Zarek rolled, peeking at the notifications on the side of his screen. Even with Limit Break, he didn't manage to make it to C+, but he had definitely gotten far closer than he would have without it. He'd just need a little push, but at least for now, his Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence—the last of which had reached C on its own before—were now C Class.
As of right now, he could be considered a C Class Master, and his body felt limber and sharp.
He felt the next arrow coming before it even truly locked on, the prickling against his skin more obvious to him now than it had been back in the desert the Violet Enchantress was probably still waiting around.
Zarek seemed to be in an even sorrier state than Thalion had been, his body having just undergone a breakthrough and his skin covered in soil, soot, and all sorts of dirt he had picked up from the avalanche and his sudden roll just now.
And yet, unlike Thalion, he met the second arrow head-on as though it didn't fluster him in the slightest.
The lance tilted in his hand, the currents the arrow rode on becoming volatile and halving its strength before it even reached him.
With a flick of his wrist, the weakened arrow deflected over Zarek's shoulder just as the latter pointed out a free finger toward it.
A line of Lurker's Godsfall took shape, and the wild grin on Zarek's face only widened further.
'You think you can hide by curling your arrows? If you were going to do that, at least curl them less predictably. Idiot.'
Zarek took a strong step forward as the third arrow was already coming. But he knew the moment the arrow he had caught with his Lurker's Godsfall went taut against the line of elastic black that there would be no fourth—not necessarily because the archer would die with this blow, but because they would be too flustered to send it.
BANG!
Zarek's torso flexed with all his might, sending the arrow catapulting forward. The bend of his head from the motion of his throw caused the third arrow to miss, the second arrow he had taken control of practically dividing the skies in two with its speed.
As expected, there was no fourth arrow.
BOOM!
Zarek didn't spare the archer's direction another glance, rushing up to the Treasure Hub again. At this point, if he wasn't going to hit the Jackpot, the least it could do was keep giving him those vials. Maybe he could rush closer to B Class.
He wasn't so lucky.
The pillar of gold shot into the skies once again, and an item was snatched by Zarek once more.
—
[You have received: {B Class Skill Tempting Fate}]
—
'Come again?'
Zarek definitely felt like the system had crossed over to troll him.
For one, this was a Charisma-Type Skill. Though this was true, it was ironically used by tanks. You were meant to use it as a Taunting-Type Skill, one that forced Turned—especially those of low Charisma—to focus on you and ignore whatever party or team you were traveling with.
Right now, Zarek wasn't traveling with anyone he cared to protect, so this was probably the worst sort of Skill he could end up with—
Zarek blinked as a thought came to mind.
"Never mind. Forget I cursed you. I love you, truly."
He snatched up the Skill and learned it. It was the second Skill he had gotten after his Scouting Skill that he actually cared about. He had other Skills he had gained through Atom Link, but honestly, he had never given them a second glance.
Marx and his brothers truly didn't understand the value of Skill Slots. If not for the fact Zarek had suddenly ended up with so many, and theirs didn't seem to influence the Skill Slots he already had, he would have already put a lot more effort into getting them to purge those useless fucking Skills.
As for why he felt a useless Skill had suddenly become useful to him all of a sudden, that was something for him to know and for his enemies to stay up at night being haunted by.
Zarek sensed bursts of energy coming from the surroundings. More accurately, three of them.
They rushed down the valley, realizing that the archer wasn't going to be able to pin him down anymore.
BANG!
The arrow Zarek had launched landed, and it was unknown whether the archer managed to survive the blow. But what was clear was that Zarek was correct. There was only one person in this valley capable of such powerful ranged attacks, and now that they were out for the moment, the others could only come down for true hand-to-hand combat.
Too bad—before then, Zarek bet he could activate this Hub two more times.
'Come on, Jackpot. Don't fuck with me now.'
—
[You have received: {B Class Appraisal Profession}]
—
Another surge of light peeled through the skies.
Zarek cursed up a storm. This time, there was no getting around it. He had well and truly been bent over. Under normal circumstances, he would be happy to have this Profession. But Anato Scribe had been an S Class Profession, and though he hadn't had a chance to look at its upgrade yet, it was most definitely S Class as well.
What good was a B Class Profession to him? There was no way he was going to accept it.
'Worthless.'
Zarek waited for the pillar of light to vanish, feeling the threats coming closer and closer. But there wasn't an ounce of panic in his expression. He had faced off against an Eclipse-level Threat. Who were these people to him?
He reacted like lightning the moment the bright gold disappeared. When Zarek saw what he got, his mood swings finally came to a high once again.
'Blessings.'
Was this the Jackpot? No. But it would certainly help.
—
[You have received: {B Class Intent Upgrade Elixir}]
—
He didn't even look at the people rushing toward him. He tilted his head back, swallowed it in a single gulp, and roared to the skies.