Chapter 269 - Oath (3)

Luke wasn't one hundred percent certain of Nambra's intentions since it was hard to get a good read of her facial expressions. She was always looking as deadpan as they come… with that in mind, he didn't want to help her, even more so when she was aiming for… his genes? It was a bit better than aiming for his body alone. Luke wondered if that was how Amanda felt when he asked her out.

"I don't trust you… but you can tag along for the time being," Luke said.

"It seems your idea of family is different from mine, I wouldn't mind learning more about your ways if that is what it takes to get your cooperation," Nambra said.

"Let's put aside that kind of talk for the time being and don't bring it in front of the others, okay?" Luke asked. "Now that I think about it, by hiding your goals, I am the one who looks suspicious in letting a former enemy join us. Well, they heard a lot already."

Luke turned to the battlefield, and he saw in the distance Rina, Danielle, and Sylah fighting those weird slimes. They still were coming from the fortress, so it seemed that Richter's party was struggling. Given how tired they were, it didn't surprise him. So, Luke wondered if he should go and help them prevent deaths. While that was probably for the best, it would make them feel quite bad. His party dealt with more enemies and didn't have to wait to be rescued, after all. However, there was a chance that other enemies might appear again… In the end, Luke decided to help Rina and Danielle.

"What were you talking about?" Rina asked. "You stayed there without moving for a while."

"We were talking about the weather," Luke replied. "Putting that aside, can you tell how they are doing? That annoying friend of yours is with them, right?"

"He didn't send any message asking for help, so they should be relatively fine," Rina replied. "Rather than that, the elves got stronger, but they are reaching their limits."

Luke couldn't complain about their vigor, he trained them quite harshly, so if they couldn't keep up with that pace, the fault would lie with him. In any case, Luke picked his bow and then began to shoot those weird slimes. Still, while he easily destroyed their bodies, they didn't die… their health decreased as their bodies shrunk due to the destroyed metal liquid, but only that. Nambra, on the other hand, easily destroyed them. First, she sent her spheres to heat the monsters, freeze, and then shock them to death… they were somewhat resistant to the elements, but only to a certain level. So, Luke also used his elemental attacks. While not as nearly as effective, he managed to do a lot thanks to the effects of the rings he just got. He had checked their price in the shop, and each one cost half a million gold coins…

Nevertheless, the slimes stopped jumping from the flying fortress at some point, so Luke assumed that it was time to check on the others. Ten minutes had passed since he began to help the elves, and there were no signs of enemies approaching, so things were probably fine. However… The structure trembled for a while and then began to collapse very suddenly.

"I suppose this is a good chance to fall back since the other overlords aren't around…" Luke said, and then he began to grab the loot. "Can't say for sure if they aren't watching us, though."

"The ones you defeated now were the most violent ones," Nambra said. "The remaining three are quite cowardly and while they might let loose now, they won't try to approach your group out of fear."

That made sense. After all, Luke and the others defeated many overlords in a single night. The only problem was the fact that Luke didn't get any quest to do so. Nevertheless, Richter's party appeared, and they sure were beaten down. Richter himself even had lost an arm. Rina approached to help Luthi heal him, but the one who really helped had been Nambra. With one of her spheres, she made Richter stop feeling any pain, and with another, she helped the others heal him. Despite that, everyone was cautious of her.

"It is time to retreat," Luke said. "Good work, everyone."

Rina was satisfied by the fact that Luke loosened up a bit to elves after such a harsh battle. Knowing him, it wouldn't be weird if he had said things like: this isn't over yet, you bastards! Once we return to our base, I will make you train harder since you fought like little girls today! Still, despite his words, everyone looked pretty suspicious since an enemy joined their camp.

Instead of worrying about what others were thinking of him, Luke checked the loot. As expected, it was too much to hope that a sword better than his ax would drop. At that point in time, he should just learn Axemanship. 

"I suppose I also need some skill to repair weapons… this ax is about to break," Luke thought while he watched everyone getting in the flying fortress.

Fortunately, Luke found the skill perfect for that task, it was called Repair, and while its cost was quite high, which was one hundred mana points per one point of durability, it was worth the hassle. Moreover, at higher levels, Luke would be able to repair his weapons almost instantly. Lately, his fights had been quite fierce, and his defensive gear had suffered quite a lot of damage.

"What are the plans now?" Rina asked.

"You are the one who has to decide that, my queen," Luke replied.

"Don't try to sweet talk your way out of this," Rina said, visibly a bit annoyed.

"I wasn't though," Luke frowned. "We will rest for a few days and then finish off the remaining enemies in a single swoop."

"I was talking about her," Rina said.