Chapter 148 - Help (2)

After passing the ointment his grandmother gave him to that type of situation, Billy called it a day, even though they didn't reach the previous spot. As if things weren't troublesome enough, it rained for the rest of the week.

Billy's worries were confirmed the next day when it still was pouring in the whole region. Marie said that it was unusual to rain that much in that part of the year. Billy looked at Lily, wondering if her words had jinxed them. Still, saying that wouldn't do them any good.

In any case, they stayed in the inn for a while longer after breakfast. They made a lot of progress with their skills over the last two weeks, but even so, hoping that they would become fifty percent stronger in a few days to match the boost of the enemies was too much. While they were thinking about that, the door of the inn was kicked and sent flying to the other side until it was slammed against the wall.

"You dare make me wait in the rain?" Marie asked.

That sure was a dedication for her lack of concern. Billy thought that one could only be so oblivious to the problems of other people. Regardless, Marie was drenched due to the rain, and even though she was pissed, she was also overflowing with sex appeal. Billy wondered what excuse Kate would use to kick him, but she just looked at him, annoyed.

"If you want to see other people die so badly, then pay for some rookies to reach the higher floors of the dungeon," Billy said.

"What, are you going to give up now?" Kate asked. "Lame!"

In the end, it was better to ignore Kate. Billy had some status points to use, but even so, it wouldn't help them that much. Maybe if Billy makes his recovery reach level fifty, he could keep fighting while ignoring his wounds since they would help pretty fast. Still, even his friends would think that he was a monster if that were to happen.

As if she was the owner of the place and without giving any apologies for the door, Marie grabbed a chair and put it around the table they were using. She was assuming that they would go to the dungeon that day, but Billy decided that they wouldn't until they had a good plan in mind to deal with the power boost of the enemies.

"I will join your party temporarily and help," Marie said.

"No thanks," Billy said. "It would be too much of a pain."

"You sure have guys to ignore my offer," Marie said. "Still, shouldn't you consult your friends about it?"

"Well, let's hear their thoughts," Billy said and then looked at Alexander.

"Well… if you agree to follow Billy's Leadership…" Alexander said.

"I don't think it would be good for our reputation if you joins us," Lily said. "People will think that we only achieved that much because you were with us, in fact, I have been hearing that already."

"If Billy thinks that it is a bad idea, then I agree with him," Kate said.

"I don't think this party anyone even more reckless than me," Natalie said.

"I am a newcomer, so I don't think I have much to say," Sarah said.

"There you have it, you have… half a vote," Billy said.

"So, are you going to give up?" Marie asked after she bit her lips in annoyance for a while. "And I had so many expectations of your group."

"Betraying your expectations changes nothing," Billy said, and we never said we were giving up."

Although he said that, he couldn't find a solution to the problem for the first time in a while. In fact, that dungeon was giving them too much trouble… he never compared those to the dungeon in games. Still, the difficulty level and the factors that could increase or decrease the difficulty level were just too much.

"In the end, the time limit is the problem…" Billy thought while rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

Dungeons as big as that one shouldn't be cleared that fast. Besides, their approach of using them to get stronger was completely different from the adventurers who used them to make money for a living. After thinking for a while, Billy considered the idea of making everyone wear armor and protect the areas that were most likely to be hit by the monsters. That certainly will help them decrease the number of wounds on their bodies. While they will lose some mobility.

"I can only think that we should use armor," Billy said. "We should get used to it if we were ever to try to clear the other dungeons since they are harder."

They began to consider that, but then Billy considered another option. If he could enhance someone's lungs with mana and a weapon as well, why would their skin follow the same theory? One body couldn't become sharper, but what about faster, stronger, and more durable?

While his friends were thinking, Billy closed his eyes and then began to envision the skill that he wanted. Enveloping only a part of his body was probably possible. Still, it probably would put too much strain on it, and the other parts also wouldn't be able to keep up with it. Billy imagined the scene wherein some cartoons, the heroes enveloped their bodies with energy and made it burn. Still, he probably didn't have that much energy. So, he slowly but surely enveloped his whole body with mana in a thin layer. Much to his surprise, the system recognized that…

You have learned the skill Fierce Aura.

Effect: it increases all your parameters by the same amount as the level of the skill.

Cost: one point of mana per minute, multiplied by the level of the skill.

Billy blinked several times when he saw that… not only the skill improve his strength, speed, and endurance. It also improved his magic and dexterity.. That was simply phenomenal… Moreover, the mana around his body couldn't be seen.