Warlock of War: My Ares System

I leaned back in my chair, feeling a headache already coming.

At least I have some skills that will help me against the monsters… but the boss… I'm still going to struggle significantly against it... So I might as well take advantage of that.

After dinner, I said goodbye to my friends and made my way to the adventurer guild, where I saw a familiar face.

It had been seven years, but it seems not only did I remember her, but she remembered me.

"Oh, what a nice license you got here, boy," She says as I slide the card through the hole.

"I know, right," I responded with a smile.

"Well, do you want to die?" She asks with an earnest face.

Click

But I didn't expect her to pull out a pistol from under the counter and point it straight in between my eyes.

I was a bit surprised because if she wanted to, she could've killed me right then and there… but I knew what she wanted to hear.

"Of course,"

"Goodman! I'll let you slip by for now,"

It was a running joke in the adventures guilds that Arthur and his raid team told me about.

Every dungeon runner wants to die.

Yep, that was the joke.

It basically means that nobody sane would enter a dungeon and who are the opposite of sane people…?

The people that want to die.

"Pretty stupid joke," I say before she hands me a tablet, and I swipe up in order to access the home screen.

"Yeah, I mean, it was made by one of the old folks, and those guys are really crazy. Much more than the people now as some are pretty much adjusted to this style of living while keeping their sanity," She responds.

I just gave her a nod before selecting all the options I wanted.

A raid team tonight. A raid team with a large number. A raid team with a four or five-star captain. And a raid team for the toxic slime cavern.

"That's pretty expensive. Are you sure you got the money… for… that… never mind," She shrugs as I hand her six gold coins.

The cores which I had broke yesterday went for a good amount of money, so I actually had enough to spend on myself and get some new gear... as well as do this.

This is also one of the reasons I didn't join a raid team earlier... I was broke.

"Hmmm… Okay, but you do know how a raid team with a large party works, right?" She asks as she inputs my options and prints a receipt.

"Yep,"

Only people who are desperate for any bit of money or are extremely weak usually join large raid parties, but the reward for risk ratio favors the risk.

You barely get any gold coins from the guild for completion, and you are usually used as meat shields for the captain's friends.

Plus, if you manage to defeat the boss, the dungeon reward will usually dwindle down in rarity according to how many people you enter the boss room with.

But, that is also why I picked a four to five-star captain as I want somebody who is righteous and actually helps their team.

"Hey, don't do anything that will make you a criminal," The woman says as she hands me the receipt, which I then scan with my phone.

"Don't worry… I'll make sure to clean it up nicely… but it doesn't matter because wh-"

"Whatever is done in the dungeon stays in the dungeon. I know, I know, but I want you to remember that this captain isn't the pushover you were looking for," She finishes my sentence.

Just as she finished my sentence, my phone scanned the receipt, revealing the raid team of twenty-five people.

The captain is a C-rank, and the rest are made up of D-ranks… just as I had hoped for… but the woman's last words were a bit troublesome.

"You're a smart and talented kid. Don't go dying too early because you got too greedy," She says as I walk away.

I know that…

I made my way back to the same magic equipment store as I could actually afford some armor.

I also needed a new weapon, but it didn't need to have unique attributes that protect me against toxic attributes, so at least I won't be spending too much money.

…

"That's still too much money," I muttered as I glanced at the price tag for the cheapest set of magical armor.

I didn't need one to protect me against toxic attributes against my body, but something that would actually let me live after being hit a few times by the monstrous boss waiting for me.

"I'm sad to say this is our cheapest armor, but if you are so desperate, you can pay in installments," The employee suggests as I stare at the price tag.

"Nah, that will be annoying," I say before clicking the screen above the light armor, which added it to my cart.

I then hopped on over to the weapon section, where I found a spear similar to my previous one that had been melted into nothing.

Upon adding it to my cart, I looked at the total price on the screen and sighed before walking over to the counter.

"Cart number is: 59102," I say, and the receptionist inputs the numbers before nodding her head.

"Is that all for today?"

"Yes. And thank you very much," I say before moving to the backroom where I collected my gear.

The chest plate and boots were a bit too big on me, but besides that, everything was a perfect fit.

The nostalgic feeling of a few extra pounds of weight, weighing me down while I moved caused me to crack a weary smile as I exited the store.

But the smile soon dissipated as I looked at my wallet, which had only a few silver and copper coins left.

"*sigh*... Damn," I muttered before grabbing the handles of my backpack and making my way towards the meeting spot.

…

『Status』

[Name: Orion]

[Race: Human]

[Class: Spearsman]

[Level: 4/25] (32/100) XP Needed

[HP: 35/35 MP: 15/15 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human

[Strength: 20] - Normal Human

[Defense: 10] - Normal Human

[Magic: 9] - Normal Human

[Speed: 20] - Normal Human

[Skills: [Tangible Bloodlust] [Spear Coating]

[Passive Skills: [Toxic Immunity] [Toxic Body] [Night Vision]

[Equipment: [Toxic Barrier Necklace]

…

As I looked over my status, I also listened to the other raid members' conversations to scope out their personalities.

And to be honest, most of them turn out how I expected… pushovers.

The lower ranks don't have the best morale and confidence in themselves, but with a good raid captain… they can become strong fighters.

I glance at the captain who was a massive, but humble man who was in a full suit of metal armor and had a greatsword resting against his shoulder.

"Okay, everybody! I'm going to send out the raid request! Make sure to accept it!" The leader shouts as a few panels all appear in front of us.

[Dean Loin has requested for you to join his Raid Team]

[Would you like to join the Raid Team?]

"Yes," I muttered.