Zed arrived on a branch and watched a battle between two Rare-grade monsters and a girl who looked eighteen years old.
She had beautiful, light golden hair and ocean-blue eyes. A height of 5'7 with a slender physique, but having mass in places where they should be.
Wielding a longsword, she fought against both monsters with deadly precision.
Crystal Ice Bull and Venomtail Spider were not weak monsters. They had annoying skills, and it required fast reaction and focus to evade them while hitting them.
But as Zed observed, the girl wasn't anxious to hit them and remained level-headed, dodging and grasping an opportunity before she instantly beheaded the Venomtail Spider with a skill that coated her longsword in a circulating lightning arc.
'Not bad. That's a powerful skill.'
[ It's an A-rank skill: Lightning Cutter Flow. She seems to have practiced it a lot to gain such proficiency. Do you want that skill? I can copy it for 113 U.R points. ]
'Nah.'
Soon, the girl dealt with the Crystal Ice Bull as its defense was no match against the girl's sword.
Suddenly, the girl turned around and looked at Zed.
Zed blinked and smiled as he waved his hand. "Nice fight."
'It's him.' Risa's eyes sparkled.
"Want to team up?" She asked.
Zed raised his eyebrows and then smiled. "Sure. I know the location of a Super-grade monster."
"What? Really?" Risa was surprised.
"Look at the leaderboard."
Risa looked at the leaderboard and saw that Zed was first.
"You killed one already."
"Correct."
Zed appeared in front of him, standing a meter across and stretching his hand.
"Hi, I am Zed."
"Risa." Risa shook his hand while smiling. "Risa Raven."
"I have a request." She added.
"Oh? What is it?" Zed asked, curious.
Risa's eyes flickered with fighting spirit. "I want to spar with you."
"Mhmmm…" Zed rubbed his chin, adopting a thoughtful expression for a second before he grinned. "Sure. But on one condition."
Risa blinked. "What is it?"
"We'll encounter monsters while moving towards the Super-grade monster. Until we reach there, you have to kill more monsters than I."
"Alright. So which direction are we heading?"
"Northeast. Straight in this line."
"Let's go."
As Risa and Zed began moving from one branch to another through the forest, they encountered the first monster after three minutes.
A Dagger-Clawed Rabbit, Common-grade Monster worth 100 points.
Risa's figure flashed alongside her sword as she appeared next to it, her sword flashing towards its head.
But before it could touch the rabbit, an icy crystal blasted its head off, and Risa's sword hit the ground.
Risa looked at Zed, who was on a branch several meters away.
Zed smiled. "You gotta be faster."
'I was closer to the target, but he struck it faster from afar.'
"I'll get the next one."
Risa's grip on her sword tightened. "Let's continue."
Both of them continued to move.
In the next one, Risa swung her sword, releasing a slash projectile from her sword.
But before hers could hit it, the monster was punctured by five icicle spikes that materialized above it and shot down.
"What?" Risa was tongue-tied as she turned to Zed.
Zed winked. "Better luck next time."
Risa clenched her fist. "I'll get it!"
Half an hour, the score is 0 - 8.
Risa couldn't get a single monster. Her name in the leaderboard was lower than the top 10 since she didn't get any points in the past half an hour.
"Guess you failed to fulfill the condition." Zed chuckled.
The duo arrived at the riverbank.
"Sigh…you wanted to show me I am no match for you, and we shouldn't spar, right?" Risa wryly smiled.
"Of course not." Zed laughed. "I just wanted to tease you."
Risa blinked. "So you will spar with me?"
"I'll give pointers, yes." Zed cheekily grinned. "But for now, take this Super-grade monster."
As he snapped his finger, an icicle spear materialized from the tip of his finger, which he controlled with spirit energy, and shot it into a bush.
A screech rang before a monster burst out of the ground. A fat beaver with two heads and cone-shaped brown horns.
"How did you find it?" Risa was startled.
But she quickly entered into battle with the monster.
And killed it with ease.
"You got a good martial foundation. These monsters with predictable movements and slow type are no threat to you." Zed commented as he clapped.
"But you are even stronger than I. Who is your master?" Risa asked. "Some hidden Lord-rank powerhouse must have trained you."
Zed couldn't help but laugh.
"Why? Is that not the case?" Risa tilted her head.
"Secret." Zed smiled. "I only tell secrets to people close to me."
Risa rolled her eyes. "So, what's the situation? How are you able to find a Super-grade monster like this? It was so far."
Zed grinned. "Secret."
Risa pouted. "Fine. Where are you going next?"
"Straight 7 o'clock. 4.7 kilometers. But I am going somewhere else."
Risa frowned slightly before easing up. "Where?"
"Secret." Zed chuckled. "We'll meet again."
Risa blinked.
But in that moment she missed, Zed vanished.
"What the…" Risa looked around, her expression at a loss. "How did he disappear just like that?"
…
In the far southeast in this round 2's world, Lina was fighting against a Super-grade Monster.
Her stats were a bit lower than it, but she was holding her own finely.
She felt the sudden experience and knowledge of martial arts made her too strong.
Up until now, she had not been hit even once, could anticipate the monsters' movements, and kill them with ease, like she were not fighting against a monster with stats higher than hers, but an amateur with simple-minded movements.
[ You have killed a Super-grade Monster. +1000 points. ]
"I did it," Lina muttered as she looked at her hands. "How did he make me so strong like this?"
Behind her, Zed was silently standing, smiling.
"Boop."
Lina yelped cutely as she turned around, as Zed's index finger booped her nose.
"Don't worry. You still have a lot to learn." Zed smiled.
"You scared me!" Lina breathed in relief. "How did you find me?"
"Magic." Zed grinned. "Which I will show you now."
Zed stretched his hand. "Hold it."
Lina blinked and held his hand, her heartbeat quickening, but she tried to keep her composure.
"Now, what I am about to tell and show you is a secret. Do not tell anyone else." Zed whispered as he slightly leaned closer.
"What is it?" Lina whispered back.
"I can teleport."
Lina blinked. "What?"
"Look around."
A cold gust of wind blew past her.
She looked around, and they were suddenly in a snowy forest.
"Hey, Katy."
Lina turned to the left and saw Katy eating berries while sitting on a branch.
"Yo?!" Katy spotted them upon hearing Zed's voice and exclaimed.
Lina was shocked. 'He can really teleport?!'
'He can…He just did. What? How? What the fuck?'
"Let's go a hunting." Zed gently landed on the branch in front of Katy.
"Try this. It's tasty." Katy handed the berries.
Zed took them and tried. "Sweet and tangy."
"Yep. So how did you find me?" Katy blinked, her eyes curious.
"And she is shocked." Katy looked at Lina.
"Nothing much. I just teleported us here. This is a secret, so don't tell anyone."
"Damn." Katy was dumbfounded. "For real?"
"Yep."
"Damn, alright. If you take me to dinner after we get out, I'll keep this a secret."
"Deal."
Lina, "…"