Even if his Barrier skill was taken away, that didn’t depry him of his true skills. Mana surged through his body, activating each of his rune buffs in total.

  Despite seeing them on a constant basis, he grinned when he saw the plethora of rune buffs flashing across his vision via notifications.

  Advanced Rune of Strength has been activated. Your Strength stat mirrored 338 points from your Spirit stat for the next 30 seconds.

  Advanced Rune of Dexterity has been activated. Your Dexterity stat mirrored 338 points from your Spirit stat for the next 30 seconds.

  Advanced Rune of Vitality has been activated. Your Vitality stat mirrored 338 points from your Spirit stat for the next 30 seconds.

  Advanced Rune of Endurance has been activated. Your Endurance stat mirrored 338 points from your Spirit stat for the next 30 seconds.

  Power swelled in his muscles, his chest compacting from the force emanating from the rise in stats. It was a rush that one could get addicted to, similar to leveling up several times at once. All of his physical stats increased beyond 400, with his Dexterity over a whopping 500.

  Currently, these stats were unbalanced and would put his fighting stance in a mess… but he really wanted to go all out to get rid of his frustrations out on Cronus who took his barrier skill away.

  Without any hesitation, he jumped off of his Ethereal Manifest platform and landed straight onto a running Scythasaur, his fist raised high and tight.

  …..

  Mikella cursed at the man who scared the crap out of her after suddenly appearing out of nowhere and landing on one of the Scythasaur currently with no one harassing it with no mercy.

  The image of him punching the creature down and causing a dirt explosion of massive proportions wasn’t hard to forget, especially if you included all the blood and viscera that flew out from the impact.

  But that wasn’t enough for the Runist. He stood up, his fists and upper clothes caked in blood with a feral grin she only saw whenever their spars got more intense. His bluish green eyes flashed into a menacing look as he roared and rushed at any remaining Scythasaur that was not under anyone’s target list.

  He came in like a madman, fists swinging left and right as he easily took a scythasaur’s swinging scythe with a swift gyration of his torso, held the other side of the massive side after it came down, and promptly broke it in half with a rising knee strike. Screams bellowed from the monster before Zeke ripped the scythe away from the arm and directly stabbed the tip at its eye with its own scythe arm.

  Zeke continued to go on a rampage, not even caring about his usual fighting forms and strategy as he just roared and struck down any living thing near him. It became such a sight to see that Mikella took a break from fighting physically, opting to bring out the Natural Series Bow of Farsight out to hit from the distance.

  Natural Series-Bow of Farsight (Rare)

  Created under the guise of genius and drunken wonder, the talented blacksmith created the Natural Series. The bow is made with the intention of shooting at its target with simplistic precision.

  Enchantments:

  Arrow Forge (Unique)

  Energy Conductivity (Skill Dependent)

  The only thing different about the bow was that Cru couldn’t put in any more enchantments on it due to the Unique feature Arrow Forge, allowing Mikella to create not a wind-based arrow like the Tempest Bow, but a crystalline like arrow made entirely out of pure mana, or arcane mana in some cases. The only thing it had was the Energy Conductivity, which allowed Mikella to easily transmit her attunement’s magic onto the arrow, causing each arrow to be shot like a lightning bolt straight out of the bow.

  Each strike had her Mana Manipulation and Kinetic Manipulation down pat, making each arrow hit harder and pierce deeper than her Tempest Bow ever did. She still felt some connection to the bow and decided to make it into a keepsake. Perhaps she’ll hand it down to Clara if she ever needed a bow when she grows up with the system.

  As she shot her arrows of lightning at any target she could see without getting in the way of Zeke’s rampage, the other party members of Tempest Winds came around to do the same. Hamil and Kote decided to do the same as Mikella did, including Saang who used the remaining free ichor made by Zeke’s killings to make projectile shots.

  “Sweet gods, is he okay?” Saang asked Mikella, a look of concern on her face. “He looks pissed. Did we upset him or something?”

  “Oh, don’t worry. He probably got antsy waiting up there. I know I would…” Mikella grimaced.

  She did feel bad for Zeke for having him stay up there. She wanted to at least let him rest for a while and get his surroundings in check. She didn’t want him to get in trouble after having his barrier taken away. Clearly, that only made Zeke frustrated as she would be, having no choice but to watch everyone kill monsters while he just waited to get a good swing of things.

  Well, he’s certainly got the swing of things–swinging his fists over and over to every monster he faced.

  “How is he so strong?” Kote asked, his eyes being the only thing she could see from him lighting up in curiosity. It was the same scholarly look that Zeke often had whenever he found something new and interesting. “Is he using some powerful buff skill?”

  “You could say that. He carved runes into his body. He’s able to make all his other stats mirror his super high Spirit stat for a while.”

  “You’re kidding!” Hamil nearly shouted in disbelief. “Carved runes? Mirroring stats? Who did that to him?”

  “I can’t imagine the pain he went through for such a thing…” Kote shook his head, the idea alone almost making him shiver.

  “Oh, he did it to himself. And yeah, it was super painful. He almost lost the feeling of his limbs when he first tried it,” Mikella said, shaking her head in the memory of his first created rune buffs.

  “Okay, now you’re pulling my axe,” Saang said, clearly skeptical. “You’re telling me a Runist willingly carved runes onto his own body to raise his other stats?”

  “Yeah…?” Mikella raised a brow at her.

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  After seeing that she wasn’t kidding, looking rather offended that she thought Zeke was some liar, Saang’s eyes widened.

  “...Well damn,” She said simply, her voice lacking the usual vigor. “Consider me impressed. Actually, consider me interested. Is he single?”

  “Easy, Saang,” Hamil held onto the clearly devious Saang on the shoulder. “He’s way too young for you.”

  “Hey, not that young. He’s only in his twenties, remember?” Saang said, slapping Hamil’s hand away. That comment clearly didn’t land well with her.

  For a moment, Mikella was worried that, since they knew they aren’t really married and are just partners working together, Saang would see how valuable Zeke is as a bachelor. How the hell can she convince a beauty like Saang to keep her hands off of him? Thankfully, Saang looked like she was just joking, just trying to get a rise out of her.

  Her feelings, on the other hand, is something that she might need to think about later.

  “That’s what’s most absurd about it all,” Kote added in. “They're both young, and both Zeke and Mikella can easily take down this group of Scythasaurs on their own.”

  “Is that bad?” Mikella asked, but mostly she just wanted to hear how good they were compared to the other adventurers. She always loved to inflate her ego on moments like these.

  “Bad?” Kote shook his head. “You need to be in a group of Rank-C adventurers to handle just one of those things. We can handle them just fine, but we’re used to dealing with troublesome monsters and situations. Just what the hell did you go through to get that strong?”

  “Well… a lot of things,” Mikella rubbed her neck, feeling the scales of her new body which she wasn’t used to yet. “The only thing I’m thankful for is that we ended up in a place where we can get strong properly.”

  And she truly was. No matter how inflated her ego is, she’ll always be grateful for the people of Eve Glade who took her family in and helped her get as strong as she was now.

  Soon enough, the monsters were killed, their bodies scattered across everywhere and ready to get looted. On his way back, Zeke swung his arms, noticeable bruises and scratches on his exposed skin for the world to see. He grimaced, his hands being a horrid mess of mangled fingers and bloody skin.

  “Sweet gods!” Saang said on his way back. “You alright, kid? Your hands look horrible!”

  “Ah, yeah, I’m fine,” Zeke winced as he answered, raising both his hands up. “Hold up a second.”

  Then, as though time reversed in front of them, his hands quickly shifted their mangled forms back to how they were before, including the scratches and bruises visible on his muscled forearms. In a few seconds, his arms and hands returned to their original state once again. The others gasped at the recovery while Mikella just rolled her eyes.

  “Show off.”

  “Sorry, sorry,” Zeke raised his hands up and down in apology. “But I just got so bored. I really needed an outlet, you know?”

  “I know,” Mikella grinned. “Sorry. I should’ve remembered that you would be bored out of your mind. You’re becoming like a berserker every day.”

  “I learned from the best,” Zeke grinned at her.

  That, unfortunately, got her cheeks to flush red a little. That damn smile of his got her hard. Thankfully, he turned to the others before seeing the state he left her in.

  “Good in a fight and a good healer,” Hamil commented, his lips pursing. “Plus a berserker that can handle a group of Scythasaurs on her own. You two are nuts.”

  “You don’t mind if we take a few more quests down while looking for those towers, right?” Saang pointed out. “Might as well get some experience on the way. By the way, did you get anything?”

  Hearing that got Mikella to look down her vision to see the blinking notification. It probably occurred during Zeke’s rampage as she pulled it up.

  Level Up! You are now Level 61. You gain 2 free points (2 FP total).

  You have gained +10 STR from your class and sub-race.

  You have gained +10 DEX from your class and sub-race.

  You have gained +5 INT from your sub-race.

  You have gained +5 SPI from your sub-race.

  You have gained +5 END from your class.

  Mikella’s eyes widened. Compared to her earlier level ups, one level from Journeyman gave her a whopping 35 stat points compared to the usual 9 stat points excluding the usual free points she earned for each level. Now those free points felt abysmal.

  Still, seeing all of her stats jump up except for Vitality made those free points necessary as she considered adding her points into Vitality to keep up. Now that she got her sub-race to raise her mental stats every level, they’ll easily outpace Vitality, which as a warrior, would be a bad idea to have that stay the lowest of the bunch.

  “Wow, my level really gave a lot of points,” Zeke said, answering Saang’s question about what they got.

  As usual, the two shared their notifications together, which got Zeke to gape in awe at her own numbers while Mikella, just as equally, did the same at his numbers.

  Level Up! You are now Level 61. You gain 2 free points (2 FP total).

  You have gained +8 DEX from your class and sub-race.

  You have gained +8 INT from your class and sub-race.

  You have gained +12 SPI from your class and sub-race.

  You have gained +7 END from your sub-race.

  Seeing these crazy numbers, Zeke decided to hoard the free points as he wasn’t sure whether to increase his Strength to keep that in balance with the other stats or Vitality to be cautious of the future.

  “So you two really do level up at the same time… that’s crazy,” Saang said, her voice in awe and in disbelief at the same time. “No wonder you got such a high level Runist now.”

  “This time, this is all him,” Mikella added. She smiled when she saw Zeke blush a little from the praise. “But yeah, that’s how we get strong.”

  “Now that’s fascinating…” Kote said whimsically before shaking his head. “Ah, before I lose it, let’s go and loot the corpses before someone else shows up. Don’t want any vultures to come around.”

  The other two veterans quickly followed Kote’s lead, leading the otherworlders to follow along.

  However, despite going around and going through the loot option, one thing jumped out at them.

  None of the bodies disappeared. Normally, after looting the body via the system, the body would instantly disappear unless it uses a relic or artifact that keeps the body around for crafting purposes.

  However, the Tempest Winds made it clear that they didn’t have that, and that this quest didn’t require any components from the Scythasaurs.

  And since the otherworlders didn’t have anything like that either, the group returned in full, their faces marred with confusion.

  “Any idea what’s going on?” Saang said. “This is the first time this happened. Hamil?”

  “No clue, first for me too,” Hamil shook his head. “Kote, any thoughts?”

  “Either something’s getting in the way, or there’s something going on with their bodies…” Kote muttered, which made him snap his fingers and pointed at the only runist around them. “Zeke, don’t you have a skill that lets you see the insides of anything? Can you do that to the monsters?”

  “I’ll try.”

  Zeke nodded, and it wasn’t surprising that Kote would know that. Most Runists start with the General Skill Internal Senses, which would do exactly as Kote described. With Zeke’s own skill incorporated into his Legendary Restoration skill, it became even more powerful as Zeke’s eyes glowed with their bright color at one of the bodies.

  The more he stared at the creatures, the more his face scrunched up in confusion. Then, it turned into concern as Mikella felt some dread forming at the center of her gut.

  “Zeke?” Mikella asked.

  “There’s… something inside the thing. It’s…” Zeke narrowed his eyes, mostly looking dumbfounded than looking closer. “It’s… trying to get out.”

  “Something?” Mikella pointed out, causing the other three to immediately notice the mood shifting. Their expressions turned hard as each pulled out their own weapons.

  “...A lot of somethings!” Zeke retreated quickly. “Incoming!”

  His quick warning was enough to give Mikella a chance to fully understand the next moment that occurred. From within the dozens of corpses, something tore through the skin and blood. Something that was green, black, and all kinds of nasty.

  A strange creature formed from within each of the bodies. Then, two more came out, then three, then four…

  Several dozens of those creatures crawled out of the Scythasaur corpse, a brood of spider-like creatures the size of dogs came screeching and hissing at whatever it was that downed their host.

  And they set their multiple, almost human-like eyes on the Tempest Winds.