Chapter 89: Finishing The Field Trip

POV Eliza

Over the last few days, the children had proven themselves in the fight against the beetles. Now it was time to acquire the important poison resistance skill as planned. Unfortunately, the easiest way to get it was to let yourself be poisoned and resist it. I reminded the children of this task again.

“We're going to floor 3 today, where spiders await us as opponents.” <Eliza>

“Ew, spiders. Do we have to do that, Eliza?" <Various children>

“There's no other way. You know why we're all here. We want to teach you poison resistance and, unfortunately, the only way to do that is through poisoning.” <Eliza>

“Is there no other way?” <Children>

“Yes, there is. But for that we need alchemical potions or poisonous plants. The disadvantage of the former is the high cost. The problem with the second is that you have to eat the plants, which will ruin your stomach. You might not be able to get off the toilet for a while.” <Eliza>

“Ew, gross.” <Children>

“You also have to poison yourself several times to get the skill. There's a chance that it will go wrong. Also, the poison mustn't be too strong so that you don't accidentally die from it. The spiders here are weak enough that you won't be in mortal danger with the level you have now. A bite hurts, but with luck you'll also get the Pain Resistance skill from it.” <Eliza>

“Do we really need the skill?” <Children>

“It can save your life. I'll make sure we can defeat the first boss too. Our aim is to give you poison resistance to advanced. This will give you good protection against minor poisons. That's why you can't spend your EXP. You need them for the upgrade, even if you would rather spend them in other areas. Remember that.” <Eliza>

“Yes, Eliza.” <Children>

I was able to convince them to move on. On floor 3, we went to one area of the plain to avoid other adventurers and dedicated ourselves to the poison resistance project. I tried to activate only one spider at a time and had the spider compete against one of the children in a 1-vs-1. We then checked whether the skill had been acquired. Fortunately, Brinna had mastered the Appraisal skill. We repeated this process until every child had gained the skill. The only exception was the youngest. He was too afraid of the pain, so he was kept out of the fights. We managed to distribute the skill to everyone else within a day.

Now it was time to defeat the first boss. I went ahead and prepared the way. The children were now strong enough to fight goblins and the creepers in small groups. The goblins were no problem at all and the creepers didn't put up much resistance either. In order to gain the necessary EXP to improve poison resistance to advanced, the children had to reach at least level 15, preferably 20. However, this only made sense on the floors above level 5, which requiered defeating the first boss.

Then we stood in front of the boss room. Brinna and I cast the support spells we knew on the children. Many monsters would appear in the room and I couldn't take them all on at the same time. Still, there were no problems. I took care of the boss while the other monsters were taken over by the children. Since the numbers of both groups were similar, we didn't have much trouble. Then the chest and stele appeared.

“Now the time has come. Please step forward one at a time and touch the stele. Then don't mentally select a skill. You don't need to spend the development point as you can improve most of the relevant skills with your master anyway. You would also be spending EXP that you still need. Oh, and congratulations on defeating your first boss.” <Eliza>

The children looked at me happily and used the stele. Then they started to cheer. They were delighted to have defeated the boss. I was happy for them too. I consulted with Brinna and we realized that the youngest had also made a good leap in level. Normally you had to make a contribution in battle to get EXP. It was enough to throw a stone, cast a spell or something similar. Apparently it was also enough to be attacked himself, because he had lost some HP. He must have been hit and thus successfully participated in the fight. Brinna walked with him to the stele. They had a conversation. Apparently it was about convincing him that he shouldn't choose anything. I already knew that you didn't get a second chance to use a stele after successfully defeating the boss for the first time in a group. Still, sometimes it made sense to let the chance pass if the choice wasn't optimal. It was better to save up the point to reach an improved class more quickly.

We then spent three more days in the dungeon. After that, the time we had agreed with Master Freyna had expired before we were due to return. We didn't have any more food, because the leftovers were just enough for the way back. I still had to make my way to Tyros to return the donkey. We agreed that they would travel ahead and I would follow them. Brinna knew the way, so that wasn't a problem. I also told her that I might need a little longer as I hadn't seen my friends in Tyros yet this year and wanted to get in touch with them.

I walked towards Tyros that evening and reached the city gate just before they closed the gates. After dropping off the donkey, I went to the Red Deer. I was nervous because I wanted to see Lynn again. I took a deep breath before opening the door to the inn. I could hear the hustle and bustle inside. I entered the taproom and looked around. The room was full of people, so I couldn't spot my friends. I sighed once and turned to the bar. I was greeted by a new waitress I didn't know yet.

“Have a nice evening. What can we help you with?” <Waitress>

“I'd like a single room for the night and a meal. I'll have the stew with sausages.” <Eliza>

“I'd love to. Is a room under the roof okay?” <Waitress>

“Yes, of course. Thank you.” <Eliza>

“Here's the key. Please sit down, I'll have the food brought.” <Waitress>

I nodded and went into the taproom to find a seat. Then I was surprised to see a familiar face. But why was he alone?

“Ken?” <Eliza>