Chapter 246: I won’t sleep with you!

"This ..." Elred stared at the bright yellow light in his hand in shock and confusion.He was holding an earth spark of impeccable quality, far more pure than the one Arax fed to Lee – at least that was how Lee felt. Of course, now, after decades of cultivating, his earth spark had evolved and could actually be somewhat compared to the one Elred held, but that was not the point. Elred acted as if this was supposed to be the one the old god had, but Lee had held the white spark in his hand and knew this wasn’t it.

"Everyone!" Elred was either a great actor, or actually got anxious, "Gather up! I was certain I put the old god’s spark in my belt, but apparently there’s been a mix-up. Vaerin isn’t with us anymore, so to not cause any misunderstandings, please search me. Also, just in case, search Lee. I’ve been carrying him the whole time and technically he had the opportunity to steal it."

Lee didn’t like where this was going, but what Elred said made sense. Surprisingly, no one got angry at him. Instead the whole group voluntarily presented their spatial artifacts to be searched as well as the ones they picked from the remains of their fallen colleagues.

Obviously Lee presented only his spatial ring. He never intended to disclose the fact that he had two other spatial treasures – the glove and the pocket of his pants. While he didn’t steal the spark this time, he didn’t want to show off his wealth, especially because of the existence of Soulcleaver.

After thoroughly searching everything, the white spark still wasn’t found, and the hunters turned to dividing the loot. It was upsetting that the spark was lost, and Elred kept going through his stuff over and over again, looking for it. In the end he gave up, and the group decided that while technically it was his fault, nothing could be done about it.

People were exhausted and injured. Most were too preoccupied with themselves to bother with finger-pointing and assigning blame. More importantly, except for Lee, the rest of the group had hunted together for years. They knew Elred well – no one even suspected he was trying to pocket the treasured spark.

Lee, on the other hand, knew that someone had grown rich in one move. He didn’t know who, but the obvious suspect was the pointy-ear guy. On the other hand, at the time he himself was barely conscious, and the attention of the rest was also on more pressing matters, thus technically a skillful pickpocket could’ve relieved Elred of the spark.

In the end, no matter who the thief was, Lee had a lot to think about. He had seen and held the spark of an old god – the thing that allowed the colossal creature to use at least three different elements. Despite its owner’s size, the spark was basically of a regular size, and differed from the sparks he had seen so far only by the color.

Judging from what Lee knew about the cultivation, the existence of a white spark didn’t make sense – after all, they were concentrated forms of elemental energy. Did that mean that a white one could accumulate multiple elements? If so, did he somehow had to combine his sparks and make one out of four?

Even without trying Lee knew that any attempt to do so would result in internal injuries. A simple thought of mixing water with fire terrified him – the sparks carried incredible destructive power, and he could clearly imagine blowing himself up if he attempted to do so.

While loosing physical body, also known as dying, wasn’t that big of a deal, the sparks were located in his Dantian, within his consciousness. If any kind of elemental explosion happened there, in the process he would surely destroy himself for good.

The next morning, everyone gathered to distribute the loot.

Lee acquired another spatial ring that formerly had belonged to one of Seren’s buddies, a belt and a bag. He was offered two more spatial treasures, but he refused to accept them, suggesting they should go to Rania. She was the wind elemental master who sneak attacked Jordi, allowing hunters to deal with Seren’s group in the end.

Contrary to Lee, Rania didn’t stand in ceremony and gladly accepted the treasures. She didn’t hide her excitement, pointing out at the fact that the unexpected windfall would allow her to leave Skalara. This, in turn, served as a wake up call for many who were inclined to follow her idea.

There was a small problem, though.

"There’s only twenty one of us." Elred said, after everyone had received their share, "It wouldn’t be a problem if we were close to the main camp, but with how injured few people are, it’s too risky to go back."

"You don’t expect us to settle down here?" One of the hunters asked, "It’ll take time for me to fix my broken leg. Not all are freaks who can recover overnight!"

The last part was clearly a hinted at Lee, who shocked everyone at the sunrise when he already performed few simple exercises despite being deadly injured on the previous day.

"No." Elred said, "We’re deep in the north-western territory. I’ve been to the camp it belongs to before and I want to suggest us to go there. I’ve visited the place only once, but I’m positive I can find it again. At most it’s five, maybe six days from here."

Lee was thrilled to hear the idea. This group was basically annihilated and the old god’s spark was stolen. His best chance lie in finding out who had pocketed it or stumbling upon another old god. With both options being equally unlikely, getting to safety first made the most sense.

In any other world he wouldn’t mind going and exploring, but in Skalara, it wasn’t an option. No matter how skilled or resourceful he might be, if a swarm of insects attacked him, he would inevitably end up dying again. There was a reason the hunters moved around in large groups.

Hunters decided to rest for another day, and departed after breakfast. A couple were carried on stretchers despite their active protesting. It was much faster than for a group to pace at the speed of someone with a broken leg and the safety of the group took the priority over someone’s pride.

Regarding pride there was a humorous situation with Lee and Rania.

Lost in thought, he didn’t notice that the huntress kept close to him for most of the day. Even as they battled occasional insect ambushes, she stayed by his side and, when they camped for the night, settled nearby. The second day it continued like this, and then the third began the same way as well.

The lady was getting visibly annoyed after the young lad straight up kept ignoring her. Lee was clueless about it, though. He was too busy focusing on the elements within, trying to calm down the painful storms he caused during the encounter with Seren.

Finally, on the third evening after dinner, Rania announced, "I won’t sleep with you!"

Lee heard her words, and curiously glanced around to see whom they were addressed to. This was the first love drama he was about to witness since his arrival to Skalara, and while he wasn’t looking forward to it, he wasn’t immune to simple curiosity.

He got confused after realizing she was speaking to him, and it took a longer moment for him to process the implications. Meanwhile Rania patiently waited, apparently expecting Lee to apologize or make an actual advance.

"I’m sorry!" Lee said, "There must be some kind of misunderstanding."

"So you’re a gay after all?" She asked, hinting at Lee’s words before he killed Seren.

"No." Lee said, "But I hope I won’t need to prove it to you."

"Why not? Am I not good enough?" She snorted in annoyance.

Lee knew he had walked right into a trap. At the same time, he knew that if a woman was in the mood, he couldn’t avoid falling into one, no matter what he did.

"I would never risk my life and try to get intimate with any of you, huntresses." Lee said, carefully picking his words, "I’m too afraid, and such thought had never even crossed my mind."

He knew that Rania now could easily get angry at him, but at the same time he had put her into a difficult position. He apologized, pointed at the fact that he was scared, but not only of her, but of all ladies in the group.

After spending this time with them, he knew that they weren’t as unreasonable as the pampered madams of a city, and Rania’s next words proved it.

She asked, "Then what do you want?"