When Elo woke up, he still felt tired. He and his team had talked until deep into the night. They had discussed what they should do with the newcomers.
In the end, they concluded that they are allowed to stay on the clearing to increase their numbers. If one of them was a good fighter, he would be allowed to join the team.
When Elo stepped out of his hut, he suddenly became confused. He saw the other team sleeping around the fireplace, but that was not that surprising, because the nights had become colder.
What did surprise him, though, was that the fire was still burning. Someone must have supplied the flames with wood while the others were sleeping, but right now, all four of them laid in the dirt.
When they heard the door, the all waked up simultaneously. It seemed like they were still scared because of their encounter with Ella.
When the two teams had gathered around the burning fire, Elo started talking.
"We have decided that you can stay here, as long as you don't make any trouble. After breakfast, we will be gone until night. During this time, you should construct your own houses. If you need something from us, we can trade."
When he heard these words, the other team's leader fell on his knees.
"Thank you; the houses will be constructed when you come back. We will not bother you any longer. Apropos, my name is William."
William knew that trade could not happen unless there were other people. Because this was the only settlement he had seen so far, he wanted to live here at any cost. That was the only way to rebuild his family's famous business in this new world.
Before Elo could say anything, William turned around and rushed away, followed by his two male companions. Only a small boy stayed, he looked at Elo shyly.
"Hm, when I go away, the fire will stop burning. Do you need me?"
Elo's interest was aroused, he had already been curious about the fire, and the boy's words only strengthened his curiosity.
"Why would the fire stop burning when you are not here?"
The boy seemed to gather his strength before he answered.
"I'm a magician, and I created that fire. The fire can only burn as long as I am here."
When Elo heard that, he became excited. He had never seen a magician before. He wanted to know if the small kid had any battle capabilities.
"Can you do something else? Or is lighting a fire the only thing you can do?"
When Elo asked that question, the kid looked at his feet.
"I can theoretically do anything with fire, but something big would drain my mama in an instant. That's why I have only used small flames so far.
I only have 3 points in Magic."
Elo was very curious about the magic system in this new world.
"If you want, you can join us. If you do, you will be able to become as powerful as my other comrades. We will be back at night, so I will ask you again tomorrow. For now, please stay here until we have cooked our meal."
When the boy heard that he could become as strong as the madwoman, his eyes lit up.
"Ok, thank you, I will think about it."
While Elo's team was eating, the small boy sat on the dirt near the fire. Until the others had eaten their meals, he didn't say anything.
When Elo and his team stud up, the small boy spoke again.
"I want to join you. My name is Lars."
While Lars ran off as fast as he could, Elo looked at him, amused. When he had left, Lara looked at Elo, annoyed.
"Why do you want to bring a kid into the dungeon. He is far to young to be a good fighter, and he will just hold us back."
While Elo started walking in the dungeon's direction, he answered.
"Yes, I know that he's a child, but he is also a fire magician. He can just sit behind us and throw fireballs at the enemies.
And we will know tomorrow rather, he is good or not."
Lara didn't answer, and until they were in front of the dungeon's entrance, nobody talked about it again.
When they reached the dungeon, they could already hear the squeaks of the rats. Elo turned around with a big grin on his face.
"It seems like the rats do respawn. That means unlimited soul stones for us!"
When they entered the dungeon, it was just like before. The rats had to line up, and the humans could slaughter them. The only difference was that this time, the humans had even become more powerful.
They had to kill 40 rats to reach the big chamber of the Hell Rat again.
But this time, they knew what was coming. That's why they stopped about 100m (328'1") to level up.
Elo currently had 47 soul gems, but he gave 20 stones to Ella and 20 to Gorden.
"You are our damage dealer and our tank, so you will have to level up first. As soon as we have enough gems, you will get them to level up too."
He pointed at Lara. "By the way, what kind of build are you aiming for?"
When Elo looked at Lara, she suddenly blushed a little bit.
"I always wanted to become a hunter back on earth. I will most likely put more points into Stealth and get more hunter skills."
When she saw that Elo was looking at her sceptically, she became a little bit sad.
"I understand when you don't want to waste the team's resources for something like this, but I hope I can be part of this team anyways."
When Gorden stepped to here side to speak up for here, Elo had to smile.
"Don't worry; I will not kick you out of the team just because you don't want to be a fighter. We will need many things in the future; I am sure there will be something for you too."
When they heard his words, Lara and Gorden sighed in relief.
"But now, we need to level up and fight the fat rat in its cave."