Chapter 2021: Alterrans, Keep Training! (Part 1)

While Althea and Garan were having their own adventures, Alterrans were not much far behind.

The clearing missions were still very active, and all of the guards were definitely not loosening up even when the big bosses were away. Rather, they worked even harder.

Would they have lost so many people in the recent war had they been stronger? Of course not!

The challenge was that it was very difficult to level up past level 20, especially when one had so many ’rivals’ when hunting.

Even the soldiers who were with Garan had been stuck in the middle of level 20s. Very few, like Gill, reached level 28, and he felt like it’d take years before he could reach the captain’s level.

For example, even if they reached the max EXP, they might not necessarily level up. This started happening when they got past level 20, with varying degrees of problems.

They learned from the Grandmasters that using their elements frequently loosened this, and only when they used their elements and skills enough would they get past the level blockade.

In a sense, it seemed like while elementalists leveled up faster during the first 10 or so levels, the need and conditions to train and master their elements were necessary to move forward in their levels.

The theory was that the elementalist physique needed to be powered up as well, and that could be done only through training the elements and/or meditation.

From what they heard, the effect of aether crystals could bypass this obstacle. Of course, the effect was that (if the person neglected training) the foundation might become negatively affected, making the elementalists’ attacks inferior to peers of the same level and element.

As for Garan, there was something in his physique that allowed him to level up with minimal resistance. It was likely because he was extremely close to his elements, wielding them like it was part of his own body from the start.

To summarize, leveling up was more than just gathering EXP points. If that were all, then Garan, who was limited to fighting monsters up to 2 levels lower, would’ve been at a disadvantage.

This progress was also slow if they didn’t go against monsters around the same level. Alterra was already Level 2, and the monsters’ average level had already spiked up, but how many warfreak level 20s did Alterra have? How many compared to the number of monsters at that level lurked around?

It was estimated that when monsters of that level—which usually lead with a mob of its own—appeared in the vicinity of Alterra, several aether letters would light up and powerhouses would pour in to attack it.

Fortunately, while the experience points were granted only to the person who killed it, the training it provided to others would not disappear. Still, the progress was slow unless they found large mobs of monsters at that level.

Since the Valov war, all of the soldiers that had been with Garan were back to Alterra and would not be assigned elsewhere indefinitely. This was good because, at their level, Alterra had undoubtedly become the best place to live and train in now.

Each one of them would go to clearing missions every day, even outside of their working hours, and often with family members to ensure everyone was leveling up and strengthening themselves.

This need was exacerbated when the evacuation centers were targeted by the enemy. A good fraction of the deaths in the previous war had been because of this. Not every evacuation area managed to hold out.

There was one evacuation room that completely fell, and all the people there became helpless hostages and meat shields for the enemies.

There had been cases where a guard’s family member was taken hostage, and they could not fight back at all. Those guards were lucky if they didn’t lose a limb due to their distraction.

The evacuation centers were mostly for people who’d only be burdens in war, like those below level 10 and many below level 15. Most of the others choose to actively contribute in the war, including fighting from their homes or joining the defense teams.

With the slap from the previous war, even those who had become rather complacent with being protected and hiding around in wars had no choice but to speed up their training.

Everyone knew that they needed to expedite their strengthening. They had been too peaceful in Alterra lately!

...

In one area, Mao and Luis were fighting against a level 25 monster, surrounded by various level 20s. It was near the outer walls so the sentries could attack them.

The outer walls had sentries partnering with the loose sentries a few hundred meters away, so the mobs would get barraged by arrows from more than one side.

It was pretty rare to see such a mob. Usually, it was a level 20 surrounded by weaker monsters, or a level 25 surrounded by hundreds of weaker monsters, and so on.

It was rare to have a dozen level 20 plus in a single mob. According to the mercenaries training with them, this type of mob would only get attracted by Level 3 towns and above.

Another difference? These monsters could fly.

CRAWWW! CRAWWW!!

They were called Craws, which were morbid-looking giant crows with red eyes and sharp beaks. They liked to hover several meters above ground, beyond the scope of the sentries, and then rush down and try to swipe a person.

Normally, this would work, with people getting fished up or punctured whenever the crows went down. But who told them to be against Alterra?

First of all, the number of sentries Alterra had was much more than what these monsters were used to. Not to mention, they didn’t exactly have working brains, so they didn’t see the difference.

Whenever they dived down, a sentry would likely be able to hit a part of it. If they were not so fast, then the lethal shots would’ve been more common, but lowering their attack power and defenses was sufficient.

Anyway, the guards were taking this as a training session. It was fine if it was a little challenging!