***********************
*PANT PANT PANT*
"Phew... you're a lot better than I thought you would be." Aurora panted, trying to catch her breath.
They had been practicing for several hours so far, surprisingly Shizuka caught on extremely quickly and Aurora only needed to show her a move once or twice before she picked it up.
"Are you sure you haven't done this before? You're a complete natural!" Aurora said wiping the sweat off her brow.
Shizuka nodded in reply, somehow it felt like she was already used to wielding the sword. Her body seemed to move naturally and her surroundings would slow down in her mind, letting her analyze Aurora's patterns and counter attack accordingly.
"You seem to lean more towards parries and counter attacking rather than all out attack or defense. That works great when your opponent has a weapon, but unintelligent monsters in a dungeon rarely wield a weapon." Aurora continued. "In the dungeons it's best to dodge their attacks before attacking yourself."
"Unfortunately I am only well versed in the sword because that's what my parents taught me." She said smiling apologetically. "However if you want to try a different weapon, I am willing to spar with you until you get the hang of it."
Shizuka smiled and nodded in thanks before walking over and picking up a wooden spear. She felt that if she used the spear correctly it would allow her to capitalize on her instinctual fighting style.
"A spear huh? I've seen a few spear users before, let's see what you can come up with. I'll try to give you some tips from what I've seen people do." Aurora said, readying herself.
Shizuka got into position across from Aurora, twirling the spear in her hands a couple times to get a feel for the weapon.
'This weapon feels familiar as well... In my memory I did say I was reincarnated. Maybe it has something to do with that.' Shizuka thought nodding towards Aurora to signal she was ready.
"Alright, here I come!" Aurora said smiling as she lunged forward.
Using her wings for an extra boost Aurora sped towards Shizuka thrusting her sword forward in a stabbing motion. Shizuka went to parry the attack with the side of the spear and push it away, but was unable to and was forced to side step to avoid the attack.
'My STR is too low, I need to focus on redirecting instead of parrying attacks for now.'
Aurora didn't let up as she pushed her wings back, halting her from going past Shizuka. She then quickly twirled around swinging her sword towards Shizuka's neck. This time instead of outright blocking the attack, Shizuka angled the spear up to redirect the strike up and over her head. She then twirled the spear, smacking the sword further away while using the other end of the spear to sweep towards Aurora's legs, attempting to knock her off balance.
"Just like I thought, you're a natural at this too!" Aurora said as she used her wings to lift off the ground, avoiding the strike.
They continued like this, exchanging blow after blow but neither could gain the upper hand.
Furrowing her brow Shizuka backed off pausing for a second.
'I'm missing something, something doesn't feel quite right when I go for a finishing strike. I'm redirecting her attacks, leaving her open for a counter attack but I am unable to capitalize on it because she keep backing off.' She thought to herself frustrated by her inability to win.
Catching her breath Shizuka side stepped a strike from Aurora as she had an epiphany.
'Dammit! I'm too short, that's why! She keeps backing off just a little bit out of my reach before countering my counter!'
Shizuka raised her hand to pause the spar as she racked her brain for how to resolve the issue of her short stature.
'The spear matches my fight style for redirecting and countering but I'm not tall enough to utilize it. If I went for a bigger spear I would just end of tripping myself which would be embarrassing... not to mention that could get me killed in a fight. I didn't have this issue when we were sparing with swords, so what's the difference?' continuing to think she realized something.
'When I was using the sword I was always close enough to Aurora that she couldn't just back away. In fact I could end up using my short stature to my advantage as it was easier to dodge her strikes. But like she said before, that will only work against people or monsters wielding a weapon. I need a weapon that will allow me to keep up close as well as redirect attacks if I can't dodge them.' Thinking about it she walked over to the pile of spare wooden weapons.
She needed something that could redirect and counter at the same time while keeping her close to her target.
'Wow I feel like an idiot right now.. If using a spear will allow me to do both but with distance being an issue, and a sword will only allow me to do one thing at a time while keeping close, why not just use two swords? I'll have to practice using both hands but it should allow me to accomplish both redirecting or parrying while attacking at the same time.'
Picking up two wooden swords this time Shizuka rejoined Aurora.
"Two swords? I've never seen that before, most people either use a longsword or a short sword and a shield." Aurora said looking at her with curiosity.
Shizuka nodded once again, showing that she was ready.
When Aurora attacked, Shizuka could see things clearly in her mind, just like when she used one sword. Time seemed to slow down as she was able to pick up on the correct time to parry and counter. Moving both of her swords like extensions of her arms, she redirected Aurora's attack, twirling behind her while bringing her other sword down across Auroras back, landing her first successful blow.
"Wow! I guess that answers why you went with two swords!" Aurora said looking at her in surprise. "Let's continue practicing, hell maybe you'll end up teaching me something!" She continued, grinning.
***********************
Shizuka and Aurora continued practicing until the sun started to go down. Shizuka had pretty much figured her way around wielding two swords. The biggest issue she ran into was once again her short stature, but she was able to overcome that by incorporating dodging into her fight style. It also let her capitalize on her being short, as it actually turned out to be a strength instead of a weakness.
However that was something she had to learn through trial and error, unlike the natural feeling she got when wielding the weapons themselves. Further solidifying her idea that she used a similar fight style before, probably before her reincarnation.
"There's one more thing we should go over after we clean ourselves off. "Aurora said glancing over as they put the practice weapons away.
"HEY! Hold up! That's so not fair!!" Aurora exclaimed pointing at Shizuka.
Shizuka looked at her, tilting her head in confusion.
"You're totally not sweating!!" She pouted. "Must be nice being a Snow Girl, don't have to worry about smelling bad."
Shizuka shook her head smiling as she finished putting things away.
She made her way back inside all the while listening to Aurora complain about how not fair the world was.
Walking into the cafeteria Shizuka noticed four other demi-humans sitting around a table eating as they talked to each other. She realized that they were the four that were also outside training all day.
Noticing them walk in, one of them waved over to them. "Hey come over here and join us, we were just discussing the plan for tomorrow."
Shizuka looked up at Aurora for confirmation. "Go join them, I'll grab us some food and join you in a minute." Aurora said before walking away.
Joining the four others at the table Shizuka glanced at each of them.
[Govad - Draconic Tank - Level 21]
[Nori - Assassin - Level 13]
[Klyn - Swordsman - Level 16]
[Lusha - Cleric - Level 19]
Govad was the one who had waved her over. He was a Dragonite, covered in red scales with a lizard head with two short black horns and a tail. He was covered in red metal armor that looked like the scales of a dragon.
Nori was a cat person, she looked like a human except for the black cat ears and tail. She had shoulder length black hair with bangs hanging over one of her eyes and her skin was tanned. She wore a simple black top and shorts with a black scarf around her neck.
Klyn was a wolfman, he was covered in grey fur looking like a wolf on two legs. He wore leather armor with a longsword strapped to his back.
Lusha was an elf, she had long blonde hair and wore a green dress with several pouches strapped to her belt. She exuded a big sister feeling as she smiled kindly looking over at Shizuka.
Klyn sniffed the air looking over at Shizuka and growled.
"Now. Now. Be nice." Lusha said as she lightly smacked the back of Klyn's head.
"You'll have to forgive him, he's not a huge fan of monsters, intelligent or otherwise." Govad apologized, looking over at Klyn.
"Ya, he's just an idiotic dog that only know how to swing his sword." Nori said while sticking her tongue out at Klyn.
Shizuka nodded glancing over at Klyn, who now was showing puppy dog eyes at Nori who giggled and waved towards him.
"Anyways, we called you over to discuss the plan for tomorrow as we are all being sent to a level 20 dungeon." Govad continued. "Out of the 5 of us I believe I am the only one who has been to a dungeon before. As the only 1st evolved and highest level I will take command of our party."
"No issues here!" Nori said poking while poking Klyn's ear, watching it twitch.
"Sounds good to me." Lusha replied.
"Grrr...." Klyn growled while nodding his head in acknowledgment.
"How about you Shizuka?" Govad asked looking over at her.
"Oh, she can't talk. Courtesy of the slavers of course." Aurora said, walking over and placing some food in front of Shizuka and herself before joining them.
"Ah, same thing happened to Klyn here. He went ahead and bit off one of the slavers hands. Really pissed them off." Govad said chuckling.
"Grrrr..." Klyn growled, licking his chops.
Looking over at Aurora, Shizuka realized she hadn't seen her level yet. Focusing on Aurora her tag popped up.
[Aurora - Angelic Swordswoman - Level 43]
"Anyways, while we are in the dungeon, I will be the vanguard as I will be higher level than the mobs in there. That coupled with my tank class and Lusha healing me we should be fine. Nori and Klyn will be our damage dealers, Shizuka I want you to focus on getting some damage in to level up faster. Also when you can, use your magic to crowd control to the best of your abilities. No offence but I don't expect you do deal very much damage. So keep your safety first and foremost, my main goal is for all of us to get out of the dungeon alive. A level 20 dungeon should be easy if we stick together and utilize teamwork." Govad instructed.
"Mmm, stick together an you all will make it out." Aurora said nodding. "Every dungeon is comprised of 5 floors so to speak, each floor has a mini-boss and after you clear the 5 floors you will be sent to the boss room. Every dungeon has a different boss that will spawn based on the environment the dungeon has. You could say the dungeon and the mobs are tied to the abilities of the boss, so that will give you an idea of what you're up against."
"Once we are in the dungeon we will group up and get a grip on our surroundings. The time in dungeons work differently than outside, every day inside the dungeon is an hour outside. Which means we can take our time." Govad said.
"I was told some higher level dungeons and dungeon quests vary because they take longer to complete. " Aurora continued. "But for now every day in is one hour out."
"Let's get some sleep for now, we will need to be well rested for tomorrow." Lusha said standing up.
As everyone went back to their rooms, Aurora pulled Shizuka to the side.
"Listen, I want you to be extra careful, ok? These humans can be really nasty at times and the way the captain was looking at you, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to pull something tomorrow." She said, pulling Shizuka into a hug.
"I've taught you what I can in the short time we have but you need to be extra careful. I've seen a lot of demi-humans come here and end up getting killed in the first dungeon. Some of them were pretty powerful too. I think the captain has some trick for killing off those he doesn't like."
Shizuka nodded looking up at Aurora with a smile.
"I'm really starting to like you so it would really suck you died too, you know" Aurora said patting Shizuka's head. "Get some sleep, I'll be waiting for you to return ok?"
A warm feeling spread through Shizuka as she nodded. 'Just one hug can't hurt can it?' she thought as she quickly hugged Aurora before running off to her room, hiding her blushed face.
***********************
The next morning Shizuka, Govad, Nori, Klyn and Lusha were woken up early and herded outside into a caged carriage.
"This is enough for beasts like you. It disgusts me enough that this kingdom gives slaves like you separate rooms. A barn would be enough in my opinion." The captain said glaring at the group.
Focusing on the royal guard's captain Shizuka saw his tag pop up.
[Guntard - Berserk Templar Knight - Level 72]
Guntard still wore his royal knight gold and silver inlaid armor, he had short grey hair, a grey mustache and had an eyepatch covering his right eye.
"Let's get moving!" Guntard shouted climbing into one of the carriages.
***********************
As they traveled through the capital city Shizuka constantly saw citizens look at her and the demi-humans in disgust sometimes throwing rocks or rotten vegetables at them. Occasionally someone would make a religious hand gesture and throw some salt to ward off evil.
"Damn humans treat us worse than trash. What did we ever do to them?" Nori asked, hugging her knees.
"We'll get through this together." Lusha replied, petting Nori's head. "One day we will leave this country and put all this behind us.
Shizuka looked over at the guards who would only glance back at them and laugh amongst themselves.
'Who's the real trash I wonder.' Shizuka thought. 'Why do they treat demi-humans like this? I swear, I may not remember much but my opinion of humans is dropping at a steady pace.'
***********************
It took about an hour of traveling to reach their destination, which was a walled off compound in the corner of the city. As the carriages pulled inside the walled compound the gates shut and the guards came to let Shizuka and the party out. On one side of the compound was a large building, which most of the guards were bringing supplies to. On the other side there were rows of weapons lined up and what looked to be a forge area. In the center was a large stone archway.
As Shizuka and her party lined up Guntard came over while smirking.
"I'm sure this is the first time you have seen a dungeon without the portal open. This is all thanks to the power of his majesty the King! Our King has used his power to put the surrounding dungeons under our control, as all things should be!" He praised.
"Usually when a dungeon is left alone for a certain amount of time monsters will break out and terrorize the surrounding area. An example being this monster right here!" He said pointing at Shizuka.
"Now I'm sure you lower life forms don't enjoy having a monster in your party. Don't worry though, once you are inside the dungeon we cant see what's happening inside so feel free to.... " Guntard made a slashing motion across his neck as he chuckled.
"I wish you luck." Guntard smirked as he walked over to the mage who was activating the dungeon portal.
A Large purple and white swirling portal opened up between the archway as the party made their way towards it.
Right before she entered Shizuka glanced over towards Guntard and the mage. Guntard had an evil smile as he whispered in the mages ear. The mage nodded his head and laughed as Shizuka walked into the portal.
Shizuka's vision went black for a second as she felt herself being pulled in. After she opened her eyes, she looked around to see that she and her party were in a lush rainforest. She could hear animal noises and dripping water all around. Far off to her left she could hear a river churning.
Looking down at her system she saw a notification.
[Rainforest of Ave'Lesh - Dungeon level 20]
"Alright, let's take this slow and we should be fine." Govad said.
Suddenly all the rainforest sounds stopped as a new notification popped up on all their systems.
[External Interference Detected]
[Forced Dungeon Mutation Commencing]
The surrounding suddenly started to warp and change. The walls of the dungeon changed from gentle stone to molten rock, the rainforest disappeared. Large cliffs and crevasses formed as the terrain changed. In the center of the dungeon a large volcano took shape. The trees around them withered and died, as the temperature started to rise.
'Shit...' Shizuka thought. 'Looks like Aurora was right'
[Lava Kings Domain - Dungeon Level 40]