Fight for Attention

Making full use of the Specter Tears item, Blake ran around and killed the mobs he met.

Since he could take down the Hidden Boss which is stronger than the Dungeon Boss itself, he decided to make a brief stop at the Boss Room and killed the Dungeon Boss. It's a piece of cake for his current state.

It only takes one hit to take down the Dungeon Boss and he gained the loot for himself.

Under the effect of the Spectre Tears, he's not fatigued anymore.

Currently, Blake managed to reach level 41 which means he has leveled up 9 times in the span of a few minutes. He also gained a couple more items from the Dungeon Boss, but most of them didn't pique his interest.

Out of the dropped items he gained, only one is decent, a C-grade item.

The item is called Ghost Crypt Guardian which is a defensive item, a pauldron that can summon a ghost arm that has 50% of the wearer's vitality and a fixed 500 defense to boast. For a C-grade item, the Ghost Crypt Guardian has quite a good effect.

Blake also scours the entire dungeon to properly locate the gatherings of mobs.

A couple of the mob groups he takes down in order to fill his EXP bar that is on the brink of leveling up, while he lets the others be for Angel to kill. It'll be selfish of him to wipe out the entire mobs inside the dungeon and leave none for her.

If it's other players, he wouldn't give a shit. It was only because it was Angel.

Now that he has already located the mobs inside the dungeon, he intends to get back to Angel and helps her clear those mobs before the two could wrap this raid up and leave the dungeon for the day.

But when he got back, he was confronted with this scene.

"Kyaaargghh!"

Seeing that Angel was cornered inside the prison cell with four guys inching closer to her, Blake didn't pull back his punches and killed them all, finding that they were all players. It's not mandatory to know the situation first for him.

In his perspective, four guys cornering Angel shows that the four are assholes.

None of the players were able to pose a threat to Blake, he slaughtered them all with ease as the four has no way to run and could only scream in terror. He only needs a couple of seconds to kill the four before their corpses vanish from the place.

[Privileged Quest (PK) - Evil Party has been completed!]

[You have obtained 30 Privileged Points]

Confronted with the situation earlier, a Privileged Quest was triggered and he completed it.

"What's up with those four? What do they want?" Blake asked calmly.

Upon hearing this Angel's shoulders trembled a bit, indicating that she was scared about the situation earlier, "I'm glad you got here in time, and kill those perverts. I read in the forum that the game also allowed anything, including sexual assault. I don't know what I'll do if you're not here..."

Blake was not surprised, in a free world like this game world, this is bound to happen.

"I'm sorry, I should've known to not leave you alone" He said apologetically.

Angel who was covering her face with her hand smiled playfully when she heard his apologetic tone, she then quickly smiled and answered, "It's okay, you're here, that's all that matters. Never mind about that, is this a skill?"

Not wanting to make Blake feel guilty, she decided to change the topic.

Looking at Blake's Spectral Possession form with great interest, Angel was curious if it was a skill of his Spectral Vampire race which is an EX-grade race. It wouldn't be surprising for her if it really is, it's an EX-grade race after all.

In response, Blake shakes his head, "Not exactly a skill, but it's related to my race"

But as he said that, he suddenly remembered something.

'Oh, I forgot to check on Tara. I think I'll need to end the raid here, I need to check on Tara. Who knows? Maybe she needs to drink blood because she has only gained the Specter side of my race' Blake thought with a frown, he completely forgot about her.

Considering that he met with Angel, forgetting about something like this is natural.

"Angel, let's call it a day for now. I need to check on something" Blake said.

Upon hearing this Angel's expression turns gloomy, she was saddened by the news. She was having fun raiding with Blake and doesn't want this to end, "Is it something in the real world or the game?"

"Ehmm... the game?" Blake answered hesitantly.

Despite not knowing the reason himself, he hesitated in answering that question. But sure enough, in the next second, Angel instantly clung to his arm and looks up at him beautifully, "Can you please not go...? I want to raid a bit more, and I couldn't do it without you"

"W- What? But I have to-" Blake paused seeing Angel's eyes glittering like stars.

Sighing inwardly, he finds himself unable to say no to her right now. "Fine, we'll go for a bit more but I can't be long okay? Besides, we can still do this another time, it's not like this is going to be the last time"

"Okay! You're the best! I'm lucky to meet you" Angel celebrated and started pulling him.

A few hours later, Blake eventually left the dungeon.

Going back to the inn where Tara and Linthia should still be staying, he was surprised to find Linthia standing in front of the inn. She seems to be waiting for Blake, and this made him feel a little bit guilty for leaving her and Tara for so long.

Walking towards her, it didn't take long for Linthia to catch sight of him.

But in that instant, Linthia's eyes shifted over to his left arm that is being hugged by Angel who seems to be in a very good mood. In that few hours of grinding, she managed to increase her level to 29.

For someone that couldn't fight at all, it's a great haul to reach this level that fast.

"Lady Linthia, what are you doing outside?" Blake asked lightly.

Pausing for a second to size up Angel who seems to be very close with Blake, Linthia then eventually replied with a soft voice. Her eyes even become glassy, "Blake... where have you been? You didn't even tell me where you went, I've been searching for you all day..."

"Hey... what's wrong? I'm sorry that I make you worried" Blake hold her in surprise.

Although it was true that he didn't tell her where he was going, having his mind filled with the excitement to meet with Angel, he didn't expect her to react this strongly. It made him feel guilty for making her like this.

Sobbing slightly, she then added, "Tara... she's sick, I don't know what to do"

Upon hearing this, Blake's eyes widened in shock. It might be because of being a Shaded Walker, and he needs to check on Tara as soon as possible, "She's sick?! Okay, I'll check on her right now"

It was then he felt his arm being held back and realized that Angel is still beside him.

"Oh, right... Angel, this woman here is Lady Linthia. I made a deal with the organization behind her to become her personal guardian in the meantime" Blake introduced while the two women stares at each other intently.

Blake could feel the weird tension enveloping them, and he was confused by it.

A spark of illusionary lightning can be seen coming from their eyes, clashing against each other. It seems the two don't like each other for some unknown reason, but Linthia was the first one to avert her gaze away meekly.

Eventually, Angel smiled and bowed slightly, "Nice to meet you, Lady Linthia"

"Yes, nice to meet you too. Anyway, can I have Blake now...?" Linthia asked back, she seems to feel intimidated by Angel's presence and beating. But this makes Angel lets go of Blake's arm and nodded her head.

Knowing that it seems to be an emergency, Angel decided to excuse herself first.

Striding into the in first, she then glanced back with a smile and waved her hand at Blake, "I have so much fun today raiding with you, Blake. I'll see you later, okay? Call me if you finished the emergency"

"Okay, I will" Blake replied as he also waved his hand back.

After Angel left, the two then made their way back to their own room to check on Tara.

But Linthia stopped to see the direction where Angel has gone to.

'It's my fault that Blake becomes like this, he must be showing this because of the kiss. Is he trying to make a distance between us? No... I don't want that' Linthia thought sadly inside her head, she was overthinking and blaming herself.

Not idling along, Linthia shakes her head and quickly catches up to Blake.

Oblivious to her, Angel peeks out from the corner to look at Blake and Linthia's backs that were getting further away. Crossing her arms underneath her bountiful breasts, a mischievous smirk appeared in her place.

"Hmph! She's obviously playing the crying card" Angel scoffed in displeasure.

Just the sight of Linthia almost breaking down in tears alone instantly robbed Blake's attention for her, and this makes her upset, "This won't do, I want his attention all for myself. Linthia, huh... I'll see what I can do"

Meanwhile, Blake got back into the room and finds Tara lying weakly on the bed.

Blake then quickly went over to the side of the bed and touch her forehead, 'It's burning. A normal temperature for a Specter should be chilling, she's definitely sick. But the question is whether this is because of her being a Shaded Walker...?'

Pondering for a moment, he then glanced at Linthia, "Since when did she become like this?"

"A couple of hours ago. She said that she wanted to rest for a bit, but then she started to breathe heavily, sweating, and her body started to burn up" Linthia replied, she's very worried for Tara's health.

In a panic, she then utters, "If only I don't need protection, then she might not be sick"

"What are you saying? This is not your fault, stop blaming yourself. Take a seat and calm yourself down, I'll try to do something" Blake pointed at a chair on the corner and replied, he intended to ask the Shadowblood inside of him for a solution.

Closing his eyes, Blake started to focus on sensing the Shadowblood again.

But it was right then, a weak voice suddenly forces his eyes to open again, "Blake...?"

Out of nowhere, Tara regained back her consciousness and opens her eyes. She immediately saw Blake kneeling beside the bed. Weirdly enough, Blake could see that her breathing started to become normal and when he touches her forehead, the temperature has gone down again.

"How are you feeling, Tara? Do you feel pain anywhere?" Blake asked.

Tara shakes her head in response and smiled, "No, I suddenly feel better when I sensed you"

'Huh...? Is she sick because I'm not close to her?' Blake thought with a frown.

Although he was unsure, this is the most plausible reason behind her sickness. Even now, Tara could already sit up again which shows that she was not joking when she said she felt better when she sensed his presence.

Upon seeing this, Linthia quickly leaped towards Tara and hugs her.

"I'm so worried, I'm sorry to make you work hard to protect me like this" Linthia cried.

But this makes Tara chuckle as it shouldn't be her fault, she also already expected that this might have something to do with her not being human anymore, "It's okay, Lady Linthia. You don't need to worry about me"

While the two were hugging each other, Salana suddenly appeared with a speck of ember.

Glancing at her who seems to have something in mind and is extremely tired, Blake raised one of his eyebrows in question. It was then, Salana said to him, "I stalked Steel for a bit to make sure he's really under your control, and it seems he is. But I think you need to talk to him, that Privileged Player is going to be very hard to approach"