As he was about to head out on a dungeon run, it wasn't ideal for Agatha to follow him.
Thus, he had to arrange for a fitting task, and what better task than guarding his newly purchased building, which because of the delayed announcement, remained in an inactive state.
If players passed by, they would perceive it as a vacant lot.
Of course, the delay was finite and couldn't last forever. At most, Kieran could only delay the announcement for two weeks before it automatically occurred.
"Agatha, do you mind staying behind?" Kieran questioned.
"As in…, you want me to stay here and watch over everyone? That'll be… boring. It's bad enough that I have to watch over you," Agatha voiced with an aggrieved frown.
"I don't need you to watch over me. I'm simply tagging along on your journey. In a sense, I'm like your glorified errand boy, so I should be the one complaining," Kieran retorted, earning Agatha's apt harrumph.
She couldn't refute his words because he wasn't wrong.
Her duty as the Mystic Heiress was scheduled to happen soon regardless of Kieran's presence, so there wasn't any added hassle. She simply fussed with Kieran because she felt like it.
However, as she said, waiting around in this unfulfilling building would lead to unfathomable boredom. She would rather be occupied than sit around doing nothing.
Agatha was what one called a busybody, being inactive led to her becoming anxious or irritated.
"I have a proposal. You require items, right? Since I'll be bored for however long you take, why don't I make some enchantments that you can sell? In return, you must be more obedient to this elder sister."
Agatha's offer to create enchantments was a truly enticing one.
With her expertise, Kieran estimated she could impart arrays on parchment and create one-time usage items. However, given Agatha's attainments in the mystic arts, Kieran reckoned anything she made could be sold for an exorbitant price.
Still, Kieran couldn't help but question her angle. "You don't want a cut of the profits?"
"Nope. Not interested in the slightest. A meager amount of profit won't help the Wykins, but you being nicer to your elder sister will. Because if you're nice to me, perhaps I'll be inclined to teach you excellent things!" Agatha said, winking softly.
On the other hand, everyone else in the room was at a loss for words. Elder sister?! Since when did Aatrox have an elder sister?
"Ahem… you're causing misconceptions. But fine, I agree to your terms. I'll… become more agreeable and nicer as you say in exchange for your assistance," Kieran said, somewhat relenting to Agatha's demands.
However, could he truly change his character like flipping a switch? Highly unlikely. Besides, he could always raise his grievances with Hekaina even if it was a petty maneuver on his part.
Because the Godhand Bazaar couldn't currently accommodate Sorcia and Aspaira, Kieran had them return to the Alchemist's Circle to proceed with their current actions while Kieran approached Hamon.
After considering it, Kieran decided to take out the Amaranth Continuity Flame and place it as the forge's main fire source. The moment it was placed there, Hamon was flabbergasted and sprang from his seat.
"What type of flame is this?!" Hamon questioned
"Something you'll always have access to should you choose to work with me in the end. At the end of the day, I meant what I said—by joining forces with me, you'll be setting yourself up to thrive. I have no intentions of backstabbing you or stifling your growth. My desire is that we all flourish and I hope we can come to an agreeable conclusion," Kieran voiced.
Hamon momentarily fell silent, giving the matter deep consideration. "Allow me to continue judging your character before I make such a dire decision."
Kieran nodded faintly, understanding Hamon's caution. "That answer is suitable."
Before leaving the Godhand Bazaar, Kieran considered linking the store's supply to the Warehouse he purchased earlier on, but in the end, he decided against doing so.
That supply should be kept secret until everything was in order.
'I'll make use of those other rewards once the preparations have reached their final stages. At that time, Hamon and Sorcia's decision should be clear,' Kieran thought.
Afterward, he vacated the premises since it had been quite some time since he directed the others to meet at Aeredale's gates.
…
Roughly thirty minutes later…
Due to the growing crowd within Aeredale City, Kieran had to force his way through everyone, which was fairly easy considering that his STR neared 2,000.
Normals players were akin to ragdolls against his current STR. If they tried to resist him moving them aside with his arm, Kieran simply tossed them into the air without thinking twice about it.
This ordeal resulted in many people referring to Kieran as The Catapult, which was an apt name considering the flight path of everyone he tossed was a subtle parabola.
Soon enough, Kieran made his way through everyone, arriving at the city gates where he found, Sera, Bastion, Nemean, and Alice.
Though Cyr continued to hone his skills, he had yet to reach a condition where Altair felt he was ready for truly difficult content, which Altair relayed to Kieran in one of his recap messages.
'At least Cyr is a quick study according to Altair's comments. It's only a matter of time until his skills are up to par and he joins us on our journeys,' Kieran thought.
"I've amassed everything that you asked of me, Aatrox," Sera said, displaying a majority of what she obtained.
"Excellent work," Kieran praised.
He didn't doubt the difficulty of procuring such items given the unfortunate state of the market. Though most of the potions came from Aspaira, the rest was procured by paying a somewhat outlandish price.
"How… was your journey, Aatrox? Did you learn anything new?" Alice asked, stepping before Kieran with her hands behind her back.
"A lot, actually. Yet, I don't think it's time to divulge that information. We should quickly meet up with Advent to tackle this dungeon. I'm sure I can expect great things from my reliable mates, isn't that right?"
"Oh you bet your sweet bippy, you can! Just wait until you get a load of my new tanking skills. Heh, not even Nemean could contain me," Bastion said smugly, lightly swiping his thumb against his nose.
Kieran looked at Bastion with arched brows while cracking his knuckles. "Does that look mean you think you're a match for me now? Does your leader need to humble you?"
"Whoa! What the hell is this? I can't brag about one-upping Nemean before you're ready to defend him?! What is this favoritism?!" Bastion complained, looking at Kieran as if he were wronged.
"What can I say," Kieran shrugged. "Nemean is marked to be one of my Vice Guild Masters. I can't have you belittling the guy because your class is leagues above his current one."
Meanwhile, Nemean winked and shot Bastion a similar smug look. "That's right. I've got the boss on my side! You're sorry out of luck, so suck it, my boy! Hahaha!"
Unfortunately, Nemean didn't account for Kieran's next words.
"On the contrary, it's my place to belittle the Vice Guild Masters. Isn't that right, Nemean? At the end of the day, it's only right that I keep everyone humble as your abilities continue to increase."
The last thing Kieran wanted was for his members to become complacent when they had yet to taste the true treachery of this world. Only Kieran knew how unbelievably strong the upper echelon of the Leviathans were.
One prerequisite to being accepted into the ranks of Leviathans was the potential to transcend the ability of a Titled Ranker. Even their weakest members were on par with Rankers in terms of battle experience and skill.
Nevertheless, after momentarily catching up with his members, Kieran led everyone forward. Because of their earlier journey and the rewards they reaped, traveling on foot was no longer a large hassle.
For example, Kieran was now much faster than the Obsidian Criollos they rode upon.
And with his monstrous Stamina, he could continue running for hours on end without exhausting himself. As he stressed the importance of Stamina, most of his member has amassed a decent amount of it.
Based on their current pace, reaching the Desert of Crumbling Sands would take a couple of hours at most. But while they continued toward their destination, Kieran stopped and narrowed his eyes with a mystic glow illuminating the space before him.
His True Unveiling Eyes was the bane of classes that operated using stealth-based abilities.
As the others continued to move into the distance, Kieran's hands were enveloped in a viscous layer of blood that gradually crystallized. A second later, a blade made solely of his blood appeared in his grasp.
His eyes darted about as he pinpointed the supposed hostile.
Whoosh!
Kieran's arm flexed as he released the blood sword that tore through the air at breakneck speeds.
Boom!
"Seethe Burst!"
A thunderous explosion rang out as the blood sword impacted the ground and blew a large hole through the ground. As the small crater formed from this attack was located far in the distance, Kieran didn't bother checking on the remnants within.
The system's message was enough to confirm his actions.
〈System: Due to your actions of killing an unknown party, your Infamy has risen to the «First Degree».〉
Whether or not it was a friendly presence, Kieran didn't care. If he had to place a bet on the outcome, Kieran was willing to bet a pretty penny that someone employing stealth skills had malicious intentions.
Upon dealing with this unknown individual tracking them, Kieran caught up with the attention.
The period between unleashing the Seethe Burst and catching up with the others was so brief, they barely realized that he lagged behind.
"Did something happen?" Sera asked, being the first to notice as she naturally trailed behind the others.
"Just a minor insignificance that I dealt with," Kieran nonchalantly answered.
Sera nodded with a slight chuckle before falling silent. 'Aatrox has grown again, becoming more confident. I wonder what will happen on this dungeon run. I look forward to everyone proving their place.'
