"Dan, goblin at your 2."
"Got it."
"Gabriel don't slack off!"
"Yes ma'am!"
These guys were truly professionals. This was the difference between governmental guilds and private guilds. You can say governmental guilds took anyone in without any type of qualification tests or so whereas if someone wanted to join a private guild, the person had to go through dozens of tests and trainings, further the private guilds only accept applications of warriors having rank D or above. Now that Arnold was at rank C, even he wanted to try and enter a private guild. Joining a private guild would mean higher pay, better equipment and recognition.
But the process would take forever. For starters he'll have to fill up the application form, then he'll be given a number and then he'll have to wait for the guild to reach out to him which could take weeks, if not months. And it wasn't over yet. After being called he'll have to qualify at least 29 out of the 38 test that would be conducted for over a period of an year, only then he'd be able to be a part of the guild. This was the main reason why he didn't want to leave his guild right now, because he didn't have the necessary funds to carry on Nicole's treatment during this period of time.
Of course not everyone had to go through this tiring process. A selected few who had a backer were able to directly enter the private guilds. This was the reason Arnold readily accepted the job when he saw that the employer had a backer. A mage having a rare affinity would definitely catch the backer's attention. He wasn't very hopeful about it, but hell it was worth a try.
Soon they killed all the goblins inside the dungeon and headed towards the boss room. Arnold was surprised that they already knew where the boss room was until he saw the device Martha was carrying. It was a military grade scanner, but this wasn't the thing what surprised Arnold. It was the fact that someone brought a scanner to clear a rank D dungeon. Generally these type of devices were used in high ranked dungeons.
"These private guilds really liked to show off too much." Arnold shook his head.
*****
FEW MOMENTS LATER.
"You sure this guy is just a rank C?" Dan took yet another hit from the black centaur.
"Positive." Arnold replied.
"How do you know that?" Nina asked. Large beads of sweat fell from her forehead.
Everyone as their limit but the centaur just kept healing no matter what they did.
"I have some talents." Arnold smirked, of course he had used his [PROBE] ability on the boss as well as on his teammates. All of his teammates were on either D+ or C. Even the monster, [BLACK CENTAUR] was at rank C.
_________________________
CLASS : Black Centaur
LEVEL : 45
RANK : C+
ROLE : Astral Being
AFFINITY/ABILITIES :
• Healing Channel (active skill)
• Illusion of Spirit (active skill)
• ?????
HP : 3870/3870
STRENGTH (STR) : 45
DEFENSE (DEF) : 40
STAMINA (STA) : 55
INTELLIGENCE (INT) : 38
AGILITY (AGI) : 40
ACCURACY (ACC) : 60
EVADE (EVD) : 30
CHARISMA (CHA) : 19
THREAT LEVEL : Minimum
REMARK : Technically you're fighting a horse. Just get a lasso and a cowboy hat. Yeehaw!
_________________________
Since the boss wasn't really dangerous enough the rewards weren't that lucrative either.
_________________________
QUESTS : The Mystic Being
• [ INTRODUCTION ] : You are under attack by [BLACK CENTAUR]. The Black Centaur is an astral being most physical attacks do not work on it.
[ TASK ] : Deal at least 2270 points of damage the centaur.
[ PROGRESS ] : 0/2270 damage dealt.
[ REWARDS FOR COMPLETION ] :
• 2500 EXP
• one random ability
[ BONUS QUEST ] : Kill the [BLACK CENTAUR].
[ BONUS REWARDS ] :
• Hidden reward
________________________
Arnold had yet to participate in the battle because he was planning to complete only the bonus quest and not the main quest, but looking at their situation he had no choice but to take care of things himself.
"Huh... you can't trust anyone these days." Arnold shook his head and called out the remaining golem. "Let's do this."
A trail of ice shot out of his feet and covered the entire room. The centaur immediately charged at Arnold, ignoring everyone else. Just as the centaur was about to slam his sword down on Arnold, he activated his [ RAPID FLASH ] ability, increasing his agility. With help of the speed boost he easily dodged the centaur's attack.
But Arnold wasn't done yet. He activated [FROZEN LANCE], and threw four consecutive lances at him each dealing damage up to 10% of the centaur's HP with every hit. The centaur's HP plummeted by 40%. He was about to throw the last lance before the spell ended but he knew if the chain of attacks broke then the centaur would start healing once again, and he couldn't let that happen. Further, the centaur was immune to physical attacks meaning the golems won't be able to do much damage to it nor would he able able to use [VINDICATOR] as a club to attack the monster although he wouldn't do it even he was forced to. Who would actually use the gun as a club?
Situation was tense but Arnold had a plan. He activated [DEMON BLITZ] and the next moment hundreds of lances appeared behind him.
"This ability is a little too strong, isn't it!" Arnold clicked his tongue. "Who wants some centaur kebab?"
Arnold grabbed two lances and started throwing at centaur. He only had two minutes before [DEMON BLITZ] ran out, so he didn't care about his accuracy and just focused on his attack speed. The centaur's HP reduced really fast, but he couldn't do anything, Arnold's attacks were too fast. Even the golem played his part and prevented the centaur from charging towards Arnold.
Arnold managed to throw one last lance before the [DEMON BLITZ] ran out, and a notification appeared on his interface.
_________________________
QUESTS : The Mystic Being
• [ INTRODUCTION ] : You are under attack by [BLACK CENTAUR]. The Black Centaur is an astral being most physical attacks do not work on it.
[ TASK ] : Deal at least 2270 points of damage the centaur.
[ PROGRESS ] : 3870/2270 damage dealt.
[STATUS] : Complete
[ REWARDS FOR COMPLETION ] :
• 2500 EXP
• one random ability
[ BONUS QUEST ] : Kill the [BLACK CENTAUR].
[STATUS] : Complete
[ BONUS REWARDS ] :
• Hidden reward
________________________
"That was... fun, i guess?" Arnold murmured.
"How did you do it? None of our attacks worked on it!" Nina was exhausted.
"Yeah..." Dan joined in.
"Physical attacks don't work on astral beings. I thought you knew that?" Arnold said in a know-it-all tone.
"O-Of course we did! We were just trying to test you out." Nina exclaimed.
"Sure. Sure. Now if you don't mind can we head out?"
*****
OUTSIDE THE DUNGEON
"The Chief would be here soon with 80 basic beast crystals to cover the rest of your payment." Nina informed Arnold.
"Who's chief?" Arnold asked.
"You can say she is the director of the guild and my... mother."
"You've got a nice mom, if she's coming here to see you."
"Don't get it wrong. My mom is nice, but she isn't coming here for me. Apparently she's coming here because she wants to talk with you about something."
"With me? Am-"
Arnold was interrupted by sounds of a convoy of cars that were headed their way. The cars stopped in front of them and a woman in her early forties, walked out of the car in the middle. She was wearing a solid black dress and heels. Dozens of bodyguards surrounded her.
"You're Mr Ling, I suppose?" The woman asked.
"Yes..."
"I'm Natalia Black, here's the rest of your payment of 100 beast crystals. I threw in a few more because I was impressed by your performance in the dungeon."
"That's very generous of you."
"Now since we're done with the formalities, I have something to ask you."
"Go ahead."
"I'd like you to join our guild."