When I woke up the next day, I got my stuff ready and headed out, waving farewell to my family for the second time. At the city's edge, I met with Ayame, but I didn't see her parents or her little sister. It seemed that they got into a fight earlier in the morning.
Just like my first life, we went to the dungeon in the abandoned temple and cleared out the demons. Dungeons mainly only reset once per day at midnight, but they also reset whenever I died.
After collecting the exp, I was almost at level three, but not quite. Still, with level two, I could become a paladin class once again.
Not wasting any time, Ayame and I headed off to Mechanicsville.
When we arrived, we visited the local magic shop, and I bought one Medium Heal Potion for myself and one Medium Mana Restoration potion for Ayame. The total cost was 500 Szerath, and I was left with fifty. Items were pretty expensive for early game players.
Usually, I only stocked up on items before a crucial boss fight, but I needed to have a backup in case I screwed up again. I should probably be much more cautious from now on.
On the walk toward the dungeon, I asked Ayame, "Do you have a spell that can reduce the demon's damage?"
"Yes, but it's an arcane spell called Blight. Didn't you say that the katana demon is immune to arcane magic?"
"No. I said that it was immune to arcane damage. You'd still be able to inflict debuffs with other arcane spells."
"Oh! I see!"
I added, "A damage debuff can help in case either of us gets hit."
For the second time, we passed the goblin warning sign. As we walked off the path and neared the cave, there was a rustling to the right. I halted.
"Ayame, you have an AoE arcane spell, right?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"I'll lure all the goblins in one spot. When I give you the signal, use your spell."
"But you might get hit too!"
"I have a healing potion in case I take some damage."
"Shouldn't you save that for the fight?" Ayame said.
"Yes, but I really hate goblins now. I'm considering becoming a goblin slayer in the future. In any case, It would put me at ease if we could clear them all out in one go."
"Fine. If you say so."
I walked off the path and into dangerous territory. There was a soft rustling nearby, but no enemies appeared.
"Hey! All you goblins!"
I dropped my bag of Szerath.
"I got some shiny coins! Come get it, you little pieces of shit!"
The rustling grew to an uproar as twenty goblins emerged, completely surrounding me. The ring that they formed was too large, so a Whirlwind Strike wouldn't be able to hit them all at once.
"Ayame! Now!"
"Got it!" she replied. "Arcane Lightning!"
I ducked as a flash of energy burst from her staff, sending arcs of electricity onto all the goblins. They convulsed for a few seconds until the spell ended, leaving them all as charred bags of flesh. When I got up again, I was left unscathed.
"Good job," I said.
"Thanks. I can usually control where the lightning hits, but it helped that you ducked down since the spell focuses on the tallest targets."
When I checked the experience gauge on my wrist console, it had raised to level three. Usually, killing wild monsters didn't give very much exp, so it wasn't worth it, but I only needed a tiny bit more to level up. And so, I went to the skill tree and gained Divine Siphon.
I exited the console and scanned the surrounding woods. If we were lucky, then that was all the goblins in the area, so if we came back and there were more, I would probably lose my shit. I'll just cross my fingers that we don't get screwed over.
After that short tussle, Ayame and I entered the cave and descended the steps once more. It seemed that the stalactites and stalagmites were even more ominous than before.
When we reached the bottom, the katana demon stood up, and the fight began. Ayame stayed back, allowing me to take the aggro. I walked forward with my weapon poised, ready to intercept the enemy.
The katana demon charged with a vertical slash, but I blocked it. Then, I activated Strengthen, and I counterattacked with a thrust, dealing about twenty percent of the enemy's health. It was a critical hit.
When the katana demon still had over fifty percent health, it attacked normally, albeit much faster than other enemies.
"Ensnare!" Ayame yelled.
Magical vines grew from the ground and twisted themselves around the demon's ankles, immobilizing it. It took this opportunity to land as many hits as possible. I lost count, but I managed to bring the enemy's health down to thirty-one percent health before it could break free. My Strengthen really came in clutch there.
The katana demon's flaming eyes glowed blue, and it dashed to the end of the arena.
This is it. The final stretch.
"Blight!" Ayame said.
Smoke billowed around the demon, forming a momentary skull above its head. From what I remembered when playing Serial Slain, Blight was a low-level debuff that reduced an enemy's attack by ten percent for twelve seconds. It wasn't much, but it was helpful.
The katana lowered its posture, indicating that it was about to strike, but it wasn't looking at me.
It was faced toward Ayame.
"Watch out!" I called, trying to shove her out of the way.
I was too late.
The demon blazed past, managing to land a strike on the mage girl, knocking her to the ground. The sheer force sent blood into the air.
"Ayame!"
"I'm fine!" she said. "Blight lowered its damage, so you don't have to worry about me."
Ayame got up like it was nothing. She didn't have any visible injuries.
For some reason, I expected her to get sliced in half, but thankfully, video game physics also applied to the people in this world. Man, I don't know what I would have done if Ayame had gotten bisected.
I turned my attention back to the katana demon. When Ayame cast Ensnare and Blight, she must have grabbed the enemy's aggro. So, I rushed the demon, forcibly taking its attention away from my partner.
As the demon crouched, I prepared to dodge.
Alright. Remember the timing.
And...
...now!
I ducked under the katana demon's horizontal slash, and everything turned blue. I executed the perfect dodge without a hitch. Using this opening, I drove my weapon into the demon's gut, taking its health down to eighteen percent. I'll probably still need two more strikes to take it down if I didn't get lucky with a critical hit.
The katana demon retreated once again, and I braced myself for impact.
Ayame yelled from behind, "Within my blazing heart of stone, I call upon the Earth Mother's urge to destroy. Eruption!"
Just as the demon was about to launch an attack, Ayame's spell sent it flying into the air with a pillar of molten earth that spewed from the ground.
It was a success! The attack killed the demon!
There was a soft thud behind me. When I turned around, Ayame had collapsed.
I ran to her side and asked, "Are you alright?"
Sweat glazed her face, and she was breathing heavily. Despite that, she wore a humongous grin and gave a thumbs-up.
"I'm doing great!"
"You didn't have to use Eruption. I could have taken down the demon by myself."
"I know, but I wanted to land the last hit and finish it with a bang."
I laughed. "Alright. You did awesome."
I slung her arm over my shoulder and helped her up. Then, I walked over to the chest in the center of the room and collected the loot, gaining 1000 Szerath.
Additionally, I leveled up to level seven. I applied all my previous upgrades: increasing my Divine Siphon to a three percent regeneration per hit, increasing my defense by ten percent, increasing my physical damage by ten percent, and obtaining one spell slot.
Now that I've regained my previous progress, it was time to get the Frigid Edge.