Absolute Craft-Chapter 85: Anonymous House (4)

Chapter 85: Anonymous House (4)

"What are we doing today?" Blake asked, his eyes on Kyria.

"First of all, welcome to the guild," Kyria said, extending his hand. Blake returned the gesture with a firm handshake. "According to our deal, you can ignore me until the Rotten Leviathan’s resurrection if you want. I’d understand if you did. But I’m pretty sure you’ll enjoy what we’re about to do."

"Which is?" Blake asked.

"We’re going to hunt The Hounds," Kyria replied.

He couldn’t hide his excitement. Fighting other guilds was a major reason these games were so popular. In immersive virtual reality, being able to see people’s reactions to their deaths made player-versus-player combat even more thrilling.

"Why them?" Blake asked again.

He had no intention of passing up such a thrilling challenge—one that could give him a wealth of experience. It would also help him learn more about Beatrix and Sol. His own needs were secondary at this point. Besides, though White Oni was mainly PvE gear for dealing with hordes and monsters, it could still work well in PvP.

"I want them in my alliance," Kyria said.

Joel exclaimed, "Eh? Really?!"

Kyria nodded calmly. "Having Superbia in my guild is just our ticket into the Tutorial Alliance. Our standing will still be low, so we need more people on our side. By now, most guilds have formed their own alliances, so we have few options left. Out of those, The Hounds are our best bet."

Blake wasn’t sure how to respond.

On one hand, he could make them submit with a single action: just removing his mask should be enough to make The Hounds follow him. But that guild carried the burden of his past—something he wanted to leave behind.

Without knowing them better, he couldn’t decide.

"How many?" Blake asked.

Kyria nodded. "There are four parties PKing in our Abandoned Village. My other three parties are already keeping tabs on them."

"So we’re the final party," Blake said, earning a nod from Kyria and Wolfang.

Since The Hounds’ guild leader wasn’t among these four parties, Blake doubted he’d learn much about them. Still, his winning streak had begun with the Stone Troll General’s defeat, and he intended to keep it going with Beatrix and Sol.

"All right," Blake said, opening his game interface with a thought. He switched from no equipment to his White Oni Set, covering it with black robes so no one could see his gear.

However, the set’s single horn made him look a bit odd and revealed part of his new mask. After all, Blake wasn’t as small as Beatrix, and he couldn’t just lower his head to hide his face from everyone.

"Where are you getting these cool items?" Wolfang asked, feeling more at ease around Blake than anyone else in the guild.

Blake gave him a sidelong glance. "I craft them myself."

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock. The tall Amazonian woman rushed over to ask for her own custom armor set, forgetting her earlier embarrassment. Meanwhile, Kyria and Wolfang exchanged glances. They were more certain than ever that Blake held one or two legendary titles, which would explain why he was still stuck in the Tutorial Zone. He had to work at least twice as hard as everyone else—maybe even harder.

-

The Hounds had a terrible reputation for one simple reason: the way they treated other players. They even showed more respect to certain zombies, guiding them like VIPs to the Rotten Leviathan’s Resurrection Spot. Anyone who tried to prevent the resurrection faced swift retribution—usually physical or verbal abuse.

As Blake’s new party wove through the trees, watching the enemy from a safe distance, they saw yet another infamous scene. A group of players, who were just trying to level up by farming zombies, became The Hounds’ targets. The Hounds attacked with clear intent to kill, hurling insults while brandishing their weapons.

"A typical MMO scenario," Joel whispered.

"Yep! It’s only a big deal because everyone in that guild behaves like this," said the Amazonian woman—Lily Lift. "That’s why they’re so notorious!"

Meanwhile, Kyria checked in with his other squads. Each of the three parties had two healers and two tanks, with the rest focusing on DPS. His current team used a similar setup, except they had only one tank, and Kyria could switch between healing and damage when needed.

"It’s four of our groups versus four of theirs," Kyria explained. "Two of our teams will converge on one of their parties, which should draw the other three out. Once those three shift their focus to our bait, we’ll sweep in and immobilize them. No killing."

Blake saw no flaws in Kyria’s plan.

He wondered briefly how he would tackle them on his own. He could forge ice paths between the trees or even above them to stage a surprise attack. But then what? Kyria’s plan factored in a lot of details, while Blake often relied on adapting on the fly. That approach worked well for him, but not everyone could keep up.

He had to address that shortcoming eventually.

"Will defeating them be enough, though?" Blake asked.

He could only keep talking and learning from others to grow. His straightforward question drew a smile from Kyria, although no one could see it.

Turning to Blake, Kyria replied, "This is just the first phase. We’ll beat as many as we can until their guild leader appears."

"He’s here?" Blake asked.

"She’s here," Kyria corrected. "Even though most of her guild members have moved on to the mainland and joined some niche house, she stayed behind. Rumor has it she has a title that forces her to remain in the tutorial zone until she completes a certain quest or something like that."

Blake nodded. "So you couldn’t just talk to her directly, and now you want to force a conversation."

"Exactly. And I’ll use their philosophy against them. I plan to exploit Supreme Blade’s mindset."

Beneath his mask, Blake frowned. ’What mindset...?’

How come nothing came to his mind?