He constantly reminds himself that he doesn’t need his party’s help. He looks around the dungeon, expecting to see Sornid’s support, or Pallad’s strong arm ahead of him when he looks back forward.
But he doesn’t. And the absence threatens to crush his heart. He’s well capable of surviving alone, he knows that well enough. He’s Level 79 for goodness sake. But his party are also Level 79. He knows them even better than he probably knows himself.
But he can’t stop thinking about them despite being in a situation he can’t afford to.
“How long has it been since I last used these?” he asks nobody in particular as he uses his damaging skills for once.
He continues slaughtering monsters as though there is no tomorrow.
- Meanwhile, with Bariton’s Other Party Members.
Sornid looks out of the Cabinet towards the mountains.
“Bariton was right.” He mutters under his breath.
“What?” Clara asks, confused as to what Sornid said, or even what he’s talking about. “Bariton left because you said he was wrong.”
“I know,” Sornid responds shortly, but continues on to elaborate, “But I think he may have a point with the difference in strength between that child and us. And if that child was killed so easily, I think we need to grow far stronger if we want to even have a chance.”
“But how are we ever going to find him?” Pallad brings up the obvious. Nobody other than Bariton have some kind of tracking skill. And even then, it’s obvious Bariton wouldn’t use it to the four in the wagon.
“I- I don’t-” Sornid stutters out, he’s feeling useless outside of damage dealing, and this being a hit to his ego certainly didn’t help. “I’m thinking on it!”
Sornid slams his fist into the side of the carriage, the shaking causing a short and angry “Knock it off back there!” from the carriage driver.
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The four of them sigh, but they tell the carriage driver to let them off here.
“Alright, we’ll just have to train before we see him again.”
“What do you mean?” Clara asks Sornid, definitely curious about what he’s on about.
“We’ll find him along the way if we just clear out the dungeons on the way to the capital. This world is nearly the same as ours.” Sornid says, quickly moving North. The carriage driver shrugs as he continues off to the capital.
The great party of heroes all moved off to secluded training, deciding that their levels may be differing when they reconjoin, their weaknesses are better off being completely removed by the training, which is much more difficult when someone is covering them.
Bariton continues his painful disposal of dungeons, honing the martial arts he learnt back when he was a solo player. Sornid was studying more in the nature of Defence based skills, and other various supports. Clara was learning more damaging skills with the monks of some far off monastery. Pallad was learning how to calm himself with other monks, learning composure.
With this training, the great heroes were to learn all sorts of things, but the most important was that they were removing the weaknesses covered by others. They all knew, except for Bariton, that when they got back together, they would be capable and willing to take on any challenge.
Judine’s training was completely different, with nothing in specific being her focus. She continued just getting stronger to support her party far better. Her supports now added in some damage and healing, restraining even Level 200 monsters easily.
They all didn’t specify a time to meet up in the Capital, but it was for the better if they just let it go since Bariton would never have a way to decide the timing. They all were becoming legendary, since between training they cleared nearby dungeons, all making a name for themselves in this unknown Kingdom.
As Sornid learnt defensive magics, Clara learn offensive, and the two became known as the All Rounded Mages. Pallad was now well-known as the Demon of Peace. Judine became known as the Warden of Doom. Bariton however became known as the Bard of Anarchy, all of these titles living on for generations, with nobody coming close to meeting them.
These five all continued training for weeks, months, maybe even years. They never kept track of time, but they all completed the path they were set upon. The kingdom itself heralded them all as heroes, all taking out over 75% of the dungeons that maybe weren’t the largest of issues, yet still problems that killed hundreds nonetheless.
However, they also wiped out 100% of the dungeons that were big issues. The ones that were close to spewing out monsters, the ones that came close to over a 300 death count, the ones that were ranked S rank.
All of these dungeons were closed within a week of reaching any of the five Heroes ears, even if they aren’t necessarily heroes by heart.