"He should be asleep by now."
Reina glanced at Leo, who was fast asleep, then let out a long sigh.
Tonight, she and Raven were going hunting together. Just thinking about it made her tremble with excitement.
She'd always been envious of Claire, who was constantly by Raven's side. By now, that woman had probably already reached level 8 or 9.
As she looked at her profile panel, a wave of sadness washed over her.
"Level 4? Seriously... I'm such a loser," she grumbled.
If Leo hadn't taken her experience stones, she would've reached level 7 or even 8 by now.
But that frustration quickly faded. Soon... very soon, she'd finally be able to overcome that obstacle.
Without another thought, she stood up and quietly walked away, leaving the still-sleeping Leo behind.
***
Raven stood calmly, leaning against one of the large boulders.
He glanced at the virtual map floating in front of him.
Aside from the arrow marking his location, there was no one else nearby. Not even a single monster.
Then, a yellow circular marker suddenly appeared about fifty meters to the south.
A faint smile crossed his face, but he quickly hid it.
"Raven!"
An enthusiastic voice called out from nearby.
Raven closed the virtual map and turned toward the beautiful woman wearing glasses.
Who else could it be but Reina?
"Hah... Hah... Hah..."
Reina stopped in front of him, breathing heavily. Her face was filled with both exhaustion and excitement as she looked at Raven.
"How did it go? Did Leo notice you were gone?" Raven asked casually.
Reina straightened up, caught her breath, then shook her head.
"Everything's fine. That guy's still sleeping like a log," she said with a chuckle.
Raven smiled slightly. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pill, and handed it to Reina.
"This is a limiter pill. It temporarily breaks the bond between the person who takes it and their party members."
Reina accepted the pill and opened its information panel.
[Limiter Pill]: A pill that temporarily breaks the bond between the user and their party members. The effect only lasts for six hours, and once it's over, the bond is restored.
Reina stared at the information panel in shock.
"Raven, where did you get that?" she asked in surprise.
The pill was incredibly useful. She and Leo were bound together at a party. If she killed a monster, half of the experience points she earned would automatically go to Leo.
That had been her biggest concern all along. What she hadn't expected was that Raven actually had a pill like this.
"I got it after killing one of the monsters," Raven replied casually.
He couldn't tell her the pill had come from the system. The system store hadn't opened yet, but he could still ask the system to bend the rules and let him purchase certain special items.
Unfortunately, the price was double the normal cost. Take the Limiter Pill Reina was holding, for example.
A single vial containing ten pills normally costs only 200 Love Points.
But because he had asked the system to bend the rules, the price had doubled to 400 Love Points.
Even so, Raven didn't regret it at all. Once he successfully won Reina over, the Love Points he earned would be many times greater than what he had spent.
"Raven..."
Tears welled up in the corners of Reina's eyes. She hadn't expected Raven to be so thoughtful.
Not only was he willing to help her level up, but he had even given her a pill so Leo wouldn't discover her secret hunt.
That kind of kindness was something she'd never experienced before—not even back when she worked as a government agent.
After being betrayed by one of her former teammates, she'd stopped trusting people. But somehow, Raven made her feel like she could believe in someone again.
Maybe... just maybe... he was someone she could truly trust.
Raven smiled and gently ruffled her hair.
"Don't be sad. You've been through enough. I don't want to see you suffer anymore. Come on, let's go hunt!"
"Mhm!"
Reina nodded enthusiastically.
"[Ding! Obtained 15 Affection Points!]"
The affection gauge above her head rose from 50 to 65.
***
"If I may ask, just how powerful is your skill, Reina?"
Raven turned to Reina as they walked side by side.
Yesterday, Reina had told him about her Life Force Extraction skill.
To be honest, he had been a little surprised. Skills weren't something people revealed to just anyone.
That only convinced him even more that Reina had truly given up on Leo, making this the perfect opportunity to win her over.
"I can absorb the remnants of life force from monster carcasses and turn them into experience stones. But I can only do that with monsters that have been dead for less than twenty-four hours. Once they pass that limit, the skill no longer works on them," Reina explained casually.
"Oh?" Raven raised an eyebrow.
Although the Life Force Extraction skill was quite powerful, it was still one tier below the Gluttony skill. At the very least, Gluttony didn't have such a time limit.
They kept chatting as they walked, and before long, they arrived at a wide open clearing. The path behind them was the only way in or out.
Thick vines, similar to the ones in the cave where Claire and Rose were sleeping, covered the area.
Raven looked at the pack of monsters ahead without the slightest hint of fear.
"The monsters up ahead are called Red-Tailed Apes. They're level 7 monsters—strong enough to wipe you out, Reina," Raven said casually.
Reina swallowed hard. She was only level 4. Fighting level 7 monsters was practically suicide.
"...Even so, they have a fatal weakness. They're afraid of fire, and the back of their neck is their weak spot," Raven continued as he drew his sword from its sheath.
"More importantly, killing them grants a huge amount of experience points—about twice as much as other monsters of the same level."
"Twice as much!?" Reina's eyes widened in surprise.
If she remembered right, defeating a normal level 7 monster gave 100 experience points. A Red-Tailed Ape was worth twice that, so she'd get 200 experience points for killing one.
Reina's heart started racing.
Without having to share the experience with Leo, she might even reach level 5—or maybe even level 6—before the night was over.
Raven lowered his stance and raised his sword, a confident grin on his face.
"Let's do this!"