Chapter 171: The Next Step (5)

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

"I don't have grenades anymore, so fighting the monsters will take too much time," Luke replied. "I suppose I will just destroy the crystals."

The monsters in the area were Cursed Staure, Frozen Wasps, Baku, skellies, and a blue species of frog. All of them were at level sixty, so Luke wouldn't gain much experience and coins from them. He could use his loot to kill some of them just to annoy the overlords, but Luke couldn't forget about his original goal.

"Speaking of which, for how long you guys can maintain your original form now?" Luke asked.

"After defeating the goblin Lord, you became a lot stronger, you gained new skills and also increased your focus a lot, all that helped us, and now we can keep our original form for eight seconds," Rina explained.

"That is quite something. The people from my world assumed that the earliest of us would return in six months," Shalia added.

That was a lot… perhaps if Luke takes a week off to meditate, those two will obtain the power necessary to return to their worlds, but there was one question: to which world Luke would go first? He probably will have to decide that, but he had no idea what would be the best option… In any case, some preparation would be necessary.

While he was thinking about that, Luke destroyed four Crystals and gained five thousand coins for each. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing… Besides, the monsters never had the chance to stop or attack him. Once the job was done, he returned to Rachel's group.

LV 123 - 53%

HP: 1168/ 1168

MP: 797/ 707

SP: 545/ 545

STR: 218 + 8 + 30

SPE: 169 + 10

INT: 78 + 20 + 20

END: 60 + 20 + 15 + 16 + 20

RES: 94 + 04 + 04

FOC: 260 + 40

Free points: 20

Gold Coins: 95598

Active Skills: Weapon Augmentation Lv 05, Stinger Lv 05, Dash Lv 05, Flying Kick Lv 02, Sonic Blade Lv 03, Heavy Strike Lv 04 (+ 01 UP),

Spells: Appraisal Lv 05, Spark Ball Lv 06, Tame Lv 03 (+ 01 UP),Water Cannon Lv 04, Lightning Lv 02, Lurk Lv 01, Earth Wall Lv 03, Water Tornado Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Flamethrower Lv 03, Water Manipulation Lv 02 (+ 01 UP), Hurricane Lv 02 (+ 01 UP)

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 03, Wind Resistance Lv 01, Archery Lv 03, Viral Resistance Lv 02, Pain Resistance Lv 05 (+ 01 UP), Swordsmanship Lv 03 (+ 01 UP), Cold Resistance Lv 06 (+ 01 UP), Earth Resistance Lv 01, Meditation Lv 04 (+ 01 UP), Magic Link Lv 01, Iron Heart Lv 03 (+ 01 UP), Vigor Lv 02 (+ 01 UP)

"Not bad, I guess," Luke said after checking his status

"Not good, again?" Rachel asked when Luke returned.

"The survivors aren't where my father said they would be… I destroyed the crystals, and I didn't notice any movements aside from the monsters," Luke replied. "There is no one there."

"Is that so…" Rachel said with her head down.

Richter tried to comfort his sister. It seemed that she was one of those idealistic types as well. Now that she had been helped, she wanted to help others. As for Richter, he didn't seem that bothered by the bad news… he probably heard a lot of things from the shadow that works with him… how things proceed with worlds that face similar problems.

Regardless, the group began to move south now, and after four days, Luke finally met with Ryhorn. Not only she had leveled up five times, but she also had laid three eggs.

"I suppose these are good news…" Luke said while he was feeling some weird stares coming from the survivors behind him.

"It seems that we still have a lot to learn," Rachel said.

"You even use monsters to fight, huh…" Richter said. 

"You also think that someday they will stop obeying me for whatever reason?" Luke asked.

"Are you one hundred percent certain that such a change doesn't exist?" Richter asked.

"Of course, I don't know," Luke replied. "Who could have imagined that all this would happen two months ago? Instead of worrying endlessly about every little single thing, it is better to try to achieve the best we can with what we have."

It seemed too simplistic a way of doing things. Richter couldn't help but be careful because whenever he used the help of the shadow, he ended up unconscious due to the exhaustion. When he used his strength alone to win the battles, he didn't deal with such demerits, hence now he thinks that external help is only troublesome… and suspicious.

Putting that aside, one week after that, Luke finally managed to return home. He sighed in relief, but the mission still lasted for three weeks, even though it had been a success. During that time, one of Ryhorn eggs hatched, so Luke had a hard time giving the newborn baby enough time to learn how to walk and run. Regardless, the guards in the walls raised their guard when they saw an unknown force approaching, but they eventually recognized Luke and Artiuno. When they approached the walls, Luke's parents and his acquaintances were already there and ready to deceive them. Considering the number of survivors, they assumed that the mission had been a complete success… they were obviously wrong. They realized that after seeing Luke's long face.

"Welcome back," Mark said. "Thank you for helping them, Luke. Let's make everyone find the new homes that they are going to use. The trip has been long, so I am sure you are all tired."

"Sir… I believe we need to discuss some things," Rachel said.

"Don't worry, that can wait," Mark said. "Julia, can you look for Leah and ask her to take a look at the wounded?"

"Certainly," Julia said.

Luke frowned… his mother would usually greet him with a big hug, and while she seemed to be in high spirits, she didn't do that. In any case, by judging the expressions on everyone's faces, Luke didn't think that something that happened.. Regardless, once the survivors settled down in the free houses of the area, Luke explained to some of them what he had seen over the last three weeks.