Chapter 49: Chapter 49- The Cafeteria

"What?" Talon slowly rose from the ground. Each bone he moved hurt a lot. But, that pain was slowly decreasing at a noticeable pace. Now that his health is 35 points, his recovery speed was far and beyond anything he ever felt.

Talon wouldn't be surprised if he made a full recovery in a mere few days at this rate he was going.

"Was it supposed to be impossible to fight that bear?" He asked as he looked at Acrypha.

"Of course. It's 5 levels ahead of you in strength. Never forget that the higher in levels you go, the bigger the difference between each level becomes. the difference between a level 10 and a level 15 is bigger than the difference between a level 1 and a level 10." Acrypha explained.

"That big?!" Talon blurted out.

Even though the fight was very hard, it was nowhere near being impossible for him. Yet, it somehow was a ridiculous one.

"Your stats are abnormally high for someone of your level. Coupled with your skills, and this is the result. You can fight monsters levels above you with relative ease." She said. "Now with this kill, it's safe to say that the gap will only grow bigger."

Acrypha seriously didn't know what to say at that moment. She had never come across such a thing before. Granted, the greatest geniuses of all time were able to kill enemies a level or two ahead of them once or twice in their lives.

However, Talon not only did that three times in the span of 4 days, he did it mostly alone. Because of that, the rewards he received were extremely good, boosting his powers into the sky.

'Is this perhaps the best early stage one could have?' She thought to herself as she stared at her human companion with a complicated gaze.

So far, Talon has done everything so outstandingly well that she really couldn't think of anything he could've done better.

"Hmm?"

As he was like that, Talon noticed a shiny object lying next to the dead monster. Approaching it, he picked up the shiny orb and was surprised to see that it wasn't an energy orb but instead a skill orb.

"Another skill orb? Now I have two somehow." He murmured to himself.

Getting one skill orb has been a pain in the ass for Talon, now he somehow got two back-to-back.

'Lady luck is on my side today.' He thought to himself with a wry smile.

"Crush them and let's see what you got."

"Ok..."

Pulling out the first skill orb he got from one of the first evolved monsters he killed. He crushed it with a simple squeeze.

[Ding!]

[You have learned the passive skill 'Regeneration'.]

[Regeneration (Level max): Your health stats increase by 10. Your pain tolerance increases.

Flaw: You lost 2 Agility points.]

"Oh, that's pretty nice. Free bonus points I guess. Though it took 2 points away from my agility. I guess it's a good investment." He shrugged.

"Wai..." Acrypha wanted to stop Talon but he simply continued walking in silence.

Looking at his back, she could only feel how lost Talon was. Perhaps many would think that one would be extremely happy to see themselves receiving all of this, yet, they never realize that a change too quick could be as bad as never changing at all.

Talon was merely a normal college student trying to make ends meet a few days ago. Now, he was being told that he was perhaps the most unique creature in existence and had to act like one too. The pressure that was left on his shoulders would never be understood by anyone. Not even Acrypha.

At that moment, Acrypha was clueless as to what to do. This was the mental battle one had to take in order to evolve. What differentiates extremely powerful individuals from weaker ones isn't talent but mentality.

How many weaklings grew to become bright stars simply because of their will? Too many to count. The same goes for extremely talented individuals who end up falling into mediocrity because they couldn't evolve their mental strength along with their bodies.

'If Talon doesn't overcome this... He won't go on for long.' She thought to herself with a deep frown.

However, Acrypha wasn't intending to leave him alone either. As the wiser and more knowledgeable one of the two, she had to guide Talon herself and show him what to do.

'I will never let you fall... No matter what it takes.'

***

The duo then continued their trip to the cafeteria in silence. Talon's face was looking a little down the whole time. Whenever a monster crossed his path, he would swiftly kill them with a single hit.

Across 10 minutes of walking, he killed a dozen or so more monsters. One of them was surprisingly a level 10 giant black mantis with four arms. He was able to kill it with a single move using his terrifying speed and strength.

Slowly, Talon cleared a path toward his destination with ease. However, he didn't show a single reaction to any of that at all. His mind was too occupied with other thoughts to bother about it.

By the time he reached the cafeteria, he was able to sneak into the building without a hitch. The cafeteria was a particularly huge structure with multiple floors for 30 thousand students to eat every day.

The food inside that place was more than enough to sustain the students for a month or so easily.

Climbing over the wall, Talon jumped inside and made his way toward the door.

"It's really quiet in here." He murmured calmly as he checked the windows. He couldn't see anyone inside.

Naturally, the entrance was locked. So, Talon backed away and kicked it with his leg, sending the double doors flying back a few meters. 45 points in strength were no joke, this door was akin to fragile biscuits when met with that destructive prowess.

Walking inside, Talon was met with a completely dark, ruined place that was barely holding on from collapsing after everything that happened. So, he turned on his flashlight and started walking through the corridor, heading straight toward the vault where food should be.

The place was eerily quiet even when there were clearly some monsters inside. Talon could feel their presence here and there. However, they didn't seem to notice him yet so he took that opportunity to simply go straight to his goal.

Eventually, he ended up in the main area of the cafeteria where students sit every day to eat food. There, he was met with the sight of a few blood corpses riddling the place. The young man could also see decapitated limbs and human bones here and there. On each corpse was a group of monsters, feasting on it wildly.

The sound of their mouths biting into flesh filled the place and made Talon frown. Looking around him silently, he searched for the door to the vault.

The monsters eventually noticed his presence and when they did, they turned away from their meals and focused on him.

"Hm?" Talon was intending to ignore them at first.

Until he realized something that made him completely forget about the vault. A small detail that he forgot about and wished he didn't.

(A//N: I added PS and golden ticket goals. Once accomplished, I will post extra chapters ???? Thanks for your support as always.)