Chapter 1886: Six Teams

"For what I want to do, I actually prefer the Time Pearl. Unfortunately, I don't have a copy of that artifact," Chris said.

"What do you plan to do with that Time Manipulator?" Wilted asked.

"I am going to use it on my training cave," Chris answered. "Turning the time inside faster than the time outside."

"Like the Space-time Chamber in our guild?" Paytowin asked.

"Time Manipulator can do that?" Wilted asked in surprise.

"Normally, it shouldn't, but my training cave is special," Chris answered.

"Dude... If you have that thing, why do you bring it out only now? Why didn't you use it when we were using the training cave?" Jack complained.

"When you enter my training cave, you can go to a training space different than others who enter. This Time Manipulator only affects one space and will only allow one person into that space. Others who enter will be sent to a different training space with a normal time flow. I don't have many Time Manipulators lying around. I only have eight pieces. I am already magnanimous enough to use them to speed up this guy who is lagging behind you all."

John stared at Will. Will felt strong killing intent from that stare. He ran and hid behind Jeanny this time.

"How fast is the time being sped up using that Time Manipulator?" John asked Chris.

"Five times," Chris answered.

"Slower than the Time Pearl," John muttered.

"Yes, but my training cave already speeds up time by twice. So, by using this item, it will run at ten times normal speed."

"Fine!" John exclaimed. "Will, you stay here and use the training cave. If we defeat the devils, it should take us around one week to march into Liguritudum. One week should give you more than two months' worth of training using those Time Manipulators. I warn you, do not slack behind in your training!"

"I will do my best, boss!" Will answered. He was happy enough not to join the war for now.

"As for the two of you," Chris pointed at Joe and Giant Steve. "Aside from Will, you two are the only ones with levels below 90. Here, use these to bring your level up to 90. This way, you can also equip the fallen apostle's weapons and the armor I have leveled up."

Chris put a tray on a table. Lots of small marbles started filling up the tray.

"Exp pills?" The two said after using Inspect on the marbles.

"No exp pills for the rest of us?" Jet asked.

"At your level, you need lots of exp pills to level up, even with high-grade ones," Chris said. "I don't have that many pills. Why do you think I ask you to use my training cave if I can just level you all up using exp pills? I only have enough to level up one or two people a few levels. That is what I'm doing now."

Joe and Steve busied themselves with the exp pills. Chris refilled the tray when it was almost empty. He only stopped adding the exp pills after both Joe and Steve reached level 90. The two received a new skill from their special classes after hitting that level.

They then collected their skill books from Jeanny, which had been reserved for them. They used those skill books to fully level up their new skills as well as the other skills from their pinnacle classes.

The others had already finished with that task. They were now staring at Chris in silence. Being stared at like that, even the indifferent Chris felt slightly disturbed.

"What... What are you all staring at me like that for...?" He asked.

"Is there anything else for us?" John asked with a grin.

"Well... As a matter of fact, there is one more way I can help...," Chris said weakly. He felt like he had invited a pack of wolves into his house.

"Follow me," he said. He led the group into the woods on a side they had never gone to before. They came out to a clearing where twelve strange plants of different shapes lined up at the center of the clearing. Fumes constantly came out of those plants.

"What are those plants?" Joe asked Wilted.

Wilted answered by shaking her head.

"These are only available here," Chris informed. "Most of you have just received your bloodlines, so they are still level 1. They won't help you much that way. Each of these plants continuously gives out different types of monster essences. Simply by standing near the plants, you will absorb the essences and level up your bloodlines."

"For real? Cool!" Paytowin exclaimed. "My Brave Ancestry Bloodline is level 6. I've regretted not being able to fully level it up before going to the war. Now, I can get it to the max! Um... Which one produces the essence of humanoid monsters?"

Chris pointed at one of the plants. "You will see a branch on that plant with a shape that looks like a goblin. On the other plants, you will see shapes corresponding to the monster types. That's how you identify which essence the plants give out."

Paytowin ran to the plant Chris had indicated. The others also started approaching and observing the plants to identify the essence they produced. Jack remained at his place. His bloodline was already fully maxed.

Before John went to check the plants, he asked Chris, "Dude, what else do you have for us? Don't be shy. Take them all out."

"Nothing else! This is the last!" Chris exclaimed.

"Are you sure there is nothing else you can give us?" John insisted.

"No. I have nothing more!" Chris yelled. "You, people, I've given you so many things but still not enough. So needy!"

"Hm... Okay. I guess this will have to do, then," John said before turning away. Chris had the urge to throw something at John. John made it sound like what he had given them was something he owed them.

He decided to leave to cool himself down. "Will, follow me! You need to start working on your level! You can absorb the essence later."

Before leaving, he told the others, "Those of you with level 1 unique-grade bloodlines will need several hours to level them up to the max. When you are ready to leave, go to the Anywhere Portal. I will be waiting there."

Everyone nodded at Chris as they stood near the plants to absorb the essence. Grace, Jeanny, and Arthur thanked Chris. This made Chris feel a little better. Chris glanced at Wilted before he left. Wilted returned the glance but otherwise said nothing.

After Chris left, the others sat on the ground. Chris said this would take some time, so they might as well relax. John used this chance to discuss their team arrangement.

They were going to split up into the different fronts. They would have a better winning chance if all of them went and fought one devil. But as Chris had mentioned, defeating one devil had the risk of bringing the other surviving devils together. Their winning chance would drop significantly if those devils worked together.

Furthermore, they were pressed for time. Defeating one devil at a time provided a better winning chance but would take much longer. If they took too long, Master would have become a God by the time they finished dealing with the devils.

Hence, they needed the shortest time to claim victory. This could only be done by splitting up and defeating all devils at the same time.

"We will divide into six teams," John announced. "Jeanny, David, Spring Crown, and Freddie. The four of you will head to Northern Aurebor Front. You will face Mammon."

"Understood," Jeanny said.

"Roger that," David added.

Spring Crown looked between Jeanny and David. He asked John "Are you doing them a favor? Throwing this couple into the same team? Or, are you afraid they will complain if you don't?"

"If he is doing us a favor, he shouldn't have put you with us," David returned.

"Yo! I feel some hostility here. We are on the same team, man. No need to be so aggressive!" Spring Crown exclaimed.

David was vexed. Spring Crown was the one who started the argument, but he was now acting like the victim.

"We don't have time for your drama. Go to the side if you want to settle your issues," John reprimanded. "Next! Leavemealone, Four Winds, Arthur, and Blackhole. You will go to Aurebor Southern Front and help them take on Asmodeus."

"No healer?" Blackhole asked.

"What do you expect? We only have four healers. Two teams will have to take the short straws," John said. "You will have to make do and find healers on the battlefield."

"Don't worry, I will give the four of you extra bottles of Ultimate Healing Potion," Wilted said as she took out the potions and distributed them to the four.

Ultimate Healing Potion was a super rare consumable that recovered 20,000 HP instantly. It also slowly healed the user by 10% of their max HP within sixty seconds after using the potion. Each usage had a cooldown of three minutes.