《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 Maiawas 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 couldno 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 IC" "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 sisternot 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 groundhis 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 therein 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 Academys 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 0] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 3 [ss]: Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength: 6] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility: 4] [Dexterity : 3] [Stamina: 5] [Vitality: 5]: [Wisdom: 4] [Back] [Exit System] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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" ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 87] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 87] [Upgrade Armor] [Upgrade Weapon] [Upgrade Status] [Option Locked] [Option Locked] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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] + ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Locked] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 5 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 8] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 6] [Dexterity : 3] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 6 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 11] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 10] [Dexterity : 4] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 7 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: N/A ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 12] [Intelligence : 3] [Agility : 10] [Dexterity : 10] [Stamina : 5] [Vitality : 5]: [Wisdom : 4] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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 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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "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. --------------------------------------------------------- Name: Rock Level : 0 Description: A normal rock --------------------------------------------------------- "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!" --------------------------------------------------------- Name: Allison Ferd Level : 18 Description: An adventurer -------------------------------------------------------- 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 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 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 hC" "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 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]. ---------------------------------------------------- Host: Shye Crowley ---------------------------------------------------- [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. ---------------------------------------------------- "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. ---------------------------------------------------- Host: Shye Crowley ---------------------------------------------------- [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. ---------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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] ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 24 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.1][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 37] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 32] [Dexterity : 35] [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. --------------------------------------------------------------- [Matchups] #1 vs #10 #2 vs #9 #3 vs #8 #4 vs #7 #5 vs #6 ----------------------------------------------------------------- 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 40] (+3) [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 35] (+3) [Dexterity : 39] (+4) [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 6050] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 41] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 40] (+5) [Dexterity : 40] (+1) [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 14]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. ---------------------------------------------------------------- [Training Elixir(Lv.1) - Stamina] Description: Enhances stamina training speed by 100% for 2 hours Cost: 50 points --------------------------------------------------------------- "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. --------------------------------------------- [Pillow] Description: A soft pillow --------------------------------------------- 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 27 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [Skills]: [Appraisal Lv.1] [Dash Lv.1][Power sh Lv.2][Enhanced Reaction Time Lv.1][Stoic Lv.1] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 45] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 45] [Dexterity : 45] [Stamina : 15] [Vitality : 24]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. --------------------------------------------------------------- [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 --------------------------------------------------------------- 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 haC?!" 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 spC" "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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 35 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [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] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 55] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 51] [Dexterity : 53] [Stamina : 23] [Vitality : 45]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 IC?!" *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 Academys 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 mC?!" 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, howevC?!" *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 Regions 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 38 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [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] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 59] [Intelligence : 10] [Agility : 55] [Dexterity : 55] [Stamina : 23] [Vitality : 50]: [Wisdom : 6] [Back] [Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 Academys 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. N?v(el)B\\jnn 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. 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. "ShitIs 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. "HaaahHaaahhShit! What happened to thC?!" 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 teammateswere 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 FiennaDid 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 patheticIs 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 thenuntil thenPlease 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 thatwe 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 yourGirlfriend, 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 andsexually 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level] : 48 [ss] : Warrior ----------------------------- [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] ----------------------------- [Attributes] [Strength : 75] [Intelligence : 15] [Agility : 73] [Dexterity : 74] [Stamina : 45] [Vitality : 63]: [Wisdom : 10] [Back][Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 "HaaahAt least you''re back, that''s what matters" Maia responded with a sigh "YeahWell, 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 ssAs 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 Waitdid 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 examineesMaybe 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 hellisn''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 solet 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 weaklingI want to fight strong guysWhen 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-KuuhhhYou 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. "WahhThe ssroom is emptySeems 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. ----------------------------------- Name: Wooden Chair Level : N/A Description: A wooden chair. ----------------------------------- "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 pointsIf 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. "PhewTwo 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 MonasteryI''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 Isnuck outThen, 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 seeWell 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 "HaaahThen 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. PerhapsIf 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 questsI guess we canplete it first" Shye said with a helpless smile on his face. ''HaahhI 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-UhmmW-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 oC?!" *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 wasThat 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 intelligencesounded 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 thoughCwith 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- [Steel Physique] (Umon) - 15,000 points Description: Boost one''s vitality attribute by 5% permanently. ---------------------------------------------------------- ''HmmThis 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- [Cat Reflexes] (Umon) - 18,000 points Description: Gain the reaction time of a cat. ---------------------------------------------------------- ''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. "HaahIt 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- [Fire Affinity] (Rare) - 26,000 points Description: Increases fire elemental damage by 20% ---------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- [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 ---------------------------------------------------------- ''What the actual fC, 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. "AghhHaaaahW-What the hellI 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 50 [ss]: Warrior ----------------------------- [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] ----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ----------------------------- 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] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 50 [ss]: Warrior ----------------------------- [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] ----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ----------------------------- 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] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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: "HaaaahWhy is it so hard to find an opponent for our third-year studentsWell, 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. ''OhhHow 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 pretentiousI''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. ''HaaahThis 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 matchCfortunately, 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 wasdisappointed. ''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 okIt''s okI still have my strongest spellBesides, 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 AcademyIt''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-YoCrowley!! 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. "Ahhyes, 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. ''UghhNo 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 cameCadventuring 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. "YoWhat 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 meuC" *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 studentsCfive 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-DeansEverything is my faultAfter 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." "HoweverWhile 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 backA trap door suddenly opened below us" "Crowley managed to escape but Icouldn''tHe dived back in to save me and fell down insteadIf onlyIf only I didn''t suggest checking the entranceOr If I was capable enough to escape the trap on my ownnone 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 guysThey 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. ''TchSince 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. "II 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 nightChis 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 knowThus, 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: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Shye Crowley [Level]: 60 [ss]: Warrior ----------------------------- [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)] ----------------------------- Talent: [???(???)] [Greatsword Meister (Rare)] ----------------------------- 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] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''I''ve already be this strong without me noticing huhThe 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. ''HaaaahhHaaaahhhWhat 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. ''ShitShould''veupgradedmy 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 wasHe was alone. He needed one more contact point from either the balls of his feet, which was theoretically and physically impossible, orhis faceto 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. Onlyhis quick nap wasn''t so quick at all and turned out to be an eight-hour sleep. *YAWN* ''CrapI slept, didn''t I? WellNot 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 wasdisappointed. 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 eyeA 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!] ''TchHow 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. ''HaaahhLast two roomsPlease 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 roomgives 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. ''YeahFairly 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 wasSmall 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, andAn 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. ''HaaahStill no exit'' Shye sighed in dejection and slight despair. These treasures would be worth nothing if he could not escape thisbyrinthCor 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 exitSo 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. FinallyFinallyHe could get out of this damnedbyrinth! ''MaiaShirleyWait 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. "Whatthe hellis 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 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''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, thereWasn''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 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 koboldreacted 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 startersLet''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 fuckIs 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, andsmiled. 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 wasthe 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. ''TchIt 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 smellWas 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. Itsears 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 earsYes! 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. ''ThereNow I should be able to make smarter decisionsRight?'' 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. ''HmmWho 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, andbroken 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 sweetIt 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 weregone. 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 untilCWaitWhat 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 academyC 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 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! GodsGoddessesPlease 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 filthyC 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. "HuffHuff" 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!! HaaahHaaah" 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 CrowleyHas 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, ShirleyI''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 brotherUuuuhh...It''s good that you''re backIt''s good that you''re back" "CrowleyI 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. "DeansSince 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. ''NowSenior 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 arrogantI''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. ''AhI 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* ''AhCrapDid 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. ''HaaahThe 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* ''TchHe''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 badNow, 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 attributesDid 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. "HaaahYou 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? UwaahhShe 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 yearThis 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. ''Hmmpassive 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. ------------------------------- [(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. ------------------------------- ''Oh? This skill smells like troubleBut 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. ''AihhhI might be overthinking things too much hereWho 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, WendyAre 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. ''HmmmSeems 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. ''HmmEven 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 gemstoC" "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, whileEarning 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-NoHow can someone like youT-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 coins2000 silver coins3000 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 ceCeagerness 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 "GehThis 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. "PfftColzen Academy? Who the hell are they trying to impress?" "HahahaBrother, 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 allWouldn''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. ''TchYou mean only 620 people were watching? Well, points are pointsI 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! "CrapDid 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-YeahI 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" "AihThat''s my problem as wellAside 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" "HaaahTell me about itTo 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 yearsYou 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?" "OhYes, it''s located at" *** *RING* *RING* *RING* ''UghhI 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* AhhA 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-AhhD-DeanIt''s nothingThis 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 thatThere are betting stations in which one could bet on who will make it to the top 8II 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 themselvesTheir 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 thatSomething 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 thenHe 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 academyIf 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. "WhaC?" "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 stupidYou, 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. "AihhCan 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. ''HmmphYou 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-HeyIsn''t Colzen bad news right now?" "They''re just too strong! A true dark horse!" "S-ShitMaybe 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 acoupon. 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 "AhhShit. 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." "PshThere you go again, dark horses this, dark horses that, when have these so-called dark horses dethroned the three kings?" "They haven''tBut! 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" "YesBut 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''tright? 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?" "Theydefeated 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?" "WellIt''s hard to tellbecausethe third dark horse is the most mysterious" "Oh? Which academy? And what did they do?" "Well it''sColzen 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. "TchThis 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-guysCan IFight 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. "AiihhAgain? 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 aC" "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" "TchI 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 loweC" "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 abC?!'' Ae was horrified, she tried activating her repositioning skills but for some reason shecouldn''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 girlafter everything she said about teaching the scout a lesson, she was the one who got taught a lesson!" "Hahahatalk 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 bastardsI''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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [Name]: Gray Elliot [Level]: 53 [ss]: Warrior [Strength: 87] [Intelligence: 15] [Agility: 77] [Dexterity: 74] [Stamina: 65] [Vitality: 80]: [Wisdom: 10] [Back][Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Hoh? He''s pretty strongstill 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? ''HmmShould I test my harrowing aura on this guy? It said that I could select my targetright? 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''mscared? 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. ThenAs 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. "ShitHow 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. "HaaahI 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 butC" "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. "YouLittleShit!!" 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. ''HaaahLook at Ian, hogging all the gloryI 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." "HohohWell 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 felthis 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 frontof 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 hurtthis 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 facesCa 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 weaknessesCan 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. ''Howthe 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 bastardI 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. "ISurrender" 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?" "II''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 Academyhas 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 sipCan 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 upCthe 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.." "Shyeyou''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 outright?'' 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 worldCfree 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 processCquenching. 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 othersCoil 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 remainedCenchanting 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 craftCthe 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? HeckAren''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 peopleCintentionally 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 fromabove? 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 eyesCgone 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 creatureCwith 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. "HahaYou 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 about21,000 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. ''OkayMy bad, old manLet''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. "Hmmto be faireven 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 ownbut!" Just when Shye was about to smile, Erwin''s next words stupefied him. "I don''t like its designI''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 equipmentI 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 coins18,000 silver coins19,500 silver coins20,000 silver coins The other cksmiths were closeHowever, none of them managed to shake the king''s throne. Finally, after a series of rigorous appraisals, the judges were down to onest cksmithCMeido 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!...HohohoDoran, my dear student. You have a feisty little challenger21,000!" 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 fascinatingwhat a talented young cksmithI liked everything, even the design of your dagger. HoweverI 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 haveI 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 yearthis 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 forNewfort 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 thenLet''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. ''AihhWhy 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 luckyI 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. ''Hmmseems like I wouldn''t encounter any problems hereno 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 crapWhy 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. ''Tchonly 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 fC'' Shye''s thoughts were cut short upon realizing what the projectile was. It wasan 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 outCtune 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. ''TchHow 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 represtativesCthree 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 choiceCmakeshift spears, shortswords, and axes as they charged toward six young humans. "AaaandThe 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. "Theypulled out asleeping 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. "WhaC WahzWhat the heC Colz!! The Colz trio!! TheyThey''re rxing!! Rxing on the sleeping bags!! What is happing?! Is Colz throwing the match?! NoThey''re mocking the Bluestone represtatives!!" "PffhahThis 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 offJust 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 "NoThis can''t be realThis 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 ideasCimmediately, 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-NoI 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. "Apartnership 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." "Ido?" "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 surebut we''re choosing to invest in your skills. We saw your match earlier and I gotta say, that barrierI''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 apprehsionCgone 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 itWhat are they schemingwhy 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. IfIf 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 stuffright?" 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 badbutI 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. ''TchShe 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 demandmore? Wellthere is something I indeed want that is not in the contractmaybe 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. "Ishall sign the contract", Wendy said, prompting Helena''s anxious expression into one of joy. "Butthere 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-OkayI wantteC no, fifteen! fifteen Steelfeather ostrich eggs a month" "Awhat?" "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 ifnothing 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 rankand 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 actfor 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. ''Hmma 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, quitehandsome 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 ishow 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." ?%????#-&+-?$?@-@-?+-& 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. "Haaahhthis is starting to get boringI''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-manCor 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. #ŧ?+??#$-#??*??*-?-%- 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 weeCWendy 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 Izanagialright 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 ''HmmTwo-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. ''TchI 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? Nomaybe 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. "Tchthese lowlives are tougher than I thoughtWell, 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, FinnCif 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 bastardis 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 towardsthe 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. "WhaC 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 thingmust be way overused by now sono 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 harloC 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. ''TchSeems 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, yetAbegail 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 arrowssimply 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 isdue 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 lowliveshow dare youHOW 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 koboldsdon''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?! AaaaanddThest 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 matchwas 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 thisis 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 numberhehehehe [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 seemeda 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 anda 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." NovelFire-your-story-source "If anyone still dares to cause a ruckusthen 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-NovelFire 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." NovelFire-exclusive "Ahk..No! I would stillpete for themof 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 settingCin 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 backCaze 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 butit 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-NovelFire 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 golemC 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 angleCfrom 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 closeIt 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 orit 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 retortedCutterly 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 backwardCits 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 HairyIs 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 thC" *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. "WhaC 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. "WaitWait!! 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." "WhaC? 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. Find your story on mvle,mp _y,r. 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 fastHe 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 adventurerCbraving dangers for the sake of a brighter tomorrow. "HohI 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!" "WhaC? 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 butShye 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. ''PhewThis 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 forthCa 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 awayCgenerating 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 cheersCwaving 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 NovelFire-lempyr Heaving a sigh of relief, Damien was forced to use one of his trump cardsCa 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 faceChis 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 stageCwith 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? OhI guess you doyou''re wearing my armor after allWait, 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?!" "AhhcrapI shouldn''t have said thatShould 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 butwhat 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. WellIdon''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 somewhatunprofessional 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 KusanagiI thought she would be part of the three-on-threeWell, 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 fightright?...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 otherCa 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 SiegfriedCsilent 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 adaptCan 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 hitCa shallow one. Blood spurted out from a rtively minor cut on Lesurii''s wrist after failing to perfectly parry Siegfried''s increasingly urate blowsChis 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 vignceChis 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 reappearCbehind 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 wasCbehind 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 standingCeven 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 desperateCher 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. Discover new worlds on NovelFire-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 expectCteleport 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 ratherC 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 "Ahf*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, hebelieved 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 individualsCgoneCreced by scenes of family life together with the crazydy next to him. "N-NoI 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 farceChis 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." *** Find your story on NovelFire,mp _y,r. Due to the momentary farce, the Colzen representatives were in a much better moodCexcept for Siegfried of course, who just experienced the biggest scare in his life. The poor guy was still a bit distressedCtrying 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 themLesuriieven 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 weaponsCmostly 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 byCready for battle. Mighty as they were among their age group, both parties of representatives suddenly felt their hairs stand on endCendless 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 sweatCsome 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 itCalive and healthy. All of the representatives onstage tried their best, however, they remained petrifiedCthey 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 representativesCits horrifying maw wide open. The slightly more faint-hearted onesCnamelyCWendy, 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 timeCneither 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 didCflying 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 pressureCtheir 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 humanCbound by thews of gravity. Promptly after changing its attack to cmitous downward dives, another four representatives perished in the simted realmCsent 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 upCtheir 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 onCdoing 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 raysCsent 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 stageCproud 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 backgroundCa 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 doorsCdignified 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 answersChe 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." "HmmDid 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 bonkersCwaving their fists in excitementCand 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 hardCrunning 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 useCunwilling 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 chanceCas 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 bodyCshowing 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 ringsideCalive 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 adversaryConly 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 themCtrying 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 theirposureCtheir remaining trump cardsCclose 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 thereCunharmed. 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 thathe 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 runningCin 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 ssesCbasically 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 teethhis 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 HEC" 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. ''Youhave 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 crazymost 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'' barriersmassive 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 representativeCstaring at the ground, empty-eyed. "NoT-There''s no wayI''mI''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 winC and that it would be An who would grab the championship in the end. Hence, upon seeing Shye pull out trump card after trump cardeven 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 atmosphereall 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 adventurersyou 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 happinesswide 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 hugtears 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 hearttears welling in the corners of his eyes. ''Ahhf*ck this why am I so sentimental? Well, with how talented these guys are I''m sure we''ll meet againherein 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. ''Ahhcrapmy 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 sothey 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 downwardto his bare torsobefore turning his head to nce at the young woman with short orange hair peacefully sleeping beside him. Her torso was also bareher 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'' ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- [Wee to shy Adventurer System!] [Current Host: Shye Crowley] [Current Points: 268,572] [Status] [Inventory] [Upgrades] [Shop] [Quests] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''I''ve amassed a total of 268,572 points huh? Not badNot 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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)] ----------------------------- Blessings: [Blessing of Lesser Intelligence(Permanent)] [Attributes] [Strength: 120] [Intelligence: 94] [Agility: 120] [Dexterity: 120] [Stamina: 90] [Vitality: 105] [Wisdom: 28] [Back][Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Hmmso 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 demonizedAm 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 thema 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 unfavorablespecifically, the evil path. ''The old man shouldn''t be an actual viinright?'' Shye wondered as he checked the mandatory quest again. ----------------------------------- 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 ----------------------------------- 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 representativesincluding Shyetook 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. --------------------- [Common] [Umon] [Rare] [Unique] [Epic] [Legendary (Locked)] [???(Locked)] [???(Locked)] --------------------- ''YoThis is pretty neatOh? 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. ----------------------------------------------------------- [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% ---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- [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% ---------------------------------------------------------- After reading the effects of the first two unique talents, Shye''s eyes opened widehis mouthagape. ''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 forcamping 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 terrainsother timesthrough 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''tthen 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 infuriatedVeins popped out at the sides of his head 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 blowjust 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 backa 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 formationwith 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 ountableyou 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 assassinsthey 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 themfar faster, far stronger. Their well-practiced hunting formation easily copsed as soon as the loathsome old goat used skillstheir front liners, including Shyebeaten 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 pipsqueaksI''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 dojust shut the hell upall 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 secondsjust 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. ''CrapI 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 hima 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 facecurved 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 aroundthough, most of the fault was due to the old goat ying around. Still, the middle-aged man standing atop a cliff was impressed. ''F*ckdo they seriously not need my help? Haahbetter 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 backstruggling 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 Bakkohis next attack, a vicious stab to the foreheadalready 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 upwardshis 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 airhis 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 allprobably 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 bastaC...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 Valenziaall of themwell-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 popceliterally 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 boxalways 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 worseonly 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 leaderproven 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. NamelySiegfried, 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 yousaving our liveswouldn''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. "AihhWhy 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-WendyAren''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 canvasever-presenttimelessly 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 stuffletters, 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 guildshopefully, faster than any other guild. Inside one specific guild 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. "KEKEKEKEI 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 lookhoping that he would agree. "Deal, here." Shockinglyor 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 patientlysporting 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 lifeept 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 Cityboth adventurers and normal peoplewere 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 stupidwell, 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. ''HeheheBing 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 Academyobserved 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 yearthe 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 excellentconsistently 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 mindsit seemed like it was just yesterday when the unfortunate moments happened. Heartbroken as they might be, they had to carry on for their friendssome 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 tokena 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 tighthis 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 tostrike 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 downpure 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 breathshe 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 lungsthunderous would be a slight understatementeven 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 warmColzen 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 coursesDean Evelyn Privett, Dean Gaston Shadowvale, and Dean Luster Vanzextended 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 studentssome 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. Shyewas 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. "BBiguuuuBig brotherstayuhuuin contact, okay? If you forget to send me a letter, I''ll be angry and saduuuu" "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 instructorNow, 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 experiencingparting 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 ncehis 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 dashinga 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 adulttime 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 academyas 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 apologygentle 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 Porukaseemed 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 individualsboth 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 gatestwo 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 questclearly 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. ''HmmWell, this is a part of being an adventurer so I shouldn''tinAt least I have a ce to sleep for the night" thought Shye as he entered the room he rented. It wasshabby. 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 dayI 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 rooman 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 opponentsbullying 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 shockingfor 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 eximeddisbelief 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 upextra 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 limpedunconscious. [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 adventurerThank youThank you so much for helping my daughterI 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 heheheso 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 ecstaticpractically prancing as he headed towards Bwenja Advanced Adventurer Zonean area he needed to pass through before arriving at Balkrow City. Around half an hourter, his good mood was gone, reced by slight annoyance. ''Ahhwhy 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. ''Ahhhthat 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 adventurerseemingly a scoutto 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 replya 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. Likesome 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 kindaadorable," 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, waitwaitwhy 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 Ibing arrogant?''mented Shye, sighing one more time before continuing on his journeyslightly 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 againsthis 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'' ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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 deadlythe bane of solo adventurers. [Strength: 160] [Intelligence: 20] [Agility: 130] [Dexterity: 110] [Stamina: 100] [Vitality: 110]: [Wisdom: 10] [Back][Exit System] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ''Crapthat 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. ''Hmmthey''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 freakingWinged Boargerwas 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 monstrositylike 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 leaderlifeless; his corpse, slightly mangled. Such a horrifying scene made Shye''s heart race and breathe heavily as he smelled the familiar scent of bloodcold 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-HmmphThese 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 greatswordsone 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 lonesomekicking 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 futureever 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 rathersomething, 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, CrapI 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 thethingthat 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 cocoonsvignce 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 wasso 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 fiercelyhis 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 eerilysounding 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 sweetits 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 wantedfor 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: ''AmI 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 conditionall 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 bodyseemingly only a few years older than Shyeshivered upon seeing his terrible condition. ''What the heckhow 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 oneadventurersa good deal of them priests/priestesseswalking 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. "II 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 chairsdensely 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 rottenand rathersensitive, they took the jests to heart. Unfortunately, since those veterans either perished while undertaking quests or had already been promoted to a higher ranking branchsome 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 firstspoil 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 cornersprobably sons and daughters of fairly prominent adventurers. Although Balkrow City wasn''t at the level of Valenzia, it was certainly not that far awayway better than the likes of Colzen and Windleton City. Unlike academy cities, professional adventurers littered the marble streetseach 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 winhehehe'' 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 "HaaahHaaahI 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 pointsa 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. ''Hmmlet''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 needprobably 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 downthese 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. ''HaaahI triedI triedWhy do people always insist? Alright then, I''ll give all of you the trouble that you want.'' Chapter 236: Constantine Consumables Membership Card "PffftI 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 guythis 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 agothe hard waythat 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 seemsmeagerYou''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 howhugethe 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 contentsthe 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 cardI''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 leaderowner of the gold-tier membership cardraged. 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 righthe must be shyhighkey 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 coinsThank 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 ragedoutside 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 branchesor 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 fewgood stuffby simply befriending Drone, then he would have a huge advantage over other adventurers. "I seeI 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 ishow? 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 guildmatessome 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 seeI 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 scrollsyellow 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. ''HaaahWho 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 weakmoreover, 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 wordsalmost 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?! "Yoisn''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 Shyea 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 Candorstuck 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 neerbutdid 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 wouldleave 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. ''Ahhcrap, 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 CrowleyIf I may be so presumptuousRipper Kos are extremely dangerous marsupials and they can attack you from anywhereI 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. === ''Tchthis 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 soI guess I just have to do it.'' Shye thought as he arrived at a vast marble lobbyBalkrow 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 crapI 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 skillsat 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 butI 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? Haaahso 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 forestvignce 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 savannaa 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 camptheir 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. ''Hmmthis 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 rustlea 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 satisfactorilya 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 downI want to take a quick nap'' pondered Shye, deciding whether it would be wise to use a few of hisstrategicpowdersin 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 inventoryone 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 himfor 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 doorshis 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 partnershipsa 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 thatyou 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. ''HaaahIt''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. ''HaaahShould 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-NoT-there''s just no waywe''re gonna diewe''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] ''HmmStill 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 sanityutterly 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 onejust 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 kowas 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 redmuscles 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 tiltedalmost 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 timebaldy'' 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, andone 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. ''FinallyI 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 waitwhy 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 heenjoyed 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 guildmatesa 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 bagits 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 branchthe 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 theseunchastedies, 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-Waitdid 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. "UhmMiss 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 thoughtMaybe 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. "Haaahwhat 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 thatPlease, 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 === ''HmmmHaemotoxin Vipers huhthis 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? Hmmbut based on our interaction, he''s truly not arrogantmaybe Candor provoked him first? You know himthe 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 mageright?'' 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. "HaaahIt''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. "Hmmmpreparationshuh?" 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. ''HaaahI really wanted to try fighting as a mage as soon as possiblewell, 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 whileokay? II 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. "HaaahIt''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! HooohI''m dyingSeira, 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. ''Hmmso 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-Uhhyeah! This is customized mage robes but I will probably purchase a new set as this one is pretty worn out" "HmmAlright 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. ''Gehwhat 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. ''HmmmI wonder what this feeling iscould 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 likespeak 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. "Haaahwell, 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 thesethese yummyroasted 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. "Haaahwhere 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 closegotta 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. ''Hmmif the skill immediately starts shootingthen 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! Phewyou 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..shC'' [Congrattions! You''ve earned 1 point!] Chapter 254: Boss Big Brother Shye "H-Hmpph! I do admit that your attack lookedfairly 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. ''Hmmseems like this guy indeed has the capital to be arroganthe''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, tchtime is tickingshould 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 Shyecan 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" "OhI seewaitwhy 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 backexcitement 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 overAppraisal'' [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] ''Hmmmso 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 groupsmost 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 IC" 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?" "Tchthese 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 thoughas 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[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 horrifiedtheir mouthsagape. "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 correctF*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 himright 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. ''Ahhhhgreat 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 nowI''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 aspicy vibe. ''Hmmwell, the red lights are quite strange butit 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. ''Hmmmaybe 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 crapI 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 againFor 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) "HohSo 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! ''Hoh8000 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 spellsright?'' 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. ''Hmmmsince 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) ''HehHeheHeheheWon''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* === ''MehWhat 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 wasyesNUKES!!! 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?" "HaahhI don''t knowI''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." "AihhI''m in the same positionWell, 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 nowckburrow 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 pagesone 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 forone 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. ''Hmmshould 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." "HmmWhat''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. ''HmmHow 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. ''HaahWell, I''ll probably feel it if I''m at my limitfor 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. ''Hmmso 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. ''Ahhcrapis this the limit of my current mana pool?'' Chapter 263: Training Of The Mage Who Speaks No Gibberish (2) "Phewhadn''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 kneessweating profusely. ''Ahhf*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]] ''Hohso 70 uses and a skill would level up to 2 huh?'' Shye mused, deciding to level up the umon skills next. ''Oopsgotta 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 Shyeone 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 disappearingabsorbed by the crystal. "230" ''H-Holy sh*tIsn''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 guCerr, 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 thewhy 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? Wellit 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 guildmatesboth 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... Pleaseif you have any conditions we can talk about it" Seira replied, looking like a desperate puppy begging someone to take her in. "A-Actually II have my reasons for wanting to rank up quickly" Witnessing her current appearance, Shye felt bad. He truly considered Seira as a friendwell, a close acquaintance at least. Hence, he finds it a bit hard to ruthlessly reject her. ''You have your reasonshuh?'' 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 thathis 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. "HaaaahFine 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 facedead 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 seeeven so, I still want to tryI 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 beyou 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 secondsright? 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 urredhuge 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 failedhard. "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 Shyedesperation 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 thornssome 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 assassinationor 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 kiCAHHH!" 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-Youyou 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 upShye 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 identityfriendliness, 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 individualsnot 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 tauntedfirst 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 littleThat''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 happyalbeit 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. "HmmSide 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 CityI 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 soldWill 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 fearher 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 leftraring 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 morecontinuously, 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 everythingdumbstruck. 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 spellsnot for a second, zing embers, freezing thorns, sharp winds, and vicious rocks hurtled toward the transformed creature, producing a cacophony of chaotic soundsexplosions 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 expressionvisibly 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. "Ahhf*ck that hurtsYou 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 uC" *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 airlimp 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 backan 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 "Haahhthat 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 cpletelet 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 aroundsome 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 marbleelegant 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. ''HaaahI 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 passit 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 adventurersall 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 grounddevoid 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 manthe extremely annoying type. After consuming the pill, Shye tried speaking. "20,000 silver coins!" Shye eximed, his voice annoyingly high-pitchedone 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 heartrespect, 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? Ave?'' 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 bottomample. 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 shea 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 partiesboth from VIP rooms, remained in contention. "250,000 silver coins!" "260,000!" Shockingly, one of the voices was a woman''sassertive 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. ''DamnPeople 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 thisseemingly 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 panica 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*ta 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 thoughnot 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 faC" "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 gemstonesthe 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 setsome 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. "WaitAren''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 magesone 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 goodeven 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 itemsthe main attractions of the auctiononto 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 restraintor 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 be150,000 silver coins with increments of 5,000. Everyone may now ce their bids!" Such a mind-boggling itemThe 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 amountthere was no way he was some random dude. Wellthey 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 bastardstill 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 finethere should be no one now who could contend against meif 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 okIt''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 smilethe world bing a bit more colorful through the lenses of his eyesa woman''s sudden voice turned everything dark and gray. For a few moments, Larzen''s brain failed to process what just happenedor 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 thenwhen will the bastards strike?'' Chapter 283: Killing Rodents ''They''re definitely following me'' Shye mused as he noticed the sneaky actions of three individuals. ''HnnghI can leave right now butI wanna piss them off firstShould 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. ''WellDrone guaranteed that it would work so it should be okMoreover, 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 meansthey 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 halfblood 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 approachmutual 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 Shyeor 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 bastaC." 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 GuildYou 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. "NoWaitWAIT!!! WHERE THE F*CK ARE YOU?! NO!! NOOOO!!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!!" Realizing that Shye was now gone without a trace, Larzen raged like a mentally ill personShye''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. ''PhewDrone 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 pursuerleaving no tracesShye 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 teleporteronly around two days away, hence, after traveling forwelltwo 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 thoughin 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 someonea 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 shoC... 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 nowNo 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 rookiesone 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 wereignored, 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 CrowleyNot 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. ''HaaahOnly 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 shabbyrather 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 groupssome, 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. Your next read is on NovelFire|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." "HmmmWouldn''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 spaceconfidence 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 disappointmenta 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. ''HmmOne 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 winningeasily. 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_emp,yr 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 loseUnfortunately for you guys, such a thing will never happen. Me? Lose to this idiot? Fat chance!'' The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! 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 aroundappearing 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 castingThis guy is definitely one blessed by the Gods and Goddesses!" "Thenearlier" 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 socketsa 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 skillwell, 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 lightnot 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 rathernice 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. ==== ''HmmmA (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 lifeWell, 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 hima 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 Damonall of them didn''t even hide the fact that they wereughing at him, making Farhann sink into the pits of despairhis arrogant disposition, gone. Read exclusive chapters at m v l e m p y r 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 morningonce 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. "YawnAhhwhat 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 inventoryas 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 guildsnot 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"while 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. Enjoy reading at m v-le-mp-yr 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 shrubberymost 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-fangedthe 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 clearingfrom 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!'' Thiswas 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! ''Tchso 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. ''PhewLuckily, the (B-) ranked Goblin Chieftain isn''t here'' Shye inwardly thought, ncing at Seira who was gritting her teeth hardher 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 groundlife 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 bodiesdried 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 backpanic 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 eyesring 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 ratherimpressive. 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] ''Crapthis 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*ckaren''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 taskan 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 panictheir initial confidencegone as they chaotically scrambled to escape from the lethal projectiles thrown their way. Unfortunately, they were nothing but pawnstoo 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 frayone of the six swiftly blending into the surroundingsvanishing 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. ''TchShe 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 Shyeadrenaline 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 handsone of instantaneous recovery and one of greater staminaShye 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 airits 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 bloodbarely 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 ontightlyto 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 eyethe 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 bottlea 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 ssesadept in the hunting ways of adventurerssurrounded 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. Exclusive content from m,v lem|p,yr 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 facegone 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 littleunripe mangoes!!!" Seira insulted while fending off two Goblin warriors. After getting hit squarely by Shye''s Gravitational Drain, the goblin army took a massive hittheir numbers dwindling from an initial number of 153 goblins to a mere 125 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 armsslightly 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 goblinsthree 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 groundviolently convulsing as filthy green blood sttered across the ground. The five "adventurer" goblinsnowy 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 workgone. 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 eyesring 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 skillone 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 expectnot 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 expressionits 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 neckits 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 goblinsboth 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 blowthe bones in her bodyscreaming 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 amazingHe''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 Chieftainshining 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 andconfidence 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 himthree 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 "Tchspells 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 problemshould 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 unconsciousripe 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 mouthwide 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 aloneuncertain whether it should continue pursuing its dream or give up and return to its original settlement as a losera 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*ckis 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 mawwide 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. ''TchThis isn''t workingwe 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'' instructionsfocus on decapitating the green old goat. A fiercely determined expression reced the confusion and disbelief on her face, enabling her to refocusher eyesviciously 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 wasupon 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 ''PhewI 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 Seirawould 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 ferociouslylike a cornered beastto 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. ''HmmI dislike using appraisal on my friends butjust this once should be okay. Yesthis is justfor 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 oneprobably 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 todaywas 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." "Ohthen 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 CrowleyI see that you''re back earlyw-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 timenot even close to the Winged Boarger one hepleted a few days ago. Hence, seeing him back so early andalone, 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 seeso Miss Seira" Shauna assumed, a sad expression emerging on her pretty face. "Seiraislooking 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 wasA-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-CrapWhy 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. "UhhBy 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!" "Nahhbrother, 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 himsome 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. "Nothere''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 headsboth 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. "HmmI 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 yourunfortunate 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 repliedhis expressionturned 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 academyhis most promising rookie. ''Crapme 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"feigning 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 rookiewas 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 academymake 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 queststhe 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 manlooked 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 treatmentbut 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 uC!" "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. 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 ''HmmI 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. 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) ''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. 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 bastardWhy 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 jokingright?" "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. ''HohSo this is Nookbury CityI''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. Continue the saga at m v l e mpyr 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. ''HaaahI 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''sweird 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 adventurersseemingly warriorssurrounded 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 upa 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? DamnHow did Raven''s de secure such a super rookie?" "Holy crapthis 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 Balkrowyou 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 riseshocked 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. Nowif 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 betwill 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 huhI 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. ''SighI 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 goodThen 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 adventurersa mix of both veterans and rookiestraveled 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 rateI''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. Enjoy reading at m,v lem|p,yr No matter how hard she worked, she wasn''t able to catch upthe 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! ''HaahPerhaps 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 hardermaybe 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. "AhhDon''t worry about me, I''m just tired" Shirley replied awkwardly, not very used to such overly caring teammates. "Ahhhahahahaha, 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. ''HaaahWhy 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 attractiveNo, 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 wenthowever, there will be a duel tomorrow at 10 AM in Nookbury arena between him and Sir Jason Mulch" "Aduel?" "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]: Mage Explore more stories at m,v l''-NovelFire [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] ''Nicethis 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 medid 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 seeYou''re tinum alreadyAnd here I amstill 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 happenutterly 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) "HaaahThat 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 facehis 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 ratherlibidinous 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. Experience tales with m v|l -NovelFire 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 crazyall 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 mealnot 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 heartsa 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-NovelFire 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 bastardlet''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 nonchnta 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. "Hohso 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 wordmonhe 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-NovelFire "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 waythis very same Jason? Who made the top-ranked rookie in our branch sweat?" "T-The ferocious Ice Queen barely won against this guyIs 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." The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone! Chapter 314: Draconic Moan Lv.3 ''K-Kuhhf*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. ''Tchso 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. ''Hohhe''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 buta yful moan, causing most of the audience tough hardtears 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 girlfriendoutrageous." 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 backboth 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 upI 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 exitthe 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. "HaaahHaaah" *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 Shirleyher 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 aloneall 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 huC waitdid 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. "WhaC? 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 turnsome 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 chC" *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 waitinggone 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 scaleits 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 seeI 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) ''HmmHow 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*tthis 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. ''AiihhThis 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 thicketshis heart throbbing in anxiousness, Shye finally arrived at an area that actually looked like a rainforest. ''HaaahFinally.'' 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. ''TchI 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 meHow 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. "OOAAOHHHOOHHHOOHH" After two seconds, the effects of the de once again kicked in, causing the ape to feel even more exhaustedits 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 depletedpletelyits absurdly high staminanow 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 upwardsone 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. ''CrapThat 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] skillshis 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 howlfearing 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 ''HuffHuffF*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 evokeda 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 reliefhis 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. Howeverthe 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 partnershipIsn''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 soit''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 dC?!" "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 Cityanother 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. ''TchI 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 brainWell, 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 ranka 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 swordmeaning 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 headall 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 "PhewFinally 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 todC" "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!] ''HaaahI 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. IndeedHow 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, bCboss! 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?" "Ahyes. 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..." "AhhYou 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 retortobviouslycking respect for a seniorDarius 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 askeda 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 leastsince 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. ==== ''HmmThis mission looks goodHowever, 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! YesMaybe 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. "Ahahhwhat a beautiful kidThe 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, shewas gone. "Oh no! I''ve been follC" *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. ''Phewphase 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 upextra 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 questionI''m willing to answer everythingStop 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 captainspossibly 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 enoughStatus!'' 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 deathfor 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 capeor 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. Youshall 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-OkayWhat 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 bossHer 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 struggleslowly 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!" ''TchThis 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 vanishedreced 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 himI 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 footstepslikely from the other squad captains. ''I-I need to prepare'' With shaking hands, Seira forcefully gripped her greatsword and assumed a battle stanceher 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 expressionfully 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 hereAha!'' Strolling inside their as though it were his home, Shye sessfully located the prison where the bandits kept the young girls. ''Tchthose 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 adventurerM-My little sisterthey took her to the boss'' room earlier todaypleasewill 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 halfshe 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-RogerBoss!'' 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 thisweird 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] ''HehThis weirdo''s stats aren''t badHowever, 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 weirdocapturing me? Stop dreaming. I can kill both of you in one hit!" Shye insulted, capturing the attention of the twins. "Hoh? Big brotherthis toy dares speak to us like this? I like him more and moreCan 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 saidHowever, 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 onetheir 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 artspossibly 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 airthe 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 outtwoswords. 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 smallerboth being katanasShye 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 ''HohSo 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 handlethis?!" 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 parriednone 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. "HahHahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! 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 millisecondsa 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 usingwellmy talents!" Talentwas 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 sidethe 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 discoveredhis menincapacitated. 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-HweaseHopHitting we" Conn-Thor begged with a swollen face, his cheeks were so red and puffed that he couldn''t speak clearlya 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. "PhewI 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?" "..." "GoodYou 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 backIt''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!" "HaaahFine" 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 wellDid 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. "Haaahthat 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 humansbattered 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 attentionboth 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! UhmSeira, let''s go this wayI kinda missed the city solet''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 thC" "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 loungeout 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. Alsouhmhere 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 seeI 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-UhmShaunaCan 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, sureI''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." "OhI 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 rewardWell, 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 tailhis 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 museumsall due to his stuC...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 emeraldsBalkrow''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 socketstheir 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!] ''Haaahthat''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. "Phewjust 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. "YeahThatexins 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?" "WellI''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!* "HaaahFinally 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. "WellI 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-YesI 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. ''HoooohLet''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. "HaaaaahhHaaaahhHaaaahh" 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 downLet''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] ''HeheheNice!'' 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] == ''CrapAren''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 nowit 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 familywas 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 membersall 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? Wedon''t have long to liveso pleaseplease 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 ballsdark 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 purpleits eyespitch 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 whilealbeit 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 fireworksone 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. ''HmmSo 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! SighI 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 stagevisible 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 deneither too strong nor too weakthe 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 himmostly 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 confuseda 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 voicestill 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 othermost 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 Bernardforcing 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 remainfour 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 attacksteleporting, 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 wasunscathed 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 puncturesboth 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 butI 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 ratherboring. 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 ratherintense, 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. ''OhohYet 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 faceone 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-KuhhYou''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 otherstood 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. Shyewas 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 fireballwayrger 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-WhaC 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 waC" *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?!" "IC" "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!] ''Tchonly half?'' Shye thought and clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. ''This midget was a bit too weak soI 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 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 tofinally 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 losetheir 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 Shyea 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 talentLame!'' 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 usby 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. Thiswas 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 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 minda 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 spellsone 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 Adthiopiaa 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 backher 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 badYou''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 stagethe 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 desone 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 backalbeit 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 morefortablythe 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 skillTo 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 forwardhis palm aimed at Percy, before raising his sword hand highhis 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 meheartsuffered 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-NoT-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, hewas the king of rookies in Raven''s de Balkrow Branch. Nowhe 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 arrogantjust 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 bastardWhy 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 crowdmost 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 ?? Of course, although the majority swung Percy''s way due to his recent performance, someone in the crowd ferociously argued with everyone around herdefending 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 confidenceone 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 crazyThis 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'' "AhShye 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 toneone 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 ?? "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 staffsone 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 Shyeenough 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 PercyWas 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 downwardsempowered 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 himadorned 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 ?? 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 offthe 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 dumbstrucktheir 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. Humansmostly 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 tongueannoyed. 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. "HaaahHaaahThat 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, andhe 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 personis 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 explodedalbeit 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. Thenfinally 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 outakin 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 likeswing 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 Percythe hitproduced 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 ?? ''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. ''IdiotShadow 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 cardsTimekeeper''s fortresswas 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 stageturned 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 itsintense 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 tachiwent 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 himviolently. *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 waseemotional damage. Right before contestant Percy''s death, his blood pressure rose to unprecedented levels, specifically, after contestant Crowleycalled contestant Percyan 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 Phonewas 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 sohe 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 herin 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. "AhhhI 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..." "Hmmthen 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?" "ThatI 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 winningsalbeit 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 moneyall 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 ''Hmmmsoit 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 startersI 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. ''HaaahSh*there 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. ''HaaahI 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 satisfiedever 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 skillone 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 rathertame, 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. ''PhewI 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 tryenthusiastically. ''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 gentlenot overwhelming in the slightest. ''A great skill!'' Shye inwardly praised. He then tried to activate the other modea 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 informationdidn''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. === ''Hmmmthis one is a bitplicated to use butit''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. ''Hmmmhow 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. ''Sofirst things firstlet''s summon a recall point'' Shye inwardly thought, realizing something shortly after. ''Haaahand 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 thathe had never tried doing it in his entire life. ''Ohright. 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-Whatwill 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 ''UghhI don''t even want to think about it'' Taking one deep breath, Shye stepped inside the magic circle. ''Phewhere goes my 65,000 pointsRecall!'' Nothinghappenedor 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 doingSo I was standing at the recall point all this time? Silly mC?!" 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 streetswere 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 ratherdisappointed, 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 oddswell, 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. "Sighonly 1.7 times the initial amount huh?" Seiramented the "unsatisfactory" payouts of her 850 gold coin bet. "Sighwhat 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 solook, 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 knowfor 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 thatmere 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 theWhatjust happened? THE FIGHT!! THE FIGHTS ALREADY OVER!! AND THE VICTOR WAS, OF COURSE, NONE OTHER THAN THE POWERHOUSE FROM DARK SENTINELS ADVENTURER GUILD, JOHN ONI!!" Coreys voice resounded in a shocked tone, his voice slightly cracking in utter disbelief. One moment, thementators eyes widened as it seemed like John Oni was about to be instantly in, however, the next, it was Borens 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 didnt 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 wildlyutterly amazed by Johns 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 hairs 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, didnt notice that his neck had been sliced clean off. Witnessing John Onis dueling skills, Shyes eyes narrowed. Hoh? I hope this guy can make our fight interesting andallow 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 Ravens de was truly one of a kind because of his chantless casting talent, theres just no way for him to defeat such a masterful and talented scout in a duel!" "I agree, I just cant see that unripe rookie taking down such a nimble, deft, and vicious scout!" "At this rate, wont 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 herein apetition that matteredhe 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 inpetitionwellIn Balkrow City, at least. Experience exclusive tales on NovelBin.C?m Hence, Shyes 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 Crowleys 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 increasedcurrently city-widereality 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 themselvesalbeit 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 fittestshall 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 wasnt even on the level of Percy, only close to that of Chiizai. [Congrattions! Youve earned 8,142 points!] TchThere 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 oflets saylesser rookies. Hence, there werent any meaningful matches, and everyone who was expected to advance, advanced again, this time, to the top 32. [Congrattions! Youve earned 10,050 points!] HaaahBetter than nothingI 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 didnt 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 stagevisible 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 didnt 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 wasnt 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 wasnt 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 Shyes eyes. However, he didnt dare make conclusions again about someones 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 matchturned 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 guydid 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 mans 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 didnt know how Lin Zi managed to do it as the guy didnt 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. HmmI cant 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 mygaze? 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 Ravens de Qualifiers, they didnt believe he could win against Arthur Vermillion. Heck, most of them didnt 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 Im 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!! ErrI mean, burn him to ashes!!" Seira''s loud but cute voice sounded from the stands, causing heads to subconsciously turn in her direction. Shehad unknowingly built quite a reputation for herself. As who? Wellshe 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-finalsif 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 menboth 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 magea 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 VermicelCerrArthur 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 spotin 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, Shyedidn''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. Unlessthe 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 thepetitionas strong as everso 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! AhhHow 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 magereportedly around the 13th rankwas 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 anticipatedmainly 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 onlookerseven 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 savingssome even their humble homeson 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 alet''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 againEughhClearly, 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 caliberJohn Oni, for examplehe 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 hima 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. ''HmmWhat 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 entertainera 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 situationa 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 Onidodged the attack so swiftly and smoothly that it appeared like he didn''t move a muscle. "WhaC? 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 thatnone of his attackseven 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 confusedtheir 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 closeor 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 matchwas 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 spoonsome even goldin 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''sarrogant 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. ''AhhI 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 wasof course, system points! Grasping two elemental staffs with his hands, Shye appreciated Payne''s silence as he was rathersick 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 wantedto 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. Thiswas 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. ''WhaC? PfftThese 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 wellit 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 groundfirm, 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 hearthis 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. "Sighit 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!] ''Hohnot 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 Shyedisyed incredible deftness in handling the elemental staffs for defensive purposes, masterfully deflecting each mana arrow and sending them back where they came froma 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, someonewas 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 frownright? Certainly, Shye wore a frown, though not out of feeling threatened by Payne, but rather contemting how to conclude the match with maximum efficiency. ''Sighin the end I would have to reveal one warrior skillWell, 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. Indeedwhat 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-HeyDid you guys see that?" "Y-yeahIt seemed that Shye Crowley was faster than Payne all alongWas he simply toying with Payne?" "He must''ve beenwhat 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. Wellhe 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. Thiswas 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 speedThey 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? ArthurVermicelli, 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 andagain, 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! "HaaahThat 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!" "AhhCrap!" Swiftly settling the bill and leaving a sizable tip, Shye left the seafood restaurant in a hurry. "HaaahHaaahI thought we wouldn''t make it in timeWell 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 huhfinally 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. ''Oopsdangerousalmost got sidetracked againI 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 cardsis 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. ''Ahhcrap'' 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, Brookemomentarily narrowed her eyes and shed a seductive smile at him soon after. Receiving the unexpected smilea suggestive one at that, Shye was utterly taken aback. ''This woman is dangerousin multiple ways'' A bit flustered, Shye looked away, eliciting a cute giggle from Brooke. ''PhewWell, 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 thoughwellat 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. Shyewas 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. ''TchIt''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 battleat least temporarily, and it seemed that he wouldn''t be affected by her subsequent actions. ''Sighwhat 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 quarterfinalsIt''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 slC...Hmmph! Shye Crowley''s underlingWhat a hateful wenchI 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 spellsFireball!'' 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 butnot 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. Wellif 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, Brookewasn''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. ''RightThis 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 rookiesboth 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, Shyeslowly 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 kneesutterly spent. Shortly after, she looked again at Shye''s expressiona 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?! Oris 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 spellsSpectral 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. ''Tchwhat 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 revealhopefully 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 wraithswere 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. Shyewas ripping apart the wraiths and the spectral movement restriction with his bare hands ''Howhow 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 thisinvincible bastard. ''Sighmaybe the midget was rightmaybe 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 toC" "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 someuhhgenius'' 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!! HAAAAAAHHAAAAAH." 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 wellI 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 metalthere''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 footinghis broken left forearmdangling 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!!" "TchShe got me" 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? Wellin 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 crowdevery bit ofmon sense slowly leaking out of them. Lin Ziwas 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 speedhis 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 bosshad 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 crowdjust 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 remainthe 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 knowsomething''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 knowsomehow I feel that it would be John versus Almira in the grand finalsI''ve never been wrong in my predictions eitherAlmira might actually win it allShe''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. ''HmmBut 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. ''AhhThis!...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 butare 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 newverbal 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. IndeedHow 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 CrowleyI 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 bastardI''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 infast. 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. Johnwas 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 footinga 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. ''Ilost? 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 finessea 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. Onlythe 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. Wellthere 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 screenher 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 midgetjust 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. Thiswas the trump card he used against Pokyuuone 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 speedwould''ve normally caught a rookie like Shye off guard. However, he already fought someone who was at a simr levelpossibly 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 momentShyedidn''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?! ORILLEGAL SUBSTANCES?!'' Johnsimply 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 socketstheir mouths, agape. This was simply too unbelievable. How could a mere magea young one at thatmaster 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-DamnIs this Shye Crowley trulyinvincible?'' 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? Shyemight just truly be invincible against themjust 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? Wellshe 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 weapona 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 righteven 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 Shyehis sinister appearancestill 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 ranhe 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 somehownot 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 doI 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. Thiswas 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. Shyewas 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 slowway 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. Wellhow 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. "Howareyouso" 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 secretsa lot of it. As his consciousness slowly faded, he finally realized that Shyewasn''t at the same level as them. His level was already way beyond even that of Arthur''s. Thiswas 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 Shyeactually 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. WellPhysically 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 timepossibly 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 futureright? "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 howpleasant the rewards would be. ''It''s just Balkrow City''s Rookie Adventurer Competitionwhy are they making it out to be such a big deal?'' After all, his true goal was the rookiepetition in Valenzia where he wouldheheheearn 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 battleseemed 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 herthe mana vinesincinerated. ''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. ''TchFine. 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 gateswere 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. Arthurwould 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*tso 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 rathertired 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 anduhhbring 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''spassionate 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. ''Hmmso the tournament organizers still favor that Arthur Vermicelli over me'' He mused, realizing that he was unsatisfied with this arrangement. ''Tchwhy am I displeased by such a shallow mattermust 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 meUnfortunately 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 CROWLEYS 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 wouldve 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 mesmore 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 opponents body, Shye narrowed his eyes. HehThis is probably his Ifrits Blessing skillso 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 representatives attributes tremendously increased, however, the temporary boost wasnt even enough for him to surpass his opponents current attributes. Hence, his transformation did little to shake Shyes 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 wouldvested a bit longer if you didnt force me to use this skill. But nowheh, pity, pity" Hearing Arthurs 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 youll have a chance with Almira looking like thatpity, pity" Arthur expected Shye to tremble in fear, thus, he didnt 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, Arthurs 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, lets see if you can still speak like you did earlier" As for Shye, he couldnt help but inwardly chuckle after hearing his opponents confident words. Calm downShye. 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 skills 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 youll 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 Vermillions 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 Coreys voice the Arthur crowd cheered wildly. On the other hand, the Shye Crowley supporters had grimsome even dejectedlooks on their faces. Except for Seira, of course, who already knew most of Shyes 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 everyones expressions turned into one of confusion, shily assumed a differentbat stancethat 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 audiences eyes to almost pop out of their sockets at the sudden, ridiculous change in gear. However, it didnt 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 THATS 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! Youve earned 60,000 points!] Hearing the sudden exnation from a random person in the crowd, everyones shocked and confused expression suddenly turned into one of utter disbelief. You mean the bastard wasnt even serious when fighting John Oni? was the thought that resonated in their minds. Right at that moment, everyones questions regarding Shyes 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?!" Seiras 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, Shyes 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 Vermillions talent was indeed lesser than that of Shye Crowleys. They couldnt 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 didnt mean jack sh*t if he couldnt back his grand revtion up. Meanwhile, onstage, despite his calm exterior, raging waves of various emotions assaulted Arthurs heart. He had a hunch that Shye had a subss, only, he didnt expect his spections to be true. To make things worse, the bastards 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 couldnt help but inwardly shiver. He wouldnt dare toy with his chances of winning an entire tournament the way Shye did. Hmmph, so what if hes 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 didnt 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 wasnt fazed one bit. Appearing extremely leisurely, Shye casually swung his low-quality adamantite-tier greatsword, Adamance, to sh with Arthurs ming katana. The high-grade infernostone enchanted weapon roared with its own crimson mes, however, it appearedcklusterpared to Arthurs, supplying the young vermillion with additional confidence. *CLANG* Shockingly, as the two weapons shed, there wasnopetition at all. Arthur was sent flying all the way to the edge of the stagehis katanastill usable but badly damaged. "S-S-SHYE CROWLEY OVERWHELMINGLY WINS THE FIRST CLASH!! WHAT FEARSOME RAW STRENGTH!! WHAT SHARP SWORDS!!" This time, Arthur couldnt 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 Theres no f*cking way! He mustve 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)] Arthurs katana zed and started emitting ck smoke and fiery explosions as it violently shed the air apartits final destination: Shyes neck. "Hoh, it seems like you still believe you can winFine 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 Arthurs tinum-tier katana in half, sending him rolling toward the edge of the stage once againhis bodyheavily battered. "TTheres no way youre using a simple power sh! You pretentious bastard! I refuse to lose to the likes of you! HAAAAARRRGHH!" Arthur couldnt 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 wasShyes patience. Where the fuck are my points?! Look! Im beating your famous Arthur Vermicelli like this! Arent 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 guysso 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 audiences spine. The howl was then followed by the emergence of a pair of transparent-ck rotten mana wings on Shyes back, making him appear unholy. Arthur didnt 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 Arthurs 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 afterall 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 WOULDVE 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 YEARS VALENZIA ROOKIE ADVENTURER COMPETITION!! FINALLY, OUR BELOVED CITYS NAME SHALL REVERBERATE ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION!!" Hearing Coreys words, the stupefied crowd finally erupted into cheers. Even the Arthur Vermillion and John Oni supporters couldnt 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 couldnt help but shiver in excitement. [Congrattions! Youve earned 60,000 points!] The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!