It was as Zac suspected. The man in front of him was not from Earth. The foreign names on the ladder made that painfully clear. Another very obvious point was that there was a group of clear frontrunners in this other world. Seven of the top ten names seemed to be from the same family, with three of them even having evolved.
The fact that there were E-Grade Evolved people among the top warriors of the ladder was a bit troubling. Perhaps the Dominators weren’t the only ones he needed to be wary of.
“What’s the planet you came from called?” Zac asked.
“Planet? Wait… You don’t mean..?” the man said, quickly catching on.
“Yes, it appears we are not from the same place. My ladder is completely different, I don’t recognize anyone on yours.”
“Just my luck to be captured by an offworlder powerhouse,” the man muttered in defeat.
Zac only snorted in response. He had to admit the trio was a bit unlucky, but clearly not as bad as some others, as people were already moving up the hunter ladder by stepping over corpses.
“Did your planet recently get integrated into the multiverse?” Zac asked.
“Yes, around half a year ago,” the man quickly nodded.
“What other races do you have on your planet apart from humans?” Zac probed.
“What?” the man said, looking truly confused.
“Didn’t your world get randomized with a couple of other planets with other races?” Zac asked.
“Well, we got merged with another planet, but I don’t know what other races you speak of,” the man said.
“Explain the forces of your planet,” Zac said.
“I am from the Free states of Fyria, a part of the previous planet called Berum,” the man explained. “The the planet we got fused with is called Medhin.”
“Wait, Medhin, like the ladder?” Zac asked with surprise.
“Yes. Medhin is both the name of the planet and the ruling family. From what we can tell the whole planet was conquered by a country called Medhin thousands of years ago. The war took hundreds of years. Since then the same family has been the regents,” the man sighed.
“Those people are lunatics. They didn’t care some God smashed our planets together, and immediately declared war on every country of Berum. They’re fanatics that have been starved for a battle for millennia, and the Medhin family are their gods.”
“So who are the other three names?” Zac said.
“They are the champions of Berum, and the only ones who can keep the Medhin at bay,” the man explained with reverence in his eyes.
“So you’re in an all-out war in your homeworld?” Zac probed. “How do you handle that alongside the Incursions?”
“Incursions? What’s that?” the man asked with confusion.
Zac blankly stared at the man for a while, until he couldn’t help but ask for clarification.
“Your planet didn’t get incursions when it got integrated? Huge pillars spewing out powerful foreign invaders?”
“There’s no such thing on our planet, there is no way for such a thing to be kept quiet,” the man said with a shake of his head.
This was the first time Zac heard of planets getting integrated without getting assaulted by Incursions. Perhaps launching Incursions was only one of the tools in the System’s belt. Besides, it seemed the other planet was filled with enough bloodshed to create powerhouses through a world war.
Zac kept asking various things from the man, and he dutifully explained everything. He was more than eager to spill the beans on the Medhin empire, such as their looks and estimated powers. Apparently, the Omniscient Eye was a traitor of the Medhin world, and the booklet containing the information of all the top individuals was more thorough on the Medhin side.
At the same time the captive was more fleeting in his explanations of his own homeworld, apart from the fact that they weren’t very technologically advanced, and that they consisted of multiple countries that had banded together to rebuff the Medhin Empire.
As for the Medhin family themselves, it was believed that they were low-level cultivators before their integration even started. It was this power that had made the family stand out, and allowed them to paint themselves as gods.
They had also made their whole empire search for precious treasures to further their advancements, keeping all the best things for themselves. According to Revor, all of them were not only high leveled, but also extremely strong for their levels.
Especially the Emperor himself, Nethorep Medhin, was a true monster. He’d decimated an entire army of elite cultivators by himself, leaving unscathed afterward. Luckily the free states had managed to get their hands on some War Arrays, allowing them to keep the Medhin at bay.
But it looked bleak for them, and they were desperately hoping that this hunt would provide them with the means to turn the situation around. Zac felt bad for the people, but it honestly wasn’t his business. He wasn’t sure he’d ever meet these off-worlders again.
“A final request. Walk inside the temple,” Zac said.
The man looked confused, but he complied. However, after taking a first step inside he stopped. In just seconds he was shaking, sweat running down his back. He was stuck in the array. Zac observed for a bit longer until he grabbed the man and pulled him back out.
Revor’s eyes were red-rimmed and he breathed heavily, but he was freed from the illusion when Zac moved him.
“What just happened?” he panted.
“Illusion arrays. I suspect most places are protected by them,” Zac explained.
For now, that was all the information Zac needed. The Medhin seemed strong, but he was confident in himself. His weak point was that he wasn’t a cultivator, so he couldn’t boost the power of his attacks with a cultivation method. However, he more than made up for it in the sheer amount of attributes.
It was also nice to see that the arrays weren’t broken as soon as he walked inside. Everyone would have to pass the trial to enter the premises of the various palaces. Since the man had answered everything he needed to know Zac simply decided to hand back the token to him. Zac felt no need to get a few paltry points from the man by killing him.
“Can I ask you? From your world, are there people who are able to kill the Medhin royals?” Revor suddenly asked as he held the token in his hands.
“Yes, a few,” Zac said after some hesitation. “Wait, are you leaving?”
“Our meeting was a wake-up call. I am not strong enough to play in these muddied waters. This time I survived, but I fear the next person I meet will not be so benevolent. Good luck, I hope you kill a few of the Royals,” the man said with hope on his face before he disappeared.
Zac quietly looked at the empty spot where Revor just stood. He felt that the man-made a sensible choice. People like him would have a high chance of becoming fodder unless they hid in places were the powerhouses didn’t deign to go. Most would likely kill people like him, even if the points awarded weren’t great.
Zac himself was still a bit unsure how he would go about gaining a placement on the Hunter Ladder. He was reluctant to go on a killing spree just to increase his points.
But soon he decided upon a path. For anyone he encountered, he’d demand their treasures. This was a treasure hunt after all, and it was the Gatherer ladder that provided the most important rewards; the Titles. He needed to be a bit ruthless, and while he wasn’t okay with wanton murder he could live with some highway robbery.
If people complied they would go their own way afterward and find new treasure for themselves. If they tried to attack him, Zac wouldn’t show mercy.
For the point ladder he would simply hunt the hunters. Anyone high on the hunter list should both be strong enough to provide a good amount of points while also being a murderous lunatic. Hunting these people would have multiple positive effects.
First, it would cut away the competition for the rewards. If he killed everyone above him on the ladder he would be the winner. Secondly, it would save a lot of innocent people’s lives to remove those kinds of people from the equation.
Finally, it was the best way to get more treasure. The Top hunters should all be teeming with wealth after a week or two.
After having decided on his path he walked back into the temple. This time he wasn’t assaulted by any array as he passed through the entrance, making him believe that the arrays had likely been modified somehow by the System. As long as he passed it once, the array wouldn’t attack him again.
He walked over to the mat and grabbed it to put it into his Cosmos Sack, but gave a start when he looked beneath it. To his surprise, there was a golden crystal hidden in a groove beneath the ratty mat, fitted perfectly inside.
He quickly picked it up and infused it with some energy. A screen quickly appeared, looking like a book cover with intricate design. The crystal wasn’t a skill crystal, but rather a compendium of knowledge.
As for the subject, it was declared in the title. Luckily for Zac the crystal worked the same way as the information missives from the pavilion, having automatic translation features.
[Eastern Trigram Sect – Formation Ledger, Beginner Compendium]
As Zac looked through the compendium he was getting more and more astounded. This was what considered a beginner compendium? The crystal held almost an endless amount of information, from very simple concepts to very esoteric knowledge.
Learning everything inside the crystal would likely give anyone an extremely robust foundation if one wanted to become a formation master, either as a main Class or as a side profession.
It might not be something Zac had the time to properly peruse at the moment, but it would be a great addition to his town. The knowledge of formations was essentially nil among his people, and if he could nurture a proper formation master he would save a fortune.
Not only would the formation master be able to create new formations, saving Zac the cost of buying them, but any formation actively managed by a formation master would see a great increase in power and efficiency.
Zac quickly put the crystal inside his Pouch and opened up the Gatherer Ladder. As Zac expected he jumped from the bottom all the way up to spot 180. The crystal was obviously a great treasure. But it also proved that others weren’t just sitting around.
Such a great find didn’t even place him in the top hundred. Next, he put the mat inside and noted with some surprise he rose another 48 spots from that addition. Finally, he detached the large painting from the wall and rolled it up.
The painting itself wasn’t considered very valuable by the system, only increasing his ranking by one. But he still kept it as he was curious about that odd feeling earlier before he was interrupted Going by the hidden crystal the painting might help to give insights into array formations. Finally, he wanted to take away the protective illusion array as well, but no matter how he looked he couldn’t find any array flags.
He even ripped off a couple of the wooden planks on the floor to look beneath the temple, but there was simply nothing there. His only guess was that the array was somehow engraved in the structure itself, rather than being controlled by array flags. Unless it was the System who put it in place for the hunt.
Since he was done with the temple he headed outside, pondering on his next move. First, he took out his Automatic Map, but to his disappointment, it only showed the various mountains. He had hoped that it would name the various palaces to guide him toward the more suitable targets, but maybe the map was too low graded.
Since his current mountain was as good as any he started running up toward the peak. A month was a long time, but the area was just enormous. Even if he only slept an hour a day he would only be able to check out part of the area. There was no time to waste.
As he ran he briefly considered whether he should change his face to stay under the radar, but in the end he decided against it. He felt no need to keep a low profile any longer. If someone had a problem with him he’d deal with it one way or another. Besides, with everyone being able to see the Ladder placements of others there was no point in trying to hide.
A sudden rustle in the bushes made Zac look over, only to see a black shape rapidly closing in on him.