Chapter 3: Fruitful Harvest, Strength Improved!
Editor: Atlas Studios
"I'm too weak, so I can't go outside with you. I can only trouble you instead."
"Master is Cicely's everything. It is Cicely's responsibility to clear all obstacles for the Master." Cicely said respectfully.
"In that case, now, go to the forest and destroy the enemy."
Standing at the border of the light screen, Gale watched Cicely as she went out and toward the deep, dark forest.
However, when Cicely was still a few meters away from the dense bushes, a few dark shadows suddenly sprang out of them and attacked her.
There was no sign of panic on Cicely's delicate and beautiful face.
She gradually started to glow with a pale green light.
The dark shadows stopped in midair at the moment they were about to touch Cicely, unable to move.
Due to the speed, all Gale could see was just a few blurry, dark shadows.
Had he been the one under attack, he definitely wouldn't have been able to react, and would have been killed immediately. He wouldn't even be able to see his attackers' appearance.
It was only at this point when Cicely froze them in place that he could finally see the attackers' appearance.
They were three pythons with bodies several meters long and as thick as a person's fist. Their huge jaws with sharp fangs, which carried numbing toxins, were ajar.
Gale silently breathed a sigh of relief. Cicely was his battle unit; he naturally didn't want Cicely to be harmed.
It now appeared that those pythons posed no threat to Cicely.
Someone in the World Chat had said that their battle unit was instantly killed by a Tier 1 python. However, Cicely had crushed these pythons with absolution instead.
Gale sighed. As expected of a unique battle unit that could reach God-grade at the Adult stage. She really was extraordinary!
Cicely stretched out her slender, white jade-like palm toward the pythons, and slowly closed her fingers. The pythons' bodies began to compress and twist, and they cried out shrilly.
When Cicely closed her palms completely, all three pythons would be crushed into pulp.
"Wait a minute, Cicely." Seeing this, Gail quickly shouted.
"What's the matter, Master?" Cicely paused, and her palm stopped moving.
"Their bodies may be useful to me. Try to keep them intact."
"Okay, Master."
Cicely's palm changed to a knife-like stance, and she waved at the pythons. Several wind blades flashed past, cutting off the snakes' heads with ease like a knife cutting tofu.
[You've killed a Tier 1 python. Energy +9, Origin Edge +1]
[You've killed a Tier 1 python. Energy +9]
[You've killed a Tier 1 python. Energy +6]
Three notification prompts sounded.
At the same time, Gale could feel that three warm energy currents had emerged in his body, and were slowly strengthening him.
By killing the pythons, Gale had gained a total of 24 Energy Points.
At this point, Gale also understood something:
Even if one didn't destroy 'enemies' such as wild monsters with their own hands, by having their own recruited battle units attack and kill them, they could also obtain corresponding returns to improve their levels and strength.
Thinking about it again, this was normal. They were all ordinary people when they first came to this world. How could they possibly battle those powerful, brutal monsters?
After becoming Castle Lords, the battle units that one recruited were akin to swords in their hands.
"There were three pythons, yet they only dropped one Origin Edge. There's still a long way to go from upgrading the Random Battle Unit Pool."
As Gale's mental wheels turned, pale green light glowed around Cicely, and she used elemental magic to make the three pythons' bodies float in the air and follow her back into the castle's light screen.
"Master, these are the results of this battle."
Cicely handed Gale the Origin Edge that the pythons had dropped, and placed the three carcasses beside her feet.
"Thanks for your hard work, Cicely." Gale took the Origin Edge and observed it. It was a white crystal throughout, and the size of a thumb.
He examined it for half a minute, but didn't make any discovery.
He shifted his gaze to the python carcasses at his feet.
A virtual screen popped up.
[Monster carcass discovered. Do you want to collect it?]
[Yes/No]
"This is so similar to loot drops in a game." Gale made a dissing remark. Then, he chose 'Yes' without any hesitation.
[Collection in progress]
[Collection successful!]
[You've obtained 15 units of Edible Snake Meat!]
[You've obtained three Complete Snake Skins!]
[You've obtained three Slightly Poisonous Snake Fangs!]
The series of voice prompts ended, and the python carcasses, which had taken up a sizable amount of space on the ground, disappeared into thin air.
What replaced them were the collected Edible Snake Meat, Snake Skins, and Slightly Poisonous Snake Fangs that were piled together.
Gale collected all the spoils.
The food issue was temporarily solved.
Since it was stated that it was Edible Snake Meat, there was no need to worry about it carrying toxins.
As for the taste…
Survival was the top priority now.
Improving quality of life would come after ensuring that he had the capital to survive.
Besides, seeing how some people were complaining in [World Chat] that their recruited battle units had been suppressed or even killed by wild monsters.
Gale was content enough to have Cicely, the mighty Elven Empress, and this large amount of snake meat.
And so on…
"Not everyone has the ability to kill wild monsters. In other words, there will be a lot of people who are troubled by food problems. In fact, they don't even have the ability to rely on their battle units to obtain food…
"15 units of snake meat are enough for me to eat until the protection period is over. Moreover, this won't be the only time that Cicely's going out…
"I might be able to sell these extra Edible Snake Meat."
Gale did not act immediately even after all these occurred to him.
This was because people facing this situation definitely weren't a minority. It was likely a common phenomenon now. Thus, he didn't need to rush to sell them immediately.
The most important thing was still the situation of the Elven Empress in front of him.
Gale asked, "Cicely, I also gained some Energy Points when you killed the three pythons. Did your strength improve?"
"Yes, it did, Master."
Cicely's petal-like lips parted slightly. "I felt some energy entering my body when I killed those three pythons."
"Does the energy help to raise your level?" Gale continued to ask.
"The energy is very little, and has little effect. It'll take a large number of such pythons for me to promote to a higher level."
In other words, the Energy Points provided by Tier 1 wild monsters were too little to support Cicely's promotion.
Killing 'enemies' could speed up the improvement of a battle unit's strength and level.
But there were also requirements when it came to the choice of 'enemy'. After all, killing low-level monsters would also bring a low number of Energy Points.
If one wanted to quickly increase their strength and level, hunting high-level monsters was the number one choice.
"Cicely, while it is important to improve your strength, you must also act according to your capabilities when you face the enemy." Gale warned.
Even if he wanted to hunt high-level monsters, he must have the strength to deal with them first.
Reaching for something beyond one's grasp was a huge taboo, and Gale kept this firmly in mind.
-- Gift
received