Leon and the others camped by the roadside, as there were two injured people in the group, James had chosen to rest there for the night. After checking their surroundings, and setting up a protective perimeter. James and Camile took turns staying awake on watch during the night, one at a time in case something happened.
Leon made good use of that time, since there wasn't much he could do. He now replayed the scene in his mind. The orc leaping toward him and the spear of light forming in his hands. And the energy it emitted, it would have been incredible, if he hadn't been fighting for his life in that very instant.
' I still managed to level up. Status. ' And then the status window appeared in front of his eyes.
[ Name: Leon Grand ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Level: 3/100 ]
Attributes:
[ Strength: 3 ]
[ Intelligence: 4 ]
[ Speed: 4 ]
[ Endurance: 4 ]
[ Mana: 7 ]
Traits:
[ Language Adaptation (Universal) ]
[ Luminous Energy (Awakened – E Rank) ]
[ Light Hero EX ]
[ Points: 1 ]
' I have one point after killing the Orc. Thinking about it now I wanted to put it into Endurance again. But I need attack power. James has the role of tank, if everything goes well I can focus only on offense for now. '
Pondering what to spend the point on, he soon made his decision.
[ Strength 3 > 4 ]
Leon could feel his body changing slightly, his muscles contracted involuntarily, as if it were a cramp but across his entire body. He clenched his teeth while enduring that painful sensation over his body, feeling his muscles breaking and rebuilding rapidly in a span of a few seconds.
Breathing heavily. Leon opened and closed his hands. He could clearly feel the difference of a single point in his stats within his body. Looking at his sword, he felt like practicing right away. But he still was not in condition to move too much.
' I feel that tomorrow morning I will already be in good condition to move. For now I have to focus on recovery. ' He sighed while looking at the sky, seeing the stars, and the... three moons? They were what seemed to be three moons, but distant from each other. Letting out a soft laugh he closed his eyes.
Three moons were the least unusual things he could see there, and they no longer shook him mentally. Soon Leon fell asleep, his body grateful for another long rest to recover.
Waking some time later with the morning sun and Tris sitting beside him, while her hands emitted a warm light over Leon. " Good morning Leon !. " She said opening a sincere soft smile. " Good morning Tris. Thank you for helping me yesterday. I don't think I would have seen today without you. "
She blushed for a moment, but soon spoke " No no !, it's my job as the healer of the group !. It's all good !. " She laughed soon closing her hands, and then standing up. " I think you can already move normally, but don't overdo it !. "
And yes, Leon's body already felt lighter, and stronger too. Soon standing up, he looked down at his clothes, and they were stained dark red. " I need to take a bath... "
" Hahaha!, that's normal for a mercenary Leon !. Blood, sweat and pain will be your daily life now that you joined us !. But you will grow stronger too !. " James said while giving two pats on Leon's shoulder, that would have been enough to end his life yesterday in the state he was in.
Laughing along Leon then took a few steps forward seeing Camile still helping the beastkin woman. " How is she James ? "
" Mhm.. She's already better, but her mind seems somewhat broken. She saw many horrible things in the short time she was in the forest. With a few more days she should be fine. " He commented. Soon lightly clapping his hands together to get everyone's attention.
" I know resting is good, but we need to return to the city and report about the mission. " He walked back while picking up a black cloth sack all dirty. " And we need to prove we killed the creature so the head helps. "
Leon swallowed dry seeing that. But it made sense, they needed proof of the monster's death, though he thought only the ear could do the job. " Does it have to be the whole head ? " James looked at Leon nodding positively.
" Yes in this case yes. If not only the tusks would serve. " He shook the sack slightly. " But this guy here was close to a mutation. So things are going to get complicated sooner than normal. "
" Complicated ? "
" You don't know about the monster outbreak that happens around here Leon ?, you came from far away then. " He said while starting to walk. Camile helped the woman to move And soon Tris continued from where James had stopped.
" Every few years the fortress city is attacked by a large number of monsters. Normally the sign of this happening is in the monsters that appear around the region, stronger than they should be and with uncommon mutations. Normally it is an interval of ten to twenty years, but the last one was not even eight. So this is worrying !. "
Leon laughed awkwardly. " Yes. I came from far away actually. I don't know much about here sorry. " And then he started walking along with the group. " A monster like that then can be a sign of a new monster outbreak ?. The fortress city can defend itself right ? "
" Normally... Yes... The last one that happened eight years ago was one of the.. Most brutal... But the walls did... Their job. " Camile said, while almost dragging the beastkin woman with her.
Leon placed his hand on his chin thinking about it. ' Did we humans from Earth coming to this world accelerate this ?, if so why ? ' He thought but could not reach an exact conclusion, and stayed with the theory that whatever brought them here may have affected this world in some way or another.
So he returned to focusing on the path, his feet and the ground. Leon breathed, his body no longer hurt as much as before. He had survived the first mission, and now all that was left was to collect the reward for it.
" James. Since it was a special monster, and rescuing a survivor will they pay us more than what was promised ? " Leon asked while looking back since he was walking a bit ahead of the group.
" Mhm.. It's possible, but unlikely. What we will gain is points on the mercenary board, and that is more important than money. Since that is how we increase our rank. "
" Well but either way. I'm glad we took this job. " Leon said smiling looking in the direction of the woman they had saved.