Chương 46: Next Goal

Corel and Alicetia sat in the middle of Camp Allollooya, waiting patiently. Since agreeing to the Rite of Bonds date, Corel had been granted far more freedom and was now permitted to compete in the integration point events. She had also discovered, to her horror, that once the bond was completed, Pathfinder planned to transfer to one of the top ten-ranked worlds, completely abandoning this world and everyone in it. According to him, preparations were already underway to secure the transfer.

The news had struck her like a blow to the soul. Abandon everyone? Pathfinder was even more selfish than she had imagined. She sighed audibly.

"Shanshara? Are you okay?" Alicetia asked gently.

"Yes, just ruminating," Corel replied. Two months had passed since she and Alicetia had emerged from the Profession Gate. Both Voldura had experienced significant growth in power and stats. Thankfully, Alicetia had been allowed to remain with her and join her at any events she attended. Corel was also pleased to learn that Alicetia had been given an item to hide her status.

At first, this had raised suspicion, but Pathfinder's overconfidence in his own strength had led him to dismiss the potential risks and grant them their current freedoms. It was a false freedom, she knew that. But it was still better than the cage they'd been in before. The event she'd chosen to attend was a duo team hunting challenge. Teams of two from each integration world would compete to hunt the highest number of a specific species.

She had deliberately selected this event because the point reward was relatively low, meaning none of the worlds would be sending their top powerhouses. It would give her a chance to test out her new skills in relative safety. She hadn't activated a single skill since acquiring them, fully aware that Pathfinder was monitoring her every move. System Message Event beginning. You will be teleported in 10 seconds. She shared a look with Alicetia. They both nodded, ready.

A moment later, they vanished and teleported off-world to the event hub. The event hub hadn't changed since she last saw it over a year ago. That time, she had been with her brother before everything had gone horribly wrong. Corel scanned the area, noting the other competing teams scattered throughout the hub. She counted seventy-three teams out of a possible ninety-eight. That was good; the fewer the teams, the better. This would help ensure she didn't attract too much attention.

She approached the nearest booth and tapped on the info panel. This hunt was for a small species called Jabberji. The tadpole-like creatures were listed with a D difficulty rating. All their stats were marked as F, except for speed, which was listed as C. She reminded herself that difficulty grades were specific to integration beasts. An F-stat meant the value was no higher than one hundred and fifty.

A C speed, on the other hand, suggested the creature could reach a top speed equivalent to around three hundred Agility. Corel smiled. Her Agility stat was now over six hundred. This event wouldn't be too hard. Still, winning wasn't her primary goal. She intended to scout out a quiet place to test and hopefully level her Profession. The event lasted an entire week, as most hunting events did, which meant she had plenty of time to get a solid understanding of her Profession.

"We have company," Alicetia said, motioning towards two beings approaching. Corel recognized them immediately. Fish-like in appearance, they were members of the Grosii Xvv race, one of the teams from World Ranked 5. She gave a respectful bow in greeting.

"Greetings. This is Alice, and I am Corel. We are pleased to meet you," she said.

"Greetings, Corel and Alice. We are Vvooif and Ccoifo," The two Grosii babbled in unison. As a hive-mind species, their speech was always synchronized.

"It has been a while since we last saw you compete in an event, Corel. We thought you might have met your end along with your brother. We are glad to see you doing well," they said.

"Thank you for the concern; I am doing fine. I've simply been… busy," Corel replied amicably.

"We have heard of the deeds of this Pathfinder. We disagree with his barbarism. We hope you can escape your current predicament," the Grosii continued. They had no fundamental concept of discretion, and their bluntness often made conversation with them unpleasant, primarily since they specialised in information gathering and somehow always knew far more about other worlds than they should.

"Thank you, but you need not worry about me," Corel replied, keeping her tone polite even as irritation simmered beneath the surface.

"Very well. Good luck today," they said before drifting off to speak with another group.

"We need to figure out their intelligence network. How do they know everything?" Alicetia mused.

"I'm not sure, and I'm not interested in finding out. Dealing with them is always a headache," Corel replied, rubbing her temples. She especially wished they hadn't so casually mentioned her brother.

"Let's pick up some supplies and a map and finalize our plans," she added. They returned to the booth and accessed the shop interface. The rest of the pre-event time passed without much incident. Eventually, all seventy-three teams were teleported to the surface of the system's chosen world, and the hunt began. Two days into the hunt, Corel sat in the centre of a vast crater at the top of one of the large mountains scattered across the terrain.

She had been pleasantly surprised by what she had discovered about her new skills. One granted her a mini-map of her surroundings, although it only worked outdoors. The map showed her every beast within visible range, even if they were hiding out of sight. Even more useful, she discovered that wherever she used Nature's Touch, the affected area became permanently visible on her mini-map. Any beast, or being, who stepped into that zone would be shown to her immediately.

It worked perfectly as an early warning system. After selecting the mountain as her temporary base, she circled it with Nature's Touch, then sat calmly at its heart, her mini-map watching the area for her. With this, she and Alicetia could practice their skills without worrying about unwanted prying eyes. The two Voldura practiced in peace and safety for the next three days. By the midpoint of the fifth day of the hunt, Corel and Alicetia were ready to make their move.

The leading team so far was a duo from the current World Ranked 6, who had captured two hundred and forty-three Jabberji. In just twelve hours, Corel and Alicetia caught one hundred Jabberji. Their tactic was simple but effective: Corel sprinted across the terrain, using Nature's touch to expand her mini-map significantly. While she explored, she communicated with Alicetia, calling out the locations of any Jabberji that appeared. It worked even better than they had hoped.

Alicetia, with an Agility stat over five hundred, was no slouch herself and quickly captured the tiny creatures. The hunt continued. By the end of day six, they had taken the top spot with a lead of over fifty catches. Unfortunately, this made them a target. On the final day of the event, chaos erupted as the second and third-place teams began actively hunting them, attempting repeated ambushes to steal their haul. Corel did her best to use her mini-map to avoid direct confrontations.

But, two hours before the event was to end, their luck ran out. They were finally tracked down and forced into battle.

"You two are slippery little fucks," bellowed a massive, gorilla-like man hanging from a tree above them. Corel activated Identify. Identify: Vast mana, Bolbossa, Forged Rampager level 112 Cloa Harva, Bolbossa, Gifted Scavenger level 110 Corel recognized the pair. They were from the World Ranked 10 and had recently climbed into second place in the hunt, sitting forty-nine Jabberji behind.

"We would like to avoid a fight if possible," Corel shouted up to Vast.

"Too bad, little female. Hand over Jabberji," he roared as he launched himself from the tree. His speed wasn't impressive, so they easily evaded his clumsy dive. Alicetia pulled out her bow and unleashed a rapid volley of arrows toward him. She had worked tirelessly over the past two months and was now level 110 in her Class and 40 in her Profession. Her stats far surpassed Vast, who had no profession to enhance his abilities. It quickly became clear that the matchup was poor for the Bolbossa.

Alicetia's precision forced him on the defensive, and he struggled to close the distance. The second Bolbossa, Cloa, targeted Corel directly. He was much faster than Vast and closed in with deft speed, but Corel easily avoided his attacks and drew two short swords. She remained on the defensive, more than content to let Cloa come to her. Their battle was even more one-sided than Alicetia's. Cloa had a weaker offence and relied heavily on speed to gain the upper hand, but Corel was faster. She was also a Seeker.

He couldn't land a single hit, while she landed many in return. After only ten minutes of fighting, if it could even be called that, the two Bolbossa were forced to retreat in total defeat. Corel and Alicetia wasted no time returning to their hit-and-run tactics, capturing more and more Jabberji while avoiding any further confrontations. By the time the hunt ended, they had secured the top spot with over a hundred more captures than the Bolbossa team.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. When Corel returned to World Ranked 31, she brought with her several new treasures and hundreds of thousands of credits. But her success didn't go unnoticed. Later that night, a shadow slipped into Pathfinder's tent, bringing a report on the recent hunting event and what Corel had accomplished. __ After what felt like an eternity stuck in teleportation, Joe reappeared on World 43.

He slumped down and spent a few hours resting north of a small town. His body ached, and he was grateful for the time to heal. For some reason, the teleportation had stopped his Nature healing from working. As grass spread around him, he used Flourish for a short while, just long enough for a tree to grow behind him. He had one main reason for doing so… and smiled when he heard something barreling toward him. A dot appeared on his mini-map. He sat up just in time as Veda slammed into him like a cannonball.

He grunted in pain as his back hit the tree behind him.

"Where have you been!" Veda shouted in his mind as she wrapped herself around him.

"Oh, how I missed you," Joe said, stroking the salamander. She felt cold to the touch.

"How long was I gone for?" he asked.

"Two months," Veda replied as she absorbed his body heat. Two months. Holy shit, he had been gone long.

"I visited a Princess and a God," Joe said, leaning back against the tree. Veda's head darted up, locking eyes with him.

"You went to Eludia?" She asked in shock.

"A quest?"

"Yep, which I failed," Joe replied, pulling up the most recent system message that had appeared upon his return. System Message Due to the failure of a recent quest. The Skill Random Teleportation has been lost. Joe let out a low grunt, his face twisting into a grimace. There went his primary means of travel. It wasn't the worst possible loss; if it had been his one space skill or one of his core Nature skills, that would've been a tragedy.

"I lost my Random Teleportation skill as punishment. So we'll be travelling by boat for a while," Joe said.

"Good, that skill was stupid anyway," Veda replied, snuggling closer. She slid her tail under his clothing and wrapped it around his chest. The tip of her tail brushed his petal tattoo.

"So… Did you find out what that is?" she asked, tapping the bond.

"Wait. You knew? And you didn't tell me?" Joe exclaimed.

"It wasn't my place, and what was there to tell? You could have done nothing about it until this integration was finished," Veda retorted.

"You're right. Sorry. I was just surprised. The whole thing was kinda crazy at the end," Joe mumbled, closing his eyes. He jumped as Veda's tail slapped him across the ribs.

"Don't just return and immediately fall asleep; I want to know everything that happened. But first, get up and head to the house with the red roof. A family there has been keeping me company, and I said you would feed them when you return. You have a lot of mouths to feed," Veda ordered. Joe smiled and laughed as he got to his feet. It was good to be back. A few days later, Joe was practicing his footwork just north of the small town he had come to learn was called Obrzycko in western Poland.

He moved through the steps beneath the morning sun, sweat dripping down as he pushed himself to his physical limits. Some of the onlookers could barely keep track of his movements, their eyes struggling to follow the blur of his shifting form. Veda lay at his side, on an incredibly thick pile of tall grass, watching him flow through his sequence. As soon as he came to a stop and wiped the sweat from himself, she leapt onto his shoulders.

"Your new footwork is quite unique," she commented.

"You said it came from your bloodline?"

"Yes, from my bloodline skill, that gives me visions," he replied, settling onto the grass and pulling out a bottle of water to drink.

"Sometimes I wonder how you got so lucky," Veda muttered, shaking her head.

"Even at the basic stage, your footwork seems to be a high-tier one. Not quite as good as my mistress's, but still very good." Joe scratched her back, feeling the gentle rumble of her purr vibrating against him.

"Footwork has tiers? Is there any way to see something like that?" he queried. He loved having Veda around, finally, someone he could ask questions to. She didn't know everything, but her knowledge of system mechanics and the wider Multiverse was astounding. She was the walking library he never knew he needed, and he never held back when it came to asking questions.

"Once you reach D-grade, your status screen will update. You'll be able to see the tier then," Veda answered.

"Whoa. I was actually wondering about that. I'm already in the E-grade, so when will I reach the D-grade? I remember the tutorial book saying it's level two hundred, but does that apply to me?"

"It does. No one can reach D-grade before level two hundred, even those with a bloodline," she replied.

"One more question," Joe said, glancing at her.

"Every time I practice my footwork, I get a strange feeling inside. Like it's good to practice, or rather, keep practicing. Like I'm somehow improving it. But with months of practice, I haven't noticed any improvement at all. Is that strange?" Veda stared at him, silent. Joe began to wonder if he'd said something ridiculous. It was a weird feeling. Honestly, he felt the same sensation when he used certain skills, but he didn't mention that yet.

"You are talking about proficiency," Veda finally said.

"Proficiency? What do you mean?" Joe asked.

"Every skill you have, including footwork, has a hidden proficiency stat. Again, once you reach a certain level, this will be visible on your status screen. Until then, just keep practicing and don't worry about it. It will become clear once you reach max proficiency." She gently patted his back with her tail.

"You really are a smart boy. I'm proud." Joe raised an eyebrow at being called a boy, but let it go. It didn't really bother him. The proficiency thing was fascinating. It made him want to drop everything and just practice his footwork every day until he maxed it out. He wondered what would happen then. Would it level up? Or would it evolve into a new, better footwork? He couldn't wait to find out. He also decided to use his class skills more during combat. It was seed spamming time from now on.

The thought made him chuckle. He turned as two small dots approached. It was a pair of kids from the town. He was surprised they'd come out so fearlessly. While there weren't any Beasts nearby at the moment, it was still dangerous to wander this far.

"Sir, Mother sent us to give you this," the small boy said, holding out a small package.

"Thank you, Bartek. Tell Julia I said thank you," Joe replied, taking the wrapped parcel and storing it away. Julia had mentioned she was working on a carving for him, a thank-you gift for clearing the Beasts in the area and turning the town into a peaceful farm zone. He hoped the future would be kinder to people like them.

"Thank you, sir, for everything," Bartek said with a nod, then the two boys turned and ran back toward the town. Veda let out a soft huff beside him. She clearly didn't enjoy the drop in attention from the children since Joe arrived. Joe gave her another scratch behind the neck and stood up. He spent the rest of the day circling the area, pushing outwards in a wide sweep and clearing any Beasts within a mile of Obrzycko. He spammed his seed skills the entire time, trying to push his class forward.

Just before nightfall, a notification appeared. Ding! Class Space Farmer has reached level 31 - stat points distributed. He placed his ten free stat points into vitality and returned to town to rest for the night. The next morning, after saying farewell to the town's inhabitants, Joe set off southeast, toward the Middle East. He rode atop his flying boat, Veda perched on his shoulders, watching the landscape blur beneath them. As they flew, Joe finally opened the integration quest screen.

He hadn't looked at it since his unexpected detour to the Eludian Empire. Quest - Kill all 100 Gate bosses to restart Integration into the multiverse. Quest progress - 75/100 Time limit of Quest - 1. 2 Years The quest had progressed a lot while he was away for those two months. Only twenty-five Boss Beasts remained. Joe now sat at forty-one kills out of seventy-five, and he was relieved to see the number steadily rising.

It made him feel better about focusing on his resource-grab prize instead of rushing to hunt more Bosses. That was why he was currently heading southeast, toward China. He planned to cut through Ukraine, cross the Caspian Sea, move through the Middle East, and finally reach China to locate the gate. He couldn't wait to find out what kind of gate it was. It had to be special, after all, the system had awarded it to him as a prize for ranking third in contribution during the Resource Grab.

The thought alone made his eyes light up with excitement. At his current speed, he guessed he could reach China in under a week, though that depended on how many stops he made along the way. He got distracted easily, and his journeys always ended up taking twice as long as they should have if he just flown straight. As that thought crossed his mind, Veda began to stir from her nap.

"Good morning," he greeted.

"What's good about it?" Veda retorted.

"This trip would be more enjoyable if I had someone else to talk to along the way."

"Am I that boring?" Joe asked, pretending to be offended.

"Yes," Veda replied simply.

"All you do is practice and grow plants. You never stop and just relax."

"Well, we have time to relax as we fly. Was there anything you wanted to do?" Joe asked. Veda looked up at him, her crimson eyes narrowing.

"No, you need to practice your footwork. Get to it," she ordered, hopping off his shoulder and flopping onto a nearby chair. Joe laughed as he cleared some space for practice, already preparing to flow through the steps as they soared through the sky. The one-week trip was mostly uneventful. Joe practiced footwork and occasionally stopped at towns or cities that were still inhabited to see if he could offer any help. From the people he met, he learned that most cities were slowly being evacuated.

Residents were relocating toward the nearest City Pillars, gathering at the safer, fortified hubs. From the sky, it looked like a mass migration of wildlife stretching across the land. The world was changing fast. As he crossed a desert in northern Iran, he witnessed something unexpected. For the first time, he saw a concentration of mana forming into something tangible. A swirling cluster erupted into a burst, then into Beasts.

"Mana combustion," Veda explained.

"The system floods the failed world with mana, which results in combustions. Those combustions form beasts. As time goes on, the beasts that form grow in strength." Joe stared down at the smoking crater below as a group of Beasts surged from the area. Each of them was already above level forty. The world was starting to get a lot more dangerous.

"Do these combustions ever stop?" Joe asked.

"No, they'll eventually plateau once the world reaches mana saturation. But they will never stop. Failed worlds like this aren't meant to be reintegrated into the system. They are usually used as training grounds by nearby Empires to raise their armies or elites." She paused before continuing.

"This world is in a very unusual situation; it will be the first mana-flooded world that spawns Beasts to potentially become a Multiversal world."

"Is that… a good thing?" He asked.

"Both good and bad," Veda said, curling her tail around his waist as she rested her head on his lap.

"It'll push people here to grow stronger. Without that growth, they won't even be able to leave the safety of a city pillar. But it will also attract the attention of more powerful worlds that want to claim this place as a resource zone. High mana worlds like this are always contested." Joe sighed, absorbing her words. So even if they succeeded in reintegrating into the Multiverse, they would likely be targeted eventually and taken over by some massive Empire.

There wasn't much he could do about that now, but hopefully, by then, they'd be strong enough to survive at least.

"I wouldn't worry about it, though," Veda continued as if reading his mind.

"Especially with you here, you could just ask your… bond to declare this world part of the Eludian Empire, and then no one would dare invade and take over."

"After the reaction, I got to the whole bond thing; I don't see Rose or Catalina offering to help out anytime soon," Joe replied, a little distraught.

"They may not like it, but a Bond of Fate is not easily ignored," Veda said thoughtfully.

"I'm sure you'll grow on her. Or you could just beg." Joe visibly shuddered at the thought of having a God stare into his soul again. The rest of the trip was relatively peaceful, with no major disruptions. He and Veda soon crossed into China through northern Pakistan. They had arrived in Tibet.