The fight with the Eight Absolutes .
The outline of the quest was quite clear now .
Although Ian's curiosity raised the difficulty of the quest a little more, it wasn't a quest that would drag on .
Once the battle with the Eight Absolutes was done, the quest would end .
'Okay then, the eight battles will all be over by today . I can join the war after I finish this quest . '
That was all Ian needed to do .
The difficulty of the quest was slightly increased since he asked for information about the users .
Woong-!
[After 10 seconds, the first opponent will appear . ]
[Prepare for battle . ]
[The first Absolute of the Desert Tribe, 'Kaizek' of the Magellan Tribe . ]
After seeing the message, Ian took a deep breath and waited for his opponent to appear .
There wasn't much to prepare for the battle .
The only weapon that he could use was the 'Judgement of the Spirit King' and the only skill that he could use was the 'Selamus Warrior' .
'By the way, the name Magellan sounds a bit familiar…'
Ian was able to realize why the name Magellan was so familiar .
Magellan was the desert tribe that the DarkRuna guild was a.s.sociated with during their first arrival on the Central Continent .
The Magellan was the only desert tribe that remained so far .
'The Absolute of the Magellan Tribe… its cla.s.s would likely be a warrior or an a.s.sa.s.sin . '
Ian tackled the Magellan tribe countless times, which was why he could make a rough guess about the opponent .
After a while .
A white light appeared, and a typical a.s.sa.s.sin came out as Ian's opponent .
[Selamus Warrior, Prove your worth to me!]
Woong –
A voice resonated within the white fog that was spreading into the surrounding .
Ian nervously looked at the movements of his opponent .
'a.s.sa.s.sin . The toughest cla.s.s right in the beginning . '
When he was with Kaka, there was no reason to fear the a.s.sa.s.sin cla.s.s .
With Kaka's inherent abilities, even the most powerful of the a.s.sa.s.sins were useless .
But now, Ian didn't have Kaka, so there was no way he could relax .
'My opponent's level and basic information are all hidden . Should I test the waters a little bit first?'
Whilst Ian was thinking, his opponent, the a.s.sa.s.sin quickly ran towards Ian .
Thwatt – !
Ian's spear and Kaizec's swords clashed .
Their confrontation made Ian smile .
'What is this? This guy is weaker than I imagined . '
It was because the power that he felt from Kaizec's swords when it came in contact with his spear was weaker than he expected .
That increased Ian's confidence by a lot, making him wield his spear with pride .
Kkang- p.h.u.k-!
Ian's spear went through his opponent's sword and was able to hit Kaizec's shoulder .
Unless there was a difference in skill, there was no way Ian—even after having the range advantage because of his spear—could've managed to hit an a.s.sa.s.sin with two swords .
The moment Kaizec's shoulder was pierced with Ian's spear, he disappeared like a mirage .
Phat-!
However, Ian didn't panic .
Since his opponent was an a.s.sa.s.sin, he knew the possible tricks his opponent could do .
'Back…!'
The skills that Kaizec used, was a cla.s.s that Ian knew well about .
It was one of the hidden skills that many a.s.sa.s.sins have, s.p.a.ce .
It was a skill that allowed one to move to their desired location in a short distance if activated at the moment of receiving damage . It was a technique that was preferred by a.s.sa.s.sins who prefer a technical battle style .
Since the skill's cooldown time was short and the consumption value was small, it was possible to use it constantly if the user had great control .
However, there was one flaw to this skill . If the opponent had a good visual acuity, their position could be grasped .
As soon as the skill was activated, the after image of the one who used the skill would shake .
That was the skill's biggest flaw .
Srrrk-!
When Ian felt the s.p.a.ce distort, he turned the spear and pulled it up .
He turned around and strongly swung his spear .
The location where Kaizec moved was right behind Ian, and Ian just pushed his spear by predicting accurately where his opponent would show up .
It was a move that couldn't be stopped .
Nor could it be avoided .
Kw.a.n.g-!
[Fatal damage was done to the Desert Absolute Kaizec . ]
[Kaizec's vitality has been reduced by 275090 . ]
Being struck by the spear, Kaizec bounced onto the floor .
What made that happen was Ian's precise blow .
Yet he didn't leave Ian .
Thwatt –
Ian began to move around along with Kaizec .
He thought that if he could keep hitting his opponent then, he could win .
However, Kaizec wasn't that easy to deal with .
Kaizec, who regained his balance, just as his name—Absolute—implies, quickly responded by lunging at Ian with his swords .
Ian was a little fl.u.s.tered, but he remained calm and held onto his spear .
He used the lower part of his spear to block Kaizec's attacks .
When Kaizec's sword met with Ian's spear, it made a blunt sound .
The distance between them opened up instantly .
Kaizec, who felt that his attacks were unsuccessful, kept moving .
They were getting close to each other .
The two of them gazed at each other and checked the distance between them .
Kaizec suddenly decided to speak .
[Great . A warrior who can challenge the Absolute . ]
Ian looked down and answered him .
“Thank you for your kind words . ”
Kaizec continued .
[By the way, did you know that the Absolute of the Selamus has never appeared after Eos?]
Kaizec's question made Ian think for a moment .
He remembered what he heard from Eclipse .
“That's right . I heard that there was only one Absolute in the Selamus Tribe till now . ”
[Then, did you know that there were way too many Absolutes for the other tribes? Even our Magellan Tribe produced around 5 Absolute after me . ]
“Ah, That was something I wasn't aware of . ”
[Other tribes, except the Selamus had a minimum of two Absolutes so far . Ah, the descendant of Seril came not long ago . ]
Ian started to listen closely to what Kaizec was trying to say .
He didn't think that his opponent would attack in the middle of a conversation, but he was prepared if that would happen .
[Why do you think is the reason there hasn't been any Absolute for the Selamus till now?]
“I'm not sure . ”
[The reason is simple . For a long time the summoners have been training to develop their combat capabilities through their pets which get sealed rather than developing their own combat abilities . ]
“Aha…”
[As a result, the arrival of the second Absolute of Selamus was much later than the tribe of Illuosin, a tribe of priests . The gateway of Sky is the only gate through which you must pa.s.s through . ]
“In the end, this game is against summoners, isn't it?”
[Nothing of that sort . A wizard or priest isn't much different than a summoner . They also get skills sealed in the gate . The warrior and knight cla.s.ses are advantageous cla.s.ses, but it would be wrong to say that summoners are the most unfavoured . ]
“Hearing that makes sense . ”
Ian wondered what Kaizec wanted to talk about .
After a moment, Kaizec spoke again .
[But you seem different . ]
“Wha . . what was it?”
[You are better than any summoner who has ever come through the gate . ]
Kaizec held his swords and made a stance .
Ian was looking closely, waiting for Kaizec to speak .
[Normally, I don't do this… but I will do my best . Even if you don't win, you'll still be able to win the next three battles with your skills . ]
Hrrr-!
A black thing spread from Kaizec's entire body .
He picked up his swords hanging on his back instead of his daggers . He put his daggers onto his waist .
Ian spoke while pouting .
“Ah, can't you just fight normally?”
Kaizec smiled and said .
Not the voice from the air, but the voice from his mouth could be heard .
“I can't do that . I just met an opponent who managed to bring out the long lost pa.s.sion inside my heart . But it won't be the first for you . ”
Chuk- Chuk –
Kaizec's demeanor changed . He now started approaching Ian and said .
“I don't think it will, but if you win, I'll give you a very reasonable reward . ”
Kaizec started to wield his black swords .
Bae Cheol-Hoon, an ordinary 30-year-old worker, was rus.h.i.+ng to work after taking his meds .
Bae Cheol-Hoon was sitting on the subway chair with stooping shoulders while tapping onto his phone .
However, his expression was kind of revitalizing .
“Huh, these are the only ones?”
He was swiping his phone's screen up and down .
What appeared on his smartphone was 'Betting Kailan' .
It was kind of a Sports app in a way for the large scale war that was happening in Kailan .
Bae Cheol-Hoon recently made a lot in Betting Kailan .
The maximum amount of bet was 3000,000 won, and the amount he earned in the last two weeks was around 8 million won .
It was due to the defeat of the high ranked guilds that he succeeded
'Keu, thanks to Lotus Guild, I'm now a salary picker!'
In fact, he was never earning that much in betting .
Due to his personality, he liked to choose between those whom he liked and even those whom he didn't .
It was the same for this bets too .
The Lotus Guild's Guild Wars attracted the attention of many users .
Cheol-Hoon betted on Lotus Guild till their 7th consecutive win .
On their 6th war, he was a bit tiled to support the opponent, but he eventually decided to walk along with Lotus and it was a huge win .
Today was the day for betting on the 8th war that would be held tomorrow .
He didn't hesitate to bet 300,000 cash on Lotus today as well .
It was around 15 times the dividend, and the users' opinion didn't seem so good . However, he still decided to go with Lotus .
'What the h.e.l.l? Did anyone guess that Lotus would win the 7th and 6th war?'
On the 5th war, the thought of Lotus winning seemed hard for anyone to accept .
There wasn't any disdain towards Lotus, it was just that most of their troops were consumed in the war .
Even in the current war, there was a shortage of troops inside the Lotus Guild, so the dividend went up .
'Yeah, this is what has happened . I'll place the bets carefully on a tie from 8th to 12th . '
He stopped momentarily and went to another window .
He placed all his bets on Lotus .
There wasn't any basis on why he did it .
If he would bet like that, there was going to be a chance that not even a single penny would come back to him, but he would earn a lot if he wins .
“Keu, yeah! This should be enough!”
He put back his smartphone into his pocket .
If he wins, then he would earn a huge amount with his 300,000 won .
There was no ground for it, but for some reason, the G.o.d of gambling seemed to be helping him .