Jason tilted his head. “I’m a member of Crusaders, aren’t I?”
Just as Hans and Jason’s eyes met, Hans’ communication necklace trembled as a message appeared informing him that someone wanted to add him as a contact.
Chapter 11
As soon as Hans accepted, he asked. “How confident are you?”
If not for Jason giving him information, he wouldn’t give him the time of day. His guild master was relying on him getting this hunting zone. Normally he wouldn’t rely on outsiders for this, but his confidence was lacking. Why not take a chance?
Jason thought for a moment. If he said 100%, Hans probably wouldn’t believe him. He decided to take a more sensible approach. “75%. ”
Hans released a breath. That was more than enough for him. “What do you want?”
“To partake in the bloodlines this zone has to offer. Only enough for myself.” Jason’s demand was reasonable.
Their conversation only took a few seconds. Hans nodded and said aloud, “He’s our newest member.”
“Fine, then. I don’t care.” Ivan felt that something was off, but what did he have to worry about? His guild members were among the strongest humanity had to offer. Only those freaks in the top-tier guilds were stronger.
The members of Crusaders looked at Hans in confusion. He feigned a look of confidence, which assuaged their concerns. The thirty members of Crusaders placed their hope in Jason. Two losses back-to-back had been a hard blow to their morale. They were hoping for a miracle.
Ivan turned to a muscular woman clad in thick tan leather. “Anna.”
“No problem.” Anna pulled out a pair of longswords adorned with jewels and stepped forward.
Jason’s eye twitched when he saw her weapons. Damn. These guilds are decked out. Anna’s longswords were an obscure pair of Arcane grade. Although a grade lower than Heroic, they were a two-piece set. Because she had both of them, their power was on par with a Heroic grade weapon.
Jason’s equipment was lacking compared to his opponent. The best grade he had was Rare, one lower than Arcane. It couldn’t be helped. These upper-tier guilds were filthy rich due to fighting in the tower for twenty years. Jason had just started, so no matter how much he abused his knowledge, his foundations were nowhere to be seen.
Anna gave Jason a smile. “Want me to lend you some equipment?”
The members of Vengeance chuckled behind Anna, boosting her ego. Jason shook his head as he pulled out his sword. “No need.”
One of the Vengeance members suddenly commented. “Why does he have a turtle on his head?”
Strange looks appeared on everyone’s faces when they spotted the sleeping turtle on Jason’s head. Jason stood as still as a statue, unsure of how to respond. Thankfully, a man wearing cloth robes used the inspect skill and exclaimed. “It’s a pet! The species says battle turtle. How lucky!”
“A pet!” Everyone grew startled. A pet was extremely rare. The only way to acquire them was to purchase them for a vast sum, or be lucky and get them as a drop.
“Let’s get this over with.” Ivan snorted impatiently. He had seen a few pets, so he figured Jason had just gotten lucky. Ivan began to countdown. “Three, two, one. Begin!”
Anna let out a fierce bellow as she activated Leap. She flew into the air, barreling straight towards Jason. Almost instantly she slammed into the ground, forming a small crater. A shockwave swept out, stunning all opponents in the area for one second.
Leap was no secret among the ascenders who reached this floor. Upon encountering it, a simple step backwards would avoid the stun effect. Anna counted on it. As soon as she landed, she activated Charge. Her movement speed spiraled upwards as she entered a status immune state.
Much to her disappointment, Jason blocked her follow-up attack with his shield. He angled it in such a way that her attack was pulled to the side. Anna’s eyes widened as a thought flashed through her head. An expert!
The realization changed nothing. She was a barbarian. Her style of combat was to be relentless, so as her attack was deflected to the side, she followed the momentum and spun around, activating Tornado. Her figure blurred as her swords collided against Jason’s shield. Time and time again Jason was pushed backwards.
The tornado skill had an infinite duration, but would consume stamina every second. The attacks were unending, and the skill would fell most foes. Any moment now Jason would buckle from the pressure. Any moment now.
“Do you want to die?” Jason’s cold voice cut through the air.
Anna snorted. In her mind, she would win any second. Her opponent was only threatening her like a cornered dog. Suddenly, her vision swam as something collided into her side, knocking her to the ground.
In a fury, she shot to her feet. “Who dares to inter-!?”
She froze when she realized that it was Ivan who knocked her to the ground. Anna was in disbelief. Why would Ivan interfere, knowing that doing so would result in a loss?
“You dumb muscle-head! Do you not feel any pain?” Ivan shouted in anger and pointed at her chest.
Anna glanced down, only to be thunderstruck. Her body was covered in small wounds. Shocked, she inspected her health and found that it was nearly zero. She turned to Jason. “How? You didn’t attack a single time!”
Jason rubbed the back of his head. “Reflect damage.”
Ivan raised an eyebrow. He’d never heard of an ascender having that before. “Is that a skill, or an effect from an item?”
“Who knows?” Jason shrugged and walked over to his starting position. “One-to-two, right?”
Ivan clicked his tongue. Although it wasn’t rare to encounter a new skill, to have it happen now was annoying. The good news was that it was easy to counter. The next battle would be his. Ivan turned to a giant man with a rugged beard. “Cheslov, you’re up.”
“I got it, boss.” Cheslov dragged a massive broadsword along the ground as he walked forward.
Ivan grinned as he began to count down. “Three, two, one, begin!”
Cheslov gripped the giant broadsword with both hands and took in a deep breath. To win the battle, he only needed to hit Jason a few times. Such was the power of the weapon. Unfortunately, the broadsword was so heavy he needed two hands to lift it. To counter its slow speed, he used area of effect skills to guarantee a hit.
Cheslov charged forward, awkwardly dragging the broadsword behind him. Jason stood still, watching the clown in front of him with amusement. Cheslov roared as the veins on his arms popped out. He raised the beast of a weapon overhead and slammed it into the ground. Ground Slam was activated, dealing damage to all targets in the area.
Jason casually activated Shield Block and stepped forward. As the damage was negated, his sword cut through Cheslov’s arm, severing muscle, tendon, and bone. It fell to the ground with a thud, shocking everyone.
Cheslov gave a deep, guttural groan as he fell to one knee. He clutched his shoulder in pain. Several members of Vengeance ran forward. “Cheslov! Are you okay?”
Ivan appeared next to Cheslov and poured a high-grade health potion down his throat. As Cheslov’s health was restored to full, an arm appeared in a flash of light. With the pain gone, he stood up and glanced at Jason before turning around and leaving the area.
A member of Vengeance clicked his tongue. “Damn, he’s in that mood again.”
Ivan turned to Jason with a frown. “Are you a tank or swordmaster?”
Jason shrugged. “Who knows?”
Getting the same response two times in a row irked Ivan. A Vengeance member, equipped in cloth robes, whispered into Ivan’s ear. “I cast inspect. His health and stamina are still over 80%.”
“Damn it.” Ivan clenched his hands in frustration. He turned to Hans and spat. “Great new recruit you have, so damn lucky!”
He turned around and waved to his allies. “Let’s go.”
�
�� A heavy weight was lifted from Hans’ shoulders. He had been surprised when Jason easily handled Anna, and shocked when Jason severed Cheslov’s arm. Most striking was how calm Jason was during the entire ordeal. His eyes were like a hawk’s, able to see through everything.
Hans called out to Ivan. “Haha, isn’t there still another round?”
Ivan glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t push your luck. Next week, we’ll be back. Who knows, maybe we’ll have a ‘new recruit’ too!”
“Good luck!”
As Vengeance disappeared, the members of Crusaders surrounded Jason. “Damn, how do you reflect damage? That’s overpowered!”
“Overpowered? He casually severed Cheslov’s arm! That’s a rare as hell skill!” another member of Crusaders commented.
Jason scratched his cheek. “Not really. The majority of reflect’s damage is blocked by physical armor.”
The members of Crusaders pressed Jason for more information on his skills, but he declined to give out anything more. A few moments later, Hans shouted. “All right, all right. That’s enough. Squad one, go determine how strong these hyenas are. Scout squad, go verify the map we bought and see if it’s correct.”
Hans gave out a flurry of orders. In a few short moments, Jason and Hans were alone. Hans patted Jason on the shoulder. “Thanks, I owe you one.”
Jason shook his head. “As long as I get a spot to grind in, we’re even.”
“Of course! I’m a man of my word.” Hans paused briefly before narrowing his eyes. “How about joining my guild?”
Jason declined respectfully. “Sorry, I’m already in one.”
“Oh.” Disappointment flashed through Hans eyes. “Might I ask for the name?”
Jason coughed. “Uh, it’s a new guild. We don’t have a name yet.”
Hans blinked in confusion, only to understand a second later. “Ah, you’re starting your own guild. A man of your caliber should have no problems with that.” Hans extended his hand. “If you need it, Crusaders will gladly be your ally.”
Jason didn’t bother to clarify Hans’ misunderstanding and shook hands. “I’d be delighted.”
“Come.” Hans turned towards the hyena hunting ground. “Let’s see if this was worth the effort.”
Chapter 12
As the Crusaders members entered the rocky forest, the laughter that filled the area turned into yelps. The hyenas were no match for the combined strength of Crusaders’ parties. Each party had a tank, damage dealers, and supports.
Jason and Hans entered the hunting zone side by side. Out of the corner of Jason’s eye, he could see Hans’ necklace tremble continuously. Hans’ subordinates were sending him information, leaving him unable to talk with Jason. Not that Jason minded.
Jason’s eyes narrowed as a hyena suddenly dashed out from behind a large boulder. It charged straight towards Hans, who reacted by unsheathing his greatsword. It pounced, probably moving far faster than any monster Hans had encountered before, Jason figured. Still, as a high-ranking officer of an upper-tier guild, Hans would have already entered the first realm.
With perfect control over his body, he managed to block the hyena with the blade of his greatsword just in time. Bellowing, he gave a shove, tossing the hyena into the air. The skill Quick Slash was used, allowing the greatsword to move with far greater speed. While the hyena was in the air, he cleaved it in half. Because no Sever skill was used, only a blood-red line was left behind. The hyena rolled along the ground and jumped to its feet. To Hans’s obvious surprise, the hyena still had plenty of life. It was much stronger than a wolf.
The hyena lowered its head and charged forward. Hans smirked and leveled his greatsword. “The result will be the same as last time.”
Another hyena suddenly sprinted out from a boulder behind Hans. By the time he sensed it, it had already pounced, its jaws about to close around his neck.
Jason stepped forward, bashing the hyena and pinning it between a boulder and his shield. The hyena snapped at Jason’s shield arm, dealing negligible damage. In response, Jason dug his sword into the hyena’s stomach. He dragged up and down, slicing through the hyena’s organs. It yelped as its health plummeted.
When it dispersed into light, Jason turned just in time to see Hans land the killing blow on his hyena. Hans turned and gave Jason a curt nod before continuing deeper into the hunting ground.
A few minutes later, Hans paused and sighed. “Sorry about that. That should have been the last report.”
Jason scanned his surroundings. “No problem. Everything in order?”
Hans took out a tattered rag from his inventory ring and cleaned the blood from his greatsword. “Yep. We’ve found the location of the elites and the field boss. According to the map we bought from a top-tier guild, the respawn time of the elite hyenas is ten minutes, and the field boss hyena is one hour.”
Jason nodded as he compared this information with his memory. “How often does a raid boss spawn?”
Hans put away the rag and sheathed his greatsword. “Depends on how fast we hunt the lower-tier hyenas.”
“Same as before then, huh?” Jason talked as if he was a newcomer to these floors.
Hans turned to Jason and squinted. “Say, I’ve been watching how you fight. You’ve entered the second realm, haven’t you?”
“Not long ago, yes.” Jason nodded. With the strength Jason was showing, others were bound to come to this conclusion. It was inevitable, so he had already come up with the maximum level of strength he would reveal. If he only used the second realm and were to be compared to an upper-tier guild, only the vice guild master and guild master would be able to compete with him in pure skill. Of course, the equipment they had would far outshine Jason’s. It was unknown who would win if they fought to the death.
Just thinking about it left Jason irritated. He remembered the equipment he used to have; a complete set of heroic and celestial gear. Even his accessories were that grade. After purchasing equipment for his father, Jason was left with around forty thousand gold. With that much, he would be able to buy a couple pieces of heroic grade gear or one celestial grade piece. It just wasn’t worth it, considering that he was still at a low level. Only heroic grade gear past level 100 mattered in Jason’s eyes.
Hans rubbed his chin as he fell into thought. He glanced at Jason every now and then while muttering to himself. After around half a minute, he nodded. “Our guild could definitely use someone with your skill. What do you say about making a contract?”
Catch! Jason responded calmly. “And what would this contract entail? I already said I’m not interested in joining your guild.”
“I know, I know.” Hans waved his hand. “By the looks of your equipment, you don’t have any backing. No offense.”
Jason shook his head. “None taken.”
“Anyway, if you help my guild secure hunting zones, we’ll help you max out your bloodlines. What do you say?” Hans fell silent, waiting patiently for Jason’s response.
Jason didn’t let his excitement show. This was what he had hope would happen when he shoved himself into the duel earlier. His goal was to gain access to hunting grounds with the least amount of backlash, and as of this moment, he’d accomplished it. He nodded. “I accept.”
Hans smiled brightly. “Great.”
Hans and Jason spent the next few minutes introducing themselves and finalizing the contract. It was just a verbal contract, but the details still needed to be hashed out. When both parties were satisfied, they were officially allies, at least for the time being.
Hans showed Jason to a free spot in the hunting ground where Jason could hunt without worry. Just as he was about to leave Jason alone, Hans paused. “Oh, right. Jason, are you a tank?”
Jason responded as he fought a pair of hyenas. “I have tank skills.”
Hans pondered for a moment. “Are you confident in tanking a raid boss?”
Jason narrowly dodged a pincer attack b
efore responding. “How good are your healers?”
Hans proudly puffed out his chest. “Although the ascenders under my command aren’t the best in my guild, we’ve hunted several raid bosses successfully. I must admit that I don’t know the exact strength of the hyena raid boss, but with you tanking, we should be fine. You’re in the second realm, after all.”
Jason finished off the two hyenas and turned to Hans. “All right. We’ll split the loot according to the agreement.”
Hans gave a thumbs up. “Sounds good. I’ll contact you when the raid boss appears.”
Hans headed towards his own party to hunt more hyenas. Their bloodline was of vital importance to his guild, so he couldn’t waste any more time. He was ordered to gather enough bloodline vials for his entire guild. Not only would he need to work overtime, he also needed to maintain control over the hunting ground. Vengeance was sure to come back.
Now that Jason was alone, he started to fight with all of his skills in order to level them up. Having a high skill grade was more important than good equipment and level combined. After spending so much time managing his kingdom and training Olivia, his skill levels had been leveling slowly, except for the ones that leveled up when he mutilated himself.
As Jason killed one hyena after another, he started to fall into a trance. Kill, loot, search, kill. After two days, Hans sent him a message. “The raid boss appeared.”
Chapter 13
A massive hyena with lustrous brown fur, at least two times larger than a bear, slept in the center of an open clearing. Layers of dense muscles covered its body. A single swipe of its paw could easily shred through rock, much less human flesh. Such strength was to be expected from raid bosses.
(Raid Boss) Hyena Lord - Level 60
Health: 150,000/150,000
Jason leaned against a boulder at the edge of the clearing. Next to him stood Hans and the other Crusaders members. Hans made a quick headcount. “Looks like everyone’s here. Let’s buff up.”
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