Chapter 167: The Next Step (1)

Richter- Lv 152

HP: ????/ ????

MP: ????/ ????

SP: ????/ ????

STR: ????

SPE: ????

INT: ????

END: ????

RES: ????

FOC: ????

Free points: ????

Gold Coins: ????

Active Skills: ????, ????, ????, ????

Spells: ????, ????, ????, ????

Passive: ????, ????, ????, ????

Luke tried to check Richter's status, but he saw that. He didn't use it before because he assumed that he wouldn't be his enemy… in any case, he couldn't see the status of dead creatures, so it seemed that he would survive.

"What are you looking at?"

Richter's shadow began to tremble, and then Luke heard that voice, he thought of stabbing the think, but then he stopped… that thing was Richter's partner. Whatever the hell that was, it gave him the power to kill the goblin lord.

"You are one of those that came to Earth to look for partners…" Luke muttered.

"You are right, and don't try anything funny. Killing you would be easy for me."

"You are welcome to try," Luke said. "I will welcome all the experience and gold coins I can get."

"Your act doesn't fool me, human."

Luke felt shivers while hearing that lifeless and apparently electronic voice. He didn't think that hearing such a thing would be possible… even more considering the contents of the words.

"What is wrong with him?" Luke asked.

"My power took its Toll on his body. He will stay like that for a few days."

That wasn't so bad. It would be bad if Richter died after he stole half of the experience and gold coins. In any case, Luke turned around and saw the survivors chasing the goblins that were running away after losing their leader. It was a common sight in wars, but it still was quite pathetic. After confirming their victory, Rachel came running to check her little brother's condition, and despite the situation, she didn't look that fazed.

"Again… this fool…" Rachel said and then let out a long sigh.

The battle was won, and it was time to check the loot. Thanks to Richter's attack, the armor of the overlord goblin was a mess. It couldn't be used. So, it was only natural that he would get that.

Glacial Long Sword (Uncommon)

A rare weapon forged by a goblin from another world. It causes ten points of extra ice damage per second and for five seconds, as well as decreases the target's speed by thirty percent for five seconds.

STR + 30, INT + 20, END + 10

Durability: 60/60

The status was superb, just like its effects, but the rarity level of the weapon seemed a bit weird… it was below rare. Quite a disappointing weapon for a crystal overlord… still, considering that he had to leave his home planet… Luke couldn't say that out loud, it was a bit different, but Rina and Shalia's situations were quite drastic as well.

In any case, the survivors began to celebrate the fact that they won the battle… they lost around ten people, and Richter still was unconscious, but they still got their freedom. Luke didn't feel like celebrating, though. The worst part of the job was just about to start… escorting those people to the other two cities and then heading home. It would be a massive pain in the ass…

In any case, the people began to cross the bridge, but there was something else Luke had to do… destroy the castle above and get his reward for the quest. Still, destroying new work for that didn't seem like the best thing to do after freeing it from the control of the enemy."

"Well now… what to do?" Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

Luke didn't have much time, and he couldn't stay there for a week to solve that problem without creating others. However, it seemed that Rachel had a better solution.

"That thing suddenly appeared above us one night… according to what you told us, I would say that it wasn't created overnight," Rachel said.

"So, it was something the boss brought from another world?" Luke frowned.

A lot of mana would be needed for that… However, unless it was something that could be transported, it certainly wouldn't be able to be sent by a crystal. Send it back to the original planet probably was impossible… the overlord definitely cut off all links to his world to avoid pursuers. In any case, Luke decided to check the castle while flying on Artiuno's back.

After flying for a few minutes, Luke reached the weight necessary to surpass the walls of the ice castle. As expected, he was so high that he was feeling dizzy due to the altitude. In any case, weirdly enough, the castle was completely empty… that was weird considering that the overlord sent hundreds of ice goblins every day to find the survivors.

"Do you feel any presence around?" Luke asked. 

"None…" Rina replied.

That was odd… in any case, Luke kept searching, and he found some rooms with worthless things left by the goblins. Bones of other monsters, remainings of fish and other creatures… after a while, Luke finally found the throne room and a red crystal. It was a bit different from the others, but Luke could feel a lot of mana coming from it.

"That is probably the things that controls this structure and what the goblin Lord used to summon minions," Rina said.

"I never have seen anything like it… but I can feel the mana of that moving across the structure," Shalia said. "It resembles the mana from that goblin."

They were talking as if that was a matter of fact, but Luke was as confused as he could be. How a crystal different from the others could have such useful features… to be the core of the castle and make it move and also to summon minions for the crystal overlord… not even Rina and Shalia could understand it fully. 

"There is mana inside the crystal… but it isn't something that you can control. You have to pour your mana in there to be able to control it," Rina said.

Luke nodded, but in the end, he hesitated.. However, he didn't have time to waste and eventually touched the crystal. At first, nothing happened when he touched, but when he thought of putting his mana in there…