Alex rolled his shoulders, noting how his new armor fit a lot better, it fit well before but now it felt like it form-fitted, stayed out of his way and everything.
They were now all standing in the Rest area of the dungeon, the tent packed away in Gerald's bag as they all stood ready to continue exploring.
''Man, is it really only a few hours later?'' Alex asked, it felt like a lot longer than that.
(Two years longer.)
''Maya, had to have been my luckiest find... Now that I think about it, do I have luck finding skilled people?'' Gerald seemed to ask himself, rubbing at his chin in thought. A Ranks were rare to say the least, and to just 'find' multiple people capable of raising to A-rank, and then he just so happened to find Alex, someone with aura and mana talent, perfect memory, and smart.
''Her breakthrough in time magic is, a closely guarded secret, by the way.'' Sera suddenly said with a smile, causing Gerald to smack his forehead.
''Fuck, I forgot about that... Alex suddenly dropping his memory thing on me made me just, flabbergasted for a few days.''
Maya spoke up next. ''I don't mind Alex knowing, he doesn't seem the type to just spill secrets that easily as long as we stay on his good side. But yes, my time thing is... What helped us become A ranks.''
''Ain't that the truth, for others they only have 8 hours or so to rest, but for us? Days, weeks even. In that time we can maintain our equipment, upgrade it, re-enchant it, and many other things. Meaning that as long as we're careful, we can stay at the top of our game continuously.'' Gerald said as they began to walk, Sera humming happily as she practically skipped around Alex.
He noticed that his hair was longer by two whole inches, it didn't get in his way or anything but it was noticeably longer... Was she happy he had longer hair?
''While we're walking, Alex can you release your mana at intervals?''
''Like, water ripples?'' He wasn't sure if they'd understand if he said anything else, but that seemed to be exactly what he needed to say as Maya smiled as she turned to look slightly at him.
''Exactly! Don't put too much mana into it, just enough to get it a few feet, it's a way to train your mana as well as discreetly work as a beacon to attract a few monsters, between the eighth floor that we're on, and the 13th floor, some monsters are useful to use since they drop cores that are good for charging magical tools, the tent is nice, but it consumes a LOT of mana.''
Alex thought to his storage device, what could 'passively' pull mana into it, to charge things inside it so he decided to probe some while starting to do what she asked, doing it while walking was a bit more difficult then he realized, but he could do it.
''Could you make something that drew in ambient mana to charge things?'' Alex asked.
''They exist.'' Maya said, lifting the staff she used primarily as a walking cane.
''This staff is actually just that, it passively gathers mana, and puts it into the bracelets on my arm. Basically acting as storage devices for mana that can be used for spells, or myself.''
''Then couldn't you add something to the tent to make it passively pull in mana?'' Alex asked and Maya hummed to it.
''The enchantments on the tent are already under quite a load, any more and it would lower the efficiency of them, so no... Though, with you letting me examine your auto-building tent, I might be able to craft some soft or portable Rune formation that could quickly deploy under the tent, and act as a secondary foundation as well?''
''Write.'' Danny spoke up.
''Oh, that's right!'' Maya said as she pulled out a small journal, seeming to write it down quickly.
''What about making something that you can store stuff inside that does the same, like a bag, or storage item?''
Maya stopped dead in her tracks, making everyone else stop.
May stood there before she started to pace back and forth, rubbing at her chin.
''Why hadn't it been thought of before... Maybe it was, but it hasn't been released to the public, it wouldn't be hard with the right materials. It might not be the fastest method, but passive charging is still incredibly useful, like for the standard issue Canteen... It might mess with a mage's casting depending on the size, but for a primarily Aura user like Gerald who holds most of our storage anyway?''
''Well, there you go. Rookie, looks like it's time for you to go through the 'Maya Thought' Process.'' Sera chuckled, slapping at Alex's shoulder.
''You get to carry her while she does this... Actually, that's useful, you're like the Maya Transport cart! You might even be able to cup a feel if she's to deep in thought.'' Sera elbowed him and Gerald clicked his tongue.
''Sera, stop trying to get the rookie to try and fondle Maya.''
''Oh like you haven't thought about it?'' Sera teased only to get a grunt.
''No, I think about fondling Da-.'' Gerald stopped, his animal ears going back and to the side as he sensed the sudden sharp killing intent directed at him.
Gerald raised his hands to try and calm Danny down. ''It was just a joke, a joke.''
Alex learned a few things in that exchange, Danny wasn't all that closed off with his emotions as some might think, noting the blush on his cheeks even if they were pretty hidden behind the scarf he used as a mask when he was in full 'Let's cut people' mode.
Gerald and Danny had a more 'sensual' relationship than some might think, which was almost cute. If you were into that sort of thing.
And Maya, when she started to work something around in her head, started pacing, basically making her stationary and requiring someone to hold her.
Technically, Alex was the weakest here, but he was more than strong enough to lift her onto his shoulders.
The last thing he realized was the robe hide what the bunnykin was packing because despite her shorter stature she was a bombshell because even with her on his shoulders and her legs around his head, he could feel her breast on the top of his head.
Even as she used his head as a makeshift desk as she began to write away in her journal, leaving her staff floating beside them.
Which was cool, as it always stayed close enough for her to reach out and grab, and it also made him notice that the staff near the top came up like branches around a large gem, that as more mana gathered in it, it would start glowing.
Unsure of its capacity, but even after about an hour of walking, and Alex continuing to pulse his mana outwards, it hadn't gotten that bright.
''Stop, we got enemies.'' Sera said and the party moved into combat positions as creatures resembling slimes seemed to come around the corner.
''Slimes, be careful, switch to disposable weapons.'' Sera stated and Alex watched as Gerald pulled out a different sword than he usually used, along with pulling what seemed to be a pretty basic shield out, while Danny switched the knives he was using.
Summoning his shield and sword as well he lifted Maya off his shoulders and kept her behind him, keeping his senses sharp as he shifted from pulsing out mana to containing it.
He noticed how the slimes didn't really have a smell to them, and know that despite the 'basic fantasy trope' they usually had, slimes in this world were far more dangerous.
Their acidic bodies could degrade equipment and anything past breaking their core was pretty much useless, as even if you hacked a portion of them off, it could rejoin.
Smaller slimes were easier to deal with, their biggest problem for concern was their speed.
Oh, it rolls along the ground, how fast can it actually be? Well, the problem is in an enclosed space. They could do more than roll across the ground, some slimes could use webs to move in rapid movements like a parasite. It was almost kind of disgusting to see how it moved aggressively by rapidly filling a hallway with slimy webs that it used to not only tie adventures up but even rapidly move between them making it hell to deal with.
Some could bounce, some even glide for small periods, and there were even rumors of winged slimes, though there haven't been a confirmed species yet.
The slimes seemed to notice the group immediately and as Danny faded from sight and senses...
Actually, Alex could still sense Danny, now that he had learned a bit about shadow walking, he understood the shadows more, and in a cave like this, darkness was everywhere. Alex actually had to focus not to accidentally start shadow walking just normally, something that Danny did occasionally just for fun it seemed.
The slimes shifted, shaking their gelatinous bodies for a moment before they propelled themselves into the air, ricocheting off the ceiling and rapidly approaching them by bouncing off the walls and ceiling and floor.
''Bouncer types!'' Sera called as she drew her bow, letting an arrow fly as it sunk into the core of the nearest one, having used its bounce trajectory to pick it out of the air since it couldn't move while airborne.
As more slimes started to bounce towards them Gerald stepped forward, knowing that if they had a target it would be easier to pick them off so Aura seemed to breathe from him in a powerful wave as he snarled before releasing a low growl that turned into a provoking roar.
This seemed to pull their attention, making them want to fight him out of any of the others as they began to bounce towards Gerald.
Danny would appear only for a moment, slicing them in half and in turn getting their cores as Gerald show good footwork in stepping around slimes as they threw themselves at him as he slashed at them with his sword, seeming to coat it in a thin layer of Aura to prevent some of the acid from damaging the blade as he quickly tore through the slimes.
Seeing as none of the slimes came towards him or Maya, Alex instead shifted his sword into a wand, using it as a channel point to gather the magic in one place before he began to cast Tier 0 magics, using some of the slimes near the back as target practice.
Tier 0 Magic was weak, but it required no cast and little to no mana.
As he got more familiar with the spell, his speed at casting them got faster, and they started to hit harder until he was able to actually basically use wind blades to slap slimes out of the air, causing them to fly backward and give them more room to deal with them.
''Good continuous casting, memorize this.'' Maya suddenly said as she pointed her staff forward, as her hand touched it all the mana drained from it and entered the bracelets he could see under her robes along her wrist and most likely up her arm depending on the soft jingles he heard while she wrote while she was on his shoulders.
''Mana, be my guide and arrow. Mana arrow!'' Suddenly mana condensed forward at the tip of the staff and an arrow made of mana appear.
Alex breathed in through his nose and then release air from his mouth as he spoke, following the 'basics' of casting he knew.
''Mana, by my guide and arrow. Mana arrow!'' The same thing happened, though smaller and less damaging than Maya's as a single one of her arrows was able to pierce three slime cores, including changing direction mid-air.
Waving his wand to a point and then pointing to cast seemed... Uneffiecint so to speak so he began to wave his wand like he was conducting, not that he had any experience but he would rapidly move through his mind with spells he knew, the basic tier 0 element ones and then the ones that required chanting.
Spells would bubble from his wand, following a path like a chart of music as his spell speed explosively increased. Maya's brows went up as she watched how he cast.
Her brain worked, knowing he was able to 'perfectly' recreate spells in his memory, she applied a similar concept to her own casting.
It wasn't like she memorized every spell she learned, but there were basic ones, like the ones that he was using that she could try.
Stabbing her staff in the ground to her side she drew a wand from her waist as well and began to do the same thing he was, like a conductor as her hands moved more naturally, more fluidly as spells to began to flow like water from the tip of her wand, a burst of mana leaving her as she weaved not only offensive spells, but defensive spells, buffing spells, and other spells in this weave of spells.
The way she spoke spells started to get confusing, no longer making sense and being jumbled like she was editing her speech and hitting shuffle continuously.
Alex couldn't do what she was doing, and even her tier 0 spells were a quality difference from his own, her air blades would actually cut, and even as more and more spells poured from her wand, she was still able to keep track of them, move them as she willed.
After the slimes stopped coming and Danny began to collect the drops, Maya stared at her wand in wonder, tilting it back and forth slightly as her brain seemed to be working just that much harder.
''That was... That was really cool, what was that?'' Gerald ask while he moved to stand near them, switching his disposable weapons with his normal ones now.
''Yeah yeah, I've never seen you cast that fast Maya!''
''Alex gave me the idea, most people use staves for battle, as it allows for mana concentrated and results in stronger spell output, but when it's smaller, weaker foes... Why not use a wand? I usually only use it for enchanting, or backup if my staff's break, but then Alex began to weave spells at a speed I assume he could only do because of his memory, moving his wand in large sweeping motions and low circles like he was drawing... Hmm, you are a dangerous type of Scholar Alex.''
''Huh?''
''In the last 24 hours, you have not given not one, but three ideas that could possibly change the entirety of the magical world. Once you learn mana speak, I can only imagine how fast your spells will be.''
Alex raised a brow. ''Mana speaks, is that what you were using earlier? I stopped being able to understand you.''
''It's a mage trick to 'quicken' spell chant times at the sacrifice of some power, it's different for every mage, which makes it also a requirement to reach Tier 2 Qualification's in most Mage Schools, as it makes it hard for people to decipher your magic, which can lead to 'Mana Canceling.' Which is a death sentence for a mage who has their magic understood in a serious duel.''
''Maya's Mana Speak is incredibly hard to break through, so much so that her 'Elder' in her tower, isn't able to do it despite being known as the 'Mage Killer' for it.'' Sera added as she picked up a few arrows that could still be used.
''Are chants required?'' Alex asked, feeling silly every time he needed to.
''Some spells such as Tier 1's, and 2's don't always require them, but 3 and beyond, yes.'' Maya confirmed as she finally sheathed her wand again and put her arms up for Alex.
He watched her for a moment, sort of confused.
''You're comfortable to sit on, Gerald has heavy steps, Danny's ears get in the way, and Sera tries to touch my butt, you are now my new designated carrier.''
''See? Told you.'' Sera laughed as she watched Alex lift Maya up.
''Alex has great footwork, better than some knights I've fought, though it lacks the experience for sure, with time I'm sure he'll get a lot better with it.'' Gerald said as he dumped all the contents Danny was handing him into his bag.
''Good, we got a lot of slime materials, with this plus what we have in storage, we might be able to try that slime bed idea.'' Gerald added and Sera grinned, throwing her arms into the air.
''I call dibs!''
''Dibs my ass, we waited to get as much as we have to make sure we have enough for testing, and IF it was good enough, enough to change all our beds with it.'' Gerald stated.
''Yes, but! If it DOES work, then that means I call dibs on getting my bed changed first! Don't worry Alex, you can sleep with me when it happens, I'll make sure you are surrounded on all sides by softness.''
''Pass.'' Alex answered immediately, causing Sera to grip at her heart, wheezing out.
''Why?''
''Your too warm.'' Gerald said without missing a beat. ''The slime beds are supposed to be cool to sleep on, in theory. But you bear-kin produce a ton of body heat.''
''Either way, I call dibs on Alex first, he owes me help with equipment maintenance and petting my head to help me sleep.'' Maya said as she returned to using Alex's head to use it to write in her journal.
''This is NOT fair.'' Sera grumbled and Alex chuckled before asking.
''Does anyone care what I think?''
''You opposed to snuggling?'' Gerald asked, scratching the back of his head while they walked.
''Sorry, Beast-Kin are just cuddly types so to speak. You did ask to become a member, being a member means cuddling.''
''Ya'll just, get in big cuddle piles or something?'' Alex asked.
''Yes.'' Danny affirmed.
''Ah, yeah. Beast-Kin pride kinship, and pride 'pack' tactics so to speak, it's why we're such a good fit for each other. This little 'pack' likes cuddling.'' Sera said as she continued to skip around him.
They continued to walk for a bit before Danny spoke up.
''You didn't answer.''
''Oh, the question about cuddling? I don't mind it at all, it's actually how same-sex relationships started so to speak.''
They stopped and turned to look at Alex.
'Fuck, the history buff in me just slipped.'
''What do you mean?'' Gerald asked, a brow raised.
''In winter, some armies would gather together in large piles to provide warmth to each other, because of that closeness, some sexual tension would build up, and it escalated.''
''How do you... Feel about same-sex relationships?'' Sera asked, seeming to approach the conversation tactfully, which was weird for her of all people.
''I don't care really? I don't think I'd even be willing to take it up that ass or anything. But in the same turn, fucking a guy in the ass? I wouldn't say no, guess it just depends on the situation, how well I know the person, how sexually frustrated I am, and so on so forth.''
''See Danny? You don't get to be so defensive, looks like our newest member won't mind.'' Sera smiled, patting the bunny-kins shoulder.
''Ah is it... frowned upon?'' Alex asked.
''Heavily.'' Gerald said, a heavier tone in his voice, Alex noticing how he seemed to lay his shield arm on the thick furred tail hanging from his waist, if Alex remembered correctly, that was supposed to be his mother's tail.
''It's considered taboo... To be honest the main reason we haven't really expanded our party more is because finding someone 'okay' with it is quite difficult... We had only agreed to take you in because we originally decided that we would hide it from you... Doesn't seem like that much is needed anymore though, huh?'' Gerald chuckled a bit, scratching at his chin.
''You are... Very open-minded...'' Maya said softly above him, her legs squeezing him a bit as she seemed to almost hug him.
''I will need to introduce you to my Elder... She would enjoy your open-mindedness.'' Maya said as she returned to scratching away into her journal.
Alex just hummed softly in response, he knew why he was open-minded. Because of his love for history, come to find out it was because he was actually born at the wrong time, it was also strange in certain times for same-sex relationships, and in some, it even lead to death by hanging or other worse methods.
But Alex came from a 'modern' time so to speak, as more people became comfortable about their sexuality, more people started to embrace who they were openly. That led to him having a broader approach to the subject, while also allowing him a lot more perspectives to look from.
This, and many other small things would continue to help Alex through his growth in this world, as well as take the continent by storm.
''Wait, just to confirm, cuddle piles stay just that, right?'' Alex asked and Danny snickered, the others laughing.
''Yes, cuddle piles stay that, though I won't say we haven't had sexual encounters together before... Some creatures can release pheromones that boost hormones, but only when around others with that same pheromone attached to them, something we found out the hard way."
''So, you and Danny?''
''We are... Together, yes. But laws dictate that I must produce offspring every year. So our relationship is technically open.''
''By laws, he means his specific clan laws.'' Sera clarified and Gerald nodded.
Alex felt something there, like a... Hidden message to speak, not like they were inviting him or something, it was something darker, deeper in meaning.
Alex noticed that as they talked, Gerald hadn't stopped stroking at the tail of his Mother, how his eyes seemed distracted.
Alex enhanced senses also picked up how everyone else seemed, not exactly on guard, but careful.
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