Chapter 14: CH 13 – The Eccentric Master Leo

Axel Blaze was munching on bacon, omelette and bread when with heavy steps Max walked down the stairs massaging his forehead.

"I went to wake you up, but you didn't answer, so I helped myself with the breakfast."

Axel Blaze licked his fingers then ordered for a breakfast set for Max.

Max pulled a chair and took his seat while thanking Axel Blaze.

"Thanks brother, for carrying me back to the inn." He blushed slightly, "I am quite ashamed."

Axel Blaze smiled, "No need to show gratitude, we are friends."

"By the way, you could have slept longer, you drank too much last night."

"Haha, don't worry, that much alcohol, I will sweat it out later."

The breakfast arrived and the two ate while chatting.

"By the way, are we really leaving for the Capital today?" Axel Blaze asked.

"Today? Capital? Sure, if you want to. I am ready anytime." Max shrugged.

Axel Blaze stared at the dude with his mouth agape.

"Ahem!... Max, do you remember what you said last night?"

"Last night? Didn't we talk about the good hunting spots here in Galang? What about it?"

"So you don't remember huh?"

After that Axel Blaze recounted everything to Max about what happened last night.

"I am sure your other friends don't share any sensitive information with you. If they do, they will be an idiot." Axel Blaze mocked.

Max blushed again with shame.

"Well, since I have already told you about my friend, what do you think? Feel like joining our new party?"

"No way..." Axel Blaze shook his head in denial.

"Your friend is the son of a Viscount. People like those have vast connections."

"I am sure he already has a porter he trusts."

"We haven't even met for a month and you want to introduce me to your friend as a porter for the party, there's no way he will accept."

"Haha, don't worry about it. He trusts me. There's no way he will decline me." Max affirmed.

"Sigh!... He will definitely agree to take me in, but he will never trust me as much as he trusts you— That's just how human nature is. Trust can't be formed in a single day."

Max couldn't refute and looked somewhat disheartened.

Yeh, what a kind soul. This guy will definitely suffer one day if he keeps acting like this.

"Anyways, I can't join you on the trip to Rime City since I joined a dojo yesterday."

"Dojo? What dojo? Yesterday? When?" Max asked with surprise.

"It's just a martial arts dojo. And I joined it yesterday afternoon since the fees were quite cheap."

"That was the reason I missed my lunch."

"I realized that just swinging your sword with Skills is not enough. Having proficiency in sword art is quite necessary." 

Max frowned, "But the innkeeper didn't say anything about you going outside."

"Hey, the inn is always busy, how can the innkeeper always keep her eyes on the doorway?"

Max nodded, "That's true."

Well, this idiot won't ask the innkeeper anyways.

Max spoke with interest, "You have picked the right dojo. That dojo is quite good. Even though they don't have many students, the teacher is a former Veteran Rank adventurer. I have heard that he is quite skilled." Max praised.

That's new information, I knew there is a dojo in this city but I didn't know the teacher is a former Veteran Rank adventurer.

I was just making some excuses since I used most of my money yesterday night but now it seems the dojo is definitely worth a visit.

"How long will the classes last?" Max asked.

"About two weeks."

"Hmm... That's a problem. I already promised Brooke that I will be there within this week."

"You can just leave before me. I will join you later."

"Also, the trip from here to Rime City will take about two months—"

"Wait! You promised to meet him by this weekend? How?" Axel Blaze is shocked.

"Of course I will travel by the Warp Gate. Only an idiot will ride a carriage for two months, heh."

This Orc... So am I an idiot now?

"Hey Orc— I mean Max, what is this Warp Gate you are talking about?"

"Ah, I forgot you don't know much about big cities."

"You know, every big city has a Warp Gate installed in it which connects one city to another. It only takes a few seconds to reach another city and after going through several more Warp Gates you can easily travel to a city millions of kilometers away."

"Holy waste materials discharged from the bowels— Such a thing is possible!?" Axel Blaze blabbered with round eyes.

"Huh? Holy what?"

Axel Blaze spoke so fast that Max couldn't understand what he said.

"Ahem!... Is it some sort of teleportation skill?" Axel Blaze asked.

"Maybe?" Max just shrugged.

No. Warp is different from teleportation, Master.

The wise Ruby interrupted.

Teleportation allows you to break into atomic level and reassemble somewhere else without the help of any medium or device. You only need to have an image of the destination in your mind.

Warp is the connection of one space to another making the distance between two points small. The more you compress the space between two points, the shorter the distance gets. This can only be carried out by using some sort of device to hold the compressed space since if it is released, the space will retract to its original length.

The Warp Gate he is talking about is probably a device used to hold compressed space.

"Since it's such an amazing medium of transport, it must be quite expensive, isn't it?"

"10,000 amilots per use." 

Max answered nonchalantly, as if he isn't concerned about this meager amount of money.

Ruby, what's my balance right now?

It's 11,870 amilots, Master.

"How many Warp Gates do I have to travel through to reach Rime City?"

Max counted in his mind for a while, "Six".

Axel Blaze made a wry smile, So cheap.

I definitely can't tag along with Max and with the two weeks I set, I have to earn some money.

Max stood up and stretched his body, "Let's go brother, the monsters are waiting."

Without a word, Axel Blaze drank water and followed Max to the Adventure Guild.

Max tore a Level 15 quest paper from the bulletin board and walked to the counter. As soon as he put down the paper, another two papers were added above it.

Max turned to see Axel Blaze standing behind him, smiling.

"I couldn't join you yesterday so I am quite itching for a fight. Let's hunt a lot today."

"Sure, I'm all in for more battles, haha."

Phew! Glad this guy is quite venturous. After all, he accepted those Level 20 quests without any questions.

The level 15 quest gives a reward of 20,000 amilots and these two Level 20 quests are 35,000 each.

After selling the materials we get from the hunt, and dividing everything equally, I should get somewhere from 30,000 to 33,000. It will cover half of my travel expenses via Warp Gate.

The rest... I would have to work alone for that I guess.

During the hunt most of the work was done by Max— Like always.

Axel Blaze just used a sword to fight to hide his skills as a Card Collector.

Thanks to his improved stats, he didn't become a hindrance to Max and surprisingly could support him better than before. This also made Max forget about Axel Blaze not using any skills.

The hunt went smoothly and Axel Blaze came across some new stuff while hunting which he couldn't talk about right then.

After returning, they reported the completion of the quests, collected their rewards, sold the materials and divided the money.

34,520 amilots. That was Axel Blaze's earnings today. A bit more than he had speculated.

Next morning, Max bid farewell to Axel Blaze.

Axel Blaze sauntered through the market and stood in front of a rundown building. This building looks similar to his shack back in Meri Town. Though this one is 10 times bigger and has a wooden board hanging with 'Bone Breaking Dojo' written on it.

It's as if a dog has got the scent of its owner. An afro cut, brown skinned, short man, with refined muscles, wearing shorts and an undershirt, shot out of the dojo and grabbed Axel Blaze's arm.

"Aaa!!" Axel Blaze jumped with fear.

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"What the fuck! An Afro Monkey? How the heck did it get inside the town?"

Boom!

A hard punch landed on Axel Blaze's stomach making him shrink like a prawn.

"How disrespectful. Calling a masculine, juvenile man an Afro Monkey. Do you have buttons for your eyes?" The afro man shouted.

"Man?" Muttering with doubt, Axel Blaze inspected the wonderful creature in front of him. Not with his eyes but with the system command, 'Inspect'.

Pat!

This time he got hit on his head.

"To inspect someone without their permission, were you born in the wild?" The afro shouted again.

"Siiii..." Axel Blaze rubbed his own head while cursing in his mind.

The floating information panel is still in front of him with Leo's whole Character Information in it.

Ruby, you can do this too?

Of course I can, I am a million times more advanced than their dead system assistant.

Ruby answered in a prideful voice.

Don't worry, Master, they won't find out.

Just like the information here, Ruby had shown Axel Blaze extra information on monsters back in the forest while hunting with Max. There was information about their weak points which were not available in the former system. Thanks to this extra information, Axel Blaze was able to fight the monsters efficiently, covering the lack of his skills usage.

"How long are you going to stare at me? Did you find out my name?"

"Yes, Mister Leo." Axel Blaze responded meekly.

I was laughing at the name of the dojo but with the character of this man, there is no doubt that bones are broken here.

Axel Blaze shivered thinking this.

He looked left and right, searching for a way to escape. But before he could take any action, he was now looking at the rotten wooden walls inside the dojo.

Not a single sole is here other than Axel Blaze and this level 13 Afro Mon—

I mean Level 30, Leo.

"Mister Leo..."

Leo, struck a bamboo stick on Axel Blaze's head, "Master! Master Leo!"

"Where are your manners?"

"Ouch!..."

"But—"

"No buts, start push-ups. 500. Go!"

Master Leo is like an Asian father, punishing his child for getting 98/100 in a math exam. He won't listen to any reasons or excuses. If you say a single word, the stick is waiting to reply.

1, 2, 3, 4... Axel Blaze's bone breaking training started.

It was after a week that father Leo showed some mercy and asked the child what he wants to become in his life.

To that, the child replied with Swordsman.

Not a doctor? Not an engineer?— Then have the stick.

The same stick was used to tortu— to teach swordsmanship to Axel Blaze.

As Axel Blaze had told Max. The classes only lasted for 2 weeks.

But the Axel Blaze who walked out of the dojo is not a handsome, good-looking, soft, fair skinned man anymore. He is a beggar with tattered clothes, ripped muscles and a battered body.

His eyes are filled with tears.

Tears of joy.

He couldn't leave the dojo even for a single second during these 2 weeks. All necessities were taken care of by Master Leo inside the dojo.

All Axel Blaze did was train and train.

From start to end, no contract was signed. Master Leo denied any payment when Axel Blaze asked in the end and just kicked him out.

A monkey is really crazy.

Axel Blaze wiped his tears and respectfully bowed to the dojo then we walked away.

He has acquired a life worth of lessons in just two weeks. He is quite satisfied.

But his ass hurts from the kick.

…

Due to being confined in the dojo for two weeks he didn't get any chance to earn money.

His promise to meet Max after two weeks seems impossible.

"It can't be helped."

With a sigh, Axel Blaze traded towards the city gate.

Out of the city he went to the forest for a solo hunt, no questions taken.

Working as a porter, he will have to wait to get hired and even if gets hired by a party, the earnings are not worth the time.

Better than doing that, Axel Blaze prefers to sell materials from hunting and gathering.

And now he got quite a marvelous helper by his side, Ruby.

Just as he entered the forest he asked Ruby to scan his surroundings and let him know if there were any rare materials.

With the old system, he had to inspect each item one by one. But with Ruby, she can just scan 500 meters of his surroundings like a radar.

The gains this time were herbs and minerals worth 7,000 amilots. With the materials he hunted from Level 13 Afro Monkeys, his total earnings stand to 9,800 amilots in one day.

The Inn charges 3,000 amilots per night. Subtracting that he can reach his target within 5 days.

"I forgot to ask you before, but where is the deck?"

Dismantling an Afro Monkey and collecting material cards, Axel Blaze asked Ruby.

A rectangular red board appeared in front of Axel Blaze with two card slots.

"So I just have to put the cards in these slots? What is the difference between using them individually and using them in the deck?"

No difference for now. To take advantage of the deck, you need to unlock more slots.

"More slots? How can I get more slots? What are the benefits of a deck?"

Slot increase is only possible via Special Card. How you can get such a card is a mystery to me. Special card is given according to what the system deems necessary for you. It is similar to how other people's systems decide if they will get a new skill or a boost of levels in an already available skill.

For the benefits of a deck...

Nope, sorry Master, I can't find anything other than that you have to unlock more decks.

"Guess, we will find out when the time is right. I just hope the deck is not just a decoration."

Axel Blaze continued hunting and gathering.

Though he can't use the Flare skill as often he could like before due to the fixed 1 minute cooldown, now he is not restricted by the cards available in the deck. Gone is the hassle of switching cards in the deck just so he can use them.

Now he just has to take out a card from the Card Binder and utter the word 'Activate'. If he feels lazy, he doesn't even require to talk, Ruby will take care of the activation.

For action skills like Flare, Strike, Slip, a phenomenon is created taking the shape of those skills. For applied skills like Sharpen, Lubrication, Heat, you have to use the skills on an object.

Ruby must be feeling like a corporate slave with all the tasks she is being given.

Always working as a radar is nothing but boring. While doing so, she still has to answer Axel Blaze's questions and help him with finding out the weakness of monsters. After finding a rare herb or mineral she has to explain their uses so Axel Blaze can estimate their value.

Too much for having emotions.

Ruby sighed.

Axel Blaze rolled his eyes, neglecting her.

After a week of hunting, Axel Blaze's account balance look something like this—

A88,100

He has successfully collected the amount required to travel to Rime City along with some extra for side expenses.

Solo hunting is quite beneficial. When he hunted more than 50 monsters with Max after arriving here his level only rose by two. But now after hunting only 15 Afro Monkeys, his level rose by 1 and he is now closer to reaching level 25. One of the requirements to attain the Veteran Rank. But unfortunately, he is not an adventurer.

Nonetheless, he is quite grateful to Ruby. If not for her showing him the weak spots of monsters, with only Common Rank skills, it would have been hard to kill even half the number of Afro Monkeys given how nimble they are.

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