The highest Trial would only be challenged on the last seven days of the timer. At this time, the Tyrants would gather and five to all seven of them would challenge the highest Trial. It had been this way ever since the completion of the tenth Trial and hadn’t changed since. For it to happen while there were still thirty days left was unprecedented.

  Time restarted in the Trial.

  “What the fuck!?” Felsley shouted. “There was plenty of time before the last week!”

  Had the Witch Tyrant pushed up the schedule just for him? No, it was more likely that his situation lined up with whatever they had already planned. He could have just as easily stayed on Earth, too afraid of Latarro to attempt the Trial… or, Latarro was part of their plan.

  He’d gotten flushed out by a hero, then pushed into a Trial. He could almost see the plot.

  Damnit, he was getting sick of dealing with [Mages] and their mindgames. He sighed.

  Valee’s team instantly went on the defensive.

  “Trifront!”

  A barrier appeared in front of the [Mage] and the [Warrior] stepped up in front, shield up. Valee took up the middle position, taking a low stance with her bladed tonfa gauntlets out. The half elf [Warrior] started reaching for her crossbow.

  Ryan shook his head, unimpressed.

  “Touch that crossbow and you all die,”

  All three of them were tense. Their leader met his eyes, her blades glinting in the light.

  “What now? We can’t leave with the desync on.”

  “Just give me a moment to think.”

  “Fuck that, we have to fight,” the [Warrior] hadn’t gone for her crossbow but she was ready.

  Ryan looked the half-elf [Warrior] in the eyes.

  “Adele Schmidt, aka Marickle the [Warrior], has parents that have passed the fifth realm and they’re proud of you, [Double Blow], [Power Strike] and [Instant Block]. One merged skill, [Powerful Double Blow].”

  Marickle went dead white. Then Ryan turned to Felsley as he flinched.

  “Asif Syed, aka Felsley. The Destined of the team. No fancy parents. Favors a single sided [Barrier], [Firebolt] and [Magelight]. No merged skill but is good at managing his mana and okay at multicasting.”

  “What the fuck?”

  “Finally, Valee Dubois, Aka Vaillee on Realmnet. She prefers Valee and clearly wants the public to give her a title that’ll allow her to use her actual name. Dragonslayer parent but barely ever mentions him.” Ryan shrugged. “Other than to use his name as a shield I guess, [Quickened], [Enhanced Senses] and [Double Strike]. Possible hidden merged skill but unlikely with those choices.”

  Now the orc [Rogue]’s hands were shaking.

  “Fucking hell. Felsley, your dragonshit blog you dumb fuck.”

  “Everyone does it! You approved too, you loved the videos!”

  Felsley wasn’t wrong, did it. Nobody expected to be attacked by other adventurers in the lowered realm and skills weren’t too varied.

  It still wasn’t good when a ‘teamkiller’ was staring you down after having listed all your skills.

  Ryan didn’t have time for this.

  “Relax, I’m saying if I wanted to kill you there’d be nothing you can do.”

  “So you scouted us, you planned all of this.”

  Valee focused back on him, his Epic’s passive was working overdrive on her now. Ryan just had to hope it would work in the right way.

  “Yes, it would be a difficult fight but one I would win, remember I have pistols,” Ryan lied, “you all have great foundations and are ambitious, but that means none of you have brought firearms or have a real game changing move.”

  Valee gritted her teeth, Felsley looked unsure what to do and Marickle was still dead white, he could see her shield shaking. Ryan had no idea how to reduce his Epic's influence when he was in such a dominant position… wait he did.

  He dropped the bullipede tusk onto the ground, then took a step back. He even put his hands up, nothing in his palms.

  “I’ll give you all an offer, you can stay around the portal and leave when it’s back open.”

  “That’s awfully generous of you. How are we supposed to trust that? How do we trust that the army won’t just sweep us and force us to fight?”

  She was still in fight or flight mode, her gauntlets were clenched tight, sweat was starting to bead on her forehead. It looked like his ploy of stepping back hadn’t worked as he’d hoped it to. He was still in too far of a dominant position.

  Ryan had to use logic instead.

  “I’ve never attacked an adventurer that hasn’t tried to attack me first.”

  “Bullshit, what about your first team?”

  “Have either of you actually seen an interview and explained what had happened?” Ryan asked coldly, “or was it all hearsay as the Guild tries to cover for the children of dragonslayers?”

  He was painting a vague bullshit picture for the team to eat up, funnily enough Zedart hadn’t gone on an interview and of course, neither had Gamielle. It also wasn’t a lie that both of them were children of dragonslayers either.

  It worked well considering Valee’s [Enhanced Senses] could be used as a rudimentary lie detector.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  They started faltering at that. Valee’s eyes darted to him then back at her team.

  .

  “I let Zhenyu’s team live. Ever wonder why he was silent about his encounter with me? It wasn’t because he was ashamed, it was because he owed me one for letting most of them live. I could have set an example. Killed all of them. Including the Realmbound.” Ryan pushed. “I let Garbolt’s team go the first time and I didn’t kill any of the outpost team.”

  “We can’t verify that last one.”

  But Ryan could see it in her face, she was caving. An encounter where the opponent knew all of your skills and tactics was the last thing an adventurer wanted to face.

  He had one last card to play.

  “You know what? I’m going to give you another offer instead. What if you all help me in my quest instead? I’ll share the description and everything else.”

  Ryan saw the look of surprise as they got system notifications on his offer. Now that was hilarious, he was the one making the offer.

  “We still can’t-”

  “I think I’ve made my sincerity clear enough,” Ryan said, no longer letting them doubt his offer. “But if even that’s not enough then here, consider this an early payment.”

  He kicked the bullipede tusk towards them. They froze as they saw a boss weapon, gifted like that.

  Then he leaned in and smiled.

  “Besides, don’t all of you want to know what an S-grade clear feels like?”

  Adventurers and their greed.

  –

  Valee and her team were reading their quest description.

  The ‘fugitive’ Artigan had changed their Trials completely on their head then offered a deal like he was a boss of the Trial. Valee couldn’t just make the decision alone.

  “Team?”

  She still kept her eyes on Artigan. She wasn’t sure how they were going to deal with a firefight. How many bullets could Felsley’s barrier take? Five? Six?

  Marickle shook her head.

  “Hell no. What if the Guild finds out?”

  “Felsley?”

  “I don’t like it but I don’t think we have an option.”

  So it was her decision then, Felsley always did this to avoid responsibility. She just wished the stakes weren’t so high.

  “I have one question. If you’re going for another S grade clear then wouldn’t us helping you decrease that?”

  Artigan looked at her weirdly, like he hadn’t considered the problem at all, her [Enhanced Senses] were looking for any inconsistency, any tonal shift or a change in the beat of his heart. It wasn’t perfect, some people were just naturally good at lying, or he was being genuine. There had been actual, true outrage towards Zedart and Gamielle. She knew better than anyone how dragonslayers could act.

  Artigan just scoffed at her.

  “I’m already speedrunning this realm. I’ve soloed a mutated bullipede, took over an outpost and I’m going to slaughter an army. Do you really think I’ll end up with anything less than an S grade?”

  Then Artigan tilted his head like he just remembered something. “Also Latarro the eighth realm is picking a fight with me and I've just completely outmaneuvered him. Should help I guess.”

  He added that bit like it was just an afterthought.

  When he put it like that…

  “We accept the deal.”

  Valee stepped forward and picked up the ivory tusk.

  There really wasn’t a choice.

  “I’ll take on the demon army, you three can deal with the human one,” then he paused, “huh, looks like you can deal with the racist scout yourself.”

  At least she’d enjoy that.

  –

  Ryan jogged away from the adventuring team, making sure the trees broke the line of sight between him and Valee’s team. They told him where the enemy camp was likely located and he’d set off.

  Something large tumbled away from him, Ryan shook his head as a grizzly bear with bone spikes on its back started sprinting away from him.

  He laughed, feeling good about that whole encounter.

  Now he just wanted to know what the hell was going on in The Realm.

  –

  An orc was happily roasting a huge chunk of meat over a volcanic fire pit. The vent belched red miasma that gave the perfect singe to the meat he was cooking. Just like that good [Chef] had shown him.

  Though, he wasn’t a [Chef], he was a [Chief]! He chuckled at his own joke as Paul looked up. Newcomers! It would be understandable if they thought he was a [Chef]. Especially once they tasted his food.

  “Welcome, welcome friends! Have you come to eat?”

  He knew they weren’t friendly, but that was okay, too many people treated him like a dangerous monster anyway. He had to be the first to reach out so they wouldn’t be so afraid. A good meal might help make them friends.

  A masked man bowed slightly.

  “Afternoon Chieftain Tyrant.”

  The [Chief] put his hand up. Gesturing for him to stop bowing.

  “Please don’t do that, just call me Paul. I’m an adventurer just like you.”

  Paul heard the words as clear as day. He perked up

  “It’s time already? Is Mezhar coming?”

  Mezhar was a good kid, no, he was a man, uh–elf, now. He didn’t care that Paul was called a tyrant or that he was a scary big green orc.

  “I’m here Paul.”

  A voice echoed out from far away, Paul waved at the distant figure. There was Mezhar! Just in time too!

  It wasn’t long before Mezhar and his team were situated at the fire pits with Paul, the others shied away from the meat he was cooking but Mezhar took a bite. Then he started coughing.

  “Ah, too long? It is a little spicy.”

  Mezhar shook his head and looked at him.

  “You know why I’m here don’t you?”

  “Of course, friend!”

  They all looked at the portal the Chieftain Tyrant was guarding. It had been his turn to stop anyone from trying the highest Trial. Too many big secrets, too many things laid there that Paul wished nobody would learn. But Mezhar’s eyes were firm and steady, the adventurer and his friends already knew a lot of it.

  They chose to go forward despite it.

  Paul drooped.

  “Go ahead. Just don’t die.”

  “Thanks Paul.”

  –

  Three masked dragonslayers appeared in front of a large building in sector one. The city was not even a tenth as large as Ulverra, nor did it border a leveled zone. There was nothing here beyond a System portal that made the city stand out.

  Nothing in particular but a single resident.

  An ordinary looking Indian man in casual clothes appeared in front of them, no armor, no weapons. Just a single pouch tied to his belt. He shooed away a wide eyed Realmer that had spotted them. The man turned to look at them, disappointment in his face.

  “You know what this building used to be correct?”

  “An orphanage.”

  The leader of the three dragonslayers answered with an altered voice. This orphanage was the man’s home now.

  It had stood and nurtured orphan Realmers until it was no longer needed. Now everyone that was orphaned was taken up by those very Realmer orphans that had grown up.

  It was a touching story, not that the three dragonslayers cared. The ordinary man nodded.

  “Yes, so now you stand here. Taking a city with the children I’ve helped raise as hostage.”

  There was threat in the tone, but no aura, no fleck of magic or a change in the eyes.

  “We aren’t alone, even if you kill us there are others that are waiting nearby. You aren’t capable of stopping our attacks alone.”

  This unassuming man was the Shadow Tyrant. Despite standing in front of three dragonslayers, he had no presence or aura or any other marks of superhuman nature. Not a single one of them could tell he had any power of any sort.

  That made the trio uneasy most of all.

  The seemingly normal human man just sighed.

  “I’ll give you one warning, leave now and I’ll forget all of this.”

  “We must ask you to stay here. All we ask is twenty minutes, then we’ll leave.”

  “I wouldn’t go help Lihua, even if you all had never come here.”

  “We can’t trust you on your words alone. Apologies, Shadow Tyrant.”

  The man sighed.

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