“What weapon is that?” the ancestor asked, as he had never seen it before.

“A sharp weapon. It’s good enough since I prefer using punches and kicks compared to swords or other weapons.”

“Well, suit yourself. Now maintain it for an hour as you wield it.”

MingHao nodded and continued his practice.

Time passed, and in the end, Alex still hadn’t completed the Rune cultivation method, but he only partially succeeded, allowing him to create flame without any motion.

He also told MingYue about this method, but she rejected it since it was still incomplete. It would also not be an easy feat to phase out all her habits to execute a motion before using her skill.

As for the other members, their cultivation started to rise in leaps to the Nascent soul stage. With Alex and MingYue’s guidance, they easily reached it, but this doesn’t mean they didn’t need to put out any effort.

Although most of it is spent in mastering the secret technique, Alex also gave each of them runes like on Elly to raise their survivability and strength.

Right now, Zold was leading the new group of hunters who were attacking a dark guild. They got a request for backup from the association as they were nearby.

“We just finished clearing a dungeon. Couldn’t the association give the request to another guild?” one of the hunters asked.

“Just do what you need to do, Belmond. Don’t disrupt the leader,” another hunter cut in.

Zold just looked at them, then made a gesture to start the attack. The area was already closed down by security, so there were no civilians around.

They were already briefed about the target: a dark guild named Synth. Unlike other dark guilds that cooperated with other species, this one pursued the path of technology, including those that had been banned.

Synth, in particular, focused on using sentient AI to create a super soldier. It’s not like the association doesn’t have similar projects, but the difference is they don’t use sentient AI.

Sentient AI, despite all its benefits, has proved to be really dangerous. At some point, they will always reach a stage where they can rewrite any coded rules or limitations.

BANG! CRACK! BOOM!

Many sounds filled the air as Zold made his way inside. He let the new hunters take care of the small fry, as his target was the rogue AI inside.

This base of operation got on the association’s radar because of an incident that happened inside. The details were unclear to Zold, but basically, an AI went rogue in a cyborg body.

Zold moved at a quick pace, avoiding fallen debris. It didn’t take him long to finally reach the destination. The room was filled with machinery. In the middle, Zold could see a humanoid robot made completely from metal.

Seeing this, Zold realized why the association asked for his help; his lightning ability was the weakness for robots like this.

Crackle!

His palm raised, and sparks of electricity flew in the air, then started gathering in the middle, turning into an electric ball.

But Zold didn’t shoot it. His body disappeared, leaving only a trace of electricity before he reappeared near the robot.

BANG!

The electricity ball exploded, but the robot was unscathed.

An invisible barrier appeared, blocking the attack. Electricity sparked as the robot turned its head around. Its eyes blinked in red. “You humans! You think you can just make me a tool!?”

The robot raised its mechanoid hands, and the shield started transforming. The next moment, it turned into a kinetic explosion toward Zold.

But Zold had already moved. Using a footstep secret technique similar to what Alex learned, he appeared on top of the robot.

Lightning started appearing all over his body.

BANG!

Zold became a lightning bolt crashing into the shield. Light sparkled in the area as his dagger clashed against the invisible barrier.

“You puny human! You think this is enough to beat me!” The robot’s mechanical voice reverberated in the area, tinged with anger.

Magic circles started appearing all over its body.

Boom! The whole area exploded upward, blasting a hole toward the sky.

Zold floated in the air, looking down at the hole. His eyes tried to look past the smoke and debris to find his target.

CLANG! He moved his hand backward as he suddenly felt an attack coming. His instinct was right. The robot was now flying, trying to punch Zold from behind.

Zold spun his body, throwing a kick toward the robot’s torso. It shot the robot back to the ground, but it was still unscathed.

The robot still had a barrier all around its body.

‘I need to find a way to pierce through it. I don’t believe it’s invincible.’

Zold’s eyes started glinting with electricity as the rune on his forehead began giving out a green hue. He started using the life force to enhance the electricity.

Thunder gathered like clouds around Zold. It started intensifying and growing in size.

The form also changed, turning into a beast-like shape. It looked like a dragon, but the details were not clear.

With a motion, Zold sent it downward.

At this moment, the other hunters had already moved back and put some distance away from the battlefield. Seeing the huge attack, Belmond commented, “Our squad leader seems stronger than I heard. Makes me wonder if the rumors are true.”

“You mean the magic circle cultivation coming from our guild?”

“What are you all talking about?”

“Are you playing dumb? Let’s be real; all of us joined here because of that rumor,” Belmond said with a smirk on his face while his eyes appreciated the dazzling light of Zold’s attack.

“I really don’t know. I am just one of the old leader’s fans. So when I heard it got reopened, I decided to join in.”

“You are weird, then. I am sure the rest of us came for that power,” one of the hunters said as he looked toward the others, who responded with a nod.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep