"Rynn! Get its legs so it can't jump away!" instructed Masa as he faced the huge grasshopper.

"On it!" I ran around it towards its hind legs.

"Daryl and Crystie, flank it and wait till I give the signal to strike. It won't try to run unless it feels threatened."

"Right!"

"Okay."

The siblings kept their weapons low as they moved towards the left and right respectively. Crystie was wielding Deux, since her San would neutralise any effect Chamisha inflicted. So far, the normally talkative sword hadn't spoken a single word, but I had informed her how it worked in advance so she wouldn't be surprised.

Everything had been going pretty well so far. We had hunted all the snails we needed already, and were now focusing on the more difficult Hoppers. They were faster, obviously, and had a tendency to jump away when in danger. Being about three metres in length, they could leap as high as five times their length and more than thrice that distance when they used their wings to fly. We tried several methods to catch them, but the most effective way was to surround them and cut their hind legs first. Eins worked brilliantly for that, so that duty fell to me.

As Masa distracted the grasshopper, I circled around to the back and then leapt forward to slice at the thinner portion of its left hind leg. The Hopper flinched and attempted to jump when it felt its limb give way, but only managed to fall on its side. Daryl and Crystie leapt into the fray and soon took it down. The defeated insect disappeared in a puff of black smoke.

"All right! I managed to get that one!" exclaimed Crystie, pumping her fist into the air.

"Good for you!" I gave her a high five.

"I think Deux makes all the difference," noted Masa. "It cut most of the Hopper's HP before Daryl dealt the final blow."

"Huh?" I stared at Masa. "You can see a HP bar now?"

"Yes, ever since my Inspect reached Level 4," he said with a nod. "But only on enemies."

"Cool! I'm going to work on inspecting everyone and everything from now on," declared Daryl. "A HP bar is going to be so much more convenient."

I nodded in agreement. "Well, that makes thirty-five Hoppers. Five more to go. Two for Daryl, two for Crystie and one for me."

"Levelling with you guys is so much safer and efficient," muttered Crystie. "Of course, I'd rather not have to level at all if I could help it."

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"Why not consider working for the guild then?" suggested Masa as we started searching for our next target.

"Is that even an option?" laughed Daryl. "With Levels and such, we're obviously meant to be adventurers, right?"

"Yeah, but it's not like we don't have a choice," I added. "You could always ask the guild staff to see if it's possible."

Crystie looked thoughtful. "You've got a point. I'll go ask once we finish this quest."

"I've got a feeling you're going to be popular since you have San too," I said with a chuckle.

We finished our jobs soon after that and headed back to town, exterminating a few more pests on the way. For some reason, we encountered more monsters while we were going back than when we were actually looking for them, but well, that was how things usually happened. There was never a taxi around when you needed one and tons when you didn't. We simply took the chance to rack up kills for future requests. Our teamwork had also improved now that we spent time fighting together, and the Australian siblings had levelled up quite a bit. As had Masa and I. I had finally broken through to Level 40, and while he was still ahead at 47, at least the gap between us had lessened.

Even though we tried to be careful, we still ended up with cuts and scrapes, which gave me a change to practice my Healing. I didn't unlock any new aspects of my Light affinity, but I did get the Stealth Skill because I was the one sneaking behind the target to incapacitate it. Unlike Inspect, this one did not come with a Level so I wasn't sure how it functioned. I certainly didn't notice much of a difference when we were hunting.

Of all of us, Crystie was the one who managed to unlock the most Skills. We encouraged her to use Inspect since it would come in useful whether she managed to get a job at the guild or not. Her swordsmanship rose simply because we were hunting so much, and she already had a good sense of direction in the first place, so she acquired Map 1 easily. The rest of us were actually a little envious how easily she got these three Skills.

Whenever we stopped for a break, I took out my notepad to jot down changes in our statuses:

Latest Levels:

Rynn: 40

Masa: 47

Daryl: 29

Crystie: 24

New Skills:

Rynn: Stealth

Masa: Inspect 4

Daryl: Swordsmanship 2, Inspect 2

Crystie: Swordsmanship 1, Inspect 1, Map 1

I suspected I was close to levelling up my other Skills as well, but according to Masa, it wasn't that easy. Apparently, getting the Level 1 Skill was peanuts, getting it to Level 2 required more effort, Level 3 more than twice that and Level 4 needed intense observation. He likened it to counting feathers when observing a bird through his binoculars. Daryl and Crystie looked mystified, but I understood what he meant. Only a birder could come up with such a specific and yet convincing example!

Ok, so that meant that looking at everything with Inspect wasn't going to raise its "degree of proficiency" or whatever. I still wanted to be able to see a HP bar, so I decided I was going to have to think outside the box. What could I look at so intently without getting bored? My eyes wandered to the trees around us, the grass and rocks on the ground and then inadvertently to Masa, who was staring into the distance, probably at a bird.

Come to think of it, his hair had grown slightly longer since we first met. It was now almost touching his eyebrows. Just a bit longer and he could resemble a typical light novel protagonist, but he would probably get it cut before then. What a pity. I did like guys with longer hair. And spectacles, yup, that was a must. I briefly wondered how he would look like with glasses. Maybe like his brother, Taka? Hmm...

"Uh, I hate to interrupt, Rynn, but I think Masa's getting uncomfortable," said Daryl suddenly. "And did you just get Inspect 4?"

Huh. So it actually worked.