Helkep was currently grinning from ear-to-ear, this, you shouldn't think. Helkep was simply wondering if Noil was alright, he had simply stood there like a moron after all. Helkep was wondering if the monster had used a spell to make Noil into a retard or something.
Well no-one could compare to Helkep in maintaining calmness after all, though he sucked in many other things in return.
But in return if he had a 'still' competition with a statue, where the one who remained still the longest would win, he would win with eyes closed.
"Hel-Helkep...Tha-Thank you!" Noil broke the quiet with choking words filled with gratitude.
"Why?" Helkep sat up straight and asked.
"...W-Well because you saved me. It's only natural that I would thank you." Noil sometimes couldn't understand why Helkep asked the stupidest and weirdest question.
"But its because of you, that I could save you, otherwise I would be dead, and you wouldn't fight the monster and run away. So why are you thanking me?" Helkep asked with a tilted head. His face blank as always.
"...Amm...Well!... Oh! I am sorry, we weren't in a party and I alone received the reward for killing it. You were such a big help as well." Noil finally saw the system notification and was shocked to see that the monster was actually just a level 15, with the fact it knew fireball he was sure it was actually a level 20 monster.
Well obviously a mere level 15 couldn't be so strong, it was a genius of its race it seems.
"Oh! No, why are you apologizing? I was simply taking my revenge, you will be fighting alone the next time." Helkep truly did underestimate himself too much. It was true he had kicked it only for revenge the first time, but seeing Noil unleashing a barrage of kicks on the monster's neck, he had realized Noil's trouble and come up with the perfect strategy to counter and kill the monster.
"If I am not mistaken, I think you don't know the Seven Eyed Deformed Veil's weakness, correct?" Helkep had guessed this due to Noil not taking advantage of it, when he had struck it. He had taken it as an opening, not using it to secure his victory even more.
Noil blinked his eyes speechlessly and said, "There was...supposed to be a weakness!?"
'I want to ask where did his confidence came from when he knows nothing of the monster, he is hunting? Sigh! He still has a lot to learn, him being a topper can't give him the right experience needed to hunt." Helkep should have know, only a nerd like him was so knowledgeable about monster's in all of the first years in the academy.
"The eye which is in the centre along with the large ears is its weakness. The eyes on its sides aren't very useful, only its centre eye is. And its ear is like a marker which shows the location of its brain, if you can nail a direct hit which cuts the fin like ear in half, you can cut its brain as well." Helkep could only shake his head and tell him what he knew.
"Oh! I can cut its brain through its ear as well!?" Noil had a hungry look in his eyes, when he realized he could kill his prey more easily.
"Then lets get moving, why are we wasting time here, while we could be using this precious time to hunt some more monsters?" Noil got up and gave a helping hand to Helkep. Helkep took the hand and got up. Noil had started to respect Helkep even more.
"Do you have an energy pill?" Noil asked Helkep, while he took his dagger out of the monster's corpse.
"No, I brought nothing since I am simply going to watch you kill." Helkep replied as he examined the monster's corpse.
"You should have, its best to be prepared...Hey! Do you know if any parts of the monster could be useful, other than the core?" Noil asked with curiosity leaking from his eyes.
'Says the guy who didn't even know a thing about the monster he came to hunt.' Helkep thought and replied, "There are a few things, like the claws, the fangs, the tongue, the brain, the middle eye which I have already destroyed, the heart, th--" Helkep looked at Noil blankly, the person who had interrupted him.
"Hey, Hey! I was just asking, put a lid on that long list, will ya." Noil decided to stop the big brains, before he was blown away by the great winds of knowledge.
"...Okay" Helkep could only shake his head.
Noil dug out the monster's core, which was located in its brain, and continued on his search for monsters.
This time Noil didn't ask Helkep to stay away from him, he had thought that whatever thing that was keeping monsters away from Helkep had left. Noil also handed Helkep a few pills, some were blue while some were red.
After searching for some time they once again encountered a Seven Eyed Deformed Veil. It was alone, more exactly...sleeping.
"Our luck is great today, if only I can nail one perfect shot." Noil was dancing with joy in his head, he kept his voice quiet, so the monster didn't wake up.
"So, tell me one more time, how do I one hit kill that guy!?" Noil asked with impatience, he was nervous, one wrong move and he could screw the golden chance.
"Its simple, you take your dagger and cut the ear from the middle. Using everything you have, your skills and artifacts, you can one hit kill it." Helkep used easy words to boost Noil's confidence.
"Will that be enough?" Noil was skeptical, obviously.
Helkep shrugged his shoulders and said, "Just pray that this guy isn't a freak like before."
Noil smiled wearily and took out his dagger.
He raised his foot to step forward but froze for second before stepping back and saying, "Oh! I forgot, but accept this invite."
«Ding! You have been invited to join a nameless party by Noil Jill.» The notification was followed by an accept or reject option.
Noil looked blankly for a second before he accepted.
«Ding! You have joined a nameless party, party leader is Noil.»
Hearing the notification sound, Noil smiled and left. He activated his skills and walked towards the monster.
«Ding! Skills 'Lend A Hand, Brave Heart, Crimson Blade, Boosted Speed' have been activated, your next attack will be more powerful and have higher piercing power. Your constitution has been enhanced for 1 minute. Your next attack will be more powerful. Your speed has been doubled for half a minute.»
«Ding! Your mana is insufficient for anything anymore. 69 minutes before mana recovers.»
Noil hearing the notifications, grinned and walked silently towards the monster.
The monster was sleeping besides a large boulder that was connected to the ground.
He was resting his head on his large body.
Noil silently but speedily rushed towards the boulder. He climbed it, after reaching the top, he looked at the time and he had only half a minute before his increased stats went back to normal. Not including the speed boost from 'Boosted Speed'.
Noil took a deep breath and jumped. His eye became focused, slowly he started to ignore the things around him, the only thing he focused on was...the fin like ear, on top of the monster's head.
Slizsh! Followed by the strange sound, a pool of blood followed.
"Huh!? I...I nailed it?...HECK YEA! I NAILED IT." Noil shouted in his excitement, seeing the blood flowing on the ground, a satisfied feeling arouse from inside of him.
«Ding! You have killed a monster, as your contribution is the highest in your party you have received 35 experience.»
«Ding! Due to your efforts you have been able to perform the skill 'Precise Shot'. This skill will be acquired after 10 more perfect executions.»
"...HELL YA!" Noil shouted with excitement. He looked at the monster's corpse and sent a flying kiss.
«Ding! Your party has killed a monster, due to your contributions being the lowest you will receive 5 experience.»
Helkep was emotionless as always. He didn't feel happy that he got experience for nothing. Well...technically.
After Noil calmed down, he dug the monster's core from its neck.
After this they encountered two more Seven Eyed Deformed Veil, separately.
Noil took care of them easily, he made their weaknesses his priority and won both battles bleeding the monster to their deaths.
Yes bleeding, after all he didn't have a distraction like the first time and a golden opportunity like the second time.
Besides all the others weren't as freaky as the first one.
The boys luck seemed to end after this, as they didn't encounter a Seven Eyed Deformed Veil again.
They wandered the first floor for 2 hours and no luck.
"I guess it's about time we head to the next stage." Noil replied and got a nod from Helkep.
They made their way towards the teleportation circle. They reached it in 20 minutes. The two teleported on the next floor.
If you are wondering how they found it so quickly, all the dungeons found inside the academy had their teleportation circles mapped out and were free to the students.
After some time, somewhere far away from the teleportation circle, the hidden boss who was roasting something happily felt a suffocating feeling.
This feeling was unbearable for him, he tried to resist it, in his annoyance he started swaying his hands, as if to grab something that might help him.
His hand which were searching for something caught on to something soft and squishy. He grabbed it tightly.
Now along with the suffocating feeling, another squealing noice started to hurt his ears.
He started feeling as if a line had been cut. As if something that was tied with him was broken. He started running towards where he last felt the connection.
Soon he reached where the teleportation circle was. A weird sound rang in his ear.
He ignored the sound, more appropriately he didn't even hear it.
The monster shouted angrily for the stupid circle to start, he himself couldn't start it as he didn't have the concentration required for the process.
As if by magic, the circle lit up and he walked into it, the whole time he had something in his hand.
While this show was going on, Helkep and Noil were already exploring the second floor for more then half an hour.
And currently Noil was staring at something with a bitter look, Helkep was simply blank as usual.
What Noil was feeling so bitter about was...something which was like a gorge.
This gorge was familiar to him, this was somewhere he had expected his grave to be a few days ago.
"Sigh! I feel like our luck has expired. What a bad omen." Noil said with a weary smile.
Helkep could only shake his head at Noil's superstitions.
"Let's get out of this area while we can." Noil started walking away, causing Helkep to follow.
After some time, the two found themselves in an area where the ground was very uneven.
Some parts of the ground were low while some high.
Noil currently stood on the higher ground. He was eyeing...a Seven Eyed Deformed Veil.
It was alone, after this kill he would have to do nothing special and his quest would be completed.
He excitedly rushed towards the monster, which had its back turned towards him and aimed for its ear.
The monster sensed the threat behind him and ducked its head, below its body.
Noil could only frown and attack on the part of the neck which was exposed.
The monster roared loudly and flung its head towards Noil, causing him to retreat backwards.
Helkep could only shake his head, seeing Noil expose his intent all over the place.
The monster who had dodged the intended attack was glaring at Noil hatefully.
Noil calmed down and waited for the monster to take the initiative.
But the monster only stared at Noil and didn't do anything else.
When Noil was starting to think whether he should attack or not, from the high ground, walked over a...Seven Eyed Deformed Veil.
Noil gulped and stared at the two Seven Eyed Deformed Veils.
As he was wondering what to do...another one walked over. Then...another one.
Soon Noil was surrounded by 8 Seven Eyed Deformed Veils.
Noil after finally escaping his stupefied state, shouted hatefully, "I KNEW THAT FREAKING GORGE WAS A BAD OMEN."
As Noil was currently surrounded by the Seven Eyed Deformed Veils.
Somewhere far away from where the two boys were, the hidden boss was currently staring weirdly at a...lizard like creature in his hand.