The Path We Walk Together
Moments after Makro finishes healing the people from the medic tents, Gil Pelagos and Koi Tubbs along with a handful of other adventurers bring in the unconscious group of new grants. The reinforcements have arrived. The newcomers have replaced them in holding the riverfront. The other divisions are also being relieved by the arrival of adventurers from Kauven and the nearby cities and towns.
Althea and Tasha were mostly suffering from mana depletion so they recover quickly once they are in the mana rich environment of the Holy ground spell. Bryce also recovers because most of his wounds were superficial. Jeruelle and Terrick have suffered more severe internal injuries and that would take longer to heal. The subjugation of the remaining monsters is well underway. In the HQ tent, the Council is meeting with some informants. Apparently, the last wave of monsters are being subjugated as they speak. The top tier beasts were no match for the powerhouse of Kauven and the combined might of the local adventurer's guilds. The subjugation has turned into a hunt of the remaining beasts fleeting in all sorts of direction. The arrival of many healers on the field, the tide was turned in favor of the humans. The Arachne who seem to be the leader of the stampede was nowhere to be found.
From a distance, a beautiful woman with spider's legs is witnessing the extermination of her children! She bared her fangs and hissed. Three years of planning has gone down the drain. Many of her underlings that she nurtured to great strength have died on the battle field. The worst part is that they haven't even reached the city of Kauven. Her master needed her to destroy the city to begin the invasion of the human kingdom of Dearth. If she ever found out who foiled her plans, she would kill them personally. She called her trusted henchmen: a golem, a humanoid beetle, and a figure that remained in the shadows. Along with a few of the remaining high guards, they head south towards the Beast Nation.
"This is far from over, Kauven!" she cursed as she turned her back to leave.
Terrick hasn't left Jeruelle's side since he himself woke up. Tasha is in the next bed over. She starts to stir and sits up quickly.
"Where are we?!" She says panicking.
"It's okay, Tash. We're back at camp. Bryce and Althea are outside getting food." Terrick replies. As if on cue, Bryce and Althea walk in with food in hand.
"Oh Tash, I was so worried about you!" Althea hugs her after putting down the food. She offers Tasha a water flask and she drinks it all. Althea points at the plate of food on the table.
"Maybe later. How's Ellie?" Tasha replies. Everyone looks at Jeruelle.
"She had three broken ribs and some internal injury. Makro personally looked after her healing. He said she would recover just fine but he casted a sleeping spell just to help her recover her mana faster. She should wake up soon." Terrick explained.
They all sighed in relief. The conversation shifted to more mundane topics until Tasha checked her status screen. "I leveled up to B rank!"
Tasha was notified when she reached B rank of course! However, in the middle of a battle, little notice is given to notifications. The rest of them checked as well and sure enough they have all reached B rank. Ranking up is crucial for adventurers. A level up means an increase in one's mana bank and the potential to receive more skills and spells. Increasing from E rank to D rank doubles your power. Increasing from D rank to C rank means a triple increase of power. From C to B is a tenfold increase, from B to A is hundred fold and from A to S is a thousand fold.
People don't normally level up from E rank to B rank in a less than a week. Their growth was a testament to the amount of EXP they have amassed during this time. Under normal circumstances, adventurers never see such concentrations of strong and powerful beasts. The group would have also died many times if not for Althea healing them at every turn. An average adventurer would have taken at least 4 years to reach B rank, if they worked really hard. Between A rank and B rank is where most people end up. Some people never overcome the EXP wall necessary to reach A rank. Rank wise, they could be considered strong adventurers but they still need a lot of life and adventuring experience to be considered seasoned.
After this week, they have grown closer than they have ever been. After the day they had, it seems like past annoyances and grievances have melted away forgiven under the mantle of trust that can only forged in battle. They all slept in the same tent tonight. Thanking their lucky stars that they have survived such an ordeal. As long as they are a party, they can overcome any challenge. Life will lead them in different roads soon enough. But right now, they are grateful to have each other.