Lux locked himself up inside his room in the inn and looked at the Beast Cores he had in his possession.

From fighting with his life on the line in the Kobold's Nest, as well as the rewards that were given to him by the parents of Colette, Matty, Helen, Axel, and Andy, the Half-Elf had acquired a good number of Beast Cores which would make his team a lot stronger.

One Hundred and Fifty One Rank 1 Beast Cores, and Eighty Rank 2 Beast Cores.

That was the total number of Beast Cores that Lux currently possessed, which made him feel giddy whenever he thought of it.

"I'll upgrade Ishtar and the Skeleton Archers for now," Lux muttered as he held a Rank 2 Beast Core in his hand. "Our opponents are flying creatures, so range attacks will be more effective than melee attacks."

Lux then checked Ishtar's current rank as he applied one Beast Core after another.

After using twenty Rank 2 Beast Cores, Ishtar's Rating went up from D+ to C, which upgraded her overall stats.

She also learned the passive skill Hunter's Eye, which allowed Ishtar's to lock on a single target and attack it with greater accuracy from great distances.

Lux spent an additional twenty-seven Rank 2 Beast Cores to raise her Rating to C+, which allowed her to learn two active skills, namely Arrow Shower and Piercing Arrow.

Arrow Shower, as the name suggested, allowed Ishtar to shoot a magical arrow where it would split into multiple arrows that would rain down on her enemies. This was a very effective AOE attack especially when dealing with enemies that were grouped together.

Piercing Arrow, on the other hand, was a skill that allowed Ishtar to fire a charged arrow that could pierce through armored units, or monsters that had very tough skin like dragon scales, exoskeletons, etc.

Of course, when certain arrows were paired up with the Piercing Arrow skill, their effectiveness would increase, turning them deadlier.

For example, an Adamantium arrow was an arrow that was strong enough to pierce through Dragon Scales. If Ishtar were to use the Piercing Arrow Skill, alongside the Adamantium Arrow, the arrow would embed itself deeper inside the monster's body, causing greater damage.

---

< Ishtar >

Named Skeleton Hunter

Rating: C+

Mana: 10

Progress (0/1,000)

Health: 5,500 / 5,500

Mana: 2,550 / 2,550

Attack: 180 - 215 (+160 Heartstriker)

Attack Type: Ranged Ice Damage

Strength: 80

Intelligence: 85

Vitality: 80

Agility: 85

Dexterity: 115

Active Skill: Hunter's Mark, Set Trap, Arrow Shower, Piercing Arrow

Passive Skill: Equip Item, Hunter's Eye.

Title: The Forgotten Queen

Note: Sometimes I aim to please. But, most of the time, I aim to Kill!

---

Lux smiled after seeing Ishtar's character information in his soul book. After admiring her stats and skills for a minute, he then shifted his attention to his Skeleton Archers, whom he intended to upgrade until they matched the strength of his Skeleton Fighters.

"Let's go bigtime on this one," Lux smirked as he consumed all One-Hundred and Fifty One Rank 1 Beast Cores, and turned them into 1510 Skill Points.

---

Lux used 1,300 Skill Points and upgraded his Skeleton Archers four times, which made them evolve into Skeleton Grand Archers. These upgraded Skeleton Archers had also acquired powerful skills like the Crippling Volley, and Vulture's Eye, which gave Lux the confidence that he would be able to accomplish his goal without fail.

--

< Crippling Volley >

When four or more Skeleton Grand Archers are together, they will be able to activate this unique ability that allows them to fire a volley of magical arrows that have a high chance to paralyze their enemies.

< Vulture's Eye >

Allows the Skeleton Grand Archer to see further by two hundred meters

-

< Summon Skeleton Grand Archer >

Rating: B

Mana: 10

Progress: (0/800)

Summons Four Skeleton Grand Archer to fight for you

Summon duration: 4 hour

Skill Cooldown: 1 minute.

Health Points: 2000

Attack: 100 - 150

Attack Type: Physical Range Damage

Active Skills: Triple Shot, Crippling Volley.

Passive Skills: Fast Reload, Vulture's Eye

-

Just to be on the safe side, Lux used seventeen Rank 2 Beast Cores to upgrade Diablo once, making his vanguard even stronger. The Skeleton Rider was already his party's strongest melee unit. However, since Diablo was also the wielder of Blood Moon, Lux decided to strengthen him to make him more formidable in battle.

---

< Diablo >

"Finally a worthy opponent. Our battle will be Legendary!"

Named Skeleton

Skeleton Rider

Rating: B+

Mana: 10

Progress ( 10 / 800)

Health: 10,500 / 10,500

Mana: 1,940 / 1,940

Attack: 280 - 335 (+300 Damage from Blood Moon)

Attack Type: Ethereal Damage.

Strength: 98 (+1)

Intelligence: 97

Vitality: 96 (+2)

Agility: 97 (+2)

Dexterity: 97 (+2)

Defense: 83 (+250 Defense)

Title: Firstborn, Squad Captain, Relentless Charger.

Active Skills: Slash, Heavy Slash, Bone Spear, Duel [EX], Whirlwind Slash, Leap.

Passive Skills: Parry, Tactician, Improved Dodge, Union of Man and Beast, Enhanced Fortitude, Intimidate (New)

--

Lux still had 220 Skill Points remaining, which he set aside for the time being so they could be used for future upgrades.

Diablo had also learned the skill Intimidate, which struck fear in monsters that were equal or weaker than it in rank. Monsters affected by the Intimidate skill would have their attack speed and movement speed decreased by 30%

'Diablo and Ishtar are now Rank 2 Monsters, while my other summons are at the middle stage of Rank 1 Monsters,' Lux thought as he glanced at the information of all the creatures under his command.

Back then, he thought that it would take him a long while to gather resources in order to fully upgrade his minions. Gathering Beast Cores was not an easy task, especially at the start when one was going solo.

If not for the fact that he had been generously rewarded by Colette's parents at the beginning, as well as having the chance to take advantage of the Figaro Garden and Kobold Nest incidents, Lux would not have reached the stage he was in right now.

Now that his minions had all evolved and became stronger, Lux was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief as he finally overcame the insecurity he'd felt over the past few years.

For four years, he was barred entry to Elysium because of his weak body. Now, even though he had been left behind by his friends in Wildgarde Stronghold, who had gone to the higher areas of Elysium, Lux no longer felt envious of them

For he knew that after just a year, he could catch up to them.

And a year after that, he would surpass all of them.

"Grandma, just wait for me," Lux said as she stood up to leave his room. "A few months from now, I will surprise everyone in Wildgarde Stronghold. I will show them how awesome your grandson is!"

The Half-Elf left the inn with a serious expression on his face. His destination was the Figaro Garden, and he would not return until his storage bags, storage rings, and his Enchanted Beast Ring, were filled to the brim with resources that would make his Master Randolph, laugh until all of his teeth fell out of their sockets.