16 Book 2 Chapter 12 (1/2)

As the Crusaders members entered the rocky forest, the laughter that filled the area turned into yelps. The hyenas were no match for the combined strength of Crusaders' parties. Each party had a tank, damage dealers, and supports.

Jason and Hans entered the hunting zone side by side. Out of the corner of Jason's eye, he could see Hans' necklace tremble continuously. Hans' subordinates were sending him information, leaving him unable to talk with Jason. Not that Jason minded.

Jason's eyes narrowed as a hyena suddenly dashed out from behind a large boulder. It charged straight towards Hans, who reacted by unsheathing his greatsword. It pounced, moving far faster than any monster Hans had encountered before. Still, as a high-ranking officer of an upper-tier guild, Hans had already entered the first realm.

With perfect control over his body, he managed to block the hyena with the blade of his greatsword just in time. With a bellow, he shoved, tossing the hyena into the air. The skill Quick Slash was used, allowing the greatsword to move with far greater speed than before. As the hyena was in the air, he cleaved it in half. Because no Sever skill was used, only a blood red line was left behind. The hyena rolled along the ground and jumped to its feet. To Hans surprise, the hyena still had plenty of life. It was much stronger than a wolf.

The hyena lowered its head and charged forward. Hans smirked and leveled his greatsword. ”The result will be the same as last time.”

Another hyena suddenly sprinted out from a boulder behind him. By the time Hans sensed it, it had already pounced, its jaws about to close around his neck.

A s.h.i.+eld appeared at the hyena's side, bas.h.i.+ng it. Jason stepped forward, pinning the hyena between a boulder and his s.h.i.+eld. The hyena snapped at Jason's s.h.i.+eld arm, dealing negligible damage. In response, Jason dug his sword into the hyena's stomach. He dragged up and down, slicing through the hyena's organs. It yelped as its health plummeted.

When it dispersed into light, Jason turned just in time to see Hans land the killing blow on his hyena. Hans turned and gave Jason a curt nod before continuing deeper into the hunting ground.

A few minutes later, Hans paused and sighed. ”Sorry about that. That should have been the last report.”

Jason scanned his surroundings. ”No problem. Everything in order?”

Hans took out a tattered rag from his inventory ring and cleaned the blood from his greatsword. ”Yep. We've found the location of the elites and the field boss. According to the map we bought from a top-tier guild, the resp.a.w.n time of the elite hyenas are ten minutes, and the field boss hyena is one hour.”

Jason nodded as he compared this information with his memory. ”How often does a raid boss sp.a.w.n?”

Hans put away the rag and sheathed his greatsword. ”Depends on how fast we hunt the lower tier hyenas.”

”Same as before then, huh?” Jason talked as if he was a newcomer to these floors.

Hans turned to Jason and squinted. ”Say, I've been watching how you fight. You've entered the second realm, haven't you?”

”Not long ago, yes.” Jason nodded. With the strength Jason was showing, others were bound to come to this conclusion. It was inevitable, so he had already come up with the maximum level of strength he would show others. If he only used the second realm and were to be compared to an upper-tier guild, only the vice guild master and guild master would be able to compete with him in pure skill. Of course, the equipment they had would far outs.h.i.+ne Jason's. It was unknown who would win if they fought to the death.

Just thinking about it left Jason irritated. He remembered the equipment he used to have; a complete set of heroic and celestial gear. Even his accessories were at that grade. After purchasing equipment for his father, Jason was left with around forty thousand gold. With that much, he would be able to buy a couple pieces of heroic grade gear or one celestial grade piece. It just wasn't worth it, considering that he was still at a low level. Only heroic grade gear past level 100 entered Jason's eyes.

Hans rubbed his chin as he fell into thought. He glanced at Jason every now and then while muttering to himself. After around half a minute, he nodded. ”Our guild could definitely use someone with your skill. What do you say about making a contract?”

Catch! Jason responded calmly. ”And what would this contract entail? I already said I'm not interested in joining your guild.”