"Good job defeating the King of the Forest, I was right to give you this quest, East Wind!" Abest claimed while smiling proudly at the party, then he looked at me. "And my disciple, you did a good job helping them as well, as I expected."

He must have caught onto how I was trying to conceal my real ident.i.ty but...

Why didn't I get any praise too?! What a cruel mentor….but, of course, I don't have the guts to say that to his face.

"Yes, sir!" I responded while bowing my head humbly.

[Quest cleared successfully!

New t.i.tle: Aid

'Mentor's Trust' has been obtained due to the amount of contribution]

"Now, I wish to speak with my disciple in private, please give us some privacy." He said to East Wind with an insisting nod towards the exit.

Oh, must be the next chain of the quest.

"Sure thing! Hey Yuka, we'll wait for you at a bar called 'Heavenly Abode', you can come to find us and then we can split the loot!" Tania cheerfully yelled out while leaving with the rest of the party to reserve a private room. "See ya there!"

Watching them leave, Abest then warned me.

"They are very powerful adventures, but you must have already noticed the extra presences. Am I correct?"

"Yes, sir. I have already laid out a suitable plan to exterminate them, you do not need to worry."

Hearing my ready response, he wryly grinned.

"Of course you have, you're my disciple after all! Well then, after you deal with that, there is a certain person I want you to meet soon. He is the overseer of this town, go to him with this badge."

Handing me a small silver badge with an eagle engraved in it, Abest wordlessly walked off to find new rangers to torment.

[Disciple of a Legend - 9/12

The road is not easy, successfully wipe out the suspicious presences around the East Wind and then head to the Overseer's Mansion

Failure: Loss of experience and the hidden quest chain

Success: Helm of Retribution]

??? Well, that's pretty vague. I guess I'll just go with the plan I had in mind and then go see this overseer guy then!

Taking my time, I headed towards the location that Tania had sent me, making sure that the presences I had noticed were still following my every move.

Heh, well this is getting quite interesting.

Arriving at the coordinates, instead of finding a bar I found myself in a deserted alleyway with my back at a dead end.

Suddenly, all the presences revealed themselves. I was surrounded by a group of six men and a very familiar female.

"My my, Lyssia I wonder what this is about?" I asked with an innocent tone while tilting my head to the side.

"Tch, is your pretty face just for show? Obviously, this is a robbery, hand over everything you have." She said while threatening me, motioning for her men to close in.

"Oho, so you didn't have the b.a.l.l.s to do it yourself so you hired these fine men eh?" I provoked in a laid-back stance with my hands behind my head. "Well that's fine, I can have fun with all of you!"

"Hah, the only way you saved Violet is because of your items, you're not even on the leaderboard! There's no way you can take on seven players at once, hand over the stuff, Yuka." She ordered while wearing a dark sneer. "Admit defeat and we might even let you go!"

No, I'm afraid I've taken on more than just seven before...and I am on the leaderboard.

"I've never heard a sentence that is so far from the truth you know."

"You can stop it with the nonsense and bluffing. Get her."

At her command, the six men rushed forward at once.

These guys are weak. No tactic, no formation, no coordination. Probably the worst crew you could hire. But their individual skills aren't too shabby! If they were put into better-suited groups, they could be more formidable, but I can still enjoy this fight.

I'm not a battle junkie, I'm just interested in fighting!

"Yes! That's what I wanted, come at me all at once!" I laughed while vaulting over them by kicking off the wall.

Before they recovered from the shock of their target disappearing, I grabbed onto Lyssia's neck and flung her like a bowling ball towards them.

Mhm, that was a nice strike if I do say so myself!

Before they could get back up, I took out my bow and shot each thug between the eyes. Instantly killing all of them. Confirming their deaths, I tucked my hair behind my ear and sighed in dissatisfaction.

"Ah…..seriously? That was so boring. Why didn't you get people who could put up a decent fight huh? I know you have the ability to do so~!" I taunted while looking at the lone figure who was picking herself up from the ground.

Looking around at the fading lights of the men with terror, she turned towards me in rage and sheer confusion.

"H-how? How. HOW!?!? WHAT TRICKS?" She screamed while backing herself against the wall.

Oh? Looks like our positions are now changed.

"What do you mean 'how'? I simply killed them. I guess they averaged level three at most right? Petty things."

Lyssia's face paled as she trembled against the wall, disbelief plain on her face.

"No way...every Asterios can't do something as easy as that! What type of bug is this!? I've never heard of something named Yuka!"

I cackled while observing her reactions. I put my bow away and sat down on a beat-up wooden crate.

"Of course you haven't, no one has! Heck, I don't even know if there is someone called Yuka that plays Sapphire." I plainly stated while keeping a keen eye on our surroundings for reinforcements or witnesses.

She froze in confusion at my words.

"What? But, your....not…....who are you then?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. This girl really does have a fast recovery rate! Her manipulation and lying skills aren't bad either. But the way she figures things out while stuck in a corner is very rare!

"Ah me? Well…"

Without answering her question, I opened up my inventory and equipped my gloves. Then I flipped up my hood. Seeing the hummingbird design on the back of my left hand, her eyes opened wide in shock.

"Lynx. The mysterious first ranker who kills people while humming. That's you!? Why were you hunting with us then!?! We don't stand out, we don't have anything valuable! If you wanted to kill Asterios then you could have done it earlier!"

"Lyssia, you have once again amazed me at the amount of information you have! I have to say, your thinking ability is quite good. Too bad they let you down this time." I exclaimed in an interested tone, walking closer towards her.

Intimidated by the blood-thirsty aura I intentionally gave off, she shrunk back and desperately pleaded.

"Wait! Don't kill me I don't have anything good!"

"Oh? And why would I trust you?"

Stopping my advance, I silently watched as she racked her brain for ideas. She knew what position she was stuck in, if she got me angry there was nothing she could do but delete her character and restart.

"H-how about I give you information on Asterios! Or the East Wind! Or even better, I'll sign a contract that gives you all my stuff!"

"Hmmm, I'm not interested in things I already have."

Nonchalantly shrugging, I slowly resumed my steady advance towards her until we were only a few centimeters away. Fear was evident on her face and her long blond hair was in a mess.

"I know! I'll work for you, if you let me go I promise to leave and never go near you again. I'll leave my party and guild!"

Nice, now that's what I wanted to hear. But first I needed more information.

"Then tell me, how did you get Tania to work with you? Is she willingly doing so, bribed, threatened? You should know what happens if I find your answer false." I questioned as I raised my pitch-black knife under her chin, staring deep into her shaken and frightened azure eyes.

"Y-yes. I forced her to help. I-I threatened her with private information."

"How interesting," I said as my grin widened underneath my hood. "Well then feel free to send me that information hm?"

Rapidly tapping her shaking fingers, she immediately sent me the threats through private messages on my Lynx account.

Hopefully looking at me, she glanced at the exit.

"W-will you let me go now...ma'am?"

Ma'am? The heck, I'm not that old…

I sneered underneath my hood and drew in closer until our noses were almost touching.

"Pffffft. Who said I would let you go?"

Hearing this, Lyssia's face turned stark white as all hope disappeared from her eyes.

"Oh but don't worry, I'm not planning to kill you. But you have to answer this question." I muttered with my knife pressing against her throat.

"What would you prefer, Heaven, or h.e.l.l?"