No Healer

"Honey! Wake up~~ It's a beautiful morning without a cloud in the sky."

A wonderful female voice resounded within a dark room that had the first crack of dawn shining down the window and slightly illuminated the room.

"Wha-Oh. Good morning. Is it morning already?" E embraced his wife as he woke up and kissed her on the cheek.

"Alright. Let's go prepare for the day." He said as he stood up.

Both E and his wife are early risers. They have a lot of time in the morning because they usually use this serene time for each other.

Although they are busy preparing for the day and taking care of the kids and sending them to daycare is a hassle, they find this time to be romantic.

"You cooked up some beefy breakfast, Hon. Is there are ketchup left? I want to start my day with some flavor." E complimented his wife at the dining table.

"Of course, you look great in your uniform, as always." E's wife returned a compliment. What a wonderful marriage they have.

"KIDS! It's time for breakfast!" She shouted.

Half an hour later, the caretakers assigned to round up the daycare kids within their neighborhood arrived at the front door. E's children went out, officially leaving their parent's care.

Now, it was high time for the parents to go to work. E's wife prepared a lunch box for him and hugged him before pecking him on the lips. She immediately went towards the front door as well.

"Hope your day ends well, Honey. I'll be back by dinner!" She said her farewell as she exited the door.

E didn't bother to give her an honest reply but only waved his hand. He didn't want to because he would feel bad for what he is about to do.

A few moments later, as E was just waiting at the front door. He saw his wife drive-off and went to work.

"She's gone."

E immediately ran towards the kitchen and grabbed a bowl and mixed some leftover breakfast and dumped water over it. It was a disgusting mixture but he wasn't satisfied.

'It's not convincing enough, but I don't want to ruin this bowl.'

He took a picture of his creation and immediately went towards the bathroom. E took his phone and looked at the time, it was 8:46.

'Nice.'

He then proceeded to dial a number and his phone rang.

"Hello?" He said weakly.

[Oh. Emmanuel? What can I help you with?]

"Uhh, boss, I don't think I can get to work today." He acted as if he was sick.

[Oh. Are you okay? Facetime me, I wanna see your face.]

"?!? I'm in the bathroom. Should I?" E panicked a bit. He messed up his hair while talking and untidied his clothes. He sat on the bathroom throne and waited for a reply.

[Yea. Just for a bit.]

"H- Okay."

On the screen, E looked horrible. He looked like a hobo who had a bad hair day and had crayons for breakfast.

[Alright. Sure, take the day off. I'll take care of things here for today and I'll be expecting you tomorrow. Documentation should also be in order so be sure to do that.]

"Thank you, boss." E didn't release his tension yet. The call didn't end so he couldn't be careless.

Tiding~

"Finally."

Now, it was time for him to level up in the game.

-

In the game, a few people were gathering quite earlier than usual. However, they're all still waiting for someone.

"He sure is taking his time." Minion said with a scornful face.

Bob was missing, or rather, had something to attend to. The party already knew as Bob sent them a message not so long ago. He stated that he would come after running an errand but he never stated what he was doing.

"By the way, E. Did you claim that Crazy Dude Maral's quest yet? Maybe we can go do that while we wait for Bob." Annera reminded E.

It was Annera and E who were walking around Donut City. However, the only quest receiver was E because Annera wasn't fast enough to give a positive reply.

'Damn. I should have immediately said yes.'

She deeply regretted her mistake. She was too calculative that she had to make sure that the quest wasn't a trap of some sort. The time it took for her to think was enough time for E to willy nilly accept the quest.

"Sure. Hey guys, we'll be back in a few minutes, just have to redeem a quest reward."

Leaving behind the party, Annera and E walked towards the park where they met Crazy Dude Maral. The quest was ambiguous but it had its alluring points and mysterious rewards.

"You've come." A man in a dirty furcoat rubbed his hands as he said.

Annera and E arrived at the park. Lo and behold, Maral was anticipating their arrival and seemed to be excited.

"Do you have it!? Give it to me!" Maral said as he opened both of his arms to receive what he expected he will.

"Here it is." E brought the bestiary out of his inventory and offered it to Maral.

[Quest Updated: One of the Twelve]

[Rewards]

-7500 experience

-Jovanni's Bestiary

-200 Gold

[You have gained a level.]

[You have gained a level.]

E celebrated inside as he just gained a level and even gained a substantial amount of gold. The rewards blinded him and he couldn't see the prompt properly.

"This isn't it!" Crazy Dude Maral complained.

"What is this garbage?! I want you to find the EGG! You FOOL."

Crazy Dude Maral's eyes were bulging. His face was fuming red, he was agitated because he was too expectant.

"What?

[Quest Updated: One of the Twelve -> Find the Egg]

[Find the Egg]

-Crazy Dude Maral asked you to find him an egg. He forgot to tell you last time and he's only angry because he needs to be. With the new-found knowledge you obtained from Jovanni's Bestiary, find the egg Maral has been looking for.

-Quest Reward: [Redacted]

"FIND ME THE DAMN RAINBOW EGG!" Maral threw the Bestiary at E.

He turned his back and walked away with stomping steps. Crazy Dude Maral, in the end, had a few screws loose.

"Uhm. Should we go back now?" Annera asked E during the recession.

"Yea. Let's go."

They immediately walked back towards the party and found Bob on the way to the gathering area.

"Anything interesting happened while we were gone?" E said towards the people who remained. Looking around, he saw that Gideon and his party also arrived.

"Nah. But now that you're here, let's go!" Enma excitedly answered.

"He's right, let's not waste any time." Gideon interjected.

Now, it was only right for them to grind their levels.

-

"I've been here before, I didn't like it." Bob said. His head was shaking but it wasn't due to him shaking it.

"Cluck!" Lavanuk was uneasy on top of his head.

Lavanuk was fearful because they arrived at the Peppermint Hills. Specifically, pepper hill that was teeming with Pepper Demons that almost cause Lavanuk to experience death.

"Calm down, we're here to kill them." Bob stated. His statement cause Lavanuk's eye to shine. It seems that she wanted sweet revenge.

"Well then. E, please dissolve your party and accept mine." Gideon said. It was time for them to begin.

"Gladly."

[Party dissolved]

[Gideon invites you to his party.]

[Party invitation accepted.]

[Gideon's Party]

Party Leader - Gideon - Lv 125

Dreads - Lv 130

xXHunterxX69 - Lv 127

Chikinsupu - Lv 129

E - Lv 23

"Wow. Thank you for helping us, once again." E bowed his head as he saw their levels.

"Hahaha. Don't worry about it. We also experienced a bus service from a colleague of mine when we were quite low in levels." Gideon smiled as he remembered the recent past.

"Let's start." He brandished his sword and walked towards the numerous Pepper Demons.

"RAGING HOWL!"

A bright crimson light surrounded Gideon and immediately bursts. The enemies surrounding him became agitated and even those that were not within Gideon's aggro range came running towards him.

"AHhaha! Holy shit, these debuffs stack?" Gideon's eyes opened wide in surprise.

The damage output of the Pepper Demons was nothing to scoff at. However, it was all calculated.

"Good thing I have the proper resistances, Dreads!" Gideon shouted.

"Aight! Flame Squall!" Dreads replied in earnest and began casting his spell.

"Defensive Stance!" Gideon immediately went defensive.

Just as the numerous Pepper Demons who were further from Gideon arrived at his vicinity, a sudden fire went ablaze and ate Gideon from head to toe and everything that surrounded him.

"Holy fuck! Won't he die from teamkilling at this rate?" Minion was surprised at the display.

"Don't worry about it. His armor is optimized for flame resistance. And the damage you take within the squall is minimal. Think of it as the eye of the storm." Dreads explained.

"I don't get it. This, I don't like this. Why don't you have a healer if you guys do this?" Annera asked pragmatically.

Gideon's party indeed didn't have proper sustain, and there's a reason for that.

"Just as you said, you don't like this, right?" Dreads looked at Annera and asked.

"Yes. Not one bit." She replied.

"Then you just answered your question. No healer wants to stay in this crazy party."