Light from the nearby pillars shaded Jayce’s black jacket and the kobolds’ ash grey fur with bright blue hues. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the predators inched towards their prey. They moved with careful synchronization and their formation only showed the thinnest of cracks. It was very impressive behavior for a group of monsters. The escapist part of Jayce’s mind imagined that these kobolds would decimate many ecosystems if they were ever brought to Earth. Wolves had few advantages over these bipedal freaks.

When thinking about advantages, Jayce realized that he still had a few of them. Kobolds had a relatively bad matchup against him because they didn’t have any ranged attacks and their furry hides couldn’t stop his bullets. Meanwhile, their strength was impressive, but it was difficult for them to stop him with a single hit. One on one, Jayce had complete confidence in tanking their first attack and killing them in retaliation. The only problem was that this was a group battle.

Jayce picked where the encirclement was thinnest and charged. Letting them attack all at once would be suicide, so he had to make the first move. Wind coiled around him and his speed caught the kobolds off guard. Two loud gunshots rang out as Jayce fired both Tiny Hammers. He didn’t wait until he was close in order to catch multiple kobolds with the spread. Despite the distance weakening its punch, Tiny Hammer’s bullets still made them flinch back. Perhaps they hadn’t been expecting their prey to fight back, because a noticeable opening was suddenly created in their encirclement. Storing his twin pistols, Jayce retrieved Seeker and thrust it into a relatively isolated kobold’s face like a spear. This kobold was knocked off balance before a high-caliber bullet slammed into its skull.

Now that he had shaken off his fear, Jayce found that his mind had entered a sublime state. The overwhelming pressure squeezed ideas out of his brain like a sopping wet cloth in a wringer.

Switching to a single pistol, Jayce activated Paralysis Tag and condensed a dull blue X-shaped mark on Tiny Hammer’s barrel. He swung his arm without turning around and fired six paralyzing bullets behind him. Paralysis Tag distributed its charge evenly when it was detonated, so all six bullets carried 1/6th of the ability’s usual power. It was enough to slow the kobolds that were closing in on him from behind. While they stumbled, Jayce rushed past the kobold he’d killed with Seeker and escaped the encirclement.

Sadly, running too far would only cause his Bands of Freedom to shatter. Jayce didn’t expect to escape the kobolds without it, so his situation hadn’t changed much.

Another idea lit up Jayce’s mind and he started suppressing the monsters by firing both Tiny Hammers in an uneven rhythm. He danced backwards while he shot, trying to buy time for his plan. Despite Jayce’s best efforts, it didn’t take long for one of the kobolds to rush through the hail of bullets and arrive by his side.

The kobold gnashed its canine teeth, but Jayce met its eyes with a cold glare. Small streams of blood rushed out from Jayce’s collar and sleeves. They flew through the air and splashed the kobold’s face, blinding it. Another kobold appeared by its side with several more waiting in the wings, but Jayce kicked with surprising strength and knocked the blinded one back into its packmates. It was impossible for others to see, but several bloody cuts had spontaneously opened under Jayce’s clothes.

A fatal dance played out between these two parties. Flying globs of blood struck any kobold that came to close while Jayce only grew stronger as time passed. Every so often, Jayce opened his mouth to drink some high-level blood from Star Girdle. Under the influence of Flesh Control, he was losing far more blood than he could recover, but that was the only way he could survive in a close-range battle against the kobolds.

Physical strength, pain tolerance and aggressiveness. These three attributes continued to increase as Jayce bled.

Kobolds died one after another, mainly from Tiny Hammer’s powerful bullets. Jayce wasn’t unscathed either, as the wounds he’d opened with Flesh Control were eclipsed by several deep lacerations. By a certain point, Jayce didn’t even know how many enemies were left. He just kept attacking anything that got close on instinct.

His flagging focus was finally exploited when a kobold jumped at him from behind. Whether it was his physical strength or the boost from his protective bands, Jayce had the chance to dodge. Even so, he failed to react in time and only managed to face the kobold before it pushed him to the ground. A fanged maw swept towards his throat, only to be knocked off course at the last moment by one of Jayce’s fists. The kobold bit his shoulder instead, but that didn’t stop Jayce from pressing Tiny Hammer against its chest and firing.

Jayce flung off the dying kobold and forced himself to stand. Looking around, there were only two kobolds left. Jayce raised his pistols, but they failed to fire. He had already run out of mana. Meanwhile, the two kobolds were hesitating. Their predatory instincts were conflicting with the scene before their eyes, making it difficult for them to choose fight or flight.

With Bloodrage operating at its peak, Jayce had become even more ferocious than his wolf-faced adversaries. He retrieved the knife that Theresa gave him and rushed forward without fear of injury or death.

Soon, a pair pained howls echoed through the Frozen Expanse, signaling the end of the fight.

Soul Forger has reached level 7.

Marksman has reached level 18.

Bloodrager has reached level 20.

One of your classes has reached its level threshold. You may now challenge the next gate.

You have gained an ability: Bloodrager – Explosive Blood.

Explosive Blood

Cost: Vital Energy

Detonate your blood to create an explosion. While Bloodrage is active, the explosive efficiency of your blood will increase with Bloodrage’s potency. Blood can be detonated from a range of 50 meters and this distance will increase with your class level.

Still under the influence of Bloodrage, Jayce tilted his head back and released a victorious howl. This vocalization started off strong, but it quickly petered out as Jayce fell on his butt. That he kept standing until then was already a minor miracle.

As his adrenaline slowly faded, Jayce gulped down blood and examined his newest ability. If ever there was a time when Jayce didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, it was now.

‘Do I have affinity with this class or not? System, what are you trying to tell me with this suicidal ability?’

Thinking some more, Jayce felt that he was close to understanding something important about his Bloodrager class. This wasn’t about his new ability and was instead about his own personal fighting style. The way he’d preemptively injured himself while fighting the kobolds, the uses of Flesh Control and this new ability all swirled around in his head, colliding together like billiard balls. Ultimately, Jayce failed to reach an epiphany and was left with only a vague feeling.

The rest of Jayce’s time in the Frozen Expanse was spent in a haze. After recovering to the point where he could stand, Jayce stored the 13 kobolds in Star Girdle and stumbled off to find the exit. He finally received some luck and found it very quickly. Thankfully, the door’s creator had some mercy and allowed anyone familiar with artifacts to open it. Jayce suspected this was a failsafe to help the youths who snuck into the dungeon for training.

A bloody mess of a man shambled through the cave where he had once been abandoned. Past the natural tunnel that led to the hill near the village head’s house, Jayce walked into the fleeting evening light and almost shouted as several emotions clashed violently inside his head. In the end, he froze up while staring at the scene before him and was quickly discovered by many sets of eyes.

‘What kind of coincidence is this?’

Near the tunnel’s entrance, Weiss and her team were posturing before a group of villagers. Jayce had gotten lost, but Weiss had spent over a day chasing down the rest of the spirit. Somehow, they ended up reaching the exit at the same time. When Jayce thought about it, he realized that the pack of kobolds who had stumbled into him had probably been running from Weiss’s team.

Out of everyone, the first four people to react were Weiss, Soest and two other old blue-furred men. Weiss blurred and instantly appeared behind Jayce like she was his second shadow. Jayce didn’t even have time to turn around before she summoned one of her curved swords and swept it towards his throat. In the instant before he lost his head, a barrier materialized behind him. The village head had raised his hand at some point and there were glowing runes snaking along his palm. Without a word, Soest shot through the crowd and appeared right as Weiss was reeling from being blocked. A longsword appeared in his hands and the barrier vanished just as he swung it.

“Leader!” the jotun Flow Controller cried out as she created her own barrier to shield Weiss.

Soest shattered that barrier in a single swing, but it gave Weiss time to back away and summon the rest of her swords. Uncowed, Weiss glared at Jayce with fiery eyes. This mad look fit her strangely well considering her usually frigid demeanor. Before she could make another move, the third village elder spoke up.

“Are we really going to fight here?”

When they heard his solemn voice, everyone turned to look at the third elder and where his weapon was pointing. In an age with guns, Jayce would normally look down on someone using a bow and arrow. And yet, he felt a strong sense of danger when he looked at the arrow nocked in that old man’s longbow. The ones who truly felt that danger were the jotun on Weiss’s team, as that arrow was currently aimed at them.

“How dare you protect a thief!” Weiss snarled. “That mutt is hiding a storage device on him and he stole our materials!”

“You ordered your people to cripple me!” Jayce shouted back. “Was I supposed to set down my bags and talk it out?”

Glancing at the crowd, Jayce saw them bristle when he brought up Weiss’s order. His already potent words gained weight when the villagers saw his terrible appearance. It was clear that despite being ‘hired’ by them, Jayce had survived in the Frozen Expanse without the jotuns’ protection.

When Soest realized this, he gave Jayce a searching look. In response, Jayce narrowed his eyes and turned away.

Still, the crowd was in his favor, so he didn’t stop speaking.

“Carrying around heavy loads is one thing, but I didn’t sign up to be bait! How many times did you people abandon me or set me up to be attacked by monsters?”

“It sounds like my trust was misplaced,” Soest followed up. Jayce really wanted to spit in the man’s face, but he needed Soest and the village’s help right now. “I gave your people a chance to clear out the dungeon, but you did a half-assed job and then vanished for many days. I trusted you by giving you a porter to make your job easier, but you’ve clearly mistreated him. Assaulting him any further is out of the question. I think you should leave this village before you do something we can’t forgive.”

Weiss fixed her smoldering glare on Soest and her curved swords shook as she gripped them with incredible strength. Soest frowned as he felt a dangerous vibe coming from Weiss. It wasn’t that she had suddenly gotten stronger and intimidated him. Instead, Soest felt waves of desperation oozing from her body language. This woman looked like a powder keg that was one spark away from exploding.

“Are you the law around here? Do you think I’ll let you decide what’s right and just fuck right off?”

This time, it was Jayce who frowned. When Weiss said that, she didn’t seem to be looking at Soest or anyone else.

“If we want you to fuck off, you’ve already told us how to make that happen,” a familiar voice sounded from the crowd.

When the surrounding people discovered who had spoken, there was a minor stampede as everyone moved away from that figure. Marin’s calm expression didn’t crack as she watched this happen. With a piece of paper in hand, the fox-tailed woman walked through the skittish crowd and stared up at Weiss.

“Uh, which one of you is Froker?” she asked, glancing at the paper.

“I am.”

Froker strode out of his group and stopped right in front of Marin. He towered over her and looked down with a contemptuous glare. Craning her neck, Marin showed him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I’d like to challenge you to a duel. Your leader’s already sworn that she’d fuck off if I beat you.”