Ray's smile cracked when he heard Kana saying that his smile pissed her off. He was used to being ridiculed by his teammates but to have someone from another species also dig into you was like the final shot to the heart. What made it even worse was how even his own teammates began laughing at him. Thane, who always held it in, was practically rolling on the ground.
Ceilie, with a big cheeky grin on her face, walked over to him and gave him a few hard slaps on the back. "See, I told you. Every girl thinks you're creepy. It doesn't matter which race or species it is."
"Ahh! Yes! I am a creepy bastard, okay! I'll go to the damn town! Better than having you guys pick on me." Sulking, Ray's shoulder slumped down as he turned and walked off.
"Ceilie, you should be nicer to him. We all know he means well. He just has women issues." Thane tried to scold Ceilie, but the fact that he was still red in the face and still laughing did not help it any.
"Enough Thane, Ray may have issues with women, but that is not all. He is not much help to the team either. We usually do not say anything because he is your friend, but he really does not pull his own weight. Earlier, when we were fighting the wolves and bees, he was not even able to handle them well. And this is not the first time. During our last quest, Isabella was seriously hurt because he was not able to keep the adds off her. Ceilie always has to run around crazy, as she kites adds as well. I am also in the same boat. Our team at this moment and time is dysfunctional. Ray spends more time trying to pick up women than he does training himself. Everyone else knows how to fight, but he does not. He is only here to play and is very lazy. You, of all people, know the reason for this. " Renne finally decided to speak up about their party's main issue.
"It's because he is a noble. I know this. But you got to see where I am coming from too. My mother and father work for his parents. If I drop him from the team, then my parents will end up being fired and or maybe even accused of some crime they didn't commit. You know how his father runs things." Thane finally stopped laughing and let out a long sigh. He knew what the issue was, but he couldn't do anything about it. Thane and Ray were friends on the surface, but he knew if he turned his back on Ray, it would be his parents who suffered and not him.
"Since that is the case, I will be leaving after this quest." Ceilie suddenly announced. "I can no longer be in a team with him. He has slowed down my progress so much that I have been lagging behind. I would rather run solo for a while than deal with him anymore. "
Kana, who was busy roasting her next horned rabbit, watched everything that was going on with great interest. She wondered if this was what it was like to watch those dramas she heard girls talking about as they walked by. She had been able to watch a few tv shows in her past life while sneaking a peek through people's windows. But when she was caught, they would scream at her and chase her away. Sometimes she had things thrown at her as well. They would call her all kinds of names, some of which she did not want to ever repeat herself.
"Ceilie, are you being serious?" Renne and Isabella asked at the same time.
"Yep! I need to refine my skills. I am lacking in many areas, and if I wish to get stronger, I will need to really throw myself into my training. Not to mention I have yet to even evolve yet. I have been thinking about this for a while. Although it has been a blast questing with you all, but after this last quest, I am leaving the team." Ceilie wanted to grow stronger. She had her reasons. She was someone with a darker past than most. This was also one of the reasons she had such hate for Ray. But since joining this team, her ability to level up at all had really slowed down. She was seventeen, and her level was starting to fall behind.
Most already had their professions evolve to the next stage, but she was still stuck as an apprentice. Renne was already a level 1 mage. Isabella was also a level 1 priestess. Thane had already become a level 2 shield knight. But they had already reached their first evolution before the team was formed. She was the youngest of them all and the last member to join, and she was still only level 8. She would become an archer when she gets a chance to evolve. Before, she gained a quarter of a level a day, but now she was only getting a tenth of a level per quest. But that was because she stopped leveling on her own and was trying to integrate herself with her new team. She was wasting her time away in taverns drinking instead of training. After being slapped into the pond by Kana, Ceilie decided it was finally time to go back leveling solo. Today's incident had been a big eye-opener for her.
"I see..." Thane felt a little disappointed to see Ceilie go; she was one of their best members. Not only him both Isabelle and Renne also felt very depressed to see Ceilie go.
"Oi! When is someone going to slap someone? Isn't this what is supposed to happen in times like his? Like one of you says, no, don't go! And then another one slaps that person for some stupid reason?" Kana suddenly spoke up, causing all eyes to turn on her. Kana's ability to read the mood was nowhere to be seen. She was basically using their little dramatic event as some entertainment. But seeing how no one was throwing any fist, she found it to be more noisy than entertaining.
"No one is slapping anyone. Anyway, Kana, I'm hungry. Let me get some of that rabbit." With Kana's interruption, Ceilie went back to normal and sat down next to Kana, trying to take some rabbit from her. She buddied right up to Kana like it was the most natural thing to do.
"Huh? Get your own food! You stinking human!" Kana quickly hugged the roasted rabbit in her arms, not willing to let Ceilie have any.
"You got so much, just let me have some! Hey! Don't hit me with your tail!" Ceilie suddenly yelled after having her hand ruthlessly smacked by Kana's tail.
"Keep your hands off my food, damn human!" Kana shouted as she swung her tail once again.
Lysairth, who was watching the tiff between the two, shook her head. "When did these two become such good friends… Kana, I worry about your future."
---Authors comments---
Hello all! I would like to hear what everyone thinks so far about this novel. Any input you can give me would be great. whether it is about background development or character development. I would like to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.
Thanks,
invayne