Things were going well.
That scared me a little.
Justia had made the first attack, taking out the first slime that we saw with her staff. After that, she followed Fray and Ether around, helping them out.
We’d expanded our range just a bit. After some experimenting, We’d figured out how far away from each other we could be and still share experience. The nameplate on my crystal band would gray out if someone was too far from the group, which made it pretty easy to figure out.
With a circle the diameter of max distance, we each took a quarter of it and kept moving, since the four groups were able to beat the slimes by ourselves. We weren’t running into slimes any faster, but we had a fourth hunting party, which meant we were going to have more by the end of the day.
We’d reached the second floor a little before six, and after a little more than three hours of farming, we all saw the shining light announcing that Rix had hit level three.
“Congratulations!” I called from where I was.
“Really?” Aelin ran over to the redhead.
“You must be really strong!” Fray sounded happy, but she looked disappointed. "Is everyone else going to level up soon too?”
“Rix is an outlier." Ether took the green woman’s hands. "The rest of us are a ways off from hitting level three. Rix got there fast because she farmed on the third floor alone.”
“Let’s get back to it!” Aelin shouted as she ran back towards her farming zone.
We worked diligently for another three hours when we stopped for lunch. It was just ration bars and water, but it was food and a chance to catch our breath.
“How many have you gotten?” Aelin sat on a rock, a big smile on her face.
I looked at my crystal band. It was so much easier than counting them one by one. “Sixty three.”
“You're really slacking, because I got Seventy one!” The blonde turned to Rix. "I bet you didn’t get one more than me this time!”
“Two.” Rix dusted off her hands as she finished her ration bar.
“You got seventy-three?” Aelin ran over to see for herself. "How?”
I turned away from the enthusiastic blonde to see how the others were doing. I hadn’t had a chance to ask Ether about how the conversation had gone, but it seemed it went okay. Fray blushed as I turned her way. She was sitting in between Justia and Ether, who was sitting beside me, so I was going to have to wait a little longer for that information.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“How’s everyone holding up?”
“These slimes aren’t too hard to tank.” Ether rubbed her right arm. " We’ve learned that Fray needs them occupied in order to break the cores. Sometimes it takes a few swings, but she’s doing pretty good for this being the second floor.”
“That’s great!” I looked at Fray, who promptly looked at her feet. "How many did you get?”
The brunette mumbled something that I couldn’t hear.
I looked at Ether. "What?”
Ether scooted over and picked up Fray’s head and pointed her face at me. "You have to look at him when you talk or he can’t hear you. Atlas won’t bite.” She got close to the brunette’s ear. "Until you want him to.”
“Ether!” I felt my face get as red as Frays’. “We’re trying to help her not scare her away.”
Ether gave me an innocent look.
“Forty three.” Fray quickly got the number out.
Ether let go of her head and rubbed her back. "See? You’re okay.”
Fray nodded, but didn’t say anything.
“Forty-three is better than half!” I tried to congratulate her. I looked down at my crystal band and pulled up her profile, then scooted closer so she could see. “You’re almost to level two, see?”
Fray Harror - Level 1
Age: 18, Hair: Brown, Eye color: Brown
Skin: Green, Blood: Red, Height: 5’2”
96.2 Exp
Hitter
10 Power 6 Defense 4 Speed
4 Magic 8 Recovery 3 Aura
Skill:
Passive:
“I’m almost level two?” She reached out and grabbed my arm so she could see better, then dropped it quickly and pulled her hand back. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” I offered her my arm. "There’s not much else to see, though.”
Fray tried to push on the display over my arm, but her fingers went through the image.
“It’s keyed to the wearer.” I tried to smile as I talked to her. "If you had any abilities, they’d show up like this.” I backed out of her display and touched mine.
Atlas Zeb - Level 2
Age: 18, Hair: White, Eye color: Green
Skin: White, Blood: Black, Height: 6’
170.7 Exp
Caster
8 Power 6 Defense 6 Speed
12 Magic 3 Recovery 3 Aura
Stat Points: 0
Skill: Dash, Pebble Shot, Bind, Siphon, Fire Shot
Passive:
I touched on my nameplate, but nothing changed.
“Maybe once we get better crystal bands we’ll be able to do more. Right now, all these things can do is store items and access the party menu."
She nodded slowly. "Am I going to get one of those?”
“Eventually.” I tried to think about how to answer. "The Temple hands out ones that can spend your stat points after you reach level ten.” I laughed. "We got ours early because Trent didn’t want to be bothered with having to carry our gear for us.”
“Oh.” Fray looked at Ether, who was storing her gear.
“Come on!” Aelin marched over to us and helped Fray to her feet. "Back at it! We’ve got a lot of ground to cover!” The blonde looked at me. "We’re all leveling up today!”
I shook my head as I went back to my zone. This was going to be a long day.