Chapter 208 – Back From The Void.

“Ack… I can’t get used to this.”

Gwen looked away as the Red Hobgoblin Knight bent backward with its jaw hanging loose. The crimson fury burning in its eyes flickered and then faded as if someone had snuffed out a fire. It wobbled on unsteady legs, and the poleaxe slipped from its fingers. The weapon clanged against the stone floor and rolled away.

Rusty stepped forward without hesitation and grabbed the fallen poleaxe. He examined it for a moment and realized it was not inferior to his halberd. Without speaking, he swung it in a clean arc to decapitate the monster, but stopped himself just before the blade touched the creature’s neck.

“Ah… I almost forgot again.”

His three companions stared in confusion as Rusty abruptly stepped back, seized the monster with both hands, and held it in place.

“What is he doing, Gwen?”

Asked Astrella, while Gwen just shrugged.

“I don’t know.”

The one remaining puppet armor removed Rusty’s helmet and set it on the Hobgoblin Knight’s head. Rusty waited for the prompt to appear and, to his surprise, it finally did.

He had not used his skill absorption ability much lately, since each use lengthened its cooldown. There had also been a few worthwhile options. This time, he had two choices, and one of them was promising.

The choice was obvious. The shield skill was tempting, but greater durability was not something he urgently needed. Parrying, however, would let him deflect blows with his weapon and create openings for counterattacks. It was also a skill he could use no matter what weapon he held.

After selecting the skill, the same thing happened as before. The person he was absorbing the skill from began to twitch. The monster tried to thrash around, and the sudden movement nearly sent Gwen falling onto her posterior when the Hobgoblin jerked violently. Rusty held it down with all his strength and only released it once the process ended. When he finished, he picked up his helmet and continued with the execution.

“What were you doing, Rusty?”

Gwen asked him just as he raised the poleaxe up high.

“Oh, I just absorbed one of its skills.”

“You can do that?”

She was clearly surprised by that revelation, but had no time to dwell on it as he brought the weapon down to lop off the monster’s head. Gwen flinched at the sight, though she seemed to be growing accustomed to the carnage, at least to some extent.

‘I wish I could get experience here too…’

He muttered under his breath as the monster’s head fell and its body slumped forward. Like the other Hobgoblins, it dissolved into thousands of tiny motes of mana, leaving its armor and weapon behind. This time, however, something else remained. A red gemstone rested among the remnants, and the three summoners were already eyeing it with interest.

“It is a big one…”

Astrella remarked as she, Gwen, and even Syber stared at the gleaming gem. It clearly radiated a great amount of mana, though its purpose was unknown to Rusty. This time, there was no need to ask since he could simply use his identification skill.

Rusty finished reading the description just as Gwen knelt beside the glowing crystal. Its red light reflected against her eyes, and for a moment, she completely forgot her fear.

“It’s warm…”

“Don’t touch it too long.”

Astrella warned, tapping Gwen’s hand away gently.

“Remember, this is a red void crystal. It will corrupt your mana if you hold it for too long. It needs to be processed first… So let’s put it away for now and get out of here.”

While the girls inspected the spoils of battle, Syber was the only one who turned away to focus on something moving. The large gate behind the Hobgoblin Knight’s throne began to shift, and a deep crimson glow appeared from within.

“That must be the exit.”

Rusty said as he noticed the mana flowing out of the next area. It seemed everything was finally over, and all that remained was to gather their things and leave. He was not ready to go just yet, since there were still a few valuables worth taking. One was the poleaxe he held, and the other was the set of armor parts left behind by the hobgoblin.

“Careful now.”

Gwen said as she placed the glowing gem into her spatial bag. Neither of the other two summoners objected. To them, Rusty had contributed the most in this void gate, so his summoner was the rightful one to claim the spoils. Even so, Gwen had no intention of keeping everything for herself.

“How about we turn in this void gem for academy credit and divide them equally?”

Astrella lit up and hugged her friend.

“I knew you were the best, Gwen.”

Syber only shrugged.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“It is yours. Do what you want with it.”

“You do not need to be shy, Syber. I know you are happy too.”

Astrella said with a smile. Syber turned his head away. His form had already begun to shrink as his mana ran dry, and it looked as if the two girls were seeing him differently now.

“Wait, are you blushing?”

Syber shook his head at the accusation and turned his whole body away so Astrella could not see his face.

“I am not.”

“Sure you are. You are not as bad as you pretend to be. You just need to relax a little.”

“Leave me alone.”

While Astrella continued teasing Syber, Rusty got to work. He picked out the pieces of armor that could be salvaged, but he faced a problem. Normally, he would use his own storage system, yet here his Soul Forge abilities were limited.

“Gwen, could you take these armor pieces with you?”

“These? Why?”

“So I can use them to summon more helpers. The same way as before.”

Gwen understood immediately. She had already seen him use his puppet armor skill to create living armor servants, so she knew exactly what he intended. Although they were done with this place, the competition with the other B class was coming up soon. Rusty was almost certain that it would be the main mission, so it was best to prepare as much as possible.

“Astrella, I do not think he likes that. Also, could you help me?”