Chapter 94 Countdown

[<Bronze> Essence crystal of Tier-1 Level 4 Soaring War Krendel has been absorbed!]

<Kirak’s Vassal> [5.30065%]

‘Damn, an increase of almost 3% at once…’

Dilan was quite baffled by the final result.

He was resting awkwardly against the dead Soaring War Krendel that had crashed to the ground when Dilan had mashed its brain.

Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm down his wildly beating heart.

The combination of the Aeris’ leather boots’ boost in Agility, followed by [Gale] and his active ability [Thunder Step] was simply too powerful.

As long as he had a proper weapon and enough mana, there shouldn’t be a single monster capable of killing him in the underground valley.

After all, the Soaring War Krendel had been the strongest!

But even if he had just killed the strongest monster in the underground valley, Dilan didn’t have much Mana left.

‘I should be more careful now. I have released my stress, so I should leave now, I guess.’ _-.

Dilan could tell that he wouldn’t be able to find any more information from the settlement.

The little intel he procured about Gates was already quite intriguing.

Unfortunately, it didn’t really help him answer specific questions such as how to delay another wave of monsters from flooding the second floor of the Rian mountainside hospital!

The small Gate that led back to the hospital should provide him with an answer, which was why he chose to return.

‘But before…a little bit more trouble is fine! I have still a few Units of mana left, after all!!’

After fighting the Soaring War Krendel, Dilan was still eager to keep fighting.

The increase in the Kirak’s Vassal progression bar had been extremely high.

Thus, not knowing when he would return to the underground valley, it was only obvious for Dilan to feel like reaping more benefits.

Dilan also knew that he had caused a commotion while fighting the Soaring War Krendel.

That was even more reason for him to leave because he could already sense that quite a few monsters were on their way toward him.

He was forced to leave the moment he pulled the Captain’s Sword out of the Soaring War Krendel’s butt.

With a single push, he catapulted himself several meters ahead. Accelerating his speed further, Dilan tucked the longsword into his belt.

This allowed his hands to be fully free, which was everything he required to reap a few lives while running through the settlement.

Following a specific path Dilan had come up with, he encountered quite a few powerful monsters that he had detected while touring through the settlement.

Even after killing them in a matter of seconds, Dilan didn’t absorb even a single Essence crystal.

He stored them away with the thought of exchanging the Essence crystals with treasures.

This was, at least, what he was trying to do, only to realize that the huge Gate was not exactly safe for trades.

“At least 10 Tier-1 monsters…maybe I’m still a little bit too full of myself. Looks like the Soaring War Krendel was not the strongest one!”

Understanding that the huge Gate was not ought to be his next destination, Dilan left the settlement with fast strides.

He dashed through the outskirts and quickly disappeared from the sight of dozens of monsters that pursued him.

Tracing back the same path he had come in through, Dilan reached the cavern entrance to the mine in no time. He didn’t slow down or bother hiding from any monster which made it easier for him to dash through the tunnels.

Only a handful of monsters in the underground valley were able to reach his speed, to begin with, and the majority of them stayed in the settlement!

Thus while trying to find his way back to the small Gate to return to Milarn, Nial made a short stop to get his hands on a batch of the different types of ores that he took from the basket carrying horned rats.

With a basket of ores and illuminating crystals in his arm, he rushed through several dozen tunnels before finally finding himself back at the mine once again.

More than four hours passed before he found himself back in the small cavern hall where he found the small Gate that led back to Milarn.

He was exhausted due to the numerous fights, and the long time for which he ran through the underground valley.

It must be early in the morning for the others as well.

Thus, Dilan didn’t want to waste much more time by staying in the underground valley.

However, even then, there was something he had to figure out, which was why he approached the permanent Gate with a determined expression.

Putting down the two baskets, he took a Silver Essence crystal, and a Tier-1 ordinary Essence crystal out of his pockets.

Holding them tightly, Dilan approached the Gate, and read the first messages he received from it.

[<Silver> treasure can be exchanged with Silver Essence crystal of Tierless Level 10 Four-armed War Krendel]

[Tier-1 Level 0 Essence crystal of Titan horn rat has been detected! Cannot be exchanged with <Trash> treasure! Gate’s permission and level are too low!]

After reading through the first notification, a bright smile emerged on Dilan’s face.

However, there was something that bothered him about the message. Dilan was not sure what it was, but he felt as if the mana fluctuations of the small Gate were not as ‘responsive’ as the huge Gate’s.

This might have been a misconception, but the second message was something that made things a little bit more obvious.

‘So the Gates have levels as well? I guess I could exchange the Titan horn rat if I were to try it at the huge Gate…but then, would it cost me one Essence crystal or multiple?

Are the exchanged rewards directly related to the difficulties one faced while procuring them or do they vary for each Gate?’

Quite a few questions coursed through Dilan’s mind, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to get an answer.

“I’m missing something…well either way…”

He shrugged his shoulders and chose to take out two more Silver Essence crystals while absorbing the four ordinary Tier-1 Essence crystals he had been able to procure after killing the Soaring War Krendel.

Meanwhile, he threw the three Silver Essence crystals in the Gate that responded well to his demands of procuring more treasures.

‘I should not hurry to exchange the Bronze Essence crystals for the time being. I don’t have enough space, let alone a set of extra hands to carry everything as it is!’

There were close to 50 Bronze Essence crystals in his backpack, but instead of exchanging them with some Bronze treasures, he rather looked at the other notifications he received from the Gate itself!

[Permanent Gate to (Rian Mountainside Hospital, Milarn). Special condition met!]

[Next Gate Breakout will occur in <480 hours>! Gate’s restriction will be loosened for 3 hours! Altering the timer is possible with Essence crystals!]

Everything Dilan wanted to know was answered by the information he read, including the time left for the third wave, or Gate Breakout, which was how the system labeled it.

“Looks like there is a lot to tell the others later!” Dilan muttered amusingly as the three Silver treasures emerged out of the bluish liquid of the Gate.

However, what Dilan saw frustrated him to no end.

“A backpack, a piece of paper…and a hedge shear?! What kind of joke is happening right now?!