Like Clockwork
When I return to Wyll and Perri, we waste no time in delving into the dungeon. As we swiftly make our way through level one, Perri is conspicuously silent. She remains that way until we're halfway through level two.
Defeating the flame gorilla is the easiest thing in the world right now, and I notice there's a change in the experience points I receive from it.
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25 EXP
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It's lessened by half. I suppose that's to be expected seeing that I'm two levels higher than when I first defeated it in Thomas Filmore's body.
Once we pick up the gem it drops, Perri asks me, "Why did you apologise to the commoner as well, Thomas?"
She asks that right in front of Wyll. I guess she doesn't care that she's rubbing how she feels about him in his face.
"Because he deserved it, just as you did," I answer honestly.
Perri stares at me like I'm something alien. It takes her a while to finally say, "…You've changed, Thomas."
"Yes," I agree.
Perri swallows, the thought of that seems to make her nervous, but I don't care. I was keeping up at least some semblance of Thomas' mannerisms before to keep people who knew him from being suspicious, but when Leila accused me yesterday of living up to his reputation, I realised I didn't want that.
I'll act as myself, that's what I want to do. Besides, even if people do get suspicious about Thomas Filmore's sudden transformation, I doubt they'll jump instantly to, 'A person from another world took over his body.'
Next, we face the spriggans, and defeating them is also a breeze. I don't think I even need party members to defeat the enemies on level two anymore. And that's before I've used my two unassigned skill points.
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6 EXP
6 EXP
6 EXP
6 EXP
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"But Thomas!" Perri exclaims as we enter the clearing containing the checkpoint at the end of level two, "Surely you're not saying we should be all buddy-buddy with commoners? Sure, I get that you think you made a mistake, but your responsibility stops there."
"If he's skilled, then that's the end of the matter," I say. Also, he's of a higher rank of nobility than you—this I don't say. "If I keep assuming that only nobles can be skilled, then I'll be narrowing my options far too much."
"But it's true!" Perri protests, "We receive an education, training, guidance—commoners receive none of that. It's just a fact that they're less skilled!"
She's not wrong, nobles tend to be more skilled in this world. For example, Wyll learned Warmth in one day, that's only something he was able to do because he had the resources for it. If he'd been some random peasant, he'd never be able to learn a skill that quickly.
That said, there are exceptions as well.
"You're forgetting people like Claire Weiss and Ophelia Hunt. Weiss came from an orphanage, and I know of no noble family by the name of Hunt," I say.
Perri winces, "Th-they're rare exceptions. And Ophelia Hunt is a brute!"
"Not Claire Weiss though," I point out, "People would easily mistake her for a noble if they didn't know better, and she's the best healer out of any student—even better than Leila." I look at Perri properly, "And let's not forget Rex Cranz."
Perri narrows her eyes, "Is this what this is about? Cranz? I'll admit, he's an anomaly, but that's why we have to prove the superiority of nobility. People will start saying the same things you're saying right now if we let him get carried away. Isn't that why you challenged him in the first place?"
"I challenged him because I want to defeat him," I say, and I'm not making an argument from a hypothetically changed Thomas Filmore's point of view now, I'm just stating my true feelings.
"Why do you want to defeat him then?" Perri sounds like she's suppressing her frustration.
"Because he's strong," I say, "Because defeating him has meaning."
Perri scowls, "I don't get it."
"You don't have to," I say, "All you need to know is, I want to defeat him, yes, but not on behalf of anyone but me."
Perri remains scowling, but she does not object to moving on. We enter level three and begin our push into deeper snows as Wyll casts Warmth. As per usual, haunted snows and lycans ambush us, and the further on we go, the more show up.
Perri scoffs as we defeat yet another group of haunted snows, "Seems like we don't need Freiss after all."
"Not for now, no," I say.
Soon enough, we find ourselves facing an ice yeti again, and we know what to do this time. Wyll drops Warmth and Perri Provokes him. As the ice yeti charges at her, she holds her axe in front of her and casts her second skill, "Steel Defence!"
The air around her suddenly ripples and shines like steel, and when the ice yeti swings its arm at her, Perri blocks it with her axe, and she isn't launched this time. We hear the sound of impact against steel, and as the ice yeti recoils, I use this chance to strike it with an Abyssflame Slash.
The ice yeti is burned to nothing, and victory is ours.
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50 EXP
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A perfect battle, if I do say so myself. The last time we fought the ice yeti, Perri was badly hurt, but this time none of us suffered even a single injury. In fact, on our way here, we've barely taken a few scratches.
Wyll recasts Warmth, and we rest for a bit before Perri stands, "Shall we move on?"
I'm tempted. I definitely am, but I made my decision before we even entered the dungeon today, and I won't be going back on it.
"No," I say.
"No?" Perri asks.
"We don't have a healer," I say. I won't be reckless again, not after being called out on it twice already, "We'll wander the area hunting haunted snows and lycans until the ice yeti respawns. Then we'll defeat it again. We'll keep repeating this until we get too tired to continue."
Perri stares at me. Even Wyll stares at me. I get it, that sounds incredibly boring. But it's safe, and I know it'll still make us stronger, even if a little more slowly.
"Are you serious?" Perri asks.
"Yes," I say firmly, "Let's get to it."