In the process of grinding monsters, filled with agony and joy, time slowly ebbed away.
With the Soulcharm Incense in play, monsters continuously swarmed towards them, leaving no time for Howard and his team to catch their breath.
Fortunately, Judy was the Holy Maiden of the Church.
She had received various teachings from a young age and possessed numerous exceptional supportive skills, allowing Howard and the others to maintain their vigorous energy, ready to face the onslaught of monsters at any given moment.
However, Judy was different from Aisha.
While Aisha’s skills were mostly concentrated on enhancing states, Judy had a combination of offensive capabilities, state enhancements, and an exceptionally strong defensive power.
Apart from Howard, who could continuously recover MP and replenish his MP Shield, leaving him out of harm’s way, both Nick and Morgan relied on Judy’s skills to fend off damage.
It was also at this critical juncture of life and death that the coordination among the six of them became increasingly tacit.
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...
After an indeterminable amount of time, just as Howard and his team were relentlessly slaughtering the monsters before them, Tana’s figure gracefully descended upon them.
Wind blades swept out, instantly slicing all the monsters within 50 yards into halves!
"Alright, time’s almost up. You guys should extinguish the Soulcharm Incense now," Tana landed atop her Dragonhawk, casually playing with a dagger in her hand.
Though she seemed carefree, her eyes held a trace of admiration as she looked at Howard and the others.
Even they, the mentors, didn’t dare to casually use the Soulcharm Incense.
If they ever did use it, it would be in areas where the monsters were dozens of levels below them.
But now, with Howard and his team at a mere average level of 20, they dared to use it in an area with monsters of the same level.
This was indeed commendable courage.
What surprised Tana even more was that Howard and his team had truly held out until the end.
From start to finish, there was no need for her to take action.
This left her feeling both helpless and proud.
Hearing Tana’s words, Howard’s eyes lit up as he swiftly extinguished the Soulcharm Incense.
Once the Soulcharm Incense was completely snuffed out, the echoing footsteps that followed also finally dissipated.
Howard, Abby, Judy, and the rest exchanged glances, all revealing smiles on their faces.
However, under the high-intensity battle, they suddenly felt a wave of relaxation, and fatigue hit them all at once.
They had been in continuous combat for nearly two days!
Even though they had skills to apply beneficial states, the mental exhaustion was genuinely present.
Fortunately, high risk meant high rewards!
Howard successfully leveled up to LV29, just one step away from his goal.
Abby and Judy both reached LV27, while Nick and Mike got to LV26.
Morgan, having started from a much lower level, only made it to LV24.
Even though the rest of the team’s levels were not as high as Howard’s, they were still incredibly excited at this moment.
Without Howard, they couldn’t have achieved this!
They weren’t foolish; they could clearly see that Howard’s damage output was exceptionally ferocious.
Monsters of the same, or even higher levels, appeared weak as lambs in front of Howard’s onslaught.
What shocked them even more was Howard’s mastery over a variety of elemental attribute skills.
With a cyclic deployment, it was as if there was no cooldown period.
For dozens of hours straight, Howard never paused, releasing skills with machine-like precision.
Especially after triggering Elemental Reaction, the damage caused was something they couldn’t even comprehend!
Aside from a few special monsters, ordinary monsters couldn’t last five breaths in front of Howard.
They couldn’t believe that Howard was able to comprehend more than ten skills within a month of awakening his talent!
Even Judy, who had been cultivated by the Church from a young age, had only learned eight skills, while Abby and the others had comprehended only three or four skills, and they weren’t even proficient yet.
Fortunately, this bout of intense combat resulted in not only significant growth for Howard but also astonishing advancement for Judy and the others.
The levels of their skills generally increased by 3-4 levels, with the effects of all their skills being enhanced.
As for Howard, it goes without saying that his lower-level skills all advanced to around LV6.
His overall strength had reached a point where, even without deploying SS-level skills, he was comparable to a LV60 awakened!
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"Let’s go, it’s time to head back to the academy," Tana said, lightly waving her right hand.
A gust of wind blew, sheltering the fatigued Howard and the others as they securely mounted the Dragonhawk.
"Squawk!"
Amidst the crisp cry of the Dragonhawk, they soared into the sky.
Tana concealed her inner emotions and turned around, prepared to speak, only to see Abby, Judy, Nick, and the others already collapsed atop the Dragonhawk, fast asleep.
Only Howard remained awake, sitting upright.
Seeing this, Tana couldn’t help but express her sentiments, "The continuous battles have indeed taken their toll; it’s time for a rest, young one. Don’t push yourself too hard."
"I’m fine," Howard responded.
He wasn’t forcing himself. In this data-driven world, a person’s physical strength was related to their attributes.
Despite his lower level, his attributes were remarkable, and his physical condition was far superior to that of Abby, Judy, and the others.
Naturally, he could withstand such intensity of battle.
Tana took a careful look at Howard, and seeing his determined expression without a trace of weakness, she nodded and said, "Young one, I never expected you to be so robust. I am very curious about you..."
At this point, Tana suddenly remembered the rules of the Holy Abyss Academy -- mentors were not allowed to inquire about a student’s prior mentorship before entering the academy.
She promptly held back what she was about to say. 𝐛𝗲𝗱𝐧𝐨𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝐜𝐨𝐦
Noticing Tana’s hesitation, Howard couldn’t help but feel puzzled and asked, "Ms. Tana, what are you curious about?"
For Howard, mentor Tana had been a great help, and he was genuinely grateful to her.
"It’s nothing," Tana shook her head and spoke, "In this qualification match, your team has slain even more monsters than all the other students combined. I reckon, the final spot should rightfully belong to you."
"When you are escorting Athena, you must be extremely cautious. If you encounter any danger, run to Wales immediately. This guy may not be the strongest, but his survival and escape skills are second to none throughout the entire Alliance. As long as you stick with him, your safety is guaranteed."
Tana was present when Athena had arrived, so she was well aware that the person selected in this qualification match would set out with Wales.
It must be said, Wales’ maneuver with the qualification match had indeed deceived the other people within the academy, even Tana was oblivious to the fact that Wales had specifically requested a spot for Howard.
After all, from Tana’s perspective, if Wales was doing this for Howard, he could have just mentioned it at the time; there was no need for such an elaborate scheme!
"Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Tana." Howard was moved, realizing that Wales possessed such abilities.
No wonder people would travel such distances to seek his help, even offering such generous rewards.
Two thousand gold coins were certainly not a small sum!
"Chuckle, you don’t need to thank me," Tana said, feeling sentimental. "Young one, grow up quickly. The future of humanity is depending on you."
"..."
Hearing the nickname "young one" repeatedly, Howard pouted and said helplessly, "Ms. Tana, can you please stop calling me ’young one’? I’m not that small!"
"Oh, where is your mind wandering to, young one?" Tana, though never having been in a relationship, was not a naive young girl.
She immediately responded with a playful tone, "Where exactly are you not small? Show me, and then I can be sure!"
Howard’s mouth twitched, and he chose not to engage further, closing his eyes instead.
Seeing this, Tana couldn’t help but burst into hearty laughter, her chuckles resonating in the air.
Luckily, Abby was sound asleep; otherwise, she might have gotten jealous after hearing this conversation.
When the Dragonhawk finally returned to Holy Abyss Academy and landed on the field, Daniel was still waiting on the platform.
Seeing Howard and the others return, he nodded in approval.
Once all the students were ready, Abby, Judy, and the others were gently awakened by the breeze.
Since there were no specific judging criteria for this qualification match, there was no need to check points or anything of that sort.
After praising the students, Daniel invited Wales onto the stage to choose the student who would accompany him on the journey.
Unsurprisingly, Wales chose Howard.
Thanks to Howard’s impressive performance, not only were the mentors satisfied, but even the other students raised no objections.
Of course, this was also because they had been fighting for a long time and were utterly exhausted.
At this point, they just wanted to return to their dorms and rest, not caring about the spot at all.
Daniel, noticing the exhaustion among the students, instructed the rest to return to their dorms for some much-needed rest, while Howard followed Wales and Daniel towards the academic affairs office.
"Howard, your performance has been outstanding lately. However, this upcoming adventure accompanying Mentor Wales is still a tremendous challenge for you," Daniel remarked.
To get a leave of absence approved for Daniel, Wales had told him everything except the part about pre-selecting Howard. Therefore, Daniel was aware of the immense dangers this journey to escort Athena posed. He cautioned with concern, "No matter what happens, you must follow Wales’ instructions. I hope that you will return triumphantly and soon!"
"I have also prepared a gift for you. If you find yourself in danger, do not hesitate to use it!"
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