This is a Regular Scheduled Update
~
He’Da was amused by the sudden turn of events. There was a good chance that Ruzen’s performance had incited the upper echelon into acting in advance. Because he was certain that the King would never let such condition fester unless he was looking for a troublesome dispute with other candidates. Sadly, He’Da wasn’t surprised to note such fast response from the King’s men in regards to the prior notice that had been deployed previously. In that notice the King’s condition hadn’t been specified but a need for a Keeper had been proposed. Due to various restrictions, the candidates weren’t many, but by the end of the season, He’Da concurred there would be enough candidates to go through the final phase of selection.
He’Da had hinted to Ruzen about this matter. If the King and his men decided to withdraw from their own conditions, mass contention might be unavoidable, but if Ruzen could achieve glory prior to such debatable selection process… then by the end of the season he would be send an invite for sure.
Of course He’Da was aware that the King did not see these selection processes in good light, for there was a lot that went on under his nose that he couldn’t control despite his strength and position. Politics and underhanded actions forced the fairness of these processes to a limit, and it was always the same game. It may have been why their King asked Ruzen to become his Keeper directly, defying the system for an easier remedy, but Ruzen had decided to confront the situation head on, and so, it became necessary for him to strive for glory that can get him the approval of masses and upper echelon.
While He’Da was immersed in his thoughts, he also worried about that girl Acornis. Her abrupt appearance had really made him distressed. Now that there was a connection between her and his disciple, others would certainly question him. And it would be bad.
Even if one wanted to ignore her and her relationship with Ruzen, it was impossible to keep Ruzen’s character and background out of suspicion, now most of the public would be curious despite Ruzen’s denial.
And everyone knew, Keeper Acornis had a bad history and bloated attitude, it was troublesome to be known by her. Even her own Kept was rumored to dislike her.
Alas, she was also the only good envoy whose mind was sharp and her tongue sharper. If not for her conduct and skills, she would never have made it as a Keeper.
When Ruzen settled in his role, he might even have to get along with her if he was ever given the envoy’s position. Anything was possible.
He’Da’s inner musings and thoughts weren’t without basis, even Ruzen, who was now racing through the forest ground felt restless.
The woods that the participants had been allotted was on the eastern side of the compound, connected by a narrow pathway covered by a buffer of bamboos. The tiled pathway was neither too inspiring nor too pitiable. But the long stretch took time to cover.
Their guide gave them each a solid crystal ball the size of a palm, kept inside a small pouch which could be hung from their waistbelt. Ruzen took it and like everyone else followed the shown path until a pleasant breeze hit his face indicating opening.
Circling his core energy, Ruzen focused it on his eyes for a better overlook, he could feel strange pressure falling over him from random directions, some were too heavy, some were like a breeze, and some were barely noticeable.
He also saw huge trees and thick greens everywhere, shadowing the contours and landscape until nothing could be seen. He could tell that the darkness shrouding this entire expanse was unnatural, it was like participants were being urged to utilize only their sense of hearing to maneuver along the paths.
It must be Acornis who made this map, even the features corresponded well with her personality.
If Ruzen was still in modern era, he would have justified this night hunt with the prevalent themes like ‘collection quest’ and ‘survival horror’ that often excited the gaming players. He even would have bought the extra ammo if that meant he would last longer. As a modern young man, such online games and 3d installations excited him, but…
In his current situation, he only felt it was better to exit this forest as soon as he could. It was not only giving him a dangerous vibe, but it was reality and not a virtual world.
Players rushed past him when he slowed down to a halt. He couldn’t just blindly follow the trails and attack some 3rd world creature head on. He needed to focus on the energies that he could feel and follow them to the source.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Ruzen’s speed when running was not slow, if one needed to compare, Ruzen could be said to have double the speed in relation to the fastest modern human. And he was still slow when compared to the people of this world, but that did not matter.
He could jump high if he used his powers to support his legs, and he could race faster as well if he needed to, but it consumed a lot of energy and Ruzen did not want to waste even an ounce before he captured a beast. The participants might not be given a chance of rest after the night hunt, and he feared he wouldn’t be able to compete to his fullest if that was the case.
It was always better to be cautious.
“…where?” Ruzen muttered in annoyance as he ran and jumped from tree to tree in search of a beast. He had been sure he heard the screech from somewhere close but… was the beast captured already?
Displeased, Ruzen sought another source, racing with all his might to where he knew other players wouldn’t have reached yet, but to his surprise, he found nothing that can be captured. ‘Exactly what was going on?’
Mistake or not, he would try again.
His senses searched for energies around him, again trying to pin point the location of another beast. Thankfully, he found one nearby, albeit fainter and smaller in range.
Not wanting to waste time, Ruzen ran towards the location, simultaneously exploring his surrounding for enemies.
To his dismay, the target had vanished as soon as he reached the location and Ruzen could feel another presence right next to him. In reflex he stepped back, but still got a swift cut on his arm, in the same place where that Acornis woman had slashed him earlier. It had yet to heal.
“I told you I am not Al’Bae!” he tersely scolded dodging another attempt at attack.
He should have known it was her, even if it was getting difficult to ‘see’ things, he could still feel her enersym clashing with his, no wonder his targets were getting eaten before he could even reach them.
Forming his ghost hands into claws, Ruzen attacked the woman swiftly, yet he sensed his claws disintegrating again, rendering him speechless.
Really, what a troublesome creature she was, how was he supposed to defeat her if she was so strong.
“You are too slow,” an arrogant response came back, as Ruzen stumbled over a tree stump trying to redirect her attack, “and your weakness is your skill, you cannot even fight against me with what you have.”
In response to her critique, Ruzen used a strong wind strike to cut through her, but she was able to divert it without much sweat, making him peeved.
“I am your junior, for what are you targeting me?”
“I don’t have juniors like you, you are an eyesore.”
Ruzen snorted, backing away a few meters to avoid her scope of attack.
Though, it was futile seeing how much she was restraining herself. The problem was, Ruzen couldn’t understand her thoughts and it was impossible to know her next move.
It was obvious that she had something in mind, yet Ruzen did not want to know, he did not want to waste any more time than he already had.
Because nothing was being announced, he was on the blindside. How was he supposed to know how far others had reached?
Frowning at his dull luck, he raced his brain to find an opportunity to either escape Acornis, or bind her.
And both were impossible to do because she was too strong to be bound and there was no chance to escape considering how nimble she was.
Really frustrated, Ruzen deflected another strike from hitting him, his ghost hand disintegrating in process.
He did know various skills, but none of them was as powerful as his ghost hand, or as flexible. Ghost hands could stay for longer durations, but ‘skills’ were one time attacks which couldn’t be sustained for long.
And out of all of them, Ruzen’s trump card was the one being mercilessly trampled on, so he was rightfully grumpy. Also, being attacked by a crazy sticky female was not gratifying.
Suddenly, along the lines of various thoughts, Ruzen got an idea. It was a gamble more or less, but Ruzen was willing to take the risk, because it was the only way he could win this round.
He rotated his power inside his body, flexing his senses as he reached out to attack the woman, mercilessly throwing various skills at her, some slashing her and some burning her. But she was able to dodge them all and laughed in the end, with a sharp arrogance and slight in her tone. “Hahaha, is that all you have Al’Bae, how pitiful.”
Ruzen didn’t have the patience to deal with her, he attacked her again, this time with his sword, getting very close to her in order to deal with her dagger inside her range.
His sudden move abruptly cut of the jovial mood Acornis was in, as she ‘flew’ back and struck his sword, dealing with him beautifully, not letting his movements relax.
“What are you even trying to do, your movements are unnecessarily large. Do you even know how weapons work?”
Obviously, Ruzen knew she was the envoy of a province which was known for its weapons – he had asked around… there was no way he could trample her in terms of weapon skills. But… his main goal had never been to harm her, he already had what he wanted in his hand.
Before Acornis could tell the difference, Ruzen ran the closest he could get and attacked her with multiple skill sets which he could use on her. In order to subdue her, he even made use of the only poison attack that he had in his arsenal, preventing her from escaping and rendering her numb. It would only work for a second or two, considering her strength, but he simply utilized that 1 second he got and slapped her face with her own crystal ball.
That last second her eyes had widened in shock as her figure shrunk and disappeared inside the ball. Ruzen almost felt like he was playing ‘pokemon’, that world famous RPG.
It was also uncanny how the pokeball- um, the crystal ball swayed a bit, flashing in and out before finally settling in. Increasing Ruzen’s heartbeat as he waited for some kind of an announcement announcing his disqualification.
Nothing happened as he waited, the silent breeze unnerving him, but his anxiety couldn’t be lessened. He had played a huge gamble, he had first snatched the hanging pouch from Acornis’ waist, and then taken out the crystal ball when Acornis was slandering his swordsmanship.
He just needed to subdue her and capture her then, since he wasn’t willing to capture her inside his own crystal ball in fear of what she might do to escape. And what would happen of all his captured 3rd world creatures if they rested around her in that ball?
Ruzen didn’t want to take chances, so he just captured her inside her own crystal ball, thankfully it worked… and he didn’t seem to be disqualified.
How relieving.
Now… all that was left was to capture those beasts. Because he didn’t think he would find another loophole in rules the next time.
While on the other side of the screen, the night vision recordings being showed to the audience left the ones watching ‘amused’.
Most were amused because they didn’t think anyone would use this method to trick and capture their enemy. It was really, unprecedented.
“Participants could do that? I thought he would be disqualified!”
“Me too, how did he come up with it?”
“He seems clever. But truly unlucky I’d say, that woman was targeting him since morning.”
“Really… left me surprised. Although I hope there is not any kind of deductions for what he did.”
“True, I did not even know crystal balls could capture our kind.”
“I am excited to see more of what he does… the boy isn’t too stupid.”
“But the rest are several points ahead of him…”
“Wait… I just realized that a newbie was able to defeat a very senior envoy… albeit in an unorthodox way?”
“I wonder if he would be selected as a candidate, he seemed different the moment I saw him…”
Thank you for the chapter 😍😍
What wrong with that woman??
Pffft!!!! Good job Ruzen!!!! She’s so annoying!!!🤣🤣
Thanks for the chapter ❤️
lmao he caught her like a Pokemon
Thanks for the chapter as always!!
Kudos Ruzen!!!! He’s growing every minute!!! Thanks for the new chapter!!!!!
Ahahahaha Ruzen captured the most powerful creature in the forest.
Oh no I caught up😭 I just started a few hours agoo😭😭😭
Lol wild woman was captured by pokeball haha. Well she is so damn annoying if it were me, i would bury her pokeball 😂
Thanks for the chapter
How do 3rd world creatures look like? They’re so fast
Thank you for the chapter!
what an annoying Pokémon 🤨
Ru’zen gogogogo!!
thanks for the chapter!
Thank you for the chapter <33
Ding! Ding! Ding! You encountered a wild Acornis b*tch. The wild Acornis attacked you. You have thrown a crystal ball at the wild Acornis. Ding! Congratulations you successfully captured a wild Acornis! 😂😂😂 Just hope the gal doesn’t start fighting with the animals she captured herself before in the crystal ball. 😅
hahaha “have you ever been slapped by your own crystal ball?” slap!
thanks for the chapter <3
ahahaha the similarity of the crystal balls to pokeballs. Can he now send her out like, “Go! Acornis!” to capture the creatures XD