Chương 31: Acanthaspis petax

[Corpses of Acanthaspis petax (x 10), Price 1, 000 contribution points] Kayzen almost doubted his eyes. Not because the price was too high, but because it was too low. There was a small note written below the item which said 'ruin class'. How could a corpse of a ruin class be sold for a mere thousand contribution points? And there were ten of them.

"Do you know anything about that?" Kayzen asked Torim since the latter would be more familiar with it.

"Oh, that. Just some bug corpses."

"Bug corpses that are Ruin class," Kayzen added.

"Yeah, I know, but that's a bit misleading. You see, many had the same thoughts like yours and asked the army about it. Turns out the Ruin class was just their overall threat. There was a bug tide in the northern desert, and now these corpses are sold everywhere in the Algasia Empire. Although they are technically ruin class, they are pretty much useless as far as most people are concerned. No one has bought them even after a whole week." Kayzen and Vasser shared a glance after they heard that.

It might not be useful for others, but for him, this was a jackpot.

"How many contribution points do you have?" Vasser asked the mercenary captain. She had also found something that she liked: an Ether organ of a ruin class creature. Its price was even more exaggerated, a whopping 5, 000 contribution points.

"If we pull everything together, it should be about a thousand." Torim scratched his beard in awkwardness. Indeed, the mercenaries were poor. Living here wasn't cheap, fighting much less so. Small tidbits of purchases piled up so high they could barely save enough to buy new items. This was the reason why they wanted to join something like Zephyr. They wouldn't have to worry about their own equipment and finding missions, just following orders would make them rich. The group ate and shared various pieces of news.

Unlike in the Ironheart town, those in the camp knew a lot more about what was going on. It made sense since those in power wouldn't want common citizens to be worrying about every day, not when there was nothing they could do about it. In the end, only Kayzen and Vasser were left on the table as the mercenaries went on their way to submit their missions.

"So, what's special about those bugs?" Vasser asked as she chomped down on an apple.

"Too many things. Not sure how they evolved, but before the apocalypse they were a species that hunted other insects, mostly ants. They paralyze them, liquefy their insides, suck them dry, and finally, wear their exoskeleton as armor."

"That's savage! And quite unlike an Ashbourne," Vasser chuckled at the thought.

"Perks of being a warlock. By the way, do you have any plans going forward?"

"Nothing in particular." Vasser shrugged. Kayzen had expected as such, so he shared what he had in mind.

"I think we should focus on getting used to our new strength as well as buy what we need from the contribution points. Right off the bat, we need 6, 000 if we want to get the bug corpses and the organ you want."

"Indeed. The question is how do we go about fighting?"

"How about we split up? I don't need that many contribution points, and if anything, I want to spend a significant portion of my time doing research. That wouldn't change even after I get the bug corpses. You, on the other hand, will have to fight more in order to progress on your path. Except when facing tougher enemies, we should go about our own things so as to not hinder our progress."

The duo talked about their schedule a bit more and decided that first of all, they would go out this afternoon and try to get enough points for the bug corpses. Afterward, Kayzen would be focusing more on research, whereas Vasser would work towards getting the Ether organ. It wouldn't matter either way regardless of who succeeded first. If Kayzen managed to make a few more ability stones, then getting contribution points would be easy.

On the other hand, Vasser fighting would help Kayzen in acquiring materials for his research.

"By the way, let's go ask around how much what we have is worth. Who knows, maybe we wouldn't have to work as hard to get the points." The two walked towards the exchange area. They had collected a lot of stuff throughout the past month, and now it was time to empty out his Hemogaster backpack with stuff they didn't need. For example, the leftover materials from the crows. The area near the exchange center was uncrowded since it was early in the morning. As the two reached the counter, they spotted a familiar face.

"Hi there, how are you doing?" Kayzen asked the one-armed man sitting behind the counter. That was none other than Derrick. The man had lost quite some muscles judging from the loose shirt, but otherwise he looked much more relaxed than before.

"Oh, it's you two!" Derrick stood up and bowed towards Vasser and Kayzen.

"I cannot thank you enough for saving my life. I don't have much I can pay you with, but let me know if there is anything I can do to help."

"No need to be so formal," Vasser spoke as she gestured Derrick to be at ease. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Seeing the latter still seem indebted, Kayzen decided to ask him for some help.

"Well, if you really want to help us out then count how much contribution points they are worth. We also need to know about some good hunting areas."

"No problem." Derrick's eyes lit up as he looked at the Hemogaster backpack. Objects with spatial storage were something he hadn't seen in the entire camp. Kayzen took out everything he didn't need, and in the end, it turned out to be worth a grand total of 450 points. A lot more than he had expected. Most of that was due to Kayzen knowing how to collect and preserve materials so they remained in high quality. Mercenaries, on the other hand, were crude with their works.

Most of the things they collected were subpar in value. Derrick completed the transaction and gave Kayzen a promissory note. The so-called contribution points weren't something physical. Even if Kayzen lost the note, his contribution was marked down in the camp. He would be able to redeem it anytime. This was crude but efficient, since no one would be bothered to make a whole new currency when the survival of the camp itself wasn't certain. Finally, Derrick took out a map from the drawer.

"This is the map of the surrounding region. If you want to earn some points fast, then I suggest these three areas. They are at the east and west of this camp, respectively. The enemies there aren't that strong, but the sheer numbers make up for it. If you're able to clear out hordes of them, then it would be more efficient than going after stronger enemies towards the mines. You wouldn't have to compete against the likes of Zephyr either."

Kayzen looked at the map and noted that the one area marked near the eastern side wasn't that far away from the camp. After thanking Derrick, the two went to get a temporary lodge and get some rest. … Six hours later, Kayzen and Vasser were standing at the entrance of the campsite. They weren't the only ones as dozens of mercenaries were preparing to depart as well. Since their destination was the same, the duo decided to tag along with the group.

"It's concerning that the hunting zone is so close to the campsite," Vasser spoke as she looked at the gloomy forest ahead.

"Indeed. I'm not sure how long the camp would last if nothing changes. Regardless, what we have to do remains unchanged." Kayzen didn't plan on staying here for long. This was just a transitional phase where they checked out their powers and got some materials while they were at it. With the experienced mercenaries leading them it didn't take long before they arrived at a darker stretch of the forest. The people ahead of them split up into groups of twos and threes and went in their different directions.

Kayzen and Vasser decided to split up as well, but not going farther away than 200 meters. With Kayzen's range of perception, this much was nothing.

"Take care," Vasser waved her hand and climbed the tallest tree. She was gone from Kayzen's eyesight in just a couple of seconds. He didn't dally any longer either and walked into the forest in a much more cautious manner. While he could use his roots of perception and kill the Fiend class Archwolves with ease, he decided to take a little bit of a risk and train his close combat skills. This was hitting two birds with one stone. He could prepare for when things went wrong as well as learn how to use his new weapon.

Kayzen took out the chain from his Hemogaster backpack and held it with his right hand. His roots of perception had already marked an Archwolf fifty meters away. Like a hunter stalking its prey, he moved at a steady pace towards the target. He activated Phantom Shift just to be on the cautious side as well. 40 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters. Finally, Kayzen stopped as he reached the mark of 10 meters. This was close enough, as the archwolf was already swinging towards him.

Kayzen felt his heart pump up with adrenaline as the monster pounced at him with its raised leg. He willed the chain to intercept its attack, only to miss by a whole meter. The Archwolf agilely dodged the chain and stabbed his head with its leg. Thanks to the Phantom Shift though, Kayzen wasn't damaged in the least. He could just stand there and the Fiend class alien wouldn't be able to harm him for at least a couple of minutes. Not that Kayzen planned to do that.

He willed his chain again and again to attack the spider, yet each of them resulted in failure. The archwolf was way too agile in this forest since it could move up, down, and sideways. The fact that Kayzen had never swung around chains didn't help either. He wasn't discouraged, however. He didn't use his Hex or the authority of a Warden. All he did was control the chain, his red eyes analyzing the area along with his roots of perception.

'There's no point in chasing after it since I'm not fast enough, which leaves the other option: I have to predict its movement.' Finally, Kayzen realized how he could use his chain. The chain finally struck the leg of the spider on the 58th attempt. It didn't do much damage apart from making it stagger away, but Kayzen was more than satisfied with this. He repeated the same process again and again, and sure enough, his rate of success increased.

From once every five attacks to once every third attack, he was able to attain better precision in using his chain after an hour of practice. This was more exhausting than he had thought, but the Archwolf was also battered and bruised. In the end Kayzen used his Hex to finish off the creature. Now that he had a decent enough idea on his weakness, he decided to get serious and went on a hunt. In the next two hours, he killed ten more Fiend class spiders and collected the fangs as well as their silk glands.

His next target for record extraction was none other than the ability to make webs. He didn't want to assimilate with the low records of the fiend class, but doing research on them first would give him a better idea on what to look out for. It was almost evening by now, so Kayzen decided to head back towards Vasser. This part of the forest was filled with gore and destruction after her arrival. Most of the trees were snapped in half while chunks of Archwolf flesh were hanging everywhere on the leaves and branches.

It almost looked like a war had taken place here rather than a hunting mission. Just guessing from the remains of the aliens, Kayzen guessed that Vasser had killed a lot more than he had. A set of Fiend class archwolf fangs was worth 10 contribution points, so it was almost certain he could buy the bug corpses today.

"How many did you get?" Vasser asked as she jumped down from the tree landing in front of Kayzen.

"Ahem, ten." Kayzen coughed as he looked at the stuffed bag hanging on her waist.

"What, so few? What were you doing?"

"I was practicing with the chain, so didn't get to hunt much." The two chatted and made their way to the camp. Along the trail they ran into the mercenaries as well. Most of their weapons and armor were broken. For them, it had been an arduous fight.

"You go ahead and meet Derrick, I'll make a visit at the local Shrine," Vasser handed him the bag as they reached the gates.

"See you at the lodge then," Kayzen waved her off and joined the line in front of the exchange area. Since he had more than a thousand contribution points he decided to buy some shard fragments as well. It would take a couple of days for the bugs to be delivered, so his next target were the Archwolves.