Using all the mana he could recover in a single day, Luke practiced Checkpoint until he made it reach level three. The skill had some limitations, but it was a pretty fun one to use. It was only natural since it was even better than Stinger. While that one was being used, Luke could be hurt, but it was different with Checkpoint.
Checkpoint Lv 03: It grants you the power to create up to three checkpoints and move toward them if you have enough mana to do so. For each level of the skill, you can move one additional meter by using ten points of mana. When creating more checkpoints than the current level of the skill, the oldest one will be deleted.
Basically, at that moment and with all his mana, they could almost move to one place five hundred meters away from each other. At level ten, he will be able to use only one point of mana per meter, and while it was a pretty low amount considering his current speed, the skill still had a lot of potential in higher ranks. Luke even had an idea of how to implement the use of that skill in battle in a pretty unorthodox way. So, he decided to keep practicing on the second day as well.
"We are about to leave. You should divide the elves into three groups," Luke said to Rina. "The frontline that will protect the archers, the archers that will be our main attack force against the overlords' armies, and the support team that will heal and boosts the attack power of the first two groups."
Luke got forty thousand gold coins for the loot of the battle, and aside from those resources, he also got a bit stronger. Still, he felt that after all those battles, the level of difficulty wasn't decreasing. Maybe it was because, in the last one, he didn't have the chance to get Rina's support, but…
"I suppose it is only natural… I haven't been taking by myself enemies several levels above me without relying on others, after all," Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"While you have our support, it doesn't change the fact that you still relied on your skills to do that," Shalia said.
Shalia was being considerate, and Luke was thankful for that. Still, he wasn't naive enough not to realize that he had a lot of help until now. Weapon Augmentation, Rina and Shalia… he won some important battles without relying on them, but the vital ones…
In the end, Luke shook those thoughts out of his head. It wasn't time to lose his confidence. They were about to clear the world from the last overlords, after all. Hopefully, once all that fighting ends, the elves will be strong enough to keep their lands under control and not fall into the hands of crystal masters. Luke couldn't afford to keep coming whenever they find themselves in trouble, after all.
In any case, Luke went to check the red crystal and confirmed that everyone had put quite a bit of mana in it. It was probably enough to keep traveling for a whole night, and that was exactly when Luke was planning to move. The only problem is that it will be difficult to find the enemy's fortresses even though they are massive.
"I suppose we will have to rely on Richter again… we will approach the area, and then he will look for the first target," Luke said. "Are you okay with that?"
"That is fine, but it might take a while," Richter said. "Shouldn't we just fly low and attack the enemy even if they notice us? They will be stationed and looking for large groups of monsters, after all. They probably don't have much fuel to keep trying to move away from us."
Richter had a point. In the first place, the point of them getting a fortress was to go all out against the enemies. Considering that it will take a while to charge their red crystal, playing sage might give the enemies more chances to notice what was happening.
"Even if we are found, I doubt that many enemies will notice us and come to attack immediately," Rina said. "We can use that to destroy the enemies one after the other."
It was weird to see Rina that aggressive, but Luke knew that she also had a point. In the end, Luke was the one being careful because the last time, something troublesome happened.. Still, the central area of the continent was large, so it was hard to imagine more than two or three overlords noticing those battles… if they played their cards right.