When they woke up, they were surprised by a slug that was hanging around the entrance to the rest area. Apparently, it had followed their trail overnight.

They decided to take care of it before breakfast, since now they had recovered all their energy, and thus they could recover what they spent while having breakfast.

The lynx came out first, although without Cyclonic Barrier or Purifying Touch, since the barrier that protected the entrance also prevented those spells from crossing it. Immediately, she moved away from the entrance, and the slug turned to her, following her.

Soon after, Goldmi came out, using all her mana and energy without delay. Not only did she want to end this being as quickly as possible, but to prevent her sister from being harmed, reducing the time she was dodging. In addition, she was right at the entrance to the rest area, which meant she was able to enter at any time, so running out of mana didn’t have the danger of other occasions.

The bombardment of Ethereal Arrows fired three by three easily killed the slug, which, despite the damage it was receiving from behind, continued to chase the feline. Almost without mana, the elf entered again as soon as her sister returned, unharmed. She had dodged all the attacks of her slow enemy with the ease that gave her many hours of practice, while always keeping a safe distance.

They thus allowed themselves to enjoy a long and quiet breakfast, since the archer needed time to recover the spent mana, in addition to reviewing what she had obtained by leveling up. They were the mana and energy regeneration passives, as inconspicuous as they were highly useful, and thanks to which they would need fewer breaks. The most curious thing was that it also affected the lynx, being also able to recover faster, as if, in some way, they shared it.

And, of course, she had changed her gear to a level 16 one.

After having leveled up, the difficulty had dropped and her mana reserves had risen. That was one of the reasons why she no longer needed to spend almost all of her mana pool. The other was the feline, which had recovered her fighting spirit to unsuspected limits.

“Leave it to me. I want to take care of this one alone.”

She didn’t wait for the elf to answer her, but rushed toward the gelatinous being. Goldmi stared at her with a slight frown and her bow ready, though she respected her sister’s wish. Although, if she were in danger, she would intervene immediately.

She easily dodged the Spittle that were trying to hit her in the middle of the run, and Jumped over her prey, practically brushing it, and landing behind it, while leaving the mark of her claws as she was flying over it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The slug began to turn around in a somewhat special way. Instead of turning the body, it hid the antennas, while showing them on the other side. These allowed it to have a better vision of its enemy, although it could feel her even without them.

The feline began to jump from side to side, propelling herself onto the walls of the cave, tearing that gelatinous substance each time she passed over it, and leaving her claws engraved for a long time due to the effect of Purifying Touch. The slug could barely keep up with her movements, let alone aim and shoot accurately.

Goldmi watched the fight through the light of a floating lamp, a gadget that was part of the basic kit for all players. Neither slugs nor lynx needed that light, but it was essential to her.

She was impressed, proud and concerned for her sister, but didn’t say or do anything until the being disappeared, at which point the feline turned and looked at her with pride.

“They are no longer worthy of confronting me.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Don’t be so conceited,” laughed the elf, using Life Detection again. “One a little further ahead, to the right.”

She had detected it before, so now she had only confirmed its position. And there were two more a little further. Little by little, the density of these had increased, as they were moving away from the rest area. Luckily, there was no danger of them getting lost, as the layout of the dungeon was being detailed on the virtual map while they were progressing. A map that she had no idea how it could work like this, how it could appear in her mind, but she didn’t complain either.

They soon decided that the best strategy was to combine their damage, burdening the lynx with more work if her sister was low on mana, or more for the elf if she was at maximum. Along with the greater recovery speed, they soon finished four of those slugs, and reached level 17. And, at the end of the day, they had reached 18. The worst thing for the lynx was that they had to eat the leftovers from previous days, although she didn’t reject them either. She just grunted a little.

Now, despite being two levels above, the slugs no longer posed a threat, although they still returned to the rest area. They knew that the next day they could be more efficient, although it would also cost them more to level up, since the difference was less. They would need to kill at least fifty of them to reach level 20, and not less than one hundred to reach level 21.

By now, she had recovered Twister, a spell that creates a small twister about two meters high and a half wide, and that deals slashing damage. Its movement can be directed, although it is quite slow. It was at 6, and its mana cost is not low, consuming it while it is active. It is possible to summon more than one, consequently increasing mana consumption.

And at 18, there was Sun, which makes the spell caster shine, not very useful if you already have a portable lamp, and it barely was at 2, which allowed her to shine little less than a lamppost.

As for skills, Arrows Rain consists of launching dozens of arrows at the same time, five per level, towards a certain area. It doesn’t allow to control them individually, so they don’t have much aim, nor can be applied blessings to projectiles. She had it at 8, having often used it to farm large groups of mobs.

And Feint to the Foot, which consists of blocking with a dagger and sword, letting oneself be pushed away by the blow and sliding towards the ground, from which the enemy is struck with one’s foot, with high chances of making him fall. It wasn’t very useful, except in battles against other players, although she wasn’t as fond of them as Gjaki, so she only had it at 3.