B2 Chapter 24: Integrated Development Environment
Amber woke early despite how late she'd stayed up the night before, eager to learn the different way of designing spells that Carlos was so excited about. She quickly dressed for the day, woke up Carlos with a stern shake, and left their tent to enjoy the dawning light as the forest woke up all around them with the rising of the sun. The adventurers were quickly packing up their own gear, though they couldn't match the quickness the mayor's tent's self-packing enchantment would have once Carlos came out of it.
It's time to move on to a zone with higher-level aether again, but we're still limited by Ressara, who is… Level 10 already? Huh. Amber double checked, and Ressara had indeed gained 2 levels in a single day. Just how much time did she spend actively pulling in aether yesterday? She doesn't have a soul structure that makes it reflexive like we do. She thought back for a moment. Wait, I think I sensed her absorbing while I went to sleep last night, and that was well past midnight!
Amber quickly walked over to confront Ressara, who was wearily staggering through the process of packing up. "Ressara, I know you want to help, but you don't have to push yourself this hard."
Ressara cringed. "I'm so sorry! I know I'm holding you back. If- If you want to send me back to Dramos and continue without me, I'll understand."
Amber blinked in confusion. "Er. Did you even hear what I said? You don't have to push yourself so hard."
"Of course I do! You would be past Level 20 by now if you weren't coddling me!" Ressara hung her head.
Amber paused, then her eyes widened. "Ooooh, right. You don't know… Okay, the details are a secret of nobility, but I assure you, we would not be Level 20 by now without you. We may absorb aether a lot faster than you do, but we also need several times as much of it for each level. You're actually gaining levels faster than we are. Before too much longer, we will be holding you back. It turns out that the real advantage of noble soul rank is greater power per level."
Ressara stared dumbly at Amber, swaying on her feet, then yawned. "Oh. Um." She yawned again, then looked back at the tent stake she was holding and stared at it blankly.
Amber yawned in sympathy, then shook herself. "You should go back to packing up, and then sleep. I'm serious; if I have to make that an official command to get you to sleep until you're properly rested, I will. Got it?"