It was past midday, and the party had already killed over a dozen and a half monsters.
They had managed to defeat 6 Great Black Bears, 4 Great Wolves, 4 Great Silkworms, 4 Great Deer, and 3 Great Spiders.
The party seemed aware of how to fight each monster, so they were very comfortable during the battle, taking not much time to dispatch all of them.
The silkworms were the easiest of all to defeat. The silk they produced was very flammable, like the cobwebs around the forest, so with a torch and two sorcerers who could use a spell to create balls of fire, they could do nothing to anyone.
By now, Jax's inventory had become full, so he was forced to carry the rest of the items on his back. Between him and Loma, they were more than half filled.
Jax kept track of the Navi Stones too. They had, between the five of them, gathered a total of 53 Navi Stones. Since Jax was getting 5% of that, he was going to receive at least 2 Navi Stones.
Once they fought more monsters and sold all the loot they had gathered, he might end up earning 5 Navi Stones in total. That was half of what he owed Julian for letting him stay in the training center.
The party decided to take a break and have some food while they rested. As they sat around eating the rations, Jax looked at the group, with a question coming to him.
"Gemma, do people like it if one asks them about their spells?"
"Oh no. They will get angry," Gemma said. "It's like asking a person to show you their underwear. It's a private matter."
Jax nodded. "Thought so. I was curious about something, though. Why do these two have so few spells?"
Jax had seen the male sorcerer use exactly three spells: a spell to create light that blinded someone, a spell to create a ball of fire, and a spell to create water. The last one was for drinking.
The sorceress had four spells: a spell to create a ball of fire, a spell to create two bolts of lightning, a spell to stagnate the movements of the monsters, and a spell to heal minor wounds.
She had only once used the healing spell when the male sorcerer had been scratched while trying to block an attack from one of the monsters.
"Do they perhaps have restrictions on how many spells they can learn too?" Jax asked.
"No," Gemma said. "Even if they somehow have one, most sorcerers don't have a limit on how many they can learn."
"Then why not learn everything they can?" Jax asked. "Or are they limited by what they can find?"
"That's not it," Gemma explained. "It has more to do with the issue that comes with a person learning too many spells. Their progress through Navi Stages slows down by a lot when they have many spells."
Jax raised an eyebrow. "How does that work?"
"It's hard to explain right now since you don't have a spell just yet. Learn one, and you'll intuitively understand what I'm trying to explain."
Jax thought for a moment and accepted her words. He would see what she meant, hopefully soon.
Once they were done eating, they left to go deeper into the forest and fight more monsters. They fought another wolf, and Jax got to try his hand at removing its hide.
Loma stayed by him and explained to him where to place the knife and at what angle to cut. Jax only got to try for a minute or so before Loma took over and completed the rest.
They didn't have the luxury to sit and watch Jax slowly try and learn how to butcher.
Jax and Loma quickly dismantled the wolf's body, taking away its hide, its heart, and its claws. Apparently, the wolf's bones were too weak to be turned into anything.
They went around some more, fighting more monsters.
From the deer, they took antlers and hooves. From the silkworms, they took silk sacks. And from the spiders, they took their fangs and venom sacks.
During the next two hours, they gathered around 30 more Navi Stones, reaching over 80 at that point. A few more, and Jax would really end up with 5 Navi Stones by the end of the day.
"Where the hell is the Spider Queen?" Danny said in a frustrated voice. "I was really hoping to find her today."
"At this point, I think we can agree that we lost her to someone already," the male sorcerer said.
Everyone agreed.
"Is the Spider Queen that good?" Jax asked Loma.
"Very," Loma explained. "She's not that difficult to fight, but she gives a lot of loot. And because she is a boss monster, she has a higher chance of dropping loot too."
"What other loot?" Jax asked. "Does she drop spells?"
"Spells, maybe, but more so weapons. She drops ready-made weapons, which you can either use or sell for quite a profit. It's an amazing monster to fight if we had the chance."
"Does she roam around the forest?" Jax asked. "Do we not know where she is?"
"After she dies, the forest recreates her in a new place. So each day, she is cooped up in a different part of the forest. We got unlucky," Loma said.
"Well, maybe not completely unlucky," the sorceress said from the front. "It's not the Spider Queen, but it's still something."
The group had arrived at the edge of a large bush and looked beyond. In front of them was a Great Black Bear, but with streaks of purple lines going through its skin.
"What's… what's that? That's no regular bear, is it?" Jax asked.
"No," Loma whispered. "That's a mutated monster. We call it an Elite. Below a boss monster, it is the next best thing."
"You guys, be careful. Elites have spells they can use. Don't get caught off guard by them," the sorceress said as she readied herself too.
Jax and Loma moved backward, away from where the fight was happening.
Once everyone was ready, they attacked the bear.