Noticing that she made a mistake, Lofa immediately went over and apologized to Krune. It's just that she hasn't been that close with a man before, so she had that extreme reaction. Krune didn't mind too much, though. As long as she regretted doing that, he definitely could forgive her.
Krune then looked at Lofa and said.
"You should regroup with your friends as soon as possible, going alone might be too dangerous."
Before she could even answer, he then turned to Ao and Arlan.
"Alright! We finished what we wanted to do and got a few tokens at the same time, let's keep going so that we can arrive on the other side as soon as possible."
Arlan and Ao nodded, and they immediately set off. But there was a small problem; someone was following them right behind. Noticing that, Krune, Ao, and Arlan immediately stopped.
"Errr... Is there something else?"
Arlan noticed that she seemed to be moving her lips, but he couldn't hear what she was saying.
"Did you hear what she said?"
Krune and Ao shook their heads.
"Speak louder. We can't hear you at all!"
Lofa then took a deep breath and said.
"I want to go with you!"
The three men looked at each other confused. They had been very clear that they couldn't afford to protect her when they were back in the previous city. And reality proved that since they had to defend her in the end. So Krune could only be direct.
"No can do. The further we go, the stronger the demon beasts and cultivators will become. You are indeed one of the geniuses of the Makui Planet, but truth be told, you are far from our level. And there isn't much you can help us with. So you should go back and regroup with your team members, maybe you can still fight for the three tokens in the end."
Ao and Arlan agreed with that. Even though Krune is harsh, that could also be said to be for her own good. But it was then that they noticed that she was trembling a little. Krune looked at Ao and Arlan, but they seemed not to understand what was happening as well.
In fact, Lofa was merely scared. She didn't want to be alone again in this place, simple as that. As to why they didn't notice it, well, Lofa was one of the five contestants that got a slot from the Mercenary Selection. Who would believe that one of the strongest Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Mercenary Alliance would be scared of being alone?
Seeing that the three idiots couldn't even understand that much, she could only tell it herself. She looked at them with a red face and screamed.
"I'm scared! Okay? I don't want to be alone in this place again. My group is probably dead, or at least the leader definitely is! I'm afraid of wandering in this place alone, that's why I want to go with you!"
As expected, the three guys were taken aback. Now they are lost at what to do. Krune then looked at Ao and Arlan before asking.
"Should we scout her back?"
Arlan immediately shook their heads.
"There isn't enough time. We might not be at half the way yet, but we are definitely close. If we go all the way back and then come again, we definitely will lose the best period to hunt other teams there. Not to mention that we will spend a lot of time without getting any black token what so ever."
Ao agreed with that.
"We also don't know if there is any other hidden feature in this first phase. If we take too long, we might lose some great opportunity. And even if we don't, we don't know how well the other top teams are doing, so we might not have a chance of fighting for the Dragon Essence Liquid Drops anymore."
Krune's group was caught in a dilemma. They couldn't go back, but they couldn't simply leave her here either. By the looks of it, Lofa wasn't in the condition to give even a step back by herself. But what can they do about bringing her with them? Krune pondered a bit and then asked the source of the problem itself about it.
"Hey, Lofa. You know that we can't go back, but bringing you alone is as much as an issue. In that case, if we bring you with us, what can you help us with?"
Ao and Arlan said nothing since they also couldn't bear to leave a woman behind to fend for herself, especially when she couldn't put up any resistance against the dangers anymore.
Lofa thought that Krune was being too cold but knew this was her only chance at the moment. If she didn't give a good reason, they might really leave her behind. Not to mention that she wouldn't be able to catch up with them if they really focus on running away.
"I... I have quite a good Divine Sense, and I should be able to detect others from further away than most of the contestants in this first phase."
Ao and Arlan smiled bitterly.
"Cough, cough. Our friend Krune here has a Divine Sense able to cover almost 40 kilometers, can you do better than that?"
Loja's jaw dropped! 40 kilometers? The Foundation Establishment with the biggest Divine Sense range she ever saw could only reach 22 kilometers! How the hell did Krune achieve this monstrous Soul Power? Not to mention that he is still at the 8th stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm, it's not even the peak of the 9th stage like her.
"That- That I can't do."
Let alone 40 kilometers; she couldn't reach even 20!
"Maybe... Oh, I know! I'm a three stars alchemist, so I brought quite a few healing pills with me. I don't mind sharing it with you in case you get injured."
Arlan and Ao's smiles got even bitter.
"Well, our friend Krune here is a peak Four Stars Alchemist himself. Healing pill or any other pill is definitely not a problem for him."
Lofa almost fainted right there and then. She came from the Ice Continent, so she knows very little about Krune. Let's not forget the fact that until recently, no one of the other four continents' Mercenary Guilds had ever cared about the Yule Continent to start with.
"Errr... I know a little bit about formations, I might be able to set up a few traps."
Arlan and Ao had finally become helpless, Lofa looked at them and was even afraid to ask already. But Krune still gave her the final blow.
"I'm already a Four Start Formations Masters. We are good in that requisite too."
Lofa finally started crying.
'What are you? A God?!'
Arlan and Ao looked at that and sighed; they know way too well how that feels.
In the end, Lofa didn't have any other skill with which she could help them. She simply shook her head and said.
"Sorry, that is all I'm capable of. Other than that, I can only cook some of my home country food."
Krune's eyes immediately lit up!
"Great! You are in!"
Ao and Arlan almost vomited blood. Brother, what happened with your priorities? just where are your principles?
Lofa wasn't any better. She couldn't help but think.
'Since when cooking became a skill necessary for this first phase of the Martial Gathering?'
Krune's teammates were helpless. Just by looking at those shining eyes, it was evident that it would be useless to speak reason with Krune anymore.
Krune immediately grabbed Loja's hand and left straight away. They just finished a major battle, and they need to recover their spiritual energy before moving forward, especially Krune, who needs to restore the power of the Tribulation Lightning in his Elemental Core. So he took this chance to talk with Loja about what kind of food she could prepare.
Lofa was as red as a tomato, Krune was flying back to his previous group hideout while holding her hand! They totally looked like a couple at the moment. Krune, of course, didn't notice any of that. In his head, there was only one word. Food! He couldn't wait to share some recipes with her as soon as possible.
Ao and Arlan, on the other hand, obviously noticed that situation. But they didn't say anything and just sighed. Even Arlan had already come to know that Krune doesn't have those kinds of thoughts at all! There is no doubt that he only cared about the food that Lofa could make at the moment.
After arriving there, Krune immediately set up a table and the fire. He then called Lofa over and made her start cooking. Surprisingly, Lofa really did have some ingredients from her country in her spatial ring. Her love for cooking and food might not be as big as Krune's, but she still liked to cook when she needed to get some distraction. That was her way of putting her mind out of cultivation.
Ao and Arlan helped with what they could, and soon, a new dish was already served. Krune tasted that and was delighted! The food was really good. He also got some ideas about how to make it again but using his own methods and skills. After finishing eating, Krune looked at Lofa and said.
"Don't worry. I will definitely protect you until the very end!"
Lofa immediately turned her vision away from Krune's gaze. She was almost having a heart attack at that moment. Ao and Arlan started to feel pity for Lofa, though. She definitely is taking all that bullshit wrong. In the end, they could only use Divine Sense to tell her what was really happening.