That arrow, the way she shot it, was faster and more precise than an average arrow, capable of actually hurting monsters. Even Celia’s attacks had power behind them. Nolan felt it. It should be true. They have a lot of potential. They just started training yesterday, and Nolan was sure that if they trained for a month, they would become much, much stronger.
Now all that remained was to be prepared. Nolan didn’t know if Lyra would be willing to join him in his fight, but she was here. He was sure she was capable of fighting a fallen Archangel. Archangels were powerful, and even at his level, he wouldn’t be able to defeat one if it attacked him now. He had felt it back then, the energy, the strength it radiated.
Then Lucan and Ella returned with a very large pouch of money.
"Take this," Ella said, stretching it out to Nolan.
Nolan collected it. "Wow, this has a lot of weight. How much is in here?"
"These are King Orc cores," Lucan explained. "Each is worth about 200,000 gold coins. But the Minotaur cores," he continued, "each is worth 1 million gold coins. In total, including everything here, it’s about 4 million gold coins."
"You really did a great job defeating those," Ella added.
"Wow, that much? Okay, good. It took like two nights," Nolan said. "You guys can come to the inn where we usually stay. I’ll pay for dinner."
"Well, yeah, if you want to. Why all of a sudden bring up food?" Ella asked.
"I’m actually really starving. I haven’t eaten since I came back from the dungeon," Nolan admitted.
"Oh. We didn’t even consider that," Lucan said.
"Don’t worry. I’ll go get you something to eat," Ella said.
Ella turned to leave the room. Nolan turned to face Lucan, stretching his arms as they shook hands.
"You did a good job training them. They’ve improved so fast," Nolan said.
"Yeah, they did. I’m sure if someone like you trains them, no matter how you train them, they’ll become stronger," Lucan replied.
"The same way one of my friends fights the demon lord, Malric," Lucan said.
"What did you just say? What name?" Nolan asked.
"I said Malric. He also fights the demon lord," Lucan replied.
He knows Malric. Oh, that’s right—they would have known each other. Lucan once said he fought the previous demon lord, same as Malric. Nolan realized he should have expected that.
"So, do you know where Malric went?" Nolan asked, glancing at Lucan.
Lucan shook his head. "Not exactly. But one thing I do know—after we defeated the Demon Lord, he said he wanted to get stronger. At that time, the hero had already died. He was the only one left out of the seven who fought the Demon Lord. We had to make sure we defeated all the generals first. Before that, none of us could even kill the Demon Lord himself. That’s why we sealed him."
Nolan nodded thoughtfully.
"Wow... just how powerful is the Demon Lord? Do you think I’d even stand a chance?" Nolan asked, awe in his voice.
"Well," Lucan said, "you are strong, I can say that. I’m not fully certain of your limits, but the aura I feel from you... the mana... it’s overwhelming. Intense. Dangerous."
Nolan’s eyes widened. "I see..."
"But Malric," Lucan continued, "he went his own way. He wants to grow stronger. And there are times when he encounters extremely powerful monsters—monsters that have already defeated others. Before these creatures even reach the forest, he eliminates them. The Demon Lord needs someone to act as a porter, to reach certain areas and stop threats before they escalate. Some demons are strong enough to open portals and send monsters through because they themselves cannot leave or intervene. In those cases, weaker demons are sent instead. Malric notices these threats and deals with them before anyone else can."
Nolan listened intently, absorbing every word.
"So he’s... watching everything, making sure nothing gets out of control," Lucan said.
"Exactly," Nolan replied.
"But he’s doing a good job, and I’m happy for that. Look and see, we’re no problem. But do you think I can get the house today?"
"No. Not today. That won’t be possible. You’ll have to wait until tomorrow. Look at those, but wait—they can’t all sleep in the same room we’re staying in. I’m staying, but that’s it."
"Yeah, so you all stay in one room. Wow... so you usually have a lot of fun with those beautiful ladies," Lucan said.
"No, it’s not like that. They’re my allies and my friends. That’s it," Nolan replied.
"Oh, I see. Someone as powerful as you made this humble," Lucan said.
"What are you trying to say? What do you mean?"
"Nothing ," Lucan said, then excused himself and walked out of the room.
Lyra moved closer to Nolan. "He’s right about one thing. Your mana is actually scary. I could sense it before, but I couldn’t fully see it, and I didn’t even want to. I could have used my ability to analyze your exact mana when I fought you, but I didn’t, because I thought it would be beneath mine. Now, using my ability, I can see your mana and it on the same level as an archangel.
"Oh... so what are you trying to say?" Nolan asked.
"No. I’m trying to say that it’s not because of the SSS-rank ability, and it’s not because you got it through Michael. It’s because you had enough Mana when you came to this world. That’s why you were able to carry the SSS-rank abilities and skills he gave you," Lyra explained.
"Well, you may be right... I don’t know. But... how... are we going to... are we going to be able to sleep? They’re not going to have a house prepared for us today," Nolan said.
"It’s fine. You can sleep in the inn without me. I’ll stay on the roof. I’m a behemoth, and at night... I won’t be around. There’s someone I’m finally going to meet now that I’m out of the dungeon," Lyra replied.
"And who is that?" Nolan asked, curious.
"That’s a secret," Lyra said, a small smile playing on her lips.