Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 169: Using Shards

Elsewhere on the surface, far from the dungeon floors where Myles and his companions were fighting, another group was also locked in battle.

Michael and his five companions moved through the ruined streets of the city they had explored before. The broken asphalt roads twisted between abandoned buildings that had long since been overtaken by strange growths. Massive mushrooms sprouted from cracks in the pavement, and fleshy organic material crawled along the walls like living vines.

But none of them paid attention to the scenery anymore.

They were busy fighting.

A mutated human lunged at them from between two collapsed cars. Ether Shards protruded from its chest and arms like jagged orange crystals growing from its flesh.

Michael stepped forward immediately.

He thrust his flame spear with strong force.

The creature collapsed before it could even scream.

Behind him, Selene finished off a mutated dog whose spine had twisted unnaturally, shards of Ether embedded along its back.

Rafe smashed another creature aside with a brutal continuous slashes, sending fragments of crystal scattering across the street.

The battle ended quickly.

Rafe crouched beside the corpse and pulled several glowing shards from the body.

"We got another three," he said while tossing them into the sack tied to his belt.

Michael glanced at the growing pile inside the large canvas bag they carried. The sack was already half full. Each of them also carried backpacks or pouches that contained smaller collections of Ether Shards gathered during the past several hours.

For hours they had been hunting, killing, and harvesting mutated humans, distorted animals, or anything with Ether Shards growing from their bodies.

They believed this was the fastest way to grow stronger.

Gather the shards. Bring them to the altar and convert them into stats.

Rafe stood and wiped the dust from his hands.

"Alright," he said. "We’ve gathered a lot already to use it right now."

He kicked the corpse aside and looked at the others.

"I think it’s time we use them before Myles’ group comes back."

Hana frowned slightly at that.

"You mean... we’ll just use it without them?" she asked. "They helped us kill the guardian and get the Soul Forge Altar."

Rafe shrugged. "That doesn’t mean we’re betraying them. We’re just using it first."

His tone sounded casual, as if the matter wasn’t important.

Hana still looked uneasy.

But before she could say anything else, Rafe turned toward Michael.

He noticed the slight hesitation in Michael’s expression.

Michael also didn’t look entirely comfortable with the idea.

Rafe sighed and spoke again.

"Myles’ group is already strong," he said. "Honestly... they’re stronger than us."

Michael didn’t deny it.

"And it’s not like we can fully trust them," Rafe continued calmly. "Right now we finally have a chance to close the gap."

Rafe then gestured toward the sacks filled with shards.

"If we don’t take this opportunity, we’ll always be behind them."

Michael remained silent for several seconds. Then he nodded slowly. "...Alright."

That was enough.

"We’ll go back to the altar."

Rafe smiled slightly. Inside, his satisfaction grew and he grinned in his mind. But on the outside, his face remained calm.

"That’s a good decision, Mike," he said.

The six of them began walking again.

They moved through the ruined streets and returned toward the area they had passed before.

The broken road gradually opened into a wider space.

Giant mushrooms towered over the cracked pavement. Fleshy organic matter covered the walls of the buildings, slowly consuming the structures.

At the center of that strange landscape stood the massive object they had come for.

A towering structure the size of a two-story building. The Soul Forge Altar loomed in front of them like a monument carved from another world.

Michael stepped forward first. He already knew how the altar worked from Myles.

Without hesitation, he pulled a glowing Ether Shard from his pouch and held it in front of the altar.

The moment he willed it to activate, the shard dissolved into drifting particles of orange light. The light flowed directly into the altar.

A translucent system window appeared in front of his eyes.

The Ether Shard has been consumed and he has Gained 1 Stat Point, next he needs to select a stat to increase.

Michael didn’t waste time reading further. He already knew the process.

One shard meant one stat point.

He took another shard from the pouch and activated it again and again and again.

Orange particles continued flowing into the altar while notification windows appeared one after another in front of him.

Michael kept assigning the points immediately each time the system asked for strength, agility, vitality, and a small portion into Endurance.

He continued the process steadily. One shard after another disappeared into the altar.

The others waited behind him while watching the glowing altar quietly.

It didn’t take long before Michael used the last shard he carried.

In total he had gathered around seventy Ether Shards.

Seventy shards meant seventy stat points.

That wasn’t even counting the stat points he had already gained from leveling up while killing the mutated creatures that carried those shards.

In practice, the shards doubled the benefits of their hunting.

The final notification faded from his view.

Michael exhaled slowly. He could feel it immediately. He had become noticeably stronger.

Michael stepped away from the altar.

"I’m done," he said.

Rafe immediately stepped forward.

He had been waiting for this moment the entire time. Rafe pulled out his own collection of Ether Shards and began the same process. One shard after another dissolved into the altar.

Behind him, the others waited their turn.

Hana stood quietly while watching the altar glow brighter each time another shard disappeared.

Then Rafe finally finished and stepped aside.

"Your turn," he said with a wide grin.

Hana walked forward next. After her came Tobias. Then Selene. And finally Darius stepped forward to use the altar.

One by one, every member of Michael’s group converted the Ether Shards they had spent hours gathering into raw strength.

By the time the last shard dissolved into the altar, the six of them stood there feeling the difference in their bodies.

They believed they had just taken the fastest path to power. None of them realized that somewhere far below the surface, Myles and his companions were gaining something far more valuable than a pile of Ether Shards.

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