Chapter 119: A New Profession

The underground palace.

At the entrance, Matthew’s party hurled crude oil bombs inside. Their power was weak and the results meager, but at least there was no danger.

The monsters were jammed together near the entrance. Roars echoed out in waves, yet not a single one could break through.

The group could calmly make more oil bombs while tossing them inside.

Bottle after bottle of burning oil spread across the ground, building up a considerable heat. The damage was slight, but it had some effect nonetheless. Every so often, a monster would be scorched and lose health, though very few actually died.

“What do you think? Not a bad idea, right? All we need are a few simple materials and several gold coins for some cheap glass bottles, and we can make oil bombs with a pretty decent explosive effect!”

As he spoke, Matthew wiped his face with his arm. He did not even have the time to care about the oil stains covering him, and his voice carried a trace of smugness.

“Boss, our levels aren’t high enough. Why do we have to come somewhere like this to grind monsters?” Feton asked.

“Yeah, Boss. We could find a place more suited to us, complete quests, and raise our levels at the same time,” Rita said.

“I don’t really care.” When Matthew looked at him, Jack shrugged casually. “I’m almost level eight. Once I get there, I’ll go interview with the Gale Squad. If I pass, I won’t have to scrape by in a place like this anymore.”

“Uh... heh heh...” A strange smile appeared on Matthew’s face. He was smiling, but there was no trace of happiness in his expression.

“I know you might not like it, but people strive upward, while water flows downward. Everyone has their own ambitions. Some things can’t be forced.” Jack spoke indifferently, entirely unconcerned by Matthew’s attitude.

He and Matthew were the same level. Although Matthew was a melee fighter, Jack was agility-based himself. If they fell out and began fighting at such close range, Jack might not be able to counterattack instantly, but he could certainly evade quickly.

Matthew might have been the leader of this unregistered party, but Jack had never truly regarded him as one.

Now, that was what a leader from a squad like the Gale Squad looked like.

Then compare that to the people around him...

Tsk, tsk.

“I heard Luo Yong is dead,” Feton suddenly said.

“Huh?”

“The captain of the Gale Squad? How did he die?” Jack asked.

“Life and death are governed by fate!” Matthew let out a long sigh. He glanced at his filthy, oil-covered teammates and said, “The reason I brought you here was to see whether we could challenge level-eight monsters at this stage and improve our levels and combat power more quickly.”

“Oh... so that’s how it is...” Feton drew out his words, as though he had suddenly understood. “I thought you’d heard that the Gale Squad—formerly the Fury Squad—made its name here, and wanted to come rub off some of their luck!”

“Bullshit! They were practically trapped here and about to die! If they hadn’t met Luo Yong... It was that bastard Luo Yong who got lucky and happened to run into them!” Matthew said angrily.

“But we were the ones who met Luo Yong first!” Rita sighed.

“...”

Matthew and Feton both fell silent.

Damn it. No one had eyes in the back of their head, and no one could see the future. Who could have known what would happen later?

“What good did meeting him do? You failed to seize the opportunity. And what use is good luck? He’s dead now, isn’t he?” Jack stroked his chin, deep in thought. “Could it be that luck really is something you use up before you’re the first to leave this world?”

“...”

Having already reached the vicinity, Luo Yong frowned deeply.

What kind of behavior was it to badmouth someone behind his back?

Looking at the expressions on their faces, he almost wanted to go over and give each of them a sword thrust.

“Do you know them?”

Pang Ding walked through the shadows.

His way of doing things had always been cautious and meticulous—methodical, unhurried, and composed.

More importantly, he was ruthless.

“More or less,” Luo Yong replied indifferently.

“Trouble?”

“No.”

“Should we kill them, just in case they reveal our whereabouts?” Pang Ding asked without emotion.

“Forget it.” Luo Yong shook his head.

“Softhearted people will never accomplish anything great.” Pang Ding snorted and drew his rapier.

“Would Belinda really like a murderous maniac?”

“Uh...”

“Then she has poor taste. She’s nothing compared with my woman!” Luo Yong shook his head again.

“You!”

Pang Ding angrily grabbed Luo Yong—by the belt—and tilted his head back, his eyes seeming to spit fire.

“I won’t allow you to speak of her like that! Otherwise, watch yourself—I’ll kill you!”

“Then kill me. Why aren’t you doing it? What are you waiting for?” Luo Yong looked down at him with an indifferent expression, as though he had long since seen through life and death.

“I—”

Pang Ding’s anger abruptly stalled.

If he had not exhausted all the resources of a low-rank secret realm without obtaining a class-change scroll or a necromantic spell scroll;

if he had not personally witnessed Luo Yong’s summoned skeleton soldiers during the battle with Adela;

then Pang Ding would probably have attacked long ago.

“Luo Yong, before my patience runs out, if Belinda still hasn’t been resurrected, you can wait to be hacked into a thousand pieces!” Pang Ding released him and spoke viciously.

The sensation was strange. Luo Yong clearly sensed the other man’s murderous intent, yet he felt nothing in particular inside.

He even felt a little like eating a chicken leg.

“My name is Zorro now,” Luo Yong said flatly.

He shoved Pang Ding aside and walked into the underground palace without a trace of emotion.

“I’ll Zorro your sister!” Pang Ding muttered, his figure melting into the shadows.

“Get out of the way! Don’t block the path!”

When Luo Yong reached the entrance to the underground palace, he discovered that, by some absurd misfortune, these people were blocking it.

“Uh, d-don’t misunderstand. We just wanted to ask whether you were going into the underground palace. We can go together!” Matthew stammered.

He knew that blocking someone’s path was practically an act of provocation. If the other party happened to be hot-tempered, the consequences could be unpredictable.

“You’re too weak. Before I lose my temper, get out of my way!” Luo Yong lowered his voice and activated his disguise skill. His voice sounded like that of a weather-beaten middle-aged man.

In fact, Luo Yong’s current appearance and the color of his cloak were completely different from before. With a greatsword strapped to his back, he looked like an aging mercenary.

The equipment he was wearing now had all been deliberately purchased in the past, when he had spent extra money on various items and stored them in his storage space. Now they had finally come in handy, completing his set of gear.

When he had appeared before Pang Ding dressed like this, even that fat bastard had been stunned.

“You—”

Matthew still wanted to say something. He knew his level was somewhat low and normally would never have acted this way, but for some reason, he had become worked up.

Being provoked by someone made him feel as though he had lost face, and he wanted to say something to recover it.

But—

His three teammates had already retreated with remarkable wisdom, clearing the entrance to the underground palace.

“Ah!”

Matthew sighed. His expression darkened. Without bothering with his three teammates, he turned and left.

The other three had also grown tired of the pointless act of throwing oil bombs at the entrance. They quickly departed, their figures vanishing into the darkness.

“Hmph. They picked up a life for free and still have the nerve to act like that.” Luo Yong shook his head, then blurred forward and entered the underground palace.

If he had not been here today, and those people had blocked Pang Ding’s path, they would probably have died without even knowing how.

“Should we clear out the monsters, or go straight to the boss?” Luo Yong asked.

“What a stupid question. What’s the point of clearing the monsters here? We’re going straight to the secret realm and making a wish!” Pang Ding rolled his eyes and replied irritably.

“I remember that a class-change scroll dropped here once while I was fighting monsters...” Luo Yong said faintly.

“Then what are you waiting for? You clear the monsters here, and I’ll retrieve the scroll!” After thinking it over, Pang Ding felt that placing all his hopes on Luo Yong was a little too much. Otherwise, Luo Yong would have him completely under his thumb—if he said his level was stuck, then it was stuck; if he said they had to fight Adela, then they had to fight that ancient magical beast.

“Fine. It makes no difference where I grind monsters.” Luo Yong sighed.

He had originally possessed more than a hundred Death Dragonflies, all of which had been left in the Land of Divine Weeping. In the end, every last one of them had been lost. Not a single one remained.

The level-twenty item had also been wasted. He had not seen it just now, so someone had probably picked it up...

Fortunately, the Miser Spider had remained faithfully by his side, which put Luo Yong at ease.

It was probably a special type of item. No matter how agile it was, it was still a “money pouch.” Hidden among rocks, vegetation, and the like, it had concealed itself and camouflaged its appearance, making it extremely difficult for others to discover.

“Ah, time to grind monsters!”

Luo Yong sighed and took the greatsword from his back. Then he thought about it. Although he was dressed like a mercenary, he still needed a class he could present to others.

So he rummaged through his storage space for a while. He also emptied out part of the items stored with the Miser Spider before finally finding a new class scroll—

Forbidden Arts Guard.

Strictly speaking, this was a rather mediocre class in the early stages. It had only two skills and seemed to be one component of a large military formation.

It was more or less like a camp guard.

The difference was that one was an ordinary class, while the other was an official position—one with an established appointment.

As for weapons, it was much the same as an ordinary mercenary’s equipment: it used a spear.

At level eight, it gained a skill called Flash Strike, which allowed the user to launch a teleportation-like attack over a short distance, driving the spear straight through an enemy’s heart.

At level twenty, it gained a large-area skill called Shaking Spear Technique. By trembling the weapon, the user could create a row of solid spear images around his body and rapidly kill large numbers of enemies.

“This one will do.”

Luo Yong was not picky. It was only meant to conceal his identity, after all.

From this moment on, his class became Forbidden Arts Guard.

The most powerful aspect of this class appeared after raising its level sufficiently, when it gained an ultimate technique known as Forbidden Arts.

It was equivalent to an Anti-Magic Domain—the nightmare of mages who specialized solely in magic and neglected physical combat.