The sounds of a giant beast trampling the ground echoed in the skies. Alan's Caravan suddenly stopped when it felt the tremors made by the monster's footsteps.
Scared out of his wits, Hach, Alan, and the rest of the people grew frightened at what they saw, it was even bigger than the Owlbear! The merchant grabbed Hiro's arm in panic as he worried.
"Mushashi-sama what in the world is that? Can we face such a thing!."
Hiro nonchalantly brushed off Alan's hand as he answered. "Five-tailed terror Scorpion, my slaves will handle it." The man then walked towards the beast. As he passed his slaves the shackles on their hands and feet all fell off their limbs.
"What? But they are useless in a fight! Please go out there yourself!" Hiro ignored him and made a wicked smile as he looked at the three men before him. Hiro's voice echoed to his slaves. "Oy, San-Baka pick up a sword and move. You three will be the ones taking that thing down."
The one who reacted negatively to his term was Fulgeo, he parroted in annoyance. "San baka?" Aurum then raced to pick up the swords and threw one at each of his friends.
"Geo, get your head out of your ass, we need a plan now! He is serious! Lars let's move!" The blond slave took point and charged the monster shouted.
As they charged, Geo eventually also followed after them. Hiro didn't move and started using [Tactical Forecasting] [S] to simulate battles with the three idiots and the monster.
'Hmm, as expected, the one with Aura is the most aggressive. Naturally, the tactician had the most mana as well as the most logical mind of the three, then the high Spirit assassin serves as the foil to both of them. Nice little group you guys have let's see what you got.'
The beast coming for them was a giant scorpion with a violet carapace, it looked like a super-sized scorpion its only distinguishing feature came in the form of five stingers instead of just one.
Hiro designated his slaves and gave them [Mark of Protection] from [Integrity of the Faithful]. He granted them a 70/30 injury sharing. But didn't turn on pain absorption. This meant any and all damage the monster would inflict would be felt by the trio.
On the flip side the master would receive 70% of the damage, and only 30% affected the bodies of his slaves. The effects of such settings became evident. Aurum took a straightforward approach and smashed his bone sword into the face of the scorpion.
Due to the huge level of disparity, the next series of events could be expected. The scorpion shrugged off the blow and then smashed the blond warrior with its claw. As the impact sent Aurum flying, Lars caught him and both of them tumbled from the momentum.
"Wow, that didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would have." He remarked. The redhead of the group rebuked him in annoyance. "Aurum, I told you to stop taking everything head-on in the face! The butcher shared a skill with us it seems. I see a [Mark of Protection] from our status. I estimate that our damage is shared with him."
"Wow! Isn't that amazing?! Then we don't have to die to this ugly!" exclaimed Aurum in admiration. Lars on the other hand spoke with noticeable tension in his voice. "Geo, that monster is over level 40, 700 STR, 500 AGI, 200 INT. Poisonous and can use sand manipulation skills."
The tactician then commented in frustration. "Tsk, what the hell is up with this area, that is nearly double of what a normal level 40 should have!" Geo then looked at the monster coming for them as he made his plans.
"You guys are going to have to trust me, we will blow this thing from the inside. Luckily the asshole over there is tanking for us, otherwise, we would already be dead.
"Lars, distract it and ensure the tails do not hit Aurum. Aurum, find a weak point and use your strongest skill on it. I will handle the rest."
'Hmm, very good. The master tactician skill is not wasted on him. They already have solid teamwork. How did all of them suddenly turn into slaves then? And why are their levels so low?'
Hiro failed to notice that the boys in front of him were only in their late teens. To be around level 20 by then could already be considered talented. As the man trained from level 1 to 25 in a month, he considered anyone less than 25 low leveled.
Right now the reincarnator had twice that in levels and a monstrous increase in stats after a month of grinding. So by his definition, everyone in the caravan could be considered weak including Hach who barely had a level of 31.
Around the same time, all three of them heard a system of messages pop up in their minds one after another.
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi marked an enemy with [Mark of Annihilation] via [Integrity of the Faithful] -
- Alert: [Mark of Annihilation] all attacks that damage this target by at least 1 percent will stack an annihilation mark. The next skill user that invokes the annihilation effect will have his skill damage to be multiplied in proportion to the mark. Maximum annihilation stack 20 -
Geo and Aurum smiled at one another when they saw the game-turning effects of this one skill. But it didn't end there.
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Weak Point Targeting] and [Familiarly Index] via [Reverie Beyond Hope] -
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Heart's Dogma] reality. [Steel blades bow down to no one], All stats + 400! Stat bonuses now stacking-
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Heart's Dogma] reality. [The more I know the faster you die], Skill [Heart's Dogma] grants ATK Bonus granted based on [Familiarity Index] -
- Alert: Average [Familiarity Index] 100% Bonus base damage increase 2122 ATK -
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Skill Prediction] via [Integrity of the Faithful] Prediction rate set to 100% due to [Familiarity Index]-
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Heart's Dogma] reality. [Give me your lives and to Victory, we ride.] All Stats +250 Stat bonuses now stacking -
- Alert: Party Leader Hiroto Musashi has shared [Heart's Dogma] reality. [Vengeance draws my sword], [Heart's Dogma] detected [1] Mark of Annihilation Stat bonus per target STR 400 AGI 400 INT 400. Stat bonuses now stacking -
Powered up by over 1000 points in each stat, the San-Baka felt extremely powerful. Giddy to test they're new found power. They all moved to attack the giant scorpion.
Lars changed forward and circulated spirit around his bone sword, the beast detecting the caliber, moved its five stingers to strike him. The man avoided them all using inhuman feats of agility.
He then leaped and stabbed the monster in its claw. The strike, stronger than any blow he made in the past was magnitudes different in power. The scorpion's claw exploded from the overwhelming force.
Like hammering an egg it broke under the strain and disintegrated. Furious the monster started flailing its remaining claw and continued to skewer the one who wounded it. Lars didn't want to overstay his welcome and dodged out of the way.
Not to be outdone Aurum followed the weak point he found and climbed the monster's back. The scorpion assaulted him with an array of sand projectiles, like spears, chains, and balls as he approached. However, due to [Skill Prediction], the blond warrior displayed grace on par with a butterfly.
He then used his strongest skill on the fractured part from when Hiro awoke the monster. "[HAMMER BLOW]!" Like a mallet, Aurum smashed the scorpions back in five quick swings.
The repeated strain caused the weakest bits to crack and fracture exposing the show flesh within. Taking it as his cue, Geo fell like a meter on the open flesh.
"HERE IT COMES! [VOLCANIC CLAYMORE] [ANNIHILATE]!" when his sword stabbed into the flesh, the mana it contained transformed into pure explosive power. Like a balloon with too much air. The scorpion's flesh started to swell inside its carapace.
Like a tumor on the verge of popping the meat pushed against the entire frame of its body preventing the scorpion from even moving. The problem worsened by the second as the swelling didn't stop. Less than a moment later cracking sounds could be heard all over the monster.
Geo already rejoined Aurum and Lars waiting for the fireworks. All three felt invincible with their newfound strength. If being a slave for this man granted such benefits. Then does it really matter if they were slaves?
If a Slave had enough power to overthrow a king, would insistence on such labels actually even matter? They knew the answer to that. And as the scorpion, they once thought of as impossible to kill exploded. They looked forward to their future as the Strongest Slaves in the Universe.
