Chapter 91: Troubled Waters, Extra boons
'Good. All of them are focused on combat.'
Erix glanced at the battlefield to check the situation as he saw a group of adventurers bombarding projectile attacks on Merfolks.
The Merfolks were pressured to put on defensive formations, with only a few capable of attacking despite their higher number.
'Several already died since they were trying to get close to humans but failing.'
'Alright, let's end this.'
Erix pointed his Windfury Cannon at the group of humans and put his Roaring Metal Cannonball before its mouth.
"Go," Erix muttered and pulled the trigger as the Windfury Cannon's patterns shone, and Erix's Undead Energy was reduced by 800 as he released the maximum powered shot!
*Zoom!*
The Roaring Metal Cannonball shot forward, covered, and pushed by Windfury Cannon's power!
*BOOOM!!*
[ You have killed a level 71 human. ]
[ You have killed a level 78 human. ]
[ You have…]
A total of eighteen notifications rang as his one attack killed eighteen unsuspecting assholes and injured the rest to a varying degree!
But Erix didn't just stay back to enjoy his result.
He shot forward into the frey while the rest of Hamrax's men were recovering from the impact since they didn't escape unscathed even if they were alive!
*Swoosh!*
Erix summoned his Bullrage Zombie that he created by using ten level 50 zombie dolls and a core of a level 69 mutated monster, Magma Rock Bull.
Erix felt his class scuffed because Zombie had stopped leveling up after reaching 50, so his Zombie Fest skill had limited potential since half of its power was based on zombies and the other half was based on a monster's core.
"Ghraaaa!" Bullrage Zombie issued a weird roar before the giant bull horns on its head cracked like veins with magma patterns and grew larger.
With its powerful horn skill activated, Bullrage Zombie used Flame Rush and shot forward like a train, killing two injured humans in one go.
It also opened its mouth and released exploding orb towards other, doing a large area damage towards the others.
'Nice work,' Erix chuckled and fought with two men who were better off than the rest.
One of them conjured a barrier since Merfolks also rushed forward and finally started hurling their attacks.
But Erix pulled out his Amberros Death gun and released a 600 Undead Energy shot that quickly eroded the barrier, inviting their ultimate doom.
What happened after that was history, with all Merfolk attacking and killing the rest of Hamrax's men within a minute with Erix's help as he used his Nether Call to conjure the Nether Demon that released black smokey grasps to bind Hamrax's men. The evolved version of Nether Grasp was situational but powerful.
After the battle was over, a lean-muscled man with light blue skin and dark blue lightning patterns approached Erix and handed him six storage rings.
"Thank you for helping us. I am Mizaran, the leader of this tribe."
"Out of ten storage rings, we've chosen four random ones and decided to give you the rest. I hope you are fine with it."
"I'll take them."
'Great. They should have gold coins and other things,' Erix thought as he readily accepted the rings and put them in his inventory.
"May I know your name, savior?"
"Mr. Erix. We sincerely thank you for helping us, and we owe you a favor," the man bent his back and slightly bowed in arc position.
Erix rubbed his chin and asked, "What can I do with your favor?"
"That…," Mizaran was sent into a thoughtful state before he said after a few seconds. "We have a few valuable things in our tribe's trove, or I-If you want, I can give you a pair of our eyes."
"Ah, no. I don't want your eyes," Erix ruefully smiled as he waved his palms. He didn't want any eyeballs around his ears or neck, no matter how beautiful.
"Please follow me. I'll show you our tribe's trove."
After saying that, Mizaran walked towards his house, and Erix followed up.
"Hmm? Are you all leaving?" Erix suddenly asked, seeing people coming out of the house with a bunch of necessary items and preparing carriages with big sea horses as mounts.
"Yes, we'll have to relocate since our tribe's location was compromised," Mizaran sighed with a clear weary, and sad expression.
"We want to go to the Balzar Sea Kingdom, but my tribe is not powerful enough to travel there."
'Sea Kingdom? Sounds like a magical place,' Erix thought before he asked, "Can you go to Sea Kingdom from Water-Leaf Fields?"
"Yes. We can go there via the underground sea streams. These streams are deep within Water-Leaf fields, and a few of those streams lead to Aquotia Sea."
"But powerful monsters and phenomena dwell in these deep streams such that only those above level 100 can travel in them."
"I see."
After a minute, they entered the biggest house before Mizaran stopped before a door and opened it to reveal a small room with various Tier-1 items, a few crates, and a bookshelf.
"I will be honest. The most valuable things in this room are those items we don't use and a skill stone."
"What about that bookshelf?" Erix asked as he pointed at the corner.
"They are just some history of Merfolks, stories, and other things. My father kept them, but nobody else reads them after he died," Mizaran wryly smiled.
"Mind if I take a look?"
"You can take anything from here, Mr. Erix. Even the skill stone in that silver box, but-"
Mizaran rubbed his nose and said, "Please keep it only to a couple of things because I will need to sell the rest for gold coins after my tribe relocates."
"Ah, you can take all books if you can because nobody will buy them anyway."
"Alright, then, I'll not hold back," Erix said with a smile as he flew towards the bookshelf and put it inside his inventory.
Afterward, he walked towards the items and glanced at each of them before shaking his head and moving towards the skill stone.
Opening the box, he looked at the skill stone and inspected it.
[ Skill stone: Water Dragon Barrier ]
_Rank: 2nd Tier.
_Effect: Conjures a swirling water barrier that counterattacks with a water jet bullet upon getting attacked. The durability of the barrier and attack of the water jet bullet depends on the user's magic stat.
_Note: Stronger resistance against water and fire-attributed attacks.
"Alright, I am taking this skill stone," Erix picked up the skilled stone and immediately learned after infusing a bit of mana into it.
"No problem," Mizaran nodded while grinning. "Thank you again for saving us, Mr. Erix. We will never forget this favor, and I am aware that meager skill stone is not equivalent to our lives."
Mizaran was actually glad that Erix took the skill stone. After all, he could buy another empty skill stone and infuse the skill in it because he had completely mastered the 2nd Tier Water Dragon Barrier skill.
"No problem. Now, I'll be on my way, and good luck in your journey."
Erix left and arrived back on the surface.
'Six levels away from level 80. How long will that take if we keep getting tasks that reward with level up?' Erix thought while smiling and flew up on one of the trees before sitting on a big branch.
He took out the Labyrinth Shop Ticket and inspected it.
[Labyrinth Shop Ticket]
_Use: Infuse one mana point to open a Labyrinth Shop to spend your Labyrinth Points and buy one thing from the goods list.
'One thing? Does that mean I can only buy one thing even if I have more points?' Erix thought with the intention of seeking an answer.
[ Yes. A single shop ticket opens the shop and allows one to buy a single Artifact. The shop will vanish after you buy one Artifact.]
'Artifact? It seems that this shop has special items,' Erix's curiosity was piqued, and he immediately used the ticket.
A second later, Erix saw a panel with ten sections appearing before his eyes.
When Erix saw the items, his eyes almost popped out of his socket. 'Wtf?'