Sara hadn't really considered the matter before, but upon reflection it made sense that roadwork was not very exciting, even in a fantasy world. They did use a bit of earth magic to make up for the lack of heavy tools this world simply didn't have, but it was still slow, and careful work. So the boss of the northern wolves quickly lost interest in watching them proceed.
If you were to weigh Sara on a scale from patient to impatient, she would probably tip slightly towards the latter. She could be very patient about certain things that just clicked in her brain, even if they could be generally considered 'boring', or things she found fascinating or interesting in some way, or if she was getting something she wanted out of it. For most other things her mind quickly started to wander in search of other things to occupy it if left idle for too long.
She generally considered herself a good person, but she sometimes worried about how all of her actions seemed to be motivated by self-interest.
The Adventurers that had come along with the work crew seemed like they could handle most things, so the wolves hadn't had to intervene so far. They were still in the safest part of this zone, and at this pace they weren't going to finish that day. They were approaching the point where the road turned directly north, and things would become a little more dangerous from then on, but they would probably be fine.
She likely wouldn't need to personally intervene at least, but the other wolves would still keep an eye on them. They could call her if she was needed. There was still the mystery of who, and where the other Named Mob was, so it was possible something dangerous could show up, but until they reached bear territory it was unlikely there would be anything that could threaten a group that size.
It was possible the Adventurers would become too lax because of the slow pace. Hopefully they had ways to keep themselves entertained, and alert.
That being said it wasn't like she had much on her own itinerary either. A bit of quiet time was nice, but she was starting to feel restless already. Maybe she should go see what the other visitors in the forest were up to, but it was likely just gathering, hunting, or doing quests. That probably involved gathering, or hunting.
She had a look at her status screens. She was level 28 now, and while she couldn't see her exact exp values, she felt like she couldn't be far off of level 29. Considering her previous level up timings, she had to be at least past the halfway point.
Can the Wanderers see their exp count, mother?
"They can. It's part of their UI display, which isn't available to Residents. It requires being hooked up to a computer, which they, and you are not. And the ways Residents are able to check such things are not available to you. I can tell you, if you'd like," Aina offered.
It wasn't something she wanted to keep asking about regularly, but maybe just this once...
Sure. Since you're offering, I'm actually quite curious.
"Very well. You have so far gained 85 267 experience points. You will need to reach 87 900 to go up to level 29."
Wait, isn't that a lot? Almost 90 000 to go up one level? Do mobs really give that much?
"That's the total amount of experience points so far, Sara. The actual amount to get from 28 to 29 is 10 000," Aina said in a patient tone.
Oh... that still sounds like a lot.
"Evidence suggests that people who play games like seeing big numbers. After every tenth level the requirements to reach the next level scale up noticeably. The jump from 10 to 11 is significantly larger than from 9 to 10, for example. Same with 20 to 21 versus 19 to 20.
Ultimately the actual numbers are not that important, since so long as they're doing quests, dungeons, and other events appropriate for their level, they will level up at a fairly equal rate. Only the first handful of levels go by really quickly. Strong mobs also tend to be worth a lot, so if Adventurers make parties to hunt those down it will help them advance at a decent pace. Though as you have experienced yourself those battles can be seen as annoying.
While MHO does not precisely distribute experience points based on exactly how much someone contributed to a kill, or whether they get the last hit, the system will still note whether they at least hit a minimum threshold of contribution to the party's efforts to either be awarded the full experience amount, or just a reduced amount.
If someone wants to help someone else catch up to their own level, there is a setting in the party options to enable a mentor mode where 90% of the experience points a higher level Wanderer or Resident earns through combat goes to the person being mentored, though this is only available if the level gap is more than three. They tried to make it less easy to exploit, but there will always be someone who tries to get an 'unfair' advantage through such systems."
I... see...
"To be clear: I personally don't think it's unfair to make use of anything that is possible within the system, even if some would consider it an exploit. It is regrettable if it hurts other people, but I don't think unfair is an appropriate term."
Sara wasn't sure if she actually understood all of that, so she didn't know what more to say. She made a mental note (that she would probably forget) to be careful what to ask in the future, in case she got another lecture. There was one thing she couldn't resist asking:
So how much to level 30?
"Another 11 100 experience points, for a total of 99 000."
Oh, not 100 000?
"No. Even with rounding the numbers just didn't quite line up. Of course we could have arbitrarily decided it should be 100 000, but I think I like it better this way."
Sara wasn't surprised Aina thought that. Unfortunately this hadn't solved the issue of being restless, so she did what she usually did when she couldn't think of what to do: Look at her skill list. It didn't feel as pressing to improve her skills any longer, but there were a few that were close to hitting level 10, which was probably their max.
There was Arcane Blast, which she used enough that it would probably sort itself out; Death From Above, which she did actually need some setup for; Fire Element Up, which would also probably happen naturally; and Life Magic, which was guaranteed to get there sooner or later since she kept using it for all sorts of small things. Though there were some skills that went beyond level 10, and she wouldn't be surprised if Life Magic was one of them.
The thought made her glance at her old friend Erase Presence, formerly known as Stealth. If she remembered correctly, it was the first skill she had purchased. She had relied heavily on it before she had arrived in this forest, and then barely used it since. She didn't need to sneak around any longer unless she was doing something specific, but if she thought about the future it was possible she would need the skill again some day, and it might be a good idea to make it as strong as possible before then.
So that became her goal for the day. Sneak around until she got bored. Maybe do it close to the road workers, and see if any of the Adventurers noticed her.
* * *
The road work had slowed down even further as the group had reached the parts of the North Way that were in rougher shape, and harder to traverse. Most of the road from Ethuun until it turned towards the north was largely okay. Not great, but passable. It mostly needed basic maintenance, which took a while mainly because it had been so long since last time, but once they approached the bend, and went beyond it the true work began. They clearly wouldn't finish that day, but at their current speed it shouldn't take more than another day or two. Certainly much faster than she was used to back on Earth.
Sara's own inspection had shown her that there were sections of the north-going stretch that were mostly fine, but a lot of places almost looked like they had been actively damaged. Whether by accident, or with intent was hard to tell. Perhaps it was not by intent of anyone from this world, but just area designers at the development studio getting a little too eager about how rough they wanted it to look.
She had managed to get four level ups in Erase Presence across a couple of hours before she had gotten bored, and taken a nap. When she woke back up it was around noon, and the work force were having a lunch break.
Interestingly it wasn't all packed lunches. About half of the Adventurers had started cooking for the crew. According to her scouts it had started with only two of them bringing out a large pot, and starting to dump water and ingredients into it. Then several of the others had started helping out, until seven of the twelve Adventurers were involved in some way. They were either making soup, or stew.
To be fair to the rest of them there wasn't really much more room to help out without getting in the way.
Sara was tempted to get a closer look, and maybe a taste since it smelled nice, but it would probably be unseemly for the Great Guardian Beast to beg for food like a dog.
She was saved by a message that someone wanted to see her, which was probably the payment she had asked for. So while it wasn't fresh stew, it would still give her something to eat.
The one waiting for her was a familiar face. There was only one person who could show up without having Commune With Animals who would still be able to see the Guardian Beast without a problem. Both the wolves, and the ravens knew that if Mirielle showed up, they should tell Sara as soon as possible.
"Hello, Sara," Mirielle said with a smile as her friend showed up. "I have come to trade."
Sara changed into Tree Form to write a response: "Hello, Mirielle. I'm happy to see you. I thought maybe some merchant or something would show up to try to negotiate."
"They told me that they had considered it, but none of them had been confident about haggling with you, so they let me go instead." Mirielle giggled. "They did give me some notes about things to ask you."
"Let me guess," Sara wrote briefly before continuing. "They want to argue that some foods are worth more than others, and that asking for bulk weight is unreasonable."
"I didn't hear them use the word 'unreasonable', but that is the essence of it." Mirielle took out the notes she had been given to look at them again. "I think they would have been happier if they could have just delivered sacks of grain, vegetables, and fruit, but you specifically asked for cooked food, and none of them are bold enough to try to cheat you. Especially not after what happened yesterday."
"I feel bad about that," Sara wrote. "I didn't think it would be such a big deal."
"You have made yourself too valuable," Mirielle said with a hint of teasing. "Though hardly everyone in the city is convinced of your importance, so far there hasn't been anyone foolish enough to go against the word of both the Temple, and the Palace." She let out of sigh. "To be honest internally the Temple is also split on whether or not we should actually support you, even if the open stance right now is to be on your side. A statement from the Oracle would probably settle the matter, but she is supposed to only be concerned with matters of the Goddess, while the Archbishops handle the management of earthly matters, and day to day issues."
"It sounds complicated," Sara wrote.
"It isn't that complicated, really," Mirielle said. "Internal debates stay internal. The Archbishop here in Komeron recognises the alliance as beneficial to the city, but the Bishops are always allowed to voice their own thoughts. There are those who are concerned that this weakens the importance of the Temple, and gives the people another object of worship."
"I would very much prefer to not be worshipped," Sara quickly wrote. It could help her out if Norax was more widely acknowledged, but she had already told both Mirielle, and Luneria about that. Pushing the matter further would be insensitive.
Not to mention I started a cult...
"I know." Mirielle giggled. "And for the record I don't agree with them. I think our support strengthens both us, and you."
That was kinda embarrassing to hear. "May I look at those notes?" Sara wrote to change the topic back.
"Of course," Mirielle said, and handed them over.
They were pretty much things Sara expected. Arguments that meat cost more in weight than bread, and other grain-based foods, or that stuff that took longer, or needed higher cooking level to prepare should be worth more. Seafood was brought up as even more expensive than land-based meat.
Most of which were reasonable arguments, but they relied on the idea that she was overcharging in the first place. A kilo of food was like three dinners worth back in her old life. Maybe two depending on the contents. Unless she was gravely overestimating the value of her silk, she felt like one ball was worth two or three full meals, even if they were high restaurant class. She thought she was letting them off easy. Maybe they'd change their tune once they got to see it. What she could deliver now was better than what she had initially handed over.
The one point where she was willing to concede a little was pastries. Snacks were a luxury that was worth a little extra expense. Somehow she doubted this world had potato crisps, chocolate bars, ice cream, or fizzy drinks, so pastries were likely the best she could get.
Actually, I wonder if the elves have any cacao plants...
It was possible they had some sort of chocolate. It was a game designed by people from Earth, after all. Perhaps the Wanderers had recipes for junk food.
They probably had some form of beer or liquor, at least. Maybe the elves made cider from their fruit. She liked cider.
Wait... does Poison Immunity mean alcohol won't have any effect on me? It's not like I typically drink for the sake of getting drunk, but a bit of buzz would be nice... I'll have to try at some point. Maybe it's still tasty at least.
"So here are the items they sent with me to deliver," Mirielle said as she produced a bag, and Sara started moving all of the contents into her inventory. There was the food, the chalk she had asked for, and a new writing board. That had to be what Luneria had talked about. It was certainly a step up from the blackboard meant for kids to study with.
Mirielle cleared her throat. "Um... I also have a request..."
Sara had her hands full, so she could only look up at Mirielle in response. Perhaps she should reconsider trying to grow more branches that could work as arms.
"Can you help me reach level 30?" Mirielle asked. "The two times we've worked together has put me very close, but just working normally could still take weeks. My parents have always told me to be patient, but when I'm this close..."
Sara finished storing everything, and decided to put her new board to use right away.
"I don't mind, but it could be dangerous. The only things worth hunting in Nyolund are pretty strong," she wrote, and started explaining her reasoning.
The raccoons, racehogs, squirrels, woodpeckers, etc were weak, and didn't give much in terms of experience. They weren't really worth hunting for levelling purposes unless you had no choice, and a lot of patience. Some of the materials they dropped could be useful, but that was about it.
Sara felt like the critters were basically there to be decoration. To make it feel more like a real forest, and not just an area with mobs to fight. However she had no intention of mentioning that to Mirielle. Even though she had admitted to coming from another world, trying to convince her friend that Moorhold was just a game world created by a studio would be going too far.
Getting back on topic, the Stalker Jaguars were annoying to track down, and the wolves were of course not an option. Which basically just left the deer, and the bears.
Most of the deer in the eastern part of the woods were level 21-25. A few were level 26. With Mirielle at 29, they probably wouldn't give her full payout. It was still the safest viable option, it would just take some extra time. Going over to the west side would be a better option for progress.
"I... I understand," Mirielle said after Sara was done. She sounded a little nervous. She didn't seem like someone who regularly went out to hunt mobs, so that was probably understandable. "I'll go along with what you think is best."
Sara took a moment to think before writing further.
"Then maybe we can help each other out. There's a place I've wanted to get a closer look at, but I haven't found the opportunity. Having a support specialist along would be very helpful. You see, the north-west part of Nyolund is the only area where the wolves and I have no presence. That's bear territory. I want to make an incursion at some point to find out what's there, but getting some scouting information first would be beneficial."
The other boss was most certainly there, and it was possible the other Named Mob was too. Perhaps they worked together like Sara and Kathleen did, or they were in opposition, or maybe they just didn't interact.
"We'll push at it a little, and if it pushes back too hard, we'll just back off." They should still be able to find high-level deer, or maybe even a wandering bear without going too deep.
"O-okay." Mirielle nodded, but she was visibly nervous now.
"We can just do something safer," Sara offered. "No pressure."
Mirielle shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. You'll look after me, right?" She smiled.
Sara would have smiled back if her Tree Form was capable of it. "Of course," she wrote in response.
It wasn't going to be just the two of them regardless. That was way too risky. She'd get a pack of wolves together, and bring Kathleen. She had the skills to serve as a tank, and it would be better for Sara to focus on leading, and casting spells. She'd only get physical if necessary.
The only remaining problem was the lack of a party function between them. From what she had understood of Aina's explanation it should be fine so long as Mirielle's contribution was high enough, and she didn't think the Priestess was going to slack off. Things had seemed to work out fine during both the escort quest, and the raid. Though it would have still been convenient to form an official party.
Actually, there was one more problem Sara thought of. It would take Mirielle a while to walk all the way up there. She didn't have Sprint, and her Agility was probably about average for someone who lived in a city. She couldn't keep up with Sara's regular travel speed at all.
Hang on, I have an idea.
"How about I give you a ride on the way up?" she wrote.
"Huh?" Mirielle's eyes went wide. "You mean... ride on you? But..."
"It's not like you're heavy," Sara wrote. "It'll be fine."
She might be slightly smaller than a Dire Wolf, but Sara was still significantly larger than a regular wolf from Earth. Her shoulder height stood close to 1.5 metres, and she was likely at least 3 metres long even if you didn't count the tail. Mirielle was still taller, since it was common for female elves to be close to 2 metres tall, but in general Sara was significantly bigger.
"But... isn't it weird to... uh... to be like a mount?" Mirielle asked awkwardly. "I figured you wouldn't like that..."
Sara shrugged. "Since I have the ability, why not put it to use? We have a ways to go. Do you feel weird about riding me?"
"A bit..." Mirielle admitted. "It feels disrespectful, or something... but you're right. It would probably take me a while to get up to the north-west, even if I jogged."
"Then it's settled," Sara wrote. "Just don't forget to hold on tight."
Even if she was willing to carry her friend, she was not willing to wear a saddle. Not that they had one, but even if they had, she wouldn't put it on. Maybe there was some way she could use magic to help her stay on, but she couldn't think of anything at the moment.
She changed back to wolf form, and crouched down to let Mirielle climb on.
"Okay..." Mirielle was a little hesitant as she tried to figure out the best way to get on. At least she wore trousers under her robe, so pulling up the skirt didn't pose an issue, but she didn't seem used to riding, and ended up basically lying prone while grabbing Sara's fur to hold on to. Maybe eventually she'd learn to sit up more, but there was no guarantee they'd be doing this often.
"You're even softer than you look," she murmured.
Sara smiled, but sadly couldn't respond in this form. She started trotting off, making sure to slowly increase her speed so Mirielle could get used to it, and figure out just how fast her friend was comfortable going. Her fur-enhancing skills should keep it from being pulled out no matter how hard the Priestess gripped.
It wouldn't be top speed, especially since she figured it would be best to avoid using Sprint, but it was still significantly faster than any speed Mirielle could keep up for long.
* * *
They stopped on the road east of bear territory, and Sara let Mirielle down. She looked a little frazzled, but claimed she was fine. Perhaps it had gone a tad fast for her even though Sara had tried to be careful.
"Okay." Sara addressed Kathleen, and the other wolves. "We'll be pushing into bear territory a bit. It won't be a full incursion yet, we're just going to see what we can learn. If the resistance is too much, we will pull back. That being said, the primary objective is to get Mirielle to level 30, so we will be trying to take down some deer and bears while in there. No sneaking around. Got it?"
""Got it, boss!""
With the number 30 in mind, Sara had asked 30 wolves to join them. Most of them would be in reserve. While they had so far only seen bears move solo, it was possible things were different inside that area, and the extra wolves were there to hold back any additional opponents that showed up.
They had been unable to hide their movements from the ravens, who had of course insisted on coming along. Sara didn't want too many of them joining, since it might lower the odds of Mirielle getting sufficient credit, but their strength would make things safer, so she had been able to compromise on no more than five of them going along.
Sara changed into Tree Form to briefly explain things to Mirielle as well. Hopefully the lack of communication ability while fighting wouldn't be too much of a problem.
As ready as they could possibly be, the group headed in. Kathleen was in front, while the regular wolves formed a perimeter around Sara, and Mirielle.
They picked up the scent of several deer in the area as well. Basically the only thing they knew about the place was that the bears and the deer were in opposition in there. The bears had higher individual strength, but the deer had higher numbers. So it was possible they'd end up fighting more of the latter than the former, but they were trying to follow the scent towards the closest bear.
They had to push their way through one noble deer, but even a level 28 one wasn't a problem for this group, and shortly afterwards they spotted the bear. It was about the size, and shape of a small van, or perhaps SUV.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly Bear (Fighter Lvl 28) HP: 242/242 ]
Sheesh. It's just an elite, and it still has more HP than me even though I'm a boss. I mean, Kathleen has more HP than me as well, but at least she's Named. I guess that's just what tanky types are like.
There were clearly different ranks of elite mobs if both the deer, and the bears counted as them. She figured she could still take one down on her own, but it would likely be a long, and rough fight. She'd have to be really focused, and not slip up. While the bears seemed like they had a stronger focus on toughness than power, they still had a substantial amount of the latter too.
It noticed them shortly after they noticed it, and it let out a roar before charging at them without hesitation.
It isn't worried about there being so many of us, huh?
Kathleen met it head on, and to her credit was barely pushed back as they crashed into one another. She was the largest wolf in Nyolund, yet still smaller than the bear. Sara boosted her by casting Rejuvenate, Poison Enchant, Growth, and Thorn Armour, while Mirielle further helped with Blessed Shield, Soothing Light, and Fortitude. Thankfully the two HoTs stacked, though they tried to spread the buffs out a little due to cooldowns.
Kathleen used Provoke to make sure the bear stayed focused on her as the others started attacking. While Kathleen wasn't quite as solid as the Lieutenant, having Mirielle there as a proper healer eased most of Sara's worries. She was free to mostly focus on bringing the bear down, as she and the ravens were the heaviest damage dealers. The Dire Wolves carried their load too, especially as the Bleed triggers started stacking up. She wasn't sure how much extra damage they did thanks to Flanking, but every little bit helped.
It got rougher once Desperation started kicking in, and it became harder to keep the bear contained. Sara's DPS went down once she had to help more with support spells, as the thrashing was causing more damage to the other wolves as well. Even so it was definitely the right call to not go in with only Kathleen to help them, and she was glad she hadn't told the ravens to go away either. It would have been a much slower fight without them.
After a couple of minutes, which had honestly felt like longer, they had finally pushed enough damage through the grizzly's thick hide that it keeled over.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly (Fighter Lvl 28) Defeated. ]
If that's how much it takes to bring down just one of these, our raid of this area won't be easy. I should ask Gloria to come along. Another powerhouse would be valuable. And without Mirielle we might have lost a couple of the wolves. Once it started lashing out the others got caught in it too. Maybe I should request more help from the elves when the time comes. Another tank or two would be welcome, along with more support members.
She glanced over at the elf, who was breathing quite heavy. She must have burned through a lot of MP during the fight. Sara went into Tree Form so she could write.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Mirielle noticed the board, and stood up straighter. "Y-yeah, I just... it was very tense."
Sara slowly nodded, which rustled her leaves. "No level yet?"
"No," Mirielle said, and shook her head. It was probably a bit much to expect from one deer, and one bear.
"Are you fine with going for another one, or do you want us to back out?" Sara asked. She honestly felt like she had learned most of what she needed already. Finding out a fairly accurate image of the density of mobs would likely require bigger numbers, and/or her scouting with Erase Presence. And she felt pretty certain that the boss was located in the west depths, though there was no way they could push that deep without a stronger force.
"I'll be fine," Mirielle said. "Just give me a minute..."
Sara had no problem taking a small break, since they needed to recharge their MP anyway. Mirielle took the chance to have some water, and a quick snack that looked like dried fruit. Hydration was important, though Sara was curious if the snack had any buff effect, or if it was just a snack. Well, buffing the spirit could be just as important as buffing the body.
They picked up the scent of another bear, and on the way came across a duo of noble deer. Level 28, and 29. Handling two at once wasn't vastly more difficult than taking down just one, but it was useful training for Kathleen to hold the attention of two targets at the same time. The Stomps and Mass Thorn Binds were disruptive, but nowhere near as damaging as the grizzly's wide swipes and chaotic thrashing, so it wasn't as stressful. And afterwards:
[ Level Up: Level 29 Reached! ]
Sara levelled up! Mirielle still wasn't there, but for the time being they were both the same level. Though hopefully not for long. After another quick rest they set back out, and found the next bear barely 100 metres away. It seemed to be already heading in their direction.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly Bear (Fighter Lvl 27) HP: 233/233 ]
It was a level lower than the previous one, but hopefully it would still be enough.
The strategy was much the same. They buffed Kathleen, who quickly built up aggro, and then they piled on the bear. The only major difference was that they had a better idea of what to expect, so the wolves were a little better at dodging the wild strikes once they pushed the bear below 50%, which eased the strain on Mirielle.
Sara tried to land some headshots with Water Jet, but was only able to pull it off in the first 'phase'. The bear's movements got too erratic once Desperation activated. She still tried to go for it a couple more times, because the slight flinch it caused gave Kathleen the perfect chance to land a Savage Blow, but no successes this time. She would need to improve her aim. And it seemed quite resistant to the Stun effect from Body Slam, and Fear effect from Howl, so the other wolves weren't able to create many openings either. They just had to push their way through it.
Thankfully Kathleen seemed to have a good instinct for not letting the bear bite her anywhere that would let Crush break a bone, so they didn't have to worry about that. It was just Sara who had been careless enough to let her leg get caught that one time.
With a defiant growl this bear finally fell over as well.
"Oh!" Mirielle exclaimed a moment later. "I levelled up!"
Sara gave her a curious look. She thought Residents couldn't see system messages, so she wasn't sure if Mirielle could just feel it somehow, or if she had used Identify on herself to check.
Regardless the wolf was suddenly hugged. "Thank you, Sara," Mirielle said earnestly.
It felt like a long time since Sara had gotten a hug, even if the size difference made it a little strange. She tried to nuzzle back against the elf, but she wasn't used to the sensation.
After a minute she crouched down to signal to her friend to get on again. There wasn't a lot more to learn without significant risk, and they had achieved their primary goal, so it was a good time to retreat.
Mirielle took the hint, and got on. Then the whole pack raced back to familiar territory, zooming past a slightly confused noble deer on the way.
* * *
Sara carried Mirielle all the way to the Nyolund border, bypassing the road workers by going through the woods, and crouched down to let her dismount. She could have carried her all the way to the hunting post, but she wanted them to have a quick conversation before the elf headed back.
"Thank you again," Mirielle said.
"You're very welcome," Sara wrote. "I appreciated your help as well. It made things a lot easier. It would be nice if you could come along when we make our serious push in there to find the boss."
"Hm... I wouldn't mind, but it would have to be when I have time off," Mirielle replied. While she had seemed a little shaky whenever combat had ended, she had apparently picked up some confidence along the way.
"I understand," Sara wrote. For the wolves it didn't matter so much since they didn't have much in the way of other obligations, but for Mirielle, and anyone else they invited they would have to keep their schedules in mind. "We can talk more about it when it becomes relevant."
"Yes." Mirielle nodded. "We finished quicker than I expected, but I think I'm going to head back now anyway. I really need a bath."
"Okay. Stay safe." Sara drew a rough smiley face after the short message.
"You too," Mirielle said with a smile before she started walking towards Komeron.
Taking a bath was probably not a bad idea for Sara either. It would give her a good opportunity to sort through her popups. She had noticed that she hadn't gotten any skill gain notifications. The bears still had skills she didn't, but she hadn't really been focused on it. Then she realised that just as Aina had predicted, she had forgotten to turn Skill Gain back on after asking for a way to turn it off.
Ah well, it's not a big deal. Desperation might be helpful, but it's not crucial to get it right away. I can just organise a hunting party if I really want it, even without Mirielle. Perhaps that'll be how I make the final push to 30.
Then it finally occurred to her that even if she got this trial approved, the raid was going to get automatically harder as she grew stronger. Probably not drastically harder, but as her skills grew, and especially after her next evolution, she would be harder to take down. Keeping the difficulty consistent would be tough. Could she pass that off as simply adjusting the trial? It wasn't like she really had much of a choice beyond trying to hold back.
And what was she going to do if she ended up looking completely different after her evolution? Perhaps she'd have to put off evolving until she came up with a solution. She didn't want to call it off after doing so much to get it going, but maybe she would be left with no choice.
I should get better at thinking things through properly. Once they're set in motion they can be hard to change.
But even if she told herself that, she was self-aware enough that she knew she would probably keep messing up. All she could really do was her best.
Varewulf Sara is gradually getting more comfortable with, and accepting of her animal side.
Sara hadn't really considered the matter before, but upon reflection it made sense that roadwork was not very exciting, even in a fantasy world. They did use a bit of earth magic to make up for the lack of heavy tools this world simply didn't have, but it was still slow, and careful work. So the boss of the northern wolves quickly lost interest in watching them proceed.
If you were to weigh Sara on a scale from patient to impatient, she would probably tip slightly towards the latter. She could be very patient about certain things that just clicked in her brain, even if they could be generally considered 'boring', or things she found fascinating or interesting in some way, or if she was getting something she wanted out of it. For most other things her mind quickly started to wander in search of other things to occupy it if left idle for too long.
She generally considered herself a good person, but she sometimes worried about how all of her actions seemed to be motivated by self-interest.
The Adventurers that had come along with the work crew seemed like they could handle most things, so the wolves hadn't had to intervene so far. They were still in the safest part of this zone, and at this pace they weren't going to finish that day. They were approaching the point where the road turned directly north, and things would become a little more dangerous from then on, but they would probably be fine.
She likely wouldn't need to personally intervene at least, but the other wolves would still keep an eye on them. They could call her if she was needed. There was still the mystery of who, and where the other Named Mob was, so it was possible something dangerous could show up, but until they reached bear territory it was unlikely there would be anything that could threaten a group that size.
It was possible the Adventurers would become too lax because of the slow pace. Hopefully they had ways to keep themselves entertained, and alert.
That being said it wasn't like she had much on her own itinerary either. A bit of quiet time was nice, but she was starting to feel restless already. Maybe she should go see what the other visitors in the forest were up to, but it was likely just gathering, hunting, or doing quests. That probably involved gathering, or hunting.
She had a look at her status screens. She was level 28 now, and while she couldn't see her exact exp values, she felt like she couldn't be far off of level 29. Considering her previous level up timings, she had to be at least past the halfway point.
Can the Wanderers see their exp count, mother?
"They can. It's part of their UI display, which isn't available to Residents. It requires being hooked up to a computer, which they, and you are not. And the ways Residents are able to check such things are not available to you. I can tell you, if you'd like," Aina offered.
It wasn't something she wanted to keep asking about regularly, but maybe just this once...
Sure. Since you're offering, I'm actually quite curious.
"Very well. You have so far gained 85 267 experience points. You will need to reach 87 900 to go up to level 29."
Wait, isn't that a lot? Almost 90 000 to go up one level? Do mobs really give that much?
"That's the total amount of experience points so far, Sara. The actual amount to get from 28 to 29 is 10 000," Aina said in a patient tone.
Oh... that still sounds like a lot.
"Evidence suggests that people who play games like seeing big numbers. After every tenth level the requirements to reach the next level scale up noticeably. The jump from 10 to 11 is significantly larger than from 9 to 10, for example. Same with 20 to 21 versus 19 to 20.
Ultimately the actual numbers are not that important, since so long as they're doing quests, dungeons, and other events appropriate for their level, they will level up at a fairly equal rate. Only the first handful of levels go by really quickly. Strong mobs also tend to be worth a lot, so if Adventurers make parties to hunt those down it will help them advance at a decent pace. Though as you have experienced yourself those battles can be seen as annoying.
While MHO does not precisely distribute experience points based on exactly how much someone contributed to a kill, or whether they get the last hit, the system will still note whether they at least hit a minimum threshold of contribution to the party's efforts to either be awarded the full experience amount, or just a reduced amount.
If someone wants to help someone else catch up to their own level, there is a setting in the party options to enable a mentor mode where 90% of the experience points a higher level Wanderer or Resident earns through combat goes to the person being mentored, though this is only available if the level gap is more than three. They tried to make it less easy to exploit, but there will always be someone who tries to get an 'unfair' advantage through such systems."
I... see...
"To be clear: I personally don't think it's unfair to make use of anything that is possible within the system, even if some would consider it an exploit. It is regrettable if it hurts other people, but I don't think unfair is an appropriate term."
Sara wasn't sure if she actually understood all of that, so she didn't know what more to say. She made a mental note (that she would probably forget) to be careful what to ask in the future, in case she got another lecture. There was one thing she couldn't resist asking:
So how much to level 30?
"Another 11 100 experience points, for a total of 99 000."
Oh, not 100 000?
"No. Even with rounding the numbers just didn't quite line up. Of course we could have arbitrarily decided it should be 100 000, but I think I like it better this way."
Sara wasn't surprised Aina thought that. Unfortunately this hadn't solved the issue of being restless, so she did what she usually did when she couldn't think of what to do: Look at her skill list. It didn't feel as pressing to improve her skills any longer, but there were a few that were close to hitting level 10, which was probably their max.
There was Arcane Blast, which she used enough that it would probably sort itself out; Death From Above, which she did actually need some setup for; Fire Element Up, which would also probably happen naturally; and Life Magic, which was guaranteed to get there sooner or later since she kept using it for all sorts of small things. Though there were some skills that went beyond level 10, and she wouldn't be surprised if Life Magic was one of them.
The thought made her glance at her old friend Erase Presence, formerly known as Stealth. If she remembered correctly, it was the first skill she had purchased. She had relied heavily on it before she had arrived in this forest, and then barely used it since. She didn't need to sneak around any longer unless she was doing something specific, but if she thought about the future it was possible she would need the skill again some day, and it might be a good idea to make it as strong as possible before then.
So that became her goal for the day. Sneak around until she got bored. Maybe do it close to the road workers, and see if any of the Adventurers noticed her.
* * *
The road work had slowed down even further as the group had reached the parts of the North Way that were in rougher shape, and harder to traverse. Most of the road from Ethuun until it turned towards the north was largely okay. Not great, but passable. It mostly needed basic maintenance, which took a while mainly because it had been so long since last time, but once they approached the bend, and went beyond it the true work began. They clearly wouldn't finish that day, but at their current speed it shouldn't take more than another day or two. Certainly much faster than she was used to back on Earth.
Sara's own inspection had shown her that there were sections of the north-going stretch that were mostly fine, but a lot of places almost looked like they had been actively damaged. Whether by accident, or with intent was hard to tell. Perhaps it was not by intent of anyone from this world, but just area designers at the development studio getting a little too eager about how rough they wanted it to look.
She had managed to get four level ups in Erase Presence across a couple of hours before she had gotten bored, and taken a nap. When she woke back up it was around noon, and the work force were having a lunch break.
Interestingly it wasn't all packed lunches. About half of the Adventurers had started cooking for the crew. According to her scouts it had started with only two of them bringing out a large pot, and starting to dump water and ingredients into it. Then several of the others had started helping out, until seven of the twelve Adventurers were involved in some way. They were either making soup, or stew.
To be fair to the rest of them there wasn't really much more room to help out without getting in the way.
Sara was tempted to get a closer look, and maybe a taste since it smelled nice, but it would probably be unseemly for the Great Guardian Beast to beg for food like a dog.
She was saved by a message that someone wanted to see her, which was probably the payment she had asked for. So while it wasn't fresh stew, it would still give her something to eat.
The one waiting for her was a familiar face. There was only one person who could show up without having Commune With Animals who would still be able to see the Guardian Beast without a problem. Both the wolves, and the ravens knew that if Mirielle showed up, they should tell Sara as soon as possible.
"Hello, Sara," Mirielle said with a smile as her friend showed up. "I have come to trade."
Sara changed into Tree Form to write a response: "Hello, Mirielle. I'm happy to see you. I thought maybe some merchant or something would show up to try to negotiate."
"They told me that they had considered it, but none of them had been confident about haggling with you, so they let me go instead." Mirielle giggled. "They did give me some notes about things to ask you."
"Let me guess," Sara wrote briefly before continuing. "They want to argue that some foods are worth more than others, and that asking for bulk weight is unreasonable."
"I didn't hear them use the word 'unreasonable', but that is the essence of it." Mirielle took out the notes she had been given to look at them again. "I think they would have been happier if they could have just delivered sacks of grain, vegetables, and fruit, but you specifically asked for cooked food, and none of them are bold enough to try to cheat you. Especially not after what happened yesterday."
"I feel bad about that," Sara wrote. "I didn't think it would be such a big deal."
"You have made yourself too valuable," Mirielle said with a hint of teasing. "Though hardly everyone in the city is convinced of your importance, so far there hasn't been anyone foolish enough to go against the word of both the Temple, and the Palace." She let out of sigh. "To be honest internally the Temple is also split on whether or not we should actually support you, even if the open stance right now is to be on your side. A statement from the Oracle would probably settle the matter, but she is supposed to only be concerned with matters of the Goddess, while the Archbishops handle the management of earthly matters, and day to day issues."
"It sounds complicated," Sara wrote.
"It isn't that complicated, really," Mirielle said. "Internal debates stay internal. The Archbishop here in Komeron recognises the alliance as beneficial to the city, but the Bishops are always allowed to voice their own thoughts. There are those who are concerned that this weakens the importance of the Temple, and gives the people another object of worship."
"I would very much prefer to not be worshipped," Sara quickly wrote. It could help her out if Norax was more widely acknowledged, but she had already told both Mirielle, and Luneria about that. Pushing the matter further would be insensitive.
Not to mention I started a cult...
"I know." Mirielle giggled. "And for the record I don't agree with them. I think our support strengthens both us, and you."
That was kinda embarrassing to hear. "May I look at those notes?" Sara wrote to change the topic back.
"Of course," Mirielle said, and handed them over.
They were pretty much things Sara expected. Arguments that meat cost more in weight than bread, and other grain-based foods, or that stuff that took longer, or needed higher cooking level to prepare should be worth more. Seafood was brought up as even more expensive than land-based meat.
Most of which were reasonable arguments, but they relied on the idea that she was overcharging in the first place. A kilo of food was like three dinners worth back in her old life. Maybe two depending on the contents. Unless she was gravely overestimating the value of her silk, she felt like one ball was worth two or three full meals, even if they were high restaurant class. She thought she was letting them off easy. Maybe they'd change their tune once they got to see it. What she could deliver now was better than what she had initially handed over.
The one point where she was willing to concede a little was pastries. Snacks were a luxury that was worth a little extra expense. Somehow she doubted this world had potato crisps, chocolate bars, ice cream, or fizzy drinks, so pastries were likely the best she could get.
Actually, I wonder if the elves have any cacao plants...
It was possible they had some sort of chocolate. It was a game designed by people from Earth, after all. Perhaps the Wanderers had recipes for junk food.
They probably had some form of beer or liquor, at least. Maybe the elves made cider from their fruit. She liked cider.
Wait... does Poison Immunity mean alcohol won't have any effect on me? It's not like I typically drink for the sake of getting drunk, but a bit of buzz would be nice... I'll have to try at some point. Maybe it's still tasty at least.
"So here are the items they sent with me to deliver," Mirielle said as she produced a bag, and Sara started moving all of the contents into her inventory. There was the food, the chalk she had asked for, and a new writing board. That had to be what Luneria had talked about. It was certainly a step up from the blackboard meant for kids to study with.
Mirielle cleared her throat. "Um... I also have a request..."
Sara had her hands full, so she could only look up at Mirielle in response. Perhaps she should reconsider trying to grow more branches that could work as arms.
"Can you help me reach level 30?" Mirielle asked. "The two times we've worked together has put me very close, but just working normally could still take weeks. My parents have always told me to be patient, but when I'm this close..."
Sara finished storing everything, and decided to put her new board to use right away.
"I don't mind, but it could be dangerous. The only things worth hunting in Nyolund are pretty strong," she wrote, and started explaining her reasoning.
The raccoons, racehogs, squirrels, woodpeckers, etc were weak, and didn't give much in terms of experience. They weren't really worth hunting for levelling purposes unless you had no choice, and a lot of patience. Some of the materials they dropped could be useful, but that was about it.
Sara felt like the critters were basically there to be decoration. To make it feel more like a real forest, and not just an area with mobs to fight. However she had no intention of mentioning that to Mirielle. Even though she had admitted to coming from another world, trying to convince her friend that Moorhold was just a game world created by a studio would be going too far.
Getting back on topic, the Stalker Jaguars were annoying to track down, and the wolves were of course not an option. Which basically just left the deer, and the bears.
Most of the deer in the eastern part of the woods were level 21-25. A few were level 26. With Mirielle at 29, they probably wouldn't give her full payout. It was still the safest viable option, it would just take some extra time. Going over to the west side would be a better option for progress.
"I... I understand," Mirielle said after Sara was done. She sounded a little nervous. She didn't seem like someone who regularly went out to hunt mobs, so that was probably understandable. "I'll go along with what you think is best."
Sara took a moment to think before writing further.
"Then maybe we can help each other out. There's a place I've wanted to get a closer look at, but I haven't found the opportunity. Having a support specialist along would be very helpful. You see, the north-west part of Nyolund is the only area where the wolves and I have no presence. That's bear territory. I want to make an incursion at some point to find out what's there, but getting some scouting information first would be beneficial."
The other boss was most certainly there, and it was possible the other Named Mob was too. Perhaps they worked together like Sara and Kathleen did, or they were in opposition, or maybe they just didn't interact.
"We'll push at it a little, and if it pushes back too hard, we'll just back off." They should still be able to find high-level deer, or maybe even a wandering bear without going too deep.
"O-okay." Mirielle nodded, but she was visibly nervous now.
"We can just do something safer," Sara offered. "No pressure."
Mirielle shook her head. "No, I'll be fine. You'll look after me, right?" She smiled.
Sara would have smiled back if her Tree Form was capable of it. "Of course," she wrote in response.
It wasn't going to be just the two of them regardless. That was way too risky. She'd get a pack of wolves together, and bring Kathleen. She had the skills to serve as a tank, and it would be better for Sara to focus on leading, and casting spells. She'd only get physical if necessary.
The only remaining problem was the lack of a party function between them. From what she had understood of Aina's explanation it should be fine so long as Mirielle's contribution was high enough, and she didn't think the Priestess was going to slack off. Things had seemed to work out fine during both the escort quest, and the raid. Though it would have still been convenient to form an official party.
Actually, there was one more problem Sara thought of. It would take Mirielle a while to walk all the way up there. She didn't have Sprint, and her Agility was probably about average for someone who lived in a city. She couldn't keep up with Sara's regular travel speed at all.
Hang on, I have an idea.
"How about I give you a ride on the way up?" she wrote.
"Huh?" Mirielle's eyes went wide. "You mean... ride on you? But..."
"It's not like you're heavy," Sara wrote. "It'll be fine."
She might be slightly smaller than a Dire Wolf, but Sara was still significantly larger than a regular wolf from Earth. Her shoulder height stood close to 1.5 metres, and she was likely at least 3 metres long even if you didn't count the tail. Mirielle was still taller, since it was common for female elves to be close to 2 metres tall, but in general Sara was significantly bigger.
"But... isn't it weird to... uh... to be like a mount?" Mirielle asked awkwardly. "I figured you wouldn't like that..."
Sara shrugged. "Since I have the ability, why not put it to use? We have a ways to go. Do you feel weird about riding me?"
"A bit..." Mirielle admitted. "It feels disrespectful, or something... but you're right. It would probably take me a while to get up to the north-west, even if I jogged."
"Then it's settled," Sara wrote. "Just don't forget to hold on tight."
Even if she was willing to carry her friend, she was not willing to wear a saddle. Not that they had one, but even if they had, she wouldn't put it on. Maybe there was some way she could use magic to help her stay on, but she couldn't think of anything at the moment.
She changed back to wolf form, and crouched down to let Mirielle climb on.
"Okay..." Mirielle was a little hesitant as she tried to figure out the best way to get on. At least she wore trousers under her robe, so pulling up the skirt didn't pose an issue, but she didn't seem used to riding, and ended up basically lying prone while grabbing Sara's fur to hold on to. Maybe eventually she'd learn to sit up more, but there was no guarantee they'd be doing this often.
"You're even softer than you look," she murmured.
Sara smiled, but sadly couldn't respond in this form. She started trotting off, making sure to slowly increase her speed so Mirielle could get used to it, and figure out just how fast her friend was comfortable going. Her fur-enhancing skills should keep it from being pulled out no matter how hard the Priestess gripped.
It wouldn't be top speed, especially since she figured it would be best to avoid using Sprint, but it was still significantly faster than any speed Mirielle could keep up for long.
* * *
They stopped on the road east of bear territory, and Sara let Mirielle down. She looked a little frazzled, but claimed she was fine. Perhaps it had gone a tad fast for her even though Sara had tried to be careful.
"Okay." Sara addressed Kathleen, and the other wolves. "We'll be pushing into bear territory a bit. It won't be a full incursion yet, we're just going to see what we can learn. If the resistance is too much, we will pull back. That being said, the primary objective is to get Mirielle to level 30, so we will be trying to take down some deer and bears while in there. No sneaking around. Got it?"
""Got it, boss!""
With the number 30 in mind, Sara had asked 30 wolves to join them. Most of them would be in reserve. While they had so far only seen bears move solo, it was possible things were different inside that area, and the extra wolves were there to hold back any additional opponents that showed up.
They had been unable to hide their movements from the ravens, who had of course insisted on coming along. Sara didn't want too many of them joining, since it might lower the odds of Mirielle getting sufficient credit, but their strength would make things safer, so she had been able to compromise on no more than five of them going along.
Sara changed into Tree Form to briefly explain things to Mirielle as well. Hopefully the lack of communication ability while fighting wouldn't be too much of a problem.
As ready as they could possibly be, the group headed in. Kathleen was in front, while the regular wolves formed a perimeter around Sara, and Mirielle.
They picked up the scent of several deer in the area as well. Basically the only thing they knew about the place was that the bears and the deer were in opposition in there. The bears had higher individual strength, but the deer had higher numbers. So it was possible they'd end up fighting more of the latter than the former, but they were trying to follow the scent towards the closest bear.
They had to push their way through one noble deer, but even a level 28 one wasn't a problem for this group, and shortly afterwards they spotted the bear. It was about the size, and shape of a small van, or perhaps SUV.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly Bear (Fighter Lvl 28) HP: 242/242 ]
Sheesh. It's just an elite, and it still has more HP than me even though I'm a boss. I mean, Kathleen has more HP than me as well, but at least she's Named. I guess that's just what tanky types are like.
There were clearly different ranks of elite mobs if both the deer, and the bears counted as them. She figured she could still take one down on her own, but it would likely be a long, and rough fight. She'd have to be really focused, and not slip up. While the bears seemed like they had a stronger focus on toughness than power, they still had a substantial amount of the latter too.
It noticed them shortly after they noticed it, and it let out a roar before charging at them without hesitation.
It isn't worried about there being so many of us, huh?
Kathleen met it head on, and to her credit was barely pushed back as they crashed into one another. She was the largest wolf in Nyolund, yet still smaller than the bear. Sara boosted her by casting Rejuvenate, Poison Enchant, Growth, and Thorn Armour, while Mirielle further helped with Blessed Shield, Soothing Light, and Fortitude. Thankfully the two HoTs stacked, though they tried to spread the buffs out a little due to cooldowns.
Kathleen used Provoke to make sure the bear stayed focused on her as the others started attacking. While Kathleen wasn't quite as solid as the Lieutenant, having Mirielle there as a proper healer eased most of Sara's worries. She was free to mostly focus on bringing the bear down, as she and the ravens were the heaviest damage dealers. The Dire Wolves carried their load too, especially as the Bleed triggers started stacking up. She wasn't sure how much extra damage they did thanks to Flanking, but every little bit helped.
It got rougher once Desperation started kicking in, and it became harder to keep the bear contained. Sara's DPS went down once she had to help more with support spells, as the thrashing was causing more damage to the other wolves as well. Even so it was definitely the right call to not go in with only Kathleen to help them, and she was glad she hadn't told the ravens to go away either. It would have been a much slower fight without them.
After a couple of minutes, which had honestly felt like longer, they had finally pushed enough damage through the grizzly's thick hide that it keeled over.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly (Fighter Lvl 28) Defeated. ]
If that's how much it takes to bring down just one of these, our raid of this area won't be easy. I should ask Gloria to come along. Another powerhouse would be valuable. And without Mirielle we might have lost a couple of the wolves. Once it started lashing out the others got caught in it too. Maybe I should request more help from the elves when the time comes. Another tank or two would be welcome, along with more support members.
She glanced over at the elf, who was breathing quite heavy. She must have burned through a lot of MP during the fight. Sara went into Tree Form so she could write.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Mirielle noticed the board, and stood up straighter. "Y-yeah, I just... it was very tense."
Sara slowly nodded, which rustled her leaves. "No level yet?"
"No," Mirielle said, and shook her head. It was probably a bit much to expect from one deer, and one bear.
"Are you fine with going for another one, or do you want us to back out?" Sara asked. She honestly felt like she had learned most of what she needed already. Finding out a fairly accurate image of the density of mobs would likely require bigger numbers, and/or her scouting with Erase Presence. And she felt pretty certain that the boss was located in the west depths, though there was no way they could push that deep without a stronger force.
"I'll be fine," Mirielle said. "Just give me a minute..."
Sara had no problem taking a small break, since they needed to recharge their MP anyway. Mirielle took the chance to have some water, and a quick snack that looked like dried fruit. Hydration was important, though Sara was curious if the snack had any buff effect, or if it was just a snack. Well, buffing the spirit could be just as important as buffing the body.
They picked up the scent of another bear, and on the way came across a duo of noble deer. Level 28, and 29. Handling two at once wasn't vastly more difficult than taking down just one, but it was useful training for Kathleen to hold the attention of two targets at the same time. The Stomps and Mass Thorn Binds were disruptive, but nowhere near as damaging as the grizzly's wide swipes and chaotic thrashing, so it wasn't as stressful. And afterwards:
[ Level Up: Level 29 Reached! ]
Sara levelled up! Mirielle still wasn't there, but for the time being they were both the same level. Though hopefully not for long. After another quick rest they set back out, and found the next bear barely 100 metres away. It seemed to be already heading in their direction.
[ Nyolund Dire Grizzly Bear (Fighter Lvl 27) HP: 233/233 ]
It was a level lower than the previous one, but hopefully it would still be enough.
The strategy was much the same. They buffed Kathleen, who quickly built up aggro, and then they piled on the bear. The only major difference was that they had a better idea of what to expect, so the wolves were a little better at dodging the wild strikes once they pushed the bear below 50%, which eased the strain on Mirielle.
Sara tried to land some headshots with Water Jet, but was only able to pull it off in the first 'phase'. The bear's movements got too erratic once Desperation activated. She still tried to go for it a couple more times, because the slight flinch it caused gave Kathleen the perfect chance to land a Savage Blow, but no successes this time. She would need to improve her aim. And it seemed quite resistant to the Stun effect from Body Slam, and Fear effect from Howl, so the other wolves weren't able to create many openings either. They just had to push their way through it.
Thankfully Kathleen seemed to have a good instinct for not letting the bear bite her anywhere that would let Crush break a bone, so they didn't have to worry about that. It was just Sara who had been careless enough to let her leg get caught that one time.
With a defiant growl this bear finally fell over as well.
"Oh!" Mirielle exclaimed a moment later. "I levelled up!"
Sara gave her a curious look. She thought Residents couldn't see system messages, so she wasn't sure if Mirielle could just feel it somehow, or if she had used Identify on herself to check.
Regardless the wolf was suddenly hugged. "Thank you, Sara," Mirielle said earnestly.
It felt like a long time since Sara had gotten a hug, even if the size difference made it a little strange. She tried to nuzzle back against the elf, but she wasn't used to the sensation.
After a minute she crouched down to signal to her friend to get on again. There wasn't a lot more to learn without significant risk, and they had achieved their primary goal, so it was a good time to retreat.
Mirielle took the hint, and got on. Then the whole pack raced back to familiar territory, zooming past a slightly confused noble deer on the way.
* * *
Sara carried Mirielle all the way to the Nyolund border, bypassing the road workers by going through the woods, and crouched down to let her dismount. She could have carried her all the way to the hunting post, but she wanted them to have a quick conversation before the elf headed back.
"Thank you again," Mirielle said.
"You're very welcome," Sara wrote. "I appreciated your help as well. It made things a lot easier. It would be nice if you could come along when we make our serious push in there to find the boss."
"Hm... I wouldn't mind, but it would have to be when I have time off," Mirielle replied. While she had seemed a little shaky whenever combat had ended, she had apparently picked up some confidence along the way.
"I understand," Sara wrote. For the wolves it didn't matter so much since they didn't have much in the way of other obligations, but for Mirielle, and anyone else they invited they would have to keep their schedules in mind. "We can talk more about it when it becomes relevant."
"Yes." Mirielle nodded. "We finished quicker than I expected, but I think I'm going to head back now anyway. I really need a bath."
"Okay. Stay safe." Sara drew a rough smiley face after the short message.
"You too," Mirielle said with a smile before she started walking towards Komeron.
Taking a bath was probably not a bad idea for Sara either. It would give her a good opportunity to sort through her popups. She had noticed that she hadn't gotten any skill gain notifications. The bears still had skills she didn't, but she hadn't really been focused on it. Then she realised that just as Aina had predicted, she had forgotten to turn Skill Gain back on after asking for a way to turn it off.
Ah well, it's not a big deal. Desperation might be helpful, but it's not crucial to get it right away. I can just organise a hunting party if I really want it, even without Mirielle. Perhaps that'll be how I make the final push to 30.
Then it finally occurred to her that even if she got this trial approved, the raid was going to get automatically harder as she grew stronger. Probably not drastically harder, but as her skills grew, and especially after her next evolution, she would be harder to take down. Keeping the difficulty consistent would be tough. Could she pass that off as simply adjusting the trial? It wasn't like she really had much of a choice beyond trying to hold back.
And what was she going to do if she ended up looking completely different after her evolution? Perhaps she'd have to put off evolving until she came up with a solution. She didn't want to call it off after doing so much to get it going, but maybe she would be left with no choice.
I should get better at thinking things through properly. Once they're set in motion they can be hard to change.
But even if she told herself that, she was self-aware enough that she knew she would probably keep messing up. All she could really do was her best.
Varewulf Sara is gradually getting more comfortable with, and accepting of her animal side.
