Elmo didn't really know what he had expected. Regardless of whatever it had been, it certainly wasn't this. Definitely not this.
Jonas had apparently sohow convinced the leaders of the village that there was sothing coming towards the village, if not that it was goblins, and they needed everyone in the village to stay in once place, so as to reduce the chances of those who wouldn't be able to fight from getting killed.
Elmo only found this out when he was helping prepare dinner. Then partway through it, both the cook and Elmo were told to stop what they were doing, maybe bring the stew that the person telling them this could sll, and move over to another building, that was more secure than the one they were in. Elmo suspected that most of the buildings in the village didn't have a basent, or as they called it, a 'cellar.' As the building they were moved into had a cellar that everyone was being directed into.
When they brought the stew with them, the guy had to get four of the stronger young n in the village to carry it, given how much liquid was in it. Although, when they arrived, everyone seed happy about the stew being present. Elmo had the feeling that everyone who had been brought over here hadn't been able to get sothing to eat before they had to co.
In all, he didn't mind helping fill bowls of the stew so everyone could have sothing to eat. He especially found it relaxing to have sothing to do rather than wonder what was going on. Even though he was sure that he'd be pulled into helping with the fighting if it broke out that night.
Elin seed to be at a loss for what to do, since everyone had lined up to get a bowl of the stew, so there wasn't any need for her to do the job of a waitress that she'd beco accustod to doing. Elmo briefly wondered what she'd do if she had ended up in a situation like this completely on her own. Would she have been able to do so well if she hadn't had anyone to help direct her?
He wondered if he should talk with her about that, since if she really was the daughter of a noble, circumstances would likely arise for her that would land her in essentially the sa kind of situations. At least if she did inherit her father's title and lands, though Elmo wasn't sure what that situation for Elin was.
Although, he doubted that he'd be able to offer much. After all, what little he knew was what he'd co across online, and he knew even that had to generally be taken with a grain of salt. After all, he'd found a lot of misinformation on reputable news sites that looked authentic at first, but later was revealed to be inaccurate.
Yet, as the evening went on, Jonas and Kim finally returned. The only one of their group not with them was Sonya. Or he assud she wasn't present. After all, since he had no idea what shapes she could change into, aside from the bird she'd turned into when they fought the troll, she could easily be present and he wouldn't know.
Once everyone had a bowl of stew, Elmo was finally able to get one himself. Not that he had ti to enjoy it, as that's about when Jonas pulled him to the side.
"We can't be sure they'll attack tonight, but if they do, we're going to need soone keeping watch at all tis. So, I was thinking that you could take the first watch from our group, then I'll take the second, Kim would have the third, and maybe Elin will get the last watch," Jonas said.
"Uh, how long will the watch be?" Elmo asked, not sure how to tell the ti, even now that they weren't in the dungeon. After all, he had noticed the village didn't have a clock or anything.
"We're not going to be the only ones on watch," Jonas explained. "There'll be others in the village who'll be keeping watch as well. When they leave to get replaced is about when we'll change. However, once they have their replacents co in, then we'll change. That way we'll always have soone to send out an alarm if the goblins attack."
Elmo couldn't help but yawn. "Why do I have to take the first watch?" Elmo asked, wishing he could get so sleep first.
"Because that's the order we had when we set up our watches back when we had those skeletons attack us on our first night," ca the answer.
Elmo scowled at Jonas. While he understood the reason, he didn't like it. It was just too... basic. Almost like he decided the order based on how they'd had it before, just so he wouldn't have to think about it.
Not that he could argue with it. After all, he couldn't think of any reason to argue against it. Especially since if he took the first watch, then he wouldn't have to worry about getting woken up when he was nice and comfortable, and maybe even having a really nice dream, just to get woken up for sothing as boring as a watch.
What he mostly hoped for was that whatever attack there was, it wouldn't happen while he was having a nice dream. Even though he knew it would be important to start fighting in that case, he still wouldn't like getting taken out of a nice dream into the nightmare of a battle.
Although, there was still ti to relax before they should go to bed or start their watch, so Elmo sought out Elin. Soone who he felt would share his opinions on how much of a nightmare this would be.
"Did Jonas tell you about the shifts for keeping watch?" Elmo asked Elin as he approached her. She was currently sitting next to Heather with both perched on a small barrel that was by the wall across from the only set of stairs that led out of the basent.
"Yeah, he ntioned it," Elin answered.
"I'm not sure he thought I'd be good to stand watch," Heather comnted.
"Uh, I doubt he even thought about it," Elmo replied. "I think he just went with how we had set up the watches on our first night in the dungeon and didn't think about how you and Sonya are part of our group now."
Heather nodded. "Maybe, but whether he did or not, I'm still not taking a watch and unless she's up there now, Sonya isn't either," Heather said, sounding a little dispirited.
"Even if that's true, think of it this way," Elin said. "Unless you can fight, then you should save your strength and be ready to help heal any wounds that might happen if a fight does break out. I an, the more rest you have, the stronger I'm sure you'll be when it cos ti to use your system to help."
Heather nodded and gave Elin a smile. "Thanks, but I'm not sure how much I'll be of use during actual combat," she replied. "I an, I can only heal when actually touching the person. Unless it's a big spell that heals several at once, but even then it costs a lot more MP than healing them one at a ti."
Elmo nodded. "I guess that's kind of to be expected when doing sothing like that," he remarked. "More MP for a greater range and healing more people at once. Not sure how good of a tradeoff it'd be, but at least I can understand it."
Heather nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right. Though, I worry that using the extra MP, even if it's to heal more faster, will cost us more than we can afford," Heather confided.
"What if we combine our efforts with healing?" Elin asked. "I an, I could focus solely on healing and buffing those in the front and you can use your mass healing spells if it's clear my efforts aren't enough. Then once I'm out of MP, we switch places. That way you can be more effective."
Heather shook her head. "I don't know about that. All I have are healing spells. Maybe you should focus on buffing and I can focus on healing. That way our abilities are used to the greatest potential," Heather answered. "After all, you can also cast offensive spells, which would also make you able to attack once you have buffed everyone."
"We could also look at having a healer in reserve, in the even the goblins find a way to create another entrance to here," Elmo interjected.
"What do you an?" Elin asked, sounding confused.
Elmo smiled patiently. "Well, if they see that the only way down here is through the stairway, they could send goblins to keep our attention there while they dig down here, like through the wall, after digging a deep enough hole next to the building.," Elmo explained.
"Yeah, that would be-" Heather started to say, but was cut off by a sudden commotion.
"Uh, I think they're calling those who are on the first watch to their positions," Elin said.
Elmo sighed. "I guess that ans I have to go," he said. "Hopefully we can continue this conversation later. With out the goblins attacking."
"Hopefully," Elin agreed and Heather nodded, smiling.
Elmo smiled back before turning and heading to learn where he was going to keep watch at.
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