Chapter 36: Chapter 36

High-pitched screams were coming from the dust cloud that was covering the middle of the barren valley. Inside, dozens of rhea were chasing the four rhea shades in circles. On top of the two shades, stood Beet and Paprika, waiting for Ethan to come back from his horde of rheas, and join them. 

Not far away from them, Ethan was fighting against three rheas among the corpses of ten others, all the while keeping an eye on the little ones. It was really hard to divide his attention as they were not inside his domain.

A speedy kick struck his right shoulder, throwing him to the ground. Just when he was about to [Blink], a pecking attack followed. He was already familiar with the attack pattern of the rheas, and pecking was always welcome. A [Fabric Tear] appeared just before his head, and the beak of the beast passed it through, reappearing near his foot. Ethan kicked the front half of the beak and sliced it with the inner side of [Fabric Tear]. The beast’s eyes widened with agony, but the next moment, he cut its thin neck with Devi in a swift motion, causing the bleeding on his shoulder to stop.

The other two were already on him, but he decided to help out the two cowboys first. In three [Blink], he arrived in the middle of the horde chasing his companions and unleashed his [Mana Aura], giving rise to an extreme panic for a short time. He killed the only tier-4 among the group by stabbing its head through a [Fabric Tear] before yelling to cowboys. ‘’Come on! These are all tier-3s, I know you can handle it!’’

Beet’s shades had already stopped and turned around. Standing straight at the back of one, Paprika raised her tiny hands to the air. Simultaneously, vines made of wood with sharp leaves appeared all around the battlefield and started to float in the air at a startling speed. They were traveling everywhere, making a rough shape of a dome around the large area. 

The beasts struggle to get out, as the vines entangled their bodies like barbed wires. The only way out was to cut them, but the sharp leaves shot out from the vines kept them busy inside the dome. Still, five rheas threw themselves out by enduring the cuts and stabs before charging for Paprika.

Two of the shades blocked their path and engaged in close combat. These shades were made of peak tier-4s, and their abilities were enough to match early tier-4s. Regardless, two of the rheas increased their speed to confront Paprika and they attacked at the same time. 

Ethan blinked next to them and cut the leg of the rhea before it reached Paprika. The other got a surprise attack from Beet and almost lost its head. It quickly backed up, but Ethan blinked behind it, and kicked its torso, sending it back to Beet. 

The crowd was still struggling with the vines, so Ethan turned his attention back to the two tier-4s who were about to catch up. He calculated the distance and opened two [Fabric Tear]s in front of the rhea's neck before stabbing with his daggers. One of them avoided it with a small cut while the others’ head was already rolling on the ground. Ethan gave a pleased smile at the sight of success because these creatures were both sensitive to mana and agile enough to dodge most of the [Fabric Tear]s. The only way he could think of was to hit them when they were occupied, like when they were charging full speed in a beeline.

Two more rheas managed to save themselves from the vines albeit covered in blood. Ethan opened another [Fabric Tear] and sent a [Shadow Spike], piercing the skull of one of them. He left the other for Beet and welcomed the only tier-4 that was left in the battleground. 

No matter how dangerous these monsters are, killing a single rhea was actually too simple. The reason for that was the lack of hands. They had to use their legs for both movements and attacking which made it impossible for them to do both at the same time. In large groups, they were like a calamity, but a single rhea was just… predictable.

Ethan danced around it while giving shallow wounds. After advancing [Blink] to rank-2, he seldom used it for short distances. Even though he wasn’t caring about mana lately, it felt like a waste, especially when his Agility was so high. He kept turning around the beast, blocking the claw with one dagger and giving it an injury with another. When the rhea got slowed from the blood loss, he stored his left dagger and caught the beast's leg with his hand, getting a long scratch from the claw along the way. Holding the thin leg of the creature, Ethan gave a slight smile before pulling it with full power. 

The beast let out a panicked cry and tried for a beak attack, but Devi had already entered the scene. The bloody scarlet dagger made a half circle in the air and slashed its neck right under its head.

‘DING! You have leveled up.’

‘’Excellent timing,’’ Ethan uttered between breaths while looking at the last of the survivors.

Only seven rheas were still alive but they were in terrible condition. Paranoid of the floating wooden leaves, they didn’t even notice the shades of Beet who were already starting to execute them one by one. Soon, the carnage ended, and the silence came to being.

‘’Good job,’’ Ethan smiled, pleased with the performance. ‘’Let’s collect the cores and get out here. I’m sick of fighting the same beasts for so long. How about a few days of resting in the Wish Room?’’

Paprika gave a solemn nod but he caught the flash in her eyes, she was clearly sick of rheas as well. Whereas Beet shrugged casually, making Ethan speechless. They really got more humanlike with every tier. Especially Beet, he got taller once again, how much bigger would he get at tier-9? I wonder what he’ll say once he learns to speak?

As he collected the cores of the carcasses, Ethan entertained himself by imagining playing card games with Beet who was as tall as him, telling dirty jokes. Once the loot was collected, he didn’t need to say anything, as Beet returned his shades to his shadow and flew over to Paprika, who covered both of them in a wooden sphere. Blinking next to them, he grasped the wooden structure and used rapid [Blink]s to arrive at the top of the mountain, where Saruman was chilling on Ethan’s hammock.

‘’Well done!’’ Saruman said without getting up. ‘’Almost 90% of tier 3 and 4 rheas are dead. I hope you’ll go after the tier-5 ones after this.’’

‘’Sorry to disappoint you, but we’re on a vacation. Now it’s your turn to host us in the Wish Room,’’ Ethan replied before knocking twice on the wooden sphere. ‘’Why are you so hell-bent on killing these big birds, anyway? Can’t you just send them away if you’re not wanting them in your artifact?’’

‘’A rest is fine. I’m actually surprised you kept killing them for a month.’’ Saruman waved his hand before sitting straight. ‘’And you think I wouldn’t if I could? I’m bound by the rules. Every monster in my artifact has a right to cultivate till they are tier-8. After that, I even gift an item or a skill to them before sending them away. In exchange, they had to participate in the tests. If they were able to kill a participant, they would get yet another gift. Like the Elder Wood, that dryad queen won. But these rheas are just assholes. They don’t contribute to anything, yet they cultivate in such a mana abundant place before venturing outside with a prize. Even if you cleared all the tier-5s as well, I still have to take good care of the tier 6s and 7s for a long time!’’

He found it amusing to listen to the frustrated artifact spirit. ‘’I’m guessing there are other rules that don’t allow you to shape the floors to use the rheas in a more efficient way?’’ Watching Saruman’s nodding in a deadpan manner, he chuckled. ‘’You should try hashtag ArtifactSpiritProblems.’’

‘’Huh?’’

Ethan laughed, shaking his head. ‘’I’m sure you'll figure it out.’’ He walked near Saruman and sat under the tree, giving his back to it. ‘’How is Evelyn doing? I didn’t expect her to keep up this long. Do you think she’ll finish the floor?’’

‘’I don’t think so,’’ Saruman said. ‘’After a month, she barely managed to kill a quarter of the floor’s beasts. The walrus is a good match for her, but she had already cleared the outer ranges. Challenging the walrus king with his lackeys won’t be so simple.’’

Sighing, ‘’Let’s hope she won’t be stubborn,’’ Ethan commented before opening his status to allocate his stats to Agility once again. 

Tier 3 - Level 39

Health: 1080/1300

Mana: 322/1300

Stamina: 553/800

Vitality: 130

Strength: 102

Endurance: 80

Agility: 180

Intellect: 130

Perception: 80

*Available stats: 0

Skills(Rank 1): [Fabric Tear], [Mana Sense], [Shadow Spikes], [Long Jump], [Mana Conceal], [Mana Connection], [Void Mute]

Rank 2: [Void Wrap], [Mana Aura], [Blink]

A month of rhea slaughter at their leisure, gave him two levels while Beet and Paprika gained about three levels. More importantly, he got used to using Devi and they all got familiar with their skills, except for Ethan’s [Void Mute], he didn’t even try that in combat yet.

After one more level and the mana elixir with Aether Bloom, my status will be very pleasing to look at, he thought with smugness. Gotta get more skills, though. Even if they won’t be my main focus, I won’t lose anything by having many support skills to use as rank-1. ‘’Shouldn’t you give us some compensation for clearing your mess?’’ he probed, throwing a dirty look at Saruman. He pointed to Beet who was engraving weird symbols on a tree, which made no sense at all. ‘’Look at this poor kid, only have one skill at tier-3, but still killing tier-4 monsters for you!’’

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Saruman rolled his eyes as Beet was giving a confused look. ‘’Said the human companion of the beast, to the man who gave the beast’s only skill.’’

‘’I wasn’t aware where his talent lie, okay?’’ he replied, shifting his gaze. ‘’We got separated before I entered the city. And what is this human companion and beast companion about? Both Beet and Paprika are friends. No need to discriminate like that.’’

‘’Oh?’’ Saruman's brow arched. ‘’But you don’t have any problem with the genocide of rheas?’’

‘’Hey, it’s them who try to kill me on sight. If a bunch of humans did the same, I’d kill them all the same,’’ Ethan retorted. ‘’And what genocide? It’s not like we killed any tier 1 or 2.’’

Saruman opened his mouth only to close it again as a frown formed on his face.

‘’What?’’

‘’She got ambushed. Four walruses with two of them blocking her exit and there is gory wound on her tight.’’

Ethan jumped to his feet, his hand clenching slowly. ‘’Saruman, I swear a god-’’

‘’She’s out.’’

‘’W-what?’’

‘’She’s out. Waiting in the Wish Room right now,’’ Saruman repeated, smiling slightly.

Ethan exhaled a long breath and slapped his cheeks with both hands before looking at Saruman energetically. ‘’What are you waiting for, then? Beam us up!’’

The next second they all appeared in the Wish Room. It was exactly like they left. An ordinary tree with a long and comfy couch underneath, a ping-pong table next to it with some dishes on it, and a giant screen on the wall, showing Evelyn, who was already standing in the middle of the Wish Room.

‘’Took you long enough,’’ Ethan said with a smirk, looking at his haggard friend. 

‘’W-what-’’ Evelyn was still trying to understand what was happening as Paprika jumped on her. ‘’Oh! Paprika, everyone, you’re all okay.’’ She looked at Ethan with slightly wet eyes and gave him a hug as well before whispering, ‘’Thank you.’’

‘’For what?’’ he asked, perplexed.

‘’I know that sign was your doing, even though it was a little plain for your taste.’’

Ethan returned the hug with a smile and mouthed to Saruman ‘‘I told you so.’’

She must’ve seen the gesture from the giant screen as she pulled herself back to turn Sarumanat a loss. ‘’H-Hi.’’

‘’Hi, and congratulations, you’ve managed to survive,’’ Saruman said in an easygoing manner and waved his hand to heal all the injuries on her body.

Ethan patted his shoulder to introduce him to stunned Evelyn. ‘’Meet Saruman, Eve. He is the one who put that sign, the eccentric artifact spirit.’’

Saruman offered an elegant handshake to Evelyn and sent a glare to Ethan. ‘’It’s wise and mysterious.’’

‘’My point exactly,’’ Ethan murmured.

‘’Thank you,’’ Evelyn said, shaking his hand. ‘’Artifact spirit of what, though?’’

‘’The Wish Well,’’ Saruman replied.

‘’Yep, the whole packet,’’ Ethan confirmed with a nod.

Evelyn’s eyes widened first before narrowing slowly. ‘’Where is my reward, then?’’

Pointing to the small platform where Ethan got his own rewards, Saruman created a small box. ‘’Here you go.’’

Evelyn skipped toward it with a smile on her face and opened it. A lilac-color luxurious-looking bracelet was lying inside. Picking up, she wore it curiously. As she sent a small amount of mana, the bracelet started to expand like a mechanical puzzle, until it formed a beautiful shield. It was the same lilac color with a shape of a teardrop, covering her arm from elbow to nails. The sharp point of it was ending just a few inches away from her fingertips, perfect for stabbing and slashing.

‘’This is even better than I ever imagined!’’ she exclaimed.

Ethan also admired the craftsmanship, extending his hand, ‘’Give me your pole, let’s test it,’’ he urged.

Overjoyed, she handed it over without hesitation. Ethan grasped the pole and sent a little mana to arrange its weight around a hundred pounds. With a casual strike, he swung it to the shield and the outcome surprised both of them.

‘’It absorbs the big part of the shock!’’ Evelyn cried.

‘’And redirects the small portion of the damage,’’ Ethan added in awe, looking at his HP bar.

‘’Thank you! Thank you so much, Sir Saruman! I love it,’’ Evelyn babbled, practically jumping up and down. 

‘’Don’t mention it. You’ve earned it,’’ Saruman said generously before turning to Ethan. ‘’See? That’s how you receive a gift. Not by asking for another one immediately.’’

Ethan snorted in amusement. ‘’You know what? I think I'm gonna tell the guys to write Cheapskate Well at the entrance,’’ he remarked, enjoying the changing face of Saruman. Passing the pole back to Evelyn, ‘’Come, let’s sit and talk. You must be exhausted, healed or not,’’ he said and over her shoulder, he realized that there were two gates instead of one.

Apparently, next to the old Niamaris gate, another one had materialized with the words ‘The Union’ on it.

Baffled, he turned to Saruman and motioned to the gate with his head. ‘’What’s that about?’’ 

Saruman gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘’It’s her wish.’’

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