The group decided to explore the area for a while, walking in the direction where the sun was setting. Still, they didn't do anything aside from a few rocks and trees. In the end, they were forced to camp below a tree when night came. The girls waited for one of Jake's meals, but soon they realized they wouldn't get anything in that situation. It was only natural.
"Do you really think we are in another world?" Lana asked. "I sure can't believe it."
"I understand why you are skeptical," Louise said. "I am a bit troubled over this as well. Still… everything looks so real, and yet, we can see the game system."
Jake didn't reply since he was meditating. He confirmed earlier that he could level up his skills even outside battle, and since then, he has been training Mana Blade and using Meditation to recover mana.
"What do you think, Jake?" Lana asked.
"About what?" Jake asked.
"About if aliens exist or not… of course I am talking about this planet," Lana said.
"Knowing that will change anything? Will it improve our current situation?" Jake asked.
"Well, no… but it will answer one of the many questions I have," Lana replied.
"Since that is the case, worrying endless about things is a waste of time and energy," Jake said.
"Look at you, trying to be so composed while attacking a rock for no reason," Lana frowned.
It seemed too much of a hassle to correct Lana, so Jake decided to keep quiet. Nevertheless, Jake was doing that because he couldn't relax at his home, so he might as well train his skills since the power granted by the system apparently was real.
"We will have to have an early morning, so we will take turns watching our camp," Jake said.
"It will be hard to sleep if your keep hitting that poor boulder with your skill," Lana said. "Still, how are we supposed to fall asleep on the ground?"
"Just use each other backs, or the trunk of the tree," Jake replied.
"From tomorrow onwards, what is the plan?" Louise asked.
"I suppose we should investigate this area until noon, if we don't find anything, we can pick a mission and then clear it," Jake replied. "While the crystal doesn't grant us the chance to buy anything, it still gives un coins as rewards, so we should be able to find a way to use them. In such a place, we are bound to find others. If we fail at finding others during the missions, we should be able to find such a place eventually."
Jake didn't forget what Luke said. He would meet them out there… he probably meant that in one way or the other, he would find them. In any case, due to the circumstances, the girls fell asleep pretty soon, they just had to follow what Jake said, and they put their backs against the nearby tree. They were also pretty close to each other, so probably the heat of their bodies helped a bit. Nevertheless, Jake doing his own thing, trying to level up Mana Blade and then meditating while keeping his eye on the surroundings. However, he couldn't even hear the sound of crickets or even owls… if he didn't know any better, Jake would say that they were teleported to a world devoid of any animal life. Was that even possible, considering that the planet had the perfect conditions for humans to live?
When Jake couldn't handle the sore feeling on his butt anymore, he decided to swing his sword around while mimicking the moves of some of his skills. That was also enough to make Swordsmanship level up…
"What a weird system… doesn't it mean that players could become stronger even outside missions?" Jake thought.
It was weird, but it was also very helpful, so Jake decided to use that as much as possible. Nevertheless, the girls sure slept like a rock, and Louise woke up when it was around four in the morning. So, she took Jake's turn and watched the camp since he wanted to take a little nap.
----- -----
On a certain battlefield…
It was raining that day. Thanks to that, the dark-haired man seemed even broodier than usual. This time, he was wearing a light-red armor, and his sword was a long and silver one. Alongside his temporary allies, they crossed a dark forest, trying not to make any sound. They actually succeeded and then reached on the other side of the forest, where they found a human settlement. There were some guards here and there, but the rain made the vast majority of them hide in their tents while looking around. Naturally, they couldn't see much, but the guards felt confident that it was fine. No one would attack them on such a night. The nearest enemies were hundreds of kilometers away, after all. Even if they come to attack, they would be too exhausted on the trip and thanks to the rain. Thanks to all that, the dark-haired man and his temporarily allies managed to invade the camp and attack everyone while facing close to no resistance.
When an armed enemy dashed toward him, the dark-haired man only looked at them for a single moment. He suddenly disappeared, and when he reappeared, he was already swinging down his sword and cutting the enemy's weapon alongside their torso in half. His temporary allies frowned while looking at him. That speed and strength were just surreal… the dark-haired man didn't have the powerful presence of a warrior, he didn't look like one either, and yet… he was the fiercest swordsman that they had seen.
The dark-haired man led the group to the center of the center of the settlement, they found a tall, bald man wearing a light-blue armor and a great sword emitting the same glow. The dark-haired man furrowed his eyebrows when he saw his target, but his allies didn't do the same. They charged at him like mad dogs since his armor and sword were valuable like no other magic equipment. However, even when he was surrounded by five elite soldiers, the man only swung his sword once. The enemies stopped around him like they had been frozen even before attacking. In the end, they quickly turned into ice statues.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om