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Erin sighed, rubbing her forehead. “I understand,” she said. “But this is hardly the appropriate time to be mentioning or discussing such a topic. Lest everyone here forget, we will be facing a great challenge tonight. Enemies will be coming in droves. We will be wise to not exhaust ourselves before a great battle.”

“Pardon me, milady.” Amyra raised her hand even though there was no need for it. “Given your special constitution, wouldn’t you be more… invigorated and stimulated to fight after a bout in the arts of the bedroom?”

Everyone nodded in agreement except for Aera and Aedan. The former was far too green for the subject while the latter was silent but most likely bellowing in laughter inwardly.

“You would be correct in that regard, Amyra, but not entirely so.”

Amyra furrowed her brows in confusion. “Not entirely so?”

Lilian, who was sitting beside the Augur, tittered behind her hand. “Our sweet Erin is not easily satisfied. Once she gets into the act, it would take hours before she could be placated. Her partners might be too spent by then.”

“I see…” Amyra mumbled. “I wouldn’t know. A fight impels my drive to satisfy my bodily cravings. Once the craving is sated, the urge to fight returns. And the cravings also return afterwards. It’s a perpetual cycle to me.”

Erin frowned. “I don’t believe I have seen you indulging in your bodily cravings ever since I became acquainted with you.”

“That’s because I have been exercising restraint regarding that habit of mine. It was proven to be very cumbersome to the progress of refining my battle prowess. I have seen a sharp increase in my combat performance after curbing myself from my debauched routine.”

Erin didn’t know what to make of that unexpected backstory, so she chose to ignore it since it was of no importance currently. “Regardless, we best take a good rest for the day. Tonight will be a long night and if we’re not careful, we might see some casualties. We don’t want that now, do we?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“Good. We should—”

“Wait,” Lyra said.

Erin looked down at her lap. “Yes?”

“If we did well, can we expect a reward afterwards? For all of us, or at least for those who wished to participate.”

“All of us? You mean a… revelry of only the flesh and pleasure with all of us?”

“Enticing idea, no? I expect that you will be more than capable of handling so many of us, especially how your desire is magnified with every use of your… Divine Gift.”

Aedan chuckled. “She’s not wrong. I imagine you would be using Mystic Blade in excess given that our opponent has quite a large and formidable army at their disposal.”

Erin sighed once more. “Regardless, we shall take our rest now. We can speak about the rewards and celebrations after we make it through the ordeal. Agree?”

Everyone was in agreement but that was not the end of the discussion as Aera put up her hand hesitantly.

“We’re not at court here,” Erin said, looking defeated. She wished the girls would just get rid of their aberrant need for formality whenever the mood turns sombre. “Just speak your mind, Aera.”

“F-from what I can infer… we will likely be facing an army of a hundred strong or double. Is that true?”

“...Yes,” Erin answered truthfully. She had wanted to lie to ease the girl’s worries but she figured it would be better to lay the harsh truth on her now rather than later. She would have time to adjust to it this way.

“If that’s so… can’t we take our chances with the army? I mean getting confined is better than facing such a huge number of foes, isn’t it? I’m sure that with your connections, we wouldn’t be confined for long. At best, I reckon it would only be a few days.”

“That is certainly… true, but only if the soldiers are absolute adherents of the law, which isn’t likely. We are far away from towns and cities. Whatever atrocities they commit, it would not be known if they collectively decided to conceal it. Only the conscience of their commander is keeping them in check.”

“Ah… I understand…”

“Besides, that’s not the way of adventurers,” Amyra added. “The battle ahead of us is a treasure trove of experience. I gather that we will see at least a single level of increment, or maybe even two.”

Erin glanced over to her experience gauge that was hovering in the corner of her vision. It was roughly three-quarters full. It was a slow progress considering all that she had been through. It had become difficult to raise her level ever since she became level sixty.

Erin was aware that the rate of her growth was exceptional. What would take others months to achieve, it took only weeks for her. Yet, now that she was level sixty, her growth rate had reduced drastically. She couldn’t fathom how others would fare if her own growth rate was already diminished.

The incoming battle would benefit her companions greatly. As Amyra said, they would see at least a single level of increment. There would be risks involved but she was here and so was Aedan. Even if things went awry, she had faith that Aedan would overturn the situation for the better.

“Before we go ahead and take our rest, shouldn’t we come up with a plan?” Nivia asked.

“We’re on water,” Erin answered. “And our space is limited. Whatever plans there are, it wouldn’t be feasible. We can only hope to fend off our enemies until one side gives up or becomes exhausted.”

“This is foolish,” the Elf huffed. “We would definitely see some casualties. Injuries and wounds are fine but what if one of us dies?”

“I suppose that is a very likely possibility,” Erin said and turned towards Aedan.

“What?” Aedan asked.

“I’m sure you have something in mind to address this matter, no?”

Aedan snickered. “Of course, I do,” he said, bringing out his Infinite Pouch. “I have just the right thing in mind. I was beginning to think that I would never get to use it.”

“And that would be—?”

“A summoned Familiar.”

****

Soon, night fell. The rain had stopped, not even a drizzle remained. Still, the aftermath lingered. The waste on land had been reined in by the river during the rain. Now, the waters were strewn with pieces of refuse, be it manmade or natural.

Erin stood at the bow. A tranquil expression wrought her face, concealing the readiness underneath as if reflecting the deceptively calm surface of the waters.

Amyra and Siv stood at the deck. Aedan was positioned at the stern along with Aera. Nivia and Lyra were atop the mast as they were the archers. No one was at the helm. Should a need for a helmsman arise, Aedan would take the role. Riki had retreated to his cabin since he was not a combatant. Lilian was also below deck. She was here because of her role as the caster of the group.

Since the ship was essentially covered in plants as reinforcements, Lilian didn’t need to be on deck to perceive the situation above.

“They’re coming,” Erin said and tapped on the floor with her foot a few times.

Hearing the signal, Lilian cast Bloom on the entire ship. The vines began to glow and the flowers that sprouted emitted brighter glows.

“Oh, damn,” Amyra uttered. “Something bloodthirsty is coming. I can already feel it before it even emerges from the river.”

“Focus, Amyra.”

“Always, milady.”

The waters beside the starboard burst into a pillar and a Naga leapt out of it.

“A variant!” Siv shouted.

Erin shot a lightning bolt at the Naga. Obviously, the Naga variant was barely hurt but it reeled its attention for a moment.

And a moment was all Amyra needed. She leapt into the air to meet the Naga with her cleaver sword. The creature only realised the ruse when Amyra had already split it vertically in half.

“One down!” Amyra cheered as she landed along with the pieces of the Naga.

“Out of two hundred, most likely,” Siv muttered.

After that, a wave of Nagas appeared from the waters. There were dozens of them. Not only them, there were other creatures of the depth but they were all human-sized, although there were some variants in the midst that grew twice as big as the others.

With her mastery of the swords and her newfound skills, Erin dispatched all those who tried to get onboard from the bow. She had not employed Mystic Blade and yet, the creatures were all easily felled.

“Weak,” Erin mused. “Are we still just being prodded?”

“What’s the meaning of this!?” Amyra scoffed as she crushed a Naga’s head with her hand. “They are as weak as the ones during the day. I expected more!”

“Perhaps it isn’t possible to command the stronger ones,” Siv said as she took the heads of three Nagas and a creature that looked like a humanoid fish. “Either that or the perpetrator takes heed in not disturbing the balance of nature in the area.”

“That’s logical.”

If the balance of nature in this area was overturned, the consequences would be disastrous as it could threaten the livelihoods of the people living in the area. Even the produce and harvest would be affected, especially those that needed to be sent over to the capital.

It would be deemed an indirect attack on the kingdom. The royal army would be dispatched to hunt down those responsible. Unless it was the Ruvans, no other faith could compete against the might of a nation’s army.

However, this didn’t mean Erin and her companions could let their guards down. The danger was still afoot. What could not be fulfilled by quality would be compensated by quantity.

“Well, I will admit. There are a lot more of them than during the day.”

“We have eyes, you stupid ogre!” Nivia shouted from up top as she released arrow after arrow.

“What did you say, you long-ears!? Don’t lump me in with those retarded fat fucks that couldn’t tell apart their shit and their food!”

“Stop this!” Erin roared while also unleashing her aura. The enemies caught in it lost their consciousness and fell back into the river. “Focus on the enemy. Not another word of insult between the two of you.”

“I understand,” Nivia muttered and turned her attention back to the new wave of monsters.

Amyra remained silent and went back to cleaving the monsters apart.

“You had it rough,” Aedan whispered as he took down a few Nagas on his own with an axe that was no bigger than his arm.

“Feels like I’m leading children sometimes,” Erin responded, having heard Aedan’s remark with her acute sense of hearing.

“Growing old is mandatory,” Aedan said, splitting a Naga apart. “But growing up is optional.”

Erin rolled her eyes, wondering why she expected some profound words of wisdom from him. She turned her attention to Aera, who was struggling to even push away a Naga, but she was not in any trouble since Aedan was beside her. Also, Aera was stronger than she looked. Her struggle stemmed from her inability to accustom herself to violence.

She had only been an ordinary village girl just a month before. Her struggle was understandable but it could not persist. Eventually, she would need to break out of her shell and Erin had hoped this battle would help Aera do just that.

Suddenly, the ship began to tremble and swayed intensely.

“They’re attacking the ship!” Lyra shouted.

“About time,” Amyra snorted. “I’m surprised that they didn’t attack the ship from the beginning.”

“Our opponent is most likely trying to avoid collateral,” Siv said. “They are only trying to kill Erin but I guess they ran out of patience or something has forced them to take drastic actions.”

“Doesn’t matter,” Amyra laughed. “Nothing’s changed. We just need to keep killing.”

The ship shook again and it was stronger this time, as if something big rammed into the ship.

“The big one’s here,” Erin mused. “Aedan, it’s your time to shine.”

“Roger that,” Aedan said and took out a gleaming stone from his pocket. “Wakey wakey,” he whispered to the stone. “It’s supper time.”