Chương 57: The Black Core's Secret

[Alpha Standard Night Crystal Core consumed. Gained 0. 05 Attribute Points.]"What the hell is this? Shouldn't it be a Core Point?" Arthur was thoroughly confused when he saw this new message. [Personal Details] Name: Arthur Purchase Age: 15 Class: Undead Factory Trader (SSS-Rank) Standard: Alpha Core Layer: 0 (53/500) [Affinity] Elemental: None Physical: None Weapon: None Craft: None Special: None [Attributes] Intelligence 4, Strength 6, Agility 3, Dexterity 3, Vitality 2. Unassigned Attribute Points: 0.

05 [Innate Abilities] Contract a Worker (Undead Division): Summon and permanently contract laborers from the Nether-Realm. [Active Contracts] Worker 1 [Permanent]: Coburn (Jack of all trades) Worker 2 [Permanent]: Bathory (BlackSmith) Worker 3 [Permanent]: Maan (Shield Warrior) Worker 4 [Permanent]: Antrae (Butcher) … Arthur was dumbstruck after looking at his personal details. It was especially true for the newly appeared Attribute details. He could actually see them even before inheriting an Affinity.

Just how in the world was such a situation possible? Attributes were closely tied to Affinities. Players could only view these details if they managed to gain an Affinity. For instance, he would only have this privilege if he had inherited the Earth Elemental Affinity from before, or when he evolved his first Core Layer. Now, however, he could see these details just after eating the Night Crystal Core. He had completely skipped the steps of evolving and inheriting an Affinity.

Although this was not a huge matter, seeing his Attribute details early on did not make much of a difference compared to seeing them after he evolved his Core Layer or inherited an Affinity. However, this point became invalid when his eyes moved towards the next detail, [Unassigned Attribute Points]. On it, the number 0. 05 was displayed; this was the amount he had just gained after eating the Night Crystal.

With his Intelligence at 4 points, he could guess that he was able to increase his Attributes even before his Core Layer did so. Furthermore, he could consume more Night Crystals to gain Attribute Points, placing those unassigned points into his preferred Attributes. To conclude his theory, he willed his 0. 05 Unassigned Attribute Points into Vitality, which appeared to be his lowest. In the next second, his [Unassigned Attribute Points] turned to 0, and the number for Vitality changed from 2 to 2. 05.

"Well, I didn't feel any changes to my body," Arthur muttered. However, that did not matter, because the increase was truly minuscule. He quickly asked Bathory to retrieve the Night Crystal Cores. He decided to try eating the Night Crystals. Soon after, Bathory retrieved and handed over a handful of black crystals. Arthur picked one up, placing it into his mouth and giving it a hard bite. Katack! A loud cry echoed amidst the vast wilderness.

Arthur held his mouth in pain; his teeth ached as if they were broken, and his eyes watered from the pain. He quickly spat out the black crystal, checking if his teeth were broken. Fortunately, nothing had happened to his teeth. If he had bitten down any harder, his teeth would have definitely shattered. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Arthur looked at the Night Crystal laying on the ground, discovering it was wholly intact.

"Why couldn't I eat the Night Crystal?" Arthur asked aloud. The earlier Night Crystal Core had dissolved like salt in water. Now, however, it was as hard as a rock. Just what was going on? Arthur fell into deep thought before coming to a conclusion. The previous Core was freshly harvested. Hence, it dissolved easily when eaten. On the other hand, these Cores were harvested earlier; a long period of time had already passed.

Following this logic, Night Crystals were only consumable if they were eaten within a certain timeframe after being harvested. He needed to prove this theory. Immediately, he commanded Coburn to lead the way to the locations where Night Crystal monsters roamed.

Soon, Arthur discovered a harsh reality. The Night Core monsters in this place were extremely scarce. They had walked for nearly 15 minutes and killed a dozen regular monsters, yet they did not encounter even a single one. This situation placed him in a tight spot. He wondered if he could even reach his target of 3 kilograms per day to complete the System Quest. Such scarcity caused his other plan to plunge underground. Currently, he had two choices.

He could either collect the Cores without consuming them to complete his Quest, or he could delay completing the System Quest from a week's time to two weeks. By doing the latter, he could gain Attribute Points that would rapidly increase his strength. The group walked for another 15 minutes before encountering a location that resembled an abandoned quarry. There, Arthur saw a multitude of caves where monsters roamed. However, these caves were not dug by humans, but by Ants. They were not normal Ants, either.

They were bulky Ants, just as large as the Blind Hunk Boar he had hunted previously.

"It looks like an ant colony," Arthur muttered. This was a good spot for farming materials. However, when he saw the giant ants with metal bodies and metal mandibles that crushed boulders like sugar cubes, he could not help but fear the sheer numbers of the ant colony. Even though they were in the territory of Alpha Standard monsters, if his Skeletons were to attack head-on, they would be completely overwhelmed and obliterated. Arthur decided he would find a different location to hunt.

He did not want his Skeletons to be crushed by those metallic mouths. However, before he could turn around and command his Skeletons to follow him, Coburn looked towards one of the big adult ants that was managing the smaller ones. Instantly, Arthur understood Coburn's signal. It was a Night Core monster. What should we do? he muttered to himself. If they planned to hunt that ant, they had to somehow lure it out separately. However, ants were very communicative.

If they were caught while trying to lure it or while fighting, they would be doomed. Nevertheless, he could still try to lure the single ant that possessed a Night Core. They had been roaming for a long time to find this rare monster. Were they to leave now just because it was difficult to hunt? He could try luring it; if it was impossible to do so without being noticed by the other ants, they could simply abandon the plan.

Since Coburn possessed the capacity to do anything, he could very well be an expert at luring monsters as well. With that thought, Arthur commanded the plan on how they were going to lure the single monster that possessed the Night Core. Afterward, he commanded Coburn to choose the best spot to lure it. Following Coburn, they finally arrived at the top of a very steep cliff. Watching from there, Arthur could see all the activities of the ants.

However, looking around, there was not a single place good enough to lure the ant. He did not know why Coburn had chosen this spot, but he decided to believe in his abilities. Without receiving any commands from Arthur, Coburn and the other two Skeletons moved as if they communicated telepathically. They left Arthur, Brog, Antrae, and Bathory behind. They were the weak links of the party; it was especially true for Arthur. The three Skeletons left them there.

Soon after, they disappeared into the side of the cliff that was less steep. After a while, Arthur noticed a white figure climbing down that cliff; it was Coburn. Meanwhile, Arthur could not see the other two Skeletons. What is it planning? Arthur could not understand what kind of lure involved going down a steep cliff. Wouldn't it get stuck after the ant discovered its location? Furthermore, the ants could climb any kind of terrain. That steep cliff was not going to stop it from crawling.