158 Once more, with feeling (1/2)

Alex wanted to make a cloak with the chameleon skin, while Blue was looking for a wind armor. Since Blue wasn't thrilled with her choice of spells, Helena suggested that she could try wind. It was a more or less common element for people who focused on grapples, and among other options, several gap closers were relatively cheap.

The three women first headed into the city, in the Carpon Caverns. Hera suggested the store where she got her chakram upgraded. Blue wanted to look at some armors, but her main focus was the new spell she got. As they arrived at Ronan's smithy, Hera greeted Clayton, who was operating the store's front once more.

After a few minutes, Alex agreed to leave the hide so Ronan could make her a cloak with it. While looking around, Blue found a pair of shoulder guards that seemed very interesting. It was very flexible, and it could activate a unique effect that would make her arms look like smoke when activated. That would be very useful to confuse her enemies. It also had agility scaling, and for a while now, that had become Blue's second-highest attribute, only losing to endurance. Paying 15 000 for the shoulder guards after trying them on to be sure they didn't restrain her movements.

Alex and Blue thanked Hera for the suggestion. The small shop had no lines, and the crafter looked very worried about what they wanted. Ronan even offered to make some small adjustments for Blue's old gear that was starting to feel a bit tight.

After the moment of shopping, the three headed to the guild to meet up with the rest of their party. Before heading out, they all talked about what had changed after the rampage. Alex was now level 5, just like Hera. She got two rank ups for the [Improved Stamina] and one for a skill called [Pinpoint Weak Spot] that helped Alex to find weakness on her enemies' bodies. Her cutting wind also increases in rank, from beginner to novice.

Blue was level 4. She leveled up on day 3. Her skills got some upgrades, including a [Taunt] that could make a monster target her. It wasn't like Thomas forced duel spell, but thanks to her controller role, it had some special effects. She also had an increase with the [Improved Stamina] but only to rank 2, unlike Hera and Alex.

Runir was level 6. He got a level up on the second day of the rampage. His shields spells increased in rank to novice as well, and the skills he had to perceive danger and increase the effect of barriers and heals also improved. His buff spells could now target two people at once, the same with the debuffs.

Hera expected him to be strong, but the information surprised her. The way he fought made it seem like he was over level 10 already, but in reality, the source of his strength was the skills and his gear. That was the second rampage he ever participated in, and a year hunting on the second layer would mean that he should have a lot of money to spend.

”Before we advance in our noble hunt. Let me inquire. What are your goals? What do you wish to accomplish?” Tom asked the group while they were eating in a small restaurant.

”I want to help Helena. I told you about the parasites. I want to find a way to get rid of them,” Hera replied.

”I want to be the fourth hero. I know I'm kind of asking for a crisis in the world, but yeah. That's my dream,” Blue said.

Tom scratched his cheek with an embarrassed expression, ”Apologies. I should have been clearer. My question was about more immediate desires. Not that thy goals are not noble. Yet, what I wish to know is what do you want to do at the moment? Are we hunting just for gold and glory or looking for something specific?”

”Oh... I don't know. I mean, the only quest I have is my role quest right now,” Blue said.

”Same, I have that and Helena's tasks, but those are more to the side of 'go out and find some stuff.' I do have my role quest too, but I have no idea how to do it,” Hera looked at her tablet to confirm her role quest. Where would she find a secret?

”Mine is a bit tricky. I need to find and kill a named monster before it is able to notice me,” Alex explained.

”I'm already halfway through mine. I need to heal and protect a number of people. You would think that the rampage gave me a nice boost, but it didn't even give me half of what I need,” Runir took a sip of his drink.

”Does each person only counts once?” Hera asked.

”Nope, but it only counts if they are hurt, or I stopped them from getting hurt.”