LimitlessPath
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Limitless Path Chapter Twenty-two
🕑 Added 2023-04-25 17:00:03 +0000 UTC"Now I know what you're thinking," Beth began, Blood immediately barking in response, "but I assure you it's perfectly safe."
Blood looked over at the arch and then back up at Beth, before repeating the action another time. Beth was surprised to learn that a wolf's face was quite capable of displaying extreme doubt. With a quick shake of her head, she walked forward and into the portal. She found herself again in the large open field under a bright, warm blue sky. A moment later Blood appeared next to her, looking around with tepid interest.
"Come on, we're gonna farm," Beth said to her.
Blood simply gave her a look.
"Don't give me a look."
Blood continued to give her a look.
“Come on, let’s go kill some shit,” Beth said, moving forward.
The two of them proceeded to fight for the next hour or so, long enough that they killed quite a few ants. As they were finishing the last of a small group of level sixes, Beth got a message.
Companion Blood Level acquired.
"Nice! Good job girl!" Beth exclaimed, swiftly walking over to Blood and hugging her neck. She noticed she barely had to bend now to hug her, Blood another several inches taller. She quickly pulled up Blood's stat page and assigned her points.
Looking closely, she was quite happy with Blood's progress. She was rather strong and very fast, with good durability and stamina for her level. She had also gotten and leveled a new skill, Swift, which allowed her to spend mana to increase her speed, and her having a wealth tab proved that the dungeons counted her as a person for the purpose of a clear. Not thinking too hard about it, Beth dismissed the screen and ruffled Blood's ears before moving further into the field.
They encountered another level seven ant shortly thereafter and Beth signaled Blood to step forward again. This time was a whole different ballgame, as the saying went, as Beth watched Blood tear the ant apart. It wasn't super quick or easy, but Blood had gone from not really being able to kill a level seven to being able to slowly dismantle one with her new Strength and sharper claws and fangs.
Beth wasn't too concerned about the experience she could be getting at this point, knowing they were heading towards level eight and even level nine ants at a good pace. She also wanted to see just how big Blood would get with another few levels. Already at this point she was approaching Beth's height and, being an animal that walked on all fours, this meant her overall size and her weight were both above Beth's.
The two moved forward again, Blood taking out two more ants by crushing or ripping off their legs before tearing their necks apart. It didn't take very long for them to hit the point where they fought the first group of level sevens, a pair of them. They split the enemy, Beth easily being able to pulverize the head of the lead ant when they charged her, while Blood ran around to the tailing ant and began to worry it to death. Beth let Blood take her time and fight her way, hoping to push her through at least one more level quickly.
They chewed through ants at a rapid pace, getting both her and Blood a level. They continued fighting after fifteen minutes of rest, slaughtering every ant and group of ants they came across. That netted them both yet another level, bringing Beth to level eight and Blood to level five. They rested again before moving a little further out, this time encountering something a little unique, Beth checking the new threat with Identify:
Soldier Ant Level 10
The new ant was fully black in color, larger than the other ants, with longer mandibles. The spikes on its legs were more pronounced and sharper, giving its legs a wicked-looking air. The thorax of the beast seemed to be thicker with even heavier plating, while the abdomen was smaller and sleeker than a level nine common ant's would be. It looked like this ant would be a very discernable jump in every aspect; the much-improved mandibles for greater offense, the thicker and harder shell for greater defense, and the sleeker, narrower body allowing for greater speed and agility.
Beth gave Blood a questioning glance, which the wolf returned with a slight bark and a nod. They moved forward and engaged the ant, finding that it really was better in every aspect than anything they had fought so far. The biggest difference, though its strength and speed were higher, was its toughness. It took the two of them fighting in tandem, with Beth drawing the aggro and Blood tearing at the legs, to begin to dish out some serious damage. The fight was the longest and most difficult they had experienced, taking them nearly ten minutes to kill just a single enemy.
Soldier Ant Level 10 slain.
Remaining mana converted to one copper coin.
Level 9 acquired.
Unarmed Apprentice[4] acquired.
Apparently, the higher-tiered level ten was worth a lot of experience, as Beth had felt it would take a decent few more level nines for the next level. She also vaguely remembered something about level ten-pluses always dropping at least one copper coin; quite a difficult way to increase her wealth. She moved aside with Blood, both sitting down to meditate, Beth leaning her back against Blood's side before closing her eyes. She focused on healing the cuts, slices, and bruises she had received from the battle first, spending some time to rest and recover mana afterwards. She then looked to her stats page, distributing her points before examining her progress.
She sighed, getting up and stretching, feeling her spine pop. When she turned to Blood, she found she was looking her directly in the eye, their heights having evened out. She grabbed her companion in a deep hug, leaning against her and stroking her fur for a while before pulling back and giving her a kiss on the snout. "What do you say, girl? More ants or back home?"
Blood barked tiredly in response, and Beth laughed before stepping to the side and hopping up on Blood's back. With a yip, Blood took off, tracing their path of carnage back to the gate, making use of Swift the whole way, drastically reducing the time it took them to return. Before they stepped through the gate, Beth took out her phone and checked the time. It showed that it was 5:00 A.M., meaning they had been in the gate for twelve hours. They walked through the portal, and as Beth dismissed the spell and it sunk back into her bedroom floor behind them, she watched her phone update to say 9:00 P.M. They had only been in the gate for four real-time hours, the gate really compressing time in a three-to-one ratio.
Beth led Blood into the bathroom, where she turned on the shower and stripped out of her dirty clothes. She hopped in and washed thoroughly before stepping out and to the side a little, letting Blood in. Luckily, Beth had a showerhead that was on a flexible hose, meaning she could take it off the clamp and move it around. Doubly luckily, her shower wasn't in a tub but an extra-large stall, like a little room within the bathroom. It wasn't quite big enough for her and Blood to be fully inside, but she could stand partially in with the door open and help wash Blood off, who took up the whole stall herself.
"I think we might need to get a bigger shower somehow. Or move to a new place. Maybe we can get an apartment at the CRA Hall or something," Beth grumbled, helping Blood thoroughly wash all the grime away.
When they were done, Beth had to pull out practically every towel she had in the tall cabinet in the bathroom to dry them, even after Blood shook herself out in the shower stall with the door closed. Once they were fully dried, they moved back into the bedroom where Beth threw on some underwear, a T-shirt, and some loose long pajama pants before leading Blood out of the room. They made their way down to the kitchen, not seeing anybody else until they arrived in the room.
Both her parents were there along with Kim, her parents working on their laptops at the island while Kim was making some food. Beth silently joined her, pulling more and more food out as Kim watched, eyes widening at the quantity. Beth started up the oven, intending to cook a load of chicken and turkey, before filling a pot and putting it on the stove to make pasta.
"The rest of us have eaten, you know? I'm just making a snack," Kim said, recovering from the food-pile shock.
"Oh yeah, don't worry, I wasn't going to share. This is all for Blood and me," she responded.
"And how is your new friend doing?" her father asked, looking up from his laptop at Blood. Blood responded by tilting her head a little to the right and narrowing her eyes.
"I don't know what that means," he continued after seeing her reaction.
"She's doing great. Really damn strong, too," Beth replied, continuing with the food prep.
"I think Soph's right, you are turning into a gorilla," Kim said. Beth elbowed her as she passed, causing Kim to slide back with a grunt. "Damn Beth, the hell was that?"
"Need to level up a little, you're weak," Beth replied, chuckling as she filled a big bowl with water for Blood.
"Let's refrain from violence in the house," her mother commented, still working on something on her laptop.
"I hear you girls had an adventure today," said her father. "Though I haven't heard all the details."
"Alright, I can talk while I watch this stuff," Beth responded. She proceeded to spend the next ten-plus minutes discussing the day's outing through the ant nest with the other girls while the pasta cooked. She made a huge amount and dished it into two huge bowls when it was done, giving one to Blood. She spent some time devouring the pasta before checking on the meat, washing the bowls they had used for the pasta in the meantime.
Kim retreated to her room with her food while Beth was still ransacking the kitchen, her parents discussing the notes they were making and some other work-related business. Beth pulled two trays of meat out of the oven and set them on the stovetop to cool while pulling some salad mix out of the fridge. She made two salads while the meat cooled down, putting no dressing on the one for Blood. After the salads, they turned to the meat, Beth sitting on the floor by Blood while they tore through both trays. Her mother cast a disapproving eye over them several times but made no comment, continuing with her work.
Finishing with everything, Beth cleaned up what they had used before heading out of the kitchen, belching loudly right before she left. "Beth, excuse yourself," her mother reprimanded.
"Right, excuse me," she said, sauntering back upstairs with Blood.
Back in her room, she made sure everything was arranged appropriately. She gave a heavy sigh as she went through her clothes, seeing everything that had been torn apart in just the past week. She really, really needed to get some kind of armor or armored clothing to wear so her casual clothes didn't all become rags. Sighing a second time, she tossed several of the shirts that were just scraps into an extra box she had in the corner. She could probably at least use them as rags for cleaning her sword and such for a little before tossing them.
Once she had everything arranged, she made sure her alarm was set for early and plugged her phone in before hopping into bed. Blood curled up on the floor in the center of the room, tucking her muzzle in by her side and covering her face with her big, bushy tail. The two of them quickly drifted off to sleep.
Ding, ding. Ding, ding. Beth woke early the next morning to the sound of her alarm chiming, feeling quite refreshed. She cancelled the alarm and unplugged her phone before hopping out of bed, kneeling by Blood to pet her quite thoroughly. Satisfied Blood was in good spirits, she moved into the bathroom where she brushed her hair and teeth and got ready for the day.
The two of them headed down to the kitchen, Beth stopping by the front door as she got a text. She opened the door to find Sabs standing there, waving the older girl inside before shutting the door behind her. Beth turned and gave her a hug, laughing when a clearly hungry Blood headbutted them both out of the hug. The three made their way back into the kitchen, where Beth and Sabs started food prep for the morning.
They were soon joined by Kim, and somewhat later a slightly disheveled Soph as they finished cooking up breakfast. They ate up relatively quickly, eager to get into the action for the day. Once the food was all finished, they made their way out through the mudroom, grabbing gear as needed. They circled up by one of the tables to discuss the plan.
"What's the plan for today?" Kim asked, looking to Beth.
"We're gonna circle around the side of the development and head south. The fields south of the neighborhood have wolves and a wolf Breeding Ground; that's our target for today," Beth replied, outlining the plan.
"Will Blood have an issue fighting with the wolves?" Kim asked, settling further into her role as leader of the rest of the group.
Blood merely chuffed with a furrowed muzzle in response, a look and sound that showed her disdain for the ‘wolves’ in the fields. Kim nodded in response to the sound, Blood's stance clear to the entire group.
"Alright. Before we get rolling here, let's try another session like we did yesterday in the ant nest," Beth said.
"What do you mean?" asked Sabs with a quirked brow.
"I'm going to walk you four through a skill and see if you can pick anything up, so pay attention," Beth replied, looking at each of them in turn, including Blood.
Over the next half-hour, Beth attempted to explain how her regeneration skill worked. It was still technically too early for her to really be able to teach it to anyone, but they found that that gap didn't make the rest of the group unable to learn it. Instead, the other four, after much grumbling and many admonishments to focus, learned the far more basic Regeneration.
"Now that that's finally sorted, you should also know that Blood and I will both generally be watching today," Beth announced to the group, much to their surprise.
"You want just the three of us to fight?" Sabs asked in consternation.
"Yeah, I do. Blood and I would just soak up all the experience. We're trying to get you levels; Blood and I are fine for now," Beth answered.
"Holy shit, you're level nine?!" Sabs cried out in shock.
"What?!" exclaimed Soph.
"How?!" shouted Kim.
"Blood and I haven't been idle. If you don't work hard, you'll be left in the dust. Now, we're wasting time. Today is gonna be a long day. Fall in," Beth waved away their surprise, getting the group moving.
"Fall what?" asked Soph.
"Never mind, just follow her," replied Sabs.
