—-


    Like Kieran, the others also leveled up. However, they didn’t reach the same milestone he did. Their milestone was achieved back when Kieran cleared the Underground Labyrinth. In fact, most of the team being Lv.30 yed a major in holding back the first wave of Desertborn Brigands.


    Lv.30 was where most normal sses gained ess to C-Rank skills, allowing them to deal higher amounts of damage or be more viable in crowd-controlling higher-level enemies.


    The attacks Altair used to simultaneously thwart the three Desertborn Henchmen’s advance and therge spell released by Alice were examples of Lv.30 skills. The only difference was that Alice’s skill was categorized as a Specialized Skill, molded to agree with her magical talents.


    Meanwhile, Kieran brought up the skill menu immediately. Three skills received a bright icon in recement of their previous dull state. From what Kieran could tell, one of these skills appeared to be another passive while the other two were actives, one of which he was already familiar with.


    ┌───────────────────


    [?True Berserker Skill?]-


    ?Lv.30?


    Seething Ichor – SS – ?Passive? – 100 SP to learn


    Blood Wave – B – ?Active? – 12 SP to learn


    Wrath Eruption – B – ?Active? – 12 SP to learn


    └───────────────────


    Kieran’s eyes immediately widened at the sight of an SS Rank passive. The only rank above this was SSS. In other words, the system judged that this Seething Ichor’s passive outssed even the likes of Blood Mania in its current state. It was important to note that Blood Mania was Kieran’s primary power source. Without it, his ss skills would all be inoperable.


    Noting this fact, Kieran wondered why Seething Ichor was considered more valuable than Blood Mania in the eyes of the system. Before he agreed to spend essentially half of his Skill Points on the passive, Kieran first needed at least this basic understanding._-.


    「 Seething Ichor (Lv.1)


    Skill Rank: SS


    Skill Type: Passive


    Mastered (100%)


    Description: A unique skill that either suppresses or induces the slumbering blood of Argexes. This skill allows the user to control the inherent Manic Rejection produced by fusing with Argexes’ Blood to a certain extent. ?Manic Rejection? can be toggled On/Off at a whim, allowing the user to either receive or ignore healing depending on their desires.


    Consumption: 0


    Prerequisites: ?True Berserker?, ?Blood Mania?


    Cooldown: 0 seconds


    Note: This skill can’t be leveled up. The user will have to explore other means to grasp the power of Argexes’ Blood. 」


    Kieran couldn’t help but stare in awe as he read the skill description. No wonder the system found this skill so valuable; it shone a light on why Kieran couldn’t receive any heals from Sera.


    More importantly, it allowed him to harness this power and control it! While he wasn’t sure how perfect it’d end up being since Argexes’ Blood was an Ancient material, it was better than operating in the blind.


    ‘Let alone 100 SP… I’d buy this even if the system made me sacrifice 1,000! I could already see situations where my natural Lifesteal trait wouldn’t suffice to heal me. Plus, considering the penalties of my ss, I’d rather not suffer any needless deaths,’ Kieran thought.


    Including Wrath Eruption and Blood Wave, Kieran spent 124 SP in one sitting, leaving him with precisely 80 SP remaining. Although his skills were still level one without Crimson Ashrune’s enhancement, their outrageous base damage gave Kieran ample time before he’d need to worry about leveling them up.


    Fortunately for Kieran, he remained in a decent position because skills requiring honed prerequisites had yet to appear. Still, it was only a matter of time before they did.


    Afterward, Kieran looked toward his party members while frowning at the conditions of the caravans. Some of their storage areas had tears on the exterior, while some of the wheels appeared damaged. As for the horses who guided the caravans, they neighed in pain as Kieran softly touched their legs.


    “They’ve been injured. Sera, try healing the horses wounded by the earlier attacks,” Kieran ordered. He continued to look the stallion in its eyes while brushing its mane. “You’ll be alright big fe; help is on the way.”


    Sera responded to Kieran’s directive by standing next to him. A soft radiance epassed her staff as she tapped it against the horse’s leg. The pained neighs gradually subsided as it made a noise unlike before. It then looked Kieran in the eyes as if it were thanking him.


    “What the… You’re telling me we can heal animals?! What in the world is going on?” Bastion sputtered as he dropped his shield to rub his eyes. He didn’t expect to see something unheard of. After all, yers and NPCs were generally separated in other game titles.


    As a result, yer skills had no effect. However, that wasn’t the case with Zenith Online. It didn’t aim to establish a set boundary between yer and NPC.


    “What’d you expect of a game that boasts lifelike hyperrealism in its news segment? Most people may have regarded it as a joke or an advertising scheme, but it is as they advertised. The realism is increasing,” Kieran answered.


    “Well color me surprised. I’ll be damned… I still think the news people are liars, though—you can’t change my mind about that,” Bastionmented.


    Kieran shrugged in response. “I don’t intend to because I somewhat share the same view. But… we digress. Check the caravans and see how damaged they are. Based on that information, we’ll have to modify how fast we travel.”


    “Understood,” Bastion nodded.


    The others quickly followed suit and analyzed the damage to each caravan. Luckily, the four caravans towards the back werepletely undamaged, but the same couldn’t be said about the two at the front.


    “The wheel’s integrity is almostpletely jeopardized. It probably won’tst even 100 kilometers before it shatters,” Alice said after touching. She gave a bitter smile as she looked up. “I’m sorry, I don’t know Mana Reinforcement; otherwise, I could tend to the wheel with a temporary fix.”


    “No worries, a mage at your level shouldn’t know that anyway. You’d need more time familiarizing yourself with Mana’s intricacies before bing proficient at it. Besides, there’s a simpler fix—head merchant!”


    “Ahh! Coming!” The head merchant called out in a startle. Even though the battle had stopped, the head merchant remained in a fetal position underneath the seats in the main caravan.


    The head merchant cautiously peeked his head outside to check on the situation before widening his eyes and bawling at the top of his lungs. “My precious merchandise! All my money! This isn’t insured… the association won’t reimburse me for these damages… Noooo!”


    “Rx and please shut up; you’re quite annoying. I need to know how many of these caravans are stocked to capacity,” Kieran asked in a harsh tone. The head merchant’s cowardly act wasted precious time.


    “None of them,” the head merchant sheepishly murmured. “We were alerted of the dangers, so I brought more of my caravans to spread the normal amount of merchandise. Besides… the lighter the load, the lower the quality of horses I need.”


    “Tch,” Kieran scoffed. “No wonder that’s your name.” As to what Kieran was referring to, it’s the information that was present on the head merchant at all times.


    「 Lv. 44 Penni Pinchor (Elite)


    ss: Senior Merchant


    Health: 100,000/100,000 (100%)


    Affiliations: Merchant Association 」


    Despite his ssification as an Elite NPC, Head Merchant Pennicked all necessarybat skills. He was essentially useless despite being the highest level person present. His level came from his expertise in establishing deals and performing sessful trades.


    Nevertheless, Kieran continued and tookplete control of the quest’s proceedings. “Well, we need to quickly transfer the merchandise from the severely damaged wagons to the four undamaged and two moderately damaged ones. We’ll then abandon the useless caravans and continue our journey.”


    “W-what?! But the charges I’ll rue for not bringing back the extra wagons!”


    “Oh? So you’d rather wait for another team of brigands to assault you again and lose everything? There’s no telling if they’dunch anotherrge-scale attack,” Kieran countered.


    Head Merchant Penni raised his finger with a troubled expression but soon lowered it. “Y-you… you make a fine point. Let’s get this done quickly. We win some, and we lose some, but I’d hate to lose it all,” Head Merchant Penni muttered while conceding to Kieran’s idea.


    With the help of Kieran, Nemean, Bastion, and Altair, the merchandise on the first three caravans was transferred to the permissible wagons. Those in perfect shape bore the most weight while the other two took moderate amounts of excess merchandise.


    Kieran employed this makeshift fix only because the quest never specified how many caravans needed to arrive. As long as the merchandise made it and the crew remained safe it was a win in his eyes.


    Furthermore, fewer caravans lessened the difficulty for Kieran and the others protecting them. Six people weren’t enough to cover arge number of valuables.


    “What will we do with the horses?! They’ve been healed, but uh… we don’t have the harnesses to attach them to the present caravans,” Head Merchant Penni panicked.


    Like the wagons, the horse also came with a fee if they were damaged, misced, or even worse killed. Andpared to the wagon, the fee was exorbitant. While Head Merchant Penni called them a lower grade, these stallions were still an excellent breed.


    These Obsidian Criollos were considered Grade 3 Mounts. Mounts differed from monsters in that Grades only separated them. The higher their grading, the more durable and valuable they became. Of course, there were other factors such as speed and the like.


    Even with their current Agility, Kieran and Altair paledpared to an Obsidian Criollo’s top speed.


    Still, the mounting skills required were something that no yers possessed currently. Moreover, a mount needed to be tamed before it could be ridden. This could be done by the individual or by enlisting the help of a qualified Tamer.


    ‘I wonder…’


    Kieran approached the Obsidian Criollo that gave him a thankful look earlier. “You should be an intelligent one, aren’t you? Do you mind helping us along on this journey?”


    As if the horse understood his words, it neighed and lowered his head.


    〈System: The Grade 3 Obsidian Criollo has agreed to follow you. Due to its favorability toward you, the requirements for riding have been temporarily lifted.〉


    ‘It worked!’ Kieran inwardly eximed.


    Upon reaching Grade 3, these mounts typically gained enough sentience to understand but not to speak. Since the horse appreciated Kieran’s kind act, it didn’t detest the idea of allowing Kieran to ride it.


    Of course, this olive branch extended to Sera as well. The healed horses neighed in unison as system alerts appeared before everyone.


    ‘I wasn’t expecting it, but this is what you call making something from nothing. It may only be temporary, but it’ll allow us to conserve our Stamina for battle,’ Kieran thought.


    Because there were only three extra horses, everyone had to double up their seating arrangements. Kieran took Alice with him while Bastion took Sera. As a result, Nemean and Altair were left staring at each other in horror.


    “Hell no!”


    “Hell no!”


    Altair and Nemean cried out in unison.


    The entire party snickered, and for good reasons. Altair and Nemean began ying rock-paper-scissors to determine who would take the front seat. In the end, it was Nemean who lost against Altair’s superior Agility and Control.


    “Hahaha,” Altairughed uproariously and in triumph. “Get on there, you sissy!”


    “This is wrong on so many levels,” Nemean groaned while hiding his face. Nevertheless, he hopped on the horse and stared daggers at everyone who nced at him.


    Meanwhile, Altair took the reigns and whipped them. “Hyah!”


    A series of neighs filled the forest, followed by the sound of numerous hooves hitting the ground.