Kaizen did indeed manage to hunt a few monsters on his way toward the group of voyeurs.
[Killed unranked green scaled anacondas *3]
[Experience gained 14000.]
[Spare experience: 44000.]
Nice, I am getting close to the amount required to buy the blueprint for that simple arm brace. Just 26000 more.
Kaizen stopped after hunting three monsters because he wanted to preserve his strength.
By now he had a decent idea why Alice wanted someone who could fight silently and efficiently.
She was only proficient in a Concealment formation. However, the job of a Concealment formation was only to conceal, to hide them, not to protect them.
Outwardly, some monster could still wander into their place thinking that no one was present.
In that case, he would have to act quickly and silently dispose of the monster. Silently, because even though the formation could suppress the noise, it couldn't do so as good as visual concealment. Better to avoid noise altogether.
When they reached the spot, Kaizen clicked his tongue. That group had not been bragging for nothing. They really had found a cozy place.
The forest floor here was covered in a type of grass which was plump, soft and dense, with not a hint of soil being seen. One would feel comfortable even when walking barefoot over it.
The surroundings were covered in tall trees which hid their spot just fine, and had dangling rope-like vines with which they could perform various plays given that it was safe and clean.
Since they already knew the location, Kaizen and Alice reached before the voyeuristic group did. They stood on a thick branch of one of the surrounding trees, hidden and with a clear view of the area below.
While Alice set up the Concealment formation, Kaizen killed one more green scaled anaconda.
[Killed a green scaled anaconda.]
[Experience gained 5000.]
[Spare experience: 49000.]
This forest sure does have a ridiculous amount of green scaled anacondas. Is this normal? I haven't heard anything about this in the information reports of this forest.
Kaizen only gave it a moment of thought, before putting it in the back of his mind.
It was good as long as he had plenty of experience to farm. The earlier he could buy that blueprint, the better.
There was a good reason why he was going for the Simple arm brace, and then would buy the Wood core scout bug.
It wasn't that the rest of them were useless, but that they didn't align with the class advancement he was going to take.
As a person from the future, this was absolutely a valuable knowledge.
When a person broke through from rank 3 to rank 4, and then from rank 6 to rank 7, they inexplicably gained a few skills or blueprints depending on their class.
It was popularly termed as Heaven's Bestowment.
After conducting experiments and collecting data from countless individuals, it was concluded that the quality of the bestowed skills or blueprints depended on the quality and quantity of the ones you had already mastered.
That wasn't all, of those skills or blueprints, the higher the percentage of them attuned to the path you were going to choose, the better the skill or blueprint you would receive.
For example, the Artifact Refining class would branch into three classes.
Smith, Enchanter, and Machinist.
The Simple arm brace, and Wood core scout bug both fell under the Machinist class, which he planned to choose.
However, the others on the list came under the other classes. Like the Qi edged dagger, which fell under Smith class.
If he learned that blueprint, the chances of him obtaining a good blueprint during tier advancement would lower.
Well, among the many blueprints that I'll be mastering, if just a single blueprint and that too of common grade happens to be from another class, I don't think the blueprint I'll get would be drastically lower in quality than if I didn't learn it.
In the end it was all about ratio.
Twenty out of hundred blueprints being of different classes would affect the blueprint from Heaven's Bestowment more than only one out of hundred blueprints being from different classes.
Likewise, having one mythic grade blueprint from the wrong class would drag down the result far more than having one common grade one in the wrong direction.
Kaizen stopped thinking about it when he felt Alice tapping his shoulder, gesturing for him to enter the Concealment formation which she had just finished setting up.
"They'll be here in a few minutes." She whispered.
Kaizen simply nodded to show that he heard her. It was best to not speak from now on, so he taught her a few basic hand signs from his experience as a way to communicate.
As expected of someone who dealt in information, her memory was excellent. Alice picked them up almost immediately.
True to her intel, the group arrived in a few minutes.
Some of them held weapons, wore armors, and were applying ointment on the wounded parts of their body. However, the majority of them held blankets, pillows, lubes, and all kinds of equipment meant for pleasure.
Kaizen was not sure if he should be impressed at their professionalism.
Those few people must be responsible for fighting the monsters and protecting the people inside huh?
Will they participate as well? Or are they paid to be an audience too?
Wait, how fucking awesome will it be if they've also arranged an audience for them beforehand?
Truly professional if that's the case.
Just then, Kaizen's gaze furrowed.
His experience of decades of fighting and escaping alerted him that someone was looking at him with hostility.
His heart sank.
They can see through the Concealment formation?
He soon found the source. It was a middle aged man who was rapidly closing in on his location from afar with the focused determination of someone who had absolutely no business being this serious in a place like this.
Kaizen looked below at the group who were setting up their place, while Alice watched with rapt attention.
Can't disturb them, it will make too much noise.
He swiftly communicated with Alice about his situation and quietly ran in another direction so as to lure the middle aged man elsewhere.
It was also to verify if the man was targeting him specifically, or if Alice was the unfortunate chosen one and Kaizen had simply been collateral.
Alice had a speechless expression as she watched the young man run away.
Even while escaping, he did not forget to stay in character as he whispered the reason.
"The mighty fifth prince is in peril. This royalty won't implicate you."
He said it with the seriousness of a tragic hero delivering his final line, then ran off like a thief who stole the heavens and got caught.
Alice could only stare.
She wondered if she should be worried, or honored.
Or maybe concerned for his mental stability.