Chapter 40: Knowledge

Chapter 40: Knowledge

Rin infused 1 mana point into the talent stone, causing it to shine briefly before it disappeared.

[ Congratulations. You have acquired a Talent, Dexter Deer. ]

[Dexter Deer]: Increase your movement speed and jump power by 10%. After using a movement-type skill, your overall speed is increased by 20% for thirty seconds.

"That's handy. It will increase your combat ability further," Erix said with a nod.

"I got this," Serina said as she showed the talent she got from her Talent Stone.

[Scope Vision]: Increase your vision range to 100 meters, and slowing down your heartbeat would allow you to zoom in at any particular spot in your vision with focus.

"This talent is useful," Rin said as she smiled at Serina. "It's perfect with your bow, and you can also scout."

Serina smilingly nodded.

Next, Erix infused mana in his talent stone.

[ Congratulations. You have acquired a Talent, Muscle Enchant. ]

[Muscle Enchant]: Increase your Strength stat by 1 point each second you hold your breath—maximum increase: 50 Strength. Losing your breath will reset the enchantment.

"So-so," Erix said before he looked at Isabella.

"I got a talent called Recovery Rune," Isabella said before she showed her talent at the party.

[Recovery Rune]: Increase your stamina and mana recovery by 15%. nove/lb.1n

"It looks like everyone got useful talents that can enhance our combat ability and efficiency," Rin said before turning to Erix. "So, what's the plan now?"

"Let's take some rest to recover and freshen up. After that, we'll go on a tour of the city."

"True," Rin nodded. "We don't know how dangerous the dungeon will be, so we should get stronger and learn more about what's happening."

...

After an hour, the team gathered again and went out.

"Only Isabella, Rin, and I will go out on my Eagle. More people on the bird will make it hard to fly."

Aaron was also with them since he was awake and wouldn't stay away from his mother.

"Alright, we'll look around the base at its front and back," Serina nodded.

Erix could use the Corvette Jeep, but it was not efficient to move on wheels if they just wanted to look around.

Flying was a quick and better alternative.

As they flew out of the base, they saw many people of the base were still hunting in groups to level up and get more powerful or get used to fighting.

Erix glanced at the groups. "They are doing good."

Further away, they saw two groups on the road to clear stronger zombies and mutated creatures. One of them was Hathor's group, and Erix curiously checked his level.

'Level 16? Not bad.'

"Erix, this military base can't be the only place where people are gathered. This city is big, so there ought to be one or two more places," mused Rin as she looked at the vast city.

"Do you think there are people in that tower?" Isabella said as she pointed at the Targon Tower.

"Let's check it out," Erix nodded and commanded the Eagle to fly towards the tower.

After a few minutes, they arrived at the tower while observing the city's state from above.

The tower was an attraction spot as people could go up on elevators and enter the glass dome at the top.

"I'll make a hole," Rin said as she took out her Oni-Taijin Katana and took a deep breath before using Sword Beam.

Her katana released a constant laser-like beam as Rin swiftly circulated it on the transparent glass to make a circular cut in two seconds.

After that, Erix flew out using his Metal Control since he had put metal plates below his feet and punched the glass using his Metacyber Arm to break open the circular cut.

The Eagle flew inside the empty dome from the hole and landed.

"There's no one here."

They searched around but found no living soul in the dome.

[Anomaly detected! This is a rare encounter in which you have to fight something far stronger than you. Defeat it by forming a group and receive a treasure crate]

A sudden notification startled the three of them.

"Where is it?" Rin frowned.

Erix flew out of the hole they made and looked below with narrowed eyes.

Right at the ample space under the tower, a giant spider was resting on its large web while eating a meter-tall mutated Dog!

Erix got goosebumps looking at its appearance.

It was approx three meters tall with those eight sharp-hairy brown legs.

Its dark red eyes, those sharp fangs dripping with dark green liquid, and some strange mutation on its head that had a single giant black horn made it look horrifying.

While he was observing the spider, it suddenly moved as if sensing something, but Erix quickly went back into the dome before it could see him.

'Damn, this spider got some sharp senses. To avoid casualties and risks, we have to kill this spider with a swift and foolproof strategy.'

"What happened, Erix?"

"There's a monster spider below this tower, a powerful one," Erix said, his voice somber. "We have to distribute our stat points and be on our peak power to kill it."

"Yeah, I felt it was time for that," Rin nodded.

"What's that monster's level?" Isabella asked.

"Maybe it was too far, but I couldn't inspect it," Erix shook his head. "My guts tell me it's more powerful than the Frog and more tricky than the Helix Flower we killed."

"So, let's distribute our stat points first."

Rin and Isabella nodded as they started.

On the other hand, Aaron was playing with the Eagle.

"Strange, I can't add stat points to my Strength after it reached one hundred," Erix rubbed his chin.

"And I can't add any points in the magic stat," Rin was speechless.

"Same," Isabella blinked. She turned to Erix and asked, "What about you?"

Erix tried adding stat points in the magic stat, but it didn't work.

"You are right," Erix furrowed his brows. "But why?"

The three of them discussed and experimented as they learned multiple things, as some strange monotone voice gave them information when they focused on any single thing they wanted to learn.

First, their fundamental stats were capped at 100 until their rank increased from Mortal-Order to Supra-Order, but they could go above 100 if any items or passive skills boosted those stats.

Second, the stat points didn't work on Magic and Mana, as they seem to require a Magic Core to upgrade them, which they could form upon reaching the Supra-Order rank, level 50.

Third, they could get brief information on how a single stat affected them if they focus on that stat and think about it in their mind.

From that, they found information on the stats.

- Strength: It increases various aspects of their physical body, such as muscle strength, body composition, and cell enhancement. This allows people to exert higher physical power of their physical body at the cost of their stamina.

- Stamina: It increases one's endurance of physical exertion and the bodily or mental capacity to sustain a prolonged stressful effort or activity.

- Agility: This stat affects two main aspects. First, it increases one's capability to control their physical body, thus increasing their nimbleness. Second, it increases one's ability to think and draw conclusions quickly; this also helps one coordinate physical actions to make them efficient, though later is related to an individual's mental capability for performance.

- Health: It increases one's recovery speed from injuries, recovery speed of stamina, resistance against status ailment, and how quickly they recover if they are affected by any status ailment.

"I am done. I maxed my Strength and Agility and put the rest on Health," Erix said as he showed his status.