Goldmi stared at the mana stone for a moment, finding it a little brighter now, though she wasn’t sure. After all, they had only defeated one enemy. She put it in a pocket and focused on reviewing what she had gained by leveling up, while the lynx was watching the delicious cake that was being made.

About spells, in 10, she had gotten a passive one, which was common in many classes. It was Fraternize, the knowledge and ability to apply one’s spells to allies, such as Light Feet. It was at 10, as it leveled up just like that.

At 11, she unlocked Wind Arrow, which, like Ethereal Arrow, creates an arrow out of thin air. This is a faster arrow, and its damage was slashing instead of the usual piercing. Since she had used it regularly, it was at 10.

When she saw the next one, Rough Arrow, she remembered that it was a name that Eldi regarded as “not very epic”, so she couldn’t help but smile at the memory of the past. It makes the arrows, instead of piercing, hit like a stone, as if they didn’t end in an arrowhead. It can only be applied to physical arrows, and was her primary source of bludgeoning damage. She had it at 10, since she had to use it when facing enemies vulnerable to that type of damage.

Glowing Touch also made her smile, remembering Gjaki this time. It produces a luminous effect when hitting the weapon that has been imbued with the spell, so it can dazzle the enemy. She hadn’t used it much, but sometimes her friend had asked her to imbue several arrows with that spell, so creating a light effect that could be singularly beautiful.

She especially remembered the scene in some caves with a small underground lake, and many stalactites and stalagmites shining, and in which some rainbows had even been created. And she blushed when remembering a time when she did the same with Elendnas. For a moment, the light created a very intimate, and even romantic atmosphere. She couldn’t help but wonder if it had been real.

And, at 14, a wind passive that doubled that element’s spell effectiveness.

As for skills, the first was Camouflage, which allows oneself to blend in with the surroundings, and be practically invisible while keeping still. It has an energy cost per second, and her favorite use in the game was to secretly wait for her companions, especially if they weren’t expecting her and she could catch them by surprise. It was at 8.

Fleeting Dagger is a somewhat risky skill, as it throws the dagger with great precision towards the enemy, but it is lost until picked. She had it at 7.

Sword Thrust is also a risky skill. It means to launch a swift and fierce attack with the sword, aiming to pierce deep into the enemy, but it also leaves oneself defenseless. It works very well in sync with the previous skill, since it can hurt and distract the enemy for a moment, an instant that facilitates the use of Sword Thrust. Like the previous one, she had it at 7, because she had only used them in combination.

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At 13, Visual Link, which allowed her to share her vision with her sister.

In 14, she had recovered Nature Wall, which creates a thick wall of roots and branches, blocking the way. It has quite a few advantages over the Rock Wall that Eldi could cast, such as longer duration, or being able to dissolve it at any time, but it has the disadvantage that its effectiveness is linked to the density of the surrounding vegetation. It was at 4, since she had not used it very often, nor had she bothered to level it up.

As for the lynx, she now had Jump at her disposal, which allowed her exactly what the name says. Although it was something she could already do, with the skill, the distance and height that can be achieved are much larger. She could even have jumped over the barrier of corrupted beings that they had dodged days ago, at least if she was alone, without a rider.

The feline didn’t quite understand why cakes were only made for celebrations. If it were up to her, they would be made every day, since she found them delicious, as the remnants of cream on her snout and whiskers could attest.

“Pffffffffttt. Ha, ha, ha, ha!” Goldmi finally gave up, as she couldn’t control herself anymore.

The elf was clutching her belly with one hand, hitting the ground with the other, and shedding tears. Her sister’s gluttonous appearance was something she couldn’t resist.

The lynx, on the other hand, didn’t flinch at the laughter of the elf, she just licked around, making her long tongue seize every last bit of that delicious cream. Although, just because she didn’t flinch, it didn’t mean she wasn’t going to get revenge. In fact, if it hadn’t been a feline, a mischievous smile could have been seen on her lips.

“Hey! That’s mine!” complained the archer.

“Oh, I thought you didn’t want it, since you weren’t eating…” her sister answered mockingly, savoring the piece of cake that she had stolen.

The elf scowled at her, but soon fell back into a fit of laughter. It took long for her to calm down. In fact, several times, she seemed to have succeeded, but soon relapsed while looking at the lynx’s stained face.

“I can’t… anymore… It hurts, ” she complained about her stomach.

She had lain on the floor, exhausted and aching from the laughter, as well as totally relaxed. Her sister stared at her, clearly amused, but didn’t do or say anything. She had already provoked her enough. In the end, the two of them stayed sleeping on the floor of the rest area, without even setting up the tent. They were satisfied, but above all, full of hope. There were shadows and dangers on their path, but, at least, the path was no longer impossible.

They left the room, and the elf cast Life Detection again, locating two of those slugs. But unlike on previous occasions, there was no longer fear in their gazes. Any hint of despair had completely disappeared.

They made sure that nothing had changed at the exit of the dungeon, where the corrupted beings were still waiting for them, and they went towards their prey with confidence. They knew it wouldn’t be a walk in the park, but they were convinced that they would achieve it.