55 Enraged, Reverse Scale

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'Despite overstepping their boundaries, they really don't understand the position they can end up in,' Apollo thought while dragging the corpse of the Zephyr Wolf towards the Storm Colossus Lynx. In doing so, he overheard the conversation between the party, some of which he was surprised by.

'It's that valuable? I wonder what level core that lynx had. It seemed to be of good talent.'

[No lower than exceptional based on its fluctuations. You guys were lucky there were 4 of you. If not, it would have found enough time to muster the Natural Essence sufficient to unleash its innate abilities.]

"Aye' boss. That catty beast over there it was a variant, ye'? So it'll fetch us a pretty penny. How much do you think?" Vren asked as he opened his eyes to fulfill his curiosity.

"It should be worth at least 500 pieces of Spirit Shards. That's just a rough guess. After we have it appraised, we'll find out the actual worth. After all, it's a dual element core with both wind and the rarer thunder/lightning element," Krone answered as he glanced at Apollo's movements.

'He's quite used to this. But that's to be expected, seeing as he looks as if he's been surviving out here for quite a while,' Krone thought while glancing toward Vren's comical expression.

"W-what?! 500 Spirit Shards? Those things are expensive! Only those great families and war academies does use those fer' cultivation! It's a shame we aren't Spirit Cultivators. We can't use it properly and the small Natural Essence mixed in isn't enough," Vren blurted with an excited expression, which soon turned downcast.

"We can always exchange it for pills and elixirs. Not to mention, there's the even rarer chance of obtaining some Spirit Stones! Those can be used by anyone as they are balanced in both Natural and Spiritual Essence. Only… those rarely appear in circulation," Krone sighed as he began mulling over the scarce circulation of cultivation resources for straggler cultivators.

In Astarat, there remained two types of currency; credits and the forms of spiritual gems. The latter was more so circulated throughout the high cultivation world whereas the former was more for the ones who favored hard currency. In some places, those bereft of cultivators leaned more towards credits.

"It's a shame that our conditions weren't better. Do you guys sometimes regret our talent falling short of the baseline for the army? Even the grunt division required one to be a Zul Knight, and to reach so before 20," Slaid questioned as he played with a throwing knife, passing it through his finger as his tone became morose.

"Let's not ruminate over that matter and just forget the past," Krone commented before shifting the topic, "Instead, let us have a feast and recover ourselves to venture deeper." Without another word, he tore into the cooked beast's meat. 

〈System: Experience source found. Extracting experience from said source.〉

〈System: Experience source found. Extracting experience from said source.〉

〈System: 300[150+150] Experience gained.〉

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Needless to say, ingesting the copious amounts of this high-quality meat soon resulted in Apollo's level up, along with a quicker healing process. Furthermore, even after the fact, he continued to eat while looking with an intent gaze.

〈System: Congratulations, Level 89 reached.〉

〈System: 0.2 Attributes and 0.4 Stat Points reward.〉

Immediately, Apollo checked his status page for the current updates.

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(Demon Monarch System) Lv.2

Name: Apollo Kaiser

Race: Demi-Demon *Unique [69.93%]

Title: Azridan's Successor

Age: 11

Level: 89

Experience: 36,680/92,900

Health: 1,952/1,952

Stamina: 1,952/1,952

Strength: 67.6

Agility: 65.2

Intelligence: 33.5

Vitality: 48.8

[«Traits»]-

«External Absorption»

«Juvenile Demon Body»

[«Techniques»]-

«Baleful Steps: Phantasmal Daemos»

«Nine Infernal Annihilations»

[Stat Points: 4.1]

...

Satisfied with what he saw, he paused before asking a question laced with malicious intent, albeit hidden under the guise of seeking power.

"How about we explore more of this path and travel along its edges. Despite those spirit beasts being large, my body still needs more food; you three have eaten most, if not all, of the meal. I'll forfeit my share in cores if we can do so," Apollo offered.

However, his intentions were far from amicable. 

"Hmm? You're still going on about that? Little twerp, go cry to your parents or something. You're too naggy. Were you not loved as a child or something? We're not here to babysit you. You need to learn more about this world before asking us to do things," Slaid chuckled before widening his eyes.

"What did you just say?" Apollo asked in a chilled tone as he rose to his feet. It was clear he didn't appreciate Slaid's words from the abrupt change in his aura. Apollo's eyes sought blood as he glared daggers at Slaid.

[Insolence! Kill him! Dismember his body. Mutilate his existence. How dare he talk to you like this? I swear on my rite as your predecessor, do not give him a light death! Blasphemy your legacy? Mindless swine! Tasteless cretin!]

'I swear upon the demons... I will allow no such thing to happen,' Apollo answered in a tone laden with bloodlust. Even Azridan felt praise for the sensation coursing through his body.

"What?" Slaid smirked with a languid expression. Apollo's reaction had thoroughly amused him. And so it was clear he took him lightly. But they underestimated the thoughts which circulated throughout this deranged youth's mind.

In both lives, the absence of parents played a large role in both of his lives, thus mentioning this in front of Apollo was akin to touching a dragon's reverse scale! Wisps of a deadly aura leaked from him, taking everyone by surprise. 

Frankly, they couldn't understand the abrupt change.

'Hmm? This lad...what does he seek to do?' thought Krone as he raised his eyebrow intrigued by the unraveling events.

"I asked you a question. What the fuck did you just say?" Apollo asked again as he approached the slender Slaid. This time he dropped all pretenses. His voice now carried the intention to commit a massacre

"Oi, you think you're some big shot? I don't mind putting a kid in his place," Slaid replied as he also rose to his feet. On the other hand, he chuckled in his mind, 'I've been waiting for some riling incident to take place.'

"Good, keep that same energy in just a moment," Apollo said with a cynical smile. 'I wasn't intending on making a move so soon, but you guys continue to try my patience. So, I will no longer be polite. I welcome your doom!'

Whoosh!

They thought this child had grown too big from his britches. If that was the case, they didn't mind knocking him down a few pegs, however; it turned out to not be the case. Instead, he seemed to turn into a frightened mouse who scurried away.

"Tch, all bark no bite," Slaid scoffed before sitting down to continue his previous actions of recuperating. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to them, they didn't understand the severity of the upcoming situation. They had stepped on the toes of a lunatic; one who didn't hold any qualms about stirring up some mayhem!