259 The Next Step
(A/N: ~Bonus Chapter~)
Tulnas chuckled.
This was utterly ridiculous.
Once again, he realised that he had heavily underestimated this young man who looked to be a few years younger than him.
Never did he expect to see such a ridiculous level of ingenuity with his attacks.
He had expected the so-called flame attack that destroyed one of the libraries in the College of the Esteemed to be his peak but that turned out to not be the case.
Skullius wasn’t a one trick pony.
What further cemented Skullius’ value was what his summon had been doing while the Discount Human had enclosed himself in the large dark barrier with the three enemies.
It had dispatched two of the Obscene Stalker Ghouls on its own by using a rather flashy but powerful looking skill that existed out of the norm he was used to.
Or rather not a single skill, but skills.
“Fascinating…” Tulnas said, his head once again shaking in the next moment. “I get it already, you Fur Coat! You were right!”
Bursts of vibrant annoyance palpated.
In the distance, Natalika had slaughtered twelve Obscene Stalker Ghouls with her striped sword, her figure standing on one of the corpses as she quickly swiped away the blood.
She had been paying attention to Skullius and his movements and she had to say, she was greatly impressed.
A Mage truly was a Mage.
And one that had such intricate Class Branching was a gem.
Gertreld had slaughtered thirteen of the monsters while Ginie who was breathing heavily with a contorted face was killing her ninth.
These two had also been taking glances at Skullius’ fight along with the Ghouls themselves and they felt confident having a powerful Guild member, even though he was cursed.
All three of the girls had also experienced the phenomenon where the Ghouls opened their skins at the head to reveal the purple eye.
It was probably a hidden ability of theirs which they used when they drew in the Primus that mysteriously augmented their bodies.
However, none of them were foolish enough to let the creatures do as they pleased and thus they immediately killed them before they could use the eye fully.
The man who had captured everyone’s attention breathed out a sigh.
The [Bead of Malevolence] slowly revolved around him, awaiting its next target.
Skullius had decided to focus on the application of darkness that he had grown used to ever since the time when he used [Crude World Projection] during his fight with Jackpot.
He had formed the darkness into a darting orb that would move at insane speeds to help him win that fight.
He had used the same attack during the fight with the Sage Monkeys and after some thought, he decided to refine it by abusing [Crude World Projection] to hasten his understanding of the ability until he could use it with same level of efficiency in his base form, ultimately creating a skill which deserved a name from him specifically.
He had also delegated this task.
Skullius looked around only to find Red Rage having retrieved his bow and arrows, as well as his sword from the ring.
The blade dripped of blood and he immediately stored it along with the bow and arrows which had all be upgraded with [Unbound].
“You seem to be having fun,” Skullius said to Red Rage as he moved the orb floating around him once again, the object turning into a dark trail like a laser, instantly killing the Ghoul that was left after he released the [Perfect Night Domain].
[You have killed (IV) LV34 Obscene Stalker Ghoul. 590,000 Exp awarded]
[Your prey…]
Skullius absorbed the Null Life Essence after approaching the creature.
“The experience has dropped noticeably. I guess I’m stronger than I was before,” Skullius said internally chortling at his growing vocabulary.
Once more, he felt a weird sensation from his vast sensory capabilities with [Elevated Mana Manipulation].
A Ghoul remained, situated almost thirty meters away from the Discount Human.
It drew back upon seeing that all its other mates had been killed off before turning and running away with quick, bladed steps!
It raised its large blade and with a thunderous swiping that shook the portion of the city, it cut through the air and leapt in.
Skullius scoffed.
‘It tries to give the illusion of entering another space when it’s actually just assimilating the surroundings,’ he thought as he watched the creature vanish.
The [Bead of Malevolence] immediately shot forward at his command right when the creature vanished, its presence disappearing but before it could move…
THUD!
Its body was revealed immediately after with a hole in the head as it fell.
The Discount Human received all the relevant experience but let go of the Null Life Essence.
He was sure this wasn’t the last time he would be seeing creatures like this.
Frankly, it was pretty obvious that this perilous journey was just beginning.
“Come on, Red bro,” Skullius said as he walked back to Tulnas.
The Guild leader had already begun to talk with the Town leader, informing him that the threats were taken care of.
Scorta was by the side listening in, hoping that her directive would change now that Tulnas had returned.
The people of the town were beginning to cheer and chatter as the fear that they had experienced superficially started to pass.
Afterall, this wasn’t their first time seeing monsters invading the town.
Gertreld, Ginie and Natalika also moved towards Tulnas.
The young man turned from the old man he conversed with and smiled gently.
“Good work,” he said as his eyes turned to Skullius. “You’ve managed to once again surprise me with your capabilities.”
The Discount Human showed no obvious reaction.
“I see that even the blessing of a Deity failed to remove your curse. I thought it would work to take it away in the process of cleansing away the hostile Primus but clearly I underestimated your the strength of whoever cast it.”
Skullius almost felt his non-existent heart jump up in fright at the mention of help, but then he realised that this man was a first-class sockethole.
He was obviously doing it for the greater benefit rather than for him in such a way that without the curse killing everyone left and right, he would probably think that this man was a genuine bro.
Too bad, it seemed he really only had eyes for women.
“Because of my gross underestimation of the situation, you girls are going to have to limit your interactions with our dear Mage. For now at least,” Tulnas said with a smile that spelled nothing but caution.
Skullius didn’t react to this as well.
It had to be done after all.
The ladies all nodded in understanding, though Natalika’s focus remained on Skullius.
“Good. I have a lead on where our enemies are hidden. We need to set off right away before any changes occur. Scorta, you will remain here with the civilians. I trust that you can protect them from the remaining threats with the help of the Knights?” Tulnas said as he caressed the pony-tailed girl’s cheek.
Scorta wss visibly shaken.
It was not that she didn’t want to stay and protect all the helpless people, it was just that she wanted to join in with Tulnas after being here for so long.
“Yes, I can do that,” she said as she lowered her head.
Tulnas leaned in and pecked her cheek which served to make her feel better as she nodded, affirming a second time that she would be able to accomplish what he had instructed.
The Guild leader turned to the old man.
“You can have the corpses and the cores from the beasts. I’m sure their value is more than enough to reconstruct the damaged parts of the town.”
“Indeed,” the Town leader said as he stroked his beard. “Indeed~.”
Tulnas nodded and turned, Gertreld grabbing onto his arm.
“Alright, let’s go solve this once and for all. I believe a hefty prize that will be worthy rubbing in certain people’s faces will be in order then.”