Chapter 81: This Life Is Over
There was no chanting, no delay—just an instantaneous burst of Magic Power.
A brilliant, fan-shaped cone of light erupted, like a flashbang detonating on the riverbank, directly engulfing the faces of the huddled mass of river crabs.
The Stone Shell River Crabs were extremely reliant on their eyestalks for vision. To them, this sudden, intense light was a devastating blow.
"SKREEE!!"
A wave of shrill, chaotic hisses echoed across the riverbank.
The blinded river crabs instantly fell into a panic and a frenzy.
They began to spin wildly in place, their massive pincers flailing erratically. They even began attacking indiscriminately in self-preservation.
"CRACK! CRACK!"
Sharp pincers clamped down on the legs and carapaces of their brethren. The entire swarm descended into chaos, impeding one another. Their once-impenetrable offensive crumbled in an instant.
’A perfect opportunity!’
A sharp glint flashed in Lance’s eyes.
He smashed through the final line of defense with a vicious Shield Strike. Then, moving like lightning, he plunged into the enemy ranks, taking advantage of the chaos.
In his vision, dazzling red spots of light appeared on the Stone Shell River Crabs that had exposed their underbellies in their panic.
His Short Sword became a reaping blur of light.
"SHLICK!"
Green blood and shattered bits of carapace flew everywhere.
With the 200% Critical Damage bonus from [Weakness Insight], combined with the terrifying Power boost from his Breathing Combat Technique...
...even a light slash from the Short Sword in Lance’s hand could inflict fatal piercing damage.
His killing efficiency had increased exponentially compared to yesterday.
The battle that followed became a one-sided slaughter.
With Cecilia periodically firing a [Frozen Beam], Lance moved like a tiger among sheep, picking off the trampling Stone Shell River Crabs one by one.
His intense combat maneuvers pushed the rate of Ethereum Burning in his body to its peak.
Lance was like a tireless machine. The high-intensity Ethereum Burning caused his body temperature to soar to a frightening level.
His entire body was shrouded in a cloud of roiling steam, making him look almost magical.
The battle only ended when the last Stone Shell River Crab fell, twitching, its eyestalk pierced by his Short Sword.
At last, the entire riverbank fell silent.
As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with the shattered limbs of Stone Shell River Crabs. Green blood stained nearly every cobblestone.
The extermination quest, which would normally have been a grind lasting over an hour, had been completed in a mere twenty minutes.
"Haaa..."
Lance slowly ceased circulating his Breathing Combat Technique.
As the wind gradually dispersed the white steam from his body, he let out a long breath, calming his fiercely pounding heart.
He turned and looked up at the large boulder above.
Cecilia was standing there, her chest heaving. Clearly, the intense volley of coordinated spellcasting had taken a significant toll on her as well.
But there was no fatigue on the young woman’s face. Instead, her ruby-like eyes glittered with excitement.
The battle had perfectly executed the strategy she’d stayed up all night devising. The immense sense of accomplishment from seeing her theory turned into reality had her in a state of euphoria.
Lance didn’t speak.
He simply raised his right hand, clad in a blood-stained gauntlet, and gave the young woman above another thumbs-up.
Seeing this gesture.
Cecilia froze for a moment, then responded with a brilliant smile.
Lance looked away and glanced up at the sky.
The sun hadn’t fully set; there was still plenty of time.
He never imagined that by going all out, and with the help of a powerful support like Cecilia, their monster-grinding efficiency could reach such a terrifying level.
’At this rate...’
Lance calculated silently.
’We can take on at least one more extermination quest.’
It seemed he had underestimated his recent progress, as well as the chemistry that came with teamwork.
While taking a break, Lance summoned his system panel.
A series of delightful numbers popped up.
[Dragon Hunting Breathing Combat Technique Level 2 (Adept), +45 Skill Level, 91/600]
This Skill had gained the most Skill Level points. Real combat truly was the only way to test a Breathing Technique.
[Castro Swordsmanship Level 4 (Mastery), +35 Skill Level, 61/400]
[Azure Dragon Extreme Intent Style Level 2 (Adept), +28 Skill Level, 138/450]
Although he had still relied mainly on his Swordsmanship out of habit, the addition of the Hand-to-hand Combat Skill certainly made his fighting style more versatile.
Lance’s gaze fell upon a particular progress bar.
[Creature Illustrated Guide: Demon Stone Shell River Crab]
[Current Research Progress: Level 2 (31/50)]
He was less than 20 points away from completing his Level 2 research. Once he did, he would unlock the ability to mark this species on his map.
’That would be a true map hack.’
But what was even more crucial was Level 3.
Once he completed the Level 3 research, he could extract a Talent from the species.
’At this rate of slaughter, if I increase the number of exterminations, I should be able to do my first extraction in less than three or four days.’
Looking at the carapace fragments on the ground, Lance’s thoughts suddenly drifted.
His gaze unconsciously turned to Cecilia, who was carefully climbing down from the large boulder.
’If Talents can be extracted from Demons...’
’Then what about a Half-Elf, a member of a Sub-human Species?’
In this world, in addition to the common Talents inherent to their race, Intelligent Species often possessed vastly different individual Talents.
’I wonder if these special, personal Talents can also be extracted by the system?’
Remembering the ridiculous [Voice of Joy] he got from the system for completing Level 1, Lance looked at the pile of Demon corpses and decided he’d better just stick to killing Demons.
If he actually managed to grind his research on Half-Elves to a high Level, what if it gave him some absurd Trait, like that legendary "catnip constitution"?
’My life would be over.’
’In the future, if I ever came across a Sub-human settlement, I’d probably be driven off by the guards as a public menace before I even got through the gates.’
’I just want to be a normal, respectable Adventurer in peace. Why is that so difficult?’
Lance silently wept in his heart.
Pushing aside these troubling thoughts, the two of them began to methodically harvest materials from the Stone Shell River Crabs littering the ground.
With their previous experience, and boosted by the elation of their overwhelming victory, even the tedious work of dissection felt light and easy.
By the time all the corpses were processed, all three of their requested quests were marked as complete.
Lance glanced at the system panel.
In total, he had gained 170 Skill Experience and 60 Knowledge Experience.
And that was just from one day’s work.
Looking at how much his experience bars had filled, Lance’s faint resentment toward the system vanished, replaced by an immense sense of accomplishment.