翁公在厨房和我猛烈撞击

Chapter 178 – A Good Tool

Nikolai breathed out as he finished absorbing the crystals. All of them rewarded him with three stats points. Furthermore, as he waited, his undead went ahead and started hunting more monsters.

The monster can be E-rank, but it could not defeat his undead monsters. These monsters were organized and attacked as one, unkillable, and used the darkness.

However, very few monsters can survive the darkness. Most of the monsters they encountered were dark beings, but they awarded Nikolai more mana crystals than normal monsters did.

The dark beings were not undead, and they were not immortal. Humans thought of them as immortal because usual elements were weak against the dark element. Unless someone has the element of light, or holy powers, or a lot stronger than the being, then they cannot kill a normal dark being.

As for Nikolai, his element was on a different level. His Abyssal Art, which he got from Lex, brought his darkness to another elemental level: Destruction.

This made his undead very powerful, even against monsters who were stronger than them. Their stats were low, but Nikolai knew that their nature gave them an advantage. This brought him plenty of crystals.

[Vitality: 77]

–      [Blood Energy: 19.] 

[Strength: 82]

[Agility: 91]

[Intelligence: 70]

[Mana: 102]

Four of his stats were at the late stages of the F-rank, while mana was even higher than the usual threshold. There was no evolution needed from Nikolai to ascend a higher ranking, but he required special training to control more skills.

Many people had stats befitting an E-ranker, but they were not truly considered to belong into that ranking. The reason was simple. They did not strengthen their souls to make another contract with a skill.

The Absolute Shield was the best proof that skills were not static beings but manifestations of power that had their level of consciousness.

"This strength," Nikolai clutched his hand as he muttered. "I took years to reach this level because of Julian and Luke. I was denied strength because of Valkyrie, and things only went downhill from then."

His hatred intensely burned within him. It was the accumulation of countless years of suffering and struggle, all then dedicated to a single person who betrayed him.

"I am being too distracted," calmed down Nikolai with a smile. "Justice will be served. That is right, I am only an ally of justice," he said with sarcasm.

"GGGOOOO!"

His Ghoul gave a rageful roar, compelling Nikolai to see what was happening. He found his four skeletons attacking an entrapped giant bird who kept attacking the Ghoul pinning it down. Nikolai could see that the wings had black holes in them, probably caused by his mage soldier.

The Ghoul struggled against the giant flying monster, and Nikolai watched as it raised the enemy and struck it down. Then, Ghoul stomped on its neck and killed it.

[Ghoul has leveled up!]

[A card dropped. You can equip it using the system.]

Nikolai saw the two notifications arrive as his Ghoul breathed heavily above the monster. The monster cannot be tired, but it seems he was savoring a difficult victory.

"What odd creatures," Nikolai felt amazed by their level of intelligence, almost feeling like they were people instead of monsters. His finger pressed the different menus, opening the card he obtained.

[Giant Claws Card.]

Nikolai could figure out what it was by seeing it, but he did not think their bodies could be modified. So he dragged the card toward one of the skeletons and equipped it.

A dark mist left the skeleton soldier\'s hands as they morphed. Nikolai watched as sharp claws appeared instead of its earlier hands, and it threw away its sword and started slashing apart air.

The slashes left a trail of darkness behind them, and it seems the claws were embedded with the element. Nikolai could see that the claws were bony, fitting the skeleton\'s body.

Then, he equipped the card to his Ghoul. The monster raised its arms toward the sky as giant claws appeared on its hands. Each sharp nail was as long as a short sword and just as sharp.

"GOOO!" it roared with ecstasy, and Nikolai felt like it deserved the card, so he left it.

Then, his nose sniffed the scent of living humans.

"There are humans in the darkness?" frowned the necromancer. "I need to see for myself, but there seems to be a lot of them. My undead, return," as he said with a wave, the undead disappeared into his pocket dimension.

The best function of his pocket dimension was to store his monsters. As it was constructed out of darkness, Nikolai could tell that his undead liked it in there.

His body turned to black mist as he entered his stealth. Nikolai then stomped on the ground, tasting his new stats, and bolted forward. The landscape rushed by as he approached the group of humans.

When he finally got close enough to see them, Nikolai frowned because the symbol painted on their armor was one that he recognized. A pair of wings.

"Vangir," muttered Nikolai with apprehension. It was a good call to stop his undead from attacking them. This guild was one of the most powerful in the kingdom, and it was the one that Hyde infiltrated. "However, they should not be taking this route."

Their headquarters were in a different direction, a place far enough to guarantee that they would not cross paths with Nikolai. Yet, they were here.

"Are you sure this is the way, Miss Cecily?" asked one of the men at the lead. Nikolai walked close behind them to listen. The name he said was one he read not so long ago.

"I believe so," she said. "I survived by following my guts. This is what the darkness is telling me. The way is from here."

Her lie amused Nikolai because her gut feeling was none other than him. He saw Cecily look around in search of something, and it made him wonder how she found him.

"I should get rid of her," decided Nikolai as it was annoying for someone to follow him. "However, I cannot do that straight away. I need to find who works for Hyde in this guild, and I can use her."

A plan started to form in his head. First, Nikolai needed to find Hyde to answer his question. He also needed to help that fence, Ash, who was bound to be in Abani Ruin after Nikolai promised to help him.

After the decision was made, Nikolai needed to arrange a private meeting with this young woman. A good tool is better left alive until he no longer needs it.

***

Cecily looked around the darkness, looking for any clues of that man. But, unfortunately, there were no footprints or anything that she could use to make her find him.

Her only wish was to meet him, but she needed this guild to protect her until she did. That was why she lied to them about guiding them herself.

However, she did not deceive them and bring them to their deaths. Cecily was confident about finding him here because of a reaction she felt a day earlier from her most treasured item, the notebook.

That notebook was a gift from her mother when Cecily was three years old. It was the item that stayed by her side the longest, and she poured her soul into it.

The change happened when Cecily was bullied by her cousins, who took the notebook and hid it. Her desire to find it created a link with that notebook on a spiritual level.

However, the link was lost after she woke up. Cecily could not feel where the notebook was, but there was a brief time where she managed to do it. It was a day ago, but she did not know what had changed.

\'The dark being must be the one keeping it and preventing me from finding the notebook,\' she thought while looking around. The guildsmen were growing doubtful of her abilities, and they might realize that they were being fooled.

However, Cecily did not lose hope. The notebook was in this direction, and the dark being should be close. She has accepted that a dark being helped her, but this made her even more interested in that creature.

An intelligent form of life that used the darkness. Furthermore, he looked no different than a human, as far as she could tell. Cecily wanted to meet him, or it, again to sate her curiosity. And to thank him, she thought at the end.

As the guildsmen were growing more tired, they heard a roar of countless monsters. Cecily flinched as she looked toward the source and found that a few dark beings had found them.

"You said that you can avoid the dark beings!" shouted one of the guildsmen with fury. "This woman is playing us into being her servants, dammit."

His words were not responded to, but she could feel their glares falling on her body. Finally, however, they had no time to waste, and they started the fight against the dark beings. Meanwhile, they ignored Cecily, who retreated to the back.

"We meet again," a deep voice said from behind her.