I Reject Quests

The two squads were so shocked by the reply that they looked at each other's face to confirm if they had heard right.

Kennard was the first to recover. But soon after recovering, he got another shock. 'He is faster than he previously was. Was it a miscalculation from my part?'

"Gavin, Brooke! Chase after him. We'll be following behind."

The group nodded.

Gavin was the first one to start chasing the target.

Brooke closely followed behind him.

"Jennifer, Violet. Support them from the back. If anything unexpected happens, don't hesitate to use core skills. Also, Violet. I trust that you would understand the situation and use [Core Sacrifice] if necessary."

Violet went silent. 

To make up for the [Core Sacrifice], years were spent but even after that, it would never match up to the original core. At most, it would be an imperfect core. That's why people don't want to use [Core Sacrifice] even in a life-threatening battle.

A second later, Violet gave a small nod. "Let's go, Jenny."

Like that, Jennifer and Violet also joined in the chase.

Kennard carefully placed Lane, who was in his back, leaning on the hallway and then turned to Marla who had a blank face. "Look after her."

It was unknown if she had heard because she gave no response to it.

Kennard didn't say anything and left. He didn't go after Rewen.

As if lost all her strength, Marla fell on her knees. Her face mixed in confusion, disbelief, hatred and various other emotions.

***

Making full use of [Boost], Rewen directly leaped from one staircase to another, then looked back. 

He saw an old man with a goatee wearing baggy pants chasing after him.

Behind him was a middle-aged man in a suit.

Not wasting any time anymore, he continued running with [Boost].

'I have at least separated the two from the group. Still not enough to take them head on. I guess it's about time…' His gaze flickered as numerous thoughts entered his head.

Sixth Floor…

Seventh Floor…

…

..

Twentieth Floor…

Rooftop.

At the edge of the rooftop, Rewen finally came to a stop and looked at the two men - Gavin and Brooke standing at a distance of a few metres.

"Prepare yourself." Gavin spoke in a grave tone. He was a long time member of the Runic Arms Squad and seeing his squadmate dying in such a horrible manner didn't sit right with him.

Brooke stood behind him. He didn't say anything but his eyes showed that he was preparing to do something.

Violent wind brushed past Rewen's body making him feel cold. He moved his eyes from Gavid to Brooke and carefully gauged the situation. He didn't immediately make a move.

He took off his coat and threw it from the rooftop, then pulled off his sleeves.

*Crack*

Cracking knuckles, he bent his knees.

*Swish*

His body was like a wind.

Gavin, who had already prepared for this, still couldn't believe the speed he was displaying. He took out a long wooden stick that hung around his waist and waited for the defense. 'How is he going to come? Right?'

Deducing from the target's body movement, he adjusted his stick to attack in the opening when he strikes. 

As he expected, Rewen's palm met with the stick. 

Snorting, he instantly reversed the stick to strike his opponent's abdomen but before he could do that, Rewen striked his neck with his left elbow.

It was a clean and hard strike but the old man didn't show any hint of pain. 'Endure it… endure it.' He rotated his stick and this time, targeted the head.

Rewen narrowly dodged it. 'This should be easy.' Seeing an opening, he was about to punch him when he felt something approaching him. 

Not wasting any second, he jumped from the spot and moved a few steps back.

*Swish*

A bluish uneven round "object" went past the spot he was previously standing at an extreme speed. It moved a few metres before getting mixed with air.

'What's that!?' Rewen's eyes went roundas he failed to comprehend the situation. But he couldn't bear to remain shocked when he saw the old man rushing towards him with the stick.

Brooke stood behind. His hands straight towards him, clasped one after another.

'From the looks of it, Brooke was the one who used that weird trick. Is that a core skill?' Rewen calmly contemplated the matter while keeping a close eye on the old man. 'No matter what that was, I couldn't make a move rashly. I'm not sure if I can hold against the both of them for too long.' His eyes turned serious.

[Boost] - Movement!

Gavin was no longer surprised by the speed. In fact, he anticipated this to happen and beforehand took preparations. 'You are still too green.' Light flickered in his stick as he effortlessly swung it towards his head. 

Rewen didn't pay too much attention to it and tried catching it with his hands.

Just as his hand grabbed the stick, burns appeared on his hand. 'It's too fucking hot!' Instantly he had figured that this was likely a skill and tried to move away. But, all of a sudden, Gavin coldly smiled. "Since you like this stick so much, take it."

At first, Rewen didn't understand what the old man was trying to do but as soon as the old man let go of the stick, he understood. 'The weight of the stick is insane. But why would he let go his weapon? Could it be…'

*Boom*

He flew off without a warning.

His body took a few somersaults before taking a stop just before the end of the rooftop.

Brooke relaxed his arms and turned to Gavin. "You should go and finish him off. That kid is sly. Who knows what kind of tricks he would pull." 

Gavin nodded. "Prepare your core. He could be preparing to do something as soon as I am near him. We cannot afford to be careless."

"Cough! Cough!" Blood spurted from his mouth. 'This… is… what the hell was that? Dammit. As I thought, I can't defeat two Rank 1 Mages at the same time. Not only do they have way more experience than me, they also have a variety of skills at their disposal.' His face was pale and his expression was grave.

However, despite all this, not a hint of panic could be soon. 

He saw the old man coming near him after picking up his stick.

Both of them stared at each other for a while. 

"Oh? There you are. Where is the target…" Jennifer and Violet arrived at the rooftop and saw a scenario which instantly put a smile on their faces. They went close to Rewen and had some emotions while looking at him.

"This is sad that we had to gang up to catch him. It is sad, kid. But that's the reality of the world." Jennifer sighed.

Violet had a calm and cautious look on her face. Unlike Jennifer, she doesn't let her guard down unless she saw her enemy dead with her own two eyes.

Gavin picked up his stick over Rewen's head.

At this moment, Rewen let out a melancholic sigh. This time, he had truly been cornered. There is no way out for him relying on his personal strength.

Gavin's eyes flashed, ruthlessly crushing down on his head.

But.

His stick was caught by a hand.

For a second, the world turned silent.

Brooke, who had prepared to use his reverse skill, blanked out.

Gavin himself couldn't believe what was happening. It had to be known that he trained for sixty years with the stick. The stick wasn't a normal weapon. It was a Grade 1 Magic Artifact that was his family's heirloom. When he wants the stick to be light, it becomes light. When he wants it to be heavy, it becomes heavy.

The heaviest the stick was recorded to be was three hundred pounds which was more than enough to crush the skull of a Rank 1 Mage. After training was sixty years, he could finally control the stick as he wanted to. Controlling doesn't mean he could handle the three hundred pounds of weight. He could simply control the power of it.

When he let go of his stick, that was when the stick was at its heaviest. 

Now, again. When he was stomping the stick to Rewen's head, he made the stick the heaviest it could ever be.

Rank 0 Mages/Grade G Martial Artists could lift an object of fifty pounds.

Rank 1 Mages/Grade F Martial Artists could lift an object of one-hundred-and-forty pounds.

No matter how strong the person is physically, as long as he/she is a Rank 1 Mage or a Grade F Martial Artist, he/she could never lift an object of three hundred pounds. 

Not just three hundred pounds. If gravity and force were taken into account, then it becomes more than three hundred pounds. 

Yet, it was stopped. 

By a single hand effortlessly.

Everyone's expression changed.