Early the next morning, Jack transformed into Iamanorc. His orc disguise is still registered as a member of the Cipher Flight, so he could use Guild Return Scroll to teleport directly to Wind Island, Cipher Flight's headquarters. He returned to his true self after arriving. He then rode Pandora to head to the island that had the Volatile Firefly Ants.
He landed at a spot without any monsters and used his king badge to summon Elayne.
A graceful woman wearing a lavish pink dress appeared. A large zither was slung to her back. This was the first time Jack laid eyes on Elayne. His first impression was, 'Can she fight?'
The girl looked very fragile. She was also very gentle and polite. She bowed and greeted Jack when she appeared. She was very well-mannered. From her gestures, Jack got the feeling she came from a n.o.ble house.
Eight days pa.s.sed since she was recruited. Since then, she had been with the power-leveling group Jeanny arranged for her. Her levels had increased rapidly since players could tackle higher-level monsters at this stage. She was level 36.
Jack informed her about their purpose on this island. She nodded obediently as Jack explained to her what she should do and what she should not do.
Jack didn't summon the other royal agents because Jack wanted Elayne to receive as many exp points as possible. Having others present would just divide the exp points.
After making sure that she understood everything, Jack summoned Spark. Therras would absorb the exp points while Spark didn't, so Spark was more ideal in this situation. Jack instructed Spark to protect Elayne in case Elayne drew the aggro from the monsters.
Jack then cast Double Clone. Three Jacks went to different hills while Elayne and Spark stayed on the spot. Each Jack attacked the hill and drew uncountable Volatile Firefly Ants. They then ran back until they were within Elayne's range for receiving exp points.
The real Jack cast his AOE spells. Judgment of Past Kings, Perpetual Lightning Judgement, Lightning G.o.d Barrage, and so on. The ma.s.sive flock of the Volatile Firefly Ants was culled at an unbelievable rate.
In the meantime, Jack's two clones went away and disturbed the Volatile Firefly Ants from other hills. By the time the two clones herded two fresh flocks to join the previous batch, that previous batch was almost decimated.
Running out of AOE skills, Jack resorted to the trick he used the last time. He let the monsters touch him before smacking them away just as they exploded. Since he was much higher in level now, he was also faster. The exercise was much easier than the last time.
Two Jacks stayed and performed this endeavor, while the third Jack went and drew another pack of Volatile Firefly Ants.
The cycle repeated. The third clone continued to draw Volatile Firefly Ants from the hills while the two Jacks slaughtered the ants non-stop. This method allowed the gathered exp points to be easily four to five times than when Jack last farmed exp points here.
Elayne didn't just stay idle. She unslung her zither and started playing music the second Jack started engaging the Volatile Firefly Ants. The effect of her music covered a very large area due to her Low-Frequency Sound talent.
The music she played was still the most basic one which increased Jack's stats. But Peniel said as an eternal-grade talent with Play Music skills, Elayne should receive more powerful music as her level increased. It would also be easier for her to learn new music that was available to be taught at the fighting schools or at league factions that catered to the bard cla.s.s.
This happened soon.
Within the half-hour duration of the double clone spell, Elayne increased a level. He received a new music, along with one new skill and one new spell. Her new music was Melody of Death.
When she learned this music, she immediately put it into play. The music carried a heart-thumping sound that fired up the allies. At the same time, it dealt magical damage to all enemies that heard this music.
Peniel informed Jack that music that dealt damage was extremely rare because that would be like a non-stop AOE spell. All enemies near the bard would constantly receive damage for as long as the music kept playing. In Elayne's case, her AOE was absurdly large.
The damage inflicted by Elayne was tiny, though. It was not strange considering her low level. But still, the constant build-up of damage inadvertently became high enough that she started drawing aggro from the Volatile Firefly Ants that were not directly engaging Jack.
These ants started to crawl toward Elayne.
"Elayne, stop playing that music…!" Jack yelled.
Elayne followed the command. She had been excited to test her new music. She didn't realize it would end up drawing the enemies to her.
Spark reacted when it saw the approaching ants. The wing-like blades on its back detached and shot forward, piercing the incoming ants. Spark also advanced toward the first ant that arrived. Its two blades danced with blinding speed and expert precision, cutting these ants to pieces.
However, Spark didn't have any large AOE skills except for its finishing mode. The ants ended up running past it. Jack summoned Therras and his ten golden wolves to rush over to protect Elayne, but a few ants managed to reach her first.
Elayne cast her new spell then, Fly. Her body floated upward, but the Volatile Firefly Ants could fly too. They followed her into the air. When they were about to touch her body, she suddenly zipped away.
This was her new skill. A movement skill, Air Skate. It was similar to Jack's Flash Step except it left no mirage but covered a longer distance. It could also be used in the air. The cooldown of this Air Skate was short like Flash Step, only ten seconds.
She never quit playing her music through all this. Not the Melody of Death anymore, but the standard one that increased stats. While playing the music, she used her other skills. Sonic Darts and Heavenly Sounds.
The damage wasn't much but the force the attacks generated hindered the ants from reaching her. The Heavenly Sounds even put those ants into dizzy and confused states.
She didn't panic despite being targeted by these monsters that were much higher level than her. Jack knew then that she had picked the right follower.