He looked at everyone before speaking again. "Go to Miss Rae and Charlotta. Then, all of you should stay inside one of the buildings and get some rest. I’ll collect the Gene Potentials and the Elemental Stones from the corpses, then I’ll come after you."
Everyone looked as though they wanted to object, but no one spoke. Ophelia was worried about her daughter, while the others were still shaken by the battle despite their healed bodies.
Seeing Alex’s calm expression, they eventually accepted his words and quietly headed toward the nearby building. They had to rest, since they were mentally shaken from the battle. They were not some veteran soldiers who could keep fighting non-stop.
Alex wanted nothing more than to rush to his family, but the Battle Instinct spell kept his emotions in check. He knew they had to pace themselves. Charging ahead recklessly would accomplish nothing. Without proper rest, everyone’s efficiency would drop. Lower efficiency meant poorer combat performance, slower leveling, and slower leveling meant a much higher chance of death.
Alex waited until they were inside before turning toward the Doom Bull’s corpse. Footsteps followed him, and when he glanced back, he found Tina following him.
"What? Do you have any problem if I follow you?" she asked in a challenging tone.
"No. Even if I had one, you’d follow me anyway." Alex shook his head, knowing she was worried about leaving him alone in his current condition.
"You bet." Tina smiled slightly.
They reached the Doom Bull’s corpse, and Alex first took out the Energy Bar. After eating a small bite, a familiar warmth spread through his body as his stamina recovered. Only then did he gather mana in his hand and form a Mana Blade.
The difference became obvious the moment the construct stabilized. It required less mana than before, and the flow inside the blade remained perfectly even instead of flickering. More importantly, the spell itself had a far better structure.
Alex observed it carefully before understanding what had changed. The construct wasn’t simply a single hardened blade of mana anymore. Different sections reinforced one another, creating an internal framework that made the entire blade much sturdier than his previous constructs.
It made perfect sense once he realized it. Until now, he had only been creating hardened mana walls or blades, never thinking to let one section support another. It made sense that he didn’t think of doing it earlier. He had no knowledge of blacksmithing or constructing durable objects. Before all this, he had just been an ordinary student.
A small smile appeared on his face as he appreciated the knowledge the spell had given him. Then he crouched beside the Doom Bull and carved into its chest. The reinforced mana blade cut through the flesh far more smoothly than his previous constructs.
Soon, he reached the heart and pulled out the stone hidden within it. It wasn’t an Elemental Stone.
[Soul Stone.]
[Yeee-haaaw!]
[Effect: Can be used for crafting items with soul property of the slain Doom Bull.]
Alex looked at it with interest. So monsters didn’t always leave behind Elemental Stones. If different monsters produced different types of stones, then perhaps Species Rank wasn’t the only way they were classified.
Humans had Classes in addition to their Species Rank, so maybe monsters had another form of classification as well.
He stored both the Soul Stone and the Gene Potential inside the backpack Tina was carrying.
Then the two of them walked over to where the Jade Scythe Mantis had fallen. Alex forced a bitter smile as he looked at the ruined house. It was damaged heavily during the battle. He didn’t have to worry about the damage, since the owners were likely dead, but that realization did little to make him feel any better.
He shook those thoughts away, crouched next to the mantis corpse, carved into its chest and retrieved the stone inside, which turned out to be exactly what he had expected.
[Elemental Stone.]
[Flow like a wind, sting like a bee... I know it’s not the original quote.]
[Effect: Can be used for crafting items with wind element properties.]
Alex pocketed the Elemental Stone before picking up the Gene Potential left behind by the Jade Scythe Mantis. Since it had come from a Mid Rank Species, he absorbed it without any hesitation.
[Your Species Level has increased. Level 4 → Level 5.]
[2 Stat Points gained.]
Alex stared at the notification for a moment. He had expected the Gene Potential to push him closer to the next level, but not to raise his Species Level outright. According to the pattern he had observed so far, each level required more experience than the last, so this result caught him by surprise.
After thinking it over, he concluded that it was because he was still a Low Rank Species while the Jade Scythe Mantis belonged to a Mid Rank Species.
The thought made him realize just how large the gap between Species Ranks really was. A single Gene Potential from a Mid Rank monster had been enough to raise his Species Level.
Yet he had fought a monster an entire Species Rank above him and won. It made him smile faintly. He was growing stronger. His efforts were showing results.
He crouched beside the Jade Scythe Mantis and created a mana dagger. Using it, he carefully cut off the remaining scythe from the monster.
The edge was still sharp despite everything it had gone through, so he decided to keep it. With a little work, it might become a useful weapon later.
His thoughts shifted to the sword he had lost during the fight. He would be lying if he said it didn’t bother him. It had been a reliable weapon and had helped him through several battles. Still, trading a sword for his life was a bargain he would accept every time.
"Are you done? If you are, let’s get you healed. Please," Tina said, as she adjusted the backpack on her shoulder. It was one of the few rare times she said "please", showing how much worried she was.
Alex looked down at the blood staining his clothes before giving a small nod. "Yeah. Let’s go."
The two of them returned to the building where everyone else had taken shelter. It was an abandoned general store with mostly empty shelves and a dusty floor, but it was sturdy enough to serve as a temporary hiding place. As soon as Alex stepped inside, everyone turned toward him.
Sophia walked over immediately, grabbed his hand, and pulled him toward a quiet corner without saying anything.
Ophelia was already waiting there with an emergency medical kit open beside her.
The two restaurant staff members were still inside as well. It seemed they hadn’t run away and had chosen to stay hidden instead, probably because the elderly lady Rae or someone else had told them to.
The others stood nearby while Sophia and the little girl Charlotta prepared to heal him. Alex looked at the little girl for a moment, wanting to tell her to stay back.
His injuries looked terrible, and he didn’t think a child should have to see someone in that condition.
Then he noticed Ophelia calmly watching her daughter instead of stopping her.
Alex understood what that meant. Ophelia wanted Charlotta to grow used to this new world, no matter how cruel that sounded. It wasn’t something any parent should have to ask of their child, but pretending reality was different wouldn’t protect her.
Alex had been telling everyone to adapt to this world, yet it didn’t sit well with him that children had to do the same. They should have been worrying about school, games, and friends. Not monsters and survival. But the world didn’t care about what was fair.
’Well, at least the kids will be happy to have superpowers,’ he thought with sarcasm.
In the end, Alex kept his thoughts to himself and sat down.
Only a few seconds after the healing began, Sophia frowned.
..
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