It was the third night, and by now we had two people capable of healing other members.

Iris was a strength archer now, so her heal wouldn't be very useful later on, but for now she was competent.

Lili also wasn't very effective yet, but the difference was night and day having two members who could heal you.

Iris was more free to focus on attacking. Iris and I didn't have to worry about being close enough to the other party members just in case things went wrong. I could carry her around and she could focus on killing slimes and mushrooms. Lili could help Gob and Alex in case of an injury.

"Holy arrow!"

Iris's holy arrow had gained in damage and range. She seemed to be having a good time.

"Holy arrow!!"

With her on my back and yelling, my ears weren't doing so well, but I wasn't about to complain. What was I going to do? Take on the slimes myself?

Aerin, our elven archer, was running around and shooting at enemies. However her face showed frustration.

She wasn't doing much damage. Even against the slimes, it took multiple hits. Her best role was to stagger enemies that were getting too close to Gob. Otherwise, the efficiency was too low.

Alex and Lili were still debuffing and casting spells on new enemies that came through the portal. I had told them to worry less about not getting kills (giving them up to Gob).

Lili also could start leveling up little by little by using her heal. It wouldn't be much, but healing others also gave you XP. Better than nothing.

I heard hissing. It was Gob. He was busy going against the slimes and mushrooms.

He had analyzed their patterns. He moved so that they wouldn't be able to surround him. He also coordinated himself so that slimes and mushrooms sometimes ran into each other. He was becoming a better fighter every night as his attributes grew, especially his [Sense].

The enemies hadn't changed and neither had our strategies. Other than a succubus using heal, combined with her ability which amplified any skill effects, not much had changed. It wasn't exactly innovative, nor was self-torture.

I was worried about how many ability points I would get after tonight.

I felt like teaching Lili heal would have been pretty big, but I couldn't be sure yet. The more points I had, the better. It was time to satisfy some of Aerin's desire to be of use in battle. I would need ability to do that.

※※※

"I didn't think my life would end up depending on a goblin."

Iris and I were, after the battle and some rest, trying to teach Gob some English. I think it would have been an impossible task had I not had [Translation & Interpretation].

He would have had to learn 100% from scratch. But since I could speak to him in his language, I could explain things to him directly.

"Apple is how you say apple."

"Ackle?"

I also instructed him to, whenever he had free time, listen to the other party members speak. They weren't the most talkative and they didn't get along super well, but there was speaking going between party members. Paying attention to them and trying to understand what was being said would be crucial in teaching Gob some English.

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More party members had leveled up. There were a lot of slimes and mushrooms tonight compared to the second night. This was great news.

However, there also was bad news. Unfortunately I had not gained enough ability points to act on my plans tonight.

[Ability points: 7]

I needed to buy a new F-Rank skill book for Aerin. That would cost 10 points.

Since I couldn't do that yet, I'd have to have a tough conversation with Aerin.

"Hey, you leveled up, right?" I asked.

"Yes, finally, since you let me kill some slimes."

"Well, this is going to be a difficult ask, but I want you to invest your attribute points into mana."

"What? What did you just say? Mana? I told you. I'm an archer! Not anything else. What am I gonna do with mana? I don't even know any spells. And even if I did, it's just wouldn't be the best choice."

"Do you remember how I taught Lili heal?"

"Yeah, that didn't make any sense either. Still doesn't."

"Well, I bought that skill book using points I gained from doing unexpected things with the party. Like in terms of how we fought and leveled up. It's a unique ability I have."

"Huh."

"Like, the more we do innovative things or things that don't seem very effective, the more points I can get."

"...Okay, now that makes a little more sense. I thought you were going crazy."

"And that's why I want you to invest into mana. Once you do, I'll have more points and I'll be teaching you a spell just like I taught heal to Lili."

Aerin let out a sigh before proceeding to respond.

"I hate that you're basically toying with our lives. But I have to listen to what you say. There's not much I can do."

Aerin proceeded to invest her points into mana.

Iris, again, leveled up her strength.

Gob, his sense.

Alex, his health.

Lili, her faith.

Overall, there were less complaints. I wasn't sure whether they had given up or started to trust my plans a little bit. Up to this point, things were going pretty well.

Being able to utilize Gob just like another party member. Having those XP potions from the ability points store. These things had really increased our chances of survival.

I hadn't leveled up yet, but my strength and dexterity had gone up by one. It must have been all the running around either with a shield or Iris on my back.

But the first few nights were supposed to be like a tutorial. Only two types of enemies, very weak, with the same attack pattern (bouncing). We hadn't even gotten into the real game yet.

Things were looking bright, but I wondered if that would continue.