Earlier, while Felix had been lying on the ground, feigning death from the Vice-Leader’s attack, he was finally able to reorganize his thoughts a bit.
‘I got lucky that I only got scratched by the attack earlier. I need something I can use in my favour.’
The thought of sneaking over to the Crystal and grabbing it crossed his mind, but he quickly disregarded it.
‘Only Streamers are able to upgrade directly once in contact with an Upgrade Crystal. While the rest of us have to go through a far more complicated process.’
Sighing inwardly on recalling this, he cursed at the unfairness of how those who weren’t sponsored by Zeniths, like him, had to return to a Guild and go through a more troublesome process to Upgrade their Ranking.
‘Or at least, that’s what they said.’
As information on such topics was often discreet, there was no way of telling if what they claimed was true or not. But Felix wasn’t willing to try it out at the moment, as he highly suspected that the Vice-Leader was sensitive to the movement of shadows within the range of his Attribute. A fact he’d confirmed during their time spent together, as at times, he wouldn’t even need to look at something to know which direction it was. Almost akin to his own Attribute.
So, even if he attempted to reach the Upgrade Crystal while the Vice-Leader was away, there was a high chance he’d be alerted to it, causing Felix to try coming up with another way instead. Though Felix didn’t know the exact range of the Vice-Leader’s Attribute, as he was of a higher Rank than him, it was safe to assume it would be far wider than his own.
At the thought, he couldn’t help but wonder as well.
‘If they already had a scout-type Attribute wielder, why were they looking for another? Or could it be he hid this fact from the others as well?’
Pondering the thought, he doubted Hans wouldn’t have been aware of this at least, but Felix still couldn’t understand why they would require another scout-type Attribute wielder at the time.
Realizing he was running out of time, he focused on the task at hand.
At that moment, he suddenly recalled something he’d forgotten he still had.
‘My Bonus Levels!’
Indeed, as he’d encountered Tink not long after reading about the Bonus Levels rewarded for aiding in the defeat of the Alpha, he hadn’t been able to allocate them at the time. And as he hadn’t seen a need to use them while on their way here, it had completely slipped his mind that he still hadn’t used them yet.
Summoning his Status, he immediately allocated the Bonus Levels to aspects he believed he needed at the moment.
*****
[Personal Stats]
{Strength: Lv.1}
{Agility: Lv.3}
{Stamina: Lv.1 » Lv.3}
{Mana: Lv.4 » Lv.6 (150/150)}
.....
[Personal Attributes]
{Spirit Pulse: Lv.0}
{Golden Touch: Lv.1}
{Hollow Wings: Lv.0 » Lv.1}
{Nectar Drain: Lv.0}
{Flora Echo: Lv.0 » Lv.3}
{Hallow Pods: Lv.0}
{Mirage Mist: Lv.0 » Lv.1}
{Grain Gemini: Lv.0}
******
As there was little to be done with the limited amount of Bonus Levels available, he decided to prioritize what he felt was important for survival at the moment.
Deciding against Strength and Agility, as they would make little to no difference against someone of such a higher Rank, he didn’t bother with them.
Which left him with Mana and Stamina. Though he wanted to use all his Bonus Stat Levels on Mana, due to the rough plan he’d developed in mind, he decided against it, or he’d end up exhausted before the battle even began.
As for the Attributes, he’d limited them to the ones he needed most at the moment.
.....
Shocked at the realization that Felix had anticipated his position before he even appeared, the Vice-Leader soon snapped out of it. He would’ve thought Felix had simply been lucky at first, but upon seeing the provocative smirk on Felix’s face, he knew it wasn’t just luck.
Still smiling at the Vice-Leader’s confusion as to how he’d predicted his assault, a slight sweat trickled down Felix’s face as he thought.
‘I’m glad I decided to put most of my Bonus Attribute Levels into Flora Echo. Otherwise, I’d be dead by now.’
Having levelled up the Attribute a few times, it had exhibited a noticeable change.
Though not a major one, as the level was still relatively low at the moment, it was enough for this sort of battle.
Upon activation, the usual network of monochromatic information flooded his mind upon coming in contact with the moss-covered ground. However, contrary to before, where he had to focus completely just to pinpoint the location of something, this time a circular range around him, roughly the size of a small room, made him completely aware of anything within that range without needing to focus much, while still being able to spread his perception elsewhere should he desire to.
Not to mention, with him being able to see the hostility a being radiated in the form of a red misty coloration, he could immediately tell where the Vice-Leader was the moment that hostility appeared.
And with the hostility from the Vice-Leader practically oozing out of his core and into the surroundings, Felix was able to deduce his position through the Attribute the moment he appeared at a spot, as that shadow would suddenly begin radiating a reddish mist.
However, he still couldn’t use multiple other Attributes simultaneously with it, as it still required a certain level of concentration to remain active.
Using this to his advantage, he was able to avoid every attack aimed at him by the Vice-Leader before he even emerged from the shadows, making the Vice-Leader grow increasingly frustrated.
“You’re really starting to get on my nerves!”
With an irritated snarl, the Vice-Leader submerged into the shadows once more.
Sensing hostility from a shadow beside him, Felix immediately sprang into the air once more. However, a sudden chill ran up his spine as an object aimed at his head threatened to pierce his skull.
Activating another Attribute upon the cancellation of Flora Echo after separating from the moss-covered floor, Felix narrowly escaped the assault.
[Hollow Wings has been Activated]
Swiftly gliding a short distance away from the attack, he narrowly escaped it.
However, upon coming in contact with the ground again, the Vice-Leader’s figure suddenly emerged behind him before he could even regain his balance.
With a swift and precise slash at the hip, the Vice-Leader easily split Felix apart...
Or so he thought.
Contrary to what he had expected, the ‘body’ he’d just slashed suddenly vanished into a wisp of smoke, greatly shocking him.
It was only then that he realized the surroundings were now covered in a thin veil of mist that had completely enveloped the Crystal Room.
The realization sent a cold chill up his spine as he realized something even more frightening.
“He has more than five Attributes!?”
Just the thought alone was frightening, as he’d never heard of anyone capable of possessing more than five Attributes before getting a Zenith Sponsor. Most only had two, or at most three, with only rare exceptions possessing four or five.
Even he had only possessed four at one point, yet he’d been regarded as a genius for having such an amount.
Yet this no-name weakling had more than five?
It was unheard of.
Making him realize that this ‘weakling’ might be even more dangerous than he’d initially anticipated.
Sensing the shadows around him, he was shocked to realize there were over a dozen figures similar to Felix scattered across the room, making it difficult to tell which one was the real one.
Finally realizing why Felix had been coined ‘The Strongest Weakling’, the Vice-Leader found it difficult to believe that someone so weak would be able to survive this long against him despite the power gap, whereas those far stronger than Felix had fallen much easier by his hands.
Had Felix been bestowed with an even slightly higher Rank, he most definitely would’ve been a force to be reckoned with. Even the Zeniths would’ve likely grown interested in him despite his Rank. But as he was the weakest, it made him less valuable to others.
The realization that someone was capable of surviving a battle against a higher Rank was nearly unheard of.
But more importantly, the Vice-Leader found it extremely...
“Infuriating!”
Muttering this, he became utterly irritated at the thought of struggling to defeat a mere F-Rank that he hadn’t even considered worth killing initially.
Yet now he could barely land a single hit on him?
The thought alone was revolting, making him resort to a different approach.
“I wasn’t planning on using this against someone like you. But it seems I gravely underestimated your resilience.” As he said this, a dark, eerie droplet trickled down his arm before sliding onto his sword. “After killing you, all that’s left is to take the Crystal and attain enough strength to kill that man as well, before he returns. As such, I don’t have time to waste on a roach like you.”
Upon saying this, the dark droplet trickled down from his sword and onto the ground.
A slight wave then travelled across the entire room, akin to a droplet falling upon a still lake.
Upon coming in contact with the black-and-white wave, a sudden chill ran up Felix’s spine as he felt his feet suddenly become glued to the ground, incapable of moving from his current spot.
To which a cold, sinister voice resounded behind him.
“Got ya!”
The voice was cold and devoid of emotion as the Vice-Leader crossed his arms, aiming his blades toward Felix’s neck, intending to chop off his head once and for all.
However, before the attack could connect, the Vice-Leader suddenly felt every strand of hair on his body stand on end as a forbidding sensation washed over him.
A flaming figure stood behind him, aiming an object straight at his head, intending to split him in two should he remain where he was.
Realizing this, Felix simply replied to the Vice-Leader’s earlier remark with a smirk of his own.
“Right back at ya!”