Leon rushed through the town as fast as he could. Since his millipedes had just recently ran by, he did not run into any centipedes on his way. When he finally arrived at the area that the millipedes were, he realized that they were at the edge of the broken walls of the town.
"Crap..." His already glum looking face was worsened, and the air around him turned gloomy. Elena had already escaped into the wilderness. Finding her would be many times more difficult now.
"Whatever. Maybe we will run into each other another time." He sighed and turned around, calling his millipede army with him. The pace he used to return this time was much slower than before.
Rumble...
Overhead, the clouds rumbled with the clap of thunder, and lightning flPlans ashed.
"Hm? Rain?" Leon looked up. This would be the first time it would rain since he arrived here nearly a month ago. A few seconds later, the first drop of rain landed on his skull. More and more drops followed, drumming against the ground and rubble continuously. In just a few moments, it had already started to pour.
Leon sighed and continued walking forward. Thankfully, his magic robes had the special repellent effect that prevented it from getting wet. Only his exposed skull and his feet got wet by the rain.
[-1 HP]
Suddenly, a small notification box popped up, and Leon stopped in surprise.
'Minus 1? Why?' He wondered in confusion, but before long, the reason became apparent.
"Acid rain." He noted and kept on walking. His obsidian bones were strong enough, so the rain only dealt single digit damage to him, and his recovery speed was also quite good, so he almost instantly recovered the lost health points.
Before long, he arrived at the cathedral where all the other millipedes had gathered. They waited quietly in one corner of the cathedral when he entered, and when he stepped through the hole, they made their way over to him, crowding him like little children in need of attention.
"Haha, alright, good job. All of you." Only when he complimented them did they finally step back. Leon was feeling a bit better. The constant nagging of the millipedes at the back of his mind had successfully pulled away his thoughts from Elena.
"Well, I guess we should focus on clearing out the centipedes next." Leon decided. He chose that he would wait for the rain to stop before sending out his millipedes. They could handle the centipedes for the most part. While they killed, they could also gain experience, and a little bit of that experience would also flow back to him, allowing him to level up passively without putting in too much active effort. The only thing that he would contribute would be his mana to regenerate the injured parts of the millipedes. One could even say that he was exchanging mana for experience!
.
.
The next day, the rain finally stopped. When it did, Leon sent out all of the millipedes, which were about three hundred in number, out into the city to hunt down the centipedes.
[Level 22 Ghost Centipede Soldier killed. You have leveled up!]
While Leon was laying down, doing absolutely nothing like the lazy skeleton noble he was supposed to be, he suddenly got a level up notification.
"Leveling up through summons truly is a lazy man's way of life." He sighed. He was currently alone in the cathedral, with both Nedra and Kaladin having gone out to go and hunt and level up. Leon stayed back, wanting to think of how he would proceed from here after wiping out the centipedes.
After the centipedes were done for, he would have to move on from here. The only things worth noting in this ruined town were the Obsidian Pool and High Grade Mana Crystals. Aside from those two things, there was also the very complex mana vortex circle that was created by Nedra's former master.
Leon thought back to his small discussion with Nedra about the vortex circle...
"Back then, my master created the mana vortex circle to draw in the ambient mana around so that he could absorb it and advance his mana core faster. With it, he was able to complete the same amount of growth that would take three months in roughly two to three weeks. It is also the cause of the high concentration of High Grade Mana Crystals here, as well as the reason why the Obsidian Pool keeps replenishing itself time after time when it should have dried up by now." Nedra explained to her new master, her foremost legs and antennae waving as she spoke.
"Oh?" Leon rubbed his chin as he took in what she had said. Then a thought struck him, "Mana core? Is this something that everyone should have?" He asked.
"...Yes." Nedra nodded. She also realized the problem.
Leon had no mana core.
"Is there a reason why I don't have a mana core yet?" Leon eventually voiced his thoughts.
"To be honest, I do not know, but I can guess if you are willing to listen." Nedra proposed.
"Go ahead."
"Well, there is only one reason I can think of as to why you don't have a mana core. Usually, only monsters that have reached a certain stage in their growth develop mana cores. By all standards, you are a monster the same way I am. But you are actually very much younger than myself, less than a month old?" She tilted her head.
"Three weeks and a few days, yeah." Leon confirmed.
"Well, that should be the reason. Even though you are very strong, I will say that has to do with your repeated boosts given by the Obsidian Pool. So, maybe when some more time passes, your mana core will form naturally." Nedra explained.
"Oh, I see." Leon nodded. He understood what she meant. He had only spent a bit less than a month since coming here, but he was already this strong. Well, relative to the level of threat that he had faced so far. Surely, it would only be a matter of time before something stronger came his way.