"Lets not count our chickens before they hatch." , Trevor stated.

These were the words that were said before the team of 4 began advancing in the halls of the dungeon.

Samantha did her best to put on a fake smile, and try to make a good impression on the other teammates.

On the inside, she was freaking out.

She had no idea what they were talking about. Too much math. Too many numbers and things to take account of. Everything that the other 2.... 3 if she included that ghost girl who seemed to cling to Garett.... talked about was almost a foreign language to her.

'What a bunch of nerds...'

She only hoped that this group would at least be able to protect her.

The real concern was that for some reason, she was unable to leave their side.

If she did, an invisible wall would prevent her from going any further.

How would she manage to survive, living in these close quarters with anyone?

The only reason she was able to live her life as she had was because she could let out her steam at the end of the day when she arrived home.

She hated people. She hated the peasants who were beneath her- those who would never understand the efforts she went through to appear perfect.

If only she was able to simply show her real self to the public and be accepted...

But that was not the case.

Being outside was the same as being in a giant courtroom.  Everyone present was the jury, and the judge was the news.

If you displeased people with your actions or words, then people would blast things all over the internet dissing you.

Even through false accusations and dirty tricks, people would try to drag you down.

But Samantha had been able to make her image to be nearly perfect.

So perfect, in fact, that even if one was jealous of her and decided to say bad things, that people would immediately stick up for her, and assume that Samantha was the one in the right- the victim of jealousy, and not involved in any sort of scandal.

Yet, she had already tarnished her image in front of these... creatures...

Being caught off guard was not a forgiving thing to occur, yet it can happen to anyone.

She had to make a decision here.

Should she work hard to regain and maintain an image as a perfect woman?

Or should she allow her true self to escape, and have these people- who she was stuck with- be the only ones who know about her true self.

The answer was indeterminant.

She had to figure out if these were the type of people that she could trust.

From the first impression, things didn't appear so good.

Still, only time would tell what she could do. Things could go one of two ways. Either she would form bonds with these people over time, and they would be able to work together as a functioning team...

Or...

Things would start out fine. However, after a bit of time living together passed, and they came to know each other much better, they would eventually grow tired of their true selves- the sides of them who they would not usually show to anyone else, and this would lead to quarreling and debate.

If this were a relationship it would lead to breakup or divorce. 

But the current party wasn't given that option.

The current party had to figure out a way to get along. That was their only option, for they had no choice to separate. If they couldn't get along, they were as good as dead. 

There was only one way to do this- communication. 

Alignment of similar goals. Discussion when issues and disagreements arise. Being able to trust one another.

Samantha almost gagged thinking about this.

Having to cooperate with others? And more importantly, having to trust them and rely on them? 

'What is this, some sort of lovey dovey story where the characters just get along and everything becomes all happily ever after? Cheh.'

As if something like that would ever work out.

Still, they needed to start somewhere.

Samantha perked herself up and began to speak in a cutesy tone once more.

"Um... shouldn't we try to get to know each other a bit more? If were going to be together for a long time we might as well try to get alo-"

"Be quiet, woman. The adults are trying to work here."

Trevor said this as he was pressing his pointed ear to a wall, listening to see if any monsters lie up ahead. He was using the [Track enemies] Skill.

"Why you..."

Samantha gave Trevor a slap across the cheek while his head was pressed to the wall, and began to speak in a grizzly tone.

"Why the hell are you so rude, ehh!? What the hell is your problem!?!"

Garett and Ashley both looked back at the two, with annoyed faces.

"This isn't really my problem but could y'all stop fighting like some old couple? Even before me and Ashley met up with you two you seemed to be arguing."

Garett said this in a bland, emotionless tone.

He truly didn't care.

"Hah!?! Who are you calling an old couple you horned freak!?"

As Samantha shouted out in retribution, Ashley hovered in front of Garett, as if to protect him.

She also spoke with a tone that seemed emotionless, but one could tell from her movements and willingness to step in that she had been angered.

"Garett isn't the only horned freak here."

"That's!"

Samantha was clearly flustered, but had no comeback to speak of. 

'This little bitch!! She must think she's hot stuff.... she's one of the types that I hate the most...'

"Enough of this banter. We are all stuck together whether you all like it or not, and the quicker we get along the better. If we continue to fight over something as silly as this then we will never get anywhere."

It was Trevor who said this, with power and leadership in his voice.

Ironic, as he was the one who made the comment to start the commotion.

"If we continue to be loud we might attract more enemies. Now then, lets continue."

The party continued in silence, and Samantha looked very frustrated.

Trevor merely sighed on the inside.

'What are we going to do with such a troublesome woman? Her presence might hinder our potential to achieve world domination.'

Trevor had already began calculating all of the things that would need to be done in order to achieve this, however there were so many unknown factors right now that he couldn't quite say much.

Assuming that they were not very powerful within this world, their first goal would be to become strong enough to survive. They would have to hide their existence from any threatening factions until that point.

Once they had done that, it would be necessary to take over the trade business, military power, information networks, and much more.

They would need many loyal vassals they could trust, and many allies before they were allowed to make enemies.

How would they do this?

Another aspect was something that the messages of the system told him in particular, which concerned him.

There were 2 goals. To become the leaders of the monsters, and to take over the human realm.

Did this mean that the monsters could be taken over and ruled?

If they were as bloodthirsty as Garett described them to be, this seemed to be unlikely.

The monsters would likely have to be slain if they lacked the intelligence to follow a leader.

Trevor decided to leave it at this, and discuss these things later when they had more information.

All of a sudden...

Tick tick tick tick.

The sound of many wooden sticks tapping on the stone floor could be heard by every member of the party.

As always, there was no choice to turn back, lest the party become cornered and not be able to fight as freely.

Trevor whispered to his party members.

"Everyone... be quiet... I hear something..."

He put his hand over Samantha's mouth before she could say anything.

"Especially you. Don't expose our position just yet"

"MMPH!!!"

"SHHHH!!!!"

"MMPH MMPHH!!!"

"Will you shut up already?!?"

He took his hand off Samantha's mouth and she let in a large breath of air.

"What the hell do you think you're getting away with randomly grabbing me like tha-"

[A wild Gorgonithal has noticed you]

[Battle has begun]

As this message popped up, Garett held up the torch of illusion. In front of the party, a monster began walking towards them from across the room.

It was quite disturbing. It looked like a black ball of slime, however there were two of them stacked on each other like a snowman would be. On the top of the top slime and on the bottom of the bottom slime were about 30 leg like things that looked like sharp wooden spikes, protruding from the slimy body.

Once the slime had made its way close, time stopped.

"Whats happening!? The same thing that occurred earlier where my I was able to wander outside my body...."

"Time has stopped"

Garett explained the phenomenon of turn based actions to Samantha. He needed her to at least understand these basic things if they were to be able to cooperate in the future.

"We have time now to decide what actions to perform."

"Lets test something out. Samantha, Trevor. Both of you are currently unarmed, and unable to attack directly. Samantha, try using your seduce skill on this thing to see if we can charm it over to our side."

Samantha cringed at trying to seduce a disgusting beast, yet it wasn't much different that doing it on humans. Either way, they were both far inferior to her. 

She called out her skill [Seduce], and posed.

[This creature is resistant to seduction and cannot be charmed]

[Seduction Failed. Player: Samantha AP: 0/5]

"It's only natural that such a vile being wouldn't be able to recognize my beauty..."

"That was... interesting. We gained some information from this. Seduction only works on certain monsters. It probably works on most humans. We can try it again later against another opponent. Trevor, you don't currently have a weapon so me and Ashley will attack, and we will have to skip your turn unless you want to attack that thing bare handed."

Trevor held out his hand as if to say, i'll pass.

Garett ran up first and used the [Bash] attack with his club.

[Rolling for strength from D5. Roll: 5. Critical hit! 150% Damage!]

[Damage= 5+2 Strength+2 weapon-3 natural resistance= 6*1.5= 9 Damage]

[Wild Gorgonithal (Lvl 3) HP: 6/15]

[AP remaining for Player Garett: 3/5]

Garett slammed his club into the monster. He smashed it into the wooden chunks on top of the monsters body, and pieces of splinters went flying everywhere. The shot had gone through to hit the body of the slime, and some black goo oozed onto his club. A few pieces of the woodlike legs grazed Garett, causing some minor cuts.

[Player Garett has taken 2 retribution damage. 1 Damage resistance from armor. 1 Damage taken.  HP: 12/13]

Garrett swung once more in the same motion, and more black goo splashed around.

[Rolling for strength from D5. Roll: 4]

[Damage= 4+2 Strength+2 weapon-3 natural resistance= 5 Damage]

This time, when he swung, the legs on the bottom of the slime creature gave in as if they were weaker than the gooey substance the slime was composed of. They shattered like the legs of someone trying to catch something that was too heavy, buckling the slime onto the ground.

[Wild Gorgonithal HP: 1/15]

[AP remaining for Player Garett: 1/5]

"I'll finish it off", Ashley said. Garett didn't oppose this decision, and in a single fluid motion a fireball engulfed the creature. The impact split the top half from the bottom, and it splatted onto the ground while engulfed in flames, which were melting the remaining goo of both blobs. All that was left was a couple of puddles of tar on the ground.

[Roll unnecessary. Regardless of roll value, the result will not be altered. Predetermined outcome.]

[Wild Gorgonithal HP: 0/15]

[Player Ashley AP: 3/5 Remaining MP 16/19]

Samantha let out a breath of relief that the creature was gone. How could these people use her as a test subject against such a horrifying monster?

She wouldn't live very long if she stayed with them.

"Well... at least its dead now.", she said.

She felt as if three people were staring at her with question marks above their heads.

"What do you mean its dead?"

The two puddles of tar started to bubble up, and wooden legs began to sprout back up from them.

[2 Small wild Gorgonithals have appeared.]

----

"That thing just multiplied. This battle is far from over. We can only hope that it wont endlessly divide into smaller creatures.", Trevor explained to Samantha.

"EHH!?! What are we going to do about something like that!?"

Garett looked to Ashley, with a serious face.

"I would have taken this opportunity to test out your other skill, but you don't have enough AP left for that. Rather, try to kill one of them with another fireball."

Ashley nodded and put her hand out, once again calling out [Fireball]

And the blast of flame once more created a puddle of liquid tar, while also charring the peg like legs.

[Intelligence roll: 3+6 Intelligence+1 Equipment-0 Fire resist]

[10 Damage]

[Small Wild Gorgonithal HP: 0/9]

[Player Ashley Remaining AP: 1/5 Remaining MP 13/19]

[Enemy turn]

With this, the party no longer had any actions they wished to perform, and the turn ended.

1 Small Wild Gorgonithal remained.

"Its going to attack now! Brace yourselves, everyone!", Garett screamed out, as time returned to normal.

The blob of black goo covered in spiky woodlike legs then stretched itself out, as if it were a giant slug.

Its spikes were on its backside, and with the side that was not covered in spikes, it leaped forward at Samantha.

[Gorgonithal has used [Engulf] on player Samantha]

The black slime spread itself across the left half of her body, and the spikes wiggled and squirmed making it look as if it was a part of her.

"AHGHGHGH!!!!! HELLPPP!!!! GET THIS THING OFF ME!!!!"

With this, the monster turn had ended, and Trevor began to run at Samantha to take a swing at the monster that had covered her.

"What are you doing? Do you think you can defeat something like this with your fists?", Ashley asked in an ever so calm tone.

Trevor paid her words no heed and began to pluck the spikes from the back of the slime, to damage it.

Garett stood on guard with his club, and didn't stop Trevor.

"Ashley, once Trevor pulls back I'm going to need you to shoot a fireball at her."

"Are you sure about that? I'll gladly do it, but I might harm the poor thing..", Ashley said with a slightly sadistic tone of voice.

Garett swallowed the emotions that were holding him back.

"If you harm her then she might be able to heal herself. If that thing swallows her now, she will die as is."

Ashley smiled.

Trevor had plucked off about 6 or 7 of the spikes from the slime, when a message popped up.

[Player Trevor AP: 0/5]

[Small Wild Gorgonithal HP: 7/9]

And like that, Trevor froze.

It was as if time had stopped for him too, just like the monsters had been frozen.

"So this is what happens when we run out of action points...", Garett thought.

Ashley conjured up one more fireball, and let it loose onto her 'comrade', if you could call it that.

Boom!! An explosion of flame occurred, melting the boiling hot tar onto the skin of Samantha, who had been covered in it.

Samantha let out a scream of pain, and Ashley prepared to summon another fireball in case it wasn't enough.

[Intelligence roll: 3+6 Intelligence+1 Equipment-0 Fire resist]

[Damage: 10]

[Small Wild Gorgonithal HP: 0/9]

[Player Ashley Remaining AP: 3/5 Remaining MP 10/19]

[You have won!]

[Player Samantha is taking burning damage]

[Burning has been sped up now that combat is over]

[Player Samantha: HP: 5/10]

A searing pain went through Samantha's left side. It felt as if she was being torn in two. She almost threw up from the vast amount of pain, and when it was over, she fell to the floor, kneeling and coughing.

She gasped for breath, and Trevor bend down to help her.

Looking back with a furious face, Trevor addressed Garett and Ashley.

"What exactly do you two think you're doing?"

Garett stepped up in front of Ashley, as if to say "I warranted her actions"

"We took the best course of action in the scenario. Samantha is alive die to our prudence. Did you have a better solution? Let me answer that for you. NO, You didn't. How do I know that? Because you went ahead and spent all your action points to do a measly 2 damage to the creature. Getting emotional in the middle of a battle leads to bad decision making, and potentially death."

Trevor pressed his hand onto his glasses.

"Sigh.. you are right. Forgive me for my blunder. Even so, should you not have tried to find a less damaging way to save her?"

"There exists no such way."

Trevor had already known this, but still clung to the anger in his heart.

Why was he so angry for the sake of this woman anyways?

Perhaps it was because she had use as a healer. No... that didn't make sense, as he wouldn't mind if she got hurt if he only cared about her usefulness.

There was no point trying to figure out his own emotions. Instead, Trevor cared for the wounded girl, who's blue skin had been completely covered in burns.

Her clothes seemed to be relatively fire resistant, fortunately, so the burns were not as bad as they could have been. Even so...

He held Samantha in his arms.

"Are you alright? Get it together, woman!"

Samantha let out a cough and slowly moved her right arm to her left side.

She felt that what she was about to do was the natural thing to do in this situation. Even though her mind didn't comprehend what she was doing or how she was doing it.

A green glow of healing energy covered Samantha's left side, and the burns slowly faded away.

"...Hea...cough... Heal..."

[Player Samantha has been healed]

[Remaining HP: 9/10 Remaining MP: 9/14]

And with that, Samantha passed out from the shock of what had happened.

----