A Surprise!
The skill was so powerful, even Lucien had to shield his eyes from the glare, his heart pounding in his chest. He could feel the extreme heat licking at his skin, even from where he stood.
Fortunately, the tunnel was wider and stronger in this part; otherwise...
"Roarrrrrr!"
The lingering effect of Tunnel Grid was still in place.
So, once the Earth Dragon killed every rodent in sight with its incredible power, it suddenly paused, its blazing eyes sweeping over the scattered treasure.
"Whoosh!"
Then to the surprise of Lucien, it opened its mouth wide and began sucking in the coins with a single, mighty breath.
No matter where they were or how far they had rolled, all of them suddenly flew into its maw without the slightest resistance.
Hence, a comical scene unfolded as a storm of clinking metal echoed through the cavern, and the gold disappeared down the dragon's throat.
But Lucien was in no mood to admire the scenery as he was busy hearing the prompt as soon as those coins disappeared into the maw of the Earth Dragon.
Ding!
[You have loaned 10 gold coins to Earth Dragon– D-Rank Monster.]
[You have loaned 100 gold coins to Earth Dragon– D-Rank Monster.]
....
[You have loaned 1000 gold coins to Earth Dragon– D-Rank Monster.]
...
[You have loaned 3000 gold coins to Earth Dragon– D-Rank Monster.]
...
[You have loaned 5000 gold coins to Earth Dragon– D-Rank Monster.]
...
[Subject shows no intention of repayment.]
[Debt collection attempt: Failed.]
[Analyzing transaction records…]
[Extracting compensation of equivalent value…]
[Congratulations! You gained: +10 Strength, +5 Endurance, Gravitational Crush (D-Rank)]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: Fire Affinity (Poor)]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: Earth Affinity (Poor)]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: +10 Strength, +20 Mana, Active Skill: Stonewall Barrier (D-rank)]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: +10 Endurance, +2 Perception, +20 Mana]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: Active Skill: Inferno Surge (D-rank)]
...
[Congratulations! You gained: Earth Affinity (Poor)]
...
To Lucien's surprise, the prompt was relentless as he continuously heard the rewards pouring in.
Although he had thrown all 5,000 coins just to be sure, he never thought the Earth Dragon could give him this much.
The euphoria from all the rewards bestowed by the system was so addictive that Lucien felt a comforting warmth spread all over him.
But still, he had some doubts.
'If I can extract this much from this monster, then... why did Devan and Glen only give me so little? And that guy Devan even went insolvent?'
Lucien really felt like his system was so random.
Sometimes, it would give him huge, continuous rewards just for a small amount of coins; other times, it suddenly stopped working, declaring someone insolvent.
It didn't make sense.
'And unlike before, I'm not getting its skill multiple times, too.'
When he extracted from the Glimmergnaws earlier, he continuously managed to get the E-rank skill, Rodent's Greed.
That's why he managed to evolve it into Tunnel Greed (D-rank).
But now, in the case of Earth Dragon, he suddenly wasn't getting those anymore.
Only affinities to earth and fire, and the strength and endurance attributes kept coming up repeatedly.
"Roarrrrrrrrr!"
Just as Lucien was growing more confused, a loud roar echoed through the entire tunnel once again, louder than ever before.
Only this time, the roar was a ragged, agonized bellow, vibrating with pure, unbearable pain of the Earth Dragon.
Just when Lucien didn't know what had happened, a new prompt from the system erased his doubt.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You gained: Earth Dragon Monster Core (D-rank)]
"Thud!"
As soon as Lucien heard the prompt, the massive, mountain-like body of the Earth Dragon dropped dead, suddenly vibrating the ground below.
Its eyes were hollow, its body thin as a camel, as if every ounce of life and power had been extracted.
However, even in death, those beady eyes were fixed on Lucien with an expression of extreme fear.
It was so eerie that the remaining Glimmergnaws, along with the little one in the far corner, shivered just from seeing it.
"Tap… tap… tap…"
While the entire tunnel suddenly fell silent, Lucien slowly walked toward the massive, lifeless body of the Earth Dragon.
'Is it... dead?'
Only after coming closer did he realize that its body seemed somehow hollowed out.
He didn't notice before as it was hidden beneath its crystalline, rough skin.
Once Lucien was near the body, he slowly crouched down, face to face with the beady eyes that still stared at him in fear.
However, he ignored them and instead grabbed its massive jaws with one hand and forced them open with another.
"Just as I thought!"
Finally, he managed to see a circular core glowing blood red, pulsing faintly with fiery energy in its mouth; the very reward system gave him at last.
"Monster Core… but how is this possible?"
Lucien was, this time, truly surprised beyond belief.
The core was the essence of a monster. The only way to get it was to kill it and extract afterward.
'But what the heck happened here?'
Lucien never thought that his Debt Collector System even kill someone in the name of debt extraction.
Wasn't the insolvent status meant to stop that from happening?
So many questions, yet not a single answer in sight.
Just as Lucien mumbled to himself, clutching the rough, fiery core in his hand in surprise, his increased perception suddenly prickled.
'DANGER!'
The moment he felt it, a shadow suddenly appeared behind him, speaking in a raspy whisper laced with surprise:
"Yeah, how is this possible? Lucien, who are you?"
The voice was young and uncertain.
But as soon as Lucien heard it, he knew it was Glen, the Assassin.
However, before the voice could even finish, Lucien caught a glimpse of a sliver of light flashing toward his neck from the corner of his eye, moving with incredible speed.
It was so sudden and unexpected that Lucien was completely caught off guard.
"Shadowstep!"
Fortunately, Lucien still managed to activate his skill, disappearing right in front of the shadowy figure.
Only, he didn't manage to get out scot-free.