Chapter 258: The Demon and the Dragon

Luke understood where she was going with this. “Someone with three epic skills… could go very far in the tutorial. Well, two epic skills, plus that extra rank skill”

“That’s exactly why I want as many people as possible at that level of power. For the challenges ahead, it’s practically mandatory. How do you expect us to get through the third mechanism event, and then the castle, if we’re dragging weaklings along? Epic skills are how we’ll dominate this tutorial.”

For the first time, things were starting to click for him. The rank limit finally made sense now, especially paired with the reward of epic skills. Out of the three, he had already secured one.

I got Acid Blood Arrow, an absurdly strong power. And there are still two more skills waiting. I’ll need to choose carefully.

He stared at the glowing system interface, his eyes fixed on his epic profession skill. An offensive force unlike anything else he possessed. The strongest skill in his arsenal, aside from Mana Infusion, but that one depended on having a weapon strong enough to channel it. Acid Blood Arrow, though, was pure destruction. Yet it was tied to his profession, a category never meant for offense in the first place. Which begged the question: what would his class-based epic skill look like? And since it came from his Demonic Predator class, every part of it would exist for one purpose, killing. It had to be something devastating.

His precious arrow had been born from scraps of weak skills: Plant Growth, Mother Freya’s Blood, Dark Blood, Thorn Mutation. On their own, they had been laughably minor, practically useless for battle. Thorn Mutation was designed to sharpen plants for gardening, and yet now it served as the foundation for a deadly weapon, shaping the arrow’s razor tip. If something so trivial could evolve into Acid Blood Arrow, what kind of nightmare would his class skill become?

Then something clicked. “You said there’s another skill you get at race level fifty, right? I thought the system stopped granting anything after that.”

She shrugged. “Don’t ask me to explain the system’s logic. That one came when I maxed out everything, race, class, and profession. I didn’t choose it, it just appeared. It felt… personalized, like the system itself tailored it for me. And it wasn’t even the same rarity as the others. Mine is Rank F.”

That detail was gold. Immediately, his thoughts turned to Bartholomew and the enemies in Bastion. No doubt they had their own epic skills. Kruger almost certainly did.

“Alright then, Snow White. Let’s talk about what you saw past that barrier,” Evangeline said.

“Snow White?” Luke frowned. “Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Because you’re pale as death. With that face, you look like some porcelain doll.”

“I can’t tell if that was supposed to be a compliment…”

She sat down beside him, smirking. “What you’re missing is grit. Eat more. Put on weight. Build some muscle. Grow a beard, cut that hair. You’ll do better with women.” She gave him a once-over. “And dress better while you’re at it. You look like a homeless nomad.”

“That’s not the point,” he muttered.

“There’s always time to talk fashion.”

He exhaled through his nose. “And what about your fetish for dressing up like a ninja?”

Her smile widened. “That’s my class. I evolved from Thief into Shadow Kunoichi.”

Evangeline pressed a finger to his chest, trailing upward slowly. With her other hand, she tugged at the collar of her shirt, revealing the curve of her breasts. “What do you think of this? Care to sneak a peek?” she whispered seductively against his ear.

Luke caught her wrist and twisted hard.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” she cried out, wincing in pain. “Let go of my hand!”

He released her. “I’m not falling for your tricks.”

She stood, flicking open a fan with a snap. “Female ninjas are trained in seduction. It’s one of the advantages of my class. I know exactly what to say, how to move, how to make my voice sound more alluring. Body language, tone, presence… I can make any man I want fall in love with me.”

“Who would fall for you? Certainly not me.”

Her eyes lingered on him as she traced her hand along the curve of her own body. “Funny… that’s not what your heart is saying.”

She leaned closer, fingers sliding under his chin. “From the moment I first saw you, I was drawn to you. That quiet restraint of yours pulls me in. What do you say we continue this conversation…” her voice dipped into a whisper, “…under the sheets?”

“As I already told you, I don’t fall for tricks.”

Her seductive mask slipped. Frustrated, she began pacing. “I swear I used all the magic words that should make a virgin boy like you tremble.”

Grabbing a notebook, she started scribbling. “Maybe it’s the way I say it. Do I need to be less direct? Maybe shy works better in certain scenarios…”

“I’m not your lab rat, you know.”

With a flick of her hand, she closed the notebook and stored it away.

Then her fingers slid to her shirt, unbuttoning slowly. Her voice softened, timid now, a different shade entirely. “The truth is… I’m nervous. This would be my first time. But if it’s with you… I’d accept it.”

“You do realize I heard you thinking about changing your approach, right?”

She huffed and dropped back into her chair, scooping a spoonful of beans from the can. “Anyway, that’s how Kunoichis operate. A class that blends espionage, theft, assassination, and seduction.”

Luke dug into his own can of food in silence.

“Still, admit it,” she teased, “not even a little flutter in your chest? Not even a blush?”

“No.”

“Seriously? Why not?”

He leveled a look at her. “Because you don’t have anything that attracts me.”

“And what is it that attracts you in a woman that I lack?” she asked, notebook and pencil already in hand.

‘Big breasts. Maids. Elves.’ Artemis’s voice chimed dryly in his thoughts.

For a brief second, Luke wanted to crush the necklace in his hand.

“Remind me why the hell we’re even talking about this?” he asked.

Evangeline set the notebook aside. “You already know I’m a tailor with the Shadow Kunoichi class. I’ve reached the peak of Rank F. Maxed everything. I was courteous enough to lay my cards on the table first. As partners, you should show yours.”

“I’m not saying anything. You should’ve told me your real motive before this. I never agreed to share.”

She took another spoonful, unbothered. “I already know your class is Assassin. Princess Rhiannon told me as much, trying to convince me you could be trusted. That leaves your profession, if you have one. I need to know whether you’ll actually be useful for the plan. We’re all marching into hell together. The least you can do is tell me what you specialize in.”

“When Allison gets here, I’ll tell you my profession.”

From what Luke knew, Allison would return in just a few days, fresh from her mission against the Orc Lord.

“Did they kill the Orc Lord or not?” Luke asked.

“I don’t know,” Evangeline admitted. “Someone from the expedition dropped a note in a spot Jerry could find in the forest. The note itself was blank. That’s how we communicate.”

“That’s a bizarre method,” Luke muttered.

“The point isn’t the message, it’s the act of leaving it.” Her tone firmed. “It means they’re alive, at least, and on their way back. We can’t risk anything leaking to Bartholomew. What if he’s been watching the places we used to pass messages these past few months? Allison being a noble, and Mason working alongside her, it draws too much attention. Especially after vanishing for so long.”

She shifted in her chair. “There have been too many eyes on Haven lately. Ever since Marshall was taken out, things have been… off. Do you think Angelica was the only one targeted that night? During the ant attack, plenty of merchants and influential people died.”

Her gaze darkened. “Coincidentally, or not, they were the same ones who had their own groups planning to search for the mechanisms. Local leaders, small factions. Even some strong fighters who were actually contributing. All wiped out in one night.”

She tapped her fingers against the armrest. “Whether that was chance or something deliberate, we still don’t know. But it was strange. Very strange.”

Finally, she rose from her chair. “Once they get closer, out of the forest, Jerry can carry a letter directly to Allison. That’ll make things easier.”

***

Luke and Evangeline sat by the edge of a river, catching their breath. They’d stirred up quite the mess. Sneaking all the way to the gate that led toward the capital, they had slipped into the guard camp under cover of night. Luke had hurled a kukri charged with mana, blasting apart the barricade again, and then cloaked the chaos in a thick fog, leaving the soldiers stumbling in confusion.

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After that, they ran.

The two of them bolted like madmen until their lungs burned, finally stopping only when the river cut across their path.

“We bought ourselves some time,” she said.

Their insane little plan had worked, or at least, it looked like it would. Either way, they’d pulled it off.

“You really think Bartholomew will believe I went back to the capital? That this will actually convince him?” Luke asked.

“Better than letting him keep his armies focused on the Wild Zone. If we leave him unchecked, he might send his trusted scouts to keep watch near the second mechanism while we’re there. This way, at least he’ll split his pursuit, thinking you returned to the capital.”

It was the kind of scheme the two of them only could’ve come up with while killing time, waiting for Allison and the others to return.

“And besides,” Evangeline added, “he’ll never believe we’d try something this stupid.”

“That much I’m sure of.”

Luke let out a long sigh. “Now we’ve got to march seven hours just to circle back to where we started. He’d never think we were dumb enough to pull this off, and honestly, I can’t even argue with that.”

***

Evangeline had just sent her familiar, Jerry, off with a letter for Allison. According to the raven, they’d already made it out of the deeper parts of orc territory.