[Gargantuan Gorilla Vanquished!]

[Dragon of the Beyond Vanquished!]

[Goblin Lord Vanquished!]

Exp +224 000!

[Level Up!]

134 → 135

Exp: 133 000 / 350 000

Health: 2820 → 2850

Energy: 1410 → 1425

Speed: 400.1 → 403.2

Strength: 431.5 → 434.6

Defense: 354.4 → 359.4

Intellect: 321.6 → 324.1

[New Skills!]

Gargantuan Gorilla leveled your skill [Built Different] to the next level!

Built Different ++: Allows you to make an object, or yourself, indestructible for 20 seconds. Cooldown is based on the damage it absorbed

Dragon of the Beyond gave you a new passive skill!

[Miasma Immunity]

Goblin Lord gave you a new skill!

Cancel Out: Instead of inverting their Spring by touch, this allows the user to cancel the Spring out entirely, making the affected unable to use it for a period of time. This also stops the use of the inverted Spring by the user, so be careful!

************************************************

Rein smirked as he saw the upgrades he received.

"These'll be incredibly useful. Not to mention that goblin lord was wearing this glowing orange belt," Rein took it out of his inventory and got Versys to analyze it.

"That's another artifact. This time, it buffs defense. If you want to boost your defense gains, wear that next time," Versys informed.

"What happens if I wear this one and the speed one at the same time? Will I get 15 on speed and defense whenever I level up, or will it divide between them?" Rein inquired.

"Hold on… Let me think…" Versys tried to recall, eventually, something popping up to his head, which was also Rein's head.

"Ah, here it is. So these artifacts are called 'power items'. They have 2 effects. They allocate all of the stat gains to 1 stat, and after that, add a flat stat boost of 5 every level. So if you wear them both at the same time, all of your stats would be concentrated on defense and speed, yes, but you would also gain a bonus of 5 points per stat," Versys explained.

"So if I wear both of them at the same time, I'd be getting 10 extra stat points every time I level up?" Rein restated, wanting to make sure he understood correctly.

"That's right, but only for speed and defense. I don't really know what happens if you collect all 4 power items, but I can tell you that it would marginally boost your growth," Versys added as Rein imagined him reading a book in his head. "But don't forget, these power items come at a cost. While you're wearing them, your power in that stat gets cut to a tenth, so be careful," he reminded him as Rein smiled at the thought of completing them.

"Yeah, that might be fun. I might actually have to try in missions then," Rein was giddy at the thought of a challenge when suddenly, he felt the carriage come to a sudden halt, exiting out of his menu and peering out to the front, where Clyde had just summoned his weapon.

The tigers were purring at something in front of them, Clyde instincts triggered by an unknown entity.

"What's wrong Clyde? Why'd you sto—"

"Don't come out here!" Clyde yelled as Xenia was about to poke her head out of the cart, Rein dropping down to Clyde promptly.

"What happened? I don't feel anything," Rein inquired.

"Hey! Can you hear me? What's happening out there!" Chloe yelled out from the inside, not coming out after Clyde's order.

"Just do as I say! If you leave the cart, I cannot guarantee your safety!" Clyde warned.

Suddenly, Rein felt his senses twitch, feeling somebody watching them from somewhere, with murderous intent.

"What is this Clyde?" Rein asked as he looked around.

"It's Crypt, Roki's red squad. 'The Sight Killer' is what they call them. They're high-ranking in the group, and have been sent to get rid of us," Clyde revealed.

"Then why do I sense the presence of 2 people?"

"The Sight Killer is 2 people. The first person's Spring allows him to kill anyone he looks at for 1 minute straight. However, if they look back at him, the timer resets. The second one is what makes them so dangerous. He has the ability to hijack the eyesight of unintelligent living creatures. Every wild animal and insect in this forest has most likely been hijacked by them, and they're using their eyesight to spy on us. There is no blindspot anywhere," Clyde explained.

"Well, that's not good. No wonder you didn't want the others to come out. But wait, why don't we just go in?" Rein suggested.

"No, we shouldn't risk letting a hijacked insect into the carriage. It's been about 30 seconds since they've begun looking at us…" Clyde said, gritting his teeth in anger as he slowed time and looked around, wanting to extend the 30 seconds for as long as possible.

"So we're pretty much dead then?" Rein asked calmly, yawning as soon as he posed the question.

Clyde's Spring ran out, and he was panting heavily.

"Tch, I wasn't expecting this…" Clyde closed his eyes in acceptance, only 20 seconds remaining until the Spring would take effect.

"Huh?! What do you mean you're dead?!" They heard Chloe's voice from inside.

"Clyde?! Rein?! What's happening out there?" Xenia frantically yelled after them.

"Answer us!" Reggie followed.

"I'm sorry… Please just don't open the carriage. Stay inside, it's for your own good," Clyde dejectedly told them, making their hearts drop to their stomachs, tears beginning to form in their eyes.

"What are you talking about! Please, talk to us!" Xenia's trembling voice rang.

"I'm sorry, they're most likely after the curse. Stay inside the cart, and you should be fine. As long as you're safe, it's all that matters," Clyde uttered as he sat down in acceptance, Rein still standing up, silently.

"Rein! Do something! I know you've got something in mind!" Chloe commanded, still hope in her heart.

"Heh, yeah I know. I just wanted to see how Clyde would act," Rein laughed as if he had the situation under control, making Clyde turn around and look at him with widened eyes.

"What do you mean?! There's only 10 seconds left and counting!" Clyde frantically spoke, a light of hope ignited as he looked at Rein.

"I know. You're a good guy Clyde. I think I've confirmed that now," Rein imparted before he vanished into thin air.