After a couple more days of walking and fighting off monsters, the girls and I found ourselves before a menacing castle. The stones that made up the immense structure were as black as night and the clouds around it were stormy and gray.
"This is it. The Evil King's Castle," Touwa said, announcing the obvious.
"Finally! I can't wait to kick his sorry *** (butt)!" Mari exclaimed, raring to go like always.
"Simmer down, Hothead. We need to come up with a plan first," Yuri replied, dragging the anxious Mari away from the castle.
"We already have a plan! Just go in there and kick his *** (butt)! What else do we need?!"
"Not much is known about the interior of the castle. Because of this, we need to be extremely cautious. For all we know, the castle is littered with traps and monsters."
"Yuri's right, Mari. We don't want to lose anyone because we didn't think this through," I said, hoping my words would calm Mari down.
"Fine, but make it quick."
"How should we go about this? Oh! I have an idea! Why don't you check your card, Hana?" Touwa suggested suddenly.
"Why do I need to check my card?" I asked as I pulled out the card I got when I was first registered as an adventurer. "Woah! I can learn all sorts of things now that I leveled up a lot!"
"Is there a skill that could help us get through the castle relatively safely?"
"Yeah! There's one called 'Detect Enemy' and another called 'Detect Trap'!"
"Do you think you could learn these skills for us?"
"Yeah, but how do I do that?"
"I think you just have to touch the skill and select 'Learn Skill'."
When I touched the 'Detect Enemy' skill, a menu popped up. There was a box that read 'Learn Skill' and another that said 'Cancel'. When I touched the 'Learn Skill' box, I was engulfed in a bright light. After it dissipated, a menu appeared and said 'Skill Learned'.
"Did it work?" Touwa asked, curious.
"I think so. I'm not really sure how to use it… Woah!"
"What is it?!"
"I can see a bunch of monsters through the castle walls!"
"Try the other one."
I repeated the process with the 'Detect Trap' skill. Once I finished, I could see the traps that were hidden inside the castle as well as the monsters walking around.
"I can see the traps now too!"
"Alright then. I think we're ready."
"Yeah! Let's go!" Mari shouted.
"Not so fast! What about a plan for dealing with the Evil King?" Yuri asked as she grabbed Mari by the collar.
"I'm sure all of us together can beat him. We've already beaten four of his generals. Plus, we have Kojomaru," Touwa reasoned.
"Then what are we waiting for?! Let's go already!" Mari shouted, still trying to break free from Yuri's grasp.
With that, we entered the Evil King's castle.