"Well, good hunting." The cloaked woman made her way over to a flickering campfire next to the portal. Her purpose was to guide newcomers, and so she waited for the next ascender to arrive.Jason cracked his neck as he carefully made his way down the rocky hill. Let"s see, what should I go for first? Five bloodlines could be slotted, which meant he could enhance five stats. Attack speed, movement speed, health, mana, reaction speed. There were plenty to pick from. Jason"s path was as an offensive tank. Which bloodlines would enhance his strength the most?
As he was thinking, Jason arrived at the bottom of the hill. The prairie was filled with green gra.s.s that reached up to the knees, perfect for hiding small monsters. The five auras Jason sensed earlier originated from a pack of twin-fanged foxes. Dog-sized creatures that had two sharp fangs. The pack silently surrounded Jason, only moving when the wind brushed against the gra.s.s.
Hmm. I should try experimenting a bit. Jason stood still, relaxing his guard, as if inviting the foxes to play. They took the bait. The foxes pounced forward, their fangs barred. Each pounce was timed differently as they attacked from all directions.
In an instant, an invisible wave of killing intent swept out. It disappeared as soon as it arrived, but the job was done. The foxes" instincts screamed at them. Their minds were overwhelmed by fear.
"
Jason gripped his weapon. Burst was used consecutively, and in the next moment, his sword had already returned to its sheath. Four severed heads rolled along the ground, leaving a trail of blood. The last fox hit the ground with a thud. The battle was over before the foxes knew what was happening.
The cost was nearly five hundred Battle Energy. If not for wanting to level up Sever, Jason would never have wasted so much energy at once.
As the monsters dispersed into light, their blood rose into the air and flew towards Jason. By habit, he held out his hand, whereupon the snake on his wrist opened its maw and devoured the blood.
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5/5 Bloodlines Slotted.
Twin-Fanged Fox - 1% Harder to Sense
Twin-Fanged Fox - 1% Harder to Sense
Twin-Fanged Fox - 1% Harder to Sense
Twin-Fanged Fox - 1% Harder to Sense
Twin-Fanged Fox - 1% Harder to Sense
The twin-fanged fox monster was especially useful for a.s.sa.s.sins, rogues, and archers. Not so much for Jason. To save s.p.a.ce, Jason combined all five into one.
1/5 Bloodlines Slotted.
Twin-Fanged Fox - 3.5% Harder to Sense
Empty
Empty
Empty
Empty
A bloodline could only be improved by so much. The higher tier a monster, the stronger the bloodline. For a common monster like the twin-fanged foxes, they could at most be improved to 10%. Elites, 15%. Field boss", 20%. Raid boss", 25%. Even though Jason considered himself pretty powerful for his level, he was still far away from soloing a raid boss. The problem wasn"t a lack of skill or equipment, but of stamina. A raid boss had an absurd amount of health. Even if Jason consumed all of his energy, he would at most bring it down to 80% life.
The thirty-sixth floor was filled with upper-tier guilds farming for bloodlines. The top-tier guilds had made their way past the fortieth floor by now, which left plenty of hunting grounds for the upper-tier guilds to fight over. Jason intentionally avoided them. Not out of fear, but to avoid wasting time.
Alas, he could only do so for so long. The hunting grounds left for solo ascenders like him were terrible, to say the least. The zones which held the most popular bloodlines were controlled by the upper-tier guilds. Those were the ones he wanted.
A few hours since arriving on the floor, Jason stood not far from one such zone. Ahead of him was a cl.u.s.ter of rocky outcrops, where the irritating laughter of hyenas came from inside. This place was home to hundreds of hyenas, famous for their bloodline which increased attack speed. Attack speed was useful for every ascender, thus the conundrum. This place was a hotspot for the upper-tier guilds. As such, only the strongest guilds could compete over it.
In front of Jason were two such guilds. One was Vengeance, the guild Jason saw on the undead floor, while the other was Crusaders. Both were on the verge of becoming top-tier guilds. Vengeance and Crusaders each had around thirty ascenders. Each group stood twenty feet away from the other, glaring all the while. By the looks of it, they were on the verge of fighting.
A man decked out in glittering gold armor stepped forward. "Ivan, it seems your informants did well."
Ivan, a stocky man covered in two layers of leather armor separated himself from his group. On his back were two ma.s.sive hammers, which Jason recognized as a pair of Heroic grade weapons. Ivan snorted. "Hans, Vengeance arrived here first. This hunting ground is ours."
Hans raised an eyebrow. "Really now. We arrived here at the same time, didn"t we?"
Ivan gaze was sharp as he fell silent. Hans spread his arms. "Why don"t we settle this the old fashioned way?"
Ivan gazed over the Crusaders standing behind Hans. They were equipped in high grade gear, but no more than his own guild. If only gear was considered, there was an equal chance of winning. Thankfully, his guild was the first to arrive when an undead horde appeared. They wiped out the majority of it and gained a huge boost of XP. By his estimate, he was several levels above Hans. Both he and Hans were high ranking officers in their guild. If he failed here, it wouldn"t look good. But if he won, he might be able to get Hans demoted. Ivan pursed his lips. "Fine. A one versus one it is, whoever gets three wins first gets the hunting ground."
"Sounds good. Shall we go first to kick things off?" Hans pulled out a ma.s.sive silver greatsword from his inventory. It too was Heroic grade.
The two groups created an impromptu arena by forming a circle. Fierce shouts and hollering erupted. "Come on, beat his a.s.s, Hans!"
A Vengeance member retorted in a slightly louder voice. "He"s nothing! Show him our guild"s strength!"
Jason couldn"t see what was happening from his position, so he made his way over. Just as he arrived, the ascenders in front of him parted. Hans fell out of the ring, his armor covered in dents. As he was about to hit the ground, Jason caught him and pulled him to his feet.
"d.a.m.n." Hans steadied himself and wiped the blood from his lips. He turned to Jason, expecting one of his own. "Thank-, who are you?"
"Just watching." Jason gave a slight nod.
"Hm." Hans was too upset over losing to continue the conversation. He made his way back to his group.
Jason thought for a moment before he called out. "A word of advice. Vengeance wiped out an undead horde about a month ago. It was a pretty big one too, I saw at least three raid bosses."
Hans paused, his countenance falling. He glanced over his shoulder and gave a grateful nod before continuing onward. Conversely, the Vengeance members around Jason gave him hateful glares. Coughing awkwardly, Jason gave an apologetic smile.
Even though Hans now knew that Vengeance"s levels were higher than his guilds, there was nothing he could do. The duel continued.
As Jason expected, Crusaders lost another duel, and where now at zero to two. If they lost one more, they would lose their right over the hunting ground. The only fortunate thing was that Ivan ran out of stamina and had to pa.s.s the torch over to his second strongest member. Even so, the outcome was still grim for Crusaders.
Hans gripped his hands in frustration. Crusaders desperately needed this hunting ground. His guild master was counting on him. If he failed here, then his guild would surely fall behind.
Ivan taunted from the other side. "Come now, we"re waiting. Who"re you gonna send out?"
Hans grimaced. He turned to his second best man and called out. "Vin-"
"I"ll do it." Jason stepped forward. Sixty pairs of eyes, all from powerful ascenders, focused on him. The guild master of a mid-tier guild would waver in fright, but Jason was as calm as a still lake.
"Who the h.e.l.l are you? No outsiders are allowed." Ivan snorted in irritation. Just as his guild was on the verge of victory, some random was delaying things. Even worse, it was the one who outed their secret.
Jason tilted his head. "I"m a member of Crusaders, aren"t I?"
Just as Hans and Jason"s eyes met, Hans" communication necklace trembled as a message appeared informing him that someone wanted to add him as a contact.