Second World

”What do you mean he is out?” Jack asked.

”Which part of out donʼt you understand? Out is out!” The man behind the receptionist counter uttered.

”Out my ass! You were still asking me what my business looking for him. Only when I mentioned my name that you said that he is out. He asked you to say that when it is me coming to look for him, didnʼt he?”

”Kid, donʼt make me throw you out,” the man behind the counter warned. Despite being a receptionist, the man was a level 40 elite human.

Jack was in the League of Champions building, looking for Gruff. The receptionist that he was talking to was cordial until he mentioned his name. Looking at the situation, he had no doubt that Gruff fellow was avoiding him. ʼIrresponsible old geezer,ʼ Jack cursed.

Since he could not find that old f*cker, he did not push the issue. He asked instead, ”where can I submit a completed faction quest.”

The receptionist turned back to a warm and friendly personality with the biggest smile possible as he answered, ”you can submit a completed quest at the counter where you get your badge, honored member.”

ʼA*shole! It was clear that this receptionist had been instructed by Gruff!ʼ Jack complained in his mind when he saw the change in the receptionistʼs treatment again.

Jack went and reported the quest that was given by Gruff. He received a little exp and coins and got 10 challenge points. He checked his League of Champions Badge, it had 68 challenge points in them. The 58 points he had gotten out of performing the various tasks depicted on the stele that was shown by Gruff the last time he was here. Three weeks during the expedition had allowed him to net these points.

With those points in hand, he went to the colosseum-like circular courtyard with the panels of roman numerals on its circular wall. Some natives were using those panels, same as he last visited. He observed them for a bit before going to the panel marked with a capital letter I, which was the lowest roman numeral symbolizing number 1.

He stood in front of that panel and have his badge touched the large protruding number, imitating what the other natives did. He soon heard a notification asking him if he would like to take on the stage 1 challenge. A holographic interface appeared in front of the protruding number. He clicked the accept button on that holographic interface.

As soon as the accept button was pressed, he felt himself getting sucked into the panel. He experienced similar things as when he went into a dungeon and soon came out into an empty space. The setup was awfully similar to the space where he had fought with Eldingar inside the dungeon of Temple of Divine Squall.

Not long after, a level 10 Silver Wolf of basic grade materialized in front of him.

Huh?

The Silver Wolf lunged at him without any ceremony. Storm Breaker came out into Jackʼs hand as he used Flame Strike, killing the wolf with a single slash.

”Congratulations, you have passed stage 1.”

He soon found himself back again in front of panel number 1. It was as if he never left.

ʼWell, that was awfully easy,ʼ Jack thought.

He then went to the next panel with two capital letters I, symbolizing the roman numeral of 2. He did the same process and was sent to the same empty space again. The difference was, now there were two level 11 Silver Wolves.

I see, so not only did the monsterʼs level increase at higher stages, but their quantity was also added. He completed the second stage in an instant as well. He proceeded to the third stage without pause. And so he continued on in the same manner until he reached stage 11, where he fought ten level 18 Grey Sabrecats, five elite grades and five basic ones.

The addition of level and quantity was not always fixed, the type of monster also changed after several stages, with the elite grade started to appear from stage 7. He imagined that the challenge would just get more difficult as he went to higher stages. One thing he found out when fighting in that space, he could not drink potions or use any tools. Apparently, one needed to rely on their own strength to pass these challenge tests.

He wondered how high he could reach with his current strength. Even for high-level natives like Gruff, he was stuck at stage 79. Sadly, he could not find out at the moment, he had run out of challenge points. He only had 2 points left.

He accumulated 66 glory points out of beating those eleven stages without failing. He went to the counter where he had been given the badge and asked if he could exchange those glory points. The staff on the counter showed him the list.

Similar to Adventurers and Hunters Association, the list contained numerous items, weapons, armors, materials, and so on. There was no exclusive item list, but several ones were marked with the sign, Limit: 1. He deduced that it meant he could only exchange one time for those items. And almost all of these items marked by the limit sign were monster books.

”Hey, where are the Warrior skills I was promised?” Jack complained.

”You are at the lowest rank, you think they will just give access to their special skills for any new recruit?” Peniel said.

”But I remembered that Gruff said I can at least get basic or advanced skill at the lower rank.”

”The lower rank he meant might not be the starter rank you have now. To him, the second rank is still considered low. Or he might just simply lie to you back then, like how he lied about that quest he gave you.”

”That lying old geezer!” Jack cursed. ”What stage do I have to beat to get to the next rank?”

”Can you show him?” Peniel said to the counter staff instead. The staff clicked on something and a display was shown.

Principales = Beginning rank

Pilus = Beat stage 30

Centurion = Beat stage 50

Primus = Beat stage 60

Angusticlavian = Beat stage 70

Praefectrus = Beat stage 80

Laticlavian = Beat stage 90

Legatus = Beat stage 100

”Stage 30,” Jack mumbled and made some calculations. ”I will need at least 399 challenge points for that. That also considers if I beat all those challenges without failing once.”

”Donʼt worry, you will accumulate them in time,” Peniel encouraged. ”During the expedition, mostly it was the soldiers who did the attacking and killing the monsters, thatʼs why you didnʼt get as many points that last three weeks. You need to be the one doing the killing in order to get the points. The place where I will take you to accumulate exp, you will do all the actions yourself, so you should be able to accumulate challenge points faster. Now, use your points to exchange for those monster books.”

”Oh? Are they good?” Jack asked.

”They will be in the long run,” Peniel answered.

”But if I do that, when I rank up, I might not have enough points to exchange for new skills,” Jack expressed his worry.

”These books do not lose to skills, just grab them already!” Peniel insisted.

”Fine. Which ones should I get?” Jack asked, deciding not to argue further. There were twelve of those books, marks with the names of Undead, Humanoid, Reptile, Draconic, Beast, Avian, Insect, Elemental, Darkness, Demon, Magical, and Outlaw. Each cost 20 glory points. So he could only get three books with his current available points.

”Take the Humanoid, Reptile, and Beast first. You encountered them more for now.”

Jack processed the exchange. After he received them, he asked Peniel, ”so, are you going to tell me now what these books do exactly?”

”It recorded all the monsters that you have killed in the wilderness. Try open one.”

Jack opened the Beast book and saw the first page had an illustration of the Silver Wolf. There were texts below, illustrating the beastʼs strengths and weaknesses. The illustration suddenly moved, startling Jack. The wolf in the picture moved around as if it was attacking and avoiding an attack.

You can read about any monsters of the type which you had killed before. When you kill a new monster of this bookʼs type, it will appear on the next page. You can study the movement and attack patterns of the monster or read about its details in this book. You also receive a boost of 10% attack and defense when you are fighting a monster that has been recorded in the monster books that you owned.”

”Ho, they are indeed good stuff,” Jack said.

”They are. Not all factions had them. League of Champions can be said as the one that can utilize these monster books to their fullest potential.”

”Oh? How so?”

”This faction had a special chamber that allowed you to fight the copy of any monster that was already recorded in this book, with a fee of course.”

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