Roy was still holding onto the dagger lodged in the Spearhead Wyvern's left eye when that voice came, bringing him a profound sense of shock and awe.
"So? What happened?" Abraham impatiently asked. To him, the kid was just staring ahead blankly.
"I-I… heh," Roy's lips cracked into a broken smile, "I just gained some xp!"
Abraham seemed to freeze for a few seconds, but then grinned underneath his mask.
"How do you feel?"
"I-I'm not sure. I guess… a bit rejuvenated?"
"That's the bit of energy you get from killing abyss creatures," Abraham said.
"The test was successful, so now it's time for the next phase. And kid, from now on, call me Master."
Roy struggled a bit to remove the dagger from the eye socket of the dead avian creature, but answered regardless, "Yes, sir."
"Now," Abraham began and stepped off the Spearhead Wyvern. He walked over to its torso and continued, "We harvest the crystals."
Grrrrr!
Master Abraham's chainsword whirred again, and he cut precisely on a particular part of the Spearhead Wyvern's carcass, where its heart would be, but slightly below.
And a few seconds later, he pulled out an object and tossed it to Roy.
Despite Roy's slightly invested-in physicality, he wasn't reflexive enough to catch the object, and it fell onto the concrete and rolled.
However, Roy saw it, a bloodied, roughly shaped crystal with glowing white light within. This crystal was a bit larger than the ones he was used to, and the reason was simple…
He picked it up and muttered to himself, "This is an E-grade energy crystal!"
"Now give it back," Master Abraham coldly said. Roy did as he was ordered to by throwing it back.
Pa! The man caught the crystal easily and put it in a small pouch on his utility belt.
"Unless enemies are charging at you, it is always advisable that you acquire as many energy crystals as you can during battle. You never know what to expect," he lectured Roy, already walking over to the lesser Spearhead Wyverns.
Roy followed behind and was even made to carve out two of the energy crystals. They were all E-grade and could sell for about $400 each, so Roy was eager to own one.
However, the D-Class Executioner only gave him one.
"I will need to replenish my energy soon," was what he said.
'Tch. Using field experience to defend your greed. I see through you,' Roy thought.
"What was that?" Abraham suddenly asked, making Roy flinch in shock.
"I-I didn't say anything," Roy answered.
"…" Abraham ignored him and headed back to the APC.
'Can he read minds too?' Roy fearfully thought and kept close.
He looked about his surroundings and asked, "Master, I always felt there should be more abyss creatures lurking in the area, but it seems like there are none. Is it because of the Gate?"
"Yes, in a few cases. But you're asking the wrong question," Abraham said, glancing at Roy. "You never asked what the curbing threshold is for executioners to be dispatched."
"What is it?"
"A hundred abyss creatures. So imagine that number spread across just five thousand square metres of land, let alone a district. Not much anymore, is it?"
"Oh, I understand then. I just didn't expect the threshold to be that small."
"It has to be. Anything more and it can hardly be controlled," Abraham said.
"And… Master, how are you so fast?! I could barely keep up," Roy said in awe.
Master Abraham observed Roy for a second and answered, "My body stat is [Quickness]."
The body stat was the known general term for the first of the five attributes all Irregulars possessed. Each was tailored to their System. For example, Pierre had [Appeal] as his body stat, while Roy had [Physical].
Aside from the body stat, there were also the mind-soul stat, release stat, fortification stat, and randomness stat.
Roy grinned slightly. 'My Physical stat is practically the body stat itself.'
"What is your body stat? It's more general, isn't it?" Abraham deduced.
Roy was both annoyed and surprised at his master's ability to connect the dots or speculate accurately. It was almost as if he knew a thought as soon as one thought of it. Unless…
"Do you have a mind-reading ability?" he finally asked.
"No. But I have a passive skill that helps me know everything about my surroundings using math to calculate and figure things out."
Roy's eyes widened in surprise. "Math can be that cool? Whoa. You're basically predicting the future!"
Abraham smiled and nodded. "I guess."
This skill was practically the reason why the D-Class Executioner seemed ten steps ahead when the Spearhead Wyverns were attacking. He didn't need magic-casting and flashy skills to bring his enemies to their knees. He didn't need brute strength, only quickened steps, cold calculation, and precision.
'How scary. No wonder he was a contender for God of Irregular Highschool,' Roy thought.
"What's the name of the skill?"
"[Solve for X]," Abraham said and waited, as though expecting Roy to laugh or say something unique in response.
"So that's why Donny makes that dry 'I need my ex' joke. Heh. That's so him, quite stupid."
Abraham nodded approvingly, as if to say, "We'll get along very well."
"Your EXP meter," he voiced, chaining the subject to more pressing matters, "how many points does it need to be filled up?"
Roy quickly answered, "One thousand experience points. The Spearhead Wyvern gave me four hundred exp."
"I see." Abraham removed the flap from the lower half of his face. "You will need—"
"Wrrough! Wrrrough!!"
Suddenly, over ten rabid-looking, beastly four-legged creatures jogged out from the subway entrance at the intersection far up ahead.
They had smelt blood!
They weren't close enough to be sure yet, but Master Abraham and Roy could see a significantly large dog-like creature directing the beasts from the back.
A chill ran up Roy's spine, and he looked to Abraham, finding strength in his presence, and tightened his grip on the Netherstone dagger.
Abraham extended his hand again, and his bracket-shaped weapon rack materialised out of thin air almost instantly.
"Grab the pistol," he said to Roy, already dropping the chainsword at his back holster and grabbing an axe and submachine gun from the Array.
Roy stepped closer to the arms rack and grabbed one of the two black high-tech pistols, while his other hand still held onto the dagger.
"Have you handled a gun before?" Abraham asked.
Roy tried not to look at the incoming horde and said with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead, "I've never. I thought you said they won't be around…"
"I did. I also said you never know what to expect. The safety's already switched off. Your aim should be abysmal, but that's not what is important right now," Abraham said and looked around.
He pointed to a coffee shop with broken windows and obviously limited space, and began running toward it.
Roy followed too and shouted, "What about Donny? Are we just going to leave him there?"
"He will be fine," Abraham answered and jumped over the dust and rubble-covered counter.
He added, "Though, they won't get past us alive."
Just then, the first howling beast appeared before the coffee shop.