Elin couldn't help but feel worried with starting to travel when it was still dark. She new that it wouldn't be long before the sun came up, with the stars starting to disappear, but that didn't necessarily translate into reassurances.
Of course there was also the part where she'd just rather sleep more. How would she be able to help if she was falling asleep on everyone? Especially since she hadn't been able to sleep very well. Although, she didn't want to say anything to anyone, since she couldn't be sure that they wouldn't make her stay behind and there was no way that she was going to let Kim go without her!
Which brought to mind something she should take care of before they encountered any more threats. She needed to check her status, since she was certain that she'd gained a level with all the goblins that they'd killed the night before.
"Staus," Elin whispered, hoping no one would notice.
HP 30/30
MP 45/66
Level 9
XP 4478/4500
Stamina 6/15
Str 5
Int 33
Dex 14
Con 12
Wis 33
Mag 33
Agi 10
Cha 19
Physical Resistance 5%
Magical Resistance 30%
Skills:
Wound Identification II 42/150
Wound Treatment, non-magical 98/100
Combat Medic 77/100
Holy Boost
Enhanced Mastery
Improved Resistance
White Magic Spells:
Life Attribute – Minor Heal II 4mp 49/150
Life Attribute – Treat 3mp 40/100
Holy Attribute – Sacred Shot II 4mp 136/150
Life Attribute – Assess 2mp
Life Attribute – Regenerate 12 MP
Life Attribute – Restore Drain 7 MP
Green Magic Spells:
Life Attribute – Stat enhancement 2mp 20/100
Force Attribute – Physical Resistance enhancement II 2mp 45/150
Force Attribute – Minor Protection II 2mp 45/150
Elin was appalled at what she saw. She was just barely below getting a new level and couldn't believe that she had been left so close. She briefly glanced at the others in her group. She wouldn't be surprised at finding they'd gotten a level. I just wasn't fair!
+++
Elin was agitated about something, but what it was Kim wasn't sure. She wished that she could ask her about it, but knew that right then they needed to stay quiet. Not necessarily because of where they were going, but they couldn't say if any goblins were nearby who could hear them and be drawn to attack them because they were close enough.
However, she did hear ther others checking their status, even though she pretended to not be aware of that fact. She knew she should do the same, but couldn't bring herself to do that until the sun started to rise.
In the forest it was generally difficult to know when that occurred, but part of the sun rising depended on the terrain. Such as if there were mountains to the east, the sun would have to climb higher in order to be seen 'rising' rather than if there weren't any mountains. The same was true as well when the sun would be setting in the afternoon.
As such, the sun likely had been up for some time when Kim felt herself relax enough to say softly, "Status."
HP 139/147
Stamina 56/78
Level 10
EXP 578/5500
Str 31
Dex 19
Vit 28
Con 19
Int 15
Wis 10
Agi 20
Endurance 28
Physical Resistance 15%
Magical Resistance 5%
Skills:
Weapon Proficiency
Bastard Sword V 21/650
Short Sword II 32/200
Shield Proficiency
Armor Proficiency
Plate Armor II 225/300
Leather Armor III 346/400
Metal/stone/wood Expertise
Unarmed Combat III 145/300
Iron Skin
Abilities:
Shield Bash – 4 stamina 0/100
Charge – 3 stamina/10 feet 0/100
Reversal Cut III – 7 stamina 2/200
Iai Cut -10 stamina 70/100
Combat Dance II – 8 stamina 0/100
Stamina Armor
Dodging Strike – 2 stamina/dodge
You have 5 attribute points left to allocate. Where would you like to place them?
Kim quickly put 1 point on her Con and 2 on her Vit and Endurance. Raising her HP max to 155 and her stamina max to 113. She still felt like she should build those more, but at the moment, it felt like the best she could do at the moment.
At the very least, she could see that it was increasing a little at a time. Eventually she might be able to get it to where she was comfortable with, but couldn't be sure that she'd reach that point any time soon.
+++
The sun was setting and they were back in front of the entrance to the dungeon they'd too recently been able to escape out of. Elin wasn't sure she liked the idea of goinng back in, but it wasn't like she had any real options. Especially with how the goblins would continue to come out of the dungeon until they closed the portal inside the dungeon.
The thought of that happening made Elin know that she had to at least endure the dungeon one more time. Then she hoped that she'd be able to leave behind this dungeon for good.
She couldn't be sure if any of the others were as uneasy about entering the dungeon again, but didn't dare ask them. Not just because of the knowledge that they couldn't say anything in case goblins were close enough to hear them, but also because she wasn't sure how they'd react to her feelings on the matter if they didn't share the same trepidation that she did.
Instead, she reached ahead of her and took Kim's hand in hers, drawing a surprised look from Kim. Though, her expression quickly softened to a warm smile before Kim gave Elin's hand a reassuring squeeze before pulling out of Elin's grip.
While she would rather have kept Kim's hand in hers, Elin accepted that they couldn't stay right by each other if a fight broke out. Especially with how they couldn't say when those fights might occur.
She also wished that they could get some rest, but accepted that they weren't likely going to get any of that soon. As if they did, someone would have to stand watch and that would keep that individual from getting sleep if they were attacked during that watch.
Elin took a deep breath as she felt her start to work herself into a panic. They'd been walking all day, they were tired, and they still needed to continue on into the dungeon. This wouldn't likely end until they themselves had died or until the portal was closed and all the goblins were defeated.
Elin couldn't help but yawn as they entered the dungeon again, moving carefully, making sure there weren't any goblins in front of them that would attack. Though, in the first hallway, Elin would have been more surprised to see any goblins, since there wasn't anywhere for them to hide and was quite open.
Yet, as the one at the end of the line, she couldn't help but worry athat she just wasn't able to see anything. Although, she didn't think that it helped that the light in the dungeon was dimming as the sun drew ever farther past the horizon. Elin couldn't help but wonder why they hadn't brought any sources of light with them.
Or maybe they planned on camping in the dungeon tonight, Elin realized, unsure if that would really be that good of an idea, even though she really would like to sleep.
Even though she wasn't as much of a leader in their group as Kim or Jonas, Elin wished they'd at least let her know what was going on more often. Especially since, even though she didn't want to be away from Kim, she couldn't help but wonder if she should just leave the group and let them go on, on their own.
Especially since she wasn't really needed. Yeah, she healed the group sometimes and had been instrumental in saving Kim from the spider's curse as well as getting Heather and Sonya awake again, but right now she was wondering if she shouldn't just let them fend for themselves. After all, they didn't really need her. If anything, she got in the way with them needing to protect her. Or at least them feeling there was a need to do so.
Yet, despite these thoughts, she continued on following them into the dungeon. By the time they reached the top of the room where they'd fought the troll, Elin was already struggling to keep her eyes open. She wasn't sure how the others were doing, only that they seemed to be farther ahead of her than they had been earlier.
She didn't want to be a burden to the others, but it was clear that's what she was. Though, she wasn't sure that there was anything she could do about it. She just seemed to be only capable of holding everyone back.
Even as they were disappearing ahead of her as she followed them down the stairs in the room where they'd fought the troll, Elin was just barely able to put one foot ahead of the other. Part of her did her best to focus only on that because she wasn't sure she wouldn't fall off the sides of the stairs if she didn't.
She couldn't see the bottom, but doubted that it was close. Even after she'd been traversing the stairs for a while. Yet, eventually it had gotten so dark that she couldn't even see the steps she was walking on, she only knew they were there because she could feel them under her feet.
Yet, she had no idea how close she was to the bottom and no idea how far behind she'd fallen. Even though she looked around, she couldn't see anything. In the end, she sat on the steps and soon fell asleep before she knew it.