“What now?” Pamela asked, worry coating her angelic face.
Before Silvia could say anything, Alecia stormed Evie and confronted her.
“Are you also a spy sent by Black Lion?”
“. . .” Evie took a step back and couldn’t say a word at the sudden question.
Rosie approached as well with a rare frown on her usually smiling face. “I have my doubts before but after what happened . . .”
Rosie palmed her cheeks and had a trouble look on her face. “Tell us the truth, dear. Are you here to get our map and information as well?”
Evie was coated with sweat, which wasn’t due to the heat. Her palms were cold enough to dry the hot magma. She was formulating some good excuse in her head, but she could only manage a “No.”
“Really?” Alecia leaned closer to Evie’s, eyes unblinking and voice interrogating.
Evie looked at the others besides Alecia and Rosie, but the other girls simply looked at her with their questioning gazes, seeking the truth from her.
Ren couldn’t blame them. They would become suspicious of everyone at this point. Even Lucia betrayed them. He wouldn’t find it unfair at all if they were wary about him too.
“I . . . I . . .” Evie was having difficulty forming words. She wasn’t the best speaker in their family, and she was definitely uncomfortable with lying.
Seeing her under pressure like that, Ren moved on his own to defend her before he could even think of what the hell he was doing.
“Calm down, everyone,” Ren said in front of Evie.
Looking at the wide back of the tall man she was sent to spy on, Evie was surprised. He actually defended her?
A stranger?
A girl he barely knew.
Why?
Consumed with these thoughts, Evie could only stare at Ren’s back in a daze.
“Are you in on this too?” Rafaela accused. Her eyes shook, and her chin crumpled. “Could it be that you two are together as well?”
Ugh . . . With emotions and tension high in the air, Ren didn’t know what to say to calm the women’s nerves. He was good at debate and being sarcastic, but he never knew how to speak comforting words to others.
“Enough.” Silvia sighed and went between Ren and the women. “So what if she’s a spy sent to take our map?”
Evie’s brows twitched. It didn’t escape her notice that Silvia only suspected her. And it seemed that she trusted Ren one hundred percent.
“What do you mean?” Pamela asked.
“I’m planning to make the map public anyway,” explained Silvia.
To their shock, Rosie, Rafaela, and Alecia somehow forgot about Robert and the others.
Alecia gaped. “You will? Why?”
“Think about it. Our guild is unknown at this point, and getting firstblood would be hard at our current predicament,” Silvia explained, “however, if we publish Vulcan’s map at a hundred percent that no other guild had ever accomplished until now, our guild would be known throughout the net.”
Pamela’s face brightened. “I see. That’s a good idea.”
Rosie nodded as well. “It’s good press too. Free map for everyone. That would put us in everyone’s good graces.”
Alecia chuckled, and she regained her smile. “We might even become more popular than the one who got firstblood in this cave.”
Silvia smiled when the ladies somehow recovered their cheerfulness. She then looked at Ren and flashed a coy grin. “What do you say? Is my idea good?”
Ren’s lips slightly twitched. Silvia’s plan was indeed fanatic . . . except for one thing.
“I believe that’s going to be an epic move . . . however . . . your guild would be known as the one who completed Vulcan’s map and got firstblood. Nothing less.” This was his first mercenary mission. How could he settle for anything less than firstblood?
At Ren’s confidence, all the women were left speechless.
Some people spouted nonsense with a tone of confidence to the point of being arrogant. But Ren said those words like it was the law. A matter of fact.
Rosie blinked before she bent over and laughed. “Ahahaha! I like you more and more.”
Alecia shook her head with a smile on her face. “And how are we going to do that? All of us are nearing zero MP while you’re only one person. You can’t possibly take on the boss all by yourself. This is the end of the line for us.”
Rafaela sighed though her expression portrayed of satisfaction.” It’s fine. At least we made it this far.”
Ruru nodded while Nikolai felt like crying. This wasn’t how it was supposed to end! His big sisters did nothing wrong! They had done everything they could to stop now. It’s only right that they get firstblood and not the bad guys!
Pamela blinked away her tears and sadly beamed. “It’s fine, Ren. Thank you for your service. Without you, we might not even acquire more than half of the map.”
Ruru nodded her head vigorously though her eyes remained glued to Pii.
Evie bit her lips. The mood was depressing, and it added to her guilt. She couldn’t stomach her feelings anymore, and she was about to say that she still had more than half of her MP and that she would help them get firstblood when Ren beat her to it.
“It’s fine. I’ll be your tank, DPS, and support. All in one. And we will get firstblood. So stop moping around and get going,” Ren said in a resolute voice.
” . . .”
“. . .”
The women’s mouth fell.
Tank, DPS, Support? All in one?
Was there such a thing?
Or did the heat get to Ren’s head?
Ren knew the women needed a little demonstration for them to believe him and regain their spirit.
And a demonstration they would have.
Silvia shook her head and smiled bitterly. Ren’s INT was indeed high. However, he still couldn’t solo the boss with only that. He was still restrained with the cooldown and the amount of MP he had left.
Not to mention that a Mage’s defense wasn’t a priority. And with his INT that high, it was apparent that he was only leveling that particular stat of his and left his DEF in the number the time they first encountered each other.
“It’s fine, Ren. You don’t have to push–”
Before Silvia could finish her sentence, Ren cast four [Water] Spell and directly hit the two Lava Hounds head-on.
–1042 Critical Hit!
[ Lava Hound suffered from SLOW ]
–1072 Critical Hit!
[ Lava Hound suffered from SLOW ]
With four hits, two Lava Hounds burst into tiny hounds, and the other two giant dogs were startled to their feet and released a frightening howl.
“You ladies stay here while I take care of these dogs.”
Before anyone could say anything, Ren leaped into the Lava Hounds’ range and engaged them in battle.
All the others could do at the side was watch with mouths hanging open, petrified at the sudden four [Water] spells that Ren cast in a single attack.
How on earth did he do that?
Was that another part of his hidden spell?
Was a classless Mage that OP?
Should they just recreate their account and become one too?
However, the others still hadn’t regained their bearing when they were stunned yet again when a Lava Hound bit Ren straight on his shoulder. But the man didn’t even flinch and only attacked with his spell again, killing multiple tiny Hounds in the process.
What was more, he was casting while moving. Something that blew their mind entirely.
If the others were shocked by the damage and the four [Water] spells that came out from Ren’s staff, then they were truly convinced that they were seeing things at the number flashing on Ren’s head after the Lava Hounds bit him.
–7
–5
–1
The others rapidly blinked, making sure that they were seeing right. If anyone of them was bitten by the rabid dog spitting volcanic fire, it was +30 to +40, and they immediately had to take [Health Potion].
Just how high was his ATP?
Ren was right. The others thought.
He was the Tank, DPS, and support –– all in one.
Heck, he could even solo this cave if he wanted to!
