Chapter 112: New pet (6)

While Luke didn't want to reveal them much, the possibility of trading items and supplies might come in handy as long as they stay in Atlanta, so he didn't antagonize them. Still, he had to see what they could do a single day, otherwise, he would just ignore them... no point in helping those who are all talk.

"You have a lot more mobility than us, so we can't ask you to hunt with us, but it would be good if we could cooperate by exchanging information and items," Sheila said.

"Sounds good to me," Luke said. "Do you know where the crystal is?" 

"Yes, it is right in the heart of the city," Sheila replied. "We tried to check it, but the number of enemies was too high, the temperature around it was even colder than the rest of the city, so we had to return."

"Is that so…" Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Now, about that monster… how did you make it obey you?" Sheila asked.

"It is a skill called Tame, if you weaken a monster and use it, it can become completely loyal to you," Sheila said.

"Tame… I heard that such skill cost 32 thousand gold coins, you sure fought a lot to obtain all that much," Sheila said.

Luke didn't tell that she was mistaken, but he didn't get carried away either because if she knew the cost, then at some point, she also had the number of coins necessary to buy it. Besides, it would be better if he makes the other thing that he is truly strong if they can't use Appraisal. That would decrease the chances of them trying to attack him, and if they still do, then they truly would be a lost cause that deserved to be disposed of.

"If you truly want to destroy the crystal, then we can attack one side and lure about half of them, while you attack the other side," Sheila said. "We had given up on that, because of their sheer numbers but if it is just half, then we can do it. Perhaps defeating them will also solve the problem of the weather... considering the conditions, I would say that we want to settle down here."

"All right, still, it will be risky to go all out from the very beginning," Luke said. "Let's decreasetheir numbers as much as possible for today and then decide what to do next tomorrow at noon, we can meet here again. Are you fine with that?"

"Sure, no problem," Sheila said and then smiled.

Luke wasn't expecting much from that group after hearing that they had given up on the crystal once. Still, they might be useful in controlling half of the enemies. While he wanted to level up as much as possible, the trip back would be long, so he didn't have to stay there for such a long time. He was bound to find many hordes of monsters on the way back. In any case, the smile that Sheila showed him... it bothered him more than a little bit. All his senses were telling him that something was off.

After deciding that he would take the West side of the enemy territory, Luke left on Artiuno's back. Thanks to that, he noticed that Rina and Shalia stayed weirdly silent during the conversation.

"Did you catch anything weird with them?" Luke asked. "I usually like to see pretty girls smiling, but this time..."

"No," Rina said.

"I didn't find the reason behind my bad feeling, but I am sure that they are hiding something," Shalia said.

"I can't negate that her first reaction upon seeing you two was weird," Luke said.

"What are you going to do?" Rina asked.

"Since they are hiding something, I will wait and see until I find out about it," Luke replied. "After that… I will decide at the moment."

Just like before, Luke gave the order to Artiuno to proceed slowly, and he had the chance to use Spark Ball. Since he was heading south in order to take a roundabout way and then attack the enemy territory from the other side, he didn't find many enemies. 

"As expected… they are making nests at the top of the buildings," Rina said. "Aside from flying that high, the only way to face many of them is to approaching the crystal."

"That is fine… we just arrived in the city, we have time," Luke said.

It was a bit of a slow method of hinting, but Luke managed to deal with the enemies using only Spark Ball. When they tried to attack, and their Aim was good, Artiuno used the same attacks and repelled them. In any case, Luke arrived on the other side of the city after one hour. With Artiuno, it was hard to miss him, and yet, Luke didn't find any signs of survivors. He found a few frozen zombies here and there, though.

Congratulations! The skill Cold Resistance has leveled up.

"Crap… the temperature is decreasing now that the sun is setting," Luke said while trembling a little.

"If you increase your Resistance a bit, you will feel better," Rina said.

It seemed like a waste since Luke rarely gets hit by magic attacks, but he decided to follow that advice. He could tell that the cold would decrease his concentration, and with that, he was bound to make mistakes.

"Koriri aren't nocturnal creatures, you will have to attack their nests if you want to deal with them at night," Shalia said.

That was a problem that Luke wasn't planning to face. While he could fly thanks to Artiuno, the possibility of him defeating the enemies in the nests without giving them the chance to make any noise was pretty low. Not to mention, the number of high buildings that the monsters could use was pretty high, and they were also close to each other. Most likely, Luke will have to deal with many chain battles in that place.