Ch 85

  As Greg ate, Matt coaxed him into sharing what had transpired after they had parted ways. Apparently, Greg's time had mostly been spent wandering around, battling monsters, until they received news of Mando laying siege to the fort. According to Greg, Tana had taken Kal back to the fort with her and was in the midst of negotiating an agreement when chaos erupted. Kal had never even managed to return to her group, and nothing materialized from the potential partnership, leaving Kal trapped at the fort. This was all Greg could divulge about the situation, as they had been unable to bypass the few hundred people Mando had stationed to harass the fort.

  Harassment had been the primary activity for both sides, with Mando's group persistently demanding that Kal be handed over, while the fort steadfastly refused. In response, Eleanor had organized Matt's former group to target Mando's group's supplies, and they were succeeding, as their skills were a few levels above the norm. However, chaos ensued when goblins unexpectedly attacked, and their quick missions to harass turned into an uneasy alliance as they joined forces to repel the goblins. When the dust settled after the first major conflict, Greg had reached level 9. He barely had time to express that he was being compelled to leave immediately or not at all before the system forced his departure.

  Thankfully, their party had remained united during the fight, and the healing technique Kal had shared was sufficient to handle their injuries, so he knew the others were aware of it. Furthermore, he anticipated it would be a day or two at most before they would gain enough experience to advance beyond that world. However, there was still the question of whether they would all reappear in the same location they were in now or elsewhere in the dungeon.

  "So, that's about all I think you missed," Greg stated, glancing around the dimly lit room. "How about you? What is this place, and what have you been up to?"

  "Leveling up Bob and Apricity," replied Matt, gesturing to the room around them. "We haven’t even left the area surrounding this room yet, as level 9 is the lowest level of the monsters here."

  "So, what level are you now?" Greg asked, curiosity in his voice.

  "The same as you," Matt responded with a grin.

  "Ha, if the others show up here too, they're going to laugh at finally catching up with you," Greg teased.

  "Hold on, the others are all women, right?" Apricity inquired, her eyes darkening with worry.

  "Oh yeah, they're like Matt’s unofficial har—" Greg began, not reading the room.

  "Shut it," Matt interrupted, a hint of annoyance in his voice.

  "No, I want to hear it," Apricity insisted with a scowl. "You’ve already admitted that more than one of them wants to be more than just friends."

  "He hasn't done anything with them," Greg replied, his voice tinged with disbelief. "From what I've gathered, he even used you as one of the reasons for shutting them down."

  "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Matt warned, his tone stern, but the damage was already done. Apricity seemed to perk up at Greg's words, her eyes gleaming with interest. She smiled triumphantly at Matt, as if she had just won a silent victory.

  "I see, well now, isn't that something. Care to explain, Matt?" she inquired, her voice laced with curiosity.

  Matt hesitated before responding, "You came to mind the first few times one of them pushed to be more than just friends. So, just like I gave you the talk about not wanting anyone too needy, I used that as part of my explanation of why I wasn't interested."

  Greg couldn't help but chuckle, shaking his head in disbelief. "You're telling me that with almost two weeks alone, you've done nothing?" he asked incredulously. "Man, are you sure you're not walking the path of the monk or something?"

  "Are you sure you're not walking the path of the jester?" retorted Matt with a hint of exasperation. "I mean, would it kill you to keep your comments to yourself?"

  "You know that's not how I roll. I'm an open book," replied Greg, his voice steady and unapologetic. "I only want people to like me for who I am, flaws and all. Otherwise, when I build my harem, some secret will surely poison its cohesion and ruin my dream."

  "Um, I'm with Matt on this one. Some things are best left unsaid, creep," chimed in Apricity, raising an eyebrow.

  "Don't worry," Greg said with a mischievous grin. "I would never take from another upstanding man's harem—"

  "I don't have, nor will I ever have, a harem!" Matt interjected, his voice rising in frustration.

  "Yeah, I am more than enough woman for Matt," Apricity teased, nudging Matt playfully.

  "We are not together either," Matt retorted firmly. "I am with no one until at least after we make it back to Earth and can figure out what things look like there."

  "Right, well, I'm just going to figure out what to eat in place of popcorn if the others do show up," Greg commented, glancing around the room as if searching for inspiration. "For now, we should figure out what our formation is like when we all work together."

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  As Matt gave Greg a look as if he wanted to smack him upside the head, Bob sent an image of himself biting Greg in the butt, in a manner that made Matt feel as though Bob was genuinely asking a question. Chuckling to himself, Matt just shook his head before telling Bob no and shifting into strategizing exactly how they were going to proceed. According to Greg, they had the makings of a full party, with Matt acting as both the tank and healer, Greg as the caster, Bob as the rear guard, and Apricity as the scout. The problem was that only Matt could handle the dangers of actual combat, and both Bob and Apricity were nowhere near ready to handle the suggested roles they were being cast in.

  This brought them right back to leveling, but Greg was eager to have Apricity and Bob take the frontline while Matt positioned himself right behind them, ready to intervene if things took a turn for the worse. Matt found himself hesitating to agree, as part of him feared that a single mistake could lead to one of them getting killed. After all, he had perfected the art of beating two steel hounds since they had first started fighting them. However, he understood that if he kept Apricity and Bob back, they would never develop their skills. So, he stood resolutely behind them, nerves tingling with anticipation, as they waited for the monstrous to arrive.

  Seeing the pair of steel hounds arrive and start rushing at Apricity and Bob put Matt on edge, but both stood their ground and acted when they needed to. Bob was able to quickly dash to the side before lunging back in to attack the hound from the side, executing a well-timed maneuver. Meanwhile, Apricity cleverly got her hound to bite down on her forearm, which was shielded by several rib bones from hounds they had defeated in earlier battles, hidden discreetly under her sleeves. Observing the fight unfold according to plan allowed Matt to breathe ever so slightly easier as he focused on watching for any signs of trouble. As Apricity slashed her hound next, before agilely leaping onto the one Bob was grappling with, the fight concluded with only minor injuries.

  "Alright, let's head back and talk about how that went," stated Greg, the moment the second hound was dead.

  When they returned to the safe room, Greg immediately resumed speaking. "Alright, that encounter went about as well as we could have hoped for, but it was a very controlled scenario that I've been told the three of you have repeated far too many times. I don't know exactly how this dungeon operates, but I'm willing to bet that those two monsters will behave in the same manner repeatedly. This means if the next group of monsters behaves differently, they will likely catch both of you off guard, and we can't have Matt constantly facing every monster that comes at us, even if that's how he would prefer it."

  "It has nothing to do with liking or disliking," Matt retorted, with a hint of exasperation in his voice.

  "Sure," Greg replied. "Still, the issue is that we need combat experience, but all of us have developed terrible habits that are bound to get us killed in a dungeon. I'm too accustomed to having more guards when facing weaker enemies. Matt tends to let himself get injured to protect the rest of us, which is risky. Bob seems only able to focus on one enemy at a time, and Apricity, I don't think you could have moved any more robotically. I know it worked, but if the hound hadn't bitten your arm, Matt would have had to save you twice—first when he dealt with the hounds and second when he healed what would have likely been nasty wounds. You mentioned you had done some sparring with Matt before; exactly what were you two doing?"

  "I would attack, and Matt would defend," she explained.

  "Right," Greg replied with a sigh. "Matt, you need to spend the rest of today attacking her while she tries to defend, or better yet, I'll do it and play the role of the perverted master."

  "I think I will stick with Matt," Apricity stated, a worried look crossing her face.

  "You see, I think motivation is key, and you'll put in more effort to avoid me groping you—"

  "Greg, I think you need to watch yourself," Matt warned, casting a serious glance in Greg’s direction. "Even if you're right, we don't need the issues that would come from you actually succeeding. Plus, she needs to learn to defend her whole body, not just a few key areas if she's going to build good habits."

  Sighing, Greg agreed, and they spent the rest of the day focused on sparring, which included having Bob take turns attacking Apricity and then being attacked himself. By the end of the day, there had been no fewer than ten instances where Matt needed to heal someone due to an injury, either from taking a hit they shouldn’t have or their body simply not holding up to a particular movement. Still, in the end, they repeated the fight against the hounds, and although the outcome remained the same, Greg seemed much happier with the fluidity Apricity displayed.

  With that, they all settled down after breaking down the corpses once more, a process at which Apricity had become remarkably efficient. During this time, Greg went over his observations and advice again, emphasizing how beneficial Bob was for their training. Nevertheless, he felt that more work was necessary and seemed to plan on motivating Apricity by comparing her to Zara. Considering Zara had become the most proficient in hand-to-hand combat among those in Matt’s old party, especially when it came to avoiding injury, there was still a significant gap for Apricity to bridge.

  "I don’t know how you expect me to fight like that when I don’t even have a sword," Apricity argued, frustration evident in her voice. "Maybe if we had the tools to craft me a weapon resembling one, we could figure something out. But as things stand, I’m at a loss."

  "You’re still missing the point," Greg stated firmly. "Zara adapted to her situation and grew stronger with each battle. I’m not saying you need to reach her level, but you do need to learn how to maintain an advantage over foes that don’t even have a real strategy. You and I aren’t like Matt, who can fight while injured and treat it as though it’s no big deal. Plus, he can’t just stop mid-fight to heal us without causing significant problems."

  "Okay, I can understand that," Apricity conceded, nodding thoughtfully. "So, I should focus on avoiding injury while keeping my opponent engaged until Matt can find a moment to finish them off?"

  "No, that’s my role," Greg clarified, shaking his head. "My magic relies on others holding the enemy back while I cast spells. I haven’t started using it yet because I need a better understanding of how you move before I dare to use my magic. Otherwise, I might accidentally hit you, and then we’d have real issues."

  "Agreed," interjected Matt. "I think it's best if we call it a day and get some rest."

  "Sure thing," Greg concurred. "I have more ideas that need time to develop, and sleep will be perfect for that."

  "Right, and Greg, thanks for the insights. You're much better at this stuff than I am," Matt added appreciatively. As he spoke, Apricity snuggled closer to him, and Greg blinked before shooting Matt a look that clearly accused him of having lied earlier.

  "We all have our strengths," Greg replied thoughtfully, "but I have to warn you, if the others see her clinging to you like that, there are going to be issues."

  "Right," Matt sighed. "You see..."

  Matt gave a brief explanation about their agreement with Apricity and secured Greg's promise to help explain it to the other women when they arrived. Despite Greg's warning that it might be a bad idea, they let the matter rest as they settled down to sleep once more.