Chapter 3

Keith pushed away the items covering Zachery as the boy gasped for breath and noticed a pool of blood on the ground. No doubt the gashes on Zachery’s back were bone-deep. A quick use of Inspect showed Zachery’s Health dwindling rapidly, mainly from two bleeding debuffs. Keith calculated Zachery’s remaining Health together with the bleed damage and deduced Zachery only had 40 seconds to live.

Natural Health regeneration was excruciatingly slow in this world, with healing potions as rare as dragon scales. People with healing abilities were even rarer, yet today Zachery was in luck.

Elora slid to a halt next to Keith as he patted Zachery’s cheek to keep him conscious. “Hey, don’t blame me for what happens next.”

Zachery clenched his hands, his face pale white. At this moment, Elora raised her spiked club. Zachery’s eyes widened as he let out a hollow laugh. “You want to get some experience from killing me? Why am I so unlucky?”

Ignoring Zachery’s misunderstanding, Keith stepped back and covered his ears just as Elora slammed her weapon smack dab onto the middle of Zachery’s face. The spikes on the club pierced Zachery’s skin, yet through the miracle of Elora’s innate gift, the damage converted into healing. To improve her ability even further, the spiked club had a bleeding attribute. What would have been a few red holes instead became glowing green ones.

The bite marks on Zachery’s shoulder and gashes on his back closed at an alarming rate. Elora restored 40% of Zachery’s Health in one attack, yet no gratitude came from his lips, only a terrifying shriek. Zachery’s limbs flailed about as bone-piercing pain coursed through his body. Never before had he felt such agony.

Keith grew queasy as he watched Zachery squirm on the ground like a worm. He took a look at Elora and shuddered when he saw her eyes squinting in delight. Why were his sisters so weird?

Elora’s face brightened when she realized one wack wasn’t enough to heal Zachery to full Health. Delighted, she once again raised her tool of evil above her head.

“No, wait, stop!” Zachery, now in better shape, saw what was about to come and made a run for it, but he was too slow. Just as he turned to flee, Elora’s club whipped him across the side of his head and slammed him to the ground.

Elora smiled widely at the satisfying blow yet was disappointed to find she knocked her patient unconscious. Sadly, she couldn’t hear more screams. Keith stepped back in horror when Elora turned her gaze towards him. “Hey, why are you looking at me?”

At this moment, Annallee arrived after walking over. She looked down at Zachery. “Is this guy an idiot? Why would he try fighting the Rift Boss alone?”

Keith calmed down and answered. “Maybe he accidentally encountered it?”

“No way,” Annallee shook her head confidently. “The Rift Boss here doesn’t leave its nest. Its territory is an open clearing, so it's easy to avoid.”

“Oh, right, you killed this fella a few months ago, huh?” Keith vaguely remembered Annallee mentioning such a thing.

Keith scratched his head and ventured a guess. “If that’s the case, I think it's because he has the avenger title.”

“What?!” Annallee turned to Keith in shock. Seeing her reaction, Keith explained everything he had learned about Zachery.

A few minutes later, Annallee had tears in her eyes. She walked up to Keith and fiercely shook him back and forth. “Keith, you have to help him!”

Keith grew dizzy and replied helplessly. “Okay, okay, I will, alright? Just stop shaking me.”

As Keith swayed back and forth, Elora picked up a large oval egg from the pile of loot. Flame patterns covered its surface, giving it an exotic appearance. Elora gave it a once-over before tossing it to Keith, who exclaimed in delight. “Wow, jackpot! A Rift Boss monster egg dropped.”

Annallee pursed her lips. “Oh, now it drops, but not when I kill it?”

Keith ignored the pouting Annallee and inspected the item.

[Monster Egg] Enkindled Wolf King

Description: The monster egg of a level 150 Rift Boss. Infuse 200 mana to hatch.

“Oof, it’ll eat 200 mana?” Keith groaned. He needed to feed the monster egg in one go else his progress would reset. Keith could do it with his current equipment, but it would take him a few days to recover the loss at the rate he regenerated Mana. That was fatal to any combat-oriented adventurer. Thankfully, he wasn’t one.

Keith placed his palm against the egg and funneled his Mana inside. A transparent screen showing his progress appeared.

Mana Infused: 0/200

The gauge filled in seconds as a significant portion of Keith’s Mana disappeared. With a crack, the egg burst apart as a red light flew into Keith’s chest. A mysterious connection formed between him and the newly hatched monster pet.

Already familiar with how monster pets worked, Keith viewed the pet’s information instead of greeting the pet. If its stats or appearance weren’t good, he’d keep it in his warehouse or sell it.

[Monster Pet, Epic] Enkindled Wolf King – Level 150

Combat Form: Possesses 43% of the original’s stats and the following skills: Fireblast, Flame Swipe, Lesser Fire Immunity.

“Shoot!” Keith smacked his lips in disappointment and lamented his bad luck. “It only inherited 43% stats and three skills.”

“How unlucky.” Annallee patted Keith on the shoulder. “With those stats and skills, it isn’t worth the mana cost. You’re better off summoning a Rare grade monster pet with good rolls on its inheritance.”

While Keith got a Rift Boss monster egg, it didn’t mean he’d get a Rift Boss level monster pet. It depended on luck. In this case, the monster pet inherited 43% of the original’s stats, a low roll considering the highest percentage was 100%. It could’ve inherited more skills as well.

Although the monster pet was pretty much useless to him, he didn’t give up hope. To Keith, it didn’t matter how powerful a monster pet was. What mattered was how cool it looked!

If the monster was too ugly, sell it. If the item was too tacky, trash it. Did the colors match Keith’s outfit? Did it ooze awesomeness? It had to be impactful, unique, and, most importantly, stylish!

And so, with bated breath, Keith summoned the monster pet. After a flash of light, the Rift Boss that almost killed Zachery reappeared next to Keith, though unfortunately, it lacked the flaming mane the original had due to its 43% inheritance. Without it, the coolness factor dropped considerably.

“What did I expect,” Keith sighed in disappointment and unsummoned the pet.

At this moment, Elora tugged at Keith’s sleeve and pointed to the pile of loot. Keith shrugged. “It’s all yours.”

Elora clapped her hands in delight before shoving all the items into her inventory. She’d list it on the auction house later to make some money.

“Okay, let’s head home!” Keith turned towards his Uncle, paused, then asked Annallee. “Can you carry Zachery back?”

“No problem,” Annallee responded as she picked up Zachery with one hand and placed him over her shoulder in one smooth motion.

Keith collected his chair and umbrella before approaching Uncle Doven, who still chewed his jawbreaker with that annoying sound. Keith cringed as he spoke. “Uncle Doven, can you teleport us home?”

“Sure,” Uncle Doven nodded as he stood to his feet and stretched, towering over Keith and the others as he did so. A moment later, the orc-ogre hybrid of a man activated a ring on his finger.

[Legendary] Teleportation Ring

Description: Grants the user the Teleportation Gate skill.

Teleportation Gate: Create a portal to a previously explored location within the current dimension. Mana consumed varies based on distance. Lasts 30 seconds. 30-second cooldown.

In an instant, an oval blue watery door sprang into existence in front of Uncle Doven. After checking to make sure they weren’t missing anything, Keith and the others entered the portal one after another, crossing thousands of miles in an instant.