Chapter 309: The Logic of Evolution
Alex was quite curious about the nature of his interface. Steal and Evolution. He could perfectly understand the Steal part; after all, he was stealing the skills of the creatures and people he interacted with. But Evolution? Did it mean he could level them up or fuse them?
To satisfy his curiosity, he pressed the + symbol next to Wind Claws. Only one available option appeared on the drop-down screen: [Shockwave].
Upon selecting both to test what would happen, a warning message popped up.
[Selected skills are not compatible with each other. Success probability: 2.1%]
Seeing such a low number, Alex immediately hit cancel.
Why does it say they aren’t compatible? thought Alex, analyzing the properties of each attack. One is a wind-element skill and the other is sound-based... Could that be why?
Driven by curiosity, he pressed the + symbol on Regeneration, but this time no other available skill appeared to combine with it, only a pair of empty dashes.
[--]
"How strange..." muttered Alex.
He kept searching for more buttons, tabs, or a help menu, but found no further explanations. With no other options for the moment, he closed the floating panel and began examining the corpses scattered across the grass. This was no video game or MMO; resources weren’t collected automatically at the press of a button, so he pulled out the quest scrolls Kiara had given him to check the instructions. According to the notes, he had to extract fangs from the bloodbats, while a magic core could be harvested from the slimes.
He began the process with the bats, patiently pulling out a total of 22 pairs of sharp fangs. Then he approached the gelatinous remains of the slimes, but at first glance, there didn’t seem to be any core. When he reached out and directly touched the limp body of one of them, he felt a horribly sharp burning sensation on his skin.
"Dammit!" yelled Alex, yanking his hand back instantly. "It’s acid! These pieces of shit are made of acid!"
The pain was intense and the skin on his fingers was beginning to redden, but the burn immediately activated his new passive ability.
[Regeneration Activated]
A pleasant cooling sensation washed over his hand, and the damaged skin began to heal right before his eyes.
Damn... looks like steel gauntlets aren’t very effective against slime acid, thought Alex, watching the trace of the burn disappear.
He grabbed his new double-edged sword and carefully began poking at the transparent mass. Upon piercing the outer membrane, the creature popped like a balloon, splashing corrosive liquid in every direction. Alex leaped back quickly to dodge the acid. Once the fluid settled onto the grass, it revealed a small, light-blue crystalline core.
"Damn, looks like the core is inside their bodies," said Alex under his breath, staring at the glowing crystalline sphere on the grass. "It’s a bit weird. They’re translucent, but the core only shows up when you pop them... Well, no time to waste."
Gripping his sword firmly, he began poking slime after slime. Acid splashed with every pop, but through careful and quick movements, he managed to gather a total of 19 cores. He packed everything neatly into the leather pouch Kiara had given him alongside the quest scrolls and set off on his way back toward the town.
As he walked down the trail between the trees, the sound of snapping branches caught his attention. He ducked into the dense brush and listened closely.
"Where the hell did that man go?" said a female voice in the distance.
"If we can kidnap him, that’s 100,000 gems," another answered. "We need to be the first ones to find him. I heard the Black Heel mercenaries are already on the move too."
Alexander hid behind a thick tree, watching as the group of armed women moved off in the wrong direction searching for him.
He now had two clear options: he could bypass the area and head back to town, or he could take care of them before returning to the city.
"I hate being treated like I’m easy pickings," muttered Alexander with a cold smirk, gripping the hilt of his sword. "I’ll have to teach them a lesson."
Alex moved through the shadows of the forest trees without making a sound. The three mercenaries advanced in file, swords drawn, looking around with impatience written all over their faces.
Taking advantage of them passing near a enclosed spot between two trunks, Alex dropped from a high branch and landed right behind the last one in line.
"Surprise!" said Alex.
Before they could react, he focused his mana and activated his new skill.
[Shockwave]
A acoustic shockwave blasted from his body, booming through the small space with the force of thunder. The three women clapped their hands over their ears, letting out stifled shrieks; the intensity of the vibration made their legs buckle dropping them to their knees, dizzy and disarmed on the grass.
Alex stepped forward and brought his boot down on the leader’s wrist just as she reached for her dagger, making her groan in pain.
"Let’s talk," said Alex, looking down at them while resting his hand on his sword. "So 100,000 gems for kidnapping me? Speak your minds clearly. What’s this all about?"
The leader, a broad-thighed woman with short hair, spat a speck of saliva and looked up, trying to maintain a defiant stare despite her pounding head.
"You’re an unregistered human in this kingdom, you dumb piece of shit," said the leader, gritting her teeth. "Human traffickers pay a fortune for young, strong men like you. A man of your caliber isn’t just a luxury, you’re a goldmine for high-end brothels and noble families. 100,000 gems is just the starting price!"
"Human traffickers?" said Alex, letting out a cold chuckle. "So you weren’t just trying to use me, you were going to sell me like a toy. How repulsive."
The other two mercenaries tried to push themselves up, but the lingering ringing in their ears ruined their balance.
"I hate traffickers," said Alex, taking a step forward as he unzipped the top of his combat suit, revealing his toned chest. "And I hate women who think they can put a leash on me even more. But since you’re so interested in my body... I think I’ll collect that bounty right now, and in whatever way I damn well please."