Over the course of the next few days, Luke didn't do much aside from meditate. When he got bored, he took his friends to go hunt, but there weren't many monsters in the area. Crystals rarely appeared as well since the overlords knew that the people in the area were strong enough to destroy those and the army of monsters. Still, Luke was worried that such a thing would draw the attention of the most powerful ones…
Eventually, the day arrived where Luke could check other worlds. Even though he didn't have good senses, he felt Rina and Shalia's power level reached a point where they could open a link to Earth and their worlds. However, there was one problem… they could only transport Luke. Artiuno and the other tamed monsters would have to stay behind.
"We can always wait for a while on the other side and open the portal again to make Artiuno cross it," Rina said.
"No… Let's leave her behind," Luke said. "While her mobility is useful, she isn't at the level where she can contribute to the fights against the monsters there, right?"
"You are right," Rina replied.
Luke decided to leave Artiuno in his mother's care. He heard that Amanda and Celia almost had enough coins to learn Tame, but it would take a while before they could obtain their own monster army. So, leaving all his pets behind would be more helpful.
Also, Luke didn't tell anyone where he was going, all in order to prevent the information from spreading and giving some troublesome individuals the chance to attack the camp. Even if they do attack, they will have a nasty surprise: Richter. He wasn't planning to go anywhere for the time being, and he was strong. So, he would be able to take Luke's place as the strongest. While he was a bit stupid for not using skills that often, he still was powerful without them.
In any case, just to be sure. Luke stocked more needles and nails on his backpack than food and clothes. They were going to Rina's world first, so he was imagining quite the forested area where fruits, vegetables, and animals were in abundance… Hopefully, not much had changed since the arrival of the monsters. Regardless, they moved to an abandoned town in the vicinities in order not to draw attention to themselves.
"All right, we are ready," Luke said.
Rina nodded and then began to concentrate. That disappointed Luke a little bit… he was expecting a passionate kiss, after all. Still, then he recalled her words… to open the portal, she would need enough mana to keep her original form for ten seconds. She never said that she would need to stay in her original form to do so.
After a while, Luke felt his body getting lighter and his vision getting hazy. He thought that an actual portal would appear and he would jump on it, but when he recovered, he was already in the middle of a thick forest.
"If you are dizzy, take a bit of time to rest. We are in a safe area," Rina said.
"I am fine, but this was a bit different from what I had imagined," Luke said.
"Well, it is our original magic to cross between worlds, after all," Rina said. "It is a mix of the checkpoint and the power that the crystals have. Usually, it would require a lot more mana, but since we assumed that form… a lot less mana is used."
Luke frowned while he was looking around and then suddenly saw Rina in her original form… he still could feel the link between them. Still, as expected, she didn't need his mana to assume that form in her world.
"No! I didn't mean it like that!" Rina raised her voice.
"I am just joking," Luke said. "Anyway, you don't have many skills, huh."
"I decided to focus on my strength instead of my weakness. I also bought many potions over the years to make sure that I would always have mana to help my people," Rina explained.
That made sense. Regardless, Luke couldn't think for long about that because it was hard to not look at Rina. He had seen her original form a couple of times, but always during fights when his head was somewhere else. Still, only now he could see how astonishingly beautiful she was. It was almost at a supernatural level… as expected of the queen of the elves. It made Luke throw away his pride and simp hard. Just the idea that he was kissed a number of times by a woman like that made his heart be filled with pride, but he couldn't help but wonder… wasn't he doing exactly what that voice told him not to? Or does he has to reach the third base to truly go against that advice? Rina's words made him woke up.
"We are a bit far away from the last camp we used, so don't drop your guard," Rina said.
"So, some of you stayed behind?" Luke asked while they were crossing the forest.
"Yes, those who were suited for combat stayed behind," Rina replied.. "We wouldn't be able to fight using weapons and our bodies in that form, after all."