"It's all over?!" The hat man, who had been hiding in the half-broken shack with an unconscious Vynn, muttered in shock.

He had watched the entire battle unfold from start to finish while staying crouched close to the unconscious figure, barely daring to breathe. His hands were trembling, his hat pulled down low as though it could shield him from the chaos outside.

"We actually won." He shouted a second time, louder this time, as if repeating it would finally cement the reality into his mind.

The other scammers who were supposed to be in the shack had long since abandoned the place. Initially, they were all unconscious from the earlier blasts, but when the deafening shockwaves and thunderous bangs shook the walls, they snapped awake. Without hesitation, they bolted into the wilderness, leaving their supposed leader behind.

Abandoning their own, they left Blake all alone with the beast. So now, amongst the once-proud band of scammers, only the trembling hat man remained.

"Ack!" Tom suddenly dropped to his knees, his essence flickering out instantly. He coughed violently, blood pouring continuously from his mouth for several seconds before he wiped it with the back of his hand, his face pale but still defiant.

'Perks of being an A ranker. I have more essence compared to lower ranks. Doesn't mean I'm not exhausted though, and my reserves are still only a tiny bit.' Lyra thought as her knees trembled beneath her. She swayed slightly but quickly caught herself before collapsing, forcing her body to remain upright despite the overwhelming fatigue.

Jace, though initially knocked out of the air, was still conscious. His back leaned heavily against the rough bark of a tree, his breaths ragged, each inhale dragging through his chest. Aria slowly climbed down from her perch in the branches, her limbs sore from holding her bow drawn for too long.

Zen, on the other hand, remained rooted in place. He stood still, his eyes fixed on the disintegrating beast, but the truth was his focus wasn't on the battlefield at all. His gaze lingered on the glowing system screen that hovered before him, words flowing across it.

[Congratulations! Host landed the finishing blow to the A ranked beast]

[Rewards for defeating the beast will now be distributed.]

[Calculating…]

[Rewards distributed.]

[+500XP for defeating beast; +500XP first time defeating an A ranked beast; +10 STR; +10 AGI; +10 INT; +500NP; +1 new skill]

'Whoa! This is huge! This is too much, system. Do you want me to suddenly turn OP overnight?!' Zen grinned widely, his face stretching until his cheeks ached.

{If I give little rewards, he complains. If I give too much, he still complains. Fool, make up your mind already and stop trying to drive me crazy!}

Zen ignored the system's sarcasm as his eyes gleamed, fixed firmly on the floating text in front of him. He muttered inwardly, 'Status tab.'

{Status}

{Name: Zenixx}

{XP: 600/1500}

{Level: 11}

{HP: 50/70} {STR: 56}

{AGI: 56} {INT: 54}

{NP: 650}

"Looks beautiful," Zen mumbled under his breath. He clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the raw surge of strength coursing through his veins and muscles. Every nerve in his body tingled as though freshly awakened.

'Let me see the new skill.'

Tring!

[Skill added: EXP Parasite]

Type: Passive

Description: This skill allows host to leech a portion of all EXP gained in his surroundings (from allies, even rival Reavers). Whenever an ally close to host makes a kill, the supposed EXP they would gain—if they had a system—will instead be transferred to host.

Effects:

Automatically levels host even if he doesn't land the final blow.

Can "store" stolen EXP and release it in bursts to instantly level up a skill.]

---

'Why does this skill remind me of that webnovel I once read? The one where the main character had a clan of vampires, and whenever they hunted, he gained a portion of their EXP just for existing near them.

This skill will be ridiculously useful. With this, I don't need to desperately land every finishing blow like I did today.' Zen nodded, a satisfied smile tugging at his lips.

"Tch! Too bad my sword shattered. But at least the system compensated me with enough NP to go shopping for more weapons in the shop." He muttered under his breath, then turned his head, his eyes scanning the battlefield where his allies were collapsed on the ground, completely drained.

"That was insane," Blake finally muttered. He staggered to his feet, one hand pressed against his bruised side. His gaze flickered towards the ruined shack, his lips twitching bitterly. Then he let out a low growl and shook his head. "Thanks to you all, I lost my hideout… and every single one of my men."

As if the SilverFall Clan weren't satisfied with kicking me away when I didn't awaken, they still had to come and ruin my somewhat peaceful life here." Blake frowned deeply, his face twisting in bitterness.

"And yet, if we weren't here and the beast had attacked along with Xar, you would be dead by now. So you should be thankful." Lyra frowned back at him, her voice sharp and unyielding.

"Thankful my foot!" Blake spat on the ground, his eyes narrowing into slits filled with hatred. "I have been here for ages and no beast had ever come to disturb me.

Not once! Until you all brought your cursed bad luck to me. You ruined my so-called honest work, scattered my men, left my hideout—my home crumbled into rubble, and then you dare say I should be thankful?"

"Wait a moment! Did you just call what you were doing 'honest work'?" Tom asked, his brow rising in disbelief. He stared hard at Blake, who only scoffed and turned his head away, clearly not wanting to admit anything.

"Your so-called honest work that involved leeching off others, robbing people who were just trying to manage their lives, and doing all of that under the respected name of our clan—you dare to call that honest?!" Lyra's voice thundered with fury, the ground beneath her feet almost trembling with how much venom she put into her words.

"Let's all calm down here." Jace spoke up, his voice weak as he slowly pushed himself off the ground. His knees buckled slightly, but he still managed to stand. "I know this is basically adult business, but you all need to maintain your cool before this turns into another fight."

"Maintain my cool?" Blake snapped back, turning his glare on the young Reaver. His face was twisted in frustration and despair. "How should I maintain my cool when my entire source of livelihood has just been wiped away in one single night?"

"So?" Zen chimed in, his calm tone cutting through the heated atmosphere. He raised an eyebrow, drawing Blake's full attention back to him.

"Why not just look for another job? You called the disrespectable scam you were pulling off 'honest work,' but the truth is you can actually work an honest job if you wanted."

"What honest job can I actually do?!" Blake shot back with a harsh frown. "Almost everybody already knows me as a scammer. My name is ruined, my reputation is ruined, and no one will give me a chance to work an honest job!"

"Simple." Zen shrugged casually, his tone annoyingly calm compared to the tension around him. "Why not just take the SilverFall assessment again? With your veil and the fact that you're already awakened, it's guaranteed you'll be accepted this time. You'll earn a living directly from the clan. How hard is that?"

"Wait, what the fuck?!" Tom, Lyra, and Blake all shouted at the same time, their voices overlapping as they whipped their heads toward Zen with wide eyes. They stared at him like he had completely lost his mind, their expressions ranging from disbelief to outrage.

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