Chapter 118: Reason (6)

Thanks to the level-up, Spark Ball was causing even more damage than usual. So, Luke managed to paralyze and kill the enemies before they could try anything. When that wasn't enough, he used Boomerangs, and those easily pierced the faces of the enemies. However, despite that, it didn't matter how many enemies Luke killed. He didn't feel that he was approaching the crystal. The area of a one-kilometer radius around the crystal had that many enemies.

"I assumed that to bring monsters this big, a lot more mana would be used… but I guess I was wrong. Their numbers can be compared to the goblins," Luke said. 

"It is said that the Koriri can lay several eggs in a single week as long as they have enough food, and those eggs also hatch in one week…" Rina said. 

Luke nodded. Articuno didn't eat much aside from some things that Luke found in supermarkets, so she wasn't going to lay eggs any time soon. In any case, at that rate, the plan to leave Atlanta before the next day night will probably be delayed. Still, Luke had some plans on how to speed up his hunting speed, but that would have demerits. Like usual, if he tries to destroy the crystal before eliminating all monsters around, he might force the enemies to run away, and he wouldn't be able to find all of them… thus, they will breed, and considering how fast they are with that…

"I suppose I can go slowly with this since my gold coins are piling up nicely…" Luke said while rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The only problem is my dependence on mana to fight those beasts."

Luke tried doing that where he flew high in the sky and when the monsters began to chase him, he jumped from Articuno's back to attack them. As much fun as that was, it left Articuno wide open since she always would fly around to catch him if the necessity arises, and most of the time, she would fly to the middle of the enemies while focusing on speed and not attack anything else. It was a very boring hunt method, but Luke just flew around the area and slowly closed the encirclement as he headed toward the crystal.

In the end, things only worked out, and Luke finished his mission on the afternoon of the next day because he hunted during the entire night and because even at night, hundreds of those birds were guarding the crystal. So, he saved a lot of time. As usual, Luke received a quest to destroy the crystal, but that only gave him two thousand gold coins, and no boss showed up.

"Oh, well… I already had too many surprising moments here, so I appreciated a mission as boring as this," Luke said.

Luke forgot to do that due to anger, but once he dealt with the crystal, he looted the bodies of Sheila and her crew. While nothing that they had was particularly powerful, they were all items that cost at least 1600 coins.

"I need a vault…" Luke said.

"How about a spatial ring?" Shalia asked.

"Oh, they do exist?" Luke asked, surprised. "I want them."

"They are as rare as the upgrade crystals," Rina replied. "You might obtain them through some special quests... but as you know, they are hard to come."

"... I guess I will use a physical one for the time being," Luke said after sighing. "The problem is... where can I choose a place where no one will dare to steal anything from me? I suppose it will have to be near Miami."

While that slowed down Articuno a little bit, she managed to carry Luke and all his loot, and without looking back, they left Atlanta. Luke thought that the weather would improve as they left the city, but barely noticeable improvements. Maybe the changes in the world were much bigger than just he had imagined. The arrival of monsters was just the first step…. the land was absorbing the bodies of beings that had a lot of mana, so that made sense. In any case, while flying on Artiuno's back, they flew above some small cities and found some small hordes of zombies, but there were no signs of crystals or survivors. Exterminating those hordes was an option, but that would make Luke waste too much time… he could always deal with them later. Still, he had to focus on looking for the crystals.

LV 56 - 68%

HP: 540/ 540

MP: 345/ 345

SP: 332/ 332

STR: 118+ 16 + 5

SPE: 119+ 10

INT: 43 + 5 + 20

END: 40 + 09 + 08 + 06 + 13

RES: 44+ 04 + 04

FOC: 120

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 29598

Active Skills: Weapon Augmentation Lv 04, Stinger Lv 04, Dash Lv 04, Flying Kick Lv 02, Sonic Blade Lv 02

Spells: Appraisal Lv 04, Spark Ball Lv06, Tame Lv 02, Water Cannon Lv 02, Lightning Lv 01, Lurk Lv 01

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 03, Wind Resistance Lv 01, Archery Lv 03, Viral Resistance Lv 02, Pain Resistance Lv 04, Swordsmanship Lv 02, Cold Resistance Lv 03, Earth Resistance Lv 01, Meditation Lv 03, Magic Link Lv 01, 

"I guess I can rest for a night after making this much progress…" Luke said after he checked his status

Luke had found a small town while he was heading south that was completely empty, so he decided to sleep in one of the hotels there. Even the zombies were completely gone, and the destruction was minimal, so he thought it would be fine to spend the night there… it also seemed a pretty good place to put his items. Still, since it was so far away from his hometown, he decided not to use it. While the shop hadn't opened yet, Luke decided to save his gold coins. Regardless, when he began to move the next day, he soon realized that another busy that would be… while he was approaching a certain city, he heard sounds of battle.