Chapter 238 - Reality (2)

Luke let out a long sigh when he saw numerous magic projectiles flying toward him. There was even some area of effect spells approaching more slowly. Those guys sure were reckless... they thought that they could fight quality with quantity as if Luke hadn't dealt with similar situations many times before... Still, it was troublesome for another reason.

"I am Sorry, Shalia…" Luke said.

"Don't be. Think of those dumbasses as troublesome individuals that will only put you in danger in the future," Shalia said. 

They were already putting him in danger now. Instead of that, Luke was apologizing for having to kill so many of her people. That being said, he didn't waste much time thinking about that. He began to sidestep while firing with his bow while Shalia used her magic to block the most troublesome projectiles.

You obtained 2250 experience points.

You obtained 1323 gold coins.

You obtained 2250 experience points.

You obtained 4233 gold coins.

…

Luke was starting to understand the system. Sapient creatures could give him a lot more experience since their brain was also a weapon. Nevertheless, the dark elves began to fall like dry leaves on the ground, and they were completely headless. When that started to happen, the others frowned… Luke was only a few levels above them, so was that possible?

"Kill the invaders!"

"Kill that dirty traitor!"

Despite that, as if they were in a frenzy, the most violent ones kept charging at him, completely aware that they were going to die, unable to achieve anything. After a couple of minutes, Luke saw himself surrounded by headless corpses. He didn't like that… he hated it. Why do some people have to be stupid to that point? Was it hard to see that he wasn't an enemy? Regardless, when the fight ended, he approached the others that stayed behind, unable to think of what they should do considering that Shalia was with Luke.

"What about you guys?" Luke asked. "Are you going to attack me as soon as I show my back because I am an outsider?"

"It is a waste of time… you have to beat them down until they feel helpless enough not to even think about doing that," Shalia said. "You are more powerful than them, but as long as they think that they have a chance of winning while ganging up on you, they will always keep that in mind and wait for the perfect moment to do so."

"You are… the mad witch…"

"What if I am?" Shalia asked.

"You have such a nickname… you should have told us," Rina said while smirking.

"I can tell you why people call me that, but you won't like such a bloody story," Shalia said.

Luke could imagine it, though. Shalia was ruthless, so it wouldn't be weird if she chopped off the limbs of her enemies with her magic. Although she is behind the strongest dark elves of her world, she was probably at the top before coming to earth.

"You have two options now, piss off or follow our lead because we are going to defeat those monsters," Shalia said.

"Before deciding that, have you heard of a little girl and a young dark elf passing through this area?" Luke asked. 

The dark elves had their guards up, and they looked like they could attack him at any moment, so maybe it wasn't the best time to ask them for Danielle, but Luke had to at least try. However, they shook their heads.

"We follow the strong… but we can't follow an outsider," one of the dark elves said. "Even if you are an ally of one of us, we won't follow you. You are just one of those that are after our planet."

"If I were, I wouldn't come myself. I would send monsters…" Luke said. "Well, it doesn't matter. As long as you don't get in my way, I don't care. Still, I will give you this warning. I don't want to kill you all, but I will if you cause problems to me."

Luke gathered the loot of the dark elves. Unfortunately, none of them had magic wands… come to think of it, Shalia never said to look for her old gear as well. The best they had were some defensive equipment and rings that enhanced their magic powers. Still, their effects and parameters bonuses were smaller than the ones Luke was using, so he decided to sell those.

You received 400 gold coins.

You received 200 gold coins.

You received 800 gold coins.

…

As expected, Luke only gained one-fourth of the original price of the items. For one reason or the other, though, he found many mana potions with the enemies he defeated. Shalia explained that they always tried to improve their skills, and relying on items was counterproductive for that. Using mana potions was a lot better… Luke used those to create skeletons out of the mantis, and after one hour, he had an army of 150 skeleton wizards, and he decided to face the other mantis.

"Do you want to use the bow while I recover the mana, Shalia?" Luke asked. 

"I don't have the Archery skill, and I don't like bows, so I can focus on recovering mana," Shalia replied.

Luke furrowed his eyebrows when he heard that. It is so weird to hear elves saying that they don't like bows. It was like hearing a guy say that he hates big boobs… Nevertheless, Luke approached the destroyed village with his bow in hand. That was a good chance for him to get some coins. Now that Luke had most of the skills that he needed to keep growing stronger steadily, he needed to start thinking in the long term.

"Aren't we getting sidetracked?" Rina asked. "What about Danielle and Sylah?"

"Don't worry, this will actually help us find them faster," Luke said.

Luke had planned to steadily defeat the mantis, but his plan crumbled when he saw five hundred of those charging at him.