After leaving the dungeon, Ken dropped Cherry off at his apartment.
"We're going to be here tomorrow morning, so make sure you don't sleep late tonight." Ken said to him.
"We're going to do this again tomorrow? And from what I saw today, you guys don't even need me! I felt incredibly useless today since I didn't get to do anything today. If you want a walking buddy, find someone else." Cherry snorted.
"You're with us as an insurance. If you leave us now, I won't tell the Team Leader that you've helped. You said it yourself— that you didn't do anything today."
"H-Hey! I had to renew our buffs every now and then! That still counts as something! And you can't go back on your own words! You even promised!"
"Don't be lazy, Cherry. This walk is beneficial to you and your health. Moreover, tomorrow is going to be the last day. You'll get to be lazy again afterward— until the raid a few days later."
Cherry silently stared at Ken with narrowed eyes for a moment before sighing, "Fine, I will help tomorrow as well."
"See ya tomorrow morning then."
Ken drove back to the headquarters with Lucas.
Once they returned to the headquarters, Lucas asked Ken, "What about these mana crystals?"
He pointed at the bag of mana crystals he filled up.
"You can keep all of it since you did all of the work. We just watched." Ken said.
"Alright." Lucas did not hesitate to keep all 16 mana crystals to himself.
"I will come get you at nine tomorrow. At your speed, you should be able to reach level 25 with ease tomorrow."
While Lucas returned to his room, Ken went to Eva and recalled their day to her.
"He's really level 23 already? How is he progressing so quickly…?" Eva was speechless by Lucas' growth.
"Right? It took me around three months to reach level 20 from level 15, and I was inside dungeons 6 out of 7 days." Ken shook his head in a dejected manner.
"You also weren't hunting monsters 20 levels above your own." Eva said.
"At this rate, he might become strong enough to join our raid." Ken said in a joking tone.
However, Eva didn't think of it as a joke, as she truly believed that it was a possibility.
"Anyways, we're going to return to the dungeon tomorrow to get his last 2 levels. I really want to see why he's rushing to level." Ken continued.
"Although nothing happened today, I want you guys to remain vigilant. You never know what might happen out there." Eva warned him.
"I know."
The following morning, Ken went to fetch Lucas from his room.
"Hey, you ready to move out?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Then let's go."
Ken drove to Cherry's apartment to find Cherry already waiting for them downstairs.
"Look at you, motivated and all." Ken laughed.
"Just shut up and drive."
Sometime later, they arrived at the dungeon entrance.
"Enforce!"
Cherry buffed everyone before they entered the dungeon.
Once inside, Lucas began wandering the dungeon looking for Red-Eyed Serpents.
It took him six Red-Eyed Serpents to level up from 22 to 23, so he was expecting to need eight to ten kills to level up to 24.
Lucas' first three hours inside the dungeon was incredibly lucky, encountering nine Red-Eyed Serpents and reaching level 24.
[You have leveled up]
[You have acquired 5 Stat Points]
[You have Plundered the ability 'Poison Immunity' from your victim]
[Your ability 'Poison Immunity has gained some experience]
'Just one more level and I can finally finish this quest…' Lucas was more motivated than ever to hunt monsters.
However, for the next two hours, almost as though his luck had run out, he would only run into nothing but Earth Hogs.
"You probably killed all of the Red-Eyed Serpents in this dungeon, leaving behind only Earth Hogs." Ken said after their 11th encounter.
"Even if there's a couple more in the dungeon, I don't think it will be enough for you to level up. Why don't you try hunting Earth Hogs now?" Cherry suggested.
"But their armor… I don't think I can penetrate it." Lucas shook his head.
"Have you tried?" Cherry raised his brows.
"No, I haven't."
"Then you should. You will never know until you try it. Worst case scenario, we can find another dungeon and level up there. We still have plenty of time before the end of the day."
Lucas pondered for a moment before nodding his head, "Alright, I will give it a try."
At this rate, if he continues to ignore the Earth Hogs, there is a good chance that he will not reach level 25 by the end of the month, especially if he'd already killed all Red-Eyed Serpents in this dungeon.
About fifteen minutes later, Lucas encountered his 12th Earth Hog, but he didn't run away this time and decided to face it.
"Earth Hogs may be durable, but they all have a weak spot somewhere on their armored body. If you can find this weak spot, you will go right through their armor." Cherry said to him.
"Unfortunately, every Earth Hog's weak point is different, so we won't be of any help. Good luck." Ken added.
However, with their vast experience, Ken and Cherry could easily find the Earth Hog's weak spot and tell Lucas. They didn't mention it because they wanted Lucas to find the weak spot on his own and defeat the Earth Hog. After all, this is his training, and they wanted him to learn how to spot weak spots by himself.
