Meanwhile, Talon and Hyun-Jae quickly arrived at the entrance of the warehouse. The gates were still wide open and they could see numerous Dimension Walkers outside. The entities also noticed the two of them and started running toward them with extended arms.
"Can you find the control room?" Talon asked as he pulled out his spear. "I will hold them back while you close the door." He said.
"I can." Hyun-Jae nodded as the two separated.
Talon rushed outside and faced the monsters confidently. At this point, he already was accustomed to fighting these things he wasn't even intimidated by their numbers.
'It said that my passive spearmanship improved. Does that mean that I can now fight better with the spear without the need to use Dimension Harvester?' Talon asked himself. It seemed like that was the case since he was injected with new knowledge the moment the skill leveled up. 'That's very good actually… I want to try it.'
With that in mind, Talon launched himself forward as he faced the first few monsters. Using his high agility, he quickly swung the spear, slicing them all in one single motion.
"Haha, cool!"
[Ding!]
[You have…]
[You have…]
[...]
"Ok, ok… I know…" Ignoring the notifications, he looked at his hand. "I feel like I know how to use the spear better. Like my mind automatically tells me how to grip it and how to fight with it a little better."
However, one thing still bothered the young man. The fact that Talon's knowledge was altered in a split second by the system was rather eerie. How much can it affect him? How much of his will can it control? And the most important questions are, why does it even exist? What purpose does it have? And who made it?
These were all question marks that Talon had no answer for. He intends to ask Acrypha about them at some point when he finally settles down for the day. For now, however, he needed to secure the place.
So, the massacre began. Talon moved through the lines of monsters slicing and killing anything that came his way. Luckily, all of them were merely low-leveled Dimension Walkers that died with one hit. Talon's improved senses and speed made dodging every one of their attacks feel like a breeze.
'Hahaha, this is kind of fun.' Talon thought to himself. At that moment, he was feeling a rush of excitement unlike anything else he ever felt before. It was as if he was truly free. He didn't have to think of how to pay rent or how to stress over his studies every night.
He was just moving as he wished, doing what he wanted and getting instant rewards for every right thing he did. The more right decisions he makes, the stronger he becomes. It was still a gamble since any mistake he made would end up sending him to his grave. But, for one reason or another, Talon found this gamble to be extremely attractive.
He felt like he was meant to play this dangerous game. Perhaps not as recklessly as he was doing at that moment.
At the same time, Hyun-Jae reached a small room nearby and kicked the door open with her leg. Then, she rushed inside as fast as she could. The interior of the room was simple with only a single old chair and one single button on the table that opens and closes the gates.
Quickly she approached the table and clicked on the button.
Outside, the number of Dimension Walkers was increasing which made Talon retreat back as he found himself being cornered slowly. His already extremely exhausted body was being pushed way beyond its limits.
Even when he was feeling on top of the world, his body was begging to differ. His muscles were aching and the blood he lost from all the injuries made him feel a little lightheaded, perhaps adding another layer of drunk excitement to his mood.
An excitement that was about to reach its end any time now.
"Shit… I got myself stuck."
"The gates are closing, get back!!" Hyun-Jae rushed outside and called for Talon.
"I'm trying! Give me a second!" As he fought back the swarms of monsters, he made his way to the gate as fast as he could.
"You better hurry, Talon," Acrypha said as she floated next to him.
"I know! I can make it!"
Using every ounce of energy left in his body, he found himself barely a dozen meters away from his target.
But, at that moment, he realized that the gate was already about 75% closed. It was nearly impossible for him to actually reach it in time at this speed.
So, he quickly opened his status window. After leveling up to level 7, he had 10 free points he could use. Talon didn't want to use them unless it was necessary and this was a very urgent situation.
'Ah, screw it, if I don't reach the gate, I'm dead.' So, without hesitation, he allocated 8 points to agility.
The moment he did that, his legs felt way lighter as if they lost some weight and his steps became way faster. After all, he was now in the realm of 3x the speed of a normal human which was
Like a flash, he crossed the remainder of the distance quickly and jumped inside at the last moment as he rolled on the ground before landing on his back.
"Hah… Hah… Hah… I made it… Hah…" Breathing heavily, he looked at the gate. The Dimension Walkers crowded around the door chaotically, seeking entrance.
However, because of its thickness, the metallic gate held on well which eased Talon's worry.
As he sat there, Hyun-Jae approached him.
"Are you ok?"
"Yeah, I'm dead tired though." He replied as he closed his eyes for a few seconds. After that, he slowly stood up.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch…" Each part of his body felt painful. To a point where Talon was swaying left and right, finding a hard time keeping his balance.
But, he still slowly walked.
Hyun-Jae looked at him for a moment, seemingly hesitant about something before she pursed her beautiful lips and then approached him. Then, she put his hand around her shoulder.
"What? I don't nee-" Talon was about to pull his hand away when Hyun-Jae gripped it even harder.
"Just let me help you, ok?"
"..." Talon didn't know whether to laugh or cry at that moment. But, he couldn't really do much apart from letting Hyun-Jae do what she wanted.
As they slowly walked back, his eyes wandered to her face every now and then. From this close, she was simply breathtaking, though not as divinely beautiful as Acrypha, but she was still amazing in her own right.
And the feeling of her soft yet firm hands on his arm was rather nice.
'I'm not a pervert… But I can't not enjoy this…' He thought to himself with a wry smile.
Perhaps accepting this lucky situation was better for his sanity.
A few minutes later, they reached the warehouse again where they found the other three standing around a pile of stones.
"The warehouse is secure for now. But it won't last forever." Hyun-Jae said as she approached them.
Chin-Hwa lifted his head and when he noticed the two of them, his face grimaced subtly. Talon was completely in close contact with Hyun-Jae and his arm was ever wrapped around her shoulder.
In his entire life, he had never seen his president this close to a man. He was shocked and also confused. But, he left those thoughts aside as he quickly acted on instinct.
"Here, let me help you if you really need some support." He said to Talon as he tried to hide his anger.
"No, it's fine. I will sit down." Talon shook his head and released his arm from Hyun-Jae's grip before he sprawled down.
"So, did you collect all the stones?" He asked Soomin.
"Yes, including the one that I found inside the dead mosquito." She replied as she adjusted her glasses. "There were exactly 10 stones, 5 of them were blue, 3 were green and 2 were red." She said.
"Interesting…" Talon rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"The blue ones are weapons, they are the least rare out of everything that a monster can drop. The green ones are mostly skills. As for the red ones, they're a rarer type of items. They're potions." Acrypha explained.
'Potions?'