"Is this a crystal just like those protected by the ancient knights?" Arthur tilted his head in confusion. He examined the crystal and injected it with more mana. Suddenly, the crystal turned elastic and he was able to stretch.
The moment he stopped injecting it with mana, Arthur found that it stopped stretched and assumed a solid shape. The elasticity of the crystal was extremely unrealistic as Arthur was able to stretch it for two meters.
"What do I exactly do with this?" Arthur was confused. "Is it resistant to acid?" He wondered. He guessed he can probably make a raft out of this of a small boat.
"It seems Jerano College has chosen to raise the bar for this test." Arthur shook his head. The sandman was handled by him because he could counter it. For others, however, it would extremely difficult to do so.
Now, he was sure that there different ways to obtain a crystal. The ruins protected by the ancient knights had to be tackled by a team to obtain the crystals. However, those awarded three crystals only.
For the sandman, who was a troublesome opponent, it awarded Arthur with a crystal once he was able to defeat it. With this, he can probably make a small boat that would lead him to the goal.
'I'm not leaving now, of course.' Arthur thought to himself. If he was the first to leave the island, he wouldn't be that 'undercover.' He compressed the crystal into a ball again and placed it in his pocket.
Arthur looked around and saw the single archway that led to the rest of the structure. He started walking cautiously and left the hallway. It was a giant corridor with walls that had many cracks. Arthur looked at both sides and saw that both of them stretched endlessly into the darkness.
'I need to think carefully which way to go. Alright, I'll go right. Things can't go wrong if I go right.'
As he began walking in the corridor, the darkness stretched far but with his superhuman perception, he had no problem seeing. He also kept using his detection rune in a limited area to not use a lot of mana. After all, he spent a lot of it during the earlier fight.
Arthur decided to see how much his skill changed after the fight. After making sure that no harm was nearby, he opened his legacy.
[Earth Manipulation (E – 66%)]
By expanding most of his mana on this skill in a single fight, he raised his skill percentage from 39% to 66%. He hoped to meet another sandman so that he can level up this skill of his.
As he was walking, Arthur heard a rumble before the wall split open. From the wall fell several bodies that were tied in bondages. As he looked at them, Arthur sighed.
'Another spiritual parasite but this time it controls these mummies.'
Their level was at the low-mid-tier, so they wouldn't be useful to him. However, he can make use of their cores. He used his Restrain rune and bladeless storm to kill most of them and picked up their cores.
As he was distracted by the mummies, Arthur didn't use his detection rune. He frowned when he heard a rumbling coming from above him. The sand began to fall behind him as the ceiling gave in and crumbled, bringing a load of sand with it.
"Argh, you bastards!" As he used his detection rune, Arthur heard a voice of a young man coming from the rubbles. With his rune, he found several people trying to stand up after they had fallen.
"You won't escape now, peasant!" A haughty voice said threateningly. As the dust cloud settled down, Arthur saw four young men standing around.
One of them had different clothes, albeit all of them were dusted. He wore jeans with a tight gray sweatshirt. The rest of them wore jackets or sleeveless vests, a sign that they were nobles.
"As I said, that was my prey!" The man in casual clothing said as he dusted his hair.
"We found it," The nobleman sneered. Faced with such attitude, the man raised the corner of his mouth as he imitated the nobleman.
"We FoUnD iT. You noblemen think everything you say is the right thing."
"You!" The nobleman glared at him and threw his hand as a giant pillar of fire appeared from his arm. The man cursed and ran in Arthur's direction.
As if to have only noticed Arthur now, the man looked at him with shock. It seems he didn't think anybody would be here in the middle of nowhere.
"Brother, run!" The man shouted in warning as he passed by Arthur. When he saw that Arthur wasn't moving, he stopped and turned back, and tried to grab Arthur's clothes to pull him.
Arthur frowned when he saw the incoming flames. The nobleman attacked with no regard to his existence. With a flick of his hand, Arthur created a barrier that deflected the flames easily.
"Who are you?" The nobleman asked with a frown as he saw his flames fall helpless. Arthur was further irked by the man's attitude after he had attacked him.
"That's none of your concern." Arthur pulled his sleeve from the grasp of the young man as he turned to the nobleman. "I have no business with both of you," He glared at the nobleman. "Do I take it that you want to fight me too?"
His words and demeanor made the group of nobles hesitate. Arthur's clothes weren't particularly luxurious but they also weren't shabby. He wore a white shirt with black smooth trousers.
"I was attacking that peasant, it's none of your business." The man who attacked said with a frown. Although his words implied that he didn't wish to fight, he wasn't being polite at all.
"Say that again and see how I break your bones." Arthur calmly tilted his head. His passive-aggressiveness made the noblemen feel uneasy as they took a step back.
Although he didn't want trouble, Arthur also hated allowing people to step on him like that. If the nobles wanted respect, they had to earn it from him. He had the strength to stand up to these children.
"David, let's go." One of the man's friends suggested. The man in question, named David, glared at Arthur angrily but didn't do anything. He nodded and the other noble summoned wind that carried them away from the underground structure.
"Phew, that was so badass." The man behind Arthur said with awe. "Thank you for helping me, brother."
"I didn't help you, they simply attacked me." Arthur shrugged as he began heading deeper into the corridor. "You should leave as well."
"They might be waiting for me, brother!" He called out from behind him but Arthur didn't stop walking.
"None of my business."
"Wait!" Arthur heard the young man run after him and frowned. He turned to take a good look at him, making him stop.
The man was a bit taller than Arthur with curly black hair. His green eyes and celestial nose made him quite handsome. He fidgeted as Arthur studied him.
"I'm not your babysitter. You should have come prepared. Furthermore, you won't die even if they kill you."
"I know, but I don't want to fail. If hugging someone's thigh and kissing their ass is what I need to do so I can pass, I'll do it every day for the rest of my life."
"I have no use of you," Arthur said with curiosity. "Why would I help you or protect you?"
"True, you don't have a use of me yet." The young man nodded. "Yet being the keyword. I can serve as a distraction or a bait."
With that, the young man stumped on the ground. It happened in an instant and Arthur's eyes widened. He was suddenly looking at two identical people.
"We can be of help somehow." The two people echoed each other as Arthur stared at them with great interest.
"Is that your ability?"
"A part of it." The man nodded as the clone vanished like it didn't even exist. Arthur looked at the place it had occupied with interest as he didn't sense that it was an illusion.
"How can you create a new body out of nothing?"
"That's my secret." The man smiled. "I may be weak, but I'm not useless." He said with conviction.
"Alright," Arthur nodded with a smile. "You can follow me around. However, you'd have to do what I say."
"Thank you!" The man broke into a smile. It seems the fact that Arthur easily blocked that man's attack was the motivation behind his actions.
"Don't thank me yet. If I find myself in danger, I'll ditch you immediately. I said you can follow me, not that I would protect you."
"That is…" The man was stunned.
"There's no free lunch in this world." Arthur began walking away as he waved his hand. "It's up to you." After a moment of silence, he heard the man follow after him hurriedly.
"That's how I like it!"
Arthur smiled as the man replied. The two began making their way through the corridor before he remembered that he didn't know the man's name.
"It's Jonah," The man smiled. "Jonah Raver. What's yours?"
"It's Alexi Linan. Let's not disappoint each other, Jonah Raver." Arthur smiled back at him.