"Young Master!" Cristopher called out with an excited look on his face, then urged his Warsor Black Hound to run toward the seven-year-old.
However, when he saw Zion raise his finger to cover his lips, Cristopher immediately zipped his mouth, not letting out a single sound.
He understood that his Master didn't want him to divulge what he gained at the moment, but that didn't stop him from feeling very happy.
Cristopher simply hugged Thirteen, making the seven-year old sigh. However, he didn't make any move to push him away, allowing his right-hand man to share his happiness with him.
A moment later, another monster joined the group hug, and it was none other than Giga Chad, who reverted back to his original form.
The Chad Skunk even groaned a bit and pointed at his shoulder, which was riddled with bite marks, before looking at the two kids with a pitiful expression on his face.
Thirteen then handed Cristopher a bottle of healing potion, which the chubby boy carefully poured over Giga Chad's injuries.
Of course, he also took out a healing potion of his own and poured it on Giga Chad's other injuries.
While Christopher was doing this, a notification appeared beside Thirteen, congratulating him for clearing his Fourth Mission.
< Unique Quest! >
Quest Category: Chain Quest
Quest Name: The Thirteen Trials
< First Trial Completed! >
— Escape the Houdini Desert!
< Second Trial Completed!>
— Find a Five Leaf Clover
< Third Trial Completed! >
— Make the Purple-Furred Honey Badger your ally!
— Reward: The Honey Badger won't attack you, and your group from now on!
< Fourth Trial Completed!>
— Defeat the Rank 6 Overlord, Diabolical Hyena.
— Reward: You will gain a one-time ability that will prevent you from dying from any attack that can instantly kill you.
< Fifth Trial >
— Convince the Purple Furred Honey Badger to fight alongside you against the forces of the Majin Prince!
— Reward: You will know the whereabouts of the secret stash of the Diabolical Hyena.
Thirteen arched an eyebrow after looking at the reward of his Fifth Trial.
He was quite curious what the secret stash of the Diabolical Hyena was, so this was something that he couldn't pass up.
Besides, he had long thought of convincing Cranky to fight alongside them when the Majin Prince arrived, so this Trial was only a bonus for him.
But, just as he was about to go to the Purple-Furred Honey Badger so that they could talk, a hateful roar spread in the surroundings.
"Anwiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir!" Percival roared as he attacked his step brother without a second thought.
The Tigerkin's hands and feet were still bathed in golden flames, making Thirteen arch an eyebrow.
Anwir, who was mounted on top of a Saber Tooth Tiger, raised his right hand to stop his men from attacking Percival, who was charging in their direction like a crazed tiger, hungry for blood.
Anwir snorted and jumped off from his mount and charged forward as well.
The two brothers clashed against each other, resulting in a shockwave that made the two of them skid several meters away from each other.
"I will not forgive you, you traitor!" Percival shouted as he stomped his right foot forward and jumped several meters toward the brother who betrayed him.
Anwir met Percival's angry gaze coolly and calmly stepped to the side, evading his brother's attack.
Percival was quick to regain his footing, and unleashed a flurry of blows towards his hateful enemy.
Unfortunately for him, Anwir had more experience in battle, allowing him to smoothly dodge the attacks, which he found very easy to read.
The mercenaries watched their leader fight against the younger Tigerkin with amused expressions on their faces.
Although they could feel the power emanating from Percival's glowing hands and feet, he was still too green and inexperienced to land a blow on his target.
No matter how strong his attacks were, if it didn't hit, it was useless.
Anwir didn't plan to block any of Percival's attacks because he knew this as well. So he simply dodged, and he did it well, making Percival angrier because his fists couldn't reach his target.
Suddenly, Anwir charged forward, meeting Percival's attack head on. But at the last second, he dodged to the right, simultaneously throwing his little brother an uppercut that sent the latter flying.
"Weak," Anwir scoffed. "It seems that you've been slacking off on your training lately. Did my Sworn Brother spoil you rotten?"
"I didn't," Thirteen replied. "I just left him to hunt on his own because I'm busy with other things."
"You should train him properly. At this rate, he'll just be a cannon fodder once the war starts."
"Eh? Too troublesome. I'll just let Dixon train him."
Thirteen? Train a Hero? No, thank you!
The best way to train a Hero was to let him suffer setback after setback, forcing him to grow.
That was how Heroes grew stronger, and Anwir was currently playing the Villain who would force Percival to surpass his current limits.
Thirteen had already given his little Hero the Divine Martial Skill, Emperor's Might.
If Percival still couldn't overcome his weakness, then it meant that he still hadn't reached the tipping point that would allow him to undergo the true character progression of a Hero.
"Shut up!" Percival roared as he forced himself to stand up. "You. I will kill you! I will kill you!"
"Keep dreaming," Anwir replied. "A weakling like you will never reach me."
Percival then took a fighting stance before his aura exploded like crazy.
The golden flames surrounding his arms and feet spread all over his entire body, making him illuminate the darkness of the Furvus Grasslands with a golden light.
"I'll kill you!" Percival roared as he disappeared from where he stood.
At that moment, the sound of whistling wind reached Anwir's ears.
Before he knew it, Percival reappeared several meters away from him before falling headfirst on the ground, sliding until he reached Anwir's feet.
He was unable to control the surge of speed and power inside his body, making him trip on one of the holes that was on the ground, which had been created during the earlier battle.
Anwir didn't hesitate to use this chance to kick the side of Percival's face, making the latter lose consciousness.
Since his drive to fight had disappeared after fainting, the golden aura surrounding him also disappeared, making the mercenaries clap their hands and cheer their leader for winning.
Thirteen glanced at the fallen Tigerkin on the ground before walking toward the Purple-Furred Honey Badger who was snacking on the Diabolical Hyena's corpse, eating like there was no tomorrow.
The seven-year-old watched as the Rank 6 Overlord dug the Core out of his enemy's body before lifting it to give it a closer look.
After admiring it for a few seconds, he decided to eat it and savor its taste.
But before he could do that, someone called out to him, making him look at the human boy beside his feet.
"Hey, Cranky, we need to talk," Thirteen said, which made the Purple-Furred Honey Badger give him the "buzz off before I kick you" gaze.
The thing it hated the most was being disturbed during its meal, so he made sure to make its annoyance known to the boy beside its feet.
"I know you're busy, so I'll make it quick," Thirteen said. "First, let me congratulate you. You killed the subordinate of a Majin Prince. Two months from now, that Majin Prince will come here, and the first one he'll eat is you."
The Purple-Furred Honey Badger, who was raring to eat the Jinn Core, looked at the boy in disbelief.
A second later, its hands trembled, making it drop the Core on the ground.
Thirteen watched with great amusement as the Purple-Furred Honey Badger hastily picked up the Jinn Core then stuffed it inside the Diabolical Hyena's body before starting to dig into the ground.
Clearly, it wanted to hide all evidence so that it would not be targeted by a Monster, which would make the Rank 6 Diabolical Hyena look like a harmless puppy in its eyes.