I awoke to the smell of eggs. It wafted through the room, arousing my every instinct to get up. I threw off my blankets and glanced at my bed. Empty. She must have gotten up already. When I walked out, she was already eating at the table, an extra plate of eggs across from her. She was dressed in light armor- a small breastplate and fingerless gauntlets to deflect swords. I hopped in the bathroom to shower and change into my own armor. The shirt was a deep blue, had a large collar, and covered in silver line designs. It had a belt, which both wrapped around the waist and torso. The pants were the same shade of blue as the shirt, tucked into tight boots that went up to my shins. Connected to the belt was a long drape going down to my knees, the outskirts covered in glowing runes. Enchanted clothing! They were better than classic armor, and more lightweight. They could even be improved upon by a blacksmith. The ultimate clothing.
(You have equipped the enhanced clothing set- Warrior Mage. Your Strength and Intelligence both permanently increase by 30.)
I then remembered the power I had gained. I decided to cast the power of Janus on the full body mirror on the door. When I did so, the mirror doubled, falling towards me. I quickly stuffed it in my inventory, and walked out.
As I walked out, Gail looked at me.
"Are you going to eat, or not?"
"Is that for me?" I was confused. I may have just met her yesterday, but that was not something the stubborn tomboy I met would do.
"Sure, you helped me out, so it's... obligatory." Her voice trailed off and she became flustered. "Just eat it, stupid."
"Okay then." I sat down and took a bite. It was good! I scarfed the rest down and got up and washed my plate. "Time to go."
We headed down to the classroom, where everyone else was waiting. Because of the shortness of the class before, we had not actually gotten to meet anyone, so everyone who was picked to be roommates was clinging to their partner like their life depended on it. Turns out "introductions" was a bust, I thought to myself sardonically.
Gail was uncharacteristically shy, her face was flustered and she hid behind me for the duration of the passing period. I guess it's because her face is exposed, I thought. To be fair, she was the attention of the class. Even Professor Anioril stared at her, the beauty of the class. When he looked at me, he saw the mistake he had made, but it was too late. What's done is done.
After everyone had trickled into class, The Professor began to speak.
"As you all know, we will be traveling to Nidevellir to attempt to clear a dungeon. You will be in parties of four..."
At those words, the entire class gasped. I rolled my eyes. Sure, I got it. We were expected to entrust our lives to a couple of people we didn't know. Despite that, this was an opportunity to meet new people! Plus, I thought to myself, I might get to meet cute girls...
"Yes, parties of four. I will put them together myself, as I was anticipating this reaction..."
He ended up pairing us up with a couple of girls, Ash and Lucy. They were both quite good looking, Ash with a tanned, cute face, and Lucy with skin almost as white as Gail's, with lots of little freckles spotted over her nose and under her eyes. They were both a full head shorter than me, and looked to be about a year younger. Lucy started with the introductions, while Ash hid behind her friend.
"Hi," She said, "As you know, I'm Lucy, and this is Ash. I was Blessed by the goddess Artemis, and Ash was Blessed by Hestia. Pleased to meet you."
Gail asserted herself, instantly asserting dominance. She then stepped forward, taking over for me.
"Hello. My name is Gail Bordeaux, and I was Blessed by two of the gods, Janus and Hecate. This is Sorren, and not even he knows who he was Blessed by."
I gave a small wave as Lucy stared at Gail in shock.
"Two Blessings?!?" She said, looking like she had seen a ghost. "I've never heard of that happening."
"I know just as much as you do, I've never heard of it either," Gail replied. "As far as I know, I'm the only one.
I remembered last night, realizing I had three blessings. I decided to keep my mouth shut, for nothing good can come of bragging. I could only imagine the look on Gail's face when she found I had taken her power...
Just then, the Professor called us to order, and told us to get ready. We all put our things in our inventories and followed him down to the magic circle. He threw an rune on the ground, one looking like an M and yelled "Niflheimr!"
We all stumbled as the scenery changed around us, morphing into a scene of barren rock and volcanic fire. The world around us was barely lit, the sky dark with nothing to be seen but mist. This was the world of Niflheim.
Before us was a huge tower, reaching up into the mist. It was made of stone, and was as wide as a large city. The entrance, on the other hand, was smaller than I was, and went up to my shoulder. Just then, the Professor called us to attention.
"Listen up. I'm not going to lie, you may not come out of this alive. In this dungeon is all manner of monstrous creatures. Every one of them is dangerous and deadly. Do not expect this to be easy."
And with that, we entered the dungeon.
As soon as we entered, I felt the eerie sense of danger. While many parties had entered before us, I saw no one else. This unsettled me more than anything. We each summoned our weapons. I summoned Tetsudama, Gail with her Grimoirium Verum, a monstrous summoning grimoire, Lucy with her Khryselakatos, a golden bow with magical arrows, and Ash with an Elemental, a phoenix.
The dungeon was a labyrinth, dimly lit, and not easily navigated. Almost as soon as we has entered it, we were attacked by several goblins, knobbly, green, humanoid creatures. Above their heads hovered their stats and names. I pushed forward and slashed at the stomachs of the monsters, while Ash showered them with fire. As they died, their bodies dissipated in a puff of smoke, leaving them with only their armor, weapons, and bags of gold coins. These were each instantly transported into the inventory of the one who did the most damage to it. Usually, that was me.
As we pushed on, we ran into many more groups of goblins, me at the front. Within an hour, we found our way to a staircase, one leading up to a huge set of doors, well illuminated by several torches.
"I guess this is the boss room," I said, going by common RPG knowledge. I honestly had no idea dungeons existed until now, so it was all I could think of.
I pushed open the door, ready for what was behind it. There was what looked like a throne room there. Large, named goblins stood on guard around their master, sitting on the throne. On the throne was a huge goblin, one twice the size of the average man. Above it's head floated this-
HP: 2,000/2,000 MP: 200/200
2,000 HP. Even with the level I gained, my own HP was only 550, and I had lost 100 HP on the way up!
As soon as we walked in, the Goblin King stepped off his throne.
"You dare enter my hall, Humans?" the monster bellowed. Just then, one of his guards handed him a huge claymore, the blade as wide as a small tree. He pointed it at us, challenging.
I yelled and charged full speed. "Time to die, loser!" I screamed. I was ready.
When I got to the monster, he raised his giant sword over his head and swung down, trying to cut me in half. I raised Tetsudama, holding the blunt edge with my hand. The weight behind it was massive, but I held strong.
With the weight behind it, Tetsudama cut through the Goblin King's sword like it was butter. He looked at the remains of his sword and bellowed, throwing it away. I took the opportunity to slice at the stomach of the monster, causing him to fall to his knees.
The cut healed quickly, and the HP showed only 300 HP missing. The monster jumped to his feet, and threw a punch at me. I jumped back, but it glanced off me, causing my HP to drop to 100. I couldn't take another hit.
It charged at me like a bull, and I played along as a matador, jumping out of the way just in time. It smashed headfirst into it's own thrown, and its HP dropped by 150. It tried to pull its head away, but it was stuck in the armrest. I took advantage of his plight, and went ham, slashing at the monster's back until it died.
Finally, the beast stopped moving and dissipated into the blue mana mist, Akashi, that it always does.
I looked around, now worried about my party members. They looked at me, exhausted. And no doubt. I had left them behind to fend of at least 10 named monsters, with only three of them. Gail punched me.
"How could you leave us like that? You arrogant prick! Ughhhh!" She screamed, hitting me again.
"Sorry," I said, "That was dumb. I'm sorry, I really am." Lucy then spoke up.
"I really am impressed though, Sorren," She said, almost in awe. "That was ballsy."
I flushed, embarrassed. " Thanks," I replied, lamely. I wasn't used to compliments, having always been the weakest. I'd always gone to schools for the powerful, the hope of humanity! The Candidates. But I've always been the weakest of them all. To be able to conquer a boss, almost single handedly? Unthinkable. But yet...
I turned to face the throne. It collapsed as I did , revealing a room behind. I looked at my companions, and we nodded, each having the same thought in mind- Let's do this.
The room was a small one, with items covered in webs and dust everywhere. Some were magic items, and quite high quality. There was chests of gold, and gems, glowing gold, orange, yellow, green, and finally, blue. The blue radiated more energy, and seemed to be pure, concentrated akashi- mana.
I grabbed all of the gems, having no need for the other items. In all, there were around 50 of them, most of them glowing golden. Low Rank Mana Stones. I noticed that I still had the mirror copy, and placed it among the other items, in case I needed to come back there.
"Ow!" I heard Lucy say, pulling her hand away from an ornate broadsword. "It stung me!" Ash tried after her, but a small spark flew from the sword, shocking her. Gail looked at me, giving me the I'm not stupid enough to try that, you do it look. I put my hand on the pommel and the sword reacted, seemingly being propelled to my hand.
As soon as I touched it, the description window popped up.
(Etieng- Growing Weapon Level One. Currently Level One, by absorbing materials left by monsters, this weapon can evolve. Broadsword. Type: Magical. Usable only by the killer of the Level 1 Boss, Goblin King. Bonded to Sorren Steele.)
As I read this, I thought of one thing, and one thing alone- Gail is going to KILL ME.