Before the two other crows could gain much altitude, Amanda and Celia hit them with their ice arrows. The monsters felt that attack, unlike the Tree Lord, which had high elemental resistance. Luke used that chance to attack the monsters with his Weapon Augmentation Lv 03, and he confirmed that the power and the number of projectiles increased. Still, it hadn't been enough to kill the beasts.
The crows opened their mouths in the next moment and fired the burst of wind toward Luke, but this time, he reacted on time and ran to the sides to dodge it. The beasts tried that a few more times and made a weird impact when the attacks hit the ground, but Luke didn't get hit by them. Meanwhile, Amanda and Celia kept hitting the monsters with their long-ranged attacks. They could tell that the monsters were suffering a lot of damage, so they kept at it. However, due to the pain, they decided to attack them and ignore Luke in a fit of rage. They flew toward them at a fearsome speed.
"Dumbasses… learn to control the aggro," Luke said and dashed toward the monsters.
Naturally, the crows were much faster than Luke, so he couldn't stop both of them. Fortunately, Amanda and Celia were smart enough to concentrate their next wave of attacks on one of the monsters to finish it off. Meanwhile, Luke dashed toward the other, and he used Stinger to catch up with the beast at the last moment. The reach of the skill also increased with the cot, so Luke covered fifteen meters in a single second, making his rapier reach the left side of the monster and pierce its neck. This time, the beast screamed in agony, but it didn't last for long in the end.
You obtained 18 experience points.
You obtained 18 gold coins.
The fight didn't last long since the monsters didn't have high endurance as expected, but the group had to use a lot of energy. Even Luke… not to mention, he could tell that the screams had attracted other crows. Fortunately, not everything was bad news…
Chainmail (Common)
A protective gear that offers high resistance against most types of attacks in exchange for some mobility.
SPE -1, END + 5
Durability: 15/15
While exchanging mobility for endurance wasn't the best of ideas, Luke wore the chainmail since the decrease in his speed was minimal. With that, he also will be able to fight a little more without worrying about suffering major damage on his vital spots from all enemies.
"How long until your mana is completely restored?" Luke asked.
"Five minutes," Amanda replied.
"Same here," Celia added.
"I guess we can go another round," Luke said.
"Why are you fighting in the darkness again when it is so dangerous?" Amanda asked.
"For what else? To grind levels," Luke said. "You heard Billy, the exits of the city are all blocked by zombies, so we will have to force our way out. Besides, the zombies are evolving. We can't let them become stronger than us."
Speaking of zombies, the noise of the battle also attracted some of them. Stanley, Leah, Patrick, and Olivia moved to block them because they knew those types of enemies were the only ones they could face right now.
"While those weapons are useful, won't it be better if we get some firearms?" Amanda asked.
"I doubt that we will find any shop that sells those open or that haven't been scavenged," Luke said. "While firearms could be useful, we should get used to fighting without them."
As soon as Luke finished talking, another group of crows appeared. They noticed the second group that was dealing with the zombies, but Luke grabbed their attention by firing two knives toward their faces. It caused some damage, but it hadn't been enough since he only used Weapon Augmentation level one due to his mana level. That being, Luke already had a plan even before the monsters flew toward him, he moved away a little bit from Amanda and Celia, and when the beak of one of the monsters was just five meters away from, Luke used his flashlight right in the eyes of the creature. The monster got blinked for a second, and Luke dodged the charge by jumping over it. The beast hit the stone walls of Luke's garage head-on and fell unconscious.
"Focus on attacking only one of them to kill it as soon as possible," Luke said and then used his remaining mana to bombard the face of the other monster with a knife.
The creature was enraged by the strike, but it wasn't stupid enough to charge at him after what happened a few seconds before. For a bird brain, it sure was smart… Nevertheless, the monster tried to hit Luke with its wind attack, but he quickly moved around the area to dodge all of them. Meanwhile, the other crow was being hit by alternate attacks of Amanda and Celia, preventing it from attacking or even approaching. It looked like the last battle made them level up, and they used those status points to increase their attack power yet again. Thanks to that, the third monster died without being able to do anything.
The Corrupt Crow that was attacking Luke got enraged after the second of its comrades fell dead. So, it lost all the little intelligence that prevented it from charging recklessly at Luke. Still, the monster was smart enough to fly toward Luke while planning to pierce his heart with its beak, but before that, it fired a gust of wing toward him. The attack hit Luke's head, but he endured the pain. He did that to repeat the same tactic as before, to jump and dodge at the last moment. However, he was in the middle of the street this time, so the monster knew it wouldn't hit anything if it missed it. Luke knew exactly what the beast was thinking, and because of that, after jumping, he used Stinger in midair while aiming toward the monster's forehead. The critical attack easily pierced the monster's brain.