Awry Situation Inbound

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After traveling with this group for a few hours, Apollo came to understand their strengths but also didn't involve himself in their fights. Instead, he stayed in the background while spectating their tendencies as well as their battle styles.

Even now, he quietly observed a battle.

Bang! Peng!

Vren's stalwart figure pounced forward dealing with a mature Violent Stone Bear. Unlike the one Apollo faced, this one was a late-stage Rank 1 adversary, and yet Vren seemed capable of handling its blows. Of course, it wasn't a simple walk in the park, Vren still needed to be mindful of taking damage.

Therefore, he utilized his greatsword to deflect a majority of the incoming attacks. As a result, his health in Apollo's eyes was barely moving!

'Definitely the defensive type!' Apollo surmised as he continued to spectate the ongoing battle. 

"Crushing Slash!" Vren roared as his greatsword became encased in an earthen yellow hue before landing on the spine of the Violent Stone Bear. Although it wasn't enough to render it immobile, it dealt substantial damage!

Meanwhile, Slaid followed up by waving his arms as multiple knives carrying wisps of wind pierced the bear's body, "Windscore Prison". The projectiles crisscrossed as the weaving wind element formed a net that continued to lacerate the spirit beast.

"Haha, how can I be left out of the fun?" Krone laughed before unsheathing two sabers from his waist. He then dashed forward at breakneck speeds comparable to Apollo's extreme top speed. A crimson glint appeared on his sabers.

"Chained Scarlet Strikes!" Krone roared. Three arcs of crimson energy fired from the tips of his weapons after each swing. A reddish hue cascaded the area they landed upon, producing an almost pungent bloody smell.

This display enabled Apollo to learn even more.

'Slaid's attacks are light but continuous and happen faster than the other two. Vren is slow, but each strike carries an overbearing weight behind it. As for Krone, his strikes appear to be more trained and possibly even lethal. Overall, their strikes are stronger than my normal ones, but not by much. I wonder…'

Apollo began to silently speculate the possibility of overpowering these people. As they were now, they possessed the upper hand in numbers, but Apollo also realized there were some things they failed to take into account. One of those things being that while they battled, Apollo retained his full stamina at all times.

After all, each of his techniques expended a great deal of stamina. While the movement technique was sustained usage, the Demonic Massacre Wave was a sudden burst of exhaustion. But, with time, an issue arose.

"We didn't bring you along to just sit around boy. Yer need to get up and den do sumtin I tell yer," Vren snarled after realizing that while they slew the beasts, Apollo stood around. At first, Apollo merely raised his eyebrows while being intrigued, but then he smirked for just an instant, not long enough for the others to realize.

"Well, as I haven't moved, I don't expect to receive anything. The only way to be deadweight is to contribute to the danger you face, but as I have separated myself from battle, that isn't the case. Wouldn't you say?" Apollo said with a faint smile.

Although his words sounded logical, all they did was cause Vren to pause momentarily. 

"WHAT?! De' fuck is the kid talking about? Either he kills something or makes himself useful," Vren grunted, causing the others to reveal a change in expression as well. One things they always wanted to avoid was a rampaging Vren, because when that happened, he barely performed his role

As such, the others moved to immediately place him.

"Kid, just go on and enter a battle. After all, you did claim to have killed those beasts right? Then, let us see for ourselves," Krone said before dropping a dead body before Slaid. Of the 3, he extracted things the fastest.

However, in response, Apollo nodded. In truth, he was fishing for a reason to acquire some more experience. Because, their presence was hurtful rather than helpful to him. Plus, by no means would he think of revealing his secrets.

Nevertheless, Apollo grabbed the Dark Cutter from his waist and initiated his own battle. Now, he had a chance to gain experience without being questioned. However, to portray that sense of childish weakness, Apollo didn't go all out.

On top of not using the fullest extent of his attributes, Apollo didn't utilize the Partial Shade Silhouette either. Still, his half-hearted speed caught their attention.

'As I expected, he's an agility-type. I'm sure of it now. His speed more than justifies him slaying the beasts if he used the hit-and-run style of battle. However, that weapon…' Krone thought as he glanced at the Dark Cutter in Apollo's grasp. From the workmanship alone, he felt it to be of a decent grade.

'Is it a Rank 3 weapon? Just where did he manage to get his hands on that?' While thinking this, he looked down at his sabers before comparing the differences in their material. 'It could be so. Without testing its conductivity, I'm willing to bet that weapon is on par with a Rank 3 Weapon Artifact.'

Regrettably, one thing he overlooked was the lack of fluctuations from the weapon in and of itself. That was a clear indicator of an artifact reaching Rank 3. It'd be able to channel Natural Essence easily. Nevertheless, it was a justifiable misconstrued thought; the material of the knife was stellar.

To the unlearned eye, it would be perceived exactly how Krone did. On the other hand, a flash of desire appeared within Slaid's eyes as he peered at the weapon, 'That weapon. Even if I don't use it, it'll fetch a pretty penny! The question remains...how do I get my hands upon it? Snatching from a child seems rather…'

Suddenly, Krone signaled for Vren and Slaid to remain in place by snapping his fingers. Instead of joining, they stood in place, spectating Apollo's battle with a late-stage Rank 1 Violet Stone Bear. It turned out to be within his limits, as long as there wasn't anything he needed to split his attention on.

'They're evaluating my strength... so let's give them a false perception,' Apollo thought as he stuck to basic movements. Needless to say, Apollo's agility was more than enough to deal with the bear. He dodged its earth element attacks and executed repeated to both its joints and Lesser Earthen Armor.

And, once the large pieces of stone armor broke, Apollo went in for the kill; clean and swift!

'This kid... he has the makings of a killer! His unmoving expression while killing is on par with professional mercenaries. I wonder… Just what has he experienced? Perhaps, we'll be able to do that with his addition. We wouldn't need to worry about a 4th. Not to mention, he doesn't seem to have a cultivation method.'

A small smirk formed on Krone's lips as he formed slightly dark thoughts, 'He'll be within our control due to this sole reason. If we lead him deeper, he'll have to listen to our every direction lest he wants to forfeit his life.'

[NEGATIVE INTENTIONS! I sense them, but you probably already guessed that.]

'Yeah. I guess they think I'm some naive child who'll offer my neck to them. Little do they know, I'm aware of all their intentions,' Apollo answered with a dark chuckle after claiming the murky yellow Essence Core.

As he proceeded towards the rest, Krone offered praise, "You're more capable than my previous estimations. As such, I'll treat you as close to our equal. With that being said, I seek for you to become our fourth and let us journey across the border."

Gazing in the direction Krone pointed, Apollo looked at the border of the central region. According to Azridan's prior information, that was where the high-level Rank 2 beasts resided. This was also the point at which the disparities became apparent.

"The question is, now that you know my capabilities… are you able to guarantee my safety?" Apollo question with a grim expression. Of course, this was all a facade. He truly couldn't care less about their promises. He was confident in his ability to escape on his own.

Not to mention, a hidden path he left for himself.

For a moment, Krone's expression staled from being questioned by a child not even one-third of his age, but it soon recovered its earlier amicability. "With what I've seen, I'm sure of it."

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Not long after, they departed only for Vren's bellow to echo into the distance. "What de' FUCK! This is why I said nay' to this venture!"