Not far from Zich's location, a group of players stood in a loose circle, weapons drawn. In the middle, two players were on their knees, looking disheveled as though they had been in a fight before, their wristbands flashing.
"You don't have to do this," one of them said, trying to keep his voice steady. "We can split the points."
A tall player who seemed to be the leader and strongest there stepped forward, rolling his shoulders as he stared down at them.
"Split?" he repeated, then let out a short laugh. "Why would we do that?"
His companion snorted and kicked one of the kneeling players in the side, causing him to let out a muffled cry of pain.
"You either transfer your points or we force you," he added, crouching slightly. "Simple."
The two on the ground exchanged a glance. Their hands trembled.
"You can't just—"
A blade pressed against his neck, cutting him off.
"Transfer," the tall one said, his tone growing serious now. "Or we make it difficult."
Silence filled the clearing for a moment before one of the kneeling players slowly raised his wrist.
"…Fine."
A faint glow passed between the bands.
The group stepped back, checking their own counts with satisfied looks.
"See? That wasn't hard," the tall man smirked as he gestured for his lackey to follow him.
The two left behind stayed on the ground, fists clenched. Their gaze fell to their wristbands, which now read a bold zero.
…
Standing atop a branch of a tree, two Players Association staff members, whom Gabriel would have recognized, watched everything play out.
"It seems the participants have found a loophole," said one of them with a frown on his face.
The other shrugged. "Well, it has already been done, and there isn't any rule stopping them from doing that. If anything, that kid is pretty smart to figure it out this early."
The first scout who had spoken earlier didn't say a word, but he could already see players turning on each other for points.
...
Back at the deeper section of the plains, Zich folded the map and held it in one hand. The more he read, the wider his eyes got
Just like the name suggested, the map led to a silver skinned ape settlement. That meant it would be easier for him to rack up points faster.
Furthermore, Stronger monsters meant faster growth… and better summons.
That was all that mattered. The sooner he built his army, the sooner everyone else would fall behind.
Slimy wiggled on his shoulder as if sensing the excitement from its master.
With a light exhale, he loosened his grip and tucked the map away.
Charging into that area without preparation would be a mistake. The one he had fought alone was manageable, but multiple apes at that level would be troublesome.
His eyes shifted to the distance, sharpening slightly. "Let's build our strengths first. Once we're ready, we head to that area."
Boing! Slimy bounced once in response.
Moving from one part of the plains to another, he stayed away from crowded areas and picked off isolated monsters. Most of what he found were Blood Sucker Mosquitoes, and once he figured out their pattern, the kills came faster.
Again and again, Slimy weakened them with its poison attack while Zich finished them off either with a sword strike or his [Blood Arc] skill.
Sometimes they came one at a time, sometimes two or even three.
Either way, he didn't stop, and his wristband kept flashing.
[Kill Count: 9]
[Kill Count: 14]
[Kill Count: 21]
The fights blurred together, but his pace never broke.
Soon enough, a new screen flashed before him.
[Ding! Your tomb slot is full!]
Sure enough, after that message, whatever monsters Zich hunted no longer yielded any spirit orbs, but the count continued to increase anyway.
During the whole process, he leveled up twice.
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
Of course, he wasn't the only one who leveled up.
[Your Summon has Leveled Up]
"Phew." Zich fell on his back after hours of intense hunting.
"Slimy, check the perimeter. Make sure no one is close," he ordered.
The pet bounced twice in understanding and moved away. A few minutes later, it came back.
No words were spoken, only sounds from the slime, but he could still understand.
"Alright then. Keep watch over my body. It's time to add another one to the family."
...
The familiar gloomy wasteland greeted him again
Fifteen fresh-looking tombstones stretched out before him.
There were two player tombstones near the front, three beetles, one silver skinned ape, and the remaining nine were Blood Sucker Mosquitoes. A total of fifteen.
[AN: this part is tricky, so please point it out if I'm missing a monster somewhere!]
[Ding! Do you wish to fuse the spirits to create a new summon or absorb for stat points?]
This time around, Zich didn't hesitate.
"Create summon!"
With the variety of monsters he had hunted, Zich's eyes glimmered with anticipation for what kind of monster he would create this time.
***
Thanks to everyone who voted with their power stones and comment, I really appreciate it.
Let's make this a bit interactive. The next chapter will take a couple of hours before it's out, so if you're reading this early, based on the monsters available, what kind of summon do you think Zich will create?
Who knows, your ideas might just make it into the next chapter!