"We should split into two groups before they barge at us all at once. Now!" Alexa shouted.
"Right!" Callum nodded and made a long shift, and Lira followed him at once.
Alexa and Jon settled on the other side as a group of Ghoul Hunters and Ghoul Warriors charged their way. On the other side, it was the same case.
Callum quickly activated Crimson Severance and readied his sword.
"How does your skill work?" Callum asked her, his voice swiftly demanding.
Lira gave him a sharp glance and activated her skill immediately. At that instant, a shield appeared on her arms, glowing with blue lights.
"It's Guardian Shield. It has a defensive aura covering a four-metre radius. It blocks 70% of physical and magical damage from monsters below the B-rank, and 100% from monsters below the D-rank. If we run into any monster above B-rank, it only has a 20% block rate, and it becomes useless," Lira explained.
"Cool. Perhaps we aren't running into one anytime soon. The stronger monsters don't leave their territory to attack," Callum gave her an assuring look.
"There are a lot of them. We'd need that defensive skill of yours to keep attacks away because we can't face all of them at once," Callum added.
Lira nodded.
And in a few seconds, the Ghouls had already reached their spot, and the clash began.
About five Ghoul Hunters approached Callum in a straight line, giving him a clear opportunity to make use of Crimson Severance. With the blood-red cutting arc slicing through their bones, they were taken down in one strike.
Actually, Ghoul Hunters were mostly E-rank monsters, so the damage was definitely 100% effective.
From time to time, Callum made sure to take them down in double or triple numbers because he knew he wouldn't have enough mana left if he decided to kill them one by one.
Lira, on the other hand, wasn't a bad attacker either. With the longsword tightly grasped in her right hand, she had been facing off against the Ghoul Hunters and Ghoul Warriors.
Even though she wasn't as fast as Callum, her progress was definitely good enough to keep her alive and standing.
The fact that these Ghouls had soft body parts made it easier, and sensible attackers like Callum and Alexa were wasting no time in taking them down the easiest way.
Jon, with his supernatural chain and buff skill Titan's Grip, had his strength increased greatly, allowing him to keep swinging the huge chain for minutes without resting.
The effect of the increased strength made his attacks so brutal that some Ghouls got their skulls crushed with just a single strike.
"Huhu! This is fun!" Jon laughed delightedly as he watched the skull of a Ghoul break with a cracking sound.
Literally, he loved that sound.
And on the other hand, the lady of the show was taking pleasure in flashing around, poking the eyes of the Ghouls.
As if the twin daggers weren't enough, Alexa preferred to twist the necks of these Ghouls with her bare hands.
This was definitely the advantage of her Blitz Step increased agility, and it was as if she could do anything she wanted to an enemy anytime she wanted to.
It was indeed not a bad idea choosing this skill from the Power Trade Centre.
It was worth it.
---
[You have slain an E-rank Ordinary Monster, Ghoul Hunter. +15 EXP]
[You have slain an E-rank Ordinary Monster, Ghoul Hunter. +15 EXP]
[You have slain a D-rank Ordinary Monster, Ghoul Warrior. +25 EXP]
[You have slain a D-rank Ordinary Monster, Ghoul Warrior. +25 EXP]
[You have slain a D-rank Ordinary Monster, Ghoul Warrior. +25 EXP]
---
These were the notifications that popped up on the interface when a Ghoul was slain. They were already getting used to them, and it was clear they would be seeing more of these.
"Callum, I think my mana is exhausted," Lira quickly notified Callum as the shield suddenly disappeared.
"Got it. We're almost done," Callum said.
"We might need it to kill the stronger Ghouls inside," Lira complained. "It's going to be tough. We'll need our skills in there."
"Did you see anything?" Callum furrowed his brows. Though they were having a conversation, it didn't stop them from fighting.
"I can't see the outcome of fights, but I can sense the rate of difficulty—slightly," Lira responded.
"Okay then. We'll all recover our mana before going into the cavern," Callum said.
Lira gave him a short stare of uncertainty, her eyes filled with unease, but she later nodded.
SLASH!
CROOOO!
CROOOO!
Apart from the Ghoul Warriors, who were considerably stronger than the Ghoul Hunters, the battle hadn't been greatly stressful.
Thanks to Magnus's decision to allow Jon and Lira to join them. If they had been here alone, though they definitely would have gotten more EXP, it would have been much more difficult.
The effort and assistance of these two had been a huge help, especially Jon, who had such a tyrannical weapon. Lira wasn't to be left out, especially with her Talent...
With her by their side, they would easily get hints of what was to happen or some information about certain things.
When they finally cleared all the monsters—which took seemingly more than thirty minutes—the group reunited again.
"You okay?" Callum asked Alexa.
"Yeah. You?" Alexa asked back.
"I'm fine," Callum nodded.
"Lira's mana is exhausted, and she said we might need it. You know her talent, and we have to respect it," Callum told Alexa.
Alexa gave Lira a glance. "How difficult?"
"The Ghoul Elders have strong magical skills, and the Ghoul Guards are stronger physical forces..." Lira said and paused.
"The Ghoul Lord could be insane," she added.
"Alright then. We must recover our mana before going in," Jon said. "My mana is almost exhausted too."
"What if the Ghoul Lord escapes?" Callum thought about the last Territory Boss and asked.
"That's a chance... It could," Alexa also considered it.
They both turned to Lira with curious looks on their faces, hoping perhaps she could predict anything about it.
However, Lira appeared calm and collected, unlike in the stone castle of the Goblins.
With a calm tone, she shook her head and spoke.
"A monster hungry for flesh and blood wouldn't run away when it sees one."