Lukas, while holding the now slightly emptier pouch of Star Crystals in his hand—thirty Star Crystals, more than thirty percent of his wealth—felt his anger slowly vanish like smoke on a windy day as the distance between him and the guard outpost increased.
Star Beast Horde…!
Although he had lost his hard-earned money, he had also learned precious information. It appeared a disaster was about to strike the Roaring Dragon Settlement, and from the looks of it, he didn't have much time left. No wonder Star Warriors were so desperate to get strong, buying up Elixirs in mass just to grow stronger and increase their chances of surviving the horde.
Lukas was not completely ignorant. In the Star Dimension, Beast Horde was the most common threat any settlement faced. Once the monster population reached a certain threshold, they would attack the settlement, tearing through the walls. Once the settlement fell, the Realm World was next; using the teleporters, the monsters would make their way to the Realm World.
As such, the settlement could not fall under any circumstances.
Even if all the Star Awakeners have to sacrifice themselves, then so be it.
It was not just some random vow but a fact. Lukas had heard of multiple instances of it happening all around.
While thinking about all these things, he carefully navigated through the busy street, looking for a place to stay.
Similarly to the market outside the walls, the outer settlement consisted of a market where high-level items were traded, and multiple inns that provided rooms for Awakeners.
Most of these inns were run by either rich Awakeners or small powers working under the Roaring Dragon Guild, giving a share of profits to the guild.
Lukas chose the inn which was nearest to the city gate—Whitewood Inn, operated by a relatively famous Star Warrior, John Whitewood, an expert at the Blood Transfusion stage.
He quickly managed to find the inn. With how different it looked from the rest of the inns, it didn't take much time for him to reach it. Just like its name suggested, the inn building seemed carved from a single piece of white wood. Lukas scanned its three floors curiously, his gaze lingering on the large glass windows of each floor.
After multiple life-and-death struggles in a single day, Lukas wasn't expecting things to suddenly become peaceful. The best he could do was prepare for the worst.
In case things went south, those large glass windows were going to be his escape route.
With all these thoughts in mind, he walked inside. A young woman in her early twenties greeted him at the reception.
"Welcome, guest! My name is Eva. How can the Whitewood Inn help you?"
"I would like to rent a room for a month. Here's ten Star Crystals as the payment."
Without saying too many unnecessary words, he simply slid ten Star Crystals as payment.
A warm smile appeared on Eva's face. She liked guests who were straightforward and didn't like wasting time.
After putting the Star Crystals into the treasure box, she handed a pair of metallic "keys" to Lukas.
"These are your room keys. Please don't lose them, otherwise you will have to pay a fine of one hundred Star Crystals."
Lukas looked at the key in his hand and then back at receptionist Eva's face. Calling this metallic thing a key would be an insult to all the keys in existence. It looked nothing like a key, shaped like a small cylinder—more like a nail than a key.
All of these people are worse than the last…
Lukas internally muttered, his lips twitching. He was too mentally tired to deal with all this bullshit. Without saying another word, he simply started walking toward his room.
This was without a doubt a predatory scheme. Life in these settlements was tough. Every day Awakeners would go out and engage in combat. No matter how much they tried, there was a very high chance the key might be lost, and most of them would end up paying the fine of a hundred Star Crystals over their one-month stay. He was sure the inn earned more from fines than from rent.
His thoughts continued to wander. Lukas had been a genius in his past life; in this life it was no different. After giving it a brief thought, he could see why things were the way they were.
Whitewood Inn was privately operated. To be able to survive in a field dominated by big and small guilds, you had to be creative.
Without realizing, Lukas followed the circular corridor and arrived before a room numbered 007.
This was his room.
Maybe he was too tired or something else, but he didn't bother paying attention to the number. He simply inserted the cylindrical "key" into the slot and unlocked the gate, walking inside.
The room was simple, with one decent-looking bed, a mirror directly opposite the bed, and windows that gave him a view of the main street running straight toward the center of the settlement.
Twelve gates, twelve streets. Where all those streets converged was the center of the Roaring Dragon Settlement—also the place where the Roaring Dragon Guild headquarters was situated.
Thud! Lukas fell on the bed, and immediately a sense of calm filled his mind.
Whitewood Inn was situated on the 7th street. The little information he had about Roaring Dragon Settlement flashed in his head.
Although it might look as if Lukas was completely relaxing, in reality his mind was whirring at full speed. Although he had been feeling tired—who cares about being tired? He had already wasted his previous life lazing around all the time, never working hard enough. Now that he had the chance, he wasn't going to waste it.
The Beast Horde could hit the settlement any time. Before that, he needed to at least reach Star Refined Rank 3 to ensure his chance of survival.
Hmm, the first thing that I need to do is get my hands on a body-refining method.
Although he already had a Star Energy method, just like its name it only helped him gather Star Energy. He needed to learn a body-refining method to truly start walking the path of Star Warriors.
While thinking about all these things, time continued to pass. Instead of sleeping, Lukas sat down cross-legged on his bed, slowly starting to circulate the Night Dipper Star Energy Gathering Method. He still remembered the feeling of meditating last night; it was truly blissful, almost at the same level as sleeping.
Slowly, as he circulated the technique, faint streams of red Star Energy appeared above his head, slowly making their way toward the two stars on the back of his palm.
After meditating for a few minutes, Lukas's eyes sprang open, a disappointed look in them.
"Using this technique to meditate in the day is mostly useless…" he commented while looking at the thin strands of Star Energy floating above his head. Compared to the time when he meditated during the night, the amount of energy he was absorbing was almost ninety percent less. If it was someone else, they might have stopped meditating by now and preferred to sleep.
Lukas, however, shook his head. If it was only ten percent, then so be it.
Something is better than nothing. With that thought in mind, he closed his eyes and meditated again, only opening them when he heard the sound of faint knocking on the door.
"Respected guest, your food is outside. Please come out and collect it."
Hearing "food," Lukas almost instantly salivated. Maybe influenced by his Undead traits he didn't feel hungry at all, seemingly possessing endless stamina.
But even then, he was not going to say no to food.