Chapter 249 - Covering The Bases (5)

"And once we find the enemy?" Richter asked.

"You guys will deal with their army, and I will deal with the overlord," Luke replied. "We can't take our time fighting together and giving a chance for the enemy to run away."

"Why are you going alone?" Richter asked. "Are you trying to monopolize the experience and gold coins again?"

"No, I am not going alone," Luke replied. "I will have Rina and Shalia's support. Besides, I am pretty sure you can gain a lot more experience and gold coins facing an army of monsters. That being said, I wouldn't mind changing positions with you."

"Luke?" Rachel said and then frowned. "What do you mean by that?" 

"Exactly what it sounds like," Luke replied. "I am tired of facing those guys and getting beaten down so many times. If Richter thinks he can do a better job, then why not let him try? His level is lower than mine, but I am sure that his partner has more than a few tricks up their sleeve to make up for that."

"Even so… you two at least should work together," Rachel said.

"That isn't possible since only us can do the job and be the frontline," Luke replied. "The rest of the group has a lot of firepower, but not enough to defeat thousands of monsters in a single fight without giving them the chance to approach."

Rachel realized that Luke had a point. Wherever he goes, Shalia and Rina will go with him. That was why he decided at first to take the overlord. Accepting help from anyone else would only complicate things for the second party. Given that Danielle was part of it, it was only natural that he wouldn't want to weaken it even further. Still, Richter had other plans and while that wasn't unexpected, it was a bit troublesome.

"I can take any overlord on this planet. Just leave it to me," Richter said.

Richter was confident, but Rachel was worried. She knew that her little brother was strong, but she was also aware that Luke had more experience in dealing with that kind of foe. Besides, even though he had two partners and they gave him constant support, it wasn't the same boost of power that his brother gained from the shadow. So, Richter was strong, but he had an easier time obtaining that strength. Still, that was a problem in itself, since it was a sign that Richter had less experience.

The others shared the same worry, but they couldn't voice their opinions since it would be unpleasant for them to say that Richter wasn't up for the task. If he hears that his friends have so little faith in him, then a crack will appear in the party… not to mention, he didn't have any reason to help Luthi, or Rina, nor Luke and Celia, but he came anyway. He seemed a bit worried that he was falling behind Luke, but that wasn't a bad thing per se. As long as that brings him the desire to keep improving himself, even if he has some jealousy wasn't a problem.

In any case, the group began to move toward the central part of the continent, and since their speeds varied from to another, it took them four days to reach the area where Richter spotted some of the flying fortresses.

"Most of them stop to move at night and keep flying their troops fight during the day," Richter explained.

"What about the others?" Luke asked. "How many of them are there in total?"

"They keep flying and checking the battlefields for the easiest opponents," Richter replied. "From what I saw, they keep moving around this area, and there are at least eight flying fortresses."

Since Richter spent several days in the area, he probably didn't miss that many enemies. So, Luke assumed that there were between eight and twelve overlords in the area. In any case, the central area of the continent had many monsters moving around. Still, it was essentially a massive mix of grasslands and forests. It was kind of hard to look for crystals in such a place. If they weren't looking for anything else, then the overlords didn't have any reason to destroy the crystals. On the other hand, hiding a small group like that should be easy.

"Amanda and Celia will deal with the enemies that might approach us until we find a good temporary hideout," Luke said. "Don't try to save your mana. We can't allow the enemies to find us before we find them."

They could step on a nest of monsters at any moment, so caution was absolutely necessary. Fortunately, it was mid-afternoon, so they didn't have to hide for long. After heading to a nearby forest and being attacked at the entrance by some red and hairy spiders, the group stopped to rest. Those things looked quite nasty, with their color and their overall appearance, Billy could see too many eyes as well, so even his skin began to crawl.

Hybrid Spider - Lv 265

HP: 1254/ 1254

MP: 1254/ 1254

SP: 1011/ 1011

STR: 480

SPE: 440

INT: 480

END: 480

RES: 480

FOC: 400

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Active Skills: Dash Lv 07, Paralyzing Bite Lv 07, Sticky Web Lv 10

Spells: Flamethrower Lv 10, Poisonous Arrows Lv 10

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 10, Cold Resistance Lv 04, Poison Resistance Lv 10, Pain Immunity Lv 05

Luke looked at Rina, and she just shrugged at him. It seemed that she hadn't seen that kind of enemy before. In any case, they were quite big, and despite the fact that they were hairy and creepy because of their many eyes, they could even be used as mounts. So, Luke decided to tame one, even though he was probably going to sacrifice it later.. It was a pain to do that since they could put the forest on fire, but Luke managed to ambush one of them and paralyze it with Spark Ball.