Gear up

The group sprinted, following the trail Salvador left.

They ran until they eventually came across another battle scene. The difference was that there were only seven bodies, not a few dozen.

It was a gruesome sight.

One man had his neck crushed, another with their head blown apart, flesh hanging from the neck as even one of his eyes was visible on the floor.

Another had their head cleanly slashed off, and a few others cut open, revealing their innards.

Before anyone could say anything, a notification came up for all of them.

[1-T-2 Sword discovered! +5% sharpness.]

[1-T-2 Armor discovered! +5% defense.]

'That's cool.' Jason thought. Finding gear of higher tiers and stars provided minuscule benefits. This could help, but only after discovering enough swords to make a difference. Otherwise, it'd be a bonus that doesn't affect anything.

"Well, take the loot! Better than ours." Hugo said matter-of-factly. Everyone was googling them and looking at the notification.

Jason stepped forward, taking a new sword that possessed a slight intangible aura. "I can feel it... But can't see it." Jason was sure that this sword was Tier 2 or Tier 3.

[System, show tier.]

[1-T-2. Perfect Grade.]

This was something new to Jason.

He was aware of the tier, and star but what grade?

[System, what is a grade?]

[Each tier is also divided into grades. The list follows:

[Poor]

[Fair]

[Good]

[Superior]

[Perfect]

'So it isn't just based on tiers... I guess it enables more precise power gauging if you compare swords.'

[System, does this go with a set?]

[No.]

As Jason presumed, the sword didn't have a set to go along with it. When he picked it up, no screen showed up like before so he initially considered it to be that it didn't have such things, and he was right.

[Stats.]

[100% Durability.]

[When equipped, +2 Strength.]

The blade had a typical design, yet the only feature unique to other swords was that it was lacking a crossguard, an odd feature.

'It's weird but... I kinda like it.' He continued to examine the sword before putting on a breastplate that was black in design, a white line running down the shoulder to the neck.

Everyone else finished gearing up as Jason did. "How are you guys liking the new gear?" He proudly said, flaunting his new weapon to the others. "Definitely better than before."

Jax nodded, practicing with his new double-sided axe.

Unfortunately, the only one who didn't receive a weapon promotion was Sebastian. The others pushed him on to use a sword because it would be far superior to a pole, but he wouldn't budge.

"I use this far more than a sword. I'll be better with it, trust me."

Hugo could only sigh, surrendering to the stubborn old man. "When you see how excellent and sharp our swords are, you'll regret it." He said with a chuckle, sliding his weapon into the brown sheath.

"Let's go. Salvador is probably almost there already."

They nodded.

***

Salvador sneakily maneuvered through the tree line, scouting the area around the Nysa base before determining the best way to make his move.

'Well, technically I am scouting... But not in my assigned area. I hope Jovian won't get mad at me. Wait, it's far past my deadline. A team was probably sent... Whatever.'

He sighed as his boredom grew, still searching for a way to enter.

***

Hours passed, and Salvador was still in the trees waiting. 'These guys never take breaks. What the hell.'

He was itching for action. Salvador was aware that this was exceptionally dangerous, but he would yield and flee before something bad happened.

"SNAP!"

A twig snapped, catching the full attention of the S-Tier man.

He silently jumped over to the branch closest, dashing down to the floor at full force.

A black blur shot forward in the direction the twig snapped.

Entering his vision were 6 figures, all varying body shapes.

Luckily, he grew a close bond with the players and was easily able to recognize them with his enhanced eyesight.

"Ah, it's you guys." He said a bright smile on his face.

Saying he was handsome was an understatement.

As cliche as it is, leveling up and growing stronger refined one's body and mind, enhancing multiple things.

One of these things happened to be their looks.

It was unsure to the others if this man was already attractive before the apocalypse and the effects of leveling up exaggerated it, or if he was just that strong.

Shereen couldn't help but turn slightly red at the sight of the man.

"We've been looking for you. Jovian and your family are worried."

Jason stepped forward, explaining the situation to the man.

"Ah, I see. Let's go, this base is nearly impenetrable without getting detected."

The others followed suit and began walking behind Salvador.

"Why are you walking away?" Jason asked.

Salvador turned around, "We have to go back right?" He asked.

A devilish grin consumed Jason's face. "We're already here. Why not do what you came here to do."

It seemed the two were on the same wavelength as Salvador grinned in response. "You're damn right. I'm already liking you."

He leisurely walked out of the tree line, showing himself off to the lookout towers and guards on standby.

They were baffled for a second. This Nysa base, contained hundreds of soldiers, well into the thousands.

Taking over the base would take a long time.

It was large, extremely large. Even with his agility, it would take Hugo nearly an hour to run from one side to the other in a straight line.

Along with this, multiple buildings had several stories, then one large building in the middle which was blatantly the headquarters of this base.

"Was this always here? This is too big to go unnoticed." Hugo asked, a face full of curiosity.

"You'd be surprised. Magic is more powerful than you think. Of course, some of this was already here but they were able to add on after magic came." Salvador turned around, pulling his sword out of its sheath. "Are you all in fighting condition?"

They all nodded in unison.

"Good. We're doing this now. Nysa has been a pain in Altidor's ass, including with how this base is in the same region as Altidor with a few outposts scattered throughout the south. Destroying this base would practically weaken the outposts, in California at least."

Jason nodded. "I assume this open of an attack wouldn't work?"

Salvador nodded before giving out some basic commands. "Me, the newbie, and Erin will go through here. You others go to the left, there's a weak point there. You'll know what I mean when you see it."

The four nodded and rushed off, leaving Erin, Salvador, and Jason.

"Erin, what tier of magic did you reach?"

Erin pulled up her system, mentally navigating it until she came to the screen she needed.

"Tier three, fair grade."

Salvador nodded and hummed to himself.

"Can you raise a wall high enough to the top of the barricade?"

Pointing his finger to the top, he pointed to a location free of guards. Mainly because as they spoke, troops were being stationed by the doors.

"Yes, not for long though."

He nodded in acceptance. "Perfect. Do it." He nonchalantly said, brandishing his sword.

"N-Now?"

He looked back.

Menacing golden eyes looked into her, and a cold shiver tingled her spine.

"Yes, now."

"Eoruc, RISE!"

The ground under them shuddered, and trees wildly wobbled as the rumbling underneath them intensified.

"HAH!"

A large surge of mana escaped from Erin's body and the ground absorbed it.

Instantly, the trio rose into the air, going straight onto the top of the wall that rose thirty meters in the air which was meant to act as a barricade to protect Nysa from whatever may be in the forest.

Salvador looked at the two, smirking. He yearned for battle, and he was going to get damn well a lot of it. "And it begins."

[Alert!]

[Trekking into enemy territory!]

[Quest: Destroy the 'Nysa' base!]

[Conditions: Kill or raze the base into the ground.]

[Rewards: Instant level up >>> 30% Chance to double level-up from levels gained while fighting.]

[Failure Penalty: N/A]

Jason smirked. "This might be my chance to catch up."

[16 >>> 19 Strength]

[19 >>> 20 Agility]

'Luckily all that running and hiking increased my stamina to eleven and my agility by one, that'll surely help.'

Jason was happy that exercising or doing things naturally increases stats. If it didn't, this fight would be significantly more difficult.

The trio made it to the top of the wall, and a group of soldiers met them.

The wall was wide enough for a dozen people to stand side by side, enough for them to fight.

But they had to be cautious as a fall from this height would assure their death.

No commands were given as the group of soldiers rushed at them.

[Quest Started!]