After taking down another group of monsters, Lizzy and her guild party continued advancing deeper into the mountains.
The problem with the mountain regions was that there were plenty of monsters that would spawn in one place and group together to attack the players.
Maria hadn't faced these problems since she was able to take to the skies and carefully pick out her targets. Lizzy's group, however, did not have this luxury.
"Hey, Leader, why don't you go ahead and just fly around to look for your friend? It'll take us forever to look around if we move on foot!" A party member said.
Lizzy contemplated on it for a moment before shaking her head.
"I better not, and didn't I tell you earlier? That friend of mine wouldn't willingly sit around all day just to wait for us. If I know any better, she's most likely moved away from her earlier location."
"Couldn't you just ask her again?"
"I could, but do you think I can get past those things up there by myself?" Lizzy replied while pointing at the small groups of Iron Hawks flying around in the air.
"Ah...I see, but wait...wasn't your friend—"
"Her skill set enables her to fight while airborne more effectively than me. AND, she's been flying since day one! She's much more adept at it than I am. I was only able to fly recently after completing that racial quest."
"You have a point there."
"Let's hurry, even though my friend is a little over-powered, but if she gets surrounded by a large horde of monsters, even she'd go down."
The group hastened their pace and advanced further into the mountains, avoiding monsters they could avoid while only fighting the ones they couldn't.
******
While her best friend's group was hastening their pace to where she was at, the girl in question was happily flying around, striking down monsters at her own leisure.
"Hmhm~ magic so fun~ so fun~"
Maria really regretted not playing as a Mage from the start. She didn't understand what went through her mind at the time when she decided to play as a Priestess, not like she played the priestess-class as a normal player would.
"Ah! It was only because Miss Hella was the first instructor I met! But it was thanks to her that I'm also able to use magic now~ so all is well~"
Maria 'sang' her incantation and threw down a [Ruin] and a [Fire] on the monsters she was facing. Lizzy's earlier concern of not being able to fight against a large pack of monsters was a little bit unfounded.
Maria had gained a lot of AOE attacks coupled with her really large mana pool, she was able to handle large groups of monsters with ease. Like this, her EXP gain was shooting through the roof.
*DING*
Level up! You are now level 23! +20 Free Stat Points
Pet [Lilah] has leveled up! Lilah is now level 33!
*DING*
Level up! You are now level 24! +20 Free Stat Points
Pet [Lilah] has leveled up! Lilah is now level 34!
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*DING*
Level up! You are now level 25! +20 Free Stat Points
Pet [Lilah] has leveled up! Lilah is now level 35!
*DING*
Skill Level Up! [Arc Swing] Lv.6 → Lv.7 [Angel's Rage] Lv.6 → Lv.7 [Cure] Lv.4 → Lv.5 [Regen] Lv.3 → Lv.4 [Smite] Lv.6 → Lv.7 [Barrier] Lv.3 → Lv.4 [Magic Barrier] Lv.2 → Lv.3 [Fire] Lv.6 → Lv.7]
After a long grinding session, Maria was elated to see her gains. They were substantial! A lot of her skills rose in level and most importantly, she finally hit level 25.
"I can learn [Haste] now!"
Maria immediately took out the [Haste] skill book from her inventory and patted it on her body.
Skill: [Haste] learned!
Skill Name: Haste Level: 1 P. EXP: 0/1,000 Rank: C Description: Quickens the target's MOV SPD, ATK SPD, and raises AGI by 10% Duration: 30 seconds MP Cost: 1,000 MP Cooldown: 5 minutes
Maria began humming happily before a call request appeared once again in front of her. Seeing that it was Lizzy who was calling her, she immediately accepted it.
"Hello~?"
"UWAH!"
With her friend's explosive shout, Maria was immediately surprised and had nearly fell from the sky.
"W-what's wrong, Liz?"
"B-but...it got boring...?"
"Ehehe, sorry, here ya go~"
"M'kay," Maria said while nodding cutely.
Seeing her like this, Lizzy could only sigh helplessly at her friend. Just who could stay mad at such a cute person?
To kill time, Maria pulled out her Calamity and checked the status of the upgrade.
Upgradeable: Upgrade to Level 10 ~ 15. Requirements: 1. Slay 1,000 enemies with Calamity (1,000/1,000) 2. Receive Death's Blessing (1/1) 3. Feed Calamity with 5 Level 10 rare grade equipment or weapons (0/5)
She had already completed the first and second requirements so all she needed to do was complete the last one, but she didn't know where to get the 5 level-10 items.
"Hmmm... I'll just ask Lizzy when she gets here. I'm sure she'll know what to do!"
Seeing that her friend still wasn't here after waiting for another 5 minutes, Maria immediately began to grow restless and impatient again.
"Guh...I don't want her to yell at me...but it's so boring!"
Something clicked in her head and she thought it would be better if she tried to learn a skill instead of just waiting around.
"I learned [Arc Swing] by repeatedly going through its motions, maybe I can learn something like Axe Throw or whatever if I continue throwing my ax around!"
Maria quickly got to it and began flinging her ax everywhere. She found it both fun and annoying at the same time. She wished that she could get a skill that lets her summon her ax to her side after throwing it.
It was kind of funny, but the moment she had this thought in her mind, the ax that she had thrown immediately swiveled back to her.
Maria was caught off guard and nearly had her neck cleaved off.
"UWAH!"
BANG
After Maria had ducked down, the ax continued flying and struck the tree behind her.
"Eh? It flew back?" Maria tilted her head in confusion at this. She didn't see any message windows so she didn't gain a new skill.
"Hmmm... could it be?"
Maria immediately thought about retrieving her ax. In the next moment, she saw the ax lightly vibrate a little before dislodging itself from the tree and flying straight at her once again. This time she was prepared.
She didn't want any mishaps to happen, so she flipped into the air using her wings and caught the ax with one hand. When she landed, Maria immediately began to giggle.
"THAT WAS COOL!"
The large tree that was struck by her ax immediately fell and Maria only continued to giggle in delight, she turned towards another tree and immediately threw her ax.
Once more, the ax struck the tree and when she willed it, the weapon dislodged itself and once again flew back into her hands. She flipped into the air, caught the weapon, and then once more threw it at another tree while still airborne.
Maria was so excited that she kept on throwing and retrieving her ax. She didn't know that she was causing a large commotion by chopping down the large trees around her.
From afar, Lizzy and her group could see the tall trees falling one by one.
"..."
"Leader...could that be..."
"Yup, that's her..."