Hunter Brotherhood Training Centre,

Kerta,

7:53 am, 15 th Peniel 1091.

Kashi sat in the Training Center’s common room, which doubled as the reception, and lounge immersed in his books. Kira, lay next to him, eyes shut as she enjoyed a rare rest. Serti sat opposite the daeben, sharpening a set of arrows with a whetstone, while Bert, as usual, rested on the table, deep in sleep. Over by the bar, Yugo prepared a beverage for the group in the bar. An atmosphere of pure bliss and tranquility suffused the room, embarrassing curious souls who wandered into the building.

Yugo walked over and placed the prepared drinks on the table, then looked up as a beautiful, female wisben walked into the building with a longbow slung over her shoulder. The wisben was dressed in a body-fitted, light-green, leather shirt, pants, and boots. Her chest and arms received further protection from hardened leather half-chest armor and arm guards. The wisben’s sleek, black hair was tied into a long ponytail that reached all the way to the back of her knee.

Serti also caught her approach. His lips parted to a welcome grin as he greeted, "Ah, good morning Leila-chan.”

"Morning Serti," The young woman returned the greeting as she joined Serti and company at the table. Yugo returned from the bar and placed a mug in front of her. "Thanks, Yugo," Leila said with gratitude as she took a sip from the refreshing juice. Leila’s brows jumped when she noticed the daeben engrossed in his book. She called out his name with doubt, "Cashy?"

Kashi did not reply, wholly enraptured by the theories discussed in the book. He had not even realized someone had entered the room.

"Don't take it to heart,” Serti soothed. “He gets like that once he has a book in his hands."

"I'm fine. I had a friend who did that a lot,” Leila revealed as she took a sip from the juice. She closed her eyes as she relished in its exceptional taste.

"What brings you back here Leila-chan?" Yugo asked as he took a seat of his own around the table. "Last we saw you, you said you were headed to Grissa Crags."

"Yes. I did go there, but the monsters were too strong for only me," Leila lamented, brows drawn together in pain.

"So you need a party then?" Serti asked.

Leila shook her head. "One competent partner I can trust my back to is enough. I managed to clear the cave, but my health was too low by the time I reached the boss." She clenched her fists, upset by her own incompetence.

"You did well enough to clear the cave by yourself. Grissa Crags usually requires well-balanced parties,” Serti soothed. “As for someone competent to accompany you..." He turned to Kashi with a hot gaze that seemed to burn through the book. Yugo and Leila also directed their gazes at the daeben.

It started with a little twitching, but then sweat broke out on his face as Kashi began to feel more and more uncomfortable. Eventually, the daeben gave up. He placed the book on the table and questioned, "May I inquire as to why you all regard me so?"

"We would like you to accompany the lady to Grissa Crags," Serti said.

Kashi looked from him to the wisben with the coldest pair of green eyes he had ever seen. He had never thought green could be such a chilling color. However, his unease did not show on his face as he greeted, "My name is Kashi. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise. I'm Leila Lightwood. You can call me Leila," Leila introduced extended her hand, which he took in a firm grip. "I'm a level, 35 Hunter. You?"

“Level 20. Undecided," Kashi replied.

"I'm sorry. Undecided? What does that mean?" Leila questioned with shock in her eyes.

"I do not have a class yet,” Kashi explained. “My apologies if you are disappointed."

Leila's discomfort at the fact he had no class was understandable. Summoned got insane bonuses to both stats and weapon perks upon choosing a Class. Some of the skills and perks were even near impossible for classless people to learn! However, she was the one asking for help here. She could not tell another person how to build their character. "No, that was my bad. It should be fine if you just provide support."

"He will do fine, Leila-chan,” Serti assessed and made a face at Kashi. This damned daeben refused to sell himself. Was he hoping Leila would think he was too weak and leave him alone? Too bad Serti was present to wreck that plan. “He finished the training before you did."

"Oh? So he's the one you were talking about,” Leila softly exclaimed as she regarded the daeben in a new light. She knew about the Golden Body bonus as she had challenged it herself. Even if Kashi did not obtain the bonus, she knew how high his strength must have grown if he really trained non-stop for three in-game weeks without leveling. He should have enough extra stats to offset the missing class bonuses. “Very well, he can accompany me."

Kashi looked at the two wisbens deciding his fate without bothering to consult him, and considered refusing the request because he wanted to raise his mana as much as possible. At that moment, he felt Kira's warm chest press against his leg, and he decided to go on with it. The experience would be proper training for both of them.

"I shall accompany you," Kashi spoke up, cutting into their conversation. "It should prove to be educational."

"I'm glad to hear that,” Leila remarked with a smile. “If it’s alright with you, we’ll leave at sundown."

"Fine by me," Kashi stated then returned to his books, determined to raise his mana.

Time passed with each person engrossed in their own business. The sun dipped, darkening the horizon, and Kashi, Kira, and Leila bid the training center’s trio goodbye.

Kashi changed his gear when they were outside the gates to a black, skintight sleeveless shirt with a similarly black scarf around his neck that doubled as a mask which he raised to cover both his mouth and nose. On his feet, he wore black pants and leather boots.

The daeben also equipped a powerful short bow and a quiver containing steel arrows. Finally, Kashi strapped on a pair of armguards for extra protection and fingerless gloves to increase his dexterity. His outfitting complete, he followed Leila's lead.

"Where did you learn how to craft like that?" Leila asked, breaking the silence as they entered the Silverwoood forest.

"I've had prior training," Kashi nonchalantly stated. In truth, this was the understatement of the century. As part of his early training, Razznik had spent three in-game years learning all the crafts to fund his martial arts training. During that period, Suzuki had to rely on the funds generated by Razznik’s crafts to pay for his monthly subscription. Of course, this was all before Razznik made himself known to the world.

"Heeh. You're pretty good,” Leila praised. “Are you going to keep on crafting?"

"Probably, but nothing large-scale anytime soon,” Kashi replied. “I have other things I need to focus on."

"Sounds in—“ Leila’s words were cut short as wolf dove at her from behind a thicket.

Thwip!

An arrow scattered the wolf’s brain before it reached her and the poor beast shattered into light petals. Leila turned to Kashi who had slung his bow over his shoulder. ‘ When did he pull that out?’ "Thanks for the help."

Kashi nodded. "No problem."

The rest of the trip was uneventful, save for the stray wolf or wild snake that wandered onto their path.

"We're here," Leila said, causing Kashi looked around in confusion. They were in the thick of the forest, and there was nothing but trees in all directions. “This way,” Leila beckoned as she went down on all fours and parted a rather odd-looking thicket. She crawled into the thicket and disappeared soon after.

Kashi raised a brow in interest, then mimicked her movements. He was shocked to find a small opening in the earth beyond the thicket. It was inclined downwards, and once he crawled into the hole, he slid down the tunnel, followed closely by Kira. The ride down was quite smooth, and when he finally skidded to a stop, he found himself in a cave with a door with strange writings and paintings on it.

Leila stood in front to the door, waiting for him.

"How did you even find this place?" Kashi asked, as he got up and dusted himself. He got out of the way as Kira slid down next to him.

Leila shook her head and revealed with an exasperated sigh, "Believe it or not, I fell over while running from a King Snake."

Kashi suppressed an urge to burst out laughing. True to their name, King Snakes were large man-sized snakes with deadly attacks and even more lethal poisons. They were ranked in the early hundreds from Summoned’s estimations. Kashi examined the little cove. "So, is this Grissa Crags?"

"Not exactly. It is above us,” Leila clarified. “This is a secret area under Grissa Crags," She said as she opened the door. But she quickly shut it, and worry was etched on her face.

Kashi frowned. "What’s the problem?”

"The spriggans I defeated earlier have been revived,” Leila replied with a scowl. “We’ll have to fight our way through them again."

"Why’s that a problem?” Kashi questioned. “If you did it once, surely the two of us can get it done faster."

Leila clenched her fists, annoyed by her oversight. "I was lucky. I barely survived last time. My magic resistance is very low, and that is their main method of attack."

"What about their physical resistance?” Kashi asked. “How many arrows did it take you to kill one of them?"

"They are very weak. Three arrows should be enough to kill them,” Leila revealed. “If you can get close enough before they buff themselves that is."

Kashi pondered on the situation. "Say, as a Hunter, you get an increase to Stealth right?"

Leila’s brow rose. "Yes?"

"Do you have the [Dark Eyes] skill by any chance?"

"If you mean night vision, then yes,” Leila replied. “Mine’s called [Owl Eyes] though."

"Okay, here's what we are going to do..."

Gulack, Renauss Kingdom,

8:23 pm, 15 th Peniel 1091.

An ominous shooting star flashed across the starless sky as chilling winds picked up the heavy stench of blood surrounding a halben, and carried it across the wilderness, warning all intelligent life to stay away from the mass murderer.

Syèl used [Dawn Pelmut] to drain to drain the life from the Summoned pleading for mercy beneath his feet. He had long since left the capital city, the glamour, and fame much too dull for the bloodthirsty halben. He leveled up quickly in the wilderness, spending most of his time hunting bandits and player killers wanted by the law.

Syèl couldn’t have been more pleased by this arrangement. He was rewarded for killing people, and the fact that his blood mastery increased much faster when he hunted humanoids, only served as the cherry on the cake. Unfortunately, recently the easy kills had begun to bore the halben.

Syèl sought a challenge. There was no gratification in killing someone with no fight in them. Just like the weakling beneath his feet. Blood spike shot out of the halben’s foot and stabbed through the warrior’s head. Syèl snorted as he equipped a new pair of boots then wandered through the wilderness to the last known location of one of the offenders on the most wanted list.

Syèl’s expression lifted as he spotted a group of lights on the horizon. The approaching lights got closer, and Syèl could see they came from lanterns hoisted up on sticks by a company of soldiers returning from an expedition. The company looked worse for the wear. Missing arms gouged eyes and missing legs made up most of the army’s personnel. Some were so injured, they had to be carried on the backs of their comrades.

Syèl openly approached the company with outstretched arms. "What happened?" He asked, feigning concern to the nearest soldier.

The soldiers’ gaze narrowed, and his companions glared at the halben with deep mistrust. "Who are you?"

"Ah, sorry,” Syèl apologized then introduced himself. “My name is Syèl Rifatora."

"You mean Syèl the savior!?" The soldiers perked up at the name, and a lot of his comrades who heard his exclamation turned to him with happy surprise. Their shock was understandable. News of Syèl had already passed through Mònòch to neighboring towns and cities. There was not a soul in the state who had not heard of Syèl.

"The very same,” Syèl revealed and showed the soldier his status window.

"Captain!" the soldier called to his superior upon verifying the halben’s status. "It's Syèl-dono! He should be able to help us."

The captain was a ridiculously large, heavily bearded Nordic man in his forties. A large scar ran across his face from a battle fought sometime in his past. He glared at the lanky halben and gauged him. "What level are you?"

"Forty-three," Syèl answered.

"Never mind then,” the captain rebuked with a shake of his head. “You would only be going to your death."

"That should be for me to decide." Syèl was having none of it. Something that could cause so much damage to these soldiers was worth chasing down!

Raul Nigfer, captain of the hundred man company of the Renauss Kingdom, stared at the unmistakable fire burning in the mages' eyes. "Very well. But I recommend you take a party with you. Going alone would be nothing short of suicide."

Syèl nodded. "I will keep that in mind."

Raul pointed south. "Several miles south of here, lies a village called Neverun. It has been overrun by a flock of cockatrice. We were sent to chase or destroy the beasts, but they proved to be more powerful than expected."

"Sorry about that,” Syèl said, then questioned. “Are there any special traits I should watch out for?"

"Yes. The cockatrice can turn whatever they look at to stone, while others have lethal poison stored in their throats that they can spit over long distances." Raul scratched his chin in thought as he tried to see if he missed out on anything.

"Thanks for the info. I will see to it they are destroyed,” Syèl promised.

"No, thank you Syèl-dono. I pray for your success.” Raul clapped his hands and blessed the halben, “May Aethir's light guide you."

"Sure." Syèl turned to leave, but Raul suddenly remembered something important.

"Ah, yes. A girl was heading in that direction earlier,” Raul said. “She seemed intent on facing them all herself. I would appreciate it if you lent her a helping hand."

"Sure, I will try my best," Syèl nonchalantly promised then made his way to the cockatrice infested town, pleased at the prospect of an actual challenge.

Grissa Crags.

"This plan of yours is quite effective," Leila praised as she and Kashi systematically took down their third Spriggan in a row. The buggers looked like skinny, disheveled, four-foot rabbits with foamy mouths and super sharp teeth.

The cave's sources of light were hanging lanterns. Kashi had proposed they shut those off first by firing arrows at them. Once they were down, the spriggans would raise flames to guide their way. Shrouded in darkness, Kashi and Lelila would then have a clear line of fire to the relatively blind Spriggans.

However, their kill streak did not last long, as the monsters of Live No Evil could adapt to their enemies. On the third basement floor, the Spriggans wizened and placed a magic barrier around the torches, shielding them from arrows. Thus preventing the duo from continuing their sneak attacks.

Kashi sighed as he stood up and notched several arrows onto his bow. He used [Multi Shot] to hit several spriggans, drawing their attention to him. The deranged rabbits prepared magic spells to fire at him, but Kira dove into their midst, biting and clawing at the beasts.

Leila circled around the distracted spriggans and shot them from behind, scoring several critical hits.

Kashi increased three levels from the bout, but it was no time to celebrate because more spriggans crawled out of the walls and attacked them, teeth bared to chew their heads off. The daeben raised his left arm and one bit down on his arm guard, while another took a large bite on his leg. The daeben’s health dropped, but he was unfazed. He used the bow in his right hand to stab the spriggan on his feet, then slammed his left arm against the wall with all of his strength, killing the other in the process.

Meanwhile, Kira and Leila cleared the rest of the spriggans, leveling up quite a bit in the process.

Combining teamwork and willpower, the trio finally cleared the cavern until they were left with only one large door left in front of them. After a brief respite, Leila and Kashi pushed the door open, choosing not to linger too long for fear of the spriggan’s respawn.

The room they entered looked to be a former throne room. Innumerable piles of gold filled the room and sat at the opposite end of the room, with an oversized crown on its head was a five-feet tall spriggan.

"It has been a long, long time since I have had visitors." The spriggan declared as it hopped down from its throne, and took a step towards them, sparks crackling around his body.

It grew as it approached, becoming more massive and muscular until it was almost nine feet tall. A flaming sword materialized in its left hand, while electricity pulsed on its right. Flames burning within a pair of hollow eye-sockets glared at the intruders.

Spriggan Lord: Lvl 76

The furs on Kira's back stood on end as the trio prepared for a fierce battle.