Whoosh! Slash! Swoosh!Whoosh! Slash! Swoosh!
"Yaaah! YAAAH! Stop dodging, you!! Take that!"
The short wooden-armored warrior dashed around chaotically, thrusting her spear at bats zipping by, hitting some, missing others.
"Durat's chasing me, Waan!"
"Lure 'em this way, Rejeen!"
Thwip!
"Pile on 'em!"
"Take that, take that!" x2
Thud, thwack, thwack!
The tall trapper and the sprinting white mage lured the Durat into pre-set traps, then rushed back to pummel them mercilessly.
What a mess… but it's working decently, I guess. Problem is, this party has zero damage output!!
These are level 5-10 monsters! You can't be hitting them 20-30 times and still not kill them!
"Die already! Hiyah!"
Slash!
"Screee!"
Dubat defeated by Nerim. EXP 12, SXP 12.
Thwack, thwack, thud!
"Take that, take that!" x2
"Screech!" x2
Durat defeated by Waan. EXP 10, SXP 8.
Durat defeated by Rejeen. EXP 10, SXP 8.
"Scree!" x3
"Screech!" x1
Tris (me), gripping the lowest-grade sword from Serathul village—used for the past 35 chapters—stood watching them while dodging four monsters at once. Felt kinda bad. If I showed off and took these things down in 2-4 swings, hitting every time, it'd probably embarrass them.
Long story short, I don't wanna make them look bad… What do I do?!
Since I've used this sword for so long… let's give it a break.
Crack!
"Oh no… I'm surrounded!"
Tris pretended to miss the monsters, letting her sword nick a rock and chip, then cried out in fake panic.
"Oh, Tris! Everyone, help Tris, quick!"
"Useless newbie!"
"Oh no… Hang on, I'll snag one first! Snare!"
"Heal!"
Slash, thud, thwack!
Seeing Tris in "trouble," the three girls rushed to help almost instantly. They're good kids, really.
4 hours later
Defeated 45 Dubat: Total EXP 540, SXP 540
Defeated 40 Durat: Total EXP 400, SXP 320
Defeated 18 Duworm: Total EXP 180, SXP 108
Defeated 6 Dumol: Total EXP 120, SXP 96
Total: EXP 1240, SXP 1064
Split among 4: EXP 310, SXP 266 per person
The girls left the dungeon in high spirits, hauling items to turn in quests and sell.
Earned 156z from loot, plus 200z from two rounds of Dubat 20 + Durat 20 quests.
Total: 356z. Split four ways, that's 89z each…
But day one cost 300z for tent guarding, leaving 56z… so 14z each.
Real profit starts tomorrow.
All that for this? Counting travel, setting up the tent, prepping, and moving from the dungeon entrance to the middle, day one took 6-7 hours.
Sigh~~~~
Tris (me) let out a long mental sigh.
Normally, for Tris, a quick 4-hour hunt hitting Wolf, Rab, Boar, Picho, and Slime would net around 500-1000 EXP. Hauling back sellable loot could earn 50-250z, depending on luck. Double that for 8 hours, no quests needed.
If I went all out for cash, grinding quests and hunting hard would earn even more.
Bottom line? This is not worth it! Not in time, effort, or tangible rewards.
"Hahaha!"
"Pfft!"
But at least…
Around the campfire by our tent, the four of us sat together.
"Hey, this Dumol meat's not half bad."
"Mmm, smells a bit earthy and kinda gamey, but it's bearable."
"Tris, here, Dumol belly!"
"Oh, thanks…"
Tris took the freshly grilled, piping-hot Dumol belly. Fat dripped, plip, plip…
"Today was so much fun, right, Nerim, Waan, Tris?"
Chomp, chomp "Mmph… Not bad for a newbie, dodging like a pro. Gotta say, I'm impressed. Worthy of a Strider!"
"Totally! Everyone did awesome. Having more bait helped—my traps hit every time!"
The three girls turned to Tris with smiles, sharing a small warmth, a spark of friendship Tris had never felt before.
It was fun in its own way, really…
Tris flashed a sweet smile, replying to everyone.
"Yeah, super fun! Let's do our best tomorrow too!"
"Heck yeah, newbie!"
"Yup, I'll prep tons of traps! We're gonna rake in cash from hunting!"
"So we can buy tasty food better than this Dumol stuff!"
Hmm…
At least Tris gained a friendship that's priceless, right?
Tris looked at everyone chatting happily, then raised the fragrant grilled Dumol belly to her mouth. If this world's anything, it's… a mole, maybe? Dumol's face is more rat-like than mole, though.
Chomp… "Mmm…"
Oh… the earthy, fatty taste with a musky tang…
YUCK!! This Dumol tastes awful!
End of Chapter 51
At Least Tris Gained Priceless Friendship