When darkness started to engulf the wilderness, Hiraya finally reached her limit as 15 monsters were now standing tall in the Southern Part of the wilderness.
The territorial and superior monsters were now degraded into mere pets as four players sat on their backs. They were now mere transportation.
Atop a [Corporal Lion]'s head, Kevin looked at Alab as he motioned the latter to use his sword. The latter then nodded his head as he slaughtered an S-grade monster that was being pinned down by 10 other S-grade monsters.
Since Hiraya couldn't tame any more monsters, the group now concentrated on Althea securing life force and Alab stacking damage.
Riding on a [Vengeful Dove]'s back, Althea drained the life force of the subdued animal. She had used her skill for the 5th time now and she had reached her end as she dropped on the back of the Dove. Her body ironically drained of vigor as she had exhausted her mana.
Now, only Alab remained as he hit the eyes of the monster, bringing the monster to its death. The S-grade monster then died just like that.
With his body exhausted from constantly wielding his sword for hours now, Alab dropped on the back of [Nightmare Skull] as he panted for air.
"I think my stacked damage is enough now?", Alab muttered with a shaky breath.
On top of the [Corporal Lion], Kevin nodded his head as he looked at the area ahead of them. It was another territory of an S-grade monster. He then shifted his gaze to the sky as darkness became more apparent.
According to Hiraya, the SSS-grade player was only 8 territories ahead of them. He was still strolling deeper into the Center.
In the 8th territory resided the [Valiant Wyvern], an SS-grade monster. If they wanted to pursue the player, they had to defeat the Wyvern regardless. And to do that, Kevin proposed that they use the tamed monsters of Hiraya and the once-a-day usable skill of Alab.
"How much stock damage do you have?", Kevin asked.
Alab then opened his [Status Window] as he browsed through his skill. Looking at it with satisfaction, he muttered.
"I have 5,004 stock damage now!", he exclaimed.
Kevin then nodded his head as Althea pushed her little energy to commend Alab.
"That's powerful, bro!", she muttered.
"Not bad, my monsters could do more damage than that if given time", Hiraya uttered as she patted the head of the [Agile Black Panther] she was riding on.
Kevin on the other hand fixed his eyeglass as he pointed to the territory ahead of them.
"Now, test your skill on the monster ahead", he uttered as the tamed monsters stridden into the next territory. The tremors on the ground appeared worthless as they failed to restrict these S-grade monsters.
Alab then clenched the hilt of his sword as he gulped. He couldn't wait to see the strength of his skill!
Since his stack would reset once midnight hits, Kevin proposed that he test his skill first and attempt killing an S-grade monster to see how much damage would it take to kill one. Through that, they could also gauge the maximum health of an SS-grade monster and stack damage the next day.
After a while, they eventually arrived on the next territory as a massive sharp blade welcomed them. The [Agile Black Panther] then stepped forward as it parried the attack with its large paw.
ROARRRR
Releasing a roar, seven monsters came pouncing on the [Kneeling Mantis]. The Boss monster of that territory was then assaulted and defeated in no time.
With its head lying on the ground, swollen from the barrage of attacks, it heard footsteps getting closer. It then had a hard time opening its bloodied eyes as it saw 50 meters feet with a burning skull attached atop the limbs. It was a gruesome sight as the body seemed chopped to parts, leaving only feet and a skull.
On its head, seemingly unfazed by the fire, a young boy stood as he held a sword upwards. With a loud and excited shout, the sword came rushing downwards as an azure beam of lights dazzled through the darkness.
"Stack!"
It took the [Kneeling Mantis] a short time of adoration before the beam of light struck it. It felt immense agony overwhelmed its body as its entirety was submerged in the azure light.
It lasted only for a split second before its body disintegrated into particles that were blown away by the cool breeze of the nighttime.
The S-grade monster then died just like that, in a split-second that felt like a millennium full of suffering for the Mantis.
On the top of the [Nightmare Skull], Alab couldn't hold his excitement as he leaped through the air, with mouth agape at seeing the prowess of his skill.
"T---this, I killed it! In one hit!", he exclaimed as he continually jumped on the head of the Skull. In the next second, his celebration was halted as he involuntarily dropped to the burning skull, his body exhausted of mana.
"I made it!", he mumbled before he fell asleep and lost consciousness.
—--
"Bro is great, isn't he?!", a little and proud voice of Althea greeted the ears of Alab as he regained his strength.
"His skill has the potential indeed, so stop repeating the same words", Kevin uttered.
Seeing that Alab had woken up, Althea shortly jumped to him as he checked his body. As someone who healed him, she proudly examined her patient.
"Are you okay now, bro?", asked Althea as she helped him sit. They were now on the [Agile Black Panther]'s back with the burning skull on their side as their light source.
Nighttime had already hit before they knew it. Kevin handed a packed food to Alab who had gradually regained his strength. They then ate together.
While chewing on his food, Kevin butted in the cheerful chats of the three.
"Alab, tomorrow you will have to stack at least 10,000 damage, that is if we assume that SS-grade monsters have twice the maximum health as S-grade monsters.", he uttered.
With no way to determine the status of the monsters, they could only estimate it.
"Sure! Leave that to me!", Alab replied as he patted his chest.
Kevin then did his signature move as he added. "Tomorrow, we will be attacking monsters as move forward. Alab will be stacking damage along the way and when noon hits, we will be trailing the player. It is possible that he would find the item as soon as tomorrow noon so delays wouldn't be invited.", he muttered as the three could only lower their head hearing his speech.
Of course, they knew that their conversations midway caused a delay in their hunt.
whistle~
The three felt their neck turning numb as they tried to evade the thrown rock. (Slang)
"If you have anything you want to talk about, just talk it all right here, right now. I will be leaving the Tutorial as soon as I get the item", Kevin declared.
Hearing this, the three shifted their gazes to him. Their eyes appeared to ask for his reason.
They all thought that they had built a strong relationship by now and it would be common sense that whoever would get the item would help others secure at least an S-grade item.
Their brows knitted as they looked at Kevin, demanding his reason.
"My goal in entering this Tower is to get a cure. It could only be bought in the Tower. I have to get it as soon as possible… I hope you understand", he muttered as his voice became softer and softer. Though reluctant, he made sure to add the last phrase.
Hearing him, the three removed their gazes as they lowered their head. They didn't expect Kevin to share this much about his personal life. He was never the type to overshare.
Absorbing his words, the three nodded their heads as they looked at him.
"Gotya! You should get that cure, okay!"
"If you are short of Karma points, you could ask us for some when we exit the Tutorial"
"Tsk. And who told you that you will be the one who will get that item?! I will get that!"
Kevin couldn't help but feel warm hearing their replies. It took them by surprise that a soft smile exited his face.
"Hey! Hey! D— did you just smile?!", Alab exclaimed as he couldn't believe what he just saw. The calm and reserved Kevin, the Kevin who hates expressing his emotions… that Kevin just smile!
"I saw that. What the freak! That gave me goosebumps!", Hiraya added
"You look gorgeous with that smile on! You should smile always, little Kevin!", Althea complimented Kevin.
*cough
"Tck, who smiled? Exhaustion must have caused you to hallucinate", defended Kevin as he looked away and fixed his eyeglass. But, no matter how much he tried to conceal it, his blushed face betrayed him.
"He is blushing! HAHSHAHAHAHAHAA", Hiraya let out a wild laugh that disturbed the serene night.
The other two further put wood in the flame as they threw wild laughs of their own.
Kevin, still with blushed face, felt his nerve twitching at hearing their laughter and before he knew it, he had smacked the three's heads.
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Althea then became busy healing three bumps on their heads, with Hiraya having the smallest bump on her forehead.
"Y---you!", she mumbled
—--
"In terms of the item, the one who will get a hold of it first will then become its owner.", Kevin stated as they moved on to their discussion.
Nodding their heads, the three agreed as that would be the best and fair decision. That way, they would all have the chance to get the item.
Now, they all clenched their hands as they all decided to make sure to take hold of the item first.
"Ahm, about our goal for entering this Tower, will you help me to find my father?"
Breaking the silence, Althea gathered her resolve as she asked for their help. After all, it would be fastest to inquire for more helping hands.
She then proceeded with telling her the reason why she stopped receiving letters from her father years ago.
Empathizing with her, the three nodded their heads as they promised to help her. They fully understand the courage it took her just to ask for their help and they as friends, couldn't possibly discard that.
"We will", they muttered, bringing a grin to Althea's face. She was glad to have found them.
Kevin then looked at Hiraya and Alab as he asked for their life back on Earth. He was curious to know what they were like back on Earth and was eager to know them more.
However, trying to recall their past, the two felt their headache as they dropped on the back of the Panther. Their hands hardly pressed on their head as the pain became unbearable.
"ARGHHHH!!!!", with loud shouts escaping their mouth, the two cried in pain as they couldn't remember anything.
ARGHHHHH
With tears overwhelming their eyes, an agonizing pain assaulted their body as both of them lost consciousness.
Clueless at what happened, Althea and Kevin looked at them in shock.
Hours later… Alab and Hiraya opened their eyes. Looking at the wilderness before them, they let out a wide grin as they uttered.
"It's still nighttime?", they uttered, seemingly unaware of what happened…
The other two could only look at each other as they felt troubled.