Chapter 11: Ultimate Skill
"We will be waiting for you! Come back fast, mom, Alex!" Celia held her plush toy tightly as she stared at her mother and friend.
Alex and Sara smiled at her broadly, then turned around.
They ran straight to the location where Stella, one of Sara's sisters, was.
Due to the level and stats difference, Alex was slower. However, Sara matched his speed, and they comfortably ran in their direction.
It wasn't like running at full speed was efficient. That would wear down their stamina too fast, bringing adverse effects.
"It hurts to leave her alone like that," Alex commented.
Sara glanced at him, "She's a strong girl."
"I know," Alex chuckled.
But inwardly, he knew that Sara shared the sentiment.
No one would make their children live in such a dark land as well. Of course, since Celia was also half-dullahan, she didn't really mind the dark sky. However, the castle was in a devastating state.
Although repairing it was part of his plan, Alex decided to prioritize it. He wanted his friend to have a nice room; with more colors if that were what Celia wanted.
Alex chuckled and peeked into his inventory.
[Health Potion(Low)x25]
[Health Potion(Strong)x1]
Since Alex was a newbie player, his inventory lacked good stuff. That changed after he swore to prepare well for the adventure.
He went to the treasury and tried to open it.
Of course, the grand doors didn't open to him. But they spat potion whose effectiveness was labeled [Strong]. In their current state, that was a life-saving potion.
Alex also checked his equipment and sword's durability.
While his clothes were more or less acceptable in terms of durability, his sword was on the verge of shattering. Even without the system, Alex would be able to tell that his bone sword soon would crumble.
He checked other swords from the skeletons and stuffed them in his inventory. He also took food with himself.
That was pretty much his preparation.
As the player, Alex could die and refill his hunger. But Sara and her sisters were different. He also didn't want to die and leave them alone, so the food was still important to him.
"I am just saying this in case, but I can die. If things turn south, I will use my body to buy time," Alex repeated this sentence for the third time already.
At first, Sara nodded. On the second time, she just stared at him.
And now, she turned her eyes toward him and asked, "Will you really respawn?"
"Of course," Alex nodded decisively.
He hadn't died in the game yet, so Sara couldn't tell whether the system didn't lie to her. What if players actually were the same, having just one life like them? It would be a surprise to players and NPCs.
Naturally, the penalty for dying was severe. Players would drop at least one valuable item after death, and they also would lose a lot of EXP. But that was still not the worst.
'We can respawn after twenty-four hours,' Alex inwardly whispered.
He heard about this penalty from his friend. On their adventure, they had faced one of the forest bosses. Many players often died in the first time run because they didn't know about the boss's abilities.
It was a similar case for them.
But when twenty-four hours penalty greeted them, Alex's friends regretted their rush. For a whole day and night, they were lifeless. Other games didn't even excite them, and they stared at the VR game's videos with jealousy and dead eyes.
Before that, though, they sent a few complaints to the game company, to no avail.
Alex didn't think much of that penalty. If he could save his wives with his death, he would do it without any thoughts.
But in that short exchange, he also no longer cared about the penalty. He saw concern in Sara's eyes, undoubtedly due to their relationship progress.
She was worried about him.
It didn't matter whether that worry stemmed from Alex being Celia's close friend or her own heart.
Alex was genuinely happy.
His happiness lasted until the duo noticed the golden pillar on the horizon.
Seeing that pillar, Sara's speed heightened, "It's Stella's Ultimate Skill!"
NPCs, whose level reset, had their ultimate skills. It was an Ultimate Skill that didn't require any level. It allowed them to increase their stats for a short time. That buff was adequate to their current level.
Without that Ultimate Skill, it would be much harder for them to stomp in the world. Their whole lives would be harsher.
"Ultimate Skill… So hungry demons must have progressed!" Alex inferred.
He sped up to not lose Sara from his view. Of course, Alex had already tested whether he could invite her to his party or not.
And as she was in his party, he wasn't worried about her whereabouts.
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After Alex caught up, the golden pillar was gone.
In its place, two peculiar individuals emerged. One of them was Stella, Sara's sister.
In her current form, she looked like a goddess. Her two wings spread widely and shone with bright holy light. Her white hair fluttered vividly as if she was surrounded by tornadoes.
Were it not for her torn clothes, she truly would've looked like an angel.
But her robes spoke tales about her predator.
And as Alex shifted his eyes to the hungry demon, he clenched his hands.
It was a werewolf with piercing red eyes. He stood on his two with slouched back. On his face, Alex saw an irritating smile.
His two claws let out thick and dark energy. That was his weapon, and those claws had hurt Stella and torn her clothes.
"Oh no! Looks like your sister has come to help! I am really fucked, am I not? Haha!" His tone was derisive and likewise annoying.
[Wolfen Demon Lv. 30 HP: 3405/5000 MP: 2357/3500]
[Hungry Demon.]
[You have met the hungry demon for the first time.]
[You have learned new information about them from Elias Deathwill's Diary.]
'He left the diary in the system. How thoughtful of you, father-in-law,' Alex jested inwardly.