Looking Back

Before Rose could say anything else, another commotion broke out near the entrance of the base. A familiar voice rang out, cocky and arrogant.

"You see that? Easy work."

Dain's group strutted into the base, their weapons still gleaming with fresh killstains. Dain smirked as led them, his gaze flickering toward Julius. "Oh? Still alive, Julius? Thought you'd have bled out in a ditch by now, as all cowards do."

Kael, the scout chuckled, shaking his head. "Nah, he's too stubborn to die. But it's funny—he's still trying to catch up, still acting like he's something special. You should've just handed in the sword, you could've been levelling with us right now."

Julius exhaled slowly, forcing himself to stay calm. Rose watched his reaction closely. His fingers twitched toward his blade, but he didn't act on the impulse. 

'Why am I even still here?' She thought, but she wanted the drama.

Not yet.

"Yeah, yeah," Rose interrupted, stepping between them. "You guys are super strong and amazing and whatever. Move along, we get it. Poor guy's nearly died a couple times this week already. Give him a break."

Yara was there from the back, she narrowed her eyes but didn't speak up. Dain simply smirked, as if Julius was already beneath his notice. As they passed, he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Julius to hear.

"No matter how much you try, you'll never be one of us. You'll just be the idiot who decided to put himself before the goal."

Julius didn't reply. He just stared at the leaderboard again, his knuckles white.

"You all can leave, if you want to keep talking like that, you should surely be able to back it up when the monthly leaderboard comes out."

"Ha. We know, the fact you try so much to cover up your pride, and you still fall behind is hilarious." Dain cackled, and his group chuckled too.

"How much better would that sword like on you?" A random from his group pointed out, Dain nodded before leaning down to get a better look at the sword.

"A lot, because I'd actually use it well. Julius will probably just end up dying whilst trying to catch up to us."

Julius looked down as they left, the past few weeks had made him feel stronger than ever but it still wasn't enough. Just a few looks at the levels of their group members was enough to put him down once more.

Dain [Level 27]

Kael [Level 26]

Yara [Level 25]

Jason [Level 26]

Mel [Level 25]

Rose sighed. "You're gonna get yourself killed chasing them, you know that, right?"

Julius finally looked at her, his sunken eyes burning with something raw and primal. "I need to win, or I might do what I did in my last life."

"Which was?"

Julius smiled at her, his emotional face turned pale as a ghost.

"Don't worry about it. Everything will work itself out, I won't be beaten by them, I promise."

"To me? I just don't want to see you die." Rose walked away, a slight flush on her face. 'Does he think I actually care about him? Hah. Maybe he is insane.'

Julius looked at the system once more.

"When will the month end."

[You have 8 days left.]

"Then I suppose I can't waste a single second."

Julius did not sleep that night, he waited by the questboard and took every single quest that showed up.

'This strategy is good for making sure I get all the good quests, but if I fail to complete them in 24 hours there are penalties, so I better not fail.' Once Julius got 10 quests, which was the maximum threshold, upped to 15 if people were in a party together, he left. The capacity was made to reduce quest hogging, but at the end of the day the organisation just wanted to see the quests done as those doing them would become stronger either way.

The next day Rose walked up to yet another empty quest board.

"Again? AHHH."

A week passed, Rose watched as Julius came in day by day, looking more rough and beaten up.

'He's going to die like this but... It's not like I can stop him. He made that very clear.'

It was the last day before the monthly leaderboards came out. Everyone had rushed to the boards, looking for scraps. It had gotten to the point that even after scouting at dawn, Julius had only managed to get 3 quests done today. And the fourth one, which would be his last, had forced him to pair up with someone, a not so familiar face.

His name was...

"Heya, nice to meet you I'm Ricklebones."

 His curly hair had grown longer, almost covering his eyes entirely. The scar on his cheek looked the same, a reminder of the type of person he was.

"Ah. Aren't you the guy that..."

"The one who killed his whole team? Darn right, a shame I'm not even wearing their gear right now. I got some way better loot doing these quests. How did you get to that level by the way, who are you grouped with? Dain?"

He pointed at Julius, his finger trembling slightly.

[Julius Level 33 Rogue]

Julius laughed it off. "Oh, this? Just a couple sleepless nights, don't worry about it. Let's just find this crime group and finish the quest. It's not like I'll level up, but points are points. The more quests we do the more points we get." 

'And the more likely I am to prove Dain wrong.' Julius thought in his mind.

Looking at his system, Julius realised not that much had changed. He had only gotten a new skill and two new attributes, which he had both put into lethality.

"Attributes."

[Attributes: Speed +++ Lethality +++]

"Skills."

[Skills:]

[Stealth]

[Pickpocket] 

[Quick Slash] (A lethal strike, twice the speed of your average slash)

[Perfect Dodge] (Temporarily gain immense agility, dodge the next 4 attacks when activated, refreshes when out of combat)

[Blitz] (Gain immense speed and strike an opponent before they can even react, this ability is best used with a weapon. Can only be used at the start of fights.)

Instead of equipping new gear, Julius had decided to just level his old gear to his current level. Since he had enough medallions, and the price of his next level up would not be cheap anyways.

'I can't let this royal cloak go, after a week with it It's just too good.'

[Royal Cloak]

[Underdog: When fighting an enemy superior to yourself, gain extreme power whether that be through magical boosts, speed or strength.]

The royal cloak passive had been perfect for Julius. In the rare cases when he fought stronger enemies, the playing field was levelled, giving him the chance he needed to complete his quests.