Althea felt she was very, very close to upgrading. With the level of the mobs outside the Beast Tide, it may take her a while to upgrade if she let this chance pass.
After all, for some reason, she couldn't get experience from level 1s anymore when she was only level 5. This was a mystery even to the NPCs, as she should still be able to get some experience until she was level 6.
When else would she be able to see so many level 2s together?
Not for a long time, right? Not when she couldn't travel too far away due to her pregnancy anymore…
With this thought, she looked at her stats.
Level: 5 (13960/15000)
Spirit: 143/800 (-5%) +50
Physical: 145 (-5%) +40
Agility: 147 (-20%) +10
Physical Potential: B
Mental potential: SS+
Active: Elementary Appraisal (D), Perfect Aim (D), Quick Shot (D)
Elemental Affinity: Wood, Water, Earth
Occupation: Pharmacist, Archer
Titles: Lord of Altera Village, Elder in Plant and Pharmaceutical Studies
Current Status: Gestating: two life forms, weakened state ]
Seeing there were only a few monsters away from an upgrade, she couldn't help but frown. It would be such a pity not to take advantage of this.
So, how could she not?
Althea rested on the battlement for a moment as she wiped off the grime and sweat off her face and neck. At the very least, she gave herself a moment of respite as she took all the remaining medicines she had and ate all the special-effects food from Cooke.
As she rested, her green eyes watched the battle below with great interest. At the back of her head though, she was closely watching the recovery of her health and mana, eager to join the fight.
A few minutes later, she stood up again.
'Just a bit more', she mused. She decided to push herself a little further.
With a huff and a little prayer, she went to the edge of the battlement, taking out the Bellagio again.
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
"Ms. Althea?" Oslo exclaimed, worried, and he immediately ran to her, ready to defend.
But Althea herself was very high level compared to the mob, combined with her powerful weapon and recovered mana, she went on a killing spree.
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
One final shot passed through a monster's brain and her eyes sparkled.
[+50 Experience, +50 Coins]
[Congratulations for upgrading to Level 6!]
However, before she could feel happy, she suddenly felt a sharp, sharp, pain in her stomach.
It felt like she was being torn apart.
Her legs lost their strength and she lost balance.
"Milord!?" Oslo yelled, sprinting to catch her. She landed safely in his arms, and he paled as he saw her in extreme pain.
He was about to run inside when he heard a scream beside him.
"Helios!" The man behind yelled, running to his nephew.
Oslo frowned and saw the two men were also at their limits.
It wouldn't do to leave suddenly, as the Lord would feel sad if a citizen died. With sharp eyes, he looked at the two men. "Take her to the infirmary!" he yelled at them. "I can handle these things myself!"
The two nodded and ran at the woman with worried expressions. It was Hugo who was faster and quickly brought her up to his arms.
The two ran frantically to the temporary infirmary near the Southwest gate. The nurses and medical professionals took them in like any other, until they saw who it was and everyone became flustered.
When Sheila and the others saw who was in her arms their hearts dropped. "Boss!!"
Immediately they placed Althea in the bed. Sheila immediately took her, trying to figure out what happened.
Her head whipped to the two haggard men with a deep frown. "Speak! What happened?!"
Neither Hugo nor Helios could answer well. "She had gone on a killing spree, but she didn't show any signs of loosing health or spirit at all."
It was Betty who spoke, trying to calm the situation. "She has no serious injury but… her water broke."
"She's not even nine months pregnant!" Sheila said, confused. "Although technically, she should only be about seven months in…"
"What?" Hugo asked, his eyes following the flurry of activity in front of him, "What does that mean??"
"The Change… it accelerated the growth of the children." She shook her head, knowing this was not the time to discuss this. "What happened this time?!"
It was Eugene who cut the atmosphere, dark-colored eyes looking at Althea. "She upgraded." He told them. As someone with very high observation skills, he noticed some changes in her aura.
"She upgraded six levels since then?" Betty asked as she quickly used her ability to stabilize her, giving Lily and Sheila time to prepare the tools.
Betty didn't know how to deal with the mystery either, but she knew how to handle the emergency at hand.
She immediately asked the nurses to prepare a room, who ran immediately to prepare for the suffering woman on the bed.
Even Sheila, whose body was automatically working in a flurry, was sobbing a little as she did so.
While these was all being prepared, Althea—covered in sweat and pale in bloodlessness—finally couldn't hold back the intense pain anymore.
Body feeling like it was being pulled on all directions, she let out a toe-knurling scream—piercing everyone's hearts.
Thousands of miles away, Garan whipped his head to a direction, feeling an unprecedented sense of dread.
His heart clenched and his blood turned cold.
Without thinking, his feet moved as he sprinted to the direction of the Fog.
He ignored the surprised yells of his subordinates and just ran there, using all his strength.
As he ran closer, the horrid feeling intensified and he couldn't help but let out a heart-wrenching roar.