A week had passed since the Monster Outbreak. The residents of Leaf Village paid their respects to the brave men and women who had stood their ground to protect their village from the Undead that had broken past their defenses.
Because it was mainly the Village's Guards who battled against the Monsters, they incurred the most casualties and only a little more than fifty had survived.
Aron, who was the Captain of the Guards, had requested his counterparts from the Norria Stronghold to station thirty Goat Riders in their village to help bolster their defenses.
The Commander of Norria approved his request, and stationed a group of Dwarven Defenders, known as the Black Thorn, to guard Leaf Village for the time being.
These thirty mounted warriors had the rank of Grade C Apostles (Rank 2 Monster), led by their Rider Captain, Boreas, who was a Grade B Apostle (Rank 3 Monster).
Due to the intensity of the battle, Aron had also broken through to the rank of a Grade B Apostle, and had become a staunch defender of the village. It was quite unfortunate that his about fifty subordinates, who fought alongside him, didn't break through and remained as Grade D Apostles (Rank 1 Monster), falling short of reaching the next rank.
All in all, more than eighty defenders were left in Leaf Village as protectors.
—-
Adventurer's Guild…
"Big Brother, please, take this!" Colette said as she happily handed a storage bag to Lux. "This is a thank you gift from my father for saving my life."
"A thank you gift?" Lux asked. "For saving your life? I don't remember doing that."
Matty, who was standing beside Colette, snorted. "She is talking about the time when you held back those three Draugrs to let us escape."
The young Dwarf boy, who had never liked Lux, acted as obnoxious as always. However, although his words sounded a bit rude, it no longer contained the contempt it originally had when the two of them met for the first time.
In his own way, Matty had recognized Lux's bravery, and no longer treated him with disdain.
Lux accepted the storage bag and checked its contents. The red-headed boy almost dropped the bag given to him when he saw the ten beast cores that were the size of tennis balls.
"I can't take this." Lux tried to return the storage bag to Colette's hand, but the little girl ran behind Matty and stuck her tongue out at the Half-Elf who wanted to return her gift.
"Just take it already!" Matty shouted. He wanted to impress Colette, so he took a firm stance and prevented Lux from returning the storage bag to Colette. "Are you really a man? If you don't like her gift, then give it to me. I'll use it myself!"
"What do you mean you'll use it yourself?! That's for Big Brother!" Colette glared at Matty, which made the Dwarf boy blush, because he found her glare very adorable.
Colette then placed her hands on her hips and then turned her head to look up at Lux, who was struggling to keep himself from chuckling over Matty's submissive attitude.
"Big Brother, if you really feel bad about it, you can just help us with our Dungeon Expedition later," Colette tried to butter Lux up, so he would no longer think of returning her gift. "Having a strong person join our party will definitely help us clear the dungeon."
"Dungeon Expedition?" Lux frowned. "Are you talking about raiding the Bronze Crypt?"
There was only one dungeon in the Beginner's Area and it was the Bronze Crypt located in the South Zone of Leaf Village. This was also where the Undead Swarm had broken out from not long ago. It made Lux wonder if it was a good idea to challenge it right now.
"Duh! There is only one dungeon here in the village," Matty once again found his courage and decided to vent his frustration on the person whom he had labeled as his rival. "What? Don't tell me you developed a trauma against the Undead?"
Thinking that Lux might have really developed a trauma after the Monster Outbreak, Colette tried to assure him that their Dungeon Expedition would be conducted in a safe manner.
"Don't worry, Big Brother. We can buy teleportation crystals from the Adventurer's Guild," Colette stated. "With the crystals, we will be able to automatically teleport outside of the Dungeon anytime we want."
Matty who was just listening to the side crossed his arms over his chest. "You don't have to come with us, you know? Even without you, we can beat it just fine."
"Shut up Matty! You're being mean to Big Brother!"
"..."
Lux snickered internally at the hen-pecked Dwarf boy who wouldn't dare defy Colette's wishes. In the end, he decided to agree to Colette's request. He was also curious to know about what it would be like to explore a Dungeon.
In these past few days, the Half-Elf accepted a couple of missions that focused on repairing the village. He hadn't gone out to hunt, so his stats hadn't shown any signs of progression.
Now that an opportunity was at hand, he thought that it would be a good way to test how strong he and Diablo had become.
"Okay," Lux finally agreed to accept Colette's invitation. "When do we leave?"
Colette grinned as she looked at the clock hanging on the wall of the Adventurer's Guild.
"Around six when the sun is about to set," Colette replied. "The Bronze Crypt only opens at that time."
Lux nodded. "Okay. I will meet you there later. Make sure to prepare everything, including the teleportation crystals."
"Un!" Colette grinned.
The red-headed boy bid them all farewell as he went back to his inn to use the Beast Cores that had been given to him. He was certain that the Beast Cores Colette gifted him were none other than cores that were looted from Rank 2 Monsters, which made him a bit excited.
After closing the door of his room, Lux immediately took one of the cores from the storage bag and then walked towards the bed.
"These are indeed Rank 2 Beast Cores," Lux muttered as he sat on top of the bed. "Now, let's see how many points I get by consuming one."
—--
< Ding! >
< Do you wish to consume the Rank 2 Beast Core? >
< Yes / No >
—-
Lux clicked yes and chose "Upgrade Stat Points" from the next batch of options. Immediately, rows of text appeared in front of him, which made him grin.
—--
Obtained 10 Free Stats Points
Obtained 10 Body Constitution Points
—--
"So, Rank 2 Beast Cores will give me 10 free stat points," Lux muttered as he rubbed his chin. "It's quite unfortunate that I haven't learned any new skills and my body constitution points remain the same."
The Half-Elf didn't know from which monsters the beast cores were taken from, so he could only sigh in regret for not being able to acquire more skills to add to his arsenal.
"Now, it's time to upgrade my Body Constitution." Lux opened his Soul Book to allocate points to the Immortal Conqueror's Legacy.
He was looking forward to seeing what new abilities he would gain once the upgrade was finished.