116. Luke wakes up

The three, Maurice, Leo, and Rados, kept talking for hours as the latter two weren't really tired. After Maurice told them the gist of what kind of fight happened, Rados's face turned grimmer as he contemplated how they should continue.

"So our enemy is someone who can use all magic disciplines perfectly while also having integrated the flesh core of Evie?" asked Rados while touching his chin.

But before Maurice could answer, Leo interrupted, asking: "Guys, what the hell is the flesh core?"

"Well, it's a core that gives the owner physical strength unimaginable for a normal human being," answered Maurice with a yawn.

"Then it shouldn't be that OP, so why are you all that worried about him getting the core. Shouldn't we be more concerned about his magic?" Leo asked while scratching his head.

Hearing his words, Rados chuckled before filling the gaps of information concerning the flesh core and what makes it quite powerful.

"To keep it short, what makes the flesh core powerful is that one can heal from any injuries as long as one consumes enough flesh. Also, the flesh core kind of scales up with how much flesh one eats, even if it follows a logarithmic curve. This means that one gains strength rapidly in the beginning. But over time, the gains become more and more diminished till they are negligible," explained Rados, to which Leo nodded.

After the two continued talking for half an hour, Maurice went to sleep near the fire, and it didn't take long till the two dudes heard the groan of the man lying on the ground.

"Oh, our sleepyhead is also awake," commented Rados before moving closer to Luke.

The latter gave the sleeping beauty on his chest a kiss on the forehead and gently stroked the back of her head.

After gazing a few seconds onto his younger sibling, Luke commented with a tired voice: "I need your opinion, Rados, on something quite important."

Rados immediately narrowed his eyes before telling Leo with a gesture to remain seated in his place. Leo gave him a thumbs-up, and the former immediately set cross-legged next to Luke.

"So, for what do you need my opinion?" he asked as quietly as possible.

Luke sighed before telling him the situation. "As you might know, I won't be that much of a help if we encounter Alex soon, which is why I have been pondering on giving my core to someone else."

This surprised Rados, who immediately asked: "I understand your way of thinking, and I won't tell you how one should act as I would have the same thoughts as you if I were in your shoes. So who do you plan on giving your core?"

"I don't know it yet," sighed Luke, before adding: "I wish I could give it to one of my siblings, but this could ruin their relationship."

Rados shook his head before asking: "How could that impact the relationship between the two?"

"Well, you know, I can't just gift one of them something important and the other one nothing. Such an action could make the other person jealous, which I don't want. And if I gave it to them, they would be the ones fighting Alex. And let me tell you one thing, I'll pity the one who will replace me as he is not as experienced as I was when I had this ability. Also, that damn bastard whipped the floor with me," sighed Luke.

Rados smiled bitterly before saying: "You still got some time before you could make this choice. Maybe it's better to wait till we meet Gab or some of our other comrades before you make any sacrifices."

After a short pause, Rados added: "Do you have any person in mind to whom I should deliver your body/core if you end up dying prematurely?"

Luke nodded before saying: "Bring my body to Gab and let him make the decision if I were to die prematurely."

"So it shall be," replied Rados.

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Somewhere else, a group of humans were sitting around a fire as a man told them how they would continue. By now, the duo Gab and Enota found some of their former comrades inside the dungeon.

Unfortunally, not all of the people whom they found inside the third dungeon floor were so eager to join the duo. Some even used the chance to fight them, but for those naive men, their lives shortly ended before the rest of their men got executed personally by Gab.

In the end, the duo still amassed a small battalion of 20 comrades, which is a fraction of what they had before joining this floor, but still better than nothing.

"So, we won't be planning to exit this dungeon any time soon," admitted Gab, before adding: "For now at least. Our current plan is to kill as many of these green and redskins as possible to make it easier for our other comrades to survive."

A few of them cheered up, but one of them raised concerns about their lacking material.

"You, my friend, are as noble as one can be, and I admire it. But unfortunally we are running low on a lot of necessaries. As you know, most of the monsters here carry all kinds of infectious things or bacteria with them. One scratch could be even fatal for some of the unlucky ones. So what should we do, as we are running low on disinfectant alcohol?" a mage with one eye asked.

He was a former group leader that joined as one of the first under his ranks. Others nodded to his comment, and the cave immediately grew noisier.

"I understand your concern and fear not. We will be leaving this place as soon as possible. As for the fights, Enota and I will be one of the few fighting in the front lines. But don't think that I'm stupid. We are fighting against goblins, and your armors are more than enough to protect your body from any scratches. One should only be careful about getting overwhelmed by goblins," stated Luke loudly to calm the group.