Chapter 47: Legendary Party

[You have used the Poison Touch.]

While the roots still held the Bush Ball, Remia used her new skill. That skill worked on already activated skills, meaning that it was a perfect fit for Remia. Her roots shook, and poison slowly crept its way toward the monster.

Roots became soaked in poison, then they sank into the ball's form.

The monster thrashed within the trap, desperately hoping that those roots would snap soon. Alas, Remia's connection was so strong that a mere level thirty-five monster wouldn't be able to escape her!

Alex held his sword tightly; he had been looking at the monster intensely, "Your poison skill works. But it is slow…"

He didn't say it to discourage Remia. He just spotted the weakness to help her.

Knowing his intent, Remia sweetly smiled, "I know. But with more practice, I will be able to increase the skill's grade!"

"That's the spirit!" Alex laughed out loud.

He then promptly shifted his eyes to the side. On the horizon, a few more monsters ran toward him.

Alex located three Bush Ball's monsters. It was easy to spot them since they were leading the group. In their ball forms, they were pretty fast and deadly.

But behind them, the ground shook. It looked like someone had been digging behind those green monsters.

"Root Worms?" Alex thought loudly.

Hearing him, Remia glanced in the direction he had been looking at. She narrowed her sparkling eyes and counted.

Then, Remia confirmed the numbers, "Three Bush Balls and five root worms."

"It's a real challenge then," Alex stated.

He took a few steps forward, becoming the front-line once again. In his current party, where he had just Remia in it, Alex always would be ready to become front. He would always protect her until his last health point.

"Root Worms…" Alex narrowed his eyes.

He knew about the monsters' weak points, thanks to Remia's intel. He had already tested it against the Bush Ball. And for some reason, he easily could see through the monster's form.

It should be the same with the root worms.

"They are made out of countless roots. It's like many of them are tied to form a big monster," Alex repeated what Remia had told him.

Since the cursed monsters' origin was that simple, their weak spot was even more.

Alex grinned, "I have to strike the knot that makes the monster as a whole. Then once they break, I will hack them all."

From behind, Remia shouted, "I can stop the Bush Balls and slow down the Root Worms!"

"Do it," Alex nodded.

After his words, Remia used her skill. The roots burst out from the ground, stopping the Bush Balls as if betraying them. The same roots went after the Root Worms. Unfortunately, slowing them down was all Remia could do.

Sensing the unfamiliar mana, the monster maneuvered around Remia's roots. But that was all Alex needed.

"Since you have to take detours, you all got separated. And you also became slower!" Alex shouted; his sword was already in move.

He threw a powerful thrust that precisely landed in the middle of the root worm's body. His weapon went in smoothly as if sinking into something soft. Of course, the worm was far from a soft monster.

Thus, what did it mean? It meant that Alex's sword accurately went into a knot that had been holding the monster altogether!

BANG!

[Critical Strike! -750 HP!]

After Alex broke the knot, the root worm dissipated into a few smaller forms. Those forms amounted to a hundred, but their numbers literally meant nothing! Once they dropped onto the ground, Alex slashed a few times, killing them all as if he was mowing the lawn.

Meanwhile, Remia's skills held all surrounding Bush Balls.

She had applied her poison, which had been debilitating those monsters. The first prey was already so low that she could slap him down to death. As for the remaining three, their HP dropped significantly.

It was highly corrosive poisons that worked well with Remia's skills.

Alex glared at those three monsters, then killed them all, gaining a significant amount of experience points!

"How come I get so many experience points?!" Remia gasped in shock as well.

Their leveling up continued.

In the beginning, only Alex looked forward to experience points. But now, even Remia was the same. She knew she could level up like other players, making her work harder, if that was possible.

She always gave her all, after all.

As they leveled up, both silently thought about this unknown power.

Inwardly, Alex thought of a possible theory, 'Because Remia is connected to my class somehow, I don't have to form a special connection with her, just like I did with Olivia. She gets benefits from my class naturally.'

Although Alex didn't know whether he was sure, his theory was that NPCs became like players the moment they joined his party.

Back then, he had a party with Sara. She had leveled up significantly, and her reaction was similar to Remia's. That was the reason he thought about the dullahan lady.

And after he had compared the two situations, Alex was sure that the party benefitted Remia and other NPCs.

He also had an inkling that the party with them also helped him.

After all, Alex saw through the Bush Balls' monsters easily. The moment they spread their forms, Alex instinctively knew which one was real and which one was fake. He didn't need Remia's intel for that.

And when he fought against the Root Worms, he also smoothly pointed out their weak point. Even if those monsters ran in circles around them, Alex had no problems finding their weaknesses.

Their leveling up was that smooth.

And as Alex thought about it, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

'What was that?' Alex thought.

He felt like something bad was about to happen. But he couldn't tell what exactly would happen.

It was the first time he had such a feeling. It was odd but also an unsettling feeling. Therefore, Alex looked around. He checked his surroundings quickly, then glanced toward Remia.

And that was when he noticed a player coming out from the shadows!

The enemy's sword was going straight for Remia's neck!

Unaware of anything, Remia kept her eyes on her system. She had never been this vulnerable. But perhaps, it was Alex's presence that gave her security. Maybe, their leveling up gave her an impression that nothing would be able to kill her in the Corrupted Forest.

The enemy sword… didn't stop.