Good day, readers. The , this one, and the upcoming chapters are all being rewritten. I wasn't satisfied with how they turned out, and I felt that continuing as they were might ruin the story. As a result, I had to take some time to replan. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thank you for your understanding, and I hope you enjoy reading!
PS: All the chapters needed to be rewritten have been edited.
Of course, Michael had no idea about the predicament of the two girls. If he knew, he might have even called them lucky.
Had he not realized his initial location was within highly valuable ruins, he might have wanted to trade places with them—though perhaps not with the one stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere. But the desert? He would have gladly taken that instead.
Compared to being "guarded" by a former Rank 2 monster—a creature so powerful that even strong Rank 1 Awakeners would struggle against it—being in the desert was clearly the better option.
As Michael noticed Mira turning her attention toward him, he calmly addressed her.
"I was just a little surprised by the location of the crack we're heading to, that's all," he said evenly. "I thought it would be Level 1 at most."
Mira nodded, her expression unchanging. She didn't seem suspicious of Michael's response.
"Level 1 cracks are a great place to level up, but they're too weak. The space a corrupted dimensional crack can hold is small, so rather than waste time hunting monsters like goblins, even forest wolves, we could do the same in Level 2 cracks. The numbers are about the same, but they provide more experience points, more money, and generally better rewards."
Michael nodded at her reasoning. As long as the monster rank was low, monsters of this level could still be found in abundance. This was especially true for corrupted cracks.
If Michael had access to numerous Level 2 or even Level 1 cracks, leveling up would be the least of his concerns for a while. Unfortunately, only the Federation and perhaps a few powerful individuals could monopolize cracks.
Michael also picked up something in Mira's tone.
It sounded like she, too, was in a hurry to level up.
He couldn't help but feel her urgency might also have something to do with the academy.
However, while he was curious, he decided it wasn't his business to ask.
"Are we taking transportation to carry our loot?" Michael asked, shifting the conversation. Compared to Mira's motives, his thoughts were preoccupied with costs.
"T-there's no n-need. I can keep i-it in my location in the Land of Origin," Lilian stammered, answering in her usual timid manner.
Michael nodded in reply but couldn't ignore the thought running through his mind.
'Tsk. Am I becoming so money-hungry that I can't even afford to give basic trust anymore?'
Once they clarified the crack location and loot storage space, Mira moved on to provide details about the crack itself.
"Though Level 2 creatures are technically still within the ability range of unranked Awakeners, we still need to be careful," Mira explained. "If I'm not mistaken, they're likely all Rank 1 creatures. However, their rank can't exceed Common—otherwise, it would have been classified as at least a Level 3 crack instead of Level 2."
She paused, her gaze shifting to Michael before continuing.
"From the corrupted crack's name, Ape Region, it's easy to guess what kind of monsters we'll be facing. And just like the Goblin World…" Mira trailed off, studying Michael's reaction. "I don't know if you've been there, but it's also a forest-type terrain."
Michael met her gaze, unfazed. "I've been to the Goblin World. Yesterday, in fact."
"Oh?" Mira raised an eyebrow. "Then, if you don't mind, could you tell me your level? I'd like to know so we can avoid any… accidents."
From the way Mira directly asked the question after his reply, Michael guessed this had probably been her main intention all along.
"I understand," Michael said. "Level 9."
Michael said honestly, seeing no reason to hide his level. However, when he noticed the astonished looks of surprise on both Lilian's and Mira's faces, he realized he might have said something remarkable.
"So fast?" One exclaimed.
"S-so strong?" Another added.
The former was from Mira, the latter from Lilian.
Michael sensed that something was off in the atmosphere. To clarify, he asked about their levels.
Surprisingly Lilian was the most powerful one.
'So low?' Michael wanted to blurt out but opted to keep it to himself. Still, his expression must have given him away because Mira quickly went on to explain their situation in the Land of Origin.
Michael could only twitch his mouth in response and choose not to comment further. It seemed he wasn't the only one dealt a bad hand when it came to his initial location.
As for the girls, they were astonished at Michael's speed of growth. They knew even Brian, the so-called genius knight who had managed to awaken a dual class, was currently only at level 10.
Of course, his progress was hindered by the nature of dual classes, which required double the experience to level up.
Even so, on the surface, Michael's performance appeared only slightly inferior to Brian's.
They didn't know what Michael had done to reach his current level so quickly, but it stirred a hint of respect for him in both of them.
"What's your class?" Mira inquired.
Mira was momentarily stunned by his reply. Although she didn't know much about the class, the name alone suggested it wasn't a close-combat specialization.
Hearing about his high level had initially led her to assume he was a close-combat Awakener. If he was a support-type and had reached this level, then his overall strength might be even greater than she'd imagined.
Still, a hint of suspicion lingered in her mind, and she decided to confirm it for herself.
[Level 9 Necromancer Apprentice]
The result matched his words, but the reality of his class made her thoughts a little depressed.
Turned out the leader was the group's weakest link.