“We’ll talk about this later. I’m not angry. It’s okay. Keep using essence. Can you let me know if you get that notification about a god watching, though?” Alister asked, comforting her. He’d let his worries stay internal for the moment.

Wisteria nodded vigorously, seemingly pleased that she wasn’t in some sort of trouble, “Of course! You really don’t mind?”

“Of course not. Don’t worry so much, you just surprised everyone. Focus on the fight,” he said, smiling. Why was she so jumpy about the power? Yes, they all got surprised, but that meant she had been hiding it. Kids were horrible with secrets.

He sighed, focusing forward again with the rest of the party as five werewolves rushed toward them. Behind the werewolves was a large werebear that roared and towered above the others, the clear miniboss of the round. According to his father, that beast should be around level ten. His level. What a strange thought. It wasn’t exactly intimidating.

The miniboss round went about the same as all the others, the only difference being that it took a tiny bit longer. Wisteria had no issue using essence, even with her class abilities, unlike how clunky she was with magic.

Alister spent most of the next few rounds watching Wisteria and barely contributing to the fight. He kept his little cloud up, adding mana to the simple spell to continue it farther than it should naturally last. It was absolutely a mana sink, but it wasn’t like it mattered much. He had more than he knew what to do with.

On that thought, actually… maybe he could invest in some magic stones and fill them? It’d be a decent use of the mana, though his regeneration rate wasn’t fantastic right now either. So magic stones and core training would be the big two goals for now. It felt nice to have a solid goal again so soon after the last one of ‘level ten’.

Oh… Was that supposed to be the boss? It was a weretiger. It was considerably more tenacious but the effort it took to take down only showed in a longer fight. One of the knights got a nasty bruise from a swipe of its paw.

Wisteria was out of breath by now, and his mother was winded as well. Neither of them had great stamina. Alister supposed he would be out of breath as well if not for the fact he had been leaning against a tree for most of the dungeon.

“We can stop here if you guys are that tired,” Blas offered, to which he earned a glare from both of the girls, “Or not! Geez. Just sit back though if you’re too tired. Okay? I don’t want you to get so tired you do something wrong. Alliana sweetheart as lovely as you look flushed there’s no reason to push yourself. And Wisteria, blessed by the gods or not there’s a limit to these things. Alister… well truthfully you look bored.”

“I am, father, but it’s no problem. We can continue. The better reward would be worth it, I think.”

Wisteria nodded, still panting, “I don’t wanna stop now! We’re so close!”

“Okay okay. I hear you both loud and clear. Drink some water though. Alister, please create some for everyone?” Blas said, waving his hands placidly.

“Yes sir,” he responded, sitting for the ten-minute break they always had. He cast a simple water spell and a more complex wood shape spell to create cups for everyone. “Are you finally used to my magic being an option, Father?” he teased.

“You joke, but I’ve only become more aware now of how ridiculously useful it is. I’ve already thought of new chores for you to have,” Blas returned, not missing a beat.

Alister huffed, rolling his grey eyes, “Oh good. Good to know.” He watched his friend and the knights drink the water he created and let out a soft hum of thought, “Father what level are you, anyway? I haven’t thought to ask.”

“64,” he answered proudly, “I’m no true warrior but I’m hardly a slouch. Your mother is level 52.”

“I’d be a higher level, but combat is, unfortunately, worth more than non-combat experience points,” Alliana said, sighing, “Most of my levels come from my work as an archduchess, efforts from my station. And your father and I are only in our thirties - more than a level a year is quite good progress. He looks forward to level 100, meanwhile, I don’t really care about my level as much as I do my skills.”

“Hey, I care plenty about my skills. I just think that one’s level is a mark of their effort!”

“And so is their core, and their skill mastery, and their mana pool, and and and,” Alliana teased, “So prideful, dear.”

“Oh hush.”

Alister tuned them out, rolling his eyes. If that was the boss, then the field boss could be of mild interest. The real challenge of the dungeon was that it was made of so many rounds, a war of attrition. Wisteria was more indicative of the average person than anyone else here, save for her skillfulness with essence, and she was struggling to keep up with the constant fighting. Even his mother was a bit out of breath. Stamina was a resource just like mana, something to keep in mind. If they weren’t completely overpowered for the dungeon it might have actually caused some problems. He didn’t think he’d be able to do it by himself in his current state. Managing a line would be difficult after a few rounds. He wasn’t the sort to be a ‘tank’.

“Wisteria just sit back. You’ve done a good job,” he said, motioning to the trees.

She glared, “I don’t want to just let all you boys do everything!”

Alister rolled his eyes again, “It’s not about you being a girl. I don’t want you to trip on your face and make a mess for the rest of us. Plus you didn’t get a ton of sleep.”

She hmphed, and Alliana hooked an arm around her shoulder, “It’s fine Wisteria. I wanted to have a chat with you anyway, and this is a good excuse…” She began pulling her back into the bees’ forest, “So… your mother taught you your abilities with essence…?”

Alister watched them as they walked away from his seated position. His mother scared him sometimes. She could be so intimidating. Whatever it was Wisteria had to say about essence, no doubt that woman would get it out of her.

Not having to worry about letting Wisteria get the last shot in, however, meant that he could stop pulling his punches. Thank the gods, he was getting bored. He sighed internally at the saying. In his past life, he put so much spiteful effort into avoiding any phrase like that. For no good reason. It made no difference, it didn’t give them power, and it didn’t reach their ears. He could say thank the gods without meaning it. Such a small realization but it felt significant to him.

Well, whatever. The point was he could entertain himself.

Alister stood up as the bell rang out for the next round.