Raid: The Blacksmith-Chapter 77: No more Mr. Nice Raid: Part Two

Clad in pure jet black attire, he stands but a few metres away from me. His black laced boots press a notable weight on the snow beneath with each step. His black trousers, the stereotypical design of a soldier’s, seem unbothered by the cold wind, its light yet steady fabric standing firm. His torso is laced in a hooded black v-neck vest, while underneath, traces of black bandages visibly trail from his neck to his chest and all the way out to run in a spiral formation down his arms to his wrists and around his hands. Like two black snakes wrapped tightly around his arms. In each hand, he holds a dagger. Blades sharp as they gleam an obsidian glow, they’re shapes somewhat similar to my own recently created daggers, like the fangs of a snake. He wears a mask underneath his hood. A black fabric that trails from underneath his chin to just a centimeter below his eyes. Those pure black eyes, as if he’s staring into an endless abyss. His build is toned, tall and tough. He looks more like a stylish boxer of an underground fight club, rather than a covert operative like an assassin. However, the theme is still there, just less based on sophistication and more focused on having a notable presence, and exuding raw power.

Then there’s the aura he’s quite literally exuding. The amount of Mana this man has. I can tell without him having to regulate it in the slightest. It’s almost unquantifiable. This is a true high level A-Rank.

"Master. Be careful. This man. He’s much stronger than the Wolf Spirit." Dawn comments telepathically.

I already had my suspicions. The question is...

"Just how much stronger?"

"I... I can’t say for sure. But... he should easily be ten times stronger without even using his full strength." That’s not good.

Part of me now wants to take Dawn up on her previous offer. I don’t doubt that she’s also at least ten times stronger than Amaruq ever was, considering how easily she handled her. Still...

"If I did that. I’d never get anywhere."

"Master?"

"Don’t worry about me. I got this. Retreat to the Item Space for now." I order Dawn. "You can do that on your own, right?"

"I can, but..." She hesitates. "Hah... okay, as you wish, Master." But caves nonetheless. Her body pixelates and disappears, as does the blade in her hand. The Shadow’s eyes widen a bit as he witnesses the woman who countered his attack vanish right in front of him, but he says nothing and simply watches me closely.

"Still there?" I ask.

"Yes, Master." She answers. Guess it worked then. Of course. The Item Space is a part of me, even though it’s essentially an isolated space, a separate dimension, there’s no way she could get any more closer to me, other than through it.

"Good. Now sit tight, relax, and let your Master do all the work."

".... okay." She says after a long pause.

I’m thankful she worries. I really am. But I can’t keep relying on her forever. Especially now moving forward. That thing I noticed. That thing I should’ve noticed while I was fighting Sonoran. Or maybe...

Maybe I did notice it, and just probably subconsciously didn’t want to admit it. The truth is.

"I’ve been playing on easy mode this entire time."

Sonoran, is a high level A-Rank Warrior, but even he is fodder to powerhouses like Peyton and Melissa. And of course, it goes without saying, he’s fodder to my current foe as well.

And even then, he still gave me a hard time. The thing is, all because I won in the end, I ignored it. Then came the Wild Goat Dungeon. While the normal Wild Goats weren’t much of a hassle, their boss, though he didn’t make me struggle, he was still an annoying opponent to deal with. But still, I ignored it. Why? Because I won in the end. But then came this Dungeon. The Snow Dire Wolves. That was the first time I spent that much time in a single Dungeon, and yet, there were only three hundred or so of them. I’ve killed thousands of monsters in minutes, yet I struggled getting rid of a few hundred in hours. Of course, the reason should be obvious. The monsters I dealt with before were low Ranked, while the wolves were B-Rank. But that didn’t register, and I ignored that too. Because, once again, in the end, I won. But then came Amaruq. Now that beast really humbled me. The fact that my weapon had to come alive in order to save my butt made it worse. Say what you will, but your weapon coming alive in order to save you, would be an eye opener for any Warrior.

All the Dungeons I conquered before entering the B-Rank. All of that, as much as it made people talk, really doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. It’s like I was on an app’s trial mode this entire time, where all its features are free for me to use as much as I dare to, but now, it’s over. Time to actually start paying. Sure, there were times where I struggled, and had to really dig deep within to find a whole new strength I never knew I had in order to be able to keep going. But was there ever any actual life threatening danger? The kind that’d make me consider the possibility that I might die? No. There wasn’t. There were close calls. Sure. But before Amaruq, nothing really ever had me thinking ’’this might be it.’’. That’s not growth. It’s time I accept it. The more I keep going. The more I progress, the more danger I’ll incur. And if I can’t keep up with that danger, then I actually will end up dying very young. If I really want to clear every existing Dungeon, even the locked ones, even the infamous Unknown, then I need to buckle up. The Reinhardts? They’re just a stepping stone, one of many still yet to come my way in the inevitable future. In simple terms, play time’s over. No more Mr. Nice Raid.

I look at my opponent, as a mixture of a heavy breath and a sigh escapes my lips.

"So who might you be? The piss, or the shit?"

"What?" He says with a slightly confused tone, a single one of his eyebrows raised.

"Sorry, inside joke. Are you number one, or number two?" I ask.

His expression doesn’t change in the slightest at my question. I gather it means he knows I know enough about the Shadows. He also doesn’t seem to be blind to my attire, meaning he’s already gathered that I’m working for the Association.

As for my killer punchline earlier, he’s unfazed. I don’t get a single reaction.

"You Shadows are no fun, you know that?"

"What happened to that woman who saved you earlier?" He ignores me to ask. "If that was the high level Warrior that’s been helping you all this time, then I suggest you have her fight alongside you. That is, if you don’t want to lose a limb or two."

What’s with these guys and losing limbs? Also...

"’High level Warrior that’s been helping me’?, do they... know about Peyton?"

"I think... they might have thought that you probably had a strong Warrior helping you clear all those Dungeons since an F-Rank shouldn’t be able to do all of that alone." Says Dawn.

"Is that what it is?" I wonder.

"You think I have a powerful Warrior helping me? Well... I guess, in a way, you’re not wrong. She was helping me, but... not in the way that you think. In any case, you don’t need to worry about her, I’ll be the one to take you on."

"You’re going to fight me? Alone?" He scoffs at my declaration. "You can’t be serious. I don’t know what high the Association was on, that led them to hire you to join them, but it’s best you don’t let it get to your head. Do you really think that you, an F-Rank, has what it takes to take me on?" He adds with a nonchalant look on his face. I only see half of it, but his eyes... his eyes say it all. He’s looking down on me.

"Hah." I sigh. "I’m so angry right now."

"Master?"

"Don’t worry, Dawn. I’m not angry at you. I’m just..."

"SO FUCKING ANGRY RIGHT NOW!" I roar out of nowhere. It catches the Shadow off guard a little bit.

"Hahaha." I laugh wickedly. "And you wanna know, why? Why I’m so dun pissed?" I ask rhetorically, my right palm placed against my right eye. "I mean, I’m really just pissed at myself right now. See, I thought I was the shit, know what I mean? Then I met this damn wolf. Hah, that damn wolf. Almost met my maker there. Then the woman you saw disappear just now came alive and saved my ass. That kind of hurt my pride. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful she helped, but as her Master, I’m the one who’s supposed to be protecting her, not the other way around, right? I mean, I guess since she’s my weapon, it makes sense that she protected me. So why do I have a problem with it now? Is it because she became alive? She’s practically like a daughter to me now. What father lets his daughter do all the dirty work for him?" I’m pretty sure I can feel Dawn’s flushed face as I say that. Even through the Item Space, or rather, especially through the Item Space.

"Sure, you’re right." I continue. "It would be easier for me if I had her fight you alongside me, since she’s much stronger than me. Heck, I could even have her fight you alone, if I wanted to, since I’m pretty sure she’s stronger than you, too. Plus, any achievement of hers is transferred over to me, so I’d still benefit even if I didn’t fight you. But then what? Huh? Then what? Can I really call that growth? I can’t rely on her for everything. I have to show her and myself that I can be pretty reliable too." In a fit of unyielding determination, I conjure out the Emerald Fang Twins. My newest weapons. The daggers gleam an emerald hue, and exude an intoxicating aura of poison.

This isn’t random selection. This is a challenge. My opponent also uses daggers. A wild guess of mine tells me he might also use poison. I ready myself, taking a battle stance. As I do, Dawn uses telepathy to say something to me. "Master, for what it’s worth, I think you’re plenty reliable." Of course you do.

It doesn’t surprise me that she genuinely thinks that. I only chuckle in response.