I think somewhere down the line you should have a busty Salamander (humanized) that just lives for battle and when she insists on joining the party the MC is thinking "great, yet ANOTHER person that doesn't think with their brain... do I attract women that act first, think second or something??" (Since you mentioned CoC!) Yes, Celica, Metatron and Sarah are quite intelligent, and Aspisa is quite an intellectual, but between Ashley and Sam, I'm thinking the MC doesn't want another "thinking is maybe third or fourth on what to do when something happens"!
When you post an update to check for glaring errors or issues for the beta crowd, how long before you feel comfortable posting it for the rest of us to enjoy? I'm not sure how long before you are ready for that yet, just looking forwards to the update!