Chapter 136: Choice (4)

In front of Luke, he saw the monster standing, but its arms were long gone and there was a hole in its torso. It seemed that his spin attack had been more than a little bit effective… a lot of blood rained down on his body and he hadn't noticed it.

You obtained 189.989 experience points.

You obtained 55.789 gold coins.

… You have leveled up.

You obtained 75 status points.

You completed the quest.

You have learned Heavy Strike

The skill Weapon Augmentation has leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

After checking the numerous notifications, Luke felt satisfied with his new skill. It was simple, it just consumed some SP to power up his attacks by ten percent. However, those attacks also decreased the endurance of the opponent by two points per level and the debuff lasted for ten seconds. The duration could Reset with each new hit and it also could stack… on the other hand, the monster didn't drop anything. Aside from the gear that the monster was wearing, which Luke completely destroyed with his last attack.

"I suppose it can't be helped, ah… the other enemies," Luke said and then turned around only to find that they had disappeared.

"It seems that that guy was the leader of those creatures… since he died, the crystal lost their powers and disappeared," Rina said. "No… maybe it is because their master was defeated, they were teleported back to their planet."

Luke sat on the ground and then used Water Cannon upward to clean his body. That also was a good way for him to relieve the tension… that fight had been too nerve-wracking, after all. Still, even before he could finish cleaning most of the blood, Luke saw Billy and the cloaked figure returning to the airplane as nothing had happened.

"Asshole…" Luke said.

"Who is?" Amanda asked while looking at Rina and Shalia. "You somehow pulled off something crazy again, huh. Even though you didn't alone this time."

"Why are you… no, it is nothing," Luke said.

Luke almost asked if Amanda was jealous of their figures. Even someone like her would understand that Rina and Shalia were beauties like no other… However, it wouldn't be a good idea to bring such a topic that Luke was basically not related to. Besides, it would be pretty insensitive considering that she watched his back for a good part of the fight.

"That guy was weak… he wasn't on the same level as the other creature in Europe, he couldn't have destroyed this city in half an hour," Luke said. "Considering that your base was destroyed over an entire night, that confirms my theory, right?"

"Indeed… while I don't know many beings like that one, it seemed that he was way below the one who destroyed the first base in my world," Rina nodded. "Considering that someone related to that monster made the airplane escape that other airport, then we can assume that a group of crystal owners wanted that guy in the hood."

"I hate liars so much, to lie so shamelessly to the people who were working with them…" Shalia said.

Luke felt the same way, he wanted some explanations, but he knew that he wouldn't get any when Billy appeared and acted like nothing had happened. For whatever reason, Frank told him to keep quiet about the existence of the cloaked figure and their plan to use Luke's group as bait to lure the monsters was just another excuse. There was only one thing Billy wanted to do right now…

Fixing the airplane, the parts that were damaged, and dealing with the aftermath of the battle lasted for an entire day. However, Luke didn't do anything aside from meditating. The loot had been bad again, so there was no reason to get interested in some crap items, still, Luke picked some of those randomly to store in his secret vault. 

Meanwhile, Amanda and Celia pressed Billy for explanations, but he ignored them of course. Still, they were surprised that Luke didn't even try to argue with him. For almost fifteen hours, until they were back at home, he meditated. When he opened his eyes, he saw the unsatisfied expression on Amanda's face.

"Luke, are you fine with that?" Amanda asked.

"No, that is why I am trying to make good use of my free time," Luke said. "You should do the same and stop interacting with liars. Don't worry about their pesky secrets."

Pesky secrets… Those sure weren't pesky secrets for Amanda since they almost died for them. They didn't come to save people as well, they came to save a single one and from another world… since she heard what Rina said previously. Amanda and Celia were starting to think that Billy was really their comrade, but he was more worried about the mission than in being a true friend… they didn't know if it was because he was a soldier and had to obey his commander's orders, but even so…

"What are you planning to do, Luke?" Celia asked.

Celia was more playful than serious at the time, but even she couldn't take those things lightly. Thanks to that, she realized that Luke had something in mind. The question was: would he be going to share his with them about his plans?

"Soon you will see," Luke replied and laughed creepily. "Let's keep this as a surprise for the time being.

Truth to be told, Luke didn't have a real plan regarding the future, he just wanted one thing for the time being: to stay away from Billy and Frank's group. He also had his fair share of secrets, he didn't want to reveal what his skills could do to everyone, still, keeping those secrets never put anyone's lives in danger. Still, while those were his reasons, Celia and Amanda only felt suspicious. They knew that Billy could think fast, but he wasn't exactly a genius that could plan the future carefully...