Although the pain decreased quite fast thanks to Lana, Jake had to stop that harsh training several times. He used Mana Blade to split the slimes in half during those breaks.
Jake thought it would take a few hours, but Fire Resistance reached level four in just one. At the same time, Lana's healing skill reached level seven, and now she could heal five points of health per second. At first, Jake thought the effects of Fire Resistance were pretty small, but against the Fire Slimes, they will be enough to cancel their damage once they reach the level twelve. If compared to the slimes, level one Fire Resistance level five would be enough, but things changed since the first time Jake and the others saw them.
Fire Slime Lv 04
Health: 27/27
Mana: 27/27
Stamina: 27/27
For some reason, they grew stronger. Jake's first explanation was the fact that they themselves had gotten stronger and the game adjusted the difficulty for that reason. However, that wouldn't explain why they weren't seeing new players appearing on the map or why they found several veteran groups challenging the dungeon two days ago.
"We can always ask Luke for an explanation," Lana said.
That seemed obvious, but Jake's pride made him feel like he should discover the reason why by himself. In any case, if the game was really adapting to the level of players, then just grinding wouldn't solve the problem. Jake and the others will need more than raw strength to clean the dungeon. They will need a good plan as well.
In any case, things were progressing quite fast. At that rate, Jake was confident that he could make Fire Resistance reach level ten before the end of the mission, and they will have some time to challenge the slimes. However, Jake couldn't help but feel annoyed whenever he looked behind.
Only Jake had to stay up to get hit by the Fireballs. Meanwhile, Lana and Louise were sitting on the ground and using their magic. In fact, Lana had the nerve to lay down and yawn while she was healing him.
"What? This was your idea, remember?" Lana said.
"... At least try to improve your aim with Wind Ball," Jake said.
"I am trying…" Lana said.
Lana was really trying, but the lack of progress made Jake think that she wasn't. In any case, since they were doing their job well, Jake couldn't complain.
"Jake, how old are you?" Louise asked.
"You can't ask a man's age like that," Jake frowned. "That is a delicate topic."
"What kind of nonsense are you spouting…" Lana said. "If you don't want to answer, then just say it clearly."
"Nah, that would be boring," Jake said.
"I am twenty-six," Louise said. "How about you, Lana?"
"I am twenty," Lana replied.
"Now it is your turn, Jake," Louise said.
"Is that so? Let's see… twenty-six plus twenty and divided by two," Jake said. "Then, I am twenty three."
"Then… this guy is seriously something else," Lana said after a long sigh. "He is probably seventeen or perhaps even younger, only someone at that age would act like this."
Jake decided to ignore that comment, even though he never had much of a youth. In any case, the plan to grind some levels worked surprisingly well, to the point where now Jake could take five fire slimes with no issues. That being said, they had to change areas if they wanted to make things stay that efficient. Otherwise, either Jake will have to stop leveling his Resistance, or Louise will have to stop attacking.
"Let's move toward dungeon and see if we can defeat those slimes that spawn at that rate," Jake said.
"Finally, I have been waiting for this," Lana said as she got up and the cleaned her clothes.
It took a while for them to reach the dungeon, but since they never stopped fighting the slimes along the way, that couldn't be considered a waste of time. Still, it seemed that it had been a while since a party tried to clear the dungeon. Jake assumed that because the entire mountain was filled with Fire Slimes.
"I guess this will do," Jake said and then unsheathed his weapon. "Let's fight them all out and then we can focus on the grinding."
Louise and Lana nodded. Now it was time to play seriously… Jake had built up quite a bit of stress since he didn't slay many slimes in the past few hours, but once he dashed toward them, he killed the slimes like they were ants. Thanks to that massive hunting speed, some drops finally began to appear. Luke said that critical hits that kill monsters give players more chances to obtain loot. Still, it seemed that only applied to physical skills since Louise didn't make a single item appear.
Class: Squire Lv 03/--/--
Race: --/--/--
Fame: 410
Health: 63/73 (0, 0320)
Mana: 22/63 (0, 0320)
Stamina: 11/62 (0,0320)
Strength: 25
Dexterity: 06
Speed: 15
Intelligence: 06
Endurance: 11+ 01
Control: 05
Mentality: 07
Luck: 03
Recovery: 21
Willpower: 09
Coins: 2822
Status: 00
Skill List
Active Physical Skills: Bash Lv 03, Dash Lv 01, Mana Blade Lv 02
Passive Physical Skills: Hyper Body Lv 05, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, ????, Pain Resistance Lv 02 Bronze Skin Lv 01, Swordsmanship Lv 04, Concentration Lv 01, Lesser Vampirism Lv 03, Improved Recovery Lv 02,
Spells: Analysis Lv 01, Appraisal Lv 04, Barrier Lv 01, Stealth Lv 01
Support Spells: Fire Resistance Lv 04, Earth Resistance Lv 01