Mature Content Warning: A little foul language, and Scott gets girl elf cooties, "Eww."

Author's Notes: This is about twice as long as last chapter. I had intended to make it a bit longer but realized that this was a good ending point for the chapter.

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I hope for 5 stars, but rate it how you feel it deserves to be rated so that other people can get honest information about the story's quality in your opinion. Say what you like or hate about it. It will really help to keep this story going and updating quickly, and I appreciate everyone who loves it so much.

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Chapter 3: Just a Little More Time

The entrance to the mine was an image born directly from an old movie or game cliché. Three boards were haphazardly nailed across the entrance, and there were heaped piles of rotting meat and ancient bones scattered nearby. It was both an ominous and invigorating sight.

“You know, since I started adventuring I have become quite bloodthirsty.” said Scott.

Rhea smirked at him then shook her head. “It’s the natural state isn’t it? Most of the time people do things because they think that they have to do them. If you strip away all of those things, in the end you just do what you want. Obviously, you want to dominate random forest creatures and take their stuff.”

He looked at her casually then smirked. “Sounds about right.”

Scott pointed to the mine. “Hey, random creatures of the mine; die and become my life experience, OK?”

Rhea giggled at him then drew her sword. “Yeah, die for me too, OK!”

Scott patted her on top of the head in response. “Yes, yes. I’m sure they will.”

She puffed out her cheeks a little then poked him in the side. “Let’s go.”

Scott smirked and walked over to the entrance. He made no attempt at stealth and loudly pulled the boards away from the entrance. He did not want them to get in the way when they needed to get in and out. Honestly, he was surprised that the goblins or whatever had not done so.

They entered the mine and Scott received a system message, as he liked to call them.

You have entered Red Rock Mine.

This is the first time that you have entered this location. No one other than the inhabitants has entered the mine for over ten years.

Monster spawn rate is currently at maximum.

Monsters will be stronger than in the surrounding area due to the mine being a long inhabited lair.

All experience and treasure acquired from them will be doubled for ninety-six hours.

“Wow, great.” said Scott. They should definitely go dungeon diving more often. This should do wonders for their levels and provide a lot of interesting loot.

“Yes, absolutely. This should be fun.” said Rhea.

They walked further into the mine and the light-levels dropped considerably. Scott turned to Rhea and asked, “Hey, didn’t you say that you had a way to get around it being so dark in here?”

“Sure, hold on one moment.” said Rhea.

The elven girl opened up her inventory screen and searched through it for a brief moment. “Here we go.”

Rhea took out a marble-sized sphere then held it up for Scott to see. “This is a torch stone. They automatically follow you around after you activate them. They provide decent illumination at this size, bigger ones provide more.”

“Oh, that’s neat. Where do you get them?” said Scott. Instead of physical torches, people used floating stones that provided light.

She blinked. “Cave dwelling humanoid monsters often drop them, and you can buy them in most towns. Didn’t you get any of them when we defeated those goblins earlier?”

“Uh, no. I got mostly crappy armor and weapons.”

“I see. You don’t have any survival skills right?” asked Rhea.

Scott frowned. There it was again. He had not developed his survival skill set. How could he? It required eighty thousand experience points! “I have a lore ring for it, but the experience requirement is high so I have not been working on it.”

Rhea nodded at him. “True, at our levels it is hard to give up experience. You might want to try it for the next few days, though. I require a lot of experience to gain a level compared to you and with the bonus, you might be able to develop gain the skill in a few days.”

“Good point. I’ll give it a try. If the experience seems too low, I’ll just level till the bonus ends.” said Scott.

The sorcerer equipped his survival lore ring and sighed. It was time to see what this thing would do for him. “Survival Ring Status.”

Mid’s Ring of Survival Lore

This ring contains knowledge of the survival skill set. By feeding your life experience into the ring, you will be able to learn the skills that it holds.

EXP: 0/80,000

“Right, let’s go find something to brutally murder for fun and profit.” said Scott.

Rhea patted him on the shoulder. “There, there. You’re such a sensitive soul.”

He laughed at her a little then smiled. It sucked that he had to give up all of this beautiful experience. Eighty thousand experience points would boost his level quite a bit. Still, he seemed to be missing out on a lot of things due to not having any survival skills.

Scott did consider his recent thoughts and actions, though. They walked further into the old mine, but his thoughts were not on the monsters. His thoughts were drawn to how much he had changed. He had hunted in the real world, as he thought of his old life sometimes, but never to the extent that he hunted in this world. It was like he wanted to kill everything that moved. Honestly, who was the real monster here?

His thoughts and idle speculation were interrupted by the sudden arrival of rats, lots of rats. Scratch that, there were lots of really big freaking rats.

“Cave rat swarm! Be ready!” said Rhea excitedly.

Scott nodded to her then prepped his freeze spell. There had to be at least thirty of the waist-height rodents running toward them. What had they been eating all this time to get that big? He did not have the time to consider it at the moment.

The sorcerer fired off two freeze spells back-to-back in a wide dispersal pattern. Over a dozen of the oversized rodents were caught in the effect, and to the sorcerer’s surprise the damage was quite high. Little red numbers ranging from thirty-two to forty-six popped up atop each of the stricken creatures. Increasing the force of the spell had increased the power greatly!

Rhea dashed toward the rats at an angle, her blade already surging with elemental lightning. That particular elemental spell was her favorite to use on her sword as it had a strong chance of paralyzing most enemies.

The elf maiden leapt upward and performed a hard slash in mid-air that neatly hacked into the side of one of the rats that had chosen to try a leaping attack. The moment that she landed, she performed a spinning motion that allowed her to avoid an oncoming rat while striking at its rear.

Due to the sheer number of monsters, Scott opted to go ahead and train his freeze spell. He ducked and dodged around the beasts before casting freeze three more times. Several cave rats froze solid due to the overlapping spells, but most continued on. Surprisingly, despite doing over a hundred points of damage to a few of them none of the rats had died yet. What level were they, anyway?

Rhea rushed in and performed a quick lunging strike, before twisting out of the way of another rat. Her defense was not perfect, however. A third rodent managed to reach her while she was acquiring a new position and bit down on her left arm. She cried out in pain as a bright red number twelve floated upward.

“Rhea!” Scott heard her cry out, and immediately started to move toward her position. However, she called out that she was fine before she bashed the rat in the eye with the pommel of her sword.

The cave rat attacking Rhea let go with a squeal, but it was immediately replaced by three more rats that had been trying to get at what they considered to be the easier meat. Scott’s spells were devastating to them at the moment.

Scott leapt atop the back of one of the larger rats that he had frozen and began to repeatedly stab and slash it with his claws. The rat died quickly due to its already weakened state. The sorcerer swiftly moved on to the next monster, and then another.

The elf hopped back and then to the side to avoid a leaping rat. She followed her evasive movement with a quick dash to the left. She had spied a rocky out cropping that she could use. Once she reached the bit of rock that was about the right height for her plan she called out. “Scott! If you have any mana left, try to herd them toward me!”

“I’ve always got a little for you, Rhea!” called Scott happily. He could not see the girl blush from this distance, but he knew that she was probably bright red at the moment.

Several rats moved toward Rhea, but Scott was still closer. Most of them wanted to hang out with him in the hopes of catching a meal. He rewarded them with a freezing blast of magical energy that finished off three more of the rats, froze another two, and sent several more squealing and scrambling away.

He only had one more cast left in him, but that was fine. The rats were complying with Rhea’s plan anyway. Scott continued to hack, slash, stab, and annoy the rodents to the best of his ability. One did manage to sneak past his guard and bit into his side, but it did only a single point of damage. There was something to be said for the sorcerer’s agility and defense bonuses when combined with armor!

Scott elbowed the annoying rat bastard in the skull and it dropped away. He followed that attack by leaping forward to perform a powerful kick with his bladed boots that tore open the side of one of the rats, before he spun to the left and launched a powerful stabbing strike to the next closest rodent’s chest.

Rhea’s voice carried over the loud squealing and chatter of the rodents. She had begun to sing a litany, a short elven battle song.

~Long and long, the lonely road,

No one knows where it goes,

Dance and Dance till the end

Get up on your toes...~

She continued singing, and after a few verses passed the rats began to act strangely. First the ones closest to her did it, and then others chose to do it as well. The rats had begun to dance against their will!

The cave rats have become slaves to the rhythm! They can do nothing but dance, dance, dance!

Scott would have taken advantage of the effect sooner, but he was enraptured by the beautiful voice of his comrade. He had never heard anyone sing with such a radiant and clear tone. No one human could have made such a sound, he was sure of it.

He shook off the unintended side-effect of Rhea’s unadulterated awesomeness and set about the task of rodent extermination. Scott immediately began to stab, slash, beat, maim, and well destroy the dancing rodents with great zeal.

They screamed as they danced, blood poured from their hapless bodies as the spinning whirlwind of death that was Scott, danced to a far more lethal rhythm of his own.

Rhea continued to sing until her mana ran out completely. All but four rats had succumbed to their wounds, and the remainder did not have much life left in them either.

Scott and Rhea nodded to each other then set about finishing the battle. The sorcerer ran to the right. The arcane blade ran to the left. Together they performed quick slashing movements that continued to whittle down the health of the remaining rodents while preventing them from gaining a single hit against their intended meals.

After the final rat died and exploded in a shower of light Scott surveyed the area. He looked at Rhea with a feral grin while he panted heavily from his exertions.

The battle music faded away and a somber song took its place. It was a song filled with quiet tones and soft scuttling sounds. The battle report displayed immediately after the change in the musical score.

Victory!

You have faced a thirty-two cave rat contingent and lived to tell the tale!

+ 0 EXP

+ 1152 Fayth

+32 Ability Points

Item(s) Acquired:

Cave Rat Tail X 32

Small Cave Rat Pelt X 48 (Poor Condition)

Cave Rat Eye X 7

Cave Rat Fang X 3

“No experience, let me check my ring.” Scott looked to his survival lore ring and read the experience information.

After reading it for a moment he blinked then turned to look at Rhea. “Seven hundred eighteen experience points. Holy crap...”

“Well, it was a swarm and the experience is doubled because of the bonus. Do you still think you won’t be able to gain the experience necessary to gain survival skills?” Rhea smirked at him then tossed her hair around with a sudden twist of her head.

The sorcerer chuckled softly then happened to take in the sight of the blood and gore covering the mine floor. The bodies had disappeared but the destruction had remained. Still, he did not care about that. His first instinct was something a bit more goofy than depressing. “You see that, rats! That’s the power of friendship, bitches!”

Rhea could not help herself. She threw cried out in a feminine display of comradery, “Yeah! Friendship, bitches!”

Scott put his hand to his mouth and made a gasping noise. “Rhea, such language...”

She pouted at him. “You said it first...”

He could not keep pretending to be offended after seeing her devastating put. He started to laugh. She laughed as well and they enjoyed the moment. However, Scott decided to ruin it.

“So much blood.” He leaned over and wiped his hand on Rhea’s armor.

She squawked like an overly-excited chicken then asked, “What are you doing?”

He grinned at her, “Sharing the spoils...”

“Eww, stop that!” she cried. Rhea backed away from him with a horrified look on her face.

Scott advanced on her position, “Comrades should share, everything, even a bed. You remember that right?”

She immediately turned and fled, her hair streaming behind her. “No, that sounds like something you made up!”

“Come back and become my towel!” Scott laughed and chased the girl. Was it stupid to be playing around like this in a cave full of monsters? Yes. Still, there was something about the moment that he truly enjoyed. Maybe he was just designed to be an asshole?

“Nooo!” wailed Rhea while she ran for the cave exit. They would need to rest a little to restore their mana anyway. They might as well head back to the tent and get cleaned up.

--

Three days passed as they hunted in the Red Rock Mine. Due to the absurdly high number of monsters that appeared whenever they entered the cave system of the mine, they never had to go in too deeply. The tent proved to be invaluable during this time.

Scott had thought that it would only last for twenty-four hours, but it turned out that his information had been wrong. The tents actually lasted twenty-four hours after each use. They could not be taken up and used again, but as long as you kept using the tent it would not disappear for one full day after each rest period. There were limits, however. A simple tent like the one that they were using degraded over time and would stop working after a week at most, even if the tent did not disappear. That was more than enough time to fight and rest for training.

Rhea was extremely happy because she had finally reached level seven after their third hunting trip. If Scott had not been focusing on developing his survival skill he would have gained several levels. However, once the bonus period ended he could just fight the monsters for normal levels of experience and still gain levels at an accelerated rate compared to fighting back in the Victory Station region.

“I’m close to gaining another level, Scott.” said Rhea, excitement obvious in her tone. They had managed to find places in the early portion of the mine where they could use the terrain to their advantage. After that, they had found it much easier to deal with monster swarms, though the goblin parties they fought had been decidedly harder to deal with than the rats. Goblins also gave much more experience, however.

“Yeah, I’m about one-third of the way to gaining my survival skill, too.” said Scott, a smile upon his lips.

The elf girl acquired a thoughtful expression for a moment then sighed. “Scott...”

“Yes, Rhea?”

“I’m sorry, but I...need to go do elf stuff for a while.” She seemed both sad and annoyed.

“I see. Do you really have to go now? Can’t you at least stay long enough to get that level that you were talking about?”

Scott did not have any anger or frustration in his tone, but he clearly wanted her to stay.

She looked down at the ground then nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m sorry. I wish I didn’t have to go...”

“It’s OK. If you have to, you have to... but, when will you return?” asked Scott.

“I... it, it’ll be about a week I think.” replied the girl.

“So, long? Really?” he sat up on his bed roll and looked at her. What would make her need to leave for a week?

“I’m sorry...”

Scott saw the sadness in the girl’s face and posture. He was not mad at her, but she would be missed. They had grown a little closer... as comrades in the last few days. “It’s OK, Rhea. I’ll just head to town and sell off my share of the loot and buy a new tent. By the time you return, everything will be good to go for us to hunt some more. We’ll get that level.”

The elf maiden’s eyes began to shimmer with unshed tears. She sniffled a little, but looked up at him with a warm smile on her lips. “OK. It’s a promise then?”

“Sure, we’ll hunt some more when you get back.”

She crawled over to him on her hands and knees and wrapped her arms around him. Rhea embraced him gently then kissed him on the cheek.

Scott coughed a little after being exposed to her sweet maneuver. His face began to grow flush from the simple and beautiful moment. “Eww, girl cooties.”

“Oh deal with it, you big baby.” said Rhea, before she puffed out her cheeks in an adorable and childish display of disapproval.

He sighed in a loud and overly dramatic manner. “I suppose I should take my medicine. I mean, if I am not exposed to the cute girl elf cooties, how will I develop proper antibodies to ward them off in the future?”

She patted him on the cheek then smiled sweetly. “There ya go champ, justify it any way you like.”

Scott’s face began to burn a little once more the he shook his head and thought. ‘This girl...’

“I have to go, but if you don’t behave yourself I will have to kiss you three times when I get back.”

Scott’s left eyelid started to twitch and he slowly raised his hand to his lips. He made his hand tremble slightly and in a show of faux-timidity he said, “How would I survive such a terrifying ordeal...”

Rhea stared at him flatly for a moment then poked him in the chest. “I’ll be back, soon.”

“OK.” said Scott softly.

“Is that all you’re going to say to me before I go?” she asked, a tremor in her voice.

“Well, I had wanted to poke you in the chest too, but I figured that you’d like that too much.”

Rhea quirked her eyebrow then snorted at him. She reached down clasped one of his hands and then raised it up to eye-level. “This hand? Was it the finger of this hand that you intended to use?”

“Yep, good ol’ pointy.” Scott wiggled his index finger at her.

She smirked at him then drew the hand down to her left breast and pressed it against her armored chest. “This hand can touch anything it likes. I would definitely like it, but it could never be too much, OK?”

“Rhea...” said Scott, his eyes wide due to his surprise at her actions.

She sighed then looked down and to the side. “I’ve never made it a secret than I want to be with you.”

Scott felt shame burn through his body. He liked the girl, probably far more than liked her, really. Yet, while they had to keep secrets it was hard to trust her completely. That lack of trust was leaving him as time passed, but he could not be as bold with his feelings as she had just been. He was confused, and possibly a coward.

“Rhea... I...” Scott started to say something, but Rhea looked up at him once more. He could see that she was starting to cry a little. He could not understand why she felt so strongly for him, but unless she was an award winning actress her feelings were real.

“Yes...” She looked at him with wide, sad eyes.

Scott had intended to tell her one thing, but he found that he could not speak the words that he had originally wanted to say. Instead, a different urge overcame the man. He started to breathe in and out with greater force.

Rhea looked at him curiously, noting his sudden change in posture. She was about to ask him what was wrong, but the reluctant sorcerer leaned in suddenly and kissed her on the cheek. Her eyes widened in shock. Had he just...?

Scott pulled away from her then crawled back a little, as though he was afraid of what she would do. Neither of them spoke for a moment, but he broke the silence. “I... Just... Just give me a little more time, OK.”

Rhea started to cry again, heavily this time. However, her expression was one of pure joy. “Yes! Yes, as much time as you need.”

Scott grunted when she lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him in a powerful embrace. For such a slender girl she was quite strong.

She placed her head against his shoulder and snuggled in closely. Rhea could not stop crying, but it felt so good.

***