Chapter 157: Into The Edge We Go [1]

What exactly does a rank difficulty change in the world of trials? The monsters stayed the same, and the environment didn’t change a single bit. Apart from the simplest missions turning into a story quest, the only thing that wasn’t noticeable. Was the chance of the flow of mana, with the authority of the Game masters, they can change this at will. But that doesn’t ask the question why am I right? Well, I’m getting there, mana is the source and the origin of monster spawn rate. So if you ever see a horde of monsters in a singular area then im sure it has a ton of mana build-up

[System: You’ve been transported to an area that your ally has previously marked. Your location has changed from the conquered city to the edge of the biome. Alert: There seems to be a lot of mana building up on this side of the map. Please turn around, this is not a place where you can escape solely on your talents]

Once the portal that Colt had previously marked before they could even encounter their disposable ally. They entered the edge of the biome, which was at a different location compared with the entrance he used to enter this domain. He didn’t have any other knowledge that relates to the edges of the biome. Apart from the fact that it’s one of the most dangerous and life-threatening areas to be found. These edges were mostly known for being the spawn point of the monsters that oppress the players in their daily lives

’Father I can sense multiple types of monsters heading into our location,’

He was warned by his summons that manages to sense the incoming threat before he could have sensed their presence

[Mini map: Multiple ice-attributed monsters are coming in your current location]

“Kill them all,” Instead of managing the monsters, he ordered his summons whilst his team continued in their tracks

[System: The player has deployed every available summons that he possesses. Due to your strong bond with your familiars, they’re able to use their owner’s titles. One that slashes away the cold: increases damage to any ice-attributed monsters by 25%

Passive: immunity to the cold, frostbite, speed reduction, and frigid rashes

Bonus: Your movement will become slightly faster in the snow]

“What was that I think I’ve heard something,” Sam looks at their back until she was stopped midway between a sudden attack from her right. It was a projectile made of pure ice which was imbued with a large amount of mana. Morris quickly took the lead and there his staff that he currently locked in a javelin form, which struck its target. Revealing that it was an elite-type scorrfrione

[System: The hostile scorrfrione has been afflicted with Bind. Locking the monster at a fixed area for the next 5 seconds]

Colt binded the monster in place whilst Jenna remained at his side, giving Zen the small opening to enter its range

[System: The player Jenna Wilton has activated the skill Rapid firing. Which grants the player a burst of movement speed and a faster manifestation of magical arrows. This effect will last after 3 minutes have passed]

“Don’t worry about its icicle spikes, I can handle them on my own. Colt, provide the two of them with any available support-type magic. The archer has called for the power of mana. Grant this archer the ability to create an arrow with the use of my chant and a portion of my mana. I call upon the power of the world, manifest magic arrows,” Yet the spell was finally concluded and the monster continued to fire its projectiles. It was immediately countered by their archer’s immediate response

“Go on ahead, I can handle them,” The monsters that were closing in on their destination were quickly eradicated when they came in contact with Sam’s blade

With all of the support their support, he uses his agility and flexibility to shorten his distance from his target. He utilizes a small amount of mana to increase his power within his legs and leaps into the air. Where he landed on top of his opponent and used his strength. To drive his weapon with its hard and durable scales that were tougher than what he previously faced. He poured out both his mana and chi into his weapon, whilst he tries to cover his tracks

[System: There aren’t any signs of leakage with your Concurrent flow. You’ve perfectly aligned the two opposing energy frequencies. Which resulted in better handling of your skills, and your mastery has increased. Your focus and control have exceeded your normal capacity. Which resulted in unlocking a new feature of concurrent flow, Pierce enhancement. Pierce enhancement has now activated the energy that you’ve injected into your javelin. Has now been refined and changed to a pure and potent surge of energy, that was created by the combination of mana and chi]

“Interchangeable Cromwell arts, Frontal pierce,” Just by adding a single technique he finally pierce through its tough and durable scales. Whilst his mana and chi were perfectly controlled to the point where it didn’t even cause a ripple of energy. That would’ve been released after he concluded his attack, all of the remaining power. Was then used to scare the monsters from their location, leading them to the area of his familiars

“Moon, it seems like a new prey has arrived in our area. From the looks of it, they were frightened by my father’s large amount of mana. Kill them, seeing as they’re exhausted yet they haven’t possessed a single injury, then it’s very easy to know that they fled,” Even though she had the power to create a fleet of homunculus to do her every bidding. She was covered with a ton of blood that came from a variety of monsters, her body can shift to another embodiment

[System: Familiar Origin’s voice can influence any homunculus created after her. Familiar Sun and Moon are now following her orders

Passive: Once the homunculus has accepted the call of the origin their abilities will be strengthened. Coordination, teamwork, and lastly skill activations are at the hands of the origin]

Whether it was a blade or a weapon meant to strike another in a distance. Her body could easily shift and transform into a living weapon if she pleases. And yet she orders those below her rank while she sat on the dozens of corpses that created a mountain. Which was filled with blood, limbs, and dismembered body parts of their prey. Slowly the two leopards were closing their distance from their newly identified prey

[System: Your familiars are amassing a ton of experience points in their current position. As long as your leader-type familiar named Origin (Morgan) has not yet returned to your side. Your summons can stay in the world of the living, do you want to call for them? [Yes] or [No] you’ve chosen to decline]

’I didn’t think I’ll gain a ton of perks when Jin and I brought her into the living, well, I guess I can get surprised. As long as she’s around, she can just eradicate any monster that will block our exit. For now, I should focus on what’s happening with my current location. I didn’t think there was a forest near the edge, what’s more, surprising is the fact that at the end. I’ll get to meet their injured ally that I don’t have a single clue about since I’ve written a ton of Knight class characters,’

The four of them were making their way through the thick and eerie forest in search of their injured ally. At some point in their path, he notices something peculiar near their route. It was a fresh foot pain that was covered with snow, anyone would’ve been unable to see through a trail. However, Morris’s appraisal confirmed that it belonged to a few players that entered the forest. Not long after they’ve arrived

[What’s this a set of footprints? Judging from the difference between its sizes, it originated from a player? Didn’t they tell your fake allies told you that no one else knows about this place?]

It was such a strange occurrence as to why a group of people would risk their lives to enter such a horrific environment. Curious to know the answer to his suspicion, he spawns a few mirages that followed its tracks, while a few scout the area. Whilst his focus was interrupted when he heard the call from his comrade

“Let’s take a short break, we’re almost at our ally’s current location. For now, we need to prepare for the worst, Zen can you prepare the email for the four of us? I still need to do my weekly maintenance on my daggers, I don’t want them to get all rusty,”

“Sure thing Sam, can the two of you search the area for any kind of firewood? It seems that the ones inside my inventory are not enough to make a campfire,” Just when he was about to call out his suspicion about the footprints he found. He suddenly received a message that one of his mirages have died even though it can’t reach its max duration

[System: Mirages #5, and 6 have been eliminated before they could have reached the end of their fleeting life. The cause of their deaths is unknown, the last images of their life are being transferred to the player. Replaying the last images in 3, 2, 1]

__________________________

He saw the last images before the bodies of his copies were at their breaking point, along with a voice that gave him a clue

“Where the hell did this guy come from? I thought the intel said this guy was all alone? Shit, search the area for any players, and once you’ve found them. Capture them, I don’t know why they’re in such a deserted place plagued with dozens of deadly monsters. Perhaps they’re related to our target, they can be a useful tool to capture that ranker,”

“As you wish, what about this corpse? Should we bury it ~ what the!!! It disappeared!!!?”

“Fuck!!! It’s an illusion!!! Is there any group thats after the ranker? Shit, call for the others we can’t let our target escape,”

__________________________

[System: The last recorded life of the mirage has now ended]

’So their injured ally is a Ranker? I wonder who it is, there are a lot of characters that I can choose from… Well, I can do it later, things have just gotten interesting it seems like a ton of side stories about side characters are occurring. How about I prepare for a counter-attack, it’s not going to be pair if I’m just hiding behind my allies. Oh goody, it’s time to have some fun, I wonder how I should integrate~ hold on. I haven’t even caught them, let’s start by planning my traps,’

[System: You’ve opened the 2nd trial exclusive shop. In this shop, you can buy a bunch of items that’ll only be purchasable with event-exclusive tokens. Your total tokens are 5, 300 what would you like to buy?]

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