The plan was simple, Karina would move above the battlefield and surprise the enemies from above. Until now, even if she wasn't at the front like Jake, she still could draw some of the enemies' attention just by being seen by them. Nevertheless, when the next six enemies appeared, Karina jumped in the head of one and then stabbed it with her daggers. Louise also fired a larger ice arrow and froze the creature for a few seconds. It gave Karina just enough time to approach and finish off the monster.
In the blink of an eye, those two killed the two monsters were most likely to damage Jake since they were on the extreme sides of the enemies' line. The fact that Jake blocked the remaining four Flamethrowers confirmed that. What they didn't know was the fact that the pain made Jake angry, and thus his dark flames killed the salamanders faster. Still, that solved most of the issues they were facing in the forest.
"I am starting to feel useless here…" Lana said.
"I am glad to see that you are developing some self-awareness," Jake crossed his arms and then smiled.
"I still think that I am more useful than you, so it is fine," Lana shrugged.
"They always trash talk each other like this?" Karina whispered to Louise.
"They get along so well, don't you think?" Louise smiled.
"I can't see that…" Karina frowned.
Soon after, Karina returned to the trees and disappeared from everyone's sight. Either her Stealth skill was really at a high level, or she really was good at that. While some people develop some weird skills during their teen years that seem something way beyond the norm.
While the forest was big, the group still found the dungeon before sunset. Their hunting speed increased thanks to Louise and Karina's preemptive strikes considerably. Adding that to the fact that Jake's dark flames could kill the salamanders in four seconds, it was only natural that they would succeed with that much. Nevertheless, the dungeon this time was a weird concentration of rocks that formed a not much tall but a pretty long hill. Not to mention, a lot of heat was leaving the rocks.
"We are here… shall we retreat now?" Lana asked.
"And increase our workload tomorrow morning, no thank you," Jake said. "We will camp here this time. We can take turns fighting the monsters as usual."
"It will be hard to fight them with only two against ten," Louise said.
"I will stay up all night, so you don't have to worry," Jake said.
"You are pretty eager to grind lately," Lana frowned.
"You should be more careful, Jake," Louise said with a worried expression on her face. "While you are being healed, you are being constantly damaged as well… we don't know how much all those effects can affect our lives in the future."
"Well, that is my problem alone and since I am doing this on my own volition, you don't have to feel worried or guilty," Jake explained.
"What an ass… there is no need to be so rude," Lana said.
"I am just stating facts without thinking about anything," Jake said. "Nevertheless, I think I can handle the salamanders here since the corridors of the dungeon aren't that wide."
Even Jake was aware that he was starting to get pretty addicted to fighting. Still, he couldn't help it. The feeling of defeating a foe that wounded him or even one that could easily smash his head and kill him… it was hard to describe the feeling of overcoming those situations. Despite his background, Jake lived a pretty uneventful life, so it seemed pretty natural that he would feel so eager to keep chasing power…
"Ah… you are planning to become less useless by grinding," Lana said. "Don't think that you are going to surpass me in this pyramid of usefulness of our party."
That was so stupid that Jake couldn't even muster the strength to say something back at her. Nevertheless, while Lana and Louise were preparing their camp, Jake and Karina fought the salamanders that were leaving the dungeon. Fighting side by side would be too much for them due to the width of the dungeon, so they waited for some enemies to leave the place before attacking. Karina waited hidden near the entrance while Jake exposed himself, and when two enemies used their Flamethrower toward him, the girl would jump toward them and then pierce their heads with lightning speed.
When the monsters didn't try to attack Jake with Flamethrower and waited for Karina's surprise attack, Jake would dash at them and finish them with a quick succession of his skills. Bash, Double Strike, Cyclone Strike… it was enough to kill one of the monsters and force the other to forget about Karina.
In the moments' things got a bit messier, Jake used his Flames of Wrath inside the dungeon, and Karina didn't see it since she was waiting to ambush them. Still, she frowned when only one enemy appeared instead of two.
"Now that I think about it, wouldn't that sword Rick mentioned be really useful in this mission?" Lana asked.
"Yeah… it sure would," Jake nodded while he furrowed his eyebrows.
It only lasted for a moment, but since Jake was so concentrated, he noticed that Karina froze on the spot when she heard that name. Everything made sense once Jake saw that… Rick wasn't stupid to just send Jake's group to a place where a trap would be waiting for them, but he was smart enough to create that kind of plan. Make his targets focus on a single thing and use another bait to catch them… the bait was Karina.
"So, it is like that, huh…" Jake furrowed his eyebrows.
Jake couldn't see how Karina and Rick were connected… he was pretty sure that Rick was American, and Karina probably never had been there. Still, it didn't matter. What mattered was the fact that she was there following his orders…
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l