Chapter 87 - Fast Forward 8 Months

8 months later...

Three figures moved onto an unknowing monster camp. Using the overgrown terrain to their advantage, the three managed to approach the camp with relative ease.

"Should we move out?" Chris asked.

Oliver shook his head as raised a finger to his mouth, signaling Chris to be silent.

Even though they've been dealing with the same creatures for the past 8 months in this unknown terrain, Oliver still thought that being careful and stealthy should be the way. Granted that they've both gotten stronger, Chris thought that they could loosen up and make some noise.

However, Oliver seemed to think otherwise. The way that they've cleared the monster camps so far employed the use of stealth.

The way they've supposedly cleared the camps wasn't by killing everything in sight. That was the wrong way to approach things. They learned that the hard way. Instead, the goal was to break the beacon of dark Mana that is usually at the center of the camp. That way, the monsters that are made of dark Mana would dissipate.

"Now!"

The three of them moved out from the bushes, each taking a separate direction.

Chris took the left side while Oliver took the center. The right flank was covered by Strider, the Wolf that Oliver had tamed long ago and summoned during Oliver's first few weeks here.

Oliver drew out the twin daggers that he's been using since a long time ago. Although one of them was dangerously close to breaking, the two daggers have proved to be useful tools to Oliver these past few months.

Immediately slashing the dark Mana creatures that were alerted to their presence, the trio acted fast. Oliver hacked and slashed. Chris bonked the enemies with his bo staff. Strider bared his fangs and claws at whatever came close to him.

The three working together for the past 8 months made them like a well-oiled machine. It didn't take long for them to individually get to the center.

Smash!

The Dark Mana Crystal shattered into a million pieces and the surrounding monsters dissipated into nothingness. Oliver breathed a sigh of relief as he looked around and saw the monsters disappearing one by one.

"How many does that make?" Chris asked Oliver as he climbed up to where Oliver was.

Oliver raised his shoulders and shook his head. "No idea. But, whatever number it is, I'm winning," he said with a satisfied smile.

Chris clicked his tongue as he stood and watched his surroundings. "We should really start counting. You know so that we actually know who the fuck is winning."

"Aren't you the one who suggested that we take a count of who crushes the crystal?" Oliver raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Besides, I'm sure you've got a bigger count over Strider, and you don't see him upset."

Shaking his head and clicking his tongue once more, Chris was amused with Oliver's response. "Whatever," he responded, "let's just get back to camp, alright?"

Over the past 8 months, Oliver, Strider, and Chris were constantly on the hunt for monster camps. They cleared them with whatever means they could. Naturally, it would be tiring if they were constantly on the offense.

So, as a base of operations, a cliffside cave that Oliver found the first few hours here was used as their camp. For the first few weeks, it was hard for them to adjust. But, when Oliver discovered that he could summon Strider even across dimensions, everything was immediately easier.

Strider changed the game for them, so to speak.

Instead of the original struggle to survive from the ground up, Strider was a blessing to have. His wolf abilities help them hunt for food much easier and the rest became easy. Luckily, Chris was training to be a professional chef too. Oliver managed to survive thanks to these two by his side.

"Man, I wish we could leave this place. It ain't fun to be stuck in another dimension for too long. Especially if the monsters don't seem to stop from reappearing."

Chris complained. No, he's been complaining for the past few months now. Oliver couldn't say anything to refute the guy's complaints because he felt the same way.

For the past few months, they've slowly come to realize that they were stuck in some sort of a loop. Clearing monster camps wasn't hard, and killing the monsters didn't prove to be a challenge now, either. But, the biggest concern was that they didn't seem to be getting anywhere.

No matter what they did, the monster camps seem to keep reappearing, and the Dark Mana Crystal constantly respawned. It did wonders for their experience and levels at first, but now, it was more of a drag than anything else.

"If that's what you feel, I think we should revisit the Central Mana Core," Oliver said with a serious tone which caused Oliver's face to express shock.

The Central Mana Core. Like any other Mana Core, it supplies the land they were standing on with life energy. In the first month, the three of them explored whatever they could in the dimension they were stuck in. A few things got in their way, but they managed to survive and learn a few things about this place.

They learned that they weren't only stuck in a dimension, per se. They were also stuck on a gigantic floating island to which the Central Mana Core provided the necessary energy to keep it afloat. It wasn't necessarily a problem since the island was relatively huge.

The actual problem was the inhabitants.

Creatures that seemed to be made of dark Mana that riddled the island were the main problem. With the dark Mana transforming the Central Mana Core, the wildlife and vegetation of the island transformed along with it. But, the monsters that appeared because of this were manageable.

Dark Mana Creatures took priority. Rather, they were the bigger problem out of the two.

"Well, what's the plan then?" Chris blatantly asked.

Oliver stood up and dusted his lap before looking out the cliffside. The cave provided a good vantage point plus the creatures didn't dare advance to somewhere without a dark Mana Crystal.

"The same thing we did last time," Oliver said as he pointed to where the Central Mana Core was located. "Only difference now is that we aren't going to be holding back. We go in, guns blazing."

Chris raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Do you honestly think that'll work? Think, man. Even if we do get to the center, what do we do then? We have no way for recovering the damn thing from its corruption."

Oliver snapped back to reality.

He didn't even think that far. It was clear to him that repeating the same thing over and over again won't get them anywhere. At most, they'll be consumed by the same dark Mana in the long run. That would be the most terrible conclusion, but it was also the most probable scenario.

'He's right, you know. You ought to think things through.'

'Heh,' Oliver snickered, 'You finally decided to show up, huh?'

The devil audibly yawned in Oliver's head. It wasn't the first time the devil appeared during the past 8 months. Oftentimes, the devil just spites Oliver whenever it opened his mouth. But, somehow, Oliver was able to reach a good decision after conversing with the devil.

It was like the devil was cunning enough to subtly guide Oliver to do the right thing, not that Oliver had ever noticed it.

'If you have nothing helpful to say,' Oliver scolded, 'then shut up. I'm trying to think of a plan here and I could do it without an annoying voice in my head.'

'Pesky Human,' the devil's conniving voice rang in Oliver's head once more. 'I knew I should have possessed a weapon instead of a human. What a complete waste of my dark Mana.'

'Oh, please,' Oliver said, mockingly. 'I doubt you'll get far by being a weapon with an attitude. Seriously, people would use you to wipe their asses with a personality like that.'

The devil couldn't help but snicker at Oliver's words. Naturally, as a being of omnipotent power, the devil wasn't affected in the slightest. The thing was, ever since Rynold mentioned the Mech God, the devil acted differently towards Oliver. That meant there were no more attempts to take over his body. Instead, the devil just slept most of the time, as if biding his time for something big.

'Don't push your luck, Human,' the devil threatened Oliver. 'I can overwhelm your very soul at any moment. For a Human who has no idea how to purify dark Mana, you'd better watch yourself.'

Oliver rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'If you're so high and mighty,' he snapped back, 'why don't you find a solution to our current problem. You said it yourself; I have no clue how to purify the dark Mana from a fucking grape.'

'As much as I'd like that, lowly Human,' the devil retorted, 'the best I could do is feed it more dark Mana than purify it. Any self-respecting mage would know that you need to use a purifying spell to cleanse anything influenced by dark Mana.'