Alchemist In The Apocalypse: Rise Of A Legend!

Am I being carried?

[Anna POV],

At first, I decided to contract the crow I summoned since I was nervous because I was the weakest member of the team and wanted to be strong, but when I heard Ace's slight tone of interest when we discussed having a contract with the crow, I couldn't help but become more nervous.

What if what Ace was expecting didn't happen? Will he be disappointed?

It's like telling your friends you ordered a big car from a well-known company known for its luxury and inviting them to come to see it, only to discover that your 'luxurious car' actually belongs to one made by the company three generations ago.

As I considered these things, I quickly shook my head and assured myself that everything would be fine. After all, it's an epic-level skill, so I expect it to do more than expected.

Even though it had only been four days since I had seen and interacted with Ace, I recognized some of his behaviours.

One of them is that, even though his face is expressionless, you can tell his current emotions or thoughts by paying close attention and listening to his flat voice for a while. That's how I knew he was interested in me contracting the shadow crow.

Another of his behaviours is that he pays attention to what interests him and is indifferent about what does not.

Another is that I believe Ace has difficulty expressing and recognizing emotions for various reasons. This could be one of the reasons he's so direct with Princess Adara; if not for this, I don't think he'd be so direct with her.

He also has some distinguishable habits, but they are not as obvious as these three.

As I was thinking about these things, we arrived at our destination and slowed our charge as we moved forward slowly.

It's truly amazing that the human body can improve to such an extent as a result of the primordial chronicle. My power and the powers of my body are even more powerful than the heroes depicted in movies.

Amazing.

The journey that would have taken humans a long time to complete took us only a short time. Of course, if I hadn't been the one dragging them down, it would have taken less time.

Ugh! This is so aggravating!

As these thoughts raced through my mind, we finally arrived at a safe distance from which we could observe the monsters while remaining undetected.

There were exactly 17 monsters, just as I had seen through the shadow crow's eyes. And, not surprisingly, it was a group of old friends since I saw them through the crow's eyes.

[Yule Cat level 20],

[Yule Cat level ???],

[Yule Cat level ???],

.....

[Yule Cat level ???],

[Yule Cat level ???],

.....

[Yule Cat level ???],

Sh*t! How fast do these monsters grow?!

Perhaps the others noticed this as well, given their dignified expressions. Except for Ace and Mia, that is.

Ace because he's a block of ice, and Mia because, well, she's clueless.

Fortunately, Mia does not cry and appears to be used to this scene, seeing monsters die, and seeing blood. I'm not sure if it's a good thing for her in this new world.

Throwing these thoughts aside, I turned to look at Ace, and when I saw that he was still observing the monsters, I said nothing and also observed the monsters.

Since I couldn't see their level as I was levels below the monsters, I had Chris to tell me.

10 level 20, 3 level 21, 1 level 22, 2 level 23, and 1 level 24. It also appears that the monsters had some form of hierarchy because the monsters were grouped according to their level, so the level 20 yule cats were grouped together, as were the other yule cats of the same level.

The weakest monsters were in front, while the strongest were at the back. The deeper the monster is at the back, the higher the level. The level 24 yule cat appears to be the group's leader.

Aside from outnumbering us, their numbers are also concerning. Tsk! I would have blown up this place if we were on the same level. It's a shame beggars can't pick.

As I was thinking this, I waited for Ace to ask us to leave, but I didn't hear anything after a few seconds. I turned to look at him, perplexed and saw that he was still staring at the monsters, his chin resting on his right hand.

'Does he plan to attack the monsters?' Wouldn't that be risky?', though this was my thought, I wasn't concerned and waited for Ace to finish his observation.

After some time, Ace turned away from the monsters and faced me. He gave me and the shadow crow on my shadow a long look before turning to face Emma and speaking.

'I wonder what he has in mind.'

"Emma, is your spell 'Bind' a single target spell, or can it be used on multiple targets?" Ace inquired, his gaze fixed on Emma.

'Bind? 'Bind what?' I remained silent as I listened to their conversation, despite my confusion because I had no idea what they were talking about.

"No, it's not a single target spell; it can be cast on multiple targets," Emma explained, adding, "Why do you ask?"

"How many of the monsters in front can you bind at the same time, and what are their levels?" Ace inquired in response to Emma's inquiry.

When Emma heard this, she paused for a moment before responding, saying;

"I can bind 11 of them," she said, adding, "from level 20 to level 21."

When Ace heard this, he nodded and asked Chris what level he was on.

Chris appeared perplexed when he heard the sudden question, but he still responded and stated his level as level 24.

Ace's face did not show any surprise when he heard this; well, not that his face shows any emotions in the first place, but sh*t! Chris's level is pretty high! 9 levels above me and 7 levels above crow.

'Hmmm, what am I feeling?' Yes, it is shame.

Ace simply nodded in response to Chris's reply and turned back to Emma, asking if he could know what level she was at, to which she directly replied, "level 23."

Level 23. Just one level lower than Chris. It's still much better.

Tsk, tsk. What am I talking about? She can still clap my a.$.$ with her level.

'Ah,' I sighed.

Thinking of this, I turned to look at Ace, who had already turned his attention to me after receiving a response from Emma.

I have a bad feeling about this.

"What level are you, Anna?" Ace questioned, his gaze fixed on me.

Ugh! I knew it!

Why did you have to do this, Ace? Everyone else has stated their level, which is above level 20, so what do you think will happen when I state that I am level 15?

It's a shame Ace had no idea what I was thinking and continued to stare at me calmly, waiting for a response.

When I saw this, I sighed weakly and said,

"Am level 15 and Crows level 17."

When I said this, I heard a short burst of laughter from Chris and Emma, who were still holding their laughter given their red faces. Ace's mouth also twitches slightly.

*Sigh*

'All my face has been lost,' I thought weakly as I waited for Ace's response.

"I suppose we can maximise this in that case?"

"Maximise what?" I asked, perplexed, and it wasn't just me who was perplexed; Emma and Chris were as well.

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon," he said to me, adding, "And also, don't level up as long as nothing unexpected happens," he said as he turned to face both Emma and Chris.

'What does he mean? This is kind of confusing.'

"I have an idea and I need your assistance," he said, adding, "Emma, I need you to bind the monsters you can bind without killing them, and Chris, I need you to deal with the level 21 and level 22 monsters without killing them too, just cripple them with little damage if you can, and I'll deal with the level 23 and level 24 monsters."

When they first heard this, they had a look of confusion on their faces, but after a few seconds, it changed to a look of realisation as they turned to look at me, amusement written all over their face.

At this point, I'd be stupid if I didn't know what Ace was up to.

'Am I being carried?' I was thinking of this as Ace returned his attention to the monster and told me, without looking back, that I should just stay here with Mia and use the crows to finish the monsters they didn't kill.

'Damn! I knew it! 'I am truly being carried!'

......

Author's note: "Carrying" is a term used in team games where one person wins the match for everyone else. Basically, the rest of the team was either useless or just played a supporting role to the one person who "carried" the team.

In this case, Anna is playing a supporting role while the rest of the team is doing the real work.