"I'll catch up soon enough!" Cassy declared that she had a little competitive spirit burning within her. "I just need a few goblins, and I'll level up too, for sure!"
"..."
Aster felt left behind by the two. He just reached level 3 that day, and the two beside him were already at around level 4. He was becoming concerned that the two would leave him in the dust at this rate!
"If only the Dire Wolf gave experience after hunting it down..." He lanted.
Supposedly, boss monsters like the Field Boss Dire Wolf give ample experience, sotis enough to reach a level up in one go, even! However, on both occurrences of him killing the boss—though the second one was a little weird since it wasn't him who willed to "kill" it—it was still a fact that it was his ability that finished the wolf off.
'Does killing beings with my Magic Carved Seal not count as hunting them?' He started to think.
Well, his guess was close to the truth, but it was sothing he'd be discovering way later.
After a short rest, the trio continued on their long journey. Kali was moving around ahead of the two, with Cassy keeping beside Aster, making sure that no loose goblin attacked him with an arrow or sothing.
Of course, with Kali rising a level, the entire ti in the forest was peaceful. Not even a single goblin entered their sight—alive, that is. Corpses littered the forest floor, showing how hundreds of goblins already died at "soone's" hands.
Having a powerful ally really is reassuring, but it felt a little envious, as she was basically hogging all the EXP.
The forest terrain was complicated, so Aster couldn't run as fast as he did in the grasslands. He had to be careful of roots, soft soil, sharp rocks, vines, and branches. As such, his pace dropped to less than half of before, causing them to cover roughly the sa distance on the open fields in over three hours instead.
During that period, they took about four short rests to let Kali catch her breath. While she was resting, it was Cassy's turn to move around and kill any stray goblins. But Kali's rampage was too widespread, making it hard to even find one alive in the imdiate vicinity.
They broke out of the Barrier Forest and entered another open field area, but this ti, not only slis but wolves also wandered around.
"From here, we'll be moving close to each other," Kali explained while watching the surroundings. "Stupid rabbit, you keep watch over the left. Leave the right side to ."
"Got it... and stop calling stupid all the ti!"
"I'm just stating the obvious. If you hate it, then stop acting like an idiot."
Although they were quarreling, Aster could tell that there was no bad blood between them, at least. It was closer to friendly teasing or banter than a full-blown dispute. Still, having two girls fight with him in the middle—both more powerful than him—is bad for the heart.
"...!"
Kali's and Cassy's ears twitched at the sa instant, notifying them that monsters were approaching.
"Wolves! Twenty!" Cassy announced their numbers imdiately. "Coming from our Twelve, Seven, and Four!"
"Wolves...!"
Aster felt a little worried. After all, it was their first ti encountering such an enemy. Furthermore, in a pincer attack from quite a large pack at that! He tried looking around but couldn't see any signs of the enemies in the tall grasses around him.
"They're coming!"
"I know! Weakling, you just stand still and don't move!"
"...!"
Right as Kali finished talking, the grass a short distance behind them started to move. Now, even Aster was aware that "sothing" was crawling through the tall grass and approaching them at a rapid pace!
"I hate mutts!" Kali exclaid as she dipped down and rushed toward the tall grasses.
*SLASH!* *WHINE!*
And in one swift motion, she dispatched two wolves with one swipe. There were still a few remaining, so she didn't stop moving, trying to intercept the wolves who tried to ignore her first and stabbing the base of their necks.
"That's three...!"
While Kali was fighting aggressively, Cassy was doing the complete opposite. She was keeping the wolves jumping at her in check with her powerful kicks, making sure that Aster stayed safe behind her.
*THUD!* *CRACK!*
Of course, her kick wasn't as "harmless" as it seed, as each flick of her leg had enough power to cave in the enemy's ribcage. She kicked the wolves, and they were no longer able to stand back up.
'Chance...!'
Aster didn't miss the opportunity and moved a little, using his pistol to deliver the last hit on the dying wolves around Cassy. Although it was a little unsightly, basically kill-stealing (KS) in RPG terms, this was real life. Nobody knows what could happen if they left those wolves alive... They could even bite Cassy's ankle when she's not paying attention! As such, his actions were praiseworthy.
Still, he had limited bullets, so he didn't plan to kill all, just those who landed near Cassy. He wasn't so thick-faced he'd KS all those she incapacitated!
After a while, Kali finished the wolves on her side and quickly turned around and rushed at the ones up front, who were only keeping watch vigilantly and not attacking. That group had the alpha, who was giving orders to the rest!
"DIE!"
Kali was, of course, unstoppable. She made quick work of the wolves in under a minute. Just as Cassy was finishing off the last few, she just kicked, snapping their necks. A bright flash of light wrapped her body for a brief instant.
Aster turned to her and smiled. "Congrats, Cassy." He greeted her in advance.
"Yes! I've reached level 4 too!"
With this, there are two level 4s in their party and one level 3... Aster was starting to lose confidence.
'No, this is just the start! I'm sure I can still catch up to them!'
The higher the level, the harder it is to level up. They might be ahead of him by one level, but sooner or later, this gap will be shortened! At least, that's what he hoped.
From that point on, they moved at a snail's pace until the ti reached near midnight. Unlike the dwarf shopkeeper's prediction, they didn't even make it halfway through before then.
"Let's camp here."
Kali declared as they approached a clearing in the middle of the field. They had clear visibility for at least a hundred ters, giving them enough ti to react even if there was a surprise monster attack.
"Let's just hope that the field boss doesn't appear." Kali sighed under her breath.
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