Mixed Blessing System

In the blink of an eye, a whole week had passed...

Lothur's group had followed Cykad's plans and hunted demons and spectres during these days, having accumulated many new Soul Bones and made good progress concerning Blood and Smoke's strengths.

Lothur had also improved the progress of his bones and resistances a little more, having experienced slightly more significant improvements in recent days, given the strength of his targets.

As their hunt progressed, the group went after stronger and stronger creatures. Consequently, the points Lothur had been absorbing were increasing every day, and his progress was accelerating.

However, just as their opponents were getting stronger, more difficulties were coming to Lothur and his group's way, and they had to be more cautious in their actions.

They had encountered some groups of demons with sniffers in their composition and had naturally avoided them, moving on to the following groups.

Groups with sniffers could be interesting for them to attack or pursue in the future, as they could lead them to the Seven Singularities. But for now, Lothur merely wanted to get stronger and wasn't interested in getting involved in great dangers.

But in addition to these groups with sniffers, the group had to give up making attacks twice this week because enemies were watching their targets.

Previously, none of Cykad's targets were being watched by groups other than his own. But after exterminating several groups of demons over the last two weeks, they had noticed this change.

They didn't know yet whether this was an effect of their movements or whether these observers had other purposes unrelated to them. But it was a fact that they had lost two groups because of this and had only managed to eliminate 5 groups of demons in the last seven days.

In any case, they weren't left with nothing to do. With Blood and Smoke improving with each group of spectres they devoured, the group had used most of their time to hunt down these spectral creatures.

And they had been very successful at it!

In 7 days, the group had hunted down 16 groups of 4th-stage spectres, a phenomenal number!

But in addition to the improvements these beings made to Blood and Smoke, the group finally got some information about the Castle of Shadows!

...

In a forest on the east coast of the northern region of Concordia...

On top of a hill, a group of 5 humanoid beings and 3 beasts were standing around an area overlooking the vast sea to the east but also the mountains to the west.

There were few trees, a beautiful lawn in view, and a small fire at the top of the hill, where someone was roasting vegetables while one of the women in the group handled them, sometimes throwing some seasoning and water in there.

Meanwhile, three women were meditating in front of the beautiful sea, and a large beast was sleeping under one of the few trees in the area, not far from everyone.

While two balls of fur played with each other, rolling around on the grass, a young man with blond hair was currently staring at them.

[Name: Blood]

[Soul Cultivation: level 22]

[Body Cultivation: level 22] 

[STR: 4,250] [CON: 4,400] [DEX: 4,280] [AGI: 4,310] 

[INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,780] [SOU: 5,610]

...

[Name: Smoke]

[Soul Cultivation: level 22]

[Body Cultivation: level 22] 

[STR: 4,300] [CON: 4,450] [DEX: 4,350] [AGI: 4,440] 

[INT: 1,499] [PER: 5,556] [WIL: 2,790] [SOU: 5,790]

'Not bad. They quickly doubled their Soul attribute by devouring some 4th stage spectres... If they continue like this, in another three weeks, they can reach level 23 in soul cultivation.' Lothur thought to himself, seeing that his feline friends had finished digesting the last group of spectres they had attacked this morning.

Considering how many spectres were still in their way, it would be relatively easy for those two little ones to raise their strength even further.

Previously, their group had information about the location of five groups of spectres. But in attacking and exterminating these groups, each had given them the locations of 2 others, excluding repeated locations.

The other groups they had attacked had also given them the information of 8 others, one of which they had already attacked.

But before pursuing the remaining 7, Lothur's group had a new target!

The last group they had attacked had given them something quite different from what they had achieved so far.

According to the leader of that group of spectres, they would meet a spectre sent by the Castle of Shadows this afternoon to receive new orders!

Because of this, Lothur and his group were standing on this hill, resting, waiting for the moment to go to the meeting place with this creature of the highest level, probably the 5th stage.

The meeting place was not far from where they were, so the group was quietly waiting for dusk in this location.

Thinking about this and how beneficial it might be for his cats and for himself to meet a high-ranking spectre, Lothur clenched his fists, taking his eyes off those cats to look at his own status.

[Name: Lothur Ritter]

[Physique: what doesn't kill you makes you stronger]

[Bloodline: Life Devourer]

[Soul Cultivation: level 23]

[Body Cultivation: level 22]

[STR: 4,530] [CON: 7,500] [DEX: 4,740] [AGI: 4,800] 

[INT: 1,599] [PER: 6,280] [WIL: 3,050] [SOU: 16,599]

[EVF: 26]

'If I can reach the location of the Castle of Shadows, my plans might progress faster.' Lothur imagined, thinking of using the Black Flames to turn enemies into allies.

'It will be fascinating if I can trick the demons with the spectres and get to the location of the Seven Singularities...' He smiled.

While he was thinking about this, Lothur saw the luminosity of the surroundings diminish, noticing a glow on the horizon, marking the beginning of the end of the day.

When she saw this, Annaliese, who was preparing something for the group to eat, looked at Lothur and asked.

"What will we do after this meeting? Your bloodline ability should be back to normal by now, shouldn't it?"

He looked at her and said. "After we've eaten and met that spectre, we'll go where his information takes us.

The spectres can help us significantly in our hunt if we act against them first. So let's leave the demons aside for now."

Dealing with 5th-stage beings could take them much further, even if these beings weren't as useful for strengthening Lothur as the demons were.

But with them on his side, he could get several things that might make it easier for his group to reach some Soul Bones relevant to them.

So, as soon as night fell and the group had eaten, they set off from that place to meet an important spectre!