Chapter 155: Ice King (9)

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Luke?" Rina asked. "You could have taken your parents with us, at least. They leveled up a lot, thanks to you, but the more, the merrier."

"... Such naivety," Shalia said after a long sigh. "If he starts doing this now, when will he stop?"

"I am with Shalia on this one. I am doing this because they can't do it now, Rina," Luke said. "I already showed them what they need to do to be able to do what they want, and until they can do that, they can focus on building a safe base. Our roles have reversed, but I can't protect them from everything, just like they did it for me. Spoiling them by leveling up without doing anything will also be counterproductive. Besides, I already used most of my grenades, so this job will be pretty long. It won't be a good idea if they stay away from there when I want them to be the core of the camp."

While Luke helped some people level up, they probably didn't think that he was much of a leader since he was always out doing things that weren't helping the camp directly. That was the opposite of what his parents were doing. Considering that they also had a good compatibility with Amanda and Celia, things probably will work well. The only problem was Frank… would he do something once he realizes that Luke is away… there are few worse ways to pick up a fight with him, after all.

Regardless, even with Artiuno's speed and considering the pauses they will have to make, Luke couldn't imagine them reaching New York in less than two days. The trip will take even longer if he finds some obstacles or interesting things. It didn't take long for that to happen… while Luke began to cross North Carolina on the second day, he found a city and several buildings collapsing in there. It was the perfect image to represent the fall of the human race.

"Prepare for trouble! And make it double! To protect the world from devastation! To unite all peoples within our nation! To denounce the evils of truth and love! To extend our reach to the stars above! Jessie! James! Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light! Surrender now, or prepare to fight!" Luke said. "Come on, Artiuno, finish it off."

"Kyua, kyua!" Artiuno chirped.

"What was that about?" Rina frowned.

"Sorry, I just wanted to say the first two sentences, but the whole introduction came out," Luke replied. "Anyway, it seems a new type of enemy is there, and they are kind of weird…"

Brute Spawn - Lv 71

HP: 1444/1444

MP: 114/114

SP: 1232/1232

STR: 245

SPE: 222

INT: 33

END: 448

RES: 76

FOC: 100

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Skills: Headbutt Lv 07, Charge Lv 07

Spells:

Passive:, Pain Resistance Lv 08, Fire Resistance Lv 08, Cold Resistance Lv 08, Iron Heart Lv 03, Harden Lv 04

Those creatures looked like rhinoceroses, but their skin was red, and they were as big as trucks. They had a very sharp-looking horn on their nose and two others on their foreheads… a headbutt given by those guys wouldn't be just fatal. They would split everything in two. When Luke approached, he saw one of those creatures entering a building, and after hitting some pillars from inside and making the building collapse, the creature left the fallen building rubble like it was nothing.

"Hey, I want one of those," Luke said. "It feels like riding such a creature would be terrible, though."

"Is this the first thing you can think of when you see a monster making a building of this size collapse?" Rina frowned. "Defeating all of those creatures will be hard."

"We don't have to. I just want one of them," Luke replied. "Speaking of that, Artiuno probably can't carry something that big."

Luke was right. They didn't have to deal with all monsters. Destroying the crystal was unavoidable, but everything else was just optional. Besides, if they take too much time in there, the people who requested for help might die, and with that much HP and endurance, those things were bound to be sturdy.

"They seem weak against magic… and now that I can see them from up close, their numbers still are small," Luke said while flying around the city, and then he saw some other buildings falling. "Any ideas why they are doing that?"

"They like to knock down things, but not while risking burying themselves alive," Shalie replied. "I fought some of them, but they only knocked down trees and small houses. Well… in my world, there aren't buildings this big, so I can't be sure."

Luke wondered if those creatures received some kind of order to do that, but he couldn't stay all day doing that, so he gave Artiuno the order to fly toward the monsters. Artiuno got considerably stronger over the last few weeks. Still, her ice arrows didn't pierce the flesh of the monsters that much. Still, it had been enough. Luke equipped his Electric Staff and then used Spark Balls on them. The monsters trembled, and a lot of smoke left their bodies even before they fell down. Luke went too far…

You obtained 30 experience points. 

You obtained 30 gold coins.

You obtained 30 experience points. 

You obtained 30 gold coins.

…

"Hmm? I received a lot less experience and coins than I had expected," Luke said.

"It is probably because of the difference in level… it is barely noticeable, but you gain less and fewer rewards for killing monsters ten levels beyond yours," Rina explained. "Consequently, you gain more if you defeat monsters ten levels higher than yours. Consequently, your allies receive more if they are nearby."

Luke had noticed that, but he never paid much attention to it… at least when he defeated stronger foes.. In any case, that was a sign that his power level was way beyond the expected.