Since Ren gave a lot of information to Leon, he decided to teach him to manipulate earth. However, it was so simple that Ren learned in the first try.

“I can’t believe I learned magic so easily…” Ren said with his mouth wide open.

“I guess you guys didn’t have time to learn…” Leon said. “You guys didn’t have time to experiment with the system. Once you get used to the tomes, no one would try to learn magic.”

“No… some bastards are trying to keep such valuable information to themselves.” Ren bit his lips. “I saw an individual using earth magic like this, but he said he just learned by chance and he couldn’t explain how to use. With that kind of knowledge, we could have saved so many lives!”

“Well… that doesn’t surprise me at all.” Leon said.

The number of opportunists bastards in the world wasn’t small, and with the event like the end of the world, such people would do everything in their power to stand on top over the others. Still, Leon doubted that many things would change if that knowledge had been spread over the course of four years. Perhaps more people like Ren would exist, but only a handful of people had the time like Leon had to practice.

“So, you used earth to kill megalodons? In the ocean?” Ren asked.

“No, I used a combination of earth and fire. Good luck learning that.” Leon said.

Leon spent almost two years learning and perfecting Magma Spear, so he revealed that information without thinking twice. Ren looked to be a good guy, and that kind of knowledge would help him, but Leon knew that wasn’t something that could be learned so easily.

“Now, I get it! You didn’t use a spell to create that steel plate!” Ren said. “You created the steel plate using earth magic! Isn’t that right?”

“Dude… you are asking too much.” Leon said.

Leon killed thousands of pterodactyls, but he only managed to obtain a single tome. So he could understand why Ren was so excited. Survivors could use magic by using certain weapons, but they couldn’t level up those spells, nor could they obtain status points.

“Yeah… you are right. Sorry.” Ren scratched the back of his head. “Change of plans, Leon. I will definitely help you to find a way back home.”

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“… Okay.” Leon frowned.

Leon had no idea how Ren would do that, but he decided to wait and see while he thinks of a solution to his predicament. Although Ren looked like a child who found a new toy and wanted to practice Earth Manipulation, he decided that it was time to repay the favor little by little. First, he took Leon to a clothing store, the only one in the town which sells other clothes aside from kimonos. It was weird receiving clothes from a guy, but Ren insisted on paying for several clothes that Leon choose.

As if that wasn’t strange enough, Ren paid the shop owner by shaking his hand. When Leon asked about the money, Ren explained that they could exchange coins like that.

“Is that so… where can we use those coins?” Leon asked.

“The system created the coins to be used before we enter dungeons,” Ren explained. “We can buy potions, armor, weapons, and even tomes. But the price is stupidly high. It is a little inefficient, but we usually buy weapons that grant us skills. Their price is around one thousand coins.”

“That seems expensive. Didn’t you guys get attacked by sahuagins?” Leon frowned. “I killed three of them and obtained three magic tridents that granted skills.”

“Sahuagins? I heard they barely leave their underwater homes since the megalodons eat them.” Ren answered.

Leon thought that the tsunamis destroyed their homes, and that was why he didn’t meet any more of those monsters, but instead of that, it was thanks to the megalodons.

“Now I get it… the earthquake opened a dungeon underwater, and from that dungeon, the megalodons appeared.”

It was weird the idea of megalodons coming from other worlds, but so was the idea of they suddenly returning to life. Regardless, they weren’t a problem to Leon anymore, at least for the time being. With his recovery alone, he wouldn’t be able to defeat them.

It had been a long time since Leon felt so alive. With his new clothes, he felt like he got ten years younger. Although he was twenty-six now, he still felt comfortable wearing jeans, sneakers, and long sleeve t-shirts. He looked pretty out of place since almost every single person in that port was wearing kimonos, but he couldn’t care less.

After changing clothes, Leon had lunch with Ren. As expected, they ate sushi and rice, but even though Leon was already sick of fish, with the condiments of Japanese cuisine, he ate and asked for more. He ate until he couldn’t and started to regret thanks to the stomach aches.

“Do you want to see the nearby dungeon, I bet you have enough coins to buy something nice,” Ren asked.

Leon thought about the things he could buy, thinking about tomes, he wanted to learn how to teleport, but even if such a thing was available, he doubted he would have the coins to buy it.

“Aren’t you going to practice your new skill?” Leon asked. “Rather, won’t you share that information with your men?”

“I will share them at night,” Ren answered.

“What about the other survivors?” Leon asked.

“We accept anyone who wants to join our force, but we don’t have many soldiers,” Ren explained. “Do you know why?”

“Because people want to be protected and don’t want to fight?” Leon said.

“Yes, therefore, we don’t share that kind of information.” Ren nodded. “To avoid problems down the road and to prevent that, some cowards obtain power and cause even more problems.”

“Such a naïve way of thinking… I guess not even the end of the world can change the minds of some pacifists.” Leon looked away, bored.