Since ancient time, the stories of Hero and Demon Lord are told and spread among masses all over the world. All having their own versions and opinion about those stories.
The Hero was always the person with a strong sense of justice in the eyes of humans, while the Demon Lord was an idol for Demons.
Although the stories about them are known to all, but the details on both the focused characters varied depending on the strength and influence the masses had.
For instance, normal mortals didn't even know that there are actually three generations of Hero Summoning Ceremony or the fact that Heroes can be summoned from outside the world.
Practitioners with some connections could gain access to such information but even that was vague. They knew about Gifts but had no proof or examples on them at all.
The clans or organizations only having mortals in them were called Mortal Clans or Mortal Organizations, just like that, those that had even one Immortal in them were called Immortal Clans or Immortal Organizations.
Only the influential people in Immortal Clans or Immortal Organizations had access to some deeper information about the three generations of Heroes and knew why the 1st and 2nd generation was almost taboo now.
To sum it up, all 1st and 2nd Generation Heroes were bound to have at least one Gif. Furthermore, that one Gift was common among all, a Gift that made all Heroes truly fearsome, giving them a dream-like potential that raised their worth to that of Nuclear Weapons on Earth.
Life Cycle!
It was why, if the news of a Kingdom or Organisation trying to summon a 1st or 2nd generation Hero, or have achieved success in it came to be known, it would be treated as a threat by the others around them.
Because of such things, Brilliant Sky Kingdom would never dare to use stronger means to track Tanya down for fear of catching unwanted attention, even when it can help them catch her because once the news leak, it won't be favourable to them.
Such a thing might not be big enough to make the Immortals move but it sure can cause chaos in the mortal world.
***
Kale was utterly shocked by the development as the specks of light dived into Tanya's body, but his face had no change of expression, it was like he saw nothing at all.
In his last life, Kale was hailed as an anonymous assassin whose titled name could snatch the sleep of even the Emperors. He didn't because famous overnight, it was because of his achievements over the years, there were times when he had to remain hidden in a place for days to get a single opportunity to strike, there was also a time where he acted like a lowly slave for years to get mixed in a great noble clan and kill the clan leader on the first opportunity.
With time, when he made Red Hand Legion, and came to known as one of its commanders in the eyes of masses, he never gave in to fame, and always kept others attention of the unknown leader of the organisation which was he, himself. His men were already spread all over the continent, people were so fearful of them, that they won't even trust their brothers once they knew they are on the elimination list of the Red Hand Legion.
After all that experience, if Kale's current acting skills has to be measured, they had long reached Ethereal mastery level.
He kept focusing on the dead body of the monster, not even turning his head to look at Tanya, he may have been looking calm on the surface but his mind was flooded with questions 'What method is this? I can't sense any energy fluctuations, nor does it give the feeling of WitchCraft, but it seems like only I can see it, it is probably related to my soul being modified as a WitchCraft Practitioner, wait… So, is she a Necromancer?
But even Necromancers use Mana in the end, I didn't sense any mana, sigh… My knowledge about Necromancers is low but if she is one or of a similar subclass, then doesn't it mean she would be able to see my Ghost Spirits if I take them out? It was a good idea for me to be careful, the main point is what did that technique do? She absorbed all that in her body, hmmm… Coupled with how generous Ajin was with his 50% sharing offer… It feels like, we are giving them enough benefits to easily let go of 50%…'
As Kale started to think, he connected all the dots and came to a near true conclusion, the point he deeply missed was about Gifts, because although Kale knew that Gifts were similar yet above Blessings, he hadn't heard of even a single Gift before, having no idea what can it do.
'From all these points, one thing is clear, this girl likely has the highest importance in their teams, she may be stronger than she looks, but once I succeed in taking her as a hostage and threaten her life, this man can do nothing. As for the trick just now, it's an opportunity to know about my weakness and improve, how can I let it go? I will make her spit it all out,' Kale thought, at the same time he started dismantling the body of the monster while forming up the plan for his next move.
Once Tanya finished absorbing all light specks, she slowly opened her eyes and felt the change in her body 'Yes, I am almost there, this way of levelling up is really effective, I should use it as much as possible while I can, only by becoming stronger will I have my rights and freedom.
In this life, I won't do the same mistake of relying on gadgets and drivers alone, but staying under the territory of these Four Kingdoms isn't a good idea, once I am at the later stage of Tier 3, I should move to farther away place where the influence of Brilliant Sky Kingdom is lower or none,'
Tanya thought to herself, then looked at Kale, who just now dug out the melon size heart and the core from the Boss, he was wearing elastic white gloves to defend again the poison.
Kale put down the two things aside, then started rubbing a cloth on a protruding out broken rib bone of the Boss, to clean the blood on it, once he was done, he noticed that the bone wasn't in pure white shade but had a touch of pale green to it like the coating of the jade.
He smelled it from closer, then thinking of something, Kale stealthily activated his mutant trait ‹Bone Manipulation› and tried to sense it, there was no change externally, but internally he was could feel it.
'Interesting, the bone actually has poison attribute attached to it, moreover it is reacting to my trait, meaning I can actually absorb it? Will my bone frame also get poison attribute if I do? It's very appealing to try but let's not be hasty, the poison in the bone seems highly potent, it may be able to give my bone frame poison attribute but it doesn't mean it will give my body the ability to resist such poison.
It's better to wait until I reach Venom Heart stage before trying to absorb it, for now, I should just take its bones as my share and keep them,'
When the duo was near the Boss, Ajin and others finished resting and started gathering the loot.
They didn't blindly harvest goods but collected them after making a priority list depending on their worth like the Tier 4 Origin Crystals were harvested first, then Tier 3 Origin Crystals, there were also muddy pits filled with old dirty, broken yet expensive equipment of the adventurers who died in the Boss Room before and got eaten by the Boss.
The group took their times collecting them for several hours then rested for the night inside.
That night Kale behaved completely 'normal', he didn't hide his desire to catch Tanya's attention whenever they talked, always listening and agreeing to whatever she said.
The food stocks were low, so after having a lite meal of dried meat at night and breakfast of compressed biscuits in the morning, everyone got ready to leave the Boss Room then head to the next floor.
***
The Poison Crypt, third floor.
The huge door of the Boss Room slowly opened, Ajin walked out of it followed by Fynn, Elza, Ryenne and others.
Once the group came out, everyone carefully scanned the surrounding, fortunately, there were no monsters around, the group took a breath of relief then moved forward heading towards the tunnel near the Boss Room, leading to the next floor.
Kale was walking in the middle with Tanya, he was looking around carefully as he moved 'Strange, the dungeon having no monsters here is one thing, but the scenery is exactly the same as the one we left behind before leaving, is it possible that not a single creature came here since the time we left? Or more like they couldn't…'
Kale had awakened two Mutant Traits which was rare, although the other trait was mostly related to him being having very high mental capacity during mutation, at birth, but after becoming it becoming a trait the benefits grew by several folds. His memory was highly sharp because of that, he needed but a little Psychonic Energy to playback a scene from his memory like a 7D video, coupled with his rich experience, he was able to notice the facts around him easily.
Ajin was leading the group with a map in his hand, he turned back and looked at Kale then at Tanya and spoke "Little girl, don't be too hard on yourself, tell me if you feel nauseated and want to end this trip,"
Tanya slightly narrowed her eyes at him.
Ryenne also glanced at him, then stretched out her arms alluringly before placing her right hand on her waist near the belt of holding, where the magic staff was hanging.
Kale's eyelids flickered, he noticed the faint change in atmosphere 'Little girl? Didn't he call her Tanya all this time,' Kale then narrowed his eyes at the map Ajin was holding 'Oh, Map of the third floor? The route from the Boss Room to the diversion tunnel is so simple to remember, a talented Tier 4 Practitioner such as him can't have such a bad memory.
Normally, he should be observing the map of the fourth floor but he is not, which only means he is observing the maze-like routes of the third floor and the most obvious reason for doing such a thing can be… Analysing escaping routes?
He wants to ambush us... No, they had a way better chance of doing that in Boss Room, then... Damn,'
Kale suddenly came to a realization, he instantly sent a message to Fynn, Elza and the Dwarf sisters {Be alert, we have walked into an ambush!}
His words sent a shock to all of them, but they were already used to his messages so we're able to hold the change to some extent.
Both Fynn and Elza looked at each other than at Ajin.
Ajin noticed the look in their eyes and was slightly surprised 'Did they notice? Smart people, I seem to have underestimated their worth, that aside, now the question is what to do, this ambush is too professional for some adventures trying to rob us, so it is most likely the hunting dogs sent by them…'
Although Ajin had his own thought, he was observing Tanya's expression from her reflection on Elza's armour, he was waiting for her decision.
Tanya was also thinking rapidly 'How did they find us? Didn't that man say he would distract them in opposite direction as a favour? Now, what to do?' She pondered for a while then raised both of her hands, using her fingers to comb her hair back and tighten the rubber.
This action didn't escape Ajin's vision, he clearly remembered the hidden signal behind it 'Plan C? No negotiations or escaping but direct confrontation, I see, she wants to make use of this team's strength to finish them off, even if they die, the Guild will instead track down the enemies which will make the Brilliant Sky Kingdom lay low, 1st and 2nd Generation Heroes are really different from the useless titleholder 3rd generation…'
Ryenne just quietly observed them and didn't react in any way, she too understood the plan well 'Tsk, Plan C means I can only use Water Spells,'
Kale also saw these actions, but unlike before, these gave him no hints, even if he could guess it was a planned signal, he couldn't tell what was their plan.
But he could still guess the thoughts of Elza and others, so he sent a message to confirm their doubts {No need to ponder about it, this is indeed your assassin group, a normal adventurer group cannot set such an ambush, we have likely left behind a clue leading them here,}
{But then master, they are after us, so once's Ajin's group came to know about it, they won't help us confront them and might retreat instead, we alone cannot fight the enemy when one of them is Tier 4,} Fynn replied soon after.
Elza also had the same doubt but she didn't know the sound transmission technique so she could only listen to them and can't respond to it.
Kale agreed with his doubt {You are right, that's why we won't talk or negotiate with them in any way, we will attack them at first sights, like this even Ajin have to get into battle whether he likes it or not,}
When the three women and Fynn heard his words, their eyes slightly brightened, his plan was crude, yet the most feasible in the current situation, the look in Elza's eyes towards Kale was also changing, it was only a short time since she knew him but slowly, she was realizing how fearsome of a man he was.
The most fearsome enemy is not a wealthy or stronger one, but a smart and cunning one.
Elza knew that well.
At the same time, Tanya also had the same opinion 'According to Plan C, we will attack the enemy, at first sight, this way, even if Elza's group don't want to fight, they would have to get involved,'
On this thought she looked at Kale, who was in return turned to her at the same time.
They had the same thought 'In case the plan fails, this is my backup!'