In any vase, the group spent most of the time training in what they were lacking in the next few weeks. The battle against the guardian taught them several things that they needed to correct… the whole experience in the dungeon actually did that. Considering that they wanted to clear other dungeons, it was only natural that they would need to improve. Still, before that could happen, they had to receive their weapons from John.
Bracers of the Dark Bruiser
Strength + 40
Endurance + 40
Effect: Recovery Lv 3
Durability: 50/50
In the end, Billy decided to increase his recovery effect… but he didn't expect that the black steel would give him that much bonus in endurance and strength. Since that was the case with him, then Alexander would become quite the wall with all that extra bonuses in endurance. Putting aside the name that it was too flashy for his tastes, Billy was satisfied. His friends also looked like that, and John seemed proud of his work.
"Well done, old man," Billy said. "Now as promised, you will sell me some of your things with discounts."
"Ah… I heard you made such a killing while clearing the dungeon and you still want to get discounts from me," John facepalmed. "I guess a promise is a promise."
Although Billy said that, he only bought a few knives to sell them on the next trip. Since his friends would stay behind, no one would find it weird. In any case, after a while, Billy began to wonder why his spear had the same effect as the gem… there was no gem anywhere. It certainly wasn't hidden inside the tip. Not even the cable was large enough to fit in…
"Let's practice and get used to the new weapons!" Lily declared.
The group of misfits now was fully equipped with weapons of dark steel… which certainly made them stand out, but only in their state. Black steel shouldn't be that rare in Hiloh… considering that the guardian appears once a week.
"Come to think of it, Billy," Kate said. "I heard that you are going on another trip, when were you planning to tell us?"
"On the day of the departure," Billy replied without showing any surprise since he assumed Edward would eventually tell her.
"Wow… that is low, even for you, Billy," Lily said.
"I don't know the exact date of the travel, so it couldn't be helped," Billy shrugged. "Besides, it wouldn't change anything. You guys still need to train for a while, or you can challenge the next dungeon without me. It won't bother me."
"It is kind of amazing to hear the party leader saying that," Natalie frowned.
"Well, what I can say?" Billy Shrugged. "You choose the wrong person to be your leader. Muhahahahha!"
In the end, Billy's friends shrugged as well. Billy was like that, always trying to look more mature than them. Sometimes he was, sometimes he wasn't. Besides, Billy had a point, they needed training if they wanted to clear other dungeons, and they couldn't ignore that just because their party leader was going somewhere. They had their own goals, and Billy wasn't the center of their universe, so they just resumed their training.
They trained together during the next two weeks and got used to their new weapons. As for Billy, he practiced blocking and parrying attacks with his bracers. Blocking was a lot easier since he even had a skill. Still, parrying was a bit more complicated since a single mistake would be enough to make him lose an arm.
Along that week, Billy also did some secret training to obtain some defensive skills like the Pain Resistance. While the trick to learn that wasn't so complicated, the logic behind it didn't apply to the elemental ones. To learn Pain Resistance, Billy had to hit the same spot several times until it was so sore that he was sweating cold. After that, he has to strengthen his mind to ignore some of the effects of the next attacks. It didn't work when he tried to do that with wind and Earth, it didn't work, and he certainly didn't want to try with fire anytime soon.
In any case, while Billy wanted to learn those as soon as possible, he couldn't imagine himself fighting a magician anytime soon. Or a monster that could use magic, for that matter. Still, Billy couldn't be careless… he also never imagined that he would die when he was just nineteen, and then he would be reincarnated in another world.
Regardless, the day of the business trip arrived, and Billy had a hard time controlling his sigh when he saw that Sarah had really come. While he couldn't feel any hostility coming from her, she wasn't exactly friendly either. Also, aside from Anna, the group had three other healers, and they frowned when they heard that one of their escorts was a thirteen-year-old boy. Billy had been growing lately, and he was almost 1.7 meters tall, but he still had a kid's face. Anna scolded them because he was the one who chose him, but Edward had approved.
"It has been a while," Sarah said while looking at Billy's bracers. "It seems you have been doing something interesting."
"You guys could do the same, a party of three elementalists should be able to easily clear the dungeon," Billy said. "The monsters were weak to fire, after all."
"I see… by the way, thanks to your help, more than fifty of us can use fire Manipulation now," Sarah said.
"I see, that is good… should I feel worried about that?" Billy asked.
"Who knows? I can't read my people's minds," Sarah shrugged.
Sarah didn't deny, but she didn't affirm either. As expected, Billy had to be careful around her people. Maybe he really needed to hurry up with the elemental resistances… making them reach high levels should be difficult. Still, considering the effects of Pain Resistance, it should be useful even at low levels.
Pain Resistance
Decreases the effect caused by pain by one point per level. If the Resistance is higher than the value of damage received.. You won't feel any pain.
