The monster waves never stopped. In fact, the monsters seemed to have grown more restless within the last few weeks. The quaint village’s survivability was challenged as it grew increasingly more difficult to fight back and keep the monster waves at bay.
Most monsters that reached their little sanctum had evolved, granting them tremendous strength. In exchange for the increasing danger and bigger threats the survivors had to face, they received more Soul Essences, Card Shards, and better Cards.
The constant sensation of danger was also the reason Xavier was so close to picking his Class Path.
He didn’t want to recall how often he had been on the verge of death, but he had to acknowledge that it had been worth it. Xavier was still alive and only 20 Soul Essences short of picking his Class Path. Once he integrated the 11 Soul Essences procured from the battle against the monstrous Greater Kobold Champion, he would have to enter merely one more battle to procure the remaining 9 Soul Essences.
By then, everything would change. Xavier would be able to integrate more Soul Essence into his overflowing Foundation Orb and he would receive several Cards and Card Slots to further amplify his prowess.
“We found a Kobold Mutant in the woods. Its powers seem to be a mixture of a Darkness-attributed Magician, and an Assassin. I barely noticed him!” Leyla reported to Walter and Mark Vador, “I can snipe it from here, but I’m not sure if it will be enough. It’s a Mutant, after all.”
Usually, mutants were special monsters whose genetics had been stimulated due to external factors. They mutated, resulting in unknown changes. Some Mutants were weaker than their kind, but the majority obtained unique powers that granted them great strength. The majority of mutants were also more intelligent than their kin, turning them into far bigger threats than ordinary evolved monsters.
“I can deal with it,” Xavier appeared next to his father and Leyla, smiling brightly.
“All I need is a bit of aid from Leyla’s Silencer,” He turned to Leyla, “It would be quite helpful if you could use Silencer, Pierce, and Power Shot. Though, I think Silencer alone would already be enough.”
He smiled at Leyla with wide eyes. Leyla frowned and flicked his forehead.
“Don’t give me those puppy eyes.”
She was about to add more but stopped herself, recalling that Xavier didn’t need many Soul Essences anymore.
“Okay, fine. Let’s kill it together.”
Xavier’s smile widened even further. He flashed his white teeth and dragged Leyla to the place she’d pointed to before.
It took him a second to pinpoint the location of the stealthy Kobold Mutant, but Xaver managed to find it. Nightvision, one of his Uncommon Cards, was quite helpful when it came to seeing things in the dark that others couldn’t point out. The huge shadows cast by the large oaks hid the black-furred Kobold Mutant fairly well, but it was not enough to escape Leyla and Xavier’s eyes.
“Do you have to move closer?” Leyla asked, but Xavier could only smile, “No need.”
He lifted his hand while conjuring an Air Bullet. The Common Card advanced to Level 20 not too long ago, reaching the maximum level for a Common Card. Xavier had been displeased about that at first since Air Bullet was his strongest Card for long-distance fights, but he soon found himself enjoying the benefits of Air Bullet at its maximum level. He gained more in-depth knowledge about Air Bullet and its unique traits.
Using that knowledge, Xavier’s comprehension of many Cards improved, and it didn’t take long before he began to experiment with his Cards, which resulted in a significant increase in their proficiency and utility.
A dozen Air Bullets conjured above his palm. They circled around each other and dispersed into raging winds. The raging winds cut deeply into Xavier’s flesh, but he ignored the pain and blood that splattered through the surroundings. Minor Regeneration, another Common Card at his disposal, would stop the bleeding shortly.
The raging winds were hard to control but his Max Level of Air Bullets allowed him to take control of them within a few seconds. He compressed the raging winds of the dozen Air Bullets and transformed them into a single highly compressed Air Bullet. The compressed Air Bullet was harder to control, but since he was not mid-battle, it was still feasible. He could focus entirely on the Air Bullet, completing the compression process before aiming at the Kobold Mutant that was hiding almost a hundred meters away from their position.
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Leyla eyed Xavier’s move with great curiosity. Xavier was the first to reach the highest level with any of his Cards. In fact, most of Xavier’s Cards were higher than the rest. Fighting against powerful monsters increased a Card’s proficiency much faster than a head-on fight with weaker monsters in comparison. Therefore, Xavier did not only gain a fair share of combat experience as he struggled to kill powerful foes, but the proficiency of his Cards increased rapidly as well.
Leyla’s ears turned red as she stared intently at Xavier. She regained her senses and blushed when Xavier looked at her with a strained expression that seemed to say ‘Are you asleep or what?!’
She hurriedly used Silencer, Pierce, Power Shot, and two more Cards to reinforce and stabilize Xavier’s compressed Air Bullet. The corner of Xavier’s lip curled up in gratitude before his attention reverted to the Kobold Mutant. He held his breath, lifted his arm, and aimed at the Kobold Mutant.
His eyes narrowed and a thick bead of sweat trickled down his forehead.
All of a sudden, the Kobold Mutant’s head jerked up. The monster’s danger senses must have been triggered. However, it was already too late. The silent killer was unleashed with a burst of energy.
The compressed Air Bullet propelled forward, and the tremendous force unleashed within the Air Bullet spread in all directions. It tore through Xavier’s palm, rupturing it in the process, but he couldn’t even feel the pain. His eyes were locked onto the Kobold Mutant the whole time.
The Air Bullet whizzed through the air with a terrific velocity. There was no sound at first. Only at the moment of impact, a soft thud resounded through the dead-silent vicinity. The leaves rustled and more noises filled the surroundings as the monster crashed to the ground lifelessly.
A hole punctured the Kobold Mutant’s head.
Dark Kobold Assassin(Mutant) has been slain. +9 Soul Essences, +1 Common Card Shard
“Perfect!”
He was dead-exhausted and his hand hurt from turning one of the experiments he had theorized about into a lethal sniping tool, but none of that mattered. Who cared about a little bit of pain? Xavier certainly didn’t. After 10 weeks of constant struggle, he had finally amassed enough Soul Essences to pick his Class Path!
“Wow. That was amazing!” Mark Vador praised, trying to ignore his son’s bleeding hand. He knew that his son’s Minor Regeneration would tend to his wounds shortly. Nonetheless, it was not great to see his son hurt like this.
“You didn’t use any of your new Cards for that one, did you?” Walter approached Xavier and Leyla.
“I didn’t. I relied on Air Bullet for this one. Unfortunately, I cannot use this mid-battle. That might change once I get the hang of Air Bullet’s foundation though.”
“You’re still hoping that studying your Common Cards will be enough to meet the remaining requirements to upgrade them to Uncommon, don’t you?” Leyla pointed out what everyone else was thinking.
Xavier didn’t answer, but his response was obvious. It had been a while since he received a notification that it was possible to upgrade Cards. That was great since he met two requirements to upgrade Air Bullet already. He received the first notification in the Goblin Community and a second when Air Bullet advanced to Level 20.
He figured that a Card could be upgraded once they met all conditions and reached the Max Level of their rank. The only downside with that was that Xavier couldn’t see the requirements. He was experimenting blindly, hoping to coincidentally complete the final requirements to upgrade Air Bullet into an Uncommon Card.
That was not because Xavier didn’t have better Cards to use, but it was more about his understanding of certain Cards’ properties. He liked Air Bullet and studied it the most in the last 10 weeks. Abandoning Air Bullet merely because it was a Common Card didn’t sit right with him.
But then again, Xavier had been getting hold of a bunch of Uncommon Cards. Some were certainly better than Air Bullet. However, he was not sure if they would have allowed him to kill the Kobold Mutant this easily.
Maybe, it was time to experiment a bit more while using his new Cards more often as well?
I will get a bunch of new Cards soon either way. There is no need to break my head right now.
Around ten weeks had passed since the Monster Gate had been destroyed. Since then, the village has undergone drastic changes. Xavier and the team headed back to the village where there were a larger number of survivors than before.
Everybody was busy doing something or the other since there was a lot to do. Some were busy doing chores, others honing their Card skills.
It was a huge achievement that Xavier and the group of survivors managed to destroy the Monster Gate. It allowed them to reclaim their quaint village and gain a certain sense of safety.
The other neighboring villages hadn’t been so successful, and the Monster Gate had stabilized in them, opening the floodgates of monsters on their small settlement. That is why the number of monster waves they were being hit by was on the rise.
Yet, somehow, the village was still holding strong. The villagers had remodeled the village center into a huge camp by clearing out the debris and corpses littered everywhere.
The destroyed remains of broken houses and buildings were gone too, replaced by newer structures that were created with the help of powerful terraforming Cards. That was a relief since it would have taken them months or years to do everything manually.
The changes were impressive but the monster tides attacking them every now and then were an indication that they had a lot of scope to improve and work on their defensive mechanisms.