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Chapter 4

  Sitting upon a lawn chair, Ceilia looked Down on the peasants before her. She had always been a trouble maker, stirring up conflicts for her own sake since a young age. She didn't feel any regrets for it, in fact, she reveled in the destruction.

  Looking at the Underdog of the current fight, Lance, she smirked.

  She knew this kid was in over his head and had basically no chance to win, and yet that made him all the more interesting. Why was he fighting? Pride?

  She could tell there was already an animosity between Lenny and Lance, perhaps a past rivalry? It Didn't matter much, since the match was fairly one sided from the looks. An F Rank beating an E Rank? It was possible, sure, but highly unlikely without equipment.

  Ceilia prepared herself to watch a one sided ass kicking and smiled. Deep down though, she had an odd feeling. Was it anticipation?

  She didn't care. Time to start.

  “Combatants are set. Let us begin in 3. 2. 1… Go!”

  …

  Lance looked over to Lenny, who looked back as the fight started. Instead of rushing for an attack, Len began to speak.

  “I'm not so dishonorable that I won't let you back out, even now. Surely you don't want to embarrass yourself further right?”

  Len smirked, clearly enjoying himself.

  “Kneel and beg, and I'll let you forfeit right now. Aren't I merciful?”

  Lance, in response, said nothing, and just scratched his nose.

  Len frowned.

  “No? Well, I offered.”

  Len prepared to rush forward, but stopped in confusion as Lance began sniffling.

  “Ah… ah.. Ah…!”

  Lance sneezed.

  At the same time, a massive fireball seared across the court, right at Lenny.

  Startled, Lenny ducked as the fireball crashed into a ramp, fizzling. Lance smirked.

  “What? Aren't you supposed to be a gentleman?”

  Lance glared.

  “Aren't you supposed to say ‘Bless you’ or something?”

  Len Roared, rushing forward with a lunging punch. Lance, thankfully, had been training his physical strength and agility outside of Circle Creation. Due to this, even with the boosted strength Lenny had, Lance dodged pretty easily.

  As Len went for another punch, Lance cast fireball after fireball. These didn't quite hit their mark, but they Did force Lenny to dodge a lot more, maneuvering around the attacks.

  Under his breath, Lance counted. “5, 6.”

  Lenny, obviously, was a Cultivator, and one with enough resources to reach E Rank. This meant either he had a rich family or a good Natural Skill or two backing him. Lance assumed the former as Lenny hadn't used any special skills Yet, but he could be sure.

  Another fireball wizzed over Lenny's head. “7.”

  Lenny, not even slightly tired, taunted.

  “What are you, some sort of failed gunslinger? You've missed over 7 times, and you're gonna run out of mana eventually.”

  Len smirked. “Besides, I haven't even gotten serious yet.”

  Len suddenly, to the surprise of everyone around, began sparkling with energy. Channeling that energy into his hands, Lenny smirked.

  “My Natural Skill hasn't failed me yet. It's called Discharge, and at B Rank it's able to move electrical current I generate through anywhere I want in my body.”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  Lenny's fists began glowing.

  “And, hypothetically, If I was to combine it with my Blue Flame Fist Cultivation art…”

  He lunged.

  “-I'd be able to finally show you how futile your attempts really are!”

  The fight's pace increased as Len raced Across the court, growing closer to hitting Lance with every attempt. He was clearly gaining speed, while Lance was only getting more tired as the fight went on. Lance cast 3 fireballs at Len, who dodged them with ease.

  Lance tried to feel, but Len was too quick. He pummeled his electrically charged fists into Lance over and over again, throwing him back a few feet where he crumpled to the ground.

  Slowly walking over to him, Len looked back at Ceilia, who was smiling with glee. Len smiled back at her, before grinning down at Lance.

  Len grabbed Lance's chin, turning up his face.

  “What's the matter? Gonna go cry to mommy? Oh wait, you already made her leave crying, why would she ever help a worthless son like you?”

  Len let go of Lance and turned around.

  “Face it kid, you're helpless. Go ahead and beg and I won't beat you any more.”

  Lance sat in silence. All Seemed lost.

  But for sole reason, Lance was now smiling.

  Lance whispered 3 statements in quick succession.

  “That's 10. Fireball. Roots.”

  Len, who was facing away, felt something Grab his legs. Looking down in shock, he was rooted in place and couldn't move.

  It would only take a second to break free of such a weak spell, one of a singular Circle of Wood Magic. The issue was, He already had a massive 2 Circle Fireball heading straight for his back.

  Lenny tried to break free, but couldnt in time. In an instant, he was aflame, and the roots were too, making the fire even hotter.

  “AGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!”

  For Lenny, power was everything. His natural skills supported this, so he never invested into any sort of defensive skills or even refined defensive chakras yet. Sure, Lenny had E or even D Rank offensive power, and he had E Rank Agility to back it up. But his defense? It was simply mortal. Not even F Rank.

  Lance, to be fair, was much the same, except for a key difference. One of his natural Skills, D Rank Energize, made things like electricity and other energy attacks less effective.

  And that was just enough to keep him in the fight.

  Lance stood up, watching the idiotic E Ranker roll around on the ground trying to put himself out. He succeeded, but his burns were severe, meaning he would need to be taken for medical treatment ASAP.

  Ceilia approached Lance as everyone cheered from the solid fight. Silently, she gave him the Sly Fox Dungeon Manual, and whispered.

  “You're very interesting, Lance the F Ranker. We'll keep in touch, upu~”

  ‘The hell we will! And how did she know my name!?!’ Lance thought to himself.

  Then, the sirens grew in the distance. Colin, bursting from the crowd, grabbed Lance's wrist and dragged him back to the car.

  “Looks like you won. Nice job, just remember to try to avoid this kind of stuff next time. It's technically illegal, you know?”

  Lance sighed with a tired voice.

  “I Won't be doing that again, it was exhausting. I didn't expect I'd even win, but that guy pissed me off beyond reason.”

  Colin laughed.

  “Well, at least you got that book you were looking for. And I know a good Dungeon to test it out on!”

  Lance smiled, and the duo drove off to their destination.

  …

  Watching from behind a large rock among trees, Lance pulled out the Sly Fox Manual and began flipping through the pages. The book was a mixture of a biography and a dungeon guide of various monsters.

  Reaching page 12, Lance looked over at Colin. “Does this look right?”

  Colin nodded. “This is a ‘Horned Wolf Dungeon’. They're F Rank beasts with a weak spot at their necks.”

  Lance skimmed The page he was reading and spoke aloud.

  “Horned Wolves are dangerous in high numbers but weak in solitary formation. At D Rank or Higher, an Alpha will be present, meaning the Wolves will have more coordination until said Alpha is killed. Alphas have-”

  Colin shushed Lance as a Wolf approached with two horns. He jumped out from Behind the rock, slicing off the wolf's head in a singular motion with his dagger.

  Lance frowned. “You're already an E Rank, aren't you?”

  Colin put his arms up in protest. “I… Yeah, I am. I just got to level 53 yesterday…”

  Lance shook his head. “What's your new class?”

  Colin paused before continuing.

  “Ah, I'm an Assassin now.”

  It made sense for his speed and usage of daggers. As such, Lance didn't question it.

  Lance looked ahead, where there were more wolves.

  All of them had 2 horns directly attached to their foreheads, and they charged.

  Lance hit the one on the left while Colin hit the one on the right. Dagger and Spear met neck, and two heads rolled.

  Lance smirked at Colin.

  “What?”

  Lance rubbed his brown hair and said what came to mind.

  “You have a natural skill related to cleaning don't you? No wonder you never get blood on yourself. It must be passive, huh?”

  Colin seemed to have an awkward expression.

  “Yeah, you got me. Actually, it's a C Rank Skill. It keeps me clean as a table in one of those anti-germ commercials.”

  Lance felt the response was odd.

  “You ok bro? Is something bothering you?”

  Colin smiled. “Nothing man, just not the best at answering a ton of questions in a row.”

  Lance nodded with an understanding expression. “I get it, I'll try to stop.”

  Colin waved a hand. “It's fine. It's never bad to be curious.”

  Lance grinned.

  “Unless you're a cat. The. It'll get you killed, apparently.”

  Colin laughed as the duo progressed further into the dungeon.

  …

  Down another forrested path, Colin found himself in a clearing alone. Lance had Decided to take on another trail and left him one to himself.

  Marching forward, Colin noticed something odd, a 3 Horned Wolf with slightly different coloring. Surrounding it was around 8 other wolves, all with the normal 2 horns.

  In an instant, Colin glared at the wolf, which stared back cautiously. Colin jumped into the air and seemingly vanished. A second later, he reappeared. All of the wolves’ heads rolled off of their necks and fell to the floor. Even the mighty 3-horned wolf's head fell instantly. Colin sighed as he brushed away a notification.

  ‘Level 207… It’s still not enough…’

  From through the dense trees, Lance called out.

  “You good bro?”

  Colin smiled sincerely.

  “Yeah man, but don't come down here. There's a stench Trap, it's hard to breathe.”

  Lance called back. “Got it. I'll see you in the end clearing.”

  Silently, Colin grabbed each of the wolf heads and pushed them into a pocket Dimension. The A Rank Horde skill was quite useful for transporting odd objects discreetly.

  Done, Colin walked down the forest path as if nothing had ever happened.

  …

  Soon, the duo Quickly finished off the boss and made their way back to the car to head home.

  As they quietly drove, Lance pondered what to do next.

  ‘I'm still F rank, at 3 Circles. I want to progress faster, but this city is basically a Mana dead zone. What should I do?’

  Lance spoke up.

  “How do I get a better Mana environment so it's easier to create circles?”

  Colin looked over, pondering this as he drove in the dark.

  “Well, Mana is fueled by intrigue, learning, and desire. You could always just travel to a place where those 3 things are more prominent?”

  Lance thought on it.

  “Maybe if I go somewhere to learn Something new I'll have a breakthrough?”

  Colin nodded.

  “That sounds mostly right. If you go somewhere to learn about something, like culture for example, it should help fuel your growth. You might even be able to push toward E Rank.”

  Lance smiled.

  “Well, that's a better direction than nothing. I just need to figure out where to go.”

  “Why not Japan?”

  Lance looked at Colin like he was insane.

  “Do I look like I have Japan money?”

  Colin smirked.

  “Don't worry, I gotchu bro.”

  Lance practically curled up in shock.

  “Whaaaat!?!?!”

  Colin just continued smiling as Lance lost his mind, mentally preparing himself for a possible trip to Japan of all places.

  Soon the car stopped, and the duo walked inside. Lance, exhausted, went right to sleep.

  Colin, a moment later, sighed, his smile falling

  He muttered To himself.

  “This time…I'll save them.”

  Below the range others could hear, he spoke again.

  “I have to. I'll save everyone.”

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