NOVEL WEB Chapter 374: You did it fast
From the moment Idan left the gates of the city wall, he was already aware that he was probably being watched.
A lone creature with a lot of dark coins was an ideal target for stalking and robbing.
He had to spend a lot of coins to attract unwanted attention, and when Coco warned him about being followed, he already knew he would be followed.
The tall figures in dark robes, who were making strange laughter, clearly had a connection with the guards of the city gate.
Of all the eight dark figures, Idan and Arabel were most worried about the platinum-ranked creature.
Seeing that there were two targets and both of them began to move, the dark creatures immediately took retaliatory actions.
The leader of the dark figures, a platinum-ranked being, did not just watch the battle, but also joined it, aiming at Idan.
Idan, intending to take the golden-ranked creature by surprise with the first attack, was suddenly distracted by the unexpected appearance of the leader of these dark figures.
However, instead of being scared or surprised, Idan, on the contrary, was inspired. With a smile, he joined the fight with the leader, giving Arabel the opportunity to deal with the rest of the golden-ranked creatures.
Idan, realizing that his opponent surpassed his own rank, did not underestimate him from the very beginning.
He was ready to meet any attack of his enemy face to face.
Idan felt much more confident now than during the battle against several platinum-ranked creatures, when he and Arabel's System level was locked at level 25. However, now that Arabel had successfully taken control of her bloodline, the System had lifted those restrictions, raising their level to 30.
"Well, show me what you're capable of," Idan said, gripping his Fire Epiphany sword tightly in his hands.
In response to his call, two dark blades materialized in the hands of a tall dark figure dressed all in black, emitting clouds of black smoke.
Suddenly disappearing from sight, a dark figure appeared right in front of Idan and stabbed with his dark blade. Despite his impressive height, the figure moved with amazing speed.
Idan easily dodged his opponent's first attack, and successfully parried the second one with a sword thrust. After that, he jumped back.
Noticing that his opponent had stopped after the first two attacks, Idan turned his attention to his hands. They were shaking.
Seeing this, Idan just smiled.
"He's platinum—ranked after all, and his strength is greater than mine," he thought to himself.
From the very beginning of this battle, Idan decided not to use his bloodlines. There were several reasons for this.
Both of his bloodlines were too conspicuous. In this gloomy World of Darkness, where a dark atmosphere prevailed, a flash of Fire and Light could attract even more curious eyes, and Idan, of course, did not want that.
If he had more time, he would have tried to test all his strength and limits against such a strong opponent, but he didn't have the opportunity.
Therefore, from the very beginning, Idan decided to take advantage of the unique ability of their System — Ghost Stats.
Ghost Stats — Hosts can temporarily boost one of their stats by an amount equal to the average of all their partner's stats, without affecting their partner's stats.
Idan, observing how much extra charge he received for the chosen stat, realized that Arabel's average stat was 310.
"This is too much," Idan whispered, not taking his eyes off his opponent.
Of all his stats, Idan chose "Dexterity". And right now, his stats were as follows:
Main Stats:
_Level – 30
_Strength - 289
_Stamina - 291
_Dexterity - 294 + 310
_Intelligence - 335
_Mana – 420
_Average – 326
Extra Stats:
_Madness Energy – 732
Idan, having analyzed their status and stats before the ascension trials began, already had a rough idea of what their stats would be when they reached Platinum and Diamond ranks.
According to his calculations, the stats of the Platinum grade range from 300 to 500, and the Diamond — from 500 to 800.
If his assumptions were correct, then now his "Dexterity", complemented by Arabel's average stats, had already surpassed the Platinum Rank level, reaching the Diamond rank level.
It was thanks to this that he easily dodged his opponent's first attack. However, when he tried to parry the second blow with his sword, as expected, he couldn't hold it back and barely deflected the attack.
These two attacks were enough to make Idan realize how useful their new unique ability could be. He didn't want to waste any more time playing games.
This time, without waiting for the next attack, Idan made his move against the opponent. With the advantage of speed, he used all his strength to disappear from his spot and appear behind the dark figure, causing him to be surprised.
The figure reacted quickly and tried not only to dodge by bending its body in a strange way, but also to counterattack. However, the difference in speed was too great.
Idan didn't give his opponent a single chance to escape. First, he cut off his right arm, with which he attacked, and then, in an effort to quickly end the fight, cut off his head.
With a Diamond-ranked speed and a sword so sharp and high-quality that even the flesh of a Platinum-ranked creature couldn't resist Idan's attack.
After Idan chopped off his opponent's arm, the dark blade flew away by inertia and plunged into a nearby tree. And behind him, an ugly dark head rolled to the ground with its eyes wide open in bewilderment.
Idan, lost in thought, was standing looking at the severed head when he felt someone approaching. Without even turning around, he already knew who it was.
"You did it fast," Idan said, turning to Arabel.
"It would be embarrassing if I couldn't defeat seven gold—ranked enemies faster than you could platinum-ranked enemies," Arabel replied with a shrug.
Idan scanned the area where Arabel had fought the creatures, and found no corpses.
"I put them in storage so that I wouldn't leave any evidence," Arabel explained the lack of bodies.
Idan nodded in approval and also removed the corpse of the platinum-ranked creature.
Quickly changing into local black clothes and putting on a black cloak, Idan extended his hand to Arabel. She accepted his hand with a smile, and the couple hurried to the portal, following Coco's instructions.
"So all five portals leading to our world are located in the same area, but at a considerable distance from each other?" asked Idan, after listening to the information about the portals that Arabel had learned from Essora and Milla.
"Yes, Essora and Milla confirmed it," Arabel confirmed.
"And by the way, if we keep moving at the same pace, we're unlikely to make it to the portal before the time allotted for storing living beings in the spatial storage expires," Arabel remarked. "According to Essora and Milla, the portals are located quite far from the city."
Hearing this, Idan stopped abruptly. He looked at Arabel in surprise, and then turned his gaze to the little fox, who had already settled comfortably on his shoulder and was just pointing the way.
"Coco, tell me, how far are we from the portal?" asked Idan.
"Far. Far," Coco replied.
"Damn it," Idan cursed inwardly, but Arabel just shook her head.
"I thought the portal was close," Idan said, turning to Arabel.
"Where's Ned? Is he finished yet?" she asked. Idan immediately understood the meaning of such a question.
"By the way, yes, he should have finished by now," Idan checked Ned's condition through their connection. Judging by the response, Ned was fighting a powerful being at that time.
"Hmm..." Idan frowned.
"Ned?" Idan called through their connection, and almost immediately got an answer.
"Wait a bit? Okey," Idan agreed.
Then, turning to Arabel, he said:
"It looks like he's fighting a strong opponent and asked to wait a bit and not summon him."
"Huh? What?" Arabel was surprised by Idan's words.
"Well, you know the nature of Doppelgangers, — Idan said with a barely perceptible smile, looking at the surprised Arabel. "So you should already know what condition Ned is in."
When Idan mentioned this, Arabel immediately imagined Ned enjoying the battle with a wide, crazy smile on his face.
"Oh, yes, you're right," Arabel agreed, chuckling. At that moment, she remembered her doppelganger, Bera, whom she had left with Irene.
"I wonder how she is?" — Arabel wondered.
"Speaking of portals," she returned to the topic. "Of the five available, only one is currently open, the other four are closed."
"This doesn't bode well for us," Idan whispered.
"I agree," Arabel nodded, sharing his concern. Then, with a sigh, she decided to share the news that bothered her the most.
"You know, Dan, Essora and Milla have given me some disturbing information. There is a teleportation array not far from the location of the portals," she said with a gloomy expression. "Thanks to this, Erza and other powerful beings can reach the portals faster than us and ambush us."