Novel Full 248 One Exchange
“Since the disappearance of the Ideal Ark, the power struggle has been intense but we are still at the top, ranked second in the entire region. That said, I think it’s time for us to increase our prestige. Perilous times bring the best opportunities for growth,” Tulnas said with a zealous smile.
“Renia, I want you to lead everyone in clearing as many Clusters as you can inside and outside of our jurisdiction. I don’t care if the smaller Guilds start to complain, just kick as much Cluster beast ass as you can.”
Renialid gave a radiant smile as she nodded to Tulnas.
“You can count on us,” she said.
The zeal and energy that instantly covered the room was so intense that one could get lost in it.
The ladies were elated that they were given a big mission to complete and it was by no means easy. Tulnas’ trust in them had not waned and one might even say this was his strategy to eliminate the grains of dissatisfaction he had sown by choosing the three he had.
In the Guilds Association, large Guilds were given portions of the region to partially own and oversee, thus having the privilege of automatically owning anything that they brought from them.
It was the Association’s policy to claim a portion of the items that the Guilds acquired in Clusters as remuneration for the services they rendered.
Naturally, it was common for Guilds to want to swindle the Association by keeping everything and it was certainly possible as the branch in Inhone lacked the means to stop most Guilds.
However, a simple system to encourage this policy was the Contribution Point system.
The more a Guild contributed the higher the chance that they would be given Contribution Points which essentially raised the grade and quantity of items that Guilds could borrow from the Association.
To smaller Guilds, this was more of an option if they could afford it and they did their best to afford it as more of these meant more growth.
To large Guilds, this was a right.
All Guilds aimed to reach this stage..
The drop on these charges for every haul that a Guild made was what Silrat had used to bargain with the mercenaries during the chaos a few days.
Given such a thing along with the multitude of Clusters appearing every day, if Renialid and the other ladies were to rush around stealing Clusters from lesser Guilds…
One could easily imagine what would happen.
“Let me go and wear and my battle dress! Oh, how long I’ve waited to don it on such a dangerous excursion!” Gertreld rushed away with excited lady steps.
Ginie and Natalika also rushed away to wear their complete combat gear.
‘I wish I could party up with these strong females and clear high-level Clusters,’ Skullius thought, his mind creating a fantasy where he strolled through the chaotic fights in a Cluster while harvesting Enriching gems.
Red Rage could already see it too, collecting massive amounts of Null Life Essence to use for his own heroic deeds.
“While we wait for those three…” Renialid said as she walked forward, her gaze locked onto Skullius. “I would like to see how capable you are as a Mage. Chances are, where you’re going you’ll be meeting foes with strength similar to mine or higher. We can’t have our Guild leader constantly trying to get you out of harm’s way or worse… dying while trying to do so from your curse. That could easily happen right?”
Skullius gazed deep into Renialid’s eyes.
Sure.
That was possible.
However, during the time he had spent with Tulnas, even when he asked questions and got replies, the man never turned into a pile of soup.
He had offered help, but he did not die.
This was the sole reason why Skullius didn’t fully trust Tulnas and called him a first-class sockethole.
The man truly wasn’t a charitable saint despite his helpful actions.
“That’s true,” Skullius said.
Tulnas by the side smirked.
“Earlier, you claimed that you could survive an exchange with Natalika even if she were to use a single arm in combat without her sword. Are you still confident that you can do such a thing?” Renialid asked.
“You bet,” Skullius said determinedly.
Renialid flashed a toothy smile.
She hated seeing weak men.
Perhaps this was a side effect of having the ever confident Tulnas as a Guild leader and as a lover that influenced this.
“You’re really thinking of having a fight now?” Tulnas asked as he sat down on one of the seats, grabbed Bustifina who was near him and sat her on his lap.
The girl yelped from this sudden action before easing up.
“One exchange. No. One attack,” Renialid said as she faced Tulnas who was stroking Bustifina’s cheek with her smile. She then turned back to Skullius. “If you can stand one of my attacks, I’ll consider you to have passed. Whether you dodge, block or counter doesn’t matter to me.”
Skullius raised his brow.
He didn’t have a habit of underestimating opponents but being looked down like this, perhaps rightfully so was something he wasn’t used to especially after introducing himself as a Mage.
He had been showered with praise and high regard and while this didn’t get to his head, he thought he would right this wave out for a while.
“Alright then. Let’s do it,” Skullius said.
The ladies drew back to give Skullius and Renialid some space.
Most of them didn’t think Skullius was in any capable of reaching to an attack from Renia as that was the thing that the First Flower wanted to test.
A fighter was useless if they couldn’t react to to incoming attack, regardless of their arsenal and while all the ladies could agree that the Discount Human looked appealing, they just couldn’t give him the benefit of the doubt with his Foundation Stage strength and white mana core.
Renialid and Skullius drew back, the Discount Human turning to Red Rage who didn’t move away like the others.
“It’s alright, bro. I can take care of myself,” Skullius said with a smile.
The Apostle conveyed that he wanted to help Skullius and show some of the progress he had made over the past days but the Discount Human denied him the chance.
There would be plenty of time to show what he could do later but the Discount Human wanted to show his individual prowess.
The Apostle nodded and drew back.
Tulnas was interested in seeing how Skullius could handle this. Regardless of the result of this little show, he was still going to bring Skullius with him but a win for Skullius would increase Skullius’ value in his eyes.
More of a reason to want to break off his engagement with Silrat..
The Guilder gripped Bustifina’s waist tightly in excitement.
“Hmm~” the girl squirmed under the powerful grip.
“Here I come,” Renialid said as she lowered her stance, her white dress rising a little from the soft breeze that whistled from this one movement.
Skullius’ silver eyes took in everything ahead as his [Elevated Mana Manipulation] made sure he could sense every subtle detail about Renialid and Renialid alone.
‘Here we go,’ the Discount Human thought as right at this moment, he activated all of them simultaneously even before he saw Renialid move.
All of them!
In the same instance, as his eyes never left everything in front of him, something started to overshadow his vision!
A hand.
A hand magnified in his vision as shockingly, Renialid had covered the eight meter distance between them before he even realised it!
…!
On top of this speed, Skullius felt from this hand that was merely inches from his body, a a force that sought to drew him closer to Renialid’s figure!
‘Perhaps he still has some ways to go before his Class Branching becomes anything of note…’ Tulnas’ thoughts rang out as he watched all this quite vividly.
It was as if time slowed to a halt as this happened, but the Discount Human didn’t panic.
He had expected something ridiculous like this.
In fact, he had expected something more as if it was only this much…
WAAA!
A radiant light shone over the entire room with gorgeous aesthetic, a ripple of tangled and chaotic energy shooting Skullius!
…!
Tulnas and all the ladies in the room were taken by surprise by this sudden occurrence!
In fractions of a second, Renialid’s movement that everyone was sure would catch Skullius off guard, was…
FFSSSH!
The brilliant light that had replaced Skullius’ figure zipped away from view, escaping Renialid’s hand at a tremendous speed!
Another shock slapped everyone in the face as in the next moment, the brilliant light didn’t move away but bolted behind Renialid, seemingly about to attack!
WHUUUUUU!
A sound like a air being sucked for something grand rang out as a thunderous noise blew out, most certainly from the collision of whatever the brilliant light had shot to Renialid’s figure!