There are things that went on Zeke's mind as he made his Conjured monsters fight off the remaining wood scouts. One of these is the fact that, his newly conjured Goblin Champion was able to use the weapon [Mol'thaw's Blade].
The weapon has a level requirement of [30] before being used. However, monsters do not have any levels. What they have are ranks and, these goes up as they gain more experience in battle. However, he noticed that the passives of [Mol'thaw's Blade] were also locked. Leading him to conclude that, depending on a monster's rank, a high-grade weapon would have some of its features unavailable.
"Still, it's good that I let it use the weapon for now." Zeke said, watching the monster slice down a Wood Scout who uses a short sword.
Among the ranks of his conjured monsters, there are now four which completely stands out. The first among them is Samael who is born from the combination of all the Goblin Skeletons in the [Secret Dungeon. Then there is [Al-Kuz Al-Haddar] whose name is too long so Zeke just calls it Al. This is the conjured version of a Viper Bandit Captain. Zeke was unsuccessful in bringing up the other two captains and, quite frankly, he didn't feel it as much of a loss as Al seem to be stronger than the two.
The third is the combination of the three useless adventurers. A composition of one Swordsman and two archers. Creating a warrior using a Bladebow as a primary weapon. Then there is the last one, the Goblin Champion who is born after Zeke leveled up his weak Goblins and then merged them together.
He also decided to give a name to the [Goblin Champion], thinking how calling it 'Champion' would be cringey later on.
"It'll be ironic to have that name and lose right?" He thought to himself, going to the options menu and giving names to both the Goblin Champion and the Bladebow user. The former has been named [Gull] while the latter has been named [Cull].
He only brought out the four of these but, they have completely wiped the floor with the Wood Scouts. Cull took care of the ones that tried escaping while, the other three focused on cutting down the enemies in front of them. Even if they get hit by any attack, they don't feel pain as they are only animated corpses composed of nothing but mana. This is similar to Zeke's newly acquired [Gamer's Body] which nullifies any physical pain he may experience.
While doing this, he also looked at the current status of Allesiah, wondering how strong she has gotten from all the fights that went on.
[Name: Allesiah]
[Species: Elf]
[Specification: Spellcaster]
[Level: 27]
"Ohh, so she's now level 27 huh?" Zeke said to himself, thinking how much progress this actually is. After all, she gains experience even from the monsters that she doesn't kill.
"I'll probably need to level up the contract spell soon. Getting my monsters and Allesiah to level up faster will make the completion of quests much easier." As Zeke said this, he thought of an idea, conjuring out every monster he owns which now surrounds a tiny portion of the forest.
"Find and kill every monster inside the forest." Zeke said, dispersing his minions to do his bidding.
The thought that crossed Zeke's mind is actually that, if he cleans the whole place up, then his monsters will probably level up even faster, giving them higher chances of finishing off stronger opponents. Furthermore, with all of the Wood Scouts massacred, there aren't any guardians to the forest anymore, making it dangerous for people to come through it.
As Zeke performed this, a notification came out, making him even more pumped up to clear out the forest.
[Hidden Quest Activated: Wipe out the monsters inside the forest.]
[Reward: 10 Random Skills will be given to the gamer.]
[Reward: A meeting with the Goddess of the Hunt]
He couldn't care less about meeting with another deity. If anything, he wants to avoid meeting with any other god or goddess.
But the first skill is actually beneficial for him. With the [Skill Merging] option on the system, he can simply combine the useless skills he'll gain in order to acquire a better skill.
"It's either that or I'll get upgraded trash." Zeke thought to himself.
As Zeke went to deliver the final blow to the Wood Scouts, other things are also beginning to be set in motion.
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…
…
Usually, King Aeolus would simply lose track of where Hark and Sylvia have gone as, they continue moving from town to town.
However, this time there is an informant. One who gave the exact coordinates of the family and, a method to take them down.
"Are the troops ready?" King Aeolus stood at the balcony of his castle, overlooking the whole capital of Elysium.
"Yes my Lord. We are awaiting your orders." Replied an elven soldier. He knelt and looked down, positioning himself close enough for the king to hear.
"Good. I want that area surrounded before sundown." The King commanded.
"I don't care what measures you use. After you've occupied the town. Burn down houses, torture some civilians, do what needs to be done to bring Sylvia back. That's all that matters." The King said, thinking of the woman who made him fall deeply and madly in love.
"Understood my Lord." With that the soldier stood up and went for the door.
"Oh and…" The King, added another reminder.
"…death will be waiting for you if you fail."
"U-understood my Lord." The soldier said, afraid that his own life would be taken if they fail.
The king remembered his acts right after he got the scroll. It has been years and frankly, he has never gotten any strong lead on where Sylvia is…that is, until that scroll came. He blew some fuse by hitting more dummies. That time, he shot at the vital points, firing until he had no arrows left. After this, he got a servant to come inside and pick up all the arrows. He then repeated the same process…over and over…until his head finally cleared out.
"I'll get you back." He told himself.
"I'll get you back even if I have to burn the whole of Elysium just to do it."
After this, he went and consulted with his friend Erio on how they should accomplish the mission. His friend suggest that they should just bring a small group.
"A handful of assassins and a good horse rider." He advised the King.
Entei knows that an operation like this would only turn into a disaster if too much soldiers are deployed. The number would attract attention, which in turn would alarm the ones nearby and, possibly, alarming the target of the operation. However, the King did not listen to this.
"That Blademaster is a brutal warrior. He'd kill her even before we get our hands on my beloved bride." He said, still thinking that the Blademaster is just holding her hostage.
"We need to deploy more troops. Send in three of the most powerful squads you have." The King commanded.
*Sigh*
"You're the boss." Erio replied, worrying about how the mission will turn into a disaster because of the King's poor choice.
Right after this, Erio went and selected the troops to be used. 300 men strong who will march towards the town next to the Capital. Erio didn't make them march all at once however. He deployed the soldiers little by little in order to not raise any alarm.
Erio have actually dwindled these numbers. He is still opposed to having a large number of troops deployed. So, he took the minimum; one that King Aeolus will approve of.
This all leads us back to the scene at the balcony. Erio glances at his friend as the King stood proudly and looked at them marching out of the city. At times he is happy that his friend became the King. But more often than he'd wish, he is frightened by the fact that, his friend is turning more and more like the former king.