The party returns to the Inn triumphant that night. They might not have gotten all the shopping they wanted completed, but the day was even better for it. The level up has everyone in great spirits. Even Char got a level up today. Being a few levels ahead of her party members, the changes came more slowly, being higher level than most of the monsters gives a bit less experience every fight.
"Chef, can we get cake baked for tonight? Two members hit level 50." Cain calls into the kitchen.
"The Puppet Master and the Cleric? Sure, I can theme a cake around that. It'll be ready after dinner, dear."
"And do you know where we might find a hot spring, or public bath? It's become a party ritual of sorts to help relax." Misha adds hopefully.
"There's a public hot spring in the north side of the village. If you don't have a bathing suit they sell them near the entrance, no full nudity in the public pool. I know how frisky young folk can get." The chef chuckles.
Elmira doesn't understand the appeal of a hot springs, but comes along willingly anyhow, not wanting to be separated from her new friends. Once they get to the springs though, with the steam rising and air currents to float in, she's in paradise. Her wings barely need to work and she's still floating around in the warm, damp air.
The pixie is a bit concerned about actuality getting in the water, as she can't swim and doesn't know how her wings will do if wet, but eventually decides that using Mythryll is a step ladder is a good compromise. The elf lowers her shoulders just below the water, and Elmira climbs down her hair to settle into the shallow water on top of Mythryll's collar bone.
She discovers that her wings indeed won't work well in the water, but a quick flap once they're clear and she can skim across the top. Plans are made to teach her to swim another day, but now they're all just enjoying a good soak along with a handful of amused Elves.
Conversation in the hot springs turns to the news from the next city, a 2 day walk away. It seems they have an Ogre problem. Enough of one that they're offering a pretty substantial quest reward to any transfer willing to help. They've been at war with a nearby Ogre camp for most of a year, stuck in a stalemate.
The group all talks it over and decides to head up in a couple days. They want to get a few more items from this dungeon first. It has dropped some crafting recipes, but only one of them epic, a set of cloth gloves. Misha is hoping to get a few more in elven fashions, and some levels for Elmira and Mythryll who are a few levels behind. With each level taking much more experience than the one before it, getting them nearly caught up shouldn't be too much of a problem.
"Doesn't it take weeks to get every level once you're near level 50 though?" Elmira asks and the others share a conspiratorial glance.
"There's a trick to speed it up a little. We will show you next time we're in the dungeon." Cain assures the pixie.
While they head back to the hotel, Cain thinks about the sight their mismatched group must present to everyone else. A Spirit Folk Shaman in furs and natural leather, a Cleric in her white robes, an Elven mage in an elegant icy white ball gown and cloak with a pixie on her shoulder and a large human man in black leather pants and boots with a black leather jacket. In his old life it would look like the crowd at a cosplay convention. But here, only the fact they have humans among them draws attention.
The kitchen made good on their promise to bake a cake. The dining hall is decorated with 'Happy 50', there's a three tier cake with figures in their likeness on the top, and a whole room full of Elves waiting to congratulate them. after level 50 you're higher level than most of the monsters in the surrounding forest as well as the dungeon.
Cain suspects they're just bored and need a reason to celebrate, but any excuse for cake is a good excuse, according to Misha. They end up drinking and dancing until the small hours of the morning. Even the normally straight laced Char is in full party mode.
"So what's the secret technique?" Elmira asks the next afternoon when they reach the dungeon.
"Not a technique, we've got a hidden experience bonus that's a really big secret though. We couldn't mention it in public at the hot springs. But you should get a level or maybe two every day." Mythryll explains to the pixie in Cain's pocket.
It's become her favorite spot to fight from. It's like a tutorial, Elmira decides. Being in the pocket takes you where you need to be safely, and the bow literally makes arrows pointing at what you're supposed to attack. It's much more relaxing than being chased around the forest all those years.
If only the pocket didn't have a zipper. It scratches and it tries to bend her wings when she gets in.
"Do you have a clean handkerchief I could borrow?" Elmira asks and Misha pulls out a bit of cloth.
"It might be a bit big for you though," the Healer giggles looking at the cloth in the Pixies hand.
"Nope, just right." She declares, pinning it at the top and pulling it around and under herself to hang over the bottom of her chosen nest, fully blocking the zippers of the pocket.
"It's like fighting from bed!" Mythryll cheers. "Just fold it a couple times and it'll be like a pillow to lean forward on."
Adjustments are made and soon the Pixie has a suitably comfortable nest with minimal chance of bending a wing trying to enter. Cain just resigns himself to removing the coat every day instead of unequipping it, as that would remove the carefully built nest.