335 Death Mountain, A Simple Map (1/2)

After detaching from the large, joint party formed by three great Leagues, Qin Ruo officially took over the leader role from Subjugator for the original six-person team.

At Level 4, Subjugator, a Tyranny Clan Field Commander, still had the adequate experience to carry the team forward. However, once they stepped onto Level 5, Subjugator was completely overwhelmed by the hostile environment. After they parted ways with the great League members, he was especially suffocated by the fact that Tier 6 monsters were everywhere on Level 5 of the graveyard. Plus, powerful enemies from Demon Faction could pop up at any minute.

Subjugator was not the only one who felt that way. Black Rock and Snowleaf were also bound by the invisible tension surrounding them on Level 5 of the Graveyard of the Gods.

Fateless and Judge were not as strained in comparison. The former was a Bandit who could merge into the darkness as he pleased, so he did not have much to worry about; while the latter was a viciously calm warrior with well-balanced defenses and attacks. The Steel Berserker seemed fearless. Well, even if he was tense, the thick helmet hid his anxiety well.

This was when Qin Ruo's leadership and guts became essential to turn the party's spirit around.

With newfound determination, Qin Ruo intentionally chose to advance through the rougher terrain along the forest edge. He moved on carefully, relying on the information given by the Bauhinia League, which included the layout of Level 5, locations of monsters, and the distribution of the rival faction's super party.

Under the admiring gaze of the other five members, Qin Ruo once again performed his ”Tarzan Swing” across the dense forest. Utilizing the Stealth of his Aquamorph state, he hovered over the ground by hanging on the tip of the trees, catching every movement below him from his vantage point. With his command, the party bypassed the path where a Tier 6 monster herd or Demon Faction party was. At full speed, they moved towards a few caves, which the Bauhinia Clan members claimed housed a Tier 6 Boss monster.

Since Qin Ruo was in command, Subjugator naturally delegated the role of Squad Leader to Qin Ruo as well. ”It's too much stress for me to keep the Squad Leader title when in fact, I've turned into a pawn.”

***

More than 10 minutes later, five of them managed to avoid a lot of unnecessary trouble under Qin Ruo's guidance. They remained safe and sound as they reached the foot of a strange, small hill. It was such a weird place. The foot of the hill was filled with enormous giant trees but tracing upwards, the hill became barer and barer.

”What kind of sh*thole is this?” Subjugator could not help but complain through the Party Channel once they stopped in their steps. His question was directed at Qin Ruo who had just landed and revealed himself next to him.

Qin Ruo smiled and explained, ”Death Mountain—a name given by the Bauhinia Clan.”

Looking at the others' puzzled expression, Qin Ruo continued, ”The fifteen Clans under the three great Leagues have explored most parts of Level 5, and they drafted out a simple map before they joined up.”

”What?!”

”There's a map? Did the Bauhinia members give you one?”

Seeing the reactions from Subjugator and Fateless, Black Rock as well as Snowleaf just grew more confused. ”Huh? Wait, what's the deal with this map?”

”You can gift maps to others?”

This was when Judge opened his mouth to answer Black Rock and Snowleaf queries. He did not show the slightest surprise or doubt. ”You two have never noticed? For an area without a map, the player can actually draft the map themselves. Following the player's trail, the terrain within a hundred-meter radius of the player will automatically take form and appear on the player's map. You can call out your map to see it for yourself. The path we took earlier should be displayed on it by now.”

As per Judge's suggestion, Black Rock and Snowleaf expanded their map and took a look.

'It's true!'

A serpentine path appeared on the otherwise dark map. The actual terrain of the place they had just passed by was now clearly visible. Nonetheless, the route was relatively tiny on the giant map and was of little use.

Subjugator continued where Judge left off, ”When two players from different paths meet, they can opt to exchange and share the map info they have. How is it that the two of you don't know about this?”

”Damn! Why didn't any of you tell us such important information earlier?” Black Rock whined loudly through the Party Channel.

Subjugator stretched his hands out and shrugged. ”Well, we've always been on the same path ever since we formed the party, so there hasn't been a need to bring this up before.”

He then looked back at Qin Ruo and questioned, ”Don't tell me the three great Leagues have already drafted a detailed map of the entire fifth level.”