Outlands, Serisis.

9:26 a.m. 18th Banem 1092.

"Let's die?" GrizzlyDiamond snorted as he strode to the front. "Do you seriously believe you have the right to trade your life with one of ours?" The powerful knight looked at Brilith and asked, "Let me handle this. There's no need for you to get involved."

Brilith leaked a light smile as she regarded Ragnaf with clear disdain. "Make it quick. I want to explore this country afterward."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Uthman demanded in shock. "You said you were going to help them."

"Ah, that's right, I almost forgot you are still here," Brilith murmured as she looked at the dwarf. "Thank you for your services. You can rest now."

Uthman blinked. "Rest? What do you me—urk!" The dwarf clutched his throat, unable to complete his sentence because of a massive cut. Blood leaked through Uthman's fingers as struggled in vain to keep the blood from rushing out of his throat. Unfortunately, his efforts proved useless, and within a few seconds, he was sprawled on the earth and breathed his last.

Above his body, Roro took out a handkerchief from her pouch, gently wiped the blood off her dagger, and then tossed the bloodied handkerchief on the dwarf's corpse. Silence descended on the land as Rudega and Ragnaf accepted the cruel reality before them.

Rudega looked from Uthman to the Summoned surrounding his corpse in disbelief. Even worse, recognized the disdain in their eyes. Those were the eyes of someone who had slain a being lesser than themselves. Roro, in particular, had disgust in her eyes, like she lamented using her blade on such a creature.

"You Bastards!" Rudega roared in rage, and was about to rush at Roro, but a heavy hand clamped on his shoulder and held him in place. "Let me go!" the dwarf angrily roared as he looked up at Ragnaf. However, he paused when he saw the rage in the orc's eyes.

To Rudega, this might be the first time someone looked at him with those eyes, but Ragnaf had faced those eyes since his very first memory. A half breed orc-elf whose heritage was unknown was always destined to suffer in the orc community which valued strength above all else. His mixed heritage caused his body to mutate strangely. He was not as muscular as other orcs, and his tusks were like toothpicks compared to other of his tribe. Even worse, his features were smooth and graceful instead of the sharp, jagged features of other orcs.

This led to a life of ridicule and bullying while growing up. However, rather than get discouraged, Ragnaf trained harder than anyone until he seized the crown of Champion in the arena. Only then did those disdainful eyes turn into respect.

The eyes of the Summoned were the same as those eyes he saw in the past. In that case, there was only one thing to do.

"Don't lose your head," Ragnaf said as he tightened his grip on Rudega's shoulder. "If they don't respect us, we only have to beat it into them." The orc looked down at Rudega and said, "Take care of Durst. No matter what, in the end, their main target is you guys. I'm just collateral. I'll go kill as many as I can. I'm not good with my head, so you think of a way to get us out of this."

"Get out of this?" GrizzlyDiamond chuckled as he stepped forward. "I thought you wanted to die with us? You want to run away coward?"

"Don't misunderstand," Ragnaf said as he brandished his ax. The orc's body burst with terrifying ki as he approached the knight. "I just realized dying will satisfy your disgusting faces. So, I'll live. I'll kill as many of you as I can, and live. I wonder if that face will remain the same afterward."

"You need my permission to live or die," GrizzlyDiamond replied in a low tone as his body erupted with monstrous ki no lesser than Ragnaf's.

The warriors' aura clashed before they even met, causing space to twist and distort from the sheer strength.

"Then die!" GrizzlyDiamond roared as he burst forward and swung his ax down with the force a mad bear.

"You first!" Ragnaf retorted as he stood his ground and swiped upward with his ax, carrying along the momentum of a raging bull.

BOOOM!

****

BOOOM!

Within a brightly lit cave at a hidden corner of the world, a red-haired warrior gritted his teeth as he was sent sliding backward from a clash. At the other side, a 30ft long, earth dragon wailed in fury as it retracted its tail and then glared at the warrior. It roared and then breathed a column of flame at him, intended on burning him to ash.

The flames soon obscured the dragon's view of the warrior, but before it could celebrate its win, a giant scythe-like ki blade cut through the flames, revealing the man at its center, unscathed.

The man breathed hard as he brushed his hair back and tied it, revealing a handsome, rugged youth.

Hektor's eyes were cold but filled with unwavering confidence as he glared at the monster before him. Gone was the brash youth who struggled in front of those tiny monsters. Over forty floors of this hell-zone had forcefully sharpened that gemstone of a young man into a shining warrior.

The current Hektor only wore a pair of pants crafted from dragon leather, as most of the gear he'd found in the dungeon was promptly destroyed after a fight or two. Luckily, these pants had a self-repair function, so as long as it wasn't destroyed completely during a fight, it would repair itself afterward.

Hektor glanced at the dragon and then strode towards it with a bone broadsword rested on his shoulder. Someone who was seeing this youth for the first time would assume he was the reincarnation of an ancient general who had graced the battlefield for decades. Such was the regality and power expounded by each step that even the dragon experienced a tremor in its heart.

But of course, this was only natural. After fighting, and eating dragon meat and blood over the past weeks, some of the dragons' innate regality had begun to fuse with Hektor, transforming him from a regular fighter to a dignified warrior.

Hektor glared at the opposing dragon. He had a feeling this was the final guardian. He would be considered to have completed this training as long as he defeated this dragon. Hektor grinned as he quickened his steps, and then broke into a full sprint. "Die for me!"

The dragon, in reply, roared and bit down at him!

CLANG!

***

CLANG!

GrizzlyDiamond and Ragnaf slid away from each other, propelled by the massive torrential force of their clashes. However, no sooner had they separated, did they rush back at each other, and once again traded a variety of blows.

Sparks flew and winds generated by stray ki, blew across the battlefield as the warriors' battle grew even more fervent. Hundreds of blows were exchanged in the span of a few seconds, with either warrior seeking to gain the upper hand.

It was the kind of battle where neither side even had the chance to pull off their special moves or skills. Each skill required at least a microsecond of preparation, but the harsh blades of either warrior denied them even that chance.

However, experienced warriors always found a way. GrizzlyDiamond went forward with a heavy strike, which Rangaf responded to in kind. The resulting clash, predictably sent both warriors sliding backward. However, this time, GrizzlyDiamond stretched out his sword and rotated in place as he slid backward. Within the span of a microsecond, he soon turned into a whirlwind of death, as dense ki-blades shrouded his spinning form.

[Whirlwind] was a famous and scary warrior skill. It turned the user into a spinning top which tracked and cut down enemies. The dense ki blades surrounding the practitioner acted as both offense and defense, allowing the user to cut through its enemies without fear of retaliation.

Faced with the rapidly approaching spinning top, Ragnaf surprisingly did not attempt to dodge. Instead, he grasped his ax and injected ki into it. With a powerful snort, he flung it at the top of the approaching whirlwind. The ax's speed caused its form to blur into a circular disk as it approached the whirlwind.

To everyone's shock, the disk cut through the whirlwind's ki-defenses. The whirlwind scattered, revealing a shocked GrizzlyDiamond who had a large cut on his cheek. If he had not bent his head at the last moment, his skull would most likely have been cleaved in half.

"As expected, you Summoned rely too much on battle skills," Ragnaf taunted as the ax spun through the air and returned to his grip. "None of you are true warriors," the orc taunted with disgust. "I've seen all I wanted to see," Ragnaf said with a disappointed groan. His eyes then grew sharp as he finished, "Time for you to die."

"I'll pluck those eyes out!" GrizzlyDiamond roared in rage as he charged at the orc. He gathered ki in his sword and swung his blade low at the left side of the orc's abdomen. His intent was to force the orc to defend awkwardly and then grab an advantage to finish him off. However, things did not go as planned.

First, Ragnaf did not bother with defense but instead swung his ax at GrizzlyDiamond's head with reckless abandon.

GrizzlyDiamond's eyes widened with shock as he realized this orc really wanted to trade their lives.

Ragnaf snorted as he said, "Who wants to trade lives with you?" Just as he said that, his left arm suddenly dropped to his side and received the sword blow in place of his abdomen. Surprisingly, the sword failed to cleave through as expected. Instead, it cut halfway through, and then stopped.

GrizzlyDiamond tried to pull out the sword but panicked when he realized that Ragnaf's muscles had tightly clamped on the blade, rendering it impossible to remove in a short period of time.

Meanwhile, Ragnaf's ax was now only inches away from GrizzlyDiamond's head. Realizing the severity of the situation, GrizzlyDiamond let go of his sword's handle and swiftly retreated.

"A warrior who willingly let's go of his sword," Ragnaf taunted as he pulled the blade out from his arm, following which a massive torrent of blood poured out from the damaged veins and arteries. However, GrizzlyDiamond's eyes twitched as he watched the bloodflow gradually slow down, as the arm began to heal. That's right. He had forgotten about the orc clan's cheat-like regenerative abilities.

This was the reason orcs were feared so much on the battlefield. Orcs' rapid regeneration meant they could afford to take more damage in order to kill their enemy. This was also why the other races agreed to exile the orcs rather than attempt to wipe them out. The consequences would have been horrendous.

"You dare to call yourself a warrior?" Ragnaf taunted as he threw the sword on the ground and snorted. The orc brandished his ax, and then burst forward with indomitable speed. "Die!" He struck down at GrizzlyDiamond, who was momentarily frozen in place by the orcs' aura.

GrizzlyDiamond's eyes shrunk as he watched the ax blade grow larger, blocking out everything in sight. Just when it seemed like he would lose his head, a heavy gale blasted past him and slammed into Ragnaf.

The force was so heavy that the orc coughed up blood as he was sent flying backward. Ragnaf crashed to the ground with a heavy thud and remained still for a moment as he struggled to gather his bearings.

GrizzlyDiamond looked over his shoulder to see two large vines writhing behind him. Ah, Brilith had saved him. Moments after, the warrior's face contorted with rage. To think he almost lost his life here at the hands of a mere NPC. This damned! Fire burning in his eyes, GrizzlyDiamond walked forward and picked up his sword.

"GrizzlyDiamond," Renark called after a moment's hesitation. "This battle is your loss. Do not be disrespectful. Finish it in one blow."

"Shut up!" GrizzlyDiamond shot back, rage burning in his eyes. "A battle is something that happens between equals." The warrior walked over to Ragnaf's body, raised his sword, and then said. "We are not equals. This is an extermination." With those words, GrizzlyDiamond swung down.

The blade rushed toward Ragnaf's abdomen. It was clear GrizzlyDiamond did not care to finish off the orc in one strike.

Clang!

However, just when the blade was inches away from Ragnaf's skin, a heavy projectile collided against GrizzlyDiamond's blade. The warrior cursed out loud as the force knocked the blade out of his hand, and injured the webbing between his thumb and index finger.

"Who!?" GrizzlyDiamond shouted as he looked in the direction of the arrow. There, off in the distance, he spotted a small regiment of beastkin soldiers. At the head of the army with a bow in hand, stood a fiery young woman with a stern expression.

"Who am I?" Chu Ling repeated with a sneer. The young general demanded with a roar that shook the heavens and the earth. "Who the hell are you!?"

???

Hektor breathed a sigh of relief as he sat down and rested his back against a large object. Surprisingly, this object was the corpse of the great Earth Dragon from earlier. The little brash youth from back then had grown into a character capable of solo hunting dragons on his own. Who knew how strong he was now?

Hektor took a moment to collect himself, and then walked to the exit of that floor. He looked up at a massive 10-meter door hewn into the wall and knew he had come to the end of his journey.

The young man took in a deep breath and pushed the door open. The doors opened to a large cavern which was at least three times bigger than the last one. However, this gigantic cave only housed a single broadsword which was stabbed into the center of the room.

Was this the reward for the dungeon? Hektor approached the sword and inspected it. The sword hilt and blade was as black as night, with no signs of rust or dust on it. The hilt was adorned with the skulls of creatures he could not identify and the blade was as tall as he was.

Hektor sensed a terrifying bloodlust and rage from the weapon, but where he might have hesitated a few weeks ago, he boldly reached out and grabbed the weapon's hilt. "Submit!"

"It won't be that easy to make it submit." A deep, aged voice replied with a hint of sarcasm.

Hektor looked up at the man who had appeared next to the sword. The red-haired man bore the regality of a noble, his black and red jacket reminiscent of what Hektor had seen princes don, but at the same time, there was untamable savagery in the man's red eyes which beat out even the most ferocious berserkers.

More importantly, however, a horrendous amount of ki and mana leaked out of this man, leaving Hektor short of breath. However, the young man refused to cower in fear. Gritting his teeth, Hektor tightened his grip on the broadsword as he asked, "Who are you?"

The red-haired man leaked out a smile. "For now, you can call me Razz."