Chapter 48 - Playtime’s Over (2)

'Weird... I swear I could sense some people here other than these prowlers.' Ashton thought to himself while fighting off the prowlers.

Ever since his [Perception] evolved into High-grade thanks to how heavily he had been depending on it, Ashton was able to sense the presence of others around him. He was using this to locate and hunt down other groups.

So far he had managed to hunt down a couple of five people teams. It was thanks to that, he had obtained quite a few useful things, like a cloak called 'Nemean Hide'. This armour along with the whip was the best set of items he had obtained yet.

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Item: Nemean Hide

Type: Armour

Defence: 100-133 HP per strike

Stats bonus:

>> Armour: +10% while equipped for use (increases with user's level).

>> Reduces 2x damage taken from Night Creatures.

>> Reduces 0.5x damage against Weapon attacks.

Rarity: Uncommon

Description:

An armour said to be made of the leather of one of the only known Grade-A night creatures found in the dungeon of Might. While alive, this lion slew more than 300 werewolves who were unfortunate enough to encounter it while dungeon diving. The second prince of Ashvana, the strongest Empire of the eastern world and the leader of the kingdoms belonging to 5 Stars slew this gigantic lion after a battle that lasted for weeks.

The weapon had been enchanted and imbued with unique abilities and effects.

Effect(s):

Protects the wielder from negative effects such as Poison, Haemorrhage, Stun, and Paralysis.

Increases all of the user's existing resistances by one grade (when equipped).

Grants the user the active skill: <Aggravate>.

Temporarily increases the user's armour by an additional 20% for 5 seconds. Up to 15 targets around the user can get affected by this skill. Affected individuals are unable to use any abilities (If they have a low level than that of the user) or the effectiveness of their abilities reduces by 60% (if they are at a higher level than that of the user) for the duration of the skill.

This skill can be activated 3 times a day.

Cooldown: 2 Hours

Activation Radius: 5 metres

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Although the armour did not have as many effects as the Bone whip, the couple of effects it had were more than enough to allow Ashton to move freely across the zone without any worries. it was because of these options, eliminating the examinee who had it equipped was tough. Even though the examinee didn't possess any exceptional talent at all.

That was all because of the armours active skill. Ashton had to quite literally beat the crap out of the one using the armour to eliminate him. It was just to show what the armour could have done in the right hands... which it was.

The Prowlers were no match for Ashton anymore as a result, even if he got hurt, he did not receive much if any damage at all. While the Prowlers were getting frustrated.

However, as fun it was to fight the Prowlers, they weren't the reason why he was there. Ashton wanted to hunt down the other examinees and not waste his time on worthless beings.

'Wait... did I just get lured in a trap?' Ashton thought as he snapped the neck of yet another Prowler, 'Damn... what a worthless trap. I think it would have worked against me if it wasn't for the armour.'

The realisation that he might be in a trap alerted Ashton. All of a sudden, Ashton was on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. It only took him a couple of seconds to find an abandoned building... with light coming out of one of its broken windows.

'Either they are hiding there, or it's another trap...' Ashton smiled in a sinister manner, 'Why don't I lure them out instead?'

With a plan formed in his head, Ashton jumped into action. He intentionally dropped his guard around the Prowlers to make it seem like he was being overwhelmed. But not enough to eliminate him, just enough to let him get injured.

An injured Examinee, with additional rewards on his head and loaded with items that can decide the course of the exam? That would be the perfect bet for them. A bait that even a fool wouldn't leave behind.

If Ashton wanted, he could have easily gotten rid of the prowlers like he had done before. But he didn't want to scare those hiding idiots away. So he waited... while slowly getting rid of the Prowlers and as he had predicted, those fools came rushing out of their hiding place as soon as there was only one Prowler left behind.

'Come one, come all...' Ashton let out another smile, while patiently waiting for them to get close enough.

***

A few moments earlier...

"He's down! Charge out now!" Lucas yelled at his lackeys who immediately took out their weapons.

Their greed for points had blinded them to obvious things... but not Lucas. That's why he stayed behind while the barbarians ran ahead of him to 'claim' their prize. He couldn't pinpoint it, but something was off about the man who had been fighting the prowlers.

Initially, the man had jumped in between the Prowlers with confidence that would have rivalled even the strongest warriors on their continent. It felt as if the man knew exactly what he was doing, but then all of sudden the prowlers started overwhelming him?

It made no sense, at least to him. Unless... that person was aware of their presence and wanted to lure them out instead.

'Those fools can do the dirty work themselves. If nothing goes wrong, I'll show up and take the best items using my family name.' Lucas thought, 'And if things went south... I can always dump those fools and make a run for it while there's time.'

Survival was the most important thing. It didn't matter how many dirty tricks one might need to use.. As long as survival was ensured, nothing was right or wrong.