Another roar shook the forest. Leaves dropped off trees as Lucius, Tres, Olive, and Rai ran toward the beast.

They weren't near it but they could already see it. Massive, black scales broke through the tops of the trees that glinted in the light.

The sound of swords hitting against metal was heard, which confused Lucius.

Are the scales of that thing metal?

Then, they broke into a clearing.

There was madness all around them. The beast was massive; it looked like something straight out of Godzilla. It was over thirty feet tall and ten feet wide. There were black scales lining the beast—each scale was almost the size of Lucius' palm. They seemed indestructible; swords weren't denting it, arrows harmlessly bounced off, and, interestingly enough, the scales seemed to absorb the spells that were directed toward it. Most of the mages gave up and were more focused on healing than attacking.

Lucius drew his katana and pressed a button. The sword began to glow blue and red.

"Let's go," he said and plunged into the battle.

He ran at full speed toward the beast, not stopped for other people. The beast slowly grew in Lucius' vision.

Then, when he was close enough, he jabbed his sword into the hide of the monster. It seemed to be the only weapon in the area that even dented the scales, but it wasn't enough to fully break through the scale. Even with the help of the heated edge, the scales didn't budge.

Lucius rapidly slashed at the area that he dented, slowly making the dent wider and deeper.

At that time, the beast started to realize that there was someone that was actually doing damage to its scales. With another savage roar, it raised its leg and blew Lucius back.

Before he hit the ground, there his body was bathed in a green light that soothed the pain and healed his wound. Swiftly recovering back to his feet, Lucius looked around. Olive was holding out her staff, healing everyone in the area.

Nodding to her, Lucius jumped into battle once again.

This time, he pressed the other button on his sword. The top popped off and Lucius' swung it at the beast. The chain flew up and hit the beast with so much speed and force that Lucius could see that the scale was cracked.

The beast turned again and attempted to hit Lucius again, but he jumped out of the way.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lucius could see how the others were doing. Tres was hammering away at the leg of the beast with his massive claymore, but he didn't seem to be doing anything. Rai was shooting arrows as fast as he could, trying to hit the eye, but the eyes were too high up for arrows.

Lucius used the chain technique and attempted to hit the same scale he cracked, but the beast shifted and it hit a harder scale.

"We can't break through the scales!" Lucius heard someone say.

"It is hopeless!"

"But someone made a crack in one of the scales! Focus your attacks on that scale!"

With another renewed cry, the adventurers surged forward and lashed out at the scale that Lucius created. But even the cracked scale was enough to hold back everyone.

"I got it! I got it! I got--"

A massive, piercing screech filled the air, but it was not from an injury. The beast opened its massive mouth up and there was the sound of thunder. The open mouth of the beast started to glow, and there was a massive bang! as something flew out of the mouth.

Everyone in the area was blasted back. Lucius slammed his back on a rock, but he was still able to get up.

The rest weren't so lucky. Most people were knocked out or screaming in pain. Tres, Olive, and Rai were knocked out in a heap.

The only person left that could fight was Lucius. He wasn't close enough to the beast when it attacked, so he wasn't as injured.

The beast roared again as its massive eye stared directly at Lucius.

"It's just me and you," Lucius said. His hand crept toward his gun in his pocket.

If my gun can't penetrate its armor, then it's over for me. Either I escape, or I die, Lucius grimly thought. But I can't just let the rest of these people die, especially if I have a chance now.

His hand went into his pocket and closed around the gun. He slid the katana into the sheath and looked at the monster.

"Come," he said. Adrenaline filled his body, numbing all the injuries that Lucius had and gave him newfound strength.

The beast roared and raised its leg, but Lucius acted first. He yanked the gun out of his pocket and...

Bang! Bang! Bang! The gun rang out as Lucius fired three shots in succession. One of the scales blew apart as the bullets collided, but it only seemed to annoy the beast. It shifted, obscuring the broken scale.

Lucius kept firing the gun, and soon, the smell of blood invaded the air. The beast screeched as the bullets broke the scales and ripped the skin apart.

Come on... just die! Lucius thought.

Soon, the weakened beast fell over. Blood oozed out of its body, giving Lucius the urge to vomit.

Lucius aimed his last shot at the middle of the beast. He pressed the trigger.

Bang!

And it was over.

Lucius dropped onto the grass and stared up at the sky. An eerie quiet settled over the clearing.

Eventually, Lucius got up and looked at the beast. The blood stopped coming out of it, but the grass was stained extremely red.

Now, how am I going to get this back? Lucius wondered. The scales are amazing, but I just can't chop them off and drag them back.

Suddenly, there were two massive explosions behind him. Lucius turned around and raised his gun.

"Who's there?!" He yelled.

Two figures appeared.

It was Luna and Balos.

"What are you guys doing here?" Lucius asked, lowering his gun.

"We heard the beast all the way from Baylight," Luna explained.

"Uh... how far are we from that?"

"Not far. About ten miles or so," Balos said.

Ten miles!

"So... is it dead?" Luna asked as she approached the beast.

"I'm pretty sure. Can you guys bring it back? It's way too heavy for me," Lucius asked.

Luna heaved up the entire thing alone with her hands.

"Sure. It's not that heavy anyway," she said.

"Are you coming with us?" Balos asked.

"Not yet," Lucius said. "I need to get some things from a shop."

"Alright. Here, take this," Balos said and handed Lucius a blue gem. "It’s a Transportation Gem. It'll send you to Baylight directly. Just break it at your feet."

"Alright. Is this what the Queen of Poris Kingdom uses to get to Baylight?"

Balos nodded. "Yes. That's how she was able to get to us so fast."

"Balos!" Luna said. She was floating up in the air, holding the beast up. "You comin' or nah?"

"Stay safe," Balos said and with one leap, he got up in the air and seemed to find footholds in the thin air.

Lucius waved as they left, then he looked at the adventurers. They were all still unconscious.

I need to get someone to get them back to Trupe City, Lucius thought. He stretched his arms and jogged back to Trupe City.

"How did it go?" The guard asked Lucius.

"Badly," Lucius shook his head. "The beast is dead, but it managed to knock out all of the adventurers before it died. You should send for someone to get them back."

"Well said. I'll do that soon," the guard said. The gate opened up and Lucius went into "SMITHING AND METALS."

"You're back!" A voice sounded out.

"Yup, I am," Lucius said. The store clerk brought out the items Lucius asked her to keep.

"Did you manage to bring it down?" She asked.

"Yeah, but it wasn't fun or easy. It managed to knock out everyone but me before it died."

"That’s rough."

"Mhmm. Well, I need to go. See ya!" Lucius said and left the store.

I need to leave before they discover that the entire beast is gone, Lucius thought. He quickly made his way out of the gates, and as soon as he was out of sight, he threw the Transportation Gem at his feet.

His body was engulfed in a blue light, and Lucius couldn't breathe or move at all. His body felt like he was about to pop, but then, his vision cleared up.

He was standing back in the middle of Baylight. In front of him lay the Grade B beast; there were a lot of Royal Slimes and wolf-men alike crowding around the beast, gawking at it.

"Stand aside," Lucius heard the thunderous voice of Balos. Reluctantly, the group parted.

Lucius walked up to the beast alongside Balos and Luna.

"The scales are extremely hard and won't break," Lucius said. "Since there is going to be an attack soon, I was thinking about lining the walls with them to double-up on strength."

"That’s a good idea," Balos said. "This beast has so many scales that lining the walls wouldn't take even half of what we have to work with."

"Well, I'm leaving that to you guys right now. I need to do more building in my workshop," Lucius said and walked to his workshop.

He dropped the Brightmetal in the metal tub and cranked the generator on. He also threw in a Fire Crystal to speed up the melting process.

Once the Brightmetal was melted, Lucius finished his second gun. He created a ton more bullets and loaded it up in magazines, then created holsters for the two guns. He kept the magazines on his belt.

Now, the only complication for my sniper and the handguns is that they don’t have scopes. I have to eyeball the shooting most of the time. That’s fine for the small guns, but the snipers are supposed to be accurate, Lucius thought.

Back in the real world, he hopped on his computer and looked at "DIY magnifying glass."

Most of the searches required water; actually, Lucius couldn't find a magnifying glass that didn't use water.

Even though he had water, it was super impracticable. It didn't magnify as much as Lucius wanted, and it was uneven and tended to move.

So water was out of the question. But after a little more research, Lucius found that he could use the concept of water.

Water magnifies objects because the shape of a transparent dome actually bends light rays. It pulls it closer to your eye and therefore creates the magnified image.

Lucius had clear things: glass. He figured that he could use glass and magnify things the same way water did.

(AN: I'm not sure about the science about this part. Feel free to correct me.)

So he created a small dome out of wood about two times the size as a contact lens. Then, he gathered sand and melted it.

He cast the molten glass and created a glass dome. When he looked through it, it made things a little larger.

But it wasn't enough. Again, with the power of the internet, he found that stacking magnifying glasses can increase the magnification. So Lucius created three more domes of glass and stacked them.

The result was a working magnifying glass. Lucius could see things that were almost one hundred feet away. Lucius used sap to attach it to the top of his sniper.

Even though it wouldn't provide the accuracy and precision a real scope would have, it was a lot better than trying to eyeball something. Lucius put it on the sniper.

After putting his creation aside, Lucius stepped back out.

The Grade B monster changed. Scales have been carefully removed off, revealing the dark skin underneath. The black scales have been stacked up in ten piles; all of the piles were taller than Lucius.

"How goes the work?" Lucius asked Luna, who was currently taking two of the stacks of scales outside of the walls.

"Good. The wolf-people and the Royal Slimes are working together quite nicely," she said. When they arrived outside of the walls, Lucius saw Balos leading a team of people along the walls, covering them with scales.

"We did some testing with the scales earlier," Luna said. "It's a wonder how you managed to even crack these things. I can crack them no problem, but for you..." Luna shook her head in amazement. "The power of that gun is amazing!"

"Well, it does travel at almost two-thousand feet a second," Lucius said. "The sword itself was able to do some damage."

"Well, is there anything I can do to help?" Lucius said, but Luna shook her head.

"Not really. Most of the work is too hard for just a human," Luna explained. "The scales will rip your hand open if you're not careful, and if you fall off the wall, you might die."

"Oh. Okay," Lucius said. He walked away and went to his underground garden.

The dampness of the soil indicated that his dam contraction worked. But that wasn't the thing that surprised Lucius.

His strawberry plants were already huge and blooming after one day. Instead of the normal small, unfertilized strawberries, these strawberries were massive. Some of the biggest were about the size of an apple, while the smallest were about the size of the big strawberries on Earth.

Amazing! Only after a few days, the plants are completely grown! How different is the soil here compared to the one on Earth? Lucius wondered. I want to do some tests, but I don’t have the equipment. Maybe I could make something for later?

Lucius filed the information away and picked the strawberries. He created a thin, wood box with a loose lid and filled it, then created a few more and also filled those with strawberries.

Hm... I want to store these, but I can't. I need to make something like a fridge...

Lucius popped a strawberry in his mouth. It was sweet and refreshing, and the tinge of tartness made it the perfect fruit.

Refreshed, Lucius brought the containers out and went into the village, where the work was just finishing up. The meat of the Grade B beast was being cut up and salted to preserve them, and the scales were being carried away and stored in the storage rooms that was made.

Lucius went over to where Balos and Luna were.

"Hey, guys!" Lucius said. "Try this out," he said and handed both Luna and Balos a strawberry. The looked at it quizzically.

"What's this?" Balos said.

"It's a fruit. Try it," Lucius urged. They took a bite of the strawberries and Lucius could instantly see the surprise and ecstasy on their face.

"Amazing!" Luna said. "I've never had something like this before! What is it?"

"I would also like to know," Balos said. He looked like he wanted to break his formal demeanor, but he nonetheless held it on.

"It's called a strawberry," Lucius explained. "It is something from my world and I just got it to grow here."

Luna frowned. "How did you get it?"

"Remember the backpack that showed up?" Lucius asked. Luna nodded. "It's my link to the other world. I don't just exist in this world."

Both Luna and Balos looked confused. "What?" They both said simultaneously.

"I exist in both worlds at the same time," Lucius said.

"How?!" Balos asked. His demeanor seemed to crumble. Lucius laughed a little bit at his sudden outburst, then continued.

"Do you know what a Sear Plant* is?" Lucius asked.

(AN: If you don't remember what a Sear Plant is, it is the plant that got absorbed into Lucius and linked him to Zenos.)

Balos nodded. Lucius continued, "When I first came to this world, it was in a dream. I found a Sear Plant, and when I touched it, it went into my body. And when I woke up, I still could feel the flower in my body, and soon, I figured out that I could access this world even though my body was still in the other world."

Luna frowned again. "But isn't that hard to do? Like, do you have to perform actions in both worlds at the same time?"

Lucius nodded. "Yeah, but I can multitask really well. So it isn't hard, especially if I dedicate more of my attention to this world."

"Now, back to the strawberries," Lucius said. "The day after Luna and I built the house, I woke up to find the backpack in my room. I have no idea why or how it got there, but I found that it was my physical link to the other world. I used that to bring the strawberries here."

"Amazing..." Balos said. His demeanor seemed to recover. "What do you plan on doing with these?"

Lucius grinned. "For one, I'm going to give every wolf-family a bunch of these, and, I'm going to sell this to Poris Kingdom. Not just this; I have more fruits."

Balos nodded. "That's a great idea. At the moment, we have nothing special to trade besides your strange technology, but we all know you aren't selling those. With those fruits, you could turn this town into a kingdom fairly quickly."

"I'm not planning to turn this town into something big, but yeah. It'll help a lot," Lucius said. "Well, now that I learned that this was a success, I'm going to start planting the other plants."

"Good luck, and make sure you share them with us!" Luna said, still relishing the strawberries.