Chapter 56

  “I still don’t understand why you let that guy join the dungeon. Sure, he is strong, but you proved that you can beat him. We don’t need him,” Jet said.

  Jet spoke in a discreet voice. Marcus’ face hardened.

  “I didn’t beat him,” he said.

  Jet was taken aback.

  “What? What do you mean? I saw you crush him with my own eyes. At the end, he was done. A small breeze could have knocked him over.”

  Marcus clenched his jaw. Mike adjusted his glasses.

  “I thought so,” Mike said.

  Jet looked over at Mike in confusion.

  “What?”

  Mike’s eyes trailed off in thought.

  “Didn’t you notice? Before Marcus’ final attack, the summoner still had mana. Afterwards, his mana was drained. Why do you think that is? Marcus doesn’t drain mana with his attacks.”

  Jet contemplated those words, then a shocking realization hit him.

  “He cast a spell? But he didn’t have time. We saw how long it took him to channel his spells.”

  “You saw what he wanted you to see,” Marcus said.

  Jet could hardly believe it.

  “What are you saying?”

  Marcus glanced back at Ben with a wary gaze.

  “He held back. A lot.”

  A memory of the final attack flashed in Marcus’ mind. The final punch that should have ended Ben. Instead, his fist had collided against a wall of steel.

  “Before the final blow, he channeled a summoning spell in an instant. His casting speed was insanely fast. Like snapping his fingers. And he didn’t just summon one. He summoned three of those shield angels at the same time.”

  Jet’s eyes widened in realization. He thought back to his original fight with Ben.

  His first encounter with Ben was chaotic. He couldn’t recall every detail. What he knew for sure was that Ben was strong, more than that, skilled.

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  Marcus mentioning casting three summons at the same time triggered a memory.

  “Now that I think about it, he did the same thing when we fought him. That’s how he killed Rose. I thought the duel rules would hinder his ability to summon.”

  Marcus’ eyes narrowed.

  “I thought the same thing. That’s why I challenged him to an official duel. The duel rules should be a disadvantage for summoners because they can’t summon from their reserves, which means they have to conjure all their minions from scratch. I used every advantage at my disposal, and he still beat me.”

  Jet was stunned.

  “That’s impossible. Unless he is cheating,” Jet said.

  Marcus stared forward and shook his head.

  “He isn’t cheating. He has real skill. I initially thought he was just some overgeared noob, but fighting him told a different story. He knew exactly what he was doing.

  His skill is almost on par with mine. His angels are far more skilled than summons should be. Then there was the number of summons he chose to fight with. He chose the exact amount he needed to face me on a level playing field.”

  He replayed the start of the fight, when Ben first began summoning. Jet frowned in confusion.

  “A summoner conjuring more than one summon at once should be a one-time ability. Like your Elemental Fury. It would be too overpowered otherwise. His normal summoning ability shouldn’t work like that. He had a five second countdown and only managed to summon two. You interrupted him before he could summon a third,” Jet said.

  “All an act,” Marcus said. “Do you remember how many summons he had during the orc boss fight in the video?”

  Jet furrowed his brow in thought.

  “At least ten.”

  “Eighteen,” Marcus said. “He can control eighteen summons at once. He fought me to a standstill with just two. He casts fast enough to have summoned all eighteen before the fight even started. He chose not to.”

  Jet was flabbergasted.

  “Why?”

  Marcus shook his head.

  “I don’t know. That’s what I want to find out. More than that, I want to learn from him. Learn the secret of how he got so strong.”

  Mike raised a brow.

  “Are you talking about becoming his Padawan? You’re going to start calling him Master?”

  Marcus scoffed.

  “Heck no. But I would be stupid not to try to learn from him. Remember the beta tournament?”

  Mike and Jet nodded. Marcus continued.

  “In that tournament, we saw the power of the top players in the world. I came in third behind China and Japan. But it was close. I know the scale of power. I’ve also been monitoring the first achiever announcements closely. I suspect that once he gets some real gear, that guy could solo everyone in the previous top ten, all at once. He’s a monster.”

  All three glanced back toward Ben. They looked at him in a completely different light. He might have appeared unassuming, but they now recognized him for what he was.

  Marcus refocused on the path ahead.

  “Back in my boxing days, one of the best ways to get better was to watch film. Film of opponents and film of better boxers. Boxing was as much about intelligence, knowledge, and preparation as it was about physical training. I am not going to pass up this opportunity. That guy doesn’t stream, so I will take any chance I can to watch him fight. I’ll watch until I understand his secrets and figure out how to use them for myself.”

  Jet looked at Marcus in awe.

  He’s already thought that far ahead?

  Jet gained a new level of respect for his guildmaster. Then his expression hardened with focus.

  “Just tell me what I can do to help,” Jet said.

  Marcus continued to look forward with a stoic expression.

  “Just act normal for now and watch. We have to be careful. He is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I have no intention of provoking the wolf. Not before I am truly ready.”

  Jet nodded in a disciplined fashion.

  “Yes, sir.”