Lucas was in his bed, alone this time.
He was thinking about how he hadn't really mourned his mother's death.
'To think I was ready to kill myself without even knowing what happened to Elijah.'
'To be honest, I didn't think my mom's death would impact me that much. I have basically been taking care of myself since Elijah's disappearance.'
'I was 14 at the time and Elijah was just 10 years old.'
'My mom lost all life in her eyes when the police said they couldn't do anything anymore.'
'When they pronounced him dead, my mom started to drink. It got worse with the years.'
'At the End she was basically just a walking corpse. Ultimately she chose to down a bottle of sleeping pills while drinking.'
'It's not like I didn't suffer either all these years. I just pushed it all down and focused on different things.'
'But when I couldn't find anything to do after graduating school that I really liked, I just gave up.'
'I bounced around different temporary jobs and immersed myself in the fantasy novels I read.'
'I'm just glad that I never started drinking or doing drugs.'
'If I could choose between having all the power in the world or going back in time to when the three of us were a happy family, I'd choose the latter every single time.'
'I miss them so much…'
Lucas fell asleep thinking of his past.
***
The next morning.
Lucas woke up early and started packing his things, though there wasn't much.
A couple hours later he was settling into his new place.
'This really is sush a beautiful view.'
'Let's leave the dark past behind and start our new life!'
Lucas then pulled out his phone to check the internet for recruitment notices.
'Looks like I can still make it to one gate raid today.'
Lucas got ready to leave and called a taxi.
'I should probably get a car, it's annoying using a taxi all the time.'
Although there were a lot of good public transportation options, Lucas always hated them. And now that he had money, he didn't need to use them anymore.
***
Lucas arrived at the gate.
He went through the same process as before.
But this time they didn't allow Lucas to move alone. And he couldn't take the gate core either.
'I'm gonna try not using my avatars today.'
When they entered together they split into smaller teams to hunt.
'I wonder if I can still get 1st rank in contribution.'
Lucas was currently hunting with a group of six awakened, including him.
They were all above level 5 and had okay stats.
When they encountered a small group of goblins, Lucas didn't get the chance to so much. But when they found a large group, it was his time to shine.
After fighting for a while, he started to get more comfortable with his sword.
Lucas realized that he enjoyed fighting and killing goblins.
***
It took them over 4 hours to clear the gate.
Congratulations! You have cleared Goblin Forest (F)
You have ranked 1st in contribution.
You have received 3 attribute points.
'Although it sucks that the rewards keep getting worse, I am proud of myself for ranking first without my avatars.'
Lucas managed to kill 42 goblins and leveled up.
Name: Lucas Strom
Level: 10 Exp: 385/5120
Stats:
Strength: 27
Agility: 27
Stamina: 27
Senses: 27
Intelligence: 22
Attribute points: 2
Avatar points: 10
Sword Mastery (F) > Sword Mastery (E)
'Everything increased by 2 points this time, even attribute and avatar points.'
'And my sword mastery skill was upgraded.'
'Will it keep going like that? And if so, will this happen every ten levels?'
Lucas was starting to get even more excited.
After receiving his payment, he headed to his new home.
***
After taking a shower and eating, Lucas checked his bank account.
31'500.-
'I have decided.'
Lucas decided to go to a car dealership to buy a car.
***
2 hours later.
Lucas purchased a nice middle sized black car for 17'500.-
'Damn. Spending so much money really hurt, but it's definitely worth it.'
Lucas drove back home.
When he arrived, he checked the news.
In Zurich, there were now only four remaining.
But the news reporters announced that the government won't clear 2 of them. They will maintain them for research purposes and training.
'That's smart.'
Lucas planned to attend both gate raids tomorrow, since one was in the morning and the other in the late afternoon.
***
The next morning Lucas went to the gate and was surprised to see Captain Bacher and his team again.
They greeted eachother and talked strategy.
Captain Bacher and the others were shocked when they found out that Lucas was already level 10.
Their best awakened were still level 8.
Soon they departed for the gate and entered.
What they didn't realize was that, just after they entered something shocking happened everywhere around the world.
In every country and most cities appeared new gates.
But these gates were different.
They all had more mana leaking and some were quite big.
So far it was the same F-rank goblin gate everywhere, but now came new ones.
.
Wolf and Goblin Forest Gate (E)
Beast Gate (E)
Kobold Cave Gate (D)
.
It was those three dungeons that appeared everywhere.
Most were the E-rank ones, but there were still D-rank gates in every country.
In Zurich, two wolf and goblin forest gates, one beast gate and one kobold cave gate appeared.
The E-rank gates were going to break in 1 hour, while the D-rank gates in 24 hours.
***
Lucas was hunting with Krasbert and Grishna in the north of the goblin forest right now.
'Why do I have this strange feeling in my stomach.'
This time it was his summons that did the hunting.
Ghost was elsewhere, collecting different plants and herbs to make into poison later.
A while later they finally reached the gate core again.
No one leveled up this time, because Ghost wasn't hunting this time.
When Lucas crushed the gate core, something unexpected awaited them all outside.