Taming Master

“So… You’re saying it’s not a fluke, right?”

At Samuel Jin’s question, Limlong nodded his head.

“That’s right, Jin. From all of the domain defensive fortresses that I’ve seen up until now, they have the most exceptional standard of Defensive Power.”

“Ahem…”

“It is understandable considering the fact that their Defensive Power has probably gotten stronger than before.”

At Limlong’s words, Samuel Jin frowned.

“Are you sure you’ve thoroughly looked everywhere?”

“Hmm, you could say that I’ve checked out about 70-80 percent of the place. I wasn’t able to approach a couple places where detecting towers were built close together.”

Samuel Jin closed his eyes without a word, and Limlong waited for his next words.

And shortly after, Samuel Jin’s words continued again.

“Then, Limlong, how many more days from now do you predict the Pyro Domain will be able to last?”

“Hmm…”

Limlong recalled the levels of the defensive towers that were built within the fortress and the scale as he was momentarily submerged in his thoughts.

And his mouth slowly opened.

“All of the bases in that whole area will soon fall into the clutches of the Kaimon Empire Army now.”

“Right?”

“I’m guessing that day will roughly be two days from now…”

Samuel Jin nodded his head.

“As expected, your thoughts are similar to mine.”

Limlong’s words continued.

“If that’s the case, there will probably be a large-scale attack on the Pyro Domain in about three days.”

Limlong grasped the map that was on top of the round table with his hands as he continued his words.

“As the physical aspect of the Pyro Domain’s eastern topography is rugged, it would be iffy to attack through there, so the attacks will most likely go in through the west, south, and north direction…”

Limlong closed his eyes for a moment and rubbed his chin.

‘The number of defensive towers is important, but I also saw quite a bit of high-rank tank defensive towers which I couldn’t find out the grade for.’

Limlong opened his eyes again, and the two people’s eyes met.

“I believe that they will be able to last about a week. It’s quite possible that they could last about two weeks at most.”

At Limlong’s words, the two pupils of Samuel Jin, who appeared indifferent, began to shine with unrest.

“No, are you saying that the Lotus Guild will have enough resources to last even a week of the Kaimon Empire Army’s total attack?”

Samuel Jin’s pride was hurt.

Even his guild and the Splendor Guild, which were the guilds that occupied the highest ranks amongst the greatest guilds affiliated with the Luspel Empire, didn’t even have enough confidence to last more than three days against the empire army’s total attack.

Yet to say that they could last a week, or two weeks at most.

With a slightly flushed voice, Samuel Jin opened his mouth.

“It’s hard to believe, but if that is the truth, this is a big problem.”

This time Limlong wore a puzzled expression.

“A big… Problem? Why’s that? Wouldn’t it be easier for us to block them in the future if the Lotus guild lasted a long time and left even a little blow on the opponent’s military power?”

At Limlong’s words, Samuel Jin smirked as he shook his head.

“Limlong, you are able to see one, but not two.”

“…?”

“Will you check the guild rankings of the Lotus Guild right now?”

At Samuel Jin’s words, Limlong was confused but he immediately opened the ranking list and checked the Lotus Guild’s ranking.

And he could do nothing else but doubt his own two eyes.

• Lotus Guild – Ranking: 37th

“This…?”

The Lotus Guild’s ranking, which was for sure outside of the top 100 just even before their battle with the DarkRuna Guild, had jumped to as high as within the top 40.

Not being surprised at this was impossible for Limlong.

Samuel Jin, who paused for a moment to take a breath, parted his lips again.

“The Lotus Guild has grown by more than two times through leading their fight with the DarkRuna Guild to victory. This is thanks to the EXP and Specialty Points, as well as the Fame they obtained while killing the 5 thousand troops of the DarkRuna Guild, that is.”

Limlong mumbled to himself without even realizing it.

“Im…possible.”

Samuel Jin wore a bitter smile.

“I also think like that. However, just as much as a sudden rapid growth of over twice the original doesn’t make sense, the fact that the Lotus Guild had blocked the 5 thousand troops of the DarkRuna Guild is also unrealistic.”

To be honest, the Lotus Guild hadn’t immediately grown to reach the 37thplace from just the rewards they received from the DarkRuna Guild.

Of course, it was true that the victory of the defensive battle had become the biggest growth power, but in the meantime, they had even raised the rank of the Lotus Domain’s Domain Rank and made it into a Large Domain, and through the resources they obtained from the training ground, they had consistently progressed the domains they possessed.

Limlong asked Samuel Jin.

“Then, by any chance, Samuel, do you think that the Lotus Guild could grow to the point that they could become a threat to our guild?”

Samuel Jin nodded his head.

“Just from looking at their growth speed right now, wouldn’t it be weirder if you didn’t have such thoughts?”

“Hmm…”

“If in the case that the Lotus Guild lasts against Kaimon Empire’s Allied Forces for a week, no, two weeks, they will be able to obtain an even bigger reward than compared to the one they received while blocking off the DarkRuna Guild this time.”

Limlong, who had heard everything, wore a grave expression.

‘Samuel is also right. No, the Lotus Guild would definitely grow rapidly every time they succeeded in defending.’

If they were to block off the Kaimon Empire’s Allied Forces for two weeks, even if the Lotus Guild were to lose the Pyro Domain, they would have obtained enough Specialty Points and EXP, as well as Fame to the point that it wouldn’t have been a waste.

“Why do you think I purposely asked a high-class volunteer like you to scout, Limlong?”

Limlong nodded his head.

“It was definitely a scout that was worth it.”

Samuel’s words continued.

“The structure of the Pyro Domain’s fortress… You brought it back inside your head well, right?”

“As a matter of fact, I briefly organized it and jotted it down.”

Samuel wore a pleased expression as he stared at Limlong.

“Save all your memories as much as possible, and, no, even if you risked spying a couple more times if you need to, please make an internal fortress map.”

“…!”

The two eyes of Limlong, who figured out what Samuel Jin’s intentions were, grew.

“No way…?”

Samuel nodded his head.

“I’m planning on handing it over to the Titan Guild.”

Limlong wore an expression full of uncanniness.

“Still, isn’t that a little too excessive?”

However, Samuel’s expression was stern.

“We need to cut them off before they grow even more.”

For a moment, confliction crossed Limlong’s face, but soon, he nodded his head.

“Understood, Master.”

* * *

The additional 50% of combat stats that Ian received through the release of his Potential increased his fighting power explosively.

Pung- Pu-pung-!

The fact that the explosive power that burst out from the tip of the arrow had become so strong that it was incomparable to before was a definite, but now his Agility stat at the least was higher than Eclipse’s.

And at this point, Ian was able to fight Eclipse almost evenly.

• Your fighting power is surprising, Ian.

Eclipse had lost over half his Vitality, and his gauge was blinking.

He was truly admiring Ian’s fighting sense.

“This buff called the Potential Release or whatever… I don’t know how long it’s active for, but I must finish this battle within that duration.”

At Ian’s words, Eclipse burst out into laughter.

• Your desire for winning at least is truly amazing. However, you have no need to worry. Since that buff will not disappear until the battle between you and I is over, that is.

Even while the two people shared a conversation, they didn’t take a break from the battle.

Eclipse charged forward threateningly while swinging his greatsword.

However, Ian increased the distance between himself and Eclipse as he constantly dealt damage.

Ting- Ting-!

While smacking down Ian’s arrows that flew towards him quickly, Eclipse raised his greatsword.

• This is the last, Ian. If you can block this attack, I will acknowledge your win.

“…!”

If the current combat condition continued, it was a situation where Ian would slowly gain an advantage.

Because of that, at Eclipse’s form, where he had gotten into a new stance, Ian couldn’t help but become discontent.

‘Just when I found the perfect angle to win… As expected, there was no way that it would end this easily.’

He had no idea what kind of attack he was going to go through, but Ian shot out arrows without rest in order to distract Eclipse’s attack.

Ping- Pi-ping-!

Eclipse, who lifted his greatsword in front of him and blocked an arrow, stood on his tiptoes at the front as he let out a shout of concentration.

• Haab!

And at that moment, Eclipse’s body shook in disorder, and in that process, his form began to split up more and more.

At the unexpected situation, Ian was frightened as he moved his body.

‘What the hell, is he using a replicating skill? No, it’s somewhat different to be calling it replication… Is he using super speed movements that you see in martial arts books or movies?’

Shortly after, Eclipse’s body, which had been divided into a total of three, raised their swords at the same time and they charged towards Ian.

• Heu-aab!

Ian internally let out a string of swear words as he pulled out an arrow and lifted it up.

‘No, I thought it was impossible to use a skill! Isn’t it foul play to use a weird ability like that?’

However, as Ian knew better than anyone else that no matter how much he grumbled, nothing would change, so he busily moved his body.

‘Damn it, it’s hard enough to hit even one of him if he moves that randomly, so then what are they expecting?’

Thanks to having distancing himself as much as possible, he still had about a 20-metre margin, but a distance like that was short enough that it could be reduced in an instant.

Ian let go of the bowstring without delay.

“Damn it, I’ll hit everything, alright!”

Ian’s rapid-firing started for the second time.

Ping- Ping- Ping-!

It would be best if he hit all three of Eclipse’s replications precisely with just three arrows, but Ian, who decided that was close to almost impossible, continued to shoot out arrows.

Ping- Ping-!

Despite it looking like he had perfectly hit the replication, Ian’s arrow passed through the shadow in vain as it flew by.

Ian was also not just standing still while he shot them out, but the movement speed of Eclipse, who used the replication skill, had become two times faster than before, and the distance between Eclipse and Ian couldn’t help but grow smaller and smaller.

It had truly become a volatile situation.

‘Argh, just get hit!’

Ian plucked the bowstring without rest, while Eclipse constantly reduced the distance between them while he skillfully squeezed by them.

However, just then, a replication that suddenly moved quickly caught Ian’s eye.

“…!”

And at that moment, he felt a chilly energy behind him.

Ian reflexively twisted his waist as he threw the arrow that he was holding behind him.

Puck-!

A blunt sound rang out, and that meant that the arrow that Ian threw struck something.

Ian quickly placed a new arrow against his bowstring and shot it out.

Bang-!

As the explosive power that was on the arrowhead burst out, a roar rang out.

Whoong-!

Along with a loud resonating sound that shook the whole arena, the replications that lunged towards Ian turned into white smoke on the spot and disappeared.

‘Did I… Hit him?’

As there was nothing that was certain yet, Ian reflexively stepped backwards as he increased the distance between Eclipse and him.

However, in the next moment, the system messages that popped up told Ian of his victory.

Ring-.

• You have successfully suppressed the S-rank Selamus Warrior ‘Eclipse’.

• The Selamus Hall of Fame has been updated.

• The name of User ‘Ian’ has been engraved in the highest point of the Selamus Hall of Fame.

• You have obtained 15.6 million EXP.

• You have obtained 300 thousand Fame.

• You have leveled up. You have reached lv 151.

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