With their party being complete once more, Aster pulled the cart with the girls on it, and went on their way. However, instead of prioritizing clearing speed, they instead focused on killing as many enemies as possible.
*ARF!*
With Argus' lightning attacks, any monster would die in a single hit. And thanks to his EXP Share (Equal) ability, the girls were leveling up quite nicely. They took a leisurely pace but still reached the boss area in under 12 hours.
The boss this time was a weird monster called Mutated Sand Worm, which looked like some monster from a certain B-movie. And although lightning attacks didn't seem to work as well as before against it, Argus still managed to pulverize it in two strikes.
After that, without bothering to collect loot, they all headed straight for the 15th floor. The terrain there was mostly the same as the 14th floor, but this time has wider deserts. To make it worse, after the forest area around the entrance, no matter which direction they go, is a desert.
"It's getting chilly now that it's nighttime..." Aster worried for Liz in particular. "Should we stay in the forest and camp early, or continue onward for a bit more?"
Liz, probably because her bloodline is closer to reptiles, was weak to the cold. It's not that she's cold-blooded, but closer to simply being vulnerable to it. It was a common problem for dragonkins, so they usually prepared countermeasures for it beforehand, but Liz didn't expect them to reach the desert area so fast. As such, her preparations were delayed.
"Early morning is colder, so we can head onward for a bit more," she resolved herself. "I've borrowed a thick blanket from the camp on the 14th floor, so I can stay warm using this."
If it was just after sunset, then the air would still have some warmth in it, compared to near sunrise, where all warmth had faded. As such, as she said, moving onward a bit more before setting camp seems logical.
"Alright. But please tell me if you can't take it anymore," He suggested.
When push comes to shove, he could once again piggyback Liz, but thinking about Tina's reaction from before, he preferred not to do it. Instead, he halved his pace, and split his focus, managing the air with temperature control.
"As expected..."
Aster let him do as he pleased only because Argus would be required to keep watch over the next shift together with Kali. After all, Kali couldn't handle the monsters around them alone.
Since they were in the desert, monsters that hid within the sand were the trickiest. As such, he didn't forget to prepare some defenses for it.
Since the cold tended to go downward instead of up, Aster froze everything below them after a depth of 1 meter to 10 meters. In short, below their camp right then was a solid block of ice, something desert monsters would be unable to pass through.
Thanks to that, the burrowing monsters had no choice but to surface about a dozen meters away, making it easy for Aster to kill them without waking up the girls.
For three hours straight, he killed and killed and killed monsters who tried to bother them, earning him enough EXP to level up, reaching level 44.
"But with these stats, can I even fight against Lory...?"
Despite her being "low level," Lory can control those of a higher level than her. Her eyes were almost almighty now that it was unsealed, and only a few individuals would have enough resistance to remain unaffected by it.
In the past, the reason why their clan lost, was due to the strict requirement of "seeing the eyes" first before they could control others. Taking advantage of this, they were set up, placed in a dark cage—made by blinded mages to avoid getting interrupted—where not a single thing could be seen, and killed.
Aster could replicate the feat of "killing someone without seeing them" by using his Frostfire Legacy, freezing everyone who approached. But who knows how much of his life he'd lose doing that?
"Leader, time to switch."
"Hmm? Ah." Kali's voice pulled him back from his deep thoughts. "Alright. I'll be there soon."
However, just as he walked back, he realized his problem once more. How will he sleep in a tent with three beauties with him?!