NOVEL NEXT 53. Plant Hunt
"Raven! We'll go hunt some wild plants!" The hero smiled as Raven walked downstairs, its been four days, and Raven had been having sex the whole night for the past two days. She woke up later than usual, her body exhausted. Even with the benefits of the drink, she still took a while.
"The demon plants?" Raven asked.
"Yeah! We'll need to change our equipment slightly, but we should be able to get there. Once we cut through the plants, we'll go check what is on the other side. If we can get evidence of the demon's movements, we can use it to convince the Lord."
Raven nodded. The rest of them were ready, but she noticed the group felt different. Everyone stood in their own side, instead of chatting happily. The group wasn't very united before, but at least they still had some cohesion. But the issue of money seemed to cut deep into the party, in a way nothing else did. She noticed the knight looking at her, and then approached her. "Kiara- is everything okay?"
Kiara looked at the ranger and sighed. "Not really. Wynn and Nysta are quite worked up about the money issues. Dragonlings are very financially-sensitive, so, it seems I stepped on some tails by bringing the subject up. Wynn already doesn't like me."
"How did that happen?"
"I went and did a quest, something easy last night to just earn a little more money without the team. They- they didn't quite like it. They felt a party's money should be allocated."
"But it's extra work you did."
"Apparently, Dragonlings have the concept of a hive. A party is a hive. All money earned by each member goes to the hive, whether they did it together or not. Nysta's from the temple, and you know how temples are about money. Tithes must be paid to the temples are all that."
Raven cursed. "Hannah? Why does she look upset? What's her deal?"
"She tried to defend me, but let's just say, the words between Wynn and Hannah wasn't pleasant. Aman-"
Raven could imagine Aman standing there helplessly as the girls argued. Aman was never a great mediator. He's a hero. He's good at fighting. Managing a party of girls, that was mostly Hannah's role. Hannah was the grease that kept the edges of each unique individual away from each other.
Kiara naturally understood Raven already knew what she was talking about.
"So, Aman's trying to get everyone to go fight some demons to let off some steam."
Raven frowned at the idea. That was the kind of thing a hero did for stress relief. Fight monsters. If she wanted to relieve stress she'd just go visit the trader and have sex-
Her face turned red, as she shook off that idea from her head. It's just been four days? Her body tingled strangely. She had three days left.
Aman spoke. "Alright, let's get moving."
***
The monster plants were overwhelming. There were way, way too many of them, and frankly, it was a horrible opponent for an archer like Raven. She didn't have many slashing skills, and the plant's core was usually heavily protected by all the vines and tentacles. Getting up close to the plants was annoying, since they would wrap around her and catch her.
For someone like Kiara, a knight with multiple slashing abilities, the tentacles hardly mattered. Yet, Raven noticed she was flushed.
"Kiara, are you alright?" Raven asked out of concern.
She breathed heavily, panting and squirming between her slashes. "Yeah. I think my suit of armor's a little tight in certain places. It's rubbing me-"
She stopped as she realized what she said was lewd. Raven's face turned slightly red as she realized what the knight was talking about.
"Never mind." Kiara said, as they both continued.
But Raven's body was not what it was. Over the past 3-4 days of intimacy with the Trader had left her body in a different state. And the demons seemed to sense it. It frightened her.
"Kiara, Raven, are you two alright?" Aman asked as he noticed the two slowing down. They had cut through hundreds of demonic vines by then.
Before they could answer, Wynn cut in, as a wave of ice magic flooded the battlefield. The demonic vines shattered. "A mage can do this easier. The knight and the archer is just an ordinary fighter. Nothing special."
Kiara glared at the dragon mage, but the dragon mage ignored her. "Yeah, we are fine." Kiara's sword glowed, and she charged into the demonic vines. "Are you going to let that dragon girl talk to us like that?" Kiara was furious. She may not be the best, but she was gifted with the blade.
Raven sighed, and suddenly, she wished she was back with the Trader.
"What the hell am I thinking-"
