Foundation Orb
[Star of Vitality – Novice 18/100]
[Star of Strength–Novice 24/100]
[Star of Agility – Novice 17/100]
[Star of Dexterity – Inferior 9/10]
[Star of Perception – Novice 10/100]
[Star of Energy – Novice 13/100]
[Star of Wisdom– Inferior 4/10]
“That should be fine,” Xavier mumbled.
The upgrade of his Foundation Orb concluded with a drastic increase of his Vitality, Agility, and Dexterity. After the increase of his Vitality, Xavier didn’t have to be careful and slow. His sudden movements didn’t tear his skin apart anymore.
Upgrading Dexterity improved his finesse and the movements of his hands. He felt much more comfortable wielding the ruby katana and the emerald dagger set, and Xavier noticed that his momentum didn’t deteriorate as he executed sudden flicks with his wrist. That could be useful in future fights.
Upgrading Wisdom would have been great as well. But what am I going to do with that in combat? Dexterity seems more useful…though upgrading Wisdom could have increased the power of Air Bullet.
Xavier felt that the benefits of upgrading Wisdom were too uncertain. Obviously, he would have to upgrade it in the future, but Dexterity felt more important against the monsters he’d been facing until now.
After all, his other Foundation Stars related to his physique were already quite strong.
Now that he was done upgrading his Foundation, Xavier spent some time looking outside the window. He thought about various things – mostly how to survive the upcoming threats, and what to do.
At some point, he noticed the way one Infected started to behave a bit weirdly. It devoured the Goblins faster than the others and pushed the other Infected away as if it marked its territory and food.
The Inferior Infected began to change. It was growing stronger, faster, and more resilient.
Watching the Inferior Infected change for half an hour was enough. Xavier returned to the first floor and opened the door with a bang.
He turned into a flash with Dash utilized and appeared in front of the closest Infected. He beheaded them with a single strike before pushing ahead. His movement speed didn’t decelerate. Instead, Xavier was slowly getting used to the upgrades of his Foundation Orb. He was still accelerating.
Upon reaching the evolving Infected, Xavier released two Air Bullets in quick succession. The Air Bullets burst out and impacted hard.
They struck the Infected’s lower body, their impact pushing the Infected’s arm further away from Xavier. An opening formed, which Xavier knew how to utilize. The ruby katana lashed out, cutting cleanly through the evolving Infected.
Its head flung through the air and the lower body slumped to the ground.
Partial Mutated Infected has been slain. +2 Soul Essences +1 Common Card Shard
“So killing monsters amid their evolution/mutation grants less rewards? Well, that’s fine, I guess,” Xavier thought aloud, tapping Glut’s head lightly.
Integrate two Soul Essence into Glut(Lightly Injured)?
“Go for it,” Xavier said nonchalantly. Two Soul Essences disappeared from his Classless Deck, leaving him with nothing. But that was fine. Strengthening Glut would inevitably strengthen him as well.
Glut
Common Monster
Ember Sparrow
Lightly Injured(Recuperating)
34(Full)
Glut was full, but Xavier wanted to invest more into the little Ember Sparrow. If other monsters could evolve, the same should be possible for Glut. It was an experiment, but Xavier was curious if it would work or not.
“If Inferior Infected can evolve, you can as well. Don’t worry. I will carry you!” Xavier said reassuringly as Glut chirped loudly at him.
It was a little odd for Xavier to feel so connected to the Ember Sparrow. He liked animals like most people, but he never had a dog and it had been eons since their cat died.
The only thing that connected him to domestic animals these days was the fact that he’d always fed the sparrows at his grandmother’s house.
In the past, that was one of the many tasks he had to complete. It was a heroic mission his grandfather had given him.
Thinking about the precious time with his grandfather, Xavier felt melancholic. It had been a great time. He missed it a little bit; the sense of freedom, having no responsibilities, and being able to play all day long with the people he loved.
A smile crept up on his face the more he recalled about his past. If not for his grandfather, Xavier would have never been this invested into the village’s community.
He was grateful for everything his late grandfather did for him – even if it was annoying when he was a bratty teen.
Helping out everyone spending his hard-earned freetime after school to work in the yards of his neighbors and supporting the community were a few things his grandfather taught him.
But then again, that was also how he lost so much weight, and how many friends he made. It was a good time.
Xavier was deep in thought about the past and how peaceful life had been earlier. He was so engrossed in the memories that he didn’t even hear the desperate screams when they first reached him.
It took him a while to register the screams. Glut was also chirping loudly, trying to attract his attention and warn him. However, it was already too late.
A large group of more than 50 Goblins entered Xavier’s view. They surrounded a large house and threw stones inside. Some of the green monsters jumped on the backs of their brethren to use them as launch pads to invade the house through the windows.
All Xavier saw was a chubby middle-aged man trying to fend off the Goblins. But there was more than that.
A young woman was lying in front of the house, the clothes around her waist and legs torn apart. Scratches covered her arms and legs, but she was not yet dead. Her desperate screams flooded the entire street.
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How did I not hear or see them?!?
Xavier’s eyes widened. He readied the ruby katana and charged ahead. Meanwhile, a small group of Goblins had already taken note of him. They detached from the group and attacked the new target.
That was a grave mistake.
Glut chirped loudly and kicked his tiny feet from Xavier’s shoulder. He flapped his wings and ascended into the air where an ember formed.
The ember escaped Glut’s beak with great velocity. It crashed into the mass of Goblins that rushed toward Xavier and burned the skin and flesh on one of the Goblin’s faces.
Xavier didn’t know that Glut had healed enough to fly again, but that might be for the better. He kicked the ground and moved faster through the street. His ruby katana flashed through the air, drawing blood and cutting flesh and bones alongside.
“Attack the Goblins around the girl. Make sure not to burn her though. You should protect her, not kill her,” Xavier commanded Glut, hoping that the little fellow would heed his order.
Fortunately enough, Glut could not only understand what Xavier said, but the little Ember Sparrow jumped straight into action.
Glut gathered another ember in his beak and released it on the group of Goblins. One of them released a high-pitched scream as the ember struck it in the neck. It began jumping around frantically and pushed the Goblins around it away.
The distraction was barely enough for the girl to crawl backward, increasing the distance to the hideous monstrosities.
Another ember flung through the air in a beautiful arc. It impacted hard and killed a Goblin. The ember splattered as it smashed into the monster's face and burned everything in its path down to the bone.
"Good job!" Xavier praised, relieved that Glut listened to him. With the Ember Sparrow as a loyal aid, Xavier could focus on the Goblins in front of him.
He manifested an Air Bullet as one of the Goblins inched closer. The bullet pierced into its chest, killing the monster in one go. Meanwhile, the remaining Goblins were beheaded, their abdomen cut open, their necks sliced, or their chest pierced.
The small group of Goblins was obliterated swiftly. Xavier's power was incomparably higher than the ordinary Goblins, granting him the strength, and speed he required to arrive next to the young girl as the group of Goblins closed in on her.
His ruby katana reaped several lives long before the Goblins diverted their attention from the helpless girl. Her screams muffled the noises in the vicinity, granting Xavier a great advantage.
Once the Goblins surrounding the girl had been killed, Xavier noticed something that caused him to slow down. The corpse of a young man, a teenager at best, lay next to a few Goblin bodies. The handle of a knife rested in the teenager's hands.
He held it tightly almost like he didn't want to let go of it even in death. His eyes were wide open and a look of desperation and shock marred his otherwise innocent face. His body was severely injured and blood was still oozing out of the deep wounds all across his body.
The clothes were threadbare and chunks of flesh were missing from his torso and legs. His opponents had taken him by surprise, and probably cornered him as he fought for his life.
But in the end, it was for nothing. He had died a valiant death, fighting for his life until his last breath. Xavier shuddered at the sight. If only he had been around to save the young man.
“Fuck” Xavier grits his teeth and continued the fight. His gaze diverted from the corpse of the teenager and lingered on the remaining Goblins. Most of them had gotten inside the house so Xavier decided to follow them.
He kicked one of the Goblins hard, smashing the hideous monster against the wall before using another Goblin as a stepping stone to jump through the broken window. He landed inside the living room and charged at the dozen Goblins with several Air Bullets manifested.
There was a big group of Goblins, growling and snarling at an elderly couple that were trying their best to take cover behind a door. They had pushed some furniture to support the door but with so many Goblins hacking and slashing at it, the wooden door began to crack.
Small chips of wood and splinters were flying around as the Goblins tried to widen the gap and sneak inside the room. The old man kept kicking at the Goblins trying to squeeze through the gap while the old woman kept adding more weight to the furniture by dragging everything she could. But their efforts were failing.
The door wouldn’t hold for long and the elderly couple were at their wits end, trying to figure out how to save themselves.
Xavier sheathed the ruby katana smoothly and retrieved the two emerald daggers right after releasing the Air Bullets that had gathered in his hands.
He shot forward and thrust the emerald daggers as the door gave in and he heard panicked cries of the elderly couple. He cut through the Goblin’s necks, narrowly missing the humans, retracted the dagger and flicked his wrist to cut through the remaining Goblins.
Xavier danced around the two elderly people, piercing, slashing, and thrusting the dagger in all directions to block the Goblin’s attacks right before initiating his own attacks. His blades missed cutting into the elderly people far more often than Xavier wished for but he used his finesse to avoid hurting them. That was something the Goblins could do well enough already.
The dozen Goblins inside the house died before they could injure the elderly people severely. Xavier heard Glut chirping and two embers exploded upon the wall as more Goblins desired to infiltrate the house.
“These cockroaches, I swear…” Xavier grunted, ignoring the elderly people as they stared at him in horror. Blood splattered all over his face and his clean clothes were bloodied again. They were not yet drenched but Xavier was pretty sure that it wouldn’t take long before his clothes ended up looking like his former set.
Xavier dived out of the window. He rolled over the ground and jumped up. As he turned around, an Air Bullet burst forth from the back of his hand. It shattered the spear of a Goblin Spearman, allowing Xavier to get up and appear in front of it in the next moment.
His emerald dagger sliced through the air several times, cutting the Goblin into pieces.
In the next moment, he moved ahead to eliminate the remaining Goblins.
There weren’t many and given Glut’s tactical support from the air, Xavier didn’t even have to spend two more minutes to eliminate the remaining Goblins.
Goblin has been slain.
Goblin has been slain.
Goblin has been slain. +1 Common Card Shard
[Proficiency of Spell Card ‘Air Bullet’ reached 100%. Level Up!]
Goblin has been slain.
Goblin has been slain.
Goblin has been slain. +1 Soul Essence
…
..
Close to 50 notifications popped up in front of Xavier, but he was the most interested in Air Bullet’s Level Up. Unfortunately, nothing much seemed to have changed after Air Bullet reached level two. He manifested an Air Bullet and noticed that conjuring it consumed less energy than usual. Xavier released the Air Bullet at the closest wall to test out its power.
Air Bullet
Common - Level 2(0.2%)
Elemental Spell
Active
Requires Energy to be used.
Effect – Conjures a bullet made out of air.
–
Energy consumption decreases according to Card Level
Effective range expands according to Card Level
Power of Air Bullet increases with Card Level
“Energy consumption decreased a little bit, and its force increased. It’s exactly like the description says. Upgrading Air Bullet to a higher level should allow me to conjure hundreds of Air Bullets that can penetrate the skull of Insightful Infected. The only relevant question is how many levels it would take for an Air Bullet to reach such destructive force,” Xavier mumbled to himself, ignoring the girl next to him for a good minute.
She was the same girl he had rescued from the Goblins before storming in to save the elderly couple. She was severely injured and sobbing as she held the teenager’s head.
Xavier was not sure what to say. He faintly recalled having seen the young girl and the boy at the village fair, but he was not sure about their names. Seeing the young boy’s corpse, Xavier felt a tinge of regret burning inside his heart.
What the hell am I doing right now? Is this mission and my gaining power all I can think about?
Xavier was not sure how many survivors were left in the village, but he was certain that there were some. He could save them all and bring them to a more secure place where they could stay for the time being.
Why was he mindlessly attacking Goblins and Infected instead of searching for the survivors? Did he not care about the villagers anymore?
Most of them were either old, or very young. They were desperate and probably growing weaker by the minute.
“I am such an ass…”