The Deal

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Your 【Scythe Arts】 level has increased.

You have learned the Fivefold Slash combat technique of 【Scythe Arts】.

Your 【Precise Mana Control】 level has increased.

Your 【Void Magic】 level has increased.

You have learned the new Break Object spell.

Your 【Summoning】 level has increased.

You have learned the new Three-Stage Evolution and Tamed Monster Summoning spells.

Your 【Enchantment Arts】 level has increased.

You have learned the new Overboost spell.

Your 【Magic Circle】 level has increased.

You have learned the new Grand Magic Circle spell.

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The battle with Usuba ended without a conclusion, so my Race and Job levels did not increase. However, since the battle had been so intense, I gained a great deal of experience in my Skills.

I had gained the ability to do all sorts of new things, but I would put off checking them for now. At present, I wanted to organize my thoughts about the members of 'Persona' who were acting alongside us.

The PK clan 'Persona.' True to their clan name, every member wore some kind of mask. Their outfits were nearly uniform as well, despite minor differences, so they could certainly be called a tightly knit group.

Their objective was simple and clear: they enjoyed fighting, killing, and robbing the strong. That was all. The most important quality of their prey was its strength. They attacked members of the strategy group who were always fighting on the front lines—and did so while their targets were in perfect condition, before they went to their hunting grounds. What was more, they attacked alone.

Of course, their success rate was by no means high, and they used every method available to kill their targets, including ambushes and poison. But what made them distinctive was their motto: 'Kill or be killed.' They never stopped fighting until they died. They enjoyed fighting until the very instant of their deaths. In a sense, they were even more insane than Jigorou and Genzuro.

They were apparently the smallest PK clan in terms of membership, but at the same time, the most powerful. As a result, many people in that sphere wanted to join them, but their requirements were abnormally strict. Applicants had to clear the 'Trial of the Azure Moon' alone.

I was dumbfounded when I heard that. Clearing the 'Trial of the Azure Moon' alone? I had done it too, but it had been a fierce battle that I had barely won by throwing every spell I had at it. It was the first battle in which I had genuinely come close to death, and I was not particularly confident that I could win if I had to do it again.

Only six people had made it through that deadly trial. Jigorou and I had both met that requirement, and Genzuro probably could have done it if he put his mind to it. Iris was a crafting Job, so she went without saying, but Ruby and Shio were questionable. Though, could Shio do it? After all, she was practically a professional at VRS.

But enough digression. In short, their total clan strength might be greater than ours, the 'Nightwalker' clan. Then again, we had Cal the Lesser Dragon as a wild card, so it was hard to say.

"...This is our current hideout."

The place they led us to was a hole dug into the ground. Apparently, it had once been the den of some kind of monster. How did I know? Because its name was 'Remains of a Monster's Den.' It was exactly what it said on the tin!

Apparently, this was their starting location. The five of them, excluding Usuba, led us down inside. What had happened to Usuba, their leader? He had said, "I'm going to calm myself down," and gone off somewhere. I sensed a certain similarity to Jigorou.

"...The boss should be back soon. Wait here for a bit."

"All right. We'll wait."

We sat in a circle in the deepest part of the hole and waited for him to return. Then Nanako and Moss-san, who had not spoken a word until that point, finally spoke.

"Hey, Izamu-san. You were damn strong."

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to be that strong."

Apparently, those were their impressions of my battle with Usuba. They had seen only a little of my magic, but all they had to do was raise their Skills to the same level as mine. That could not really be called my individual strength.

However, I could call that battle against another player my own strength. I had been the one controlling the flow of the fight through the timing of my spells and my choice of techniques. Nanako would probably have found my use of 【Summoning】 instructive, while Moss-san could at least have used it as a reference for close-quarters combat.

"Do you think we can get that good, too?"

Sei asked while looking at me, so I answered honestly.

"You can. If you have someone to hone your skills against."

All my skill was the result of the Spartan training I had received from Jigorou and Genzuro. I had also spent a long time thinking about how I would fight those two with magic mixed in if we were all going all out. Thanks to that, I had managed to draw against a player who could be called the pinnacle of PKs.

"I see... In that case, Izamu-san, could you let us join your clan?"

"Because we want to be able to fight like that!"

"Me too!"

Wow, I had really made an impression on them. It seemed my battle with Usuba had not been for nothing.

"I would personally welcome you. I am sure the others would accept you as well, but I should not make that decision on my own. I need to confirm it with my companions. So please let me put it on hold until the event ends."

"Ah, fair enough. Sure, we'll wait."

"Same here."

"Yeah, all right."

All three of them were remarkably reasonable. Nanako and Moss-san seemed like working adults, so that was understandable, but I was a little surprised that Sei, who seemed like a student, was the same way. Kids these days were smart.

"I've been wondering about this for a while, but aren't you all in the same clan?"

The man wearing the lion mask, who was the second-largest among the members of 'Persona,' asked the question. I nodded in response.

"For now. Actually, everyone involved in this operation besides me—and besides you guys—is currently unaffiliated with a clan."

"Come on, seriously?"

"Come on, brother. Monster players with clans are actually the minority. This country is harsh on monsters, after all."

The fundamental reason was that monsters were not allowed into cities. Unlike Human players, they could not visit the guilds and other places in cities where people naturally gathered, so their opportunities to meet others were inevitably limited.

"Hmm. But you seem pretty confident in your plan, don't you?"

The woman wearing a heart-marked mask was probing me with that question. I could not see her face, but judging by her voice, I wondered if she was about my age.

"Yes, I have a good chance of winning. However, my original plan was to gamble with my life as the stake. If you join us, our chances of success should soar."

"What's that? That's hilarious!"

"Y-You certainly seem like a rather wild person."

Unlike the woman, who seemed unsure whether she genuinely found it funny, the fox-masked boy seemed slightly put off. I had a feeling he was the common-sense member of 'Persona.'

"..."

And then there was the huge, silent man wearing what looked like a professional wrestler's mask—or rather, a full-face mask—who had not spoken a word until then. Those seemed to be the members who made up 'Persona.'

"Still, to think there's a mage who could get that boss so fired up. The world is a big place."

"There are quite a lot of magic warrior players, and some of them are fairly strong."

"That's true. This guy has such a small variety of combat techniques. He must have a pure-mage Job build."

The heart-masked woman was referring to the combat techniques in 【Sword Arts】 and 【Spear Arts】 that required the user to have a Job specializing in that weapon, such as a swordsman or spearman.

A pure swordsman or spearman gained combat techniques focused entirely on physical attacks, while a magic warrior gained techniques that included magic damage. There were many useful techniques of both kinds, yet I had fought without using any of them, so she had realized that I did not have a magic-warrior-type Job.

She had not even watched the battle from beginning to end, yet she had seen enough from the way I fought to identify my Jobs, at least roughly. This was why I could not fight other players at full strength. I would keep quiet about the fact that I also had one Priest-type Job.

"I've been wondering, just how many magic-related Skills do you have, Izamu-san? Though I'm not trying to pry if you don't want to tell me."

"Hmm. I will refrain from giving you an exact answer, but let us say that I can probably use more types of magic than any other player."

Regardless of how the people here interpreted that statement, my guess was probably correct. Of the magic currently known, the only types I could not use were 【Healing Arts】 and 【Exploration Magic】. I was sure there were still plenty of hidden elements, but I did not think it was conceited to say that I currently had access to the most magic.

"Oh, that is interesting."

Whoa! That was Usuba! When had he returned?

"...Don't erase your presence like that. It's bad for my heart."

"Oh? Do you have a heart?"

That was not what I meant! ...But if I shouted at him, I had a feeling he would just tease me until the end. I would get to the main point instead.

"Now that everyone is here, I will explain the outline of our plan. If anything poses a problem, please give me your frank opinion."

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In conclusion, I had succeeded in securing the cooperation of 'Persona.' The role I had planned to take on seemed to be their specialty. Our chances of success should have risen dramatically as a result.

"Then we'll go rejoin the others."

"Heeheeheehee. I'll see you at the raid."

Aside from that one point, they had been eager to participate, so the negotiations proceeded smoothly. I also registered all of them as friends. That meant I now had a connection to a PK clan. I had definitely put myself in a position to be hated by the vast majority of players!

From here on, we would be acting separately. We began moving to rejoin our other companions, while the members of 'Persona' went to eliminate every unpredictable factor that might interfere with our plan. In other words, they were going to hunt down the other PKs. We could not afford to be interfered with, and it would be irritating to have someone else snatch away our profits. Thus, we would temporarily disband here.

"And don't forget about that matter we discussed."

"...I know."

However, they had vehemently opposed that one point because it went against their policy. After I persuaded them, they gave me a single condition.

They wanted me to arrange an opportunity for them to fight skilled players I knew—in other words, Jigorou and Genzuro. That would amount to obtaining approval after the fact, and they might tell me not to make promises on their behalf. Still, I did not think it would be a problem. The two of them had been starved for opponents, so they might even thank me.

I did not really understand the feelings of people who were so devoted to fighting other players, but when I told them, "You absolutely will not win unless you prepare properly, at the very least," every one of them had gotten excited. They might be extremely happy about it... Though they might also get angry with me.

"Oh, right. There's something I'd like to give you, Izamu-san."

"What?"

We were about to return to Eiji and the others when Usuba called out to me. Something he wanted to give me? Hmm.

"Everyone, wait here for a moment."

I excused myself to Nanako and the others, then hurried over to Usuba. What on earth was he about to say?

"These are drops from the small fry I hunted earlier. Please accept them."

"...What are you playing at?"

Despite being on maximum alert, I found that he was showing me a wide variety of items, from weapons to consumables. I had already realized that Usuba, being a PK, was no good-natured philanthropist; calling him devious would not be an exaggeration. A man like that would never give me a present out of pure goodwill!

"This is my thanks for the enjoyable time we spent together, and for bringing us such an entertaining plan."

"Is that really all?"

"Heeheeheehee. Actually, there is one thing I would like to ask."

As I thought. What did he want to know? I silently jerked my chin, prompting him to ask.

"May I see your real face beneath that mask?"

My real face, huh? This guy definitely had 【Appraisal】, didn't he? If so, he would probably see through the Disguise I was using on my Race. No, he would almost certainly find out.

No matter how I looked at it, I wanted to keep the nature of my Race—which had undergone an obviously abnormal evolution—confined to my companions. But... all right.

"Can you swear that you will never tell anyone? Not even your companions."

"Very well. They must have a secret or two from me as well."

"In that case... here."

I removed the 'Skull Mask' and showed my real face to Usuba alone. My black skeletal head, with its three eye sockets and full set of fangs, was exposed for the first time in a while. I rarely removed my mask anywhere other than the house owned by our clan, after all.

"I had intended not to show anyone outside my clan until the time came when I felt it was all right to make it public. But I thought I should show the leader of the group I was joining forces with."

"Heehee... heeheeheeheehee! Wonderful! You truly never fail to exceed expectations, do you? Very well. This time, I shall devote my entire being to serving as your hands and feet."

With that, Usuba turned on his heel and returned to the cave. After watching him go, I put my mask back on and returned to Nanako and the others.