29 Moonlit Confrontation

After a few seconds of the ranking interface appearing, Shesmu and his friends were teleported out of the Goblin's Den. However, the scenery they expected wasn't there. Rather than the lake next to the waterfall, they found themselves in a clearing in the middle of the forest.

Under the moonlight, the party sat and discussed.

"So, all of you guys heard those notifications? We're top 10 in the world! This is insane!" Leo exclaimed.

"We sure are," Ryan added. "Haha, I can already see the titles of the videos about us! We'll be so famous! Muwahahaha!"

Seeing them being so excited, Shesmu couldn't help but smile. Well, being top 10 in dungeon ranking isn't really that good, but I guess I can be happy about it.

There are so many rankings in Ashes of Gods, so many tournaments, so many dungeons, and so many events. The number of times that Shesmu ranked first, with his team or solo, was uncountable. After a while, it became so dull that getting first place in a local tournament felt like eating an appetizer, just part of the course.

However, this was the first event in this timeline Shesmu ever ranked in. For some reason, it felt good. Shesmu hasn't experienced something like this since the last time he won the world championship.

Damnit.

The world championship trail of thought led Shesmu to some painful memories. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Calm down Shesmu, there is still hope.

Shesmu took a deep breath before focusing on his teammates.

"This is just the first of many wins to come, so don't feel too excited yet, save that for the big stages. Anyway, we should check out what we got first."

Shesmu opened his notifications and was flooded again with messages. Skimming over all of them, Shesmu found that he got 10 gold overall, 100 magic stones, 2000 Human reputation points, and a title.

[New Title Acquired | Goblin Slayer I

Goblin Slayer I

Title acquired after killing 1000 goblins or being the first to conquer a goblin related dungeon.

10% Bonus damage against goblin type creatures.

Upgradable]

This title is pretty good. Goblin evolution goes pretty high in levels, so this title should be useful for a while. Guess I should consider grinding out goblins some more in the future.

"Guys, what did you get?" Shesmu asked.

"Ten gold, a hundred of those weird ether stones, two thousand reputations, and two titles. The last are pretty sick actually?" Ryan stated.

"Oh, two titles?"

"Yeah, you didn't get them, Shes?" Leo asked.

"Nah, I only got one. Goblin Slayer."

"Oh, we got that and a Reputable Citizen title. It was from the reputation points that we got if I understood the text well," explained Ryan.

Oh, so it's because of the noble title. I see.

"Ah, then I understand now. I got a noble title at the reception, so I guess that's the reason why I didn't get that."

"You have a noble title? How?!" asked Leo in shock.

"I think it has to do with my eyes. From what I read, it seems like nobles in this country are born with golden eyes. Don't really understand why O9 would do such a weird thing, but not going to complain," explained Shesmu.

"Wow, that's such a stupid system," complained Ryan.

You bet it is. Even at this point I'm still weirded out.

"Like, what game rewards you for basically doing nothing. It's so stupid," Ryan continued.

"Yeah, I'm with Ryan on this one, Shes. But hey, at least now we know it. In the live game, we're gonna abuse the heck out of that, haha!" laughed Leo.

"Sure, I don't see any problem with that. Just know that you get double the infamy if you choose to be a noble though," warned Shesmu.

"Ah, about that. Yeah, I'm not gonna be a red player. Unless Omega9 trolls too hard and doesn't even give us an Arena where we could pvp, I see no point in pking."

"Same as Leo. Don't really enjoy pking that much, unless someone annoys me real hard."

"Well, if you guys think that way, then it's all fine," Shesmu concluded.

"Now, let's grind a bit so that I reach level 10. That way I get to equip the Cambion Blade."

"Oh, before that," Ryan grinned as he looked at Shesmu. "I think you're forgetting something. A little pinky promise that we made before, remember? Something about a duel."

Leo shivered looking at Ryan's face. It felt a dark, cold aura was emanating from him. "Ryan, are you okay? You're too scary…"

Shesmu smiled in response to Ryan and unsheathed his sword. "Sure, come on in. I want to see if this fight would be any different from the last one."

Seeing both of his friends getting a tad bit hyped up, Leo backed out of the fight and gave them space.

"I'll be here watching you as you do your thing. Just remember to leave me out of it."

Ryan and Shesmu were both too focused to even hear him. The moment Leo backed out, they lunged at each other like tigers.

Shesmu thrust his sword in the direction of Ryan, forcing the latter to sidestep. Shesmu followed his thrust with a horizontal slash to the left, making Ryan duck to avoid his blade.

Noticing the opening, Ryan pounced at Shesmu. With Ryan so close, Shesmu couldn't utilize his sword properly.

Ploosh

Ryan's dagger stabbed deep into Shesmu's abdomen. Blood trickled down from his wound and onto the blade. However, the moment Ryan was about to take off his dagger, Shesmu grabbed his arm.

"Got you," Shesmu said with a smile.

His blade shone with a green light as he thrust it towards Ryan's face. The latter immediately disappeared. Shesmu's grin turned even wider.

Dash

Shesmu appeared in the sky. Ryan stood below him, about to slash a Shesmu that was no longer there. He grabbed Ryan by the collar, throwing him off balance, before thrusting his sword towards his face.

Ryan closed his eyes by reflex. However, the pain never came. He slowly opened his eyes only to be welcomed by the tip of Shesmu's sword. It still glowed with a green aura. Somehow, from this angle, the green energy looked like wisps of flames to Ryan—flames of hell.

"Woah!"

Leo's exclamation signaled the end of the fight.

"Tch, dammit. I did even worse than last time."

Shesmu stretched his hand for Ryan to take. The latter hesitated a bit before taking it.

"Thanks," he murmured.

"You know why you lost this time?"

Ryan didn't respond.

"It's because you lack experience. You have good reflexes, battle instincts, and insane athleticism overall. However, you jump at any opening like a monkey, without asking yourself first; "Is this a trap?""

"Let's have a rematch," Ryan said with a determined expression in his face.

"No," Shesmu flatly replied. "There is no meaning to our fights right now."

"What do you mean there is no meaning to our fights?" Ryan retorted. "The meaning is in the fight itself!"

"Ehh, guys, can you calm down? It's just a game." Seeing the situation degenerate, Leo tried to calm it down.

"Leo, please, I'm talking with Shes here."

"Ryan," Shesmu cut in. "If you want to fight, fine. However, before that, let's finish this tutorial first. Deal?"

Ryan stayed silent for a few seconds before finally succumbing in. "Okay, deal."

"Great!" Leo exclaimed. "Now that the drama is finally done, let's get back to grinding, okay?"