Chapter 138: B-Rank [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]

Alex smiled faintly when he saw the notification. His guess had been correct, and it seemed he could temper his body by damaging it and then healing the damage through Faith. Although it did not appear to be as effective as Aura tempering based on what Stefan and Tina had told him about their own stat growth, it was still valuable. Especially because Alex did not have either Faith or Aura.

The increase in Mind was a welcome gift for the risks he took.

He left the apartment and headed toward the meeting room. Before leaving, he noticed Kevin and Ben practicing in the corner, but he did not interrupt them and continued on.

Inside the meeting room, he found Stefan, Zach, Tina, Holland, Ophelia, Sophia, and Robert. Stefan was teaching something to Tina, Ophelia, and Zach, and since four three of them were Warriors, Alex assumed it was some kind of Technique.

"What are you teaching them?" Alex asked.

"A defensive technique. It won’t be enough to stop a full-powered attack from a Wild Orc, but it can save their lives if they find themselves in a dangerous situation," Stefan replied.

Stefan’s eyes lingered on Ophelia for a moment as he said that. Alex also looked at her and noticed that she seemed to have already grasped the basics needed to perform whatever technique Stefan was teaching, which once again showed how talented she really was.

"What rank is the technique?" Alex asked.

"B-rank. It’s called Earth Brace," Stefan answered.

Alex nodded, although he was slightly surprised inwardly. A B-rank technique was quite valuable, yet Stefan was teaching it to members of Alex’s faction without asking for anything in return, which made it seem like he was making a serious effort to maintain a good relationship between their groups.

Alex reached into his inventory and took out the Level 17 Gene Potential he had obtained from the Wild Orc before tossing it toward Stefan. Stefan caught it and was about to say something, but Alex spoke first.

"Take this. I’ll also give you a Mid-rank Species Gene Potential later when I find one, and I’ll try to make sure it’s at least above Level 5. And no, you cannot refuse. I’m not taking Earth Brace Technique for free," Alex said.

Stefan closed his mouth and smiled bitterly. He had clearly intended to make Alex owe him a favor by teaching his people a B-rank technique, but after Alex promised him a Mid-rank Species Gene Potential, the situation had reversed, and Stefan was now the one who owed Alex a favor.

"Alright, let’s talk about something important. We’re leaving soon, but before that, I need to know two things. Did you also get a map from your Tutorial Quest 5, and what is your new Tutorial Quest?" Alex asked as he stood beside the table.

"The new Tutorial Quest is to defeat a Street-Level Boss. I’ve checked Dwitter, but no one seems to have any idea what kind of monster a Street-Level Boss actually is, and I’ve also asked the CIA Special Service Agent, so hopefully I’ll get some useful information. As for the map, this is the one I received," Stefan said as he took the map from his inventory.

He placed it on the table beside them. It showed San Francisco, just like Alex’s map, but there were two noticeable differences between the maps: the locations of the red and blue crosses were different.

The red cross on Stefan’s map was only a few streets away, which was likely where he had completed Tutorial Quest 5 and received the map. The blue cross, however, was in the opposite direction from the location marked on Alex’s map.

"Your blue cross is in a different location. Mine is here," Alex said as he took out his own map and placed it beside Stefan’s.

The two of them looked at the maps for several seconds before looking at each other. The similarity between the maps, combined with Alex and Stefan’s new Tutorial Quest, made the answer fairly obvious.

"The Street-Level Boss is at the blue cross area, isn’t it?" Stefan asked.

"We get a map from one Tutorial Quest, and then the next one tells us to defeat a boss, so yes, I think that’s what it means," Alex replied.

He kept his emotions under control as he looked at the map. He could not afford to let his worry about his sister interfere with his judgment right now, because worrying would not save her.

He needed to act.

"What?" Robert muttered from the side.

He was staring at the map, as if he could not believe his ears. Alex and Kevin’s sisters’ high school was located in that area, meaning the Street-Level Boss could potentially be there as well.

Alex met Robert’s gaze and saw the worry in his eyes. He looked so concerned that anyone might have thought it was his own sisters who were in danger, and Alex understood the feeling.

He then looked toward Sophia, who immediately understood what he wanted and nodded. She left to talk with Kevin, who was still in the temporary apartment practicing the Body Reinforcement Spell with Ben.

While they were talking, Alex continued practicing his Advanced Battle Instinct Spell. It was still a new spell, so he needed to become accustomed to its effects, and he was also continuing to improve his Blood Vitalization Spell.

With the appearance of Advanced Battle Instinct, his mana control had increased tremendously. He could now compress much more mana than before, which allowed him to increase the boost his Blood Vitalization Spell provided to his blood cells by a considerable amount.

"A Street-Level Boss. Didn’t you say that the leader of the Wild Orcs might be in that direction? It could be the Street-Level Boss that your map is pointing toward," Stefan said after thinking about it.

"I think the same," Alex said.

..

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