Chapter 328 (1/2)

Rose was at least pleased that the group had at least waited until she, Brute, and the two star guard returned, not making any trouble. That either showed they were weak, and were intimidated, or that they knew something about the Refuge.

After all, it wasn’t difficult to fight the people who guarded the edges of the city. But once you got into the city proper… even Rose would be hard pressed to keep herself safe if she had to force her way into the Refuge. Which, of course, was a direct result of her actions in building up the fortifications in the city, not that anyone would thank her for it…

The group was small, but Rose’s eyebrows rose as she looked at their mounts. There was a bear, an ox, and most intimidatingly, a giant bone wurm, which seemed to be looking around curiously. That thing… was truly a monster.

Although Rose understood, intellectually, that the riders could basically tame any monster that acknowledged them, in practice, they were usually pretty normal animals. This monster, however…

There were four people, a skinny young black girl, a chubby and nervous boy, another young girl wrapped in thick furs, and finally a 20 something young man with long, black hair to his shoulders. As Rose and Brute approached, the man looked up slowly, his eyes flashing emerald. The look in those eyes was placid, almost curious, but firm.

It would be the latter option then; these people understood the Refuge, and they were willing to wait and take the test. They had confidence in their strength. Rose almost felt bad that she had brought out Brute to crush them.

Generally, Rose wouldn’t be contacted with handling this sort of issue. It was far, far below her station, and even a bit below the work that most of the warriors thought she did. But this was a two star guard she knew well enough, and he preferred to approach her, rather than returning to the city proper and recruiting a four star warrior off the street, trying to drag them away from whatever they were up to.

Without the threat of violence, most of the warriors above 3 stars refused to wipe their own ass.

Rose produced a notebook and held it at the ready. Hopefully, she at least got some new skills out of this group. “Welcome, travelers, to the Refuge. I assume you understand the rules…?”

She glanced at some of the nearby two star guards. They nodded. “The boy and the little girl will not be tested. The furred one passed her test.” At the end of the short report, the guard made a hand gesture, one that indicated he suspected her to have the strength of a 3 star warrior.

Interesting. If a four star warrior had really been fetched, their leader might have a pretty good shot at winning, if he was stronger than that girl. But unfortunately…

Monologue, Dauntless’ annoying voice reminded her.

“...How brave. As you are shouldering the responsibility of two others… the requirements for entry grow. The first is one extra star, the second two. As such, you need to have the strength of a 4 star warrior to walk with them under your protection.” Rose smiled at the man, who continued to regard her impassively. “Its for your own benefit, you know. Violence is not prevented in the Refuge. If you don’t have at least that much strength… you will not be able to protect them.”

Still no response, and no notes. No scanning skills, perhaps…?

Rose continued to speak. “The challenge, thus, is to defeat a 4 star or greater warrior. Unfortunately, due to personnel concerns, no 4 star warriors are available. You may either wait, perhaps for 6 hours, when the next shift ends, or… if you agree, fight against Brute here, who is above a four star warrior.”

Brute stepped forward. After giving Brute a glance, the man nodded and flourished his hand, producing a spear. Rose’s eyes focused instantly, her hands frozen. She had felt at least 4 skills there, flickering, not even really activating, with that motion. So it wasn’t the production, but just the physical movement that was the skills she sensed. That meant he had an interspatial ring.

But the quick flash of skills wasn’t enough for her to catch, so they faded away. Her hand relaxed. Still, it was annoying. More knowledge would help.

Not that it really mattered. The one thing that Brute did not fear was physical fighters.

“Well then, feel free to begin.” Rose announced, excited to watch the fight. The spear in the man’s hand was weird, seeming to be made of some sort of woven wood, but that wasn’t enough to give her pause.

In an eerily similar fashion, the two men walked calmly towards each other. When they were only a meter apart, both blurred.

There was a strange noise of a ticking.

Rose’s hand sprung into motion. Then it spasmed as her skill wanted her to write almost 15 skills at once, as both men activated them. Very quickly, she sorted out Brute’s skills, doing her best to dig through the other man’s.