Zich quietly watched the group of aliens battling the giant mosquito in the distance without making a sound.
His brain was still trying to register if those mysterious beings were truly another race or just monsters. He stayed there for a full five minutes, unmoving.
With each passing second, it became more and more clear that his judgment was right.
"Why are they here? Are they part of the Ascension Mountain?" Zich frowned slightly.
Were they inhabitants of this world? Times like this, he hated the fact that he had no information about the Ascension Mountain.
"Even if I were to report the sighting of these aliens to the Player Association, would they even believe me?" he mused to himself.
Some time later, after a series of precise yet powerful attacks, the red-skinned aliens finally brought down the giant mosquito. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, raising a small cloud of dust into the air.
"Phew, this one was harder than the others," one of them said, wiping sweat from his temple.
"Well, what do you expect? It's a territorial boss after all," another replied as he stabbed into the mosquito's head.
Puush!
Blood splashed across his face. Unbothered, the man shoved his hand through the small opening he had created, moved it around, and then his face lit up.
From his hiding spot, Zich's golden eyes narrowed slightly as he wondered why the alien had done something like that.
Right at that moment, the alien grinned and pulled out a glowing object.
"Found a soul stone!"
"Are you serious? Let me see!"
It was a gleaming white orb that glowed like a soft light source. Even from Zich's position, he could see it clearly.
The group gathered around it with excited expressions, and Zich's curiosity was piqued. He listened more closely and soon caught fragments of their conversation.
"This alone would be enough to cover our accommodation in the shelter for a week or more!"
"Hmpf, we can decide that later. I say we trade it for some good treasures or skills."
From what he heard, a clearer picture began to form in his mind.
These soul stones were like currency or treasure, something valuable that could be traded.
Another thing caught his attention.
Shelter.
The mention of shelter caught his attention more than anything else. The inhabitants of this world did not build settlements. That much he had observed since arriving. Monsters roamed without any structure or order, and even the players had to rely on the bastions provided by the Association. So if these beings had their own shelter somewhere, it meant...
"So they have a place like that," he muttered under his breath, his voice quiet. "A settlement."
Zich narrowed his eyes slightly and stayed silent after that.
Some time later, the group finished collecting what they needed. They wrapped the soul stone carefully and gathered the rest of their things without much conversation. Their movements were practiced and efficient, like people who had done this many times before.
The one who found the stone led the way, and the others followed without argument. They moved west, disappearing gradually between the trees until the sound of their footsteps was gone.
Zich looked in the direction they had headed. He stayed in place for a few seconds, watching that direction. His eyes lingered there, but his body did not move to follow.
"Not worth it," he said quietly, pushing himself up from the ground.
He waited another full minute before stepping out from behind the tree.
He approached the dead mosquito and looked it over. There was not much left worth taking. They had already stripped the useful parts cleanly.
He turned and moved back the way he came, away from the west, not giving the direction the aliens had gone a second thought.
As he walked, he unknowingly crossed a faint red line that ran straight in both directions across the ground.
Not far ahead, he found another monster. It was a swollen, slow-moving land beetle with a dark shell. He did not bother summoning Slimy.
This was also the best time for him to test out his Blood Arc skill.
Zich raised his hand slightly, and blood gathered at his palm without delay, almost as if he had used the skill before. He swung forward.
FWOOSH!
The moment the creature reacted, it was already too late.
A red arc cut through the air and struck cleanly across the beetle's side, where the shell was weakest. The creature shuddered and dropped into a pool of blood.
Zich crouched beside it and pressed the blade into its head, digging carefully but found nothing. He moved the sword around the cavity and checked again. Still nothing.
He stood and clicked his tongue quietly, then took the necessary parts, storing them in his backpack before moving forward.
He found a second beetle a few minutes later, drawn by the noise of the first dying. The Blood Arc dropped it just as quickly.
Zich crouched again and repeated the process, pressing into the skull and working through the flesh carefully. His hands were already stained with blood.
Just like the first time, it was the same result.
He wiped his hands on the grass and kept moving, determined to find a soul stone.
The third beetle was larger than the others and had taken more than two arcs to kill. When he crouched beside it and pushed the blade in, he felt something solid, which caused his dull eyes to light up.
Zich slowed down and worked around it carefully until it came loose. A small glowing orb rolled into his palm.
It was white and faintly warm, humming at a low, steady frequency that he could almost feel in his fingers. Even without being told what it was, the resemblance to what the aliens had pulled out was unmistakable.
He held it up and looked at it. A screen appeared.
[Soul Stone]
[Details: Rare currency within the Ascension Mountain. Can be used for trading, crafting, or as a power source.]
Zich closed his fingers around it and stood up slowly, storing it inside his backpack.
"So that is what they were after," he muttered, a hint of fascination in his eyes.
Standing up, he wiped his hand against the ground, keeping the stone secure in his backpack. Without wasting any more time, he turned and began heading back toward the shelter.
Whether this soul stone was useful or not, the only way to find out was back in the settlement.