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n

nSalias was quick to act.

nAs soon as he decided to dispatch his knights to the Highlands of Firmament, an expedition was

nformed with Hellaim as its leader.

nOnce Ian joined the group, they started to move.

n‘What? We just leave like that?’

nIan believed the journey would be started later on, with tomorrow being the fastest.

nHe was surprised, ‘Is it because this is a game? I like how fast it is proceeding, but…’

nHe was also a little worried about joining the expedition without any preparation.

nIt would be strange for him not to be worried. They were heading to the most dangerous hunting

nground in Kailan that had never been explored.

nEven though he was with the Imperial Knights, no one knew what dangers awaited Ian.

n‘But there were fewer of them than I thought.’

nThe expedition force wasn’t that big.

nHowever, Ian broke out into a cold sweat when reading the member’s information.

n‘That Imperial Guard has the lowest level, and he’s Lv.150…’

nAmong the high-level knights, there were some who were over Lv.170.

n‘Then, what is Hellaim’s level?’

nIan wondered how high Hellaim’s level was, but his information was closed.

n‘Maybe over Lv.200?

nThe expedition kept moving while Ian thought like this and they soon arrived at the edge of the

nWasteland.

nThe Wasteland was located at the border where the Luspell and Kaimon Empire met.

nIt was quite far from Muran.

nHowever, with the help of Imperial Sorcerers, they had teleported to a town at the edge of the Empire.

nTherefore, it took less than an hour for them to arrive in the Wasteland.

n“This is the Wasteland.”

nHellaim nodded, “Yes. Monsters will show up soon, be ready.”

nHe was slightly friendlier to Ian, who thought this was great.

n‘If he didn’t change, I would be suffocated to death before we even reached the Highlands of

nFirmament…’

nIan summoned his pets one by one and prepared to fight.

nNow that Ian had reached Lv.100, he thought he would be able to help the knights a little even when

nfighting monsters over Lv.130.

nPlus, he was aiming at something.

n‘NPCs that fight with me together during the quest are recognized as my party members…’

nIf he moved toward the Highlands of Firmament while hunting powerful monsters in the Wasteland

nwith the strong Imperial Knights, he would get quite a massive EP on the way.

nIan looked at Hali following him from behind.

n‘And his Potential is 100 now…’

nHe couldn’t hunt while doing the quest in the Forest of Love, but he had used the Training skill so

nHali’s Potential had reached 100.

n‘Now all my pets’ Potential must be at 100.’

nIan checked his pets’ information.

nJust as he remembered, all of them had 100 Potential.

n‘Now it’s time to use the Bestowing Skill on Pet….’

nHe didn’t feel the need to use the Bestowing skill because all the pets he got had decent Unique

nAbilities.

nIt would be bad if he used a Bestowing Skill on a pet with good skill and received a useless one.

nHowever, it would be a waste to not use the skill when the Potential was at 100.

n‘Who should I Bestow a skill on…’

nIan thought about it and decided to use the skill on Ly.

n‘I really need Big Guy’s Abyss Hole and Rake’s Breath of Lava… and Bukbuk’s Enlarging Shell is

ndoing its part so far, so…’

nHe couldn’t Bestow a Skill on Hali, either.

nHe would soon kill monsters in the Wasteland and then Hali would gain levels in no time. He couldn’t

nafford to decrease the Potential he had worked so hard to raise.

nIan called Ly, “Come here.”

nGrowl-

nLy came to him, next, Ian put his hand on Ly.

nHe thought about changing his mind but Bestowing a skill on Ly seemed the best choice.

n‘Frenzy is quite good, but… I wish he gets something even better.’

nIan made up his mind and activated the skill, “Bestowing Skill!”

nA white light engulfed Ly.

nWith that, information of Ly’s new skill came up.

nFrantic Dance

nCategory: Active Skill

nSkill Rank: Rare

nCooldown Time: 30 minutes

nAttack Force and Speed are increased by 50% for 10 minutes. Defense Force is decreased to 50%

n…

nIan was a little disappointed when checking the new skill.

n‘Uh… this is not better than Frenzy…’

nIt was a buff skill similar to Frenzy, but it had a higher increase and decrease of stats.

nAlthough its cooldown time was shorter, it didn’t have the option of additionally increasing the Attack

nForce when inflicting a fatal blow. Therefore, it was not really better than Frenzy.

nIan thought about it for a while and decided to Bestow a skill once more.

n‘Yes, I should try to get a decent skill.’

nHe would feel like losing if the skill he gave Ly by using its Potential was not that different from the

nformer skill.

nIan used the Bestowing Skill on Ly again.

nHowever…

n“Ha…”

nThis time, Ly got a Regular rank skill.

nIan’s hands shook, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done that…’

nAnd yet, Ly still had 60 Potential left.

nIan didn’t want to stop at a useless Regular rank skill.

nIt was similar to when betting 200 dollars and winning 90 would make you feel better than betting 100

ndollars and losing everything.

nIan activated the skill again, ‘Please!’

nSystem messages were announced.

nIan hurried to check its information.

nThirst for Blood

nCategory: Active Skill

nSkill Rank: Hero

nCooldown Time: 15 minutes

nAttack Force and Speed increase by 30% for 3 minutes. All attacks get faster by 40%.

nWhen the skill is activated, all the attacks will be doubled when inflicted on enemies with less than

n30% of Health left. If an enemy is killed, the pet recovers 20% of maximum Health.

n(This effect is applied only when the attack of the pet is the last attack that kills the enemy.)

n…

nIan barely managed to stop himself from cheering out loud.

n‘Yes! This is worth 60 Potential!’

nIt was a Hero rank skill.

nMoreover, it was a great enhancing skill, fit for a Hero rank.

nIan was very satisfied, ‘Ly’s role is to kill enemies that are almost dead because of the wide-range

nattacks… so this skill is perfect for him.’

nLy, who was also satisfied, rubbed its head against Ian’s waist.

nGrrrr- Grrr-!

n‘I will never mess up with this skill for a long time.’

nIan let out a sigh of relief and stroke Ly’s head.

nThen, he looked forward and muttered, “I want to use this new skill quickly…”

nAnd then…

nThe front of the group signaled the presence of enemies.

nBuuuuu-!

nA Horn was blown while all the Guards and Knights got ready to fight.

nHellaim came to Ian, “Can you fight with us?”

nFirst, Ian checked the enemies, ‘Thunder Falcons… about Lv.132. There are about 10 of them.’

nIf he had been alone, he would have to run for his life immediately but, with the Imperial Knights, he

nthought he could protect himself.

nIan answered, “Yes, Sir. I will be fine.”

nHellaim looked a little worried as he nodded, “I trust you. However, do not try to do too much. My

nKnights might be disturbed by you.”

nThe could hurt some people, however, Hellaim was right at worrying about the coordination between

nhis knight.

nIan agreed, “I see.”

nThe battle soon began.

nIan ordered Big Guy as usual, “Big Guy, try to capture as much as possible with the Abyss Hole.”

nDrrrr-!

nBig Guy went to the Thunder Falcons and used his skill.

nKuuuuoooo-!

nAbyss Hole had quite a large range, but the Thunder Falcons were a Speed type high-level monsters.

nThey didn’t just go into the Abyss Hole.

nPlus, Big Guy’s Speed was a lot lower than his opponents’.

nIt only managed to capture two Thunder Falcons with the Abyss Hole.

nHowever, that helped quite a lot.

n“Rake, Breath!”

nRake’s Breath went over the stuck Thunder Falcons and the Imperial Guards jumped at them.

nIan quickly ordered Ly.

n“Ly, Thirst for Blood!”

nGrrr-!

nLy’s red body started to glow even redder.

nHe lunged forward with immense speed.

nOnce the Thunder Falcons were attacked by the Guards, their names started to blink. Ly pounced on

none of them.

nThen, it showed its white teeth.

nIan was satisfied to see Ly use its new skill with great efficiency.

n‘He made about 15,000 damages in no time. Rake inflicts about 20,000 damages with his Breath, so

nthat’s quite satisfying.’

nRake’s Breath was a wide-range skill and had a long cooldown time, so it couldn’t really be compared

nwith Ly’s skill.

nHowever, comparing them taught Ian some things.

nThe Thunder Falcon’s neck was then pierced by a Guard’s lance that came in immediately after Ly’s

nattack.

nThe Thunder Falcon had a high level, but the Guard was almost at Lv.170, so all the remaining Health

nwas gone with one blow.

nIan grinned widely to see the new messages.

n‘Ka! Even though the EP was divided I still got more than 10,000.’

nThe Guards and Knights received a smaller portion of the EP than Ian had expected, probably

nbecause they were NPCs. Therefore, he received a huge amount of EP.

nHigher than the amount he used to get when he hunted alone in the Ancient Arnobil.

nAdditionally, he was hunting much faster now.

nIan wanted to bow to Hellaim.

n‘Thank you for your help.’

n