Online Game: Starting With SSS-Ranked Summons-Chapter 246: The Team’s challenges, Leveling up

After watching through Hank’s eyes for a while, Arthur stopped the connection, the hawk’s vision fading from his mind.

"They should be able to deal with the mission I’ve given them," he muttered to himself, reclining in the wooden chair.

His fingers tapped against the armrest. "But that’s not the real test. The real test is what they’ll do when they fight... a demon."

Arthur had carefully calculated this trial.

Village warriors facing some elite beasts was challenging but achievable. Village warriors facing a demon, however, was completely unexpected and would reveal their true character.

Who would break under pressure? Who would abandon their comrades?

He wanted to root out any who would betray their team when danger truly hit. Those who stood firm, who protected their teammates even at personal risk—those were the warriors he needed.

Loyalty couldn’t be taught in training sessions; it emerged in moments of crisis.

’Hank, keep watching them,’ he sent as a final message before cutting the connection.

Arthur took out his city teleportation scroll, the parchment glowing softly in his hands. He could have used his Space talent to teleport directly, but that would trigger a cooldown for no reason.

’Better to save my abilities for when they are truly needed.’

The scroll activated with a flash of blue light, the village room dissolving around him.

He appeared in his guild hall. Formicia had been busy—delicate webs lined the corners of the ceiling, nearly invisible unless you knew to look for them.

Those were Formicia’s security measures, and she placed her webs across the guild hall in case of any intruders.

Arthur didn’t waste time admiring the architecture. With a thought, he activated his Space talent, reality folding around him like paper.

The guild hall vanished, replaced by the dense forest of Caldera.

Arthur checked his surroundings, confirming his position.

’They can’t track me down if I teleport. No matter how much they try,’ He thought with a soft smile.

His plan was simple. Level up. Fast.

He needed to hit level 20 as soon as possible.

’I should get my next talent effect and class effect once I hit level 20,’ he thought, drawing his katana. ’This should further boost my strength and give me more safety. I’ve got a bounty on my head from the four elite families, after all.’

The irony wasn’t lost on him. In the real world, he maintained the pretense of being level 6, weak and unassuming.

Here, he hunted like a predator, gathering power with efficiency.

A rustle in the underbrush caught his attention. Three pairs of glowing eyes tracked his movement from behind a fallen log.

Wolves. Elite-ranked. Perfect.

Arthur didn’t wait for them to attack. Space warped around his hand as he activated his talent. The distortion shot forward, collapsing the area where the first wolf crouched.

A pained yelp cut short as the beast compressed into itself, bones and flesh forced to occupy the same space in defiance of natural law.

[You have killed level 13 Wolf (Elite)]

The remaining wolves snarled, their instincts warring between hunting instinct and self-preservation. One lunged, with its jaws wide.

Arthur sidestepped, his blade flashing out in a precise arc. The wolf’s head separated from its body, both parts dissolving into particles.

[You have killed level 12 Wolf (Elite)]

The third wolf, wiser than its packmates, turned to flee. Arthur extended his hand, Space folding between him and the retreating beast.

One step and he was directly in its path.

The wolf skidded to a halt, confusion evident in its glowing eyes. That moment of hesitation was all Arthur needed. His blade pierced its heart, the strike so clean the beast didn’t even have time to whimper.

[You have killed level 13 Wolf (Elite)]

Three kills in less than five seconds.

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Arthur collected the very rare items that dropped from the wolves and continued deeper into the forest.

Here, monsters grew stronger, their levels climbing with each kilometer he traveled from the beaten path.

A roar echoed through the trees ahead.

"That sounds powerful," Arthur thought with a smile before heading towards the sound.

Arthur smiled. Level 20 was waiting.

While his village warriors faced their test of loyalty, he would face his own trial by fire. The power he sought wasn’t just for show—it was necessary protection against the forces aligning against him.

The Four Families, growing suspicious. The military, watching his every move. The mysterious demon sealed in the mountain. The approaching merging of worlds.

Each threat required strength to counter. Each enemy needed to be met from a position of power.

Arthur moved toward the roar, his katana humming in anticipation.

The hunt continued.

Soon after, Arthur arrived at the location of the roar.

His eyes widened slightly as he spotted two epic-bosses fighting each other in a forest clearing—a clash of titans that had scarred the earth and splintered trees for thirty meters in every direction.

The first was a Flamefang Tiger, its body nearly twice the size of Earth’s largest tigers.

Three parallel stripes of molten orange ran down its obsidian-black fur, glowing with internal heat.

Two massive saber fangs extended from its upper jaw, dripping with some viscous substance that sizzled when it hit the ground.

Its six eyes—three pairs arranged vertically on each side of its face—tracked every movement of its enemy.

Facing it was a Crystal-Spine Bear, its massive body covered in thick blue-gray fur from which protruded dozens of crystalline spines.

Each spine shimmered with a cold light, frost forming wherever they touched. The bear stood on its hind legs, easily twelve feet tall, front paws armed with claws that looked like they could rend steel.

’It’s fighting to protect its child?’ Arthur thought, as he spotted the small bear cub hiding inside a cave behind its mother.

The tiger seemed to have intended to make a meal of the cub, but the mother seemed to have other ideas.

The Flamefang swiped with paws wrapped in flickering flames, scoring deep gashes across the bear’s chest.