Chapter 113 : Casually Forged

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Running for his life, Sora darted toward his camp, hoping he’d run into an ally—or even better, a group of Fox players who could fend off or distract his pursuers.

He knew that the moment he stopped or even slowed down, he’d be dead. Sprinting hard for a solid ten seconds and covering a huge distance, he suddenly felt something catch him, lifting him off the ground.

Trapped mid-air like a captured animal, Sora glared at the rope binding him, anger building up. He looked up to meet the faces of his captors, determined to engrave their appearances and names in his memory.

[Maxwell Phelps - Level 155]
[Clémence Berger - Level 165]
[Pedro Luiz - Level 161]
[Asia Sanogo - Level 156]
[Rachel Claude - Level 149]

He gulped as he took in the lineup, having disabled the option to see guild names. Noticing Rachel among them, Sora thought, ‘That bitch sure knows how to pick her party members…’

Maxwell Phelps was tall and muscular, with spiky red hair and a mean look in his eyes. He wore heavy armor that looked tough enough to stop a dragon’s claw. 

Clémence Berger, the highest-level player, was a woman with golden hair tied back in a ponytail, and her armor sparkled like it was customized by her inner kid. 

Pedro Luiz looked like a quiet guy, with dark eyes and a hooded cloak, carrying a massive hammer almost as big as he was.

Asia Sanogo had dark skin color, short hair and a mischievous smile, holding a book that shone in her hands.

The rope led to the highest-level player of the group, a woman who looked at him with a smile.

“So you’re the one who raised that monster phoenix on the 4th floor… We’re lucky to find a rising star like you,” she said, her tone strangely praising.

Ignoring her words, Sora asked, “Do you actually hunt other human players?”

Before she could respond, the woman paused, seemingly focusing on something else, then replied, “Your friend here says you’re guildmates. Nice to meet you! And no, you’re mistaken—we don’t hunt humans. We’re focused on tracking down the invading races that threaten humanity. We can’t let them grow powerful under our noses. Would you consider joining us? We’re recruiting humans from other groups to handle any threats we might face.”

Sora was surprised by her words. It seemed they weren’t planning to kill him and were even open to including him—a Viper—in their Chicken team. ‘Maybe this is the safest way to avoid leaving my fate to luck… But it means trusting people from a different group… And entrusting my back to Rachel again? How ironic…’

Pretending to sigh in relief, he said, “Sure. I’ll do my best to help.”

Clémence laughed at his serious tone. “Don’t be so formal! We’re practically neighbors. I left Belgium years ago, but we can still call ourselves friends. And don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye out for you if things get rough.”

Sora was caught off guard by her friendliness, not expecting Rachel’s group to be so easygoing. Despite the apparent goodwill, he kept his guard up, prepared to react at the first sign of trouble.

Pedro, one of the two men in the group, tossed him a pair of boots. “Wear these, they’ll help you keep up with us. You’re surprisingly fast, but without proper gear, you won’t survive for long.”

Sora frowned at the man’s words but took the flying boots anyway, thinking Pedro was exaggerating. ‘Who cares about gear? It’s just borrowed strength—why would it matter in the long run?’

[Normal Boots (Ultimate)]
[Description: Boots casually forged by a peerless yet anonymous human blacksmith.]
[Effect 1 (Passive): Movement speed: +400%.]
[Effect 2 (Active): Movement speed: +4,900% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 30 minutes.]
[Effect 3 (Passive): Adapts the user to the speed gained.]
[Warning: Effects are halved for each Omega above Omega 50.]
[Requirement: Human.]

Sora’s jaw nearly hit the ground as he read the boots’ effects. ‘What kind of item is this? What is an Ultimate item? Isn’t Legendary the highest rarity? Casually forged?! This thing is trash to its creator?!’

He recalled items being ranked from Common to Uncommon, Rare, Epic, Unique, and finally Legendary. This "Ultimate" rank hinted at something even stronger.

Without giving anyone the chance to ask for the boots back, he quickly equipped them. 

Sora was still in shock, realizing that such items could be game-changers, relevant for a long time. Omega 50 represented the level 178 range, after all, and he was nowhere near that level of power. Seeing the human-only requirement, Sora was flabbergasted. ‘This has to be the product of an Innate or Supreme skill... It’s incredible. And people just go around handing out things like this?’

“You are right, one can’t go far without proper gear. Thank you.” Sora still politely accepted the gift.

“Hey, stop drooling over the boots,” Pedro said with a smirk. “Remember, they come back to us at the end of the trial… Now, let’s get going.”

Sora reluctantly nodded, aware that running off with the boots would only lead to trouble. ‘Unless… hehe. And I get to spend time with Rachel, which gives me a chance to see how strong she really is.’

Rachel, watching his expressions shift from worry to relief, then excitement, sulking, and finally a grin—all within a minute—could only shake her head.

Sora quickly leapt to their height, following the flying group as they resumed their journey at lightning speed, hunting for enemies. Occasionally, they encountered a player, and depending on their faction, they adjusted their actions.

When they found a party of Elemental Golems from the Fox group, they ganged up on them. Despite their disadvantage against Foxes, they were so powerful that the handicap hardly seemed to affect them.

Elemental Golems were one of the invading races, focusing their attacks on the former USA and Canada.

‘They’re really something else. Thank god the first PvP event didn’t require fighting these savages,’ Sora thought as he watched them fight.

Clémence, the “kind” leader, was actually a ranged fighter who used flying axes, hurling them in every direction. The axes would return to her hands no matter where she was. Her method didn’t match her delicate appearance, as she didn’t seem to have any visible muscle to wield such strength related weapons.

Asia, a mage, had a unique spellcasting technique that stacked spells on her enemies, building up effects in a rhythm until they resonated and exponentially amplified all damage. Her spells, which initially seemed weak, would quickly overlap, melting any player regardless of Life Force or defense, as long as they couldn’t interrupt her chain of attacks. 

Fighting half-heartedly, Sora was in awe of her technique and silently resolved to learn something similar. ‘‘This is incredible, I need to use that to help my mana usage rival my body strength. I can’t rely on my stupid usage of solid mana that has nothing to do with mana control’

Maxwell, on the other hand, fought up close, making his enemies feel heavier with each strike. Unable to fully analyze his skill, Sora suspected it might be a supreme or innate ability.

Rachel and Pedro stayed in the back, watching everyone else fight like parents supervising their kids at a playground. Sora found the sight disappointing as he couldn’t learn more about Rachel.

Although his team was overpowered, Sora noticed that the main reason the opposing team lost was their lack of levels and teamwork. They had impressive abilities, causing Sora to raise an eyebrow, but they couldn’t unleash their full potential. 

He remembered the three Dwarves he’d taken down instantly and sighed in relief. ‘I think I know the path I need to take… I’m going to kill my enemies before they even have a chance to show their abilities. I can’t be bothered trying to counter all these weird powers.’

When they later encountered a team of Vipers, Sora quickly hid himself, not wanting to risk the system penalizing him for attacking or assisting in an assault on his own faction.

After dozens of battles, the team had grown to 35 players, including Emily, Kim, Kara, and other high-level humans. It seemed that most other humans had either been eliminated or disappeared somewhere.

When Sora reunited with his guildmates and Kara, he and Kara exchanged polite smiles, hiding their relationship from Rachel.

“Yo, Min and Oni are nowhere to be seen. I doubt they managed to pass the trials from the 5th to the 7th floor. But five out of nine members of Aram made it to the 8th floor. This is incredible!” Emily said, clearly pleased with her recruits’ performance. “Good job on the 4th floor, Ralph—you shocked us in the final battle.”

“Humans grouping together was a brilliant idea. Was it Clémence's plan?” Kim asked, impressed by the group's power and efficiency. “We kept seeing your names pop up on the kill feed every few minutes… You’ve taken down hundreds of players, and not a single one of you has shown up on the killed side. Her reputation is well deserved it seems.”

Sora pointed at Pedro. “We kept going wherever that guy pointed, and it was always the right direction.”

As they turned their attention to Pedro, his face changed as he looked over at Clémence, who seemed to catch onto something herself. Her expression hardened as she addressed the group. “Break time’s over. Latecomers, equip your boots and follow me.”

Sora was now numb to seeing Pedro handing out Ultimate-level gear to everyone he met, even adding extra items for weaker players. ‘This guy is a treasure trove… I seriously want to kidnap him.’

Checking the event panel, Sora sighed, noticing it was far from over.

[Remaining players : 722]

They soon left their position, following Pedro’s guidance. They changed directions repeatedly, often just as they settled into a spot, trusting in Pedro’s ability to sense where safety lay.

This routine continued until Pedro finally grew visibly frustrated, muttering under his breath as he turned to Clémence. After a brief, tense exchange, Clémence sighed and addressed the group.

“Prepare for battle,” she commanded, her tone firm. “Form three groups. Chickens on one side, Foxes on another, and Vipers on the last. We’ll fight back to back, covering all weaknesses.”

The team quickly positioned themselves, forming three tightly coordinated groups, each facing a different direction. With everyone’s back covered, they braced for whatever was coming. Sora stole a glance at Clémence, catching the intense focus in her eyes, and the hundreds of axes she was summoning.

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