Guild Profits, Recovering

Around the same time that Kirou was busy, having a man to a minotaur boxing match with Tank, both Reya and Navi were currently walking towards the guild building for Sanming's Alchemist Guild while quietly laughing with each other. The two were without disguise so they were easily recognizable. Upon seeing their approach, the group of players standing before the guild building's entrance became alert and started eyeing the duo.

As soon as the duo got close to the building, they were stopped by a group of players. Following this, the warrior with dashing looks approached the duo and spoke, "Well well well. If it isn't the illustrious guild master of the Alchemist Branch. How are you doing on this fine day, Guild Master Navi?"

Both Navi and Reya stared at the man before them. Reya even went as far as to have contempt for the man blatantly showing in her eyes as she did so but she kept quiet as Navi spoke up, "I'm doing just fine Guild Master Blade Warlord. Would you mind having your group clear a path for me to enter? I need to drop off some things in the guild before heading out once more with my associate here."

Having heard her words, the warrior with dashing looks, now identified as Blade Warlord didn't show any anger or impatience on his face but allowed a smile to form instead. Contrary to this, however, was the fact that the group of players now made sure to surround the two elf women, blocking the sight of anyone that would be passing by. Following this action, Blade Warlord got closer to the women before speaking in a somewhat quiet voice, "You know what you'll have to do to get past me, don't you?"

Hearing his words caused the two women to adopt a frosty expression on their faces. Seeing this reaction from the two caused Blade Warlord's smile to become even more pronounced as he stared at the two women. It seems like he's the kind of guy who likes getting women angry.

After staring at Blade Warlord for a bit, contempt and anger laced in her expression, Navi spoke up in an equally quiet voice, "Why are you interfering with the Alchemist Branch, Blade Warlord? You currently run the Assassination Branch and are a member of the main team for the Head Branch. What is your purpose in harassing me and my branch like this? Aren't you afraid I'll report this to the members of the Head Branch?"

When Blade Warlord heard her questions, he started to chuckle. This chuckle then turned into full-blown laughter less than a few moments later and this continued for a minute or two before the laughter died down. After regaining his composure, Blade Warlord then spoke up in a voice that only Reya and Navi could hear, "It's quite simple, Secretary Yin. I'm doing this to get in your way and force you into submission. I'll continue bothering you until I get my way and I don't mind causing the Alchemist Branch to suffer while I do this. As for you telling the Head Branch on me, go ahead. You know as well as I do that they encourage this kind of behavior for the guild branches to compete for resources. They might admonish me in public but you know that's all they'll do. Especially since I'm a member of 'that' team belonging to the guild."

"You..." Reya started to say before Navi stopped her. Blade Warlord looked at the two with a smile still on his face, wanting them to do something so that he could retaliate but that chance never came as Navi kept her cool. Navi looked at Blade Warlord with anger while gnashing her teeth before she took out an item from her inventory. The item was a blueprint. When Blade Warlord saw this item an excited gleam flashed within his eyes but he forced himself to remain calm and composed.

Just as he was about to reach for the item, however, Navi pulled it back and spoke, "Clear a path, then you get the blueprint." When Navi said this, there was a certain emotion in her voice that Blade Warlord noticed but couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

Blade Warlord let out a snort before speaking, "And how am I supposed to trust that you'll actually give me the blueprint once you get that path?"

Navi looked at the warrior with dashing looks before her with contempt before speaking, "Because unlike you, I keep my word. Either you clear a path and let me and my associate pass, or I just learn the blueprint right here and now and then report you for getting in the way of the studio's profits."

When Blade Warlord heard this, his eyebrows started to furrow. While it was fine for him to mess with Navi and the Alchemist Branch, he couldn't actively sabotage the guild's profits, otherwise, he would be in trouble, pro player or not. After contemplating for a bit, he spoke up, "Let me see what level blueprint it is, then I'll clear the path for you two."

Navi then sent Blade Warlord a trade request. After he accepted, Navi placed the blueprint within the trade window, allowing Blade Warlord to look over the details of the blueprint. Seeing that it was an intermediate plant harvesting kit blueprint, a flush of excitement appeared in his eyes but he forcefully suppressed it once again. Giving him enough time to look, Navi then canceled the trade, prompting the window to disappear.

She then looked towards the scowling Blade Warlord with indifferent eyes before speaking, "My path?"

Blade Warlord changed his scowl to a smile before stepping back. Along with this movement, he gave a signal to his men, prompting them to clear a path for the women and all three approached the guild entrance together. After the three made it to the guild building's entrance, without even sparing the warrior a look, Navi sent him a trade request which he quickly accepted and gave him the intermediate blueprint. Following the conclusion of the trade, both women disappeared within the guild building, leaving the warrior and his men in front of the entrance. Since they weren't members of the Alchemist Branch itself, nor was the branch guild building located on Sect grounds, the warrior and his men couldn't enter the building.

Outside the building, the warrior looked at the blueprint within his inventory with a smile on his face that he could no longer suppress. One of his men approached him after a moment of contemplation before speaking up, "Boss, what are your orders?"

The warrior kept smiling for a bit longer before he calmed himself down and spoke, "We've achieved our objective from this branch. Withdraw the men for now and have them return to their normal duties. As for the spies, have them keep watch of the duo's locations at all times. I'll be heading over to the main guild in a bit, after taking care of a few errands." Following his words, Blade Warlord left the area with a steady gait, disappearing within the crowd of players walking the area. The man then relayed the warrior's words to the remaining men, prompting them to leave the area either on their own or in groups, going about their own business.

As for the two women who were just extorted of an important blueprint, they were currently looking down at the group breaking up from the second floor of the guild building, both with frost and mirth in their eyes.

************

Kirou was now lying on the floor next to a two-meter tall shield minotaur, Tank. Both currently had less than five percent of their health left and neither felt like moving. The two have been like this for more than ten minutes now. He was currently looking over the skills he had created, along with Tank's updated stats.

Pet Name: Carapace Armored Shield Minotaur

Pet Species: Shield Minotaur

Pet Level: 15

Condition: Healthy

Skills: Reckless Charge, Stone Skin, Shield Bash, Feral Roar, Berserk Transformation

HP: 8000/8000

MP: 6400/6400

Strength: 250 (+50)

Intelligence: 75

Constitution: 800

Defense: 200 (+50)

Agility: 80 (+50)

Apparently, it's not just the players that benefit from training in specific areas. This was good news for Kirou as he now had another way for his pets to get stronger. Following this, took a look at the three skills he created during the fight with Tank.

Skill: Void Palm Strike

Skill Level: 1/3

Rank: B (S)

Cost: 50-150 MP

Skill Creator/Generator: Kirou

Description: This skill allows the user to launch an attack on a target that bypasses the target's armor and deals 75% to 200% of the user's attack at true damage based on the amount of MP used. Along with this, based on where the user launched the skill from, the target may suffer from the <knockback> effect, blowing them over three meters away and leaving them off balance for up to three seconds (100% chance if the skill is used at point-blank while 5% chance if the skill is used from over two meters away). The max range of this skill at level one is three meters and this range is increased by one meter following each level up. Skill can only be raised from constant use in battle or practice, depending on the target it is used on.

Skill: Mana Control- Energy Redirection

Skill Level: 1/5

Rank: A

Cost: 50+

Skill Creator/Generator: Kirou

Description: This skill can only be raised through constant practice and the amount of MP needed for redirection is reduced upon leveling up this skill.

Passive: This skill allows the user to redirect the energy from any attack they receive into the surroundings, allowing the user to only take 40% of the total damage while on land and 60% while in the air.

Active: This skill allows the user to redirect the energy back on the attacker as blunt damage by allowing the energy from the attack to travel through the user's body. Attacks that have been redirected through this method can be increased to triple the initial damage based on the amount of MP uses in the transfer.

Warning: Depending on the strength of the attack used against the user, how the user handles the energy, and the amount of MP the user has, not only can the user suffer damage while using this skill (Best case scenario), this skill can fail and all the energy that should have been redirected will explode within the user's body, causing the user to take up to triple the amount of damage they would have otherwise received (Worst case scenario). Caution is HIGHLY advised with the use of this skill.

Skill: Overhead Throw

Skill Level: 1/5

Rank: B(A)

Cost: 30

Skill Creator/Generator: Kirou

Description: This skill allows the user to grab a target and toss them over the user's shoulder. The target will sustain from 50% to 150% of the user's attack based on where the user grabs the target before doing the toss and how the target lands on the floor. Depending on how the target lands, there is a 50% chance that the target will be afflicted with the <Dizzy> effect for 1-3 seconds, leaving the target completely vulnerable to attacks aiming for its unguarded areas.

Kirou looked over the three skills with an amused expression on his face. While he was actively aiming for the first two skills that he obtained, he never thought that he would obtain the third skill as that was just something he did on a whim during combat. Hell, it was his first time doing such a thing in both of his lives as he found it convenient and thought it would be interesting to try after seeing a few videos on it while he was doing his research. Kirou could only chuckle while looking at it.

What Kirou failed to notice was that while he was fighting Tank earlier, he had subconsciously been running <Mana Control> during the entire fight. And due to the effects of said skill, he was able to pull off those overhead throws so clean and efficiently that the system went ahead and registered it as a skill for him. Of course, he might have been aware of his use of <Mana Control> but never thought that it would have resulted in this.

After staying on the floor for another few minutes to rest, Kirou took out some materials from his inventory, along with his personally crafted potion crafting utensils. As he sat there, he started to mix and mash the herbs and other materials before pouring the mixture into a liquid which he then stirred within a beaker. After a few minutes of doing this, Kirou was left with two bottles containing a red liquid.

Kirou eyed the two potions for a bit, seeing that they had the name <Natural Health Recovery Potion> before he tossed one over to Tank, who caught and drank the potion in one fluid motion. Following this, Kirou too drank his potion and both watched as their missing health started to recover.

Kirou entered a meditative state after seeing the effects of the potion. Tank saw this and contemplated for a few moments before it too entered a meditative state. Like that, both pet and master sat in the Unnamed Training Grounds, meditating and recovering their health. As the duo did this, six pairs of eyes were currently staring at the two as they were being projected on the screen of an orb.