Chapter 85: Forest(2)

Nash connected his mana and called Tina. After a few beeps, Tina finally picked up.

•Long time no see, boy.

"Hello, Miss Tina."

•Do you need anything? Why are you suddenly calling me?"

Luke smiled and took out the paper he had received from Elton and faced it towards the screen. He then began to explain it.

"I want you to please verify if this meeting is actually legit and not a trap. Also, please check if all the nobles enlisted here are in there while you are at it."

•Ho.... Moonlight Pub, huh? Interesting. Okay, then, we'll also investigate that.

Luke smiled and slipped the paper into the pocket of his coat.

"Thank you very much."

•Don't mention it. I'll now hang up. I can't stay connected like this any longer.

"Okay, please take care."

Tina nodded and hung up. Luke sighed and ate a cookie from the tray next to him. He then asked Nash, who was stuffing his cheeks with cookies.

"Did you have a strange feeling about Elton earlier?"

"Hmm? Strange?"

Luke nodded.

"Yes, is he a mage? If so, what grade?"

Nash was silent for a while before answering in a serious voice.

"He's not a mage, Dad."

Luke looked at Nash's serious face. Nash continued.

"He.... That guy.... He is not human."

Luke blinked for a few seconds before asking with a frown.

"What? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was about to tell you, but I forgot when I saw grandpa being bothered about something, so I asked him what was wrong and forgot about it."

Luke just sighed. If he didn't ask Nash, he wouldn't know what Elton was really like. Luke then asked.

"Not human, huh? Do you have any idea on what he is?"

Nash shakes his head.

"No, his aura is so different from anything I've met before. He is weird. Dad! Make sure to not get too close to him! I can sense him being dangerous! He is also strong!"

Luke's face turned serious. For a legendary beast to say that Elton was strong, just how strong was he? And.... How much does he know?

Luke sighed and decided to not think much about it and eat his cookie.

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Two weeks have passed and Luke is now standing in front of the tall stone wall that separates the Forest of Death from the others. With him are Erdene, Ava, and Liam. They are both gazing up at the tall wall in front of them. They could hear the roars of the monsters clearly on the other side of the wall. Erdene sighed.

"Haa, I need to do the cleaning again..."

Luke ignored Erdene's mumblings and jumped up to the top of the wall with the assistance of [Wind]. Erdene, Liam, and Ava, who was floating with flight magic thanks to Nash, followed behind Luke. They then saw a completely dark and foggy forest. Then Luke spoke up.

"Welcome to your new home."

"You brat, does this seem like a home to you?"

"Yeah, I mean, if you do a little cleaning here and there, it'll look just like your former mystical forest."

"Haa."

Erdene sighed and put his hand on his head as if he was having a headache. They then landed in the forest and looked around. Erdene then commented.

"This forest is big. It'll at least take me a week to clean up all of this."

"But you have the giants, right?"

"I guess they can help."

Erdene just sighed and Luke nodded. He then turned to face Nash, who was getting ready to cast a spell.

"Nash, transport all of them here."

"Okay!"

Nash then created a massive teleportation spell, causing the surroundings to be bright... Extremely bright. Luke squinted to keep from being blinded, then opened his eyes again when the light faded. He then saw hundreds of giants in front of him. They all looked around them. Luke spoke to get their attention.

"This will be your new home. I know, it is kind of shabby, but once it's cleaned and all of the pests are removed, it'll be a very comfortable place. Look, it already has tall walls surrounding it, so you won't need to worry about people finding out about you. People also avoid this place, so it is perfect for you guys."

The giants then stared at Luke. Luke then started to get nervous.

'They don't like it? What if they weren't pleased and stomped on me?

Contrary to Luke's thoughts, the giants suddenly bowed towards him. Luke looked at this with shock. He then heard Ava's father, Shawn, speak.

"Thank you for giving us a new home. And we are also sorry for our rude behavior last time."

Luke then remembered the time when the giants suddenly attacked him and didn't even listen to him. Luke just sighed.

"Don't mention it."

The giants just looked at Luke. Erdene saw this and just sighed and stretched his arms.

"It's been a while since I've been this active."

Erdene then came to a halt and placed his palms in front of him. Green light suddenly appeared in his hands and spread throughout the forest. The areas where the green lights flashed were transformed into healthy environments. The eerie dark green trees vanished and were replaced by healthy green plants. The fog that had blanketed the forest has also dissipated. After a few minutes, Erdene was finally done and put his hands down. Luke took a look around him; the gloomy and eerie forest had vanished, replaced by a beautiful and healthy forest.

"Haa..."

Erdene pants for a while before looking at the giants.

"Listen up, there are monsters in this forest and I want you to help me clear out all of them."

The giants nodded and started to scatter. Ava also joined them with her large hammer on her shoulder. Just a few minutes later, Luke could hear stomping and punching noises all around the forest. He can also hear monster noises. Luke then looked at Liam, who was beside him.

"Liam, Nash, help them out."

"Yes, brother."

•Leave it to me, dad! I'll make sure that no monsters are left!

Luke nodded at them and Nash and Liam charged forward. Liam then drew his sword and activated his aura, while Nash covered his entire body with blue mana and started to completely annihilate the monsters in his way. Luke just sighed at the scary scene and also draws his sword and activated his aura. Erdene saw this and asked him with a confused stare.

"Wait, you're helping out too?"

"Yeah, the sooner we finish, the better, right?"

Luke then charged forward while swinging his purple aura towards every monster he met. This caused him to have monster blood all around him, but he didn't really care.

'This should be enough for exercise, right? It doesn't matter, my body will always be weak.'

Luke thought that exercising was pointless for him. In his previous life, he had a job that required him to train like a madman all day, but it was all for naught because his body was weak from the start. But because he was so good at adapting to new skills, he was still hired despite his weak body. Even if the skills are hard and only for beefy guys, he can improvise and make the skills his own. That is his specialty.

Luke then decided to not think much about it and kept on slashing with a blank face. He then saw Erdene passing by him and shooting large sharp branches from his hands towards the monsters, causing the monsters to be skewered to death. Even though wood is often used to symbolize peace and kindness, who says that it can't be transformed into an absolutely deadly weapon that could pierce through your body?

After absolutely slaughtering monsters for the whole day with the help of the giants, two swordsmen, a legendary beast, and a Spirit, they are finally done with slaughtering the monsters. They then all gathered in one place and panted in exhaustion. They all looked beat up from moving all day. That was especially the case for Luke.

"Huff, huff, huff, Goddammit."

Luke frowned and plopped down on the ground. Liam and Nash then approached him, concerned.

"Brother, are you okay?"

"Dad! You are covered in blood!"

Nash then cast a cleaning spell on Luke and the blood on Luke's body instantly disappeared. Luke sighed and looked around. He could see the once healthy and green forest that was now covered with blood. It is absolute bloodshed. The giants, including Ava, are also covered in blood as if they showered in it. It is the same for Liam, but Nash and Erdene are the only exceptions. Not even a drop of blood was on their bodies. As expected of strong beings, they didn't even appear tired.

Everything is fine, except for the fact that there is blood everywhere. But something is missing...

Cough!

Yep, that's what is missing.

Luke then saw blood flowing from his mouth. Nash then shouted while Liam immediately charged forward and put a handkerchief in Luke's mouth.

"DAD! Are you okay?!"

Nash then turned to look at Luke, who was spitting blood into a handkerchief. Once Luke was done spitting out a handful of blood, he then looked at the once white handkerchief turning dark red. Luke frowned and looked at Liam's dark face. It is understandable, though.

'Imagine your pure white handkerchief being covered in blood. Even I will be mad.'

"Liam, sorry, your handkerchief is covered in blood."

"No, it is fine, brother."

Luke saw Liam's dark face while looking at the now red handkerchief.

'Yeah, right, you are fine about it. You seemed agitated.'

Luke sighed and flinched when he saw the giants and Erdene looking at him with shock. He also saw Ava covering her mouth with her hands while looking at Luke's bloody mouth and handkerchief with wide eyes.

"... What's the matter?"

As Luke inquired, Erdene then spoke in a stressed voice.

"You are so weak... Don't ever do that again."

"What do you mean?"

Luke flinched when he felt a murderous aura below him. He then saw Nash looking at the bloody handkerchief with a glare.

"Dad, please don't do this again. If you want me to destroy all the monsters in this world, I'll do it. Just.... Don't do this again. Look at how much blood you coughed out. This is far worse than the last time."

Luke sighed and patted Nash's head to calm him down.

"I feel fine, so don't worry."

Luke was then about to stand up, but Liam stopped him.

"Brother, rest."

"Huh? But I am fine now."

Erdene then butted in with an annoyed expression.

"No, rest."

Seeing Erdene, Liam, and Nash, the three strong blokes, glaring at him. Luke then sat back down. He then heard Erdene sighing.

"I can't believe it. Is this what you've all been gone through? Trying to make a stubborn brat listen to you... You must have had a difficult time. "

Liam and Nash nodded in agreement.

"Brother always wants to do everything on his own and always says he'll be fine with confidence, which is why we can't do anything about it."

"Dad is always stubborn. He only listens to us when we give him threatening glares and threats."

Liam and Nash sighed in frustration. Luke, who is looking at them with confusion, wonders what part of him was stubborn.

'Am I stubborn?'

Erdene saw Luke's curious face and sighed. He no longer wanted to think about what was going on in this brat's head. He felt as if he'd just gotten a migraine from thinking about it. Instead, he just put his hands in front of him and did the same thing he did earlier, causing all the blood to disappear and the monsters' corpses all gathered in one place on the side of the forest. Luke just looked at this and stood up. Liam was about to stop him, but Luke stared at Liam, causing Liam to stop. Luke then addresses Nash, who is already sulking.

"Let's go back."

"Okay."

Nash pouted while casting a teleportation spell. Erdene then stepped forward, which made Luke look at him with a confused expression. Then Erdene spoke up.

"I'll come with you. I need to do something on your island."

Luke nodded; he has no idea what Erdene's business is on his island, and he doesn't care, so he can tag along if he wants. Erdene then looked at the giants behind him.

"I'll be back soon. For now, build some houses around the forest for you guys to live in while I am gone. And also, protect the forest. I have already cast a mana barrier around this forest, so no outsider should come in. But it is better to be safe than sorry. We don't want withered souls to be splattered around again right?"

The giants nodded and Erdene then nodded at Nash. Nash then completely activated the teleportation magic and returned back to the island. When Luke and the others returned, Erdene immediately roamed around the island while Liam approached the kids. Luke simply ignored them and went inside, while Nash trailed closely behind him, concerned. Luke just sighed when he noticed the three-year-old's concerned stare.