"I guess this will help a bit…" Billy said while smirking.
Billy was improving by leaps and bounds, but he still felt worried… that place was excellent for someone to get crazy strong, and the enemy had been there for over two years. With that much time fighting, never mind levels, he probably had mastered all the innate skills that he obtained after killing the other reincarnated and the ones he obtained using the system. That was more than a little bit worrying... having one god-like ability was already enough, after all
"In a direct fight… I probably can't win unless I take my time here to build my strength as well for at least six months," Billy thought while furrowing his eyebrows.
That goes without saying, but Billy wasn't willing to do that, and that was why he made so many preparations over the last few months. In any case, Billy proceeded to absorb the effects of the shield, and he did that in less than a minute. All the mana and experience made him feel a bit more tired. Still, he was satisfied since he felt like he would be able to absorb the effects of his legendary relics soon enough.
In the end, Billy worked on killing the basilisks for around ten hours… those guys sure were tired of sleeping for that long without waking up a single time. Billy made sure to produce enough water with his magic, and food wasn't a problem. In the end, they were simply and truly tired from all the fighting and atmosphere.
"... For how long have we been out?" Icarus asked when he woke up.
"Almost half a day," Billy said. "I made sure to reinforce the shelter, so watch the surroundings in turns and rest for a bit longer. It is my turn now."
Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl were relieved that Billy wasn't mad… from his perspective, one day wasted, there would be a way away from his family, and that was caused because of them. Eventually, the relief turned into guilty since it felt that they were slowing him down, and facing the maker seemed like a suicide mission with their level of power.
After not long, Icarus looked at some pills that he had and then sighed. He disliked that sensation, but he had to do something about that… his pride was starting to annoy the heck out of him, after all. With the extra mana, Icarus used Time Skip in order to do some magic training… it ended in the blink of an eye, and then he was left with one heck of a headache, but it was a lot weaker than expected.
"I suppose it gets weaker according to my magic power… or maybe my magic power improves my brain functions…" Icarus said.
"You are starting to act weirdly and talk to yourself like Billy does," Lucyna said.
"I guess I am trying to copy his crazy mindset and obsession for efficiency," Icarus said. "If we don't do something about this, he will carry us to the end of the dungeon, and that would be too humiliating."
This time, no one could say anything about it… putting the lives that they had until now, all of them had the chance to improve their skills. At the very least, they could overcome most challenges using their brains instead of breaking through everything with brute strength.
Lucyna and Meryl couldn't train that much efficiently. They would obtain more experience by fighting monsters, so they decided to do exactly that. Even without Billy's help, they could make it work if Meryl summons some zombies.
"We could make this work if Icarus stays on the support duty. We will save some mana as well," Meryl said.
"How come?" Icarus asked. "I am a front line, and all my skills are offensive."
"You forgot our last attack against the Manipulator…" Meryl said and then sighed.
"Ah, that… You want me to boost all of your arrows?" Icarus asked. "I suppose I can control my powers a bit… I will save some mana, and they will obtain a lot of piercing power."
"You can also boost Lucyna's speed in order to make her debuff the monsters even faster," Meryl said. "Their defense will fall in the split of a second, and my arrows will become a lot more effective."
"You are used to using Time Skip on yourself, but have you ever tried using it on objects?" Lucyna asked.
"Yes, it can work in some situations, but the items are destroyed afterward since they still suffer damage like they had been used, and the speed is too great for them," Icarus said. "Since I am not an archer, I never used this that often."
Although they weren't developing their skills by themselves, those three felt satisfied in testing their skills wins obtaining fine results with them. All of their strategies worked well, but they had to make many pauses because Billy's Guardian's Aura wasn't working while he was sleeping. That was only natural since he wouldn't sleep peacefully while receiving damage.
In the end, Billy did the right thing in hiding his armor pretty far away. Otherwise, the fights would have revealed its presence in one way or the other.
After sleeping for six hours, Billy woke up feeling pretty refreshed. His body wasn't feeling sluggish, and he wasn't sleepy either, so he decided to move only to find those three fighting a basilisk… He wondered why his senses didn't warn him, but since they looked unscathed, it seemed fine.
"I told you guys to rest while you could…" Billy said and then sighed. "Improving your skills is a waste of time if you die."
"It is fine. We came up with some good strategies," Meryl said.
Confidence was almost everything, so Billy decided not to pursue the subject any further. In any case, once they packed their things, they began to move to the next floor, and it didn't take long for them to find basilisks…
