[Title: Hammer of Justice
If the majority of people inside a certain radius support the bearer of this title during a fight, the stats will be increased temporarily.]
[Exclusive Skill: Counter
If the wielder of this skill gets attacked without them noticing, the attacks will be deflected, and a counterattack will hit the source of hostility.]
Jay got a grasp on Scarlet's skills and stats before the status window disappeared. Now, he knew not to mess with her—especially when she let her guard down. Recalling what happened to her attackers just a few moments ago, Jay got goosebumps thinking about what would happen to him if he were to ambush her. But aside from her exclusive skill that did not allow any openings in her defense, her title piqued his interest.
It was the first time he had the chance to see a person possessing a title, as they were a lot more difficult to get than skills. Furthermore, there was no guide or textbook explaining how to get a title.
"Don't you ever try sneaking up on that policewoman, you hear me, Luna?" Jay pointed out.
"Not like I had any intentions to do that, but why are you telling me that?" Luna replied, confused.
However, Neil nervously stepped forward, interrupting their conversation.
"Ehm... There's something we have to tell you two... It's about our quest..." he murmured shyly.
"Sorry, but before we talk about that, there's something else I need to address." Jay responded bluntly. His stern gaze was directed at the small camera in the room.
"Alice, you are listening, right? If you do, then tell me what you've told Scarlet! Who am I?!" he said, raising his voice.
But there were no signs of Alice. Nobody in that room was able to contact her, so they had to hope for her to reach out to them. Still, even after a few minutes had passed, nothing happened.
Alice heard them loud and clear as she continued to observe their room, but she was already on another call and thus, unable to answer Jay.
"I see. So you've told Scarlet about Jay."
The one she was calling was Erik. He was still occupied with the horde of Challengers trying to storm the hospital. He was able to keep them in check for the most part, but a few of them managed to sneak past him—and were taken care of by Scarlet in the end. Erik fought for a while already, and until a few moments ago, he did not see the number of enemies sinking. As time had passed, more reinforcements arrived, but he began to notice that no new Challengers came for help.
Finally, Erik saw the end of that long-lasting brawl. His body was still in immense pain, with each body part on the verge of breaking down and ceasing to move like Erik wanted to. He was covered in a few bruises, though only lightly, and had some shallow scratches on his skin.
There were still roughly 40 people left. In the face of such a disadvantage, Erik would usually retreat, but fortunately for him, they were still clumsy beginners.
[Was it a mistake telling her?] Alice asked on the phone, sounding uncertain and sheepish.
While holding the phone in one hand, he swung his staff with his other hand, taking down another opponent, with his expression remaining indifferent.
"If it's anyone's fault, then it's mine, Alice. I should have used that on her to keep her away from us." Erik sighed in lament.
"But what's done is done. Luckily, she doesn't appear to be that type of person who spreads information like that around. And she surely will keep her distance from us for a while. So I guess it wasn't a bad decision to tell her." he sneered.
Alice did not reply, still reflecting on her decision. If she had gotten more time, she could have chosen a better method to keep Jay safe from Scarlet.
"Anyway, what about Jay? Did he suspect anything?" Erik wondered. After Alice had explained what happened in the hospital room while Erik was fighting, Erik had a clear picture of the situation. And knowing his comrade Jay, he would surely not act oblivious to the topic discussed between Alice and Scarlet.
[He's currently demanding an explanation from me.] Alice replied. She was watching Jay from her screen as he was still staring sternly into the camera. Seeing him, she became more and more restless, wavering between staying quiet and telling him what he wanted to know.
"Let him be. I'll talk to him later." Erik sighed with a small smile.
[Underst- What...?]
"What's wrong?"
Erik's expression turned stern when something on Alice's side happened that made her sound shocked all of a sudden.
[Erik, can you confirm something for me?] she asked urgently.
While Alice explained what he had to do, Erik just stood there and listened, with his eyes widening for a short moment. However, Erik's opponents regarded that moment as him letting down his guard and charged at him.
"Got it..." Erik said, sounding slightly baffled, before hanging up.
Firmly grabbing his staff, Erik swung it at the incoming wave of attackers and sent each one of them flying. Ignoring the strain on his body, Erik went after one of his attackers and slammed them down to the ground. He did not activate his exclusive skill in fear of knocking them out completely. Instead, he changed his staff to its ax form and pressed the cold blade against the throat of the one below Erik.
"Tell me every single detail of your quest." Erik ordered that person threateningly.
"P-p-please don't kill me...!"
The blade was pressed even further into the person's throat, causing a small cut.
"Don't make me repeat myself."
Realizing that Erik was neither joking nor patient, the person anxiously opened their status window and showed it to Erik.
[Claim the territory of [The Jay Family]. If you succeed, you will earn the right to skip the next section (the skipped quests will be marked as cleared).]
"So it's true..." Erik muttered pensively, his gaze sharpening even more.
"P-please spare me...!" the person shrieked.
After heaving a sigh, Erik pulled the ax away from his hostage and turned it back into a staff.
"Thank-"
The person was about to get up, with hope filling their eyes, but Erik knocked them out with a swift attack to the chin.
"No wonder they were so desperate..."
Erik recalled how the enemies divided themselves into different groups, used information brokers to know about each one of the party, and did not give up fighting until they were unconscious. For beginners, they did a refined job of tackling this quest. If another party were the target, the enemies would have certainly succeeded on the very first night.
He put a finger on his chin.
"Still... Skipping a whole section...?" he muttered in thought. It was uncommon for a quest to give out a reward this directly, as the rewards of a quest would usually just mean being one step closer to one's wish and leveling up one's stats and skills.
But then Erik remembered something again.
"How could I forget? The quest had to be difficult for both sides." he chuckled.
If the opposing side did not get such a reward, they would have given up on that quest very quickly after witnessing [The Jay Family]'s power, and they would have just accepted the penalty. And that, in turn, would have made the quest a lot easier for Erik and the others.
However, there was still one thing left that kept bugging Erik.
He looked around. Dozens of unconscious beginners were scattered across the street.
"If so many beginners of this section were taking this quest, then they would surely be here, too..." he muttered.
And with them, he meant Jays.