Although he hadn't gone all out with his crafting, Kirou had finished the remainder of his spare materials at the end of the first day. Since then, Kirou has been going around the various forests on the northwestern side of the Southern Continent, both hunting for new materials from the various monster and plant life and leveling up his three pets.

So far, each of his pets has managed to reach level 18, while Kirou himself was a few kills away from hitting level 20 himself. After finis.h.i.+ng off the latest group of brown bears, Kirou took a look at stats for each of his pets.

Pet Name: Shadow Arachne

Pet Species: Demon Spider

Pet Level: 18

Condition: Healthy

Skills: Thread Generation, Poisonous Bite, Sticky Thread, Thread Manipulation,

HP: 3480/3480

MP: 2900/2900

Attack: 130

Intelligence: 115

Const.i.tution: 290

Defense: 110

Agility: 95

Pet Name: Tank

Pet Species: Carapace Armored s.h.i.+eld Minotaur

Pet Level: 18

Condition: Healthy

Skills: Reckless Charge, Stone Skin, s.h.i.+eld Bash, Feral Roar, Berserk Transformation

HP: 9780/9780

MP: 8150/8150

Strength: 265 {+50}

Intelligence: 90

Const.i.tution: 815

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Defense: 215 {+50}

Agility: 95 {+50}

Pet Name: Asura

Pet Species: Giant Badger Mole

Pet Level: 18

Condition: Healthy (Mischievous)

Skills: Seismic Sense (Pa.s.sive), Keen Senses (Pa.s.sive), Earth Control, Earth Armor

HP: 5160

MP: 4300

Attack: 150

Intelligence: 110

Const.i.tution: 430

Defense: 280

Agility: 70

Looking over the stats for each pet, Kirou could only release a deep sigh. At first, he was shocked to notice that all his pets were gaining so much experience from each kill they made or took part in. It was only after he did some checks on the forums and the official website for the game on the start of the second day that he realized that this was something that all players were currently benefitting from.

With the update that took place over the weekend, unlocking the first level cap for the game, the game received a new influx of players, which prompted the company behind Immortal Era to give new players an exp buff, allowing them to somewhat close the gap between the first string of players. That being said, the company also gave the senior players an exp buff as well, just that it was much lower in comparison but just enough to keep the senior players satisfied.

While the new players would benefit from a 250% experience buff, all senior players above level 5 but below level 10 would receive a 150% variant, those level 15 or lower would receive 75% while the remaining group above level 15 would only receive 45%, and these buffs would last a full week. The numbers may seem unfair, or even downright biased towards lower leveled and new players, but Kirou was able to see the logic behind it.

Those players that had managed to hit the level cap or got close to it long before the level cap was released weren't simple by any means. Those were the players who knew how to make use of any and all advantages they are given in-game. To prove this point, Kirou took a look at the official website and found the leaderboard dedicated to the levels of the player base. Just within the top 50 places on this leaderboard, players had already managed to reach level 24 and that figure would steadily increase by the day.

Thinking up to this point, Kirou could only shake his head free of those thoughts while looking at his three pets that were currently busy dragging the monster corpses over to him. With his mind free from unnecessary thoughts, Kirou took out his harvesting kit from his inventory and started dismantling the brown bear corpses before him.

Like usual, as soon as he harvested over ten materials above great quality, the corpse forcefully turns into a ma.s.s of light before disappearing, signifying that the system wants him to move on. After experiencing such a phenomenon for so long, Kirou no longer cared about the system's interference with his harvesting. Instead, Kirou used this to temper himself into harvesting important materials first. Well, important to him, based on what he's looking for at that time.

After he finished dealing with those corpses, Kirou was just about to head in another direction to hunt some more monsters when he received a telepathic call. Taking a look at the person calling, Kirou raised an eyebrow before answering, "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Ms. s.h.i.+roa?"

[s.h.i.+roa: Good day, Mr. Kirou. I am calling to inform you that the Sanming Sect will be requiring your services for the coming weekend. After talks with the other guilds on our end, we've secured the entire area with the monster we want for the weekend. Please prepare everything on your end for this weekend.]

Having heard her words, Kirou took a quick look through his inventory, check his various tools before he spoke, "I'll be ready. If there's nothing else, I'll be ending this call now."

[s.h.i.+roa: Please wait for a moment.] Kirou's words had shocked her, prompting s.h.i.+roa to hastily speak this. Now that she had his attention, she continued, [Mr. Kirou, would it be possible for me to personally hire you for a side project of mine?]

Her words caused Kirou to contemplate for a moment before he responded, "That would depend on the kind of job, Ms. s.h.i.+roa. As long as it's not too time-consuming on my end, I don't mind offering my services to you, at a price."

Kirou's words caused s.h.i.+roa to be silent for a moment. It was only after a minute that she decided to speak.

[s.h.i.+roa: As long as your price is within my budget, I'll cater to your terms as is.] Having been apart of the original meeting to iron out the details of Kirou and the Sanming Sect's cooperation, s.h.i.+roa knew better than to try and bargain with Kirou, as that would end up backfiring on her. Instead, she would rather just work with his base price and be done with it.

Kirou sat down and thought for a moment before responding, "My guess is that this is a harvesting job, and what you're after is probably my speed. If that's the case, I'll agree to the job, so long as you are willing to pay me with blueprints, specifically the architecture kind. The grade doesn't matter but I need a few."

s.h.i.+roa was silent on her side for a few moments before Kirou heard her words.

[s.h.i.+roa: I agree with those terms. When can we meet up to start the job?]

"I'm always ready to harvest materials. You decide the time and place and I'll be there." Kirou said this in a relaxed manner, causing s.h.i.+roa on the other side of the line to narrow her eyes slightly.

[s.h.i.+roa: Let's meet up at the same clearing as last time in twenty minutes. From there, I'll lead you to the area that you'll be working in.]

"Understood." Following those words, Kirou ended the telepathic call and turned towards his pets before speaking, "Ok, kids. Your old man has got some work to do. We'll pick this up later." Having said that, Kirou unsummoned everyone and summoned out his Blood Shadow Wolf and made his way towards the previous clearing. He wanted to see what kind of blueprints he'd be able to receive for this simple job.

*******

On the other side of the telepathic call, s.h.i.+roa was currently in an NPC restaurant in SC Pier City, sharing a table with someone. Before s.h.i.+roa sat a handsome man in plate armor, identifying him as a warrior. This warrior possessed short brown hair, similarly to Guardian Knight, but wielded a giant battle-ax as opposed to the sword and s.h.i.+eld that the latter uses. Naturally, this player was Blade Warlord. At the moment, Blade Warlord looked a bit run down but he was still capable of captivating others with his looks.

Seeing that s.h.i.+roa was no longer speaking and was staring off into s.p.a.ce, Blade Warlord spoke up, "So what's the verdict? Will we be able to make use of him in getting those materials?"

On her side of the table, while s.h.i.+roa did hear Blade Warlord's words, it wasn't until moments later that she decided to respond, "He's agreed to help. It's just that..."

Noticing that she didn't finish her sentence, Blade Warlord grew a bit anxious as he spoke up, "It's just, what? Give it to me straight, Ms. s.h.i.+roa."

s.h.i.+roa stayed quiet for a bit. She had her eyebrows locked in a furrow while she was contemplating the words that she should use. It wasn't until half a minute later that she released a sigh before speaking, "He's agreed to help. As for the reward, you won't be able to cover that so don't bother waste any time thinking about it."

Following her words, s.h.i.+roa got up from her seat, prompting Blade Warlord to speak up, "Where are you rus.h.i.+ng off to so quickly, Ms. s.h.i.+roa? I don't think we're finished speaking just yet."

s.h.i.+roa gave Blade Warlord a side glance before speaking, "I'm getting up as I have to go prepare the reward for that person. He'll most likely want to see it before he starts working. Besides that, why are you still sitting down, Blade Warlord?"

Having heard s.h.i.+roa's words, Blade Warlord was a bit confused as he stared at her before speaking, "What do you mean by that, Ms. s.h.i.+roa?"

s.h.i.+roa now turned towards Blade Warlord, doing her best to keep her voice steady as she spoke, "You should be with the others in farming those monsters. Our guest will be here in less than twenty minutes and it wouldn't do for him to be kept waiting when all he's being asked to do is harvest materials from the monster corpses."

Following those words, s.h.i.+roa walked out of the NPC restaurant, completely ignoring Blade Warlord as she had to prepare those architectural blueprints for Kirou. It wasn't until a minute later that one would find Blade Warlord hastily leaving the restaurant and exiting SC Pier City, heading towards the area where his troops were currently farming monsters at a terrible rate.

*******

Twenty minutes later, within the previous clearing.

s.h.i.+roa was currently standing underneath a tall tree, waiting for Kirou to show up. Unknown to her was that Kirou had been there for over ten minutes now, observing her and the surrounding area. While he highly doubts that s.h.i.+roa would try to pull an underhanded stunt against him for this side project of hers when it would put the deal with the Sanming Sect in jeopardy, this was something he still did. It's a habit he'd develop when he was younger and it was this habit that's always kept him safe and alive, so he stuck to it.

Now that it had gotten to the allotted timeframe, Kirou walked out from behind the tree that he was leaning on, surprising s.h.i.+roa in the process as it just so happened to be the same tree that she was standing under.

With his presence revealed and while s.h.i.+roa was taking a few seconds to regain her composure, Kirou decided to speak up, "I like working with punctual people like yourself. Why don't you lead the way, Ms. s.h.i.+roa."

Having regained her composure, just as she was about to speak, s.h.i.+roa was left speechless at Kirou's words. It took her a few seconds before she spoke up, "Wouldn't you like to see the blueprints first, before you start working?"

Kirou released a chuckle. While it sounded normal, s.h.i.+roa could almost instinctively feel the danger hidden behind it as Kirou spoke up, "I'm sure you'll provide me with ample compensation without me having to see it ahead of time. I highly doubt you are the type to go back on her word during a deal. Besides, I'm sure you're already aware of the consequences you would face in case you did so I don't really mind having you surprise me. With that being said, please lead the way."

Hearing Kirou's words, s.h.i.+roa was sure that there was a hidden threat that she missed but she could only release a sigh as she led the way. As they traveled, a random thought entered her mind that she couldn't shake and she prayed didn't come to fruition.

'I really hope that b.a.s.t.a.r.d, Blade Warlord, doesn't do anything to ruin this or the sect's dealings with Kirou. If he does, I'll be the first to string him by his b.a.l.l.s.'