Chapter 141 - Cabin in the Woods
"Alright, let's stop here for the night!" I announced making the caravan grind to a halt.
The clearing we were in wasn't large but it was enough to hold all of us comfortably for the night. We were in for another large stretch of woods coming up and this was the last clearing for a while where we wouldn't have to chop down bushes or plants to make camp. While annoying to do so, sometimes it was necessary.
Plus, there was another reason we stopped here for the night. The dungeon wasn't far away now and we would make it either early or mid-morning tomorrow but it was still too far if we pushed through now.
Everyone began the practiced task of setting up camp and I saw Vinny break out his hammer and tools. He would be in for a busy night repairing people's gear.
I should help him if I find the time, I thought.
It had been a few days since we had the chance to set up like this and people's gear was in need of servicing. We had made our way through the low mana area and were fast approaching one of the hotspots on the map. Coincidentally, right where the dungeon resided.
As the mana rose, the levels of the things inside of it did as well. Beasts above level 50 started to appear and were becoming increasingly common.
Austin and Hal did a good job of keeping us secure but I had us take a different approach to the rising difficulty.
The scarcity of the beasts was a boon rather than a hindrance in that we could have a controlled atmosphere for some of the lower-level people in our caravan.
The beasts didn't carry the same advantages to those of us above E-rank but were a massive boost to those below it. They made for perfect training dummies while we were still in the area for it.
As we reached more difficult areas, we wouldn't be able to keep control of the situation and make sure nothing unexpected happened which made it important to utilize it now when we could.
Where we were now was perfect to get some of the lower level people some experience to level up. Plus, we now had over 8 E-rank people to make sure nothing went wrong.