As soon as the sun rose through the horizon, Heracles decided to wake up his two companions. He said with a smile on his face, "Rise and shines, cousin, Leonard!"
"Ugh! My head hurts!" said Prince Elijah as soon as he woke up. "It is normal for you to feel that way at the beginning. Since the two of you will be staying here for at least half a year, you would need to get used to this. Battlefield is much a harsher environment than this," said Leonard as he woke up alongside Prince Elijah.
"Did you ever get sent to a war, Sir Leonard?" asked Prince Elijah with a curious expression. Heracles looked at him with the same expression as his cousin, so Leonard did not hesitate on answering his question. He said in response to the prince's question, "Yeah, I fought alongside Prince Lucas and Prince Laxerus when they were tasked to quell a rebellion at the southern kingdoms. After marching for weeks, we fought against the rebellion forces for more than a week."
Leonard continued his story saying, "We had no time to sleep at the very beginning. When they were beginning to retreat, we were given a chance to sleep a little. We had little sleep if not no sleep at all before we finally finished quelling that rebellion."
The eyes of the two princes sparkled with excitement as they listen upon Leonard's story. Upon realizing this, Leonard said to them with a serious expression, "War is not something to fantasize about, Prince Heracles and Prince Elijah. Both of our side lost a lot to fight for our cause. If we look at it from greater perspective, there is no real winner in a war!"
When they heard him say those words, the excitement in the eyes of the princes suddenly disappear. They realized that everything they thought about war and anything related is pretty much glorified.
'It seems like I bummed them out. It is probably a bitter pill for them to swallow at their tender age,' Leonard thought to himself. At that moment, he said to the two princes, "let's start our preparations, princes. We have a long day ahead of us! The goal you are planning to accomplish will be not finished if we idle!"
"Okay, let us start, then! I will hunt this time, cousin, Sir Leonard. Take care of the camp!" said Prince Elijah before leaving once and for all. "Let's start packing all of this up, sir Leonard!" said Heracles at the next moment.
More than an hour had passed away ever since all of them woke up. After a few minutes of rest when they finished their meal, they continued their journey without any delay. As he observed the serious expressions of the two princes, Leonard thought to himself, 'They became serious after what I said about a battlefield. Hopefully, they won't despair from such details!'
After spending the half of the day ascending the mountain, the three warriors managed to reach their destination. "Finally, we reached the boss room! What do we do now, Princes?" asked Leonard toward the two princes.
"Let's rest for now," said Prince Elijah with a serious expression. "Let me hunt this time," said Heracles before leaving their side.
'Based on their fights earlier, I think something awoke inside their minds. It seems my description of the battlefield raised their seriousness in the battlefield. They avoid playing around the battle as much as they did before, so we are able to climb at the peak of the mountain. If we continued like before, it would take us until afternoon before reaching this place!' Leonard thought to himself as he observed Prince Heracles.
"You don't have to worry about anything, Sir Leonard. The reason we are not speaking like before because we realized the immensity of our responsibility. Thanks to you, we understood that the burden of other people's are at our hands, and we must not take it like they were something that can be easily sacrifice for our own sakes!" said Heracles when he noticed Leonard's worried expression.
"I see. It seems like I worried for something very useless, then!" said Leonard with a smile on his face. 'Prince Lucas and Prince Laxerus really are great parents! If only the First Prince is like them, the future of the domain would be great!' Leonard thought to himself.
Upon Prince Elijah's arrival, the three warriors decided to ate their fill. They decided to rest before going to the boss room once and for all. Before they could enter the boss room, a notification suddenly appeared in front of Heracles.
[You got a new special quest from your system!]
Upon seeing this notification, Heracles said to his two companions, "Wait for a minute, you two! I received a special quest again from my system!"
Prince Elijah and Leonard immediately stopped on their track to follow Heracles's will. At the next moment, Heracles shouted, "System, show me my new special quest!"
[You have reached the second floor boss of the dungeon!
Since you came here to train your battle sense, you need to learn to fight against the floor boss without relying to your attack skills!
~ Defeat the floor boss and his minions by yourself!
~ You must not use any attack skills!
~ If you succeed, you will be rewarded a thousand experience points!
~ At the same time, you will be rewarded 30 skill points!
~ You will also received a skill from the system!
~ Upon failure, 40 random stats will be reduced from your stats!
~ You have two hours to finish this mission!]
Upon understanding what he needs to accomplish, Heracles sighed to himself before speaking to his comrades. A moment later, he said to his two companions, "It seems like I need to deal with the floor boss by myself this time, cousin, sir Leonard."
He showed the details of his special quest to his two companions with a serious expression.
'My goodness, the system don't really want to give me a break! It seems the next two hours will be arduous for me!'