The entire morning was spent buying supplies for the trip. I got several metal shields, a staff and some other assorted gear. I also bought crafting supplies for tailoring. Three gold coins were spent on all those things.

There were skill points left and I spent them on item box level 2. Now I can carry a thousand pounds of stuff without worrying about spoiling food. And this means an early morning round trip around the best food vendors to stock up on delicious town food. I am a monster with a refined taste. We also stored all our herbs, potions and extracts in the box. The potted herbs could not be stored. They count as living beings. They will be left at Hildegard's for safekeeping.

One funny thing I discovered with [Appraisal (money)] is the astonishing amount of counterfeit coins that are circulating. Most merchants don't refuse them, but all of them discreetly swapped the counterfeit coins out when I gave a disgusted look. After both parties recognize each other had the skill and acknowledge the coin is counterfeit, the negotiation is done using the appraised value. It does not seem to be an exclusive merchant skill either. There are cases of people awakening it on their own.

And here we are, our four-man-no-real-man party is outside the gate marching to the bug dungeon. Once inside the forest, our first encounter was a pack of dog-sized spittlebugs.

"Anyone has info on those monsters?" I ask before rushing out. One of my current weakness is restricted mobility. And from the bubbly foam these bugs covered the patch of woods ahead, it is exactly what will happen.

"Don't get into the foam. They can't spittle too far, so kill them at range." Marcy shouts.

The bugs close in at a moderate speed. I take the lead and use my tank skills, Marcy and Helen start to pepper the bugs with firebolts and arrows. I wield my horn spear threateningly to create a bug-free zone around us. Zahariel has a gag order to keep hidden during this first battle. This spittlebug monster is a melee fighter. They can't shoot their spittle, so they work by making a wall of spittle and then encroaching upon their target. Another factor is that they can buzz like a cicada to summon more help. Outside of the spittle nest they made in the patch of forest ahead a dozen more bugs come out.

"They are circling behind us and closing the wall." Zahariel shouts a warning.

I consolidate our position and create a no-bug-zone of twenty feet around us.That's the reach of the horn spear.

"Above!" Marcy shouts. Some bugs are climbing the trees and foaming spittle on the higher branches.

"Helen, swap elements. Use water to wash bugs and clear the spittle." Almost all bugs that don't have a fire attribute are weak to fire. But if memory serves well, the way to clear bug spittle is washing.

I open my item box and swap the horn spear for a brand new magician staff. "Water Jet!" Helen sets her back against mine and imitates my stance, casting the same spell. Instead of a single-burst we dish out a continuous spray. It is bad on the MP but not only it bludgeons the bugs with the high pressure stream it also clears the spittle.

Unfortunately for the current me half a minute is all I can do. I swap back to the horn spear while Helen keeps pouring water out of her staff's tip. Marcy keeps sniping any bugs that dare move above us.

"I am so not dismantling these F-rank bugs," Marcy jokes looking at the wall of twitching bugs around us.

"I guess anything below D is not even worth the trouble," I add while slashing a couple bugs that were running to bite Zahariel. My two bodyguard targets are Zarr and Helen. I want to get the level six already so I can cover the whole party.

Water Magic level 3. Max MP Increased level 4. Water Mastery level 2. Long Spear level 7.

{Dead Zone} learned. Staff Mastery level 3.

Helen's breath becomes ragged. A signal of MP exhaustion. An experiment comes to mind. "Helen, keep firing the water jet even if you run out of MP. I want to test something." She nods in acknowledgement but her face says she doesn't want to. Even so she increases the pressure of the water stream and brushes away a pack of spittlebug nymphs that was closing straight at us. Soon she runs out of MP, and her HP begins to burn to support her magic. The moment it happens I feel some pain and my own HP bar twitches back and forth as if some pixels were blinking at the top. "Stop casting now!" It worked. I can cover for Helen's HP burn using sacrifice aura. It is still low level so only 15% is transferred, but it has a good growth potential.

"More bugs are coming, Beowulf! There is no end to this!" Zahariel is both scared of the bugs and angry at his powerlessness.

Time to get some breathing room. I switch my title to Fearsome, and bellow my strongest [Intimidating Shout] ever. The wave of magical fear washes over the forest to the distance. The presences of the spittlebugs begin to spread out away from me. Marcy draws her newest weapon, a longsword and both of us finish the remaining bugs that insist on living. Before finishing the last ones, I try changing jobs.

Job Change in combat: Option locked.

And it is not possible... yet.

The last bugs in the combat range are done for, and the laurels of battle are awarded upon us.

Zahariel has gained 16 levels! Helen has gained 4 levels! Marcy has gained 3 levels! Beowulf has gained 21 levels! 74 skill points awarded.

And this is what I was talking about!!! The amount of EXP required for low levels of lower tier jobs is very little. I don't think the curve is an exponential, but it has a growth sharper than a linear function. I got 20 levels of apprentice magician and 1 racial level. Zahariel gained 6 racial levels and 10 job levels. It means that a tier 3 job takes double as much exp as a tier 2 job. But it also means that his race is the equivalent of a tier 4 job. The cherub just won 92 skill points on a carry.

"This feels so unfair!" Marcy whines about the levelup broadcast. There is a new option in the party management to compress job messages. I am grateful that I don't have to stare at a bulletin board after every major fight now.

Title Hordebreaker awarded.

Those that earn a flawless victory against over 500 enemies in a single combat.

Shortens recovery rate ticks (HP, MP, Stm) according to the amount of enemies in the battlefield.

"Ho! Did you guys also earn this one?" Everyone did. I don't think there are much more than a hundred dead bugs around us, but I guess the ones that fled are also considered defeated. it is also good to know that self-inflicted damage and friendly fire do not get in the way of a flawless victory. In some games it even grant an EXP bonus.

Now there are some adjustments I need to make. I'll swap to Apprentice Acolyte, Zahariel needs to unlock the other jobs and will become a villager now that he has enough MP to use magic from his racial levels, Helen wants Apprentice Druid and Marcy picked Apprentice Warrior.

"We are all job level level 1 now." Did you guys earn the SP title already? Helen and Zahariel raise their hands. "Good, you guys can spend your skill points now. But remember to not spend on the skills you actively use during combat." Yet another guild-induced misconception. Skills can grow on their own if you practice them. Skill points should be spent on passives that are not exerted on a regular basis. In my case I'll dump everything into Status Conversion UP level 10. 49 points. Remaining points on Item box level 7, for 34,500 lb of capacity.

"Having both racial levels and job levels is so unfair!" Marcy whines.

"I am sure we can find some way to turn you into a monster, Marcy." I can't help but tease. "Ouch! Don't hit me!"

"Stop playing, you two. We should move. The bugs will be back to their nest anytime," Helen scolds us.

"Agreed. The miasma from the dungeon is growing as we speak," Zahariel gives us the gentle reminder.

Marcy retrieves her arrows while I look around to see if there is any special bug among the ones we killed. No. Only F-rank adult spittlebugs and G-rank spittlebug nymphs. I even tried one pemadra but it is deep inside their abdomen, is worth only 6 points and tastes like stink bugs. Eww. I will still store most of the corpses in the item box. Maybe they can have an use later.

"Everyone ready? Let's keep moving."

We move north-east to the dungeon location. There were some minor skirmishes against several types of bugs, but nothing worth of note. I even got hit on purpose once to confirm the flawless victory EXP bonus. It 25% of all the combat exp.