A Black Hole Deep in the Swamp
Normally, you shouldn't gain experience from killing Magic Creature.
It's the same as killing small animals.
While Magic Creature possess power comparable to superhumans, they don't actually have a defined superhuman level. Their level in the game is simply a matter of "their power being equivalent to a certain type of superhuman."
Although Iver didn't remember the exact definition of "experience," he roughly knew that "Free Experience" was actually related to the Path Power that naturally dissipated when killing or driving away opponents in intense battles. This is because Path Power naturally flows from higher to lower places, and the system merely serves to open up a channel for receiving it.
However, basically, experience can only be gained by killing beings stronger than oneself, or at least at a higher level of superhuman.
Therefore, this is essentially a kind of "transcendence" ritual.
This perfectly aligns with the player's "Son of the Serpent Father" persona—gaining power through transcendence.
Therefore, the experience gained from killing a transcendent being is usually less than that from dispelling a phantom of the same level. Once a phantom is dispelled, its power dissipates; however, a transcendent being may be transformed into an undead upon death, and the Path Power Dispel Undead is usually less.
These Magic Creature are special creatures without consciousness or reason. They have no experience.
They resemble a kind of phantom, but are actually native to the Material Realm Dream Realm world.
Just as First Level superhuman might not be able to defeat a wolf, Second Level superhuman is mostly no match for beasts like lions and bears, and even Third Level superhuman would find it very dangerous to fight an adult giant elephant bare-handed.
It is not until the Fourth Level that extraordinary individuals can possess a sufficiently significant individual advantage.
Magic Creature are a bit more special—they are indeed born with the Path Power, but they lack sufficient intelligence and can only rely on instinct to use it.
This is why they cannot enhance their power through dream entry or mystical techniques; they are essentially still beasts.
In addition to the dimensions of "teeth", "muscles", and "weight", it also gained the power of "the Path Power".
In this world, whether or not one can dream directly determines whether or not one has the potential to become stronger—all beings who cannot dream are unable to connect to the Dream Realm and therefore cannot obtain stronger Path Power.
If the Beast Lord were still alive, the situation would be different. But now that the Beast Lord has departed, and the Moon Goddess Constant Self controls the Path of Love, these beasts have lost the possibility of advancing any further.
Therefore, even if Magic Creature is one level higher than them, it can still be hunted safely.
Superhumans, as well as superhuman creatures like griffins and demons, consciously compensate for their weaknesses. But Magic Creature are different.
While Magic Creature may be very strong in one area, they can be quite weak in another.
Like the charge of Mud Bone Turtle, it was roughly equivalent to a lead-core villa rushing towards it at about 120 miles per hour; or equivalent to a 400-ton dump truck charging forward.
This would basically kill anyone except Hai Na with a single blow.
This is undoubtedly the power that Fourth Level transcendent can wield.
However, if you can directly damage its internal core—by piercing its back shell, or by setting a trap on the ground to attack its relatively vulnerable abdomen from above, or by shooting into its "flesh" like Sherlock did, it can be easily killed.
The Hunter of Black Hawk make their living this way. A well-trained and well-equipped Hunter can even kill Magic Creature two or three levels higher. And the materials from Magic Creature can be sold for a lot of money—natural biological materials with Path Trait are useful for both alchemy and rituals.
Bullying these beasts is certainly not a superior act. Therefore, even challenging those of a higher level will not yield any experience—it will only increase the Hunter's arcane skill level.
Iver wasn't quite sure whether he was able to gain experience from Magic Creature because the Magic Creature here were special, or because times had changed and he could genuinely gain experience from Magic Creature.
To test his own ideas, Iver has begun a hunt—
Hunting Magic Creature is easy, as long as you have enough information. Mud Bone Turtle feed on skeletal animals, undead, and mud. They usually disguise themselves as swamps, half-asleep with their mouths open, waiting motionless for unconscious undead or animals to walk by and fall in.
The earth elemental magic that condenses into a vortex makes the surrounding swamp extremely viscous, making it difficult to escape once you fall in.
From this perspective, the reason Sherlock disturbed a Mud Bone Turtle was because his spell essentially pulled out its tongue.
A brood of Mud Bone Turtle consists of about four or five individuals. They live in groups because they need each other's strength to form a large enough swamp area.
In this semi-conscious state, they won't attack. This gives Iver enough time to perform a complex curse ritual on their faces, killing them in their sleep without disturbing them.
[Defeat Fourth Level Magic Creature and gain 26 Free Experience]
[Defeat Fourth Level Magic Creature and gain 26 Free Experience]
[Defeat Fourth Level Magic Creature and gain 26 Free Experience]
"You really have experience?" Iver raised an eyebrow.
Can you give experience from monsters that aren't in combat?
Generally speaking, superhumans who are killed before even entering combat will not provide experience to Iver. For example, Lawyer York, who was assassinated by Iver, or Chairman Tommy.
But these monsters not only provide experience, but the experience they provide is exactly the same. That's not right... Even among superhumans of the same energy level or even the same rank, the experience they give is random within a certain range.
—Only summoned creatures will grant a fixed amount of experience.
This is getting interesting.
Iver tentatively used Purification Fire to drive away a few Headless Undead that were passing by. He gained no experience in the process.
As they remained in the swamp, the surrounding fog began to thicken. It was unclear how much time had passed, but the white fog had completely obscured their surroundings, and undead creatures that only appeared at night were beginning to emerge from the swamp.
For example, the Night Parade Knight.
After carefully confirming that there were no other knights around, Iver silently summoned Flame Butterfly and used Purification Fire to easily dispel a lone Night Parade Knight.
[Drive away the Night Parade Knight, gain 64 Free Experience]
This is a normal experience. The problem shouldn't be here.
It wasn't until Iver killed a Third Level "Swamp Ghoul" that he finally discovered the anomaly—
[Drive away the Swamp Ghoul and gain 84 Free Experience]
Swamp Ghoul are the undead people who were killed in the swamp. Their swollen bodies are filled with poisonous silt and they can spew out disgusting, putrid mud like vomit.
This is a very ordinary undead, not particularly strong in combat. Yet, the experience it grants is significantly more than that of Night Parade Knight of the same level, a warrior...
"You're saying there's something wrong with the swamp?"
Sherlock frowned. "Isn't it because of that... Mud Bone Turtle inside? You've already cleared it out, haven't you?"
After seeing Iver kill all the Mud Bone Turtle, Sherlock wanted to leave. Moving around in the swamp was unpleasant, not to mention the surrounding White Mist that made him squint and feel nauseous.
But Iver still held him, making him accompany him as they fought their way in and out three more times. They killed every undead they could see several times over.
Hearing Iver's words, Sherlock found it absurd. "Are you planning to chase us into the swamp and keep killing? Are you blinded by rage?"
"This is called bug reproduction."
Iver said matter-of-factly, "The fact that it can be reproduced means we've already figured out the problem. Why don't you catch another elemental creature from the swamp? If we've already killed all the Mud Bone Turtle, you shouldn't feel any resistance anymore, right?"
"Okay, okay, okay..."
Sherlock couldn't refuse Iver, so he reluctantly agreed, "Let's finish quickly and leave. I feel like there's something smeared on my face..."
He reached out again, spread his five fingers, aimed at the largest patch of swamp, closed his eyes, and prepared to summon the Mud Eagle once more.
But Sherlock's expression quickly changed. His hand jerked back as if he had been electrocuted, and a yellowish-brown bolt of lightning crackled and appeared on Sherlock's right arm, causing him to tremble violently.
—The spell failed.
But in an instant, the surrounding fog dissipated.
Suddenly, the swamp began to move—like a flushing toilet, it surged towards the central depression, sucking in the White Mist around them.
In that instant, the air became fresher, and everything seemed to brighten up. Sherlock breathed in the fresh air deeply, even feeling a little moved.
Soon, the swamps completely receded.
Only a huge black circular hole remained in the middle.
The hole was about ten meters in diameter, with very smooth edges. Even the junction between the ground and the hole was a sharp right angle.
The hole was lower than where Iver and his group were, and was surrounded by a smooth, funnel-shaped surface sloping downwards.
Lily asked Iver for his opinion, "Should I go take a look?"
She has "lies" that can pull her body together, so she's not afraid of slipping and falling in.
"No, we're leaving."
Iver cautiously declined Lily's suggestion. "This is not the place we should be now."
Because he had already recognized what it was...
They initially guessed that Eagle Cape Village was Fairy Forest, which was why it couldn't be seen from the outside; later they discovered that it was Mesozoic Lock formed by some special twilight power, which disrupted the timeline of Eagle Cape Village.
But now, the possibility of the first guess has returned.
Because these funnel-shaped black holes that suddenly appear in swamps, lakebeds, and deep snowfields are called Fairy Hole —they are the portals to the Fairy Kingdom!