Ubren stands as head of the Keeper’s Guild organization and guildmaster at the Verbeau capital headquarters. As evidenced from his long wall of hunting trophies, this man built his career with his bare hands.

Although he’s retired from being an active Keeper, I’m told that he was once a peak ranked Metal Keeper. The Metal rank is separated into bronze, silver, and gold, but the highest degree is the Crown Gold rank.

Metal Crown Gold ranked Keepers are the highest level of Keepers that are employed in all major Keepers Guilds. The requirements and criteria for selection are very stringent, and the guildmasters have the final say.

Crown Gold Keepers are elites that answer to very few and are often kept in reserve. But they’re not the highest rank of Keepers. They are simply the most effective manpower.

Volcanic and Star rank Keepers are technically the highest ranks of Keepers, but no one has any clue about them. Whether it’s their names or size, the Keepers beyond the Metal rank are shrouded in mystery.

Rumors have it that these peak Keepers don’t have any superiors except for King Yorliss, and even then every deployment will be so costly it drains the royal treasury. People can only dream of reaching the peak since the criterion is hidden under national security.

For normal people, the peak of Metal rank is already a dream job. A Metal ranked Keeper of Crown Gold level can rise up to become the leader of the guild, which shows how rewarding it is and lots of retired Metal ranks take up positions in governance

What I mean to say is that this old man standing before me should represent the apex of humankind, at least as far as normal people are concerned.

Ubren is a retired Keeper of Crown Gold Metal, but his power has surely waned since. A glance at his Status shows that he is level 142, his stats in Vitality and Strength are past 150, and his skills list is decked out.

The old man has a wide assortment of skills like Sword, Shield, and Staff Masteries, all leveled to Max. He also has other weapon skills within the levels 7-9 often dubbed the expert realm.

The skills show his years of experience and he has titles that boost his stats and skills, such as Guildmaster of the Keepers Guild, 1000 Beast Slaughterer, and Stalwart Guardian.

If I recall correctly, Maeve also had a title called Slayer of a Thousand Evils, in addition to her weird class as a Chaos Esper. I wonder if I’ll get such a title if I defeat a thousand enemies by myself.

Ubren’s class is not as strange or unique as Maeve’s, but his class is an advanced one that is difficult to obtain. His class reads as Siege Knight, and in a nutshell, he’s a tank that charges through enemies without taking a single step back.

The old man is holding a long black sword and shield with some rusty armor, looking like a regular nondescript Keeper. Brigid explains the rules as the referee that I’m allowed to use any equipment and spells as I desire, provided that nothing poisonous and underhanded is used.

Ubren’s gear doesn’t seem so impressive but he is serious in facing me, because my Analysis skill shows his dark sword and shield are a rare set of equipment known as Dark Moon Fang and Dark Moon Shield. These two equipment are forged from the remains of a powerful Dark Moon Wolf.

His armor is also outrageous because under that rust lies the epic quality Armor of the Ancient Griffin Legion. I’m not sure what this Griffin Legion is about, but the word Ancient must be the reason for all the rust on it. Still, this rusted armor has a high amount of defense, as high as the carbon fiber vest hidden under my clothes.

It’s really shocking when you consider that I reinforced and enchanted a vest made of modern military grade tech to reach such a high defense.

If I inspect myself, besides the carbon fiber armor there’s also all the enchanted accessories around my body, all of which boost my resistance to damage. In terms of weapons I have the old lightning element enchanted katana and the Vorpal Knife, but that knife is too sharp for sparring.

That reminds me, I still have the remains of the mysterious metal chains that bound the young Wyvern back in Wahlburg. Those chains were practically immune to everything I threw at it so I crafted the sharpest blade in existence to cut them up.

I collected the rest of the chains, which I later learned from inspecting them that they are made of Void Meterorite ore. Just that ore alone could allow me to make the Vorpal Knife boasting of near infinite attack, but I never thought of what else to make with it. Come to think of it, I still never found out where that chain came from in the first place.

At this moment, while I am lost in my thoughts again like an ADHD patient, Ubren is patiently waiting. He is so patient that his breath has slowed down and his eyes are closed in silent composure. A snot bubble has formed along with a line of drool falling down his beard.

A snore escapes him and the snot bubble pops, jolting him awake.

Ubren 「 Curses, did the battle already start? You must have put me to sleep with your magic somehow. 」

I don’t think the old man is fooling anybody with that lousy excuse. Come to think of it, I do in fact have a few ways to put someone to sleep.