S Ranked adventurers they are few in numbers, each one has an influence similar to that of a noble some even rival that of a king, their power can devastate an army of 10,000 trained soldiers at least for those at the lowest rung of the group.
while a certain few can destroy topple kingdoms with some 'effort' required, a history that many nations erased to prevent it from reoccurring, of course, that is why since that occurred when an adventurer reaches either B or A rank empires recruit them, kingdoms offer wealth, land, even status to prevent them from rebelling and to control them.
Because it is better to offer something enough to entice them than to lose everything that they have.
within this world, there are only 34 registered and living S ranked adventurers 8 of them currently reside in the pier and now two decided to show themselves for either profit or for a good fight.
Mark, who sensed the robed man that held a large staff with a wrinkled hand, lowered himself to use the surviving adventurers as cover in case the person uses a powerful spell.
It was a good idea, something to make a mage hesitate, Sadly though, the Mage that arrived didn't care about the others as he just wanted to increase his prestige, so the victim the will get caught in the crossfire are expendable in his eyes!
The mage raised his staff before a large magic circle had appeared over the area with Mark at the center!
"ֆȶʀɨӄɛ ɖօառ ȶɦօֆɛ ȶɦǟȶ օքքօֆɛ ʍɛ! ʀǟɨռ օʄ ʋɛʀʍɨʟɨօռ!"
A large flaming tornado had appeared with Mark at the eye of the storm the unfortunate adventurers and guards were roasted before turning into piles of ash, thanks to the Magic resistance skill Mark managed to somewhat resist the spell but the majority of his body was covered in 3rd-degree burns as he struggled to stand however that wasn't the end of the spell as tens of fireballs came flying towards him as he increased the regeneration skill before receiving the barrage!
(BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM X??)
Mark was using everything that he could to resist the attack as his arms quickly became useless after trying to rip a piece of the ground to act as his shield holding it awkwardly with his teeth and tail that was halfway burnt by the time the spell was done, there was only one figure left standing that could have been mistaken a charcoaled corpse if it weren't for the subtle breathing the magic resistance was upped by another level allowing Mark to barely survive but that wasn't the end as the regeneration skill was fixing the damage the S ranked mage was ready to cast another spell.
*BAM*
B
ut that was stopped by Gustaf as he was practically roaring at the person he punched sending the crazy man skidding across the ground!
"GERALD YOU FUCKING GEEZER! YOU KILLED THE ADVENTURERS THAT I BROUGHT FOR SUPPORT!"
Seeing that they were busy with each other Mark kneeled down to focus on recovering as the area around him was akin to the lava as he looked towards the downed figure of Remishia that was unconscious and recovering thanks to the skill she got from him.
Gustaf was furious as more than half of the adventurers that he nurtured were blatantly killed by the damned mage that only thought of himself as anger took over him the berserker temporarily forgot about Mark and wanted to kill Gerald for undermining his efforts for the past 7 years!
he treated those adventurers like they were his own kids, his own personal army in case one of the other S ranks decided to again attempt conquering the City.
Gerald was a man that looked like someone with one foot in the grave due to how his appearance was with some liver spots, lack of hair, incredibly skinny with numerous stitch marks showing just how much the old man endured through life, a few teeth, well, even less now thanks to the punch from the berserker. a crooked nose, with dim blue sunken eyes.
His raspy cold voice returns a roar of its own as he got to his feet unnaturally.
"GUSTAF, YOU DAMNED BRAT! WE HAVE BIGGER ISSUES TO WORRY ABOUT THAN YOUR USELESS MEATSHIELDS!"
Gustaf ignored his words and made an angry stride towards the old man as he wanted to pummel the old fart as much as possible since he won't die thanks to the skill the old man had which was also a curse for him, it was immortality, however, not the true kind as the Gerald was still aging bit by bit and unable to keep his body 'intact' while his mind stays just as sharp as when he received the skill however his body can be reduced to dust with time if he doesn't 'maintain' it.
Gerald became an S rank through pure effort, schemes, backstabbing, and by getting rid of a few Potential S ranks for the city lord, one of the people that he failed to kill countless times was Gustaf who also helped him understand the possible repercussions if his body was cut into pieces that scatter across the city and his head made into a chew toy of a dog and his lower half doesn't need to be talked about as he will feel everything that happens to his body parts, despite being separated from him, but a few hints should help get the idea a dominatrix had gotten hold of it, a humiliation that he will never forget, which is why they have some deep grudges between themselves.
Mark, seeing that they were ignoring him, decided to make a run for it towards Remishia to save her, as he did something struck his back before it exploded!
Attracting the attention of the 2 S ranks that were having a rumble As Gerald was held by the neck with a few more bruises with a strange smile, while Gustaf received a couple of fingers up his nose as the other hand of his victim was tugging on the side of his soot-covered face as all of his facial hair was burnt off as they both looked towards the source of the noise.
A rather comical sight as more guards arrived holding portable cannons led by a certain nobleman that can make a certain Potion maker go as far as to poison the whole vicinity just to get the man that ruined her everything, Damien Thatch that was riding on a large wolf-like monster as he was enjoying the show while smoking before his condescending voice followed.
"TSK TSK TSK to think that two S rank Adventurers were having so much trouble with such a weakling, I guess I'll get to collect the spoils including that woman over there~"
Gustaf and Gerald stopped their shenanigans as this man was said to be one of the most powerful men in this city second only to the city lord, they both feared him for a great number of reasons, the man is meticulous, cautious, well informed, even now despite his words of taking claim over the spoils he was keeping his distance as his men were doing all the hard work despite him being just like them... an S rank.
As they attempted to collect the spoils, the men under Damien made their way to the unconscious 'monster' girl, but before they could even touch the woman, a large frying pan stopped their approach as the men were sent tumbling across the ground before stopping as fresh corpses.
As a feminine voice growled in annoyance bringing forth two reactions, the first one was a groan from Gerald and Damien as he clicked his tongue, while Gustaf looked like a boy in love as he squealed out in joy after her words that were similar to a bossy hooligan's.
"You fucktards! what did I say about you dumb fucks from entering my territory!? or even about touching one of my daughters?! AAAHHH!?"
Damien tried to smooth things over with the newcomer.
"Oh my dear Alicia, I had no such intentions in fact after collecting the burnt monster and its mate, I was going to leave straight away~ and besides it was Gerald that left more than a few burn marks on your building~"
Gerald's eyes widened from surprise as the youngster threw him under the bus!
Hell, he was angry for this, scared for his life, and speechless unable to articulate an argument as the little scuffle he had with Gustaf did lead to a few stray fireballs burning a part of her building.
Gustaf, on the other hand, ran towards her like an idiot as he yelled out in delight.
"Alicia My Honey!"
Only to receive a boot to the face knocking him out, as thanks to his new makeover Alicia failed to recognize the man that was running at her, not that she'd let him touch her, as if she did happen to recognize him she would've kicked him spartan style to send the disgusting man as far away as possible!
But she was here for a different reason, one to rescue the girl that looks at as one of her own kids!
With a stomp on the man that was knocked out, to intimidate the other two S ranks Alicia spoke out loud.
"oh is that right? as even now you are eyeing one of my daughters right now!"
Damien maintained a smiled as he nodded before replying.
"Ah I see so that 'girl' near you is one of your daughters? my apologies because she looked so similar to a monster I failed to realize that, I am glad you stopped me in time not to wrong you again~"
at the end of his words trickled out some of the history they had, the unpleasant kind as his words had a tinge of malice.
Alicia Maintained a glare towards the man as his words struck a sore spot, but he remained unfazed before adding another question.
"but just to make sure that I do offend you 'again' hahaha~, I can take the other burnt 'monster' over there, right?"
Despite having a smile, it was obvious that the man may do something unreasonable should she say no.
Alicia snorted at the man before picking up Remishia then returned to her shop.
Gerald already made a run for it as he really didn't want to get his ass handed to him by her again.
Tch, Damien was annoyed that one of his toys got taken but no matter hopefully this monster that he claimed will be entertaining for a while, as he was waiting for Alicia that Amazonian Guardian, to lose enough support to be expelled from the city as her skill was troublesome.
The skills she had was 'Guardian' the longer she resides in a place she considers as her home, her overall stats would grow by 2 percent every day and the bonus of the skill was she will not age while the skill is active as long as she had resided in the city and it had been ten years since it was activated so you can imagine how strong she'd be right about now.
Damien had been trying to find a way to expel her from the city to remove the effects of the skill, however, the current city lord was only keeping her there to ensure the safety of his city from any monster, quite a pity as He really wanted to enjoy her body as he broke her pride, but it can't be helped he'll need to be patient for a bit longer as surely the monster girl that she adopted would try and 'find' her mate, no?
He laughed in amusement as it wasn't long now until everything within the city will become his soon as they dragged the outer shell of the monster.
They failed to notice that Mark was making full use of his stealth as now, he wanted to butcher the S ranks nice and slow.
He sacrificed a good portion of his flesh into the empty shell they were taking away, So he needed time to rest so after he planned to leave a message to his savior, Mark was going to cull a good amount of monsters to maximize the rest of his skills as something told him that his skills will change him completely when he makes them reach level 10!