Elmo smiled to himself as Elin threw another fit about being called 'princess' again. He'd spent a couple hours with Kim drilling into him the basics with hand to hand combat, such as how to throw a punch without breaking his hand, basic blocks, kicks, weak points that are useful to target, ways to attack with words, and especially using elbows, knees and his teeth if necessary.
The biggest problem he had with about 'weak points' portion was that she kept going after his groin. She targeted a few other points, but his groin seemed to be her main target. He understood that weak point of guys very well, but on the other hand, he did get plenty of experience using blocks to keep her from trying to injure his junk.
After, when he was just exhausted and Jonas began his sparring with Kim, he realized he hadn't checked his status. So, while he rested and let Kim and Jonas wear themselves out, he checked it and wasn't surprised that he'd leveled up. So, he put 2 attribute points in his Agi, 2 to his Wis, and 1 to his Int.
Partly because he recognized how much slower he had been moving compared to Kim, and then added to his Wis and Int to increase his MP primarily. After all, that was his best asset, regardless of how strong his spells were, being able to use them more frequently would not only help him in combat, but also with building his proficiency with his spells, so he could also see what some of the more powerful versions might be when he was able to get them strong enough.
Now he was able to really be entertained by Kim training Elin. Partly because of being called 'princess' again, Elin was lashing out with everything she had, which honestly, wasn't much. Elmo was pretty sure Elin had a lower Agi than he did. Kim looked rather worn out from her sparring with Jonas, but was still able to easily keep from letting Elin get a hit in.
Elmo was pretty sure this latest occurrence was an accident and that Kim hadn't meant to call her 'princess,' but Elmo doubted that Elin would believe that. Although, as he thought about it, he partially wondered if Kim did use it purposely, as a method of illustrating using words to attack, since it was clear that Elin wasn't using any rational part of her mind with her lashing out at Kim.
However, eventually Elin wears herself out, ending her lesson. Though, Elin refuses to accept help from Kim on getting back to where she had been sleeping after she'd tried running off and Kim brought her back, asleep.
Elmo started to stand up, but stopped when he realized that the light in the dungeon seemed to be dimming. Largely because he could clearly see his shadow when he hadn't been able to do that when he first sat down to rest after his lesson with Kim.
"Uh, guys, I think 'night' is almost here," Elmo called out, emphasizing the word night.
"You think so?" Jonas asked, looking at him from where he was relaxing.
"Well, the light we had since we left that room is starting to get dimmer," Elmo replied.
Kim looked down at the ground beneath her. "He's right," she acknowledged. "It is getting darker in here. I can see my shadow."
Elin looked like she was going to be sick. "But where will I get what I need to go to sleep?" she asked, sounding rather lost.
Elmo sighed. From what he had learned about her, he understood she came from a wealthy family, and from the description that had been given for her when the announcer had introduced her, it was clear she'd lived a very sheltered life.
"Looks like you're going to have to learn to rough it, young lady," Jonas said.
Elin looked at Jonas with a incredulous expression. Elmo couldn't help but chuckle. He recognized that Elin was being thrown very far from her comfort zone and was probably not going to take it quietly, but sooner or later, she was going to have to deal with it on her own.
Kim put her hand on Elin's shoulder, which was promptly shrugged off. Kim sighed as she looked upward for a moment.
"If you'd like, you can use me as a pillow for the night," Kim offered. "You could also use your cloak as a blanket."
Elin then turned to Kim. "Then what will I do about hair brushes, bathwater, soap, oils, and a bed?"
Elmo looked down at his lap so Elin wouldn't incidentally see his broad smile he couldn't get rid of as he continued to chuckle at how sheltered Elin was revealing herself to be.
"You can use the ground as your bed but the rest, you'll just have to go without them for now," Kim replied. "It's not that we don't care, but that we just don't have anything like that or any method we can get any if those."
Elin didn't reply, but when Elmo glanced at her she had a look of utter misery. His smile from his amusement faded as he couldn't help but feel bad for her. Elin wasn't crying and while she was clearly spoiled rotten, she was still a kind heart and Elmo couldn't help but want to try and find a way to help her either be more comfortable or make the transition for her easier.
"One thing we should also consider is that it could be colder during the 'night' here," Jonas commented.
"What do you mean?" Kim asked as she pulled Elin into a hug.
"Well, since we see the light is getting dimmer, so if they're wanting to make this as much like the outside world with the sun going down, then that would mean it would be cooler during the night," Jonas explained. "Though, I can't help but wonder how cold it'll get. Will it be like a summer night where it's cool but not dangerously cold, or will it be like a spring or autumn night where the temperature could get so cold that it can be hazardous to your health?"
"What can we do about it?" Kim asked. "I could cuddle with Elin for warmth and you could huddle with Elmo. That would work for me."
"Do we need that table?" Elmo asked suddenly, drawing Jonas' and Kim's attention.
"What about the table?" Jonas asked.
"Well, if we don't really need it, what if we destroy it and use it for firewood?" Elmo asked, wondering at the same time if his fire spell would set the wood on fire. It might, but at the same time, it might just singe it. "We could have a fire that would give us a little light as well as warmth."
"Why would we need to destroy the table to get firewood?" Elin asked."
Elmo cringed as Elin asked that question, further showing her lack of understanding in this situation.
"Elin, where would we get wood for a fire anyway?" Kim asked, her voice showing how strained her own patience was.
Elin was quiet for a minute before her face fell.
"Oh," was all she said.
"How would you propose destroying it?" Jonas asked.
"I can't say for sure, but if I use some of my spells, it might both destroy it and could light it on fire," Elmo replied. Then suddenly he realized exactly what he said, so he hurriedly added, "Of course, it wouldn't be the same spell."
"We might as well see if it would work," Jonas said.
"Oh, rather than Kim and me sleeping together and you two sleeping together, we could all sleep together and share the warmth," Elin suddenly suggested.
Elmo had to laugh at the suggestion. He could tell what Kim was after and doing that would really throw a wrench in her attempt.
Jonas was laughing too louder than Elmo while Kim was giving Elin an expression mixed with amusement and frustration.
"What?" Elin asked, confused. "Was it something I said?"
"You're just so precious, my gem," Kim replied. "My suggestion was if it was cold enough, that we could do that."
"Besides, we need someone to keep watch," Jonas added. "Even if it's one person the entire night or if we take shifts, we need to have someone alert so they can wake the rest of us up if something appears in the night."
"Huh?" Elin asked, still looking rather confused. "What could appear?"
"First, we know of lizardmen, kobolds, and the minotaurs that Jonas told us about, but there could be other creatures and monsters that we don't yet know about. There's just too much that we don't know about this dungeon to just take things like that for granted," Elmo chimed in.
Jonas looked at Elmo approvingly, which Elmo couldn't help but blush in response.
"You two do have a point, for men at least," Kim remarked. "The question would be who would keep watch? And for how long?"
"Well, we don't have any way of knowing how much time has passed, so we'll have to guess on when it would be best to change up who's on guard," Jonas answered. "Though, I think you and I should take the longer shifts, Kim."
Kim glanced at Elin then at Elmo. "True, you and I would probably be the ones who won't need our rest as much," Kim allowed.
"First though, we should get this table destroyed," Jonas said. "Even if we don't need to use it for firewood, we could at least use it for makeshift torches, in the event we need to travel at night for any length of distance."
"Elmo, what spell were you thinking of using?" Kim asked.
"I think Rock Spray would be the most efficient," Elmo answered. "I don't know how effective it'll be, but at least it should do some damage to the table."
"Okay, let's all stand to one side of the table so we won't risk getting hit by the spell as much," Jonas said, standing up.
"It's okay, I can move," Elmo said, moving quickly to where he could cast the spell at the table, no one on his team was in his line of fire.
Then, before anyone could say anything else, he called out, "Rock Spray!"
It was like a shotgun had gone off with a small amount of pebbles launched into the table, hitting it hard. However, it was still standing. Idly Elmo wondered if he had put his points into his magic if that would have made any difference. He might have had less MP, but if it destroys what he would have cast it at, it wouldn't matter as much.
Shaking his head, he launched the spell again. Then again. Finally on the fourth time, it finally collapsed. A lot of the pieces of wood were still solidly in one piece, but the vast majority of it had either been shot to splinters or was pretty much kindling to large pieces of wood.'
Logistically speaking, however, Elmo was sure they didn't have enough wood for them to have a fire throughout the night. At most a few hours. Of course, that also depended on how big of a fire they had. Maybe if they kept it small it would last through the night, but even then he doubted it.
Elmo then turned back to the rest of his team.
"Took more than I would have liked, but I'm sure I have enough MP left if we need it in the night," Elmo said.