Surprising absolutely no one, Taylor Lynn wasn’t online by the time Jay logged into the game. His drive home hadn’t been pleasant, but he felt a little better—like he had done the right thing for himself.
The rest of the party was present. Looking around, it was a little wild that their group had dwindled so much. The expedition was meant to include ten members from Red Player’s Society, but only six were present.
Sarah, Casey, and the twins were occupying themselves with in-game friendly duels, practicing their skills as they awaited Jay’s return. Carlos was watching with amusement.
“What’s up with you?” Sarah asked as soon as Jay joined Carlos in watching the ongoing duels.
Jay was taken aback. He had thought he was doing a bang-up job of hiding his churning emotions, but Sarah honed in on something being amiss immediately. Her question stopped the entire dueling process, causing Casey and Ken to pause in the middle of a bout.
“What?” Jay asked, a touch too defensively. “Nothing. Nothing’s up with me. I just got back from some errands.”
“Did you go grocery shopping or something?” Sarah interrogated, raising one of her eyebrows. He considered using another white lie, but that had devolved into absolute destruction when he lied to Taylor Lynn. No way was he going down that road again. Besides, it wasn't Taylor Lynn; it was his sister.
“I don’t really wanna talk about it right now,” Jay enunciated slowly. “Maybe later? We have some grinding to do, and I’ve got an idea for Casey’s next contract.”
His final comment seized Casey’s unerring attention. Her whole body turned toward him, and she unconsciously took a few steps closer. Zenya, Casey’s no-longer baby dire wolf, perked up and let out an excited yip. The beast didn’t know what was happening, but she was happy.
“I found this creature called an Oscil Lizard,” Jay explained, referring to the rock lizard creatures he had encountered a few times previously. “It’s the baby version of one of the local creatures. It might serve you well since they have inherent earth magic. The contract should be super easy since they’re in the single-digit levels. After that, we can start grinding and leveling it up. It should grow up, like Zenya, and then evolve, right?”
Casey brushed her hair back as she answered the question. “It should, yeah. I’m not an expert on how the contracts work, but that would make sense. What does the entry say, exactly?”
Jay gave her a deeper run-down on the entry, reciting all the information word for word. While they chatted, the other party members resumed the friendly dueling. By the end of the conversation, Casey was convinced that the Oscil Lizard would make for a good companion. Also, Ken had destroyed everyone else in a "friendly" duel.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
After Casey accepted the idea, Jay gathered the party together. “Everyone ready? We should look for another elite and kill anything we find on the way. If we stay near the beach, we’ll find one of those rock lizards.”
“Everybody, let’s go!” Jenny shouted cheerfully.
“That’s a show for babies, Jen,” Ken laughed, shaking his head at his sister’s antics. Jay realized then that “Ken and Jen” was a thing their parents did. There was a high probability that was why they went by different versions of the nicknames.
The group made their way through the jungle trees. It wasn’t quite dark out, but it was only two hours away from sunset. The jungle was quite pretty during that time, and Jay basked in the various jungle scents. He could even smell a distinctively pungent flower somewhere. A deep urge to find and pick the flower rose within him, but he left it alone. He would have time to stop and smell the flowers later.
Jenny practically sprinted through the trees, looking for one of the little rock lizards. Her robes fluttered as she darted from tree to tree, inspecting the bark for hidden lizards. The process was a bit silly since the lizards didn’t even blend in with the bark.
Along the way, the group found three or four packs of crocodiles. Their numbers seemed even higher than usual, which Jay didn’t necessarily mind. The experience was basically free. He didn’t even waste any bolts on them. Utilizing Outlaw style, his crossbow could fire magical ammunition as he diced the beasts with Purple Haze. Honestly, he could have taken the packs even if he were alone.
Jenny screamed with excitement when they found the lizard. The poor thing was so spooked that it tried to run away. Unfortunately, Jay was so fast that he blazed a trail after it. The thing only managed to run a few feet before he caught it.
Jay held the lizard by the tail, causing it to squirm and hiss. The creature didn’t have a powerful bite, and Jay wasn’t about to let it aim rocks at him. The magic wouldn’t hurt much, but there was still the principle of the matter.
Casey took her time forging the contract, which was a breeze without the burden of ongoing combat. After she completed the contract, she expressed gratitude for Jay and his help. Casey and Jenny quickly ignited a feverish conversation about the name of the new monster companion.
After Casey’s contract was created, the party was unsuccessful in finding an elite monster. The new lizard, which was officially dubbed Scales, leveled up to ten from the crocodiles farmed during the rest of the night. Everyone else didn’t fare as well since their experience was so minuscule in the grand scheme of their leveling. The twins managed to move up from 37 to 38, but the power increase was slight. The team needed a better strategy for grinding.
Eventually, the clock ran late and the party bid farewell, making plans to grind again the next day.
After logging out of the game, Jay decided to go straight to bed. The frays in his nerves from his emotional day had worn him down. When he grabbed his phone to check it for messages, there was a text from his mom. She wanted an update, which he obliged, even attempting to be a good child by adding a heart to the end.
There was also a text from Taylor Lynn: You’re right. My timing was horrible. Are we still friends? I’ll see you tomorrow… We are trapped on an island together.