His facial expressions got serious. 'I have to survive, no matter what happens.'
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[ SYSTEM ]
Party Member Status
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
▶ Party Size: 4 / 6
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[ Member Slot 01 ]
└Name: Emil Raventhorn
└Rank: L (Legendary)
└Level: 12
└Status: Normal
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[ Member Slot 02 ]
└Name: Bard
└Rank: N
└Level: 12
└Status: Active
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[ Member Slot 03 ]
└Name: Rex Thorne
└Rank: S
└Level: 18
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[ Member Slot 04 ]
└Name: Damien Ashwalt
└Rank: SSR
└Level: 18
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▶ Rank Average: SS+
▶ Party Bonus :
└+10% EXP Gain
└20% swordsmen's synergy increase.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
'The bonuses from having two swordsmen are nice... this will help in tomorrow's raid.'
His eyes moved towards the group. "I'll tell you a plan for tomorrow, and you all have to follow it, and that's final."
All of them gave a quick nod.
'I've these three, and 100 soldiers for this stage.'
'Insights.'
A panel appeared out of the thin air, only visible to him.
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◈ Artifacts ◈
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[Item 01 ]
└Ballista
└Units: 2X {Two units of different levels.}
•Level: 4
•Level: 3
└Rank: SSS and SS, respectively
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[Item 02]
└Mana Cannon
└Unit: X1
•Level: 3
└Rank: SR
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[Item 03]
└Trebuchet
└Unit: X1
•Level: 2
└Rank: SR
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'I only have a few battle equipments which might come in handy...'
He sighed and looked towards the party members.
"Now, listen to me." He said.
"I want Bard to work as a frontier alone."
Their expressions changed, and confusion fell upon them.
"But, my liege, Bard is a tanker, how can he go alone at the frontiers?" Damien Said.
He didn't reply to him, eyes remained fixed on Bard.
"Weren't you a muscle freak in your academic days? And always wanted to work alone?"
'Bard... he's one of the tutorial characters, those who have special traits...'
═══════════════════
◈ SPECIAL TRAIT ◈
═══════════════════
[Hidden Class]: Solo Bulwark
───────────────────
• Defense ↑ when fighting alone
• Knockback & stun resistance ↑
• Damage taken ↓ while holding position
───────────────────
[Condition]
Retreat cancels all effects
═══════════════════
"What is wrong with you, young master!!" Brad said
"First, you made a poor call and got most of us killed, and now this absurd decision?"
'What does he mean by that? Did this guy Emil... oh, for the gods' sake!!'
'Let me check the character summary real quick...'
A panel appeared in front of his eyes out of the thin air.
'Character Summary - Emil Raventhorn'
The summary contained thousands of letters.
'Wait... shorten it up, I don't have time to read it all.'
A new panel appeared, reflecting different entries.
'Short Character Summary - Emil Raventhorn'
Emil, the youngest son of the Duke of the Aurelian Empire.
He was a madman who was corrupted by money.
From a young age, he got everything he wanted and was quick to throw out something that he felt displeasing.
As he matured into adulthood, his usual life revolved around alcohol, gambling, and women.
His terror became wilder, and the Duke had to take action on this.
"Emil, I appoint you as the new lord of the Fortress city, Stormguard."
It felt as if it were a praiseworthy title, but it wasn't.
Stormguard was located at the northernmost part of the empire.
Filled with monsters, and the waves keep occurring every other day.
Every year, thousands of casualties come from this city alone.
Being here alone was akin to a life-sentence.
And Emil was an outright lunatic.
On his inaugural day, he made the soldiers and the mercenaries fight the monsters.
And that led to today's situation.
He lifted his hand, kept it on his mouth. 'This brat... he's more of a psycho than I imagined him to be.'
'Wait... I can use his personality for my advantage.'
His expressions changed, his face twisted as it became gloomy. "You, a mere soldier," He said.
Walking towards Bard, steps steady.
"Is he trying to raise his voice in front of me?"
"Y-young master... I didn't mean it like that." Bard said, backing off slightly.
"Damien, kill this man right away." He said, his eyes drifted towards Damien.
He gave a slight nod, drew his sword, and swung it towards Bard's neck
Emil's expressions darkened as a thought curled up in his mind.
'No, you idiot. Don't kill him...'
Before the sword could cut the neck, Bard's voice came out loud. "I'll do as you say, young master."
The sword stopped right before his skin, still brushing it slightly.
A drop of blood was drawn out and fell on the blade.
'Pull that sword back, you idiot main character.'
"Stay at ease, Damien." He said.
"You just made a good decision, Bard."
"I want you to do as I said. You'll be left alone at the frontiers, and fend off the enemies as much as you can."
Bard didn't have any other choice, so he just nodded once.
Then, Emil's eye shifted towards Rex.
He walked towards him, his steps were slow.
He put his hand on Rex's shoulder and lightly patted it. "I know that your brothers died because of me..."
"You can even kill me for that, but before that, we have to survive, right?" He said.
"My liege, what do you mean by that..." Damien said, voice roaring.
Emil's head turned back instantly. "Do you think that I'm joking? If we don't do it together, we all will die at the hands of those monsters." He said, shouting.
Damien's gaze fell on the ground, didn't say anything.
"Please, Rex, help me this time." He said.
Sweat appeared on Bard's face, whispered in the ear of Damien. "Hey... did young master eat something fishy today?"
Damien didn't say anything.
'I need Rex... he's the most important key for my survival.'
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◈ SPECIAL TRAIT ◈
═══════════════════
[Hidden Trait] : Arcane Loader
• Can channel mana into objects
• Mana devices operate at higher efficiency
• Reload time of mana weapons reduced
═══════════════════
'His hidden trait is a little too special. With his help, I can make use of the mana cannon more effectively.'
A/N
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