Chapter 239 - Reality (3)

"Only five hundred… I guess they are looking down on me," Luke muttered as he watched the monsters dashing toward him.

The monsters, for whatever reason, had spawned until they became fifteen thousand strong, but they only sent such small numbers… Was their monster worried that they might look weak if they go all out against only a couple of enemies? Nevertheless, the mantis fired their Sonic Blades, and Luke couldn't dodge them since Shalia was behind him, meditating. In any case, the moment Luke used Tornado, Rina buffed his INT, and then he used Flamethrower. After creating the fire tornado, Luke made it move toward the enemies. Their attacks damaged the spell a little, but the effect was small since it was more of a physical attack than a magic one.

The manties tried to spread, but their speed worked against them this time. They failed in slowing down on time, so many of those were caught by the fire tornado. Those that managed to escape to the sides were bombarded by Luke's skeleton army. Since they were insect types, the skeletons used Fireball and made it rain over them for quite a while.

You obtained 275 experience points.

You obtained 275 gold coins.

You obtained 275 experience points.

You obtained 275 gold coins.

…

Luke had used a lot of mana to keep the fire tornado burning, so he quickly ran out of it. He put his bow aside and then equipped his ax before dashing toward the enemies. The manties were fast, but Luke would use Stinger and then destroy their rhythm while splitting one of them in half whenever they prepared an attack. 

The mantis just got close enough to approach the skeletons, but with Luke in their ranks, they had to forget about them. Thanks to that, they were bombarded by Fireballs completely freely.

The skill Necromancy has leveled up.

You obtained 05 status points.

The power of the skeletons increased a little bit, but that fight was pretty much over. The mantis could never touch Luke while he uses Stinger and the rain of fireballs made them lose health pretty often. One hundred or so Mantis still could move despite their wounds, so they retreated toward their base. They probably won't underestimate Luke the next time…

"I don't like this…" Rina said. "They should have sent their remaining forces as soon as they noticed that five hundred wasn't enough."

"That makes sense, but…" Luke said while he was raising more skeletons.

Something really smelled fishy, but it wasn't like the enemy could come up with a decision that fast. Besides, they were probably aware that Luke was raising more skeletons, so they had some time before the next fight. Still, things changed quite quickly when Luke turned around and saw the monsters disappearing out of nowhere. 

"What the hell…" Luke said. 

That was what happens when the crystals are destroyed, but there was no one nearby that could have done that… aside from the mantis themselves. Luke and the others approached to check the area, and they didn't see any signs of anyone. So, it became clear what had happened...

"Damn coward…" Shalia said. "Their master knew that monsters of this caliber wouldn't stop you, and insisting on the fight will only strengthen you. So, they decided to fall back, even if they had to sacrifice thousands of monsters and five crystals."

It was quite surprising that an enemy that decided that had the guts and skills to become powerful enough to have five crystals. Then again, Luke already knew how cowardly some overlords could be… it was a pity that he wouldn't gain hundreds of thousands of coins, but at least Luke won't have to waste days there.

The dark elves watched the whole thing, so they looked even more surprised than Luke. It was the first time they saw the enemy running away from them… running might be even putting it lightly. They sacrificed their forces to make sure that Luke wouldn't become stronger. They feared him…

Regardless, Luke began to work on creating more skeletons. Fifteen thousand was a pretty good number, but six hundred wasn't so bad. He spent the rest of the day creating them, and once that was over, he wrote a certain message in all the pages of his notebook that he carried to send a message to home: I will make you eat broccoli three times a day if you don't return home right now. From: Luke. That was the message he wanted to send to Danielle. He passed some copies to one hundred skeletons and then made them walk in all directions.

"Your plans sometimes are really silly…" Rina said.

"This is the best I can do for now, without resorting to physical punishment," Luke said. 

In any case, the skeletons will probably be found by some dark elves or monsters. Still, their destruction will spread the message that some weird skeletons were around. Luke was counting on Danielle's bird brain to investigate that. If anything, the pieces of paper are bound to find her at some moment. 

Once that was done, Luke decided to check things back home, but there was no sign of Danielle's return. The kid wasn't exactly a genius, but Luke couldn't think of a single reason that would make her think that she didn't have to return now and then to rest. Moreover, Mark wasn't moving the fortress because he thought that Danielle might miss them if they returned to Earth and landed on the hole that they created when the fortress was raised. Still, he soon realized that the fortress was a location in itself since Luke returned there.

"How are things in there?" Mark asked.

"It is complicated since it is the inverse of the elves' world," Luke replied while he checked the red crystal. "They have too much initiative, and thus, they don't trust in strangers."

Expansion Lv 01: 1.000.000 mana points.

Mana Shield Lv 01: 2.000.000

Summoning Lv 01: None

Movement Speed Lv 01: 3.000.000

Search Range Lv 01: 3.000.000

Teleportation Lv 01: 5.000.000

Current Mana: 59.365