Chapter 102: Nym 2

Julian incapacitated that one Nym, and the rest immediately collapsed on their own as well.

They dropped like lifeless cotton dolls. Each one lost consciousness instantly.

’I made sure to use the lightest possible strike to knock them out. That should be more than enough for Ilunia.’

Julian thought to himself, watching the Nym, then immediately vanished, catching each one, one by one.

The Nym weighed practically nothing, so Julian expended barely any effort carrying them.

His Mana reserve also remained plentiful, since he hadn’t engaged in any real fight requiring significant Mana expenditure.

His only real drain came from using Flash Step fairly often. But at this point, Julian didn’t feel that Flash Step’s drain was nearly as excessive as it had been back when he was still Rank-E or Rank-F.

The increase in his Mana reserve had genuinely reached an almost absurd degree, to the point where Julian barely gave a second thought to Flash Step’s Mana cost anymore.

It didn’t take long before Julian made his way back to Ilunia, still waiting for him atop that building.

The girl was still resting there, waiting patiently for Julian’s return.

Because of that, Julian deliberately made his footsteps louder, ensuring the girl would notice his presence. There was no way Julian would just suddenly appear and startle her, right?

Well, Julian wouldn’t have had the heart to do something like that.

"Master? You’re back?"

"Yes," Julian answered as he set the six Nym down near Ilunia. Only one needed to be killed to guarantee the rest died along with it.

Julian had carried them all together to make sure the connection formed by their shared Talent stayed intact.

Because if that link broke, Ilunia wouldn’t be able to kill them all at once.

"Master... what did you bring this time?" Ilunia had grown far less awkward compared to before, the girl showing a fairly impressive capacity for adaptation.

At this point, she’d started following Julian’s lead with genuine ease. Killing several Aliens with her own hands without her face draining pale anymore.

Perhaps Ilunia herself still wasn’t entirely used to it, but it was clear she’d become accustomed to it soon enough.

Julian retrieved his sword again, placing it into Ilunia’s palm as he spoke.

"Nym. And, this time, they’re Rank-E Aliens. You’ll gain far more progress here compared to simple Rank-F Aliens."

Hearing that, Ilunia smiled sweetly, her whole expression lighting up.

"Thank you... Master."

Her reaction was, of course, entirely understandable. Ilunia genuinely had a wildly unfair method of boosting her own progress here.

She wasn’t earning it through direct combat, but through assistance that genuinely defied all reason.

Because of this, Ilunia could easily end up with a fairly high Rank progress while having practically zero real combat experience.

Still, Julian didn’t care about that. Growth like this was always welcome, and combat experience could always come afterward.

Besides, he couldn’t exactly compare Ilunia to Kina, who was genuinely a combat specialist.

The blind girl didn’t even have a fighting skill of her own, she couldn’t see, and could only glimpse the future while directing things from behind the scenes.

Because of that, Julian had to support Ilunia in an entirely different way than he did with Kina.

"I’ll kill it now."

Ilunia spoke softly. Her smooth, flawless hand gripped the sword’s hilt in her own way. Then, Julian helped guide her once more toward the Nym’s location.

After that, Ilunia killed the Alien without a shred of hesitation. Purple blood spilled out, seeping loose with a distinct, deflating sound, like a punctured balloon.

The Nym sagged like a balloon losing all its air, drying out as each of its limbs darkened on their own.

It was a genuinely peculiar sight for Julian. But he only watched it briefly, since his focus shifted elsewhere.

His gaze locked onto his system screen. A notification that left Julian’s entire body buzzing with excitement, his heart pounding as a small smile crossed his face.

[System]

Disciple Rank Progress detected.

Source Rank: [F]

Progress Gained: [+13.00%]

MASTER Authority activated.

Return Multiplier: [100×]

[Status Update]

Rank: [D] — [1.8%] → Rank: [D] — [14.8%]

’Could I reach Rank-C here?’

If it were at all possible, Julian genuinely wanted to push himself and hunt down every single Rank-E Alien in this area purely for his own growth.

But before doing that, he returned to his original line of thought. He needed to first figure out why humanity’s higher-ups hadn’t already exploited a method this exploitative to help the younger generation.

There had to be a reason, because Julian couldn’t believe they were foolish enough to overlook something like this entirely.

So, Julian decided to hold himself back.

He just needed to ask around, and if it genuinely turned out no one knew about this method yet... Julian could always come back here anytime, maybe even bring Kina along too.

Still, even so...

’A little bit more shouldn’t hurt, though.’

Julian glanced at Ilunia, still lost in thought across from him.

"Ilunia, how are you holding up?"

Ilunia "glanced" toward him, flashing a smile as bright as the sun and blooming flowers, immediately answering.

"I can keep going, Master."

Julian nodded. "Good. We’ll try hunting down a few more before heading to our destination."

Honestly, Julian felt somewhat tempted to try this method on Aliens ranked at Rank-D instead. But there were a few problems with that.

Like, there was no way Julian could just knock them unconscious as easily as he had here.

The conditions would be entirely different, and Julian would likely end up killing them outright instead. That also meant Julian would burn through an enormous amount of his own Mana reserve.

With all that considered... Julian felt that wasn’t the right move to make.

Julian felt no fear, but he still understood the concept of danger and risky situations perfectly well.

He was heading toward invaded territory classified at Rank-C, a level higher than his own current Rank.

It wouldn’t be wise to head there in anything less than peak condition.

So, from there, Julian continued his journey alongside Ilunia, hunting down a handful of Nym along their path.

Julian’s growth reached a satisfying level, and even Ilunia ended up with rank progress that managed to surpass Kina’s rank progress.

Over the following hours, Julian’s journey through the Rank-C invaded territory turned out to be far safer than he’d initially expected.

Sure, the occasional Rank-C Alien crossed their path, but Julian avoided them by staying hidden and carrying Ilunia along using Flash Step.

They finally reached their destination safely.

Specifically, at the Breach that would reunite Julian once more with the figure known as Aclyris.