Circe stopped disassembling the armor and stood up.
"Alright then, but I want the majority of the armor," she asserted.
Asura, attempting to win over Circe's loyalty, promised her, "I will give you 40% of it, don't worry."
Circe, taking a flirtatious demeanor to seduce Asura, held his hand.
Her warm breath brushed Asura's ear as she playfully agreed,
"Alright, don't forget your promise."
Inwardly, she cursed in frustration, '40%? Damn it, I practically soloed the boss myself.'
' You just came and stole my experience and points... It was only a matter of time before it died after its heart was pierced.'
Then, an array of notifications starts to appear.
[The Boss wave is finished.]
[You get 10 points!]
[The shop Feature has been Unlocked]
[Shop Item list has been updated]
[Calculating point rewards…]
[95 points have been added to the village]
[Calculating contribution rewards…]
[Points have been sent based on your contribution]
[Please Vote for an item to purchase for the village]
___________________________________________
A list of items was then shown to everyone:
Restore the village - 50 points
Restore the builder's defense - 100 points
Reinforced village building - 50 points
A reinforced wall with gate - 150 points
Ration meal - 30 points
Weapon Cache - 100 points
Barricades - 40 points
Ammo cache - 50 points
Heal everyone - 75 points
Guard Tower - 90 points
Moat - 50 Points
...
_________________________________________________________
[The vote will be concluded in 2 hours]
Looking at the item list, Faust then addresses Agony in his mind, 'Agony, how is the other side?'
Agony, linked with his avatar mind, easily answers Faust's question, 'We barely won. No one died, but many are injured; some have lost their limbs.'
Faust then starts to assess the situation, wanting as many people to survive as possible, 'So we still have 25 people. The next wave will be harder. Did you get all the crystals there?'
Agony begins calculating the crystals he gathered, 'Not all. I got one from the goblin healer, one from the orc hero, five from the wolf rider, and a few more from the wave bosses.'
Faust, knowing Agony's capabilities, finds it strange that he didn't get them all. Even Circe succeeded in this, 'Only five from the wolf rider? Where are the rest?'
Agony followed Faust's instruction to keep a low profile so he didn't snatch them all.
He answers, 'Some people seem to know about them too. I saw them take some secretly.'
Agony also asks Faust if he can eat some of the crystals.
Faust then realized the cause for agony failure, and it seemed that some Imagin had informed their new champion about the crystals.
How else would they know about it?
He then tells Agony to eat all of the crystals except for the ones from the goblin healer and orc hero.
Faust wanted Agony to become stronger quickly, curious about his next evolution.
If his hypothesis was correct, Agony could be the solution to what he needs the most now.
Agony responded, 'Alright.'
At the orc hero's corpse, Aurelia saw Nex cut it apart.
She had seen this many times before and wondered what he was really looking for.
So, she approached him and asked about it.
But Nex just shrugged his shoulders, lying, "Just tearing off its armor. It can be useful."
Aurelia replied, "Don't lie. I saw you pick something from inside it. You know we're in this together, right?"
Nex honestly wanted to answer Aurelia, but Leslie had told him to keep it hidden if possible, so he decided to answer, "…ask Leslie."
Aurelia then saw Leslie, Faust, and Billy approaching them.
As they reached, Aurelia saw Nex extracting a green crystal from the orc hero's heart.
She looked at Leslie and asked, "What is that?"
Faust knew it was time to reveal it, as he doubted they could survive the next wave without this knowledge.
The others seemed to already know it, so he answered, "That is the core of the monster."
Aurelia inquired, "What's its use?"
Faust explained, "It strengthens mutants."
Aurelia then looked at the crystal in Nex's hand.
Knowing how strong Nex was and from her experience that mutant strength shouldn't vary so widely, she was sure it was because of the crystal.
She asked, "Can you share it with me then? How do you use it? We killed it together, you know."
Nex agreed, realizing that he couldn't fight the next wave alone, "Sure."
Faust then began to think that merely strengthening mutants wouldn't be enough.
He decided to disclose more, "There is a secret use for it, though."
Leslie was surprised, as previously Faust had advised them to keep it hidden.
Faust looked at her and said, "Look, we are only five people here; having more mutants will be more useful."
Aurelia's eyes widened, realizing the significance of the information.
If this could truly create new mutants, it would be a game-changer.
They could awaken Leslie and Billy and attract more people to their side.
She sought confirmation, "This can make us mutants?"
Leslie sighed, knowing it was out of the bag now, and Faust was determined to share it.
"It's just a hypothesis at this point, but I am sure of it."
Faust then added more information, "Everyone who survived the apocalypse is a mutant; it's just that their power is dormant."
Upon hearing this, Aurelia realized that if what Faust said was true, then the so-called group of mutants taking over was a joke since everyone would eventually become one.
"This is important information," she remarked.
However, Nex felt that they might eventually have to fight others, so he warned her, "Don't you share it with everyone."
Aurelia knows the reason, but she really doubts they can survive all three waves, especially since the first wave was already so challenging.
"But we need stronger fighters," she argued.
Faust knows both of them are right, but they should prioritize their group first.
He instructs her, "Just tell them it can be used to strengthen only mutants, but not before you ask for some of their crystals first; prioritize the one from the goblin healer."