Chapter 137 – Stuck.

Rusty stood outside his home, staring at the structure that was now more of a fortress than shelter. Every window was nailed shut, thick wooden planks hammered across to prevent entry. The door had been reinforced with metal plates and secured with several heavy latches on the inside. It wasn’t much to look at, but it would hold, at least, for now.

The morning light cast sharp shadows across the street, and Rusty allowed himself a moment to take in his work. The fortifications were crude but effective. Anyone who tried to break in would have a hard time doing so quietly. And if they did make it inside, he had some surprises waiting for them.

Even though there wasn’t anything worthwhile to steal in his home yet, people might still attempt it. The house was recently acquired and in bad shape. He had spent the last day reinforcing what he could with the steel, bronze, and iron he had in storage. He was no stonemason or carpenter, though, so his repairs weren’t exactly nice to look at. Rolo and the other kids had helped him in some places, and Alexander had guided him through some adjustments. Aburdon wasn’t too interested in the building and just complained that it was an unfit place for a demon lord.

It seemed they had managed to get away with torching the mercenaries’ base. Rolo had gone to investigate and reported that the entire place had burned to the ground. He also informed Rusty that one of the men who could recognize them had perished in the explosions, leaving only one survivor from the previous incident. While this didn’t mean other mercenaries couldn’t identify them, it lowered the chances of being caught.

With the place burned down and charred bodies inside, it would take some time before anyone checked the basement. Even if they discovered the children had survived, it wouldn’t necessarily mean they would figure out that they were responsible for the explosion. Those mercenaries had plenty of enemies and probably wouldn’t suspect someone like Rusty, who had just arrived in the settlement, of attacking them for such a reason.

Still, he had destroyed their base, and eventually, they could piece things together. He needed to get strong enough to face their leader. Reaching D-rank was now his main goal.

With his lair now secured, he could delve back into the dungeon to continue leveling. Battling those strange fish people had just been the beginning, as he intended to push much deeper into the sunken mine and uncover all its secrets.

“This should do it…”

“(╹ -╹)?”

“How will I open it from this side? Quite easily, Gleam. Just watch.”

At the moment, Rusty and Gleam stood inside the building. The door before them had several latches that could be slid to lock it, along with a thick wooden plank for extra protection. The plan was for someone to always remain inside to open it when needed. However, Rusty had ensured he could still enter even if no one let him in.

Above the door hung an iron gauntlet, one of his old body parts. He demonstrated to Gleam by using one of his skills. The gauntlet, resting on a shelf, floated down and moved one of the latches as he commanded. Even if no one opened the door for him, he had left enough of his body parts inside the building to help him get in one way or another, even without a key.

Additionally, there was a hidden exit that he and Gleam could use if needed. The children could also squeeze through, though it was a tight fit for Rolo, the oldest. With all these precautions in place, he could now safely leave the city to train again.

“A-are you leaving?”

“Yes, I need to go to the dungeon, I might be gone for several days again.”

“( • ᴖ • )”

Gleam skittered over to Natia, the youngest of the group, and tapped her leg with one of her antennae in a reassuring way. Rusty was not a babysitter, and he had done as much as he could for these children. He could not watch over them forever, nor did he intend to guarantee their safety.

At most, he was willing to offer his lair as a temporary hiding place and provide some food since he didn’t see money as much of a problem. However, they would need to learn to survive on their own. Rolo had promised to keep the lair protected in Rusty’s absence and had begun using the basement to practice his dagger skills.

“We’ll be fine.”

Rolo commented while placing his hand on Natia to keep her from trying to hug Gleam. Rusty watched the exchange, still a bit confused by the moisture gathering in the child’s eyes.

“Let’s go, Gleam.”

“ ( •̀ ⤙ •́ ) “

She did not seem too pleased about leaving the children unsupervised but eventually relented. After skittering back to Rusty, she perched herself on his shoulder, pouting in an antlike manner.

“It is best if you do not let anyone in.”

“We will not.”

Rusty gave Rolo a final piece of advice before heading out. As soon as he stepped outside, he could hear the latches locking behind him as the children secured the door. Now that the issue with the mercenaries was over, he needed to keep moving forward. There was no time to dwell on others. At any moment, his life could change. He had already lost too much time and was not sure how he had let himself get convinced by Gleam and Alexander to go along with all of this in the first place.

‘Now then…’

His current form was hidden under a long darkened robe. Even though he had Gleam’s papers it was better for her to hide underneath to not stand out. Soon he walked away from his home and glanced at their statuses to see how much more work they needed to do. As expected, Gleam had gained many more levels than him and would evolve faster than he who was just level four now.

Name:	Gleam
Classification:	Small Silvery Magical Gleaming Ant [ E – ] L8
Type:	Insectoid
Hit Points [ HP ]	116/116
Magic Points [MP]	173/173
Stamina Points [SP]	123/123 Continue Reading You are reading a free preview (50%). Log in to unlock the full chapter and join comments. Log In to UnlockCreate Account Related chapter tags #heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter137#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter138#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]chapter139#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]latestchapter#heavymetal[amonsterevolutionlitrpg]readonline 0 chapter views Related Novels Unbound Elder [OP MC LitRPG] What? Did I Just Reincarnate As A Flame? [A Flame Monster Evolution LitRPG] Book Of The Dead The Fastest Man Alive 0 Comments You must be logged in to comment. Bookmark Quote TTS Link Play Pause Stop Skip Scroll Settings Note DMCATermsPrivacyContact 0 online