Ball of Nothing - Chapter 84
Chapter 84
Sleepy Cave shuddered . Monsters after powerful monsters were devoured by the cheating duo . Yes, it had dubbed these two outrageous intruders as the true monsters . It didn't know that one was a Sage God and the other was an all-powerful existence but even if it did, it couldn't do anything .
Sleepy Cave had sent its strongest creations only to be met with failure . It sensed great magical power coming from the old magician and was wary of it . The cave plotted to tire the magician by sending monsters with high magic resistance . The weaknesses of magic users are their weak bodies and Sleepy Cave tried to exploit that . Unfortunately, Merlin wasn't some normal magician . He conjured magic that acted like physical attacks and blasted everything apart .
Sleepy Cave was also frustrated that they didn't leave any corpses behind for it to recycle . The small brunet trailing behind the old mage kept eating them so Sleepy Cave could not resurrect the monsters!
What a huge loss!
Desperate, Sleepy Cave called for the Shadow Ant Army's help . Surely the brunet wouldn't eat insects . . . the Shadow Ants were monsters known to be crafty . If their queen wasn't taken out, they would continue to attack the enemy with their never-ending numbers . Surely this time, the intruders would die .
Satisfied with its evil plan, Sleepy Cave let the Shadow Ants grow in silence . It didn't want to forcefully kick the intruders out and go into hibernation if it could . That would mean Sleepy Cave had to start all over again collecting energy and trapping souls for energy . It was a painful process and after finally devouring the dragon guarding it, Sleep Cave didn't want to return to the painful days of working for scraps .
The Shadow Ant Queen hid in the boss room chamber as she laid eggs, preparing an army for the unsuspecting intruders . Sleepy Cave distracted the duo with twisting cave mazes and never-ending passages filled with low-level evolved monsters like Carbon Monkfish Warriors only to stall for time when they progressed too quickly .
"Bind!" Zero shouted and made the three Monkfish Warriors snap together under the invisible force . Merlin finished them off with an old-fashioned lightning bolt .
Zero refused to eat the Carbon Monkfish Warriors and Merlin didn't blame him . Firstly, monkfishes didn't look appealing . Secondly, they were literally dead and rotting . It wasn't anything safe for consumption . Lastly, their carbon armour was stuck onto them like scales, impossible to pry off or salvage . Zero couldn't find any good way to eat them so he settled for simply absorbing them and converting them into energy .
Mii had levelled up a lot in various areas with Merlin in the party, much to Zero's elation . Mii's upgraded Encyclopaedia function allowed Zero to tell how strong a new species was . It had ranking and the higher it was, the stronger the monster was . Of course, Mii explained that in addition to the level indicator, it had a rarity index . Rarity index worked like this:
1 Star: Common Grade (aka Trash)
2 Stars: Uncommon Grade (aka Useful Item)
3 Stars: Rare Grade (aka Very Useful Item)
4 Stars: Very Rare Grade (aka Super Useful Item)
5 Stars: Special Grade (aka Unknown Potential Item)
"So anything that is labelled five stars may not always be a five star?"
Mii nodded . "It can be a seven-star or twelve-star grade but since it's a pain to classify it, anything not within one to four will be considered five until after appraisal . "
"What's appraisal?"
Mii grinned at Zero . "It's a new skill that's locked for now . However, I do have another skill for party members . "
Excited, Zero demanded to know . Mii pulled up a screen and Zero recognised it as a map similar to the application on his communicator .
"This is a party map . It allows any party member to see what you can see on your communicator . Green dots are party members or friendly creatures . Red dots are enemies and yellow ones are unconfirmed non-hostiles . "
Merlin looked at the party map in fascination . It was his first time seeing Mii and he found it odd how the strawcherry fairy didn't emit magic . It was an unknown existence just like his student . As Mii explained the functions of the party map, Merlin observed how the number of red dots was growing around them .
"Can we identify what kind of enemies are these red dots?"
Mii shook her head . "Not yet . I still do not have sufficient experience points to do so . "
Merlin shrugged . It wasn't important . After all, it was good enough knowing where his enemies were . He didn't need to see them to kill them .
"Are you ready, Zero? It's an all you can eat buffet from now on . "
The brunet grinned and patted his stomach . "I'm always ready! Let's hope it will be something yummy . "
The wizard chuckled . "One platter of roasted monsters coming right up!"