Chapter 73 - Trees

"Besides Lea, is there anyone else here with a craft soul?" Wain asked. He considered this a real stroke of luck. Anyone who had a craft soul could make a huge difference, and it didn't matter what line of work that soul belonged to.

"Yes. It's a student named Clovis Flandin. He's resting now, but he's ready to go with us tomorrow. Moreover, he has already activated his Soul Altar. We are lucky, he is not a coward, and just like the others, he wants to fight."

"What is the name of his soul? What is its Rating, and what abilities does it have?" Wain asked several questions at once.

"His soul is called Crystal Woodcutter. Clovis said his soul has a Rare Rating. From what I understand, it's worse than Lea's, but it's still very decent." Said Gisle.

"That his soul has a Rare Rating is not critical. The important thing is that he has a craft profession." Said Wain.

Gisle nodded, "He has two skills, one he got by killing a mutated monster and the other from his soul. He can cut through an entire tree in one stroke and turn wooden blocks into almost any shape with the soul skill. 

That doesn't sound very impressive, but I'm sure it's just the beginning. What's more, Clovis says he can create entire structures and even buildings out of these materials."

"Yes, in the future, Clovis will become much stronger and more functional. After all, the more powerful he will be, the more effective his soul.

He needs to develop it and his skills, but even now, it sounds impressive. If Clovis can cut down trees quickly and build structures and houses, it's incredible." Said Wain.

"Tomorrow, we're going into the woods and will be capturing and clearing the area. Will you go with us?" Asked Gisle.

"When does the operation start?"

"Ten o'clock in the morning."

"That's too early. I'm sure I'll be asleep a long time. I need to regain my strength. In that case, I'll join you a little later." Said Wain.

"I see. Visit us tomorrow then." Said Gisle and looked at Agnes, "If you decide to stay, you can go to any room and rest."

Wain and Agnes nodded and headed off to rest. Although Agnes looked chipper, she didn't really have much energy. She had spent a fair amount of energy activating the portal.

'Hmm, there must be a lot of dangerous monsters in the woods near the university. Moreover, there must be many mutated insects there. 

I hope there will be a Dungeon or Nest in that forest. They will pose great danger. Killing simple monsters doesn't seem practical.' Thought Wain walking into his room.

It was a simple room with a small couch that one person could sleep on. At that moment, though, Wain didn't care where he slept, even if it was on the floor. He lay down on the couch and immediately fell asleep. 

At that moment, for the first time in a long time, he could rest and not think about anything.

Wain was not concerned about safety, for he understood that no one would attack him in this place. The worst thing that could happen was a sudden monster attack, but the patrols would report it quickly.

...

After many hours, Wain opened his eyes and struggled to rise. Sunlight fell on his face through the window, which woke him up.

"Damn, it's hard to get up in the morning. What time is it?" Wain muttered and pulled out his phone from under his cloak. "One p.m... I've slept quite a bit."

Wain looked out the window and looked across the university courtyard. He saw nothing out of the ordinary. People were eating, talking, sorting out trash, and building barricades. 

But, these were people who had not yet activated their Soul Altar.

Wain looked toward the forest and saw that Gisle's group was already there and had even managed to set up a small camp. 

Gisle left a few people with superpowers to protect the university, and the others went with him, including Agnes, Lea, Teresa, Zero, and the mutant girls. Of course, he also had Grut, Rita, and Clovis with him, who was having lunch at the time.

Wain nodded and went downstairs. The Ring of Damned glowed, and a green apple appeared in his hands. Wain took a big bite and headed for the exit of the university.

As he walked through the university's courtyard, many people stared at him intently. Many of them saw Wain instantly kill several people after the battle between Gisle and Rafe. 

These rumors quickly spread throughout the university, and now everyone knew of Wain's merits.

No one dared to approach him. They just watched Wain walk past them while eating an apple.

'Looks like I drew too much attention to myself then.' Thought Wain as he walked through the barricade.

Thanks to the Gisle group, there were no more monsters around the university. Wain walked through the empty streets as if yesterday there had been no apocalypse in this world.

'At the moment, there are two people with craft souls in this university, and one of them is a blacksmith. This is a great start. I can hardly think of an even better option.' Pondered Wain.

'My main goal might be to reach level 15, then I can evolve, and my power will reach completely different heights. I discovered the second form. Can I find out how I can discover the third form?' Wain wondered and opened the menu of skill enhancements.

He saw the skill he was interested in on the list, to his surprise.

[Nameless King's Forms (Primary Chronicle Active Skill, Legendary Rating) <Partially Unlocked>]

[This skill hides forms of incredible power and limitless potential. You partially unlocked this skill and gained access to two forms: Code of Light and Darkness and Cursed Swordsman. You have already progressed along your path, but this is only the beginning.

To unlock the next form, the following conditions must be met -

[Sorcerer's Soul Required: 0/1]

'What? Sorcerer's Soul? Is that a hint of magic? That sounds very strange but interesting. I hope I can sense where it is.' Thought Wain and concentrated on feeling the energy.

He had done it the last time and could easily tell where the Swordsman's Soul was. This time he wanted to do the same, and to his surprise, he succeeded.

Wain's Seal of Darkness flashed brightly, and his mind drifted off into the distance. 

It showed him the approximate location of the necessary soul to unlock the third form. After a while, Wain saw the outline of a spatial rift thousands of meters away.

'It's a lot farther than that park. Apparently, to get the Sorcerer's Soul, I will somehow need to get to another part of Overion. If I'm not mistaken, the soul is somewhere in the northern part of town.' Wain thought.

Wain was not upset that the Sorcerer's Soul was so far away. In a way, he was even happy about it. 

After all, his body was still struggling to endure the power of the second form, so if he got the third form, he would hardly be able to use it to its total capacity.

Wain needed to be stronger first. Only when he could use the second form without problems, in his opinion, would it make sense to try to get the third form.

Moreover, Wain had no idea how he could cross the massive chasms between parts of the city.

'That worm was gigantic. I'm not sure I could defeat it even if I used the Cursed Swordsman. Amazingly, such a powerful creature appeared at the beginning of the apocalypse. I wonder what's going on in the largest and most populous cities now?' Wain thought.

The larger the city, the more monsters appeared. What's more, people were fighting monsters and each other. Even at university, there was already a fight for the right to be a leader.

Wain decided not to think about it anymore, he went further towards the forest, but suddenly Wain noticed something else in the skill improvement menu.

[You can improve a skill - Lightning Lizard's Dash]

'Hmm, I've gotten quite a lot of Soul Essence lately. It looks like I can make this skill even stronger.' Wain thought and decided to improve Lightning Lizard's Dash.

[You've used 50% of your current Soul Essence amount. The Lightning Lizard's Dash skill is ready to develop. Choose one of two ways]

[Improve Chronicle skill]

[Improve Rating skill]

'Maybe I should improve my Chronicle skill this time? Then Lightning Lizard's Dash will become much more powerful. Although, no, that would be a mistake. 

I'm not lacking in strength at the moment. As long as I can act prospectively, I should. The higher the skill's Rating, the more powerful it will be after the Chronicle increases.' Wain thought and once again chose the second option.

Wain's logic was not unique. It was how most people thought of who could develop some of their skills. It was an obvious decision with clear pluses and non-critical disadvantages.

In the new world, the most important thing was power, and no one wanted to pass up any opportunity to increase their power. This applied to souls as well as skills and even money.

[You have decided to improve your skill's Rating]

[Choose one of the suggested options]

In the next moment, only two options appeared before Wain. This was the minimum number if one decided to improve the Rating rather than the Chronicle.

[Lightning Boots]

[Lizard Boots]