CHAPTER 19
AFTER FOUR HOURS, DEEP WITHIN THE FOREST - NIGHT
Ren can be seen huffing and panting in exhaustion as he sits on a big rock, and beside him is Luna; both of their bodies are covered in blood. As time passes, the blood seems to get cleaned by itself.
"Sigh, it seems like we went a tad overboard. If we keep this up, folks on this floor are going to find it tough to keep their bellies full due to the food shortage," Ren comments, surveying the heaps of monsters in all shapes and sizes.
"Don't you worry, Master. I've noticed before that when monsters die, they tend to resurrect about a day later," Luna reassures, brushing off the concern.
"Hah! Luna, it seems you don't understand yet. After I extract a monster, they will never reappear after death. Otherwise, wouldn't I have more than 100 of you by now?" Ren explains casually.
"Right, Master. I never thought of that," Luna admits, a new realization dawning on her.
"Enough of that. Just leave the corpses of these Level 1 to 5 monsters. As they're pretty much pointless with my current prowess. Bag the rest of these critters in that space ring," Ren orders, tossing the ring her way.
"She's brimming with energy, likely thanks to that immortality skill. Although it consumes a huge amount of mana, it still makes me wish I had that. Sigh," Ren sighs wistfully.
After about ten minutes, Luna returns with the brimming space ring.
"Master, I've got them all. We've got 8 Level 10 monsters, 20 Level 9 monsters, 6 Level 8 monsters, and a grand total of 54 Level 6 monsters," Luna meticulously details her haul.
"Not bad at all. Now, come sit beside me," Ren commands, and Luna promptly follows suit.
"Alright, let's start with a Level 6 monster," Ren instructs, and Luna summons a Level 6 goblin.
"Activate your innate ability," Ren directs.
With a confused look, Luna activates the ability. The goblin before her morphs into radiant energy and flows into her, leaving Luna agape at the astonishing sight. It's her first time using this skill.
"Wow, Master, what on earth was that? I feel refreshed and full of strength somehow," Luna exclaims in awe.
"Seems I was right; your ability is akin to mine. Now, open your status window," Ren instructs, and as Luna does so, a blue interface materializes before them.
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[STATUS WINDOW]
[NAME: LUNA]
[AGE: 19]
[RACE: CHAOTIC FENRIR]
[SEX: FEMALE]
[KARMA: 26,000]
[LVL: 10]
[EXP: 16,000 / 51,200]
[STRENGTH: 81.3+15%]
[SPEED: 85.3+16%]
[STAMINA: 89.3+5%]
[MANA: 71.3+2%]
[LOYALTY: MAX (locked)]
[INNATE ABILITY: COSMIC HUNGER]
[ABILITY: CHAOTIC WIND CONTROL, ETERNAL HOWL, RENDING CLAWS, BERSERKER CHARGE, IMMORTALITY, HIDE, RETROWAVE DISRUPTOR.]
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"Your stats got a +0.3 boost across the board, plus a new ability. What does this one do?" Ren inquires with intrigue. Luna clicks on the plus sign, revealing another interface.
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[ABILITY DESCRIPTION]:
[RETROWAVE DISRUPTOR: THIS ABILITY ALLOWS THE USER TO JAM WIRELESS SIGNALS LIKE CELL PHONES, RADIOS, AND WI-FI OR ANY KIND OF CONNECTION WITHIN AN AREA. THIS CREATES A ZONE WHERE COMMUNICATION DEVICES TEMPORARILY CEASE TO FUNCTION. IT CAN ALSO HELP THE USER CRAFT A SOUNDPROOF FIELD; THE FIELD'S SIZE DEPENDS ON THE USER'S MANA RESERVES.]
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"This new ability could be super handy. Now that you can absorb these monster bodies like me, let's divide them in half and continue the absorption," Ren suggests, an excited smile gracing his lips. Luna feels a surge of gratitude as her master shares his loot to aid her growth.
After another hour, they have absorbed the entire inventory of monsters from the ring.
"Phew, now that's sorted, let's see how we've progressed," Ren says, a smug grin on his face as they both activate their status windows.
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[STATUS WINDOW]
[NAME: REN DAVIS]
[AGE: 18]
[RACE: ????]
[KARMA: 623,560]
[LVL: 10]
[EXP: 300 / 51,200]
[STRENGTH: 95.4+30%]
[SPEED: 97.02+50%]
[STAMINA: 92.7+5%]
[MANA: 94.6+15%]
[INNATE ABILITY: ENDLESS EXTRACTION & FUSION.]
[LEGACY: 1 / 3 OF SHADOW MONARCH]
[ABILITY: CHAOS CONTROL, TRUE ASSASSIN, BERSERKER RAMPANT, SPIRIT FLAME, PARALLEL THINKING, MIND CONTROL.]
[SKILL: MID RANK PAIN RESISTANCE (20.01%), DAGGER MASTERY, ELEMENTAL RESISTANCE (30.23%), MID RANK POISON RESISTANCE (25.02%), MIND CORROSION RESISTANCE (10.001%), WARRIOR'S MINDSET (40.35%).]
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[STATUS WINDOW]
[NAME: LUNA]
[AGE: 19]
[RACE: CHAOTIC FENRIR]
[SEX: FEMALE]
[KARMA: 26,000]
[LVL: 10]
[EXP: 16,000 / 51,200]
[STRENGTH: 90.02+15%]
[SPEED: 93.1+16%]
[STAMINA: 95.1+5%]
[MANA: 86.3+2%]
[LOYALTY: MAX (locked)]
[INNATE ABILITY: COSMIC HUNGER]
[ABILITY: CHAOTIC WIND CONTROL, ETERNAL HOWL, RENDING CLAWS, BERSERKER CHARGE, IMMORTALITY, HIDE, RETROWAVE DISRUPTOR, FLAME CONTROL, DARKNESS MANIPULATION, BACK STAB, MIND EYE, WATER CONTROL, MASK FACE, INVISIBILITY, QUICK ATTACK, SAND CONTROL.]
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"We've both made significant improvements, but progress seems to have slowed after crossing the stats of 90," Ren ponders aloud.
"Master, maybe it's because the monsters we're absorbing lately have lower stats. Still, we're quite the heavyweights on the first floor," Luna offers her perspective.
"Haha, don't be so arrogant about it. While we might outshine most folks up to the 9th floor with our current stats, the game changes from the 10th floor onward. Those climbers are on a whole other level," Ren warns, his face serious. He knows that from the 10th floor, climbers would interact with the gods from the 99th floor, gaining not only knowledge but also immense power.
"But won't we surpass them eventually?" Luna innocently inquires, unaware of how the tower functions.
"Sigh, let it be. With this done, let's move on to the true hunt," Ren grins evilly.
"Yeppy, master let's go and kill those bad guys," Luna exclaims like it's a normal thing to do.
"Hahaha, sure, let's go," Ren says with an evil laugh, as if he looks like some mad villain come straight up from a comic.
**********(TO BE CONTINUED)**********