Chapter 66: Boss (7)

"What am I going to do with this?" Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I can't sell it back to the system, right?"

"You can only trade it with other survivors for other items," Rina replied. 

"I suspected as much…" Luke said and then sighed. "This is really troublesome... it is not like we can create a network or market to trade among us this kind of thing, after all.

If the number of enemies wasn't so high and they couldn't fly, Luke would try using the shield, but their numbers and mobility complicated things more than a little bit. Nevertheless, Luke hid the shield behind a random tree and prepared to look for another group. However, Luke stopped when he found a building supply store a few meters ahead of him. He only noticed it because he saw a trail of blood in there…

"Can I use nails as weapons just like I use needles?" Luke asked. "Come to think of it… this is the first trail of blood I find here. While this place didn't have many inhabitants, the monsters should have killed at least half of population. With their mobility and skills, they were supposed to have an easy time hunting normal humans."

Luke concluded that the crystal appeared a while after the zombies, and since the city wasn't big, the survivors could have spread in all directions to escape them. Even if a horde were to be formed, it wouldn't be enough to enclose them. It was weird, but it wasn't a problem that he had to worry about…

Regardless, Luke found two groups of wasps on the sides of the supply store. Luring one group without alerting the other might be possible since the supply store was weirdly located between some ordinary houses. So, he hid in the blind spot of one of the groups. However, Luke grabbed some needles and prepared to throw them toward the enemies instead of looking for them. Although Rina enhanced his strength, a single needle didn't kill one wasp when he used Weapon Augmentation level one, but when he used the level two and fired them nonstop, the monsters fell one after the other. They didn't even have the chance to get close to him…

You obtained 06 experience points.

You obtained 06 gold coins.

You obtained 06 experience points.

You obtained 06 gold coins.

…

"I am sorry, it seems that my buffs aren't enough," Rina said.

"How useless can you be?" Shalia asked.

"Don't mind it," Luke said. "The weight and durability of the needles probably are a problem as well."

"Anyway, if you are planning to use other projectiles like needles, why not let me help them," Shalia said. "It would be a lot faster to deal with those small fries."

"While using needles and nails feels like cutting corners, it is just the most efficient way to use Weapon Augmentation," Luke said. "Besides, they definitely won't be useful against bigger monsters, so I should use them whenever possible."

Luke grabbed several other needles and then headed to attack the other group. However, he didn't have to walk for long, the smell of blood alerted them, and soon they found him. The enemies had the upper hand, but before they could attack, Luke paralyzed them with some Spark Ball and finished them one by one with his needles. That was quite the surprise, but Luke managed to prevent the worse by using all his MP and SP.

Congratulations! The skill Spark Ball has leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

Congratulations! You have leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

"You are starting to get pretty balanced, Luke," Rina said. "If you increase your INT a bit more, then you will be able to fight using all methods available to you with no problems."

By all methods, Rina was probably talking about fighting up close, middle range with Spark Ball, and long-range with bows and the needles. For someone like Luke, who had decided to work alone for the time being, that probably was the best option, but was it the correct one? Rina and Shalia were there to cover for him, but for how long?

Without wasting any time, Luke entered the store and checked inside the things. While it wasn't big and didn't have a wide variety of products, he quickly found several nails boxes. Luke found some hammers and other things that could be used as weapons, but he left them alone since the number of nails was high. Soon, Luke tested those and confirmed that they could be used alongside Weapon Augmentation, and he moved toward the enemies without caring about hiding his presence. Even when dozens of enemies flew toward him, Luke didn't face any danger. The enemies only damaged him because they used Frozen Whisper. The only problem was the fact that the cold made his legs tremble for quite a while…

The population of wasps was quickly decreasing, but then Luke noticed some more of them coming from the bridge… the crystal was spawning more of them.

"The owner of the crystal noticed you," Shalia said. "Things are about to get tense..."

Luke didn't know how they did that, but it seemed that someone wanted to overwhelm him with a sheer number of monsters… even the creatures guarding the crystal began to move toward him. That wasn't good.

"You two are up," Luke said.

Luke dropped his tools and then equipped his sword… It was time to fight like usual. When the wasps entered his range, Luke used Stinger level four and decimated five of them with a single strike. Instead of facing the others on the sides, Luke dashed toward the crystal. Rina enhanced his speed, and Shalia attacked the wasps that were chasing him with Fireballs. In the end, the wasps wouldn't be able to stop him. However, before Luke could use Stinger and destroy the crystal, the object began to shine, and then a massive wasp appeared above it.