Beth left the room with Sabs a bit later in the morning, leaving Blood to stew in her mild hangover alone. While Sabs went out to fight and work on her level a bit, Beth returned to the forge to work on her smithing. She knew that only through a ton of hard work and practice could she slowly climb the ranks with a crafting skill, as they were honestly even more demanding than a weaponskill, and she wanted to put as much dedication and time in as she could afford. She had some goals outlined for the immediate future, and she had some more vague outlines of where she wanted to go long-term, including advancing as far as she possibly could, and crafting was one aspect that would help her achieve those goals.
They were only under a mild time crunch to clear their current objective, and they were under no time crunch to get their second remaining short-term goal done. Beth was pretty sure someone like the Lord of Traversal, both incredibly powerful and, apparently, fully immortal, wouldn't be sitting around tapping his feet for someone who had stumbled upon one of his random invitations to pop up. Still, it represented a massive opportunity for them; even if it didn't get them the kinds of experience and rewards that the Trial of Celestial Awakening had gotten, it would still be an immensely valuable experience. That, and this experience was far more likely to build valuable connections for them, especially with enormously powerful individual and factions. That was also sort of one of the whole points of being part of the White Hall of the CRA; being an elite powerhouse who didn't necessarily need a big team to do things, and a sub-aspect of being such a singular elite was having valuable contacts one could use for various exchanges or mutually beneficial scenarios.
Beth spent the whole day forging, retiring late in the evening, finding Sabs sitting on top of Blood on the couch, the wolf sprawled out over the whole piece of furniture and snoring idly. Sabs was planted on top of the lupine woman's thick thighs, watching some kind of strange program on the TV, something about a group of nobles or some such fighting off threats in the Milky Way. Beth paused for a moment before entering the bathroom to watch a second of the show, vaguely recognizing the group from somewhere, maybe an advert she had seen at some point?
She shook her head and entered the bathroom, thoroughly washing herself and drying off before returning to the living room, passing through to the kitchen to grab some grub. Afterwards, she settled down with Sabs, lifting Blood's feet up to sit under her legs, letting her lower legs flop down onto Beth’s lap. They watched some more of the wallscreen programs before cleaning up and heading for bed, Sabs and Beth taking it a bit easy that night before passing out.
The next day was cold and clear, with a light snow falling when Beth and Blood eventually made it outside, though that didn't bother them. If the snow wasn't enhanced with mana, it was nothing their END and resistances couldn't just entirely shrug off. They quickly made their way to their grinding spot, Beth tucking them back in the little cleft they had found earlier. She was glad that it seemed the overall level of beasts in the wild still wasn't particularly bad yet, at least, in comparison to her and Blood. There were now beasts scattered here and there just wandering around that were over level one hundred, but they still constituted a small percentage of the total beasts, with plenty being under that level, even down to the single digits in some places.
The level of mana overall was still increasing across the planet, and that was mostly expressed in dungeons and places of power, many of which were still increasing in strength or even popping up fresh and growing over time. She was trying to keep an eye on the overall situation to assess just how dangerous things were getting and possibly would get on her home planet, understanding that it would greatly affect those around her, as well as be a place she could possibly use to level and gather resources in the future where she might have a much easier time versus other worlds.
It was more about resources, she thought, versus money or experience. She and Blood, and anyone else she wanted to include, could farm experience and even money easily enough with her power. However, they couldn't really collect many resources with said power; beasts they killed they could harvest, which was nice, but a core of the adventuring life was gathering herbs, ores, magical artifacts, strange relics, and mysterious items that one might spend centuries studying. None of that dropped in her gate; not yet, at any rate, and there was no indication that that would be changing at any point, soon or in the far future. Understanding how Earth was developing and what they could expect from the planet would be key to their long-term growth.
That was for the future, figuratively and literally, and Beth opened the portal and ushered Blood inside. They moved out to a further area, hunting enemies well above them in level to speed up their progression even more, starting their many weeks long grind. They once again were spending twenty weeks at it, pushing as hard as they possibly could, fighting sixteen to eighteen hours a day. All that battle was certainly paying off, though, considering how their levels soared.
They took a break after two objective weeks of fighting, returning to the Hall to rest and check in with everyone before they were back out to train again. Beth was quite surprised with their progress, considering how hard they had pushed themselves the first time to two hundred and how long the later levels took. This time, they were leveling at a more rapid pace, and they would likely get to their goal just within this rotation. Beth had to say, it would be nice to move on, as even she was getting a bit tired of the endless grind, though the huge amount of money they were making from the endless farming was setting them up quite nicely to be fine for some time, depending on if they found any armor or weapons that they felt they just had to buy.
Another two weeks had gotten them to their goal, and it was time for their last quick break before they actually tackled the dungeon. Beth also wanted to quickly check with Baelvyr about a few things, but none of them were super high on her priority list for now. They returned in the middle of the night, washing up and having Beth slide into bed with Sabs without disturbing the smaller girl. It was a pleasant way to wake up for her the next morning, though Sabs acted a bit cross that Beth hadn't woken her to let her know she was back.
The first thing Beth did that morning was start a load of laundry before heading to the shop and buying some supplies from Jaq, replenishing their stock of ration bars and other comestibles. She made a quick stop up with Tazeen to check the status of the dungeon, learning that they were still fine, though Navere would have to do another clear soon. A day or two wouldn't matter, so she and Blood took that day and the next to relax and get themselves fully prepped for what could be a very long dive, depending on if they had to "cheat" and level up more after entering the dungeon. And speaking of leveling, Beth checked where they had gotten to before finalizing their plans.
Name
Elizabeth Anne Bell
Class
Brawler
Level
192[1]
Strength
640
Dexterity
330
Endurance
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302
Intelligence
60
Wisdom
60
Free Points
0
Titles
Silver Flame Empress' Inheritor
Skills
Acid Resistance Copper[9]
Ancient World Gate[2]
Beastly Body Silver[9]
Blacksmithing Journeyman[0]
Celestial Annihilation Silver[9]
Crush Silver[9]
Earth Resistance Copper[8]
Flame Resistance Copper[9]
Focused Meditation Silver[1]
FrostFlame Eye Silver[7]
Ice Resistance Copper[9]
Indomitable Heart Silver[6]
Lightning Resistance Copper[9]
Lordly Reconstruction Silver[9]
Monstrous Blow Silver[6]
Pain Tolerance Silver[9]
Spatial Step Copper[9]
Swift Silver[9]
Swords Journeyman[9]
Toxic Resistance Silver[3]
Unarmed Journeyman[9]
Wealth
1d 81p 90g 1s 33c
Emblems
CRA Silver Badge (150CP)
Bonds
Blood
Name
Blood
Race
Red Wolf Queen
Level
192[1]
Strength
340
Dexterity
640
Endurance
290
Intelligence
60
Wisdom
60
Free Points
0
Titles
-
Skills
Acid Resistance Copper[3]
Blood Queen's Claws Silver[9]
Earth Resistance Copper[6]
Eyes of Hallowed Truth Silver[4]
Flame Resistance Copper[8]
Ice Resistance Copper[8]
Leatherworking Apprentice[7]
Lightning Resistance Copper[8]
Meditation Copper[9]
Pain Tolerance Silver[7]
Regeneration Copper[9]
Rending Bite Copper[9]
Spatial Step Copper[9]
Swift Silver[9]
Toxic Resistance Silver[1]
Unarmed Journeyman[6]
Wealth
1d 40p 5g 13s 66c
Emblem
CRA Copper Badge (100CP)
They decided to head out the next day, moving towards the dungeon right away, having informed Sabs that they might not be back for some time, depending on how things went this time. They covered the distance quite quickly, finding the area where the lizardmen lived to be extremely heavily populated. They definitely had their work cut out for them, considering the mission was culling this dungeon, not just clearing it once. They would likely have to run it a dozen times, including spending time clearing the area around it, before they got it under control. Beth really suspected Tazeen was bending the rules a bit, maybe not for them specifically, but just because there wasn't anybody who could do Gold-rank missions other than the Seniors on the planet right now, so they made what should have been a mission at that level a Silver just so somebody new could take it.
Blood led the way in, starting to clear the area with her claws before Beth joined her, hammering away at the scaly bastards. It took them hours to clear through the area, considering they weren't just making a beeline for the dungeon entrance, and Beth frowned at the numbers present. Of course, the dungeon was a much higher level than what they were used to dealing with, but this was still excessive. It needed cleared, and it needed cleared absolutely immediately.
Fighting through the area, crushing whatever contested them, they arrived at the same hundred-foot-long hallway they had been at so many months (really years) ago. Moving into the chamber with the gate, Beth adjusted her gear as Blood sniffed about, trying to find anything unusual about what they were seeing. There wasn't anything to find, aside from the portal into the dungeon, and Blood returned to Beth's side before leading the way, taking the first step through the portal-way with Beth right on her heels.
Beth looked around in wonder as they emerged into the dungeon, the brief sense of disorientation passing as they stepped forward and scanned the area. She saw they were standing on a small ledge near the top of a sheer drop and, spread out before them to the horizon, was a massive city. Massive in terms of area covered, and in terms of the towering, opulent buildings in the distance, in what she assumed was the city center.
"This is…even bigger than I expected," she said quietly, Blood just grunting in agreement.
"I'll scout," the wolf said after a moment, dashing down the cliff towards the ground with no fear. Heights didn't mean much to them anymore, and climbing was quite easy for the tall lupine woman.
Beth waited a dozen minutes or so on the ledge, simply marveling at the breadth and complexity of the city from just outside its perimeter. The sun was a quarter of the way across the sky in what seemed to be the east, and climbing at a very slow pace toward its zenith. She watched as a tepid wind blew through the city streets, stirring up dust and dirt as it caused awnings of a dull red or cobalt blue to flap and snap. She could see lizardmen scattered everywhere, hundreds of them visible from her vantage point to her enhanced eyes. They didn't necessarily need to clear all of them to clear the dungeon, but the more they killed, the more draining it would be for each reset of the dungeon to fully replenish a new instance.
Blood messaged her after another few minutes, Beth leaping down to slam into a street that dead-ended at the hill she had been atop. The wolf said, "I've scouted a few dozen blocks. There are beasts everywhere here, and they're packed even more tightly in the buildings. Any scrap we start will turn into a massive brawl almost instantly."
"Come back," Beth said calmly. "We'll start the party in the outskirts."
Blood popped up beside her a minute later, the wolf appearing as if from thin air, but Beth had been able to sense her approach for a handful of seconds. She gestured down the street, and Blood led the way to the first of the lizardmen, engaging with it as soon as she was close enough. Beth moved forward more slowly behind her, double-checking that no other beasts would leap into the fight, though they had been sure they had identified a lone enemy to engage.
The beast was level two-ten, the minimum for the dungeon, and it proved a tough and resilient opponent. So much so that Blood struggled, even after more than a full minute, to land a fatal blow. She had dealt a decent bit of damage, but it wasn't enough to approach lethal wounds, and she simply couldn't injure it fast enough or severely enough to bring it down in what they would consider a reasonable amount of time. The combination of the beast's tough scales along with the fact it was wearing rudimentary armor really slowed her down, with what would have been long, deep cuts from her claws winding up as little more than scratches.
Beth continued to stand back and watch, surveying the area as Blood fought with the beast to the best of her ability. Nor did the lupine woman ask for help, focusing on the enemy in front of her, seeking ways to injure it more easily and quickly. As with many things, there weren't any easy ways or cheat codes, simply the necessity of hard work, attacking over and over again while avoiding the beast's straightforward spear thrusts and claw swipes.
The lizardmen didn't really have true intelligence, and it was always weird for Beth to see enemies that were considered beasts wield weapons, but they were somehow able to competently fight with a blade or bow or spear without having the capacity for higher reasoning. It made her think there was even more to wielding weapons, at least at the lower levels, that was instinctual compared to what she had previously believed. She pondered on this as Blood slowly and methodically ripped the beast apart, glancing around from time to time to make sure the noise of Blood's battle didn't attract any unwelcome tagalongs.