Read Novel Full Chapter 1950: Too Much XP
Chapter 1950: Too Much XP
Quinlan studied Black Fang, then the dead serpent floating beside them, held at the surface by his water magic.
"One million two hundred thousand XP? From that?"
"Yes."
She remained in his arms, violet eyes fixed on her notification. Water dripped from the ends of her black strands onto Synchra’s armor.
The monster had been level seventy. Even sharing the kill with him, she had received a reward that left him eager to dive down there and find another immediately.
"Hmm..."
Quinlan formed a screen of water between them and the beach. Black Fang’s torn and drenched skirt had fallen open over his supporting arm. The people on the shore had already enjoyed quite enough of a spectacle today.
Wet silk clung to her waist, following every curve before gathering beneath his palm at her back. Her bare thigh rested against his wrist, droplets sliding down the pale skin to fall into the sea.
Quinlan glanced at her and found her watching him now.
She had sheathed her sword and apparently wasn’t in a rush to land on her feet.
"Your thoughts?"
"That today is one amazing day."
"On the reward."
"Ah. Those thoughts."
Her stare remained utterly flat. Quinlan answered it by giving her thigh a squeeze, his smile entirely unapologetic.
’Quinlan Elysiar. Enough simping already.’
He eased his arm farther beneath her knees before glancing toward their kill.
Then Quinlan brought up the reward notification he had ignored underwater.
[XP gained: 1,800,000.]
"Oh."
His share was even larger than hers. He checked the figure against his status, already imagining what a day of hunting out here could earn them.
[Level: 65. XP: 611,204,978 ➣ 613,004,978 / 1,960,534,764]
The reward was a welcome addition to his XP, though he was still far from filling that enormous bar.
"One million eight hundred thousand. I got more than you did."
Black Fang studied his face.
"You were five levels below it."
"That probably helped. As for why we both got so much..."
He glanced toward the floating serpent.
"It could be the fight itself. We were underwater for the first time, lacking oxygen, fighting it on its home turf where we were greatly disadvantaged."
Black Fang listened without shifting against him. A wet strand lay across her cheek, and Quinlan lifted it away with a curl of air.
"I helped you move, but it was still an extremely dangerous place to fight. Perhaps we were rewarded for that."
"Perhaps."
She sounded unconvinced. Quinlan could hardly blame her.
"Or the serpent was unusual. For all we know, we just killed some rare monster people spend years looking for."
Black Fang regarded the huge carcass beyond his shoulder. Its ruined skull bobbed in the current he was using to keep it afloat.
"It died easily enough."
"With the two of us splitting its skull."
"Yes."
Quinlan chuckled. The shallow wound on her forearm was still bleeding, and she was dismissing the creature that had put it there.
He washed the cut with clean water, then kept a gentle pressure over it while she considered his suggestions.
"I’m not claiming either explanation is right," he added. "Just making some guesses."
Her eyes returned to his.
"We need a larger sample."
The Venomborne Terror spoke with complete composure, reclining against him while proposing they slaughter more of the outside world.
Quinlan grinned down at her.
"Yeah. Only one way to solve this mystery. We’ll have to gather more evidence."
Black Fang nodded to him, then looked past him toward the horizon, her violet gaze searching the water. Quinlan felt his own eagerness rising as he followed it. They had barely left the beach.
...
Quinlan carried Black Fang back toward the surfers on a moving column of water, towing their kill in a separate current behind him.
"> Once they crossed his inner warning curtain, he called his wives through [Master’s Link]. <We’re done. Everyone alright?>
Ayame replied.
"> <Why not?>
Lucille purred."> <Opportunistic as always, I see~> Lucille purred.
Ayame rode her board out to meet them, her concern easing when she saw Black Fang’s face. Quinlan drew the water from the assassin’s clothes before lowering the screen around them.
"Big sis, did you forget how to walk?"
"We’re in the ocean."
Ayame eyed Quinlan’s hold pointedly.
The samurai understood very well that the Venomborne Terror couldn’t walk on the water, but still. Never in a thousand years would Black Fang let a man princess carry her, a man visibly enjoying his hold on her thigh.
If he were anyone else, he’d have already lost his life and she’d just swim out to shore. With her speed and power, it wouldn’t take more than a few moves.
Her sister ignored her narrowed gaze, waiting until he brought them into the shallows before putting her feet down.
A rush of Quinlan’s water magic swept the serpent up the beach. Quinlan lowered its body onto the wet sand, where it lay long enough to make the nearest boards look like toys.
"You brought that back?!" Ayame stared at its broken skull.
"I thought we could have a special lunch. It’s still our wedding day, after all."
She inspected the blackened wounds running along its body.
"You want to feed your newlywed wives with poisoned monster meat."
Her tone sounded rather dry.
Aurora joined Ayame, studying the pale flesh farther down the serpent’s body. The alchemist traced the spreading discoloration back toward the wounds Black Fang had inflicted.
"Could you draw the poison out? I can check the meat as you work. We should discard everything it’s already ruined."
Black Fang crouched beside the carcass.
To Quinlan’s surprise, the Venomborne Terror seemed uncharacteristically interested in tasting her first kill outside the barrier.
He grew a broad slab of stone beneath their catch to keep it clear of the sand. Synchra flowed out of her armor plates into a black shirt and trousers as he joined the women beside it.
Aurora retrieved her testing kit from storage. At her request, Quinlan accessed [Slave Monitor] and switched her active class to Alchemist before she began.
Black Fang pressed her fingers beside an exposed stretch of muscle and cast a spell to draw out the poison.
At her pull, dark droplets welled out of the flesh and gathered above the wound. Aurora held a glass vial beneath them, and Black Fang guided the poison inside before moving farther along the flank.
The unexpected duo worked together to cleanse its flesh. As Aurora pointed out the portions that remained discolored, Black Fang cut them away with her sword and pushed them to the far end of the slab.
By the time Aurora was satisfied, the ruined meat lay apart from the clean portions. The alchemist stoppered the vial of recovered poison and put it away.
"Now we can eat it," Aurora announced.
"Music to my ears." Quinlan floated a long strip of meat off the stone with his wind magic. "Ayame, would you help with the slicing?"
"Naturally. We can’t trust you to do it right~"
Ayame unsheathed her katana while Black Fang separated the remaining flesh from the bones. Black Fang passed Ayame a clean length, and the Skysplitter’s blade swept through it in a series of gleaming cuts.
*Shik! Shik! Shik!*
Thin slices fell onto the smooth stone Quinlan conjured beside her. He cooled the slab with his ice magic while the sisters worked through another portion.
"Like that?" Ayame asked, balancing a slice on the flat of her blade.
Quinlan leaned forward and took it between his teeth.
"Mm. Perfect."
"Of course it is."
For the rest, he had a different plan.
Quinlan thrust a stone skewer up from the sand with his earth magic, its rising point making the nearest onlookers step back.
Using his wind magic, he threaded the thick cuts onto it before lowering both ends into supports he grew beneath them.
"That’s a spit?" Brokk demanded, studying its enormous length.
"We have a bear to feed."
Gorruk gave an approving rumble.
Quinlan sent fire rolling beneath the meat. Flames climbed above him, washing the pale flesh gold while a current of air rotated the skewer in its supports.
Fat dripped into the blaze with a loud hiss. He raised the flames beneath the thickest cuts, letting the smaller pieces brown over gentler heat.
"Oh, that smells wonderful," Lucille sighed, coming to stand beside him.
"Want to try the first bite?"
"Very much." She opened her mouth, expectant.
Quinlan shaved a morsel from the browned surface with a thin blade of wind. He cooled it with a gentle current of air before bringing it to her lips.
"Mmm~" Lucille closed her lips around the offered bite, smiling at him as she chewed.
While the monster cooked, the girls brought out seasonings and plates from their supplies. Ayame’s sashimi circulated through the gathering, and Quinlan shaped benches from the sand so their guests could sit.
The beastkin lords hesitated beside the new seats. The Obsidian Circle lingered farther back with unused plates while his family crowded around the roast.
They were being offered lunch by their conqueror, with his brides arguing over which part of the monster looked tastiest. Maelstrom glanced toward the Mediator, who seemed equally uncertain where to sit.
"There’s room here," Lucille offered, moving a plate along the bench. "Would you care for some of the raw slices while we wait?"
"...Thank you."
The Mediator lowered himself onto the seat. Maelstrom joined him after another glance at the fire, and the beastkin began finding places nearby.
Gorruk tried a slice, considered it, then reached for another. Brokk chose to wait for the roast, watching Quinlan regulate the heat with her thumbs hooked in her belt.
When the first cuts were ready, Quinlan pulled them off the spit with his wind magic. Ayame carved off steaming portions while he held the meat above the plates his wives extended toward her.
"Careful, it’s hot," Jasmine warned, then took a bite of her own and promptly had to blow through her mouth.
Quinlan laughed. "Good?"