Chapter 55: Level 20
Just as he was about to charge at another bison, he was once again engulfed in the blissful feeling of a level up.
He saw a rapid row of notifications.
[Ding!]
[You have assisted in slaying Lvl 19 Winged Bison (x13) | +720 EXP]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lvl. 18]
Level 18: (EXP: 650/1900)
[Ding!]
[You have assisted in slaying Lvl 20 Winged Bison (x7) | +490 EXP]
Level 18: (EXP: 1140/1900)
I got about one-third of the normal experience for assisting, Night thought.
At this rate, I will reach Level 20 in no time.
He wanted to reach Level 20 to unlock his Profession.
From what he had heard in class earlier, for people who do not want to constantly fight on the frontlines but still want to level up, taking up a Profession was the primary way.
According to Sara, that was exactly how she had continued leveling up all these years.
And just like that, the fight raged on...
In no time at all, he reached Level 19.
[Ding!]
[You have slain a Lvl 20 Winged Bison | +200 EXP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lvl. 19]
Level 19: (EXP: 150/2000)
Just then, hundreds more Winged Bisons reached their sector, slipping past the soldiers’ barricade at the front.
Of course, the students were fighting safely behind the frontline soldiers.
At the actual vanguard, the number of monsters was dense enough to turn anyone into mush from the stampede alone.
The soldiers fought with conventional weapons. Some of them used greatswords, some wielded huge hammers, but most of them used a standard sword-and-shield combo.
The weapons looked impressive, judging by the fact that the monsters seemed to be dying in a single hit.
If I got my hands on one of those, fighting would be so much easier... Night thought enviously.
Faced with hundreds of Winged Bisons bearing down on them, he was about to ask Lucy to assist him directly.
All this while, Lucy had just been standing in the back, just using shadow to form tendrils and hands to lock the monsters in place while the students safely executed them.
Most of the weaker, utility-type students had naturally gathered around her, assisting in finishing off the immobilized targets.
But the EV expenditure for constant crowd control was nothing to scoff at.
[Energy Value (EV): 4,875]
He had burned through around 600 EV already, and it was draining quickly.
If this went on for two or three more hours, he would be completely empty.
Just as he was about to dash forward, the green fires that had been following him around to assist suddenly charged directly at the main horde while Lucy held them in place.
The green fire grew ten times larger and then violently exploded, killing most of the clustered beasts and severely injuring the rest.
He was immediately assaulted by a string of system messages and the intense, blissful feeling of leveling up.
After the destruction, the scattered green fire embers gathered back to form a whole flame again.
[You have assisted...
[You have assisted...
[You have assisted in...
..
Level 19: (EXP: 1750/2000)
Is leveling up really this easy?
(-_-)
At this rate, I might reach Level 100 in a week...
No.
Did I just jinx it?
(－‸ლ)
Shoo... Go away, jinx...
Sheesh, leveling is so hard! I wish it was easier...
(¬‿¬)
With those ridiculous thoughts, he started butchering the locked-down and heavily injured Winged Bisons.
....
In no time at all, he felt another wave of blissfulness wash over him as he finally hit Level 20...
He physically felt his connection with the Nightmare Domain become profoundly stronger and even the passive digestion speed increased noticeably.
Inside the Domain, the massive Devil’s body; which was previously being devoured at a snail’s pace, was now being processed considerably faster.
At this new rate, it should be fully digested in a week if nothing else happened.
Checking the latest notification, he gasped upon seeing the experience required for the next level.
[Ding!]
[You have slain a Lvl 20 Winged Bison | +200 EXP]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lvl. 20]
Level 20: (EXP: 50/21,000)
(￣ー￣)
Now I need ten times more EXP to level up... and maybe the multiplier will keep increasing as I reach higher levels.
Looking around, he saw that the monster horde was barely a horde anymore.
Just a couple of stragglers were left on the entire battlefield.
He couldn’t see any new hordes coming from the forest, either. Seeing that not much action was left, Lucy quietly dissolved back into his shadow.
Immediately, he was surrounded by the utility-class students, grateful looks in their eyes as they thanked him incessantly.
Lily and Daisy were among them. Though the sisters looked incredibly pale; probably from the energy drain of using such a destructive attack...
He was saved from the awkward socializing by the teacher’s booming voice. "Alright, everyone, you can come back up now!"
The kids looked up in surprise but reacted instantly, scrambling up the stairs and reaching the top of the wall in under a minute, terrified the teacher might suddenly change his mind.
Night followed them up at a more leisurely pace.
Standing on the wall beside Mike was Colonel Sam, who was looking at the exhausted students with a knowing smile.
Teacher Mike nodded. "You have all done well for today. You can go home and rest now."
Hearing this, the students immediately felt wary instead of happy.
One courageous kid even stuttered, "I-It’s okay, Teacher... we can continue until ev-evening!"
The others nodded vigorously in agreement.
Colonel Sam looked amused at their act, already knowing exactly what kind of hellish days awaited them.
Teacher Mike glared at the boy and barked, "If I tell you to go rest, you... you rest... Got it?!"
The boy nodded frantically as nervous sweat formed on his forehead.
Teacher Mike then continued with a cruel smirk. "You need ample rest today because we don’t know when you might get to relax in the coming days."
"After all, from tomorrow onward, you all will be coming here to fight the monsters during the second half of every day!"
What... No... sniff...sniff
(;´༎ຶД༎ຶ`)
...
Night chuckled as he opened the magical arrays to his villa, remembering the despair on the kids’ faces upon hearing the new schedule.
Most of those who were despairing were the ones with utility-type Classes and Professions.
There were some scaredy-cats too, who actually had fighting-type Classes but were just terrified of dying in the mud....
It’s understandable, given their age, Night thought sympathetically.
Upon entering his home, he was greeted by the unexpected sight of Sara sitting comfortably on the sofa beside Blade, each of them holding a cup.
He could smell a tea-like aroma wafting from them, making him involuntarily gulp...
Sara looked up at him and smiled warmly. "Come in, we made some tea while we waited for you."
He felt a warm feeling spread through his chest at the domestic interaction. As he closed the front door, Sage jumped out of his arms to look around the house.
She looked back at him as if asking a question.
Eek eek ekkkkk!
(Is this home?)
@( ˶ˆ꒳ˆ˵ )@
"Yes, it is," Night nodded with a smile.
Blade stood up and walked over to Sage. She bent down and gently picked the tiny monkey up with both hands.
"And who might this little one be?"
Resting comfortably in her pale hands, Sage looked at Blade in pure awe.
So fast!
@(☆▽☆)@
Sara explained from the sofa, "He summoned her today right in the middle of the classroom," and proceeded to tell Blade the story.
Blade looked at Night seriously. "It is not good to summon in public. What if someone had killed it before you could bond?"
Night frowned. "Why would someone kill her?"
Blade sighed. "You don’t understand. Do not underestimate humans; many of them make Devils look like angels. As you encounter more of them out in the world, you will understand exactly what I mean."
"Besides, it is always better to learn through advice than through a horrible personal experience," Blade said as she shook her head. She then focused back on Sage, who was staring right back at her.
This tiny monkey gave Blade a very weird feeling... almost like she was looking at a reflection of herself...
Looking around the room, Blade asked Sara, "Why is there only one sofa in this hall?"
Sara’s lips twitched. "This house was meant for a single student, not for a army to live in. It is already luxurious for a single student’s accommodation."
Still she gracefully clapped her hands and three similar sofas and a table magically materialized in the room.
She moved them effortlessly using some kind of telekinesis, arranging them neatly around a central table.
Blade sat back down on one of the new sofas, keeping Sage on her thighs. The monkey immediately started poking at Blade’s dark armor out of curiosity.
"I understand you wanted to inform me about the Devil anomaly," Blade said to Sara, "but you could have easily used the communication device for that."
Looking at her in puzzlement, Blade asked, "So why are you really here?"
Sara was stumped as she watched Blade casually act like she owned the place.
This is Night’s residential area, and YOU are the guest here... Sara thought incredulously.
But instead of voicing her thoughts, she simply explained why she was actually here. "Night just reached Level 20 and I am here to guide him in case he needs help choosing a Profession."
