I assure you!" Turning around after hearing irksome voices, the midget finally realized what was missing. ''Ahh¡­This!...is what''s missing!'' "Hah! I thought you two had already left in embarrassment. Why did you switch seats? Were you perhaps threatened by my boss'' prowess? Hahahahaha! No need to feel shy, just admit it." "Hmmph, There''s nothing to admit. Our im still stands, John will wipe the floor with your clown of a boss!" "You call my boss clown but¡­are you willing to bet on your ims?!" Finally, after a short back-and-forth, Seira was able to say what was on her mind: a bet! Although she bet most of her coins at the betting stations, she had a few left in her pockets. A win here would trante to a free luxurious meal for her mom and little brother! "Hmmph! Fine. Do you think me and brother Banar are scared of you and your boss? How much are you willing to bet?" "How about ten gold coins?" "T-Ten gold coins? Stop bluffing. Also, we only have five¡­" "Ha! You talk big but your pockets are so shallow! Fine then, five gold coins!" *** The crowd went wild with talking their hearts out about their predictions during the break, hence, the excitement and anticipation in their hearts gradually reached its peak, forming new¡­verbal rivalries just like the one Seira had with the Banar brothers. They all chose sides. Forty percent were confident in Arthur''s victory, while thirty-five percent favored John to win. On the other hand, only fifteen percent ced their belief in Shye''s triumph, and a measly ten percent supported Almira. It was clear who were the favorites. The Balkrow Arena management saw this as a chance, dispatching staff members to guide everyone to their new seats, sorted by who they were supporting. At the helm of the fifteen percent of Shye Crowley supporters stood none other than the steadfast Seira Ramah. Meanwhile, the Banar brothers positioned themselves amidst the John Oni supporters, adjacent to the Shye Crowd. The audience embraced this arrangement with joy, as they could wholeheartedly cheer, assured of having allies nearby. This elevated Balkrow Arena''s standing in their hearts, honoring itsmitment to prioritizing entertainment over profit. As for Shye, he was happier than all of thembined. He truly appreciated Balkrow Arena''s arrangement as the more excited the crowd was, the easier it would be for him to farm points. ¡­Pressing a certain button on a mana-powered device, the match schedule was disyed on the transparent holographic screen suspended on top of the stage. Shye Crowley Versus John Oni Almira White Versus Arthur Vermillion. This time, there were no boring matches, prompting the crowd to cheer wildly as they tried their best to suppress the raging excitement in their hearts. They wanted to see who would represent Balkrow six months from now. While the identity of their city''s representative held significance, another fact loomedrger: regardless of who would represent them, this year''s chosen contender would arguably be among the strongest, if not the very strongest, Balkrow City had ever seen. This year, their city''s name would surely resound across thends of Valenzia. It would for sure prompt talented people from all over the region toe and start their careers at Balkrow, bringing both prosperity and honor to the city and its inhabitants. "EVERYONE, THANK YOU FOR WAITING. ARE YOU ALL READY?! THE NEXT MATCHES WILL BE UNLIKE THE PREVIOUS ONES AS THIS TIME, ONLY THE STRONGEST, MOST COMPETENT ROOKIES REMAIN!" Corey''s vibrant voice once again echoed in the entire arena, hyping up the already hyped-up crowd even more. Momentarily pausing to appreciate the crowd''s cheers, thementator continued. "WELL THEN, SINCE YOUR HEARTS AND MINDS ARE READY, THE ARENA SHALL NOT DEPRIVE YOU OF WHAT YOU ALL WANT ANY LONGER! FROM THE LEFT SIDE OF THE ARENA, NICKNAMED THE SINISTER SHADOW, THE TOP SCOUT AMONG BALKROW''S YOUNG BLOODS, LET US ALL WELCOME, JOHN ONI!!" As the familiar young man with long ck hair tied up in a ponytail, above-average facial features, and a rtively slim yet defined body ascended the arena, the crowd went wild. Finally, the man destined to end the chantless mage''s astonishing streak of dominant victories was here. With his overwhelming ss advantage, people just cannot see him losing to Shye. Except for Seira, of course, the ever-loyal underling who can clearly see how her boss would wipe the floor with this scout-ss rookie. Upon reaching the center of the stage, John Oni struck a "cool" pose, lifting his arms in a gesture of triumph. He then nced at Seira and gave her a thumbs-down, seemingly telling her that her boss would lose. Naturally, Seira was utterly stupefied. How did this John Oni even know her? Still, she would not take an insult lying down. However, she also doesn''t dare antagonize John Oni too much or she might find herself killed without knowing why. Hence, she kept it mild, simply sticking her tongue out at him like a kid. ''Hmmph! Once my boss wins, you''ll be nothing but a clown so I shall not argue with you. Instead, I''ll argue with your supporters!'' Chapter 382: Shye Crowley Versus John Oni (1) "...The ace representative of this year''s adventurer academypetition, the official top-ranked rookie in terms of guild contribution points, and one of the four chantless mages in the entire history of Valenzia Region. Let''s give it up for Shye Crowley!!" Hearing Shye''s impressive introduction, the crowd couldn''t help but gulp. Indeed¡­How did they forget? They all see him as a mere first-year rookie who was lucky enough to be born with an [Epic]-tier talent, allowing him to stand at the same level as the top four of the second-years through what they perceived to be sheer luck. Most of them forgot that he was also the ace representative of this year''s Adventurer Academy Competition. Realizing their oversight, some of them courageously went over to the Shye Crowley crowd, even under a few light jeers from their "exrades". "Oh, hello there! Wee, wee! It''s fantastic to see you''ve recognized the greatness of my boss. Your discerning judgment is truly appreciated, and I can assure you that joining his fan club for this tournament will be a decision you won''t regret!" Seira enthusiastically said, fully assuming the role of a crowd''s cheer captain. Witnessing the sudden growth of the Shye Crowley crowd, the Banar brothers snorted in discontent. ''Impressive as this Shye Crowley''s resume was, there is simply no way for him to defeat John Oni! You''ll all regret your decisions to support this fraud!'' ¡­A few moments after Corey''s introduction, the young man with the impressive introduction finally arrived at the stage, sauntering up the stairs with the same confident expression. Naturally, upon seeing the annoying look on Shye''s face, John, who was already dissatisfied by the fact that he was introduced first, inwardly fumed. Even though he was a scout, John Oni was not someone who could hide his emotions very effectively. Hence, upon noticing that there was a subtle scowl on his opponent''s face, Shye immediately knew that John wasn''t currently in a pleasant mood. Although Shye didn''t understand what was going through the scout''s mind, he was all too happy to know that somehow, he was managing to piss John off without even trying. Who knows? Maybe this slight mood advantage would give him a pleasant surprise. ¡­Pulling his dagger out, John smirked. "Shye Crowley¡­I do acknowledge your capabilities as a mage. However, don''t you think seeding you higher than me is a bit too much of a stretch? After all, how could you, a mage, defeat a highly skilled scout like me?" Hearing John''s words, Shye simply chuckled. "Heh, John Barney, I know you''re a scout, no need to tell me as you would simply appear desperate to introduce yourself. However, a highly skilled one? Hahahahaha! "Sinister Shadow" my ass, what a cringe-ass nickname. Aren''t you ashamed? Nothing about you looks sinister. You''re somewhat delusional though so maybe a more fitting nickname would be "Delusional shithead who is about to be eliminated". A bit long but it''s a good one, no?" Hearing Shye''s words, the crowd couldn''t help butugh. Heck, even a few of those who were supporting John Oni chuckled in amusement as they thought about a certain vicious-mouthed midget. A case of "like boss, like underling", that''s for sure. Naturally, such vicious words ruthlessly ripped apart thest vestiges of patience remaining in John Oni''s heart, prompting him to gnash his teeth and clench his fists in anger. ''This bastard¡­I''ll sew that mouth of yours shut¡­'''' Ultimately, he chose to temporarily give the verbal war victory to Shye as he didn''t want to infuriate himself any further than this or he might make bad decisions in the middle of their fight. In any case, he truly believed that the darned mage was no match for him, hence, he decided to just ruthlessly mock Shye after thoroughly destroying and dismantling him in their match. Realizing that John decided to focus on the fight instead of squabbling with him, Shye threw in onest insult before drawing both of his elemental staffs and taking position. The scout was filled with anticipation for the match tomence as he wanted to make Shye suffer until he pleaded for forgiveness. Fortunately, the referee didn''t make him wait for a long time. "Begin!" Upon hearing the words he wanted to hear the most, John immediately dashed towards Shye in a zigzag motion, masterfully dodging all the projectiles thrown at him with a cold smile. The projectiles were almost all too easy for him to dodge. Although the sizes of Shye''s spells were absurdly huge, nothing hit their mark, and John was closing in¡ªfast. Witnessing the current developments, the John Oni supporters burst into thunderous cheers. This!...was precisely what they expected to happen, and the swift scout didn''t disappoint. Now, with excited smiles on their faces, they yearned for nothing more than the downfall of the unfairly talented mage. They envied the talent he was "born" with. If only they knew¡­ After two more seconds of dashing left, right, and forward, John finally arrived in front of Shye. "I told you, there''s simply nothing you can do against me. Now, suffer!" Dodging onest projectile, the scout-ss rookie shed an evil smile as he shed his dagger toward Shye''s extended right hand, aiming to cut it just enough for Shye to let go of his weapons. John¡­was dead set on humiliating the bastard today. Realizing what his opponent was going for, Shye frowned. He then swiftly pulled his right hand back to dodge the blow while brandishing the other elemental staff toward John''s unguarded head. The scout was equally as deft though so Shye''s left bonk attack was blocked easily by John. Only, he didn''t expect that a mage, someone who should be using elemental spells to fight, would raise his leg and ferociously thrust it forward. "PUHAAAHK!" Spartan-kicked in his abdomen, John violently hurtled backward, rolling on the ground for a few moments before finally recovering his footing¡ªa thin stream of blood trickling down the corners of his mouth. "Hahaha! Your meleebat skills don''t seem much to me. I mean, getting kicked the f*ck away by a mage? Pfft! Embarrassing!" Chapter 383: Shye Crowley Versus John Oni (2) "C-C-CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! SHYE CROWLEY, THE CHANTLESS MAGE, SCORED A MINOR VICTORY IN THE FIRST MELEE CLASH!! JOHN ONI HAS BEEN SQUARELY KICKED AWAY!!!" Hearing Corey''s voice, John, who was in utter disbelief moments ago, gnashed his teeth so hard that one would be able to hear cracking noises if one stood close enough. ''I¡­lost? To this damn bastard of a mage? In a melee battle? UNACCEPTABLE!!!'' Eager to have his revenge, John madly bolted towards Shye, once again dodging the projectiles with unmatched finesse¡ªa rey of what happened earlier. Only, this time, he didn''t take Shye''s melee skills lightly, focusing just like how he would with other warrior or scout-ss opponents. With a cold, vengeful look, John shed his dagger towards Shye''s neck, fully expecting this blow to be blocked. His assumptions turned out to be correct as Shye easily angled one of his elemental staffs to block his neck sh. The young mage then viciously thrust his other staff towards John''s face. If this attack sessfully hit, although it wouldn''t kill John, the impact would probably blow his head back, and a few of his facial bones would crack. Moreover, his reputation would take another blow, as being squarely struck in the face by a blunt force was undeniably humiliating. Naturally, John wouldn''t let this happen. Evading the thrust by ducking, the scout advanced once more, further closing the distance until he was nearly eye-to-eye with Shye. ''Now, let''s see if you can still keep your cool!'' At the current extremely close distance, John was confident that the mage would not be able to keep up no matter how adept the guy was in defending himself from scouts. Only¡­the utter opposite of what he was expecting happened. Why would Shye, originally a warrior, be scared to fight someone at an extremely close distance? Remaining asposed as always, Shye seized the ideal moment to deliver a knee strike aimed at John''s face, which was lowered as a result of him ducking the staff thrust. Scouts were naturally adept at extremely close-range battles. Unfortunately, no matter how skilled John was, his face was simply begging to be kneed at its current position. "MMPHKK!" A muffled groan sounded as John received a knee strike right at the center of his nose and mouth. Due to the impact, his eyes slowly rolled up, causing his face to look ugly as heck for a brief moment before he was able to recover. Unluckily, that exact brief moment was zoomed in on the holographic screen suspended above, eliciting mildughter from the serious yet excited crowd. Well¡­there was a single person in the crowd whoseugh wasn''t modest at all: Seira. The purple-haired midgetughed her heart out while pointing her index finger at John''s ugly face on the screen¡ªher other hand clutching her hurting stomach. "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! HEY, BANAR AND ALAN! LOOK AT YOUR JOHN BALONEY! DID YOU SEE HOW UGLY HIS FACE WAS AFTER LOSING TO MY BOSS IN THEIR SECOND CLASH?! WAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Banar wanted to retort, however, he couldn''t defend John this time as his face truly looked ugly at that moment. Hence, he decided to just grit his teeth and clench his fists, temporarily suppressing the rage in his heart as he waited for John to score a minor victory. ''You midget¡­just you wait!'' ¡­Naturally, Shye didn''t simply stop at kneeing his adversary''s face, adding in another bonk attack towards his face using the elemental staff on his right hand. Unfortunately, although blown back by the force, John was able to block the attack, getting away with only a single knee strike. Given the terrible position he just put himself in, he was quite lucky to get away with only a rearranged nose. Still, this was a great humiliation for John. Not only as a scout but also as the young master of the renowned Oni family from Roddentrodge City. "YOU BASTARD!! YOU CAN DIE NOW!" Utterly enraged, the scout rookie''s eyes turned pitch ck, his ck hair grew even longer, his muscles shrunk yet became more defined, and a ck aura started oozing out of his body. This¡­was the trump card he used against Pokyuu¡ªone of his trump cards: Shadow Rage. Witnessing John''s current sinister appearance, Banar erupted into wildughter. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I believe you''ve seen this earlier, midget? Now, what will your clown of a boss do?!" "Hmmph!" Indeed, Seira witnessed this trump card earlier, and to be honest, she wasn''t sure how Shye was nning to defeat the scout. However, since her boss still had absolute confidence in bing the champion, Seira knew that Shye must have some way to deal with this trump card of John''s. And so, she simply snorted in response while waiting for her boss to surprise everyone again. ¡­Without saying anything, the sinister shadow charged toward Shye at an unbelievable speed, zigzagging akin to the shadow of an agile cheetah. In a single second, John already arrived in front of Shye, shing his dagger towards thetter''s neck with a visible drastic increase in dexterity. This attack speed¡­would''ve normally caught a rookie like Shye off guard. However, he already fought someone who was at a simr level¡ªpossibly even higher: the old goat who tried to assassinate them when they were on the way back to Colzen Academy. Hence, although it became harder for him to fend off John''s attacks, it was still fairly manageable as he was already used to such hand speed from past experiences. He even counterattacked right after, only, itnded on nothing but air. For a while, the two rookies impressively exchanged blows as though they were both scouts given how nimble both are. At this moment¡­Shye¡­didn''t look like a mage at all. Fortunately, he didn''t look like a warrior either as his speed resembled mostly those of scouts. ''HOW?! HOW IS THIS BASTARD SO FAST?! IS HE USING SELF BUFF SPELLS?! OR¡­ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES?!'' John¡­simply couldn''t believe that his trump card was only enough for him to fight Shye into a stalemate. Chapter 384: Shye Crowley Versus John Oni (3) [Congrattions! You''ve earned 31,500 points!] Witnessing the intense, fast-paced melee exchanges between a scout and a mage, made the crowd''s eyes almost pop out of their sockets¡ªtheir mouths, agape. This was simply too unbelievable. How could a mere mage¡ªa young one at that¡ªmaster melee self-defense to such a level? Suddenly, Seira''s voice echoed in most of the audience''s heads as they remembered the word she always used to describe her boss: invincible. ''D-Damn¡­Is this Shye Crowley truly¡­invincible?'' Banar inwardly thought, slightly regretting the fact that they bet a sizable amount of their money. ''No, impossible. He''s only human just like the rest of us! He''s bound to have some ws!'' Well, Banar was right. Shye wasn''t truly invincible. However, it depends on who he''s fighting. Someone from the same age group? Shye¡­might just truly be invincible against them¡ªjust like what Seira had always been saying. "S-S-SHYE CROWLEY!! HAVE WE ALL UNDERESTIMATED HIM?! HOW?! HOW CAN A MAGE DISPLAY SUCH BRILLIANCE IN A MELEE BATTLE?!" Corey''s voice reverberated, prompting Arthur and Almira, who were watching the match, to narrow their eyes and frown. They couldn''t help but recognize that Shye was indeed a problem, especially for Arthur. At first, he dismissed Shye as merely a frivolous clown, but now, his absolute confidence in his own victory has definitely diminished by quite a fair bit. Although he didn''t believe he would lose, he wasn''t sure if he could win as easily as he expected. On the other hand, Almira was taking Shye a bit more seriouslypared to Arthur. Why? Well¡­she doesn''t quite match up to the darned mage stylistically. She could only hope that John would defeat Shye for her, as she was convinced she could better manipte the battle dynamics facing a scout rather than a mage proficient in both long and close-rangedbat. Meanwhile, at the center of the stage, the mage and the scout were still at it. It seemed that the two could go on for days. However, they knew that such an intense pace was unsustainable, hence, both of them started entertaining thoughts of revealing another of their trump cards. For John, his hesitation stems from the fact that he didn''t want to reveal his trump cards before his battle with Arthur. On the other hand, Shye''s problem was much simpler: which skill wouldn''t reveal that he was a warrior? Common-tier skills were well-known to the masses, however, since their effects are very basic, one can easily make it appear as something else. For example, he could use [Power sh] right now to smash John''s face in, send him flying backward, and people would think that the skill he used was themon-tier utility skill for priests/priestesses and mages, [Knockback]. None of them would assume that he used [Power sh]. On the flip side, higher-tier skills were way rarer, making it a bit far-fetched for mundane folk to even know what skill one was using, let alone know which ss it was from. However, it was almost impossible to make it appear as some other skill due to its characteristic of having very specific yet ridiculously potent effects. Hence, the dilemma. Luckily, John took a brief step back to unveil another of his aces, finally choosing to stop holding back for the finals, which also granted Shye a bit of time to ponder his choices. Sliding his left hand inside his spatial bag, John grabbed another weapon¡ªa mid-grade tinum-tier dagger that was enchanted with the element of water,plementing the lightning element of his other one. Naturally, Shye was familiar with both the skill and the elementbination as he once used both himself. Dual wielding...the passive skill John mastered to defeat Arthur. "D-DUAL WIELDING!! COMPETITOR JOHN PULLS OUT ANOTHER DAGGER!! COULD THIS BE THE THING HE NEEDED TO WIN THIS MATCH?! OR POSSIBLY THE CHAMPIONSHIP?!" The skill was most lethal in the hands of scouts due to their priority on training their agility and dexterity attributes. Hence, John''s grand reveal prompted the crowd to cheer thunderously, and it also brought a frown on both Arthur and Almira''s faces. A dual-wielding John Oni would definitely not be easy to face. Meanwhile, Shye gave zero f*cks about John''s reveal as he was currently in the middle of an epiphany. ''That''s right¡­even if that Arthur Vermicelli or that battle priestess gets an inkling or two about me being a warrior, as long as the crowd doesn''t realize, I''ll still be able to earn points!'' Shye inwardly thought, not giving a shit about Arthur and Almira learning about his trump cards. A proof of his absolute confidence in his victory. Finally deciding on a skill to use, Shye smiled. ''des of Despair!'' ¡­Revitalized after hearing the crowd cheering for him, John Oni once more charged towards Shye¡ªhis sinister appearance¡ªstill present. At this point, Shye didn''t even bother firing spells, fully recognizing that none of them would hit the shadow rage-empowered John. Still, he had a few realizations regarding the limitations of John''s skill. One such restriction was the fact that the scout would never be able to turn as fast as he ran¡ªhe was still subject to thews of inertia. This was the reason why John didn''t use his speed to circle Shye and slit his throat from behind. [Shadow Rage] simply didn''t allow him to do such a thing. Due to this, Shye was confident that John could only engage in a head-on battle. With focused eyes, Shye struck first, brandishing his elemental staff downwards. This attack forced John to either block the attack or lean to the side to dodge, of which Shye fully believed that the scout would choose the former between the two options. Noticing his opponent raise one of his daggers horizontally to defend, Shye couldn''t help but smirk triumphantly as his elemental staff, powered by 224 points of strength, phased through the dagger and "shed" John in half. This time, his attack was faster as he didn''t hold anything back, striking with every fiber of his body. Shortly after, John fell on his knees. "W-W-WHAT JUST HAPPENED?! SOMEHOW, SHYE CROWLEY''S STAFF CUTS THROUGH JOHN AND HIS DAGGER!! DUAL WIELDING PROVES INEFFECTIVE AGAINST POSSIBLY YET ANOTHER OF SHYE CROWLEY''S TRUMP CARDS!!" Chapter 385: True Prodigy ''F*ck!! What the hell was that skill?!'' John inwardly cursed as he clumsily jumped back to evade Shye''s attack, feeling utterly weak after suffering just a single hit. He hadn''t even heard of such a skill, let alone encountered one. At this point, John couldn''t help but slightly panic. So far, nothing he did worked. In addition to this, the dastardly mage was somehow¡­not only fending off his attacks but also defeating him in melee battles. He simply couldn''t wrap his head around what was happening, and he couldn''t ept it. He could never¡­ ''This won''t do¡­I need to stop thinking about saving trump cards, otherwise, I might not be able to reach the finals!'' Initially, John thought that this fight would be a mere walk in the park, after all, if a mage''s abilities hit nothing but air, they were toast. Moreover, although John already saw Shye''s masterful melee defense, he didn''t think that the guy would actually be able to fight a top scout like him at the same level in a melee exchange. This¡­was where the entire battle went horribly wrong for him. Well, no one could me him since normally, there was no way a mage could defeat a scout in a melee. This was simply a case of Shye being a huge anomaly. ''I refuse to believe he''s as invincible as that midget said!'' Deciding to reveal his final trump card, John decisively charged forward once more, disregarding the sudden exhaustion and weakness his body was suffering from. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t shy away from a direct confrontation. However, he temporarily deactivated his unique-tier skill, [des Of Despair], nning to turn it on and off depending on thebat circumstances to reduce the risk of others realizing what the skill was. Unbeknownst to him, John was so traumatized by the skill that he didn''t dare block Shye''s attacks anymore, opting to dodge everything instead as the two of them engaged in a melee again. Inwardly, Shye couldn''t help but chuckle upon realizing the huge change in his opponent''sbat approach. ''Hahaha, poor brother was traumatized.'' ¡­Still, even though the stylistic change exhausted John''s stamina like crazy, the young man didn''t hesitate to burn it all for the sake of victory. Finally, after around two minutes of nonstop action, the young scout detected an opening to exploit. Just when Shye was pulling his right arm back from a downward whack, John finally summoned the courage to perform a crazy maneuver. He used the momentum of leaning to the side to both dodge Shye''s attack and spin, attacking Shye with a backhand stab promptly after. John''s assumption proved urate; Shye was momentarily surprised by the scout''s bold maneuver, resulting in a slight dy in his response, which was to block the attack. As a result, his defense was rather clumsy, allowing John to finally use hisst trump card. ''Chrono sh!'' Promptly after Shye''s staff made contact with John''s dagger, a yellowish-sh mark suddenly shot forward, sessfullynding on Shye''s chest. "Hahahahaha! You''re done for, Crowley!" John''s ability, [(Unique) Chrono sh Lv.2], generates a sh mark that shoots forward uponing into contact with another weapon. This sh mark does not deal any damage, however, it slows down the opponent''s movements by 70%, making them a sitting duck ready for ughter. Shye¡­was currently nothing but a fish on a chopping board in John''s eyes. Fully knowing that his skill''s effects would onlyst for two seconds, John acted fast, promptly empowering his dagger with another skill called [(Dark) Sinister Stab Lv.4 (Umon]. With ck vapor oozing from the edges of his weapon, the young scout decisively stabbed at Shye''s throat. "W-WHAT IS THIS?! COMPETITOR CROWLEY IS NOT MOVING?! WAS IT THE YELLOW SLASH MARK FROM EARLIER?! WILL THIS BE IT?!" Shye tried his best to move his right arm, seemingly grabbing at John''s arms without a single hint of panic. His counterattack was slow¡­way too slow for a battle of such a level. This futile attempt elicited another mockingugh from John who was currently charging forward in a stabbing motion. If nothing unexpected happened, Shye''s throat would be destroyed before his hand could grab the young scout''s wrist, hence, John didn''t think about Shye''s counterattack too much. "DIE!!" At that moment, time slowed down to a crawl for the Shye Crowley supporters, especially for Seira, Corvus, and the old guildsmen. Their fears finally came true. In the end, it still proved difficult for a mage to defeat a highly skilled scout. ''Stoic'' As the dagger made contact with Shye''s throat, a shocking thing happened. It didn''t even pierce the skin on Shye''s throat. Well¡­how would his dagger be able to when Shye''s vitality attribute was as high as 180 points? He was simply a high-ranked, tough monstrous creature in human skin when it came to fighting someone his age. Add in a skill that would reduce iing physical damage by seventy percent? John could consider himself lucky if his dagger even managed to pierce through the skin. Maybe a warrior could do it, however, a scout with only ny to a hundred points of strength? Futile. Utterly stupefied for a few moments, John was rudely dragged back to reality by the feeling of a brutish hand grabbing his wrist. The grab hurt like hell. "I got you now, you slippery snake. Let''s see if you can still slither your way from me now that I got my hands on you." Shye said with a sinister smile. He was secretly frustrated at not being able to do what he wanted to John as the guy was truly a bit too slippery even in a head-on confrontation. ¡­Pulling John closer Shye grabbed his opponent''s throat. "Now, why don''t you struggle for your life." He said while slowly tightening his grip around the young scout''s throat. "How¡­are¡­you¡­so¡­" John desperately struggled, wing at Shye''s forearms while savoring every point of Shye''s strength attribute. In desperation, he even tried kicking the unbelievably strong mage repeatedly on the chest, yet, the guy was unfazed. At this moment, the young scout finally realized the terror of the rookie named Shye Crowley, who seemed to be hiding secrets¡­a lot of it. As his consciousness slowly faded, he finally realized that Shye¡­wasn''t at the same level as them. His level was already way beyond even that of Arthur''s. This¡­was a true prodigy. Chapter 386: No Biggie "W-W-WHAT AN UNBELIEVABLE TURN OF EVENTS!! PARDON MY INCOMPETENCE BUT NO ONE''S WORDS WOULD EVER HAVE KEPT UP WITH SUCH SUDDEN DEVELOPMENTS!!! ONE MOMENT, SHYE CROWLEY''S NECK WAS STABBED, YET MIRACULOUSLY, IT TURNED OUT THAT THE DAGGER SOMEHOW DIDN''T PIERCE THROUGH THE SKIN. AND NOW, THE ELUSIVE SCOUT HAS BEEN GRABBED BY HIS NECK!! WHAT A BRUTISH MAGE!! NEVER HAVE I EVER SEEN ONE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE!!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 48,920 points!] Thementator was losing his mind. He never expected that he would ever experiencementating such a mind-boggling match. Meanwhile, inside their respective preparation rooms, two rookies stared at the holographic screen with a grim look. Arthur and Almira had some questions in their minds. First, how could Shye be so adept at melee exchanges? Second, how could he have the strength to simply grab someone like John Oni by the neck as though the guy was a helpless little chick? Lastly, they recognized the skill he used at thest moment, [Stoic], as both of them had learned the skill themselves. Did Shye¡­actually have a subss at such a young age? They both resisted believing such a notion. Their only scey in the possibility of alternative exnations for Shye''s extraordinary abilities, ones that eluded their current understanding. Otherwise, the mere notion of Shye Crowley possessing a warrior subss was unsettlingly daunting, suggesting he was far beyond their league. Why? Because they would never be able to achieve such a feat at such an age even if they went back in time while retaining their current memories. It was simply not humanly possible. ¡­On the stage, the young scout, John Oni, had already lost consciousness. His limp body remained suspended in the air, ruthlessly grabbed by Shye by the throat. *FWING!* Momentster, the man''s body finally turned into an azure ray of light, materializing into an unharmed John Oni outside the stage. Well¡­Physically unharmed, at least. The guy was mentally dying. He couldn''t believe how badly he lost to Shye, a mere mage. If his family got wind of how humiliating his defeat was, he would be reprimanded big time¡ªpossibly even disqualifying him from the family''s session battle. Although his father would take revenge for him, he''d rather keep things under wraps as it would be more advantageous for him in the long run. ''I''ll kill you one day¡­'' Standing up with surprisingly cold calmness after a disastrous defeat, John left the arena. He didn''t even return to the preparation room, where his guild master and his personnel were waiting. Naturally, Shye was unaware of what was going on inside John''s head. Nor did he care. If the guy couldn''t defeat him now, it would be even more improbable in the future¡­right? "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA BANOOB! ALAN! PAY UP! GIVE ME MY FIVE GOLD COINS! WOOHOOO!!!" As everyone was busy admiring Shye, who was strolling back to his guild''s designated preparation area, the anticipated voice that had slipped their minds amid the victory suddenly echoed throughout the entire arena, causing heads to turn towards its origin swiftly. "C-Can you leave us with at least one gold? We still need to eat¡­" "Hmmph, fine. I shall not be merciless this time, however, next time I will not be so kind! Nyahahahaha!" Ruthlessly grabbing four gold coins from the dejected Banar''s hand, Seira returned to her seat in a fantastic mood. Now, she could buy luxurious meals for her family without affecting her winnings should Shye win in the grand finals. Meanwhile, back at the Raven''s de preparation room, multiple old men jumped up and down in celebration as though they were children. "MHMM!! Men, settle down. Crowley will arrive any time now." Corvus cleared his throat, lightly reprimanding the overly excited old men. He was excited himself, however, as the guild master, he could not lose hisposure as he had to maintain an air of dignity around his underlings. This was why he didn''t reprimand the foolish old men too much. After all, this was the first time their guild branch was able to enter the grand finals, hence, their exaggerated enthusiasm was rather understandable. "Guild Master Corvus, respected seniors, I''m back," Shye said with a serene smile as he entered the preparation room. He arrived a bit earlier, however, upon hearing the old men''s jolly celebrations, he couldn''t help but chuckle outside the room for a while and give them ample time to reorganize their appearances. Shye grew quite fond of these supportive old men, thus, he would spare them the humiliation since he had the option to. "Crowley!! Well done! You''ve brilliantly brought honor to the guild!" "Crowley! That was a fantastic performance,e, let me hug you!" "Crowley!! Great job! Let me give you a kiss!" Listening to the boisterous remarks of the elderly gentlemen, Shye found himself unable to suppress a smile. Yet, he found no opportunity to respond individually to each of them, for the guild master had promptly approached him, wearing an appreciative smile. "Congrattions, Crowley, for advancing to the finals of thepetition. Whether you emerge victorious or not in the uing match, I intend to present you with a gift from our guild branch. Of course, should you triumph, the rewards will be more substantial." "Remember, our guild stands firmly behind you, offering unwavering support in all your pursuits. The finals are no exception; therefore, go forth without concern for the oue." Corvus sincerely said, making Shye wince inwardly. ''These guys are way too serious, no?'' He thought, not realizing the gravity of his achievement. In his mind, his opponents were random "geniuses" from a random city who were meant to be his stepping stones, and he didn''t really encounter any difficulties when fighting that supposedly strong John dude. Arthur Vermicelli should be no different. Thus, Shye was unaware of the magnitude of his contributions to the guild for advancing to the finals and how¡­pleasant the rewards would be. ''It''s just Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competition¡­why are they making it out to be such a big deal?'' After all, his true goal was the rookiepetition in Valenzia where he would¡­hehehe¡­earn lots of points and glory for himself. Chapter 387: The Grand Finals Is Set! "T-T-THIS BATTLE IS FIERCE!! WAY TOO FIERCE!! THE INITIAL ASSUMPTIONS PROVED TO BE WRONG AS ALMIRA BLACK, THE BATTLE PRIESTESS, FEROCIOUSLY BARES HER FANGS!! WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE ARTHUR VERMILLION SHOW TURNED OUT TO BE ANYONE''S GAME!!" Corey''s voice echoed across the arena, burgeoning anxiety inside the hearts of those who bet on Arthur. It wasn''t that Almira was overwhelmingly strong, it was just that she was very adept at controlling the tempo of the battle. As a result, Arthur had never once managed to cleanly hit the battle priestess. Although Almira suffered a few light wounds, she simply healed herself back to full health. Shockingly though, Arthur appeared as indomitable as ever. There wasn''t a hint of impatience on his face. In fact, there was simply an amused look. "I admit, Miss Almira. You''re strong and you can probably make a name for yourself. However, wouldn''t it be easier for you to do so under the name of the Vermillion Adventurer n? You''ll be famous in Valenzia in no time and I promise to spare nothing to help you grow to prominence. All you need to do is be my wife. What do you say?" "I refuse. I don''t like men that are too tall. Also, you''re not that handsome. I want someone handsome. At least someone on the level of Shye Crowley''s facial aesthetics. Furthermore, I sense a pretentious air about you which I find unappealing. I apologize, but there is no possibility of you winning my hand in marriage." Hearing Almira''s blunt words, a hint of fury made its way into Arthur''s heart. He had observed Almira for quite a while as he fancied her, hence, he knew that she was simply a blunt person who didn''t like to sugarcoat her words. She definitely had no intention to humiliate him. Unfortunately, with or without intentions, embarrassed him by quite a fair deal, especially when she mentioned that Shye Crowley was more handsome than him. Unforgivable! ''If I can''t have you, then you can f*ck the hell off the stage!'' With burgeoning rage, Arthur stopped holding back and charged straight at Almira with unbelievable speed, brandishing his katana diagonally downward with a cold smile. The battle priestess was caught off guard by the sudden change in Arthur''s speed, resulting in her failing to raise her small buckler on time, and a clumsy block that made her stagger a few steps back. Naturally, the enraged heir of the Vermillion n would not let this chance go to waste, swiftly following up with a ruthless stab to the neck. Only, he didn''t expect Almira''s craftiness. While staggering, she already began chanting to cast one of the spells that contributedrgely to Lin Zi''s demise: [Nature''s Revenge Lv.3 (Rare)]. Then, just when Arthur was about to finish her off, the familiar mana vines sprung out of the ground and captured the Vermillion n heir''s limbs. Just like that, the battle¡­seemed to be over. "I advise you not to talk so much when fighting as it would diminish your focus. I hope you do better next time." Almira said as she once again began chanting. "Divine Annihtion!!" Finally, Arthur couldn''t stand it anymore. As the golden beam of divine annihtion fast approached, there wasn''t a hint of terror or panic in his eyes, only rage. He initially thought he could dominate Almira just like he did to everyone else. However, he realized that it would be impossible to do so without revealing a few of his trump cards. And so, he revealed one. ''Vermillion Inferno!'' Vermillion mes suddenly emerged from Arthur''s heart and swiftly enveloped his whole body. If one didn''t know, one would think that he was being burned alive. However, since the skill he used was the trademark unique-tier skill of the Vermillion Adventurer n, most of the onlookers knew that the mes were from Arthur himself, swiftly clearing out the confusion of those who were ill-informed. Shockingly, as the Almira ck''s Divine Annihtion skill made contact with the mes, it evaporated into nothingness. "ARTHUR VERMILLION RELEASES THE TRADEMARK SKILL OF HIS CLAN! WILL ALMIRA BE ABLE TO DEAL WITH THIS?!" ''Hmmph, relying on your n again¡­'' Almira snorted in response as she coldly gazed at the ming Arthur who was now approaching her¡ªthe mana vines¡ªincinerated. ''Fine, let''s end this!'' With a resolute look, Almira started chanting, adeptly using spells one after the other to try and control the battle again. Unfortunately, everything she threw at her fiery opponent was simply burned to nothingness, including the small, transparent ming balls she always relied on. ''Tch¡­Fine. I shall reveal my trump card as well.'' Chanting for a few seconds, Almira raised her left hand and positioned it right in front of her nose in a prayer pose while extending her right hand and angling her vitality mace horizontally. ''ck Heaven!'' Shockingly the entire blue dome turned ck, yet, the crowd could clearly see bothpetitors. Arthur burned in majestic vermillion mes while heavenly light illuminated a small area around where Almira stood. Soon after, the final sh of skills happened as a huge ck prison made of four ck heavenly gates appeared around Arthur and slowly shrunk. Eventually, the vermillion mes and the heavenly gates made contact, emitting gray vapor as both skills exhausted the other. The gates¡­were slowly incinerated. However, it had also sessfully begun squishing Arthur to death. Now, it was a battle of attrition. Will the gates copse first? Or will Arthur die first? The people watched the unfolding events with various emotions. Those who bet their entire fortune on the heir of the Vermillion n were on the edge of their seats. Finally, after a few seconds that seemed like an eternity, the oue slowly became discernible. Arthur¡­would onlyst for a few more seconds while the ck gates wouldst for at least ten more. It was clear that If things continued, the young man from the Vermillion Adventurer n would lose. Astonishingly though, instead of a panicked expression, there was a faint smile on the corners of his mouth. "So this is physical damage huh?" Arthur yfully said, shaking Almira''s serene heart. ''Sh*t¡­so he found out¡­'' "You''ve fought well, however, this is over. Stoic!" As the young warrior''s body was covered by a golden transparent aura, the pressure brought about by the ck heavenly gates lessened by a huge lot. From there, it was the Arthur show. The ck gates dissolved, allowing the young warrior from the Vermillion n to charge without fear toward Almira, who was now out of both skills and mana. Shortly after, an azure ray of light shot out from the stage as Arthur ruthlessly shed the exhausted battle priestess in half. Chapter 388: A Sudden Nightmare "WHAT A MATCH!! THE BATTLE PRIESTESS PUSHED ARTHUR SO FAR, ONLY TO FALTER IN THE LAST SECOND! THE YOUNG HEIR OF THE VERMILLION ADVENTURER CLAN ADVANCES TO THE FINALS TO FACE THE ENIGMATIC SHYE CROWLEY!!" Hearing Corey''s voice which served as a confirmation that their fortunes were safe, the crowd heaved a sigh of relief. Although she lost in the end, Almira ck struck fear in their hearts, forcefully making them respect her and her ss. Throughout the entirepetition, no one pushed Arthur to his limits as she did. ¡­There was a fifteen-minute break after the semi-final match between Arthur and Almira, giving the finalists ample time to recover and prepare. Although the young man from the Vermillion n was exhausted from hisst match, a quarter of an hour was enough for him to fully recover as he could simply drink potions to recover his health, mana, and stamina. Meanwhile, inside the Raven''s de preparation room, old men donning various expressions on their faces surrounded one young man. "Crowley, this is it, go out there and show them what you got!" "We''re rooting for you, Crowley!" Shye was rather¡­tired of hearing the old men''s encouraging words. However, since it was all done with good intentions, he just nodded his head at them while donning a forced smile. ''It''s just some random Arthur Vermillion, no?'' Fortunately, after a few short reminders from Corvus, the arena staff entered their guild''s preparation room. "Sir Crowley, it''s time for your match." "W-Well then, seniors, I shall go out there and¡­uhh¡­bring glory to the guild!...or something! Watch me!" Heaving a sigh of relief after finally escaping from the overly enthusiastic old men, Shye made his entrance. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 10,187 points!] ''W-What? How did I earn so many points?'' He couldn''t believe he earned more than 10,000 points just like that. However, upon seeing Seira''s¡­passionate cheer squad, he finally understood where the points came from. "...Let us all wee, the enigma of the tournament, Shye Crowley!!" Corey''s vibrant voice sounded once more, prompting those who supported Shye to cheer excitedly. "Initially, we thought that we got this young rookie all figured out. He was a menace in a long-range battle but would be weak in a close-range one. Who would''ve thought that he would just be as skilled in a melee? Will he show us another pleasant surprise?!" Arriving onstage, Shye realized that he had been introduced first. ''Hmm¡­so the tournament organizers still favor that Arthur Vermicelli over me¡­'' He mused, realizing that he was unsatisfied with this arrangement. ''Tch¡­why am I displeased by such a shallow matter¡­must be the side effects of the system again¡­'' While lost in his thoughts, Corey enthusiastically introduced "...The heir of the renowned Vermillion Adventurer n, one of Roddentrodge City''s royalty, please give it up for Arthur Vermillion!!" As Arthur ascended the stage with a loathsome cold smile, Shye wore his signature arrogant one. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Arthur Vermillion [Level]: 97 [upation]: Adventurer (tinum) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Power sh Lv.5][Rush Stab Lv.5] [Dash Lv.5] [Stoic Lv.5] [Enhance Agility Lv.5] [Enhance Strength Lv.5] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.5] [Lethal Edge Lv.4(Umon)][(Fire)Burning Cleave Lv.4(Umon)] [(Fire)Combustion sh Lv.4(Umon)][Mana Disruption Field Lv.3(Rare)][(Fire)Vermillion Inferno Lv.4(Unique)][(Fire)Ifrit''s Blessing Lv.3(Unique)] [Strength: 175] [Intelligence: 55] [Agility: 170] [Dexterity: 168] [Stamina: 130] [Vitality: 140]: [Wisdom: 40] [Back] [Exit System] ''Hoh? This guy''s skills and attributes aren''t bad at all¡­'' Shye mused. Although he didn''t have the time to read the description of each skill, their names at least gave him an inkling of their effects. For example, the skill, [(Fire)Ifrit''s Blessing Lv.3(Unique)], would probably give Arthur some attribute and elemental bonuses while¡­ ''Oh? Mana Disruption Field? Is this supposed to be his trump card against me?'' Noticing the intriguing skill, Shye tapped on it to see its effects. === [Mana Disruption Field (Rare)] Description: Disables mana usage within a ten-meter radius with the user as the center. Note: Does not affect the user. === ''Hohoh? So this was why he was so confident against me¡­Unfortunately for you, this skill of yours shall simply serve as a chance for me to gain lots of points!'' Standing face to face with each other, both finalists smiled confidently and drew their weapons, eliciting thunderous cheers from the excited crowd. Finally, the match they''d all been waiting for was here. Who was stronger? The top-ranked rookie in terms of contribution points or the top-ranked rookie in terms of perceived strength? They were about to find out. ¡­The referee allowed the audience to cheer their hearts out for a few seconds before picking the right moment to extend his right arm and jerk it up. "Begin!" Hearing the start of the match, Shye nimbly jumped back and started firing spells, causing various elements to roar as projectiles viciously shot towards Arthur, aiming to take his life. Arthur wanted to show everyone his superiority, hence, he opted to sh Shye''s projectiles apart in hopes of gnawing at his morale. As a roaring ball of me approached, the young heir of the Vermillion n mightily swung his katana. There wasn''t a single hint of fear in his eyes, as though he was sure that he would be able to destroy Shye''s spells like what he did to the spells of the previous mages he fought. ''Heh, I knew you would do that, you stupid pretentious f*ck!'' Shye inwardly celebrated, focusing on the fireball he fired shortly after. ''Boost! Boost!'' Arthur''s eyes widened in utter shock and panic as the fireball suddenly grew three timesrger right in front of him. *BOOOOOOM!!!* Instead of the anticipated scene of Arthur shing apart the fireball, a loud explosion urred in the center of the stage, sending shockwaves and shivers down everyone''s spine as they witnessed Arthur being mercilessly devoured by the violent mes. This scene was like a nightmare to those who bet their entire fortune on the young Vermillion''s victory. "B-BOSS!!!" Chapter 389: Grand Reveal "W-WHAT A SUDDEN AND DRASTIC DEVELOPMENT!! ARTHUR VERMILLION HAS BEEN DEVOURED BY FLAMES!!! SHYE CROWLEY¡¯S DECEPTIVELY HUGE FIREBALL SUDDENLY GREW EVEN LARGER!! WILL THIS FIGHT END AS SOON AS IT BEGAN?! CAN ARTHUR STILL STAND?!" Corey eximed in utter shock and disbelief He thought the battle would be equal in the first few minutes of the match. Who would¡¯ve thought that the heir of the Vermillion n would be eating mes at the start of the match? Now, although everyone could be sure that Arthur was still alive, it was highly likely that he sustained devastating injuries. Even the higher-ups of the Iron Jin Adventurer Guild gnashed their teeth in frustration. After all, Arthur could have dodged the fireball, but instead, he opted to sh it in half and show off, resulting in his current dire circumstances. He had no one to me but himself! As everyone waited for the clouds of dust and smoke to settle, Seira realized that there was no movement, making her believe that Arthur was badly wounded. However, just when she was about tough out loud, a huge pir of me rose to the skies, roaring majestically as it eventually turned into a huge ming tornado. Soon enough, the clouds of dust and smoke finally settled, revealing an unharmed Arthur Vermillion in the center of the stage. He looked like some kind of God of mes¡ªmore menacing...more intimidating... His ears grew longer, a pair of red horns emerged on the sides of his forehead, and his hair grew up to knee-length. Observing the changes in his opponent¡¯s body, Shye narrowed his eyes. ¡¯Heh¡­This is probably his Ifrit¡¯s Blessing skill¡­so it also grants him fire resistance on top of considerable attribute boosts huh?¡¯ Shye mused as he used appraisal on Arthur again to check the changes in his body. The Iron Jin representative¡¯s attributes tremendously increased, however, the temporary boost wasn¡¯t even enough for him to surpass his opponent¡¯s current attributes. Hence, his transformation did little to shake Shye¡¯s heart. Naturally, Arthur knew nothing about it as he did not have a system utility skill like appraisal. Still, somehow, the young Vermillion believed that there was no way his adversary could fight on equal terms with him and that he would merely steamroll Shye no matter how skilled he was in "melee defense". "Hahahaha, I must admit, you got me there, Crowley. However, this transformation marks the end of your journey in this tournament. You would¡¯vested a bit longer if you didn¡¯t force me to use this skill. But now¡­heh, pity, pity¡­" Hearing Arthur¡¯s words, Shye merely sneered in disdain. "Heh, yeah, pity indeed. You were already ugly even before your transformation, but now, you look even uglier. I doubt that you¡¯ll have a chance with Almira looking like that¡­pity, pity¡­" Arthur expected Shye to tremble in fear, thus, he didn¡¯t expect that his opponent would still be in the mood for a sharp retort. Naturally, being called ugly, the young Vermillion was infuriated. "It seems that I still need to act and personally teach you a lesson for you to learn of your current circumstances¡­" Arthur replied with gritted teeth. Shortly after, he finally activated his ace in the hole against mages, [Mana Disruption Field Lv.3(Rare)]. Upon activation, Arthur¡¯s body began emitting violet pulses that initially resembled lightning. These pulses extended in a radius of ten meters, rendering the usage of mana ineffective within their range. "Now, let¡¯s see if you can still speak like you did earlier¡­" As for Shye, he couldn¡¯t help but inwardly chuckle after hearing his opponent¡¯s confident words. ¡¯Calm down¡­Shye. You need to act a bit to maximize the earnings¡­¡¯ Pretending to aim his ruby-tier elemental staff toward Arthur, Shye eximed: "Icicle Spear!" "Hahahaha! What now? Was your n to use other elements against me since fire is ineffective? Naive! Come, try using another spell." And so, Shye did for the sake of performance. "Frozen Thorn Barrage!" He even made sure to yell the skill¡¯s name extra loud to make everyone realize that none of his spells were working. "Hahahahaha! Now, how about you tell me again what you said earlier?" "Sure, I said that you were already ugly even before your transformation, but now, you look even uglier. I doubt that you¡¯ll have a chance with Almira looking like that" Not expecting Shye to actually do so as the guy should be trembling in fear right now, Arthur was utterly enraged. "Bastard!" Charging forward to personally teach Shye a lesson, Arthur brandished his sword downwards, attempting to chop Shye in half. Naturally, Shye Crowley the performer "highlighted" the young Vermillion¡¯s power for everyone to see. Crossing both elemental staffs above his head, Shye blocked the iing blow, flying backward for a few meters shortly after before "struggling" for a few moments to stabilize his footing. "STRONG!! THE HEIR OF THE VERMILLION ADVENTURER CLAN MERCILESSLY CORNERS THE ENIGMATIC MAGE!! UNABLE TO USE MANA FOR THE NEXT SIXTY SECONDS, WHAT WOULD SHYE CROWLEY DO?! WILL HE EVEN SURVIVE THAT LONG AGAINST AN EMPOWERED ARTHUR VERMILLION?!" Hearing Corey¡¯s voice the Arthur crowd cheered wildly. On the other hand, the Shye Crowley supporters had grim¡ªsome even dejected¡ªlooks on their faces. Except for Seira, of course, who already knew most of Shye¡¯s secrets. It would indeed be too difficult for a mage to fight a warrior with physical enhancements head-on without using mana. Meanwhile, on the stage, Shye looked around. Realizing that the time was right, he smiled. ¡¯Time for a grand reveal!¡¯ "Heh, I admit, it might be a bit too difficult for me to fight you using my subss. Very well, consider yourself formidable forpelling me to resort to my primary ss..." Shye intentionally eximed loudly, allowing everyone to hear his voice. Then, just when everyone¡¯s expressions turned into one of confusion, shily assumed a differentbat stance¡ªthat of a dual-wielding warrior. His elemental staffs then disappeared, reced by two menacing greatswords: Adamance and Mithra, with the enormous Meido brand emblem in the middle, on full disy. The former roared in mes while the other left expelvoid sh marks in the air, causing the audience¡¯s eyes to almost pop out of their sockets at the sudden, ridiculous change in gear. However, it didn¡¯t end there. His mage equipment was then swiftly reced by his warrior equipment, transforming his appearance from schrly to valiant and heroic. "I... I REMEMBER NOW! SO THAT¡¯S WHY I FELT SOMETHING WAS AMISS THIS ENTIRE TIME! INDEED, DURING THE ADVENTURER ACADEMY COMPETITION, SHYE CROWLEY, THE ACE OF COLZEN ACADEMY, MAINLY FOUGHT AS A DUAL-WIELDING WARRIOR!" Chapter 390: Pure Dominance [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 60,000 points!] Hearing the sudden exnation from a random person in the crowd, everyone¡¯s shocked and confused expression suddenly turned into one of utter disbelief. ¡¯You mean the bastard wasn¡¯t even serious when fighting John Oni?¡¯ was the thought that resonated in their minds. Right at that moment, everyone¡¯s questions regarding Shye¡¯s mastery in meleebat and his ridiculous raw strength were answered. It was because he was originally a warrior. Understandably, the astonishing truth proved too challenging for the audience to grasp quickly. Thus, many of them simply stared at Shye in stupefaction, mouths agape, trying to follow his actions with bewildered expressions. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now, do you all see my boss¡¯ invincibility?! Why would I be worried about some John Baloney when I know that my boss is originally a warrior?! Why should I be worried about him fighting someone in close range?!" Seira¡¯s loud and annoying-for-some voice once again sounded, carrying an obvious triumphant undertone. This time, no one dared talk back to her. After all, Shye¡¯s disy of talent and capabilities was truly too bright. If it was true that he was even stronger as a warrior than as a mage, then Arthur Vermillion¡¯s talent was indeed lesser than that of Shye Crowley¡¯s. They couldn¡¯t even be mentioned in the same category in terms of talent. Of course, Shye had to prove himself as a warrior first. Having two sses was amazing but it didn¡¯t mean jack sh*t if he couldn¡¯t back his grand revtion up. Meanwhile, onstage, despite his calm exterior, raging waves of various emotions assaulted Arthur¡¯s heart. He had a hunch that Shye had a subss, only, he didn¡¯t expect his spections to be true. To make things worse, the bastard¡¯s mage ss was revealed to be the subss, while his primary ss, the warrior ss, was the one he concealed. Such deep-seethed self-confidence¡­ Arthur couldn¡¯t help but inwardly shiver. He wouldn¡¯t dare toy with his chances of winning an entire tournament the way Shye did. ¡¯Hmmph, so what if he¡¯s a warrior? My vermillion mes will burn him AND his greatswords to ashes!¡¯ ¡¯Enhanced Agility! Enhanced Strength! Enhanced Dexterity! Vermillion Inferno!!¡¯ Unknowingly pressured, the Iron Jin rookie used every useful skill he had in his arsenal. He didn¡¯t want to lose. He would never lose! Charging straight towards Shye without realizing the subtle fear and apprehension in his heart, the seemingly ming god incarnate brandished his fiery katana diagonally downward with unbelievable speed and power, causing embers to roar and linger in the air for a few seconds. As for Shye, he wasn¡¯t fazed one bit. Appearing extremely leisurely, Shye casually swung his low-quality adamantite-tier greatsword, Adamance, to sh with Arthur¡¯s ming katana. The high-grade infernostone enchanted weapon roared with its own crimson mes, however, it appearedcklusterpared to Arthur¡¯s, supplying the young vermillion with additional confidence. *CLANG* Shockingly, as the two weapons shed, there was¡­nopetition at all. Arthur was sent flying all the way to the edge of the stage¡ªhis katana¡ªstill usable but badly damaged. "S-S-SHYE CROWLEY OVERWHELMINGLY WINS THE FIRST CLASH!! WHAT FEARSOME RAW STRENGTH!! WHAT SHARP SWORDS!!" This time, Arthur couldn¡¯t help but panic. He already activated all of his self-buff skills, yet, he still lost. Did Shye use some kind of burst-type skill to overpower him? Or¡­ ¡¯There¡¯s no f*cking way! He must¡¯ve pretended to swing his greatsword casually while sneakily using some high-tier skill!¡¯ Convincing himself that Shye sneakily used a skill to make himself look good, Arthur fumed, fearlessly charging straight toward his adversary once more. However, this time, he used his strongest burst-type skill, [(Fire)Combustion sh Lv.4(Umon)] Arthur¡¯s katana zed and started emitting ck smoke and fiery explosions as it violently shed the air apart¡ªits final destination: Shye¡¯s neck. "Hoh, it seems like you still believe you can win¡­Fine then. Power sh!" This time, Shye eximed the name of the skill he used, moderately enhancing the strength of his attack. However, this "modest" increase in strength was enough to snap Arthur¡¯s tinum-tier katana in half, sending him rolling toward the edge of the stage once again¡ªhis body¡ªheavily battered. "T¡­There¡¯s no way you¡¯re using a simple power sh! You pretentious bastard! I refuse to lose to the likes of you! HAAAAARRRGHH!" Arthur couldn¡¯t believe what was happening. He was the heir of the Vermillion Adventurer n! A true son of heaven blessed in both looks, skills, and family background. His n had produced more than three hundred adamantite-tier adventurers throughout their hundred-fifty-year existence. There was no way that he, the next in line to lead such a prominent n, would lose to random nobodies with no background like this Shye Crowley! Unfortunately, no matter how many times he tried, the results remained the same. The only thing that was thinning was¡­Shye¡¯s patience. ¡¯Where the fuck are my points?! Look! I¡¯m beating your famous Arthur Vermicelli like this! Aren¡¯t you all amazed?!¡¯ Shye inwardly cursed. His opponent now looked disheveled and battered, yet, with almost empty eyes, the guy kept on charging. ¡¯Fine then, I shall reveal two more skills for you guys¡­so you better give me points!!¡¯ As Arthur struggled to stand up for another round of beating, a ghastly howl resembling those of ancient demons echoed across the entire arena, sending chills down the audience¡¯s spine. The howl was then followed by the emergence of a pair of transparent-ck rotten mana wings on Shye¡¯s back, making him appear unholy. Arthur didn¡¯t know why but after hearing the howl, he had the sudden urge to flee, however, how could he do that? He was the heir of the Vermillion n. He would never retreat from someone like this hateful Shye Crowley! Unfortunately, his unique-tier skills already timed out. There was simply no more chance for him to win. On the other hand, Shye was now stronger than he was earlier after receiving the boosts from his fallen skills. With a single p of his wings, he grabbed Arthur¡¯s head and mmed it hard on the ground, turning the Iron Jin representative into an azure ray of light that materialized outside the stage shortly after¡ªall in one swift motion. "S-S-SHYE CROWLEY!! SHYEEE!! SH-SHYEEE CROWLEY!!" Corey eximed with a trembling voice, his mind going nk as he witnessed the unbelievably one-sided match. "I-I APOLOGIZE FOR MY EARLIER INACTIVITY, FOLKS! I WAS SIMPLY FLABBERGASTED BY WHAT JUST HAPPENED. I TRULY BELIEVED THIS MATCH WOULD BE CLOSE, HOWEVER, WHO WOULD¡¯VE THOUGHT THAT SHYE CROWLEY WAS STILL HOLDING BACK!! WHAT A REVELATION!! SHYE CROWLEY WAS A WARRIOR ALL ALONG!! THE CHANTLESS MAGE PERSONA WAS NOTHING BUT HIS SUBCLASS!! WHO?! WHO WOULD DARE SAY THEY COULD MATCH SUCH A PEERLESS GENIUS?! BALKROW CITY IS IN GOOD HANDS FOR THIS YEAR¡¯S VALENZIA ROOKIE ADVENTURER COMPETITION!! FINALLY, OUR BELOVED CITY¡¯S NAME SHALL REVERBERATE ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION!!" Hearing Corey¡¯s words, the stupefied crowd finally erupted into cheers. Even the Arthur Vermillion and John Oni supporters couldn¡¯t help but cheer wildly. In the end, they were from the same city. Just thinking about how their city would be represented by such an absurdly powerful rookie, the Balkrow City crowd couldn¡¯t help but shiver in excitement. [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 60,000 points!] Chapter 391: Suspicious Men ''More than a hundred thousand points in one match! Nice!'' Shye inwardly celebrated. He yearned to perform his grand reveal two matches ago, however, for the sake of more points, he firmly resisted the urge to do so. Fortunately, everything paid off. Unlike when he performed his grand dual wield reveal at the Adventurer Academy Competition. That was¡­a huge failure. ''Analyzing what would impress the crowd surely helps a lot¡­'' Shye mused as he descended the stage. There would be a closing ceremony a few minutester so he decided to return to the preparation room first, however, who would''ve thought that the rowdy old men would throw their dignity out the window? Exiting from the dark halls of the arena''s interior, the old men jumped at Shye with crying faces, tackling him down to the ground in utter delight. "H-Hey! Let go! R-Respected seniors! This won''t do! Y-Your reputation! G-Guild Master! Help me!" ¡­ ''Sigh¡­luckily, they''re scared of facing the guild master''s wrath¡­'' Shye mused, shivering upon recalling the horrifying moment when more than ten old men hugged him. As fond as he was of the old personnel of the guild''s Balkrow branch, being tightly hugged by more than ten of them was quite a nightmare. Thankfully, with the guild master''s intervention, he escaped with just a few words of congrattions and gratitude instead. On the other hand, the guild master''s words were a bit too formal. Still, superficial as the words were to him, they brought joy to Shye, enabling him to truly appreciate his aplishment, regardless of how effortlessly it came to him. ''I guess being the rookie representative of an entire city, low-ranked or not, is worthy of a celebration¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, realizing that he was the one who expected the most out of himself. ''Well¡­not that pressuring myself is bad.'' Indeed,fort is the worst addiction, after all. Furthermore, he still had more important things to aplish, and he needed to keep a mindset of constant improvement and high expectations, otherwise, he would fail. His life was bound to be full of hardships the moment he epted the deal from Old Man Sanada. Nevertheless, he harbors no regrets. If this was the cost of safeguarding the lives of both his sister and his parents, along with securing a promising future for his future family, he would willingly retread this path, regardless of how many opportunities fate presented him to change his decision. ¡­Following the arena staff''s lead, Shye walked through the dark hallways of the arena''s interior, arriving at the stage area again after a few minutes of walking. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 60,000 points!] ''WHAT?! W-Well, not like I''mining!'' He didn''t know what Corey said to make the crowd feel this way towards him nor did he know what was going on in their minds, however, earning another 60,000 points while simply arriving at the stage area? He''ll take it all day! Receiving the bonus points lifted Shye''s already jubnt spirits even higher, causing him to smile as he climbed onto the stage and waved to the enthusiastic crowd. After such a dominant performance, even those who initially hated him couldn''t help but cheer for him now. After all, they all want to see him dominate the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition while representing their beloved city. They all knew that he would surely have an impressive run, bringing both glory and prosperity to Balkrow. Naturally, Seira was all too happy to wee all of them to the Shye Crowley camp! ¡­Arriving at the center of the stage, Shye stood at his designated spot. Without doing anything in particr, he somehow appeared much cooler to the crowd than he had before his victory. Probably because he was more pleasant to the eye now that he had proved himself by destroying every other rookie in the city. Soon after, Balkrow City''s City Lord, Felix Boaster, walked closer to him and spoke a few congrattory words followed by words of appreciation. To Shye though, everything was just cheesy bullsh*t. Still, he pretended to listen and give City Lord Felix the respect he deserved. Finally, after around five minutes, the city lord finished his long speech. "...ONCE AGAIN, PLEASE GIVE A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR BALKROW CITY''S ROOKIE REPRESENTATIVE, SHYE CROWLEY!!" Corey''s vibrant voice once again elicited thunderous cheers from the crowd. Meanwhile, in the stands, two suspicious men rose and departed. Upon reaching what they deemed a secluded spot, they each destroyed their long-distancemunication talismans. However, they didn''t belong to the same organization, as they contacted different superiors. "Reporting to the Regional Leader: Specimen Fifteen, Fifteenth Hawkling''s target, emerged victorious in the entire Balkrow Rookie Adventurer Competition. None of his peers posed a threat to him, particrly after he revealed that he had a subss at such a young age." "While his remarkable growth rate may not align with the Supreme One''s objectives, it could be valuable to monitor Specimen Fifteen''s progression. I believe there''s a reasonable chance that he may be the one the Supreme One seeks." The first suspicious man reported, suppressing the excitement in his heart. Although he harbored no fondness for the prospect of sharing the rewards with the individual known as Fifteenth Hawkling, should his spections prove correct, he couldn''t trulyment it, considering this mission was initially Fifteenth Hawkling''s. However, due to unfortunate circumstances, Fifteenth Hawkling had to temporarily part ways with Shye, who was also known as Specimen Fifteen within their organization, giving him the chance to swoop in for a share of the rewards. "I understand, continue observing Specimen Fifteen. I shall send a few reinforcements and additional resources for you to use through the usual means." "Roger, Regional Leader." *BLEEP!* Meanwhile, the second suspicious man''s report was much simpler, making it obvious that his organization was lesser than that of the first man. "Boss, this Shye Crowley is a fat sheep! I''m sure this guy has a lot of talents we can extract! If we can capture this guy, the Big Boss will surely reward us handsomely!" "Good, then capture him. You have six months to aplish this mission." "I understand, boss! Wait for my good news!" *BLEEP!* Chapter 392: Maxing Out "Crowley,e to my office tomorrow morning, I shall give you your reward for your exemry performance. That''s all from me, you''re dismissed." Nodding with a smile at Corvus, Shye bid everyone in the preparation room farewell. He then met up with Seira outside the arena. "Boss! You''re amazing as always! Even I didn''t expect that you would simply toy with Arthur Vermicelli like that!" "Hahahaha! I told you, didn''t I? Your boss is invincible!" The two of them chatted casually as they walked towards the betting station to im their winnings. Naturally, upon arriving, the now iconic duo easily captured everyone''s attention. "H-Hey, look! Isn''t that Shye Crowley and his underling?" "Yeah, no doubt about it." "I heard he bet on himself big time!" "Now that''s true confidence!" This time, all that came his way were curious gasps and words of admiration, bringing a smile to the duo''s face. After waiting for around twenty minutes, the two of them sessfully imed their winnings as the betting station didn''t dare make things difficult for Balkrow City''s rookie representative. If they were to attempt it, City Lord Felix would undoubtedly send men to raid their betting station and give Shye his winnings. It was simply futile. Luckily, the majority bet their fortunes on Arthur Vermillion and John Oni''s victory, hence, although Shye''s payouts stung, they were still able to make a bit of profit. ¡­Leaving the betting station with delightful smiles on their faces, the iconic duo counted their winnings. Shye received a whopping payout of 5,100 gold coins (510,000 silver coins). On the other hand, Seira almost cried in utter ecstasy upon seeing the contents of the payout sack bag. There were a total of 1,445 gold coins inside. Naturally, since this was her first time having such a huge amount of money in her possession, Seira couldn''t help but daydream. She would spoil her family tonight! Following approximately ten minutes of walking, they went their separate paths. Seira joyfully skipped back to the house she rented inside the city, while Shye made his way back to his room at a nearby inn. *** *** ''System.'' After making sure that the door was locked, Shye opened the system. It was finally time for him to enjoy the fruits of hisbor. ''Hehehe¡­first of all, let''s max out my attributes!'' With a current savings of 441,477 points, there was no doubt it would suffice to maximize his attributes up to the limit of the shy Adventurer System Level 3¡­right? For the next hour, all Shye did was press the + button beside each attribute, maxing them out at 300 each due to the limits of the system. Of course, the wisdom attribute remained the same as it was still locked for upgrade and he could not upgrade it manually even if he wanted to. ''F-F*ck¡­I thought my points wouldn''t be enough¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed in slight anxiety. Well, maxing out his attributes used up 383,940 points out of his 441,477 points so his mild panic was understandable. He also wanted to purchase a few rare and unique-tier skills, however, since he only had 57,537 points remaining, it would be hard for him to purchase high-tier skills. Thus, he chose to acquire severalmon yet beneficial ones instead, postponing the purchase of the higher-tiered ones for now. He nned to wait until he had saved up a hundred thousand points at least. [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Strength Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Intelligence Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Agility Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Dexterity Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Stamina Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Vitality Lv.1] for 500 points!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned [Enhance Wisdom Lv.1] for 500 points!] ''That should be it¡­'' Shye thought inwardly with a satisfied smile. Lately, he came to the realization that upgrading his attributes offered the most significant benefit for utilizing his points, enabling him to swiftly climb the ranks. Hence, he resolved to consistently prioritize maximizing them as swiftly as he could. ''Hmmm¡­let''s see how many points are needed to upgrade the system to level four.'' Shye mused as his fingers continued tapping away, navigating to the system upgrade button. [Insufficient system points! 1,000,000 points are needed to upgrade the system to level 4] ''F*ck¡­one million points? Where the hell would I obtain thatrge amount?! Sigh¡­I guess I''ll be stuck at 300 points per attribute for quite a while¡­'' If anyone heard his inner thoughts, they would be mobbing him to death in utter fury. 300 points per attribute at 21 years old? And he''s stillining? Greedy! ¡­Anyway, his current attributes were already enough for his current circumstances. ''Ahh¡­it''s already nighttime? I should sleep and show up to the guild early tomorrow¡­'' The guild master would reward him, after all. He shouldn''t bete, and he didn''t want to bete. ¡­ The following morning, Shye made some light preparations, bathed, and grabbed a quick meal at the inn''s canteen. Then, in high spirits, he headed directly to the guild, wondering what reward Corvus had in store for him. What he didn''t expect was¡­that he was already a huge celebrity. Entering the headquarters, heads inevitably turned his way. "Oh?! It''s Crowley!" "Crowley!! Congrattions on bing the city''s rookie representative!" Since he was also in a good mood, he turned his head and looked in the direction of the vast lobby where most of his guildsmen were eating their meals. Known for his notorious arrogance and short temper as a rookie, the guild members visibly flinched upon realizing that Shye had turned his gaze toward them. However, they soon realized how wrong their impressions were as Shye raised his right arm triumphantly and shed a wide smile at them as he continued walking towards Corvus'' office, prompting the guildsmen to cheer even louder. "CROWLEY!!" "CROWLEY!!" "CROWLEY!!" Chapter 393: Delightful Rewards "You maye in" Receiving Corvus'' approval, Shye entered the room while suppressing a stupid smile. "Greetings, Guild Master Corvus." "Wee, Crowley. Again, congrattions on bing the city''s rookie representative. You were brilliant. As a reward for your glorious achievements, the contents of this box are yours." Corvus said with a faint smile, lightly pushing the medium-sized box on his desk towards Shye. Shye wasn''t good at suppressing his excitement, hence, upon seeing the box, Shye smiled like a kid who was given a present. Observing the changes in his emotions, Corvus inwardly chuckled in amusement. ...Naturally, Shye didn''t make himself wait; promptly, he extended his arms to open the box, revealing three items inside: one scroll, one pill, and one talisman. Corvus didn''t exin what the items were, opting to instead allow Shye to see for himself as things would be more exciting for him that way. Grabbing the scroll, Shye opened it, making his eyes almost pop out of their sockets in sheer delight. "Permanent Blessing of Agility!!" He eximed excitedly. Permanent blessings were hard to both obtain and use as one would have to wait for the local monastery''s summons for one to be able to use the blessing chamber. In addition to this, blessing chambers also have tiers depending on their capabilities. Luckily for Shye, the blessing chamber of Balkrow City was tier 3, allowing him to use both this regr permanent blessing that he received from Corvus and the one he got from Soaring Raven, the Permanent Blessing of Greater Strength. Unfortunately, up until now, his request to use the Balkrow Blessing Chamber hasn''t been approved. Hence, he had no choice but to wait. Still, receiving another permanent blessing was a huge boon, and he was very satisfied with this gift from Corvus. Moving on, he stored the permanent blessing of agility before grabbing the pill. Corvus remained silent to test the extent of Shye''s knowledge, however, he was fairly sure that Shye would ask him what the pill was as it wasn''t amon one at all. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Pill of Permanent Night Vision [Tier]: N/A [Rarity]: Rare [Description]: A pill that would permanently adjust one''s eyes to enhance one''s vision in the dark. Effects: One would have the same level of vision at night as one does in daylight. [Back] [Exit System] ''Fantastic pill!!'' Shye inwardly praised. He then nodded approvingly as the smile on his face grew even wider. "You¡­know what this pill is?" Corvus couldn''t help but ask. He was so sure that Shye wouldn''t know. Apparently, he still underestimated the kid! "Uhhh¡­yes, this is a Pill of Permanent Night Vision, right?" "Y-Yeah¡­so you know¡­" Shye didn''t answer as he was slightly guilty of cheating. Of course, he didn''t know what the pill was but with the help of appraisal, there was nothing he wouldn''t know. Moving on to the next item to change the topic, Shye grabbed the talisman. This time, he acted smarter. "Guild master, what talisman is this?" Upon hearing that Shye required his assistance, Corvus felt a sense of satisfaction deep within, causing him to straighten his back and exude an air of dignity. "Ahem!" The guild master cleared his throat before borating, "This is a Phantasm Talisman. When activated, it bestows numerous benefits upon the user. Firstly, it renders the user invisible. Secondly, it conceals the user''s aura, rendering them undetectable. And thirdly, it masks the user''s scent, making thempletely untraceable. In times of crisis, this talisman proves invaluable, whether facing humans or monstrous beasts." "Ahh! This would indeed be a life-saving talisman! Thank you for your generosity, Guild Master Corvus!" Shye eximed in delight as he bowed toward Corvus shortly after. "Don''t mention it. By the way, I have one more piece of good news for you. The local monastery sent me this monastery pass. Your request to use the Balkrow Blessing Chamber has finally been approved." "Oh! Thank you, guild master. I shall head over there now to use my permanent blessing scrolls." "Sure, here''s the monastery pass. Oh, and make sure to find Lunater, I believe she wants to ask you out." "O-Okay¡­" ¡­ Leaving the branch headquarters, Shye walked towards Balkrow Monastery to finally receive his permanent blessings. However, his initial excited expression was reced with a confused one. ''Ask me out? Why would Luna, the top adventurer of Raven''s de Balkrow Branch, ask me out? On what? A date? I already have a girlfriend¡­How should I reject her¡­'' While pondering about such things, Shye failed to notice that he had already arrived at the monastery. ''Sigh¡­Better not think about it too much. Maybe the guild master just failed to exin properly.'' Approaching the temrs, Shye retrieved the monastery pass from the system inventory. "Hello, I''m here to request assistance in receiving a permanent blessing." "I understand, may I please see your monastery pass?" "Here." "..." "You may enter." Nodding gratefully at the temr who didn''t make thingsplicated, Shye proceeded into the monastery. Inside, he promptly noticed and followed the arrow sign directing towards the "Blessing Chamber". After a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived. Entering the Blessing Chamber, Shye had no idea what to do, fortunately, there was a priest who was dozing off behind the counter. He didn''t want to disturb the guy''s peaceful slumber, however, he had no choice. Hence, he tried to wake the priest up as gently as possible. "U-Uhmm¡­Hello?" "AIIIH!! WHO?! ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?! HAS THE APOCALYPSE STARTED?!" The priest eximed hysterically, jumping up in utter fright. "You!! You dare prank a priest like this?! God will not bless scourges like you!!" "W-Wha? I woke you up as gently as possible though?" "Hmmph! Keep pretending, unholy man. Still, as an agent of the light, I shall give you a chance to state your¡­evil goals!" Hearing the priest''s words, Shye felt the urge to give the guy a good p to "wake him up". ''No, Shye. You must not¡­'' Suppressing his right hand from pping the crazy priest, Shye forced himself to smile. "I-I''m here to receive permanent blessings." Chapter 394: Will You Please Go Out With Me? "YOU?! SEEKING PERMANENT BLESSINGS?! BWAHAHAHAHA! YOU FOOL, DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE THE GODS WOULD GRANT PERMANENT BLESSINGS SO EASILY?! WE DON''T HAND THEM OUT FOR NOTHING. YOU MUST PROCURE THEM YOURSELF." The crazy priestughed uproariously, making it difficult for Shye to resist pping the guy''s face. ''How was this bastard a priest?!'' Shye inwardly raged. Just when he was about to speak, the priest continued: "There''s just no way the Gods would allow you to find a pe¨C?!" Not wanting to hear more of the priest''s bullshit, Shye directly took out two permanent blessings to shut the hateful bastard up once and for all. "Y-You! Where did you get those?" "None of your business. The Gods know that I obtained these through legal means. Now, will you grant me my blessings or should I report you to the archpriest?" Hearing that the archpriest would be involved if he kept yapping, the priest shut his mouth with resentment. It was evident that the guy was scared of the archpriest. Finally obtaining what he wanted, Shye nodded in satisfaction, handing the permanent blessings to the priest before walking toward the center of the blessing magic circle. With hints of a mild tantrum, the priest carried on with the procedures. The guy truly didn''t want to do this but he had no choice. He didn''t want to be on the receiving end of the archpriest''s wrath again. After a brief pause, a soft scarlet glow bathed the entire chamber, as a bear emblem, norger than a mung bean, began to materialize next to the raven emblem, symbolizing the blessing of... lesser intelligence. Following that, as soon as the bear emblem finished forming, it emitted a fleeting crimson glow before dimming, ultimately resembling nothing more than a tiny ck speck on Shye''s back. The familiar sensation of warmth then surged through Shye''s body, eliciting a soft sigh offort from him. Realizing that the ritual for the first permanent blessing had beenpleted sessfully, the frown on the crazy priest''s face deepened. Still, he didn''t dare speak as he didn''t want to be reported to the archpriest. Shye had obtained a monastery pass, after all. He had every right to be granted a blessing. After a few more minutes, the second ritual also finished, leaving a simr-sized emblem of a cheetah''s face on Shye''s back. ''Status.'' [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 223 [ss]: Mage [Subss]: Warrior === [Active Skills] [Scout Skills]: [Mana Pulse Lv.1 (Unique)] [Archer Skills] : [Swallow Step Lv.1] [Warrior Skills] : [Dash Lv.5] [Power sh Lv.5][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.4][Stoic Lv.4] [Destructive Chop Lv.4] [Rush Stab Lv.4][Lunge Pierce Lv4] [Draconian Roar Lv.3][(Dark)Fallen''s Howl Lv.3(Rare)][(Dark) Fallen''s Wings Lv.3(Rare)] [Sword Realm Lv.1 (Unique)] [Mage Skills]:[Fireball Lv.4] [Icicle Spear Lv.4] [Rock Bullets Lv.4] [Wind Slicer Lv.4] [Earthen Spikes Lv.4] [Ice Rain Lv.4] [ze Missiles Lv.4] [Aqua Barrier Lv.4(Umon)][Hydro Wall Lv.4(Umon)] [Fire Bomb Assault Lv.4(Umon)] [Frozen Thorn Barrage Lv.4(Umon)] [(Dark)Gravitational Drain Lv.3(Rare)][Recall Lv.1 (Unique)] [Priest skills]: [Physical Barrier Lv.2(Umon)] [Semi-Passive Skills]: [(Dark)Harrowing Aura Lv.2(Rare)] [de of Despair Lv.2 (Unique)] [Passive Skills]: [Dual Wield(Rare)] [Intermediate Poison Resistance Lv.1(Rare)] [Utility Skills]: [Enhance Strength Lv.1][Enhance Intelligence Lv.1][Enhance Agility Lv.1][Enhance Dexterity Lv.1][Enhance Stamina Lv.1][Enhance Vitality Lv.1][Enhance Wisdom Lv.1][Boost Lv.2(Rare)] [Fake Death Lv.2(Umon)] [System Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.3] === Talent: [Lim??(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] [Mana''s Beloved Child(Epic)] Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Blessing of Greater Strength(Permanent)] [Blessing of Agility(Permanent)] [Attributes]: [Strength: 340] [Intelligence: 300] [Agility: 325] [Dexterity: 300] [Stamina: 300] [Vitality: 300] [Wisdom: 147] [Back] [Exit System] "Haha¡­Hahahahaha!" Taking one good look at his current status, Shye couldn''t help butugh uproariously, making the annoying priest flinch and slightly panic once more. "Y-You!! Have you gone crazy!! Sh*t! This demon¡­I have to flee now!" The bastard was truly a bit too crazy. It was simply impossible to know what was going through the guy''s head. Abruptly stifling hisughter, Shye watched the priest leave with a confused face. ''What the¡­f*ck? Oh well, saves me the trouble of thanking the guy when I actually don''t want to!'' Leaving the Balkrow Monastery with a satisfied smile, Shye returned to the guild, enjoying the gazes of admirationing his way as he ascended the stairs towards the second floor''s special lounge, where Luna Gonzales, the widely recognized strongest adventurer of Raven''s de Balkrow Branch, was waiting for him. ''Ask me out¡­the heck is the guild master saying?'' Shye couldn''t help but take one deep breath before entering the special lounge to look for Luna. As he did, heads inevitably turned his way. Although most of the emeralds now looked at him with indifference, there were still quite a few who didn''t acknowledge him and didn''t like the fact that he was essing the special lounge as he pleased, despite the warnings from Corvus. Shye didn''t give a single sh*t about their displeased gazes though as he could simply p the f*ck out of most of them if they dared make a move. He had one goal: to ask Luna Gonzales why she was looking for him. She stood out like a sore thumb. Hence, Shye found her fairly easily. Approaching Luna with a slightly anxious heart, he feigned indifference upon arriving in front of her and sessfully capturing her attention. "I heard you''re looking for me?" A simple question¡­ However, it visibly incurred almost everyone''s wrath. It seemed that she was not only respected in terms of strength but also beauty. Well¡­she was undeniably attractive with her striking silver hair, well-defined physique, generous bosom, perky butt, and gorgeous facial features so Shye could understand their hostility. After all, Luna''s beauty could cause the downfall of an entire city. ''Hmmph! Why would I be scared of all of you? It''s not like I''m trying to¨C'' "Will you please go out with me?" Chapter 395 Dungeons "A-Ahh¡­Haha¡­Hahaha¡­I''m sorry, you''re attractive and all but I already have a gi¨C" Experience new stories with empire "...on a mission?" "E-Eh? Sorry, what?" "I said, will you please go out with me on a mission?" "..." "A-AHH! So that''s what you mean! Sure, sure, what''s the mission?" Heaving a sigh of relief after finally confirming that everything was indeed a misunderstanding, Shye unknowingly gave his word before even asking what the mission was. ''That damned guild master¡­saying things in a misleading way¡­'' "This is not the ce to talk. The guild master shall exin to you. Come." Decisively grabbing Shye''s wrist without giving a single sh*t about what the other emeralds would think, Luna pulled Shye towards Corvus'' office. Naturally, such an "intimate" disy made most of the emeralds gnash their teeth in utter fury. ''Why are these bastards getting angry at me?! It was her who suddenly grabbed my wrist! me her!'' *** "I assume you already agreed, Crowley?" "Y-Yes, Guild Master. However, could you please enlighten me about the details of this mission?" "..." "Ahh¡­it sure is nice to be young! Hahahaha!" Corvus "knowingly" said while looking back and forth between Shye and Luna. "W-what do you mean, Guild Master Corvus?" "What do I mean? YOU agreed to Luna without even asking for the details. What do YOU mean?" Shye felt a headacheing, however, it appeared that their darned guild master had already made up his mind that the two of them were a soon-to-be couple. Thus, Shye didn''t even bother exining, knowing that it would be futile to exin. "Sigh... May I please know the details of the mission now?" Satisfied that Shye finally "admitted" his feelings, Corvus proceeded to exin the details of the mission. "You''ve heard of dungeons, correct?" Shye nodded in agreement with Corvus. He recalled discussing dungeons during one of the premium lessons he attended at Colzen Academy. From what he knew, there were two types of dungeons: Mana Dungeons and Lord Dungeons Although both types have their respective ranks and bosses, there are quite a few differences between the two. The origin of a mana dungeon is mostly unknown except for the fact that it is formed by Adthiopia''s most primordial element: mana. However, due to its characteristics, average Mana Dungeons are generally easier to conquer than average Lord Dungeons, furthermore, although both were a threat to the world, thetter was widely recognized as the greater threat between the two. Well¡­for the low-ranked adventurers and the mundane folks, at least. Lord Dungeons were formed by variant monstrous creatures known as Lords. These beings possess remarkably elevated mana levels within their species, making them not only stronger but also smarter than their regr counterparts. What makes these "Lords" truly frightening is their natural inclination to create their own dungeons using their staggering mana reserves, and beckoning other creatures to join them as their loyal servants. In addition to this, [Lord] type creatures are typically ranked (A-) and above, making the average ranks of Lord Dungeons insanely highpared to Mana Dungeons. What renders the former more perilous than thetter is not only their higher average rank but also the fact that the monstrous inhabitants within Lord Dungeons possess the ability to freely enter and exit as they please. On the other hand, since the creatures inside Mana Dungeons were born from mana itself, they could not leave the confines of the dungeon. Also, once killed, the creatures disintegrate back into mana particles. Only, in terms of posing a threat to the world atrge, Mana Dungeons proved far more hazardous than Lord Dungeons as they siphon mana from surrounding areas, leading to the gradual deterioration of entire sub-regions if left unconquered for more than five years. Moreover, these Mana Dungeons all have different rules, and if adventurers want to try and conquer these dungeons, they have to y by its rules, otherwise, adventurers wouldn''t even be granted entry. Regardless of an adventurer''s rank, the rules of Mana Dungeons were utterly impossible to circumvent or manipte. These Mana Dungeons¡­were the root of s'' problems. The reason remained a mystery, but fifty years ago, Mana Dungeons started to manifest at a markedly elerated pacepared to the norm. As a result, the pace at which adventurers conquered these dungeons began to fall behind the rate at which they formed, leading to the world''s mana slowly drying up. At this rate, the world and its inhabitants would die. Adthiopia is currently in dire need of outstanding rookies¡ªa lot of them. Why? Because there are some "unconquerable" dungeons that would only grant entry to those below a certain age. One such renowned dungeon was the Ambrose Mana Dungeon, an (S) ranked dungeon that would only allow entry to those aged 28 and below. In addition to this, only seven people could enter every two months, making it almost impossible to conquer. Every year, the most prominent of geniuses from various regions form parties of seven talented individuals, yet, none of them had seeded, further allowing the renowned dungeon to amass strength. The Ambrose Mana Dungeon has existed for twelve years now, effectively rendering four cities uninhabitable due to their gradual withering. If nothing was done and such dungeons continued to form, the world¡­would surely die. As for Shye¡­ "Well... Luna has been designated as the leader of one of the fivepulsory dungeon-clearing squads in Balkrow City. She''s chosen you to join her team, and she''ll be the one briefing you on the mission specifics," Corvus stated firmly, with a hint of concern evident in his demeanor. "You two will be joined by five others from different guilds. While I hope for your party''s sess, my foremost wish is for both of you to return unharmed. Your livese first, understood?" "Y-Yes, guild master," Shye replied, mildly baffled about his current situation. ''Why did she choose me? There are other veterans, no?'' "Well then, if there''s nothing else, you two are dismissed. Luna will take it from here." "Uhh¡­I have a question, Guild Master Corvus." Shye suddenly asked. "What is it?" "W-What do we get if we''re the party who sessfully conquered the dungeon?" Hearing Shye''s question, Corvus smiled. "Instant promotion, fame, and rewards from the guild, of course." Chapter 396 Polva Mana Dungeon "Tch¡­Why are we with this darned rookie¡­" "I get that he''s the strongest amongst his peers but¡­isn''t he simply a liability?" "Great, there goes our chances of being the dungeon conquerors¡­" As the majestic sun hung high in the sky, seven youngsters below the age of twenty-seven marched along a well-trodden path. Two weeks have passed since Luna''s party, which Shye was a part of, left Balkrow in hopes of being the conquerors of the (A-) ranked Polva Mana Dungeon. The said dungeon, although not on the same level as the world-renowned Ambrose, was quite the troublemaker in eastern Valenzia. Polva had existed for a little over three years, and as of today, no adventurer party has managed to clear it. Consequently, three nearby towns and five poverty-stricken viges withered¡ªtheirnds dry, flora and fauna¡ªdead. Although the extent of damage was still fairly small, things were slowly heading in an unwanted direction. Polva initially began as a (B)-ranked Mana Dungeon, but now, its rank has been officially elevated to (A-) owing to the considerable amount of mana it has absorbed over the past three years. Unfortunately, due to the darned age restriction¡ªthe most hated restriction in Mana Dungeons¡ªall the youngsters who attempted to conquer the said dungeon perished without a corpse as everyone who died inside a Mana Dungeon would disintegrate into mere mana particles. Due to such tragic and rming circumstances, the nearby cities didn''t dare monopolize the dungeon anymore, swiftly sending an assistance request to the World Adventurer Association. As a response, the World Adventurer Association ordered Balkrow, along with three more cities, to send five mandatory extermination parties at least once a year¡­for now. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire Naturally, Balkrow didn''t dare disobey the WAA, otherwise, there would have been severe repercussions. ¡­" Please settle down. Crowley might not look like it but I believe he won''t be a liability to us and would instead be a boon." Luna sternly exined to the five other members she chose from other guilds. Why did she choose adventurers from other guilds? It''s quite straightforward, really. There''s simply no one else within Raven''s de Balkrow Branch who meets the dungeon criteria: being under twenty-seven years old while already capable of contending against creatures of at least (B) rank. Well¡­actually¡­there was one guy named Hoben, however, fate seemed to nudge her towards selecting Shye over the seasoned veteran, ultimately leading to his removal from the roster, as the individuals from other guilds were deemed more capable than him. Unbeknownst to her at the time, this choice would turn out to be one of the finest decisions she had ever made in her life. ¡­Meanwhile, Shye''s temper had already been ring up since the beginning. Were it not for his awareness that his easily provoked heart was once again toying with him, coupled with his consideration for the bigger picture, Shye would have likely begun to p the sh*t out of the yappers within his party. ''Why did Luna even bring these losers anyway?'' He inwardly sulked. Fortunately, his anger was momentarily swept away, reced by slightly disturbing sternness as they arrived at what seemed to be a barren wastnd. This¡­was the repercussion of an unconquered mana dungeon. If nothing changes, this dastardly ce will eventually siphon all the mana in the world. Upon realizing the importance of the mission, a change urred in the hearts of the seven youngsters. What had initially been a quest driven by the desire for personal glory and wealth transformed into a mission to contribute to the world''s survival. After a momentary silence, the seven youngsters continued trudging along the wastnd with serious expressions, finally arriving in front of an enormous cavern a few hourster. ''Polva Mana Dungeon¡­'' Looking around, Shye saw another party bearing the insignia of a different city. They had the same stern expression and no one seemed to be in the mood for squabbles orpetition. The enemy was the darned dungeon. Taking one deep breath, Luna turned around and looked at her party. "Finish your preparations, we shall enter in twenty minutes." Well¡­Shye only had one preparation to make. "Uhh¡­Luna, I''ll just go over there for a bit to¡­you know¡­" Luna was a smart woman and she immediately knew what Shye was talking about, hence, to avoid any awkwardness, she simply nodded subtly, signaling to him that he could proceed as he wished. In truth, Shye didn''t need to pee. What he nned to do was to set up a return point. It might be a little selfish as he would be leaving hisrades inside the dungeon if things went horribly wrong but¡­hey, every man for himself. He held an essential life mission close to his heart, with loved ones eagerly awaiting his return. There was simply no way he would risk his life for a senseless heroic notion, such as perishing alongsiderades he had only known for three weeks. Well¡­except for Luna, who had been unexpectedly kind to him in the past few weeks, he probably would not feel anything even if his entire party was wiped out in front of him. After all, the bastards never said one good word about him throughout their journey. His heart brimmed with nothing but discontentment towards them. ¡­Upon reaching a secluded spot, Shye looked around to check if anyone was looking. Confirming that no one gave a damn about him, Shye retrieved his ruby-tier elemental staff, aimed at the ground, and started chanting. After a few seconds, a minuscule magic circle materialized beneath the foliage¡ªnearly invisible to the naked eye. ''Great, now... all I need to do is draw some emergency long-distance teleportation magic circles within the dungeon, and I''ll have a few escape routes at the ready¡­'' Smiling satisfactorily, Shye strolled back to the party, not giving a single f*ck about the displeased gazesing his way. Scanning her eyes over her entire party, Luna Gonzales nodded. "Now that everyone is prepared, let us, the fifth dungeon extermination party of Balkrow City, venture into the depths of Polva Mana Dungeon." Chapter 397 The True Liability Standing in front of what seemed to be an azure-colored barrier made of mana, the seven youngsters subtly gulped. "I shall enter first." Luna valiantly said, bravely entering the dungeon soon after. Since the barrier was somewhat transparent, all of them, including Shye, expected to see her on the other side. However, shockingly, shepletely disappeared as though she was devoured by the azure wall blocking the dungeon''s entrance, and was transported to a different world instead. Witnessing such a mystical yet slightly eerie scene, the other five hesitated. ''Hmmph. Cowards.'' Shye inwardly snorted, decisively following Luna inside the next moment. As he walked through the azure mana wall, Shye was greeted by the dungeon''s wide pathways, high rocky ceilings, and walls that seemed to be made of blue corals. Beneath his foot were grains of white sand¡ªas fine as they could be. Surprisingly though, the dungeon''s interior was remarkably bright, and in a very pleasant way at that, giving him the sensation of being on a beach vacation instead of being on an important mission that would affect several cities, towns, and viges. ''Oh? This isn''t so bad¡­'' In front of him, Shye saw Luna already looking around, seemingly gathering as much intel as she could while waiting for the others to enter. Fortunately, the others weren''t as much of a wuss as he thought, promptly emerging behind him after a few more seconds. "Oh? What a nice vibe. I kinda like it here." "Yeah, feels like we''re on a tropical vacation, no?" While the others were admiring the dungeon''s interior, Shye turned his head and looked at the exit. An idea then entered his mind, prompting him to walk through the azure mana wall again. "Hey, rookie! Where do you think you''re going?" rudely inquired Ulfreign, the party''s scout. Shye didn''t hear the scout''s question though as he was already outside the dungeon. ''Hoh... so adventurers can enter and exit at will as long as they meet the criteria... Is it the same for all dungeons, though? There could be exceptions, so I''ll need to test it out each time in the future¡­'' Confirming that the dungeon was "rtively safe", Shye returned inside. Naturally, since he didn''t hear Ulfreign''s question, the man stared daggers at him, utterly displeased that he was ignored. As usual, though, Shye gave zero f*cks about what the man was feeling. Realizing that the situation might escte if she didn''t step in, Luna spoke: "Since everyone''s here, let''s proceed." Then, without giving anyone a chance to escte the situation, she started walking deeper into the dungeon, prompting Shye, and the five rookies with displeased hearts, to follow her. After around fifteen minutes of walking, despite not encountering any hostile creatures or other groups of adventurers, they arrived at a vast expanse of water that appeared traversable through the little stone steps connecting small inds scattered across the miniature sea. How deep was the water? None of them knew. None of them wanted to know. Momentarily stopping, to assess the situation, Luna determined that there was no other way to go than forward. "We shall cross." Hearing Luna''s words, the party members, except for Shye, inwardly grimaced. They didn''t want to cross the darned body of water as there were surely lots of creatures beneath. Furthermore, their only means of progressing to the next small ind was via a few small stone steps. It was simply way too dangerous. Well, they weren''t veterans for nothing. Although they didn''t have Shye''s unique-tier skill, mana pulse, to confirm the presence of creatures beneath the surface, their guesses proved to be correct. There were hundreds of fish-like creatures with caudal fins that seemed to have evolved, allowing the aquatic creatures to use them as legs when onnd. Meanwhile, their pectoral fins were as long as a human''s arm and were holding sharpened shells as des. Frowning upon detecting the presence of the creatures beneath, Shye watched Luna as she courageously took her first step on the miraculously floating stones. Honestly, Shye felt nothing but respect for her. She was the very definition of an excellent party leader¡ªalways leading by example. Unfortunately, the other five didn''t appreciate her headstrong ways as they were evidently not as courageous as her, prompting Shye to sneer in disdain. "Hey, aren''t you a "veteran" scout? Why don''t you check if there are hostile creatures beneath the water?" Shye bluntly said, dissatisfied with the performance of this so-called veteran scout from Hong Yun Adventurer Guild. "What did you say?! You dare tell me what to do? You damned liability!" "Heh, instead of doing your job, you''re shaking like a coward. Pathetic." After a sharp retort, Shye followed Luna''s lead and hopped onto a stone step. There were hundreds of fish-like creatures with des, and it might be hard for Luna to defend herself alone from such arge number of enemies. Hence, he swiftly ced himself in a position where he could help her. Observing Shye''s resolute actions, the remaining five members of the party feltpelled to follow and jump onto the stone steps, lest they be perceived as the cowardly individuals they truly were. ''Heh, you guys will only act when pressured by a rookie? Wusses!'' Shye inwardly thought while continuing to monitor the actions of the hostile fishes using his mana pulses. Surprisingly, the aquatic creatures didn''t jump on them as soon as all seven were on the stone steps. Shye didn''t like the current situation though, believing that the darned creatures were waiting for a more opportune time to attack. He guessed that the bastards would probably attack once they were in the middle of the stone steps, where it would be hard for them to defend themselves. ''Tch, this damned useless scout.'' Shye inwardly cursed. There was still no warning of the creatures'' existence from Ulfreign. Fortunately, Luna felt something and asked. "Ulfreign, can you check if there are creatures beneath?" "I-I''m trying but my skill won''t go through¡­" "I see¡­that''s fine. Everyone, prepare yourselves for a potential battle!" As though on cue, promptly after Luna finished warning the party, the first aquatic creature leaped out of the water, shing its shell de toward her. ''Appraisal.'' Chapter 398 Bornocs [Name]: Bornoc Tiderider [Creature Rank]: C [Description] An aquatic monster that has both decent strength and intelligence. Bornoc Tideriders rip their prey apart with their shell des before devouring them using their small yet horrifying maw. [Skills]: [(Passive) Swim Lv.5] [(Passive) Aquatic Respiration Lv.5] [Shell sh Lv.5] [Bite Lv.5] [Pounce Lv.5] [Enchant Aqua Lv.2 (Umon)] [Strength: 115] [Intelligence: 50 ] [Agility: 130] [Dexterity: 120] [Stamina: 150] [Vitality: 90]: [Wisdom: 30] [Exit System] ''Tch¡­and we have to fight more than a hundred of these?'' Shye cursed inwardly as he witnessed the creature he had just assessed being cleaved in two by Luna''s shortsword. "Brace yourselves! There''s more!" The party leader eximed. Meanwhile, two tideriders leaped out of the water close to the stone step Shye was standing on, flying straight towards him while brandishing their shell des adorned with a faint blue glow. This was their strongest skill, [Enchant Aqua Lv.2 (Umon)]. Recognizing that the adventurer party was not an easy target, the Bornocs swiftly deployed their trump cards even before leaping out of the water, seeking to enhance their odds of eliminating their targets. Unfortunately for the two tideriders, there was simply no way for them to even reach Shye as he simply obliterated both with an enormous fireball akin to a small sun. Even Shye was surprised upon seeing the astonishing capabilities of his 300-intelligence-points fireball. He didn''t have time to admire his skill for long though as five more Bornocs pounced towards him with vicious intent. ''Come then you damned fishes, I''ll destroy every single one of you!'' ¡­ "Everyone, try to move forward as you defend yourself! We can''t stay here for long!" After sessfully defending themselves for a few minutes, Luna noticed that more and more tideriders were converging on their location. If things went on, their small party would surely be overwhelmed! Naturally, Shye and the other five also realized this fact, hence, they immediately carried out Luna''s orders, advancing as fast as they could while protecting themselves. It was chaotic. Initially, only five or seven Bornoc Tideriders would spring into action at a time. However, now, at least fifteen wereunching their attacks every two seconds. Fortunately, the nearest small ind wasn''t far away. "Go! Don''t stop! Things will be easier for us once we reach the small ind!" Luna eximed, subtly slowing down her advance and moving towards the rear one step at a time. Shye was the only one who noticed her actions as the other five were too busy saving their own skins. ''This idiot¡­Why is she always sacrificing herself for others?'' In the end, though, he couldn''t resist the urge to position himself close to where he could help Luna as swiftly as possible. He simply couldn''t bear to see someone with such a valiant personality sacrifice herself for her idiotic and selfish party members. After all, the world needed more of her and less of the selfish bastards. ¡­Tired as they were, the other five sprinted like mad to reach the shores of the small ind as fast as possible. Five minutester, they finally managed to step onto the ind while Luna¡­was alone, stranded three-fourths of the way there, surrounded by dozens of Bornoc Tideriders. Shye tried his best to remain as close to her as possible but unfortunately, there were simply too many Bornocs. ''Tch, these damned fishes¡­'' Holding one greatsword in his right hand and one elemental staff in his left, Shye simultaneously supported Luna from afar while defending himself. Naturally, the party''s mage and archer, who had already safely reached the shores of the small ind, also helped Luna from afar, allowing her to slowly inch her way forward despite being swarmed by around thirty Bornocs. Luna bore numerous wounds. Although none of them were lethal, even the slightest of pain would chip away at one''s focus. Hence, things gradually got harder for Luna, fortunately, she was fast approaching the shores of the small ind. As she carefully stepped on the stones to advance toward her destination, Luna valiantly brandished her greatsword while masterfully utilizing her shield to protect herself. At this point, all of the skills that would help Luna escape her current dire situation were on cooldown, yet, she valiantly pressed on. Meanwhile, Shye was already waiting for her at thest stone step, providing much-needed assistance whenever she needed it most. She was so close¡­only three more steps. Unfortunately, a new Bornoc,rger than the tideriders, suddenly pounced from the depths of the miniature sea, heading straight towards Luna with the intent to drag her down to the sea. And since she had her back turned to the darned creature, therge Bornoc managed to grab onto her armor, pulling her down to the sea with it. ''Not good!'' Realizing that her fate would be grim should he allow Luna to be dragged onto the sea, Shye swiftly used blink and then reced the elemental staff in his hand with another greatsword. ''Power sh!'' Appearing above the Bornoc, Shye shed both greatswords down with all his might. Astonishingly, the aquatic creature was able to react, opting to momentarily let go of Luna to defend itself from Shye''s attack. Raising its enormous shell de horizontally, the huge Bornoc braced for impact. Only, it didn''t expect Shye''s attack to be oundishly strong. Adamance and Mithra effortlessly sliced through the shell de, akin to a hot knife effortlessly cutting through butter. The greatswords didn''t stop there. ck blood sttered across the sea as Shye''s greatswords continued their downward motion, sessfully cutting the enormous Bornoc in half. Meanwhile, as Luna ground her teeth in frustration, watching the sea draw nearer, a sudden intervention urred. A young man''s hand seized her wrist, propelling her back to the shore at astonishing speed. Before she even noticed, she found herself at the shores of the small ind¡ªher party members watching on with dumbstruck expressions. They didn''t look like veterans at all. Luna then realized that they were staring at something, hence, she turned her gaze in the same direction, only to witness the scene of an ashen-haired young man falling into the deep-blue waters of the miniature sea while being swarmed by Bornocs. "CROWLEY!!" Chapter 399 Fish Spa *SPLASH!* ''I need to get out of here quickly!'' Shye inwardly thought, his brain working at unimaginable speeds as he tried to think of how to instantly get out of his current sticky situation. As he pondered, Shye remained oblivious to a Bornoc Tiderider sneaking up behind him. He only became aware of the creature when it was toote to evade its biting attack. ''Crap!'' *CHOMP!* ''W-What? T-that''s it?'' Shye anticipated excruciating pain from the Tiderider''s sneak attack, but to his surprise, he experienced only a strange sense offort as the terrifying creature''s jaws chewed on his left forearm. He truly felt that he was inside an underwater spa. ''Ahh¡­who knew fish spas could be thisfortable?'' Shye inwardly thought as more Bornoc tideriders converged at his location, viciously shing and biting at him in hopes of ripping him apart¡ªakin to a school of piranhas. ''Mhmm¡­I can stay here for hours!'' As Shye enjoyed the free massage, Luna swiftly plunged back into the water, determined to rescue the neer who had once saved her from the brink of danger. She couldn''t believe that Shye would do such a thing. Despite her deep gratitude for being rescued from a perilous predicament, the thought of allowing Shye to perish for her sake weighed heavily on her heart, casting a shadow over any hope of peaceful rest for nights toe. Her heroic spirit could never ept it. *SPLASH!* Unfortunately, her hopes of saving Shye immediately shattered into a thousand pieces as soon as she opened her eyes. The ashen-haired rookie¡­was already being mauled by more than 20 tideriders and he wasn''t even moving. "CROWLEY!!!" A look of desperation emerged on her face, as though the horrifying scene in front of her triggered unpleasant memories of the past¡ªones that she fervently wished to avoid reliving or confronting ever again. Experience more content on empire However, just when she was about to swim forward to help Shye, multiple arms dragged her back to the shores of the small ind. "Luna! Don''t be stupid! He sacrificed himself for you! You can''t simply throw it away again!" "Ulfreign is right! Luna, Crowley showed us his bravery and he would live on in our hearts forever. Let us honor his sacrifice and carry on!" Ulfreign and the other party members spoke highly of Shye, however, deep inside, they were gloating at his misfortune. None of them liked him and they all thought that he was nothing but an arrogant liability. Hence, as though their thoughts were synchronized, all five promptly intervened to prevent Luna from rescuing Shye, callously carrying out their actions under the guise of honoring the neer''s supposed heroic sacrifice for the party''s greater benefit. "NO!! LET GO OF ME!! I CAN STILL SAVE HIM!! GET OFF ME!!" Luna fiercely struggled against her teammates, managing to get them off one by one through sheer will, strength, and desperation. It took her an entire two minutes before she was able to break free of their restraints. Sadly for her, the heartless bastards were just as determined to let Shye die under the overwhelming attacks of the Bornocs. "Mana vines!" "Shadow restriction!" They even went as far as to use restriction skills just to give the damned Bornocs more time to kill Shye. "You bastards!! If something happens to Crowley!!" Meanwhile, the rookie who should be dying by now was leisurely tapping away underwater. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Bornoc Tideriders! You''ve earned 200 points as a reward!] ¡­ [You have epted the quest: Hunt: Bornocs!] ¡­ [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Bornocs! You''ve earned 150 points as a reward!] ''Sigh...if only I could stay here for as long as I wanted...'' He could farm points like crazy! Unfortunately, it seemed that their heroic party leader was already going crazy so he had to at least show Luna that he was fine. Otherwise, she might throw her own life away when there was no need to. SPURT! [Congrattions¡­] Completing onest regr quest, Shye stored his greatswords back in the system''s inventory, recing them with two elemental staffs. ''Rush Stab!'' He then targeted Ulfreign''s head using one of his gap closer skills, allowing him to leap out of the water as though he was a tiderider himself. Since his target was busy trying to restrain Luna with a restriction skill, the guy didn''t notice Shye, who was flying through the air at unbelievable speeds while smiling wickedly. ''Hahaha! You bastard...I finally got an excuse to hit your ugly face...'' BONK! The sounds of cracking cheekbones resounded across the shores of the small ind as the blunt part of Shye''s elemental staffs made intimate contact with Ulfreign''s face, mercilessly destroying both his nose and his cheekbones. And since everything happened too fast, they all thought that Ulfreign was attacked by some kind of variant Bornoc, only to find out that the blur was none other than Shye, the rookie who they believed to have already perished beneath the water. "You¡­You''re still alive?!" "Oh? My bad, my bad. I was stuck in a dangerous situation so I hope you guys can understand my actions. I definitely didn''t do it on purpose..." "Ughh¡­what the f*ck was that? You! You dare hit me?! Wait¡­You''re alive?" "CROWLEY!! YOU''RE ALIVE!!" The subsequent events were quite chaotic, fortunately, the Bornocs didn''t attack them while they were unfocused. Well¡­it was more like they were bound by some sort of dungeon rules as the tideriders simply stared hatefully at the adventurer party, not daring to take one step into the ind. A few momentster, they all returned to the depths and the vast expanse of water returned to its initial calmness. No one would ever guess that a deadly battle had just taken ce. "Crowley! What happened back there?! I saw you being mauled by more than twenty of those aquatic creatures!" "A-Ahh¡­hahaha¡­well, let''s just say that their attacks were weaker than we all thought¡­" Luna, astute as she was, quickly discerned that Shye was hesitant to reveal his secrets, particrly to their... unreliable...panions who were not affiliated with their guild. Hence, despite her curiosity, she simply nodded at Shye''s answer and dropped the matter. "Thank you for saving me back there, Crowley, and well done on getting out of the water alive. Moving on, now that we''re all here, let''s venture further into the dungeon." Chapter 400 Distressing Encounter ''Hmm¡­well, there''s no other way to go but down, is there?'' Shye pondered while the entire party gazed at the fairly broad staircase leading downward. After sessfully surviving the dangerous attacks of the Bornocs from a disadvantageous position, the confidence of the entire party significantly rose. Particrly upon reflecting on how Shye had managed to still survive and escape the deadly waters despite being attacked by over twenty Bornocs, as Luna had recounted. ''If this liability could survive such a sticky situation, there''s no way that we, the veterans, couldn''t do the same! The monsters were probably weaker than they appeared!'' was the thought that resonated in the minds of Ulfreign and the other veterans. Continue your journey with empire Although they were dead wrong, the confidence boost would serve them well¡­for the first few floors of the dungeon, at least. ¡­Over the course of thest two hours, their group traversed three additional bridges constructed from stone steps, engaging in battles with more Bornocs before finally reaching the staircases. "We¡­shall descend," Luna said with determination. She wanted to clear the dungeon not only for herself but also to aid humanity in cleansing the world of these parasitic mana dungeons. If only Luna was more talented, she would be the perfect hero candidate. As they descended the staircase crafted from remarkably resilient blue corals, the party remained vignt, anticipating an attack from some form of creature, even though the stairway seemed tranquil. Fortunately, their caution was for naught as nothing assaulted them until they reached what they decided to call the dungeon''s second floor for simplicity''s sake. Looking around, the second floor didn''t look much different from the first except for the vast expanse of water that was reced by multiple wide coral caverns which served as some sort of maze. This change made five other party members silently breathe a sigh of relief. They truly hated being surrounded by water, with only a few small stone steps providing any semnce of solid ground. With this, they could at least fightfortably. The second floor, although a bit more time-consuming, could be said to be easier than the first as all they did was fight some slightly stronger species of Bornoc called Tidereapers¡ªnothing they couldn''t handle. At this point, the entire party, including Shye, feltfortable, letting their minds wander as they traversed the dungeon. The question that frequented their minds the most was: ''Where were the other adventurer parties?'' Since they were encountering lots of enemies, did that mean that the other four dungeon extermination squads of Balkrow already perished? However, it appeared improbable, as such feeble adversaries wouldn''t have been capable of annihting powerful emerald-ranked parties. ''Then where are they?'' Luna''s party continued destroying the Bornocs until they unknowingly arrived at the seventh floor, where the scenery changed. Instead of blue, the coral walls were now red. They still hadn''t encountered anyone other than monstrous creatures. "That''s it for today, we shall rest here in the seventh floor''s lobby," Luna said, retrieving her sleeping bag from her spatial bag and setting it up for a few hours of rest. Naturally, Ulfreign and the other four were pleased with Luna''s decision as they were starting to feel exhausted from clearing six floors. After a few hours of rest, they would be ready to proceed. Only, they didn''t expect that their first peaceful rest inside a dungeon would be disturbed¡­in a rather distressing manner. "Puhaahk¡­F*ck¡­F*ck!" The sounds of a human cursing weakly echoed across the scarlet walls of the seventh floor, waking the resting party of Luna up eerily. "H-Hey! Stay with us! You''re fine! You''ll be fine!" Luna eximed as she dashed towards the gravely wounded adventurer''s side, supporting her with The young woman only had a few wounds, however, they were all spine-chilling ones. Her entire left forearm seemed to have been mauled off while her left leg had a harrowing de wound, revealing the white bones beneath. And her guts¡­were slowly spilling out. It could be argued that her survival was nothing less than miraculous. "Jana! Heal her, quickly!" Luna ordered, trying her best to maintainposure. However, it was fairly evident that she wasn''t as calm as she hoped to appear. Naturally, the party''s priestess, Jana, didn''t dare dally, swiftly casting all of the healing skills she had in her arsenal toward the wounded female adventurer. The young woman was very fortunate to havee across Luna''s party as she would not havested much longer had she not. After a few minutes, her condition was finally stable. "What''s your name? What happened? And from what city are you from?" Luna continuously asked after making sure that the woman was already safe. "I-I''m Wynna, an emerald-ranked adventurer from Kerth City. We''ve been ordered by the city to exterminate this damned dungeon a-and as you can see¡­I''m¡­now alone¡­" Wynna gnashed her teeth as she forced herself to say words she didn''t want to. "I see¡­I understand that it''s hard but can you tell us what happened to your party? Preferably in detail if¡­you can¡­" "Here''s what happened¡­" The frown on the faces of Luna, Shye, and their other party members deepened upon hearing that there was a narrow cave with a moderately huge-sized Bornoc inside. The pesky creature turned out to possess both agility and strength. Moreover, it had already honed its skills in battling adventurers within the cave, which happened to be the safest route among the three paths leading to the next staircase toward the eighth floor. "I-I see¡­so that''s what happened¡­T-Then, may we ask what challenges would await us in the other two paths?" Wynna nodded, " slowly " telling everyone what was in the second and third routes. Only Shye seemed to notice that the woman was recounting her experiences at a slow pace. Yet, even he didn''t dwell on it too much, attributing it to her likely being devastated as the sole survivor of her party, assuming that was the reason for her slow storytelling. Since he didn''t like mingling with the other five, Shye was the one who camped farthest from the group, and he couldn''t understand why but Wynna seemed to be ncing guiltily at him asionally. Fortunately... or perhaps unfortunately, he didn''t have to wait long to confirm his suspicions, as the scenery in front of him abruptly changed. He¡­was automatically transported away from the party¡­ Chapter 401 What Happened To Crowley? Shye''s disappearance was easily noticed by Luna as not only did it create a noticeable sound but also briefly illuminated the entrance to the seventh floor. However, since none of them understood what happened, the entire party remained dumbstruck for a few moments before Luna reacted. "CROWLEY!!" She eximed, sprinting towards Shye''s previous location to see if there were any clues. Realizing there were none, she couldn''t help but punch the red coral walls in frustration and slight panic. Luna was someone who not only had a heroic spirit but also had high expectations for herself. Hence, despite their evident sess in the first seven floors, she believed that she was failing badly at leading the party. And now, the rookie from her guild has gone missing! A massive blunder! To make things worse, she didn''t even know what happened. Fortunately, after quickly turning around in hopes of discussing a solution with her party, she caught a glimpse of Wynna''s guilty face. "You¡­what did you do to Crowley?" Your next chapter is on empire "I-I didn''t do anything¡­Why would I do a-anything to him? I don''t even know him." "Stop lying! I saw your guilty face earlier! Speak, I shall not take it against you. I just need to know what happened to formte a n on how to reunite with him." "..." Wynna''s momentary silence essentially confirmed Luna''s suspicions that Wynna possessed knowledge they didn''t. While she might not have directly harmed Shye, she could have potentially manipted the dungeon''s rules to her benefit. "Sigh¡­so, what happened to him?" Luna asked with a sigh, forcing her distressed heart to calm down, realizing that a fiery temper wouldn''t allow her to help Shye as quickly as possible. Wynna wanted to lie again, however, she knew that her momentary silence had already given her away. Hence, she decided toe clean, hoping that the party''s leader would understand her. "F-First of all, I would like to apologize as I simply wanted to survive¡­The dungeon would allow no more than seven people grouping together." Wynna said apologetically. "I''m uncertain about the precise distance required to avoid being transported away. However, when there are more than seven people gathered together, those positioned farthest from the group, even if only by a few centimeters or millimeters, will be transported to another location on the same floor. Where exactly that is... I''m unsure." Hearing the female adventurer''s exnation, Luna fumed, thinking that her party saved a traitorous snake. "YOU!! HOW DARE YOU FORCEFULLY TAKE THE POSITION OF ONE OF OUR PARTY MEMBERS?! THIS IS YOUR WAY OF REPAYING OUR KINDNESS?!" Although she indeed favored Shye over her other party members, she would be equally furious if any of them were forcefully ced in Shye''s situation. As the leader, she would rather confront trouble herself than see any misfortune befall her party members, especially when it involved someone from her guild facing such dire circumstances. "I-I apologize! Please forgive me! I didn''t want to remain alone in this ce. I would surely die! Please, spare me! And if you can find it in your heart, take me in as your final member instead! I promise to do my best for the party! Also, I have valuable information that would help you clear the seventh floor!" Hearing Wynna''s selfish words, Luna''s anger red up even more. She simply couldn''t believe that Wynna still had the gall to ask them to take her in. "You still dare ask for our help?! I refuse! Now, will you get the hell out of my sight on your own or should I do it myself?" This time, the entire party recognized the depth of their leader''s anger. She had always been ready to sacrifice herself for any of them, but now, she was refusing to save someone. Ulfreign, Jana, and the other three had different ideas though, hence, they decided to intervene to smooth things out between Luna and Wynna. "H-Hey, Luna, she already apologized sincerely, can we at least leave it at that? She had just recovered, after all¡­" "Y-Yeah, let''s calm down and think about this logically. Can we really me her for simply wanting to live?" "I-Indeed, Jana is right. Moreover, who knows? Maybe Crowley was simply transported somewhere close to us?" Hearing the words of her party members who seemed to have already given up on Shye, favoring this neer instead, Luna was devastated. She should not have selected such bastards as her party members. This experience would hopefully teach her the valuable lesson that it''s preferable to select trustworthy members she can rely on rather than talented individuals who only prioritize themselves. However, since nothing could be done at that moment except to proceed and hope to reunite with Shye, Luna had to temporarily set aside her anger. Furious as she was, there was some logic to the words of her teammates, plus, Wynna''s knowledge would indeed prove useful in both looking for Shye and clearing the seventh floor. Thus, with a heavy heart, she ultimately allowed Wynna to stay¡­for now, at least. Meanwhile, in a different area on the seventh floor¡­ "Alright, now that I''ve prepared an emergency long-distance transportation magic circle, I can proceed¡­" Shye muttered, proceeding to move forward with vignce shortly after. Even if he left the dungeon now, no one could pin the me on him. However, he knew that dungeons had¡­treasures, hence, he decided to proceed. Who knows? He might even clear the dungeon by himself if there was a chance to do so. To be frank, Shye actually preferred this arrangement, where there was no need to deal with irritating individuals like Ulfreign, and where his actions wouldn''t be constrained by a heroic and overly responsible party leader like Luna. While it might entail a bit more risk, he didn''t mind, as remaining with multiple untrustworthy party members could potentially pose an even greater threat to his life. As the saying goes¡­uhh¡­one must not fear a strong enemy but a useless, traitorous ally! ¡­Determined to stick to the leftmost route, Shye unknowingly increased the distance between himself and his party members as the path he had chosen would ultimately lead him to the most perilous trail¡ªthe first route¡ªwhere many adventurers either turned back or met their demise. Chapter 402 Overgrown Crystalline Nope Shye''s solo journey was nothing short of spine-chillingly dangerous. He not only encounteredrge groups of Bornocs but also encountered new aquatic creatures known as Scorpterois. Although the Scorpterois shared some simrities with Bornocs in their fish-like appearance, they were distinctly different. Unlike Bornocs, which stood on two legs and could be described as fish-men, Scorpterois moved on all fours, akin to the way lions do, marking a clear contrast between the two species. Additionally, the fins, fangs, and teeth of Scorpterois were notably sharper than those of Bornocs. Furthermore, the former boasted venomous spikes along their spines, heads, and tails, setting them apart in appearance, while their skin coloration was predominantly orange with prominent white stripes, starkly different from Bornocs who had red eyes and bluish-purple fish skin. Finally, the most significant distinction lies in their fighting styles. Bornocs engaged inbat somewhat akin to a tribe of humans, whereas Scorpterois fought like untamed wild beasts. Nheless, they were all easily in by Shye, allowing him to gain a few extra points from the system''s regr quests. After traversing the harrowing pathways for a few hours alone, he eventually reached a peculiar area adorned with crimson crystals growing on the coral walls. Before himy an abyssal chasm, one that he couldn''t simply leap or fly across, even with the assistance of his wings. ''How will I cross this damned ce then?'' Shye pondered with a frown. The first route was acknowledged as the most challenging and perilous path on the seventh floor; nevertheless, it was also the most straightforward route to the eighth floor. In fact, Shye could even spot the staircases on the opposite side of the chasm; only, he had no idea how to cross over to the other side. ''There must be some way to cross¡­'' Scanning his surroundings, Shye failed to discover any bridges or even precarious footholds that he could utilize to cross the abyss. Still, he didn''t give up, continuing to search every nook and cranny of the area for an hour before sighing in disappointment. ''Should I just go back and search for another route¡­'' Just as he was about to consider turning back, Shye inadvertently cast his gaze upward towards the crimson ceiling, adorned with numerous scarlet crystals. ''Oh?'' A usible idea then suddenly dawned on him, bringing an excited smile to his face. ''How would I know if I don''t try? Fallen''s Wings!'' With a single p of his rotten mana wings, Shye grabbed onto one of the crystal growths on the ceiling, nodding appreciatively at the fact that the crystal wasn''t that hard totch on to. Then, he continued pping his wings, grabbing onto the next crimson crystal and moving forward one¡­uhh¡­one p at a time. As Shye made rapid progress, he anticipated reaching the other side soon; however, he underestimated the vastness of the abyssal chasm. Moreover, about halfway there, strong winds unexpectedly blew from the opposite side, gradually impeding his progress. ''Crap¡­at this rate¡­'' His [Fallen''s Wings] would surely time out before he could reach the other side. ''Should I turn back?'' Shye was torn, yet his body continued moving forward. He also didn''t want to stop now. ''My wings would probably dissipate when I''m three-fourths of the way¡­As for the remaining one-fourth of the distance, I shall trust myself!'' His body wasn''t weak. Slow as his progress might be once his wings time out, Shye believed he would make it to the other side. Hence, with renewed determination, he advanced as fast as he could. After all, the more distance he covered while under the safety of his wings, the quicker and safer the rest of the journey would be. Half a minuteter, his wings finally reached their limit, and as anticipated, he found himself approximately three-quarters of the way to the other side. Your next read is at empire ''Phew¡­Just a bit more¡­'' Carefully grabbing onto the nearest scarlet crystal growth, Shye continued moving forward, but this time, way slower. Because of the powerful winds, Shye''s eyes were narrowed as he peered ahead, unwilling to risk even a nce downward at the abyssal chasm beneath him. Looking in no other direction than forward, Shye realized that something¡­was crawling towards him, its massive ws resembling crystalstched deep onto the ceiling. ''T-There''s just no f*cking way!'' He inwardly cursed as slight panic crept into his heart. He was in no position to fight! ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Abyssal Roach [Creature Rank]: B [Strength: 290] [Intelligence: 70 ] [Agility: 272] [Dexterity: 190] [Stamina: ???] [Vitality: 270]: [Wisdom: 10] [Exit System] Since there was no time for him to read through the creature''s description and skills, Shye focused on its rank and its attributes instead. Then, once he was done, he swiftly closed the system interface, revealing the creature in its full hideous glory. It was a monstrous, scarlet-colored cockroach, overgrown and menacing. Its six legs were absurdly long, adorned with small crystal shards, and tipped with crystal ws, enabling it to move with unnerving ease across the ceiling. To make things worse, the creature''s attributes would surely pose quite a lot of trouble for Shye, who was barely hanging on. Soon after, the long-legged abyss roach crawled unsettlingly towards Shye, baring its long mandibles at the helpless prey who dared cross its territory. ''F*ck! F*ck! F*ck! Why didn''t I see it when I still had wings?!'' Shye cursed inwardly as he tightly gripped a crimson crystal with his left hand, while his right hand firmly held the ruby-tier elemental staff. ''Fire Bomb Assault!'' Armed with 300 points of intelligence, Shye''s ming bombs were now way stronger than they initially were. Unfortunately, the overgrown crystal roach was rather nimble for its size. Since it had already mastered fighting in its territory, as fast as Shye''s projectiles traveled, quite a lot of them were dodged by the roach, allowing only three to cleanlynd on its crystalline body. Nheless, the few thatnded caused immense damage to the roach, making it screech eerily in pain as the ming projectiles exploded squarely on its body. Witnessing the effects of his skills, hope returned to Shye''s heart. ''I can take this bastard down!'' Chapter 403 Falling Suffering considerable damage, the roach was utterly infuriated, screeching threateningly at Shye before madly crawling towards him, eager to rip him in half using its enormous and sharp mandibles. This time, it acted smarter, crawling in a zigzag as it furiously crept toward Shye. The roach''s anger-driven yet calcted evasion tactics made it increasingly difficult for Shye tond a hit. And with every missed spell, shards of crimson crystal plummeted into the abyss, devoured by the seemingly endless darkness below. Find exclusive stories on empire This realization hindered Shye from simply casting spells without consideration. Why? Because if he destroyed every crystal growth, there would be none left for him to grasp and it would be exponentially difficult to continue his journey towards the other side. ''Tch¡­still three more minutes until my wingse off cooldown¡­'' Inevitably, the roach finally reached him, poised to tear him apart. Now, he had to not only defend himself but also cling tightly to the crystal growth he was holding onto. ''Three minutes! If I can hold on for three minutes, my situation will improve!'' With gnashed teeth and unmatched determination, Shye stored the ruby-tier elemental staff back in the system''s inventory, recing it with his adamantite-tier greatsword, Adamance. Meanwhile, the roach finallyunched its first attack. Its left front leg thrust forward aggressively, attempting to seize Shye with its crystalline w tips. Naturally, Shye would never allow such a thing to happen. Waiting for the right timing, Shye narrowed his eyes into slits, then, just before the crystal ws grabbed him, he leaned his right shoulder to the side, allowing him to narrowly dodge the w. As a bonus, he was now in a position to counterattack. ''Power sh!'' Ferociously swinging Adamance downwards, green blood sttered across the air, devoured by the never-ending darkness along with the hideous creature''s entire left frontmost w. Well¡­in reality, the w merely dissipated back into mana long before it even had the chance to make contact with the abyss'' ground. Nheless, small as this triumph might be for Shye, it at least slightly impaired the Abyssal Roach''s movements. Furthermore, his fierce counterattack finally made the roach wary of him, causing it to recognize that he was not some easy prey it could simply catch and consume. Screeching angrily, the Abyssal Roach once again crawled toward Shye, but this time, its attacks were a lot morepact, allowing it to keep its remaining ws despite failing to grab Shye. Still, in the end, a monstrous creature was a monstrous creature and it would never have the same patience as a human due to its innate disdain for smaller creatures. Even though the crystalline roach was now aware of the threat he posed, the fact that it would lose never crossed its mind. For it, the prospect of devouring human flesh was merely a question of when. Especially one that was hanging helplessly from a small growth of crystal. ¡­The roach''s attacks slowly got more forceful, enabling Shye to anticipate its moves with rtive ease. Consequently, despite the crystalline creature''s efforts to strike with precision, Shye managed tond a few stabs, cuts, and shes, all the while relying solely on swinging side to side to evade. Finally, after suffering minor defeat after minor defeat, the Abyssal Roach lost all semnce of patience,unching an all-out attack by crawling even closer. If sacrificing more limbs meant defeating the skilled human before it, then it shall dly do so. Moreover, at a very close range, it would be able to attack using its mandibles¡ªthe toughest part of its body. Latching its ws deep into the ceiling at a closer range, the roach went ham, attacking continuously with all of its legs and its mandibles. Unfortunately for it, disadvantaged as the hanging human was, none of its attacks inflicted considerable damage to Shye. Everything it threw was either blocked, dodged, or parried. Its overwhelming raw strength wasn''t really doing its job either as the human easily fended off its attacks. For the first time in its life, the overgrown crystalline roach found itself in a desperate position; in its own habitat at that. Naturally, an apex predator would never allow itself to retreat from what it initially deemed a prey, hence, realizing that it was losing, the Abyssal Roach went crazy, discarding all forms of defense as it attacked with reckless abandon. ''Tch, why do monstrous creatures rage when they''re losing?! Can''t they just ept that they''re weaker? Damned sore losers¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed as he struggled to defend himself¡ªhis grip on the crystal growth slowly weakening due to the repeated shes. Realizing that nothing would happen should he stay on the defensive, Shye decided to receive some damage in exchange for dealing more. Hopefully, he could kill the darned roach without encountering any issues. As the Abyssal Roach''s elongated mandibles closed in to grasp him, Shye activated his ability, [Stoic Lv.5], to mitigate the pain. Then, with ruthless determination, he thrust his de forcefully into the creature''s forehead. Green blood spurted from the wound, almost killing the crystalline creature in one hit. Such a lethal blow to the brain should be enough to kill any creature, however, for some reason, it was still alive¡ªtruly living up to its reputation as a cockroach. Still, though alive, the Abyssal Roach''s legs stiffened up, causing its ceiling grip to loosen. The next moment, the roach found itself falling down the dark chasm. Gazing at the crystalline ceiling that had once been its home, the Abyssal Roach realized that it was toote to try and reach for its home. It never imagined that one day, the length of its long legs would not be enough. Everything was because of that darned human! ¡­Its legs would surely not be enough to reach for anything, however¡­the antennae in its head would! Even facing death today, it was determined to take down the human responsible for its demise with it! With furious determination, the roach''s antennae surged upwards, encircling Shye''s waist. And since Shye was already heaving a sigh of relief in the wake of his assumed triumph, he was caught off guard, failing to cut the crystalline yet flexible antennae as it approached. Now, they tightly bound his waist. As high as Shye''s strength attributes were, there was no way he could support his weight and that of an overgrown crystalline roach with a single arm. Hence, the ceiling... gradually receded from his view, growing further and further away. ''I''m¡­falling?'' Chapter 404 Embracing The Darkness ''No¡­there''s no way I''ll die with a damned roach¡­I refuse!! Fallen''s Wings! Fallen''s Wings!'' Realizing that he was falling into the howling abyss, Shye gnashed his teeth and clenched his left fist in defiance; meanwhile, his mind raced, striving to devise a solution. The first thing he thought of was his trusty wings that were about to go off cooldown, and although he failed to cast it the first two times, it sessfully activated on the third. ''Fallen''s Wings!'' Burdened with the crystalline roach''s weight, Shye''s rotten mana wings pped mightily, defying gravity as it brought him closer to the ceiling once more. Regrettably¡­one p wasn''t enough, and he would have to wait for one second before he could p it again. The roach tried its best to pull him down while he tried his best to fly towards the ceiling. Sadly for Shye, their efforts simply canceled each other out, and while the distance between him and the crystalline ceiling wasn''t increasing, it wasn''t decreasing either. Sure, he could keep this up for as long as the wings wouldst, however, after that, he would surely be devoured by the dark chasm. He had to think of another solution. "YOU F*CKING COCKROACH! JUST ACCEPT THAT YOU LOST TO ME AND DIE ALONE!" Shye nced downward and cursed, immediately regretting his decision to look at the spine-chilling chasm. With a cold smile, Shye attempted to cut the persistent roach''s antennae using Adamance. ''Power sh!'' He was so sure that he had already won. Unfortunately, he underestimated a cockroach''s innate toughness and persistence. Just when the des of his adamantite-tier greatsword almost made contact with its target, the antennae suddenly turned silver in color. *CLANG!* An ear-rending metallic noise echoed across the vast chasm as Shye''s greatsword finally shed with the silver antennae, only to find out that his mighty strike proved ineffective against the defenses of the roach''s feelers. "WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS NOW?!" He couldn''t help but curse. Time was running out, after all. ''Appraisal!'' Checking the Abyssal Roach''s status once more, Shye focused on its skills this time. He then noticed one particr skill that might''ve been the dastardly silver armor on the roach''s feelers. Tapping on the skill, a blue interface appeared in front of him. === [Pure Crystalline Protection(Rare)] Description: This ability covers a chosen body part in pure crystalline silver. While it can be utilized to coat the entire body, the protection is stronger when applied to smaller and thinner areas. === "TCH! THAT''S IT?! NO WEAKNESSES OR ANYTHING?" Shye cursed, evidently on edge. He didn''t want to die here as he still had lots of important things to do. He refused to die with a damned (B) ranked cockroach! Unfortunately, determination could only take him so far and he needed actual solutions toplement his defiant spirit, otherwise, his situation wouldn''t change. In the meantime, Shye continued shing at the antennae; sadly, the silver armor remained unbreakable. ¡­Just when he was at his wits'' end¡­ ''Hoh? Why am I trying so hard to climb towards the ceiling when I can simply¡­'' Realizing that another usible n had entered his mind, Shye nced downward once more and smiled coldly at the gravely wounded cockroach, sending chills down its nonexistent spine. "Fine then, you bastard. Let''s embrace the darkness together!" This time, Shye decisively pped his wings in the other direction, catching the Abyssal Roach off guard with his terrifying, wing-boosted descent. "DIE!!" Having no time to react, the roach''s brain was once again pierced by Adamance, instantly killing it. However, Shye wasn''t satisfied with simply stabbing the hideous creature''s brain, thinking that it might survive once more. Hence, to ensure its death, Shye cast one of his mage spells using a greatsword. ''Fireball!'' *BOOOM!* A huge fiery explosion urred inside the crystalline roach''s head, sting and incinerating it to mere ashes. Shortly after, the creature turned into mana particles, confirming its death. ''Phew¡­that''s one problem gone¡­'' Indeed¡­the roach was only one problem, and falling deeper into the abyssal chasm was another. Strangely though, Shye didn''t panic as he fell deeper and deeper into the abyss. In fact, his heart only grew calmer, appearing as though the chasm was his home. [Congrattions onpleting the quest: Hunt: Abyssal Roach! You''ve earned 2,500 points as a reward!] [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill: [Levitate Lv.1(Umon)] for 1000 points!] Given the depth of the chasm, Shye had plenty of time to search the system for a skill that would let him defy gravity at thest moment, even if just for a few seconds to survive the fall. Then, afternding at the bottom of the chasm, he would immediately draw a long-distance teleportation magic circle and leave the goddamned dungeon. Temporarily, at least. Once he made it out, he nned to return and leisurely search for treasures and benefits within, with the aim of clearing the dungeon in the process. This¡­was his n. Experience tales at empire ''Phew¡­ Without the permanent night vision pill the guild master rewarded me, there''s no way this n would work¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, feeling lucky and thankful that he got a gift that would help him survive in absolute darkness. Still, plummeting at such horrifying speeds was unnerving. Shye was definitely not as calm as he appeared on the surface. His eyes were solely focused on one direction: downwards. After all, he had to survive the fall first before worrying about anything else. ''Mana Pulse!'' Since his night vision was still limited by how far a human could actually see, Shye used mana pulses as an additional security measure. This allowed him to detect any creatures in the chasm, giving him time to prepare forbat before he evennded. Hopefully, there was none he couldn''t handle. However, as soon as the first pulse returned with information, his hair stood on end and his blood ran cold. There were¡­hundreds, if not thousands, of creatures of various sizes and shapes¡ªall staring at him from different nooks and crannies in the dark abyss. Chapter 405 Selachimorpha For a while, Shye was on edge, until he realized that the creatures were simply staring at him without any ill intent. The pressure he felt from them was more or less the same as that of the Abyssal Roach, meaning that they were all at least (B) ranked creatures. Hence, he couldn''t help but wonder why they didn''t take action. After all, if they lived in the chasm, it meant that they could traverse it as they pleased. Well, he wasn''t about toin. He would choose a peaceful descent over a violent one any day. ''At least I could focus onnding¡­'' Only¡­he never expected that he didn''t have to focus on nding". Why? Because there was nond. After a good five minutes of falling, Shye finally caught a glimpse of the abyssal chasm''s bottom. In ce of solid ground was¡­a vast expanse of water, and since there was no sunlight, the sea was as ck as night. Stupefied at the sudden revtion, Shye failed to activate his new skill, [Levitate Lv.1(Umon)], causing him to plunge quite deeply into the pitch-ck sea. Feeling the water''s caress, Shye opened his eyes¡ªhis heart racing wildly. This¡­was definitely a situation he would never choose to encounter. Stuck in the deep waters of a pitch-ck sea located at the bottom of an abyssal chasm, with his vision still limited despite it being enhanced by a permanent pill of night vision¡­ Even the bravest of adventurers would be unnerved upon encountering such a situation. And Shye¡­Although brave¡­could never see himself amongst the bravest. Consequently, he felt deeply distressed¡ªshaking slightly. Nevertheless, he understood that remaining paralyzed wouldn''t aid him. ''Calm down¡­for starters, let''s swim towards the surface¡­'' He thought inwardly, swimming upwards with shaky hands. Taking one deep breath, Shye activated Mana Pulse''s vignce mode. The first few pulses detected nothing,pelling Shye to swim in one direction, not knowing whether he was headed toward the correct one. Well, in this situation where he knew nothing about the ce, any direction was as good as any other. For a while, Shye''s skill detected nothing, yet, he kept on swimming¡­hoping¡­ Fortunately, it seemed that the Gods had notpletely abandoned him as after five more minutes of swimming, his mana pulse detected a tall rock with a fairly rounded tip protruding from the water. Atst, he could at least rest and think of a solution in peace! Swiftly heading towards the rock with a less distressed heart, a sudden notification rang in his head. The mana pulses¡­had detected a life form beneath, swimming toward him at horrifying speeds. ''F*CK! F*CK!! F*CK!!!'' The creature was colossal. He didn''t know what it was or what rank it was but if he failed to reach the rounded tip of the enormous rock, he might never see the light of day again! Luckily for him, the remarkable survival instincts of a human kicked in, enabling him to utilize abination of actions and skills before his mind could even process them. It was like his body moved on its own. ''Levitate!'' Floating gently out of the water, Shye retrieved some random meat from the system''s inventory. He then hurled it towards the protruding tip of the huge rock. Seeing that the meat had properlynded on top of the rock, he targeted the meat using another skill. ''Rush Stab!'' *FWOOSH!* Winds violently parted as he barely rushed out of his previous location on time, sessfully dodging the monster''s horrifying maw at thest moment. *SPLASH!!* Landing atop the rock''s tip, Shye''s eyes widened as he turned around. At his previous location was the maw of a massive shark-like creature with two sets of dorsal and pectoral fins. Its eyes were empty scarlet orbs, and its skin was protected by tough gray scales. Shye couldn''t suppress a shiver as he contemted what might have urred if he hadn''t escaped in time. Still, unnerved as he was, he still had the presence of mind to use one of the most important skills in his arsenal. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Polva Schimorpha [Creature Rank]: A- [Description] A variant of the Schimorpha species that could only be found inside ??? ??? ??? Experience exclusive tales on empire [Skills]: [Tail Swipe Lv.5] [(Passive)Swift Swim Lv.5(Umon)] [Schimorpha Armor Lv.5 (Umon)] [Devour Lv.5(Umon)] [Greater Intimidate Lv.5 (Rare)] [Strength:440] [Intelligence: 30 ] [Agility: 280] [Dexterity: 40] [Stamina: 340] [Vitality: 420]: [Wisdom: 3] [Exit System] ''Tch¡­it would be daunting to defeat this monstrosity but¡­it''s not impossible!'' Realizing that he only had a short time to prepare, Shye swiftly opened the system. ''I would probably have to fight it underwater at some point¡­hopefully not¡­'' Still, it wouldn''t hurt to be prepared for such a situation. Therefore, Shye decided to purchase a certain rare-tier consumable item that he hade across while browsing the system in his idle time. [Congrattions! You have purchased a Lazarus Capsule for 2500 points!] Purchasing two capsules that would allow him to breathe underwater for twenty-four hours, Shye swiftly navigated towards the skills section. [Congrattions! You''ve learned [(Passive) Swift Swim Lv.1(Umon)]!] [Congrattions! Your skill: [(Passive) Swift Swim Lv.1(Umon)], leveled up to >> [(Passive) Swift Swim Lv.2(Umon)] ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [(Passive) Swift Swim Lv.3(Umon)], leveled up to >> [(Passive) Swift Swim Lv.4(Umon)] ''Tch¡­this will have to do for now¡­'' Losing a total of 35,500 points to purchase consumables and upgrade a passive skill that would only help him in certain situations, Shye closed the system. He wanted to at least match the swimming skill of the darned shark, however, he needed 25,000 points to upgrade the skill to level five. Unfortunately, he only had 20,000 points left. Hence, he had no choice but to settle down for a level 4 [Swift Swim]. Plunging back into the depths of the lightless sea, the 25-meter-long Schimorpha madly swam towards him, eager to chomp him to shreds. Recognizing that the enormous shark was approaching, Shye took out both of his greatswords and assumed a battle stance atop his small, rounded rock tip fortress. ''F*ck¡­here ites¡­'' Chapter 406 Rolling In The Deep ''F-Fallen Wings!'' Realizing that he couldn''t even block the open jaws of the darned shark as it was way bigger than him, Shye had no choice but to activate his wings. *FWOOSH!* Then, with one mighty p, he easily dodged the shark''s leaping chomp attack. Falling back onto the rock tip, cold sweat streamed from Shye''s pores. This time, he clearly saw the multiple rows of teeth inside the shark''s mouth and was certain that if he ended up inside, he would be instantly torn to shreds despite his current 300 vitality points. Still, he knew that it would simply be a matter of time before he perished should he stay idle, thus, he resolved himself to slowly deal damage to the darned shark even if it meant that he would have to take a plunge back to the dark seas for a few moments after doing so. Standing atop the rounded rock tip, Shye relied on the mana pulses to track the movements of the Schimorpha. The sea was once again eerily silent. Despite knowing where his adversary was, the darkness and the silent stillness of the pitch-ck body of water gnawed at Shye''s sanity and resolve. Oh, how he wished the shark would just attack continuously instead of circling him a few times before striking again. He despised the brief serene moments of utter darkness, as they not only chipped away at his sanity but also wasted precious seconds of his mana wings. Fortunately, the Schimorpha didn''t make him wait for too long before leaping out of the water again in an attempt to swallow him whole. Facing the wide-open maws with a resolute expression, Shye pped his wings, but only enough for him to bypass the shark''s gaping jaws. Landing atop the shark, Shye struck back. ''Power sh!'' shing his greatswords downwards, Adamance and Mithra sessfully pierced through the Schimorpha''s tough scales, cutting deep into its flesh. *SPLASH!* The water violently sshed as the enormous armored shark plunged back into the water¡ªblood spurting out of the deep flesh wound Shye inflicted. Still, deep as the wound was for a human, it was nothing to the Schimorpha. Although Shye''s ferocious counteroffensive indeed hurt it, the damage it suffered was nothing close to the word lethal. To make things worse, Shye was now being caressed once more by the unnerving waters of the pitch-ck sea. He already prepared himself for such a situation though, fully knowing that he would simply die like a sitting duck if he fought too conservatively. He had to take his chances. With the help of the mana pulses, Shye was able to locate the rock tip, allowing him to swim towards it swiftly. Discover more content at empire He was quite lucky that he ended up rather close to the huge rock, otherwise, he would have been in another sticky situation. Hurriedly climbing up, Shye''s hair stood on end as he felt the spine-chilling sensation of danger behind him. Faster than he expected, the shark¡­was already on the attack again. ''Sh*t!! This bastard just had to change its attack patterns now!'' Shye inwardly cursed. Stuck in the middle of climbing the rock tip, Shye halted midway, turning his attention towards the approaching Schimorpha. Then, after waiting for the perfect moment, he blinked upwards, once againnding atop the shark. This time, he managed tond three solid hits before plunging back to the water with the Schimorpha. Unfortunately, this time, he was quite far from the rounded rock tip, and he knew that he wasn''t going to make it before the armored shark attacked him again. Hence, Shye swam towards the rock for as long as the turnaround time of the Schimorpha allowed him before turning around at thest moment to defend himself against the shark. Waiting for a few more moments as the shark approached, a primordial roar resembling those of dragons echoed across the silent sea, bringing fear into the heart of the enormous armored shark for a short period. Unfortunately, the higher the rank of the creature was, the less effective Shye''s skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.3], was. Hence, the shark was confused for only two seconds. However, that was enough for Shye to deal irreversible damage to his adversary¡ªone that would actually make the Schimorpha suffer. ''Rush Stab!'' With a vicious glint in his eyes, Shye targeted the armored shark''s left eye, causing it to thrash uncontrobly in pain as scarlet blood gushed out of its destroyed eye in rming volumes. Unfortunately, such a bold attack was sure to have repercussions. As Shye hastily retreated to his rocky haven, an enormous tail suddenly struck him from the side,unching him about a hundred meters out of the water before he plunged back in. ''U-Ughh¡­f*ck¡­that hurt¡­'' Cursing underwater, Shye realized that a few of his bones were broken. Moreover, he was now way too far from the rounded rock tip. There was no choice but to fight underwater¡­ Retrieving the Lazarus Capsule from his inventory, Shye quickly consumed it. Promptly after, the capsule''s amazing effects activated, allowing Shye to breathe underwater. Still, although his situation improved slightly, breathing underwater didn''t change the fact that he wouldn''t be as nimble as an aquatic creature underwater. He would surely still fight at a huge disadvantage. Well, at least he had a n, even though the n was way too risky. However, what else could he do? Gearing up for one final showdown, Shye decided to bet everything on his n. ''Let''s finish this¡­you damned shark. I won''t let you take my life that easily!'' As if on cue, the silhouette of the enormous shark, resembling a gigantic underwater ship, slowly came into view. Its wide-open maw revealed countless rows and columns of sharp teeth extending all the way to the back of its throat. Witnessing the horrifying sight right in front of him, Shye forced himself to calm down, and then with sheer will and determination to live, he started the execution of his grand n. Chapter 407 A Pleasant Surprise ''A little more¡­Now!'' As the shark''s enormous jaw threatened to rend him to shreds, Shye suddenly disappeared, reappearing inside the Schimorpha''s mouth using his trusty [Blink] skill. ''Crap, I need to go deeper!'' Unfortunately, he was still within range of the shark''s teeth, which extended all the way back to its throat. He had to rush further in, otherwise, he would be crushed to death. ''Dash!'' With one violent step, Shye dashed forward with all his might, instantly reappearing several meters deeper inside. However, there were still numerous teeth that could crush him to death. It seemed that two gap-closer skills were not enough¡­ To make things worse, the gigantic mouth was already closing. Furthermore, the skills that would help him navigate through this sticky situation were all on cooldown, including [Rush Stab]. Realizing he only had one short-distance repositioning skill left, Shye made a frantic dash deeper into the armored shark''s throat. ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!'' With a wildly racing heart, Shye''s legs worked hard. He was akin to an agile cheetah. However, with how enormous the mouth was, the throat seemed so far away. Still, Shye didn''t give up and continued sprinting. ''Swallow Step!'' Subsequently, just when he was about to get crushed by the modest-sized yet sharp and tough teeth, his body suddenly disappeared and reappeared a short distance away. ''Stoic! Physical Barrier!'' *BAM!* The calm sea momentarily raged as the enormous armored shark violently closed its horrifying maw in hopes of crushing the human who dared enter, and since it felt something solid touch a few of its teeth, the Schimorpha inwardly concluded that the enemy had been crushed to death. Thus, it gradually began to calm down despite its horrifying eye injury. After a few more minutes, the vast pitch-ck expanse of water returned to its eerie stillness, as though nothing ever happened, and that nothing lurked beneath. Only, the silence was short-lived as explosions urred within the eerie sea¡ªone after the other. ¡­Sessfully getting away with a mildly crushed left foot with the help of two protective skills, Shye began wreaking havoc inside the shark''s throat. Embers roared and frosty winds howled as Shye swapped both of his greatswords for elemental staffs, unleashing a barrage of spells that systematically destroyed the Schimorpha''s internal organs. Feeling sudden consecutive excruciating pains inside its body, the shark thrashed in agony. Unfortunately for it, no matter how wildly it moved or how far it swam away from the original location of their battle, there was no way for it to stop Shye''s assault. Thus, in just a single minute, the enormous armored shark was sapped of its strength due to spine-chilling internal injuries. ''This thing is still alive?'' Shye was impressed. He already used more than ten skills, yet, the darned shark was still alive. ''Damn¡­ if I hadn''t taken the risk, it would have taken me days to kill this massive beast with external wounds alone¡­ assuming I could even survive that long in the fight¡­'' Slightly shivering at the thought of what could''ve happened, Shye decided to finish the shark off as he did not want to stay inside its stinky mouth any longer. ''Gravitational Drain!'' Casting his ultimate mage skill inside the shark''s body, it was impossible for the aquatic monster to dodge, hence, in just a few seconds, the shark slowly withered to death. ''I-It should be dead¡­right? Then when''s the freaking dungeon rule going to activate?!'' The already stinky environment he was standing in just got even more stinky. Fortunately, the dungeon didn''t make him suffer too much. Shortly after the shark died, it slowly disintegrated into blue mana particles, returning Shye to the chilling sea beneath the chasm. What he didn''t expect was that a huge notification made of blue mana particles would appear in front of him. Although it somewhat resembled the system''s notification, Shye knew that it wasn''t one. [Congrattions! You have defeated the Boss of the Polva Dungeon! You will now be guided towards the dungeon''s core!] ''W-What? Y-You mean this is the boss area? And that I had to fight that thing anyway if I wanted to clear the darned dungeon?'' Shye mused in stupefaction. He was merely trying to survive after falling from ridiculous heights, and now, he''s somehow managed to clear the dungeon. ''I-I don''t think falling into the abyssal chasm was a requirement¡­there should be another way¡­'' Dumbstruck as he was, Shye was ted. The boss fight was both scary and difficult, fortunately, he managed to pull through. And now, he would be rewarded for his efforts. Eagerly anticipating the rewards from Corvus, Shye couldn''t wait to return to the city in triumph. While daydreaming about his glorious return, Shye''s attention was drawn to thin blue streams of mana extending from his location toward the horizon on his left, dragging him back to reality. ''Oh¡­right. I still have to retrieve the dungeon''s core¡­'' Swimming for who knows how long while keeping an eye out for potential threats, Shye finally arrived at what seemed to be a hidden shore that resembled an altar. At the center of the shore was a modestly sized azure sphere, emitting a soothing aura. ''Hoh¡­so this is the core of a mana dungeon¡­'' Admiring the sphere for a while, Shye stored it in the system''s inventory. ''Mana Pen!'' Shortly after, he drew a long-distance teleportation magic circle on the shore, and then, once done, he stepped inside. ''Recall!'' Opening his eyes, the scenery changed. He was now back to the familiar barrennds. *** Meanwhile, back at the eerie shores of where the dungeon core previously was, a group of seven adventurers¡ªa mix of young men and women¡ªfuriously rowed their makeshift raft, seemingly both anxious and excited. "Go! Go! Row faster! We''re close to the location of the dungeon''s core!" "Hahahaha! Dodge, we''re so d you were our party''s leader. After weeks of trying, finally, we shall return triumphantly to our city!" "Hahaha! Just a bit more and we shall seize the core without even fighting that darned shark!" "Ahhh¡­How I wish to see the disappointed faces of the adventurer parties from other cities upon realizing that they were inferior to us, the adventurers of Krevar City!" Chapter 408 Polva Mana Dungeon Cleared! "NO! NO!! NO!!!! WHO?! WHO THE FUCK ARE THEY?! WHICH ADVENTURER PARTY ARRIVED HERE FIRST?!" The leader of Krevar City''s second dungeon extermination party, Dodge Simmons, raged upon realizing that the dungeon core was nowhere to be found. Their party exhausted every resource and risked their lives multiple times, narrowly escaping the enormous jaws of the core''s guardian shark, only to discover that another party had already beaten them to it. Naturally, Dodge''s entire group was consumed with fury and disappointment. Shortly after the Krevar City adventurer party began releasing their negative emotions, the entire dungeon rumbled, and since this wasn''t Dodge''s first time in a mana dungeon, he knew what was happening. The dungeon¡­was copsing¡ªproof that its core had already been seized by others. "EVERYONE! GET READY! WE SHALL CHALLENGE THE ADVENTURER PARTY WHO STOLE THE DUNGEON CORE FROM US!" Exactly one hundred and eighty seconds after a dungeon''s core is removed from its original location, the entire dungeon will copse and vanish, expelling everything that isn''t part of it to a spot near its entrance. This rule only works for mana dungeons though, as Lord Dungeons remain intact even after the death of its Lord. ¡­Preparing to return to Balkrow City alone, Shye was surprised to see adventurers materializing out of thin air one after another, filling the barrenndscape with nearly three hundred people. The dungeon''s entrance then slowly copsed and dissipated into blue mana particles, returning every bit of mana it stole back to the area. Soon after, life returned to the barren area. Vitality returned to withered trees and the soil, which had already dried up, returned to its original loamy state, allowing both people and wildlife to live in the area once more. Of course, this transformation also took ce in the three towns and five viges whose territories had previously be uninhabitable. Observing the mesmerizing transformations unfolding around them, the frustration and disappointment in the hearts of the adventurers who had already reached the boss floor gradually subsided as they were reminded of the true significance of clearing a mana dungeon. Simply being alive and restoring life to the world was sufficient; rewards were of secondary importance. However, the extent of the restoration''s effects varied, and the closer one got to the dungeon''s core, the less ineffective the mesmerizing restoration process was. While adventurer parties like Luna''s, who were still far from conquering the dungeon, remained rtively rxed, there was one party seething with anger: Dodge''s. "May we know which party seized the dungeon''s core? We were in close proximity to its shores and find it unjust that it was taken from us so suddenly. If you still hold your honor as adventurers, let''s resolve this through a party skirmish!" Dodge eximed without hiding the fact that he was utterly furious. Well¡­even he knew that challenging an entire party for the ownership of the core was a bit too much, however, their party was so close to seizing the core that it was hard for him to simply let go. He had to at least try, mentioning the "honor of adventurers" in hopes of prompting the party who conquered the dungeon to reveal themselves. Unbeknownst to Dodge, it wasn''t an entire party that cleared the dungeon, but rather a solitary young man, who now looked at Dodge''s entire party with a shadow of a mocking smile. ''Hmm¡­Showing off here would be fine but it would only me around 300 points, not even enough to level up a single attribute¡­'' Shye mused, continuing to observe the frustrated party''s desperate actions. ''Fine¡­I''ll give you guys a chance to challenge me, however, not in such a small viewership area like this one¡­'' Seeing that no one was responding to their challenge, Dodge gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists hard for a few moments before speaking again: "Fine, we''ll get wind of your "achievements" anyway. Since you guys are not keen on revealing yourselves, we shall pay a visit to your city and challenge you there." Left with no choice but to threaten the "party" that conquered the dungeon, Dodge turned around and led his party home with a sour face. Meanwhile, Shye''s attention was captured by a loud voice with a worried undertone. "Crowley! It''s good that you managed to survive!" Luna eximed while walking hurriedly towards him. "What befell you was my responsibility. As the leader, I should have delved deeper into the dungeon''s rules. I hope you can forgive me for my oversight." After saying her apologetic piece, Luna gave Shye a profound bow, causing him to feel slightly embarrassed as he was not used to such formal conversations. "I-It''s fine. I managed to make it out in one piece anyway¡­" *** Three weekster. As the proud sun descended from its heavenly throne, the biting darkness of the night began to consume the entire world once more. Luckily, before absolute nightfall, the party of slightly dejected young adventurers was able to return to their home city. "Sigh¡­at least I''ll be able to sleep well tonight¡­" Ulfreign sighed, going his own way shortly after. Since their extermination party failed to conquer the dungeon first, all of them, except for Shye, were lost in their thoughts. Hence, some of them didn''t even say anything before splitting from the party. "Sigh¡­Again, I apologize for my shorings, Crowley. I''ll do better next time." Slightly dejected, Luna went her own way as well. Honestly speaking, Shye liked Luna''s personality; hence, he decided to share the rewards with her. As for the other bastards? They can only dream of having a share of the rewards for clearing the Polva Mana Dungeon. Walking towards the inn he usually stayed at, Shye whistled a merry tune. Then, upon arriving, he ate a quick meal in the hotel''s lobby before tucking into his luxurious hotel bed. ''Hahaha! I wonder how many of them wouldin in front of our guild after knowing the truth? Ahhh¡­I can''t wait to see their faces¡­'' Chapter 409 The One Who Conquered The Dungeon "Guild Master Corvus, Crowley requests an audience." "Tell him toe in." *CREAK* Entering the Guild Master''s office, Shye offered Corvus a profound bow. He then walked closer to his desk. "What brings you here, Crowley? If this is about the failure to conquer the dungeon, there''s no need for you to worry as the other cities had ess way earlier than we did so their chances of clearing the dungeon first were higher than ours." "Ahh¡­yes, this is about conquering the dungeon, however, before I show you something, can you please summon Luna?" "Hmm? Alright, wait over there for a bit." Crushing a short-distancemunication talisman, Corvus contacted Luna, who was silently mulling about the things that went wrong inside her first dungeon extermination mission. "Luna,e to my office." *BLEEP* Hearing the guild master''s words, a confused expression appeared on Luna''s face. She just finished her report around ten minutes ago, hence, she couldn''t fathom why Corvus would summon her again. Walking towards Corvus'' office, Luna arrived around two minutester, easily noticing that someone was waiting at the side. She then nodded customarily at Shye before walking closer to the guild master''s desk. "Greetings, guild master. May I know why you summoned me?" "Ah, indeed. I apologize for not providing a clear exnation earlier. Nheless, it was not my intention to summon you here, but rather his." Corvus replied as he turned his head towards Shye. "Crowley? Why?" Now, Luna was utterly confused. She couldn''t think of a single reason why Shye would look for her. ''I already apologized to him and he also told me to not mind the matter of him being separated from the party due to that witch¡­'' She didn''t have to think for long though as Shye walked and stood beside her; then, facing the guild master, the ashen-haired rookie took out something that made both her and Corvus'' eyes almost pop out of their sockets. "C-Crowley¡­you¡­" "Yes, Guild Master. I''m the one who cleared the dungeon." For a while, Corvus and Luna couldn''t speak¡ªtheir mouths slightly agape. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 2 points!] Observing their reactions, Shye smiled inwardly in sheer satisfaction. He then spoke again to rify his intentions: "However, I want to make it clear that I would like for the rewards to only be split between me and Luna. I trust she can attest that I acquired the dungeon core independently, without assistance from the bastards from other guilds. Also, they didn''t like me as a party member and I didn''t like them as well so I wouldn''t allow them to obtain anything from the fruits of mybor." Hearing Shye''s words, Corvus almost burst outughing. ''This young rascal is certainly not someone who would allow others to take advantage of him, especially those who got on his bad side.'' The guild master mused. Meanwhile, Luna was still shocked; however, such an arrangement didn''t sit right with her, thus she would naturally speak her mind. "C-Crowley, I appreciate the thought. However, I don''t feel I deserve a share. You can take everything, as I would find it hard to ept such an unearned reward..." Luna said, slightly bowing towards Shye and Corvus with an uneasy expression before swiftly leaving the office without turning back. Naturally, Shye, who was all too happy to receive the freebiesing his way, would never understand Luna''s decision. "You heard her," Corvus said with a helpless shrug, making Shye recognize just how stubborn Luna could be. "C-Can''t she just at least ept the instant promotion?" "I''ll try to convince her one more time. If she still doesn''t ept, just let her be. She''s the type who stubbornly lives by her own set of values." Nodding helplessly, Shye gave the mana dungeon core to Corvus. The guild master stared at the core for a while before shifting his attention towards Shye once more. "So¡­will you¡­uhh¡­tell me how you managed to clear the dungeon alone?" "Ahh¡­hahaha...well, I fell from a height and luckily stumbled upon the core¡­hahaha¡­" "Sigh... so you don''t want to tell me, huh? That''s fine. Well then, you''re dismissed for now. However, refrain from taking any quests for a while. The city lord will likely summon you in a few days. Here, take thismunication talisman; I''ll contact you when you''re summoned." *** "Haaah¡­Haaahh¡­" Three days passed since Shye gave Corvus the dungeon core. Unfortunately, there was still no word from his guild master. Seira also embarked on a solo quest, thus, he decided to train his reflexes while waiting. After all, the opponents he would face would have increasingly higher attributes, and if he didn''t train his reaction time, he would struggle to respond effectively to their attacks. "That''s enough training for today¡­" Offering a slight bow to the training center''s staff member, Shye left the establishment. A few momentster¡­ "Crowley,e to the city square tomorrow at 10 AM. City Lord Felix wants to hold a ceremony for your outstanding achievement." "I understand, Guild Master Corvus." *BLEEP!* It was evident that the branch guild master wasn''t fond of empty talk, however, Shye preferred for things to be this way. After all, what would he talk about with a middle-aged man in his fifties? ''A ceremony huh¡­'' Shye mused with an excited smile, daydreaming about the points he would earn. ''Well, better sleep early tonight!'' ¡­Meanwhile, in Krevar City, a group of young adventurers gathered at the Krevar City Square. "Hmmph! So it was adventurers from Balkrow, the sneaky bastards!" "They didn''t even have the guts to admit it in front of us! Surely, they''re scared!" Discover stories with empire "Indeed. Dodge, when will we set out to reim what was rightfully ours?" "Tomorrow, we shall head towards Balkrow City!" Naturally, Shye, who was merrily walking toward the inn, somewhat expected Dodge''s party to pay him a visit. However, what he didn''t anticipate was that upon entering a dark alley¡ªa regr shortcut to the inn¡ªfive familiar faces would be waiting for him. "Well, well, if it isn''t the lucky bastard. Now, will you give us a share of the rewards you obtained through sheer luck or should we end your life right here, right now?" Chapter 410 Slaughtering Five Emeralds Seeing the familiar faces of Ulfreign and the others in front of him, Shye simply sneered in disdain. Not a trace of fear crossed his face. Naturally, the five enraged adventurers felt their anger intensify when they realized that Shye Crowley, the arrogant Balkrow Rookie Representative, wasn''t scared of them whatsoever. "Hmph! I''ve already activated a recording crystal to document your attempt to kill me. Plus, Guild Master Corvus gave me a life force talisman. You won''t get away unscathed if you go through with your n, so why should I be afraid of your bluff?!" Shye eximed with a confident smirk. His chances of killing the damned bastards were way higher than their chances of killing him, hence, he was truly not scared of this encounter. The only thing he truly feared was the consequences ofmitting murder within the city. This was why he pretended to rely on the life force talisman Corvus gave him to deter Ulfreign and the others from attacking. Of course, he knew that the life force talisman and the recording crystal wouldn''t be enough to stop the bozos from attacking; however, he didn''t care as his primary goal was to provoke them into revealing their true intentions. Once he gathered proof that he was merely defending himself, he would ughter all five of them. Sure enough, since Ulfreign and the others were already veterans with more than five years of experience, they never once thought that some upstart rookie would be able to defeat them. "Haha¡­Hahahaha! Do you think we''re idiots? Naturally, we already know that you have a life force talisman, and we''ve already made preparations to deal with it after your death. As for your recording crystal¡­hahahahaha! Who would show the world how we killed you once you''re dead?!" Ulfreign replied with a sinister smile. Hearing what the "assassins" just said, Shye aimed the recording crystal at his face, feigning a horrified expression before deactivating it. *BLEEP!* "Aaand, that''s a wrap! Good job, idiots. Now, I can ughter all of you without any worry!" Shye eximed with a sinister smile of his own. Experience tales at empire Naturally, Ulfreign and the other four couldn''t help but scoff in disdain after hearing Shye''s words. "It appears that this rookie still doesn''t understand his situation." "Hahaha! What else can you expect from an ignorant yet arrogant neer? He still thinks the world is all rainbows and butterflies!" The "assassins" kept on yapping, however, Shye wasn''t in the mood to retort as there weren''t really any gains in doing so. After all, how could he show off in such a secluded alley? Thus, he decided to end the fight swiftly. ''Sword Realm!'' As the familiar purple world with 439 ck swords rotating above emerged from Shye''s feet, all five assassins were caught in its grip. This sent chills down the spines of Volker, the mage, and Jana, the priestess, as they realized they could no longer use their mana. Meanwhile, Ulfreign and the archer, though slightly uneasy, could still rely on skills that used stamina as a catalyst and were faring better than the spellcasters. As for the warrior, he felt his strength surge and actually relished the situation, causing his confidence to soar even higher. "Hahahaha! You idiot, so this realm favors warriors, huh? Unfortunately for you, I''m a wa¨C" *SPURT!* Before the warrior could even finish his words, his head was already spinning in the air,nding a few meters in front of Ulfreign and the others. His headless body convulsed as it copsed to the ground. "Why the hell would I care about a weakling like you?" Shye coldly sneered before shifting his attention towards the other four. "H-Hiiih!" Ulfreign and the others couldn''t help but let out a horrified squeal after witnessing how easily Shye killed someone on the same level as them. They were stupid¡­but not that stupid, hence, they immediately realized the situation they were in. "Y-You!! You were concealing your strength! I warn you, if you dare to kill us within the city, your reputation as an adventurer will be destroyed, and you''ll forever bear the title of a murderer!" Ulfreign threatened while slowly stepping away. "Hahaha! Correct, I''m always hiding my strength so I can easily defend myself from idiots like you. Also, regarding my reputation¡­you might have forgotten that I have this." Channeling mana into the recording crystal, the scene where Ulfreign confessed their intent to ruthlessly kill Shye yed back, causing the remaining four to shiver in utter terror. "Y-You nned this! You evil bastard!" "Hahahaha! Why are you acting all crazy, you stupid f*ck? Why would I n to kill insignificant insects? I was simply returning to the inn I frequent and you guys appeared out of nowhere in hopes of assassinating me. Now, upon realizing that I can simply ughter all of you easily, you scream victim? Laughable!" "I don''t care! You! You nned all o¨C" "Please! Spare me! I''ll do anything for you!" Just when Ulfreign was about to retort, a desperate voice suddenly sounded beside him, causing everyone to turn their heads toward its source. Jana, the priestess, finally couldn''t stand it anymore¡­ "Jana¡­you¡­" "HAHAHAHAHA! Phew¡­You guys are killing me. Please, in your next life, don''t start trouble you''re not ready to finish." Losing interest in conversing with the spineless cowards, Shye drenched the dark alley in scarlet blood, ughtering the five emerald-ranked adventurers without batting an eyelid. Shortly after, he deactivated the sword realm. ''Tch... no matter what I do, this mess will be discovered...'' Shye inwardly cursed. ''Oh, well, I have proof that everything I did was self-defense anyway¡­'' Deciding to not think too much about it, Shye swiftly drew a long-distance teleportation magic circle that would allow him to instantly return to his room at the inn. He then burned the corpses to ashes with a single fireball, illuminating the dark alley in a vermillion light before swiftly stepping inside the magic circle. ''Recall!'' Recognizing the familiar interiors of his room at the inn, Shye breathed a sigh of relief, snapping his fingers to instantly erase the magic circle drawing back at the dark alley. ''Sigh¡­I really need a reliable method to temporarily hide corpses¡­'' Hemented, fully knowing that simr things would continue to happen for as long as he continued to show off. Fortunately for him, although a few people noticed the vermillion light in the dark alley, they were all ordinary folks who couldn''tprehend what had happened even after pondering for a while. Once the mes died down, all they saw was the charred ground. And since nothing else was damaged, they quickly lost interest and decided not to report the strange urrence to the authorities, leaving the scene while scratching their heads. Chapter 411 To A Prosperous Future! As the golden sun slowly rose from the horizon, its rays shone upon the eyelids of a certain ashen-haired young man, waking him up from his peaceful slumber. Stretching his arms while yawning, one would never think that Shye had just killed five people the previous night. He was getting toofortable ughtering people¡ª a bit concerning, however, Shye didn''t notice since in his mind, he was simply defending himself¡ªwhich was true. Lazily getting out of bed, Shye entered the bathroom and took a quick bath. He then wore his pristine white mage robes, appearing extremely dashing and schrly ''Hmm¡­looking fine today, Shye Crowley!'' Shye inwardly thought, admiring his current appearance for a few moments before exiting his room. Subsequently, he grabbed a hearty breakfast at the inn''s canteen, heading towards the city square shortly after with a smile on his face. ''Ahhh¡­what a nice day to receive everyone''s admiration!'' ¡­Exactly one hourter, fireworks exploded in the skies, improving Balkrow City''s atmosphere from that of a normal day into one of eventful exuberance. Due to this, people¡ªboth adventurers and mundane folks¡ªnaturally gathered in the city square to check what was up, filling its vast center with tens of thousands. Realizing that he had such a¡­huge source of points, Shye couldn''t help but smile. Momentster, City Lord Felix finally ascended the stage, sessfully capturing everyone''s attention with his dignified appearance thatmanded respect from all. "Everyone, I know many of you are puzzled by this sudden festivity, yet you still took the time to attend. For that, I extend my heartfelt gratitude." Felix said with a slight bow, continuing soon after: "This ceremony will be short as its purpose is to honor one of our beloved city''s adventurers for clearing an (A-) ranked mana dungeon that had remained unconquered for more than three years." "Contrary to what everyone might expect, this young man managed to clear the dungeon alone after being separated from one of the five mandatory extermination parties our city sent. The leader of his original party has confirmed this." Hearing the city lord''s words, the mundane folks and ordinary adventurers immediately whispered amongst themselves, specting on who the young man might be. Although the current top-ranked adventurer in Balkrow, Leon Gray, was known for his monster-hunting capabilities, it was impossible for him to be the one who cleared the dungeon because of two reasons. Firstly, he was the leader of the first extermination party, and since City Lord Felix stated that the young man who cleared the dungeon was a mere party member who got separated from his party, the dungeon conqueror couldn''t be Leon Gray. Secondly, although Leon was strong, everyone¡­doubted that he could aplish such a feat alone. Thus, they couldn''t help but wonder who the crouching tiger was. Observing everyone''s reactions, Felix inwardly smiled. Naturally, he wouldn''t sell the achievements of his city''s adventurers short. After giving ample time for everyone to effectively specte, the city lord spoke once more: "My beloved citizens, you don''t have to keep guessing. He''s a well-known adventurer in our city and I''m sure that most of you already know him and that he needs no further introduction. Everyone, please give a round of apuse for none other than Balkrow''s Rookie Representative, Shye Crowley!" Hearing the name "Shye Crowley", everyone was confused. Their brains simply failed toprehend the situation, causing them to doubt their ears. After all, how could the rookie, Shye Crowley, be mentioned in the same sentence as solo clearing an (A-) ranked dungeon? Thus, the crowd remained stupefied for a long time, requiring a nudge from City Lord Felix before they were able to make sense of what happened. "Ahem! Everyone, I understand it is hard to ept that our rookie representative cleared the dungeon when hundreds, if not thousands, of veterans, have failed over the past three years. However, to put it simply, Crowley is someone who likes to conceal his true strength, which is likely on par with, if not greater than, the top ten veteran adventurers in our city." Obtaining confirmation from the city lord that what they initially heard was correct, the citizens'' eyes and mouths widened in astonishment. Momentster, thunderous cheers erupted, echoing towards the azure skies¡ªa celebration unlike any Balkrow had ever experienced. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 125,681 points!] ''H-Holy crap!'' Shye expected to earn a lot of points today, however, more than a hundred thousand for simply showing up? What a delightful way to start his day! With this, he could acquire a few skills he realized he needed after battling the dastardly armored shark. Meanwhile, City Lord Felix watched his citizens celebrate with a faint smile dropping yet another bombshell of a news mere secondster. "Bringing such honor to our beloved city, it is only fitting that we reward him appropriately for his achievements." Felix said, scanning his eyes over the crowd for a brief moment before continuing: "While I cannot reveal the exact rewards that the city and Raven''s de will bestow upon him, we will be making one of them public." "And that reward is¡­promotion! After discussing this matter with Guild Master Corvus, we figured that it would be inappropriate and disadvantageous for someone of Shye Crowley''s talents to remain a ruby-ranked adventurer." "Early and absurd as it might seem, we truly believe that Crowley is ready for the big stage. Therefore, he will not only be promoted to the rank of emerald but also be transferred to the Raven''s de Main Headquarters in Valenzia City, where he will proudly wear our city''s badge, representing both the city and its citizens on the region''s main stage." "With such a talented representative, our city is sure to prosper!" After a brief pause, Felix picked up the wine ss from the table beside him. "Naturally, this asion calls for a celebration. The city has prepared food and beverages for everyone, so please eat and drink to your heart''s content! Cheers to a prosperous future!" Chapter 412 Catching Up An entire week had passed since Shye received the promotion, however, the transfer to Valenzia would only happen three months from now. Thus, he had ample time to make preparations. Moreover, he was waiting¡­ ''Haaah¡­When will that midget return? Also, when will my challengers arrive?'' Shye sighed as hezed around at the guild''s special lounge. This time, no one dared clown around in front of him. Why? Well, two days ago, Luna challenged him to a duel in hopes of gauging his true abilities. Initially, despite his recent mind-boggling achievement, everyone was skeptical if he could win against Luna. It wasn''t a matter of stupidity but rather, their imaginations couldn''t keep up. They found it hard to imagine her losing, as even the top five adventurers in Balkrow struggled to defeat her in one-on-one duels. Moreover, she reigned as the strongest Raven''s de adventurer in Balkrow for two and a half years now. And in that period, no one even came close to dethroning her. This was why everyone was in disbelief when they saw Luna kneeling on the ground, panting in exhaustion, without havingnded a single clean hit on Shye. It was their first time witnessing their queen so helpless. Her defeat was inevitable though, as all of her warrior attributes were inferior by around thirty to forty pointspared to Shye''s base attributes. And when he equipped his greatswords, the gap widened even further. It wasn''t even a match. Thus, Shye became the undisputed king of adventurers in Raven''s de Balkrow Branch. Naturally, after such an unreal disy of abilities, not a single one of his guildmates would dare sh*t around in front of him again, finally allowing him to have some peace inside the cozy lounge. A week ofzing around while waiting wasn''t his style though, so he quickly became bored. Luckily, one of his sources of amusement returnedter that day. ¡­"BOSS!!" Seira''s loud voice¡ªevidently excited¡ªsounded outside the lounge. It seemed they had plenty to talk about, even though they had only been apart for a month and a half. Chuckling in amusement, Shye stood up and exited the lounge. "You''ve been out on this third solo quest of yours for more than two weeks so I thought you weren''ting back ever!" "Hmmph! Who do you think I am? I''m the great Seira! How would I be defeated by mere monstrous creatures?!" The two joked around as they descended the stairs. "Say, how about we eat at my favorite seafood restaurant? You better treat me this time!" Shye said, not expecting Seira to agree so readily. "Oh? Sure! But in exchange, you have to tell me everything that happened during your first dungeon extermination mission, okay? Without missing any details, you hear me?" "Fine, you''re in for another shock this time!" Exiting the branch headquarters, the duo walked towards Shye''s favorite seafood restaurant, giving Seira ample time to recount the tales of her bravery. Her proudest moment was when she fought and defeated a (B-) ranked monstrous creature called a Hellfire Scorpion. She almost lost her life in the process but through sheer willpower and determination toe out of the encounter alive, she managed to win, allowing her to enter the ranks of the elites amongst ruby-ranked adventurers. A great first step towards bing a well-respected emerald-ranked adventurer. Naturally, she continuously thanked Shye for all his help throughout her stories, giving him credit for everything she had aplished so far. Before they knew it, they were already at the restaurant. "And that concludes the tales of Seira the Great. NYAHAHAHAHA! What do you think, boss? Are you impressed?" "Hahahaha, yeah, I didn''t expect that you would be able to aplish such feats! I admit that I''ve underestimated you." "HAHAHAHAHA! That''s what I like to hear!" Entering the restaurant, the two of them momentarily stopped chatting to order food, resuming once they were done. "So, boss, how about you tell me what happened to your first dungeon extermination mission?" "Heh, listen closely, here''s what happened¡­" Since he trusted Seira, he told her everything that urred during the mission without missing a single detail. He described falling into the water full of Bornocs and howfortable their massage was, his sudden separation from the party, his ceiling battle against a huge crystalline cockroach, falling into an endless abyss and ending up in a pitch-ck ocean where he fought and barely defeated an enormous armored shark, and finally, how he managed to retrieve the dungeon core alone. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1 point!] "H-HOLY SHIT!! BOSS!! YOU''RE A F*CKING LEGEND!!" "S-SHH! You idiot! Lower your voice!" "O-Oh, sorry, your story was just a bit too epic." If anyone else heard his story, they would simply sneer in disdain and mock him for being full of crap. However, Seira knew her boss'' capabilities, and that he was someone who never had to lie about his achievements. Thus, she immediately believed his story, further solidifying his invincible image in her heart. "Surely the city gave you rewards, right? What did you get?" This time, Shye couldn''t help but stay silent for a few seconds. ''Sigh¡­it''s finally time to tell her, huh?'' "Well, they promoted me to emerald." "And? That''s it? Surely you deserve a lot more after solving a problem no one has been able to for the past three years, no?" "Yeah, they also promised to give me a box containing all of my rewards, though, I don''t know when the guild master would hand it to me. Last but not least, I¡­will be transferred to the main branch in Valenzia City three months from now¡­" Hearing Shye''s words, Seira fell silent. Then, a few momentster, she reacted in a way Shye never expected her to. "HOLY CRAP!!! You''re absolutely unstoppable, boss! I mean, who else could have the skills and achievements to be rmended to the main branch after just eight months of professional adventuring experience?!" There wasn''t even a hint of sadness on her face, only pure excitement. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 413 I Can Even Fight All Of You At Once! ''Guess I was worried for nothing.'' Shye thought, delighted that Seira didn''t take his news negatively. He knew she had some kind of problem she wasn''t ready to share, and he wasn''t sure if his promotion to the main branch would crush her hopes of resolving her issues. ''Judging from her reaction¡­I guess not?'' He pondered, staring deeply at Seira who was bbering her heart out, singing his praises. Still, he realized that it wasn''t wise to assume. ''It might be rude but¡­it might be for the best if I simply ask her.'' "S-Say, Seira. You told me before that you needed to be promoted as quickly as possible to the main branch, correct?" Hearing Shye''s words, the "enthusiastic" Seira momentarily flinched. "A-Ahh¡­hahaha, yeah but don''t worry about it, boss! With the huge boost you gave me, my odds of aplishing my goals are higher than ever. I''ll make sure to see you again in Valenzia City so just remain legendary, okay? You better not disappoint me!!" Naturally, despite her tough and cheerful words, Shye knew she was suppressing her emotions, as she had been very considerate since the beginning of their friendship. He understood that Seira didn''t want to burden him with her problems, which wasmendable. However, in Shye''s opinion, sometimes, it would be better to just ask for help. "Seira, I''m serious, you can at least tell me about your problem, you know? Also, don''t worry about my career as I''m already way ahead of my expected progress. I can at least spare a few months to help a friend in need." Hearing Shye''s words, tears finally streamed down Seira''s cheeks However, she quickly wiped it off, feeling embarrassed about crying in a public ce. "Aha¡­hahaha¡­sorry, boss. Give me a few moments." Naturally, Shye would give her all the time she needed to reorganize her thoughts and emotions. The slightly heavy atmosphere lightened as the delectable foods they had ordered¡ªlobsters, crabs, shrimp, scallops, and more¡ªarrived, filling the air with heavenly aromas that tantalized their senses. *GROWL~* Shortly after, someone''s stomach finally couldn''t take it. "Hahahaha! Boss, you sure love seafood. Let''s eat, I shall tell you my problem while eating." And so, she did. As the duo devoured the dishes with unmatched gusto, Seira gradually shared with Shye the story of her father''s death, the curse that befell her family, how long her mother and brother had left to live, and the possible solution¡ªShye''s expression growing heavier as the story progressed. "Hmm¡­I see, so that''s why you have to be promoted to the main headquarters as soon as possible." Shye said with a pondering look, seemingly deep in thought. Witnessing her boss'' current expression, Seira quickly spoke again. "B-But don''t worry, boss! Like I said, all the help you gave me already boosted my chances of seeding tremendously, so you don''t have to go out of your way, really!" "Hmm¡­There are still three months before I leave so how about we grind as many guild contribution points as we can while I''m still here? After that, the rest is up to you." "Boss¡­I will never forget this favor for as long as I live!" ***n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Naturally, Shye was nning to give her all the guild contribution points in the next two months. The mary rewards would all go to him though as he needed to save up as many silver coins as he could. After all, the cost of living in Valenzia City was astronomically high. Also, he nned to kill as many creatures as possible to grind for system points, intending to deliver all the killing blows himself. ¡­Leaving the restaurant with satisfied ptes and lighter hearts, the duo nned to immediately grind quests. However, upon returning to the branch headquarters, they saw the backs of seven people standing in front of the guild entrance with stern and angry expressions. In front of them stood Luna and a few other emerald-ranked adventurers from Raven''s de, apparently blocking the mad seven from rudely entering the guild without permission. Shye knew who these people were: the adventurers from Krevar City who almost conquered the Polva Mana Dungeon. ''Hahahaha! The angry idiots finally showed up!'' He had long been waiting for Dodge''s party to arrive since they would be a huge source of points. Naturally, Shye nned to make this matter blow up. ¡­"Hmmph, you dare call yourselves the conquerors of an (A-) ranked dungeon when you don''t even have the guts to fight another party in a skirmish? Laughable!" "I already told you, didn''t I? The one who conquered the dungeon currently isn''t here." "Ha! I say he''s simply hiding from us!" Recognizing the prime chance to make an appearance, Shye spoke in a loud, arrogant voice. "What''s going on here? Why are you blocking my way? Will you move or should I make you move?" Hearing the sudden disdainful voice behind them, the entire party subconsciously turned their heads. "Huh? And who the hell are you?" Seira was about to speak to introduce the invincible legend of Balkrow, however, this time, she was one step slower than another party member¡ªa talented bootlicker of an emerald standing behind Luna. "Hahahaha! We told you, didn''t we?! You guys should''ve left with whatever meager reputation you had! Now, it''s toote for you guys to do so. I rmend that you prepare your faces for the face-pping of a lifetime!" "Hahahahaha! Indeed, you shouldn''t havee here, you idiots! You''re just inviting humiliation upon yourselves!" "Hahahaha! Crowley could probably defeat all of you at once!" Hearing the words of their guildmates, Seira was stupefied. She couldn''t help but sneakily whisper: "Boss, what happened to these guys? Why did they suddenly have a change of heart?" "Heh, I forgot to tell you but I defeated Luna in a duel a few days ago." [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1 point!] "WHAT?! WHY DIDN''T YOU TELL ME?!" Discover hidden tales at empire Unfortunately, Shye couldn''t answer Seira as Dodge''s infuriated voice sounded first. "Good, good, good. So you''re Shye Crowley? The sneaky bastard who stole the dungeon core from us¡­" "Huh? What the hell are you saying? It''s not like the dungeon core was yours to begin with. I got it first so it''s mine, you moron." Dodge wanted to expose Shye as he simply did not believe that a rookie, no matter how talented, could clear the dungeon alone. He didn''t know how Shye managed to bypass the enormous shark lurking in the depths of the pitch-ck sea, but he was sure that the ashen-haired bastard could never have defeated it. "Heh, fine. However, do you dare prove you''re stronger than us?" "Hahahahaha!" "Heh, what? You can onlyugh because you don''t dare? Trash like you does not deser¨C" "Sure, I can even fight all of you at once if you want!" Chapter 414 Pre-Match Negotiations "Hey, brother, why is everyone so excited so early in the morning?" "Oh, I guess you still don''t know. Here''s what happened¡­" As the majestic sun slowly rose from its slumber, a festive atmosphere enveloped Balkrow City. Yesterday, at around dusk, rumors started to circte that a party of emerald-ranked adventurers from Krevar City stormed the doors of Raven''s de Adventurer Guild in hopes of challenging the one who conquered the (A-) ranked Polva Mana Dungeon, Shye Crowley. "Holy sh*t! So he would be fighting a bunch of emerald-ranked adventurers today?! Now that is something I want to see!" Unfortunately, since the rumors started to circte Balkrow City a bit toote, there were lots of people who just learned of what happened in front of Shye''s guild the next morning. Turns out, it was a great decision that he scheduled the "skirmish" at around 10 AM at the Balkrow Arena, giving ample time for the citizens to learn of such exciting news. Unfortunately, there wasn''t enough time to set up bets, however, as long as many attended to watch his battle against the Krevar City adventurers, Shye would be satisfied. Moreover, he could set up individual bets and basically rob the seven idiots clean in broad daylight after defeating them. ¡­Meanwhile, the Krevar City adventurers were currently eating breakfast at a local restaurant, evidently in sour moods. "Fight against all of us at once? What an arrogant twerp!" "Heh, fine then, let''s see how you fight against all of us at once!" All the citizens knew was that Shye would fight Dodge and his group, but they were unaware that the battle format would be one versus seven. Even Luna wanted Shye to reconsider the format of the match as she found it hard to believe that Shye would be able to defeat all of them alone despite losing to him badly. "Dodge, how about we beat the bastard half to death in front of the Balkrow spectators? Hahaha!" "I agree, such idiots need to be taught a lesson. What better way to teach him than humiliate him in front of tens of thousands?" "Heh, I believe the guy is somewhat of a celebrity in Balkrow right now. Imagine what would happen to his reputation if we destroyed him." All of them daydreamed of humiliating Shye in public, yet, hriously, none of them were talking about ns on how they would defeat him, including Dodge. None of the seven even thought of the other possibility as they didn''t believe they would lose to a rookie like Shye despite learning of his recent achievements¡ªa severe case of delusionalism. Inevitably, father time ever so slightly crept forward, and the moment for the showdown finally arrived. "H-Hey, look. Those seven are the adventurers from Krevar City." "D-Damn. They look tough. Will Crowley be able to handle them?" "My mind tells me that it would be impossible for him, however, looking back, all of his achievements had been nothing short of miraculous." "Yeah¡­It''s kinda hard for me to simply count Crowley out¡­" Dodge and his party heard the hubbub of the mundane folks and the low-ranked adventurers. Naturally, they were displeased. These idiotic citizens think that there was a chance of them losing to some upstart rookie who was simply a bit more talented than others. Delusional! Just before entering the arena, Dodge and his party were drawn to the loud voice of a young woman. "Boss! Over here!" "Oh? Hahaha! Seira, you''re always early for this kind of thing." "Of course, if I arrivete, I might miss everything! "You''ll surely miss everything if you arrivete, midget. After all, this stupid boss of yours will get destroyed in the first ten seconds of the match." Hearing Dodge''s familiar voice, Shye''s eyes narrowed into slits. A shadow of a smile then crept onto the corners of his mouth. The bastards finally arrived. "Heh, you talk too much for a loser. How about you put your money where your mouth is?" The adventurers from Krevar simply couldn''t stand Shye, especially when he''s talking like he''s some tough guy. "Fine, fine. It seems that you still don''t understand what is about to happen to you. I don''t me you, after all, you''re nothing but an upstart who had been lucky throughout his entire journey." Dodge said with an obviously forced calm front. "What do you want to bet? Make sure that it''s worth our time." The Krevar party leader''s words sounded like some sort of celestial melody to Shye''s ears, bringing a wide smile of satisfaction to his face. "Simple, good old money." "Heh, and how much could an upstart like you even cough up?" Stay updated via empire "Oh, not much, only 6,000 gold coins, what do you say? There''s seven of you, no? Each of you only has to pay 857 gold coins each even if you guys lose! Not a bad deal, right?" This time, it was Dodge who narrowed his eyes. 857 gold coins¡­not a huge sum of money for them but it wasn''t small either. "Fine, but that bet is too small for veterans like us. How about this: if we win, we get the dungeon clear rewards. You can keep the petty achievement for yourself, but the rewards go to us." "Oh, not a bad deal, however, wouldn''t I be at a disadvantage with such a bet? After all, I would only obtain 6,000 gold coins even if I won while you guys would obtain 6,000 gold coins plus the dungeon rewards." At this point, more and more citizens gathered around them¡ªexcitement written all over their faces. Witnessing how his tongue was as sharp as that of a veteran, Shye Crowley, their city''s rookie representative, was bing more and more likable in the citizen''s eyes. "Hmmph! It''s not like you have a chance of defeating us, but to ensure the match proceeds and you don''t bluff your way out, we''ll give you 10,000 gold coins if you win. Sounds fair?" "Hohoho! Brave! Adventurers from Krevar City are brave, don''t you think, Seira?" "Hahahahaha!! That''s right, boss. Since they''re so brave, let''s raise the stakes: 7,000 gold coins plus the dungeon clear rewards from our side, and you guys put up 11,000 gold coins if you lose. I''m betting on my boss''s victory!"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Chapter 415 One Versus Seven "Yawn... G-Good day,dies and gentlemen! Allow me to introduce myself once more. I''m Corey, your emergencymentator for today! Please excuse my appearance¡ªI had no idea a sudden event would be happening at the arena." Corey eximed with as much energy as he could muster, despite having woken up just fifteen minutes ago. He was having the best dream of his life¡ªa wild one where he finally bedded the woman of his dreams when suddenly, he was urgently woken up by one of the city lord''s aides.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om A tragic end to a mythical, once-in-a-millenium dream. Honestly speaking, Corey initially didn''t harbor any positive feelings towards this event; however, upon realizing how spicy it was, his passion immediately erased the negative feelings in his heart. His respect for Shye Crowley only burgeoned. This event might be short, but it would surely affect Balkrow City''s reputation, proven by the fact that the city lord hastily made arrangements to make the event as huge as possible. It seemed that City Lord Felix trusted his city''s rookie representative very much, favoring his victory despite facing seasoned veterans from other cities. Naturally, Shye was pleasantly surprised upon finding out that Corey, Balkrow''s officialmentator, would be hosting the makeshift event he asked one of his overly enthusiastic guildmates to organize. He truly appreciated City Lord Felix''s full support. Meanwhile, the party from Krevar City couldn''t help but feel uneasy inside their assigned preparation room upon realizing that even Balkrow City''s officialmentator had been summoned to host what was supposed to be an event that would make both the city''s citizens and adventurers anxious, blowing it up to the point of bing a short city event. Dodge had even resolved to fight the top-ranked adventurer of Balkrow, Leon Gray, after easily defeating Shye, expecting the man to be summoned to retrieve even a bit of the city''s reputation after his party decimated it to pieces. Hence, Balkrow City''s actions truly gnawed at their nerves. It was as though the city lord fully believed that Shye, despite being a rookie, would win against them. High and mighty as he was, Dodge dared not underestimate the wits of those appointed as city lords by the World Adventurer Association. This indicated one thing clearly: there was more to Shye Crowley than meets the eye. Realizing that he and his party members now felt nervous, Dodge promptly stood up and gave them a little pep talk: "Heh, look at these idiots, believing that some upstart would beat us. Imagining myself in his situation, there''s no way in hell I would be able to win so how could some rookie pull such a miracle off? Even if he''s actually slightly stronger than me, which should be impossible, he still wouldn''t be able to win!" Hearing their party leader''s words, confidence returned in the hearts of the Krevar City adventurers. Indeed, even if the loathsome Shye Crowley was slightly stronger than them individually, which was already highly unlikely since he was but a mere first-year rookie, he would still not be able to win against seven of them at the same time. A rookie being way stronger than them? Hahahahaha! Laughable!...right? "Everyone from Krevar, it''s time for the match." A Balkrow Arena staff said promptly after opening the preparation room''s door. Exiting the preparation room under the arena employee''s lead, the cohort from Krevar City arrived at the stage area, where the mes of rage once again burned in their hearts. The damned arena event organizer even dared to set up introductions wherein they would be the ones who will be introduced first, making them appear as though they were insignificant challengers when they were the seasoned veterans. They were simply being disrespected! However, what could they do? They were away from their city, and they had no choice but to go through with whatever Balkrow''s arrangements were. ''Just you wait, you bastards¡­I''ll ruthlessly humiliate your city today!'' Dodge inwardly fumed while feigning a calm and confident exterior. Unfortunately, it appeared the entire city was determined to infuriate them, with even the crowd jeering as they ascended the stage. What made them utterly hate the entire city was the fact that the event organizer gave the crowd ample time to continue with their jeers. "What utter bias!" Dodge finally couldn''t help but exim in indignation. If he had the strength and option to, he would definitely raze the hateful city to the ground. A few momentster, their opponent was finally introduced¡­in the most annoying way possible. "Ascending from the left side of the stage, Balkrow''s rookie representative and the one who rightfully cleared the (A-) ranked Polva Mana Dungeon, a dungeon that not even the Krevar City adventurers were able to conquer, let us all wee, Shye Crowley from Raven''s de Adventurer Guild!!" The bastard was even waving at the crowd, sporting a wide smile that betrayed no hint of nervousness. ''You fucking arrogant twerp¡­we''ll show you¡­'' Their chest was about to explode in utter frustration; fortunately, Corey didn''t make them wait any longer. "Now, let the one-versus-seven match begin!" Enjoy new chapters from empire Promptly after the match began, a realm of purple and ck swords erupted from beneath Shye''s feet, rapidly extending and engulfing both him and the Krevar Seven. Shortly after, rotten, ckish-transparent mana wings emerged from his back followed by a blood-curdling howl resembling those of ancient demons, sending shivers down the spine of the Krevar City''s adventurers. "D-Dodge, I can''t use my mana!" "Me too! What in the world is this skill?!" While Dodge''s party members were panicking, the crowd watched the match unfold with a dumbstruck expression as a single thought resonated in their minds: ''Why the fuck was the battle format a one-versus-seven?!'' They at least hoped for an exnation; however, they didn''t want to miss the action. Thus, they temporarily set aside the questions in their heart and focused on watching the match. "Everyone, stay calm! There are seven of us and only one of him. I believe he can''t use mana inside the purple realm, so this is a perfect opportunity to train your subsses. Draw your melee weapons, and let''s attack him together!" Chapter 416 Boss Shye is Mighty! "C-Crowley unleashes his trump cards at the beginning of the match! P-Pardon my surprise, but this is the first time I''m witnessing him go all out if this is even his full strength!" Corey''s loud and passionate voice woke everyone up.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Indeed, Shye had a reputation for toying with his opponents for a while before destroying them in the end. Hence, watching him go all out right from the start was¡­kinda sick. It seemed that he didn''t want to give his opponents a chance. Although the Balkrow crowd had already witnessed the power of his trump cards individually, seeing them used together made Shye appear like an invincible demon lord, with the Krevar adventurers seeming like mere mortals who had dared to step into his demonic domain¡ªmere fish on a chopping board. The apprehensive expressions on their faces made Shye look even more dominant. Retrieving Adamance and Mithra from the system''s inventory, Shye felt the familiar warm sensation course through his body, tremendously boosting his attributes. Subsequently, he swapped out his schrly mage outfit with his¡­now outdated warrior armor set. ''Ughh¡­I really need to gather materials and ask Meido for a whole set soon¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, unsatisfied upon realizing that showing off would be better if he had some sort of shy and powerful armor. The crowd had different opinions though. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 43,090 points!] ''W-Well, if this was enough to impress everyone then good enough for now, I guess¡­'' Unbeknownst to Shye, the sequence of his transformation was nothing short of immacte, allowing him to capture the hearts of the crowd. At that moment, it was as though he was the transforming superhero everyone dreamt of seeing when they were still kids. "Tch, showing off won''t help you," Dodge murmured in anger and a hint of jealousy, dashing straight towards Shye with his ive the next moment. He then brandished his weapon vertically downwards in an attempt to lure Shye into blocking his initial attack, allowing his teammates, who were also rushing right behind him, to get into position and ruthlessly rip Shye apart. Dodge was the typical strength and agility type warrior so he was fairly confident in his ability to win head-on shes. Against a rookie? There was no way he would be inferior¡­right? Unfortunately, he found out the next moment how wrong he was as Shye also decided to charge forward instead of defending. Your next journey awaits at empire He then swung the greatsword in his left hand, Mithra, outwards to blow the ive away before activating a skill. ''des of Despair!'' A dark purple aura began to shroud the des of Adamance, making it appear extremely menacing in the eyes of the approaching adventurers. Shortly after, before Dodge could even recover his bnce, Shye stabbed Adamance towards Dodge''s throat. "NO!!" "Dodge!!" Although they were fighting within the confines of the blue dome, Dodge would never have thought that he would be eliminated after just one attack. Shye''s transition from easily blowing his attack away to ruthlessly stabbing him in the neck was simply too fast, making it impossible for Dodge to evade the blow; hence, Adamance spine-chillingly stabbed the Krevar party leader squarely in the neck. Shockingly, instead of turning into an azure light, he simply felt most of his energy leaving his body, causing him to copse onto the ground. Witnessing the harrowing turn of events, Dodge''s party members couldn''t help but stop charging. They truly thought Dodge was done for. Well¡­in a way, he was already done. Such a clean, lethal blow would naturally sap almost all of Dodge''s energy as the des of despair would suck a portion of one''s mana and stamina depending on the extent of damage the attack would have done. And since a neck stab would''ve immediately killed Dodge, the des of despair sucked out 99% of both his mana and stamina, leaving him helplessly crawling on the ground. Stepping on Dodge''s head, Shye mocked in a soft voice that only his fallen adversary could hear: "Hahahaha! if I didn''t hold back, you''d be dead by now. However, for the sake of the event, I shall give you another chance." Naturally, the party leader from Krevar City felt rage boiling in his heart after hearing Shye''s words, however, a hint of fear also crept its way inside without Dodge noticing. "D-Dodge is fine, let''s help him!" Realizing that their party leader and psychological pir somehow seemed to be alive, the other six swiftly continued dashing forward in hopes of saving Dodge before the darned ashen-haired rookie dealt the killing blow. Luckily for them, Shye didn''t have ns on finishing the party leader off¡­for now, at least. Upon noticing the movements of the other six, a great idea popped up in his mind; then, the next moment, he immediately acted on it. Drawing his right foot behind him, Shye delivered a forceful kick to Dodge''s head, propelling him uncontrobly toward three of hispanions, colliding with them like a bowling ball hitting its targets head-on. Then, with a mighty p of his mana wings, he turned into a blur that was headed straight towards the remaining three. Extending his arms sidewards, Shye mmed them at the neck of two adventurers before headbutting thest one. As a result, all seven were blown backward, barely stabilizing their footing at the edge of the arena. Witnessing such a spectacr scene wherein their hometown hero sent all of his opponents flying almost simultaneously, the crowd roared in excitement. Especially enthusiastic was Seira, who had been supporting Shye ever since he barely began his career as an adventurer. "UWOOOOOGHHH!!! BOSS SHYE IS MIGHTY!!" Naturally, upon hearing her passionate roar, the others around her couldn''t help themselves, echoing her sentiments as though they were Shye''s underlings themselves. "B-BOSS SHYE IS MIGHTY!!" Even Corey stood with his mouth agape in astonishment. He initially believed that a one versus seven would be a bit of a stretch even for an (A-) ranked lone dungeon conqueror. Who would''ve thought that such a mind-boggling scene would ur instead of Shye struggling to fend off all seven emerald-ranked adventurers? Chapter 417 Caught Off Guard [Congrattions! You''ve earned 60,000 points!] ''Sigh¡­if not for the arena''s 60,000 people limit, I probably would''ve earned a lot more¡­'' Contrary to what people expected, Shye had the actual gall to feel slightly downcast due to his "meager" point earnings, not realizing that his greed¡­was slowly growing to unwanted levels. Naturally, he wouldn''t show his dissatisfaction to the excited crowd as it might dampen their lively mood; instead, he raised his right arm in a triumphant pose, prompting the crowd to cheer even louder. "H-Hey, Dodge, can you stand?" "I-I feel weak, swarm him and give me a bit of time to recover¡­" "Alright!" This time, the Krevar party was truly panicking. Their leader was down and the maneuvers of the rookie didn''t look like those of a rookie at all. Moreover, the bastard just sent all of them flying at the same time, causing their morale to drop to an all-time low. Despite their attempts to feign calmness and focus, it was quite evident that their hearts were shaken. Shye wasn''t done showing off though; hence, they still had a chance. Acting upon the downed Dodge''s orders, all six once again charged toward the Balkrow rookie with swords and daggers in their hands¡ªtheir bodies, slightly bruised from the earlier collision. This time, Shye didn''t charge like before, assuming a defensive stance instead. The veteran adventurers of Balkrow who were watching frowned at his passive decision. Clearly, it would be smarter for one to take the initiative rather than to hold one''s ground in the middle of six adventurers who could work well together. ''Sigh¡­in the end, he''s still a rookie'' Unbeknownst to them, it didn''t matter what stance Shye chose, he was simply doing this for the showmanship. ¡­Since Shye decided to allow the six Krevar adventurers to surround him, it appeared as though his inexperience would cost him the match. However, as soon as the battle began, the crowd realized that their assumptions were wrong. Activating the des of despair on only Adamance, Shye used Mithra to parry and block the attack of the Krevar adventurers¡­fairly easily, thanks to the overwhelming attribute gap. Moreover, most of his training sessions were to enhance his reaction time; hence, even though it looked like Shye was in a sticky situation, the truth was, that he wasn''t having a hard time at all. Initially, he suffered from a few light grazes here and there due to the sheer number of attacksing his way; however, as time went by, Shye was gradually able to adapt and sneak a few counterattacks using Adamance. As a result, the adventurers from Krevar City got weaker and weaker¡ªtheir little anxious hearts, beating faster and faster. They¡­were losing. "D-Dodge! We need assistance!" Luckily for them, their leader finally recovered enough for him to join the fight. "Step aside! I''ll fight him head-on! You guys attack him from all directions once he''s preupied." Hearing their n, Shye merely sneered in disdain. ''Heh, let''s see how you execute your n then!'' "Die, arrogant rookie!" Dodge eximed as he charged straight towards Shye at unbelievable speeds with the help of his [Dash] skill¡ªan opening sequence he regretted not using at the start of the one versus seven match. If he hadn''t underestimated Shye, they would''ve been in a better position now.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret and they would have to fight through this situation, and all Dodge could do was try to salvage the situation even when that meant dying at the hands of the damned rookie from Balkrow. Brandishing his ive diagonally downwards, the initial battle sequence reyed once more, wherein Shye simply swatted his ive away using Mithra before stabbing Adamance in his throat. This time, though, Dodge was ready to die for the sake of victory. "Now! Those who can, use your ultimate skills!" the Krevar party leader eximed, forcing himself to charge forward and receive the neck stab willingly. As he did, Dodge cked out in exhaustion; however, his body fell forward due to the momentum of his charge, pinning Shye''s body under his. ''Tch, so this was his goal huh? Lame. A n that would only work inside the blue dome.'' Shye inwardly sneered. The next moment, rm bells rang in his head, notifying him of the approaching danger. Three out of the six adventurers finally used their ultimate skills in hopes of ying him. ''Time to stop ying around, I guess¡­'' As two rare-tier skills and one unique-tier skill approached him, Shye swiftly kicked Dodge''s unconscious body away, then, with one mighty p of his expiring wings, Shye managed to dodge the two rare skills. Unfortunately, the individual with a unique-tier ultimate skill in his arsenal knew better than to waste it on mere overkill. Instead, the guy patiently waited for Shye to dodge the rare-tier skills before swiftly pursuing and catching up to him. Find your next read at empire As a result, he managed to catch Shye off guard. "Look out, Crowley!!" Turning his head, Shye finally noticed the attacking from his left side. ''Sh*t, I can''t dodge this one¡­Stoic!'' "DIE!! ROOKIE!!" Swinging his sword towards Shye, the party member named Tom released two enormous crescent moon shes that formed an X. At such a point-nk range, it was impossible for Shye to dodge. Witnessing how the enormous sh marks made contact with Shye''s body, the excited crowd clutched their heads in horror. They¡­wouldn''t be humiliated in their own city, would they? The crowd didn''t want to believe it, but who, especially a mere rookie, could survive after being cleanly hit by such a destructive skill? Why, a rookie with 300 points in vitality and a 70% physical damage reduction skill, of course! Suffering from nothing but light bruises, Shye emerged from the devastation. Naturally, Tom would never have expected the darned rookie to survive his ultimate skill, let alone have enough strength to counterattack. The next thing he knew, someone was already grabbing him by his neck. Even the brains of those watchinggged behind the happenings; Thus, upon realizing that the battle was not over yet and that their hometown rookie hero, Shye Crowley, was still alive and well, the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 60,000 points!] Chapter 418 Another Pleasant Discovery "S-SHYE CROWLEY EMERGES UNSCATHED!!" Corey eximed in utter disbelief. He saw with his own two eyes how Shye ate the attack head-on, and all it did was give him a few insignificant bruises?! ''Is Shye Crowley even human?!'' was the question that resonated in the minds of Corey and the adventurers from Krevar City. Meanwhile, a certain someone in the crowd started acting high and mighty, as though she was Shye Crowley herself. "Hah! I knew it. How could my boss be taken out that easily? Did you guys forget? He''s invincible!" Hearing Seira''s words that echoed across the arena as though she spoke through a microphone, Shye couldn''t help but chuckle. "Hahaha, hear that? I''m indeed invincible and you guys should never havee here." "Bullshit! I don''t believe y¨C..." "Then don''t" Before Tom could even finish his words, Shye already destroyed his throat, transforming him into an azure ray of light that shot out of the blue dome. With Dodge unconscious, only five remain¡ªfive adventurers who were starting to regret their decision to storm Balkrow City. They could''ve simply epted that someone conquered the dungeon faster than them. But now, not only did they lose the dungeon rewards, but they would also lose their reputation and a sizable chunk of their coin reserves. Even though they were renowned adventurers in Krevar City, once news spread that a rookie from Balkrow had defeated them in a one-on-seven match, they would lose all respect in their city. If such a thing happened, their careers were doomed to end up in mediocrity. They cannot lose! Fortunately, the purple world of the sword realm finally timed out, bringing back hope to the hearts of the five remaining adventurers from Krevar City. Switching back to their original gear, the five took up their basic hunting positions: scouts and warriors in front, with archers, priests, and mages behind. Without them noticing, they already treated Shye as though he was a high-ranked monstrous creature. Well, who could me them? After all, his performance was like that of a high-ranked monstrous creature. "Ken, let''s create a diversion for the backliners!" "Got it, Greg!" The scout named Ken and the warrior named Greg charged forth, one attacking from the left and the other, from the right. Recognizing the intentions of the two, the archer named Lina immediately started firing mana arrows while the priest and the mage began chanting spells. For a moment, things looked good for the Krevar party. Only for a moment though, as in the next, Shye disappeared from his current location, reappearing behind the priest with the help of two repositioning skills, [Dash] and [Blink]. Consequently, the priest, who was casting spells from the safest position, was caught off guard and killed by a single full-powered p to the left side of his face. He then seized both the mage and the archer in one swift move, grabbing them by their necks from behind. "LINA! ARMAN!" Greg eximed in utter shock and disbelief. They couldn''t even protect their backline. "S-S-SHYE CROWLEY SEIZES TWO EMERALD-RANKED ADVENTURERS AS THOUGH THEY WERE HELPLESS CHILDREN! HOW?! HOW COULD A ROOKIE BE THIS STRONG?!" At this point, Corey was wide awake. Why wouldn''t he, when a rookie with only eight months of professional adventuring was overpowering seasoned emerald-ranked adventurers right before his eyes? Moreover, these adventurers weren''t some random emeralds. They were all in the top fifty of their city''s rankings with Dodge ranking at third. For Shye to destroy them alone¡­made Corey, City Lord Felix, and the other emerald-ranked adventurers realize that Shye was a one-in-a-million-year genius who would not only be able to make waves in their region but probably the entire world. Such a thought made everyone shiver in excitement. They wanted to see how far Shye could go! As for the match¡­it was approaching its end. Ruthlessly mming the faces of the mage and the archer to the ground, the two remaining backliners died and were transported out of the blue dome, leaving only two men: one warrior and one scout with shattered morale, onstage. ''Time to try something out!'' Shye thought as he charged towards his two remaining opponents, killing them both with a single swing of his [Power sh]-empowered greatswords. Now, only an unconscious Dodge remained. Grabbing the fallen party leader by the neck, Shye returned both greatswords to the system''s inventory. ''Gravitational Drain!'' He then used his current ultimate mage skill, [Gravitational Drain], through his hands in hopes of trying something out. If his guess was correct, he would gain another life- and money-saving skill. Shortly after, a spine-chilling scenario happened onstage.N?v(el)B\\jnn Dodge slowly withered while the bruises on Shye''s body¡­slowly healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. Had it not been for the Krevar party leader''s strikingly decaying appearance, people might have noticed that his lightly bruised body had fully healed by now. Stay updated via empire "T-THE MATCH IS OVER!! SHYE CROWLEY, OUR BELOVED CITY''S ROOKIE REPRESENTATIVE, SUCCESSFULLY BRINGS HONOR TO BALKROW BY MIND-BOGGLINGLY TAKING OUT SEVEN EMERALD-RANKED ADVENTURERS ALONE!! I SIMPLY CAN''T SEE THE LIMIT OF THIS YOUNG MAN! NEVER HAVE I SEEN SUCH A TALENTED PERSON! WILL HE BE OUR REGION''S VERY FIRST HERO?!" Overwhelmed by passion, saliva flew everywhere as Corey announced the end of the match while praising Shye to the high heavens, allowing those who weren''t as perceptive to realize the young man''s true potential. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 60,000 points!] Indeed, at the legendary rate he was going, Shye would probably be one of the region''s heroes, if not the first! Unbeknownst to him, Shye acquired genuine, loyal fans¡ªthose willing to go the extra mile to monitor his ascent to prominence from a distance, gathering specific news rted to him despite his status as a rtive unknown. Well¡­Currently, Shye doesn''t care about such things. Maybe in the future but for now, his happiness stemmed from the fact that he could use gravitational drain to absorb life force from others, allowing him to heal himself. Although such usage sounded like something that would only be done by demons, as long as he wielded the skill responsibly, others wouldn''t view him as an evil viin... probably¡­ Chapter 419 Varsals "WOOHOOO!! MY BOSS IS TRULY THE BEST!" Seira eximed in utter delight as she watched Shye descend the stage. Then, realizing that she also had her share in the winnings, the purple-haired midget excitedly stood up and rushed towards the stage. "AND THAT''S THAT, FOLKS! A HUGE WIN FOR BALKROW CITY! AS FOR THE CHALLENGERS FROM KREVAR CITY, IT WAS A NICE ATTEMPT SO LET''S GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE." Corey''s words indeed elicited a round of apuse from the crowd; however, their cheers had mocking undertones. Hence, the already ashamed party from Krevar City had no choice but to exit the arena with a heavily humiliated heart. Oh, how they wish they could burn the darned city to the ground. Unfortunately, they were mere adventurers, and they had no choice but to take this shameful loss despite how unwilling they were. "Hahahaha! Nice try! But don''te back here ever again. Save yourselves the shame as you guys would forever remain inferior to adventurers from Balkrow! Muwahahahaha!" ¡­Just when the Krevar party was about to leave the gates of the arena, one overly enthusiastic onlooker shouted something that served as the final straw that broke the camel''s back for Greg, one of the seven adventurers from Krevar City who had¡­another identity. Seeing nothing but red after being overwhelmed by the rage in his heart, the young adventurer from Krevar suddenly sprinted back to the center of the arena like some crazy person. Understandably, Dodge and the others were perplexed by his actions, causing them to turn their heads towards their teammate, worry growing in their hearts. Greg¡­looked undeniably crazy at that moment. Shortly after, the Krevar party''s concerns were validated when Greg unexpectedly removed his armor and shirt, exposing his muscr physique that also revealed a red seal of a horned owl on the left side of his chest. He then pressed his right palm at the seal and started injecting mana into it. "VARSALS!!" City Lord Felix stood up from his seat as he eximed in shock and deep wariness, recognizing the seal on the young man''s chest immediately. "Men! stop that young man this instant! He''s going to blow himself and this entire arena up!" Hearing the city lord''s words, the arena guards and a few of the emerald-ranked adventurers who were in the position to try and stop Greg immediately dashed towards him, including Shye, whose first impulse was to p the f*ck out of the crazy young man. And since he was the fastest out of everyone who rushed towards Greg, his pnded solidly, rearranging the face of the young man to one side and sending him flying across the arena. Shockingly, although the p knocked Greg out, his palm remained glued to the seal, continuously supplying mana to it. Witnessing this sight, Shye slightly panicked. ''Fallen''s Wings!'' Summoning his pair of rotten mana wings, Shye arrived beside the unconscious Greg in one mighty p, swiftly grabbing his wrist in an attempt to remove the hand from the seal. *CRACK!* Only, Shye didn''t expect that even with more than 300 points of strength, he would be unable to remove the hand from the horned owl seal. All his pull did was break Greg''s forearms, yet, the palm and the seal remained in contact. This time, Shye couldn''t help but panic. If the madman detonated as City Lord Felix described, it would impact 60,000 Balkrow citizens, with 40,000 potentially dying instantly. He needed toe up with a solution quickly, especially given the increasingly bright azure glow on Greg''s body! Fortunately, his 300 points on intelligence weren''t just for show as soon after, a feasible idea entered his mind. "You can explode all you want¡­" Shye eximed while grabbing Greg''s broken forearm. He then pped his wings powerfully,unching him atop the tall arena walls; and with another p, he flew high in the sky. "...but don''t do it here! You sore loser!!" Just before Greg exploded, Shye used every bit of his strength to hurl the bastard as high as possible skywards. Then, a few momentster¡­n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om *BOOM!* A devastating mana explosion urred in the air, painting the heavenly canvas in mixed hues of azure and scarlet, eliciting horrified screams from the onlookers. Shortly after, droplets of blood and small body parts rained upon the crowd, causing the faint-hearted ones to vomit with a few outright passing out. Meanwhile, City Lord Felix and Guild Master Corvus had their mouths agape, seemingly finding it difficult to rte apetition between adventurers to a terrorist group attack. "Phew¡­that crazy bastard¡­" Everyone snapped out of their stupor upon hearing someone''s sigh of relief, specifically, Shye''s. Turning their heads, they saw him shing a thumbs up and a smile at them as though saying: "Don''t worry guys, I got you!" Soon after realizing what just happened, they erupted into ear-splitting cheers and thunderous apuse, waking up those who passed out in the process. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 60,002 points!] ''Ohoh? Acting like some hero sure pays off!'' Experience exclusive tales on empire "H-Holy sh*t! Boss! You were so cool! What a sm¨C" "Crowley! Well done! Come to my office, I have something to discuss with you in addition to bestowing you some rewards from the city''s treasury. While Seira was in the middle of praising her boss to the high heavens, her words were abruptly cut off by City Lord Felix. However, how could she dare crap around in front of the city lord? She could only keep the slight discontentment in her heart. As for Shye, his ears perked up upon hearing that he would obtain additional rewards for his heroic deeds. He naturally felt happy about it. Yet, he couldn''t help but wonder about the word "Varsals" which the city lord eximed upon seeing the horned owl seal on Greg''s chest. Hopefully, the city lord would throw in an exnation as well. After all, the darned terrorist groups might be rted to the disappearance of his parents. Chapter 420 Hadean Varsa Inside the city lord''s office¡­ "Crowley, once again, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to you for protecting the citizens." Felix sincerely said before continuing: "However, even I wouldn''t appreciate it if we started our conversation by talking about that darned terrorist of an adventurer so I shall first reward you for your heroic actions." Retrieving a small box which he asked one of his aides to prepare in advance from below his desk, Felix ced it in front of Shye, urging him to open it shortly after. Naturally, Shye wouldn''t reject the city lord''s rewards nor did he want to. Carefully examining the box with an excited smile, Shye extended his hands to open the lid, revealing a single cloth-like item that appeared in as heck. He then gently grabbed it with a confused expression. "City lord, this is¡­" Having learned from his previous experience with Corvus, Shye didn''t act like a know-it-all this time, allowing Felix to exin what the item was instead of using appraisal. Doing so would reduce the risks of being under suspicion. Felix would of course be all too happy to exin; after all, this item was something that he used a lot back when he was still an adventurer. "I heard that you are rather fond of solo adventuring so I figured that this item would be of help to you." The city lord said with a smile before continuing: Find exclusive stories on empire "That is an epic-tier item known as a Small Camouge Camp. You can set it up just like a normal tent, and after doing so, it would grant invisibility to everything inside it through a high-level camouge that could only be detected by (S)-ranked monstrous creatures." "The only downside is that the item is rather¡­small, and could only fit a small campfire and two sleeping bags." Hearing City Lord Felix''s words, Shye''s ears pped in sheer delight. He could finally eat and sleep soundly inside adventurer zones! Felix knew how helpful this item was for elite adventurers, hence, he observed Shye''s expression with a delightful heart, inwardly happy to be of help to someone who would be one of Valenzia''s future heroes. City Lord Felix¡­was an adamantite-ranked adventurer in the past.N?v(el)B\\jnn However, he was one of those who ditched Valenzia in pursuit of greener pastures in other regions. Although he felt ashamed of still achieving nothing despite such a disloyal decision, going to more prominent regions at least allowed him to experience way more things than those who didn''t make the same decision as him. As a result, he knew that a rookie of Shye''s caliber¡­was exceedingly rare even in higher-ranked, more prominent regions. It was simply inevitable that he would be one of Valenzia Region''s future heroes. Naturally, being a part of a regional legend''s rise to prominence was a pleasant thought. "Judging from the look on your face, I assume you find this item delightful?" Felix asked with a smile. "Yes! City Lord Felix. I like this item a lot as I am someone who is fond of good meals and a good night''s rest!" Shye replied with equal enthusiasm, deepening the smile on Felix''s old face. Hearing Shye''s straightforward words, the city lord found himself liking the young man more and more; a pity that he was about to be transferred to the region''s capital. Still, having such a talented young man represent his city was more than reassuring and he would simply be all too happy to send Shye off with a smiling face. "Hahaha! It''s good that you liked it. Now, let us talk about more pressing matters." Shye''s expression turned into one of sternness upon hearing that they would finally be talking about the earlier incident. This could give him an idea about what happened to his parents so he had to learn all he could from City Lord Felix. After all, it wasn''t every day that one could request an audience with the city lord. "Yes, City Lord Felix." Noticing that Shye realized the gravity of the situation, Felix inwardly nodded in appreciation. "For starters, I shall exin to you what that horned owl on the madman''s chest was." The city lord began, "It was a seal ced upon the bottom-tier members of Hadean Varsa, a widely known terrorist group mainly operating in Valenzia." "They were primarily known for recruiting skilled adventurers and deploying them as spies to monitor various cities. Then, if a city was found to be too weak to defend itself, they would then raze it to the ground. Their goal for doing so? Still unknown. Currently, two adventurer hubs and one academy city have fallen prey to their attacks." "Moreover, the Varsals were notorious for numerous kidnapping incidents, targeting young adventurers who were identified as having innate talents, regardless of the talent''s level." "I''m certain that with your exceptional talent, you''re already on their list of targets so you must stay vignt at all times and carry a few high-grade life-preservation items with you." Hearing Felix''s exnation, the stern frown on Shye''s face deepened. Although he wasn''t sure if these guys were connected to the disappearance of his parents, he was sure that he would cross paths with them as he indeed had shown too much talent in the past year. The bastards would surely target him sooner orter. ''I should capture one of them if I get the chance¡­'' Shye pondered, slightly unsatisfied with the level of knowledge Felix knew about the terrorist group. It was understandable, though; after all, such organized groups were truly too slippery and would probably be very hard to eradicate. "I see, thank you for this important information, City Lord Felix. I shall heed your advice." "Good. Well then, that''s all from me. I wish you great sess. Even though you haven''t been in Balkrow City for long, know that you can always return if you need help, and I promise you''ll receive the city''s full support if you ask for it. I expect to hear great things from you in the future, Crowley. Good luck on your journey." Chapter 421 Farewell, Midget "Hmmph! Maybe those other adventurers from Krevar City are feigning ignorance! I say they''re that madman''s aplices!" Seira eximed in anger. The city lord''s words about the arena exploding genuinely frightened her; thus, even though she didn''t actually believe what she said, she spoke out of sheer spite. Heck, she even thought she would perish right then and there upon seeing that the crazy adventurer''s palm remained stuck on the seal in his chest even after getting pped the f*ck out by her boss! Still, she wasn''t content with the city lord only detaining the other six as in her opinion, they must beshed at least ten times each. After all, if not for her boss'' quick thinking, the consequences would''ve been dire. As for Shye, who now knew the truth about the crazy, sore loser of an adventurer, he chose to change the topic, not wanting Seira to be involved with some darned terrorists. ''Maybe getting transferred out this early was actually for the best¡­'' Shye mused while peering inside the low-quality spatial pouch containing 11,000 gold coins. "Never mind those idiots, here''s your 2,000 gold coins." Hearing Shye''s pleasant words, the purple-haired midget''s anger was instantly blown away, reced by sheer delight. This was the first time she had such arge sum of money, and with it, she could purchase all the high-quality items she wanted to spoil her mother and little brother without worrying about whether they could eat the next day! Naturally, after obtaining a lot from the mini-event, the duo was all smiles. "Let''s head back to the guild and continuously grind quests." And so, the two of them did. For the next two months, Shye and Seira didn''t stop embarking on quests¡ªone after the other, not even taking a single day off after every questpletion. They hunted various monstrous creatures of ranks not lower than (B-) but not higher than (A-), providing Seira not only ample experience but also vast amounts of knowledge she could utilize whenever she decides to go solo hunting. In addition to this, the various discounted top-grade physique-enhancing tonics and mastery potions she purchased at Constantine Consumables with the help of Shye worked wonders, allowing her strength to increase by leaps and bounds. Even the other emeralds did not have such luxury. As a result, Seira realized the significant advantage that having arge coin reserve provided in advancing an adventurer''s career. Being poor truly does seal one''s fate of mediocrity most of the time. Had she not learned through experience, Seira knew she would have continued hopelessly dreaming, never realizing that there was never a chance for her to achieve her goals. A spine-chilling thought in a way. ¡­The duo not only hunted monsters but also eradicated a few bandit groups and small illegal substance syndicates, allowing the midget to learn their petty tricks, understand their conniving thoughts, and witness how low some people would stoop to achieve their despicable goals. Consequently, her bright outlook towards the world gradually darkened. However, it was for the best; it was an unwanted truth, after all. *** *** "Congrattions on your promotion to emerald rank, Miss Seira. You may now enter the special lounge on the second floor. Again, thank you for your contributions to the guild." Shauna said with a smile. It felt like just yesterday when Seira was still a naive gold-ranked adventurer, talking to anyone who caught her attention and appearing very inexperienced. Now, while traces of her innocent liveliness could still be seen asionally, she mostly radiated the reliable aura of a seasoned adventurer¡ªa stark contrast to her initial self. All of this urred in just eight months, with the ashen-haired young man beside her being the catalyst for her transformation. Shauna simply found everything hard to believe, however, the truth was right before her eyes. Her friend, Seira¡­was now a true veteran¡ªan elite one at that as she was unbelievably strong for someone who had just ranked up. She was at least already in the middle ranks of the branch''s emeralds. Discover exclusive content at empire Shauna could only imagine the hellish training she took on during the past few months. "Well then, Seira. I suppose this is where we part ways," Shye said with a smile, though he felt a pang of loneliness inside¡ªmuch like he did after his graduation ceremony. "Haha! Don''t worry, boss! This is just a temporary separation! You don''t need to feel too sad because I, the mighty Seira, will follow you to the ends of the earth! I''ll be your most loyal follower! Your steadfast general!" Hearing the midget''s reply, Shye smiled. To Seira, this might indeed be a momentary parting, however, Shye knew that things weren''t that simple. The gap between their abilities would only widen, and there mighte a day when she couldn''t follow him anymore, perhaps not even being qualified to stand alongside him on the frontline ever again. Hence, Shye took this "temporary parting" more seriously than Seira, expecting for it to be permanent. Still, he held onto hope that they could fight beside each other once more. If he had the extra energy and resources, he would certainly assist her in catching up to him, even if it meant only reaching a point where she could stand on the same frontline where her contributions were destined to be limited. He only had a few close friends, after all, and Seira was definitely one of them. "Hahahaha! Good! You better not disappoint me, midget! I shall see you in Valenzia City!" ¡­With a spirited farewell, Shye departed from Balkrow City a month earlier than nned. He still had onest preparatory journey ahead¡ªto reunite with his beloved Shirley, finally recognizing that she was one of the two people he couldn''t afford to leave behind at any cost¡ªthe other being his little sister.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Shye already honored their wishes by refraining from providing assistance, allowing them to develop independently as adventurers. However, his rate of growth only elerated rather than slowing down, as he initially anticipated. Hence, he couldn''t simply watch as the two most important people in his life struggled by themselves. He had to help them grow at least their attributes one way or another, otherwise, they would surely be left behind. If they would ept the skill books¡ªeven better. ¡­Despite being aware that convincing Shirley to abandon her respectable yet fruitless pursuit might bruise her pride, Shye resolved to proceed with his n, believing she would only regret her stubbornness if he allowed it to persist. He needed to grow some balls and decisively determine what was best for her, regardless of her approval. If she strongly disapproved, then as ast resort, he would disclose the system''s existence to her. Surely, being aware of its existence would persuade her that she could never catch up, no matter her efforts; after all, he was... cheating. Chapter 422 The Receptionists Plea One weekter¡­ Shye arrived at the familiar gates of Nookbury City. It had been several months since hest saw Shirley, and he sure missed her a lot. The thought of seeing her again naturally brought an excited smile to his face. Queuing to enter the city, Shye retrieved his Balkrow City token and adventurer license, and as he did so, he inevitably caught wind of some slightly unnerving rumors from a party of adventurers who were preparing to embark on a quest at the adventurers'' lobby in front of the main gate. "Sigh¡­I really want to back out on this quest¡­"n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Me too¡­the Messedin Advanced Adventurer Zone is just too dangerous right now¡­" "If not for the party leader being keen on going on a solo quest to earn money for the treatment of his child with a severe illness, I wouldn''t have gone." "Sigh¡­Indeed. I''m sure my conscience wouldn''t allow me to sleep soundly at night if something happens to him so I decided to go." "How many adventurers have already gone missing inside again? twenty-nine?" "It''s already thirty-eight¡­" "What?!" Overhearing the contents of the adventurer party''s conversation, a tinge of worry crept into Shye''s heart. ''She wouldn''t be one of those thirty-eight, would she?'' Promptly after being granted entry, Shye madly sprinted towards the Nookbury branch headquarters. Enjoy new chapters from empire Then, around five minutester, he arrived at his destination. Some individuals recognized him, while others didn''t, resulting in most casting him puzzled nces. The confusion only intensified as the members of the Raven''s de Nookbury Branch guild noticed him making his way toward the entrance. Shortly after, some of the ill-tempered ones and the naturally protective ones barred his way. However, he wasn''t intimidated by them one bit as he did not have bad intentions. Moreover, even if all of them jumped at him together, he could simply beat the crap out of them. "This establishment is off-limits for outsiders, leave." "I''m also someone from Raven''s de, though, from another branch. I''m just visiting my girlfriend, Shirley Locke." "HA! You? The Ice Queen''s lover? Don''t make me¨C" "Stop making trouble, Vass, this guy is indeed Miss Shirley''s boyfriend, and thest person from our branch who challenged him lost everything so I advise you to not make things difficult for him or things might end badly for you too..." Fortunately, things didn''t take a turn for the worse as Cascade, a ruby-ranked adventurer whose namemands a fair bit of respect in the guild, spoke up for Shye, discouraging the hotblooded troublemaker from escting things. Vass didn''t want to drop the matter but he was also hesitant to defy Cascade''s advice as the man was well-liked in the guild due to his kind and sensible nature. If Cascade said that this guy in front of him was bad news, then the man probably was. Hence, after taking one deep breath, Vass decided to drop the matter. "Hmmph! Consider yourself lucky this time, brat." Under normal circumstances, Shye would''ve used the guy to earn what little points he could from the disagreement; however, he wasn''t in such a mood now as he was eager to know if his dearest Shirley was safe. Looking back, he thought that he already "changed" from a useless boyfriend to a good one, however, upon mulling over things during the past week, he realized how wrong he was. First and foremost, he shouldn''t have immediately agreed to Shirley''s proposition of wanting to grow stronger and catch up to him on her own, fully aware from the beginning that it would be a futile effort. After all, he had the system. Secondly, the reason she might''ve even proposed such an idea was because of the insecurities in her heart. If he had to guess, it probably has something to do with him leaving her because she believes that she wasn''t good enough for someone of such talents. Little did Shye know, his guess was spot on. If only he did a better job at giving her some assurance¡­ Well, he still had a chance to do better. All he had to do was meet her now and treat her better. Only, he didn''t expect that even meeting again was an uncertainty. "Hello." "Oh, hello¡­Shye Crowley from Balkrow Branch, correct?" "Yes, I would just like to ask if Shirley is currently out on a quest?" Hearing his question, the receptionist slightly flinched, intensifying the feeling of anxiousness in Shye''s heart. "Y-Yes, Miss Locke has been out on a quest for two weeks now and she only has one more week toplete her quest." "Phew¡­I see¡­then please give this to h¨C" "However¡­the quest she took this time shouldn''t take her more than ten days toplete despite the time allowance so I can''t help but feel a bit worried¡­" Receptionist Eva courageously said. Over the past few months, she found out that she was wrong about Shirley''s cold temperament, realizing that there was a kind,passionate, and sweet young girl hiding behind the frosty facade. Finding the so-called Ice Queen to be pleasantpany, their friendship deepened to the point where Eva couldn''t bear to watch her friend push herself too hard and suffer alone. Now, she wasn''t even sure if Shirley was safe. Fortunately, her boyfriend, the renowned Shye Crowley, came to visit, and she couldn''t pass up the opportunity to inform him about Shirley''s situation, even though it meant letting personal feelings interfere with her work. "I see¡­thank you for honestly informing me of her situation," Shye said, feigning calmness despite experiencing a turbulent heart. "Can you tell me where she is and what her quest was?" "She''s at¡­" ¡­ Hearing that his beloved was currently inside the Messedin Advanced Adventurer Zone, the frown on Shye''s face deepened. Earlier, he heard a group of adventurers talking about how dangerous the zone was right now, yet, Shirley still decided to temper herself in such a perilous area. She clearly wasn''t thinking straight! After sincerely thanking Receptionist Eva for her cooperation, Shye darted out of the branch headquarters, swiftly heading towards where Shirley was. ''Shirley, please be safe¡­'' Chapter 423 Finding Shirley ''If she''s still trying toplete her quest, she should be somewhere around here¡­'' Shye pondered as he looked around the area called the Bonbon Swamp located inside the Messedin Advanced Adventurer zone. As per Receptionist Eva, Shirley was out to hunt a Thunderblight Toad¡ªa (B-) ranked monstrous creature that was well-known for staying within its hunting grounds, instead luring unsuspecting prey using a special gas that would stir one''s appetite regardless of one''s diet. As a result, the said creature didn''t have to hunt much and instead, just needed to wait for prey to arrive. Overall, it was a fairly weak (B-) ranked creature, a good target for a solo adventurer like Shirley. ''For her to be able to hunt (B-) ranked creatures on her own¡­she sure is something. With a little help, she''ll be unstoppable¡­'' Shye mused, feeling regretful that he didn''t even try to persuade Shirley. ''Ah, crap. I can''t space out like this¡­'' Continuing to search the area for one and a half hours, Shye found one Thunderblight Toadir that¡­seemed to fit the description of what he was looking for. It was a small green cave inplete disarray, clearly showing signs of a recent battle; and judging from the decaying bones in the far left corner, it was evident that the adventurer had triumphed and harvested the valuable parts of the Thunderblight Toad. Only, although Shye was happy that his investigation yielded results, this was not the result he was hoping for.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The best-case scenario would be finding Shirley around the area, struggling to defeat the toad. But no, instead, the toad had already been defeated and Shirley was nowhere to be found. ''Curses!'' *BANG!* Shye punched the walls of their in frustration. He was hoping¡­hoping that this search would go smoothly, however, reality once again pped him hard. Finding Shirley wouldn''t be as easy as he wanted it to be. Still, he would never give up on her just because the task was hard. ''I have to gather more information regarding the dangers of this zone first¡­'' Shye hoped that Shirley wouldn''t be involved in such a dangerous endeavor, creature, or whatever it was; however, he also couldn''t deny the possibility of such a thing happening, no matter how coincidental or slim. Thus, he had to gather information as quickly as he could. Checking the map of the Messedin Advanced Adventurer zone that he purchased earlier, Shye rushed towards the nearest safe zone in hopes of meeting a few adventurers. Luckily, it was almost nighttime, increasing his chances of meeting an adventurer party. Arriving at the first safe zone at exactly dusk, Shye found no one, making him curse in frustration again. Still, there was a chance that the adventurers would arrivete, hence, he waited for around twenty minutes before concluding that no one wasing. Regrettably, no one truly came to this safe zone. Shye had no time to rest. He didn''t want to rest. Armed with determination, a hint of desperation, and eyes that could see well in the dark, Shye rushed towards all of the safe zones marked on the map in hopes of finding adventurer parties who knew something about the so-called "dangers". Due to the exact thing he was trying to gather intel on, there were no adventurer parties in thest three safe zones he visited, causing him to swiftly head toward the fourth. Sadly, on the way, he was ambushed by a pack of Yazak, also known as Night Hounds, whose ranks were mainly (C) except for the alpha who was of (B-) rank. It was the worst decision the hounds could''ve made though, as Shye was not in the mood to y around. In under ten seconds, all thirteen Yazaks, including the alpha, were ughtered, flooding the ambush area with thick purple blood. Then, giving zero f*cks about the monstrous creatures'' valuable parts, Shye continued his mad rush toward the next zone. Find more chapters on empire ¡­Shye''s full speed was nothing short of horrifying, allowing him to arrive at his destination a mere twenty minutes after ughtering the pack of night hounds. Fortunately, luck was on his side this time as he spotted two parties of adventurers who were resting together in the said safe zone¡ªfear visible in the eyes of those on sentry duty. On edge, one sentry couldn''t help but scream hysterically in utter horror upon realizing that someone was standing in the nearby thickets, observing them with eyes that were slightly glowing neon. "W-W-WE''RE UNDER ATTACK!!!" The next moment, all fourteen adventurers woke up, swiftly standing up and grasping their weapons while assembled inbat position. "H-Hey, calm down, I''m just a solo adventurer and I''m only here to ask you guys a few things¡­" Realizing that Shye was indeed only human, both party leaders pped the back of the sentry''s head hard. They truly thought they were done for after hearing such a horrified scream. "Y-You bastard! Do your job properly next time!" Naturally, the sentry was embarrassed, hence, the guy repeatedly bowed to everyone while apologizing. After around two minutes, the clown show was finally done. "So, what do you want to ask? Also, don''t you think you owe us something for ruining our sleep? You know th¨C" Shye wasn''t in the mood to haggle and, having recently won a substantial amount of money, he didn''t mind spending some to get what he wanted as efficiently as possible. Thus, he simply tossed in a medium-sized pouch containing fourteen gold coins¡ªone for each of the adventurers. "Now we''re talking. Speak, what do you want to know?" "Simple, I want to know what this "danger" everyone is talking about." Hearing Shye''s words, the expression of the party leader he was talking to turned grim. "Why do you want to know?" "To save someone and get rid of the problem in the process." This time, their expressions turned to surprise; after all, none of them expected someone so young to have such a noble goal. "I see, then listen carefully. The danger everyone is talking about¡­" Chapter 424 False Gorgon ''A mere (B) ranked creature is the root of all of this?'' Shye pondered as he sprinted towards his next destination¡ªthe hunting grounds of one of Messedin Advanced Adventurer Zone''s apex creatures. However, although a (B) ranked monstrous creature was dangerous, it was quite hard to believe that a single one would cause so much trouble. No matter how smart or strong that darned False Gorgon was, just dispatch an entire party of emerald-ranked adventurers and kill it nice and easy, no? Little did Shye know, Nookbury City already did so, and shockingly, not a single emerald-ranked adventurer out of the entire party of seven made it back. This news was the reason why this specific False Gorgon was so feared. Still¡­ ''That doesn''t exin the disappearances of thirty-eight adventurers, no?'' After all, people had actual brains, and upon learning of such news, they would avoid the False Gorgon''s hunting grounds as if it were a gue. Thus, it would be impossible for a single monstrous creature to be responsible for the disappearances and deaths of so many adventurers. At most, it might be responsible for a third of the total number. ''Then what happened to the other adventurers?'' Shye pondered with a grim look. ''Could those party leaders be lying to me? Were they hiding stuff from me that would be beneficial to solve this problem? Why did they only mention the False Gorgon?'' The whole thing reeked of a scheme; however, it was also highly unlikely that those two parties were staying at the safe zones just to mislead other adventurers. Or¡­could they? It seemed like a stupid guess, but Shye was willing to bet on it. Discover exclusive tales on empire ''For starters, let''s see what that damned False Gorgon is up to.'' Arriving at his targeted creature''s hunting grounds, Shye deliberately walked loudly, willingly allowing the False Gorgon to strike first. Sure enough, although it took around twenty minutes of intentionally stepping heavily, a huge mana arrow finally shot toward him. With his keen sense of danger honed through numerous solo adventures, Shye easily detected the attack, allowing him to pinpoint the general direction of the attacker. ''There you are. Let''s see how strong this so-called danger is!'' Dashing towards the area where the arrow came from, Shye activated his mana pulse, sessfully detecting the creature a minuteter. Astonishingly, it was¡­running away. ''Hoh? Did it determine that I was stronger? Or is this a trap?'' Shye pondered while chasing after the fleeing creature. It was fast. However, Shye was faster. He could easily catch up to it but he decided to see what it was up to first, hence, he carefully managed the distance while making it seem like he was chasing after it with all his might. Realizing that the adventurer was right on its tail, a chilling smile emerged on the corners of the False Gorgon''s huge mouth, thinking that Shye had fallen right into its trap. Now, all it needed to do was lure the adventurer to itsir, where it could kill its victim without worrying about Shye escaping its grasp. How was the False Gorgon so sure that Shye would follow? First, it had an unusually high intelligence for its species, allowing it to recognize that there would be no more free mealsing its way and that all adventurersing its way would now be somewhat capable. Still, it believed that although skilled, it could still manage to kill the adventurers using a trick or two.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om It still had some time to "store" more food before the truly strong ones came. When they finally do, it ns to temporarily hide and allow things to cool down a bit, then, once danger has passed, it could resume hunting and consuming more adventurers to enhance its strength and¡­morph even more. That was the n its chillingly high intelligence could formte. As for Shye, he currently belongs to those in the "manageable" category, and that was why he was currently being lured. Unfortunately for the False Gorgon, as smart as it believed it was, it miscalcted Shye''s abilities. With its current strength, he should''ve been categorized as a dangerous individual instead. ¡­Carefully managing the distance as he pursued the monstrous creature, Shye finally arrived at their, causing his eyes to widen upon gazing at the harrowing sight. Inside, there were more than ten stone statues of¡­adventurers. Frozen on their face was the expression of sheer terror. Naturally, this sight made Shye''s heart skip a beat. He quickly scanned the petrified adventurers, praying that Shirley wasn''t among them. Momentster, his expression slightly eased upon realizing that none of the statues resembled his dearest lover. ''Sigh¡­where could she be?'' Breathing a temporary sigh of relief, Shye shifted his attention towards the False Gorgon once more, vigntly advancing towards it shortly after. He wanted to see its full capabilities. The False Gorgon, contrary to the expected beautiful facial features of the Gorgon race, looked extremely ugly as its face still had traces of its serpentine blood. Unlike True Gorgons who were fair and beautiful. Still, both had bodies featuring a human torso and a slithery, snake-like lower body. ''Anyway, ording to the adventurer encyclopedia, as long as I avoid direct eye contact, I won''t be turned to stone...'' Feigning a horrified expression on his face, Shye pretended to flee. This sight naturally triggered the monstrous creature''s instincts to hunt its prey. And of course, the main reason it even lured Shye into itsir was because of the traps it prepared. Pulling the strings of its enormous bow, a huge mana arrow flew past Shye, directly flying toward some sort of mana-powered contraption at the entrance. As the sharp projectile made contact with the contraption, a mana barrier sealed the entrance, causing Shye''s eyes to widen. ''Humans are helping this dastardly creature!'' He inwardly eximed in realization. Who would''ve thought that his absurd guess proved to be correct? After all, how could a mere monstrous creature obtain such an expensive, high-level mana-powered contraption? It also couldn''t have obtained it from the adventurers it killed because these adventurers wouldn''t be hunting in adventurer zones if they had the money required to purchase such an expensive contraption from Manasoft Corporation. Shye inwardly seethed in anger. He didn''t know what the humans behind this dastardly monster were aiming for, but he would definitely find out¡ªor he wasn''t Shye Crowley! Chapter 425 Roommates ''It''s better to hide my abilities for now and try to observe the monster from a distance for a while¡­'' After deciding on the best course of action to take, Shye once again shifted his focus back to the False Gorgon. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: False Gorgon [Creature Rank]: B [Description] A serpentine creature that managed to awaken the small amount of Gorgon blood in its veins. If it continues to consume other creatures with mana in their bodies, it may evolve into an (S-) ranked True Gorgon. [Skills]: [Mana st Lv.5] [Mana Arrow Lv.5] [Swim Lv.5] [Constrict Lv.5] [Bite Lv.5] [Swift Slither Lv.5 (Umon)] [Enchant Arrow Lv.5 (Umon)] [Soul Drain Lv.5 (Umon)] [Lesser Gorgon Devour Lv.5 (Umon)] [(Passive)Stone Gaze Lv. (N/A) (Unique)] [Strength: 320] Experience tales at empire [Intelligence: 120] [Agility: 300] [Dexterity: 285] [Stamina: 350] [Vitality: 280]: [Wisdom: 90] [Exit System] ''Hoh? This thing is indeed stronger than regr (B) ranked monsters. Its attributes are approaching those of the weaker (A) ranked creatures already¡­'' Shye pondered after seeing the False Gorgon''s status window. Although he could roughly determine its battle style based on its skills, which he didn''t see as a major issue, Shye knew better than to underestimate the creature. After all, if he took a direct hit from its attacks, his body would still suffer tremendously. Feigning distress while retrieving his greatswords from the system''s inventory, Shye slowly stepped back, acting like a cornered prey. Meanwhile, the False Gorgon slowly advanced, gazing at Shye with a yful yet eerie smile, trying its best to make eye contact with its frightened food. Its sharp fangs that resembled nothing like a human''s teeth leaked petrifying poison to the ground.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Soon after, it realized that the human knew about its stone gaze, hence, it decided to draw its bow and attack from a safe range to whittle down the puny human''s strength. It enjoyed ying with its "reserve food" anyway, so a prolonged battle is just as eptable as a quick one. Firing three mana arrows, the creature hissed in excitement; on the other hand, Shye deflected the first two before intentionally allowing the third to pierce his body. He then "screamed in agony" after receiving just one attack. Naturally, the sound of his suffering was like heavenly music to the False Gorgon, deepening the eerie smile on its face. It wanted to hear more. "HAAAAGHH!" Shye charged towards the half-serpentine creature and eximed a battle cry with a "desperate to survive" expression on his face. Then, upon arriving at the optimal distance to strike, Shye shed his greatswords with "all his might" toward the Gorgon''s scaly lower body. As the greatswords and the creature''s scales shed, Shye''s eyes widened upon realizing that his greatswords didn''t even pierce the tough lower body armor. Shortly after, the Gorgon cackled gratingly, coiling its lower body towards the shocked adventurer. Subsequently, another wail of anguish escaped Shye''s mouth as the monstrous creature squeezed his body hard. "H-hiiih! Let go of me!!" Shye squealed as he repeatedly stabbed the False Gorgon''s scales. This time, he applied just enough force for the greatswords to moderately prate the tough armor and flesh. As a result, the Gorgon, who was utterly caught off guard by the sudden increase in strength, screeched in anguish as it was forced to let go of its prey, who suddenly reappeared outside the barrier, scurrying away pathetically. It tried to give chase, but it had never attempted to turn off the mana barrier before since the few mages who dared to fight it were always turned to stone. Thus, this was its first time facing a situation where prey it deemed nearly dead, supposedly a warrior, suddenly managed to blink out of the barrier. Consequently, due to inexperience, it was far toote by the time it managed to turn off the mana barrier. The prey¡­had already escaped. Furious, the False Gorgon hissed onest time before returning to itsir in an evidently bad mood. Little did it know, it would be staying at the same area as its prey as Shye simply hid behind a nearby rock, and sneaked back in right after the Gorgon exited their to pursue him. He then swiftly assembled the item he obtained as a reward from City Lord Felix, the Small Camouge Camp, at a corner where he could see everything going on inside their. Luckily, he practiced assembling it over and over in his free time, allowing him to barely set it up before the False Gorgon returned. Consequently, while the monstrous creature raged inside its home, someone was already setting up his sleeping bags and lighting a small campfire at some random corner. Since Shirley alreadypleted her Thunderblight Toad quest, and she wasn''t among the petrified victims of the half-baked Gorgon, the only lead he could think of was the people supporting the Gorgon. Hence, he nned to wait for them to visit the monstrous creature before following them back to their hideout or capturing them for interrogation. This was his best course of action at present. If, by some chance, Shirley wasn''t actually in danger and had already returned to the guild, then he would prefer it that way, even though it would mean wasted efforts. As long as she was safe¡­ ¡­The camp was set up in in view, yet, as per its exined effects, the Gorgon couldn''t see it at all. As a result, Shye could simply peer out of a small portion of the camouge camp to check what was happening outside anytime he wanted. Unfortunately for him, nothing happened in the next two days as the Gorgon simplyzed around itsir while consuming the petrified adventurers from time to time. It was a pretty harrowing sight. However, Shye gave no f*cks as he wasn''t rted to the petrified adventurers at all. Soon, the chilling darkness of the night once again consumed the world. ''Sigh¡­better sleep now so I can wake up early tomorrow¡­'' Shye thought as he nestled himself inside his cozy sleeping bag. But then, just when he was about to fall asleep¡­ Chapter 426 Infiltration *WHISTLE~* A strange whistle with a very specific rhythm sounded from outside their, prompting Shye to swiftly stand up and peer out of a small opening in the Camouge Camp. ''Hoh? Are they finally meeting up with this darned monster?'' Shye mused as he observed the False Gorgon slither out of itsir with an excited expression. He didn''t know whether the creature was truly meeting up with the people supporting it but Shye had no choice but to see what it was up to. Hence, he swiftly left the Small Camouge Camp and followed the False Gorgon. Luckily, his guess proved to be correct as upon peering out from behind the natural rocky walls of their, he saw two adventurers. One was male, the other female, and both appeared to be just slightly older than Shye, perhaps around twenty-five or twenty-six years old. The young man was short, with long ck hair and a schrly build, while the young woman, with her short red hair and hulking physique, seemed more like a small giant. As Shye crept closer to listen to the interaction between the Gorgon and the two adventurers, his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing the monstrous creature bowing to the two young humans. It appeared that the False Gorgon recognized it was receiving covert assistance and was willing to cooperate in pursuit of a goal which was probably to evolve into a True Gorgon. However, Shye couldn''t determine what the adventurers or the group behind them were aiming for. "Hmmph¡­still no new additions? Tch¡­the boss would be unhappy again. Well, fine. Since you captured a nice gem two days ago, the boss shall give you three more days to capture a new one. Do you understand? Three! Like this, three!" The young woman spoke in a disrespectful tone, emphasizing the number three with her fingers to ensure the Gorgon understood. The meeting was short, after rying a message, the two adventurers left. "Tch, if only the boss would take me as his addition!" "Hah! You? How would the boss fancy you? You might crush him with your overgrown body at night!" "Wha¨C? You damn midget! Just because you can''t getid, don''t hate on fragile young women like me!" "Hah! You? Fragile? What part of you is rted to the word fragile?! A-A-Also, I-I have experience already! Y-You dare underestimate me, Gori?!" Watching the two disrespectful young humans walk away, the subservient look on the Gorgon''s face turned into one of vengeful hatred. It then returned to their while daydreaming about the day it could finally go its own way after evolving into a True Gorgon. Unfortunately, that day was destined to nevere as its vision suddenly turned upside down, making it confused as to why it was seeing its own body. Shortly after, it saw green blood spurt out of its headless neck, allowing it to realize that it had been decapitated without it even knowing. The False Gorgon wanted to at least see the face of its assant. Stay updated through empire Luckily, before it was swallowed by eternal oblivion, the dying monstrous creature caught a glimpse of the familiar face of an ashen-haired young man it once deemed its prey. Its consciousness, which was on a ticking time, didn''t manage toprehend the situation fast enough though, hence, it died with regrets. As for Shye, he naturally didn''t care about the feelings of some random monstrous creature destined to be a stepping stone in his career. Instead, he cared more about the two youngsters, who were seemingly a part of some kind of organization. ''Are they from that terrorist organization Hadean Varsa?'' Shye mused as he swiftly retrieved the Small Camouge Camp from their before swiftly following the two youngsters from a safe distance. After approximately six hours of navigating variousndforms and hidden paths, Shye and the two youngsters finally arrived at a barren valley where the two adventurers surveyed their surroundings before heading toward a specific area. Then, as the tall young woman pressed her hand on a specific spot, another seal lit up, which the short young man proceeded to activate. Initially, nothing happened, but after around thirty seconds, a small entrance fit for two opened somewhere on the ground. ''Hoh, so you need two people to enter their hideout, huh?'' Shye mused as he swiftly moved closer. ''These guys probably always move in pairs.'' Waiting for the prime moment to strike, Shye hid behind a thick dead tree, observing the two youngsters who were also observing their surroundings before entering the hideout. ''Now!'' Dashing out of the tree, Shye''s ambush failed as he was somehow noticed by the schrly young man. "Varie! Someone followed us!" The young man eximed, prompting the young giantess to turn her head towards Shye. "Hohoho, this one looks exactly my type!" Varieughed excitedly before dashing towards Shye to intercept him. Judging the ashen-haired younger man in front of her, the giantess believed that she would easily overpower him.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Brandishing her enormous ive towards the ashen-haired young man, Varie licked her lips, only for reality to p her the next moment. As the massive ive shed with two huge greatswords, a nauseating crack sounded followed by a harrowing scream of agony from a young girl. Naturally, the noise startled the young man casting a spell behind Varie. Unfortunately, promptly after he opened his eyes, he was greeted by Adamance''s sharp des. Shortly after, the mage breathed no more as his head split horizontally into two parts while his body fell half-face first to the ground¡ªtwitching. Witnessing the death of herrade who she had been partners with for two years, the giantess wanted to scream in both fear and slight loneliness. At that moment, she looked as fragile as she imed. However, even screaming was a luxury that she wasn''t allowed to have as Shye reappeared beside her and chopped her neck, making her eyes roll up and knocking her out cold. Then, without hesitation, he grabbed the giantess by her broken arm and ruthlessly pulled her inside the hideout. After all, he didn''t know if the gates would shut on him; hence, he decided to enter first to be safe. ''Phew¡­a little clumsy but¡­infiltrationplete, I guess.'' Chapter 427 Grand Nyx Syndicate "For starters...let''s set up the camp and interrogate this giantess..." Shye mused as he scanned the unexpectedly wide pathways of the hideout. "These guys might be a bigger organization than I thought...Are they actually that Hadean Varsa terrorist group that City Lord Felix told me about?n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Frowning as he let his thoughts wander, Shye swiftly set up the Small Camouge Camp. He then put Varie''s unconscious body on the ground inside the camp. ''I''m gonna need some kind of sound suppression skill...'' Shye thought inwardly, opening the system shortly after. Luckily, it took him only twenty minutes to find a suitable skill. Only, the sound-suppressing barrier was a bit too huge for the camp. ''Tch...Oh well, I''ll just activate Mana Pulse to detect my enemies first. If worstes to worst, I''ll just ughter them all.'' He pondered before putting Varie''s body in a sitting position. Then, all of a sudden... *PAH!* The crisp noise of a solid p that would''ve echoed across the rocky pathways of the hideout if not for the sound-suppressing barrier reverberated inside the Small Camouge Camp, effectively waking up the unconscious giantess. "Now then, tell me everything you know or I''ll ughter you just like your boyfriend" "I-I''ll tell you what you need, just don''t kill me! A-Also, that shorty isn''t my boyfriend..." ''T-That was unexpectedly easy...'' Shye mused while maintaining a cold exterior. This darned giantess was full of tough talk while talking to the midget. Who would''ve thought that her mental fortitude would be so fragile? ''Well...it''s better this way, I suppose....'' Inwardly disappointed as he wanted to try a few torture methods, Shye red at Varie for a few seconds before taking out a lesser orb of truth. He then retrieved Adamance from the system''s inventory and shed Varie''s pinky finger clean off, eliciting a high-pitched scream of anguish from the no-so-tough giantess. Soon after, he forcefully extracted blood from the harrowing injury and dropped a fairly huge amount of it to the lesser orb of truth. "A-Ahhh! It hurts...It hurts!!" Annoyed at Varie who was squealing like a dying pig, Shye was forced to make her drink one health potion just to shut her up. Naturally, he felt that it was wasteful to use a health potion on someone he would kill after the interrogation; however, it seemed that Varie''s pain tolerance was utterly low so there wouldn''t be a proper interrogation if he didn''t heal her finger. Thus, to get rid of the negative feelings in his heart, Shye pped the hell out of the giantess one more time. Only, he didn''t expect that Varie would slightly blush after getting pped, seemingly deriving pleasure from it. ''T-This degenerate...'' Shye thought, inwardly horrified. ''I shall not do that again...'' Forcefully shaking the earlier unpleasant scene off his head, Shye proceeded with the actual interrogation. "Now then, first question. What is the name of your organization? "W-we''re known as the Grand Nyx Syndicate." "Hmmph! What a presumptuous name for such a small-time ragtag group..." Shye insulted. Naturally, Varie wouldn''t dare retort as she perceived the unknown ashen-haired young man in front of her to be very ruthless. Satisfied at the giantess'' reaction, Shye continued: "Next, what is the goal of your organization?" "I-I don''t know the boss'' goals. However, we engage in human and monstrous creature trafficking. As for who the clients were, I don''t know exactly, however, I overheard that one of our well-known clients is a pretty huge terrorist group in Valenzia..." ''Hoh, a prominent terrorist group, huh? Could it be Hadean Varsa?'' It could be another terrorist group. It could also be Hadean Varsa. However, Shye knew that only high-ranking members would be privy to such information so asking for further details from this giantess would be pointless. "I see. Next, what was your group nning to do by nurturing that False Gorgon?" "As I said earlier, our group engages in monster trafficking. The boss was nning to evolve that Gorgon before taming it by controlling its mind with some kind of pill. It would then be sold for a hefty sum to the terrorist group." ''Hoh, so they''re using monstrous creatures as pawns...'' A rather disturbing discovery. Fortunately, he learned of it early on. ''I''ll ask if Guild Master Soaring Raven already knows about this and if they already have a nned course of action...'' ...So far, the giantess had been fully cooperative, allowing Shye to effectively gather intel without making too much noise. Unfortunately, things weren''t bound to remain peaceful as in the next few moments, the mana pulses detected someone approaching the location of the camp. "Hmm? What the hell is this weird barrier?" Find your next read on empire A middle-aged man''s voice sounded outside the camp, eliciting a reaction from the despairing Varie. "Squadron Leader Hugh! Hahahaha! I''m saved! Brat, you better release me now. This specific squadron leader is the strongest out of all the squadron leaders in our organization. If you release me now, I shall put in a good word for you. If you''re willing to join us I shall let bygones be bygones!" Hearing the giantess'' sudden burst of excitement, Shye was displeased. ''Heh, strongest squadron leader, huh?'' Without replying to Varie, Shye boldly stepped out of the camp. Naturally, his shocking emergence out of "thin air" instantly made the squadron leader wary. "YOU!! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HE--" Before the squadron leader could even finish his words, Shye already ripped his head off from his neck with his bare hands. He then calmly walked back to the camp while holding the unsettling macabre. Meanwhile, inside, Varie looked forward to the scene of the squadron leader entering the camp to save her. Only, the next moment, the person who entered was the familiar ashen-haired young man, not the respected squadron leader she was expecting. "Y-You! How are you still alive? Where''s Squadron Leader Hugh?!" "Tch, I thought you knew each other well...turns out, you can''t even recognize whose head this is," Shye said before throwing the head in his hand toward Varie''s feet. "A-AHHHHHHH!!!!" This time, the giantess was truly scared out of her wits. Why wouldn''t she when the strong and respected Squadron Leader Hugh was killed in mere seconds? "Now then, where were we?" Chapter 428 Sixth Floor Utterly frightened, tears streamed down the giantess'' cheeks. To be able to take down the feared squadron leader like that, Shye must at least be as strong as the deputy leader! Naturally, Varie wouldn''t dare f*ck around in the presence of someone as strong as their organization''s deputy leader. "Ahh, yes. Are the leaders of your organization here?" "Y-Yes, Deputy Leader Veiron''s room is located on the seventh floor while Big Boss Haoran is on the ninth and final floor." "I see. Final question, what were those "additions" that you mentioned earlier today?" "Ahh...Boss Haoran is rather fond of beauties and every time the Gorgon captured a beauty, the woman would be sent to the boss'' room. As for what the boss does to those women. I believe you already know."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Hearing Varie''s words, Shye''s eyes widened before a surge of anger made its way into his heart. "WHAT?!" "H-HIIIH!" He wanted to rage, however, he also knew that doing so wouldn''t make the situation better Thus, he took multiple deep breaths to calm himself down before speaking again: "My bad. Since you''ve been cooperative so far, I''ll give you a chance to live. Guide me to the boss'''' room and I''ll release you." Shye''s words brought hope back to Varie''s heart, prompting her to nod repeatedly like a chick. Naturally, although she doubted that the ruthless ashen-haired young man would let her go that easily, she would grasp at whatever she could if it meant that she would live longer. Drinking the full restoration potion Shye gave her in one gulp, the giantess wore her cloak that was unique to the organization. On the other hand, Shye used the fallen squadron leader''s cloak, allowing him to appear to be one of the organization''s members. He then disassembled the small camouge camp and stored it inside the system''s inventory before motioning for Varie to lead the way. This time, the infiltration went smoothly. Under the giantess'' guidance, the two of them were able to bypassyer afteryer of security, saving Shye the hassle of killing each small fry one by one. Only until the fifth floor, though, as Varie''s rank only did not allow her to ess the sixth. "Make sure no one bothers me for ten minutes. If someone attacks me from behind in the next ten minutes, I''ll kill you. If you sessfullyplete this final mission, you''re free to go. However, don''t let me see your face ever again, otherwise, there''s no need for you to worry about what to do tomorrow." Hearing Shye''s words, the giantess once again nodded repeatedly, determined to aplish her task by hook or by crook. "Go" Watching the giantess leave, Shye coldly smiled. He naturally wouldn''t allow someone who had seen his appearance to escape as it might cause unnecessary problems for him in the future. Thus, when she was unconscious earlier, he fed her a poisonous pill that would only activate after 24 hours, ensuring that no further trouble woulde his way in the future. Shifting his focus back to the mana-powered gate protected by what seemed to be two squadron leaders, Shye narrowed his eyes as he appraised the two. Then, upon confirming that they had nothing that would pose a threat to him, Shye stopped sneaking around and opted for the direct approach, walking straight towards them with a nonchnt expression. Naturally, the two squadron leaders immediately noticed him. "From which squadron are you from? Don''t you know tha--" The man couldn''t even finish his words as Shye already ended his life by crushing his head with a full-powered punch. "Lector!!" The other squadron leader eximed in utter shock and horror. Lector was more or less as strong as him and if hisrade was taken out that easily, then he would surely be killed just as easily. Hence, in one swift decisive motion, the squadron leader disappeared and reappeared in the hallway, attempting his best to flee. Unfortunately, his speed was akin to a three-year-old child''spared to Shye''s, and he was easily caught in mere seconds, encountering the same fate as the man named Lector. Breathing a sigh of relief, Shye dragged the other squadron leader''s body back to the room before burning both to a crisp using one giant fireball. He then sted the gates open with a single powerful kick, revealing a descending staircase leading to the sixth floor. As Shye descended the stairs, he heard harrowing howls that sounded like a blend of suffering humans and terrifying monsters, sending slight chills down his spine. Still, although he wasn''t sure if he could defeat even the weakest of (A) ranked monstrous creatures, he was sure that he could at least escape. Hence, he continued descending with confidence despite hearing the unsettling noises. Arriving at the sixth floor, Shye was greeted by numerous thick ck metal bars jailing hundreds of humans inside. Eerily, the humans¡ªa mix of both adventurers and mundane folks, were sitting listlessly, staring at the distance with empty eyes. They had varying scars and vein marks on their bodies, allowing Shye to realize that these guys were probably the unlucky ones who were chosen asb rats. Meanwhile, on the other side of the enormous floor, there were thousands of blindfolded humans, most of them physically well-built men and young women with aesthetically pleasing physiques. Disturbingly, though, there were a few children in a separate cell, causing the mes of anger in Shye''s heart to intensify. Shortly after, footsteps sounded from the stairs located on the other end of the floor. "Lector, Peco, what''s the ruckus all about? Didn''t I tell you two that loud noises would di¨C?!" The words of a middle-aged man with a slim yet toned physique, gray hair, and a not-so-pleasant goateed look were cut short upon realizing that the young man in front of him was someone he had not seen before. "You! Who are you?! How did you get in?!" "You ask too many questions at once. First, I''m the man who will end you, and second, I obviously entered from the front door, you idiot." Chapter 429 A Filthy Old Bastard ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Veiron Alfedar [Level]: 182 [upation]: Former Adventurer (Emerald) [ss]: Scout [Skills]: [Blink Strike Lv.5] [Bloody Stab Lv.5] [Lacerate Lv.5] [Poison Cut Lv.5] [Sidestep Lv.5] [Parry Lv.5] [Stealth Lv.5(Umon)] [Riposte Lv.5(Umon)] [Mad Pierce Lv.5(Umon)] [Shadow Troupe Lv.4(Rare)] [Unholy Empower Lv.4(Rare)] [Strength: 250] [Intelligence: 210] [Agility: 310] [Dexterity: 325] [Stamina: 180] [Vitality: 225]: [Wisdom: 140] [Back] [Exit System] Upon checking the so-called deputy leader''s attributes, Shye merely sneered in disdain. ''Exins why they''re hiding underground. Just a small bunch of nobodies trying to make it big.'' Although the deputy leader''s Agility and Dexterity stats were higher than his, equipping his greatswords not only bridged the gap but actually turned the advantage in his favor. Hence, Shye wasn''t threatened by this Deputy Leader Veiron at all. "Hahaha! An invader huh? I do find your confidence interesting. Also, I would like tomend you for making it this far, brat." Veiron said with renewed confidence upon realizing that his opponent was a mere young man in his 20s. After all, how strong would a young man be? Although he wasn''t stupid and was sure that Shye was some sort of highly talented rookie, he didn''t believe that mere talent could bridge the almost two-decade age gap between them. The young man was probably someone who got wind of their operations and wanted to y hero to gain fame and rewards. Naturally, Veiron would be all too happy to teach the arrogant ashen-haired young man in front of him a lesson about naivety and delusions of grandeur. The tuition fee? His life! "However, this is as far as you go. Do you actually believe you can wipe our syndicate out by simply defeating the squadron leaders? Hahahaha! Naive! I shall teach yo¨C?!" Veiron''s words were rudely cut short as the des of Shye''s greatswords gleamed right in front of his eyes. If not for his insanely fast reflexes which he obtained as an ex-scout-ss adventurer, his head would''ve already been split horizontally in two. "Hahaha, if you died because of your incessant yapping, how funny would that be, Deputy Leader Veiron?" Shye said with a mocking smile, utterly infuriating his adversary. Gnashing his teeth in anger, Veiron spoke: "You ignorant little fool¡­Fine, since you''re so enthusiastic about dying quickly, let me cater to your wishes!" After saying a few words out of anger, the deputy leader nimbly dashed forth, not scared of facing the young man who was obviously a warrior in a head-on battle. Upon reaching the optimal distance, Veiron nimbly sidestepped before shing his dagger toward the ashen-haired brat''s neck. Shye had to admit, Veiron''s speed wasmendable, however, it wasn''t anything he couldn''t handle. To avoid prolonging the fight, he pretended he couldn''t keep up with the deputy leader''s movements. Then, just before the des of Veiron''s dagger made contact with his neck, Shye activated his skill, [Stoic], to prevent the deputy leader from cutting his neck off before grabbing the middle-aged man''s wrist. "Caught you, delusional old goat!" Shortly after, Shye pulled on Veiron''s wrist hard, lifting him in the air before mming him down on the ground.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Puhaahk!" Naturally, the deputy leader vomited blood due to the impact. Unfortunately, before Veiron could even recover, Shye continued doing the same thing over and over, ruthlessly mming Veiron left and right. Then, after a good while of thrashing, he spun three times before letting go of the deputy leader''s wrists, causing the middle-aged man to crash violently on the rocky walls of the sixth floor. This time, Shye didn''t hear even the slightest groans of pain from Veiron. Well, how could he, when the man''s eyes had already rolled back and he was foaming at the mouth? "Phew¡­I''ll take that, thank you," Shye muttered as he retrieved the deputy leader''s spatial bag. He then tied Veiron up and left him at a corner before proceeding towards the next floor. ''Regardless of whether Shirley is here or not, I''ll do the world a favor and get rid of these scummy people¡­'' Shye resolved as he descended the stairs. He wanted to loot Veiron''s room, however, he could always do itter after checking whether Shirley had been captured by the bastards or not. Hence, he decided to confront the syndicate leader first. Arriving at the eighth floor, Shye''s blood ran cold upon seeing two monstrous creatures kept in separate cages¡ªboth of the apex (B) rank. This could only mean that the syndicate leader was at least as strong as an (A-) monstrous creature. As for exactly how strong, Shye could only test the man inbat to find out. Temporarily ignoring the two monstrous creatures who were probably for sale, he continued walking towards the staircases, quickly descending with an anxious heart. He wanted to immediately see what the dastardly syndicate leader was up to, but at the same time, he feared that he would be toote. Halfway into the ninth floor, Shye heard moans from lots of young women, instantly making his heart race wildly and prompting him to descend the stairs faster. Upon arriving, he witnessed something that instantly made him see nothing but red. "You bastard, I''ll never sumb to your filthy wishes!" Shirley said with one of her breasts exposed. "Heh, fine. Consider yourself tough, you little bitch. However, I''m done waiting for you to ripen up. I shall vite you today and make you crave for my¨C?!" Sensing lethal danger from behind, the syndicate leader who had short ck hair, a muscr physique, and a not-so-pleasing facial aesthetic swiftly dodged to the side without even looking. Shirley was initially confused at what was happening, however, upon seeing the familiar handsome face of her ashen-haired lover, tears uncontrobly streamed down her cheeks as she eximed: "Shye!" Shortly after, she fainted in relief, fully knowing that her lover would take care of the rest. "You rotten old bastard¡­you dare touch my woman?! I''ll make you go through so much hellish torture that would make even the devil himself wince." Chapter 430 Battling Haoran From the look of things, although Shirley had been humiliated, she hadn''t been vited yet, prompting Shye to thank the heavens for barely making it on time. Had he decided to not finish off that Veiron instantly then¡­ Shivering at the thought of what could have happened, the anger inside his heart intensified even more. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Haoran Lee [Level]: 212 [upation]: Former Adventurer (Diamond) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [(Dark) Charm Lv.5][Dash Lv.5] [Power sh Lv.5][Destructive Chop Lv.5][Mighty Cleave Lv.5][Swift Lunge Lv.5][Lethal Edge Lv.5(Umon)][Savage Smash Lv.5(Umon)][Riposte Lv.5(Umon)][Lesser Tame Lv.5(Umon)][(Light)Lunarian sh Lv.5(Rare)][(Light)Celestial Blessing Lv.4(Rare)][(Light) Holy Zone Lv.3(Unique)] [Strength: 370] [Intelligence: 120] [Agility: 350] [Dexterity: 360] [Stamina: 300] [Vitality: 270]: [Wisdom: 140] [Back] [Exit System] ''Heh, an ex-diamond-ranked adventurer? A good match¡­'' "Hoh? The little lover hase to rescue this young bitch? How cute. You''ve arrived at the perfect time. I''ll make you watch as I toy with your lover right in front of you." Naturally, such words only served to deepen Shye''s fury; strangely, though, his thinking was still crystal clear, unclouded by the anger shrouding his heart. Repulsed by the filthy old bastard''s face, Shye initiated the attack, reappearing right below the hulking old man with the help of his [Dash] skill; then, almost simultaneously, he shed his greatswords diagonally upwards, empowering them with his trusty [Power sh]. Since Haoran did not expect the ashen-haired young man in front of him to be so fast, he was slightly caught off guard, resulting in a clumsy greataxe block that made him stagger backward¡ªa small blunder that Shye was determined to exploit further. Sticking to the stumbling old filth like glue, Shye activated [Boost] on his right leg and delivered a powerful flying kick to Haoran, sending him hurtling across the floor and mming hard into the rocky walls. "Puhaahk¡­" Haoran felt his guts churn after receiving a clean kick, allowing him to realize that the young man in front of him wasn''t as weak as he expected him to be. Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret, and what seemed to be a small mistake of underestimating his opponent turned out to be something huge¡ªenough to threaten his life. The old filth couldn''t be med, though, as Shye''s strength was indeed way too anomalistic for his age. Haoran had seen his fair share of geniuses and killed a good few of them, yet, he had never encountered someone as strong as the ashen-haired young man in front of him, causing him to inevitably underestimate Shye. ¡­Feeling the familiar sense of danger approaching from behind the smokescreen produced by his violent wall crash, Haoran''s eyes widened, forcing him to use his [Dash] skill to finally escape the young man''s ruthless streak of attacks. "K-Kuuhh¡­you little bastard, you''ll pay fo¨C?!" Shye wasn''t in the mood to converse with the old filth; hence, he didn''t even allow Haoran to speak, continuing his onught despite the hulking old bastard''s efforts to escape. Still, unexpected as his relentless attacks may be, Haoran was no slouch. Experience more tales on empire Temporarily shutting up, the old filth mightily brandished his greataxe downwards, generating roaring embers as it aimed to sh with Shye''s greatswords. ''Mighty Cleave!'' *CLANG!* This time, Shye was momentarily sent staggering backward as his attack wasn''t empowered by a skill while Haoran''s was. Thus, he inevitably lost the sh. After all, despite him having a small advantage in terms of the strength attribute with the help of his [Greatsword Meister] talent, the gap wasn''t enough to ovee the additional boost provided by a skill. ''Hmpph, let''s see if your old bones can keep up with repeated shes then!'' Shye inwardly sneered in disdain as he once again attacked, hacking, shing, and stabbing Haoran while demonstrating immacte footwork. Initially, the old filth was able to keep up¡ªalbeit losing slightly. However, as time went on, the small losses piled up; and now, Haoran was decisively on the back foot, struggling to fend off Shye''s attacks despite using his umon skills. "I''m done ying your games, brat! Lunarian sh!" Finally using one of his rare-tier skills, sh marks forming into a huge asterisk headed straight towards Shye, forcing him to use his [Stoic] skill along with two charges of boost on his [Power sh]-empowered attack just to barely defend against the old bastard''s rare skill. Still, it didn''t change the fact that the rare-tier skill failed to end him. As soon as they went back to their usual exchanges, Shye was confident that he would slowly win and beat the crap out of the old filth again, hence, he mockingly smiled at the old man. "Heh, that''s it? If you don''t have anything else, then allow me to beat the sh*t out of you again, old filth!" "Hmmph! You don''t have to worry about anything else as I will be ending you in the next few moments! Celestial Blessing!" Hearing the old man activate his other rare-tier skill, Shye smiled as heavenly light descended from the high ceiling of the ninth floor, enveloping Haoran. The holy rays bathed the old filth, causing warm energies to course through his body. ¡­Based on its name, Shye deduced that the skill would probably boost the old man''s attributes, however, he didn''t care. After all, he also had his. Before Haoran could even send a mocking smile his way, a primordial, unsettling howl, reminiscent of demons from hell, echoed across the ninth floor, its intensity magnified by the enclosed space. Shortly after, ckish-transparent rotting mana wings emerged on Shye''s back, spreading eerily before folding once more, prompting the old filth to narrow his eyes. This time, Haoran took the initiative, charging straight towards Shye to test him. Unfortunately for the old filth, a single p of Shye''s wings negated his decisively taken initiative.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om The ashen-haired young man simply reappeared in front of him and brought his greatswords shing downwards, as a result, Haoran clumsily shed back. Only, despite the old bastard''s celestial blessings, he was still the one pushed back. "Heh, what''s the n now, old bastard? I''m telling you, if you can''t defend yourself, I''ll make you go through hell today." Chapter 431 Holy Zone This time, slight fear and anxiety crept into Haoran''s old heart. His skill, [(Light)Celestial Blessing Lv.4(Rare)], was one of his true trump cards, and if it still failed to give him an advantage no matter how small, then he might be in trouble. Still, he maintained a valiant facade, not allowing Shye to sense even the slightest bit of his inner thoughts. "Hmmph, you talk too much, brat! I don''t believe a single sh could determine a battle''s oue." Hearing the old filth''s words, Shye merely sneered in disdain. After a brief silence, the twobatants charged forth once more, engaging in yet another series of violent yet mesmerizing battle sequences¡ªsomething one could only see in a battle between high-ranked adventurers. A pity that Shirley wasn''t conscious to witness it as she would surely learn a lot. Still, the results remained the same despite the power-ups. Shye slowly but steadily pushed the old filth back, sending him staggering with every violent blow of his greatswords. "YOU BRAT!! ADMIT IT, YOU''RE A SOUL ART PRACTITIONER AREN''T YOU?! I WOULDN''T BE LOSING TO SOME SNOT-NOSED KID LIKE YOU OTHERWISE!" Hearing Haoran''s outburst, Shye couldn''t help but burst outughing. "Hahahahaha! Old bastard, don''t you hear your embarrassing self? With your age, you should be able to determine easily whether someone is a soul art practitioner or not. Even you don''t believe what you''re saying! Just ept the fact that an ugly, lecherous old bastard like you is inferior and will forever be whenpared to someone like me!" Naturally, Shye''s sharp words that struck every critical nerve angered the old filth to no end. With gnashed teeth, Haoran spoke once more: "Fine, fine. Let''s say you win this verbal battle with that ruthless tongue of yours. However, if you believe that this is all I had, then you''re gravely mistaken!" Shortly after, the old filth stepped back to create some distance, and since Shye was protecting the unconscious Shirley, he couldn''t stray too far from his original position lest the old bastard decided to target her. He knew what the old bastard was about to do anyway. Continue your adventure at empire Only, he didn''t know the effects of Haoran''s [(Light)Holy Zone Lv.3(Unique)], and he could only watch him activate it. Well, based on its name, it should only grant the old filth some advantages, not instantly take Shye out with one strong, burst-type attack. Sure enough, after activation, holy light once again descended upon the entire floor, bathing the area in golden rays; then, three secondster, the rocky walls turned golden, making it seem as though the two of them were inside a sacred domain¡ªa skill truly deserving of its name, "Holy Zone." Only, the user was nowhere near the word holy. Still, the skill did its job, forcefully banning the use of all elemental skills and those of the dark element, allowing the use of only those that were affiliated to no elements and those of the light. As a result, Shye''s wings disintegrated into ck mana particles along with the bonuses of his [Fallen''s Howl] skill.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Hahahaha! What now, kid?! As long as I keep this domain active, the restrictions will remain! Want to know what those restrictions are? Better stay alive and find out for yourself then! Hahahaha!" After mocking Shye, the old filth charged forward and brandished his greataxe diagonally downwards, forcing Shye to sh both greatswords forward to block Haoran''s attack. Of course, he subconsciously used [Power sh] to increase his chances of sessfully protecting himself, forgetting the fact that "some restrictions" are in ce. *CLANG!* As the two weapons shed, a surprising oue urred: the old bastard was slightly overpowered in the exchange because Shye sessfully activated one of his skills. "Pfft! Hahahaha! You stupid old dog! What the f*ck?! After all that tough talk, you''ll just lose again?!" Shye ruthlessly mocked back. Even he couldn''t believe what just happened. Utterly humiliated, Haoran couldn''t even think of a retort on the fly, still in disbelief that Shye instantly found one loophole of his Holy Zone. Normally, people would be panicking, especially someone so young. "YOU LUCKY LITTLE BASTARD!! AGAIN! THIS TIME, I''LL SLAUGHTER YOU!" Haoran raged, once again charging straight at Shye with fiery vengeance burning in his eyes. Meanwhile, Shye opted for a temporary defensive approach. At least until he finds out the restrictions of this darned zone. To block a skill-empowered blow from Haoran, Shye activated another one of hismon-tier skills, [Destructive Chop Lv.5]. Only, this time, the results differed as Shye was blown back. Haoran had the advantage of his celestial blessing while Shye''s fallen skills were forcefully deactivated so this was the expected result. "Hahahahaha! Let''s see if you still dare talk back, snot-nosed brat!" Still, Shye didn''t panic, focusing on analyzing the Holy Zone instead. ''Fireball! Icicle Spear! Earthen spikes! Wind cutters!'' Each time he had a chance to breathe, Shye tried to activate his elemental skills, however, none of them worked. ''Hmmm¡­so elemental skills and dark-type skills don''t work.'' He pondered after being sent sliding backward once more, ignoring the relentless mocking wordsing from the old filth''s mouth. ''However, since his [Celestial Blessing] skill, which should be of the (Light) category, still works, then it should mean that only skills of that certain category are usable¡­but then how was I able to use [Power sh]? Could it be¡­des of Despair!'' "Hahahahaha! Brat, once I capture you, I''ll make you watch something ni¨C?!" The old filth''s words were cut short upon realizing that a dark purple aura suddenly enveloped both of Shye''s greatswords. "Hahahaha, your time is up, old bastard. I''ve already discovered that aside from skills in the (Light) category, your Holy Zone permits the use of skills that aren''t tied to any element." Naturally, Haoran was infuriated yet again, not only by Shye''s words but also by his tone, which seemed to imply that he had already won. "SHUT UP! YOU LITTLE TWERP! THAT DOESN''T MEAN JACK SHIT IF YOU DON''T HAVE THE APPROPRIATE SKILLS TO BACK YOUR FINDINGS UP!" "Hahahaha! Oh, but unfortunately for you, old dog, I do." ''Sword Realm!'' Chapter 432 Captured Witnessing the purple world expanding at unbelievable speeds and enveloping the entire floor, Haoran''s blood ran cold. Being an experienced man, he had long since determined that the young man before him wasn''t someone who resorted to bluffs. Hence, the purple world that enveloped everything including his Holy Zone truly made him nervous. He had to discover the restrictions of this purple domain! However, he didn''t anticipate that there would be no need for experimentation, as the effects of Shye''s domain were immediately apparent. It restricted the usage of mana. It also provides buffs to those who use swords. Unfortunately, the old dog''s weapon is a greataxe, which did not qualify him to receive the said power-ups. ''Shit! Shit! Shit!'' Haoran cursed upon feeling the mana restrictions. His domain uses a certain portion of his mana per minute to remain active, if the mana supply was abruptly cut off, then it would immediately deactivate the next minute. He had to wrap this up, and fast! Feigning calmness despite having a turbulent heart, Haoran stopped talking and focused on the task at hand, charging straight toward Shye with lethal ferocity. Shye merely sneered in disdain, though, as he could sense slight desperation in what seemed to be his adversary''s valiant advance. Currently, the entire floor was a mix of purple and gold, however, based on the old dog''s reaction, Shye believed that it would be entirely purple sooner orter. Hence, he decided to toy with the desperate old filth. Facing Haoran''s greataxe that was currently on a fierce downward trajectory, Shye raised both greatswords in an X-block, effectively allowing him to block the old bastard''s skill-empowered blow. Simr battle sequences then happened for the next twenty seconds, causing the anxiety and fear inside Haoran''s heart to burgeon. After a while, the old filth''s calm exterior finally broke. "YOU LITTLE TURTLE!! FACE ME LIKE A MAN!!" he eximed in utter fury without stopping his ferocious onught of attacks. He was running out of time and the damned ashen-haired young man in front of him just had to switch fighting styles. Haoran wasn''t sure if Shye had already discovered the limited time his sacred domain had left, but he didn''t have the time to care. He had to finish Shye off within thirty seconds! Fortunately, a bright idea urred to him¡ªone that stemmed from his countless life-and-death experiences. "ORAAAAAHHH!! DIE!! BRAT!!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Haoran began to act wildly, seemingly allowing desperation and anxiety to ovee his seasoned heart as he repeatedly swung his greataxe with reckless abandon. Soon after, openings that Shye could exploit started popping up from time to time, tempting Shye to go in for the kill. Unfortunately for the old filth, the idea that his 120-points-of-intelligence brain coulde up with reeked of a trap in Shye''s eyes. After all, it was a bit hard to believe that a seasoned old man, despite evident desperation, would give Shye such huge openings¡ªones that were enough to threaten his life. Hence, the first thing that entered Shye''s mind was that the old dog was baiting him to go in for the kill, which was actually spot on. Nevertheless, he was eager to confirm the old filth''s intentions, hence, he promptly executed the countern he had devised. "Hahahaha! Such evident desperation! DIE! OLD FILTH!!" Shye eximed as he pretended to charge in and stab both of his greatswords towards Haoran''s ribs, only to turn around at thest second and use [Dash] to suddenly escape. Had his guess been wrong, Shye would''ve appeared extremely foolish. Not that it mattered as the only person who had the chance to witness his random actions was unconscious. Only, Shye didn''t actually expect his countern to work so smoothly. Immediately after he dashed away, Haoran unleashed his rare-tier [Lunarian sh], which had just be avable after its cooldown, utilizing his stamina as a catalyst. The attack was directed toward Shye''s previous location, demolishing a significant portion of the entire ninth floor. Unfortunately, it hit nothing but the ground, causing the old filth''s heart to drop. ''Shit!'' Inwardly cursing after realizing that he was the one who was baited to release his skill, the seasoned old bastard immediately determined that there was no way for him to win for now, hence, he immediately turned around and ran towards the staircases. Observing the old filth''s foolish actions, Shye merely sneered in disdain before saying: "Oh, right, my skill has one more effect: no one can exit until I either deactivate it or I''m killed." Stay updated through empire Naturally, the desperate old filth didn''t believe Shye, trying to smash the purple barriers of the sword realm with everything he had. Well, his strikes actually bore fruit, cracking the barrier slightly. Unfortunately, that was it. At the rate he was going, it would take Haoran a few minutes to escape¡ªsomething Shye wouldn''t allow to happen. The old bastard also knew this, hence, with gnashed teeth, he turned around. "I-I admit defeat. If you allow me to live, I can give y¨C" *FWOOSH!* Again, Haoran''s words were cut short upon realizing that Shye was going for him with bad intentions. "Brat! Calm down! You can get much more from me than what your city or guild would reward you with!" The old filth pleaded as he barely dodged one of Shye''s attacks. "Heh, you can go to hell, old bastard. I''ll thoroughly search this ce and take everything I want once you''re gone anyway." What Haoran failed to understand was that Shye was nning to capture him and torture him, hence, one of his greatswords had des of despair active. Soon enough, once the first hitnded, the old filth felt his energy leave his body, causing him to panic upon finally realizing what the young man''s n was. He pleaded hard, only for his words tond on deaf ears as the young man in front of him seemed to truly enjoy his desperate and pathetic appearance. Unfortunately, after the first hit, Haoran began to slow down, allowing Shye tond more hits; then, a few minutester, the old bastard finally copsed on the ground¡ªutterly incapacitated. "Hahaha... Didn''t I tell you, old scourge? I''m determined to make you suffer today, and nothing you say will save you now that you''re in my clutches. If only you hadn''t dared to target my woman, I wouldn''t have cared about your scummy organization." Chapter 433 Agony "AAAHHHH!!!" A spine-chilling scream of agony sounded across the entire ninth floor, bringing a satisfied smile to Shye''s face. Naturally, the scream came from Haoran, who was currently tied up with both of his pinky fingers gone. "P-Please, let me go! What do you want?! I can give you anything you want or even do some heinous crimes for you! Don''t you have some desires you want to fulfill?! We can also keep it a secret from that girlfriend of yours!" The old filth pleaded desperately, evidently not loving his first-ever torture session. He had always been the one torturing others, and he never expected that he would one day be on the receiving end of a slow punishment. After all, his patience was one of his strong points and all of his organization''s operations were carefully nned and executed. Hence, today was truly an unexpected nightmare for Haoran. "Heh, let me think about it, old man. If you beg for your life well enough, my anger might slowly fade, and I might consider your offer more seriously." Shye replied with a cold smile. He truly had no intentions of epting Haoran''s offer, however, he wanted to destroy his heart, mind, and body for daring to touch Shirley. Thus, he decided to give the old bastard some false hope¡ªa fitting torture for his old wicked heart. Hearing Shye address him as "old man" instead of "old filth" or "old bastard" made everything believable for Haoran, who was desperate to live. ''You little shit, once I escape here, I shall make it my life''s mission to torture you and everyone close to you! I will f*cking destroy your life!'' the old filth inwardly vowed, saying somethingpletely different shortly after. "Y-Yes, I apologize for touching your woman. I-I never knew that there was someone as talented as you in Valenzia and that I would be this unlucky to be on the receiving end of your wrath! I-If you can find it in your heart to forgive an old filth like me, I would never dare cross you again. I would even be your dog! One that will do the dirty deeds for you! Kill someone, capture someone, you name it!" Naturally, Haoran''s words merely made Shye inwardly sneer in disdain and amusement. ''Heh, this wretched old man will stoop to any level to get what he wants! Unfortunately, I''ll never fall for the lies of scummy old bastards like you!'' [Congrattions! You''ve purchased The Elixir of Agony for 1000 points!] "Fine then, old man. I shall give you a chance." A shadow of an ted smile immediately crept into the corners of the old dog''s mouth upon hearing the words of the arrogant brat in front of him. ''Heh, in the end, you need experience to survive in the world!'' Haoran inwardly thought while appearing extremely pitiful as he looked straight at Shye''s eyes.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om At that moment, one would pity such a poor old man. Except for Shye, of course, who currently had 300 points in intelligence in addition to some anger issues brought about by his yful heart. "I-I''ll do it! How can I prove myself to you, young talented sir?" Feigning a pleased appearance, Shye spoke: "Hahahaha! First, drink this. I assure you, this substance is not deadly, this is just a test." The seasoned old bastard knew that he would die anyway if he didn''t grab this chance, hence, without hesitation, he drank the small bottle of elixir Shye gave him. In Haoran''s mind, the youngster was already under his control, and he believed that, despite his current situation, things would turn around in a few years. Little did he know, Shye was simply toying with him, giving him false hope only to p him with the harsh reality that today was thest day he would ever live in the end. "AHHHHH!!" As the elixir took effect, the pain in the old filth''s severed pinky fingers, cut off by Shye earlier, intensified tenfold, causing snot and tears to stream down his nose and cheeks. Naturally, such a sight made Shye almost burst outughing in triumph, however, for the sake of breaking the old man''s heart and mind, he temporarily suppressed it with all his might. Instead, he frowned at the old bastard. "Hmmph, so much for your loyalty, you can''t even endure phase one of my trials! How can I trust you?!" Hearing Shye''s words, hope burgeoned deep within Haoran''s heart, allowing him to at least resist the so-called "phase one" of the former''s trials. ''I only need to endure this once, then I''ll survive and have my chance for revenge!'' Gritting his teeth, Haoran forcefully endured the pain stemming from having his pinky fingers severed. "Good, like this I can trust you a bit more. However, my trials aren''t over yet." Experience more on empire Brandishing both greatswords, Shye cut off all of Haoran''s fingers, making him go crazy due to the hellish pain he was experiencing. Soon after, the old filth rolled uncontrobly on the ground, drooling and crying in utter agony¡ªhis mind¡ªbattered by the neverending waves of pain. "This potion will fully heal you including your lost body parts!" Shye eximed in a loud voice, dangling a green-colored potion that he reserved for emergency purposes in front of the old filth who was going through enough pain to destroy one''s sanity. "Endure all the pain I inflict for one whole minute, and this potion is yours! Additionally, I will ept your proposal to be my underground dog!" ''Endure¡­As long as I endure, I''ll get to live!!'' Through sheer willpower and desperation to live, Haoran endured each excruciating second. He was doing quite well. However, as the thirty-second mark approached, he suddenly felt an intense pain in his groin, forcing him to look down. His little brother¡­was gone, cut off by the ruthless youngster''s greatswords. "HIIIIIIIIHHHHHH!!" Haoran screamed like a dying pig, causing Shye to let out a small peal ofughter, nearly revealing his ruthless ns ahead of time. Fortunately for him, the old filth couldn''t hear anything, as his mind was teetering on the edge of insanity. After what felt like an eternity for the old man, his ears suddenly captured something that strengthened his resolve to endure. "Five seconds!" "Four!" "Three!" "Two!" "One!" "Congrattions, here, the potion is all yours," Shye said, retrieving a green potion bottle that didn''t look anything like the one he took out earlier. Well, of course, it didn''t as this one contained a moderately potent poison designed to kill its victim slowly. Shortly after, Shye poured the "recovery potion" on the ground, a few meters in front of the suffering Haoran. Naturally, the old filth felt intense anger upon catching a glimpse of Shye''s actions, however, his seasoned self knew that this wasn''t the time toin. Hence, no matter how hellish the pain was, Haoran slithered closer to the spilled elixir, desperately slurping it from the ground upon arrival. "Hahahahaha! Good dog!" Shye said before turning around and carrying Shirley''s unconscious body. Shortly after, the poison''s effects started to kick in, wreaking further havoc inside Haoran''s body. "No¡­No!...You¡­little¡­bas¡­" "..." After a few more seconds, silence enveloped the ninth floor. Chapter 434 Heart-to-Heart Talk. "Mmmm¡­ Where am I?" Shirley muttered, her eyes half-closed, finding the unfamiliar tent she was in puzzling. "Shirley!" Shortly after, though, all her questions were answered as two strong arms held her in a warm embrace from behind, reminding her of the unreal moment her lover suddenly arrived out of nowhere and saved her from what would''ve been the darkest moment of her life. In truth, she had already been petrified by the ugly serpentine monstrous creature that she tried to hunt to temper herself.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om However, two days ago, her consciousness miraculously returned. Only, she found herself tied up and fed some sort of aphrodisiac pill designed to make her beg the darned old scum for s*x. At that point, she was in utter despair, yet she held on. Shirley didn''t even expect Shye toe to help her, as it was simply impossible for him to know what was going on. Find exclusive stories on empire She only hoped that she would be rescued regardless of who the rescuers were. Hence, her lover''s sudden fuming entrance seemed like a scene straight out of a fairy tale in her eyes. Who would''ve expected that her knight in shining armor would actuallye to save her? "Shye!...uuuu¡­I thought I would never see you again¡­" This time, the so-called ice queen''s cold exteriorpletely crumbled, revealing the soft-hearted young woman beneath. The two of them embraced each other for two whole minutes¡ªboth not wanting to let go, fearing that this was nothing but a dream. Shortly after, Shye spoke: "Shirley, I''m sorry for having you go through such difficulties. I should''ve given you more assurance" "Why are you apologizing? I was the one who stubbornly took on missions I couldn''tplete¡­" "You wouldn''t have had to have I given you more assurance that I would stay by your side no matter what happened. Also, I''m aware that your decision to temper yourself was because of my unbelievable growth rate." Hearing Shye''s words, Shirley couldn''t help but remain silent; after all, it was indeed because of her lover''s explosive growth that she decided to temper herself. She didn''t want to get left behind. However, she was conflicted about whether she should ask for her lover''s help as she didn''t want to limit his achievements and drag him down because of her selfishness. Only, she hadn''t anticipated that dragging Shye down was futile; he would continue to grow stronger at a much faster rate than anyone else, regardless of whether she sought his help or not. ¡­Seeing her reaction and realizing his guess was correct, Shye finally decided to tell her about the system, aiming not only to ease her insecurities but also to make her understand that her attempts to catch up would only cause the gap between them to widen further. Shye wanted to take care of Shirley and help her, and now he realized that he should''ve been more decisive about it. Determined to stop acting like an indecisive wuss, Shye began to share his story with his silent lover. He recounted how his parents suddenly vanished, how they were kicked out of their home and lived like street rats for four years, how Maia almost died, how he met the hermit, and how he obtained the system. In addition to this, he told her in great detail about the advantages the system gave him and how it helped him be the so-called "legend" and "super rookie" he was today. Contrary to what one might expect, he felt ashamed after revealing the shy adventurer system to her, believing he had cheated his way into earning Shirley''s affection. "Pfft! Hahahaha! So that''s why you always blew things up and loved being the center of attention! So that''s how you got stronger so quickly huh?... Phew¡­I thought I was simply way too untalented!" Shirley''s cuteugh of relief that sounded shortly after he finished speaking instantly removed all of the shame welling in his heart. "You¡­don''t despise me?" "H-Huh? W-Why would I despise you? If anything, I''m relieved that you have such a secret, otherwise, I would probably continue to have insecurities should the gap between us widen further! Now, I can go train at my own pace without feeling too much pressure." Shirley honestly said with a relieved smile. "Phew¡­I thought you would hate me or something¡­Well, not quite at your own pace as you would be growing stronger way faster now." Shye''s words naturally made Shirley confused. Hence, upon noticing her puzzled expression, he proceeded to exin his n. "Ahh... I forgot to mention that the system lets me use points to purchase any skill I want, turn them into skill books, and give them to anyone I choose." "Also, I would be giving you lots of elixirs that you could use to improve your attributes by leaps and bounds in addition to a few life-saving items." "I-I appreciate the thought but I don''t want to impede your growth¡­" "I have a goal that I probably would struggle to aplish alone and I need trustworthy allies to help me. Who else would I trust more than you, my beloved?" Hearing Shye''s sweet yet sincere words, Shirley almost melted in utter glee. Taking this chance, Shye continued: "So stop worrying about whether you''ll hinder my progress or not. I''ll still be the legend I am, whether I help you or not!" he said, pounding his chest in assurance. "Moreover, the faster you grow, the more we can stay together and the more you will be able to help me! What do you say? Won''t you ept my arrangements this time?" Her dream had always been for the two of them to hunt high-ranked monsters together under the same party, not because Shye wanted to help herplete her quests, but because she was genuinely skilled enough to be in the same adventurer party as him. Therefore, Shye''s arrangements sounded much more appealing now that her insecurities were gone. Besides, why had she been intentionally rejecting his help in the first ce? He was her lover, for goodness'' sake! Who else would she turn to for assistance but him? Once she became capable enough, she could simply repay Shye by staying by his side as much as possible and looking after him in the little way she could. With renewed resolve, Shirley looked at her lover with determination burning in her eyes, bringing a smile to Shye''s face. "I understand, I shall trust you and go along with your arrangements!" "Great! Here''s the n¡­" Chapter 435 Temporary Goodbyes And New Beginnings For an entire month, Shye lived his dream life, helping Shirleyplete quests at unprecedented speeds during the day, and rolling around in bed or sleeping bags at night¡ªwith the aid of contraceptive elixirs, of course, as they weren''t quite ready to have a child just yet. Furthermore, he was able to make up for his shorings as a boyfriend by spoiling her, providing not only luxurious rooms and meals for a whole month but also by giving her one unique-tier, two rare-tier, two umon-tier, and threemon-tier warrior skills for a total of around 130,000 points. Lastly, he bought Shirley a diamond-tier membership at Constantine Consumables, along with an array of elixirs and tonics designed to rapidly boost the growth rate of her attributes and the level of her skills for 2,500 gold coins. A bit much, however, he sincerely wanted Shirley to catch up to him as soon as possible. Hence, he gave her staggering amounts of gifts, leaving her dizzy at the sight of all the expensive items she would need to save for months to afford even one. Still, all she did was thank her lover for everything, not daring to act distant anymore after their heart-to-heart talk a month prior. They both yearned for the day when they could stand and fight together. Thus, despite feeling embarrassed at receiving such astonishing items worth mind-boggling prices, Shirley gratefully epted them all, knowing that even with such resources, she might only be able to offer limited assistance to her lover. Yet, that was enough for her. Just being together with Shye was more than enough¡­ After all, her lover was destined for greatness, and she desired nothing more than to stand by his side as he ascended to prominence. Unfortunately, all good things muste to an end. Tonight was theirst night together, yet, for some reason, there wasn''t a hint of sadness in their hearts. Perhaps it was because their chances of staying and fighting together in the future had increased significantly, coupled with the reduction in the number of days they had to wait for that future to arrive. ¡­Ending the night with onest romantic intercourse, Shye left the next morning, leaving her a letter with a few important reminders and words of affection. He shall visit her again. For the time being, he had to focus on traveling towards the city of dreams as he would likely arrive two weekster than the anticipated date he was supposed to report to the guild''s main headquarters in Valenzia City. While it might appear somewhat irresponsible, he wasn''t in a hurry, and he could easily exin to Soaring Raven that he encountered some issues along the way. Hopefully, he wouldn''t get in trouble for such a mishap. *** *** Three weekster. ''I''m finally back¡­'' Pride welled in Shye''s heart as he gazed upon the familiar gates of Valenzia City. In the past, he could only enter the city with the assistance of Colzen Academy, but now, he was on the brink of establishing that very same city of dreams as his base of operations. And all of this just eleven months into his adventuring career! Entering the city after a thorough verification from the guards, a shocking thing happened. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 48 points!] "W-Wait, isn''t that guy Shye Crowley?"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Y-Yeah, I heard he''s starting his career in the Raven''s de Guild Branch in Balkrow City, I wonder why he''s here?" "Man, I still remember the day Guild Master Dong raged like a kid in front of the Raven''s de''s Guild Headquarters after finding out that Guild Master Soaring Raven sessfully bagged the entire Colzen roster!" "Hahahaha! That was funny indeed." "I don''t know about you guys but I''m recording this moment with a recording crystal!" In sharp contrast to how unknown he was in Balkrow, mundane folks who had jobs inside the city and visiting low-ranked adventurers swarmed him, asking him for photos and recordings. Naturally, Shye couldn''t process what was happening. Your adventure continues at empire He understood that he was fairly well-known as the ace representative ofst year''s champion academy but there were people like him each year, no? Unbeknownst to Shye, although there were indeed people like him every year, his performance was the most exciting and heaven-defying of them all. Hence, he was amongst the most remembered ace representatives in the history of the Adventurer Academy Competition. Snapping out of his confusion, Shye noticed that a lot of recording crystals were pointed at him, prompting him to automatically smile at them. Of course, the mundane folks and the visiting low-ranked adventurers appreciated the fact that he took the time to cater to their wishes. Unfortunately, the way they reciprocated was one that only caused further trouble for Shye as they spread the word to everyone they knew that Shye Crowley was at the city entrance, attracting more and more people who hoped to take photos and recordings with him. As a result, he was now stuck in the middle of hundreds of people, and although he appreciated the free points he was earning, it was way too meagerpared to the trouble he was going through. Luckily, one adventurer, who was seemingly in his early thirties, noticed his predicament and stepped in. "Hey, hey, please cut the young man some ck. He had been stuck here for almost two hours now, no? Let him go already." The adventurer with short ck hair, attractive facial features, and a well-built physique said before looking at him and continuing: "Shye Crowley, correct? Follow me." Nodding gratefully at the almost middle-aged adventurer, Shye looked at the crowd apologetically before following the ck-haired adventurer. "I''m Adrian Evans, an adventurer from the Divine Judgment Adventurer Guild. ording to the information I have, you began your adventuring journey around 11 months ago. Could you please tell me why you''re here in Valenzia City?" "Ah, yes. Firstly, let me express my gratitude for saving me back there. I''ve been fortunate in my first eleven months of adventuring, which has led to my promotion to my guild''s main branch here in Valenzia City. I''m currently en route to the main headquarters to report my arrival." Hearing Shye''s words, Adrian''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. "W-What? You''ve been promoted to the main branch already? What rank are you at right now? C-Crap, now I understand why those people flocked to you like crazy! You''re mad talented!" Embarrassed at the stranger''s sincere praises, Shye simply smiled at him awkwardly. "W-Well then, the Raven''s de Headquarters is situated around the middle of the third street. I have some errands to take care of, so I''ll leave you here. See youter, super rookie!" Chapter 436 The Big Stage ''D-Damn, now that I''m standing in front of it... isn''t the main headquarters way too huge?!'' Shye inwardly thought as he gazed at the majestic Raven''s de Adventurer Guild Main Headquarters. It still had the same unusual architectural design, but evenpared to the other guilds on the same street, it was significantlyrger than most, except for a few that were likely also among the top fifty guilds in Valenzia City. Since he was loitering in front of the headquarters'' entrance, many adventurers from Raven''s de¡ªall looking way tougher than those in Balkrow, stared at him with intrigue. Shortly after, one of them approached him. "H-Hey, little brother, y-you''re Shye Crowley aren''t you?" "A-Ahh¡­yes," Shye replied awkwardly, still a bit confused by people treating him as if he was some big celebrity when he was just a recently promoted emerald-ranked adventurer. What he didn''t realize was that thepetition in the city of dreams was way more cutthroat than what he imagined and that a young adventurer''s potential is second only in statuspared to those who have already made it big. After all, the best time to hug a talented youngster''s golden thigh was before they rose to great heights. It was only natural for adventurers, faced with the harsh reality of their inevitable mediocrity, to mentally list potential individuals they could align with to achieve a more sessful career than they could on their own. Shye was one such individual. However, they expected him to only arrive two to three yearster as in their minds, he at least needed that much time to grow before taking on the big stage. Thus, most of the Raven''s de adventurers chilling outside the headquarters were puzzled at his arrival. "Why did you visit the main branch? I was really shocked when Guild Master Dong stormed into our guild, furious and using our guild master of stealing you from him." Ignoring the part where another guild master raged upon finding out that he joined Raven''s de, Shye replied: "Ahh, I''ve just been promoted to the main branch and I need to¨C" "WHAT?! You''ve already been promoted?!" The diamond-ranked adventurer talking to him eximed in utter shock and disbelief. Shortly after¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 6,182 points!] ''W-what?'' Shye couldn''t believe how many points he just earned. However, upon entering the main headquarters of the guild, all his questions were instantly answered as he was greeted by the guild''s luxurious interior. Above, a high and wide ckwood ceiling was adorned with an enormous fluorescent crystal chandelier suspended in the center. Below, five quest counters made of polished granite were positioned right in front of the entrance, manned by five beautiful young women which gave the ce an opulent yet highlypetitive atmosphere. Then, as he nced to the left, Shye saw the vastest indoor lobby he had ever seen, filled with thousands of spaciously arranged tables and chairs made of high-quality refined oakwood. Additionally, there were at least a hundred food and beverage options, leaving Shye awestruck by the sheer grandeur of the ce. The already immense lobby back in the Balkrow Branch was nothing inparison to the main branch''s. To his right were neatly arranged rows of ckwood chairs where adventurers, carrying sack bags filled with quest items, sat waiting for one of the five rewards receptionists stationed at smooth marble countertops to call their names. Lastly, behind the quest counters were staircases leading to the upper floors, essible only to adventurers of certain ranks. Upon witnessing the simr yet way more grand and luxurious setup of the main branch, mes of passion ignited once again in Shye''s young heart. This was further fueled by the fact that one of the thorns in his heart¡ªShirley''s initially headstrong yet futile situation¡ªhad now been resolved, bringing a sense of relief to him. Ignoring the gazes of tens of thousands of Raven''s de adventurers looking his way, Shye walked towards one of the empty quest counters, retrieving all the necessary documents for his transfer, including Corvus'' rmendation letter, and cing them on the desk. "Hello, I''m Shye Crowley, a recently promoted rookie from the Balkrow Branch." "Hello, Sir Crowley. Wee to the main branch. We were expecting you to arrive two weeks ago¡­Did you encounter any difficulties on the way?" "A-Ahh¡­yes, I encountered some difficulties on the way so I was dyed." "I see. Since you''re two weekste, you''ll only receive half the rewards uponpleting your first quest. After that, you''ll get everything in full. Here''s your Valenzia Token, your Raven''s de guild badge, and your updated adventurer license. Once more, wee to the main branch. Happy Adventuring! Next!" ''W-Wha¡­that''s it?'' Shye inwardly thought as he slowly walked to the sides in slight disbelief. He had assumed that Soaring Raven would summon him or something, given the warm wee from his guildmates, only to be confronted by the reality that his admission was nothing out of the ordinary. He was treated just like any other adventurer who was promoted to the main branch. ''Just how I like it!'' What he didn''t like was what happened next: being swarmed by his guildmates. He wasn''t stupid and he had already determined their intentions, hence, he immediately declined all their party invitations. As politely as possible, of course, as he still needed to help the midget look for ten priests/priestesses with the required curse removal skill. He couldn''t act arrogantly like he did in the Balkrow Branch. Moreover, his current strength wouldn''t allow him to do so as countless high-ranked adventurers could kill him as easily as turning their hands. This time, he had to think about his actions, tread carefully, and advance his career one step at a time. After all, this was already the big stage, unlike a mere adventurer hub city like Balkrow.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om ¡­Politely bowing to the slightly disappointed crowd, Shye left the main branch through the front door. ''Sigh¡­Finally out of there. For starters, let''s find a ce to stay.'' Chapter 437 Second Mandatory Quest After looting and destroying the entire syndicate hideout, Shye now had a total of 21,000 gold coins¡ªan utterly astronomical amount for a rookie. In addition to acquiring arge number of coins, he also obtained one rare-tier skill book (which he has already given to Shirley), four umon-tier skill books (two of which he learned for himself), and over tenmon-tier skill books that he temporarily stored in the system''s inventory. Furthermore, he collected a variety of elixirs, tonics, and pills with peculiar but beneficial uses. However, most of them appeared to be illegal to use. Still, Shye stored them in the system''s inventory just in case he found himself in a desperate situation in which he needed to use one. Desperate times call for desperate measures. ...Over the past two days, Shye struggled to make a decision about his living situation, feeling conflicted about whether to purchase a house, rent temporary lodging on a monthly basis, or continue staying in inns. After all, he would be outpleting quests most of the time. Hence, Shye thought that it would be better for him to stay at inns like he always did. Although the rates were quite astronomical ranging from 100 silver coins to 2000 silver coins per night depending on the quality of the inn, since he would only be inside the city for around probably seven to nine days per month, renting rooms per night would be the cheaper and more optimal choice, at least until Shirley arrives. After deciding that he would be staying at inns, Shye immediately searched the city for the best one, ultimately choosing an inn called the Gentle Pearl Inn which would set him back 700 silver coins per night. The room he chose was a decent one, however, it wasn''t on the level of the premium suite he always rented back at Balkrow. Still, it shall do for now. Shockingly, as he headed toward the guild''s main headquarters, a notification popped up right in front of him. [Your next mandatory quest has now been posted to the mandatory quests section.] Shye''s face instantly turned stern upon reading the system''s notice. He then immediately opened the system and navigated to the mandatory quests section to check what the quest was. === Quest Title: Valenzia: A Hero In The Making! Requirements: Be one of Valenzia Region''s Hero Candidates. Current Progress: N/A Remaining Time: 8,759:59:49 (H:M:S) Completion Rewards: +1 familiar slot, +1 familiar summoning scroll (Legendary), and 1,000,000 system points. Upon failure: -50% to all attributes (For 1 year), -120 to all attributes (Permanent)n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om === ''Only one year to aplish¡­huh?'' Shye pondered with a serious look, trying to remember the information Seira told him about hero candidates. ording to her, to instantly be a hero candidate, one must fulfill all three requirements. First, win the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition, which is set to take ce in about two months. Second, be the first-year rookie with the highest guild contribution points across the entire region¡ªa goal he believed he had already achieved. Nheless, he nned toplete a few more solo quests to ensure his lead. Third,plete the special quest posted across all guilds in Valenzia City, the most challenging requirement, as he would bepeting against third-year rookies for the firstpletion rewards. Although there were other ways to be a hero candidate, Shye believed that those other requirements must not be achievable within a year and this was his only chance. Hence, he nned to focus on aplishing the mandatory quest before worrying about anything else. After all, should he fail, the repercussions would be way too dire, enough for him to fall back down to the dog-eat-dog world of the so-called "geniuses" when his current strength was already on the level of veterans. ''First, let''s check that so-called special quest¡­'' ¡­Arriving at the headquarters, Shye immediately headed towards the enormous quest board located on the left side of the five quest counters. Unfortunately, for a well-known super-rookie like him who once again made waves in the guild due to his historically fast promotion, things weren''t bound to be peaceful. While he was in the middle of looking for the special quest posted on the quest board, the voice of a middle-aged adventurer sounded from behind him. "Hmpph, so you''re Shye Crowley, huh? Naturally, upon hearing such an arrogant tone, Shye would be annoyed. Still, he knew that he could not act recklessly in the main branch. At least not for now. Thus, he only turned around after one deep breath. "Yes, I am indeed Shye Crowley. Who might you guys be?" "Hmmph! I''m Bernal Wild, a squadron leader of one of Raven''s de''s adventurer divisions, The Infernal Ravens. I came here under the orders of our illustriousmander, the adamantite-ranked adventurer, Warren cier, to invite you to our division." Bernal said with a condescending tone, believing that as long as he didn''t treat the so-called super-rookie as though he was something special, he would be able to secure him. Furthermore, the status of their division wouldn''t be tarnished by acting lowly in front of a mere rookie¡ªthe perfect fool-proof n in Bernal''s narrow mind. Shye did not appreciate his approach. However, he still responded politely, using a tone that was neither subservient nor arrogant. "I see. Unfortunately, I''m not looking for a division right now so I would have to decline." He then turned around and continued looking at the quest board. "H-Hey! You bastard, you dare refuse the invitation of our squ¨C" One of Bernal''s men naturally spoke up for him, however, Bernal knew that mere words might not intimidate this so-called super-rookie. Hence, he promptly stopped his underling from speaking, deciding to make a more aggressive approach¡ªone that he believed would allow them to assert dominance over the rookie. For a while, the small squadron of adventurers remained silent behind Shye, seemingly waiting for a specific action from him. Then, just as he finally found the special quest and reached for it, Bernal''s hand swiftly moved, and they both grabbed the quest paper simultaneously. Enjoy new tales from empire "Oh, my bad, my bad. One of the rookies of our division wanted to take on the special quest so could you please let go? Or you may opt to challenge him for it." Chapter 438 First Battle At The Big Stage ''Tch...these bastards are just begging to have their faces pped!'' Shye didn''t want trouble this early in his career, however, he also simply couldn''t allow them to walk all over him. ''Do I really need to join one of these damned divisions?'' He pondered, thinking that if he had the protection of one respectable adamantite-ranked adventurer, he could perhaps eliminate around eighty to ny percent of his neer problems. Only, he didn''t know if his freedom would be restricted if he did join a division, hence, Shye knew he had to be careful in choosing. Otherwise, it would only be detrimental to his development. Once again shifting his attention to Bernal and hisckeys, Shye couldn''t help but inwardly sneer in disdain ''There''s no way in hell I''ll join a goon division like yours!'' He had the option to p their faces by using his quest priority rights, however, he was kinda low on points after spending a lot on Shirley. Thus, he was tempted to take the duel. ''If I need to join divisions to help me get through the initial stages of my career, then I might as well join the best!'' How will he do that? Why, show off, of course! He knew that the division of the clowns in front of him would be nowhere near the top based on their desperation to recruit him, even resorting to nasty tactics to force him to join. If he could join the top-tier ones, then idiots like these wouldn''t dare touch him anymore. Moreover, even if he won''t be as free as he initially was, he could at least use the resources and influence of his division to secure some advantages for himself. If he somehow got lucky enough to join a truly respectable one with an honorable division leader, even better. Still, Shye needs at least to gauge the strength of hispetition in Valenzia, and although he was sure that the third-year rookie he would be facing wouldn''t be that strong, it wouldn''t hurt to see him first. "Hmmph! if this third-year rookie is deserving then I would give way. However, how would I know if the guy isn''t only imaginary if he isn''t even here?" Shye said, seemingly feigning calmness. Naturally, his "subtle nervousness" could not escape Bernal''s seasoned eyes, making the goonish squadron leader even more confident. Unbeknownst to the bastard, Shye deliberately made him think that way so that he would call their division''s third-year rookie here, allowing him to use appraisal on the guy before deciding whether to fight. Should his opponent prove too hard to handle, which he believed to be highly unlikely, Shye could opt to use his quest priority privileges instead. ...Feeling triumphant after "cornering" the so-called super rookie, A condescending smile emerged on the corners of Bernal''s mouth. "Jolo, call Boken here." "Right away, Squadron Leader Bernal!" Readtest stories on empire After a few minutes, the third-year rookie named Boken arrived. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Boken Bownz [Level]: 158 [upation]: Adventurer (Emerald) [ss]: Warrior [Skills]: [Taunt Lv.5][Shield Bash Lv.5][Power sh Lv.5][Blink Strike Lv.5] [Dash Lv.5] [Destructive Chop Lv.5][Lunge Lv.5] [Enhance Agility Lv.5] [Enhance Strength Lv.5] [Enhance Dexterity Lv.5][Lethal Edge Lv.4(Umon)][Vengeful Bastion Lv.4(Umon)][(Dark)Stygian Rage Lv.3(Rare)][(Dark)Unholy Crosscut Lv.3(Rare)] [Strength: 270] [Intelligence: 110] [Agility: 260] [Dexterity: 260] [Stamina: 250]n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om [Vitality: 195]: [Wisdom: 80] [Back] [Exit System] ''Heh, what a trash. Seems like there are still lots of idiots who overestimate themselves even in Valenzia City...'' Shye mused upon seeing Boken''s attributes. ''There''s no way a guy like this would be able toplete the special quest reserved for rising stars.'' Although Shye hadn''t seen the contents of the special quest yet, he was sure that such third-rate trash wouldn''t seed. "Hahahaha! Indeed, when the big animalse in, the smaller ones move aside! It seems that you recognize the capabilities of one of our newest additions to our division judging by your silence." Bernal lightly mocked, satisfied at Shye''sck of words. "You will also be as strong if not more if you join us. So, what do you say?" "I say let''s stop yapping and start the duel for the quest rights. I''m quite a busy man so I would appreciate it if we could go straight to resolving our disagreements instead of talking incessantly." Hearing Shye''s words, veins popped at the sides of Bernal''s head. Just when he thought he already subdued the willful rookie, the bastard came out with another batch of infuriating words. "Fine then, since you don''t know what''s good for you, it would be better to teach you about reality through good-old ass whooping!" Bernal said in suppressed anger, turning around and ncing at one of his subordinates promptly after. "Jolo, ensure that the match would be spectated by as many people as possible." "Right away, Squadron Leader Bernal." Even though Bernal whispered his orders, his words didn''t escape Shye''s ears. ''Why, thank you for helping me gather more onlookers, you moronic squadron leader.'' *** *** "Hmmph! Shye Crowley. I thought you were a wise man based on how you led your dark horse of an academy to the championshipst year. Seems like your reputation precedes you. I would''ve respected you more had you acknowledged your temporary weakness!" "Heh, I never once thought that you are a wise man so I would never care about your opinion. Temporary weakness? Hahahaha! I, Shye Crowley, would never consider myself weak!" ''At least not from the likes of you!'' "Hmmph! Bold words. Fine. I, your senior, shall guide you through the workings of the world!" Hearing the fighting words from the two rookies the onlookers were hyped. As a result, more and more guildsmen were attracted to watch the spectacle, including the eyes and ears of various high-ranked Raven''s de divisions. "Hahahaha! I can''t believe we will get to see Shye Crowley fight as soon as he arrives!" "Indeed, idiots like Bernal do have their merits." Bernal naturally heard the words of the rude adventurers, however, he didn''t dare retort as the two were not only stronger than him but also belonged to a higher-ranked division. Hence, he could only swallow his anger and forcefully shift his focus toward the match with gnashed teeth. "Remember, no killing. The match would only end when onepetitor surrenders or is incapacitated. Begin!" Chapter 439 Shye Crowleys Reintroduction As soon as the match began, Boken charged towards Shye with a grating smirk, seemingly very confident in taking Shye down despite witnessing his absurd talents at the Adventurer Academy Competition. In his eyes, the so-called super rookie''s promotion was nothing but a forced matter, and it would be impossible for Shye to be ready for the big stage. After all, Boken himself was quite the talented adventurer, securing a promotion to the main branch in just three years, surpassing even the likes of Luna from the Balkrow branch.N?v(el)B\\jnn Only, he was fooled by Bernal and his men. In truth, he regretted joining the Infernal Ravens Division, and although Warren cier was indeed one of the few adamantite-ranked adventurers produced by Raven''s de, the man was recently promoted and was currently having a hard time advancing his career. Unfortunately, one couldn''t leave one''s division for two years, and he was stuck with these trashes for quite a while. Hence, he wanted to drag another talented youngster down with him. Misery lovespany, after all, and if he can defeat Shye, as per their agreements, he will join the Infernal Ravens. As for whether Valenzia needed talented young adventurers like Shye to rise and save the region, he didn''t know, nor did he want to know, and he never would care. ¡­Arriving in front of Shye, Boken acted as if he would use his skill, [Shield Bash Lv.5], before abruptly canceling the skill''s motion. He then used another one of his skills, [Taunt Lv.5], to make sure that Shye couldn''t back down from a head-on fight. Boken was a shortsword and shield user, and he was confident of making his opponents suffer in a frontal battle as he was adept in block-and-counterattack tactics. Sure enough, once the skill took effect, the irises of Shye''s eyes turned slightly red, confirming that he was now under the effects of taunt. In truth, Shye could''ve easily dodged the [Taunt] since the skill''s range was rather limited. However, to show everyone how much stronger he was than Boken, he decided to embrace the skill with open arms. The [Taunt] skill allowed him to dodge sidewards, however, Shye couldn''t take a single step back for ten seconds. Hence, he had no choice but to engage in a frontal sh. Which Shye would''ve done anyway. shing his sword diagonally downwards, Shye empowered his attack with his trusty [Power sh] skill along with two charges of boost. He nned to wow everyone with the huge disparity in strength. As for Boken, the smile on his face only grew wider upon realizing that he managed to easily catch Shye with his [Taunt], thinking that things would be a mere walk in the park. Activating another one of his skills, [Vengeful Bastion Lv.4(Umon)], Boken''s shield gained the ability to reflect 20% of the damage it received back to the attacker. He then stood his ground and confidently waited for his opponent''s attack tond, all too ready to mock Shye after absorbing his blow and reflecting twenty percent of the damage back to him. In Boken''s mind, the heroic scene wherein he would stand firmly, utterly unfazed by his opponent''s attack while Shye staggered backward after receiving the twenty percent reflected damage like some pathetic side character, would soon happen. Unfortunately, his simtions couldn''t be farther from the truth as immediately after receiving Shye''s attack, he shot backward like a modern-day baseball squarely hit by the fourth batter. He couldn''t even hold his ground for a single second. Heck, even his shield couldn''t hold on and was now bent in the middle--utterly unusable. "Puhaahk!" mming hard on the walls of the vast underground training halls, Boken spat out blood, almost losing consciousness in just a single hit. ''Impossible! How is this guy so strong?!'' Bernal inwardly thought in utter shock and disbelief. He knew how capable the rookie they secured was, yet, the guy was sent flying in just a single sh. At this moment, the squadron leader started to regret his decisions. Had he known exactly how strong and valuable Shye was, he wouldn''t have allowed him to disy his prowess in front of others. Now, countless higher-ranked divisions would extend an invitation to him, making it impossible for the Infernal Ravens to acquire Shye. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 11,290 points!] Earning an unexpectedly huge amount of points, Shye was inwardly shocked, prompting him to take one good look at his surroundings, with nary a hint of care about the reflected damage he just received. ''Crap...I still underestimated the size of the guild and the total number of guildsmen who made it to the main branch...huh?'' Shye inwardly thought, realizing that he would probably be in a lot of rivalries here, both from young geniuses and jealous veterans. Still, such a thought only stoked the mes ofpetitiveness in his heart. Meanwhile, the poor Boken struggled to stand up, his knees wobbling due to both the internal and external injuries he received. Yet, he refused to copse, feeling that everything would be over for him should he allow himself to be defeated with just one blow. He at least had to show resilience! Activating his trump card, [(Dark)Stygian Rage Lv.3(Rare)], Boken''s body started emitting crimson smoke. Soon after, the irises of his eyes turned red, and scarlet vein marks crawled from his heart all the way to his face. At that moment, Boken appeared as though he was a bloodthirsty demon, yet, there were no hints of craziness in his eyes, only pure cold-blooded savagery. "Oh? looks like this Boken guy still has something up his sleeves." "Shye Crowley is strong but Boken''s current unsettling calmness slightly unnerves even me!" Hearing the words of the adventurers who were stronger than him, Bernal slightly calmed down as a spark of hope ignited in his heart. ''Come on, Boken! Weren''t you the most talented adventurer Horkel City had ever seen in thest two decades?!'' Chapter 440 Divisions ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!'' Boken inwardly cursed in panic. Despite the calm exterior provided by his skill, his interior was utterly chaotic. He was indeed the most talented individual produced by Horkel City in the past two decades ording to the city lord, hence, he was having a hard time epting that he was losing this badly to a rookie in his first year of professional adventuring. As for Shye, he also knew that his opponent was merely feigning calmness. After all, it would be thepetitors themselves who knew best what was happening, and he was sure that Boken could tell that he was no match for him. Still, Shye used appraisal to check his opponent''s new attributes. Then, upon seeing that Boken''s warrior attributes only rose by around thirty each, Shye merely sneered in disdain. ''Heh, I should just end this quickly.'' Charging straight towards Boken with a confident smile, Shye brandished both greatswords in a diagonally downward motion, soon after, two white half-moon sh marks fired towards his opponent. Initially, Boken felt an intense surge of anger well up in his heart upon realizing that his opponent didn''t even respect his transformation. However, after feeling the spine-chilling pressure brought about by Shye''s newly learned umon-tier skill, his anger vanished, reced by panic. Knowing that his other skills didn''t have the capability to stop the half-moon sh marks, Boken had no choice but to unleash his other ultimate skill, [(Dark) Unholy Crosscut Lv.3 (Rare)], despite it being the final ace up his sleeves. Unfortunately, although his skill managed to destroy the sh marks and even continued shooting forward, Shye wasn''t in his previous location, seemingly disappearing. Well, in Boken''s eyes, at least, as the crowd clearly saw that Shye teleported above him. Then, after switching both greatswords to elemental staffs, he rained down a barrage of fire and ice toward his confused opponent. Boken was no slouch, however, and was able to sense the danger. Only, he was able to do so when it was already toote. Looking up, the Infernal Raven member''s eyes widened. "NO!!" *BOOM!* Realizing that his opponent had been caught off guard, Shye immediately stopped firing his spell,nding beside the fallen Boken and giving him a full-restoration potion. Naturally, upon witnessing his ssy actions of helping his defeated opponent recover without hesitation, Shye earned the respect of his guildmates. After all, one could easily be strong and arrogant but rarely do people concern themselves with another''s wellbeing. Especially those who dared oppose one no matter how small the matter was. On the contrary, Bernal disyed a trashy attitude, just like the trash everyone perceived him to be by leaving in a bad mood without even asking whether the member of their division was fine or not. His attitude naturally reflects that of his division leader as it was made very clear that ipetence is not tolerated in the Infernal Ravens despite their entire division being ipetentpared to others. ''Eughh¡­Why would you even join a division like this?'' Shye inwardly thought in utter disgust as he looked at the frustrated appearance of his opponent, who looked more exasperated about Bernal''s attitude than his defeat. Nheless, a victory is a victory, and Shye ruthlessly seized the coin sack containing 500 gold coins. Though a modest wagerpared to what he was ustomed to, he couldn''t risk humiliating the division too much, lest the division leader take action. He was far from ready from being able to handle the wrath of an adamantite-ranked adventurer, newly promoted or not. Leaving the training hall under the impressed eyes of his guildmates, Shye swiftly headed towards the quest counter. "Hello, Receptionist Marie, correct?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Hello, yes, Sir Crowley. How can I help you?" "I would like to ask about the benefits of joining a division, the division rankings, and the rankings of their leaders." "Tch¡­why don''t you just ask me everything in the world then?...?" The receptionist muttered, causing Shye''s eyes to widen. All the receptionists he encountered were approachable, hence, Marie''s attitude truly took him by surprise. "E-Excuse me?" "Ahh¡­Yes, Sir Crowley. I shall exin." This time, Shye was amused. ''Thisss sure hates her job¡­'' "Let me exin the benefits of joining a division first then. Should you choose to join a division, you would be able to use the lounge designated for that specific division. Posted in the division lounges are special quests that are only essible to the members of that specific quest. Though, most quests in the division lounges are of rather¡­low difficulty, except for those posted in the top three divisions, of course." "Ah, I s¨C" Before Shye could even acknowledge that he understood what the rude receptionist said, Marie had already begun the exnation for the division rankings. "In terms of division rankings, the ck Raven Division is ranked third, the Raven Destroyers Division is second, and the top-ranked division is the Mythical Raven Heroes Division. Given your status, I assume only the top three are of interest to you." "Lastly, the rankings of the division leaders as individual adventurers are the same as the rankings of their divisions." Nodding in acknowledgment, an intriguing question suddenly popped up in Shye''s mind. "I see, what if I create my own division? Do I get anything in return?" "Yes, however, only if your division ranks in the top twenty of the entire Valenzia City rankings" "I see, how could a division raise its rankings then?" "Sigh¡­you want to know a lot, Sir Crowley. Every two months, the rankings would reset and the division with the highest guild contribution points would naturally rank the highest." "I see, thank you." Despite the rude treatment, Shye thanked Marie, who suddenly left the quest counter after another receptionist entered through the main door. "Haaah, finally done with that bullcrap of a punishment," Marie eximed as she stretched, changing into the attire of a scout-ss adventurer shortly after. ''W-What? So she''s not a receptionist? Exins why she''s so rude¡­'' Chapter 441 Flashy Ravens Rising "Hello, I would like to create my own division." "O-Oh, Sir Crowley. I-I understand. Please wait over there, I shall send a notification to the guild master." After mulling over things for an entire night, Shye decided to create his own division as it would be way more beneficial for everyone he cared for if he created a haven wherein they would all be under his protection, giving them a safe space to grow in apetitive guild that swallows neers whole. Furthermore, this way, it would be easier for him to gather ten diamond-ranked priests/priestesses with the required curse removal skill for Seira. Although establishing his division and taking care of it would be a lot of work that would slow his adventuring career''s progress down, it wouldn''t be too much of a problem as his growth depended on how many points he could earn. Also, his final goal wasn''t to be a high-ranked adventurer but to be someone who would be capable enough to save his parents and help the old man achieve his unknown goal. Who knows, maybe if he treated his underlings well enough, they would willingly help him search for his parents, increasing his chances of finding out what happened to them exponentially. After all, when ites to getting things done, a group of people is often more effective than an individual. ¡­After waiting for a while, the receptionist finally called his name. Despite Shye''s illustrious reputation as a rookie, Receptionist Kisha initially thought that the chances of Shye''s request getting approved were close to nothing. Hence, when the guild master approved without even thinking about it for a single second, her mind nked out. In the past, there were even adamantite-ranked adventurers whose application requests were denied so it was truly hard for Kisha to believe that a mere emerald-ranked rookie''s request was approved. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley. Your request to establish a division has been approved by the guild master. What would you like to name your division? Please note that the guild''s division code is ''Raven,'' so you must include this word in your division''s name." "shy Ravens Rising, is the division name I have in mind, is that name allowed?"n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om "Yes, Sir Crowley, your chosen division name perfectlyplies with our division creation rules. Please wait for a moment, I shall finalize the creation of your division." After one minute, Receptionist Kisha shifted her attention back to Shye. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley. Your division has been established and will appear in the rankings within twenty-four hours. In the meantime, I suggest you visit Pure Finesse Emblem Shop on the north side of Seventh Street," the receptionist exined patiently, pausing briefly to gauge Shye''s understanding before continuing with more details. "They''re one of our partnered shops, and you can request them to create a division emblem for you, along with division tickets for the members you approve. Essentially, as long as a guildsman has your division''s ticket, I will enter their names into the database. However, their application status will remain pending approval, and the guild will wait for your confirmation before officially enlisting them as members of your division." "Also, a few more reminders¡­" *** After thirty exhausting minutes of nonstop reminders and exnations, Division Leader Shye Crowley was finally dismissed by Receptionist Kisha, allowing him to head over to the mentioned emblem shop. Twenty minutester, he arrived in front of the Pure Finesse Emblem shop. The shop was enormous. Standing proudly at 25 meters tall and 100 meters wide, the shop''s walls were constructed of smooth granite, giving it an exceptionally elegant appearance. This was further entuated by the enormous ckwood door at the center of the building, nked by two strong guards. Entering the shop after admiring it for a while, Shye couldn''t help but sigh. The interior was just as luxurious as the exterior. However, there were slightly over a thousand people queued up with various requests, as the shop offered a wide range of services. Despite there being seven counters, he would have to wait for over a hundred people toplete their requests before it would be his turn. ''Sigh¡­being a division leader sure is difficult.'' Shye didn''t want to waste time waiting as he could do more productive things like nning how to recruit trustworthy members instead of queueing. ''Are there VIP memberships or something?'' He inwardly thought. Given his position as a division leader, Shye realized he would likely be a regr at the shop, hence, he believed that it would be wise to obtain a high-tier membership to avoid the hassle of queuing behind thousands of people each visit. After all, the shop even offered services for drawing portraits of loved ones, and while Shye wanted to get one in the future, it would be an unnecessary dy to wait behind such customers every time he entered the shop for a request. Thus, he decided to queue at the information desk instead, where there were only around twenty people. After a while, he finally got what he wanted. "Right this way sir. Our VIP membership dealer is inside." Shye wasn''t a stingy person, hence, his VIP membership was settled after just fifteen minutes of negotiation. It cost him 1,500 gold coins which was quite a huge amount for a VIP membership that would not offer him anything except for request priority. However, to Shye, any mary losses could simply be recovered in a single high-stakes bet. "Congrattions, Sir Crowley, you are now a VIP member of our establishment. Here''s your VIP membership card. If you have any requests for our shop, you may head over to the second floor." Leaving the VIP membership room, Shye headed towards the second floor where he patiently described the design of his division''s emblem and what he wanted his division''s ticket to look like. It took him around two hours, yet, he was unexpectedly pleased afterpleting everything he needed to do at the Pure Finesse Emblem Shop. Now, he just needed to return in two days, pick up his requested items, and turn them in as division emblem and ticket samples to one of the receptionists at the guild. In the meantime, he shall n how to make his division grow at an explosive rate. Chapter 442 Special Quest Two days quickly passed. At this point, Shye realized that he was not talented at all in the art of recruitment. In two days, the only n he could think of was to sit in the lobby, post up a sign that he was recruiting members for his division, and conduct an interview on the spot using a bunch of lesser orb of truths that he purchased for a total of 300 gold coins. Quite an astronomical amount to spend. However, Shye''s priority was for his members to be trustworthy. Talent was only secondary. After all, if they could demonstrate their loyalty and usefulness to him, he could reward them with certain benefits from the system, enabling them to automatically close the gap with the so-called "talented people". And for that, he had to set up some sort of sustainable reward system within his division. Naturally, if his members wanted to earn benefits, then they had to contribute one way or another. Fortunately, the special quest did not add to his worries as yesterday, upon examining the quest''s contents, he quickly realized that it would be nearly impossible for regr people toplete. === Special Quest: Lord-ying RookieN?v(el)B\\jnn Description: Clear the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon by ying its lord Requirements: One must be an adventurer from the Valenzia Region. One must be aged 24 and below. One must be ranked Ruby or above. One must be a rookie adventurer whose total days of adventuring have not yet exceeded 1,095. One must clear the dungeon within 60 days, otherwise, one''s adventurer license would be revoked. Rewards: A spot in Valenzia Region''s Rising Stars Ranking. 10,000 guild contribution points. 10,000 gold coins Note: Please note that once inside the dungeon, one cannot leave for sixty days; otherwise, their adventurer license will be revoked. === For such an insanely difficult quest, even possessing both intelligence and strength might not suffice, as the quest demanded something many imed to have but few truly possessed: courage. It was understandable, though. After all, the quest''s client was the World Adventurer Association itself, and it was specially created and reserved for those who wanted to be hero candidates. Of course, if one wanted to be the region''s hero, then one must be courageous¡ªa pir of hope for those in despair. One that would never show cowardice regardless of how bleak a situation was. The special quest could easily bepleted by the Adamantite-ranked adventurers of Valenzia, however, they were not permitted to do so. To ensure that only those who were truly qualified could attempt the challenge, the World Adventurer Association sent high-level guards that no one would dare defy lest they face the wrath of the organization governing the entire world. While it was true that Shye managed to clear a mana dungeon of equivalent rank, one must note that even full parties of emerald-ranked adventurers failed to clear the dungeon for years. Even Shye only managed to do so in less than two weeks after falling into an abyssal chasm¡ªa hair-raising experience he didn''t want to repeat at all, allowing him to reach the boss area far faster than others. Who knows if even he, someone who had the shy Adventurer System, could clear the special quest alone within sixty days? It would naturally be more impossible for others. This was the reason Shye wasn''t too worried about someonepleting the special quest before him. After all, only rookies from Valenzia could attempt the mission, and although he wasn''t sure whether the talented rookies from the more prominent regions couldplete the quest, he was sure that it would be a bit too hard for those from his region. The special quest was an exceedingly difficult challenge for lone rookie adventurers from Valenzia. However, those who sessfullypleted it would genuinely be considered fit to be a regional hero, and if they also met the other two criteria, they would be officially announced as hero candidates. ¡­After retrieving the guild emblem and division tickets from the Pure Finesse Emblem Shop, Shye headed towards the guild. He then submitted the emblem and division ticket samples to one of the receptionists in charge and went towards the lobby, to set up his recruitment sign. Shye had hoped his division would at least be given a lounge. Unfortunately, it appeared they needed to umte a total of 30,000 guild contribution points before they could be allocated a small room on the highest and most secluded floor of the headquarters. ''Well¡­it''s a start, I guess.'' Immediately after he put up his sign, his guild members responded with mixed emotions; some thought he was arrogant, others viewed him with indifference, and some admired his bravery. "H-Hey, look, is he truly recruiting members for his division? How was his application approved in the first ce?" "Hmmph! A rookie like him dares to establish a division? I do admire his talents, however, establishing a division is another story! Can he truly be responsible for the lives of our guildsmen?" "Hahahaha! Bullcrap! I say he''s a truly heroic individual! This kid will surely make it big!" Naturally, Shye heard their words, however, he didn''t care one bit as he already mulled over everything for an entire night and he was ready for the responsibilities. Although he knew it would be difficult, he was confident that his division could secure at least one of the top 20 spots in the city. As for how far they could go, it depended on how far Shye was willing to go. Should all of his division members prove trustworthy, capable, and willing to help him achieve all his goals, then he wouldn''t hesitate to provide generous rewards that would help them rise above the rest. Shye was prepared for his recruitment to be a huge failure, hence, he was truly surprised when three people immediately approached him with excited expressions upon seeing his recruitment sign. "H-Hello, Division Leader Crowley! My name is Reginald Bodan, and I would like to apply as a member!" Chapter 443 Recruitment ''Phew¡­Calm down, Shye¡­you''re qualified.'' After taking one deep breath to calm his unexpectedly nervous heart, Shye faced the first-ever person who was willing to entrust a part of his future to him, a mere rookie in his first year of adventuring. "Hello, Reginald. To begin with, I want to express my gratitude for your willingness to join my newly established division. Although the rewards in the first few months may be modestpared to the more established divisions, I assure you that our division will grow stronger and rise through the ranks." "Moreover, I promise that our reward system will fairly benefit everyone, regardless of their seniority within the division." "However, I hope you''re willing to be interviewed using this lesser orb of truth as I would like to keep our division free of rats and snakes." Shye genuinely appreciated the decisiveness of the three in joining his newly established division. However, despite his desire to thank them for their trust, he could not permit them to bypass the integrity interview, as doing so mightpromise the division''s mission of maintaining a rat and snake-free environment. "I understand, division leader! I shall make a good example as your first-ever member!" Hearing Reginald''s reply, Shye was amused. It seemed that the guy was sure he would be approved and had already considered himself a member of Shye''s division. A likable type of absolute confidence. "Thank you. Please ce the appropriate amount of blood on the orb." This was the first test Shye nned. If an adventurer couldn''t even take a small wound, then he/she might be a weak link that might cause the downfall of their division. After all, if one couldn''t even take a bit of pain, one would surely spill out the division''s secrets when tortured, possibly even act as a spy if threatened with death by opposing divisions. Although Shye wasn''t sure if people killed each other in Valenzia City for mere scraps, it wouldn''t hurt to be prepared. Astonishingly, Reginald''s bright and enthusiastic smile remained unwavering, even as he inflicted a deep wound on himself with his harvesting knife. This scene made Shye inwardly nod in satisfaction. He wasn''t sure if the guy was talented or not. However, if Reginald were at least worthy of his trust and would remain loyal and useful to him, he would spare no expense to groom him as Shye knew it might be difficult to aplish his end goals alone. He even hoped that a few would remain loyal and follow him should a timee when he would have to leave the guild behind. The loyalty he was looking for might be a bit excessive andughable in the eyes of others, however, Shye didn''t care about their opinions.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om If a few individuals met the loyalty criteria he sought, he would treat them far better than the regr members whose loyalty was confined to the guild. ¡­After a while, the lesser orb of truth finally turned purple, indicating it was ready for the integrity interview. *** Time quickly passed but for Shye and his three applicants, it wasn''t as Shye''s questions were too direct. Still, none of the three lied to him, and even if he asked questions like have you killed a person before, they didn''t act innocent and told him the truth. As a result, all three passed, and the shy Ravens Rising Division gained three new members: Reginald Bodan, a veteran diamond-ranked adventurer of six years; Dru Zotham, an emerald-ranked adventurer of five years recently promoted to the main branch; and Scarlett Nightsong, also an emerald-ranked adventurer recently promoted to the main branch. It might be ackluster lineup for now, but it will do. Shye only nned to recruit twenty members this time, as handling fair benefits for more than that could prove challenging. After his first round of recruitment, manyughed at him, yet, Shye paid them no attention¡ªhis goal crystal clear in his head. Over the course of three days, Shye did nothing but recruit people in the lobby, allowing the overly enthusiastic Reginald to help him. The two of them chatted casually, allowing both parties to learn more about each other. He honestly liked and trusted the guy, hence, he appointed him as a temporary recruitment officer. However, should Reginald decide to focus on his adventuring career in the future instead of taking care of the recruitment matters of the division, Shye would naturally support him. Unfortunately, Shye was ultimately a rookie, and despite his illustrious reputation within Valenzia City, he was currently nothing but an unproven youngster whose prospects were merely brighter than most. If he couldn''t quickly rise to be a high-ranked adventurer and aplish unprecedented feats in the region, then going all-in on his division would be in vain. As a result, it took them a whole week before Shye could gather up the twenty people he initially nned to recruit. He was satisfied, though, because all those who had the courage to join his division were sincere in cing their hopes in him, trusting both his capabilities and character. In fact, there was even a guy named Robin who admitted his reason for joining was because he knew Shye''s rise was inevitable, believing that it would be harder to join Shye''s inner circle once he was soaring like a majestic dragon. Hence, now was the best time to join. He even went as far as to provoke those listening to the interview, saying they had eyes yet couldn''t see the golden opportunity right in front of them, eliciting sneers of disdain from the prideful adventurers of the main branch. This was already the big stage and even the smallest of fishes in this vast ocean were once dragons in their local ponds. ¡­Having no choice but to gather in the lobby for now, Shye called for a division meeting, dividing the twenty people into four parties¡ªthree parties with six members each and one party with only two members: himself and Reginald. "Is the n clear? Work together with your parties toplete two quests of appropriate difficulty. There''s no need to take on anything beyond your current capabilities." "For now, we need to secure a small division lounge so I can exin our rewards system. Afterpleting the two quests, wait at the guild headquarters for the next meeting. Are there any questions?" After summarizing his instructions and saying his closing remarks, Shye scanned his eyes sternly over the members of his division, who were utterly impressed by his natural charisma and confidence despite being a rookie in his first year of adventuring. And since no one asked any questions, Shye nodded approvingly before speaking again. "Good. Well then, shy Raven''s Rising, move out!" Chapter 444 Division Activities For the next month, all Shye and his division members did wasplete the required number of quests, with Shye and Reginald having to do three due to his punishment for reporting two weekster than expected. As a result, the first quest the duo took onlyted them 40 gold coins and 2000 guild contribution points despite it being of (B) rank. Shye believed that he couldplete an (A-) ranked one, however, it was a waste to do so as the rewards for his first questpletion would be halved. Thus, He decided to take on his first (A-) ranked quest afterpleting the (B) ranked one. This bold move naturally shocked and impressed Reginald, yet, the guy didn''t advise him against it. He wanted to see the full prowess of their division leader. Shye wasn''t a stupid person based on how rational, confident, and charismatic he was in their first division meeting, Reginald knew that there was just no way that Shye would be a person who bites more than he could chew. Hence, the division''s temporary recruitment officer opted to shut his mouth and watch how his leader wouldplete the quest. He was naturally willing to help and he wasn''t scared of an (A-) ranked quest. Only, he didn''t expect that Shye would tell him to stand aside and watch. Hearing Shye''s instructions, Reginald was inwardly surprised--his heart in utter turmoil, yet, his lively exterior didn''t crack in the slightest. ''Hoh, let''s see what the mighty Shye Crowley, the ace representative who led a mediocre academy to the top, can do then.'' He honestly wanted to see if he indeed hit the jackpot by going all-in on a future star. Reginald was honest in the interview, however, he was always hiding his true colors behind a lively and seemingly dumb exterior. Should this young division leader of his be worthy, then he wouldn''t hesitate to show him his true face. ...With his current most trusted underling standing on the side, Shye valiantly stood face to face against an (A-) ranked Evil Elf. It was humanoid in shape, however, it looked extremely unnerving with its knee-long white hair, long ck ears that emitted purple smoke, pitch-ck eyes, and harrowing rows of uneven yet incredibly sharp pearly white teeth. Its ragged cloak barely covered its body endowed with alluring curves that would surely disrupt a lustful man''s focus, making one inevitably fall prey to the Evil Elf''s terrifyingly sharp ws and teeth. Soon after, the fight began. The Evil Elf realized that Shye wasn''t charmed by its unnerving yet attractive appearance, hence, its patience ran out, prompting it to madly dash towards Shye like a purple blur. Its speed caused Reginald''s eyes to narrow, causing doubts to emerge in his heart. He didn''t believe that a first-year rookie like Shye would be able to handle such speed. Still, he made no movements. If his division leader turned out to be someone who couldn''t even estimate his capabilities properly, then he would be disappointed. Contrary to his expectations, though, Shye easily followed the Evil Elf''s movement with his gaze. Then, as the humanoid creature arrived within attacking range, it viciously wed at Shye''s throat, aiming to rip it apart. Unfortunately for the monstrous creature, Shye already decided to show off to his underling and was not nning to prolong the battle. Willingly taking the elf''s attack with the help of his trusty [Stoic] skill, a primal draconic roar reverberated across the eerie forest, momentarily paralyzing the Evil Elf. Shye then wasted no time and shed both greatswords at the Evil Elf''s neck, empowering it with [Power sh] and all three charges of [Boost] for good measure. Then, as the greatswords made contact with the humanoid creature''s bare neck... SPURT! A purple head flew through the air, sttering ck blood that boiled eerily as it made contact with the ground everywhere. Naturally, such an astonishing sight made Reginald''s eyes widen, causing his blood to boil in pure excitement. A minute hadn''t even passed and the battle was already over. This division leader was way stronger than what people believed him to be, no? ''Holy crap...who would''ve thought that this guy was still hiding his true strength?'' Reginald mused in astonishment. ''Based on his performance today, he could''ve ended his duel with that rookie member of the Infernal Ravens instantly, yet, he had the presence of mind to keep a portion of his true power under wraps.'' With such a brilliant performance, Reginald vowed to wholeheartedly serve Shye. The rise of such a strong and cunning youngster would be inevitable, and if his loyalty remained steadfast, he would naturally be a part of Shye''s ascent. ''Hahaha! I might''ve struck it huge. I wonder how far this guy could go?'' ...After looting the Evil Elf''s corpse, the duo returned to the guild to turn their quest in. This time, they earned a whopping 6,000 guild contribution points and 400 gold coins. Since the two of them still had the energy to finish the third quest they were required to secure a small division lounge for their division, the duo didn''t rest, immediately embarking on another (A-) ranked quest like some hungry wolves. Naturally, Shye appreciated that his underlings had the same drive as him, however, it wouldn''t exempt Reginald from the test Shye was about to give him. The search for the (A-) ranked monstrous creature, the Tempest Wyrm, didn''t go as smoothly as their search for the Evil Elf, though, as the creature roamed between three habitats. It also had the skill to fade into transparency for an entire minute, making it harder for Shye and Reginald to track.N?v(el)B\\jnn Luckily, the two of them didn''t look strong, making the Wyrm think that they were nothing but prey. Thus, after two more days, the creature revealed itself to them. It was a colossal creature, stretching 20 meters in length, with a thick body boasting a circumference of four meters. The Tempest Wyrm was covered in tough, white scales that protected its lengthy and robust form. Its drake-like head featured a pair of green eyes,rge nostrils, and a gaping maw filled with rows of sharp teeth and fangs. The wyrm''s appearance alone made Shye reconsider whether he should go through with his n of allowing Reginald to be the mainbatant while he remained as the support. Only, he didn''t expect this seemingly lively yet dumb underling of his to suggest something crazy. "Division Leader Crowley, since you already showed me what you were capable of, it shall be my turn now. Please stand aside. Let me handle this." Chapter 445 Who The Hell Is This Guy? Naturally, Shye was inwardly shocked by his subordinate''s words as the grand yet terrifying appearance of the creature would cause most adventurers to cower at first sight. Honestly speaking, Reginald''s day-to-day antics made Shye regard him as a division management genius, not an elite adventurer who could solo a fierce creature of equivalent rank. Hence, his heart raced wildly upon realizing that the seemingly dumb yet likable guy in front of him might actually be a crouching tiger who was hiding under the guise of a pushover. ''Hohoh, show me then, Regi!'' ¡­The Tempest Wyrm didn''t waste any time at all and slithered aggressively toward the daring human, opening its gigantic maw in an attempt to crush Reginald in one bite. "Whooop!" Reginald said wackily as he jumped on top of the wyrm to dodge its attack, shockingly piercing through its thick scales rather easily using his seemingly regr dagger. He then retrieved another one from his spatial bag, bringing a smile to Shye''s face. ''A dagger dual-wielder huh?'' Shye mused with a smile. The dual-wielding passive skill was originally designed for scout-ss adventurers as it would be a huge boon to double-wield daggers, ded knuckles, and katars. It was just that the warrior-ss adventurers started trying the skill out as well, and although a few achieved sess with it, the rate was way lowerpared to dual-wielding scouts. ¡­As Reginald grasped his other, blue-colored dagger, frosty winds howled, indicating that the dagger was enchanted with an ice element gemstone. Soon after, the young man used the seemingly regr dagger on his left hand to hold on to the top of the wyrm''s head while using the ice-enchanted one to repeatedly stab its green eyes. He then switched handles, stabbing the blue dagger into the wyrm''s head while using the seemingly standard one to pierce the enormous wyrm''s other eye. "Weee!" The wyvern momentarily copsed as it howled in agony, losing both of its eyes in just a single exchange. The sight naturally impressed Shye, however, he didn''t like the weird noises that continuously came out of Reginald''s mouth. "Regi, stop making strange noises with every move! I know you''re just pretending, so why not show me the real you?" "Hahaha. As expected of the division leader, your wisdom and observation skills truly surpass your age." Reginaldughed calmly without taking his eyes off the blind wyrm, systematically attacking all of its weak points as it thrashed wildly in hopes of luckily hitting the hateful human. Unfortunately, for a scout of Reginald''s caliber, one would never be able tond a lucky shot as his eyes reflected a deep sense of eerie calmness¡ªthe faint apathetic smile on his face remained steadfast as he dodged each attack with pinpoint precision,nding counterattacks one at a time. The guy was simply toying with the enormous monster. Overwhelmed by curiosity, Shye finally decided to appraise his division member. Only, he didn''t expect that a notification he hadn''t seen yet would appear: [Appraisal has been blocked. Please level the skill up first before trying again.] The notification only meant two things: either Reginald''s level was way too high for Shye to appraise or the guy had a protection item which protected him from peering eyes. "Ahh! You tried to peek, didn''t you, division leader? Please don''t do that again!" Hearing his underling''s words, Shye slightly panicked. Although he initially trusted the guy, he wasn''t so sure now, especially since the guy even had something that could block his appraisal skill. Shye simply wasn''t ready to disclose system-level secrets to Reginald just yet. Little did he know, Reginald was also inwardly shocked, finding it hard to believe that a mere rookie had a skill that could peer through one''s secrets. After all, only appraisal shops and high-level adventurers possessed such skills. At that moment, what small trust they''d built seemingly shattered, further emphasizing their shock at the unexpected skill revtions¡ªone question resonating in their minds: ''Who the hell is this guy?'' Looking at each other warily, the calm expression on Reginald''s face turned stern. "We shall talkter, Shye Crowley." Not in the mood to allow the wyrm to live for much longer, Reginald''s calm fighting style turned into one of fiery aggression. Without taking a single step back, Reginald dodged and weaved in front of the blind Tempest Wyrm, surgically severing each of its four limbs with multiple shes before finally ending its life by stabbing its throat with a skill-empowered attack. Turning around after a smooth kill, the "underling" shifted his focus back to Shye. "Now then, my respected division leader, care to exin where you got such a rare skill at such a young age?" This time, Shye felt hair-raising pressure from Reginald. ''This guy isn''t someone I can defeat at my current level!'' Astonishingly, though, the pressure he felt wasn''t that of killing intent but rather, of interrogation, meaning that he would probably live or die depending on his answer. Yet, despite being faced with such overwhelming pressure, Shye''s heart gradually calmed down. Panicking won''t do him any good here, and it wasn''t like he was here to disrupt Reginald''s ns no matter what they were. Well¡­at least for now, as his main goal in the next year was to be a hero candidate. Since Reginald was already too old, he wasn''t eligible to take on the special quest, meaning that they shouldn''t have any shing goals. "Sigh¡­Hear me out, Regi. I cannot tell you where I got the skill from, however, I could tell you my goals for the near future." Hearing Shye''s words, Reginald grew silent, seemingly pondering whether to ept Shye''s proposal.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om After a while, he nodded sternly. He didn''t truly want to fight this talented youngster, hoping to see him instead as a trustworthy ally. However, if the guy somehow had connections to the people he hated, then it couldn''t be helped. "First of all, I''m simply following orders from someone, and although I cannot tell you who that someone is, the individual''s current order was for me to be a hero candidate." "A¡­hero candidate?" "Yes, and by following that individual''s orders, I would be able to enhance my strength to the point where I can attempt to search for and even save, if necessary, my parents who disappeared." "Those are my goals. As for my secrets, I''m afraid I can never tell you." Shye didn''t expect Reginald''s subsequent reactions to his words, though. "Pfft!¡­Hahahaha! I thought you were just some insanely talented kid I could take advantage of, but it turns out you''re a destined ally, huh?" Reginald said, nodding repeatedly in an extremely good mood. Naturally, his reactions confused Shye. "Don''t worry, don''t worry. Just know that I would be one of your allies." Reginald said while narrowing his eyes. "Till the end¡­" Chapter 446 Division Lounge: Acquired! "Hey, division leader, stop acting so serious around me, didn''t I already tell you that I''m your ally?" "Y-Yeah, I''m not thinking about it, don''t worry." "Hmm? Then what are you thinking about?" "I think we should split up and tackle our quests to speed up the division''s development. What do you think?" "Ehh? I wanted to see the extent of your capabilities but¡­fine, I shall agree to your orders, Division Leader Crowley." Arriving at the headquarters, Shye breathed a sigh of relief. He still found it hard to trust Reginald, hence, temporarily getting him off his back was something that would allow him to rx. Moreover, the division''s development would indeed be faster that way¡ªhitting two birds with one stone, a good reason that Reginald couldn''t refuse. Upon entering the headquarters, Shye smiled with satisfaction as he saw his division members gathered in the lobby, seemingly getting along well. He could also tell that they carefully carried out his instructions as they would still be outpleting quests had they decided to take an inappropriately difficult quest. Nodding at them, Shye headed towards the rewards counter to turn the Tempest Wyrm quest items in. "Hello, I would like to file for questpletion. Here are the quest items¡­" ¡­ ¡­ "WOOHOO!! A division lounge within a month!" "Aren''t we on fire?!" "Should we continue at this pace, we would indeed ze through the rankings, just like the division leader promised!" Hearing his members'' excited words as they entered the small, dusty division lounge brought another smile to Shye''s face. The lounge wasn''t that spacious and it was dirty as f*ck, however, for some reason, Shye found the ce extremely pleasing to look at. This ce, albeit tiny, would be their safe space for theing months. "Well then, everyone, let''s clean this ce up!" With excited smiles, the shy Ravens Rising Division members quickly swapped their adventuring gear for cleaning clothes. Even Reginald joined in. However, Shye knew the guy was merely acting to blend in with the crowd. Finally, after six straight hours of cleaning, the shy Ravens Rising Division lounge was spotless. Only, he was still unsatisfied. "Everyone,e with me!" Although confused, Shye''s division members all followed him out of the guild, prompting their guildsmen to shoot amused looks their way. Especially after two hours when they returned carrying all sorts of furniture.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Hahahaha! These guys are too into it, no?" "Heh, don''t mind them. After a few months, this division would surely go bankrupt. I simply refuse to believe that a mere rookie, no matter how talented, could lead a division to prominence!" "Hahaha, I agree. They couldn''t even think of storing the furniture inside their spatial bags! How would these idiots survive?" Indeed, they could''ve stored the items inside their spatial bags, however, their division leader instructed them not to. And as always, despite their confusion, they listened to him without questions. Well, Shye''s n was rather simple: he wanted everyone to discuss their division, regardless of whether their guild members spoke positively or negatively about them. As long as their division''s name kepting up in conversations, people would inevitably be curious. Setting up the plush seats, tables, curtains, and a few decorations, the renovated division lounge looked more like a recreational area. However, Shye preferred it this way as he didn''t like putting unnecessary pressure on his division members. He would only be stern and ruthless to them when needed. Aside from that, they could treat the division as their second home. "Everyone, hear me out," Shye eximed, sessfully capturing the attention of his division members once more. "We need someone who would stay inside the guild to be our recruitment officer." "Oooh, Oooh! Me! Me!" An overly excited voice sounded from the back. "No, not you. You''re one of our highest ranked adventurers so you''re on the hunting team." Shye ruthlessly said, shutting down Reginald''s hope of earning guild contribution points while chilling at the division lounge. "Anyone else?" Unfortunately, unlike the darnedzy Reginald who was only interested in certain things, all the other division members were hell-bent on making it big. Despite their current unknown statuses and the harsh reality that revealed they were not exceptional on the grand stage, they remained determined to defy their fates. Hence, none of them dared look Shye in the eye. ''Sigh¡­as expected.'' "I understand your concerns about career advancement, however, I promise that you will not get left behind by others should you choose to assume the position of recruitment officer. Also, your appointment to the position would only be temporary, and as soon as someone truly willing joins, then you will be relieved of your position should you desire so." Sadly, even after Shye''s exnation, no one was still willing, causing him to sigh deeply. One of the division members felt guilty, though, and finally raised her hand upon seeing Shye''s sad and slightly disappointed face. "Great! Finally! Come, let us discuss the terms!" Pulling the girl away to one table located on the corner of the division lounge, the other members suddenly felt an unexinable sense of envy, causing them to slightly regret the fact that they didn''t volunteer. "Gwte, correct?" "Yes, division leader!" "Now then, let''s discuss yourpensation and schedule. Since you probably wouldn''t be able to hunt for around a month to six months, I shall give you 500 gold coins per month and four top-grade training elixirs. In addition to this, you will get a third of the guild contribution points I earn." Hearing the gold coinpensation that was a bit more than what she earned in a month, Gwte''s eyes widened in disbelief. Although she wasn''t certain if a third of the guild contribution points Shye earned would match her monthly earnings, the four top-grade training elixirs more thanpensated for any potential shortfall in her usual monthly guild contribution points. Hence, she felt rather lucky to have volunteered. A break from adventuring with a little extra earnings than usual? Sounds like the perfect vacation! "In exchange, you have to handle the recruitment as per the instructions I would give you, do you ept the temporary recruitment officer position?" "Yes, division leader! I dly ept!" Chapter 447 Loathsome Visitor Since the division''s situation has more or less stabilized, Shye focused onpleting solo quests for the next two and a half weeks. He already amassed a total of 8,000 points after three quests, however, he needed a whopping 40,000 contribution points in total to rank up to diamond. There''s still a long way to go. During the said two and a half weeks, Shye took on one (A-) ranked quest and one (B) ranked one, rewarding him with a total of another 6,000 guild contribution points and 410 gold coins. He would naturally prefer to take on two (A-) ranked ones, unfortunately, the first one took him almost two weeks toplete. Hence, he had no choice but to take a (B) ranked quest that he could aplish in a week or less than a week afterpleting the first one. The Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition wasing up in a week and a half, after all. After finishing the easy (B) ranked quest he chose as his second quest, Shye didn''t dare take another one as he feared failing the system''s mandatory quest for a silly reason, such as not returning to the city on time. Hence, he decided to loiter around the guild for the next few days, hoping to gather information about the said yearly event. Unbeknownst to him, he was already a hot topic within the headquarters as two days ago, the fact that he would be participating in the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition as the Balkrow representative spread like wildfire. Although lots of arrogant mithril and adamantite-ranked guildsmen merely sneered disdainfully in response to the news, the emerald and diamond-ranked adventurers felt rather excited. Especially since Shye was one of the rumored favorites to win the entire event, reminding them of the fact that he once stood as the king of the region''s entire batch of academy graduates.N?v(el)B\\jnn The members of his guild wanted to chat with him about it, unfortunately, they were too shy to do so, thinking that they might disrupt his thoughts when all he was doing was mostlyzing around the division lounge like some random member. Shye would''ve appreciated it if they did so, though, as he wanted to improve his social rtions with them. After all, he was partially grooming them for his personal benefit. ''Sigh¡­what a boring day. Probably better to return to the inn and think about the rewards system and the rewards preparation¡­'' Just when he was about to leave, however, a division member suddenly entered the door. "Division Leader Crowley, someone from another guild is looking for you outside the headquarters." Hearing his member''s words, Shye''s brows furrowed in confusion. He hadn''t toured the city much since he got here so he couldn''t think of anyone who would personally know him. ''Who could it be?'' Following his division member towards the headquarters'' main door, a familiar face greeted him. "Heh, I heard that you''ve already been promoted to the main branch of your guild. I must say I''m rather impressed. However, the gap between us shall remain temporary as I will be reiming my rightful crown soon." It was someone he didn''t like, thus, Shye feigned ignorance. "And who the hell are you?" "You bastard¡­as arrogant as ever, I see. Although I know that you''re merely feigning ignorance, I shall introduce myself early to your guildmates. To all you members of Raven''s de, the name''s Damien Martinez, the third son of the Martinez Adventurer n''s current n lord." Damien said with a prideful smirk. Naturally, such a famous adventuring n that was on par with Arthur''s Vermillion Adventurer n would elicit shocked gasps and narrowed eyes from the Raven''s de guildsmen. The n was famous for being ruthless to its enemies, though; hence, the lower-ranked ones felt slight anxiousness, especially those who were ill-informed about Shye and Damien''s history. "Ah, I see. Haven''t heard of you." If it was the previous Damien, he would''ve alreadyshed out in utter fury. However, ever since the day of his defeat to Shye in the finals of the Adventurer Academy Competition, he learned the hard way that he and his n weren''t untouchable bymoners. Unfortunately, due to his upbringing and the deep-seethed arrogance of his entire n, Damien merely grew more experienced at causing trouble for others. He didn''t change for the better. Not one bit. "Heh, you might''ve narrowly defeated me at the Adventurer Academy Competition due to my inexperience, but there are no such weaknesses to exploit now. I''ve fully embraced my position in the n, and they''ve spared no expense to help me reach my peak in just a year." "Plus, I''m now part of the Divine Judgment Adventurer Guild, the top guild in the region. I have no idea what the guild master of a mere 16th-ranked guild promised you, but you must be very foolish to choose them over the number one. I must have truly overestimated your intelligence. Hahahaha!" Hearing Damien''s words, Shye merely sneered in disdain. "That''s it? You came here to boast about how you hugged your n and your guild''s golden thigh to catch up to me? Wow, what a prideful son of heaven you are." Shye retorted in a deadpan manner, bringing shame and anger to Damien''s heart. The guy almostshed out in fury again. If not for his better control over his emotions this time around, he would''ve already done so "Heh, I just came here to check whether you''re still as arrogant as before, and I''ll check on you again once I''ve destroyed you in the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition." "Oh? Someone like you actually won in your city''s qualifiers? Must''ve been one hell of an ipetent city." "Good, just keep talking crap, you''ll soon find out how helplessmoners with no background like you are once the rules for thepetition have been announced." Unknowingly fearing another sharp retort from Shye, Damien swiftly turned around and left in a "calm" manner. However, he wasn''t anywhere near as calm as he appeared on the surface. ''Shye Crowley¡­SHYE CROWLEY!! You''ll pay¡­soon¡­" Chapter 448 Valenzia Regions Rookie Adventurer Competition ''Hahaha, who would''ve thought that I would see that guy''s idiotic face again?'' Shye mused in amusement as he headed towards the betting station to bet on himself. Apparently, the format for the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition wasn''t that of a tournament, and the rules would be announcedter today, at 10 AM. ''No matter¡­as long as I''m the strongest, I would naturally win.'' ¡­Upon arriving at the area where the betting stations were located, Shye checked the location of ELMBets, the unlucky station Colzen Academy had chosen to bet themselves on a year ago. What was once one of the wealthiest betting stations in the area was now a shabby one, offering a low bet-to-reward ratio, making it one of the least desirable ces to bet. Colzen''s legendary run truly wrecked it to pieces. Shye felt somewhat guilty, hence, he quickly looked away and headed toward another famous betting station. Unfortunately for him, all the betting stations already learned from the downfall of ELMBets. None of them would dare to put absurdly high payout rates on his name ever again, no matter how low his chances of winning were. This time, since he was one of the four favorites, his payout rates would naturally be way lower¡ªa measly 1 to 1.1. Disappointed, Shye couldn''t help but sigh. It seemed that it would be harder and harder to make some quick money in the future. ''Well¡­as long as I rake the money in with my adventuring skills, everything should be fine¡­'' With a rather sad heart, Shye queued up to bet. Suddenly, though, Damien''s words echoed in his head, prompting him to narrow his eyes as his thoughts wandered. ''The rules of thispetition¡­huh?'' After careful consideration, Shye decided to bet 19,000 gold coins, leaving 3,000 gold coins for himself. Given his new division leadership role and the high living expenses of Valenzia City, he decided to y it safe by creating some space for error in case the rules put him at a disadvantage and he suffered a defeat. The payout rates weren''t that high anyway so he didn''t think that it would be worth it to bet everything. Retrieving his betting receipt from the betting station''s employee, Shye headed towards the nearest seafood restaurant to eat a hearty breakfast. He then left an hour before thepetition began and headed towards the famous Valenzia Arena¡ªa ce where tales of bravery were told and legends were born. Showing his credentials to the guards, multiple arena staff immediately came to fetch him, registering his arrival and leading him toward the waiting room for the Balkrow representative.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Upon entering, Shye immediately noticed that the room used to be rather shabby, however, since he was the Balkrow representative, it appeared that the arena made some on-the-fly modifications and made the room morefortable despite its modest size. This was the power of reputation in the world of adventurers. ¡­After pondering about his division''s reward system for around half an hour, an arena staff finally came to fetch him. It was finally time for Valenzia Region''s Rookie Adventurer Competition. To his surprise, the arena wasn''t as jam-packed as he''d expected, though there was still a decent turnout. "AAAND THERE HE IS!! I DIDN''T EXPECT TO SEE THIS YOUNG MAN AGAIN THIS SOON!! EVERYONE, LET US ALL WELCOME, THE BALKROW REPRESENTATIVE, THE LEGEND OF COLZEN ACADEMY, SHYE CROWLEY!!" Bart''s familiar vibrant voice brought a faint smile to Shye''s face, prompting him to reminisce about the Adventurer Academy Competition, his friends, his instructors, and the ever-loving deans as he slightly raised his hands in triumph. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 130,781 points!] ''H-Holy crap, I''m really famous aren''t I?'' Taking one deep breath to calm his overly ttered heart, Shye stood at the spot on the central stage designated for him. He then looked around. Aside from him and Damien, there were only thirty others who were on the stage. However, on the forefront of those on the stage, there were only three others with him, even Damien could only stand behind him. ''This arrangement should be somewhat rted to the seedings¡­if that''s the case then three should be my hardest opponents this time around¡­'' Shye mused as he nced at the three who were standing beside him. ''Appraisal.'' They all looked older than him. Upon checking their status windows, though, Shye realized that none of the three could ever hope to beat him. In a duel, that is. It was even more impossible for Damien as his attributes, although amazing for someone his age, were still slightly inferiorpared to the three who were standing beside him. ''Then why was the idiot so confident? Is this another case of severe delusionalism?'' Shye pondered. Luckily, he didn''t have to keep guessing for long, as Bart finally began to exin thepetition rules in the next moment, even addressing his question about why the arena wasn''t as crowded as he had anticipated. "Everyone, first of all, we, the arena staff, and the city''s governing body, would like to thank you for your efforts in attending the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition''s opening ceremony." Bart respectfully said, offering a sincere bow to the crowd without a single hint of the liveliness he always disyed whilementating on matches. A true professional who had mastered his craft. "I shall notplicate things and exin this year''s rules most straightforwardly." Bart began, pausing momentarily to scan his eyes over thepetitors before continuing: "Since our young adventurers here are the cream of the crop of their cities, it would only be fair to assume that they would be elites amongst their peers. Hence, the World Adventurer Association and our beloved City Lord s have decided that the best way to test their true mettle was to make thempete in a battle of solo hunts." As soon as the rules of thepetition were announced, amotion erupted among the crowd. They were excited since this was the first time solo hunts had been chosen as the theme of thepetition. However, they were also confused because they didn''t know how it would work. If the event organizers seed in pulling this off, it would mark another legendary year, with a newpetition theme being added to the rotating pool. Chapter 449 Regional Rookie Competition Begins! Shye couldn''t help but narrow his eyes slightly upon hearing thepetition format. ''Huh? If it''s like this then wouldn''t I have the advantage? I''ve been solo adventuring since the beginning! What the hell is that idiotic Damien saying then?'' Shye pondered in confusion, deciding to listen to Bart''s subsequent words of exnation for now. "In this format ofpetition, we will be able to witness how the young elites handle themselves inside the adventuring zones, giving us, the mundane folks, a glimpse of their true magnificence as professional adventurers." "Naturally, we would be ensuring their safety. Eachpetitor would be given emergency escape talismans that would teleport them back to a specific area in the city manned by one of our staff members." "Of course, once apetitor uses their emergency talisman, their hunt is considered over. Our judges will then verify the integrity of their hunts using an automatic recording crystal, which each of our talented rookies will receive, and calcte their total points right after." Hearing Bart''s exnation, Shye, the otherpetitors, and the viewers¡ªboth those watching the holographic television broadcast in their homes and those on site were enlightened. As per everyone''s understanding, the young adventurers will head out to an assigned advanced adventurer zone to hunt monstrous creatures, where their hunts will be documented by the rather expensive automatic recording crystal, and they will earn corresponding points for each creature they sessfully y. As for how many points thepetitors would earn for each creature killed, everyone could only wait for Bart''s exnation to find out. "Competitors, you may look at the holographic screen for the corresponding points for each creature killed." === D = 1 pt C- = 4 pts C = 10 pts B- = 30 pts B = 60 pts A- = 100 pts A = 300 pts S- = 750 pts S = 1,000 pts === "Eachpetitor will be given two weeks to hunt. After that, they would have to return to the arena using this teleportation scroll. An arena staff would then retrieve their automatic recording crystal to verify the total number of points eachpetitor has earned." Both the crowd and thepetitors were rather disappointed, though, as they thought that it would be boring if the results were merely announced right after. Also, for the first time, they couldn''t help but doubt the integrity of thepetition. After all, how would they know if one of thepetitors bought the judges'' favor, allowing him to obtain a few "extra points" to win? The rules were simply a failure to them. ''Sigh¡­at least I earned 130,000 points just for showing up¡­'' Shye consoled himself. He was utterly disappointed, believing that his chance to earn a lot of points had been ruined by this new rule. However, how could the World Adventurer Association and the ever-meticulous City Lord s mess things up so badly? "I know what everyone is worried about; however, fret not, for we shall hold a presentation day where the hunts of the top five adventurers will be reyed on a huge holographic screen, allowing everyone to not only verify the integrity of thepetition but also relish the thrilling hunts of our young adventurers." Bart''s subsequent exnation naturally elicited thunderous cheers from the crowd as it indeed solved their worries about a boringpetition. After a while, their cheers suddenly died down as one young adventurer raised his hand to ask a question¡ªDamien. "Yes, Representative Damien Martinez of Pargon City, correct?" "Yes, Host Bart. I have a question." "Please do ask, Sir Damien." "Are there any limitations to the equipment and items we can use?" Hearing Damien''s question, Bart was stumped.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om He didn''t receive instructions regarding equipment and item limitations, hence, after a quick analysis, Valenzia''s best host answered: "There are no restrictions on equipment and items, but you may only use what is already in your spatial bag at this moment, as you will be escorted to the designated adventurer zone after the opening ceremony." "I see, thank you for confirming, Host Bart!" Damien replied enthusiastically, ncing at Shye with a triumphant smile right after. ''Hoh, so that''s what he meant by embracing his position in his n¡­'' Shye thought disdainfully. ''And the source of his confidence¡­'' Damien at least had shame when they first met, but now, even that has been thrown out the window. ''What a disgusting trash¡­'' "Are there no more questions? If so, then let thepetition begin! Staff members, please lead the way!" *** Naturally, since thepetition had already begun, thepetition time already started ticking. Still, contrary to everyone''s expectations, the youngsters were led to a faraway adventurer zone called Roza, one that most of them were unfamiliar with. This was a deliberate arrangement from the WAA and City Lord s to ensure fairness between thepetitors. Moreover, their true mettle would be better tested in an unfamiliar zone. After twelve hours of nonstop marching (deliberately nned by the organizers), the sun began its slow descent, allowing darkness to once more shroud the entire world, with only two moons and a few stars to pierce the gloom. ''Hoh¡­so thepetition begins at nighttime huh? This would surely eliminate the weaker ones almost immediately¡­'' Arriving at the zone''s lobby, a shocking view greeted the young adventurers. "Wind Wyvern!" There was an enormous white wyvern that stood in the middle of the zone''s vast lobby. However, none of them could feel the slightest bit of danger from it. ''Hoh, so some people could actually tame creatures of this size and rank, huh?'' It was an A- ranked creature, hence, Shye slightly found it hard to believe that such majestic and prideful monsters could be tamed. After a few more minutes of walking, they finally noticed the airship tethered to the wyvern, which brought confused expressions to the faces of the young adventurers. "Everyone, please board the airship and follow the instructions of the assigned staff member. When your name is called, it means you must disembark. You will be dropped off at random locations within the zone to ensure fairness." Chapter 450 Damiens Triumphant First Hunt "Shye Crowley!"n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om "Yes." When his name was called, Shye stood up and nodded at the staff member. He then jumped off the airship as soon as it was close enough to the ground. Shortly after, the wyvern once more soared into the evening skies, leaving Shye alone in a dark forest filled with eerie trees that had white trunks and blood-colored leaves. To mundane folks and low-ranked adventurers, being in such a situation spelled one''s doom. However, to Shye, whose eyes could pierce through the veil of darkness, it was just like any other day. After looking around for a few seconds, Shye quickly realized that while the area he was in was dangerous, it wasn''t perilous enough to threaten his life. Still, he didn''t dare let his guard down and immediately activated his [Mana Pulse] skill as he traversed the adventurer zones in search of creatures to hunt. They were given only two weeks to y as many monstrous creatures as possible, and Shye had no intention of wasting a single second. After all, who knew what items Damien might have in his arsenal? A few minutester, mana pulse finally detected a monstrous creature, prompting Shye to retrieve both greatswords from the system''s inventory. It was a mere C- ranked creature worth a measly 4 points. Shye immediately lunged at it to kill it in one blow, however, he couldn''t help but worry whether the automatic recording crystal would activate fast enough. Hence, he took it out from his spatial bag (as he wasn''t sure whether it would automatically activate inside the system''s inventory), and activated it manually, kicking the poor lizard-like monstrous creature unconscious in the process. It was rather lucky that it didn''t have to feel any pain as Shye cut its head clean off with one swift sh. ''That should be four points¡­'' Shye mused while harvesting the creature''s remains In the past, he would''ve ignored such a low-ranked carcass, however, now, as a division leader, his perspective changed. Every material he harvested could be needed by one of his members and could help expand the division''s reward exchange list. Therefore, it was wise to collect everything he could, regardless of the material''s rank. After all, some materials could be used for crafting consumables like potions, elixirs, and poisons. Once he was done, Shye immediately continued hunting throughout the night in hopes of encountering some (B) ranked or (A-) ranked creature. *** Meanwhile, in another part of the adventurer zone, Damien''s loathsome face was partially concealed by the strange binocrs he was wearing. "Heh, with these [Unique]-tier night vision binocrs bestowed upon me by my n, I can hunt at night, while Crowley must seek the warmth and safety of a safe zone that he still needs to search for, hahahahaha! Furthermore, unlike him, I have this map!" The bastard has fully embraced his role as his n''s loyalpdog, even bowing to his older brother, whom he once viewed as a rival for the family''s future leadership, just to exact revenge on Shye as swiftly as possible¡ªa youngster who was truly rotten to the core. Things didn''t end there. Before Damien moved from where hended, he retrieved a full set of high-grade emerald-tier relic armor and a shocking high-grade mithril-tier katana. "Now then, let''s hunt some (B) ranked monsters and leave Crowley behind in points, shall we?" The An Academy alumni muttered with a mocking smile, retrieving another mana-powered device from his spatial bag shortly after. He then injected mana into the device and tapped on a few buttons, prompting six azure mana particles to emerge. After waiting for a few moments, the particles began to move, leading Damien toward their of a (B) ranked monster. Fifteen minutester, Damien arrived at a crimson-colored cave''s entrance. Taking a deep breath to calm his partly nervous, partly excited heart, the An alumni entered the cave, eager to challenge his current abilities against a monster of a rank he had never encountered before. It didn''t take Damien long to reach the end of the cave, allowing him to spot a slumbering creature with the body of a wyvern, the huge forearm of a bear, and the head of a snake. However, in ce of a wyvern''s wings were three sets of charcoal-ck spikes protruding from its crimson-scaled body. ''Crimson Vorper!'' Damien inwardly eximed, hurriedly retrieving a mantle from his spatial bag. The Crimson Vorper was a creature with extremely sharp senses, hence, to make sure that he would have the element of surprise on his side, the An alumni donned a stealth mantle, allowing him to suppress his aura and even the subtlest sounds of his footsteps. As a result, he easily arrived beside the sleeping creature. Retrieving a huge and heavy hammer from his spatial bag, Damien temporarily sheathed his katana, then, a few momentster¡­ ''Blunt Judgement!'' Swinging the huge hammer downwards with all of his might, the creature finally sensed the danger, however, it was already toote. *BANG!* The ear-splitting noise of pure metal making contact with tough scales echoed inside the cave, followed by a chilling roar of agony. ''Did I sessfully kill it?'' Damien was anxious to know if he managed to kill the creature in one blow. Unfortunately for him, although it was the perfect sneak attack, his current attributes were not enough to one-shot the creature. "ROAR!" ''Crap!'' Hurriedly returning the enormous hammer to his spatial bag, Damien drew his katana out, causing horrifying ck lightning to snake along the edges of his weapon, roaring menacingly at the heavily wounded Crimson Vorper. The creature wasn''t intimidated in the slightest though as it was utterly furious, eager to rip the sneaky human that dared attack it. With a single step of its powerful legs, the Vorper turned into a crimson blur, smashing its wless yet powerful arms toward Damien. ''S-Shit!'' It was too fast. Damien was squarely hit. However, his tough armor mitigated most of the damage, allowing him to easily stand back up with a few slightly fractured bones. "You''ll be the one going down today, monster!" The battle between the two was fierce but it was evident that Damien would never have stood a chance had he failed his sneaky opening strike. Finally, after narrowly dodging the Crimson Vorper''s mad rush, the An alumni was able tond a ck lightning-empowered stab deep into its neck, allowing him to finally end its life. "Yes! Hahahaha! Let''s see how you catch up now, Crowley! This is just the beginning!" ¡­ Meanwhile, cheerful whistling from an ashen-haired young man echoed through a forest filled with peculiar trees that had white trunks and crimson leaves. "Oh? Isn''t that a (B) ranked Arorgasaurus?" The young man said nonchntly, turning into a blur as he swiftly dashed towards the creature. *FWOOSH!* As a high-ranked monster that never failed to strike fear in the hearts of the forest''s inhabitants, the Arorgasaurus naturally had sharp instincts, allowing it to detect the lethal dangering from its left side. However, before it could even see the ashen-haired young man clearly, its head had already separated from its enormous body. "Sigh¡­where are the damned (A-) ranked creatures? Why won''t any show up when I need them to?" Chapter 451 Nostalgia An entire week has passed since the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition began. Although the initial excitement slightly mellowed down, the mundane folks, who had the privilege to live inside the city, the visitors, and the adventurers who were on the lower side in terms of rank still asionally discussed who they thought would be crowned as the king of rookies. "Hey, brother Luis, who do you think would win thepetition? I think it would be Erwin Tycho from Egerson City." "Hmmph! and you call yourself informed? When has Shye Crowley ever lost?" "Hahahaha! These two idiots, discussing without knowing anything again. Stop arguing, the winner would surely be Verson Cruz from Gerville City." Of course, the mithril and adamantite-ranked adventurers also discussed from time to time, however, only when they had nothing better to do. Their interest in thepetition was naturally lesser than others as they had other things to worry about, including their statuses. They had to at least keep up an air of aloofness as they believed that they would look rather dumb should they act like everyone. Meanwhile, back at the adventurer zone, Shye felt slightly uneasy. It had already been a week, yet, there were still no clues regarding (A-) ranked monsters. Additionally, he had only hunted four (B) ranked creatures, seven (B-) ranked ones, ten (C) ranked ones, and fifteen (C-) ranked ones. Although such a result would probably stun the crowd silly on thepetition''s presentation day, Shye wasn''t sure if it was enough to win against the three who were standing beside him at the frontmost part of the stage. He was the one with the trashiest background among all of them, hence, it would be hard for him to estimate his opponents'' current hunting progress. After all, there was no way for him to know what kind of high-tier items they had in their arsenal. There was also Damien, who was practically a prince of the renowned Martinez Adventurer n. Naturally, Shye could leave them all in the dust, if the monstrous creatures didn''t avoid him, that is. It was getting harder and harder for him to find one. At this rate, his opponents would catch up¡ªor worse, overtake him! ''Tch, I have to do something¡­'' Or so Shye thought. He didn''t have to do a single thing from that moment onwards as before he could even move from his current location, his mana pulse detected something from the sky. It was approaching him at mind-boggling speeds, triggering all sorts of dangerous rms inside his head. ''Sh*t!'' He didn''t even have time to look up since if he didn''t get out of the way immediately, the flying creature would rip him to shreds. *FWOOSH!* Winds violently parted as the enormous creature swooped down on Shye, fortunately, he was able to dodge on time by performing a decisive dive and shoulder roll. Then, immediately after, Shye turned his head and looked at the enormous creature that ambushed him. As his gazended on the creature, Shye''s eyes widened as unexinable nostalgia battered his little heart. He had met the creature before multiple times. He had seen it lifeless and had once exchanged a few moves with its simted counterpart, but this was the first time he encountered one alive¡ªwild and free. It was majestic. For a few moments, Shye was mesmerized, and it took him about two seconds to snap out of his astonished state. "Ember Wyvern!" *ROAR!* The enormous draconian creature roared mightily at the sky, only turning around after three seconds, proudly disying itself to its target. It seemed to want its target to cower in fear while still admiring its majestic appearance. Unfortunately for it, few people would be willing to risk their lives just to admire the appearance of a monstrous creature, no matter how pleasing it was. Shye was naturally no exception. Although he was among those who admired its beauty, he wasn''t about to be with those who ended up inside the creature''s stomach. Realizing that the day when he was strong enough to encounter a live ember wyvern on his own hade, unexinable pride welled in Shye''s heart, and despite the current dangerous situation he was in, strangely, there was no fear in his heart, only eagerness to prove himself. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Ember Wyvern [Creature Rank]: A [Description] A majestic wyvern-type creature that thrives in scorching conditions. It possesses an extremely powerful bite force, physique, me magic, and raw strength. If you encounter one, retreat immediately unless you are an adventurer of mithril level or higher.N?v(el)B\\jnn [Skills]: [(Passive) Fly Lv.5)] [Draconian Roar Lv.5] [Draconian Bite Lv.5] [Tail Swipe Lv.5][Spinning Tail Swipe Lv.5][Aerial Swoop Lv.5][me Breath Lv.5 (Umon)][Draconian Gaze Lv.5 (Umon)][(Passive)Fire Affinity Lv.5(Umon)][Draconian Rage Lv.5 (Rare)][Draconian Pride Lv.4 (Unique)] [Blessing]: [Lesser Blessing of the Fire Elemental (Permanent)] [Strength: 510] [Intelligence: 290 ] [Agility: 310] [Dexterity: 300] [Stamina: 280] [Vitality: 550]: [Wisdom: 150] [Exit System] "Let''s fight then, draconian!" ''Fallen''s Wings!'' Fearlessly charging straight towards the ember wyvern who had once again entered a swooping motion, a pair of ckish-transparent and rotting mana wings emerged from Shye''s back, giving him the ability to momentarily stay in the air. *FWOOSH!* As the wyvern approached, Shye pped his wings with just the right amount of strength, allowing him to dodge the wyvern''s ming maw andnd on top of it. It turned out to be quite the questionable idea, though, as the enormous draconian once more flew skywards, bringing the audacious human with it, ''SH*T!'' Shye inwardly cursed, temporarily forgetting that he himself had wings. Still, he knew that panicking wouldn''t help him in the slightest, hence, Shye took one deep breath as he held on tight to one of the scaled spikes protruding out of the wyvern''s head. He then retrieved Adamance once more from the system''s inventory, grasping it with a dagger grip before using it to stab at the ember wyvern''s right eye. *ROAR!* Unfortunately, this was the first time Shye encountered a monstrous creature with high intelligence. Therefore, he hadn''t expected the Ember Wyvern to immediately recognize his attempt to blind it, allowing it to respond ordingly. Recognizing that enduring physical damage with its naturally strong physique was preferable to allowing the audacious human to take one of its eyes, the Ember Wyvern willingly crashed into a sturdy, towering rock pir. As a result, Shye sustained some damage and eventually fell from the back of the wyvern''s head, plummeting to the ground with a slightly battered body. Luckily, Shye managed to barely p his wings on time, softening the impact of his violent descent. "F*ck¡­that hurt¡­so it''s not gonna be that easy, huh?" Chapter 452 Hunting An Ember Wyvern (1) *ROAR!* The mighty draconian creature swiftly stood up and once more soared into the skies¡ªa furious glint burning in its eyes. With its high intelligence, the Ember Wyvern could tell that its current opponent was a young human, and naturally, it wasn''t pleased that such a youngster wouldn''t run at the sight of it. It felt disrespected. Shye had no such intentions, though; he just wanted to protect his little life. ''Tch, It would be troublesome to fight it like this¡­I have to do something about those wings¡­'' He had to at least wound its wings and slightly impair its ability to fly as it would be impossible to both fight it and escape as long as the draconian creature''s wings were intact. Realizing that the wyvern was on its way to attack him again, Shye did the same thing: narrowly dodging the creature''s ming maw with a p of his wings. Only, he didn''t expect that the wyvern already predicted that he would do that, hence, the enormous creature suddenly spun mid-air, utterly surprising Shye who was now face to face with its ws. ''Crap! Power sh!'' Hastily swinging both greatswords with all his might, an ear-rending metallic noise echoed across the hignd grove he was currently out. "Puhahhk!" It was unwise of him to sh directly with a mighty wyvern, however, its huge ws were out to get him, what else could he do? It was a nice move from the wyvern. Still, although Shye spat out a bit of blood, his injuries weren''t that serious, causing pride to once again well inside his heart. He just shed with a mighty draconian creature¡ªone of the perceived royal species of monsters, and he came out alive, getting away with only light internal injuries. As a human, it was normal for him to be outmatched by a monstrous creature in terms of strength, hence, to survive a head-on sh was indeed something worth celebrating. He didn''t have much time to celebrate his mini-achievement, though, as the relentless wyvern once again turned around, opening its gigantic maw and aiming it toward him as it flew moderately close to the ground. It seemed to be gathering orange particles in its mouth. ''Shit! It''s about to breathe fire!''N?v(el)B\\jnn Realizing what the wyvern was doing, Shye swiftly ran sideways in hopes of escaping the ming breath''s range. Sure enough, after one and a half seconds of charging, vermillion-colored mes fiercely emerged from the gaping maw, burning a huge area and exploding shortly after. Luckily, Shye immediately realized what the creature was about to do, otherwise, he would''ve failed to escape the attack''s astonishingly huge area of effect. The wyvern once again flew skywards, though, not giving Shye any chance to attack. ''F*ck¡­when will it be my turn to attack?!'' Shye inwardly cursed in frustration. The darned wyvern would immediately increase its altitude after attacking, hence, he couldn''t even get in range for an attack. ''Oh? What if I¡­'' An idea suddenly struck Shye, revealing the wyvern''s intentions for retreating immediately after its attack, as the thought that entered his mind was identical. The draconian creature was attempting to erode his mental fortitude by driving him to impatience. A good n, after all, humans tend to make lots of errors when frustrated. ''Heh, let''s see who runs out of patience first then.'' Swapping his equipment set to that of a mage, Shye started firing projectiles at the wyvern, causing it to narrow its eyes while maneuvering left and right to dodge. Shye''s projectiles were no joke as the sheer size and power of even his basic spells would allow him to deal decent damage to the wyvern. As a result, the enormous flying creature had no choice but to dodge the onught of elemental spells. The wyvern was utterly shocked by the fact that someone so young could wield two different weapons. Moreover, this was the first time it encountered a spellcaster who could cast spells continuously one after the other, leaving it confused for a short while. However, it didn''t believe that a mere human''s puny mana reserves could maintain such a relentless pace of spellcasting. Thus, it diligently dodged, even a bit excited, believing that the human might have already lost all patience, which exined the fierce onught of spells. It could always retaliate once the human exhausts himself. Only, the Ember Wyvern didn''t expect that even after an entire hour of continuously dodging spells in the sky, the human would still have the mana to continue. It kept on telling itself that the human would be exhausted any time now¡­for thest forty-five minutes. Yet, the human remained steadfast in relentlessly firing spells¡ªone after the other, from the beginning up to now. Unknowingly, the wyvern started to grow impatient. It cannot stand the fact that it looked like it was running away from the human. If it could speak, it would definitely exim: "I''m not running from you! This is just a part of my ns!" to make itself feel better. Unfortunately, it couldn''t, and thus gradually felt ufortable allowing the human to stay in the aggressor''s position. After ten more minutes, the wyvern finally lost the patience battle and was enraged. It swiftly turned around and headed straight towards Shye, opting to test the strength of his spells¡ªa decision it slightly regretted doing. *BANG!* Shye''s enormous fireball made clean contact with the wyvern''s body. It chose to take the fireball as it believed that its slight resistance to its own element would allow it to take the attack rather easily. However, it didn''t expect that a good chunk of its scales would be destroyed by the huge explosion that ensued upon contact. Although the skill didn''t heavily hurt the wyvern, the damage it sustained was more than what it expected, making it appear bruised externally. Such a shameful appearance against a lone young human male¡­ If it was seen by another Ember Wyvern, it would die of embarrassment. Hence, it decided to end the fight quickly, not willing to y the waiting game with Shye anymore. Chapter 453 Hunting An Ember Wyvern (2) Realizing that the human would only continue to fire spells if it used its wings, the wyvern slowlynded, furiously gazing at Shye as it did so. ''Heh, Nice! Finally¡­'' Seeing the wyvern decide to stop using its wings, Shye inwardly celebrated, satisfied that it would no longer employ hit-and-run tactics. Like this, he could at least have the chance to deal serious damage to the enormous draconian. ''That part was boring¡­I shall make this one exciting!'' If Shye could hear himself from another person''s perspective, even he would think he was crazy. After all, he was facing a furious (A) ranked wyvern, yet, he was still thinking about showmanship when he should be worrying about whether he would survive! The system had truly made him a bit unhinged. Luckily, he didn''t notice his slight craziness, since he needed to be a bit crazy to achieve his goals. If he was too sane, he would surely have a hard time. ¡­After a short yet intense staredown, Shye and the wyvern ferociously advanced towards one another. Unfortunately, for a monstrous creature of such a size, a human would almost always be more agile. Thus, after dodging a straightforward bite attack with a clean sidestep to the right, Shye managed to draw first blood by swinging both greatswords down with all his might towards its extended neck. The Ember Wyvern''s scales were very tough, though, negating around 60% of the damage he dealt. Still, Shye''s strength attribute when holding two greatswords was a whopping 442 points¡ª just a bit shortpared to the Ember Wyvern itself. Hence, the remaining 40% power of his attack was enough to allow his greatswords to cut moderately deep into the draconian''s neck. Hurt for the first time in years, the Ember Wyvern roared in a mix of anger and pain, hurting Shye''s ears and forcing him to cover it with his hands. He could have capitalized on the huge chance. Unfortunately, his eardrums were those of a human, and his body instinctively protected it from being ruthlessly battered by the wyvern''s roar. Grabbing both greatswords again, Shye leaped up to strike once more at the previous wound he inflicted on the Ember Wyvern''s neck. However, he was a bit too optimistic and eager, thinking that the wyvern would allow him to do so. With a single p of the enormous creature''s wings, Shye was blown away, his back making intimate contact with a rocky pir. He had already resolved himself to a tough fight, though, hence, he did not care about failing a single attack. Standing up after brushing off the slight back pain, Shye slowly advanced once more toward the creature. Of course, to farm a few extra points, he made sure to look extra menacing and courageous as he did so. There would be a presentation day, after all. ¡­This time, the wyvern didn''t dare underestimate Shye, momentarily circling and observing him first before carefully decreasing the distance between them. And since a monstrous creature was bound to have longer limbs than a human, it was inevitable that the wyvern would strike first, breaking the intense standoff. Using a spinning tail swipe attack to force Shye to jump, the wyvern''s chest started generating mes. Then, soon after, it viciously breathed the mes out towards Shye, who was suspended in mid-air. Only, the attack hit nothing as the ashen-haired young human suddenly disappeared from the wyvern''s sight, leaving it dumbstruck and confused. The human should have had no means of dodging. Well, the wyvern was gravely mistaken as Shye had numerous tricks and skills to get out of harm''s way even while in mid-air. However, he chose to use a trick he had learned from Reginald: clinging tightly to the passing body part of the monster with his weapon. Soon enough, the Ember Wyvern also realized what had happened, roaring in anguish as it felt an intense, sharp pain from its long, thick, scale-armored tail. Its suffering didn''t end there, though, as Shye repeatedly struck the same area over and over again. Then, after a few more seconds¡­ *SPURT!* Burning scarlet blood sttered across the ground as half of the wyvern''s enormous tail separated from its main body,nding on the ground a few meters away from the ongoing battle. Naturally, the enormous draconian roared even louder in utter agony and immediately listened to its instincts of flying off, soaring skywards with multiple mighty ps of its draconic wings. To reorganize itself before fighting again? To flee? Shye didn''t know. However, although he already achieved his goal of fending off the dangerous creature, he now didn''t want to let go of a potential kill that would increase his chances of winning¡ªanother case of his burgeoning greed trying to subtly control his decisions. Well, it would truly be too glorious to y an Ember Wyvern by himself, hence, Shye was naturally reluctant to let it go. Quickly deciding to give chase, he temporarily swapped out his greatswords for elemental staffs. ''Frozen Thorn Barrage! Fire Bomb Assault'' Firing off his trusty barrage spells towards the Ember Wyvern, the enormous creature had no choice but to turn around to dodge the spells. However, Shye didn''t anticipate that the wyvern would decisively return and swoop down at him with its massive talons. Fate finally chose to teach him a lesson regarding excessive greed¡ªa lesson that he should''ve learned way earlier. The Ember Wyvern''s transition from fleeing to a ferocious counterattack was simply too smooth, and a single second of momentary confusion was all it took for him to lose the chance to get out of the massive creature''s way. As a result, the draconic creature''s left talon managed to grab him on the waist, bringing him with it to the air. ''Sh*t! Sh*t! Sh*t!'' Shye wanted to struggle wildly, however, something inside him told him that it would be "uncool" to do so.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om His life was already at risk, yet, he was still worrying about something stupid. It seemed that there were more than just a "few" screws loose in his head. ''Do I actually have to crush the emergency talisman?'' Chapter 454 A Flashy End ''No way in hell would I give up! That would be even more uncool, no?'' He already dealt considerable damage to the wyvern. As long as he got through this, the enormous draconian''s bleeding tail would be its ticking time bomb. There''s just no way he could bring himself to surrender at this point. This was supposed to be fate''s lesson regarding greed, however, in the end, it ended up as a mere chance for Shye to double down. He should''ve been thinking of his loved ones. His sister, his lover, his parents, and his friends. Yet, all he thought about was a glorious victory¡ªa good mindset for those with nothing to lose, but for someone dear in the hearts of many, it wasn''t the most optimal. Unfortunately, Shye didn''t even notice. ''Fine, let''s see if you can keep holding me!'' Changing both greatswords to two elemental staffs once more, Shye held one with his left hand and bit the other one. As long as he was in contact with two of them, his spells would be amplified, so he didn''t need his next spell to originate from the staffs themselves. In fact, he needed to cast it from his hand, as it would be more beneficial for him to do so. The wyvern wasn''t about to allow him to do anything he wanted, though and immediately started to tighten its grip. "Puhaahk!" Shye spat out a mouthful of blood, nearly screaming in agony as he felt his bones being slowly crushed by the increasing pressure of the wyvern''s talons. ''Stoic!'' After increasing his physical defense by 70% for 5 seconds, Shye was finally able to barely resist the pain. ''Don''t let go now!'' ''Gravitational Drain!'' Grabbing a part of the wyvern''s talon with his right hand, the force of gravity caused his hand to stick to it as if they were bound together by an invisible rope. Then, soon after, the Ember Wyvern felt its vitality leaving its body through Shye''s hands. The monstrous creature tried to engage in a battle of endurance with Shye, however, the feeling of its body withering away at an rming speed brought fear and panic to its heart. As a result, the wyvern hastily let go of Shye, treating him as though he was some filthy cockroach. Unfortunately for the draconian, Shye was indeed like a cockroach, his grip refusing to loosen as he continued to cling to the Ember Wyvern''s talon. This time, the wyvern truly panicked. However, no matter what it did, the young human''s hand remained stuck to it, draining its vitality and energy at an rming rate. *ROAR!* With a fierce roar, the wyvern dered its unwillingness to fall prey to a mere lone young human male. It then used its other talon to try and forcefully remove the darned human parasite. ''Hmmph!'' Naturally, Shye immediately noticed its actions, and he would sure as hell never let go of such a golden opportunity. Yanking the wyvern''s talon downwards with all his might, Shye deactivated the [Gravitational Drain] skill at the perfect moment, sessfully propelling himself upwards. He then returned both elemental staffs to the inventory, recing them with Adamance and Mithra, and stabbing the former deep into the wyvern''s flesh.N?v(el)B\\jnn *ROAR!* Caught off guard by Shye''s swift maneuver, the ember wyvern roared in agony. However, before it could recover, it felt a series of stabbing pains starting from its legs, traveling up to its chest, and finally reaching its face. As blood spurted out of the stab wounds, the severely weakened wyvern couldn''t help but roar even louder in utter anguish. Shortly after, though, the young human''s voice allowed it to momentarily regather its wits. "I''ll be taking your eyes." Sadly, the wyvern''s clear-headedness did notst for a long time as an extremely sharp pain once again brought it to the brink of insanity. This time, the pain came from its left eye. The pain was so excruciating that it caused the wyvern to crash hard onto the ground. Anticipating this, Shye executed precise maneuvers, enabling him tond in a magnificent, cool pose. To make things better, he managed to do so atop the copsed wyvern''s body. Shye wanted to savor the moment of bringing down a wyvern from the sky for a few more seconds, however, he knew that the Ember Wyvern was still alive and that his highlight would be ruined should he ultimately end up fleeing due to carelessness. Hence, he decided to finish the job first. "Check this out, draconian!" Summoning his wings, Shye soared upward with a powerful p. He then charged his weapons with [Power sh] and used [Rush Stab] to descend toward the wyvern, which was struggling to stand, at an unbelievable speed. ''Boost! Boost!'' With two charges of boost and the assistance of gravity, Shye''s greatswords pierced deep into the skull of the Ember Wyvern, causing crimson blood to spurt out of its orifices. At that moment, the wyvern¡­had died. However, Shye didn''t seem to notice as he truly wanted to ensure that his series of attacks would take the wyvern''s life. Without withdrawing his greatswords, Shye utilized the warrior weapons to cast a mage spell deep within the already dead draconian''s skull, aiming to obliterate its brain. ''Fireball!'' *BOOM!* After one fiery explosion that echoed across the hignd grove, the wyvern copsed¡ªits head¡ªcharred. Landing on the ground a few meters away from the dead draconian, Shye quickly looked at the wyvern. Then, upon realizing his sess in killing it, Shye roared triumphantly to the skies. Activating his [Draconian Roar Lv.4] skill, he unleashed a primal roar reminiscent of dragons, causing it to reverberate throughout the area. This further enhanced his aura of coolness and mightiness for the recording crystal''s rey. After a while, he remained in a cool pose, slowly retrieving the recording crystal from his spatial bag and manually stopping the recording. "Haha¡­Hahahahaha! Wasn''t that ending just perfect? I bet the Valenzia Arena will shower me with system points again! Hahaha!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 455 Rookies Return "K-Kuuhh¡­" Shye didn''t notice when he was fighting the wyvern but his body was aching all over. He was full of vitality, however, the few broken bones in his body needed another type of potion which he currently didn''t have. Therefore, he had no choice but to continue hunting while enduring the sharp pain that asionally red up. Shye was no stranger to pain, however, and didn''t dwell on it, as he had a far more important problem to address. ''Hmm¡­This would be far more valuable intact¡­'' Shye pondered as he stared at the corpse of the massive Ember Wyvern. If he butchered the corpse by himself, he would probably only be able to sell the loot for 1000 gold coins at most. However, if he could bring it back intact and sell it to the prominent material shops, then he would probably earn around 2,000 to 2,800 gold coins depending on the corpse''s condition. The problem is, how would he bring the darned corpse back? He could pull it manually, however, he might not make it back to Valenzia City on time. He also tried storing corpses in the system''s inventory in the past, but unfortunately, it didn''t work. ''Sigh¡­should I just butcher it now?'' Just when he was about to give up, a feasible idea suddenly popped up in his mind. ''Oh¡­What if I try to store it in a spatial corpse container?'' Such items were naturally expensive, however, Shye knew that he would need them not only now but in the future as well since the corpses of the creatures he would hunt as a high-ranked adventurer would be more valuable when intact. He couldn''t simply manually pull them back every time, could he? ''Or¡­could I?'' Shye still intended to buy a spatial corpse container, but he couldn''t help spending a few minutes contemting the new point farming scheme he had just devised. ''Couldn''t I store the corpses in the spatial container first? Then, when I''m a kilometer or so away from the city, I could unload the corpses and manually pull them inside!'' "Hahaha! Yes¡­Yes, that should work." Shye couldn''t calm himself down for a good few minutes, eager to try his new n. Taking one deep breath, he reminded himself that he should focus on the task at hand, after all, there were still five days left. If he wanted to ensure his victory, he must return to hunting as soon as possible. ''I vowed to not use system points to purchase items but¡­I''ll make an exception this time.'' Browsing the system, he quickly found what he was looking for under the [Spatial Items] section, however, he didn''t know what size he should purchase as the wyvern was truly too enormous. He could always use gold coins to buy more in the city, and he really didn''t want to spend more system points than necessary as he needed to save up 1,000,000 points to upgrade the system to level 4. ''Hmm... Should I buy therge, extrarge, or extra-extrarge one?'' Shye pondered for a while before deciding to purchase the extra-extrarge one for 40,000 points. This way, he could ensure that his system points wouldn''t be wasted if the smaller ones turned out to be insufficient. [Congrattions! You have purchased an Extra Large Spatial Corpse Container for 40,000 points!] Retrieving the container from the system''s inventory, Shye''s heart raced as he tried to store the enormous corpse inside the Extra Large Spatial Corpse Container. Shortly after, though, he realized his worries were unfounded, as the container he purchased could even store two and a half Ember Wyverns. After storing the wyvern, he ced the container back into the system''s inventory, putting him in a good mood despite the sharp pains that intermittently coursed through his body. Unfortunately, over the next five days, Shye encountered only one (A-) ranked creature, one (B) ranked creature, and two (B-) ranked creatures. Despite this, he didn''t feel as nervous as he had initially been. ''There''s no way those bastards could''ve killed an Ember Wyvern level monstrous creature¡­'' Shye inwardly thought, taking one deep breath before activating the return scroll handed to them by the arena staff members. Soon after, a gentle blue light enveloped Shye''s body, teleporting him back to the city.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om *** Within a designated indoor area of the Valenzia Arena, azure lights emanated from special stone tablets on the ground, gradually forming into human shapes one after another. Naturally, Shye was amongst those who recently arrived. To easily determine who arrived, the special stone tablets had numbers assigned to them, and the seeded ones were ced in a different room. Read new chapters at empire ¡­Looking around, Shye saw Damien''s smug face. The bastard was looking right at him. ''Heh, this idiot¡­'' Shye would never be in the mood to talk with arrogant and stupid people, hence, he decided to ignore Damien, not knowing that his actions would only serve to boost the idiot''s confidence. "Competitor Crowley from Balkrow City, correct?" "Yes, that''s correct." "Please hand over your automatic recording crystal and the emergency talisman." ¡­After making sure that there was nothing else he needed to do, Shye proceeded to leave the arena. "Hahaha! You seem nervous, Crowley. Did your hunts not go as nned?" Only, he couldn''t do so in peace as Damien kept on provoking him, seemingly very confident in his victory. Shye ignored all of the guy''s attempts, though, as he wanted Damien to prance around like the clown he is before destroying his heart and mind on the presentation day. After all, if he allowed Damien to think that he had already won, then the pain and humiliation the idiot would feel would double or even triple after losing to him again. "Hahahaha! What a fraud!" were thest words Shye heard as he left the arena. ''Heh, that''s it, keep celebrating. I doubt fools like you could even handle the three standing beside me, so what makes you think you could defeat me?'' Perhaps Damien thought that Shye would be the most inferior among the four standing in front, and as long as his points were higher than Shye''s, he could consider his loss avenged. What he hadn''t anticipated was that he would have to defeat the other three opponents before even having a chance to challenge Shye. Chapter 456 Presentation Day "Ladies and gentlemen! Wee to the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition''s presentation day! Today is the perfect day to savor the intense moments our young adventurers experienced while hunting, don''t you think? Make sure you have your snacks ready and hold on tight to your seats as we present a shortption of some of the greatest hunts by those who made it into the top ten!" Bart''s vibrant yet professional voice reverberated across the arena, eliciting thunderous cheers from the excited crowd. Most of them even attended the somewhat boring opening ceremony. Naturally, they would be going crazy on the presentation day Meanwhile, on the stage, multiple stations of varying quality were arranged spaciously. These were private viewing rooms designed to provide thepetitors with an optimal viewing experience. Shye, as one of the four who was perceived to have the highest probability of winning the event, was naturally in one of the morefortable ones. Inside his station, there was a mana-powered air conditioner, a plush chair, a modest-sized ckwood table beside it, a private restroom, and a luxurious bed for him to lie down on while watching the presentations on the huge holographic screen. Additionally, there were various snacks and beverages avable for him to enjoy whenever he wished. His viewing station was far more luxuriouspared to the others, which only had a plush chair, a small regr table, a limited supply of water andmon snacks, and a mana-powered fan. ¡­Drinking champagne while snacking on some small pieces of raw fish dipped in special sauce, Shye pondered about where he should sell the Ember Wyvern''s corpse. His first choice was the Materials'' Mothend, a shop he had been in contact with since the beginning. However, after checking other shops in Valenzia City, he found out that although Materials'' Mothend was high up the ranking, it didn''t have any branches in other regions. Still, he didn''t immediately give up on it as he liked how the shop operated. Fortunately, the shop''s expansion to other regions was already in progress. Thus, Shye only needed to consider whether he should establish a partnership with the shop, as he was confident that if he proposed it, they would eagerly wee him with open arms. He was particrly interested in whether the shop would open branches in other regions because, despite his decision to remain in Valenzia and help the region thrive, quests for mithril-ranked adventurers and above could take ce in adventurer zones in other regions.N?v(el)B\\jnn It would simply be way too inconvenient if he had to return to Valenzia every time he needed to buy or sell something at the shop. Partnerships provide long-term benefits for both the shop and the adventurer so he had to carefully mull about such things. However, his thoughts were abruptly cut off as his attention was captured by the holographic screen that suddenly lit up. Soon after, a one-hour recording began to y, showcasing the glorious hunts of those who made it into the top ten. The video also served as the announcement of the results, as each rookie who made the list had their name, total points, and final ranking disyed before the highlights of their hunts were shown sequentially. Naturally, everyone desired to be the winner, so those who saw their names on the recording experienced a bittersweet feeling in their hearts. Listening to the crowd''s enthusiastic cheers as their triumphant moments of ying dangerous monsters were showcased on the screen was truly exhrating. However, many couldn''t help but ponder how much more glorious it would be if their videos were saved for thest presentation. Unfortunately, this year, such a thing would only happen in their thoughts as their final rankings were already decided. Your journey continues with empire With a wistful smile, the rookies ranked tenth to sixth sighed deeply, choosing to savor the brief moment their highlights were showcased. ''Well, at least I had my moment.'' was the thought that resonated in their minds. It was true, though, as hundreds of rookies didn''t even have the chance to experience such a thing. Heck, some of them even had to attend the event despite already failing in their very first hunt due to nervousness. Consoling themselves with such thoughts, the tenth to sixth-ranked rookies recovered their moods. After all, despite not winning the event, they undoubtedly brought glory and fame to their cities. Moreover, the knowledge that the final rankings of all the rookies would be releasedter further lifted their spirits, as seeing their names next to a high ranking on the list would truly be a sight to behold. An hourter, the recording finally finished ying. "Ladies and gentlemen! Were you not entertained?! Please give another round of apuse to this year''s tenth to sixth-ranked rookies!" Bart''s energetic voice echoed once again, yet the master host contained his excitement to suitable levels. He knew that he needed to build anticipation for the uing recordings of the top five''s solo hunts. ¡­After the thunderous cheers died down, Bart motioned for one of the arena staff to y the next recording. Shortly after, the holographic screen illuminated once again, prompting excited cheers from the crowd even though the recording had barely begun. Well, the name of a well-known rookie, Jamal Hydra, was disyed on the screen so their cheers were understandable. Only, the man himself was not pleased at all, after all, didn''t this mean he was fifth? Just when Jamal was about to stand up to question the rankings, Bart''s voice sounded once more: "Everyone, apologies for the interruption. However, please be aware that the sequence of the recordings does not correspond to the rankings of the top five, as their final rankings will be announced muchter." Hearing Bart''s words, Jamal Hydra sat back down. He then took one deep breath to calm his slightly distressed heart. His frustration stemmed from the fact that four individuals were perceived to have the highest probability of winning the tournament. If he ended up ranking fifth, it would indicate that he was the weakest among the four and that someone had unexpectedly surpassed him to im his ce. Naturally, Jamal would have a hard time believing such a thing. Regarding the unexpected dark horse, the irritating individual red directly at Shye''s viewing station, a mocking smile spread across his face. "Heh, Crowley, relish yourst moments as the so-called strongest of our generation, because in a few hours, the crown will return to its rightful owner!" Chapter 457 The Big Fours Prowess Jamal''s hunts were nothing short of the word shocking. The guy looked to be around twenty-three years old, yet, he was already hunting (B-) ranked creatures. Although it wasn''t known whether the full high-grade ruby-tier armor set he wore was his, the fact remained that it was already in his inventory before the event began. Hence, despite it being hard to believe that he gathered such top-tier equipment by himself within two years of adventuring, there was no question that he didn''t break any rules. On the surface, of course, as it would be difficult to determine whether Jamal or the individuals supporting him knew thepetition''s theme in advance. And if they did, how? Shye had no such connections or such a full high-grade high-tier equipment set, however, he wasn''t envious of them in the slightest as all he needed to kill such creatures were high-tier weapons, which he already possessed. Thus, he simply focused on watching Jamal''s recording as the guy was one of his perceived rivals, and he wanted to count how many points the young man earned. For the time being, Damien did the same. However, he didn''t care much whether he could defeat this young man as he was an entire year of adventuring behind. To him, as long as he could defeat Shye, who was of the same generation, then he could consider himself to be their generation''s strongest. Hence, he wasn''t that interested in Jamal''s hunt. Still, Damien was no slouch, and he continued to watch the recording despite his disinterest as he aimed to use it as a learning material. Although it appeared as though he made it his life''s mission to avenge his loss to Shye, he at least still had the will to continuously improve and better himself. ¡­Jamal was a scout-ss adventurer, and his speed was no joke, hence, the people were mesmerized by his elegant maneuvers, narrowly dodging each monstrous creature''s attack by a hair''s breadth multiple times before viciously counter-attacking with patience. The courage it took to perform such maneuvers was nothing short of extraordinary, and even Shye couldn''t help but admire the young man''s calmness in the face of such mighty attacks. Jamal''s high-tier armor set and weapon did indeed help, however, it was fairly evident that it was his own skills and bravery that got him through even the toughest of situations. The man was still young and hisbat technique wasn''t perfect. Hence, he suffered hits here and there due to miscalcting the distance. Yet, never once did Jamal panic; his stoic expression inspired people to root for him. After an hour quickly passed and Jamal''s recording finally stopped ying, the crowd erupted in thunderous cheers, the final moments¡ªwhere he managed to y an apex (B) ranked creature called Hellrah¡ªstill fresh in their minds. Naturally, the low-ranked visiting adventurers and the mundane folks immediately concluded that Jamal would be this year''s winner. After all, how could a rookie in his second year of adventuring, hunt a (B) ranked creature? It was simply absurd in their inexperienced minds. Thus, to them, Jamal already won. Only, they immediately realized how wrong they were after the next recording had been yed. Like Jamal, the next rookie named Verson Cruz began his hunting journey by ying (C) ranked creatures, and again, the crowd was amazed. The difficulties of Verson''s hunts rose and fell, however, it also ended with a glorious (B) ranked monster kill making the crowd go crazy in utter disbelief. Their narrow worldviews were utterly washed away by the realities of how truly strong the elite rookies were. Initially, they all thought that a rookie, no matter how talented, would never be able to stand up to veterans. However, after witnessing two rookies hunt monsters that could endanger the lives of even the toughest veterans, their worldview changed. Only, they weren''t experienced enough to discern that the armor sets and weapons of both rookies were probably given to them by their families and were not obtained through the rookies'' hard work. Still, no other rookie who was also apetitor in the tournament would be stupid enough to cry "unfair" as it would only make them look bitter. After all, these four could still defeat them in points whether they were given armor sets and weapons or not. As for Shye, he merely watched on with a disinterested expression. ''Heh, it seems like I overestimated them. I was worried for nothing.'' His growingly arrogant heart couldn''t help but disdainfully look down upon his rivals. With help from their families, all they could do was hunt an apex (B) ranked monster? ''With their skills, should they be courageous enough to try, they could defeat a few (A-) ranked monsters, no?'' He mused. It''s not that they were looking down at them because they used their family''s wealth to get what small advantage they could as he was aware that connections and background are a part of one''s strengths. What he found disdainful was, that the wusses didn''t even try to fight an (A-) ranked monstrous creature.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om How did he know that they didn''t? It was because they didn''t kill one! Shye had already battled numerous (A-) ranked creatures. He was confident that, with their powerful armor sets, weapons, and skills, they could certainly defeat the weaker (A-) ranked monsters if they had the courage to risk their lives and the adventurous spirit to fight one to the death. ''Well, not everyone is the same.'' Shye was just a little disappointed as their region was already way behind others, and if their younger generation were a bunch of wusses, then there might be no hope for them to ever catch up. ''Hmph, whatever, Valenzia Region already has me anyway. My friends and I shall elevate it to new heights!'' His thoughts were abruptly cut short, though, as Bart''s lively voice once again reverberated across the arena. "Verson Cruz everybody! Let''s give him a round of apuse!" The cheers didn''t die down for quite a while, as people already believed Jamal to have won, only to find out that there was someone else who managed to hunt a (B) ranked creature. However, promptly after it did, Bart once again spoke: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a question. Witnessing the capabilities of two out of the four expected winners of thepetition, who else do you think has the capability to perform at such levels?" Explore stories at empire Hearing Bart''s question, the people were confused. However, they suddenly realized that since the two recordings of two of the top four expected winners were yed first, it likely meant someone else had performed at the same level. The question was, who? With a smile, Bart motioned for the arena staff to y the third recording. Chapter 458 Delusional Dark Horse "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the recording of the renowned Martinez Adventurer n Leader''s third son, Damien Martinez! Also a recent graduate of the prestigious An Adventurer Academy and Shye Crowley''s opponent in the grand finals of the Adventurer Academy Competition!" After Bart''s grand introduction, the people suddenly remembered that Damien, Shye''s rival as an academy graduate, was also in thepetition. However, due to the fact that he was seeded below the four, he somehow faded into the background. Who would''ve thought that Damien would be the dark horse this time around? Rather ironic as Shye was the dark horse in the Adventurer Academy Competition. In just a year, their positions were reversed. Hearing his name called, Damien clenched his fists in excitement. If only he could see Shye''s shocked and panicking expression, then everything would be perfect! Unfortunately¡ªor rather, fortunately¡ªhe couldn''t see Shye''s reaction. Otherwise, he would be pulling his hair out in utter frustration as Shye had an apathetic and bored expression as he watched Damien''s recording. ''Sigh¡­C- ranked creatures? Lame¡­'' It was indeedme because, unlike the original recording, the event organizers ensured the battles were presented in order of ascending difficulty. Naturally, the first few hunts would be boring, and Shye understood this. He was simply venting his dislike for Damien, whom he utterly despised. Soon enough though, the hunts got more intense and exciting, eliciting loud cheers from the crowd as Damien, a mere first-year rookie, fought heroically against (B-) ranked creatures. He rarely took a step back and was always charging forward, narrowly dodging the monstrous creatures'' attacks before viciously counterattacking to severe whatever limbs he could. As a result, his recording was the most entertaining of the three that had already been yed on the huge holographic screen, causing the other two to clench their fists in frustration. They didn''t care if he was from the Martinez Adventurer n. If he dared talk shit to them, they would teach him a lesson. Damien had no ns of doing such a thing, though, as all he ever wanted was to talk shit to Shye after defeating him and make sure that his heart would stay in the gutter for years. Indulging in the glorious thunderous cheers of the crowd, the An alumni clenched his fists in excitement. ''Heh, so this is the feeling of a sessful dark horse? Not bad, not bad!'' He hadn''t defeated Shye yet, but since he was now considered equal to the four, it could indeed be said that he was a sessful dark horse. Still, although happy, he wasn''t satisfied yet. It was as though it was just yesterday when he was defeated by Shye in the all-important grand finals between Colzen and An¡ªace representative vs ace representative. He would never be satisfied without seeing Shye''s devastated expression. As time passed, the contents of the recording grew even more exciting, ending with the spectacr scene of Damien ambushing the Crimson Vorper, smashing its head with an enormous hammer before fighting it to the death. It was undeniable that he was slightly weaker than Jamal and Verson. However, what hecked in strength, he made up for with sheer bravery. Even Shye, his rival, acknowledged that the arrogant and hateful bastard was indeed courageous.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om Still, if this was Damien''s best hunt, then it seemed that he was worried for nothing. ¡­After a few more minutes, Damien''s recording ended. However, in the end, instead of a satisfied expression, a confused one emerged on the An alumni''s face. After thinking for a while, Damien knowingly smiled. It seemed that thepetition still had one final ace up their sleeves¡ªone that would increase the liveliness to new heights. With this arrangement, the Martinez n''s young master felt even more excited, despite his recording already having yed on the huge holographic screen. However, after a while, he couldn''t help but frown and narrow his eyes as he looked in the direction of Jamal and Verson''s viewing stations, turning away and focusing on the holographic screen the next moment. To keep things unpredictable, the event organizers mixed up the order of the recordings being yed to avoid giving any hints about who won thepetition. As a result, Shye''s recording was the next one shown on the huge holographic screen. Again, the initial hunts were themest of the bunch, however, since the crowd was already used to it, their eyes remained glued to the holographic screen. Well, there was not much to watch as Shye instantly killed each of the lower-ranked monsters on his hunting list. Yet, to the mundane folks and low-ranked adventurers, he looked like some cold-blooded fiend who easily reaped the life of everything he came across. Even the event organizers had trouble choosing which parts of his hunts to show on theption recording as he simply looked like the strongest out of everyone¡ªby a long shot. Well, it was clear to the event organizers who the winner was, especially after the horrified judge almost fainted on the spot after realizing what his opponent was in his best hunt. However, despite such facts, the crafty organizers still found a way to make thepetition appear cutthroat. Only, they had to temporarily remove most of Shye''s hunts. As a result, the "best hunt" Shye had in the recording was when he yed a (B) ranked creature in around ten moves as he was experimenting at that time, trying to urately hit each vital spot before ending the poor monstrous creature''s life. If not for that one hunt, the event organizers might''ve already given up making everyone look evenly matched. Naturally, Shye was utterly infuriated upon seeing that his recording ended in such a way. Where was his glorious moment of ying an Ember Wyvern?! Luckily, before he made a mess of things, an event organizer''s voice sounded inside his viewing station, begging for him to calm down and not worry as everything would be shown in a finalption. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 118,920 points!] Taking a deep breath to calm his furious heart, Shye read the notification that had just popped up, which helped to improve his mood slightly. ''Fine¡­fine. I shall wait.'' Chapter 459 Results "H-Hey, do you think Shye Crowley would win again?" "I don''t know. However, based on what I just watched, it seemed that he was at least the strongest amongst everyone, no?" "It looked that way to me, yet, when I counted the points, they were strangely equal¡­Do you think, perhaps this would end in a draw?" "A draw? Lame¡­" After watching the recording of Shye''s hunts, amotion immediately started amongst the crowd, who believed that Shye was the strongest among the four. However, ame draw would render the results meaningless, leaving the crowd feeling a bit disappointed. Contrary to what one might expect, though, Bart had a shadow of a smile on the corners of his mouth upon hearing the audience''s hubbub, motioning for the arena staff to y thest recording: Erwin Tycho''s hunts. Since the holographic screen lit up once more, the onlookers had no choice but to momentarily shut their mouths and watch, somehow hoping that Erwin would save thepetition from a not-so-preferred ending. Unfortunately, after around forty-five minutes of thrilling hunts, the results were more or less the same. At this point, most of the people in the crowd were bored, with a few even standing up to leave. It was then that Bart''s vibrant voice, seemingly unaware of what the people were feeling, once again sounded¡ªhis subsequent words capturing the attention of those who were about to leave. "Did everyone enjoy the recordings?! I hope so. But if you thought those were the best these rookies could offer, you were dead wrong! Who wants to see recordings that will shake not just this region, but others as well?! If you do, let''s give the top five an earth-shattering cheer, shall we?!" Hearing Bart''s words, the bored crowd was stunned for a few moments before erupting into cheers. Although it wasn''t as loud as Bart had hoped, the arena seemed toe back to life, and those who had left their seats returned with skeptical yet somewhat hopeful expressions. Now, it was up to the highlights themselves to excite the crowd, as this finalption would include everything, featuring a mind-blowing hunt that had never happened before in the entire history of the region''s rookies. Even the region''s current titled adventurers never achieved such a feat in their rookie days. "I want to thank everyone for their enthusiasm. Now, thepetition will reveal everything to your deserving eyes. Sit back, though you won''t be able to rx, so hold tight and enjoy hunts that you could never imagine being aplished by mere rookies!" Bart''s words naturally heightened the crowd''s excitement even more, suggesting that the earlier "equal"ptions were intentional and that the true best highlights of the top five were only about to be revealed. What they didn''t expect was that the final rankings of the top five would also be announced as each final recording was yed. "Ladies and gentlemen! In fifth ce overall, with a total of 408 points, Verson Cruz!" *BANG!* Unfortunately, instead of being happy, Verson was utterly frustrated. All he did was only enough for him to finish fifth? Even that Damien Martinez scored higher than him?! Uneptable! Sadly, he didn''t even have time to sort his feelings out as the voice of an arena staff sounded inside his viewing station. "Competitor Cruz, please exit your viewing station and follow our arena staff waiting outside." Hence, with clenched fists, Verson had no choice but to y along for now. However, should he find his defeat unsatisfactory after watching all the final recordings, then he would surely voice out his doubts regarding thepetition''s integrity. Verson''s final hunt was against a pair of monstrous creatures¡ªone (B) ranked and one (B-) ranked. Shockingly, despite his close battles against a single (B) ranked creature in the first recording, he still managed to defeat two at the same time. Though, he wasn''t able to keep a nice appearance after such a tough battle. Still, the crowd cheered for him, and even though he only finished fifth, the people were at least happy that there were winners and losers. As for Verson, he was naturally unhappy. This battle was the current source of his pride. If it turns out he lost despite the others facing equally challenging or weaker opponents, he wouldn''t hesitate to speak up. It was difficult for him to ept this defeat, as it implied he was the weakest among the four. Worse, he was even defeated by a random dark horse. ''Fine, I''ll watch first.'' ¡­After his recording, the next one immediately started ying. "Everyone, a big round of apuse for our fourth-ranked rookie, Erwin Tycho!" Bart introduced. "With a total of 412 points, a single (C-) ranked monster was the difference maker! Talk about neck-and-neck!" Hearing Bart''s words, Verson wanted to rage, however, he would look stupid if he did so.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om It was his fault for not killing every creature he could. Had he opted to kill even the lower-ranked ones, then this wouldn''t have happened. He was careless. He had no one to me but himself. Erwin, though, despite ranking higher than one of his rivals, was utterly unhappy with his final ranking. Still, since he was mature enough, he decided to watch first. If the final rankings reeked of dishonesty. He was ready to speak up. ¡­Erwin''s recording disyed the same difficulty of opponents¡ªone (B) ranked monstrous creature and one (B-) ranked. One could argue that Verson''s battle was more challenging since, unlike Erwin who fought the (B)-ranked creature only after severely wounding the (B-)-ranked one, Verson had to fight both creatures simultaneously. The total number of umted points was the deciding factor, though, so Verson could only ept his loss with a bitter expression. Well, at least he won the crowd''s favor more than Erwin as the cheers for him were louder. By now, only the top three remained, and unexpectedly, Damien scored higher than two of the four. Even he couldn''t believe that he did. However, the problem was, that Shye also scored higher than the older rookies. "Now, let''s move on to the third-ce winner! With a total of 520 points, let''s hear it for..." Chapter 460 The Second Times The Charm! "Jamal Hydra!!" *BANG!* Another poor armrest had been destroyed thanks to the unexpected results of thepetition. Jamal, unlike the other two, did not want to lose to Shye. He even took the risk of hunting at night for a few more hours just to ensure that he would win. Hence, it was truly difficult for him to ept this oue of being inferior to two first-year rookies. He didn''t have any bad blood with Shye, it''s just that he was an intenselypetitive guy who hated losing more than anything, and due to his frustration, Jamal didn''t even notice the crowd''s thunderous cheers as he fought toe-to-toe against the (A-) ranked Phantom Panther. The creature vanished and reappeared from all angles like a ghost. However, Jamal, like abat prophet, always predicted the Phantom Panther''s next move and effectively counterattacked after narrowly avoiding its attacks. Such an intense and exciting battle would naturally keep the crowd on the edge of their seats. After about fifteen minutes, the battle finally concluded when Jamal, courageously taking a hit from the panther''s lethal paw, managed to behead it with a fierce rising sh counterattack, prompting the crowd to cheer wildly. What the other two couldn''t do was hunt an (A-) ranked creature. Thus, Jamal''s bravery in attempting to hunt one cemented him as the superior between the three of them.N?v(el)B\\jnn Naturally, Erwin and Verson found it hard to ept that they were utterly defeated by Jamal, however, what could they do? Had they dared hunt in the biting darkness of the night, they wouldn''t be in their current positions. Unfortunately, this was their final opportunity to prove their worth as rookies, and they ultimately fell shortpared to Jamal. It would be tough for them to prove themselves in the future as they would be considered veterans starting next year and their stage would be much grander. To reim their former glory, they must rise above all the adventurers in the region¡ªa feat that was almost impossible to do. Well, even Jamal had the same difficulties as he didn''t want to get buried under the shadow of other geniuses, but unfortunately for him, no matter how hard he worked, he was bound to be a second-rate adventurer as Shye was about to redefine the meaning of "first-rate". Jamal''s recording ended without the guy even enjoying the best hunt he ever had in his life. He initially felt proud of this achievement of defeating an (A-) ranked monster even though the equipment, armor set, and mana device that helped him do so was given to him by his n. However, upon finding out that even this achievement of his was only enough for him to obtain third ce, Jamal was suddenly disinterested in it, and he couldn''t exin the feeling in his heart. Was it the greed of wanting more for himself? Was it unwillingness? He didn''t know. For now, he could only sit beside the first two¡ªin the third-ce seat while watching two first-year rookies battle it out for the top spot with a bitter heart. As for Damien, now one of thest two remaining, his heart raced wildly. He hadn''t expected that the pill his father gave him, which allowed him to rest for only six hours every two days, would enable him to surpass the other three. He worked tirelessly day and night to hunt as many creatures as possible, all to defeat Shye. Damien didn''t mind losing to the other three, but Shye was the one person he couldn''t bear to lose to. He never expected that, instead of defeating Shye and losing to the other three, he would end up defeating the other three while the oue between him and his mortal adversary remained unknown. Naturally, Damien was thrilled that his sleepless nights enabled him to surpass three talented individuals who had a year''s advantage in adventuring. However, the unexpected results implied that his mortal enemy had aplished the same, hence, he couldn''t bring himself to feel truly happy. Not until he officially defeated Shye. With the results he had been eagerly awaiting for the past year about to be announced in the next few seconds, how could Damien not feel slightly nervous? "CAN, YOU, BELIEVE IT FOLKS?! IT''S THE FINALS OF THE ADVENTURER ACADEMY COMPETITION ALL OVER AGAIN!!" Bart eximed in utter excitement. He was directed to open the result envelopes for the top three one at a time, which is why his reaction was genuine. Bart never expected that it would be Damien versus Shye once again who would bepeting for the number one rookie spot. Hearing Bart''s words, Damien''s heart raced even more. "Everyone, are you ready?! With a total umted points of 682, this year''s second-ranked rookie is¡­Damien Martinez!!" *BANG!* "NOOOO!!! NO!! NO!!! HOW?! HOW DID I STILL LOSE?! DIDN''T I ALREADY DEFEAT ANOTHER (B) RANKED CREATURE AND AN (A-) RANKED ONE?! WHAT MORE DO I NEED TO DO TO BEAT THIS LITTLE F*CKER?!" Once again, another unfortunate armrest met its demise as Damien ms it fiercely in a fit of fury and disbelief. Despite his narrow win against the (B) ranked Crimson Vorper, Damien still dared to challenge another (B) ranked creature, even risking his life to fight an (A-) ranked one to the bitter end as he didn''t dare underestimate his mortal adversary this time. All to ensure his victory. Yet, he still somehow lost. To make things worse, he didn''t even have time to reorganize his thoughts as a voice sounded inside his viewing station. "Sir Damien, kindly make your way out of the viewing station and take your seat at the designated spot for the second-ce winner." Hearing the words "second-ce winner", Damien''s sanity finally snapped. *BANG!" Noisily mming the door of his viewing station open, Damien rushed to the center of the stage with a crazy and furious look, prompting the crowd to look at him instead of his recording. "This is bullshit! I''ve already hunted down an (A-) ranked creature with all my might and I refuse to ept that this guy could have done the same! I won''t acknowledge this oue until I''ve seen every single one of his hunts!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 461 The Top-Ranked Rookies Recording The glorious and heroic scene of Damien fighting against the (A-) ranked creature, the Thunder Chimp, yed on the enormous holographic screen. Yet, no one watched as everyone''s attention was on the young man in the middle of the stage, seemingly unhappy about something despite a phenomenal top-two finish. "P-Please, calm down, Competitor Martinez. Once your recording finishes, we will y Competitor Crowley''s recording. Please sit down for now and wait for a while." "No! y it right now! What good is my recording if it''s only second ce?! Stop ying it and show Crowley''s, do you hear me?!" As Damien was already grabbing Bart''s suit cor, the arena staff had to intervene. And of course, City Lord s, who was utterly displeased with the chaos Damien caused, also stepped in. "Damien Martinez. Even your father wouldn''t dare cause such trouble at an event under my name. I understand you''re frustrated with the results, but is there really a need to create such amotion? After all, you''re all just rookies, and if this is your attitude as a rookie, perhaps I should file a report with the World Adventurer Association to have your license revoked. What do you think?" Hearing the city lord''s calm yet cold words, Damien broke out in a cold sweat, and every bit of his sanity instantly returned. He didn''t expect that the city lord himself would be watching the tournament. Had he known, he would''veined in a more orderly manner. "I-I apologize, City Lord s. I assure you this won''t happen again. I shall wait for Crowley''s recording." "Hmph! Now you''re taking back your words? If you''re so confident that your achievement is unbeatable, there''s no need to watch it. y Crowley''s recording!" Naturally, since the city lord had already given the order, the event staff wouldn''t dare contradict him. They promptly stopped ying Damien''s recording and switched to Shye''s. Additionally, they yed the edited version that included all of his high-ranked kills, with not a single one omitted. Damien was naturally distressed at the moment. However, he at least wanted to see how his (A-) ranked creature kill along with two (B) ranked ones were not enough to win first ce. "A-And now, Valenzia Arena proudly presents this year''s rookie champion, Shye Crowley, with a total of 1,130 points umted!" Promptly after Bart''s introduction, Shye''s recording was yed. It started with Shye walking around with a bored expression. Shortly after, he spotted his first (B-) ranked target and immediately dashed toward the monstrous creature with a rather scary and focused gaze. Then, without any change in reaction, he shed the (B-) ranked creature''s head clean off, not even allowing it to notice that it had already been decapitated. Just from this one hunt, Damien''s heart raced in fear and nervousness. He couldn''t have possibly done something like that. However, he can''t back down now, not after themotion he caused that prompted even the city lord toe out. Unfortunately, reality has always been harsh. It wasn''t just the (B-) ranked creatures who suffered such a fate. Even the (B) ranked creatures, who they struggled to defeat with all they had, were all killed by Shye in one shot. His adversary killed seven of such creatures with unsettling ease. With that alone, Damien''s (A-) ranked creature kill, worth a hundred points, was already surpassed. "No¡­There''s no way Crowley is already this strong¡­Yes, he must''ve obtained some kind of item from that damned Colzen Academy dean¡­otherwise, he wouldn''t be¡­It''s just impossible¡­" Damien felt his sanity leaving him once more just from the (B) ranked creature kills. Those were just appetizers, though, as shortly after, the scene yed where he faced an (A-)-ranked Gryphon¡ªan apex (A-)-ranked creature with the head, talons, and wings of an eagle, and the body and tail of a lion. The creature''s strength and speed were horrifying and it would probably be able to instantly kill any other rookie had they dared to fight one.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Yet, Shye was fighting toe-to-toe with such a creature, masterfully dodging its lethal talons every time it swooped down while whittling down its mana and stamina using des of despair. After a while, the Gryphon seemingly started to slow down, however, it was as relentless as ever in terms of aggression. It was as though it would never acknowledge that a human could pose a danger to it. Unfortunately, the reality was, that Shye was indeed a threat to it. With a single swoop that was slower than usual, Shye managed to mount the creature by stabbing one of his greatswords deep into its back. He then repeatedly stabbed at the root of the Gryphon''s wings, causing it to screech in agony. Once the wings were loose enough, Shye returned both greatswords to the system''s inventory, grabbing both of the flying creature''s wings. Then, with one forceful motion, Shye pulled on both wings and fiercely kicked both of his legs downwards, violently ripping apart the Gryphon''s wings and causing it to crash violently towards the ground. As for Shye, he gracefullynded on the creature''s lifeless corpse, exuding an air of extreme coolness as the wind tousled his ash-colored hair. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 150,870 points!] "S-S-Shye Crowley ruthlessly rips the Gryphon''s wings apart!! How many people could dare im that they could do the same as a rookie?!" Bart''s exuberant voice echoed across the arena, prompting the crowd to cheer wildly at Shye''s violent yet graceful hunt. At this point, Damien had already resigned himself to the situation, consoling himself with the thought that he too had managed to kill an (A-) ranked creature. He reasoned that Shye was simply a bit quicker in ying other creatures, which led to his defeat. The creature he killed was one of the weakest amongst the (A-) rank, though. Moreover, it appeared that Damien had already overlooked the fact that his ability to do so was only possible because of the armor sets and weapons provided by his family. He hadn''t even had any business fighting (B) ranked creatures if not for that support. Looking around, Bart smiled. It appeared that the crowd believed that this was already the highlight of the recording. Even Damien thought so. *ROAR!* However, they soon discovered how wrong they were as the next recording began ying, featuring a resounding draconic roar that instantly drew everyone''s attention back to the recording. Chapter 462 Roar Of Triumph "A-AAAHHH!!" Horrified screams reverberated from different parts of the Valenzia Arena. The holographic screen was truly enormous, hence, the mundane folks and the lower-ranked visiting adventurers couldn''t help but scream in utter horror upon seeing the Ember Wyvern in its full glory and hearing its majestic yet terrifying roar. The angle of the recording made it seem like the Ember Wyvern was going toe out of the screen and wreak havoc upon the arena. Fortunately, when the scene shifted to Shye''s determined face, his heroic expression dispelled the fear that had gripped the hearts of the crowd¡ªa realization dawning upon them. ''The young man in the holographic screen valiantly faced off against such a horrifying monstrous creature and still lived to tell the tale!'' Not only that but since Shye was here and the recording became one of the highlights of thepetition''s presentation day, then it could only mean one thing. ''Shye Crowley yed this monstrosity alone!'' "F*ck¡­is this Crowley for real?" "Heh, it seemed like I never had a chance in the first ce." "Sh*t! Sh*t! The gap is this huge?!" Witnessing the horrifying yet exciting scene yed on the holographic screen, Verson, Erwin, and Jamal couldn''t help but voice out their frustrations in utter disbelief. The Gryphon would''ve already ripped them to pieces with or without the armor sets and weapons provided by their families. Yet, that horrifying monster wasn''t even Shye Crowley''s best hunt. Even Jamal''spetitive heart partly gave up after realizing the disparity between him and Shye. If the guy was younger than him but was already this strong, then he would have no hope of ever catching up. Meanwhile, Damien was losing his mind. He cannot ept that someone in the region was more talented than he was. He even received training from adamantite-ranked adventurers from the other, more prominent regions, hence, he simply couldn''t believe that Shye was growing at a rate far faster than his. The bastard didn''t even have a solid background. If this wasn''t his rival being more talented than he was, then what else could it be? Why, the system, of course! Unfortunately, Damien would never know this, and he was bound to fall into a spiral of depression should he continue to challenge Shye as it was simply impossible for someone of his ability to defeat him. Well, Shye never took the initiative to bully anyone, however, he also never hesitated to ruthlessly destroy those who dared oppose him. After all, he had much grander problems to worry about, and he couldn''t let himself be held back by such idiots. ¡­A few minutester, the scene where the Ember Wyvern forcefully crashed onto a rocky pir to avoid its eyes being stabbed by Shye, yed, eliciting gasps of regret from the crowd. "Ahh! He was so close! If only that attacknded!" "I can''t believe high-ranked creatures are so smart!" "Argh! That would''ve been huge if he blinded that damned creature''s right eye!" Before they even realized it, everyone was already immersed in the recording. It was as though they were there with Shye. A few momentster, when Shye emerged from the clouds of dust brought about by the violent crash, the crowd cheered. However, their happiness didn''tst long as the next moment, they noticed the wyvern''s annoying hit-and-run actions. "W-What? Despicable! Shouldn''t it fight Crowley head-on since it''s a prideful Draconian-type creature?!" "Hmpph! Perhaps this wyvern is scared of Crowley!" Amusingly, the editor chose to skip the dull patience battle in the recording and jumped straight to the part where the Ember Wyvern, appearing slightly furious and impatient, attacked Shye. This edit made it seem as though the wyvern was provoked into a rage by the crowd''sments. Due to the twists and turns of the battle, the audience''s feelings were on a roller coaster ride, rising in happiness the first moment while plummeting in nervousness the next. Most of them were on the edge of their seats especially when the Ember Wyvern transitioned smoothly from defense to attack, managing to grab Shye by his waist. "C-Crowley!!" "You idiot! Stop yelling! Isn''t the actual person right there on the stage?!" "O-Oh, right¡­" As Shye''s bones cracked under the pressure of the wyvern''s talons, even Damien almost celebrated in glee, forgetting the fact that it was a mere recording. Soon after, however, the crowd was puzzled when the wyvern abruptly released Shye, as if he were something repulsive it wanted to avoid touching. They didn''t know exactly what, but they were sure that Shye did something. Unfortunately, the audience didn''t have the luxury of thinking about it as Shye climbed the wyvern''s body using his greatswords, finally managing to destroy its eyes with one violent stab. Watching the enormous draconian crash to the ground, the people were extremely pleased, cheering their hearts out at the marvelous sight. Naturally, Damien shared no sentiments with the crowd as he wished for nothing more than Shye''s demise. The chances of such a thing happening were bleak, though, as the holographic screen showed Shye majestically standing atop the copsed wyvern, a pair of rotten mana wings emerging on his back. Soon after, he ascended to the skies like a dragon before descending on the dragon''s skull like a cataclysm, bathing in his own mes. His fireball spell obliterated not only the enormous creature''s brain but also all chances of the wyvern surviving the attack. "UOHHH!! CROWLEYY!!" The crowd cheered in unison. However, before they could even recover from their overexcited hearts, another draconic roar echoed across the arena from the holographic screen. Realizing that it was from Shye, who roared his heart out after a mind-boggling victory, the crowd cheered even louder. At that moment, Shye truly looked like a young hero.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om [Congrattions! You''ve earned 200,000 points!] ''Nice! Hahahahaha! I knew it! That roar in the end would do the job!'' Shye didn''t show even the tiniest bit of happiness on his face, though, making it appear as though such a feat was of little importance to him, further impressing not only the crowd but also the high-ranked adventurers who came to watch. Chapter 463 A Step Closer "P-P-Pardon my words but HOLY F*CK! WITH UNMATCHED FEROCITY, SHYE CROWLEY TAKES DOWN THE EMBER WYVERN!! WHO?! WHO ELSE COULD HAVE DONE THE SAME AT HIS AGE?! WE''RE WITNESSING VALENZIA HISTORY IN THE MAKING!!" Bart''s exuberant voice once again reverberated across the arena, sending chills down the crowd''s spine and prompting them to cheer even wilder. Meanwhile, back at s'' office, a certain middle-aged man had a wide smile on his face. "Hahaha! I hit the damned jackpot!" Guild Master Soaring Raven eximed in excitement. Since City Lord s had no choice but to make an appearance due to the chaos caused by the spoiled brat Damien, Soaring Raven was currently alone in his office, watching the proceedings with an expression of sheer delight. There was no one here but him so he didn''t need to put on airs. He was genuinely happy to have obtained Shye in the past, however, he didn''t expect him to grow this fast. Based on thebat prowess he disyed, Shye was almost already at the level of an adamantite-ranked adventurer in terms of strength.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om After all, only the elites amongst the ranks of Mithrils could hope to stand face-to-face with an Ember Wyvern ande out alive. ''If this guy keeps growing at such an explosive rate, Valenzia will not only have a hero but possibly one of the strongest heroes in the history of Adthiopia.'' *** "Now then, Damien Martinez, do you still have any doubts about thepetition''s integrity?" City Lord s asked with an intimidating stern face, making the defeated youngster inwardly shiver in fear. "N-No, City Lord s. I fully ept my defeat¡­" Damien replied in utter depression. He lost again. However, his heart seemed to take this loss better. ''I may have lost again today, Crowley, but I will never stoping for you until I personally step on your defeated face!'' He shall acknowledge that he was inferior, for now, and he will never ever take Shye lightly again. However, it didn''t mean that he would give up. On the contrary, he was willing to sacrifice everything, even his pride, to defeat the man who took everything away from him. ''One day¡­'' ¡­Since the conclusion of the event has been set, the official awarding ceremony immediately began soon after¡ªon an exuberant night, under the arena''s and the two moon''s bright lights. "...And now, our king of rookies, the young wyvern yer, please give it up for Shye Crowley!" Basking in the glorious cheers of the crowd, Shye smiled while waving his hands with a wide smile on his face. Beside him, the second-ranked Damien had a cold yet serene expression on his face, as though everything that was happening had nothing to do with him. Shye naturally noticed the guy''s suppressed anger and the mental maturity he was going through. ''Hmmph, as long as he doesn''ty his filthy hands and endanger the people I love, I shall wee his idiotic challenge every time.'' "Now then, the arena staff shall hand the rewards over to our top three winners." After Bart''s short announcement, three arena staff members¡ªeach holding a box of differing sizes¡ªwalked up the stage, stopping in front of Jamal, Damien, and Shye. Soon after, the first arena staff holding a modest-sized box stepped forward and handed Jamal''s rewards over. "Competitor Jamal will receive one peak-grade body enhancement tonic, one peak-grade mana enhancement tonic, one peak-grade skill mastery tonic, one rare-tier skill of his choice to be handed to himter, and a spatial pouch containing 1,500 gold coins," Bart announced, eliciting whistles and apuse from the crowd. Just the third-ce rewards already induced one''s envy. Verson, Erwin, and the audience could only imagine what Damien and Shye would receive. Naturally, the two who didn''t receive any rewards were aware that a small gap between them and Jamal would develop, and they would have to work way harder than him to close it. Unfortunately, outworking someone with an intenselypetitive spirit like Jamal was next to impossible. Thus, their seemingly minor decision to rest a few hours earlier became the turning point, condemning them to forevernguish in Jamal''s shadow. A great life lesson about always giving a hundred percent effort in everything one does. Sadly for the two, they would never be able to turn back time, and the consequences of their decision were already irreversible. Jamal''s small advantages would forever umte until the three of them couldn''t be mentioned in the same sentence as him anymore. ¡­After Jamal received his gift with a grateful bow, the arena staff holding Damien''s rewards stepped forth, handing the also modest-sized but slightlyrger box in his hands to the second cer. As was customary, Bart then exined to the crowd the rewards Damien had received: two bottles of peak-grade body enhancement tonic, two bottles of peak-grade mana enhancement tonic, two bottles of peak-grade skill mastery tonic, a unique-tier skill of his choice, and a spatial pouch containing 2,500 gold coins. Despite his hidden sour mood, Damien received the gift with a grateful smile, reverting to his cold demeanor promptly after. Naturally, Shye was already daydreaming about the rewards he would receive. After all, if the second-ce rewards were already so desirable, then his rewards must be envy-inducing. And indeed it was, as the box he received contained five of each of the three types of tonics awarded to the previous twopetitors, a spatial pouch with 5,000 gold coins, an epic-tier skill, an emergency escape talisman, and a rising star badge, signifying that he would be one of the region''s future pirs. After the winners received their rewards, Bart ended thepetition with a few closing remarks. "Thank you all for attending the presentation day of the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition. I hope everyone enjoyed the event and will continue to support the development of our region''s future pirs, helping them grow into fine adventurers who will elevate our region to new heights. Once again, this is your host, Bart, signing off. See you next year!" ''Phew¡­that''s two out of three done. Now I just need to finish the special quest toplete the system''s mandatory quest.'' Chapter 464 Recruitment Chaos As the majestic morning sun assumed its heavenly throne, its warm golden rays illuminated thends beneath, gently touching a certain room in Valenzia City. Waking up after a restful night''s sleep, Shye stared at the ceiling for a few moments, reminiscing about the triumphant moment he roared in victory after ying the Ember Wyvern. He knew it would be cool as f*ck, but he never expected it to be that cool when viewed from the perspective of the automatic recording crystal. It was a damned movie! And he was the star. Feeling energy coursing through his body, Shye jumped out of bed, heading straight towards the bathroom to take a quick bath before donning his adventurer equipment and eating a quick yet hearty breakfast at the inn''s dining hall. He then left the inn and headed towards the guild headquarters, arriving in front of the headquarters'' entrance a few minutester. As expected, his guildmates, who were chilling outside the headquarters, enthusiastically looked his way. "Oh? Look who it is, the king of rookies! Great job, Crowley!" "Hahahaha! Young wyvern yer, it''s an honor to be in your presence!" "How about we hunt together sometime, Crowley?" Shye knew that earning the title of the strongest rookie in the entire region would elevate his status within the guild. However, he hadn''t anticipated his guildmates treating him with such warmth and admiration. ''Talent and actual capabilities are truly everything for adventurers, huh?'' Shye mused as he smiled warmly at them. He was surprised to find that even a few snobby Mithrils now greeted him. Well, Shye understood that he needed to demonstrate his true abilities to them first. Hence, he didn''t hold it against the snobby ones, as he believed that respect is earned, not given. After all, he already expected that high-ranked adventurers would have a certain air of aloofness around them as they''ve already proven themselves to be better than most. Having them greet him first was, in itself, a glorious badge of honor. Naturally, though, none of them expected Shye to ept their party offers as most of them, even those who didn''t watch, already got wind that he yed an Ember Wyvern alone. Such talented and crazy individuals were better left alone. Furthermore, most of them wouldn''t dare embark on a quest with Shye, convinced that he would tackle missions far above his adventurer rank¡ªquests that would undoubtedly be fatal for the faint-hearted and overconfident adventurers. Thus, they were merely inviting him as a greeting. ¡­Upon entering the guild headquarters, more guildsmen greeted him¡ªa few veterans even daring to start a conversation with him, asking if his division was still recruiting. Their questions naturally brought a smile to Shye''s face. He didn''t know how many members they currently had but he was sure that they were far from reaching the one-hundred-member limit of one-star divisions. Hence, he happily used his recent victory to his advantage and did a bit of advertising, encouraging his guildmates to join his division. And of course, it was effective as heck as shortly after, more than fifty people sprinted towards their secluded division lounge to apply.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om Surprisingly, there were even a few mithril-ranked adventurers interested in applying, though they opted to maintain their dignity by walking calmly to the lounge instead of sprinting towards it. Shye watched them for a few moments, smiling, before heading for the lounge himself. Naturally, he needed to see the division''s progress for himself. What he didn''t expect was that there would already be hundreds of people waiting in a long queue. Sprinting towards the lounge''s entrance, even Shye felt overwhelmed upon seeing the chaotic situation. His members were panicking, the overly eager applicants wereining after getting rejected, and those who were waiting in the queue looked impatient as they waited for their turn. The recruitment was in utter chaos. Well, it was partly his fault for not predicting the influx of applicants after the Rookie Adventurer Competition. He should have anticipated this oue and appointed more members to division management positions. Only, the problem was, that most of his members preferred to go out andplete quests than sit at the division lounge all day. ''Oh, what if I¡­'' Shye had a sudden epiphany, however, he wasn''t sure if his idea would be legally allowed. Hence, he quickly sprinted towards the quest counter and asked one of the receptionists if he could implement his n. "Hello, Receptionist Anna. I wanted to ask if it''s possible to hire non-adventurers for management roles in my division." "Ah, yes, Sir Crowley. Actually, that''s what most divisions do since hiring non-adventurers doesn''t count toward the division member limit. However, you must register them as guild contractors first. Also, please note that they''re only permitted to enter the lobby and your division lounge, nothing else." "I see, I''ll take note of that. Thank you, Receptionist Anna." After a short discussion with one of the receptionists, Shye immediately sprinted back to the division lounge. "Everyone, I appreciate your enthusiasm to join my division, and I must admit I was unprepared for the sudden influx of applicants. For that, I apologize. To avoid wasting your time, I will temporarily close recruitment for today. However, I will hand out priority tickets to ensure that today''s queue remains the same tomorrow. I promise a faster application process then. Once again, I apologize for the inefficiency." Hearing such humble words from a rookie who had every reason to be arrogant, the applicants'' annoyed expressions softened. They appreciated that he was not only skilled but also sensible. Thus, they contentedly received the small pieces of scroll paper, each bearing their applicant number and signed by Shye himself, before leaving. Most of them didn''t n oning back, though, as they did not like the interview process which required them to wound themselves before they could even have a chance to be admitted. Their pride as high-ranked adventurers simply didn''t allow them to tolerate such treatment. Of course, Shye knew that most of them wouldn''te back, however, he believed that it was better that way. After all, he was looking for trustworthy subordinates, and if they couldn''t even handle a bit of inconvenience, then they would be nowhere near the word worthy. Once all the applicants had left, Shye promptly instructed a few of his members, including his temporary recruitment officer, to apany him in hiring non-adventurers. Chapter 465 Division Rewards System ''Phew¡­Good thing I have a few subordinates with considerable background¡­'' Shye thought it would be easy to hire mundane folks who were roaming the streets of Valenzia City. However, It turned out they were all already employed and could only stay within the city because of their management jobs in various divisions of various guilds. If not for his subordinates knowing where to recruit such people, he would have wasted a lot of time just gathering information.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Luckily, they''ve managed to recruit quite a lot. Shye even hired a few extras in case he needed them to transition to different management positions. The sries anticipated by non-adventurers were notably lower than those expected by adventurers. Therefore, it was cost-efficient to hire them, as they were more skilled at such mundane jobs. While walking back to the guild headquarters with at least eight non-adventurer personnel in tow, Shye inwardly recounted the report provided by his subordinate. It seemed that while he was out hunting during thepetition, a total of fifteen new members had joined, bringing their numbers up to thirty-five. As a result, his division now has twenty-five emerald-ranked adventurers (including Shye) and ten diamond-ranked ones. Although there were currently no mithril-ranked members, there were a few among the applicants. ''I hope at least a few returns tomorrow¡­'' Arriving at the guild headquarters, Shye immediately registered his new personnel as guild contractors, assigning them to different positions shortly after. Four individuals were tasked with managing recruitment, while two were designated to document what Shye termed as "division contribution points" for each member. The remaining two were then assigned to oversee the rewards exchange room, where division members could use their division contribution points in exchange for various rewards. Naturally, the initial batch of avable rewards would be sponsored by Shye, however, the next ones would be bought using the members'' harvests during their quests. Since the division rewards system had to be sustainable, the members naturally had to contribute something to the division to earn division contribution points. There are two ways for them to earn: First, two percent of their guild contribution point earnings from every questpletion would be automatically converted into division contribution points. And second, they could exchange their material harvests for division contribution points. Although the exchange rate would slightly favor the division and not the member for sustainability purposes, Shye would make it up to them by offering redeemable items that would be hard to purchase with money alone in the rewards exchange room. Despite the initial impression that members would benefit more by selling their materials to the material shops, they would actually not. Why? Because they wouldn''t be able to purchase the items in the division''s rewards exchange room using silver coins and gold coins. Division contribution points would be the only epted currency. Sure, the members could opt to simply use their money to purchase items in the prominent shops within the city. However, they would lose the chance to obtain the rare items Shye would offer them. For starters, one of the unique high-grade gemstones he obtained from the auction would be up for exchange. In addition to this, various tonics, potions, and consumables that only someone who had a diamond-tier membership could purchase in Constantine Consumables would be exchangeable using division contribution points. Moreover, high-tier skill books and desirable meido brand equipment that would almost be impossible to obtain without spending a lot of time in a long queue would also be redeemable. And for this, Shye already contacted Meido a few days ago using a long-distancemunication talisman, ordering a huge batch of equipment from her that would be delivered a monthter. With a variety of redeemable hard-to-obtain items, Shye was sure that the members of his division would be willing to sacrifice a few gold coins in exchange for such rewards, ensuring that his division''s rewards system would be sustainable. Heck, if their guildmates learn of the redeemable rewards in their division''s rewards exchange room, they would be rushing to join Shye''s division. This time, however, Shye was prepared. This was the reason why he assigned four people to handle the recruitment of applicants. Even though they would be capped at a hundred members for a while due to being a one-star division, Shye believed in his vision and in his division''s capability to rise to the top. Hence, he prepared more personnel in advance as he didn''t want to encounter such chaos again. After all, if they wanted to st through the ranks, he had to think big and act big. If he pinched pennies and adopted a survival mindset, they would never reach the top. They should approach things aggressively since there was no need for him to save money. He was rich as f*ck anyway. Especially after earning another 1,850 gold coins from betting on himself in the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition Everything appeared to be going smoothly for Shye and his division, however, none of it would be possible if hecked the two things subordinates were looking for the most: talent and money. The first one ensured that members would have a strong and dependable leader, capable ofpeting with other division leaders in terms of strength, intelligence, and charisma, while the second one allowed the subordinates themselves to benefit from following such a leader. Furthermore, without the system and his memberships and partnerships with various important shops and individuals, their growth would likely be much slower than Shye anticipated. After all, it would be difficult for them to entice new members to join if the redeemable rewards in the rewards exchange room were asmon as a random pebble in the street. ...As soon as the reward shelf with a specialized mana-locking system arrived, Shye promptly disyed the hard-to-obtain rewards, causing his division members'' eyes to nearly pop out of their sockets¡ªtheir hearts trembling in excitement. Due to disbelief, one dumbstruck member couldn''t help but walk forward and confirm: "D-D-Division Leader Crowley, c-can we really redeem these items as a reward?" "Hmm? Of course. However, I still need to calcte the appropriate division contribution point price for each item, so I advise you all to save up your division contribution points in the meantime." "I-I see, how can we earn division contribution points?" "Oh, right. I haven''t told you all yet. Gather everyone in the lounge''s central area, and I shall exin." Chapter 466 Special Quest Preparation Phase Over the next few days, Shye meticulously calcted the appropriate division contribution point prices for each reward. However, due to the difficulty in urately pricing a few high-quality items, Shye had to ce an "experimental, price may change" note beneath those items'' shelf slots. The division members didn''t darein, though, as they understood that it was indeed difficult to price such items using a newly established division currency. Most of them were grateful for even having a chance to obtain such items. After all, despite their early sesses in reaching Valenzia City, most of them did not have much luck on the big stage and were slowly drowning in the shadows of luckier and more talented adventurers. However, Shye''s rather unique and hard-to-obtain rewards gave them a chance to turn their fates around, hence, most of them suddenly realized that joining Shye''s division early was the best decision they had ever made. By doing so, they had already demonstrated their loyalty and faith in the abilities of the division leader, unlike those who joined only after the division had achieved sess. Based on their assumptions about Shye''s character, formed during the few months they had spent together, the early division members were confident that they would indeed enjoy some minor advantages in the future. Would it be enough to propel them to the highest ranks? They didn''t know. However, they were sure that they would at least surpass what they would have achieved if they joined another division. Who knows? Perhaps one day, as their formidable division leader ascends to the skies like a dragon, they too will soar alongside him, even if only as his winged wyvern subordinates. Such a future would surely be preferable to being mere chickens on the ground, pecking at whatever they could find. Meanwhile, the division leader himself was not present in the division lounge as after stabilizing the situation in the division, Shye focused on himself once more. He recently earned a lot of points and received great rewards from the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition. And since the difficulty of the special quest he had toplete was rather high, Shye had to prepare. First and foremost, he had to assess his current capabilities, and what he could improve to increase his chances of clearing the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon. Lord dungeons, unlike mana dungeons, didn''t have limiters. For example, the number of creatures that could spawn inside a mana dungeon had always been fixed. This was a well-known fact throughout Adthiopia. However, each spawned creature''s strength could vary depending on how much mana a mana dungeon has siphoned from its surroundings. As for lord dungeons, there were no such limiters, meaning that there could be thousands or even tens of thousands of creatures inside.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Moreover, the strength of each creature was unpredictable since it wasn''t determined by the amount of mana absorbed by the dungeon from its surroundings, as lord dungeons do not siphon mana. In simpler terms, lord dungeons were essentially massive and intricate monsterirs built by the monster lords as their headquarters, enabling them to grow their strength efficiently whilemanding an army for their own advantage. Entering such dangerous and unpredictable dungeons alone would be a death sentence for many, perhaps even for Shye. However, backing down wasn''t an option for him. He had to conquer it one way or another. ''For starters¡­my fighting style is suitable for long, drawn-out battles.'' Indeed. Shye had an enormous mana pool and decently high stamina. Moreover, he had [des of Despair], a skill that would whittle down his opponent''s mana and stamina. ''However, I''m severelycking in high-tier burst-type damage skills.'' Ultimately, he had to kill his opponent, and it would be tough to do so if he didn''t have strong skills that could prate a high-ranked monster''s tough skin and cut through its bones. Enhancing the destructive capabilities of [Power sh] using [Boost] charges was simply not enough to cleanly cut off a high-ranked monster''s head anymore. ''I should purchase one from the system then but my points¡­'' Shye was torn. Currently, he has a total of 690,880 points. He would''ve used it to upgrade his attributes if he could as it was the most reliable upgrade he could do. However, his attributes had already reached the attribute upgrade limit of the level three shy Adventurer System. This was the source of his dilemma. He required a million points to advance the system to level four. Nevertheless, it could prove challenging for him to raid an (A-) ranked lord dungeon, potentially teeming with tens of thousands of monstrous creatures, given his current abilities. ''Hmm¡­'' Remembering something, Shye immediately opened the mandatory quest to check the rewards. ''Aih... why am I fretting? I can justplete the quest and immediately upgrade the system using the points rewarded from the mandatory quest!'' With this realization, Shye stopped hesitating whether he should spend points or not, ultimately opting to acquire an [Epic]-tier burst-type warrior skill regardless of its cost. essing the system interface, Shye navigated to the skill shop once more, promptly selecting the [Epic]-tier section and filtering the warrior skills to streamline his search. ''Damn¡­a hundred thousand points minimum for a single skill?'' Shye felt a bit discouraged when he saw the prices of the skills. However, as he remembered that these skills would be invaluable for battles and increasing his chances of conquering the lord dungeon, he stopped hesitating and began the arduous task of reading each skill''s description. After spending a full hour lying on his rented room''s bed, scrolling through the skill descriptions, Shye finally found what he was looking for: a burst-type single-target skill designed solely to annihte the target. === [(Dark) Nightfall Reaper (Epic)] - 190,000 points Description: O'' reaper of the night, please taketh thy adversary''s life¡­swiftly¡­silently¡­ Effects: Increase strength attribute by 200% for one and a half seconds. Increase weapon''s sharpness and toughness by 200% for one and a half seconds. Increase agility attribute by 100% for one and a half seconds. Suppress one''s aura for one second. === [Would you like to purchase the skill [(Dark) Nightfall Reaper (Epic)] for 190,000 points?][Y/N?] [Y] [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill [(Dark) Nightfall Reaper (Epic)]!] The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 467 Ice In His Veins! "Sir Crowley, the receptionist informed me that your skill book reward from the Rookie Adventurer Competition has been delivered!" Hearing his subordinate''s voice, Shye, who was checking the situation in the division lounge onest time before heading out, smiled. He was confident of clearing the dungeon with the help of his newly learned [Epic]-tier warrior skill. However, having another [Epic]-tier skill would surely help a lot. With excitement written all over his face, Shye thanked his subordinate for informing him, tapping the guy on the shoulder before sprinting towards the quest receptionist''s desk.N?v(el)B\\jnn Witnessing his division leader''s actions, the subordinate couldn''t help but chuckle. In the end, Shye was younger than them, and he was bound to act a little goofy from time to time. What made him happy was that his division leader didn''t have any air of pretentiousness around him, not hesitating to show everyone if he was happy, angry, or disappointed. As a result, despite the differences in their skills as adventurers and their ranks within the division, he didn''t feel distant from them. It was like they could approach their division leader and ask for his help anytime they truly needed to. ¡­Upon arriving at the reception desk, Shye imed his [Epic]-tier skill book reward, which he had personally selected from a catalog provided by the event organizers after the closing ceremony. === [Ninth Devastation Ray (Epic)] - 190,000 points Description: A fraction of the ninth devastation incarnate''s power. Effects: Fire a small ray of extremely lethal, ultra-condensed mana with absurd piercing capabilities. Chant: *Seven seconds of gibberish* === ''Heh, with this, my chances of clearing the dungeon should increase significantly!'' Now that his skills were ready, all Shye had to do was prepare some ready-to-eat meals and make sure that his potion reserves would never run out. He hoped that the number of the creatures inside the lord dungeon wouldn''t exceed ten thousand. However, if it did so, what could he do? He had toplete this quest not only for himself but also for his benefactor and his loved ones. With a resolute and eager expression, Shye gave a few reminders to Reginald, heading towards a seafood restaurant where he ordered a lot of ready-made meals and stored them in the system''s inventory shortly after. Then, once done with his meal preparations, Shye quickly headed towards the Constantine Consumables branch in Valenzia, hoarding ny-nine units each of greater health potions, greater mana potions, and full-restoration potions along with twenty units each of various strength, agility, stamina, and vitality enhancing consumables. Furthermore, he acquired thirty units of natural recovery pills, a consumable item designed to reduce his daily sleep requirement from eight hours to six hours every two days. Despite the significant discount from his diamond-tier membership, Shye''s purchases still amounted to an impressive 2,100 gold coins. However, he didn''t care. It was a measly amountpared to what he would obtain in return should he sessfullyplete the mandatory quest. ''Let''s do onest check¡­'' essing the system''s inventory for one final check to ensure he had enough resources for whatever mighte his way, Shye nodded in satisfaction and promptly returned to the guild headquarters to register the special quest under his name. Upon arriving at the guild headquarters, his guildmates greeted him warmly, following him with gazes of admiration as he headed toward the quest board. Naturally, upon seeing him reach his hand out to grab the special quest''s scroll, amotion began. "H-Hey! Look! Crowley''s holding the special quest scroll! Do you think that he¡­" "There''s no doubt about it! He''s brave enough to face an Ember Wyvern alone, so of course he''d dare attempt to clear an (A-) ranked lord dungeon!" "I understand that, but this particr lord dungeon has been around for decades! Who knows how many creatures are inside and how vast it really is?" "Yeah, there''s also the 60-day time limit and the license revocation penalty. Just daring to ept that quest qualifies someone as a madman!" Shye, of course, liked what he was hearing. However, he couldn''t bring himself to smile after remembering the time limit and penalty. Still, he would never cower out as epting andpleting the quest was his only way forward. Bringing the quest scroll to the quest registration desk, Shye handed it over to one of the receptionists, leaving them shocked and a little bit worried. Shye was one of the brightest talents in their guild. If he were to perish or have his license revoked, it would result in a significant loss. For the first time, Anna, a veteran receptionist, didn''t know what to do. Hence, she decided to contact Soaring Raven first to ask for guidance. "Please wait a moment, Sir Crowley." Turning around and entering the receptionist''s quarters, Anna crushed a short-distancemunication talisman. "G-Guild Master Soaring Raven, Shye Crowley wishes to undertake the special quest. Yet, the potential consequences of failure are dire. Should I permit him to pro¨C" "Allow him." "P-Pardon?" "Aihh, little Anna. Didn''t I just tell you to allow him to take on the quest?" "B-But isn''t he the hope of our guild? Should he fail¡­" "Heh, you underestimate that youngster. Don''t worry, he can take care of himself. Register the quest under his name." "I-I understand." *BEEP!* "Sorry for making you wait, Sir Crowley. I have registered the quest under your name. The timer will only begin once you''ve entered the lord dungeon so you don''t have to rush. Please make sure to properly prepare before heading out. I wish you luck." "Thank you, Receptionist Anna." Naturally, an event as wild as this would capture the attention of nearly everyone within the guild headquarters. However, most could only watch in amazement as Shye left the building, whistling a cheerful tune he had learned from Seira. "D-Damn. This guy doesn''t even look nervous!" "Does he not understand the repercussions of failure?!" Unbeknownst to his guildmates, Shye was actually a bit nervous. However, since maintaining this "cheerful facade" was essential to his point-earning scheme, he had to continue the act, at least until he was out of sight. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 5,280 points!] ''Tch, a bit small but that''ll do. I did nothing but pretend anyway.'' Chapter 468 Levels Of Completion There was a special teleportation formation that challengers of the special quest could use to arrive at an area close to the lord dungeon instantly. Shockingly, as Shye materialized at the said teleportation formation, four seemingly stern and aloof guards formally greeted him. It was as if they were instructed to show respect to everyone who entered the sacred area through the teleportation formation, regardless of whether the person was famous or just some random delusional individual. Well, it was somewhat understandable, though, as one would already be worthy of respect just for daring to ept it. After all, it was a quest that would spell one''s doom as an adventurer should one fail toplete it. If they chose to stay alive and escape, their adventurer licenses would be revoked for the reason of damaging a perfect hero candidate trial quest. The World Adventurer Association, ruthless as it may seem, aimed to maintain the quality of Valenzia''s heroes on par with those from other regions. The courage to dare and take on such a difficult quest with severe repercussions of failing was also a part of the hero candidate''s test. After all, if a so-called "hero" didn''t even have the guts to ept a potentially life- or career-ending quest, then how could they be the pirs needed to protect an entire region? The special quest appeared to be just one of three requirements to be a hero candidate. However, it was actually the sole requirement, as only those who could win the Valenzia Rookie Adventurer Competition and earn the highest number of guild contribution points as a first-year rookie would be skilled enough to have a chance toplete the special quest IF they have the guts to even take on the quest, that is. This is why, despite being posted in all guild headquarters in Valenzia, the quest had very few challengers. And since Shye was one of the few madmen who dared try, his courage alone was worthy of respect. ¡­After a rather formal greeting, the guards led Shye towards the dungeon''s entrance where two more guards waited for him. "Shye Crowley, correct? We have been informed of your arrival in advance." "Correct, I''m Shye Crowley, and I want to attempt to clear this dungeon." "Hahaha! I like your courage,d! I can see your potential as a hero. Well then, I shall not dy you any further and exin thepletion requirements."n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om "Completion requirements? I thought that all I needed to do was kill the lord monster and clear the dungeon?" "Ahh, yes, that''s what was written on the surface to scare off the wusses. The region doesn''t need an unreliable hero, after all. However, worry not as there are actually three levels ofpletion." "You can consider yourself to have cleared the dungeon if you achieve any of the three levels." "ying two of the lord monster''s generals would earn a one-starpletion. Killing all four generals would achieve a two-starpletion while defeating all four generals and the lord monster was necessary for a three-starpletion." The chief of the guards stationed at the entrance of the dungeon patiently exined, slightly easing the serious expression on Shye''s face. ''Hoh, so the risk wasn''t as huge as everyone thought¡­'' "I see, thanks for exining, chief. However, may I know the difference between the three levels ofpletion?" "Hmm¡­since you''re serious about being our region''s hero, I exin. After bing a hero candidate, you will still need toplete a series of quests that would be given to you by the World Adventurer Association." "To be exact, if youplete this special quest with a one-starpletion, you will be given three more quests toplete. If you somehow manage to achieve a two-starpletion, then you only need to do two more quests to be officially appointed as one of the region''s seven heroes. Though, you would be the first of the seven should you be sessful in your endeavors." Since the guard chief seemed to have been sidetracked by his own exnation, Shye had to confirm thest level ofpletion. "I see. What about achieving a three-starpletion? I will only be assigned one more quest after that, I assume?" "Oh, right, I apologize for not finishing my exnation. No, you won''t be assigned any more quests. Achieving a three-starpletion, despite the quest''s age restrictions, would already prove your worth as an individual." "Then does that me¨C" "HOWEVER! You will also not be directly appointed as a hero since a hero must be aged twenty-four and above." Hearing the chief''s exnation, Shye was confused. He appreciated the fact that there was no need for him toplete supplementary quests should he somehow achieve a three-starpletion. However, he simply couldn''t understand why a hero had to be twenty-four years old and above. "You''re confused, aren''t you? The reason is that one can''t be called a true hero without a hero crest. However, the crest cannot be engraved on anyone under twenty-four years old because its power is overwhelming and could be fatal for anyone aged twenty-three or younger." "Oh, I see, then what would happen should I manage to achieve a three-starpletion?" "..." For a while, silence ensued as the chief of guards couldn''t help but gaze at Shye''s eyes. "HAHAHAHA! It seems that I was right about you, Shye Crowley! Your eyes¡­You''re truly gunning for a three-starpletion, aren''t you?" "W-Well, yes. It would be far more efficient for me to do it that way as I wouldn''t have toplete supplementary quests from the WAA¡­" "HAHAHAHA! Fine, I shall be cheering for your sess, Crowley. Also, to answer your question, you will be temporarily appointed as a ''champion.'' As for what a champion is, someone from the WAA will exin it to you if youplete the special quest with flying colors." "I see, thank you for your patient exnation, chief." "So, will you be going in now?" "Yes." "Great! Well then, Shye Crowley, best of luck to you!" Chapter 469 Death Incarnate Under the stern yet respectful gazes of the guards, Shye entered the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon. Right after arriving at the dungeon''s mouth, though, he immediately heard harrowing howls and terrifying roars that would surely send chills down an adventurer''s spine. Looking around, Shye noticed that the gray walls were speckled with bits of rotten flesh and bones, yet there wasn''t even a hint of a putrid odor. Naturally, Shye was pleased by this, as maintaining focus is crucial for surviving difficult situations, and a strong, unpleasant smell would undoubtedly hinder concentration. ''At least the ground is normal¡­'' Surveying the terrain was an important part ofbat as slipping or tripping mid-fight would be lethal, especially in a high-level battle where one''s head might be severed or crushed in a single hit. Fortunately, the dungeon''s surface was a regr condensed soil, making it easy for humans like Shye to make nimble maneuvers. However, the dungeon''s pathways, although wide, weren''t as wide as Shye preferred it to be. ''This shall do¡­'' He didn''t know the size of the dungeon''s interior or the locations of the generals and the lord, so he had to minimize resting as much as possible. Consuming one natural recovery pill that would allow him to stay awake for 42 hours without needing sleep, Shye walked deeper at a slightly faster pace than usual, not daring to take it easy at all. After just five minutes, he arrived at a spacious area teeming with strange, gooey green eggs, causing a frown to emerge on Shye''s face. ''I should probably destroy these eggs¡­'' It wouldn''t take him even a minute to do so anyway, better be safe than sorryter. Recing the greatswords in his hands with two elemental staffs, Shye aimed at the eggs and fired spells of various elements, causing great devastation in the area. Momentster, though, Shye felt hair-raising danger from above. Looking up, Shye''s eyes widened. Attached to the rocky ceiling of the area were hundreds of creatures humanoid in shape, however,pared to humans, their rotten yet dried and solid flesh was exposed. Their eyes were that of a bloodthirsty beast and they had sharp ws that allowed them to attach themselves to the ceiling and teeth and fangs that could rip a human apart in mere seconds. "Ghouls!" Shye recognized the creatures as he had once scrolled through them in the adventurer encyclopedia. Ghouls were (B-) ranked creatures with tremendous speed and power, however, they were stupid as heck. Even a single ghoul was enough to tear apart an entire party of ruby-ranked adventurers, but above Shye, there were hundreds of ghouls, creating a spine-chilling scene that almost certainly spelled doom. Shye knew that there was no room for fear, though. If he wanted to survive, then he better work for it! Changing back to Adamance and Mithra, Shye immediately went all out, howling to the skies and summoning his wings.n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om Furthermore, he used all of his [Enhance] self-buff skills to further increase his attributes. Based on his experience, the earlier he used such skills, the more he would get to use them inbat. Armed with confidence, bravery, and overwhelming strength and speed, Shye ferociously flew skywards, courageously facing hundreds of falling ghouls head-on. Unbeknownst to Shye there were a few recording crystals set up in each area of the lord dungeon, allowing someone from the WAA to watch his attempt and make sure that he would not take forbidden pills and tonics. After all, a hero could not look as hideous as a viin. If he used such consumables, he would fail, regardless of whether he achieved any of the three levels ofpletion. Naturally, Shye had no ns of using such items as all he brought were consumables sold from licensed shops like Constantine Consumables. ¡­Dodging the first ghoul''s sharp ws with pinpoint precision, Shye reaped the lives of around seven ghouls who were positioned behind the first one, utterly caught off guard by Shye''s picture-perfect evasion. Only, Shye was now in mid-air and the middle of hundreds of terrifying ws and fangs. ''Rush Stab!'' Focusing on a twitching ghoul corpse on the ground, Shye managed to escape an unfavorable situation and lured over a hundred ghouls to cluster together, positioning himself to annihte them all with a single powerful area-of-effect skill. Switching weapons once more, Shye aimed his ruby-tier elemental staff toward the grouping ghouls. ''Fireball! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' Without hesitation, Shye used all three charges of his [Boost] skill, causing it to go on cooldown. However, in exchange, his simple fireball spell now appeared as though it was an entire small made of mes, enveloping the entire area with its fiery glow. Faced with such a horrifying spell, even the bloodthirsty ghouls felt fear through their sharp survival instincts. Unfortunately, they didn''t have the appropriate attributes to get out of the gigantic fireball''s destructive path on time. It was simply too fast for a spell capable of utter devastation. *BOOM!* As the destructive spell made contact with the bodies of hundreds of ghouls, a massive explosion urred, releasing thick ck smokeced with a putrid, charred odor that quickly permeated the entire area. Soon after, as the smokescreen cleared, a scene unfolded that brought a smile to Shye''s face and left the WAA proctor, watching his attempt through the recording crystals, wide-eyed with astonishment. The multiple hundreds of ghouls were now down to around seventy. Then, before the proctor was able to recover, Shye used one of his newly learned umon skills (from one of the books he looted from the syndicateir), [Half-moon sh Lv.2 (Umon)], to y around twenty more ghouls. The enormous half-moon-shaped sh mark shot forward with unexpected speed and ferocity, slicing the dumbstruck ghouls in half and taking their lives. With only fifty remaining, Shye made quick work of them, gracefully dancing around the battlefield like death incarnate as he ughtered ghouls one after the other, littering the ground with twitching corpses and ck putrid blood. ''C-Crap¡­this kid¡­should I immediately inform my superiors?'' The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 470 An Unexpected Yet Pleasant Surprise Shye, who didn''t know that he was currently being watched, simply wiped the sweat off his forehead as he scanned his eyes over his artwork of ughter with a satisfied smile¡ªlike an artist who just finished creating a masterpiece. Ultimately, though, the proctor decided to observe Shye a little longer before reporting the initial results of his attempt to clear the special quest to his superiors. ¡­Continuing on his journey inside the Abomination Lord Dungeon, Shye''s eyes gleamed in utter delight as he spotted rare crafting materials, herbs, and ingredients left and right. ''Heh¡­hehehehe¡­I can pick all of this up¡­right?'' Indeed, he could. There were no rules regarding the ownership of the treasures inside the dungeon. Furthermore, it was only just that the one who risked his life to enter and obtain the items should be their rightful owner. Thinking of the matter from such a perspective, Shye unhesitatingly harvested everything in his path, believing that most of the items would be great redeemable rewards for his division members. "Pfft¡­Hahahaha! I like this kid¡­" The proctor said,ughing in amusement after witnessing the actions of such a practical challenger. Unfortunately, such "fun" times wouldn''tst long inside a dangerous ce as merely ten minutester, a ck blur suddenly ambushed him from behind a rocky formation with bits of rotten flesh and bones. Shye easily detected the creature''s sneak attack, though, allowing him to dodge its attack with pinpoint precision and deliver a solid roundhouse kick toward the creature''s chest.@@novelbin@@ *CRACK!* Upon contact, the harrowing sound of cracking bones echoed, followed by a blood-curdling howl of agony. ''Appraisal!'' Unfortunately, the creature was already out of sight by the time Shye tried to identify what it was, causing his appraisal skill to hit some random nt growing on the side of the dungeon''s walls. === [Name]: Arcera nt [Tier]: N/A [Rarity]: Umon [Description]: A nt that could be used to create greater stamina pills, though, the quality of the item would depend on the pill master''s skills. Effects: N/A [Close] === What Shye didn''t expect was that a pleasant notification would soon follow after he clicked the [Close] button. [Congrattions! Your system skill: [Appraisal Lv.3], leveled up to >> [Appraisal Lv.4]!] "Oh?" Pleasantly surprised by his new level 4 appraisal skill, Shye was eager to test its capabilities. Unfortunately, though, there was nothing but random nts around. He tried using the skill again on the Arcera nt, however, nothing changed as it seemed that there was truly nothing else to say about the nt. ''Hmmm, I should look for some creatures¡­'' Excited to try out his newly leveled-up [Appraisal] skill, Shye advanced once more, finally reaching a descending pathway that appeared to lead to the next floor of the Abomination Lord Dungeon. ''That''s it for the first floor?'' Shye was a little disappointed. He was prepared to enter an absolute hellhole, yet, the challenge seemed to be way lesser than what he expected. Again, if someone heard his thoughts, they would probably go crazy in a mix of shock, anger, and disbelief. An area infested with multiple hundreds of (B-) ranked creatures was disappointing? Even a full party of emerald-ranked and diamond-ranked adventurers might not make it out alive, yet, there he wasining about not having an appraisal target. ¡­After walking for around ten minutes, he arrived at the second floor of the dungeon. Unfortunately, there were still no creatures around, causing a frown to emerge on his face. ''What the heck? Wasn''t this dungeon supposed to have tens of thousands of creatures?'' Shye couldn''t help but think something was wrong. ''Hmm... Either the WAA periodically reduces the number of creatures inside, or they''re clustered inrge groups somewhere in the dungeon...'' Believing that thetter was the more likely reason out of the two, Shye increased his vignce. He didn''t have to wipe out all of the monsters inside the dungeon as he only needed to kill the four generals and the lord monster. However, he wouldn''t find them by simply walking through random pathways. He had to take his chances and enter certain rooms or vast areas, otherwise, he would probably have difficulties locating the targets he was searching for. Only, the dungeon was so huge that Shye had to walk for hours before encountering a change of scenery. One such scenery was a vast open space area with an enormous azure-glowing sinkhole in the middle. Along the sides of the area were roughly constructed spiral staircases descending and leading to more than fifty possible pathways. "F*CK!" Upon discovering such a nightmarish area that would undoubtedly make locating the generals and the lord far more difficult, Shye couldn''t help but curse. It seemed that the dungeon was wayrger than he anticipated. ''I need a n¡­I can''t just enter and explore each pathway like an idiot¡­'' Indeed. If he did such a stupid thing, even with a six-month time limit, he would still fail the quest. Not only would he run out of strength and resources, but also of patience. ''There should be some clues¡­let''s stop for a while and think¡­'' Based on his experience with a mana dungeon, the boss was located on the lowermost floor of the dungeon, somewhere close to the core. However, lord dungeons had no such thing as a "core". ''Hmm¡­how do the monsters inside it live, then? No matter how hideous they looked, they had to eat, no? If so, then the dungeon''s core must be¡­a storage room with lots of food!'' Judging by the pieces of rotting flesh and bones scattered throughout the dungeon pathways, the creatures inside are carnivorous. This suggests that some of them venture out to hunt and that the WAA likely permits these hunts. ''There should be multiple exits and as long as I locate one of the exits used by the monsters to hunt, I should be able to tail a monster towards the food storage room¡­'' Now with a n in mind, Shye descended the roughly made staircase and entered a random pathway located near the bottom. Finally, after about three hours of miraculously wandering without encountering a single creature, Shye felt cold winds brushing against his skin. ''An exit!'' Chapter 473 Twelve Thousand "You gotta be joking..." After painstakingly using most of his area-of-effect skills to wipe out all the monsters and quickly escape, in the end, he still wasn''t able to defeat all of them fast enough. As a result, the monstrous creatures'' reinforcement had arrived before he could escape, ramping up the number of his enemies to 12,000. Shye wasn''t tired or anything, and he felt like he could go fight these creatures for hours should he have to. It was just that their numbers were too overwhelming and he might not notice the sneaky approach of some creatures which might ultimately result in his death. ''The hell am I thinking?! Just focus! As long as I focus, I''ll have a chance!'' With a resolute face, Shye faced the enormous horde of undead monsters, utterly impressing the two agents who were watching from the observation office. "What a youngster..." "Hahahaha! Should this kid make it past this challenge, then Valenzia would finally have someone to rely on! A true hero!" ¡­Unfortunately, most of Shye''s mage skills were on cooldown, hence, he had to engage the monstrous creatures using his greatswords. It was a huge risk doing so as there were simply too many enemies. However, what could he do? He had to live. Finally, the creatures once again charged at him, eager to rip him apart for daring to intrude on their territory. The (C) ranked zombie warriors took the lead, followed by the ghouls, then the gargoyles and vampires. It was an orderly attack despite the seemingly chaotic situation. Shye didn''t have time to notice, though, as his eyes were glued to the frontmost monstrous creature. ''Phew¡­one kill at a time¡­'' After taking one quick deep breath, Shye faced the iing tide, adopting a defensive approach. Then, a few momentster, the zombie warriors arrived within the range of his greatswords. *SPURT!* Almost instantly, a green, rotting head hurtled through the air, sttering pungent ck blood everywhere as it rolled on the ground a few meters away from Shye''s feet. It didn''t end there, though, as just shortly after, several more heads flew through the air, creating a scene of utter carnage as headless bodies fell in droves, twitching lifelessly on the ground. The zombies brandished the random weapons in their hands as they arrived within striking distance. However, no matter how hard they tried, none of their attacks reached Shye, as their lives had already been snuffed out before they even noticed. Still, there were a lot of zombie warriors. Although Shye had a fairly high stamina attribute and was currently nowhere near the word exhausted, he would easily burn through his stamina reserves should the pace of the battle remain the same. Moreover, he was currently only battling the (C) ranked Zombie Warriors, hence, once the ghouls and the other higher-ranked creatures managed to find some space to attack, things were bound to get harder. The situation looked bleak, yet, there wasn''t a hint of fear or despair in Shye''s face, only resolute focus. With each violent sh of his greatswords, two monstrous creatures lose their lives, turning into mere twitching corpses. Slowly but surely, the numbers of his enemies dwindled. Unbeknownst to Shye, it wasn''t only the WAA agents who were watching him, as behind the rows of vampires stood a muscr creature with the head of a direwolf and the body of a human. Its body was protected by tough ck fur, and its main weapon was its horrifyingly sharp ws. Shye had already encountered the creature, however, he didn''t manage to get a clear glimpse of its appearance as it disappeared immediately after suffering from a solid kick. The creature seemed to be observing Shye with wariness as he ughtered droves of zombie warriors, though it didn''t seem like it was nning to attack Shye any time soon. After an entire hour of fighting, Shye almost wiped out the entire Zombie Warrior Army, leaving the WAA agents utterly dumbstruck. The zombies numbered around five thousand, yet, now, only around five hundred remained. "S-Sir Gavin, should we report this to¡­" "Logan! Calm down! I know he''s exceptional. However, a hero needs to be not only strong but also smart. Considering his current situation, I have some doubts about his intelligence... Well, he is a warrior-ss adventurer, so this is to be expected. If he can get through this ordeal, we can report his remarkable progress to the regional head director." Logan knew that Shye was simply unlucky to have found himself in such a dangerous situation, and he was by no means stupid. Continue your saga on empire However, he didn''t dare cover for Shye since proctors must remain impartial, and even though he would only be maintaining fairness by helping her, it would still cast doubt on his integrity. Hence, it was better for him to just hope that Shye made it out of the scary situation alive. Should he manage to do so and obtain the approval of the board of directors, then his chances of being Valenzia''s first hero would increase significantly regardless of what level ofpletion he achieved. Both Logan and Gavin were originally from Valenzia, thus, they hoped for their region to thrive. Initially, it seemed that it would take five to ten more years before heroes emerged from the region, and the WAA Valenzia Development Department couldn''t help but worry. Monster horde attacks are bing more frequent and if Valenzia couldn''t develop fast enough, they might not be able to defend themselves.@@novelbin@@ Shye''s sudden appearance was truly a pleasant surprise to the two proctors. Things weren''t looking so bright for him, though, as he was currently sweating moderately despite facing only the first and weakest army. Next, Shye had to fight against an entire horde of ghouls. Luckily, most of his mage skills were now off cooldown. With a steadfast resolute face, Shye swapped weapons once more, swiftly aiming his elemental staffs toward the ghouls before firing a barrage of fire and ice. "L-L-LOGAN!! YOU DIDN''T TELL ME THIS GUY ALREADY HAD A SUBCLASS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE! FURTHERMORE, H-HE DIDN''T CHANT A SINGLE SYLLABLE, YET, HE WAS ABLE TO FIRE SPELLS! CARE TO EXPLAIN?!" "Y-yes, Sir Gavin. Upon reviewing his records, we found he was well-known in the region for being born with the [Chantless Casting] talent¡ªthe same talent possessed by Frozen End, one of Valenzia''s titled adventurers." "T-Then what are you waiting for, you idiot?! Report this to the head director immediately! In the meantime, I shall watch how things turn out." Chapter 474 Traits "What''s happening?! Did the kid already die?!" "S-Sir Belford." "Gavin! What happened to the kid?! Is he dead already?!" "N-No, sir Belford. In fact, the young challenger named Shye Crowley is doing great. He''s currently trapped in the storage room fighting against what was originally more than 12,000 undead creatures, now th¨C" "The creatures have killed the kid, is that what happened?!" "S-SIR BELFORD!! PLEASE STOP SAYING SUCH OMINOUS THINGS!" Hearing Department Head Director Belford Grant''s constant pessimistic remarks, Logan, a senior officer, forgot his rank and lost control of his emotions, shouting at the highest-ranking person in his department. "A-Ahh¡­p-please forgive me, s-sir Belford¡­'' "Hmm... No worries, I got lost in my pessimistic trance again. Good job stopping me, Senior Officer Logan. Now then, what happened to the kid? Is he de¨C...w-winning?" "Y-Yes, Sir Belford. Currently, all five thousand zombie warriors have been wiped out along with 1,500 ghouls. Now, only around 6,000 monstrous creatures remain. However¡­" "The kid''s already dying, isn''t he?!" "SIR!!" The two officers eximed in unison. "A-Apologies. Continue." "P-Please look at the screen instead. The kid appears to have prepared thoroughly for the worst and has plenty of consumables, but the monstrous creatures rarely give him a moment to breathe, making it difficult for him even to use them!" "I see¡­yet, thisd''s eyes¡­there''s not a hint of despair in them¡­HAHAHAHAHA! Indeed, A hero finally appeared in Valenzia!" ...Facing six thousand creatures and an additional two thousand familiars summoned by the ck Gargoyles, Shye panted in exhaustion, cursing inwardly. ''F*ck! I knew twelve-thousand was too much¡­but if I could only take consumables in peace¡­'' Shye tried his hardest, yet, the creatures and his luck only allowed him to take two stamina pills and one greater health potion. The attacks of the monsters were somewhat manageable, however, the problem was that his stamina wouldn''t hold up until the end. He needed to find a reliable way to take some stamina pills, fast! Unfortunately, things wouldn''t always go one''s way, and even with his high intelligence, he simply couldn''t think with hundreds of ghouls attacking him almost simultaneously. *HOWL!* Using his [Fallen] skills for the third time, Shye pped his wings, swiftly retrieving one stamina pill from the inventory and ingesting it. This was the only moment he was sure he could use consumables. There was only enough time for him to consume one item, though, as the ghouls were also adept at hunting down flying targets. In just a split second, most of them were already climbing the rocky walls of the storage room, pouncing toward him right after he ingested the stamina pill. *SPURT!* Heads flew as Shye continuously shed his greatswords, not noticing that the irises of his eyes were already turning red due to being exposed to excessive carnage. Even his nose was already numb to the scent of ck putrid blood. ''Come then! I''ll kill all who dare move forward! Die! Die! Die!'' With replenished stamina, Shye bravely fought all who attacked him. It didn''t matter whether the attacker was a ghoul, a familiar, a ck gargoyle, or a vampire. Shye ughtered all of them with eerily focused eyes. It was as if all that mattered to him right now was to kill his enemies. Shortly after, a notification appeared in front of him, snapping him out of his dangerous trance. [Congrattions! You''ve unlocked [Traits]!] [Congrattions! You''ve gained the trait: [Unfazed Heart]!] [Congrattions! You''ve gained the trait: [Undead yer]!]@@novelbin@@ Shye had no time to check the [Traits] window, though, as he was still under attack from thousands of monstrous creatures. Yet, he felt that somehow, it was easier for him to kill the undead. Despite there being around hundreds attacking him at the same time, Shye was now having an easier time reacting to their attacks, allowing him to dodge them with unmatched precision. In addition to this, he found that his attacks somehow cut through the undead way easier now, allowing him to keep his attackspact. As a result, he didn''t have to spend as much stamina. "S-S-Sir Belford¡­ Can''t we make an exception this time? This kid is just too talented for us to let this... this nonsense go on!" "I-I agree, Sir Belford! This youngster is the finest Valenzia has ever produced, and I assure you, he just found himself in this unfortunate situation! It wasn''t his fault at all!" Hearing the words of his underlings, Belford was tempted to take action. Read exclusive adventures at empire However, as a director, he felt that doing so would make other heroes look down on Shye, and as someone from Valenzia himself, he couldn''t allow such a thing to happen. "No. We, the WAA, shall not give any exceptions to anyone. If Shye Crowley wants to be a hero and obtain a hero''s crest, then he would have to survive this ordeal." Belford''s words made Logan and Gavin a bit sad. However, what could they do? Belford was the Head Director of the Valenzia Department, and it would indeed be a bit unfair to those who attempted the challenge in the past and lost their lives in the process should Shye be given some leeway. Hence, the two officers stopped hoping for miracles from the association, instead waiting for one from Shye himself. Astonishingly, they immediately got what they wanted as upon shifting their focus back to the holographic screen, they saw Shye ughtering the monstrous creatures with even more finesse¡ªto the point where apathy could almost be seen in his eyes. Even Belford had his mouth agape the whole time as Shye whittled the numbers of the monstrous creatures down from the initial more than 12,000 to around 4,500. It was a massacre. And everything happened within the span of a few hours. Inevitably, though, Shye felt exhaustion, this time, of the mind. Despite his rather stable stamina, Shye was tired of endless killing. He wished for this to end. However, the only way for it to end was for him to kill all of the monstrous creatures, or at least make them retreat. Unfortunately, a slight slip of concentration gave the ck wolf-like humanoid creature ample time to ambush him. Pouncing viciously from behind a dying Gargoyle, the creature wed at Shye''s neck, aiming to decapitate him in one blow. Shye sensed the danger, but, not on time. *SPURT!* Chapter 476 Yo! Remember Me? The sun once again withdrew from the sky, allowing darkness to envelop the world. It was usually time for the monstrous creatures of the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon to hunt, yet, the dungeon pathways were eerily silent, and there wasn''t a single creature in sight. ''Heh, the bastards now think I''m a threat, is that it?'' Shye mused as he followed the blood bug. It was slow as heck, however, it was Shye''s only way to track where the Dark Lycan was. Hence, he decided just to enjoy the slow journey, picking up valuable herbs, crafting materials, and random ingredients along the way with a leisurely smile. After around an entire hour of walking, Shye noticed that the blood bug stopped moving and was bumping itself into a huge rock. He was confused. The blood bug was his only hope of easily tracking the ck-furred general''s location, and if it failed, then he would have no choice but to go back to his original n of waiting in the food storage room for some action. "Why is it acting this way?" Shye muttered in perplexion. The next moment, though, he had a sudden epiphany. "Oh? Maybe¡­" Temporarily retrieving the blood bug and storing it in a small container, Shye took out his high-grade, ruby-tier elemental staff, aiming it at the rock. ''Fireball!'' *BOOM!* A huge explosion urred as the enormous, roaring ball of me devoured the rock, destroying it to pieces. Shortly after, Shye smiled, staring at a hidden pathway that seemed to lead further underground. ''Hoh¡­ what a sneaky overgrown mutt¡­''He mused, taking out the blood bug once more to see if it would enter the descending pathway. It indeed did, bringing a smile to Shye''s face as he followed it once more. Your journey continues on empire A short whileter, he arrived at a vast but closed area teeming with various valuable fungi¡ªones that could be used to create the rarest of consumables. Shye''s eyes naturally glimmered in sheer delight upon finding such a high-value area. Temporarily capturing the blood bug and returning it to its container, Shye began to harvest everything, storing them in the system''s inventory. Then, once he was done, Shye retrieved the blood bug''s container and allowed it to fly free once more. The dungeon was enormous and intricate. However, with the blood bug''s help, Shye easily navigated through the confusing multiple pathways which one would normally have trouble deciding which way to go. As a result, although it still took him hours to locate the slippery Dark Lycan due to the blood bug''s slow movement speed, he at least had a reliable pathfinder. Who knew how long it would take him to find hidden entrances and exits without the mana-powered bug''s help? Hence, Shye was already rather happy with its reliable performance. It cost him 20,000 points, after all. After another half an hour, the blood bug once again bumped its head on a random part of the dungeon wall, allowing Shye to easily find the hidden exit used by the Dark Lycan. Walking closer to the strange part of the wall, Shye abruptly halted. He could hear the Dark Lycan''s growls through the walls, seemingly barking orders here and there. ''There''s probably thousands of monstrous creatures behind this hidden exit...'' Taking one deep breath to prepare himself for another fierce battle, Shye retrieved his greatswords from the system''s inventory. He didn''t know exactly how many there were, but he hoped that at least two generals were in the area. That way, even if he failed to track the boss and the remaining two generals within the time limit, he would at least achieve a one-starpletion.@@novelbin@@ Even though taking three more supplementary quests from the WAA would be rather bothersome, it was way better than failing and having his adventurer license revoked. Moreover, even a one-starpletion would allow him toplete the mandatory quest and obtain its rewards. ¡­Fully prepared in both heart and body for another bloody battle, Shye kicked the hidden exit open with all his might. *BANG!* Of course, such a loud and unexpected noise startled the Dark Lycan and everyone inside the vast open area, causing them to subconsciously look at its source. "Yo! Remember me?" Shye said, swiftly scanning his eyes over the undead army. *ROAR!!!* The creatures once again roared in anger upon seeing the young who ughtered more than half of their brethren. Even the Dark Lycan couldn''t help but bare its fangs uponying its eyes on Shye. "Hahaha! That''s it, don''t run likest time!" The monstrous creatures couldn''t understand humannguage, however, they understood that the young humans were mocking them. Hence, most of them immediately charged towards Shye¡ªutterly red-eyed in anger, including an enormous wyrm made out of bones and rotten flesh. ''Appraisal!'' === [Name]: Bone Wyrm [Creature Rank]: A- [Creature Type]: Dark [Hit Points]: 3,000/3,000 [Mana]: 0/0 [Stamina]: 1050/1050 [Talent]: [Tough Constitution (Umon)] [Description] A once-dead Everfrost wyrm, resurrected through exposure to excessive unholy energies. It is extremely strong and tough but is slow and utterly stupid. [Skills]: [Bite Lv.5] [w Smash Lv.5] [Wyrm Dive Lv.5] [Tail Swipe Lv.5] [Constrict Lv.5] [(Dark) Unholy Breath Lv.5 (Umon)][(Dark) Unholy Domain Lv.4 (Rare)] [Wyrm st Lv.5 (Rare)] [Strength: 420] [Intelligence: 0] [Agility: 230] [Dexterity: 250] [Stamina: 500] [Vitality: 600]: [Wisdom: 0] [Exit System] === ''Nice!'' Realizing that there was one more general amongst the undead army, Shye inwardly celebrated¡ªa reaction that would be insane in the eyes of many. However, for those who prioritizedpleting the special quest over staying alive, encountering two generals was indeed a cause for celebration. This was because ying at least two generals meant they could im they hadpleted the special quest. ¡­Gripping his greatsword as he faced the charging Bone Wyrm, Shye masterfully used his [Blink] skill, dodging the wyrm''s ferocious dive attack with immacte timing andnding atop its skull. He then swung both greatswords downward and empowered them with his trusty [Power sh Lv.5]. *CRACK!* ''Tch, what a tough skull¡­'' Shye managed to crack the wyrm''s skull, causing it to roar in anger. However, shockingly, the wyrm seemingly didn''t even feel the attack that much, counter-attacking right back by mming its skull to an enormous rock. Its movement wasn''t that fast, though. Hence, Shye was able to easily get out of the way,nding a few meters beside the enormous undead wyrm. ''Hmmph, it would be better to deal with this dumbasster. For now, I should at least deeply wound that mutt over there¡­'' Chapter 477 Sneaky Baldy The Bone Wyrm was a tough but mindless creature. Although it was annoying to deal with, Shye was sure that it wouldn''t run from him. Hence, he thought that it would be best to make the sneaky mutt flee first, as doing so would allow him to focus on demolishing the darned wyrm. As long as the ck-furred doggy was present, it would be impossible for Shye to focus all of his attention on the undead army and the Bone Wyrm, after all, the Dark Lycan seemed to be adept in ambushes. If he wasn''t careful, he might lose his life. Thus, removing the overgrown mutt from the battle would be ideal. ¡­The Dark Lycan was about to growl at the Bone Wyrm to dissuade it from joining the attack too early, however, before it was able to do so, the ck-furred monster sensed lethal dangering from the young human. It was being targeted! Rather rmed, the Dark Lycan swiftly retreated to the back of the undead army. ''Tch, this cowardly dog¡­'' Shye inwardly cursed, regretting his decision to gaze at the mutt murderously. ''If that''s the case then I guess I have to deal with this army for now¡­'' He didn''t know if the army in front of himprised all the enemies left in the dungeon.@@novelbin@@ However, he did know that by gradually reducing their numbers, the day would soone when he would stand face-to-face with the cowardly Dark Lycan. ''I have the blood bug anyway. No rush, no rush¡­'' Taking one deep breath to calm his rather frustrated heart, Shye howled to the skies and summoned his wings. Stay tuned for updates on empire Shortly after, with one mighty p, he charged straight at the undead army without a hint of fear in his eyes. Since there were no more ghouls, the summoned familiars of the ck Gargoyles became the frontliners tasked to whittle down Shye''s stamina. There were around 2,000 ck gargoyles, and all of them could summon two familiars, hence, Shye faced an astonishing number of 4,000 familiars resembling small ck Gargoyles. None of them had wings like their masters, though. Moreover, the familiars were even weaker than the zombies. Consequently, Shye decimated their ranks within thirty minutes, exposing the vampires, who were the next line of infantry tasked with holding the front. Witnessing thebat developments, the Dark Lycan started to panic. It didn''t know why but for a long long time now, theirir rarely had invaders, and whenever there were, the attackers were always lone young humans. As a result, the four generals have always seeded in eliminating the enemy, with most perishing and only a few managing to escape with their lives. This was the first time an invader managed to cause this much damage. Honestly, the overgrown mutt didn''t know what to do. It was confident in its lord''s strength, however, the young human was no joke as well. Therefore, the Dark Lycan aimed to injure Shye first before seeking its lord''s help and attacking him together. Unfortunately, the young invader was not only incredibly agile but also exceptionally strong, making it extremely difficult to inflict any harm on him. ¡­After wiping out the familiars, Shye faced the vampire horde with narrowed eyes. The bastards were incredibly agile and intelligent, making it hard for Shye to determine which target to attack first, resulting in him being almost caught by the Bone Wyrm''s tail-swipe attack. Fortunately, he managed to jump in time, causing the wyrm general''s attack to strike several of its vampiricrades,pletely obliterating their bodies. ''Tch, this damned wyrm is annoying¡­should I kill it first?'' Shye pondered as he severed the heads of two vampires who pounced at him from his left and right side, simultaneously kicking the third vampire who attacked him from the front. However, upon remembering that the Bone Wyrm doesn''t seem to feel any sort of pain, Shye scratched the idea. It wasn''t that hard to dodge its attacks anyway. Wiping out the undead army and making the overgrown mutt retreat seemed to be the best option for now. Unfortunately, Shye quickly realized that ughtering the vampires wouldn''t be as simple as killing the ghouls as they were not only faster but also intelligent. Although not all of them were able to keep their lives after failing an attack, most of them had way sharper instincts than the ghouls. Hence, whenever they felt that they would lose their lives should they continue their attack, they would immediately stop and retreat. This unexpected maneuver greatly threw off Shye''s timing, increasing the other vampires'' chances of wounding him. Moreover, the bastards appeared to be following someone''s orders, attacking in a coordinated manner that resembled a wolf pack''s hunting strategies. ''But who?'' Shye nced at the Dark Lycan who seemed to be looking for an opportunity to ambush him. ''Hmm¡­it doesn''t seem to be themander of the vampire army.'' While observing the vampire horde, Shye couldn''t help but take a few steps back, dodging another attack from the Bone Wyrm while preventing himself from being cornered by the sharp-fanged creatures. Most of them seemed to be hissing and growling here and there. Hence, it was difficult to spot who the leader was. However, Shye was sure that there was a leader amongst the vampires as it would simply be impossible for such monstrous creatures to be so organized without one. ''The question is¡­who?'' Shye had an idea. The vampires seemed to hesitate whenever the Bone Wyrm attacked, thus, he decided to temporarily face the enormous undead while looking for the vampire leader. ''CRAP! That was close¡­'' Just narrowly evading the wyrm''s unholy breath attack, Shye once again climbed onto its back, driving one of his greatswords into the small crack in its skull he had created during his initial assault. This action helped stabilize his footing as the wyrm fiercely attempted to dislodge him. He didn''t truly care one bit about the Bone Wyrm, though, as his eyes were focused on the vampire horde, observing it carefully while holding on to his greatsword. At first nce, it seemed that all vampires were randomly hissing and growling. However, after careful observation for a few seconds, Shye found a seemingly regr bald vampire hissing way more than the others. It was smaller than most, too, allowing it to blend nicely into the horde. ''Hohoh¡­Appraisal!'' Chapter 480 Dungeon Lord Appears ''Hoh¡­You''ve finally shown yourself, dungeon lord¡­'' Shye inwardly thought as he stared at the tall but rather scrawny monstrous creature. It looked like what people called "a witch" from story books. Standing at three and a half meters tall, the monstrous creature possessed pale gray skin, mismatched eyes, arge pointed nose, and an unnervingly wide mouth. Additionally, its thin, long, yet toned arms gripped a seemingly ancient wooden staff, serving as its weapon. Its unnaturally lengthy legs were draped in a ragged silk cloth that, despite appearing barely protective at first nce, was actually high-tier equipment providing a significant boost to the lord''s abilities. ''Appraisal!'' === [Name]: Dark Troll Sorceress (Sinister Hag Variant) [Creature Rank]: A [Creature Type]: Dark [Hit Points]: 2,000/2,000 [Mana]: 970/970 [Stamina]: 630/630 [Talent]: [True Vampiric Bloodline (Rare)] [Description] A dark troll born with extraordinary talent in sorcery and necromancy: wicked, cruel, and cunning. Do not engage alone, as it almost always has an underling topensate for itsck of raw strength. [Skills]: [Blink Lv.5][Dash Lv.5][Siphon Mana Lv.5] [Mana st Lv.5] [Recovery Totem Lv.5] [Natural Lightning Totem Lv.5][Fire Totem Lv.5] [Ice Totem Lv.5][Thunder Ball Lv.5][Fireball Lv.5][Icicle Spear Lv.5][Physical Barrier Lv.5][Magic Barrier Lv.5][Mana Shield Lv.5][(Dark) Undead Pir Lv.5 (Umon)][(Dark) Unholy Totem Lv.5 (Umon)][(Space) Gravity Ball Lv.5 (Umon)][(Dark) Raise Undead Lv.4 (Rare)][(Dark) Summon Poltergeist Lv.4 (Rare)][(Dark) Summon Sinister Abomination Lv.4 (Unique)] [Strength: 250] [Intelligence: 410] [Agility: 340] [Dexterity: 280] [Stamina: 210] [Vitality: 450] [Wisdom: 150] [Exit System] === ''Hmm¡­A variant dark troll, huh?'' Explore more at empire From what Shye knew, trolls were tall and muscr. Hence, this specific dungeon lord indeed looked a bit strange for a dark troll. Still, despite not having a huge hulking physique, for Shye, its appearance was way more unnerving. Especially now that he realized the eerie creature possessed higher intelligence and wisdom attributes than he did. Moreover, from what he knew, all species of trolls had absurd regeneration rates, making it impossible to whittle their hit points down. They must be in in as few attacks as possible. As Shye strategized on how to fight the two generals and the lord, a sudden sharp noise sounded from the entrance, prompting Shye to nce in its direction. ''Tch, so escape is not an option¡­this damned witch got me¡­'' For the first time in a long while, Shye was reminded of what it was like to fall for the trap of a monstrous creature with a higher intelligence attribute than him. Only, this time, unlike his experience with the Mist Arachne, the sinister hag had three of the essential elements ofbat on her side. Itmanded the Bone Wyrm, a strong and resilient underling capable of fighting Shye head-on; the swift and cunning Dark Lycan, adept at ambushing him from the shadows; and finally, the sinister hag herself, who possessed a variety of buff skills and long-range offensive spells. Such a bnced line-up would surely be a nightmare to deal with, even for Shye. He also knew this and that''s why he was feeling the pressure of his current predicament. However, just when his heart was starting to wee the sensations of fear and panic, a notification he had never seen before appeared in front of him with a *DING!* [Your trait: [Unfazed Heart], has activated!] Soon after, a warm sensation coursed through his body, lingering for a while around his chest before dissipating along with his fear and anxiety. He was now eerily calm despite facing such a perilous situation. ''Wait¡­why is the dungeon ranked A- when the lord''s rank is A? Did the WAA mess up?'' Indeed they did! Immediately after sensing that something was wrong with the sinister hag''s appearance, Logan left his office and rushed off to Gavin''s to report a potential mishap. The two of them then headed to Belford''s office to report that Shye had been caught by a clever trap devised by the dark troll sorceress, who now appeared to have evolved into a variant. "SH*T!! IS THE KID ALREADY DEAD?!" ¡­ Rushing back to Logan''s office, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that Shye was still alive, wisely using the Bone Wyrm''s enormous body to his advantage by using it to block the sinister hag''s offensive spells. As a result, the wyrm''s tough body was now battered and bruised, with the Dark Lycan gnashing its teeth in frustration since it couldn''t even find a way to help its mindlessrade. "Hahahaha! You cowardly mutt, when will you find the courage to help yourrade?!" Shye mocked as he dodged another fierce attack from the Bone Wyrm. Naturally, the Dark Lycan understood that it was being insulted, however, it still didn''t dare fight Shye head-on, sticking to the role assigned to it by its lord. It believed that the optimal time for it to strike would alwayse. It just had to be patient. Its lord, the sinister hag, already lost patience, though, and used one of its ultimate skills, [Summon Sinister Abomination], to make surviving exponentially difficult for Shye. *HOWL!* A massive mana core with a powerful gravitational pull emerged before the Dark Troll Sorceress, drawing in soil, bones, and bits of rotten flesh from the dungeon walls. These coalesced into a ten-meter-tall, one-eyed giant creature with a fat belly and an enormous butcher''s knife. Its mere appearance would bring most adventurers to their knees in utter fear, and Shye would''ve been no different. [You''ve been inflicted with a stack of [Fear]!] [Your trait, [Unfazed Heart], has sessfully removed one stack of [Fear]!] [You''ve been inflicted with a stack of [Fear]!] [Your trait, [Unfazed Heart], has sessfully removed one stack of [Fear]!] If not for his new trait, Shye''s heart would surely tremble in horror upon hearing the abomination''s unnerving howl, which sounded like a blend of an old man''s death rattle and a female child''sughter. This fear could have given the Bone Wyrm a free hit, potentially resulting in a severe injury or, worse, his death. ¡­Barely dodging the dumbass wyrm''s attack, Shye had the urge to finish it off as it would be very difficult for him to deal with two creatures of such enormous sizes.@@novelbin@@ ''F*ck¡­I might be in a dangerous situation¡­'' Chapter 481 Nowhere To Run Sweat trickled down the sides of Shye''s head as he gripped the handles of his greatswords tighter and looked warily at the two generals, the summoned abomination, and the sinister hag. Since he had never experienced defeat, Shye confidently looked for the generals and the lord, even nning on taking them on together if he got the chance. Only, he seemed to have overestimated his strength and underestimated that of his targets as now that he actually stood face-to-face with three of them along with the summoned abomination, Shye realized that winning wouldn''t be as easy as he initially thought. Heck, he wasn''t even sure if he could survive, let alone win easily. For the first time in his life, Shye seemingly bit off slightly more than he could chew. Well, he was a confident young man so this was bound to happen sooner orter. The situation wasn''t out of hand, though, and if he yed his cards right and fought immactely, he had a fair chance of turning things around. This was a scenario where a true dragon would rise and a false one would fall. Now, Shye had to grit his teeth and soar to the skies, otherwise he would rest here eternally. ...Meanwhile, back at the observation office, Logan, Gavin, and Belford were inwardly praying to the Gods for Shye''s safety. Since they don''t know Shye''s capability that much, the three of them couldn''t help but worry despite having records of Shye taking down an Ember Wyvern. Valenzia simply had no history of young adventurers having sess in dealing with a group of (A) and (A-) ranked monsters. As for Shye, a great idea finally popped up in his mind. However, he had to execute it perfectly, otherwise, he would find himself in the middle of three dangerous creatures. Hiding behind the Bone Wyrm as he masterfully dodged its rtively slow yet destructive attacks, Shye coldly gazed at the sinister hag. His eyes then narrowed upon seeing that it was casting totems here and there, tremendously boosting its underlings'' strength and recovery rate. In addition to this, it also summoned an enormous pir that continuously summoned zombies. Realizing that things would only get harder and harder as time went by, Shye stopped hesitating and decided to execute his n, dashing out of the Bone Wyrm''s cover and charging straight onto the totems, seemingly having the intention of destroying them. The sinister hag was naturally happy to see such developments. Although the totems were helpful, supportive summons, they also served as tough and effective decoys. Positioned at the center of the room, the totems provided it and its underlings with an excellent opportunity tounch attacks. Only, the Dark Troll Sorceress didn''t expect that Shye''s target wasn''t the totems but their owner. Thus, it was taken by surprise when Shye suddenly reappeared beneath it, a cold smile on his face. ''Sword Realm!'' A purple realm filled with ck swords suddenly materialized beneath Shye, extending just far enough to envelop only him and the sinister hag, while leaving its generals outside. Shortly after, when the Dark Troll Sorceress realized it couldn''t use mana to protect itself, fear and panic began to creep into its heart. It was used to fighting alongside its generals. Furthermore, it wasn''t skilled in meleebat. Hence, facing the powerful invader while having no other option but to whack it with its ancient wooden staff, the sinister hag screeched in a specific pattern, seemingly calling for help.@@novelbin@@ Of course, its generals and the summoned Abomination immediately responded by hitting the purple wall from the outside, hoping to destroy it and aid their lord in battle. Shye knew that his Sword Realm wouldn''tst long under the focused attack of the generals. In fact, it was already starting to crack, mostly due to the damned brutish Bone Wyrm. Wasting no time, Shye dashed towards the panicking hag, who tried to smash him with its ancient wooden staff. Unfortunately for it, its evidently unpracticed meleebat skills were all too easy for Shye to evade. Then, upon reaching striking distance, he activated his new skill, [Nightfall Reaper]. This enveloped the edges of both his greatswords in a crimson glow, boosted his strength attribute by 200 percent, significantly enhanced his weapon''s cutting power, and doubled his agility attribute. Find adventures on empire Due to the now overwhelming gap in physical attributes, the sinister hag couldn''t even follow Shye''s diagonal movements with its eyes, losing him every time he repositioned to get a better angle at its neck. It tried onest desperate attack by brandishing its enormous wooden staff horizontally, hoping to somehow catch Shye. Unfortunately, how could such a slow and clumsy melee attack hit Shye, who was forged in the fires of head-to-headbat against even the toughest and strongest of monstrous creatures? Before the Dark Troll Sorceress even realized what had happened, Shye was already behind it, posturing as though he had justpleted a shing motion. Indeed, he had already done so, for almost simultaneously with the destruction of the sword realm, the sinister hag''s head rolled to the ground, its body slowly going limp and twitching lifelessly. Witnessing the scene, the generals roared in anger. The sinister hag had been like a mother to them, hence, its death filled their hearts with not only anger but also regret and sadness. Shye expected the summoned abomination to disappear, yet, somehow, it was still howling at him in utter fury despite the death of its summoner. He had no such luxury to worry about such things, though, as his mind immediately alerted him that a certain scaredy mutt would run away again should he allow it to do so. Thus, promptly after realizing that he should make his move, Shye charged at the angry Dark Lycan. The ck-furred creature was the one with the sharpest survival instinct amongst the four generals, hence, upon noticing that Shye was charging straight at it, its anger dissipated like smoke. It then tried to run as fast as it could. Everyone in the room forgot one important fact, though. It was that the room was still blocked by a mana barrier that seemingly wouldn''t dissipate anytime soon. In response, the Dark Lycan abruptly stopped in front of the entrance and punched the walls in utter frustration. "Hahahaha! You darned cowardly dog! Where will you run now? Did you think I was trapped in here with you? No, you''re trapped in here with me!" Chapter 484 Serve Me ''At least I know that this rotten fatty''s life depended on a mana core¡­'' Shye inwardly consoled himself as he narrowed his eyes at the summoned Abomination. It was as strong as a general, yet the only reward for killing it would be keeping his own life. There was simply nothing to loot as even its mana core had to be destroyed. ncing at the treasures that were now scattered all across the room¡ªtheir conditions unknown¡ªShye''s mood worsened. ''That cursed hag... did she set up this ambush to ensure I get nothing from her dungeon even if I wipe them all out?'' Shye pondered as he charged at the abomination with an ill-tempered gaze. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he activated one of his [Epic]-tier skills, which had juste off cooldown, causing the des of his greatswords to glow scarlet, greatly enhancing their cutting power. In addition to this, his strength attribute tripled for two seconds, and his agility attribute doubled for one second. ''Nightfall Reaper!'' The Abomination was caught off-guard as Shye reappeared in front of it in an instant. He was simply too fast for it to be able to react. Subsequently, with one ferocious sh, he sliced the rotten fatty horizontally in two. ''Tch, I missed its core by a hair''s breadth, huh?'' He inwardly thought as his gazended upon the top part of the glowing azure core in the middle of its belly. He, unfortunately, missed his target, however, it didn''t matter much as he was not nning to pull punches. After all, the rotten fatty was thest one standing out of the three monstrous creatures. If he could eliminate it, even if it meant using all his trump cards, he would gain plenty of breathing room as the wyrm was now nothing but little bony bits struggling to form body parts in a futile attempt to attack him. ''Ninth Devastation Ray!'' Recing Mithra with his ruby-tier elemental staff, Shye adjusted his aim, making sure that he would hit the center of the exposed core before firing yet another of his [Epic]-tier trump cards. The thin-linear ray of hyper-condensed mana then made contact with the azure core, shattering it into thousands of pieces. Soon after, the furious expression on the summoned Abomination''s face froze¡ªits body reverting to its previous lifeless form of random bones, soil, and rotten flesh. ''Phew¡­now, only this damned wyrm remains¡­'' Taking a deep breath, Shye turned around and saw the wyrm''s half-formed skull and its tail wiggling towards him, ready to strike with a tail-swipe attack. Of course, Shye once again destroyed both to mere pieces with one violent sh each, narrowing his eyes shortly after. He was running out of ideas. At this rate, it would be impossible for him to achieve a three-starpletion. ''Tch¡­'' Clicking his tongue in annoyance, the mana pulse he forgot to deactivate scanned the surroundings once more. ''Hmm?'' Experience more on empire Now that he had nothing else to do but figure out how to kill the wyrm, he finally noticed that there was an area at the corner of the room that the mana pulse somehow couldn''t scan. Two secondster, another pulse shot out from Shye''s body, scanning the entire room. Yet, that particr part was somehow deflecting the mana pulse back toward Shye, preventing a full scan. ''Hoh?'' With no idea how to kill the wretched wyrm, Shye grasped at straws, hoping that even this small anomaly in the room might provide some clues. Walking closer to the weird spot, Shye shed his sword at it, however, nothing happened. Until another mana pulse scanned the entire room, that is. This time, the weird spot was now in a different part of the room. It was still close to where Shye was, however, it undoubtedly moved. ''Hahahaha! There''s definitely something inside that area.'' Shye inwardlyughed in sheer delight while feigning confusion. He learned from one of the academy''s premium sses that certain [Space] and [Void] type creatures could hide in spatial or void pockets to avoid detection, hence, Shye knew that there was some sort of creature in that small weird spot. ''Maybe it''s the fourth general?'' Shye mused, scratching his head while walking back to where the majority of the wyrm''s bony parts were. He then suddenly used [Blink], reappearing beside the weird area and swiftly shing at it, prioritizing speed over strength. "UGYAAK!" A strange high-pitched scream echoed across the room as a small creature emerged from nothingness. It stood about two feet tall, with green eyes, green skin, a fat torso, a slim lower body, and short arms and legs. The creature didn''t look threatening at all. If anything, it looked funny. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Necrollin Puppeteer@@novelbin@@ [Creature Rank]: A- [Creature Type]: Dark / Void [Hit Points]: 550/550 [Mana]: 250/250 [Stamina]: 1,500/1,500 [Talent]: [(Locked) Mass Maniptor (Legendary)] [Traits]: [Vindictive] [Description] A variant imp adept in the forbidden arts of necromancy and the rare art of puppeteering. It often conceals itself in void pockets, evading detection even by the most seasoned adventurers and (S) ranked monsters, manipting the corpse of deceased creatures with its nimble hands. Whilecking in directbat prowess, it disys ample agility to escape when needed. Note: Extremely vindictive. Do not anger it, or be prepared to be pursued by bizarre undead monsters to the far corners of the world. [Skills]: [Dash Lv.5] [(Void) Void Pocket Lv.5 (Rare)] [(Dark) Sinister strings Lv.5(Unique)] [Strength: 40] [Intelligence: 110] [Agility: 190] [Dexterity: 770] [Stamina: 500] [Vitality: 110]: [Wisdom: 30] [Exit System] === "Hoh¡­you little shit! Could you be a general as well?" Shye mocked while slowly walking towards the small creature, who was desperately crawling away. What he didn''t expect was that the creature would talk back. "Human. Ugly. I kill if escape!" Utterly dumbstruck, Shye stared nkly at the creature beforeughing uproariously. "Hahahaha! You don''t have to worry about that, you little shit. You won''t be able to escape from me." "Human. Stupid. Not scared!" "Oh? You''re quite the spirited one... How about this: If you be my subordinate, I''ll spare your life." Chapter 486 Nookie Not a single adventurer knew what was going on inside a monstrous creature''s mind after being on the receiving end of the [Tame] skill. However, since this was Shye''s first time using the skill, he didn''t expect much. After all, even the WAA knew little about the skill, aside from the fact that it gave an adventurer a chance to tame a monstrous creature. As for the exact chances one had, it was all up to one''s talents as a monster tamer. Meanwhile, inside the nk-eyed Necrollin''s mind, a representation of Shye emerged from nothingness. This was what the entire world didn''t know, and none of them would ever have a chance to know as they weren''t monstrous creatures. The representation of the caster was actually the amalgamation of hisbat power in its entirety, and one''s mana pool was around 15% of the entire clone''s total strength. Naturally, with such an enormous mana pool and oundishbat power, Shye''s representation in the Necrollin''s mind was akin to a Demon God, causing it to tremble in fear and trepidation¡ªall thoughts of defying the mind invader¡ªgone. "H-Human. Imp, submit!" The imp said inside its mind''s realm, sweating profusely and bowing towards Shye as it did so. Back in the real world, although the imp''s submission did note out of its mouth, a ck seal of unrecognizable characters appeared on its forehead. Soon after, life returned to the imp''s eyes. This time, though, there was not a single hint of defiance as it stared at Shye, even taking the initiative to offer him a respectful salute. "Imp greet human master!" Naturally, Shye was dumbstruck upon hearing the Necrollin''s words. However, after finally realizing that his [Tame] skill had sessfully tamed the small creature, Shye inwardly celebrated in sheer delight. ''I''m this talented as a monster tamer?! What can''t I do?!'' If his favorite academy instructor, Fienna Evans, heard what was on his mind, he would receive a solid whack on the back of his head that would surely drag him back down to the ground. "Ahem! Great decision, Necrollin! I shall help you unlock your talent and bring you to greater heights!" Of course, the small monstrous creature currently didn''t care one bit about Shye''s promises as it was scared silly by Shye''s representation, who remained seated inside its mind realm, seemingly having no intention to leave. This representation was the ck seal on its forehead, and as long as the seal remained, the representation would naturally stay, ensuring that the creature would follow Shye''s every order. However, as the tamed monstrous creature grew stronger, the representation would gradually lose control over it¡ªunless he also became stronger. Since Shye was the most talented youngster Valenzia ever had, there should be no problems keeping the loyalty of a small Necrollin, and as long as his overallbat power increases, the strength of the representation within the monster''s mind would naturally also grow. "Damn it!" Shye cursed as he suddenly remembered that the Bone Wyrm was only gathering its parts and strength before attacking him again. Swiftly turning his head and drawing his greatswords, Shye was pleasantly surprised to find that the scattered pieces of the Bone Wyrm had already ceased moving. "W-What?" For a few moments, he was confused. However, as a sudden realization dawned upon him, Shye turned his head and looked at the Necrollin. "Hey, from now on, you shall be known as Nookie, do you understand?" "Understand!" Nodding in satisfaction, Shye asked the question in his mind. "Hey, uhh¡­Nookie. By some chance, were you the one controlling this Bone Wyrm?" "No." Hearing Nookie''s answer, Shye frowned. ''If not Nookie, then who? And why did it stop moving after I tamed Nookie?'' Shye was utterly confused. Luckily, the little imp spoke once more and cleared things up.@@novelbin@@ "Nookie, not control. Nookie, only give core power." ''Ahh¡­so that''s why the wyrm stopped moving¡­'' "I see, can you give me the core then? I shall destroy it." Naturally, the little imp felt ufortable handing over its formerrade''s core to its new master, however, it had no choice but toply as it was truly scared of the ck seal. Receiving a small azure core from Nookie''s little hands, Shye stared at it for a while and decided to temporarily keep it. Continue your journey on empire He had lots of time and he could always destroy it in front of the guards if they required him to do so. For now, tracking thest general was the priority. "Hey, Nookie. Can you tell me about the four most trusted subordinates of your former lord?" "Ugyu?" Hearing Shye''s words, the little imp paused for a while toprehend what he said and think. It then ran with its now healed little legs towards the Dark Lycan''s corpse and the Bone Wyrm''s bits and pieces before saying "Bald Vampire. Me." It was a little hard to understand its actions, however, after thinking for a short while, Shye somehow managed. ''Hmm¡­so the Dark Lycan, the Bone Wyrm, the vampire progenitor, and Nookie, huh?'' That meant that he sessfully killed three generals, the dungeon lord, and tamed thest remaining general. Sadly, he didn''t know whether taming the general would count towards a three-starpletion, or even the two-star one. However, after considering the advantages and disadvantages of having Nookie by his side, Shye still believed that it was worth it despite the WAA likely awarding him only a one-starpletion. After all,pleting the supplementary quests would likely be much easier now that he had a Necrollin Puppeteer with him, as each creature kill would result in gaining an additional monster ally. He didn''t know how many corpses Nookie could control at this moment, however, it wasn''t an issue as he could perform an intensive ability test for the little imp. ¡­Looking around the room, Shye''s gazended on one of the ruby-tier weapons on the floor. "Oh! I almost forgot. It''s time to gather the treasures! Nookie! Help me collect everything!" Chapter 488 Witnessing the Making of History "W-We greet the division leader!" Bernie and Orpha eximed as they rushed towards Shye. They were simply too happy. However, recalling that he might only be returning to surrender his license, the nervous expressions on the faces of the two returned. "Hmm? Bernie, Orpha, why do you look so distressed? Ahh¡­is this about my special quest?" "Y-Yes, so¡­division leader, did yo¨C" "Hahahaha! I''m the mighty division leader of the shy Ravens Rising, aren''t I? Of course, I seeded!" Hearing Shye''s words, his two subordinates almost wanted to jump up in utter delight. They''ve known Shye for only a short time, however, they knew that he was not someone who spoke empty words.@@novelbin@@ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 2,500 points!] ''Hmm? Didn''t I already say that I seeded? Why did I earn so little?'' Shye pondered as he looked around, finally realizing why his point earnings were meager. ''Hoh, so most of them believe I''m merely talking crap, huh? Fine.'' "Return to the division lounge and tell them that I''m back and that we''ll have a meetingter." "Y-Yes, division leader!" After watching his subordinates walk away for a few seconds, Shye subtly nced at the lobby, a shadow of a smile emerging on the corners of his mouth. Naturally, as he started to walk towards the rewards desk, lots of his guildmates subtly followed to eavesdrop. If the guild headquarters weren''t so ridiculously tall and vast, it would be way too obvious that many people were interested in the oue of his attempt at the special quest. It was understandable, though. After all, not a single youngster had seeded inpleting the special quest, and it would be history in the making not only for their guild but for the entire region if Shye was indeed the first one to have done so. Many confident youngsters, mostly from Valenzia''s top ten guilds, have attempted to challenge the Abomination Lord Dungeon. However, all of them either perished or saw their adventuring careerse to an end. Thus, it was simply a bit hard for the adventurers of a mere sixteenth-ranked guild to believe that the one who would make history was a rookie from their guild. Even the rewards receptionist Shye was approaching felt a bit nervous despite being a veteran of seven years at her job. This was her first time being approached for the regional special questpletion, after all, and due to nervousness, she made a mistake and spoke first. "H-Hello, Sir Crowley, are you here for the special quest c-cpletion?" "Ah¡­yes, Receptionist¡­Aria, if I''m not mistaken?" "A-Ahh! Yes, I apologize for not introducing myself. T-Then, may I please see the special questpletion badge?" By this time, gulps sounded all over the headquarters as everyone''s anxious ears and eyes tuned in to the rewards desk. Even a few adamantite-ranked adventurers nced down from their designated floors to see if Shye could turn in a special questpletion badge or if he was merely putting on a show and would end up surrendering his adventurer license for revocation while whispering about his actual failure to the rewards receptionist. Some scout-ss adventurers even activated skills that would enhance their hearing multiple times to ensure that Shye wouldn''t be able to cheat his way out of a humiliating situation. ''Heh, watch and listen all you want!'' "Here, Receptionist Aria," Shye said as he retrieved the special questpletion badge handed to him by the guard chief. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 5,600 points!] ''Hmm? There are still people who aren''t convinced? Maybe they''re doubting the authenticity of my badge?'' Shye consoled himself, as he waited for Aria, whose hands were slightly shaky, to confirm for him. This was her first time processing a special questpletion badge, and she didn''t want to lose her job by rewarding Shye with 10,000 guild contribution points and 10,000 gold coins from the guild treasury for a fake badge. After all, although the 10,000 guild contribution points weren''t an issue, she couldn''t pay off 10,000 gold coins even if she worked for the guild her entire life. Therefore, she was meticulous in checking the key details of the badge using a photo provided by the guild. A few minutester, she took a deep breath, shifting her attention to Shye shortly after. "Congrattions onpleting the special quest, Sir Crowley! Ten thousand guild contribution points have been credited to your adventurer ount and division. Additionally, here is your reward of ten thousand gold coins. As for the WAA''s official statement, we will inform you in two weeks once it arrives. Again, thank you for your efforts and contribution to the guild! Have a nice day." Hearing Aria''s words, the guildsmen were stunned for a few moments before erupting into a hugemotion. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 12,893 points!] "H-Holy shit, he actually did it?" "D-Damn, we just witnessed history right there!" "A-Are we actually in the presence of a future hero of the region?" As a result, more and more people were tempted to join Shye''s division. Unfortunately for them, over the past month, word spread about the redeemable rewards offered by Shye''s division. As a result, although most applicants were rejected for having impure motives, they still reached the one-hundred-member limit and could not ept more members until the division upgraded to a two-star division. Still, most of them vowed to queue up and apply as soon as his division began recruiting again. Shye''s achievements and future were simply too promising for them to ignore. Meanwhile, the satisfied division leader was already on his way to his division''s lounge¡ªthe only ce in this highlypetitive city where he felt oddly at home. ''Sigh¡­I hope Shirley and the others arrive soon¡­'' He wanted to reunite with his girlfriend and his Colzen buddies as soon as possible. Read new chapters at empire However, he also understood that although they were all talented¡ªway more than him if he didn''t have the system, it would take time for them to grow. For now, his focus was on developing the division into a safe yet effective environment where his little sister, lover, and friends could reach their peak potential as quickly as possible. Who knows? Maybe he could ask them for help with his personal problems in the future. Chapter 489 Out Of Nowhere! Over the next two weeks, Shye didn''t take on a quest. Instead, he took the time to meticulously manage his division, inquiring about new members, division points earned by members, reward redemptions, total guild contribution points umted by the division, and much more. Honestly, Shye was astonished at the rapid development of his division. While he anticipated quick progress, he didn''t expect his members to zealouslyplete quests one after another, umting division points at such a fric pace. Experience new tales on empire Perhaps they believed Shye would struggle to sustain the extravagant rewards avable in the rewards room, prompting them to rush to redeem a few before they were depleted. Upon his return, however, Shye ordered another rewards shelf and filled it with even more insane items harvested from the Abomination Lord Dungeon, including ruby-tier relics from the treasure room, leaving those who had hastily redeemed their rewards to regret their decisions. They should''ve listened to his advice and saved up points in the meantime! Adding to their frustrations was the equipment delivery from the recently emerging Meido Brand just two days ago. ording to their sources, it was pure chaos outside the Meido cksmith Shop. Despite the young female cksmith taking on a few apprentices, it was nearly impossible to speak with one of them, who handled orders, without waiting in line for at least two weeks. No matter how much they wanted to order Meido Brand equipment sets, it was destined to remain a pipe dream. Well, for the time being, at least. Therefore, upon discovering that their division leader was a partnered adventurer of the aforementioned up-anding young cksmith, they werepletely stunned and disbelieving. It was as if he had been blessed by the heavens. Unbeknownst to them, out of everything he had, this partnership with Meido was the one he deserved the most as he was already an avid fan of her works even before she became famous. Having trusted her with his life since their academy days, it was natural for the young cksmith to lean towards entrusting her business to him, especially after witnessing his talent firsthand. Nevertheless, it was quite shocking yet exciting news to his division members. After all, It presented an opportunity to acquire renowned equipment sets and weapons without enduring lengthy queues. Considering therge quantity delivered just two days ago, it seemed unlikely that the stocks would deplete soon¡ªespecially since they were currently only a one-star division with a one-hundred-member limit. Therefore, every member of the shy Ravens Rising Division was filled with hopes and dreams, driving them to continuallyplete quests and elevate the division to new heights. Well, except for one guy, that is. After asking his members, Shye learned that Reginald left two and a half weeks ago and had yet to return. He wasn''t worried about his safety as Reginald was incredibly strong. However, he couldn''t help but wonder where the guy ran off to. He was about to discover it soon enough, though, as momentster, a guild staff sought him out, announcing the arrival of an official statement from the WAA. Naturally, Shye was excited because it meant he would finally receive the rewards from the system''s mandatory quest, further enhancing his attributes significantly. He immediately rushed towards the rewards desk. "Hello, Miss Aria. I heard the WAA''s verdict had arrived?" "Ah, Sir Crowley, indeed. Here is the letter concerning the status of your quest. The WAA aide requested that I remind you to open it in a private setting." "I understand. Thanks, Miss Aria." Returning to the division lounge to inform his subordinates that he would be gone for a few hours, Shye returned to his room at an inn. ¡­ "Congrattions, Shye Crowley. The World Adventurer Association has awarded you a three-starpletion for ying three generals, taming one, and defeating the Dark Troll Sorceress variant lord. However, due to your age, we cannot appoint you as a hero immediately. Instead, you will serve as one of the region''s champions until you turn 24. At that time, you will be summoned to the main headquarters in the Yon Augenn Region for your official hero appointment. Note: Please register your tamed monstrous creature at the nearest WAA office." [Congrattions! You''vepleted the Mandatory Quest: A Hero In The Making! You may now im the rewards separately in the Mandatory Quest window.]@@novelbin@@ [Note: im the familiar summoning scroll first.] [Congrattions! You''ve met the requirements toplete the hidden side quest: Young Champion! You may now im the rewards in the [Side Quest] Window!" [Congrattions! You have unlocked Side Quests!] Seeing the exciting notification in front of him, Shye was stunned for a few seconds before regaining hisposure. He then immediately opened the system and navigated to the [Side Quests] section to see what the reward was. However, recalling the note that advised him to im the familiar summoning scroll first, Shye abruptly paused, opting to follow the system''s instructions. [Would you like to im Reward 2: Legendary-grade Familiar Summoning Scroll? Y/N] [Y] Immediately after tapping on the [Y] button, Shye''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Why? Well, Reginald somehow suddenly emerged from nothingness right in front of him. "Y-Y-You! What are you doing here?! Didn''t you run off somewhere?!" "Aihh! Division Leader! Why didn''t youe back right away? That old man kept me trapped in a void pocket for three weeks! He said I couldn''t leave until you were ready to im this damned scroll in my hand! Also, he mentioned that this familiar summoning scroll has already been registered by one of our allies, so you can just go to a licensed familiar summoning station to summon a familiar." "I-I see, t-thanks for delivering it then¡­w-wait, you know the old man?!" "Yes, I already told you, didn''t I? We will inevitably be allies," Reginald said, quickly turning around and speaking in a testy manner shortly after. "Aihh! I get it, old man! I''m leaving, no need to drag me out with another one of your damned void pockets! Well then, Division Leader, see you in the division lounge!" Chapter 492 Evans Siblings "Nice, the division should be promoted to two-star next month¡­" Shye muttered as he strode out of the guild headquarters. He was headed to Valenzia City Hall to answer the city lord''s summons. He didn''t know why he was summoned, however, he was at least sure that it wasn''t for something negative. After all, he justpleted the special quest no one has ever been able toplete. Experience new stories on empire "Hmm... My division is growing faster than I anticipated. I thought it would take us about a month and a half to be a two-star division, but at this rate, we might reach that goal in around three more weeks..." Shye mused. There were five division tiers with five-star divisions being the highest. As for two-star divisions, they were nothing but the average ranks of most divisions in Valenzia City. Even guilds who weren''t in the top fifty had multiple two-star divisions. However, despite beingmon, it was usually very difficult for one-star divisions to be two-star divisions. After all, for a division to rank up, it needed arge number of members. To attract these members, the division leader had to be not only charismatic, talented, or renowned, but also wealthy, as they needed to offer enticing benefits to encourage people to join their division. Hence, upstart divisions, which were led by merely passionate yet mediocre individuals, were mercilessly stuck at the one-star rank. As a result, the once enthusiastic leaders either became depressed upon realizing they were destined to follow someone else or lost their excitement, slowly turning intozy adventurers who would never amount to anything. Thus, the explosive growth of the shy Ravens Rising, a division led by a rookie, was truly astonishing. It even incurred the jealousy of a few division leaders and their deputies. Unfortunately for them, their options to bully neers were limited as Soaring Raven was well aware of such pettiness, hence, he had long solved such problems. How? Well, he implemented two things. First, he ensured that higher-ranked adventurers couldn''t challenge lower-ranked ones to duels, although the reverse was allowed. If a higher-ranked adventurer attempted to challenge a lower-ranked one, their adventurer license would be suspended for two months. Second, except for certain talented individuals with specific quest privileges, quest priorities would always be given to adventurers of the appropriate rank to undertake the quest. For example, an emerald-ranked adventurer would always have priority for (B) ranked quests.@@novelbin@@ Therefore, a priority duel would only ur if two emerald-ranked adventurers wanted to undertake the same quest, preventing higher-ranked adventurers from interfering with the livelihood of the lower-ranked ones. Unfortunately, it was impossible topletely eliminate bullying, as even between two adventurers of the same rank, there would be a stronger and a weaker one. The stronger could challenge the weaker to duels and interfere with the weaker adventurer''s progress. Still, the situation in Raven''s de Adventurer Guild was way better than in other guilds, where only the strong could progress smoothly. Some guilds even encourage the stronger divisions to swallow up the weaker ones. As for Shye''s division, it was hard for them to be bullied. At least for now. After all, Shye would destroy every other emerald-ranked adventurer who dared mess with them while Reginald would do the same to the diamond-ranked ones. If necessary, the two of them could go all out and bare their fangs if their three Mithril-ranked adventurers were unable to defend themselves against others of the same rank. He would naturally protect his division members. ¡­Upon arriving at the enormous gates of the city hall, Shye felt a bit overwhelmed by therge crowds and multiple queues. He didn''t know how he would even meet the city lord. Luckily, he spotted a somewhat familiar face, though he couldn''t recall where he had met the person. "Hmm? Shye Crowley! What brings you here?" "A-Ahh¡­hello, w-what is your name again? I-I''m sorry, I-I don''t have a g-great memory, you see." "Ughk¡­your words sting, super rookie. However, I understand as I am not that well-known yet. Again, the name''s Adrian Evans, you hear? Adrian Evans. " "Ahh! I remember you now, you saved me back at the gate from being swarmed by citizens when I first arrived at Valenzia!" "Y-Yes, that''s me. So, what brings you here to the city hall?" "Ahh, the city lord sent me a letter telling me that I shoulde see him at his office." "Lord s did? I wonder what for? Oh well, none of my business, hahahaha! Not to brag or anything but I kinda know the guards here so if you just show me the letter with the city lord''s stamp, I can help you." "Oh? That would be a big help! Here''s the letter." As Adrian verified the letter, a stern voice sounded from behind the two of them, assaulting Shye''s heart with endless waves of nostalgia. "Big Brother, what are you doing? Didn''t you tell me you want your division to break through to the top three? If so, then why are you ying around again?" "A-Ah¡­hahahaha¡­sorry, little bud. My little sister is kind of¡­let''s just say a bit too serious. Just bring this letter to that guard over there and th¨C" "Instructor Fienna!" "Oh? Crowley. What brings you here? It''s only been a year, and you''re already taller than me? Not bad." "Instructor! I thought the Adventurer Academy Competition was six months away. What brings you here now?" "Oh. I guess the deans didn''t have the time to inform you, huh? I''ve already repaid them for saving me in the past. Hence, I returned to adventuring with this doofus." Hearing the overly familiar conversation between his little sister and the legendary super rookie, Adrian was bbergasted. He simply couldn''t think of a possible connection between the two. ''Wait, he did call her instructor¡­'' "Ahh! Fienna! So you suddenly disappeared because you became an instructor at Colzen Academy? No wonder I couldn''t find you everywhere! I honestly thought you were already dead, for goodness'' sake!" "Sigh¡­Why is your damned voice so loud? Calm down, I''ll tell you what happened to meter. For now, can you let me talk to my student in peace?" Chapter 493 The Regions Highest Authority "Well then, Crowley, since you''re on official business, I won''t impose on you any longer. Let''s meetter tonight at Brebav''s Seafood Restaurant." Temporarily parting ways after a surprising meeting with his former instructor, Shye''s mood tremendously improved. However, upon remembering what her instructor did inside the system upgrade''s dreamworld, Shye''s little brother uncontrobly stood up, causing him to breathe a little heavily. He wanted to gobble up his instructor¡­ ''Sh*t! What am I even thinking?!'' Shye inwardly reprimanded himself. Unfortunately, his manhood was a little too vigorous, causing him to temporarily leave the city hall''s premises to take a few deep breaths and calm down. He couldn''t just walk around inside the city hall with a boner, could he? Only after he was sure that his thoughts were once again pure did Shye walk towards the city hall. "Hello, I''ve been summoned by the city lord. Here''s my letter." This specific guard was a friend of Adrian, and since the guy had seen the two of them together earlier, he didn''t make things difficult for Shye. It turned out to be the right decision, as after verifying the letter''s authenticity, the guard realized it was genuine and that a significant opportunityy before him. He would be stupid not to grab it with both hands! "Hello, Shye Crowley, this year''s top rookie, correct?" "Yes, may I know this guard''s name?" Hearing Shye''s words, the guard was on cloud nine. After all, Shye''s words suggested he was looking for someone to assist him whenever he went to the city hall for official business, and that he had chosen him.'' ''Hahaha! Brother Adrian sure is a lucky star!'' "Ahh, yes, my name''s Jed. If you need anything inside the city hall, feel free to reach out to me anytime." "That would be preferable, brother Jed. Tomemorate our friendship, please receive this small token." Shye said, discreetly retrieving a pouch of silver coins and handing it over to Guard Jed. "A-Ahh, ha... hahaha! Brother Crowley is quite straightforward, it seems. I''ll ept it this time. But please, there''s no need to do this again in the future. As long as you would hear me out if I ever have a problem, that will be enough." "Ahh, I see. I understand, Brother Jed. Don''t worry, if you ever face a problem you can''t handle, feel free toe to me. If it''s within my ability to solve, I''ll dly assist without hesitation." To mere retired average-ranked adventurers like Jed, a promise from a promising rookie meant a lot. Naturally, he didn''t intend to trouble Shye unless necessary. However, in a world where strength often prevails, having a few backers was a valuable contingency n. After all, the future is unpredictable, and knowing he could rely on Shye, a promising adventurer if faced with an insurmountable challenge, was aforting thought. All he needed to do for Shye was make sure he didn''t have to queue every time he arrived, anyway. "Thank you, Brother Crowley! Your words reassure me." Beaming brightly, Jed led Shye towards the city lord''s office, saving him a considerable amount of time.@@novelbin@@ Entering the city hall, Shye was bbergasted. He once visited the city halls of Colzen City and Balkrow City. However, despite their majestic appearance, they seemed like mere carriage garagespared to the Valenzia City Hall which had a ceiling height of a hundred-and-twenty meters. Its wide hallways, adorned with red carpets, were bathed in the warm rays of the sun streaming through vast, premium ss windows. Moreover, there were hundreds of rooms bustling with a mix of ordinary workers and adventurers going about their business, each seemingly upied with their own agendas. It was a vibrant scene. ''D-Damn, it would probably have been difficult to locate the city lord''s office without Brother Jed,'' Shye mused, realizing befriending one of the guards had been a great decision. After walking for about twenty minutes, they finally arrived in front of thergest indoor doors Shye had ever seen. The massive door before him, crafted from ckwood and adorned with intricate carvings of various insignias, stood at a height of approximately ten meters. Discover exclusive tales on empire Mind-bogglingly gigantic. *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* *KNOCK!* "City Lord, Shye Crowley has responded to your summons." "You may enter, Crowley." "Yes, city lord." Entering the office that seemed like an entire great hall of a kingdom from story books, Shye was mesmerized. However, upon recalling that he was in the presence of one of the most powerful authorities in the region, he quicklyposed himself and respectfully gazed at the city lord. Shye was familiar with the middle-aged man''s stern yet handsome and sharply defined face, having seen him on multiple asions in the past and of course, because the man appeared charismatic, dignified, and morally upright, Shye held a high opinion of the city lord. Moreover, the man decisively enforced the rules of the tournaments he had participated in, demonstrating impartiality. He was simply the perfect city lord in Shye''s eyes. "I greet the city lord," Shye said with the utmost respect, bowing toward s. "The name''s s. We finally meet face to face, Crowley," s replied with a smile. "First of all, I would like to congratte you forpleting the regional special quest that no one has everpleted." "My gratitude, City Lord s." Nodding, the city lord spoke again, finally revealing the reason for Shye''s summons. "I''ve called you here to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of bing a regional champion. If you feel it would be disadvantageous to assume the position, you have the option to remain a hero candidate. You will still be appointed as a hero three yearster regardless of your decision." Hearing s'' words, Shye''s face turned even more serious. ''I can decline? It seems that being a champion isn''t all that great, huh?'' "I understand, Lord s. I will carefully consider our discussion and give you my decision afterward." Observing Shye''s wise and patient reactions, the city lord inwardly smiled. ''Heh, it seems this kid is truly exceptional, showing intelligence and wisdom beyond his years. A typical twenty-one-year-old youngster would be eager to ept the position.'' "Alright, listen¡­" Chapter 494 Extra Benefits Shye stared at the ground, seemingly deep in thought. After a lengthy and detailed discussion with the city lord, Shye indeed could see the perks of epting the position of a temporary regional champion. However, the associated responsibilities were also somewhat burdensome, particrly for a free-spirited individual like him, who was rather ustomed to doing whatever he wanted to reach his full potential. ''Hmm¡­ 2,000 gold coins plus two units each of strength, intelligence, agility, dexterity, stamina, and vitality instantaneous enhancement pills per month, along with a medium-sized house and lot in the suburbs of Valenzia City, huh?'' It was an incredible deal that anyone prone to acting impulsively would ept without hesitation. Well, Shye was not that kind of person, though. Not anymore. Although the house and lot would save him a significant amount of money and prepare him for Shirley''s arrival in Valenzia, he couldn''t immediately agree to the terms, especially since they required him to have a jam-packed schedule. First, he would be required toplete mandatory quests every three months and report his progress to the WAA''s main branch in Yonpo City, Yon Augenn Region. This requirement alone was already enough for Shye to turn down the offer as the system''s mandatory quest would always have to be his priority. Still, he was a division leader now, and the sry of a whopping 2,000 gold coins per month was hard to turn down, not to mention the instantaneous enhancement pills that he was utterly curious about. ...In addition to the first task, he would also need to clear two mana dungeons of (B-) rank or higher in the Valenzia Region each year. Lastly, if champions from another region found themselves in dire straits, he could not refuse a direct request for assistance from the WAA should they specifically ask for him. ''Sigh¡­'' Shye was caught in a dilemma. ''Oh? But wait, didn''t the system offer a side quest reward for epting the champion position? What would happen if I refused it then?'' He pondered, suddenly having an epiphany. ''Hmm? If the system has such a side quest, does that mean bing a champion will be of help to the old man''s main goal?'' He didn''t know what his final goal would be. However, if the system wanted him to be a champion, then despite it resulting in him being extremely busy for the next few years, Shye would naturally ept. Who knows? It might turn into an advantage for his uing mandatory quest from the system.@@novelbin@@ ''Yeah, there''s no need to hesitate. If the old man believes it would help, then it probably would.'' Despite the growing challenge of the mandatory quests, Shye sensed that the old man''s primary focus was on achieving his goal. While Shye''s safety seemed secondary, the old man ensured that the rewards would always provide him with the means to protect himself, even in the most critical situations. Hence, Shye still somewhat trusted the old man despite the system''s illogical upgrade tribtions. Meanwhile, s observed the subtle changes in Shye''s facial expression, hoping that he would agree to take on the position. "Lord s. I have a question." "Speak." "Traveling to other regions will consume a significant amount of time, and considering I have to report to the WAA''s main headquarters every three months, I was wondering if I could utilize that special-grade teleporter that isn''t essible to the public in the city square?" Hearing Shye''s words, s couldn''t help but chuckle. ''This brat¡­dares request for more?'' Special-grade teleporters, unlike standard ones, can transport someone directly to another city or an adventurer zone''s lobby, regardless of whether the destination has a teleporter or not. This is aplished by creating a temporary teleportation magic circle at the destination using the power of seven precious mana cores extracted from (C) ranked or higher monstrous creatures. Naturally, such activation requirements cost at least 40 gold coins per usage. A rather cheap amount for someone like him but exorbitant for regr adventurers andmon folks. Additionally, one could buy a recall scroll from the operator of the special-grade teleporter, priced at fifty gold coins each. The recall scroll would allow him to return to the special-grade teleporter in Valenzia City in mere minutes, saving him weeks, possibly months of travel. Still, before one could purchase and utilize such luxuries, one must have a Valenzia Special-grade teleporter pass. Your next chapter is on empire Otherwise, even if one had the money, one would still have to travel using regr teleporters with fixed destinations. "So, are you saying you will ept if I throw in a Valenzia special-grade teleporter pass?" "Hehe, yes, Lord s. If I could have the privilege to use the teleporter¡­ then, ahh, yes! I would be able to serve the region better!" Shye eximed with an awkward smile, cing a reassuring hand on his chest. He knew s wasn''t stupid, and that the city lord probably already knew that he only wanted to arrive at his destination and return faster. Hence, betting on nothing but his judgment, Shye dared request something from the person with the highest authority in the entire region. "..." After a few seconds of awkward-for-Shye silence, the city lord finally spoke. "Fine. Here." Retrieving the pass Shye needed from his desk''s drawer, s handed it to Shye, whose eyes gleamed with excitement. He resembled a child who was promised an exciting trip. ''Haha, Soaring Raven didn''t lie, this kid was truly amusing.'' s chuckled inwardly. He had never encountered a young adult in their early twenties who still had the audacity to negotiate additional benefits for themselves, even when facing him, Valenzia''s highest authority. "Thank you, Lord s! I shall make use of this pass to better serve the region as its temporary champion!" "Good, I expect great things from you, Shye Crowley. Come back here in three days'' time; I will organize a champion inauguration for you, which will be broadcast live across the entire region. Dress formally, understood?" "Yes, Lord s!" "Good, you''re dismissed for now." Chapter 495 Fight Me "Oh, there he is! Crowley!" "Shut the hell up, stupid big brother! Why are you yelling in a restaurant?" "Oh? Big Brother Adrian!, Instructor Fienna!" "Aihh¡­you too! Stop yelling! Also, stop calling me instructor, I''m not an instructor anymore, big sister Fienna is fine." Meeting his favorite instructor, from whom he had learned most of hisbat techniques, naturally brought an excited expression to Shye''s face, especially since he didn''t expect to see her in Valenzia City. "Hello, may I take your order?" ¡­After ordering a bunch of delectable stuff without holding back, it was finally time for the three of them to have a nice chat. "I would never have expected to meet you at the Valenzia City Hall, instr¨C b-big sis Fienna. I get that Big Bro Adrian is an adamantite-ranked adventurer but why are you also here?" "Hmm? Well, I was initially headed to Valenzia City after being promoted to my guild''s main branch, but I was intercepted by some damned terrorists or bandits, or whatever they were, who tried to abduct me. Naturally, I killed them all, but I was seriously wounded and poisoned in the process. Since I didn''t have the antidote for the specific type of poison they used, I nearly lost my life. Fortunately, Dean Snowcrest found me just in time and gave me a high-grade all-cure antidote, which was extremely rare. In gratitude, I promised to serve as abat instructor for six years." "I see...so that''s what happened...If you don''t mind me asking, what is your adventurer rank right now, Big Sis Fienna?" "I''m a recently promoted emerald. Since I failed to report to the main branch for years, they demoted me to ruby as punishment." "HMMPH! No matter, my little sister is way more talented than me. it would only be a matter of time before she bes an adamantite-ranked adventurer!" Hearing Adrian''s proud words, Shye couldn''t help but chuckle inwardly. It seemed that Adrian doted on Fienna just as he did on Maia. ''Hahaha, big brothers will be big brothers!'' The guy was more proud of his little sister than Fienna was herself. "What about you, Crowley? What are you doing in Valenzia?" "O-Oh, right! Didn''t you tell me that you''ve been promoted to the main branch already?!" Adrian suddenly answered with a shocked expression. Hearing her big brother''s words, Fienna''s eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief. "I-Is that true, Crowley?" She believed nothing Shye did could surprise her anymore, as she was ustomed to his incredible achievements. However, it seemed he had once again surpassed his limits in aplishing the impossible. It was simply hard to believe that her student, who had graduated from the academy just a little over a year ago, had already caught up to her in adventurer rank. Seeing his instructor''s shocked expression, which he took as a form of acknowledgment, naturally made Shye feel inwardly giddy. "Yes, inst¨C Big Sis Fienna. I''m already an emerald-ranked adventurer now and was promoted to the Raven''s de''s main branch about three months ago." "T-Three months ago?!" Fienna eximed, causing her to feel embarrassed upon remembering that they were in a restaurant. [Congrattions! You earned 1 point!] Naturally, the big brother would seize this opportunity to strike back and tease his little sister. "Hahaha! Fienna, why are you so noisy?! We''re in a restaurant, no?" *BONK!*@@novelbin@@ "Is it funny? We had a whole day and you didn''t even tell me when you already knew." Fuming in slight embarrassment, Fienna gave her older brother a solid whack to the back of his head. Adrian was quite happy about it, though. The two of them had been apart for six years. He was just d that they were still as close as they were in the past. ¡­After a few more moments, a waiter pushing a small tray cart arrived, delivering all the food they ordered. Naturally, the fragrant aroma of the seafood dishes instantly captured Shye''s attention. Thus, the three of them paused their conversation to eat, resuming it a few minutester. It was mainly Shye, the student, and Fienna, the instructor, who talked while Adrian happily listened to the two of them, gazing deeply at Shye from time to time. He was still having difficulties believing that the super rookie in front of him, who had every reason to be arrogant, was actually a very likable guy. As time passed, Shye recounted his glorious and unbelievable tales to the two of them, causing Adrian''s mouth to drop open with each story. If another person told such heroic stories, people wouldugh at the guy for being delusional. As for Fienna, however, there was a bittersweet feeling in her heart. She knew that her student wasn''t a lying phony, meaning that everything he told her was true. If so, then it meant that he had already surpassed her. In the past, despite Crowley''s talents, he always ended up as her training dummy, enduring numerous shes and stabs from her wooden sword. But now, it seemed that such things couldn''t happen again. She knew she couldn''t defeat her student anymore, yet, she didn''t want to run away. She wanted to face the truth head-on. Fienna herself was a prideful talented youngster who was a once-in-a-millenia genius. Hence, it was quite difficult for her to ept that she had been surpassed. However, since Shye was her student, there was this tinge of happiness deep inside her. Continue reading stories on empire She didn''t like it as she was apetitive person, but it ended up being the lone sce she could find inside her heart. "Hey, Crowley." "Yes, Big Sis Fienna?" "Fight me." "W-What?" "I said fight me. I want to see your progress." Seeing her serious disposition, Shye knew he couldn''t refuse. Perhaps his beloved instructor wanted to test if she had already been surpassed by her student, or perhaps she simply wanted to spar with a formidable opponent; either way, Shye had to face her inbat. Otherwise, he felt that she would somehow drift away. "Alright then. I won''t hold back, big sister." "My thoughts exactly." Chapter 496 Instructor Versus Student Cold winds blew. The chilling darkness of the night once again shrouded the entire world. Usually, by this time, most of the people living in cities were resting, with only a few still active. Among these active night owls were two people whose eyes were aze with fighting spirit, standing across each other with serious gazes. After eating, Shye and Fienna chatted for around thirty more minutes before walking towards Valenzia City''s dueling grounds--a moderately sized open area with small stages. With a simple registration from the grounds'' staff members, even visitors could use the area to spar with each other. Naturally, such an exciting ce had some battle enthusiasts as onlookers who were hoping to witness some impressive battles from random individuals. There were even a few scouts from some hopeful adventurer guilds present, aiming to poach random talented adventurers from other guilds that captured their attention. ...Despite his status as a rookie, Shye was fairly famous within Valenzia city. Hence, it was inevitable that there were lots of people who immediately recognized him upon arrival. As a result, lots of people were now watching his fight with Fienna, who seemed to not care one bit about the growing crowd. She knew that there was a high chance she would lose, yet, her eyes never once wavered, gazing straight towards Shye with intense battle intent. She might lose, but she wasn''t about to lose badly. As for Shye, this battle was rather difficult for his heart, but he knew he had to fight his instructor with everything he had. Otherwise, it would simply be disrespectful. "Prepare yourself, Crowley!" Armed with a wooden tachi, Fienna ferociously bolted towards Shye, deciding to start the battle with such a bold move. Naturally, Shye would never shy away from a direct confrontation. With two wooden greatswords in his hands, Shye''s attributes rose to their peak, allowing him to far surpass Fienna in terms of physicality. Yet, he didn''t dare underestimate this instructor of his. He knew that although she might not have overwhelming strength and speed, herbat techniques were top-notch, to the point where she was able to fight toe to toe against the diamond-ranked adventurers who tried to assassinate them on the way back from the Adventurer Academy Competition. One could even say that she was the sole reason why the instructors weren''t murdered in front of the students back then. Furthermore, the distressing event happened a year ago, and since she never cked off with her training despite being an instructor, who knew how strong she was now?@@novelbin@@ Well, Shye was about to experience it firsthand¡ªthe importance of peakbat techniques. Honestly speaking, he kinda started cking off in training hisbat techniques, as he was now used to simply utilizing his ridiculous physical attributes to overwhelm his opponent. Well, who could me him? How could he even practice hisbat techniques when most of his opponents would crumble in just a few attacks, sometimes, in only a single hit? It was simply hard to practice without a good sparring partner like Siegfried. Arriving in front of each other, Shye empowered both weapons with [Power sh] and a single charge of [Boost]. He then shed diagonally downwards with all his might. This attack made it hard for Fienna to dodge, forcing her to face Shye head-on. Unfortunately for Shye, the well-known fact that it was hard to dodge diagonally downward shes without stepping back turned out to be utter bullshit, especially against someone like Fienna who excelled inbat techniques. Shye''s attack was extremely fast and strong. However, it shed nothing but air as Fienna somehow managed to smoothly dodge his attack with pinpoint precision by leaning to the side¡ªthe distance between the greatswords and her face was extremely minuscule. Astonishingly, there wasn''t even a hint of fear on her face despite facing an attack that would probably break all her bones had she screwed up. Fienna was simply ice cold. ''Haha! I still have a lot to learn, huh?'' Shye mused as he barely dodged a ruthless face stab by jumping backward. It was a minor loss. HOWL! ''How about this then, instructor!'' Summoning his mana-wings and howling to the skies, Shye''s attributes once again rose. He then activated [des of Despair] and charged towards Fienna once more. Shye knew that his instructor was adept at parrying blows, hence, he nned to catch her off guard using this skill. ''Parry this, you filt-- err, my respected instructor!'' Repeating the same motion, Shye knew that his instructor would try to parry his attack. "Hmph! What are you doing, Crowley? I taught you better than to repeat attacks, didn''t I?" His guess was spot on. If there was a huge disparity between them, it was their intelligence attributes, hence, Shye was able to easily outsmart his instructor. Angling her wooden katana perfectly, Fienna waited for Shye''s greatswords to slide off the edges of her de. However, their swords didn''t even make contact as Shye''s swords merely passed through hers, causing her eyes to widen in shock and rm. Unfortunately for Fienna, her quick attempt to try and jump backward to dodge was way toote. Hence, the wooden greatswords easily shed through her body, sapping a good amount of her stamina and mana. "Ahh!" Since she was new to the sensation of having her energies destroyed, Fienna unintentionally let out a light moan. ''F*ck! Why did she have to¡­'' As a result, poor Shye, who was currently struggling to control his sexual urges, suffered a sudden mental counterattack from Fienna¡ªhis little brother stiffening up inappropriately. He continued attacking. However, despite slightly slower movements this time, Fienna knew better than to parry his attacks. Hence, she easily evaded Shye''s attacks, sneaking a few blows of her own in the process. Well, Shye''s movements got slower due to his second head''s vigor. His difficulties naturally gave Fienna an easier time. "Crowley, are you mocking me? Didn''t you say you''ll fight me seriously?!" Chapter 498 Final Attribute, Unlocked! Happy with how things turned out with his instructor, Shye hummed a tune as he returned to the inn''s room. There were still three more days before his inauguration as a regional champion. Therefore, Shye nned to review his winnings and use them efficiently for the time being. Tomorrow¡­ Feeling quite tired, he decided to go to bed early that night. The next morning, Shye got out of bed, took a quick bath, had a nice breakfast at the inn''s canteen, and then checked on his division at the guild headquarters. Since things seemed fine and his members weren''t getting bullied by other divisions, Shye exited the guild headquarters. He wanted to talk to Regi but the guy wasn''t there. ''Well, he never arrived early. I''ll juste backter. For now, I should upgrade my attributes.'' Returning to his inn room, Shye opened the system. [Current Points]: 400,993 Seeing how many points he had left, Shye was satisfied, immediately navigating to the [Upgrade Attributes] window. His attributes had remained stagnant ever since he maxed them out. Earning and saving up a million system points was difficult, so Shye could only upgrade the system afterpleting another mandatory quest that rewarded him with enough points for the upgrade. ''Oh? What''s this?'' There was a button on the [Upgrade Attributes] window that wasn''t there before, hence, Shye immediately tapped it to see what it was. == Cost to upgrade: 680 - Strength 600 - Intelligence 640 - Agility 600 - Dexterity 1,200 - Stamina 1,200 - Vitality 1,400 - Wisdom == ''Oh, so it lists the cost for each point upgrade, huh?'' Shye mused, noticing something at the bottom of the list. ''Wisdom? So I can finally upgrade my wisdom attribute now?'' Despite his excitement, Shye knew that he couldn''t disregard his bread-and-butter attributes. Thus, he decided to upgrade them first and then use the remaining points to upgrade the newly unlocked wisdom attribute. After spending a total of 278,600 points, his attributes looked something like this: [Strength: 400] [Intelligence: 400] [Agility: 370] [Dexterity: 360] [Stamina: 330] [Vitality: 330] [Wisdom: 147] With 122,393 points left, Shye pondered how many points he should invest in wisdom. If there was anything neglecting intelligence taught him, it was that all attributes would be of help to an adventurer, he just had to discover their purposes. To most adventurers and even the academies, the wisdom attribute was a huge puzzle because somehow, every time they would enter an appraisal shop to be appraised and obtain a printed copy of their updated attributes in exchange for a fee, their wisdom attributes would increase without them knowing why. Naturally, a few adventurers and adventurer academies who stood at the peak of the adventuring world already discovered the attribute''s purpose. However, since it was a valuable secret, they would naturally not share the knowledge with just anyone else. Even Colzen Academy didn''t have an inkling of what the attribute does except for making one a little bit smarter in making decisions and increasing one''s mana pool. Moreover, since the method to reliably increase one''s attribute was unknown, most believed that there was no use in studying its effects. After all, if one couldn''t train it, why bother? This was the reason Shye had to investigate its effects as he was probably the only adventurer who had the chance to obtain all adventurer sses due to his unique advantage. ''For now, let''s upgrade it to two hundred¡­'' Shye inwardly thought as he unhesitatingly spent 89,200 points. [Wisdom: 200] As soon as he felt the huge surge of warm,forting energy coursing through his body, Shye''s slightly distressed heart became unbelievably calm. Somehow, his guilt about what he had just witnessed in the system upgrade dream dissipated like thin smoke as a wave of enlightenment suddenly allowed him to ept everything with a serene heart. ''Hmm¡­so these are the effects of upgrading wisdom, huh? Maybe no one ever noticed because they''ve never experienced such a significant instant upgrade in this specific attribute¡­'' With the advantage of upgrading attributes in bulk, Shye easily noticed one effect that made it all worthwhile: a calmer heart and a deeper sense of worldly understanding. Just from this, he could say that his 89,200 points were well spent as inbat, the calmer one was, the more one could focus. Naturally, the calmer and more focused one was, the higher one''s chances of winning were, especially in a neck-and-neck scenario. ''I''m sure it isn''t just this, though. Well, no need to rush¡­I''ll take my time investigating this attribute''s effects.'' With his now more serene than ever heart, Shye could trust his judgment far easier than before.@@novelbin@@ He was certain that it wouldn''t have the highest upgrade cost and the longest unlocking time for no reason. Once he was done with his attribute upgrades, he promptly left the inn room to try something out. However, before he could, he must first register Nookie as a tamed monster, which was different from a familiar as familiars were from another world. Heading towards the nearest WAA office, Shye was rather pleasantly surprised to find that there was no queue for tamed monster registration. In front of him stood a lone female adventurer holding a cute orange fox. Once the fox was registered, it was already his turn. ''Hoh, so others tame low-ranked cute monsters to make them pets, huh?'' Shye mused as he walked towards the counter, thinking that it was not bad to tame one or two cute little pets for his future children.'' "Hello, Sir Adventurer. May I see the creature you want to register?" "Oh, right. Nookie,e out." "Nookie greet Master!" Naturally, seeing a cartoonish imp suddenly emerge out of nowhere, the staff member was startled. "N-N-Necrollin Puppeteer!" Those assigned to the tamed monster registration position naturally had extensive knowledge of almost every monster. Hence, the staff member easily recognized what Nookie was. From what the staff knew, despite their size, Necrollins were prideful creatures, especially the puppeteers as they were rather gifted even amongst their peers. Furthermore, even a young Necrollin Puppeteer could easily be considered a (B-) ranked threat solely because of its capability to control the bodies of deceased monstrous creatures while hiding inside a void pocket. It was simply difficult for the staff member toprehend how Shye managed to tame such a creature. It was none of his business, though. Hence, with a huge gulp, the staff member typed away and registered the creature. "I-Its name was Nookie, correct?" "Yes, this little one''s name is Nookie." There was no doubt that the creature was tamed, as the ck seal on its head was very distinct¡ªone of the clearest he had ever seen, indicating that Shye hadplete control over the creature. "H-Here''s the creature''s identification card, h-have a nice day, sir adventurer." Bowing in gratitude to the bbergasted staff member, Shye swiftly exited the city to try something exciting. ''Heh, good thing I haven''t sold the ember wyvern''s corpse yet¡­'' Chapter 499 Puppeteers Prowess "This area should be good¡­" Shye muttered as he arrived at a secluded area inside an advanced adventurer zone three hours away from Valenzia City. Although this specific adventurer zone had lots of adventurers inside, the area Shye chose didn''t as it was once the nest of an apex predator. The Evening Caliphus resembled an enormous cobra with pitch-ck scales and eyes, making it extremely hard to spot at nighttime¡ªits preferred hunting time. Hence, before one could even notice, one would already be swallowed whole. This was the reason adventurers avoided the area like the gue. Well, it was already a thing of the past, though, as Shye had already killed the serpent by cleanly puncturing its core. As a result, despite its almost instantaneous death, the Evening Caliphus'' body remained perfectly intact. ¡­Setting up his Small Camouge Camp, Shye eagerly took out the Evening Caliphus'' corpse from a corpse container. "Nookie,e out." "Yes, Master." Since the imp spent most of its time eavesdropping on Shye''s conversations from within a void pocket, it was gradually improving its understanding of humannguage. As a result, it could nowpose simple phrases and sentences as a response, though its way of speaking was still rather unrefined. ...Upon seeing the enormous corpse of a (B) ranked monster before it, the Necrollin Puppeteer''s instincts immediately kicked in, giving it an overwhelming urge to control the corpse¡ªmuch like a cat instinctively hunts a mouse at first sight. However, it was way too respectful of Shye''s strength and was too scared to do things that might anger its master. "M-Master, may Nookie control the corpse?" Hearing the cartoonish little imp''s words, Shye inevitably smiled. He tested whether it would act based on instinct or ask for his permission first. Luckily, Nookie didn''t disappoint him. "Of course, since you''ve been a nice little Necrollin, I shall allow you to y with it." "My gratitude, master!" With an evident smile on its impish face, Nookie once again disappeared into a void pocket, leaving Shye puzzled. ''Hmm? Can''t it simply control the corpse outside its hiding pockets?'' Shye had a point. Nookie could control corpses whether it was inside a void pocket or not; however, it was simply a Necrollin Puppeteer''s instinct to control a corpse from within a void pocket. If it didn''t do so, it would feel uneasy since it would be vulnerable to attackers. ¡­Around ten seconds had already passed, yet, there was still no movement from the corpse. Shye was beginning to grow impatient. He wanted to see Nookie''s abilities as soon as possible, expecting the little guy''s abilities to be of great help to him. Luckily, he didn''t have to wait long as soon after, the Evening Caliphus'' corpse twitched crazily. Then, after about five more seconds, the creature suddenly hissed, coiling up in a threatening position toward Shye as if it were still alive. ''Hoh? I thought its movements would be clumsy. Who would''ve thought that Nookie could make it so smoothly?'' Shye was impressed. However, Nookie''s performance didn''t end there. The enormous serpent suddenly began crawling at an unbelievable speed¡ªlikely even faster than when it was alive¡ªshowcasing Nookie''s masterful puppeteering skills. It then performed powerful attacks one after the other, leaving Shye in utter awe and excitement. "Great! What a master puppeteer you are, Nookie!" Emerging from the void, the little imp replied proudly: "Thank you for praise, Master!" It was indeed a master puppeteer. However, being recognized by its master felt wonderful, so Nookie felt the urge to show off even more after its initial performance. Still, it was smart enough to realize that simply repeating the same attack patterns at a faster pace would be unimpressive, preventing it from doing so even if it desired more praise for its puppeteering skills. Luckily for the little imp, it was about to receive the most pleasant surprise in its entire life. "Since you''re such a master, I shall give you a gift," Shye said with a mysterious smile, leaving Nookie confused yet excited. After all, gifts have always been a positive thing. *BANG!* A loud noise echoed through the forest as the gigantic corpse of the Ember Wyvern hit the ground, causing tremors not only to the earth but also to the little imp''s heart, driving it insane with utter tion. "UGYIII!!!" The little imp celebrated, pping in glee. However, just a few secondster, it stopped, suddenly realizing something important. "M-M-Master¡­Did you kill this?" "Hmm? Yeah, why?" "N-N-Nothing! C-Can Nookie use?" "Of course, I told you it was a gift, didn''t I? I''m lending this corpse to you!" This was a part of Shye''s n. Explore hidden tales at empire After all, one could never be too sure of a monstrous creature''s loyalty, hence, it would be best to subtly intimidate it every now and then. Nookie seemed to already forget the intimidation, though, as it swiftly returned to its void pocket with an excited impish smile. It wanted to immediately try controlling the (A) ranked monstrous creature''s corpse. After three whole minutes of remaining motionless, the corpse finally twitched, bringing a smile to Shye''s face.@@novelbin@@ If Nookie could control it perfectly, there were numerous ways Shye could utilize it! *ROAR!* The wyvern roared with a rather stiff intensity, making the sound even more horrifying to those who heard it. Shortly after, the corpse''s enormous wings started pping mightily. A few more secondster, although clumsily, the wyvern finally soared to the skies while roaring, bringing sheer happiness to Shye''s heart. A few adventurers eventually spotted the dead wyvern, filling them with horror and causing them to gasp for breath as they hurriedly fled the area. They hoped to escape alive, believing that the WAA would dispatch high-ranked adventurers to deal with it, as it was outside its expected habitat. Little did Shye know, this marked the beginning of a significant mystery that even high-ranked adventurers failed to solve, impacting the entire adventurer zone and dissuading wussy adventurers from taking quests there. He wasn''t in the mood to care, though, as he was simply way too excited. "Hahahaha! Well done, Nookie! Bring it down so I can attempt to ride it!" Chapter 501 Sudden Attack "...Shye Crowley, do you ept the position of Valenzia''s Champion, along with its weighty responsibilities?" "I do, esteemed inaugurator." "Then I hereby officially appoint you a Regional Champion of Valenzia!" Unfortunately, as the ceremony concluded, there was no opportunity for apuse as mere momentster, explosions erupted throughout the city of dreams, plunging it into chaos and sending its citizens into a panic. From s'' reaction on the holographic screen, it appeared that he had already been informed of the events and was swiftly issuing orders to contain the situation as quickly as possible. None of them knew who dared attack Valenzia City but it could only be a top-tier terrorist group as only they would even have enough influence, manpower, and firepower to do so. After all, Valenzia City was Valenzia Region''s capital, and most of the region''s highest-ranked adventurers were stationed here. One could only specte about the audacity and motives of the terrorist group that dared to invade such a heavily guarded city.@@novelbin@@ It seemed that the terrorists were well-prepared, though, as promptly after the explosions settled,rge heads of various monstrous creatures emerged from the clouds of smoke, causing further terror and panic amongst the popce. "Sh*t¡­are you serious?" Said Gyle sters, one of the highest-ranked adventurers of Valenzia, and the leader of Valenzia Enforcement Squad Three. Even the six adamantite adventurers behind him were bbergasted upon witnessing at least three (S) ranked monsters in their vicinity. Although their elite city enforcement squad could easily deal with one (S) ranked monster, three would be a bit too difficult. ''Tch, what choice do we have?'' Gyle inwardly thought before turning around and looking at his party members. "It''s a tall task, but we''re elites, no? We''ll manage! Charge! First, we shall y that True Fenrir!" Simr scenes happened everywhere in the city where elite adamantite adventurer squads arrived one after another to contain the situation and protect the citizens. So far, Valenzia City''s response to the situation had been immacte, resulting in only a few lightly wounded citizens and adventurers with zero deaths. Well, a part of it was due to the monstrous creatures'' weird behavior, though. "Hmm? Why are they wrecking only a few select homes while mostly ignoring the fleeing citizens?" Gyle noticed, leaving him confused. However, since this was a good thing, he decided to not dig too deep and simply contain the monsters. The quicker they defeat the creatures, the sooner they will ovee the ordeal. A few momentster, random adventurers ranked Mithril and Adamantite arrived to assist, easing the burden on the enforcement squads. However, they were not the only ones with reinforcements. Shortly after the random adventurers'' arrival, ck-caped men also appeared, attacking the random adventurers who appeared. "Who are you guys?! Why are you attacking Valenzia City?!" "Hmph! You don''t need to know. Just shut up and fight!" For the first time, Valenzia''s capital was in a state of pure chaos. It was still unknown whether the adventurers could fend off the ck-caped men''s sneaky yet explosive assault. s even ordered someone to send a distress signal to the nearby cities of other regions, calling for the aid of adamantite-ranked adventurers. Unfortunately, it would take at least a day for reinforcements to arrive, assuming any adventurers were willing to assist such a backwater region. They must hold on and at least buy time. Meanwhile, the situation inside the inauguration chamber was far from peaceful, as s'' aides and the inaugurator feared for their lives. Their worries turned out to be for the best as just momentster, five ck-caped men suddenly kicked the chamber''s door open. They bore no resemnce to the ck-caped men outside the city hall as these five appeared to hold significant positions within their group. Unfortunately, apart from Shye and City Lord s, who was a former adamantite-ranked adventurer himself, there were only two adamantite-ranked adventurers serving as guards inside the chamber, resulting in them being outnumbered five to four. It was a good thing that the terrorists weren''t interested in the lives of the aides and the WAA inaugurator. Otherwise, it would be even more difficult for Shye and the other capablebatants to defend. "Terrorists, what is your purpose for invading my city?" "Ahh, the famed Lord s. We''ve heard of you. However, you''re not our target today. Just hand Shye Crowley over and we promise to leave immediately." "Hmph, you think I''m some spineless turd? You insult me. Draw your des, I shall take your heads." "Hahaha! Strong fighting words, s Alinsky. However, you are nothing but a retired adamantite. It would be unwise of you t¨C?!" *CLANG!* A deafening ng of metal striking metal echoed through the chamber as the leader of the five ck-caped men barely managed to defend himself against s''s swift and vicious katana thrust. "It would be unwise of you to keep talking. I rmend you shut up for a while and focus on the fight." the city lord said with a stern face. It was evident that s had kept his skills sharp despite holding the region''s highest authority. "Hmph, Fine. I shall humor you, Lord s." As the city lord and the leader of the five elite terrorists began their fight, the two guards engaged with two of the terrorists, leaving Shye to face the remaining two. Naturally, s noticed his new regional champion''s predicament. Unfortunately, his hands were full with his current opponent, and there was no way for him to help. He could only hope that Shye could buy enough time for him to defeat his opponent ande to assist. Shye viciously stared at the two ck-caped, masked terrorists approaching him, ready to defend himself with everything he had. Explore hidden tales at empire However, contrary to his expectations, the two terrorists stared at him oddly, their eyes showing faint hints of tears instead of attacking immediately. This left Shye confused for a few moments until one of his opponents, the taller one who appeared to be male, charged forward and shed his tachi at him. "Hmph! You''re not capturing me that easily!" Chapter 502 Sealed Shye wanted to use appraisal. However, he was quite bbergasted by the sudden turn of events and his presence of mind slightly wandered off. Experience tales at empire Thus, he forgot to do so, and by the time he regained his wits, the man already charged towards him with unbelievable speed, leaving him no time to do so. Shye knew that these guys were at least of adamantite level. He had to go all out if he wanted to survive. ''Power sh! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' Immediately using all charges of boost along with his trusty [Power sh], Shye ferociously brandished both greatswords at the charging terrorist. *CLANG!* As their swords shed, the elite terrorist was shocked to find that it was he who was sent flying backwards, only stabilizing his footing after a few seconds.@@novelbin@@ ''You''ve grown into a fine man, Shye¡­'' The other elite ck-caped terrorist who seemed to be a woman, also couldn''t help but pause slightly upon seeing the results of the sh, charging towards Shye momentster with the intent to help the tall male terrorist who attacked first. "Mav¡­.ck Wing, circle and attack the target from the back, I shall attack him from the front." The woman said to the man, reappearing before Shye the next moment. ''Tch, this woman''s fast¡­'' [Your trait: [Unfazed Heart], has activated!] Hastily raising his arm and angling both greatswords in a cross block, Shye managed to clumsily deflect the woman''s dagger. However, due to her unexpectedly high strength attribute despite being of the scout ss, Shye was sent staggering backwards. Then, almost simultaneously, the tall man appeared behind him, aiming to knock him out by striking him with the t part of the man''s tachi. Just from these exchanges, Shye already knew that both terrorists were stronger than him, and while he could probably manage against one, two was an utterly tall task. Still, he would never allow himself to be captured that easily. ''Physical Barrier! Fallen''s Wings! Fallen''s Howl!'' Momentarily stopping the male terrorist''s attack using his lone priest skill, Shye was able to summon his wings and increase his attributes with the howl on time, allowing him to p his way out of trouble. ''Phew¡­?!'' Unfortunately, he didn''t even have a moment to catch his breath before noticing that the woman had already appeared beside him, using some sort of movement skill to cling to the chamber''s ceiling. Before he knew it, a kick was already headed his way. With his insanely quick reflexes, Shye was able to partially block the woman''s foot before the kick''s force allowed it to slip past his clumsy block,nding at his chest and sending him flying backwards. ''K-Kuhh¡­This b*tch¡­that hurts! Oh, crap! The man!'' Luckily, Shye''s presence of mind didn''t wander off this time. Hence, with one mighty p of his wings, he was able to barely evade the man''s neck chop. If not for the fact that the two were ordered to capture him instead of killing him, Shye knew that he would already be dead by now. Still, these two are probably as old as his parents so there was no need for him to fret too much about losing to them. After all, in just three to five years, these two would be no match for him. If he managed to survive today''s ordeal, that is. Landing at one of the chamber''s corners, Shye breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the two terrorists had no choice but to fight him head-on, eliminating the risk of being attacked from behind. "Ma¨C...ck Wing, what should we do?" "We must capture him soon¡­let''s use the sealing scroll¡­" "But didn''t the deputymander tell us to not use the scroll unless necessary?" "Well¡­let''s tell him it was necessary, then! The target was stronger than we thought and if we don''t use the sealing scroll, we won''t be able to make our exit on time. We only have thirty seconds, let''s move!" Shye knew that the two terrorists in front of him were whispering. However, he couldn''t hear what they were talking about. Hence, he could only prepare himself by gripping his greatswords tightly and keenly observing their movements. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, the events that were about to unfold were unavoidable, as the sealing scroll in the terrorists'' possession was of legendary grade. Moreover, his strength was only enough to fend off the two adamantite-ranked terrorists. Seeing the tall man retrieve an enormous scroll from his inventory, Shye''s eyes narrowed in wariness. However, it wasn''t the tall man who made a move but the short scout-ss woman, catching Shye slightly off-guard. Leaving a clone beside the tall man, the scout-ss terrorist charged toward Shye in a zigzag motion, attempting to confuse him about where the attack woulde from. It was child''s y for Shye to follow her movements, though. Hence, he easily blocked the woman''s attack by raising one of his greatswords, counter-attacking with the other shortly after. Unfortunately for him, the woman was no slouch and was able to dodge his greatsword''s stab with pinpoint precision easily. She then sent Shye flying towards the nearby wall with a kick to the chest. "ck Wing, now!" ''Crap!'' Shye immediately realized he was in trouble, however, there was nothing he could do. The scout-ss adventurer was pinning his shoulders tightly to the wall. "Get the f*ck out of my way, you b*tch!" "Y-You!! H-How dare you speak to me that way! We''ll talkter!" "Maverick! Seal him for now!" *Five seconds of gibberish* "Seal!" ''Sh-Shit¡­'' Shye could feel his consciousness being sucked into the scroll¡ªhis limbs losing strength. "Crowley!" The city lord eximed worriedly. Unfortunately, Shye was already being enveloped by the enormous sealing scroll like a mummy, and soon enough, he waspletely wrapped. ''Maverick¡­? Isn''t that my dad''s name? Also, the woman''s voice¡­where have I heard it¡­'' However, before hisst bits of consciousness faded, the woman''s voice once more sounded beside him. "Sleep for now, sweetie. We''re your allies so there''s no need for you to worry. We won''t hurt you." ''M¡­Mom?'' Chapter 503 A Not-So-Touching Reunion *BOOM!* After sessfully capturing their target, the terrorist leader suddenly fired a red smoke round at the skies of Valenzia City. Soon after, they all threw smoke bombs to the ground without hesitation, covering the entire city in white smoke. "K-Kuhh¡­these damned terrorists¡­What are they up to now?" Gyle, the captain of Valenzia Enforcement Squad Three, cursed after being forced back by the excessive smoke. It was unwise to continue fighting with such low visibility. Moreover, who knows? Maybe the terrorists had some sort of specialized tool or device they could use to easily kill them through the smoke. Thus, the enforcement squad captains ordered everyone to temporarily retreat and instructed the mages to cast wind-type spells to disperse the smoke. Naturally, the mages, despite not being members of the squads themselves, followed the squad captains'' orders as they all wanted to live to tell the tale of the terrorists'' attack on Valenzia City. Enjoy exclusive content from empire *FWOOSH!*@@novelbin@@ Strong winds swept through every corner of Valenzia City, effortlessly clearing away the white smoke that enveloped it. However, astonishingly, the only evidence left of the terrorists and the enormous (S)-ranked monstrous creatures they brought with them were the fading magic circles on the ground and the ruins of multiple destroyed houses and shops, serving as proof that Valenzia City had indeed been invaded. "The f*ck? Their attack didn''t evenst for five minutes! What the hell were they doing?" Gyle cursed in utter confusion. He couldn''t understand why the terrorists showed up for five minutes, and before anyone could even die, disappeared into thin smoke. Unbeknownst to them, their recently inaugurated champion had already been abducted. However, it would be difficult for them to know as s would naturally be suppressing this news, and only the concerned parties such as Soaring Raven, the WAA, and s'' close aides would ever know. After all, it would be a huge blow not only to the capital city''s prestige but also to the city lord''s. *** "Where the hell am I?" Shye muttered as he looked around the small metal room he was in. He couldn''t recall much, but he did remember hearing his mom''s voice just before he lost consciousness. From that moment, memories came flooding back, allowing him to recall that the scout-ss terrorist, who had his mom''s voice, called the tall man "Maverick"¡ªthe name of his missing father, Maverick Crowley. Shye, with his four hundred intelligence attribute points, could now analyze and deduce things in the blink of an eye. Moreover, his higher-than-most wisdom attribute enabled him to think rationally, even though the situation was rted to one of his most significant life missions: finding his missing parents. Even so, he had mixed emotions. A part of him felt a sense of relief because if the two terrorists he fought earlier were indeed his parents, it meant they were doing well and had be as strong as mid to high-ranked adamantites. However, he couldn''t help but feel hurt and angry. After all, he and his little sister were not even teens when their parents supposedly "died," yet the two were alive all along. They hadn''t visited or looked for him and his little sister even once, nor left them any gold or silver coins to survive. Instead, they were left to fend for themselves as street rats for four years, only for their parents to join some darned terrorist group. Anyone would naturally be infuriated upon finding out the truth. ¡­Soon after, the door opened. "S-Shye, sweetie. I''ve missed you." It seemed that his deductions were correct as the two who entered the room were indeed his missing father and mother. Yet, no matter how much he wanted to, he couldn''t smile at them¡ªhis mother''s sweet words didn''t have the effect he had hoped for. "Do you think I''d miss the likes of you two?" Shye said furiously, his breathing heavy. "Shye, your mother and I had a rea¨C" "Do you know how I''ve made it my life''s mission to rescue you two?! It turns out, you weren''t even in danger in the first ce! Hahaha! Instead, you''re the ones endangering the lives of others! You missed me? Hah! Then you should have at least visited me and Maia. Did you know we lived on the streets of Colzen City for four years? That Maia almost died?! That we begged for coins just for a single meal that wouldn''t even fill half our stomachs?!" Hearing Shye''s story, Alicia and Maverick Crowley couldn''t help but clench their fists as their hearts ached in frustration and pity. They were promised by a certain someone that their children would live decent lives as one of them, Shye, was key to a much grander purpose¡ªone that would impact the entire world. An old man, who turned out to be the leader of the world''s most notorious terrorist group that they''ve now joined, told them a shocking secret. The world was ending, and they, although known as a terrorist group, were working hard to restore it to normal. Mana dungeons with increasingly difficult requirements would continue to emerge in every region at a rate that outpaced the ability of adventurers to clear them. Adthiopia, siphoned of mana, would then die and be uninhabitable. Based on mana dungeons emerging everywhere, the Crowley couple easily believed the story. They were both skilled and capable as adventurers, however, they weren''t that smart. Therefore, when the old man told them that their son was the only one who could save the world from ruin due to his unique hidden talent, the two¡ªdriven by their overwhelming sense of duty and not-so-bright minds¡ªvowed to help the old man, who promised that their children would be well cared for despite their grand mission. The Crowley couple was naturally happy to be a part of such a monumental and important quest. However, what they didn''t appreciate was the old man''s lie. Their children, whom they loved and cherished with all their hearts, became street rats for four whole years? Uneptable! They might have been foolish and impulsive at times, but they both had passionate and loving hearts. Hence, Alicia Crowley couldn''t bear her son''s words and stormed out of the room, crying in regret and anger. She headed toward the old man''s room, with her husband, Maverick Crowley, equally furious but concealing it beneath a calm exterior, right behind her. "You damned lying old bastard!!" Chapter 504 Verden Zachrana "You f*cking old man! You''ll see! You''ll see!!" "Alicia, calm down! You know we''r¨C" "You! And you call yourself Shye''s father?! How can you be so calm when your son has been treated that way?!" Alicia raged, her voice echoing in the metal hallways of the terrorist group''s main headquarters. "Don''t forget that it was your decision that got us into this mess! I don''t regret being a part of this mission. However, if my son and daughter don''t forgive me, I''ll also never forgive you!" Just thinking about her poor children begging for coins and food for four years broke Alicia''s heart into a million pieces. ''Why?! Why am I always so stupid?! I should have stayed with them at least until one of them made it into Colzen Academy!'' She reprimanded herself as she stormed towards their leader''s room. *BANG!* "YOU!! WE''VE EVEN DECIDED TO FORCE OUR CHILDREN TO HELP WITH YOUR SO-CALLED NOBLE PURPOSE AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US?!" Alicia furiously said after kicking the old man''s metal door open. "Calm down, Alicia. Let me exin." If Shye saw the old man''s face, he would be shocked to recognize him as the very same old man he worked for, the one who had bestowed the system upon him: Sanada Eiichiro. "Exin? Naturally, you have to exin! Otherwise, we''re quitting and taking Shye with us! This whole world can go to hell for all we care!" "Sigh... Since you''re all here, let me exin everything to you. Fetch the youngd as well; he''s the one who needs to know the most." Hearing the old man''s words, Alicia slightly calmed down, signaling for Maverick to fetch Shye as she didn''t dare to face and talk to her son. She knew that she and her husband were at fault from the very beginning. They were young and impulsive at the time, even daring to decide whether one of their children should save the world or not. They thought that Shye would thank them should he be a hero. After all, it was them who got him into this grand quest to save the world. However, upon realizing how difficult it was and how much Shye had to suffer, with the possibility of his name going down in history as a viin if they failed, Alicia and Maverick began to regret their impulsive decisions. It was a huge blunder on their part. As parents, their children''s well-being shoulde first, not their own feelings. Unfortunately for them, every mistake had a price, and this time, the cost was their children''s affection. ...As a father and the supposed "leader" of their family, Maverick knew he had to fetch Shye despite the slight fear and shame in his heart. It was indeed his decision thatpelled Alicia to go down the path of a so-called "hero", hence, he braved his fears and headed towards the room where they were keeping Shye. He then unlocked the special chain they used to restrain him. As for Shye, just seeing his father''s face was enough to make his blood boil in anger. He wanted to punch him. However, he knew he shouldn''t, and he couldn''t bring himself to do so.@@novelbin@@ In the end, as foolish and rather selfish as they were, they were still his parents. Deep inside his heart, he wanted to let go of his anger and go back to living a peaceful life with them. He was at least willing to give them a second chance, but naturally, they had to work for it. Your adventure continues at empire He would never easily forgive them for making him and his little sister suffer for some random purpose he didn''t understand. ¡­Maverick was too ashamed to even speak to his son, yet, he still tried. "S-Shye, son. Would you please at least hear me and your mother out?" "Heh, maybe next time. Your face disgusts me." Shye replied disrespectfully. He wanted to do the opposite, however, even with the guidance of his high wisdom attribute, he couldn''t. He was just too angry right now. Sighing in dejection, Maverick could only take things slowly. He knew that he currently didn''t even have the right to reprimand Shye for his disrespect. After all, what they did to him was much worse, even thinking that his son would thank him for this forced decision in the future. "Sigh¡­follow me for now. The leader wants to meet you." Based on his parents'' attempts to reconcile with him, he sensed a low chance of falling into a precarious situation despite being inside the base of a terrorist group, and since he was already here, Shye would naturally follow to find out what all this crap was about. Usually, terrorist groups abduct talented adventurers to extract their talents. At least that was what he was aware of. Hence, Shye was confused as to what the goal of this specific terrorist boss was. ''Are they here to recruit me?'' He mused as he walked behind his father. After around ten minutes of walking, they finally arrived at the boss'' room. "I''ve brought him." Shye had a cold smirk on his face as he entered the room, ready to reject the leader''s offer. However, upon entering, his eyes widened in surprise. "We meet again, youngd." "Old Man Sanada? You''re¡­the leader of a terrorist group?" "Yes, the most notorious, mysterious, and strongest, to be precise. The Verden Zachrana Group." "..." Shye was stupefied for a few moments. However, as realizations dawned upon him, his heart was once again filled with rage. He was so angry that all he could do wasugh. "Hahahaha! You yed me so well. Nicely done, bald geezer! You even pulled my parents into your scheme! Was it fun toying with our family, huh?!" Shye eximed in utter fury. "Was Maia''s sudden sickness because of you too? What a scheme to make me owe you something! Hahahaha! You''ve certainly broadened my horizons, you old bastard!" [Congrattions! Your Wisdom attribute has increased from 200 >> 240!] "Sigh... I apologize for deceiving you, youngd. However, I instructed your parents and a few of my men to abduct you for two purposes. While it''s best not to disclose the second reason, I will exin the first. I''ve chosen to reveal everything you need to know about my ns." Chapter 505 The Truth (1) "Lord s, I apologize for my straightforwardness. However, we don''t even know which terrorist group attacked the city, let alone where they brought Shye Crowley. How would we rescue him?" One of s'' aides said with a hint of disappointment. He had always respected his city lord in the past for his calmness. Yet, at this very moment, there was no trace of the calm city lord he idolized. s was embarrassing them in front of the WAA representative. "There must be tracks somewhere! What will the world, or the city, think of me if we don''t find them? We have to bring Crowley back at all costs!" s eximed in desperation. The once respectable man indeed looked stupid at this moment, and the WAA representative couldn''t help but intervene while shaking his head. "Enough, Lord s. Your aide is right, it would be hard to even find Crowley. We have no choice but to postpone the rescue operation until we discover which terrorist group attacked Valenzia City." Hearing the WAA representative''s words, s dejectedly sat back down.@@novelbin@@ "Sigh¡­Everyone, I apologize. You all know that Shye Crowley is the most talented person our region has ever seen. I hope you all can understand why I''m acting like this." "Worry not, Lord s. We all understand. Since the city lord is in no condition to continue the meeting, let us do so another day. In the meantime, continue searching for the terrorists'' tracks. Dismissed!" Once the meeting was over the aides went their own way¡ªone of them immediately meeting up with the WAA representative behind everyone''s backs. "Hmm... it doesn''t look like s is colluding with terrorists after all. I thought he would be more cunning, but it turns out he''s just an above-average city lord who values his prestige above everything else." The WAA representative frowned upon hearing the aide''s words. It seemed that a lot of people, including this one, were jealous of s in the past and were happy to see his downfall. ''Hmph, this is why your region is stuck at the bottom! There''s no power to be had, yet all of you still have some internal conflicts! Laughable!'' The representative mused before speaking: "Hmph, I''m also a bit disappointed. However, remain vignt. Although the chances are low, s could still be pretending." "Understood, Sir Wekkan! I shall continue observing him." s'' aide replied respectfully. However, deep down, he believed that s was nothing more than a superficial city lord, not even clever enough to conspire with terrorists. Unfortunately for the WAA representative, he had no way of knowing the aide''s true feelings. "Good. I''ll head back to headquarters for now. In the meantime, search for any signs of the terrorists and do it quickly. Your region can''t afford to lose Shye Crowley at this crucial time." *** Meanwhile, back at the Verden Zachrana base¡­ "Fine then, since I''m already deep into this crap anyway, I shall listen to what all of you have to say," Shye said after taking multiple deep breaths to calm his raging heart. He was still furious at the three of them. However, despite feeling betrayed by his parents and the old man to whom he supposedly "owed" a favor, Shye still had a reason to live: for himself, for his future family with Shirley, and his little sister, Maia. Hence, a part of him still wanted to go through with the old man''s quest no matter how bullcrap it was. After all, one needed strength to protect their loved ones and give them the best life they could ever ask for, which is why Shye was determined to hold onto the system''s benefits if he could. For now, he was at least willing to listen to them. "Great. Then I shall exin." Old Man Sanada began, "Your parents have already been informed of this. The world is ending." Hearing the old man''s words, Shye''s eyes narrowed. It wasn''t easy for him to trust the old man again, given his exceptional talent for spewing out lies. This might be another fabricated story so he had to remain vignt and look for holes. "As you know, mana dungeons have been popping up everywhere. This will not change forever unless we restore this world''s bnce." "Restore the world''s bnce? Oh, I wonder why it was broken in the first ce?" Shye sneered in response, not willing to believe the old man yet. "It''s embarrassing but¡­it was because of me and the so-called Yon Augenn Hero Party fifty years ago¡­" This time, seeing the old man''s ashamed face, Shye couldn''t help but narrow his eyes once more. ''Fifty years ago? Wasn''t that when the Yon Augenn Hero Party defeated and sealed the ck dragon of destruction?'' Shye pondered with a frown. "Hah, what, are you now telling me that sealing the ck dragon of destruction was a mistake? Didn''t it go and attack Yonpo City and that''s why it was sealed?" "Yes, sealing it was a huge mistake¡­the biggest one I''ve done in my life¡­" "Hahaha! Do you think I was born yesterday, old man? Why don''t you juste out and say that you want to release the ck dragon of destruction to get your revenge on Dweezel Hawkins? I''m sure it would be worth it for you. After all, it''s only millions of lives in exchange for sweet revenge, right?" Shye sneered coldly, appearing as though he had already seen through the old man''s plot. Continue your journey on empire "Sigh¡­again, youngd, I apologize for deceiving you. However, I''m telling the truth this time. If you still find it hard to believe my words, why don''t we use an orb of truth?" Narrowing his eyes, Shye retrieved one of the highest quality from the system''s inventory. He was not about to use an orb of truth provided by the deceptive old man. "Fine, here, use mine. Who knows if yours has been tampered with? You''re a despicable soul practitioner, after all." Shye''s parents naturally didn''t like the sharp wordsing out of his mouth. However, there was nothing they could do as they were not in a position to reprimand their son. They could only watch as the old man and Shye resolved the matter on their own. "Good. Now then, I''ll be the one asking questions." Chapter 506 The Truth (2) "I heard that the inauguration chamber, where the division leader was officially appointed as a regional champion, was also attacked by terrorists..." "Yeah¡­and three days have passed since the incident, yet the division leader still hasn''t returned! Do you think that¡­perhaps¡­" "You! Why are you thinking like that?! Maybe they''re just keeping the division leader safe inside the city hall. After all, those damned terrorists might return anytime!" Back at the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild, the shy Ravens Rising division members were inplete chaos. Well, except for the deputy leader, of course, who had been warned of what would happen in advance: Reginald Bodan. "Aihh! Can you guys shut up? I told you already, didn''t I? The division leader has already contacted me! He was just sent to another region for some official registration¡­and¡­other stuff! Why don''t any of you believe me?!" Regi eximed in frustration. It seemed he had overyed his "persona," and now everyone believed he was merely trying to pacify them with lies. They were correct, though. However, it was also true that Shye was safe and that they did not need to worry. As for the division leader in question, he was interrogating the leader of the most notorious terrorist group in all of adthiopia. "So, why was it a mistake to seal the ck Dragon of Destruction?" "Because it wasn''t an enemy of the White Dragon of Creation but its twin entity. Together, the divinity of the two dragons controls the world''s mana flow. If one divinity is removed, the other cannot manage the world''s mana flow alone, causing it to go berserk. The result is what you see: mana dungeons emerging everywhere to siphon mana from the world in an attempt to contain it. Unfortunately, in a few more years, there will be too many, and the world''s mana will dry up." This time, Shye couldn''t bring himself to mock the old man. What he said just made too much sense that it was impossible to write it off as another lie. Stay updated through empire Moreover, the orb of truth turned blue, meaning that the old man wasn''t lying. However, if this was indeed true, then it meant that the world was headed for ruin. "I''m confused. If the ck Dragon was one of this world''s two deities, then why did it attack Yonpo City in the past?" "That''s because it was manipted to do so." Seeing that the orb of truth turned blue, Shye had no choice but to believe the old man. "Manipted? By who? And how?" "I don''t know exactly how, but the one who did it was none other than that bastard Dweezel." Hearing the old man pointing fingers at Dweezel Hawkins again, Shye wanted to mock him. However, since the orb turned blue once more, he could only hear the old man out. It seemed that Dweezel was truly one hell of a bastard¡ªone that was of a greater caliber than this deceptive bald old geezer in front of him. "And why would he manipte the ck dragon to attack?" Shye asked with narrowed eyes. "Because the bastard wanted to be immortal. After years of observing his movements and nting a spy in his organization, I discovered that he needed three things: a piece of the ck Dragon of Destruction''s divinity, the White Dragon of Creation''s teardrop, and a body with a specific kind of talent, which he is still searching for to this day." Shye didn''t want to know the specifics of how the bastard would achieve immortality. However, it was safe to assume that Dweezel had already obtained the ck Dragon of Destruction''s divinity since it was now sealed somewhere deep inside the WAA''s headquarters.@@novelbin@@ As for the White Dragon of Creation''s teardrop¡­ "He already obtained the piece of divinity, correct?" Shye rudely asked. However, his response almost made the old man jump up and down in glee. After all, it at least hinted that Shye was concerned about the world''s fate; that there was a chance to convince him to join them willingly. Sanada knew that Shye would likely try to hold onto the system''s benefits, but there was a significant difference between being forced to help and choosing to help willingly. This differencey in the resolve to undertake difficult tasks for the cause. If one merely had no choice but to do things due to someone''s orders, he/she would hesitate when ites to pushing through difficult obstacles. However, if one was willingly fighting for something, then one wouldn''t hesitate to go through challenges if it meant achieving one''s goal. This was why Sanada told Shye everything, even though it meant the young man he was rather fond of would probably start to hate him. He wanted Shye to understand that if he didn''t willingly help, the world would end, leaving no ce for him and his beloved to live peacefully and start a family. Only, the old geezer forgot to mention one important thing. "Yes, and also the White Dragon of Creation''s teardrop. All he was missing was a young body with a specific kind of talent. Although we still haven''t discovered what body he was looking fo¨C" "And what does all of this have to do with our family? Why us? Why me?! There were plenty of youngsters more talented than me, weren''t there, you old bastard?!" Looking back, it didn''t have to be him, and even without the system, he could have still won Shirley''s affection. After all, if his parents hadn''t abandoned him and his little sister, he would have been a seeded candidate for the Colzen Academy Entrance Examination. Moreover, if the old deceptive geezer hadn''t chosen them, he would probably be livingfortably with his girlfriend in some city after graduating from Colzen. He would be living blissfully unaware, while some other poor soul, chosen in his ce, would be dealing with the burden of saving this damned world. He could''ve been so much happier! "It has everything to do with you and your family. Youngd, believe it or not, you''re the sole person in this world who can rewrite this old man''s wrongs." Chapter 507 The Truth (3) Astonishingly, the orb of truth turned blue once more, causing Shye''s brows to rise in confusion. "Me? And what''s so special about me? Aren''t I just the son of two diamond-ranked adventurers? Even though Mom and Dad are now as strong as adamantite-ranked adventurers, aren''t there plenty of children from such peak-ranked adventurers?" "Indeed, there are many like you, but only you were born with the specific talent that could help us through this sticky situation." Hearing the old man''s reply, Shye suddenly remembered the weird talent that was on his status window. [Lim??(???)] It only appeared after he purchased his first talent, and even then, it seemed that the system was trying to hide its existence from him. "How are you so sure that only I, in the entire world, have this talent?" Shye asked with a frown. "You wouldn''t want to know the atrocities I''vemitted in desperation. However, I can say with confidence that only you in the entire world indeed have this talent, and I would''ve extended my filthy hands towards you and your family one way or another so I hope you can forgive your parents for their choices¡ªthey only joined my group because I convinced and manipted them to." Sanada replied with a sincere bow, surprising not only Shye but also Alicia and Maverick. The old man didn''t need to do all of this as he was way stronger than the three of them. Hence, this sincere gesture of asking him to forgive his parents struck a chord in his heart. After all, if the old man was a true bastard, then he wouldn''t have even thought of doing such a thing. ''Tch, in the end, I''m still nothing but a young softie, huh?'' Shye mused as his expression softened. He still didn''t speak about forgiving his parents, however, since he didn''t look as furious as he was before, the Crowley couple took it as a positive sign. Even if their son couldn''t forgive them today, they at least knew that as long as they worked hard for it, one day, Shye and Maia would forgive them for their idiocy. "Fine¡­I''ll believe you, for now, old man. What is this talent I was born with and how does it make me special?" "Thank you for understanding my plight and for deciding to help, youngd. It''s best if you see for yourself, so I''ll unlock it for you and let you check it out." The old man said with a slight, walking towards his desk at a corner of the metallic room shortly after. He then took out an unusual device from a peculiar bag. ''Hoh, is that the ptop" thing he mentioned?" Shye mused as observed the foldable rectangr device.@@novelbin@@ It had lots of windows that resembled the system he was using. A notification suddenly appeared in front of him, though, shifting his attention away from the old man and his device. [Congrattions! Your talent [Limitless Constitution (Epic)] has been unlocked!] ''Is this damned old man messing with me? I get that an [Epic]-tier talent would take me to the peak of the Valenzia Region but how is this even close enough to be the only one that can save the world?!'' Shye inwardly raged, thinking that the old geezer was bullsh*tting with him again. However, after reading its description, Shye somehow got an inkling of how this specific talent would help him aplish the old man''s grand quest. === [Limitless Constitution (Epic)] Description: Discover stories with empire One''s constitution would be free from any limitations and could develop continuously without ever facing a bottleneck. === Sanada''s voice then sounded, borating on his talent further: "I temporarily locked away this talent of yours because I didn''t want you to develop a false sense of superiority. Despite being ssified as [Epic]-tier, this talent would be mostly useless since nearly every human, including you, would never reach the limits of their body in their lifetime. However, with the secret I have given you, it will be a weapon that allows you to challenge even a... God!" With the old man''s simple exnation, the gears of Shye''s mind shifted and turned as he thought of the possibilities. ''Hoh¡­based on this old man''s words, every human would eventually reach their body''s limits, meaning that no matter how hard they trained, their attributes would be stuck at the same value without ever increasing.'' He then looked at his talent''s description and resumed thinking. ''Basically, all this talent of mine does is eliminate the limits of the human body, allowing me to grow as strong as I want with the help of the system¡­'' A few momentster, the old man spoke once more. "I assume that you already understand why you''re the only one I could turn to for help." "Indeed. However, why didn''t you turn to the WAA for help? If you informed them of Dweezel''s ns, they would be on your side, no?" Hearing Shye''s words, Sanada clenched his fists hard. "I did try to expose him, but I underestimated that two-faced bastard''s preparations. I didn''t know he already had deep connections with several high-ranking officials in the WAA. As a result, the only evidence I had ended up in the hands of one of his men, and I, along with two other heroes from the Yon Augenn Hero Party, were branded as criminals..." ''Hmm¡­that Dweezel is indeed a hateful bastard of the highest caliber¡­'' Shye mused before speaking: "Fine, I believe you, and this information shall suffice for now. What are your ns for me then, old man?" "Again, I am grateful for your willingness to help, youngd. Regretful as it may be, my group isn''t ready yet and wouldn''t be for a few more years." "In the meantime, I ask you to advance your career, be as strong as you can be, and save up as many points as possible before the final battle with that bastard, Dweezel." "I shall continue to guide your path using the mandatory quests." "If I could, I would have granted you powers without requiring you to earn them. However, even soul arts have their limits and are bound by this world''sws. Moreover, there are boundaries that even someone as despicable as me doesn''t dare to cross. All I can do is ask you to do your best and gain unimaginable strength from the secret I handed to you on your own." Chapter 510 A Unique Point Farming Idea Along a well-popted street in Valenzia City, an ashen-haired young man strolled happily, checking out the two red rectangr-shaped mana-powered devices in his hands. ''Phew...I thought I wouldn''t be able to purchase it...who would''ve expected that the scene in that Manasoft corporation shop would resemble that of Meido''s?'' Shye mused with a satisfied expression. Upon arrival at the enormous shop filled with high-ranked adventurers, Shye immediately checked the stocks of manamunicators, and since there was a lot, he thought that he would obtain them today for sure. Unfortunately, most were already reserved for famous adventurers with good connections in the shop or the family members of the city hall''s employees. Hence, he almost couldn''t obtain two, but luckily, the stockssted until his turn, where only three remained, of which, he purchased two. ...Temporarily returning to his new house and lot, Shye kept both manamunicators in the system''s inventory, noticing a small box at one of the inventory slots. ''Oh, right, Lord s gave me a gift as well!'' Shye loved free stuff. Hence, he excitedly retrieved the box from the inventory and opened it, revealing the item inside. It was a small white mask the size of a potato chip. ''A mask? Isn''t this too small for a human''s face? the only head that can use this is my second one...'' Shye mused. ''Appraisal!'' === [Name]: White Hawk Mask [Tier]: Diamond [Rarity]: Unique [Description]: A mask thatpletely conceals one''s mana and aura. Also grants one a specific identity. Note: Activate by infusing mana. === ''Hoh...so this was its deactivated state, huh...'' Shye naturally tried infusing mana onto the small mask, causing it to grow to perfectly fit his face. He then wore it to test its effects. ''Hmm...I don''t feel anything different except for feeling like a character in a movie...'' Speaking of movies, Shye suddenly remembered the idea he got after earning lots of points during his inauguration. ''A live-action movie, huh?'' he pondered, returning the mask to the system''s inventory. From what happened during his inauguration, it seemed that the level four system allowed him to earn points from those who were watching from holographic televisions.@@novelbin@@ It was the only feasible exnation. After all, there were only around twenty people inside the inauguration room. Due to this, he got a new excellent point farming idea, one that would allow him to earn a stable amount of points if sessful. ''Hmm...can a normal adventurer like me even rent a television channel?'' Well, Shye knew that there was only one way to find out. Excitedly leaving his house, Shye walked at a quick pace towards the Valenzia Television Department Office located close to the city hall to inquire, eager to try his idea out. He then arrived a few minutester, satisfied with the fact that there weren''t a lot of people queueing at the office''s inquiry desk. "Hello." "Hello, sir, how can I help you? "I''m just wondering if adventurers can rent a holographic television channel for personal use?" "Ahh...yes. However, the prices of the television channels vary depending on whether its unique mana bandwidths are close to a famous channel or not." "I see...how much does a regr one cost?" "The cheapest would be around 1,500 gold coins per month while the premier spots cost around 15,000 gold coins per month." ''Crap... that much per month?!'' Shye inwardly thought, forcing a smile. "I-I see...can you exin how starting your own channel works? What do I need, how to operate the needed items, all that stuff..." "I apologize, sir. I cannot do so as only those who have already availed a channel are entitled to a one-day lecture regarding how to operate and grow it." "Ahh...I see. Thank you for that information." "No worries, sir. If you want to rent a channel, you may queue at the second line." Nodding at the information desk receptionist, Shye decided to sit for a while to mull over things. ''Would renting a channel be worth it? This would basically be a gold coin-to-system point exchange with the rates depending on how famous my channel would be...'' ''I would probably operate on a loss in the first few months...Should I do it?'' Shye''s n was to show off his skills on his private holographic television channel. However, his sess would depend on whether a lot of people would tune in. If no one watched, his finances were probably f*cked. ''Hmm...Although it would initially take a lot of money to pull off, this might work with a little advertising and marketing before the channelunch...Yes, let''s do that.'' Experience tales at empire Shye wasn''t a fan of giving up before trying, especially since his idea was highly feasible with high potential returns. It would be a waste to not even try it. Fully resolved to start live streaming for extra system points, Shye queued up at the second line. There were only two people in front of him. Hence, in just around twenty minutes, it was already his turn. "Hello." "Hello, I would like to rent a channel." "I see. Please check this catalog. Once you have selected a channel of your choice, queue at queue number three." "Thank you." Since he was going to spend money on advertising his channel anyway, there was no need for him to rent a premier channel spot as not only would it be way too expensive and unsustainable to do so, but it was also of no use. After all, he was nning to do some crazy shit to gain and retain viewers. Moreover, he was confident that as long as he properly entertained his viewers and made them happy one way or another, his channel would eventually be famous, rendering the renting of premier channel spots useless. ...Immediately queueing at the third queue, Shye randomly selected a 1,500 gold coin per month channel, paid for it, settled the paperwork, and entered a special room for a one-on-one lecture. ''Phew...just a few more steps...'' Chapter 512: Grand Launch "Hey, isn¡¯t it time for Shye Crowley¡¯s channelunch? Why do I only see a blue screen?" "Who knows, maybe he encountered some issues?" "Hmph! Or maybe he was merely lying to everyone!" Today, the vast lobby of the Raven¡¯s de Adventurer Guild was more bustling than usual as guild members gathered to purchase snacks, meals, and beverages, all while tuned in to the holographic television. After a sessful week of advertising, nearly the entire city learned about Shye¡¯s holographic television channelunch. However, despite knowing who he was, not everyone had the time or interest to watch him. At least not for now. Still, he managed to gather quite a number of viewers¡ªaround 150,000, including his guildsmen. It was way smaller than his target number, but it will do for now. The channelunch was runningte, hence, the interested viewers slowly grew bored. A few even left, thinking that waiting for Shye Crowley¡¯s channelunch was nothing but a huge waste of time. It was only when a few hundred had already left that the blue screen momentarily turned ck. "Hello? Why the heck isn¡¯t this thing connecting? Oh, wait, I¡¯m live! Hello, everyone! Wee to my grand channelunch. I¡¯m your host and star, Shye Crowley. I believe most of you have already heard of me, but if not, you¡¯re about to!" A young man¡¯s voice resounded from the holographic television screen, capturing the attention of not only his guildsmen from the lobby but also the viewers watching from their homes. "I won¡¯t talk about my past achievements as doing so would not only beme, but also boring. It would be better to just show you guys new ones, no?" Shye eximed in a jolly manner. He had never been a shy youngster, so he didn¡¯t appear awkward while talking to the live recording crystal, as if he were genuinely speaking to his viewers. "Oh? It¡¯s really him! Hahaha! I like his introduction!" "Show us new achievements? Using this channel of his? What would he gain from this aside from fame?" Shye¡¯s words naturally stirred up amotion within the guild. However, before themotion could escte, the viewers¡¯ attention was recaptured by the appearance of an enormous sleeping monster on the screen¡ªan (A) ranked Poison Basilisk that most adventurers had never encountered face to face. Its body wasn¡¯t as thick as that of the (A-) ranked Tempest Wyrm, however, it was around fifty meters long and was protected by absurdly thick green and purple colored scales. "H-Hey, I know he defeated an (A) ranked Ember Wyvern, but isn¡¯t a Venomscale Basilisk an apex (A) ranked creature? He¡¯d be lucky if he could even pierce those protective scales!" "Indeed. However, this youngster is clever. Look, the basilisk is sleeping. If he can sneak in a solid hit or two before it wakes up, the fight might be manageable for him. After all, he¡¯s quite talented. Who knows what tricks he has up his sleeve?" Unfortunately, their spections were off the mark because today, Shye was determined to entertain everyone by nning something outrageous and almost foolish¡ªsomething none of them would have expected from such a talented youngster. "As many of you know, Venomscale Basilisks despise the scent of this particr flower so much that even a whiff of it can give them stomach and head pains," Shye exined, appearing on the screen with a goofy yet confident smile. "That¡¯s why I had a friend collect plenty of these Veeble flowers and extract their essence, which we¡¯ve stored in thisrge vial." At this moment, his viewers were perplexed and slightly anxious, with a single thought echoing in their minds: "Just strike the damned sleeping basilisk now or risk losing your opportunity!" Hence, witnessing Shye¡¯s subsequent actions, the viewers¡¯ eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Armed with confidence and scent-suppressing powders, Shye sneakily walked closer to the sleeping creature¡¯s nose, slowly removing the vial¡¯s cover under hundreds of thousands of stupefied faces. Then, in one swift motion, Shye vigorously poured the contents into the sleeping basilisk¡¯s nostrils, ensuring each received a generous dose. *ROA¨C?!* Upon inhaling the potent, repulsive scent of Veeble flower extract, the Basilisk was abruptly roused, unleashing a furious roar. Unfortunately, before it was even able to finish its roar of anger, it felt a strong blunt force from the left side of its face, followed by another from the right. This was Shye using both greatswords to p the cr*p out of the Venomscale Basilisk¡¯s face, stifling its furious cry. "WOHHHH?!" "HAHAHAHAHAHA! DID HE ACTUALLY JUST DO THAT TO AN APEX (A) RANKED MONSTER?!" "..." Shye¡¯s guild members had diverse reactions to witnessing his audacious actions. Some remained silent in disbelief, a few cheered with excitement after watching a solid one-twobo to the creature¡¯s face, while othersughed and chuckled at the misfortune of the Venomscale Basilisk, knowing Shye¡¯s greatsword strike hadnded on its face with satisfying force. Experience tales with empire Such a blunt strike wasn¡¯t enough to one-shot the serpentine creature, though, allowing it to swiftly strike back after shaking its head a few times. Slithering fiercely towards Shye, the Venomscale Basilisk pounced like an agile cheetah at thest moment. Unfortunately, swift and slightly unpredictable as its attack was, itnded on nothing but solid ground as Shye easily dodged by dashing sideways. @@novelbin@@ Then, before the enormous serpentine could even regain its posture, a young man had already appeared close to its neck. ¡¯Nightfall Reaper!¡¯ Using one of his [Epic]-tier ultimate skills, Shye¡¯s offensive prowess soared, causing his strength attribute to surge by 200% for one and a half seconds, while the skill also granted his swords unparalleled sharpness and doubled his agility attribute for one second. As a result, despite the basilisk¡¯s absurdly tough venom scales, its head was severed and rolled to the ground. This left the viewers of his channel momentarily stunned in awe and disbelief before they erupted into cheers from wherever they were watching the broadcast. [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 152,920 points!] Chapter 513: An Unexpected Harvest ¡¯Let¡¯s f*cking go!!¡¯ Shye inwardly celebrated after seeing the notification that popped up in front of him. Not only was 152,920 points a substantial amount, but it also demonstrated that he could now earn points through television, expanding his earning opportunities. ¡¯Oops, the show¡¯s not over yet¡­¡¯ Realizing that the crystal was still recording, Shye knew he couldn¡¯t simply end things that way. He had to take advantage of this chance to advertise his channel even more! "As you all just saw, I took down that overgrown worm with a single hit after tormenting its nose and pping it around. If you keep tuning in to my channel, you¡¯ll not only witness equally entertaining battles but also learn my secrets and the full extent of my abilities as an adventurer." "You might even achieve simr feats by doing things the way I did!" "Join me on my journey to the top of Valenzia! The next broadcast will be in two days at the same time as today¡¯s. I¡¯ll show you something cool, so make sure to tell your friends and family to watch! Well then, I¡¯ll see you guys in the next one!" *BLEEP!* "Phew¡­that was a bit tiring¡­" Shye muttered as he stretched his limbs, happy as a m. He then looked at the corpse of the Venomscale Basilisk with a slight regret. Nookie could¡¯ve used it as one of its puppets, unfortunately, he had no choice but to sever the head if he wanted to end things quickly. ¡¯Well, as long as I continue farming points from my broadcasts, then I would one day kill (A) ranked monsters as easy as harvesting wheat. No need to regret this one kill¡­¡¯ Indeed, he could always harvest (A) ranked monster corpses once he became stronger from the points he earned. There was no need to fret over this one. In the future, he would kill a lot more of such creatures. Deciding to harvest the creature¡¯s corpse instead, Shye knelt down and masterfully butchered away, causing green blood to stain the floor of the basilisk den he was in. Luckily, although he wasn¡¯t able to kill the serpentine creature with its whole body intact, a pleasant surprise awaited him. Beneath the creature¡¯s chin was a shiny green and purple scale that immediately captured Shye¡¯s attention. He tried harvesting it casually, but it wouldn¡¯t separate from the Venomscale Basilisk¡¯s flesh. ¡¯Appraisal!¡¯ [Name]: Prime Venomscale [Tier]: Mithril [Rarity]: Epic [Description]: An exceptionally rare, incredibly tough scale found in only one out of a thousand Venomscale Basilisks. It is a prime material for crafting Mithril-tier armor sets for warrior-ss adventurers. Hidden Effects: When used as a crafting material, the armor set will have a 15% chance to activate the hidden skill [Poison Skin] each time ites into contact with an opponent¡¯s weapon or body part. "Hoh¡­what a great crafting material¡­¡¯ Shye mused as he looked down at the armor set he was wearing. Although it was a generous gift from Meido, the high-grade earth-enchanted tinum-tier armor set he wore had be outdated as, despite its extreme toughness, its defensive capabilities were no longer sufficient to protect him from the attacks of (A-) and (A) ranked monstrous creatures. It would simply be too dangerous to keep using it. Hence, the Prime Venomscale was truly a timely blessing for him¡ªone that he truly needed. ¡¯Guess I need to pay Meido another visit soon¡­¡¯ Not before his next broadcast, though, as it was scheduled two days from now. To grow his channel¡¯s viewership, he needed to be punctual with his broadcasts, otherwise, his audience would surely lose interest. After butchering the rest of the basilisk¡¯s body, Shye left the adventurer zone and teleported back to his house in Valenzia City using [Recall]. ¡¯Sure is a convenient skill!¡¯ He mused, quickly exiting his house and heading towards another adventurer zone where he left Nookie to see how the little imp was doing. After traveling for around four hours, he arrived at the area where he recently left the little necrollin. However, realizing that there was no one in the area, Shye frowned. ¡¯Hoh? Did that little imp actually have the guts to escape?¡¯ He truly could detonate the ck seal with a snap of his fingers. Therefore, he opted to scout the area first, wary of identally detonating it only to find outter that Nookie was nearby all along. "M-M-Master! Nookie greets master!" It proved to be the right decision, as momentster, an anxious little imp materialized out of nowhere, apparently returning as soon as it sensed his presence. Soon after, Shye heard loud rumbles. It was Nookie¡¯s corpse army. @@novelbin@@ Currently, there were around thirty-one corpses of various (B-) ranked to (A) ranked monstrous creatures. ¡¯Hoh, if I recall correctly, I only left him around twenty-five corpses to y with before I left for the inauguration ceremony¡­¡¯ He pondered as he gazed at Nookie with satisfaction. It appeared that the little creature was so eager to improve its puppeteering skills that it risked its life hunting monstrous creatures to add to its growing army. "Hoh, so you can control thirty-one corpses now, Nookie?" "Yes, master. Nookie apologizes for leaving without consent. Nookie wants more corpses to practice with." The little imp replied, offering Shye a sincere bow. Stay connected with empire Upon hearing the necrollin puppeteer¡¯s words and observing its sincere actions, Shye felt reassured that taming Nookie had been a wise choice, especially now that he understood the old man¡¯s ultimate goal. A corpse army controlled by a master puppeteer would undoubtedly be a significant asset not only to him but also to Verden Zachrana. After giving the little necrollin a few more monstrous creature corpses to practice with, which he had hunted along the way, Shye returned to Valenzia City to rest for a bit before making preparations for his second broadcast, which was honestly a risky one. If the scenario he imagined didn¡¯t unfold, his viewers who had eagerly awaited his second broadcast might be quite disappointed. However, it was necessary to mix things up and decisively take calcted risks, as not doing so would also result in lesser viewership. ¡¯It¡¯s a legendary-grade one¡­it shouldn¡¯t fail me¡­¡¯ Chapter 514 World Of Familiar Spirits "It''s time for Shye Crowley''s broadcast again. I wonder what the cool stuff he would show us was?" "Beats me. However, I enjoyed hisst broadcast. I hope he doesn''t disappoint this time." "Hmph! You pathetic lot! Instead ofpleting quests and advancing your own careers, here you are waiting for Crowley''s broadcast. It wasn''t that entertaining for me so I''ll be going! I''ll be waiting for you guys at the top!" "Heh, as if you''ll reach the top with your lousy talents! Go! Train so you can at least catch up to us!" Shye''s entertaining broadcast spread like wildfire as one person who watched recounted what happened to another who didn''t. Naturally, due to his rapid rise as a neer, it was inevitable for there to be a few haters. However, they were of no hindrance to Shye''s n as their voices were quickly drowned out by those who loved his broadcast during his channel''s grandunch. His recent broadcast was simply too entertaining to be ignored. It was a great pastime for those waiting for suitable quests to be posted on the quest board.@@novelbin@@ Heck, most of them even wished for him to broadcast something new every day. Unfortunately, despite wanting to do so as it would give him loads of points, Shye had other responsibilities he could not ignore. Hence, he couldn''t be a full-time live broadcaster. The huge amount of points he would earn per broadcast were mere bonus points he could use to increase his attributes and advance his adventuring career further. Well, the two would advance hand-in-hand, though, since earning more points would allow him to grow stronger and gradually advance to the peak of the adventuring world. He would then be more famous, gain more fans and viewers, and earn more points, allowing him to increase his strength again through the shy Adventurer System, which in turn, would further advance his adventuring career. A win-win situation for both his career and side hustle. "Oh? Look, he''s finally live." "Hmm? Where is he? Isn''t that the familiar summoning chamber?" "T-There''s no way he already got a familiar summoning scroll! Those things cost a fortune and require strong connections too!" Read new adventures at empire "You idiot! Do you really think someone so talented wouldn''t have both? This young man is probably wealthier than both of usbined! And when ites to connections, wouldn''t people in power be the ones reaching out to him?!" The guildsmen crowd and the viewers who were watching at their homes and inn rooms spected. However, none of their guesses were even close to what actually happened. Shye, with the help of the system, was only able to obtain a [Legendary]-grade familiar summoning scroll as a reward for his recentlypleted mandatory quest. It was the old man who had some strong connections, not him. Since none of his viewers knew the truth, they assumed he had the money and connections himself. This misconception boosted his fame and slightly increased his safety, as those plotting to abduct or kill him would have to reconsider whether they could handle Shye''s supposed backers. "Wee, everyone, to my live broadcasting adventurer channel! I''m Shye Crowley, and today I''ll be summoning my first familiar with this scroll. Will it be weak andme? Absolutely not! For I am the great Shye Crowley! MUAHAHAHAHA! Why not bet with your friends on the rank of familiar I''ll obtain?" Shye jollily eximed with a confident smile. Since his suggestion was both entertaining and practical, his viewers, watching alongside others, promptly began making bets with their friends. Some bets were made for enjoyment, while others were ced for substantial amounts of money. Meanwhile, Shye gave his viewers a few seconds to talk amongst themselves, allowing them to arrange bets as though he was sure that they would before speaking again: "Well then, let''s begin, shall we, sir chamber operator?" "Yes, please ce the summoning scroll on the designated area." Standing before an immense magic circle in the center of a spacious summoning chamber with high ceilings, Shye followed the operator''s instructions. He then walked to the designated area and promptly ced the summoning scroll. "Now, please stand in the middle of the smaller magic circle." The chamber operator said, waiting for Shye to arrive at his position before continuing: "Next, please channel your mana and feed it to the magic circle. You must continue to do so until I tell you to stop." Naturally, Shye would follow the instructions meticulously, refraining from any exaggerated enthusiasm solely to entertain his viewers. "I shall activate the magic circle now, Sir Crowley. Please continue feeding the circle with mana until a familiar appears in the center summoning circle." Giving a silent nod to the chamber operator, Shye resolved not to hold back, knowing that doing so mightpromise the summoning process and result in him acquiring a weaker familiar than he could obtain by giving his all. *** Meanwhile, in another world inhabited by sentient monstrous creatures of various tiers and ranks, who had already established civilizations at different developmental stages, bright azure lights glowed in eight distinct locations. "Hey, look! A summoning light just appeared at Pokko Castle!" The sentient monstrous creatures weren''t surprised by the azure light, as its appearance seemed to be amon urrence in their world. Instead, they were mostly surprised by the specific locations where the summoning lights emerged. In Gomparo, the world of familiar spirits, it was a blessing to be summoned by a human from another world. However, it was also a widely known fact that each spirit would only receive summons from humans of equivalent andpatible strength, skills, and talents. Moreover, as long as a spirit and a human werepatible, it wasn''t impossible for multiple familiar spirits to receive summoning lights, which they could respond to faster than other spirits or reject should they not like the vibes the human''s mana was giving them. Unfortunately, only the spirit who epted the summons faster than the others would be summoned to the other world and receive benefits from the humans they were bound to. Since familiar spirits do not age and cannot die from old age, their contracts with humans only terminate when either they perish in battle or their contracted humans pass away, allowing them to return to their world and await another summon. Hence, in theory, the more full contracts a familiar spiritpleted, the stronger they were. However, this didn''t mean that they couldn''t grow stronger in their own world, it was just that they could grow faster in Adthiopia. In such a fiercelypetitive world where survival hinged on strength and alliances, there naturally existed pinnacle beings: the eight spirit kings. These were the eight most powerful familiar spirits in Gomparo, and now, all of them suddenly received summoning lights, causing an uproar of unprecedented magnitude. Chapter 516 King-class Familiar Gomparo and Adthiopia were only connected through the summoning scrolls developed by Yon Augenn''s first-ever mage hero, Christopher Wesley. The man somehow stumbled upon Gomparo''s coordinates while studying teleportation magic and has extensively studied it since. Regrettably, human life spans are finite, and Christopher had to pass on his studies to the WAA before his passing, hoping they would continue his work on Gomparo or assign researchers to carry it forward. Fortunately, the WAA is deeplymitted to advancing Adthiopia''s mana-powered technology through rigorous research. As a result, his vision of connecting with inhabitants from another world was realized a decade after his death, leading to the discovery of familiars¡ªreliablepanions for adventurers. The WAA didn''t stop there. Realizing the potential of summoning stronger familiars, the organization tried its best to gain ess to the strongest inhabitants of the other world, having massive sess after centuries of trying. They even tried sending adventurers over to Gomparo. Regrettably, Adthiopians encountered an unknown force hindering their ability to teleport to the world of familiars, yet, summoning them from the other world to Adthiopia somehow seemed easy with the use of summoning scrolls developed by the WAA. The organization persisted tirelessly, continuing its efforts to solve the puzzle of sending people to Gomparo, despite numerous failed attempts. Unfortunately, as if fated, they weren''t even close to being sessful, though they had some findings they could explore. Today, however, their research would ever so slightly take a significant step forward with the discovery of yet another mythical-grade familiar: the mare of darkness and blue mes, summoned by Shye Crowley, the most talented rookie in the history of the Valenzia region. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Zeth, The Duchess of the Dusk [Level]: ??? [upation]: Familiar Spirit [ss]: Darkness / Fire [Hit Points]: 3,135 / 3,400 [Mana]: 690 / 1,230 [Stamina]: 3,120 / 3,660 [Talent]: [Night Mare (Legendary)][Despised Prodigy (Legendary)][Darkness'' Dear Daughter (Legendary)][Favored By The mes (Legendary)] [Skills]: [Sprint Lv.5][Headbutt Lv.5][Trample Lv.5][Stomp Lv.5][Bite Lv.5][Tackle Lv.5][(Dark) Dark Sphere Lv.5(Umon)][(Fire) ming Charge Lv.5 (Umon)][Mach Speed Maneuver Lv.5 (Umon)][(Dark) Sinister re Lv.5 (Rare)][(Fire) Blue me Tornado Lv.5 (Rare)][(Dark) Lord of the Night''s Domain Lv.5 (Unique)][(Fire) me Wisps Lv.5 (Unique)][(Dark) Dusk Field Lv.4 (Epic)][(Fire) Blue ze Outburst Lv.4(Epic)][(Dark)(Fire) Evening Bullet Lv.3 (Legendary)][(???)??? Lv.0 (Locked)(???)] [Semi Passive Skills]: [(Dark) Sinister Aura Lv.5 (Unique)] [Passive Skills]: [(Fire) Blue me Master Lv.5 (Unique)] [Strength:875] [Intelligence: 490] [Agility: 1043] [Dexterity:520] [Stamina: 1220] [Vitality: 680] [Wisdom: 250] ''S-Sh*t¡­I know I''m way too strong for my age but¡­isn''t this familiar a bit too strong?!'' Shye inwardly thought in disbelief. He didn''t know exactly how strong (S-) and (S) ranked monstrous creatures were. However, what he was familiar with was the strength of (A) ranked creatures, and theirbat power was definitely way lesser than this familiar spirit. ''Maybe it''s on par with (S-) ss monstrous creatures? Perhaps even (S)...'' Anyway, he was excited but also a bit concerned about having summoned a creature stronger than himself, as there was a chance it wouldn''t obey him. His worries turned out to be for naught, though, as he suddenly heard a cool female voice in his head. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire ''I''m known as Zeth, the Duchess of the Dusk... So, you''re going to be my first master, huh? A bit weaker than I expected, but considering your youth, I believe you''re quite talented, like myself. Besides, since you''re handsome, I shall follow yourmands. However, be aware that if I see no path for my future growth, I will find one, even if it doesn''t align with your orders.'' He didn''t expect that familiars could talk through telepathy. Hence, Shye was a bit dumbfounded. It took him a few seconds before he could gather his wits. "I appreciate your cooperative attitude, Zeth. My name is Shye Crowley, and I will be your master in this world called Adthiopia. Rest assured, I am indeed handsome, talented, andpassionate. I''ll ensure that you grow alongside me." "Very well, Master Shye, I shall be in your ca¡ª" Unfortunately, Zeth''s words were interrupted by the loud shocked voice of the chamber operator. "K-K-King ss Familiar Spirit!" There were five ssifications of summoned familiar spirits: Common, Sterling, Elite, Noble, and King. Each spirit would then be graded based onbat power. Abat power of 500 to 4,000 indicated Common-ss, 4,001 to 5,500 was Sterling-ss, 5,501 to 7,500 was Elite-ss, 7,501 to 9,000 was Noble-ss, and those withbat power over 9,000 were ssified as King-ss. There were between ten and twenty instances where adventurers sessfully summoned king-ss familiars. However, all these urrences took ce in other regions, as no one from Valenzia possessed the necessary talent to achieve this feat. Even Frozen End and the other three titled adventurers of the region were only able to summon the peak existences of the Noble-ss. Hence, in the past, whenever an adamantite-ranked adventurer seeded in summoning a Noble-ss familiar, it caused a stir not only in Valenzia City but also in the region''s other first-tier cities, such as Roddentrodge. This specific chamber operator was a veteran and had already seen his fair share of peak Noble-ss familiar spirits. He was even the operator who facilitated Frozen End''s familiar summoning ritual. Yet, despite his long years of service, this was his first time seeing a King-ss familiar spirit. His reaction was understandable.@@novelbin@@ What he forgot to check was the actual age of the Familiar Spirit. Based on past records, all the king-ss familiars that were summoned in the past were more than a millennium old. Yet, Zeth was only 432 years old, less than half the age of the other kings. If the chamber operator fully grasped this, he would be even more astonished. Meanwhile, everyone watching the broadcast was in disbelief at what they heard from the operator. They stared at the holographic screen with nk expressions, as if their minds had stopped working. It was only after a few more moments that someone screamed, snapping them out of their stupor. "K-King ss! Shye Crowley actually summoned a King-ss familiar!" "Sh-Shit!!! This is f*cking huge!! Our region will finally make some waves!" [Congrattions! You''ve earned 308,091 points!] Chapter 517 Quite The Lecher ''Hahahaha! Setting up a live broadcasting channel was truly worth it! More than 300,000 points in a single broadcast! 300,000!'' Shye inwardly celebrated. ''Hmm? 300,000 points? What''s that, Master Shye?'' Hearing Zeth''s familiar voice inside his head, Shye was stupefied. ''Y-You¡­You can hear my voice?'' Your journey continues with empire ''Why, yes. What did you expect? Familiars are naturally connected in heart and mind to their masters, so I will always be able to hear your thoughts. However, don''t worry; only you can hear my voice. Even if you think of inappropriate things, your thoughts will remain private.'' Shye had mixed feelings about this discovery. On one hand, he was pleased because sharing thoughts would help him grow closer to his familiar. On the other hand, he felt anxious about sharing his deepest, darkest thoughts with Zeth, which naturally included the existence of the system. ''Well, I suppose there''s no harm in trusting and telling you. After all, we''ll be together for a long time.'' ''Yes, indeed. So, what were these ''points'' you mentioned?'' ''This isn''t the right ce to talk. Let''s leave first, I''ll wrap up my broadcast, and then I''ll exin.'' ''Fine. However, make sure to also exin what a ''broadcast'' is.'' Momentarily turning his attention to the stupefied chamber operator, Shye smiled. "Sir operator, thank you for assisting me summon a King-ss familiar! This might not have been possible without you." He said with a smile.@@novelbin@@ Shye''s words helped the chamber operator recollect his wits, allowing the stupefied man to respond. "Y-Yeah, no problem, Sir Crowley. S-Shall we register the familiar?" "Yes, please." The veteran operator, free from his initial awestruck state, worked masterfully, finishing Zeth''s registration within ten minutes. "Thank you all for tuning in to today''s broadcast! I''ll be back in two weeks at the same time. Until then, I have some important obligations and errands to attend to. Have a great day, everyone!" *BLEEP!* Since Shye was very pleased with the results of his familiar summoning, he gave the chamber operator a sizable 200 gold coin tip, bringing a smile to the man''s face. "It was a pleasure working with you, Sir Crowley!" "Likewise." "Have a nice day!" Shye tipped the chamber operator because he wasn''t certain if he would be one of the fortunate few able to contract two familiars. Therefore, heid the groundwork to ensure smoother future processes and summoning rituals. After all, if the operator "decided" that he couldn''t broadcast inside the chamber anymore, then it would result in wasted opportunities to earn more points. Leaving the summoning chamber through the front gate, Shye was stupefied. There were thousands of people in front of the summoning establishment. ''Crap¡­I should''ve anticipated this¡­'' The summoning chamber''s location was widely known in Valenzia City. Therefore, there was a high likelihood that people would quickly gather around his location once his broadcast ended. ''Do you want me to drive the pipsqueaks away, master?'' ''I would appreciate that. However, hurting them is not allowed. They''re my precious viewers.'' ''Worry not, Master Shye. I do not need to hurt such weaklings to make them retreat. My majestic aura will be enough.'' *FWOOSH!* After talking to her master through telepathy, Zeth activated her semi-passive skill, [(Dark) Sinister Aura Lv.5 (Unique)], covering her body in thick pitch-ck aura that struck fear in the hearts of the onlookers. Even the adamantite-ranked adventurers who came to watch from afar were affected¡ªtheir hearts racing slightly in trepidation at the sight of the majestic mare of darkness. Naturally, Shye spoke immediately afterward, concerned that his "fans" might lose interest in his channel if he appeared unfriendly. Hence, he decided to me everything on his familiar. It seemed that she wasn''t interested in making friends, anyway. "Everyone, I apologize. My new familiar isn''tfortable with crowds, and as you know, this one is a majestic king-ss creature and a bit challenging to manage. I hope you understand the situation. Nevertheless, I want to express my gratitude for your support." Bowing slightly to the fearful onlookers, Shye nced ahead and walked toward his house, with Zeth''s aura ensuring they weren''t followed. After walking for around twenty minutes, the master and familiar duo arrived at Shye''s house. ''Hmm¡­You''re too tall to fit inside¡­'' Zeth was indeed quite tall and muscr, standing at 2.7 meters, and would not fit inside Shye''s modest house. However, it would be foolish for them to just stand in front of his house andmunicate telepathically, which left Shye slightly perplexed. ''I can offer two options, master. As your contracted familiar, my world''s deity granted me two useful skills for situations like this. I can either shrink my size or transform into an essory and attach myself to your body. What do you prefer?'' ''Oh, you can do such things?'' ''Yes, didn''t I just mention that? Are you perhapscking in intelligence andprehension, master?'' Veins popped at the sides of Shye''s head. However, he couldn''t me Zeth, as her questions seemed sincere, without a hint of intention to insult him. ''W-Well then, please shrink for now so we can talk inside my house. Also, I would appreciate it if you could talk a bit more nicely.'' ''I understand, master. I will obey. It seems your heart struggles with direct words. Therefore, I''ll try to be more considerate in my speech from now on.'' ''T-Thank you, Zeth.'' Shye still found her words somewhat annoying. However, he also realized that perhaps he was being too sensitive. Hence, to foster a harmonious rtionship with his familiar, Shye chose to take a deep breath and be patient. For now, he concluded that as long as Zeth obeyed hismands, it signified respect. Entering his house, Shye turned around and invited Zeth in. However, to his surprise, instead of a small horse, there stood behind him a ck-haired young woman with scarlet eyes and stunningly beautiful facial features, d in a form-fitting ck bodysuit. Her muscr physique was exceptionally toned, even more so than Shirley''s, who was a warrior-ss adventurer. Still, her charm remained undiminished. In fact, her toned physiqueplemented her feminine curves, enhancing her appearance and making it more pleasing to the eye. Regrettably for Shye, afflicted as he was by the level four system''s curse, Zeth''s stunningly attractive physical appearance proved a significant psychological battle¡ªone he lost momentster, evidenced by a thick and long rod rising in his crotch area. ''Hoh, master, you''re quite the lecherous individual, aren''t you?'' Chapter 518 Death Zone ''Holy cr*p! At this rate, we''ll arrive at the adventurer zone in just a single hour!'' ''Those who are holy are indeed akin to excrements, master, as most I''ve met who had such attributes back in my world were two-faced chatans: kind and understanding on the outside, yet conniving on the inside.'' Hearing his familiar''s reply, Shye was taken aback. He was simply marveling at her incredible speed while riding on her back as she galloped across thend. Who would''ve expected that she would reply with such heavy words? ''Hmm? Why? Were you betrayed or something?'' ''Yes, in my world, there were the so-called eight kings, half of which wielded holy powers. They were all sneaky rats, though, afraid of my unparalleled talent. One day, I''ll definitely destroy their spirit cores and devour their spirit energies for their numerous attempts to murder me.'' Shye couldn''t help but stay quiet. It seemed that Zeth had a vendetta to settle with the eight kings. ''For the longest time, no one could send me summoning lights, allowing those eight old rats to dominate unchecked. I sincerely thank you for this opportunity to surpass them, Master Shye.'' ''N-No worries. You''re my familiar now, and I''ll take care of you as best as I can. However, you know my situation, and there''s a fair chance that... you might not survive¡­'' ''I appreciate your concern, master. However, I am Zeth, the Duchess of the Dusk. It won''t be easy to take my life.'' Naturally, Shye couldn''t help but be impressed by his familiar''s unwavering and unparalleled confidence. Zeth''s pride and self-assurance seemed deeply ingrained in her very being. ''Oh? We''ve already arrived?'' Busy getting to know his familiar, Shye didn''t notice that they''d already arrived at their destination: the Mazma Death Zone. Unlike Expert Adventurer Zones, there were no guards stationed in Death Zones as the monsters living within were mostly (S-) and (S) ranked. Only the strongest and most confident of (A) ranked creatures dare to enter, as even an Ember Wyvern could lose its life in an instant with one wrong move. Additionally, the death zone lobbies were so worn down because they weren''t safe to stay in. asionally, (S-) and (S) ranked creatures would emerge and rampage through the area, though it was a rare urrence. Hence, upon arrival, Shye couldn''t help but take a deep breath, slightly nervous as it would be his first time entering such a zone. Stay connected with empire After exining to Zeth that he had an advantage called a system and how it would help him and her achieve greatness, Shye decided to test her capabilities against the monstrous creatures of Adthiopia.@@novelbin@@ However, since her attributes were far higher than the (A) ranked monsters he had fought in the past, he decided that it would be better to test Zeth''s capabilities against stronger ones, namely (S-) and (S) ranked creatures. He wasn''t sure if she could handle the apex (S) ranked monsters, though, and that''s why his heart was racing in anxiety. He already learned his lesson about biting off more than he could chew. Yet, here he was, doing it again. ''Phew¡­well, sometimes, you just gotta go all in!'' Hearing her master''s thoughts, Zeth nced at Shye. ''I agree, master. I advise you to maintain this re as you age. Believing in yourself in the direst of situations will earn you the favor of the deity of victory.'' This time, it was Shye who couldn''t help but nce at his familiar''s serious expression, utterly impressed after hearing her wise words. It appeared that his familiar had experienced far more and tougher battles than he had. Well, despite looking the same age as Shye, Zeth was actually four centuries and a little over three decades old. Furthermore, she mentioned that she had been the most notorious rogue in her world, constantly hunted by the eight kings and theirckeys. Therefore, her experiences were understandable. Perhaps one day, when Shye crosses over to the old man''s side, he too would encounter such challenges. Nodding at his familiar, Shye spoke telepathically: ''Well then, Zeth, let''s enter.'' Obtaining Shye''s permission to enter the so-called "Death Zone", the mare of darkness walked forth without hesitation¡ªa slight gleam of anticipation in her eyes. This was her first time being summoned to this world of adventurers. Thus, she was rather eager to test her mettle against the creatures of this world. Little did she know, her master was even more excited than she was, as he wanted to know the extent of her current strength. However, he didn''t expect a chance to appear so soon. Just fifteen minutes in, a group of ck-robed men suddenly emerged from behind the trees and thickets, armed and ready to take him down. Unfortunately, these guys didn''t seem to be his allies. They were most likely from another underground organization. "Well, well, what an honor it is to finally stand in front of you, Shye Crowley. Valenzia''s legendary rookie." "And who the hell are you?" "Oh, right, silly me. Allow me to introduce ourselves. We''re from a syndicate operating outside your region. Ever since our boss heard about your legendary feats, he''s been very interested in you. So here we are, ordered to escort you back to our headquarters. How about you make this easy for us? I promise you won''t get hurt as long as you cooperate." "Heh, talented as I may be, aren''t I just a single youngster? Why are you so scared to mention your organization''s name?" "Well, I''m just following orders. Personally, I wouldn''t mind telling you, since there''s no way you could escape our grasp. However, I don''t dare to cross the boss." "Hmm¡­boring. You talk way too tough for a mere dog. Come, let''s get this thing over with. I''m not fond of talking to mere followers." Hearing Shye''s words, veins popped at the sides of the assassin leader''s head. "It appears you''re as arrogant as the rumors suggest. However, we''ve been preparing for your capture for an entire month. If your newfound confidence stems from your recently summoned King-ss familiar, you''re underestimating our organization. We shall be the one to bring you back to reality." Chapter 519 Zeths Prowess ''Master, may I know who these mentally challenged humans are? I don''t understand what they''re talking about, but I sense their intentions aren''t kind.'' Zeth asked with intrigue and slight excitement. She had been raring to kick some ass for some time now. Luckily, it appeared that she wouldn''t have to wait long to do so as some humans dared attack her and her master. ''How fortunate.'' She thought, bringing a smile to Shye''s face, only for it to be reced by a frown shortly after as the assassin leader retrieved a scroll from his spatial bag. The leader then activated the scroll by infusing mana into it, summoning three (S-) ss monstrous creatures: a Poison Drake, a Mist Wendigo, and a Midnight Harpy, eachrger than Zeth. ''Hoh, are these the strongest creatures this world has to offer, master?'' The dusk mare''s words snapped Shye back to reality, allowing him to rpose himself. This was his first time encountering an actual Poison Drake, having only seen it once in a holographic broadcast fighting seven adamantite-ranked adventurers. ''No, although these creatures are somewhat close to the apex, they aren''t the strongest this world has to offer.'' ''I see, that''s good. It would be boring if there''s nopetition.'' Immediately after a short conversation with her master, Zeth valiantly galloped forward at speeds almost impossible for the human eye to see, charging at the three monstrous creatures with nary a hint of hesitation. "Heh, you''re barely a King-ss familiar, yet you''re this confident? Delusional!" The assassin leader said coldly, trying his best to follow Zeth''s movement with their eyes. The sess of the operation hinged on whether the three (S-) ranked monstrous creatures could defeat, or at least dy, the King-ss familiar. Hence, at that moment, it seemed as though time slowed to a crawl as Shye and the assassins waited for the result of the familiar versus monstrous creature sh. Most of the ambushers, including Shye, expected the fight to be fierce. It was. In the beginning, that is. The three monstrous creatures sensed that Zeth, despite her smaller size, was a dangerous opponent. Thus, the three creatures didn''t dare hold back. The Midnight Harpy immediately assumed the support role, singing unholy melodies that buffed both of its allies. Meanwhile, the poison drake briefly assumed the role of the ranged attacker, unleashing poison breath and mana sts from its maw, while the wendigo charged directly at Zeth, reaching out its arms to seize the mare of darkness by her horns. Since Wendigos were well-known for their brutish strength, all of them, including Shye, assumed that the King-ss familiar would utilize its speed to its advantage. Well, Zeth kind of did¡ªby charging straight ahead with a fierce expression. ''Zeth!'' Shye telepathically eximed in worry. However, he didn''t anticipate that it wouldn''t be necessary; when her horns collided with the brute''s massive hands, the wendigo roared in pain, failing to grasp it. As a result, the massive, upward-curved horns pierced right through the wendigo''s abdomen. *ROAR!* Stay connected with empire Being an (S-) ss monster, the Wendigo was rather prideful and seasoned in battle. Hence, realizing that it was now being pushed back, the brute immediately tried to stabilize its footing. Unfortunately, it underestimated the mare''s speed and power. The Wendigo didn''t even get a chance to fight back. Before it even had the chance to nt its foot firmly on the ground, blue mes roared as an enormous zing tornado appeared from Zeth''s horns, incinerating the overconfident and prideful Mist Wendigo to ashes.@@novelbin@@ Witnessing the unexpected turn of events, the assassin leaders'' eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Even a party of adamantite-ranked adventurers wouldn''t be able to kill a Mist Wendigo so easily. Hence, the shocking almost instantaneous killpletely stupefied the ouws. However, Zeth was not done yet, swiftly ensnaring everyone and transporting them to a pitch-ck realm. Strangely, everyone inside could still see each other very clearly despite the darkness. ''Is this a domain-type skill?'' Shye mused as he tried to feel with his body the pitch-ck domain''s effects. ''Yes, master. These two weaklings in front of me might try to escape, so I used it to ensure they would die.'' ''Y-You still have the time to talk to me?'' ''Why, yes, master. Am I not speaking to you right now? These opponents are quite easy to handle, so I can afford to spare some focus to chat with you.'' *GULP* Shye couldn''t help but slightly gulp after hearing his familiar''s words. He would like to learn such natural confidence. It seemed as though the results had been set in stone since the beginning, and that she, the Duchess of the Dusk, would surely emerge victorious. (S-) ranked creatures were easy to handle? Only the strongest ones amongst the adamantite-ranked adventurers were qualified to say such things. This meant that in the Valenzia Region, Zeth was already near the apex¡ªperhaps even at the top. ¡­The mare''s guess was correct. All (S-) ranked creatures and above already possess a certain level of intelligence regardless of what type of creature they are. Hence, the remaining two immediately realized that Zeth was way more dangerous than they initially thought after witnessing the wendigo''s swift demise¡ªthoughts of escape orbiting their minds. Unfortunately for them, the Duchess of the Dusk¡ª432 years old¡ªwas way more experienced than they were, allowing her to predict what they would do in advance. Caught in the pitch-ck realm, the Poison Drake and the Midnight Harpy had nowhere to run. They tried destroying the domain. However, their attacks struck nothing but pure darkness, as if they didn''t even reach the domain''s walls. Watching her adversary''s futile attempts, Zeth slowly walked to the center of the domain with a nonchnt expression. She was about to use one of her sure-killbos for weaker opponents, and now, the Poison Drake and the Midnight Harpy were about to be on their receiving end. ''Burn, weaklings.'' Zeth inwardly thought in disdain. Soon after, her entire body was consumed by blue mes. ''Blue ze Outburst.'' Chapter 520 Pushing Through ''H-Holy cr*p¡­'' Shye couldn''t help but inwardly curse in disbelief. Why? Because two (S-) ranked creatures got turned into mere ashes¡ªtheir circr mana cores rolling on the ground. ''Hmm¡­as I suspected, my earlier attack was too strong so even the so-called core was destroyed¡­good thing I slightly held back¡­'' Hearing Zeth''s telepathic murmurs, Shye''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. ''Y-You still held back?'' ''Yes, Master Shye, as I wanted to see the mana core that everyone in my world talks about so much because it rapidly increases our strength as familiar spirits.'' Meanwhile, the ambushers were panicking. ''Sh*t! Sh*t! How is this familiar spirit so strong?! Wasn''t it barely a King-ss? If so, then three (S-) ranked monsters should have sufficed!'' The assassin leader inwardly thought in utter frustration. He was tasked to abduct Valenzia Region''s famous rookie, Shye Crowley, as his boss wanted to peer through his secrets and extract his talent for their organization''s use. Unfortunately, they underestimated this specific King-ss familiar spirit''s strength. Well, despite their organization''s sess for thest three decades, they''ve actually never had experience fighting a king-ss familiar spirit. One of their greatest achievements in the past was ying the Noble-ss familiar of an adamantite-ranked adventurer from the Weaven Region. The familiar spirit had an overwhelming power rating of 8,600, just a few hundred below that of Shye Crowley''s, whose familiar was barely a King-ss one at 9,002. Yet, at that time, three (S-) ss monsters absolutely tore the familiar spirit apart. It was a one-sided ughter. Naturally, they believed that the same line-up of drugged and forcefully tamed monsters would be able to do the same against Shye''s familiar spirit. Zeth''s power rating was only higher by 400. Therefore, they concluded that even if the same lineup wouldn''t be able to defeat Shye''s king-ss familiar as easily, they would at least be able to keep it busy, allowing them to attack and abduct Crowley. However, as it turned out, their expectations couldn''t be further from the truth as, before a minute even passed, all three (S-) ss monsters perished without a corpse¡ªall burned to cinders. It was a catastrophic blunder for their organization. After all, it was hard to drug, capture, and tame such high-ranked creatures. They only had a total of eight (S-) ranked creatures under their control. Of course, losing three was a rather huge setback. If they still couldn''t catch Crowley after sacrificing three (S-) ranked creatures, then they''re absolutely f*cked. Clenching his fists, the assassin leader made a hard decision: they''re pushing through with the operation! "Beta Squad Three, Four, and Seven, contain the familiar for five seconds! I shall personally capture the target!" Shye scoffed in disdain after hearing the leader''s words. ''Heh, defeat and capture me in five seconds? Wake the f*ck up!'' This time, it was Zeth who smiled, pleased with his master''s confidence Two secondster, the three beta squads assumed formation and encircled the dusk mare¡ªtheir hearts trembling after feeling the mare''s sinister aura. Orders were orders, though, and they had no choice but to face the ferocious familiar despite not wanting to do so. Although they were on the level of Mithrils and Adamantites, stalling the King-ss familiar for five seconds was still a tall task¡ªone that would require them to put their lives on the line. Some of them would probably perish. They had no choice, however, as they would also perish at the hands of their organization should they fail. After all, their boss allowed their team to use up to five (S-) ranked creatures to get the job done properly. However, driven by overconfidence and greed, along with a desire for the boss''s recognition, their team''s leader decided to use only three to capture Shye Crowley, reserving the other two for another operation in a different region.@@novelbin@@ If they managed to pull it off, then their boss would indeed be impressed. Only, they were failing hard, and the boss would probably be fuming upon learning of the three (S-) ranked monstrous creatures'' deaths. Unless they could capture Shye Crowley, that is. "Everyone, attack as per the formation''s hunting sequence!" Soon after, the battle resumed as around thirty Mithril and Adamantite-ranked assassins methodically attempted to take down Zeth. While the leader, apanied by two mithril-ranked adventurers, madly charged towards Shye. ''Come, show me how you defeat me in five seconds!'' With a resolute and cold expression, Shye faced the trio, dashing forward at the right moment to reappear beneath the mithril-ranked scout ss adventurer. Shortly after, a draconic roar echoed across the forest, prompting the monsters living in the area to narrow their eyes and look toward its direction. The mithril-ranked adventurer was naturally petrified. However, how could the leader, despite his initial shock, let a rookie kill one of his underlings right in front of him? Utterly furious at Shye''s audacious aggression, the assassin leader also used his [Dash] skill to reappear at Shye''s right nk, shing his [Power sh]-empowered tachi horizontally at Shye''s body. Unfortunately for him, Shye was no stranger to assassinations. He already predicted that the leader would do such a thing. Hence, he swapped one of his greatswords, Mithra, for his ruby-tier elemental staff and cast a [Physical Barrier Lv.4] on himself followed by [Stoic], fully prepared to take a clean hit from the assassin leader in exchange for one of the guy''sckey''s life. Your next chapter is on empire *CRACK!* A loud shatter echoed across the forest as the physical barriersted only for a second before being destroyed. Unfortunately, although enough to diminish the force of the leader''s killing attack, the tachi still continued its vicious advance,nding on Shye''s body with a dull thud. "Puhaahk!" Shye spat out a mouthful of blood after absorbing the assassin leader''s attack. Yet, his eyes remained as focused as aser as he ferociously shed on the petrified mithril-ranked assassin. *SPURT!* Soon after, a severed head flew across the air, rolling near the leader''s right foot as it sttered blood across the ground. Then, before the furious leader could attack again, Shye swiftly stepped back with a cold smile. "Heh, take me down in five seconds? Who do you think you are? Also, who do you think I am?" Chapter 521 Sure, Ill Let You Go The assassin leader wanted to retort. However, how could he even have the time to do so when they only have five seconds? The more time he wasted, the slimmer their chances of capturing their target became, and the higher the death toll on their side grew. Even now, in the two-second battle sequence wherein Shye killed one of his underlings in exchange for moderate damage to his body, eight of his underlings had already been killed by the familiar spirit. He needed to end things on his side, and fast! "Warren, try to bind him with your control skill while I attack!" "Roger, Team Leader Dox!" Narrowing his eyes, Shye switched back to dual greatswords, gripping their handles tightly in preparation for Dox''s assault. Millisecondster, a huge yellow sword materialized above Shye, prompting him to look up as he sensed its mighty aura. Stay updated through empire "Where are you looking, rookie?" ''Cr*p!'' As it turned out, the sword was nothing but a realistic diversion¡ªa mere illusion to momentarily capture his attention. The real attack came from right in front of him. "Surrender, arrogant brat! Herculean Split!" Winds howled as they were forcefully parted by an enormous golden sh mark that fiercely advanced toward Shye¡ªa difficult attack to defend, especially when he was bamboozled by the huge illusion sword. [Your trait, [Unfazed Heart], has activated!] ''Nightfall Reaper!'' He was caught off guard. However, Shye wasn''t someone who would panic in such a situation, especially after acquiring a trait that would help him do so. Without hesitation, he immediately used one of his trump cards to defend himself. Naturally, watching Shye''s seemingly idiotic actions of facing the enormous sh mark head-on brought a cold mocking smile to Dox''s face. A mere rookie audaciously facing one of his strongest attacks directly? Delusional! Hence, he couldn''t believe his eyes when his Herculean sh was split horizontally in half before dissipating into golden orbs that scattered to the four winds. Unfortunately for Dox, Shye was aware of his possible split-second loss of focus, capitalizing on it by using [Blink] to teleport right beside the assassin leader¡ªMithra already exchanged for the ruby-tier elemental staff. ''Ninth Devastation Ray!'' *FWING!* An ear-splitting screech sounded from the location of Shye and Dox''s battle, prompting not only the assassins'' beta squads but also Zeth, to momentarily stop their battle and turn their heads to look. ''Hoh, not bad, Master Shye.'' "T-T-TEAM LEADER DOX!!" The assassins eximed in utter shock and disbelief. Their strong team leader, who was an ex-adamantite ranked adventurer, had a hole the size of a child''s forearm on his forehead¡ªhis eyes¡ªnk and empty, staring into the distance. Soon after, the man''s head exploded like a watermelon and his body fell to the ground¡ªlifeless. "Heh, end me in five seconds? Weren''t you the one who was finished?" Shye mocked with a cold smile, turning his attention to the stupefied mithril-ranked ex-adventurer who stood silly at the sides. In truth, his attributes were still a bit shortpared to the man he killed. However, he simply had way too many skills that were hard to deal with, in addition to his instantaneous mage skill spellcasting. Hence, the older man''s experience didn''t matter much as this was the first time he fought such a youngster with strange yet lethal abilities. As a result, despite being ahead in terms of physical attributes, Dox was killed by Shye. In a battle between high-levelbatants, a single mistake can cost someone their life. Naturally, with their leader gone, the assassins retreated like bandits, madly bolting in different directions. ''Zeth, kill as many as possible.'' ''Understood, Master Shye.''@@novelbin@@ Thrilled by his master''s orders, Zeth dashed towards the fleeing assassins, ending their lives one by one before they even realized it¡ªburning them to cinders, biting off their heads, and snapping their spines in half with vicious kicks. Seeing that there was no problem on his familiar''s side of things, Shye shifted his focus back to the mithril-ranked assassin, who was supposed to be in front of him but had suddenly disappeared. ''Heh, you think you can escape me? Mana Pulse!'' Azure transparent pulses scanned the surroundings, revealing a blue silhouette slowly sneaking away. ''Hahaha, there you are, you little rat.'' Naturally, the assassin, who had no idea that Shye already knew where he was, suffered a vicious p to the left side of his face. The poor guy spun a few times in mid-air before rolling on the ground¡ªeyes whited out, drooling. ''Master, I''ve finished hunting down the mentally challenged humans. However, I regret to inform you that there were three who managed to escape.'' ''That''s fine. Great job, Zeth. I already captured this one anyway. You have a skill that inflicts [Fear] stacks, correct?'' ''Fear stacks? I do not know what that is, master. However, I do have an aura skill that strikes fear into the hearts of my opponents.'' ''Yes, that! I''ll restrain him, and together we can use our aura skills to force answers out of him.'' ''Understood, master.'' Lifting the unconscious body of the captured assassin, Shye tied the man up using stamina-draining shackles, ensuring that it would be impossible for the man to free himself. The master and familiar then activated their aura skills, steadily increasing the [Fear] stacks over time. Thirty minutester, the captured assassin woke up with a splitting headache, and then, moments after opening his eyes, he screamed in utter fear. In front of him were two demonic entities with extremely distorted and spine-chilling features. Suddenly, one of them spoke: "Now then, I just need to know two things. If you answer me, I''ll let you go." "First question, what''s the name of your organization?" To the captured assassin''s POV, Shye''s voice sounded like a mixture of an old woman''s voice and theughter of children¡ªextremely unnerving. However, the man truly wanted to live. Hence, despite trembling in fear, he hurriedly answered. "I-I-I''m from an organization called ck Retribution Syndicate." "Good, only one more question. Where''s the location of your main headquarters?" "I-I truly don''t know where the main headquarters are. H-However, our team''s headquarters is located near Bakkbor City in the Weaven Region, at a ce known as the Forgotten Vale." Due to the easy interrogation, Shye couldn''t help but smile. ''Master Shye, are most humans such cowards? How could they betray theirrades in exchange for their lives? Have they no pride?'' ''Hahaha, that''s what we humans are like. However, that also makes us dangerous because many of us are willing to do anything to survive. It''s hard to wipe us out, don''t you think?'' ''Hmm... When you put it that way, I have to agree.'' "P-Please, let me go! I''ve already answered all your questions!" Hearing the desperate assassin''s pitiful voice, Shye smiled mockingly. "Fine, I''ll let you go. However, I will be the one to decide where you go, and I''ve decided that you''re going to... the afterlife!" Chapter 523 Happy Nookie Warm liquid slid down the unconscious little necrollin''s throat. Shortly after, it woke up with a mild headache, clutching its head as it slightly struggled to stand. Nookie still couldn''t make sense of the situation. However, upon seeing that most of its beloved corpses were destroyed along with one of its favorites, another (A-) ranked creature called Carriem, whose physique allowed it to easily carry corpses back to the training zone, the little necrollin''s heart was ripped into pieces. A few momentster, tears streamed down both sides of Nookie''s little cheeks. It worked hard to increase the number of corpses in its possession. Unfortunately, some random hateful ck horse suddenly came with his master and destroyed almost everything it worked for. "Ukiii¡­master¡­why did you bring this horsey here¡­ukiii¡­my poor Carriem¡­Little Brechy¡­Big Monch¡­Nookie is sorry¡­Nookie couldn''t protect¡­ukii¡­" Stay tuned for updates on empire Witnessing the little imp''s pitiful appearance and hearing its heartbroken cries, Shye''s heart was consumed by guilt. He thought it would be fun to test Nookie''s prowess against his new King-ss familiar. Even if a few corpses were destroyed, the little imp could always hunt new ones to increase the number of monstrous creature corpses in its possession. However, what Shye hadn''t expected was that necrollin puppeteers would value each corpse as though they were its children, not caring what rank the corpse was. The one called Little Brechy was nothing but a small (C-) ranked creature that Nookie was using to scout the path ahead¡ªborderline useless. Yet, the little necrollin still cried for it now that it was destroyed by one of Zeth''s vicious kicks. Naturally, although he always used the ck seal to threaten the slightly unruly little imp to make it obey his orders, to Shye, Nookie was now a valuablerade. In fact, he liked the little necrollin. Hence, seeing it cry so pitifully for the first time, Shye vowed to never do such experiments again and respect the little necrollin''s corpse puppets. Shye was about to speak. However, before he could do so, Zeth suddenly galloped in a random direction. ''Master Shye, Give me an hour, I shall return.'' Nodding at his familiar spirit, Shye shifted his focus back to the crying little imp. "N-Nookie, I apologize for allowing things to continue. I promise to never do such a thing again. I just wanted to see how you would fare against a familiar spirit that could defeat (S-) ranked monsters easily." Hearing its master''s words, Nookie couldn''t help but momentarily stop crying. It slightly liked what it just heard. Since the ugly horsey was way stronger than an (S-) ranked monster, thennding a hit on it meant that¡­ "To be honest, I was surprised when younded a hit on Zeth, a solid one at that! Maybe I was underestimating you all along, Nookie. Who would''ve thought that you were actually so capable?" "M-Master thinks that Nookie is strong?" "After that performance, I can''t help but think so. After all, even those (S-) ranked monsters couldn''tnd a single hit on my familiar spirit. I apologize for allowing her to destroy so many of your puppets; it won''t happen again. Also, I''ve brought you a gift. I hope this will at least make up for some of your losses." Naturally, watching Shye, who treated him rather harshly in the past, now speak with a hint of concern, the little imp felt slightly better. Then, when Shye revealed the corpse of the (S) ranked Void Elk, all the sadness in its heart waspletely swept away, vanishing like thin smoke. "UKYI!! M-Master! This corpse is for Nookie?" "Yes, I hope that next time you hunt, you prioritize the higher-ranked monstrous creatures, as I need you to build up a strong army." "Understood, master!" Just the Void Elk was enough for Nookie to start rebuilding his army and continue training to control more corpses at the same time from a longer range. Hence, when Zeth arrived, the little necrollin was stunned silly. The dusk mare was dragging the mane of an (A) ranked monstrous creature called Khimaira with the head of a lion, the head of a snake as a tail, and the wings of a wyvern. She even made sure that the corpse was intact. Arriving in front of the shocked imp, Zeth subtly offered the corpse to Nookie. "H-Horsey, this for me?" Unfortunately, all the duchess could do was nod as she could only speak to her master through telepathy. "UKYI!!! Thank you, horsey!" Zeth simply turned around and left once more, seemingly ignoring the necrollin puppeteer''s words of gratitude, leaving it confused. However, when the duchess returned around seven minutester carrying the corpse of another (A) ranked creature, Nookie understood why she left, almost wanting to hug the once "ugly" but now "beautiful ck" horsey. The same thing happened two more times, giving the little imp a total of four (A) ranked creatures before Zeth stopped. Adding Shye''s (S) ranked gift, Nookie now had six usable corpses in its possession: its favorite Ember Wyvern, the four (A) ranked corpses, and the (S) ranked Void Elk. In terms of actual value, the little imp''s six-creature army now surpassed everything it had before its fight with Zeth, and it knew this.@@novelbin@@ Thus, it was as now happy as a m, eager to start controlling the corpses and start hunting once more. "Nookie, with your abilities, I trust that this small army is enough for you to grow it, correct?" "Yes, master!" "Great. Now, make sure to steer clear of humans, alright? If an adventurer party is close to the vicinity of your training area, stop everything you''re doing at hide until they leave, understood?" "Understood, master!" "Good. Here, take this." Retrieving a high-quality distress signal talisman from his inventory, Shye handed it to Nookie, who was a bit confused. "If a party of high-ranked adventurers tries to hunt you, crush this talisman and do your best to survive and hide. Zeth and I wille rushing to help you." It wasn''t illegal to kill someone else''s tamed creature outside the premises of a city. Hence, people might try to kill Nookie. It could never hurt to give the little imp a life-saving item just in case. "Well then, Nookie, continue to train here and grow your army. I''ll drop by to check on your progress and situation once in a while." Chapter 525 Crazy Young Woman "Big brother!! You came!! Watch me!" Maia eximed equally loudly, ted upon seeing her big brother. "S-Shye Crowley has arrived to cheer his little sister on!! However, the question is, will it make a difference?! Maia Crowley''s situation is simply too dire!" Bart eximed with unmatched excitement right after. The Eusford camp didn''t understand why, but at that moment, they had a foreboding feeling that something unexpected and unfavorable was about to ur. Sure enough, after the short exchange between siblings, Maia''s movements suddenly became different. Way different. Not only was she faster, but she also became way more aggressive. It was as though she was showing off to gain her big brother''s seal of approval. The Colzen Khimaira resumed its fierce assault, attempting to smash the five-foot-three young woman before it with its colossal simted paws to meat paste. To its frustration, no matter how hard it tried to catch the ashen-haired young woman, Maia consistently evaded with unparalleled finesse and precision at thest possible moment, narrowly avoiding lethal strikes time and again, mere millimeters from the massive paws. Soon after, she even began counter-attacking¡ªher eyes coldly focused on the enormous monster in front of her. Her attacks only did very minimal damage, though, barely piercing the simted creature''s skin. "H-Hey¡­I''m not dreaming, am I? Is a student actually fighting a simted (A) ranked monster head-on?" "I''m aware that she''s barely managing to damage it but¡­isn''t Shye Crowley''s little sister a bit too crazy? She should y it safe, no?" "Hmmph! What do you know? This young woman is clearly destined to be another legend!" "Indeed! They''re siblings indeed!" Hearing the crowd''s words, Maia became even more pumped, causing her to act in a more insane and aggressive manner. It was as though her nerves were made of ice. Her academy''s fate is in her hands, yet, she didn''t seem nervous one bit, causing even the guild master of the first-ranked guild, Divine Judgment, to consider giving everything she would ask for just to secure her recruitment. Who knows? Maybe Shye Crowley would even transfer to them should they manage to acquire his little sister. Nheless, with or without Shye Crowley, Maia''s talents alone were enough for every guild master to spoil her rotten as though she were their child. *BANG!* Meanwhile, in the Eusford half-sphere, an azure ray of light shot out from the dome, materializing into a frustrated male warrior representative who repeatedly punched the ground in anger after being eliminated. He could''ve yed it safer. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire However, after watching Maia''s aggressive maneuvers, he was infected by her battle fervor. Perhaps he wanted to be like her. Unfortunately, he didn''t have Maia''s skills, reaction time, and unmatched focus. Hence, after sessfully dodging two paw smashes, he was mauled to death by the Khimaira. Naturally, the Eusford faculty was disappointed and somewhat angry with his reckless heroics, which had reduced their substantial lead to a two-on-one situation. With how Maia moved currently, the match had suddenly be anyone''s game. "Pixie! Restrain it for a few seconds and give me a mana shift enchantment!" "On it, Varris!" The Eusford representatives weren''t about to give up the match, instead coordinating more intensely and focusing on surviving the Khimaira''s attacks despite their teammate''s costly mistake. As for Maia, she just dodged a mana st that the Colzen Khimaira shot from its mouth, analyzing the trajectory of the follow-up paw smash with an ice-cold gaze before narrowly evading it by jumping. She thennded on its massive right paw, sprinted up its face, and delivered a somersault kick to its chin. Uponnding on the ground once more, she kicked up a cloud of dust as she used [Dash Stab] to instantly lunge toward its exposed throat, delivering a vicious stab. *ROAR!* Azure mana particles leaked out of the moderately deep wound as a primal bellow emerged from the Colzen Khimaira''s wounded throat. It was in pain. On the other hand, the Eusford Khimaira rampaged uncontrobly, shattering all the protective barriers cast by the Eusford priestess named Pixie to safeguard the remaining warrior representative and ace, Varris.@@novelbin@@ It seemed as though the remaining Eusford duo would fail to hold on soon. A stark contrast to what seemed like an even battle between Maia and the Colzen Khimaira. "Hahahaha! That''s my little sister!" Shye eximed in utter delight and excitement. This was the first time he saw Maia fight in a rather long while. Hence, he was naturally ted upon seeing her prowess. She was undoubtedly way more talented than even the likes of Siegfried and Ian. Unfortunately, Maia,ser-focused on her monstrous adversary, didn''t hear Shye''s words. If she did, she would be smiling ear-to-ear. However, despite what seemed like evenpetition, the Khimaira was beyond Maia''s ability to kill at her current level. While her agility and dexterity were sufficient to keep her alive for a limited time, they did not trante into substantial damage due to her severelycking strength. She needed more time to blossom into a true lethal scout. ¡­After five more minutes of chaos, both sides finally ran out of spells to use. Even their trump cards were on cooldown. Yet, despite simr circumstances, there was a huge difference between the facial expressions of the Eusford Representatives and Colzen''s ace. Varis'' and Pixie''s faces showed how difficult the situation was for them. On the other hand, there was a wide, almost insane smile on Maia''s face, her lips moving slightly. She was muttering something. Naturally, the live recording crystal zoomed in on her face, allowing the crowd to read her lips. "Hahahaha! A Khimaira, huh? What a powerful creature¡­ Come on, show me what you''ve got! It''s like you''re a giant kitty, and I''m a little mouse¡­ Let''s see if you can catch me!" A few momentster, uponprehending the seemingly innocent words the Colzen ace just muttered, the crowd''s eyes almost popped out of their sockets. Even a few guild masters watched nkly with their mouths agape, appearing extremely foolish. "T-This crazy young woman! She''s enjoying this!" Chapter 527 The True Ace "T-T-THE COLZEN KHIMAIRA IS DOWN!! IT''S STRUGGLING TO GET UP, LEAKING A LOT OF MANA PARTICLES! WHO COULD''VE IMAGINED THAT MAIA CROWLEY WOULD GRAVELY WOUND THE KHIMAIRA IN THE DECISIVE MOMENT?!" Spittle flew in all directions, and tables cracked as Bart, utterly exhrated, screamed his heart out, his right foot nted firmly on hismentator''s desk¡ªhis eyes¡ªwide open. Instead of racking her brain to figure out how to survive, she focused instead on devising a way to wound the enormous (A) ranked simtion. Truly mad. Meanwhile, on the other half of the sphere, blue particles also leaked out of the Eusford Khimaira''s paw and face due to the return damage of Varis'' shield. However, there was a heaven-and-earth difference as on the Eusford side, an azure ray of light shot out of the dome, materializing into a confidently smiling Varis, offering a fist-bump to another male Eusford representative. Utterly confused, the male Eusford representative bumped fists with their ace rather unenthusiastically. Naturally, sensing that something was wrong, Varis quickly scanned his eyes over the entire Eusford camp. None of them were happy, and he couldn''t understand why. ''Why are they looking at the stage as though Maia Crowley was able to sur¨C?!'' Turning around, Varis'' eyes almost popped out of their sockets, his mouth agape as he stared dumbfoundedly at the wobbling Maia on the stage. She looked exhausted and weak as heck. Yet, there she was, standing gloriously on the stage with her right arm held high in a victory pose. "UOOHHH!! SENIOR MAIA!!" "SENIOR MAIA IS MIGHTY!!" "COLZEN! COLZEN! COLZEN!" The Colzen crowd erupted into wild cheers as yet again, their ace representative with the surname of Crowley turned an almost impossible situation around, tying the match up 2-2. On the other hand, those from and who were cheering for Eusford were downcast. They haven''t lost yet. However, they didn''t seem to have the heart to continue. "V-V-VARIS HECHANOVA HAS BEEN ELIMINATED!! THE EUSFORD ACE FAILS TO SURVIVE THE FEROCIOUS DIVE ATTACK!! ONCE AGAIN, AN ACE REPRESENTATIVE SURNAMED CROWLEY RUINS EUSFORD ACADEMY''S PLANS!! Hearing Bart''s words, veins popped at the sides of Eusford ace representative''s head. "HOW?! HOW THE F*CK DID SHE SURVIVE THAT?! EVEN I, A SHIELD USER COULD NOT, SO WHAT COULD SHE, A SCOUT, EVEN DO?!" Varis erupted. He couldn''t make sense of the situation. Dodging a dive-bomb attack with such a vast effective radius in a limited space like the Valenzia Main Stage was impossible. Hence, the only thing his inexperienced mind could conceive was that Maia had used some sort of protective item to survive. Varis expected that his teammates would side with him and also voice out their frustrations. To his surprise, they remained silent, making him feel more distressed and humiliated.@@novelbin@@ Luckily, the instant rey, that yed mere momentster, told him all he needed to know about how Maia survived. Watching how her unwavering heart, astonishing speed, and intense focus enabled her to decisively tilt her body and spin mid-air, carving a long, deep wound from the Khimaira''s right front paw to its right nk, left Varis gaping in awe. He had to admit. Explore more at empire At that moment, Maia Crowley looked like a hero. Clenching his fists in frustration and slight resignation, Varis remembered his position. He was Eusford''s ace. He couldn''t allow himself to feel dejected, as there was still another match ahead. "Tch, so that''s how, huh?" Varis said, turning around to face his teammates. "No matter. She fought well. However, it doesn''t mean we''ve already lost. There''s still one more match, and judging by the damage she sustained, ten minutes won''t be enough for her to fully recover. We have a fair chance of winning. So, wipe that depressed look off your faces!" For the next ten minutes, the Eusford representatives huddled and brainstormed, thinking of ways to effectively defeat Maia Crowley in a one-versus-one. On the other hand, Maia simply waved enthusiastically to her big brother before entering the Colzen Academy station. She then drank some potions,y down on the bed, covered her eyes with a face towel, and took a short ten-minute nap. Her teammates, who were also already her close friends, knew that this was her recovery routine. Hence, they didn''t say anything and simply allowed her to rest with smiles on their faces. She saved them again. Ten minutester, someone woke her up. Standing up from the bed, Maia yawned and stretched as she walked out of the academy station, seemingly still very sleepy. The Colzen crowd found her rxed actions very cute, as Maia had blossomed into a fine young woman. However, naturally, those who supported Eusford found her actions rather arrogant. After all, the next match would decide who bes the champion. Yet, despite such huge stakes, Maia seemed very calm, as though the thought of losing never crossed her mind. Well, they were partially correct. Maia indeed had quite the confidence to believe that she would never lose in a duel against those from the same generation. However, a huge part of why she was so calm was because she didn''t give a single f*ck whether she wins or loses. As long as she gets to face a strong opponent that pushes her to fight at her full potential, she will be happy as a m, even if she loses. This was where her personality differed from Siegfried''s. Although both were battle-maniacs, Siegfried was a bit prideful. He would still be happy if he lost to a strong opponent, but there would always be a touch of frustration in his heart due to the loss. Maia, on the other hand, didn''t care about the results at all. As long as she believed she learned something from the battle, she wouldn''t feel a hint of regret or frustration. Ascending the stage, Maia performed somest-minute stretches with an excited smile on her face before pulling her dagger out of its sheath. This specific action, despite looking harmless, made her opponent even more nervous. He could never hope to be that calm in front of such huge stakes. Still, Eusford''s championship was in his hands. He couldn''t allow himself to keep trembling with anxiety. Pulling his dagger out, the representative named Koochi assumed his battle stance, readying to yell a battle cry in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Maia Crowley! I shall put an end to your undefeated record!" Unfortunately, his voice cracked at the wrong time. Chapter 531 : Unexpected Newcomer The majestic sun once more rose to its heavenly throne, its gentle golden rays signaling the start of another great day. Yet, a particr ashen-haired young man remained in his bed, fast asleep. After a long yet pleasant day of promotions and nostalgic reunions, Shye decided to rx the next day. He relentlessly took on quests and trained to improve his reaction time and attributes in the past five months. Hence, he decided to give himself a nice, rxing one-day break wherein hezed around all day, doing whatever he wanted. He at least deserved such a break once in a while. It was only the next day that he left his room, heading towards the guild headquarters to check on his division''s progress, nning to resume his relentless grind. He had no idea how much time remained before the old man''s organization, Verden Zachrana, wouldunch a full-scale war against Dweezel Hawkins. The only thing he could do now was increase his strength as much as possible. ''The old man would give me a mandatory quest if there''s something that needs to be done, anyway. No need to overthink.'' Shye pondered as he walked, arriving in front of the guild headquarters after fifteen minutes. "We greet the division leader!" "Oh? Good morning, Orto, Banja. You guys are early." "We''re nning a duo hunt today, and since it''s our first time taking on a quest with just the two of us, we need to find one that''s neither too tough nor too easy." "That''s great, I wish the two of you good luck." After a brief interaction with two of his division members, Shye headed straight to their new, spacious division lounge, while Orto and Banja went to the quest board to find suitable quests.@@novelbin@@ He at least had to see if his division was headed toward the next tier because if not, he would naturally make some adjustments. Months? Years? Shye didn''t know when the old man would enact his ns. Hence, he had to make his subordinates as strong as possible and try to rope as many of them as he could before the battle against Dweezel. He naturally had a n on how to do it. It was just that, he needed to develop their trust and foster loyalty and camaraderie with him a bit more before attempting it. Otherwise, acting too hastily could jeopardize not only his ns but also the old man''s. He had to execute his ns carefully and meticulously. "Good morning, division leader." "Good morning, Leya. Can you hand me thepiled reports? I''ll check on it before I leave for another quest." "Yes, division leader. Here''s the reportption¡­" ¡­ For the past thirty minutes, Shye had been sitting in a plush chair inside his private office within the division lounge, meticulously reviewing the division''s overall progress. But then, someone suddenly knocked on the wooden door. "You may enter." *CREAK!* A loud creaking sound echoed within the room as the old wooden door of the division leader''s office slowly opened, and an attractive young woman with short brown hair and hazel eyes entered shortly after. "Oh? Mara, what''s wrong?" "Division leader, someone who just arrived at the guild today ims to be your friend. I''m not sure whether to allow him into the division lounge. Could you please confirm if you know this young man?" Hearing Mara''s words, Shye''s eyes narrowed¡ªhis heart racing slightly in anticipation. ''Who could it be?'' He had an inkling that it might be one of his teammates from Colzen Academy. However, he couldn''t determine who it was. Well, it couldn''t be Harry or David, at least, as the two were slightly less talented than Kiin, Ian, and Siegfried. Eager to see who the neer was, Shye quickly exited his office, Mara following closely behind. She was also curious. Somehow, the young man''s face was familiar, but she couldn''t recall where she had seen him. It didn''t take long for everyone to know, though. "Yo, Crowley. Seems like you made it here faster than me. Sigh¡­and I thought I could finally beat you for once¡­" A familiar voice sounded from outside the division lounge, bringing a sincere wide smile to Shye''s face. Out of all his teammates, this guy was the one he spent the most time with, as they were in the same course. Hence, Shye was really happy now that Siegfried had arrived in Valenzia. To be able to receive a promotion to the main branch in a mere two years despite not having a system¡­ Siegfried Lionheart was a monster in his own right. "Sieg! You''ve already made it to the main branch?" "Heh,ing from you? I tried to ask around and it seemed that you were ahead by an entire year. Tch, when will I be able to beat you?" Siegfried jokingly said before staring at him right in his eyes. Discover more content at empire Shye knew his friend very well. Naturally, he also knew what his gaze meant. "Sigh¡­you just arrived and you already want to spar?" "Hahahaha! Come on, it''s been a while, no? How about we do it for fun like old times?" "As if I have a choice! Let''s go then, to the training hall." Their conversation had been brief, yet they had already organized a highly anticipated event¡ªone that their guild members would eagerly watch. Naturally, Shye''s division members, upon hearing their conversation, immediately spread the news, leading to approximately 3,000 people gathering in the main branch''s training hall. The numbers were way less than what Shye preferred. However, it was better this way, as he did not want to humiliate his friend in front of many people, especially since he had just arrived. "Hey, who''s that guy? Daring to challenge Crowley¡­what a delusional youngster!" "Shut the hell up, you idiot! Can''t you see they''re friends?! This is nothing but a friendly spar!" "Still, I still want to know who this other guy is. If he''s Shye Crowley''s friend, then this guy should know better than anyone how strong Crowley is!" "I don''t know¡­It feels like I''ve seen him before¡­but where?" "You donuts! How could you forget?! Aren''t they from the same legendary Colzen Academy representative batch that made history?! That guy right there is Siegfried Lionheart, Colzen Academy''s other warrior representative from two years ago!" Chapter 532 Just Like Old Times Across Shye stood a familiar smiling face. However, there was something different about Siegfried, and upon closer inspection, Shye finally realized what it was. "Hey, Sieg, you''re not using a tachi anymore?" "Yeah, I finally found the fighting style that suits me best so I swapped to a katana which would allow me to fight a little bit faster." "Hoh, let''s see what that new style is then." "dly!" After a few more moments, an onlooker named Dogov, who volunteered to be the referee for today''s friendly spar, jerked his right arm upward. "Fight!" Astonishingly, Siegfried, who usually relied on his great reflexes and masterful counters, was the one who charged first this time, catching Shye, who was also advancing forth, off guard. Ferociously shing his wooden sparring katana downwards, Siegfried''s weapon suddenly glowed golden purple. "Voidcutter!" Everything was done in one swift motion, which forced Shye to defend by raising his wooden greatsword horizontally and using its t part to block the ferocious attack. Luckily, since they only used wooden weapons typically used for friendly spars and training sessions, the attack had no cutting power. However, the full force was still there, and if hit cleanly, Shye would likely be staggering backward with a moderately battered body.@@novelbin@@ ''Physical barrier!'' Diminishing the force of Siegfried''s attack with his lone priest skill, he was able to easily deflect the attack shortly after, allowing him to charge forward once more. Unfortunately, his opponent was already nowhere to be found, leaving Shye confused for a moment. ''Hoh, is this your new fighting style? Nice try, but unfortunately for you, I have a skill that counters all stealth techniques! Mana Pulse!'' As an azure mana pulse visible only to Shye gathered information and returned, Shye was shocked to find that even his unique-tier skill failed to detect where Siegfried was. To make matters worse, before he could recover from his surprise, Siegfried suddenly appeared on his left, catching himpletely off guard. ''Crap!'' Shye inwardly cursed as his sparring partner''s wooden katana viciously headed straight for his wide-open neck. At this point, there was only one skill he could use. ''Stoic!'' A dull thud sounded as the wooden katana made contact with Shye''s neck. However, that''s it, he didn''t even feel hurt. "Hoh, so he traded a bit of power for more speed, huh?" Shye mused as he reached out and sessfully grabbed Siegfried''s left wrist. He then shed his wooden greatsword diagonally at his sparring partner''s shoulders. Discover stories at empire ''Power sh!'' Winds violently parted as Shye''s wooden greatswords ferociously approached Siegfried, who waspletely trapped in front of him. He believed that the friendly duel would end there, as there should be no way for his opponent to escape. However, just before Shye''s weapon struck Siegfried''s shoulders, Siegfried was suddenly pulled into what seemed to be a spatial pocket, reappearing on Shye''s right side and shing at him once more. *THUD* Another dull thud sounded as the wooden katananded squarely on Shye''s shoulders. This time, though, before Shye could even move, Siegfried already retreated out of range. "H-Hey, are my eyes deceiving me? Is Crowley actually losing?" Hearing the crowd''s hubbub, Siegfried felt rather unhappy. He knew that Shye still wasn''t treating him seriously. "Come on, you should at least stop holding back against me, no?" the young man said with a confident smile, pointing his katana at Shye. "Hahaha, my bad, Sieg. I honestly thought that our gap would be pretty big by now so I apologize for underestimating you." Shye replied with a smile, walking towards the training weapon rack and grabbing another greatsword shortly after. Then, feeling the familiar warm energy coursing through his body thanks to his talent, [Greatsword Meister (Rare)], Shye spoke again: "Now then, shall we continue?" Shye honestly thought that he already left Siegfried in the dust. Yet, somehow, despite being behind, the guy''s skill levels and attributes clung to him like glue. In other words, they were stillparable and could be mentioned in the same breath when it came tobat. Shye preferred it this way, though, as it would be boring without a rival to practice with in their region. While he could leave Valenzia to find sparring partners, that would be far too much of a hassle. He would rather train by battling high-ranking monsters to the death. ¡­Seeing his rival holding two greatswords, Siegfried''s rxed expression turned into one of sternness and determination. He wanted to win. Unfortunately, Shye, who now wields two weapons, was a different kind of beast due to the immense attribute boost granted by an extra greatsword. Hence, when he bolted forward, Siegfried was caught off guard. He failed to enter a spatial pocket on time and was forced to block Shye''s attack head-on. As a result, he was sent flying to the other end of the training hall. ''F-F*ck¡­that hurt¡­the strength attribute gap is this wide now?'' Siegfried cursed inwardly as he struggled to stand up. ''And he''s still as fast if not even faster than me¡­'' Now realizing how hard it would be for him to defeat Shye, Siegfried decided to go all out. ''Seraphim''s Rage!'' A massive pair of golden wings made of light suddenly emerged from Siegfried''s back, and this time, smaller pairs also appeared on his elbows, ankles, and ears, not only enhancing his appearance but also boosting his attributes and reaction time. Furthermore, the range of his katana increased dramatically as it became enveloped in a golden aura. This aura not only enhanced the weapon''s cutting power but also made it lighter for the wielder while feeling heavier for the opponent. He looked like an angel warrior from the tales of old. ''Hoh, so he''s already maxed out the level of his trump card, huh?'' Shye mused, impressed at Siegfried''s appearance. He remembered this skill. However, back then, it only gave Siegfried a pair of golden wings, increased his attributes, and extended the range of his weapon. It wasn''t nearly as impressive as it is now. "Prepare yourself, Crowley!" Chapter 533 Just Like Old Times (2) Under the astonished gazes of the growing number of onlookers, Siegfried menacingly advanced. He was fast. Unfortunately, not fast enough to catch Shye off-guard. ''Heh, if you think you can cross the strength attribute gap with just this, I''m afraid you''re gravely mistaken, Sieg!'' Shye inwardly thought with a confident smile, aiming both greatswords forward before using one of his reliable gap-closer skills. ''Rush Stab! Boost!'' Winds howled as Shye sted through the air with unparalleled speed and ferocity, prompting Siegfried to narrow his eyes in wariness. The intensity of Shye''s attack was overwhelming. However, Siegfried was fully prepared to counter it. He vanished at the perfect moment by hiding in a spatial pocket, then reappeared behind Shye, whose speed suddenly dropped after losing his target. Siegfried then wielded his wooden katana with all his might, summoning three illusory swords of different colors: red, yellow, and blue. Shortly after, the three swords whistled through the air, stabbing straight at Shye''s back. Unfortunately for Siegfried, Shye already predicted that he was gonna disappear before they shed. This is why as soon as Shye lost speed due to losing his target, he prepared his next attack, [Half-moon sh Lv.4 (Umon)]. Turning around, he fiercely shed both greatswords, first the right and then the left, firing off two enormous silver sh marks that formed an X as they flew toward Siegfried. Then, as the two warrior projectiles shed, the three swords were easily overpowered, forcing Siegfried to quickly roll sideways to dodge. ''Hoh? Why didn''t he disappear this time?'' Shye pondered. Siegfried should be able to dodge his attack easily by disappearing into a spatial pocket. Hence, Shye couldn''t help but question the method he used to evade the attack. ''Can''t waste this chance now, can I?'' *GYAOOH!* Two pairs of pitch-ck wings emerged from Shye''s back, apanied by reddish-ck horns on his forehead, elbows, and ankles. A pitch-ck armor then materialized on his body, followed by a blood-curdling howl reminiscent of ancient demons, enhancing his attributes, defensive capabilities, and mobility. This was the final form of Shye''s [Fallen] skills. Experience more on empire ¡­With one p of his max-level wings, Shye arrived in front of Siegfried, who had just finished stabilizing his footing. He then brandished his greatswords like a berserk war god, shing them diagonally downwards one after the other. This resulted in Siegfried backpedaling like there was no tomorrow¡ªhis focus, razor-sharp as he parried and dodged Shye''s attacks the best he could. He simply doesn''t dare block for fear of being sent flying once more. Five secondster, Siegfried vanished into a spatial pocket once more, reappearing behind Shye and thrusting his de toward Shye''s heart from behind. Naturally, Shye was already prepared for this moment as learning about this annoying skill of Siegfried''s was the main goal of his earlier relentless assault. With one p of his wings, Shye bolted forward at shocking speeds, easily dodging his opponent''s attacks. ''Hoh¡­so his skill''s cooldown mechanics were like that of my [Boost] skill, huh?'' He mused smilingly, charging at Siegfried once more the next moment. This time, however, Siegfried unleashed his own [Half-moon sh Lv.5 (Umon)] skill. Unfortunately, since he was using a katana, his sh was sharper but lighter and considerably smallerpared to Shye''s. Still, it wasn''t an attack that Shye could receive with his body. ¡­or could he? He had never tested the defensive capabilities of the ck armor granted by the max level [Fallen''s Howl]. Since this was only a friendly duel, Shye decided that it was better to test its capabilities now than in a real-life-or-death scenario. Hence, despite the mighty aura of the half-moon sh mark, Shye recklessly advanced, opting to take the attack head-on in exchange for a clean hit of his own. Shye gritted his teeth and prepared himself to endure agonizing pain. Yet, surprisingly, when the sh mark made contact with his chest, it evaporated like smoke along with his ck armor. As a result, Siegfried waspletely caught off guard, sent flying by another powerful blow to his chest. "Puhaahk!" This time, his injuries were rather severe. Fortunately, he still had two charges of his skill [Spatial Shift], which enabled him to evade crashing into the training hall walls. Using one charge of the skill, he disappeared into a spatial pocket mid-air and reappeared at a safe distance from where Shye was momentster. "Hahahaha! What the hell is that ck armor, Crowley? Isn''t that thing basically a cheat?" "Hahaha! I really don''t want to hear that from you, considering you have that darned spatial pocket skill or something to get you out of trouble anytime you want!" The twobatants engaged in a friendly banter. However, Shye purposely remarked, "Siegfried can get out of trouble ANYTIME he wants using his skill," feigning ignorance of the skill''s cooldown after three charges. Might be a bit of a rat move considering they were both warriors. But hey, it wasn''t his fault that his intelligence attribute was higher than Siegfried''s, was it?@@novelbin@@ It would be a sin to fight like an idiot if he had smarter options. Fully knowing that Siegfried only had one charge of [Spatial Shift] left, Shye initiated the attack once more, pping his wings mightily to arrive in front of his opponent. Unfortunately, Siegfried seemed to have predicted it, and with a p of his own golden wings, he bolted heavenwards with a n of his own in mind. Naturally, if Shye knew certain things about his close friend''s skills, Siegfried also knew some things about him. For one, he knew that Shye''s wings couldn''t be used continuously and that he would have to wait for one second before using them again. This was enough for Siegfried to use gravity to his advantage, pping his wings in sync with Shye to descend fiercely. With this, he was sure that his ace in the hole would snatch victory for him. Watching the mesmerizingbat scene, where it appeared as though an angel descended from the skies to strike down the ascending demon back into the depths of hell, the onlookers were captivated. How they wished they could freeze that moment for a few more seconds to admire it. Unfortunately, a fierce battle was bound to be fast-paced, and the moment that seemed toe straight out of a fairy tale ended almost as soon as it began. Shye shed his [Power sh]-empowered greatsword upwards while Siegfried shed his katana downwards. Then, at thest moment, Siegfried hid in a spatial pocket, allowing Shye''s greatswords to pass through before reappearing at the same location, brandishing his wooden katana viciously at Shye''s neck. Shye still had another greatsword, though, which allowed him to block the attack. He even raised it horizontally, entering a blocking motion. ''Ethereal Sword!'' Just when the wooden weapons were about to sh, Siegfried''s wooden katana suddenly flickered and passed through Shye''s guard. "It''s my win, Crowl¨C?!" *ROAR!* An ear-splitting roar that resembled those of mighty dragons suddenly emerged out of Shye''s mouth. Unfortunately for Siegfried, with no other options to dodge, he fell victim to Shye''s skill, [Draconian Roar Lv.5], once more. As a result, he was scared witless, and it was as if his attack was frozen in time. The next moment, he felt a strong grip around his neck, followed by the sensation of being violently mmed into the ground. Soon after, he was engulfed by oblivion. ''Ahh¡­crap¡­I lost again¡­'' [Congrattions! You''ve earned 3,620 points!] Chapter 534 New Deputy Leader Waking up to the training hall''s ceiling as a warm liquid coursed through his throat and battered body, Siegfried looked like he was having subtle internal struggles again. He lost again. "Sigh¡­That day would eventuallye¡­just keep doing what you do, Siegfried Lionheart¡­," Siegfried reassured himself, taking Shye''s extended hand for support as he stood up. "Yo, Sieg, you alright?" "Yeah, thanks for asking." "Sigh¡­I can''t believe that I still lost despite breaking my back for the past two years just to catch up to you!" Hearing his close friend''s words, Shye couldn''t help but stare at Siegfried for a second in astonishment. The guy must be frustrated from repeatedly losing to him despite all his efforts. Yet, Siegfried''s attitude remained unchanged. He was still the same likable and trustworthy friend he had always been, and for that, Shye was thankful. However, he also knew that Siegfried would easily notice and wouldn''t appreciate a deliberate loss. The best he could do for him was to give him a chance to reveal all his trump cards and then defeat him using his own. "Ha! You think you''re the only one who has been pushing himself for the past two years? I knew you''d be training hard behind my back, so I also worked my ass off to make sure I wouldn''t lose to you!" Shye eximed with a smile, bringing a smile to Siegfried''s face. The guy somehow had an idea that he was lying. However, Siegfried appreciated that Shye at least understood his inner feelings and was making an effort to show he was being taken seriously. ''One day, you won''t have to pretend, I promise¡­'' Siegfried inwardly vowed. "So, I heard you are now the division leader of a three-star division?" "Yeah, I''ve been getting ready for the day you all arrive at the main branch, so I went ahead and established a division for us." "Sigh, I can''t ever be a match for you, can I? Well then, can I join your division, o'' great division leader?" Siegfried said in a jesting manner. "Hahahaha! dly! Come, allow me, the great division leader himself, to process your registration personally!" By the time Shye was feeding the unconscious Siegfried a full recovery potion, most of the onlookers had dispersed. This allowed the two of them to easily leave the training hall and head towards the shy Ravens Rising''s division lounge. Upon arriving, someone who Shye hadn''t seen for quite a while greeted him. "Oh? Division leader! How have you been this past month? I heard you''ve caught up to me and be a mithril-ranked adventurer?" Reginald said with a beaming smile. Naturally, this was just a front. Both he and Shye knew that he had been acting on the old man''s orders over the past month. Hence, Shye easily got the message and replied ordingly. "Hmph! It''s because you''re toozy that I managed to catch up! If you were the type to return immediately afterpleting a quest, you would be close to adamantite by now!" "Hehehe, of course, I always return immediately after a quest! It''s just that I''m not that fast atpleting quests, no need to be angry, division leader!" Acting goofily, Reginald nced at the young man standing behind Shye, his eyes widening momentarily before settling back to normal. "And this is?" "Ahh, good question. Since you''ve been searching for someone who could take over your position, let me introduce Siegfried Lionheart, the new deputy leader of shy Ravens Rising." "W-What?! How heartless! Wasn''t it I who had been by your side since the beginning?!" Reginald said "sorrowfully" bringing slight guilt to Siegfried''s heart. "H-Hey, Crowley, I didn''t hear about this. I can''t just join and take the second most important position in the division now, can I?" "Worry not, Sieg. This guy is just acting. In truth, he wanted nothing more than to be free of his position so just ept it." "...Oh! The sorrow! How could you rece me just like that? Can this guy even take on such an important role? Look at hi¨C" "I ept the position of deputy leader, division leader Crowley." "Oh! Guess I have no choice but to give it up then, hahaha! Well then, Division Leader Crowley, Deputy Leader¡­err¡­what''s your name again?" "Siegfried Lionheart." "Deputy Leader Siegfried! I hope that you and Shye can lead our division to greater heights! I have something important to attend to! Farewell!" After behaving entrically, as if he had a mild to moderate mental condition, Reginald bolted off, leaving Shye shaking his head.@@novelbin@@ However, just as he was about to lead Siegfried inside, he received a private message from what seemed to be a short-distancemunication talisman. Find exclusive stories on empire "Crowley, leave Siegfried in the division lounge for now; we need to talk in private. Meet me at the organization''s third secret establishment ten minutes from now." ''Regi?'' Upon hearing his former deputy leader''s serious words, Shye briefly nced at Siegfried with a confused expression, swiftly returning to his usual demeanor as if nothing had happened. Still, he can''t simply ignore Reginald''s words, as the guy was his ally in the darker side of things. Hence, he escorted Siegfried to the deputy leader''s office, leaving him there under the pretense that he was summoned by the guild master and promising to return promptly to assist him in settling in. As Siegfried had just arrived and was weary from the journey, he dly agreed, temporarily unwinding in the office while waiting for Shye toe back. ¡­Ten minutester¡­ "Crowley, I''m here." "Regi, what''s up?" "Where did you get your "friend"?" "Huh? What do you mean? He''s been my friend ever since our academy days. We''ve known each other for almost six years now." "Well... if that''s how it is, then fine. But don''t lower your guard around him. He resembles someone I detestpletely. It could be mere coincidence that they look alike, but I won''t dismiss the other possibility." Hearing Reginald''s exnation, Shye''s brows furrowed. The guy was implying that his friend, Siegfried, might be an enemy. Chapter 535 A Talented Individuals Blues "That''s about it, do you have any questions?" "No, these tasks are fairly easy, though. Are you sure you only need me to do these? I can help with a few more of yours. "No need. Since I was the one who established the division, it is only natural that I burden myself with its paperwork. You focus on bing stronger." "Well, in that case, shall we go on a quest together?" "Sounds great! Just like old times!" Having decided to go on a quest together, Shye and Siegfried left the deputy division leader''s office, causing their division members to turn their heads toward them. Many were unsure whether to greet Siegfried, as some found it hard to ept that Reginald, who had been with them from the start, was reced so suddenly, utterly unaware that Reginald had been wishing for a recement every night. Naturally, Shye noticed their actions and subtle whispers. Yet, he couldn''t do anything to assist Siegfried, as Siegfried needed to earn the members'' acknowledgment through his own strength. ''Well, there''s no need to worry about Sieg too much. He''s a super rookie in his own right. I''m sure he''ll earn the members'' stamps of approval on his own.'' Shye mused ncing at his friend, whose face was as rxed as ever. He found it impossible for the guy to be an enemy, as he entered Colzen Academy the same way as everyone else: through the entrance examination. Moreover, before his admission to the academy, he was nothing but a street rat who wasn''t even worth a second nce. Therefore, in Shye''s mind, Reginald''s ims couldn''t be further from the truth. However... "It''s best to stay vignt and careful, so I''ll keep an eye on Sieg''s actions..." Arriving at the quest board, Shye unhesitatingly grabbed an (S-) ranked quest, leaving Siegfried slightly taken aback. "Hey, Crowley, I mean, I''m up for the challenge but can I really tag along on such a high-ranked quest?" "Hmm? Yeah, if you think you can keep up, we can even take on an (S) ranked quest." "..." For a few moments, Siegfried couldn''t reply. He was someone who wasn''t scared of death. However, what he was scared of was dying due to stupid reasons. There was absolutely no need for him to rush things too much, as not only was he still young, but he was also already strong for his age. He didn''t have any particr reason to grow stronger as quickly as possible, except to catch up to his old friend and rival, Shye. However, that was not a valid reason for him to recklessly risk his life. The right time wille for him to confront the legendary (S) ranked creatures. For now¡­ "No, let''s go with this (S-) ranked quest." "Hmm, alright then." This time, Shye had no intention of allowing Zeth to help, and for two good reasons: First, theirbat and survival skills would improve more quickly if they hunted the creatures on their own. Second, he decided to heed Reginald''s warning and observe Siegfried before revealing more of his secrets. It wasn''t that he didn''t trust Siegfried. It was just that the stakes were simply too high to let personal feelings cloud his judgment. He just chose the safer and more logical option. "Crap... an (S-) ranked Dragrex, huh? The strongest creature I''ve fought alone was barely an (A) rank. Now that I''m about to face an average (S-) one, I can''t help but feel both nervous and excited, hahaha!" Hearing Siegfried''s words, Shye was taken aback. He found it hard to believe that his friend, without the assistance of a cheat like the shy Adventurer System, was able to enhance his attributes andbat techniques to the level where he could battle (A) ranked creatures like the Ember Wyvern at such a young age. Given Siegfried''s personality, he likely didn''t participate in the Rookie Adventurer Competition of his own ord, believing it would be a waste of time. If he had, second ce might not have necessarily gone to Damien. With his luck and determination, he might have even given Shye a challenge, especially since Shye was unfortunate enough to barely encounter any high-ranked creatures during the two-week Rookie Adventurer Competition hunt. ''Tch, I get it already. He''s the true son of heaven, not me.'' Shye inwardly sighed. Deep down, he knew he was a fraud, relying solely on his recently unlocked talent and the shy Adventurer System to surpass others. Given that his parents were undeniably talented, he might have be a respected adamantite-ranked adventurer over his lifetime and achieved his dream life regardless. However, achieving his current strength and aplishments at such a young age would be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible.@@novelbin@@ He might still be considered a genius, but likely a second-rate one, destined to y second or third fiddle to more naturally gifted individuals. His little sister''s story, though, was different; it was clear she was far more talented than him, possibly even more than Siegfried and the others. ''Sigh¡­why am I thinking of such depressing things, don''t I have a few good qualities as well? Like¡­uh¡­hmm¡­Well, it''s probably better to focus on the quest first! Such internal struggles can be resolvedter! Yes, hahaha!'' "Hahahaha! I truly can''t help but admire your outlook, Sieg. Well then, shall we head out?" "Let''s go." Under thousands of curious gazes from their guildmates, Shye and Siegfried exited the guild headquarters to embark on their first duo quest in a long time. Unfortunately, without Zeth''s assistance, they had to travel the conventional way: walking and using teleporters to move between cities, aiming to reach their destination quickly¡ªthe Magna Death Zone. There, adventurers spotted the nest of the Dragrex that had repeatedly crossed into expert adventurer zones, disrupting the power bnce by hunting and killing apex (A) ranked creatures in those areas. After approximately four days of continuous travel with minimal rest, the duo arrived at the deste lobby of the Magna Death Zone. Cold winds blew as tumbleweeds crossed the barrenndscape. The sight of dead trees and the cracked cement floor did little to ease Siegfried''s slightly nervous heart. Taking one deep breath, he spoke: "I''m prepared. Let''s go in, Crowley." Chapter 536 Jumpscare Shye couldn''t help but inwardly chuckle at Siegfried''s slightly nervous appearance. It was the first time he had seen the battle maniac with such a stiff expression, and he found it naturally amusing. ''Well, it should go away once he''s inbat'' As for Shye, he wasn''t nervous at all, as he had alreadypleted lots of quests inside death zones. Although he initially had Zeth''s assistance, they would eventually hunt separately. However, they naturally hunted in close proximity to each other, ready to assist if problems arose. Naturally, it was mostly the familiar aiding the master, as Shye was still adjusting to the speed and strength of (S-) ranked monstrous creatures. Zeth, on the other hand, was strong enough to easily y the weaker ones and hold her own against the strongest of creatures. The past few months of training weren''t wasted, as Shye had be strong enough to hunt (S-) ranked creatures alone. However, despite being eager to try, he had not yet attempted to hunt a legendary (S) ranked creature on his own. "Hmm¡­based on the map, the nest must be around here somewhere¡­" Shye muttered. After walking for around three hours while chatting, the two of them finally arrived at the marked location, but unfortunately, they still had to look for the Dragrex''s nest. Siegfried, aiming toplete the quest as efficiently as possible, proposed an idea: "Should we split up? It would be easier to look for the nest that way." Hearing Siegfried''s words, Shye was tempted. However, ultimately, sound reasoning prevailed thanks to Shye''s high intelligence and wisdom attributes. "Let''s not do that. Even if it takes a bit more time to find the nest, it would be safer if we watch each other''s backs while searching." Siegfried felt genuinely relieved after hearing Shye''s decision, as he had only suggested splitting up because he didn''t want to hold Shye back. In truth, he was a bit apprehensive about venturing alone into the death zone, especially since it was his first time entering one. After all, (A-) ranked monstrous creatures were the weakest inhabitants of such a dangerous adventuring zone. "Alright, let''s do that." Since the duo decided to look for the nest together, it took them around an hour before they managed to find some clues. Taking cover behind an old spruce tree surrounded by thickets, Siegfried discovered an old, chipped scale with a color simr to dirt. If he hadn''t identally pushed it sideward with the corner of his warrior boots, he might not have noticed it at all. "Crowley, take a look at this," Siegfried whispered as he handed the scale to Shye, immediately taking on the role of lookout while his partner examined the old scale. "Great job, Sieg. This is indeed the scale of a Dragrex. We must be close to its nest." Based on the information Shye gathered from the Adventurer Encyclopedia, now at level four, Dragrexes shed bits and pieces of their scales around the outermost parts of their territory to warn other monstrous creatures of intrusions. Which means¡­ ''As long as we keep advancing from where we found this scale, we''re bound to stumble upon its nest!'' Unfortunately, a straight path has always been the quickest way, but not the safest. Shye also knew this. However, despite the slightly tense exterior that was visible to Siegfried, he was actually inwardly confident, as he had already hunted multiple (S-) ranked monstrous creatures in the past. Therefore, he chose to take the direct route, despite its slightly higher risk. It didn''t mean that the two of them wouldn''t carefully advance, though. With Siegfried trailing closely, Shye used his skill, [Mana Pulse], to navigate through the Dragrex''s territory, ensuring they would be the first to spot it rather than the other way around. However, there was a crucial piece of information that the level four Adventurer Encyclopedia failed to mention: certain variant Dragrexes could camouge themselves using a skill known as [Chameleon Skin] and evade detection with another skill named [Hide]. Naturally, since Shye didn''t know that there was a possibility of such danger, he confidently advanced. Around fifteen minutester, the two of them finally located the nest. However, although there were two eggs in the middle of the nest, the Dragrex was nowhere to be found. ''Hoh¡­so this Dragrex we''re hunting is a female, huh?'' Shye mused, turning his head towards Siegfried the next moment. "Yo, Sieg, stay hidden here and keep an eye on the eggs. I''ll scout the surrounding areas to look for signs of where it could possiblye from." "Alright, leave it to me."@@novelbin@@ After a short conversation, Shye left, circling the area to check for the Dragrex''s traces. Unfortunately, despite meticulously circling the area for half an hour, he found nothing, which was rather strange. ''Well, if it wouldn''t appear anytime soon, I suppose it''s best to take its eggs first,'' Shye pondered, his mind entertaining ideas of taming the little Dragrexes after the eggs hatched. Since he found nothing, Shye decided to return to where Siegfried was. "Sieg, I''m back." "Crowley, any signs of the Dragrex?" Shye responded by shaking his head with a perplexed expression. "So¡­what''s the n now?" "Well, for now, let''s get those valuable eggs!" "Exactly my thoughts!" Eagerly scanning their surroundings before darting in to snatch an egg apiece, Shye and Siegfried hurried back to their initial positions, breathing heavily with excitement as they leaned against a nearby tree trunk. Unfortunately, they missed the "tree trunk" twitching suddenly, and one of the tree''s sizable "leaves" blinked unexpectedly, slowly unveiling a yellow eye with a slender ck pupil, ring furiously at the two of them. Soon after, a chill crawled down the spines of the two young adventurers, as the specter of death whispered ominously from behind. With no time to signal each other, Shye and Siegfried swiftly darted to the sides, narrowly evading a colossal w that crashed violently onto the ground. *ROAR!* A deafening roar erupted from behind, assaulting Shye and Siegfried''s eardrums and causing their hearts to race uncontrobly due to an unexpected jumpscare. Shye had his mana pulse active the whole time, yet, it failed to detect anything. Hence, this sudden attack was truly a huge surprise. Turning around after stabilizing their footing, their eyes widened as a ten-meter-tall creature emerged from the clouds of dust. It had wings, yet, it was crawling on all fours like a tiger. Its head resembled that of an enormous toothed lizard, while its body was dragon-like, covered in tough, earth-colored scales and adorned with massive spikes along its formidable spine. "Dragrex!" The two eximed in unison. ''Where the f*ck did this thinge from?!'' Chapter 537 Hunting An (S-) Ranked Creature ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Dragrex (Ambusher Variant) [Creature Rank] : (S-) [Creature Type]: N/A (No Specific Element) [Hit Points]: 3,350/3,350 [Mana]: 120/120 [Stamina]: 3,105/3,105 [Talent]: [Diluted Dragon Blood (Awakened)] [Description] An (A)-ranked King Toothed-Lizard that had awakened the dragon blood in its veins, evolving into a tyrannical menace that benefits no ecosystem. Extremely aggressive and territorial, this creature has low intelligence butpensates with exceptional physical attributes, especially its absurdly tough earthen scales. [Skills]: [Chomp Lv.5] [Wild Crawl Lv.5] [Monstrous Dive Lv.5] [w Smash Lv.5] [Tail Swipe Lv.5] [Toughen Up Lv.5 (Umon)] [Chameleon Skin Lv.4 (Umon)] [Hide Lv.5 (Umon)][Draconic st Lv.5 (Umon)] [(Space) Spatial Lock Lv.5 (Rare)] [False Dragon Cataclysm Lv.5 (Rare)] [Death''s Whisper Lv.4 (Unique] [Passive skills]: [Lesser Draconic Aura Lv.5][Earthen Scales Lv.5] [Glutton Lv.5] [Strength: 640] [Intelligence: 50] [Agility: 430] [Dexterity: 520] [Stamina: 1035] [Vitality: 670]: [Wisdom: 20] *BANG!* Clouds of dust billowed once again as the two young adventurers narrowly avoided the Dragrex''s gaping maw. Its dive attack missed Shye and Siegfried, causing the creature to stagger wildly on the ground. This allowed the two youngsters to reposition at a safe distance. "Sieg! Can you capture its attention while I attack from the back?" Hearing his buddy''s words, Siegfried felt rather happy but also a bit nervous. ''Me as the decoy, huh?'' he mused. It was clear that between the two of them, Shye was the one who could deal more damage with each attack. Therefore, it made perfect sense for him, being faster but physically weaker, to act as the bait.@@novelbin@@ It was an important yet dangerous role. Despite his current shorings, Shye still trusted him to take on this perilous task, for which he was grateful. He preferred facing dangers head-on rather than feeling like a pathetic, useless sidekick. "Leave it to me!" Responding with a resolute gaze, Siegfried dashed towards the clouds of smoke, emerging close to the Dragrex''s face. "False Draconian, die!" he shouted, sessfully capturing the enormous creature''s attention. This allowed Shye to fade into the background and wait for the perfect moment to strike. ¡­Stabbing his katana with nary a hint of hesitation towards the Dragrex''s eyes, Siegfried''s speed suddenly increased mid-air, catching the enormous creature off-guard. Shockingly, although the katana managed to pierce the crawling draconian''s eye, the wound wasn''t deep enough topletely blind it. The creature could still see with its right eye, albeit somewhat unclearly due to the blood. Still, being stabbed in the eye naturally hurt, and the Dragrex was no exception to the rule, roaring in agony as it smashed its face with its enormous paws in an attempt to squish Siegfried to meatpaste. Unfortunately for the enormous creature, Siegfried''sbat sense was way too high for him to be caught by such a clumsy move. In the end, it was the Dragrex who was hurt by its own attack, falling on its back due to its own force. *Whistle~* Watching Siegfried''s immacte opening attack, Shye couldn''t help but whistle in admiration. It seemed that his close friend was still as reliable as ever. ''Oops, I can''t idle around too long, or Sieg might end up in danger¡­'' Shye had the option to deal a massive amount of damage to the Dragrex using his [Epic]-tier skills. However, the two of them wouldn''t grow if he simply relied on his trump cards every time he fought high-ranked creatures. Worse, he might even develop a dependency on them, which was definitely not a good idea. Hence, Shye made a rule for himself to never use his trump cards on (S-) ranked creatures. Meanwhile, in the area once filled with trees and shrubbery, now cleared, Siegfried stood before the Dragrex, which had just recovered from its fall, its right eye still bleeding. His previously nervous expression seemed to dissipate into thin air, reced by his usual battle-crazed smile. Realizing that his agility would at least grant him a decent chance to survive for a while against the (S-) ranked Dragrex, Siegfried''s fighting spirit was not only ignited but also blossomed into a roaring me. Part of him even wished he could battle the Dragrex alone to test himself to the very limit. Unfortunately, despite his eagerness, he knew that it would be reckless and selfish to do so. Hence, he decided to stick to the n for now and act as the bait to allow the main attacker, Shye, to deal huge amounts of damage to the monstrous creature. ...After a brief standoff, the Dragrex lunged wildly toward Siegfried again, shattering his thoughts of attempting to take one down alone anytime soon. Its enormous jaws opened, locking the space around Siegfried and preventing him from dodging. This left Siegfried with no choice but to face its w-smash attack head-on. ''Crap! I underestimated it!'' He inwardly cursed, readying himself to crush his life-saving Safeguard Talisman, which would protect him from a single attack, no matter how powerful. It was a great item, and he felt that it was a pity that he had to use it here. ''Well, I should take this as a lesson, I suppose.'' He hadn''t known that high-ranked creatures could lock the space around their target. '' This meant he either needed a spatial repositioning skill like [Blink] to escape or the ability to withstand its attack head-on. Naturally, he attempted to use a charge of his [Spatial Shift] skill to escape, but unfortunately, the Dragrex''s ability prevented any spatial pocket from opening in the locked-down area. As a result, he was forced to crush his life-saving talisman. However, just before he could do so, a sudden loud noise of solid metal shing against the Dragrex''s tough scales echoed across the clearing. The enormous creature soon staggered sideways, nearly falling. To Siegfried''s shock, a closer look revealed two huge gashes on the Dragrex''s neck, bleeding profusely. The scales around the wounds were either destroyed or bent. "Sieg! How are you feeling?" Chapter 541 Shye “The Consultant†Crowley Everyone stared at Siegfried and the young woman with a dumbfounded expression. This gorgeous young woman with hazel brown eyes, brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and an athletically slim body was someone that Shye and Kiin found familiar, as she was one of their opponents during the grand finals of the Adventurer Academy Competition¡ªone of Damien''s teammates. However, they were also perplexed as to why she was here. "Lesurii Kusanagi¡­correct?" Shye asked the agitated young woman whose heart was racing¡ªher breathing¡ªheavy. "Huh?! And wh¨C...Oh¡­Shye Crowley, yes, that''s correct. I am indeed Lesurii Kusanagi from An Academy." "I see¡­May I ask why are you looking for my friend?" "Hoh... you''re asking? Didn''t you see what he did to me at the Adventurer Academy Competition?! I''m here to demand that he take responsibility!" Upon hearing Lesurii''s exnation, Shye was dumbfounded for a few moments before nearly bursting intoughter. If not for his self-control, he would have surely gotten himself into trouble, given that the attractive young woman in front of him was genuinely fuming over such a ridiculous reason. Kiin was also a smart one, the muscles on his face did not even twitch. "C-Crowley! Isn''t she ridiculous? How could she expect me to apany her for life due to one ident?! This is simply unfair!" Read exclusive content at empire "Unfair?! You think that you, sullying my¡­my body, isn''t unfair?!" Shye found it amusing to watch the two innocent youngsters bicker, so instead of helping his good buddy, he fanned the mes. "Hmm¡­This is indeed a bit tricky¡­" Hearing Shye''s voice that both sides somehow found pleasant to hear¡ªas it gave them a slight hope that someone would help them exin their point to the other party¡ªLesurii and Siegfried stopped bickering and shifted their attention to him. Meanwhile, Kiin said nothing, allowing Shye to continue with his bullshit¡ªinwardly amused. "C-Crowley, help me out, will you? Exin to this crazy woman how a simple unintentional kiss did not sully her bo¨C...constitution!" Siegfried said, his pitiful and stressed-out expression causing Shye to reconsider fanning the mes further. Shortly after, Lesurii spoke, her words serving as the final deterrent that made Shye abandon his rather mischievous n. "S-Shye Crowley, I didn''t want this either! But my family is very conservative, and after what happened two years ago, they won''t even let me see my parents unless I make this guy take responsibility and stay with me forever! I haven''t seen my parents in two years... uuu... I miss them..." Watching Lesurii''s tears stream down her cheeks, Shye felt intense guilt for even considering making fun of them. He hadn''t realized her seemingly foolish actions had such profound reasons behind them. Heck, he even started to think that the family members of An alumni were rather dim-witted themselves. ''Who in their right mind would disown a family member over a simple idental kiss?'' he thought to himself, nning to address the issueter in his division''s lounge. "There are many onlookers here. Follow me, let''s talk somewhere more private," Shye said, turning around and heading towards the shy Ravens Rising''s division lounge. Realizing that many Raven''s de guild members were watching them with intrigue and great interest, Lesurii and Siegfried felt embarrassed as they followed Shye shortly after. ...A few minutester, inside Shye''s office, stood four individuals: Shye, Kiin, Lesurii, and Siegfried. After a brief silence, Shye spoke, aiming to resolve the initially hrious but now serious situation between his close friend and the young woman who had abruptly barged into their guild demanding responsibility. "Miss Lesurii, can you please rify what you need my good friend to do for you to be allowed back into your n?" Despite the stupid reason, Lesurii''s situation¡ªbanished from the renowned Kusanagi n¡ªwas indeed serious. Hence, Shye couldn''t bring himself to make fun of the two anymore, not to mention, that his good friend would probably go bald from the stress should he not intervene and help them resolve the situation. "Like I said, I need him to take responsibility and m¡­m-marry me!" After hearing her demands, Siegfried was utterly horrified. "No! Please, you cr¡ªMiss Lesurii, try to see it from my perspective. How can I possibly marry someone I barely know just because of an idental kiss that neither of us wanted? I can''t give up my entire life for a stranger, can I? Could you do that?" Siegfried''s reasonable response brought a troubled expression to Lesurii''s face. She understood that her demands were indeed rather excessive. However, what else could she do? She wouldn''t be allowed back into her n, and her parents refused to see her unless she brought Siegfried back and married him. "Miss Lesurii, Siegfried makes a valid point. However, I recognize that your situation is equally challenging. Therefore, I have a proposal that could give both of you a chance to resolve this peacefully." Shye said with an air of mysteriousness. His words along with his current dependable appearance brought hope to the two youngsters'' hearts. Maybe¡­just maybe¡­they could indeed resolve this peacefully. "But first, Miss Lesurii, may I confirm which adventurer guild you joined?" "I... naturally joined Raven''s de after learning that the entire Colzen roster from two years ago joined this guild. I needed to marry this bas¡ªthis guy, after all. I also worked tirelessly to advance my career as quickly as possible, which allowed me to be promoted to the main branch in Valenzia City, where I was sure to meet him." The young woman said with a hint of resentment, casting a sideways re at Siegfried. "Good, this would work¡­" Shye nodded in satisfaction. His proposal would be more effective if they were both in the same guild, after all. Siegfried, utterly anxious to hear a feasible solution, spoke: "C-Crowley, quickly, what''s the solution you came up with?" "Simple. You wouldn''t marry a stranger, correct? And you also need someone equally skilled as you to hunt (S-) ranked creatures, right?" Siegfried wasn''t dense; he quickly understood Shye''s proposal.@@novelbin@@ "You mean¡­" "Yes, it would be unfair not to give Miss Lesurii, who is in a simrly difficult situation, a chance. The least you could do is make an effort to get to know her," Shye began, turning his head toward Lesurii before continuing, "Is this arrangement eptable, Miss Lesurii? You can''t force someone to marry you, and I''m sure you wouldn''t want to marry aplete stranger either, correct?" Shye''s words made sense, causing the young woman to nod slightly in agreement. "Good. For now, how about the two of you go on a few quests together and get to know each other, hmm?" Chapter 542 A Mole An amused chuckle echoed inside a particr office at the Raven''s de Main Headquarters. "Hahaha, it seems that you''re in a good mood, Crowley," Kiin said with a smile. "Hahahaha! You can tell? Well, what can I say, I''m just too damned smart!" Shye began, "Weren''t they a perfect fit for each other?" "Hahaha! I can''t say I disagree... So, what are you up to now?" "Well, there''s nothing else to do except go on a quest while waiting for our other teamma¨C" "Hmm? What? Did Sieg contact you?" Shye suddenly stopped talking, which could mean that someone contacted him usingmunication talismans. "Ah, no, it''s from one of our division members. For now, process your membership, I''ll be back¡­" Shortly after his short conversation with Kiin, who was chilling inside his office, Shye left the guild and headed towards a particr establishment on another, slightly more secluded street. Upon arriving a few minutester, he subtly looked around before entering. "Crowley, I''m here." "Regi, what is it?" "Remember when I told you to be wary of Siegfried a month ago?" "Yeah, why? Did you discover anything about him?" "Well, not exactly him. However, my advice still stands, don''t let your guard down too much around him." Regi''s words prompted Shye to narrow his eyes. Honestly, although he liked Reginald, he wasn''t pleased that the guy was investigating his friends from Colzen Academy. However, the consequences of letting even the smallest risks go unmitigated were too severe. Therefore, despite hating Reginald''s actions, he allowed him to continue and even followed his advice. This, of course, was done withoutpromising his friendship with Siegfried, as it would be rather idiotic to cut ties with his close friend based on mere spections. Furthermore, if Siegfried were indeed from the other side, it would be beneficial to act as though he waspletely unaware. "What did you find, then?" "Over the past month, I asked one of our spies to investigate if the other side had sent an agent to Colzen Academy, and it seemed that they indeed did. The agent the other side sent is codenamed Fifteenth Hawkling and his target is someone they call Specimen Fifteen." Reginald said with a stern expression, pausing for a second before continuing: "Strangely, ording to the file our spy essed, Fifteenth Hawkling didn''t have an initial target. It was only after two years that they began targeting the person known as Specimen Fifteen." Shye''s high intelligence wasn''t just for show; he quickly realized that Specimen Fifteen was likely himself. However, judging by the number at the end of his codename, it appeared that the other side was monitoring several individuals, referring to them as "specimens". ''Why? Could this be rted to the particr type of physique that the old scourge, Dweezel Hawkins, was searching for?'' Shye pondered for a few seconds. It was a usible exnation for why they were monitoring multiple people. "I see, I''m probably the person they refer to as Specimen Fifteen, aren''t I?" Shye replied. Since no one else at the academy showed such an unusually rapid growth rate, it was reasonable to assume he was the target, even though it might be a bit presumptuous of him to think so.@@novelbin@@ Nodding satisfactorily at Shye''s words, Reginald added: "I agree, and given that you''ve repeatedly achieved extraordinary feats as a professional adventurer, it''s likely that the agent codenamed Fifteenth Hawkling will stay close to you in an attempt to uncover your secrets. Be cautious of people inquiring about yourbat skills, talents, and simr details." "I understand. Is there anything else?" "That''s all the information we have for now. I''ll keep you informed with any updates." "Thanks." Leaving the secret establishment, Shye couldn''t help but frown, a hint of sadness assaulting his heart. It has essentially been confirmed that one of his close friends wasn''t actually a friend but rather a mole with sinister ulterior motives. ''The question is¡­who?'' Shye tried to remember his past interactions with his close friends. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire However, despite his best efforts to remember as many conversations as possible, Shye found nothing suspicious. Everything seemed entirely genuine. This realization only added to the turmoil in his heart, feeling stupid that he treated the mole as a close friend, none the wiser that he was merely a "specimen" in the guy''s eyes. ''Well, it shouldn''t be Wendy, so that narrows it down to five suspects...'' Shye knew that it could only be one of the five guys since he already knew Wendy''s background. She was an orphan that was adopted by Archpriest Deo himself so she couldn''t be the mole. ''Also, Harry and David were rivals since they were young, and their ns had quite a bit of reputation in Colzen City¡­.'' After further analysis, Shye quickly concluded that the mole could only be one of three people: Ian, Siegfried, or Kiin. This was a painful realization, particrly since these three were the ones he interacted with the most. However, even among the three, one stood out as the prime suspect. ''Siegfried Lionheart¡­'' He also didn''t know much about the background of the other two, as they hated talking about their ns. Nevertheless, Siegfried remained the most suspicious, mainly because Reginald had mentioned that Siegfried resembled someone he deeply hated, likely someone from Dweezel''s camp. That was his only reason, though, so it was still too early to conclude that Siegfried was the mole. At the very least, the guy never inquired about the secret of his rapid growth, hisbat techniques, or anything of that nature. ''For now, I should stay vignt with those three and gradually try to lure out the mole¡­'' Upon arriving at his office, Shye saw Kiin lounging in one of the chairs and gazing out the window, finding him a bit less pleasant to look at. Although he wasn''t sure if Kiin was the mole, he couldn''t help but look at him differently. ¡­After a while, Kiin noticed that he had returned. "Oh, Crowley, you''re back. By the way, can I join you on an (S-) ranked quest? I''m curious to see how powerful an (S-) ranked creature is..." "..." "Crowley?" "Sure." Chapter 543 Not That Bad Under the azure skies of Adthiopia, two youngsters, one with ashen hair and the other with blue hair, strolled leisurely along a well-trodden path while chatting. These two were naturally Shye and Kiin, who were now headed towards the Magna Death Zone to subdue another (S-) ranked creature: the Void Arachne. The creature had the lower body of a spider and the upper body of a human. Although the hair color of each Void Arachne varied, their eyes were uniformly pitch ck, giving them an extremely sinister appearance. This was further intensified by their pale white skin and the four bendable spikes protruding from their backs, resembling bone wings. The two of them were still quite far from the Magna Death Zone, though. Kiin was already eager to test his mettle against (S-) ranked creatures andpare his prowess against Siegfried. He refused to believe that his close friend and rival, Siegfried, could sessfully hunt (S-) ranked creatures with Shye while he couldn''t. "Hey, Shye, I heard you managed to summon a king-ss familiar." "Hmm? Yeah, why?" "Wouldn''t it be faster if we rode it towards our destination? Also, I¡­kinda wanna see what it looks like." "Hmm... I can show you what she looks like, but she''s quite prideful, and I doubt she would let you ride her. Besides, I wouldn''t let her intervene in our battle against the Void Arachne, as we wouldn''t improve if she helped us." "Hoh... She must be pretty strong then. I kind of want to see her in action, but I get your point. Fine, just seeing her is enough." Shye nodded satisfactorily after hearing Kiin agree, raising his right arm soon after. ''Zeth, can you please show your majestic self to my friend?'' ''Sure, master. Since he has an inkling of how majestic and beautiful I am, I shall indulge him this one time.'' The ck bracelet on Shye''s wrist suddenly transformed into a mesmerizing ck mare, with blue mes flickering on its tail, horns, and hooves. Just the sight of her sent shivers down Kiin''s spine. This was the first time he saw a gorgeous yet terrifying creature. "S-She''s beautiful¡­" the blue-haired young man muttered in admiration. Pleased by her master''s friend''s reaction, Zeth decided to give Kiin a bit of a show. She pretended to gallop in a circle, entuating her magnificently built equine physique, before returning to Shye''s wrist as a ck bracelet. "Ahh, crap, now I''m a bit envious!" "Hahaha! She''s beautiful, isn''t she?" ''Master, this blue-haired young man isn''t so bad. He shouldn''t be the mole¡­'' Shye almost stumbled while walking after hearing Zeth''s words. She''s intelligent, yet when someone praises her, she seems to immediately favor that person, even speaking a few good words for Kiin. ''Hahaha, you''re quite the sucker for praises aren''t you, Zeth?'' ''Hmm? What do you mean, master? I''m just thinking that someone who appreciates my beauty can''t be that bad¡­'' ''Hahaha, well, I hope he isn''t a mole too... sigh... if only none of them were¡­'' Shye sighed inwardly, feeling a sense of loneliness. *** Meanwhile, as Shye and Kiin made their way toward the Magna Death Zone, another duo had already arrived at a different Death Zone, one closer to Valenzia City. "Hey, craz¨C Miss Kusanagi, can you please slow down? Aren''t you a scout? Why are you moving so recklessly?" Siegfried asked with a hint of frustration. Although the young woman was indeed skilled and had given him a tough fight during their duel two years ago at the Adventurer Academy Competition, her current reckless actions were undoubtedly dragging him down. After all, as professional adventurers, their priority should be both their own safety and that of their teammates. "S-Shut up! Don''t tell me how to do my job! I have an active detection skill, so just follow me and stay back! Don''te any closer!" "Sigh¡­but it would be unsa¨C" Siegfried''s words were interrupted when the wild brown-haired woman suddenly stopped, dashed toward the nearby shrubbery, and motioned for him to follow quickly. Her sudden actions slightly relieved Siegfried''s heart. As long as she remained clear-headed despite her evident difort with the situation, Siegfried could at least trust her to watch his back. Since the shrubbery was a bit small for two people, Siegfried had to lean in close to Lesurii, his handsome face nearly brushing against her slim shoulder and right cheek as he peered out to see what was happening. For someone who came from a conservative household, the current situation was rather¡­perilous. Lesurii wanted to scream out loud and push Siegfried away. However, she understood that if she did that, there was a high chance that he would die, considering that the creature she detected was probably of the (S) rank. She was sure that it wasn''t their target. Experience new tales on empire As a result, she had no choice but to behave and endure the ufortable position. She had never been so close to a man before. Siegfried, despite being a rather crazy guy himself when it came tobat, was a guy who was fond of cleanliness. Not only did he enjoy cleaning rooms that he would use for an extended period, but he was also meticulous about hygiene, regrly bathing and ensuring his body never emitted an unpleasant odor. Such a guy¡­was naturally liked by women, especially conservative ones. Not to mention, Siegfried was quite a handsome young man. A few momentster, an (S) ranked monstrous creature resembling a massive tiger appeared, passing through their location as it sniffed around in search of food. Naturally, none of the two dared to make a move. This caused Siegfried''s pleasant yet masculine scent to reach Lesurii''s nose, making her cast a brief nce toward the source of the likable smell. The first thing she saw was naturally Siegfried''s handsome face, his sharp jawlines, and his pleasingly muscr neck and shoulders, leaving her slightly blushing.@@novelbin@@ Despite her rather vicious mouth, she had the heart of an innocent young maiden looking for her prince charming, and of course, Siegfried, who was looking and smelling really nice, left a deep impression on her. ''H-Hmph¡­h-he''s not that bad, I suppose¡­'' Chapter 544 Developing “Camaraderie†"Hey, cra¨C Miss Kusanagi, we should get going. I think the monster is gone..." "Huh? Ah, yes, let''s go¡­" After surviving a tense situation together, the two inevitably felt a wee bit closer. Even though they didn''t battle the enormous and deadly monster, the experience of sharing and hiding together in a tiny space, breathing heavily with anxiety, and praying that the (S) ranked creature wouldn''t detect them, was enough to foster a slight sense of camaraderie. As a result, Lesurii became more inclined to stay close to Siegfried, especially after getting a close-up view of him and catching a slight whiff of his pleasing scent. On the other hand, Siegfried didn''t seem to be that affected by what happened, leaving the young miss of the Kusanagi n a bit disappointed. She didn''t seem to notice her own emotions, though. Hence, after regaining herposure, she followed Siegfried, who had already started walking ahead of her while looking at the map in his hands. Shortly after, she moved to the front again, activating her detection skill. This time, however, they didn''t encounter any dangerous situations and sessfully reached the area where their target, an (S-) ranked Nether Griffin, had built its nest. Since there were only three redwood trees, the duo easily spotted the nest. Moreover, it seemed that luck was on their side, as the Nether Griffin was also right there in its nest, sleeping peacefully. "Wait here, I''ll stab its eye and lure it down," Lesurii whispered, climbing the huge redwood tree shortly after. However, she didn''t expect that before she could get far, a masculine hand pulled her back. "Wait! ording to my research, Nether Griffins scatter a fewher orbs that are difficult for the human eye to spot. If you make physical contact with these orbs, they will alert the creature to intruders." Siegfried said, retrieving an item he prepared in advance from his spatial bag and handing it over to Lesurii before continuing: "Here, use theseher lenses to navigate through theher orbs. Don''t push yourself too hard, understood? If taking its eye is impossible, just lure it down here. Your safetyes first." Hearing Siegfried''s words, the young miss of the Kusanagi n stared at theher lenses like an idiot for a few moments before managing to regain her wits. "A-Ahh! Yes, thank you." Even her naturally sharp tongue failed her this time; all she could manage were words of gratitude. Turning around with a rather flustered expression, Lesurii made her way to the redwood tree with the Nether Griffin nest, still somewhat unfocused.@@novelbin@@ Unbeknownst to her, the young man who slowly got in position was inwardly chuckling. ''Haha, this crazy woman¡­ If only she were this kind and appreciative all the time, she''d be very attractive¡­ Ugh, what am I thinking? Focus, Siegfried Lionheart!'' The two didn''t be the representatives of their respective academies for nothing. It didn''t take long for them at all to refocus on the task at hand. Lesurii, who volunteered to stealthily enter the griffin''s nest and stab its eye to lure the creature to where Siegfried was, swiftly demonstrated her skills as a scout. Despite initially being unfamiliar with theher lenses, she adapted quickly. Before long, she was expertly navigating through theher orbs, maintaining silence and suppressing her mana with one of her scout skills as she did so. What the young miss of the Kusanagi n was doing was quite tricky, as theher orbs were positioned very close to each other. If she lost her bnce and triggered one, or let even a small amount of mana escape due to apse in focus, the Nether Griffin would detect it through itsher sensors and wake up. Not only would she miss a crucial opportunity, but she would also endanger herself by having to defend herself alone at the monstrous creature''s nest. Hence, the moment she arrived in front of the sleeping Nether Griffin, Siegfried felt respect burgeoning inside his heart. He could''ve never pulled such a feat off. Well, he was a warrior, so it was understandable. However, even for skilled scouts, what Lesurii did was exceptionally difficult, especially performing it with the skills and precision required to bypass the monstrous creature''s defensive measures perfectly. ¡­Drawing her dagger from its sheath, purple mes silently ignited along the de''s edges, threatening to not only stab the creature''s eye but also incinerate it. She didn''t attack immediately; instead, she signaled Siegfried to get ready to catch her first. Then, upon confirming that he was already in position, Lesurii ruthlessly plunged the dagger deep into the Nether Griffin''s right eye using her skill, [Bloody Stab Lv.5], leaving the creature screeching in agony and iling wildly. Of course, this slight window was her cue to get the hell out of there as quickly as possible. Jumping from a height of just over a hundred meters, Lesurii headed straight for Siegfried''s embrace, her anticipation evident even though she wasn''t aware of it. Siegfried didn''t notice, though, as he was fully focused on catching the Kusanagi n''s banished young miss, ensuring that their lips wouldn''t make contact this time. *THUD!* A dull thud echoed as Siegfried wlessly caught the falling young maiden in a princess carry. Unfortunately, the Nether Griffin''s response to the attack was too fast, not even giving Lesurii time to stand on her own two feet. As a result, Siegfried carried her while running, making her heart flutter romantically, even though a massive avian creature was hot on their heels. The young man was simply bing more and more attractive in her eyes. Her delusions were cut short, however, when she suddenly felt herself flying through the air. Siegfried¡­threw her away as though she was a random ball. However, quickly ncing at the handsome youngster from Colzen Academy, the anger in her heart immediately vanished. It appeared that she had been thrown to safety while Siegfried took a hit himself. Although he managed to block the Nether Griffin''s massive talon attack, he was sent flying shortly afterward, spitting out a mouthful of blood as his back mmed against the trunk of another enormous redwood tree. "S-Siegfried!!" Chapter 545 Clever Beast "Stay where you are!" Siegfried, despite his body aching all over, forced himself to swiftly stand up and stop Lesurii, who was about to recklessly dash in, from helping. This was because, although he was sent flying, the two of them lucked out in terms of positioning; the Nether Griffin now stood in the middle, with one opponent in front and one behind. It wasn''t worth it to ruin their now perfect formation. He didn''t need help anyway, at least for now. "B-But you!" "I''m fine, focus on the monster first. Weaken it with blights and poisons." As a smart and talented individual herself, Lesurii naturally had decisions of her own. Even in the past, when Damien gave her an order she thought was wrong, she would disregard it and act on her own. This resulted in her saving the party quite a few times in the past. However, this time, despite disagreeing with Siegfried''s instructions, the young miss of the Kusanagi n found herself unable to disobey him. It was as if her heart and mind, which usually got along, were now in a fierce struggle. Ultimately, she ended up staying where she was. It was the correct decision, though. She wouldn''t have made it in time to help Siegfried anyway. After all, the Nether Griffin had already started attacking again. Barely dodging the enormous avian''s talons by sidestepping, Siegfried bolted forward instead of retreating, a confident and slightly excited smile on his face. His brave advance slightly mesmerized Lesurii, causing her thoughts to wander in unwanted directions. This naturally irritated Siegfried a bit. "Kusanagi! What are you doing?! Attack it from the back!" Hearing the handsome young man''s angry voice, Lesurii nearly jumped in fright, especially as it forcefully snapped her out of her stupor. It was a wake-up call she needed, though. Realizing that her actions were putting Siegfried, the man she had to marry in order for her to be epted back into her n, in grave danger, the young miss gave herself a solid p on the face that reverberated across the forest. ''I need to stop my foolish actions! I can gaze at him all I wantter, but for now, survival is the priority!'' Unknowingly, Lesurii had epted the fact that she enjoyed admiring Siegfried''s physical aesthetics. Well, despite hisck of romantic sense, the young man''s face and physique were indeed appealing to women like her. It was hard to me Lesurii for staring at him. Swiftly rushing to assist, Lesurii retrieved several bottles of drinking water from her spatial bag and sshed them onto the enormous griffin''s body. She then raised her left hand to chin level, performed a few finger seals, and gently traced the fiery des of her dagger with her glowing yellow index and middle fingers. Shortly after, the previously fiery de temporarily lost its me enchantment, which was reced by a crackling ck-thunder enchantment. Since he initially received no help from hisrade, Lesurii, Siegfried quickly fell into a disadvantageous position. He was cornered in front of a towering redwood tree. Albeit a little irked at his partner''s sudden ipetence, Siegfried remained focused. ''If ites down to it, I''ll face it head-on with my ultimate skill¡­'' Luckily, there was no need for him to do so, as the griffin, in the midst of casting its spell [Nether st], suddenly screeched in pain and staggered for a few moments.@@novelbin@@ It convulsed for a few milliseconds, allowing Siegfried to spot ck lightning snaking through the enormous avian''s body. "S-Siegfried, I''ve inflicted it with ck thunderblight; it will definitely show a few openings!" Hearing hisrade''s words, Siegfried nodded inwardly and quickly repositioned to escape his dangerous situation. The ck thunderblight wasn''t enough to restrain the Nether Griffin for a long time, though. Hence, mere moments after Siegfried managed to reposition, a huge talon covered in purple aura was already heading towards him, aiming to rip him apart. However, how could Siegfried Lionheart, one of the new generation''s elites, fall so easily? Waiting for the terrifying talons to arrive at the optimal distance, Siegfried disappeared into a spatial pocket, emerging above the griffin''s head the next moment. He then stabbed at the creature''s skull with all his might. Unfortunately, the Nether Griffin was ustomed to surprise attacks and managed to block his stab with its metallic beak. Still, no amount of experience would be able to help it block the strike of a second opponent. *GYAOOOHH!* The Nether Griffin screeched in pain as it felt yet again another stab. This time, however, it could feel sharp pain coursing through its blood vessels. The griffin wasn''t a stranger to this feeling. It was poison. Realizing that the situation would only be more challenging over time, the enormous avian finally felt the threat of death from the two young humans who dared to challenge it. It had to quickly finish things and take care of the poison in its body. Otherwise, it would lose its life. Turning around with a hint of anger on its face, the griffin decided to take down Lesurii, who inflicted it with two annoying status ailments, first. The young man, without the help of his partner, shouldn''t be a threat to it. Lesurii already expected this to happen, though. Hence, despite being targeted by the Nether Griffin, there was no panic on her face. She even signaled for Siegfried to use this chance and damage the avian further. For about five minutes, the young miss of the Kusanagi n expertly kept the enormous flying creature''s attention, darting around with lightning speed one moment and moving as silently as a shadow the next. Meanwhile, Siegfried relentlessly hacked, shed, and stabbed at their monstrous adversary, chipping away at its vitality. Inevitably, due to the ck thunderblight and the cold poison, the griffin slowly grew weaker. This in turn allowed Lesurii to perform bolder maneuvers. Unfortunately, in the end, she was still quite inexperienced when dealing with monsters of this level. Hence, she got overexcited, stabbing directly at the location of the creature''s heart after seeing it wobble weakly. Lesurii failed to realize that it was a desperate trap devised by the weakened avian. Regrettably, since she was already in mid-air, it was impossible for her to dodge the sudden [Netherbeak Strike] from the Nether Griffin. ''Oh no!!'' Chapter 546 “Camaraderie†Established Born and raised in a prominent adventurer n renowned for their scouting skills, Lesurii Kusanagi rarely faced challenges.@@novelbin@@ Furthermore, when she did encounter difficulties, they were typically managed by someone watching over her growth. Her academy days were no exception. It was only after she became a professional adventurer that she truly learned how scary the world could be. There were times when she overestimated her own strength, faced bandits, dealt with envious and malicious guildmates, and genuinely felt in danger. However, none of those experiences couldpare to the perilous situation she was currently facing. This time, she genuinely believed she was done for, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes from fear. Before she knew it, her entire life was shing before her eyes. Memories of her childhood¡­ Her academy days. Their painful defeat at the grand finals two years ago¡­ Astonishingly, though, the simple scene wherein she shared a tiny space with Siegfried to hide from the passing (S) ranked monster also yed out. ''Ahh¡­if only I could live longer¡­'' She hadn''t been in enough life-or-death situations. Hence, Lesurii easily gave up on her life. She didn''t even have the will to continue her attack and deal onest damage to the Nether Griffin to help herrade out in what little way she could before she was taken out. But then, just when the gaping beak was about to rip her head off, a young man suddenly appeared above the griffin''s head, his katana d in a golden aura stabbing deep into the griffin''s skull. ''Heh, who knew I''d be able to use a trick I learned from Crowley this soon? Void Pierce!'' Meanwhile, the Kusanagi n''s young miss had an expression of utter horror as shended atop the Nether Griffin''s beak, her brain failing to process what just happened. ''I-I''m alive?'' The enormous avian gazed at her with an angry expression. Yet, somehow, it wasn''t moving. Momentster, she felt a strong force around her waist, snapping her out of her terrified confusion. A voice then sounded right beside her ear, as cold as winter yet asforting as a gentle breeze. "You''re fine¡­You''re fine¡­" Finally realizing she had received her wish for a longer life, Lesurii cried like a child, hugging Siegfried as tightly as she could in gratitude. She wanted to live. More than anything, she wanted to live¡­ This was her first true close encounter with death. Hence, Lesurii was shaking, and she found it hard to let go of Siegfried, who was her only source of sce in the middle of the terrifying ce she was in. On the other hand, the poor young man with zero romantic experience was inwardly panicking. He couldn''t help but feel that the current situation he was in was scarier than death. After all, despite how inexperienced he was, he knew that pushing a vulnerable and crying woman away wasn''t a good decision. Moreover, he¡­liked the feeling of hugging a woman. The soft sensation of Lesurii''s body and her sweet scent filled his heart with delight. At that moment, Siegfried couldn''t deny that he wanted that moment tost long. But then, something happened, one that made him decide to cut the moment short. His manhood was reacting vigorously. It wanted a piece of action. Hence, he decided to push the Kusanagi n''s young miss away as gently as possible, speaking with a hint of awkwardness in his voice shortly after: "M-Miss Kusanagi¡­i-isn''t this inappropriate? Wouldn''t your ¨C" "N-No, please¡­just a little longer¡­" All the logic in his head went down the drain, though, after hearing Lesurii''s vulnerable voice and seeing her pitiful crying appearance once more. At that moment, all Siegfried wanted to do wasfort the crying young maiden, trying his best to calm himself down and act as nonchntly as possible as he hugged Lesurii tightly, bringingfort to her frightened heart. He and his little brother were barely holding on. Yet, the young woman in his embrace did not seem inclined to act conservatively, burying her face deep in his chest and asionally sniffing from crying. What happened next was three whole minutes of wee torture for Siegfried. He would''ve allowed her to cry for as long as she wanted. However, the chilling darkness of the night was starting to envelop the world. Hence, despite wanting the current moment tost for a long time, Siegfried ultimately decided to let go. Fortunately, Lesurii was now more or less okaypared to earlier. "M-Miss Kusanagi, w¨C" "Lesurii is fine¡­You can call me by my name¡­" "L-Lesurii, it''s already nighttime; we need to find a safe ce to rest for the night," Siegfried said with a hint of regret before continuing: "I-I-If you want to continueter, y-y-you''re wee to do so." He said such embarrassing words with a stoic face. Yet, it was evident that he was nervous and shaking inwardly, causing Lesurii to slightly giggle. They were about to leave in search of a safe ce to pass the night. However, once their logical reasoning returned, they realized that there was no need to. After all, what could be safer than their of an (S-) ranked creature that they''d just killed Creatures rarely dared to roam such a dangerous area. Ultimately, the two of them decided to climb the enormous redwood tree and sleep in the dead Nether Griffin''s nest. It was not only afortable ce to rest but also provided shelter with its branches and leaves, protecting them even if it rained heavily. It took them about fifteen minutes of deft climbing to reach the nest. Siegfried then looked around, nodding satisfactorily at the spacious andfortable ce where they would be staying for the night. A few momentster, the two began setting up camp, arranging sleeping bags, retrieving warm heating blocks from their spatial bags, and preparing food. Awkwardly, they didn''t speak to each other at all during that time. Honestly, Siegfried was rather disappointed. He wanted to hug Lesurii again. Unfortunately for him, there appeared to be no chance of that happening tonight. However, just a few seconds after Siegfried settled into his sleeping bag for the night, a warm and soft hand suddenly wrapped around him from behind, apanied by a gentle and shy voice. "H-Hey, I-I''m not fine yet, and you said I could choose to continue. I-I''m just taking you up on that offer, okay?" Chapter 549 Champions Strategy Meeting *CREAK* The door of the rendezvous room creaked open, and an ashen-haired young man in his early twenties emerged. Entering the room, Shye scanned his eyes over the room. Experience tales at empire ''Sigh¡­as I thought¡­'' There were thirteen people in the room. Six of them were adventurers aged 23 to 28, while the others seemed to be handlers, one of whom was his handler, Nutter. Two adventurers stared at him with unfriendly gazes, three with indifference, and one with outright hostility. "Ah, Crowley, perfect timing, we''re about to start discussing how to clear the (S) ranked Horza idde Mana Dungeon," Nutter said with a smile to defuse the tense situation. She was used to her champion arrivingte and was a bit worried that it would anger the champions from other regions. Hence, Nutter was pleasantly surprised that Shye arrived on time, albeit barely. "Hello, Miss Nutter," Shye said, smiling amiably at the petite, five-foot-two young woman with brown eyes, medium-length ck hair, sses, and a belt bag on her waist. "Aihh¡­I thought you would bete again¡­Good thing you arrived early today." "Hahaha, I apologize for my tardiness, as you know, Valenzia is quite far from Yon Augenn and Fanfir."@@novelbin@@ "Ahem!" Seeing that Shye and Nutter were talking a bit toofortably in a room that should have a stern atmosphere, the most senior out of all the handlers, Fyun, cleared his throat. "Nutter, Shye Crowley, please be quiet. If you''re ready, let''s discuss the n." "Ahh, yes. I apologize, senior Fyun." Since Shye and Nutter appeared to have acknowledged their mistakes and were now listening attentively, Fyun nodded with satisfaction before speaking again to discuss their dungeon-clearing strategy. "Now then, as you all know, the seven of you¡ªchampions of your respective regions¡ªwill be heading inside the (S) ranked Horza idde Mana Dungeon in an attempt to clear it." "This mission is more challenging than your usual ones. Therefore, if you sessfullyplete it, the WAA will not require you toplete any mandatory quests for six months." Fyun''s sudden announcement of a six-month leave brought smiles to the champions'' faces, including Shye''s, as having six months to focus on their careers was truly a wee opportunity. They were all young, and although five of them were already adamantite-ranked adventurers, they weren''t highly ranked within their respective regions. Nevertheless, being a regional champion was not just for show; it guaranteed that one had the potential to be one of the fifty strongest adventurers in the entire region given enough time. "Let me remind you once more, this additional reward is only if youplete the quest. You must all ensure that you return alive for you to enjoy such rewards. The quest has a time limit of three months, during which the dungeon will be closed to the public. Are we clear so far?" "Yes, Handler Fyun!" The regional champions responded in unison. "Good. Now, let me go over the well-known rules of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon. First, there is an age limit of twenty-nine years old. Second, no familiars or tamed creatures are allowed inside. Third, health potions do not work in the dungeon, only mana and stamina potions do. Lastly, the mana dungeon will drain one mana every thirty seconds from invaders. Be sure to bring plenty of mana potions. Any questions?" "None, Handler Fyun!" Scanning his eyes over the champions with his signature stern gaze, Fyun inwardly nodded upon seeing that none of them were taking things lightly. Well, except for one young man who looked a bit sleepy: Rai Hou, the Yon Augenn champion. The mentioned youngster was twenty-four years old, had a slim yet toned physique, long green hair tied in a ponytail, handsome facial features, and a green armband on his left arm. Judging by the quiver on his back, Rai Hou was an archer. "Now, since none of you have questions regarding the rules, I shall go over known facts regarding the dungeon that would help you clear it safer and faster." "First and foremost, the dungeon is rated (S+), meaning it will be harder to clear than regr (S) ranked dungeons. However, rest assured, we confirmed yesterday that the dungeon hasn''t advanced to (SS) rank yet. As long as you all work well together and perform at your best throughout, you should be able to clear it." "Regarding whether you canplete it in three months, that will depend on your performance." "Second, the dungeon contains a mix of void-type and darkness-type creatures. Expect it to be perilously dark with many void cracks you could fall into, so stay vignt. Bring plenty of high-grade fluorescent sticks and a few high-grade fluorescent crystals for good measure." "Third, it''s ideal for everyone to use weapons with fire and light properties. For armor, those enchanted with earth element gemstones would be best." "Fourth andstly, the dungeon is rtively shallow with only ten floors. However, each floor is vast, and finding the stairs to the next level can be challenging. Never lose patience; getting lost inside is normal." "Understood?" "Yes, Handler Fyun!" Shye was surprised. It was evident that most of his teammates were arrogant. Yet, none of them dared disrespect Fyun. ''Hoh¡­he must be quite a renowned handler¡­even Miss Nutter is looking at him with reverence¡­'' Shye mused, feeling rather pleased as he realized that they were in good hands. "Good. Now, since one of the goals of this mission is to foster camaraderie with those from other regions, let''s have everyone introduce themselves. Rai Hou, you start." Hearing Fyun''s words, the sleepy young man from the Yon Augenn region sighed. "Ehh~ why me? Sigh¡­Oh well, Rai Hou, twenty-four years old, archer." After azy introduction, the Yon Augenn Champion immediately sat back down and closed his eyes, seemingly trying to take a quick nap. Naturally, Rai Hou''s actions annoyed the other champions, except for Shye, who did not give a single cr*p. Astonishingly, though, none of those who were angered dared reprimand him. ''Hoh, it seems that the reputation of the number one region isn''t just for show¡­'' Chapter 550 Horza Blaidde Extermination Party The rendezvous room went silent for a short while before a blonde young man with short curly hair, sses, and a perpetual frown that seemed to hate the entire world stepped up and introduced himself. "My name is Walter Glitz, a mage-ss champion from this mission''s host region, Fanfir. I consider age irrelevant, so I won''t be stating mine. With my mastery of both fire and light element spells, I will be the primary damage dealer for this mission. Also, I have a penchant for destruction, so please stay out of my way or face the consequences. That''s all." Walter''s rather arrogant introduction naturally elicited disdainful sneers from the champions from other regions, including Shye. "Hmph! Big words from a mere nerd who can''t do anything without us warrior-ss adventurers. I''m Dalton from Weaven, and I''m the one who will protect all of you. At twenty-nine, I''m the oldest and most experienced here. You should all follow my lead, or you''ll most likely end up dead." A bald, brown-skinned man with a muscr physique, a cross-shaped scar on his face, and the appearance of a middle-aged man in histe thirties snorted in annoyance. The man carried a huge mace and shield on his back, suggesting that he was a tank-type warrior. "What did you just say, you damned ape?!" Walter retorted, swiftly retrieving his staff from his spatial bag and aiming it toward Dalton, who also drew his mace and shield. "Hoh, what? You wanna fight, nerd?" The situation seemed on the verge of escting into a fight, prompting Dalton''s and Walter''s handlers to quickly sprint to their champions'' sides and hold them back. But just before elemental spells flew and melee weapons were brandished, a holy light shone upon the two angry adventurers, calming their raging hearts. "W-Walter, D-Dalton, p-p-p-please calm down! There''s no need to fight, is there? Aren''t we all allies here?" A voice as soothing as honey sounded from Shye''s left, prompting him and the others to turn toward its source. The tall, silver-haired girl with a blessed bosom and behind was well-known within the champions'' circle for her exceptional skills as a priestess and her kind, empathetic heart. Hence, Shye immediately recognized who she was. ''Mira Holyfield, huh? I''m eager to see if you truly live up to your reputation as the Chellione region''s soon-to-be priestess hero,'' Shye mused, ncing at the kindhearted priestess with a slight smile. She was only a bit older than Shye. Moreover, she was in a simr situation as him, assigned as a temporary champion due to her age. Once she turned twenty-four, a priestess hero''s crest would be engraved on her body. "Hey, you idiots better stop soon or I''ll kill you both right here and now. Can''t you see you''re making things difficult for our sweet Mira here?" Another young woman said, unsheathing her dagger and idly twirling it as she cast a cold stare at Walter and Dalton. The muscle-brained warrior wasn''t affected by her threats. However, it was a different story for Walter, who felt chills crawl down his spine. He had once been to a party with this young woman. Hence, he knew how ruthless and skilled she was as a scout. She was someone Walter wouldn''t dare provoke.@@novelbin@@ While warriors were not an issue for him, scouts were a different matter altogether. With the curly-haired mage backing off, the tense situation was defused, allowing Mira to breathe a sigh of relief. Noting that her threat had worked on at least one of the two, the five-foot-five young female scout with short red hair, a slim physique clearly built for speed, and female endowments not as pronounced as Mira''s, smirked and snorted with satisfaction before proceeding to introduce herself. "I''m Koneko Kaneko from the renowned Kaneko n of the Hakk''shatta region. I''m sure most of you, except for a certain backwater rat, are aware that our n specializes in taking down both monstrous creatures and people. Just don''t annoy me, and you''ll be fine. Also, if any of you dare to mess with Mira, I''ll slit your throats." After a rather unfriendly introduction, Koneko sat back down, retrieving a whetstone from her spatial bag to sharpen her dagger threateningly shortly after. The dagger seemed to be enchanted with a high-grade light-element gemstone, which was very difficult to obtain. Naturally, Shye was somewhat annoyed, realizing that he was the "backwater rat" the young female scout had referred to. He was about to retort. However, before he could respond, thest of the six¡ªa person with a slim yet toned physique built for speed, spiky short ck hair, and rather unappealing facial features¡ªspoke up in support of Koneko''s words. Hahaha, of course, I know about the infamous Kaneko n. After all, I, Freeze Winfield from the Winfield Adventurer n of the Krebori region, is not some backwater rodent from Valenzia. Sigh, I don''t even understand why the WAA picked someone who will just drag us down. "Shye Crowley, the so-called most talented adventurer in the history of Valenzia Region? Ha! Don''t make meugh. You''re only famous because the opponents in your small pond were all ipetent. You''d probably be considered a second-rate genius if you were from Krebori!" Hearing the words of the young man who looked at him with outright hostility as soon as he entered the room, Shye couldn''t help but clench his fists in anger, veins popping at the sides of his head. It seemed that no one would acknowledge him if he didn''t show his strength, which would be detrimental to the party''s synergy. ''Hahaha, very well. You''ve asked for humiliation, so I, Shye Crowley, the genie of themp, will dly grant your wish.'' He inwardlyughed in fury, not expecting that his heart wouldn''t allow him to take even the slightest bit of insult. "Hahaha, you talk as if Krebori isn''t a backwater region. Isn''t your region only a rank above Valenzia? Why are you so proud when all you''re doing is kissing that delusional woman''s boots?" Shye retorted, a cold smile emerging on his face. "Since you''re so confident that I''m the weakest here, why don''t we have a duel? It''s a bit dull without any stakes, so let''s wager 20,000 gold coins and a life-saving treasure. What do you say?" Chapter 551 Valenzia Versus Krebori: Champion Duel Valenzia Region¡­ The publicly acknowledged weakest region ever since history was recorded. The WAA has extensively studied why this region has consistentlygged behind the other nine, identifying multiple contributing factors. The primary and most significant reason was the region''sck of natural resourcespared to others. Due to the scarcity of top-tier resources, adventurers in Valenzia naturally progressed much more slowly than those in other regions. This led to significantly slower research oues and technological advancements. Over time, the gap only widened, resulting in Valenzia being called a backwater region. Naturally, hearing someone from such an underdeveloped region challenge someone from a more advanced one with extreme confidence left the other champions confused, amused, and slightly annoyed¡ªexcept for Rai Hou, who dozed off without a care in the world, and Mira, whose heart began to panic once more. In their view, the young Valenzia champion, being both the youngest and perceived as the weakest among the seven, should keep quiet and know his ce. Even a few handlers felt this way. Hence, they didn''t stop the two from fighting. As for Fyun, who would normally intervene in such disputes, he remained silent on the sidelines, as he was tasked with evaluating Shye Crowley''s abilities. "Hoh¡­you dare talk back, hillbilly champion?" Freeze said, equally furious. He believed that Shye, no matter how "famously talented" he was in his own region, would never dare to talk back to someone from a higher-ranked region like himself. He had worked with a champion from Valenzia in the past, and despite his excessive taunts, the man never retorted; thus, he believed Shye would behave the same way. "Heh, what kind of answer is that? I asked you a yes or no question, didn''t I? If you''re scared, just admit it," Shye mocked, trying to goad Freeze into epting his challenge. Astonishingly, Nutter, who usually just watched from the sidelines, suddenly intervened for a reason none of them could have ever expected. "T-That''s uneptable, Crowley! You can''t extort money from other champions! Even if Winfield said something rude, that doesn''t give you the right to bully him." Nutter said, her face showing genuine concern and disapproval. She acted as though Shye was truly the bully. "Heh, didn''t you hear what this ugly dog said about me and Valenzia? I can''t just let such disrespect go unpunished, can I?" "S-Still! Can you at least lower the bet? W-Winfield would end up broke if you take such a huge amount of money, no?" Hearing Shye and his handler discuss him as if his loss was already certain, Freeze waspletely enraged. On the other hand, everyone else, including the sleepyhead Rai Hou, was dumbfounded. They couldn''t believe what they just heard. "SHUT THE HELL UP!! Fine¡­ Fine then. If you want me to put you in your ce, I''ll dly do it. Forget 20,000 gold coins; let''s make it 30,000. Do you dare ept, Shye Crowley?!" "Hahahahaha! Now we''re talking. I''ll be honest: all I have is 35,500 gold coins. How about we raise the bet to the limit of my coin reserves? Also, I have a [Unique]-tier skill book with me¡ªwhy don''t we add that to the bet as well? Surely someone from a higher-ranked region like you wouldn''t have any trouble matching a skill book of the same tier, right?" Although hotheaded, Freeze wasn''t stupid. He immediately realized that Shye''s confidence was rather strange. ''Is this backwater rat just overly confident in his victory, or does he have some unusual consumable that could help him beat me?'' Freeze wondered, his eyes narrowed. "Of course, I do have a [Unique]-tier skill book. I ept your challenge, hillbilly. However, the use of consumable items to aid inbat is forbidden. Do you agree to my terms?" "Hahaha! You''re overthinking it, wuss. I naturally agree to your terms. Do you really think I''d need some sort of consumablebat item to defeat you? You''re overestimating yourself!" The other champions, except for Rai Hou and Mira, were naturally annoyed at Shye''s words, but they wanted to see how things would unfold. Hence, they watched the proceedings with intrigue, inwardly siding slightly with Freeze. Walter, Dalton, and Koneko believed that hillbillies from the backwater Valenzia region should know their ce.@@novelbin@@ "Handler Fyun" Shye spoke, turning his head to look at the senior handler. "I believe that the extermination party''s teamwork would be jeopardized should we not resolve this matter amongst ourselves. I plead that you allow us to proceed with this duel." Naturally, Fyun, who needed to see Shye''s prowess, readily agreed. "I shall permit this duel. However, you must use these mana simtion talismans." Hearing the senior handler''s words and realizing what the item he had in his hands was, everyone''s eyes widened in utter shock and disbelief. It seemed that even Fyun was interested to see the confident Shye Crowley''s abilities. After all, mana simtion talismans would allow both fighters to go all out without actually killing each other, as it would only be their simtion armor that would be destroyed should they be defeated. Only, such talismans were rather expensive, even counting as a pseudo-life saving talisman as it would allow one to survive a lethal blow, despite not allowing one to instantly escape a dangerous situation. Since Fyun took two out for a mere duel, the onlookers inside the rendezvous room would naturally be surprised. ...Obtaining the senior handler''s approval, a shadow of a smile crept into Shye''s face. He had long since prepared himself to p a few faces if it meant that he would obtain his teammates'' acknowledgment, be it through respect or fear. Furthermore, he was truly quite pissed at how most of the champions treated him with such disrespect. It was time to teach them who he was. "You heard Sir Fyun," Shye said as he shifted his attention towards Freeze. "I''m not fond of those reneging on bets. Let''s put our bets inside this spatial bag and give it to Sir Fyun for safekeeping." Taking out 35,500 gold coins, an emergency talisman, and a [Unique]-tier scout skill book, Shye ced everything inside the spatial bag, passing it to Freeze with a confident smirk on his face. Naturally, Freeze did the same before passing the spatial bag to the senior handler. However, instead of confidence, in his face was wariness. Shye was just too confident. As a result, Freeze''s heart couldn''t help but waver and entertain doubts. ''Hmph, overthinking won''t help, and this might be a part of his strategy. I shall just fight as I''ve always done. This backwater rat should be of no threat...'' Chapter 552 Yes, Just Like That Naturally, two champion-level adventurers would need a huge space to fight. Hence, despite going a little off-track, Fyun led everyone to a spacious sparring room inside the headquarters. Upon arriving, the two champions immediately walked toward the room''s center. Shye did so leisurely, while Freeze wore a furious expression. He taunted Shye to feel good about himself. However, he was challenged instead. ''Unforgivable¡­You dare not respect me? Someone from a higher region?!'' Freeze had always been someone who was bound by "rankings". He himself hadn''t noticed; however, he was always inclined to respect those from a higher region, letting them insult him to a certain degree as he deemed it "normal". After all, they were from a higher-ranked region. Thus, as someone from the ninth-ranked Krebori Region, Freeze hade to ept that it was normal for adventurers from other regions to look down on him. Except for one region: Valenzia. In his narrow-minded opinion, since he epted humiliation from adventurers who came from a region ranked higher than his, adventurers from the backwater Valenzia should ept humiliation from him. This was the reason why he couldn''t forgive Shye for acting as though they were equals. Freeze had always thrown his pride and self-respect away when facing those from more advanced regions. Hence, he couldn''t understand why Shye wouldn''t do the same to him. In addition to this frustration, he also couldn''t ept the fact that someone from Valenzia, the weakest region, was generating waves across the world. He repeatedly told himself that Shye was nothing but a fraud. However, Shye''s confident attitude caused his heart to waver, and he couldn''t forgive either Shye or himself for making him feel that way, which is why he was so enraged. "Draw your weapon, Shye Crowley. I''m eager to remind you that while you may be a big fish in your small pond, you''re just a small one in the ocean." Hearing Freeze''s words, Shye merely sneered in disdain. He has already heard such words lots of times. Yet, he remained undefeated. He was sure that this small-minded small fry would only end up as another stepping stone for him. Retrieving both of his greatswords, Adamance and Mithra, as slowly as possible to piss Freeze off even more, Shye assumed azy battle stance. This naturally infuriated the Krebori champion to the point where he was almost ready to vomit blood in anger. ''Freeze Winfield¡­calm the f*ck down¡­this is obviously just his strategy to throw you off your game. You''ll get the sweetest of victories soon¡­'' Freeze consoled himself, his confidence surging. Based on his analysis of Shye''s actions, it seemed that the fraudster needed to resort to little tricks, like angering him, to even have a chance of winning. ''Hahaha, you''ve revealed your fraudulent side, Shye Crowley!'' Finally, Freeze''s wait was over as, in the next moment, Fyun, acting as the referee for their duel, jerked his right arm upward, signaling the start of the match. "Hahahahaha! You''re mine, backwater rat!" The Krebori champion eximed in utter excitement as he charged straight ahead, not respecting Shye at all. As a scout facing a warrior, Freeze should advance cautiously, baiting out Shye''s attacks before counterattacking to gradually deplete his opponent''s vitality. Once Shye''s body began tog behind his nimble movements, only then could Freeze charge in for the kill. It appeared that the Krebori Champion was not inclined to follow such a strategy, however, believing instead that he could defeat Shye in a head-on battle by skillfully evading his strikes and delivering vicious counter-attacks. This approach would not only demonstrate the difference between them but also humiliate Shye and undermine his morale. Watching the idiotic approach Freeze had chosen, Shye smiled mockingly. He then brandished both greatswords diagonally with just the right amount of speed and strength. The scout-ss champion from Krebori easily dodged his blow, however, swiftly counter-attacking with a vicious stab to Shye''s right shoulder in hopes of disabling one of his arms. "Is this it?" Freeze mocked as his dagger struck Shye''s right shoulder. Unfortunately, his celebration didn''tst for long as he didn''t feel the satisfying sensation of his icy dagger stabbing deep into Shye''s flesh. Soon after, before he could even find out what happened, Freeze felt a hand grip his wrists tightly. ''Crap! Clo¨C'' He tried to escape. Unfortunately, there was no time for him to use a skill as a primal roar which resembled those of dragon''s assaulted his psychological defenses, leaving him trembling in fear. Shortly after, two enormous sh marks emerged in front of Freeze, devouring him whole. *FWING* The azure light covering his body then disintegrated into blue particles, scattering to the four winds. "The match is over, Shye Crowley wins," Fyun announced without a change in expression, decisively handing over Shye''s winnings the next moment. ''I¡­lost? Just like that? Me? From a higher-ranking region?'' Freeze Winfield inwardly despaired, kneeling and staring listlessly at the ground. To make matters worse, the three who wanted him to win muttered disappointed and mocking remarks, just loud enough for him to hear. "Tch, this trash from Krebori sure can talk big when he''s so weak¡­" "Losing to a Valenzian? Pathetic¡­" "Sh*t¡­to go on an important and dangerous mission with such a garbage scout as a partner¡­" Naturally, Freeze''s fragile heart and ego couldn''t withstand such insults, especially given that he couldn''t ept losing to someone from a lower-ranked region. "Shye Crowley!! What did you do?! I refuse to lose against some unknown unfair advantage! Die!!" the defeated scout eximed as he charged towards Shye, activating his trump card in hopes of killing Shye. ''Tch, should I not have allowed it?'' Fyun inwardly thought, giving Rai Hou a signal to stop the two from fighting. However, before the Yon Augenn champion could even act, the target of the hostile attack, Shye Crowley, already moved to "defend" himself.@@novelbin@@ "Heh, how did you even be a champion? A slow scout like you¡­" Shye retorted, confidently facing the iing dagger with a smirk. He then dodged it at thest second with the help of his skill [Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.5], delivering a vicious p towards Freeze''s left cheek shortly after. *PAH!* The crisp, satisfying sound that would normally warrant a chef''s kiss echoed across the room, followed by a loud boom as Freeze hurtled through the air and crashed face-first into the sparring room''s walls. "FREEZE!!!" Chapter 554: Challengers "Huh? What do you mean we¡¯re not allowed entry into this mana dungeon?" An adamantite-ranked adventurer said in a loud voice, visibly angry. He and his party have been preparing to clear this dungeon for the past two months. Naturally, they would be extremely disappointed and angry to discover that, after such meticulous preparation, they wouldn¡¯t be able to enter for three months. "Sir, please calm down. We, the Horza idde guard squad, understand your frustrations. However, this order is from the WAA Headquarters. We have no choice but to obey their instructions." The guard chief patiently exined. "S-Still! In three months, two of us will turn thirty and we¡¯ll lose our chance! Please, sir, is there anything you can do? Maybe let us enter and keep it a secret from the WAA?" "We apologize, Si¨C" "What¡¯s going on here?" Suddenly hearing a stern voice from behind, the adamantite adventurer party turned around, slightly startled. "S-Sir Fyun! You finally arrived." "Chief Gunther, what¡¯s happening, who are these people?" "Reporting to Sir Fyun, these guys are adamantite-ranked adventurers hoping to try their hand at clearing the Horza idde Mana Dungeon." "Hoh, you¡¯re all twenty-nine years old and below?" Fyun shifted his attention to the adamantite party and asked. Realizing that Fyun was likely from the WAA, the adamantite party¡¯s leader, Leonne, spoke respectfully despite his frustration. "Yes, Sir Fyun. We¡¯re adamantite-ranked adventurers from the Deltra region, and most of us are already twenty-nine, with two turning thirty in the next three months. We spent two months preparing for this attempt, and this is ourst chance. Please, allow us entry to the mana dungeon!" @@novelbin@@ "Please, grant us entry!" The other members eximed in unison. Fyun was a serious person. However, he wasn¡¯t heartless, and he could understand why the adamantite party from Deltra was so desperate to enter. Unfortunately, he was just a senior handler, and his authority wasn¡¯t sufficient to grant the Deltra extermination party entry. "Apologies, but my authority isn¡¯t enough to allow two parties to enter the dungeon, as the higher-ups only permit one. I advise you to leave." Fyun¡¯s words were akin to a thousand arrows piercing through the Deltra Extermination party members¡¯ hearts, ruthlessly ripping them apart. ¡¯Do we really have to leave like this?¡¯ Leonne clenched his fists in frustration. He didn¡¯t want to give up. ¡¯Hmm? Wait¡­didn¡¯t he say that only one party could enter?¡¯ An idea suddenly entered the Deltra leader¡¯s head, bringing hope to his heart. Sprinting to catch up with Fyun and the WAA Extermination Party, Leonne¡¯s actions puzzled his party members, leading them to think he might have lost his mind out of frustration. "H-Hey, Leonne, wh¨C" "Sir Fyun! You said that only one party could enter, did you not?" "Hmm? Yes, I did." "Then we would like to challenge the WAA extermination party for the dungeon entry rights!" Hearing their leader¡¯s words, a dawn of realization struck the Deltra Extermination Party members¡¯ hearts, causing hope to burgeon in their hearts. ¡¯I see! Leonne, this was your n all along! Truly smart and fitting for our leader! So there is a way! If we can somehow prove that we¡¯re morepetent than the WAA¡¯s extermination party, it would be far more logical for us to enter the dungeon!¡¯ One of Leonne¡¯s party members inwardly thought, thoroughly impressed by their leader¡¯s intelligence and unwavering resolve. Unfortunately, Fyun wasn¡¯t fond of such a change in ns. "No. We¡¯ve already had an extensive meeting and devised our dungeon-clearing strategy. Furthermore, the higher-ups specifically selected the members of our extermination party. It would be illogical to change the team now. Please leave." The senior handler¡¯s words ruthlessly crushed the adamantite party¡¯s hopes, leaving some of them in despair. Most of them were forgotten geniuses, and if they wanted to stage aeback, they had to achieve something huge. Conquering the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, which had remained unconquered for seven years now, was their best shot. If they managed to clear it, they would undoubtedly make a significant impact, creating waves not just in their region but across the world. "N-No way¡­ You! Members of the WAA Extermination Party! Aren¡¯t you even ashamed of not fighting for the right to enter the dungeon?!" Leonne eximed, hoping to provoke Shye and the others into attacking. If the WAA adventurers attacked first, then they would have an excuse to prove theirpetence. Unfortunately, although arrogant and hotheaded, the Horza idde Extermination Party members weren¡¯t stupid. Not only did they look down on the Deltra Region Extermination Party due to their desperation and age, but they also believed it would be beneath them to prove themselves against such insignificant opponents. Hence, not a single one attacked, destroying Leonne¡¯s hopes and dreams. ¡¯No¡­No! I can¡¯t let it end like this!¡¯ The Deltra Party¡¯s leader¡¯s desperation left him no choice but to do an irrational action: attack first. "Y-You cowards! If you won¡¯t attack, then I will! Prepare yourself! Brat!" Leonne¡¯s battle instincts of taking out the weakest one first kicked in, and since Shye appeared to be way too young, he immediately assumed that he was the weakest. Thus, he lunged at Shye, intending to bash him with his massive shield before finishing him off with his ultimate skill. "You! You dare attack the official extermination party of the WAA?!" Fyun eximed in utter rage. "L-Leonne! What are you doing?!" "Leonne! Stop!!" Unfortunately, it was already toote for the Deltra Party Leader to stop, and he had no intentions of doing so. ¡¯If I can just defeat one of them instantly, maybe Sir Fyun will¡­¡¯ "Hmm¡­You think I¡¯m the weakest?" Shye began, staring right at Leonne¡¯s crazed eyes. He would never back away from a direct confrontation. "Think again!" shing both greatswords diagonally upwards, Shye used [Power sh] and all three [Boost] charges to increase the destructive power of his attack. The next moment, the greatswords and the enormous silver tower shield shed, causing a loud metallic noise to echo across the mana dungeon¡¯s lobby. The sh sent a hulking orange-haired warrior flying over fifty meters, rolling on the ground with broken arm bones and vomiting blood. Enjoy new adventures from empire "LEONNE!!" "T-There¡¯s no way¡­" Chapter 555: Entering An (S) Ranked Mana Dungeon The Deltra Extermination Party was stupefied as they watched their dependable leader lose miserably. However, it wasn¡¯t only them. Fyun, Nutter, the other handlers, and the regional champions also couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. Even Rai Hou¡¯s eyes widened and his heart raced slightly upon seeing the results of the sh. Leonne, though not on their level, was no pushover. Rai Hou was certain that even (S-) ranked and some (S) ranked monsters would struggle to send a tank-type warrior like him flying with a single hit. ¡¯So he¡¯s not lying when he said that he was the strongest among us, huh?¡¯ The Yon Augenn champion inwardly thought. ¡¯How scary¡­¡¯ "Sigh, since we¡¯ve already started fighting, let¡¯s finish this. Come, who else wants to challenge me for our party¡¯s right to enter the dungeon?" Shye said arrogantly, resting one of his greatswords on his shoulder while pointing the tip of the other at the Deltra Party. "I¡¯ll humor you." However, how could anyone dare challenge him after such a brutish disy of strength? Without simtion protection talismans, they would surely die; hence, despite their frustrations after witnessing their leader¡¯s disastrous defeat, none of them dared step forward. "Hmm¡­ no one? Alright then," Shye said, turning to face his teammates. "What about you guys? You aren¡¯t convinced that I deserve a spot on this extermination roster, no? Since I¡¯ve already drawn my greatswords, it would be convenient to settle everything before I put them back in my spatial bag." "You punk¡­" "You dare underestimate me, hillbilly?!" "You shitty brat¡­" Shye¡¯s words naturally angered Dalton, Walter, and Koneko. Yet, astonishingly, it seemed that they were hesitating whether they should step forward or not. There would be no mana simtion talismans to protect them should they decide to fight him. Faced with such brutish strength, one mistake could mean death. As a result, Dalton, Walter, and Koneko were caught between a rock and a hard ce. If they chose not to fight him, it would mean they were scared, but if they did, there was a risk of them perishing. Luckily, the reliable senior handler Fyun spoke up and saved them from their predicament. "Crowley! If you cause trouble one more time, I¡¯ll send a report to the headquarters regarding your misconduct!" "Geh¡­I-I apologize, Sir Fyun. It won¡¯t happen again." Shye insincerely said, returning his greatswords to the system¡¯s inventory and shooting a mocking nce toward the trio before looking away. Naturally, Shye didn¡¯t actually want to beat up his teammates right before entering the dungeon, as it would weaken theirbat power. Besides, he knew Fyun would step in. He just challenged them to remind them that they should not f*ck around with him. Otherwise, he would dly make them face the consequences. "Good. Let¡¯s move; we¡¯re running a bitte, so do a final inventory check and confirm when you¡¯re done." None of them dared disobey Fyun. Thus, despite their anger at Shye¡¯s arrogance, they temporarily set aside their emotions, turning away from the devastated Deltra Party to perform onest inventory check. A few minutester, all of them confirmed that they were ready. "One final reminder: stick to the n and avoid any unnecessary actions. If the operation was jeopardized due to reckless heroics, the offender would be punished even if you cleared the dungeon. Proceed with the utmost caution. Set aside your differences for now¡ªI¡¯ll let you fight all you want after the mission ispleted. That¡¯s all. Move out!" After listening to Fyun¡¯s much-needed final reminder. Experience new tales on empire The extermination party¡¯s faces turned serious. The senior handler was right, they needed to focus on the mission first. Their disagreements can be resolved after. Nodding satisfactorily at the regional champions¡¯ change in expression, Fyun signaled the guard chief to open the dungeon¡¯s entrance, revealing an azure, see-through portal. Soon after, under Rai Hou¡¯s lead, the WAA¡¯s Horza idde Extermination party entered the portal. "Tch, what the hell is this?" Konekoined immediately upon realizing they were in a pitch-ck dungeon. Despite the small purple me balls burning eternally on the ground, forming what looked like a pathway, they could barely see anything. "Koneko, Freeze, try using the night vision goggles provided by Sir Fyun." Rai Hou ordered, not a hint of sleepiness on his face. Naturally, the two scouts promptly followed the leader¡¯s orders, quickly retrieving the Manasoft night vision goggles from their inventory, putting them on, and injecting mana to activate them. "Ahh, crap, this equipment drains mana way too quickly!" Freezeined as he focused on the dark area ahead to see what the dungeon looked like. @@novelbin@@ Unfortunately, even with the help of the night vision goggles, the two scouts barely saw anything. However, the aid the equipment provided was at least enough to allow the two to advance slowly. "Freeze, Koneko, what do you see?" Rai Hou asked. He couldn¡¯t see anything. Hence, he had no choice but to depend on the two scouts to navigate through the darkness. They naturally prepared some consumable items that they could use to momentarily illuminate the surroundings and make battles easier. However, since their resources were limited, it would be unwise to use the consumables against mere dungeon guards. They had to use them sparingly and save a few for the boss fights. "The floor¡¯s surface is dried y, as you can feel. However, be cautious of a few muddy patches that might cause you to slip." Koneko began, looking around for a few more seconds before continuing: "Tch¡­I can¡¯t see the ceiling. As for the walls, the pathways are quite spacious. As long as you don¡¯t stray more than twenty meters from your original position during battle, you shouldn¡¯t collide with these strange slimy walls. However, I don¡¯t understand the purpose of these ming balls on the ground." ording to Fyun, the dungeon walls would drain one¡¯s vitality, so it¡¯s best not to stay in contact with them for too long. Fortunately, as Koneko noted, the pathways are quite spacious, so there shouldn¡¯t be too much to worry about. "I see, that¡¯s enough. For now, let¡¯s advance ording to the discussed strategy." Chapter 556 Bad Start The strategy for the first four floors was quite standard: two scouts advanced thirty meters ahead of the main group. One scout watched for enemies while the other checked for traps. On the other hand, the main strike force''s job was rather simple. They just needed to adopt the standard dungeon exploration formation: one warrior at the front, with the ranged attackers¡ªsuch as the archer and mage¡ªalongside the support characters, like a priest/priestess or bard, positioned behind. Finally, another warrior would serve as the rear guard, protecting the ranged attackers from assassin-type creatures. Since the shielder should always be in front, Shye naturally became the rear guard. He kept an eye on their teammates as they moved forward, following the mini-paintball marks left by the two scouts, with his [Mana Pulse] skill activated in vignce mode. The slow advance was unsettling for most of the party members. It was gnawing at their sanity. Not only was the dungeon dark as f*ck, but it was also eerily silent. They''ve been advancing for around 45 minutes now, yet, they haven''t encountered any monstrous creatures. However, this didn''t mean that the journey had been smooth. There were a few minor traps that the scout in charge, Freeze, failed to detect. If not for Rai Hou''s swift reflexes and Dalton''s tough physique, Mira and Walter would''ve been in danger. This naturally infuriated Dalton, who was usually the one dealing with the traps. "That damned ipetent scout!" he raged, smashing his mace into the ground in anger. The leader, Rai Hou, wasn''t pleased with Freeze''s performance as well. However, he knew that this wasn''t the time to fight amongst themselves. Hence, despite his own annoyance, Rai Hou took a deep breath and tried his best to regain control of his emotions. Getting angry wouldn''t magically turn one of their teammates into a morepetent one. It would be better to focus on the task ahead and ount for Freeze''s ipetence as they moved forward. In reality, Freeze wasn''t an ipetent scout; the traps were simply hidden in the void and extremely difficult to detect. After all, they were inside an (S) ranked mana dungeon, one that no party had managed to conquer in the past seven years. Fortunately, despite a few setbacks due to traps, none of them suffered major injuries. Only Dalton sustained a few very minor injuries: a void me trap that suddenly appeared and burned a small part of his skin, and a void arrow trap that bypassed his shield and pierced shallowly into his chest. Aside from those two minor issues, they encountered nothing else. Their peace was short-lived, though, as the scout responsible for the failed trap detection returned a few momentster, looking somewhat anxious.@@novelbin@@ "Y-You! Don''t you know th¨C" "Rai Hou!" Freeze rudely interrupted Dalton''s angry tirade, further infuriating him. However, noticing that Freeze had something urgent to report, the Yon Augenn champion silenced Dalton with a cold,manding gaze that sent shivers down his spine. "Freeze, what happened?" he asked with a hint of nervousness. Koneko was their lead scout. If she somehow fell into an extremely unfavorable situation, or worse, perished, then their entire dungeon clearing operation would be in utter jeopardy. Freeze''s abilities were simply insufficient. Your next read is at empire "Koneko and I encountered a humanoid monstrous creature that transported her to a separate dimension! Before I left the area, I sensed mana disturbances at the site of her disappearance. I suspect they''re in a duel in that other dimension!" The Kreborian scout''s words made everyone, especially Mira, panic slightly. However, they knew their only option was to hurry to the location where Koneko had been taken and hope she would either win or survive until the effect of the monstrous creature''s domain-type skill wore off. "Lead the way, Freeze!" Nodding at Rai Hou, Freeze quickly sprinted back to the location where he and Koneko had encountered the humanoid void-type monster. Unfortunately, as usual, they struggled to see in the dark. Except for one person: Shye. Though his eyes, enhanced by the Pill of Permanent Night Vision, couldn''t see as clearly as during the day, he could still discern everything within a thirty-meter radius. ''Hmm¡­ the humanoid monster she encountered might be one of the dungeon''s bosses¡­'' Shye inwardly thought as he scanned the spacious room. As someone who had cleared dungeons solo, he was no stranger to "roaming bosses," having encountered them twice before: once in the (A-) ranked Abomination Lord Dungeon and once during his first mandatory mission as a regional champion. Roaming Bosses were typically direct underlings of the main boss, tasked with weakening adventurer parties and taking them down individually whenever possible. "Tch, what luck to encounter a roaming boss this early in the dungeon, and for it to have an istion-type domain¡­" Rai Hou muttered, clenching his fists in frustration. Given his experience clearing dungeons alone, Rai Hou also understood that the monstrous creature Koneko encountered was likely a roaming boss and that she would probably have a hard time surviving its attacks on her own. "I should''ve adopted a more cautious approach¡­" As regional champions, and given their usual arrogance, Rai Hou assumed they could handle the dungeon in the usual manner without issue. It was a mistake on his part as a leader. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to wait now and pray that somehow, Koneko survives. A few minutester, the moment they had been waiting for finally arrived: a huge purple sphere materialized from thin air, slowly revealing two humanoid silhouettes. "NO!! MISS KONEKO!!!" Mira suddenly screamed in utter horror as she saw the humanoid monstrous creature holding a young woman by the hair, her bodypletely limp. It was unclear whether she was dead or alive. "Hihi¡­Stupid humans. You enter our territory? I ughter you all, one by one¡­" The humanoid monstrous creatureughed eerily and said in a raspy voice. It then vanished into the void before anyone could react, taking Koneko, whose vital status was unknown, with it. Chapter 557 New Party Leader Find more to read at empire The handlers had just left the dungeon an hour ago. Yet, somehow, Fyun sensed that something bad and unexpected would happen. He wasn''t a stranger to this feeling. However, based on experience, such feelings were often unrted to what was happening inside the dungeon. Hence, Fyun quickly dismissed his thoughts, continuing on their journey back to the WAA Fanfir Headquarters to retrieve provisions. They need to return to the dungeon entrance within a month to replenish the extermination party''s resources. By that time, ording to their timeline, the extermination party should have already cleared up to the fifth floor. *** Meanwhile, inside the dungeon¡­ The six remaining adventurers stood petrified on the spot with varying reactions to what happened. Rai Hou and Dalton clenched their fists in frustration and helplessness; Mira knelt on the ground in despair, while Freeze and Walter were petrified in fear. As for Shye, he didn''t care one bit about Koneko. Due to the level four shy Adventurer System, Shye had long lost the ability to care about people he wasn''t close to. This naturally applied even more to those who looked down on him just because he was from Valenzia. Koneko could live or die for all he cared. The reason he appeared petrified was because he was deep in thought. ''Tch, do I have to take matters into my own hands this early?'' The young female scout from the Hakk''shatta region was crucial for their safe advancement; not only were her scouting abilities superb, but she was also confident and courageous. Unfortunately, her overconfidence ultimatelypromised her safety, and now, it seemed that he had to take over. Freeze was simply too useless. Dalton, confused and disheartened, turned to Rai Hou. "R-Rai Hou, what should we do? Should we keep advancing, or should we head back and report that Koneko was captured by a humanoid monstrous creature?" Honestly, the Yon Augenn champion felt that it would be unsafe to continue. However, based on how Koneko looked earlier, she was likely still alive. If they went back now, they would be abandoning her. Rai Hou was stuck between a rock and a hard ce, causing his head to throb in pain. He wanted to sleep. Unfortunately, he was assigned as the leader of this party. He couldn''t just escape responsibility simply because he disliked it. "N-NO! W-We can''t turn back now! Miss Koneko might be alive!" Mira said almost hysterically. This was the first time she faced such a situation so early in the mission, and she stillcked the heart and resolve to abandon someone for the sake of their safety. Her words only served to make decision-making even more difficult for Rai Hou. Fortunately, someone he never would have expected to step up in this situation suddenly spoke up, sparing him from having to make such a difficult and ruthless decision. "There''s no need to go back. I can take over as the team''s scout. However, the rear would be unprotected. If you want me to do this, then you''ll need to hand over the leadership of the party to me." Shye said with a hint of arrogance, confident in his ability to handle the situation. He trusted his leadership ability way more than anyone else''s. Therefore, he made it a condition for helping Rai Hou navigate the difficult situation. His words angered Freeze, Dalton, and Walter, though. "You! Aren''t you part of this party too?! Why should there be conditions before you help us?!" The mage, Walter, eximed in fury. He had long been irritated by Shye''s presence. It was only natural for him to explode upon hearing such indifferent and arrogant words. "Heh, then you should''ve treated me like one from the beginning. Also, I''m not keen on taking responsibility without full control. Feel free to reject my proposal if you want. We could all just leave and abandon the rude woman." Shye knew that he was being very rude and aggressive towards his teammates. However, first, some of them deserved it, and second, he knew that if he showed even the slightest weakness, Rai Hou would be hesitant to pass the leadership to him. After all, the WAA had entrusted the mission''s leadership to Rai Hou, and even if he chose to pass it on to others, he would still bear the brunt of the consequences if the mission failed. ''Should I trust this guy?'' Was the question that echoed repeatedly inside the Yon Augenn champion''s mind. If he chose to hand over the leadership to Shye Crowley, the Valenzian champion, it would mean proceeding with the mission despite being down one member. Conversely, if he didn''t, Rai Hou was certain they would eventually have to retreat, as Freeze alone wouldn''t be sufficient to guide them safely through the dark and perilous paths of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon. At that moment, Rai Hou, who was usually confident of his abilities, finally learned that he was still a small fry in the grand scheme of things. The Horza idde Dungeon, despite its (S) rank difficulty, wasn''t even in the top ten of the most dangerous mana dungeons. Yet, they were already failing big time on just the first floor. For the first time in his life, the talented Rai Hou experienced a significant setback that shook his confidence, making him fear for his career as an adventurer.@@novelbin@@ He didn''t want to end his undefeated streak like this. Hence, after a few more moments of internal struggle, he finally reached a decision. "F-Fine. I''ll hand over the leadership to you, Crowley. However, before I do, you must exin your abilities and how you n to navigate us safely through this dark and perilous ce." Hearing the Yon Augenn champion''s words, the eyes of the other members widened in utter shock and disbelief. The renowned Rai Hou from the top region of Yon Augenn submitting to the demands of a Valenzian champion? Who wouldn''t question their ears? "A wise decision, Rai Hou. I assure you, you won''t regret it. Unfortunately¡­" Chapter 558 A Better Scout Than A Scout "YOU!! THERE SHOULD BE A LIMIT TO YOUR ARROGANCE!! WHY EXPLAIN IT ONLY TO RAI HOU AND NOT TO THE REST OF US?!" Dalton shouted furiously, drawing his mace and nearly charging at Shye before Mira intervened. "Heh, first of all, I don''t trust most of you to keep my abilities a secret, except for Rai Hou and Mira. As for Mira, I''m not telling her because she''s too kind-hearted and might not be able to resist your persistent questioning. It''s better if she doesn''t know." Shye exined with a sneer, turning to Rai Hou before asking: "So, shall we proceed?" "RAI HOU!! YOU BETTER NOT HAND THE LEADERSHIP OVER TO THIS BASTARD OR ELSE W¨C" "Or else what? Do you have any other options? We can turn back right now if you prefer. However, I''ll be reporting that the three of you refused to follow the leader''s orders and acted selfishly, causing the mission to fail and resulting in Koneko Kaneko''s death," Rai Hou said coldly. He was so done with darned troublemakers. "R-RAI HOU!! YOU!! YOU''RE SIDING WITH THIS BASTARD?! THIS¡­THIS BACKWATER RAT?!" Dalton eximed disbelievingly. "Yes, because he''s evidently stronger than you three, at least. Also, I believe this guy doesn''t talk bullshit, unlike you three. So, what will it be? Will you ept his arrangements? Will we turn back? Or perhaps¡­you wanna fight me?" This time, the three of them could tell that the Yon Augenn champion was genuinely furious. Who could me him? They were already in a dire situation, yet Walter, Dalton, and Freeze insisted on causing trouble simply because they refused to ept someone from a region ranked far lower than theirs as a leader. ¡­It took the three troublemakers half a minute of pondering with gritted teeth and clenched fists before one of them made a decision. Walter, as the smartest one out of the three, immediately understood that the best course of action was to allow Shye to lead. It was just that his pride as someone from a high-ranked region was in the way. However, realizing that none of the options Rai Hou presented were eptable, it quickly became a matter of choosing the lesser evil. They were afraid of confronting the renowned Rai Hou. On the other hand, turning back and being reported for insubordination to the WAA would be detrimental to their careers, potentially leading to their dismissal as regional champions. Hence, the best choice for them would be to submit to Shye''s leadership, at least until the mission was over. "I-I shall agree to whatever you decide on, Rai Hou," Walter said through gritted teeth, prompting the other two to do the same. "Good. Wait here, I shall talk to Crowley." Satisfied with the decision of the three troublemakers, Rai Hou nodded approvingly before turning to Shye, signaling for him to follow. Once they were about ten meters away from the group, Rai Hou activated one of his skills, creating a sound suppression barrier around them. "F*ck! I can''t hear anything, Rai Hou must''ve set up a sound suppression barrier¡­" Freeze cursed in a low voice. Sound suppression barriers were essential for archers, enabling them tounch lethal attacks undetected and increasing their chances of assassinating a target from a concealed position. Freeze was aware of this as well. He just took a chance, hoping Rai Hou would be careless. Unfortunately, his efforts were in vain, as Rai Hou was meticulous in everything he did. This naturally disappointed the other two, who were also keen to learn Shye''s secrets to get even with him in the future. ¡­"So, Shye Crowley, how do you n to act as the lead scout and navigate the party safely through the dark dungeon?" Rai Hou asked with a cold gaze. He decided to go all out in trusting the mysterious Valenzian champion in hopes of salvaging the terrible situation. If Shye turned out to be "ying pranks" on him out of overconfidence, Rai Hou would certainly show him why he made it to the top of the mostpetitive region of Adthiopia. Luckily, it didn''t seem that he would have to take action, as Shye naturally had his own ns. "First, my eyes can see up to fifty meters in this darkness, so navigating through the pathways will be no problem even without those ineffective night vision goggles." Hearing Shye''s words, Rai Hou''s eyes narrowed. He couldn''t just believe whatever Shye said. "Hmm¡­ you say that, but how can I be sure your words are true?" "Heh, it''s simple. Twenty-five meters to your right, there''s a muddy patch on the ground. Check if I''m telling the truth." This was indeed a feasible way to check if Shye was telling the truth. Hence, Rai Hou immediately walked twenty-five meters to his right, nearly slipping on the muddy patch when he arrived. He then returned to where Shye was with little difficulty. "Fine, I shall believe you can see in the dark." Rai Hou said, evidently pleased with Shye''s ability. "However, I believe you also know that this alone wouldn''t be enough to lead us to the tenth floor safely." "Of course," Shye replied, pausing for a moment to activate the new [Warning] mode gained by his [Mana Pulse] skill upon reaching level three. "I also have a detection skill with a range of thirty meters. Imagine it as a detection sphere that extends in all directions, including upwards and underground. It can even identify monstrous creatures concealed in voids and spatial pockets." Continue your adventure at empire "I guarantee that no creature will be able to ambush us, regardless of its type. However, this skill isn''t reliable for detecting traps, so we''ll still have to rely on that ipetent idiot over there." Shye''s exnation of his detection skill sent shivers down Rai Hou''s spine. The Yon Augenn champion didn''t dare hope that Shye, a warrior-ss adventurer, could fully rece Koneko. It would be sufficient if he could at least perform half as well as the young female scout. So, upon hearing that Shye''s detection skill might be even better than Koneko''s and that he could see in the dark, hope began to blossom in Rai Hou''s heart.@@novelbin@@ However, he naturally had to verify if it was true first. Fortunately, there was no need for him to speak, as shortly after, an azure sphere emanated from Shye and sessfully enveloped Rai Hou. The young Yon Augenn champion then sensed that he had been detected and that the detector was alerting him to stay away. "Wha¨C" "That just now is my detection skill''s [Warning] mode. Do you need any more proof?" "No need, this is good enough." With a slightly racing heart, Rai Hou returned to where the others were waiting, Shye following behind him. "I''ve concluded that his capabilities as a lead scout are more than sufficient. Therefore, I hereby officially appoint Shye Crowley as the leader of this extermination party!" Chapter 560 Weird Golden Glow ''Based on the information the WAA gathered about the dungeon, the right path would eventually lead to a dead end, so as long as we kept turning left, we would eventually encounter a descending staircase along with the floor''s guardian¡­'' Shye pondered as he removed the ck blood staining his greatswords. To date, they''ve encountered only two types of monstrous creatures on the first floor: Voidlurkers, purple ape-like beings that typically hide in void pockets, and Shadow Creepers, ck, monstrous creatures resembling praying mantises with crab-like ws and bony wings. This brought slightfort to their hearts as it confirmed that the information given to them by the WAA was urate. "Crowley." Dalton''s brutish voice sounded from behind him, prompting him to turn his head, ncing nonchntly at the shielder, who had a rather awkward expression on his face. "What?" "I apologize for underestimating you earlier. From now on, I will fully heed yourmands." "Hmph. Fine, apology epted. Just don''t make the same mistake with the other champions from my region. And you need to pay closer attention to my instructions; sometimes you go in too deep." "Y-Yeah, understood." Shye was naturally happy to be acknowledged. However, he couldn''t show his emotions too much. He was the party leader, after all. It was evident that Walter and Freeze wanted to do the same. Unfortunately, their pride didn''t allow them to.@@novelbin@@ Still, It was clear they would follow Shye''s everymand from now on, enabling Shye to adopt an even more aggressive and efficient approach. ¡­Continuing their journey inside the chillingly dark pathways of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, the WAA extermination party didn''t encounter any monstrous creatures for a while. Instead, after about forty minutes, they noticed something glowing golden at the end of the pathway they were walking along. "Everyone, wait here. Rai Hou,e with me and help me check out this golden glow." "Got it." Shye decided that it might be too unsafe and inefficient for others to advance with them. After all, it was highly likely that the golden thing at the end of the pathway was a trap. Since he was confident in his and Rai Hou''s ability to survive for a while, Shye decided it would be best for the two of them to scout ahead and investigate. Their teammates could assistter if something went wrong. Advancing vigntly, Shye whispered: "Rai Hou, some monstrous creatures have the ability to evade my skill''s detection. Don''t just watch for traps; be cautious of ambushers too." Hearing Shye''s words, the Yon Augenn champion''s face turned even more serious. However, as they got closer to the golden glow, their stern expressions gradually eased. "It''s the staircase leading down to the second floor!" The duo eximed in unison, a smile on their faces. Unfortunately, their delight was short-lived as Shye''s mana pulse soon detected a huge creature hanging upside down right above them. "Crowley, above!" "Yeah." Rai Hou''s senses utterly impressed Shye. He didn''t have the same detection skill as Shye, yet, he somehow knew that there was something above them. This was the Yon Augenn champion''s talent, the very thing that made him drowsy most of the time. Rai Hou could immediately detect if someone or something had targeted him, and if he was close enough, he could even tell where the bastard would be attacking from. His talent, called [Dark Sense], had an effective radius of two kilometers, making it nearly impossible to ambush Rai Hou unless someone could hide in a spatial or void pocket. He was basically one of the most slippery archers one could find. Assassins typically rely on their stealth tactics to surprise archers and kill them in one go. Unfortunately, the likelihood of assassination tactics seeding against the Yon Augenn champion was extremely low, even with the aid of a diversion, because the champion''s talent could detect any aggressive intent, again, except for those hidden in spatial and void pockets. His talent,bined with his exceptional dueling skills, keen sense of positioning, remarkable uracy, and high damage output, made him one of the best archers in the highlypetitive Yon Augenn region. Furthermore, despite his youth, he showed immense promise. If all goes well, Rai Hou could be one of the region''s hero candidates. This talent automatically activates whenever he is not in a safe location, however, continuously draining his mental energy. This resulted in him feeling drowsy whenever he was in a safe area like the WAA headquarters. ¡­Feeling the upside-down monstrous creature''s vicious descent, Shye and Rai Hou jumped backward at the same time, narrowly avoiding a ferocious dive attack. "Main force! We need assistance!" Shye eximed, turning to the Yon Augenn champion. "Rai Hou! Support me from the back, I''ll buy us time!" Shye wanted to use appraisal. However, he wouldn''t be able to read the status window even if he did so, as the monstrous creature''s attention was on him. Explore more stories with empire It would be better to do it once his party members arrived. Realizing that the creature''s w, infused with a ck aura, was hurtling towards his neck at an incredible speed, Shye knew he had no choice but to defend himself in a direct confrontation. "Tch." He gripped his greatswords tighter, brandishing them diagonally upwards to repel the creature''s w. ''Power sh! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' Naturally, since Shye was unaware of the monster''s strength, he decided it would be best to use all three charges of his boost to increase his chances of winning, or at least surviving the sh of brute force. Winds howled as the vague silhouette of the w and the enormous greatswords ferociously headed toward the other, aiming to overpower their opponent. Soon after, they collided, producing a cacophony of loud metallic noises and dull thuds that echoed across the dark pathways. "Puhahk!" Shye spat out blood. As he expected, based on the monstrous creature''s muscr physique, it had immense strength, and it was the correct decision to use all three charges of [Boost]. However, the creature wasn''t unscathed. Its entire right arm felt numb and its palm bled with ck blood. Still, it couldn''t believe that a mere human, a young one at that, could stand up to its strength. Hence, it felt threatened. The creature knew that humans always attack in small groups of seven people. This expectation quickly came through as multiple footsteps and voices echoed across the biting darkness. "Crowley, we''re here!" "Heal!" "Illumina!" Walter''s golden sphere ascended seven meters into the air once more, illuminating the entire area and revealing the form of the monstrous creature they were facing. "W-What the hell is that thing..." Chapter 562 Ridiculously Tough Realizing that the floor guardian was wide open, Freeze smiled excitedly, emerging from the shadows right above the creature''s eye and ferociously stabbing his dagger toward it. Unfortunately, he had been too greedy. It would''ve been enough if he could destroy its ear. However, since it looked like the Brallnr couldn''t protect its weak point, Freeze immediately grabbed the opportunity to take its lone eye. Regrettably, as his icy dagger produced popping sounds as it viciously stabbed at the Brallnr, a purple barrier made of multiple little hexagons emerged in front of the cyclops'' eye, easily stopping Freeze''s attack. "This ipetent idiot! Weren''t you supposed to target its ear?!" Dalton raged. Due to Freeze''s heroics, they almost wasted a prime chance to deal huge amounts of damage to the extremely tough Brallnr. Fortunately, Rai Hou''s quick reflexes and swift, effective decision-making turned the situation around, giving them more time to beat the fallen one-eyed creature up. Two green arrows whizzed through the air, as silent as ghosts, revealing no hint of aggressive intent. As a result, the Brallnr Cyclops failed to detect them and instead raised its wounded left hand to grab at Freeze, who fortunately managed to evade just in time. Then, immediately after failing to grab the Kreborian scout champion, the two green, spectral arrows stabbed deep into both of its hands. Shockingly, it dealt no damage to the Brallnr. Instead, multiple green threads suddenly emerged from the two arrows, piercing and embedding themselves deeply in the ground. This made it impossible for the Brallnr to stand up for a few seconds, which was more than enough for a certain destructive monstrous creature in human form to deal immense damage to it. "Great cover, Rai Hou!" Emerging from the darkness, Shye lunged at the creature with one of his less frequently used skills, [Lunge Pierce Lv.5], allowing him tond precisely on the creature''s nape while inflicting minimal piercing damage. However, what was important wasn''t the skill''s damage but the fact that it was able to put him in an optimal position to wreck the f*ck out of the floor guardian. Gripping his greatswords tightly and wearing a menacing smile, Shye brandished both des, shing rapidly at the pinned Brallnr''s nape. His increasing speed soon generated a hurricane of silver sh marks that engulfed the enormous cyclops. This was Shye''s newly learned warrior skill, [Thousand sh Hurricane Lv.3 (Rare)]. The silver hurricane soon turned ck as the Brallnr''s blood mixed with it, its agonized howl serving as evidence of Shye''s extraordinary strength. Everyone who watched Shye''s ferocious attack was left dumbfounded, except for Rai Hou, who had the presence of mind to capitalize on it and follow through. "Dalton! Walter! Mira! Freeze! Don''t just stand there! Attack!" the Yon Augenn champion eximed, pulling his bowstrings back, a slightly furious look on his face "Piercing Void!" An enormous mana arrow, surrounded by a purple aura, shot through the air from Rai Hou''s longbow. It created a purple crack through which the arrow vanished, only to reappear behind the Brallnr''s left leg through another void crack. It was an arrow that literally pierced through the void. Naturally, piercing through a leg, no matter how tough, was an easy task for the arrow. Hence, ck blood spurted from the creature''s left leg as the purple arrow drilled a sizable hole in it, effectively crippling the Brallnr Cyclops'' mobility. "Everyone, now!" The floor guardian was like a sitting duck, wide open to everyone''s attack. Naturally, the other champions, including Mira, didn''t dare waste such a golden opportunity.@@novelbin@@ The two warriors and one scout charged forward, using various skills, while Walter and Mira stayed at the back, casting offensive spells. "Half-moon sh!" "Dragon Bash!" "cial Laceration!" "me Tornado!" "Heavenly Smite!" It was as if an extreme catastrophe had descended upon the immobilized Brallnr, with spells and skills of various elements wreaking havoc and destruction around the area where it had fallen. The furious roar, fountaining ck blood, and the scent of charred flesh testified to the monstrous creature''s suffering. "Is it... dead?" Mira asked warily, staring intently at the clouds of dust, waiting for them to clear. A few momentster, the monstrous creature was visible again. Unfortunately, the Brallnr Cyclops'' 920 points of vitality were not merely for show, as the creature''s anger-filled eye remained well and alive despite its body being battered, bloody, and broken. "There''s just no way¡­isn''t this thing merely (S-) ss?! How are we struggling?!" Dalton raged, finding it hard to believe that their all-out assault, although enough to wound it gravely, was still not enough to take it down. "Calm down, Dalton," Shye said, gazing warily at the grievously wounded Brallnr. Based on his past experiences, the bastard was about to rage. His guess proved to be correct as soon after, the Brallnr''s furious roar echoed inside the dungeon, its pale purple skin turning multiple shades darker. Shockingly, a second pair of demonic wings emerged on its lower back, albeit a little smaller than the original. However, this allowed the Brallnr Cyclops to move as fast as, if not faster than, before despite its now bulkier and heavier muscles. Shye naturally knew that some of his party members, the more faint-hearted ones, would start losing heart if he didn''t say anything. Hence, he gave them a little pep talk. "Everyone, this is itsst stand. Just focus on surviving for now, we can counterattack once its rage skill timed out." Shye''s calm and collected order brought peace to the slightly racing hearts of the other champions. Indeed, there''s no such thing as an unkible monster. This Brallnr, too, should be falling soon, and this should be itsst stand. With slightly calmer hearts than before, the WAA extermination partyposed of young adventurers aged twenty-nine and below once again assumed their positions. Their goal: buy time until the creature''s rage skill times out. However, their serene resolution was short-lived as the floor guardian suddenly raised both of its arms. Your journey continues at empire Soon after, a pitch-ck domain extended outwards from its location, devouring Shye and his party members. Chapter 565 Dividing The Loot “Equally†Since Shye found no need for him to act, he allowed Rai Hou to appraise the items. It then turned out that the ck cloak called Safe Whisper was best suited for scouts. Although the attribute bonus it provided was fairly mediocre, the equipment was well-suited for the current freeze situation, as it could detect traps of all grades, whether they were in in sight or hidden in void and spatial pockets. However, the catch was, that he needed to continuously use his mana, once again increasing his consumption drastically. Inside the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, which saps 1 mana every thirty seconds, additional consumption wasn''t ideal. Fortunately, they had prepared a lot of mana potions. However, it was uncertain whether their supplies wouldst, especially now that Freeze''s mana consumption would increase considerably. ¡­After Rai Hou exined the effects of Safe Whisper, he handed it over to Freeze, then immediately examined the golden ring. Meanwhile, Shye pondered how the Item Appraisal skill worked. He found it difficult to imagine using it without the aid of the system''s interface. However, after observing how Rai Hou closes his eyes after using the skill on the item, Shye concluded that the skill probably gave the information directly to one''s mind. "This golden ring is called Mana''s Caress. It''s a ring finger essory that grants a substantial twenty percent mana pool boost, enhances the offensive or defensive capabilities of spells using mana as a catalyst by thirty percent, and provides a five percent damage boost to fire-type spells." "It also has an activatable bonus effect that allows the user to fade into the background and be ignored by the enemy, as long as the user still has allies left." "Only, I don''t know whether it should go to Walter or Mira¡­Crowley, what do you think?" Hearing Rai Hou''s exnation, Shye fell into a deep thought. It was indeed hard to decide whether the ring would be more efficient in the hands of a mage or a priestess. ''If we give the essory to Walter, our firepower and dungeon-clearing speed would increase. On the other hand, if we give the ring to Mira, each member''s survivability would improve significantly, allowing us to endure battles of attrition against the mana dungeon''s inhabitants...'' He pondered, his eyes shifting back and forth between Walter and Mira. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire In the end, Fyun''s advice to prioritize their lives helped him decide. "I believe the item would be more useful in Mira''s hands," Shye said. Upon hearing their party leader''s decision, the corners of Walter''s mouth twitched, though no one noticed.@@novelbin@@ He wanted to ask why, but it would be way too obvious that he was coveting the ring if he did so. Luckily for him, Rai Hou, who had always been a logical person, would always ask for the reason. "Hmm, I see. However, could you kindly exin why? I believe it would be better for Walter to have it, but I want to hear your reasoning first," the Yon Augenn champion asked curiously. "Simple, really. I heeded Sir Fyun''s advice. There was no need to rush. The main goal had always been for all of us to return safely." "Hoh, I see. In that case, the ring would indeed be more efficient in Mira''s hands." Unbeknownst to Walter, Rai Hou had already noticed his desire for the ring and also believed it would better suit Mira. However, the Yon Augenn champion knew Walter would be dissatisfied without an exnation. Thus, he pretended to side with Walter, giving Shye an excellent opportunity to exin why survivability was more important than clearing speed. This way, Walter would have no choice but to agree, and although he might still be displeased, it wouldn''t be to the point of affecting the team''s synergy. A seasoned move from a seasoned young leader. Embarrassed as she received the Mana''s Caress, Mira gave everyone a bow before wearing it on her ring finger, immediately feeling warm energy coursing through her body. ''Tch, this is only temporary¡­once we''re out, I''ll bid for that ring¡­'' Walter consoled himself. Meanwhile, Rai Hou was already appraising thest item, his eyes closed as he processed the information in his mind. "Hmm¡­another tough call¡­" Rai Hou said, his eyes shifting between Shye and Dalton. "This item is called the Impious Origin Belt. It provides the user with a thirty-point increase in strength, stamina, and vitality. Additionally, it has¡­an activatable skill!" "An item skill?!" Dalton eximed, failing to hide his emotions. He was already enamored with the belt just for its thirty-point increase in three attributes. Naturally, upon learning that it also had an activatable skill, Dalton could no longer contain his excitement. "Crowley, this belt is made for me, no? Allow me to have it!" The brutish champion eximed, extending his hands to quickly grab the belt. However, how could Shye, who wanted the belt for himself, simply allow Dalton to have it? Especially since Rai Hou hadn''t even finished exining what the activatable skill was. As the one with the higher dexterity attribute, miles ahead, in fact, Shye was able to grab the belt off the ground. "Y-You!! Didn''t you say the items would go to whoever benefits the most from them?! I clearly benefit more from the increase in strength, vitality, and stamina than you do! Give it to me!" Greed is truly hideous, making both one''s actions and appearance reflect its ugliness. Dalton even forgot that he feared Shye because of it. "Calm down, you greedy ape. We haven''t even heard about the activatable skill yet, and you''re already reaching for the item," Shye said, shooting Dalton a cold re. "If the item is truly for you, I''ll let you have it." Hearing Shye''s words, Dalton felt a bit embarrassed. "F-Fine, Rai Hou, exin the activatable skill." The Yon Augenn champion didn''t answer immediately, seemingly considering whether the skill would benefit Shye or Dalton more. "The skill''s effect is quite simple but powerful," Rai Hou began. "It''s called [Barrier of the Condemned]. It allows the user to withstand a single hit from any opponent without taking damage or being pushed back. However, it has an eight-hour cooldown." "Oh! In that case, this item is truly for me, hand it over, Crowley!" Dalton eximed with an impatient smile. Unfortunately, Shye, the party leader, believed that he would benefit more from the item. As a result, his next words stunned not only Dalton but also the others, with the exception of Rai Hou, who also thought his words to be true. "No, I can make better use of this belt. I''ll be using it for the duration of our dungeon-clearing mission. If anyone disagrees, I''m open to any challenges." Chapter 567 Backing Up Ones Claim Shye wasn''t from Phaskalda or Weaven. However, this didn''t mean that he knew nothing about the Voidos Devourer. His appraisal skill was more than enough for him to know everything he needed to. ''Hoh, so this huge bastard was a spellcaster, huh?'' Shye mused, ''So that''s why the idiotic ape was smiling so devilishly. Unfortunately for you, it would be extremely difficult to catch me off-guard!'' *BONK!* Shye''s thoughts were cut short as a sudden moderately heavy metal trinket hit him squarely on the head, causing a somewhat funny noise to echo across the entrance of the guardian''s room. "Wha¨C WHO THE F*CK THREW THAT?!" Shye raged, his initial focuspletely shattered. He, Shye Crowley, was caught off-guard by whoever the hell threw the trinket. "Awawa!! I-I apologize, Mister Crowley! I-I just want to wish you luck by giving you the Goddess of Victory''s trinket. P-Please don''t be angry!" Mira said, appearing extremely panicked. She didn''t mean to hurt Shye. However, too shy to call out, Mira nned to throw the trinket in front of Shye so he could see it and pick it up before entering the boss room. Unfortunately, as a priestess, she didn''t haveplete control over her arm strength. Moreover, shecked the strength to throw it past Shye. As a result, despite her good intentions, the trinketnded solidly on Shye''s head, utterly infuriating him. Luckily for her, Shye, although easily angered at times, was not an unreasonable individual. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire "Tch, that hurt, Mira! Oh well, since you''ve done it with good intentions, I shall not hold it against you. Now, watch as I y this guardian!" "T-Thank you, Mister Crowley! Good luck!" After the short distraction, Shye took a deep breath and quickly refocused on the task at hand. ''For the sake of increasing their trust towards me and securing the Impious Origin Belt, I shall reveal one of my trump cards.'' With a chilling smile, Shye bolted forward¡ªstraight as an arrow. To the eyes of Mira and Rai Hou, it was a worrying sight. However, Shye kept going, nary a hint of hesitation in his eyes.@@novelbin@@ He was going for a direct exchange¡ªa simple trade of blows. Noticing the puny human entering the room, the Voidos Devourer roared in anger, ready to defend the staircase with everything it had. The Voidos Devourer was a huge creature, standing five meters tall and towering on two legs. Its long arms were extremely strong and muscr, while thevender bony growths behind its body, resembling spider legs, twitched eerily. It had purple skin, like most [Void]-type creatures. However, despite being bipedal, it resembled a lizard more than a human, with an enormous maw threatening to rip Shye apart in a single bite. Unsettlingly, it alsocked a face, simr to the Voidgar Commanders and Voidgar Pawns. ¡­As the distance between Shye and the floor guardian decreased, the Voidos Devourer suddenly opened its maw. It was gathering mana and void energy, condensing them into one powerful beam to erase Shye from existence. "Mister Crowley!" Mira eximed worriedly. Despite his outward appearance as an arrogant youngster, the priestess somehow sensed that he had a kind and understanding heart. She believed that Shye was merely forced to act that way to avoid being looked down upon by their teammates. Hence, she found it difficult to see him being killed right in front of her. "Hmph! Let''s say you can survive this beam attack using the Impious Origin Belt''s active skill. What then? How will you instantly defeat this Voidos Devourer, with its void armor and tough physique? And what about afterward? How will you survive its next attack?" Dalton sneered in disdain, intentionally making sure his teammates could hear his words. This was also what Rai Hou was thinking about. He couldn''t fathom how Shye would back his ims up. ''Could it be rted to how he instantly killed the Brallnr Cyclops in the dark?'' The Yon Augenn champion wondered. ''I guess we''ll find out in the next few moments¡­'' "Everyone, prepare to assist Crowley!" Rai Hou ordered with a stern tone, eliciting azy sneer from Dalton, who didn''t want to help Shye at all. Time slowed to a crawl as the extermination party watched onser-focused. They couldn''t miss the perfect moment to step in. Otherwise, their party leader might perish. However, as the purple void beam fired from the Voidos Devourer''s gaping maw, Shye''s body was suddenly enveloped by a ck protective aura. Soon after, the void beam collided with Shye''s body, disintegrating the barrier to mere mana particles. That was all Shye needed, though. Promptly after making it past the void beam, a cross-sh mark emerged from Shye''s sword, colliding with the invisible void armor protecting the Voidos Devourer. "Heh, that''s it? I told you that the void arm¨C?!" Dalton was about to mock Shye again, but his words were cut short as he stood there, mouth agape and eyes wide, witnessing what Shye had just done. After using his skill, [Half-moon sh],bined with a charge of [Boost] to destroy the invisible void armor, both of Shye''s des were immediately enveloped in a red sheen. He then ferociously shed at the defenseless Voidos Devourer, cleaving its head and brain in half, along with the hidden core inside. Soon after, purple blood spouted, staining the muddy y ground as ifvenders were blooming there. *THUD!* The floor guardian''s corpse, under the dumbstruck gazes of the WAA extermination party, copsed with a thud, revealing a single azure orb. However, not a single one of them paid the item drop any attention as the entire party, including Dalton, couldn''t take their eyes off Shye, who slew the Voidos Devourer in mere seconds, just like he promised. shing his greatswords one more time to remove the purple blood streaming at the edges of its de, Shye turned around, resting both greatswords on his shoulders as he looked at Dalton with an arrogant smirk. "See? I told you the belt would benefit me more." Chapter 569 From Behind The WAA extermination party entered the guardian room with a resolute expression. However, when Walter''s golden orb exploded and lit up the entire room, the hearts of the more faint-hearted members, such as Freeze, Walter, and Mira, began to falter. In front of them was a monster that had in many of their guildmates, including a few of the seniors they respected. It was only an (S-) ranked creature, yet, it struck fear in the hearts of even the highest-ranked of adventurers. "A-Abyssal Drake!" Freeze eximed, evidently shaken. The sole reason why the Abyssal Drake was only ssified as an (S-) ranked creature was because the average attributes of their species were short of a few points to make it to the ranks of (S) ss monsters. This was mainly due to its underwhelmingly low wisdom and agility attributes, though, in reality, they were just as fast as most (S-) and (S) ranked creatures if not faster because of their abyssal wings. However, it was well-known that the Abyssal Drakes'' extreme aggression and immense damage output could instantly kill even the highest-ranked adventurers if they made a single mistake. This was why they were so feared. Now, they were facing such a creature themselves. Their true mettle would surely be tested in this battle. Luckily for them, there wasn''t a hint of panic on their leader''s face. Shye was as calm and collected as ever. Naturally, his demeanor influenced his faint-hearted teammates, serving as their psychological pir. "Everyone, calm down. We''ll take down this drake just as easily as we did the other bosses, as long as we fight like we usually do." Shye said, taking the lead in attacking the drake by dashing straight at it. *ROAR! A powerful draconian roar echoed through the guardian room as the Abyssal Drake raged at Shye, not appreciating the audacious head-on attack. ck mes filled its mouth as it gathered the energy of the me and darkness elements. In the next moment, the Abyssal Drake breathed the ck mes toward Shye, eager to see the arrogant human charred ck. Unfortunately for the Abyssal Drake, although Shye did turn ck after being engulfed by the guardian''s dark mes, it was because of the Impious Origin Belt''s [Barrier Of The Condemned], whichpletely shielded him from the fierce attack. Consequently, Shye was now in the prime position to attack. ''Nightfall Reaper!'' Without hesitation, Shye activated one of his [Epic]-tier trump cards, viciously shing his greatswords at the Abyssal Drake''s neck.@@novelbin@@ Monstrous creatures possess naturally sharp instincts for detecting danger. Hence, the floor guardian immediately realized that Shye''s attack was bad news. Discarding its pride, the Abyssal Drake summoned a ck barrier,pletely covering its head up to the upper part of its body. ck sparks erupted from the shield, drawing random murals in the air as the [Nightfall Reaper]-empowered greatswords shed with the ck barrier. Unfortunately for the fifth floor''s guardian, the ck barrier was nowhere near enough to defend against Shye''s trump card, shattering immediately the next second. However, it was at least able to weaken the power of Shye''s attack down to seventy percent. *ROAR!* The Abyssal Drake roared once more as it braced for the attack. It didn''t expect the puny human''s strike to instantly shatter the barrier it had conjured, leaving it no time to escape. It had no choice but to take the blow. *CLANG!* *SPURT!* ck, viscous blood spurted from the wound as both of Shye''s greatswords shattered the thick draconic scales blocking their path, embedding themselves deep into the Abyssal Drake''s long neck. ''Tch, as I suspected, it managed to survive my attack...'' Shye thought to himself as he quickly pulled his greatswords out and retreated to safety. Meanwhile, the heavily wounded drake staggered, struggling to find its footing after being on the receiving end of such a vicious blow. To make matters worse for it, the extermination party is already in position. "Great work, Crowley!" Rai Hou sincerely praised, utterly impressed at Shye''s decisiveness and self-confidence. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 5 points!]. He was initially surprised when Shye attacked alone. He believed that Shye only took the lead because he wanted to increase the party''s morale. However, who would have expected that not only did he devise a great n requiring both courage and skill to pull off, but he also managed to inflict severe wounds on such a fierce creature right from the start? This brilliant move of using his trump card right away would make things much easier for them. Even the Abyssal Drake knew that it was in lethal trouble. As a result, it immediately activated its [Draconian Rage] skill, with its scales and eyes turning pitch ck. It appeared as though it had be the embodiment of darkness itself. Sadly for the drake, Shye had predicted what it would do next. "Everyone! Focus on defense! For now, there''s no need to try and damage the monster. Concentrate on using your spells to stay alive." The next moment, the Abyssal Drake went berserk. It thrashed about, its tail sweeping everywhere as it dove, wed, and unleashed devastating sts from its terrifying maw. However, no matter what the drake did, it wasn''t able to deal a significant amount of damage, only bruises and minor injuries. To make things worse, its rage skill was starting to time out. However, just as the Abyssal Drake was about to fall victim to the extermination party''s defensive tactics, a purple crack suddenly appeared five meters behind them, and since everyone was focused on surviving the floor guardian''s attacks, not a single one noticed. Until it selected a target, that is. Shye and his party were truly incredibly lucky that somehow, the humanoid monstrous creature that captured Koneko chose Rai Hou as its target of all people. Thanks to his talent, the Yon Augenn champion was able to instantly sense the danger and quickly turn his head to see who was attacking him from behind. "Ambush from behind!" Rai Hou eximed as he hurriedly got out of the way, narrowly avoiding the roaming boss'' w attack by sidestepping to the left. It then attempted to capture him within its one-on-one domain. However, the Yon Augenn champion was far too perceptive, anticipating the move. Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire As a result, Rai Hou was able to use one of his repositioning skills to escape the domain''s range. "Hihi¡­ Clever human¡­" Chapter 570 Dueling The Humanoid Creature "Hmm¡­everyone, I want to hear your thoughts." Inside a white-themed luxurious hall, a group of old men sat across each other at a vast, oval ckwood table. The old men watched six young adventurers through a holographic screen as they battled a horrifying Abyssal Drake and a certain humanoid void creature. "I believe Shye Crowley is ready to be a hero." "Lord Belford, I recognize your desire for Valenzia to have its first hero. However, don''t you think you''re making this decision a bit too hastily? It gives the impression that you might be overzealous rather than thinking it through carefully." "Barley, you dare call me crazy?!" Two old men, who were both members of the WAA''s board of directors, were in a disagreement. As it turned out, the directors from all ten regions were observing Shye and his party''s progress, meaning that most of them already knew what happened to Koneko. Yet, none of them issued any orders to help the poor young woman. ¡­Belford, Valenzia''s Head Director, believed that Shye''s disy was enough for him to earn the title of a hero ahead of time. However, the other director, Barley Grant from Krebori, was a bit biased against the Valenzians. Thus, he expressed his opposition, aiming to leverage the twenty-four-year-old hero rule to hinder Valenzia''s chances of catching up to their own 9th-ranked region too soon. "Belford, Barley, stop bickering like children. It''s unseemly for you both as directors." An elderly man with red hair, his right eye stitched shut and a cross-sh scar on his left cheek, spoke with unquestionable dignity and authority. "Yes, Lord Eversong." The two quarreling directors spoke in unison, not daring to cross the Yon Augenn director, Hale Eversong. Nodding in satisfaction, the head of the board of directors spoke again: "Belford, I recognize the young man''s potential and, as someone from Valenzia, he is indeed the most talented I''ve ever seen. I also believe his body is already capable of bearing a hero''s crest." Hale said, bringing a wide smile to Belford''s face. "However, I also do believe that he needs to prove himself a bit more, especially since he would be Valenzia''s first-ever hero. We need to see more of his moral values and courage which would surely be tested at the end of this dungeon." After hearing the head of the board''s words, Barley smiled triumphantly. On the other hand, Belford was downcast. However, upon remembering what Shye showed them in the past, he remembered that the young man was the bringer of miracles. Hence, he simply decided to shift his focus and continue watching the ongoing battle. ¡­It didn''t take long for Shye to surprise the ten old men once more as courageous and arrogant words came out of his mouth. "Rai Hou, you guys can bring this heavily wounded Abyssal Drake on your own, correct?"@@novelbin@@ Hearing Shye''s words, Rai Hou, who was facing the humanoid creature warily, couldn''t help but nce at Shye. "Yes, I can assume temporary leadership and the party can whittle down its remaining vitality." The Yon Augenn champion replied with a hint of understanding in his eyes. He somehow knew what Shye was about to say next. "Good. Do that, then. I shall face this sneaky rat alone." "..." Rai Hou was reluctant to agree to Shye''s proposal. It wasn''t that he distrusted Shye; it was simply too dangerous to face the roaming boss alone. The risk of what happened to one of their teammates happening to him was too great. After all, the humanoid monstrous creature had effortlessly taken down Koneko, who was renowned for her dueling skills. However, there was something about Shye thatpelled him to believe. To believe that Shye could lead the party out of the dangerous situation. Realizing this, Rai Hou chuckled to himself. ''Hahaha, isn''t this guy practically a hero already with how dependable and charismatic he is?'' In the end, he chose to trust Shye. "Alright. Focus on your battle against this humanoid creature and don''t worry about us. We will definitely take down the drake." "Alright, leave this rat to me." After their conversation, Shye and Rai Hou swapped ces, with the former walking forward and thetter jumping back. This confused the humanoid monstrous creature, causing it to tilt its head to the side. ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Voidos Nightstalker [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Void/Dark [Hit Points]: 2,550/2,550 [Mana]: 800/800 [Stamina]: 1,230/1,230 *** [Strength: 680] [Intelligence: 330] [Agility: 672] [Dexterity: 685] [Stamina: 410] [Vitality: 510]: [Wisdom: 140] Shye knew he didn''t have much time to read the humanoid monstrous creature''s appraisal window. Hence, he focused on the most important parts such as the creature''s rank, its type, and its attributes. ''Hoh, this rat is an (S) ss creature? It''s pretty weak for its rank, though, probably a bottom feeder amongst (S) ranks¡­'' Shye mused smiling confidently at the Voidos Nightstalker. "Human¡­want, die?" "Heh, howughable. Even one of my tamed creatures speaks more fluently than you. I heard you''re a fan of duels. Let''s have one, then." Immediately after talking down to the roaming boss and annoying it, a purple world extended from Shye''s feet, enveloping both him and the Voidos Nightstalker. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire "M-Mister Crowley!" Mira eximed anxiously as she saw the purple domain engulf both Shye and the humanoid monster. "Focus, Mira! That domain belongs to Crowley, so he should have the advantage." Hearing Rai Hou''s words, the worried priestess calmed down, focusing once more on the wounded Abyssal Drake. Meanwhile, inside the purple world, the Voidos Nightstalker looked around, amused. The rotating ck swords above them captured its attention. Shortly after, it raised its right arm, attempting to use a skill to st Shye to smithereens. Unfortunately for the monster, nothing happened. This allowed it, however, to learn that it couldn''t use mana inside Shye''s domain. The Voidos Nightstalker didn''t panic, though. It had lots of skills that didn''t require it to use mana. Hence, it merely looked at Shye with intrigue, smiling eerily. "Human¡­interesting¡­" "Heh,e, monster." Chapter 571 Shyes Full Arsenal "Don''t getcent! y the long game!" Rai Hou eximed, momentarily turning his head to nce at the purple barrier behind him. ''You must win, Crowley.'' "Puhahk!" Red blood scattered across the purple canvas, subtly hinting as to who the goddess of victory was smiling upon. ''Tch, this bastard is strong¡­no wonder that arrogant scout was defeated¡­'' Shye mused. If even he was struggling against the monster, then Koneko was probably easily overwhelmed within mere seconds. Still, it didn''t mean he had lost all hope of winning. He was just getting started. The reason why he spat out blood was because he opted for a head-on sh to see how he would fare against the monster without using any abilities. Naturally, the Voidos Nightstalker also wasn''t using any abilities. It was a fair, head-on sh. It was unfortunate that he lost. However, everything was within his expectations so he merely shrugged it off his mind, eager to fight once more. This was his first time fighting an (S) ranked monstrous creature, after all. "Again!" He barked, dashing forward once more, this time, with a n in mind. "Hihi¡­human, stupid." With a sneer of disdain, Shye shed at the monstrous creature with both of his greatswords as its forearms transformed into scythes. The monstrous creature was all too happy to fight Shye head-on. However, at thest moment, the young man suddenly shifted his body sidewards, still maintaining his shing motion. The Voidos Nightstalker didn''t care about his small adjustment. It knew that it would be difficult to defeat Shye quickly anyway, hence, it was content with inflicting damage to Shye''s internal organs through the force of their shes. The way he tilted his body was of no significance. Or so the humanoid monster thought¡­ At thest moment, Shye''s greatswords were suddenly enveloped by a dark purple aura, allowing it to pass through the Voidos Nightstalker''s sharp scythes as though it was nothing but an illusion. Caught off guard, the roaming boss slightly flinched as Adamance and Mithra passed through its neck. ''Appraisal!'' [Stamina]: 850/1,230 ''Heh, got you.'' Shye smirked, turning around to look down on the Voidos Nightstalker, who was kneeling after having its stamina significantly sapped. "Arrogant human, die!" Enraged, the roaming boss swiftly stood up and charged, causing the purple ground to ripple as if it were liquid.@@novelbin@@ Naturally, Shye did the same. He had no ns of backing down. The next moment, high-speed exchanges urred. Shye turned his skill, [des Of Despair], on and off depending on the situation, leaving the roaming boss confused and challenged. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire Sometimes it parried, sometimes it dodged, sometimes it was drained of energy, and other times it sessfully blocked Shye''s attacks. The fast-paced battle was rather chaotic at first sight. However, one thing was for sure: Shye was the aggressor. His unpredictablebat tactics forced the Voidos Nightstalker to focus on defense, at least until it could find a way to counter Shye''s [des of Despair]. The young Valenzian champion hacked, shed, and stabbed at the humanoid monster, his footwork as agile as a swallow, yet as aggressive as a honey badger. In contrast, the monstrous creature, despite being in a precarious position, remained as serene as ever, its movements as solid as a mountain. ...As time went on, the Voidos Nightstalker inevitably discerned Shye''s subconscious attack patterns, enabling it to gradually slip in a few counterattacks until it could finally fight Shye toe-to-toe. It didn''te without a cost, however, as a good chunk of its stamina was depleted before it was able to fight back. ''Appraisal!'' [Stamina]: 392/1,230 Now, it had to fight a bit conservatively. A great advantage for Shye as the duel proceeded to the next phase: the Voidos Nightstalker''s revenge. For a monstrous creature, being suppressed by a human was an utter humiliation, especially for one of the (S) rank. Hence, the humanoid monster was a bit overeager, looking impatiently for openings. Then, as soon as it found an opening, the Voidos Nightstalker activated one of its skills, causing its scythes to glow a shade of scarlet as it shed at Shye with vicious intent. "Heh, you''re so readable. In the end, you''re merely a stupid monster, no match for a human in terms of intelligence." Shye mocked as his body was suddenly covered by a golden glow. This was the work of his trusty [Stoic Lv.5] skill, allowing him to receive the iing attack with seventy percent less damage. The scarlet scythes, with their immense cutting power, pierced deeply into Shye''s left nk, causing a crimson fountain to once again stain the purple canvas red. However, the wound was far from sufficient to im his life. Now, he was in a prime position to counterattack. Shye shed both greatswords at the Voidos Nightstalker''s extended arm, unleashing [Power sh Lv.5] with all three charges of [Boos]t. His attack severed the monster''s right arm from its body, causing it to roar in excruciating agony before quickly leaping back. "Heh, not so fond of duels now, are you?" Shye mocked as he checked the [Fear] stacks he was inflicting on the monster using his first semi-passive skill, [Harrowing Aura Lv.5]. Since leveling it up to the maximum, the buildup of [Fear] stacks had elerated exponentially, hence, he could now formte a battle n with it as the trump card. Unlike before, where he had to fight and wait for at least forty minutes before he could utilize the umted stacks. Shye''s battle n was to quickly double the stacks once they reached two hundred and fifty using his [Fallen] skills, and then to y the monstrous creature while it was in a state of panic and fear. However, he needed to buy himself two more minutes. ''It shouldn''t be a problem considering that it only has one arm now¡­'' He mused, staring murderously at the roaming boss. He hadn''t anticipated that his full arsenal would be so powerful that he could duel an (S) ranked monster¡ªalbeit one of the weakest in its rank¡ªand defeat it convincingly. ''If I had my Nightfall Reaper, this thing wouldn''t be standing¡­Well, no rush¡­two more minutes until its demise.'' Shye had learned his lesson and had no intention of fightingcently. He nned to take the remaining two minutes as seriously as he always did. Unfortunately, he lost track of time, not realizing that he had already been fighting the Voidos Nightstalker for over fifteen minutes. As a result, his purple world timed out and shattered. Promptly after, the humanoid monster disappeared into the void, staring murderously at Shye as it inwardly vowed to kill him. "Tch, it got away¡­" Chapter 572 A Short Break Inside the now brightly lit guardian''s room on the fifth floor of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, ck blood stained the surroundings. It sttered across the floor, ceiling, and muddy y walls, telling tales of a valiant struggle that had just urred. Beside the slightly mutted corpse of a once feared now fallen Abyssal Drake, five adventurers panted in exhaustion. There were smiles on their faces, a proof of their glorious triumph inbat. They took care of their end of the deal, they remembered. This, however, also reminded them that the most important member of their party was still in the midst of a fierce battle with a monster that had once defeated one of their teammates in mere minutes. Catching a glimpse of the purple world in his peripheral vision, Rai Hou turned around, worry consuming his heart. They could afford to lose anyone else and still have a chance to proceed, but losing Shye was not an option. Fortunately, he didn''t have to worry for too long as mere moments after the WAA extermination party''s victory against their dangerous adversary, the purple world shattered into countless fragments, scattering like dandelion seeds to the four winds. Soon after, two humanoid silhouettes were revealed, one taller than the other. However, contrary to expectations that the smaller one would lose the duel, it was the taller and more muscr humanoid who now held its severed arm, an expression of agony on its face. "Crowley!" "He''s winning?!" "Mister Crowley!" The extermination party eximed in awe, mesmerized by the sight of a human adventurer dominating an (S) ranked monstrous creature¡ªa scene straight out of a fantasy book. Rai Hou was the first to regain hisposure and dash to Shye''s side to help. However, there was no need, as the Voidos Nightstalker vanished in the next moment, leaving behind a slightly frustrated Shye, the WAA extermination party members, and two pieces of azure orbs on the ground. "Mister Crowley, how are you feeling? Do you need a heal?" "I''m fine, thanks, Mira. For now, let''s divide the drops." ...Around ten minutester, the party was ready to proceed to the sixth floor, pride welling in their hearts after surviving yet another dangerous situation. They descended, a step at a time. Soon after, just as they expected, the extermination party was met with yet another purple floor. However, this time, something was different. Purple sparks and orbs lingered in the air like floating bubbles, popping and crackling. A mesmerizing view, yet, somehow, it gave the extermination party a sense of unease. None of them thought that the amusing purple particles were a good addition. ''Appraisal!'' Shye used his trusted appraisal skill, but unfortunately, it failed him this time; it seemed unable to detect the energy. It was as if the purple sparks and orbs didn''t exist. "Void energy? How could a mana dungeon even produce void energy?" A calm yet dependable voice sounded from behind him, capturing his attention. It was Rai Hou who spoke. "This is void energy?" Shye confirmed, puzzled. If this indeed was void energy, then this wasn''t a good thing for them. It meant they would face variant versions of void monsters. Stay connected via My Virtual Library Empire Full of uncertainty, danger. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to advance. "Let''s take it slow; rushing won''t do us any good," Shye said, slightly easing his party members'' hearts, much like great foodforts a lonely man. Against variants, the beloved children of the element of surprise, going as slow as possible would increase one''s chances of surviving. ''We''re ahead of schedule, anyway.'' And so, the extermination party advanced. Cautious and vignt. The sixth floor was unlike the first five as it had various types of terrains. The extermination party passed through small forests filled with strange purple trees,vender hills, and rivers of amethyst, encountering all sorts of variant void monsters. It was a correct decision to take things slowly. Unfortunately, their supplies ran dry. They had to exit the dungeon for now. Hence, the party spent the next hour searching for a spacious area with little to no monsters. Then, immediately upon finding one, Walter and Mira started setting up the magic circle of the two-way travel scroll¡ªthe item they would use to instantly return where they left off.@@novelbin@@ The magic circle would only remain active for an hour upon activation, however, so they had to return swiftly. Otherwise, they would have to start from the first floor. *** * Outside the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, seven bruised and wounded people tended to their wounds. They had frustrated looks on their faces as they sorted out what seemed to be remains of a once abundant resource pile. Momentster, an enormous azure magic circle appeared ten meters from the resource pile. From it emerged six individuals who looked tougher and more battle-hardened than they had initially been. Their faces told stories of their victories and the corpses they had stepped over to get where they were. Naturally, uponying their gazes on the six''s dependable backs, the handlers, who seemed to have suffered greatly on their return journey, smiled. However, the next moment, one of them frowned, her heart racing wildly in anxiety. "Where''s Koneko?" The concerned handler, Dove, asked. Her worries only intensified upon realizing that none of the heroic six dared reply, five of them gazing at the ground in slight distress. "W-What happened? Can someone tell me? Is she¡­" "Her status is unknown. She was captured by a humanoid creature with a domain-type skill that creates a duel scenario for itself. We were unable to help her. However, when west saw her, she appeared to be alive, just unconscious. We hope to find her in the deeper floors," Rai Hou replied, slightly embarrassed. "I-I see¡­I shall report this to my superior." Dove dejectedly replied. She was quite fond of Koneko, as the young adventurer was respectful and yful when speaking with her, even though she was always rude when talking to men. "What?! Then why did you guys still proceed?! Report everything that happened this instant!" Chapter 573 Shocked Senior One of the handlers, the most passionate about his job, raged. His voice reverberated across the empty and barren lobby of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon''s entrance. This handler was naturally Fyun, who was fuming¡ªlike an excessively stern and systematic father reprimanding his reckless children¡ªafter finding out that despite losing their lead scout, the extermination party still proceeded. They could''ve been wiped out. "Rai Hou! I expected better from you! Why did you decide to proceed? If the WAA lost all seven of you, it wouldn''t have been just a minor setback!" Despite being such a talented individual¡ªone of the actual few worthy to be amongst the truest of elites¡ªRai Hou couldn''t help but shiver as though all by his lonesome in the middle of a fierce blizzard that was Fyun''s wrath. He was both respectful and fearful of his handler as the guy was truly capable, always securing the most perfect mandatory quest in terms of difficulty and rewards. This not only boosted his fame but also elevated his standing among his peers in the cutthroatpetitive Yon Augenn Region, giving him a decent chance to rise as one of the next generation''s heroes. He simply doesn''t dare disrespect Fyun. "S-Sir Fyun, I apologize for the seemingly irrational decision. However, someone stepped up to fill Koneko''s role. Naturally, I tested his scouting abilities first, and upon deeming them trustworthy enough for us to proceed safely, I made the difficult decision to continue in hopes of having a chance to save Koneko." Rai Hou exined, his heart racing yet his tone calm. Fyun''s brows furrowed in suspicion after hearing his champion''s words. He carefully researched the known capabilities of each member of the dungeon extermination party, hence, he couldn''t help but doubt Rai Hou''s words. From what he knew, Freeze''s abilities were for detecting traps, but the young man from Krebori had no detection skill that could sniff out creatures of the void who were hiding in their pesky pockets. ''Unless the guy hid his true capabilities?'' Fyun wondered, his gaze, calm and calcting as though peering into the depths of Freeze''s very soul. This caused him to shiver ufortably. Being on the receiving end of the stern senior''s gaze was far from a pleasant experience. "Hoh, Freeze is a finer scout than I imagined, huh? Well done." Fyun sincerely said, praising the Kreborian scout more than he deserved. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire This naturally elicited an unsatisfied outburst from a certain ape, his voice filled with indignance echoing to the skies. "HA! Senior Fyun! How could it be that ipetent fool?! This little stick couldn''t even detect traps properly, leaving me to clean up his mess! It was only after we got a certain item drop that he managed to do his job adequately, so how could he lead us through an entire pitch-ck dungeon floor?! HAHA! This little thing¡ªoooh, how I want to strangle you to death! I don''t even trust him to guide us through the brightly lit purple floors, let alone the entire dungeon!" Dalton said¡ªfuming¡ªhis hands making strangling motions. The hulking young adventurer''s words left Fyun''s mind in a chaotic disarray. "Huh? It wasn''t Freeze? Who else could it be but him?" He asked Rai Hou, impatient and confused. "It was Crowley. He had a detection skill that could even spot enemies hiding in void and spatial pockets. His eyes could also see well in the dark. He guided the party from the first floor up to the sixth, where we found a safe spot and used the two-way travel scroll." the Yon Augenn champion respectfully replied. This time, it wasn''t just Fyun''s mind that was chaotic; his heart was also a raging storm on the high seas. "It was¡­Crowley?" ''How could it be him? Is this young man truly as impressive as the Valenzians suggest? Also, they lost Koneko on the first floor but made it all the way to the sixth?'' The senior handler didn''t want to believe such absurd stories. However, Rai Hou had never dared to bullshit with him, even more so now that one of the extermination party''s members was in deep trouble. This meant that Shye Crowley''s lead scouting abilities were truly sufficient for them to proceed. ''Hoh, could it be...this guy already has a subss at such a young age? Impressive, I must say...'' Fyun believed that Shye chose the scout ss as his subss. It was the most feasible exnation, after all. "I see¡­I shall report this to the association. Well done, Crowley. Rai Hou, I shall trust your judgment and allow the extermination party to proceed." The senior handler said, pausing for a few moments, seemingly embarrassed. "H-Here are your supplies. We were attacked by unusually skilled bandits on the way here, and unfortunately, we failed to protect more than half of the consumables. For that, I, Fyun, apologize. I will report this grave mistake to the association and take full responsibility." The senior handler''s words made the hearts of the extermination party members sink. Just earlier, they hadpletely run out of restoration consumables. Freeze had to beg as though a stray cat for mana potions three times. If the consumables they were expecting were reduced by more than half¡­ "T-This might not be enough, Sir Fyun... We''ve underestimated the dungeon''s rate of consumable consumption. Especially me; I need way more mana potions now because of the item that allows me to detect traps wlessly," Freezeined, unable to hide his frustration. He didn''t want to beg for mana potions anymore. "I truly apologize, Freeze. This is all we managed to secure; we lost a couple of spatial bags in exchange for our lives. What do you all think? Is this really not enough? If everyone agrees it''s too dangerous to continue, we can report this mission as a failure. Of course, I will take full responsibility for this failure, including Koneko''s unfortunate circumstances." Fyun said as calmly as possible. However, his heart was clearly not as calm, as evidenced by his shaking hands. A few members of the extermination party felt their resolve waver upon hearing the senior handler''s words. This was a chance to leave the unsettling depths of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon scot-free. They could abandon Koneko to die and ce all the me on Fyun and the other handlers. Naturally, some of them, namely Mira and Rai Hou, couldn''t bring themselves to betray the handlers who had taken care of their careers.@@novelbin@@ However, the unexpectedly low number of consumable restocks made them hesitate. Rai Hou was certain that these supplies wouldn''tst until they defeated the ninth floor''s guardian, let alone the tenth. Just before the situation turned unfavorable for the unfortunate handlers, a young man''s voice intervened, saving them from the grim fate of dismissal or demotion. "No, these are enough, Sir Fyun. We shall continue the mission." Chapter 575 Tactical Persuasion Quest Title: (S) Ranked False Core Requirements: Retrieve Horza idde''s false core on the ninth floor of the dungeon@@novelbin@@ Current Progress: N/A Remaining Time: 335:59:49 (H:M:S) Completion Rewards: +10 to all attributes. 1x Rare Skill Coupon Upon failure: -25 to all attributes. ** Shye''s eyes blinked calmly as he stared at the easy-toplete mandatory quest. His subtle and seasoned hand movements¡ªas swift as a hummingbird yet as delicate as a butterfly¡ªallowed him to ess the system and check the recently posted mandatory quest without his party members finding out. He had been doing this for years. It was nearly impossible to catch him. However, despite his unbothered exterior, Shye was inwardly fuming, his heart aze in anger. His attention wasn''t on the mandatory quest at all. ''That damned peeping old bastard! I should''ve known he had been watching my every move!'' he raged internally. The old man could have spied on him whenever he was with Shirley! ''I''ll confront that old bastard the next time we meet... If he had the nerve to spy on me like a damned pervert... I''ll make sure to kill him one day...'' Shye swore inwardly. Sanada, who he once viewed as his benefactor, turned out to be a maniptive fraudster. He could never trust the old bastard again. Not without the assistance of an orb of truth, at least. ''For now, the mandatory questes first.'' Turning around, he faced his party members. Three of them were ganging up on Rai Hou, who was trying to patiently exin to the idiot and the two cowards that it would be better to clear the ninth floor first. ''At least I have somepetentrades.'' Shye thought inwardly, satisfied with the Yon Augenn champion''s wits and courage. "Shut the hell up, you three idiots. I agree with Rai Hou." "Huh?! You too, Crowley?! I thought you, of all people, would be smart enough to understand that it would be better to go straight to the tenth floor and finish this mission as quickly as possible!" Walter raged, huffing, puffing. He didn''t want to stay inside the Horza idde Mana Dungeon for a longer time than necessary. As a result, he couldn''t think clearly, rendering his high intelligence useless. His nearly nonexistent bravery would be his undoing someday. "Calm down, you wussy stickman. What if we need some sort of item on the ninth floor to locate and ess the boss room and the dungeon''s core?" Shye retorted. He looked Walter straight in the eye, his gaze filled with disdain. "If we head straight to the tenth floor only to discover we need a specific item, we would have to return to the ninth floor, clear the entire area, and then tackle the tenth floor again because the monsters would have respawned by then. Essentially, we would end up clearing the tenth and most difficult floor twice." "Now, if you think you''re still right, then fine, let''s do it your way. However, if the scenario I just exined happened, all of us here will hold you responsible. So, what will it be, Walter?" Shye honestly didn''t know if they needed some bullcrap item he was talking about. However, he was certain that Walter would never have the courage to decide for the team when faced with the threat of responsibility. Boy, was he right. "I-I-I see. Hmmph, fine. I admit that I failed to see the bigger picture this time. L-Let''s clear the ninth floor first, then." Dalton didn''t dare trust his intelligence after suffering such humiliation. Thus, since Walter, the smartest of the three, had already agreed, he had no choice but to agree as well. Meanwhile, Freeze didn''t dare oppose Shye and Rai Hou without support from Walter and Dalton, so he also eventually agreed. It was an overwhelming victory for Team Ninth Floor. ¡­After a quick inventory check, the extermination party chose to descend the staircases leading to the ninth floor. However, since they hadn''t slept for a while, Shye decided to prioritize finding a ce to set up camp. An hourter, they discovered a spacious concrete room guarded by a single (A) ranked monster. It was the perfect campsite. "Let''s rest here for ten hours." They were way ahead of schedule so there was no need for them to rush. After all, taking the time to rest properly and care for their bodies would ensure they were in peak condition, which would, in turn, help them perform at their best in battle. In a high-levelbat scenario, a split millisecond or millimeter could determine one''s fate, makingck of sleep extremely lethal. Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire Everyone already knew their roles when setting up camp. Hence, in just a few minutes, the tents stood sturdy, the sleeping bags wereid out on the floor, and the campfire mes were aze. A peaceful adventurer camp scene straight out of fantasy books. Unfortunately, the adventurers weren''t at ease with one another. Dalton, Walter, and Freeze had set up their sleeping bags far from the group, each doing their own thing. The brutish ape kept his weapon close, the wussy stickman read a book, and the inept scout was on sentry duty. Meanwhile, the reserved Mira stayed inside her tent the entire time. Only Shye and Rai Hou asionally chatted, building a rapport like experienced and astute adventurers do. Despite most of them not liking one another, the atmosphere was quite cozy. After an hour, the extermination party members began to fall asleep, except for Freeze, who was reced by Walter six hourster. Rai Hou volunteered to be the second sentry, however, Shye insisted that Walter rece Freeze. After all, he wouldn''t need to fight anytime soon. After ten hours, the extermination party¡ªwell rested and ready for action, tidied up. It was time for them to resume conquering the dungeon''s ninth floor. "Everyone, we will thoroughly check every nook and cranny of the ninth floor, so expect to spend a considerable amount of time here. Be sure to keep any items you find; we might need themter." Chapter 576 A Hottie Arrives "H-Hey, who''s that chick?" "Damn, what a hottie¡­is she a rookie?" Outside the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild Main Headquarters, a young, orange-haired young woman entered through the main door. She was drop-dead gorgeous, turning the heads of not only men but also women, both envious and admiring. The young woman''s short hair¡ªonly up to below her ear, heightened admirers'' fantasies as her silky smooth and slim yet toned neck was fully disyed. Her curvy waist and blessed bosom did little to quench men''s desire, further fanning the mes instead. "Hah, finally made it¡­" Shirley muttered, her heart beaming with pride. She finally made it to the main branch; to the main stage where the biggest of fishes swam free, phoenixes soared, and dragons rose. Read thetest on My Virtual Library Empire Her parents were of modest rank. As mere tinum and ruby, their talents were insufficient to even glimpse what it was like topete on the big stage. This was a huge breakthrough for their family. "Hey, miss, outsiders aren''t allowed. However, I, Dinoa Parrell can give you a tour inside if you want." A tall, handsome young man with short curly brown hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a muscr physique suddenly blocked Shirley''s path, preventing her from moving forward. This naturally caused her brows to furrow slightly. She only had one man in her heart, and that''s not going to change anytime soon, probably for eternity. However, despite being a warrior, she was sensible and logical, unlike a certain brutish ape. Therefore, she understood that it would be unwise to offend the young man, likely three to four years older than her, as he might have many connections that could be troublesome for even Shye to handle. "I''m a recently promoted rookie and I''m here to report my arrival. I am ttered by your offer. However, I still have a lot to do after this so I would have to refuse." Shirley said respectfully. Despite her annoyance, she still managed to slightly bow at the young man. Because the rejection was respectful, Dinoa wasn''t offended. He assumed the attractive woman was simply too shy to ept his offer in public. After all, there were very few women who could resist the charm of a handsome and talented young man such as him. Especially since he was one of Raven de''s most promising youngsters. ''Hahahaha, what a shy cutie. Alright, alright, I''ll take my time with you.'' "Ahh! A rookie¡­I see, I apologize. I thought you were an outsider. You''re free to go, then. If you need help, I''ll be around." Dinoa said with a gentle smile before turning around and moving away with a confident smirk. He was handsome, talented, and well-versed in matters of a woman''s heart. If the rookie proved herself worthy, she would be the one he chose to settle down with. The one who tamed the wild horse that was Dinoa Parrell. The lucky woman who would be envied by many others. Shirley was indeed the lucky woman who would be envied by many others for a time.@@novelbin@@ However, not because of him but a young man of greater potential and fame. Watching the youngster who was a few years her senior leave so easily, Shirley was inwardly stunned. ''Hmm? Just like that? Maybe he wasn''t hitting on me¡­ Sigh¡­ what am I doing¡­ I guess my ego is getting too big. I need to tone it down¡­'' She thought to herself, realizing that the senior might have been genuinely trying to help her. ''The least I could do is¡­'' "Thank you, Mister Parell," Shirley said with another bow¡ªthis time, a sincere one, proceeding towards the receptionist counter promptly after. Unbeknownst to her, calling Dinoa "Mister" instead of "Senior" was a significant mistake. This slight difference in honorifics made the talented young man believe that she saw him as a man rather than just a senior. The nce she gave him at the end¡ªa product of her curiosity and confusion¡ªonly served to worsen the situation. ''Hahaha, just as I thought, I have a good chance with this chick. Now, it''s up to her to prove herself to me once we''re together.'' Dinoa mused, excited about the future. ''Will I keep you? Will you be able to make me, a wild stallion, keep you? I can''t wait¡­'' *** Meanwhile, back at the horrifying dark depths of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon''s ninth floor, the extermination party advanced, resolute despite facing horrors and difficulties beyond their wildest imaginations. The ninth floor seemed to be home to the most spine-chilling creatures of the dark. Even Shye''s eyes were starting to fail him, only allowing him to see around twelve meters ahead. The endless darkness was all-epassing, consuming everything, including one''s hopes and dreams. Yet, the extermination party held on, the sole bastion of light in the realm of darkness. They''ve so far survived the attack of seven variant monstrous creatures, all (S-) ranked. However, Mira and Walter had to intervene in two of the seven battles, slightly reducing the chances of their mana potion reserves making it to the final battle on the tenth floor. Still, the party had no choice but to advance. They''ve alreadye so far, explored so many rooms, and obtained so many items. At this point, returning from whence they came was harder than locating the guardian''s room. ''Maybe the dungeon had two core guardians?'' He mused. If there was a false core, then there should be a ''false core guardian''. A simple one plus one equals two. The false core guardian should be a creature of darkness while the true core guardian should be of the void. ''I guess it would be smarter to obtain the false core either way¡­'' He was simply spouting bullshit to persuade the idiots to agree in clearing the ninth floor. Who would''ve thought that there was a good chance his analyses were spot on? If not for the mandatory quest, he wouldn''t even have known that there was a false core. ''How did that old bastard even know such information?'' He pondered. However, his thoughts were cut short as he detected yet another horror lurking in the deep dark. Strangely, the creature wasn''t moving, it was as still as a statue. ''Guardian!'' Shye thought inwardly in celebration. Unlike on the previous floors, it was way harder for him to see in the dark. Luckily, his brain worked fast, allowing him to remember that only floor guardians remained still, guarding descending staircases as though their offsprings. Only, there was no golden staircase, leaving him baffled. ''Well, only one way to find out!'' Chapter 577 The Harrowing False Core "Everyone, prepare yourselves, there''s a monster up ahead. However, it''s not moving so I suspect that it''s the ninth floor''s guardian." A whisper eerily echoed a few meters ahead, leaving the extermination party members on edge despite knowing that the voice was probably from their party leader, Shye. A few hours ago, random voices resembling those of their teammates began whispering, screaming, and talking in distorted tones. Sometimes the sounds came from their right, other times from their left, and asionally from behind. If it hadn''t been for Mira, the priestess, reminding them that such tactics were typically used by high-ranked monstrous creatures of darkness to confuse parties and sow discord, they might have fallen for the very first one that tried to deceive them by screaming in Freeze''s voice, seemingly under attack. That time, Dalton nearly rushed in to assist Freeze, who was "screaming" for help. Fortunately, Mira stopped him just in time. Otherwise, he would have been separated from the party by more than fifteen meters, which would''ve been the perfect chance for the creatures of the dark to rip him apart, blind and helpless. Shortly after the horrifying, deceptive incident, Shye''s voice immediately sounded from behind them, ordering Mira and Walter to "fall back" to where he was. The priestess and mage duo were too smart to be fooled, however, leaving the deceptor''s efforts fruitless. Since then, the voices have tried to deceive them every now and then. Thus, despiteing from the correct direction, they couldn''t help but doubt the authenticity of the voice. Realizing this fact, Shye returned to where his party members were to assure them that the orders truly came from him. Shortly after, they gripped their weapons tighter and took a few deep breaths, their eyes resolute. They wanted to finish this and get out of the godforsaken dungeon. They longed to see the light of day again, to hear the rustling of leaves and the humming of birds. No matter which Death Zone they ventured into next, it would be far more pleasant than the current ghostly hole they were trapped in. Barely stopping in front of the guardian room under Shye''s lead, Walter raised his elemental staff, chanting words that men would never understand yet could somehow speak. "Illumina!" The familiar golden orb, their lone source offorting light in the unsettling dark depths of the Horza idde Mana dungeon, rose once more, as bright as it had ever been. Yet, somehow, it also didn''t seem as bright as before, seemingly being suppressed by the chilling darkness. Walter''s skill, Illumina, had met its match. Nevertheless, it managed to illuminate a twenty-meter radius, revealing a glistening blue object behind an enormous monster. Unfortunately, it was something that traumatized most of them, including the youngest but most reliable party leader, Shye Crowley. If not for his trait, [Unfazed Heart], his hands would probably shake in fear. Behind the monster was an azure head deeply rooted in the ground, apparently siphoning mana and transferring it to the monstrous creature before it. It resembled a dungeon''s mana core, but this particr core appeared to have been established by the dungeon only recently. In fact, it was definitely recent, as the core was actually the head of their missing member, Koneko Kaneko. "NO!!!! MISS KANEKO!!" A traumatized scream of utter horror and despair echoed across the guardian room, intensifying the unease in everyone''s hearts. Even the usually calm and collected Rai Hou felt a chill down his spine. They were all talented individuals. Thus, they had never encountered such a harrowing scene, being ustomed to always winning and seeding in everything they did. This was the first time a member of their party had lost their life and in such a brutal manner at that. ''F*ck! F*ck! I have to retrieve that?!'' Shye cursed inwardly, confirming the next moment whether Koneko''s head was the quest item. ''Appraisal!'' == [Name]: ??? False Dungeon Core [Tier]: N/A [Rarity]: Legendary [Description]: A secondary core established by an (S)-ranked mana dungeon to siphon mana from the world at a much faster rate than usual. Having a False Core typically indicated that an (S)-ranked dungeon was ready to ascend to an (S+)-rank. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire Effects: Siphon mana from the world at a rate of 1025 mana per second. === ''Phew¡­calm down, Shye Crowley¡­'' Shye had to take a few deep breaths to calm his chaotic heart. Despite having a higher wisdom attribute than most and the [Unfazed Heart] trait, his heart still raced. The azure head in front of them that was turned into a core served as a grim reminder that they, even though exceptionally talented than most, were still mortals, and that the world was way more brutal and horrifying than they had expected. This was also true for their loved ones. If they weren''t strong enough to protect themselves and their beloved, they would be ughtered, and their bodies, which once enjoyed endless fame, could be used in a million unholy and spine-chilling ways. ''First, let''s defeat this dungeon lord.'' Finally able to focus on the task at hand, Shye observed the guardian in the middle of the room, staring at them. Its eyes were pitch ck, its gaze unsettling as though peering into the depths of one''s very soul in hopes of consuming it. Fortunately for Shye, the creature appeared to possess immense destructive strength and toughness butcked agility and intelligence. This type of creature was the easiest for him to battle. ''Appraisal.'' [Name]: Daemon [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Dark [Hit Points]: 4,100/4,100 [Mana]: 570/570 [Stamina]: 2,400/2,400 [Talent]: [Daemon Carapace (Rare)] [Daemon Bloodline(Rare)] [Description] An extremely dangerous [Dark]-type monstrous creature, known for its absurdly overwhelming speed and decent power.@@novelbin@@ [Skills]: [(Dark) Daemon Dash Lv.5] [(Dark)Daemon Punch Lv.5] [(Dark)Daemon Kick Lv.5] [(Dark)Daemon w Lv.5] [Tail Stab Lv.5] [(Dark)Daemon Footwork Lv.5 (Umon)] [(Dark) Daemon st Lv.5 (Umon)] [(Dark) Evil Counter Lv.5 (Rare)] [(Dark) Daemon Edge Lv.5 (Rare)] [(Dark) Daemon Rage Lv.4 (Unique)] [Strength:350] [Intelligence: 210] [Agility:800] [Dexterity: 510] [Stamina: 800] [Vitality:820]: [Wisdom: 150] Chapter 579 The Final Trial Of A Hero "U-UOHHHH!! CROWLEYY!!" Dalton couldn''t help but exim in utter shock and excitement. What Shye did was the wet dream of all warriors: killing a monstrous creature with a single attack. It was as though his favorite childhood hero was right in front of him. "No¡­f*cking¡­way¡­right?" Freeze and Walter muttered in unison, feeling their blood run cold as shbacks of how they tried to antagonize Shye in the past flooded their minds. They could''ve been on the receiving end of such a vicious attack! Stay tuned with My Virtual Library Empire On the other hand, Mira and Rai Hou''s mouths were agape, yet, no words came out. They were too stunned to speak. Shye didn''t care one bit about the reactions of his party members, however, as his eyes were glued to the notification in front of him. ''15 points? But there are only five of us here... who are the other ten?'' he wondered with a frown. ''Could it be that people from the WAA are watching us?'' His guess was spot on. Back at a specific luxurious office of the WAA Main Headquarters in the Yon Augenn Region, ten elderly men were frozen in shock, their eyes wide and mouths agape as they watched Shye calmly standing still, apparently cleaning his greatswords of the ck filth that was the guardian''s blood. The first to snap out of his stupor was naturally Lord Belford, Valenzia Region''s WAA Director-in-charge. "HAHAHAHAHAHA! That''s our region''s shining star right there! Lord Eversong, I strongly suggest we appoint him as Valenzia''s first hero and engrave a hero''s crest on his back. Then we can start sending him on purge missions with the four titled adventurers of Valenzia to finally begin reducing the numbers of horde lords in the region!" Old Man Sanada was aware of a problem more urgent and significant than the one troubling Belford. However, that didn''t mean the Valenzia Director''s concerns were invalid. For the longest time, Belford had been pulling his hair out in frustration every time a new horde lord of rank (S+) or higher emerged in their region. The only ones he could rely on were Valenzia''s four titled adventurers, as the region had no adventurers worthy of being acknowledged as a hero by the WAA. Consequently, these four were perpetually overwhelmed, burdened with an endless workload they could never hope to manage alone. Unfortunately, they had no choice but to embark on purging missions despite being severely understaffed, continuously pursuing horde lords even though they failed more often than they seeded. To address this issue, Belford hired high-ranked adamantites to assist the four titled adventurers in their missions. However, this n ultimately failed, as only those who were granted titles and crests were strong enough to hunt horde lords effectively, and sadly, Valenzia only had four such individuals. Most of the high-ranked adamantite adventurers Belford hired either ended up dead or permanently disabled. This was why, over the years, the number of horde lords amassing strength and armies around Valenzia''s death zones continued to grow, leading to imminent horde attacks that could devastate cities or even entire sub-regions.@@novelbin@@ A problem that was indeed worth pulling one''s hair over. In Belford''s opinion, although Shye was still quite young, he was already capable of assisting the four titled adventurers. Especially after receiving a hero''s crest, his attributes would receive a significant boost, and he would gain bonus elemental damage based on the elements that responded to the call of his crest. It would naturally be better to wait a few more years to ensure that Shye would blossom into the finest adventurer Valenzia had ever produced. However, time waits for no one, and the horde lords are already making their moves. Valenzia was in desperate need of a hero, even if just one. After witnessing Shye''s immacte one-hit kill of an (S) ranked monstrous creature, Lord Hale Eversong, the director of the Yon Augenn region, was fully convinced. There was no way the body of such an absurdly strong youngster wouldn''t be able to survive the engraving of a hero''s crest. Hence¡­ "I agree, Belford. This shall be Shye Crowley''sst trial. If the extermination party sessfully clears the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, he shall be hailed as Valenzia''s first hero!" It was as though nine tribtion lightning descended upon the hearts of Belford and the other old men after hearing Hale''s words. After a millennium, Valenzia finally has someone who has earned the right to bear one of the seven prestigious regional hero crests. A person the entire region can rely on in times of darkness, fear, and uncertainty. Unfortunately, there would always be envious and insecure people who didn''t want to be overtaken by those behind them. "L-Lord Eversong! I agree that Shye Crowley''s potential is immense, but that''s exactly why we shouldn''t burden him with such heavy responsibilities so early in his career. What if he gets permanently injured?" Lord Barley, the director of the ninth-ranked Krebori region, said. Under the guise of concern, he attempted to manipte the Yon Augenn director into reversing his decision as allowing Shye to rise as a regional hero would undoubtedly begin Valenzia''s golden age, potentially relegating them to thest-ranked region. He, Barley Grant, would do everything in his power to prevent such a thing from happening. Unfortunately for him, Hale was not assigned as the director of the most developed andpetitive region for nothing. The guy was miles ahead in terms of wits. "I understand your point, Lord Grant. However,fort breeds weakness, and facing difficult challenges fosters growth. We will not coddle Crowley. If he is worthy, he will live on." No shit he''ll live on! After such a horrifying disy of talent, Barley was sure that it would be the monstrous creatures who would be in danger. "B-but¡­Lord Everso¨C" "My words are absolute, Barley Grant. Do you want to challenge my authority as the council''s head?" Barley didn''t want to give up. However, after Lord Hale''s decisive and intimidating words, all he could do was clench his fists and hope that somehow Shye''s party would fail to clear the dungeon. Chapter 580 A New Combat Idea "Mister Crowley, could you please give me Miss Koneko''s head?" Mira said, desperation and slight despair in the tones of her voice. It was as though she was close to bing one with darkness herself despite being of the holy attribute. Unfortunately, it was impossible for Shye to cater to her heartbroken wishes, as it was his quest to obtain the false core.@@novelbin@@ She looked pitiful. There were no traces of her once cute and innocent countenance, her hands shaking, traumatized. "As much as I would love to, Mira, I cannot give you the azure core, as it would be detrimental to the mission. I will be keeping it for now." "Hiih!" Hearing Shye''s words, the holy priestess let out some sort of strange half-squeal, the desperation on her face bing more and more evident. It was weird. "M-Mister Crowley¡­Please¡­I''m begging you¡­hand her over¡­to me!" Mira begged, almost shouting right at the end of her words as she tried to forcefully grab Koneko''s head with the most desperate expression Shye had ever seen. Even Rai Hou, Dalton, Walter, and Freeze, found her actions strange. They had only been with Koneko for a short time. Furthermore, she was an assh*le to deal with. Hence, despite their initial trauma, they view Koneko''s head as merely a false dungeon core. None of them, except for Mira, cared about her current situation. The others were as happy as ms, knowing they only had one more floor to clear before escaping this hellhole. "Mira, calm down. Why are you acting so aggressively?" Rai Hou asked with a frown. "We know you''re close with Koneko, but please understand that our missiones first. Once this is all over, you can talk it out with Crowley, alright?" For a while, Mira couldn''t talk. She was clenching her fists tightly. "I¡­understand¡­" She finally replied, dejected and depressed. She was nowhere near her kind and understanding self. At that moment, Mira didn''t look sane. Realizing that the young priestess was finally under control, Shye took a deep breath, looking at the dissolving corpse of the floor guardian shortly after. Out of the nine guardians they defeated, only three dropped a total of seven items. One of these, the Impious Origin Belt, went to Shye, while the remaining six were distributed among his party members. There were a few reasons why he didn''t fight for the ownership of the other items. First, the items didn''t offer him much benefit. Second, their quality was rather subpar, making it not worth the effort to fight over them. Lastly, he nned to brute force his way to obtain the Impious Origin Belt after the mission, arguing that he had given them all the other items. Hence, the belt should rightfully go to him. A not-so-logical argument. However, it doesn''t matter as probably none of his party members would dare duel him for it. As the Daemon''s body vanished, however, another azure orb appeared, materializing into a ck shield. One that looked way heavier and tougher than the peak Mithril-ranked shield Dalton obtained on the third floor. The item naturally made Dalton''s eyes gleam with greed, glued to the ck shield as though under hypnosis. ''Appraisal!'' === [Name]: Dark Shelter [Tier]: Adamantite [Type]: Equipment (Heavy Shield) [Rarity]: Legendary [Element]: Dark [Requirements]: [Strength: 480] [Vitality: 300] Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire [Description]: A fallen shield of the holy, corrupted by being exposed to overwhelming darkness. Effects: [Physical Defense]: + 450 [Magic Defense]: + 320 [Vitality]: + 50 [Stamina]: + 70 [Item Skill]: Twilight Wall === ''An Adamantite-ranked heavy shield!'' Shye eximed, greed consuming his heart. He wanted to obtain it for himself. "HAHAHAHA! Another shield! let me try it on!" Dalton''s eager voice echoed across the guardian room as his left hand immediately grabbed the shield and tried it. Naturally, the brutish ape''s actions brought a frown to Shye''s face. "OH CRAP!" Dalton cursed, an ear-splitting metallic noise reverberating inside the room as the lower part of the shield mmed heavily onto the concrete surface. The brutish ape failed to lift the shield with his left arm. It was too heavy for him. "How the f*ck is this shield so heavy?!" At the prime age of 29, Dalton already became an adamantite-ranked adventurer¡ªproof of his overwhelming talent. Although his ranking was somewhere around the bottom of his region''s adamantite rankings, his physical attributes could already be said to be on par with a few veteran adamantites. Yet, despite this, it seemed that his strength attribute still wasn''t enough to lift the shield, leaving him pulling his hair out in frustration. If even he, an adamantite-ranked shielder-type warrior couldn''t lift the shield, then who could? Dalton tried a few more times but to no avail. His full strength only allowed him to lift the shield around twenty centimeters off the ground for three seconds. "Curses!" *BOOM!* Dalton angrily unequipped the heavy ck shield, sending it crashing to the ground with enough force to slightly crack the concrete beneath it as clouds of dust filled the air. Despite being a seasoned adamantite-ranked adventurer, he couldn''t believe that he still couldn''t use the shield. However, after a few moments, he realized that as long as he possessed the shield, he could always train harder and eventually wield it once his attributes allowed. Unfortunately for him, letting go of the Dark Shelter was a huge mistake, as Shye grabbed it the next moment and tried it on. "Hey, Crowley! What are you doing?!" Dalton asked warily in a loud voice. "You''re a dual greatsword wielder, are you not?! Don''t you target my shields!" After all, thest time Shye behaved this way, he had forcefully imed the Impious Origin Belt. Momentster, Shye effortlessly lifted the shield off the ground, though it was clear that even though he could wield it properly, he could still feel its weight. "Great shield!" Shye eximed, turning his head to look at Rai Hou and then Dalton. Naturally, Shye''s actions confused even Rai Hou and the ten old men watching. "Since Dalton can''t equip this excellent gear that would undoubtedly make our dungeon run easier, I''ll use it for now. It would be a shame to let such a fine shield sit unused in someone''s inventory." Chapter 581 Shye The Shielder Multiple footsteps¡ªeerily distorted, echoed across the fully concrete, magenta hallways of Horza idde Mana Dungeon. The WAA extermination had recently descended to the tenth and final floor after a heated argument where Shye defended his decision against all five of his members, including the logical Rai Hou, and Mira, who seemed to be filled with resentment towards Shye. Not a single trace of her gracious kindness remained, only barely hidden hatred. She had never looked more unholy. Nevertheless, Shye silenced any objections by dering he would prove the shield wouldn''t be wasted on him. Of course, having worked miracles for them time and again, none of the five dared to dismiss his words as mere boasting. They at least gave him a chance. It didn''t take long before they encountered monstrous creatures. Just momentster, three towering monsters, each standing two and a half meters tall, emerged from the void and ambushed Shye and the others, catching them off guard. "We''re being attacked!" Rai Hou eximed, prompting Shye and Dalton to immediately move forward and protect their backline. Meanwhile, Freeze faded into the background using [Stealth]. "My detection skill missed these damned monsters?" Shye muttered in frustration as he pulled out the ck shield from his inventory, quickly positioning it to block the iing attack. Shockingly, despite their varying builds, the monsters were holding weapons. The creature attacking Dalton wielded a red greatsword, while the two assailing Shye were armed differently¡ªone with dual battle axes and the other with an extremely long, crude ck spear. As the weapons approached, Shye and Dalton braced for impact. However, it was evident that one of them had a more strained expression than the other, visibly a beginner. *CLANG!* The next moment, the monstrous creatures'' weapons finally shed with the warriors'' shields, producing an ear-splitting metallic noise echoed across the purple, concrete hallways of the Horza idde Mana dungeon. Eerily, the sounds slowly got distorted as they moved farther away from them, gradually turning into high-pitched screams that sent shivers down one''s spine. Dalton looked forward to Shye''s pathetic performance as a shielder so that he could mock him and retrieve the adamantite-ranked legendary ck shield. Unfortunately, no such thing happened as upon turning his head slightly to nce at Shye, Dalton simply found the guy confused. Shye then smirked and said, Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire "What? That''s all? I was expecting them to, you know, push me back more. I barely felt their hits!" His words were a deliberate jab at Dalton, subtly showing off his strength as a shielder while mocking the creatures'' feeble attacks. Shye''s goal? To naturally secure the ck shield for himself! After all, with the system''s help, he could freely switch equipment in the blink of an eye. A legendary shield would only make him more legendary. ''Why didn''t I think of this before?!'' Due to this sudden epiphany, Shye finally escaped the shackles of "sses", nning to develop a battle style that was as free as a bird. Adrenaline rushed through every part of his body as excitement consumed him, causing him to be a little too overzealous about this battle, temporarily forgetting about the fact that the void-type monstrous creatures managed to bypass his mana pulses. "Hahahaha! Fighting against monstrous creatures with a shield is this easy?" Shye did a quick appraisal to check the monstrous creatures'' attributes. They turned out to be (S-) ranked all-rounders of the Voidos race called Voidos Sentinels. Each of them had exactly four hundred points in every attribute, except for intelligence, which was only two hundred, and wisdom, which was just one hundred. Unfortunately for the monstrous creatures, Shye was a nightmare for any all-rounder. Not only were his base attributes astonishingly high for his age, but his strength¡ªenhanced by his greatsword¡ªwas on par with, if not greater than, the monsters themselves. When fighting against him, it would be better for one to specialize in a single attribute to stand a chance. Hence, even against two (S-) ranked Voidos Sentinels, the battle was easy for Shye. He simply blocked all of their attacks using his shield with ease while counter-attacking with his greatswords¡ªhis footwork unusually agile for a shielder. His entire kit reeked of heaviness, yet, he was as swift as a swallow, catching the Voidos Sentinels off guard.@@novelbin@@ As a result, one of them misjudged Shye''s ability to turn around quickly, suffering a grievous diagonal wound from its left shoulder down to the narrower part of its abdomen. If Shye had fully mastered the weight of the ck shield, the monster would have been killed instantly. The backliners didn''t stand idly. Shortly after the monster stepped back with an expression of agony, a ming arrow that drew a thin vermilion ray across the air roared alongside its embers, embedding itself deep into the grievously wounded Voidos Sentinel''s neck and turning the insides of its neck and head into a charred mush. This naturally resulted in the monster losing its life, making things easier for Shye. Meanwhile, Dalton, with the help of Walter and Mira, fought the greatsword-wielding Voidos Sentinel, effortlessly blocking its attacks while chipping away at its health with a barrage of spells and mace strikes. They seemed to be winning decisively as well. Realizing that things weren''t going well, the remaining Voidos Sentinel, the one using dual battle axes, suddenly retreated into the void, disappearing from everyone''s sight. "It retreated?" Shye muttered with narrowed eyes. Aside from the Voidos Nightstalker, none of the dungeon monsters retreated. Hence, Shye, despite his newfoundbat style, couldn''t help but feel wary, as the monstrous creatures on the tenth floor didn''t seem to be mere mindless monsters whose objective was to prevent them from moving forward. ''Tch.'' Shye inwardly clicked his tongue, the unpleasant memory of him being cornered at a certain food storage room popping up in his mind. However, he didn''t dwell on it for long. It was in the past, and he was much stronger now than he had been then. He was confident he could handle such situations far better now. "Let''s proceed." Chapter 584 A Creature Of Legends "No¡­f*cking¡­way¡­" Shye was petrified, he couldn''t believe his eyes. In front of them was a creature of legends, extremely rare in the outside world. Since the beginning of recorded history in Adthiopia, the monster before them had been sighted only twenty-six times. Of those encounters, ten resulted in fierce battles, with humans achieving victory in just three. Even Shye doubted whether he was ready to fight it. Towering at twenty-five meters on four muscr, thick legs covered in purple, scale-like armor, the monstrous creature boasted a pair of plum draconic wings tipped with metallic ivory spikes. Its thick, long tail ended in four orbs of purple me burning at the tip. Stretching one hundred and fifty meters in length, it had a massive maw and pitch-ck eyes, exuding an eerie yet majestic presence. "V-V-Void Dragon!!!" Dalton eximed, stuttering, knees shaking in fear and trepidation. Even Rai Hou''s mouth was agape, his entire body shivering. They couldn''t believe that they, youngsters below the age of twenty-nine, would face off against a monstrous creature that only titled adventurers and heroes were qualified to battle. They were but mere champions, tasked to perform mandatory missions too easy and numerous for the titled ones and heroes to waste their time on. "Sh*t! Lord Eversong! This creature is more than what those youngsters could handle! Do we have a hero from any region we can dispatch to save them? If they could survive for an hour, perhaps¡­" "Crowley! We at least need to save Crowley!" Eight of the ten old men panicked upon seeing the Void Dragon, believing they''d messed up by not managing to provide the correct information. They would never have thought that the Horza idde Mana Dungeon was the next Ambrose Mana Dungeon. With such a formidable guardian defending the dungeon, clearing it seemed nearly impossible. If not for the heroic champion party, who persisted despite facing a significant setback at the start of their quest, the final guardian of Horza idde would have remained hidden, continuing to grow in strength. This would have caused yet another major headache for the WAA. Not that the dungeon wasn''t already a problem, but for now, it remained manageable¡ªunlike Ambrose. Standing up from his seat while hiding his anxiety, Lord Hale Eversong raised his arms forward and issued orders. "Lord Pevory, if I recall correctly, Albus Verona, the young scout hero of the Chellionne Region, isn''t currently on any mission. Order him to head to the tenth floor of Horza idde and y the Void Dragon! Give him a two-hour deadline! If he can at least rescue Shye Crowley, the WAA will reward him with the adamantite-ranked, mythical-tier dagger he''s always desired!" Because of the twenty-nine-year-old age limit, they had only three heroes avable to send for the champion party''s rescue. Unfortunately, two of them were already on a crucial mission searching for traces of mythical beasts, leaving only the weakest of the three, Albus Verona, avable for deployment. Still, despite being the perceived weakest, his abilities were at least more than enough to save the champions should he make it on time even if he can''t y the Void Dragon on his own. "Understood, Lord Hale. I shall contact him."@@novelbin@@ "Additionally, Lord Belford, Frozen End should still be at the Valenzia Headquarters. Contact her and inform her that her mission has changed¡ªshe is now to rescue the champion party on the tenth floor of the Horza idde Mana Dungeon. She must coordinate with Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud and together y the guardian, the Void Dragon!" "Yes! Lord Hale!" Nodding at the two lords, Hale Eversong and the ten old men sat down once more, resigned to doing the only thing they could: watching as ten unprepared youngsters faced off against a threat at the level of a titled adventurer or hero. *** "Huh?! A Void Dragon?! Also, y it in two hours?!" A young man with short blonde hair, a bandana on his forehead, and a scar over his left eye¡ªappearing to be around twenty-eight years old¡ªeximed in utter disbelief. "Yes, Sir Albus. The orders came directly from Lord Hale through Lord Pevory. Additionally, if you manage to save the champion named Shye Crowley, you''ll still receive the promised reward, even if all the other champions perish." "OHOH?! THE TETANUS DAGGER WILL BE MINE?! COUNT ME THE F*CK IN!!" "Sir Albus, please watch your words. A hero shouldn''t be saying such vulgarities." "Oh,e on! You''re too stiff, Myrna! Calm down, will you? Well then, I''m off!" *** Meanwhile, in a room at Valenzia Headquarters, a young woman of average height with long, silvery-blue hair frowned. She mmed her crystalline elemental staff forcefully against the ground. "What do you mean my mission has changed? I''ve prepared for this for an entire month!" "M-Miss Iri¨C...Frozen End, the orders apparently came from Lord Hale himself¡­you know that Lord Belford can''t cross that man¡­" "Tch, that ipetent old man! Whatever, I''ll just get this over with¡­ I''ll bail after saving the champion party. To hell with the Void Dragon¡­ Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud should be able to take it down on his own or he shouldn''t call himself a hero!" "B-B-But Frozen End! The orders clearly state that you are to coordinate with Sir Albus and y the void dragon!" "Hmph! Didn''t you notice the part where the priority is saving Shye Crowley''s life? If they didn''t give me enough time to prepare, they can''t me me if things go wrong!" "B-But..." Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire "No buts! I''m leaving now¡ªI''ve only got two hours, after all..." In just a few minutes, two highly respected individuals from their regions raced toward the nearest teleporter, urgently acting on the mission assigned to them by their superiors. One was motivated by the rewards, while the other was driven by duty. ¡­ *CLANG!* "Mister Dalton!" A loud metallic ng followed by a distressed scream echoed through the strange guardian room as Dalton Kraus, after sessfully blocking a simple swipe from the Void Dragon, was hurled across the room. He rolled four times on the ground beforeing to a stop, his insides churning and causing him to spit out blood. ''Tch, this damned ape can''t even take a single hit?'' Shye inwardly cursed. [Congrattions! You''ve learned the skill [Taunt Lv.1] After a few quick yet subtle finger strokes, Shye learned the most basic of shielder-type warrior spells in exchange for a mere 500 points. He then dashed forward as though a valiant hero facing off against the monstrosity threatening to plunge the world into chaos. Upon arriving in optimal range¡­ ''Taunt!'' Red aura enveloped Shye''s body, sessfully capturing the Void Dragon''s attention. However, the next moment, an unforgettable event urred that sent chills down their spines. "Hoh, what a charming little trick to capture my attention, you audacious human. While it may be ineffective, I''ll give you a chance. Let''s see if you can protect your friends from me." Chapter 585 Are You Cross-Eyed? "Tch!" Hearing the Void Dragon''s unsettling voice and its fluency in humannguage, Shye''s body instinctively trembled, as if responding to the natural order between a mortal human and a divine, pure-blood draconian. This caused him to step back instinctively, unable to move forward as cold sweat ran down his temples and back. ''I''m cowering?'' Shye thought inwardly with gritted teeth. His hands were indeed slightly shaking. ''All this even with my [Unfazed Heart] trait active¡­Dragons are something else¡­'' Shye knew that the first step to oveing fear was acknowledging it. Hence, he took his time. ''It''s a good thing that this monstrosity is toying with us¡­'' Soon after, the manamunicator strapped on his waist finally rang. He was waiting for this! From the earlier notification indicating he had earned 15 points, Shye knew that ten people from the WAA were observing him.@@novelbin@@ Although he didn''t know their identities, he was certain that after witnessing the challenges facing their champion party, they would act to send reinforcements. Sure enough, after tapping a particr button, a voice recording yed. "Crowley, manamunicator calls aren''t going through, but fortunately, voice recordings are. Hold on for at least an hour¡ªreinforcements are on the way." *BLEEP!* Hearing the unfamiliar voice, a smile crept onto the corners of Shye''s mouth. He didn''t know who that old man was. However, Shye was certain that the man was from the WAA. ''If we could hold on for at least an hour¡­'' Shye thought inwardly, ncing at his party members. ''Rai Hou and I could probably survive for that long, as for the others¡­'' He stopped thinking about it. Those who are skilled enough and fated to survive will naturally survive. With renewed vigor and enthusiasm about their situation, Shye finally blew away the fear shrouding his heart, gripping his greatsword and shield with a resolute expression. "Hoh, survive for an hour, huh? Rather audacious of you to think you could do so against me." The Void Dragon said slowly with narrowed eyes, rather displeased that it was being taken lightly. Due to this, Shye remembered that dragons were prideful creatures, inputting a risky idea in his head. ''Should I anger it more and exploit its pride?'' He wondered, sweat trickling down his head. The goal was to survive for an hour. If he angered the Void Dragon, it might go all out; thus, Shye was torn. ''Oops, almost forgot¡­I should at least do a quick attribute check¡­Appraisal!'' [Name]: Void Dragon Veidrax (Mana Simted) [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Void [Hit Points]: ??? / ??? [Mana]: 1,050/1,050 [Stamina]: 3,360/3,360 [Talent]: N/A [Strength: 950] [Intelligence: 350] [Agility: 400] [Dexterity: 550] [Stamina: 1,120] [Vitality:???]: [Wisdom: 350] He had no time to meticulously check the monstrous creature''s skills. Hence, he could only settle for a quick check. ''Damn... One clean hit and I''m probably done for¡­ Luckily, this monster isn''t that fast¡­ but that vitality stat¡­'' "Hoh, a brat like you has the capability to peep at me? Rude! Disrespectful! Die!!" Sensing that Shye had used appraisal on it, ten purple magic circles formed in front of the Void Dragon''s mouth, manifesting the wrath of the void. Subsequently, one by one, enormous dark purple balls emerged from the magic circles at different timings, flying towards Shye and the others menacingly. The terrifying thing was that the orbs werepletely undetectable, silent, hollow. If one couldn''t see them, then one would be doomed for sure. "Everyone, protect yourselves!" Shye eximed before dashing off to dodge the void spheres heading his way. He wanted to cover for his party members. However, against such terrifying, absolute power, it was impossible for him to take care of others. It was every man for himself. Fortunately for Dalton, who had been severely injured by the dragon''s earlier paw swipe, Mira''s quick response with a [Greater Heal] allowed him to get back on his feet just in time to defend himself. After that, everyone used their escape and defense skills, barely surviving as wave after wave of void explosions, spanning seven diameters, erupted around them. Mira and Walter teleported around, Rai Hou tumbled, slid, and sprinted, while Dalton dodged what he could and used his defense skills to block the rest. It was utterly chaotic. Unfortunately, not everyone was so fortunate. One of them, who had been quietly sneaking through the shadows, ended up extremely unlucky. Walter unknowingly blinked at Freeze''s location, drawing a void ball in their direction. With [Stealth Lv.5] reducing movement speed by seventy percent, the Kreborian champion couldn''t dodge the void st in time and waspletely obliterated, leaving no trace behind. In fact, none of them even realized he had already died as all of them assumed that he was merely hiding in the shadows, looking for an opportune time to strike. "Tch, these guys would find it difficult to survive¡­" He muttered as he looked at his party members, who were all panting after just a single attack. They would definitely die if he didn''t do something. Discover more stories at My Virtual Library Empire ''Fine, I always wanted to try this anyway¡­'' "Heh, for a dragon, you''re pretty weak, aren''t you?" A mocking voice echoed through the void dimension they were battling in, drawing everyone''s attention. Momentster, the extermination party members recognized the voice, and most of them turned pale with fear as they realized their party leader had just insulted a prideful Void Dragon by calling it weak. However, the fear gripping their hearts quickly dissipated as what happened next worked in their favor. "You¡­You little brat¡­You dare call me, Veidrax, weak?! I''ll put you in your ce!" The dragon raged, its wings spreading majestically as it pounced at Shye, monstrous maws wide open. *BOOM!* The purple void surface rippled as the enormous dragon hit nothing. Shye, barely evading the unexpectedly swift attack, continued sprinting toward the Void Dragon''s original location, hoping to find the core it was guarding. Unfortunately, there was no core to be found; the area was simply a battleground for the extermination party and the Void Dragon. ''Tch, it wouldn''t be that easy, huh?'' He thought inwardly, turning around to look at the Void Dragon, who was shaking its head while standing up. ''At least, we''re in a proper hunting formation now¡­'' "Hahaha! Are you actually a cross-eyed Void Dragon?! Why are you attacking as though there were two of me? Come! Weren''t you gonna show me how strong you are?" Chapter 586: Belford’s Golden Boy "Crowley! Stop angering it!" Rai Hou couldn¡¯t help but exim in rage. Even he, who was usually calm and logical, was losing his cool as this was the first time he stood in front of an actual dragon. Thus, he failed to realize that Shye was attracting Veidrax¡¯s attention so they could freely attack. "At least your little invader friends have brains, unlike you, a puny human who doesn¡¯t know his ce!" Being called a cross-eyed Void Dragon was far from pleasant, and if not for the Yon Augenn champion¡¯s "sensible" words, Veidrax would likely have erupted in sheer fury. Unfortunately for it, the wave of insults was far from over. "Hah! You can¡¯t even back up your words! You¡¯ve missed two of your attacks on me so far. I¡¯m starting to think you really are cross-eyed!" Although slightly panicking, Rai Hou was a smart man, and he immediately realized that Shye was up to something. Since they were safe for the moment, he took a brief pause and lost himself in thought. This allowed him to finally discern what Shye was up to. In fact, what he thought of was even better than Shye¡¯s initial ns. "Everyone, Crowley is buying us time. Let¡¯s set as many traps as we can to dy them. If we can hold out for an hour, reinforcements should arrive¡ªlikely a regional hero or several titled adventurers." Rai Hou whisperingly exined to his slightly shiveringrades, providing a warm ray of hope in their hearts amidst the cold wintry despair. After hearing Rai Hou¡¯s words, the extermination party members managed to regather their wits, springing into action shortly after. The traps they set were primarily movement-restricting traps from Mira and illusion traps from Rai Hou, with Walter contributing a single me trap, even though it wasn¡¯t particrly useful in the current situation. asionally, Rai Hou would assist Shye in keeping the Void Dragon¡¯s attention. However, he never dared to provoke it, as he wasn¡¯t confident in his ability to survive if it turned its wrath on him. As w strikes, tail swipes, and void sts came his way, Shye skillfully evaded them with sidesteps, backsteps, short sprints, and even brief moments of flight. He was as nimble as a cat. This naturally annoyed the Void Dragon, Veidrax, to no end. At this rate, it would truly end up cross-eyed, as despite relentlessly attacking Shye for ten minutes, it still hadn¡¯t managed tond a clean hit. "That¡¯s it, little human! I¡¯m done ying with you!" Veidrax raged, purple mes igniting in its eyes. Naturally, Shye was rmed. His n was to enrage the Void Dragon to capture and contain its attention. However, when faced with its burning wrath, even Shye couldn¡¯t help but tremble, his little heart shaking in anxiety despite a tough, cool, and calm exterior. Momentster, a massive dark purple magic circle appeared before Veidrax, growing increasingly brighter with each passing second. Then, about two secondster, destructive purple rays materialized, snaking toward Shye as if they were alive. @@novelbin@@ In the beginning, Shye sessfully evaded the void rays. However, as time passed, more and more rays materialized, and things slowly got harder for him. ¡¯Crap! I need to leave this damned skill¡¯s strike zone!¡¯ Unfortunately, [Dash Lv.5] and [Swallow Step Lv.5] wouldn¡¯t be enough to get him out of trouble. ¡¯Well, it¡¯s the final floor, so I might as well go all out. Not everyone will survive, anyway¡­¡¯ Shye mused, recing the greatsword in his hand with his elemental staff. His actions naturally puzzled his party members and a few of the ten old men who hadn¡¯t bothered to research Shye Crowley of the Valenzia Region beforehand, believing the Valenzians were simply overhyping his aplishments. Thus, the next moment, their eyes almost popped out of their sockets as Shye disappeared and reappeared beneath Veidrax. "HMM?!" "DID THE YOUNG MAN JUST USE BLINK?!" "BELFORD, WHAT¡¯S GOING ON?!" "LORD BELFORD, EXPLAIN!" Enjoy more content from Freewebnovel Naturally, Belford, the Valenzian Director, was thoroughly pleased to see the shocked and disbelieving expressions on the other directors¡¯ faces. However, he couldn¡¯t fully savor the moment or respond right away, as he was still anxious and curious about what Shye would do next. ¡¯Ninth Devastation Ray!¡¯ Their questions were swiftly answered when a blinding tri-colored ray shot out from Shye¡¯s staff, striking Veidrax at a lethal angle from its chest to the shoulder of its right front w, destroying a small part of the Void Dragon¡¯s heart. *ROAR!* This was naturally followed by an agony-filled roar as even for Veidrax, such a wound wasn¡¯t something to scoff at, especially the part where his dragon heart was pierced. Although it wasn¡¯t too lethal, the wound still hurt like hell. Promptly after, Shye sunk into a spatial tunnel, reappearing meters away from the disoriented Void Dragon. "W-WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?! HE DIDN¡¯T EVEN CHANT!" "LORD BELFORD! YOU MUST EXPLAIN, NOW!" Since his golden boy wasn¡¯t in any sort of immediate trouble, Belford was able to momentarily rx, giving him time to enjoy the reactions of the other directors. Then, with a suppressed smile, he spoke: "Hmph! What¡¯s there to exin? Haven¡¯t I already reported the young man¡¯s aplishments? I¡¯ve also mentioned that his subss is mage and that he was born with the [Epic]-tier talent, [Chantless Casting], just like one of our titled members, Frozen End." ¡¯AHH, THAT FELT DARNED GOOD!¡¯ Belford thought inwardly after finally getting everyone to understand how amazing his golden boy, Shye Crowley, was. "B-But, we thought that..." "Hahaha! What, you thought we Valenzians were exaggerating? Heh, exaggerating? We were actually holding back, keeping some of his achievements under wraps. After all, there are some ENVIOUS and MALICIOUS people out there. I had to keep him under the radar for a while so he could grow stronger without too much interference." Hearing Belford¡¯s words, the Kreborian Director, Barley Grant, clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his aged skin. He was likely the one the Valenzian director had called envious and malicious. However, he wasn¡¯t the type to deny it. He was, indeed, an envious bastard, and if he had known about Shye¡¯s immense potential¡ªor had fully believed in what the Valenzians were saying¡ªthen Shye Crowley, despite his extraordinary talent, would never have lived to reach his full potential. Unfortunately, it was a bit toote now, and he could only hope that Veidrax would triumph. Barley Grant, a man rotten to the core. Chapter 587: Void Dragon’s Wrath ¡¯Yes! Yes! That¡¯s it!¡¯ Barley, the Kreborian director inwardly thought as he gazed at the holographic screen with a worried exterior. However, in reality, he was cheering for the Void Dragon and didn¡¯t care at all about Freeze. Barley would rather see his own champion perish if it meant that Valenzia would lose Shye Crowley too. It appeared that things were heading in that direction, as despite suffering a significant injury from one of Shye¡¯s trump cards, Veidrax seemed as energetic as ever, if not more so. The purple-scaled dragon was on a relentless rampage, unleashing rays, and sts as it soared through the air, asionally diving to strike with its ws and tail, all in a fury, its eyes zing with purple mes. Unfortunately for Veidrax and Barley, none of the attacks managed tond a clean hit on Shye, who sustained only minor injuries as he dashed, sidestepped, and teleported to safety, quickly depleting his mana and stamina. If not for his enormous mana pool, he would have already run out of mana. Veidrax also knew this, and that¡¯s why it didn¡¯t use any of its higher-tier skills. Its pride refused to allow it to do so against a mere youngster of a human. This was the reason Shye managed to contain the Void Dragon for half an hour with barely any help from Rai Hou, giving the others enough time to set up multiple traps, albeit of the same kind. Things were about to change soon, however, as Veidrax finally decided to end things once and for all, swallowing his pride. For a human, this was a feat worthy of immense honor. Shye, though, did not give one barren crap about the honor of forcing a dragon to swallow its pride. What was important for him was to survive. So far, he¡¯s doing a good job, surviving for a little over half an hour now without needing to use the traps set by hisrades. If it was like this, then there was a chance. Even the ten old men felt hopeful. Unfortunately, the manageable times came to an abrupt end as the Void Dragon, Veidrax, spread its wings and roared into the purple skies of its battle dimension, causing multiple magic circles of various sizes to appear five meters above its head. Soon after, multiple devastating rays, destructive sts, and void showers materialized one after another, unleashing utter havoc and chaos on Shye¡¯s location, as well as on Rai Hou and the others, bombarding them with nearly endless void-type attacks. Everyone instinctively used their own escape and self-preservation tactics¡ªblinking, dashing, blocking¡ªwhatever it took to survive. For esteemed regional champions, their awkward movements were far from impressive, but none of them cared. Mira even stumbled a few times, managing to stay alive only through sheer luck and the favor of the gods and goddesses she worshiped. Sadly, not everyone was as lucky. Walter, who just emerged from his spatial tunnel, found himself face to face with an enormous void st, but unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t a chantless caster. Thus, he still needed to chant for around half a second before he could cast another repositioning spell. This resulted in the void st obliterating him, erasing him from the dungeon, and turning him into mere mana particles that scattered across the battle dimension. "Walter!" "Mister Walter!!" Rai Hou and Mira eximed, expressions of utter shock and horror on their faces. Dalton didn¡¯t care about the mage¡¯s death. However, he was equally horrified. They still had to survive for twenty-five whole minutes. He couldn¡¯t help but doubt their chances as with just a single attack of mass devastation, one of them already died. "You bastard, Freeze! Where are you?! When will you help?!" Dalton screamed in panic and frustration. He knew deep down that the Kreborian scout wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything about the situation, it was just that he wanted to pin the me on someone. Unsettlingly, no one responded, leaving them confused for a few moments before their hearts started racing once more. They haven¡¯t seen Freeze for quite a while! There seemed to be no escaping the battle dimension as one could only enter but not leave. Hence, it could only mean one thing: the ipetent scout was already dead. "S-Shit! Rai Hou, what should we do?!" This time, Dalton didn¡¯t even hide the fact that he was scared. Initially, there were seven of them, but now only four remained. Most people would naturally start to tremble, believing they would be the one to perish next. ¡¯How should I know?¡¯ Rai Hou inwardly retorted, gnashing his teeth as the gears of his brain shifted and turned, desperate to think of a solution on how to survive for the next twenty-two minutes. The earlier void barrage destroyed all the traps they had set, rendering their efforts wasted. ¡¯Think, Rai Hou, think!¡¯ [Congrattions! You¡¯ve learned [Flight Lv.1 (Umon)]!] [Congrattions! Your skill: [Flight Lv.1 (Umon)] has leveled up to >> [Flight Lv.2 (Umon)]] ¡­ [Congrattions! Your skill: [Flight Lv.4 (Umon)] has leveled up to >> [Flight Lv.5 (Umon)]] Just as he was at his wit¡¯s end, a ck ray shot up into the purple skies. The young man had two ckish-transparent, decaying mana wings on his back, with circr waves of wind swirling around his feet and back, assisting him in flying. "Crowley!" ¡¯Seems like surviving for an entire hour was nothing but a pipe dream¡­¡¯ Shye pondered as he looked down at the Void Dragon, who was also looking at him with narrowed eyes. ¡¯Fine then, I shall fight for victory!¡¯ After deciding that they wouldn¡¯t be able to live if they simply defended and kept themselves alive, Shye courageously flew straight at Veidrax, who was momentarily stunned before erupting into anger. "Hoh, you dare believe you can defeat me in battle when you barely survived my attacks, human?" The Void Dragon said, opening its maw to st the zooming Shye into smithereens. Enjoy new tales from Freewebnovel "Heh, I simply thought it would be easier to wait for reinforcements before ying you, dragon. I¡¯ll admit, I underestimated you. It seems surviving an hour against you is impossible," Shye said, appeasing Veidrax¡¯s prideful and furious heart, only to enrage it again in the next moment: @@novelbin@@ "However, that n was just for the sake of efficiency. To be honest, I do fancy my chances of defeating you if I go all out. How about we try it out?" Chapter 588: A Human’s Valiant Counter Offensive "Ha¡­Hahaha! Human!! You!! Puny human!! You¡¯re just a human¡­when you¡¯re nothing but a mere human!!" Veidrax¡¯s ancient voice reverberated across the battle dimension followed by a mighty aura as horrifying as a stormy sea, enveloping everyone in the room. As Shye spouted confident words from his mouth, the Void Dragon stared right into his eyes, peering into the depths of his heart. Was the human merely trying to anger it? No! The human sincerely thought he could win. This was the reason why Veidrax was so infuriated to the high heavens. A young puny human thinks he could defeat a dragon alone? Audacious! "Alright, it looks like I¡¯ve yed around with you long enough for some foolish ideas to take root in your mind. Do you really believe that just surviving for more than half an hour gives you even the slightest chance against me, Veidrax the Void Dragon? Very well, then! Let me show you the true extent of my power!" *ROAR!* An ancient roar as old as time resounded once more, assaulting the minds and the hearts of the four remaining youngsters. Shye thought, pressing his right hand against his chest. His heart raced uncontrobly. His human body trembled in fear. ¡¯Guess I still have a lot to improve on¡­¡¯ Gripping his shield and elemental staff tighter, Shye waited for Veidrax¡¯s attack, nning to deal with it before counter-attacking. It didn¡¯t take long for the furious dragon to make its move. @@novelbin@@ After a fearsome roar, it flew high, its form majestic. At that moment, Shye understood why dragons were sovereigns, monarchs amongst monsters. He didn¡¯t have a chance to appreciate its beauty, though, as the next moment, a massive magic circle appeared, apanied by four smaller ones positioned to the north, east, west, and south. A powerful gravitational force suddenly emanated from the four smaller magic circles, dragging Shye toward the massive central circle. Within it, a giant void sphere materialized, poised to tear him apart. "Die, human!" Veidrax roared, anticipation in its eyes. It wanted to see Shye¡¯s mangled corpse. Shye had no ns of perishing soon, however, so he tried to resist the gravitational pull by pping his wings. Unfortunately, the skill¡¯s range was so vast that, despite his best efforts, he was gradually drawn toward the center. He tried blinking, dashing, and even spatial tunneling, but nothing worked. "Hahahaha! It¡¯s inevitable, human!" Veidraxughed, a sadistic smile on its draconic face. "Face your doom!" ¡¯Tch, a bit earlier than I nned but¡­I have no choice, do I?¡¯ Weing the gravitational pull with open arms, Shye changed into dual greatswords once more, gripping their handles tightly in preparation for his attack. He couldn¡¯t just waste one of his strongest defensive skills by using it without counter-attacking shortly after, could he? ¡¯Barrier of the Condemned!¡¯ He inwardly eximed, prompting the Impious Origin Belt¡¯s skill to activate. The next moment, a ckish transparent barrier materialized around him, a ghostly aura filling the air and dropping the temperature around him significantly. The barrier appeared fragile. Hence, the prideful Veidrax merely sneered in disdain upon seeing Shye¡¯s futile struggle to survive, a human¡¯s pathetic attempt to cling to life. ¡¯Not yet close enough¡­¡¯ Shye inwardly thought, gauging the distance between him and the magic circle with a void sphere in the center. Time seemed to crawl for the remaining members of the extermination party as they watched their dependable leader, Shye, being drawn ever closer to the deadly void orb. They knew his barrier would protect him from a single attack without taking damage, but none of them knew what would happen if Shye remained inside the void sphere for too long. That uncertainty filled them with dread. Shye was their final hope¡ªthe only one among them who never lost his resolve and had the audacity to insult a dragon, boldly dering that he stood a fair chance of defeating it one-on-one. Though none of them truly believed he could fulfill his promise, they all feared his death, knowing it would spell their own doom. Only about fifteen minutes remained until reinforcements would arrive. If Shye could endure and hold on a little longer, there was still a chance they might survive to see another day. "How about lending a hand instead of just standing there?" Shye shouted, prompting a triumphantugh from Veidrax, who took it as a sign that Shye was growing desperate, despite his outwardposure. His words, however, snapped hisrades out of their stupor. Unfortunately, the three of them didn¡¯t have his [Unfazed Heart] trait, nor his high wisdom attribute. As a result, though they all wanted to help, only Rai Hou managed to muster the courage. He drew his bow, steeling himself to assist Shye. Meanwhile, Shye carefully measured the distance, his focus as straight and sharp as aser. ¡¯Now!¡¯ Reaching the optimal range, he gave his wings one final p before they timed out, allowing him to glide on the wind currents pulling him closer to the deadly void orb at unbelievable speeds. His actions initially confused Veidrax, who burst outughing the next moment upon understanding what he was trying to do. "Hahahaha! Has despair corroded your brain, mentally challenged human? Do you want me to exin why your n won¡¯t wo¨C" The prideful Void Dragon¡¯s words were cut short as it witnessed the arrogant young human crash against his void sphere. However, what made Veidrax abruptly stop speaking was the sight of Shye, dual greatswords in hand, emerging unharmed behind the massive magic circle in the next second. Somehow, he had survived the void sphere that was supposed to shred him to pieces. "Impossible!" The Void Dragon eximed in utter disbelief, its attention quickly drawn to the scarlet edges of Shye¡¯s weapon. The greatswords were silent as midnight, radiating no aura. Yet, despite their seemingly harmless appearance, they sent a chill down the dragon¡¯s spine. ¡¯I¡¯m¡­threatened? By this kid?¡¯ Veidrax didn¡¯t have much time to contemte, however, as Shye approached, fierce as a horizontal meteor. ¡¯For now, I must raise my barrier!¡¯ It thought, prioritizing safety and acknowledging Shye¡¯s attack as a threat. The next moment, an enormous purple barrier made of countless mana octagons with traces of the void element appeared in front of Veidrax, protecting him from Shye¡¯s attack. It believed that the insignificant human¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t be able to kill it, as the barrier would diminish the attack¡¯s power and its naturally tough draconian body would do the rest. Unfortunately for Veidrax, a green ray of light suddenly whooshed past Shye, who was already flying at unimaginable speeds. The projectile was apanied by a howling gale, spinning endlessly as if it sought to pierce through both space and the void. Your journey continues on Freewebnovel "Zephyr Pration!" Rai Hou¡¯s voice sounded from behind Shye, bringing a smile to his face. A few millisecondster, the green wind-elemental arrow struck the barrier, shattering it before dispersing into green mana particles that scattered throughout the entire battle dimension. "Nicely done, Rai Hou!" ¡¯Boost! Boost! Boost!¡¯ Confronted with Shye¡¯s [Nightfall Reaper], empowered by three boost charges and with no protective measures active except for its tough body, Veidrax gritted its teeth. ¡¯Endure!¡¯ it thought as Shye¡¯s greatswords made contact with its extremely tough purple scales. *CLANG!* A metallic noise echoed across the battle dimension. However, the noise didn¡¯tst long as the next moment, it was reced by the sound of a sharp de cutting through flesh and blood. "Im¡­possible¡­" Chapter 589: Frozen End *SPURT!* Purple blood sttered across the concrete white walls of the battle dimension, creating abstract yet intricate patterns¡ªan enigmatic testament to the fierce battle that had taken ce. *ROAR!* Shortly after, a primordial roar of agony was followed by a massive body crashing onto the dark purple, hollow void floor, sendingrge ripples across the peculiar surface. "Impossible! Impossible!!! I, Veidrax, was wounded heavily by a mere youngster?!" The Void Dragon eximed, prompting Shye to turn his head, his eyes wide open in disbelief. ¡¯There¡¯s no f*cking way this dragon is still alive andining¡­¡¯ Both parties gazed at each other with disbelieving eyes. Veidrax was aware that there were exceptionally powerful individuals among humans. However, it had never encountered one so young yet so formidable. This was the source of its bewilderment. On the other hand, Shye felt a satisfying sensation as his greatswords sliced deeply into the Void Dragon¡¯s body. Although he couldn¡¯t cut it in half with a single strike, he was confident it would at least be twitching on the ground, nearing its final breath. He couldn¡¯t believe it still had the energy to try standing up andin, even though its neck wobbled unsteadily. It wasn¡¯t just Veidrax and Shye who were stunned and astonished. The ten directors of the WAA were also on their feet, with some clutching their heads in disbelief at yet another miracle performed by Valenzia¡¯s golden boy. Who would have thought that a young man¡ªbarely two years into his adventuring career¡ªwould truly have a chance to defeat such a creature of legends? It didn¡¯t take long for Hale to snap out of his stupefaction, however, immediately calling one of his aides. "Where¡¯s Albus and Frozen End?" "Sir Hale, Sir Albus is¡ª" *BANG!* Hale¡¯s attention was suddenly captured by a loud explosion on the holographic screen, causing him to identally hit the end call button, abruptly cutting off his conversation with his subordinate. It didn¡¯t seem that he needed to call again, however, as the man he was looking for was already within his vision. "Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud, reporting for the Tetanus Dagger!" Upon hearing the unfamiliar voice echoing from a breach in the battle dimension¡¯s walls, Shye and the other party members were stunned for a few seconds before their minds finally grasped what was happening. Reinforcements had arrived! "Sir Albus!" Mira eximed in utter delight. She was from the same region as Albus. Hence, she was familiar with how capable the man was. They were saved. @@novelbin@@ "Oh? Mira? You were a part of this extermination party?" "Y-Yes, Sir Albus. Thank you foring to save us." "No worries, where¡¯s the Void Dragon?" "..." Mira answered by simply turning her head to where Shye and Veidrax were. ¡¯Hoh, so that¡¯s Shye Crowley, huh? Looks a bit young¡­as for the Void Dragon¡­Hmm?!¡¯ Uponying his eyes on Veidrax, who was struggling to even breathe and stand straight, Albus was utterly stunned. When Albus decided to pursue the Tetanus Dagger he had long coveted, he anticipated a tough battle. He had little faith in the champions and doubted that his reinforcement¡ªa titled adventurer from Valenzia, who was a mage¡ªwould arrive as quickly as he did. He was prepared to work for the weapon of his dreams. However, it didn¡¯t seem like the Void Dragon would be able to put up much of a fight now given its condition. ¡¯And the one who came so close to killing it was¡­¡¯ Shifting his attention once more, Albus turned his head and looked at Shye. ¡¯Shye Crowley, huh? I could see why the WAA wanted me to save him from this predicament, but¡­did I really have toe?¡¯ Naturally, Shye also noticed Albus, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief. Although it seemed like the battle was turning in his favor and he was gaining the upper hand against the Void Dragon, Shye knew that finishing it off alone would be a challenge, even for him. It might even cost him a leg or an arm, which was, of course, far from desirable. It would be better to seek a hero¡¯s help. "Sir Albus, correct? I appreciate your effort in epting the rescue mission. Please help me dispose of this dying dragon." "Hahaha! Quite the polite guy, I see! Very well, I, Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud, shall assist you in ying this legendary beast!" Immediately after agreeing to help Shye, as it was part of his mission anyway, Albus charged towards Veidrax, who was extremely furious. "ANOTHER YOUNG HUMAN?!" The heavily wounded Void Dragon raged, the purple mes in its eyes and mouth aze. "I¡¯LL SLAUGHTER EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!" After cursing its heart out, Veidrax flew, diving towards the charging Albus the next moment. "Hahahaha! Too slow!" Leaping to confront the Void Dragon mid-air, the Chellione Hero twisted his body, slipping beneath Veidrax¡¯s chest. A momentter, the dragon and the human passed each other as if nothing had urred. But this was far from the truth. In the next moment, purple blood spurted from a long, moderately deep wound stretching from Veidrax¡¯s chest to its right hind leg, causing the dragon to roar in anguish and thrash wildly. "Hahaha! You lost that time, Void Dragon!" Albus cheerily eximed, bringing further shame and anger to Veidrax¡¯s heart. Spitting blood as it struggled to stabilize its footing, the Void Dragon¡¯s eyes turned pitch ck. Then, the next moment, itughed uproariously as though it lost its mind. "HAHAHAHAHA! VERY WELL, HUMANS! I ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR CAPABILITIES! I ADMIT DEFEAT IN TERMS OF STRENGTH AND COMBAT SKILLS. BUT I WON¡¯T BE GOING TO THE UNDERWORLD ALONE..." Everyone¡¯s eyes widened and their hearts raced as they felt a huge mana buildup inside Veidrax¡¯s body. "Shit! It¡¯s trying to detonate its core! Everyone, gather up! Use your strongest defensive skills!" Albus cursed, to think that even his life would be in jeopardy¡­ He started to regret epting the damned rescue mission. "Iron Fortress! Steel Mountain!" "Mana Barrier! Aqua Barrier! Earthen Wall!" "Physical Barrier! Aqua Barrier! me Wall!" Following the hero¡¯smand, Shye, Mira, and Dalton quicklyplied, activating all their defensive skills to form a thick, multi-elemental barrier in front of their small group of five. However, both Shye and Albus quickly recognized that their defenses wouldn¡¯t be enough to withstand the st from the core¡¯s detonation. In the end, who lived and who died would be left to fate. "Brace for impact!" But then, just when everyone gritted their teeth and epted their fate, an unfamiliar woman¡¯s voice sounded, as gentle as the morning breeze. "cial Bulwark." In the next moment, a massive wall of ice, far thicker than theirbined defensive skills, rose from the ground. Frozen End of Valenzia has arrived. Chapter 590: A Reliable Comrade "Im¡­possible¡­" A dying primordial voice echoed across the vanishing battle dimension as countless mana particles filled the air, the death throes of a creature that once reigned supreme amongst many others, including those of other races. It was a heartbroken cry of demise from Veidrax, who did not manage to drag Shye and Albus down with it as a sudden, unbelievably thick ice wall sessfully defended the group of young adventurers from the detonation st of its core. As the battle dimension dissolved into countless mana orbs, another staircase was revealed, leading to a small concrete chamber containing nothing but an azure orb ced atop a small concrete podium. One could even see the orb from the room they had entered before being engulfed by Veidrax¡¯s battle domain. However, no one had noticed the staircase yet, as their eyes were fixed on a young woman of about twenty-eight years. Her long silvery-blue hair, stunning face, and perfectly sculpted physique stirred the deepest desires in men. The cold expression on her facemanded unwavering loyalty, giving her an air of dignity that surpassed even that of heroes. She was the most talented among the four titled adventurers of Valenzia¡ªthe chantless caster, Frozen End. Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud, although rather friendly, also had an air of arrogance around him. He was someone who didn¡¯t like befriending people who weren¡¯t talented enough to be on the same level as him. Thus, when Albus learned that his reinforcement was just a titled adventurer from the most remote region, he only intended to greet her with the bare minimum of courtesy. However, the formidable ice wall from earlier,bined with Frozen End¡¯smanding presence,pelled him to reconsider. His keen instincts regarding a person¡¯s talents were rarely mistaken, and it told him that the female titled adventurer in front of him was someone who could stand toe-to-toe with heroes like him. "I¡¯m Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud. Nice to meet you, Frozen End of Valenzia." "Likewise, Sir Albus." The rather short greeting from Frozen End slightly displeased the Chellione Hero. However, it also served to increase the young man¡¯s interest in the titled adventurer. Unfortunately for Albus, the beautiful, icy young woman¡¯s attention was focused on another man, one who was about four or five years younger than him. "Shye Crowley, we finally meet. I¡¯ve heard of your feats." "Likewise, Frozen End. I¡¯ve heard of your legends as well." "I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re also a chantless caster like me. Care to demonstrate?" "Sure." Shye found Frozen End¡¯s personality rather likable. Hence, he was willing to do a quick demonstration for her. ¡¯Fireball!¡¯ He thought to himself, causing an enormous fireball to erupt from his elemental staff. It obliterated arge portion of the room, leaving his extermination partyrades with stupefied expressions. Meanwhile, Frozen End simply nodded in satisfaction, thinking she had found another reliablerade who would help lighten her workload. She didn¡¯t care whether he was a jerk or a nice guy. As long as he did his job well, they wouldn¡¯t have any issues. "I apologize for beingte. That ipetent old man only informed me an hour ago that you needed assistance." ¡¯Ipetent old man?¡¯ Shye wondered, recalling the voice from the manamunicator¡¯s message earlier. ¡¯Could it be that old voice from earlier?¡¯ "No worries, you came just in time. If not for you, a few of us probably would¡¯ve died." Nodding at Shye, Frozen End scanned her eyes over hisrades. "Hmm, quite the ipetent group. It¡¯s no wonder you needed help," she said bluntly, causing Dalton to grind his teeth, Mira to look down in embarrassment, and Rai Hou to clench his fists in frustration. "What did you say?! You insolent b*tch from Valenzia, repeat that to my face and I¡¯ll teach you a lesson!" the brutish ape roared in anger, his deep-seated disdain for Valenzians clouding his already poor judgment. "Hoh, I said you¡¯re ipetent. Come then, teach me a lesson." Frozen End retorted with a disdainful smile, waiting for Dalton to make a move. "HAAAAH!" Finally exploding in anger, Dalton dashed forward, instantly appearing in front of Frozen End with his shield raised, ready to bash her with all his might. He acknowledged that Shye Crowley was indeed strong, but he refused to believe he would need to show respect to more than one Valenzian. "Heh, this is why I said you¡¯re ipetent. Do you even have a brain?" Frozen End said with a mocking smile, not moving an inch from her original position. @@novelbin@@ Yet, Dalton couldn¡¯t advance another inch, feeling a biting coldness creeping from his feet up to his knees. "What¡¯s happening?! Release me, you b*tch!" "Keep calling me a b*tch and I¡¯ll cut your head off," She said with unparalleled coldness, sending shivers down everyone¡¯s spine, including Albus. ¡¯This young woman is clearly more than just a titled adventurer... The ones from my region would be no match for her, at least. Why was she even hiding her strength from the world?¡¯ the Chellione hero pondered with narrowed eyes. Upon hearing Frozen End¡¯s words, Dalton felt a cold sweat trickling down his back. He dared not speak again. However, contrary to his expectation that the Valenzian titled adventurer would release him, the icy shards continued to rise, slowly encasing him in an icy tomb. "Release me! Haven¡¯t I stopped insulting you?!" "Heh, I promised I wouldn¡¯t cut your head off. Naturally, releasing you is a different matter. If you want to be freed, you¡¯ll need to apologize." "You b¨C" Dalton wanted to call Frozen End a b*tch once more, but her ice-cold gaze made him feel as if his life were shing before his eyes. Despite this, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to apologize. The icy tomb continued to advance, and he was running out of time. As the shards advanced to his neck, Dalton finally realized that his life was more important than his foolish pride. Thus, with gritted teeth, he uttered an apology. "I-I apologize, please release me." "Hmph, wasn¡¯t so hard, was it?" Chapter 592: Shye’s Authority On Full Display "So? Who is she?" "Hehe, I-I¡¯m sorry, miss. I¡¯m just ying a prank to get back at this guy. You can think of me as his ultimate underling." From inside Shye¡¯s office, voices could be heard¡ªone angry, one frantic, and one apologetic. Shye desperately tried to exin the situation, terrified by the look on Shirley¡¯s face¡ªhe had never seen her like this before. It was also his first time finding himself in such a predicament. Meanwhile, Luna watched them with amusement, barely suppressing a chuckle froming out of her mouth. This was also her first time seeing the capable and almost invincible Shye Crowley struggling to solve a situation. It was hrious. In reality, Shirley had already epted Seira¡¯s exnation. She was simply ying a prank on Shye, finding his reactions endearing. Thus, after enjoying her lover¡¯s rare, desperate expression, she finally "forgave" him¡ªon one condition¡­ "Fine, I shall believe you. If you treat me to steak!" "S-Sure! I¡¯ll treat you to the finest restaurant!" "..." After defusing the tense situation, Shye gave Seira a light smack on the back of her head for ying a prank on him, causing her to inwardly sigh with relief. It seemed that her boss was still very much her boss. She feared that Shye, caught up in fame and glory, might be distant and forget their promise and friendship. Fortunately, it seemed that there was nothing for her to worry about. "Hehe, sorry, boss. I just missed the old days. Anyway, y-you didn¡¯t forget our promise, right?" "Hmm? What promise?" "B-Boss¡­d-d-did you seriously forget? Y-you promised to help me f-f-find prie¨C" "Pfft¡­ Hahaha! I¡¯m just kidding. Do you really think I, the great Shye Crowley, could forget a promise? I was just messing with you¡ªthis is payback for what you did!" Shyeughed, briefly sticking out his tongue to tease the panicking Seira. @@novelbin@@ "B-Boss! You¡¯re so mean! How could you tease me like that when my family¡¯s life is on the line? Phew... I seriously thought you had forgotten..." Seira inwardly sighed with relief. "It was just a joke, a joke!" Shye said, "If it went too far, I¡¯m sorry. I won¡¯t do it again." After apologizing for what might be an insensitive prank, Shye¡¯s expression turned slightly more serious. "So, where is your family? How much time do we have left?" "T-They¡¯re not in any condition to travel, so I left them at my house in Balkrow and hired a temporary caretaker to take care of them. Given their condition... we probably have about two weeks." Seira replied, evidently fighting back the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. ¡¯So that¡¯s why she was on edge, huh?¡¯ Shye pondered, finding his earlier joke a bit insensitive. "I see¡­again, I apologize for teasing you." "N-No worries, boss! I¡¯m just too anxious¡­C-Can we help them as soon as possible? Like¡­now¡­maybe?" Seira felt she might be asking too much, but she couldn¡¯t shake the anxiety in her heart, worrying that if she dyed, she might find their bodies cold. "Of course, let¡¯s lift their curses as soon as possible," Shye said with a smile. He also wanted to see Seira smile cheerfully, as carefree as she could be. Find your next read on NovelBin.C?m "Shirley, do you want to go with us to Balkrow City? This won¡¯t take long." "Yeah, I¡¯d love to." Shortly after their conversation, Shye, along with Shirley, Seira, and Luna, exited the division leader¡¯s office, eliciting looks of admiration from the male guildsmen. "D-Damn, the division leader is just too cool! Securing threedies¡­gorgeous ones at that!" "W-Weren¡¯t they all in his office just now? D-Do you think¡­" "You idiot! You and that dirty mind of yours¡­" Themotion attracted Shirley¡¯s attention, giving her the idea to prank Shye again. "Hoh, why does it seem like the division is used to seeing you leave your office with women?" She said, faking a cold tone. "S-Shirley! How can you say that? I truly didn¡¯t fool around! You¡¯re the onl¨C AHEM!" Noticing that his girlfriend was barely holding back augh and that all the division members in the lounge were watching him, Shye cleared his throat, feeling a bit embarrassed. ¡¯Heh, you dare prank me now, Shirley? Just you wait¡ªI¡¯ll get my revengeter in the bedroom¡­¡¯ he thought to himself, already nning his pleasant revenge. "Members, line up! I have an important announcement," Shye dered with authority, exuding the charisma of a true leader¡ªthe foolish expression he had moments agopletely gone. Naturally, not a single one of his members dared dally, lining up immediately. Standing beside Shye, the three beauties witnessed his full disy of authority, which left them utterly impressed and slightly ufortable as they faced hundreds of his underlings. "I need ten diamond-ranked priests or priestesses with the [Cleanse] skill at Level Four or higher. I have a small mission for you and rest assured, thepensation will be more than satisfactory." After hearing their division leader¡¯s words, more than twenty members scrambled eagerly, hoping to be among the ten chosen. Their division leader had a reputation for generosity¡ªif he promised more than satisfactorypensation, he meant it. Only a fool would pass up the chance to join this "small mission," no matter what it entailed. They trusted Shyepletely, knowing he would never endanger their lives. In less than a minute, ten priests and priestesses were already lined up, while a few others in the backgroundmented, teary-eyed, that they hadn¡¯t moved quickly enough. Naturally, the three beauties were utterly impressed again. Seira even had tears welling in the corners of her eyes. If it was like this, then her beloved mother and little brother were saved. Momentster, after verifying that all ten indeed had [Cleanse Lv.4], Shye nodded in satisfaction. He then led the three beauties and the selected priests and priestesses out of the division lounge, drawing the attention of their guildmates and leaving them curious about what the shy Ravens Rising was nning. However, just as they were about to reach the guild headquarters¡¯ exit, a young man stepped in their way, blocking their path. His actions naturally caused a frown to form on Shye¡¯s face. "Hey, hey, Miss Shirley, that¡¯s pretty cold. You¡¯ve been turning down my invitations, but you agreed to go with Shye Crowley?" Chapter 593: Hero Pass The tall brown-haired young man had a muscr physique, one that was equal to Shye. Furthermore, Dinoa Parell was a well-known adventurer who had just moved beyond the rookie stage around two-and-a-half years ago, though his aplishments at the same age as Shye were considerably less impressive. This was the reason why the young man did not have a good impression of Shye. It was because Shye stole the limelight from him. A few bright rookies came in after Dinoa¡¯s admission, however, none of them managed to shake his position, except for the so-called most talented rookie in Valenzia¡¯s history, Shye Crowley. Regrettably, Dinoa couldn¡¯t challenge Shye to a duel right after Shye¡¯s admission to the main branch. He had to bide his time, allowing the so-called most talented rookie to grow for a while before seizing the perfect moment to defeat him in a carefully orchestrated duel. This would allow Dinoa to redeem himself¡ªat least in his own eyes¡ªas the most promising talent of the Raven¡¯s de Adventurer Guild, which had risen from sixteenth to tenth in rank. Shye¡¯s rapid ascent was a constant irritation and a deep-seated pain for Dinoa. He feltpelled to defeat Shye personally to ovee his own insecurities, though he would never admit it, not even to himself. Now, the very person who had shaken his confidence was the one to steal the girl he already considered his, right before his eyes. Dinoa would naturally never ept such a thing. "And who are you?" Shye asked condescendingly, activating his arrogant young master mode specially reserved for jerks. "We¡¯re in a bit of a hurry. Will you step aside, or should I move you myself? The first option would be less painful for you." Upon hearing Shye¡¯s arrogant words, the rage in Dinoa¡¯s heart finally erupted in the form of a scoff. "Oi, oi, Shye Crowley, do you even realize who you¡¯re talking to? Has all that potential hero nonsense messed with your head? I¡¯ve been around here way longer than you have. Showing me some respect might save you from embarrassment." "Why the hell would I ask who you are if I already knew? Maybe you¡¯re not as famous as you think. Now, answer me¡ªwill you step aside, or should I move you myself?" Veins bulged at the sides of Dinoa¡¯s head, irritated by Shye¡¯sck of fear. ¡¯Fine, then. I¡¯ll show you that you¡¯re nothing but a small fish in a vastke...¡¯ "Do it then, move me if you ca¨C" Before the tan-skinned, curly brown-haired youth could finish his sentence, the sharp crack of Shye¡¯s palm meeting his cheek rang through the headquarters¡¯ lobby¡ªa gratifying sound that delighted the ears. The perfectly executed p sent Dinoa flying through the air, crashing face-first into the walls of the Shepherd¡¯s Call Adventurer Guild, located directly across the wide street. "Now then, everyone, let¡¯s go," Shye said in a dignified manner, snapping everyone on his side back to reality and prompting them to follow him. Experience exclusive tales on NovelBin.C?m [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 3,258 points!] Naturally, everyone was wide-eyed and ck-jawed at the sight of how effortlessly Shye had dealt with Dinoa, a recently promoted adamantite-ranked adventurer and amongst the small percentage of peak existences in Adthiopia. This gave them a glimpse of Shye¡¯s current strength, including the adamantite-ranked adventurers of his guild. They now viewed him as both a threat to their rank and a potential ally who could help them climb further up the rankings. Meanwhile, Dinoa Parell¡¯s reputation plummeted to an all-time low. His subordinates were left disheartened and anxious about the future of their division after their leader was defeated by a rival division leader with a single, brutal p, his face rearranged to one side. As Shye left the headquarters, however, he was shocked to find that despite appearing dazed and heavily injured, the bastard he swatted away like a fly still had the energy to try and stand up. "SHYE¡­CROWLEY! WE¡¯RE NOT DONE YET! OI! FACE ME!" Unfortunately, Shye was indeed in a hurry and had no patience for Dinoa¡¯s foolish antics. So, he chose to ignore him for now and proceeded directly to the special teleportation circle in the city square, apanied by the three beauties and ten of his other subordinates. ¡¯If this clown dares to prance around me again when I return, I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t have the physical capability to do so in the future¡­¡¯ he vowed inwardly. Upon arriving at the city square, heads turned as everyone¡¯s attention was captured by the striking small group: a charismatic, ashen-haired youth apanied by three beautiful women and ten priests and priestesses in pristine white robes. "Shye Crowley!" eximed the individuals who recognized him. They spected about the group¡¯s purpose in the city square. A few momentster, everyone¡¯s eyes widened upon seeing the group heading straight toward the special teleportation circle. Everyone knew that a special permission ticket was required for each person, so most couldn¡¯t fathom what the small group was nning by heading to the teleportation circle. It almost seemed as if they were deliberately seeking humiliation from the operator. "Hello, Operator Kim." "Oh? Sir Crowley, you just returned from your mandatory mission a few hours ago, right? Where are you heading now? And¡­who are these people with you?" "Ahh¡­about that¡­" Shye motioned for everyone behind him to wait outside the small gate while he spoke with the operator. "You see, the city lord provided me with a special pass allowing me to bring up to a hundred people. However, he instructed me to keep the pass confidential and not disy it publicly. It¡¯s meant to be a secret how my group and I essed the special teleportation circle. Do you have a private office where I could¡ª" @@novelbin@@ "Ahh! Certainly, Sir Crowley, please follow me." Operator Kim was also curious as to what type of special pass City Lord s gave Shye as a reward. ¡¯No¡­it couldn¡¯t be THAT ticket, right?¡¯ Operator Kim was aware that the pass that was on his mind could be a powerful weapon with the potential to bring about Valenzia City¡¯s downfall if it fell into the wrong hands. Therefore, he found it hard to believe that s would have entrusted such an item to Shye. ¡­Upon arriving at the operator¡¯s office, Shye immediately retrieved his special pass along with a letter from s. Naturally, Operator Kim eagerly examined the special pass, his eyes widening as he recognized it as the Valenzia Hero Pass. This could only mean one thing: Valenzia was about to have its first-ever hero. "S-S-Sir Crowley! Permission granted! You don¡¯t need to pay the fee; the city hall will cover everything!" "My deepest thanks, Operator Kim!" Soon after, the veteran operator quickly granted entry to Shye¡¯s underlings, even offering them a deep bow as he did so. "No way! How did Shye Crowley manage to get the operator to let his small group use the special teleportation circle when even some adamantite-ranked adventurers weren¡¯t allowed?" "Is there anything he can¡¯t do?" "Damn! Everyone needs to hear about this! Those with recording crystals, capture everything!" Chapter 594: Curse Cleansing Operation *FWING!* A beam of azure light descended from the heavens, striking the center of Balkrow City¡¯s square and initially instilling fear in the hearts of those nearby. However, as fourteen individuals emerged as the azure glow dissipated, the fear in their hearts was quickly reced by curiosity, then shock. They quickly recognized the ashen-haired youth: the young man who had brought immense pride and glory to the city, raising its regional ranking from a modest 257th to an impressive 30th for producing someone of his caliber. "Shye Crowley!" "Hey, Shye Crowley is back!" The onlookers quickly flocked towards Shye, while some haters stood at the side, ring at him unsatisfactorily, though none of them dared make a move. Shye naturally nodded amiably at his fans who wanted to get close to him. However, he also kept them at bay by ordering the ten diamond-ranked priests to cast physical barriers, ensuring that their journey toward Seira¡¯s house would be smooth. Since he was someone who can be considered to have made it even on the big stage, none of his fans dared disrespect his boundaries. They were content just following him around while he was in Balkrow. Who knows? They might get some benefits by doing so! A few minutester, Shye¡¯s cleansing group arrived at a modest purple house, featuring a spacious frontwn with a porch and a hammock. The house looked cozy and inviting, yet somehow it radiated a wintry, unpleasant aura, one that reeked of death. Seira quickly opened the door, entering with an anxious expression on her face. Somehow, despite believing that she still had around two weeks before her mother and little brother sumbed to the curse, Seira couldn¡¯t shake the ominous feeling that something bad would happen if she didn¡¯t acquire her boss¡¯ assistance within the week. Find your next adventure on NovelBin.C?m It didn¡¯t take long for her to find out that her worries were a hundred percent correct as the caretaker she hired was nowhere to be found. Furthermore, the appliances she bought were nowhere to be found. "THAT DAMNED THIEF!" She cursed, her body shaking in fury. Then, just a few momentster, she managed to momentarily ovee her anger, allowing her to think rationally. "Mom!! Soren!!!" Seira eximed in horror upon seeing the unknown state of her mother and little brother. Their bodies were eerily emaciated, with ribcages and cheekbones starkly visible. Flies buzzed around them, and the air was thick with a foul odor, reminiscent of decay. At least the wretched caretaker had enough conscience to change their diapers and feed them once a day, sometimes twice. Otherwise, the two would have already sumbed to hunger and thirst before the curse could even im their lives. Fuming with tears in her eyes, Seira dashed outside, her pitiful appearance enough to enve the hearts of men and cause the downfall of cities. Meanwhile, outside Seira¡¯s house, a certain male shorty just a wee bit taller than Seira was somehow passing by with immacte timing. Chiisai Otoko, the man determined to win Seira Ramah¡¯s heart, arrived just in time to see his beloved, whom he thought he wouldn¡¯t see for years, crying as she ran out of the purple house¡¯s door. ¡¯Seira!¡¯ He thought, instinctively using [Blink] to bypass Shye and the others, reappearing in front of Seira and extending his arms to amodate her. Naturally, upon feeling what she believed to be Shye¡¯s warm chest, Seira was initially surprised, fearing that Shirley might erupt in anger once more. However, after crying against the chest for a few moments, she realized that Shirley had no intention of intervening. Seira concluded that Shirley was allowing her to seekfort, at least for the time being, understanding her heartache. At that moment, a familiar voice, though not her boss¡¯s, echoed in front of her, causing Seira to pause her tears and look up. "There, there, Miss Seira. No need to cry any longer, for I, Chiisai, am here to offer you warmth..." "NO!! WHY IS IT YOU?! WHERE DID YOU POP OUT FROM?!" *PAH!!* Seira¡¯s horrified scream followed by the crisp sound of a small palm hitting a small cheek echoed across the street, eliciting gasps of schadenfreude from the onlookers who followed Shye¡¯s small group. Chiisai, a fragile mage, hurtled across the street after being pped by a diamond-ranked warrior, his once handsome face rearranged to one side, snot dripping down his nose. The poor guy only wanted to help byforting the damsel in distress. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t the warmth he provided that was desired by the young, heartbroken maiden. His surprising entrance and exit were exactly what Seira needed, however, to wake up and seek help for her mother and little brother, who were in extremely bad condition, if not already dead. "B-Boss! Never mind that guy! Please help my mom and little brother!" She pleaded, prompting Shye to quickly take action and enter the house. ¡¯Appraisal!¡¯ Shye quickly used appraisal to assess their statuses, his frown deepening upon noticing that their hit points had dropped to just five out of the original one hundred. They were indeed on the brink of death. If Shye¡¯s group didn¡¯t arrive within the day, the two would be cold corpses. Fortunately, despite their dire state, they were still alive, as evidenced by the absence of a "(Corpse)" indicator beside their names in the appraisal results. "Don¡¯t worry, Seira. They¡¯re still alive," Shye reassured her, prompting Seira to breathe a sigh of relief as her knees weakened slightly, the adrenaline draining from her system. If her boss said they were alive, then they were bound to be fine. The thorn embedded deep in her heart and soul was finally about to be removed... "Donovan, Alicia, cast Greater Heal,"manded Shye. "Yes, division leader." As the golden ray of life and warmth touched Seira¡¯s mother and little brother, their hitpoints were restored by just one point, which caused a frown to appear on Shye¡¯s face. Due to this, he instructed all of his subordinates to cast [Greater Heal], raising their hitpoints to ten and slightly easing the tension in their expressions. For now, they were no longer in immediate danger. Next, Shye administered costly nutritional tonics and cleansing potions, worth hundreds or even thousands of gold coins, which further restored their hitpoints and left the priests and priestesses who came to assist in awe. Witnessing their countenances changing for the better, Seira sobbed in pure joy, inwardly vowing to follow Shye for life. Subsequently, Shye signaled for the priests and priestesses to proceed, prompting them to direct their life staffs toward the beds. Their actions conjured a vast golden magic circle to appear beneath Seira¡¯s mother and little brother. @@novelbin@@ "Cleanse!" Chapter 595: Beauties Secured! Inside a modest-sized home in Balkrow City, a mesmerizing pir of golden light rose into the sky, making it seem as though angels had ascended back to the heavens after gracing everyone with their warm, holy presence. However, the reality was quite different: what actually happened was the removal of a long-standing ghostly curse that was on the verge of iming the lives of two innocent people. Minutes passed as the golden ray gradually faded, revealing Seira¡¯s mother and little brother, their expressions as serene as a calm autumnke. Although their bodies remained as thin as before, the decaying smell had disappeared. It was only a matter of time before the two would recover. "Everyone cast [Greater Heal] again!" Shyemanded, hoping to mend the internal damage caused by the darned curse that had been previously unheble. As the golden rays of light descended upon Seira¡¯s mom and little brother, Shye used appraisal once more, confirming that their health was back to full. This naturally brought a satisfied smile to his face. Turning around, he faced the grape-haired midget: "They¡¯re now fully recovered. Take care of them for a few days and provide them with nutritious meals. They should regain their physical strength and appearance by then." Upon hearing her reliable boss¡¯ words of confirmation, tears streamed down Seira¡¯s cheeks. "Thank you¡­ boss¡­ uuuu¡­ I thought I¡¯d never be able to save them¡­ uuuu¡­ I¡¯m so grateful you came into my life, boss¡­" Shye, Shirley, Luna, and the priests and priestesses who came to help couldn¡¯t help but smile gently. Watching loved ones suffer under a curse, unable to do anything despite giving your all, was an agonizing challenge that demanded iron will and unwavering determination. Thus, even though they initially joined for personal gain, none of them remembered that as their hearts swelled with indescribable joy. They had helped create a heartwarming moment¡ªone where three people, once destined to be separated forever, were granted more time to cherish each other¡¯spany. The scene reminded them of the oaths they had once sworn to the gods and goddesses they served¡ªvows that had long been forgotten. Unbeknownst to Shye, at that moment, the ten saints¡ªwhose stories of evesting kindness would one day spread throughout all of Adthiopia¡ªwere born. "Well then, Seira, I still have a lot to take care of at the main branch. You¡¯ll be okay here, right?" Shye said, rubbing the midget¡¯s back. "Uuu¡­yes, boss! I¡¯ll return to the main branch and serve you as soon as I can!" Seira replied enthusiastically, extremely happy and relieved. @@novelbin@@ Nodding at the midget, Shye retrieved a few scrolls from the inventory, handing them over a piece each to the ten future saints, Shirley, Seira, and Luna. "S-S-Special teleporter return scrolls!" the ten subordinates eximed in unison,pletely stunned by what their division leader had just given them. Earlier, they had been wondering how they would return to Valenzia, assuming that the long journey back¡ªa month using normal travel and teleporter routes¡ªwas their leader¡¯s real request. If they received the rewards Shye had promised, the month-long trip would have been worth it. They never imagined they¡¯d be given special teleporter return scrolls for free. All of them knew that each scroll was worth fifty gold coins, which was not a cheap price for a one-time-use item. Moreover, even if one wanted to acquire them, it would be impossible to do so without obtaining a Valenzia Special Teleporter Pass. Hence, the item that was in their hands was truly worth way more than what they cost. It could even be considered a pseudo-life-saving item. "Everyone, I appreciate your help. You can im your rewards at the division¡¯s rewards desk in a day. Feel free to explore Balkrow or return to headquarters as you prefer. As for me and these two... uh... maidens, we¡¯ll head back to the guild headquarters for now." After giving his subordinates the freedom to use the scrolls as they wished, Shye activated the return scroll along with Shirley and Luna. A thin azure light then descended from the heavens, enveloping the three of them and causing them to disappear from Seira¡¯s house. Your next journey awaits at NovelBin.C?m Momentster, they reappeared in Valenzia City¡¯s square, drawing attention as a brilliant azure light descended from the heavens, revealing three young figures: the renowned Shye Crowley and two stunning beauties who could bring an ancient kingdom back to mere dust and rubbles. "Shirley, you¡¯ll join my division, right?" Shye asked as they passed through the crowded streets of Valenzia City. "Hmph, aren¡¯t you forgetting something?" The beauty replied, feigning coldness. Luna was a sensible woman, so she quickly put some distance between herself and the couple, a hint of bitterness creeping into her heart without her noticing. As the lovers bickered on their return journey to the main headquarters, they inadvertently left the other beauty isted. Despite this, she enjoyed exploring the city, taking in the high-rise buildings, elegant restaurants and shops, and the lively, wide streets. Before they knew it, they were back to the main headquarters. Shye then greeted everyone who greeted him back amiably while leading the two beauties towards the division lounge, suddenly remembering something important, one that he should¡¯ve asked long ago. "H-Hey, Luna, I forgot to ask, but¡­would you like to join my division?" Upon hearing Shye¡¯s words, Luna flinched slightly. She had been anticipating this question, as it would have been disastrous to follow him to the division lounge only to find out she wasn¡¯t actually invited. Her heart was finally at ease. "Y-Yeah, can I? Your division seems quite popr¡­ a-am I qualified to join?" Luna asked nervously, her stern exterior softening to reveal glimpses of her sweet, gentle nature. Naturally, Shye wouldn¡¯t let go of this chance to break the ice between the two of them. Luna had always been a pleasant acquaintance. He wouldn¡¯t mind if they became friends, as he found her quite trustworthy. Additionally, she was very talented, so he was eyeing to recruit her to the old man¡¯s organization. He had a feeling that Luna¡¯s strong sense of justice and responsibility would drive her to fight for what is right. "Of course!" Shye replied enthusiastically, yfully patting his chest to lighten the mood and break the ice. "If the strongest member of the Balkrow branch wasn¡¯t qualified, then no one would be!" "I-I wasn¡¯t the strongest¡­How could I be the strongest with you around?" Shirley knew when to joke and when to be serious. So, she simply let the two converse with a subtle, understanding smile, aware that Shye wasn¡¯t making a pass at Luna. "Well then, shall we register you two?" Chapter 596: Bombshell Revelations "Haaah¡­Haaah¡­Yes, Shye! That¡¯s it! I¡¯m cumm¨C..." Passionate sounds echoed from a certain moderately sized luxurious house inside Valenzia City for almost an entire night. Because of the manamunicator, Shye and Shirley had agreed to meet again on the big stage at Shirley¡¯s request, so it had been a long time since theyst did the deed. This resulted in both of them longing for the other¡¯s warm and sweet embrace. They were at it for hours before finally feeling satisfied, then turned in for the night to rest up for the next day. As the majestic sun bathed the world in light, banishing the night¡¯s lingering chill, Shirley woke up, feeling a bit weary in her lower body. She was used to waking up early. Hence, despite staying upte, she was still the first to get up from the bed, heading straight towards the bathroom to wash up. @@novelbin@@ She headed to the kitchen to prepare a hearty meal for Shye, who woke up just in time, drawn by the savory aroma of garlic fried rice, an assortment of fried meats, saut¨¦ed vegetables, and more. It wasn¡¯t just a hearty meal but aplete one with almost all kinds of nutrients covered. Naturally, Shye cherished the heartwarming scene that greeted him first thing in the morning. It touched his heart and made him wish he could capture that moment and relive it endlessly. Getting out of bed, he headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth before going to the kitchen and giving his woman a sweet back hug, eliciting the cutest giggle from the renowned Ice Queen of Nookbury. The couple then had the most delightful of breakfasts. Despite the smiling exterior, Shye was actually nervous as heck. He had already mulled over telling Shirley about the old man and his allegiance. However, he couldn¡¯t help but doubt whether his decision to tell her was correct, as he didn¡¯t want her to be involved if possible. Unfortunately, he knew that as one of the up-anding talents of Valenzia, it would be impossible for her to not be involved. The WAA would likely conscript her into the fight against the old man¡¯s terrorist group, as the organization was probably now under Dweezel¡¯s puppet strings, none the wiser that the conniving bastard was the true viin. If so, then it would be better to trust his dearest and let her decide for herself, as they might end up on different sides of the battle should he act indecisively like a wuss. Sometimes, opting for the risky choice was the correct answer. Resolving himself onest time, Shye looked at Shirley straight in her eyes, his expression stern. "Shye?" the beauty said, confused. "Shirley, I have something important to tell you." "W-what is it?" Judging from the tone of her beloved¡¯s voice, it was an extremely important one, possibly a matter of life and death. "Sigh¡­where do I begin¡­" Shye sighed, removing what little nervousness remained in his heart. "Well, to summarize, the world will end if we don¡¯t put a stop to the evil deeds of a certain viin hailed as a hero. Thus, we have to y the viin for a while to save the world. D-Did that make sense?" Shirley blinked a few times, stupefied at what she just heard. She expected to hear something big. However, not one of this scale. "C-Can you exin more?" she asked, slightly nervous as images of her parents shed through her mind. She wanted to give them a good life once she made it on the big stage. However, if there was no world for them to reside in, then her hard work would be for naught. Shirley¡¯s reaction gave Shye hope. He had been unsure how to start, but unknowingly, he had provided the best possible introduction to the issue, significantly increasing his chances of persuading her to join his side. After all, the entire world would be a battlefield between two great forces of kindness and evil, though the roles in reality were reversed. The safest ce for Shirley was probably by his side, and that¡¯s why he took the risk to tell her. "To put it simply, sealing the ck Dragon fifty years ago was a huge mistake, a sham done for the sake of personal benefit by the one hailed as the greatest hero, Dweezel Hawkins." Upon hearing Shye¡¯s words, Shirley frowned slightly. Her father, despite his modest achievements as an adventurer, was her biggest idol and a fan of Dweezel. Because of this, Shirley had always held a positive view of the greatest hero. She was a bit heartbroken to hear that Dweezel Hawkins wasn¡¯t as heroic as how she believed the man to be. She knew Shye had no reason to lie to her, especially since he had even revealed his biggest secret in the hope of advancing side by side with her. So, despite how unbelievable it sounded, she fully believed his story. Shye had underestimated how much Shirley trusted him, taking out an orb of truth in hopes of making her believe him. He didn¡¯t even notice that she was already fully convinced without him even taking out the orb due to how tense he was. "Shye¡­ I appreciate the effort you¡¯re making to prove that you¡¯re not lying to convince me. However, I fully trust you. There¡¯s no need for you to harm yourself just to make me believe you¡¯re telling the truth. I know you are," Shirley said sweetly with a smile, tugging at Shye¡¯s heartstrings. ¡¯What an angel... I¡¯m quite the lucky guy¡­,¡¯ Shye thought subconsciously. He entered the rtionship with the mindset of seeing how long it wouldst. Who would have guessed that what started as a whimsical, puppy love between two youngsters would develop into something so deep? It was a fairy tale love story. Only, they were just at the point in their story where they had to battle evil for their chance at eternal happiness. Shye then proceeded to exin that the old man he told her about in the past, the one who gave him the system, was actually the leader of thergest and most notorious terrorist group in Adthiopia whose operations spanned all regions, Hadean Varsa. He also exined that Sanada Eiichiro, more known as the Voidweaver, was a member of the Yon Augenn Hero Party fifty years ago. The old man aimed to rectify the mistakes of their party by releasing the ck dragon and taking down Dweezel, who held a firm grip on the world¡¯s most powerful authority, the World Adventurer Association. Every piece of information was like a modern-day atomic bomb, wreaking chaos and utter havoc inside Shirley¡¯s brain, shaking her heart. Finally, the fact that mana dungeons have been sprouting all over the world and siphoning its mana was the information that made her believe everything wholeheartedly, convincing her that the world would indeed be doomed if Dweezel managed to achieve immortality and keep the ck Dragon sealed. She couldn¡¯t fathom how the fraudster nned to survive in a dead world, but knowing how cunning Dweezel was, she was certain he had the scheme to be the sole recognized ruler of a deste Adthiopia. Only those who submitted to him would be allowed to live. Naturally, Shirley would rather die fighting for the right cause than live under the control of an evil ruler in a lifeless world. Stay updated with NovelBin.C?m "I¡¯ll fight alongside you, Shye. For our future, and our children¡¯s¡­" Chapter 598 Delivery Still iplete was the Colzen Seven, thus prompting Shye to dy his ns a bit more. Though he wasn''t yet prepared to confront the mightiest adventurers, he was confident in his ability to either hold his ground or escape if necessary. This made him anxious about gathering a dependable, strong team, as he sought to gain every small advantage he could for their faction, for a green dawn, steadily building up over time until the final battle against the evil hero. He had no idea when he would receive an order to sh with Dweezel''s forces and time was of the essence. Therefore, while awaiting Harry and David''s arrival, Shye instructed the Colzen members, along with Luna, Lesurii, and Seira once she returned, to split into two parties and farm guild contribution points under the pretense of "aiming to be a five-star division," as he couldn''t yet reveal the truth about his real mission. At least not to Siegfried, Ian, and Kiin. Shirley, Siegfried, Lesurii, and Wendy formed the first party while the secondprised Kiin, Luna, Seira, and Ian. All of them were of diamond and high-emerald rank. Moreover, they were far from "normal," as they were elites among their peers, capable of challenging those a rank higher. They were talented individuals getting closer to the peak after years of training andbat, with some starting from a young age. While some had received Shye''s help and others had not, the differences in their strengths were minimal, and they were certainly toe-to-toe¡ªat least for now. Shye did not join them for he had other things to aplish, ones that would cause small ripples in the world and shape the final battle. Two weeks from now, he shall be appointed as Valenzia''s first hero, receiving a crest on his body, a title, and a substantial increase in strength. A tragic irony as he would be portrayed as one of humanity''s biggest enemies and shall go down the annals of dark history as one should they fail. However, before anything else, he would need to apany Reginald, respond to the old man''s summons, and deliver the false core, which had been so difficult to secure, especially with Mira going berserk. He had nearly ended up in a confrontation with Albus Verona of the Poison Cloud over it. If not for Frozen End and Rai Hou arguing fiercely for his sake, it would''ve been a disaster. It also helped that the WAA favored him over Mira Holyfield and, though unbelievable, Albus Verona. They asked him, however, what he intended to do with it. Luckily, his intelligence attribute was high, allowing him to spout out some bullshit reason that had something to do with research for his advancement as a mage. The arcane was mysterious; and so, he was let off pretty easily by the handlers, a token of gratitude for a job well done. This, however, made Mira go eerily silent, appearing to have epted the ownership of the false core. Swearing to avoid the exteriorly kind yet mentally unstable priestess, Shye left, the false core in his hands. Now, he was off to deliver it to the old man. "Regi, let''s go." He said to the young man sitting on the couch inside Hadean Varsa''s secret establishment in Valenzia City. "Yes, Your Majesty!" Reginald Bodan jested, retrieving a specialized return scroll from his spatial bag and tossing it toward Shye. Off the two went as they activated the scrolls, eerily enveloped by dark purple light that sent them straight to a metal room with an enormous magic circle on the floor, seemingly of the void and space element.@@novelbin@@ ''Phew¡­.'' Shye took a deep breath. He was back to Hadean Varsa''s headquarters¡ªthe unpleasant faction he swore allegiance to for a hopeful tomorrow. If given a choice, most, including him, would''ve preferred to be a side character that lived a normal life, a mere shadow to the brightest of lights. Who the hell would volunteer to save the world if there were others who could? Certainly not him. However, apparently, it was only he who could do so, the lone vestige of light capable of blowing away the encroaching dark. ''Bullshit!'' he inwardly cursed. He was no hero! He merely wanted to live a decent and happy life, with Shirley, with his children, his grandchildren, and his great-grandchildren should his health allow him to. Now, if he wanted all that, fiercely he would have to battle. Arriving at the familiar room where he learned of the greatest of revtions, Shye took another deep breath, causing a metallic sound to echo the next moment as he knocked on the door with a not-so-pleasant countenance. "Old man." He said,pelling a sigh out of the bald elder''s mouth. "You may enter, Shye." Upon receiving the old man''s confirmation, Shye entered immediately, his eyes widening in shock and anger. It seemed that Sanada had a talent for infuriating him. Your next chapter awaits on My Virtual Library Empire Beside the old man sat a familiar face, not human but monstrous. It was the same bastard who had ambushed them repeatedly, the one responsible for Koneko''s death and for threatening to ruin the extermination party''s mission early on: the Voidos Nightstalker. Shye had always wondered where it went. Heck, he even anticipated its ambush at the final battle, ready to take its life in one swift and decisive blow. It didn''t appear, however, even when they were iming the true core which would result in the destruction of what Shye perceived to be its home. As it turned out, the Horza idde Mana Dungeon wasn''t the creature''s home as it was merely another intruder sent by the old man. "YOU BASTARD!! THIS CREATURE WAS YOURS ALL ALONG?!" Shye raged in a loud voice, causing Reginald to flinch. This was the first time he was allowed by the old man to apany Shye when meeting him. Thus, he was quite surprised to find that the two weren''t on pleasant terms. "Calm down, Shye, I''ll exin my actions and the reason why I needed a false core¡­" Chapter 599 False Cores Purpose The old man naturally knew that Shye would be angry should he reveal that the Voidos Nightstalker was his tamed monster. However, to prevent Shye fromshing out at a critical moment, he decided it was better to face his wrath now rather than at a crucial timeter. "You better¡­" Shye said in a low growl, gnashing his teeth as he tossed an orb of truth over to the old man. "AHEM!" Sanada cleared his throat in preparation. "The reason is simple yet important: to grow our monstrous creature army." Hearing the old man''s words, Shye''s eyes narrowed. The arcane and the soul arts were equally mysterious and could never be fully uncovered without millenniums of research and practice. Hence, Shye''s curiosity was piqued, and he momentarily forgot his anger, for he yearned to learn more about how Sanada nned to use the false core to grow a monster army. "Let me get this straight. First, you sent that cursed Voidos Nightstalker to kill one of us¡ªthe lead scout, no less¡ªthen had it turn her head into a false core on the ninth floor before ordering the beast to retreat. Is that correct?" "...Yes, that''s correct. However, I chose her because you could cover her role best with your abilities. Taking the mage or the priestess would have led to failure. The lead scout had the fourth highest intelligence and wisdom, after the three of you. It had to be her." Shye was naturally surprised to find that Koneko''s intellectual attributes were higher than Rai Hou''s. ''Hmm¡­so she''s a crouching tiger, huh? Unfortunately, her journey was destined to end early when this bastard of an old man targeted her.'' He thought inwardly upon witnessing the orb of truth turn blue. He was slightly terrified. If Old Man Sanada, who was merely the leader of a terrorist group, could take a champion''s life so easily, then he could only imagine how Dweezel operated. The man was, after all, way more despicable than the bald old man. Oh, how much worse were the atrocitiesmitted by the so-called greatest hero? "I shall continue with my exnation." Sanada''s voice once again sounded, seizing Shye''s attention and cutting his thoughts off. "The (S) ranked false core, once ced inside a Lord Dungeon under our control, would enable me to create an entrance barrier that restricts adventurers'' ess, much like those of mana dungeons." The old man exined, pausing slightly to observe Shye''s reaction before continuing: "I intend to make the requirements so high that not many could attempt to enter, allowing our forces to breed and grow. Additionally, the false core would siphon mana, and with a bit of assistance from soul arts, it would harness elemental energies to produce variant species." Shye couldn''t deny that he was impressed at the old bastard''s knowledge in the mystical arcane and soul arts. He could even create a hybrid of a lord and mana dungeon depending on what he needed and what would be advantageous for him. However¡­ "Wouldn''t the WAA find this dungeon of yours strange?" Shye asked with a doubtful expression. "Of course they would." The old man replied confidently, perplexing Shye even more. "However, the Lord Dungeon is located in a region whose city lord and director swore allegiance to our faction. The enemies wouldn''t notice until it''s toote." Shye nodded in understanding. If it was like this, then he found the old man''s actions tolerable, inhumane, and desperate as they were. He wouldn''t wish for their faction''s operations to fail. Moreover, he wasn''t some pretentious bastard who would pull punches against an equally despicable, if not more adversary. The two rotting old bastards could sink as low as they wanted, as long as their vile actions didn''t involve those close to him, and he wouldn''t bat an eye. However, he would make sure they emerged victorious, for the oue would determine whether a bright dawn or infinite, cold darkness awaited them. "Fine. I''ll go along with your ns, old man. I''ve been saving up points just like you told me to, and I assume you''re aware that I''ll be appointed as a hero in two weeks. Any advice on how to get the most out of it?" He asked, turning the old man''s expression into a stern one. "Great thing you asked. Prioritize increasing your agility, dexterity, and intelligence. Raise them by fifty more points before the hero inauguration ceremony." Sanada said, causing Shye''s brows to furrow. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire "Those three attributes will be increasingly difficult to improve the more points you invest in them, in line with the real world''s training mechanics. Additionally, the system will raise the cost of those attributes once you surpass a certain threshold." "I''m the system''s administrator. But as I mentioned in the past, it has its limitations, and everythinges with a price you wouldn''t want to know about¡ªat least not right now." Shye inwardly agreed with Sanada. He knew that the old bastard, despite his noble intentions to correct his wrongs, was a despicable man who would do anything necessary to achieve his goals, possibly a firm believer that the ends justify the means.@@novelbin@@ If he persistently asked for the old man''s secrets now, it might simply dampen his mood or resolve upon learning of the atrocities Sanadamitted. He, too, was already deep into this. He had no choice but to lower his moral standards for as long as Dweezel was alive and his forces aplenty. "Fine. If there''s nothing else then I shall take my leave." Shye said, retrieving a return scroll from the system''s inventory. He had lots of things to do back at the guild, mostly his duties as a division leader, so he had to go back as soon as possible. "You''re¡­not gonna ask where your parents are?" Sanada asked. "Hmph! And why should I? Since they''re prioritizing the mission, I shall do the same." Shye snorted, swiftly activating the return scroll in his hands. ''They should be the ones looking for me. Why should I seek them out when I''ve spent the past few years doing just that, only to discover we''ve been abandoned?'' Chapter 601 Nookies New Rank And Abilities ''Oh? The little imp evolved! Way to go, Nookie!'' Shye was ready to step in if the little imp needed help. He hadn''t anticipated that his Necrollin Puppeteer would evolve into a Necrollin Master Puppeteer¡ªa hidden blessing within the danger little Nookie faced. However, Nookie wasn''t so little anymore; it had grown to the size of a child, standing about four and a half feet tall, though it didn''t resemble one at all. Its limbs were now disturbingly long and thin, and its face resembled that of a sinister demon as if it had crawled straight out of a horror story. It looked like something that would haunt one''s nightmares, appearing if they went to sleep without praying for a guardian angel''s protection. "You''ll all pay for destroying my precious Bambee! Even if you try to escape now, I''ll hunt each and every one of you to the edges of the world!" Nookie roared, its voice resembling that of ancient, unholy witches. The sound sent chills down the adventurers'' spines, made their hearts tremble, and caused their skin to crawl. At that moment, only a few of them didn''t regret their choice to embark on this random purge mission posted by multiple guilds. There were initially twenty-five of them. Now, only ten of them remain. The operation was an absolute disaster. Yet, they couldn''t retreat even if they wanted to due to multiple reasons. First, there was no way they could back out now after suffering such losses, or they would be the butt of jokes amongst the adventurers of Roddentrodge City. Secondly, they knew that Necrollins were intensely vengeful creatures; thus, even if they chose to retreat now, this one would likely hunt them to all corners of the world, just as it had vowed. They didn''t dare take the risk, as they preferred a peaceful daily life, facing danger only asionally during quests, rather than living in constant fear of a sudden attack by the vengeful Necrollin. They knew they had to kill it now, or they would be forced to live in fear forever¡ªespecially since the cursed Necrollin seemed to have evolved into some kind of variant. Unfortunately, they didn''t have Shye''s appraisal skill, and they couldn''t be certain about what had happened to their monstrous foe. They could only fight on. "Everyone, don''t worry about its evolution! It still needs its puppets to pose a threat to us! If we destroy the remaining three puppets, its evolution will be meaningless!" The operation leader named Abel eximed in an attempt to rally his teammates and give them a small morale boost. Experience more tales on My Virtual Library Empire He didn''t lie. Necrollin Puppeteers would always need puppets to be a threat, so as long as they destroy the remaining three puppets, they would prevail. Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with the Necrollin Master Puppeteer, as it was an exceedingly rare creature. Probably only one in ten thousand Necrollin Puppeteers would awaken their talents and evolve, leaving most people unaware of their abilities. Unbeknownst to the purge party, the corpses of theirrades, located about a kilometer away, were starting to twitch uncontrobly, as if responding to a dark, unholy summons. Even Shye and Zeth weren''t aware. At first, the only noticeable change was that the remaining puppets moved more fluidly, making them slightly more powerful. This naturally gave the purge party the confidence to prevail, allowing them to make riskier maneuvers that, in turn, resulted in greater chances to destroy Nookie''s puppets. In their minds, if this was the only change brought about by evolution, then as long as they stick to their n and work a little harder, they would be able to eventually bring down the necrollin. Minutes passed one after the other as the remaining puppets engaged in a fierce skirmish against the ten fairly high-ranked adventurers, swinging their horrifying ws and opening their gigantic maws as they lunged, wed, and chomped at their adversaries. In contrast, the adventurers masterfully dodged, sidestepping, dashing, and blinking away from the attacks, followed by mediocre retaliation from theirrades that slowly but surely destroyed the bodies of Nookie''s puppets. The adventurers believed that time was on their side as there were ten of them and only one necrollin puppeteer. The scrawny monster was bound to tire out faster, a huge blunder as a few dozen of meters away, the corpses of their formerrades dashed towards their location, as fast as when they were alive, if not faster. Their best bet would''ve been to go all out right from the start and take Nookie out before his reinforcements arrived. Unfortunately, they weren''t even aware that they made the worst decision, horribly failing in strategy due to theirck of information against their opponent. After a few more minutes of intensebat, footsteps sounded, those of humans, causing Shye to feel rmed as he was worried for Nookie. He decided to intercept the adventurers'' reinforcements, thinking that it would be too much for the recently evolved Necrollin. However, before he could even stand up, Zeth stopped him. ''Master, there''s no need to help the little imp. I sense no life from the bodies of the reinforcements.'' The duchess said, momentarily confusing Shye. Then, a few more millisecondster, he realized what was happening. ''The reinforcements were Nookie''s!'' He inwardly eximed, finally seeing one of them up close sprinting at full speed. They were indeed the corpses of the fallen adventurers they saw on the way.@@novelbin@@ However, what puzzled Shye, or at least made him doubt what was happening, was that some of the corpses were found more than a kilometer away from their current location. ''Can Nookie now sense the locations of corpses more than a kilometer away and control them?'' He pondered. If so, then his Necrollin should at least be¡­ ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Necrollin Master Puppeteer [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Dark/Void Shye didn''t focus much on its attributes as the Necrollin Master Puppeteer''s strengths lie in its ability to control multiple high-ranked corpses and how smoothly they could do it. The ability to sense corpses was merely a rather imbnced bonus. ''Hoh, as I thought, it is now an S-ranked creature¡­'' Chapter 602 Hired Goons Beneath the dusky skies, a nauseating crack sounded as yet another (S-) ranked corpse was destroyed by a vicious hammer blow from one of the ten adventurers. However, this time, the Necrollin didn''t throw a short tantrum like it did earlier.@@novelbin@@ Nookie merely gazed at the humans coldly, engraving each of their faces deep into its memory, a single teardrop sliding down its left cheek. For the more faint-hearted ones, the evolved necrollin''s actions were extremely disturbing, making their hearts pound wildly in negative anticipation of what was toe in the future. "Everyone, stay calm! The monster is down to itsst two puppets. The Ember Wyvern poses little threat, so focus on taking down the Bloodwyrm. Victory is within our reach¡ªdon''t lose yourposure, and don''t rush! Stay steady and secure a slow, but certain, victory!" The leader, Abel, said. He was the only one with nary a hint of fear in his heart, believing that dead necrollins need not be feared as they would never be able to achieve revenge from the other side of the Samsara bridge regardless of how hard it tried. Moreover, he secretly fired a signal re asking for the assistance of high-ranked goons he secretly hired for such a moment. Once the mercenaries he hired arrived and secured their victory, he had a n that would allow him to im the lion''s share of the spoils, leaving the rest of the purge party to pick at the leftovers. He didn''t care whether the others benefited or not¡ªthey weren''t from his guild anyway. Besides, with his extensive connections in Roddentrodge City, no one would dare retaliate against him for what he nned to do. This was the reason why he wasn''t scared of Nookie one bit despite its evolution. ''Oh? Has help already arrived?'' Abel thought inwardly upon hearing multiple footstepsing behind them, a smile gracing his ugly, scheming face. Unfortunately for him, it indeed was reinforcements However, for the enemy, that is; and since his crafty, conniving, and dastardly self was a mage, he stood at the back, safest amongst his peers. This positioning backfired on him, as he was in prime position to be attacked by the corpse puppets first. "Hahaha, wasn''t your response a bit too quick, Adan? I didn''t expect you to arrive so soon. I guess the rewards were just too tempting to resist, huh?" were Abel''sst words as the next second, scarlet blood fountained into the air, sttering on the ground as his head rolled a few meters beneath hisrades. "H-HIIIHH!! ABEL!!" The priest standing just a few meters away screamed in terror, utterly confused by what was happening. Momentster, the priest turned towards the sound of approaching footsteps, nearly fainting from sheer fear and disbelief at what he saw. Behind them were fifteen of theirrades, whom they had all seen die without a doubt. Yet there they were, moving as if their bodies bore no wounds at all. "C-CORPSES!!" The priest eximed, prompting even the warriors, who were doing their best to survive the Bloodwyrm''s attacks, to look back, momentarily losing focus. This led to one of them being instantly killed, reduced to nothing more than dismembered flesh. With Abel and another warrior dead, only eight members of the purge party remained. Panic set in as their hearts trembled in terror at the grim fate that seemed to await them. Otherworldly ghosts seemed to be celebrating, beckoning them toe to the other side. Almost instantly, they fell apart, four of them instantly ran away while the other four immediately changed targets, opting to destroy the corpses of their formerrades first. Unfortunately, what could they do when their allies already abandoned them? The four who dared struggle against their dark fate were easily overwhelmed by the fifteen corpses, shed and sted apart, quickly joining the ranks of Nookie''s puppets mere momentster. Meanwhile, the other four darted in different directions, increasing their chances of surviving, albeit minimally. Nookie immediately pursued one with its Ember Wyvern and Bloodwyrm puppets while sending the adventurer corpses after the others who were desperately fleeing. If it let them get more than a kilometer and a half away, its revenge would have to wait for another day¡ªthough it would certainly hunt them down if it came to that. The master puppeteer, however, would prefer to kill them all today, thus quickly disposing of the adventurer it was chasing with a single vicious swat from the Bloodwyrm puppet. It then swiftly moved toward the others, its skill, [(Dark) All-Seeing Eye Lv.1(Epic)], monitoring everything within a kilometer-and-a-half radius. Unfortunately, it seemed impossible to kill all of the adventurers today as it was inevitable that one would escape. Hence, Nookie decided to coldly gaze upon the face of the adventurer who would escape, engraving it deep in its memory. What the scrawny necrollin didn''t expect, however, was that two blurs would dash out from the thickets near the adventurer who was about to escape, blocking the man''s path and putting a smile on its hideous face. "Master! It eximed happily." It seemed that it wasn''t in any danger today, after all, as its master was nearby, observing its progress. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire Eager to meet its master it hadn''t seen in a long time, Nookie momentarily forgot about the destruction of its favorite puppets, quickly killing the remaining stragglers before flying over to where Shye and Zeth were. "Master! You''re here!" "Nookie, I apologize for not moving sooner, resulting in the destruction of your puppets. However, I wanted to see how far you can go." "No worries, Master! Nookie understands. Also, I thank the master for capturing the remaining one." It seemed that after evolving into a master puppeteer, Nookie''s mastery of the humannguage improved by leaps and bounds. It now spoke like a normal human. "No problem. I suspect that at least one of these bastards knew you''re a tamed monster, yet they still dared to hunt you down. I also wanted to teach at least one of them a lesson, so you don''t need to thank me." Chapter 604 Eduardo "Phew, this ce should do¡­" Upon discovering that guilds from Roddentrodge City, Valenzia''s second-ranked city, were issuing quests to hunt Nookie, Shye realized it couldn''t stay in its former training grounds. The situation was too dangerous, particrly with the necrollin''s puppets now reduced to just two formidable corpses: an (A) ranked Ember Wyvern and an (S) ranked Bloodwyrm, along with a few slightly damaged adventurer corpses it was keeping temporarily.@@novelbin@@ It would be hard for the little guy to defend itself should another purge party attack. Thus, Shye decided to head over to Valenzia Region''s vastest and most dangerous Death Zone, the Edenheim Death Zone, where (A) ranked to (S-) ranked creatures were aplenty and (S) ranked creatures ran amuck. Then, after finding a suitable area close to multiple apexirs, a water source, and small (S-) ranked creature domains, Shye decided to set up camp, nary a hint of fear in his heart. He got so used to fighting such high-ranked creatures, in disadvantageous situations even, that they scared him no longer. He was already numb to the auras of (S-) ranked monstrous creatures and below; and only (S) ranked ones could make his heart race, the intensity depending on which creature he was facing. It was the inevitable oue and growth after fighting and taking down a Void Dragon. Shye''s hands moved deftly, his seasoned movements allowing him to finish setting up his camp in merely ten minutes, campfire at the ready and all. Now, it was time for Zeth and Nookie''s most anticipated moment: hunting. Shye decided to go with Nookie, allowing the duchess to run free and wreak as much havoc as it wanted inside the death zone for an entire week, consuming cores as though they were chocte chip cookies. Meanwhile, he boosted his agility, dexterity, and intelligence attributes by fifty each, following Sanada''s advice, which brought his remaining point savings down to 300,000. He believed that he would soon earn a lot of points again, however, so he didn''t mind spending points. A pity that he couldn''t broadcast his current hunts, as it would reveal Nookie''s prowess. The scrawny necrollin was his hidden ace. He couldn''t just reveal how strong it was to the world. For an entire week, Shye fought and killed (S-) ranked monsters alone, collecting new puppets for Nookie to use. He even took care to inflict minimal damage on the bodies, targeting the creatures'' brains to ensure the rest of their bodies remained intact. However, dealing with (S)-ranked monsters was a different story. He had to rely on Nookie''s help and couldn''t afford to hold back. A single mistake could be fatal, and it was only thanks to his Impious Origin Belt''s [Barrier of the Condemned], which had saved him over twenty times, that he could continue hunting. His recently enhanced agility, dexterity, and intelligence also contributed to his survival. By the end of the week, he and Nookie managed to hunt fifteen (S-) ranked monstrous creatures and three (S) ranked ones, albeit all on a significantly lower level than the Void Dragon. Fortunately, out of the fifteen (S-)-ranked creatures, the Necrollin managed to turn nine into its puppets, with only one being usable in the (S)-ranked category: the (S)-ranked Moon Wolf. Nevertheless, it was a substantial harvest that would enable Nookie to gather more puppets on its own, especially since it could now control even (S) ranked puppets with ease. Whether it could maintain that smooth and masterful control as the number of its puppets increased, only time would tell. Zeth was quite pleased with her harvest as well, having sessfully in thirty (S-)-ranked creatures and five (S)-ranked ones, consuming their cores in the process. However, she was forced to retreat from a pair of (S)-ranked Sr Serpents after mistakenly engaging them at high noon when their power was at its peak. It was only a week of grinding. In just a week of grinding, Shye''s core forces¡ªthough only consisting of Zeth, Nookie, and its puppets¡ªhad already be a formidable power that even an entire hero party might struggle to subdue, depending on which region''s heroes they were. Nevertheless, Shye knew that this force of his was merely weak and destitute, average at best,pared to Dweezel''s and the old man''s. He, Zeth, and Nookie needed to grow stronger, and quickly. Realizing that he had to stop training for now as his hero''s inauguration was drawing near, Shye found himself in a dilemma. Nookie and his corpse army were indeed strong. However, the Edenheim Death Zone was the most dangerous ce in all of Valenzia. While it might be rtively safe for Nookie to hunt with him and Zeth nearby, it was far too risky to let it hunt alone due to the myriad of dangers, the most formidable of which were dragons. Within the Edenheim Death Zone were pure-blooded dragons far stronger than Veidrax, and even Zeth didn''t dare approach them for now. Should Nookie encounter one, its damaged (S) ranked corpses would be no different than paper shields, as a dragon''s power could even easily destroy the scales of other dragons who boast unmatched toughness and defensive capabilities. Additionally, its mount, the Ember Wyvern, wouldn''t be fast enough to outrun such powerful sovereigns, whose wings were far stronger and muchrger than those of a wyvern. After mulling over things for a while, Shye decided that it would be better for Nookie to stop training alone for now. He would think of a way to allow it to grow its corpse army again, but for now, Nookie shall hide in void pockets and follow him around. However, there was one problem. ''How can we bring its corpse army along?'' He wondered. Zeth wanted to help her master and guide him, but unfortunately, she wasn''t familiar with this world that much yet so her age didn''t trante into experience. In the end, Shye turned to Nookie and asked the little necrollin. "Hey, Nookie, I have decided that it would be too dangerous for you to hunt alone for now so I''m thinking of taking you along with me," Shye said with a serious expression, taking the little necrollin''s corpse puppets very seriously as it cherished its army with much love and care. "However, I must apologize in advance, as I can''t bring all of your corpse puppets with us; my corpse containers are limited. We should find a safe ce to hide them and returnter to retrieve them." Corpse containers were costly in terms of system points, and it would be highly inefficient to spend arge number of points on purchasing additional containers. Oddly enough, Nookie didn''t seem upset by the news, leading Shye to believe that the arrangement he proposed was eptable to the little necrollin. He didn''t expect that Nookie would have another handy skill that would solve the corpse container problem. "Worry not, master. Nookie had already created Void Containers for my corpses in the past week. I can bring them along with me." Shortly after asserting that he could store all his corpses in a Void Container he had created, Nookie performed a series of hand seals before mming both its slender hands into the ground. Enormous purple cracks then appeared, gradually widening and causing twelve massive purple caskets to rise from the earth, emerging with a surprising silence, like a stillke. "Damn! Nookie, that''s really handy! What is this technique of yours called?" Well, Shye already knew. However, he was also aware that the little necrollin loved boasting whenever it could, so he gave it a chance to do so. "Hahaha! I''m awesome aren''t I, master?" Nookie boasted proudly, clearing its throat. "Ahem! Behold! I would like to call this technique, the "Ed¨C" "The Ed?" Shye asked with a confused expression as it seemed that the little necrollin abruptly cut its own words. "Ah, I apologize, master! I just recalled my father, who was the first to master this technique. He demonstrated it to me once before he suddenly vanished, leaving me alone. Fortunately, I was adopted by my previous master." Shye blinked his eyes, taken aback by the sudden backstory. "Let me continue! I call this technique, the Eduardo Tensei! In honor of my father, Eduardo the Necrollin Master Puppeteer!" Again, Shye couldn''t help but blink his eyes repeatedly, extremely amused at the necrollin''s antics. He already appraised the necrollin, and the skill was simply called [Necrollin''s Void Storage]. It was definitely not called Eduardo Tensei in the slightest! Chapter 605 Surrounded With Zeth''s help, Shye and Nookie quickly arrived at Valenzia City''s majestic and glorious gates, thetter exiting the void pocket before they reached the entrance.@@novelbin@@ Shye didn''t dare risk challenging the city''s security, as the situation might only get dicier if Nookie was caught infiltrating through its void pockets. Should that happen, it would definitely be more difficult for him to exin, a not-so-ideal scenario for someone about to be inaugurated as a hero He had Nookie''s registration papers anyway. There was no need to hide. His decision proved correct as the check didn''t evenst five minutes. He was, after all, the renowned Shye Crowley, undoubtedly an adventurer of Valenzia City. However, the guards asked him to update Nookie''s papers and inform the WAA that his necrollin puppeteer had evolved into a master puppeteer. Shye naturally agreed as it was only right and just. Subsequently, upon entering, he quickly headed towards the city hall to meet s and talk about his hero''s inauguration. "Ahem!" s cleared his throat with a slight cough, ncing at Shye with an apologetic expression. "C-Crowley, I must apologize for the slight dy in your inauguration. To be honest, it''s rather strange¡ªmany members of the WAA Senate submitted a request to reject your hero''s inauguration. When that attempt failed, they filed another request, this time to dy the ceremony and move it to the WAA main headquarters in the Yon Augenn Region." Upon hearing s'' words, Shye''s eyes narrowed into slits. He couldn''t remember doing anything to displease the WAA. If anything, he had been the most loyal of dogs during the past year, even clearing a few thorny problems for them like the Horza idde Mana Dungeon. He couldn''t understand why there would be opposition within the WAA to his hero''s inauguration. Why were some people so adamantly against Valenzia having its first hero? Were they deliberately trying to suppress the region to maintain the status quo? These were the questions that swirled in Shye''s mind. However, the next moment, s once again spoke, leaving Shye even more confused. "If not for the majority of the directors advocating for your inauguration, it would have been postponed even longer. Fortunately, although the venue was moved to the main headquarters in the Yon Augenn Region, the dy was only by a week." The city lord paused for a moment, gauging Shye''s reaction before continuing: "You''ll need to head to Yon Augenn City. However, since it''s the WAA''s main stronghold, there''s no direct teleporter to the city, and even our special teleporter won''t work there. I suggest teleporting to Yonpo City and then traveling by foot to Yon Augenn. With your familiar, it shouldn''t be too difficult. You should make it in three to four days." Shye thanked s and offered a profound bow before saying farewell. He wanted to explore Yon Augenn City and its surroundings, scouting out the nearby adventurer zones. So, he decided to leave early, giving himself three days to arrive and have time to roam and explore. But first, he made a quick stop at the WAA headquarters in Valenzia to request an update to Nookie''s credentials. After all, with his fame and authority as a regional champion, it would only take about ten minutes to get it done. Once finished, he immediately headed towards the special teleporter in the city square, disappearing as a striking azure ray emerged from the teleporter''s magic circle, devouring his silhouette and transporting him to a faraway city¡ªone that was somehow far more developed than the capital city of his region. Skyscrapers that rose to the skies and made contact with the clouds towered over the world as though sovereign kings looking down on their subjects. Streets that were wider, built with more luxurious materials, and far more bustling than those in Valenzia could be seen at every turn. Bothmon folk and adventurers had smiles on their faces, and various shops were thriving. He had believed it would be difficult to surpass Valenzia City, only to discover, to his surprise, that there were plenty of cities in other regions that were not onlyparable but in some cases even better. At that moment, he had to ept that Valenzia was indeed a backwater region. ''Hmph! Doesn''t mean it will stay that way forever!'' He consoled himself. For the next sixteen hours, Shye explored the city, entering various shops that took his fancy and purchased a few handy items and consumables, pleasantly surprised that there was a branch of Constantine Consumables in Yonpo City. He also ate at seafood restaurants in the city, though he was a bit disappointed to find that the taste of the dishes wasn''t that much better than those in Valenzia City. It seemed that some things truly have limits, and cuisine was one such thing. After fully indulging in everything Yonpo City had to offer, Shye checked into an inn and slept for eight hours. Then, at first light, he left the city and headed toward Yon Augenn City, eager to receive his hero''s crest, which was said to significantly boost his attributes. He and the little imp naturally rode Zeth, as traveling would be faster that way and they could indeed reach Yon Augenn City within three to four days with how fast the duchess galloped across thends. The first day of travel passed without a hitch. Although he came across an (S-)-ranked creature that had wandered out of the nearby Death Zone to hunt, it quickly became one of Nookie''s puppets. Its brain was obliterated by a single multicolored beam, one of Shye''s trump cards, [Ninth Devastation Ray], which then went on cooldown for the next eight hours. Zeth didn''t even have to move a muscle and merely watched her master ughter the (S-) ranked Thunder Serpent. The second day went even more smoothly, with no encounters with creatures outside the adventurer zones and no bandits daring to attack. It was likely that a strong individual among the bandits sensed how dangerous the trio was. On the third day, however, Shye''s eyes widened as a familiar person barred his path, more than thirty adamantite-ranked adventurers protecting the individual. "Mister Crowley. I''ve tried time and again to retrieve Miss Koneko''s h-h-head from you as peacefully as possible. You forced me to do this¡­" Chapter 607 The Notorious Rogues Reputation "You heard her, Shye Crowley¡ªprepare to die! Perhaps you shouldn''t have been so arrogant or let your light shine so brightly!" Dante dered with a grin, raising his arms as if delivering a divine judgment on the young man before him. Soon after, a 200-meter-diameter istion dome emerged from the ground, designed to mask the assassination by projecting an illusion of peaceful surroundings. This dome would envelop everyone inside for two full hours.@@novelbin@@ While it could be destroyed, it would require at least ten powerful attacks from Zeth to break it down, making that strategy impractical for Shye''s small group. ''Heh, there''s no need to escape anyway.'' Shye inwardly sneered in disdain as his eyes darted around, analyzing the movements of the adamantite-ranked adventurers, who were walking yfully toward their designated positions. "Heh, bring it on. Forty-two adamantite-ranked adventurers? Come. Let''s find out if your ambush squad has what it takes to pose even a slight threat to me and my crew!" Shye dered arrogantly, signaling to Nookie to show the hired goons that they weren''t trapping him inside the dome with them¡ªinstead, they were the ones trapped inside with him. "Right away, master! Corpse summoning technique: Eduardo Tensei!" With a sinister cackle, Nookie''s eyes turned pitch-ck, his hands and fingers moving rapidly, performing various seals in a specific order. Shortly after, thirteen void caskets emerged from the ground, their covers dissipating into purple particles that scattered into the four winds, revealing thirteen horrifying monstrosities. Twitching for one second, the monster corpses roared, sending chills down the assassins'' spine and striking fear into their little human hearts. This naturally included Dante, whose mouth was agape upon seeing the horrors moving in front of him as though they were alive. "Hey! Mira! You said this guy only had one familiar as strong as an apex (S) ranked creature! So what the hell is this?!" he barked, demanding an exnation from Mira, who was equally as shocked. They naturally saw the necrollin behind Shye. However, there were multiple types of necrollins. None of them had anticipated that Nookie was a Master Puppeteer¡ªthe most dangerous kind of necrollin, often apanied by multiple corpses that were far stronger than itself. "I-I don''t know! I-I had no idea he had a tamed monster!" Mira eximed, her heart pounding furiously. If even Dante, usually so confident, was showing signs of panic, it was a clear indication that they were in a very dire situation. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire She wanted to drop to her knees and beg for forgiveness right then and there. Unfortunately, her sharp mind quickly grasped that if she did, everyone she brought here would likely end up dead¡ªexcept for her. Her heart was already struggling with the weight of the current mission, let alone the added guilt of treacherously saving herself at the cost of others'' lives. The thought that kept swirling in her mind was, ''What have I be...?'' At that moment, Mira appeared neither graceful nor holy; instead, she looked more like a mad witch, torn between morals and selfish, personal wishes. Fortunately, Dante''s moment of doubt was quickly reced by a resolute determination, restoring hope to the young priestess''s heart. "Hmph, I''ll admit you''re quite capable, Shye Crowley. But if you believe this is enough to stop us, you''re delusional! You''re not the only one with an army! Everyone, summon your familiars!" Everyone there was an adamantite-ranked adventurer, except for Shye, who was still of Mithril rank. Most of them had their own familiars, though they were of much lower qualitypared to Shye''s . Various essories¡ªnes, anklets, and bracelets¡ªtransformed into a diverse array of creatures. These included rodents, felines, canids, and more, all about half the height of a typical human. Yet, despite their size, they exuded an auraparable to (B-) ranked monsters and higher. "Master, you called?" The creatures eximed in unison, which, in turn, increased the confidence of the adamantite-ranked adventurers. Their familiars might be small. However, they had a wide array of skills that could pose a lot of problems for Shye''s famously strong king-ss familiar. Only, the adventurers didn''t anticipate that when their familiars saw Zeth, most of them would tremble, with only a few managing to control their fear. "H-Hiih! T-T-The duchess! Why is the Duchess of the Dusk here?!" One of them eximed in utter horror. Most of them recognized Zeth as the notorious rogue who caused endless trouble for the eight spirit kings. Now that they have to fight such a horrifying familiar spirit, they would naturally cower, all master-familiar ties be damned. "Arne! Exin! Who is this familiar spirit?" A few anxious members of the adamantite group attempted to closely examine Shye''s familiar, but they were unsessful due to theck of information. Since it was Zeth''s first appearance in this world, all they could determine was that it was only a king-ss familiar, leading them to believe it might be easier to defeat than anticipated. "M-M-Master, please let me return to my world! I don''t want to die yet! Please, master! If you truly value our bond, please¡­" the fire fox named Arne pleaded desperately, seemingly losing its sanity. Soon, the other familiars began to beg as well, with only a few resigning themselves to die alongside their master, clinging to the delusion that their master-familiar bonds might somehow lead to a miracle and help them survive the situation. "Arne! Stop speaking crap! Didn''t we resolve to live and die together?!" Arne''s master, a man named Emmanuel, eximed in anger, the fear in his heart burgeoning. "Tell me, who is this duchess of the dusk you speak of?!" "M-Master! Do you remember the eight spirit kings I told you about?" "Yes, I recall. A few of them have been summoned here as well, but I don''t remember a duchess of the dusk among them." "T-Then, do you remember the notorious rogue I mentioned, the one who survived and escaped even when attacked by three of the eight kings?" "T-There''s no way¡­" "Yes, Master! This is that notorious rogue spirit, Zeth, known as the Duchess of the Dusk in our world! Please, Master! I can''t fight such a spirit! Let me live!" Chapter 608 The Weakest Link Shye found the reactions of the familiar spirits quite amusing and nced at his own familiar. Zeth, eager to impress her master, held her head high, clearly proud of her reputation. ''Hmph! At least these weaklings know their ce. If they choose to challenge me, I''ll make their deaths quick and painless,'' shemunicated telepathically, almost making Shye chuckle aloud as if the situation weren''t dire. However, shortly after, Shye noticed an important point. ''Hey, Zeth, can''t you speak out loud like them?'' ''Hmph! Naturally, I can''t. I''ve ascended multiple times, losing the ability to speak in a mundane way and instead gaining the capacity to resonate on a higher level with my master and future ones. These weaklings, on the other hand, have no choice but to open their mouths and let their spit fly clumsily as they try tomunicate their thoughts.'' He didn''t know much about the spirit world, so he simply nodded at Zeth''s words, fully believing her. After all, she was someone who despised lying. There was no need for him to doubt her words. Shifting their attention to the clown show in front of him, Shye smirked annoyingly. "Hahaha, Dante, was it? The hell is this small shitshow cohort of yours? Are you sure this isn''t your first assassination? Have you guys even killed a person before?" He insulted, leaving Dante gnashing his teeth in anger. It was indeed embarrassing. However, what could he do? He couldn''t control other familiars. "Well, if you don''t attack, then we will! Nookie! Zeth!" "Yes, master!" ''dly, master.'' Soon after, Zeth charged toward arge group of adamantites and their familiars, her zing hooves leaving a trail of fire behind her. "Damn it! Arne! I can''t release you right now! Look! That familiar spirit is already charging at us! Get ready! If there''s an opportunity, I''ll send you back to your world!" Emmanuel shouted in a panic. Instinctively, Arne, his Fire Fox, realized this wasn''t the time to argue with his master. He turned his attention to the galloping duchess instead. The other familiars reacted simrly, forming a temporary, cohesive unit that dissolved almost as quickly as it was created, even before Zeth arrived. Why? Well, Zeth canmunicate telepathically with creatures from her world, thus allowing her to strike a deal with them as she galloped. ''Anyone who doesn''t want to die, step aside. I, the Duchess of the Dusk, promise not to harm those who back down. But for those who stand against me, I will show no mercy.'' Naturally, after hearing Zeth''s words, the familiars anxiously dashed to the side, clearing a path for her to ughter their masters. Arne was among those who stepped aside, feeling a bit guilty, but not overly so. His master clearly wanted him to fight Zeth, even though it meant certain death. As a result, Arne''s affection for his master had greatly diminished, and now he found himself indifferent to whether he lived or died.@@novelbin@@ It appeared that his master was a truly rotten person, but he hadn''t seen it before because he was treated well when things were going smoothly. Their bond was short-lived¡ªa fleeting connection he had foolishly believed was beautiful and enduring. "ARNE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! YOU TREACHEROUS FAMILIAR! WATCH HOW I DEAL WITH YOU LATER!!" Emmanuel eximed, utterly enraged at his familiar''s actions. Unfortunately, Zeth was upon him, so there was no time for him to punish Arne. It would have to wait until he survived the ferocious mare''s onught. Of course, Dante wouldn''t allow a huge part of his cohort to be decimated by the familiar spirit they initially prepared for, thus barking orders on how to deal with the situation. "Shielders, move to the front and use your strongest defensive skills! Priests and priestesses cast your barriers! Scouts, surround the familiar spirit and make sure it doesn''t escape!" As a scout himself, Dante swiftly circled Zeth, nning to use some high-quality restriction items to prevent it from escaping once the shielders sessfully managed to block its attack. Stay updated via My Virtual Library Empire However, his n fell apart immediately. Even with their strongest defensive skills, the shielders couldn''t fully stop Zeth. They were sted away, suffering severe internal injuries as they rolled across the ground, their armor slowly being consumed by blue mes. The only thing they aplished was briefly slowing down Zeth''s [ming Charge], giving the backliners a split-second chance to blink out of the way, which only about four managed to capitalize on and escape, while the other four¡ªtwo priests, a mage, and an archer¡ªwere instantly reduced to ashes. To make matters worse, the necrollin began to move. Two (S)-ranked corpses, ten (S-)-ranked corpses, and the (A)-ranked Ember Wyvern twitched eerily before charging, pouncing, and flying toward another group of adamantites. ''Damn it! This crazy witch! Why is Shye Crowley so much stronger than she made him out to be?!'' Dante cursed inwardly, gritting his teeth in frustration as his mind raced to make sense of the situation. Shortly after, he decided to ditch Zeth, dashing towards Shye to take him out. It was a strategic move, as familiars would be forced to return to their world once their masters were dead. Since he didn''t believe his group could defeat Zeth or the necrollin''s puppets before his own forces were overwhelmed, it was wiser to target Shye, whom he viewed as the weakest link among the three. Naturally, Shye easily noticed Dante''s advance as he was shouting orders left and right while staring coldly at him. He also recognized that, although the goon leader''s n was hasty and might lead to some casualties, it would be sufficient to keep Zeth and Nookie upied for about ten seconds. This would give Dante a brief opportunity to face Shye in a one-on-one duel. He fully believed that ten seconds was more than enough for him, the twenty-seventh-ranked adventurer in the entire Chellione Region, to defeat a budding rookie. After all, how could an adventurer who had been professional for just over two years match someone who had been in the field for more than a decade? Moreover, while he acknowledged that Shye was more talented, he still had considerable talents himself. In his mind, it was simply impossible for Shye to catch up to his strength in such a short time. "Hoh, another idiot thinking he could take me, Shye Crowley, down in mere seconds, huh? Fine,e! I''ll p you with the harshest of realities!" Chapter 609 Utterly Fuming Dante had been more or less arrogant his entire life. Yet, there was one thing he didn''t dare do when he was young: talk back to higher-ranked adventurers who were more than five years ahead of him in terms of professional adventuring. Hence, upon hearing Shye''s words, Dante questioned his ears, letting out a scoff in disbelief shortly after. "You think ten seconds is a short time? Let''s see if you still feel that way soon. When facing an assassin far stronger and more skilled than you, we''ll see if you''re not begging for your life in just five." the older adventurer retorted, his dagger spinning as he changed into a hammer grip. Momentster, Dante vanished, as if using stealth or a [Blink Strike], but in reality, he was just sprinting at full speed. The older adventurer became a ghostly blur, swiftly demonstrating to Shye why he was ranked twenty-seventh among all adventurers in the fourth-ranked Chellione Region. What he didn''t expect, however, was that his intimidation tactic would be met with a mere disdainful sneer, further fanning the mes of anger in his heart. ''This little bastard dares insult me?!'' Well, of course, Shye would! He wouldn''t be Shye Crowley if he didn''t humiliate those who came at him with ill intent. Dante''s agility attribute was extremely high, making his sprinting speed nearly impossible to follow with the naked eye. Unfortunately for him, this rule didn''t apply to Shye, who not only had an exceptionally high intelligence attribute but had also been training his reaction time ever since he learned it could be enhanced. This gave him a significant advantage, enabling him to go toe-to-toe with even the most skilled scouts, including Dante. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire "Heh, were you supposed to be so fast I couldn''t see you or something?" Shye taunted as he angled one of his greatswords to block the lethal neck stab, simultaneously shing forward with the other. This swift, precise, and powerful bnce between attack and defense almost made Dante suffer a lethal wound. If not for his incredibly quick reflexes, he would have ended up with more than just a small, insignificant wound. Still, even though the injury was minor and non-lethal, it was highly humiliating, especially since he had boasted about taking Shye down in ten seconds, only to end up being the first to bleed. All in all, he lost not just a second and a half of his ten seconds but also a small part of his pride, as he was humiliated. "You arrogant brat! I''ll tear you to pieces!" Dante snarled, vanishing again only to reappear beside Shye, this time apanied by two clones, making it hard for Shye to tell which one was the real Dante.@@novelbin@@ To make matters worse, the clones could also use skills, with their daggers glowing in different colors: one purple, one ck, and one red. "Hahaha! What now, Shye Crowley?!" Dante and his clonesughed in unison, brandishing their daggers as they targeted different body parts. Naturally, since two of them were clones, only one could actually inflict real damage. The question was, which one? "Hmph, you think two measly clones are gonna help you?" Shye sneered in disdain, shing both greatswords forward, one after the other. ''Half-moon sh! Boost!'' Shortly after, two enormous silver sh marks emerged from the des of Adamance and Mithra, shooting viciously towards Dante and his clones. "Tch!" Dante clicked his tongue in annoyance, retreating and leaving his clones to be obliterated. He lost precious time once more. Now, he only had six seconds to work with. "Hahaha, how pathetic. There''s only one second left of the five you mentioned. Why am I still not begging for my life? And you know, maybe ten seconds isn''t such a short time when facing an assassin who''s much stronger and more skilled than me. But that assassin definitely isn''t you! Hahahahaha!" To make things worse, the young man in front of him kept on yapping, further disrupting his focus as the rage in his heart blossomed into an angry phoenix. He wanted to teach Shye a lesson, and quick! While the arrogant young adventurer from Valenzia was in the middle of yapping, Dante had already begun his next attack. This time, he didn''t dare hold back as the consequences would be too dire should he fail to kill Shye within ten seconds. It wouldn''t simply be a matter of his pride anymore but of his life and death. "Then how about this?!" He raged, summoning a ck orb from the ground that rose five meters into the air. Soon after, multiple clones continuously emerged from the ck orb, charging in the most ferocious of ways toward Shye. Initially, Shye nned to ignore them as it was amonly known fact that clones were only good for diversion and could never deal damage. However, the set of clones in front of him exuded a dangerous aura, causing him to reconsider his decision and attempt to block the attack of one. *CLANG!* A metallic noise echoed across the istion dome as the first clone''s dagger shed with Mithra, causing Shye to narrow his eyes. Soon after, he saw that there were at least four more clones headed towards him, prompting him to swiftly retreat as it would be difficult to defend against such unbelievably fast and reckless clones. Unbeknownst to Shye, the attacker, Dante, was equally shocked. Even though he was a scout, he had always trained his strength attribute, so he couldn''t believe that someone so much younger could match his power, let alone effortlessly fend off attacks from his clone, which had 110% of his total strength attribute. He thought that his strength would shock the arrogant young man in front of him. However, reality was brutal, and it was he who was pped hard that his strength attribute was akin to that of a fly in front of the renowned Shye Crowley of Valenzia, future hero. Still, although shocked, Dante managed to regain his focus in just a few milliseconds. He then charged forward, expertly using each clone to conceal his movements. Subsequently, as Shye skillfully countered each clone''s attacks, the real Dante suddenly appeared from behind, shing at Shye''s throat with his dagger, its de glowing a faint silvery blue. "Die, Shye Crowley!" Chapter 610 Shye Crowley, Ruiner Of Plans "NO!! WHAT THE F*CK IS THIS THING?!" A howl of frustration echoed across the istion dome as a thinyer of a ghostly ck aura stopped Dante''s dagger dead in its tracks, only a few centimeters away from Shye''s neck. *PAH!* Soon after, the crisp sound of Shye''s heavenly p technique reverberated,nding squarely on the frustrated Dante''s face and sending him hurtling toward a far corner of the dome. Mira watched the happenings in utter horror. She couldn''t believe that even Dante Everforth, a notoriously strong scumbag from her region, was pped silly by her former party leader. "Hahahahaha! Ahh, that was satisfying. pping the sh*t out of the faces of delusional bastards truly brightens up my day!" Dante was pped cleanly by a warrior with a whopping 450 points of strength and his face was slightly rearranged to one side. However, albeit dazed, he was still conscious as he trained his body well despite being a scout. What average vitality attribute he had was at least enough for him to survive a in, good-old ppino. It didn''t mean he wasn''t hurt, however, as his pride immensely suffered Being pped by someone older than you was already humiliating enough, let alone a junior more than five years younger. Such pathetic embarrassment could only be redeemed through blood. "YOU BASTARD!! I''M DONE PLAYING WITH YOU!!" With only two seconds left before his small group of adventurers would lose ground, a sinister, blood-red aura erupted from Dante''s body, and blood runes appeared on his right arm. This drastically boosted his overall attributes, including intelligence and wisdom, at the cost of his lifespan. The longer he activated the skill, the less he would have left to live. Thus, he quickly charged towards Shye, erupting in anger once more upon seeing him floating high up in the air. "FACE ME, COWARD!! WEREN''T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE A FUTURE HERO?! ALL I SEE IS A SCAREDY WUSS!! YOU''RE NO HERO!" [Flight] was a highly useful and versatile skill for mages. It could be used for attack, defense, and escape. However, it had one huge drawback: it consumed mana like crazy depending on how high one flew. Read new chapters at My Virtual Library Empire Even the highest-ranked mages with thergest mana pools could only sustain flight for about fifteen seconds at the maximum height of sixty meters¡ªthe same height Shye was currently flying at. Such a rule doesn''t apply to Shye, however, as he had a peerless mana pool with absurd regeneration rates. He couldst for five whole minutes. Way better than most men could. Male mages, to rify. As for Dante, he had an ability that would allow him to try and catch a flying adversary called [Aerial Hunter]. However, it was way too risky to use as he didn''t have a skill that would allow him tond safely from a height of sixty meters, and there was also the possibility of Shye using other aerial mobility techniques to dodge his attack. Hence, all Dante could do was scream angrily at Shye, hoping that the young adventurer from Valenzia would be angered by his insults. Unfortunately, no matter how hard Shye tried, it was difficult to even be angry at a helpless guy malding below him¡ªit was just too amusing and funny to watch. The insults didn''t even register in his brain as he thoroughly enjoyed Dante''s furious face, spittle flying everywhere as he raged on and on, even momentarily forgetting that time was up and that his men were being overwhelmed. "COME DOWN HERE I SAID!!!" "Pfft, are you sure you should still be screaming at me? Shouldn''t you be looking for ways to escape?" Shye mocked, stifling hisughter which further added fuel to the anger in Dante''s heart. However, surprisingly, after hearing Shye''s words, his anger vanished into thin smoke as he realized that his life would indeed be in danger if this continued. Swiftly turning his head and shifting his attention to the ongoing battle, Dante saw that even with the help of Mira, his goons were getting annihted by Zeth and Nookie''s twelve corpse puppets. ''Shit! This is bad!'' He inwardly panicked, his eyes darting around as he tried to look for the istion dome''s weak spot. The contraption was theirs, so he naturally knew that it had a fragile spot. However, it would still take him some time¡ªat least five seconds¡ªto locate it. He was prepared to abandon everyone else and escape with Mira to im his constion prize after such a disastrous operation. Unfortunately, how could Shye, who had a bird''s eye view of the ongoing battle, not notice his weird actions? ''Hoh, he''s searching for the dome''s weak point to escape from there, huh?'' He mused, perfectly reading Dante''s n. Shye''s intelligence attribute was extremely high, allowing him to quickly catch on, and the goon leader''s actions were far too obvious. It was simply impossible for him to not realize what Dante was up to. Five secondster, the adventurer goon leader madly dashed towards Mira, who was utterly panicking, a horrified expression on her face as her death loomed nearer and nearer. "H-HIIHH!! UNHAND ME, VILE FILTH!" She eximed in fear after feeling a strong arm grabbing her by the waist. "DON''T MOVE YOU IDIOT! AREN''T I HERE TO SAVE YOU?!" Dante said furiously, slightly calming the scared Mira down. Looking back at their assassination squad, only about ten of the original forty adamantite-ranked adventurers were still alive, and they were quickly being wiped out as well. This was their only chance to escape. ''We have to leave now, or stay here forever¡­'' Dante thought inwardly, gritting his teeth. ''Well, at least I can have a taste of this crazy b*tch¡­'' Unfortunately for him, just as they approached the dome''s weak point, someone blocked their path: the ever-annoying Shye Crowley, son of Alicia and Maverick Crowley, ruiner of ns. Naturally, Dante''s eyes widened in horror, his heart almost bursting out of sheer anger:@@novelbin@@ "YOU!! WHY IS IT YOU AGAIN?! GET THE F*CK OUT OF MY WAY, YOU LITTLE BASTARD!" Chapter 611 Consumed By Lust A resoundingugh could be heard across the entire istion dome, pausing the ughter that was going on. Only for a moment, however, as afterughing with their master for a second, Zeth and Nookie immediately went back to killing the remaining five adamantites. "MOVE!" Dante shouted desperately, readying his most powerful skill to take down Shye in a single blow and break through the dome''s weak point simultaneously. To his surprise, Shye shattered the dome''s weak point for him, creating a narrow passage that could allow at least two people to escape if they adjusted their body positions ordingly. The next moment, however, his surprise turned into yet more fury that consumed his heart as Shye exited the dome, pulled out his legendary-tier adamantite-ranked heavy shield he obtained from the Horza idde Mana Dungeon, and blocked the exit with it. He then activated [Stoic Lv.5] to ensure he remained unmoved for ten seconds (the skill''s duration was extended due to Shye using two [Boost] charges). Momentster, the lethally sharp dagger, which traced deep golden arcs in the air, collided with the heavy shield. However, to no one''s surprise¡ªnot even Dante himself¡ªthe sh merely made an extremely loud nging sound, nothing else. Shye remained unmoved and the shield remained in ce. He didn''t even sustain any internal damage, as Dante was a scout specializing in deftness and mobility rather than raw destructive power. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire "GET. THE. HELL. OUT. OF. OUR. WAY!" the goon leader shouted with each strike of his dagger, his mind going nk and his heart overwhelmed by desperation and despair. Soon after, Mira realized they were trapped, so she dismounted from Dante''s shoulders and helped him move Shye away from the exit. Unfortunately, none of their attempts seeded. Moreover, they had run out of time, as the sounds of battle from behind them had stopped, signaling that the necrollin, its puppets, and the so-called Duchess of the Dusk were already on their way to ughter them. "Crowley! Please, I beg you! I didn''t realize your strength before! I acknowledge that you''re superior to me! Please, let me go this time! I promise I''ll never show my face around you again!" Of the ten seconds granted by [Stoic Lv.5], only five had passed, yet Dante was already begging for his life. Just as he had predicted earlier, someone would be begging for their life in five seconds, though he hadn''t expected it would be him begging instead of Shye. "Hahahaha! Didn''t you say you would make me beg for my life? Why are you begging now?" Shye mocked, gripping the handle of his shield solidly. "Please, I admit my mistakes! I was wrong to cross you and I won''t make the same error again. Just let me go this time! I can even work for you if you want¡ªI''m sure you could use underlings in another region." Upon realizing that Dante could shift from an arrogant bastard to a loyalpdog in an instant, Shye quickly lost interest. People like that weren''t worth anyone''s time and couldn''t be spared, as they were like venomous, vengeful snakes that woulde back to bite if allowed to live another day. "Zeth, kill that bastard but leave the woman alone for now," Shye said apathetically, intentionally allowing Dante to hear his words. ''Understood, master.'' Immediately upon receiving orders, Zeth acted, not giving a damn about any other human except for her master and those close to him. "YOU BASTARD!! DIDN''T I ALREADY ASK FOR FOR¨C" *CRACK* *SPURT!* A sickening crack echoed through the istion dome as the Duchess of the Dusk reappeared like a phantom behind the goon leader, raising one of her hooves. In an instant, Dante''s life ended, his head crushed against Shye''s heavy shield like a watermelon, with his repugnant blood sttering across the shield and leaving Mira, who was right behind him, utterly horrified. She couldn''t speak for a good while, seemingly losing her mind.@@novelbin@@ It was then that Shye swapped the shield for another greatsword. Shortly after, he returned inside the dome, entering through the small opening. "H-HIIIH!!" Mira shrilled pathetically, appearing as though only a tiny bit of her sanity remained. "M-M-Mister Crowley! Please! You must forgive me! I-I''m blessed by the gods and goddesses! I-I''m sure I could be of help! Yes! What you want me to do, I will do in an instant! Ple¨C" "Mira." Shye sternly said, rudely cutting off Mira''s words. "Hiih!" Terrified, the priestess could only whimper weakly, raising her arms to cover her face in a futile attempt to protect herself. However, there was no immediate need for her to guard against harm, as Shye still wanted to give the distraught and pitiful woman a chance. After all, her actions had been driven by desperate attempts to salvage what she could of her beloved''s body. Shye was definitely not someone who would judge her based on her preferences, twisted or not. Unfortunately, her next words sealed her fate, bringing immense disappointment to Shye''s heart. "M-Mister Crowley! H-H-Hear me out! I-I''m good and extremely experienced at pleasuring men! And I''ve recently started trying women out! I can be your ve! Anything! You can make me do everything you want! I can fulfill your wildest fantas¨C" *SPURT!* Fed up with her nonsense, Shye swiftly severed her head, causing blood to spurt from her neck as her headless body fell limply to the ground, twitching. ''Tch, some holy priestess you are. In the end, you''ve been consumed by lust. Even if I didn''t have someone by my side, I still wouldn''t entertain your filthy ideas.'' Shye sneered in utter disgust. He then made one final sh through the air with his greatsword to clear the dripping blood before cing one sword back into the system''s inventory and sheathing the other with the sheath strapped to his back. ''The title of ''The Hallowed Luminescence'' would be weeping if you were allowed to seed Venerable Exodus Fernandez.'' Without looking back, Shye rode on Zeth''s back, signaling her to incinerate the remnants of the battle. Meanwhile, Nookie began tidying up, retrieving his prized corpse puppets and carefully storing them back in their caskets with a smile. "Let''s go, onwards to Yon Augenn City!" Chapter 613 Shyes Hero Title For the next two and a half days, Shye wandered throughout the city, apanied by a beautiful ck-haireddy and a scrawny necrollin. He decided it was better for people to stare at Zeth''s beauty in her human form rather than her spirit form. A few times, he noticed people using manamunicators immediately after seeing her in spirit form, and he couldn''t tell if they recognized her or were just coveting her with sinister intentions. Nheless, it would be better to stay under the radar for a while, especially since his inauguration wasing right up. They could mess with him all they wanted once he became a hero, but would they even dare to? After one final fantastic meal, which left his wallet hurting thanks to the scrawny Nookie''s unbelievable appetite, Shye checked into a luxurious inn. He enjoyed a full eight hours of rest before waking up, getting ready, and heading straight to the WAA main headquarters. Shye ensured he wouldn''t bete by leaving the inn forty-five minutes earlier than nned, arriving at his destination about an hour and a half ahead of schedule. After admiring the vast headquarters with its numerous advanced training facilities, Shye forced himself to refocus and approached the guards at the entrance to ask for assistance. As expected, the guards were highly professional, granting him entry with effortless efficiency and leading him to his destination: an incredibly luxurious waiting room featuring snacks, air conditioning, plush chairs, and a soft bed. It was a very fancy room that pleased him. ''Tch, maybe I could have saved some money by staying here instead of at the inn,'' he thought, feeling a bit bored. Familiars and tamed monsters weren''t permitted inside the WAA main headquarters, so he left Nookie in his inn room while Zeth transformed into a ck bracelet, unable to speak.@@novelbin@@ Fortunately, he didn''t have to stay bored for long, as someone knocked on the door a few minutester. "Sir Crowley, Director Belford of Valenzia is here to see you." After a brief pause, the door creaked open, revealing an elderly man with long white hair tied in a ponytail, a goatee, fairly average facial features, and a schrly, somewhat frail appearance. Yet, despite the fragile exterior, the old man exuded an air of unquestionable dignity, demanding respect from those around him. ''Director Belford of Valenzia, huh? First time I''ve heard of him¡­'' It didn''t take long, however, for him to recognize who the old man was. "Shye Crowley, I''ve personally watched your impressive performances on holographic screens numerous times. I''m Belford Grant, WAA Director of the Valenzia Department. I''m delighted to finally meet you in person." ''The man who sent me a voice message when I was fighting against the Void Dragon!'' Naturally, Shye immediately gave a deep bow to the old man, understanding that Belford likely fought hard for his inauguration, especially since many were against it. "A pleasure meeting you, Director Belford." Witnessing first-hand how respectful Shye was when not provoked, Belford nodded in satisfaction. A hero must be kind-hearted and respectful to ordinary people, yet a devil to evildoers and those with sinister schemes. In Belford''s eyes, despite Shye''s young age, he already possessed all the qualities of a true hero. "I''vee to offer you a few options for your hero title. After all, once you are officially appointed as a hero, your title will always be associated with your name." Upon hearing the Valenzia director''s words, Shye''s brows slightly rose. He was rather amused that he could choose his own title. He originally believed that titles couldn''t be chosen and that each hero position came with a predetermined title, much like how Mira was set to inherit the title of Venerable Exodus Fernandez of the Hallowed Luminescence. He would definitely prefer to have a title that he chose or thought of himself. Unfortunately¡­ ''I only have less than an hour to think of one, huh? Sigh¡­I should''vee earlier.'' Shye inwardly sighed, his heart filled with regret. It seemed that he yed around a bit too much in Yon Augenn City. He was young, and he naturally wanted to have a badass title. However, due to a careless mistake, he might have to settle with a rushed one. A pity. "Here are a few predetermined titles reserved for future Valenzia Heroes," Belford said, handing over a luxurious catalog to Shye before continuing: "If none take your fancy, you may think of your title and write it in this piece of writing que. However, keep in mind that you only have thirty minutes to decide. If you fail to submit one in time, the WAA will select an appropriate title for you from the predetermined ones in the catalog." "I understand. Thank you for the patient exnation, Lord Belford." Shye respectfully replied, carefully taking the que from Belford. Shortly after, the Valenzia director left, leaving Shye with the limited time he had toe up with a fitting title for himself. Unfortunately, somehow, even with his high wisdom and [Unfazed Heart] trait, his heart raced like crazy. It felt as if something deep inside him wanted the most badass title possible, one that would help him show off and earn more points every time it was mentioned. ''Sh*t! Why am I nervous?!'' He inwardly reprimanded himself, a palm in his wildly beating chest. ''Calm down, Shye Crowley. You still have thirty minutes. For now, let''s check the catalog¡­'' Shye allotted ten minutes to look for a suitable title in the catalog. However, as expected, he didn''t fancy anything. His heart, mind, and soul were all aligned, urging him toe up with an awesome title. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire ''Fine, Fine! Think of a title I shall¡­'' What he hadn''t anticipated was that his mind, due to an unusual nervousness, decided to y tricks on him at this critical moment. The titles his mind came up with were all absurd, like "Shye Crowley of the ck Booger" and "Shye Crowley of the Fart Cloud." Strangely, he couldn''t help but imagine how funny it would be if one of those absurd titles were his hero title, causing him to stifleughter and struggle to focus. Before he knew it, ten minutes already passed. ''F*ck! Focus, Shye Crowley, Focus!'' He was legitimately panicking over his hero title. Fortunately, a deep breath helped him reflect on his past sacrifices, the old man''s despicable actions, and the goal they were striving for. Then, around three minutes before the time was up, his mind finally came up with the perfect title. He quickly grabbed the writing que and scribbled his heart out, an excited smile on his face. "Hahaha! Phew! I thought I wouldn''t be able to think of a good one on time!" Chapter 615 Anubis ''Hoh, I didn''t even need to look for it, huh?'' Shye inwardly thought with a smile as he read the appraisal window in front of him. [Name]: Anubis [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Light/Space [Hit Points]: 3,500/3,500 [Mana]: 750/750 [Stamina]: 920/920 [Talent]: [Ascension (Awakened)] [Description] An (S-) ranked Underworld Jackal that had absorbed enough cores by defeating other monstrous creatures as strong or stronger than itself, by any means necessary. Once a dark-element creature, it had managed to change its attribute through ascension, a rare ability avable to only a few monster races. [Strength: 800] [Intelligence: 300] [Agility: 640] [Dexterity: 600] [Stamina: 500] [Vitality: 700]: [Wisdom: 150] ''It''s fast!'' Shye thought to himself as his instincts took over, propelling him to leap backward as quickly as possible. An enormous ive, with a de resembling a fan, thennded with a resounding boom in the spot where he had been, causing dust of clouds to billow and rocky debris to fly everywhere. Shye wanted to at least see the darned Anubis'' skills. However, it seemed that he wouldn''t even get the chance to do so as the monster targeted him and only him. Moreover, it was incredibly fast, leaving him no option but to focus entirely on fighting. ''Tch, I don''t even know how strong I am¡­'' Shye clicked his tongue as he sidestepped yet another attack from the Anubis. It was then that he noticed something. ''Hmm? Isn''t this the chance to show off I''ve been waiting for?'' He mused, temporarily opting to dodge continuously as he tried to study the Anubis'' attack patterns before going in to retaliate. ''Was this creature sent by the old man to help me earn points?'' It was highly likely. After all, only the old man would have the capability to infiltrate the WAA main headquarters and drop a damned (S) ranked creature from the sky out of nowhere. Moreover, he had received a mandatory quest to y an Anubis, a creature whose arrival was entirely unpredictable and highly improbable amid a densely popted city unless it was summoned personally. With his deductions, Shye grew more confident. The old man had always assigned him quests that were manageable if he pushed himself to the limit. This suggested that Sanada likely knew his strength and skills would more or less be sufficient to defeat the creature after sessfully receiving his crest. ''Let''s go try it out then, nothing will change if I remain on the defensive. Also, once reinforcements arrive, I''ll lose this once-in-a-lifetime chance!'' After evading a-like projectileposed of red sh marks, Shye charged forward, this time boldly confronting the four-meter-tall creature with the head of a ck jackal and the body of a human head-on. "Lord Hale, no need for reinforcements. I, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, shall take this monster down." He dered heroically, eliciting mixed reactions from the onlookers. People from other regions, unfamiliar with his abilities, scoffed at his ims of defeating the Anubis by himself, especially given his age. It was well known that Anubises could hold their own against dragons for quite some time. Although they would eventually be forced to retreat, dragons often found it quite difficult to kill an Anubis. This was why many outsiders doubted his ims. Valenzians, however, was a different story. They knew all too well how capable Shye was and how he could create miracles one after the other. They wouldn''t be surprised at all if he could y the Anubis on his own. In fact, some people, like Seira, were absolutely convinced that Shye could easily take down a dumb monster any day of the week. Monster ranks? Irrelevant! Boss Shye was Boss Shye, and he would always be invincible. Meanwhile, as Shye charged towards the Anubis, he felt the changes in his agility which had definitely increased by more than a hundred points, increasing his confidence up another notch. ''Heh, with this, I could at least fight toe-to-toe against this beast.'' Soon, he entered the Anubis''s attack range, and its fan-shaped ive instantly swung toward him, aiming to tear Shye apart. He felt rather nervous about what he was about to do next. However, it had to be done; otherwise, it would be hard for him to fight effectively. Shye doubted that he would be obliterated in a single head-on sh, anyway. He should at least be able to survive a single sh. ''Power sh! Lethal Edge! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' shing both greatswords diagonally upwards, Shye braced himself for impact. The Anubis'' 800 points of strength was no joke. It would be a disaster if he was injured heavily simply because he held back. *CLANG!* A metallic ng echoed as the fan-shaped ive collided with the dual greatswords, assaulting the ears of everyone inside the inauguration chamber and those watching on holographic television screens. Soon after, their eyes widened as Shye was sent skidding back five meters, while the Anubis was pushed back about two and a half meters, a chip appearing on its ive. Read thetest on My Virtual Library Empire "What?! A draw?!" "Shye Crowley¡­The first Valenzian hero¡­" People from outside Valenzia were understandably shocked, as even the most skilled adamantite-ranked warrior-ss adventurers from other regions would find it impossible to face an apex (S) ranked monster head-on and end the sh in a draw. (S) ranked monsters were among the strongest, requiring even titled adventurers to work together with a fewrades to take one down. A seasoned hero might be able to handle one alone, but a young, newly inaugurated hero? They were initially skeptical, especially since Shye came from what was widely considered the weakest region.@@novelbin@@ Some even went so far as to belittle him, believing that a Valenzian hero would only be on par with a titled adventurer from other regions, or at best, the weakest among the seven heroes from different regions. The earlier sh, however, served as a rude awakening for their hearts, minds, and souls. Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn was a true, formidable hero, one who would not lose to those from other regions. The young one could certainly hold a sizable chunk of the sky should it copse. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 518,920 points!] Chapter 616 The Valenzian Heros Might ''Holy sh*t! Five hundred thousand points from just one sh?! Nice work, dastardly old man!'' Shye inwardly cheered, even giving some grudging praise to Sanada, whom he now despised almost as much as Dweezel. If not for his clever idea of setting up a broadcast channel, he wouldn''t have been able to earn so much or increase his strength so quickly. Now, however, he couldn''t squander points, as he might not earn any at all once he switched sides. He had to save them for now and n carefully when to use them. ¡­Now familiar with the Anubis'' strength and speed, Shye confidently charged forward once more. Although he knew the Anubis was still stronger than him in terms of sheer raw power, he could at least match it in agility and dexterity. Furthermore, the Anubis had somewhat below-average vitality and stamina for an (S) ranked monster, giving Shye a fair chance of inflicting severe damage if he used his trump cards wisely. The battle was winnable, at the very least. It wasn''t nearly as tough as Veidrax, though it was more nimble, more deft, and almost on par with the Void Dragon in terms of sheer strength. However, the Anubis had one overwhelming advantage over Veidrax: its unwavering calm, indomitable morale, and unshakable heart. It was impossible to piss it off and make it go berserk. Still, Shye confidently parried the iing ive, spinning through the air andnding on the weapon''s massive shaft, which he used as a path to reach the head of the four-meter-tall monster. ''Half-moon sh!'' Soon after, he shed both greatswords as he sprinted forth, firing off two massive sh marks that formed an X. It was easily countered, however, by a modest-sized golden ball that hummed with heavenly melodies. As the luminous projectile made contact with Shye''s half-moon sh, it shattered thetter into particles and continued to travel along the weapon''s shaft until it exploded on the ground, sending clouds of dust billowing and debris flying everywhere. Unfortunately, to the Anubis'' surprise, the human was nowhere to be found. It was momentarily confused until it sensed danger from above. There the little human was, harnessing mana to stay thirty meters in the air, unleashing fireballs, firebombs, cial thorns, icicle spears, rock bullets, and all sorts of projectiles one after another from his elemental staffs. It was a rain of elements, causing utter chaos inside the spacious inauguration chamber as winds howled, mes roared, the earth shook, and ice fragments shattered. The havoc prompted Lord Hale and the other people inside the chamber to retreat to a safe area. Yet, despite being bombarded with such a ferocious and horrifying barrage of elements, the Anubis stood firm, suffering only minor damage from all the basic mage spells Shye threw at it. The next moment, it immediately retaliated by raising its left hand and manipting space around Shye, causing his flight spell to deactivate. ''Crap!'' He inwardly cursed as he fell, the Anubis waiting beneath to cleave him in half.@@novelbin@@ But of course, a hero¡ªa pir supporting an entire region, would never fall so easily. Courageously facing the fall, Shye narrowed his eyes as he waited for the monster''s attack, feigning helplessness as gravity took the Anubis'' side. It seemed as though he was destined for death, eliciting sneers of disdain from the onlookers from other regions¡ªmostly high-ranked adventurers who believed they could''ve done better than the so-called Valenzian Hero in that specific moment where death loomed near. To their surprise, the fan-shaped ive shed through nothing but air, as Shye used [Blink] at the perfect moment to both, dodge the attack and reposition himself at a prime spot to counterattack. He then swiftly changed weapons to dual greatswords and shed at the Anubis'' Achilles tendon, aiming to sever it and cause mobility problems for the ascended monster. ''Power sh!'' The Anubis was huge. Thus, despite its rather high agility attribute, it failed to turn around in time, allowing Shye''s greatswords to pierce through the skin protecting the targeted tendon. *SPURT!* Blue blood which signified royals amongst monsters spilled and sttered across the ground as Adamance and Mithra''s des sunk deeper and deeper into the Anubis'' flesh, eventually reaching the Achilles Tendon. Unfortunately, he wasn''t strong enough to sever it, only managing to inflict slight damage before being forced to use [Swallow Step Lv.5] to narrowly dodge the iing ive. The weapon''s impact made the ground rumble for a few moments before beams of light erupted from beneath Shye, forcing him to use another repositioning skill to evade. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire Nevertheless, the damage he inflicted was enough to cause sharp pains that made the Anubis wince asionally, disrupting its focus. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 670,890 points!] After yet another sessful exchange that went his way, system points rained upon Shye, improving his mood which, in turn, allowed him to move calmer and smoother. Meanwhile, the Anubis, despite doing its best to ignore the pain and stay focused, found its attention diverted asionally, causing it to unknowingly slow down to cope with the pain. The tide of the battle was gradually shifting in Shye''s favor. For around two minutes, Shye was on the offensive, masterfully dodging the ascended monster''s strikes and skills as he valiantly advanced forth, the Valenzians cheering for his seemingly inevitable triumph. However, little did everyone know: the Anubis was plotting something to catch Shye off-guard and kill him with a single blow. Even he didn''t realize that as the monster fought defensively, it moved in a specific pattern with its enormous ive carving lines¡ªsometimes straight, sometimes curved¡ªinto the ground, gradually forming a kind of magic circle. Soon, the twobatants shed in the center of the crude circle, and, surprisingly, the Anubis was sent flying, causing Shye''s brows to rise in surprise and slight doubt. However, ultimately, he decided to chase after the staggering monster to capitalize on the chance he created for himself. At that moment, the magic circle suddenly lit up, summoning five indestructible angel-like entities. Instead of harming Shye, they immobilized him by holding onto him tightly. This gave the Anubis the perfect chance to y Shye in one hit. Gripping the shaft of its ive with both hands, a golden aura enveloped the entire weapon, resonating with heavenly hymns as it moved toward Shye, without radiating any violent intent. It even seemed as if the attack wouldn''t harm him at all. However, it was then that every hair on Shye''s body stood. "Hoh? Might this be it for Valenzia''s Hero? Embarrassing¡­" "Hahaha! Send in help! This hero clearly needs assistance!" Chapter 617 Heros Triumph ''A powerful attack!'' Shye inwardlymended, pretending to be helpless and desperate again while secretly preparing to execute what could be one of the greatest turnarounds in the history of Adthiopia between a hero and a monster. The radiant, fan-shaped ive drew closer, its celestial hum resonating like a divine herald of holy power. Soon, it reached the helpless Valenzian Hero, seemingly obliterating him into mere particles. There was no sign of Shye breaking free from the restriction skill. Thus, the Valenzians had no choice but to watch in horror as their first-ever hero, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, seemed to have been in by the Anubis. Meanwhile, the foreign onlookers observed with a touch of schadenfreude. What aughable tragedy this would be! The story would go like this: Shye Crowley overestimated his strength after bing a hero and died after arrogantly refusing help from the WAA. Valenzia would once more be the butt of jokes amongst all the regions, just as it had always been. Unfortunately for those hoping for his downfall and fortunately for those who believed in him, before the divine light from the Anubis'' devastating strike faded, a dark silhouette suddenly surged toward the ascended monster, who appeared to be growingcent. The Anubis was convinced that the young adventurer¡ªhero or whatever¡ªhad been thoroughly caught in one of its lethalbinations and was surely dead. Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire As a result, it slightly lowered its guard, creating a perfect opportunity for Shye¡ªnow d in pitch-ck armor with dark wings¡ªto strike. His sudden counterattack was swift as a swallow and fierce as a raging thunder. Before the Anubis even realized, Shye was already in front of it, the edges of his greatswords glowing an eerie red, whispers of death crawling their way to the ascended monster''s skin. It still could not understand how Shye survived its attack. However, it did not have the luxury to find out, at least not at the current moment as it has to find a way to survive the ferocious human''s strike first. Using its sharp survival instincts, the Anubis quickly determined the best course of action, raising its ive in a diagonal defensive position to block the iing greatswords. A chill ran down its spine at the sight of the edges of Shye''s weapons, but it was confident that its defensive skill, which increased its weapon''s durability a thousandfold, would be enough to block the human''s sinister strike. Although it wasn''t certain if its weapon would break, it was at least sure that the residual force of the human''s attack wouldn''t be enough to kill it. This was the only feasible n it could think of at that moment: sacrificing its beloved fan-shaped ive in exchange for its life and a chance to finish off the young human. Unfortunately for the Anubis, Shye naturally had ns of his own. He would never let his ultimate skill, [Nightfall Reaper], go to waste. Every time it struck, it reaped the lives of its targets or, at the very least, most of their vitality, leaving his enemies teetering on the gray line between life and death; and Shye intended to keep it that way. ¡­The sh seemed inevitable¡ªtough ive shaft versus dual greatswords. However, just before the weapons made contact, a dark purple aura covered Shye''s dual greatswords, allowing them to simply pass through the toughened ive shaft as though they were ethereal. This naturally caused the eyes of the onlookers and even the Anubis itself to widen in utter shock It was toote for the ascended monster to dodge. However, it remembered that since the swords passed through its weapon, then it might not deal damage at all. Everything might be a mere bluff! Hence, believing that it figured out Shye''s n, the calm and collected monster immediately changed to an offensive stance shing its ive towards Shye''s neck. If everything went ording to its calctions, it would merely suffer debuffs while the human would lose its head. Unfortunately for it, Shye could control the activation and the deactivation of [des Of Despair]. Thus, just before the greatswords reached the Anubis, Shye deactivated his skill, reverting Adamance and Mithra to their original forms, their eerie red edges whispering death to the ascended monster. The monster did its best tond its attack first. However, this was futile, as Shye struck well before the monster could even form its n. As a result, its ive came to a sudden halt just a few centimeters from Shye''s neck, its fate uncertain for a brief moment. The viewers waited with bated breaths and mouths agape. In the next moment, they finally saw what they had been waiting for: royal blue blood gushing out from the Anubis''s wound as its body was split diagonally in two. It had been in with a single strike. The reaper of nightfall had imed another life, and Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn stood victorious, proud as a lion. Naturally, upon witnessing the glorious triumph of their hero, the Valenzians erupted into cheers, Shye''s guildmates in utter disbelief. Shye Crowley had only been with them for quite a short time, and although it was a widely known fact that he cleared (S-) and (S) ranked quests before, they didn''t see how he did it. Hence, they believed that it was merely through the help of his renowned king-ss familiar that he could defeat (S-) and (S) ranked creatures. Basically, they thought that the familiar was boosting Shye''s career, and without it, Shye Crowley wouldn''t be as strong as the rumors said he was.@@novelbin@@ After all, rumors had always been exaggerated. This was why their minds were utterly blown after witnessing his skill firsthand. The arrogant adamantites of his guild felt cold sweat pouring down their backs in buckets. They had more or less acted coldly towards Shye, believing that although he was talented, he should know his ce for a few years before interacting with them. Now, they found out how stupid they were for treating him that way. Only a select few of them, the most seasoned and skilled of the bunch, could im to fight an Anubis head-on and live. However, none of them dare im they could kill it alone. They would at least need tworades or more. As a result, most of them vowed never to cross him again, while some of the more thick-skinned ones even began plotting how to get him to join their party for at least a few quests. Meanwhile, the hero in question was merely happy to earn 15 points in all attributes, a rare skill coupon, and¡­ [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1,510,190 points!] Chapter 618 Spilling Half The Beans The high-noon sun scorched thends. Yet, an ashen-haired young man, visibly in an extremely good mood, strolled along a well-trodden path, eyes all over him from afar. There was no reason for him to stay in Yon Augenn City as he was not in the mood for a vacation, not when the world was slowly dying. He would prefer to do such a luxurious and leisurely thing once hepletely removed Dweezel and his forces from existence. Shye had many things to do; hence, he decided to quickly return to Valenzia. After getting out of the curious onlookers'' sight, he immediately retrieved a special return scroll from the system''s inventory. ''Tch. Only one of these left? I''d better restock as soon as I get back¡­'' Shye thought to himself as he infused mana. In the next moment, he vanished, reappearing a few secondster at the special teleporter in Valenzia Square. Shye then spoke pleasantries with the operator before purchasing twenty special return scrolls for a thousand gold, exiting the special teleporter gate, and seizing the attention of everyone in the area. "H-Hey! Shye Crowley''s back!" "Sir Crowley!! We''re counting on you!!" "Valenzia is in your hands, Sir Crowley of the ck Dawn!" "Sir Crowley!! Please let me kiss you!" Naturally, there were still a few high-ranked adventurers who didn''t appreciate him taking all the attention, though none of them would dare stir trouble for him now. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire All they could do was shoot ice-cold nces his way, looking away the moment he stared right back at them. ''Heh, being a hero sure is useful.'' He inwardly thought. After spending about half an hour with the noisy and overly enthusiastic crowd, Shye finally reached the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild. There, he received an equally warm, if not warmer, wee from his division members and two familiar faces that he was overjoyed to see. "Harry! David!" He eximed in glee, immediately wrapping his arms over their necks as he led them to the division lounge. Naturally, the members of the shy Ravens Rising were perceptive and quickly took note of the two neers, already considering them asrades in their hearts. The two mages would undoubtedly be members of their division by the end of the day.@@novelbin@@ "Damn it, Shye! We just arrived today, yet, you''re already a hero?! What the f*ck did you do in the past two years?!" "Yeah, you must exin! How the hell did you be so strong in merely two years?! Sh*t¡­we would look like bootlickers andckeys if we stuck around with you¡­" "Hey, you two, cut Shye some ck." Coincidentally, the two groups, including the Colzen folks, along with Lesurii, Seira, and Luna, had just returned today after sessfullypleting another (S-) ranked mission under the leadership of the more experienced members like Kiin, Lesurii, and Siegfried¡ªones who had quite the rich experience in dealing with such strong monsters. One moment, only Shye, Harry, and David were in the division leader''s office. The next, there were eleven of them, and the room became much more chaotic. Despite the noise and heartyughter, the reunion was both sweet and joyful, with a surprising sense of peace. Shye and Shirley cherished the moment, fully aware that this might be thest time everyone couldugh so freely. Once the real chaos started, they might not even find themselves on the same side as the others. Of course, the two of them hoped that everyone would understand and believe the peril the world was in and join them. However, Shye knew it was impossible unless the sneaky rat amongst them decided to switch allegiances. Today, he decided to tell Shirley about the rat, even though he knew it would break her heart. It had to be done. After all, he needed help in sniffing the bastard out; and two would certainly do better than one. After a merry chat, Shye told everyone his ns of making everyone grow stronger, including the rat as it would be more suspicious of him to leave three guys out of his ns. Not only would it put a strain on their close rtionship, but it would also provoke the rat to investigate his actions unnecessarily. He wasn''t sure what the rat''s purpose was in observing him¡ªpossibly rted to Dweezel''s search for the specific talent the old man had mentioned. However, he at least couldn''t let the guy realize that he was working for the old man. Before he could recruit people, he had to find out who the bastard was. Still, this didn''t mean he could dy his ns to help them grow, as time was of the essence and they needed to be prepared for what wasing. Even if his efforts inadvertently strengthened the rat as well, Shye wasn''t concerned. After all, as arrogant as it might seem to others and as off-putting to his close friends, he firmly believed that none of them could truly threaten him. He had always been the strongest among them at the academy, and he intended to remain so until the end with the help of the system. Thus, his expression grew serious as he exined to everyone the dire situation the world was facing: the world''s mana was being drained by the mana dungeons that had been appearing uncontrobly, one after another. Even though he had be a hero, he needed everyone''s help to clear these mana dungeons faster than they could spawn to save the world. He revealed that this was a secret of the WAA, known only to champions and above, but he was sharing it with them because they were his friends, and he wanted them to be prepared for whaty ahead. Naturally, most of them were moved, but a sense of dread also took hold of their hearts. If what Shye said was true, they needed to advance as quickly as possible and contribute to the WAA''s frontline forces¡ªthe champions, the titled adventurers¡ªand ideally, be heroes themselves. Since the world was on the brink of copse, they had to y their part if they wanted to continue living in a world that was still thriving. Of course, Shye had ulterior motives for sharing these things with them. First, he wanted to open their hearts and minds to the reality that their world wasn''t all rainbows and butterflies. Second, he wanted to convey his genuine concern for them, thereby increasing the likelihood that they would believe in the cause he, his parents, and the old man were fighting for. Lastly, he aimed to make the sneaky rat think he was a loyal servant of the WAA,pletely unconnected to Hadean Varsa. Chapter 619: Training Arc Inside the division lounge¡¯s division leader¡¯s office, tonic and potion bottles clinked. Shye was naturally pleased that everyone grasped the seriousness of the situation. Although most of them felt awkward epting such high-quality training items from their peer, they still did so in the name of the greater good. After all, it wasn¡¯t just their pride as talented youths that was at stake, but their entire future. Though it was early and disheartening, they had to set aside their youthful pride because they faced a much more pressing issue. One that even they, talented youngsters, could only solve a small part of no matter how hard they tried. At least that¡¯s what they knew for now. Given their character¡ªexcluding the rat¡ªShye was confident they would willingly pledge their allegiance to his side, as it was the path to addressing the issue at its core. However, they were still far too weak to be of help to him and the old man. They had to grow stronger first. Naturally, Shye nned to exploit the darned old man¡¯s resources. It would be unwise for him to spend all his hard-earned points and money on others to clean up the old man¡¯s mess, no? He believed that Sanada should at least provide support in terms of training resources and funds to develop formidable talents who could be reliablerades in the future. Even though the old man didn¡¯t instruct him to recruit people, he didn¡¯t care at all. He was determined to do what he wanted and take the people he cared about with him, given that the old man had dumped all his mistakes on him, creating immense trouble for him, his broken family, and the entire world. Once the war between Hadean Varsa, The WAA, and Dweezel¡¯s forces began, the safest ce for his loved ones would be by his side. As for his dearest little sister, Shye wasn¡¯t certain if she would be strong enough to help, but since she had never refused any of the training materials he sent her after he exined the world¡¯s situation, there was always a reasonable chance she could make it. If she does, Shye would tell her everything and recruit her to fight alongside him, their parents, and the Colzen folks. However, should she not, Shye had a backup n for her, although she probably wouldn¡¯t appreciate it. ¡¯Sigh, I hope she could make it¡­¡¯ Shye inwardly sighed as he thought of Maia¡¯s unfortunate situation. He knew she would love to help and share the burden with him. However, as her older brother, he had to firmly refuse her assistance if she wasn¡¯t strong enough to participate in such a high-risk war, where even the lowest-level yers were peak adventurers. He couldn¡¯t let her risk her life for nothing, no matter how remarkable her talents were. If the war extended for a long time and she grew strong enough by then, he would permit her to participate. ¡¯For now, it¡¯s me and these guys¡­¡¯ Today, their training arc begins. After exining everything to everyone inside his office, Shye, as the division leader, assigned David and Harry to different parties. Currently, each hunting party consisted of five members, and given their talent, they could likely start hunting the weakest (S)-ss monsters or at least escape cleanly if they failed. However, to give Harry and David time to adapt, Shye required each party toplete two (S-) ranked quests before attempting to tackle the weakest (S) ranked one. This should significantly increase their sess and improvement rate. After chatting with his friends and exining a lot of important information to them for two hours, their small reunion group broke up. As required by their division leader, most of them went to rest and enjoy themselves for the rest of the day. Their training and career advancement regimen shall begin early the next morning. Meanwhile, Shye discreetly sent a hand signal to Reginald, who was lounging on the division lobby¡¯s couch, to meet him at the secret establishment. Around fifteen minutester, the two of them stood face to face in a soundproof room inside the Hadean Varsa secret establishment. "What is it, Crowley?" "I want to be able to return to the old man¡¯s headquarters whenever I need to. Can youe with me and help me gain ess?" "Ooh... I¡¯m not sure about that. That old bastard still hasn¡¯t even given me unrestricted ess yet, so I don¡¯t know if he would grant it to you..." "Hmph! Don¡¯t worry about it. I n to get everything I need from that old bastard today. Do you still have the specialized return scrolls you gave mest time?" "I¡­I do have two but¡­these are myst two scrolls. I don¡¯t know if that baldy would give me more, so¡­" "Lend them to me, I shall secure unrestricted ess for you too." "B-But¡­" "Trust me, this old bastard can¡¯t refuse my demands." Reginald didn¡¯t want to give his return scrolls to Shye, but what choice did he have? The old man had instructed him to assist Shye whenever possible since he would be the core of their operations. So, with a deep sigh, Reginald retrieved the specialized scrolls, handed one to Shye, and used the other for himself. @@novelbin@@ He could only hope that Shye would manage to secure unlimited ess for him as well. ¡¯Well, if the old man spoils him this much, he should be able to keep his promise of getting one for me.¡¯ Reginald consoled himself. "Sigh¡­Well then, shall we go?" With a nod from Shye, the two vanished and reappeared in the specialized recall chamber of the Hadean Varsa Main Headquarters. Soon after, they presented their identification documents to the guards, leaving one of them with his mouth agape. "P-Pardon me for asking but¡­Are you Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn?" One of the guards asked, prompting the other guy to p him on the back of his head. "You idiot! Don¡¯t ask for unnecessary details!" "B-But¡­I just watched the inauguration ceremony earlier¡­This guy is the first ever Valenzian Hero, you know?" "W-Wait, is that true?" Shye frowned after hearing the two guards¡¯ questions, causing him to ponder whether they should take their lives or not. In such situations, he wasn¡¯t sure if their ns might be jeopardized by seemingly innocent questions. Therefore, he thought it would be better to eliminate the guards to keep them silent and protect his identity. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to take action as two void pockets suddenly appeared beside the guards, enveloping their heads and making them forget what they had just seen. The next moment, he heard the old man¡¯s whisper: "Go ahead and leave these two guards. Your identity will remain a secret. From now on, wear that white mask in your inventory whenever you visit the headquarters." Chapter 620: Extorting Resources "So, what brings you here, youngd?" Sanada asked with curiosity. While he could observe Shye from time to time, it was impossible for him to watch him all day, so a few of Shye¡¯s actions would naturally slip past his notice. Shye didn¡¯t hesitate and directly stated his business. After all, even he was still unsatisfied with his own strength. @@novelbin@@ He had to begin his training soon. Otherwise, there was a high chance he wouldn¡¯t be able to protect those dear to him once the time came. "I¡¯m training a private unit of trustworthy individuals to assist me in battle. Provide me with training tonics and skill books. Even rare and umon ones will suffice. I need them to grow as quickly as possible." Shye said, causing a frown to emerge on Sanada¡¯s face. "Lad, you haven¡¯t told them about the organization yet, have you?" "Of course, I¡¯m not an idiot. How could I tell them when there¡¯s still a rat lurking around?" Sanada¡¯s expression eased after hearing Shye¡¯s reply. The old man wasn¡¯t against Shye growing his little army. However, he should do it cleverly, or else, Sanada would have to intervene. "Training tonics and skill books, huh?" The old man sighed. ¡¯This young man sure knows how to extort people¡­¡¯ "Fine. How many do you need?" Reginald was naturally surprised to see the old man so easily persuaded. He had never been treated like this. ¡¯Hmm¡­I guess Crowley truly has a special part in the old man¡¯s quest for revenge and redemption, huh?¡¯ Shye didn¡¯t hesitate and requested for five-hundred units each of physique enhancement tonics, mind enhancement tonics, and skill mastery tonics. He also asked for thirty skill books¡ªtwenty umon ones and ten rare ones. Naturally, he understood that obtaining [Unique]-tier skills and higher was challenging, so he didn¡¯t push the old man too hard. After all, even though the old man always tried to amodate his requests, he was a former hero far stronger than him¡ªat least for now. He didn¡¯t want to risk losing the small advantages he had gained by pressuring the baldy too much. It turned out to be the correct course of action as Sanada already frowned upon seeing his requests. Ultimately, the old man still agreed, partly because of the talents of the people he was nurturing. Siegfried and the others¡¯ talents were no joke, and Sanada was sure that with a little assistance, they would grow to be little monsters that could wreak havoc upon Dweezel¡¯s ranks, thuspelling him to agree to Shye¡¯s heavy demands. Most of them already had the attitude, discipline, and mindset needed to be top-tier adventurers. All they required was time and some assistance with training resources. It wasn¡¯t a bad trade for Sanada. However, there was something he needed to know first. "I¡¯ll provide the resources, but I want to hear how you would recruit them to join us." It was only natural for him to ask. After all, training resources weren¡¯t cheap, especially the high-quality ones Shye requested. Sanada needed assurance that they would join his cause. Otherwise, if Siegfried and the others joined the opposing side, he would not only have squandered a small portion of the resources that he and his organization had painstakingly secured, but he would also be the fool who trained the very forces that might one day destroy his own. The old man had seen his fair share of talents, and could im that he had seen almost all of them, and thus was sure that the Colzen folks, the young woman from An, and his resilient friends from Balkrow were no joke. It was simply that they were born in andcking high-grade resources and came from poor households, unlike the geniuses from other regions. This is why they fell behind their peers. However, in Valenzia, they still proved formidable talents amongst their peers despite theck of opportunities. ¡­Unfortunately, Sanada could never have expected Shye¡¯s answer to his question. "Hmmph! That¡¯s exactly what I want to ask you! How am I supposed to prove to them that you¡¯re the one telling the truth and not Dweezel? I can¡¯t just drag you in front of everyone I recruit and make you answer all my questions with a truth orb, can I?" Shye asked in return, seemingly "fuming" in frustration. Naturally, the bald old man felt a sudden urge to rip out his nonexistent hair once more. The little brat had thrown his question right back at him. Now, he was the one who had toe up with a solution. ¡¯This kid...¡¯ Despite his annoyed exterior, Sanada was quite pleased. It showed that Shye was taking their mission seriously and even taking initiative without needing instructions. This was a very wee form of assistance. Dweezel Hawkins, despite being a warrior-type adventurer in the past, was no slouch when it came to intelligence and cunning. Plus, the faction he¡¯d carefully built over decades would have topete against the WAA, the longest-standing organization in Adthiopia. For there to be any chance of sess, Sanada needed his subordinates to exceed expectations; and to achieve that, a subordinate had to have the initiative and courage to challenge him. In Shye¡¯s case, hate and anger certainly fueled his actions. "Hmph. You little brat, throwing my question back at me... Fine. Show them this," the old man grumbled as he pulled out an ancient recording crystal from his spatial bag. He then handed it to Shye, who infused it with mana and watched the recording. Upon realizing what the recording contained, Shye¡¯s eyes widened in utter surprise, his heart racing in excitement. "T-This is¡­the Yon Augenn hero party¡¯s ck Dragon hunt from fifty years ago!" He eximed with a borderline insane smile. He had always been eager to witness what happened during that hunt¡ªa battle between a direct servant of a god and seven humans. Despite his now rather short fuse due to the heavy burden in his heart, Shye was a passionate adventurer. Such a glorious hunt against a deity¡­ It would naturally make any adventurer¡¯s heart race. Chapter 622: The Voidweaver and The Greatest Hero Void energy was among the most difficult elements to harness, demanding not only patience due to its incredibly slow process but also great resolve, given the intense pain experienced during its initial entry into one¡¯s body. This was particrly true for mages, who, like priests and priestesses, generally had the weakest physiques among adventurers. Worse, if one wanted to advance his/her studies in Void Magic, one would have to practice harnessing the powers of higher-quality void energies which could only be found in expert adventurer zones and death zones. This was true even for warriors, scouts, and archers if they wanted to increase the power and level of their void-type skills. Merely using them repeatedly like other elements wasn¡¯t enough. @@novelbin@@ This was why the two were mesmerized as countless purple magic circles surrounded the ck Dragon in a dome-like shape, momentarily confusing the deity. However, the next moment, it locked its eyes on Sanada, immediately determining that it was the young mage who was responsible for such an amazing feat. It instinctively knew it needed to y Sanada first or there would be the slightest of chances that it would lose to mere mortals. Unfortunately, young Sanada was slightly faster and had already disappeared into one of the magic circles, preventing the ck Dragon from locking him down using space magic. The next moment, the legend of the Voidweaver was born. Sanada, after reappearing in another magic circle from behind the ck Dragon, flew valiantly at the monstrous deity, fear gripping his heart tightly; yet, he showed no hints of it in his actions as one word was written in his eyes: victory. "Rending Void!" the young Sanada eximed, unleashing a series of void shes that significantly damaged a single ck Dragon scale. Then, before the monster could react, he vanished into another magic circle. The only drawback of his skill was that he couldn¡¯t use a magic circle two times as they would vanish after one use. Therefore, if Sanada wanted to continue using his skill for as long as his mana allowed, he had to rece the depleted magic circles with new ones by weaving void energies without looking, all while still attacking and choosing the right magic circle to disappear into. After all, if he chose the wrong one, he might find himself impaled into one of the ck Dragon¡¯s sharp ws. With only milliseconds to execute all four actions nearly simultaneously, Sanada continued his relentless assault. He would appear from a random magic circle, damage the ck Dragon¡¯s scale using [Rending Void], weave a new magic circle to rece the used one, and vanish into another¡ªall while staying vignt for the void dragon¡¯s counterattack. It was a feat that even Shye, with the help of the system, couldn¡¯t achieve without years of hard work and training. Seconds passed, and Sanada¡¯s speed increased, leaving the reaction time of the monstrous deity in the dust. It couldn¡¯t even respond to the ferocious void assault. Soon after, due to the intensified speed of his onught, Sanada¡¯s low-cooldown, short-chant skill, [Rending Void], began to howl as it shattered scale after scale, gradually weakening the ck Dragon¡¯s defenses. This was Sanada Eiichiro of the Howling Void, the Voidweaver. Naturally, after witnessing such an extraordinary disy of skill and mastery over void energy, Shye and Reginald were left speechless, their mouths agape like children watching their hero. Seeing their reactions as his younger self showed off, Sanada felt a surge of pride, his nose lifted high in the air, an irritating smile spreading across his aged face. ¡¯Take that, kiddos! Hahaha!¡¯ He inwardly celebrated in delight. Experience tales at Freewebnovel "D-Damn, I have to admit, old man, you¡¯re unbelievably strong¡­" Shye said honestly, his eyes glued to the holographic screen. "If only you weren¡¯t ugly¡­you could¡¯ve got yourself a few chicks, no?" Reginald added, earning himself a fantabulous p from the old man *PAH!* "Talk rudely one more time and I¡¯ll rearrange your face, snotty brat!" With tears in his eyes, Regi didn¡¯t dare talk back, shifting his attention back to the legendary battle while rubbing his poor left cheek. ¡­The ck Dragon has had enough of Sanada¡¯s confusing attack, thus opting to destroy all his magic circles with one strong st of ck mes, forcing Sanada to retreat while gritting his teeth after barely escaping with his little life. Luckily, he had already done his job. With the dragon¡¯s scale armor now softened, the attacks of the two archers, Liiseon and Elune, began to have an impact; their arrows pierced through the shattered scales and embedded themselves moderately deep into the massive dragon¡¯s body. However, given how small the arrows werepared to the dragon¡¯s immense size, it would take them quite some time to bring it down. Good thing they made the right choice by prioritizing debuff-type arrows instead of power-type ones. They had to whittle down the dragon¡¯s vitality, stamina, and mana bit by bit. It was simply unrealistic to take it down swiftly even if they fired their strongest attacks at the same time. It would be smarter to use their trump cards to finish it off rather than to weaken it. Luckily, the time they bought was enough for the two warriors, Dweezel and Vidarr, to recover, allowing the hero party to once again assume their hunting position. "I apologize, everyone. I did not expect such speed. I shall do better." Young Dweezel said heroically, his eyes resolute. In the next moment, he took the initiative, charging directly at the monstrous deity with his sword and shield, surrounded by a golden aura. "Titanium Aegis!" He eximed, an enormous titanium-colored shield appearing in front of him. However, the shieldsted only one and a half seconds against the ck Dragon¡¯s [Grand ck Fireball] before shattering into countless fragments. Dweezel was sent crashing to the ground once again, with clouds of dust billowing around him, leaving his fate uncertain. Witnessing the greatest hero¡¯s "contributions" Shye¡¯s brows furrowed. "This is¡­Dweezel Hawkins? Why the f*ck is he so ipetent?" Chapter 623: Dweezel Hawkins, A Master Of His Craft "BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" The most boisterousughter Shye and Reginald had ever heard in their lives echoed from behind them, assaulting their ears and nearly causing the two youngsters to jump in fright. "Dweezel was definitely the most ipetent among the seven of us! I knew perceptive people would see the truth! That bastard was only good at putting on a show and winning over the crowd! His actual abilities were nothing but a bunch of bullcrap!" Sanada said enthusiastically, his spit flying everywhere in his excitement. "Ooh! If I could get my hands on that bastard right now... I¡¯d beat the crap out of him! I guarantee it, one hundred percent¡ªno, a thousand percent!" Hearing the old man¡¯s confident words, Shye and Reginald grew more confident as well. Dweezel Hawkins was the hidden leader of the opposing faction. If Sanada, their faction¡¯s leader, was confident he could beat up his rival, it was undoubtedly reassuring for their followers. "Only¡­" The old man suddenly continued, causing the two youngsters¡¯ brows to furrow. "As I told you, Crowley, we humans have a limit that we can¡¯t break through, no matter how hard we try, because we are mere mortals destined to live under the rule of the gods and goddesses." Reginald was confused. However, Shye had an idea of what the old man was talking about. ¡¯Ah, so that¡¯s where Ie in, huh? The only person in the world whose body has no limits... the only man with even the slightest chance of challenging gods and goddesses...¡¯ he thought, now fully realizing just how overpowered his [Epic]-tier inborn talent was. The old man, smiling at the thinking youngster, then continued: "I¡¯ve already reached my mortal limits. I¡¯m sure Dweezel has as well, although I could still beat the crap out of him any day since hisbat intelligence is pretty low. Hahahaha!" "Unfortunately, he has an army of heroes and former heroes, and the entire WAA backing him. For now, at least so taking them all on would be difficult even for me. But don¡¯t worry, for I, Sanada Eiichiro, have a n. For now, keep watching the battle and absorb as much insight as you can." The two youngsters nodded and tuned in once more. Vidarr Oregon of the Growling des, despite being a dual-wielder, was holding his own impressively against the ck Dragon. "Holding his own" meant he managed to stand his ground for a few seconds, skillfully parrying and using his defensive skills with immacte timing and allowing Sanada and the other ranged attackers to bombard the monstrous deity with various terrifyingly powerful attacks. Additionally, the few seconds he bought were enough to allow young Dweezel Hawkins of the Golden Sun to recover, allowing him to return to battle and aid hisrades. @@novelbin@@ By this point, it seemed like the Yon Augenn Seven were winning decisively. Explore stories at Freewebnovel However, only they, the heroes, knew the truth. Despite unleashing their most powerful skills to st the monstrous deity into pieces, it remained as strong, vigorous, and ferocious as ever. It was as if the numerous shallow wounds on its massive body hadn¡¯t affected it in the slightest. They slowly ran out of options as time went by. Fortunately, none of them appeared to be severely wounded, which, from the perspective of the hopeful masses, was both glorious and reassuring. Even the WAA let themon people sink further into the delusion that the Yon Augenn Seven were winning, to prevent panic. However, the ten WAA directors knew just how precarious the situation was for the seven heroes, who were barely holding on just minutes into thebat. Naturally, Shye and Reginald were far from ipetent, and they also understood that despite the heroes¡¯ impressive appearance, young Sanada and the others were narrowly managing to survive. They, particrly Shye, could sense the heavy atmosphere, as he, now a hero himself, might face a simr situation in the future. Before he knew it, he found himself cheering for the seven, especially Dweezel, who, despite contributing only a little, seemed to be the most heroic of them all. ¡¯Heh, this evil bastard sure can show off¡­I have a lot to learn.¡¯ He mused. Suddenly, the ck Dragon paused its attacks, appearing to charge up for a powerful strike that none of the seven could survive, even if they began fleeing with all their might at that very moment. Unfortunately, retreat was not an option for the seven, who were bound by their duty to support the sky as it fell until theirst breath. Millions of lives and millennia of architecturey beneath them. Their bodies would have to be reduced to mere particles before they could permit the world¡¯s capital city to fall. Fortunately, they had prepared an item in advance for such a situation, and it naturally ended up in Dweezel¡¯s hands, as he was adept at making himself appear the most impressive. He managed to convince everyone, including Sanada, that he should be the one to activate the item. Dweezel argued that, as the weakest among them, if the item failed, only he would perish, using some persuasive but dubious reasoning. ording to the maniptive bastard¡¯s honeyed words, there would still be a chance as long as the other six remained alive. This set of sweet-sounding words was what convinced the other six to give the item to Dweezel. "Sh*t!" Young Sanada cursed. "Dweezel!" Naturally, Dweezel Hawkins, master of ultimate credit-grabbing schemes, seized the opportunity. He positioned himself a few meters in front of the other six, ensuring he stood out, and then took out a golden orb from his spatial bag, infusing it with mana. In the next moment, a warm and gentle golden portal appeared before him,pletely enveloping the eerily silent ball of darkness shot by the ck Dragon and redirecting it to the vast ocean, where it exploded and caused countless marine creatures to lose their lives. "Damn it, old man. I have to admit, the bastard truly is a master of his craft! After such a wless disy, won¡¯t the rest of you seem useless inparison?" Chapter 624: Fury Of The Six Sounds of gnashing teeth could be heard. Of course, the two youngsters inevitably turned around, witnessing old man Sanada fuming in utter anger, void energies identally causing magic circles to emerge all over the room. "O-O-Old man! W-what are you doing?! Calm down!" Reginald eximed, heart racing. This was the first time they had felt Sanada¡¯s aura. The old man was undoubtedly a monster. "If only¡­ if only I had taken that damned orb back then..." the furious old baldy muttered, with a trace of regret in his voice. This moment was why the entire world believed Dweezel Hawkins was the greatest hero of all time, even though his abilities as a hero were quite mediocre and all he did was infuse mana into the golden orb provided by the WAA. What he regretted most about that day was knowing that he was, by far, the strongest, and none of them would have dared challenge him if he had decided to take the credit for himself. Unfortunately, at that time, he was still young and naive, believing that fame and reputation were pointless, and that true strength would ultimately make someone shine the brightest. It was the harshest of lessons for young Sanada. If he had been recognized as the greatest contributor to the fight, he could have exposed Dweezel¡¯s sinister schemes much more easily, as people would have undoubtedly taken his side, forcing the WAA to conduct a thorough investigation. If that had happened, Dweezel Hawkins would be the one on the side of darkness today, while he would stand in the light. It was a huge blunder that he didn¡¯t even know he made until it was toote. "UNSEALING THE BLACK DRAGON WOULD¡¯VE BEEN MUCH EASIER!!" Sanada shouted in a fit of rage, causing the entire metal room to tremble. At that moment, Shye¡¯s small heart quaked with fear. Not even the Void Dragon¡¯s aura had made him shiver this much. ¡¯This damned old man could probably annihte that Anubis like it was a child¡­¡¯ he thought, choosing to keep watching the recording to avoid further angering Sanada. Of course, Reginald felt the same. He didn¡¯t even dare look at the old man. He was petrified. Meanwhile, the ck Dragon appeared slightly exhausted after its massive attack, and noticing this with his keen senses, young Sanada boldly charged forward to seize the opportunity. However, how could he have known that the monstrous deity, seemingly overwhelmed by rage, would still have the wits to scheme? What small weakness it showed turned out to be merely a facade. As a result, Sanada found himself face-to-face with an instantaneous, ckser-like beam. This attack wasn¡¯t as powerful as the ck Dragon¡¯s other attacks. However, it was surely enough to obliterate a mere fragile human and erase him from existence for eternity. "SH*T!" Sanada cursed. "Sanada!" The other heroes eximed worriedly in unison, one of them immediately making her move. Young Sanada, having been from Earth, was someone who knew how to keep his cards close to his chest. Thus, he had quite a few trump cards that even hisrades didn¡¯t know of. An example of such was his skill called [Instantaneous Void Travel]. It was an [Epic-tier] chantless skill that would allow him to escape his predicament unscathed. Unfortunately, how could he have known that one of hisrades had fallen for him, even though, as Reginald put it, he was "ugly as f*ck" in his so-called prime? @@novelbin@@ This also made it to the list of the moments he regretted. Elune Nightsong, an archer, suddenly followed her heart and moved faster than an arrow, taking the attack meant for Sanada before he could even use his repositioning skill. If not for her equipment, which was the most superior among the seven, she would¡¯ve perished then and there. Elune was fortunate to have only been sted to the ground. The only movement she could manage after the horrifying scene was spitting out blood while staring nkly into the distance. Fortunately, the greatest priestess of the time, Aeryth Sacramenta of the Sacred Light, was by her side. She quickly teleported to Elune and used one of her strongest healing spells to dispel the curse infecting her body and heal all her injuries. However, she didn¡¯t anticipate that her spell would only be partially effective against the ck Dragon¡¯s [Sacred Blight] status ailment. Naturally, Aeryth didn¡¯t give up immediately, trying almost everything in her arsenal to bring Elune back to the fight. However, none worked. Explore more at Freewebnovel As a result, although Elune Nightsong survived, she was permanently crippled and could never fight again. Sanada gritted his teeth as the moment that gnawed at his sanity and filled him with guilt yed out before his eyes once again. Elune had confessed her feelings to him right after the legendary battle while bedridden, and only Sanada himself knew what happened next. It was a dark moment for the Yon Augenn Seven, the WAA, and those beneath. Elune Nightsong of the Luminous Starfall had fallen as a hero. The WAA ordered the highest-ranking adventurers in Yon Augenn City to retrieve her and bring her back to headquarters, hoping to treat her so she could return to the fight as soon as possible, unaware that she would never be able to fight again for the rest of her life. The next moment, the monstrous deity smiled eerily, one that would grip a mere mortal¡¯s heart tightly in utter horror. However, none of the other six felt so. They were angered. Especially Sanada, who didn¡¯t know whether he should me himself or not. In the next moment, another legendary scene unfolded as all six heroes, furious at the scheming monstrous deity, unleashed their trump cards without hesitation, ns be damned. Countless magic circles that produced the most destructive and deadly of projectiles, along with divine avatars materialized, heading straight for the battered and bruised but every vigorous ck Dragon. It was as if the apocalyptic judgment of the gods and goddesses had descended upon the world, as though they intended to smite their subordinate, the ck Dragon, for causing destruction in the world it was meant to protect. A scene recorded in Adthiopia¡¯s history books as the "Fury of the Six". Chapter 626: Reginald The Lazy A seemingly grim silence shrouded the entire room as Sanada gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists hard, the two youngsters waiting for the old baldy to control his emotions. After a few seconds and a deep breath, Sanada finally spoke, slightly easing the heavy atmosphere: "That¡¯s what happened, and that¡¯s why everyone believes that pretentious bastard. We fell for his trap and paid for it, though two of our formerrades sided with him in the first confrontation¡­" The old man recounted with anger, sadness, and regret. "I see¡­but how can I use this as proof to those I will recruit?" Shye asked in confusion. The battle was indeed a great watch but he didn¡¯t know how it would help him convince his underlings and close friends to join his cause. "Ah, right. I forgot. Here¡¯s another recording crystal that contains footage of the moment a mana dungeon was prevented from forming." Shye squinted at the recording, watching as a white wisp of energy merged with the familiar ck wisp surrounding the ck Dragon, stopping the formation of a mana dungeon. ¡¯Hoh, so those small bumps of soil were potential mana dungeons, huh?¡¯ he mused. @@novelbin@@ Your journey continues at NovelBin.C?m He had encountered several of those on his missions, but he hadn¡¯t realized they were budding mana dungeons. Momentster, Shye¡¯s attention was drawn to another recording, apparently captured at a different time but somehow using the same crystal. This time, only a white wisp was visible, which Shye assumed to be a manifestation of the White Dragon¡¯s divinity. It floated above a budding mana dungeon. Unfortunately, without the ck wisp, the dungeon slowly continued to expand, eventually forming a full entrance after about ten minutes of fast-forwarded yback. This was the proof Shye needed. With this, he could persuade his underlings and friends. However¡­ ¡¯This recording likely isn¡¯t enough for people to believe the old man over Dweezel¡­¡¯ He pondered with a frown. It served aspelling evidence for those inclined to believe him but was less convincing for the staunch supporters of the greatest hero. If they wanted to sway the WAA to help them instead of Dweezel, they had to capture a recording of him admitting to his schemes. ¡¯And how the hell are we supposed to do that? There¡¯s no way that scheming old bastard would make a mistake like that¡­¡¯ Shye inwardly cursed, deeply lost in his thoughts. "Aihh, aren¡¯t you two overthinking things?" thezy youngster, Reginald, suddenly said, snapping both the old man and Shye out of their thoughts. "Isn¡¯t the agenda for now to recruit your friends, Crowley? What¡¯s the problem, then?" Indeed, thezy bastard was right. There was no need to overthink things. For now, it would be best for Shye to focus on growing his unit and let the two old men scheme against each other. "You¡¯re right, there¡¯s no issue. Old man, I¡¯d also like to request unrestricted ess to the headquarters for myself and him." Hearing his other request, the old man frowned, seemingly sinking into his world of thoughts again. After a few moments, he shifted his attention back to the young duo. "This is not the right moment to give you unrestricted ess, settle for return scrolls for now." The old man said, this time making Shye frown. "Why? Don¡¯t you trust us yet? Then why bother using us if you don¡¯t?" Shye said, slightly annoyed. "No, that¡¯s not it. To gain unrestricted ess, you must have a Hadean Varsa crest engraved on your body, and now isn¡¯t the right time for either of you. Here are five return scrolls each¡ªmake sure you hide them well or there will be trouble," Sanada warned sternly. Hadean Varsa, Sanada Eiichiro¡¯s organization, was the most notorious terrorist group in the entire world. It would be a miracle if people didn¡¯t recognize the crests once they were engraved on their bodies. It was simply too dangerous and impractical, especially since they needed to stay in their guilds for a while longer. Shye wasn¡¯t stupid. He understood the old man¡¯s decision. Hence, he decided to ept the scrolls for now. ¡¯I could just ask for more once I run out, anyway¡­¡¯ He thought. "Well then, old man, send the resources to the secret establishment in Valenzia City, I shall start training. Let me know a week ahead of time if you will attack Dweezel. I need to prepare, after all" After Sanada nodded in agreement, Shye retrieved two special return scrolls from the inventory and handed one over to Reginald. "You can collect the resources a week from now." The old man¡¯s final words echoed as Shye dissolved into mana particles, reappearing at the secret establishment in Valenzia City shortly afterward. "So, Regi, what are your ns? I¡¯ll spend a week training in a death zone and thene back to collect the resources the old man sent. I¡¯ll make sure you get your share then." Shye asked and exined probingly. He was growing increasingly frustrated with Reginald, who, despite being a few years older, spent half the week training and the other half lounging around. If this continues, Siegfried and the others might not only catch up to him but also surpass him inbat power, rendering him useless by the time the battle arrives. "Oh, me? Do what I always do, I guess¡­Why?" Regi asked, confused. "Nothing, it¡¯s just that you¡¯rezing around too much, no? Would you be fine by the time we have to sh with Dweezel¡¯s forces?" Shye said bluntly. It was better to raise the issues now than ignore them and sufferter. "Huh? What do you mean? Aren¡¯t I always training? Didn¡¯t the old man tell you my unique training method?" "You¡¯re¡­ training? How can you say you¡¯re training when you spend half the week lounging on the division lounge¡¯s couches?" "Hahahaha!" Reginald merelyughed in amusement at his reply, realizing that Shye was probably growing dissatisfied with him due to howzy he always looked. It was understandable, though, as his training method was truly too unique. "So that¡¯s how you see me, huh? Well, if others think the same way, it might work to my advantage as it would allow me to slip under their radar," the young man said, leaving Shye thoroughly confused. "I think it¡¯s time. How about a quick spar, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn?" Chapter 628 Demons Shye felt dangering from behind him and it was toote for him to react. Hence, he immediately opted to activate his trusty skill [Stoic Lv.5] instead. Tanking an (S-) or (S) ranked monster''s attack with such a skill was dangerous. However, it was the best protective skill avable for human scouts like Reginald, whose strength attributes weren''t particrly high. It not only provided effective defense but also allowed for counterattacks. Only, Shye hadn''t expected that after feeling the satisfying dull thud, there was no wrist he could grab on to as what attacked was merely another phantom that could somehow emit a bloodthirsty aura. Then, before he could make sense of what happened¡­ *BOOM!* An explosion erupted behind him, sending a wave of scorching heat against his back. It didn''t hurt much. However, no matter how minor, damage sustained is damage sustained. Reginald sessfully drew first blood against him. "Hoh, not bad, Regi¡­ What a cunningbat style," Shye said, a mix of annoyance and admiration in his voice. A few meters in front of him stood his opponent, Reginald Bodan, who was examining his dagger leisurely. "Hahaha! I''m ttered. Receiving apliment from Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn¡ªnow I can die peacefully," Regi joked. However, after taking a hit, Shye, who was clearly in no mood for humor, took it as a taunt. He couldn''t quite put his finger on it, but there was always something about Reginald that annoyed him slightly¡ªprobably the deep-seated arrogance in his demeanor and the asional irksome sarcastic remarks he made. ''Phew¡­fine. Let''s introduce ourselves properly, then, Reginald Bodan.'' Shye thought inwardly as he took one deep breath to calm his heart down. From their first sh, he could tell that Reginald didn''t follow a mindless "speed reigns supreme" fighting style. Instead, he was extremely cunning and skilled at anticipating how his opponent would feel and think. Shye realized he had to take the guy seriously and stay sharp during the fight. Otherwise, he would fall hook, line, and sinker into every trap Reginald set. Furthermore, he still wasn''t sure if the damage he took this time represented Reginald''s true firepower. He needed to stay vignt and avoid underestimating the guy''s ability to deal damage. After a series of reminders to himself, Shye was ready for another sh. This time, he swiftly charged forward, not allowing Reginald to blend into the shadows once more. "Oh sh*t¡­" Regi unknowingly cursed as he jumped back upon seeing Shye''s serious expression. He couldn''t allow Shye to catch him. Otherwise, based on the aura he felt from Shye''s casual attack on his phantom earlier, he would be destroyed in a single hit. ''How the hell did this guy grow so strong in such a short time? Too damn scary¡­'' Regi thought inwardly as he retreated. Reginald had never lost a spar, thanks to the talent he was born with. His "Ego of the Undefeated" was also the reason why Shye was slightly irked at him for unknown reasons. While Reginald respected Shye''s prowess in leading parties and ying monsters as if Shye was a monstrous creature himself, he never believed he could lose to Shye in a duel. This confidence sometimes led Reginald to make sarcastic remarks that, even unintentionally, would get under Shye''s skin. Their status as allies and the impracticality of them shing didn''t help. Fortunately, Shye had the opportunity to resolve his inner conflicts and, hopefully, forge a closer bond with Reginald, who would stand beside him in the final battle. ¡­Shye''s attack hit nothing but air as Reginald sessfully dodged. However, he had no ns of giving the guy a moment of rxation, continuously charging forward while hacking and shing at his opponent. With this, Reginald was forced to fight Shye head-on, revealing his prowess in terms of meleebat techniques. He adeptly dodged, blocked, and parried most of Shye''s attacks, his footwork both graceful and immacte. It was as if he were a near replica of Siegfried, though considerably faster and somewhat weaker in terms of strength. Naturally, Shye was impressed. He was initially frustrated by the guy''s habit of lounging around almost every day. In fact, Reginald didn''t even take on quests regrly,pleting only one each month to keep his adventurer license from bing inactive. Such actions would naturally make one appearzy in the eyes of others, which would not be appreciated by one''s allies orrades. As the saying goes, it''s not a strong enemy one should fear, but an ipetent ally. This was the reason why Shye was forced to finally confront Reginald. However, despite spending most of his time lounging around, the guy still proved to be remarkablypetent. Shye thought he had long left Regi in the dust, especially now that he bore a hero''s crest. How could he have thought that the guy would still be so difficult to defeat? He was both amazed and confused. For around a minute and a half, Reginald continued wlessly defending himself from Shye''s attacks, earning the young hero''s approval with each passing second. "Hoh, it''s truly a wonder how you can fight so well despitezing around all the time¡­" Shye said in a slightly taunting manner. This time, it was Reginald who felt annoyed, as if Shye were looking down on him, despite their positions being reversed just a year ago. In his imagination, at least. "Hmph! Didn''t I tell you I''ve been training non-stop? How else do you think someone like me could keep up with you, oh mighty hero?" Reginald taunted back. The fight was on. It was time to address their mutual misunderstandings, as both seemed to have their egos hindering any chance of a deeper connection. Shye ceased his attacks, realizing that trying to take Reginald down with such basic methods was futile. As a result, The two ended up standing a few meters apart, their eyes locked and zing with fighting spirit.@@novelbin@@ Soon, ck and red vapor began to emanate from Reginald''s body as dark runes appeared on his left arm. Meanwhile, Shye summoned a pair of ckish-transparent, decayed mana wings on his back, and a sinister ck armor materialized on his chest. It was as though two demonic beings were having a turf war in hell. Chapter 629 Pressed Hard Cold winds howled as the night''s chilling darkness engulfed the world, with the sun momentarily retreating from its kingly duties. Beneath the now shadowed skies, two humanoid figures¡ªwho could easily be mistaken for spawns from hell¡ªstood facing each other. The two were naturally Shye and Reginald who were about to begin their all-out sh after a rather fierce exchange of words. They somehow secretly hated each other''s guts, but only due to the fact that they had not known each other on a deeper, more personal level. Today was their best opportunity to settle their differences like true men: through a fierce battle, forging the closest of friendships afterward. The next moment, bothbatants disappeared, Shye reappearing at the area where Reginald previously stood. ''Tch, still a bit too slow, huh?'' He thought inwardly, regretting the fact that he allowed his opponent to once more disappear into the shadows. Once again, Shye could do nothing but wait for Reginald to show himself as his [Mana Pulse], for once, was useless as heck. ''Or I could¡­'' An idea entered Shye''s mind. ''If you won''te out, then I''ll make you!'' With a single p of his wings, Shye soared to the skies, staying afloat with the help of his other skill [Flight]. He then exchanged both greatswords for elemental staffs. ''Hmm¡­ these are getting pretty outdated¡­ Even my greatswords aren''t holding up as well as they used to¡­ I should request new ones soon¡­'' Shye thought inwardly as he aimed both staffs towards the ground. ''Fire Bomb Assault! Frozen Thorn Barrage!'' With a tremendous increase in his intelligence and wisdom attributes, the firebombs and frozen thorns that materialized in front of Shye grew wayrger, astonishing even him, the caster. The firebombs had expanded to four meters in diameter, while the frozen thorns had grown to a thickness of three meters and a length of five meters. They were cataclysmic in size. Once the firebombs exploded and the frozen thorns shattered into multiple smaller shards, they would be way more destructive. Shye actually felt slightly worried for Reginald. However, he can''t hold back here. ''You better survive this, Regi!'' In the next moment, fire bombs roared and frozen thorns violently tore through the winds, all hurtling toward the open ground where Reginald was hiding. ''Sh*t!!'' Reginald inwardly cursed upon realizing that multiple firebombs and icy thorns were headed his way. With his stealth skill active, he wouldn''t be able to dodge all the violent, fiery explosions and shattered ice shards. He had no choice but to deactivate his [Superior Cloaking] as it reduced his movement speed by a good thirty percent. Emerging from the shadows, Reginald sprinted across the modest-sized clearing, dodging tens of meters of fiery explosions and countless ice shards with unmatched finesse. At that moment, he moved like unpredictable shadows, somehow dodging everything with pinpoint precision, no matter how hard Shye tried. He was simply unhittable. "Tch, fine. I shall believe that you''ve been training nonstop, but I''ll make sure you exin to me how!" Shye eximed, switching back to his greatswords. Then, with another powerful p of his wings, he descended like a meteor, aiming straight for Reginald. After dodging thest few ice shards, Reginald realized that the aerial bombardment had stopped, prompting him to look up. His eyes widened in shock, and every hair on his body stood on end. Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, a human that had enough strength to contend against peak-tier monsters head-on, was upon him. ''Sh*t!!'' Reginald inwardly cursed once more. In the past, he always won easily against the few who dared challenge him despite his easygoing ways. He had never been so pressed in a one-on-one battle. ''Phantom Teleportation!'' This was one of Reginald''s most reliable escape skills, enabling him to summon a phantom anywhere within a fifteen-meter radius. He could control the phantom to attack or even switch ces with it, as long as it remained intact or hadn''t timed out. Momentster, the descending demonnded with a force that created a small crater as his swords sliced through the phantom, while the real Reginald, watching from a distance, broke out in a cold sweat. The crater could''ve been him! It seemed that after being outsmarted in their first sh, Shye wasn''t willing to take any more chances. Now, it was up to Reginald to prove whether he could survive Shye''s relentless attacks. Shye, having lost any sense of restraint, was determined not to hold back or ept defeat. ''Hey, hey, isn''t this supposed to be a friendly spar?'' Reginald thought as he charged toward Shye. His speed was now far greater than before, thanks to the mysterious red and ck vapor, while the ck runes had significantly enhanced his dexterity and strength. He naturally had a n that involved the phantom so he had to act before it timed out. Unfortunately for him, Shye had other ns. He had always ignored Reginald''s phantoms as they posed little threat to him.@@novelbin@@ However, looking back, the darned phantoms had been the source of all his troubles. It was better to destroy them. It wasn''t that difficult anyway. Shye didn''t even need to swap his greatswords with elemental staffs to enhance his spells'' destructive powers, simply casting a fireball with Adamance to obliterate the phantom. ''Tch, why now?'' Reginald clicked his tongue in annoyance. Shye had always ignored Reginald''s phantoms in their previous encounters, which led Reginald to believe he could use the phantom for a counteroffensive. Unfortunately, this time Shye decided to destroy the phantom, preventing Reginald from executing his n. As a result, he had to stop his advance and momentarily fall back. Shye, however, was done ying Reginald''s games. Based on how Reginald never dared to fight him head-on despite such wlessbat techniques was proof that his offensive capabilities were only so-so, and although Reginald might have a skill or two that could instantly defeat him, he had his countermeasures for that. After careful analysis, Shye determined that the best strategy was to stop hesitating and pursue Reginald aggressively, attacking him with a straightforward approach. This way, Reginald would have fewer opportunities to employ tricks and tactics. Realizing that Shye was now pursuing him as though a hunting hound, a shadow of a smile emerged on the scout''s face. ''Fine,e chase me then, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn¡­'' Chapter 632: Hunt for Crafting Materials Begins Dark shards shattered and fell like snow as an ashen-haired young man opened his eyes amidst the cascading fragments. He then looked around and searched for his true opponent, smiling at him victoriously. "Looks like I won, Regi." "Sigh¡­well, at least you¡¯re alive. I¡¯ll take the loss¡­" Reginald replied, somehow relieved despite his first-ever defeat. He would be in trouble if Shye died. After all, not only was the guy a hero, but he was also central to the old man¡¯s ns. Sanada would hunt him down if he jeopardized the old man¡¯s schemes out of some foolish pride. Even the WAA will be his enemy should he identally kill Shye. Hence, it was truly a relief that he managed to survive his ultimate skill. "So? How on earth did you manage to survive in my illusion sphere for so long? And how did you figure out that the ¡¯me¡¯ inside was just an illusion?" Reginald asked with a helpless smile. "F*ck you and your skill, Regi! That damned superhuman "you" gave me quite a scare!" Shye said, his heart still pounding. He didn¡¯t know whether the illusion would be able to deal damage to him but he didn¡¯t dare risk trying. Instead, he decided to look for the illusion core, which was quite easy as his [Mana Pulse] did the job for him. "I initially thought that your ultimate skill was the red gleam on the illusion¡¯s dagger so I used my [Flight] skill to stay afloat for eleven minutes. Howev¨C" "What a dirty trick! Aren¡¯t you supposed to be a hero? You¡¯re meant to fight with honor!" Reginald blurted out, unknowingly interrupting Shye in his frustration as hispetitive spirit red up again. If his killing move truly turned out to be a momentary weapon and attribute enhancement skill, then he could only imagine how humiliating it would be for it to time out while he helplessly stared at his airborne opponent. "What? Now that¡¯s the pot calling the kettle ck! Hahaha! You¡¯re thest person who should call me underhanded, after all the running around, trap-setting, phantom tricks, poisoning, and illusions you¡¯ve used to try and kill me!" Shye retorted, spittle flying as he spoke. Read new adventures at NovelBin.C?m @@novelbin@@ "B-But how am I supposed to fight you with that idiotic strength of yours?! Even a single casual swing is like a damned trump card! I had no choice but to employ cunning!" "And? Do you think that damned superhuman illusion of yours is any better? That thing does not die! What do you want me to do, fight it head-on like a braindead idiot?" Realizing that his illusion was impossible to defeat, a bit of shame crept into Reginald¡¯s heart. He indeed shouldn¡¯t be crying victim here when it was Shye who suffered inside his illusion sphere. "F-Fine. Well, you did good. If you had died, the old man would¡¯ve ended me. Lucky for you, the thought that an illusion can¡¯t kill didn¡¯t cross your mind¡ªbecause that illusion demon wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to take your life." "Damn it! I knew it! It felt way too unsettling, so I wasn¡¯t about to risk getting hit by it..." After discussing their battle and subtly talking shit to each other, Shye and Reginald finally felt better, the ice thorns in their hearts barring them from making a deeper connection finally thawed. They now felt much more at ease around each other, particrly after having witnessed each other¡¯s true abilities. Shye could finally admit that, despite all the lounging, he could trust Reginald to have his back. ¡¯Speaking of¡­¡¯ "So, Regi, care to exin how you train?" "Hmm? Oh, right. I was born with a [Legendary]-tier talent called [Perfect Combat Simtion]. All I need is to watch a recording of a monstrous creature¡¯s battle, and I can simte a fight with it in my mind just by closing my eyes." Reginald said, subtly boasting. He paused for a few moments to see Shye¡¯s slightly dumbfounded reaction before continuing: "The life-and-death experiences I face in those simtions feel real and carry over, so I don¡¯t need to go out and hunt forbat experience. This applies to recordings of other people¡¯s battles too. Thus, all I need to do is train my attributes in training centers and ze around" to gainbat experiences." After hearing Reginald¡¯s exnation, Shye, for the first time in his professional career, felt envious. It was a talent that would allow him to attain the peak ofbat techniques. However, when Shye remembered that he alone in the world had the potential to grow as powerful as the deities themselves, he felt a bit more at ease. Everyone had their talents, and he knew he shouldn¡¯t be too envious of Reginald¡¯s¡ªespecially since he had the system on his side. "I see¡­Well, what are your ns now? I n to focus on training and advancing my career for now while hunting for crafting materials." Shye asked, picking up his fake spatial bag from a nearby tree "Hmm¡­Well, I¡¯ll train like usual for a month and return to the old man¡¯s headquarters for some official business." *** The two chatted casually as they made their way back to Valenzia City, where they parted ways upon arrival. Shye decided to get a good night¡¯s rest before starting his official training the next day. After resting, Shye headed to the guild headquarters and, to the astonishment of his guildmates, casually picked up an (S) ranked quest and registered it under his name. While they knew he was now a hero capable of defeating (S) ranked monstrous creatures when fighting seriously, they hadn¡¯t expected him to nonchntly choose such a quest as if it didn¡¯t even matter what creature he faced. [Congrattions! You¡¯ve earned 3,529 points!] However, contrary to their insane thoughts, Shye had been eyeing this specific quest for quite a while as he had long pondered the crafting materials he would need for his new weapons and armor. Now, all that was left was to obtain them himself. Chapter 634: Patient, Precise, Lethal ¡¯Appraisal!¡¯ [Name]: Stygian Garuda [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Dark [Hit Points]: 5,000/5,000 [Mana]: 950/950 [Stamina]: 3,000/3,000 [Talent]: [Garuda Bloodline (Legendary)] [Strength: 900] [Intelligence: 350] @@novelbin@@ [Agility: 670] [Dexterity: 700] [Stamina: 1,000] [Vitality: 1,000]: [Wisdom: 250] Shye knew he had little time to read the Stygian Garuda¡¯s appraisal window. Hence, as per usual, he focused on the important details, skipping over the unnecessary parts and those that would take too long to read and understand¡ªparticrly the Garuda¡¯s skills. He could¡¯ve taken his time if he had been the one to find the monstrous creature first. Unfortunately, the situation was reversed, so he had to make do with the limited information he could gather in a short span. ¡¯Tch, a thousand points in vitality, huh? This thing isn¡¯t just strong, it¡¯s tough... and it¡¯s not stupid either,¡¯ Shye thought to himself, realizing the Garuda was a formidable monster to y. The Stygian beast wasted no time, instantly lunging at Shye with terrifying speed, propelled by a single powerful p of its ck angelic wings. ¡¯Here ites!¡¯ Shye learned a lot of finebat techniques from his battle with Reginald, and he nned to apply and practice them in this battle. He could easily dodge the Garuda¡¯s fierce attack with a wide sidestep. However, he didn¡¯t do so; instead, he tried to dodge it with pinpoint precision, as Reginald and Siegfried always did. Shye merely shifted the position of his body and slightly stepped back, narrowly avoiding the ferocious punch that would instantly turn a mortal human into a meat paste. ¡¯Tch, still too wide.¡¯ Shye clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. He still couldn¡¯t do it as well as Regi did. However, it was a decent start as despite the slightly wide dodge, he could stillnd a light attack. Shye quickly brandished Adamance at the creature¡¯s horrifyingly huge arms, aiming to dismember it with the help of his trusty [Power sh] *SPURT!* Discover more content at NovelBin.C?m The Garuda instinctively tried to dodge but failed miserably as Shye¡¯s greatsword sliced a moderately deep cut into its arm, sessfully wounding it. Unfortunately, such minimal damage was far from enough to take the stygian monster out, or even affect its movements. He knew he¡¯d have to do much more than that. "Phew... at least I drew first blood," Shye muttered, consoling himself as he quickly stepped back to create some distance. ¡¯Let¡¯s try fighting patiently¡­¡¯ After his spar with Reginald, Shye realized that his exceptionally high attributes for a human often made him rush in for the kill. While this approach wasn¡¯t always wrong, it couldn¡¯t be applied to every situation. He needed to relearn how to prolong a fight¡ªa style he had mastered as a first-year student but had since forgotten. ¡¯Harrowing Aura!¡¯ Shye activated the first semi-passive skill he had learned back in his student days, inflicting [Fear] stacks on the Garuda at a rate of three stacks every ten seconds, thanks to the skill now being level five. With this, the stacks grew at a rate of eighteen stacks per minute. Although Shye wasn¡¯t certain if he could make use of the skill since it required at least 150 stacks to start affecting his opponent, there was no harm in activating it¡ªit could only help. Momentster, the menacing humanoid avian pped its wings again, lunging forward and halting right in front of Shye, its fist cloaked in a sinister ck aura that sent chills down his spine. ¡¯Tch, even this damned monster knows not to rush in recklessly,¡¯ Shye thought, feeling a twinge of embarrassment. The Garuda¡¯s choice to stop in front of him and methodically close in demonstrated that it understood fighting like a frenzied beast all the time was suboptimal. "Fine then, let¡¯s fight!" Shye eximed, steeling his resolve. The monster was significantly stronger than him, and he would likely endure more internal injuries if he confronted it head-on. He needed to be as adaptable as water, as calm as ake, as graceful as a swan, as agile as a hare, and at times, as fierce as a roaring avnche. Shye was ready to make it happen this time. Armed with courage, focus as sharp as an arrow, and well-trained reflexes, Shye stood his ground. He calmly analyzed the trajectory of each of the Stygian Garuda¡¯s punches, aiming to parry or dodge them as effectively as possible. There were a few times he was grazed by the aura. However, he remained unperturbed, and with each blow, his precision grew sharper. He stayed patient and on the defensive, waiting for opportunities to strike back. As the saying goes, "The faithful shall be rewarded," and after three minutes of persistence, his opportunity finally arrived. A bit frustrated, the Stygian Garuda¡¯s swing veered too wide, providing Shye with an opportunity for a lethal counterattack after he skillfully ducked the blow. This time, however, he didn¡¯t charge recklessly. He knew that such a sinister monster would have insanely sharp survival instincts. Thus, Shye decided to feign a diagonally upward sh with his greatswords, appearing to aim for a diagonal cut that would split the Garuda in two. This caused the monster to activate its defensive skill, enveloping its entire body in a ck, shiny sheen. Only for a moment, though. By dying his true attack, Shye allowed the protective skill to time out, leaving the Stygian Garuda defenseless against Shye¡¯s [Nightfall Reaper]. The des of his greatswords glowed with an eerie red light as he reappeared beneath the sinister humanoid avian using [Dash Lv.5]. Naturally, with its sharp instincts and richbat experience, the Stygian Garuda knew it f*cked up big time. However, there was no hint of panic on its face. The Garuda was confident that if it could strike Shye first, there would be no need to defend. The monster was prepared to endure a severe wound for the sake of victory! "Hmph! Admirable resolve andbat strategy. Unfortunately, it¡¯s all for nothing!" The Stygian monster opened its beak, and a horrifying ball of darkness materialized, shooting silently toward Shye, as deadly as a viper. ¡¯Barrier of the Condemned!¡¯ The ck ball skill, despite its deadliness, was destined to be absorbed by the Impious Origin Belt¡¯s barrier, allowing Shye to survive and maintain his lethal strike. It was toote for the Stygian Garuda to dodge. Hence, a few millisecondster¡­ *SPURT!* ck blood gushed from the grievous wound as Shye¡¯s greatswords nearly cleaved the monster in two, from its left shoulder down to its right waist. Had it not been for the shadowy ck ball momentarily obscuring his vision, the monster would have been in on the spot. Unfortunately, it managed to survive, though it was severely injured. Shye couldn¡¯t help but be astonished at what the Stygian Garuda did next. Despite its fatal wounds, the monster¡¯s eyes stayed fixed on him, gleaming with a hint of viciousness and ruthless bloodthirst. Its next attack¡ªa punch enveloped in the same ck aura but now possessing a gravitational sucking effect¡ª then hurtled toward him with terrifying speed and lethal precision. If Shye hadn¡¯t stayed focused, he would have been struck and turned into meat paste. ¡¯Blink!¡¯ Today wasn¡¯t the Stygian Garuda¡¯s day, though, as Shye effortlessly dodged its attack, reappearing directly above the seven-meter-tall monster with an elemental staff in hand. ¡¯Ninth Devastation Ray!¡¯ An incredibly sharp tri-colored ray erupted from his arcane weapon, piercing through the monster¡¯s body, including its skull and brain. The next moment¡­ *THUD!* A loud thud echoed as the sinister monster¡¯s enormous body fell to the ground, unmoving. ¡¯Well done, master.¡¯ Chapter 635: Booming Business "Lorenzo, is the order for client 355 finished yet?" "Just one more hour! We can¡¯t rush quality!" The sounds of busy and slightly stressed voices echoed inside Meido¡¯s smithy as hundreds of employees worked their asses off. Since Shye¡¯s appointment as regional champion, the value of Meido¡¯s creations soared, attracting tens of thousands of adventurers to Kossin City. The massive influx filled three entire streets with an astonishingly long queue. This forced the city lord of Kossin to take action. Despite his embarrassment, the city lord waspelled to plead with Meido to either relocate her shop outside Kossin City or expand by negotiating with neighboring businesses to buy or rent their spaces. Meido didn¡¯t want to leave her hometown; otherwise, she would have done it long ago as she could probably easily make it in Valenzia City. However, she was a simple youngdy. She was happy right where she was doing the thing she loved. Thus, Meido approached the owners of the three neighboring shops and, after some negotiation, convinced them to part with their spaces in exchange for a generous sum¡ªenough to relocate and establish their businesses in Valenzia City. She could always earn it back anyway based on the tens of thousands of customers lining up. Naturally, Meido couldn¡¯t manage all the orders on her own, so she had no choice but to train a hundred and fifty disciples to handle the simpler requests. Her more experienced and skilled disciples took on theplexmissions, while she personally crafted only for adamantite-ranked adventurers. Business was thriving, leaving her with no time for leisure. Meido worked fifteen hours a day, spent one-hour eating, and used the remaining eight hours to rest. This was her lifestyle for seven days a week. The impact of wealth and fame was undeniable, and even Meido, who had once been solely focused on crafting weapons and armor, began to feel their influence. With money pouring in like a river, Meido struggled to take a break, convinced that this was her opportunity to achievesting sess and secure her future. Nevertheless, she made a strong effort to keep her passion and discipline intact, constantly reminding herself that money wasn¡¯t everything¡ªand she was doing an excellent job of it so far. Thus, although she also loved money now, she didn¡¯t love it more than her passion and her principles in life. Of course, Meido never forgot that this sess was due in equal parts to her own talents and to her coboration with the adventurer who had be the region¡¯s hero: Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn. She wanted to thank him by crafting the best weapons for him. Stay updated through NovelBin.C?m Sadly, both of them had been busy and there were no transactions between them as ofte so she could only wait for him to drop by. "Mhmm¡­This should be good¡­" Meido muttered in satisfaction as she inspected the Warhammer she just crafted for an adamantite-ranked adventurer. She not only delighted in working with the extremely rare crafting material the adventurer provided but was also very satisfied with their contract. Following this, she would receive another two thousand gold coins. After admiring her work for a short while, Meido extended her arms to press a button on her desk to call one of her aides to deliver the weapon to the adamantite-ranked adventurer waiting at the shop¡¯s VIP waiting area. However, before she could do so, the aide came running inside her workspace, heart racing. "B-B-Boss Meido! Someone¡¯s here to see you!" "Hmm? Jen, calm down. Who is it? If it isn¡¯t Shye Crowley the¨C" "Yo, Miss Meido, I¡¯m back!" Shye announced with a broad smile as he confidently walked into the shop, none of the people outside daring to stop him this time. @@novelbin@@ After all, despite any ignorance, thousands would recognize him and enlighten those who didn¡¯t know who he was. Moreover, many were aware of his partnership with Meido. Therefore, despite their frustrations, no one dared to block him, knowing it would only invite humiliation. "Oh, Crowley! Congrattions on being named our region¡¯s hero. I didn¡¯t expect you¡¯d have time to stop by¡ªI thought you¡¯d be incredibly busy." "Well, I have some time before my responsibilities catch up with me, so I thought I¡¯d drop by to get my equipment in order before the tough missions start rolling in." "Got it. So, what would you like tomission today?" Upon hearing Meido¡¯s words, the aide named Jen slightly panicked. "B-Boss Meido, we¡¯ve promised Sir Bradley Winston, the third-ranked adamantite, that hismission would be ready by Friday. If we don¡¯t start crafting his katana today, I¡¯m afraid¡­" "Hmmph! What, he dares cause trouble for the shop? First of all, I included a use in our contract stating that if Shye Crowley requests amission, his order would be dyed. He signed it, so we have no legal obligations here. It¡¯s just his bad luck that my partner showed up today for amission." "S-Still!" "Enough, Jen! I can¡¯t and won¡¯t break my promise to the man who helped me get where I am today. Besides, don¡¯t you think you¡¯re being a bit disrespectful to our region¡¯s hero, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn? You seriously fear some Bradley Winston over him?" "A-Ahh¡­no¡­" Realizing her blunder, Jen sweated coldly. She was indeed disrespectful to Shye just now and she didn¡¯t even notice it. Luckily for her, Shye was no assh*le. "Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s fine. However, I¡¯m going to use my priority rights. If Bradley or anyone else causes trouble, let me know. I¡¯ll deal with it." Upon hearing Shye¡¯s assurance, Meido smiled. If the hero said her shop would be fine, then it would be¡ªthere was no need to doubt someone who had performed one miracle after another. "So, what will your request be, Crowley?" It was customary for everyone to address heroes as "Sir." Thus, the fact that Meido knew he wouldn¡¯t be concerned with such trivial matters and continued to address him as "Crowley" as usual made him smile. "I would like to ask for twin peak-tier adamantite greatswords with these as the ore." Shye retrieved the Stygian Garuda¡¯s bracers from his inventory and carefully ced them on Meido¡¯s table. Taking this opportunity, Jen quietly faded away and exited with a respectful bow. "T-These are¡­ Sable Demonites!" Meido eximed, her excitement palpable. These rare ores were new to her, and she was thrilled at the prospect of crafting exceptional twin greatswords from them. The thought of failing didn¡¯t even cross her mind. "Wait for the results, Crowley! I¡¯ll make sure to give you the finest weapon I¡¯ve ever crafted in my life!" Chapter 636: Darky and Murky Three days passed in the blink of an eye as Shye, Zeth, and Nookie passed their time at a nearby expert adventurer zone around Kossin City. Unfortunately, being an academy city, there were no Death Zones nearby. As a result, despite theck of challenge, the trio decided to hunt within the zone, allowing Nookie to replenish her (A)-ranked puppets and slowly increase Zeth¡¯s strength through monster cores. Now, the scrawny necrollin had a total of ten (A) ranked puppets, seven (S-) ranked ones, and six (S) ranked ones including the Stygian Garuda¡¯s corpse, which was now its most cherished possession. It was a decent increase in strength. ...As Shye hurried back to Kossin City, an excited smile spread across his face. He couldn¡¯t wait to collect hismissioned weapons. He was quite the sentimental guy. Thus, a few hours earlier, he cherished his few final hunts with Adamance and Mithra, knowing they likely wouldn¡¯t see much action after today. These two weapons had served him well, helping him rise to prominence, but now it was time for them to retire. While others mightugh at his actions, to Shye, his past weapons and armor sets were more than tools¡ªthey wererades-in-arms. @@novelbin@@ Upon arriving at Kossin City, Shye quickly walked towards Meido¡¯s renovated shop, no one daring to stop his actions of skipping the queue. "Crowley! I¡¯ve been waiting for you!" Meido eximed with a wide smile, just as happy to see him. Judging by her reactions, it seemed the crafting process had gone very well¡ªexceptionally well, in fact. As a result, Shye grew more excited as he gazed at the two wooden sword boxes in front of him. He was an equipment enthusiast. An upgrade would naturally make him giddy like a child. After all, these weapons were his first peak-tier equipment. He was naturally eager to try them out. ¡¯Ahh¡­a shame. If only the gemstones I wanted to enchant these twin greatswords with were easy to find¡­¡¯ Shye mused with a hint of regret. Still, he didn¡¯t feel too bad. There was a reason why he opted to have his greatswords crafted first: to have an easier time hunting for the other materials. "Are they inside these sword boxes?" Shye asked, full of anticipation. "Yes, go ahead and take a look," Meido replied with a smile. With Meido¡¯s approval, Shye eagerly opened one of the boxes, revealing a massive bluish-ck greatsword with an unexpectedly reddish edge. Knowing that the Sable Demonite bracers contained no hint of red, he couldn¡¯t help but ask. Well, after praising the sword, of course. "Holy crap! What a magnificent piece!" Shye eximed, his eyes sparkling like a child who had just received his favorite toy. Quickly grabbing the sword, he admired it for a good while before finally asking: "I don¡¯t recall the Sable Demonites having any red elements. I¡¯m puzzled by this stunning red edge. How did you achieve it?" "I knew you¡¯d ask," Meido replied with a warm smile. "I took some creative liberties and coated the edges with a treasure myte grandfather¡ªwho was also my mentor¡ªleft me: a bloodstone." Shye subtly frowned at Meido¡¯s exnation. He knew it would be rude to voice his displeasure right away, especially since the young cksmith had likely used her most precious item as a gesture of gratitude. However, Shye had his ns for the gemstones he wanted to use to enchant his twin greatswords, so he didn¡¯t particrly appreciate Meido going beyond his original request. Still, he allowed her to exin further. "Don¡¯t worry, bloodstones serve only as enhancements, not enchantments. You can still choose a gemstone of your preference for the enchantment." "I see¡­what are the effects of a bloodstone?" Shye asked with curiosity, the slight anger in his heart dissipating into thin smoke. "This particr bloodstone I used is a [Legendary]-tier crafting material that my grandfather received from one of his adamantite-ranked clients in the Weaven Region years ago. The armor he crafted saved the adventurer from certain death, and in return, he was rewarded with it," Meido recounted before answering Shye¡¯s question with the continuation of her words: "A bloodstone, when used to coat a de, absorbs any blood ites into contact with, including that of high-ranked monsters," Meido exined. "Once absorbed, the bloodstone slightly increases the weapon¡¯s weight and sharpness. The more monsters you y with these des, the stronger and more destructive they be. This allows the twin greatswords to grow in power alongside their master." Upon hearing the young cksmith¡¯s exnation, Shye¡¯s heart raced wildly. He even felt a twinge of guilt for having been slightly displeased earlier. "M-Meido¡­ isn¡¯t this a bit much? I can¡¯t ept such a valuable gift. Besides, isn¡¯t this practically a family heirloom? Why use it for me?" "Hmm? Gift? Who said it¡¯s a gift? You must pay me a hundred thousand gold coins for this." "W-W-What? I-It¡¯s not free? But I don¡¯t have that much money!" Shye said, stupefied. Find your next read at NovelBin.C?m "Pfft... Hahaha! You should¡¯ve seen the look on your face! Of course, it¡¯s free. It¡¯s my way of thanking you, after all. Plus, my grandfather told me to use it on a worthy adventurer before my time here is up, and I doubt I¡¯ll ever meet a more worthy adventurer than you, o¡¯ Sir Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn." Meido replied yfully after a cute, heartyugh. "Phew... well, I guess it¡¯s a relief that you¡¯re joking. There¡¯s no way I could ever pay off such a huge debt!" Shye said, his heart still racing with nervousness. He valued the bloodstone so highly that he would have likely attempted to haggle or pay in installments, even if Meido wasn¡¯t kidding and she had decided to use the bloodstone on her own ord, despite it not being included in themission contract. "Hahaha! I¡¯m just kidding! Why don¡¯t you give Darky and Murky a try? You¡¯ll be back frequently over the next few months, right? Let me know how they perform." "Also, let¡¯s check their initial sharpness rating with this device, and then measure it again after you¡¯ve taken down a few monsters." Chapter 638 Insanely Sharp Clouds of dust swirled as the forest echoed with the sound of footsteps¡ªone light and agile, the other slow and heavy, both carrying an air of aggression. After noticing Shye, a mere human, charging at it, the Bloodskin Ogre roared in fury. Contrary to its appearance, the red-skinned monster wasn''t stupid. It knew it was being "hunted" by an audacious little human. Hence, it quickly picked up its giant wooden club, brandishing it towards Shye as it charged forward to meet him inbat. "Hmph! Fast, but not fast enough!" Shye snorted, jumping up andnding atop the club. He then sprinted towards the ogre, bloodthirst apparent in his eyes. Shye wasn''t sure why, but his new weapons seemed to stir an urge to kill within him¡ªperhaps a side effect of the bloodstone. He didn''t mind, though, relishing the sensation. The Bloodskin Ogre realized that its attack had been evaded and that the human had no intentions of backing down. Hence, after another furious roar, it used its other hand¡ªfingers thicker than logs¡ªto grab Shye, aiming to squish him like the bug he was. Shye was way smallerpared to the ogre. However, he was no bug. This time, Shye didn''t even bother to dodge, shing Darky and Murky towards the approaching hand. *SPURT!* The result brought a smile to his face. Blood sttered everywhere as five severed fingers hurtled through the air, falling close to the ogre''s feet and eliciting a roar of agony from the red-skinned monstrosity. However, much to the creature''s misfortune, its suffering had only just begun. Before it could evenprehend what happened, its vision suddenly turned ck. It was blinded! *ROAR!* A second roar of anguish rang through the forest, causing creatures from both minor and major territories to turn their attention toward the source. They were familiar with their neighbors. They were sure that the roar was from the Bloodskin Ogre. However, since it was an apex creature, most of them couldn''t help but shiver upon hearing the red-skinned monster''s torment. None of them would even dare f*ck around the ogre. Hence, they anxiously wondered what formidable opponent the creature was facing to cause it such intense pain, bracing themselves for a potential shift in territory dynamics. It was indeed a monster that was fighting the Bloodskin ogre, an utter monster of a human. Blinded, the monstrosity wildly swung its wooden club, causing trees to fly everywhere, uprooted in groups of two or three. Unfortunately, there was no chance in hell that such attacks wouldnd on Shye, who was as nimble as a cat. Shye, despite the bloodthirst, employed Reginald''s patient fighting style, counterattacking only once with each wild blow dodged. However, describing his actions as "whittling down the opponent''s vitality" was a severe understatement. Thanks to his new greatswords, each strike was brutal, slicing deep into the Bloodskin Ogre''s flesh and dealing immense amounts of damage. As a result, just a minute and a half into the battle, the monster was already on the brink of death, its once powerful roars of anguish growing weaker and weaker. It even appeared as though the monster had given up. After all, it was now blind and weak. There seemed to be truly no chance for it to win. "Weapon quality truly does matter¡­" Shye muttered, gazing at the pathetic state of the red-skinned monstrosity. "I shall end your suffering, ogre!" Upon hearing Shye''s voice, the ogre swung its club at the spot where Shye had been standing, hitting nothing but the ground and creating a small crater.@@novelbin@@ The next moment, a sharp pain surged from the left side of its chest, draining its remaining strength. Its club then dropped heavily to the ground with a resounding thud followed by its body. With Darky and Murky, it didn''t even take Shye two minutes to y the Bloodskin Ogre. It was a resounding and decisive victory that impressed even Zeth. ''What a superb battle, master. Truly magnificent.'' ''Thank you, Zeth!'' However, the two couldn''t converse for long as Darky and Murky subtly shivered, capturing the trio''s attention. "Hmm? Something''s happening to the greatswords¡­" Momentster, Shye noticed that Darky and Murky were absorbing the blood! The evidence was the blood on the des slowly drying up. He then lifted both des, trying to see if their weight increased. Unfortunately, it appeared that the increase in weight and sharpness was so minimal that Shye didn''t notice any difference. "Oh? What if I¡­?" Explore more stories with My Virtual Library Empire Shye, struck by inspiration, quickly drove both greatswords into the dead Bloodskin Ogre''s heart, letting them absorb the blood. Soon after, Shye couldn''t help but smile as he watched the bloodstone edges work their magic. A few minutester, the creature was entirely drained of blood, sparing Nookie the trouble of doing it manually. "Ukyii! Thank you, master! This will make a great addition to my puppets!" the scrawny necrollin eximed with excitement. It then quickly extracted the core from the creature, tossing it to Zeth before starting the process of turning the corpse into a corpse puppet. "Alright, Nookie, this will be your new training area. I''ll check in from time to time to monitor your progress." "Understood, master! I, Nookie, will build the grandest corpse army you''ve ever seen!" the little necrollin dered, earning a nod of approval from its master. After leaving the little necrollin to its work, Shye mounted Zeth, and the master-familiar duo made their way back to Valenzia City. He needed to hunt for gemstones and other crafting materials not only for his greatswords but also for the armor set and elemental staff base he nned tomission from Meido. He would also need to research who the best arcanist was tomission for turning the elemental staff base into a fully functional elemental staff. Shye had a lot to do, and he had to do it before six months were up as his mandatory hero missions would probably get in the way once the WAA finished his official registration. Chapter 639 Five and A Half Months (1) Five and a half months flew by in the blink of an eye, as time tends to do when one is focused and fully immersed in their goals. In the first month, Shye sessfully met his goal of acquiring new twin greatswords along with the gemstones he wanted for their enchantment: a peak-grade Shade Onyx. The gemstone would enable his greatswords to absorb and store dark elemental energy forbat, as long as he didn''t ce them in the system''s inventory during his travels, which meant that from now on, he had to carry them on his back with the specialized sword straps hemissioned from Meido. In addition, Darky and Murky now amplify the effectiveness of [Dark]-type skills by thirty percent¡ªa significant boost, especially considering Shye''s attributes were nearly on par with (S) ranked monsters. However, acquiring two pieces of Shade Onyx was no easy feat. Shye had to max out his [Swim] skill, dive into the depths of a hauntingly silent, ck-waterke, battle a massive (S) ranked Bakunawa lurking in the deepest parts, and locate the fabled small cave where water mysteriously couldn''t enter. It took Shye four attempts to finally defeat theke''s master, and he had to surface multiple times to catch his breath and consume Lazarus Pills, which granted him the ability to breathe underwater for two hours. It was only then that he discovered the cave and the three pieces of [Legendary] rarity peak-tier Shade Onyxes. He definitely did not have an easy time. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire In the end, despite repeatedly risking his life, he secured what he needed, making it all well worth the effort. During the second month, Shyepleted his multi-element armor set, which required hunting a variety of true golems¡ªputting the sharpness of his weapons to the ultimate test. He defeated a Fire Golem, Ice Golem, Rock Golem, and various wind and lightning elementals to enchant his armor set, which was crafted from the scales of different Earth Dragons.@@novelbin@@ If Earth Dragons weren''t rtively weakerpared to other dragons, Shye might have needed Zeth''s assistance to simplify the process. All the Earth Dragons had going for them was their immense strength and incredibly tough scales, which were tougher than those of most dragons. Even so, without Darky and Murky, Shye wouldn''t have been able to inflict any damage on them, let alone kill a single one on his own. The battles were far from easy, however, as Shye had to hit each scale precisely twice in the same spot to break it, which allowed him to prate their defenses and inflict minor wounds on each Earth Dragon he faced. Despite being able to easily dodge their slow but cataclysmic attacks, Shye had to battle each Earth Dragon for over six hours straight before he could defeat one¡ªdemonstrating their unparalleled toughness inbat. They were truly incarnates of resilience, which made their prime scales perfect for crafting his multi-element warrior armor set. Naturally, Meido was thrilled to work with such high-quality materials. She hadn''t even noticed that her fake love for money was gradually being overshadowed by her renewed passion for craftsmanship. It turned out that she had merely grown tired of mediocremission contracts. What she truly desired was to create the finest weapons and armor sets using the best crafting materials, and earning money was merely a tool to alleviate her boredom. Now, she often found herself eagerly anticipating Shye''s nextmission, curious about the impressive crafting materials and enchantment gemstones he would bring her next. Of course, Shye set out on several quests to test his new armor set, beginning with an (A) ranked quest that sparked considerable interest at the guild headquarters. For that quest, he battled a formidable ember wyvern, bravely enduring all of its attacks, including its signature fireball, head-on. He either blocked them with his arms or absorbed their impact with his chest te. Shye was a bit nervous in the beginning. However, Meido and the finest armor set she had ever created didn''t disappoint. The Ember Wyvern''s sharp talons did not affect his armor, and its tail swipe attack, which would have shattered every bone in his body before, now felt like a giant marshmallow hitting him. As for the fireball attack, it was effortlessly neutralized by the meblight Ruby, which he had acquired from the (S) ranked Fire Golem and used to enchant his arm guards. Shye was naturally happy about the Earth Dragon armor set''s performance, but his testing phase didn''t end there. Next, he faced an (S-) ranked Moon Lioness, choosing to fight it at midnight when its power was at its peak. The result was the same: his armor reigned supreme as none of the Lioness'' attacks ever worked. Thus, he believed it was time for the armor to face its true test: battling (S) ranked monstrous creatures. In the third and fourth months, Shye finally made up his mind to be a versatile mage, mastering multiple elements rather than specializing in just one. To create the two elemental staff bases he needed, Shye hunted (S) ranked Elemental Jinns of various elements: Fire Jinns, Ice Jinns, Thunder Jinns, Earth Jinns, Wind Jinns, and the rare Light and Darkness Jinns. Most of these Jinns, despite their (S) rank, were among the lower tier of (S) ranked monsters, so Shye had little trouble defeating them. However, the Light Jinn proved to be a formidable opponent, as it neutralized his reliable [Nightfall Reaper] skill, making the battle particrly challenging. Aside from that particr Jinn, Shye was able to acquire the elemental cores and bracers from the others with rtive ease. These materials were essential for crafting the two elemental staff bases he needed. He naturally immediately brought the materials back to Meido, who finished the staff bases in merely two days. However, while Meido could craft the bases, it was the renowned arcanist Valentina Kruger who transformed them into fully functional [Legendary] peak adamantite-tier elemental staffs. If not for his status as Valenzia''s first hero and his impressive elemental staff bases, it would have been challenging for him to be selected by the legendary arcanist from the Yon Augenn Region for such a rare, once-in-a-lifetimemission. Chapter 640: Five and A Half Months (2) ¡¯Appraisal!¡¯ Upon collecting his multi-element twin elemental staffs from Arcanist Valentina Kruger¡¯s shop, Shye wasted no time in appraising them, eagerly examining their attributes like a child with a brand-new toy. [Name]: Sigrun (Valentina Kruger) [Tier]: Adamantite Read exclusive adventures at NovelBin.C?m [Rarity]: Legendary [Enchantment]: Cat¡¯s Eye Elemental Jewel [Description]: A one-of-a-kind peak-tier elemental staff capable of equally channeling the power of all elements. Crafted by Arcanist Valentina Kruger and cksmith Meido Chan. Effects (When worn): Mana Pool: +20% Mana Regeneration +40% Enhances skill effectiveness of all elemental spells by 50% == ¡¯Holy cr*p! These elemental staffs are amazing! Hohoh, and what cool names... Sigrun, huh? And the other one¡¯s called Dagr... not bad at all!¡¯ Shye couldn¡¯t help butpliment the effects of his new elemental staff and their names. ¡¯If Meido had named these, they¡¯d probably be called something like sty and Frosty, or something close to such names...¡¯ Eager to test out his newbat capabilities, Shye continued grinding quests for the fifth month, finally ranking up to Adamantite. *** Meanwhile, in another Death Zone, a colossal twenty-meter-tall monster crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. @@novelbin@@ "N-Nice work, Shirley." Kiinplimented with a hint of disbelief. Five months ago, the five of them were more or less equal inbat strength. However, it now appeared that Shirley had surpassed them all¡ªexcept for Siegfried, who was thrilled to have a new ideal sparring partner. This allowed him to grow just as quickly as Shirley, even without Shye¡¯s assistance. For the first time in a long while, Kiin and Harry felt the pressure, their fighting spirit aze like the hot summer sun. They vowed not to fall behind Shirley, who had always trailed them in the past but was now pulling ahead. Lesurii somehow felt the same. However, she was proud of her beloved Siegfried, whom she was now in an official rtionship with. Not only was her lover hot and handsome, but he was also kind, caring, and extremely talented. Siegfried was truly the knight in shining armor she had always dreamed of, rescuing her time and again whenever she found herself in a difficult or disadvantageous situation. Lesurii found herself falling deeper and deeper for Siegfried. As a result, although her passion for immense growth as a scout-ss adventurer remained, she was no longer aspetitive as before. She only saw her and her beloved partner¡¯s progress in her eyes. She didn¡¯t care about anybody else. The monster they had in was an (S) ranked creature known as the Grove Behemoth¡ªa massive green-skinned bipedal beast with surprising mobility but strangely sluggish attack patterns. It wasn¡¯t particrly tough either, making it an ideal (S) ranked target for the small party of five, now mithril-ranked adventurers. Seira¡¯s party, consisting of her, Luna, David, Ian, and Wendy, was also in the same position. However, three of them stood out more than the rest: the midget, the shadowy surgeon, and the priestess with a fondness for ostrich eggs. Ian¡¯s growth was especially unusual among the three, as his drive appeared to be fueled by an unrelenting thirst for revenge. Despite his seething anger, he managed to suppress it in front of others, maintaining a facade of normalcy. This was also why Shye dismissed Ian as a potential traitor; it seemed that his primary goal was to seek revenge against someone, and that person definitely wasn¡¯t Shye. The traitor was likely either Kiin or Siegfried, as Harry, David, and Wendy had clear ties and backgrounds in Colzen City, unlike the other two. Naturally, the astonishing questpletion speed of the two parties not only caused their contribution points to soar but also propelled the shy Ravens Rising through the ranks, enabling them to achieve a five-star division status in just a year and six months. Moreover, the division now ranked 32nd overall in the entire region. With this, their party easily garnered attention from everyone in the guild, including the adamantite division leader, Karsa Bloodwinter. Karsa was the tenth-ranked adamantite in all of Valenzia and was offered a titled adventurer position due to her talents. However, she didn¡¯t want to be constrained by responsibilities at just thirty years old, convinced that with a few more years of dedicated effort, she could surpass the top-ranked adventurer in the region. As a result of her fiery drive, her division outperformed all others in Raven¡¯s de, ranking first in the guild and ninth in the entire region. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the guild¡¯s passionate and driven division leaders, Raven¡¯s de has surged to fifth ce,rgely due to the recent influx of contributions from Shye¡¯s division. Who was the center of such changes? Why, the two parties under Shye¡¯s tutge, of course! They were even summoned to Soaring Raven¡¯s office, where the guild master thanked them for their hard work while self-indulgently praising his own brilliant decision from two years ago. But of course, Karsa Bloodwinter wasn¡¯t pleased with such developments. She had long since eyed Shye due to his allegedly insane talents. Now that she had witnessed what she perceived as the "full extent" of his abilities during his inauguration ceremony¡ªthe battle against an Anubis¡ªKarsa felt confident that she could defeat Shye, at least for the time being. This was her final opportunity to suppress the young hero and establish herself as "the one who defeated Shye Crowley," knowing that it would be impossible to stop his risepletely. However, if she could defeat Shye before he reached his peak, she might gain significant fame in other regions and enjoy various benefits associated with oveing the young hero. Achieving victory in a duel against Shye, while no one else could, would be even more advantageous. Thus, she nned to challenge the young man in a duel, and of course, she nned to do it in front of a crowd. If she seeded, then her rise to the top would be inevitable. Even if it was just for a brief period and she had to y second fiddle to Shye for the rest of her life, she would be content. After all, the young man¡¯s growth was truly exceptional, and even she didn¡¯t dare im to be more talented than him. Chapter 643 Power Tripping "Boss! p this bitch unconscious!!" Seira yelled at the top of her lungs as Shye ascended the stage. Sometimes, ignorance really was bliss, as the limited knowledge she had prevented her from grasping the seriousness of her words. Seira had just referred to the tenth-ranked adamantite as a "bitch" without a second thought. Naturally, Karsa was enraged by Seira''s not only disrespectful but downright degrading remarks, prompting her to turn to look at Shye''s underlings and seek to identify who had dared to insult her in such a manner. Fortunately for Seira, before the opposing leader could spot her, the equally irritating Colzen group spoke up, effectively diverting Karsa''s wrath and spreading it evenly among them. "Hahaha! That''s right, Shye, knock her out cold! I, Ian Izanagi, approve!" "Hahahaha! At least leave her with a tooth or two, Crowley!" "David, you''re going soft! Why not knock them all out of her vicious mouth?!" With this, Karsa''s hatred extended not just to Seira but to the entire group, increasing the midget''s chances of survival by blending in with the others rather than being singled out. Karsa wasn''t having any of it, though, her body trembling with rage. She couldn''t believe the day hade when neers would dare to tantly disrespect her, the top-ranked adventurer of Raven''s de. For three years now she had reigned supreme. None daring to meet her eye-to-eye including other adamantites for fear of earning her ire.@@novelbin@@ She was, after all, infamous for delivering swift judgment on anyone who dared challenge her or threaten her status. As long as people avoided those two offenses, they were safe from Karsa Bloodwinter''s wrath. She showed only a bit more patience and understanding toward those ranked higher than her. Everyone else, including the eleventh-ranked adventurer in all of Valenzia, would do well to be mindful of what displeased her¡ªor risk getting on her bad side. She was a well-known vicious individual. However, Shye didn''t give a f*ck about her now, though he was wary of her at the beginning of his career. Since she dared offer her face, he would naturally give her one ming p she wouldn''t forget. "Hahahaha, forgive my friends, they''re just jesting around." Shye chuckled, capturing the fuming Karsa''s attention. "You better watch your friends properly, Crowley, they don''t want to be messing around with me." The woman threatened with narrowed eyes. "And recording''s done! You shouldn''t be calling me Crowley, Little Karsa. You should address me as either Sir Crowley or Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, don''t you think?" Shye quipped, waving a small recording crystal, causing Karsa''s eyes to narrow even more. It was an unbreakable rule throughout all regions that heroes must never be addressed casually. If a hero were disrespected by another adventurer, even the top-ranked adamantite, that adventurer would be stripped of their license by the WAA. "You mess with my friends, and I''ll ruin both you and your friends'' careers. However, I''ll allow battles between those of the same rank. If you have any mithril-ranked adventurers who want to challenge them, feel free." Of course, Shye had no ns of actually using such a low-ss move to destroy Karsa should she dare to put her hands on his friends. It was just that he wanted to teach her a lesson not to challenge him, a hero, in terms of who had more authority in Valenzia City. He wanted to thoroughly humble her. If she dared touch those important to him, he shall make Karsa understand the meaning of the word "wrath". After all, he had no "hero image" to uphold, since he''d soon be known as a viin anyway. He might as well teach ck-hearted people like her a harsh lesson, as ruthlessly as possible within reason, to make them think twice beforemitting such wicked acts again. Upon hearing how high and mighty Shye was acting, Karsa gnashed her teeth and almost erupted in fury. This was the first time in her life she had been suppressed this much by someone much younger than her. ''I should''ve taught this little bastard a lesson a bit earlier!'' was the thought that lingered in her mind for quite some time. Unfortunately, Shye wasn''t done infuriating her yet. "Now that you''ve learned not to disrespect your region''s hero, we can begin the duel. I''ll let you make the first move¡ªotherwise, people might use me of being a bully." Shye expected people to see his words as extremely arrogant. However, contrary to his expectations, they admired him for being genuine¡ªstaying true to his usual self rather than putting on a false "kind and heroic" facade. Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn was still the same Shye Crowley. He would continue to hold up the sky for them with the same arrogance as ever. Of course, Karsa finally couldn''t take all the insults, her rage bursting out like an angry volcano. "SHYE CROWLEY!!" she roared in fury, her two katanas¡ªone glowing with light and the other shrouded in darkness¡ªglinting dangerously as she madly charged forward, seething with rage. Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire ''Hoh, a dual-wielding warrior like me, huh?'' Shye thought inwardly, smiling as he drew his greatswords, Darky and Murky. Karsa was fast. However, unfortunately, she was merely a human. She could never be as fast as an (S) ranked monstrous creature specializing in speed and power. Hence, Shye was easily able to angle both greatswords to defend against her attack easily. ''Hmm? She''s pretty strong¡­'' Shye thought inwardly with a wicked smile. None of these individuals had the system, so they could never be as well-rounded as he was. Karsa''s speed and strength meant shecked toughness. ''Her stamina is probably not that great either...'' Realizing that he could easily match the older, higher-ranked adventurer in terms of physical attributes, Shye''s confidence grew. ''Now, the only thing I need to worry about is her trump cards...'' "Pfft¡­ That''s it?" Shye stifled augh, taunting Karsa once again. "After all that shouting, I thought you were going to finish me off or something¡­" Chapter 644 Slapped Back To Reality "Karsa, calm down! This isn''t like you!" Jeremiah shouted, trying to get her to rein in her emotions. After seeing how effortlessly Shye Crowley handled his beloved division leader''s initial attack, he quickly grasped the danger the young hero posed. He knew that Karsa would inevitably lose if she kept fighting recklessly. This was the first time he saw her in such a state, so he couldn''t help but slightly panic. They couldn''t lose here. Not in front of hundreds of thousands of onlookers. Unbeknownst to him, Karsa, despite seemingly losing her cool, had long since regained her calmness. She was simply luring Shye into making a move, knowing her attacks couldn''t prate his defenses. Karsa was experienced in duels. Moreover, this wasn''t the first time such a thing happened to her. She knew what to do. Sure enough, just a few momentster, Shye managed to wlessly parry Karsa''s attack¡ªa diagonally downward sh. Her swinging motion was a bit too wide, allowing the young hero to immediately counterattack with a horizontal sh of his own. Unexpectedly, Shye''s strike suddenly went off-course, cutting through empty air as Karsa sessfully ducked beneath the attack. Now, she was the one in the perfect position to strike. "Heh, imagine, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, falling for simple tricks. Pathetic." Karsa mocked as her furious expression vanished into thin air, reced by her usual confident smirk. Witnessing the sudden shift in the fight, Jeremiah was momentarily stunned, but a wide smile of realization soon spread across his face. Even he was fooled! "Hahaha! Karsa is still Karsa, after all!" Only, how could Shye, with all the intellectual attributes needed to detect such an obvious trap, fall for a mere warrior''s trick? Had Karsa been a clever mage, she might have stood a chance. Stay connected through My Virtual Library Empire Unfortunately, she was but a warrior, more skilled in physicalbat than in strategic trickery. Shye had long realized her n. He was even able to formte a counter-n, which he executed the next moment. Shye let Karsa''s dee closer before his body suddenly gleamed with a golden aura. For seven seconds, his physical defenses were bolstered by 80% thanks to [Stoic Lv.5] and a charge of [Boost Lv.5]. It was amongst the most basic of warrior skills. Hence, Karsa immediately realized what skill Shye used. Surprisingly, though, she smiled even wider. It seemed that this was within her expectations. Unfortunately, it was impossible to gauge the full effectiveness of Shye''s skills, as he could continuously adjust them using his reliable [Boost] skill. As a result, Karsa miscalcted. She believed that the force of her attack was enough for the des of her [Epic] peak adamantite tier katanas to pierce through Shye''s defenses and deal a considerable amount of damage to him. The fact that the two of them crushed their mana simtion talismans somewhere in the middle of their fight also helped, allowing her to go all out. There would be no deaths or repercussions even if she cut Shye''s head clean off. Sadly for her, no such thing was even close to happening as her katanas were easily deflected by Shye''s Earth Dragon Arm Guard with the help of his [Stoic] skill. He then used [Spatial Lock Lv.3]¡ªa skill he acquired using the rare skill coupon he obtained from killing the Anubis¡ªto confine the area around Karsa. This prevented her from using any escape skills other than spatial repositioning spells such as [Blink] and [Spatial Tunnel], which she definitely didn''t have since she wasn''t a mage. Shye, however, strangely didn''t use his greatswords to attack. Instead, he returned one of them to the system''s inventory and used his free hand in an attempt to p the sh*t out of Karsa. This unexpected move utterly confused his opponent. She could use one of her defensive skills, which she was keeping as a trump card, to defend against the p. However, it would be a waste to do so. Unfortunately, her des were firmly deflected, leaving her unable to use them to block the iing p. She had to choose between using her trump card to block the seemingly minor attack or enduring it directly with her face. *PAH~!!!* Ultimately, she couldn''t make a decision in time, leading to the sharp sound of a palm striking a face reverberating across the dueling grounds. To make matters worse, she had underestimated the force of Shye''s signature move. A part of her believed she could take it without moving an inch from where she stood. After all, she had secretly trained her physique, knowing that her speed and power would lead people to assume shecked toughness. Even Shye believed this. Unfortunately for her, despite her training, the resilience of her body wasn''t sufficient. She hurtled across the stage, skidding along its edges with her face twisted to one side and blood streaming from her nostrils. "KARSA!!" Jeremiah eximed in utter horror and disbelief. He knew there was no recovering from such a brutal p. Hence, anger red in his heart as he watched his beloved endure such ruthless humiliation. Jeremiah never imagined anyone could be skilled enough tond a p on Karsa, the woman he idolized and had fallen in love with. He expected today to unfold like any other time she chose to teach someone a lesson. Even Karsa''s other underlings were dumbstruck, their mouths agape at what just happened. On the other hand, the other camp was as happy as a m, cheering and jumping in glee. "Hahahahaha! That''s my boss!" "Hahaha! Nice p, Crowley!" "You should''ve knocked out a few more teeth, though!" Despite the seemingly vicious fate she suffered, Karsa was conscious as Shye made sure to control the force of his p. However, although physically fine, her heart was in agony due to the humiliation she suffered. The hateful cheers of Shye''s underlings only served to fan the mes of rage welling within her. In the next moment, Karsa rose to her feet, silently ring at Shye, her eyes cold and filled with growing hatred. "Fine, you want ruthless humiliation? I''ll give you ruthless humiliation¡­"@@novelbin@@ Chapter 645 Bloodthirsty Yaksha ''Hoh¡­this should be her [Unique]-tier skill, [Berserker''s Fury]...'' Shye mused as he stared with narrowed eyes at his opponent. A faintly translucent red aura, forming into arger humanoid version of Karsa, suddenly surrounded her, radiating an overwhelming sense of violence and bloodlust. [Warning: You have been afflicted with one stack of [Fear]!] ''Oh? So that''s how you want to y, huh? You think you can humiliate me by turning me into a sniveling coward with those [Fear] stacks? Alright, let''s y that way, then.'' Shye thought inwardly, a shadow of a cold smile emerging on the corners of his mouth. [You have activated [Harrowing Aura Lv.5]. You are now afflicting your target with one stack of [Fear] every 3.33 seconds!] ''But, unfortunately for you¡­'' [Warning: You have been afflicted with one stack of [Fear]!] [Your trait: Unfazed Heart, has dispelled one stack of [Fear]!] Shye''s [Harrowing Aura] not only applied [Fear] stacks at a faster rate, but his [Unfazed Heart] trait also cut the stacks he received by half. Karsa simply stood no chance of winning this battle against him. However, she was naturally none the wiser. ''Still, such a skill shouldn''t only be good for afflicting others with [Fear] stacks¡­otherwise, it wouldn''t be ssified as [Unique]-tier¡­'' Shye pondered, gripping his greatswords tighter as he waited for Karsa to attack. Your next read is at My Virtual Library Empire As expected, [Berserker''s Fury] was also a physical enhancement skill, clearly shown by the slight increase in Karsa''s charging speed. However, it still wasn''t enough to catch Shye off-guard, as it only matched Reginald''s speed¡ªsomething Shye could handle. What caught Shye slightly off guard was the unbelievable increase in dexterity and strength. Karsa''s attack speed was so fast that before he could even angle his greatswords properly, her katanas were already right in front of him, resulting in a sloppy block. Furthermore, Shye didn''t expect such an absurd increase in strength from one attribute-enhancing skill. Hence, he was sent skidding backward for five meters, losing the strength battle for the first time in a very long while. "Heh, why don''t you talk now, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn? This skill willst for quite a while, do your best to survive so as to not lose face for all heroes." Karsa mocked back, feeling ever-so-slightly better. "Pfft, talking big with a bloody nose and swollen cheeks after barely knocking me back five meters? Not very convincing..." Shye retorted sharply as he stepped back. Soon after, translucent ck wings and a jet-ck ancient armor materialized on Shye''s back and torso. A blood-chilling howl, akin to that of malevolent demons, then echoed around him, significantly boosting hisbat prowess. He could activate [Fallen''s Howl] to double the fear stacks once they reached a hundred, or he could opt for the scumbag move of flying very high to wait for his opponent''s skill to time out. However, Shye wasn''t interested in listening to Karsa''s endless yapping; hence, he decided to not save his skills, opting to instead humble her at every opportunity. His [Fear] stacks would naturally win the race against Karsa''s anyway, there was no need to pay any extra attention to it for now. After transforming into an angel of death, Shye descended upon the scarlet berserker awaiting him on the ground, his greatswords ready for another violent sh. Karsa wasn''t stupid, she knew that this skill should be Shye''s attribute-enhancement skill. Hence, rather than facing his fierce downward momentum, she swiftly and gracefully stepped back, causing Shye''s ferocious, [Power sh]-empowered attack to strike nothing but the ground. To the onlookers'' horror, a small crater formed as his weapons hit the ground, sending clouds of dust billowing and fragments of the stage''s stone tiles flying everywhere. Karsa wasn''t fazed, though, as she had fought monsters with equally strong attributes. She simply charged forward once more to try and attack Shye, who was still recovering his footing. Unfortunately for Karsa, this time, despite the rather clumsy block from Shye, it was her who was sent skidding back a few meters. To make things worse, Shye did not have any intentions of letting go of this tiny advantage he got from catching her off-guard. As a result, for a solid five minutes of intense exchanges, with top-tier warrior techniques and low-tier skills, Karsa was forced into a defensive position, dodging and retreating like a cornered rat as Shye relentlessly pursued her. This time, Jeremiah''s heart pounded uncontrobly as he watched the person he admired and loved being overwhelmed in a head-on warrior sh as if Shye were the seasoned veteran and she the inexperienced neer.@@novelbin@@ The difference between them became more evident as their attribute-enhancing skills timed out. For another two minutes, Karsa was battered relentlessly, her katanas beginning to chip and wear down under the constant shes with Darky and Murky. She was naturally pissed and in disbelief at what was happening, a hint of bitter regret creeping into her heart. She should''ve taught Shye a lesson much earlier! Because of her miscalction, she had not only taken a brutal p but had also failed to gain any advantage. If this continued, she would end up as just another stepping stone like so many before her. She couldn''t let that happen. With that thought, she resolved to stop holding back. Her wrathful attitude earned her quite a lot of enemies in other guilds. Hence, she was nning to hide her strongest trump cards. However, with how things were developing, she had no choice but to reveal them, or risk having her career destroyed. She would have to survive this predicament first before worrying about future ones. Casting caution aside, a golden aura enveloped Karsa''s light-element katana, while her darkness-element katana was shrouded in a jet-ck glow. In addition, various runes appeared on her forehead, arms, forearms, and legs, followed by the release of red smoke from her back and the nape of her neck. She now resembled a bloodthirsty yaksha, and even her enemies¡ªwho had been grinning as they watched her get beaten¡ªbegan to frown. Meanwhile, Jeremiah gazed at her with newfound reverence. He never knew she had so many trump cards left. Now that she used them all at once, it was pretty evident that she was nning to end the match once and for all. "Yes! Karsa! That''s it! Show them why you''re Raven''s de''s strongest!" Chapter 646 Bountiful Winnings "YOU DIRTY BASTARD! AND YOU CALL YOURSELF A HERO?!" Jeremiah shouted in fury, his anger sparked by the sight of Karsa kneeling in shock, her expression empty as she stared nkly at the ground. After using three of her [Rare]-tier trump cards simultaneously, victory seemed almost certain. In just a few more seconds or a minute at most, she would prevail, as the aura she radiated rivaled that of dragons. Although her time was limited, it should''ve been more than enough to take out any human, as it would be impossible for their bodies to be as tough as those of monstrous creatures. However, to her surprise, her most ferocious blow was absorbed by a ck spherical aura that surrounded Shye. No matter how hard she tried, the barrier just wouldn''t shatter. From that, all she could remember was that after hearing a mighty draconic roar, she was disoriented; and before she knew it the appearance of the youngster in front of her suddenly turned into that of a demon. Her body shook and trembled in fear preventing her from doing things she needed to to defend herself. Still, she was at least able to activate [Stoic Lv.5]. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, the world suddenly spun around her. She found herself staring at her own body, twitching lifelessly before it dissolved into mana particles. Momentster, she was reanimated beside the dueling stage¡ªalive but utterly devastated. Karsa could at least tell what happened. She was beheaded and lost the duel, in front of hundreds of thousands of eyes she was humiliated. This setback was the first for her and it was so devastating that it felt surreal. Jeremiah, the most staunch among his followers, was the one who couldn''t ept the result the most. He believed that his romantic interest could even fight toe-to-toe against those in the top five in the regional adventurer rankings. As a result, his mind instinctively refused to ept that Shye had won fairly, instead attributing the victory to a talisman he secretly crushed to protect himself during the fight¡ªan action that vited the rules they had agreed upon. "WASN''T IT AGREED UPON THAT NO ONE COULD CRUSH ANY SORT OF DEFENSIVE TALISMANS DURING THE MATCH?!" Jeremiah eximed, stepping up to defend Karsa, who looked lost and lonely. Meanwhile, as he shouted at the top of his lungs in utter rage, people cheered wildly, including Seira and the others. In the onlookers'' unbiased eyes, Shye dominated the duel. Karsa was no match at all. Naturally, to Karsa, Jeremiah, and their underlings, the match had seemed extremely close¡ªa perception shaped by their own bias. This is why Jeremiah behaved like a sore loser, convinced that Shye''s victory was due to secretly using a peak-grade defensive talisman to withstand Karsa''s attack¡ªan attack nearly as powerful as those from the apex (S) ranked monsters. To him, there was no way Shye could''ve defended against such an attack on his own. "Huh? When did I use a talisman? I know such an embarrassing loss would be devastating but no need to lose your sanity on it, no?" Shye mocked with the most annoying face he could make. At that moment, he looked less like a hero and more like a bully. However, given his reputation for being ruthless toward anyone who tested his patience, most onlookers watched with a hint of schadenfreude, holding no ill will toward Shye. Thanks to his broadcasting channel, people knew he wasn''t the type to pick fights without reason. They figured it was likely Karsa''s side that started the trouble, and they were now merely paying the price for their arrogance. Initially, the crowd''s opinions were divided. After all, while Shye was the most talented adventurer Valenzia had ever seen, Karsa was also extremely talented herself, especially in duels. Plus she was a veteran seven years older than Shye. Hence, half the crowd believed that Shye would win while the other half believed Karsa to be superior. However, upon looking back, none of those who had dared cross Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn ever got away with it with their face intact. It was either their reputation or their literal face would suffer a massive hit¡ªones that were usually career-ending, sending shivers down everyone''s spine.@@novelbin@@ ''One does not simply mess with Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn'' was the thought that unanimously crossed their minds. Even Karsa Bloodwinter, undefeated in duels and ranked tenth in the entire region, had met the same fate as the others¡ªreduced to nothing more than a stepping stone for the rising young dragon, or rather, the now soaring draconic sovereign. With his current skills, it would be unwise to call him a budding rookie, as he was already as strong if not stronger than those in the top ten of their region. He was now a fully grown dragon¡ªone that matured far earlier than others. "DON''T PLAY DUMB WITH ME! I''M A VETERAN, THAT BARRIER YOU USED COULDN''T HAVE BEEN A WARRIOR SKILL!" True, it wasn''t a warrior skill, but there was no rule against using an item skill, as it technically fell under the category of personal abilities. The only restriction in ce was against using defensive talismans. Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire "So? One thing is for sure, though, I didn''t use defensive talismans." Shye retorted, the annoying grin on his face still present. "LIAR! THEN WHAT WAS THAT TRANSLUCENT BLACK SPHERICAL BARRIER?!" "An item skill, idiot. What, are you going to call that cheating? The rules are crystal clear: ''No defensive talismans.'' Did I use a defensive talisman?" Upon hearing Shye''s exnation, the cat got Jeremiah''s tongue. Indeed, there was no rule established against using item skills, and an item skill certainly isn''t a defensive talisman. Karsa lost fair and square. However, for the sake of his devastated dearest, he found it difficult to back down. Unfortunately, Shye wasn''t going to give an ounce of respect to such a sore loser. After sneering in disdain at Jeremiah, who was at a loss for words, he immediately approached the event moderator to im his winnings: 140,000 gold coins, ten umon-tier skill books, three rare-tier skill books, and five hundred units each of three high-grade training tonics. It was a huge win. Shye then immediately turned around and headed towards his underlings, one of them talking crap at the top of her lungs. "HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WHAT DID I TELL YOU LOSERS?! MY BOSS HAS NEVER LOST AND NEVER WILL!" Seira shouted with a heartyugh, leaning right into Shye''s recording crystal before continuing: "TO ANYONE THINKING OF CHALLENGING MY BOSS, SHYE CROWLEY OF THE BLACK DAWN, YOU''RE ALL WELCOME TO TRY. HOWEVER, YOU BETTER GET YOUR TREASURES READY¡ª''CAUSE YOU''RE GONNA LOSE THEM! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!" Chapter 647 A Chance After a glorious win against Karsa Bloodwinter, Shye managed to solidify his position as Raven''s de''s strongest. Consequently, not a single adventurer in the guild dared to provoke any of his 412 members anymore, recognizing that it would be unwise to challenge the man who had defeated the leader of the guild''s top division. Over the next two months, his subordinates not only advanced rapidly in strength due to the extended high-grade tonic exchange sale in the rewards exchange room, but their careers flourished as their quests went smoothly, with no one bold enough to challenge them for priority on the quest boards. Whenever they desired a quest, it was immediately assigned to them. It felt as though the entire division had exclusive priority over all quests. This was naturally a result of Shye''s glorious victory. Meanwhile, the Bloodwinter Ravens¡ªKarsa''s division, rapidly declined. This was, of course, a result of their rewards exchange room suffering a massive budget loss of fifty thousand gold coins, along with five hundred units of each of the three types of high-grade training tonics. The loss of ten umon-tier and three rare-tier skill books also dealt a significant blow to their rewards reserves. In just two months, they dropped to seventh ce, while the shy Ravens Rising had quickly surged ahead, iming third ce. Moreover, it was widely known that it was only a matter of months before they would be the top division, as they no longer had any emerald or diamond-ranked adventurers. Under Shye''s exceptional leadership, all of them had advanced to mithril rank and above. The one most pleased was, of course, the guild master, Soaring Raven, who still praised his brilliant decision to trail the Colzen Convoy and rescue them when they needed it most. Readtest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire This gave him the opportunity to fulfill the promise he had made to histe father: to make Raven''s de the top guild in Valenzia. With the Colzen Championship Seven from two and a half years ago in full bloom, it was only a matter of time. After finishing all his duties as division leader, Shye suddenly received a summons from the old man, causing his heart to race with anxiety. Were they finally going to attack Dweezel''s forces? He hoped not, as he was still strategizing over how he could smoke the rat out and finally start recruiting people to his personal unit. This time, since he was already familiar with Hadean Varsa''s headquarters and had ess to all the key floors and areas, Shye decided to go alone. He discreetly made his way to the organization''s secret establishment in Valenzia City and used one of the five return scrolls the old man had given him to return to the headquarters. He then briefly scanned the familiar metallic walls of the ce with a strange look¡ªsomehow beginning to feel safe and at home¡ªbefore proceeding to the old man''s room. "Why did you call me, old man?" Shye asked with his brows raised in curiosity and slight nervousness. "I expect you will be assigned your first hero mission in about a month. Before that, we need to retrieve an item from one of Dweezel''s strongholds. You will apany your parents and approximately three hundred of my adamantite-level subordinates on this task. Your father, Maverick Crowley, willmand this mission." Upon hearing the old man''s exnation, Shye''s brows furrowed. However, at the same time, his heart rxed. It appeared the old man had summoned him to finally take part in the organization''s operations, likely as preparation for the main attack. He was already strong enough to significantly boost the operation''s chances of sess. Hence, he understood why the old man wanted him to take part in it. ''The item we have to retrieve must be crucial to the old baldy''s ns¡­'' He mused. "Fine, what will be my role in the operation?" "You''ll be the secret strike force''s leader and be the one to retrieve the item. Here, take this." Extending his hands to receive two pieces of scrolls from Sanada, Shye stared at them with a confused look. "So? What are these for?" "These scrolls will disguise your weapons to look like katanas, helping to protect your identity. Additionally, you must use this opportunity to uncover the traitor among your friends." Upon hearing the old man''s subsequent words, Shyes face swiftly changed from that of understanding into one of confusion once more. He didn''t know how he could use the operation to smoke the rat out. Shye was about to ask; however, before he could do so, the old man already began to exin. "I believe the guy that was assigned to watch Colzen City was codenamed Fifteenth Hawkling, correct?" "Yes."@@novelbin@@ "I''ve obtained some information that Fifteenth Hawkling reports to the headquarters we''re about to attack in the Fanfir Region. The rat will most likely respond to distress calls. I trust you already know what to do?" "I see¡­yeah, leave it to me¡­" After going over the operation''s details with the old man for a while, Shye contacted Shirley via the manamunicator, instructing her to inform the parties that he would be waiting for them at the division''s headquarters and had new orders for them. Since they were in the middle of a quest, he had to wait for them for around four days, training his reaction time and leveling up his new skills at the Valenzia Training Center in the meantime. *** On the day both parties arrived, Shye''s office was once again packed with people. "Shye, you called us?" "Boss, what''s up?" "Ahem!" Shye cleared his throat, ncing over the group before speaking: "You will all rest today. Tomorrow, your parties will be taking on (S-) ranked quests." Naturally, everyone was confused after hearing Shye''s instructions. "Ehh? Why? (S-) ranked quests are too easy for us now, boss!" Seirained, voicing out the words in everyone''s hearts, except for Shirley''s, as she knew that Shye must have his reasons. "I won''t exin the reasons, as this is part of your training. Just know that tomorrow, both parties will be tackling (S-) ranked quests. That''s all. Dismissed." Chapter 648 Item Retrieval Operation Commences "S-So? W-W-What''s up again, boss? W-W-Why am I in your house with S-S-Shirley?" Seira asked nervously. Having faced Shirley''s wrathst time, she was careful not to mess around too much in the romantic side of Shye''s life. The situation felt undeniably sketchy and quite terrifying to her.@@novelbin@@ Shirley''s true personality was nothing like Seira''s warped perception of her. However, she found the older, short woman''s reactions entertaining, so she always kept quiet when the three of them were together, just to enjoy Seira''s antics. "Well, you''re my ultimate underling, are you not?" Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire "O-Of course I am! A-As long as your orders aren''t inappropriate or don''t vite my principles, I shall obey!" Seira proimed, pounding her chest in a show of confidence, despite her clearly uncertain exterior. The couple naturally found her actions hrious. "Hahahaha, calm down, I just want to give you an important mission¡ªone that could not be entrusted to any other but my ultimate underling." Upon hearing her boss'' words, Seira''s ears pped in utter glee, endless pride and joy welling in her heart. "NYAHAHAHAHA! Indeed, there are some things that you can only entrust to me, your ultimate underling! So, what''s the mission, boss?" "I''ll give you the specific details soon. But for now, I need you to trust and understand me," Shye said sternly, making Seira realize the gravity of the situation. Her boss rarely looked this serious, especially when assigning her a mission. Hence, despite her unease, she tried her best to listen very carefully. "This mission applies to you as well, Shirley. Listen carefully: tomorrow, I need both of you to keep an eye on your teammates, alright? Since I''ve given you an easy quest, there should be no reason for the group to split up. If anyone leaves the team at any point during the quest, make sure to note who it is and report back to me once it''s over. Got it?" The tension in the two maidens'' brows eased as they realized how simple the mission was. They both nodded in confirmation to Shye shortly after. "T-That''s it, boss? I thought this was an important mission¡­" Seira said, slightly disappointed. She had expected to be given a mission that would make a difference in the world or something important; instead, it turned out to be a simple task of observing who leaves the team tomorrow. "Don''t underestimate this mission! Situations may arise that make it seem natural for a party member to break off from the group. Pay close attention. No matter the reason, if someone leaves the party, take note and report back to me, understood?" "G-Got it, boss!" After a serious discussion about the secret mission for the next day, Seira left, leaving Shye and Shirley alone in their cozy home. Naturally, what followed was a night of passion, with the couple losing themselves in each other and filling their home with passionate sounds. Unfortunately, due to their important uing missions, they could only go for two rounds. The next time they spend the night together, they n to savor their time even more. The next morning, Shye and Shirley enjoyed a hearty breakfast before parting ways. Shye then headed to the Terrorist Strike Force''s rendezvous point. On the other hand, Shirley joined her adventurer party of five. Since this was Shye''s first mission with his father¡ªand a dangerous one at that¡ªhe felt quite nervous. The lingering knots in his heart from being abandoned as a child didn''t help. Nevertheless, he resolved not to let personal feelings interfere with the mission. Thus, to avoid any awkwardness, he addressed his father simply as mander." Maverick''s heart slightly ached. However, he knew that what they did to Shye was indeed wrong, and that only time would heal such wounds. He was fine with mander" for now. Shye, upon arriving, asked for instructions regarding what gate he and his small yet elite strike force should strike from, and Maverick naturally answered him in a professional manner. ''The west gate, huh?'' Shye mused. They wereunching an attack on Southwind City¡ªthe fourth-ranked city in the Fanfir Region, home to roughly seven hundred adamantite-ranked adventurers. Naturally, as terrorists, they would always be outnumbered. However, this was not a major issue, as they had the advantage of surprise and a coordinated force, unlike the adamantite-ranked adventurers of Southwind, who were from different guilds. Additionally, some of the adventurers would likely be away on quests. Hence, despite being outnumbered, the operation had a good chance of sess, especially with Shye taking part. After another half hour of confirming that their preparations wereplete, Maverick finally gave the signal to start the item retrieval operation. As always, civilians were not to be harmed, and while they could kill adventurers who attempted to stop them, only those who were particrly weak should be knocked out rather than killed. However, they were authorized to kill anyone bearing the Hawkins Crest; in fact, it was a key objective of the mission to eliminate as many of Dweezel''s people as possible. With the mission''s objectives and restrictions firmly in mind, the first strike force of about a hundred adamantite-ranked adventurers attacked from the North Gate. Simultaneously, the second strike force, also numbering a hundred, assaulted the South Gate, while the third group, equally consisting of a hundred members, invaded the city through the East Gate. Maverick joined the third force andunched the attack from the east. Meanwhile, Shye and his small elite unit of twenty-five waited at the western periphery, poised to strike once the defenses had weakened. For the next ten minutes, chaos ensued inside the ever-peaceful Southwind City. ck smoke billowed, sounds ofbat erupted, and powerful skills were unleashed everywhere, especially around the eighth minute, when the city''s adamantite-ranked adventurers finally arrived to confront Maverick and his men. Naturally, themon folk and the lower-ranked adventurers were in utter panic. If not for the city hall''s timely, courageous, and calm response, the city would have been even more chaotic. Fortunately, by the twelfth minute, the weaker adventurers and the civilians had already been gathered within the safe confines of the city hall, located in the heart of the city. Hawkins'' forces,ing from the west side of the city where their headquarters were located, had also arrived to assist the city''s adamantite-ranked adventurers, who were being pushed back decisively. Things were beginning to get challenging for Maverick and his small army, with casualties also starting to mount. Despite the operation appearing to falter, everything was unfolding as expected, with one force benefiting from the chaos: Shye''s elite strike team of twenty-five men. ''The defenses in the west should be nearly nonexistent now¡­ time to move¡­'' "Everyone, draw your weapons and follow me!" Chapter 649 Assault On Stronghold Fifteen Above Southwind City, dark clouds loomed. It was unclear if the heavens were aware of the bloodshed that day in the city. Yet, it felt as though they were, as the sky wept, offering a mournfulment for the fallen. Despite no one truly wishing to take lives or lose their own, they had no choice¡ªthey had to fight for what they believed to be just. In just thirteen minutes since the battle had begun, many were already wounded, and a few had fallen. Meanwhile, at the west gate of Southwind City, the sound of numerous footsteps echoed, catching the attention of the garrisoned guards, who were without any avable reinforcements. Upon realizing that more than twenty men donning ck robes, white masks, and Hadean Varsa crests were madly bolting for the city gates, the two guards were horrified. From what they heard, even mithril-ranked adventurers had no business intervening in the battles and the few who did immediately lost their lives. Now, more than twenty adamantite-level terrorists were upon them. It was only natural for them to be terrified. They were but mere former emerald-ranked adventurers, after all. Hence, without even the slightest whiff of resistance, Shye and his men were able to take control of the west gate, as the two guards merely fled without even trying to stop them. Shye was naturally happy that he didn''t have to hurt such innocent people. He quickly scanned to his left and spotted the towering building. It appeared to be a consumable shop on the outside, but in reality, it was one of Dweezel Hawkins'' headquarters, where the item they needed to retrieve was hidden. ''Hawkins Stronghold Fifteen, huh?'' Shye mused, his men behind him awaiting his orders. They didn''t know who their newmander was, which sparked some curiosity. However, seeing Maverick Crowley¡ªa trusted and prominent figure in the organization¡ªce such confidence in Shye, which was proven by themander offering only a brief exnation of the n, made them more inclined to follow Shye''s lead. "Alright, everyone, let''s move! Split into three groups of eight and nine and attack the shop from three separate entrances. We''ll regroup on the second floor and proceed together. Understood?" "Yes,mander!" Shortly after giving his orders, Shye led a group of eight through the shop''s main entrance, kicking down the sturdy titanium door with a single blow. This act naturally impressed his subordinates, further deepening their trust and respect for him. With amander like him¡ªseemingly even stronger than Maverick¡ªleading their hidden strike force, their chances of sessfully retrieving the item were bound to increase significantly.@@novelbin@@ Shye and his forces tore through the opposition, who were caught off-guard. Most of their adamantite-level defenders came to help stop the main force, and only around ten remained. Unfortunately, eight of the ten moved toward the main entrance¡ªa grave mistake with Shye stationed there. Had they chosen another entrance to defend, they might have stood a better chance of minimizing their losses. Meanwhile, the two remaining adventurers stood guard on the top floor of the stronghold, where Dweezel''s top researchers resided, along with the item they were tasked with retrieving. Naturally, they were aware that they couldn''t defend the area on their own. Thus, one worked tirelessly to set up traps, while the other used the manamunicator to request backup from those who had left to stop Hadean Varsa''s main force and from those stationed outside the city. Shye and his strike force were in a battle against time. *** "There it is¡­everyone, get in position." Inside a Death Zone, five young adventurers hid behind thick bushes, observing the movements of an enormous bull monster. It was then that one of them suddenly received an urgent message. However, the young man didn''t react, seemingly indifferent to the distress call. A few momentster, Shirley, Siegfried, Lesurii, Kiin, and Harry took their positions. Unfortunately, just as theyunched their attack on their target monster, two apex (A) ranked creatures¡ªa pair of lightning wyverns¡ªsuddenly appeared out of nowhere and began attacking them, thwarting their ns to swiftly defeat the bull monster. "Tch! Shirley, I trust you, Lesurii, and Harry can handle this bull?" Kiin said abruptly, signaling Siegfried to take on one of the lightning wyverns while he dealt with the other. "Yeah, I believe the three of us can defeat it," Shirley replied without any hesitation. Soon after, their party split up. Siegfried jumped atop the lightning wyvern''s head after dodging its huge maw. On the other hand, Kiin fired a specific kind of arrow that somehow made the other wyvern go after him. The next moment, only Shirley, Lesurii, and Harry remained. Naturally, Shirley did her job, fronting for the other two. However, there was also a frown on her face as she did so. It appeared that what Shye had told her was urate¡ªthere was a rat in their midst, and it might be either Kiin or Siegfried. She was understandably heartbroken. After all, both were her close friends and discovering that one of them was a traitor was deeply painful. *** "PUHAAHK!" "Mordo!" Screams of agony reverberated through the main entrance of Stronghold Fifteen as the eight adamantite-level defenders who hade to intercept Shye''s small force were quickly overpowered. Shye swiftly eliminated two of them, while four of the remaining six were heavily injured, clearly outmatched by Shye''s team of eight. Soon after, despite it being far too early, the six had no choice but to begin a strategic retreat toward the top floor, using the stronghold''syout and traps to create distance between themselves and Shye''s forces. Unfortunately for them, even retreating proved to be hard as Shye was way faster than all of them. If not for the lethal traps that Shye had to deal with, they would''ve already been killed. After about seven minutes of pursuing the defenders inside the stronghold, Shyeughed heartily at the cornered individuals, venting his frustration at having repeatedly failed to kill them. The defenders, now reinforced by two additional members, stood behind two seemingly ancient barricades, forcing Shye and his army to attempt entrance two at a time. Behind them was a huge door. It seemed that they could no longer retreat because they had to protect what was inside at all costs, which naturally made Shye happy, believing that their group''s target item was inside the room. With Shye and his enormous ck shield in the lead, the terrorists were quickly able to breach the defenses, forcing thest eight defenders to fight for their lives. Just as they were on the brink of being overwhelmed, an azure ray of light suddenly appeared behind them, and a figure wearing a golden hawk mask materialized. "S-Sir Fifteenth Hawkling!" Chapter 650 Fifteenth Hawkling Shye stared at the man named Fifteenth Hawkling through his white mask with narrowed eyes. Judging from the weapon the man was holding, it was¡­ ''Kiin¡­ So it was you¡­'' Shye thought to himself, his heart aching. He had liked the guy, but it seemed they were destined to be enemies, especially now that Kiin appeared to be a high-ranking officer among Dweezel''s ranks. Shye remained steadfast in concealing his identity, though, fully hiding behind the mask and the deceptive weapon perception scroll. Although he intended to eliminate Kiin right then and there, it was wiser to keep hidden the fact that he, the leader of Hadean Varsa''s secret strike force, was actually a close friend of Fifteenth Hawkling. After all, anything could happen; and there was no guarantee that he would be able to kill Kiin today, as not only was his friend extremely skilled and slippery, but was also calm and logical.@@novelbin@@ If Fifteenth Hawkling somehow escaped after finding out his true identity, it would be disastrous. He and the old man weren''t ready for an all-out war yet. "Hoh, so you''re the leader of this Hadean Varsa strike force?" Fifteenth Hawkling said in a voice unfamiliar to Shye, causing him to frown. The voice he heard was neither Kiin''s nor Siegfried''s. ''Is this Kiin''s true voice? What a meticulous bastard¡­'' Shye thought inwardly before replying in a fake voice of his own. "What''s it to you? I''ll be ending your life here anyway, so it''s pointless for you to know." "Hahahaha! What a refreshing personality you have! Unfortunately, not only are you overestimating yourself, but you and your little squad are also racing against the clock. In just five minutes, our reinforcements will arrive. Do you really think you can defeat me in that short time?" Shye didn''t reply immediately, smirking arrogantly behind his mask. ''Kiin, haven''t I always done so?'' He mused, retorting the next moment: "Why? You believe I can''t? Let''s test it then!" In the next moment, Shyeunched into action, charging straight at Fifteenth Hawkling with a "Katana" and a ck shield that now appeared white to the young archer''s eyes. Naturally, Fifteenth Hawkling''s arrows came flying at him, each filled with fierce intent, but Shye deflected them one after the other The hallway was spacious. However, the space wasn''trge enough for the young hawkling to move around freely, resulting in Shye having the advantage in terms of terrain. Shye did his best to capture Fifteenth Hawkling as swiftly as possible, aiming to end the fight and ease the turmoil in his heart. He hadn''t expected it to be so difficult, as Fifteenth Hawkling¡ªor Kiin Wujin, as Shye knew him¡ªbegan moving in apletely different manner than in theirst sparring session. It was as if his agility had increased not by a single notch, but by several, as though he wasn''t the Kiin Shye knew. ''Heh, of course, he''s been hiding his true capabilities¡­'' Shye thought, deflecting arrow after arrow as they flew toward him at an incredible rate. It was clear now that Fifteenth Hawkling hadn''t just concealed his agility but also his remarkable dexterity. ''Unfortunately for you, this isn''t enough to take me down. Your arrows need either destructive power or incredible piercing ability to make a real impact.'' Sure, Shye was having difficulties cornering Fifteenth Hawkling. However, despite his insane firing rate, Shye could say that he was not having a hard time defending at all, especially with his enormous and sturdy shield. ''I can''t y his game for long, though. I have to defeat him within five minutes¡­'' Fortunately, Shye learned a skill that would allow him to lock the space around Fifteenth Hawkling, preventing him from moving. As a result, Shye had one free hit. Naturally, he quickly changed his shield to another "katana" and shed at his opponent with everything he had, aiming to quickly kill him without giving himself a chance to hesitate. ''Power sh! Lethal Edge! Boost! Boost!'' A fragile archer stood no chance of defending against his attack, as it required a high level of strength and vitality just to face Shye head-on in battle. However, to his surprise, his opponent suddenly pulled out a peak adamantite-tier round shield and took his attack without any hesitation. *CLANG!* The ear-piercing sound of metal shing against metal echoed through the hallways, drawing the attention of both sides'' subordinates and causing them to turn toward the battle between their two leaders. The next moment, all of them resumed fighting as though there was nothing to see. To them, everything appeared normal. However, for Shye, things were entirely different. He had never imagined that Kiin would one day be able to block his attack head-on with a shield, only getting knocked back a few meters before quickly regaining his bnce. ''So this guy''s also hiding his true strength?'' Shye pondered in slight frustration. If it was like this, then it would truly be hard for him to defeat Kiin in merely five minutes, unless he unveiled his trump cards, which wasn''t a smart move as there might be a slim chance that Fifteenth Hawkling would recognize him. Still, he held back from using his strongest abilities, instead focusing on relentlessly cornering his opponent withmon and umon-tier skills, taking advantage of his slight edge in physical attributes. Naturally, Fifteenth Hawkling countered with his ownmon to rare-tier skills to try and take down Shye, but Shye''s defenses proved too hard for his opponent to breach with mere arrows. Unbeknownst to Shye, Fifteenth Hawkling was equally stunned and in a state of utter disbelief. After all, the guy didn''t know who he was up against, and he naturally couldn''t believe that Hadean Varsa had amander as strong as Shye Fifteenth Hawkling had been initially confident that he would not only survive the five minutes but might even defeat his opponent in just three. Therefore, discovering that he was at a disadvantagepletely shocked him and wounded his pride. He was eager to identify the enemymander, especially since, despite evident alterations, the Hadean Varsamander''s manner of speaking still seemed to resemble that of a young person like himself. Chapter 651 New Entrance ''Tch, only a minute and a half left, huh? I need to end this¡­'' "Commander! The enemy reinforcements are outside the building, heading toward the top floor!" one of Shye''s underlings shouted as he arrived with seven others from the west entrance. Their arrival eased the pressure on the rest of Shye''s forces, who had been locked inbat with Fifteenth Hawkling''s men. "Worry not, I''ll dispose of this guy soon," Shye replied, a ck armor that enhanced his physical attributes emerging on his torso. Fortunately, upon reaching level five, Shye''s [Fallen''s Howl] skill gained the option to suppress its blood-curdling howl. While this meant the [Fear] stacks on his opponent wouldn''t double, he would still receive the physical attribute boost for a minute and a half. Observing the ck armor that emerged on the enemymander''s body, Fifteenth Hawkling''s eyes narrowed behind his golden hawk mask. The ck armor was familiar to him as it was used by one of his "friends". However, he was also aware that skill books were aplenty, and that terrorists were usually fond of [Dark]-type skills. Furthermore, Shye''s ck armor usually appears after he howls, thus allowing Shye to escape Fifteenth Hawkling''s suspicions for the time being. They had a minute and a half ofbat left. At this point, Fifteenth Hawkling knew that he was no match for the enemymander for now, and had now opted for the survival option. He didn''t know what the terrorists'' goals were, but it was for sure something inside the room behind him. He had to keep the terrorists out for at least another minute. In the next moment, Fifteenth Hawkling activated a physique-enhancing skill, causing white vapor to emit from his feet. This time, it was Shye who narrowed his eyes. He had never seen this skill used by either Kiin or Siegfried before.@@novelbin@@ ''Judging by the vapor release, this is most likely an agility-enhancing skill¡­'' he thought. Trusting his instincts, Shye quickly charged towards Fifteenth Hawkling with unbelievable speed, his speedy footsteps echoing in the spacious hallways. Naturally, his opponent quickly got out of the way of his forward sh attack. ''Heh, I knew it¡­'' Shye mused upon confirming that Fifteenth Hawkling''s physique enhancement skill boosted his agility. ''Unfortunately for you¡­'' He had another n. If Fifteenth Hawkling didn''t want to be in his way, then he was all for it. Sprinting straight towards the room''s door, Shye destroyed it with one [Power sh] causing metallic debris to fly everywhere and clouds of dust to fill the air. "AAAAHHHH!!" The researchers inside screamed in utter horror as they gathered in one corner of the room like little chicks in front of a vicious coyote. ''Tch! What a dirty bastard¡­'' Fifteenth Hawkling inwardly cursed, sprinting in front of the researchers in hopes of protecting them. He only has to hold on for forty more seconds before the terrorists would have to retreat. With how Shye immediately looked at the researchers, Fifteenth Hawkling concluded that Stronghold Fifteen''s researchers were the targets of today''s Hadean Varsa operation. After all, these researchers in this specific stronghold were among the best Dweezel had, as they were responsible for developing and improving mana-powered defense mechanisms such as traps, mana st turrets, gates, and many more. In short, Fifteenth Hawkling could see why Hadean Varsa would target the researchers. "Hoh, that''s it, you should stop running. Otherwise, I''ll ughter these megamindmbs." Shye taunted. He knew that Kiin would never be able to fight him head-on and survive for forty seconds. The guy could bring out his shields or talismans or whatever, Shye didn''t care. It would be impossible tost for such a long time using merely crutches. If Fifteenth Hawkling wanted to survive, he would have to rely on skills and attributes. Items could only take one so far. Shye wasted no time, immediately charging straight at his opponent. He then used his skills one at a time. He knew that he would merely waste his skills if he stacked them on top of the other, as one protective item could easily thwart his attack, regardless of how destructive it was. Now, the only thing he needed to do was burn through Fifteenth Hawkling''s arsenal of crutches. ''Power sh!'' The battle turned into the twomanders mind-gaming each other as Shye used his skills wisely. Fifteenth Hawkling couldn''t afford to overuse his protective items, otherwise, he would be in trouble. For the first attack, the young Hawkin Vice-Commander guessed correctly, blocking Shye''s attack head-on using the shield in his inventory. *CLANG!* Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire A metallic noise echoed throughout the researchers'' room as Shye''s katana and Fifteenth Hawkling''s shield shed, sending thetter momentarily flying before skidding and stopping right in front of the terrified researchers. "Hoh, nice guess. Then what about this?" This time, Shye used a regr sh attack. However, he used two [Boost] charges, making this specific strike considerably stronger than his first one. ''Heh, you think I''m an idiot that would panic and fall for mere words? Try again!'' Fifteenth Hawkling inwardly thought, opting to use his shield again to defend. *CLANG!* *BOOM!* Another deafening ng, followed by a powerful explosion, filled the air as clouds of dust billowed, reducing the nearby wall to rubble and creating a new entrance. Blood and mangled flesh sttered across the remaining walls, a gruesome testament to the horror and ughter that had just unfolded. Meanwhile, Fifteenth Hawkling spat out blood on the ground, struggling to stand up as his entire back hurt like crazy. This time he guessed wrong. How could he have anticipated that such a seemingly ordinary attack would carry such devastating force? He had messed up, leading to the deaths of around five researchers, their fragile bodies crushed as Fifteenth Hawkling was hurled like a cannonball, mming into them. ''Shit!'' the young Hawkin Commander cursed as he hastened his movements of getting up. Unfortunately, when he turned to check on the researchers he was supposed to protect, anger surged through him. He had failed¡ªthey had all been ughtered like chickens! There were only ten seconds left for the terrorists, he could even hear their reinforcements'' footsteps and worried voices. Fifteenth Hawkling had to choose. Should he stay here and prevent the terrorists from escaping? This option was very tempting, as he only needed to hold on for ten more seconds and the damned terrorists were done for. However, in his current condition, could he still do so? Staying behind was risky. After all, he could lose his life. All his men that were outside the room were already dead. He was alone. ''F*ck it! I''m staying!'' He had a [Legendary]-tier escape item anyway. Though his heart ached, as it was the only sign of affection and attention he received from his father, he knew that failing too badly would cause him to lose favor. His brothers would undoubtedly seize this failure to push him out of the session race. So, even though he knew he might have to use his escape item if he stayed any longer, he resolved to see it through. "You bastard¡­Since you want to stay in our stronghold so badly, I shall make sure you damned terrorists stay here forever¡­" Chapter 653 Amazing Mysterious Commander The dark clouds above Southwind City slowly cleared, ever-so-slightly easing the hearts of the terrified citizens and low-ranked adventurers. The defenders had won, proven by the sight of the invading terrorists leaving hastily. However, in one part of the city, the somber skies mysteriously remained: Dweezel Hawkins'' Fifteenth Stronghold. *CLANG!* The sound of metal shing against metal resounded in the empty hallways. To Commander Greyson''s surprise, the scenario he expected to see the next moment didn''t happen. The smaller Hadean Varsa Commander stood there, unmoving like a mountain, nary a hint of fear in his eyes Greyson was both impressed and furious. He relished the flickers of panic in his opponents'' eyes as his towering figure barreled toward them like a bulldozer. Therefore, the absence of fear in the enemymander''s gaze irritated him, making him view the arrogant terrorist as an insufferable bastard. The fact that his opponent managed to block his attack head-on without being pushed back only served to fan the mes of anger in his heart. Even during his days as an adventurer, Greyson was ustomed to overpowering his opponents, only conceding defeat in terms of strength to the top-tier adventurers and monstrous creatures. He would never ept being bested by nobodies. "Hoh? Quite the sturdy one, are we? What about this!!" As Greyson brandished his two-handed mace again, red energy surged around the weapon, while a scarlet aura radiated from his arms. The next moment¡­ *CLANG!* Another metallic sound rang, assaulting the eardrums of everyone present. However, despite the middle-aged Hawkin Commander trying his best, Shye remained unmoved, bringing further shame and anger to Commander Greyson''s heart. "Heh, you talk so much for someone so weak." Shye taunted after easily blocking his adversary''s second attack. Naturally, Greyson was utterly infuriated, his anger throwing logic and reason out the window. He refused to lose to someone smaller than him! "YOU BASTARD! YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME? OOH, I AM SO GOING TO DESTROY YOU!!" Themander raged, performing hand seals the next moment. Meanwhile, one of Shye''s underlings was distracted, opting instead to watch the battle instead of looking for the item they needed to retrieve. The action was normally punishable.@@novelbin@@ Luckily for that particr underling, no one noticed him cking off. His heart raced as he witnessed theirmander''s full disy of power. If it had been him, he would''ve suffered internal injuries just from blocking the first strike, and the second would have been nearly fatal unless he used his trump card. Yet, their mysteriousmander blocked the attack effortlessly, as if the hulking enemymander''s muscles were no stronger than marshmallows. Despite his agitated heart, the underling snapped himself back to reality. They had to locate the Ice Dragon Emperor''s heart. Otherwise, this amazingmander of theirs would cease to exist. As adamantite-levelbatants, it took only seconds for Shye''s underlings to search the room, regardless of its size. When they couldn''t find the item, it became clear that there was likely a hidden vault or room where the sought-after object was being stored. With mounting anxiety, they quickly began touching and moving various peculiar objects in the room, growing more desperate with each passing second. Explore more stories at My Virtual Library Empire They were well-acquainted with hidden rooms and vaults. It was only a matter of whether they could locate the item before they had to retreat, as per theirmander''s orders. Outside the room, metallic noises echoed one after the other as Shye was locked in a fierce battle against the enemymander, his [Stoic Lv.5] long gone. Greyson was indeed strong. However, that was it. He could fight Shye in that area and that area alone. Naturally, despite his arrogance and hot-headedness, Greyson was no fool. He knew that after Shye deflected his third attack¡ªabination of three skills¡ªthe Hawkin Commander realized he couldn''t defeat Shye alone. He had to set aside his pride and focus on his duties asmander: to eliminate the intruders and protect the stronghold. Gnashing his teeth in frustration, Greysonmanded his men to swarm Shye, with a few of them immediately teleporting behind the barrier to make defense nearly impossible. Shye had no choice but to slowly retreat as adamantite-level defenders attacked him three or four at a time. ''Tch¡­I thought I could exploit this bastard''s ego for a few more seconds¡­he isn''t as stupid as he looks¡­'' He thought inwardly as he tirelessly swung his katanas to defend himself, asionally summoning his ck shield to deflect a few attacks. "You guys still haven''t found the item?!" Shye eximed in frustration at his underlings. He didn''t actually mean to yell at them; it was just that defending the hallway was proving to be extremely challenging, making each second feel like an eternity. The thought that the operation would fail due to that damned Fifteenth Hawkling only added to his exasperation. "Commander! We found the hidden room and three items, one of which we believe to be the Ice Dragon Emperor''s heart!" Fortunately, the words from one of his men sounded like music to his ears, bringing him a moment of relief. "Good! Everyone, retreat with your escape scrolls!" On the other hand, Greyson was petrified in utter horror. If the terrorists manage to take such a treasured item away¡­ The Hawkin Commander shivered at the thought. "WE CAN''T LET THEM TAKE ANYTHING FROM THAT HIDDEN ROOM! EVERYONE, ELIMINATE THESE BASTARDS IMMEDIATELY! ACT LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!" Well, his underlings would definitely be punished as well, but it was Greyson''s life that was truly on the line here. As a result, he was the most frantic, using two of his trump cards simultaneously in an attempt to y Shye instantly and prevent the terrorists from escaping, as they were clearly already infusing their escape scrolls with mana. He needed to interrupt them at all costs, or it would be game over for him. Greyson''s enormous mace¡ªglowing with a mix of ck and scarlet¡ªsmashed toward Shye, causing the winds to howl and the air to rip apart from the sheer force of the cataclysmic attack that would heavily injure even the toughest of monstrous creatures. "DIE!!" the Hawkin Commander roared as his underlings moved aside, clearing the path for Greyson. However, instead of fear, in Shye''s eyes was sheer disdain. It was never good to use trump cards simultaneously, as they could be blocked by one single protective item. In Shye''s case: an item skill. ''Barrier of the Condemned!'' A ck translucent protective aura suddenly emerged in a spherical shape around Shye, receiving the fierce attack for him. The next moment, he threw lots of ck smokescreens on the ground, impairing Greyson''s and his defenders'' vision momentarily. "F*CK! WE CAN''T LET THEM ESCAPE!! MAGES, BLOW THE DAMNED SMOKE AWAY!!" *FWOOSH!* Winds howled, effectively clearing Shye''s smokescreen the next second. However, all it did for Greyson and his men was provide a crystal-clear view of how smoothly Shye''s men teleported out of the area, the Ice Dragon Emperor''s heart in their hands. Chapter 654 The Great Escape "F*CK!! F*CK!!!!!" Greyson cursed as the weight of his predicament began to settle in. "YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! YOU''RE COMING TO HELL WITH ME!" Shye was the only terrorist left in the city. Hence, Greyson and the defenders immediately assumed that he sacrificed himself to salvage the terrorists'' failing operation. "I''ll use the little time I have left in this world to inflict as much agony and anguish on you as possible..." the Hawkin Commander muttered in a chillingly cold voice. He knew he was finished, and the only thing that could soothe his soul now was to slowly torture the one responsible, dragging the bastard down to hell with him. There was no way the damned Hadean Varsa Commander could escape. With over a hundred adamantite-levelbatants at their disposal, capturing Shye should be a breeze. Only, Greyson didn''t expect that the bastard in front of him, despite being cornered like a rat in a cage, still had the gall to infuriate him further. "Heh, you talk about torturing me, but have you even caught me yet? You should stop deluding yourself before it gets you into even more trouble," Shye taunted, his words creeping under the Hawkin Commander''s skin, further fueling his rage. "YOU STILL DARE TALK?! MEN, CAPTURE THIS BASTARD!" Naturally, the defenders were enraged by Shye''s arrogance, especially given his current situation, and were all the more eager to execute theirmander''s orders. To their surprise, Shye retreated to the farthest corner of the researchers'' room. However, instead of adopting a fighting stance, he simply stood there, watching them with a yful gaze. They were done with his games. Hence, they all used their strongest skills in an attempt to incapacitate him. "Careful, I don''t want the bastard dying yet." Greyson reminded his men. "I shall torture him with my own hands!" des and deadly projectiles made their way towards Shye, but instead of panicking, he merelyughed. "Hahahaha! Still delusional, I see. Well then, see you around, dumb bastard." After delivering one final insult to enrage Greyson, Shye vanished into a cloud of thin smoke, leaving the defenders'' attacks to obliterate the corner of the researchers'' room which then created a massive hole in the top floor of Dweezel''s Stronghold Fifteen. The clouds of dust and ck smoke produced by the violent attacks of the defenders slowly cleared, revealing the area where Shye once stood. However, contrary to their expectations, the Hadean Varsa Commander was nowhere to be found, leaving Greyson stupefied for a few moments. Then, upon realizing what happened¡­ "GRAAAAAAARGHH!!" Greyson roared like an enraged monstrous creature, brandishing his enormous two-handed mace to violently open up another huge hole in another part of the researchers'' room. "HOW DID THAT BASTARD ESCAPE?! HEAVENS, WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?! WHAT HAVE I DONE WRONG?! I CAN''T EVEN PUNISH THE ONE WHO RUINED MY LIFE?!" He shouted to the skies as though demanding an exnation for his rotten fate. The defenders didn''t know what happened either, but they knew what was gonna happen next. All the defenders stationed at Stronghold Fifteen, including Commander Greyson and likely Honorary Vice Commander Fifteenth Hawkling, were bound to face punishment. Theirmander''s fate was practically sealed. After all, not a single researcher had survived, and the Ice Dragon Emperor''s Heart had been stolen by those damned terrorists. *** Inside a modest-sized house, a human silhouette materialized from blue mana particles. Shye gazed at the familiar ceiling of his room. "Phew¡­finally out of that damned hell hole¡­" He sighed in relief. Despite his cocky exterior, being left alone in the middle of enemy territory was unnerving. Being back home was truly just the thing he needed. ''Good thing I always leave a recall point at home before I leave for an important mission¡­'' Greyson''s angry reaction suddenly popped up in his mind, washing away the remaining bits of unease in his heart. Angering his opponents had always been very satisfying for Shye. "Pfft¡­Hahaha! That bastard is probably destroying random stuff right now." He chuckled, lying in his bed to rest shortly after. He didn''t feel that he needed to return to the old man''s headquarters. Hence, he simply decided to rest and rx for the rest of the day. Your adventure continues at My Virtual Library Empire Meanwhile, inside a Death Zone three hours away from Valenzia City, three youngsters panted in exhaustion. In front of them was the corpse of an enormous ck bull, its head separated from its body. "Phew." Shirley exhaled as she wiped the sweat off her forehead, turning to look at the two who helped her y the monstrous creature. "Well done, Miss Kusanagi, Harry." "Likewise, Shirley." The two answered in unison. Despite being two people down due to the sudden appearance of a pair of lightning wyverns, the remaining three still managed toplete the (S-) ranked quest¡ªa testament to their unbelievable growth. Soon after, the three looked in the direction where Kiin and Siegfried ran off to separate the two lightning wyverns from their target monster, one of them¡ªLesurii¡ªdonning a slightly worried expression. Siegfried and Kiin were strong. With their current abilities, killing lightning wyverns should be difficult but not dangerous. Luckily, they didn''t have to worry for long as just mere momentster, the shrubbery to their left rustled in which a human figure emerged. "Kiin! How was it? Did you manage to kill the wyvern?" Harry asked. "Yeah, but I need help harvesting its corpse¡­" Kiin replied, ncing at the dead bull behind the three. "Let''s harvest that thing first before harvesting the body of the lightning wyvern I just killed." "Good n." The four immediately began butchering the bull''s corpse. They weren''t worried about Siegfried at all, except for Lesurii.@@novelbin@@ Still, they knew that if Kiin won his battle, then Siegfried should have no problems on his side. It was just that he was a warrior so it would be a bit more difficult for him to take down a flying creature. Their instincts were soon confirmed when the shrubbery rustled again, revealing a slightly bruised Siegfried. As expected, Kiin was the first to tease the young warrior, making a joke about his appearance. "Hahaha! Sieg, what happened? You look pathetic! Was the fall that bad?" "Sigh¡­ What more could have gone wrong? If only I could shoot that thing down like you, I''d havee back unscathed," Siegfried replied, sounding a bit dejected. "Hahahaha! No matter, you''re still handsome in someone''s eyes. Isn''t that right, Miss Lesurii?" "Y-Yes, of course! Don''t worry, Sieg, you look as good as ever!" the young, innocent maiden reassured her beloved. Hearing Lesurii''s words, Siegfried felt a faint blush rise to his cheeks, slightly embarrassed. He was unustomed to such sentiments, so he chose to steer the conversation in a different direction. "A-Anyway, let''s harvest the quest item from this Berserk Barbary Bull first¡­" Chapter 655: Like Nothing Happened "YOU BASTARDS!!! WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOUR COMMANDER COVERED YOUR ESCAPE?!" A booming, furious voice reverberated through the vast metallic room as a middle-aged man seized one of his subordinates by the cor, his eyes shifting to a translucent red. "C-Commander Maverick, please calm down!" The underling nervously replied "It was our hidden strike force¡¯smander¡¯s order. He told us to immediately retreat with our escape scrolls once we retrieve the target item." Upon hearing his underling¡¯s exnation, Maverick ever-so-slightly managed to tone his anger down. If it was Shye¡¯s orders, then the hidden strike force elites truly had no choice but to obey, as it would be insubordination to not do so. Still, Hadean Varsa had a protocol where amander¡¯s safety was to be prioritized at every mission. This was a small part of why Maverick was enraged. However, arge part of it was simply because Shye was his son, and he couldn¡¯t stand the fact that his son was left alone in enemy territory. "Maverick, calm down." A raspy, aged voice echoed from behind as Sanada, disguised as a menacing old hermit with piercing purple eyes, stepped out from the void. "W-We greet the Supreme One!" The terrorists knelt in submission, all except for Maverick, a Hadean Varsa Commander, who was exempt from the gesture. "How can I calm down wh¨C" "He¡¯s alive." The old man interrupted Maverick, speaking the words he most needed to hear. Realizing the old man had no reason to lie, Maverick finally managed to rx, letting go of the underling he had grabbed by the cor the next moment. "Hmph, fine. I¡¯ll be returning to my quarters to train." Maverick said, turning around to walk towards the direction of his quarters, which was also his training area. He had no time to waste. As newly appointedmanders, he and his wife couldn¡¯t afford to ck off. Being the weakest among themanders, they needed to catch up, or they wouldn¡¯t be able to support their son in the final battle against Dweezel. Sanada told them Shye¡¯s secret around two weeks ago, which naturally made them inwardly happy. At first, they couldn¡¯t understand how their son had be so strong so quickly, and like any concerned parents, they feared Shye might have been using illegal tonics. Hence, learning about the system eased much of the unease in their hearts, though the source of the system¡¯s rewards deeply unnerved them. Even so, they chose to turn a blind eye. Maverick and Alicia knew they had to if they wanted to achieve their goal of "saving the world." At times, they couldn¡¯t help but question their choices. But whenever they recalled how deep they were into this¡ªhow they had even unknowingly allowed their children to nearly starve when they were young¡ªMaverick and Alicia knew there was no turning back, even if they wanted to. They already sacrificed almost everything for their impulsive heroism. The two of them had no life to return to beyond this, especially if they failed. When everything is over, they intend to do whatever it takes to mend their broken family, no matter the cost. If it meant groveling before their children, they were ready to do so. Unfortunately for the couple, despite their genuine intentions, Shye wasn¡¯t a psychic and couldn¡¯t see into their hearts and souls. Only father time could heal his wounded little heart. @@novelbin@@ While he naturally wanted to find it within himself to forgive his parents, he simply wasn¡¯t ready to do so yet. ¡­Time swiftly passed, and the next day¡¯s morning sun rose over the horizon. Its warm, golden rays illuminated Valenzia City, rousing a young man who had been sound asleep after enduring a distressing ordeal. "Aahhh, what a nice rest!" Shye said to himself, in an extremely good mood as he stretched his aesthetically pleasing, muscr body. He then went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, took a quick bath, and put on his adventurer attire. Afterward, he enjoyed a hearty, pre-made breakfast that he had ordered from his favorite seafood restaurant a few days earlier and stored in the system¡¯s inventory before heading out. A few minutester, he arrived at the guild headquarters. As the region¡¯s only hero, he was inundated with greetings, which he naturally responded to with as much warmth and enthusiasm as he could. He wasn¡¯t an arrogant scumbag, except for when he was facing enemies. Arriving at the division lounge, Shye immediately made his way toward Siegfried¡¯s secretary¡¯s office, checking the progress of everyone in his division while waiting for Shirley and Seira¡¯s party to arrive. Naturally, Shye was pleased about the progress of his division members¡¯ careers. What pleased him most, however, were their printed attributes. Three months ago, he required them to visit the division¡¯s partnered appraisal shop and get their attributes appraised and printed every two weeks. Seeing that most of them were now as strong as an average mithril-ranked adventurer, with only a fewgging behind, Shye was naturally pleased. These individuals would be part of his personal unit, though he knew not everyone would ept his proposal to join Hadean Varsa. However, Shye naturally had a method for dealing with those who chose to opt-out, ensuring no harm woulde to them. Enjoy new adventures from Freewebnovel Later that afternoon, Seira¡¯s party arrived, followed by Shirley¡¯s, who showed up about half an hourter. As expected, they were able toplete their quests smoothly. Since both parties had managed to hunt (S-) ranked creatures in just a day and a half, they captured most of their guildmates¡¯ attention as within the guild, they were the only mithril-ranked parties to achieve such a feat. Even the guild¡¯s top-tier mithril-ranked members, who were just a quest or two away from bing adamantite-ranked, needed at least two and a half days to take down an (S-) ranked creature. This highlighted the true strength of Shye¡¯s division. Brimming with talented individuals, it was clear that the shy Ravens Rising would soon rank among the top ten divisions in Valenzia City. Shye met them in his office,plimenting them on their excellent performance. He fabricated a reason, iming that he wanted to test theircency when facing weaker opponents. But in reality, it was merely a trap for the rat, who left Shye¡¯s office as if nothing had happened. Archers, especially top-tier ones, always had passive skills that would allow them to detect if someone was gazing at them with furious, violent, or murderous intent, so Shye didn¡¯t dare gaze at Kiin for too long despite the boiling anger and feelings of betrayal swirling in his heart. What he did, however, was summon Seira to his and Shirley¡¯s houseter that day. It was time to hear their reports. Chapter 656: Reports and Conclusions "Boss! Nothing happened on my end. We simply killed our target and returned. No one left." Seira enthusiastically said, none the wiser that a rat was in their midst. However, being the curious midget that she was, Seira never forgot Shye¡¯s promise to exin everything once it was all over. "I see¡­ great work, Seira," Shye replied, appearing to fall into deep thought immediately afterward. ¡¯As expected, it wasn¡¯t Ian¡­¡¯ He was about ny percent certain that the rat wasn¡¯t Ian. However, ny percent wasn¡¯t enough; he needed to be absolutely sure that Ian was innocent. Otherwise, it could jeopardize the old man¡¯s operations and potentially lead to failure in the final battle. Everything, including the fate of Adthiopia, was on the line. He had to be meticulous. Momentster, he shifted his attention to Shirley, who had a serious look on her face. "Shirley, what happened on your end? I assume someone left?" Shye asked, a mix of seriousness and anger in his voice. "Yes. Two, in fact." "Who?" "Kiin and Siegfried." Upon hearing who left, Shye¡¯s eyes narrowed. "What were their excuses?" Shirley recounted how a pair of lightning wyverns suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked them, perfectly thwarting their ns to eliminate the Berserk Barbary Bull as swiftly as possible. Shye knew it would be unwise to fight three monstrous creatures in the same area. It would be better if two of them separated from the others to deal with or distract the lightning wyverns individually, creating the perfect cover-up for the rat¡¯s actions. It would have been easier for Shye if only one of them had left. Unfortunately, it seemed that this damned Fifteenth Hawkling was far more intelligent and cautious than he had anticipated. He couldn¡¯t even wrap his head around why the bastard had to be so careful. It was as though¡­ ¡¯Does that bastard already suspect that I¡¯m with Hadean Varsa?¡¯ @@novelbin@@ If that were the case, things would be infinitely more difficult. He would need to work smarter and conceal his movements. Otherwise, he risked being forced out of his temporary hero role much earlier than expected, or worse, being killed by Dweezel before he had a chance to surpass the veteran heroes from other regions and the retired heroes, most of whom were likely allied with the so-called greatest hero of all time. He was one of the old man¡¯s aces against Dweezel¡ªprobably the one tasked to fight all heroes who would try to stop their organization. He needed to gather as many system points as possible before getting kicked out of society. Reminding himself to move carefully when joining a Hadean Varsa operation, Shye snapped himself out of his musings, shifting his attention back to Shirley. "I believe one of them returnedter than the other?" he asked, prompting Shirley to nod in agreement. "As expected¡­" "W-W-Wait, Boss! I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s happening! Why do both of you look so serious? Aren¡¯t all the members of our adventurer parties your friends?" Seira interjected, her curiosity heightened. Experience new stories on Freewebnovel "I¡¯ll exin everything after this; I just need to confirm who returnedte." Shye momentarily dismissed Seira¡¯s question, waiting for Shirley to tell him thete returnee. "It was Siegfried." Upon hearing Shirley¡¯s words, Shye¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, leaving him confused and prompting him to ask a follow-up question. "What? Siegfried? It wasn¡¯t Kiin?" "No, they exined that Kiin, being an archer, had an easier time dealing with the flying creature, whereas Siegfried, who returned slightly battered and bruised, had a tougher time." "I see¡­" Shye replied, falling deep in thought once more. Such an exnation was rather logical, and he couldn¡¯t find any fault with it. "Did you guys harvest the lightning wyverns they killed?" "Yes. They both killed their target wyverns as they imed." "I see¡­Did you check which corpse died first?" Shirley flinched slightly at Shye¡¯s question, realizing she hadn¡¯t thought to do that. Besides, Shye hadn¡¯t given her any specific instructions about it, so the idea of checking the corpses hadn¡¯t even crossed her mind. Judging from her reaction, Shye already knew she hadn¡¯t checked. "So you hadn¡¯t, huh? That¡¯s fine, don¡¯t worry. It was impossible to predict someone¡¯s every move." He consoled his lover. "I-I¡¯m sorry¡­" It was a bit of a stretch to expect her to do that, especially since even he¡ªsomeone who had high intelligence and wisdom attributes¡ªhadn¡¯t considered the possibility beforehand. If he had, he would¡¯ve given her instructions to check for it. It was his fault, to begin with. After all, it was impossible for Shirley to handle the situation as smartly as he would, considering she didn¡¯t have the system to increase her intelligence with the press of a button. Shye was already eighty-percent certain that it was Kiin, anyway. He just needed to gather a bit more proof before killing him, as it would be an utter tragedy if he killed the wrong guy. Although Kiin¡¯s sudden surge in attributes during Shye¡¯s battle with him as Fifteenth Hawkling was surprising, it made sense to Shye. It appeared that Fifteenth Hawkling held a special position within Dweezel¡¯s forces, given that he remained the vicemander of an entire stronghold despite being away on a mission. A person of that caliber would naturally conceal his true strength when dealing with his target. "Don¡¯t worry, I already have a good idea who the rat is. Good work, both of you," Shye said, turning his attention to the curious Seira. "You¡­" "M-Me¡­ W-what is it, boss? A-Are you finally going to tell me what¡¯s going on?" the petite adventurer asked bravely, despite Shye¡¯s narrowed gaze fixed on her. Naturally, Shye was just teasing her, amused by her reactions. "Tch, your curiosity always wins in the end, doesn¡¯t it? Fine, I¡¯ll tell you everything now. You¡¯ve got fifteen seconds to prepare yourself for what I¡¯m about to say." Shye wasn¡¯t nervous about revealing such important information to Seira. After all, she was deeply indebted to him and had sworn to follow him to the ends of the earth. Chapter 657: The Ultimate Underling Discovers the Truth "B-Boss¡­I know I¡¯m kind of slow but¡­Are you messing with me right now or¡­" Seira said, half-scared, half-skeptical. Shye had a habit of messing with her, delivering outrageous stories with a straight face, and she used to fall for them every time, only to realizeter her boss was just feeding her a bunch of nonsense. Naturally, despite how slow she was, Seira would eventually learn. This time, she didn¡¯t dare believe Shye instantly. "No, this time, I¡¯m truly serious." Shye just gave his underling a brief introduction of what he was talking about before exining to her in detail. He exined to Seira that the world was at risk of drying up because Mana Dungeons were draining its mana, and the one behind it all was Dweezel Hawkins, the greatest hero in history. Shye then revealed that he was a member of Hadean Varsa, the most notorious terrorist organization working to save the world from Dweezel¡¯s evil hands. It was only natural for anyone to struggle to believe such an absurd story, where the roles of the hero who once saved the world from the ck dragon and the most infamous terrorist organization werepletely reversed. "P-Please exin further if you¡¯re telling the truth¡­I¡¯m having trouble understanding why you would join such a terrorist organization, boss¡­Are you certain they¡¯re telling the truth? Miss Shirley, is this all true? If so, how long have you known?" Seira asked questions one after the other. Judging by Shye and Shirley¡¯s reactions, it seemed he was telling the truth. This left her feeling both afraid and betrayed, as deep down, she still clung to the belief that Dweezel couldn¡¯t possibly be so evil and that terrorist organizations were naturally bad¡ªjust as any parent would teach their child. Part of her even suspected that Shye¡¯s kindness¡ªhelping her grow stronger¡ªwas simply a tactic to recruit her into the group, fueling the sense of betrayal that weighed on her heart. Still, her boss was her benefactor¡ªthe man who saved her mother and little brother. She would at least hear them out. This time, it was Shye who was inwardly shocked. He expected that Seira would eventually lean toward believing him and the terrorist group. Discover hidden stories at Freewebnovel It turned out to be a smart move to attempt recruiting her first, as the belief that terrorists were inherently evil and that Dweezel couldn¡¯t possibly be so wicked seemed to be deeply ingrained in everyone¡¯s mind. If even Seira, whom he had helped so much, struggled to believe him and the cause he had pledged his loyalty to, how could he expect others to? He needed to rethink his recruitment strategy, making it more convincing and effective. Otherwise, only a small fraction of the four hundred-plus members in his division might agree to join, and even some of his closest friends might opt out. If it came to that and they ended up facing each other on the battlefield one day, he might be forced to kill them¡ªsomething he desperately wanted to avoid. Luckily, he still had a chance. Seira¡¯s situation was a great wake-up call. "Calm down, Seira. We¡¯ve known each other for a long time, right? You know I¡¯m not some shady person, and I¡¯m not lying. I¡¯m actually one of Hadean Varsa¡¯s undercover operatives. The reason I joined them is because they abducted me once, during my champion inauguration ceremony. But they didn¡¯t kill me. Instead, they calmly exined everything and showed me undeniable evidence to prove their ims. Here, take a look at these two recording crystals." Of course, there was no reason for him to lie, but Shye needed to adjust his stories slightly to make them more effective for recruitment. Otherwise, he would end up having to exin everything, including the system, just to get people to believe him. As Seira infused her mana into the recording crystal, a modest-sized holographic screen appeared, her eyes almost popping out of their sockets upon seeing the contents of the crystal. It was the legendary battle between the Yon Augenn Heroes of fifty years ago and the ck Dragon. She didn¡¯t expect her boss to suddenly whip out a full, high-definition recording of such a battle. Though she wasn¡¯t sure how this would serve as proof, for now, Seira found it difficult to focus on such matters as excitement coursed through her. She was eager to watch and see what would unfold. Like other kids of adventurers, she already saw how Dweezel sealed the monstrous deity, but unfortunately, her father wasn¡¯t prominent or influential enough to secure a full recording. This was her first time witnessing the entire battle. The same was true for Shirley, who hadn¡¯t seen the recording since Shye hadn¡¯t needed to persuade her as much. Two young and passionate adventurer beauties tuned in. Naturally, like Shye and Reginald, they were captivated. Dweezel¡¯s heroic speech, the terrifying first strike from the ck Dragon that sent the two warriors crashing to the ground, the Voidweaver¡¯s takeover and disy of power, Dweezel¡¯s failure, Elune¡¯s sacrifice, the intense moments as the remaining six fought valiantly, and the grim future that loomed over the Yon Augenn Heroes. The two beauties watched them all with racing hearts and a myriad of reactions. After a few minutes, the end, which almost everyone had watched, yed out. However, Dweezel didn¡¯t look so heroic in Seira¡¯s eyes this time. Although she was slow and slightly naive in terms of intellectual stuff, Seira was a keen observer, and she immediately noticed that Dweezel didn¡¯t do much except rely on the sealing scroll at the end. The Yon Augenn Heroes¡¯ win was still epic in her eyes, but she was slightly disappointed with Dweezel. She still couldn¡¯t wrap her head around this battle being a solid piece of evidence, though, voicing out her doubts the next moment. "Boss, the battle was great, but it didn¡¯t prove anything about your ims being true¡­" Naturally, Shye also knew it wasn¡¯t, so he merely nodded at Seira before taking out another recording crystal. "I know. However, that video was just the prerequisite for this one." Infusing his mana into the recordings, the familiar holographic screen once more appeared, this time showing a white wisp of the White Dragon of Creation¡¯s divinity, which Shye introduced and exined to Seira. Soon after, a ck wisp appeared. Seira immediately realized that this was the ck Dragon of Destruction¡¯s divinity. After all, she saw loads of it in the previous recording. The midget¡¯s eyes narrowed as the two wisps converged atop a huge bump in the ground which looked like a half-finished dungeon entrance. Of course, Shye exined that it was one, which Seira didn¡¯t doubt one bit as it truly looked like the entrance of a budding mana dungeon. @@novelbin@@ A few more momentster, the said entrance crumbled into dust and stones as the converged white and ck wisp showered upon it. "T-This is¡­" She muttered in shock and disbelief. With such evidence, it was impossible for Seira, no matter how slow she was, not to understand that the ck Dragon, or at least its divine essence, was necessary to stop mana dungeons from forming. Additionally, it wasmon knowledge that the spawn rates of mana dungeons had surged dramatically over the past fifty years. Again, regardless of how slow one was, it was hard not to connect the dots after watching the two recordings. "B-Boss¡­" Chapter 660: Going Phoenix Hunting Frozen End, Radiant Sentinel, Midnight Fang, and Piercing Zephyr¡ªthe four titled adventurers who upheld Valenzia¡¯s skies when heroes were absent in the region. They worked tirelessly, day and night, to manage the escting threats, many of which would typically be the responsibility of heroes. As a result, even though Valenzia was ranked the lowest among all ten regions, the four became significantly stronger than the typical titled adventurers from backwater regions. Way stronger. Not only were their attributes higher, but they also possessed sharper senses and greater mastery in adventuring, regardless of the terrain or location of the mission. If titled adventurers from other regions dared to mess with them, they would receive a harsh wake-up call. But what choice did they have? With no heroes around, they had to be as strong as one, despitecking hero crests. Otherwise, their beloved region would gradually be consumed by the threats that surrounded it. Midnight Fang was the oldest among them at forty-seven years old. He had medium-length white hair, a surprisingly muscr physique for a scout, and hawk-like eyes with a horizontal scar across his nose. Not only was the man intelligent, but his extensive experience allowed him to quickly determine the best course of action for the party, even in the most challenging and disadvantageous situations. He was aforting presence¡ªa dependable senior who looked out for the younger members. On the other hand, Piercing Zephyr¡ªa young archer just slightly older than Frozen End at thirty years old¡ªpossessed a fiery, passionate spirit and a fair amount of arrogance. However, he had never been jealous of others¡¯ talents; instead, he focused on self-improvement rather than indulging in petty envy. He never believed that he would remain inferior as long as he worked his hardest. Now that Shye proved to be a genuinely likable individual, Piercing Zephyr couldn¡¯t help but admire him, believing that maintaining humility while possessing such power and talent was a difficult feat¡ªone that he would need to train hard to achieve. The young archer was quite the handsome fellow, standing at six feet three inches tall¡ªslightly taller than Shye. With his short green hair, slim yet toned physique, and aesthetically pleasing features, he was sure to capture the hearts of many young maidens. However, one thing ruined his almost perfect appearance: his unusually bulky arms that wererger than even those of Shye¡¯s. Known for his destructive long-range attacks, Piercing Zephyr tirelessly trained his strength, allowing him to wield the strongest of bows while maintaining the nimbleness that archers should have. He was both fast and destructive. Unfortunately, he simply didn¡¯t have enough time to strengthen his body, so ultimately, like most archers, he remained nimble yet fragile. However, his standout quality was his strength, which enabled him to shoot arrows with far greater destructive power than typical archers. Like Midnight Fang, he was a dependablerade to have on missions. After a short meeting, where they went through known facts about the Phoenix with their handler who went by the codename Amethyst, Shye¡¯s small party of five left the WAA Valenzia Headquarters. Naturally, anyone who witnessed such a powerhouse lineup would be stunned, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. This was the first time Valenzians had seen Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn together with the four titled adventurers of their region. As a result, the onlookers felt an overwhelming urge to swarm the group of five. If not for Frozen End, with her icy demeanor, and well-known dislike for crowds, people would have already flocked to them. @@novelbin@@ ¡¯Hoh¡­her presence is pretty handy¡­¡¯ Shye mused as he led the five towards the special teleportation circle at the Valenzia City Square. Upon arriving, the teleportation formation operator couldn¡¯t help but stand up, slightly flustered at the party of five. She had never seen the four together with Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn before, which meant that their current mission was a major one. The operator didn¡¯t waste any time, sprinting to the activation lever and preparing everything before the party of five even reached the magic circle. While she knew Shye to be kind and cheerful, Frozen End was theplete opposite, making it impossible for her to rx. Thus, within seconds, the party of five was transported out of Valenzia City, arriving in a frontier city near Valenzia¡¯s borders: Garblegorne City. It was the region¡¯s thirty-fifth ranked city, and the strongest adventurers there were merely mithril-rank¡ªweak and untalented individuals who had only reached that rank due to their age and the sheer number of quests they¡¯dpleted, struggling to make a living in Valenzia City. Naturally, the sudden arrival of the region¡¯s hero and four titled adventurers shook the entire city. This was especially true as Garblegorne¡¯s City Lord, along with his entourage, had been waiting for the five¡¯s arrival for over an hour, further elevating their prestige. Stay tuned to NovelBin.C?m After a brief exchange of pleasantries thatsted less than five minutes, Shye and the party of five left the city, making their way toward the Agio Phos Death Zone, where the Phoenix was said to be nesting. Fortunately, the five didn¡¯t have to walk to the zone, as Piercing Zephyr summoned his familiar, a noble-rank bird-type spirit resembling a giant red-feathered crane,rge enough to carry eight people. With only five of them, they felt quitefortable as the bird familiar named Tori flew deeper into the zone. While Tori wasn¡¯t particrly strong¡ªonly around the level of a wyvern¡ªhe bravely soared above the towering trees, fully trusting that his master and his master¡¯srades would keep anything too dangerous at bay. Naturally, Shye and the others didn¡¯t disappoint. Several (S-) and (S) ranked monsters attempted to snatch Tori and drag him down from the skies. However, they were all quickly defeated by Shye and the others, giving the titled adventurers a rough sense of just how strong their newrade was. Finally, after flying for about an hour, the ominous sight of a scorched mountain, with fireballs raining down like meteorites, came into view, causing the expressions of the party of five to turn serious. It seemed that they wouldn¡¯t be merely pursuing the ghostly trails of an elusive creature of myth today... Chapter 661 The Phoenix "Tori, descend." Piercing Zephyr''s voice echoed across the somber skies as his noble-rank familiar, Tori, immediately carried out his orders, descending a few kilometers away from the scorched mountain. They couldn''tnd too close or the Phoenix might sense them, which would rob them of the element of surprise. Against such a creature, whose true capabilities remained a mystery to all, Shye and his party needed every little advantage they could get. There was no time limit for the mission, anyway. It was best for them to take their time. As they walked closer to the dead mountain that was now charred ck, Shye and his party felt the gradual increase in temperature, causing them to frown. They were still around a kilometer away from the mountain. Yet, they already have to drink a low-grade fire resistance potion. If not for the passive skill [Intermediate Fire Resistance] from his Earth Dragon Armor Set, Shye would''ve had to take a potion as well. Naturally, hisrades grew curious about how he was withstanding the heat, prompting him to exin that his armor provided a fire resistance bonus, leaving the other four inwardly envious. Not long after, they couldn''t resist examining Shye''s armor up close, with Radiant Sentinel doing so quite openly. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 4 points!]@@novelbin@@ Shye''s nose lifted proudly, almost like a child, upon receiving the notification. He took great pride in his current equipment set, and naturally, earning the admiration of the four titled adventurers of Valenzia was no small feat¡ªenough to brighten his mood considerably. Utterly curious, Radiant Sentinel began asking questions, causing the ears of the other three to perk up. They were eager to learn more about Shye''s equipment, knowing it was crafted by the up-anding young cksmith, Meido Chan. Naturally, adventurers had a strong appetite for brand-new, high-quality gear, and the four titled adventurers were no exception. They had long consideredmissioning weapons and armor sets from Meido. However, from what they''d heard, the waitlist was as long as a monstrous serpent. As much as they wanted to, the four couldn''t risk tarnishing their prestige by standing in line like everyone else, could they? Moreover, they weren''t entirely sure if doing so would be worth it. Gathering information from Shye was the best course of action for them. Shye babbled on, first exining his Earth Dragon Armor Set''s ridiculous physical defense bonuses, then its intermediate elemental bonuses, leaving the hearts of the four titled adventurers racing both in excitement and envy. With such an armor set, one would basically have at least three lives. Noticing that Shye was quite happy to show off his equipment, Radiant Sentinel inquired more, only to be stopped by Frozen End, who had gone full duty mode. They were already in the vicinity of the scorched mountain, so they had to temporarily pause their idle equipment talk and resume it another time. In the next moment, Shye pulled out five units of aura suppression powder, effectively concealing their presence from the Phoenix, which resided somewhere within the vast, charred mountain. Although no trees blocked their view, plenty of tall rock formations did, so they couldn''t just march in carelessly. They must locate the mythical monster first; otherwise, things could go terribly wrong. What added to their anxiety was the Phoenix''s size. Contrary to Shye''s expectations, the mythical monster wasn''t too huge. It measured just over 9 feet from head to the tip of its feathery, fiery tail, with a wingspan spanning slightly more than five meters. If the Phoenix had been at least asrge as a wyvern, Shye''s party would have felt less uneasy, as their chances of spotting it first would have been significantly greater. Since it wasn''t the case, they had to search the mountain carefully. Luckily, Midnight Fang was an experienced veteran, and he knew how to carefully track small, dangerous monsters. Of course, Shye activated his [Mana Pulse] just for good measure. Time slowly passed as the Valenzian party of four titled adventurers and one hero made their way to the peak of the mountain Finally, after around four hours of looking for the creature, they heard the sounds of battle. It seemed that they were overthinking things, as the Phoenix wasn''t trying to hide at all. It was right at the center of the scorched mountain''s t peak. Was it confident in its ability to handle any foes who might attempt to y it? Most likely. After all, it was a mythical creature capable of summoning firestorms simply by existing in the area, and it had probably defeated all monstrous creatures that dared challenge it. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have existed for thousands of years. To their surprise, as they walked closer to the Phoenix after Midnight Fang''s detection skill found it, the three heard sounds of fighting. Terrifying explosions erupted one after another, sending zing rays of multicolored mes shooting in every direction, with one narrowly missing Shye and his party''s position. "It''s fighting another monstrous creature?" Shye muttered as they peered out of a rocky formation, their eyes widening in shock the next moment. The Phoenix was fighting a Wind Dragon! Their target monster was dwarfed in sizepared to the Wind Dragon. However, it was fierce¡ªfiercer than any other monster they''ve encountered in the past. It darted through the air, far quicker and more agile than the Wind Dragon, unleashing beams, explosive spheres, and relentless, inextinguishable wisps of me that pursued its foe. The Phoenix appeared utterly unbeatable in singlebat. The expressions of Shye and the four titled adventurers grew serious as they observed the Phoenix''sbat prowess, their hearts pounding with slight anxiety¡ªexcept for Shye, whose high wisdom attribute and [Unfazed Heart] trait kept him calm. ''For starters¡­Appraisal!'' Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire [Name]: Phoenix [Creature Rank]: Mythical [Creature Type]: Fire / Divine [Hit Points]: 3,000 / 3,000 [Mana]: ??? [Stamina]: 2,100 / 2,100 [Talent]: [Holy me Divinity(???)] [ming Seed of Rebirth(Legendary)] [Primordial (Legendary)] [Description] A celestial bird of pure elemental origin, born from the most ancient and primordial mes. [Skills]: [Fiery Flight Lv.5 (Umon)][Greater Mana st Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater Fireball Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater ming Breath Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater me Tornado Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater Fire Wall Lv.5 (Umon)] [Origin st Lv.5 (Rare)] [Starfire Beam Lv.5 (Rare)] [Summon me Elementals Lv.5 (Rare)] [Primordial me Domain Lv.5 (Unique)] [Primordial ming Meteors Lv.5 (Unique)] [Divine Fire Wisps Lv.5 (Epic)] [Origin Obliteration Ray Lv.5 (Epic)] [Third Devastation Ray Lv.5 (Epic)] [ming Rebirth Lv.5 (Legendary)] [Strength: 800] [Intelligence: 600] [Agility: ???] [Dexterity: 900] [Stamina: 700] [Vitality: 600]: [Wisdom: ???] Chapter 662 Strategizing Shye involuntarily drew a sharp breath upon glimpsing the Phoenix''s status window. For the first time, the level four system failed to gauge a monster''s agility, indicating it exceeded at least a thousand. Shye wasn''t sure if they could even stand a chance against such a creature. If it kept flying at such an absurd speed while unleashing devastating sts and beams from its beak, they would have no hope of defeating it¡ªunless they could find a way to pin it down.@@novelbin@@ Taking advantage of the fact that none of the four fully knew his abilities, Shye imed he had somehow caught a glimpse of the Phoenix''s attributes. He expressed his concerns, informing them that the Phoenix''s agility exceeded a thousand points¡ªfar beyond what they could handle. Its strength, intelligence, dexterity, stamina, and wisdom were almost equal to those of apex (S) ranked creatures as well. The Phoenix''s only weakness was its surprisingly low vitality, something Shye hadn''t expected given its reputation for resurrecting through a fiery rebirth. The other four were naturally curious as to how he "got a glimpse" of the mythical monster''s attributes. However, now wasn''t the time to probe Shye''s abilities, as they were all slightly shaken by the sight of the Phoenix and its capabilities. It was best to focus on strategizing first. The sh between the Phoenix and the Wind Dragon looked like it would drag on for a while, anyway. None of them doubted Shye''s words, though, as not only was there no reason for him to lie, but his status as a hero, something even they had not achieved, made them more inclined to trust his words. They believed he wouldn''t be so stupid as to lie to them just to show off at such a crucial moment. After a brief discussion, they decided to retreat, with Midnight Fang leaving behind an invisible mana sentry to monitor the Phoenix periodically. "The item I used only gave me a glimpse of its attributes for a few seconds, but from what I saw, it can fly even faster than it''s showing now," Shye said with a serious expression, causing Frozen End and the others to frown. If what Shye said was true, then they should retreat for now. However, if they retreated, the Phoenix might move to another area or even vanish before they could return. This was their only opportunity to y it. In fact, it was the first time adventurers had ever gotten so close to such a mythical creature. Letting go of this chance was almost unthinkable. As a result, Shye''s party was stuck in a dilemma. None of them were scared of risking their lives. It was just that they didn''t want to risk their lives for nothing. If there was even a slight chance of victory, they would naturally give it a shot. However, despite trying so hard to think of a solution, they couldn''t imagine their party defeating the Phoenix. "Does anyone have a restraining skill that could hold the Phoenix in ce for just a moment?" Shye asked, causing two of his teammates¡ªFrozen End and Radiant Sentinel¡ªto raise their hands. "I have one. Normally, I can encase an (S) ranked monstrous creature in a Frozen Tomb for around two and a half seconds. But given that this creature seems to beposed entirely of primordial mes, I''m not sure my skill would even manage to hold it for a single second¡­" Frozen End said, patiently detailing her ability for the sake of the mission''s sess. Shye nodded at her before turning his attention to Radiant Sentinel. "Well, my skill isn''t as effective as Frozen End''s for restraining the creature, but I have a skill called [Superior Taunt] that would force the creature to attack me head-on for about three seconds. At least it wouldn''t be able to fly around," the shielder exined, prompting another satisfied nod from Shye, the party leader. If it was like this, they at least had a chance, but if they messed up, they would need to retreat. Otherwise, they''d be throwing their lives for nothing. They had to resolve the battle in a matter of seconds; if they couldn''t, it would mean they had failed the mission. It was as simple as that. "Good, we at least have a single attempt, then," Shye said, prompting the other four''s eyebrows to raise in curiosity as they awaited his exnation. "Here''s the n: Midnight Fang, use your [Dead Man Walking] skill to conceal Radiant Sentinel''s aura and presence from the Phoenix. He must not be detected, or I''ll have to call for a retreat." Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire The four seasoned adventurers were quick-witted, so they grasped Shye''s n immediately, even before he had a chance to exin it in detail. "I see, leave it to me." Midnight Fang nodded. Subsequently, before Shye could say anything else, Radiant Sentinel suddenly muttered something to himself. Although he was only whispering, his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. "Hmm¡­I see¡­then I will taunt the creature, giving Frozen End a chance to encase it in an icy tomb¡­" He basically exined the n for Shye, saving him the effort of doing so. Frozen End nodded in agreement. However, there was one thing she couldn''t wrap her head around: how would they finish the Phoenix off? "I see, a good n." She began, turning her head to look at Shye. "But I''m afraid my ultimate skill might not be strong enough to take it down, even if I manage to encase it in an icy tomb. I also doubt Piercing Zephyr''s arrows would reach deep into its body without turning to ashes. And as for Midnight Fang¡­" "Heh, of course, I won''t be able to get anywhere near that thing," the older man chimed in with a slightly self-deprecatingugh of helplessness. They did everything they could to prepare for the mission. However, it quickly became clear to them that it still wasn''t enough. The Phoenix was far stronger and more dangerous than they had anticipated. "Don''t worry, leave the finishing blow to me¡­" Chapter 663 Why Settle For One When You Can Have Two? Shye knew the Phoenix could resurrect itself. However, he didn''t know how and what its rebirth would look like, which was rather dangerous, considering they only had one shot at this. Still, they had to try and y it. If today wasn''t their day, so be it, at least they would know what to expect next time. Even the WAA probably doesn''t expect them toplete the mission, anyway, as there had been no cases of even heroes from the Yon Augenn Regionpleting such a high-difficulty mission. Of course, Shye had other ideas, or rather, he suddenly couldn''t mess up due to the notification right in front of him. [Your next mandatory quest has been posted in the mandatory quests section!] ''This damned old man expects me to y a damn Phoenix on my first try?!'' Shye inwardly cursed. He hadn''t checked the mandatory quest yet, but he already had a good idea of what it would be¡ªand sure enough, he was right. ** Quest Title: Mythical yer Requirements: y the Phoenix and obtain its ming Seed of Rebirth Current Progress: Obtain ming Seed of Rebirth - 0/1 Remaining Time: 23:59:45 Completion Rewards: +20 to all attributes Upon failure: -80 to all attributes ** ''What the... why are the quest rewards to failure ratio getting more ridiculous? Only plus twenty to all attributes for ying a freaking Phoenix?! A Phoenix!! But if I fail, I lose eighty points from each attribute?'' he silently grumbled. The old man had once told him that the system had its limitations and hinted that he would never want to know how the system actually obtained the points it rewarded him with. Naturally, this had piqued his curiosity, especially now that the ratios were bing increasingly absurd. ''Maybe the old fart is running into a reward shortage?'' he mused. Nheless, he needed toplete the quest. The failure repercussions were just too severe. This was probably the first time Shye felt so nervous and unsure aboutpleting a mandatory quest. In the past, he had always been so confident, but this time, he would truly be tested. Unbeknownst to Shye, the old man was just as nervous, slightly regretting his decision to hit the [Post Quest] button on hisptop¡ªone he had somehow converted to run on mana. However, their chances in the final battle would skyrocket if one of his trump cards, Shye, could acquire the ming Seed of Rebirth. That''s why Sanada was willing to risk a minus eighty to all attributes. He just hoped the youngd could pull through, as he always had before. ¡­After taking a deep breath, Shye led his party of five back to the mountain peak, where the battle between the Phoenix and the Wind Dragon was nearing its conclusion. As they reached the peak, the group of five peered from behind a rocky formation, sipping peak-grade fire resistance potions. It was then that their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets at the sight before them. The Wind Dragon was covered in scorched wounds, its body badly battered. The Wind Dragon had clearly tried to escape several times, only to be relentlessly cut off by the faster, more vicious Phoenix, forcing it to fight for its life. However, its eyes reflected a sense of resignation and regret¡ªregret for having chosen to challenge the Phoenix in the first ce. Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret. It had to pay with its life for its terrible decision. Wind Dragons weren''t as destructive as Fire Dragons nor as tough as Earth Dragons. However, among all dragon species, Wind Dragons possessed the most bnced attributes, making them the most frustrating and challenging for adventurers to hunt.@@novelbin@@ It was obviously not the case for the Phoenix, though. The Wind Dragon''s bnced fighting style,cking the devastating attacks of a fire dragon or the formidable defenses of an earth dragon, made it an ideal opponent for the mythical monster. This was because the Phoenix could relentlessly bombard it without concern for overwhelming offense or imprable defense from its foe. With its exceptionally high mana and powerful sts, the Phoenix could easily toy with the Wind Dragon until it died, particrly this young and arrogant one. It was a ssic case of newborn calves not fearing tigers. Unfortunately, one had to pay for one''s mistakes, and in this case, the fee was the Wind Dragon''s life. A few more moments passed. It seemed as though the Wind Dragon was about to copse any moment now. However, it was then that Shye suddenly had an idea. Wasn''t this the best chance for them to attack the Phoenix? Moreover, they could¡­ A crafty smile emerged from the corners of Shye''s mouth. He wanted both creatures! Young or not, a dragon was still a dragon, and its body was still probably tens if not hundreds of thousands of gold coins in value. Knowing he had to act quickly, Shye shifted his attention to hisrades. "Midnight Fang, let''s start the operation." Naturally, the veteran quickly grasped Shye''s n, but only to the extent that they should strike while the Phoenix was distracted, underestimating Shye''s appetite. Nodding at his party leader, Midnight Fang immediately cast his [Unique]-tier cloaking skill, [Dead Man Walking Lv.5], to hide Radiant Sentinel''s aura, presence, and even his intent. Stay connected with My Virtual Library Empire Shye even tried using his mana pulse to detect Radiant Sentinel. However, to his surprise, he couldn''t. It was as though Radiant Sentinel turned into the very essence of nothingness. Of course, he was pleased. The better the cloaking skill, the better their chances of seeding. Once [Dead Man Walking] activated, Shye and Radiant Sentinel stealthily moved away from their position, separating from the group to circle behind the distracted Phoenix. Once in position, Shye lifted the massive Shielder as if it were lightweight, watching the Phoenix''s movements with narrowed eyes and intense focus. The mythical creature moved at incredible speed, bing a fiery blur as it constantly repositioned itself to attack the Wind Dragon from multiple angles while dodging its counterattacks. However, despite the insane difficulty of doing so, Shye could still barely follow its movements. ''A bit more to the right¡­yes¡­aaaandd¡­NOW!!'' Chapter 666 Ablaze ''What?!'' Shye was greatly distracted by the notification in front of him, almost allowing the Phoenix to break free of their tussle. Their sess relied greatly on whether someone could hold the mythical monster down in ce. Hence, should the ming bird escape from his grasp, then it would''ve been game over for them. ''Oh sh*t¡­that was close¡­you''re not escaping.'' Shye inwardly thought as he gritted his teeth, plunging his greatswords deeper into the Phoenix''s body and using it as a tool to hold it in ce. Despite having [Intermediate Fire Resistance] from his Earth Dragon Armor Set and his recently mastered [Greater Fire Resistance] skill, which he had maxed out using system points, Shye could still feel his skin gradually scorching from the intense heat radiating off the mythical creature. He knew he had to finish the fight¡ªand quickly. Nheless, knowing that somehow, his battle with the Phoenix was being broadcast live, Shye''s heart pounded with excitement, and adrenaline surged through his veins. Hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions, were watching! He had to seize this opportunity and put on the best disy he could. Fortunately, the daring n he had devised earlier revolved around him risking his life to face the Phoenix head-on, leaving the four titled adventurers with no choice but to support him as best they could. He was the main character. If he managed to pull it off perfectly, it would be raining system points. Pumped up, Shye pulled out one of his greatswords from the Phoenix''s body and kept it on the sword strap behind him, ensuring he could still benefit from his acquired talent, [Greatsword Meister]. He then skillfully used the remaining greatsword to maneuver himself onto the Phoenix''s back, locking its neck in an arm choke. With the creature restrained, he retrieved the second greatsword, returning it to the other sword strap before retrieving Sigrun¡ªone of his recently made elemental staffs. Using the metal base of his staff, he anchored himself on the Phoenix''s back, pressing it against the ming bird''s neck in a chokehold, with the support of his other arm. ''F*CK! THIS BIRD IS LITERALLY ON FIRE!!'' Shye cursed inwardly as the skin on his forearms burned to a charred ck. Unfortunately, he couldn''t retreat, and he would never. ''I wonder how you''d look all withered? Gravitational Drain!'' To everyone''s horror, the Phoenix''s mes gradually weakened, revealing its avian form draped in vermilion feathers. It appeared majestic for a brief moment¡ªuntil it withered into a dried corpse. At such point-nk range, Shye''s life drain spell proved highly effective, especially with its effects amplified more than twofold by his new staff, Sigrun. The Phoenix''s rather mediocre vitality didn''t evenst five seconds. Consequently, everyone watching, including the four titled adventurers, was left in shock, only snapping back to reality when the lifeless Phoenix transformed once more into a primordial ming egg. "CAN THIS DAMN BIRD RESURRECT INFINITELY?!" Piercing Zephyr shouted, exasperated. He was already frustrated by his failure to destroy the first egg, and seeing it reappear again only added to his irritation. Meanwhile, Shye''s focus wasser-sharp. He already knew this would happen and was prepared for it. *FWOOSH!* Your next chapter is on My Virtual Library Empire Primordial mes erupted from the egg, incinerating everything within a hundred meters with the intense heat it generated earlier when Piercing Zephyr''s arrow entered its detection range. Since Shye was positioned right next to it, its defense mechanism activated instantly, the mes blowing him back by more than ten meters. "Like hell I''ll let you resurrect twice!" Shye dered heroically, even as the primordial mes engulfed him. His eyes zed with determination, reflecting the intensity of the egg''s defense mechanism. "I, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, shall be your end, creature of myth!" ''Ninth Devastation Ray! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' Drawing Dagr, his other elemental staff that was Sigrun''s twin, Shye unleashed two sharp, terrifying multi-colored rays as thin as metal poles, aiming directly at the Phoenix Egg, which red its mes even higher upon sensing the imminent threat. Unfortunately for the egg, no matter how intense the mes were, Shye''s [Epic]-tier trump card wasn''t affected in the slightest. The boosted devastation rays howled menacingly as they pierced through the air. The next moment... *FWING!* The rays cleanly pierced through the egg, making it shine as bright as the sun. "Everyone, retreat further!!" Shye shouted with great effort as he knelt on one knee, his burned body too weak to move. "Crowley! But what about you?!" Frozen End eximed anxiously, rushing forward in an attempt to save him. However, given the egg''s current condition, it was on the verge of exploding, leaving her no time to help.@@novelbin@@ Midnight Fang recognized this as well, swiftly grabbing his femalerade by the waist and pulling her away from Shye. "Midnight Fang! Let go of me!" Frozen End protested, trying to blink away from Midnight Fang. Unfortunately, the veteran scout anticipated her actions and had already immobilized her shadow using one of his skills, preventing her from attempting to save Shye. "Don''t be foolish, Frozen End. You know there isn''t enough time," the older titled adventurer replied stoically, concealing his distress at having to leave the youngest and most talented among them to fend for himself. Momentster¡­ *BOOM!* A horrifying explosion erupted as the Phoenix Egg shattered into thousands of ming shards that scattered in all directions, creating a massive crater below, with Shye caught within the st radius. "C-Crowley!" "CROWLEY!!!" As they watched the kneeling hero engulfed by the explosion, everyone, including the onlookers, was filled with horror. There was no way anyone could survive such a devastating st of primordial me energy. Shortly after, gray smoke enveloped the entire summit of the charred mountain, leaving the fate of the young ashen-haired hero uncertain. "Big brother¡­ you must survive¡­" Inside the Raven''s de Balkrow Branch headquarters, Maia looked on in horror as her older brother was devoured by the terrifying explosion. She knew she wouldn''t have survived such a st, which only heightened her anxiety for Shye''s safety, her hands trembling with fear and denial. Meanwhile, a few spectators watched with a hint of schadenfreude¡ªthose who despised Shye or had been defeated by him in the past. They eagerly anticipated the moment when the gray smoke would clear, revealing the charred remains of who had once been Valenzia''s most talented youth. Chapter 667 Appropriate High Reward Outcome For A High Risk Plan Dark clouds gathered ominously above the charred mountain as fiery meteorite fragments relentlessly showered down. The onught briefly intensified, as if heralding the final stand of the dying Phoenix before it departed thends it had roamed for millennia. As the firestorm ended along with onest screech of death from the mythical monster, the gray smoke clouds beneath the somber skies slowly cleared, revealing the kneeling silhouette of the young hero. Was he alive? Or was he burned to death by the primordial mes while kneeling? Naturally, everyone was both eager and anxious to know. As the first adventurer to y a mythical monster, Shye had carved out yet another legend, but had he died in the process, all his efforts would have been in vain. The people who should have been celebrating his triumph would instead be mourning his death, forever tying his legendary feat to his untimely demise. On the other hand, his critics would often im he had an inted sense of self-worth, ming his arrogance for his demise¡ªa topic that would inevitably spark heated debates across the Valenzia Region. None of such things would happen, though, at least not because of the Phoenix, as when the smoke finally cleared, Shye''s condition was finally revealed to the world. Readtest chapters at My Virtual Library Empire He was fine. In fact, it seemed as though the earlier explosion had nothing to do with him, considering that the burns he suffered didn''t seem to have increased in number. Standing up from his kneeling position, he looked in the direction of hisrades. "Hahaha! I appreciate the concern, Frozen End, but rest assured, I, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, won''t be falling anytime soon!" Shye dered with a calm, stoicugh, snapping everyone back to reality. ''Heh, this Impious Origin Belt''s [Barrier of the Condemned] is truly handy¡­'' He thought as he struggled to stop himself from smiling ear to ear. While shielded by his life-saving item skill and hidden by the gray smoke, he pondered carefully over his words, convinced that the cooler he appeared to the onlookers, the more points he would earn for himself. Thus, upon seeing the notification that popped up in front of him, Shye''s heart raced in sheer excitement and delight. [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1,540,000 points!] To make things even better, the smoky cover allowed him to discreetly retrieve the small, fiery seed¡ªno bigger than a pea¡ªwhile also enabling him to deny ever gaining anything from the Phoenix after ying it. The existence of the Seed of ming Rebirth was known only to those in positions of great power. Therefore, as long as he didn''t admit to acquiring it, no one could use him otherwise. It was the perfect high-reward oue for his high-risk n. "Big Brother!!" "Boss!" "Shye!" "What?! How was he alive after that?! What a damn cockroach¡­" Naturally, those who wished for his well-being were ted, while those who hated him couldn''t help but curse out loud, eliciting sneers of disdain from those who heard it. Frozen End and the four titled adventurers immediately rushed to his side after hearing his words. "Crowley, how are you feeling?! Come, let us return to the city right this instant and seek medical attention." Frozen End said loudly, grabbing Shye''s wrist. "Rx, Frozen End, I''m fine," Shye said with a calm smile, gently slipping his wrist from Frozen End''s fragile grasp. "You should get yourself checked out instead. I believe the destruction of your cial bulwark caused some bacsh, didn''t it? Besides, Radiant Sentinel needs more medical attention than I do." After calming his worriedrades with his words, Shye cast a wind-type skill to clear the dust from his armor, face, and limbs, exposing the severe burns he had sustained. Then, in the next moment, he downed a top-grade health potion, visibly healing most of his wounds at an astonishing rate, with only a few unheble ones remaining. The remaining ones left not only him but also the four titled adventurers, frowning. It seemed he had suffered from a minor me blight or curse, which could have been much worse if not for the [Intermediate Fire Resistance] granted by his Earth Dragon Armor Set and the rare-tier [Greater Fire Resistance] he acquired using system points. Still, slightly painful as the burns infected with the me blight might be, it was nothing to Shye, especially knowing that his job wasn''t done yet. "I see¡­that''s great¡­" Frozen End finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief. Her overly dutiful nature led her to believe that her shorings as a mage were the reason Shye had nearly died.@@novelbin@@ Consequently, even though she knew she couldn''t have done anything to save him, her heart was heavy with guilt. She was determined to make it up to Shye in some way. For example, paying for his medical bills. Unfortunately, despite being quite pleased with earning over two million points, acquiring the ming seed of rebirth, and receiving a plus twenty in all attributes, Shye still had one task ahead of him and did not intend to return to the city with hisrades. "You all go back first. I noticed a strange phenomenon after defeating the Phoenix that I wanted to investigate. I''ll be back shortly," Shye said, offering a flimsy excuse that didn''t do much to convince hisrades to leave first. "I see, then let me investigate with you." Midnight Fang replied, making Shye inwardly grimace. He should''ve thought of a better excuse. Fortunately for him, Frozen End, being a highly intelligent mage, sensed that Shye was nning to pursue something on his own. While she wasn''t sure what it was, Frozen End decided this would be her way to repay Shye for taking on the mission. The four of them weren''t weak, but their abilities unfortunately weren''t a great match against the Phoenix, leaving them nearly ineffective in the hunt for the mythical creature. "Midnight Fang," the young chantless mage began, "I think we should let Crowley handle this. My condition is worse than I realized, and I''ll need someone to help me to the hospital." Piercing Zephyr was already carrying the unconscious Radiant Sentinel, he couldn''t possibly support Frozen End on his own as well, thus forcing Midnight Fang to reconsider his decision. "Crowley, will you be fine alone?" The veteran titled scout asked. "Yeah, I''ll just dig around a bit and immediately return. I''ll just be at most a few dayste." Shye replied, inwardly thanking the unexpected assistance from Frozen End. "I see. Here, take this. Crush this if you ever need help, I''lle rushing as fast as I can." After handing Shye a talisman, Midnight Fang and the others used special return scrolls to teleport away, with Piercing Zephyr activating the unconscious Radiant Sentinel''s return scroll for him. Now that he was alone, Shye finally managed to breathe a sigh of relief. An excited smile then graced the corners of his mouth the next moment. ''Wind Dragon, you''re next!'' Chapter 668 Locating The Hidden Lair Winds howled as a massive creature approached the entrance of a cave situated near the peak of a perilously windy mountain. Its body was riddled with scorched wounds, and its breathing wasbored, clearly struggling even with simple movements like pping its magnificent silver wings. ''How can such a small bird be so powerful and fierce? Even the elder members of my kin might be defeated by it,'' the Wind Dragon thought to itself, regretting its choice to challenge the Phoenix. ''Hmph, at least those humans are even more foolish than I am! If I, a proud member of the dragon race, couldn''t defeat it, how could they possibly seed?'' Little did it know, the very ming bird it now feared had already been destroyed by the humans¡ªspecifically, by one human; and that same human was already hot on its tail. Wind Dragons, despite being defeated by the Phoenix in terms of flying speed, were amongst the fastest flyers of its species. This had nothing to do with their attributes but their ability to harness the power of the element of wind to its advantage, allowing it to ride as many tailwinds as it wanted. Unfortunately, such tactics proved ineffective against the fiery bird, who moved and attacked so fast that the Wind Dragon didn''t even have the chance to get into its groove. This young Wind Dragon, barely seventy years old, had just reached adulthood, making it far more aggressive and arrogant than its elder counterparts, driven by a desire to prove itself and earn recognition among its kind. Of course, it wasn''t new to defeat, as it had already fought hundreds of creatures stronger than it while it was maturing. It had also fought other dragons. In other words, it won some, it lost some. Its carefully concealed nest, tucked away in a hidden cave near the peak of a windswept mountain within the Agio Phos Death Zone, only fueled its boldness to challenge any creature that crossed its path. If defeated, the dragon would retreat to itsir to recover, always returning to seek revenge for its losses. However, this was the first time it felt fear towards a creature of another race. The young Wind Dragon knew it could never hope to defeat the Phoenix, no matter how much experience, strength, or skill it gained. Itcked the courage to even remain within a kilometer of the fiery bird. Fortunately, the dragon was now within what it considered its "safe zone," where it could recover undisturbed for as long as it wished. For seventy years, even the most cunning humans had failed to locate the entrance to its cave¡ªso what chance did that deranged, violent bird have? Since the Phoenix didn''t seem particrly interested in it, the young Wind Dragon was confident that no danger woulde its way. At least not in the near future. Tired and wounded, it tore a huge piece of meat from its food stockpile, dragging it toward its resting area before gobbling it up to regenerate as quickly as it could. Unbeknownst to the Wind Dragon, a young man and his mare familiar¡ªboth concealed by a special aura-hiding powder and a dark, eerily silent barrier¡ªwere already at the base of the windswept mountain where itsir was situated. In front of the two was a small bug that ever-so-steadily advanced, leading the way toward the hiddenir as though it had been there before. This was, of course, Shye''s Blood Bug, the creature he had employed to track the werewolf general in the lord dungeon where he discovered and tamed Nookie. He felt rather lucky that the Wind Dragon had already been wounded, making it easy for him to gather its blood.@@novelbin@@ After approximately two hours of trailing the bug, Shye and Zeth finally sensed the Wind Dragon''s aura nearby, though they couldn''t determine its exact location, as it felt like the massive creature was just beneath them. However, the absence of any visible entrance left the two puzzled for a moment. Fortunately, after flying idly for a few seconds, the blood bug once again moved, advancing straight toward the edge of the windy mountain. This left Shye even more confused at first until an idea struck him. He then activated his flight ability and followed the bug, which was descending the mountain''s edge without a hint of hesitation. Meanwhile, Zeth, preferring to avoid any unnecessary foolishness, transformed into a bracelet. She decided to just revert to her original form if Shye required her assistance. Just momentster, Shye heard eerie howls. However, he was convinced it was not a monster, but rather the wind flowing in and out of a surprisinglyrge cave entrance concealed behind massive rocky formations near the peak of the windswept mountain. Observing the Blood Bug enter the cave, the shadow of a smile appeared on the corners of Shye''s mouth. ''So, this is your home, huh, Wind Dragon?'' He mused as he followed the mana-powered tracking device. To his astonishment, the cave was quite deep; however, with no confusing twists or turns, Shye and the Blood Bug easily made their way through it. A few minutester, Shye''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. Read exclusive chapters at My Virtual Library Empire The walls of the cave were lined with an abundance of peak-grade jades, which could be used to enchant both weapons and armor sets with a top-tier wind enchantment. There were at least one hundred and fifty, if not more, making the area a treasure trove for scouts and archers alike. ''Holy crap! Today is my lucky day, isn''t it?!'' Shye silently rejoiced, as if he hadn''t felt unfortunate for being forced by the old man to y a mythical monster that no one had ever battled before. The value of the jades in front of him would easily surpass fifty-thousand gold coins. ''If I could arm my personal unit with such high-quality enchanted equipment¡­hehehe!'' Shye found himself daydreaming for a while, nearly losing sight of the Blood Bug. "Oops, almost messed up again... need to take down the Wind Dragon before I can gather these enchantment jades..." After another ten minutes of walking, he reached an area where the sickening stench of flesh, blood, and rotting bones filled the air, causing him to grimace. However, his displeasure quickly faded as his eyesnded on a pristineke. Beside it, resting peacefully, was the... ''Wind Dragon¡­'' Chapter 669 Utterly Drained ''Appraisal!'' [Name]: Aeolus (Wind Dragon) [Creature Rank]: S [Creature Type]: Wind [Hit Points]: 1,276 / 4,000 [Mana]: 465 / 1,110 [Stamina]: 550 / 1,800 [Talent]: [Pure Draconic Blood (Legendary)] [Minor Blessing of the Wind God (Epic)] [Description] A pure-blooded dragon adept at harnessing the power of the wind to vanquish its foes. [Skills]: [Chomp Lv.5] [Tail Swipe Lv.5] [Dive Lv.5] [w Smash Lv.5] [Flight Lv.5] [Summon Tailwind Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater Wind Cutter Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater Wind Barrier Lv.5 (Umon)] [Greater Mana st Lv.5 (Umon)] [Summon Tornado Lv.5 (Umon)] [Summon Windstorm Lv.5 (Rare)] [Draconic Origin Bomb Lv.5 (Rare)][Windswept Domain Lv.5 (Unique)] [Draconic Vanguard Lv.5 (Unique)] [Wind Dragon''s Roar Lv.5 (Unique)] [Cmitous Wind Lv.4 (Epic)] [Strength: 925] [Intelligence: 500] [Agility: 700] [Dexterity: 650] [Stamina: 600] [Vitality: 800]: [Wisdom: 110] ''Worthy of a dragon!'' Shye praised inwardly upon seeing the Wind Dragon''s attributes. ''Hmm¡­isn''t this wisdom and intelligence a bit too low, though? Is this one a juvenile? But its size is for adults¡­must be a recently matured one¡­'' The Wind Dragon''s low hit points, mana, and stamina filled him with excitement, nearly prompting him to activate a live recording crystal to rake in a few hundred thousand system points. Fortunately, he regained hisposure just in time, realizing that broadcasting his kill, even for the system points, woulde with several significant disadvantages that would outweigh his potential earnings. First, if he broadcasted the kill, people would discover that he was about to acquire arge number of top-grade enchantment jades and rare to epic-tier herbs from the Wind Dragon''s resting area. It was in his best interest to keep such valuable information hidden. Second, he might earn only a small amount of system points, as the dragon he was hunting was already severely injured. ying an almost-dead Wind Dragon wouldn''t have the same impact as defeating a fully healthy one. Third, the four titled adventurers would uncover his true motives, which would not only sour their impressions of him due to his dishonesty but could also ruin the positive dynamic and synergy they had developed as a group. If they found out he intended to keep everything for himself, trusting him wholeheartedly would likely be difficult for them. Of course, sharing the goods with the four of them crossed Shye''s mind, but he ultimately decided to take everything for himself. Why? While part of it was due to his greed, the main reason was the possibility that one day, the four might end up as his enemies. By aiding the four titled adventurers in bing stronger, he could be inadvertently harming himself and hisrades, as the four might one day use that very strength to overpower Hadean Varsa''s forces in the war against Dweezel and the WAA. It was wiser for Shye to keep everything and allocate the resources evenly among those who had already pledged their loyalty to the group and their cause. Taking one deep breath, he pulled Darky and Murky out of their swordstraps, gripping their handles tightly as he slowly approached the sleeping Wind Dragon. Things would definitely be easierpared to fighting a healthy Wind Dragon. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire However, since his trump cards, [(Dark) Nightfall Reaper Lv.5 (Epic)] and [Ninth Devastation Ray Lv.5 (Epic)], were still on cooldown, he could only rely on his [Unique]-tier skills and below to finish the dragon off. Shye knew just how tough dragon scales were. There was a fair chance he might fail to kill the Wind Dragon in a single strike, or that it would sense him if he went straight for its neck, as monstrous creatures possessed an innate ability to detect bloodlust and murderous intent. Luckily, his more than seven hundred points of intelligence immediately gave him the perfect solution. As Shye approached the resting Wind Dragon, a dark purple aura enveloped Darky and Murky, granting them the [Ethereal] status.@@novelbin@@ This effect allowed both people and weapons to pass through objects as if they were ghosts. This was Shye''s skill, [des of Despair], which he had rarely used over the past two months. It was typically more efficient for him to kill monsters outright rather than slowly wearing down their stamina and mana with each strike. This time, however, Shye chose to drain what little stamina and mana the Wind Dragon had left, believing it would guarantee his victory. Arriving beside the sleeping draconian, Shye stacked his skills one after the other. ''Lethal Edge! Power sh! Boost! Boost! Boost!'' This three-skillbo of his was absolutely lethal, second only to his trump cards, but since he activated [des of Despair Lv.5 (Unique)], this attack of his would not kill the Wind Dragon, thus allowing him to avoid emitting bloodlust or murderous intent. The next moment¡­ *FWOOSH!* The two greatswords covered in dark purple made their way towards the enormous dragon''s neck, silent as a ghost. As anticipated, without emitting any bloodlust or murderous intent, his lethal energy-sappingbo struck perfectly. The Wind Dragon briefly opened its eyes before shutting them again, a sharp headache overwhelming it and causing it to roar in agony. For the first time in its life, the massive dragon experienced a severe mana bacsh¡ªa condition its species rarely faced, thanks to their naturallyrge mana pool, extraordinary mana regeneration, and reduced mana costs when casting spells of the same element as them. Upon realizing there was an intruder in its cave, the Wind Dragon quickly attempted to stand. To its astonishment, it stumbled and fell sideways, struggling to rise as waves of exhaustion swept through its draconic body. ''Appraisal!'' Naturally, Shye immediately double-checked if his n worked. [Mana]: 0 / 1,110 [Stamina]: 0 / 1,800 "Hahahaha! You let your guard down, Wind Dragon." Shyeughed in triumph and sheer delight. Now, everything in the cave would be his! Plunging one of his dark purple aura-covered greatswords into the dragon''s skull to halt its mana and stamina regeneration, the Wind Dragon roared in pain again, ring with anger and defiance at the human before it. "YOU!! YOU''RE ONE OF THE FIVE HUMANS FROM BEFORE! HOW DID YOU SURVIVE THAT CRAZY BIRD?!" Chapter 670 Do You Know Why I Kept You Alive? "Well done, you four! Frozen End, Radiant Sentinel, rest in the hospital rooms for a day. You''re free to do whatever you like for the next three days. Consider it a token of gratitude from the WAA Valenzia Branch for defeating one of the ten mythical creatures, eliminating a threat, and bringing glory to our region!" Director Belford''s familiar old voice resounded throughout the luxurious office, bringing smiles to the faces of the titled adventurers¡ªexcept for Frozen End. She was not fond of breaks. "Hmph, old man. I''ll take a day to rest since it''s my duty to be in peak condition before going out on missions. But three days? Isn''t that excessive? There are hundreds, if not thousands of threats lurking throughout the region, and you expect us to waste that time? I can''t ept this arrangement!" Frozen End protested, eliciting a chuckle from Midnight Fang and helpless shrugs from Radiant Sentinel and Piercing Zephyr. They had expected her toin. However, she had a point¡ªthere were far too many threats for them to take three full days off. One day of rest was more than enough. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire "Sigh... Fine, do as you wish. I will give your handlers appropriate individual or duo missions. I doubt the main headquarters will assign you five to work together again anytime soon." Director Belford sighed in resignation, looking at Midnight Fang the next moment. "By the way, where''s Crowley?" "Oh, thed? He said he''s going to investigate, or something, hahaha." Midnight Fangughed, "He''s probably after that wounded Wind Dragon, though, hahahaha!" Had Shye heard Midnight Fang''s words, he would be scratching his head and blushing in embarrassment. It seemed that it was too difficult to hide things from veterans. "Oh? I hadn''t thought of that! Hahaha!" Piercing Zephyr joined in. "Well, let''s keep quiet about it. He at least deserves that injured Wind Dragon for himself after carrying the entire Phoenix hunting mission on his shoulders." *** Meanwhile, inside a hidden cave near the peak of the windswept mountain, one young human and one young dragon stared at each other. The human wore a yful expression, while the dragon seethed with rage. "What have you done to me, puny human? Are you meddling with Soul Arts?!" the Wind Dragon, Aeolus, roared in fury. It could tolerate losing to the fiery bird, but being defeated by a human¡ªespecially through what it considered dishonorable means¡ªwas something it could never ept. "Heh, Soul Arts? You must really be a young dragon if you''re that clueless," Shye mocked, clearly irritated. The usation rubbed him the wrong way¡ªit was as if the dragon was implying he only won by cheating. Well, it wasn''t that he cheated, but he only capitalized on the dragon''s dumb decision to challenge the Phoenix one-on-one. In fact, he would be the stupid one if he didn''t. Why would one purposefully make things difficult for oneself when there''s an obviously easier way? Upon hearing the human''s mocking retort, the mes of anger in the Wind Dragon''s heart intensified. "You dare talk back to me, a dragon?! If I weren''t already drained from my battle with that fiery bird, how could you possibly hold this... s-s-superior position?! And you expect me to believe that a human as young as you could weaken me this much without using Soul Arts?! Absurd lies!" Aeolus raged, huffing and puffing as it squandered what little strength remained on its fury instead of conserving energy and devising a n to turn the tide. A dragon''s pride is truly both a blessing and a curse. As a blessing, it enables the dragon to stay calm in a perilous, evenly-matched battle, as its innate pride would never allow it to ept defeat. As a curse, however, it frequently hinders the dragon from making logical decisions, rendering its high intellect ineffective. This time, unfortunately, it turned out to be thetter. "Heh, what? Do you think there aren''t any humans capable of ripping you to shreds within minutes in a duel? Delusional! I can think of more than ten right now!" Shye sneered in disdain, further insulting Aeolus. He wasn''t lying. The heroes from other regions already numbered more than ten, and there were bound to be at least ten who could take down this young Wind Dragon in just minutes¡ªespecially the veteran heroes and those from the Yon Augenn Region. Moreover, old man Sanada and that bastard Dweezel could likely take down Aeolus in just minutes, if not seconds. Lastly, he could do the same. However, since his two trump cards were on cooldown and he didn''t want to prolong the situation unnecessarily, Shye opted to drain the Wind Dragon''s mana and stamina instead, rendering it incapacitated. This Wind Dragon was truly young and naive if it thought there were no capable humans based solely on the few weak ones it had encountered in the past. "Lies! How could s¨C" "Enough of that talk!" Shye eximed, rudely cutting off Aeolus'' words. "I don''t think you understand your current situation, Wind Dragon. I could''ve killed you without hearing your nonsense, but do you know why I didn''t?" Upon hearing Shye''s words, a glimmer of reason returned to the massive dragon''s mind, making it realize that it was indeed at the mercy of a mere human. It was in no position to look down on humans. Not right now, at least. With narrowed eyes, Aeolus decided to listen to the young human''s reason for keeping it alive. Shye noticed that the Wind Dragon was now paying attention, prompting a wicked smile to spread across his face, which unnerved Aeolus just a bit. "It''s because I want to try taming you!" Shye dered after a brief pause, causing the enormous dragon''s eyes to widen in disbelief. After a few moments, however, Aeolus burst outughing.@@novelbin@@ "Hahahahaha! You''d be better off killing me, you foolish human!" the Wind Dragon bellowed withughter,pletely dismissing Shye''s words as mere lies. Not in the slightest did it believe him. There had indeed been a few cases where special humans, born once in a million years, managed to tame a few of my kin. However, do you think you''re one of those humans?! Hahahaha! Delus¡ª "Hahahahaha! I am indeed one of those humans," Shye interrupted with his own roar ofughter. "And you, Wind Dragon, will be one of the very few dragons in history to be tamed! Congrattions, you''ll make history!" "[Tame]!" Chapter 671 Are You Even Human? "Hm? What location is this?" Aeolus wondered as it looked around, somehow magically forgetting it was angry. It was now in a strange, all-white ce. There was nothing else except for its existence. Only for a few seconds, though, as soon after, a ck human silhouette appeared in front of it, rekindling the mes of anger in its heart. "YOU!! WHERE DID YOU TAKE ME?!" The Wind Dragon roared. Unfortunately, the ck silhouette didn''t respond. It merely continued walking closer to Aeolus. As the humanoid figure drew closer, the Wind Dragon finally saw its full appearance and fully sensed its aura, sending a surge of wariness through the proud draconian''s heart. The ck human silhouette did not have a face! In fact, all it had was its humanoid shape¡ªthe same as that of the young human who intruded upon its territory. However, its aura was terrifying, far more so than even the Phoenix¡ªthe only being that had ever instilled fear in the dragon''s heart. ''A human... is making me feel fear? Me? A proud dragon?'' Aeolus thought in disbelief as he realized he had instinctively taken a step back from the ck humanoid''s aura. "UNACCEPTABLE!! I AM A DRAGON! I MAY DIE, BUT I WILL NEVER FEAR AN INFERIOR SPECIES!" After a roar of unwillingness, the Wind Dragon walked forward to meet the human, forcibly casting the dread taking root in its heart. It decided to fight the ck humanoid instead. Shye''s featureless silhouette embodied the peak of his presentbat strength, the limits of his physical capabilities, and the boundless potential he had yet to unlock. It was understandable why it was seemingly invincible. Even dragons have a limit to their potential, though their skill and attribute ceiling are normally way higher than humans. Unfortunately for Aeolus, thebination of Shye''s [Limitless Physique] talent and old man Sanada''s shy Adventurer System made his ck silhouette nearly invincible in the realm of heart and mind, striking unparalleled terror¡ªeven in dragons. One could only imagine the terror poor little Nookie endured with its fragile necrollin physique. Its power, after all,y inmanding a terrifying army of corpses. Puppeteers had always been vulnerable when left on their own. Meanwhile, despite its best efforts to uphold a brave facade, bolstered by its pride, the Wind Dragon slowly yielded to fear. As it stood before the ck silhouette, it trembled. Aeolus had never faced such a terrifying being before. Trying its best to recall what happened earlier, the Wind Dragon remembered thest words it heard from the human before waking up to this world of white. ''Tame¡­'' Aeolus thought inwardly, shaking. ''Is this ck humanoid a product of that [Tame] skill?'' Believing so, the Wind Dragon managed to recover its courage, a [Draconic Origin Bomb Lv.5 (Rare)] forming in its mouth. "I''ve uncovered your trick, human!" Aeolus bellowed, unleashing the massive red sphere from its mouth toward the ck humanoid. In the next instant, a devastating explosion erupted, filling the air with thick ck smoke as the deafening roar of dragons echoed through the white void. It was a clean hit that brought a wild smile to the young Wind Dragon''s face. "Hahahaha! Do you think you can make me, a dragon, submit? Delusional!" It believed that the ck humanoid had already been obliterated and that the world of white should be dissolving soon. Unfortunately, no such thing happened. It remained stuck inside the world that resembled a white void. After around half a minute, the thick ck smoke finally cleared, revealing the unscathed ck humanoid. Aeolus'' eyes nearly bulged from their sockets at the sight of its unscathed opponent. In the next moment, a sharp pain pierced the Wind Dragon''s head as a single punch from the ck humanoid sent it flying. Strangely, though the punch had struck its armored chest¡ªshattering scales as evidence¡ªAeolus didn''t feel the pain there. It instead radiated from its head. The Wind Dragon felt as though an incredibly heavy object had struck its head, threatening to crush its sturdy skull. Unfortunately, its ordeal didn''t end there. Before it could even realize what was happening, its ck adversary charged forward again,unching a flying kick aimed at Aeolus. Explore stories on My Virtual Library Empire Having justnded on its back, the Wind Dragon had no way to escape. Thus, even though it saw the ck humanoid prepare another attack, Aeolus couldn''t evade it and was struck squarely on its side, sending shards of its shattered scales flying in every direction. Once more, it was sent hurtling backward, suffering from a splitting headache, its determination waning after enduring yet another powerful blow. It felt as though the battle would drag on indefinitely, as the Wind Dragon experienced nothing but headaches, without any other form of pain. Aeolus desperately longed for death, but it was impossible; the white void wouldn''t permit it. At this rate, its mind would give out first, and the Wind Dragon had no idea what would be of its true body if that happened. Would it turn into a mindless, empty shell? It didn''t know. And it didn''t want to find out. Struggling desperately, Aeolus pped its wings, forcibly regaining its bnce and dodging the ck humanoid''s next attack. "I WILL NEVER LOSE!!" it roared, soaring high into the white void and conjuring a series of cataclysmic winds, unleashing everything from razor-sharp wind cutters to terrifying tornadoes and fierce windstorms, all of which made their way towards the Wind Dragon''s adversary. Strangely, the ck humanoid didn''t even attempt to dodge. It was struck squarely and engulfed by everything Aeolus unleashed. Had the ck humanoid been Shye himself, he would have been teetering on the brink of life and death, if not already dead. However, even though it represented Shye, the ck humanoid''s totalbat power epassed not just his current abilities but also the potential of his future self, resulting in an invincible devastation incarnate that could not be harmed by the winds of a mere young Wind Dragon. Sure enough, as the roaring gale calmed down, the ck humanoid''s unscathed figure was once again revealed.@@novelbin@@ "You¡­Are you even human?!" Chapter 672 Not So Bad, Is It? Inside a huge cave located near the peak of the windswept mountain, Shye and Aeolus stared at each other''s eyes, both of them unmoving. This is what the [Tame] skill appears like in reality¡ªboth sides are left deeply vulnerable during the struggle of wills and emotions. Fortunately, Shye had Zeth, whom he could trust to guard his motionless body. Meanwhile, inside the world of white¡­ "DIE! DIE!! DIE!!!" The silver-scaled dragon cried out in sheer frustration and desperation, retreating while unleashing a relentless barrage of projectiles, which drained its stamina and mana at a rapid pace in the endless white void. On the other hand, the ck, indestructible humanoid merely pursued the Wind Dragon without a care in the world. It received all sorts of attacks head-on without suffering from any damage. Shye was naturally watching the battle from the ck humanoid''s POV. However, every skill has its advantages and disadvantages. Since the ck humanoid was a fusion of both his present and future self, the [Tame] skill prevented him from controlling its movements. All he could do was watch as it fought clumsily, while the skill granted the Wind Dragon the chance to fight back at full strength, despite its actual body being gravely injured and exhausted. It was a fair fight, where the current abilities and future potential of the "master" were pitted directly against the target monster, which could use any means¡ªcunning included¡ªto resist being tamed. If the ck culmination of the master''s present and future managed to break the monster''s will, the creature would be tamed. However, if the ck humanoid was destroyed, it would signify a failed taming attempt, resulting in a severe mental bacsh for the caster. This is why taming high-ranked monsters was nearly impossible, as an ordinary human''s future would almost always pale inparison to that of high-ranked monsters, who were born with royal bloodlines, nearly indestructible bodies, and far greater attribute potential than humans could ever hope to achieve. An adamantite-ranked adventurer taming an (A) ranked monster was already seen as a remarkable feat, while those who managed to tame (S-) ranked creatures were considered unparalleled in their generation. Of course, throughout history, only a handful¡ªno more than ten¡ªhad ever sessfully tamed (S) ranked beasts, including dragons. Every one of those individuals rose to be not just heroes, but legendary figures, whose power and aplishments reverberated across all ten regions. It was easily understandable. After all, a weak culmination would be easily annihted by (S) ranked monsters, which typically possessed both brains and brawn. However, if those who had sessfully tamed (S) ranked monsters in the past were to witness how Shye''s culmination remainedpletely unaffected despite enduring everything thrown at it, they would be pulling their hair out in disbelief. Their culminations had barely seeded and were often just one or two hits away from destruction. Some wouldn''t even have the courage to deny being called lucky if someone dared to say so, as a few of them had indeed just gotten lucky. None of their ck humanoids had been as seemingly invincible as Shye''s. Soon enough, the ck humanoid and its absurd movement speed finally managed to close the distance between it and Aeolus, allowing it tounch more punches and kicks. However, it appeared that the young Wind Dragon had grown ustomed to its attacks, skillfully evading them just in time and leaving the culmination''s strikes hitting nothing but air. No matter how quick a human may be, their limbs are still short¡ªthis is precisely why weapons were created. Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire Realizing it could at least evade the ck humanoid''s attacks, hope rekindled in Aeolus'' heart. It didn''t think the culmination was truly indestructible; instead, the dragon viewed it as merely an exceptionally tough adversary¡ªone that it could gradually dismantle as long as it maintained the current pace ofnding hits while avoiding the ck humanoid''s strikes for an extended period. The young Wind Dragon was actually correct in its assumptions. However, despite trying to assess its opponent''s toughness as urately as possible from the perspective of a proud dragon, it still significantly underestimated just how resilient the ck humanoid truly was. Had it known that it would take nearly twenty full days to destroy the culmination, it wouldn''t have allowed false hope to take root in its heart. Its pride had indeed clouded its logical judgment; if it hadn''t, Aeolus would have long since recognized that serving such a once-in-a-lifetime talent wouldn''t be so terrible. Unfortunately, a dragon was a dragon, and its first response would always be that it would rather die than submit to anybody, especially now that it had managed to dodge thest ten attacks the ck humanoid threw at it. The culmination was fighting through mere instinct, and it had finally realized that it would be inefficient to use nothing but punches and kicks to defeat the dragon. Hence, the next moment, it did something that brought despair to the young Wind Dragon''s heart: drawing what seemed to be a jet-ck version of the twin greatswords Shye possessed. Aeolus had just be ustomed to the ck humanoid''s basic attack patterns.@@novelbin@@ Now, it needed to readjust once more, but it was unsure if it could do so without its will crumbling due to the splitting headaches. Even now, its head throbbed with pain as it fought. Still, it did its best to resist, flying as high as possible to limit its opponent''s attack options. However, this tactic quickly proved ineffective, as the next moment, the culmination also took to the skies, two ck angel wings emerging from its back, while the skill [Flight] enabled it to soar like the Wind Dragon. The ck humanoid¡­also began using skills. Realizing that its opponent was simply toying with it, Aeolus felt its pride shatter into a million pieces, allowing logical thoughts to finally break through its thick skull. The first thought that crossed its mind was: ''If this human is this capable, then perhaps he truly is one of those legendary figures, or at least a future legend as he imed. Making history with a human¡­might not be so bad!'' This was especially so since as a Wind Dragon, it doubted its chances of making history within the dragon race, so why not make history with humans instead? Chapter 674 Adventurer Elites Hub "Crowley, well done as always!" Soaring Raven generously praised, giving Shye a tap on his shoulder. From the very start, his golden recruit had always brought glory to the guild. While Soaring Raven had hoped Shye would not only reach the top of their region but alsopete with the younger generation from other regions, he never imagined Shye would surpass even his most ambitious expectations. Of course, it wasn''t yet official that he was the best among the young adventurers aged twenty-five and under, as there had been no formal spars or duels to confirm it. However, his high-key disys of brilliance made him the unofficial king of the younger generation. This naturally displeased the most talented youngsters of other regions. They''ve always wanted to prove to the world that Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, although believed to be the strongest due to his feats of consistently defeating those older than him and forging legends one after the other, wasn''t the strongest youngster. It was simply because all eyes were on him, with no realpetition in Valenzia, that he was able to aplish his feats without interference, and those achievements were merely broadcasted to the world. In simpler terms, they believed that Shye simply had more chances to show his prowess. Discover exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire Three other young contenders were often mentioned alongside him: Van Smolders, a warrior hero candidate from the Hakk''shatta Region; Axelle Vespertine, a mage hero candidate from the Deltra Region; and Alexander Aphelion, a scout hero candidate from the renowned Yon Augenn Region, who was also suspected to be Dweezel''s target.@@novelbin@@ All three, though slightly older than Shye, were still under twenty-five and were hero candidates scheduled for inauguration in two weeks. The current heroes in their roles had willingly stepped aside, believing it was the best decision for the future of their regions. However, it wasn''t only because of this that the three were said to be equal to Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn from Valenzia. They had all aplished feats on par with Shye''s, such aspleting (S)-rank difficulty quests solo and clearing high-difficulty mana dungeons with extreme age restrictions. Alexander Aphelion of Yon Augenn even managed to clear the infamous Ambrose Mana Dungeon, which had stood its ground for over a decade, earning a reputation as the most challenging mana dungeon¡ªuntil the young man and his party finally conquered it. Though, if Alexander and his party failed, the WAA nned on sending Shye next to finally end the damned dungeon once and for all. Aside from Shye''s unique aplishment of summoning a king-ranked familiar and his recent victory in a perilous battle against the Phoenix, the other three young contenders had their own impressive achievements to match. "Hehe, I guess you have rewards for me, guild master?" Shye shamelessly asked. He knew that Soaring Raven was quite a generous guy, so he would probably receive a reward from him for ying a mythical creature. "Hahaha! Of course, I''ve got rewards for you," the guild master replied with a broad grin, looking every bit like the friendly old man next door. Whenever they were alone, Soaring Raven always dropped the formalities, knowing it would help him build a closer bond with Shye and secure his loyalty for the long haul. After all, the young hero could easily be poached by guilds from more developed regions if Raven became toocent. He understood that to keep Shye in his small, backwater guild, he had to be both clever and sincere. With the way things were progressing, his guild was set to rise in the rankings worldwide. All Soaring Raven had to do was hold on to his golden boy and his golden crew. ¡­The guild master pulled a modest-sized metal box from beneath his desk, set it on top, and lifted the lid to reveal the item inside. It was a skill book. Naturally, Shye was excited, knowing Soaring Raven to be quite generous. The skill the book contained was likely at least [Unique]-tier or higher. To his surprise, however, the guild master didn''t immediately exin what the skill was. This made Shye feel tempted to use appraisal on it but quickly decided against it, knowing it would be more troublesome to exin his reaction afterward. It would be better to just wait for Soaring Raven to exin. "Forgive this old guild master of yours; this is the only thing the guild currently has that might interest you. But I assure you, you won''t be disappointed with this skill," the guild master said, his tone self-deprecating, yet his grin radiated confidence. "But don''t worry; this isn''t the only reward I have for you. Along with a mary reward of fifty thousand gold coins, I''ve also asked the WAA to approve my request for guild contribution points, and they just agreed. Want to guess how many points they approved?" Shye wasn''t worried about his strength, as he could always increase it with a tap of his finger. What mattered more to him right now was fame and exposure. Thus, it would be advantageous for him to achieve a high rank in the adamantite rankings, as this would grant him ess to a special hub in the Yon Augenn Region, known as the Adventurer Elites Hub, which was reserved for the top ten adventurers from each region. The four titled adventurers of Valenzia, especially Midnight Fang, would have been able to easily gain ess to this hub. Unfortunately, all of them had long left their guilds to focus on their WAA duties. The Adventurer Elites Hub offered the top adventurers from each region the chance to undertake solo special-grade missions, which provided exceptionally generous rewards that could be considered excessive in rtion to the mission''s difficulty. However, this didn''t imply that the special-grade missions were easy; on the contrary, they ranked among the highest difficulty of (S)-ranked missions. To make matters even more challenging, all of these missions were solo endeavors. This was why Karsa Bloodwinter¡ªformerly Raven''s de Number One¡ªhad never dared to visit the hub in the past. She felt that her current abilities weren''t sufficient yet. After all, she was still rtively young for an adventurer at thirty years old. However, for Shye, who had alwayspleted his quests without a party to depend on, this hub represented a fantastic opportunity, as it would enable him to acquire resources at a far faster rate than through guild quests. Plus, he would also be able to earn huge amounts of guild contribution points forpleting the special-grade solo missions. "Hahahaha! You truly know what I need, guild master! Hmm, let me guess¡­fifty thousand guild contribution points?" Shye "guessed", knowing that the point rewards were probably bigger than that. "Hahahaha! A very conservative guess, Crowley! It''s a hundred and fifty thousand guild contribution points!" Hearing the guild master''s words, Shye''s eyes widened in shock and sheer delight. "A hundred and fifty thousand points¡­ so you mean¡­" "Hahaha! Yes, congrattions! You are now the fourth-ranked adventurer in all of Valenzia! Here''s your ess badge to the Adventurer Elites Hub." Chapter 675 Raining Rewards Shye was naturally pleased upon receiving the ess badge. Now, he would gain ess to more difficult yet immensely rewarding quests, saving him the time and effort of repeatedly traveling through Death Zones, as the rewards from a single quest would equal three to four times the most lucrative ones posted on the guild''s quest boards. "Hahaha! Thank you, Guild Master Soaring Raven! You truly are the best guild master!" Shye generously praised in return At that moment, the two resembled cunning foxes,ughing loudly after sessfully getting what they wanted from each other. "No worries, no worries! You deserve it, after all!" Soaring Raven smiled, shifting his attention to the skill book. This naturally prompted Shye to do the same. "This right here is one of the only two [Legendary]-tier skill books our guild has, eyed by almost every adamantite-ranked adventurer in the guild, including Karsa." The guild master said with pride, causing Shye''s eyes to widen in disbelief. In the system, the minimum price of a [Legendary]-tier skill was a million system points, so Shye had always mulled deeply in the past few months if he should purchase one, especially since his [Nightfall Reaper] and [Ninth Devastation Ray] had never failed him.@@novelbin@@ He didn''t know if spending a million points on a level one [Legendary]-tier skill would be worth it, considering his need to save up as many points as he could before revealing his allegiance to Hadean Varsa. Now, at least, he had the opportunity to witness its power firsthand, giving him a baseline to evaluate its capabilities and decide whether to invest more in the future. "You could consider it as our guild''s treasure. Now, I''m entrusting it to you. I know there''s no one more suited to have this skill than you." Soaring Raven continued, handing the skill book over to Shye, who eagerly received it. Shye then opened the skill book to "read its contents", while in reality, he was reading something else: the skill book''s appraisal window. There was no need to read every useless word when the system could summarize everything for him in apact collective. === [(Dark) Ravenous Doppelganger Lv.1 (Legendary)] Description: Summons a Doppelganger with the same abilities as the summoner. The Doppelganger is fully controble through the mind but begins with only sixty percent of the original body''s vitality attribute. Note: The vitality percentage increases as the skill levels up. == Subskills: [Swap] ¨C Allows the caster to switch ces with the Doppelganger [1] time(s) during each summon. [Dark Merge] ¨C Absorb the Doppelganger, resetting the caster''s skill cooldowns, as long as the Doppelganger hasn''t used the same skills. Additionally, restores the caster''s hit points and stamina by [50]% of the Doppelganger''s remaining hit points and stamina. Note: If the Doppelganger is destroyed, the skill reverts to level one, and [Dark Merge] will not take effect and reset skill cooldowns. Mana Cost: 1,500 Mana Skill Duration: Until the Doppelganger is absorbed or destroyed. Cooldown: 24 hours after the Doppelganger is absorbed or destroyed. == ''Holy sh*t!!'' Shye cursed internally, overwhelmed by shock and disbelief. Outwardly, his expression remainedposed, disying just the right amount of surprise and delight. But inside, he was bursting with excitement, feeling as if he wanted to jump and scream to let out all the pent-up tion. "Y-You''re really giving me a skill like this, guild master?" Shye foolishly asked in disbelief, still struggling to ept that he would soon possess such an incredible ability. "Hahahaha! Of course! You''ve done so much for not only the guild but also the region. You definitely deserve this!" "Thank you, guild master!" After chatting cheerfully for a few more minutes, Shye exited the guild headquarters, drawing the gaze of thousands of astonished onlookers. His guildmates were still struggling toprehend that he had defeated the mythical Phoenix. Shye then made his way to the WAA Valenzia Headquarters to report to Director Belford. Soaring Raven had informed him that a message had been received from the headquarters, instructing the guild master to ry to Shye to report back, as the Director had something important to discuss with him. Of course, Shyeplied. Around twenty minutester, he arrived at the headquarters, asking the guards for assistance to locate Director Belford''s office. "Director, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn has arrived." The guard said after lightly knocking on the office doors three times. "Come in." Entering the office, Shye was weed by the white-haired old man with a smile. "Crowley! You''ve finally returned. Well done on ying the Phoenix! Thank you for eliminating such a threat and bringing honor to our region!" Naturally, Shye responded with the expected words, effortlessly spouting nonsense about how it was an honor for him too, along with other simr titudes. He then went to receive the promised rewards from the WAA, though nothing too fancy like the one Soaring Raven gifted him for bringing glory and honor to the guild. After all, it was his duty as a hero¡ªobligations he had sworn to uphold in exchange for the hero''s crest, which granted him immense power. Your journey continues on My Virtual Library Empire Nheless, it wasn''t too shabby either. In addition to receiving a sudden bonus of fifty thousand gold coins, which boosted his coin reserves to three hundred and forty thousand, Shye also received an [Epic]-tier protective item. It was a feather that constantly changed colors from gold to silver, and then to grey every few minutes. ording to Director Belford, the feather was collected from an area where another mythical creature, the Thunderbird, had briefly resided. Originally, the feather had four colors when it was handed over to the WAA by an adamantite-ranked adventurer in exchange for specific benefits he required. A century ago, it was loaned to a hero from the Fanfir Region as a protective item to increase the chances of sess for a particr mission¡ªand it did. The mission seeded, but one charge of the feather was consumed, permanently removing its navy-blue color. This meant Shye could still use the feather to generate various types of barriers, useful in different situations, three more times. Receiving the feather with a smile, Shye thanked the old director. "Lord Belford, my guild master mentioned that you wanted to discuss something with me?" Upon hearing Shye''s words, the merry old man suddenly frowned, his expression turning stern. "Crowley, it''s like this." Chapter 677 Little Froggies in the Bottom of the Well Three weeks passed swiftly as Seira and Shirley''s parties took on two S-ranked quests, making the most of their time while awaiting the Heroes'' Banquet. Naturally, most of them were excited when Shye informed them about the event and their participation, while a few were indifferent. However, none of them were opposed to the idea of attending, especially after Shye mentioned that they could ce bets when someone challenged their friend to a spar, which was bound to happen. A long time has passed since they felt such excitement. Since joining Shye''s division, their growth has been remarkable, leaving littlepetition among their peers. However, there were a few individuals around three to five years older who could potentially provide a decent challenge. Unfortunately, after bing ustomed to the speed, power, and intelligence of (S) ranked creatures, Seira, Shirley, and the others found it hard to feel threatened or excited about sparring with those their age. Especially since it was also satisfying watching their guild contribution points skyrocket after every five to eight days depending on the difficulty of their quests. Thus, they chose to focus onpleting S-ranked quests to boost both their adventurer ranks andbat skills, asionally sparring among themselves. However, after countless bouts, they had memorized each other''s moves, making it hard to progress through duels alone. The uing Heroes'' Banquet was an exciting opportunity to test their abilities against the youths from more prominent regions while also earning money from bets. Confident in their skills, they eagerly anticipated the event. Today, Shye and his ten chosenpanions, who were also his friends, gathered at the WAA Valenzia Headquarters. The event is set to take ce tomorrow at a secret, luxurious, and expansive WAA venue in the Deltra region, so they need to depart today. "Is everyone ready?" Director Belford asked as he scanned his eyes over the ten youngsters Shye chose for the event. Most of them were slightly on the younger side, though a few appeared to be at the ideal age.@@novelbin@@ After receiving Shye''s list about a week ago, Belford promptly investigated the ten individuals, discovering that they were all members of the Raven''s de Adventurer Guild. At first, the old director grimaced at the list Shye provided, thinking these ten nobodies would likely be outssed in thepetition. He assumed the young hero was simply bringing them along because they were his friends, giving them a chance for some exposure and experience. However, upon researching who they were a bit more deeply, Belford was astonished. It turned out they were the recently rising Raven''s de Mithril party, known forpleting (S) ranked quests one after another. As a result, they rapidly climbed the ranks and were now only two or three quests away from reaching adamantite status. The old director had certainly heard of them several times before. However, as the busy old man he was, he never had the time to look into who they were or assess their capabilities. It wasn''t until he reviewed their profiles and quest history in the WAA''s database that Belford realized they were all between twenty-three and twenty-eight years old. Moreover, six of them were part of the legendary Colzen Academy batch that propelled the academy to be the fourth Kingly Academy¡ªa group led to victory by none other than Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn. After learning who the ten youngsters were, Belford grew more confident. Explore more at My Virtual Library Empire Although he was unaware of the full extent of the youngsters'' abilities, he understood that one individual couldn''t carry an entire academy to victory in the Adventurer Academy Competition, meaning that the other six had yed their part and secured wins against the elites from Eusford and An Academy. Even just the six of them gave Valenzia a decent chance of scoring at least three wins. If they could do so, Belford could hold his head high with pride in the Heroes'' Banquet. These six were certainly more interesting, more mysterious, and had a higher chance of winning than the ones he had in mind. As for the other four, Belford recognized one of them: Lesurii Kusanagi from the renowned Kusanagi Adventurer n. The old director wasn''t familiar with the other three, so he assumed they were simply there to make up the numbers. He had no qualms about it, though, as the other seven provided a decent chance of securing some wins, and that was all that mattered to the old man. He wouldn''t feel too bad even if the other three lost badly since the others could take revenge for them. ¡­Seeing everyone nod in high spirits in response to his question, Belford smiled, Shye''s words reying in his head. "Leave things to me and enjoy the show!" Shye had never let him or the region down, so the WAA director had made up his mind to never doubt his young hero again. After all, Shye had consistently delivered on his promises in the past, and Belford felt it would be unfair to him not to trust the young man, given all the miracles he had achieved and the legends he had created. ''Fine then, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn. I, Belford Grant, will do as you say and enjoy the show!'' the old director thought to himself, nodding at the youngsters before turning around and stepping onto the special teleportation magic circle that would transport them directly to the city where the Heroes'' Banquet would take ce. Naturally, Shye and the others quickly followed suit. In the next moment, a soft blue light surrounded the twelve individuals, transporting them away from Valenzia City and into another location. A few secondster, Shye and the others found themselves in the city square of a different city¡ªone that was far more developed than Valenzia City. Shye suspected they had arrived in one of the highest-ranked cities in the Deltra Region. ''Gorvingale City, huh?'' he mused, staring at the sign in the square that read, "Adventurers! Wee to Gorvingale City!" While Shye was impressed, his friends were even more amazed, as it was their first time being in such a city. Their wide eyes and gaping mouths made the young hero chuckle in amusement, finding their reactions rather adorable. They had thought Valenzia City would be hard to surpass, but now they realized otherwise, understanding that many cities like this one could exist in other regions. Their perspectives broadened, leading them to understand why Valenzia was considered a backwater region. It turned out that, despite their previous beliefs that their region was just as good as others, they were indeed just frogs at the bottom of a well. Chapter 678 Banquet Begins! Shye and his friends had the day to themselves, and being new to the city, the eleven of them decided to explore after checking into a hotel, courtesy of the WAA. After receiving a few reminders from Belford not to cause any trouble, they set out to explore the city''s bustling, well-constructed streets. They visited several skyscraper shops, purchasing consumables and even picking up a few new skills. Later, they dined at a fancy restaurant, where Shye, the wealthiest among them, dly covered the bill for everyone. The group of eleven had so much fun the previous day that when they arrived at the venue for the Heroes'' Banquet, they were all smiling and casually chatting about their experiences. They appearedpletely unfazed by the uing events, showing no concern for what might happen at the Banquet, which captured the attention of various youngsters from other regions. The venue was not only spacious but also exuded luxury. The massive doors were crafted from the most expensive and durable wood, while the walls were adorned with intricate carvings of various monsters, creating a somewhat eerie but appropriate atmosphere. On the other hand, the floor, made of luxurious dark brown ceramic tiles, had been given a protective coating in anticipation of the uing spars. It felt as though they were standing in the grand hall of a king''s pce. ¡­Before the event, Belford provided his youngpanions with ck capelets adorned with Valenzia''s golden insignia, serving as a kind of group uniform. Simrly, the younger generation from other regions wore their own distinct colors, making it easy to identify which region each participant represented. This was the reason why everyone immediately knew that Shye''s noisy group was from Valenzia. The news that Valenzia would, for the first time in history, send representatives had stirred excitement among the heroes and youth at the venue. While a few had genuine intentions of simply getting to know the younger Valenzians, the majority did not. They were eager to put Shye and hispanions in their ce. This feeling intensified after seeing how rxed Shye and his group were. In their condescending minds, Shye and his youngpanions should have been uneasy and insecure in the presence of stronger, more skilled, and more talented youths from more prestigious regions. If Shirley and the others had shown difort, the elitists had intended to ease the humiliation they would inflict on these "backwater rats." Seeing their calm demeanor fiercely reignited the determination of the chosen youngsters from other regions to utterly crush them. In an instant, Shye and his friends became the main targets for most in the venue, especially Shirley and the others, as only the heroes had the courage to challenge Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn. A few secondster, whispers and condescendingughter made their way to Shye and the others'' ears. However, contrary to the elitists'' expectations, their taunts were like sweet music to the Valenzian youths'' ears. Everything was unfolding just as Shye had nned. Knowing they would be targeted regardless, he instructed his group to remain as rxed as possible upon entering the venue, deliberately provoking the other regions'' youths into anger. Shye also advised them to wager heavily on the first battle, understanding that it would be hard to extortrge sumster, as the others would quickly stop underestimating them after a few wins. Naturally, he also told them to bet their entire fortunes once it was his turn to fight. ¡­The elitists couldn''t wait to destroy the Valenzians. Unfortunately, everything must proceed as nned, which meant that the directors would report the achievements of each hero first. It was a rather excruciating three hours for those who wanted to step on the young Valenzians. Nheless, time would inevitably proceed. Except for the time he yed the Phoenix and summoned a King-ss familiar, Shye''s achievements paled inparison to those of the other heroes. It was understandable, though, as he had only been a hero for a short amount of time. Moreover, he was far behind in terms of years as an adventurer. In fact, upon hearing his aplishments at his current age, the few elitist heroes couldn''t help but frown. They weren''t even in a position to achieve such feats when they were Shye''s age. The three newly inaugurated young heroes weren''t even mentioned in the reports, as they had no aplishments to their names. This frustrated two of them, making them clench their fists, while the Yon Augenn hero remained quite nonchnt about it. What angered them further was the annoying smirk on Shye''s face as his achievements were stated by Lord Belford.@@novelbin@@ ''Just you wait!'' The two inwardly thought, almost in unison. Fortunately, they didn''t have to wait long, as the directors soon wrapped up their agendas, clearing the way for the next part of the program: the banquet. Continue your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire In the center of the enormous hall stood ten long tables, each with eighteen seats¡ªseven reserved for heroes, one for the director, and ten for the youngpanions. Only Valenzia''s table had twelve seats, as Shye was their sole hero. Soon, waiters escorted them from the reporting area to the dining section, where everyone took their ces on the plush seats provided by the WAA. It was clear that the organization took the gathering seriously, given the participation of the finest from both the older and younger generations of each region. Once everyone was seated, hundreds of waiters suddenly appeared from a designated entrance, carrying an array of dishes that they eagerly served to each table. In no time, the tables were filled with gourmet-level meals¡ªvarious meats, vegetables, seafood, beverages, and more. Additionally, a long buffet table was rolled out from the waiters'' preparation room, loaded with containers of extra food for anyone who found the servings at their table insufficient. So far, everything has been extra pleasant for Shye and hispanions As for whether it would remain that way, no one knew, but Shye was determined to ensure everything went ording to n. In fact, he was just as eager for the spars to begin as the elitists were. He wanted to give them a face pping they would never forget. For now, however, the Valenzians intended to enjoy their meals to their hearts'' content. Chapter 680 A Surgeon and an Actor An awkward silence settled over the grand halls where the Heroes'' Banquet was taking ce. However, to Scarlet, this was expected. After all, this had been the way of things for centuries, bing a long-standing tradition. In the first round of challenges, even with the privilege of choosing first, the Yon Augennians would always pass, as though they were dering to the world that they were the top region, the ones to be challenged. "I understand. Since our friends from the Yon Augenn region have chosen not to challenge anyone, we will now move on to the tenth-ranked region, Valenzia. Ladies and gentlemen of Valenzia, you may select an opponent from any other region." What Scarlet hadn''t anticipated was that, much like the Yon Augennians, the Valenzians remained silent, showing no intention of challenging anyone. Seeing this, the youngsters from other regions sneered in disdain, believing that the backwater rats from Valenzia were scared. Little did they know, this was all staged by none other than the leader of the youths: Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn. "I-I see, it seems our friends from Valenzia are also not eager to participate in the first round. In that case, let''s move on to the ninth-ranked region. Young Kreborians, do you have anyone you''d like to challenge?" Scarlet did her best to inject some energy into the otherwise dull first round. Thankfully, the young contenders from the Krebori Region were an enthusiastic group, and they already had their sights set on a target long before the event even happened: the Valenzians. "Thank you for this opportunity, Moderator Scarlet. I, Kenji Ashton of Krebori, wish to challenge that young man from Valenzia." Atst, a challenge was made, and as anticipated, the Valenzians immediately became the target of the Kreborians. The young man who was challenged had a naturally frowning face, appearing to be the mostpetent duelist of the Valenzian bunch, especially since he seemed to be a scout. Well, it was somewhat true. Ian was indeed amongst the strongest duelists of Shye''s little crew. Moreover, scouts were well-known to be menaces in duels. This, however, appeared to be part of the Kreborians'' strategy to assert their dominance. They believed that by defeating the strongest of the Valenzian youths, the rest would lose morale, leading to humiliating losses, one after the other, in the uing sparring matches. Such a scene would delight the Kreborians, who had long been determined to prove their superiority over the Valenzians. Discover exclusive tales on My Virtual Library Empire The youngsters from Krebori believed they shouldn''t be grouped with the backwater rats. Although they might be somewhat inferior to the Yon Augennians and the other youths in the top five regions, they were confident in their ability topete against those from regions ranked just above them. And that like everyone else from other regions, the Valenzians were nothing to them. ¡­Standing up from his seat, Ian spoke stutteringly: "H-Hmph. So, you challenge me, Ian Izanagi of Valenzia, huh? U-Unfortunately, I must decline your challenge, as I consider it aplete waste of time to engage in a fight when there is nothing to gain." Upon hearing the response from one of the youths he had brought, Belford frowned. He couldn''tprehend why Ian would reject the challenge. It felt as though... as though he were genuinely afraid to fight the Kreborian, especially given the way he stuttered in his reply. Little did the Valenzian director know, Shye was inwardly apuding Ian''s performance. His close friend, despite the seemingly grumpy demeanor, executed his instructions wlessly. ''Hahaha! Impable acting skills, Ian!'' Uncertain about who would be challenged first, Shye called everyone to his room just before the event and held a huddle, where he thoroughly exined how they would extract maximum benefits from their opponents. His n was so devious that the innocent youngdy from the Kusanagi n couldn''t help but gasp after nearly every sentence he spoke. Of course, Shye conducted everything behind Belford''s back, unsure whether the old man would support his extortion schemes. It was better to be safe than sorry. After all, this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Once the world recognized their group''s true power, it would be difficult to persuade others to make mind-boggling bets with them again. "Hmph! Nothing to gain? Isn''t it a blessing for you to learn new skills from someone from a more advanced region?" Kenji, the Kreborian challenger, shot back, clearly unconvinced by Ian''s words and dismissing them as nothing more than excuses from a coward. "Say what you want. I, Ian Izanagi, am not afraid of anyone! I simply value my time and only take action when there''s something to gain. It''s unfortunate that betting is not allowed; otherwise, I would be tempted to agree. That''s all¡ªplease respect my decision." Ian replied, seemingly making more excuses. Upon hearing Ian''s words, Kenji suddenly burst intoughter, convinced that the Valenzians were truly foolish. Bets were allowed, after all, and now that Ian had made a statement he couldn''t take back, the Kreborian challenger felt that Ian had trapped himself like a fool. "Hahahahaha!, is that what you were after all along? Why didn''t you mention it sooner? Bets are allowed and always have been. I guess this is your region''s first time, so it''s understandable that you might not know. I''ll overlook your ignorance this time. What would you like to bet on? Money? Items? Just name it. I, Kenji Ashton, will match your terms without hesitation." The exchange between the two young men clearly revealed who the "smarter" one was, leaving the youths from the other regions chuckling and shaking their heads in amusement at the foolish Valenzian scout. Unbeknownst to them, Ian was also inwardly chuckling, apuding himself for a job well done.@@novelbin@@ His job wasn''t done yet, though. He needed to make them agree to an outrageous bet while pretending he was just bluffing to get Kenji to back down. "H-Hmph! F-Fine. H-H-How about five hundred thousand gold coins?! Can you handle that?! Also, I''ll throw in five unique-tier skill books and three adamantite-tier essories. What do you say?!" Chapter 681 Devious Schemes "Pfft! Hahahaha!" Kenji erupted inughter again at Ian''s absurd proposal. He doubted that the leader of the Valenzian youths, Shye Crowley of the ck Dawn, could gather such an amount on his own, let alone the foolish scout. Ian was obviously bluffing! Kenji loved it, though, as this was his prime chance to humiliate the Valenzians. Who knows? If he manages to make Shye Crowley''spanions look like utter idiots, maybe their regional director, Barley Grant, will reward him. Unfortunately, he didn''t have that amount either, so he needed to ask hisrades for help to put Ian in a more difficult position. "Fine then, give me a moment to gather that amount," Kenji replied confidently, almost sneering as he spoke. On the other hand, Ian appeared to "panic" for a brief moment before regaining hisposure, prompting the elitist youngsters to nearlyugh out loud, with a single thought echoing in their narrow minds: ''Backwater rats are backwater rats, after all!'' They were all eager to see how the Valenzian youngster would talk his way out of the grave he had dug for himself; or rather, they wanted to witness how his deceitful, cowardly words would be dismantled by the Kreborian. They wanted to expose the fraud that was Ian Izanagi! Read thetest on My Virtual Library Empire Watching with a hint of schadenfreude, their wicked smiles widened as they saw Kenji''srades fully cooperating. It was only a matter of time before the Valenzian scout''s career met its end. A few momentster, Kenji returned with arge coin sack, throwing it into the center of the sparring area along with five unique-tier skill books and three adamantite-tier essories. He was certain that Ian wouldn''t follow through with the bet anyway; it was all just a tactic to force the Valenzian to ept the sparring challenge. However, just as they were waiting for Ian to stutter in panic, the slightly worried look on his face suddenly vanished. Ian then walked closer to the sack and used a mana-powered device lent to him by Shye¡ªa coin counter¡ªto check if the sack actually contained five hundred thousand gold coins. "Hoh, very impressive, Kenji Ashton of Krebori," Ian said with a yful smile. "Since you''ve gone to such great lengths to gather this amount for the bet, I''ll do the same. Wait here." The more perceptive youths in the grand hall frowned at Ian''s sudden shift in demeanor, sensing a cunning Valenzian trap. Naturally, there were several clever ones among the Kreborian ranks, and they quickly understood that the Valenzian scout had merely been acting earlier. Unfortunately, it was toote to back out now. They could only rely on Kenji, who was also a scout, to win the spar. Otherwise, their wallets and spatial bags were destined to bleed today. Nheless, while they were slightly nervous, they believed Kenji had about a seventy-percent chance of victory. After all, mere cunning wouldn''t be enough to win duels; Ian would also need to be skilled enough to defeat Kenji. They were well aware of theirrade''s abilities, knowing he ranked among the upper tiers of their roster when it came to duels. It was very likely that the Valenzians had overestimated their own strengths after thriving in a region with littlepetition. After analyzing the situation, the smarter Kreborians calmed down. That''s right, their opponents were mere inexperienced Valenzians, what could go wrong? Meanwhile, at the Valenzian table, Shye and his crew excitedly pulled out all their gold coins and ced them into onerge sack, just like the Kreborians had done. "Boss, how much will you bet? I''ll wager all forty thousand of my gold coins, NYAHAHAHA!" "Hahahaha! Not bad, Seira! Although I''d like to bet arger amount, I''ll let all of you ce your bets first and cover the rest." "Ian, I''ll bet thirty thousand gold coins!" "Thirty-seven thousand gold coins for me!" "I-I only have twenty-eight thousand gold coins, but I''ll bet it all¡­and this adamantite-tier essory¡­" "O-Oh¡­so this is the feeling of betting¡­I-I''ll join in and bet thirty-thousand¡­" Upon witnessing the sudden ruckus next to him, Belford was left dumbfounded. He did not know what the hell was going on. At first, it appeared that one of his youths, Ian Izanagi, was making excuses and was clearly afraid to ept the challenge. Now, that very same individual sported a goonish smile as he retrieved thirty-five thousand gold coins from his spatial bag to contribute to the betting sack. It was a peculiar and bewildering sight. What made Barley, the Kreborian director, grit his teeth in anger was the sight of Shye and his friends jotting down their bets as if they feared being cheated when the reward sack was divided. ''These bastards¡­'' Unfortunately, like his youths, he could only wait for Kenji to humiliate the arrogant fools who were acting as if they had already secured victory. A few momentster, Ian returned with exactly what he had named for the bet. Naturally, it was Shye who covered the cost of the five unique-tier skill books, purchasing all five for a total of 620,000 system points. It stung a little, but it was worth it if five could be ten after the battle. He had already used appraisal on Kenji and confirmed that he was no match for Ian anyway. "There you go. Five hundred thousand gold coins, five unique-tier skill books, and three adamantite-tier essories." Ian said as he tossed the coins and items next to those Kenji had thrown, ensuring that the Kreborians wouldn''t be able to back out of the bet after losing. "Moderator Scarlet, please hold onto the bet and have it delivered to the winning table. Thank you." "C-Certainly, sir Ian. Leave this to me."@@novelbin@@ Nodding in appreciation at the moderator, Ian turned his attention to Kenji and made his way to the weapon rack, where he selected a suitable blunt dagger from the assortment of blunt weapons. "Now then, Kenji Ashton of Krebori, choose your weapon. I, Ian Izanagi of Valenzia, ept your challenge!" Chapter 683 Impatient Individual *BANG!* A loud noise echoed from the Kreborian table, drawing everyone''s attention to its source. It was Director Barley, his hands still trembling on the table. If not for the sturdy, special materials used to construct it, the table would have already copsed under the old director''s force. Naturally, everyone understood the reason behind Barley''s actions: he was furious that one of his youngsters had lost to a Valenzian.@@novelbin@@ He could tolerate many things, but losing to Valenzia was not one of them. To make matters worse... "Barley, why are you hitting the table? You need to calm down; it''s just one loss!" Belford chided with a mocking tone, making Barley grit his teeth in rage. However, as a director, he knew he shouldn''te across as petty in front of the youngsters. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire "Oh? Did I startle everyone? I apologize. I thought I saw a bug on our table so I simply tried to squish it." Barley said as calmly as he could. It was a valid excuse. After all, Belford would be the petty one if he asked to see where the squished bug was. Nevertheless, the old Valenzian director wasn''t about to let him off that easily, delivering onest infuriating remark before moving on. "Ah, is that so? I understand, no worries, Director Barley. I thought you were upset about your youngster''s loss to mine. I apologize. Losing five hundred thousand gold coins, five unique-tier skill books, and three adamantite-tier essories is rather painful, so please forgive me for thinking that way." Belford replied with a seemingly apologetic tone, but it was as insincere as could be, further fueling Barley''s anger. The Kreborian Director knew there was no winning this exchange, though, so he chose to ept the loss for now, silently plotting his revenge when Valenzia eventually lost a match. "No worries, Director Belford." Seeing that Barley had no intention of continuing the verbal spar, Belford decided to let it go as well, inwardly chuckling and counting it as a victory for himself. "What a brief yet intense match! Congrattions to Sir Ian Izanagi of Valenzia for the win! Your region now earns a victory point!" Moderator Scarlet cheerfully announced Ian''s victory, skillfully managing to celebrate without offending the Kreborians despite her upbeat tone. "Moving on to the folks from the eighth-ranked Raumann Region, do you have anyone you wish to challenge?" ¡­ Following Ian''s victory, the elitists decided to temporarily avoid challenging Shye''s small crew, unwilling to risk the same humiliation that Kenji had endured. They believed it would be better to let other regions challenge them first and observe the extent of their capabilities. After all, while they wanted to humiliate the neers, it was more important for them to finish in the top three, especially for those from the top five regions. It would be a waste to lose benefits for such stupid reasons. Again, why settle for one when you can have both? The elitists nned to secure their spot in the top three first before challenging Shye''s crew. Hence, for a while, the Valenzians didn''t receive any challenges, and they had no choice but to watch the youngsters of other regions battle it out. Surprisingly, watching from the sidelines wasn''t as dull as they expected. Shirley and the others, especially Siegfried, were quite pleased to see that only Kenji Ashton and hisrades from Krebori were weak. The other youngsters from the eighth-ranked regions and above were clearly a notch above the Kreborians. This is why, despite their efforts to fit in with the elitists, the Kreborians were met with contempt and disdain. They were simply a delusional group, desperate to avoid beingbeled as one of the "weakest," despite their obvious ipetence. Two rounds of challenges flew by, and as expected, Yon Augenn remained at the top. The second-ranked Deltra, however, dropped to seventh ce, as no one challenged their youngsters, while the results of their two challenges were one win and one loss. This wasn''t an issue, though, as the rounds will continue indefinitely until all the youngsters who haven''t fought yet havepeted against each other or have indicated that they do not wish to participate in the remaining sparring matches. Only then would the results be final. Hence, the Deltra Region youths weren''t too worried; they were, in fact, rather calm, as they were already used to being in this position early on in the inter-regional sparring matches rankings. They had always been the ones who dared challenge the Yon Augennians, after all. Meanwhile, Shye and the others held the fifth rank, as no one had challenged them following their decisive victory over Krebori. The other teams preferred to secure a win or two for themselves first before taking on unfamiliar and potentially risky opponents like Shye''s crew. Unfortunately, not everyone had the patience to wait for challenges, particrly a certain battle maniac who had been eager to challenge a Yon Augennian warrior after witnessing their group''s impressive dueling capabilities. "Hey, Shye¡­ can I go challenge someone? Y-You know me¡­ I can''t just sit back and wait on the sidelines while all these strong opponents are right in front of me¡­" Siegfried asked with hopeful eyes. He knew that he was being selfish as fighting in the earlier rounds wasn''t ording to n. However, he couldn''t help but try his luck. Naturally, upon hearing Siegfried''s words, Shye chuckled. He had anticipated this moment and found it amusing to guess how long the guy could restrain his urge to challenge someone. Although his prediction was off¡ªhe thought Siegfried couldst at least three rounds¡ªit ultimately didn''t matter, so Shye wasn''t bothered by it. "Hahahaha! I knew you''d speak up sooner orter. Go ahead and challenge whoever you want. If you want to make a wager, feel free, but don''t bet too much. After all, I''m sure you''ll end up challenging a Yon Augennian." Shyeughed, causing Siegfried to scratch his head awkwardly after his friend voiced everything on his mind. "Thanks, Shye. I won''t be cing any bets, though. Just enjoying my spar to the fullest is enough for me." "Heh, I thought so. Go wild, Sieg." Chapter 684 Ill Give You Three Free Chances To Attack Gasps and sneers filled the air as a young man stepped forward to issue his challenge in the third round, drawing narrowed eyes and faint smirks from the otherpetitors. "Hoh, you dare challenge me, udius Lothain of Yon Augenn? Very well, I''ll indulge you, Valenzian," udius remarked, gazing down at Siegfried condescendingly. "I''m Siegf¨C" "Hold your tongue! I do not wish to know your name. Let''s just get on with the battle." Had udius said such words to any other person on Shye''s team, they would''ve been infuriated, but not Siegfried. As far as he was concerned, everything was fine as long as he got what he wanted¡ªa fiery duel with a worthy opponent. He simply shrugged off the rude remarks and headed directly for the weapon rack. After selecting a finely crafted blunted katana that suited his taste, Siegfried returned to the center of the sparring area, patiently waiting for his opponent to finish choosing a weapon. A few momentster, udius also arrived with a blunt tachi in hand. "Moderator Scarlet, please begin the match." The Yon Augennian youngster said. "I wish to finish this as quickly as possible." Hearing this, Scarlet quicklyplied, raising her right hand the next moment. "Begin!" Meanwhile, Siegfried merely smiled mysteriously as he observed udius'' arrogant actions, waiting for him to attack. What Siegfried hadn''t anticipated was that, despite iming he wanted to end the duel quickly, udius made no move to attack. Instead, he stood there in a rxedbat stance, staring at Siegfried with unamused eyes, waiting for him to make the first move. "Hm? What''s the matter, Valenzian? I thought you wished to challenge me? Why are you not attacking? Come, I shall give you three chances to attack before I retaliate." ...Back at the Valenzian table, the more hotheaded members¡ªHarry, David, and Seira¡ªalong with Siegfried''s girl, Lesurii, clenched their fists in anger. "This arrogant bastard just won''t shut up, will he?" Harry muttered angrily, fully aware that Siegfried wouldn''t even bother acknowledging udius'' conceited words. However, this was exactly why they were so frustrated¡ªif it had been them, they would''ve fired back with sharp, infuriating retorts. Unfortunately, Siegfried was just too calm and indifferent to care. Three free chances to attack without udius retaliating? What a load of crap! "Hoh, as expected of a Yon Augennian! Very well, I''ll take you up on that offer," Siegfried said with an innocent yet battle-hungry smile. These were exactly the opponents he''d been waiting for! After all, the arrogant types were usually skilled enough to back up their words¡ªthough rarely as much as they believed. But who knows? Perhaps those from the mostpetitive region in the world are truly as strong as they im. "Lil bro Siegfried! Beat that fraud up!" Seira cheered, slightly irking udius. Almost simultaneously, Siegfried lunged forward at a speed that greatly surpassed his Yon Augennian opponent''s expectations, though udius could still handle it with moderate effort. His blunted katana then glimmered with a transparent sheen, signaling that he had activated [Power sh]. "Heh, this is it? Aren''t you wasting your chances? Power sh!" udius was intent on demonstrating the disparity between the lower-ranked regions and the top-ranked ones.@@novelbin@@ Therefore, he decided to use the same skills as his opponent, creating the perfectparison between the power of their abilities and physiques. Brandishing his tachi horizontally upward to intercept Siegfried''s downward sh, udius sported a confident smirk as he observed the gap between their weapons closing. Before long, their weapons were set to sh¡ªor at least they should have been. However, the expected metallic sound of their weapons colliding didn''t echo in the grand halls of the venue. Continue your adventure with My Virtual Library Empire Instead, as though a ghost, Siegfried''s weapon simply passed through udius'' tachi, heading straight for thetter''s wide-open, fairly handsome face. This had been Siegfried''s trump card since their academy days: [Ethereal Sword Lv.5 (Umon)], his most effective skill for catching opponents off guard. The next moment¡­ *BONG!* The sickening sound of blunt metal colliding violently with a human skull echoed throughout the venue, causing nearly every young onlooker''s eyes to widen in shock as udius was sent hurtling across the sparring area, rolling on the ground before finallying to a stop in front of the Yon Augenn table, motionless for a brief moment. "C-udius!" "Shut up, Glenn! I''m fine!" udius shouted angrily, struggling to get to his feet while clutching his bleeding head. Naturally, udius was at a loss for how to feel, a tumult of emotions crashing over him. Getting hit hard during the first of the three free chances he had offered his opponent? It was utterly embarrassing. To make matters worse, it was then that his opponent, who had remained calm andposed up until that point, decided to speak. "Sigh¡­Brother, let''s get serious and fight. I came here to spar against the best, so could you please stop fooling around? We only have one chance to fight, after all," Siegfried said earnestly, disappointmentcing his voice and piercing udius'' already wounded pride with each sincere word. "Next time, don''t offer others three free chances if you can''t even defend against one, alright? It''s better to just give it your all. It would be more enjoyable for both of us that way, don''t you think?" To the Yon Augennian, it was even more painful than mocking words. "You¡­You bastard¡­talking down to me?! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, VALENZIAN?!" udius roared as he rose to his feet, charging straight at Siegfried with his blunt tachi crackling with ck lightning. "Thunderous Onught!" Contrary to expectations, udius still refrained from using his full power, opting instead for a [Rare]-tier skill in an attempt to defeat Siegfried, whom he perceived as arrogant, despite Siegfried''s genuine desire to have an enjoyable duel. He refused to entertain the thought that some random, nameless Valenzian wouldpel him to unleash his full strength to win. In his narrow, misguided sense of pride, the ideal response to the situation was to defeat Siegfried without resorting to his strongest skills, allowing him to still demonstrate the disparity between them despite the earlier mishap. Chapter 685 Difference in Combat IQ "BAHAHAHAHAHA! What a splendid strike, little bro Siegfried! Do it again!" Seira cackled, catching the attention of the Yon Augennian onlookers, who finally turned to see what her irritating face looked like. If they hadn''t paid much attention to her earlierments, she had their full attention this time. One of them, specifically the guy named Glenn, even vowed to challenge her should he get the chance to. He didn''t appreciate Seira having the audacity to talk down to udius, his teammate, but possibly something more, given how concerned he had been earlier. Meanwhile, the Yon Augennian warrior arrived within striking distance from Siegfried, ferociously shing diagonally at Siegfried. To the battle maniac''s surprise, the lightning from udius'' sword suddenly pounced at him as though a vicious snake. It wrapped itself around his arms and legs, briefly limiting his movements. The lightning snakes only dyed his arms and legs'' movements for a single second. However, in a fierce duel, it was lethal. Find more to read on My Virtual Library Empire Before Siegfried could even raise his weapon to defend, the sh was already in front of his face. udius wore a cruel smile as his blunted tachi neared Siegfried''s strikingly handsome face, intent on ruining it with a savage blunt blow. Seeing this, Lesurii instinctively wanted to cover her face, not wanting to witness her lover suffer. However, she ultimately refrained, as her beloved didn''t appear panicked¡ªin fact, he was smiling. Once again, she found herself captivated by how dashing and heroic her knight in shining armor looked. ¡­In response to the diagonal strike, Siegfried calmly adjusted his stance, subtly tilting his head and body to the right, which caused the attack tond on his right deltoid instead of his face. Still, the impact should have been painful enough to dislocate Siegfried''s right arm. However, it somehow didn''t, as a translucent golden sheen reduced the physical damage by seventy percent. This was Siegfried relying on [Stoic Lv.5] to barely survive the blow, cing him in a prime position to counterattack. Realizing that his opponent had dodged the strike at thest moment, as if he had developed instincts as sharp as a fantasy character udius used to admire on TV as a kid¡ªa warrior who could level up, turning his hair golden with a scream and shooting energy beams from his palm¡ªthe Yon Augennian warrior''s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, with rm bells ringing nonstop in his head. ''Crap!'' udius immediately tried to retreat, but his wrist was grabbed by Siegfried, preventing him from escaping or using his weapon to defend himself. The battle maniac then viciously retaliated with a diagonal sh of his own, his blunted katana glowing golden. In the next moment, the weapon was upon udius, forcing him to raise his left arm to form a guard for defense. However, contrary to everyone''s expectations, the panicked expression on his face suddenly vanished instead of bing more pronounced. It was as if he was merely acting earlier. His body then emitted the same translucent golden sheen as that of Siegfried, which meant that he had also used [Stoic Lv.5]. ''Heh, I know this warrior skill is one of the rarest in the [Common] category, but do you really think someone from Yon Augenn like me wouldn''t h¡ª?!'' *CRACK!* udius'' thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a nauseating crack that reverberated throughout the venue, making several weak-hearted youngsters, including Wendy, grimace in difort. "AAGGHHH!!" The Yon Augennian screamed in agony, his left forearm shattered as he was sent flying in the opposite direction of Siegfried''s counterattack. "HOW?!" He couldn''tprehend why his [Stoic Lv.5] didn''t function as he had intended. In the next moment, however, he received the exnation he sought, though it was one he didn''t like at all. "Hahahaha. You''re so predictable, Brother udius. I knew you would have [Stoic] as well. After all, you''re from Yon Augenn. The previous skill I used converted my attack''s force into magical damage, which is why your [Stoic] couldn''t protect you. Nice try, but try to be creative next time." Once again, Siegfried''s unintentionally provoking words pierced udius'' heart and burrowed under his skin. ''He¡­ predicted my movements? This backwater rat outsmarted me?'' thought the young man from Yon Augenn, his eyes momentarily empty as he struggled to rise, bloodied all over. He was losing, and to a Valenzian, no less. "UNACCEPTABLE!!!" "Hoh, so you still have some fight left in you, huh? Fine then, udius Lothain, I shall give you as many chances as you want" To the Yon Augennian observers, Siegfried''s smile gradually became increasingly unsettling, as there was no trace of wariness in his eyes despite theirrade''s fury¡ªonly boundless battle fervor. Typically, witnessing an opponent''s anger called for momentary caution, as it was almost expected that the opponent would use their trump card next to try and turn the fight in their favor. However, the rather insane Valenzian didn''t seem to care at all and appeared genuinely excited to confront udius'' ace skills. The strong feared the courageous, but even the courageous had their reservations about fighting the crazy, and from what they observed, it was clear that Siegfried fell into the third category¡ªsomeone no one would want to face in a true life-or-death situation.@@novelbin@@ Nheless, udius was lost in rage right now, so he couldn''t see things clearly as the onlookers from his table. Thus, in the next moment, he activated his trump card, enveloping his entire body in a crackling lightning armor. At that instant, he resembled a furious god of thunder. Charging at Siegfried to reim his tarnished reputation, the Yon Augennian swung, shed, and stabbed, his movements apanied by arcs of lightning and thunderous roars. It appeared that his attributes had significantly increased as well. ''Foolish Valenzian¡­You should''ve finished dius off while you had the chance. Even I couldn''t fight him head-on when he''s in this state!'' thought another warrior-ss youthpanion from the Yon Augenn table, smiling cruelly as he anticipated Siegfried''s situation to worsen over time. He was aware of udius'' capabilities, which is why none of the Yon Augennian warriors dared to openly mock him despite hisckluster performance. They knew full well that his skill, [Thunder''s Warchief Lv.5 (Epic)], could change the tide of battle in an instant. To make matters worse, its effectssted an unreasonably long time. Chapter 686 Invincible Battle Maniac "WHY?! HOW?!" udius shrilled desperately as he continued his relentless onught. Stay updated through My Virtual Library Empire His opponent was clearly on the defensive. However, their contrasting expressions were quite amusing: the one under attack wore a confident smile, while the aggressor appeared to be the one slowly sinking into despair. The elitists could sympathize with udius, though, since his assault was fierce and unpredictable despite being one arm down. Only, none of his attacks had ever struck his opponent squarely. Moreover, despite using various skills toplement his violent and thunderous fighting style, it seemed that his opponent was still somehow managing to read hisplex attack patterns, especially as time went by. Now, only thirty seconds remained of his [Thunder''s Warchief Lv.5 (Epic)]. He had to make something happen. "Hahaha, Sieg is as terrifying as ever. This is exactly why I used to finish him off quickly whenever we sparred in the past. The longer the fight goes on, the more perfect his reads and predictions be. You''d almost think he could read your mind!" Shye said, eliciting nods from everyone from Colzen and causing Belford''s ears to perk up in curiosity. The old director was genuinely impressed by what he was witnessing, to the point where he could hardly believe it wasn''t a dream. After all, the opponent hailed from Yon Augenn¡ªthe strongest region¡ªand merely surviving more than a minute against such an opponent would have been enough for Belford to apud Siegfried''s performance. But what the hell was this? Not only was thed holding his own, he appeared to be toying with his opponent. It truly seemed as if Siegfried was inside the Yon Augennian''s mind. His narrow dodges and immacte footwork were a spectacle as if an instructor were demonstratingbat techniques to his ss. This was why Director Belford suddenly grew curious about Siegfried, pleasantly surprised to discover such a diamond hiding in the rough that was Valenzia. "Hahaha!" Kiin chuckled. "Seriously, even Ian had no choice but to surrender once Siegfried found his rhythm!" "Hmph! How many times did that actually happen, though? Didn''t I shut him down in almost half of our spars?" Ian shot back, unwilling to be outdone. "Yeah, but you had to do it quickly, right? You''ve never beaten Sieg in a long, drawn-out fight!" "Ugh... if you put it that way... I guess you''re right." Hearing the lighthearted banter between Kiin and Ian, Belford nodded inwardly, satisfied. If even the impressive young scout from earlier couldn''t defeat Siegfried Lionheart in a prolonged battle, it seemed safe to assume this match was already in the bag. However, he hadn''t anticipated a third individual of Ian and Siegfried''s caliber entering the conversation¡ªsomeone he knew little about. "Hahaha! But you''ve got to admit, Shirley''s impressive in her own way, right? Imagine sparring with that monster for at least thirty minutes every time! It''s hrious! Even Sieg can''t decide if he still wants to spar with Shirley or not¡ªhe looks so fed up! Bwahahaha!" Harry added, ncing at Shirley, prompting Belford to do the same. ''Her?'' The director mused as he gazed at the orange-haired beauty. ''Someone canst that long against that young monster?'' Fortunately, he didn''t have to wonder for long, as the conversation among the Valenzian youngsters resumed shortly after. "Hahaha! She''s all grit and stubbornness, right? Like an Amazon warrior straight out of the moviespletely relentless! She''s just too tough!" David said, allowing Belford to learn of her strengths. However, before the old director could even fully process the information he had just learned, another shocking revtion dropped. "Hahaha! She really deserves to be the one by Shye''s side!" Harry teased, making Shirley blush with embarrassment. ''What?! Thisss is Crowley''s woman?!'' Belford thought in utter shock. If it were true, she would naturally gain Shye''s support and could potentially surpass even the two young powerhouses on his youth team, given enough time. Shye''s proud reaction certainly suggested that this was the case. ''I suppose I''ll need to keep a close eye on this young woman, then¡­'' *BANG!* A loud noise that came from the sparring area snapped Belford out of his musings, prompting him to look once more at the dueling youngsters. Upon hearing what the youths of his team said, he already expected this result, but witnessing it actually happen still shocked him. There was the youngster from Yon Augenn, utterly spent as he knelt, gritting his teeth and gazing at the young man who had defeated him with furious, disbelieving eyes. This was the first time udius felt so helpless. Even after using his reliable trump card, [Thunder''s Warchief Lv.5 (Epic)], which had saved him from every disadvantageous situation in the past and allowed him to turn the tide each time, he still couldn''tnd a single clean hit on the unknown young man before him. "Great match, udius," Siegfried generously praised, turning to walk toward Valenzia''s designated table. "Though it did get a bit boring towards the end..." Thetter part of his statement was nearly a whisper, yet it still reached udius'' ears. "YOU!!" the Yon Augennian shouted in anger, struggling to find the right words as his wounded pride and shattered ego left him speechless. Ultimately, despite his urge to berate the arrogant Valenzian, he could only ask for the name of the young man who had bested him inbat, his teeth clenched. "Bastard¡­ What''s your name? Remember this day¡­ I will definitely get my revenge." "Oh? I thought you weren''t interested?" Siegfried replied with a mysterious smile. "Hahaha, just kidding¡ªI''ll tell you. The name''s Siegfried Lionheart. Feel free to challenge me whenever you like." Witnessing the handsome young man''s glorious exit, the heart of a certain young maiden raced wildly. ''Haaah¡­ always so cool¡­ my Sieg¡­'' Lesurii thought to herself as she watched Siegfried. "What a victory for Valenzia! Young Sir Siegfried Lionheart from Valenzia has defeated udius Lothain from Yon Augenn!" Moderator Scarlet suddenly announced in an energetic voice, capturing everyone''s attention and bringing Lesurii back to reality.@@novelbin@@ "Can everyone believe it? With this victory, the Valenzians have secured the top-three spot with a record of two wins and no losses! Can they maintain this incredible momentum, or will they stumble? We''ll find out soon!" Chapter 687 The Resilient One The third round quickly proceeded. The youngsters from other regions believed that Siegfried and Ian must''ve been two of the strongest duelists of the Valenzians. Hence, they grew confident in challenging the Valenzians, as the fear of being defeated by an underdog slowly departed from their hearts. No one wanted to suffer the same fate as Kenji Ashton of Krebori and udius Lothain of Yon Augenn, after all. The third Valenzian who fought was Luna, who faced a challenger from the 6th-ranked Hakk''Shatta Region¡ªa twenty-eight-year-old male warrior named Theodore Windsen. Bothbatants were shielders, but their gear was notably different. Luna wielded arge tower shield, while Theodore opted for a medium-sized round shield. As for weapons, Luna selected a blunted shortsword, contrasting with Theodore''s choice of a blunted falchion. It was clear that one emphasized defense, while the other leaned more towards offense. Right from the start of the match, it was obvious who had the superior strength attribute, as Luna was repeatedly driven back, sliding about half a meter with each sh. This drew smiles from the youths of other regions, confident that their earlier assumptions had been right¡ªthat Siegfried and Ian were indeed the strongest on Valenzia''s roster. They then immediately looked at the Valenzian table, picking their targets to challenge. Most of them believed doing so would be a free win. Still, some instinctively avoided the ever-calm Kiin Wujin, sensing he was just aspetitive as the first two. The elitists were right¡ªKiin was indeed another strong duelist. However, their decision to target the other six for an easy win was questionable. After all, had they chosen the Kreborians, their wins would''ve been easily guaranteed. Unfortunately, despite Ian and Siegfried''s dominance in their sparring matches, some of the elitists'' deep-seated disdain for Valenzia clouded their judgment. The smarter ones amongst those who merely wanted free wins had long chosen the Kreborians as their target. ¡­For a while, thebat situation between Luna and Theodore didn''t change, even when the two started using skills to try and defeat the other. The former ultimately ended up being continuously pushed back by thetter for more than fifteen minutes. After that, however, the situation suddenly began to subtly change. Theodore''s movements grew slower, and his reactions became increasingly dyed as minutes passed. In contrast, Luna showed no signs of fatigue, her mental and physical state unchanged, as if she wasn''t tired at all. Seeing this, Shye smiled. Before the match, he had used appraisal on both fighters and offered Luna some advice. While Theodore was faster and stronger, his stamina was unusually poor for a shielder, giving Luna the upper hand in a prolonged battle. Nheless, one''s mental state is vital inbat. Without Shye''s assurance that she would definitely win in a drawn-out match, the repeated small defeats during their minor shes would have gradually worn down Luna''s mental fortitude, making her anxious and causing her stamina to drain much faster than it should. She was the oldest among the Valenzian representatives, which made it rather obvious that she was the least talented among them. However, she had always been the most diligent, resilient, and patient among them. As a result, she was able to keep up with Shirley and the others, though she rarely took breaks, even during their quests. By continuously pushing her body to its limits, she trained relentlessly, significantly boosting her stamina and vitality. Unfortunately, despite all her hard work, her offensive physical and mental attributes remained only slightly above averagepared to her peers. Still, this was only true when facing exceptionally talented youngsters. She was far ahead in every aspectpared to most people her age. Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire However, unfortunately, her natural talent alone wasn''t enough to put her at the very top without pushing herself to the brink through relentless training. Moreover, she didn''te from a prominent n. She had achieved everything through her hard work. ¡­A few more minutester, it was Theodore who was on the retreat, struggling to block Luna''s chain of fierce and swift attacks. The blows weren''t particrly powerful, but they were more than enough to stagger someone exhausted. Before long, after taking another strike empowered by [Power sh], the young man from the Hakk''Shatta Region lost his bnce and fell onto his back.@@novelbin@@ He quickly attempted to rise, but a forceful kick from Luna, hitting his shield, sent him rolling backward. Theodore struggled desperately to regain his footing. Unfortunately, as he looked up, a blunted shortsword was already pointed at his face. "Surrender," Lunamanded, her expression stone-cold. "I win." The young Hakk''Shattan gnashed his teeth in frustration, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He lost. Theodore knew that even if he tried toe up with excuses for a second chance against his Valenzian opponent, the oue would be the same¡ªespecially now that he waspletely drained of energy. Meanwhile, Belford watched the conclusion of the match with a gaping mouth. Their current youth representative was one he considered to merely be "filling in the numbers". He hadn''t expected Luna to win at all, especially after seeing her struggle to survive the first few minutes of the sparring match. ''T-That''s it? The three wins I was praying for were achieved just like this?'' was the thought that popped up in the old director''s mind. Belford would have been satisfied with just three wins against Krebori, but he never imagined one of those victories would be a stunning triumph over a Yon Augennian, along with a hard-fought win against a respected Hakk''Shattan. What made it hard for him to believe was the fact that they had actually managed to steal the top spot from Yon Augenn in the Inter-Regional Sparring Matches of the Heroes'' Banquet. While Belford wasn''t certain if they could maintain this position until the end, it was enough to make his old heart race with childlike excitement. "And with yet another splendid, hard-fought victory from Miss Luna Gonzales, Valenzia¡ªthe neers of the Heroes'' Banquet¡ªseizes the top spot!!" The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!