Day 1

After the battles at night, the players slept. Kazi was the exception, patrolling the area by himself. The Yumboes were drained from large usage of their magic. It was him and him alone. Other than a wandering Booa that he killed in an instant, there was nothing of note. They were okay. 

In the day, the players were back inside the dwelling. The once tiny door that required them to crawl was replaced by a large opening for them to walk in and out of casually. The ceiling was as high as a normal human-sized ceiling so they didn't need to worry themselves over that. Everyone sat in their designated seats at the weak fireplace. 

Kibiwott cleaned his leaf-shaped, double-edged blade. The scabbard left to the side was notably made of wood. His friend Remmy was tinkering with his bow string. 

Akihiko and Kenzo were discussing their level up and potential avenues to spend their points.

Sarah and Emma were looking guilty. Failing at their one job dampened their spirits.

Then there was Sylvia and Jackson, neither talking nor looking at each other. The auburn-haired woman yawned and asked Couma, "Where's my drink?" Her remark got Kibiwott's attention. He narrowed his eyes before going back to cleaning his short sword.

"You probably shouldn't drink," Kazi advised. 

"Why not?" Sylvia shot back.

"Because we're about to discuss battle strategy?"

"That's the best time to drink."

Beside her, Jackson shook his head. He furiously looked like he wanted to snap back at her. He didn't, strangely enough. 

"Two waves of monsters attacked us tonight," Kazi stated. "It was the same the first night that I came too. Two Yumboes died on our watch."

Now that comment caught the attention of the players. 

"We should change our location points," Kazi said. "Akihiko, Kenzo, your strategy was excellent. However, instead of placing ourselves at compass points, we should do them at the edges. That way, if one section needs back-up, we have to run a straight-line rather than have to run through the village."

"I know we messed up but aren't we back-up?" Emma asked, strong-willed.

"Except if you're patrolling separately, one player might not be enough to turn the tides," Kazi said. He checked their classes: Emma was a Wizard and Sarah was a Mage. Both were brunettes and both were close friends with one another. What differentiated them was Emma's startlingly green eyes, black wizard robes, and her low-wavy ponytail to Sarah's curtain bangs.

This Emma was not the same Emma from the Templars. This Emma was rather reserved and she chewed gum at every waking moment. Even during battle, she never spat it out.

"Ah." Akihiko nodded. "Good point."

"I have something to ask as well." Kazi glanced at Sylvia. "It's why I asked you to refrain from drinking. Can any of you remember how many monsters attacked you? And of what species?"

"I can't remember," Kibiwott admitted.

"Three Boas and four stone birds," Remmy said. He flashed his friend a smile, silently saying, "Don't worry, I got you."

As for Akihiko and Kenzo…

"We can't remember."

"Was it more than the previous numbers?"

"A little more," Akihiko said. Kazi noted that the two possessed the mage class.

"Jack, Sylvia?"

"I can't remember either. But I do remember a lot of them coming the longer the battle progressed," Jackson said.

"Any idea why?"

Jackson inhaled and exhaled. "Probably because Sylvia was spamming spells."

"Hey, if it ain't broke, then don't fix it." 

"Lots of spells, huh? I see. Then that settles it: the monsters are drawn to us because of us." Kazi's conclusion garnered question marks. "Specifically, they're attracted to our mana. Pauline is a mage and my spells tend to use a lot of mana. That way, more monsters were coming at our side. Even the Booa I picked up during my patrol after the main battle was from my direction."

Akihiko went into a thinking pose. "That makes sense. If that's the case though, what can we do?"

Kazi didn't say anything. Pauline, who was quiet and two feet beside him, seemed to want to respond. Kazi caught her eye and nodded slowly.

"Maybe…" Pauline drew in a breath as all eyes turned to her. "Maybe we can…I dunno…make a plan? Take advantage of it?"

"Can we even do that? Those monsters are really strong. Without the Yumboes holding them back with their wind magic, I'm not sure if we could beat them," Akihiko said. 

"The speed of the stone birds and the hyenas are greater than my own," Kibiwott added. "My agility stat is at 109 and I can add thirty points more with Flow of Mana. Is anyone here higher than that?"

Heads shook left and right. Apart from Kazi who was secretly triple that number, no one was faster.

"Then any sort of ambush involving leading them away is going to be next to impossible. We would have to risk a lot," said Kibiwott. "We can't let any more villagers die. The objective might already be in jeopardy."

"Right, right." Pauline didn't fight the monsters like everyone else did. She didn't kill them like everyone else did. What right did she have to tell them what to do? Kazi considered volunteering. However, seeing the lack of faith, he decided against it.