Hero or Villain, Both

"Why is there nothing at all?" Nimue couldn't help complaining as we sat around the campfire.

Even after searching for an entire day, we hadn't been able to find a single trace of the evolved monsters.

We had followed the trail, but that led to a dead end.

At this dead end, it seemed like the trail suddenly disappeared without a trace.

With the way that the trail disappeared, it was almost as if the evolved monsters had just spawned out of thin air.

This was what was supposed to happen with the normal monsters since it was the spirits that were creating them all over this forest with their spirit energy.

But still, it would be too early for a monster of this level to appear…

So there was certainly something strange about all of this.

I just patted her on the shoulder before saying, "There's no point in getting worked up over this. We already knew that it was possible that we wouldn't find anything at all, so it's not as if it's strange that we hit a dead end today."

Then looking at the others, I said in a serious voice, "Not to mention, this isn't something that we should get involved with in the first place. Something as serious as this should be handled by the teachers."

The others around the fire slowly nodded in agreement when they heard this before falling silent.

Since I was the one that caused the silence, I added, "You don't have to worry about this, the teachers will take care of it. There's a reason why there's a main camp with the teachers set up for this trip, so we should just leave it to them."

Though I said this, it seemed like they were still thinking about what happened today.

As such, I pulled out a few green shards and said, "Instead of worrying about that, let's think about how to split this."

When these green shards were pulled out, that was when their attention was diverted.

After all, these green shards were different from the ones that we obtained earlier.

These green shards were the ones that had been dropped by the evolved monsters.

These green shards were much bigger and more filled with energy than the ones that we had previously absorbed.

That was just how it was since these monsters were supposed to be evolved versions of the monsters that we fought earlier. They were supposed to be for those that remained in the forest after several days.

Of course those that were able to remain would be those that had a certain level of strength, which was why the monsters would have to grow stronger with them.

Since the monsters grew stronger, it was only natural that they would give better rewards.

As such, the green shards that they dropped gave far more EXP.

The girls could naturally sense the spirit energy that was coming from the green shards, so they knew that these green shards were much stronger than the ones from before.

That was why it seemed like they were hesitant in absorbing them.

"We worked together as a team to save them, so it's only natural that everyone gets a piece of the reward."

Fae's expression became awkward, but I said, "You're a part of the team too, so don't even think about refusing."

Nimue and Rania had been hesitating about taking the green shard for themselves, but they agreed with what I said about Fae.

"But I didn't do anything. I really don't deserve this." Fae still had to say this since it was the truth.

Instead of trying to convince her by saying that it was a joint effort, I said, "We're a team, so it's better if we all become stronger. Next time, you'll be the one saving us."

Of course, this wasn't just for Fae alone.

I also looked at Nimue and Rania when I said this.

They knew what I was implying when I said this, so they also couldn't help looking as awkward as Fae.

But in the end, all three of them chose to accept the green shards that I had split among us.

Luckily there were four shards for the four of us, so it wasn't hard to divide them among us.

Since they accepted my explanation, they absorbed the shards just like before.

Though the looks on their faces…

"Ah, it's so much stronger than before!"

Seeing them like this, it really felt wrong staring at them while they absorbed the shards…

So instead of staring at them, I went to absorb my own shard.

But I found that there was something strange about my stats when I absorbed this shard.

It wasn't just my stats that were increasing, it seemed that all of the stats of all avatars were increasing at the same time. It was as if every avatar was absorbing the energy from the shard when I absorbed it.

This wasn't what happened last time…

"Actually, I did feel something last time."

When most of the others said this, I realized that it was indeed the case.

It was just that the stat increase from last time was so small that we didn't actually notice it.

With this shard, there was far more energy that was being absorbed and it had a greater effect on all of us. As such, it was impossible to miss the stat increase this time.

But to even share the effects of this green shard…

"Am I really that broken?" I couldn't help thinking to myself as I absorbed the shard.

When it was over, it wasn't a small amount that my strength increased by.

Not to mention that this increase was even multiplied by six, counting the main body and the five avatars.

"This really is a broken way to train…" That was the conclusion that I came to when I finished absorbing the shard.

Though it wasn't as if it was a bad thing for us to become stronger.

Strength was never a bad thing in this world.