Chapter 62: Chapter 62
Darius noticed that time began to return to its usual speed. He cut his train of thought and decided to investigate later, for he had gleaned a single clue from everything he had heard and experienced so far.
He shifted his attention back to the fight, just in time to see Gunner leap into the sky and crush the Ogre into the earth with his knees. Like a beast, his Branded Servant began punching the back of the Ogre's head in with a shocking amount of force.
Darius paused as he opted to watch Gunner fight instead of outright interfering. A part of him didn't want to believe it, but it appeared as if Gunner might be able to kill a monster 7 levels higher than himself on his own.
Darius felt that it should be impossible, but he also felt it was logical. The reason he himself could not achieve such results at Gunner's level was because of the single fact Caesar had highlighted when Darius first awoke in this world.
No matter how talented, handsome, or witty Darius thought he was, at the end of the day, his talents were tied to mercantilism. His genius revolved around mercantile concepts and his charisma shone in negotiations. In every other situation, he was just another 70+-year-old man at best.
Especially combat. Caesar had bluntly put it that the transmigrator would struggle to become combat-capable before the Journeyman stage, which would have been true had he not lucked out with Transmutation and created various things to assist him.
Darius only cheaped out by learning skills easily through skillbooks. Alas without skill points, those skills would stagnate forever, not to mention that they were all at the basic stage because of his low CP threshold per day.
In contrast, Gunner was half-giant that was born with better stats than Darius, whose talent for combat far surpassed his master due to Giant's bloodline. According to the system, it was even royal blood!
[Single-headed Ogre - Level 7 Monster
HP: 98/125 MP: 14/14]
Gunner was seriously laying down the hurt on the monster with his never-ending punches. Even Darius began to grimace at his brutality, imagining himself trapped beneath the half-giant lad while he rampaged.
However, at the end of the day, the Ogre was still a level 8 monster. Despite its dizziness, it pressed its arms to the ground and pushed its torso up forcefully with all its strength.
This tossed Gunner off its back and made him roll and crouch like a beast, his expression locked into the rictus of a snarl. His green eyes glowed with brutality like a shark that had been triggered by the smell of blood.
The Vanguard didn't give the Ogre much time to gather its bearings as he charged at it once again, bringing his shoulder forward as the focus of his momentum.
The Single-headed Ogre roared in a mixture of anger as well as disgruntlement as it noticed the Branded Servant's charge, then swung its club to meet the lad's assault. Here, Gunner's weakness showed, which was his poor Agility.
He was unable to alter his trajectory as he had put too much force into the charge. As such, his torso was struck by the barrel of the club, sending the lad flying into a nearby tree. Not only did Gunner crash into it, he even broke through.
Darius' face became grim as he planned to quickly heal his Branded Servant in case the lad was crippled, but was shocked to hear him roar and smash what remained of the tree aside as he glared at the Ogre with the light of madness in his eyes.
A strange greenish energy coiled around Gunner the longer he roared and even Darius felt pressured by the power he was generating. Confused as to what was going on with that, he checked Gunner's status.
His eyes widened when he saw that the half-giant had somehow gained a new skill called 'Earth's Guardian'. Upon inspecting the skill, Darius understood what was going on.
From the description given, Earth's Guardian was a skill exclusive to the royal family of the Giants, who had been blessed by Gaia as her protectors on the surface. They had been blessed to have increased defense, offense, and magical resistance, yet poor speed.
It would explain why Gunner's starting stats had been so high in those categories, as it was purely a racial thing.
However, the idea that Branded Servants could auto-learn and retain racial skills even after been overwritten by the Supreme System gave Darius many ideas for the future.
As for Gunner, he charged at the Ogre once more, who roared back in defiance. It activated one of its skills, 'Grapple'. It rushed to meet the lad to take him into a grapple hold, which Gunner mimicked as both fighters clashed in the center of the clearing.
The two struggled to overpower the other as they shifted about and struggled while locked in the hold, but Gunner was slowly losing ground. After all, he only had 12 points of Strength while the Ogre had 13, which was just enough to give it the advantage.
However, the green energy surrounding Gunner became more intense and began entering his body slowly, making his skin start to glow in the same color.
The more energy entered the lad, the more of an advantage he gained over the Single-headed Ogre, that was now sweating and screaming at Gunner.
The Vanguard wasn't done, as he suddenly absorbed all the greenish energy at once and channeled it into his arms.
To the horror of the onlooking Darius, Gunner smiled menacingly and roared in dominance before he raised his left leg and braced it against the chest of the Ogre, using his newfound strength to rip the arms of the monster right from their sockets!
The half-giant wasn't done yet, as he used both arms like a club to beat and brutalize the now dis-armed Ogre to its knees.
Darius could only watch on in a mixture of dismay and morbid fascination as his Branded Servant beat the life out of the monster until its body was no longer recognizable before he stopped.
Bloody and panting like a beast, Gunner turned and glared at Darius.
Chapter 63: Chapter 63
Darius watched Gunner walk over to him while still panting as the lad fell to his knees before him and reported: "The threat to Master has been dealt with."
Darius nodded and cast a heal on Gunner as the lad had lost some HP after being clubbed by the Ogre earlier. Gunner sighed with pleasure as the whitish-blue light of healing washed over him and restored his health.
Darius noted this effect and checked the post-battle spoils before he decided what he would do next.
[You have gained 640 EXP.]
[Gunner has gained 640 EXP, 1 Intelligence Boost Potion, and 2 Fireball Scrolls.]
As Darius expected, they both split 1,280 experience points which was the same amount he would have gotten if he had single-handedly defeated a monster 4 levels above his own.
He also noticed that he got no drops, likely due to him not doing anything in the fight, while Gunner got some good items for his efforts.
Gunner was busily fiddling with his system menu while Darius checked how many levels his servant had climbed up.
[Name: Gunner
Race: Half-Human, Half-Giant (Royal Blood)
Class: Vanguard
Sub-class: Open
HP: 180/180
MP: 52/52
Level: 4
Exp: 40/400
Strength: 12
Agility: 6
Endurance: 15
Intellect: 13
Charisma: 16
Luck: 9
Physical Status: Healthy
Mental Status: Intrigued
Affection: Friendly lvl max
AP: 9
SP: 3
Skills: Engage - Lv.1, Earth's Guardian - Lv.1
Spells: None.]
Darius frowned once he realized that Gunner had only gained 3 AP and 1 SP per level up. This meant that the growth rate of his Branded Servants in terms of power would not equal or surpass his.
Darius sighed with lament. There went his master plan of contracting someone at a high stage with obscene starting stats, while watching them gain new stat points to further double or triple their power, allowing them able to even contest the Gods and Demons.
Clearly, he would have to do it himself.
Gunner turned to Darius. "Master, please allocate my stats for me."
Darius nodded and proceeded to do so. He understood that Gunner was entrusting his growth into his hands, and Darius would make sure the half-giant progressed in the way he not only wanted but also needed him to.
After all, that was the entire point of acquiring his Branded Servant in the first place!
Since Agility was Gunner's only real weakness, Darius decided to turn it into a strength. He placed all of 9 AP points into the stat, bringing it up to 15 points, surpassing even Darius himself.
This was something only the Supreme System's artificial growth mechanic could achieve, and Darius was beginning to love it. Gunner, for that matter, suddenly shivered as if someone had poured a pail of ice-cold water over him.
Once he stopped, he seemed to be more relaxed and peaceful. His shoulders seemed less slumped and his posture more vibrant.
Darius nodded with satisfaction and placed the Vanguard's three skill points into Earth Guardian. This was a skill with far more importance and value than his Engage skill, which already pretty much did everything that Darius needed it to do.
[Earth's Guardian - Level 4 Skill
Cost: 3 MP per second
Description: The natal skill of every royal blooded Giant. This skill is a blessing of Gaia to her protectors that grants them the ability to borrow some of the planet's power in combat. The user of this skill is granted +25% Strength, Endurance, Damage, and Defense for the duration of its activation.]
Once Darius saw how the skill grew, he knew he had made the right choice.
It was a skill that could not even be compared to his Sparks and co, which were all basic skills. This skill could grant a percentile boosts to Gunner's battle strength and survivability, making him more and more ridiculously resilient.
It had started out as a mere 10% boost, which was enough for him to turn the tables on the Ogre, but had now climbed to 25%. The more Gunner's base stats increased, the more valuable this skill's effects would be.
Satisfied, Darius turned to Gunner. "How do you feel?"
"Master, I feel lighter, like someone had been sitting on my back all this while, but finally got off. That someone was almost as heavy as that monster from before." Gunner replied honestly.
Darius chuckled. "That's good. With your increased Agility, you should now become the perfect frontline fighter, able to absorb and dish out all kinds of damage to enemies in my way."
Gunner agreed. "That is my life's goal, Master."
Darius then turned to the cave which the Ogre had been trying to breach and saw that it was absurdly quiet within. Chuckling, he commanded his servant: "Gunner, let's explore this little cave and see what was held within that made the Ogre want to break in at all costs."
Gunner assented and obeyed his master's command by walking fearlessly into the cave while he maintained his mental alertness.
It was a mixture of caution and carelessness, an oxymoronic situation brought about due to his confidence in his own resilience, yet his wariness towards unwelcome surprises that could hurt his master behind him.
Darius followed along while rubbing his chin idly. His mind was lost on his earlier speculations about the trick or secret Vena and Caesar had failed to inform him of, which had to be the basis of their nonchalance towards the Supreme System's various flaws.
'The Supreme System told me that it was merely a version 1.0, and warned me that there would be flaws. However, it also stated that there would be system updates to patch those flaws.'
'Could that be what the duo of Vena and Caesar are relying on? If so, that seems to be truly poor planning on their part, no to mention extreme laziness…'
Darius sighed as his thoughts reached that point. He was not fully satisfied with that explanation, but at the same time, he wondered if he should really expect anything else from a deity who summoned evil souls into fiction-like worlds and scenarios to quell her boredom.
After walking for a bit, Gunner suddenly halted and Darius came to stand beside the large lad as he wanted to see what had him pause.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
6 Power
stone 
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