Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent

Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Night Howler Terror, Howler's Soul Shard

Alex pointed his staff at the Night Howler Terror, eyeing the massive creature thrashing through the streets.

He needed to be the one to land the final blow.

The loot that the monster would drop was too valuable for him to let anyone else take it.

"WATCH OUT!"

"GRRRWAAA!" The beast howled as guards and players, thinking they could take it down, charged in from all sides.

Despite their efforts, they were no match for its strength.

...

[Night Howler Terror]

[Level 50 - High Tier 2]

[Rank: Superior]

[HP: 100,000]

Its stats were identical to the Undead King Alex had beaten earlier, showing just how tough the Night Howler Terror really was.

For most players, this fight was impossible, but Alex had faced worse before.

Now, without Alice to protect, he could go all out.

Grand Fireball!

A massive ball of flame shot from his staff, slamming into the beast's side.

-3318!

The impact was huge. Alex's Grand Fireball had hit level 7, doing insane damage thanks to his Spirit stat.

While most players were only managing to hit for two-digit damage, Alex had just blasted 3,000 HP off the creature.

The Night Howler Terror froze, then turned its glowing eyes directly at him. Alex knew that look—it had marked him as the bigger threat.

"GRRrrrr..." the beast growled and used [Foe Detection] to lock onto Alex. Now it was coming for him, abandoning all the other players and guards around it.

"Oh, crap..." Alex muttered as the beast started charging.

"It's leaving!"

"It must be low on HP!"

"Hah, it probably got scared of my aura!" a cocky player shouted.

But Alex knew better. The Terror wasn't retreating—it was coming for him.

With a sudden leap, the Night Howler Terror slashed down at him with its massive Dark Claws.

But Alex was ready.

Earth Shield!

A glowing shield formed around him, absorbing the blow.

Slam! Break!

The shield shattered, taking the brunt of the attack, but Alex was thrown backward, barely staying on his feet.

"Grrr... (foolish human!)" the creature growled.

Alex smirked, brushing off the hit. "Sorry, I don't speak whatever that is."

He quickly retaliated, sending a flurry of spells at the beast.

Boulder Smash!

-2700!

Crimson Shard!

-1750!

Lightning Strike!

-2618!

Each hit connected, chipping away at the Night Howler Terror's massive health pool.

The final spell, Fire Storm, enveloped the street in flames, scorching the Terror and anyone unlucky enough to be too close.

-1139! -1139! -1139!

"AAAHH!" some players screamed, caught in the blaze.

Alex wasn't holding back, and a few players even fell from the burn damage.

They weren't his main concern, though.

"Hey, what the hell!?" one player shouted, trying to put out the flames.

"Did he just hit us on purpose?"

"Take him down!" another screamed.

A group of players turned toward Alex, swords and axes raised, ready to teach him a lesson for burning them.

But they didn't know who they were dealing with.

As the players charged at Alex, their attacks were useless.

-1! -1! -1!

They barely scratched him, thanks to his insane physical and magical resistances from the Superior Awakener's Set.

Alex felt no need to entertain them. He quickly unleashed another Grand Fireball, killing all of them and sending them back to reality at once.

"Pathetic," Alex muttered, his focus still on the Night Howler Terror, who was preparing another heavy strike.

The creature roared, frustrated by the constant hits it was taking, but Alex knew it was getting close to the end.

He dashed forward, putting his staff away and pulling out his [Poison Bear Dagger].

Now it was time to finish things.

The Terror raised its claws for another swipe, but Alex had already closed the gap. He leaped into the air, flipping over the beast's head, and slashed down with his dagger.

-2738! -2738! -2738!

Three swift cuts tore into the creature's face, each hit digging deep into its flesh. The Night Howler Terror let out one final, agonized roar before collapsing to the ground with a massive thud, shaking the street.

Ding!

[You have defeated the Night Howler Terror and gained 7463 experience points!]

[+100 event points!]

[+5 prestige points]

[You have leveled up to level 32, all attribute points have been raised by 5, and you have 4 free attribute points to assign as well as 1 skill point!]

The beast's massive body lay still, a lifeless heap of fur and claws. Alex stood over it, panting slightly, but with a satisfied grin on his face.

Around him, the few remaining players looked on in shock, murmuring to each other as they realized what had just happened.

"That's... him."

"It's the FateBreaker!"

Some players weren't about to let Alex walk away unchallenged, though.

A small group of them rushed toward him, weapons at the ready, their eyes gleaming with greed for whatever loot the Night Howler Terror might drop.

"Take him out before he takes everything!"

But as they swung their weapons at him, it was the same story.

-1! -1! -1!

They couldn't hurt him.

"Are you serious?" Alex laughed, shaking his head.

He dealt with them swiftly, blasting them away with quick spells. Knocking them down like dominoes.

Once the street was clear, Alex bent down and reached toward the Night Howler Terror's corpse, extracting the loot it had dropped.

The other players were either too scared or too knocked out to stop him.

"Extraction..." he touched the Superior Boss's body while mumbling.

Ding!

[Please choose something to extract!]

There were options!

[Night Howler Terror's Dagger (Legendary Item)]

[Howler's Soul Shard (Legendary Material)]

[Night Cloak of Terror (Epic)]

"Hm..."

He couldn't see the descriptions of items, but he hesitated between the soul shard and dagger.

The only real question he needed to ask himself was: is the dagger better or worse than the one he is currently using.

After all, he still needed to hold his staff with one hand, meaning that unless he grows a magical third hand, there was no way he could wield two daggers.

"Oh well," in the end, Alex decided to select the [Howler's Soul Shard].

Ding!

[You have extracted "Howler's Soul Shard" (Legendary Material)]

[Description: The crystallized essence of the Night Howler Terror. Used in high-level crafting to create armor or weapons with significant boosts in physical and magical resistance, it can also be used for ######]

"Huh?"

The end of the description was blurred out, almost as if it had been removed on purpose.

"Synthesis," Yet Alex quickly moved on as he wanted to try something.

[Synthesis: Superior Awakener's Set + Howler's Soul Shard = ?]

It could actually be synthesized!

"Oh..."

But in the end, Alex decided to put the soul shard inside his [Superior Backpack], making sure to keep it at the back of his mind just in case he needed it later.

Now, all Alex needed to do was head back toward Alice.

That is, if he found where she was hiding...

The city was big, big enough to hold millions upon millions of players, and he actually didn't remember where the house the girl was hiding in was placed!

"Well, I just have to use the world map," Alex was ready to open it up.

But suddenly, a blue light appeared in front of him.

[Guiding Light has decided to help you.]

"Oh wow," it was the second time the blue orb appeared before him, a blue path of aura drawing itself in front of Alex.

Alex trusted [Guiding Light], and so he followed the path with no hesitation.

He could have used the map, but oh well.

[Guiding Light appreciates your trust.]

After ten minutes, where he killed a few more [Night Howlers] and gained 32 strength attributes, he finally reached the end of the line, which pointed at a familiar house.

Knock! Knock!

"W-Who is it?" he heard Alice's voice, and Alex smiled.

"It's me!"

Immediately, the door opened and Alice jumped to hug Alex.

"Where were you!!"

"Haha... just doing things, but it's fine now that I'm here, isn't it?"

"I-I guess so..." the girl blushed, her fingers fidgeting.