"Twitch!"
Lokan immediately scooped the fish up and stored them away. He used a tool to do it, knowing that if he simply reached in with his bare hands, he could receive a nasty electric shock.
The effect was only a brief stun, and the fish themselves weren't strong enough to grant him another level, but this was still worthwhile.
Gathering every last floating fish, Lokan swept the area clean, then returned calmly to the village.
[You have completed 15 Endless Research.]
"That's impressive. How did you manage to collect them all?"
Lokan handed over the gathered items to Materian, completing the wizard's chain of continuous quests in one go.
Materian's eyes widened in genuine surprise. Unfortunately, he did not award a special title.
"The next quest… well, it's still a little too difficult for you. Come back once you've grown stronger."
He dismissed Lokan with a congratulatory nod, explaining that the recommended level was too low.
Many players might have been irritated by such treatment—doing all the chores only to be told to wait—but Lokan merely accepted it with a faint smile. He had expected as much.
Instead, he withdrew a faintly glowing crystal from his inventory and held it out.
"No… this is—"
Materian immediately recognized the Essence of the Lake. Sensitive to mana, the wizard felt the lake's energy the moment the crystal appeared.
He snatched it up almost greedily, turning it in his hands while glancing at Lokan with sharp, probing eyes.
"Hmm. How did you acquire something this precious?"
"I defeated the Knight of the Lake," Lokan replied evenly.
"The Knight of the Lake… so you're far more capable than I assumed."
Materian's gaze sharpened with new interest. Realizing Lokan's skill exceeded his first impression, the wizard reconsidered.
"In that case, might I entrust you with one more request?"
Bingo.
Lokan hid a grin of satisfaction. This was the very quest normally available only to those who had already reached level 100—a scenario quest with far better rewards than ordinary missions.
The money and experience alone were excellent, but the real treasure came from the milestone items. Each major stage offered equipment so powerful it could remain useful for dozens of levels.
What Lokan sought now was the Investigator's Ring, a rare item normally obtainable only after reaching level 100 and clearing a specific chain of tasks.
"Leave it to me," he said without hesitation. Securing the Investigator's Ring would accelerate his growth immensely.
[Consideration on Death – Quest]
Materian believes that understanding death is essential to curing curses and diseases. Bring him an object infused with the power of death.
Hakkinne, a missing member of the investigator team, is said to know of such objects.
– Success Condition: Death Token 0/1
– Reward: 3 gold, a large amount of experience, Investigator's Ring, and the title Investigator
"Then I will await your return," Materian said.
Lokan accepted the quest with a confident nod and left the Wizards' Guild.
His next destination was the auction house. The quest instructed him to find Investigator Hakkinne, but the man himself was nowhere to be found.
"Search auction items: Hakkinne's Journal."
Instead of the investigator, scattered pages of his journal could be found throughout the field.
The problem was that the pages dropped randomly. Unlucky players might receive duplicate pages over and over, or spend days searching only for a single missing sheet.
This frustration earned the quest the nickname "Ilji Quest," infamous for driving players to anger.
'Yeah, not doing that,' Lokan decided.
Rather than waste time hunting and collecting the pages himself, he simply browsed the auction house and bought them. At this early stage, many players were eager to sell even minor loot for quick cash.
He immediately purchased eleven of the fifteen pages. Only four remained.
It wasn't a huge number, but for unlucky players it could mean days of tedious farming. Lokan felt no pressure; he could check the auction house periodically while focusing on other tasks.
"Now then," he muttered, "time to sort out the other loose ends."
Two main matters awaited him.
The first was a real-estate auction, but the scheduled time was still far off. The major guilds would be moving carefully, and there was no need for Lokan to rush. Thanks to his lucrative hunts against the Blood Chaser, he had plenty of gold for consumables and bidding.
That left the second matter: eliminating the Blood Chaser.
"Open website—comments and inbox," he commanded.
Scanning through the latest posts, he found numerous desperate notes from players sharing sightings of his target.
"What's this?"
According to the most recent report, the Blood Chaser was rampaging through a forest goblin village, a hunting ground for players barely reaching level 40. Apparently humiliated by Lokan earlier, the killer had turned his anger on helpless newcomers.
If this was merely a massacre of low-level users, it could also be a trap intended to lure Lokan.
But that didn't matter. Trap or not, he would crush it completely.
"I can catch this one," he said with a cold grin.
The village was close enough that he could simply sprint there. Using a rune book would have been faster, but he hadn't saved a location nearby.
"Stealth."
Activating the built-in stealth skill of his Cloak of Shadows, Lokan vanished from sight and raced toward the forest.
It had been a while since he posted his last update, and the Blood Chaser's activity had only increased. Overconfident, they would never expect Lokan to reappear so suddenly.
"These bastards are back!"
"It's insane—how are we supposed to hunt? I've already died five times!"
The forest goblin village greeted Lokan with frantic shouts and screams. The Blood Chaser gang, humiliated by him earlier, was venting their rage by repeatedly ambushing low-level players.
'Perfect. Massacring civilians, are we? Good,' Lokan thought.
Their levels weren't particularly high. They might have forced their way into a secondary city to stay ahead of the curve, but at best they were still at the bottom tier of the mid-level bracket.
Individually they weren't weak, but their confidence came from surprise attacks and superior numbers. Against ordinary players, the fight had been completely one-sided.
'Still clueless,' Lokan judged, watching silently from the shadows.
He held no moral grudge—player killing was part of the game.
What he despised was their arrogance. Believing no one strong was nearby, they flaunted their power like spoiled children. A small coordinated team could have punished them easily.
"Leaf Attack."
Without further hesitation, Lokan struck.
The instant he triggered the attack skill, his stealth dropped. Priests and archers who had been laughing moments ago turned pale as they recognized the nightmare who had once slaughtered them.
"It's him!"
"Crazy—it really is him!"
Their cries meant nothing. Lokan dashed forward, chaining skills and cutting down targets in rapid succession.
"Retreat!"
But escape was impossible. They knew now that Lokan was no ordinary opponent; fighting him meant certain death.
"Where do you think you're going? Heh heh heh!"
With a savage grin, Lokan unleashed War Cry. The shout froze them mid-flight, their eyes rolling back as the debuff robbed them of control.
"Throwing! Leaf Attack!"
He had prepared a full arsenal of throwing weapons. Hatchets whirled through the air, striking legs to cripple movement. Even if a single hit didn't kill, the slowed targets were easy prey.
"Nice!"
"Well done!"
"I knew someone would get them eventually!"
"But who is that guy? What level is he?"
"I heard rumors on the bulletin board… they said someone killed the Blood Chaser before—looks like it's true!"
The Blood Chasers died screaming while the very players they had hunted cheered in delight.
"If they show up again, post it on the bulletin board!" Lokan called, scooping up every item they dropped without even glancing back.
He wasn't there to protect anyone. To him, the Blood Chaser was merely a walking bonus of loot and experience.
The grateful players didn't know that. They hailed him as an apostle of justice, cheering wildly.
"It's on the bulletin board—we'll report it!"
Of course, outside this village they would treat him like any other player, trying to exploit his strength. But to Lokan, it was simple mutual use.
"Thanks! Please keep smashing them!"
"Lokan! Right now they're heading for the dwarf field—hurry!"
"Dwarf field? Good tip. Thanks!"
Accepting the report, Lokan saved the location into his rune book so he could teleport back later, then set off toward the dwarf field immediately.
The Blood Chasers might warn their comrades, but he figured he could manage one or two more surprise strikes before they adapted.
"If I'd known this would happen, I would have marked these places earlier," he muttered.
Had he saved every nearby hunting ground in advance, he wouldn't need to run so much. Still, it wasn't too late. From now on, he would record every key location.
"Stealth."
Re-activating his cloak, Lokan once again melted into the shadows and began stalking his next prey.
"Ugh!"
"Someone stop that monster!"
"What do we even do?"
"Give me a second—I just changed my gear today!"
The Cloak of Stealth dropped by the Blood Chaser was proving its worth. In The Lord, the stealth skill was normally exclusive to thieves, and even then, it only granted a single devastating opening strike. Their staying power in combat was limited.
But Lokan was different.
He slaughtered the Blood Chaser with overwhelming might, his surprise attacks flowing seamlessly into relentless close combat. Appearing suddenly, he would annihilate wizards, archers, and priests in precise order. The victims barely had time to react before being cut down.
'Heh heh—drink that honey, fools,' Lokan thought with cold satisfaction.
Rumors spread like wildfire across the bulletin board. Dozens of players who had witnessed his onslaught flooded his extermination thread with excited comments, their curiosity turning into open admiration for the unstoppable hunter.