Chương 55: Coburn The Jack of all Trades

After cleaning up the monsters, Arthur walked towards Bathory. He needed to know the amount of materials they had collected up to this point. Immediately after receiving his command, Bathory brought out all the materials it had collected. A mountain of materials appeared. Separated piles of meat were stacked like cubes. Meanwhile, neatly skinned hides were stacked similarly beside a small mountain of Hearts, which he had specifically requested.

Next to the pile of Monster Hearts, Monster Cores glittered under the sunrise. However, before he could check the next pile of neatly arranged bones that stood taller than the rest, his eyes glued to a single, small element upon the Monster Cores. A majority of the Monster Cores continuously glittered under the sunlight. However, there was a black spot that did not glitter; it simply lay there. Arthur's heart pumped within his ribcage.

He hoped it was real, and not just a rock that had mixed in during the gathering. He slowly crept towards the pile of Monster Cores, his eyes glued to that particular spot. With every step he took, his heartbeat ran faster. He gulped down a mouthful of saliva. Could it exist in this place as well? To Arthur's knowledge, Night Crystals only came from the monsters that resided within the Gate. However, could this trail be considered a Gate? Arthur squatted down before the pile of Cores, picking up the black spot.

It gave off a feeling similar to the black crystal he had first obtained from the old man's shop. Currently, that crystal lay in his rented shop. However, as far as he could tell, it was the exact same as that Night Crystal. Without hesitation, Arthur started searching through the pile of Monster Cores to see if he could find more of them. As expected, he discovered another Black Core. Rummaging through the pile, he found another one, and then another.

When he finally finished searching through the pile of over 500 Cores, he had obtained a total of 25 Black Crystals. If he were to guess that a single crystal weighed 30 grams, the 25 Black Cores would weigh more than half a kilogram. Hence, he would need 19. 5 kilograms of Black Crystals to avoid going blind. However, he did not linger on the massive target of 19. 5 kilograms. He was extremely happy that he could collect Black Crystals in this place.

These Skeletons had gathered more than half a kilogram just by randomly killing monsters in a single night. If he were to target these specific monsters, the massive amount required would be nothing but peanuts. However, could the Skeletons identify the monsters that yielded Black Crystals? He had to verify this matter. If they could pinpoint the target, Arthur would unquestionably become the happiest person on this trail. Following which, he summoned Brog and commanded all the Skeletons to stand side by side.

Although he did not have the means to communicate with them verbally, it did not mean he lacked other ways to discover if these Skeletons could identify the specific monsters that yielded Night Crystals. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

"Everyone, listen. I will ask a question. If any of you can do it, you need to jump once," Arthur said, staring at his Skeletons. He badly wanted any one of them to jump. Even if every one of them did not know, it would not stop him from collecting, as he would just hunt every monster that laid in his eyes. However, such an action was a far stretch. It would take a lot of time and effort. Currently, he lacked both of them because he did not know what would happen in the next second on this trail.

Hence, if any of them possessed the ability to pinpoint the monster, he would hit the jackpot. It would be child's play to collect 20 kilograms of Night Crystals within a week's time. With that, Arthur picked up a single Night Crystal. Stretching out his right palm, he placed the Crystal Core on the center of it.

"Can any of you identify the monster that yields this Black Crystal Core?" The moment these words left his mouth, Arthur's eyes moved through the line, praying for any one of the Skeletons to jump. He started from Brog on the right, then Antrae, Bathory, Dolph, Maan, and finally, Coburn. However, they stood still; not one of them moved a bone. Just as his eyes were about to make another round of checks, the first Skeleton jumped high into the air. It landed on the ground, staying still once more.

"Coburn," Arthur muttered. Of course, Coburn was his first Skeleton, the Jack of all Trades. If there were a thousand professions present in the marketplace, Coburn possessed the capacity to execute all of their works. With great joy, Arthur tidied up the place and advanced towards the depths of the wilderness. The day had just begun; he had a long day ahead of him. He could achieve a ton of things. Today's target would be to hunt at least 3 kilograms worth of Night Crystal Core monsters.

If he went by this calculation, he would achieve his Second System Quest within a week's time. Even thinking about it brought him exhilaration. Meanwhile, there was one more thing he needed to do; he had to Absorb Monster Cores to evolve his Core Layer. When he was attacked by those bastards last night, his body could not take a few normal hits from them. His body was fragile and brittle. Since he currently possessed enough Cores to evolve into the Alpha Core Layer, he would not hesitate any further.

Once he became strong enough, he could even join the battle alongside his Skeletons, accelerating the process of hiring Techi, the Debuffer Skeleton. The team walked, following Coburn's direction. Along the way, they hunted monsters that were normal core monsters. Meanwhile, Arthur started to Absorb the Monster Cores. At a steady interval, a wisp of smoke traveled from his palm into his chest. After observing 30 Cores, a message suddenly appeared before his face.

[Gain 1 Alpha Standard Core Point] [Elemental Affinity Acquired] Affinity: Earth (Alpha Standard) [Inherit this Affinity?] The Core had actually granted him the Earth Elemental Affinity. What a great surprise. However, Arthur was slightly reluctant. Affinities were fixed; once an Awakener accepted an Affinity, they were bound to it forever. Although the Earth Elemental Affinity was one of the widely used Elemental Affinity, he had just started his core Adsorption.

He could wait and see what his luck held ahead of him. Hence, he chose no and continued absorbing the Cores. After walking for half an hour, Coburn finally stopped. His empty gaze directed towards a monster. However, the monster Coburn currently looked at was a very normal monster, exactly like the ones they had killed along the way. It did not seem special. Arthur expected it to be some kind of special monster. However, it did not matter.

He could see if Coburn's abilities were the real truth if the monster were to possess a Night Crystal. From then on, he would place respect on Coburn's name. Otherwise, he would put him into a helper's job.