Ray spent the next several hours slaving over an anvil, helping Freia create hundreds of arrow tips. When they were about halfway done with the order, he took charge of crafting the shafts and fletchings alone while she finished the rest of the tips for the bulk order from the local militia. They finally finished crafting and packing the order of 700 arrows around midnight. Ray made his way to his room as soon as they were done. Ray had to wake up early tomorrow for Igi’s breakdown of the fight and what they should work on. He collapsed onto his bed with exhaustion and did not remove his thick leather apron or protective gear before drifting off. He was awoke the next morning by a loud pounding on his door.
“Ray! You awake in there?” Erith yelled while continuing to bang on the wooden door.
“Yes, one moment,” Ray called back as he slowly rolled out of bed.
Opening the door, he saw Erith in her combat attire. Her sword was belted at her hip, and her staff was on her back, although she seldom used it since her blade's upgrade. Ray’s eyes widened as realization struck him.
“What time is it?”
“10 minutes passed when we should have left to arrive on time. Now hurry and get dressed, so we aren't too late.” Erith said.
Ray shut the door and frantically stripped off his forging attire before slipping into his leather armor and clock. He burst through the door again a few seconds later, following Erith down, hopping on one foot as he pulled on his left boot. They made it to the hunter's guild only a few minutes after the meeting started, by sprinting through the city as quickly as they could.
Bursting through the front door, they ran up to the front desk.
“Where it Igi’s class at?” Ray asked while panting.
Iris stood stunned for a few moments before shaking her head and responding.
“Third room on the right-”
“Thank you!” Ray shouted over his shoulder, running towards the room she indicated.
The pair slowed and collected themselves for a moment before entering.
“Erith, Ray! I was beginning to think you wouldn't make it today. Please take a seat.” Igi said with a wide grin.
They obliged, finding two open chairs in the back and sitting down.
“First, we will break down what went down on an individual scale before taking some time to look at the big picture and how you all work as a team. First up is you Rudy,” Igi said, pointing at a large boy Ray recognized from yesterday.
He served as the team's tank and could use a few light spells as well, if range was required.
“I don’t have too much for you, as that excursion stopped you from performing your regular duty on the team. With that said, I'm glad you took my advice and learned how to use mana bolt even if it took a long time. You displayed a good level of mastery over it yesterday, so good job. Next up Sam,” He continued, gesturing at the group's archer. “Excellent use of power shot to swiftly take down one foe after another, but make sure to watch your stamina better, as if I was not there for the last fight, you could have been gravely injured when you ran out.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The young archer nodded with a slight frown on his face.
“Your next Katelin. While you made great use of your icicle spell, you wasted too much mana with each shot and ended up having to rely on potions to stay in the fight. Try to focus on improving your aim so you don’t need to make them so big to ensure a kill. Finally Jen, last of the main group.” He said, pointing at the druid in the back of the room. “While your use of the grasping vines spell let your teammates tear the enemy to shreds, you still have some work to do on it. The final version of that spell will cause the vines to grow large thorns, not only giving them a better grip on their target but allowing you to shred them if you find yourself alone.”
The young druid nodded in confirmation before opening a large tome she had brought.
“And finally Erith and Ray. Erith, your fire mastery will never not amaze me, but I think you rely too heavily on it. While it worked out this time and will for most targets, what happens when you face a water elemental or mage? I would recommend you look into acquiring some countermeasures for those possibilities as they will end up nullifying half of your class's power. Ray, first, am I correct in assuming your class is some sort of range mage hybrid?”
“No sir,” Ray responded.
“Really? Though I was spot on with that.” Igi said, scratching his chin. “What is it if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I have an artisan class.”
“Wow, I didn’t even consider that with how sharp you are with your bow and those blades. So that snake skill you used, I'm guessing, was an item ability and not one of your own, then?”
Ray nodded.
“Hmm, well I can't give you too much advice then, as most of what I had to say assumed you were a ranger dabbling in the mystic arts. It’s good to see a crafting type become interested in defending himself, although promising people too frequently meet an untimely demise due to neglecting proper self-defense training.”
With everyone given their individual instruction, Igi moved on to what they could work on for team cohesion. While not directly involved in this discussion, Ray still listened intently, learning more about how a proper monster-hunting party functioned. After they were dismissed, Erith and Ray headed back towards the castle.
“Hey, you want to grab some lunch on the way back?” Erith asked.
Ray sighed.
“I would love to, but Freia accepted another bulk order with a short deadline, so I need to get back to help her with it.”
“Oh ok, how about tomorrow after training then?”
“Sure, should we see if Arabella would like to join us in that case?” Ray asked.
“Well, I was kind of hoping it could just be the two of us,” Erith said with a slight blush.
“Like a date?”
“Y-Yeah, if you want it to be.” She said, looking down at the ground.
“I’d like that,” Ray said, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest.
Erith’s gaze shot back up to his face with his answer.
“It's a date then!” She said before breaking into a slight giggle.