A night where only the moonlight shines upon the serene marsh, each one of us hanged a candle lantern on our waist to help us fight the snakes we have been killing for at least an hour already.

Every member of our party has already levelled up at least twice which was a feat at this point of the game. It is truly a blessing in disguise how we went in this location sooner than expected.

We were able to last this long because our tank was able to sustain through the whole hunting season with the help of his poison resistance levelling up to level 3. Being bitten by the Hydrophis every second have helped it develop.

Also, the Poison Resistance skillbook seems to be common in this part of the Clouded Marsh. Michelle and ChickB who sometimes tanks the damage have already learnt one.

Since we do not need to deal with the annoying poison anymore, every fight was basically the same. Let Fifty Silver do the tanking while we finish them. We made it more complicated at first, but their newly learned passive skill really has helped us over time.

The only thing I can complain about was the drop rate of these snakes. Except for those skillbooks I just mentioned, there was basically no equipment that was well suited for me which was terrible considering an accessory item even dropped.

A Rare grade ring named [Stonemason's Ring] was dropped from one of the Hydrophis at the twelfth group we killed. It is a ring well suited for heavily armoured people like Michelle, ChickB, and Fifty Silver that is why the three of them rolled for it.

I may be a horrible person for saying this, but I am happy that Michelle was the one who was lucky enough to get it. It was better to have a piece of good equipment in the hands of my close friends even though I do not feel any bad intention in both of them.

It was also at this moment I knew Michelle also have a pendant equipped. That means she currently has two accessories-- What luck.

"Check the rankings! We rose by fifty ranks in Country rankings. Your name is even listed, Cherry. But only in the city one. If we continue at our pace, I and Aria might become top 100 in city ranking before the end of the day."

"That would be impossible. The Hydrophis is already giving less experience at our levels compared to the Gharials when we first fought them."

I pour cold water on the excited Aria who was spouting the impossible. However, I am glad she was excited about getting stronger and seeing herself among the names of the top people. I will not say the same with me and Michelle who is simply happy to join along.

"We can continue to hunt here until we level up one more time. Any more and it would be less productive."

"So we're moving to the next area, Leader?"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Yes. Only until me and Michelle become 25."

Although we have time to talk within ourselves, we did not stop looking for the next target. This just to show how to relax we are already from fighting these snakes. When ChickB, who was assigned to lure them this time returned, there was a nest of seven Hydrophis immediately waiting for us to kill it.

"Two more groups like these and I should level up."

"Three more for me."

"If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to leave before we need to burn another candle lantern."

"Did you really have to say that Cherry? Now that you said it, I feel something will go wrong."

"Stop worrying for nothing and bring your gigantic sword over here. The sooner we level up, the lesser the problem."

Battling against Seven Hydrophis was not as difficult now that we are accustomed to their patterns. Everyone is also used in fighting in this rough environment. Fifty Silver could dodge their attacks if he wanted to, but it would be difficult to hit the snakes if they are not stuck on his armour.

It was the usual regime, and we were easily killing them. Although I am certain that we could have left a while ago if we were able to dish the peak damage our party is capable of.

I noticed during these past hours, the person who was least skilled in their weapon was ChickB. As weapon advantages go, he should be able to dish out the second-highest damage among our party on situations like these but there were no signs that he was even close in dealing that.

If it was not for Fifty Silver busy fending off snakes on himself, he can easily accumulate more damage than ChickB at the same time.

His weapon quality was not the reason. The problem might be his amateurish way of handling the spear. I tried asking Aria about this, but she never noticed it and thought he was quite decent with it. In fact, they just assume he was good because he was better compared to the randoms they picked up.

I might not have any experience with a spear, but I saw a few videos showcasing the highlights of every weapon during my spare time. I can clearly tell his movements are awkward even with that little source material.

Since we have to catch our breath after killing the group, I asked ChickB about this.

"I'm doing a bad job?"

"It's not that you're doing a bad job. You are doing fine. It's just that you can do more than what you have been doing. Have you seen other people use the spear?"

"Some of my friends are using it and I am proud to say that I am the best among them."

"Don't be proud about it… Sorry, I do not mean it that way. What I am saying is you can improve more if you practice more. That is if you want it and have the time."

He was shocked by my revelation which I must say should be not shocking considering many players usually tries to copy and learn moves they just read or watched online. Good thing this does not dampen his spirit.

"I want to become strong like Big Sister."

"Well, I don't really have the right to teach you the spear and I don't know anybody. I can only suggest helping yourselves through videos. There's a lot of good tutorials teaching the basic fundamentals and some advance techniques if you are already there. I will send you the links of these videos. Study it if you have time."

"Ooo- Geh! 40 minutes long per video."

"Stop complaining. That's already little compared to the rest."

"Can this really help me?"

"Of course it would. Rather than memorizing it, familiarize whatever is in it. It's a good stepping-stone to improve."

He was doubtful over my words, yet I was able to convince him. I do not expect him to be as good as the people in these videos overnight.

Firstly, I just want him to understand that this game is not all about high-quality gears like I see him taking New World as. The best players do not depend on their weapons alone.

However, I cannot force him to walk this path if he does not want to. It is still up to him if he wants to continue being a member of our party. If he does not improve, I am certain that Aria would be the first to suggest in removing him.