Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro were leaving the Jefferson Potion Store.

"I'll use the lightning potions well."

Kang Oh jiggled the yellow liquid containing bottle.

"Right."

Kang Oh had mentioned the 'financial' aid mentioned in the contract and had taken the lightning potions.

Thus, it was only natural that Sephiro felt awkward.

"Be strong, Brother."

Eder placed his hand atop Sephiro's shoulder.

'We're poor souls who've signed a contract with the devil! We're no different from brothers!'

"Ahem, Brother."

Sephiro grabbed Eder's bone hand.

He heard about Eder's situation inside the potion store.

Not only was he a monster, but he was also an undead!

Of course, that didn't bother Sephiro in the slightest.

What mattered was that Eder was a poor soul that was screwed over by Kang Oh! That was enough.

Thus, Sephiro and Eder, a user and an NPC, felt an immediate sense of camaraderie between each other.

"That's enough of that. We're heading for the Kaistan Canyon right away."

Kang Oh strode forward, seeing Eder and Sephiro bravely nod their heads towards one another.

* * *

The Kaistan Canyon in which the Agath lived was much like the Grand Canyon.

It was a magnificent view, composed of a wasteland and rugged precipices.

Of course, it was much smaller than the Grand Canyon.

Also, there were peals of thunder all year round, and many lightning clouds covered the sky.

Gyaa!

Gya!

The Agaths soared through the sky.

Their cries were akin to a raven's, and they were coincidentally black as well.

However, Agaths were definitely different from ravens.

Whenever they breathed, the blue crystals embedded in their breasts would emit sparks.

They were also much larger than ravens, and also possessed four wings, which allowed them to fly more nimbly.

In other words, Agaths were high-performance jets that flew in the air and shot lightning.

Thus, he needed someone who could pick them off from the sky.

Someone like Sephiro!

"Please aim for the Agaths' wings," Kang Oh looked at Sephiro and said.

Sephiro nodded his head.

"Eder, don't attack them. Instead, use your bone magic to block as much lightning as you can."

"I understand."

"I'm aiming for the two Agaths in the front!"

With their four wings spread out, the two Agaths soared through the air.

Aim... Fire!

Two arrows flew through the sky.

Bam!

One of them pierced an Agath's wing.

Bam!

The other pierced the other Agath's wing.

Gyaa!

Gya, gya!

The Agaths shrieked and staggered in the air.

It was only natural. They had been shot by a level 190 archer.

With a steel arrow at that!

But it wasn't enough to kill them.

The thunderbirds counterattacked by discharging lightning from their crystals.

Crack!

Boom!

Once they shot out the lightning arrows, a peal of thunder rang out, befitting their title as thunderbirds.

Kang Oh dashed towards the Agaths.

Two lightning arrows came right for him.

Kang Oh swung his demon sword.

'My body feels light.'

His movements were extremely smooth.

Kang Oh's demon sword cut through the lightning arrows; the blade sucking in lightning arrows like water into a drain.

But there was still a lightning arrow he could not block.

At that moment, a bone shield appeared before him, blocking the leftover lightning arrow.

Creak!

The lightning arrow crashed against the bone shield. Sparks flew and the bone shield blackened.

Meanwhile, Sephiro let loose four more arrows.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

His arrows pierced the Agaths' wings.

The Agaths shrieked and flapped their wings to escape, but they wouldn't work.

They plunged to the ground!

"Give me your crystals, you chickens!"

He was more than willing to take on birds that couldn't fly!

Kang Oh swung his sword in a downwards motion.

Bang!

Kang Oh's blade passed through the nearby Agath and then shoved it into the ground.

A barrage of earth shards assaulted the Agaths in the vicinity.

Caw.

Caw, caw.

Once they were struck by the earth shards, the Agaths shrieked and randomly shot out their lightning arrows.

With his Hyper Intuition, he sensed the danger beforehand and evaded the lightning arrows.

Of course, there were some he couldn't dodge no matter what he did.

At times like those, he would guard his body with his demon sword, minimizing the damage.

At that moment, Sephiro showed what it meant to be a high-leveled archer.

In the midst of the barrage of earth shards and the subsequent random discharge of lightning, Sephiro’s arrows had struck true.

But Kang Oh was the one who finished them off.

Kang Oh repeatedly swung his sword.

A couple of Agaths let out a final scream and fell to the floor.

[You have defeated an Agath.]

[You have defeated an Agath.]

[You have leveled up.]

Kang Oh had defeated some enemies which were far higher leveled than he was. Because of that, he had received a ton of experience points.

If he hadn't had to share with the ranker, Sephiro, then he probably would've gotten even more experience.

'Well, it's because of Sephiro that our hunting speed is so much faster, so it's fine.'

Kang Oh glanced at Sephiro and then examined the Agaths' bodies.

Unfortunately, the Agaths didn't drop any crystals.

'Nothing.'

There was a 25% chance that an Agath would drop its crystal. Percentage wise, one needed to defeat four to obtain one crystal.

If he wanted 200 Agath Crystals, then he needed to kill at least 800 Agaths.

'798 to go.'

There was a long way to go.

* * *

"Aren't there too many of them?"

Eder's voice shook.

Caw!

Caw! Caw!

He could hear the unending cries of the Agaths nearby.

"There are 22 of them," Sephiro said while aiming his bow forward.

As he said, 22 Agaths had surrounded Kang Oh's party.

"Keep hitting them and it'll be over eventually," Kang Oh said.

He lifted his blade and centered himself.

"I'm going," Sephiro yelled and let loose several arrows.

Pitter patter!

The arrows flew towards the Agaths.

It was the signal that they had engaged the enemy.

The Agaths shrieked and shot lightning arrows at Kang Oh's party.

Eder cast a spell with a dreary voice.

Once he raised his right hand to the sky, a bone wall formed around them like a barricade.

Bang!

Boom!

Boom!

Countless lightning arrows battered the wall; sparks flew and smoke rose.

"I can't hold it for long!" Eder yelled.

"Got it."

Kang Oh adopted a iaido stance.

He slightly bent his knees, spread his legs, and swung his sword.

Swish!

He unleashed a golden tiger from his blade. Then, whips of wind raged about.

Tempest Tiger!

Eight of the Agaths were swept away by the destructive tiger-shaped aura.

The Agaths' cries intensified, and emitted an even greater amount of lightning.

"Press forward!"

Kang Oh leaped over the bone wall and dashed into the group of thunderbirds.

He swung his blade in a wide arc like a top!

Bam, bam, bam!

Kang Oh's multilayer attack had succeeded, but only one of the Agaths shrieked violently and flew towards him.

"Heup!"

Kang Oh whacked the bird's head with his blade.

Bam!

Caw!

The Agath went flying but another came rushing towards him simultaneously.

"What's your problem!?"

Kang Oh swung downwards.

Slash!

A white line clearly divided the Agath's body in half.

At that moment...

[The effect of Kunta's Golden Talent Ring has activated.]

[A spontaneous quest for Slash has been created.]

[Slash 1]

In you dwells Kunta's talent. If you use Slash 1,000 times, then you will receive even more proficiency.

Slash: 0/1,000

Difficulty: Spontaneous

Reward: A 10% increase in proficiency of Slash.

Kang Oh quickly reviewed the message and quest windows, and closed them.

'It'll give me 10% proficiency, huh. I really did hit the jackpot.'

Proficiency was the hardest thing to raise in Arth.

However, Kunta's ring could give him spontaneous quests that would increase his skills' proficiency by 10%.

As expected of an SS-rank masterpiece!

Kang Oh grinned and engaged the Agath that was rushing towards him like a moth to a flame.

"Hoo, hoo."

Sephiro ran backwards, maintaining a fair distance between himself and the Agaths.

He endlessly shot arrows, with each and every arrow containing tremendous force. Almost none of his arrows missed either.

The Agaths that attacked him were filled with arrows, looking more like hedgehogs than birds. This had all happened in an instant!

Eder continuously conjured up a bone wall, dispelled it, and then recreated it again.

When he could spare a moment, Eder would conjure up a bone shield to protect either Kang Oh or Sephiro, as well as use Bone Bind to harass the birds.

However, he didn't have the time to use any offensive spells or curses.

And thus, Kang Oh, Eder, and Sephiro feverishly continued the fight.

At some point, their backs were suddenly against each other. They quickly exchanged glances with each other.

There were only five Agaths left.

'Let's finish this.'

'Let us finish this quickly.'

'Let's end this!'

Once they were finished glancing at one another, the three rushed out simultaneously.

Eder no longer conjured up bone walls. Instead, he protected his body with a bone shield whilst stabbing with a bone spear.

Sephiro still had plenty of HP, MP, and Stamina, befitting of a high level archer.

He moved continuously, shooting steel arrows. Of course, he didn't just shoot arrows.

Bam!

He grabbed the end of his bow, swung it, and smashed an Agath's head.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"How does my boot feel, bird-brain!"

The Agaths began to fly away.

Once they stopped rushing him, Sephiro strung another arrow and began shooting once more.

Pew!

The arrow ripped through the air and pierced an Agath's head.

Crack!

Two red shards fell from the bird's head.

It fell headfirst towards the ground.

Headshot!

If an archer got a headshot, then they could do more damage than a critical hit.

Sephiro shot two more arrows, finishing off two dying Agaths.

"Next!"

Sephiro didn't rest.

He strung another arrow at his next target.

Then, he shot. Right on target!

The Agaths' bodies began to accumulate.

Caw!

The Agaths flew around quickly, making Kang Oh dizzy.

However, it wouldn't affect Kang Oh and his Hyper Intuition!

"Die!"

Kang Oh swung his sword like lightning, his Hyper Intuition guiding his strike!

Bam!

Red shards spewed into the air. One Agath plunged to the ground.

The last remaining Agath shot a lightning arrow at Kang Oh.

It was aiming for his leg.

However, Kang Oh kicked off the ground and leapt into the air. He then swung his sword in an X motion.

Whack!

Kang Oh sliced through the Agath and it rolled onto the floor.

Once he landed on the ground, he swung downwards with his blade.

Clunk!

A barrage of earth shards assaulted the Agath.

"This is the end!"

Kang Oh attempted to finish the Agath, which was no longer able to fight.

But before he could finish it, he received a different message instead.

[Demonic Swordsmanship has risen to the Intermediate level. You can now wield the demon sword more proficiently than before.]

[You have learned the Demonic Swordsman class skill, Devil Trigger (Beginner).]