It was time to make my point abundantly clear, so I decided not to hold back. I looked for the longest corridor in a straight line that I could find and then waited for the enemies at the end of it.

This time, I equipped my hand crossbow and then pulled the string with all my might… the moment the enemies appeared in the distance; I shot the bolts. A large explosion happened that made the entire floor shake. The five bolts had the Flame enchantments, so they all exploded, but I saw the enemies raising their shields in time to block them. It didn’t seem like it worked, though.

You received 2455 experience points.

You received 2455 experience points.

You received 2455 experience points.

It looked like three members of the frontline died instantly… It wasn't surprising since I wasn’t holding back, but I was expecting a bit more from them. Maybe it was because I had gotten a bit stronger without fighting in the last eighteen months, or maybe it was because they were underestimating me.

Name: Regulus Dawnshield

Race: Dhampir

Health: 310/310 (0/13200)

Regen: 0.8 per hour (0/900)

Mana: 330/330 (0/3100) (1.1)

Regen: 12.0 per minute (0/7600) (1.6)

Stamina: 380/380 (0/3500) (1.1)

Regen: 6.5 per minute (0/5100) (1.3)

Strength: 76 + 120 (0/5100) (1.6)

Magic: 20 + 60 (0/2100)

Dexterity: 209 (0/5600) (3.8x)

Spirit: 11 (0/1200)

Endurance: 20 (0/2100) (1.1)

Attack Speed: + 84% (0/7700) (1.1)

Movement Speed: 12.1 (0/6100) (1.1)

Stamina Conservation: 0.9 (0/9000)

Fire Affinity: 20 (0/2100)

Traits: Minor Weakness to Sunlight, Minor Sensitivity to Holy Magic, Minor Aversion to Silver

Classes: Ranger, Pathfinder, Dark Scrollmaker, Mystic Tattoist, Hunter, Dreadful Enchanter, Ninja, Merchant, Poison Crafter, Smith, Weaponsmith, Sharpshooter, Pyromancer, Dark Paladin, Arcane Archer, Shadow Archer, Barbarian, Viking, Bowman

Aptitudes: Wilderness Survival, Never Lost, Magical Scroll Creator,, Arcane Artist, Unseen Hunter, Malevolent Artifice, Master of Trade, Venomous Engineer, Master of Forging, Master of Blades, Shadow Mastery, Master of Precision, Heat Master, Silent Observation, Dark Retribution, Mystic Marksman, Shadow Archery, Rage Unleashed, Warrior’s Endurance, Ranged Skill,

Experience: 7952

‘I would say that I am more or less on the same level of Vincent, all thanks to the grind in that labyrinth, but even so. It is hard to believe that he would be able to fight so many enemies alone. I guess the true answer lies in my enchanted gear… it makes my power level a lot higher than it should be.’

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

I wanted to get the gear and dispose of the bodies, but I decided to move away and gain some space instead of continuing the fight without knowing how many enemies were there? The first attack was a warning. If they decided to come for me again, then they won’t have any more of those.

I let out a tired sigh while running… I couldn’t believe that things would be this annoying for a while. It almost felt like fate was forcing me to do things that I didn’t want. Maybe that was what was happening… I couldn’t be reincarnated in a world like this for no reason. If someone brought me here to have an easy time, they would have me reborn as humans to waltz around instead.

If things remain like that, I might as well go full hobo and make a lot of enemies, but I knew that I wouldn’t have much peace once that happens. I was already a target of the humans and aquarians, so perhaps killing them when they came for me wouldn’t be an issue. The real issue will be if they decide to use others and make me wanted all over the world.

‘Perhaps that could work… even if they manage to control the narrative, as long as I only kill in self-defense, people will eventually realize the truth of the matter. It is hard to say if they would go as far as spreading those kinds of rumors in my favor and go against their country, though.’

It was better not to take any chances and just focus on what I had to do at the moment. Focusing on getting stronger and improve my skills and tools. That was the best option in the long run. Eventually, they won’t be able to ignore me anymore and if they do, it will cost them a lot.

… …

Three days had passed since Ulric and Remi had met Regulus, and they still didn’t move from that town. Ulric was training with his sword while Remi had his arms crossed and tapping his finger impatiently.

“Why didn’t we receive the order to go?”

Remi was annoyed… very annoyed. They were told that they would be called to handle their brother when the opportunity arose. They heard that he was found inside the labyrinth in the north, but they weren’t given the order to go.

“You should know why.”

Ulric swung his sword down and a bit of sweat from his face. He tried to recall the speed of Regulus’ arrows and then swung his sword again. As long as he could see his eyes, he was certain that he could cut down the arrows, unless they exploded or shocked him. In that case, he might as well be training to get screwed when they meet him again.

“Damn!”

Remi kicked the ground a bunch of times in annoyance… Ulric sighed when he saw that. At this point in time, it was safe to assume that Regulus was traveling around the world and then clearing dungeons and labyrinths. Given his strength, that should have been fairly obvious, but it was hard to accept that he had been waltzing around and entering those places without ever being found.

Ulric stopped his training sessions and thought about the things that they had heard… at least they received reports from their commander. It looked like he was another guy who respected Rayner a lot, or he was trying to gain some points with the Dawnshield family as well.

In any case, three parties had already sent to deal with Regulus in one way or the other. Thirty people had looked for him inside the labyrinth. Only five returned alive. While he had the upper hand since he could ambush the pursuers, that was still a shocking development. He was only fourteen. He wasn’t supposed to be able to deal with full parties and even bigger groups like that when they had healers and mages. The reports said that they didn’t have the chance to attack or heal that much, but even so…

“He has gotten a lot stronger than we had expected… Maybe he could even give a lot of trouble to Jacques.”

“Impossible. Jacques only trains and gets classes that will make him able to fight undead, abyssals and similar things. He is that touched in the head.”

“Determined is the word… he is serious to a fault. I can’t deny it. I wonder what he will think about this when he hears it. I also wonder what Father will think as well.”

Remi felt a shiver run down his back… the idea that his brothers and father could hear that they were defeated by Regulus was more than a little annoying. It was more vexing than anything that he could think of.

The two brothers could see a large army of orcs, goblins, and ogres assembling a few kilometers away. That was why they couldn’t move to deal with Regulus. Perhaps Regulus could even be the cause that things went this way. The other groups in the North had slower progress, but their group still could have pierced the enemy’s territory deeper if it weren’t for Regulus, making their focus split a bit.

Ulric cleaned himself and then equipped his gear once again… he could have trained for a while longer, but he didn’t want to exhaust himself before the big battle. He was only training because he couldn’t control his nerves… This would be the first battle where he would see thousands of people fighting thousands. He would see death at an unprecedented scale, like never before.

He didn’t fear that… he feared that after seeing that once, he wouldn’t care as much if he sees it again. That worked like that until now and how the empire was moving as of late. He would see that more and more.

“There is a chance that we might not fight him… The commander controlling that area won’t risk sacrificing more soldiers. I don’t think that he will leave his army behind to get rid of him when Regulus should be pretty deep in the labyrinth, but we can’t discard the possibility, either.”

“He’d better bring him alive so that I can defeat him myself!”

“... Putting that aside, you remember the incident when he disappeared, right? What do you think?”

“About what?”

“The home was almost burned down, and we thought for a while that he had died… he also picked a weird time to escape. He was almost left alone there for three years.”

“Just say your point already. Don’t beat around the bush.”

“Well, it didn’t seem like an accident… and Regulus didn’t seem the type who would want to give us more reasons to hate him. He was too contained for that to be true. It would have made more sense if he tried to escape without causing that much damage… So, I could only think that he escaped because something happened. Like an… assassination attempt.”

“And whom exactly are you trying to blame for that?”

“I am not trying to blame anyone. I am just questioning the possibility.”

Remi knew that Ulric was too scared to blame anyone, but he had a good head, so he wouldn’t raise that possibility if it weren’t true. That being said, thinking about that wouldn’t bring anything good to any of them. It would just split the family in the worst way possible… None of them were Regulus’ allies, but it was clear that Rayner didn’t wish for something like that to happen. It was hard to say what Rayner would do if he learned that someone in the family was involved in it.

“Who cares anyway? If you want to dig into this, do it by yourself while knowing the risks. Don’t get me involved in that sort of mess.”

Remi already involved the family name in all kinds of messes, but Ulric couldn’t point that out.