Friends?

Zed voiced his complaint, "Just right in front of our faces."

Soren felt happy, more so than he had been in a while.

He could feel his strength increase, while it wasn't drastic, it still felt comfortable. His strength was pitifully low before and was now only .2 above the average human.

'I wonder if that's based on Earth or one of these worlds? Probably Earth.' 

This was his start, but he faced a dilemma. This group was nice to him, even if there was something else going on, but that meant sharing the loot after a kill.

'Raising my level is going to be inefficient if I stay with them. Can I kill the beast monsters myself?'

He already knew that answer without thinking about it. The Sunburned Mosquitoes were destined to be together longer. Whether wanted or not.

"Let's get moving," said Roz. 

This matter was dealt with and they either needed to hunt again or find a place to settle for the night. None of them could fight well in the dark and had the least amount of information regarding night monsters. 

Continuing into the forest, Soren took in his surroundings again. He felt released by something earlier. 

The forest had the unique smell of water on wood. Grass penetrating your senses as if it had rained the night before. 

There were a lot of insects going about. Some fighting, some carrying pieces of leaves, and others looking for a new home. 

Birds flew around occasionally causing you to wonder how monstrous beasts could inhabit this forest. 

Those terrifying things that looked like someone combined two different animals. 

'This smell and atmosphere. Might not be so bad,' Soren thought to himself.

They traveled through the forest at a normal pace. There was always a chance to meet demons here, as the Heavenly were losing this world, but they weren't worried about it. There wasn't a reason to. 

If a meeting were to happen, three things could happen. One, both sides flee. Two, both sides decide to fight and take their chances. Three, either side leaves and the other chases in return. 

Everyone knew the risks involved. That's why they had to get strong enough before then. If that didn't happen then they could wish themselves a better next life.

Walking through the forest which seemed to repeat itself because of how huge it was, Soren remembered something from when he first got into World 2.

The screen showed up again.

[-Quest: Kill No.3 of the Demonic faction 0/1-]

[-Penalty: Remove Gods Plee ability slot-]

This was a mystery to him. He had forgotten it as he'd been preoccupied with other tasks.

'Who even is this No.3 and why do I have to kill them?'

Walking next to Roz he asked, "So what do you know about the Numbered people?"

This seemed like an appropriate question to him and he felt that Roz would understand what he meant.

Surprised Roz responded, "Well there are three of them for each faction: No.1, No.2, and No.3. They represent the three with the highest average stats on their side." Pausing for a breath he continued, "Very important people, but not necessarily the strongest ability-wise. Not that we'll ever meet them though."

This cleared up his thoughts a lot, yet it didn't. Why did he have to fight their 3rd physically stacked person? 

He didn't just have to beat him either, no he had to kill him. 

Soren had a feeling that No.3's stats were far above his right now. How could he fight him?

'Do I have a choice in the matter? Of course not. This is so annoying, when can I start doing things the way I want to?'

'Wait, I also need to kill people for a chance at getting their ability.'

Thinking about it, he crossed that thought out. Everyone only had their permanent ability right now and those probably couldn't be stolen. 

They had been walking for a few hours by now and were all tired of it, both mentally and physically. The sun was also going to be going down soon, so by a not-so-difficult choice. Roz directed them to a slightly denser part of the forest where the trees were taller than the others. 

The branches were all thick and healthy. The trees were living a life in paradise with so many nutrients from the battles taking place every day. 

Parties tended to take some of the remains of slain creatures, but not usually all of it. The Sunburned Mosquitoes didn't have the energy or patience to pick apart the turtle.

If they could, it would have been a great boon for the party's overall prowess. Using the fangs as knives themselves would have done wonders.

Each member arrived before a singular tree. Large and domineering compared to the others. This would stand out, but it was necessary to avoid the walking night creatures.

Zed, being the tall guy, climbed the tree to a large branch with his knife in hand and used an impressive amount of strength to get there.

'I guess he has a higher strength stat even after I got that 1.3x increase before.'

This was something they had discussed while at the tavern. How would they handle sleeping in the infested forest? Final decision? Climb a tree and sleep.

The next part of the plan had Alan, with his sticky string substance, use it as a sticky rope and Zed pulled him up. They would then pull everyone else up using it.

It went perfectly until after Bill and Roz were up there, that's when the rope disappeared. 

Alan said halfheartedly, "Sorry Soren, my time is up for the use of my ability."

'Bastard.' 

Soren was irritated by these childish antics. 'His ability probably isn't even spent, Alan's just a petty bastard. I didn't have any harmful intentions towards you, but now you're risking my life. I'll kill you.'

After Alan said that, Roz spoke up worriedly, "Well how long does it take to use it again?"

No one could prove whether Alan told the truth or not. It was purely based on the trust that someone would not lie.

Eyeing Soren with a slight smirk hidden from Roz, "Unfortunately, it takes a whole night to recharge. It's dumb." 

"You should have told us this when we were planning."

"Yeah, yeah, it just didn't come up, my bad. I'm sure Soren will be fine though, he has a good ability."

"Still-"

Soren cut in, "It's fine, Alan's right. My ability is good, and he knows I'll survive. What's there to worry about."

Letting Alan's anger fester he continued, "I'm leaving now, I need to find a place to sleep. See you all here tomorrow morning."

Roz looked sad and filled with worry while Alan had an angered face.

Sighing, he turned around thinking, 'At least one of them cares.'

'Whatever, I think I'll try to kill some things myself tonight. Even if it is demeaning… no one will know.'

'Right?'