Chapter 148: Ridiculous

The night passed quietly for the trio. No monster approached them, and they didn’t sense any looming threat the entire time. They didn’t even need to make one of them stay awake to guard the other two, as everyone there had incredibly strong senses, so any kind of disturbance, no matter how small it was, would wake them up.

Their essence worked as an automatic guard and an alarm in case of emergency. With that, the morning of the next day arrived, and the trio woke up normally.

The sleep wasn’t ideal, but considering the conditions they were sleeping in, the trio felt well rested and refreshed after that night.

After that, they had a quick breakfast before they packed everything and started moving toward the forest.

“This forest somehow looks even more menacing in daylight,” Rize said as he looked around him while they walked between the colossal trees and the thick greenery. The trees were particularly gigantic, easily taller than 100 meters each and looming over them, covering the better parts of the sun and keeping things rather dark.

“This forest is far bigger than you think,” Rose said. “It wraps around this mountain and the academy and stretches for hundreds or even thousands of miles.”

‘… Isn’t this one of the biggest forests in the world? I remember reading a bit about it and all we know is that it has some of the rarest and most dangerous beasts in the world. I really hope we don’t

At the same time, the moment they walked in, the group felt a looming threat and a sense of unease wrap around their bodies out of nowhere. It was a very subtle feeling, as if something was watching them from far away, and they couldn’t find where it was coming from no matter how much they stretched their senses.

That feeling made them grab their weapons as they looked around them with serious expressions. Since there were three of them, they were able to cover every angle that a monster could attack from without any loopholes.

Each one of them could cover a 360-degree angle, but with three, it made it easier to focus on one direction and make sure any small movement is noticed with ease.

For minutes, they walked silently while holding their weapons and waiting for anything. They knew that a monster would soon find them; it was simply a matter of when.

But that encounter didn’t take long, as barely 30 minutes into their trip, the bushes rustled, and a monster suddenly emerged out of nowhere.

“RAWR!!”

The trio instantly stopped and looked at it with careful eyes. It was a gigantic monkey with large arms and a chest that seemed to be covered in a layer of exoskeleton that protected its organs.

‘Not a weak monster whatsoever.’ Rize thought to himself as he scanned it with his essence and realized that it was quite strong. However, he wasn’t the only one there; there were three of them there.

“Rize,” Venera said.

“I’m on it.”

Venera and Rize moved instantly, surrounding the monster from both angles. Meanwhile, Rose instantly rushed toward it head-on. They had already discussed how they would approach the future fights they would engage in.

While their chemistry was already surprisingly amazing, they still needed to create some plans for tougher fights that maximize their strong points and make dealing with the enemy a lot easier.

As the two surrounded the monster, the monkey roared and went after Rize, slamming its fist down toward him with immense speed. The boy dodged the hit with immense flexibility before he slashed with his sword, hitting the monster’s wrist.

The creature cried out in pain as blood spewed out of the injury. Then, at the same time, Venera attacked from behind, cutting through its back with ease. The creature cried again in outrage as it threw its arms around, swinging wildly as it tried to hit its targets in its frenzy.

“Get out of the way, Venera!” Rize said as he jumped back. The girl quickly stepped back while the monster threw itself around, jumping everywhere as it smashed into trees and slammed the ground, shaking the entire forest with every hit.

It didn’t take long before it found its next target… Rose.

The girl instantly ran back while the monster chased after her with its eyes red with anger. The other two chased them quickly, closing the distance as they attacked the monkey again.

At the same time, Rose turned around and ignited a flame in her hand before she threw it at the monster while it was occupied with the new gushes they opened into its thick skin. The fire caught in its fur, instantly igniting into a big flame.

“RAWWRRRRR!!!!”

The creature screeched in pain as it started rolling around, trying to extinguish the fire before it ate its skin.

“Rize!”

“I know!” Rize replied as he instantly leaped on top of the monster with a single jump before he slashed with his sword several times in less than a second. Each hit dealt more damage as the sword became stronger and stronger. The gashes were deep and dangerous, as blood exploded everywhere.

The monster tried to push him off, but the fire stopped him as it melted through its fur and ate at its skin with immense gluttony.

At the same time, Venera rushed toward it from the side and pressed its hand toward the monkey. Then, sucking a deep breath, she channeled her power.

“Reverse…” She muttered.

The moment she said those words, suddenly…

*BOOOM*

The monster was blasted into the air at terrifying speeds. It slammed into the ground and then into several trees, breaking them with ease as it kept ragdolling for over a hundred feet. When it finally came to a stop, the monster was completely motionless.

It died…

Rize instantly received a notification.

[You have slain a Tier 7 Silver Monkey.]

“Wow…” He muttered. “It was actually a Tier 7. No wonder it was kind of tough to kill.” He muttered as he felt the bonus points course through his body. ‘Venera’s ability killed it in one single hit… What a ridiculous power.’

Rize could never get sick of watching Venera pull off her ability on a target. It was devastating and deadly and only required landing once to kill most targets it hit. Even he didn’t know how he could really counter a power like that and not get devastated.

“Good job, team,” Rose said. “We handled that almost perfectly.”

“Yeah.” Rize nodded. “It was definitely a tough opponent. It could’ve been quite the trouble if we had to fight it individually.”

“I think we can easily face high Tier 7 monsters if we work together. Maybe even low Tier 6 if we are lucky with the right conditions.

“We shouldn’t risk that. If we encounter a monster of that level, we should look to retreat rather than fight.” Venera said calmly.

‘Tier 6 monsters are utterly on another level. They would stomp each one of us with ease. If we had to fight one, we could probably win, but it would be extremely dangerous.’ Rize thought to himself as he nodded his head.

“I’m going to take care of the corpse.” He said to Venera.

“Mhm, go ahead.”

“Take care of it?” Rose raised an eyebrow. “What is he going to do?”

“Watch,” Venera said as she looked at Rize approaching the monster. “He’s going to use his ability.”

“…”

When Rize got to it, suddenly, black matter started oozing from the ground around him. Rose’s eyes widened when she saw that.

“What…”

Before she could even speak, the black matter wrapped around the corpse, covering it completely. A few seconds later… The corpse disappeared from her sight, and the black matter retracted to Rize.

“… The hell is that?”

“It’s his ability. That black matter absorbed the corpse and gave him more points.” Venera said as she crossed her arms.

“More points?” Rose’s eyes widened. “Does that mean?”

“That Rize gets more from every kill than every other person in the world? Yes. His power is simply the strongest I have ever witnessed. Its potential is terrifying.” Venera explained. “That black matter is… Odd, to say the least.”

Venera would be lying if she said the black matter didn’t give her unease just looking at it. However, knowing that it belonged to Rize gave her some ease of mind, even though she had her own questions about it and why it chose Rize.

“What a powerful ability…”

Rose didn’t even need to understand what else the ability does. If that was the sole thing it did, it would still be a ridiculously powerful one. Each kill meant that Rize was growing faster than they could ever do. It broke the laws of the world in a way she had never seen before, and yet it was all in his hands.

‘I wonder how people would react if they knew of that ability.’