He couldn't go back to the forest. It was sure enough that the mantises were going to look out for him. And he didn't want to imagine what the angry mob would do to him.
Should I just go over around the forest?
Going around would take him two days at least. But there could also be good materials there.
After thinking about it thoroughly, Elliot decided to go around.
'Level Up'
'Level Up'
'Level Up'
…
'Pixie Liver Soup taken. +2,500XP'
'Rain Squid Juice taken. +4,000XP'
'Might River Pawn Stew taken. +5,000XP'
…
Before he knew it, the extra 2 days caused him to level up. The detour was worth it.
The awful recipes The Manual provided gave him the boost he needed.
<< APRIL Max >>
Level 23
Class: Creator
Occupation: None
Subclass: None
HP: 25,000/25,000
MP: 2,500/2,500
XP: 250/25,000
As he levels up, the Console changes its appearance. After acquiring his Adventuring name and Class – to which he wasn't upset about anymore – his Profile was separated from his Stats. His title was also gone. This worried Elliot somehow.
[ Stats:
Strength: 19,500
Speed: 17,250
Magic: 12,700
Defense: 17,250 ]
He could now call himself an actual Adventurer. He wasn't weak anymore. In fact, he could hunt beasts that he cowers over before.
Beasts were divided into ranks; Sprout, Fine, Might, Great, Grand, and Boss. Each tier of beasts has significant gaps, especially after Might-ranks. Great beasts were considered destructive and could destroy a village.
Elliot could easily kill Might-rank bests now. Unlike how he barely managed to kill the Might Boar, he could now hunt Might-ranks with ease.
Adventuring is fun. He thought.
He got inside Isabelle's shop and was instantly greeted by a grinning woman.
"Finally!"
Elliot made sure to keep his Spatial Magic a secret. He was brought along a large bag that contained the Silver Mantises.
She handed him a box that contained the Level Suppressing Gem he needed. After checking it out, a message popped up.
'Quest: Silver Mantis Hunt Completed.'
"Now tell that old man to pay me," Isabelle warned with narrowed eyes. "Or else I'll come for you instead. Got it?"
Elliot only smiled and chuckled awkwardly before exiting the shop. He was sure it wasn't his last time there.
Putting the box in his Inventory, he was about to go to Francoise's shop when the bell tower rang.
"Strike Warning! A large horde of Great Boars is coming. All Adventurers on standby, please report to the East Tower immediately!"
"Strike Warning Threat Level, Gamma!"
Something like this was called a Strike. A Strike is when a hoard of beasts attack a major city. This phenomenon happens once in three months, and this was the first time Elliot was going to participate in one.
Strikes are categorized into threat levels. A Delta Strike – the weakest – could harm a number of civilians, Gamma Strike – the intermediate – could harm buildings and people alike, a Beta Strike could potentially wipe out a city with all its inhabitants, and an Alpha Strike could wipe a country out.
Although Alpha Strikes were incredibly rare, cities have been destroyed by it. The most famous being Cacten, The Port City in the East and the cities around it. Even with the efforts of all the strong Adventurers and guilds, they were unable to save the city.
And most importantly, they lost a Guardian.
Dashing towards the East Tower of the city, he passed by Adventurers on the way while civilians would retreat to their homes. The rewards of a Strike would depend on the contribution of the Adventurer.
Each tower contains a crystal that measures how much an Adventurer helped during a calamity. It varies from hundreds of gold coins to a few bronze coins.
A Gamma Strike like this would help Elliot leap bounds if he could contribute enough. Earning gold coins and XP was a plus for him.
Since there would be a lot of Adventurers, he could focus on hunting. There are a lot of support Adventurers behind him that he doesn't need to worry about being injured.
In an event of a Strike, all Adventurers unite and form one huge guild.
Support would gain you points on the Measuring Crystal and being disobedient would deduct your points. This ensured that all Adventurers would work in harmony.
"Elliot!" a male voice called.
He looked around and saw Midnight and his guildmates.
"Good lord, you're already Level 23!" Midnight cheered. "You're ready!"
"Ready? For what?" Elliot asked.
Midnight opened his mouth, but the trembling of the ground made him stop.
"Let's talk about it later," Midnight said and smiled. The sky darkened to which Midnight grinned.
"Aw, man. This is unfair!" Sun exclaimed.
Midnight grinned and his eyes turned pitch black that scared Elliot. "Nightcrawlers thrive in the dark."
"Black Morph: Abyss."
Midnight's arms were covered in fur and claws replaced his hands. A sound of bones cracking resonated from his back and a pair of large black wings spread from behind him.
A series of black feathers started to grow on Midnight's knee down to his feet and in an instant, they were replaced with bird-like legs. There was a devil-like tail growing on Midnight's lower back and it wrapped around his right leg.
Elliot couldn't believe it, but Midnight's raven-black hair turned darker, just like the rest of the fur and feathers in his body. It was as if it was the color of darkness.
So, this is the power of a Level 100 shapeshifter. Elliot thought.
Everyone else's eyes were on Midnight. His aura screamed power that they couldn't help but feel sorry for the approaching beasts. With his power, Midnight could easily hunt a lot of beasts.
A bright light interrupted Elliot. He turned to his side and saw an almost similar transformation from Sun. While Midnight was pitch-black, Sun was pure white. It was as if he was covered with glowing snow.
Sun did not have his feet transformed, however. It had something to do with the light that hit their location.
<< Sun Cosmo >>
Level 87
Class: Shapeshifter
Occupation: None
Subclass: Lightkeeper
Elliot could now understand why Azure Scorch had only a few members. If these two members were as powerful as guild masters already, they didn't need to have more members.
What was puzzling was that why did they fell to the last spot. Being in the top 100 was promising since they were featured in the continent but based on Elliot's calculations, they could be the strongest guild in the city. They had to be at least on the Top 50.
A disheveling of his hair made Elliot snap out of his thoughts.
"We still have a Strike to finish, kid. Stop daydreaming."
The trembling got stronger and the man who messed Elliot's hair stood in front of everyone.
His red harlequin jacket that was hanging from his arms waved as a strong force of energy gathered in front of him. Spitting his cigarette out, a blaze of blue flames flared in his hands.
Frederick sighed and looked at Elliot, "Guess we'll have pork for dinner."
"Flaming Barrage!"
Elliot's eyes widened. A stalwart force of blue flames erupted from Frederick's palm. The flames that viciously gushed from his attack burned almost half of the beasts to crisp.
He looked at Frederick as the flames slowly died down.
<< Frederick Everburn >>
Level 100
Class: Grand Sorcerer
Occupation: Guild Master
Subclass: Pyromancer