Gacha Leveling

Chapter 208: Chapter 69 – Deep Backcountry 3

"What’s wrong with you? Picking a fight with other adventurers?" Vanessa admonished Matthew with a slap in the back of his head.

"I’m sorry. I just thought..." Matthew tried to justify himself, but Vanessa slapped his head again.

"You didn’t think of anything! What would happen if we fought them? Even if we could beat them, what do you think their guild would do?" Vanessa kept lecturing him.

"Be easier on him." Mia pleaded.

"Matt was in hell for two years, Ness. I believe things work differently there." Eric agreed with Mia.

"That’s no excuse." Vanessa silenced both with a single stare. "He’s back on Earth. He shouldn’t behave like a demon."

"I’m sorry, Ness. I just thought that we can’t let them have Orpheu’s sword." Matthew apologised again.

"Idiot." Vanessa slapped him a third time and moved forward.

"She’s right, Tif." Faralynn patted Matthew’s hair. "We’ll find the sword first. You don’t need to worry."

At that moment another goat man appeared in front of them.

It looked the same as the one Kaoru defeated. A humanoid slender and muscular body covered in dark fur, goat legs, a long goat tail with a stinger on the point, human hands with claws on the fingers, and a goat head with bright yellow eyes, a long white goatee and long horns.

It charged without notice as if it materialized in front of them.

Eric was the first to meet its attack. He had time to draw his sword from his back and stop the monster’s horns with a strike of his own.

Both slid backwards by the strength of the blow.

Vanessa threw her knives at it aiming at its weak spots and drawing just a bit of blood.

When the Cabra turned to face Vanessa, Mia bombarded it with laser beams, doing more damage with them than Vanessa with her knives.

The creature then chose Mia as its next target, but Faralynn put herself in front of the light mage and used her sword to stop the monster in its tracks. Her attacks had enough power to pierce its Vital Shield, but not enough depth behind them.

That’s when Matthew drew his own blade and tried to engage it from behind, but the monster managed to stab him with its stinger on the chest. It didn’t have enough force to pierce his dragon scales, but it managed to make Matthew take a few steps back.

The Cabra then headbutted Faralynn on the belly, slightly denting her breastplate. The elf was sent flying a few steeps back by the force of that strike.

But it also opened the way for Eric to approach from the side. The man had 143 Strength. He also had the Reckless Strength, the Impotent Strength and the Stand Strength skills at level A. All of them allowed him to trade a different Stat to increase his Strength.

A single strike with his heavy sword was enough to cleave the beast in twain and open a deep hole on the ground.

"You ok, Lynn?" Mia asked, helping the elf up.

"I am. My armor took most of the blow." She answered.

"And you Matt?" Mia asked as Matthew cleaned his armor from the liquid the monster’s sting sprayed on him.

"I’m well. But I think the monster has poison."

"Ok. Be careful with their stings." Eric noted.

Vanessa cleaved into the beast’s body and took out its mana crystal.

"They’re not that tough for a level 45 creature." She commented.

"They’re very fast and strong. But their Vitality doesn’t seem to be very high."

They kept moving through the night, trying to find any clues on where the sword was. As all they saw was the same dry wilderness, they were mostly relying on Vanessa’s Sense Treasure skill to pick something.

After a couple of hours she finally felt something. Cautiously, she guided them up a hill, being aware of their surroundings.

What they found was a grim scenery.

They recognized one of the adventurer groups that entered with them. All dead on top of the hill.

Their surroundings showed they fought fiercely, but there was no body of whatever killed them.

"They seem like they were surrounded." Vanessa noted as the party’s bodies were lying on a circle.

"Was it ghosts? Or they didn’t manage to kill anyone?" Matthew pondered.

"I recognize their leader." Eric said. "He was strong. If he fell without taking anyone with them, they fought something powerful."

"These are bullet wounds." Vanessa said, upon examining a body. "And blade slashes."

"Then it wasn’t the ghosts that attacked us." Matthew concluded as they were attacked by nails and teeth.

"Fuck." Eric exclaimed after picking the wallet of the dead party leader. "Make a note on the map. We’ll send someone to grab their bodies later." He said to Mia who was keeping track of their movements on a map she was drawing.

"Do you think another party attacked them?" Matthew asked.

"Only if they were attacked by a party from the 1800s." Faralynn said, using a knife to pry something out of a tree. "Look at this bullet. It’s lead."

"Lead?" Matthew approached surprised.

"Yeah. It looks like a bullet from a musket." Faralynn added.

"I doubt anyone on Earth would use such a weapon." Vanessa said while also examining the bullet.

"So... There’s something in here that uses old guns?" Mia asked.

"Either that, or there’s another gate leading to a planet that uses them." Vanessa concluded.

"The Isles are still at the tech level." Eric said, referring to another planet that was covered in small islands and a huge ocean. "But its gate is in Mongolia."

"Perhaps there’s a gate to The Isles here?" Matthew pondered.

"It doesn’t matter. It’s hostile towards adventurers wherever they come from." Mia said, hugging herself.

"Mia’s right. We should get moving." Faralynn said. "Standing still here will only make us targets as well."

Eric made the sign of the cross as he prayed for the dead.

After that, they all kept walking until they reached another house made of clay. This one still had its roof made from crude clay shingles resting on contorted branches from nearby trees.

They decided to sleep in there after making sure it was safe.

After a couple of hours, Mia and Matthew were the only ones awake on guard duty.

Mia was sitting on a tree stump and looked up to the starry sky.

Matthew sat beside her after doing some rounds around the house, making sure there were no monsters nearby.

"There isn’t a single cloud in the sky." Mia said.

"Did we bring enough water?" Matthew asked, checking his Inventory list on his Stat Screen.

"Look." Mia ignored his question and pointed to the sky. "Those three stars right there."

Matthew looked to where she was pointing.

"I see. What about them?"

"That’s Orion’s belt." She said.

"Orion’s belt?"

"Yes. Look at those stars there making a sort of a bow. See? Now look at those other stars, make like an hour glass from the belt to connect them." Mia started pointing out stars in the sky. "That’s the Orion constellation. And the three stars are its belt."

"Does this mean we’re on Earth?" Matthew asked.

"I doubt it. The sky is too clear. And I can’t see the Milky Way." Mia said, looking around the sky.

"Then it’s a pocket dimension that copied some parts of our sky." Matthew concluded.

"Seems so." Mia said and rested her head on his shoulder. "When I was studying Brazilian folklore for this dungeon I read that they call Orion’s Belt as the Three Maries." She added.

"Why?" Matthew asked.

"It’s something about three women visiting the tomb of Christ. I don’t remember the details." Mia said, closing her eyes.

"Did you read about Carranca? Or the Cabra Cabriola?" Matthew asked.

"Not Carranca. But the leaping goat is a monster that kidnaps children." Mia said. "They said it’s basically the bogey man."

"It doesn’t help us fight them." Matthew chuckled.

"Yeah. Nothing I read about can help us." Mia said, almost dozing off.

"If you’re tired, you can sleep. I can keep watch alone."

"No. Just let me stay here for a while." She said.

They stayed in silence for a while, just hearing their own breathing.

Their surroundings were completely silent. There were no insects, no birds, no noise at all.

After a couple of more hours, Faralynn woke up and found both of them sitting in silence.

"She fell asleep?" The elf whispered, getting close.

Matthew feared Faralynn was going to be taken by jealousy after seeing Mia sleeping on his shoulder. However, instead, she had a soft smile on her face.

Faralynn knelt in front of them and caressed Mia’s face, tucking a strand of her behind the woman’s ear.

"She feels safer around you." The elf commented. "Ever since that day."

""Really?" Matthew asked.

"That’s why she got so desperate to level up after you disappeared. That and the fact that she’s in love with you." Faralynn looked at Matthew with an expression he couldn’t quite read.

"You know I love you." Matthew said, trying to decipher what the elf was thinking.

"I know." Faralynn dismissed his worries with a smile. "That’s not why I’m telling you this."

"Then... Why?" Matthew asked intrigued.

"Just so you know that I know how she feels. That I don’t blame her for feeling that way." Faralynn grabbed Matthew by the hair with force and kissed him. "And, also, so you know that you’re mine."

Matthew was stunned for a bit by that display of possessiveness. And a bit aroused.

"Now put her in her sleeping bag and get some sleep yourself as well. Tomorrow will be a long day." Faralynn smiled at him, making him even more confused.