Huff... Huff...
Souta was breathing heavily. He raised his arm and wiped the blood on his mouth. He looked at Yuko who fell down on the ground.
"I'm sorry, Yuko." He mumbled while looking at her figure. At the same time, he heard a familiar sound in his head.
*Ding!*
[Congratulations on completing the quest Blessing!]
[You've received 40,000 exp, 13 free attribute points, and 9 skill points!]
Souta ignored the notification in his mind as he focused his attention on Yuko. He was concerned about her condition as he knew what he did to her. At the same time, he was glad that she gained a power that surpassed his own. She just needed to master it and she would be able to wreck him easily.
He lay down on his back and looked at the ceiling which was full of shining crystals. He gained a total of 15 skill points in this unexpected event. It was not that bad as Yuko gained a blessing.
Raeshka wouldn't be able to take back her blessing from Yuko. If she wanted another take back her blessing then Yuko would have to die. That's the only way for Raeshka to take back her blessing. That's why most of the god-level creatures only gave their blessing to their most trusted aides.
But Souta didn't need to worry about Raeshka killing Yuko. She wouldn't go back on her words. He knew her personality so he didn't doubt her.
He could say that he earned a lot this time. From system points to material things as he was the one who won the fight. Just like what they have agreed on, Souta would receive all the things that he requested.
Resources, materials, and one artifact. He didn't make an excessive request this time as he knew that the blessing that Yuko received was far more amazing than these material things. He also knew that Raeshka's subordinates would get angry at him if he tried to take advantage of this situation. He didn't want to gather the hostility of various third, fourth, and fifth evolution stage monsters. He would die the moment he stepped out of this place if they become angry at him.
Suddenly, a warm energy covered both of their bodies. Raeshka was healing both of them. She looked at Souta and said, "You know you're lucky that you won the fight but... I'm still amazed that you managed to keep up with her even though the difference in power is large."
Raeshka was right. The difference in their power was too large. To defeat Yuko, Souta used everything in his arsenal. He launched countless powerful attacks before he took down Yuko. But Yuko only used one attack to heavily injured him. The difference could be seen from that.
For him, Yuko was a wild boss. Her power was already a boss power of version 2 of the game. He just knew Yuko's attack pattern and that's one of his advantages in this fight.
"Also, that weapon of yours and the equipment you're wearing at this moment. Those equipments of yours became the reason why you won the battle. Yuko didn't have equipment while you have. I should have given her some equipment before the battle to make it fair but that's not important right now." Raeshka said as she one by one listed down his advantage in the battle. "The important thing is that I'm satisfied by what I saw. Both of you managed to fascinate me. It's been a while since I felt this feeling."
She was right. Yuko didn't have the equipment to increase her stats and power while he had various useful equipments. It seems that Souta needed to find some armor for her.
The dark grade [Vajra Sword Saya] was already a huge advantage for Souta.
Souta closed his eyes and recalled the battle in his mind. He was taking down Yuko's weaknesses and was planning to help her eliminate her weaknesses. Battle experience, skills, and some equipment. She couldn't rely on her brute strength forever.
After a few minutes, Souta looked at the system and saw that his health points were full. He sat down and took out a piece of yellow paper. Before he could call Lumilia, Yuko won the battle and he forgot that he would call Lumilia as Raeshka suddenly mentioned the Ieshi clan.
...
Lumilia, Lynn, Bryan, and the rest of the Dark Oculus were worried about Souta and Yuko. It was already dark and Souta still didn't come back.
One more thing, the monster tide occurred and this was one of the reasons why they were worried about Souta. If this was an ordinary day, they would only think that Souta was still clearing low-level dungeons but the monster tide appeared. No matter how powerful Souta and Yuko are they wouldn't be able to eliminate all those monsters.
The group was in Souta's room. They thought that Souta was in his room before so they checked inside the room and found that he was not inside the room. At that time, they found that Souta hasn't come back since he left to clear the low-level dungeons.
In the end, they decided to stay in his room to wait for his return.
"Souta and Yuko... I hope they are fine." Lynn said with concern in her tone.
"You don't need to worry about him. Souta is strong and smart. I'm sure that he's fine." Bryan looked at Lumilia and said.
Lumilia was pacing back and forth in Souta's room. A lot of things were coming into her mind and she didn't know what she should do. She wanted to call Souta using the transmission talisman but she was afraid to bother him.
What if he was fighting someone and her call distracted him? She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if that happens.
That's the reason why she didn't dare to call Souta using the transmission talisman. She knew that Souta was clearing the dungeons so she couldn't call him.
"Bryan is right. Worrying like that wouldn't make a difference." Yujin said to Lynn and Lumilia.
"Even if you say so..." Lynn muttered as she looked down.
"We could only believe in Souta," Alice said from the side as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"Souta said this before if he was gone you're the one who would command us so calm down, Lumilia," Brando said to Lumilia.
"Though it's not official, Souta already treats you as his right hand. If he had a plan he would always tell you that plan before us." Yujin added.
Lumilia looked at them and she was about to say something when she felt a magical signature in the transmission talisman inside her pocket. She knew that Souta was trying to connect to her talisman.
"Wait... Souta is contacting us." She said to the rest of the Dark Oculus. She then took out the transmission talisman and poured her mana in it.
Yujin, Alice, Brando, and the rest were confused but when Lumilia took out the talisman they quickly understand that the two have a way of contacting each other.
Bryan was the only one who didn't know the talisman.
"See... He even gave you a talisman to contact him." Brando said as he shrugged his shoulders.
Lumilia glanced at him and Brando shut his mouth. After a while, she heard Souta's voice coming from the talisman.
"Lumilia, tell the others that I'm fine. I will return with Yuko in the morning. I don't think we would be able to return at this time."
"Okay, they are here and they heard your words," Lumilia replied to Souta. "We're waiting for your return."
They talked for a while and Bryan joined the conversation. They didn't ask what happened to Souta or if he needed help. They knew that Souta wouldn't hesitate to call them if he needed their help. He was a man who knew his shortcomings very well.
If Souta didn't ask for their help means that he could handle all the problems on his own without their help.
After they talked for a few minutes, Souta closed the connection as he stopped running his mana in the talisman.
He knew that they cleared several dungeons including the Lanny group. He also heard from them that a monster tide occurred while they were clearing dungeons and it disrupted their pace.
He stood up along with Yuko and saw that his rewards were already beside Raeshka. Raeshka smiled and said, "Actually, I don't want to let you go. I wanted you to join my ranks but a promise is a promise. If you want to leave this place you can leave but if you want to stay in this place I'll give you a force of your own. I'll also let you lead the bear tribe in this place. Both of you will become a leader of a tribe."
"Thanks for your generosity but I still wanted to leave this place and enhance my strength on the outside world. Only then I would be able to grow stronger." Souta said in a polite tone as he bowed his head in front of Raeshka. Yuko followed Souta's lead and bowed her head.
"I hope you visit this place and tell me interesting things that you found in the human and demi country in the future," Raeshka said with a smile.
"Don't worry, I will come back here in the future," Souta replied to her.
"Bid farewell later. It's not like you're going to leave at this time, right?" Raeshka asked him as she slightly tilted his head.
"Yeah, it's dangerous on the surface when it was dark. Plus, I need to check the things that you prepared for me."