Raid Gains

5 level ups for a full day of work is pretty damn good. A chest appears in the middle of the area, and a rumbling sound fills the air. We turn to look at the source of the noise, and the gate to the courtyard in front of the church is slowly rumbling open.

Satisfied that we’ve cleared this area and that the progress to the Raid is saved, we exit the Raid to grab the others, and so Ivy can start her job of healing both Paige and Mia. We decide as a group to re-enter the Raid, and get dropped back into the now cleared area in front of the open gate.

The huge chest is a new sight, and together, we heft the lid open to take a look inside at the loot.

First, we get both common drops: $3,000,000 all up, all of which disappears into my inventory. Being a multimillionaire is such a weird feeling.

Next in the chest, I pull out the loot from the uncommon category: a full set of Black Knight armour, helmet and all. “Aw cool!” Mia exclaims, and I grin.

“This would be perfect for Emma!” Paige comments, her voice fatigued but excited.

“I’m not sure she’s strong enough to wear this stuff. It’s pretty heavy and powerful.” I remark, feeling the weight of the set even as I pick them up.

Paige makes a disappointed noise, and I pat her on the head. “We’ll find her something better.” I promise the earth mage. She smiles and nuzzles into my hand.

I turn back to the chest, and pull out the next and last item: a chunk of Vibranium. I open up my inventory and add it to my growing collection, noting that I almost have enough to combine it into a single small ingot, which I’m extremely happy about.

Unfortunately we didn’t get any epic or legendary drops, but the huge amount of XP more than makes up for it. “We’ll leave the next segment for tomorrow. Wanna check our levels?” I ask. Mia and Belle give enthusiastic nods, with Paige and Skylar agreeing too.

Everybody who participated has risen a few levels, which I guess is another benefit of fighting enemies much more powerful than we are. Skylar is at level 96, Mia is 95, and Paige managed to get to level 85, with all of them approaching their hard level cap of 100, from the mark of love. If Mia or Skylar have a potential beyond that, we’ll soon find out.

Belle rose to level 141, which isn’t a massive increase, but still good. Ivy and I both rose 5 levels each, to level 135, which is a very nice leap in progress.

The biggest standout accomplishment of the day is that Paige and Mia both broke the 6 point barrier, which gave them each a huge boost in statpoints to go with the increase in level.

Mia and Paige, though both tired, are really proud of their growth. Mia in particular is excited to show off her new power in tomorrow’s training sessions.

They’re now both powerhouses in their own rights, with Paige having the highest strength stat of anybody in the group besides Olivia in her tetramand form, and Mia being a certified speed demon, having agility on the same level as Belle and I.

They both still have their weaknesses, but their strengths are a powerful combo.

The Raids are definitely a worthwhile investment of our time and energy. The loot, levels and collective experience fighting much tougher opponents is all incredibly helpful.

As the others head inside, Ivy and I stay behind for a moment to allocate our statpoints. 30 more points in agility is a nice boost for me. The most exciting development there is Ivy passing 200 intellect.

As she gets more and more mana, it’s becoming a better and better option to invest in the summoner class, to see if we can find any more uses for it, with buffs and more powerful plant magic being the two most obvious.

With our all our new power invested properly, Ivy and I follow the others inside. With our new normal of so many people hanging out and relaxing at once in the living room, we’ve had to get some more furniture for the massive room.

We walk into the living room just in time to see Belle walk briskly towards her room. Olivia stares after her, seeming conflicted. After a few seconds, she walks in the same direction, not saying a word to any of us.

Ivy and I exchange a look. Again, not our place.

Paige has collapsed with Skylar on one of the couches, the two of them cuddling adorably, and look like they’re already half asleep.

Mia has her head on Elsa’s lap on another couch, while the peaceful fateweaver strokes Mia’s hair gently. The look of contentment on both their faces makes my heart happy.

Lena and Emma are flicking through the channels on the huge TV, trying to find something to put on.

“How’s training going?” I ask the two of them, taking a seat with Ivy next to Paige and Skylar, giving them each a kiss on the forehead as I do.

Emma turns back to respond, but before she, Lena throws her hands up in the air and let’s out a loud groan.

“Exhausting! I dunno how y’all do it.” Lena dramatically sighs.

Emma chuckles and gives her a kiss on the forehead. “It’s tiring, but we’re making do.” She admits.

“What do y’all wanna watch?” Lena asks as she flicks through the menus, throwing the question to all of us.

Elsa leans down and whispers something into Mia’s ear.

“Elsa says Frozen.” Mia says, without opening her eyes, as Elsa blushes slightly in embarrassment.

“We watched Frozen a few days ago!” Lena protests.

“It’s a good movie!” Mia fires back, a grin on her face, her eyes still closed.

“Okay no more ideas from the Disney nerds. Any other ideas?” Emma asks.

As if struck by an idea, Lena draws in breath to speak.

“Don’t say Jurassic Park. That movie is not aspirational.” Emma cuts her off.

“Theme park with giant monsters! How is it not?” Lena argues back.

“How about ‘Barbie And The Diamond Castle’?” I ask, looking up from my phone, having searched for a list of the Barbie movies.

“Slay, Barbie And The Diamond Castle.” Emma says, grabbing the remote from Lena, who whines in protest. Emma silences her with a kiss, and Lena giggles happily.

Without another word, Emma puts the movie on and pulls Lena into a cuddle.

I nuzzle into Ivy as we settle in to watch the movie. She gives me a kiss on the cheek and I smile happily, calming down from all the fighting we’ve done. We’ll all shower after we’ve rested a bit, but for now, it’s cuddle time.

Elsa nudges Mia as the movie starts, and Mia opens her eyes. She props her head up on Elsa’s chest, snuggling with her happily.

Elsa absently massages her thumb over Mia’s arm, and Mia tightens her arm around Elsa slightly.

Elsa returns to softly stroking her fingers through Mia’s hair, and Mia lets out a peaceful sigh.

The two of them don’t get to spend much time together, because Mia’s always training with us and Elsa can’t come along, but they always make time to spend together in the evenings, after training is done.

The usually so talkative Mia, often falls peacefully silent around Elsa. The two of them seem to be happy to just enjoy each other’s company.

They stay like that for the entire movie, only moving when it’s time to shower and have dinner. I find myself hoping that their bond is going where I think it is.