“If you want us to eat it, could you have at least cooked it? This monster is raw,” Brian complained with a poker face.

An awkward silence followed.

“Are you cracking jokes at present?” Edward asked, raising an eyebrow.

Brian shrugged. “I gave up, all of your actions are more ridiculous than the other so I’m just going with the flow now.”

“That’s an impressive catch,” Charles commented.

“And in a record amount of time,” Leyla added laughing.

“The only times I saw those creatures was when I was at Gobéliard’s battle,” Norte told them while contemplating the size of the specimen. “But I must say they their size is as impressive as ever”.

“Wow! Look at that cut! Did you kill it in a single hit?” Aquamarine asked.

Edward roughed his hair with one hand. “Yes, I did, but I mean I’m on the patriarch stage now, this is only to be expected.”

Leyla tutted. “I disagree. We have never seen someone at the patriarch level before, but killing such a beast and bringing back its corpse within minutes is an impressive feat that is worth celebrating.”

“Yes, actually about that, I’m not finished yet. You will each get your own Wyrm, so don’t waste time and go absorb its essence. I won’t stop until each of you reach the predator level.” Edward declared boldly.

“You really are doing it, I don’t know what to say,” Charles answered a little distressed by Edward’s generosity.

“I told you he is ridiculous but nobody believes me,” Brian grumbled.

“Gobéliard needs more people at the predator stage to compensate for the recent arrival of the Vega family. Besides, it doesn’t cost me anything, so there is no need to thank me. It won’t even take that long.” Edward retorted. “All right, time to go now.” He waved his hand before teleporting away before they could reply.

In the end, Brian took the first turn, slowly absorbing the blood essence of the fallen Wyrm before its potency could decrease. He hadn’t finished absorbing its essence when Edward was back with a second Wyrm, which went to Leyla.

Every few minutes Edward came back with a fallen Wyrm, the delay between his visits slowly increasing as he had to search for longer periods of time to find his prey. Additionally, the farther away he was, the farther he had to teleport back the monster carcass, which was a lot harder than simply teleporting himself.

By the time each one of his friends had his Wyrm, Edward needed a small break, killing five Wyrms in a row and transporting them was still taxing even to him. I thought of it as simply helping my friends and balancing Gobéliard’s situation, but this turned up to be good training. This is at a good level of difficulty, enough to be taxing, but not enough to be truly dangerous.

The Wyrms were large monsters, and with five of them gathered near the city entrance it gathered attention. A crowd was starting to form around them, with more people arriving by the minute. A hubbub formed as the people were talking to each other. “I told you it had to be that guy at the cause of this commotion. Whenever something big happens he is always the one responsible,” one guy told to his friend. “To think there are monsters like those roaming outside,” the wilds sure are dangerous one mother told her children while they were looking wide-eyed at the monsters.

Edward laughed internally. It seems I’m already a celebrity whether I want it or not. Don’t worry I will do my best to keep you safe so that you don’t have to fight such monsters.

In the end, Edward had to make another round and a half since one Wyrm wasn’t enough to propel them to the predator rank. Edward wasn’t surprised, he had killed an impressive number of monsters to reach the predator stage. The second Wyrm did the trick for the adventurers, Charles, Norte, and Brian all broke through to the next level, leaving only Leyla behind.

To be honest I’m a bit jealous of the ease with which they broke through. They absorbed the blood essence of only two monsters able to use aura and they are done. It feels too easy somehow. But to be fair, of the monsters I killed to reach the predator stage, only the Lusus naturae was able to use aura, even if it had been a fight to the death. Though before that, I had to slaughter an army of Murlocs on my own, an impressive number of Bloodmaws and that’s not even counting the Teleportcrows.

They are adventurers as well, they must have their own kill count. Which is why Leyla is slightly lagging behind. Nothing that another Wyrm won’t solve. He chuckled internally. I’m understanding why Brian is calling it ridiculous.

In roughly one hour, and most of that time had been spent absorbing the creatures’ essence, Edward had helped his friends to achieve what most adventurers couldn’t through their entire life, reaching the predator stage.

The group was experiencing their new abilities while Leyla was on the side miffed to be the only one not having broken through yet. “Don’t worry”, Edward consoled her. “They are adventurers, it’s normal they broke through before you. I will go fetch another monster for you,” he added, kissing her.

It’s getting harder to find Wyrms. Killing ten of them has used up the excess population that managed to escape Gobéliard’s battle. However, during my last trip, I found that place that was filled with Lusus naturae. Hopefully, they will have a variant able to use aura that I can offer to Leyla.

Within four teleportations he reached the Lusus naturae’s lair. He projected his aura through their tunnels, searching for and finding their leader. That’s it, it will do the deal. Under his powerful aura, the monsters went into a frenzy. However, they didn’t dare to attack Edward, content with howling at him while waiting for their chief to address the problem.

Their leader appeared, leaping out of a tunnel and immediately using its accelerative ability, attacking at full power pressurized by Edward’s apparent might. Edward smiled but didn’t use his acceleration. His abilities had significantly increased after defeating the Arachne and it had only been solidified after defeating and absorbing the remnant essence of so many monsters in the Gobéliard’s battle aftermath. Right now, even without using his powers, he was as fast as the Lusus naturae going all out. He simply avoided it, the Lusus naturae moving as fast as him but lacking in its reaction time since it couldn’t enhance its perception the same way Edward could.

For once Edward chose not to use his overwhelming power to win the fight. He fought the monster fairly, using the occasion to refine his fighting prowess. It’s best if don’t become overconfident. Since the capital has fallen, it means the ones behind it are at the patriarch level. I won’t have any advantage against them. It’s best if can hone my skill before leaving.

The Lusus naturae was no match for Edward. It was fighting aggressively but was lacking in flexibility, moving in a straight line most of the time. Sensing its end coming it grew increasingly furious, escalating the number of his attacks, sending aura blades everywhere. All right, that’s it, I can’t let you squander all of your essence. Now that he was serious Edward ended the fight within two moves, teleporting straight to the beast and ending its life.

The average Lusus naturae had realized their leader was on the losing side but they were still shocked by the abrupt end of the fight. Edward harrumphed coldly, increasing the pressure he exerted on the surroundings. The Lusus naturae cowered and ran away within their tunnels. One could get used to it, Edward thought while smiling as the monsters were fleeing from him.

Edward teleported the fallen monster to Leyla, and with the addition of its blood essence, she managed to reach the predator level as well.

In addition to drastically enhancing their physical strength, their aura, and their initial power, the breakthrough to the predator stage also manifested a second power for them. Having all consumed Wyrms to fuel their breakthrough, they all got the same ability: the power to generate mist. They had gotten the same power as the Wyrms they had drained of essence. Experiencing this new skill, they discover that it wasn’t as simple as forming mist. The mist was imbued with their aura and could block the senses of others while they were aware of anything happening inside it. They were also able to control the mist, it could stay standstill even when the wind should have blown it away and they could move it in the direction they desired.

In addition to the basis of this power, they discovered that they all had small variations influenced by which power they had in the first place. Charles’ mist was moving faster than the other and it also had the ability to slow down the advance of opponents trapped inside it, nicely complementing his acceleration power. Norte had more control over his mist, notably, it could control its density and even formed blades with it. Those blades weren’t able to do any damage unless he formed wind blades within them, but there was no way to distinguish which one was a feint containing mist, and which one had a wind blade inside to deal real damage. As for Aquamarine, Brian, and Leyla, their mist could drench anyone wandering in the mist with water droplets still in their control. This was particularly deadly against any enemy unable to form an aura armor, unguarded enemies had no way to defend themselves against spikes forming directly on their skin.

Edward smiled appreciatively, remembering his own breakthrough after his fight with the Lusus naturae. “You all have become important people now,” he told them. “If not for the recent Vega family arrival you would be able to topple Gobéliard if you wished so.” His friends hadn’t come to terms yet with the rise in social status that their new level provided them. They joke about it for some time, Edward adding a few pieces of advice as well, stressing the importance of aura and its control.

The Vega family has brought six predators, Gobéliard has two nobles at the predator level, and the breakthrough of my friends is providing five more predators, making for a total of thirteen predators. If you add me at the patriarch level, we are equivalent to a noble family in full force. He laughed. Gobéliard can be considered a pillar of the empire. Actually, considering the state of the capital right now, we may very well be the main force remaining in the empire.

The crowd had watched the group of friends achieves their breakthroughs. Some were rejoicing for the growth of Gobéliard, others watched them with jealousy and envy. Some were considering approaching Edward to see if they could obtain the same treatment, even if they didn’t know him, a breakthrough to the predator stage was just too alluring.

Seeing the various reactions of the crowd Edward decided it was time to go before he was pestered to no end. I can’t spend all of my time raising others in rank, besides the number of strong monsters in the surroundings will only decrease with each person I helped. The more persons I help the harder it will be to push someone to the next level. Luckily, I will only stay a few more days in Gobéliard before leaving. By the time I come back, the crowd should have calmed down. He teleported away before the crowd could approach him.