Jay observed his remaining targets vigilantly. Four out of the six Haunting Trees were already dealt with and were shriveling on the ground. Some of them were defeated by using ice magic or the sword, which Jay managed to pick up again after throwing it to save Nina previously.
His breath was ragged, and his clothes tattered in some spots. They had cuts on them just like on his skin. Those cuts were fortunately shallow, but they were enough to draw blood. Jay possessed a few potions to help him recover his stamina and mana, but he refused to use them as he was confident that he could handle the monsters on his own.
He glanced at Luna's party shortly and flashed a faint grin, seeing that they had succeeded in taking down one Haunting Tree and thus had cleared their quest. The party and Jay could retreat now, if it were not for the other Haunting Trees trying to block off Jay's escape routes with their tentacle-like branches.
Jay took a deep breath before he readied his stance once more and leaped toward his enemies. He was facing the spiky ends of the countless branches and dodged as many of them as possible. However, he could not dodge everything, which led to new cuts on him—some being even deeper than those before. Still, he kept going and swung his sword until he closed in on one of the Haunting Trees.
Blood dripped down from his face and even got into his eye, forcing him to reflexively close it. Also, the grip on his sword felt more slippery due to the blood from his arm wounds reaching his hands.
Nonetheless, his remaining open eye showed nothing but conviction as he raised his sword. Disregarding anything else, Jay struck the monster in front of him, killing it instantly.
"Hng!" Jay groaned when a thin branch pierced his left side. The branch did not fully pierce through, but it was still pushing deeper, trying to force its way through.
With one knee on the soil, Jay cut off the branch and glared at the sole Haunting Tree. Icicles appeared above Jay and were launched at the monster. And amidst the rapid fire, Jay sneaked toward the monster's main body. While clutching the wound on his stomach, he tightened his grip on his sword and slashed the monster horizontally, causing it to shrivel in an instant.
[Congratulations! [Sword Novice] has reached Level 3.]
"Jay!" Luna screamed worriedly. She was running to him with her party members behind her. Her tracksuit, which she wore when she entered the tower, was slightly dirty with just a few small cuts on it. There was no sign of blood or other fatal injuries on her or her teammates. Because it was their first time facing a Haunting Tree, Jay expected them to have some trouble, but from the looks of it, they cleared their quest with flying colors.
"Good job, guys. I knew you could do it." Jay said, smiling at them proudly.
"Y-you're bleeding!" Nina pointed out anxiously. She was searching for a healing potion in her bag, but Jay stopped her.
"These are just minor injuries. I'll take care of them once we return, so don't mind me." Jay stated, unfazed by his own state.
"I-if you say so..."
Meanwhile, Luna stared blankly at Jay and the dried-up trees around him.
"Did I worry for nothing...?" she sighed with a wry smile.
"S-sir!"
"Yes?" Jay replied, surprised by Carl's formality.
"Can we take them with us?" Carl wondered, his eyes beaming in the direction of the dead monsters. A Haunting Tree would earn them much more money than a Killer Rabbit. With that much money, the party could even afford a feast for tonight.
"Hey, did you forget who defeated them?" Randy reprimanded the younger boy. He knew that Carl was thinking about handing all Haunting Trees over for money, but it appeared like Carl had forgotten that he did not earn that money and achievement.
"You can have them if you want to." Jay responded bluntly, showing no interest in the monsters. On his own, he defeated six Haunting Trees, whereas the others only managed to defeat one. Usually, Jay could trade those six monsters for cash, but it was too much of a hassle to transport those six giant things. Therefore, he was fine with giving them to the rookies.
And while Carl was jumping in joy, Jay approached Luna.
"You did an impressive job today, Luna." Jay complimented her once more. For a beginner, she did great. Despite the odds being against them in the beginning, she was able to turn the tables and emerge as the victor. Not only that, but she was also capable of doing something most beginners could not do.
"Who taught you how to use your skills like that?" he asked, glancing at her spear. Most new challengers needed the time to get accustomed to the new world and the mechanics. That also meant that they would mostly be clumsy in actual combat. But then there was Luna—someone who combined two skills.
"You mean this?" Luna said innocently, letting a few sparks fly around her spear.
"Since your match against the Queen, I have always replayed it in my head in the hope of someday being able to copy your movements. However, for the current me, it was obviously impossible." she chuckled self-deprecatingly.
"So you looked for another way to compensate for your current state?"
Luna nodded her head.
"Maybe it was because I read so many comics back then, but I wondered if I could do the same here, so I tried to combine magic with my weapon."
Thus, she obtained a powerful technique that could even scare away a monster like the Haunting Tree.
"This way I can level up two skills at once! Here look!" she proclaimed proudly, forming a V-sign with her index and middle finger.
[Skills:
1. Dagger Novice (Level 2)
2. Lightning Magic Novice (Level 3)
3. Spear Novice (Level 2)]
Jay's eyes almost popped out once he saw Luna's current skill set. It should not be a surprise to him due to her exclusive skill, which also allowed her to gain experience faster, but nonetheless, it was rare to witness a rookie who had a level 3 magic skill so early in their journey.
"A-amazing..." he muttered. Jay was flabbergasted and could not let out another word from his open mouth.
"According to the status window, I can deal more damage and broaden the way the skill can be used whenever the lightning skill levels up!" Luna explained, puffing her chest and putting her hands on her hips.
"It won't be long until I catch up to you!" she chuckled.
Jay could not say anything back and just smiled at her.
And while Jay and the others prepared to head home, Erik was sitting at a café. It was a café that only allowed certain customers in. Erik was leisurely drinking his coffee, not minding the presence of a shady-looking person sitting across from him.
The man was also drinking a coffee, but he did not take off his coat and hat, which concealed his identity.
"No news about a mutation?" Erik asked casually. No one was around to hear them; therefore, Erik did not care about how loud he was.
"I've been looking into that for a while now, but I couldn't find anything yet. And to be honest, I don't even think that something like that exists in the first place." the shady man responded.
"Since it's you, I'm willing to give you your money bac-"
"It's alright. Just keep an eye open for that for a little longer." Erik cut him off with a smile.
The man Erik was talking to was someone he met regularly—an information broker. Thanks to him, Erik was able to find traces of other Jays, and he was also useful when he had to look for certain information about certain quests.
Erik met the broker more often in the past few days. However, it seemed like this time, even his broker could not find anything about the target of Erik and Jay's current quest.
"I understand." the broker said before standing up.
Since they only talked about business, they would always end their meeting once everything was talked about.
"But because it's you, I can give you a piece of information that could interest you."
Erik was curious about what the broker said, as Erik was currently only interested in proceeding with the tower and helping out Jay. Anything unrelated to those topics would mostly be trivial for him.
The man got closer to Erik as he was wary of the handful of people inside the café. Understanding that it was something serious, Erik also became vigilant of the others.
"The Supervisor of the Theater Section was defeated."
"What?!" Erik shouted in shock. He accidentally jumped out of his seat, startling the other customers.
A Supervisor was an existence that a normal Challenger could not even fathom touching. They could even be called the Gods of their respective sections. Thus, it was more than just rare to hear that they were challenged by someone.
Only someone with no sanity left or a family head would dare to pick a fight with a Supervisor. And even then, they would lose pitifully.
"S-sorry... Please continue..." Erik sighed, realizing his unsightly behavior. He sat down again and tried to calm down.
"I tried to get my hands on some information about the identity of the person who defeated the Supervisor, but I came out empty-handed." the broker explained, shaking his head in disappointment.
"Even though you're a member of the Nerkz Family?" Erik wondered. Among the Conqueror Families, the Nerkz Family was known for their vast information network. For them, there was nothing that they did not know.
"Probably only the high-ranking members know about it." the man sighed.
Erik did not respond for a while and was instead in his thoughts.
"You good?" the man asked, concerned that he was so silent.
"It's alright. Let's end today's meeting." Erik replied, wearing his usual smile on his face as if the previous conversation had not happened.
"A-aren't you interested in the person who defeated the Supervisor?"
"It's fine." Erik chuckled. He patted the broker's shoulder before leaving to pay for the coffee.
"I think I already know who it is."