‘That was oddly refreshing, at the start.’ Ebony woke up when he got the notification.
‘Ting’ ‘You have killed [Untarnished Topaz Homunculi Lvl 300], enemy 80 levels or more above your own. Experience concentration too high to dilute completely, additional experience gained.’
‘Ting’ ‘Serene Blade of Blistering Frost level up 212 - 213, 15 stat points gained.’
‘Ting’ ‘Weighted Will level up 212 - 213, 10 stat points gained.’
‘Ting’ ‘Runic Mana Maven level up 212 - 213, 3 Wisdom stat gained.’
A bunch of his skills gained a level or two.
For now, he allocated the 25 stat points to Intelligence.
He got slapped on the head by a familiar space-crossing hand.
“What made you think it was a good idea to punch that thing that you shouldn’t touch?”
“Wasn’t thinking. My body probably knew that their magic would have a hard time damaging me after noting the effects it has on the buildings here. If my mana can protect Icicle, it can protect my body.”
“To sum up, instinct?” Mark also moved to him.
Golems didn’t go near the Homunculi either, that meant that they didn’t have to worry about getting ganged up.
“Surely this doesn’t require Democlus help. If the water and earth mages work together they should be able to take one down with relative ease as long as they stay clear from the domain and then just wear it down.” Ebony also thought that a significantly charged arrow should be able to land on the Homunculi before it breaks apart.
“That domain is the problem, we got the tower to thank for.”
“No, from what I sensed the domain isn’t as strong as it looks. The archers who preferred to stay at the back just didn’t protect themselves with mana; they should have been able to survive and create distance within that time. Or even use that potion that Democlus gave out. No matter what, this Homunculi hasn’t even evolved like the True Topaz ones. Something else should be coming, watch out.” Ebony didn’t think too highly of the Homunculi.
Surely, they were a tinge bit stronger than the True Topaz Golems and a lot harder to approach but not impossible for a couple of these people to take down if they were careful and worked together to wear down the Homunculi’s reserves.
Mark had no verbal complaint as to be more careful and alert but Ebony could tell that he wanted to say something.
“There are stronger ones. But they aren’t leaving that gravestone.” Kong Jing patted his shoulder.
“...Democlus is pretty nice.” At least, the man appeared to care about this randomly put-together expedition party. Not. The north group had the highest average level and their group was the weakest, yet he wanted to come here last.
‘Then again…he might have done so because he seemed to recognise sister Jing. And he knew we were part of this group. How did he even gather so many people but still keep it somewhat secret from the public?’ Ebony also wondered what the man’s purpose was.
Ebony had gotten confident enough to know that they were considered strong by most standards.
He still couldn’t believe that Democlus was referring to these as the ‘green one’, he stayed alert for an evolved version but it never came until Democlus himself arrived. The man apologized for being late before showing his respects to Kong Jing with a tet. It was nice to see the King ranked treat her with such respect.
“I didn’t do anything.” Kong Jing brushed him off with the truth.
Democlus excused himself and helped the group’s leader by shutting the tower down faster.
“With that, your job is done. Inform me if you’re leaving, our contract states that at least 600 of you should be around at any one time. Feel free to return after you leave but do it quietly.” Democlus told their group. He may or may not have helped with shutting the other towers down before making his way here.
‘So pointless. He can single-handedly do all of this, no reason to spend enough to hire so many people.’ Ebony was sure that the man who shut down the central tower all by himself could just take his time and do the same for the other towers. His act of bringing so many people down for this operation was so pointless and a waste of money no matter how Ebony thought about it.
The weirdest point that could be a clue was that the man wanted 600 people to be present for half a year. Although this group had quite some deaths, the total count should still exceed 600. That was to say, Democlus was allowing people to start taking anything they wanted in this tomb city at their own risk.
Ning Xin came over, her new mantle was green but she seemed spotless otherwise. The veiny green also dissipated quickly. Ebony was too far earlier and didn’t see or sense how she got hit. He was curious but he didn’t get the chance to ask her for the moment.
Democlus faced Kong Jing once again.
❅❅❅
“Thank you for the assistance. I mean no disrespect but, I hope that you and your party will leave within half a year.” Democlus was polite but Ning Xin could not sense any politeness in his voice.
“We’re not planning to stay for long. You’re not inhibiting us from doing anything?” Her sister would definitely leave the moment she no longer saw value in this place.
“No. Do as you see fit. Go wherever you want. I didn’t hire any of you. As long as you’re not here for more than half a year.” Democlus’s words were what she wanted to hear but even she knew that the situation felt…off.
Half a year was something he mentioned more than once already. In any case, she was not interested in staying for so long. She had even less interest in what was going to happen or what Democlus wanted.
“Even if we go to that gravestone? Even if we for whatever reason want to destroy it?” Her sister seemed to be having fun with these questions of hers. She must be curious about what this Shield King want as well.
“Be my guest. Though, I will be very impressed should you be able to even leave a scratch on that gravestone. I myself wouldn't even be able to get close with all those Homunculi there. A ranged attack would be devoured almost instantly too. Perhaps Xengs like you ladies would be able to show me the greatest feat that I would witness in my lifetime.”
She could sense that Democlus honestly didn’t care for whatever they do or take from this tomb city. The rest of his sentence was filled with derision and pride.
His nice words aside, her Heightened Instincts could tell that he was proud of himself and that if he was unable to do it there was no way that they could do it either.
It irked her so very much.
Incensed Meditation hasn’t died down even though she was telling herself the fight was over. She didn’t want to stop it as practice and also that they were still within the city so having its effects working for as long as possible was for the best.
‘Urgh! Why am I feeling so irritated and hot all over?’
It was mostly her Blood Boil that was causing her body to feel so uncomfortable. She staved off her hunger before the fight with Ebony’s blood but the Homunculi caused her to be extra careful when protecting her companions by her side. It took up a lot of her mana.
Then a couple of dumbasses had to interrupt her fight when they couldn’t keep up with her speed. She had to spend more stamina to protect them and even got a cheap shot in from the Homunculi.
A mantle was fundamentally a wrong choice of equipment for a swordsman that moved her arms so much. Simply put, it got in the way and is easy to get tugged on. A city environment wasn’t that bad as compared to moving about in a forest but it still wasn’t a smart choice in her opinion. This mantle was more of a robe mantle since it had arm sleeves but the new one she got from sister Jing was heavier and was harder to move along with wind magic than her usual one, eating into her energy reserves a little more.
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
Now she was starving again, she could feel that her stomach was going to growl uncontrollably soon.
“I’ll whip up a meal.” She told Ebony so that he could protect her but the expedition party all had good ears and cheered.
If there was anything she learnt it was that cooking for hundreds of people was not easy. She had fun, that was for sure and her cooking skill was put to the test but it would take too much time!
She wanted to whip something quick and easy so that she could scarf it down and appease her belly.
She was lucky they didn’t have much fresh ingredients left after the previous meal and they weren’t really hungry so their plan to have her cook for them went down the sewers. Many of them spent some time grieving for their fallen members.
Too many died in her opinion.
She overheard Democlus talking to this group’s leader and their group had the highest casualty rate. The other two barely had a hundred deaths added together.
This group had the lowest average level and most people knew each other. They weren’t grouped up by Democlus.
Ning Xin knew why too, it was too obvious that Democlus simply doesn’t care about the deaths. Even if everyone in this group was wiped out he could easily shut this tower down and still have enough people for his quota. Since he wanted 600 people to go around the city to reduce monster population, he really only needed the stronger ones.
Shield King he may be, but she can guess that the Dwarf cannot go around the entire city all day long to reduce population. The city was massive.
There were too many golems that just couldn’t reach the towers before they deactivated them.
As for the Homunculi, she didn’t see many in the area. Even if she flew into the air she might not spot any in the vicinity which was also a little weird. Were they more important structures?
Once again, she didn’t care.
Stir fry, it was quick and she knew of many simple recipes that didn’t take too much effort.
❅❅❅
Mark sat on the roof of the tallest building besides the magic ball of doom.
He gave his spear a wipe down.
It didn’t make sense. Democlus didn’t make sense.
He wanted the other three’s ‘no shit given’ attitude but that just wasn’t him.
There was so much to study here. Half a year? He could study everything from the buildings to the golems for more than half a decade!
He knew that Master Jing comprehended things differently. Her mind was fundamentally different from his and many others. He saw her working, it was not something he could comprehend. She was a genius in a completely different sense of the word. One that he was not jealous of. With but a glance, she went to create a piece of defensive equipment that countered topaz magic. The Korun language she let him read up on completely threw out everything that he had learnt by himself. He devoured the knowledge she let him in on. Unlike Ebony, the only thing he was allowed to read was runes and potion making. He was not truly her disciple.
It was everything he could ever ask for.
Even though he also worked on his equipment he knew he would never be a blacksmith or craftsman. He was already spreading himself thinner than his minuscule talents can reach. Hence, unlike the other three who clearly don’t see that much value here he wanted to stay. More than just short term.
The problem was the extremely suspicious ongoings here.
His adventurer sense was telling him to listen to Democlus, just leave before half a year passed. His scholar sense was telling him that even if Master Jing shared everything that she had gotten here, he would never think and utilise that knowledge the way she could.
With her spatial sense and unique genius, she had already learned everything she wanted from these buildings inside out. He hadn’t even had time to study or look at the runes properly.
No amount of Intelligence stat can cover the gap of the fundamental difference between his mind and the mind of a genius.
If Master Jing leaves, he had no doubt Ebony and Ning Xin would leave without hesitation.
Ebony didn’t have the passion for academic studies, not in the way he did. Ebony would probably be satisfied as long as he could borrow Master Jing’s findings to further strengthen himself.
Not Mark.
As for his obligations to his potion company, he wasn’t that worried. He signed a normal paper contract, no magic involved.
He could just say he was stuck in a dungeon or lost in the wild for a really long time. When he got the chance he could make a call and say that he was in trouble. If they couldn’t find him they couldn’t do much to him. With his worth, he doubted they would trouble him too much if he wanted to return at any time.
Right now, he could afford to lose the funding and research materials they could give him.
He started to calculate the risk and reward but even after a delicious scent wafted into his nose, he couldn’t make a decision.
‘It’s okay, I have till they want to leave to decide if I’m staying.’
“Can I have some?” Mark leapt down and asked the chef. He consumed quite a bit of stamina for the fight and all that pondering made him hungry.
He got a death stare in return.
❅❅❅
“There’s nothing left.”
“Mmm. I couldn’t freeze it, it just destroyed all the ice I used on it. It was very durable and was still struggling after I pulverised the limbs so I had no choice but to destroy the head too.”
Ebony knew that it defeated the purpose of him trying to keep the Homunculi in one piece since he turned it to dust with Sonic Intrusion. He had little choice, most others cannot stay near the Homunculi if it was alive. It wasn’t smart enough to hold a conversation or even drop the act of attempting to kill him.
Kong Jing wasn’t able to get what she wanted and left to hunt for a Homunculi herself.
Most of the remaining hired hands were taking a break, collecting the spoils laying around them. Not much was left of their dead allies, all consumed and torn apart by the Topaz Golems. All of the myriad bracelets were intact and were collected though.
‘These are tough.’ Ebony looked at his own myriad bracelet. It could withstand flames both hot and cold and didn’t appear to be damaged or worn out in any way.
He heard quite a few people talking about a festival that was supposedly happening soon.
Despite being here for years, he only saw a festival take place once or twice when he stayed with Kong Jing. The only one he really ‘celebrated’ was eating a special meal at the end of winter that Ning Xin made. Basically the winter solstice.
‘Hmm. It’ll still be a while before the rescue force goes to Tova. Should we go? Hector…should be fine but I guess I’m worried.’
Ebony was still hung up on the 1 to 2 year travel time but that was considering the sea’s weather conditions and how the ships seemed to be wind propelled. Sea monster attacks had to be accounted for too. They must have engines right? With how advanced Tidal was and how Navin planned for a rescue force, he should have prepared a faster mode of travel. Ebony was pretty sure that it was not necessary to spend a year or more on travelling.
He asked Mark but the distance between the two continents was not common knowledge. If it wasn’t that far in terms of the distance he could run over the surface for a week or two with no real issue. He was absolutely certain his feet were dozens or hundreds of times faster than a colossal ship or even a speedboat if they had something similar.
“You’re not playing any music? I thought you didn’t play it in the tunnels to stay silent.” Mark asked as he poked at the small dish of stir fry he obtained.
“Apparently, I don’t understand music.”
He didn’t need the buff so far so it wasn’t a big issue.
“I guess, I never understood music either. I think there’s a bard or two in this expedition, none in this group though.”
Ebony was hoping to bump into them perhaps, they could teach him a thing or two.
With just the three of them, they followed Mark’s itinerary.
There was no point in going to the unpopulated farms. The factories were a high-value target but it would be better if they had a space mage with them for that. They would need to look around to see if there were more important facilities and the buildings weren’t exactly running away so Mark was in no rush to do a detailed study on them.
As for the tower itself, it appeared to be a simple concrete cylinder with a giant orb. Shutting it down completely deactivated it and nothing could be visibly seen so Mark couldn’t get much from it.
It was quite creepy, most buildings were empty. They were essentially giant boxes of squares and rectangular shapes. They stopped opening up doors and checking buildings after a couple of dozen tries. The buildings that weren’t empty had a golem or two ambushing them.
He jumped, not worried about any laser beams coming his way. The only real special building he saw was one of those large factories a couple dozen kilometres away. If there was something odd that he would comment on it was that another factory was not too far away from each other.
He landed and made a higher jump. ‘The factories are close together. Are they circling something? Maybe the underground mine deeper below us.’
“Right. I don’t think they care much about these defence towers. The factories are loaded, flooding with stationary golems and probably homunculi.” He told the others to go right.
“You do know that they are not people with communication skills? The only ones that came to reinforce the defence of the towers were those close enough to sense the commotion.” Mark responded.
“Oh, no artificial intelligence or centralised information built in them.” Ebony overestimated them, he might have assumed they could call for help as the autonomous defence system made him think the golems were like robots that can share information with each other.
“What?”
Ebony took the time to summarise what he was trying to say. They took a break when they heard a stomach growl behind them.