A Perfect evaluation!
30 experience points!
Leon looked at the Divine Art evaluation on the panel with a look of surprise.
He had only obtained Perfect ratings for his Divine Arts a handful of times—specifically, during that fleeting glimpse from the God of Sacred Light and when he was in the presence of the legendary Blood Tribe Archduke, Grant.
But now, without the gaze of the God of Sacred Light or a legendary archduke to farm for feedback, where did such ample audience feedback come from to earn him a Perfect rating?
After a moment of contemplation, Leon could only think of one answer—
Those invisible monsters that kept crying “Ka! Ma!”
“Aside from the turret monster and that thing hiding in the sea, the other invisible monsters are somewhere between non-transcendent and the Bronze rank... Can they really contribute such substantial audience feedback?”
Audience feedback was tied to the strength, status, and recognition the audience had of Leon.
Clearly, the strength of these invisible monsters was nowhere near the Epic or Legendary ranks.
And their recognition of Leon couldn't possibly surpass that of the card players who had heard his name or known him through 《Hearthstone Spire Slay》.
So...
“Is their status exceptionally special?”
With limited information, Leon could only make such an inference.
“Regardless, I need to pay more attention to these invisible monsters.”
Whether it was the invisibility through light refraction of the common monsters or the long-range bombardment of the turret monsters, neither could be underestimated.
If it weren't for him, it was doubtful whether a group of a dozen Bronze rank Falcon warriors could even survive an encounter with them.
Invisibility was simply too powerful.
“And... gaining 30 experience points from a single battle with them is like having a double experience card active...”
An opponent that allowed him to repeatedly farm the double experience of a 【Perfect】 evaluation was incredibly useful!
They were definitely worth watching!
“If I run into them again, I might consider capturing a dozen or so alive and bringing them back to Eldenborg. I can lock them in the dungeon and see if I can farm experience from them...”
Leon looked toward the turret monster that was being tied up by the Falcon warriors, his mind churning with ideas.
...
The Dusk Sea.
A massive, sinkhole-like pit was embedded straight into the center of the sea, as if a chunk of the world's flesh had been gouged out, exposing its hidden depths.
At the edge of the opening, the deep blue, almost ink-black seawater stood stagnant, unable to pour even an inch further into the pit, as if blocked by an invisible force.
Deep within the hole, countless agonizing shrieks and terrifying wails rose and fell, sounding like the cries of hell itself.
This was the Abyss.
It was the hideous scar carved into the world by the Gray Mist after its departure.
According to the research of scholars, the Abyss in the Dusk Sea is divided into twenty layers. Each layer contains different types and strengths of Abyss monsters, with their power increasing the further down one goes.
Consequently, most adventurers only fought Abyss monsters in the surface layers—the first through fifth—hunting them for resources like pelts, flesh, and biological cores.
These resources could be used to brew potions, perform magic rituals, create body-tempering potions for bloodline warriors, or forge sacred relics.
At this moment, in a corner of the thirteenth layer of the Abyss, tens of thousands of monsters were moving silently.
Their torsos were a grayish-blue, their skin covered in a layer of slimy green fluid. They shuttled back and forth through hidden vertical tunnels connecting the first and thirteenth layers, continuously transporting various types of biomass.
Among the transported remains were dead Dusk Sea sharks and mermen, as well as the bodies of vampires, humans, dwarves, elves, and other races.
All this biomass was ultimately delivered to a dark nest in the deepest corner of the thirteenth layer.
From deep within the nest came a heavy, rhythmic thumping sound, like the beating of a massive heart.
“Ka! Ma!”
A grayish-blue monster shouted, dropping the biomass from its shoulder to the ground. It then moved the load into a rectangular, coffin-like chamber. The chamber was filled with viscous flesh and snake-like soft tubes.
The biomass it carried was quite unusual; it wasn't a corpse, but rather a specimen encased in yellow resin. Within the resin was a human wearing the robes of a rural mage.
The human was not dead. His eyes were tightly shut, and he was trapped within the yellow resin-like substance, unable to move.
After the human specimen was placed in the chamber, the yellow resin on the surface melted rapidly, turning into a thick yellow liquid that flowed into the fleshy chamber below and was quickly swallowed up.
As the yellow resin was consumed, the fleshy tubes seemed to activate. The tips of the tubes quickly grew mouthparts with pitch-black, razor-sharp teeth. Like small snakes, the mouthparts pressed against the human, seemingly ready to pierce his flesh.
However, in the next second, the human mage who should have been unconscious suddenly snapped his eyes open.
He leaped up, gripping the magic staff he hadn't dared let go of, and aimed it at the approaching flesh tubes.
“Fireball!”
Fire elements converged rapidly, and a fist-sized fireball manifested at the tip of the staff. The fireball shot out, slamming into the mouthparts of the flesh tubes.
Boom!
The fireball exploded, and the resulting blast consumed the flesh tubes in an instant. Foul-smelling, dark green blood splattered across the surroundings, producing a sizzling corrosive sound as it hit the floor.
Having landed a hit, the human mage didn't dare linger. He gritted his teeth and sprinted toward the nest entrance, his face a mix of terror and the hope of escape.
The thumping heartbeat of the nest paused briefly due to the human mage's flight.
However, after only half a second, the pause ended and the rhythm returned to normal.
Half a minute later, the human mage who had fled the nest was dragged back by an invisible figure. His arms and legs were broken, and he coughed up frothy blood, his eyes filled with profound despair.
The invisible figure dragged the human mage back and placed him into the fleshy chamber once more.
The flesh tubes, which had somehow fully regenerated, plunged their sharp mouthparts into the human mage's body. This time, the mage could no longer resist.
Gurgle, gurgle...
The sound of sucking echoed through the nest. The human mage's body withered at a visible rate. His flesh, bones, organs, and even skin were drained in just a few seconds, until he was completely consumed by the mouthparts of the tubes.
“Ka! Ma!”
A satisfied cry immediately echoed within the nest.
Half an hour later, a slit suddenly opened in the fleshy inner wall of the nest. Over a hundred monsters with grayish-blue skin and bodies as thin as bamboo poles stepped out of the opening.
These slender monsters held long rods in their hands, somewhat resembling the human mage's staff.
One slender monster raised its rod and aimed it at a spot on the nest floor.
“Ka! Ma!”
Bang!
In the next instant, an egg-sized fireball shot from the tip of the rod, striking the floor and blasting out a palm-sized crater.
The power of the fireball was about seventy percent weaker than the one the human mage had cast earlier.
“Ka! Ma!”
The heart within the nest beat violently, seemingly very satisfied with the power of this fireball.
“Flesh! Need... more... transcendent... flesh!”
Driven by the will of the nest's heart, the slender monsters within the nest, along with the tens of thousands of grayish-blue monsters outside, moved once again.
They did not hunt the adventurers in the first five layers of the Abyss. Instead, they left through the tunnels connecting the thirteenth layer to the first, plunged into the ocean, and drifted toward the north.
That was the direction of intelligent beings—the direction of the transcendents.
Rate on N.U.
