----

"Heh, well I'll be damned. This guy actually managed to kill one and while using his ability at that! I oughta congratulate him!" Cezar exclaimed, displaying his shock. Funnily enough, he found enough time to spare some attention for Lucian's endeavor as he pummeled two of the apes and even tore them apart with his claws, showcasing the lack of difficulty.

'Perhaps he isn't as pitiful as I presumed. Although he isn't strong enough to single-handedly defeat a D Rank monster, where an even larger power divide appears, his usefulness is honestly surprising,' Cezar thought.

After tearing yet another ape to shreds, he jumped down from the branch, stabbing his claw into the tree to slow his descent. Four long scratches extended down the length of the tree until finally, Cezar kicked off it and landed not too far away from the center of the ring.

Meanwhile, Lucian couldn't find the time to engage in Cezar's banter. He was too busy testing the different usages of his reinforcing ability. It was quite the convenient ability as what he lacked in attributes, he made up for it in the nifty use of the reinforcing properties.

Although he was essentially rough around the edges right now, with time he would gain experience and come across some type of mastery over the ability. Not to mention, battle accrued combat experience quickly as well. There was nothing more rewarding than live combat.

Still, Lucian didn't grow complacent over his kill, instead, he calmed himself and took aim at yet another Scarlet Ape zipping through the branches high above.

'1...2...3!' Lucian thought to himself, initiating a countdown in his mind before releasing the nocked bow. It pierced through the air, gaining a faint spiral halfway through its flight. The rotation accentuated its piercing power, giving Lucian quite the surprise.

Despite the whizzing noise that accompanied it, the Scarlet Ape was incapable of doing it. A small leakage of Mana at his fingertips resulted in an arrow that moved faster than his prior shots, albeit marginally.

While the arrow wasn't fast to the point it was bizarre, the Scarlet Ape had already sealed its fate by being between swings. It didn't possess the intelligence to shift its body and retain balance as that would throw off the distance between the branch and ultimately lead to its death from a massive drop.

Hence, either way, it was left between a rock and a hard place.

A second later, the arrow pierced its heart directly and continued going, impaling it against the tree 2 meters away. Once again, another alert appeared before Lucian as he shifted his gaze to a frenzied Ape.

〈Alert: You have killed a Scarlet Ape (E Rank). [Reward: 0.5 points]〉

Since this particular ape was close to the recently murdered one, it felt fury like no other; falling into an unbridled rage. It started to beat against the tree trunk causing small splinters to project everywhere. Angered shrieks sounded as it collected these pieces and flung them towards Lucian.

Immediately, Lucian's eyes widened with alert. With the velocity the shards were traveling, he would have more than just a few holes in his body if it hit Lucian. He'd end up like a seamstress's pincushion!

Reacting quickly, Lucian sidestepped by kicking off his left leg. 'Relax, stay calm. You can do this. You've been in worse situations recently,' Lucian internalized, reassuring himself.

Reactively, Lucian nocked a bow, but this time one of his eyes was closed, using pinpoint vision to get a precision focus on the active ape. As it continued to fling the shards of hardened wood, Lucian's breath stilled, only the sounds of his heartbeat thumping in his ear.

The world around him took upon a change, his view distorting. There was only the ape, growing darkness as his mind filtered out his peripherals along with several slowly moving shards—nothing else.

With this level of focus, Lucian felt as if he couldn't miss. Unlike before, a faint shimmer which soon grew into a mild luster appeared at the tip of the arrowhead right before Lucian released it.

It ripped through the air, annihilating the shards of wood that came in contact with it. Moreover, the arrow seemed to rock back and forth, but ultimately it was still on track—en route to skewer this particular ape.

Its pupil constricted due to the arrow blitzing towards it. The ape tried to jump and gain distance, but it appeared to be held down by some type of force; its movements wholly restricted. Stuck in place, the ape was inevitably struck by the arrow, but unlike Lucian's other shots, this one was remarkably strong.

The arrow contained enough force to produce a puncture hole three times the size of the arrow despite its crude quality.

Upon witnessing this, Cezar lifted his eyebrow with intrigue, 'This kid's gotta be some type of sharpshooter, eh? That's some serious firepower for an F Rank. However…'

Cezar turned towards Lucian and noticed his bated breaths and pale face. His assumptions were correct, Lucian's previous strike wrecked his mana capacity. 'He probably has less than a quarter of his Mana Quotient remaining after that.'

As the faint feeling overpowered him, Lucian fell to one knee just managing to support himself as he heaved, 'I...did it.'

A sense of accomplishment filled Lucian, that was the most Mana he ever transported through his body. The typical usage of his Reinforce ability generally costs between .5 to 1.5 units of Mana. However, that last strike alone consumed 8 units of Mana!

In other words, the attack was equivalent to all of his previous shots merged into one.

As of right now, he contained less than 30% of his Mana Quotient, a mere 4.2 units of Mana.

While he tried to gather himself, Cezar appeared next to Matthias with a curious look upon his face, "Why did you help him?"

"Mmm? What do you mean?" Matthias responded, turning his face towards Lucian with a nonchalant yet indiscernibly mischievous smirk. "If he's going to be a Guardian, he should understand how to invoke his ability."

"Don't treat me like a fool! You might be able to act under the radar of everyone else but not mine, I am the one with the most superior senses! I felt it; you projected a portion of your Mana onto that ape!" Cezar glared, a tinge of fury rising from within due to Matthias treating him as a fool.

Finally, Matthias displayed a serious expression, staring at Cezar, "Who are you to question my decision? Keep barking like a dog and I'll put a leash on you."

"Y-youuu..!" Cezar's eyes momentarily glinted a scarlet color as a bloodthirst released from his body for a moment. Despite it being for a fleeting moment, the others sensed it attracting their immediate attention.

'Just what are those two doing? From young, they've always been at each other's necks!' Elaine thought with a frown. Conversely, Priscilla seemed displeased as she glared at Cezar's back.

Apparently, this party wasn't as random as it seemed. Every member was part of a tight-knit circle. Whether it be Elaine, Cezar, Elliot, Priscilla, or Matthias, each of them possessed family within the same organization—a faction within the Guardian Corps.

As they argued, Lucian assessed his gains and browsed through his stats whilst recalling their general effects.

Before this confrontation, Lucian took the time to delve deeper into the uses of each attribute. As of right now, his weakest link was his Spirit and Wisdom. These two existed side by side, one determined a Guardian's Mana's recovery rate and absorption rate while the other determined the capacity of one's Mana Quotient.

Hence, they were two vital attributes that couldn't be neglected no matter the archetype of your abilities.

'I have another complete point as of right now, so it'd be most effective to upgrade my Spirit.

〈Alert: Spirit: F- → F. [1 Enhancement Point consumed.]〉

Afterward, Lucian looked at the effects of his new attributes.

----

Name: Lucas Salvatore

Title: N/A

Archetype: Augmentor

Fractal Rating: F (F+)

Authority: Nil

Health: 100%

MQ: 15/15 (.75 MQ per min.)

[«Attributes»]-

»Strength: F+

»Agility: F+

»Endurance: F

»Dexterity: F+

»Vitality: F

»Perception: F

»Spirit: F

»Wisdom: F-

----

[«Enhancements»]

»Points: 0

----

[«Abilities»]-

»Reinforce [F+ Rank Ability]

…

'Based on my estimations, I need at least 6 more Enhancement Points. For that, I'll have to defeat at least 12 more enemies. Let's just hope the foes remain E rank,' Lucian thought.

Suddenly, he felt an odd feeling, causing Lucian to look towards the other members of the party.