Finally... I'm back to Mid-tier.
Zoe didn't linger at the scene. He stuffed the entire corpse into his Shadow Pool and took off, letting out a long sigh of relief as he felt the newly filled power coursing through his body.
[Plunder] was an incredibly powerful talent, saving Zoe a massive amount of time in reclaiming his level.
Unfortunately, this talent was something he had drawn; it could only be used in this cycle and couldn't be carried over to the next.
Once you've tasted the sweet fruit of such rapid leveling, how could you ever go back to the way things were?
The same went for the Golden Eye. Once you truly experienced its strength, the gap you felt after losing it was simply too massive.
He stared at the 3,000 Free Proficiency Points he received for advancing to Mid-tier Monster.
It seemed these proficiency points weren't a one-time reward for the first promotion.
Instead, he would get them with every advancement.
Zoe recalled a theory: every tier advancement offered an opportunity to gain insights.
Could these Free Proficiency Points be the numerical manifestation of such insights?
If that were the case, he would gain one or even several opportunities for insight with every reincarnation.
Namely, proficiency points.
“...I'll use them on you, then.”
In his previous life, in order to safely carry over [High-speed Regeneration] in time, Zoe had poured all 3,000 points into [High-speed Regeneration].
But this time, Zoe confirmed one crucial thing.
And that was that the proficiency of [Dragon Flame] Lv2 (B-grade) had not reset to zero.
Choosing a skill from his previous life meant its proficiency would be inherited by default rather than resetting to zero.
Therefore, he would maximize the utility of his proficiency points this time.
[Skill [Dragon Flame] Lv2 (B-grade) Proficiency +3000]
[Skill [Dragon Flame] Lv2 (B-grade) upgraded to [Dragon Flame] Lv4 (B-grade)]
[[Dragon Flame] Lv4 has produced an effect on your body]
[Constitution +5, acquired skill [Hard Scales] Lv1 (E-grade)]
[[Dragon Flame] Lv4 (B-grade)] 671/5000 (Expert)
As Dragon Flame leveled up to 4, Zoe could feel a distinct enhancement and transformation occurring in his body.
At the same time, his adaptation to, output power of, and control over Dragon Flame grew much more effortless.
“A new skill?”
The higher the quality of a skill, the greater its physical impact on the body when upgraded.
But Zoe hadn't expected that raising [Dragon Flame] to Lv4 would directly grant him an E-grade skill.
Hard Scales. This was a hallmark of dragons, although true dragons possessed the even higher-grade [Dragon Scales].
Upgrading Dragon Flame was slowly specializing his body toward that of a dragon.
“If I keep upgrading it, I might actually end up as a Dual Shadow with dragon blood.”
Zoe murmured with a sigh.
Still, it was undeniably a boost. Zoe tried to activate [Hard Scales].
As the skill was triggered, the outer layer of Zoe's shadows rapidly coalesced into hard, black scales.
Not only that.
Activating the [Unearther] talent, Zoe quickly got the hang of the new skill and layered it over [Shadow Transformation].
First, he used Shadow Transformation to condense a solid black shield.
Then, he coated the surface of the shield with a layer of these black scales.
The hardness combined during the layering process, making the already solid black shield exceptionally tough.
Zoe shifted the form of the shadows once again, this time condensing a massive jet-black hammer.
Another layer of black scales formed over the surface of the giant hammer, achieving yet another stack of hardness.
“This is incredibly practical! Once the black scales are formed, the mana consumption is practically negligible!”
Zoe swung the black hammer, thoroughly satisfied with his new skill.
Having familiarized himself with the skill's effects, Zoe stopped his testing.
Conserving mana was of the utmost importance; even after advancing to a Mid-tier Monster, he couldn't afford to waste a single drop.
At this moment, Zoe's total mana was 2007.
After running some distance, Zoe stopped within a patch of shadow and fully activated [Stealth].
Directly ahead, a few lizardmen dashed past, heading swiftly toward the area where the signal flare had been launched.
This lizardman patrol was once again led by a Mid-tier lizardman.
“It looks like the lizardmen have organized search patrols, each led by a Mid-tier to ensure combat strength.”
“Why are there so many Mid-tier Monsters around all of a sudden? Is this some kind of curse that came with my promotion?”
Zoe merely grumbled to himself in his mind.
It was only natural that a Quasi-Demon King would have plenty of talented monsters under his command.
If things got bad enough, there might even be High-tier Monsters hunting him down, or perhaps even...
Recalling what Ethan had said about how important the Dragon Heart Spike was to the Black Dragon King...
“Surely the Black Dragon King won't come after us himself...”
Zoe silently slipped out of the shadows and continued his escape toward the east.
However, the further east he went, the more lizardmen he encountered, alongside other monsters of the Death Swamp lured by the bounty.
Zoe even spotted a squad of over a dozen mud giants, led by a Mid-tier double-headed mud giant.
“...We can't keep heading east.”
Zoe realized that the lizardmen had already mapped out their escape route.
As a result, they had deployed a massive number of monsters to form a dragnet in the east.
Continuing forward would only mean throwing themselves right into the net.
In fact, they might have already stepped inside it.
“But if we don't go east, where else can we go?”
This was the eastern side of the Death Swamp, and heading east was their shortest path to the human world.
“Ugh...”
From inside the biological armor formed by the Shadow Clone, Ethan made a faint sound. Having been unconscious for two days, he slowly opened his eyes.
“Cough, cough... How... how long have I been asleep?”
Ethan croaked uncertainly. Though his voice was incredibly weak, he no longer sounded as if he were on the verge of death.
“Two days,”
Zoe said, letting out a silent sigh of relief.
The old man was finally awake. Zoe had truly been reaching his absolute limit.
“Two days??”
“You actually managed to hold out by yourself for two days? What's the situation right now?”
Ethan gasped in astonishment. He seemed completely shocked that he had been out for two entire days.
More than that, Zoe had dragged a liability like him along and actually survived for two days under the pursuit of the Black Dragon King's forces and the rest of the Death Swamp's monsters.
At this point, admiration was too mild a word for what old Ethan felt.
If he weren't a nonbeliever, he would have suspected Zoe was a savior sent by the heavens.
To think I'd meet such a being in the Death Swamp. Perhaps all the luck of my entire hundred-year life was saved up just for this moment.
Ethan couldn't help but think.
“How are things looking?”
Ethan asked.
“The east is completely sealed off. We can't advance even a single step in that direction now.”
“To put it bluntly, we are already caught in their dragnet. It wouldn't surprise me if we got discovered and surrounded in the next second.”
Zoe explained the situation.
“It's my fault. I have to admit, escaping to the east is no longer an option.”
Ethan's aged eyes turned sharp. He instantly let go of the false hope of reaching the human world to the east.
“Then which way can we go?”
“The south is the Black Dragon King's domain, and the west requires crossing the entire Death Swamp. That only leaves...”
“The north?”
Aside from pushing through the east, the north was their only other logical option.
“No, the north is even more dangerous. That is where the Black Dragon Queen's castle is located.”
“There are several dragons who serve the Black Dragon King stationed there.”
“Heading west, all the way across the entire Death Swamp... that longest path is our only hope.”
“Perhaps this will be the final, most thrilling, and most perilous adventure of my life.”
“Even if I die on this journey, I won't regret it. Fighting alongside someone I respect until the very end is the kind of death I've always desired.”
“So, Dual Shadow... if it comes down to it, do not worry about me, or even the Dragon Heart Spike. I just hope you can survive.”
Rate on N.U.
