?


    Samuel and Leyan exchanged nces as soon as they heard what Clyde said. Strengthening the power they got from killing Uriel''s warriors? That was something that was difficult for them to refuse.


    "But what about the others? This will be dangerous," Samuel said. Even if he wanted to obtain that power, he couldn''t bear to let the rest of the party scatter to search for that path within this domain.


    "They will be okay. They already have enough power after leveling up," Clyde said. He had indeed looked at their Character Information and thought that they were strong enough to separate. But that didn''t mean they could fight directly with the Celestials or their powerful warriors.


    "You guys just have to run to my ce immediately if you run into trouble."


    Maethion had given them a map in their system showing several locations where the path to the Nexus of Creation might be located. On the map, they could also see the point where they were standing and where the other party members were. So they can easily find Clyde''s location if the situation goes south.


    "I think that''s a good idea. We also can''t waste time. If we split up we can search in a wider area," Leon said, providing answers that could support Clyde''s words.


    In the end, they agreed to separate, if reluctantly. Even eight people apart from Clyde, Samuel, and Leyan managed to reach an agreement to split up again to find two groups of four people.


    Kei, Haru, and Kiara join Leon. Meanwhile, Albert, Rosie, Wiley, and L remained at their party. After deciding that they started to separate in three different directions.


    Clyde led Leyan and Samuel to enter the forest ahead of them. The forest was not too dense and still allowed the warm sunlight to fall on its floor.


    Clyde had contacted Asqa again before leaving a few hours ago. On a few asions, Clyde asked about how to find a ce to strengthen his fire power.


    ''It''s pretty clear actually. You just have to look for a hot spring so it must be near a volcano or some short. But you can also find that ce when you see that there is more guard than the surroundings.''


    That''s what Asqa said at that time. So now actually Clyde just has to walk in a certain direction. He must head towards the volcano.


    However, Clyde knew that what awaited the volcano was something dangerous. He could even havended directly where the Goddess Pele was. Because she is a Goddess of fire, the possibility that she is in that ce is very big.


    Realizing this possibility, Clyde chose to go find another ce to avoid trouble. He will look for a ce where there is a hot spring that is heavily guarded.


    "Hey," Leyan called from behind him. "Where exactly are you taking us?"


    "Look for hot springs. Or any ce that looks heavily guarded," Clyde replied without looking back.


    "That doesn''t answer my question," Leyan said in an annoyed tone.


    Clyde sighed and turned his head. "You just have to find that ce. There we can strengthen the power we got from Uriel''s warrior."


    Leyan decided not to say anything in reply.


    "Where did you get this information, Clyde?" he asked. This is certainly no small amount of information, and it shouldn''t be easily obtainable.


    "Well," Clyde said. "You don''t need to know. The important thing is that you guys will get stronger after this."


    Samuel and Leyan exchanged nces. They frowned; Their looks told them they were suspicious. But of course, they couldn''t say it in front of Clyde.


    After sometimes walking and searching, they still haven''t found anything. Strangely enough, there wasn''t anyone or anything moving in this ce; it was as if, all the beings who previously inhabited this ce are away somewhere and ignore this ce.


    ''So what Asqa said is true. Maybe even the danger has escted more,'' thought Clyde.


    The more he thought about it, the more Clyde felt that the troubles in the Far East were probably worth worrying about. The fact that all of the Celestials and their followers had even started vacating their domains was a clear sign. Clyde wondered if he could use the situation to find Rodney and his other friends.


    "There," Leyan said from behind him. Clyde turned and saw him pointing west.


    So Clyde looked where he was pointing and saw a pond guarded by five humanoid creatures. Clyde told them to approach carefully so they could finally see them more clearly.


    "What''s that?" Leyan asked with a frown.


    What guarded the pond were five creatures with bodies like humans but twice as big. Their bodies were reddish in color like burnt stones with several cracks running from their feet to their heads. The five creatures'' hair was long and stiff-looking, not like natural hair but more like nt roots growing from their heads.


    "They look strong," Samuel said, he felt a little anxious. "What should we do?"


    "We have to kill them as quickly as possible before they raise the rm," Clyde said. "I will do it."


    Clyde drew the Elderss Sword. He saved his Inferno de forter because he didn''t know if it would be effective against creatures associated with fire as well.


    Samuel and Leyan were finally able to see the shape of the sword at a closer distance. Its transparent blue de keeps them in awe. Even sunlight could pass through the de and only create a faint shadow. They didn''t know how a sword that looked so fragile was able to exert such great power.<novelsnext></novelsnext>


    "You''re going to kill them yourself?" Leyan asked. He wanted to say that it was a crazy decision, however, he immediately remembered who he was talking to. So Leyan swallowed back his words.


    "Yes. You guys are probably strong enough but I''m not sure you can kill them fast enough," Clyde said. He stood up, before Samuel and Leyan could say anything he had already dashed towards the pond with incredible speed.


    Clyde immediately maximized his speed. With his Stats already very high he could move so fast that the five creatures didn''t notice that he was approaching.


    [ Pure Lightning (Lv. 30) is activated! ]


    Tendrils of thin bluish-white lightning appeared around Clyde''s body, some of it also flowed into the Elderss Sword, multiplying the power of the de.


    In the blink of an eye, Clyde was already in front of the five creatures. Their eyes widened, shocked to see Clyde''s sudden presence.


    Clyde didn''t let the shockst too long; he shed the Elderss Sword at the unlucky creature that was right in front of him, separating the creature''s head from its body.


    The other four creatures immediately reacted when they saw their friend killed. However, Clyde''s speed which had been enhanced by [Skill: Pure Lightning] outperformed them by a lot. In Clyde''s eyes, the creatures only seemed to move in slow-motion. He could deal with them easily.


    *SRATT!!!*


    *SRATT!!!*


    *SRATT!!!*


    *SRATT!!!*


    ...


    Clyde used what he thought was the quickest way to kill them; by separating their heads from their bodies.


    Blood sttered on the green grass along with the heads of the five creatures. Now Clyde has killed all the pond guards.


    He got several notifications saying that he got Exp. The four creatures actually gave him quite a lot of Exp points and Clyde was grateful for that.


    Samuel and Leyan walked over after seeing all the creatures die. Clyde turned off his [Skill: Pure Lightning] and the bluish-white lightning disappeared.


    "Whoa, Clyde. Remind me not to get in trouble with you," Leyan said, looking at the five headless corpses that had fallen onto the green grass.


    "You should have known about that by now," Clyde replied. "Let''s go."


    Clyde preceded them to walk towards the pond which was emitting hot steam.


    Samuel was still observing the five bodies. A momentter he said. "They are weaker than Uriel''s followers that used to attack us."


    "Yes. The stronger followers seem to be being deployed elsewhere," Clyde said.


    Clyde stretched out his hand to touch the steam rising from the pond. The pond wasn''t huge in size, but still more than enough to amodate the three of them together.


    ''Then what should I do now? Should I juste in here and take a bath?'' Clyde pondered while staring at the pond water that seemed to boil.


    But he quickly realized that there was no time to think too long. So Clyde ignores everything - including his embarrassment - for now, and starts to strip. He took off his armor and clothes.


    "Wait, shall we immediately strip?" Samuel asked, dumbfounded.


    "Don''t waste time. We have to hurry," Clyde replied. After taking off everything and taking the Elderss Sword in hand, Clyde started walking into the pond.


    Samuel and Leyan followed reluctantly. They strip and also bring their respective weapons into the pond.


    "Arrgh!"


    Clyde couldn''t hold back his screams the first time he entered the pond.


    ~~~