Chương 56: The Defective Core

It was a weird-looking monster with grasshopper legs and a cockroach body. Currently, it was gnawing on something that it had hunted. Although it looked like a normal Alpha Standard monster, Arthur was not going to underestimate it. Hence, he gave the command to the Skeletons to attack just as they had been killing these monsters, instead of simply giving the command to attack. Since they had killed 25 monsters which possessed Night Crystals, the Skeletons had a better understanding.

Upon receiving the command, the three Skeletons started to move towards the monster. Maan somewhat stayed behind. Meanwhile, only Coburn and Dolph flanked the monster on both sides, utilizing its blind spots. However, as soon as they neared the 10-foot range, the monster detected their presence. It lifted its head and hissed towards its adversaries. Seeing this, Arthur's body automatically jolted because the monster's mouth looked terrifying, its teeth cascading into multiple sets like a shredder.

If the Skeletons' limbs were to get stuck in that, they would turn into powder within an instant. Before giving any gap to think about what was transpiring, Coburn sprinted towards the monster. The monster, which was previously facing and threatening Dolph, turned around towards Coburn's sprint. It charged at him on all legs with great fury. Swish! The moment the monster's aggression turned towards Coburn, a spear flew like a comet.

It directly lodged into the small neck of the monster, coming out the other side and nailing the monster to the ground. The monster hissed for a few moments before its legs went still.

"Well, in front of an Expert, Alpha Standard Masters are nothing but Chicken." Arthur was somewhat not surprised by this outcome. He had half expected the Night Crystal Core monsters to be a little different. However, he could not find that out when their strength was disproportionate. He might need to wait and see if Dolph were to fight an enemy of equal strength. Only then would he come to know if there was anything special about the monsters with Night Crystal Cores.

Antrae walked towards the monster's corpse to extract the materials. Meanwhile, Arthur commanded it to take out the Core first. Following the command, Antrae meticulously used its tools to extract the Core without damaging any other materials. When the Core was clawed out of the monster's head, Arthur went into great joy. It was indeed a Night Crystal Core. Coburn's ability to identify the rare monster was really capable.

With this confirming his abilities, all he needed to do was slowly move deep into the mountain. He would hunt everything along the way, but prioritize the hunting of the rare Night Crystal Core monsters. Soon after, Antrae continued extracting materials from the monster. However, there was no meat to be found; there were only a few materials, such as hard and soft wings, legs, and antennae. Arthur did not know whether to keep these items, as he did not know their usage.

Currently, he was only interested in meat, hides, hearts, and cores. Aside from those, everything else would be thrown out because he did not know how much storage space the Skeletons possessed. However, for now, he would keep them. If he could exit this place alive, he would sell these items to earn a large amount of money. At that time, he would no longer need to worry about Credits ever again. With such thoughts, he did not stop the Skeleton from harvesting the remaining body parts.

He simply waited until the corpse was cleanly stripped and no more materials could be extracted. Once the process was complete, the group proceeded to walk deeper into the area. The further they moved forward, the more the scenery changed. Now, Arthur could see large amounts of vegetation and fully grown trees not far from where he stood. If he were to reach the base of the mountain, he would be enveloped by the wild vegetation. That would be the time one gets overwhelmed by monsters.

After all, a majority of the monsters preferred the mountain environment for hunting, hiding themselves within the bushes or trees. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. According to Daniel, who had heard it from the old man, Larry, one could not simply walk their way into the next Safe Spot. It required something akin to a key to enter the Safe Spot. To obtain a key, one needed to fight the Leader of this Labyrinth.

Arthur's lack of knowledge had caused his long-term plans to come to a standstill. Since he did not possess anything concrete, he had to focus on his current plan, instead of thinking about matters that were out of his hands. He had worried about his System Quest for a long time. Now that he had a solution, rather than working towards it, his mind was already thinking about matters out of his control. He needed to organize his self-discipline. With such self-awareness, he started to walk forward.

Fiddling with the Black Crystal Core in his left hand, he picked up a Normal Core with his right hand, absorbing it at a regular interval. Currently, Arthur had absorbed around 50 Cores, and his body started to feel odd. His body had started to react to the Cores he had been absorbing. His mind felt slightly different from before.

"No wonder evolved Awakeners are so strong," Arthur muttered. It was just like how strong people ruled this world; that confidence automatically came once a person evolved. Suddenly, a small smile crept onto his face. He could not wait for his Core to evolve, allowing him to feel confident and handle matters more easily. However, while he was ecstatic about the future, his thoughts suddenly went to his left hand. The Night Crystal was an exact replica of the normal crystal, but in black.

Why would humans not absorb it? He closely examined the Night Crystal. He did not feel anything abnormal after seeing it thoroughly. He put the crystal to his eyes and looked at the rising sun. The sunlight went through the crystal. Arthur could see clearly, like glass; there were no impurities existing on it. He moved it towards his nose for a whiff of scent: nothing. He lowered it into his mouth and gave a small bite. Crumble.

The Night Crystal crumbled into dust inside his mouth as soon as his teeth clutched the Core. He immediately moved the half-core away from his mouth. Following which, he immediately spat out the crumbled dust that was already dissolved into his saliva. Arthur was in great fear. Was he going to get poisoned from the Night Core? He thoroughly cleaned his mouth with his shirt. He stayed still, wondering if poison were to reach into his stomach.

"Coburn, come here," Arthur urgently called out to the Skeleton.

"Jump once if yes," he commanded as Coburn stood in front of him.

"Will I get poisoned if I eat this crystal?" Arthur asked as he held the half-intact Night Crystal on his palm, while he inwardly prayed that Coburn would not jump. One second… Two seconds… Three seconds… Coburn stood unmoving; it did not jump. Moreover, Arthur himself did not feel any discomfort, even after a while had passed. With these two points confirmed, it was clear that the Night Crystal was not poison. Arthur looked at the crystal once more, wondering why it would crumble even before he could force a bite.

Arthur tried to crush the crystal between his fingers, but it did not budge. It felt as if it was rock solid. It was a truly surprising and weird phenomenon. The crystal was extremely vulnerable to his teeth. At the same time, it would not budge if he tried to destroy it by hand. Subsequently, Arthur took out a normal, white-blushed Crystal.

"Jump once if this Crystal is poison," Arthur asked Coburn. The Skeleton stood still, without jumping. Arthur brought the crystal to his mouth and gave it a bite. However, nothing happened; the white crystal did not crumble like the Black Crystal did. Surprised, he bit down with force. In the end, all he received was a toothache for his efforts. The crystal did not even have a dent on its jagged edges.

"What is this?" Arthur was truly dumbfounded. Perhaps, just as its name suggested, the Black Crystals were defective Cores. That was the reason why they could not be absorbed like the other Cores, and why they crumbled at the mere touch of his teeth. However, why would it not break when he tried to crush it with his fingers?

"Coburn, jump once. Can I eat this and not die?" Arthur asked, pointing at the half Black Crystal. In the next second, Coburn jumped once, confirming Arthur could eat the defective Night Crystal Core. However, what was the benefit of eating it? Could he gain a Core Point if he ate it, similar to how absorbing a crystal would grant him one? Arthur decided to test this theory. Even if he gained a Core Point similar to a White Crystal, it would not be a groundbreaking discovery.

Since Night Crystals were scarce and not widely available, one would simply absorb the normal Cores instead of eating Night Crystals. To test this theory, he placed the half Night Crystal Core into his mouth. Instantly, it dissolved into his saliva, and he swallowed every bit of the Core. Nothing in particular happened. Arthur simply waited for the regular message regarding the gained Core Point. Without delay, he received a message.

However, the message looked slightly different from the regular message for a Core Point.