Lena nodded, watching the flames of the fire lick the skewered chunks of ant flesh they had brought from the cave and that Lena was currently cooking.

"Don't get used to this. I'm cooking just because you were taking too long to make up your mind."

The meat sizzled, releasing a scent that was weirdly alluring despite the source. Reidar shifted on the log he was currently using as a seat.

It was currently night; the stars were high, and the fire was the only source of warmth. It was mid-September now, so the temperatures were starting to drop.

"What did you pick in the end?" Lena asked while turning the spit with a stick.

"Efficient Scavenger. I put all six points into it."

She raised an eyebrow while carving off a piece of meat and blowing on it. "The one that boosts loot from kills?"

"Yeah." He paused, watching her chew.

"Why? There were other options to choose from; are you sure getting this perk was better than getting one related to fighting?"

She gave him an unblinking stare.

Reidar shook his head. "Not everything is about combat. Most of it is about survival. The perk tree makes this clear. Every fight drops crystals, hides, whatever. It's the basis of everything else. Repairs if gear breaks, enchanting for upgrades, crafting new stuff. We're going into places where most of the time there will be no vendors, no backup. Self-sufficiency beats hoping for drops that might not come."

Lena swallowed the food and nodded. Reidar was right, but while she didn't have a trait that was so suited for fighting like his, she felt she needed to improve her fighting prowess. That was especially true since she constantly compared herself to the summoner.

Though she could probably take him down if she really tried, it wouldn't be simple, not with the way he could call up an army of creatures like he had in the ant nest, and especially not if he summoned thousands of creatures as he did inside the nest.

Of course, that was purely hypothetical. It was just a way to compare between them.

"Makes sense. What about the attributes? You leveled up what, six times?"

"Yes. I invested them all in F.L.I.P."

She froze mid-bite. Her brow furrowed and her gaze narrowed as if he'd confessed to eating the raw queen's heart.

"F.L.I.P.? The luck attribute? That's... cryptic. Twists fate, boosts rare finds, crits, and gut feelings. Why pour everything there? It has nothing to do with magic. Wouldn't it have been better to invest in F.L.A.I.R. or S.H.I.E.L.D. since you often say you need better control of your summons or raw strength and defenses?"

She sized him up. "You are very weak physically speaking, as you are now. I could break your arm without an afterthought, and the monsters… No, other people should be able to do the same."

He grinned. "If they get the chance."

"Don't rely too much on your skills, Reidar. You might not be able to cast them on time."

Reidar shrugged, staring into the fire. "While what you said is true, F.L.I.P. fits what I'm building. It synergize with the Efficient Scavenger perk. More loot overall, rarer stuff from the perk. That's where fate tips the scales. I want summoner gear, capes, rods, and sets that improve my beasts and the knights."

He paused.

"F.L.I.P. might make it so that I would be able to find these items without going to a vendor. I much prefer buying skill books rather than gear, especially considering I got the professions to craft gear on my own."

He turned back to the fire. "Besides, we don't know how F.L.I.P. really works. It might have effects much more impactful on battles, and even outside of them."

Lena set the spit down, wiping her hands on her thigh. "Relying on whims and instincts? It feels too shaky, Reidar."

She was not convinced.

"Regardless, it's your choice."

He nodded.

Reidar took the stick from her, turning the meat himself. The fire crackled, casting shifting shadows on their faces.

He could see the gears turning in her head. She went through a lot in these past weeks, starting from what happened since he arrived in Havenwood and going through losing everyone she knew for her to travel with a stranger.

Not that doing so alone like Reidar did was better.

The silence stretched, broken only by the crackling embers and the quiet rustle of the forest beyond the firelight.

His mind drifted to Martha and Marcus. Every skill point, every battle, every step forward was another stretch of the endless road that might one day lead him back to them.

Lena stared into the flames, equally pensive. Her face was hard to read. But reidar was sure she was thinking about the people she lost, and the ones she wanted to enact her revenge on.

She was likely thinking about Martin, about Jorik turning on them, and about Silas and his horrifying strength.

She wondered how strong that fucker had already become. If she and Reidar had been able to reach level 85, then Silas, who was around that level already, must have gotten to level 100 at the bare minimum. Rage burned inside her, hotter than the campfire, and it acted as the embers that fanned the flames of her hatred.

"So, Silas, what are we going to do with him? What about the church?" Reidar asked.

Lena's jaw tightened. "I want Silas dead. I want the church burned to the ground."

Reidar poked the fire with a stick, sending sparks spiraling into the dark. "That's a big ask. Silas wasn't just strong. He was unnaturally strong. And the Progenitor… a level 250? That's not a fight. That's a suicide run."

He looked at her across the flames. "And they're not likely sitting idly. Every day we spend hunting monsters, they're converting more people, gathering more power. Their army grows while we're out here in the woods."

Lena's hands clenched into fists on her knees. "Are you suggesting we do nothing?"

"Of course not!" He paused.

"Even if we want to, they are going to look for me for some weird reason, so doing nothing is out of the question."

He hesitated to say what he was thinking about, trying not to upset her.

"Martin could have done nothing… You know that, right?"

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