As soon as Hans accepted, he asked. "How confident are you?"

If not for Jason giving him information, he wouldn't give him the time of day. His guild master was relying on him getting this hunting zone. Normally he wouldn't rely on outsiders for this, but his confidence was lacking. Why not take a chance?

Jason thought for a moment. If he said 100%, Hans probably wouldn't believe him. He decided to take a more sensible approach. "75%."

Hans released a breath. That was more than enough for him. "What do you want?"

"To partake in the bloodlines this zone has to offer. Only enough for myself." Jason's demand was reasonable.

Their conversation only took a few seconds. Hans nodded and said aloud. "He's our newest member."

"Fine, then. I don't care." Ivan felt that something was off, but what did he have to worry about? His guild members were among the strongest humanity had to offer. Only those freaks in the top-tier guilds were stronger.

The members of Crusaders looked at Hans in confusion. He feigned a look of confidence, which a.s.sauged their concerns. The thirty members of Crusaders placed their hope in Jason. Two losses back to back had been a hard blow to their morale. They were hoping for a miracle.

Ivan turned to a muscular woman clad in thick tan leather. "Anna."

"No problem." Anna pulled out a pair of longswords adorned with jewels and stepped forward.

Jason's eye twitched when he saw her weapons. d.a.m.n. These guilds are decked out. Anna's weapons were an obscure pair of Arcane grade weapons. Although a grade lower than Heroic, they were a two piece set. Because she had both of them, their power was on par with a Heroic grade weapon.

Jason's equipment was lacking compared to his opponent. The best grade he had was Rare, one lower than Arcane. It couldn't be helped. These upper-tier guilds were filthy rich due to fighting in the tower for twenty years. Jason had just started, so no matter how much he abused his knowledge, his foundations were nowhere to be seen.

Anna gave Jason a smile. "Want me to lend you some equipment?"

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The members of Vengeance chuckled behind Anna, boosting her ego. Jason shook his head as he pulled out his sword. "No need."

One of the Vengeance members suddenly commented. "Why does he have a turtle on his head?"

Strange looks appeared on everyone's faces when they found a sleeping turtle on Jason's head. Jason stood as still as a statue, unsure of how to respond. Thankfully, a man wearing cloth robes used the inspect skill and exclaimed. "It's a pet! The species says battle turtle. How lucky!"

"A pet!" Everyone grew startled. A pet was extremely rare. The only way to acquire them was to purchase them for a vast sum, or be lucky and get them as a drop.

"Let's get this over with." Ivan snorted impatiently. He had seen a few pets, so he figured Jason had just gotten lucky. Ivan began to countdown. "Three, two, one. Begin!"

Anna let out a fierce bellow as she activated Leap. She flew into the air, barreling straight towards Jason. In not even a second she slammed into the ground, forming a small crater. A shockwave swept out, stunning all opponents in the area for one second.

Leap was no secret among the ascenders who reached this floor. Upon encountering it, a simple step backwards would avoid the stun effect. Anna counted on it. As soon as she landed, she activated Charge. Her movement speed spiraled upwards as she entered a status immune state.

Much to her disappointment, Jason blocked her follow-up attack with his s.h.i.+eld. He angled it in such a way that her attack was pulled to the side. Anna's eyes widened as a thought flashed through her head. An expert!

The realization changed nothing. She was a barbarian. Her style of combat was to be relentless, so as her attack was deflected to the side, she followed the momentum and spun around, activating Tornado. Her figure blurred as her swords collided against Jason's s.h.i.+eld. Time and time again Jason was pushed backwards.

Tornado was a skill which had an infinite duration, but would consume stamina every second. The attacks were unending, and most foes would fall from the skill. Any moment now Jason would buckle from the pressure. Any moment now.

"Do you want to die?" Jason's cold voice cut through the air.

Anna snorted. In her mind, she would win any second. Her opponent was only threatening her like a cornered dog. Suddenly, her vision swam as something collided into her side, knocking her to the ground.

In a fury, she shot to her feet. "Who dares to inter-!?"

She froze when she realized that it was Ivan who knocked her to the ground. Anna was in disbelief. Why would Ivan interfere, knowing that doing so would result in a loss.

"You dumb musclehead! Do you not feel any pain?" Ivan shouted in anger and pointed at her chest.

Anna glanced down, only to be thunderstruck. Her body was covered in small wounds. Shocked, she inspected her health and found that it was nearly zero. She turned to Jason. "How? You didn't attack a single time!"

Jason rubbed the back of his head. "Reflect damage."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. He'd never heard of an ascender having that before. "Is that a skill, or an effect from an item?"

"Who knows?" Jason shrugged and walked over to his starting position. "One-to-two, right?"

Ivan clicked his tongue. Although it wasn't rare to encounter a new skill, to have it happen now was annoying. The good news was that it was easy to counter. The next battle would be his. Ivan turned to a giant man with a rugged beard. "Cheslov, you're up."

"I got it, boss." Cheslov dragged a ma.s.sive broadsword along the ground as he walked forward.

Ivan grinned as he began to count down. "Three, two, one, begin!"

Cheslov gripped the giant broadsword with both hands and took in a deep breath. To win the battle, he only needed to hit Jason a few times. Such was the power behind the weapon. Unfortunately, the broadsword was so heavy he needed two hands to lift it. To counter its slow speed, he used area of effect skills to guarantee a hit.

Cheslov charged forward, awkwardly dragging the broadsword behind him. Jason stood still, watching with amus.e.m.e.nt at the clown in front of him. Cheslov roared as the veins on his arms popped out. He raised the beast of a weapon overhead and slammed it into the ground. Ground Slam was activated, dealing damage to all targets in the area.

Jason casually activated s.h.i.+eld Block and stepped forward. As the damage was negated, his sword cut through Cheslov's arm, severing muscle, tendon, and bone. It fell the ground with a thud, shocking everyone.

Cheslov released a deep guttural groan as he fell to one knee. He clutched his shoulder in pain. Several members of Vengeance ran forward. "Cheslov! Are you okay?"

Ivan appeared next to Cheslov and poured a high grade health potion down his throat. As Cheslov's health was restored to full, an arm appeared in a flash of light. With the pain gone, he stood up and glanced at Jason before turning around and leaving the area.

A member of Vengeance clicked his tongue. "d.a.m.n, he's in that mood again."

Ivan turned to Jason with a frown. "Are you a tank or swordmaster?"

Jason shrugged. "Who knows?"

Getting the same response two times in a row irked Ivan. A member of Vengeance, equipped in cloth robes, whispered into Ivan's ear. "I cast inspect. His health and stamina are still over 80%."

"d.a.m.n it." Ivan clenched his hands in frustration. He turned to Hans and spat. "Great new recruit you have, so d.a.m.n lucky!"

He turned around and waved to his allies. "Let's go."

A heavy weight was lifted from Hans' shoulders. He had been surprised when he saw Jason easily handle Anna, and shocked when Jason severed Cheslov's arm. Most striking was how calm Jason was during the entire ordeal. His eyes were like a hawk, able to see through everything.

Hans called out to Ivan. "Haha, isn't there still another round?"

Ivan glanced over his shoulder. "Don't push your luck. Next week, we'll be back. Who knows, maybe we'll have a 'new recruit' too!"

"Good luck!"

As Vengeance disappeared, the members of Crusaders surrounded Jason. "d.a.m.n, how do you reflect damage? That's overpowered!"

"Overpowered? He casually severed Cheslov's arm! That's a rare as h.e.l.l skill!" Another member of Crusaders commented.

Jason scratched his cheek. "Not really. The majority of reflect's damage is blocked by physical armor."

The members of Crusaders pressed Jason for more information on his skills, but he declined to give out anything more. A few moments later, Hans shouted. "Alright, alright. That's enough. Squad one, go determine how strong these hyenas are. Scout squad, go verify the map we bought and see if its correct."

Hans gave out a flurry of orders. In but a few short moments, Jason and Hans were alone. Hans patted Jason on the shoulder. "Thanks, I owe you one."

Jason shook his head. "As long as I get a spot to grind in, we're even."

"Of course! I'm a man of my word." Hans paused briefly before narrowing his eyes. "How about joining my guild?"

Jason declined respectfully. "Sorry, I'm already in one."

"Oh." Disappointment flashed through Hans eyes. "Might I ask for the name?"

Jason coughed. "Uh, it's a new guild. We don't have a name yet."

Hans blinked in confusion, only to understand a second later. "Ah, you're starting your own guild. A man of your caliber should have no problems with that."

Hans extended his hand. "If you need it, Crusaders will gladly be your ally."

Jason didn't bother to clarify Hans' misunderstanding and shook hands. "I'd be delighted."

"Come." Hans turned towards the hyena hunting ground. "Let's see if this was worth the effort."