ACT 2 Using a Crisis as an Opportunity!
His expression instantly became dark. It became dark the moment he let go of the protruding rock. He would be turned to powder the moment he touched the lava. However, he had no regrets about his life. But if his armour brokeâŠâŠ
âThat absolutely canât happen. A way, I need to find a way! A footholdâŠ..â
But nothing could be seen in the area. At that moment he heard Racardâs voice over his head.
âI-itâs not my fault! Isnât that right? Isnât it?â
âThat bastard! Are you a government employee? A politician? Why are you saying such things in a situation like this?â
Youâre trying to avoid responsibility when your Master is about to dive into lava? Wasnât it just like government officials blaming each other in a state of emergency? Sometimes he really wanted to step on that personâs mouth. That was when he had a thought. There was an intense spark inside of Ark.
âWait? Step on? Racard?â
Ark came up with a brilliant idea to save the situation. He considered it an absurd method but there was no time to think about it. As soon as Ark came up with a way, he raised his head and shouted.
âRacard, summon release! Racard, summon demon!â
âHuk, what, what the?â
Racard who had been claiming his innocence from a distant place disappeared. Ark recalled Racard back to his side and grabbed him.
âHik! W-why are you doing this? Do you intend for us to die together? No, I donât want to!â
âWho is intending to die with you? Shut up and stay still!â
Ark shouted angrily and placed Racard underneath his foot. Then he stepped on Racardâs head and used all his power to push off.
It was the Jump option attached to his Wolfâs Feet! When Ark used Jump, his thighs swelled up and he used explosive power to push off Racardâs head. When he used a springboard, it allowed Jump to make up the remaining metres and he managed to grab the protruding stone again. But Racard who had become a foothold screamed as he was forced to fall towards the bottom. He hadnât suspected Arkâs ulterior motive but he desperately flapped his wings to avoid falling into the lava the moment his head was stepped on.
âAck, my head! Ack, my butt! Iâm going to die!â
âShut up, hurry up and lure those wendigoes away from here!â
âWhat? What? You dare say that now? Donât you see that my butt is on fire?â
âDo you really want to fall into the molten lava?â
Then the rock was struck by one of the wendigoesâ tongue. Ark quickly moved to another rock before growling at Racard.
âIf I fall again then Iâll grab you and bring you with me no matter what. Definitely!â
âOkay! I understand! Ya, you damn tongue ghost demons!â
Racard rubbed his butt to put out the fire and used Taunt on the wendigoes. After Racard lured the wendigoes away, Ark could climb up onto the land again. He had managed to avoid having his equipment melted in the lava for the moment. But that was it. There were still dozens of wendigoes swiping with their tongues in front of him and his health and the durability of his equipment was at the very bottom.
âIt is better than falling into the lava but my equipment will still be destroyed when fighting against the wendigoes. I have to concentrate on finding a way to escape!â
Now the important thing wasnât to win but to move another land mass when it approached. Ark considered and put away his sword. His sword had low durability like his other equipment but putting it away could raise his evasion rate. Without his sword, he could concentrate everything on evasion.
Hwiririg, kwa kwa kwang! Hwiririg, kwa kwa kwang!
The bloody tongue with sharp needles passed closely by. Even with his evasion raised to 100%, he couldnât escape all attacks.
âJust one attack would decrease my durability.â
It also had its limits. It was raining and his clothes were wet. Even minor damage couldnât be ignored. After approximately 3~4 minutes passed, a red warning message popped up in front of Ark.
-The durability ofăGuardian Armour of the Merpeopleă,ăCat Pawsă,ăRaccoons PithăandăWarriorâs Transcriptsăhas decreased to 2%.
Immediate repair is needed!
It felt like his heart had suddenly fallen. In this situation it was easier for the durability of armour to fall more easily. It was the same principle as the loose screw would fall more often. If his equipment was at 2% then one hit would be a fatal blow!
âMaster, it is coming!â
Then Racardâs voice who had lured the wendigoes to the other side could be heard. When he turned around, a piece of land was fast approaching. It was a piece only 1 metre in diameter but Ark felt like it was his saviour.
âIf I miss that then it is the end!â
Ark quickly calculated the orbit of the approaching land. If it maintained its orbit then it would pass by in a few seconds! But the surrounding wendigoes canât see him move to the other land!
âI have to get away from these guys first!â
Ark became determined and used Dark Dance to move between the wendigoes. The wendigoes followed behind Ark. Then Ark ran perpendicularly and moved towards Razak who was still using Steel Loyalty.
âThatâs it, this is my last chance!â
âRazak, Steel Loyalty off! Transform!â
Clack clack clack clack, ttadadadak!
Razak instantly changed into the Saw blade and Ark caught it. Ark ran towards the edge and jumped with his full power. The tongues of the wendigoes tried to follow but Ark quickly twisted the Saw blade.
The Saw blade unfolded like a whip and entwined around the rapidly approaching piece of land. Ark dangled from the fast moving land and passed over the head of the wendigoes. He didnât know where the land was going but he had avoided the worst situation for the moment.
Ark looked at the rapidly retreating wendigoes and sighed with relief. No, he was about to sigh.
Suddenly cold laughter was heard above his head. Ark lifted his face and stiffened. Before he could feel relieved, a wendigo had appeared on the piece of land. The wendigo that appeared brandished their tongues and attacked Ark. Ark moved side to side to avoid the tongues but then the wendigoâs eyes focused on the Saw blade.
Ark felt breathless as his jaw dropped. Currently the Saw blade was hanging from a corner of the piece of land. If that guy broke the corner with their tongues then Ark would fall into the lava again. It wasnât possible to pull his blade like a rubber band to climb up. If he flew up there was a 100% chance of collision with that guy and Ark would fall into the lavaâŠ..it was indeed the end.
âRacard, above! Block that guy!â
âHuh? O-okay! Dark Dash!â
Racard shot forward like an arrow at Arkâs words. But the floating land was moving at a tremendous speed. Racard used Dark Dance but the speed of the land was slightly faster. He had no way of blocking the wendigo. The wendigo only took light damage and brought its tongue back to the corner.
âD-damn, no! Soul Extortion!â
Ark hastily fired the only long distance attack he had. There was no other way! But Soul Extortion exerted an unforeseen effect.
The moment the transparent hand grabbed the wendigo, there was a violent explosion and the wendigo stumbled. Instead of just tearing a part of the soul, it grabbed the whole thing? Furthermore, the wendigoâs health was reduced by 15% with one blow.
âW-what is this? What is going on?â
Ark was dumbfounded by the unexpected situation. He used it in his desperate state but Soul Extortion wasnât an attack magic. It was a magic which grabbed some of the soul. Naturally it only did 50 damage. So why did the wendigo lose 15% health when it was caught by Soul Extortion?
âI donât know why but this is a chance! Before it can use the tongue again, Soul Extortion, Soul Extortion, Soul Extortion!â
Pepepepeng, kuaack! Pepepepeng, kuaack!
Ark focused on the tongues and extensively used Soul Extortion. Every time the wendigo screamed as their bodies were slowly destroyed. But the wendigo was very tough. Even after being hit, the wendigo continued beating the corner with their tongues. HoweverâŠâŠ
The wendigo stopped tapping the edge with their tongue and looked at Ark with confusion. Ark laughed at their expression and muttered.
âKukukuku, isnât the wendigo quite cute like this?â
The wendigo swung their tongue around the floating land. But the wendigo already looked completely different from before. The exact reason was unknown but Soul Extortion tore off some of the wendigoâs body. But the wendigo had a spirit body so it quickly repaired everything. Yet even with a spirit body, the wendigo couldnât repair everything without a penalty. The spirit body had a fixed amount so decreasing the soul would decrease the size of the body. The wendigo which had lost a lot of its soul due to Soul Extortion had decreased to the size of a fist. Now the wendigo didnât have enough power to crush the corner.
The wendigo belatedly realized the situation too late and retreated.
âWhat are you going to do now? Soul Extortion!â
In the end, the little wendigo was completely swallowed up by the hand.
-Your spirit has risen thanks to Soul Extortion!
<spiritual>âââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââ-</spiritual>
<spiritual>âHahaha, now I can relax!â</spiritual>
<spiritual>Ark muttered with a rapt expression.</spiritual>
<spiritual>-The fatigue of your mind and body has been swept away by the hot spring.</spiritual>
<spiritual><your>The chaos space wasnât a completely perilous place. There were also lands with hot springs floating among the river of lava. The spa area floated among the chaos space. If the hot spring was used as a campsite then naturally his recovery rate would quicken. It was also a safety zone where wendigoes wouldnât appear.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âItâs lucky that there are hot springs here.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Soaking in the steaming hot water really loosened his fatigue. And the location where the hot spring wandered was the chaos space. Below it was a river of boiling lava. It was fantastic scenery to watch while floating around. It was also possible to relax in places like hot springs in New World.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Clack clack clack clackâŠâŠ</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Ssak ssak ssak ssakâŠâŠ.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Ark laughed as Razak and Radun also plunged into the hot springs with fascinated expressions.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âChet, chet! You must be enjoying this.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>However, Racard just frowned and glared at Ark.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âWhat the, what did you say? Why are you so dissatisfied?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âDo you need to ask? Am I a stone? Why did you step on my head?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âIt couldnât be helped at that time.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âHa, is that it? Is that all I am to Master? I almost fell into the lava because Master stepped on me. Did you see it? My butt caught on fire and all my fur was stripped! Do you have any remorse after seeing this?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âThatâs why I brought you to the hot spring. Come quickly into the springs.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âHow can you just say that? My butt is blistered from burns yet you want me to enter hot water?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âYou really are so troublesome. If you donât want to come in then scout or something.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âMaster really isâŠâŠâ</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âWhat? What are you about to say?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>When Ark glared at him, Racard pouted and turned his head. He seemed annoyed but Arkâs head was full of other thoughts.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âItâs fortunate that I came to a land with some hot springsâŠâŠâ</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>In fact, the hot spring Ark was resting in this time wasnât the first one he found. He had found a hot spring soon after he entered the chaos space. Yes, after all his troubles Ark returned back to the area where he found it and entered the hot springs. But that was not the problem.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âWhat was that? That attack just then?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Ark carefully thought about the situation. Ark had tested the Soul Extortion skill on various monsters after he learnt it. And he came to the conclusion that it was âspirit.â Even if it contributed to his Spiritual Power, it only raised it by 1. Despite frantically using during the week he spent in Hwaryong Mountain, his Spiritual Power had only increased by 7. So Ark only used Soul Extortion for half of its purpose.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âBut it had a completely different use just then.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>The wendigo lost 15% health when he used Soul Extortion. The wendigo didnât have low health. If the wendigoâs health was low then he wouldnât have so much trouble.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âIf itâs not an accident then I can only think of one answer!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Ark ended up reaching a conclusion.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âIf my idea is correctâŠâŠâ</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>After coming to the conclusion it wasnât possible for him to sit down anymore.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âCome on, get up!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âEh? Already? But the swelling on my butt hasnât gone down yet!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Racard muttered as he grabbed his butt.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âForget about your butt. Letâs go. The place isnât that far away so just follow.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âThe place isnât far away? Where are we going?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âTo test something out. Racard, look for a land of suitable size that I can move to immediately. The sizeâŠ.something 5~7 metres wide should be suitable. If itâs that size then only 4~5 wendigoes should appear.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âSheesh, I understand.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Racard flapped his wings and looked all over the place. After a while, he finally discovered a suitable sized land.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Kukyakyakyakya, kukyakyakyakya!</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>As expected, the wendigoes appeared as soon as he arrived on the land.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>â5 of them should be suitable.â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âRazak, defense stance. Racard, taunt 3 of them!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âWhat are you saying? You want me to lure them in a small place like this?â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Although Racard complained, he used Taunt to lure 3 of them to a corner. And Razak stood close to Ark with his shield outstretched. It was the basic formation of Ark and his summons. In fact, it wasnât necessary to prepare anything when dealing with these numbers but Arkâs purpose wasnât to kill the wendigoes. Ark used Razak and his shield to avoid the tongue while keeping an eye on the wendigoes. After a while, an arrow pattern appeared on top of a wendigoâs head.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âLock on. Soul Extortion!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Pepepepeng, kuaaaaak!</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>A clear hand stretched out in front of him and grabbed the wendigo. Although it recovered its spirit and body, the size of the wendigo had diminished. The wendigo became smaller with every attack of Arkâs. He also confirmed that the damage decreased when the size became smaller.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>âIt is following my expectations. NextâŠ..Soul Extortion, Soul Extortion!â</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>Ark rampaged with the skill and struck the wendigo. Soul Extortion decreased the defense by 15%. Moreover, Soul Extortion had no cool down time. And it didnât take longer than 30 seconds to use the skill once. So he managed to take care of 5 wendigoes.</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your>-Your spirit has risen thanks to Soul Extortion!</your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âAs expected!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark was convinced once the message window popped up. In RPG games, the damage wasnât just decided by defense and attack power. The attack and defense power displayed in the information window was just an average figure. How it was applied depended on the situation. It was commonly known as attribute. The wendigo was a soul monster while invalidated physical attacked by 50~80%. Yet Ark had overlooked one important fact. Soul Extortion was literally soul magic. And he was dealing with a monster with a soul body. When used on a normal monster, the amount of damage and soul absorbed wasnât that much.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âSoul Extortion is a skill which shows its primary effect when hunting soul monsters!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Once confirmed by the experiment, Arkâs attitude changed 180 degrees. Before now Ark had only thought about heading to Dragonian. He had thought it was a waste of time to hunt the wendigoes.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âBut if I use Soul Extortion on the wendigoes then I can extract dozens of Spiritual Power. ThenâŠâŠâ</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Arkâs eyes widened. The quest wasnât a problem anymore. It wasnât necessary to say but the amount of Spiritual Power wasnât something to be disregarded. Yet he couldnât put stat points into Spiritual Power and he hadnât seen an item to increase it. In the end, Soul Extortion was the only way to increase his Spiritual Power. Although it had seemed inefficient, he used Soul Extortion in his desperate situation.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âAfter changing to my 2nd profession, my skills require even more Spiritual Power. But Soul Extortion only increases by 1 so it would take several days to increase it by one hundredâŠ..â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>So this place was where he could get the maximum effect for Soul Extortion. Furthermore, there were so many wendigoes in the chaos space that it was almost tedious. If he hunted all the wendigoes here using Soul Extortion than how much would his Spiritual Power increase by?</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âI need to grind to raise my Spiritual Power.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>AmazingâŠ..this is a jackpot!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark felt like dancing. He could solve his problem of increasing his Spiritual Power here.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âIf it is 3~4 opponents like now then hunting wonât be a problemâŠâŠâ</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>The problem was when dozens of wendigoes emerged in a wide place. If there are 30~40 in a limited space then he could use Blade Tempest but it would still be difficult. It wasnât necessary to say but he had to use Soul Extortion in order to increase his Spiritual Power by 1.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âShould I reduce the number and then absorb the rest of them?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>But the wendigoes were similar to cockroaches even if there was a limit on their numbers. Of course, he could be killing wendigoes forever. When he killed 5 wendigoes he only received 1 spiritual power.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âThat absolutely canât happen. Despite these monsters giving a bonus, he couldnât just rush in to kill them. He had to squeeze even 1 Spiritual Power using Soul Extortion. But to deal with 30~40 wendigoes in a limited spaceâŠâŠâ</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark looked at his summons. Racard could only lure 5 monsters using Taunt. That left 25~35 opponents left. Ark wouldnât be able to deal with the remaining wendigoes even with Razak helping. He had to think outside the box.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âI need to have Racard somehow lure half of themâŠ..â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark murmured until he had a brilliant flash in his mind. He stared at Racard for a moment before smiling.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âAha, why did I forget about that?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âWhat? Why? Why are you looking at me with those eyes?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Racard averted his gaze with unease at Arkâs expression. Then Ark turned his head and showed off his neck.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âRacard, suck my blood!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âEh? Really? I can eat? Really? Itâs not a joke?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âDonât talk nonsense and just suck!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âOhhhhh, understood. I definitely wonât be in trouble later on?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Suck, suck, suck, suck.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Racard instantly flew to him and bit his neck.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âUgh, this dirty feelingâŠ.. ButâŠ..Huhuhu, todayâs suffering is tomorrowâs prosperity. Slaughtering a huge number of wendigoes wonât be a problem if I follow this plan. These damn monkey ghosts will die. Iâll catch you and devour you all!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Arkâs face became pale as blood drained from him.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââââ-</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âOh, Iâm dizzyâŠ..â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>He naturally frowned as he experienced dizziness. He had anaemia because Racard sucked his blood thirteen times.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âStill, it is lucky that he succeeded on the thirteenth timeâŠâŠâ</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Anyway, Arkâs accomplished his purpose on the thirteenth try. Ark brought his preliminary preparations to an end and started his wendigo hunt.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âNow shall I begin?â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark looked at the approaching land and laughed. As soon as he stepped on the land mass that was 50 metres, black energy started to rise from the ground. With a black form and red pupils, it was the wendigoes! The space soon filled with 30 wendigoes as they surrounded Ark. At any other time Ark would be filled with tension. But this time his mouth overflowed with saliva from the anticipation.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âHuhuhu, give me Spiritual Power!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark instantly showed his teeth when the wendigoes appeared.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âIâll grab and eat all of you!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Kukyakyakyakya, kukyakyakyakya!</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>The 30 wendigoes shrieked as they responded to his voice and ran up to him. Ark wiped at the saliva on his teeth and smiled.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âRacard, itâs starting! Use your Blood-sucking skill!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âOhhhh, Blood-sucking skill activate!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Racard opened his wings and flew from behind Ark. Then he was wrapped in a blue light as he used the skill. Then the ring of light moved up and down Racardâs body before it turned into the shape of a bat. The ring of light split into three. Then four bats flew around the wendigoes and shouted.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âThese trivial boogeymen, if youâre hungry then eat my shit!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>The wendigoes flinched and stopped moving. Their eyes followed Racard before the shrieked and started running after him. Then Racard laughed and flew upwards before laughing.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âCherish your life and run away!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>The three bats scattered at Racardâs order.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>While some ran away, others shook their hips and laughed before running away. The wendigoes scattered as well and started running after the bats.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âHuhuhu, this is an easy methodâŠâŠâ</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Ark watched the scene with a warm expression. This was the method Ark devised to deal with the wendigoes. Just use the â Vampire â skill card, â Moon illusion â is a way to light fires.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âThere is no place to hide from the number of wendigoes here so all I can rely on is Racardâs Taunt. But Racard could only lure 5 monsters with Taunt. Racard wouldnât be able to draw all the wendigoes away.â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Then Ark came upon the idea of using Moonlight Illusion. Wouldnât it be different if he could increase the number of Racard? If it was to lure the wendigoes then it didnât matter if Ark was the one who used Moonlight Illusion. But the problem was there was no place to run away from the wendigoes. The alter egos created by Moonlight Illusion didnât have any battle ability. If he tried to go around in such a small place then they would be caught by the wendigoes and destroyed. However, Racardâs alter ego could fly so it was different. It was possible to avoid the attacks from the wendigoes without worrying about the limited space and terrain.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âIf I use Racardâs Blood-sucking skill then there is no need to wait for the cool down time!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Originally Moonlight Illusion was a skill that was only available once a day. But just like when he used Slimeâs Time, the restrictions didnât apply with Racardâs Blood-sucking skill.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âIf I use this method then I wonât have to suffer.â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>He thought as the stupid wendigoes ran after Racard. However, Ark still didnât take anything for granted. If he just went directly to Dragonian that he wouldnât need to devise such a strategy. The game was a place where some laws of reality still applied. When Racard and his alter egos flew around the area, 20 wendigoes chased after them so 10 were left. It was still a lot of opponents even when the numbers decreased by 1/3rd. If the 10 of them turned into one solid mass and rushed him then he would risk being pushed off the cliff like before. However, Ark already took precautions against that.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>âTheyâre surging! Razak, defense stance! Prepare for impact!â</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Razak stood in front of Ark with his shield in front of him and took a stable stance. With one foot forward and the other back, it was a stable stance. The 10 stampeding wendigoes ran into that stance and there was a loud ringing sound. While Razak flinched, he wasnât pushed back by the charge. His stance had taken the impact.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Clack clack, clack clack clack clack!</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>After Razak fended off their assault, he then swung his shield. There was a clanging sound and 5 of the wendigoes were thrown. Thanks to the affection stat Ark poured on Razak, his Shield Stroke had risen to Advanced level.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>-The level of your pet Razakâs Shield Stroke has increased.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual>Shield Stroke (Intermediate, Passive): your ability to handle the shield has become more precise and you can now push the enemy more effectively. You can also use Shield Stroke to strike five enemies at the same time. If all five attacks succeed ten the distance pushed back will increase.</spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>âIt is good that I raised Razakâs skill.â</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>In fact, Ark had worried for a while about whether to use his Affection stat on Racardâs Taunt or Razakâs Shield Stroke. He had 134 Affection but unlike rising from beginner to intermediate, it cost 100 Affection to raise a skill to advanced. After contemplating for a while, Ark ended up choosing Razakâs Shield Stroke skill. While the number of monsters lured would increase with the skill level. Racardâs body was insufficient to deal with the numbers that would be attracted. So Ark judged that it would be better to increase Razakâs skill and have him back Ark up.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>.âŠIt was an excellent choice.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>Razak hitting 5 of them with his shield meant that 5 monsters would be tied up. With both Racard and Razak, Ark only had to deal with 5~6 opponents.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>âOkay. Well done Razak!â</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>Clack clack clack, clack clack clack clack!</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>Razakâs spirit increased from Arkâs praise and he swung his shield even more energetically. Meanwhile Ark extended a hand and shouted.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>âSoul Extortion!â</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>A huge, transparent hand was released from his fingertips. The shape of the hand was slightly different from before. The nails sharpened and grew like the hand of a devil. It wasnât only the appearance that changed. The speed which it flew at the target was faster and it also grabbed a larger piece of soul. The hand of a devil grabbed the wendigo and tore off a piece of its shoulder. The wendigo lost 20% of its health from the attack.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>âAs expected, increasing it is good!â</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>Ark laughed at the tattered sight of the wendigo. Arkâs preparation wasnât just increasing the skill of his summons. The degree of proficiency in which Soul Extortion rose was actually pretty slow. Despite using it hundreds of times since coming to Hwaryong Mountain, it only increased to 30. Well, he hadnât thought it was useful at the time so he hadnât really been interested.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>âIf the level of Soul Extortion increases then wouldnât the Spiritual Power absorption be more efficient?â</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>It was a perfect chance for some investment. So Ark invested the 80 skill points he had saved into Soul Extortion.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>-Soul Extortion (Intermediate, Active 117/300): The rating increase means Soul Extortion can target more powerful and evil cursed souls. The physical damage to the target wonât increase but the amount of Soul gathered will increase. In addition, the souls drawn will be more easily absorbed and will increase your Spiritual Power more quickly.</the></spiritual></your></spiritual>
<spiritual><your><spiritual><the>