—-

Bastion quickly grabbed ahold of the battle momentum by defending against the lead Stone Scorpion. However, he activated a self-protective skill to preserve the durability of his shield. The scorpion’s acid was lethal to equipment.

Thus, Bastion’s shield was encased in a thick aura that increased his damage reduction from the innate 5% to 10% for the next 20 seconds. As mentioned before, Bastion’s class design strictly adhered to achieving the most sound defense.

This meant he gained Damage Reduction, but it was a fraction of what bosses possessed. But, considering he was only Lv.32 at the moment, a 5% Damage Reduction increase was quite valuable.

And, it was different from Kieran, who could only mitigate 10% of the damage inflicted upon him thanks to the Crystalline Ring’s Hardened Skin ability. However, its duration was limited compared to Bastion’s skill.

Skill effects tended to be more effective than item abilities because they could grow based on the user’s preferences. An item was limited the moment its parameters were established. Of course, there were some exceptions, but the minimum rank required for those exceptions was absurd.

Kieran, Nemean, and Altair moved swiftly, targeting a single Stone Scorpion after Bastion gained ahold of its aggro.

“We have 30 seconds to act, go!” Kieran used Bastion’s skill duration as a baseline for killing each monster. He didn’t want Bastion’s shield to suffer irreparable damage, so this battle needed to end quickly.

The excess Stone Scorpions were removed from the fight when Kieran planted his hand on the ground and launched a Wrath Eruption on a designated point. The eruption of blood energy sent them flying away while he sacrificed a charge of Blood Wave to knock them even further away.

The utility of Kieran’s skills left the others momentarily stunned, but they were ultimately thankful that he was on their side and not an enemy. He truly made their lives easier when he entered combat.

Afterward, Kieran activated Sanguine Slashes while noting the gaps in the Stone Scorpion’s rocky exoskeleton. It wasn’t a monster purely made of stone, so his ability to compound Bleed stacks remained viable.

Once Kieran confirmed this, he no longer worried about a reduction in his effectiveness. Kieran handled the Stone Scorpion’s large movements while informing the others when to dodge.

The Stone Scorpion indicated a corrosive poison attack by the sudden change in its tail movements. It became easy to dodge once they knew what to look for.

As a result, none of the party’s attackers were hit by the poison.

More importantly, their training just hours before severely impacted how useful they were in combat. Bastion sometimes neutralized the Stone Scropion’s pincher attacks by grasping a moment where the damage calculation should happen.

It was only possible because the Stone Scorpion’s inferior attack speed seemed laughable compared to the attacks Nemean and Kieran unleashed. It gave Bastion enough time to understand this monster’s rhythm.

Eventually, the team overwhelmed the Stone Scorpion without suffering too much damage. Sera barely consumed any of her Mana, unleashing less than ten heals when she was used to activating 100 at the very least.

〈System: You have gained 7,266 Experience.〉

“Aatrox truly understands how to whip them into shape. Their combat isn’t as rough as before. They’re even moving in a similar rhythm now,” Sera commented beside Alice, who rained down a fiery hell upon the near-death Stone Scorpion.

“Yeah, he understands what needs fixing and addresses it. The more they spar with one another, the more they’ll understand their habits and, eventually, their thought process. It’s unthinkable how someone our age seems like a seasoned commander,” Alice muttered.

Her eyes remained on Kieran, trying to understand him. At times he was quiet; other times, he joked around with his party member, and sometimes his shoulders seemed incomparably heavy. Alice felt there were many layers to this relatively unfamiliar individual.

However, the more she experienced his actions and guidance, the more compelled she felt to know his story.

“Do you think it will always be like this?” Sera suddenly asked. Her expression was complex as she gazed at the rest of the party. It was unknown what went through her head, but her clear, usually cheerful eyes seemed anxious.

“I think it’ll be fine if Aatrox stays the same. He is the adhesive holding everything together.

“But… he wants to form a guild. That means there will be more of us, more of his attention spreading thin. What if our relationship distances and we’re no longer the same party?” Sera muttered. She seemed downcast as her eyes drooped.

“You’re overthinking it, Sera,” Alice said. She consoled Sera by lifting her chin and caressing her cheek with a tender touch. It was evident these two shared a close bond. Alice wasn’t this warm with the others. “We can’t let him carry the entire burden. If we want things to remain the same, we must also grow to shoulder some of the burdens.”

“Y-yeah,” Sera stammered but ultimately agreed. Her saddened eyes regained their lost joy as she internalized Alice’s words, promising to become even better than she was now.

Alice retracted her hand while glancing toward the boys. ‘Yeah… we should all take a piece of the burden. Aatrox can’t do it all alone—alone… is never the answer.’ Despondency flashed in Alice’s eyes, but it quickly disappeared as she focused on conjuring a new spell.

Four flames spears materialized behind her as she thrust open her palm.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The spears hit each of the Stone Scorpions seeking to launch a poison attack. The impact interrupted their attacks and gave Kieran enough time to launch a Sanguinem Tempest that tore through the monsters while a series of dark arcs flashed past.

Altair panted briefly but quickly recovered from the short exhaustion caused by the rapid release of his new C-Rank Skill—Darkness Flash. It allowed the next twenty strikes to become mid-range attacks dealing considerable damage if the user could unleash the attack fast enough.

Failure to unleash them at a sufficient speed would immediately cancel the skill. Altair got up to 15 attacks before the skill was canceled, but it still dealt over 20,000 damage to the Stone Scorpion.

〈System: You have gained 7,266 Experience.〉

The same notification flashed before everyone’s eyes ten more times. Afterward, Kieran harvested the Stone Scorpion’s body, claiming their entire rocky exoskeleton.

“Oh my goodness, you wiped them clean!” Bastion exclaimed. However, Kieran remained focused without answering because he was right on the precipice. Claiming Rautori’s head had left him in a good position.

〈System: Your tradeskill Harvesting has increased to Apprentice-Intermediate.〉

Increasing a tradeskill’s level improved the productivity of the skill. Not only would Kieran’s harvesting speed increase, but there was also a higher chance that the harvested material would maintain its original quality.

“That’s right. From now on, besides the loot that drops, remember to harvest all monsters. Train your tradeskills just like you would train your normal ones,” Kieran answered.

“If that’s the case… you could’ve saved some for us,” Bastion grumbled.

The Stone Scorpions, if they could even be considered that anymore, were all flesh and bones. There was nothing left to extract; the meat didn’t have much worth because its poison saturated its flesh to protect against stronger predators.

“We’ll chalk that up as my mistake. I’ll be more mindful the next time,” Kieran apologized with a sheepish chuckle. He was so absorbed he forgot this wasn’t his past, where he played the beginning stages alone.

Some opportunities also needed to be shared with his party.

The team quickly collected dropped coins and the one piece of equipment that dropped and continued on their way. As they traveled, Nemean and Bastion both mentioned the vast decline in equipment drop rates after coming to the kingdoms.

“I think obtaining equipment as drops will only become more difficult. We aren’t affected by the Beginner Zone Handicap anymore, so that increased drop rate doesn’t help us,” Kieran answered. Although he knew that equipment would soon only drop from monsters bearing such items, he didn’t disclose that fact.

Instead, he made it seem like he too was unsure of the outcome. This change was another reason the Forger profession became indispensable. Rather than drop equipment, monsters would soon become more likely to drop equipment designs.

The most surefire way of obtaining equipment directly would be from Named Champion Monsters since they were generally equipped with decent items.

…

Meanwhile, before the Desert of Crumbling Sands danger zone…

Despot and Horizon Break bore darkened expressions as they frequently witnessed large worm-like creatures diving and exiting the sand. Those worms posed a danger great enough to stall them.

“What the hell do we do? We won’t make it on foot, but Autr said they passed through. It’s far too dangerous and not worth the risk,” Despot groaned in frustration.

Horizon Break also begrudgingly spoke. “I agree. We’ll simply die if we cross through here. Is there no other way?”

“I have no idea!” Despot was helpless in this situation.

Their character maps were essentially blotted out circles. A spot on the map would only become visible once visited or if a cartographer plotted the terrain and gave the created map to a player. The system would then assimilate the map and highlight the newly revealed area.

But, it was unfortunate that not a single cartographer existed. Some professions, also known as Lifestyle classes, had stringent requirements to obtain them. Obtaining the cartographer profession required the player to visit a befitting library and expand their knowledge of maps.

Because it detracted from leveling, no player was currently willing to do so.

“Fuck!” Despot shouted in frustration. “Let’s just go around or something!”

Horizon Break smiled wickedly and raised his hand. “Wait… I have a better idea. Why not wait until they return? They’ll have to return to Aeredale City, and we know what they look like now. Let’s plot a better revenge scheme or at least wait until these worm things are longer an issue.”

Despot revealed a similarly sinister smile because the idea excited him. “Yes, let’s return and create a better plan. This works for us because we can kill monsters on our way back.”

Surprisingly, these two just saved themselves from a rude awakening. However, all they did was prolong its inevitable appearance.