"Damn, just how big is this region?" After several minutes of nonstop running, Raydon exclaimed in exasperation as he came to a stop.
He had already been running without stopping for more than 10 minutes, and he was more than 40000 meters away from his starting point, but he still had not come across the region boss or any of the opposing teams.
"The barrier seems to be slowly contracting as well," he noted, observing the transparent dome enclosing the region. The sight of its gradual movement only added to his growing inner turmoil.
Also, he was not entirely sure how it worked, but it was clear that the luck stats he had were not going to be of any assistance to him.
'I suppose changing my investigative-type skill should be my top priority after this match,' Raydon contemplated, examining the description of his skill, Death Sense.
[Greaves]
-Grade: Green
-Quality: Good
-Skill: Death Sense
By activating this ability, the user enters a centuries-old pact with death and gains the ability to determine the number of health points (up to a maximum of 2,500 HP) possessed by all living creatures within a 150-meter radius.
Duration and range vary based on the user's stamina stat.
The maximum amount of HP that can be seen varies based on the user's charisma stat.
-Mana cost: 55
-Duration: 20 minutes.
-Cooldown: 30 minutes.
While his current stamina had expanded the skill's range to 300 meters, Raydon was bothered by its limitation in detecting entities with a maximum HP of 2,500. He pondered how his charisma stat might affect this threshold and came to the conclusion that he ought to be able to detect beings with at least 5,000 or 6,000 HP because he had a high charisma stat.
However, the real problem was that he did not know how many health points a D-Rank region boss had. If its HP was greater than the capacity of Raydon's investigative skill to detect it, then the skill would be useless against them.
"Searching for region bosses in this vast expanse without an effective investigative-type skill is akin to finding a needle in a haystack," he muttered, massaging his temples as he contemplated alternative solutions.
"This will strain my body, but I have no other choice but to increase my speed and continue searching," Raydon resolved, contemplating his options. After careful consideration, he decided to combine the movement technique he had been using with the berserker technique to enhance his search capabilities.
When he was using the Berserker technique, he was able to test the boundaries of his entire body to the extent that his stamina would allow, which allowed him to make at least twice as effective use of his strength and agility.
But even when his strength and agility were only 1, he was putting a heavy load on his body while using this technique, and he was not sure now how much his 110 stamina can support his increased agility and strength because he did not have his previous stamina sub-skills either.
After all, the process of amplifying 1 strength and agility was very different from the process of amplifying 110 strength and agility, and as a result, his body needed to be much more durable than it was in the past in order to be able to support such high stats.
Furthermore, combining the berserker technique with another movement technique would impose additional strain on his muscles. Nevertheless, Raydon found himself with no other viable option.
"Well, with my current stamina, I should be able to sustain a 50% amplification for at least half an hour," he estimated. Rather than utilizing the full potential of the berserker technique, he decided to employ it at a 50% increase, allowing for a longer duration.
As Raydon solidified his decision, his breathing quickened, and his heart rate accelerated, surpassing its normal rhythm. In a very short period of time, his normally pale complexion started to redden as a result of the surge of blood that was pumping through his veins, and his body temperature continued to climb steadily.
Gray smoke began to rise subtly from his body, aided by the effect of his body enchantment. Soon, the wisps of smoke transformed into black flames, enveloping his entire form like a delicate veil.
"That's enough for now," Raydon declared, sensing his body's limits being shattered and a surge of power infusing his muscles. He felt a profound strength coursing through him, filling his cells with boundless energy.
And then, with this newly acquired boost in power, he was about to start running again when he stopped to take in an incoming system message.
[Your team gained 1 point.]
[Since you made no contributions to the battle, you won't gain any shared experience.]
[Bonus: You gained 35 experiences.]
"What?" The sudden system messages startled Raydon, who cast a quick glance around.
Despite his Death Sense skill, he couldn't detect anyone nearby except for a few ordinary mobs. Confusion clouded his thoughts as he questioned, "How did I gain experience points?"
The obvious interpretation of this message for Raydon was that it meant the battle maids had successfully eliminated a mob.
Because he did not contribute anything to the fight, he should not be eligible for a portion of the experience points that were gained. Naturally, he anticipated gaining a bonus of 35% extra experience points from the slain mob due to the blue-grade invitation scroll he had used. However, what truly surprised him was that the battle maids were nowhere near him at the moment, and he shouldn't have received these bonus experience points either.
"The old man said we had to be close for the bonus to work. Did he lie?" Raydon furrowed his brow, contemplating the situation. While Samuen hadn't explicitly specified the proximity required, Raydon knew that the distance between them was too great.
A strong intuition stirred within him, suggesting that Samuen had deceived him about this information. However, rather than dwelling on it now, Raydon decided to inquire about it later, when he had the opportunity to speak with Samuen.
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