New Loot

After we’ve rested for an hour and recovered our stamina, we go back into the dungeon, going through it a second time. The boss in the tier 4 version is back to giving the same number of XP as the tier 3 version was. The extra 5 points in intellect means my mana bar is now up to 224 maximum, and I’m getting ever closer to my goal of 50 intellect. I’m not sure what to work on next, but that’s a question for when I get there.

Even though the boss gives the same high number of XP, the regular skeletons are still giving 25XP instead of 50 like when we first fought them. I guess Gaia is trying to slowly scale down the number of experience points I get in relation to the effort I put in? That would make sense, I’ve levelled pretty quickly so far and I can’t always expect to level this well. Skylar performs well once again, and we manage to get to the boss with relative ease.

Curiosity gets the better of me, and paying closer attention to how the Overlord moves, it does look like the boss is more fluid and less janky in it’s movements. Maybe its skillset is slightly better to compensate for the similar level? It doesn’t pull out any moves that we haven’t seen before, so I can’t be sure on that one. We manage to beat it again, thankfully with Skylar not getting injured any further.

“Thank Gaia!” Mia says, collapsing on the hard floor of the dungeon. I grin at that, and take the opportunity to rest myself. Skylar sits down, looking weary despite her hardened expression. “Hey, you both gained a level!” I realise, after looking into the group interface on a whim. “Really? Cool!” Mia exclaims. “Oh nice.” Skylar says, in a tired voice.

We rest for a few minutes, before I stand up and gather the loot. I don’t look at what it is yet, but I can tell that there’s something new among the loot that dropped. I’m both happy and slightly terrified at that. I really don’t want that necromancy book.

After I’ve gathered all the loot and split the money evenly with Skylar, we walk back to Mia’s house and rest for a while there. Mia gets us some snacks and we eat heartily. I check the loot in my inventory and pull out the new item that dropped. “Something new dropped.” I explain to the both of them, observing the item happily as I realise what it is.

I’m not super keen on the name of the kinslayer attribute, but all 3 enchantments make this axe a far superior weapon to my current knife. The lightness enchantment slightly annoys me, because even though it’s supposedly lighter than it should be without the enchantment, it’s still pretty weighty, and I doubt I could really use it effectively with my current level of strength. I show it to Skylar and Mia, reading the description of the weapon and the attribute descriptions.

“Would either of you particularly want this?” I ask them both. “Nope, axes aren’t my style.” Skylar responds. “Nah, I’m not very good with weapons. I’d rather use my magic.” Mia says. “Sweet, because I really want to keep this and use it myself. I don’t think I could use it effectively at the moment, but if I raise my strength a little more, I should be able to at least try to make use of it.” I grin.

Skylar doesn’t stay for too long afterwards, resting with us for an hour afterwards heading off home. “Be safe.” I tell her. She gives me a small but genuine and appreciative smile. “I will be. Thank you for the training, for splitting the loot with me, and for worrying about me.” She says, before walking out the door and closing it behind her.

“She’s warming up to us.” Mia comments, once she’s sure that Skylar is out of earshot. “It really kind of sounds like she hasn’t had many friends.” I voice my thoughts. “She said she wasn’t allowed to play video games. I wonder if her parents are very strict?” She asks. “They could be. Could be just a slightly odd rule, I’m not sure, I just know that I want to know her better than I do. I get the feeling that she’s had some rough experiences.” I say.

“You just want to fuck her. Also, saviour complex.” Mia teases, and I snort. “Look, I’m not denying the first one, but I do not have a saviour complex. I sense a kindred spirit, I guess.” I reply. “Well aren’t you a fancy pants little princess who uses big words?” She keeps up the teasing. “Shut it!” I laugh.

Mia and I snuggle for a while longer before Mia gets up to make dinner, making sure to let me know that she would make me help if the meal she had planned wasn’t a simple one. Half an hour later, we sit down at the table for some pasta. Our conversation during dinner isn’t particularly interesting, which is amazing in and of itself. Being able to have dinner and hang out so casually and comfortably with a woman I love is really a blessing.