Etalia, Xiantha and I left the inn around seven the next morning. We had decided to try out the requests labeled as threat level three to start out, then we could always move up once we had a basis for how hard it was going to be. The first request was to collect the heads from fungaloids which were a type of fungus monster with four legs and serrated spines on stalks. They also could spray spores on people which would cause breathing issues. Since I had spent a lot of time in my past playing role-playing games I thought this was going to be a cake walk, just do the quest, turn it in, rinse repeat. I did not take into account pain. Did you know that when a three foot tall fungus monster hits you with a whip with serrated edges, it is not painless? My endless amounts of hours spend playing RPG’s did not prepare me for this fact. I made this discovery when I stayed too close to Etalia while she kept the mob's attention. It must have seen me within reach focusing on casting a spell and decided to give me a wakeup call. Even with the pain, I feel I got off easy as the whipping stalk hit me on the hip, a few inches over though and I doubt children would be possible anymore. Other than that mishap though the fungaloids were too easy as I only had to cast my heal every 3 to 5 mobs, the damage shield I did not even bother with as it was really mana inefficient with only a single monster hitting Etalia, and only took about five to ten seconds to die.

We moved up to level 4 centipedes that fed on the mushrooms while watching out for spiders which were level 5 mobs that showed up occasionally as the centipedes ate. The spiders had low defenses but were very fast. If you could focus one, it went down quickly, but if one found you while you were working on a centipede, it made things difficult for my girls. Honestly, I looked forward to when two mobs jumped us as usually, I would loot while the girls fought, then I would heal them while they looked for a new enemy. I barely got to do anything at all. Other than the threat of pain and dismemberment it felt like I was one of those overpowered minion masters in some game strolling around collecting loot. Oh wait, that’s exactly what I was. I broached it with Etalia and Xiantha, and when I told them I felt like dead weight Xiantha smirked at me and said: “Oh you noticed huh?” Honestly, that hurt just a little. I mean yeah I could not fight my way out of a wet paper bag, and I was pretty much coasting today, but they had been fighting tooth and nail since birth. Of course, they were badasses. As it stood though moving to tougher monsters was not the answer since I would still just be healing, only healing more often. I needed some spells to contribute to bringing monsters down faster. We decided that when we stopped for the day, I would go see Tabby and find out how much it cost to learn some damage spells. I also wanted to see about taking some time to train myself to fight, or at least defend myself. The girls could go out by themselves and do some requests while I got better equipped to help us tomorrow.

The rest of the day progressed in much the same way, except my uselessness got worse. It got to the point where the girls would separate onto different mobs while I cast heal once they finished the fight. I came close to heading back early to see about training, but they wanted me to stay just in case. I learned a lot from listening to them talk. They had a lot in common, and I felt like an outsider listening in. In some ways, it was very uncomfortable. They were friendly to me, and if they felt any resentment they did not openly show it, but I felt awkward. I was actually glad when it finally came time to head back. We had completed 5 requests for things from chitin, to meat, to fungi and it would net us 120 credits. Our lodging and food for the night would cost 30 credits, so I had 90 to spend on training with Tabby. I felt bad because we wanted to get out from underground, but when I mentioned just waiting until we went elsewhere, Tabby pointed out that if I had further training, we could kill faster. It just means you have to spend money to make money.

I went ahead and sent a message to Tabby, and she let me know she was still at the office and for me to come by in the next half hour if I wanted to set something up for tomorrow. The girls declined to come with me, they had discovered the joys of baths and decided they wanted to soak a while before dinner. I left them with a “don’t drown” and headed to meet Tabby.

Once I got to Tabby’s office, I rapped on the door, and she told me to enter, once I sat down she gave me a look and said “So, how did it go today?”

I sighed, and she laughed.

“That bad huh?” she quipped.

I told her, “We were successful, but those two just tear everything up, and I just loot everything. It was pitiful. They hardly needed me at all except for a mule. We decided I need some spells to help take enemies down faster so that we can challenge harder stuff together. Hell, they gained another threat level today while I only gained 1 intelligence and 2 wisdom. They are two levels ahead of me now, and I feel like I am falling behind. I also need to learn to defend myself. I can heal them, but no one can heal me.” While I was relating all of this Tabby just nodded along like she expected this to happen. I then asked her why and she responded.

“They are born fighters, you are not. Until a few days ago you were a normal human going day to day with no training at all. Now you are responsible for two individuals. You need to step up and start some intensive training. I could have told you this but, I doubt you would have believed me, or you would have possibly seen it but just enjoyed coasting. Since you are here complaining about being useless, that means you want to make something of yourself. You want them to be proud of you and for you to be proud of yourself. Let your girls know that they will need to run requests by themselves for a couple of days. Tonight I want you to study these two spells and tomorrow we will start teaching you how to aim spells, it’s not like your games above. Here, when you cast a spell if your demon is in front of you, your demon gets hit. You need to cast spells at targets which will increase your dexterity and increase your hit chance. We will start you on martial training using a staff which will increase your stamina, strength, and dexterity. Kids that are born here know these things and are trained for years before they get demons. You, however, got thrown into the deep end, and it’s time for you to learn to swim my friend.”

I took the spells from her, and she told me to meet the trainers at the martial training in the morning, then in the afternoon, she would have me for casting training. I then examined the spells I had been given.

Flame’s Desire

A flames only desire is to consume

Costs 5*threat level plus 10 mana to cast spell

Inflicts (Intelligence*2 + wisdom*1.5) damage plus burning damage of 1% of the initial strike over ten seconds.

That was pretty impressive with my current 18 intelligence and 13 wisdom I would do 55.5 damage for a cost of 20 mana.

The second spell was based on darkness instead and was not as damaging, but it had a secondary component to it.

Shadow’s Kiss

Costs 15 mana plus threat level *5 to cast spell

Inflicts (Intelligence * 1.5 + wisdom * 1) damage plus on a successful strike on victims head renders blindness and silence for 5 seconds.

The damage was lower, but the utility was nothing to be sneezed at. Of course, I had to hit the head to inflict the status effect, so my aim was certainly going to be a key factor. I finished my walk to the inn and joined the girls for dinner telling them about what Tabby had told me. They said they were fine with hunting on their own and it makes sense for me to get stronger so that we can be actual partners.