Chapter 769: Individual Bounty

Chapter 769: Individual Bounty

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[Individual Bounty Issued!]

Target: Leo — 1st-ranked freshman of Aurelius Beast Academy.

Objective: Defeat the target within 24 hours of claiming the bounty.

Eligibility: Any student from any human academy may claim this bounty, regardless of their year, term, or seniority.

Hunter’s Reward on Completing the Bounty: 500 Gold Coins, one random Mid Yellow (5) Tier resource.

Target’s Reward on Successful Defence: 500 Gold Coins and one random Mid Yellow (5) Tier resource.

Type: Medium Category Bounty

Once the bounty is claimed, the target will be notified of the hunter’s identity and combat records. The hunter must defeat the target within 24 hours to claim the rewards.

Note: This bounty has been issued by Aurelius Beast Academy for training purposes, preparing students for unexpected ambushes and hostile encounters.

Tip: Stay away from territorial regions to avoid collateral damage.

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Leo and Lily were still reading through the notification when another one immediately followed.

Ting!

[Bounty Claimed!]

Hunter: Aric

Academy: Drakensoul Academy

Year: Fourth Year

Combat Record: Late Stage Mid 5-Star Beast Master

Primary Element: Wind

Primary Weapon: Sickled Chain

Special Note: Hunter is always aware of the target’s location...

For a moment, both Leo and Lily simply stared at the notifications as if they couldn’t make sense of them.

"Individual bounty...?" Leo finally broke the silence.

Lily immediately sat upright and carefully reread the notification. Then she pulled out her new phone to look into it.

It turned out that one of the many functions unlocked on their high-end phones was the individual bounty section.

Lily discovered that individual bounties were special training challenges issued by academies to test students against unpredictable opponents. Unlike regular matches, eligible individuals from academies across the Empire could claim these bounties.

But given the current situation between the three Empires, some bounties could even be issued across their borders.

The hunter received rewards for defeating the target, while the target earned the same rewards by successfully defending themselves within the time limit.

The notification also provided information about the hunter’s combat record and tracked the target’s location, ensuring neither side could easily escape the encounter once the bounty was claimed.

Additionally, if the hunter failed to reach the target within the time limit, they couldn’t claim any more bounties for an entire year unless they presented a valid reason for their absence.

In other words, Leo was going to face a Mid 5-Star Wind Element Beast Master within 24 hours!

"But what does Late Stage Mid 5-Star mean?" Lily muttered as she quickly looked it up.

Apparently, because of the large stat gaps starting at 5-Star, each minor realm was divided into three stages.

Early < Intermediate < Late

5-Star Stat Ranges:

5K–10K = Pseudo 5-Star

10K–20K = Low 5-Star

20K–30K = Mid 5-Star

30K–40K = High 5-Star

40K–50K = Peak 5-Star

Now, if one minor realm, let’s say Low 5-Star, were broken down further—

Low 5-Star = 10K–20K

Then,

10K–13K = Early Stage

13K–17K = Intermediate Stage

17K–20K = Late Stage

If Mid 5-Star = 20K–30K

Then,

20K–23K = Early Stage

23K–27K = Intermediate Stage

27K–30K = Late Stage

Similarly, in Aric’s case, being a Late Stage Mid 5-Star Beast Master meant that Leo’s bounty hunter had stats ranging from 27K to 30K.

"Who even allowed this absurdity?!" Lily exclaimed, gripping her phone tightly.

Even with Leo’s boosted stats, his Vitality and Strength fell within the Late Stage Low 5-Star range.

Only his Agility and Stamina reached higher ranges. But without enough Strength, those two stats alone weren’t nearly enough to take down the bounty hunter. And considering the hunter was a wind element master, Leo’s better agility stats would also not be very helpful.

Leo patted her shoulder to calm her down.

"Don’t worry. We have the luxury of preparing ambushes and traps. And..." He narrowed his eyes.

He felt as though the academy had deliberately designed this bounty mission to help him understand the gap between himself and truly powerful individuals.

Leo and Lily didn’t wait for night to fall before hopping onto Agnivar and heading farther from their territory.

They knew how destructive a fight between 5-Star individuals could be and didn’t want anyone else getting caught in the crossfire.

They landed in the middle of nowhere, nearly 500 kilometres away from their territory. A 2-kilometre-tall mound stood beside them, and towering trees covered the surrounding area. Each tree had a trunk nearly 4 to 5 metres wide and stood at least 100 to 150 metres tall.

Leo pulled out his Heaven’s Gate Medallion from Spiritual Space.

Ding!

[Hoard Sovereignty] — 7★ — 3.912% → 4.61%

His progress had already skyrocketed after the 3 Emperors gave him various treasures. Cyrandel’s Black Gold(9) Crown, which Niri wore, alone accounted for nearly a 3% boost to his stats!

Leo guessed that if he brought out all his treasures, he could comfortably gain a 7% to 9% boost to his already boosted stats. Unfortunately, he still wasn’t comfortable leaving them exposed.

It would be great if storing the items in the Pocket Realm Anchor worked, but once again, using it required Leo to bond with the item. He was once again not comfortable doing that, considering that Louis’s Spatial Authority might bring about some unforeseen circumstances.

Leo focused on the medallion, connecting his mind to his memories as he attempted to teleport back to his territory.

He mentally traced his path back to his territory, then to the plateau, and finally to the bedroom inside his house. Although he couldn’t see anything with his eyes closed, the innermost concentric ring in the medallion rotated.

The moment he finalised his destination, he disappeared and reappeared at the designated location.

There was a brief moment of weightlessness before it quickly passed.

He willed himself to be teleported back to his previous location.

When he returned, he was surprised.

"There’s, like... a five-second delay," Leo muttered.

But the good thing was that he didn’t feel any limit on its usage. That meant he could teleport between places he had already visited every five seconds.

And even then, the five-second delay was simply because it took time to perfectly visualise and track the place he wanted to teleport to. Meaning—

Leo looked at a spot right in front of him and attempted to teleport.

Whoop!

Instantaneous!

"Damn... No wonder it’s a High 8-Star item."

Leo just needed to make sure his enemies didn’t discover him using the item. Otherwise, they might attempt to snatch it away.

After that, Leo prepared for the fight.

He summoned Shyra and told her to hide in the shadows. Lily also utilised their shared Stealth skill to conceal herself, while he summoned Niri at a distance and instructed her to control the forest, creating obstacles that would hinder the hunter, Aric.

And just like that, night turned to day. Still, the area around them remained dark because towering trees blocked out the sunlight.

At that moment, Leo suddenly felt a strange vibration in the ground nearly 5 kilometres away.

Less than half a second later, he felt another vibration, this time from just 100 metres away.

Leo’s pupils contracted sharply, and he ducked.

Shinnngggg!!

Brrrrrrrr!

The soil, the thick tree trunks, and even the 2-kilometre-tall mound behind Leo were cleanly cleaved as the sharp blade—or whatever the attack was—passed inches above his ducked head.

The trees were one thing, but even the mound was sliced halfway through too. A long, brutal slash stretched across its surface, obliterating the rocks and sending debris scattering in every direction.

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A/N: Woke up feeling better, so managed to write the missed Chapter.