Chapter 37 - Another group

The giant fire slimes territory didn't have walls. They had massively long lines of rubble that once had been the buildings of the city, creating small mountains around the place. It goes without saying, but it looked like everything had been burned to a crisp or exploded to smithereens.

Although Zack had taken his jacket, he felt like taking out even his sleeveless shirt. It was just too hot. Increasing his spirit a bit should help with that, but he decided to avoid that.

"I am going to use my sword and a frozen witch core soon enough and that should help me a bit," Zack thought when he began to climb one of the piles of rubble. "I also need to train my willpower a bit… I can't expect that my skills will solve every single one of my problems."

When Zack stopped at the top of the pile, he saw the fire slimes jumping around. The air around them was truly vibrating, such was the level of heat they emitted.

Zack grabbed his sword without wasting time and made it absorb one of the frozen witch cores. The temperature around him immediately began to drop, and the surroundings started to feel less suffocating.

"Well, let's start with the tests," Zack said.

With determination in his eyes, Zack activated his skill, No Range Limit. As the skill took effect, Zack's sword struck true, finding its mark in the flesh of one of the giant fire slimes. Instantly, the creature began to shake violently as its body started to freeze over.

The giant fire slime thrashed about in agony, its fiery form gradually succumbing to the frigid cold. Zack watched with satisfaction as the flames dimmed and the heat dissipated, replaced by a layer of ice that encased the creature's body.

Despite its struggles, the giant fire slime was unable to break free from the icy prison that held it captive. With a final crack, the frozen shell shattered, leaving behind nothing but a motionless husk.

(You received 70 XP.)

"The time isn't good enough, I guess I will have to slash this thing around and put some weight behind it," Zack thought.

Zack did exactly that, but the enemies seemed a lot tougher than he had predicted. Even with his current level of strength and the goblin king sword, Zack needed at least three seconds to kill each one. 

Still, things improved when he used Speed Hack. That time decreased by one second, but it was tiresome, and Zack consumed more stamina by attacking them at a close range.

"I guess I will just combine the skills, walk around the area, and find more details of the terrain," Zack thought.

Zack began to cross the piles of rubble around the city and soon confirmed that it was completely destroyed. Recovering that city was almost useless since all the buildings had been destroyed, and rebuilding the whole place was probably a waste of time. 

Still, the giant fire slimes left some ambers behind and those emitted a lot of heat for apparently several days, so they could be used as a good energy source. They had their value in that territory.

"I will have to think of a way to make this territory valuable…" Zack rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 

As Zack took a moment to catch his breath and contemplate his next move, a sudden series of explosions shattered the relative calm of the city. The sounds echoed through the streets, reverberating off the area and sending shivers down Zack's spine.

At first, he froze, unsure of what to make of the sudden disturbance. But as the explosions continued, Zack realized that he wasn't alone in the city after all. Someone else was here, and they were causing quite a commotion.

With a sense of urgency, Zack sprang into action, his instincts sharpened by the unexpected turn of events. He moved swiftly and silently through the piles of rubble, drawn towards the source of the explosions like a moth to a flame.

"Hmm, it isn't surprising… I want all the experience here to me since I need to get stronger, but it is crazy to think that people from other provinces will leave me alone," Zack thought.

Although he could leave them alone and focus on hunting as many monsters as possible, Zack knew that the world beyond the walls was a no-man's land. There was no telling what could happen, so he had to be cautious all the time. Without hesitation, he moved around the piles of rubble using Instantaneous Movement, and when the sound of explosions started to get more intense and frequent, he used Invisibility.

Soon, he found a group of people on the other side of the destroyed city fighting the giant fire slimes. Still, the group seemed a bit off. Some of them were ahead of the others, and they looked pretty exhausted; they weren't moving as well. There were five people: random men and women. Behind them, there was this tall guy with his arms crossed. Before long, a giant fire slime would arrive in the area, being lured by those guys ahead who weren't moving. Then, the tall guy would fire a lightning bolt from his hands and then made the giant fire slime explode.