"Unlike you guys, I treat all this like a challenge and a training session to make me stronger," Aion said. "Even if I were almost to die, I wouldn't blame any of you, and I would treat this like a learning lesson."
Sauros felt like Aion wasn't even thinking that they would be of much help while he fought. He also couldn't shake the feeling that Aion could have defeated most of the enemies so far by himself… he would have suffered a lot more, and perhaps he would have faced death even more often, but that only gave more weight to his words.
"Tell me when you guys are ready to move," Aion said and then sat on the ground and began to meditate.
Sauros looked upward and then stared at the ceiling. He noticed that lately, he felt like sighing a lot more, and he didn't imagine that such a journey would make him feel like sighing all the time…
"What do you think we should do?" Sauros asked. "I am starting to think that logic doesn't apply to Aion. Should we just keep going and see if he will ever need our help?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I also get worried when you start to lose confidence in your decision-making," Seris said. "Forget about what he can do or not, don't forget what our goal is, to keep the relics safe, and that won't happen if he is killed here. There is even a chance that they will go down with him."
Sauros nodded. That it wasn't one hundred percent certain, but they had to avoid that possibility. Even if they weren't tired, they should take a few minutes to rest between floors just in case. At first, Aion was eager to spend some months exploring the world. Still, after he heard about the possible problems, he came to realize that he couldn't relax that easily. Sauros couldn't regret his choices, but he felt troubled by them for the first time in his life.
After resting for half an hour, the group headed to the next floor. Seris and Sauros wanted to defeat the enemies as soon as possible to make sure that they wouldn't get the chance to cause problems any time soon. So, when another cloaked enemy showed up, they quickly pointed their weapons at it and then fired.
However, the cloaked enemy that only had a single small crossbow on its left arm quickly fired two bolts at them and repelled that attack… that reaction speed, it was human. Even Aion furrowed his eyebrows due to the surprise.
"I guess long-ranged attacks won't do it," Aion said and then charged.
Sauros wanted to say that getting too close to that enemy would be too dangerous, but he didn't have time. Aion closed into the enemy and then saw his weapon being pointed at his head. Aion just enveloped his spear in a thick layer of wind magic and made it spin while he was approaching.
The bolts made a loud impact when they were blocked, but they barely slowed Aion down. When he got close enough, the enemy began to run away with all his might, and once again, Aion got surprised. The speed of the steps of that guy sure was something…
Aion increased his speed, but the enemy fired his bolts whenever Aion took a step… that was annoying since it messed up with his pace and prevented him from gaining speed.
Aion clicked his tongue and then used Sonic Throw. The enemy was caught by surprise and then fired numerous bolts to repel the weapon. That didn't work, and he was forced to use his crossbow to block the attack. When that happened, Aion closed it and then used Force Release before punching the head of the enemy. He was sent spinning toward the wall of the floor before hitting it and making a loud crack.
You obtained 12.000 experience points.
"The difficulty level increased a bit, but I guess not that much…" Aion thought. "Anyway, I am starting to get curious about who the hell these guys are… they sure have some unusual characteristics that make them a pain in the ass."
The crossbow guy could take steps too fast, and he was good enough to use his weapon above his shoulder while running like that… even Aion would have a hard time chasing him under normal circumstances. Could that be some sort of mutation? It was a weird one if that was the case…
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"I was starting to think that soon I was going to lack the strength to deal with them, but then soon I might end up lacking in speed as well," Aion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I guess I shouldn't just focus on leveling up the Lancer class here."
That was the strength of Aion's system, and he could change classes to fit a situation better. While that wasn't efficient, it sure was the best way to save time. Once again, Aion saw himself being a thorn between the options that were most efficient time-wise and experience-wise.
"Maybe this is the weakness of the system…" Aion thought and then shrugged.
After turning around, Aion considered waiting for Sauros' decision after analyzing the situation and how Aion looked, but as if he had read his thoughts, Sauros decided that they should head to the next floor.
In any case, as soon as they reached the next floor, Aion felt that something was different there. When he was about to notice what it was, the next enemy suddenly showed up… Aion sighed… that kind of interruption was really annoying… so he just created a massive fist made of earth and fired at the enemy.
The cloaked figure suddenly summoned an ax and then swung its weapon and destroyed the fist. However, when the enemy finished that move, another one appeared from above and smashed them to pieces.
You obtained 13.000 experience points.
The path to the next floor was opened, but Aion just looked around, trying to understand that feeling…