Akira walked over to the large stone blocking the entrance and hit it a few times testing its strength.
It seemed to be as hard as any normal metal he knew of, it may even be harder. The large stone fit snugly against the wall and ground showing no cracks to stick anything into denying anyone the chance to try and pry it open.
The air inside the first room of the pyramid was not all that stale as there seemed to be a constant airflow coming from somewhere far above his head.
“I don''t think we''ll have any problems with anyone entering through this way any time soon,” said Akira as he walked back over to the rest of the group that was waiting for him.
“Haaaah. That''s a relief,” said Mileena letting out a sigh.
“You guys sure do know how to throw an escape party,” joked Maya.
“We should take a short rest before we try to clear the rest of this dungeon,” said Varbu.
“Good idea,” said Akira while taking out camping gear from his bag.
“I''ll help,” said Maya as she busied herself with setting up the campsite before Akira could even refuse.
“We''ll go scout ahead and see if there''s anything we need to take care of before we sleep,” said Varbu picking up a lamp with the magical green fire inside, before he and Mileena left the room.
Akira finished taking everything out and began helping Maya sort everything out and set up camp.
***
Ding!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Party buff skill Campfire has been used!
Campfire: Buffs entire party''s Mana, Stamina, and HP regeneration by 100%. Must be in a party and near the campfire to receive full benefits of the skill.
Nearby allies not in the party only receive 30% of the skills full effect.
At higher levels, the campfire skill will keep unwanted weaker monsters away.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
''What is this? A new skill? What''s a party?'' wondered Akira as he read the message.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Requirements for forming a party not met.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
He scanned through his skills to see if he had gained a new skill without knowing it.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Skills:
Sword Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 8 | 3.00%)
Shield mastery: (Beginner Lv: 9 | 5.00%)
Heavy Armor Mastery: (Beginner Lv: 6 | 11%)
Shield Bash: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 9%)
Sword Slash: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 63%)
Cross Attack: (Beginner Lv: 4| 1.00%)
Blacksmithing: (Beginner Lv: 9 | 50%)
Exotic Cooking: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 90%)
Mining: (Beginner Lv: 7 | 69%)
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
''Nope not on the list...'' he reread the message. Since it only said it had been used he guessed it had to be the skill of the only other person in the room who was fiddling with the burning smokeless fire.
Akira stared at Maya''s back as she added dry wood to the small fire so that they could at least have a somewhat decent cooked meal. Akira gave up on trying to figure out what the skill was and continued to watch Maya.
Akira had to admit she did indeed have a larger chest then Mileena.
Sensing someone looking at her she turned around to look at Akira her ears were twitching in annoyance, along with her tail lazily swishing back and forth.
She gave Akira a smile, or at least Akira thought it was a smile. One thing Akira could understand was whatever it was it was closer to an awkward evil grin.
''She really does not know how to smile. Maybe I should teach her how to do the cool guy smile,'' thought Akira.
“I thought I told you that you can''t lewd me. Don''t think because we are alone that I''ll change my mind...Oww what are you doing!” said Maya.
Akira stopped her talking by grinding his fist on her head.
“What''s with that mouth and perverted brain of yours?” asked Akira.
Maya smacked his hand away and gave a ''harrumph!'' before going back to tending the fire.
Several minutes later Varbu and Mileena returned and sat down next to the fire.
“The nearby passages and rooms were all empty except for multiple traps that someone triggered,” said Varbu exasperated.
“So you mean it''s just Mileena being herself as usual,” said Akira.
“Her eyesight is good enough that can she see quite well in the dark. My eyesight is not as good as hers but I was still able to see the traps and warned her but she kept running into all of them and activating them.”
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Hey they just appeared out of nowhere!” said Mileena defensively.
“Alright, alright, let''s not argue. Everyone can cook what they want,” said Akira pointing to a large pile of ingredients placed on a wooden block. It was a mixture of odd plants and meats that Akira had gathered to use with his exotic cooking skill.
“Wait! I''ve been practicing so let me cook for everyone!” said Mileena.
“Oh? Then I guess I''ll leave it to you,” said Akira surprised. Since she normally only ate what Akira or Varbu cooked and had never shown an interest in cooking before.
Maya''s face turned pale at the mention of Mileena cooking.
Mileena hummed an odd off-tune song as she cooked a mystery soup.
Slop! A large portion of dark blue toxic looking food was ladled onto Akira''s plate. A few large bubbles popped and let out a smokey burnt smell.
Akira and Varbu grabbed their spoons and scooped up a large portion.
“Um... I don''t think that''s a good idea,” mumbled Maya as she watched Akira and Varbu begin to eat the food.
“Don''t worry, how bad could it...”
Thump!x2
***
“How could you let this happen?” shouted the Arena owner angrily at Khepri who was kneeling before him.
“I''m sorry sir, It won''t happen again,” said Khepri.
“Why am I even paying you if you can''t make sure that gladiators stay where they are supposed to be?”
The arena owner was angry due to the recent report by the chariot soldiers on their failure to capture the escaped nyantail and her companions.
The king had already heard of their incompetence during the tournament and did not look fondly on those who could not take care of their own problems before they inconvenienced others.
Which they had done since the scheduled match had been canceled due to Maya escaping.
Brutus who had been talking to the Arena owner about the possibility of hosting a gladiator tournament in Beorin, had a front row seat to it all and heard everything.
“What did her companions look like?” asked the fuming arena owner.
“They were unable to get a clear look but it looked like an Orc and the two people with masks that looked like the one''s Lewd wolf and Majestic cat had worn during the tournament,” said Khepri.
“Send some people to the pyramid to see if they can open it. Also, pay off some of the military''s scouts to keep an eye out for them with an additional reward of 100 gold for each person brought back alive,” ordered the Arena owner.
Brutus thought this sounded too much like what had happened to him and decided to go and ask a few ''friends'' what they new on this subject.
When he left the mansion of the arena owner he found Ruth waiting for him back at the Royal Inn that only served nobles.
She had been out all night with her friends enjoying the city''s nightlife before they had to leave and looked exhausted.
***
Akira woke up to his face being smacked by Maya.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Lesser poison resistance increased.
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
“AH! Thank goodness you didn''t die! I was worried there for a second,” said Maya seeing Akira''s eyes open.
Akira looked around in a daze and saw Varbu slouched against a wall with his face a shade of light green from sickness.
“What happened?” asked Akira.
“I tried to warn you, but well Mileena likes to eat almost anything. Due to that she sorta has no sense of normal taste or skill at cooking. Most of the time she creates deadly stuff like that out of perfectly normal food,” said Maya pointing at the large bowl containing the food Mileena had cooked.
“Sorry, but I really do think I got better,” said Mileena disheartened.
“Well, at least you didn''t kill them,” said Maya patting Mileena on the shoulder.
“I thought I saw my ancestors calling for me to come and join them,” said Varbu.
“Alright, no cooking for Mileena unless we want to kill someone,” said Akira making a new rule in order to keep everyone alive.
“Hey that''s a bit rude,” protested Mileena.
Akira didn''t reply as he took the bowl containing the cooled down toxic food and placed it into his bag.
Since he was still hungry decided to cook something for himself. Everyone but Mileena began to cook their own dinner, not wanting to end up in the same situation as before.
Akira made sure to make an extra portion for Mileena as he didn''t want her dying from eating her own food.
Ding!
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
Exotic cooking Lvl up!
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Maya looked at Akira''s finished results and scoffed.
“You call that cooking? That''s not cooking at all! You''re nearly as bad as Mileena, and what''s with all these odd plants and meat you have, are they even edible?” asked Maya.
“You''re too picky. We eat stuff like this all the time,” said Mileena eating the roasted meat Akira had handed her.
“From now on everyone needs to leave the cooking to me!” said Maya.
***
“Ahem,” Maya cleared her throat and took a small notepad and pencil from a pocket in her leather armor.
Repositioning her glasses she looked at the other three who were waiting for her to speak.
“Now that we have eaten I think we should get to know each other better,” said Maya.
“Why?” asked Akira.
“Because we will be companions from now on.”
“I thought you guys had a tribe or something to go back to,” said Akira.
“It''s no longer exist, so there is no point in going back.”
“So... father...?” asked Mileena hesitantly.
“Yes, he and the elders died while trying to hold the slavers off,” said Maya solemnly.
Akira pat Mileena on the head to calm her down. It worked like a charm.
Maya watched this without saying a word and secretly wrote down a few things onto her notepad.
“So what do you think can we join you?” asked Maya after she finishing writing.
“Well, you see we don''t really stay in one place for too long since we have a mission we are trying to complete. I''m trying to find the werewolf tribe I belong to and Varbu is coming along as an ambassador of the orcs looking for an alliance,” explained Akira.
“Huh? Why don''t you know where they live? Your not one of those...” asked Maya questioningly.
“No! I''m not a pervert like you, and the reason is a long and personal story,” said Akira.
“I don''t mind if you join,” said Varbu.
“I guess the more the merrier,” said Akira.
“Alright if we are all agreed on being allies then as I said before we need to understand each other strengths to better work as a team,” said Maya trying to sound very smart, but Akira knew her brain was rotten with perverted thoughts all the time.
Thus started their first of many future team meetings. They discussed a wide variety of topics for a few hours including the strengths and weaknesses of each party member. The whole time they were talking Maya was writing down information into her notepad.
Akira was relieved to hear that Maya had a somewhat decent grasp on laying and disarming traps as well as using her bow. She was the exact opposite of her sister who excelled at activating traps.
Her only weak point was close range fighting. She still had a small short sword that was strapped to her leg and was double the length of a dagger. It wasn''t much but she could at least use it properly in case of an emergency.
“...and with that, I think we should all have a better understanding of each other,” said Akira.
“I have one question left,” said Maya.
“What is it?”
“What have you been doing to my sister all alone, every night, together...”
“Huh?” x2.
Akira saw that Mileena''s face was warming up due to being embarrassed by her sister.
“What bad things have you been teaching...? Oww!” said Maya.
Akira ground his fist on the perverted cats head for the third time that day trying to grind some sense into her rotten brain.