Thalion was tired. He had fought nonstop since parting ways with Chloe and Eddie. Over the past days, after killing countless foes, he had managed to reach level 46, which was very slow if you took into consideration all the beasts he had slaughtered. Currently, he was fighting a screechfin, level 67.
This fucker tried to kill its prey with sound—more accurately, with its screams, which sounded horrific but oddly interesting. The fish was infusing its voice with mana, transforming it into a very effective attack that hit everything in the surrounding area. The good thing was that it had no defenses, and one hit with Water Slash was enough to kill it.
This was something he should learn. It could give him the upper hand in a fight, since the opponent would most likely never expect that. Before that, he had to hunt a bit longer. He wanted to reach level 47 before he would fly back. He doubted that the position for city leader was up for grabs without any competition.
He could only hope that they were not already on their way to level 80, because that would make things very difficult, if not impossible. One positive aspect of staying for so long in those depths was the progress in his body cultivation. He could now perfectly interpret the vibrations carried through the water, which was very helpful against surprise attacks. Before, he only had his title, but now it was impossible to sneak up on him.
Not that no one had tried it. There were many fish and sharks who tried to ambush him. Those were the easiest kills, since the beasts never anticipated that he would blast a Mana Slash or Aqua Lance at them without looking. From time to time, he tried to infuse his voice with mana, and thanks to the title, he made great progress.
He was far from dealing damage with it, but it was damn cool, and he could feel the power in his voice. It was more elegant than flaring his aura if you wanted to flex with your strength. Good thing he had always loved swimming and being the tidecaller serpent his nuclear weapon. Something he had often dreamed of when diving.
Now he would have to massacre a few more beasts before he could start his journey to Kael’s camp. It was risky. If Maike and Kaldrek had changed their opinion of him, this could be a trap, and there wouldn’t be an ocean he could escape to.
He had used his spying crystal to watch some of Kael’s meetings, but he didn’t find anything truly important. One meeting was about what weapons they should buy if they had to attack the undead bastions. Another was about when Evelyn and Kargul would come back from their long hunt. It seemed like no one had considered the possibility that someone would secretly stay behind and not advance to the next stage, or they didn’t speak of it in Kael’s chambers. Anyway, he needed to get some levels in.
There was a fight to come that he would very much like to win. The main reason to be the leader of the humans Kael would leave behind was credits. Information or extra pentagrams for those outsiders must be expensive. Depending on how much he could boost himself, now might decide his future. If he were able to fight level 80 beasts or even low E-grade ones, he might level up fast enough for a future fight with his former friends. With that, he put out another corpse. “Come here, fishy, fishy,” he said with his mana-reinforced voice.
<--
Their generous mistress, Nerissa Serwyn, had spent the last few days thinking intensively of the best way to torture them. The solution was to cut them into pieces and then heal them to start the process again. Josh and Jack were bound to chairs, and a gentleman stood in front of Josh, holding a pincer in one hand and a glowing metal rod in the other. The pincer slowly moved down to the big toe on his right foot. In the background, a group of nobles waited for the entertainment to begin.
“Please, not my big toe,” Josh screeched in horror as the pincer neared his toe.
The man didn’t listen, and with a grin, pinched off the first toe. Josh started to scream, which became louder as the man pressed the glowing metal rod onto the wound.
“Please, is there not something I can do?” Josh yelled in panic, but the nobles just giggled.
The gentleman cut off all the toes of his right foot, which made Josh cry in pain and agony, throwing his body around, but it all didn’t help.
“Please, mercy! I’ll do everything you want!” Josh cried in pain.
“This was truly worth it,” one of the nobles laughed as Josh started to lose the toes on his left foot.
“Just kill me. What do you even want?” Josh cried, with tears running down his cheeks.
It only made the nobles laugh louder, while the man pinched off his other toes and pressed the glowing metal rod on every new wound. Josh screamed and thrashed in his shackles with every toe he lost.
“You would be a good gymnast for the uneven bar. I heard tiny feet will give you a big advantage compared to your competition,” Jack tried to lighten the mood.
“Jack, this is all your fault!” Josh cried in pain as the man cut off his tiny finger.
“Not everything is bad. I heard for the Yakuza, it’s a sign of strength to have your pinky finger pinched off.” Jack tried his best.
“Please leave me alone. I can’t do this anymore,” Josh cried, which turned into a high-pitched screech when the man cut off the next finger and pressed the metal rod onto the open wound.
“I believe in you, Josh. You’re a strong man. Pain is just a construct in your head and doesn’t really exist.”
“AHHHH!” Josh screamed as the man pinched off the next fingers, with only one left.
“Why are you even punishing me? I am the crab!” Josh murmured, close to fainting.
The man just took his last finger and turned his gaze to Jack.
“Yes, continue with the other one until this one has recovered,” Nerissa laughed after Josh had slumped over, with saliva dripping from his mouth.
Then a guard opened the door and after a bow, said, “Lady Nerissa, Princess Seraphina has ordered me to free these two slaves. They are warriors of Kael’s base.”
“You are joking! She can’t do that!” Nerissa hissed at the guard.
“I am not. In fact, I have orders to bring them to the mainland immediately,” the guard said in a commanding tone.
“Oh, YES, man! We both got lucky! The help comes before any real harm could be done,” Jack cheered happily, while Josh passed out from the pain.
<--
Steven plunged his lance into the head of a mantis akridon, killing the creature.
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You have killed Mantis Akridon Level 74
You have reached Level 70
Finally, he had managed to reach level 70. It took so many hunts, but it was all worth it. His god had already told him that because of his legendary class, he needed more experience for every level-up. The reason was that he got more stats with every level-up than an epic class, for example.
It also would help him in the higher tiers, where it would get difficult to fulfill the evolution requirements. Solarion had told him that just having enough experience was not enough. You also needed to pass a certain threshold of stats, for example. The bad thing was that Thorwald had surpassed him in levels. That didn't mean that Thorwald was stronger, but it helped him a lot to gain new followers. In the last days, many more survivors had joined his base, but most of them wouldn't move on with them. It would be very difficult for them to survive, even when most beasts were at level 40.
Some strong ones were at level 70. The survivors arrived on the third stage at level 25. This came close to a death sentence, since hunting those beasts should be impossible. He asked his patron about leaving some warriors behind, but he had declined. They would need every man at the fourth stage to fight the undead. Another point why they needed every man were the elves. No one knew what they were up to. According to the gods, they were most likely already on the fifth stage of the tutorial.
He wondered if anyone had already managed to reach E grade, but he doubted it. Steven had leveled nonstop to get to level 70. Even when on the fourth stage, the level of the beasts was a bit higher, they wouldn't be that much ahead. Every level needed so much more experience. He doubted he could reach E grade before the tutorial ended. He didn't even know if he wanted to instantly evolve. The only advantage was that you got longevity, and every level-up would give almost double the stats of an F grade level-up.
It would not improve the body like it did in the last two evolutions. Another downside of instantly evolving was that his evolution options wouldn't be as good. He might even lose the legendary class. Steven would very much like to upgrade his class to mythic on the evolution to E grade. Those were struggles for the future.
For now, he needed to dominate the tutorial, and the moment the special quest was over, he would kill Thorwald. That guy was just a pain to deal with. He could already see how Thorwald instantly evolved to E grade to finally be stronger than Steven. This would force him to evolve as well, missing out on the opportunity to get a mythic class.
Steven summoned his wings and flew back to his base. It was time to make the last preparations until they would ascend to the fourth stage. It was tragic that they hadn't found a method to stay in contact with the other camps after the teleport if the distance was too great. This would most likely happen, as every stage was bigger than the last one, according to the gods, with the fifth stage being the biggest.
This would make it harder to fulfill the special quest with all the undead and orcs fighting against them. They had already ordered him to kill that Ankhet at all costs, and the promised rewards were great. To get his blessing upgraded would be a big stat boost alone.
<--
Kaldrek was training the whole day with sweat pouring down his back. Not because the training was though exhausting, but because Sylas had watched him the past five hours. Always being near him, even when he had been eating in Lars' inn, was he still there. Kaldrek didn't understand how so many liked Sylas so much.
It seemed that it had only increased after he had defeated the evil Thalion. Now he could see through his facade. Something was off with that young man. He was always nice and told stories of his personal life, but in the end, it was just a means to an end.
He didn't know what for, but one thing was clear: he wouldn't trust Sylas one bit. Kaldrek just hoped that the plan with the teleportation circle would work out. Only two more hours, and it would be time. Lucan had messaged him that he was only waiting for the other smith to leave his smithy. This was also troubling. Lucan was ordered to prioritize helping other smiths in their craft rather than doing his own stuff. Good thing he had already finished the teleportation circle yesterday and had already tested it.
It took Kaldrek some time to find the hammer he had teleported, even after Lucan had told him the general position. He would really miss the food here. Lars really knew how to make the best out of the beasts. His favorites were spider legs. They tasted the same as crab meat, and he had always loved crab meat or grilled squids, which were also delicious.
"Hey, Kaldrek, I heard that you have spoken with Thalion after he fled from here," Evelyn said while sitting down beside him.
Kargul stood behind her, and the giant turtle was floating above her. Good thing the ceiling of the inn was over 20 meters high. Otherwise, the almost seven-meter-long turtle would have problems hovering above like a balloon.
"Yes, I did," Kaldrek slowly answered, watching the very interested Sylas in the back.
"So, what happened?" Evelyn asked, leaning forward.
"Uh, he was fighting a dangerous man, and after killing the man, we saw our chance to end him, but he did escape," Kaldrek tried to stick to the story.
"Interesting, which level was he?" Evelyn continued her questioning while crossing her arms before her.
"I think it was 42 or 43," Kaldrek said, not sure, "why are you even so interested in what had happened?"
"Just curious, nothing else. We were also searching for him, but didn't find him," Evelyn shrugged, leaning back.
"Oh, is this my favorite customer?" Lars exclaimed, coming out of the kitchen, looking up at the turtle.
Vorlok happily bounced up and down in the air.
"Come, I got some new dishes you can rate," Lars said while motioning the turtle into the kitchen.
Vorlok floated over and broke the door when he flew through to enter the kitchen.
"So, what have you been doing the last days?" Kaldrek tried to continue after the turtle left.
"We were hunting and smashed a big termite," Kargul announced loudly.
"Wanna join our celebration?" Kargul said while sitting down beside him.
"Sure, why not, I'm already finished with my guard duty," he said, not sure if it was the right idea.
"Yes, time to get drunk!" Kargul roared and put multiple bottles of vodka on the table. "I really love this human drink."
"What level was the termite you defeated?" Kaldrek asked while waiting for the orc to stop filling up his mug with vodka. It sadly didn't happen until the mug was completely filled and pushed in front of him.
"No, I swear, the guy had a black pillar with people stuck in it," Kaldrek murmured, completely drunk a few hours later and after many bottles of vodka.
He had never been a good drinker, and the orc was a very good drinker, although not the kind of person who could let you miss out on a round of this superstrong drink.
"What do you mean by completely stuck in it? Did they build the pillar on the people?" Evelyn asked curiously, who somehow was completely sober even after drinking a whole bottle by herself.
"No, I think he could put people in there after it was built," Kaldrek tried to escape the questioning.
"Haha, that sounds funny. I would like to push someone into a wall too," Kargul laughed loudly and hammered with his fist on the table.
"What happened then with the pillar?" Evelyn asked, intrigued, not letting him off the hook.
"Kaldrek, there you are," Maike interrupted the conversation after entering the Lars inn.
"Hello, you two. I'm so sorry to interrupt, but we are both already late," Maike said while pulling the drunk Kaldrek out of the chair and pushing him in the direction of the door.
"It was nice celebrating with you," Kaldrek winked with a big smile on his face before Maike pulled him out the door.
"Have you gone crazy getting drunk like this?" Maike accused Kaldrek. "You need to go to Lucan. He is already waiting. By the way, didn't you notice Sylas sitting nearby, listening in?"
"Hello Maike, you are looking good today," Kaldrek said while leaning against the wall of the next house for support.
"Ahh, seriously, have you forgotten what you want to do tonight?" Maike hissed, trying not to be suspicious.
"Hey, you two, this is my friend Maike, she is hot." Kaldrek laughed loudly at two people leaving the inn, giggling.
"Okay, just follow me," Maike said, annoyed while pulling Kaldrek along.
"Is it just me, or is this place built on a slope?" Kaldrek said while stumbling along.
"Here, drink that," Maike said and gave him a healing potion.
"Maike, I don't think I should drink anymore. I might even be a little drunk, hehe," Kaldrek said while putting the healing potion in his spatial ring.
"Ah man!" Maike exclaimed while pulling him through the streets to Lucan's shop.
"What happened to him?" Lucan said with worry while helping Maike pull Kaldrek inside.
"I'm just a bit drunk, not a big deal," Kaldrek yelled, happy.
"Is everything ready? We need to be fast. Sylas might be on his way," Maike urged them on.
They carried the completely drunk Kaldrek down the stairs and laid him in the teleportation circle.
"So, you are coming with us?" Lucan asked Maike.
"I don't have a choice. I fear that Sylas might question me when you two disappear," Maike said worriedly.
"Okay then, go into the circle. It will be activated in 15 seconds," Lucan said while stepping inside the circle.
A moment later, the circle activated and they were teleported. It didn't feel like teleportation but more like they were moved very fast through all the stone walls by force.
"Ahh, god, that hurt," Maike said after they arrived in the jungle.
"A bit rougher than I first thought," Lucan added with blood running down his face.
"Now it's my turn. Don't worry about anything. I will protect you," Kaldrek mumbled before falling over.
"I think we are good," Lucan laughed. "We just need to wait for tomorrow to travel back."