Chapter Fifty-Four: Gathering

The oppressive heat lessened considerably near the waterholes. Billy led Hughes and the others to a shaded spot where they rested briefly before setting out to look for trouble with the devil crocodiles, following the locations marked on their map.

Hughes, upon arrival, realized that this area was far vaster than he had imagined. Large and small pools dotted the landscape like stars, scattered everywhere, with considerable distances between each one.

Billy took the lead toward their first destination. The sweltering weather had driven all the devil crocodiles into the water, their eyes fixed warily on the surface.

“They’re all in the water, making it hard for us to strike. In a moment, we’ll scatter this into the pool and force them ashore. That’s when we act,” Billy said, pulling out small jars from his backpack and handing one to each person.

Hughes examined the white powder inside his bottle with curiosity.

“That’s scorpion tail grass, ground into powder. Most wild beasts can’t stand the smell,” Del, standing nearby, explained in his rough voice, guessing that Hughes didn’t know.

At Del’s words, Hughes opened his bottle. He was immediately assaulted by a pungent, stinging odor.

Each member positioned themselves around the pond and scattered the powder into the water. Afterward, they regrouped, waiting for the devil crocodiles to emerge.

Soon, the previously calm surface began to churn, waves splashing several meters high.

“Get ready! They’re coming out,” Billy warned, his eyes on the roiling water.

One after another, massive devil crocodiles burst from the water, followed by several smaller ones.

It was Hughes’s first time seeing such creatures. They resembled the crocodiles of his former world, but their size was on an entirely different scale. Each beast stretched over ten meters long; their gaping jaws were nearly half their body length, filled with rows of hooked teeth. Anyone dragged into the water wouldn’t stand a chance.

As soon as they reached the shore, the devil crocodiles fixed their gaze on the group, dragging their iron-like tails as they charged.

“Come on!” Del roared, unable to restrain himself, and lunged forward with his great axe.

“Let’s go too!” Billy called to the others, seeing Del rush ahead.

“Beep: Devil Crocodile—Strength: 4.1, Agility: 1.24, Constitution: 3.51, Status: Healthy.”

“Beep: Devil Crocodile—Strength: 4.07, Agility: 1.31, Constitution: 3.91, Status: Healthy.”

Scanning the mass of data, Hughes noticed that all the devil crocodiles were similar—formidable in strength above all else.

“The real challenge is their armor,” he thought, eyeing the thick scales covering the dozen or so beasts. Ordinary blades could never pierce them; only a small patch on their bellies was soft and vulnerable.

Looking at these creatures, each the size of a small hill, it was pure fantasy to hope they’d expose their bellies.

At that moment, two devil crocodiles fixed their sights on Hughes and charged.

With a shout, Hughes drew his longsword, its blade flaring with flashes of white light. Ever since his attributes had improved, the life energy within him had grown in abundance.

“Converging Slash!” This was a secret technique Hughes had developed by combining swordsmanship with life energy, analyzed through his chip.

He swung his sword, focusing life energy into a crescent-shaped arc that slashed toward the devil crocodile.

The arc struck one of the beasts’ hind legs, sending blood gushing forth.

Crashing to the ground, the crocodile, now missing a leg, became even more sluggish than before.

Seeing its companion wounded, the other devil crocodile lashed its iron tail at Hughes.

The attack came so suddenly that Hughes had no time to dodge; he could only block with both arms.

With his attributes, Hughes didn’t fear the brute force, but the tail’s spiked barbs were another matter entirely.

The spiked tail swung like a meteor hammer, and Hughes had to twist and evade to avoid the needle-like points.

The devil crocodile’s speed was no match for Hughes. Seizing his chance, he swung his sword, slicing off a section of the crocodile’s tail.

Howling in pain, the beast realized Hughes was not an opponent it could handle. Ignoring its severed tail, it fled for the water.

“Trying to escape?” Hughes wouldn’t allow it. Another sword arc flashed, crippling its hind leg. In a single motion, Hughes leapt forward, his longsword glowing with life energy as he drove it straight into the creature’s skull.

After the beast thrashed a few times and lay still, Hughes stepped forward to withdraw his sword.

He dispatched the other crocodile in a similar fashion. Just as he was about to assist the others, he discovered that the rest of the group had nearly finished as well.

“Incredible, Hughes!” Billy panted as he walked over, glancing at the two crocodiles Hughes had slain, clapping him on the shoulder.

“You all did well too,” Hughes replied, noting that Billie seemed the most at ease among them.

“That’s different. We do this all the time—experience pays off. But you, first time here, and you were this fierce!” Billy said, pulling out a dagger to harvest their spoils.

No one was injured in the battle, except for Del, who was accidentally struck by a tail. Fortunately, his leather armor had deflected the worst of the barbs.

On the bank lay the corpses of seven devil crocodiles—one for each of Billy’s team, with Hughes having slain two.

After a brief discussion, they decided to take only the crocodiles’ eyes. The scales, though valuable, were too heavy to carry, and their task was far from over. Hauling the armor would only slow them down.

Hughes, with his expertise in anatomy—and aided by his chip—worked quickly, removing the eyes from both of his kills.

By the time they finished clearing the battlefield, dusk had already fallen. All the eyes were stored together in a container for safekeeping.

For dinner, they roasted the crocodile meat, though it was tough and sour, barely edible but enough to fill their bellies for now.

At night, they pitched simple tents and scattered medicinal powder around the camp to ward off snakes and insects.

The watch was divided—Ron and Rollin would stand first, and with six people, they would rotate in pairs through the night.

After nightfall, Hughes went alone to the water’s edge. A new mental rune had been fully analyzed, and he intended to inscribe it tonight.

“Chip, begin transmission!”

“Beep! Mental rune transmission in progress!”

Soon, Hughes had all the information for the fourteenth mental rune in his mind.

With the chip’s adjustments and analysis, he completed the inscription in just an hour.

“Chip, why was it so fast this time?” Hughes was puzzled. Usually, each rune took at least several hours, never this quickly.

“Beep! Preliminary analysis: Host’s mental strength is exceedingly high!”

“My mental strength is too high?” Hughes mused, confused.

“Beep! First-level apprentice mental strength: 1–3; second-level: 3.1–7; third-level: 7.1–10.”

Hughes glanced at his nearly 10 points of mental strength—it was, as the system said, far above average.

“As a second-level apprentice, my mental strength is already close to a third-level’s. If I inscribe all eighteen mental runes, could I advance to a true sorcerer?” Hughes wondered.

But he also noticed that after each rune, the increase in his mental strength was growing negligible.

“Becoming a full sorcerer from a third-level apprentice can’t be that simple—or the academy wouldn’t have so many stuck at that stage,” Hughes thought. He didn’t dwell on it; having more mental strength was always a good thing. With the chip speeding up his analysis, he was confident he’d soon reach third-level apprentice.