There wasn’t a good way for the group to leave the Clan building without attracting attention. More than one restaurant had found themselves host to a number of consistent spies – though perhaps paid watchers were a better word. After all, it wasn’t as though sitting outside, day-in and day-out was exactly sneaky.
Even at night, there were those who watched the building. Arthur could have snuck away at night, but the group itself were not particularly discreet. Anyway, he did not feel like playing the rogue, instead choosing to head out while everyone was watching. Let them come, if they were going to attack them.
After all, his last gambit had not the effect he wanted. Whoever his opponent was now, they were careful enough to cover their tracks. Even Harish hadn't been able to provide further information to him after questioning his own lieutenant a little more vigorously than Arthur was willing. Then again, Harish had been somewhat upset, when he learnt that part of the deal had included his eventual death and disposition.
Either way, no more news that way. Or via their assassin who had disappeared. Rumor was that she had left to actually finish the Tower, but Arthur wasn't going to drop his wariness till he confirmed that. He still was rather struck by that remarkably composed and yes, severely beautiful woman who'd nearly killed him.
What could he say? Growing up in a martial arts studio had given him proclivities towards strong women.
Right now though, on the final walk out and no danger between the buildings and the rolling plains with their shin high grasses, he took a moment to scan his status screen. He'd managed to get quite a bit of additional training down. With each seventh level floor core containing about 0.07 points of refined energy, he only needed like 14 hours and 14 cores to get a full point.
No, the limiting factor wasn't time right now but number of cores - too few especially after being split with his core team - and cultivation speed. He could cultivate much faster now, especially with the overall higher density of energy inside the seven floor and in his room. Even outside, he could pull nearly three points every ten minutes easily - or nearly a full ten points in half an hour.
Unfortunately, he still had to refine all that energy and compress it down, which meant ten points or half an hour of cultivation then with his faster refinement speed was another forty or so minutes. Which meant that he needed roughly an hour and ten minutes for each 0.01 point of refined energy. Or about a hundred sixteen hours - or about six days if he did nothing but cultivate and sleep for 8 hours a day.
Which was, of course, the reason why people wanted rooms in his Clan building. Between the compressed energy in the floor and the Tower, he could halve the amount of time needed in cultivating energy. He could, literally filled his dantian with a full ten points of energy in ten minutes in his room.
Which was incredible, though his refinement speed only received a moderate boost in effectiveness. That was all internal mostly, though the environment offered some minor boost. Even so, shaving enough time off to make it forty five minutes rather than seventy was huge. Put another way - he only needed give or take, four days.
Two whole days might need like much now, but it meant he could add two whole attribute points in the week he was focused on this - with the aid of a few cores of course - rather than just one.
And like all advantages, it built upon one another.
Which was why, staring at his screen, Arthur couldn't help but be a little smug.
"How close are you to third ascension?" Arthur asked, curiously. Thirty points in a single attribute was huge, and it sometimes happened a little later if you only focused on a single attribute. But supposedly, it was a major change in the body and physique again. That, and the fact that it was often the benchmark needed before someone managed to cross the last three floors.
Casey clanged at Arthur, hesitated before answering, softly. "I'm close. My family prefers a more balanced build, especially when we are looking to exit."
"Ah, the eternal question. Min-max or balanced builds," Arthur said, amusedly. Of course, you couldn't really go entirely min-max. None of the three attributes they had were really 'dump' stats, so it was common that they were within a twenty to thirty point range. If not, one would either take all too long to refine and cultivate chi and thus never progress or be so delicate, death was but a moment away in a Tower. Still, it was a matter of degrees.
"Close enough." Casey shrugged. "I'm not going for an entirely balanced one."
"So what do the Chin's favor?" At the look she gave him, he amended it. "Or you?"
"What do you favor?"
"Body right now," Arthur replied without question. As her silent prompting gaze, he clarified further. "I might change later, but right now, I need the added survivability to keep up with you all."
She nodded in acceptance of that. Sooner or later, he'd want to shift to something a little more balanced. Ten points was pretty much the top line of a min-max build that was recommended and generally agreed upon. Once he got that, he figured he'd up his mind further. It was about time to emphasise and develop his willpower and gain a trait to aid his refinement, and if he hadn't already agreed to exit his building to hunt for beast stones, he would have likely dumped his newly acquired points there.
"You?" He prompted as they continued walking.
"Mind."
"Makes sense." Refinement speed was the most important thing for the rich since it helped them understand their cultivation text, eke out further advantages from it and compress their energy further. At a certain point, supposedly, the entire thing tipped over such that you were literally cultivating and refining at the same time. Of course, that was at higher level Towers, which were a non-issue for Arthur at the moment.
One day.
"So, what kind of monsters are we facing? Or hunting?" Arthur asked, curiously.
"Didn't do any research?" she sounded surprised, looking back at the trailing bodyguards. When they gave her impassive gazes as they entered the outer boundaries of the rolling grass plains, she turned back. Ahead of their small group, scouts could be seen bobbing and weaving through the grass, the rolling nature of the land and the high grass making them appear and disappear as they kept walking.
"Three major monsters we have to worry about. We're going to hit a confusion of the wildebeests if we can," Casey said. "Though they're not really wildebeests..."
"They just look a little like them." Arthur confirmed, and she frowned at his interruption.
"Not dangerous individually, but very, very fast. Hard to capture, and there's no cliffs to run them off. So we'll have to sneak up on them at night if we can or trap whoever we can. Sonic attack that causes confusion, sharp horns and occasional elemental attacks." A grimace. "Rumors are, if you wander far out enough, some of the female leaders have a blast attack too."
"So keep it ranged once we trap them, but get in close to pick off the edge if we can."
"Yes. Then, there are the packs. The ecological equivalent of hyenas. The dubuk menara." Hyena Towers, literally translated. Stupid name, but it worked. "They're fast, work in packs, we'll probably locate the wilderbeests tracking them. Or maybe just find them, after they've taken a few down, feeding. Pack coordination, enhanced speed and a knockback attack aura on the charge. Also, projected bites."
"Projected bites?" Arthur said, curiously.
"Their faces grow a... phantasm? A semi-solid mask that expands and chomps." Casey gnashed her teeth in display, then blushed as she realised what she had done. That made Arthur chuckle a little, before he waved her to continue. "All good cores, anyway."
And all group animals, which was the main reason why they were going out as a group. You didn't want to try to hunt these animals down yourself, because without an overwhelming strength advantage, multiple attackers trumped skill and strength. It wasn't a simple linear progression in difficulty but more exponential.
"And the last?"
"That one we want to avoid. Solo hunter. Can you guess?"
"The seventh floor equivalent of the lion, except not because lions aren't solo hunters." He frowned, running the details through his mind and winced. "A tiger."
"Yes. If we're lucky, we won't see one of those at all."