Chapter 17: Mine(1)

"W-wait! Hold up!"

Luke didn't listen to Selena's shout and put strength on his legs. He then shot forward at the horde of monsters.

'Let me give you a taste of Herculean power you nasty monsters!'

He then swung his sword into a shape of an arc and the monster's heads above him started to fall off. Blood then started to splatter on him like rain but he didn't care. He then rushed forward and swings his sword left and right.

Crack!

The sound of his sword breaking could be heard. He then swung it a few more times and cut off a few more monsters and finally...

Crack! Clang!

His sword broke apart. The sword shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. Luke threw the hilt that is on his hand and started to massage his hands.

Crack, crack!

The sound of bones cracking on his knuckles could be heard. Then a large monster rushed towards him.

Luke wasn't even scared and punched it and its face suddenly have a hole In the middle like a rocket flew and pierced towards it.

The party members who were watching this from behind couldn't help but drop their jaws. Selena watched this while giving potions to the injured knights and said her thoughts out loud.

"Holy shit, how did he get so strong?"

She then heard Spencer's voice beside her while watching Luke obliterate the monsters with his fists one by one.

"Hey, give me a potion."

Selena saw Spencer's palm in front of her. She then started to laugh. She tossed a potion to Spencer and tossed the remaining potions inside the gap of the dome behind her where the kids are and Josh caught it. She then said in an excited voice.

"Damn right, we can't let that late bastard hog all the glory."

Spencer and Selena drank the potion on their hand and all of their injuries disappeared. She then hit her two knuckles that are covered in golden light at each other which created a metallic sound hitting each other and started to run towards where Luke is.

Spencer then fixed his glasses and cast hundreds of fire arrows again and shot them towards the monsters approaching.

Luke, who is busy punching monsters noticed Spencer's and Selena moving again and spoke in a shocked voice.

"Wait, didn't I told you guys to rest?"

He then saw Selena punching a monster beside him and shouted.

"Like hell, we can rest in this kind of situation! Are you that dumb?!"

Luke frowned at Selena who kept on punching monsters with her golden fists and saw a fire arrow flew past his nose. He then looked at Spencer who is fixing his glasses.

"Don't get distracted, you moron. After this, you'll have a lot of explaining to do."

Luke just sighed and turned around. He started to punch monsters again.

After an hour and a half, all the monsters are finally down. Selena shouted.

"Heck yes! We did it!"

The citizens and injured knights inside the dome all cheered in unison. Selena is about to slap Luke's back who was oddly

staring at the horizon but stopped when she heard his serious voice.

"Not yet, one more."

While climbing the mountain, the monster who is on top of the food chain didn't appear because of Nash's appearance causing him to safely climb the mountain.

But what happens if Nash wasn't there?

The answer is.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Loud footsteps can be suddenly heard and caused the ground to shake.

Then, they all saw a high orc about the size of 15 meters holding a large tree on his shoulder. It has three horns, its eyes are red and its sharp teeth were sticking out from its mouth. He then saw Luke and the civilians and roared.

"Rooaaaaaaaaarrr!"

A loud roar could be heard. Selena and the others covered their ears but Luke just looked straight into the monster's eyes.

The monster seemed irritated and charged forward. Luke just stared at it for a while before jumping high up into the air and saw the tree hitting where he just stood.

BOOOM!

Luke saw Selena flew off from the impact. Luke looked at the high orc and landed on its big and bulky arms and started to run towards its neck. The orc tried to catch him but Luke already arrived at the back of its neck.

'[Herculean Strength] at full power!'

Luke's then raised his arm that was filled with power up into the air and then hit the back of the orc's neck at full strength. The orc's head blew away and landed on the ground. Its body then falls forward after that and created a loud sound.

Boom! Boom!

Dust flew up and Selena coughs while fanning the dust away from her. It was the same for the knights and Spencer who were outside the dome.

The dust soon disappeared and then Selena saw Luke standing on the orc's back while looking at his crew members one by one. His face staring at them while the sunset shining on his back looked like a scene from a painting.

The dome finally disappeared and the citizens then looked at the silver-haired man standing tall on a high orc's corpse. Spencer, who was also looking at this just sighed while the children were smiling brightly.

But then suddenly...

"Cough!"

Luke spit out a handful of blood and fell to the ground. The children, Spencer, and Selena immediately rushed toward him while wearing shocked expressions.

• Luke! Are you okay?! Luke?! You can't faint again! If you faint I'll really get mad!

Luke felt a fluffy paw tapping his cheeks, he then thought.

'Sorry, but I think I really might faint.'

Luke then coughs up more blood. He then saw the children looking at him with worried eyes. He then smiled at them to show that he is okay and he saw them froze. He ignored them and closed his eyes.

He heard someone's voice in his head. It is the same voice that spoke to him inside his head earlier.

• You used too much power that is too much for your body to handle. Tsk, tsk... Why push yourself too hard?

'Bastard, you could've just told me earlier. I thought it will be fine to use maximum power to the test but this is how I ended up. Wait, who the fuck are you anyway?'

Luke then fully fell unconscious with those thoughts in mind.

-----------------

Luke's body felt heavy, It was a familiar experience. He then groaned while still closing his eyes.

"Ugh, kids get off me... Kids?"

Luke opened his eyes and saw multiple pairs of eyes staring intensely at him.

Luke flinched and saw the kids, including Nash, staring at him while putting pressure on his body. Luke frowned at them.

"Kids, move away."

The children, Nash, Lily, Josh, Michael, and Jessa all shot a question to him respectively.

• Are you feeling better now?

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Do you not feel the urge to cough blood?"

"Do you feel tired?"

"Do you need a massage?"

Luke stared at the children looking at him. Luke's frown became even deeper and answered.

"I am fine. So get off of me. I'm hungry."

The children slowly got off of him and Luke sat up to the bed. The children then pulled his arms to get him up. Luke just let them do what they want and followed them.

When he went out he saw Selena waiting in the corridor. Selena glared at Luke for a moment before turning around, she then said something while walking away.

"It looks like you are now fine. Come down, food is ready."

Luke gulped at the cold shoulder Selena is giving him.

'Why is she mad? Did she found out that I was the one who freed the monsters in the mountain and risked their lives?'

Luke bit his lip and suddenly felt guilty. He slowly followed her and the kids who are pulling his arms downstairs.

When they completely went downstairs, Luke saw people staring at him quietly. Luke gulped and avoided their gazes. Although it was uncomfortable, he thinks he deserves it so he just let them stare at him with his head down.

And because his head was facing the ground and his long hair covered his vision, he didn't notice the worried stares and glances that the people and the children were giving him.

'So he's the one who one-shots the high orc?'

'He looks so cool, but why is his head down?'

'Is he not feeling well?'

'I saw his face earlier, he looks so pale.'

'He even gave the injured knights expensive high-grade potions.'

'He didn't even brag that he saved the city, instead, he has his head down.'

The citizens are looking at the hero of the city who has his head down with admiration, respect, sympathy, and pity.

Meanwhile, Luke thought that the citizens were harshly judging him as he walked with his head down.

They finally arrived at the table and Luke looked at the feast in front of him. Luke looked at the children with a confused expression. He did not expect this.

"What is this? Why is there so much food?"

Lily, who is beside him chucked the piece of meat in his mouth.

"Big brother, you should eat plenty. You are so pale."

"...Pale? Me?"

Luke touched his face with a troubled expression. He thought they will just treat him coldly but they all seemed to take care of him. He then shakes his head and said asked something.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

Spencer answered his questions.

"A week."

"A week? Hmm, what about the city?".

"The king heard the news about the city and sends reinforcements to build the city walls and buildings."

"What about the injured knights?"

"They are much better now thanks to the potion you gave."

"...Really? That is good then."

'Looks like the people don't have plans to ask me for money for the restoration of the City. I thought the citizens will barge through the door while asking for compensation money. Thank goodness.'

Luke then noticed Spencer glaring at him so Luke decided to not ask any more questions. He then ate the pieces of meat in front of him one by one. He then swallowed them and spoke.

"At least share the food with me, I can't eat all of this, it'll be a waste."

"You say that even though you're so thin?"

All the children, Spencer, and Selena's eyes all glared at him. He then gulped and lowered his head again. He then started to think of the worse case scenarios that could happen.

'I can't let them get mad at me. What if they all decided to beat me up and leave me after that? It's fine to just walk out and leave but there is a high chance that they'll beat the shit out of me. That's just terrible to even think of.'

He then talked in a loud, but low voice after concluding something on his head.

"I'm sorry."

The whole floor went silent. Luke just closed his eyes and was prepared to run off at any moment. But then he heard Spencer's question.

"Why are you sorry?"

Luke sighed deeply and talked.

"For destroying civilian's homes and the fact that I am late to help you guys."

'For releasing the monsters and destroy the City and the fact that I have to faint for four hours before helping you guys.'

The whole citizens inside the restaurant all looked at Luke with admiration and pity.

'Even though it is clearly the monsters' fault, he still said sorry.'

'Why is he saying sorry for arriving late? When I saw him first arrived at the plaza he looked like he struggled quite a bit to get there.'

Spencer, Selena, and the children looked at Luke with surprised faces. Spencer then sighed.

"It's not entirely your fault, so don't feel sorry and eat."

Luke slowly nodded and started to eat the steak with his head down. Selena felt annoyed and lifted up Luke's face. The children, Spencer, Selena, and the citizens who were looking at Luke all gasped. They all thought the same thing at the same time.

'This guy... He truly feels guilty!'

The children saw the guilty and depressed look on Luke's face and their jaws dropped. Selena and Spencer looked at each other while questioning what they just saw. While the citizens' eyes started to become red and some started to tear up.

Luke looked at them with empty eyes and thought.

'They're... Not gonna beat me up?'

Luke took a sigh of relief and felt multiple hands patting his back and then saw the children smiling at him while patting his back.

He then saw Michael tearing up with snot hanging on his nose but still looked at him with a bright smile and a thumbs up.

"A-apology accepted brother! So don't feel guilty anymore!"

The children nodded in unison and patted Luke's back. They then saw Luke's expression turn bright, like a heavy burden finally lifted from his shoulders.

Luke then turned his attention to the food in front of him and happily ate it. The civilians sighed with relief when they saw Luke's bright expression while eating and the surroundings started to brighten up too.

Loud chattering and laughter could be now heard all over the floor and Spencer sighed with a smile. Selena started to eat the steak in front of her with a bright expression while chatting with the kids.

Then Luke asked something with a smile which made the group froze in their place.

"By the way, what happened to the money I gave you?"

"..."

The group all pointed at Selena. Selena looked at them with a betrayed expression.

"What?! I'm not the only one who spent it! You guys also bought different kinds of stuff with his money!"

Spencer then talked back at her.

"But you are the one who made the idea to spend it though?"

Selena's jaws dropped and looked at Luke who was smiling at her. She avoided his gaze and Luke just sighed.

"Forget it, I still have some money left anyways."

Luke touched his pocket and remembered the crazy huge amount of salary Noah gave him before leaving. He truly felt the mightiness of the male lead as he remembered the crazy amount of money in his pocket right now.

'1 million gallons and he just threw it at my face like it was nothing. What a rich bastard. It's even double the amount the prince gave me.'

Selena saw Luke's calm face and frowned. She suddenly felt guilty but just ate her steak with a pout.

The morning breakfast became lively and after that, the group decided to shop for a bit, because they will be leaving tomorrow.