NOVEL NEXT Chapter 163: Sleeping Gas
Nessa stayed true to her words. As soon as she was granted permission to use the Chamber of Ceremony, she summoned an A-rank Midnight Butterfly. If she was happy about Millipede evolving, she was overjoyed about summoning the Butterfly.
Even better was that the Serpentine Millipede and the Midnight Butterfly got along well.
It took a little while for Nessa to figure out what the Butterfly actually did in combat, but it had great synergy with the Millipede.
The Millipede was physical, brute-force, and up-front combat. The Butterfly supported the Millipede by strengthening it and weakening the enemies with what Nessa could only compare to unorthodox magic. It flapped its wings and the air started glowing, then things started glowing.
It wasn't all-powerful, but it certainly earned its rank.
When Nessa got used to working with both her familiars and contract skills, the second-year club members decided it was time to get a little more structurally busy. Julius still hadn't evolved his Mannequin, nor had he summoned another familiar. But he was still useful since he was the only one who could control underworld energy.
One SS-rank, three S-ranks, four A-ranks, one B-rank, and one C-rank. Those were the numbers the club brought into the forest on a mission to delve deep into the contamination of the forest and look for the source.
With such a large part of the year gone just like that, it was time for the club and the second-years to start showing results. They couldn't graduate with just good theoretical grades and slain monsters.
The club considered bringing the rest of the class into the forest, but they weren't part of the club and refused to become part of it. Thus, they would suffer the consequences. There was also the fact that a larger group would attract countless more monsters they would have to fight.
Zach was still there, and monsters would come for them regardless. But a smaller, more elite group would have an easier time handling it. Alzara could also offset the amount of monsters brought by Zach's presence. But she wouldn't be able to counter an entire class' attraction.
So, the group of six set out on an adventure after gaining permission for an extended stay outside campus.
The students couldn't help but be a little excited. They had gone into the forest before and even tried to get deep. But the dense underworld energy, stubborn vegetation, and ferocious monsters made extended stays draining. It was also incredibly time-consuming to venture deeper into the forest.
But previously, they had only entered the forest in groups of two or three with limited time due to being busy with studies and the like. However, they had just finished a session of tests, opening up a week or two.
They hoped to make progress before a week was up. But they were fully prepared to spend at least two weeks in the forest doing nothing but chopping down angry, ragged, and salivating monsters. Well, now that there was almost twice the number of familiars as there were summoners, the summoners themselves wouldn't be doing much chopping themselves.
They were free to do as much as they wanted or less.
The only ones who seemed to find that a shame were Zach, Nessa, and Violina.
Zach had gone through the trouble of bringing his spear with him, and Nessa and Violina wanted to use their contract skills.
Nessa looked at the shimmering dome around their tight group while thinking about how she could use her own skills to their full potential.
"Zach, you're pretty handy with your skill, huh?" Since they were already walking next to each other, Nessa didn't bother turning to look at Zach when she spoke.
"I guess." Zach shrugged. Was that supposed to be a compliment or what?
"I mean, the rest of us know how to use our skills well enough but you're…" Nessa dragged out on the last syllable as she glanced around at the barrier surrounding them before looking at Zach.
"Different."
"I guess." Zach shrugged.
"How?"
"'How' what?"
"Is it because your first familiar is an S-rank or is there something else that's special about your skill? The way you use it and how much control you have over it is just…" Nessa wasn't sure how to put it.
She had talked about it with Zach before, but she still couldn't quite put her finger on it. And she thought about it whenever she saw Zach's barriers in action or when she one of the others using their skills. Recently, especially, she had trouble letting it go.
"I mean, you can even block Rabst's Rabbit without breaking a sweat. I can try to pay for the information." Nessa wasn't overly fond of her first contract skill, but her second one made her change her mind. She wanted to be better.
"There's no need for that." Zach shrugged. "I just use it all the time. I mentioned it before, right? I keep my barriers up even when I'm asleep for weeks at a time."
"You were serious about that?" Nessa asked with a frown of disbelief.
"As serious as Nora's pie."
Nessa wasn't sure what to think about that so she ignored it and moved on.
"What if my skill doesn't work like that?"
"Find another way to train." Zach shrugged.
"Any ideas?"
"I don't even know what your skill does?"
"I can conjure a sleeping gas of sorts."
"I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be able to use it continuously." Explore stories at M V L
"I'll make everyone around me and myself sleepy."
"Ah. Wait, yourself?"
"Yes."
"Does it keep going after you fall asleep?"
"No."
"Start there."
"...Okay."
"Hey, Zach, my second skill creates a shiny suit of armor over my entire body. Any ideas?" Dukiel was next to ask for a consultation.
Since they didn't have anything better to do while the familiars worked together to clear a path through the forest, Zach entertained his classmates in how they could utilize, train, and improve their skills.
At first, he was a little hesitant about giving advice since the ones who should figure their skills out were the owners of said skills. But then it got to his head, and he acted like a wise and knowledgeable expert and freely gave advice.