The second excursion of the day wasn't as lucrative for us as the first one was, but it was nice to allow Leone to let loose some and get everything out of her system before we retreated to the beach to begin our preparations for the sieges to come, both groups needing to make some individual plans and preparations for the location that we would be responsible for.
In truth, it would be Leone and I who were doing the actual preparations as we got everything together for tomorrow and hashed out the finer details, but the others wouldn't be slacking either, discussing strategies that we would need to employ to get through everything safely and efficiently.
Leone and I would be enchanting the rest of our gear though, with the Vampire taking over the more basic, universal enchantments while I created the fine tuned enchantments for each person specifically, allowing them to employ a greater strength tomorrow against our respective bosses.
I didn't have the time nor the mana to make masterpieces, but considering the gear we were wearing wasn't something that we planned on using for long due to upgrades, I had no qualms putting what I considered 'sub par' enchantments on the armor since they were just a means to an end currently.
That included my rapier and the daggers that everyone had on them as well, since Anput had already informed us that she planned on holing herself inside a forge for a week straight sometime soon to just forge some superior arms and armor for each of us, with her words being 'something that I could be proud of' regarding the things she wanted to make.
Everything we had right now was just practice to her, and we all had to admit - even Nirinia and the Marquess - that what she considered 'just practice' was already leaps and bounds above some of the things we have seen on the market.
I thought that she might have a rather deep talent for forging as well, which meant that the Jackalkin could secure herself a true foundation anywhere she went since smiths were always sought after, especially successful ones.
Anyways, as we returned to the beach and settled down after another long, fruitful day, we began our normal routine as Jahi and Nirinia refreshed the pool with fish, wanting to have a large feast for tonight, while Anput and Leone harvested what they could from the forest, bringing back an assortment of things to further add to our menu of foodstuffs.
The star of the feast being the remaining jerky that I had let soak in a small pot of water so that it rehydrated itself, which the Marquess had - hopefully - changed the water of a few times to rid it of the excess salt that most jerky tended to have.
Yes, that would rid it of the flavor, but I had more than enough herbs to give it some sort of taste beside salty, and while salt was a wonderful thing for the body to have, I didn't like the taste.
Didn't mean I didn't have salt on hand though; boiling seawater after sifting out anything inside it, taking the paste that was made from the leftover liquid and salt and evaporating the water away resulted in me having some salt of my own to use however I wanted, which was excellent for the fish.
As I was getting everything cooked, I glanced over my stats and nodded, seeing that none of the stats had gone up after that second excursion, and I had only gained 1,103,850 Xp from it.
Technically a 'waste' of an afternoon, but it brought me closer to level 42 and it was a therapy session for Leone in a way, so it was a success in my books.
When I had cooked everything how I wanted, we had a large stone table laden with bowls and plates of wondrous foods considering the lack of an actual kitchen and a set of limited ingredients.
Fish fillets seared to perfection, beef stew, fish and herb wraps, grilled beef, salads...
Not the finest of cuisine, but considering how most of it disappeared in mere moments, I counted that as a success as well, though I knew that when we returned I would be tackling a few challenging recipes just to re hone my cooking skills, which meant quite a few long hours spent in the kitchens.
Pastas and different types of breads, herb encrusted chicken breasts, fried foods, pastries, combinations of opposites like sweet and savory...
I couldn't wait to indulge my own stomach with the things that I wanted to cook up...
Sadly for us, we had nothing to eat after the meal itself for dessert or any wines to top everything off, so we just cleaned everything away before getting to work, the table getting cleared of plates and bowls and replaced with blades and armor, which Leone and I began to sort through and begin to enchant.
Potions were shared between us as we infused the metals with our mana, bringing out some additional functionality that would give us the kind of boost we were looking for in the fights against the Ant Queen and sarcophagus wielding Undead.
As we worked, the others moved away and enjoyed the cool water of the ocean as they discussed ideas and formations we could employ tomorrow, getting prepared in their own ways for what was to come.
The moon cast its brilliant silver glow over the island as the sun set completely, and after Leone and I finished up we joined Anput and Jahi on the spread out cloaks, laying down beside them and sharing our warmth with one another as we talked quietly, keeping the flirting and touching to a minimum as we tried to get to sleep on time, not wanting to be out of energy for the fights we were to have tomorrow.
The next time that we awoke, we would be resetting this island and plunging it into chaos, ending our time here with a bang.