Endless Leveling Done Right!-Chapter 608: A Storm Is Coming

The moment Alex, Fran, and Dim Dim returned to the camp, a worried Finn immediately rushed to his sister’s side.

"Fran! Are you alright?!" Finn asked. "The Dryads said we were under attack. I wanted to help you, but those two girls who looked like Latifa blocked our way. What’s going on?"

The dwarf noticed that Alex’s clothes were scorched. Since Alex wasn’t that clumsy, Finn knew that this must have been from a battle. Although the potions had healed most of his injuries, they hadn’t removed all traces of the intense fight.

Finn’s gaze mellowed out a bit after realizing Alex had fought to protect his sister, who looked unharmed.

"What happened?" Finn asked Alex. "Where are the enemies?"

Before Alex could even answer, Fran spoke up.

"A man with short black hair appeared," Fran replied. "Alex engaged him in battle. We were supposed to fight together, but I was knocked out first. He protected me during that time."

Finn’s eyes widened in shock after hearing that his sister had been knocked out of the fight just like that. He knew how strong Fran was, so whoever attacked her must be of a higher rank than her!

Of course, Fran didn’t mention that the enemies had not acted like he wanted to hurt her. It seemed like their target had been Alex. As to why the Reverse Alex had decided to fight her boyfriend, Fran also wanted to know.

Unfortunately, Alex also had no idea why those people had appeared in the Shadow Forest.

The young man vaguely remembered Reverse Alex wanting to demonstrate something. If he had intended to show Alex how strong he was, then he had certainly succeeded.

Reverse Alex was strong. Incredibly so.

The moment his attack had clashed with Everguard, Alex instinctively knew that it was an attack that he wouldn’t be able to block so easily.

It had felt like a speeding train ramming into his shield. He hadn’t been surprised when the attack sent him flying.

If Lala hadn’t caught him in time, he might have suffered serious injuries after crashing into the forest floor.

"Where are the enemies now?" Francesca asked.

The other Dryads were also infuriated about the destruction of the forest home.

During the battle, Lulu and Lala had interfered, preventing the Dryads from leaving the camp.

The two Alters had threatened to burn down the forest if the Dryads insisted on assisting Alex and Fran.

Right now, the Dryad Matriarch was in a state of hibernation, busy digesting Tigrath’s body and core. If she succeeded, the chances of her rank increasing were quite high.

As such, she had decided against participating in the battle. As long as she could become stronger, she would be able to help the forest recover even if more than half of it was destroyed.

It might take a few years to restore what was lost, but the forest would once again regain its beauty if she could properly absorb her nemesis’s body and core.

"They are gone," Fran told the angry Dryads. "Dim Dim chased them off."

Dim Dim blinked once, then twice, before averting its gaze. It then started snacking on the potato chips again. Its battle with Reverse Dim Dim hadn’t even really ended in a tie.

But since it understood that Fran needed an excuse to calm everyone down, it decided to remain quiet and just eat some potato chips.

Finn glanced at the little bun, well aware that Dim Dim was a pacifist. He also knew that his sister probably didn’t want him to continue this conversation for the time being.

"... It’s good that both of you are safe." Finn nodded as he decided to stop pursuing the matter.

Francesca and the Dryads also couldn’t sense any hostile creatures within their forest. The invaders had truly left.

"Check the extent of the damages," Francesca ordered. "I’ll stay here to keep watch in case those two girls come back."

The other Dryads nodded and headed to the site of the battles, where the damage would surely be the greatest.

Alex watched them leave. His expression was calm, but his mind was far from peaceful.

The memory of that clash replayed itself inside his head. Even now, he could still vividly remember the overwhelming pressure behind that single strike.

It wasn’t just strength. There was technique behind it. Something refined, controlled, and terrifyingly efficient.

The young man felt like he was fighting... a perfected version of himself.

’Just what the hell are you trying to do?’ Alex thought. ’What do you plan to accomplish by showing yourself to me at this time?’

There was one more thing that bothered him.

Lala’s words before he lost consciousness. Frankly, he didn’t want to believe her.

No. He refused to believe her.

But the demonstration was more than enough to show him what he already knew.

’Rank 5?’ Alex frowned. ’He might even be Rank 6 or Rank 7 when he fought me.’

Alex was only Rank 3. If Reverse Alex had been the same rank as him, he believed that he wouldn’t have lost so easily.

But deep inside, Alex still had doubts. If the young man’s fighting ability was just as good as he had shown him, then the battle might’ve ended the same way even if they had both been Rank 3.

The only difference was that it would have taken Reverse Alex a longer time to defeat the young man.

Alex took a deep breath and forced those thoughts to the back of his mind.

Right now wasn’t the time to dwell on such things.

Fran was standing beside him. Finn was still eyeing him suspiciously.

"... You’re unusually quiet," Finn noted. "That’s not like you."

Alex shrugged. "I’m just tired."

That wasn’t entirely a lie.

The clash with Reverse Alex had drained him more than he wanted to admit. Even though the potions had restored his body, the mental exhaustion still lingered.

And the fact that he had lost after being hit once troubled him more than he thought it would.

Fran lightly squeezed his hand. "Let’s sit down for a bit. You should rest."

Alex nodded. "Yeah."

The two of them moved to a nearby log while Finn stood nearby, keeping watch over the surroundings.

Dim Dim hopped onto Alex’s right shoulder and continued munching on its potato chips.

Crunch.

Alex glanced sideways at the little bun.

"You really like those things, huh?"

"Dim!"

The Dim Sum God nodded seriously before offering the bag of chips to Alex.

Alex chuckled and took a few chips. When he bit into one of them, the crunchy texture and spicy flavor felt like home, a place where he had once been before ending up in Arcana.

"Thanks." Alex smiled faintly.

"Dim!" Dim Dim nodded and offered Fran some potato chips, too.

Fran was very curious what sort of food would make Alex and Dim Dim overlook the fact that it had come from their enemy. To her surprise, she also found the chips to her liking.

The forest breeze gently rustled the leaves above them, creating a calm atmosphere that felt completely different from the chaos earlier.

It almost felt like it was the calm before a storm.

A storm was indeed coming, but not in the way that Alex and Dim Dim expected.