Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 154

I spent an entire day hunting in this area.

After the server merge, the population exploded, and there was no spot to be found anywhere.

So, I couldn’t escape this place.

Of course, that wasn’t the only reason.

The Transcendence Stones obtainable in this hunting ground were actually quite decent.

Thanks to the Transcendence Stones that drop from monsters and those gained from repeat quests, I was able to pay back a significant portion of the stones I borrowed from Helena.

[Ether Growth]

Achieve Ether Grade Level 6 equipment 0/3

Achieve Character Ether Value 1,000 1,050/1,000

“Uh…”

The moment my character’s Ether value surpassed 1,050, it stopped rising, even though I continued hunting monsters.

It seemed I could no longer grow my character here.

Perfect timing, though. Those who had progressed past the Dire Wolf zone were starting to trickle into this area.

“Should we move soon?”

“I think that would be wise…”

As I exited the hunting ground with Helena, I scrolled through my friend list.

I needed to organize the groups of friends I had from the Korean server while setting a separate list for the new friends added after the server merge.

As news of the Exorcist Guild incident spread, I received plenty of messages from other Demon Clan guilds.

It was only natural to maintain good relations with them for the faction war to come.

While sorting through my friend list, my gaze stopped at the nickname “Arthur.”

As Helena and I diligently worked on our Ether values, it seemed Arthur was also busy playing the game.

He had a lot on his plate in reality and wasted a whole day. As expected, there was a significant gap in our progress.

One day in an online RPG truly makes a huge difference, especially during the crucial early leveling phase.

Arthur was still stuck in the Dire Wolf hunting ground.

I felt a bit sad that we couldn’t go together.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Thinking about Arthur.”

The moment my response ended, Helena, who was walking beside me, stopped in her tracks.

“Is something wrong?”

“No…”

Helena seemed oddly downcast.

It felt like there was something she couldn’t tell me.

Understanding the hearts of current middle school girls was indeed quite difficult.

“Where should we go for the next hunting spot?”

“Uh…”

I tried to recall a vague memory.

Thanks to the mixed memories of my past lives in Deron and this current life, I couldn’t remember for sure which spots were good for hunting.

So…

“The Bear Habitat?”

I remembered. It was the hunting ground frequented by users who had just exited the Red Orc frontline.

“Bears?”

“Yeah. It’s an elite zone, so it’s a bit tough.”

“Do you think we can manage with just the two of us?”

“I used to hunt there alone, so it should be fine.”

Of course, that was if it was the same hunting ground as I remembered.

If you follow the ridge of the frontline down, you’ll come across the Large Rock Mountain.

I had no idea why bears would pop out from a rock mountain, but that was the name of the hunting ground.

“Uh…”

“Is this the right place…?”

As Helena and I walked along the ridge, the sky began to darken.

I wasn’t mistaken. According to my memory, this was indeed the right path.

Time hadn’t just passed; it was a natural phenomenon that occurred while moving regions.

[Vampire Clan Bear Habitat]

“Vampires…? Bears too?”

We finally reached the front of the rock mountain. However, it looked nothing like I remembered.

The towering rock mountain and the pale moon hovering above it were strikingly beautiful.

But contrary to the enchanting atmosphere of the moon, the bears here looked ferociously menacing.

With muscles bulging, they had red eyes.

Their jaw was grotesquely open, revealing sharp teeth, with sticky drool dripping from below.

“Are these really bears?”

I couldn’t answer Helena’s question.

[Vampire Bear]

It was said to be a bear habitat, and the monster name floating above its head also labeled it as a bear.

There was no doubt; it was a bear, albeit different from regular ones.

At this point, I started to piece together the main story.

There must be a virus spreading that turns living beings into vampires.

“Did they opt for vampires instead of zombies because zombies are boring?”

I shook my head. Regardless of what appeared in the storyline, my goal was solely character growth.

“Shall we hunt it?”

“I’ll support you.”

As I chatted with Helena, we slowly stepped forward. Although we had moved to a sparsely populated channel, there were no users in this area.

“Ha!”

With a short battle cry, I charged forward with my sword drawn.

Boom—!

The vampire bear reacted. Its massive front leg muscles tensed up, suddenly propelling it into bipedal stance.

It wasn’t the expected paw swipes, bites, or charge patterns.

But I didn’t panic. I pushed my legs to run faster.

From the outside, it looked like a frail girl’s body. But the strength stat I held was undoubtedly the highest among all warrior users at this point.

Bang!

With a powerful kick off the ground, I leaped high thanks to my significantly boosted strength stat.

It was a movement that utilized my character’s abilities without any skills being applied.

Creeeaaak-!

I locked eyes with the bear’s red ones in midair.

Without hesitation, I swung my sword.

Slash—!

The sword that flew out couldn’t slice through the bear’s neck.

It was shallow. The thick hide stopped the blade dead in its tracks.

At that moment, a massive paw swipe came aimed at my head.

My field of vision expanded, and I could make out the massive paw in detail.

The sharp claws could easily cover my head with its wide palm.

The sword wasn’t coming out. It was stuck deep in the bear’s hide.

The moment I realized that, I sprang into action. I released my grip on the sword and fell downwards.

Whoosh—!

The bear’s attack barely grazed my head, sending chills down my spine.

But I didn’t stop moving. I pivoted on my extended front leg, transferring momentum from my back leg.

That momentum amplified from my waist, and I channeled all my strength into my right hand.

Since the biting attack counted as a hit, the damage from my punches and kicks was applied too.

Of course, I couldn’t expect much power since I was unarmed, but at least the damage increased by my strength stat would apply.

Wham—!

My fist wearing a gauntlet slammed into the bear’s belly.

I didn’t stop there. After extending my right hand, it was time for my left.

Wham—!

“Ahchoochoo!”

Right hand, left hand, right hand, left hand.

A flurry of punches landed on the bear’s belly.

Smack-smack-smack!

I couldn’t expect immense damage, but it was probably a decent hit.

The bear, standing on its hind legs, recoiled in pain, letting out a pained grunt.

Grrroooowwwl—!

At that moment, a fireball soared from behind me and struck the bear head-on.

Boom! Boom!

After the first hit, a chain explosion shook the bear’s body immensely.

Flames licked at its stiff fur, and this vampire bear also seemed to be vulnerable to fire, falling into a groggy state.

Truly the power of a wizard. While I admired that absurd power, I quickly jumped up to retrieve my sword from its neck.

Shing—!

As I pulled it out, blood gushed.

The burning bear collapsed on the ground, exhaling feeble breaths.

As an elite monster, it clearly had impressive defense.

If it were an ordinary monster, Helena’s fireball would’ve roasted it whole.

Now, for the finishing blow.

Crack!

I lifted my sword and pierced its head.

At that moment, my Ether value, which hadn’t budged at all, finally ticked up a bit.

Having taken down the monster, it was time to check for dropped items.

I rummaged through the bear’s corpse and pulled out an item.

[Corrupted Moon’s Essence]

You feel the essence of the moon corrupted by evil powers.

It requires purification at the Sun God Temple.

“Could it be?”

Holding the item in my hand, I rubbed my chin.

I had heard the Moon Goddess Lunaris had gone missing for some reason.

It seemed like the story here was about the goddess of the moon being corrupted instead of the sun god being the main figure.

“What should we do?”

I showed Helena the Corrupted Moon’s Essence and asked.

We couldn’t use the Return Stone here. Instead of wasting time going back and forth, I wanted to maximize the Ether values I could grow here before moving.

“Do whatever you want, Yeo.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Then let’s keep hunting!”

I continued hunting with Helena while reflecting on the situation.

Hunting alongside a skilled wizard was easy. Her timely magical skills saved my life multiple times.

“Phew…”

Each vampire bear took a considerable amount of time to take down. Although I felt no physical fatigue, I was mentally exhausted.

“Okay, I’m taking a quick break…”

My overstimulated head throbbed.

The white-hot pain felt like it was burning my very eyes.

It was a sensation I experienced during the arena tournament. Over-immersion caused the pain.

I needed a moment to rest.

Just as I was about to sit down on a large rock with Helena, a party came stealthily towards us from afar.

Waving awkwardly with a smile, it seemed they had no hostile intentions.

Judging by the horns on their heads, they were Demon Clan users. Looks like Demon Clan users tended to be pretty polite.

“Are you the ones hunting around here?”

The first to approach and ask was a female Demon Clan healer user.

The imp bustling around her feet was downright adorable.

I nodded and replied.

“Yes.”

“Are you doing it alone? Is it manageable?”

“That’s right. It’s more manageable than I expected.”

“Can I ask how much your Ether value is?”

It wasn’t a hard question to answer.

I nodded and replied.

“1,200.”

“Oh… I see… Thank you~”

Perhaps satisfied with my answer, that user bowed her head and walked away.

Two warrior dealers and one healer.

Then a combination of two wizards.

I noticed the important tank role was missing, so it seemed the two warrior dealers were taking on that role.

After the healer returned to her party, they started a conversation before turning towards the rock mountain.

Helena, watching the scene, asked me.

“What do you think?”

“What about them?”

“Do you think they can hunt here?”

“Well… I’m not so sure…”

I couldn’t give a definite answer. I had no idea how skilled they were.

About ten minutes passed, and as I absentmindedly stared up at the sky, a battered-looking Demon Clan wizard crawled out from the rock mountain entrance.

“Huff, huff…”

One of his legs was gone, and his arm was in bad shape too.

At that moment, a vampire bear pounced on him from the entrance of the rock mountain.

Boom—!

“Eek!”

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

The vampire bear began to gnaw on the grayish corpse of the wizard user.

It looked like the previous party had been annihilated.