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Chapter 186: Again (6)

            Just by walking a single day, Luke\'s group left an area that was green and white to find the next one that had been completely overtaken by snow. Just by looking at Rina\'s frown, Luke could tell that there was too much snow in the area… it was like five meters deep, and it had been solidified in most points. So, Luke\'s nightmare returned, and he was trembling all over due to the powerful cold..

"… Are you fine, Rina?" Luke asked. "You are only wearing a single dress… is that right?"

"Why do I feel like your question has some hidden meaning?" Rina asked while trembling slightly. "I was raised in a pretty cold place… but I suppose I should buff our RES."

            Luke has got a lot of status points lately. Still, once again, the difference between his defensive parameters and the offensive ones was starting to grow wide. Even though he also suffered a lot more damage recently, Luke couldn\'t help but do that… probably because he recovered thanks to the level-ups. Once that stops happening, he will probably realize how reckless he had been until now.

Regardless, after a couple of hours, Luke managed to see a small frozen forest in the distance. According to Rina, one of the groups they were looking for was there. Luke found that weird, the forest was small, and there were no signs of battles around.

"I suppose you guys don\'t have any means to communicate over long distances… When was the last time you heard of them?" Luke asked.

"Around the time we went to Earth, ten or so elves of that group left with us," Rina replied.

            Many bad things could have happened in two months, but Luke decided not to say that out loud. There was no need to make Rina worry with speculation. Still, it seemed that she was thinking the same things while looking around.

            They headed toward the forest, and Rina took the lead since she knew that place relatively well. Luke had a hard time walking in a straight line amidst that region covered by snow. He probably would get even more lost inside a frozen forest. Just as he had expected, it didn\'t take long for him to lose his sense of direction inside the place. 

            While inside the forest, Luke began to find some trees that had been cut down in a rather rough way. It was hard to see and fell thanks to the snow, but Luke also found some signs of battles on the ground. The snow had erased most of the signs, but the bigger ones were still there.

            Eventually, they found some huts inside the forest. Usually, the elves wouldn\'t cut down trees to build houses. They would use them as a basis alongside the vegetation without damaging anything. Still, even more so after the monsters, the cold was just too much in that area. Regardless, judging by the fact that some of the huts had been burned down and their doors and windows were open, it was clear that the elves left in a hurry.

"I suppose that group wasn\'t the only one who found us…" Rina said and then sighed.

"Let\'s check the area before looking for other groups. They might still be around," Luke said. "We also can use this chance to decrease the monster population and prevent things like this from happening again."

            Rina nodded, but the idea didn\'t raise her spirit. She also wasn\'t the type of person who would feel better after getting rid of those that tormented her people. So fighting didn\'t help.

              They searched for a while, but they didn\'t find anything related to the elves. Thanks to the fact that there were a lot of frozen wasps around a certain grove, they found a crystal and a boss resting above the trees and below a massive pile of snow. Still, they left it alone in order to save time.

"They left this area because the population of monsters got out of hand," Shalia said. "Since there are no signs of castles, prisons, or camps, that much is certain."

"I suppose… what next, Rina?" Luke asked. 

"There are many places in this area we can check, and they are relatively far away from each other, so this will take some time since the area is bustling with monsters," Rina said.

"Why not just make a scene and lure out of the enemies and hope that your brain-dead friends will notice this as well?" Shalia asked.

"As expected of you… I wouldn\'t even dare to call that an option, much less a plan," Rina frowned. "Until we gather Intel from all groups, we should proceed carefully. Aside from the sake of survival, we split because it would be easier to gather Intel about all the enemies. Luke is also worried about that time when the overlord left his castle… until we find a good explanation to that, we should keep a low profile."

            Luke nodded. As much as he liked the continuous level-ups when he defeated a much stronger foe, that wasn\'t good for his heart. He should slow down a little bit. He couldn\'t live that fast. He wasn\'t an adrenaline junkie. In any case, to make that mission go a lot smoother, he would need some external help. His human friends probably won\'t be enough, and Luke wanted to involve them in his business, only those who had elf partners. So, the best option would be to create an army of monsters in that world as well. That will take too much time, though.

"It would be too convenient if there is a skill that could solve this problem…" Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

            Maybe there isn\'t a skill, but what about an item? If there is a pair of boots that increases the power of Dash and the mana cost of Spark Ball, there must be an item that could empower Tame… it would be weird if that weren\'t the case…