Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Chapter 38: Challenges and Rewards of Advancement

There was a famous video of a Scout player who had destroyed an overwhelmingly powerful enemy army by shattering their morale and then surrounding them with his own troops to finish them off.

Additionally, the player could easily clear dungeons that were impossible for others due to job incompatibilities, raking in a fortune. Essentially, the Scout is an all-rounder that excels in everything but direct combat.

'Of course, being weak in direct confrontations means they're vulnerable in the early to mid-game if their position is revealed, but with allies to protect them, it's a different story.'

Most importantly, if there were dungeons like World Breaker, having a Scout was practically essential. While others might be left standing in front of treasures with no means to claim them, a Scout would ensure that their group could obtain massive rewards.

Upon Justin's explanation, Nathan immediately chose Scout, and at that moment, a bow and thirty arrows—equipment exclusive to Scouts—appeared.

"It's here!"

Nathan smiled brightly and tried drawing the bow. But soon, he looked troubled just before nocking an arrow.

"Now that I think of it, I've never shot a bow before. How do I use this?"

"Check your skill window. You should have a sniping skill that helps with aiming."

"Sniping? Oh, there it is!"

Like Justin's Energy Drain, it was one of the few skills with unlimited uses. Without this sniping skill, ranged weapons would have been useless even in the game.

After checking his skill window, Nathan immediately nocked an arrow and let it fly. He aimed at the center of a tree about twenty paces away.

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"...!"

Though it didn't hit the exact center, the arrow embedded itself in the tree. At least for stationary targets, it seemed he wouldn't miss.

Seeing the arrow lodged in the tree, Justin patted Nathan , who was staring at it wide-eyed.

"Congratulations. You'll need a bit more practice, but now you're a full-fledged combatant."

"T-Thank you!"

"No need to thank me. You did well."

Despite Justin's words, Nathan kept bowing his head. The rest of the team also gathered around to congratulate him. Now that all four of them could participate in combat, they'd be able to fight more steadily.

"Alright, let's call it a day and head back."

"Huh? Already?"

"Nathan just advanced, didn't he? It feels wrong to keep making a proper combatant cut open hearts."

Even though they helped him, if Nathan had the skills, he deserved to be treated accordingly. Besides, they wouldn't need to keep cutting open hearts once they completed the quest.

"Yeah, you're right."

Satisfied with Justin's reasoning, the team returned to the village.

As soon as they arrived in the safe zone, Justin used all the mana stones at the store. Since the mana stones he used yesterday were included in the count, the quest was completed immediately.

"Main Quest 'Income and Spending' has been completed."

"As a quest reward, the skill [Automatic Mana Stone Collection] is added."

A contented smile formed on Justin's lips at the system message. Now none of the team would have to go through the trouble of cutting open hearts anymore.

Just as Justin was carrying a load of food back that his teammates had ordered.

"...."

"...."

From afar, a few people eating boiled potatoes and drinking water met his eyes. They quickly looked away, but they couldn't completely hide the jealousy that had flashed for a moment.

For now, they were only staring, but how long would it stay that way?

While they ate boiled potatoes every day, Justin and his team were choosing what to eat that day.

The seeds of conflict were slowly growing within the safe zone.

Contrary to Justin's initial expectations, even after Nathan 's advancement, they continued hunting hobgoblins for a while.

The sniping skill wasn't as all-powerful as they had imagined.

"It does help with aiming, but it's harder than I thought to hit moving targets. My hands also tremble when I panic."

While it helped line up the shot, maintaining that line was entirely up to Nathan . In other words, if he got flustered and his aim wavered, or if the target moved erratically, he would often miss.

"It won't do. Let's keep hunting hobgoblins until you get better."

"But I can definitely hit the first shot accurately, isn't that enough?"

"One shot isn't nearly enough. You need to be able to keep hitting them, especially ones running on two legs."

The ideal scenario was for him to focus solely on monsters during battle, but expecting that from someone who'd never held a bow before was too much.

Fortunately, Nathan 's archery skills improved rapidly. His own enthusiasm and determination not to neglect practice paid off.

After three days, he could hit stationary targets dead center, and five days later, he could hit moving monsters with ease. By the seventh day, he could even target the heads of moving monsters.

Eventually, he spoke with confidence.

"I might struggle against four-legged creatures, but I think I can hit anything running on two legs now."

Naturally, this practice was also hunting, so he gained experience points as well. While staging certain situations for archery practice slowed them down a bit, it ultimately didn't matter with enough time and numbers.

By the end of their practice, Derek had already reached level 10, and Nathan had reached level 8.

Derek seemed even more confident after reaching level 10 and learning the new skill [Fury].

"Ha ha! Bring any enemy my way! I'll crush every single one of their skulls!"

It was a skill that temporarily boosted physical abilities significantly, and Derek seemed intoxicated with its power.

Well, confidence isn't a bad thing for a frontline fighter who battles monsters in close quarters. Even if he gets a bit cocky, it's far better than hesitating and falling back in fear.

While their team underwent dramatic changes over the week, the surrounding environment also began to change.

The atmosphere in the village grew tense, arguments became more frequent, and they began to feel eyes on them more often.

However, more significant than all those changes was one major shift.

'No way, they actually split into factions.'

The Pioneers had ended up dividing into two separate groups.