Hunting more monsters.
[Ace POV],
I blurred from my position with Chris and dashed toward the monsters after giving some instructions to the team members.
Though the yule cats resembled the first ones I saw when I exited the relaxation center, there was still a vast world of difference between them. After all, the previous ones I saw were only between levels 3 and 4, whereas these ones were level 20 and above.
These ones were bigger than wolves. They've clearly been eating well.
Leaving the lower-level yule cats to my teammates, I dashed deeper into the enemy ranks, focusing on the level 23 monsters and the level 24 monster I assumed to be the leader.
I aimed for their legs instead of their vital points since I didn't want to kill them but rather cripple them so they couldn't move, but as I presumed, it was much easier to kill them.
I gave the order for everyone to leave their kills to Anna to level her up. It may appear that I am being stupid by giving my primordial records to Anna and disregarding my job quest since I needed to kill unranked monsters but this was not the case.
Aside from not wanting to carry a burden in the team, I couldn't deny that Anna's abilities were very useful to the team but her level will not allow her to keep up with us. Just having her crow scout for us eliminates more than 60% of the danger we might encounter on the road. It can also aid in exploring uncharted territory, cutting down on the amount of time we waste travelling.
After all, the world is now an unknown place, so even if I waste some primordial records now, I'll still gain more because Anna's worth is greater than this minor loss. Well, It's her crow, but she's the summoner.
Aside from what she could do for the team, what I was doing now would eventually happen since I was planning to level up everyone on the team in the first place. Anna simply accelerated her own.
Turning my head to the side to avoid a claw attack from one of the level 23 monsters, I launched an attack with my blade at the other, who was attempting to attack me with another claw attack above my head.
I was able to escape the three monsters' encirclement after the monsters successfully blocked my attack.
*BOOM!!!*
Hearing the constant sounds of explosions in the background, I knew Anna was already at work, so I decided to speed things up here myself. I would have been more direct in my attacks and aimed to kill if I hadn't wanted to contribute more to killing the monsters other than crippling them so Anna could get the majority of the primordial records.
Thinking of this, I dashed back to the monsters.
....
After a while, I was able to cripple the monsters so they couldn't move while Anna finished them off.
Looking around, I couldn't help but think about the damage these seemingly small crows would cause if they were at a higher level.
Thinking about this, I returned my attention to Anna and the others who were already on their way to me.
"Ace! So this is why you said I shouldn't level up?! Though I suspected that hunting monsters of a higher level would yield more primordial records, I didn't expect it to be true. I couldn't have confirmed it since I'd be sending myself a death invitation letter if I tried to battle higher-level monsters if they got close to me "Anna said as soon as she saw me.
Hearing this, I nodded and questioned;
"So, how many times can you level up now with the primordial records you just got?" I inquired.
"Hmm, let me see, 1, 2, 3,..... With the total amount of primordial chronicle I have, I can level up to level 23," Anna said.
When I heard this, I was taken aback. Though I expected her to level up significantly as a result of this, I thought level 20 or 21 would be the highest, but thinking about it now, it's no surprise she can level up to such an extent.
After all, she holds the majority of the primordial records for killing 10 level 20, 3 level 21, 1 level 22, 2 level 23, and 1 level 24 monsters. Even a dog can fly with the amount of primordial records obtained from killing the monsters.
After all, all of the monsters she had killed were five levels or higher.
Thinking of this, I told Anna to level up now that we're done here.
I waited for her to finish as I ignored the increasing wave of mana that Anna was emitting as she levelled up while I talked with Emma.
"So, what are we going to do now?" Emma questioned, to which I replied, saying;
"Hunt more monsters, I guess", I said this because I wasn't sure which way to go after Anna contracted her summon since it was a new world and all, so I figured the main goal, for now, was to get stronger.
Emma nodded and asked another question, saying;
"Could you tell me what level you're at right now?" she inquired.
"Level 25, Full level"
"Full level?"
"Means I can't level up till I get a job."
"Job? You're about to evolve?!"
"Smart," I said honestly, because she gleaned more information from the few words I said, and for someone like me who dislikes conversations, this was preferred.
"In that case, I'd like to level up as well!" exclaimed Emma, as Chris by her side looked at me with expectation in his eyes.
When I saw this, I nodded since it didn't contradict my original goal.
As we talked, Anna finished levelling up, and after getting used to her newfound strength, she dashed to the side of the level 24 yule cat corpse, where a wooden container that resembled the ones I put the pills I concocted into appeared in front of her, which she carefully filled with the monster's blood before returning to my side.
The container should have appeared because she brought it from the store.
As I was thinking this, I took the container from Anna's hand without her asking, knowing she would, and said;
"Anna, we'll have to postpone your plans to contract the crow," I said, to which Anna simply nodded and said, "No problem."
"Please scout the area for more monsters; we'll be entering full level today if time allows," I said.
Hearing what I said, Anna dispatched a crow clone to scout, and after some time, she reported that she had found some monsters and led the way.
This was the start of a stressful day after leaving Adara camp.