Three weeks later.
Theo stood in front of his teammates. They had returned to the Art Beats Castle safely and strong as if they were not like their previous selves.
Theo's face was tired, but he still maintained his calm, saying, "We have finished our assignments. All of you should get rest soon and send me the footage of the hunts later. I will hand it to the instructor."
"No, no. I will be the one finishing the matter. You've worked too hard, Theo. You deserve to rest." Alea waved her hand.
Theo closed his eyes and recalled what happened in the past three weeks.
After killing the two Hero Rank monsters, the group continued their hunt, focusing on Alea and Ellen.
Theo commanded them and made plans after plans. It was tough because he also needed to hunt during the day.
That was why Ellen often helped him a little bit by making him something warm every time. Phyrill wanted to help, but Theo knew that his health had been deteriorating, so he didn't wish to burden him more to avoid anyone from collapsing.
And he couldn't trust Sihan and Laust, so he decided to agree with Alea's suggestion, knowing that his data would be safe in her hands.
He nodded and said, "Alright. I will leave everything to you."
"Yes."
Before dismissing them, Theo looked down for a moment, falling into deep thought. 'Alea and Ellen had reached Level 250 a few days ago… I think Alea has surpassed Level 270 while Ellen is around Level 260, but that's just my rough calculation.
'Although I couldn't reach my target, my level is already quite high, so I don't think I will lose against people from other countries. This is the best thing I can do for the team, so I guess I should leave it at that. Well, I'm curious about Alea's blessing skill she received right after becoming a Hero Rank Expert since she keeps saying that the skill would help her tremendously after she can control it.'
'There is still a need to update my status in the Temple too… Argh, I still have many things to do.' Theo let out a long sigh and decided to finish his tasks one by one.
"Let's return then. I am tired." Theo sighed.
"How about coming to my house a few days later? We can update our status together since I have the necessary equipment." Alea winked her eyes to Theo.
Phyrill was the first to recognize her plan in poaching Theo and wanted to stop her, but Theo had already rejected her. "No thanks. The temples are more trustworthy."
"Wha—" Alea dropped her jaw, but the latter already turned around while saying, "Alright. Dismissed. Let's talk in the group chat later."
The others ignored the shocked Alea and followed Theo to the Teleportation Circle.
Laust returned almost immediately while Alea decided to visit her grandfather at first. Ellen took a ride in Sihan's car, leaving only Theo and Phyrill standing in front of the circle.
Theo didn't go home immediately after noticing Phyrill's condition.
While waiting, Phyrill started telling him a certain story. "Theo… Do you know why I want to recruit you? This time, it's for a genuine reason."
Theo didn't open his mouth as if saying he was listening.
"I guess you're fine to know about this. My blessing comes from a werewolf."
"That's not the first time I've heard it."
"Yes, of course. But there is one thing that not many people know. The werewolf is not an ordinary werewolf." Phyrill smiled and continued, "It's the first werewolf. My twisted head actually comes from the blessing… Yes, the one who gave me a blessing is a legendary king of Arcadia, an impious and cruel king who tried to trick Zeus into eating human flesh, Lycaon.
"Due to the origin, I received a curse along with it as well. It's my tiny and weak body. I have a way to overcome the curse, but it's not possible unless I'm a Hero Rank, if not Supreme Rank. That's why I would like to apologize first if I end up letting you down. And you see, I have a sense of threat against Alea or any other people who have blessings… Except you. I feel like I can trust you."
Phyrill decided to tell him his origin to warn Theo before the big important event.
Theo closed his eyes and thought, 'Hmm? Lycaon? Zeus? They're both from Greek while mine comes from Norse Mythology… Or does it make sense considering both of them are into trickery?'
He couldn't find the answer, so he redirected the topic. "You're too tired and started mumbling unimportant things."
Obviously, Theo acknowledged Phyrill and Ellen as only those two who helped him during the entire ordeal, but he couldn't trust him fully yet.
"Is that so? I'm probably too tired, I guess." Phyrill's lips curved before he turned around, finding that the car that was supposed to pick him up had arrived. "Do you want a ride?"
"It's fine. My house is not far." Theo shook his head and watched Phyrill waving his hand with that pale face until he couldn't see the car anymore.
Theo then walked back to his home, opening his status.
Name: Theodore Griffith
Status: Elite
Level: 193
EXP: 13451/100459
Blessing: God of Mischief
Skill: Swift Energy (D), Clone (D), Cannon Blast (D), Magic Bullet (D), Haste (E), Telekinesis (D), Blink (D), Elemental Shield (D), Illusion Multiplier (D), Illusion Manipulation (C)
Attributes: Strength 290, Endurance 169, Agility 178, Vitality 165, Magic Power 290
Free Attribute Points: 0
After a long six months, he finally reached Level 193 from Level 7. He didn't know what to say as nostalgia filled his heart.
"I have ranked up all my skills to D Rank, except for Haste. Maybe I should search for a replacement tomorrow when I submit all my missions to the temples while updating my own status."
He stopped for a moment and took out all his skills from the backpack while muttering, "I wonder which one is a good skill to upgrade. I think everything has gone exceptionally well this whole time other than my level and I can utilize the help from the government to rank up another D Rank Skill along with my money, so I will end up with four C Rank and six D Rank Skills… It's awesome."
"In that case… I will rank this skill up." He had considered this skill to be the most useful to fight against humans, so he wanted to rank it up once more.
Five D Rank Skills and ten E Rank Skills quickly disappeared from his hand as he saw the new upgraded version of his skill.
Skill: Blink (C) – Upgradeable
Upgrade: Fuse 10 rank C skills and 30 Rank D skills
Effect: A Skill that allows the user to teleport to fifty feet from them. Due to the current skill rank, the user has a limited amount of distance. The distance can be increased by upgrading the skill.