Lord Evolution: Starting With SS-rank Skills

4th Day

The fourth day of the hunting exercise began much earlier than the previous day, which had started late due to the soldiers' exhausted state.

Yesterday, after embarking on their journey to the new hunting area, Rowan discovered and selected the first hunting spot, deciding to have the soldiers rest there. This way, upon waking, they would only need to eat before commencing their first hunting exercise.

Last night, Rowan and Winston did not go on their night hunt. Instead, Winston took the opportunity to rest until his body returned to peak condition.

At this moment, Winston stood beside Rowan in a battle-ready pose while the other soldiers prepared themselves one after the other. The usual depressed and rageful aura surrounding him had diminished, replaced by a strong fighting spirit.

Standing on the other side of Rowan was Blaze, who seemed to have grown a few centimeters taller. His eyes were focused on the soldiers preparing.

Rowan standing in the middle of the two had a smile on his face anticipating the event today — His two best soldiers are going to evolve!

The three of them stood a short distance away from the others.

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"How are you doing, lad?" Bryce strolled toward Winston and gave him a light shoulder tap.

"Captain Bryce, good morning," Winston greeted respectfully.

"You look so energetic today. I wonder who would slay more monsters between us with the readiness you're displaying right now, haha." Bryce laughed, tapping Winston's shoulder several times as he spoke.

Winston smiled calmly, becoming genuinely competitive. "We never know who would slay more. How about we have a healthy competition? We keep count of how many monsters we slay and share it after the hunt is over."

"Are you challenging me, lad?" Bryce laughed once again.

"Are you scared you'd lose to me?" Winston smirked.

Bryce halted his laughter for a few seconds, observing Winston for a split second before laughing out loud once more and tapping Winston as usual.

Bryce was muscular with big hands; each tap on Winston's shoulder was quite heavy, but Winston took it in stride without showing any pain.

"It is a challenge then," Bryce accepted, causing Winston to grin.

Rowan observed the interaction between his two best soldiers. It made him proud to see them compete, as it would push them to slay monsters faster and serve as another motivation besides growing stronger.

Sometimes, smaller things like these contribute more than anything else.

"Lord Rowan will serve as a witness to our little competition," Bryce turned to Rowan and said.

"Sure, why don't you guys add some benefits to the competition? What is the fun in competing if there is nothing to gain in the end?" Rowan suggested.

Winston and Bryce accepted his suggestion immediately.

"If I slay more monsters than you, you will have to learn martial arts under me for a week without rest," Bryce declared.

Rowan was already aware that Bryce had his eyes on training Winston since the beginning of the hunting trip, so he wasn't surprised by his wager.

On the other hand, Winston placed his hand on his cheek, pondering what he would like to gain from Bryce.

'I prefer fighting with swords to fighting unarmed. Captain Bryce is a martial artist, and there's no weapon I can ask for after winning,' Winston thought inwardly.

Rowan and Bryce waited for him to make his decision.

"How about this? If you slay more, I will learn martial arts as you said, but if I slay more, you will let me date your daughter, Lily."

After a few seconds of contemplation, Winston made his decision.

Rowan roared with laughter upon hearing his request, while Captain Bryce's expression turned ugly in an instant.

'To think he would ask for his daughter instead of anything else—that's a true man of culture,' Rowan laughed inwardly.

Captain Bryce, however, remained silent and observed Winston for the next thirty seconds.

"Why my daughter Lily?" he asked.@@novelbin@@

"She is beautiful, and I've liked her since we were teenagers. But you are overprotective of her, and I didn't have the confidence to speak with her. That's why I am using this opportunity to inform you of my intention and to win your permission to date her," Winston replied with a confident smile.

Rowan's laughter increased after hearing Winston's reply—he was pretty surprised by his straightforwardness in revealing his true intentions.

Rowan turned to observe Bryce, expecting his expression to darken even more, but he was shocked to see Bryce smiling at Winston.

"You are an excellent soldier, and I don't mind you taking my daughter. But you would have to beat me and prove you are capable of protecting her."

"I am ready," Winston replied before Bryce could even complete his statement.

With both of them agreeing to the competition, Rowan suggested that he would be the one to keep count of their kills to prevent cheating, which they accepted immediately.

Afterward, Rowan instructed his system to target both of them and track their kills.

Once this was settled, Rowan called the soldiers together and gave them a brief prep talk to boost their motivation, as always.

The soldiers took their usual, simple formation—the archers circled around the close-range fighters and readied their arrows, while the close-ranged fighters clenched their fists and weapons, preparing for their turn.

Each of them had a look of resolve and readiness in their eyes.

Rowan observed all their expressions one last time before using his hunter call to draw out the monsters surrounding them.

The usual silence before the storm concluded as the monsters began pouring into the formation one after the other.

The monsters were mostly goblins and FF-rank demonic wolves (low-rank demonic wolves), along with a mixture of other monsters from various races.

The goblins wielded their makeshift wooden weapons as usual, clashing with the soldiers with their cunning expressions. The wolves and other monsters followed, each radiating rage and bloodlust from their eyes and bodies.

Rowan checked their ranks and, as expected, about ninety percent were FF-ranks. The others were F-ranks, and only three high-rank demonic wolves were the sole E-rank monsters among the horde.

Compared to yesterday's hordes, this one was almost triple in size.

PHEW PHEW

The archers began their assault immediately under Gregor's command.

Their arrows serpented through the air, and in the next few seconds, Rowan was flooded with notifications of monsters being slaughtered one after another.

Most of the first row of monsters moving toward the formation were downed without difficulty, while a few sustained deep injuries that slowed them down and pushed them to the back, allowing other monsters to overtake them.

The archers had already reloaded and released their shots once again, slaying a large percentage of those that overtook the injured and dead ones.

"This is very good! I can take down these goblins with one arrow; they are unlike the ones from yesterday!" Gregor exclaimed while firing at a wooden-club-wielding goblin running toward him.

The other archers also commented on how much easier their kills had become compared to yesterday's.

Most of those who didn't believe the monsters got stronger the deeper they went, and those who were a bit confused when they had to return to their starting point and move in a different direction yesterday, finally understood why.

The archers finished their rounds after taking down hundreds of monsters.

Rowan gave the call, and the switch began immediately.

They smoothly moved to the back while the close-ranged fighters charged forward, beginning their assaults.

Winston drew his sword from its sheath while charging and gave a quick look at Bryce with a grin. "Get ready to hand over Lily to me!"

Bryce smirked and replied, "Let me see you try!"

Both of them, along with the other close-ranged fighters, charged forward with more ferocity than the rest.

Bryce grabbed his first target, a goblin.

The goblin swung his makeshift wooden bat at him.

Bryce countered with his knee, breaking the bat in two and causing the goblin to let out a panicky squeak as it attempted to move back. Bryce then sent a swipe kick at it, blasting the goblin's head with so much force that it flew through the air, the headless body falling to the ground.

Without stopping, Bryce grabbed a new goblin and slammed it head-first into the ground. He moved on to a nearby goblin and did the same.

On the other hand, Winston slashed his way through a small group of goblins blocking his path.

Rowan paid more attention to his two best soldiers with a proud smile on his face.