BXBX NOVEL Chapter 188: Team (8)
It worked.
El Boss Queen silently shifted her eyes to him, calmly staring at him.
Jake smiled.
He said, "Join our team."
Shaw gasped. "Huh?! You want her?!"
Peace's eyes bounced between Shaw and Jake's faces as she was clueless about the esports team. She thought that Jake and Shaw had made a team to level up, but Shaw's reaction was too much for it to be a simple leveling-up team.
Jake nodded. "Yeah, I have two more people to ask. I'm not sure whether they will accept, tho. You know about the other two's circumstances. It's difficult to find good and trustful members."
Compelled to agree, Shaw heavily nodded his head.
His girlfriend slightly elbowed him and forced him to lean down his head.
She whispered into his ear, "What team?"
Shaw replied, "Esports team. You can't participate as your stats can't match ours."
"…I don't even want to!" Peace's voice sounded a little higher. "I'll cheer you on!"
Shaw smiled brightly, "I know you would not miss any significant event on my path to becoming a dragon. I love you."
Peace rolled her eyes at him. She was lovingly smiling and feeling a rustle of butterflies in her stomach.
Meanwhile, Jake and El Boss Queen were now in a staring contest. For someone who mainly spoke with her fists, the staring contest was El Boss Queen's second language.
Jake thought, 'Her skill completely repelled my arrows. No, she crushed them. She's a strong asset against physically oriented classes.'
Jake's arrows were also strengthened by mana.
Of course, mana itself was shapeless.
This means her skill must work on physical objects and weapons so long as their 'physical' aspect is higher than mana or magic.
If Jake had an arrow with only ten percent physical presence, and mana was the rest, such an arrow should work well against El Boss Queen's skill.
He didn't know the exact description of her skill, but he could tell that her stats were higher than those of common-level twenty players. She was a player who could cause lots of trouble against others!
"What is this team for?" El Boss Queen asked.
"You can't question it for now," Jake replied.
El Boss Queen's face contorted deeper. She was like a demon, as even veins rolling down her arms popped on her tanned skin, looking like cables in which demonic mana ran.
It was amusing to make her appear like that.
Jake didn't bite his tongue either when engaging with his enemies.
He'd often retort at them sarcastically or call them idiots.
It was different against El Boss Queen because she was in a worse position.
"You swear to fight me when that stuff is done?" she asked.
Jake nodded, "So long as you swear to participate with us."
"Accept my friend invitation," El Boss Queen said.
[You have accepted El Boss Queen's friend invitation.]
[El Boss Queen: I'll join whatever you participate in. I'll hold you to your promise of fighting me again. If you renege, you'll regret it.]
[Archer: Yeah, no need to threaten me so much. I don't go back on my words.]
After that short private exchange, El Boss Queen turned around and left Jake alone with his friends.
She went to the training grounds to practice her moves and skills.
Her training self left others at the scene so confused that they stared at her until she barked at them.
-
Jake was back in Viktor's workplace.
He stood in the middle of the clearing, where he would practice soon.
'I've learned The Rapid Release. If I had it during my fight against Coin, I would have easily broken his avalanche of rocks. Anyway, I don't have much time to learn the rest unless…' Jake looked over his shoulder.
Here, the old man was sitting at the table.
Various liquors were perched on the table, waiting for their turn.
Master Aaron was beaming from ear to ear.
He was like a beckoning grandpa, wanting his grandson to do mean things together with him.
'If I have a key to unlock my hidden potential, why am I refusing it? I'll let my drunk self practice, and then I will dig through the obscured clouds of memories and unlock the skills and muscle memory myself. It's a different kind of training. I'll do it,' Jake came to the decision, taking heavy steps to the table.
He picked up the first bottle of alcohol.
Jake unscrewed the cork, and soon, the stinging smell stuffed his nostrils.
He drank the bottle in one go.
The liquid turned into a wine of a high-quality taste that Jake had never tasted.
It was delicious.
And while it might seem like Jake was about to become addicted to alcohol, he personally wasn't worried about that. He was doing that for his archery, meaning he wouldn't drink any alcohol just for the sake of taste or thirst.
He'd not drink without a special occasion—Jake was sure of it.
Finally, Jake's eyes turned heavy.
He was feeling different.
When the threshold of becoming entirely drunk was trampled, Jake abruptly widened his eyes and looked at his friends with a soft smile.
"Doesn't this workplace lack anything? A music, perhaps? The melody of my soul should enliven this room!" Jake shouted, causing Master Aaron to laugh aloud.
Jake turned to Viktor and said, "My lovely boy, how about you duo with me?"
"Huh?" Viktor contorted his face and naturally reacted to Jake addressing him as a 'boy'. He was displeased and offended, so much so that he looked like he was raring to punch Jake straight into the nose.
Jake chuckled, "It's an invitation to the stage behind me, idiot. Come and have fun as an archer. I want to spar with you to bring out the highest quality melody of my soul! It's only fair for us to drink the best liquors to the best music? Am I wrong, Vikky?"
"You're dead," Viktor said as he marched toward Jake like a behemoth.
Master Aaron was in a joyful mood. "Vikky! Buhahahaha!"