Tsukuru glanced from side to side, seeing the multiple injured Beasts.
"What happened here?" He asked.
The Harpie let out a sigh.
"Apparently, it seems these…things did not take too kindly to you setting up camp in the middle of their territory." She replied.
As Tsukuru got a better look at the Harpie, he could see that she was a mess. Her feathers were all ruffled, and her hair was slightly disheveled. Additionally, she had scuff marks on her face, and her claws were soaked in black blood. It was obvious that she had been fighting for quite a while.
The Harpie's body slumped, and she fell to the ground.
"Those things…they just kept coming." She panted. She glanced back at Tsukuru. "Eventually, it got to the point where she was overrun, and more of us had to come out for reinforcements." The Harpie continued.
She waved her arm at the Haunted Knight, signalling to Tsukuru who she meant when she said "she".
Tsukuru just stood there, stunned.
"You two did all this?" He asked, motioning all around him.
The Harpie sighed.
"We were the only ones strongenough to not get immediately killed." The Harpie replied. "The other three could barely manage to wound one of those things before they got dispatched."
Hearing the Harpie's words, Tsukuru narrowed his eyes. By "the others", he was sure that the Harpie was referring to the Amazon, the Hobgoblin, and the Dark Elf.
It did make sense. Despite the fact that both the Amazon and the Hobgoblin possessed superhuman strength, they were still just Pawn Grades. Meaning that they were only as strong asBasic-Tier Beasts.
As Tsukuru looked around, he saw that a few of the Palewalkers had iron bows piercing their bodies, signalling to him which ones the Dark Elf had fought.
'I…I knew that Beasts would try to attack me in my sleep, but I thought it would have been a small group.' Tsukuru thought. 'Three…maybe five at the most! But…this looks like there's around ten here!'
Tsukuru grit his teeth in frustration. Seeing how exhausted his Harpie was made him want to kick himself. If he hadn't been so lazy, and had tried to find a building to sleep in back in the SHELTER, this never would have happened.
His Haunted Knight would have been easily able to dispatch any amount of those Basic-Tier Rattaclaws.
"Because of my selfishness and laziness…I made you two work yourselves ragged…" He muttered bitterly.
The Harpie stared at Tsukuru in confusion. She could feel his anger and his sadness, as if through some sort of mental "link".
"My liege, did we do something wrong?" She asked.
Tsukuru looked up at her with a bitter smile.
"No, you did great." He replied. "The only one here who did something wrong…is me."
Tsukuru waved his hand, dismissing the two Summons. Instantly, the two creatures began to break apart into pixels. As she faded away, the last thing the Harpie saw was Tsukuru's smile.
"Please, rest up." He replied, waving her goodbye. "After all you've done for me while I slept, you definitely deserve it."
Once the two Summons were gone, Tsukuru's smileimmediatelyfell. His gaze snapped down at the Palewalkers.
"You…little…shits." He growled.
He retrieved one of the Intermediate-Tier Knight Swords from his System's Inventory. He stabbed the sword down into the head of the nearest Palewalker with much more force than was necessary. The Palewalker let out a shriek, and black blood splattered out of the wound.
"First you pests drew me away from the shelter, and away from my friends!" He snarled. "If it weren't for you, I might have found Quinn by now!"
Instantly, a System message popped up in front of Tsukuru.
[You have killed an Intermediate-Tier Palewalker. 1000 XP received. XP: 5036/12800.]
His anger not even close to being quelled, Tsukuru walked over to the next one.
"And even worse, you little shitsworked my beautiful creationsto the bone ALL NIGHT LONG!" He snarled, thrusting the sword harshly down into the next Palewalker's skull.
Another System message appeared.
[You have killed an Intermediate-Tier Palewalker. 1000 XP received. XP: 6036/12800.]
Tsukuru continued his rampage, killing Palewalker after Palewalker. As he did, the System messages kept stacking up.
After his eighth kill, Tsukuru had received a Level Up notification.
[You have killed an Intermediate-Tier Palewalker. 1000 XP received. XP: 13036/12800. Level Up. You are now Level 9. XP: 236/25600
You have received a Stat Point.
You have received a Summon Point.
Skill Video Glitch has Leveled Up. Skill Video Glitch is now Level 2.
Level 2 Effect: You can now teleport up to 10 meters from your starting location. Stamina cost has been halved. -3 Stamina Points per use. -3 MC per use.
Your Elite Pawn Grade Haunted Knight has received 1 Pawn Point. Pawn Points: 6/15
Your Elite Pawn Grade Harpie has received 1 Pawn Point. Pawn Points: 1/15
Your Pawn Grade Dark Elf has received 1 Pawn Point.
Pawn Points: 4/5.
Your Pawn Grade Hobgoblin has received 1 Pawn Point.
Pawn Points: 4/5.
Your Pawn Grade Amazon has received 1 Pawn Point.
Pawn Points: 4/5.
You have received a new Racial Slot.
Racial Slots: 3/5]
Seeing his Level Up, Tsukuru paused his little Palewalker massacre, and opened his Status Screen.
[Name Hikiko Tsukuru
Race Human
Level 9
XP 236/25600
Title —
_____________________
HP 50/50
MC 60/60
_____________________
Strength 11 [+14]
Stamina 15
Agility 13
[Stat Points: 2] ]
He noticed that he still hadn't assigned the Stat Point he had gotten the last time he Leveled Up. Immediately, he assigned both of the Stat Points to his Agility, bumping it up to "15". He then dismissed the screen, and continued his killing spree.
He kept going, until every last Palewalker was dead. It turned out that Tsukuru had been wrong on his count. There weren't ten Palewalkers. There were twelve.
Finally, after his twelfth kill, the last System message appeared.
[You have killed an Intermediate-Tier Palewalker. 1000 XP received. XP: 4236/25600]
'20,000 more XP needed until my next Level Up.' He thought, his eyes narrowed. 'This XP requirements are getting ridiculous…'
One by one, he placed his hand on each of the chests of the dead Palewalkers. Each time, a System message appeared.
[Would you like to activate the Skill Plunder?
[Yes] [No] ]
He replied "yes" every time, and eventually, all twelve Intermediate-Tier Palewalker Crystals were removed, and placed in his System's Inventory. This brought his number of Palewalker Crystals up to sixteen.
Their Beast Crystals now harvested, Tsukuru grit his teeth, and snapped his head back towards the shelter.
"But never mindTHAT!" He replied. "I've been away from my friends for long enough. It's time to get back on track."
Tsukuru placed the Intermediate-Tier Knight Sword back into his Inventory. As the sword broke down into pixels, Tsukuru felt the Beast Energy from the weapon dissipate, as well as the added strength it gave him.
With that, Tsukuru turned around, and headed out from the clearing of the forest, and back towards the ruined shelter.
***
Back in the training center, Ian and Vorden could hear the sound of Quinn in his "Crazed Bloodsucker" from running towards them. But it was too dark for them to see him. Now that they had been discovered, there was no reason for them to stay in the darkness.
Ian went to his belt, and touched the Light Crystal. But before he could even touch it, Quinn was already upon him. Still in the dark, the two had to adjust their eyes a little, and the LED light lining the bottom of the walls helped.
Now that Quinn was close enough, Ian and Vorden could recognize a humanoid figure. As Quinn held out his claws, Ian did the same with his fists.
"A battle of strength it is, then!" He replied.
However, Quinn's claws had easily wrapped around Ian's fists, and stopped them in their TRACKS. Then, using his nails, Quinn dug into Ian's fists, drawing blood.
"What monstrous strength!" Ian grunted, as he felt himself being overpowered. "Damn it, off all the Beasts we could have run into here, It just had to be a Humanoid Beast!"
Seeing the monstrous form of the Bloodsucker, Vorden thought back to Tsukuru's "Humanoid Beasts". Although, comparing them to this felt like an insult to Tsukuru's Summons by calling them "Beasts".
'Speaking of 'Humanoid Beasts', we could really use that 'Knight' of Tsukuru's right now!' Vorden thought.