Not long after Elon left, Lila appeared before Kael. She took the gold he offered and immediately dashed back into town.

  Ordinarily, buying gold at ten thousand dollars a coin, you could easily gather a hundred or so within a couple of hours. But the Van Tassel Teleport Scrolls were so absurdly rare that Lila had to act before other guilds figured out their true purpose.

  Three minutes later, a message from her arrived.

  Got one. That was close, there were only two left.

  A guild could only purchase a single Van Tassel Teleport Scroll. Once the six were sold, they were gone for good.

  Kael replied:

  The scroll can teleport a party of five into the Hidden Realm. Grab a Warlock and another priest. I’ll bring a tank. We’ll go in together.

  Is there anything we need to prepare?

  Empty your bags and stock up on supplies. Everyone should bring a bedroll. Also, tell the Warlock to bring her Voodoo dolls.

  Got it.

  This Hidden Realm takes a while. A clean run, in one go, will be at least four or five hours. You guys go grab some dinner. We’ll meet at the south gate in an hour.

  Okay.

  Kael closed the chat window and looked up to see Hazel bouncing over excitedly. She was already decked out in the full Rotwarden set, and she’d upgraded her weapon, though she still carried her old shield.

  She looked up at him, her big eyes sparkling. “Mr. Dawnbreaker, where have you been? You haven’t been answering my messages.”

  Kael smiled. “Had some things to take care of. Did you complete your Class Advancement?”

  Hazel nodded enthusiastically. “Mhm! I advanced to a real Shield Warrior! Even the Putrid King barely scratches me now.”

  Kael knew exactly what she meant by a “real Shield Warrior.” Before Class Advancement, Sword and Protection Warriors were all just under the generic “Warrior” class. The only difference was gear choice; talent trees had minimal impact.

  After advancement, the class truly branched out. Some went the offensive route, with talents focused on weapon mastery and damage amplification. Others, like Hazel, chose the defensive path, with talents that boosted armor, magic resistance, and threat generation.

  “Here, I’ve got something for you,” Kael said, pulling the Bulwark of the Vanquished from his inventory and handing it to her.

  Hazel’s jaw dropped when she saw it. She took the shield and practically jumped for joy. “Thank you, Mr. Dawnbreaker!”

  She equipped her new shield immediately. While it wasn't as comically oversized as her previous one, it still looked enormous against her petite frame.

  Kael watched her celebrate and shook his head with a smile.

  He hadn’t given it to her with any ulterior motive; it was a purely strategic decision to strengthen the team’s combat effectiveness for the Hidden Realm. The place was crawling with danger, and having a solid tank soaking up damage would prevent him from having to constantly reposition, which could attract unwanted attention.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  After setting a meeting time with Hazel, Kael logged off to eat as well.

  An hour later, Kael logged back in at the designated spot. The other four were already there.

  Lila: Level 15 Swordsman

  Rena: Level 15 Priest

  Starbloom: Level 15 Warlock

  Hazel: Level 15 Shield Warrior

  Kael: Level 20 Divine Archer

  The moment Rena and Starbloom saw Kael, they practically vibrated with excitement.

  “Whoa, it’s the legend, Dawnbreaker! I’m your biggest fan!” Rena squealed, rushing forward to give him a hug.

  Startled by her sudden enthusiasm, Kael quickly sidestepped. Rena stumbled past him, hugging nothing but air. She didn’t seem disappointed, though. Instead, she giggled, raised her staff, and a soft green light enveloped Kael.

  “Rena! Behave!” Lila scolded.

  “Okay.” Rena lowered her head, peeking at Kael from under her bangs. Then, on a whim, she giggled and healed him again.

  Starbloom was less physical, but the way she was staring at him with unblinking intensity was almost more unsettling. He felt like a lab rat she was eager to experiment on.

  “Alright, everyone’s here. Let’s go,” Lila announced, taking charge. She unfurled the Van Tassel Teleport Scroll.

  The world dissolved around them, and in a flash, they re-materialized in a strange, new place. Lila looked around. They were standing inside a massive glass dome. Outside, she couldn’t see anything clearly, only deep blue, shimmering waves.

  “Where are we?” Hazel asked in awe.

  “We’re at the bottom of the sea,” Kael answered calmly.

  “The bottom of the sea?” the others gasped.

  “That’s right. This place was built by a man named Van Tassel. He was a legendary master thief in his time, and this is where he hid his treasure.”

  “Whoa, treasure…” The girls’ eyes lit up.

  “Don’t get careless,” Kael warned, his tone turning serious. “A single trash mob in here is as strong as an elite monster, or even a boss, out in the normal world.”

  As if on cue, a harsh clank-clank sound echoed nearby.

  “Watch out. Hazel, get in position.”

  The words had barely left his mouth when a fireball shot out from the distance.

  BOOM!

  -362

  A damage number popped over Hazel’s head. A moment later, a robot on wheels zipped toward her, raised a metallic arm, and brought it crashing down on her shield.

  -197

  Even with the +250 magic resist from her new shield and the full epic zombie set, Hazel was still taking heavy damage.

  [Guardian Automaton - Type A]: Level 15

  Health: 80,800

  Mana: 30,300

  Physical Attack: 851

  Magic Attack: 708

  Physical Defense: 385

  Magic Defense: 460

  Lila and the others couldn’t believe it. A single, ordinary mob had 80,000+ HP and attack stats in the high hundreds.

  But they were just as shocked by Hazel’s defense. She had only lost a little over 550 health from two hits, which looked to be only about a sixth of her total health bar. Not only is Dawnbreaker a monster, but this little girl he brought is one too.

  Seeing her two teammates still staring, Lila barked, “Don’t just stand there! Rena, heal! Starbloom, debuffs!”

  “Right!” Starbloom’s curses were meant to lower the target’s physical defense and attack by 15% each. In theory, that should have reduced the bot’s attack by over 130 points.

  However, when the Automaton swung its iron fist at Hazel again, the damage number was still high: -143.

  The debuff had only reduced the damage by about 50 points.

  “What happened? My curse barely did anything!” Starbloom cried out.

  “Mechanical mobs have high resistance to abilities like that,” Kael explained as he fired a steady stream of arrows.

  -1572

  -4612 (Critical Hit!)

  -1226

  …

  His regular shots were hitting for around 1400, and factoring in crits and Double Shots, his DPS was close to 2500. At this rate, he could take the robot down in under a minute.

  The problem was Rena’s healing. Her output was only about 200 HPS. Every time the Automaton used its magic attack, Hazel’s health would drop precipitously.

  Even with Hazel chugging health potions, Rena was struggling to keep her topped off.

  Still, Kael’s damage output was immense. If they could just hold on for sixty seconds, the robot would fall first.

  But just as they were locked in the heated battle, a damage number suddenly appeared over Kael, who was standing safely in the rear.

  -1712

  “What the fuck?!” Kael couldn’t stop the curse from escaping his lips.