Chapter 87: Don’t Underestimate Your Opponent

Adam continued the grim harvest, consuming the remaining adventurer corpses. However, as he finished, no new system chimes echoed in his mind.A flicker of disappointment passed through him, but it was quickly smothered by the cold calculus of efficiency. ’The major talents have been absorbed. The rest is just fuel.’

With the immediate area cleared, Adam turned his focus inward, to the substantial reservoir of Skill Points he had accumulated from his rapid leveling. Twelve points glowed with potential. It was time to invest, to sharpen his new tools for the challenges ahead.

His Celestial Calculus swiftly allocated them for maximum combat effectiveness.

First, the new composite skills. The Tempest Fangs promised devastating, multi-target precision. He poured three points into it, feeling the lightning in his veins grow more volatile, the wind more cutting.

[ Tempest Fangs: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 4 ]

Effect: Number of seeking lances increased. Armor penetration and paralysis duration moderately enhanced.

Next, Mirage Cascade, the evolution of his movement. Five points flowed into it, refining the teleportation sequences and strengthening the afterimages.

[ Mirage Cascade: Lvl 1 -> Lvl 6 ]

Effect: Maximum dashes increased to four. Afterimages last longer and can emit a faint psychic taunt, causing disorientation.

His survivability was paramount. Blooming Vitality, his powerful heal, received three points, pushing it towards its peak.

[ Blooming Vitality: Lvl 5 -> Lvl 8 ]

Effect: Healing potency and regenerative buff strength significantly increased. Cast time slightly reduced.

Finally, to fuel these powerful abilities, he invested one last point into his Mana Core.

[ Mana Core: Lvl 6 -> Lvl 7 ]

Effect: Mana pool and regeneration rate noticeably improved.

The upgrades settled within him like calibrated weapons. He felt faster, deadlier, more resilient, and more mana-rich than ever before.

It was then that Lilith’s elegant, psychic voice brushed against his mind, carrying a note of serene satisfaction. «Adam. The essence we have harvested... it has reached a critical mass within me. My evolutionary threshold is met. I am ready to ascend once more.»

Adam’s galactic eyes gleamed with genuine pleasure. Each evolution of his companions drastically increased their collective power. "Excellent, Lilith. Evolve now. We’ll guard you. We need every advantage for what comes next."

Lilith, without another word, retreated to a sheltered alcove. Her body began to shimmer as her carapace hardened into a cocoon of swirling shadow and psychic energy, the familiar process of metamorphosis beginning anew.

Adam settled his massive coils, the soft glow from his Solar Corona state providing gentle light as Lilith’s chrysalis pulsed with dark energy nearby. The moment of quiet after the frenzy of battle and evolution was rare. He turned his attention to his other companions.

"Alright, inventory time," he rumbled. "What did we actually get from them? Ignis, you seemed excited about the shiny things."

Ignis, who had been nosing through a small pile of loot with the focus of a treasure dragon, immediately perked up. «So much gold! Again! And the swords! This one goes shwing and glows blue!» She nudged a slightly curved longsword that indeed had a faint, frosty aura. «And this big hammer feels tingly! And the pointy lady’s swords still have little lightning on them!»

«The quality is markedly superior to the discards we found in the Arachnowyrm’s lair,» Alice observed, though her tone was still laced with a grudge. She sat regally, licking a clean spot on her foreleg. «These were their active gear, enchanted and maintained. It stands to reason that higher-level humans would possess higher-tier equipment. Still... the trouble they caused was disproportionate to their value as loot.»

Adam let out a low, rumbling chuckle. "That’s exactly why we can’t get arrogant. Underestimate anything down here, and it’ll bite you."

Alice’s ears flattened. «Oh? Then who is standing there and taking the blows to the face to ’test their strength’? If not for Monarch’s Aegis, you’d be a serpent with a very permanent parting.»

"That was a calculated risk," Adam retorted, though his mental voice held a hint of defensiveness. "I needed to gauge the peak power of their leader."

«A calculated risk that nearly got your data-core scattered across the cavern!» Alice sniffed, turning her head away. «You are just as prone to overconfidence as anyone. You call it ’strategy’, I call it reckless vanity.»

«Ahaha! Adam is a liar!» Ignis chimed in helpfully, not fully following the argument but picking up on the accusation. «A big, scaly liar!»

Adam shot the young drake a look. "Ignis, don’t help." He turned back to Alice. "Fine, maybe I was a bit too confident. But it worked out. And we’re all stronger for it. Now, can we move on from my alleged vanity to the actual inventory? What else did we find besides shiny swords and gold?"

Ignis, eager to please, used her snout to push forward several vials and small pouches. «Bubbly water! Red, blue, yellow! And this sticky glue stuff? And smelly smoke balls!»

Alice sighed, extending a paw. The items levitated slightly in a wisp of void energy as she examined them. «The potions are standard: health, mana, and likely stamina. The ’glue’ is alchemical adhesive, possibly for trap-making or emergency repairs. The ’smoke balls’ are likely blinding or choking grenades. Crude, but potentially useful.»

"Store them all," Adam said. "Anything could be a tool. What about scrolls, notes, maps?"

«The spell-weaver’s scroll case was mostly ash, damaged in the fighting,» Alice reported. «A few fragmented pages on intermediate elemental theory. Nothing immediately tactical. The ranger had a crude map of the upper tunnels, but it ends far above where we are now. The most curious items were on the rogue... several lockpicks of exquisite make, vials of various poisons, and this.»

A small, flat, silvery disk floated into the center of their group. It was featureless except for a single, tiny gem set in its center.

«It radiates a very subtle divination magic. A tracker, or perhaps a communication device keyed to a specific receiver,» Lilith’s voice, though slightly muffled by her cocoon, flowed into their minds. «I would advise destroying it. It could lead others here.»

"Do it," Adam ordered.

A tendril of void energy from Alice wrapped around the disk and constricted. With a soft crackle and a pop, the gem shattered, and the disk twisted into inert metal before vanishing into the Void Locker.

Adam’s gaze then fell on the scattered, less glamorous packs of the other adventurers. "What about the supplies? Rations, rope, that kind of thing?"

«Standard adventuring fare,» Alice confirmed. «Dried rations that taste like salted sawdust, hempen rope, a few torches... and a significant amount of empty space in several packs. They were likely carrying more consumables which they used during our fight.»

A thought struck Adam. "The porter... His pack. You said the two who escaped took it?"

«Yes,» Alice replied, her ears twitching. «The unconscious arcanist and the green-haired leader. They prioritized grabbing his pack before their escape. It was larger and bulkier than the others.»

Adam’s mind connected the dots. "They weren’t just saving a comrade. They were salvaging the mission’s resources. That pack would have had the bulk of their consumables potions, scrolls, food, maybe even their official writs and identification. By taking it, they secured their evidence and their means to survive the return journey. They’re thinking strategically, even in retreat."

«It is irritatingly competent of them,» Alice grumbled. «It would have been more satisfying if they had fled in pure, screaming panic.»

"Satisfying, but less dangerous," Adam corrected. "The fact they were that disciplined on the brink of annihilation means the ones who come next will be even worse. We..."

He was cut off as the psychic hum from Lilith’s cocoon intensified, spiking into a crescendo. The shadows in the alcove deepened, and the air grew cold.

"It seems our wait is over," Adam said, all thoughts of loot and humans set aside. He turned his full attention to the swirling darkness, ready to greet the next evolution of his deadly, elegant ally.

The final push was about to begin.