Chapter 86: (2). Empire Quest -3


    Salias was quick to act.


    As soon as he decided to dispatch his knights to the Hignds of Firmament, an expedition was


    formed with Heim as its leader.


    Once Ian joined the group, they started to move.


    ‘What? We just leave like that?’


    Ian believed the journey would be startedter on, with tomorrow being the fastest.


    He was surprised, ‘Is it because this is a game? I like how fast it is proceeding, but…’


    He was also a little worried about joining the expedition without any preparation.


    It would be strange for him not to be worried. They were heading to the most dangerous hunting


    ground in Kan that had never been explored.


    Even though he was with the Imperial Knights, no one knew what dangers awaited Ian.


    ‘But there were fewer of them than I thought.’


    The expedition force wasn’t that big.


    However, Ian broke out into a cold sweat when reading the member’s information.


    ‘That Imperial Guard has the lowest level, and he’s Lv.150…’


    Among the high-level knights, there were some who were over Lv.170.


    ‘Then, what is Heim’s level?’


    Ian wondered how high Heim’s level was, but his information was closed.


    ‘Maybe over Lv.200?


    The expedition kept moving while Ian thought like this and they soon arrived at the edge of the


    Wastnd.


    The Wastnd was located at the border where the Luspell and Kaimon Empire met.


    It was quite far from Muran.


    However, with the help of Imperial Sorcerers, they had teleported to a town at the edge of the Empire.


    Therefore, it took less than an hour for them to arrive in the Wastnd.


    “This is the Wastnd.”


    Heim nodded, “Yes. Monsters will show up soon, be ready.”


    He was slightly friendlier to Ian, who thought this was great.


    ‘If he didn’t change, I would be suffocated to death before we even reached the Hignds of


    Firmament…’


    Ian summoned his pets one by one and prepared to fight.


    Now that Ian had reached Lv.100, he thought he would be able to help the knights a little even when


    fighting monsters over Lv.130.


    Plus, he was aiming at something.


    ‘NPCs that fight with me together during the quest are recognized as my party members…’


    If he moved toward the Hignds of Firmament while hunting powerful monsters in the Wastnd


    with the strong Imperial Knights, he would get quite a massive EP on the way.


    Ian looked at Hali following him from behind.


    ‘And his Potential is 100 now…’


    He couldn’t hunt while doing the quest in the Forest of Love, but he had used the Training skill so


    Hali’s Potential had reached 100.


    ‘Now all my pets’ Potential must be at 100.’


    Ian checked his pets’ information.


    Just as he remembered, all of them had 100 Potential.


    ‘Now it’s time to use the Bestowing Skill on Pet….’


    He didn’t feel the need to use the Bestowing skill because all the pets he got had decent Unique


    Abilities.


    It would be bad if he used a Bestowing Skill on a pet with good skill and received a useless one.


    However, it would be a waste to not use the skill when the Potential was at 100.


    ‘Who should I Bestow a skill on…’


    Ian thought about it and decided to use the skill on Ly.


    ‘I really need Big Guy’s Abyss Hole and Rake’s Breath of Lava… and Bukbuk’s Erging Shell is


    doing its part so far, so…’


    He couldn’t Bestow a Skill on Hali, either.


    He would soon kill monsters in the Wastnd and then Hali would gain levels in no time. He couldn’t


    afford to decrease the Potential he had worked so hard to raise.


    Ian called Ly, “Come here.”


    Growl-


    Ly came to him, next, Ian put his hand on Ly.


    He thought about changing his mind but Bestowing a skill on Ly seemed the best choice.


    ‘Frenzy is quite good, but… I wish he gets something even better.’


    Ian made up his mind and activated the skill, “Bestowing Skill!”


    A white light engulfed Ly.<ul><li>You used Pet Bestowing Skill on Ly.</li><li>Ly uses 20 Potential points.</li><li>Your pet Ly’s Frenzy skill is deleted.</li><li>Your pet Ly learned the [Frantic Dance] skill.</li></ul>


    With that, information of Ly’s new skill came up.


    [Frantic Dance]


    Category: Active Skill


    Skill Rank: Rare


    Cooldown Time: 30 minutes


    Attack Force and Speed are increased by 50% for 10 minutes. Defense Force is decreased to 50%


    …


    Ian was a little disappointed when checking the new skill.


    ‘Uh… this is not better than Frenzy…’


    It was a buff skill simr to Frenzy, but it had a higher increase and decrease of stats.


    Although its cooldown time was shorter, it didn’t have the option of additionally increasing the Attack


    Force when inflicting a fatal blow. Therefore, it was not really better than Frenzy.


    Ian thought about it for a while and decided to Bestow a skill once more.


    ‘Yes, I should try to get a decent skill.’


    He would feel like losing if the skill he gave Ly by using its Potential was not that different from the


    former skill.


    Ian used the Bestowing Skill on Ly again.


    However…


    “Ha…”


    This time, Ly got a Regr rank skill.


    Ian’s hands shook, ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have done that…’


    And yet, Ly still had 60 Potential left.


    Ian didn’t want to stop at a useless Regr rank skill.


    It was simr to when betting 200 dors and winning 90 would make you feel better than betting 100


    dors and losing everything.


    Ian activated the skill again, ‘Please!’


    System messages were announced.<ul><li>Your pet Ly learned the [Thirst of Blood] skill.</li></ul>


    Ian hurried to check its information.


    [Thirst for Blood]


    Category: Active Skill


    Skill Rank: Hero


    Cooldown Time: 15 minutes


    Attack Force and Speed increase by 30% for 3 minutes. All attacks get faster by 40%.


    When the skill is activated, all the attacks will be doubled when inflicted on enemies with less than


    30% of Health left. If an enemy is killed, the pet recovers 20% of maximum Health.


    (This effect is applied only when the attack of the pet is thest attack that kills the enemy.)


    …


    Ian barely managed to stop himself from cheering out loud.


    ‘Yes! This is worth 60 Potential!’


    It was a Hero rank skill.


    Moreover, it was a great enhancing skill, fit for a Hero rank.


    Ian was very satisfied, ‘Ly’s role is to kill enemies that are almost dead because of the wide-range


    attacks… so this skill is perfect for him.’


    Ly, who was also satisfied, rubbed its head against Ian’s waist.


    Grrrr- Grrr-!


    ‘I will never mess up with this skill for a long time.’


    Ian let out a sigh of relief and stroke Ly’s head.


    Then, he looked forward and muttered, “I want to use this new skill quickly…”


    And then…


    The front of the group signaled the presence of enemies.


    Buuuuu-!


    A Horn was blown while all the Guards and Knights got ready to fight.


    Heim came to Ian, “Can you fight with us?”


    First, Ian checked the enemies, ‘Thunder Falcons… about Lv.132. There are about 10 of them.’


    If he had been alone, he would have to run for his life immediately but, with the Imperial Knights, he


    thought he could protect himself.


    Ian answered, “Yes, Sir. I will be fine.”


    Heim looked a little worried as he nodded, “I trust you. However, do not try to do too much. My


    Knights might be disturbed by you.”


    The could hurt some people, however, Heim was right at worrying about the coordination between


    his knight.


    Ian agreed, “I see.”


    The battle soon began.


    Ian ordered Big Guy as usual, “Big Guy, try to capture as much as possible with the Abyss Hole.”


    Drrrr-!


    Big Guy went to the Thunder Falcons and used his skill.


    Kuuuuoooo-!


    Abyss Hole had quite arge range, but the Thunder Falcons were a Speed type high-level monsters.


    They didn’t just go into the Abyss Hole.


    Plus, Big Guy’s Speed was a lot lower than his opponents’.


    It only managed to capture two Thunder Falcons with the Abyss Hole.


    However, that helped quite a lot.


    “Rake, Breath!”


    Rake’s Breath went over the stuck Thunder Falcons and the Imperial Guards jumped at them.


    Ian quickly ordered Ly.


    “Ly, Thirst for Blood!”


    Grrr-!


    Ly’s red body started to glow even redder.


    He lunged forward with immense speed.


    Once the Thunder Falcons were attacked by the Guards, their names started to blink. Ly pounced on


    one of them.


    Then, it showed its white teeth.<ul><li>Your pet Ly inflicted critical damage to the Thunder Falcon!</li><li>Thunder Falcon’s Health decreases by 7250.</li><li>With the Thirst for Blood effect, it inflicts 7250 additional damage.</li></ul>


    Ian was satisfied to see Ly use its new skill with great efficiency.


    ‘He made about 15,000 damages in no time. Rake inflicts about 20,000 damages with his Breath, so


    that’s quite satisfying.’


    Rake’s Breath was a wide-range skill and had a long cooldown time, so it couldn’t really bepared


    with Ly’s skill.


    However,paring them taught Ian some things.


    The Thunder Falcon’s neck was then pierced by a Guard’snce that came in immediately after Ly’s


    attack.


    The Thunder Falcon had a high level, but the Guard was almost at Lv.170, so all the remaining Health


    was gone with one blow.


    Ian grinned widely to see the new messages.<ul><li>You killed a Thunder Falcon. You gained 10,500 EP.</li></ul>


    ‘Ka! Even though the EP was divided I still got more than 10,000.’


    The Guards and Knights received a smaller portion of the EP than Ian had expected, probably


    because they were NPCs. Therefore, he received a huge amount of EP.


    Higher than the amount he used to get when he hunted alone in the Ancient Arnobil.


    Additionally, he was hunting much faster now.


    Ian wanted to bow to Heim.


    ‘Thank you for your help.’