As he killed another demon with a lazy swing he felt the familiar burst of cosmic energy that came with a level up . He was delighted to see that he did get his class stat points in addition to his two free points , rather than instead of . So every level he now got 7 points instead of two .
He paused a second to go over how to allocate his points again . He had thought about it a bit yesterday , and had come up with a plan . As his class seemed to focus on Strength and Endurance , so Zac would do the same with his free points .
He felt that the skills and class itself might somehow synergize with these stats , so getting them as high as possible would be a good option . Even if he was wrong it would be ok , as both these stats was strong on him in any case .
If vitality helped him heal up after getting wounded , then endurance would protect him from getting wounded . Endurance didn’t only help with his stamina , it also toughened his body up . Now that he had a high enough vitality that he wouldn’t die from ordinary wounds , he could focus on endurance to make him even harder to kill .
The other option he had considered was to put the put the points in dexterity , making him quicker . However , for most of the fights so far speed had not been an issue or limiting factor for him , so he decided to hold off on that for now .
Furthermore , among the skills that was added to the Nexus Node after he got his class was one that he felt might be able to substitute the need for Dexterity . It was called Steps of Gaia] and cost 575 000 Nexus Coins . It was a huge amount of coins , far more than he had gathered in total .
But it seemed to fit him perfecty . It was a movement-type skill , which he assumed would help him move quicker . It would both help him charge at enemies faster , and also allow him to easier dodge attacks . It also seemed to be connected to the earth and nature , same as his class , so he felt there might be synergy along the road .
He therefore had decided to start saving up for the skill . He believed that it shouldn't take too long to get the neccessary coins , as his speed of killing beasts had improved significantly with his gear and higher stats .
Finally he decided to put 1 point in strength and 2 in Endurance and kept going . A while later he reached the area where he fought the Herald . The aftermath of from the battle was evident , with crushed trees and rocks all over . He still hadn’t run into any humanoids , and the forest was largely like it was before .
Zac slowly crept toward the spot where the Herald had fallen , alert of his surroundings . He was surprised to find that the carcass had been removed from the spot , as had the poles he had planted .
He could only guess that they had been moved back to the base . He wasn’t sure as he hadn’t seen it , but he assumed that the base were either right at the incursion , or in the mountains . If it was closer to the other sides he felt that he should have run into more of the humanoids by now .
Unless there only were a scant few of the humanoid demons , of course . But Zac’s intuition told him that he wouldn’t be that lucky . The System had screwed him over pretty consistently , and he saw no reason that it would stop anytime soon .
He stopped for a while to decide what to do now . He hadn’t really accomplished anything so far , except for killing some demons . He didn’t need to ponder for long however , as he suddenly heard subdued voices in the distance .
Zac properly hid himself inside a few bushes as the voices drew closer . He was disappointed to find out that he couldn’t understand the words . So much for a universal translation system .
It was a surprisingly smooth and melodic language , specked with vowels flowing like a river . He had assumed that the language of demons would be harsh and perhaps even guttural .
Wait , is that racism?’ a stray thought entered his mind , making him lose focus before setting his sight on the approaching party .
The party looked somewhat similar to the one he had killed earlier , except that this party was comprised of four individuals rather than three .
There were 3 males and one female . The two males looked like a mix of rangers and warriors , dressed in leather armors and wielding a sword each . The female walked in front and seemed to be the lookout , as she was carefully scouting the surroundings and had a bow slung on her back .
The final man was unarmed but seemed to be a leader , or at least of higher status . The quality of his gear seemed to be a notch above the others , such as a chest plate made of the same black metal as his axe handle . It was engraved in the same manner as the handle as well , but more intricate .
Zac had a feeling that these engravings had some sort of effect , like magically imbuing the gear with sharpness or defense . He had found no ways to use the engravings so far though , and hoped he might get an idea from the unarmed man .
Another reason Zac surmised the well-equipped man was of higher status than the other was that he could sense a formless pressure emanating from him . It felt like he was looking at a dangerous beast rather than an unarmed man .
While Zac was well hidden he decided to slowly recede further into the brushes . This party seemed both deadlier and more alert compared to the last one .
His actions were in vain however , as the female suddenly grabbed her bow and an arrow in a fluid motion and without hesitation fired it straight in the direction of Zac .
Zac tried to get out of the way , but there was no time as the arrow slammed straight into his side .
Chapter 27 - One Against Many
Zac almost lost his breakfast as the arrowhead slammed straight into his gut . It punched through the wired leather armor and continued into his body . Luckily most of the force had been spent going through the armor , and with Zac’s high endurance it only proceeded two centimeters before stopping .
This kind of wound wouldn’t really faze Zac anymore after constantly getting hurt from his fights . However , he still hesitated for a second after ripping the arrow out . Fight or flee? He hadn’t prepared to challenge the party like this .
However , he soon discarded any thought of fleeing . He didn’t like the prospect of having another arrow slam into him , this time in the back of his head while running for his life . The ranger seemed to have some detection skill , as she could spot and shoot him while he was hidden in bushes a few hundred meters away . He needed to kill the archer at least before fleeing .
He threw the arrow away and pulled out one of his smaller knives from its sheath . Zac wasted no time and threw it straight at the archer , and it flew with at least the same velocity as the arrow that had hit him .
The female demon seemed to have been prepared , and with an almost impossible nimbleness jumped out of the way and proceeded up into a tree like a forest elf . She moved like a specter and in just a few seconds she was gone from his vision among the leaves
Zac tsked in annoyance , and charged at the party while trying to use trees as a cover from the archer . The force of his steps made deep indents in the ground as he charged forth like a runaway bull . The three remaining demons were obviously ready for the fight , as they spread out intending to encircle him .
Zac could sense that all of them were using some skill , as he could feel the cosmic energy react to their bodies . An illusory red gas started floating around one of the combatants , giving him a more sinister feel . The other underling pointed down on the ground , but Zac couldn’t see anything happening .
Zac couldn’t see anything happening with the leader either , but the sense of danger increased substantially .
As Zac was furiously approaching he quickly used Eye of Discernment] on the trio , and got some basic information about his enemies .
Metisis , Level 38]
Gormer , Level 39]
They were roughly 5 levels higher compared to the last party he had attacked . That meant that they should have at least 15-20 higher stat points including the bonus stats from their classes , compared to the last group of demonss .