“I’ll let you out once the battle finishes. Not even those creatures with [Blessing of Moonlight] can break through this. It’ll expel anything related to it out of this cage.” Weston didn’t even face Sammuel as he was far too busy overlooking the entire situation.
Sammuel kept his eyes closed as he meditated, slowly refining his mana. Stuck in a cell with no hopes of breaking out, the only thing he could do was wait until he was let out. He might lose out on EXP early on but when the creatures that had received the [Blessing of Moonlight] appear, he just might have a chance.
For now, he must bide his time.
The battle went as the humans expected. Complete and overwhelming victory against the weaker monsters. Despite the generally stronger enemies, the humans have become more organized and strategic. They no longer went in as they wished but followed strict military conduct.
Xeril and two other Generals led the charge against these monsters. The combined efforts had reduced the casualties to a paltry sum, only affecting the lowest ranks of the army. It didn’t diminish the fact that the morale was unbelievably high.
“The real fight starts now.” Xeril tightly grasped his spear in one hand and stared at the ten creatures appearing on the battlefield. There was a peculiar air to them that Xeril knew was a relationship to Alyur. It was cold and serene as if they were at its natural state.
Taking a risk, Xeril took one of his men’s spears and built up his strength. His muscles bulged as his suppressed strength was finally unleashed as he threw this spear directly through one of these creatures. It didn’t stand a chance as this monstrosity died before it could utilize its blessing.
Grabbing another spear, Xeril tried to do the same once again yet Alyur acted first.
[Blessing of Moonlight]
As Xeril’s projectile was in mid-air, the monsters before them transformed into enigmatic black and white figures that had inversed their very cores. Moonlight bestowed them the ability to seek what they are weak to, to remedy their weakness with another.
The spear clanged against the tough hide of the monster before it. What should’ve completely pierced through such a monster merely fell down on the ground, motionless. Xeril grabbed ahold of his real weapon and faced the upcoming battle. This was where the true battle lay.
“Send in the elite teams, anyone who’s not in the Awakened Stage has to fall back.” Xeril quickly gave his orders out. Rushing in first, he was the first person to take the brunt of the attack. His momentum alone was enough for those following right behind him to easily hack apart every monster that was before them.
Sammuel quietly watched on as he tried to seek out an opportunity. All of the nine remaining monsters with [Blessing of Moonlight] were gigantic creatures that were capable of wreaking havoc if left unattended. Even so, the humans were prepared.
Just as the monsters hadn’t fully unleashed all of their power, the humans hadn’t either. Some of the powerhouses inside Aganth finally pitched in, lending their strength to defend in the frontlines. As such, the military strength of the humans has actually increased since last time.
They were more than adequately prepared to fight this current set of monsters than the previous five. Even though these nine remaining monsters were stronger than the previous ones, humanity was prepared.
Sammuel watched the nine battlefields simultaneously. There was one opportunity for him to try and enter the battle and he wouldn’t miss it. Holding his sword in hand, he looked at the cell and started slashing away at it, progressively increasing his power as he did so.
Weston looked at him once to see that despite being in a safer position, Sammuel was ungrateful for not accepting it. He turned his attention back to the battlefield.
This was exactly what Sammuel had been hoping for. Now that Weston’s guard was down, he could finally make his move. Just like Xeril, he had been practicing long-range attacks as well. Although he couldn’t throw something as strong, he could achieve a similar feat if the enemy was close enough.
And just as luck would have it, one of the monsters that had [Blessing of Moonlight] was an aerial foe. It flew in the skies, picking off humans one by one. Despite its humongous size, it could only kill a few soldiers every time it flew down. As odd as it was, Xeril had decided to ignore it for now.
Compared to a soldier dying every minute, he was more concerned about those creatures that could cause devastating loss to his army with a single move. As such, this aerial foe, the Black Winged Albatross, was free to reign terror on the weak. It had grown so confident that it even went after the backlines.
Weston looked the Black Winged Albatross dead in the eye and sighed. Despite having it so near him, he couldn’t act against it. Even as the backline was unable to handle a monster, essentially for the situation to be a roulette for who died, Weston understood Xeril’s mindset. After all, it was what he could do in the same situation.
Focus on the bigger threats first. This was the best way to keep his army in good condition.
Sammuel couldn’t help but marvel at his luck. Of course, this shouldn’t even have been the case if he wasn’t locked up in the first place.
[Switch Ego: Sighted Eagle]
[Homing Strike]
Instead of a self-buffing skill, Sammuel had learned an inherently offensive skill. It required mana to use as it needed to properly reorient itself if it missed the target. It was clear the downside of this creature, it lacked great offensive power.
Though Sammuel wasn’t all too bothered about it since he had another trick up his sleeve. As Sammuel had been going through his numerous recently gained [Ego] he had noticed that the Hemorrhaging Bats weren’t the only creatures that had inherent dangerous blood and traits.
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Working all on his own, he had used this to his advantage. He had piled the potent venom and poison of numerous [Ego] at his disposal. Unfortunately, he hadn’t figured out just how terrifying it was but Sammuel had an inkling of the danger.
Using Lawrence’s skills, he managed to have him condense everything into a few terrifying drops. Sammuel was going to use one drop to see just how potent it was. Lawrence had said that although it might not be the most lethal poison, it was up there.
He had taken out a needle he stole from Fian’s drawer and coated the tip with his self-made poison. Throwing it out, no one even noticed that such a dangerous item was flying through the air. Even the Black Winged Albatross didn’t expect for something to suddenly pierce its eye.
It screeched in complete agony as an extremely itchy and burning sensation filled its eye. Constantly turning its head around, trying to remedy the pain, it didn’t have the mindset of preying on the humans any longer.
As it suffered for a solid minute, the Black Winged Albatross decided that it would lash out its pain upon others. Rushing down, it no longer acted safe and decided to fully commit to slaughtering everything around it.
It screeched in pain, causing the previously afraid humans to take arms and try to take the Black Winged Albatross down. As it used its talons to systematically rip and tear anything that came near its way, another unseen needle flew through the air and entered the Black Winged Albatross’ other eye. Blinded on both sides, the Black Winged Albatross went mad, twisting and turning its body in hopes of taking down as many as possible.
Alyur’s eyes narrowed and saw Sammuel being protected by Weston. It grew irritated that one of her pawns was getting singlehandedly attacked while being protected. In retaliation, Alyur enforced her own justice.
[Greater Blessing of Moonlight | Gain Combat Power: +526.53 | Black Winged Albatross: 786.53]
The Black Winged Albatross had its body morph even more. It no longer had any semblance of its previous self. Its feathers turned pure snow white, completely reminiscent of moonlight lighting up the darkness. It’s brute strength was completely and utterly oppressive.
Yet despite all of that, it still didn’t heal the Black Winged Albatross’ eyes.
[Status: Blinded | …]
[Status: Heavily Poisoned | Lose Combat Power: -5/s | …]
It had already affected the Black Winged Albatross previously so its total Combat Power was still 786.53, well, 781.53 after a second. Despite having gained so much strength, it still couldn’t get rid of the multiple inflictions it had. If it was left alone, it would slowly die off on its own.
Weston might not have seen the first needle but he definitely saw the second one. He narrowed his eyes as he looked above. Alyur had retaliated in anger due to his intervention. Weston knew that to fix this problem, he would have to actively go against Xeril’s wishes.
“Do you really want to go out and fight that desperately?” Weston asked a simple question.
“Yes.”
“Don’t die.” Weston didn’t say this out of concern for Sammuel but for Xeril. One of the three current Generals had only wished for Sammuel to stay out of danger. This was going to complicate matters later on.
The cell Sammuel had was now unleashed. Weston’s actions slightly alleviated Alyur’s anger as she stayed her hand, no longer improving the other creature’s blessings. Sammuel focused on the Black Winged Albatross.
[Switch Ego: Runic Bear]
[Equipped: Fevervent Fang | Gain Combat Power: +20 | Sammuel: 532.47]
[Flowing Swordsmanship | Gain Combat Power: +26.34 | Sammuel: 558.81]
[Art of Killing | Gain Combat Power: +150 | Sammuel: 708.81]
With [Ego: Runic Bear] leveling up so much this past week, it was now level 25/50 with a base Combat Power of 512.47. What Sammuel had learned was that despite refining mana using [Ego: Base], his progress was reflected on his other [Ego]. He was no longer a weakling.
There was one reason and one reason alone why Sammuel leveled up so ungodly fast.
[Current Stats:
Base EXP Gain: Silver (Ego: Goblin) | 15.32x
Card Drop Rate: 10.5%
Affinity Level Efficiency: 8.35%
Affinity Level to...]
[Ego Delegation] had made it so that Sammuel’s Base EXP Gain was essentially 15.32 times what he would usually gain. This was such a drastic improvement that Sammuel’s speed had skyrocketed to a terrifying degree. With the time span of two weeks, Sammuel had grown from someone with a paltry Combat Power of around 50 to ten times that value. Understanding that Card Quality was such a dominating factor, Sammuel could only dream of understanding what a Diamond Card Quality would give. Would he just fully max out his level the moment he did anything? He was curious.
While growing up, the Black Winged Albatross had become weakened. Sammuel had chosen to go for a more relaxed approach. He would only match the Black Winged Albatross, not taking any risk in going all out. Each of its talons tried to sweep the battlefield but Sammuel was there to deflect anything it brought out.
Sammuel had saved the lives of countless soldiers by doing so.
Feeling threatened, the Black Winged Albatross desired to leave. Yet Sammuel wasn’t going to just let it do that. After all, it was finally time for Sammuel to make his move. The Black Winged Albatross was bleeding all over its body, it had been losing each clash due to being blind.
With a Combat Power of 357.12 left, Sammuel had made his move. Jumping on top of the Black Winged Albatross, he bid his time letting it fly through the air. The sensation of such a small creature behind its back wasn’t something the current Black Winged Albatross could feel.
As much as he wanted to say that [Ego: Runic Bear] was a terrifying [Ego], he still had to admit that even like that, there was still something much more terrifying.
[Switch Ego: Six-Handed Monkey]
[Hardened Fist | Gain Combat Power: +503.52 | Sammuel: 852.86]
Instead of being a generalist like [Ego: Runic Bear], [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey] had all of its power in its hands, even to the point of having terrible stats on everything else. Yet this was what Sammuel had desired.
Taking his firm stance in mid-air, Sammuel raised his fist and punched downward.
Boom.
Despite its feathers absorbing most of the shock, it had still gone through. The Black Winged Albatross’ stomach had a large gaping hole left inside it. Sammuel grabbed ahold of its head, using its giant body to cushion his fall.
[First Kill]
[Obtained Ego: Black Winged Albatross | Card Quality: Bronze | Star Quality: 2 (32/50)]
“Finally.” Sammuel had managed to turn this situation into an opportunity. “Now we’re going somewhere… oh?”
[Condition Cleared: Gain an Ego with an inherent skill | Reward: Ego Fusion Efficiency Increase]
“That doesn’t make sense…” Sammuel hadn’t seen the Black Winged Albatross use any skill at all except for…
[Greater Blessing of Moonlight | Gained Combat Power: + 500 | Sammuel: 1352.86]
Sammuel’s body reflected the changes in the world. His skin turned pure snow white and his eyes turned darker than the darkest night. Power overwhelmed him, his strength had turned defensive. It was a complete reversal, what was dark was now enshrouded in light.
Jumping off the corpse of the while using [Ego: Six-Handed Monkey], another creature with [Blessing of Moonlight] was desperately fighting against its numerous foes. Sammuel was sent straight down, piercing through its body, easily killing it.
Alyur felt the natural order of the world fall apart. She tried to exert her own blessing to try and understand what happened. “I… can’t? He’s stealing my power against my will?”