Congratulations! You are level 26! You have 15 stat points available.

Lee willed away the message, which jumped out for attention as he walked through Lopus's ruined roads alongside the timely side character Em. They didn’t have to walk far to reach the basilisk’s downed form, as he was surprised at the fact that everyone was keeping well away from its obviously valuable body.

While he wasn’t a genius by any stretch of the imagination, he would have been a fool to assume that a corpse from a level one-hundred-plus magical creature wasn’t worth anything. The real question was, who would have the honor of looting it? This was the exact type of scenario Neia and Ruven had previously mentioned. For a creature of immense value, the person with the highest luck would have the honors.

A perimeter was made around the enormous corpse, and without fail, everyone around willingly obeyed the unmentioned rule. This sort of thing might have been uncommon for adventurers, but it did happen. So, it wasn’t surprising that everyone was quickly on the same page.

From within the crowd forming to gaze upon their foe's defeated corpse, Regina sauntered out and beelined toward Lee and Em. Her unflappable face seemingly returned once the fighting ended. Her gaze landed on Em, and she rewarded her with a nod of respect. Once she looked at Lee, he saw the most curious of emotions leak through her facade—Wariness.

Wary? Of me? Did everyone assume I was lying when I said I could kill everyone in less than ten seconds?

At this point, Lee felt a little vindicated. “If I knew I was that effective, maybe I should have dropped on it from the start. I took down half of its health with only twenty percent of my mana. In hindsight, I could have killed it myself.”

He nudged Em with his elbow as he carried on. “Had to give Em a little bit of time to shine.”

Em grimaced and shuffled away from his nudge. Ever since Lee thanked his side character for her timely assistance, it was like her world had shifted. She had discovered that she was not, in fact, the main character. “No… No, no, no. It was just… It was your character arc. Yes… I’m not the side character…”

Lee gave her a questioning look. “Aren’t you the one who wanted to hang on my coattails because I’m god-blessed? That’s side character 101.”

Em mumbled and slinked into her own thoughts as Regina coughed politely to grab his attention. “I’ve sent Jeremy and Kendri back to our camp to contact Fatalina about what happened here. She’s a greedy goblin when it comes to loot and treasure. So, I suspect someone will be sent here with haste to facilitate the processing of the basilisk corpse.”

Lee nearly snorted upon the description given to the general of the kingdom. “Does the kingdom have some super lucky person on retainer? Someone to drag around to where the loot is?”

Regina studied his face for a moment, leaving them in an awkward silence filled with Em mumbling. “No. We won’t be looting the basilisk. It will be processed by those with the accompanying class and or professions. Did your country loot everything? No matter the quality?”

Ah. That makes a lot more sense…

Since arriving on Pallesia, Lee had been wondering about many things, one of which was the apparent void of certain labor classes. He had seen bakers, fletchers, woodcutters, farmers, and other standardized classes or occupations being fulfilled. But he had never seen anyone butcher or dress their kill. Every time he killed something or saw something killed, the monster or creature in question was looted.

It was an easy answer and likely saved a lot of time, but surely it was wasteful. Lee remembered the first time he looted a Squallor in the Shadowgrove. The morbidly obese giant squirrel had given him some hide, fat in a jar, and meat. Lee, Neia, and Ruven would have gotten ten times as much material if they had stopped and properly prepared their kill.

Lee shook his head. “No. It’s quite the opposite. We never looted at all.”

Her gaze lingered on him for a second longer, but she eventually relented and looked over her shoulder at the group of adventurers and knights. Lee followed her eyes and sighed.

Some groups and parties were smiling and resting, obviously happy to be done with the threat that brought them all together. Others… weren’t so happy. Some parties ran around anxiously shouting names out into the crowd, trying to find their missing member—family or friends. Others had discovered their teammates dead and lifeless or just an item left by the wayside of a pool of blood and crushed flesh. They poured out their soul and collapsed on the ground in wracking sobs in front of their former friends.

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Lee’s smile and upbeat mood faded as they were doused in the cold waters of reality. Lee looked over and nudged Em again. “You did a good job, Em. You saved countless lives today with your heroic appearance. If anyone here is going to write down the deeds that transpired here today, you’re going to have a whole page dedicated to you.”

He waited for her mumbling to fade away, and once her ruby-red eyes locked with his, he gave her a sincere smile. “You saved me as well. Thank you.”

Regina coughed once more, much less politely. Lee waved her away. “Let's deal with the aftermath of this disaster. The longer we linger, the more lives that might be lost.”

Lee stormed off and went up the road where their battle had taken place. Much like before, there weren’t too many people who were injured by the basilisk. Those who had taken injuries from it were dead. Its overwhelming size granted it enough mass to snuff out someone's existence from a single step. Those hit by friendly fire, or civilians who had their homes crumble atop them, were his aim.

Also, what happened to the statues and smaller basilisks?

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Regina watched as Lee walked off and searched the nearby collapsed building for survivors. Her heart hammered in her chest as he passed by, not from any kind of affection or positive emotions, as she had had those beaten out of her in the past. No. Her heart trembled because of an emotion shared by all lifeforms, sapient or not.

Fear.

She had read from the reports back in Emerson about Lee’s threat toward Wall Commander Timberson. One clear moment of rage that was marked and acknowledged by all those above her—Do not invade his personal privacy. His threat of death was curious coming from a healer, but truth stones could be deceived—especially if one was a mage. She held little to no faith in any of his claims of power. At least those of an adversarial nature. She had thought his true power was held in his healing, but now, she could see the truth.

Lee could kill her in seconds.

She had been raised an assassin and wrought from blood, sweat, and copious amounts of abuse. Looking back, she was thankful for her upbringing and indebted to Fatalina in more ways than one. She was a tool, but she was a tool used and wielded by someone who cared—someone who would snap at anybody who damaged her belongings.

As an assassin, she had learned early that levels mattered less and less the higher you went. If a level fifty was versus a level one-hundred, they were at a severe disadvantage in a straight-on duel. But if the level one-hundred didn’t know they were even in a fight? It could quickly turn trivial. But when it's level one versus level fifty? The level one stood next to no chance. Class bonuses and raw stats would dissuade any attempts at confrontation. Personal abilities were also a wildcard, but those were usually never factored in unless they were relevant.

This was all assuming two people were fighting of course, not a person versus a monster or creature.

A monster vastly overpowered a person of the same level by sheer brutality and physical strength. They didn’t care that they were hurt or maimed and would single-mindedly follow you to the gates of Death in reckless attempts at ending your life. What they lost in mental faculties were gained in physical acumen.

So, a level twenty-one healer single-handedly has the capability to kill a level one-hundred-plus well-aged creature with either magical abilities or skills? That instilled terror. While she knew whatever skill he used must have drawbacks, whatever they were weren’t apparent. Possibly, a long cooldown or disabling of other skills would be her immediate guess, but she would never know as she dared not pry further. All she knew and needed to know were the effects, and they were significant.

From what she could infer, Lee was a kind man. He healed any and all and taught his sacred healing magic to others with a smile. He wasn’t arrogant or filled with incessant greed like many of his unpleasant brethren… and wasn’t fully aware of how special he was.

She was also sure he had never killed another person—truth stone or not. The man had scars, not physical ones mind you, but mental ones. It was plain as day to anybody who cared to look. Sometimes, he looked lost, confused, and hopelessly out of his depth. When nobody was looking, or he was working on his enchantments, his facade would slip up, and the face of the weary and worried would leak through.

But he was trying his best. And for that, she would try hers—even if she wasn’t ordered.

His best friend was an Arachne. He had no family members, affiliations, or friends they could find or leverage—other than the Dark Elves, and they were not a people they could confront.

Regina shifted to the side as Em’s head ever so slowly hovered over her shoulder in some macabre display of flexibility. She blinked once, twice, then grinned. “Sorry, Regina. Lee has his sights on another lady. I’m afraid you’re also not his type.”

Blank-faced, she stared at Em until comprehension dawned. “I was merely deep in thought. I am not interested in Lee romantically.”

Em exaggeratedly nodded as she shuffled to stand next to her. “Yes. He is frail beneath those clothes. No meat on those bones at all. He likes them muscular, though. You should have seen him flapping about full of nerves when he met Annalise.”

Annalise? Annalise Synder?

“Annalise from Home’s Homage? Do they know each other well?” She asked.

Em shook her head with a grin plastered on her face as she remembered the past. “Oh, Lee wishes they did.”

She snickered and covered her mouth with one of her metallic hands…, and then she froze. “Oh, they were with me a few minutes before I made my timely and heroic arrival for adventure. They found Lady Briarbreak wounded and took her to safety. She was screaming, so I bonked her on the head.”

Regina was nodding along till she heard that final remark. She turned, looked up at the face of Em, blinked once, then frowned. “Really?”