Chapter 135: Improve or Die

The group followed Phyrill right behind him. Of course, they were running since they wouldn't arrive within three days of walking.

They crossed plains and forests just to get there while Phyrill scouted the entire area, trying to avoid any useless contacts from the monster.

However, as one would expect from the world filled with monsters, they found a group that even Phyrill couldn't find any way to slip past them other than killing them.

It was a small path between two cliffs, so they didn't have any choice unless they wanted to climb the cliffs.

"So, what are they?" Theo asked Phyrill while looking at the surroundings. They were in the middle of a forest and there was only one path to cross this place which was this small path between two cliffs. This was the fastest way to cross this area.

Phyrill gave him his Skylink, showing the monsters.

Name: Rock Lizard

Level: 120-125

Beware of its hard skin and mobility. The Rock Lizard's specialty is ramming their head to kill a person.

"…" Theo narrowed his eyes and looked at the path again. "The width is only twenty feet, allowing three lizards to move at the same time. There are nine lizards between these two one hundred feet tall cliffs."

"Yeah. After this cliff, we can choose either a faster route or a safer one." Phyrill nodded.

"Alright. Sihan and Laust will be in front. Alea and Phyrill will go for the kill when you see a chance. Lastly, Ellen should kill the most… So, prepare your Ice Wave." Theo smiled as he planned to level up Ellen as quickly as possible.

Sihan nodded and charged at them without hesitation. Ellen followed behind him until the entrance, waiting for Sihan to lure them.

Laust entered the path not long after while Phyrill disappeared from the area, leaving only Alea and Theo behind. The two walked to Ellen and waited for the chance to strike.

The nine lizards on the ground suddenly felt Sihan's presence as they turned around, looking at Sihan.

"Scree!"

The lizards let out a hollow roar before they began to move toward him. Sihan quickly ran away to lure them, but the lizards had superior level and ability. They managed to catch up almost immediately.

This was when Laust made his appearance. He had been waiting for Sihan to reach this place. As Theo said, the path only accommodated three lizards at the time.

This was all he needed to swing his sword that had been glowing this whole time.

"Three Way Sword."

Three pointed white energy flew out of Laust's sword and looped around Sihan.

Bam.

They hit the lizards at the same time and exploded, stopping the lizards for one second. This caused the other lizards behind them to halt their movement because they couldn't see what happened in the front.

Sihan and Laust quickly made their way out of that path as Ellen raised her staff.

"Ice Wave."

Ice spikes began to emerge from the ground in a fan-shaped area. When they hit the walls, they somehow climbed the wall and summoned the ice vertically before hitting the same crystals on the ground. However, Ellen's Ice Wave already reached the lizards and pierced their hard bodies.

"Scree!"

The lizards started screaming in pain, but two lizards seemed smarter than the others because they reached the wall to avoid Ellen's attack.

Ellen raised her sword while a blue light ball appeared on Theo's hand, ready to strike them down. Yet, a shocked expression appeared on Theo's face as he saw two figures jumping into the air next to the lizards.

'Why did they jump there?' thought Theo while looking at the figure. 'Laust?!'

Before Theo finished his thought, there was a blue glow on the tip of Laust's blade as he waved his sword.

"Moon Slash."

Due to the glow being only on the tip, it created a light trail like that of a crescent moon in the air before the lizard fell down with its head dropping to another direction.

The same applied to Phyrill. He somehow managed to pierce the lizard's head and killed it in one stab.

Phyrill and Laust started falling, but Laust decided to glance at Theo with eyes full of killing intent. The ground was covered with ice crystals, so they would be in trouble if they didn't have any footing. And Laust's gaze was telling him one thing.

"You're going to support us, aren't you? Why don't you go ahead and do it? I'm going to follow your strategy, but I have stated that I will take any chance."

Theo instantly realized Laust wanted him to use that Magic Bullet, no, he might have read the Magic Bullet and hurriedly took that chance to kill the lizard. This was different from his previous actions because Laust had calculated what Theo would do instead of ignoring it. However, this also showed Laust's improvement as he would grab every chance Theo didn't take immediately.

'Tch. He read me huh.' Theo clicked his tongue and directed his Magic Bullets to destroy the spikes below Laust and Phyrill.

Boom.

The two spikes disappeared and the two landed on the ground safely.

"Oi, oi. That's dangerous, you know." Alea tried to reprimand the two, but Phyrill only said, "That's why we need a teammate, right?"

"…" Alea was bewildered by his smiling face because if Theo didn't use his Magic Bullet, they would have been seriously injured.

Laust, on the other hand, said, "I am here not to play friends, but to take every chance to make a name for myself. I will make sure that I won't stand in your way, but it doesn't mean I have an obligation to follow your every command."

Alea wanted to continue, but Theo stopped her by placing his hand on her shoulder, saying, "Let it go."

"What do—" Alea turned around and stopped as soon as she saw Theo's expression. His eyes were wide open and there was this smile on his face that made her feel goosebumps. He was excited but angry at the same time.

Theo raised his hand and clenched it while saying, "Good. This is the reality of our team. There won't be any improvement if there is no challenge. Keep improving, so I can use you to get stronger."

Alea gulped down and remembered how Theo had been improving rapidly. It was due to him challenging her, Ellen, and the others. All of them were far better than him, but he used them as a role model and kept thinking about overcoming the challenges, eventually becoming the person before her.

They always met two choices when Theo used them like this. You either improve or let your talent die.

'Only people who will keep improving can survive in this group, huh…' Alea sucked a cold breath and noticed Ellen's expressions, confirming her guess.