CHAPTER 152: REVELATION

The moment AJ conceded defeat, Ryan stepped forward, the sound of his slow, deliberate clap echoing through the sudden silence. His gaze swept across the crowd, calm and self-assured.

"You see?" he said, his voice carrying with ease. "A Hunter’s strength lies in composure. Stay calm, switch your Aspects as the situation demands, and land your Concussive Shots. Melee classes like Warriors? They’re nothing but child’s play."

A faint smile tugged at his lips as he continued. "Against Mages and Warlocks, it’s the same game, though a bit more delicate. You have the advantage, but only if you hold maximum range. The instant you see an incantation begin, you should already be slipping back, out of their reach."

The quiet confidence in his tone stirred a ripple of disbelief among the onlookers. None of them had ever considered Hunters to be more than a minor nuisance. Yet here was one dismantling a Protection Warrior—a class many believed to be a Hunter’s natural predator—as if it were nothing. The revelation left them shaken.

"My turn, AJ!" Evelyn’s voice rang out, sharp with excitement. Her eyes were alight, the competitive spark undeniable. To her, Hunters had always been little more than free honor points, not worth a second thought. Now, in the space of one duel, they had become the most thrilling challenge she had ever seen.

"How in the blazes did he do that? Beat a Warrior, just like that?" Cblack, the Orc Hunter, had been watching the entire fight through his Eagle Eye, and the sight had left him stunned. Smoking Gun’s kiting had turned a heavily armored Protection Warrior into a hapless puppet, and the display struck Cblack like a thunderbolt.

"So this is how you play a Hunter?" His previously unfocused gaze sharpened with sudden clarity. Without hesitation, he pinged a handful of his closest guildmates, the ones he usually ran with, in the guild channel. The urge to test these tactics burned hot in his chest.

As the green glow of his Hearthstone began to shimmer, ready to whisk him away, he hesitated just long enough to glance back. His Eagle Eye swept over the distant crowd, noting several IDs and committing them to memory. Each name carried the emblem of Flowing Light—the guild founded by Featherlight, the undisputed champion of Kingdom Forge.

Flowing Light had always stood head and shoulders above the competition. While most players were still grinding low-level mobs in the Arid Plains, these elites had already pushed into the desolate Dreadful Mire, tackling quests that would break lesser adventurers. If not for his own recently unlocked, absurdly fast leveling talent, Cblack doubted he’d even know they were here.

Those fools on the forums, dismissing Flowing Light as nothing more than Featherlight’s fan club, had no idea what they were talking about. They couldn’t even begin to grasp the true strength of these players, nor the heights they would reach under Featherlight’s banner.

Lost in thought, Cblack finally let the spell take him. His form dissolved into the emerald light.

A moment later, another figure stepped into the place where he had vanished.

"Well, well. A Dark Horde Hunter," Nightwalker muttered, a smirk tugging at his lips. He hadn’t been here long, but he had already spotted the Hunter using Eagle Eye. Combined with the noise exploding in guild chat about the duel, the pieces fit neatly together.

"Boss, an Orc Hunter was just using Eagle Eye to watch our duel, then he Hearthstoned out," Nightwalker reported with a shrug. He didn’t take it seriously. Their guild was the only true presence in the Dreadful Mire; anyone else who wandered in never lingered.

"Someone saw?" Ryan asked, though his voice carried no concern. He already knew this kiting tactic would spread like wildfire, sparking a golden age for Hunters. Before long, the game would be crawling with new Hunters eager to copy his style. That was inevitable. What mattered to him was closer at hand—his guildmates. His focus was on breaking down their misconceptions, sharpening their dueling instincts, and forging them into a PvP force no one could take lightly.

The moment Evelyn called out AJ, the energy shifted. A chain reaction of challenges erupted as guildmates began calling out to each other, hungry to test their strength. They had just hit level thirty, their fresh skills itching for use, and nothing could hold them back. None of them, however, dared to challenge their leader. Ryan’s monstrous health pool and brutal damage were the stuff of legend. Facing him would be throwing oneself into a meat grinder, and everyone knew it.

So Ryan simply stood back, amused, and let them duel among themselves. Losers squared off against losers, winners against winners, the cycle feeding on itself until dueling had consumed most of the evening. Two more guild members, Heavyblade Vina and Faded Leaf Kitten, arrived late but were swept instantly into the frenzy. After turning in their quests and dinging thirty, they joined the excitement—and even threw a few barbed comments at Evelyn for ditching them earlier.

Evelyn, however, was untouchable in her triumph. Fresh from her victory over AJ, she strutted into the center of the gathering, her chin high, basking in the attention. Then she turned toward Ryan, her expression sharp, her gesture clear: she was ready to take on the ultimate challenge.

"You’re serious? You want to challenge me?" Ryan chuckled, his tone amused. "Paladins are even worse than Warriors. Back when I couldn’t beat a Warrior, I’d go pick on Protection Paladins instead. You hit hard, sure, but you can’t catch me. What’s there to be afraid of?"

Evelyn’s confidence, bloated by her earlier win, was palpable. The others, their own duels settled, burst into cheers and jeers, egging her on.

"Alright then," Ryan said with mock gravity. "What fate does can be forgiven, but what you bring on yourself, you’ll have to live with. If you’re so eager to embarrass yourself, don’t say I didn’t warn you."

His gaze cut across her, sharp and amused, as the duel countdown began to tick down.

At zero, Ryan stood calmly, refusing to take the first swing. Evelyn danced around him, firing arrows as she probed for openings. Ryan spammed laughing emojis in the guild chat, taunting her openly as her attacks pinged harmlessly against his armor. Her weapon was weak, her damage pitiful. Double digits, over and over again. The sight must have been crushing.

"My turn," Ryan announced, once his health finally fell to half.

Evelyn’s expression shifted instantly. The cocky bravado drained from her face, replaced by sharp focus. She knew the danger. Avenger’s Shield, with its twenty-five-yard range, was the Paladin’s equivalent of a Warrior’s Charge. That was why she had kept her distance, why she hadn’t given him the chance.

Ryan didn’t rush. He retreated steadily, forcing her to edge forward if she wanted to chip away at him. And then it happened. A single misstep. Evelyn pushed in just far enough, thinking she could land the hit.

Instead of backing away, Ryan surged forward.

Her eyes widened as she scrambled backward, but it was too late. The five-yard gap vanished in an instant. A golden shield hurtled forward, slamming into her. Her speed, boosted seconds before by Aspect of the Cheetah, collapsed as the stunning impact left her reeling.