Gains and Losses

The fight with the Drake was extremely costly. Whenever I was targeted or shaken off its head, I had to sacrifice several King's Guards in order to reduce the aggro on me.

In the end, I had to use all of my normal King's Guards just to kill it.

But if we were to talk about contribution, then Catherine would win. Although she was not in her armor like Arin, she was the strongest of us all.

She had received a 4x multiplier to her level from her class and sword, making her around level 300.

Just before I killed the Drake, she had managed to sever one of its arms, all by herself. So strong!

Is this the power of love?

Never mind that. It's time to sort out our gains from the battle!

First of all, the situation of the beast wave. With the Drake gone, there's no doubt that the beasts it gathered will rampage. However, they won't all head to Hull. Only a small proportion will, although they will probably be the higher levelled beasts that the Drake trusted.

Despite that, I believe that Hull, with Cairne and Prudor, will be able to defend against them.

Now onto our own gains. The corpse of the Drake will temporarily be stored in my inventory, before we figure out what to do with it. There's a possibility that I can change it all into bones, scales or meat. The bones are notoriously hard and will be good for equipment, and the same applies to the scales.

As for the meat, apparently it's delicious.

Our levels have all increased. Gilgamesh and Arthur are now LV340, and Arin and Catherine are even higher.

[Name: Arin

Class: Ranger

Level: 359]

[Name: Catherine

Class: Swordsman (Rose Knight)

Level: 364]

Catherine's level was lower than Arin's to begin with, so she received more extra EXP for a cross-level kill of such magnitude.

As for me, I've also made some gains.

[Status:

Name: Daniel

Age: 14

Class: Magic Swordsman

Secondary Class: Sword Saint

Available Classes: Swordsman (Common), Mage (Common), Magic Swordsman (Rare), Thief (Uncommon), Grand Mage (Rare), Sword Saint (Unique+), Arch Mage (Legendary), Magic Blacksmith (Legendary), Dragon Slayer (Legendary)

Title: Loved by Mana (Legendary)

Level: 210 -> 436

HP: 1094/1094 -> 2080/2080

MP: 3160/3160 -> 5590/5590

STR: 271 -> 512

VIT: 276 -> 528

AGI: 264 -> 519

DEX: 283 -> 534

INT: 297 -> 540

Skills: Bone Control LVMAX, Utility Magic LVMAX, Saint Sword LV6, Dismantling LV6, Tanning LV6, Tailoring LV7, Dagger Arts LVMAX, Underworld LV5, Fire Magic LVMAX, Ice Magic LV6, Water Magic LV5, God Smith LV5, Mana Merge LV6, Body Control LV4

Inventory: 3 x Health Potions (Rare), Flammable Bones (Uncommon), Bench Press (Uncommon), Squat Rack (Uncommon), Mithril Longsword (Unique), Many litres of Holy Spring Water (Rare), Drake Corpse (Unique)

Undead Area: 1300 x LV80 Refined King's Guard Skeletons (Legendary), 200 x LV100 Refined King's Guard Skeletons (Legendary), 100 x LV90 Elder Lich (Unique), Bone Carriage (Uncommon), 5000 x Bone Mounts (Unique), 5000 x Royal Cavalry (Unique)

Equipment: Dragonsbane (Half-God), Orichalcum Dagger (Rare), Purple Death Cuirass (Unique+), Purple Death Leggings (Unique+), Purple Death Boots (Unique+), Purple Death Gauntlets (Unique+), Purple Death Pauldrons (Unique+), Purple Death Helmet (Unique+), Tri-Horned Tiger Cape (Uncommon)]

My Bone Control is finally LVMAX, and my Underworld is halfway there. Mana Merge also levelled up thanks to that last-ditch effort to kill the Drake.

The most unfortunate thing about the battle was the loss of the King's Guard. I'll have to make the Elder Liches produce more.

Also, the fight has highlighted the need for named Skeletons. If there are enough of them with enough skill, then we would have been able to fight the Drake fair and square, and not need to sacrifice so much.

Alas, there's no time to ponder that right now. We really need to get back to Hull and report to Cairne about what just transpired. Of course, I'll leave out the part where I had 200 King's Guards following me.

As for the Drake, I'll just say it ran away after being severely injured. There's no way they can tell my level anyway, so I might just be able to bluff my way out of this one.

After resetting the landscape, I store Arthur and Gilgamesh, and the three of us start making our way back, with me scolding Catherine and Arin.

"Why did you two leave the town?" (Daniel)

"I was worried about you! I'm the type of obedient woman to wait for my lover's return! I should be out there with you, helping you!" (Arin)

Arin had tears in her eyes as she spoke. Was she really that worried about me? I pull her in for a hug, but she rejects me.

"No! Don't think that hugging me will solve everything. Promise me that you'll take me along the next time you do something like this." (Arin)

What else can I do but accept her request?

"I promise." (Daniel)

This time, she initiates the hug. We bask in each other's warmth for a good few minutes, before I suddenly wake up and realize that Catherine is also with us.

"Then why did you come, Catherine?" (Daniel)

"B-Because Arthur and Gilgamesh went after Arinnya! And nyou told me to stay with them…" (Catherine)

I don't know what to say. One of my girlfriends has a strong will, while the other is obedient to a fault. Ideally, I'd want a mixture of the two, but I have to deal with what I've got.

"Catherine, you should know that just because I told you to do something, it doesn't mean you have to follow it to the tee. You need to think about what I wanted when I told you to do something. In this case, I wanted you to be safe. If it meant not staying with Arthur and Gilgamesh, then that's completely fine." (Daniel)

"Y-You're not angry, nya?" (Catherine)

"No, of course not." (Daniel)

I also pull Catherine into my embrace. After that, the three of us walk hand in hand back to Hull.