n

n

nBut now? Now they were all swimming in dense black fog! It looked like their bodies were in purple fire that kept flashing in dancing threads underneath the fog.

nIf their look was brutal from the start, then right now they looked monstrous with those red glowing elliptical three eyes in the middle of their smoky heads!

nEven I felt goosebumps when looking at them.

n

"What are they?

" Angelica came closer to one of them but the moment she tried to touch one, that one suddenly vanished from his place to reappear a couple of metres away.

nThat was unbelievable! Damn! Could they teleport or they just had insane speed?

n

"Come,

" I didn't take them just for show,

"take these and use them.

"

n

"And you dare to ask for my stat points?

" The jumper glared at me when he saw the large amount of stat points, beads, gems, and crystals that I took.

n

"Dude, just feeding them these emptied almost half of my reserve,

" I said back without feeling any shame,

"plus I'm doing you a service here. Why are you against paying the fair price for it? You are the one cursed, and not me!

"

n

"Humph,

" in discontent he turned his back to me but still peeked a few glances at my soulers.

nAs for the girls, they seemed to enjoy this new game of chasing the soulers. No matter how they tried, they couldn't catch a glimpse of my warriors.

nAmidst this their laughs filled the place.

n

"Who are they?

" The spearhead stood by my side. On his ugly face I could see his fear. He had all the right to feel so, after all my warriors were mighty!

n

"They are one of the new warriors I gained,

" I didn't delve into much details,

"they are called soulers. Very strong, very dangerous, and very loyal!

"

nThey were dangerous indeed, not only against my enemies but also against mine. These handful of them just ate many souls simply per day. If I wanted them to keep living in such an amazing state, I needed to expand my killing and quicken the growth of my forces.

nI gained a lot of strength back in New York. According to my prior plans, I should lay low and deepen my foundations once I controlled Jersey city.

nBut now… Now I had to change all that! My forces couldn't sit idle. If I controlled two cities, then what about the areas adjacent to both?

nLuckily both cities were close to each other. So they got each other's back. But that didn't mean I couldn't expand.

nI also sat my gaze upon Massachusetts state. I needed to pick my pace up and go there as soon as possible.

nAfter all, the real game changing opportunity lies there, not here.

n

"Come forth,

" as I watched my soulers upgrading themselves and getting slightly bigger in size, I took out all my warriors.

nIncluding the newly summoned Gollems, Kracken, and my new dragolves warriors.

n

"This…

"

nNow as my full force was completed, I only lacked my dragons.

n

"You got more warriors?

" The jumper was shocked to speak for a few moments.

n

"Don't you want your curse gone or what?

" I rolled my eyes before noticing something big coming from the direction of the river.

nThey were my dragons, and they carried a really big corpse with their claws.

n

"Go down there,

" I pointed at the lower deck and added,

"arm yourselves and take positions. We will go to war soon.

"

nI moved with much anticipation towards the ground. The others didn't follow me and simply kept looking from high above.

nOf course they could simply stay up there and enjoy the sight from such height. But for me, I had to go down below and get my share of this corpse.

n*Thud!*

nJust as they reached me, the big body fell heavily on the ground. I didn't hesitate to take my fifty percent share before I checked the bones.

nThere are six bones that you can salvage using your separation skill

n

"Yeah!

" I said in excitement before taking these bones out. Out of the six, one was gold, one silver, two green, and two white.

nYes, it was worth getting that corpse back.

n

"Let's go,

" I moved back,

"keep flying and scouting the air above my little girl.

"

nOnce I reached the top, I stood with little puzzlement. How should I lead this giant assed girl?

nI reopened the description and found a little icon at the end that I didn't notice before. It came with a black dragon face, and once selected, I saw another window where control settings of the chariot were decided from.

n

"Of course let me be the sole controller of it,

" I allocated myself as the driver without any hesitation. I wouldn't trust leaving my beauty to anyone else!

nOnce I sat myself as the controller for the chariot, I felt a strange feeling. It was like something got unlocked and I felt my ability to sense the entire chariot.

nDamn! There was really something massive beating somewhere in that chariot!

nIt must be that world tree heart mentioned in the description. At the same time I felt something else, connected to that beating heart.

n*Borram!*

nStrange noise erupted the moment I tried to check that thing up. From the central part of the chariot, just a few metres at the side of the platform connecting the roof with the arsenal down below, another platform was raised.

nIt wasn't a simple platform, as in the middle of it a strange ball of bright blue and golden lights appeared. It gave me the impression of being a little star emitting light all over the place.

nAnd the moment it appeared, information gushed into my mind without warning, telling me what I should do with that strange platform.

n

"What is that?

" The two girls were still playing catch with my soulers before that platform appeared and attracted their attention. They both looked at me, alongside the jumper and the spearhead as well.

n

"It's the place we shall put the stat points at,

" I looked at my jumper who simply shrugged and said:

n

"Let's first see how your behemoth acts without my stat points.

"

nAlthough I also had the same mind as him, I felt the reasoning behind both decisions was different.

n

"Alright,

" I turned to face the front,

"hang tight, let's get this girl moving.

"

nI only thought about moving when the thirty dragorses on the front roared and raised their front legs in a strong motion. Then they started to move.

n

"This speed…

" Isabella moved to my side, stood on the front end of the chariot while her face showed her struggle to either laugh or cry.

nI also felt the same! The chariot was moving, that was given, but at what speed?

n

"It's the speed of a snail pal,

" the jumper jumped on my side, before adding in a bitter tone,

"I think it's equal to the normal human walking speed before the apocalypse… What a regret!

"

nOf course this speed wasn't something I should feel proud about. It was something I never saw coming at all!

nThe chariot was moving indeed, but in my eyes it was a speed equal to standing still.

nMoving in a battle? Or moving from one place to another? Damn! No matter how I saw it, this chariot's current basic speed wasn't enough, wasn't enough for anything at all!

n

"Go and put your stat points in there,

" as I had nothing else to do but to ditch the basic form of my chariot, I pointed to the strange pillar at the centre,

"if you wanted us to reach that castle before the start of the second quest!

"

n

"Just remember this,

" the jumper couldn't help but shake his head in regret. It was something none of us expected it seemed.

nBut knowing this made me realise that the chariot could only be summoned as a resting place, or when I was in the middle of a defensive battle.

nBut teleportation or moving in offence was out of the question.

nThinking back at my limited reserve of stat points, I started to seriously consider changing my precious bones for stat points.

nIt might be funny, but what else could I do?

nIf a miracle didn't happen to solve this issue for me, then my precious chariot would be left to dust inside my inventory for a long time.

nI watched the jumper reach that pillar, take out stat crystals, orbs, and beads before throwing them all into that shining star in the middle of the pillar.

nThe star was standing idle, but the moment it got the stat points, it started to ignite fiercely like he added some wood to fire.

nThen it started to slowly rotate.

n

"How much do you need for the intermediate phase?

" he shouted, and seriously I didn't want to answer.

nI waited for a long minute, acting as if I was reviewing the description again.

"Keep pouring your stats until I find the right number,

" I said while trying to buy more time.

nOf course I knew the number needed, but what if I did? Let that bastard bleed for a bit, even if he put more than what the chariot needed, I could always use the extra for later, right?

n

"How much is needed?

" the jumper shouted again and this time he stopped throwing anymore stat points into the shining star.

nBut he threw more than enough, to the point I got a notification about it!

nYou placed one hundred thousand and twenty thousand stat points for the chariot

nDo you want to activate the intermediate or the full powered version of the chariot?

n

"Intermediate!

" I hurriedly said while trying to conceal my happiness. Damn! That jumper simply took out such a big hand in such a short time without any struggle.

n

"It's enough,

" I didn't tell him the details, but even from that distance I could feel his anger towards me.

nHe was smart enough to know I scammed him. But so what? Everything he owned was literally mine!

nI started to seriously consider depleting his inventory of any stat point to the last scrap! But what about his wrath?

nHe couldn't do anything to me, but it wasn't a good thing to have such an explosive dude next to me.

n

"Don't think about doing this again!

" He came to me at a fast pace before giving me such a gaze full of anger.

n

"Your inventory belongs to me,

" in a response, I decided to take away most of his stat points first,

"come on, be a good boy and give your daddy here ninety percent of your stat points.

"

n

"Don't go overboard!!

" he shouted in immense rage but I simply didn't change my mind.

n

"You and I have a contract together,

" I said in a calm tone, a tone of someone who held the upper hand here,

"and by that contract I order you to deliver ninety percent of your inventory's soul points to me.

"

nA strange atmosphere erupted between the two of us, the air of the contract bound by the system. I could see fire sparks coming like deadly daggers from his eyes.

nBut I didn't care! Dude, I was ready to ditch my precious bones for such useless stat points! Besides this little girl here would serve all of us, not only myself.

n*Thud!* Thud!* *Thud!*

nAs he had no other choice but to comply, the sound of his stat crystals, orbs, beads, and points filled the entire place.

n

"I won't forget this,

" he threatened.

n

"It's not my fault that you are selfish dude,

" I shrugged while hurriedly collecting everything he took out. Damn me! He took almost a small hill of such things out in just a few minutes!

n

"There is a difference between being cautious and selfish,

" he said before adding in his ruthless tone,

"and there is a difference between being demanding and a thief!

"

n

"Dude, your inventory is mine,

" I rolled up my eyes before adding in a similar ruthless tone,

"don't force me to empty all your inventory and claim everything you worked so hard to get.. After all, I'm just taking such useless stuff off your shoulders, emptying space for other things in your inventory.

"

n