Dinner could have been more uneventful. Once people had their food, they went back to work. Even Lea helped while cleaning up, and it was surprising for Emily to see. She had never seen Lea take the initiative to work before.
But then again, she had not known Lea for long enough to know what was normal and what was not normal.
"This is not normal. Lea is cleaning up? I have a bad feeling about it."
Sara sounded scared, and that validated Emily's feelings. She did not look forward to what was coming next.
"Alright, now that we have eaten up, it's time to get your last sample. Then, you can start heading back to the base."
Patricia informed the trio, and she stood up. She sounded a little excited, and even Lea had a skip in her steps. They both looked eager to get this last mineral.
Emily had seen the list of ingredients they needed. It was the 'pink mineral' and the last ingredient of the rift potion. But as far as Emily remembered, none of her books had told her where to find this mineral.
It was said that it was not rare, but it was difficult to track down. And that was why rift potions were so expensive for normal people.
"So, where will we get this 'pink stone' from? Huh? Why are you looking at me? What did I do? You are scaring me, so stop."
Emily held her hands out, and she had a bad feeling about what would happen next. Lea's smile did not invoke confidence in Emily's heart.
"Aww, don't worry. I am sure that you will do great. You have super strength and reflexes, after all. You will be the perfect distraction for us."
Lea's words sounded sure, but they still did not tell Emily what she needed to do. But Sara's pity-filled looks let Lea know it would not be a fun time for her. She was in for a ride, and she would have to endure it.
"I-Is it too late to back out now?"
Lea asked while looking at the eager faces in front of her. She had a feeling that backing away would be her best choice here.
"Back out? You want to back out? No way! I volunteered you, so you need to do your next. It is a matter of your pride."
Lea explained, causing Emily to choke on thin air.
"My pride? Why is this a matter of my pride when you throw me under the bus? This should be your problem, not mine and…"
"Shhh, we are here. Keep your voice down from here, or you will alert the predator."
Patricia explained while clamping a hand around Emily's mouth. That large and rough hand muffled Emily's mouth, and she tried to bite it out of habit. It did not work, and Emily felt a little embarrassed.
Her tongue had licked against Patricia's hand, but the elder had not even flinched at that sensation. Finally, Emily managed to break free of Patricia's hold and breathe a sigh of relief.
"What the hell is going on here? Sheesh, you almost killed me by suffocation."
Emily complained, and Sara finally took pity on her. Looking at Emily was like looking at her past self. But unlike Sara, Emily had someone who understood her and was willing to help her.
"That's a Druis, the monster that creates the pink stones. Can you see it's shell? That is where the pink stones are found and extracted from. But we cannot kill the Druis, or the effect of the stones will wear off."
Sara explained, and Emily finally began to understand what the strategy was here. It made her pale, and she shook her head in denial.
"No way! I am not facing off against that monster while you people take your sweet time against it. I do not have a death wish."
Emily wanted to back out. But she was surrounded. Even Sara looked at her like she was out of luck.
Soon, Lea grabbed Emily's arm on one side and Patricia on the other. And then, she was thrown out in front of the Druis without any preparation. The rift monster saw her and decided to inspect her out of curiosity.
"Remember, Emily, do not harm the Druis, but keep him busy. We need enough time to harvest its shell."
Patricia yelled from her hiding spot. Emily wanted to smack her, but she did not have the time to follow through on her thoughts.
Not when the Druis decided to bring its snout closer to Emily and sniff her.
The Druis looked like a giant turtle with a shell made from crystals. Emily quickly dodged the snout, and it was lucky for her. The Druis could not stop itself in time and smashed its nose into the rock behind Emily.
The rock immediately broke into pieces since it could not take the pressure.
If Emily had not dodged in time, she would be the one to break into pieces. The beast turned toward Emily slowly, finally pulling its snout and head out of the rocks it had smashed.
Its blank eyes looked at Emily and then moved toward her again.
"You are doing great, Emily. Just keep on dodging it, and you shall be fine. We will also be starting our mission now."
Lea yelled, and Emily wanted to curse her again. Her mind was too occupied with keeping her alive, so Emily could not speak up in protest.
The next attack from Druis came too fast. Emily had no time to correct her position and dodge. So, she had to catch the snout in her hands.
It caused her muscles to protest and her arms to buckle. Emily was struggling despite having super strength and a lot of mock-combat experience.
*whistle*
"Wow, you are a good kid. You managed to last longer than most newcomers. Now, keep it occupied for a minute, and we will be done here."
Patricia yelled, causing Emily's anger to become worse. She wanted to cry back at Patricia, but her arms felt the strain of trying to stop the attack. Finally, a minute passed, and her party jumped down from Druis's back.
"Alright, Emily, you can take care of it now. Oops, I forgot that she is a newcomer. Lea, you take care of the monster. Sara, pull Emily back before she gets herself killed. The Druis are getting angry. It will attack at any second now."
Sara followed Patricia's orders without fail, while Lea constantly complained.
"Hahh, do I have to participate in this raid? Can't you take care of this yourself, Patricia? You have so much experience and weapons, and I… fine, I get it. I will help."
Emily's tired body was not able to hear any of this conversation. But she tried to struggle when she felt a rope closing around her middle and pulling her back.
The Duris looked pissed at having it's plaything taken away. It ran toward Lea's party but stopped short in its tracks once it noticed the concentrated energy in Lea's hands.
It was a powerful attack, and the Druis quickly saved itself. Its instincts were telling it that it needed to run away.
Lea exhausted the ball of energy as soon as the Druis were gone. The rift energy she had harnessed caused her power to get sucked out. But the after-effects would not strike her now.
"That buff is as effective as ever, Lea. One day, you will have to teach me how you manage to mimic the rift's energy and harness it. I want to learn these techniques of yours as well."
Sara's complement caused Lea's face to fall and become awkward. She had no answer to Sara's request, and this skill was not something she could teach others.
"Hmm, maybe I will teach you someday if you improve enough. For now, check up on Emily. Is she alright?"
Lea quickly changed the topic and looked at Emily's flushed face. Emily looked exhausted and trusty.
Patricia quickly brought out the water and handed it to Emily. The whole bottle disappeared in seconds, but Emily still looked thirsty.
"That was exhausting. Why did you send me out there alone? I could have died! Do you even know who my family is and what trouble it would have caused you if I died out here?"
Emily was not proud of using her family name to gain fear. But this time, she could not help herself. She needed these people to know that they could not throw her any way they wanted.
But this turned out to be a futile move on Emily's part. No one in the party looked scared of her threat or her family name.
"Emily, your family name means little out in the rift. The reason your family is respected is because the members are strong in the rift. And if you want to carry out that legacy, you need to be strong as well."
Lea explained, but and Emily understood her. But she could still not help but complain about her situation.
"This was my first outing. Can you at least not be a little gentle with me?"