《Death system》


 1 Prologue

    "Do you not fear death?"


    A question that once was asked by someone that was dear to me, until at the end, she left me as well.


    Hands full of blood, quietly, I stared directly forwards as a group of people approached from a distance. Sighing, the grip in my right hand tightened as I walked ,sword in tow. Eyes staring to the front, I tried to observe the group that came to take my life, just like another dozen of assassins they''ve sent to me.


    "Blood for blood and life for life.


    Unsheath your sword, and pay the price.


    For no man shall walk the death''s path alive."


    While mumbling the words that had once been said by a respectable man in my life, every memory flashed by in my eyes in a very short moment. One step at a time, thunder rumbled in the sky as I held my head high, staring into the sky. The dark clouds started to gather right above me as drops of water dripped from the sky.


    It''s raining¡­


    Just like that day, atop the skyscraper, with thunder booming on the horizon and a storm drowned out most of the noise in the world. And today will be the same as that day.


    "Zuyuan!"


    A man in his thirties led the group while shouting my name with rage in his tone and eyes. Due to his suit and firm walk, anyone with eyes could see that this man would be a member of the Nine clans, for only those in the Nine clans would wear expensive suits as something to wear in battle.


    One, two, three¡­ eleven people in total huh?


    Counting the number of people that the man has brought with him, I saw that many experts of the Moying clan, one of the Nine clans, are now present for the bloodbath.


    *chuckle*


    Chuckling from the sight in front of me, I laughed without restraint as the man knit his eyebrows, watching my strange behavior. Unperturbed, the man asked with a stern voice, "What''s so funny?"


    Sniggering at his question, I said, "It will be an honor for any warriors that they have the attention of the great Moying clan, isn''t that right? The esteemed guardian, Ru Yoming."


    Squinting his eyes, bloodlust filled the atmosphere, "What are you trying to say? You have brought this upon yourself, silent demon Tan Zuyuan."


    Wiping off anything that resembled laughter from my face, my gaze became colder as I said, "You all will die."


    Unsheathing the sword that''s strapped to his back, all the men behind him did the same in unison. As Yoming look into my waist that''s been gushing out blood all this time, he said, "With that kind of injury, it will be-"


    Before he finishes with his speech, I pumped every last power of Qigong within me, and dashed right into Yoming''s side before he can finish, then swung my sword right into his neck.


    In less than a second, a head with a shocked expression soared through the air, and it''s neck gushing blood. Not wasting my chance, I changed my sword''s trajectory into the man that''s been standing right beside Yoming all this time. His wary gaze changed into a shock, and then morphed into murderous intent, with a hint of hesitation, which only lasted a blink of an eye.


    Raising his sword to his chest, he parried my strike with a smooth movement, as he followed up with his own attack, targeting my left kneecap.


    Without wasting the flow of Qigong that I''d used to kill Yoming, my body stance changed as I moved my left leg slightly to the side, enough for making his attack into a simple scratch as I raised my sword horizontally, going straight into the man''s eyes.


    Successfully blinding the man, my instinct that had been forged from hundreds of battles started to take control over my body as I stepped to the right. Before I knew it, a foreign object was already inside me and stabs my insides from my back into the stomach.


    Without looking behind, I raised my left arm and elbowed the guy behind me. A faint sound of yelp sounds out behind me as I turn my body and try to slash the man who stabbed me into two, only to find that my sword is blocked with another sword from the side, and another man on my other side is swinging his sword at me.


    My retinas contracted as I saw death right in that moment. Without thinking twice, I burned every last bit of Qigong power inside me and sent a powerful, invisible wave that threw out everything around me, while ejecting the sword that was stabbing me.


    While they are still in the air, my body moved so fast that it left only a blur. Gripping my sword handle tight, I swung a full arc against both of the men''s throats, killing them instantly.


    "Ackk." coughing out blood, I gasped for air. All the wounds started to widen and the blood started to flow faster.


    "That man is dead meat! He burned all his Qigong, kill him!" Seeing me kneeling on the ground and using my sword as a crutch, the rest of the experts started to move fast, and in the blink of an eye, all of them were surrounding me and starting to move all their swords at the same time.


    Sh*t¡­


    Gritting my teeth, I used the remaining strength I had and blocked one of the sword attacks, but the rest of them successfully found their mark. Two men behind me slashed at both of my leg tendons, crippling my legs instantly. While another one on my left side quickly chopped off my left arm, another one in the back stabbed me right where my heart was, and another two slashes that were deep in both of my shoulders.


    "Aaaaahhh!" shouting on top of my lungs, I drew the very faint power of Qigong in my right arm and pushed away the man with the sword in front of me, and then used the last bit of strength to chop off the man''s head on my left side. My legs had nearly lost feeling, yet I found the strength to turn and stab the man who''d stabbed me in the back, driving my sword deep in his skull.


    And then, suddenly, my vision changed as I saw my headless neck, along with a man with red hair, who''d beheaded me from behind in a quick slash.


    "Finally¡­ he''s dead."


    Someone''s voice rang out, followed by more noise coming from the experts catching their breaths after fighting me. Somehow they sounded hushed¡ªunrecognizable in the background as the sound of rain became the only noise I could hear clearly.


    Through the eyes of my severed head lying down on the ground, I watched helplessly as they mutilated my remaining body. They did it in the open, knowing the crows of this mountainous area would come down to feast upon it.


    After taking back their companions'' corpses, they left the area. I was alone on the ground with only myself that was somehow trapped inside my head. I couldn''t open my mouth, avert my eyes, or anything of the like, all I could  do was only blankly stare into the last direction my gaze was.


    Somehow, memories of the past returned; I saw myself sitting down in an expensive restaurant, with a blonde girl in a ponytail, giving me a lovely smile as we traded jokes with one another.


    And then, another scene came into view; when lacking the power to protect what I wanted, I''d decided to come back to the old family that once abandoned me, even if it hurt me from the inside, I had to do what I should.


    Another scene, and this time, I was atop of the highest skyscraper building in the city, belonging to the strongest clan of the Nine clans. There, I saw my master, looking at me with a gaze full of warmth, and the blonde girl that had chatted with me in the restaurant before, was now hiding behind me, crying out, sniffling, shivering. Although his gaze was warm, my master made a stern face as he looked into my eyes. His mouth opened, and he said, "Blood for blood and life for life, unsheathe your sword and pay the price, for no man shall walk the death''s path alive." This will be my last lesson for you, Zuyuan." After that, my master dashed to the front and battled dozens of experts, each belonging to the highest clan of the country. Fighting for my sake with a very low chance of winning.


    "Why!? Why do you have to go against them!?! They are a gigantic organization that can kill us anytime!" The blonde girl shouted at me, right in front of my brothers-in-arms. "They have killed a lot of our brothers and sisters!" I shouted back as my face warped Into anger and annoyance. And then, without turning back, I stepped into the door and said, "Even if I have to do it alone and against an army, I''ll fight." . Seeing my determination, the girl bit her lips, and walked to me slowly as she put her hand on my right shoulder, "You.. Do You not fear death?"


    Yes.. Yes I do¡­


    "Do you?"


    A man''s voice rang inside my head as I found my head being held in one hand by a man, who wore a waxed coat with a black umbrella in his other hand. The man smiled at me as if he could look right into my eyes,and said


    "Greetings, pleasure to make your acquaintance on this lovely evening, I''m the [agent]."

 2 Chapter 1

    ''...agent?... What agent?''


    Still giving Zuyuan a smile, the man swirled the handle of his umbrella and said, "Well, well, let''s say¡­ I''m the [agent] of death."


    ''You¡­ can you hear me?''


    "Oh yes, I definitely do." tilting his head to the side a little, he continued, "Let''s say not only I can hear you, but I''m here for you too."


    The moment the man spoke those words, somehow, the little hope in Zuyuan diminished, ''I see¡­ so he has come here to guide me to the forgetful river¡­''


    Smiling, the man said, "Now now, who said I have to take you to the forgetful river and will reincarnate you? Why make you so sure that instead of the realm of hell and heavens, it''s reincarnations that are waiting for you?"


    Stunned by what he said, Zuyuan can only respond by just staying quiet, ''No matter where it is, it doesn''t matter to me¡­ I have already died, and it won''t change the fact that I won''t be alive again..''


    "I won''t be so sure if I were you." Suddenly, the man spoke, with his smile ever so widen, "You See, the [agent] has been tasked to search for [missionary], and bring them into the new heights that they have never expected before."


    ''What¡­ do.. You mean?''


    "Oho, running out of time, aren''t we?" The man lowered his umbrella, to let Zuyuan see his face clearly while letting himself get wet from the raindrops. After the shade of the umbrella lifted, Zuyuan saw an old man''s face, full of wrinkles with a tinge of youthfulness at the same time in his eyes, "Now, let''s make this conversation quick before your consciousness will leave your body and go into oblivion. You, do you want to live?"


    ''Is there¡­ anyone¡­ who¡­ doesn''t?''


    Shrugging his shoulders, he said, "I have seen a lot of suicidal one''s , some who accept their death and not want to be bothered with the world anymore too. And you, are you want to live or will you just disappear from everything you have known?"


    ''i¡­ I do not know.. Maybe¡­ actually, it''s better for me to-''


    "Well, well." Out of nowhere, the old man''s eyes began to glow with a red color of blood, as he stared at me and his voice changed into full of temptations and warmth, "Don''t you think, it will be a pity? You will lose everything, every memory of your master, and everything you held dear."


    ''But¡­ I¡­ actually.. Did not like-''


    "I know, I know, but think for a moment here. ''Do not give up'' isn''t that what your master has always been teaching you?"


    ''Master...''


    "Yes.. Yes! Your master!" the old man''s voice suddenly rising in excitement as he said, "He will be disappointed if you were to give it up. Don''t you do all this, against everything, against the world itself, just so you can upheld his teaching? So, can you bear the thought of disappointing him, at the very last step?"


    ''...do you...think...he will be...proud?''


    With a smile full of confidence, he said "definitely so."


    ''..i...do...not want..to die.. I...want to live¡­''


    Nodding in understanding, the old man let go of his umbrella, and snapped his finger, "And shall it be."


    A sucking force coming out of thin air and sucking so fast before Zuyuan can''t react to it, and the last thing Zuyuan ever heard is the old man''s voice that said, "Remember to finish the trial in a good grade¡­ and survive."


    And then¡­ darkness¡­


    Zuyuan can''t see anything.. Hear anything.. Feel anything.. He just.. Floating in a very dark place, with only darkness and darkness surrounding him.


    "You... "


    A woman''s voice can be heard, as a scene of the past forming right in front of Zuyuan. A young man and middle aged woman are standing in front of each other in a room. The middle aged woman threw her wine glass to the young man''s head, making his head bleed from the impact as she howled at him, with an expression full of rage, "You useless piece of sh*t! I shouldn''t have let you be born!"


    Another scene, and this time, that young man is standing with a blonde girl. Both of them staring at the moonlight, with the girl embracing him from behind. The young man can feel the softness of her chest in his back, with her body heat that warms his very soul. The girl''s hug became tighter in his waist as she asked, "What would you do.. If you lose everything?"


    In a single beat, the man said with a voice full of conviction, "Then I will die."


    The girl raises her head, as her lips now inches away from his left ear. She whispered to him as her breath brushed on his ear, "Then¡­ what would happen if you lose me?"


    "I would die as well." the young man said, with a grim face on him.


    Without the young man can see, the girl smiled. Then, her lips start to move to kiss the tip of his ear, as she said, "Then.. I will never leave you."


    ''Lies¡­..''


    And then the kiss turned into a gentle bite, as she continued, enjoying the fidgeting gestures the young man has, as well as his face blushing so badly, "I will always guard your back."


    ''LIES!!''


    The girl start to insert her tongue into his ear, while noticing that the young man''s breath start to become heavy, "I will never let you go~"


    ''LIAARRR!!!''


    Screaming loudly, Zuyuan found himself raising his body and opening his eyes, with both of his fists clenched tightly. Realizing that he is not in the abyss anymore, he looked around and saw himself sitting in an unknown metal bed, and a room that''s so foreign to him, even the design is very different from what he has ever seen. Some texts is inside of a transparent, bluish square is floating right in front of him, it said


    [Welcome to the trial, Missionary]


    [You have been selected by one of our [agent] to become our ambassador, the bringer of death and destruction]


    [We will assess you with how you will fare against the missions and challenges in this world, and how you overcome any hostile beings that hated us]


    [And the most important thing]


    [You have to survive]

 3 Chapter 2

    [To check your status, please think of the word ''status'', and we will provide you with the latest statistic of your condition]


    Staring quietly at the hovering texts in front of him, Zuyuan tried to assess the condition near him. The room''s wall is covered with iron. And there''s a lot scattered, unrecognizable iron tools on the ground. Picking one of them, he sees that the thing has the appearance of a cross, but with some glowing blue lines over it.


    Frowning, Zuyuan tries to caress every part of the thing, that perhaps the thing will have some switch button somewhere. After two minutes without results, he throws away the thing and starts to walk around the room. The room itself would be as big as any ordinary living room, but the room giving out an image of a messy storage room at the same time.


    ''Am I in the storage room?'' mused Zuyuan as he crossed his arms. Finally, he looked into the text that was still floating right in front of his face, and then he sighed and said, "Status."


    [Name : Tan Zuyuan


    Race : human


    Profession : None


    Title : The Apostle


    Health : 200


    Spirits : 160


    Ability scores :


    -Vitality : 20


    -Strength : 24


    -Dexterity : 17


    -Intelligent : 16


    -Agility : 18


    -Charm : 16


    Traits :


    -Meditation : restoring the spirits value by 0.1 each minute


    -Script of the Qigong : you finally have harnessed the unique energy in your native world, called Qigong. This trait will be able to let you harnessing and understand the flow your Qigong energy more easily


    -Path of the banshee : this is a martial path that will be divided into several layers for mastery. For each mastery upon each layer, the user would be able to master one martial art corresponding with that layer.


    -Undying will : in the face of certain doom, you will unleash your potential like never before. Even though you have expended all of your power, there will always be a sliver of that power left in your body and will be strengthened for a very short time. This will only apply if you ever so close with death.]


    Looking at the rows of texts that now replaced the one''s before, Zuyuan knitted his eyebrow as he finished reading them, ''This thing called ''status'' is what you expected from playing RPG games. But this is reality, not a game, why would there be something like this? It felt unreal and fishy.''


    *BOOMMM*


    An explosion noise can be heard from outside the room and the ground shook in tremors for a little. Making a grim face, Zuyuan looks around to see if there''s anything that resembles a weapon to defend himself with. Finally, he took a long white steel rod that has a hole in its tip, but even with that, the thing can be used as a spear with its pointed tip.


    [Main mission has appeared!]


    [Main mission : you are in the world of Revrolt, the world full of wonders that has been the home for the advanced construct race, Byonite. Their home planet has been ravaged and invaded by foreign species from another planet. Even in the brink of extinction, Byonite would not forget revenge, they gathered all the last resources they had and created a massive weapon to create a micro black hole bomb. The Missionary will be tasked to go to the central room in the military building and activate the weapon.


    Reward : Depend in how quick the Missionary finish his quest


    Your time limit is 5 days


    Warning : will not be able to finish the quest in time would be subjected into death punishment ]


    ''Main mission?''


    Surprised at the sudden blue text that appeared out of nowhere, Zuyuan read the context carefully.


    ''If what the words said are true, that means I''m in another world...5 days deadline? Huh. Or I will be executed.''


    Assessing that his situation is like walking on thin ice, Zuyuan starts to frown and looks around the room, and he finds something that seems like a door.


    ''Should I move now? But there''s an explosion outside isn''t it?'' contemplating on what he should do, Zuyuan decided it won''t get anywhere if he has yet to know the situation on the outside at least.


    Walking through the door, Zuyuan saw some kind of switch on the wall. After switching it, the metal wall starts to open and a vast scenery of a city that''s mostly constructed with various metals can be seen in view. The place is like something that came out of sci-fi movies, but except the familiar high towering metal buildings, the other buildings have different kinds of design and structure. While most of them are square in designs, a lot of them are in another weird shape.


    "So this is what another world looks like¡­" after the initial surprise from the view, Zuyuan smiled and chuckled at his own situation. Stepping out of the room, Zuyuan starts to explore the unknown city. Around the Metal like buildings, there''s some kind of fleshy black vines, covering the entire metropolis.


    No matter where, the vines are always circling and moving in the metallic buildings, just like some kind of gigantic worm that is all over the place. Walking for some time while trying to be as quiet as possible, suddenly, Zuyuan heard shriek noises right on the front.


    Zuyuan starts to become more cautious as he approaches the source of the sound. After two minutes, he found a group of five humanoid creatures that had heads much longer than humans, which shaped into more of a jaw. Yellowish glows shine from their four eyes, and their body looking height is around 6 feet tall.


    With their arms and feet that''s twice much longer than ordinary people, they clawed at each other. Biting and clawing, until only one of them is left standing. Huffing with greenish blood all over its body, the creature starts to pick one of its former comrade limbs and munch on it. Soon,the creature makes some kind of high pitched shriek as it eats the corpses around it with a gusto.


    [Side mission appeared!]


    [Side mission : To give the Missionary a feeling of battle, along with evaluating the Missionary combat power, The Missionary will be tasked to fight one of the Rograst. Rograst is the species that has come to Invade Revrolt, and have tendencies of cannibalism. Defeat one of lowest Rograst in front of you to finish the mission.


    Reward : Lucky roulette


    Punishment upon failure: death]


    ''Fighting that thing?'' Frowning, Zuyuan took another glance at the Rograst again. Somehow, without Zuyuan knowing it, that same Rograst eyes staring at him from a distance. Letting out a howl, the Rograst now rushing to him in all fours.


    ''Sh*t¡­''

 4 Chapter 3

    "Rooowwll.."


    Rushing at Zuyuan with a speed that is just like a cheetah, the Rograst lunged at him after a certain distance, while swinging it''s large claw as well.


    Already in the stance to receive it, Zuyuan dodge to the side. Guiding the Qigong in his body, his arms smoothly moved and stabbed the Rograst right through its head.


    "Grrr¡­" growling for the last time, the Rograst''s body starts to slump and fall to the ground, just like that.


    ''That''s.. Surprisingly easy?'' mused Zuyuan as he flicked the tip of his bluish-glowing spear to clear the Rograst blood.


    [Congratulations! You have finished the side mission!]


    [Reward: Lucky roulette]


    [Warning: Because every single Rograst has a link that connects to the main hive, now The Hive has noticed your presence, beware.]


    ''A link?''


    Frowning, Zuyuan was still in the middle of reading the texts, until out of nowhere, dozens of howls came out of every direction. Surprised, Zuyuan looked around and found out he''s being surrounded by dozens of the same Rograst he just defeated.


    ''With a glance¡­ there''s at least fifty of them..''


    Calculating their numbers roughly as he saw them running to him from the distance, Zuyuan gritted his teeth and clenched his grip on the spear, steadying his stance.


    The Rograsts appeared from every building, as well as from the street, quickly approaching Zuyuan in a few breaths and would arrive upon him soon.


    ''Come at me, you b*stards..''


    *************


    "Huff.. Huff.."


    Twenty minutes later, Zuyuan is breathing heavily, as all of his body is full of scratches and deep wounds.


    "They are all easy as they move like mindless beasts.. But...do they know no fear?''


    Throughout the fight, even after Zuyuan had killed at least half of them, they are still charging at him even with all their comrades'' bodies fallen one by one. But weirdly, they didn''t rush at him at the same time and overpowered him with numbers, instead, they attacked In group of three or four.


    Thankfully because of that, Zuyuan had a breathing room to dodge and counter attack at the same time. Without knowing the vital organ of the creature, Zuyuan decided to kill them by stabbing their heads, killing them instantly.


    ''It''s like.. They want to chipping away at my stamina and observing me too.''


    The feeling that Zuyuan got from this battle is that, perhaps, The Hive is observing him by sending some fodders.


    ''If not, why wouldn''t they attack me at once?''


    Huffing, Zuyuan clutching at the deep slash on his waist, as well as some in his arm. If one looks carefully, the wound is deep enough for one to see the whiteness of his bone.


    ''This is bad.. If I don''t get treatment soon, I''ll faint from the blood loss.''


    Knitting his eyebrows, Zuyuan starts to walk away from that place, much less there will be another wave of Rograsts, which are attracted because of the blood smell.


    [Hidden mission: cleared!]


    [Hidden mission: fighting against more than twenty lowest Rograst and killing all of them.]


    [Reward: Trait =\u003e Objective sense (temporary)]


    [Objective sense: a trait that lets the user be able to pinpoint the direction of the mission''s objective. (This is a temporary trait that will only work in this world. After the user left this world, the trait will be deleted from the user trait list.)]


    ''So there''s something like a hidden mission too, huh.''


    After reading the text, a red arrow suddenly came out of nowhere and drifted in the air, pointing into a certain direction.


    ''That''s convenient.''


    Following where the arrow pointed, Zuyuan walked towards the path that led deeper into the wriggling vines area. The structure of some building seems bent from how the vines are clutching so tight. At some times, the vines create bubbling sounds. All of them have holes that puff out warm air.


    After five minutes of walking, Zuyuan kneels on the ground as he starts to lose strength. He takes off his clothes and rips them apart, tying them as bandages for his wounds. Seeing that the bleeding has stopped, Zuyuan starts to take a deep breath as he uses the Qigong from his dantian to flow to his legs.


    Crouching down, Zuyuan started to run with a speed that did not lose to a car, which is 40km/s. He becomes faster as he feels the urgency to finish the mission quickly. Strangely, even though he seems to be running without abandon, his footsteps did not make any loud noises at all, it''s like he''s tiptoeing instead of running.


    ''Ghost walk.''


    Ghost walk is the first layer martial art of the Path of the banshee. This martial art uses the user Qigong to suppress any noises from the user footsteps, as well as making the user movements twice more nimble. After mastering this martial art into perfection, the user will be able to have a short burst of speed that makes his movement so fast that it becomes a blur. But the Qigong consumption for that last move is too much to use wastefully.


    And Zuyuan, definitely has mastered the martial art into perfection.


    This martial art alone is one of the major reasons why Zuyuan has been called the Silent demon. If Zuyuan wants it, he should be able to sneak past all the Rograst monsters and go to the central without being spotted.


    ''But can I?''


    Doubt started to cloud Zuyuan''s mind as he recalled how he met with the first Rograst. Even though he''s being distracted by the blue texts, he shouldn''t be noticed as he hides his aura and walks quietly as possible. But even with that, the Rograst still has sighted him as their eyes met. How?


    ''Does the Rograst have the ability of a thermal sight or something like that?''


    If so, then, it''s quite hard to sneak past them, but it''s still possible with the martial art ''Clouding aura''. A martial art that is able to hide his existence, even if the other party has a thermal sight.


    "Graaaahhhhh" "Grrrr"


    Finally, Zuyuan has arrived at his destination. A big mansion constructed from steel is the place that the arrow has pointed to him. But unfortunately, a dozen more Rograst is guarding the place, led by one Rograst that is particularly different from the rest. That Rograst is two heads taller than the other, as well as having claws much bigger, with blue stripes all over its skin.


    Right now, it''s talking with one of the Rograst with their guttural noises as language. As their guttural sound becomes louder, the blue striped Rograst suddenly opens its mouth wide. The blue stripes all over its skin are shining, and so does its mouth too. And in a few seconds, a blue laser beam starts pouring down from its mouth, obliterating the upper part of the ordinary Rograst into ashes.


    ''Well.. I guess it won''t be that easy huh..''

 5 Chapter 4

    ''Is it plausible?''


    Watching the Striped Rograst''s every movement, Zuyuan contemplated if he could kill it in one shot.


    ''or¡­ should I go for the smaller ones instead?''


    The three times short burst movement amplification from the Ghost walk is all he needed to kill the minions in two seconds, but he would be hard pressed to fight against the leader after that.


    ''It takes so much Qigong after all... ''


    It took a lot of Qigong to execute the move, not to mention that he will definitely need to use another martial art to kill the minions.


    ''Let''s do my best to get rid of the boss first then.''


    Eyes filled with determination, Zuyuan took his stance with his body slightly leaning to the Rograst direction.


    ''Let''s finish this as fast as I can!''


    Letting out a breath, Zuyuan started to fill each part of his body with Qigong. After the flow of Qigong surged through his body, Zuyuan moved and in the blink of an eye, he already arrived right in front of the blue striped Rograst and stabbed his spear to its head.


    Suddenly, a phantom-like spear materialized right beside Zuyuan''s spear. The spear and the phantom spear moved together at the same time, as if the phantom was just a reflection of the spear.


    ''Phantom''s sword.''


    A second layer martial art of the path of the banshee. A martial art focused on the way of the sword, as it is able to make the user sword''s attack multiplied at the same time and any weapons the user uses would become twice sharper. Zuyuan has only reached the expert realm in this martial art, instead of perfection.


    Unexpectedly, the striped Rograst moved its head to the side. As if it was pure instinct, the direction where its head moved was completely opposite to the phantom spear, allowing it to completely miss the phantom spear. But the real spear was still able to stab it right at its cheek jaw, digging deep till it reached the creature''s skull.


    ''I guess I''m forcing it too much huh, it''s a sword technique, and I should be able to create four phantoms.''


    With his expert mastery, Zuyuan would be able to form four sword phantoms, but as he was holding the spear at the moment, he could only create one phantom instead.


    Pulling out the spear, greenish blood started flowing down from the Rograst head, as it slumped to the ground. Turning his body to face another two Rograsts, Zuyuan used Ghost walk again and his body moved so fast that it only left after-image. And in a heartbeat, both of them were killed instantly.


    ''Ten more to go.''


    "Grrrooowwlll."


    Seeing that their leader died with another two of their brethren met the same end, all of the Rograsts start to rush towards Zuyuan immediately.


    ''Oh? They are running in line, great.''


    Zuyuan''s body stood in stance once more as he readied the spear in one hand, his right hand, and pointed it towards the dashing Rograsts.


    ''One second¡­''


    That''s all he needs to finish them all. With that in mind, Zuyuan started to rush towards them as well. Qigong poured out as Zuyuan executed Ghost walk and Phantom''s sword at the same time.


    Within a single breath, his spear plunged forth and killed all of the Rograst before they could react.


    "Huff..huff.."


    Standing out of breath for a while, Zuyuan started to direct his sight to the building''s entrance. Steeling his gaze, Zuyuan immediately dashed inside with Ghost walk. There, he found that there were three pathways, which are right, middle, and left.


    Frowning, Zuyuan begins to look at the red arrow that''s hovering above his head. The arrow pointed to the middle section. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Zuyuan ran to the middle pathway of the mansion.


    ''hmm.. This place is bigger than what I expected.''


    after rushing for some time, Zuyuan noticed that instead of going above, the pathway was leading him underground.


    ''What''s this feeling¡­?''


    Feeling that something was wrong, Zuyuan raised his guard and became more wary of the surrounding. Noting that nothing has happened, Zuyuan only felt more uneasy.


    ''What is it that-''


    *BOOOMMM*


    Before Zuyuan could react, a black tentacle as big as his thigh came out from the ground and grabbed his ankle. The metal pathway below him crumbled instantly as everything around him began to shake.


    [Special mission has appeared!]


    Reward: Unknown


    Punishment upon failure: death]


    [Main mission has been updated!]


    [Warning: The Sentry has caught up on you, now you will face The Sentry''s wrath.]


    Rows of blue text started to appear right before Zuyuan''s eyes, as he was pulled by the black tentacle to the deep darkness below the ground.


    "What the-"

 6 Chapter 5

    Falling down, Zuyuan tried to stab into the tentacle and pierced it. Unexpectedly, the tentacle is much harder than its look, especially with Zuyuan''s awkward pose, made it more harder to attack it.


    *RUMBLEEE*


    Metal debris surrounded Zuyuan as they all descended into the underground. Suddenly, Zuyuan found that the black tentacle let go of Zuyuan''s ankle, let the gravity do the work.


    Watching the ground below approach him soon, Zuyuan cursed silently in his mind as he started to cover every part of his body with Qigong, formed a transparent oval shield around him.


    ''Sh*t, I don''t know any ''lighten steps'' technique...''


    Hoping that strengthened his body''s defense with Qigong is enough, Zuyuan tries to adjust his body into a position that will be able to soften the impact.


    *BOOOMM*


    Rolling on the ground after some time, Zuyuan tried to get up. But before he could do that, another different tentacle, which is much smaller than before, struck Zuyuan''s left side and made Zuyuan roll on the ground again.


    "Gahk!"


    Coughing out blood, Zuyuan can feel that his wounds start to open, and one of his rib bones has broken. Not planning to be lashed out once more, Zuyuan raised his body and started to make a fighting stance.


    His instincts that have been tempered in battles start to ring in his head. Without thinking twice, Zuyuan dodged to the left side. And from where he was standing before, a tentacle much bigger than his waist is striking the ground.


    But before he can sigh in relief, Another tentacle that''s much smaller, lashes out at the right side of his arm, throw Zuyuan far away and made him roll in the ground once more.


    ''F*ck!''


    Cursing loudly in his head, Zuyuan gritted his teeth for he almost coughed another blood. The wound in his arm opened up again and became wider. Blood flowed rapidly from all his injuries as Zuyuan''s body crashed into the wall.


    Trying to get up, another tentacle is swinging to his direction. Noticing another assault from the black tentacle, Zuyuan quickly jumped to his left, even when his body was hurting.


    *Boomm*


    "Huff.. Huff¡­"


    Cold sweats dropped from his forehead as he knew how dangerous his situation now was. His right arm is broken, same with one of his rib bones, his wounds all widening and getting worse, and not to mention, he''s running out of Qigong.


    His eyes look around the place as he searches for the creature''s main body. Finally, he saw where all the black tentacles come from. A thirty feet being that resembled octopus is hanging in steel rods connected with the wall above. The octopus have one big eye with a pupil that''s glowing with red light. But even with how massive the octopus was, Zuyuan noticed that the room he''s in right now is as big a soccer field.


    The being''s eye is looking straight at Zuyuan, observing him while it''s tentacles are waving around. Frowning, Zuyuan started to avert his gaze in another direction, swiping around the whole room and seeking for the exit gate of this place.


    [Warning: The Sentry has locked its sight upon you. Please find the \u003cKey\u003e and escape immediately!]


    ''Even if you say that¡­ where''s this Key¡­''


    Grumbling inside, Zuyuan wanted to try looking for anything that resembled a gate in the wall, but then, he remembered that he still had that red arrow floating above his head.


    ''The red arrow..''


    Gazing up above, Zuyuan saw the Red arrow  is blinking, while pointing into a direction. Exhaling a sigh, Zuyuan dashed to the direction where the red arrow guided him.


    "Grrrr¡­"


    Emitting a low growl, which was loud enough to echo through the room, The Sentry began to move again and started assaulting Zuyuan.


    Zuyuan''s retinas started shrinking as he saw tens of tentacles, varied with each size, moving together to strike him down.


    *BOOMM* *BOOMMM*


    With death looming over him, his trait Undying Will activated. His already run out Qigong come back flows from his dantian, even though it''s so miniscule small compared to what it used to be. But this trait strengthened this small streaming Qigong and made it much more bigger, letting Zuyuan to draw out power that shouldn''t have existed.


    ''Left, Right, Left, Right, Right!''


    Utilizing his focus to the max, as well as his instincts, Zuyuan brushed each strike of the tentacles with precision, making it that he was only able to almost get hit.


    *BOOMM*


    More and more tentacles coming towards Zuyuan as The Sentry noticed Zuyuan energy has yet depleted. Dragging his wounded body, Zuyuan gives out a low shout as he fills his arms with more Qigong. Raising his spear, Zuyuan parried any tentacles that were too many or fast for him to dodge.


    Step by step, Zuyuan finally arrived at where the arrow pointed. In front of him, there''s some kind of small entrance, that is only as tall as his chest.


    Squinting his eyes as he can''t fail to get out, Zuyuan shouts out loud and he swings his spear upwards, deflecting another tentacle. Then, Zuyuan rushed towards the small entrance while focusing only on running.


    Some small tentacles successfully whipped at him as he abandoned caution. Gritting his teeth in pain, Zuyuan was still rushing to the entrance.


    ''Five meters¡­ three meters.. One.. Now!''


    Zuyuan immediately slid on the ground and used his running momentum as a force to push him. In two seconds, Zuyuan got away from the room and escaped from the tentacles attacks.


    ''Sh*t!''


    Few tentacles with the longest reach were still pursuing Zuyuan, as he had used all his strength in that last sprint. Struggling to move with all his body drenched in blood, suddenly, a blue transparent shield came out of nowhere and cut the tentacles.


    [Hint: You are in the Safe Zone, the Safe Zone has been created by the Byonite to protect and hide anything that they deemed important.]


    [Hint: You have arrived at the \u003cKey\u003e, please awaken it quickly.]


    ''Safe zone?''


    Mildly surprised by the appearance of the blue shield, Zuyuan''s gaze swept across the place to see where and what this \u003ckey\u003e.


    The small entrance led him to a room with a size of 350 square feet. In the middle of that room, there''s an egg, that''s twice bigger than ordinary people''s head in diameter. The egg seems like it is made of steel, with another feature that he has always seen since he woke up in this world, the bluish glowing lines.


    [Hint: You have found the \u003cKey\u003e.]

 7 Chapter 6

    "That''s the key?"


    Observing the egg carefully, Zuyuan spotted that there''s a faint, buzzing kind of sound coming from the egg.


    ''Four, five, three, nine, seven, five¡­''


    The buzzing sounds emitted some kind of series of numbers. It''s like a language, but one Zuyuan definitely never heard of.


    ''How can I understand this sound?''


    Contemplating for a while, Zuyuan thinks that perhaps, it was influenced by the main mission, making him easier to finish this.


    ''Does the system always this helpful?''


    Zuyuan doesn''t know for sure, but, from how the system supports him this far by giving hints and warnings, perhaps it did help him at some point.


    Glancing around the egg, the egg is suspended in midair, floating right in the middle of two steel cones shaped from the ground and the ceiling. In front of it, there''s a futuristic terminal with two metal legs, two hand sensors on each side, and with a glass screen in the center, and some rolling sensor right in front of the screen.


    ''Are they the password for that control panel?''


    Sighing, Zuyuan started to walk towards the terminal. Arriving in front of it, Zuyuan is knitting his eyebrows as he doesn''t understand how to activate the terminal.


    [Hint: Inputting the codes will be on the left side of the screen.]


    Looking at the buttons on the left side of the screen, Zuyuan saw that the weird symbols of the buttons started to change into numbers that he knew.


    ''Well, aren''t that handy.''


    Pushing the first number of the codes, the screen began to shine and the exact symbol that Zuyuan had clicked immediately appeared on the screen. Seeing that, Zuyuan continued to input the rest of the codes.


    *BIIIPP*


    With a beeping sound, the hovering egg starts to tremble. Bluish glow began to dim and even emitting gas. After ten seconds, the egg cracked, and its shells peeling down one by one, revealing an oval shaped thing that had a bluish screen in the middle. The thing''s form seems to be like a human head, but with longer length, and blue glowing tendrils emanating from both of its sides.


    A white pupil emerged from the thing''s screen, and it immediately moved its gaze towards Zuyuan who was already in a fighting stance and pointed his spear towards it.


    "Are you¡­ the Apostle?"


    The creature started to speak, and a buzzing kind of sound came from its tendrils.


    Eyes widened in surprise, Zuyuan again amazed at how he understands a whole different language he never heard before, along with how unique the creature''s appearance was.


    ''Apostle¡­ where did I have seen it before.. Ah!''


    Reckoned that he had seen that word in his status title, Zuyuan quietly said the word status in his mind.


    ''Status.''


    [Name : Tan Zuyuan


    Race : human


    Profession : None


    Title : The Apostle


    Health : 32/200


    Spirits : 2/160


    Ability scores :


    -Vitality : 20


    -Strength : 24


    -Dexterity : 17


    -Intelligent : 16


    -Agility : 18


    -Charm : 16


    Traits :


    -Meditation


    -Script of the Qigong


    -Path of the banshee


    -Undying Will


    -Objective Sense (Temporary)]


    [Title:


    -The Apostle : Given to every [Death''s Missionaries], for they are the Apostle of the [Death] in every sentient being viewed outside of [Death''s System]. Whenever the user uses this title, the user will be able to comprehend any languages of civilizations that''s in cooperation with the [Death].]


    ''As expected.. Looks like the title is the main reason for me to understand the foreign language, huh.''


    Nodding, Zuyuan focused his gaze into the creature and said, "Yes, I am."


    Silently watching Zuyuan and as if contemplating something, the creature finally said in a low voice, "So.. It has come, the time has come for it, huh."


    Frowning, Zuyuan was about to ask what the creature meant, But before he could say anything, both of his knees gave out and he immediately fell to the ground.


    ''Cr*p¡­ I''m at my limit..''


    Breathing heavily, Zuyuan began to feel every inch of his body aching and hurting. Since he has been beaten up by the black tentacles, his injuries have been bleeding nonstop. If he doesn''t get treated soon, perhaps Zuyuan will faint from blood loss.


    "Apostle... You are seriously wounded."


    The creature flew to me with its white eye staring at me from head to toe. All of a sudden, a bright, blue scanner came out from its screen and scanned me.


    "You are in need of immediate treatment. Wait for me, Apostle."


    After it''s done scanning me, it goes to the two legged control panel and starts to insert its tendrils into it. The glowing blue tendrils began to shine, and in a few seconds, there''s a circle of light through one of the corners of the room. Then, a big green tube started emerging from the ground and there''s a humanoid, high tech armor inside of it. The armor is jet black in color, and has a height of six feet.


    After that, the creature commenced to drift to the armor. The moment the creature arrived, the chest area of the armor began to open and the creature opened the tube''s door. A second later, the creature immediately went inside the armor chest area and connected its tendrils.


    *Wungg*


    A futuristic sound effect can be heard, as the armor begins to budge. The lid of the armor''s chest is closing as blue glow emanates from the full plated eye socket.


    Moving towards me, the armor spoke, "Apostle, because we are not carbon based beings, we do not have any medication for it."


    Lifting me up in princess carry, the armor continued, "But it doesn''t mean that there''s no other way." then, the armor starts to walk to the spot, that when it still an egg.


    "Let''s do the surgery."

 8 Chapter 7

    "Surgery?"


    Zuyuan quickly raised his head to look into the creature''s eyes, "What do you mean? I don''t think my body is that bad to need one."


    Shaking its head, the creature said, "Even though we call it surgery, it''s not that kind of surgery that humans use. What we are gonna do is something really different."


    Placing me in the middle part of the two cone shaped machine, my body starts to hover in the air, "I will inject our energy to accelerate your regeneration capability, Apostle."


    After that, the two cone shaped machines start to glow with blue light. Strands of flowing blue light began to come out and spread to every part of Zuyuan''s wounds.


    "Mmm¡­"


    Groaning slightly, Zuyuan feels like each part of his injuries began to burn, with every cell being so active. In a few breaths, his injuries start to heal in speed that can be seen with naked eye. Gritting his teeth as the burning sensation began more hurtful, Zuyuan fixed his gaze on the creature and tried to talk to distract his mind, "You.. Do you have a name?"


    The creature stayed quiet for a minute, and then quietly said, "XB11, Apostle."


    "What a cyborg sounding name.." the corner of his lips moved upwards, Zuyuan chuckled and said, "So does that armor of yours. Are you the only one that''s left in this place?"


    Nodding its head, XB11 said, "I''m the last one of my race, Apostle."


    "I see.."


    Breathing heavily, Zuyuan became silent as he endured the pain. After a few minutes, Zuyuan continued after thinking for a while, "What happened that made you guys lost by the Rograst? Why are they invading this planet? And what is the dea-"


    [Warning: Any discussions about the [Death System] outside of the [Sanctuary] would be taken as offense and will be terminated.]


    [Warning: The host Missionary''s permission is only on the rank of examinee. Permission to discuss about [Death System] will grant the host a death penalty.]


    ''So I can''t ask anything about them, huh¡­ and Sanctuary? Another new word.''


    Suddenly, XB11 body''s trembled for a second, as it said to Zuyuan in astonishment, "Do not pry into the System carelessly, Apostle. Especially when you are still yet an official Apostle."


    Nodding his head, Zuyuan said, "I understand, I didn''t know there was something like this."


    Sighed, XB11 waived its right hand and said, "It will all be revealed in time, Apostle. You will know soon enough."


    Shaking his head, Zuyuan spoke in a tired voice, "Just call me Zuyuan. That''s my name. Rather than you calling me Apostle each time you talked."


    Staying silent, XB11 replied in an ambiguous tone, "Every participant shall be respected, especially when I''m the requester."


    "Requester?" raising his eyebrows, Zuyuan asked with a confused tone. But XB11 didn''t continue the conversation and only responded in silence.


    Understanding that it''s another way of discussing the Death System, Zuyuan nodded, "Alright, I won''t ask anymore."


    Replying with a nod, XB11 said, "As for the Rograst, they are one of those cancers of a race in the universe. Their home planet has been destroyed and their reproduction is more than goblins in heat. Their numbers are in more than hundreds of billions, and they have various biological weapons to invade any habitable planets they can find."


    "And you guys lose in terms of weapons?" asked Zuyuan in curiosity.


    Nodded again, XB11 said, "And numbers."


    "I see.." looking downward, Zuyuan feels that his body has become much better, and the burning pain has become itches instead.


    Following my gaze, XB11 saw that the blue strands that connected to me become so faint. XB11 nodded and said, "It''s done, Apostle."


    Raising his right arm and pointing it at Zuyuan, the unknown force that had been supporting Zuyuan to float began to move and let him down to the ground. Moving his joints and feeling his body, Zuyuan said, "Thank you for the help."


    "At your service, Apostle." slightly bowing to Zuyuan, XB11 then continued, "If you had reached this room, the Sentry outside must have noticed you, right Apostle?"


    "That gigantic one-eyed octopus? Yes it has. It has a good speed with its tentacles and almost killed me with its bombarded assaults." replied Zuyuan while swinging his arm around.


    Putting its finger in its chin, XB11 contemplated for a moment and said, "There''s no other way, the Sentry eye will be needed to open the central room."


    "Its eye?" asked Zuyuan as he bent over to pick his spear that had been lying in the ground when XB11 lifted him. Glanced at Zuyuan''s spear, XB11 said, "Have you been fighting with the Rograst using that dust sweeper, Apostle?"


    Almost keeling over when he heard those words, Zuyuan abruptly asked back, "A what? Dust sweeper!?"


    "It is indeed a dust sweeper, Apostle." nodding as if it''s an obvious question, XB11 pointed its index finger and said, "The tip''s hole is for absorbing the dust when we infuse our energy in it."


    Jaw widened as realization struck him, Zuyuan''s face made an awkward smile, "Do you have any weapons then? Preferably a sword."


    "Perhaps I do." said XB11 as it turned its body and went towards the two legged control panel. After clicking some buttons, a futuristic sound effect can be heard as one part of the walls ejecting a steel shelf, with two things inside it. One of them was something that resembled a metal hilt, while another one was a steel sword. The sword was made of steel from the hilt until the sword''s tip.


    Moving to grab the black hilt and the sword, XB11 gave the steel sword to Zuyuan and said, "I hope this one would satisfy you, Apostle."


    Taking the sword, Zuyuan swung it some time as he nodded with a smile, "This is a good one." glancing at the hilt in XB11''s hand, he asked, "And that one is..?"


    "A lightsaber." raising its hand, the hilt starts to emit a blue luminescent blade.


    "Oh, that''s cool." said zuyuan as he threw the spear and inspected his new sword, "So, shall we just fight that Sentry head on?"


    Shaking its head, XB11 said, "I have a plan, Apostle."

 9 Chapter 8

    "Grrrr¡­"


    Waving its tentacles in a tantrum, The Sentry was mad that its prey had gone through the walls and couldn''t be found again no matter how long it searched.


    ''It''s impossible to just disappear just like that!''


    *BOOMM*


    Whipping one of its biggest tentacles, it humph quietly as its smaller tentacles start to wiggles and it goes into surmising.


    ''Does there''s another unknown technology of those steel can?''


    Thinking that it might be better to send the revelation it just had, The Sentry began to establish the link to The Hive and send its new information.


    Time passed by slowly, as it went back into watching the area it was tasked to guard. The Hive didn''t give any change of orders for it, so it will stay silently like it always did. Its eyelids closed as it wiggled around the room.


    Its eye can see any moving objects from the vines that cover the city area he guards and his tentacles feel any air refraction that is caused by any moving objects near it. Suddenly, after a long time passed, The Sentry finally felt movements in the air.


    ''Found him!''


    Without thinking twice, The Sentry immediately used half of its tentacles and swung it to the direction where it felt the signal come from.


    *BOOOMM* BOOM*


    ''He dodge?''


    Surprised, The Sentry thought the human would have all his strength sapped away. But that surprise only lasted for a second as The Sentry became more serious. It unleashed all its tentacles to the human. While thinking that perhaps the human got his strength back after the time he recuperated.


    *BOOMMM*


    ''The human was much more slippery and nimble than before¡­.'' it mused, as its eye started to open and locked it to its target.


    ''No more escape¡­''


    The Sentry began to release some kind of green gas from all of its tentacles. Soon, a faint hue of green filled the room. The Sentry starts to relentlessly attack the human while believing that this is its chance.


    And yet, the human still movements didn''t slow down at all, even though it was already squirting out the paralysis gas. The human even starting to fight back by cutting its smaller tentacles one by one.


    ''How dare he!?''


    Angered, The Sentry howled at the human while its eye began to shine with red color. The red lights swirling in its retina and compressed into a ball. Few seconds later, the ball was shot from its eye and launched with speed half as fast as a bullet.


    *BOOOOOMMM*


    A big explosion bursting from the ground where once the human was standing. The metal floor is glowing as it melted. A giant hole with a size of 120 square feet was created in an instant.


    ''Did I overdo it?'' pondered The Sentry as it swayed its tentacles around, feeling a little weak.


    ''...No, he is still alive!''


    From its 360 degree, The Sentry tasted some blur movements in the air. It turned all its tentacles behind to attack, out of nowhere, it felt another presence from its left side. Its eye instinctively moved to its left and saw a steel humanoid armor, with the left hand of the armor pointed at it and gleaming with blue light.


    ''You-''


    Before it could continue with its thought, a beam of blue light flew to the center of its body and incinerated inside, right through its core, burning and destroying it with nothing''s left.


    ***************


    "That went well."


    Said Zuyuan as he took out The Sentry eye and gave it to XB11.


    "Because you had been keeping it busy, Apostle." replied XB11 as it accepted the eye.


    Nodded, Zuyuan asked as he glanced at XB11, "That invisible function, this Sentry can''t even see you with that. How you guys still lose if you can become invisible to your enemy."


    Shaking its head to disagree, XB11 said, "Because we only fight The Sentry, Apostle. There''re much, much more dangerous beings in the Rograst race."


    "Is that so¡­"


    Putting away the steel sword to the makeshift sword belt Zuyuan created from his clothes, Zuyuan said, "I was distracted, but, did you say about goblins before?"


    "That I did, Apostle." XB11 nodded in admittance and said, "Shall we talk while on the move? Apostle. It''s been a whole day after you mediated to fill back your energy."


    "Lead the way."


    Soon, both of them ran to another part of the room. Reaching out to the corner, XB11 placed its hand into a hole on the wall that fit perfectly for its arm. Blue lines emitted from the hole and crawled into a design that was inscribed on the wall, the design of a door. After a clicking sound was heard, the design budged and moved by itself, and in three seconds, it became a gate with a steel hallway that went straight to the front.


    Going inside, they ran for a while until Zuyuan said, "So, goblins, do you mean that it''s the child-like monster that has green skin?"


    "Yes, it was them." XB11 replied while taking a glance behind, as he ran ahead of Zuyuan, "But they are no monsters. They are race. Just that they are more tribal than the usual forest dweller."


    "And with honesty, Apostle." continued XB11 as its eyes staring at Zuyuan became more glowing, "You are much more stronger than what I have expected. For an Apostle with examinee rank, you are much stronger than what your rank represents."


    "Oh? Is that so?" asked Zuyuan curiously.


    "Indeed, Apostle."


    Shortly, a lot of flesh-like black vines that covered the hallway. A vine that''s shaped like a mouth is right at the front of the vines and it''s opening wide with its jagged teeth showing.


    Putting The Sentry''s eye in it, all of the vines started to stir and began to crawl away. A path was made in five breaths.


    "We have to hurry, Apostle, the vines will cover the hallway soon."


    Quickly, both of them dashed through the path, and only focused on rushing.


    After a few minutes, they found themselves in front of a big steel gate, with blue lines enveloping it. There''s a palm scanner right at the middle of the gate. Without wasting any time, XB11 placed his right palm in the scanner as it said, "We have arrived, Apostle."


    Immediately after that, the blue lines shone brightly as the gate opened. A buzzing noise that sounded machine-like came out of nowhere right after that.


    [Welcome to the Central Room, Commander XB11.]

 10 Chapter 9

    Walking inside, XB11''s body trembled slightly as it spoke with a tone that was full of emotions, "Soon¡­ the time has come, soon it will all end.."


    Glanced at XB11 directions, Zuyuan said, "Yes, you will be able to avenge your brethren."


    Within the room, there''s a massive sphere that seems to be made of gold. The sphere has white lines inscribed on it and hovering right in the middle of the room. The room seems to be 1000 square feet in size, along with dozens of two legged control panels just like Zuyuan saw when he found XB11. But instead, all the control panels appear to circled the sphere, and both of their legs are connected with white glowing strands that flow from the sphere.


    "Is that¡­" asked Zuyuan as he saw the massive golden sphere in the air.


    Shaking its head, XB11 said, "This is not the bomb, Apostle. This is the place that will trigger the bomb from afar."


    "I see¡­" said Zuyuan as he looked at XB11 silently.


    ''A commander? The only being that is the last of its race is coincidentally a commander rank? Huh.'' mused Zuyuan as he thought there''s more in this.


    ''Is it have to do with that Requester stuff?''


    Walking quietly behind XB11, Zuyuan starts to contemplate.


    "We will be able to finish this in a moment, wait for me, Apostle." said XB11 as it went to one of the control panels that''s the nearest to the sphere.


    Nodding, Zuyuan tried to look around the place, as there''s small orbs that shone brightly around the room, luminating the place.


    ''What''s the secret behind the system? And what is this system?''


    Now that Zuyuan had some time to relax, he began to reflect about what is the system. Although he''s in deep thought, he still used half of his awareness in the surrounding area, if there''s a sudden change in situation.


    "Apostle."


    Suddenly, XB11 spoke to Zuyuan with its tone of seriousness.


    "What''s wrong? Anything unexpected happened?" asked Zuyuan in a grim voice.


    Shaking its head, XB11 said, "It''s not that, Apostle. The bomb has been activated successfully and would detonate in two minutes."


    [Special mission: cleared!]


    [You have found the \u003ckey\u003e to activate the last weapon of the Byonite race and succeeded to fulfil its last wish.]


    [Reward: Soul''s Contract: XB11.]


    "A soul contract?" murmured it out loud, Zuyuan was astonished that the reward was something that''s unexpected.


    Eyes glow more brightly, XB11 nodded and said, "I have assumed that the system had notified you, Apostle?"


    "What does this soul contract mean?" asked Zuyuan as he moved his gaze to XB11.


    Silently shook its head, XB11 said, "Unfortunately, I can''t tell you yet about it, Apostle. But it indeed has something to do with me as the Requester." reached out its right hand, XB11 continued, "And we don''t have much time, Apostle. Let''s establish a link soon before the bomb exploded."


    A thin strand of blue light started to come out from XB11 right''s hand. The strand began to orbit  around Zuyuan as Zuyuan felt some kind of connection at that exact moment.


    [A being has reached out their Soul link to you, would you accept?]


    [Yes, No.]


    A notification from the system rang in his head in the next second. Before Zuyuan can react to it, a voice with a tinge of urgency called out to him.


    "Do not reject it, Apostle. Once It was rejected, it will take a bit more time to send out another link."


    *Shiiiinggg*


    The golden sphere started to shine more brightly as the cold, buzzing voice from the gate resound once again.


    [Warning! One minute left for the project to launch, all personels should evacuate immediately! Warning! Evacuation took the highest priority!]


    "We didn''t have much time, Apostle." said XB11 in a grim voice.


    Frowning, Zuyuan nodded and said, "I accept."


    [You have acquired a Soul link!]


    Nodding as well, XB11 said, "Later, we will form our contract when you have been transferred into the Sanctuary, Apostle."


    "This contract is¡­"


    Raising its hand into its chest XB11 said, "XB11 at your service."


    [Five seconds left until detonation time.]


    [Main mission: cleared!]


    [Reward: Will be given according to the Missionary''s grade.]


    [Commencing the transfer to the Assessment room.]


    White light started to shine from Zuyuan''s body as he watched in astonishment. Looking at XB11 for the last time, it said,


    "Let''s meet soon, Master."


    And then, with a bright flash, Zuyuan found himself in a room where everything was white. Around him, there''s three other people.


    "Welcome."


    A young man, who looked like he was in his twenties and wore a tuxedo, was watching Zuyuan and the group with a smile on his face. That man was just standing exactly five meters away from the group. His hair was violet, and so were his eyes, with skin that''s so pale that he could be mistaken as a corpse.


    [You have arrived at the Assessment room.]


    "This is¡­" murmured a bald man with tattoos all over his chest. The bald man was shirtless, with wounds all over his upper body and two axes in both of his hands.


    "The assessment room. The place where one of the [Administrator], such as me, will be assessing the grade you will receive for your main mission." said the man calmly as he glanced at the bald man.


    "Elder Lich¡­" said a woman in blue robe, and a long staff in her hand. The woman''s hair is long, with a color of green. She has a slender figure and ears that were longer than ordinary humans.


    Moved his gaze into the woman, the man smiled warmly as he said, "Indeed I am, madam. It''s a surprise to see an Elf In my turn as the [Keeper]. But a pleasant one nonetheless."


    ''Elf?''


    Glancing at the woman, Zuyuan realized that the woman indeed possessed features of an elf in fantasy movies with her beautiful face and clothes, especially her long ears.


    "Grrr¡­"


    A small growl sounded right beside Zuyuan. Turning his face to the side, Zuyuan saw a ten feet tall humanoid creature made of rock, standing with its back straight and shouldered a big mace in its right shoulder.


    "Ohh, another Gargantua I see." said the man in a tuxedo coldly, as if he were looking at something he had enough to see.


    "Hm?"


    The man''s eyes widened after he swept his gaze towards Zuyuan. The man has a stunned expression on his face, but that''s only for a second. Then, he quickly regained his composure and had the same aura from when they first saw him, as if his confused gesture just before was an illusion.


    "Hoo¡­.Isn''t this interesting?"


    The man said, slowly, as the corner of his lips curled upwards, as if he''s just like a child that has given a toy. Then, he fixed the collar of his tuxedo as he continued, "Again, welcome, ladies and gentlemen."


    "Welcome, to the Death System."

 11 Chapter 10

    "Now, let''s get started, shall we?"


    Waving his hands, there''s a multiple beeping sound that rang together at the same time.


    [Main mission: cleared!]


    [World''s Mission: Revrolt.]


    [Cleared in four days earlier than the time limit.]


    "Oh? Looks like some of you has achieved quite good results." said the Administrator as he crossed his arms and put his right arm''s index finger at his chin.


    Smiling beamingly at Zuyuan and the Elf girl, the Administrator continued, "Let''s see... Huh? One hidden mission cleared and one that has acquired a unique title?"


    The administrator''s smile became wider as he looked towards Zuyuan and the Elf girl, "Congratulations is in demand for both of you, heroes. You both deserve an appropriate grade."


    ''His praise is honest, but there''s a tinge of sarcasm when he said the word heroes¡­''


    Eyes squinted at the administrator''s words, Zuyuan decided to ignore it as he saw the administrator snapped his fingers and another row of texts appeared in his sight.


    [Mission Grade of Revrolt: A.]


    [Reward: Sword of Estgard, 10000 Death points, 200 prestige, two scrolls of advancement traits.]


    [You have been succeeded in the trial and have acquired the permission of Rank 1 Missionary!]


    [You have leveled up your rank!]


    [You are now ranked 2 Missionary!]


    "Some of you have leveled up already huh."


    Said the administrator with a playful tone in his voice as he clapped his hands, and all the weapons in everyone''s hand began to disappear into thin air, including Zuyuan''s steel sword. The Elf woman even lost her bracelet.


    "Oi, Oi, what''s the meaning of this! I have risked my life to get those two axes!" shouted the bald man as his face warped in anger.


    Chuckled at the bald man respond, the administrator replied with a calm face, "Don''t you know? Everything that you had brought from the trial''s world would be taken by the system. Unless it came from the system reward, it would never be yours. Of course, it will be different in the next world now as you are a full fledged Missionary, and will have the permission to exchange those stuffs with the death points."


    Clapped his hands once more, the administrator said, "Now enough of this. I''m not your nanny, so go learn it yourself when you are in the sanctuary. My job here is done. So, bye bye for now, newbies."


    A bright light covered Zuyuan''s body and the others. Soon, the light started to shine more brightly as Zuyuan felt his body become lighter and transparent.


    "We will meet again next time, Zuyuan."


    The Administrator''s voice sounded inside Zuyuan''s head as the last sight Zuyuan saw, was the Administrator that was gazing at him playfully. Then, in the next second, the bright light filled Zuyuan''s view.


    Then, the light started to fade from Zuyuan''s sight in a few seconds. What he saw after that was a busy market, as he found himself in the middle of a public square.


    [You have arrived in [Sanctuary]!]


    [Welcome to the [Sanctuary], Missionary!]


    [You have a Soul link inside you. Assimilating the chosen Soul link to the [Sanctuary]: 08;23;57 ]


    ''So it''s 8 hours more to meet again with XB11?'' mused Zuyuan as he watched his surroundings in curiosity.


    "The sanctuary¡­" murmured the Elf girl that somehow appeared right beside Zuyuan.


    "Hey hey, beautiful lady."


    A little girl that looks like ten years old, nudged the Elf girl in her right leg. The little girl smiled at the Elf and said, "Do you need information or seeking a place to rest? I can help you! Only for 5 death points!"


    "Oh my." The Elf seemed surprised, but then gave a warm smile to the little girl and said, "Sure, little one. Lead the way."


    "Me too." without thinking twice, Zuyuan replied, "How to transfer you the points? I wanted an inn for a rest."


    Raising her right hand, the little girl said as she showed us a black watch band, "You would have this DSM to trade death points, mister!"


    "DSM?" puzzled, Zuyuan moved his gaze downward and saw a similar black wristband in his right wrist, "How to use this?"


    "Put your DSM right atop of mine, mister, and said trade."


    Following what the little girl said, Zuyuan quietly said, "Trade."


    [Trade function activated!]


    [What do you wanna trade with Amura?]


    "5 death points for information?"


    [Acknowledged.]


    Gazing at the little girl, Amura, she nodded and said, "I accepted."


    [The trade is successful! Your Death points have been deduced!]


    "Thank you, mister! Now please wait for a moment, I will trade with the beautiful lady over here!" said Amura beamingly.


    Nodded, Zuyuan waited for Amura to finish her deal.


    "Let''s go, mister!" called Amura as she held the Elf and dragged her into the street.


    *******


    "Have you finished?"


    In the white room that Zuyuan had left, a ripple suddenly appeared as a man emerged. He possessed royal blue hair as well as aqua colored eyes. The stranger wore a cotton suit, of the same color as his hair.


    Glanced at the newcomer, the Administrator replied with a smile and said, "Yes, I have."


    Fixing his bow tie, the Administrator quietly asked, "Why are you here, Zorath?"


    The man, Zorath, frowned his eyebrows as he said, "To pick you up for the [Council].... That''s a rare thing, to see you smile truthfully, Astar. You won''t smile sincerely no matter what, unless you are reading your books."


    "Is that so?" asked Astar as he raised his eyebrows in surprise, "How do you know if my smile was sincere or not?"


    "A dumb question." replied Zorath curtly. Crossed his arms, Zorath asked, "So, what made you in a good mood all of a sudden?"


    Playfully tidied his white gloves, Astral mumbled with mysterious tone.


    "Because I have met him, the Main Character."

 12 Chapter 11

    "You are a cursed child."


    The call has been a surprise for him, the young boy. He turned his head towards the source of the sound, and found a group of kids stared at him with ridicule. All of the kids in the group seem around eight years old, just like him.


    ''This is¡­''


    A long forgotten scene of his past played before him. Zuyuan saw himself right above his younger version. In the bright, luxury ballroom, he was surrounded by his cousins and relatives, as they watched him with disgust.


    "Would you please go die?" said a little girl with a red dress, as she put her hand on her hips.


    "This place doesn''t want you." another boy, with a cute face, warped his face with an expression full of loathe.


    "Yeah, just go away and die!"


    "Why are you even here? You son of a rapist!"


    "Rapist blood flow in you! Probably you are a rapist too!"


    "Yeah, he will be a rapist when he grows up!"


    "Rapist! Rapist!"


    "Rapist!"


    "Trash of society!"


    Soon, the rest of the kids started to shout in unison as they threw rotten eggs they had prepared for him. Their words became vicious as the time passed until when the adults around them began to notice it, but none helped or stepped out to stop them. In fact, all of the people in there started to laugh, as if they were watching some entertaining show.


    ''No¡­ please.. Stop..''


    Zuyuan watched helplessly as he saw his younger self on his knee, curled up in a ball and cried. He reached out his hand in desperation, only to see his hands, body, everything of him was transparent, with him being shackled in the air, and wasn''t able to move in the slightest.


    A little girl with hair as red as blood, came out from the crowd and walked to the boy. The boy noticed as he raised his head and murmured pitifully, "Sister¡­"


    She raised her leg and suddenly kicked him right in his face. Then, she spat on him and said, "You are a disgrace, through and through."


    "Pfftt, hahaha."


    "Look, he was so hopeful a moment ago, hahaha."


    Laughter echoed as everyone began to laugh merrily.


    ''Curse you all!''


    In the air, Zuyuan tried to curse them, but his voice didn''t come out at all, Zuyuan was only able to howl in his mind as he saw the hated scene of his life.


    Shortly, cracks appeared in the air as everything around him fell apart. The scene was destroyed as another scene arised from the darkness. This time, Zuyuan found his younger self was walking in the middle of the jungle. His clothes were still that expensive suit he wore from the ballroom party. This time, the boy has his clothes ripped apart, with his right arm broken at an unnatural angle. His face was full of bruises, as both of his knees scraped and bleed profusely.


    The boy dragged his wearied body, as he cried and cried until both of his eyes became red. He murmured again and again, without his voice that was so hoarse.


    "Why¡­ why¡­"


    His body was covered in mud, and the only noises he could hear were some crickets around him. And then, his leg tripped from the scattered branch, as he fell to the ground and hit his head on the rock.


    "...Uhhh¡­"


    Lying down, the boy gazed at the sky that was covered with the tree''s canopy. It was sunset, but the sun couldn''t penetrate the tree''s leaves, it only gave the place a surreal, bluish color around him.


    "Why have you forsaken me, mother!!"


    The boy yelled at the top of his lungs to the sky, as frustration began to sink so deep into his heart. He ignored the howls of many kinds of animals that were disturbed with his shout.


    ''NOOO!!''


    Raising his body, Zuyuan found himself woke up in the room he rented for the night. Looking around, he realized that all of that was nightmares.


    Putting both of his hands on his face, Zuyuan began to cry silently as tears welled up on the corner of his eyes.


    "Uhhh¡­ uhhh¡­"


    Curled up and he started to hug himself, he buried his face on his knee as he whispered very softly.


    "Master¡­"


    *******


    [Your chosen soul link has been assimilated!]


    A few minutes to let out whatever was left in his heart, Zuyuan''s eyes focused as he spoke, "Summon the Soul link."


    [Summon the chosen link: XB11.]


    [Commencing¡­]


    Circle of blue light started to emerge from the ground In front of Zuyuan, and it started to shine. Then, faint lights began to arise from thin air and gather in the circle. Soon, the particle of lights merged into a shape that was humanoid.


    "We meet again, Master."


    Stepping out from the circle was XB11, with its hand gestured at its chest.


    Nodding, Zuyuan said, "First of all, would it be okay for you to explain this Soul contract thing?"


    "Gladly, master." replied XB11 as it continued, "The Soul contracts that were happening right now were a result of a contract by me, As the Requester, to the Death System."


    "The Requester is a being that will contact the Death System to request an aid in aiding them into revenge, battles, war, or anything of the like. But of course, the being''s race must be in Death System jurisdictions or affiliated with the system, if you may say."


    Knitting his eyebrows, Zuyuan quietly asked, "So¡­ your request is¡­"


    "The destruction of the Rograst race that was invading my planet. The Death System would only accept any request, that''s as long as the action would involve a lot of deaths." said XB11 as its eyes started to glow mysteriously.


    Leaning his body to the wall, Zuyuan said, "Then, what did you exchange for the Death System''s help? What have you offered?"


    Staying quiet for a minute, XB11''s eyes began to dim a little as it replied, "The Death System is what the human''s race calls a devil contract, Master. It feeds on souls."


    Raising its hand on its heart, XB11 continued, "I have offered my soul."

 13 Chapter 12

    "Souls... " murmured Zuyuan as he started to recall what was happening in his last moments.


    \u003cDo not give it up, that''s what your master said, isn''t it?\u003e


    An old man''s voice whispered at him as he slowly became entranced.


    \u003cYou don''t want to disappoint your master right?\u003e


    Soon, Zuyuan felt the chill on his back when he remembered those voices.


    ''Something feels wrong¡­''


    That man, the Agent, has done something to him that time. Clenched both of his fists, Zuyuan''s face began to scowl as he realized what''s going on.


    ''That f*cker¡­ I have been duped!''


    Gritting his teeth, Zuyuan''s blood lust was about to arise, until XB11''s voice could be heard again, "Even though at our last effort, we''ve been able to create the weapon to win the war, unfortunately, that weapon was too strong to be used."


    Glanced at XB11, Zuyuan replied, "The micro black hole bomb?"


    Nodded, XB11 said, "Indeed, that one, Master. Its power is strong enough to even destroy our own planet. But the moment our race had been driven to the corner, and my brethren had been slaughtered to the last person, we had decided to let the world be destroyed rather than give it to them."


    "Then why didn''t you guys activate it at the end?" asked Zuyuan as he raised his eyebrows.


    "We didn''t have the chance to." shaking, XB11 said, "There are a lot more dangerous monsters in the Rograst race. The most powerful would be the Destroyer. It''s a being that has a height of more than fifty meters, and it''s destroying prowess were not to be underestimated."


    "Oh?" surprised, Zuyuan put his finger on his chin and said, "Then, What is the Death System, exactly?"


    This time, it''s XB11 turn to be surprised as it asked in exclamation, "Shouldn''t master already met with the guide? Usually, the new missionaries always asked for the information of what happened to them."


    "You mean those kids on the public square?" asked Zuyuan as he slightly tilted his head to the side.


    "Yes, master." nodded, XB11 continued, "Those are the homunculus guide the system created, didn''t you ask them how the system works?"


    Shaking his head, Zuyuan said awkwardly, "I was too tired yesterday, so I only asked the most important things."


    "Such as..?" inquired XB11.


    "How much time did I have to rest, or¡­ you can say, prepare for the next world." replied Zuyuan as he recalled yesterday''s scene.


    *****


    "It''s impossible, mister."


    Said Amura while she glanced at Zuyuan weirdly, "You have already died, sir. So it''s impossible to come back to your world again."


    Realization dawned on him, "Then¡­ what will I do for now?"


    "Training and preparing." This time, it was the Elf girl who chimed in, "For the System will always give its missionaries a mission, and that mission will bring you to another world."


    Turned his gaze to the Elf, Zuyuan asked in curiosity, "How do you know all that?"


    Sighing, the Elf replied, "Because my world has always been visited by the mercenaries, and whenever they appear, things have always become worse."


    "Is that so¡­" mused Zuyuan as he frowned.


    "You have to become strong as soon as possible, mister." smiled Amura as she said cheerfully, "Not everything is as bad as it seems. We have some places for you to increase your power dramatically! As long as you are rich enough, this place can offer you everything!"


    "So, you guys still use money here? Huh" asked Zuyuan with a sarcastic smile.


    "Nuh uh." shaking her head, Amura replied, "If the money you meant is those things you used in your world, then you''re definitely wrong."


    Smiling again, Amura said, "Everything was decided by Death points."


    ****


    "So, master had learned that information already." Nodding, XB11 replied, "Yes, master. There is always a time for the system to assign missions for its missionaries."


    "A week." answered Zuyuan as he leaned his head on his hand, "And what kind of world will it be, only told at the last one hour."


    "Yes, Master."


    "You seem to know a lot about the system as well, Don''t you?" asked Zuyuan suspiciously as he stared at XB11''s eyes.


    "Indeed, master." admitting it immediately, XB11 explained, "For I have met some Missionaries that travel between the stars and stop in our world to resupply."


    "hm? I thought the missionaries''s mission scope was only on one planet?"


    "I heard higher rank would have a different mission, master." said XB11 calmly.


    "I wonder¡­" mused Zuyuan as he contemplated silently.


    ''Will this the rest of my life gonna be? Missions with no end?''


    Moving his eyesight above, Zuyuan thought deeply into his future.


    ''Why is it always bloodshed no matter where I go? I have no revenge now that I have died. I can''t chase anyone or anything that should be responsible for the master''s death. Then why should I keep fighting? Just for the sake of surviving? Did I really want to live that badly?''


    Unintentionally sighed without him knowing it, Zuyuan asked to himself.


    ''What the point of living anyway? Why does it matter or not if I live or die? No one would care.''


    When his train of thought reached into that conclusion, his mood became down and he started to get a little depressed.


    "I just want¡­ to run away¡­"


    Mumbling softly, Zuyuan unconsciously said aloud what''s on his mind. Before he could continue his existential crisis, a voice replied to him.


    "Although this one didn''t know what happened, but this one would suggest that maybe, there''s time that we can''t run away, even if he wanted to. The responsibility is always there, eating our guilt slowly."


    XB11 stared at Zuyuan quietly and he bowed slightly to Zuyuan when Zuyuan was surprised by his sudden answer.


    "Pfftt."


    Chuckled, Zuyuan laughed a little as he smiled at XB11, "Don''t worry, no matter what happens, I won''t run."


    "For I am a strong man."

 14 Chapter 13

    "Oh, good morning, Missionary."


    A woman wore a red dress was standing on the counter as her eyes glowed with red hue. The woman slightly bowed to the young man, who was wearing black clothes and had arrived from the teleportation device this place had.


    "Thank you, Maya." nodding at the address, the young man walked to the counter and asked, "I heard there''s a place to enhance my attributes?"


    "Yes, Missionary. The place would be on the last section of this street. Please go to the right direction of the entrance, and walk ahead."


    Nodding to show that he understood, Zuyuan proceeded to the entrance while glanced around the place. The place has a good atmosphere, with rows of tables and chairs on the side to let the missionaries, who wearied from the battles, relax and have their food.


    This inn was what you can see from a modern hotel in design, but it was run by the vampires as the receptionist and skeletons as the janitors.


    ''A place only the dead can enter¡­''


    Except for missionaries, which were gathered from all races in the galaxy that had died, The Death System was a small, alternated space that tread in the boundaries of dimension.


    Only the race that''s in the category of undead, would be able to be promoted as the staff in the system. The namely staff would be the people that take care of the Sanctuary, while the agents and missionaries go for missions.


    ''Agents¡­''


    A very familiar title reminded Zuyuan of the past. Frowning, Zuyuan tried to not get his mood fouled and quickly departed to his destination.


    ''A place to make myself touch the height that I never imagined, huh?''


    Recalling the words of what the old man had said, Zuyuan thought deeply on his way.


    ''But what is strength when you have nothing to protect?''


    That same question replayed over and over in his head as Zuyuan sighed in tiredness.


    ''Again, the same cycle.''


    Considering that his train of thought would go back into something unpleasant, Zuyuan immediately increased his pace as a kind of distraction for him.


    Moving his sight around, He saw bustling streets with stall vendors all over the street. There Are many kinds of shops and buildings, but one thing that they have in common, it''s a place of business for the missionaries to spend their points. Weapons, armors, and many kinds of colorful liquids in bottles were displayed on the stall.


    "Master, I would suggest buying some armor."


    Following him from behind since his exit from the inn, XB11 continued, "It would be better to have more defense, master. Of course we could do that when you have free time."


    Nodding, Zuyuan said, "We would."


    After ten minutes of treading the street, Zuyuan saw a towering building, with the symbol of a cross placed right under a scythe as its banner. Going inside, Zuyuan noticed that a lot of people were lining up in some bulletin boards, and the few counters were always filled with beings from all races.


    "It''s in here?" mused Zuyuan for no one in particular.


    Realizing that one of the counters was available for him, he proceeded to the counter and met with a girl that had her eyes glow in crimson, and had ginger hair.


    ''Another vampire.'' thought Zuyuan as he saw her eyes.


    "Welcome to the [Rebirth], Missionary. What service do you need?"


    Rebirth, a place that would let missionaries exchange their death points to increase their status, such as strength, vitality, and more. But that''s far from the only service it has.


    "I want to strengthen my status."


    Nodding slightly, the girl said, "Purification circle it is, that would be 100 death points for activation, Missionary."


    Sighing, Zuyuan thought that everything does need death points in here, even for food and longin, "Should I just reach out my DSM?"


    Smiling politely, the girl answered in a cheerful voice, "Yes missionary."


    Showing the girl his DSM, the girl put hers atop of his and there''s a small notification in mind.


    "Your points have been deduced, please walk towards one of the doors in there, Missionary." said the girl as she pointed her index finger to rows of doors on the very right corner of the room.


    Following the girl''s instruction, Zuyuan chose one of the doors with some kind of rune inscribed in it. The door was crimson in color and had a wide length of 2 meters.


    Opening the door, there''s only darkness in sight. But then, Zuyuan felt a sucking power from the darkness, and in a split second, he had transferred into an unknown space with stars all around him, as if he''s floating in space.


    [Welcome to the Purification circle, Missionary.]


    [Which part of your attributes that you wish to empower?]


    [Name : Tan Zuyuan


    Race : Human


    Profession : None


    Title : The Apostle


    Health : 200


    Spirits : 160


    Ability scores :


    -Vitality : 20


    -Strength : 24


    -Dexterity : 17


    -Intelligent : 16


    -Agility : 18


    -Charm : 16


    Traits :


    -Meditation


    -Script of the Qigong


    -Path of the banshee


    -Undying Will.]


    [Each one point attribute would cost 500 death points.]


    "This is¡­'''' look of bewilderment plastered across Zuyuan''s face as he looked around, "XB11 was not here?"


    Found out that it''s only him in this space, Zuyuan sighed and started to focus on his status, "Let''s see... "


    [Death points: 9885]


    ''Strength and vitality huh¡­ how strong would I be if I focus on strength?'' putting his index finger in his chin, Zuyuan contemplated as he stared towards his Death points.


    ''Is there no better explanation from the system?'' thought Zuyuan while he said, "System, explain what or how the strength attribute works."


    [Strength: Related to the user physical power.]


    ''This... '' clicking his tongue, Zuyuan tried another attribute, "How about the intelligent?"


    [Intelligent: related to user memories and spirits.]


    ''Spirits¡­'' frowning, Zuyuan said, "What is spirit?"


    [Spirits: related to how much energy the user can draw from the user''s body."


    Sighing, Zuyuan rubbed his hair and said, "So it''s just like status in games after all? Huh. Well, if this is all the information I had, there''s only one way to find out."


    Gazing at his death points, Zuyuan said, "Add 1 point to the strength attribute."


    [Death points deduced! You have raised your strength!]


    Raising both of his hands, he clenched them as he felt a slight amount of power flow into him. Then, he felt itch, as the power began to reconstruct his muscles and made them become more sturdy.


    Cold sweats fall from his forehead after the power strengthens him, although the rise of power is small, but with points that he still has, Zuyuan sure he could rise to new heights.


    Smiling, Zuyuan felt excitement envelop him as he mumbled,


    "Well, let''s get it started."

 15 Chapter 14

    [Name : Tan Zuyuan


    Race : Human


    Profession : None


    Title : The Apostle


    Health : 200


    Spirits : 160


    Ability scores :


    -Vitality : 20


    -Strength : 25


    -Dexterity : 17


    -Intelligent : 16


    -Agility : 18


    -Charm : 16


    Traits :


    -Meditation


    -Script of the Qigong


    -Path of the banshee


    -Undying Will.]


    "Raise 5 more points in strength attribute."


    [Death points deduced! You have raised your strength!]


    [Death points: 6885]


    "Add 5 more points in the intelligent attribute."


    [Death points deduced! You have raised your intelligent!]


    [Death points: 3385]


    Frowning at the cost, Zuyuan hesitated for a while, until he said, "....Add 1 point in agility and 1 point in dexterity."


    [Death points deduced! You have raised your agility and dexterity!]


    [Death points: 2385.]


    Sighing, Zuyuan stared at his updated status screen and went into deep thought.


    [Name : Tan Zuyuan


    Race : Human


    Profession : None


    Title : The Apostle


    Health : 200


    Spirits : 160


    Ability scores :


    -Vitality : 20


    -Strength : 30


    -Dexterity : 18


    -Intelligent : 21


    -Agility : 19


    -Charm : 16


    Traits :


    -Meditation


    -Script of the Qigong


    -Path of the banshee


    -Undying Will.]


    ''Should I use the remaining points for vitality?'' contemplating for a second, shortly after, the change in his body started. Gritting his teeth in endurance, Zuyuan''s brows snapped together as he shook his head.


    ''Should I use the remaining points for vitality?'' he contemplated. Shortly after, the change in his body started. Gritting his teeth and bracing himself, Zuzana''s eyebrows furrowed as he shook his head.


    ''No... It''s impossible as living here would require death points.'' he sighed at the realization. Zuyuan was about to look for a way out when he felt something invade his heart.


    ''What¡ª''


    That indomitable force began to flow through his heart and down to his dantian, a core that every martial artist like him used to store their Qi.


    The energy began to envelop his dantian and  sink into it. Instinctively wanting to reject the foreign energy, a warning appeared in Zuyuan''s mind.


    [Warning: Death System is attempting to strengthen the host. Please do not refuse or there will be dire consequences.]


    Clenching his jaw, Zuyuan felt it was absurd to not resist anything foreign that tried to touch his most vulnerable spot. Still, he tried to relax, not willing to risk angering the system, not when it was the powerful system that made him back to life.


    Carefully observing the energy, the energy began to sink into his Dantian and toughen it. Then, the energy tried to reconstruct and enlarge the space inside the core, granting Zuyuan another volume to store more Qigong.


    Releasing a breath of relief, Zuyuan felt at ease after he saw that nothing''s wrong happened. The most thing he concerned at the moment, would be undesirable damage to his dantian. After all, it was his foundation to survive and fight another battles.


    As he was back again to move his gaze around and seek any entrance, another notification rang in his head.


    [Hint: To leave the Purification circle, the Missionary just has to think of wanting to be discharged.]


    [Would you like to exit the Purification circle? To enter once more, you have to spend another death point.]


    "I want to leave." said it out loud, his body soon began to shine and illuminated the place. Bright light wrapped his vision as his body began to feel lighter.


    Before he knew it, Zuyuan had found himself already stood in a broad magic circle, right on the left side of the [Rebirth] counter. Looking around, he saw the clerk from before. The woman''s eyes glanced at Zuyuan and nodded slightly. In front of her, there''s a lizard man, stand and in contemplation.


    "Oh, you''re already back, Master."


    Shifting his gaze towards the sound, there he saw XB11, who had stood behind him, as if it had been waiting for him all this time.


    "Yes I have." replied Zuyuan as he stepped out of the massive magic circle. Looking at the area of the magic circle once more, white lights flickered out of thin air. After the light began to shine brighter, humanoid beings emerged. Some have a bored expression on their face, and some others have stunned and bewilderment expressions, but the majority had a calm expression, as if nothing happened.


    Sighing, Zuyuan walked to the counter once more to where the ginger haired girl was. After she was done with the lizardman, Zuyuan proceeded in front of her and said, "Do you offer a place for training?"


    "Yes, Missionary. We called it [Temple of Trials.] For activation, it would take 150 death points each hour." replied the woman as she smiled to Zuyuan.


    ''it''s become more expensive¡­'' frowning, Zuyuan sighed and reached out his DSM, while said, "Sure, but before that, would I be transferred to a weird place again?"


    "Oh?" continued the payment procedure, the woman said with a chuckle, "Would this be your first time in here? Missionary. Although this weird place was surprising for the beginner, they are really useful as you would have privacy and didn''t have to worry about breaking anything."


    "Is that so?" Raising his eyebrows, Zuyuan crossed his arms and said, "So, what kind of door should I go to this time?"


    Shaking her head, the reception woman replied, "there will be no door, this time, Missionary." Moving her hand in front Zuyuan, she continued, "Enjoy your training, Missionary." with that she snapped her fingers.


    In a heartbeat, Zuyuan''s body decompressed into an atomic level before his brain could react. His retinas widened and when his brain could perceive what''s happened, he was already standing in the middle of dessert.


    "...."


    Another wondrous transportation that he had witnessed. With this much power, Zuyuan wondered how strong the owner of the system would be. That if the system had an owner in the first place.


    [Welcome to the Temple of Trials, Missionary.]


    [In this place, we would create images of all the opponents you have faced so far since you had become a Missionary. It would be based on your memories of them. The more you know them, the more real the image would be.]


    [What kind of enemies would you like to face? Missionary.]


    [List:


    -Fifty lowly Rograst.


    -Tundra Rograst.


    -The Rograst''s sentry.]


    "I choose fifty Rograst." replied Zuyuan on knitted eyebrows. He had to suffer a lot of injuries from this battle. And now, he wanted to know how far he could go with his new-found strength.


    [Please select a weapon:


    -Longsword


    -Short sword and buckler


    -Great sword


    -Battle axe


    -Spear


    -Estoc


    -Two handguns


    -Assault rifle


    -Machine gun


    -Sniper rifle


    -Mace and shield


    -Two gauntlets


    -Rows of throwing knives


    -Two knives


    -Magical wand


    -Cakram


    -Boomerang


    -Warhammer


    -Rapier


    -Other (any kind of weapons can be requested) ]


    Looking at the long list in front of him, Zuyuan immediately replied without even take glance at the other weapons, "I choose a longsword."


    [Selected. The battle would begin in five seconds.]


    [Hint: Any damage that the user got from the Temple of Trials would be healed the moment the user had left the Temple.]


    A ray of golden lights gathered in Zuyuan''s right hand as they began to mold into the shape of a sword. In a second, the light unfolds and an exquisite sword landed in his hand.


    Smiling, Zuyuan grabbed the sword''s hilt tightly as portals of blue lights appeared around him. Each of the portal revealed the Rograst that he had fought before, but in enormous numbers. Shortly after, he heard the notification inside this mind once more.


    [The Trial begins!]

 16 Chapter 15

    *Raaagghhh*


    Moving like a shadow, Zuyuan swiped past another five of Rograst  as his sword flowed swiftly. Each assault was a quick jab towards the Rograst heads, as he attempted to avoid every claw that was swung towards him.


    Deflecting every attack that couldn''t be dodged, every collision of the claws with the back of his blade rang loudly, as if it was the melody of some destruction tune.


    Another party to the right side, he flourished his sword right towards two Rograst''s neck in one motion, beheading two enemies at the same time. Another three Rograst about to slip into his blind side, and wanted to rip apart his back. In a heartbeat, Zuyuan movements became a blur, before the unexpected Rograst could react, Zuyuan had already kneeled so low, while spun around behind and cut the Three Rograst feet horizontally.


    *Roooaaghh*


    Shriek of pains sounded, but gave it no mind, his right hand already moved in a stab motion. Two swords phantoms materialized on both sides of the sword, while his real sword pierced through the Rograst in the middle right through its skulls, the rest did the same as they all moved in sync.


    ''Another fifteen more¡­.''


    Focusing the flow of Qigong towards his feet, Zuyuan used Ghost Walk again and again as both of his hands devoid of any Qigong. With pure physical strength, Zuyuan shifted to another group of Rograst. Five Rogarst surrounded him, as they moved in tandem with their claws brandished towards Zuyuan in five directions.


    A rushed sound sounded as the claws only hit empty air. Appearing midair, he twisted his body as his foot propelled Zuyuan to one of the five Rograst. Ripple emerged in the air from his feet, while his charge granted him a sword that stabbed right inside the Rograst head. Green blood painted his face as Zuyuan still took use of the force to cleave the already dead Rograst into two.


    Noticing their companion''s death, the rest immediately howled and charged. With four of the Rograst rushed to him at the front, and another additional four behind him, Zuyuan burned a chunk of his Qigong as he activated the ultimate move of Ghost Walk.


    Making a low stance with his knees bent a little, as both his hands grabbed the longsword hilt and pointed it to the ground, His figure disappeared in two breaths. Emerged fifty feet away from where he stood, eight heads flew in the air with their headless necks gushing out rain of greenish blood.


    *Grrrr*


    The last seven Rograst growled quietly as they approached warily at Zuyuan. Sighed at their antics, Zuyuan walked towards them in a calm demeanor.


    "Let''s end this."


    *Rooooaaagghh*


    Howled loudly, the Seven Rograst charged at Zuyuan at the same time. Following their lead, Zuyuan lunged at the nearest Rograst with unnatural speed. Before they could react, he already punctured his target and lopped off its head. Without wasting any seconds, he swiped his sword towards his left side as he made a quick leap.


    *Raaarghh*


    Tried to counter attack with its own claw, The Rograst swung its claw towards the incoming sword. Flicking his wrist, the sword''s trajectory changed and slashed towards the Rograst arm instead. Moving his hand in swift motion, the sword tilted vertically and sliced the Rograst''s neck.


    Pumping his qigong more into his feet, Zuyuan''s movement accelerated and in the blink of an eye, he arrived upon another Rograst in his right side. Hacking the surprised Rograst into two, he moved again to another prey and wasted no time.


    Once more utilized the Ghost Walk ultimate move, his figure became a blur, and in the next second, all of the Rograst beheaded without mercy.


    "Huff... Huff... "


    Heaving breathily, he brushed off the sweats on his forehead as Zuyuan glanced towards the sword in his hand.


    ''Incredible¡­ I don''t have to spend any Qigong for Phantom''s Sword to sharpen the weapon. My physical strength was able to cleave anything into two¡­''


    Clenching both of his fists, Zuyuan sat on the ground as he contemplated, ''Not to mention the increase of qigong in my dantian. I would be able to spend more on Ghost Walk perfection technique in quick succession.''


    Sighing, He lifted his head as his gaze stared into the sun high above. Mumbling unknowingly, Zuyuan said, "Maybe¡­ if I had this power when I was alive¡­ perhaps.."


    But there''s no ifs in this world, realizing that what he had thought of was just another empty dream of his, Zuyuan shook his head with a smile, as notification rang inside his head.


    [Ten minutes left until the user time is up in the Temple of Trials.]


    "Oh? It''s fifty minutes already?" mused out loud, Zuyuan thought that it might be better to leave, until he remembered something.


    "The reward¡­" putting his index finger on his chin, Zuyuan said to no one in particular, as there''s only empty air in front of him, "System, if I wasn''t wrong, I got a sword isn''t it?"


    [The Missionary had acquired The Sword of Estgard.]


    "Isn''t it?" Smirking, Zuyuan continued, "So, what does this sword look like? Why haven''t I got it yet?"


    [The Missionary rewards had been automatically sent into the personal storage.]


    "A personal storage? Why didn''t I have anything like that when I was in the Revrolt world?"


    [Hint: Personal storage feature only available for level 2 Missionary. This Personal storage feature could only be used in the Sanctuary.]


    "huh.." Disappointed at the fact that he couldn''t use this game-like option in other worlds, Zuyuan said, "I want to receive my new sword."


    [Commencing the command¡­]


    Golden orbs emerged from thin air as they swirled right in front of Zuyuan. They flew towards the ground and made a shape of a longsword. Shortly, the golden orbs flashed brightly as a sword appeared from the light.


    [Name : Estgard


    Rarity : Upgradable


    Rank : Magic


    Attack power : 56 ~ 70


    Special Trait : Catalyst


    Catalyst : This trait was able to make the sword fused with any kind of the user''s energy. It would be able strengthen the user''s energy attack or spells.


    Background : It was once stood at the pinnacle of swordsmanship and wielded by a legend. No one knows its master, but it awaits for the time its potential fully unleashed.]


    "Oh?" exclaimed in surprise, Zuyuan took the sword''s hilt and swung the sword a few times. Nodding satisfyingly, "Yet fully unleashed its potential huh."


    A humming sound came out from the sword as Zuyuan''s eyes widened. Smiling, Zuyuan continued,


    "Nice to meet you too, Estgard. From today onwards, I will be your Master."

 17 Chapter 16

    "Next would be¡­"


    Putting his finger on his chin, Zuyuan said, "System, show me the lucky roulette."


    [Commencing the command¡­]


    Shortly, a roulette emerged from thin air and floated. The roulette indicated symbols instead of numbers. There were symbols of a sword crossed with a bow, fire, a box, a bottle, a coin and lastly, a question mark.


    "Hmm.." Scrutinizing the roulette, Zuyuan sighed and said, "Oh well, might as well try it. System, please roll the roulette."


    [Understood.]


    As he looked at the white ball circling the spinning roulette, Zuyuan nervously tightened his grip on the Etsgard sword.


    After observing the ball quietly for a moment, it finally landed on the rare symbol in the roulette¡ªthe box symbol. Ringing inside his mind, the notification from the system came shortly after.


    [Congratulations! You have received a Silver Package! Do you want to open it now?]


    "Silver package?" Tilting his head to the side, Zuyuan said in confusion, "Sure?"


    [Opening the user''s package... ]


    Bright light enveloped the floating roulette as It slowly formed into a ball. The ball split into two and began to morph. What used to be the right side changed, forming a vague shape of armor, and the other into a scroll.


    After the glow subsided, a full set of silver plate armor lay before him, along with a crimson scroll that was suspended in midair.


    [Congratulations! You have received Armor of Oste and Trait: Equip!]


    "Oh?" eyes widened in surprise, Zuyuan was about to reach out his hand to touch the armor. Immediately, before he could react, the crimson scroll flashed brightly and changed into a red light. It flew towards the middle part of Zuyuan''s eyebrows.


    [Trait: Equip Acquired!]


    With another unexpected notification, something flowed into his brain as a foreign knowledge arose in his memory. Instinctively following the instructions of the newly found knowledge, the air around Estgard sword distorted as if something covered it.


    Another minute, the Estgard sword disappeared, and in his mind, an image of a sword emerged and stayed. The back of his right wrist felt like being burned, while a small tattoo of a sword created just right on the part where he felt the pain.


    "Kuh¡­" Gritting his teeth, the pain was abated in half a minute. Sighing in relief, his eyebrows furrowed as he raised his right hand to carefully look at the new tattoo he had got.


    With a thought, the tattoo vanished and on his right hand, the Estgard sword appeared. Another thought again, the sword disappeared and the tattoo emerged on the back of his wrist.


    "Huh, this is neat." Smiling as if he was a kid that just received a candy, his gaze fixed towards the silver armor as he continued, "Armor of Oste?"


    The armor glowed with green hue around it as it slowly floated down to the ground.


    [Name: Oste


    Rarity: Fixed


    Rank: Magic


    Defense: 32~41


    Special Trait : Impact Absorption


    Impact Absorption: able to absorb 60% of the impact that inflected to the armor.


    Background: The knight of Oste had been a legend to his homeland. His name spread far and wide. And with his fame growing, his beloved armor would inherit his title as well, becoming a mark of his name.]


    Smiling, Zuyuan''s hand touched the armor and the air around the armor distorted. The armor disappeared at the same time as a burning pain assaulted his left chest. This time prepared, Zuyuan only furrowed his eyebrows as one drop of cold sweat flowed from his forehead. After some time, a small tattoo with drawing of an armor appeared in his left chest.


    "Now, For the advancement scrolls-"


    [Your time has been used up! The user would be ejected immediately!]


    "What?" bewildered at the sudden notification, Zuyuan''s body warped and in a heartbeat, he was back again in the magic circle right near the reception desk.


    "Master."


    Waiting behind him, XB11 saluted at Zuyuan as he was looking around, stunned from the sudden teleportation.


    "Are you alright, Master?" Said XB11 in a concerned voice.


    "Yes, I''m fine." shaking his head slightly, Zuyuan walked towards the entrance of the building, "Let''s go back, there''s many things to sort out."


    ****


    "You are waiting for me all this time, Astar?"


    In a hallway of some office building, A man was sitting on one of the benches near the wall as his gaze fixed upon a book in his hand. After his name was called, he moved his gaze towards the source of the sound as his smile beamed, "Of course, Ryuhei."


    Another man with fiery hair stood in the hallway. He wore a kimono and a katana was strapped in his waist. His height was around 178cm, with emerald eyes that pierced any souls he saw.


    Clicking his tongue, He said in an annoyed voice, "What is this now? Never saw you in a good mood for a long time."


    Raising his body, Astar smiled politely to Ryuhei and said, "I wanted to have authority for sector 23."


    "Huh!?" Scowled at the sudden proposal, Ryuhei squinted his eyes and said, "What the hell are you talking about? Go do your job. We all have our own sector to manage and don''t spout nonsense on me."


    Unfazed with the rude tone of Ryuhei, Astar raised his hand and a golden card appeared. Reaching out to give the card and still smiling, Astar continued, "Of course, it won''t be free."


    "Tsk." Grabbing the card and putting it inside his obi, Ryuhei asked in curiosity, "What made you suddenly interested in that sector anyway? Not like I''m complaining that you gonna do my job, but¡­"


    Ryuhei''s eyes became cold as killing intent emitted from him, "You know the rule. Even though you do my job, that doesn''t mean I''ll do your job. So you better manage my place, or when I got my ass on the frying pan because you did something weird, I''ll put a fucking burning rod on your ass too."


    Chuckled at the barbaric threat, Astar waved his hand and replied, "Ah of course. How could I get you into trouble, Ryuhei. You know my efficiency."


    "Well.. I guess that''s fine then." sighed in relief, Ryuhei moved his gaze towards the book in Astar''s right hand. The book seems worn out, with its brown cover was ragged and some cuts could be seen in it.


    Raising his eyebrows, Ryuhei pointed his index finger towards the book and asked, "Hey, What book is that? What kind of book did you read?"


    "Oh, this?" smile widened as Astar stared at Ryuhei, he said in cheerful voice,


    "A really interesting story."

 18 Chapter 17

    "Sectors?"


    Three known personas sat at a private room, each minding their own businesses. The room was designed like an ancient royal dining area from the land of the Red Dragon (Chinese). The interior was more than fascinating, there were plants that bring life and balance in the room, on two opposing walls, a golden dragon could be seen, sculpted into place with fine details. The center was nothing much of a difference, except for the placement of the dragon. The dragon is placed in a gong like structure, symbolising the powerful deities and prosperity.


    In the middle of the area itself lies a finely made table, covered in silk white cloth and crystal blue detailing sequence at the ends. The chairs were that of elegance, cotton padded sits and sturdy wood sculpting, with details carefully carved in, displaying an art fit for an emperor.


    Glancing at the little girl that sat across him, Zuyuan asked, "There are ten sectors in the Sanctuary?"


    Shaking her head, the little girl replied, "Nope nope! There are thirty of them."


    The little girl brought her hands behind her head and reclined at back to her seat in a relaxed manner, leg loosely on top of the other. "And usually, each sector was always managed by one of the Administrators." opening one of her eyes lazily, Amura continued, "Just like you thought of, Administrators numbered only thirty in the whole Sanctuary, and each of them is hella strong."


    Furrowing his eyebrows, Zuyuan took a sip of a wine as he asked, "Would it possible that the Administrator know about the Missionaries before they meet?"


    Trembling, Amura quickly dropped her relaxed gesture and gazed at Zuyuan seriously, "The way you said it is as if an Administrator was noticing you?"


    Answering the question in silence, Zuyuan stared back at the little girl with a stern expression, "Might be."


    "Pfftt-" chuckling, Amura waved her hand as she laughed, "Impossible, there''s no way an Administrator will know a newbie like you, mister."


    "More importantly¡­" Moving her gaze towards XB11 that was quietly sitting beside Zuyuan, Amura put her right hand on her lips as she said in a cheerful tone, "That''s a really good Mercenary you got, mister. From a trial world nonetheless."


    Sighing, Zuyuan shook his head and said, "Let''s go back again to our chat. Although you had told me the gist of how the System works, there will be more than that right? I spent 500 death points after all."


    Snacking on the French fries in her plate, Amura said, "How about a signed up form for the Half of Fame?"


    "Hall of Fame?"


    "That''s right~" opening her hands cheerfully, Amura said with a smile, "The place where every Missionary has a battle against one another. It''s just like a colosseum. The one who had reached top rank 30 would get death points each month without doing anything! They just have to keep their rank and the points flow into the DSM by itself."


    "It won''t be advisable, Master."


    Having been quiet all this time, XB11 spoke as it looked towards Zuyuan, "Although it sounds like a good place to train and get more points, we can''t rule out the chance that other Missionaries would know Master skills."


    Raising his eyebrows in surprise, Zuyuan asked, "Oh? Do we need to guard with the other Missionaries? Does that mean they could attack us?"


    "Yes." Confirming Zuyuan''s inquiry without delay, XB11 said, "In every world, there are always Missionaries who target the weaker. Not only there''s a chance that the death of Missionary dropped the death points card, but also, they could also drop their equipment."


    "Oh?" Smiling, Zuyuan said in a sarcastic tone, "It almost sounds like¡­"


    "The Death System encourages killing." This time, Amura said as her lips curled down, "Of course it is. it''s the rule of the jungle, where the strong survive and become stronger, while the weak become weaker and dead."


    Back again to smile, Amura gave a V sign with her finger and she said, "But don''t worry, although you have to reveal your skill in the Hall of Fame, they protected your secrecy. That place is anonymous, so you would wear a costume, mask, anything that hides your features when you battle in there."


    "It''s still too dangerous." Shaking its head, XB11 said, "I think we should just train quietly for some time, While Master last points would be used for healing potions."


    Glanced at XB11, Amura said with a smile, "The prize of Rank 10 would be a high tech plasma rifle, you know. I think it would suit your Mercenary in the incoming world."


    Its shoulders trembled a little, XB11 still shook its head and stayed firm in its opinion, "Still too dangerous."


    "Fine then." Reaching out his right hand, Zuyuan said in a resigned tone, "Give me the form. Let''s see what I can do."


    "Master!"


    Glanced towards XB11, Zuyuan furrowed his eyebrows, "You sound too worrywart for me. Are you doubting my ability?"


    Staying silent as Zuyuan scrutinized XB11, XB11 froze in its seat while awkward silence filled the air. Pulling out a paper from her handbag, Amura gave the paper into Zuyuan''s right hand and said, "This is the form, and¡­ ah! Please sign this one as me would be the person who recommended you to the Hall of Fame."


    "You¡­" Seeing her cheerful gesture, Zuyuan squinted his eyes and said, "You definitely benefited from having a new Missionary joined the Hall of Fame in your name, aren''t you?"


    Awkwardly scratched the back of her hair, Amura stuck out her tongue and said, "Come on, mister! You would get the profit too when you reach high rank!"


    "And¡­ it would be four more days again for the next world, isn''t it? Better to be stronger soon~" Beamed at Zuyuan, Amura gave two V signs on both of her hands at Zuyuan.


    Shaking his head, Zuyuan read the form as he chuckled, "Well, it sounds fun. Fine, let''s see how strong those Missionaries were."


    "After all.. I won''t lose."


    Moved his gaze towards Amura, Zuyuan asked,


    "Oh by the way, do you have a pen?"

 19 Chapter 18

    "For love and hate."


    Sitting at his desk, Astar flipped another page of the old book he always carried.


    "It''s a story about a boy that was once casted away by his family. Fighting for his beliefs even though that same faith would be the one to destroy him." Glanced towards a woman in a suit five feet away from him, he chuckled and said, "That''s all of this book is about."


    The woman was pouring hot water into a small cup at the table right beside the wall. Adding two cubes of sugar, while humming quietly, after a whole, she replied, "So? That doesn''t answer my question about why you wanted to take charge of sector 23."


    Leaning his head on his right hand, his left finger tapping at the desk as Astar said, "That I did. But is that the only reason for your sudden visit?"


    Making a pouting expression, The woman moved her gaze towards Astar as she raised the cup to her lips, "This occurrence always happens when there''s a special circumstance. You know what you do. Everyone''s curiosity was piqued because the staff of the inner section decided to take the role of the outside section."


    "Doesn''t matter." Raising his body from his desk, "I care not for such faction politics. You should know me better, Angela."


    "Yes, I am." While taking sips from the small cup, Angela twirled a single lock of hair around one finger. The lock, one of many from her tightly bound curls, was the color of golden yellow. In the sunlight that came through the window, it seemed to glisten, "Because I knew you better, that this antic of yours was so unlike you, Astar. Why sector 23? You are a man who won''t blink even if the Sanctuary was ravaged upside-down."


    Fixing the sleeve of his suit, Astar said, "Who knows. But I did tell you."


    Raising her eyebrows, Angela asked in surprise, "Because of that storybook?"


    Smiling, Astar said in a soft voice,


    "It is precisely because of that storybook."


    ****


    "I hate storybooks."


    "Pardon?" asked XB11 in confusion, "What do you mean by that, Master?"


    The waiting room was empty and white, stripped to the minimum, which was the bench Zuyuan sat on, waiting for his turn. The neon lights exposed every grain, every tiny flaw in the white paint. Some people might have found this room anguishing, maddening even, with nothing to see, or hear, but he was calmed by it, his senses soothed by the nothingness before the fight. At his side was XB11, and he turned his head slightly to look at it.


    "All that happened this time felt like a story from storybooks." Leaning his back to the wall, Zuyuan said, "It feels unreal. Like a game that you played on your computer."


    "Entertainment of the human race in your world, master?" XB11''s eyes began to glow as it stood straight.


    "Yeah, it is." Glancing around the room, Zuyuan tilted his head to the side, "This is kinda bland, isn''t it?"


    "Yes it is." XB11 was staring at Zuyuan quietly. After some minutes, It said, "You could store me in your personal storage, Master. After all, I''m not a living being."


    "Oh? But wasn''t it boring to stay in an enclosed space that was only surrounded by void? That''s the reason why I didn''t banish your summon isn''t it?"


    Its eyes shone a bit brighter, XB11 replies, "But you would need me for a surprise in your incoming battle. The Hall of Fame would gather any strong figures, and we shouldn''t let them see all our cards, Master."


    "Hmm.." Contemplating for a while, Zuyuan sighed, "Alright, I will try to make it fast."


    Bowing down slightly, XB11 said "Your concern is much appreciated, Master."


    With a wave of his hand, XB11''s body glowed and changed into small orbs that were dispersed into the air. Frowning slightly, Zuyuan crossed his arms and waited for his turn once more.


    The silence was harrowing and calming at the same time. With nothing to do, Zuyuan closed his eyes and began to meditate, while activating the Script of the Qigong at the same time.


    Trying to absorb as much Qigong as he could from the air, Zuyuan sighed as he found the energy was so little. Opening his right palm, he silently ordered the system in his mind and soon, a golden scroll appeared on his hand.


    Zuyuan knew the function of this scroll after he left the Rebirth building. Inside his room, that night he checked out the feature of this scroll and the rarity of it, the scroll of advancement trait. With it, the word ''bottleneck'' doesn''t exist, not to mention with enough scroll, he would be able to master any traits into the maximum within only a few minutes.


    But the rarity of this scroll was much higher than ordinary items. Scroll of advancement trait was categorized as divine rank, and one would get it only by scoring grade A or higher in their mission''s world. Zuyuan was not a surprise person. He knew that he was able to reach that rank because it was a trial world and his skill was much higher than the usual examinee. Not to mention this one scroll could only one trait into the next level.


    ''Two scrolls.. Two free bottleneck huh¡­ "


    [Your battle would begins in 5 minutes, Missionary. Please be ready.]


    Frowning his eyebrows, Zuyuan shook his head and murmured to himself, "It''s better now than later."


    With that, The scroll on his hand shone brightly as his vision was filled with golden lights. Shortly after, it was gone and a notification rang inside his head.


    [Scroll of Advancement trait used, which trait would you want to upgrade, Missionary?]


    "Path of the banshee, second layer."


    [Accepted. Commencing the command¡­]


    Closing his eyes once more, Zuyuan felt a deep, submerged feeling that creeped inside him. Something unknown directed his muscles, bones, even to the point of his subconscious mind where lied his instinct. After four minutes, that feeling disappeared as if it didn''t exist in the first place and another notification came out.


    [The upgrade was successful. User mastery upon Path of the banshee, second layer has been leveled up into perfection.]


    [Congratulations! You have acquired a unique new move from the Path of the banshee, second layer!]


    Letting out a breath away, Zuyuan curled up his lips slightly as he said, "I''m ready."


    [Battle begins at 5¡­ 4¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ 1.]


    [Challenger accepted. Immediately proceed to the arena.]


    White light enveloped Zuyuan''s body as he felt weightless. In a few breaths, Zuyuan noticed the foreign view, Transported into a battleground with sand and surrounded by spectator''s seats. Across him, a shade of a man stood and pointed the tip of his machine gun towards him.


    [Battle¡­ Begin!]

 20 Chapter 19

    *Dudududu*


    Sounds of gunshots rang in the air as a man dodged with unnatural speed. Brandishing a sword with golden guard on its hilt, the man dashed in a zigzag way from time to time.


    "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, a burly man with a scar on his left eye pulled out a black ball from his back. Pushing the triangle button on the ball, he threw it towards Zuyuan as he shouted.


    "Go die!"


    *BOOOMMM!*


    The ball exploded right on the path Zuyuan would take. Smiling at the smoke and fire, the burly man laughed as he thought he had killed off his opponent.


    "Don''t be too happy yet."


    A voice sounded behind him as the man tried to turn his body around in panic. With a slash, Zuyuan beheaded the man in a clean cut.


    [You have won the challenge!]


    The system''s notification rang inside his mind as the corpse of his opponent dispersed into small orbs of light. Observing what has happened in a blank expression, Zuyuan stood and waited for what was to come.


    [Another challenger has appeared! The battle would begin in 10 seconds!]


    Still standing straight, Zuyuan moved his body slightly to prepare his stance.


    [Battle would begin in Five.. Four.. Three.. Two.. One..]


    A light emerged from thin air in front of him, starting to take the shape of a humanoid being. The lights started to dim and a clown with a height of more than 180cm in a glance appeared.


    [Battle¡­ begin!]


    Howling, The clown charged towards Zuyuan as it pulled out a halberd with red gemstone in the middle of the blade. The weapon shone with crimson light, and swung at Zuyuan.


    Zuyuan raised his sword whilst holding it with both hands. Moving it above one of his shoulders, he parried the incoming blow and redirected it to his left side as he bent on his knees. His foe''s blade burst open the ground with a heavy force as flames enveloped it.


    Furrowing his eyebrows, Zuyuan glanced at the newly made crater. Propelling himself, he dashed as he flicked his wrist to make a stab motion. Surprised at the sudden counter attack, The clown growled and tried to step away from Zuyuan, while pulling his halberd and used the pole to shield the strike.


    Unexpectedly, the clash didn''t happen. With a smooth movement, Zuyuan withdrew his sword and slashed horizontally towards his opponent''s right knee. Noticing the feint way too late, his sword was already embedded deep inside the flesh and cut off a chunk of it.


    "Aarrrghhh"


    Screaming in pain, the clown opened his jaw wide and breathed flames at Zuyuan. Seeing the incoming attack, he immediately used the ultimate technique of Ghost Walk and disappeared. With a flash, Zuyuan appeared behind his foe and slashed right through the neck. In a heartbeat, the head looped off from its neck as blood spurted out.


    [You have won the challenge!]


    "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, his expression became grim as he felt more annoyed to himself.


    ''This is bad.. I''ve been using Qigong too frequently at the start for the battle.''


    Displeased at how he had distributed the flow of Qigong, Zuyuan again stood in place as he waited for another enemy.


    [Another challenger has appeared!]


    Hearing the familiar tone, he sighed. Readying his stance, Zuyuan murmured, "Yes, yes, I know. Just let it start already."


    [Battle would begin in Five¡­ Four.. Three.. Two.. One.. ]


    The same silver light emerged from thin air, just like the last time, but the shine of the light was a little bit brighter than before. This time, the humanoid shape became taller and taller as the light started to disperse.


    [Battle.. Begin!]


    "Grraaaahhh!"


    A loud pierced through the air as a white giant with the head of a deer howled at the top of his lungs. The giant had some strange tattoos all over his upper body, along with only wearing some kind of pants made of animal hide, and a massive bone that could be used as a two handed warhammer.


    "It''s a giant now?" asked Zuyuan to no one in particular.


    Rushing towards Zuyuan, the giant''s speed didn''t lose out with the lizardman earlier. In a few seconds, the giant arrived in front of his opponent as he swung his bone mace at Zuyuan''s head.


    Avoiding the assault by stepping away, his hand moved and tried to slash the giant''s left leg. His blade bounced back as some kind of invisible protection surrounded it.


    "What the¡­"


    Before Zuyuan could contemplate what had happened, the giant''s movements became faster and in a blink of an eye, his right hand struck Zuyuan''s right waist. The impact sent Zuyuan flying ten meters away as he began coughing blood.


    "Kuh!" Gritting his teeth, Zuyuan immediately tried to raise his body and just in time dodged a laser beam with a diameter of 10cm. Moving his gaze towards the source, he saw the giant''s outstretched palm pointed at him.


    "It can attack from far away?" murmured Zuyuan as he activated the Ghost Walk. Rushing towards the giant, his speed became faster.


    "Grrrr¡­" Growling at the sight, The giant dashed as well while both his eyes fixed at his foe. In a few moments, the distance between both of them was 20 meters away.


    Bending his knees a bit lower, he shouldered his sword on top of his right shoulder while on the move. After the distance was close enough for the giant''s weapon, he swung the five meters bone to Zuyuan vertically.


    ''Now!''


    Jumped right at the time where bone would hit his left waist, he avoided the strike midair. Stepping into the bone at that millisecond, he kicked it for another leap while holding his sword''s hilt with both hands and slashing it down with all his strength.


    "Grrhh?" Surprised at the sudden counter attack that successfully injured his left shoulder, The giant tried to punch Zuyuan while he was still in midair.


    "Equip!"


    A golden light flashed from Zuyuan''s body as armor appeared. Pulling out his sword, he curled up his arm on his right side to brace for the incoming impact.


    *Bang!*


    A sound of something hitting a steel sounded and he was sent flying once more. Rolling in the ground fifteen meters away from the giant, he tried to stand up quickly as he clicked his tongue in annoyance.


    ''Ghost Walk!''


    In a heartbeat, he already moved behind his opponent as the tip of his sword stabbed right through his foe''s head, lashing out when his enemy''s guard was down for a second.


    [You have won the challenge!]


    Standing up straight, Zuyuan wiped off the sweats from his forehead as his gaze moved downward. He decided to use the armor at that moment, and activated his Ghost Walk ultimate art once more.


    [Another challenger has appeared! The battle would begin in 10 seconds!]


    Sighing from another notification, Zuyuan shook his head and smiled wryly, "I guess I have to be more serious after all.

 21 Chapter 20

    "Oy, oy, can''t you do anything except run?"


    A girl smiled inside a mecha cockpit as she kept pushing a control stick. The screen in front of her beeped as it locked its sight to her target. Typing on the keyboard on her left side, she said quietly, "Now, let''s try this one."


    The mech was designed with numerous features intended for battle. With three metallic claws on each of its hands, missile compartments built in both arms, shoulders, and even chest, and an armour that can deter any attacks inflicted upon it. But although it stood towering in dominance, the bright pink hue that was painted upon it, especially that tiny detail of a rainbow on its plated front, just didn''t do its intimidation justice.


    In the next moment, the missiles came out from its left shoulder. Five missiles locked on Zuyuan as they flew towards him. Frowning, Zuyuan tried to get closer to the Mech while gripping the hilt of his sword backhandedly.


    In a few more seconds he would get blown to pieces. Right when they were only a meter away, his figure blurred and the missiles only struck empty ground.


    "Ha! That trick won''t work anymore!"


    Clicking one of the buttons on her right, The mech created a pulse wave radiated in 30 meters.


    "Kuh!" shielding himself with the back of his blade and his left arm, Zuyuan''s feet dug deep on the ground as the force tried to send him in the air. Using this chance to attack him, the emerald twintails hair girl pointed the mech left arm and ejected a gigantic energy beam at him.


    A massive explosion occurred where Zuyuan once stood. Smiling as if she had finally killed him, the girl leaned her back on the cockpit chair.


    "Oooohh!"


    "You had done it, Valkyrie!"


    "That newcomer is nothing after all!"


    The spectators'' seats around her burst into cheering voices as men and women alike either congratulated her or jeered at Zuyuan.


    "Unbeatable twenty streak my ass." said the girl in smugness as she crossed her arms and leaned her back in the cockpit chair. But after a few seconds, the notification that should announce her win didn''t appear. Eyebrows scrunched, she looked around the area as her mech tried to search for any living lifeforms nearby.


    Beeping noise appeared as the screen showed her something unbelievable. The screen changed into a map of 360 degrees and a small orb kept flashing on the screen, right where the mech was.


    "Above!?" She quickly raised the missile compartment on the left shoulder and shot.


    Gunshots rang in the air as XB11 aimed a rifle gun towards the incoming missiles. Avoiding the burst, this time XB11 shot a laser beam that was as thick as an ordinary man''s thigh.


    Transparent energy shield withered the mech from XB11''s attack. Gritting her teeth, she raised both of the arms and pointed the metal claws of both hands.


    "Die, You defec-!"


    Before she could finish her sentence, both of the legs were sliced clean as someone broke the barrier when it was weakened. Flicking his wrist, he stabbed towards the mech as four sword''s phantom struck at the same time with the real sword, dealing heavy damage right where every joint was.


    "Bastard¡­" Snapped, she was about to retaliate as she pulled together both the control sticks of her mech. Realizing that the thing won''t budge no matter how strong she pulled, she tried to type right at two keyboards of her sides as she said, "If I lose on this round, you won''t be left unscathed either!"


    *BRAAAKK*


    Sound of steel being ripped apart was heard and she began to tremble slightly. Zuyuan slashed right at the entrance of the mech''s cockpit and said, "it''s your loss... "


    Without waiting for a reply, he beheaded the girl immediately as the system''s notification emerged.


    [You have won the challenge!]


    The atmosphere was filled with silence as the audience began to stare at Zuyuan in different gazes. Some were in awe, some were speechless and shocked, while others scorned and hated him at the same time.


    "Aghh! That asshole has yet to die! I spent a fortune to bet Valkyrie would win!"


    "Same! What the hell was that anyway!? Did he cheat?? Valkyrie was one of the best combatants in sector 23!"


    "No, didn''t you see that? He used the chance when the barrier was weakened to attack with his strongest skill!"


    "That should be impossible for a newcomer!"


    Similar arguments and complaints come out one after the other. In no time, the murmuring began to get worse as some even accused Zuyuan how shameless he was to cheat.


    "..."


    Trying to not mind what others said, Zuyuan stood as he closed his eyes and meditated on the ground. Breathing in and out in a rhythmic manner, he tried to absorb any Qigong energy in the air, no matter how thin they were.


    [Another challenger has appeared! The battle would begin in 10 seconds!]


    Particles of light began to gather ten meters away from him as they swirled in place. Then, they gathered together to form a man''s shape as the notification started to ring out again.


    [The battle would begin in five.. four... ]


    XB11 descended as it moved its gaze towards Zuyuan quietly. Waving his hand in the air, XB11''s figure shone with a flash and disappeared immediately.


    [Two¡­ one¡­.]


    A man with an auburn ponytail and porcelain mask emerged with a spear in his hand. His stature was average, with the height of 168cm and a body''s figure that was more on the lean side.


    [Battle.. Begin!]


    The man smiled as the wind flapped the edge of his golden overcoat. Pointing his spear to Zuyuan, he said in a loud voice, "Zhu Rurong! May we have a fully satisfying battle to the death!"


    Eyes widened in surprise, Zuyuan asked in amusement, "Shouting your identity loudly?"


    Shaking his head, Rurong said, "Warrior won''t bother with such trivial matters." twirling his spear in full circle before making it straight, he continued, "Although you may have not seen my face, you might at least know the name of the man who would defeat you."


    "We will see about that." the corner of his lips curled up as Zuyuan readying his stance.


    "So it be." Rurong laughed. And within fifty millisecond, his spearhead had punctured Zuyuan''s lungs before he could react.


    "What-"

 22 Chapter 21

    "Gahk!" Spitting out blood, Zuyuan tried to register what just happened before his stomach got kicked while his opponent pulled out the weapon smoothly.


    "Kuh!" Gritting his teeth, he tried to stabilize his stance from the impact. But trying to not give any breathing room for him, Rurong had already in the middle of sending out another stab of his spear. Aiming towards one of Zuyuan''s feet.


    Seeing the ongoing strike, he tilted his body to the side slightly while using the back of his blade to party the spearhead and averted it. Although successful, Rurong skillfully withdrew his spear in a heartbeat and sent another attack on Zuyuan''s head.


    ''Shit-'' Not hesitating anymore, Zuyuan shouted in his mind ''Phantom''s Sword!''


    In no time, four transparent-like doppelgangers materialized beside Zuyuan, two in his right and two in his left. One of the left side quickly blocked the incoming assault as the rest soon followed with their own attacks.


    "Oh? Interesting skill you had there." Whistling playfully, Rurong parried three strikes at the same time with his spear. His spear deflected each strike in extreme precision as it moved so fast it created after-images one after another.


    "Gahk! Guhk!" Coughing up more blood as he clutched into his chest, Zuyuan''s vision began to blur. Strength leaving his body in minutes as his blood flowed down incessantly. Not to mention, the use of Phantom''s Sword ultimate technique formed a heavy burden on his Qigong reverse.


    ''No good¡­'' Waving his hand, he summoned XB11 immediately as he tried to stay away from Rurong. The guy was laughing like a maniac as he dealt with four phantoms at the same time. His movements fended the flurry of attacks in ease as he tried to gather his momentum to counter attack in a powerful hit.


    XB11 saw its master condition and immediately started to take out its weapon and ready to ambush Rurong while he was off guard. Pointing the rifle''s gun muzzle, XB11 began shooting at Rurong as it saw Rurong successfully threaded between barrage of strikes and destroyed one of the doppelgangers.


    "Now we have a cyborg too in the house!" Said Rurong as he laughed.


    "Go for it Rurong!"


    "Kill the newbie!"


    "Let him taste the power of the crimson meteorite!"


    "Rurong, I love you!"


    Cheers from males and females in the audience alike sounded In a heated manner. Almost every spectators supported Rurong as they held up their hands high in the sky.


    ''it will end soon¡­'' Zuyuan squinted his eyes as he saw the rest of the phantoms. Noticing Zuyuan''s pale face, Rurong smirked and said loudly, "At your limit?" he evaded another bullet sent by XB11 as his spearhead began to glow in crimson light.


    In a quick sweeping motion, he sliced through one of the phantoms and used the rest of the force to lift him up as his spear stabbed deep into the ground. He dodged another strike midair while a trail of flames enveloped his spear and propelled him.


    Landing gracefully right five meters away from Zuyuan, Rurong smiled and said, "Why don''t you fight me as a proper warrior, eh?"


    Pointing the spear at Zuyuan, a column of flames was ejected and it flew straight towards him. Stepping away, Zuyuan quickly used Ghost Walk technique as he created another distance between both of them.


    "XB11!" Zuyuan shouted with urgency and panic in his tone.


    Understanding the signal, XB11 pointed both of its arms as it said, "Full charge, activate."


    Both of its arms released two beams of light at the same time as both of it was swirling together and sailed towards Rurong. The beam of light traveled the space with the speed of 290km/h and quickly closed the distance as it would hit its target in another two seconds.


    "Not bad!" laughed Rurong as he rushed towards the incoming beam. Gripping his spear with both hands, he stabbed to the attack as flames covered his whole body. In a glance, his charge resembled a meteorite coming from the sky with unstoppable momentum.


    The air erupted as two energies clashed with each other. The earth shook as both of them tried to fight for dominance against one another. The spectators started to panic as the sound wave alone knocked down most of them and the one that was too close with the collision had their ears bursted.


    "Hahahahaha!" Smiling and laughing, Rurong had a crazed expression on his face as he said, "Give me your best, metal can!"


    *BOOOMM!*


    Finally, after twenty seconds long, the clash exploded as the air pressure alone blew off Rurong fifty meters away from where he once stood. Rolling on the ground a few turns, he raised his body while gripping his spear tight in his right hand. From the left shoulder below, blood flowing down as he lost his arm. In front of him, a big crater appeared with a width of twenty five meters and depth of seven meters.


    Grinning from ear to ear, he stared at Zuyuan in the distance with burning desire, "Nice mercenary you have there."


    Murmurs spreaded on the audience seats as people discussed with unbelievable tone.


    "His mercenary could withstand Rurong skill¡­"


    "His mercenary is as strong as a strong Missionary."


    "Who''s that guy...."


    "Ughk!" Dropping to his knees, Zuyuan feels his entire body become numb as his vision darken. The last sight he saw Rurong''s smile ceased a little as he looked down on him.


    "It''s my loss."


    Rurong''s voice sounded inside his mind as the last thing he saw, Rurong''s body dispersed into small orbs of light and clamorous of the audience seats.


    ****


    "He''s interesting, isn''t he?"


    Sipping his tea on his desk, Astar smiled gently at the translucent sphere floating in front of him. The sphere projected a man''s face with an auburn ponytail that raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Did the Administrator have a feeling at this particular missionary?"


    "Define this ''feeling''." closing his eyelids slowly, Astar leaned his back on his chair.


    "Romantic feelings? Heh." Chuckled Rurong as he continued, "Worry not, warriors could love whoever they want, no matter the gender or the social status."


    Staring at Rurong quietly, Astar still smiled in response as silence permeated the area.


    Coughing for a few seconds, Rurong asked in a curious tone, "But why would an Administrator want to know the maximum capability of one single missionary? What''s so special about him?"


    Pulling out a card from his desk, Astar replied in a mysterious tone,


    "Just a prank of mine."

 23 Chapter 22

    "Elise."


    An Elf girl turned her head to the side as she saw a youthful, handsome human with a muscular figure walking towards her. Raising her right eyebrow, she asked impatiently, "What is it again this time?"


    Ignoring Elise''s rude tone, the young man said, "Hey, you were in the latest batch of the newcomers, right? Did you know, one of the people that was beside you back then had become famous!"


    "Oh?" Answering in a disinterested voice, Elise continued after a second, "And?"


    "He had become the dark horse of this year''s Hall of Fame!" Said the young man in an excited manner.


    "Oh, you and your gambling habit." She glanced at the man once more and said, "Isn''t it better for you to train more in Temple of Trials, Shuki."


    Shaking his head, Shuki said, "Although I did participate in the betting game, it''s always useful to see your potential enemies'' skills."


    Rolling her eyes, Elise retorted, "You just bored."


    "You got me." Laughed Shuki as he lightly patted Elise''s back. Moving his attention to the surrounding antiques, Shuki asked, "What are you looking for in this place anyways? If you want to look for something specific, why not go to the Terminal? There''s an interface system that connects to all stuff that is being auctioned right now."


    "The real treasure is always hidden beneath the rubble, you know." Winked at Shuki, Elise continued to look around the display glass in the store. Sighing at the response, Shuki moved his gaze towards the cashier where there was a black skeleton with a ruby in its forehead.


    "Even if you say so... Looking at that skeleton clerk, I really doubt there''s something good in here, unless a souvenir." Mumbled Shuki as he walked to the weapon section. Rows of sword, axe, mace, and more lay inside the showcase. One of the axes with bone ornaments had caught Shuki''s attention as he murmured, "Oh, this one was from the Orc civilizations.. Ancient one to boot?"


    "This is it!"


    Elise''s sudden exclamation surprised Shuki as he quickly turned away from the cabinet and went to his companion, "What''s wrong? What do you mean by this is it?"


    Opening the glass case, she took an old parchment that was grey in color. It looks as if it was made of ashes that was sewed together. But ignoring its fragile form, Elise said, "Bless her name, Queen of all nature. With this, I can guarantee it..."


    "Guarantee what?" Asked Shuki as he observed the parchment with interest.


    Smiling at Shuki as she turned her head towards him, she said mischievously,


    "To aim for the legend."


    ****


    "We lost."


    Whispered Zuyuan as he sat with his head covered on his hands. Frustration overwhelmed him as he tried to shake away the feelings.


    ''Losing is normal¡­ but this is a different matter completely.''


    Yes, what had been bothering him was not the loss itself, nor because he had dropped in rank after his unstoppable winning streak. No, it was something else.


    ''Strong¡­''


    Too strong, he couldn''t even react until the enemy had almost killed him. If it weren''t for the fact that you couldn''t kill your opponent in the Hall of Fame and when you were leaving the arena, all your wounds would disappear, then he would have been dead by now.


    ''He fended off the ultimate move of Phantom''s Sword easily¡­''


    Although the phantoms created by the move were not able to use any martial arts, each of them still had his swordsmanship, all of his body constitutions, and battle instincts. And yet, his foe was able to even deal with them at the same time along with XB11''s barrage of guns.


    ''Are you saying that four of me are not even his match..?''


    Letting go of his face, his hands now clenched as he scowled at the idea.


    "Master, the opponent was too powerful for us. He''s the person that holds the highest rank in our sector. It should be impossible for us to meet him so soon when we were nowhere near his rank."


    Moving his gaze to XB11 who bowed slightly at him, Zuyuan sighed from the poor attempt of consolation. Raising his body from the white bench of the waiting room, he said, "I''m alright. It was a shame that I was lost when I was about to reach top fifteen in rank. It was weird too for the Champion to be paired with someone that''s still rank 17."


    "Yes, Master." Agreeing with Zuyuan, XB11 said, "We could grow stronger and more, master. One day, master would be able to defeat him with ease."


    Shaking his head, he said with a smile, "Let''s go and make some preparation. It''s time."


    Nodding at what he said, XB11 followed behind Zuyuan as he walked towards the door, "It''s tomorrow, isn''t it?"


    "Yes, master. The time was up and it would be tomorrow for us to depart."


    "To the new world." Chuckled Zuyuan as he put his hand on the white door. In the next second, a notification rings out inside his mind.


    [Would you like to leave the Hall of Fame, Missionary?]


    "Yes." Zuyuan answered right away as if he had expected what the notification was about.


    XB11''s body shone in a flash as it disappeared shortly. But instead of the normal procedure where he would be transported right away, another notification rings inside his mind.


    [Commencing the-.... Bzzt-]


    [Unexpected order had arrived, cancelling the current route.]


    [New route had been issued.]


    Eyes widened at the abrupt event, he murmured, "The hell?"


    [Higher authority level seeks for the permission of the content transportation.]


    [Permission granted.]


    His body started to shine as the familiar feeling of going inside the space rift had emerged.


    "Huh??"

 24 Chapter 23

    "You look surprised."


    Astar chuckled behind his desk as he observed Zuyuan''s expression.


    "Administrator¡­" Zuyuan squinted at the man he saw back when he finished his trial.


    "Shouldn''t you call me Sir?" Astar asked, leaning his head on his hand.


    Remembering how high and important the position of Administrators were, Zuyuan bowed and said, "I apologize, Sir."


    Astar smiled at Zuyuan while emanating a mysterious feeling, his finger tapping at his desk much to his amusement. Waiting patiently for the Administrator to say the purpose of calling him here, Zuyuan stood straight as he calmly paid attention to the man in front of him. His suit attire was tidy, with his violet hair trimmed behind and his youthful face gave him a scholarly image. He wore glasses that were absent in their first meeting. The glasses frame was tinted in gold and it was glistened slightly from the sunray that came out from the window behind him.


    "Tomorrow will be your first mission world, won''t it?" Asked Astar as the corner of his lips curled up ever so slightly.


    "Yes." Pausing for a second to contemplate, he furrowed his eyebrows and asked, "What do you need of me, Sir Administrator?"


    "Hmm¡­" Stopping his tap, his hands clasped in front as he said, "Before that, tell me your experience so far in the Sanctuary, Zuyuan."


    ''Again¡­ that tone, why did he sound as if he was familiar with me..'' Thinking silently, Zuyuan answered right away, "The facilities were great. With teleportation devices all around the place the Missionaries will be able to save time from walking."


    "Is that all?" Taking the small cup on the table, Astar lightly sipped the coffee while his gaze still fixed upon Zuyuan''s figure.


    "..." Responding in silence, Zuyuan stared at the man in front of him carefully, after two breaths, he asked, "May I ask two questions, Sir Administrators?"


    "Rejected." Said Astar simply.


    "...won''t you at least ask what they are?" Said Zuyuan as his lips twitched.


    "I could guess." Tilting his head to the side, he continued, "Wouldn''t you gonna ask what''s the purpose of me calling you here, and... "


    Stretching his arms, he said in a relaxed manner, "Why would a person such as me act like someone who had already known you, no?"


    "That''s right¡­" his face warped in wariness, he asked slowly, "Who are you?"


    "One of the Administrators." Answered Astar playfully.


    "...." frowning, Zuyuan was about to pursue more. Raising his hand, Astar pulled a card from his chest pocket and placed it in front, "I will answer one of your questions. I called you here for this card."


    "This card?" Looking at the card with curiosity, he was about to reach out his hand but the card changed into a spark of light and flew towards Zuyuan''s glabella.


    [You have acquired a Guide of Nurth!]


    "What''s this.." Holding his forehead in panic, Zuyuan watched each move of Astar in a vigilant manner.


    "A gift." Chuckled from his reaction, Astar sipped the coffee once more and continued, "Let say this is our meeting gift. Definitely would be useful for you in the future."


    Stepping back, Zuyuan carefully scanned the man in front of him. All of this just doesn''t feel right for him, and he hates to feel this kind of feeling. The feeling of dancing someone else''s palm. His right hand itches to grab his sword that lay inside his space storage, "I am just a nobody to you, why would you even bother to give me a gift?"


    "Because I want to." laughed Astar as he said cheerfully, "It sure is nice to say such irresponsible words like this once in a while huh."


    "Well¡­" Ceasing his laughs but still maintaining his smile, Astar said, "Now that I''m done with you, begone."


    Gritting his teeth from the haughty attitude, Zuyuan was about to retort. But before he could do that, Astar flicked his fingers and a notification ring out inside his mind.


    [A new route has been issued.]


    [Warning: A sudden transportation issue has been issued, please be ready.]


    [Transporting immediately¡­ Commencing the command.]


    "You¡­" Right when he was about to curse him, his body was pulled by unknown force as it disappeared into thin air.


    The office room now back again shrouded in silence, but a particular man was still smiling as if he couldn''t contain his amusement.


    "Pu-" Holding back no more, Astar laughed heartily as he leaned his back on the chair, "Ahahaha. His reaction is just like what I expected him to be!"


    Giggling, Astar felt his mood become much better than before. But his elated expression faded slowly until it ended up with a poker face. Right three seconds after that, an indigo colored portal formed in front of him. Three men walked out in sync as a chilly atmosphere came from them. They wore black garment with Arabian design, a black Sutra on their head and black cloth covered their face.


    "Oh? How I may be of service, Guardians?" Said Astar with a voice devoid of any emotions.


    Without wasting any time, three of them opened their right hand''s and ignored Astar''s presence. A translucent vermilion colored orb with a diameter of 110 millimeter floated above their hand. The three orbs gave out colorful hues that scanned the entire room, leaving no spot that was not inspected.


    [Suspected case of breaching the rule no. 17, direct interference with the Missionaries.]


    The cold voice of the system sounded everywhere within the room. In another heartbeat, the System ring sounded again.


    [Suspected preparator: The Administrators of ID 354379, Astar Rezkat Governberg.]


    [Immediate capture is strongly suggested.]


    Whispering behind his breath, Astar said, "Still as rigid as ever, eh?"


    In just fifteen millisecond, three of them already surrounded Astar as one in the middle said, "?????, ??? ??? ????? ?????? (Astar, you are under arrest.)"


    Shrugging his shoulders, Astar said while still maintaining his monotone voice.


    "So be it."

 25 Chapter 24

    "...And the verdict shall be to pass your original post back to you."


    A man''s voice came out from the holographic screen that was projected through an iron plate on his desk. Then another voice followed, a woman''s this time, "Another deduction upon your overall score, we are disappointed, Ryuhei."


    "Do not repeat your mistakes."


    "This had been tolerated enough."


    "We are not Saint, remember our purpose."


    Echoes of many kinds of sounds were said. Nodding his head, he said, "I would reflect on myself and become better, Councilors."


    The holographic screen became silent in a few seconds. When he always started to feel uneasy, the man''s voice from before sounded, "You are under our radar now, Ryuhei. We won''t tolerate any more failures coming from you."


    Slumping his shoulders slightly, Ryuhei said, "Understood."


    Shortly, the screen disappeared as silence permeated the area. In another second, he slammed his fist on the wooden table while he gritted his teeth, "Bastard! Talk about a diligent Administrator, what a loaf of bullsh*t! Showed up out of nowhere and asked me for my work just to mess it up¡­ I''ll f*cking kill him!"


    "Do not get too worked up, or you will have a stroke, you know."


    A giggling voice that''s like a melodious, ringing bell sounded in front of him. Looking at the beauty with long curly blonde hair that was crossing her arms and legs, he uttered her name slowly, "Angela¡­"


    Shaking his head, he continued, "Your friend just brought me trouble, woman."


    "Did he?" After Ryuhei mentioned Astar, Angela mused, "It''s so unlike him. I don''t know what''s on his mind lately."


    Rolling his eyes, Ryuhei said in frustration, "Why would an Administrator help a newbie? It''s one thing if it''s a few top ranking Missionaries. But we are talking about a complete newbie who yet tasted his first world! And doing it openly by inviting him to his office room with the System''s teleportation spell? God, this is so dumb!"


    "That''s true¡­ He''s the kind of person who won''t just go willingly under a trial¡­" Murmured Angela. Glancing towards Ryuhei, she said, "Isn''t it time for you to open the mission''s world portal?"


    Twitching his short but pointed ears, the corner of his lips curled down as he said, "That''s right.. It''s time for that Astar''s favourite newbie to expect his first world too."


    Clicking his tongue, he waved his hand in the air and two holographic keyboards appeared on his desk, projected from the same iron plate. Raising his eyebrows towards Angela, he asked in curiosity, "Why are you still sitting leisurely in here? Don''t you have your own sector to monitor?"


    Shrugging her shoulders, she winked her right eye and said seductively, "A woman need some more rest too, you know~"


    ****


    [Attention to the Missionary. Your next mission world would be open in 10 minutes. Please proceed to the Sanctuary plaza urgently.]


    Sighing as he walked, Zuyuan wished there was a setting to turn off the System''s notification.


    ''It has been ringing for a few times already¡­''


    It started two hours ago when he was in his room, meditating. Then, the System began to notify him once every 30 minutes.


    Looking around, he saw that the stalls on the street were bustling more than usual. Behind him, XB11 followed as it suddenly asked, "Shall we buy some potions, Master? It''s never hurt to always be prepared."


    "True." Nodding, Zuyuan approached one of the nearby stalls with rows of alchemy bottles in front of it. Looking at the owner, the merchant was a humanoid, with the head of a spider and eight arms. Rubbing two of his arms, he said, "Oh, welcome to my humble stall. What can I do for you?"


    "You are not a homunculus or undead?" Piqued Zuyuan.


    "Of course not, isn''t it obvious?" Laughed the merchant as he said, "I''m a Missionary, just like you. Don''t you know, Missionaries can open stalls and sell the goods they have obtained from the missions?"


    "That''s interesting." Said Zuyuan as he put his finger on his chin while staring back at the alchemy bottles filled with many colorful liquids, "Do you perhaps have healing potions or medicine?"


    "Certainly." Taking two bottles from the row that was filled with green liquid, the merchant informed, "This small one would be able to heal 5 points of health every second and would last for 10 seconds. While this big one is able to heal 10 points of health and also would last for 10 seconds."


    "Oh, what is the price for each of them?" Asked Zuyuan.


    "That would be 200 death points for the small one and 500 death points for the big one."


    Smiling wryly, Zuyuan watched the option for his points and it only said 1000. After contemplating for a while, he sighed, "Fine.. I will buy two of the small ones and one of the big one."


    "Much appreciated, customer." Said the merchant as a low noise of ''tktktktk'' came out from his mouth.


    Both of them reached out their hands and crossed their DSM, both of them successfully completed the transaction as the potions automatically went into Zuyuan''s personal storage.


    "Do you need a bag, Customer? After all, our personal storage won''t work outside the Sanctuary." said the merchant as he took out a green satchel.


    "How much is that¡­"


    Heading that same ''tktktktk'' noise again, the merchant rubbed his arms, "Of course, it would be yours for 100 death points."


    "Too much, it''s just a bag and nothing too useful, 40 death points." argued Zuyuan while shaking his head


    "That is too forced, isn''t it? 95 death points."


    "Not really, I think it''s already a normal price for a satchel, 45 death points."


    Shaking his head, the merchant sighed, "80 death points, I won''t go lower than this."


    Nodding, they both exchanged their DSM once more. Pulling his newly bought potions into the bag, some commotion could be heard as twenty or more people began to gather at the center of the plaza.


    "I think it''s better for you to hurry, it will open soon." Putting his hand upon his chest, the merchant said, "May God of Void and Shadow, Alactrus be with you."


    "Thank you." Moving his gaze towards the silent XB11 who had been silently watching the conversation from the beginning, Zuyuan smiled and walked towards the crowd as well, "Let''s go. We have a job to do."


    Nodding its head, XB11 followed, "Ready anytime, Master."


    [Time to open up the portal. All Missionaries that would have their mission this week were advised to be within the portal''s range.]


    [Your name was registered as you are in the portal''s range.]


    [Begin the countdown in 10...9...8..7..]


    Right away, more than twenty azure beams of light came down from the sky and cleaved a few clouds. Each beam was blinding and it covered each person that was in the plaza center.


    "I''ll wait for you on the other side, Master."


    The only one who wasn''t wrapped around the light, XB11, dispersed into small orbs as it lay dormant in Zuyuan''s personal storage. Waiting to be summoned later, using the power of their soul link.


    [5...4..3..]


    "See you there." Muttered Zuyuan as the light shines brighter every second and his body feels the familiar feeling of space''s rift.


    [2...1¡­ Transportation begins.]


    [We wished for your successful journey, Missionary.]

 26 Chapter 25

    *Raaaggghhh*


    The howling of a beast echoed from afar as Zuyuan found himself in the middle of a jungle.


    [Transportation successful.]


    The System''s voice rang inside his head as he moved his gaze towards his surroundings. There were trees that were as high as skyscrapers building, with the smallest of them at least thirty meters tall and some more than that. Their leaves were blue in color, and their branches were thicker than two trunks of ordinary trees. Looking up, flocks of weird birds perched on top. Each of them had a body of a small girl, around eight years old, feet of eagles, and a pair of wings instead of arms.


    ''Wait... Are they...''


    He was too far to see it closely or even see their faces, but guiding his Qigong into his retinas, he was able to make out their figures more.


    ''Yep.. They are naked..''


    The bird-like little girls had nothing to cover their body as they chatted and giggled together.


    [Main Mission has appeared!]


    [Main Mission (Part I) : You are in the world of Ragnar, the dwelling of Orcs, Goblins, and other tribal races. Your mission is to go to any goblins'' settlement and talk with the chief.


    Reward: a small energy potion.


    Your time limit is 24 hours.


    Warning: if unable to finish the quest in time, the Missionary will be subjected to punishment by death.]


    ''There it is¡­ the main mission.''


    Putting his finger on his chin, he opened the Traits list and saw what he had expected.


    ''It''s gone.''


    The Objective Sense skill he had acquired in the trial world disappeared. With no skills to aid him, he has to use his old method.


    ''Let''s mark the place and-''


    His train of thought was interrupted as he sensed a few murderous intent honing in on him from a few feet away. With quick reflexes, he dodged a spinning axe that flew towards him.


    "lav miukukun! (It missed!)"


    Immediately, green-skinned humanoids came dashing out from the bushes. Each of them held an axe in both of their hands, a necklace of teeth in their neck, and wore only pants made of animal hide.


    "Ambush?" Furrowing his eyebrows, he quietly chanted the word equip in his mind as Estgard appeared on his right hand. Two humanoids rushed over to him, simultaneously attacking from both sides to form one attack.


    Using Ghost Walk, Zuyuan back stepped and avoided both strikes. As if dancing, his footwork quickly made a turn as he spun around and utilized the spinning force to slash down one of the enemy''s neck.


    Successfully beheading one, Zuyuan tried to attack another one but the enemy swiftly counter-attacked before he could do so. Tilting his shoulder, his hand smoothly parried the assault and redirected it to empty air. His blade sparked and emitted a metallic sound while he dragged the sword to cut the enemy''s hands.


    "Baukavard! (B*stard!)"


    A shout came out from behind as his instinct kicked in. Side stepping away, he almost had his shoulder hacked into two as one of the green humanoids sneaked upon him using his blind spot. Within a millisecond from the previous attack, another followed too, and Zuyuan was now surrounded by three growling foes standing in their fighting stance.


    Looking at them closely, he noticed that their features were exactly like those so called ''Orcs'' in games. Bald head with tusks in their mouth, along with their muscular, hardened body and height that was twice than an ordinary bodybuilder. Their eyes fixated on him with a wary gaze. Their companions arrived shortly and surrounded him as well. There were ten of them.


    ''This is troublesome¡­''


    Taking a stance of his own, Zuyuan held the sword''s hilt with both hands and raised it right in front of his chest. His knees bent slightly and his feet were spread far apart. Activating the ultimate technique of Ghost Walk, his body was nothing but an afterimage as he moved at the speed of sound. In another heartbeat, three heads flew in the air before his enemies could react.


    Realizing that he already changed position, the orcs shouted in another unrecognizable language to each other as they gathered to attack him at the same time. Turning his gaze to his right, he pulled his sword and stabbed it towards the nearest orc. Blocking the strike by crossing the twin one-handed axes, the orc was pushed back for half a meter.


    " Aavavack avhiuk baukavard! (Attack this b*stard!)"


    Another orc from his side leaped towards him while raising both axes as high as he could. Then, he swung it down at Zuyuan with all his might. Slashing the sword and intended to clash both of their weapons, Zuyuan murmured, "Phantom''s Sword"


    The air around the sword distorted as cleanly cleaved both of the axes, the sword didn''t stop and went towards the orc''s head. In the next moment, brain matters and blood splattered on the ground as Zuyuan immediately attacked another orc.


    The orc tried to dodge by tilting his body to the side, but unexpectedly, another two more swords phantoms materialized and stabbed him right on his chest and on his waist.


    "Rukhra!" Calling out the name of the newly dead orc, the orc with a beard gritted his teeth and stared at Zuyuan with eyes as if he wanted to swallow him whole, "Lat liwo paausan for killaumn mausan broavher! (You will pay for killing my brother!)"


    Not waiting anymore for the orc to ramble on, he dashed at the enraged orc, "The hell you are talking about."


    "Graaahhhh." Yelling loudly, he rushed to Zuyuan while swinging both of his axes horizontally.


    Jumping high to avoid the charge, his body spinning in midair while his sword sliced the orc''s head.


    Gracefully landed on the ground, he observed the remaining orcs that were not even half of their original numbers.


    "Who''s next?"

 27 Chapter 26

    Looking at each other, the rest of the orcs turned their body and ran.


    "Eh?"


    Watching the unexpected scene, Zuyuan froze in a second before furrowing his eyebrows. "None of you will escape."


    As he was about to give chase, a rock flew towards him at an unprecedented speed. Retinas constricting a little, he forced his feet to take a step back as the rock grazed his cheek and made it bleed. Moving his gaze to track the trajectory, he saw a faint figure hundreds of meters away. The figure hid half of their body in the tree and wore an overcoat hood, but he could still see the green skin and a slingshot in their right hand.


    As he contemplated if he should attack the figure, it quickly scurried away.


    "Wait!" Shouting, he took a few steps to pursue, but then realized something. Stopping in his track, he turned his head to where the orc warriors ran to and disappeared. Looking at where the other enemy was, he saw no one in there as well.


    Shaking his head, he sighed to himself, "Isn''t this the oldest trick in the book¡­ run and decoy.."


    ''No matter. I should focus on the task in hand.'' Raising his head, he saw the canopy of the trees and squinted his eyes. ''First.. A sense of direction to go.''


    Bending his knees slightly and storing back Estgard, he flowed the Qigong in his foot tendons and jumped. Stepping into the trunk, he kicked it and flew towards another tree''s trunk and kicked it again. In no time, he almost reached one of the tree''s branches.


    *Kriaaahhhkkk*


    A shriek came out from his right as one of the bird-like little girls from before spread both of its claws and pointed it at Zuyuan.


    "Tsk." Clicking his tongue, he stepped into another tree and altered his aim position. Summoning Estgard in his right hand, Zuyuan took a stance as he leaped towards the bird.


    Noticing that the sword had a better range than its claws, it tried to curve its body midair as to avoid Zuyuan''s stab. Flicking his wrist, two phantom swords followed up and pierced the bird right when it turned its body.


    *AaahhhKkk*


    Screaming at the top of its lungs, it fell down to the ground while continuing to shriek in its dying moment.


    Wrinkling his eyebrows, Zuyuan thought nothing of it and kept on climbing. After a few seconds, he arrived at the top. Squinting his eyes to the east, all he could see was a sea of trees. In the north, a gigantic tree that pierced the clouds stood while a lot of flying figures surrounded its branches. In the South, a massive river flowed to the west.


    ''Should I check out that big tree?'' Putting his finger to his chin, he was about to try to travel there by jumping from tree to tree. But then, more shrieks came from below.


    ''There''s more of those bird-like things?'' Realizing more than dozens of the birds flew at him, he gripped the Estgard sword once more and took a stance. His feet wide apart as his knees slightly bent. Sword pointed downwards over the arm held the end of the hilt while crossed over the other hand that held the top of the hilt. The hilt was raised past the head as the blade was nearly parallel to the shoulders but with a downward tip.


    The face of every bird seemed like innocent girls back when he saw them giggling together. But this time, their visage was hideous with rows of fangs from their outstretched mouth. Their eyes changed into a slit, with their faces showing an angry expression.


    Leaping into their midst, Zuyuan grabbed hold onto one of the branches and said, "Phantom''s Sword."


    Four transparent doppelgangers materialized on both of his sides. As if connected with his mind, the doppelgangers acted immediately. They jumped and started to attack the birds. Their form moved at an unnatural speed while each of them slashed the enemies one by one.


    *Aaarrrhkkk!!*


    Scattering, the rest of them figured it was best to attack Zuyuan directly. Some tried to buy time by flying around each of the doppelgangers.


    "Oh?" Smiling at the unexpected decision of the monsters, Zuyuan said, "But my doppelgangers won''t be that easy you know."


    In the next moment, all the bird-like creatures were slain by the doppelgangers and they moved to chase the rest.


    "Khraaa!" "Raaakhhh!"


    Some tried to escape after watching their brethren fall down in just short moments. Standing on one of the branches, he sighed at the retreating figures of the birds and murmured, "What are they anyways?"


    "Ah right, I could ask XB11 for that. It''s been a while and I haven''t summoned him yet."


    Waving his hand, his doppelgangers dispersed into thin air and lights gathered in front of him to shape a humanoid form. Stepping out from the lights, XB11 said, "XB11 at your service, Master."


    Nodding, Zuyuan said, "I would need your help to scout the area. And ah! Would you tell me what''s that?"


    Following where Zuyuan pointed to, XB11 replied, "Oh, they are harpies, Master. Monsters that inhabited the deep jungle and have a close relationship with the goblins."


    "The goblins?" Piqued, he stared at the direction where the harpies had gone and said, "I guess we know where to go then."


    "Master was looking for the goblins?" Asked XB11 as it noticed its master''s interest.


    "Yep."


    Before they could continue their conversation, the branches where they stepped on were shaking. Alarmed, both of them looked around to seek the reason for the tremor. In the distance, a group of giant elephants walked to the north. Each of their steps trembled the earth as they flocked in groups and moved in unison.


    "They were heading to the giant tree." Smiling, Zuyuan said," Perhaps we have found our mounts for now."

 28 Chapter 27

    "Wake up, Bibi."


    Below the shade of a tree, two goblins could be seen. They had physiques of an 8 years old kid, a bald head, and nose and ears that were much longer and pointed than ordinary human kids. The one with the longest ears shook another that was sleeping peacefully.


    "Oiiiii."


    Shaking his counterpart, the goblin became annoyed at his friend''s snore that got louder and the relaxed figure of him laying in all fours in the grass. Picking up a nearby stick, he swung at his friend''s head, "I say wake up already!"


    "Ughyaaa!"


    Jolted awake from the pain in his forehead, the goblin clutched his head as his eyes became teary, "What are you doing, Ukpyo!"


    "That''s what I should say!" said Ukpyo as he stepped forward to continue hitting his friend.


    "The hell?!" raising his body immediately, Bibi started to run as he shouted, "Idiot Ukpyo!"


    "You are the idiot one!" Chasing him from behind, Ukpyo continued, "The sun is already high in the sky, it''s time to forage, dumbass!"


    "No no no, don''t wanttt!" replied Bibi as he was still running away.


    "Kid! Dumbass!" said Ukpyo as he picked up some pebbles in his run and threw it to Bibi.


    "Woah!" Dodging the pebbles as he ran, Bibi said, "Murderer!"


    "You!"


    "Enough of this." hands akimbo, a hobgoblin with stature like a 16 years old looked at the two goblins disapprovingly, "Don''t run around all over the place. This is no joke. We are at war here, the enemy could-"


    A clear ringing bell echoed through the area as a loud scream accompanied it, "Enemy attacked!"


    Distant booming explosions sounded with the goblins and hobgoblins alike quickly running into their huts and preparing to take weapons. The village was like an ant nest being disturbed where everyone was going around disorderly.


    Bibi and Ukpyo stood with a stunned expression. Slowly, both of them turned their gaze towards the hobgoblin. The corner of his lip twitched as he said,


    "Talking about the devil¡­"


    ****


    "Hmm¡­"


    Sitting in lotus position, Zuyuan scratched his hair and sighed, "Oh well¡­ might as well use it anyway."


    The scroll in his hand began to shine in golden lights and scattered into the air. Then, a notification from the system rang inside his mind.


    [Scroll of advancement trait used. Which trait would you want to upgrade, Missionary?]


    "Path of the banshee, Third layer."


    [Accepted. Commencing the command... ]


    The same feeling from before when he had tried the scroll appeared. Rhythmed his breathing as he waited, soon the feeling slipped away and the notification rang once more.


    [The upgrade was successful. User mastery upon Path of the Banshee, third layer has been leveled up into beginner.]


    [Congratulations! You have acquired a new move from the Path of the Banshee, third layer.]


    Standing up as he stretched his body, Zuyuan looked around while yawning. His butts feel a little numb from sitting for five hours. Although this would disappear immediately if he just flowed the Qigong into it.


    "Master."


    XB11 came down from the sky as it reported, "I had found a horde of orcs that was heading to a certain village. The village looked shabby and crude while surrounded by makeshift wooden fences."


    "Oh? Is it a human village?" asked Zuyuan as he rotated his left arm and held his left shoulder.


    "Negative, it was filled with goblins and hobgoblins, Master." answered XB11.


    "Ah, then what are we waiting for? Bring me there." jumping down from the giant elephant he sat all this time, Zuyuan continued, "Lead the way."


    Nodding, XB11 started to fly low into the direction of northeast. Following behind him was Zuyuan who wasn''t fazed by the XB11 speed of 80km/hour. Making a huge leap, he started to jump from trunk to trunk and then went to the branches and continued.


    Glanced behind at its master that followed it by jumping branches to branches, XB11 asked, "Shall we assist the goblins, Master?"


    "We will see."


    In another twelve minutes, Zuyuan was near enough to see the silhouette of some wooden huts. Focusing Qingong in his eyes, his vision zoomed in on the scene and saw the overall situation on the other side. Curling down his lips, he said, "XB11, you make yourself invisible first. I would like to have a talk with the chief first before deciding on something."


    "As you command." Replied XB11 as its body began to be surrounded by transparent vector patterns. In another second, it''s body blended completely with the surroundings as Zuyuan went towards the village alone.


    Stopping right on the tree that was the nearest from the clearing area, Zuyuan furrowed his eyebrows from watching the battlefield. There were at least fifty of orc warriors he had met before and not to mention the female orcs that were lining up with a slingshot in each of their right hands.


    "Isn''t that mean the one from before was a female orc?" murmured Zuyuan to himself.


    Putting this on the back of his mind, he moved his gaze towards the goblins village. Carefully looking for the chief, he saw a certain hobgoblin that were ordering the goblins and hobgoblins near him. Holding a monk staff in his left hand, he was accompanied by a few hobgoblins wearing steel plate armor and one handed sword in their waist. Right behind him was a small figure in black overcoat and held a small staff with a goat skull on top of it.


    "That must be the one¡­"


    Smiling slightly, Zuyuan took a deep breath as he closed his eyes. After two seconds, he opened his eyes and bent his knees as low as he could. On the next moment, he leaped with all the strength he could muster and kicked out the flow of Qigong he just stored in his feet.


    The giant branch where he once stood was broken into pieces as he flew high in the air. Spinning his body as his momentum began to decrease, he kicked out another Qigong in the air and dive straight at the guarded hobgoblin.


    *Boom!*


    The ground right in front of the hobgoblin erupted with dirt as the hobgoblin warriors reacted right away. Drawing all of their swords from the scabbard, they shielded the hobgoblin as their swords pointed at Zuyuan.


    Stepping out from the small crater, Zuyuan smiled and said lightly,


    "Well, the reinforcement had arrived."

 29 Chapter 28

    "Hmm?"


    After waiting for a while, the expected notification from the system didn''t ring. Tilting his head slightly to the side, Zuyuan thought, ''This guy.. Wasn''t he the chief?''


    Carefully observing the hobgoblin in front of him once more, he furrowed his eyebrows. Guards of warriors on his side, along with the seemingly mage behind him, and not to mention his decent clothes rather than rags that the others wore¡­ it was a situation that screamed leader no matter who saw it.


    "Who are you?"


    Moving his gaze towards the leader-like hobgoblin, his eyebrows raised a little at the unexpected question. "Just a random passerby."


    "Careful, Huhe!" One of the hobgoblin warriors stepped forward to shield the hobgoblin in the centre and pointed the tip of his sword at Zuyuan, "It might be an enemy."


    "But.. That''s.." another warrior chimed in and hesitantly said, "A human?"


    "Why would humans be here?" asked another warrior while giving out a suspicious gaze.


    "He came for us."


    This time, an aged voice sounded and the goblin with a black overcoat and staff in his hand walked towards Zuyuan calmly, "Welcome to our world, Missionary."


    "You¡­"


    "I''m the head of this tribe, Hahi." introduced the goblin as he stroked his chin, "You have to put aid as expected."


    "The head.." Furrowing, Zuyuan thought silently, ''Then shouldn''t he be the chief? Why is there still no notification?''


    Puzzled at the situation Zuyuan tried to probe into it by asking the goblin named Hahi, "You are the chief right?"


    "The chief?" eyes widened, the old goblin shook his head and replied, "My status is far from chief, Missionary."


    "What do you mean?"


    Tilting his head slightly in a confused manner, Hahi the goblin then revealed an enlightened expression and smiled, "Would this chief you mean was a leader of a tribe, Missionary?"


    "Yes, that''s right." Replied Zuyuan immediately.


    Shaking his head once more, Hahi said, "In the goblin''s community, a chief is a person that ruled at least a dozen tribes. While the one that led each tribe in his stead would be called the head of the tribe."


    Furrowing again, Zuyuan mused, "Isn''t that sounds like.."


    Smiling at, Zuyuan, Hahi said, "In human terms, maybe that kind of position would be called a king."


    Still feeling something didn''t add up, Zuyuan was about to ask more. But the hobgoblin called Huhe placed his hand in Hahi''s right shoulder and said in stern voice, "We have no time for chitchat, grandpa. We need you and your magic on the battlefield."


    Sighed as he was reminded by the seriousness of their condition, Hahi turned his gaze towards Zuyuan and said, "We would ask you to lend us your power, Missionary. It would be your duty to help us in this troubled time as per the contract had agreed upon."


    Contemplating for a while, it was true that his mission objective hinted he would have to help the goblins sooner or later by meeting their king. But before his job was officially confirmed, Zuyuan wanted to avoid wasting his energy on something that was not his business. But then, he realized something and asked after hesitated for two seconds, "Would you guide me to where the goblin''s chief would be?"


    "Of course." said Hahi without hesitation as if he was stating a fact.


    "Then, I''ll be your ally." Nodding, Zuyuan continued, "I will take care of the spearhead and open a path for your warrior to attack the slingshot orcs on the back line. It''s better to eliminate the range attacker first."


    Listening to Zuyuan''s suggestion, Huhe nodded back in agreement and was about to express his thanks. But then, a small goblin ran to him and shouted, "Huhe! The enemy had reinforcements! Our brother was overwhelmed on the front line and being butchered!"


    His pupils contracted from hearing the news, he wasted no time and rushed as he shouted, "Y''all, follow me quickly!"


    The group of guards on his side shortly ran beside him obediently, even the old goblin Hahi tried to keep up with them with his small legs.


    Making a serious expression as he thought that the situation was more dire, Zuyuan wasted no time and rushed as well. Utilizing his Ghost Walk, he catched up with the group in no time and even overtook them. Ignoring the few gasps of shock behind him, he charged to where the orcs gathered the most.


    A few glances enhanced Qigong vision, he noticed that another thirty more orcs warriors had entered the fray. Pumping more Qigong in his legs, his speed doubled while his hand outstretched to the ground. With a flash, Estgard appeared on his hand as he leaped towards the nearby three orcs who were busy torturing two goblins on the ground.


    With a slash, he beheaded two orcs that were not fast enough to react. The last orc had a surprise on his face before pulling out his hand axe that was stuck on the goblin''s belly. Without giving any chance for his opponent to retaliate, Zuyuan decisively sliced the orc''s knees. Screaming in pain, the last thing he saw was the back of Estgard''s blade that was glistening from the sunlight as the tip pierced deep right in his throat.


    Pulling out his blade with an emotionless face, he flicked Estgard and let the blood spatter on the ground. Giving a quick glance at two goblins on the ground, his expression became darker as he clicked his tongue. The two goblins were still alive with their chest going up and down. But they had lost both their arms and legs, along with their eyes and both had their stomach ripped open. Making the wound not too big so that they won''t die instantly, but also the orcs pulled out their guts one by one while enjoying the Incomprehensible scream of pain.


    Looking around another few places of the battlefield, the orcs that free enough and wasn''t busy attacking the hobgoblin, went to the weaker opponent such as goblins and torture them to death. Gruesome corpses littered everywhere with goblins was the most common.


    Gritting his teeth, Zuyuan moved his gaze towards the incoming group of orcs that noticed his presence and rushed to him. Staring intently at them with eyes full of killing intent, Zuyuan said slowly.


    "You are all dead meat."

 30 Chapter 29

    "Huu¡­"


    Breathing out slowly, Zuyuan stepped forward and on the next second, his body blurred and disappeared. Another moment, the group of five and behead them.


    A volley of rocks as big as fits flew at him. Moving in unbelievable speed once more, Zuyuan dodged all of them and materialized his phantom dopplegangers. All of them quickly spread out and deal with the orcs rather easily. Although their speed wasn''t enhanced by Ghost Walk nor their swords not as sharp as Estgard that was covered with Phantom''s Sword technique, the increase on Zuyuan''s strength status allowed them to clash head on with the orcs handaxe.


    Moving left and right while parrying two flurry of assaults by two warrior orcs on both sides, Zuyuan filled Estgard sword with more Qigong. As if sentient, Estgard hummed each swing and after a few more blows, Zuyuan found one gap between the attacks and immediately countered. The sword slashed deep into the area between the armpit and made the orc concentration break off from the pain.


    Didn''t willing to waste the chance, he gathered Qigong in his feet and directly kicked the other orc with all his strength. The orc quickly crossed his arms and blocked the strike as expected, but that kick had made the orc bounce back a meter. With just a blink of an eye breathing room, Zuyuan used the short burst speed and swiftly cut the injured orc into two.


    Not stopping on his momentum and changing the sword direction into a stab, he stabbed the last orc right through his heart as he was stunned from his comrade''s death. Breathing in and out, he tried to calm his Qigong''s flow inside his body and catch a breath. Truth to be told, his anger wasn''t because he felt pity for the goblins. The main reason was the way the orcs toyed with the weak reminded him very clearly of his memories when he was still a weak boy that was tortured and verbally abused everyday without even being able to lift a finger for retaliation.


    "Oy. Could you stop that, Mister?"


    As Zuyuan moved his gaze around to look for another orc, a shout that was directed to him sounded from his back. Turning his head, he saw male human with goggles glasses, black leather jacket with flames design all over, coming out from the bushes and staring at him. The man smirked from afar as he pointed the missile launcher on his right shoulder at Zuyuan, "Otherwise, it will look bad on us."


    Shooting the missiles without hesitation, they flew at Zuyuan who had a bewildered face. Soon, he furrowed his eyebrows and moved in a zigzag way to approach the man and avoid the missiles. Apparently, some of them were homing missiles. Zuyuan let those homing missiles get near before he used the short burst movements, dodging them completely.


    "Tsk!" Seeing that his missiles didn''t work, the man shouted, "Big Bro!"


    A rumble sounded below the ground with a small earthquake at the same time. Pupils contracted, Zuyuan stopped on his track and jumped fifteen meters behind. A humanoid giant with height of twenty meters rose up. The giant was made of rock with the eyes only two empty sockets, along rock with shape of nose and lips.


    "Gargantua?" pondered Zuyuan the moment he saw the giant. He remembered he saw one of the Gargantua races back then in the assessment room. Not to mention, on his trip to explore more of the sanctuary, he saw a bustling street full of Gargantua race everywhere.


    "I''m not one of that stupid race!" quickly denied the giant when he heard Zuyuan''s exclamation, "I''ll help you, bro!"


    Pulling his fist as his empty eyes staring at Zuyuan, he prepared to punch Zuyuan with all his strength. Furrowing his eyebrows, Zuyuan definitely didn''t intend to let his enemy do whatever they wanted and charge at them, "Too slow."


    The giant''s lips parted as if he wanted to shout while attacking. But when his fist still on its way to Zuyuan, Zuyuan already crossed their distance and would arrive in front of the giant anytime soon.


    The fist landed on the ground, which Zuyuan easily dodged. But the force behind that punch couldn''t be underestimated at all as it penetrated deep inside the earth and made a tremor on the ground.


    Zuyuan makes use of the giant''s outstretched hand to climb up to the giant''s shoulder. Before he could reach the shoulder area, he had thought the distance already enough and leaped at the giant''s neck.


    His sword began to glow a bright light that covered the sword. The light on the sword''s tip grew longer and longer until it reached four meters. Zuyuan swung his sword right into the giant''s neck. After battling with many kinds of enemies in the Hall of Fame, he created this skill in the middle of the battlefield as he was lacking for medium range attack.


    A head as big as a boulder rolled to the ground. Spinning his body in the air as he descends, he strengthens his body with Qigong and minimizes the impact.


    "Bro!"


    The man with the missile launcher shouted anxiously as he pointed his launcher back at Zuyuan.


    Furrowing, Zuyuan didn''t think he defeated that giant so easily. Taking a stance with his sword at his chest length, while grabbing the hilt with both hands and tilting his body a little to the direction of his last opponent, another voice sounded above him.


    "Don''t pretend to be dead, Zuko."


    A man with a red T-shirt and jeans torn on his knees was floating. As soon as his words ended. The giant that had collapsed to the ground lifelessly rose up with his head regenerated at a visible speed. After his head completely recovered, he said with an unhappy tone, "Enough watching?"


    "Yeah, this guy is strong." said the man as he looked down at Zuyuan, "You are pretty good. I felt like I had seen you somewhere, who are you?"


    Flicking his sword and pointed it to the man, Zuyuan answered curtly, "None of your business."


    "Oh, feisty one, aren''t you?" chuckled the man as he felt superior to Zuyuan. Although Zuyuan sword skill and movement were indeed something to be feared, he noticed a glaring flaw when he observed him silently.


    Zuyuan couldn''t fly.


    Raising both of his hands, every rock, weapon, tree, and more in the radius of fifty meters flew by themselves towards his direction and gathered behind him. They were suspended in the air while the man was still facing Zuyuan with a haughty expression on his face. Slowly, he muttered under his breath.


    "Eat this."

 31 Chapter 30

    More than dozens of weapons, along with trees and big rocks flew at Zuyuan at an unstoppable speed. Pupils constricted, Zuyuan immediately made use of his speed to avoid all the attacks.


    "XB11."


    Muttering slowly, XB11 who had been on standby in the sky quickly understood his master''s intention and shot at the levitating man. The man''s eyes suddenly widened in shock and turned away as fast he could while crossing both of his arms as if he wanted to block something.


    Almost all the bullets were stopped by an invisible force in the air, but one bullet managed to slip inside the force field because he wasn''t fast enough and penetrated his left waist. Face grimaced from the pain, he shouted, "Another enemy, he''s not alone!"


    Shortly, he stretched out his palm to a direction where he felt the bullets came from. Clenching his fist as if grabbing into something, soon, XB11''s invisible mode cancelled out from the telekinetic force; it felt like something had chained it, for it couldn''t move in the slightest.


    While XB11 was still struggling in the air, Zuyuan sent a mental thought to all his doppelgangers to attack the giant named Zuko and the man who had a missile launcher on his hand. Stopping in their tracks to fight against the orcs, they immediately turned their body and dashed off to face their new opponent.


    The man was in the middle of adjusting his aim at the mech armor in the air while it was still struggling to free. As he was about to shoot, Zuyuan already closed in the distance between both of them and was about to slash the man into two.


    Zuko noticed Zuyuan''s motive to sneak attack his companion while he was distracted. Quickly, he punched at where Zuyuan would be if he still continued his advance. Zuyuan''s sense of danger rang out as he halted on his way and leaped behind. The giant''s arm flashed right in front of him the next instant he jumped away as the winds blew when it passed.


    "Tsk!"


    Clicking his tongue, Zuyuan attempted to quickly jump over the arm. But then, in his view the missile launcher target changed to Zuyuan as three missiles flew in his direction.


    Making her of his speed one again, Zuyuan was able to dodged sideways quickly as the missiles exploded where he once stood and the stone arm too. Furrowing his brows, Zuyuan muttered, "Let''s do this then."


    His Qigong that wrapped around the Estgard began to swirl in a strange pattern. Before it seemed like the Qigong was shaped like a sheath, this time it was two streams of threads flowing in two opposite directions at the same time. Swinging his sword to empty air in front of him, an unbearable screeching shriek echoed on the battlefield with him as the center.


    Soon, the man with the missile launcher, the stone giant, the man who flew in the sky felt an insufferable headache assault their mind. Feeling a vengeful spirit had come to claim their life and clutching their sharp, dreadful nails on their head and ears, everyone who happened to be in the twenty meters radius of Zuyuan held their head as they screamed in pain.


    But outside of the twenty meters radius of Zuyuan, the soundwave attack was reduced by half as the other orcs and goblins only felt migraines and nothing more.


    "Psychic abilities!?" said the man with gritted teeth as blood dripped down from his ears. Then, he swung his arm as XB11 flung towards Zuyuan while he flew higher, "Bastard!"


    Leaping sideways to avoid the crash, Zuyuan half bent his knees as he gathered his strength and Qigong at the same time on his legs. Sword steady and aimed at the esper in the sky, he jumped as high and fast as he could. Flew to the air like an arrow unleashed from its bow.


    "Crap-!!"


    Before the man could raise up his force shield, Zuyuan''s blade almost arrived on his chest. Eyes widening from the impending death, in the nick of time, his instinct used the power he had to pull his shirt to his right side. Making the sword''s tip cut through his left shoulder.


    Enraged, the man was about to retaliate before suddenly, Zuyuan swiftly pulled his fist and gathered all his might to punch his foe''s chest.


    "Kah!"


    His punch blew the man away with the man''s chest dented badly as he coughed out mouthfuls of blood, "You!"


    Stretching out his palm at Zuyuan, an invisible force heavily slammed Zuyuan''s stomach, throwing and surprised the latter from the unexpected attack.


    "Russell!"


    The giant rushed at the man as his hand quickly caught the man''s body. Opening his palm to check how the man fared, a blue laser beam shot through his left ankle and blew it up.


    "Kuh!"


    Zuko kneeled down as he turned his head to seek where the attack came from. Fifteen meters away on his left, XB11 stood up from the crater on the ground while his right palm shone with blue light.


    "Retreat.. Take Ray and get the hell out of here!" shouted the man called Russell while he was gasping for air. Looking at Russell and nodding to say he understood, Zuko''s ankle regenerated shortly.


    Standing up with a boulder on his other hand, Zuko dashed towards XB11 and threw the boulder when he crossed half their distance. Destroying the boulder thrown at it, XB11 quickly activated the thrusters on its foot as it was about to counterattack with his laser beams.


    Swiftly picked up his companion called Ray, who was convulsing on the ground from the sound wave attack before, Zuko ignored assault after assaults that tore his back and ran to the forest. He only focused on regeneration to maintain his giant''s form as well as rushing away from the battleground.


    Watching its enemy run away without any intention to chase after them, XB11 only motionlessly floating on the air and stopped its barrage of attacks. Seeing that the opponents had already gone deep into the jungle, XB11 turned its body and flew to where Zuyuan fell down.


    After just one minute, XB11 found Zuyuan sitting on the ground with a pool of blood below him.


    "Master!"

 32 Chapter 31

    "I''m alright."


    Driving his Qigong to close the wound, Zuyuan sighed deeply with a pale complexion.


    ''He''s strong.''


    That last burst of power was unexpected. Honestly, he was caught unguarded when his enemy counterattacked right at the next moment he had stabbed him. On the hindsight of this encounter, he learned that not all the missionaries were on the goblin''s side.


    ''After all, the system did say this world was that of jungle dwellers. Humans aren''t a race that is suitable for that.''


    Contemplating for a while, he glanced downward to look at the area near his right waist. A hole as big as a baby fist appeared with blood flowing non stop. Although he had done his best to use Qigong to accelerate his regeneration, the injury was still too deep.


    "Guard me for a moment, I will need some time to recover.."


    Knowing that the best course of action would be to focus completely on his wound, Zuyuan asked XB11 to protect him as he closed his eyes and started to absorb as much Qigong as possible from the surrounding air. Then, at the same time, he guided those Qigong into a stream that went to his injury.


    As it was about to acknowledge its master''s instruction, its master had already closed his eyes. Nodding silently as to not disturb its master, XB11 came down and readied its assault rifle. Its gaze scanned the surroundings for any sudden assaults.


    "Thaav shara iuk injurun.. (That human is injured..)"


    One of the nearby orcs that had woken up from the screeching hell saw Zuyuan with killing intent flashing in his eyes. He muttered slowly as his body was still wobbly. Furrowing, he tried to steady himself before charging at Zuyuan. But the next moment, a fireball flew right at him and exploded his head before he knew what hit him.


    "Ahi and Oro, go deal with the orcs nearby, I would like to take a moment to talk with the Missionary."


    The head of the goblin tribe, Hahi, walked towards Zuyuan with cold sweat on his back. The sound wave attack from before had made anyone, no matter if it was goblins or orcs suffer, including him.


    "Yes, head!"


    Two hobgoblin warriors from before replied at the same time and ran to the nearby enemies. Furrowing, Hahi mused as his gaze was still fixed on Zuyuan, ''There''s other humans on the other side.. How did the orcs know we would contact the Missionaries to help us?''


    Feeling something strange had happened, Hahi squinted his eyes more as his thoughts wandered around and speculated the possibilities of this impact. As his thought finally landed on Zuyuan''s form, he knitted his eyebrows more.


    The human was a strong helper and was able to fend off the enemies from before. But considering the injuries he had suffered, it would best to think it was a fluke.


    "Stop right there."


    Half shouting to Zuyuan as he couldn''t go any further, Hahi tried to make himself sound worried, "Missionary, you are injured! Let me help you! Our tribe has some herbs that would be able to heal your wound in no time."


    Still closing his eyes, Zuyuan''s body didn''t move a single inch as his mind was too focused with gathering the Qigong from the air. After a few seconds, Zuyuan only let out a sigh full of turbid air and went back to concentrating on his wound.


    XB11 turned its head and saw that its master didn''t even respond to the goblin''s invitation for a while and then said, "Master would like some time to be by himself."


    Seeing that his good gesture was rejected flatly, Hahi clicked his tongue softly as he cursed on his mind, ''Tokhel dhuugaarlaar... (stupid foreigner).''


    As he thought about what he could do to help the missionary quickly and get him to join the battlefield again, Zuyuan opened his eyes and asked, "How far would it be to go to the goblin''s chief?"


    Not liking where the question led to, Hahi still answered the missionary''s query, "It will be two days on foot on the west side of this tribe."


    Nodding to show he understood, Zuyuan tried not to show a cringe expression on his face as he slowly got up. His gaze swept on the surroundings and saw that his battle from before had yet to diminish the orcs morale and they were still pushing forward and killing the goblins. The goblins had a hard time fighting the orcs with their small bodies and had to face one orc with a group of two or three.


    The hobgoblin warriors and their leader, Huhe, were able to stand toe to toe with the orc warriors and even kill some of them with ease. Although it wasn''t a scene of slaughter like what it was when the war started, the goblin side was still at a disadvantage overall.


    The orcs had the numerical advantage over them, as well as better quality of fighters among their ranks. With how it was going, the orcs would soon overwhelm the goblins'' side and burn down their tribe.


    The orcs were rushing through the ranks of the goblins, using their slingshot squad to push back the hobgoblin advance.


    Squinting his eyes after watching the battleground, Zuyuan ordered XB11 with an unpleasant tone, "XB11, take care of the orcs. Devastate them. I would need to talk with Hahi for a while."


    "Acknowledged, master." Gesturing its right fist to its chest, XB11 nodded its head and flew to the orcs that had been slingshotting all this time.


    Once it was at a proper distance to use its rifle, XB11 aimed at the slingshot squad and began firing multiple shots at the female orcs.


    The bullets zoomed through the air with a thundercrack sound and pierced through the skulls of a multitude of orcs, their brain matter splattered over the jungle plants and their bodies quickly fell down lifelessly on the ground.


    Seeing the fallen bodies of their companions, the rest of the female orcs began to shout at each other and pointed their fingers towards XB11 which was flying high in the sky above them. Then, they started to aim at XB11 together and shoot at it. The stones flew across the air quickly towards XB11. But XB11 dodgethe stones easily and shot back at them with bullets.


    Screams of anger and fear arose as the bullets tore their formation apart like a knife cutting through butter. The rain of bullets continued to riddle the orcs'' bodies with holes. Blood splattered everywhere as the dying screams of the slingshot squad went silent after a mere dozen breaths. Some of their body parts were mangled because of the size of the bullets calibre, and the rest of them decorating the grassland part of the jungle.


    Noticing the state of their backline warriors massacred, the orcs warriors on the front line enraged. Their eyes had become bloodshot as they shot daggers with their gaze at XB11''s figure floating in the sky.


    Observing the change of the orc warriors, XB11 floated motionlessly and said,


    "It''s time for a slaughter."

 33 Chapter 32

    Watching XB11 dealing with the orcs easily, Zuyuan turned his head to Hahi with a furrowing expression, "My comrade will deal with the orcs, now shall we talk about who will go with me and guide me to the goblin''s chief?"


    Seeing that the armored humanoid on the sky had decimated a group of orcs quickly, Hahi nodded with satisfaction, "Of course, missionary."


    "My grandson would go with you and guide you personally, missionary. You needn''t worry about it."


    Nodding, Zuyuan glanced back at XB11 and it was still in battle with the orcs. XB11 tore down the orcs'' rank as it flew around and dodged the hand axes the orcs threw. Bullets raining down and dozens of orcs were riddled with holes and serious injuries. Although the orcs'' body was tough and able to withstand a few bullets, the barrage of attacks made it impossible for them to fight back.


    Stream of curses and groaning pain filled the area, with most orcs trying to find some cover. Now that the orcs were being held by XB11 alone, the goblins and hobgoblins retreated back to their village and treated the wounded. Their gazes at XB11 showed fear, wariness, and awe at the same time. But their wary attitude became intensified when some of them looked at Zuyuan and unconsciously took a step back.


    Noticing the behavior of his clansmen to the missionary, Hahi smiled bitterly at Zuyuan and said, "Please excuse their attitude toward you, missionary. Your attack before had made them conflicted to see you as friend or foe. Their minds are still on the edge."


    "It''s alright." raising his eyebrows at the spectacle, Zuyuan waved his hand and replied nonchalantly, "I''m used to this kind of stuff, unfortunately."


    "Oh?" Piqued at the missionary''s last word, Hahi wanted to ask more but stopped himself from doing so, "I will have my grandson to join you shortly. If you are not in a hurry, we could take some time to take a rest and eat together, missionary."


    Shaking his head, Zuyuan rejected politely, "I''m sorry, I''m in a hurry."


    "Alright then." Nodding that it would be unwise to hold the missionary just because he hadn''t prepared him a feast whatsoever, Hahi said shortly, "If you will excuse me."


    Not waiting for Zuyuan to reply, Hahi turned his body and left for the village. Tending to his wound once more with his Qigong, Zuyuan closed his eyes and meditated again.


    -"I''ve completed your order, master."-


    XB11''s voice echoed in his mind as Zuyuan opened his eyes and realized it had been awhile since he started meditating.


    -"Telepathy?"- Zuyuan thought, sending the question to XB11 unconsciously.


    -"Yes, Master."- Replied XB11 as it continued, -"This method would use our soul link and thoughts in tandem together. Although it would be much more complicated to use than just an ordinary talk master."-


    Hahi handed Zuyuan the contents of his satchel as well as the makeshift sleeping bag, "These are for your travels, missionary."


    Zuyuan accepted the goods and placed them inside of his own bag that he had bought prior to arriving at Ragnar, the current world he was in. Gesturing to the hobgoblins in front of him, Zuyuan asked curtly, "Ready?"


    Nodding with a firm gaze to Zuyuan, Huhe said, "Yes, missionary."


    "I''m ready when you ar'' ya prick!" replied the hobgoblin on Huhe''s right side with a large grin splattered on his face.


    Raising his eyes at the unexpected rude comment from the hobgoblin, Hahi on the side almost wanted to keel over and urgently shouted, "You fucking rascal! What did you say! Go fucking apologize!"


    "Eh? Head tis just mi way of speakin''!" The hobgoblin replied while shrugging. "I meant no disrespect of course."


    With his face flushed red as if he almost had a stroke, Hahi walked towards the hobgoblin warrior and smack him on back of his head, "Stupid rascal!"


    Zuyuan waves his hand and says, "It''s alright, let the lad be. Let''s go, I have no time to waste anymore."


    "Aye thanks matey, much appreciated!" The hobgoblin smiled widely, with his blackened teeth.


    At this time, XB11 finally returned to his master''s side, landing a dozen meters away from him with a loud bang from the impact.


    "I''m here, Master. When do we depart?" XB11 spoke whilst standing up and dusting off his hands.


    "Immediately." Zuyuan stated calmly, "We need to get to the chief as quickly as possible, let''s move."


    ******


    Walking inside the jungle with a blue, crystallized compass on her hand, Elise, the elf girl that met with Zuyuan once before, tilting her head in confusion, "Is it not here?"


    She looked around her surroundings and saw that the sky had become darker by the time she noticed it. The atmosphere was silent with no chirps of bugs and animals around, or even the roars of any predators were missing. Furrowing her eyebrows, she chanted a few mystical words under her breath.


    Her eyes glinted with an emerald light for an instant before it disappeared completely, but there''s a greenish hue circling around her irises. Suddenly, her vision changed into a night vision and everything around became much clearer.


    Still unsatisfied with something, she took out a short wand and chanted once more, "???? ??? ????????, ??? ????? ??? ????. (From the darkness, the light was born.)"


    The tip of her wand, which was shaped as an owl with small glistering rubies in place of its eyes. The carved owl began to blink its eyes as it moved like it was alive. The owl chirped twice and a magic circle started to form below Elise''s foot.


    "???? ??? ??? ?????, ??? ???? ???? ?? ???. (From the earth, the tree rose in joy.)"


    She opened her arms wide as her eyes closed slowly. The magic circle under her began to rotate at unbelievable speed. With a solemn tone, she said the last part of her chant as he felt her energy drained quickly.


    "???? ??? ????? ??? ????, ? ????? ????. ???? ?? ???????, ??? ?????? ?? ??? ??????''? ??????! (From the water and dirt, I shall rise. Heed my command, the vessel of the mother''s nature!)"


    *Whoom*


    The magic circle burst like a wheel that was spinning too fast that it could handle it. The eruption creates waves and waves of green light in the shape of a veil, covering the entire area of that jungle in seconds. Although it was so bright and flashy, the light didn''t cause any damage at all and just passed any materials that it touched.


    After a few seconds, the lights were gone and Elise slumped to the ground with a heavy breath. Her forehead was trickling as her face grimaced as if she just drank a dozen of lemons in the last few seconds.


    "It''s not in this part of the jungle¡­"


    Clenching her fist, she punched to the ground in frustration as she cursed loudly,


    "Dammit!"

 34 Chapter 33

    Riding dire wolves, a common monster that was tamed by the goblin''s head for important missions. Huhe, Zuyuan, and one of the hobgoblins, took one wolf each and went on their way to the goblin''s chief.


    On their way, Huhe was sitting quietly in his saddle and didn''t wish to talk much. The only one to keep Zuyuan company would be the rude hobgoblin from before and XB11 that occasionally chimed in from the sky. XB11 has been tasked to fly and scout their way because it has the advantage of higher ground.


    "So.. What''s your name again?" Asked Zuyuan to the hobgoblin who had called him a prick before.


    "I am Lyk, you prick!" The hobgoblin bellowed, "See? It rhymes! Gahahahah!"


    The right corner of Zuyuan''s eyebrows twitched when he saw that this hobgoblin make fun of him, did he somehow upset the hobgoblin or something, "Ah I see¡­ so Lyk, would you tell me what the reason is for the goblins to fight against the orcs?"


    "Mmm¡­ We''ve been at odds for generations, the orc pricks have some kinda vendetta against every past chief. Including the current one." Lyk explained what he knew.


    Furrowing his eyebrows from the explanation, Zuyuan probed for more, "But then, why did you guys ask for help from the Death System this time?"


    "Well, you see that we''re not the only ones who asked for help¡­ So we had no choice other than to ask for the Death System''s help as well." Lyk raised a finger to his nose and poked out some green substance as he explained.


    "Okay.." a little disturbed by the gross action of the hobgoblin, Zuyuan stirred his wolf away from Lyk a little, "How far are we from the chief''s place again?"


    "Approximately by ten turns of an hourglass." replied by Huhe this time, breaking his silent treatment away and turned his head to Zuyuan, "Although Lyk is a capable warrior, but he''s slow in the head."


    Lyk gasped, "Huhe my liege, how dare thee to call mein as slow in thy head?" He attempted to sound noble in nature, yet he completely butchered everything he spoke of.


    Rolling his eyes, Huhe replied curtly, "Oh whatever."


    "You''re no fun¡­" Lyk pouted.


    Somehow, Zuyuan had a feeling that he just watched a drama of a couple like those kdrama he saw on earth, but this time it was two goblins instead.


    -"You know XB11, If I''m not being pressed by missions from the system, we should make some TV dramas instead. Earning death points with a good and healthy way."- Joked Zuyuan as he sent a telepathic message to XB11.


    -"Master, what''s a TV drama?"- asked XB11 innocently.


    -"That thing you just heard below"- explained Zuyuan in a short way.


    -"Apologize, this one did not get it master."-


    -"Never mind¡­"-


    ...


    Time passes by, the wolves tire as they slowly approach their destination.


    The sun had set and night had fallen, they rode for some more hours until they passed a clearing that was perfect for camping. Huhe glanced at the rest of the group and said, "We better rest for now, the night is more dangerous to travel than the day."


    Zuyuan felt a little unconvinced to take a rest, there were still 5 more hours before they would reach their destination. But seeing the exhausted condition of the wolves, Zuyuan shook his head in resignation, "Sure."


    "Do you need me to hunt the nearby lifeforms, master?" offered XB11 as it landed to the ground.


    Nodding, Zuyuan replied, "Yes please. But don''t go too far, and don''t use your gun if possible. We don''t want to alert any unwanted troubles."


    "Acknowledged."


    In another second, XB11 flew back again to the sky and went to the east, where the part of the jungle was a little more dense than the rest.


    Taking out some tools from their bag, Huhe said something to Lyk which the latter grimaced their face and sighed. Without another word, Lyk went to the forest and left both of them in the clearing.


    Zuyuan Raised his eyebrows in curiosity to Huhe, while Huhe only gave a side glance at him before stating, "His turn to get us food and hunt some small games. Next time would be my turn."


    Smiled slightly to show that he understood, Zuyuan took some space in the clearing to mediate. He chose to sit below a rather tall tree with slightly reddish leaves on the branches. He closed his eyes and circulated the Qigong on his body. His wound had healed considerably from before as he was still absorbing the Qigong in the air nonstop to fix the muscle tissues and others while on the road, not slacking in the slightest.


    Although his rate of absorption was not that much as he was half concentrating on it and half pointing his attention towards riding the wolf, conversation, etc, it still helped Zuyuan in suppressing the wound this whole time and sped up his natural regeneration a little bit.


    After some time that felt like just a few blinks of an eye, Zuyuan opened his eyes and saw that there''s already a bonfire in front of him and some skewered meats in it. Noticing that its master was finally awake, XB11 took one of the meat skewers and gave it to Zuyuan, "Master, your dinner."


    "Thanks." Appreciating XB11''s attentiveness to not disturb him in the middle of his meditation, along with hunting for some food, Zuyuan took the stick slowly and bit the meat as soon as it was in front of his mouth.


    "Sleepy already? You already slept in one turn of an hourglass." asked Huhe as he munched his own food while staring at Zuyuan.


    "That long?" mildly surprised from the fact that he had meditated for a while, Zuyuan nodded in answer to Huhe''s question. Soon, the atmosphere was filled with silence and after ten minutes, the rest of them began to bury the bonfire with the dust around and went to sleep.


    Laying on his makeshift sleeping bag which was already prepared by XB11, Zuyuan gazed at the canopy of the trees in contemplation. It has been a while since he lived a new life different from what he had before, but one thing that had followed him in this new life, fighting. He had to fight because he didn''t have that many choices when he was alive. Now he was dead, and he still had to fight again, for he had no choice unless he wanted to die again.


    ''If I die on this time.. Would I have a second chance or would I die permanently?''


    His thoughts wandered as his eyelids started to feel heavy. Although the injury on his stomach feels like an itch that never stops, his mind and body feel exhausted as he begins to relax the moment his gaze falls to XB11 who was standing upright with its gun and guarding all of them for the night.


    ''It''s been a while since I know XB11.. Not that long. But in this new world where I had no one I could trust, XB11 was the only one whom I could depend on with its soul connected with me¡­''


    His consciousness went deeper and deeper into the darkness as Zuyuan fell asleep shortly. In the darkness, he saw a light that shone brightly. Somehow, his legs took a step forward, each step felt lighter when he got nearer to the light. He didn''t question how he could walk in the void or what that light was. His instinct told him to go, and so he went.


    Before long, he saw himself laying on the ground, covered with mud from head to toe. His eyes moved upwards as he saw a middle aged man standing in front of him. The man''s eyes glistened slightly with blue hue even though their surroundings had poor lighting from the rain, the tree''s canopy, and the sun that almost set in the horizon.


    The man''s eyes looked at him with the same gazes he had seen in some of his relatives, the gaze of pity. The man opened his lips slightly as he spoke in an emotionless voice.


    "Boy, do you seek strength?"

 35 Chapter 34

    Filled with only the noise of rain drops in the area, the man stood, waiting for the boy''s answer patiently. He wore a brown raincoat with a hat atop of his head, and an iron dagger in his right hand. He observed the boy, Zuyuan, quietly and so did Zuyuan.


    Looking at the figure in front of him, Zuyuan''s pupils trembled as shock and longing filled his heart. He tried to move but pain came and overwhelmed his mind.


    "You are injured. There''s a lot of wounds and broken bones." The man''s eyes moved elsewhere and he continued, "I saw you tripped into the swamp, thought you would definitely be dead with your condition. Who would have thought you''d manage to get out from there alive."


    Moving his gaze back at Zuyuan, the man stared right into Zuyuan''s eyes and asked again, "Do you want to protect yourself?"


    His lips moved by itself as Zuyuan heard his voice in his younger days, asking back while feeling some pain in his throat, "Who¡­ are you?"


    Smiling slightly, the man answered, "Just a humble passerby."


    "How?"


    "Power." Answered the man firmly as if he knew what Zuyuan really wanted to know, "A power to protect yourself from those who wish to harm you."


    His hands moved on their own accord and Zuyuan''s gaze fell to them. He was lying upwards, looking at his small left hand. The hand he had when he was still eight years old.


    "I''m.. Weak.."


    Zuyuan''s lips mumbled softly by itself as tears flowed down from his face. His eyes look back at the man with the eyes of someone that was in despair.


    "Help me.."


    He sobbed unconsciously as he tried to grasp a single straw in his life full of darkness, a single hope.


    "I want to change.. I¡­ don''t want to die.." muttered Zuyuan In his hoarse voice.


    "You won''t die."


    The man kneeled down and carried Zuyuan gently in princess carry. His gaze was firm when he looked at Zuyuan''s face.


    "Not yet."


    His eyelids started to heavy as they slowly closed down. Just a moment later, Zuyuan found himself in another place and another time. He remembered this scene, it was a few days later when his wounds already bandaged and he woke up from sleeping for two days.


    "Why me?"


    He was sitting on the ground with his back facing the cave wall. They were in a cave and the man was polishing his knife fifteen meters away. The man''s eyebrows raised as he asked back, "Why what?"


    "You, power." said Zuyuan as his body moved but itself to knit his eyebrows, "You would give me power, wouldn''t you?"


    "It all depends on you. But yes, you could say so." replied the man as he went back to tending to his knife again.


    "Am I gonna be your disciple or something?"


    "Yeah."


    The man chuckled, "Do I look like a grandpa to you?"


    Zuyuan''s lips widened slightly and said, "Perhaps."


    His face back again to become grumpy, "You yet answered me. Why me"


    His boyish face became glum and both of his small fists clenched tightly when he remembered the gaze of the man as he saw him for the first time, "Is it pity? Are you doing this because you''re pitying me?"


    His eyes closed as they felt like tearing up again. It''s painful. To be weak and helpless. When everything just crashed on you and you couldn''t do anything about it. Everyone he knew despised him, some pitied him, while the rest were disgusted and had fun with his misery.


    "Because of that." the man pointed at Zuyuan as Zuyuan''s head tilted slightly to the side in confusion. Sighing, the man pointed his finger to himself, specifically his chest, "Your will."


    "Not everyone can walk through the path filled with endless thorns on the way and still walk ahead. Your body was battered, broken, and bruised. Yet you persevered until you met me. Impressive."


    "Impressive¡­?" muttered Zuyuan unconsciously, almost speechless and feeling awkward from the unexpected and the very first complement he had ever received.


    "Kind of." said the man curtly, "Maybe just a fluke and my eyes were wrong. But we will see."


    "Oh, alright." replied Zuyuan without much thought.


    ''Master¡­''


    Trapped inside his younger self, Zuyuan watched everything that happened as if it was a movie. He has no control of his own body as it just moved according to the past scenario. Suddenly, something pulled him and he left his younger body, sucking him into the air as his vision turned completely white.


    His ears began ringing and an intense headache assaulted him out of nowhere. Shortly, he was in the middle of a room and tied in a chair. The room filled with leeches on the floor, thousands of them. The room was poorly lighted and a voice from the loudspeaker on the corner of the ceiling suddenly said, "Where''s he?"


    "I don''t know¡­" Zuyuan lips moved and answered with a poker face. He looked more mature as he was already 13. He was kidnapped with his master''s enemies and tried to search for him and kill him.


    "Then you will suffer until you do know." The voice said and the leeches began to pile over Zuyuan''s body, biting into him and sucking out his blood in an agonizingly slow manner.


    Many entered through his mouth, ears and nose. Diving inside of his body as he laid helpless on the chair, screaming in terror. He had already learned the way to use Qigong from his master. But these leeches were hellspawns. The category for those beasts which could devour another living being''s Qigong as their food and nutrients.


    "Do you know now?" The voice asked again, however Zuyuan laughed out loud and said out loud, "Go to hell!"


    "Still defiant? We''ll see how long you keep the attitude up, brat." The voice said, before the chair upon which Zuyuan was sitting suddenly erupted in shocks of electricity, zapping the thirteen year old boy with a multitude of volts.


    Gritting his teeth, Zuyuan still refused to talk and even shouted again, "F*ck you all. If I die, I will haunt you whenever you had sex with your wives!"


    Not long after, Zuyuan''s sight began to fade once more into pure white and he sprung up from his sleeping bag into a dripping sweat as he screamed out loud.


    Trembling, Zuyuan held his head with a hand, mumbling softly in a grunting manner.


    "What the hell¡­?"

 36 Chapter 35

    "Master!"


    Concerned, XB11 quickly approached Zuyuan while readying for any ambush, "Are you hurt, master?"


    "I''m alright¡­" shaking his head to say it was all good, Zuyuan took out his waterskin and downed it to the last drop.


    "Haaa..." He breathed out loudly, almost like a sigh. Then, he saw that his shout alarmed the two goblins from their deep slumber.


    "W-What''s going on?! Enemy attack?! Where ar dem pricks at?!" Lyk jumped up, shouting while running around and spinning all over the place in a panic.


    "Calm down, you buffoon." said Huhe impatiently, while rolling his eyes from Lyk antics.


    "Eh? Wait, what happened? Ya pricks?" Lyk asked, calming down while staring at Huhe with a surprised and dumb face.


    "Someone was just having a bad dream." assessed Huhe as he moved his gaze towards Zuyuan, "Are you alright?"


    "Yeah, I''m fine." replied Zuyuan, a little bothered from the dream. Sometimes, he would dream of his past which at times brought back some terrible memories. This wasn''t the first time it happened, and most probably won''t be the last for a while.


    "Let''s go back to sleep, we take as much rest as possible for tomorrow''s journey." states Huhe as he crawls back to his sleeping bag.


    "Why? Is there something that needs us to be in our peak condition?" asked Zuyuan, noticing the particular notion of Huhe''s words.


    Without wanting to continue the conversation, Huhe laid back again on the ground and turned his body in the opposite direction, muttering, "You will find out soon enough."


    Furrowing his eyebrows, Zuyuan glanced at Lyk. But after he saw Lyk sleeping form in all four while dripping some drools from his mouth, the words ended up stuck in his throat as Zuyuan was sure that the airheaded hobgoblin won''t tell anything in the middle of the night.


    Sighing again, Zuyuan decided to meditate and focus on cultivating. XB11 went back to its position again to guarding their small camp.


    Feeling like just an hour passed, light shone on Zuyuan''s closed eyelids and made them twitch for a second. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw the sunlight infiltrated between the forest canopy and lighting the whole forest. Around some time later, Huhe was stirred awake and tried to wake up Lyk as well.


    Taking out a map made from an animal hide, Huhe pointed to a location in the rough map and showed it to the group, while saying, "Across this river, there would be a canyon which was surrounded by some kind of mutated plants, called Thakhuur. They were able to extend their vine to capture any unsuspecting passersby and use the produced black crystal in their body to call upon acid elements to attack."


    Different from his usual expression, Lyk''s face became grim as he chimed in, "I could hold back two thakhuur at the same time. But dealing with three would be impossible with my two hands."


    Glancing at Zuyuan, Huhe answered, "It was a plant that was taller than ordinary orcs, with their vines as thick as the orcs arm muscles. A marathon from black crystal radiation. Meant there must be black crystal vein below their area. But they would be hard to get as there''s a lot of Thakhuur in there."


    "And what''s black crystal?" asked Zuyuan with raised eyebrows.


    "In short, it is a crystal with a dark cold which is capable of replenishing our energies, storing energy, and making some of our shamanic magics stronger, Missionary. " answered Huhe, while staring at Zuyuan intently. As if trying to observe what Zuyuan had in his mind by seeing his body language.


    "By ''us'', did you mean the native of this world or just the goblin race itself?" probed Zuyuan. Unbothered with the stare that was given by Huhe. He could guess where the suspicions came from when he listened to the explanation.


    ''It sounds like mana crystals in games. At least, their description had similarities in it.'' mused Zuyuan as his thought arrived at one conclusion.


    ''Huhe was wary that as the foreigner from this world, the missionaries would be eyeing the black crystal? Depriving them from their own planet''s resource?'' furrowed Zuyuan as he too, observed Huhe reaction from his question.


    "The native of this world." answered Huhe curtly. After a few seconds, Huhe seemed to be hesitant about something but then in the end, opened his lips and said, "I know you may have realized this already from our conversation. But on our journey later, we would have to fight and watch each other''s backs against the thakhuur. I had the choice of not telling you that the thakhuur had the black crystal in their body so that you wouldn''t be aware of black crystal''s existence. But my duty is to be your guide and companion in this journey. So if that means letting you know of the existence of black crystals in order to have you watch my back during our time together, then so be it."


    Smiling at Huhe''s statement, Zuyuan replied, "I appreciate your honesty, Huhe."


    Avoiding eye contact with Zuyuan, Huhe nodded slightly to acknowledge Zuyuan''s words as his head facing the opposite direction.


    "Lez go! Ya pricks! This Lyk needs to cut through some sticks!" shouted Lyk as he rolled his eyes when watching this scenario. This felt like nonsense to Lyk!


    After discussing any possible dangers on their way, they packed their stuff up and went back to the wolves. Riding to a specific direction in the forest. After one hour, they found the river that Huhe had mentioned in his map.


    The river stream was running fast, with some fishes jumping from time to time. The fish had some canine teeth protruding from their lips and their eyes were red. Looking to Huhe, Zuyuan asked, "Now what should we do?"


    "We should--" as Huhe was about to answer, something flew across the air and aimed at his head. Quickly docked his head, he saw an arrow whizzed past his head and he shouted immediately, "Ambush! Get down!"


    Following the first arrow, a dozen more arrows flew to the group with ten orcs with longbows in their hands, coming out from behind a faraway boulder in the river''s shore.


    Watching the orcs, Lyk furrowed his eyebrows and shouted.


    "IT''S THE PRICKS!"

 37 Chapter 36

    "Kupal! (Goblin!)" One of the orcs shouted as they kept shooting at Zuyuan''s group. Pulling out his sword that strapped on his waist, Huhe began to deflect the arrowheads with the blade of his sword as he dashed forward.


    Following Huge''s lead, Lyk started to pull out his sword as well while Zuyuan flicked his wrist and Estgard appeared on his hand. Glancing at XB11, Zuyuan muttered, "Do it."


    Nodding at Zuyuan''s words, XB11 flew towards the orcs as it raised its gun and pointed the gun''s barrel. Shooting down its enemies without mercy, the booming sounds of gunshots rang in the air as more than five orcs whittled down I believe seconds.


    Immediately realizing the danger of the weird shamanic magic the other party possessed, one of the orcs quickly raised his voice to chant a magic spell loudly while raising his hand to the sky. Soon, a wall of stone had emerged from the ground and shields the orcs from the barrage of bullets.


    "A holder¡­" shortly, Huhe frowned as he used the distraction caused by XB11 to close the distance. Thinking of a quick solution in his mind, he raised his sword and gripped the handle with both hands, taking a stance to stab. Trying to assault the orc on the side unexpectedly.


    Unfortunately, the orc noticed and raised his longbow in front of him to block the incoming stab. But in the middle of the attack, the sword stopped midair as Huhe accelerated his movement to close in and rotate the sword position into a slash to the waist.


    The abrupt change of posture had taken the orc unguarded as the slash connected with his flesh. Screaming in pain, the orc movements jerked in halt for a second. But that second proved to be fatal as Huhe didn''t stop his momentum and quickly punched the orc''s throat.


    Eyes rolling backward, the orc grabbed his throat as his eyes rolled backwards. As Huhe was about to move to decapitate the orc, the orc behind it pulled his longbow and shoot at Huhe. Their distance only fifteen meters apart, in less than a second, before Huhe could even react, the arrow had already crossed fourteen meters and was about to reach Huhe''s head.


    But at the right moment, a downward hack cut off the arrow right on the middle of its body. Grinning widely to Huhe, Lyk appeared on his left side as he said, "In need for help, eh?"


    Another arrow whizzed in the air as Lyk swiftly moved the blade of his sword right in front of his face. A clink sounded as the tip of the arrowhead clashed with the sword''s blade. Scowling, Lyk turned his gaze to where this arrow was shot and saw that another orc noticed their presence. As both of them were about to take a stance and dash towards the orcs, a barrage of bullets appeared behind two orcs and made them into a beehive.


    From the air, XB11 flew down and landed in front of them. Surprised, Huhe quickly asked, "You are here? What happened to the holder?"


    Zuyuan raised his hand and threw a stone at Huhe. Raising his eyebrows, Huhe swiftly grabbed the stone in the air and moved his gaze to see what Zuyuan had thrown at him. Soon, his eyes widened as he saw what''s on his hand, "The black crystal¡­"


    In his palm, a crystal that was as dark as ink, with the inside filled with spirals of thin white lights, rotating and swirling in each second. This time, it was Zuyuan''s turn to be surprised as he raised his eyebrows with interest, "Oh, so that''s a black crystal? I found it in the grip of that orc holder. Guessed you might know and its appearance does look intriguing, so I took it."


    Raising his head, Huhe asked, "Why you give it to me?"


    Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan stated, "I don''t need it. It was useless for me. I can''t do any magic and the energy inside that stone was very different with the kind of energy I''m cultivating right now."


    ''And besides, last time in the trial world, the administrator took my sword and everyone stuff in that white space. Even though they said it only happened for the trial world, I don''t want to bring anything that was useless for me but worth something for them and they would take it away later.'' thought Zuyuan silently as he sighed.


    Frowning, Huhe contemplated for a while as silence descended in the area for a few seconds. After he had decided, he nodded his head at Zuyuan and said, "Thank you. I would try to repay it somehow to you with something of equal value."


    Smiling, Zuyuan nodded back and replied, "It''s a deal then."


    Shortly, Zuyuan turned his body and walked to the river as XB11 followed behind him. Huhe put the black crystal inside his satchel as he followed as well as Lyk. Patting Huhe''s back strongly, Lyk laughed, "Ha! Ya got something pretty aren''t cha, Huhe? Tis call for a feast!"


    Rolling his eyes, Huhe proceeded to Zuyuan as he ignored Lyk. Walking right beside Zuyuan, Huhe said, "We need a boat. We should make some makeshift canoe from the trees around here and-"


    Climbing to XB11''s back, Zuyuan tightly grabbed XB11''s shoulder as XB11 activated its jet thrusters. Soon, it started to float in the air as Zuyuan interrupted, "If your best bet was a boat then we don''t need one."


    Smiling, Zuyuan continued, "Grab hold of XB11''s hand. Both of you. I don''t have much time left and perhaps, we could go to the chief''s place this way."

 38 Chapter 37

    "We almost crossed the river."


    Holding XB11''s right hand tightly and dangling in the air, Huhe raised his head to look at Zuyuan and said, "We better to fly a bit higher. The thakhuur would be able to reach us."


    Glancing downwards, Zuyuan asked XB11 with concern in his gaze, "Can you take us higher?"


    Hesitated for a second, XB11 shook its head and replied honestly, "With this amount of weight, I am afraid it will be difficult, master."


    Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan glanced at Huhe and spoke, "It wasn''t possible. But if there''s any vines that would strangle us, then prepare your sword."


    On the other side, Lyk lightly hit his shoulder while his other hand was hugging XB11''s arm, "Here''s the great swordsman, Lyk! No worries, Huhe!"


    Sighed, Huhe choose to stay quiet and focused his gaze upfront. Ready for another battle.


    Raising the corner of his lips a little, Zuyuan followed what Huhe was doing and saw the scenery. A fair bit distance away, on the shore of the massive river, lay the edge of a forest. But the tree''s of that forest were without any single leaves on their branches. A massive contrast of view from the forest they had come from.


    "Ouch!"


    A scream of pain suddenly sounded as a little, bluish scaled fish bit the sole of Lyk''s left foot. Kicking the fish away from his other leg, the fish''s sharp teeth rip a small amount of skin and flesh from Lyk''s feet.


    "Are you okay?" asked Zuyuan as he frowned, looking concerned with all the blood that was flowing down from Lyk''s feet to the river.


    "Ha! Tis jus flesh wound!" answered Lyk energetically, while trying to hide his grimace expression from the pain.


    "Alright then." nodding, Zuyuan believed Lyk''s words without a second thought. If the man himself had said that he was okay, then it must be true.


    A few minutes after they left that certain part of the area where Lyk''s blood dripped down on the river, few bubbles started to arise on the water. The fish that had been kicked by Lyk began jumping out from the water as if trying to escape something. But a moment later, a huge jaw opened itself and swallowed the fish whole in midair and quickly got back to the water. A pair of yellowish glow shone for a short moment, as it started to track down the source of the blood.


    At this moment, Zuyuan and the others had already arrived in the forest and were still flying in the sky. After more than five minutes, there was still no attack from the south called thakhuur, Zuyuan began to grow an uneasy feeling and was about to ask Huhe about it, "Hey, Huhe. There''s no-"


    Before his speech could finish, something resembling a whip moved at a fast speed and caught XB11''s leg. Wrapping itself on Xb11''s leg closely, it tried to pull XB11 immediately and caused the group flying progress to be halted.


    "Never mind.." smiling wryly, Zuyuan flick Gus wrist and take out his sword from thin air. As he was about to slash it downwards, another three more vines were coming to his direction and wanted to grab Zuyuan too.


    Clicking his tongue, Zuyuan drove the flow of Qigong in his dantian to all his body. His senses become strengthened for a brief moment, his sword becomes sharper, and his movements become faster.


    Swiftly grabbing the handle of his sword in both hands, he moved to slice one of the vines and another two sword phantoms appeared in the air simultaneously moving in the way he did to deal with the rest of them.


    In a blink of an eye, he cut off three vines with one strike. Shortly, he changed his posture and was about to slice the vine in XB11''s legs before he saw fifteen thick branches as big as a human leg, came from the surrounding trees to move in an agile manner and tried to attack all of them.


    "Really¡­" black streak appeared on his forehead as he felt annoyed. Guiding his Qigong to the technique, he mumbled, "Then¡­ how about this!"


    Soon, four transparent doppelgangers materialized around him and jumped out to slash the sentient branches. Following his doppelganger''s example, he jumped off from XB11''s back and slash to one of the branches. As he executed his slash, five swords phantoms appeared to cut off the nearest five branches near him.


    "I''ll be damned... I will have myself a lighten steps technique after this!" reminding himself to browse all the markets and stalls have to offer in the sanctuary, Zuyuan drove his Qigong to his right feet and forcefully ejected the Qigong from his feet as he kicked the air.


    Successfully imitating the basic of lighten steps technique in crude manner, Zuyuan git back into XB11''s back as he assessed how his companions fare so far.


    With its leg tied down and both its arms being held by two hobgoblins, XB11 could do nothing besides to serve as the platform of its master and his guides'' midair battleground.


    As for Huhe and Lyk, although one of their arms was being used to grab XB11, they tried to fend off the branches as best as they could with one hand. Thankfully, they only had to deal with one branch each as the rest of the branches had been cut down by Zuyuan and his doppelgangers.


    Chuckled from what he saw, Zuyuan smiled and commented, "Well, best of luck, you guys."


    His remark earned a glare from Huhe as he had heard what Zuyuan said. Shrugging his shoulders, Zuyuan now tried to look into their surroundings, waiting for another assault as somehow, there was still some uneasy feeling in his heart.


    In a fair distance away, on the shore of the river, something emerged from the water. The creature was twenty meters tall and four meters long. Some acid gasses was spewed out from its breath as it spoke softly.


    "Ritran¡­(Hobgoblin... )"

 39 Timed Announcemen

@@Hey!


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