Chapter 23: The Arena Battle

"Help me survive this ordeal, and name your conditions... whatever you want!"

[Prompt: Do you accept the side quest - "Arena Battle"?]

...

Quest Name: [Arena Battle]
Requirements: Kill three men in black.
Rewards: Credits, Skills, Items (Choose one).
Description: The unidentified men in black have seen through the secret of the "Berserk Potion (Variant)," forcing the anxious Maple Police Chief, Jesse Pinkman, to silence them. However, various factors prevent him from intervening personally, leaving him no choice but to ask you to fight on his behalf. Generous rewards await you upon success.
[Prompt: If you reject this quest, Jesse Pinkman will have a certain probability of turning hostile toward you. Please choose carefully.]

...

Yujin directly ignored the final prompt, because extracting benefits from the police chief was his intention to begin with. With such an obvious opportunity to fleece someone right before him, he had no reason not to take advantage of it, especially with his desired reward appearing directly as an option, giving him even less reason to refuse.

"Alright, Chief Pinkman is a straightforward man! To be honest with you, I also have a fondness for hand-to-hand combat. If Chief Pinkman can teach me the technique and methodology of [Body Slam], I'll take this job!"

Yujin agreed instantly, stating his conditions in advance.

Don't underestimate the [Body Slam] skill; although it might not seem extraordinary, the official channel's exchange requirement was as high as ten quest vouchers and thirty thousand credits. It was an advanced technique-type ability derived from [Grappling Mastery]. During close-quarters combat, [Body Slam] allowed the user to inherit the bonus judgments of [Grappling Mastery] (2+3), directly boosting Yujin's strength rating to fourteen points, reaching the level of a Tier 2 extreme strength specialist.

When he had planned to sit back and watch the tigers fight, he had carefully examined the police chief's various skills. Among them, the one he needed most and was most likely to acquire was [Body Slam]. Therefore, Yujin's request had been thoroughly considered and practically guaranteed that Jesse Pinkman would not refuse.

"I can agree to your condition, but whether you can actually master it depends entirely on your own fortune!" The police chief gave Yujin a somewhat surprised look. He had expected Yujin to demand a huge price in money and items, but he never imagined Yujin would ask to learn the body slam technique instead.

What a strange person!

[Prompt: You have accepted the side quest "Arena Battle" and chosen the technique-type skill "Body Slam" as your quest reward.]
[Prompt: Because a "skill book" or "skill stone" cannot be generated, Jesse Pinkman will personally demonstrate the skill "Body Slam" for you after the quest is completed. The learning probability is affected by your perception level and prerequisites, but you can personally participate in the skill demonstration. If you successfully resist the damage of the "Body Slam," the learning probability will be increased.]

"The learning conditions really are harsher than I thought!"

Yujin raised an eyebrow, understanding the situation as he recalled the scenario of acquiring his first skill. He and Not-A-Sword-Immortal had joined forces to kill the Dire Wolf, and the liberated Skinny Monkey had taught him [Staff Mastery: Headshot] to repay Yujin. At that time, the learning conditions only imposed restrictions on weapons and attributes—if both met the standard simultaneously, the skill could be learned, unlike now, where not only had the learning difficulty increased, but it was also subject to probability.

However, Yujin did not regret his choice. Having tasted the sweetness of [Staff Mastery: Headshot], he had long been looking forward to triggering a learning opportunity through a random event. Fortunately, he had finally waited for this chance.

Yujin still remembered the staff master's evaluation of him during the solo tournament: he had possessed [Staff Mastery: Headshot] ahead of time without having learned [Staff Mastery]. Even viewed from the present perspective, this skill retained considerable uniqueness. First, it had no cooldown time; second, rather than merely boosting his own attacks, it reduced the opponent's defense. Although it was restricted by strict stamina limits and could not deal ultra-high damage, it made Yujin's output extremely stable.

Although the headshot skill was somewhat nerfed after the official launch, it still possessed impressive effects and was regarded by Yujin as the skill foundation equivalent to [Staff Mastery]. Many subsequent skills required [Staff Mastery: Headshot] as a prerequisite for learning.

Similarly, [Body Slam] was also the foundation of the grappling skill tree. The special throw executed by Steel Cable against the black-clad leader required learning based on the foundation of the body slam. Although there was a risk of failure due to probability, resulting in a futile effort, it was well worth Yujin taking the gamble.

Meanwhile, Qiu Yinong had also made her choice. Specializing in crossbow skills, she temporarily had no need for active skills, and the steady income from the player store made her indifferent to credits. Therefore, after consideration, she put forward her condition to Jesse Pinkman: "I need some special damage-enhancing items. I wonder if the Chief can provide them?"

"Yes!"

Jesse Pinkman's gaze swept across the arena, seeing the black-clad leader currently inspecting the corpse of Iron Fist. His expression shifted, and he hurriedly agreed to Qiu Yinong's condition: "I have some specially crafted crossbow bolts stored in my collection. Their effects will definitely satisfy you!"

"Good then."

Qiu Yinong smiled and agreed, prompting Jesse Pinkman to urge them impatiently: "You two, can you get started now? There is a secret passage leading directly to the arena over here. Once it's done, I will definitely not go back on the conditions I promised you!"

"Don't worry, we'll be right back."

As Yujin and Qiu Yinong walked toward the arena through the secret passage, the black-clad leader also completed his inspection of Iron Fist's corpse. However, unlike his previous excitement, his face was now ashen and his heart filled with resentment.

"No, this isn't Maple Blood, nor is it awakened Maple Blood. This person's body merely fused with an extremely scarce trace of Maple Blood!" The black-clad leader informed his two companions of the inspection results. "When I just felt the aura of Maple Blood erupting in his body, I thought I had encountered a suddenly awakened Maple Blood rebel! Scoring a monumental merit for free would have brought huge benefits to all three of us! Damn it, what a wasted joy."

"While this matter is certainly regrettable, the War Herald need not take it to heart!" One of the elite men in black lowered his head slightly and said softly, "Maple Leaf Town was never an important target of the Church, yet we accidentally discovered traces of Maple Blood. This indicates that someone is using Maple Blood to do unspeakable things. If we report this matter upward, it will at least earn the War Herald a commendation."

"Well said!"

The black-clad leader slightly restrained the anger in his heart: "Maple Leaf Town is situated on the edge of Maple Island. Currently, it's only verified to house an unawakened Maple Blood rebel. If I hadn't lacked the strength to participate in tonight's castle assault, I wouldn't have run all the way out here! Whatever the case, finding out the general situation of Maple Blood is at least a harvest, and even if it just makes the higher-ups look at me a little more favorably, it's still a good thing after all!"

The black-clad leader kicked Iron Fist's body off the stage, and then turned impatiently to shout at the dumbfounded audience: "Boring, truly boring! As expected of tiny Maple Leaf Town, not a single one of them can take a beating! Call your boss out, I have a few questions to ask him. If he can satisfy me, that's fine; otherwise, hmph!"

The black-clad leader's attitude left the audience in the audience seats terrified. Although people occasionally lost their lives here, the means of slaughter were certainly nowhere near as cold and cruel as the black-clad leader's.

Seeing that the situation was turning south, someone got up and tried to run, only to be sternly stopped by a shout from the black-clad leader. He intended to use these people to force the shadowy boss of the underground fighting tournament to show himself quickly so he could find out what was going on with the Maple Blood inside Iron Fist before calling it a day. However, the organizers of the underground tournament were actually more than just Jesse Pinkman; in fact, the police chief had never publicly appeared, instead letting trusted subordinates like the Hyena act as proxies to participate in organization and management.

Seeing that the black-clad leader was not someone to be trifled with, several tournament organizers observing from the shadows immediately turned into turtles hiding in their shells, frantically contacting others in an attempt to get someone else to step forward and resolve the trouble. But everyone was smart; having seen Iron Fist's miserable end, no one was willing to show their face—until a young man and woman caught their eye.

"Who are these two?"

"Don't know, looks like they were brought by the Hyena. Could it be that the boss is playing his trump card?"

"Should be. That guy got slapped in the face twice in a row; he's probably even less able to sit still than us. But just based on these two youngsters, I don't think they can solve the problem!"

"Hey, you can't say for sure. This man and woman have some background. I seem to have seen introductions to them in some reports before; they appear to be moderately famous figures. With them stepping up, maybe they can bail us out!"

"Hope so."

Amidst the secret exchanges among several tournament organizers, Yujin and Qiu Yinong leaped onto the arena stage.

The black-clad leader's brows furrowed tightly because the two players gave him a completely different feeling from the ten fighters before them—not just in terms of strength, but also due to the special auras they carried. To be more precise, it was the special aura originating from the Eldest Daughter of the Sun and the Queen of Shadows. One of the auras made him feel a sense of affinity, while the other filled him with extreme disgust. Glaring at Yujin, the black-clad leader asked coldly, "Are you two the bosses of the underground tournament?"

"No." Yujin shook his head. "We're just hired by the boss of the underground tournament to deal with you."

"Boastful!" The black-clad leader felt extreme revulsion toward the shadow veil aura possessed by Yujin, and thus pierced Yujin with a piercing gaze. "Your existence is the greatest insult to fire and light. I will use the most violent attacks to wipe you out."

Fire and light...

The other party's rhetoric piqued Yujin's interest. Therefore, while the police chief was sweating profusely with anxiety, Yujin was not in a hurry to strike directly: "The origins of you three seem a bit special. Coming to Maple Island, you probably didn't just come for sightseeing, right? Let me guess, what other plans do you have? Visiting relatives and friends, or committing murder and arson?"

Boom!

As if to set off the heavy atmosphere, a thunderclap suddenly exploded in the sky above Maple Island, shaking the tense spectators into continuous trembling.

Yet this sudden crack of thunder caused the three men in black to exchange glances instantly. They knew in their hearts that the Church's final assault on the Maple Island Blood Castle was about to begin, and all rebels would find it difficult to escape death.

The black-clad leader had no intention of explaining to Yujin. He only wanted to wipe out the two of them as quickly as possible, extract the truth about the Maple Blood from the shadow boss, and complete the primary purpose of coming to Maple Leaf Town. After that, he would immediately return to stand by and see if he could secure an opportunity to participate in the battle. Even though his strength meant he was destined to face nine deaths for every life, as long as he could survive, it would drastically elevate his status within the Church, seamlessly shedding the title of War Herald and pushing his strength a step further.

"Not talking, huh?"

Yujin was not surprised by the black-clad leader's silent reaction because the identities of these three people should be different from the Chaos Apostles; the organization behind them was likely similar to the Wasteland Group, some behemoth with world-shaking influence. Based on Qiu Yinong's findings, Yujin judged that this organization was related to the Empire World. But the problem was that this was the Paradise World, the home turf of the three major organizations, and their raid and assassination actions against the Maple Blood Family were mostly carried out in secret. At the very least, confidentiality work had to be handled well so that if investigated afterward, they could feign complete ignorance.

"In that case, let the battle begin!"

The black-clad leader was eager to leave, and Yujin likewise had someone to rescue, so the battle between the two sides was triggered on a hair-trigger.

Right off the bat, the two elite men in black followed their habit, grasping their hearts to provide attribute buffs to the War Herald who served as the primary combatant.

Qiu Yinong's probing skill had long since detected that these two elite men in black could each provide a reinforcement bonus of three points of strength and three points of agility. The effect was almost identical to the standard version of the Berserk Potion, simply lacking the "Trample" ability that inflicted double damage. However, for a War Herald proficient in close combat, a total of six points of extra attributes was already enough for him to leap from the elite tier to a boss-tier threat.

However, how could the two players, who had long seen through everything, sit back and watch the enemy backline buff themselves?

The moment those two elite men in black raised their palms, Yujin and Qiu Yinong immediately launched a fierce assault. The Eight-Spider Spear, which still maintained the appearance of a walking cane, instantly transformed into a black streak and shot forward. On the other side, Qiu Yinong's offensive was even fiercer; the moment Yujin threw his second Eight-Spider Spear, her fifth parasitic crossbow bolt had already left the string, flying straight toward the second elite man in black.

Yujin's speed was already not slow, but the reason Qiu Yinong was still twice as fast as him was because she had learned [Archery: Rapid Fire], enabling her to quickly deal a massive amount of damage in a short time. This forced the War Herald to weigh his options and choose to block the crossbow bolt, letting the Eight-Spider Spear brush past him. The reason was that the target targeted by Qiu Yinong possessed the ability to bestow strength buffs, making him far more important than the other, allowing the two Eight-Spider Spears, one after the other, to rapidly pierce through the target.

[Prompt: You activated the equipment special effect "Pierce" of the Tier 2 weapon "Eight-Spider Spear," dealing eighty-one points of direct damage to the elite "???." ((37*1.5-15)*2)]
[Prompt: The Tier 2 weapon "Eight-Spider Spear" dealt damage to the target. The "Venom" special effect was triggered, inflicting "Normal" grade "Poisoned" status on a target whose health tier is no higher than ten points, reducing maximum health by five percent per second for a duration of four seconds.]
[Prompt: Judging... Judgment successful! The target's health tier is eight, no higher than ten points. The "Venom" special effect triggered successfully.]

After acquiring the Eight-Spider Spear, Yujin used fang materials likewise obtained from the Spider Lord to enhance the weapon's toxin effects, allowing a single burst from the Eight-Spider Spear to deal a total of one hundred and five points of damage to the elite man in black. Meanwhile, the latter's total health pool was only one hundred and twenty points. This forced the elite man in black, after being struck, to abandon using his buffing ability and eagerly cast recovery skills to avoid being killed.

Yet no matter how fast his speed was, it could not outpace the second Eight-Spider Spear that had already been launched. Yujin and Qiu Yinong had formulated their combat strategy before stepping onto the stage: one of the two elite men in black was destined to die first. Unfortunately, the War Herald chose to abandon him...