❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.50 Treant King killed.

Your level is too high; No experience received.

You have killed a P.15 Class Wild Boss.

The Party is awarded 2 Free Points, Two Instant Level Ups, & 100k Talys!

Level up!

Level up!

+2 Free Points.

+0.2 STR, SPD, INT.

Requirement for level up updated.

Current progress: 54/580

❮ ◈ ❯

The notification resounded for everyone as they were still amazed by the humongous crater left by Nyx’s magic, which was still thundering every now and then because of the left-over lightning.

Allan whistled as he powered down his Elemental Reinforcement. “Damn, that’s some firepower you got there. What Tier was that?”

“Four,” the goddess said with a small tired sigh. “Though, I didn’t use it at full power.”

“One tier above Cataract, huh?” Rakna muttered to himself and reverted to a therian. He glanced at the crater one last time and as if on cue, a flash of light appeared for an instant before two objects were left in the middle. “Hm, as always, the drops only appear a moment after the end of the battle.”

[That is a measure put in place by Eva herself,] Alexa remarked. [With this, it’s impossible to steal drops because that would be considered an aggression to the other party and therefore initiate a battle, thus preventing the drops from appearing in the first place. However, it could still end in a robbery depending on the result of the battle itself.]

“Interesting,” Rakna whispered as Flavia used her telekinesis to bring back the drops since no one was eager to walk into the sparking crater. “Still, those are some nice rewards. Can I assume Wild Bosses are usually rare?”

[Yes. Wild Bosses are very sought after for the awarded levels and points upon killing one. That is why they generally are rapidly hunted whenever one is spotted.]

The first item was a skill card and the second one was a pair of dark green and black gloves.

When Flavia grabbed them, the first description that she got was the card. When she saw what it was, her eyes dilated and her mouth opened wide. “Oh…”

“What’s wrong?” Allan asked.

“Well… see for yourself,” she said and shared the information with the party.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Spell Card/Wood Spell

Name: Emerald Orb of Nidhogg

Tier: 5

Learning Requirements: Lv. Max Wood Magic, Lv. Max Mana Control, Any meditation skill.

Description:

Concentrate your spiritual power to gather both your mana and ambient natural energy to form a sphere of raw power. The more vibrant the environment, the stronger and faster it becomes.

Living organisms except plants will be affected by this spell in a particular way. Upon exploding, the ones in range will be infected by natural energy and their flesh and blood will turn into wood and sap.

Vines and flowers will grow on their skin and then pierce into them before exploding in a very focused and small blast. The surroundings will also become a deadly trap, the more greenery, the more dangerous.

Cost: 70% of Mana Pool.

Magic Attack: MA multiplied by 7. The effectiveness and invasiveness of the contaminating process will depend on the caster’s proficiency and affinity with Wood Magic and natural energy.

❮ ◈ ❯

“So, that’s the spell that thing was going to cast at the end,” Marie commented. “That was indeed a close call. Turning into wood and then being stabbed and blasted by plants doesn’t sound like a very enjoyable prospect.”

“You don’t say,” Allan snickered.

“You can keep that one,” Rakna said to Flavia. “Other than Tyran, you’re the only here who has Wood Magic. The little terror has already enough to play around with his Nirvana Skill and there’s no advantage in selling it either so just learn it when you can.”

She nodded and stored the card before continuing onto the gloves. At first, she thought it would be a good item to give to Allan but she had to reconsider that when she took a look at the details.

❮ ◈ ❯

Designation: Primary Accessory/Gloves

Name: Grasp of Mother Nature

Rarity: Purple

Durability: 100%

Description:

A pair of gloves weaved by the natural components of the world. Anyone who wears it becomes a beacon of natural energy and able to wield it to some extent to enrich their body and mind.

Effect: +125 DEF & ATT

Perks:

Nature’s Blessing: The materials of the item are blessed by nature and if not completely destroyed, will repair themselves over time as long as there is an adequate amount of ‘life’ nearby.

Fruit of Nature: The gloves constantly gather natural energy and share it with the wearer at all times, allowing them to receive several buffs.

+5% SEN & SWI.

-1% to 10% Mana Consumption (depending on the location).

+10% MA when using nature-related magic.

+20% DEF against nature-related magic.

Channeling: Transfer the natural energy around you to your weapon or body to strengthen it in any way you wish. The effect is marginal if there is not enough energy to work with. This is a perk that can easily be countered by stronger magic, aura, or nemesis elements.

Note: A Primary Accessory doesn’t take a slot, just as Hex Items. It is meant to be an item used in conjunction with the user’s fighting style as well as providing support in various ways.

❮ ◈ ❯

“Well, this is pretty much made for you,” Rakna snorted. “You can take it as well.”

Flavia was hesitant to take all of it for herself but when she saw that everyone agreed, she nodded and put on the gloves, which instantly glowed and flooded her body with energy. She breathed in at the pleasant feeling and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Anyway, let’s explore the area,” Rakna followed up. “If we don’t find anything of notice, we’ll just fly up and try to find a town or something. Before that, let’s try to get everyone to level 50 if we can at least. Then I’ll go with Flavia to the 13th, where a Dungeon called Marie’s Tomb is located.”

“…whose tomb?” The lamia blinked several times.

“Well… coincidence, I guess. Marie is even a name you gave yourself,” the therian shrugged.

“Come on, man, that’s a flag if I’ve ever seen one,” Allan deadpanned. “But whatever. I think I’ll go to Black Steel with her later anyway.”

“We’ll see later if we split up. For now, let’s go on a hunt. It is finally time to try that out,” Rakna said with a meaningful tone as he looked at Pronos who tilted his head perplexingly.

* * *

Rakna impaled the leg of a large monkey-like monster that they had encountered whilst exploring the dark woods. They had come at them in numbers but their strength was barely reaching the thirties level-wise.

They were made quick work of and were tied up by Rakna and Nyx with chains made out of their respective elements. “Okay, little guy, if it works, then the longer you maintain it, the harder it’ll be for you,” Rakna began as he stood in front of a struggling monkey. “Here’s how this is going to go. You will use your magic then I’ll kill it instantly after to waste the less time possible. Got it?”

Pronos nodded seriously and the others watched in wonder as Rakna proceeded to grasp the head of the creature. His arm started releasing cold mist and the monkey began to lose its awareness ever so slowly.

Rakna squinted, his eyes keeping a check on the status of the monster every second. After a short while and when the monster’s eyelids were closed, he opened his mouth, “Now.”

Pronos’ eyes shone blue and green and an infinity circle encompassed the monster in the blink of an eye. The symbol then spun and expanded at once before vanishing right before Rakna extended his claws and pierced the creature’s brain.

❮ ◈ ❯

Lv.46 (29) Dark Wood Primate killed.

Your level is too high; no experience gained.

❮ ◈ ❯

Everyone in the party also got the notification and a share of the experience and all of them were shocked to see what was stated in it.

“Wait a goddamn second, what did you just do?” Allan couldn’t help asking.

“The little guy used Infinity Magic to alter a numerical value,” Rakna replied matter-of-factly. “In this case, he upped the level of the target. Though it probably was just superficial. But it still tricked the System into giving us experience matching a level 46 mob instead of a level 29.”

“Damn, that’s nuts.”

"Agreed,” Marie nodded. “I’m almost jealous that I do not have a pet snake like him… almost.”

“So, how hard was it?” Rakna asked the little snake who reacted with an unruffled expression. “It’s not too heavy on mana?” The therian followed up and Pronos shook his head. “Hm, perhaps it was easy because your level was higher than what you increased it to. We’ll have to experiment on that like before, but for now… let’s wrap this up,” he declared as he glanced at the remaining primates squirming under the magic bindings.

* * *

For the three hours that followed, the party explored the woods, which never seemed to end. They encountered many Wilden on the way, some weaker or stronger, and as Pronos began to get more and more used to altering levels, whilst getting his refill of mana from Rakna’s reverse application of Soul Drain, they slowly but surely reached level 50.

“Finally!” Allan complained. “Everywhere I look is just trees, trees, monkeys, and trees. I’m going crazy; everything looks the same and we even haven’t found some sort of special structure.”

“Wait… but how do we leave the Plateau without getting to the Pavilion?” Nyx asked.

“Well, we can just use my-” Rakna paused and blinked a few times. ‘Alexa, quick question, when I use my Badge to jump between Plateaus, can I bring other people with me?’

[Negative.]

His eyebrow twitched. “Right… that was a miscalculation from my part,” he uttered ultimately and the group looked at him with a wry look.

Allan sighed tiredly. “Isn’t this the moment where your freaky luck is supposed to hit us like ‘bam! problem solved!’ kinda way?”

Rakna scowled irritatingly. “Why would that even be a thin-” He was interrupted once more as he heard growls and steps approaching from inside the forest. He was the only one to hear them since they were still a bit far from the party and his senses were far above theirs. But the most important thing was that he was instinctively aware of what those growls belonged to.

“…Allan,” he said with an oddly resigned voice which confused the blond a bit.

“What?”

“The fact that you were technically not wrong is really grating my nerves,” the therian voiced with an aloof tone, and Allan let out a ‘Eh?’ whilst blinking. “So, I hope you won’t mention it again, for both myself… and you.”

The brawler was downright mystified but if there was one thing he knew, it was to never piss his childhood friend off and he was already discerning the first signs of it. So, he did the only thing he could do to avoid, “I’m deeply sorry… for whatever I did.”

Rakna grunted and looked over his shoulder as everyone finally started hearing the noises closing in from within the forest. After a short moment, a large black wolf leaped at them.