Have we been treating a noble rudely all this time? Seeing him killing the monsters just like swatting mosquitoes, he must be above F rank.
Wait!!!!! Is he a ranker??????
Everyone realized what kind of detail they had missed. The detail was small but a huge mistake. Anyone who has attained (e-) rank is a ranker, and even wealthy nobles give respect to them. Ranker is not a word that describes a single human, but a force. A force of awakened individuals bound by the Rankers association and the Tower. A massive force that can stand toe to toe with the Dark Empire.
Who didn't have the wish to become a ranker? Akim and Rona had been trying and training hard their whole lives to attain that position. Becoming an e-ranker is, in fact, their life goal. And here they have not only seen a young child being a ranker, they even gave him life advice when he asked about the adventurer job. Are they even in a position to talk to him as an equal? He is a child genius who is a ranker at such a young age.
Akim wanted to slap his previous self if he could go back an hour ago. How rude were they to him? They even asked for protection money from him. Rona slumped to the ground. Even if she escaped alive from here, can she continue her career? One word from a high ranker like Bowen, and they will be banished permanently from the Adventurers Guild.
If the adventurers were depressed, the driver was devastated. For a commoner like him, rankers and nobility are both like gods. And Bowen is both. If he bore a grudge against him, their whole family is screwed. He can easily end his bloodline then and there. Just crossing paths with them is already a sin, but he had been talking disrespectfully to him all this time. Now he was more fearful of Bowen than of the monsters.
They were, at the same time, glad that the young ranker was willing to protect them, or they would have been writhing in pain by now.
Again, their thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched buzzing sound, which made them hold their heads in pain. The driver's ears even started bleeding as he was weak. Akim somehow regained his composure to look ahead—the biggest shadow they faced.
OMG!! A mosquito 5 times bigger than the previous ones.
The Buzzer Queen!!!
This time they didn't even have the luxury to cry in fear. The sheer terror of the monster made them unable to move. They stood rooted as they were. Every part of the monster shouted danger. With a big belly capable of swallowing a human whole, steel-sharp teeth, a sharp tail stinger the length of a spear, and thick legs with hooked barbs, it looked menacing in every way. If this were a dungeon, this Buzzer queen could be the floor boss, and only a group of veteran adventurer teams of the same or higher rank could defeat it.
Is their luck going to end here? Not even the presence of a ranker can help them escape from this place?
Everyone had only one thought in mind. We are done for!!! This time we are surely done for!!!
Bowen also noticed the presence of the large monster there. Instead of worrying, he was more excited. If an F-rank monster gave 5 exp, then how much exp would an F+ and E-rank monster give? He was eager to find out. Without wasting any time, he lunged at the monster. Previously, he only used his sheer strength of 38 points to kill the small buzzers. He knew it wouldn't work on the queen. So he relied on his skills. He faced the queen head-on with a right-hand palm strike. Then quickly, the left-hand palm hit the same area on its thick skull-like head. The force of the strike not only left a powerful hit but also a scorched imprint of the hand. A sizzling sound was heard from the burnt area.
SCARLET PALM STRIKE!!! A palm skill imbued with fire under the veil of crimson petals.
KRAAAAA!!!! The queen let out a powerful screech indicating pain. It quickly turned and tried to impale Bowen with its stinger. The small ones only tried to bite him with their mouths, so this unexpected attack caught Bowen off guard. But his heightened senses came to his rescue. He sidestepped quickly using a quick dash and arrived at the side of the monster. Another open palm strike, right, followed by a left-hand strike, leaving a palm print. Sizzle...!
Bowen could very well use his bone blade or fire elemental magic to finish the fight. [Why do I need a weapon to swat a mosquito? I will just use my hands today], he thought. It is also good practice for him to gauge his mastery of palm skills. The monster was already enraged from seeing Bowen easily killing her children; now she was even more enraged seeing him escape like an eel. She made a quick turn and started shooting black goo from its stinger.
CAREFUL! IT'S ACIDIC!!! Shouted Akim.
Bowen jumped back just in time to miss the acidic shot. [This one is troublesome], he thought. If he couldn't get near the monster, then hand-to-hand combat is useless; well, in normal circumstances, that is. For Bowen, it was only challenging to do something he had never tried before. The monster kept spewing acid shots from its tail stinger, and Bowen kept dancing to avoid the strikes. From an adventurer's perspective, it seemed Bowen was struggling to keep up with the monster. But only he knew he was waiting for the perfect time to land a heavy blow.
Bowen channeled his fire elemental mana to his palm and made a smooth, fluid motion of his hands, just like flowing water—calm and serene. Small rose petals started emerging from his palms and began to cover his entire body. The monster sensed danger; it used Bowen's stillness to launch a killing attack. It quickly jumped into the position where the petals covered Bowen, its massive steel-fanged mouth aiming to swallow and devour him whole.
"No!" shouted Rona.
"OMG, this??" Akim couldn't believe it.
The driver closed his eyes and turned away, not wanting to look at the gory scene. Mason stood still. Is his life as a slave going to end even before it began?
Just as everyone anticipated bloodshed, the massive mouth swallowed nothing but air.
Scarlet Palm Blaze - a precision strike with fire elemental! A small figure suddenly emerged on top of the Queen Buzzer, standing on its thorax, and struck with both his arms in full force toward the back of its head. This time it wasn't a normal palm strike; he injected fire mana deeply into the brain of the monster from his palm. The force of the palm strike helped the fire mana pierce through the thick skull and burn the brain. No one knew when Bowen had reached the monster; no one knew that the crimson petals were camouflage.
The others stood with their mouths wide open, flabbergasted. They didn't know Bowen had such a final killing move. The big monster roared in pain and fell abruptly, twitching its body. On top of its head were two holes in the shape of palm imprints, burnt deep, exposing scorched flesh. This was only possible because Bowen was also a fire elemental magician. If not, only the first movement of the Scarlet Palm Blaze would not have been as effective. Regardless, it will be possible once he masters the other movements of the skill.
This is important now. Bowen had done something other rankers cannot do. Not every ranker can fight and kill monsters of the same rank singlehandedly, and at such a young age, no less. Bowen had displayed a rare feat that only prodigies and geniuses of unique bloodlines can accomplish.
The driver, without wasting time, ran towards Bowen and fell at his feet. "I am really sorry for not recognizing the great master! Please forgive this trash," he said in fear, tears streaming down his face. Rona and Akim looked at each other and knelt where they were standing. They too were scared that their heads would be drilled, just like the monster's. If Bowen decided to kill them here, there would be no one who could even find their bodies, as they would be far gone into monster bellies.
Bowen was not a cruel person, but he also wasn't a saint. He said nothing and walked into the wagon. Even if he wanted some compensation, what could they give? They were already dirt poor.
"Pick those bodies up and put them in this space ring. Don't waste my time," Bowen said, throwing two space rings he had, which were from the Raven gang members. Akim and Rona rushed to load the dead monster corpses. They wouldn't even dream of stealing monster corpses after witnessing Bowen's prowess. They handed over all the alpha rodent and buzzer corpses to Bowen, including the queen's.
"Let's go quickly," he said, maintaining a stoic face.
This act meant so much to the others. They were finally relieved that Bowen was willing to let go of their previous mistakes.
They quickly got on the wagon, and the driver didn't dare waste a single second. The carriage started moving, hastening its pace to the max. The whole wagon was dead silent, except for Mason's voice.
"Masheer masoon, too stroonggg please?" Huhh??
"You want to become stronger too?" asked Bowen, seeing Mason's expectant eyes.
"Yeeshhh masheer. Masoaon do anythinggs!"
"Okay, okay, don't worry. As long as you stay faithful to me, you can grow strong. I will help you," said Bowen, earning a happy laugh from his slave.
Again, the adventurers were envious of Mason having such a master.