Chương 55: Limitless Path Chapter Fifty-Five

Heading back outside, she rejoined the group and their discussion of the current problems. She only had one suggestion to make, which still wasn't received well at first, but was "Level up."

"We understand your point, Beth, but still-" her mother started.

"Let me just save us some time," Beth interrupted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You guys have all these ideas, right? Ways to make money, ways to get food, all of it? Let me propose this; Zack gets his trucks, and he and Bill then go out and encounter the level twelve bear I've been seeing around. Which, by the way, is an animal, and oh yes, animals can level and grow in power without losing their rationality. Anyway, what happens?"

"Well, you or one of your sisters would-" her father started.

"Exactly," Beth cut him off, snapping her fingers.

"See the problem already?"

"She's saying that we already rely on her and the other girls, who have class and skill levels, to provide protection and help," Rachel said with a sigh.

"Right. Currently, we have five fighters that are strong, including Blood, and you can't really count it as five. Blood and I are busy, including doing work for the CRA, and that will only increase over time. So, you have three fighters that can handle problems, and you don't want all, or even most, of them to be away at once. See the problem?" Beth said.

"Yes, we're starting to get it," Zack replied gruffly, taking some notes.

"It's been a long time since Basic, but I'll whip up a program to train these lazy bastards and get us a reasonable fighting force. Any problems there?" Beth just lifted her right arm from over her chest to wave lazily a moment before turning to the sleeping members of her party.

"I guess we need to take care of this at some point," she said as she walked over to them.

"Can you take care of them?" asked Rachel.

"Or would you like help?"

"I got it," Beth replied before leaning forward and picking up Kim.

"Hrnm, Beth…?" Kim mumbled groggily.

"Relax Kim, it's bedtime," Beth replied with a chuckle as she carried her sister into the house and upstairs. She plonked Kim down in her own bed before closing the door and heading back down to the backyard. There, she grabbed Sabs in a princess carry, leaning the smaller girl's head against her left shoulder.

"Beth, wha…?" Sabs started, but Beth cut her off with a quick kiss on the forehead.

"Shh, it's fine," Beth said, carrying her into the house and upstairs. She set Sabs down on her bed, the older girl grumbling and immediately rolling over, burying her face in the pillow. Beth headed back downstairs and out to the backyard where the leadership group, as she thought of them, still had their heads together. She interrupted them for a moment to ask her mother for Sabs' mother's number, using it to send a quick message that Sabs was going to be staying at the Bell household for the night.

She then made sure the armor, which the two sleeping beauties had managed to shuck before passing out, was tossed in the mudroom. She left the brain trust to their work, noting that it was getting dark fast, before heading back inside and up to her room. Blood was curled up in the center of the floor, and Beth padded quietly around her to complete her nightly routine in getting ready for bed.

Sabs was still passed out in Beth's bed on her stomach, face towards the wall, and Beth slid in behind her once she had changed into loose pajamas and set her phone on the nightstand. Turning out the lights, she wrapped an arm around Sabs, getting an unconscious response from the small woman, who turned toward her. This let Beth deftly slide her second arm under Sabs as her girlfriend pressed against her.

The taller girl quickly nodded off thereafter, enjoying the comfortable feeling of holding someone rather warm and soft. Sabs woke up feeling quite rested and refreshed, that thought percolating through her mind before she noticed arms wrapped around her. She was puzzled for a minute, not understanding where she was or how she got there. The pieces started to fall into place as she heard Beth say, "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"Beth? Where are we?" she replied rather cogently.

"Oh, sorry. We're in my bed," The younger girl replied as she sat up, moving over to the edge of the bed.

"I messaged your mom to say you're staying here last night, so you don't have to worry about that."

"Well, I'm a little depressed that I don't remember the first time we slept together," Sabs said with a small, impish grin.

"Trust me, it wasn't as great as you'd think," Beth replied, trying to wipe a small puddle of drool off her shoulder.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry," Sabs gasped, trying to help before Beth grabbed her and pulled Sabs into her lap, planting a quick kiss on her cheek before Sabs squirmed away. Stolen story; please report.

"Enough of that!" she reproached rather huffily, blushing as she stood up.

"I need a shower." Beth just laughed as Sabs fled into her bathroom, shutting the door behind her firmly. Beth stood up and stretched as she heard the water start to run. She changed into a set of her new clothes, courtesy of the CRA, before sitting next to Blood to hug the massive wolf while waiting for Sabs. Sabs eventually stuck her head out of the bathroom a little sheepishly, asking Beth, "Hey, uh, can you grab me one of my sets of new clothes?"

Laughing, Beth got up as she replied, "Sure, let me go down and grab your stuff out of the mudroom." She then proceeded to head downstairs and do just that, grabbing a set of the clothes Sabs had gotten before bringing them back up and handing them through the bathroom door. Once Sabs was dressed and ready, Beth took over the bathroom to take care of her morning routine. After she was done, she led Sabs and Blood downstairs to get breakfast going.

The other girls trudged into the kitchen partway through the preparation efforts, helping to finish making the meal before eating it. Once done, they headed back to the mudroom to get equipped before heading out for the dungeons first, the group consisting of just the younger girls and Blood today. It would be a good idea for them to cull the dungeons from time to time, and the dungeons were still able to provide the younger sisters and Sabs with experience.

They entered the ant dungeon only ten minutes later, not bothering with taking their time this time through. Beth and Blood participated in the fighting, allowing them to clear the way to the room before the boss in just a few minutes. Beth slowed Blood down here, allowing the other girls to do a lion's share of the work in this room as well as the boss room, letting them earn more experience from the fights.

They moved onto the wolf dungeon quickly, ignoring the enemies outside, as they were too low level to matter. Besides, Zack and the others were using them as training fights; best at this time to leave them. The wolf dungeon was even quicker, as they didn't need to clear all the rooms, just fighting through three of them.

Beth and Blood had to help very little, as the other girls were strong and skilled enough that, in combination with Soph's ability to nuke the enemies as an opener, they could defeat even the boss room with little struggle. The group left the dungeon immediately, moving on to the CRA Hall. They arrived after only a handful of minutes, walking into the lobby to find Tazeen and Navere at the front counter.

Tazeen merely made a slight hand gesture to Navere, who left the counter and accompanied the group back to the lounge, wherein they split up to go with their respective trainers. Beth's training focused again on the basics, as Baelvyr had her run through a long series of drills moving towards and away from a single attacking enemy. He had her focus on her footwork first, stopping her numerous times throughout the day to explain something about her positioning or movement.

Despite the impression he might give through his looks and mannerisms, Baelvyr had both a keen mind and an easy way of explaining fighting theory that made him a top tier instructor. It would take long years before Beth would realize just how lucky she had been to have him as her first combat trainer. The end of the afternoon produced a change, as Baelvyr wanted to work her and Blood together on their dual fight tactics.

It quickly became apparent that the two of them, while having some comfort with fighting as a team, had a long way to go to be a truly lethal duo. Baelvyr used much the same tactics for this lesson, working on the two's movement and positioning before even discussing attack types, angles, or tactics. That training took the rest of the day, and the girls eventually grouped back together before returning to the neighborhood and going to bed.

Beth blinked awake the next morning, sitting up and grabbing her phone basically in one smooth motion. She checked the time quick and scanned to see if she had any important updates before hopping out of bed, waking the snoring Blood in the process. She set about getting ready for the day ahead before leading the wolf out and downstairs.

This morning was a little different from the others, however, as Zack showed up at the house before the girls left, Sabs having come over for breakfast, and Rachel asked the girls to stay a moment before they headed out for the day. It turned out Zack had noticed some changes in the surrounding beasts, and they wanted the girls both to know as well as provide any input they had on the situation. Beth was rather pleased with this, as it felt like people were taking her and her knowledge seriously.

It was quickly determined, mainly through input from Beth, that what was occurring was a result of the ambient mana continuing to increase. This was leading to the dungeons continuing to grow, which was mainly being displayed currently as them producing more and higher leveled beasts. The higher leveled beasts stayed closer to the dungeon, while the lower leveled beasts roamed further afield, and this, combined with the increased production, meant more beasts trying to enter the neighborhood.

It was not yet a drastic problem, thanks in large part to the fighting force that Zack was training, but it could become a larger issue as the mana density in the area continued to grow. The girls were glad they planned to stay in the neighborhood, despite cheap rooms at the CRA, as they would still be needed to protect their families and friends for some time.

They cleared the ant dungeon, the wolf dungeon, and took care of a few random, obstreperous beasts wandering near the neighborhood before they headed over to the CRA Hall, able to get there quite quickly thanks to their strategy of dumping the slowest member, Soph, on the back of the fastest member, Blood. Tazeen was behind the counter today and was, surprisingly, engaged in some kind of argument with a young man.

The youth looked like he was either sixteen or seventeen, with a healthy complexion, decently well-built body, plain but even face, and brown hair and eyes. The group continued into the depths of the Hall, listening with one ear as they passed the argument. It seemed to be centered on the young man getting access to train in the Hall but not having the two golds, and the girls' ability to walk in unhindered set off a whole new level of vociferous noise.

At least, it quite excited the youth; Tazeen remained as unfazed as cut marble, his statue impression having already been perfected. The girls quickly found their mentors in the lounge, as was becoming routine, and split to their current individual training. Beth followed Baelvyr down to their usual room, with Blood trailing after. He had her set aside her sword today and instead focus on her fists. He continued the rigorous drilling in footwork, that being the key foundation of all fighting techniques.

It seemed small, but how to step, how to move, and how to properly throw a punch were all so important in creating a solid foundation for a person's fighting capability and style. It was still truly nascent, but Beth's choice of weapon and experiences in combat so far were already leading her towards developing her own fighting style. That was no reason to shirk the basics; a lesson Baelvyr was drilling into her head, particularly by having low skill training dummies beat her using only simple techniques.

It wasn't something that discouraged her, however, but gave her a huge boost. So many fights she had already participated in would have been so much easier or safer if her foundation had been more firmly established in the fighting arts. Beth worked through a rather intense session for the entire day, only stopping to eat the nutrient bars and have a few drinks, as well as run to a restroom just down the hallway.

Baelvyr was particular in emphasizing proper punching technique this day, going over all the details in how best to rotate and flex one's body in order to deliver the most power. Having had some training at a boxing gym over the last two years, Beth was not unfamiliar with these methodologies, but the way Baelvyr explained them was both more detailed as well as easier for her to understand.

Practicing moving around and punching, as well as getting tossed around by one of the training simulacrums, took up the entire day for her. The depth that could be found in terms of differences in positioning as well as punching technique were endlessly fascinating. She had likely been close to grasping it already, but near the end of the day, as she spent some time getting beat by the dummy, she gained another level in her Unarmed skill, making her quite happy.

She met up with the rest of the girls after training was over for the day, everyone else being dead tired, even Soph. Beth was content to let them sit for a while and rest, not very concerned about taking some extra time before returning home. They very intermittently discussed the day's training, too tired to really keep up a running conversation. Beth and Blood were much better off than the others with their massive Endurance pools, as well as Blood having spent part of the day just watching.

The group headed back for the day, Sabs splitting with them when they arrived back in the neighborhood. Beth went upstairs right away and cleaned off before getting in bed and browsing on her phone. Thanks to Jaq's upgrade, it would be fine for a while, if not until she got something better much later, but she noted many posts about infrastructure starting to experience issues and breakdown. Done reading for the night, she rolled over and promptly fell asleep, perhaps a bit more tired than she had thought.