Zayn dealt the finishing blow to more than a dozen bounters, and he immediately integrated the Soul Essences into his Hidden Class Path.
[Soul Lord – Hidden Class Path – (805/1000)]
‘If we proceed to grind for two or three hours, we could…’
Zayn shook his head. He glanced at the half-naked Players, who managed to survive and approached them with an amiable smile.
The Players shuddered, but they regained control of their bodies quickly.
“Thank you for saving us. We would have lost everything if not for you!” Tom expressed.
“No problem. We gained a lot,” Zayn said, pointing at his brothers, who collected the bounty hunters' Ranked Armaments and the Cards they’d dropped upon dying.
More bounty hunters than expected dropped one or two Cards of their Heart Deck, mostly because Zayn was still a Classless Player, while the enemies he struck had been at the 1st Stage.
“Still, I think it’s only fair for us to express our gratitude,” Tom said with a forced smile. “Unfortunately, we cannot reward you for helping us. We have nothing left…”
“I didn’t help to receive any rewards. Even if I did, the bounty hunter’s Ranked Armaments and Cards are enough to cover all costs and rewards.”
More money was always nice, but it was not like Zayn needed Credits or more high-ranked equipment. He and his brothers were already equipped with the most suitable Ranked Armaments. They would have to progress quite a bit before they could wield Tier-2 Armaments as well.
“How did you do it though?” A young Player called Elveriun, in-game, asked
“Hmm?”
Zayn tilted his head lightly.
“How was it possible for three Players to destroy the bounty hunters so nonchalantly? Neither of you used many Cards to deal with the bounty hunters, and your Foundation is not that high either.”
It didn’t take much to understand that Elveriun had a character appraisal Card or something along those lines. He must have appraised Zayn, only to realize that Zayn was a Classless Player.
“Most bounty hunters are somewhat powerful, but their stamina and energy were lower than expected. They must have used more to play with you guys,” he said nonchalantly.
The half-naked Players frowned deeply, but Zayn ignored their response.
“Furthermore, bounty hunters are not known for their exceptional teamwork. On the other hand, my brothers and I are pretty good at working together. We've played countless games together, and we’ve been improving our teamwork in Forgotten Lands as well. My brothers also have great equipment, powerful Cards, a higher Foundation, and better Classes than the bounty hunters.”
“There aren’t many types of people who become bounty hunters. Either, they’re the kind of person who loves hunting others. They enjoy the hunt and toy around with their prey, or they’re out for the money. They might be stronger than the average player, which is necessary to hunt other Players in the first place, but they’re not true experts, otherwise, they would understand that it is much easier to earn the big money elsewhere.”
‘Of course, there are exceptions,’ Zayn was about to say, but he kept his lips sealed. He was already saying a lot more than he would usually do.
Elveriun nodded thoughtfully and turned to Tom, known as Storm Monarch in Forgotten Lands.
“What are we supposed to do now? We’re far too deep into the Magma Prairie. We will never survive. Let alone leaving the Magma Prairie…is there even a safe and sound place for us to stay?”
Elveriun gestured ‘subconsciously’ to Zayn and his brothers. Tom noticed the gestures, but so did Zayn.
Tom and Zayn looked at each other, a faint smile playing around Zayn’s lips.
Stolen story; please report.
“You don’t know what we can do to avoid the bounty hunters?” Tom asked, the hesitation in his voice apparent.
Zayn thought about it for a moment.
“If the bounty on your heads has been issued to the system instead of the bounty hunters directly, you could kill each other until the deposit has been paid out. That way, you won’t lose anything. You will make money instead,” He pointed out, “The problem with that is that you cannot spawn-kill each other. The death counter prevents you from respawning for a few hours. That will make killing each other hundreds of times incredibly difficult until the system-issued bounty wears off.”
“What’s your suggestion?”
Tom noticed that Zayn was getting somewhere. He was unsure if that was a good thing or not.
“It’s easy. Grow stronger.” Zayn said as a matter of fact.
Nobody would target them if they were strong enough to deal with a small group of bounty hunters. The higher their combat prowess, the fewer bounty hunters would attack. After all, it was not worth risking their Ranked Armaments and Cards to obtain a few gold coins.
Veteran bounty hunters wouldn’t target them because a bounty of one gold coin wasn’t worth their effort, whereas the weaker bounty hunters couldn’t afford to lose their precious armaments and Cards.
Tom scrunched his nose while the others frowned.
“That’s easier said than done,” One of the half-naked Players complained, but Zayn shook his head.
“No. It’s as easy as it sounds. All it takes is some effort and the right teacher.”
Zayn jumped into the fray, killing more than a dozen bounty hunters to rescue a bunch of half-naked Players, but the reason wasn’t that simple. He considered a few factors and came to a few conclusions.
First, Zayn understood that the future powerhouses were pitiful. They were weak and useless in their current state, with incredibly low morale and sub-zero confidence. If Zayn had not remembered them as future powerhouses, he might have left them to die—maybe.
But because they were future powerhouses, Zayn decided to pick them up.
“The right teacher? We don’t have any money. Where are we suppos–...” A Player asked, only to stop mid-sentence as he noticed the devilish grin on Zayn’s face.
Everyone turned to Zayn, who pointed at himself lightly.
“How about you lead me to the rest of your little playground, and we talk there?”
**
The players of the White Clovers Guild were confused on their way back to the border of the Emberforge Mountains. They headed to a small town where the members of the White Clovers resided.
Everyone observed Zayn and his brothers with great vigilance at one point. It was a kind act to rescue them from the bounty hunters, but it didn’t make sense that they offered the survivors of the hunt to bring them back to their guild.
However, it wouldn’t make sense for Zayn and his brothers to hunt them either. Elveriun wondered if the brothers wanted to rat them out, but his opinion of the brothers changed quickly. There was no need for them to waste their precious time.
Zayn and his brothers hunted a few Hellhound packs, a dozen Bloodthirsty Ravens, and a small group of Deathweight Hyenas. The monsters attacked them because they smelled easy prey but ended up dying at Zayn’s hands.
‘I should have used other Players to lure more monsters out of hiding earlier,’ Zayn complained silently, but he smiled.
He required less than 100 Soul Essences to finish the Hidden Class Path. How could he not be excited?
“The all-nighter has been postponed, right?” Percy asked.
“Just go offline and sleep properly,” Zayn responded.
Percy didn’t hesitate and logged off immediately. Nicolas snorted, but he looked at Zayn as well.
“I’m not sure what you want to do with them, but I guess you can manage them alone, right? I think I found a path into the underground system of the Magma Prairie. There are some things I read about the Magma Prairie’s underground. If I’m not mistaken, there should be some treasures to plunder.”
“I can take care of this alone. There is no more fighting in Ulgnov. Follow your adventurous spirit and explore the underground system,” Zayn said lightly.
Nicolas turned around reluctantly and left after wishing everyone good luck.
Zayn would have joined Nicolas if he hadn’t had anything better to do. However, he had something more important to do with the White Clover Guild. He turned to Tom, who’d been waiting patiently.
“Since everything has been taken from you and your people before you could establish a Guildhouse with a proper treasure vault, I doubt you have a permanent residency, right?”
Tom pressed his lips together.
“We managed to buy a small stable before everything was taken. Our guildmaster made the final payment by selling some of his rare Cards, otherwise, the debtors would be after us as well.”
“A stable? Let’s take a look then,” Zayn patted Tom’s shoulder before they entered the small town of Ulgnov.
A new chapter in the lives of the White Clover Guild’s members was about to begin.
Zayn was about to turn everything upside down.