Zarek didn't stop sprinting for a long while. He knew that the archer was on the opposite side of the valley, and he also knew that Orienn was both slow and too far behind to ever have a chance of catching up now.
But he wasn't 100% certain that there were no other figures in the shadows.
So, hauling Thalion beneath his armpit, he burst forward with as much speed as he could muster. Then, he began using his Lurker's Godsfall to continuously propel himself forward, bouncing from tree to tree.
When the treeline began to thin out, it became a bit more difficult to continue like that, so instead, Zarek chose another path.
"Is there anyone following us?" Zarek asked the boy-man.
Zarek had been quite careful the night he left the boy-man's camp. But he had also known that when dealing with an opponent with so many more cards to play than yourself, there was little you could do about certain things. So he had known from the beginning that the boy-man could follow him without his knowledge.
But that also went to prove that the boy-man probably had better methods than he did of realizing when he was being followed or not.
After a long while, the boy-man spoke again.
"… No…"
Zarek nodded but didn't stop running. He cut back through the direction he had come from initially, taking the same routes so he could avoid waking up any Turned or powerful beasts.
His next plan of action was to see about this vial and then follow the map on his status screen to find out more about this Hero Candidacy. But…
"What was your plan after getting the jackpot from that Hub?" Zarek asked.
"… Digest…"
It was the only word the boy-man said, and Zarek couldn't help but shake his head. This idiot really was too simple-minded.
He just planned to go and benefit from the Treasure Hub, then hop back on his merry way, close himself off, and train in silence as though that would be his key to victory.
But then again, with the skills of these geniuses, maybe all they really needed was time to reach a new level.
Zarek, though, felt different.
The Eclipse Threat Challenge Hub was just one example of the chances there were to take advantage of here. Sure, he had almost lost his life, but how much had he gained as a direct result of it?
Almost too much, frankly speaking.
There was more here, and he felt that the map was only one other example.
There were surely more Hubs, more things to take advantage of, if you were willing to put yourself in an uncomfortable position a bit.
With a sharp turn, Zarek found himself a cave and went in, sending the boy-man tumbling to the ground down on one side and pulling out the tent afterward.
He stepped inside, leaving the boy-man alone in his silence.
…
—
[You have received: {A Class Essence Collection Vial}]
—
Zarek stared at the screen for a while, rolling the item in his hands.
It was a vial, just like it said. But it had jagged protrusions where the lid should have been.
It was formed out of a red-tinted, transparent glass, but it looked like the inside had a small, golden vial within, while a mysterious red energy was swirling around in the larger vial that surrounded it.
Though Zarek was thinking of it in this way, there weren't two separate vials—it was just one, glassblown such that the outer shell protected the inner one.
'Essence Collection?'
Zarek had seen an item titled like this in the past. It could take Godsfall Droplets and Godsfall Crystals, concentrating them and distilling them to greater heights. It was similar to an ability that Priya would gain in the future. Essentially, it made anything gained from a Turned worth much more than usual.
If a Droplet was worth one usually, and a Crystal worth ten, then this Treasure would make a Droplet worth more like 10, and a Crystal worth more like 100.
Of course, since it was A Class, it only worked on materials up to A Class. But that was already astonishing. If Zarek went back to Earth right now, this item would probably instantly become the strongest Treasure in circulation that wasn't tied to a Hub.
Just take Marx's Intelligence-converting Hub for a moment. That only boosted the concentration by a small bit, and yet it was enough to be the foundation of one of the most powerful organizations in a main city. This vial was far more portable, and not nearly as restricted in the types it could be used against. It was worthy of being a jackpot item.
However, Zarek was looking at it for a completely different reason.
If Thalion knew this item was the jackpot, it made sense that he would go all out for it. He had a huge pool of Godsfall Droplets right here, and treasure boxes filled with Godsfall Crystals. So when he said he would take his time to digest, it made sense.
But what Zarek was best at was thinking outside of the box and doing things no one could possibly expect. Sure, using this item as is would be an enormous chance for him. With the amount of resources Thalion had prepared, shooting up to B Class—or at least limit-breaking all of his Core Stats in the C Class—would be very possible.
However, Zarek's problem was that he was coming up against his Growth Potential Limit too quickly. It should have taken him far more time to reach B Class, so he had had several plans to deal with this he obviously couldn't use here and wouldn't have the time to use even if he had been on Earth.
Even if he reached B Class, and all these geniuses were still at C Class, the gap in their Growth Potentials, Treasures, and various Skills would still make Zarek inferior by a good measure. Of course, he could use his experience to make up for that gap as he always had, but the one thing his battle against the Eclipse Threat made obvious was that experience could only get you so far. He didn't have an endless bag of tricks. Put in the same situation now, without the Crystal Hourglass Shard to rely on, death would be the only outcome.
There was no way he could kill an S Class in a single strike with petty tricks either.
In that case, he'd have to think outside of the box. Luckily… this new unranked Talent gave him some inspiration.
'Is this how you're really meant to be used?'