Inside the "Trials of Beginners".
I'm currently exploring the second floor with Lucia.
"Lucia!"
I shouted at Lucia.
"Yes! Forest Prison!"
Tree roots came out of the ground and attacks the monsters in front of us.
The monsters were trapped and couldn't move.
"Kiiiii!"
The monsters went into panic as they were attacked suddenly. I rushed at them and slashed my sword at their necks.
Blood splattered into the ground as their heads flew away. I stabbed at their hearts to make sure they were completely dead.
I let out a sigh of relief after I confirmed it.
"Good job, Lucia"
"No. It's all thanks to you luring the monsters"
Lucia shook her head.
"Even if I lured the monsters, if you didn't restrained them it would be troublesome"
I patted her head.
The exploration went smoothly than I thought. Luring the monsters and have Lucia restrained their movements with"Forest Prison"and killed them instantly. We've been repeating this strategy for a while.
Having a crowd control is truly awesome. Most party would usually fight the monsters head on instead of utilizing strategy. Although they could gained more battle experiences that way, it was also a dangerous method because a single mistake could cost their life.
Maybe because we're a two-man party instead of 4, we don't have much trouble in adjusting our synergy.
Usually a scout would be needed to explore the way, but I already have the map inside my mind. Moreover, I used potions and enchanted my senses to detect the enemy.
And when encountering the monsters, usually a warrior or a tank would rush first to draw their attentions while the others prepares their following attacks.
However, we always have the preemptive attacks. Either Lucia casted"Forest Prison"first and I used"Crescent Slash"as a follow up or I lured them into the place where "Forest Prison"was previously casted and kill them there.
Thanks to"Mana Drain"my mana never went below 50%. It's much easier to use since Lucia restrained the monsters.
Well, the monsters on this floor was only around level 13-15 and roamed in a group of 3-5. It's easy to kill them as long as their movements was restricted. Not to mention, both Lucia and I could control our skills as a single target or as AOE.
Around 4 hours had passed since we entered the dungeon. Usually it took more than 3 hours just to explore the place depending on the exploration speed, but we did it in an hour because I remembered the map and where the trap lays.
We spent more time looking for monsters than we used the time to kill them.
"Let's take a rest"
"Okay"
Although I'm still fine, Lucia had been carrying the staff that was quite heavy all this time. Not to mention she was casting spells everytime we fought. Even though Middle-Grade Mana Potion could recovered her mana, but it couldn't recovered mental exhaustion.
I took out two lunch boxes that was made by Mari. It was the usual sandwiches. However it was filled with jams instead of meat, fish and vegetables.
Considering we were exploring dungeon, we would need sugar to supplement our brains. Eating foods that took a lot of time to eat and digested like meat was a bad idea since we could be attacked at any moment.
"Here"
I handed Lucia her lunch box.
"Thank you, Rain"
She opened her lunch box and began to eat. She was munching happily.
"It's sweet"
"Do you like it?"
"Yes. The food you gave is always delicious"
"Mari would be happy if she heard it"
I began to eat my lunch. The sweet taste of strawberry jam and the sourness of the cherry jam ease my exhaustion.
The cold lemon juice refreshed my dry mouth.
"That felt great"
I never thought I could enjoyed a nice meal inside a dungeon. Thinking back on my experiences in drinking monster blood to quench my thirst and eating hard and chewy meat to fill my stomach, tears began to gather in the corner of my eyes.
Ah, what a dark past. Next time I went to the tower, I will bring a lot of foods to last for at least six months. If necessary, I'm going to get a few new magic bags with more space. I must not let Lucia experience the same thing as I did if we ever do long dungeon exploration.
"What's wrong, Rain?"
"Nothing"
I shook my head and looked at Lucia. She had a jam on her right cheek.
"Stay still"
I took out a handkerchief and wiped her face.
"Thank you"
Her face was a bit red.
"You shouldn't show this side of you to other men. They might try to lick your face if they saw you have something on your cheeks"
I teased her.
"R-Really!? W-What should I do!? You won't l-lick me, right?"
"Hmm"
I smiled while looking at her in the eyes and caressed her cheek. Then, I bring my face close to her.
"R-Rain?"
She fidgeted.
"I might eat you instead"
I whispered softly to her ear.
She backed away in panic.
"N-No, no, no, no! You can't! I'm not delicious!"
She looked at me with her hand crossed on her chest.
"Hahaha!"
I laughed when I saw her reaction.
"Why are laughing!?"
She looked at me with furious eyes, but to me she looked like a rabbit.
"Sorry, sorry. Your reaction was amusing that I can't help but to tease you"
"You meanie!"
She was pouting and then sat next to me.
"Here, your chocolate candy"
Lucia silently took the candy and started eating it.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to do bad things to you. You're like a little sister to me after all"
I patted her head.
"Then, are you going to do bad things to other people?"
She looked at me curiously.
"It depends. Listen, Cia. I'm a nice guy and not a pervert. So when I do bad things to someone, the other party is either a scumbag or a pervert"
"Alright. But, why am I a little sister?"
She tilted her head.
"Because you're small. If one day you grow bigger than me, I will treat you like you're my big sister"
"You promise?"
"Yes"
"Okay!"
Well, it's something that will never come true. Unless, she had a giant's blood injected to boost her growth.
∆ ∆ ∆
Tap, tap.
The sound of footsteps was heard echoing inside a small and dark corridor.
A figure hidden under a cloak was walking through the empty and dark corridor alone. The place was deathly silent. The sound of footsteps and the flickering light from the torch were the only thing that accompanying the figure.
The figure walked until it reached a dead-end.
"Was it here?"
The figure muttered in a low voice.
It started examining and touching the walls.
"Found it"
It pushed one of the brick on the walls.
Rumble!
As the hidden mechanism was activated, the place was shaking and the walls began to move. Soon, a secret path was opened.
The figure went through the secret path. At the end of the path was a huge room.
Contrary to the dark and narrow corridor, the room was spacious and bright with light magic crystals lit over the place.
The room was filled with transparent glass vessels. Human, goblin, orc and other monsters were put inside the vessels. Their bodies were filled with dark colored blood-veins all over.
A man wearing black robe was standing in front of the glass vessel. He was examining the condition of the materials inside the vessels.
The figure wearing the clock approached the man.
"It's been a while, Ruseus"
The manー Ruseus turned around and looked at the figure with doubtful eyes.
"Why are you here?"
"I came to see an old friend"
The figure chuckled.
"Just cut to the chase. There is no way an executive came to see me for such reason. Right, Aster?"
Ruseus shot a magic attack at the figure. It was an instant attack without any warning.
The magic flew towards the figure, but it tilted it's head to the side and avoid it. However the cloak covering it's face was blown away.
A middle-aged man with deep black hair and cold smileー Aster Crossfield, one of the four executives of the dark society.
"Your temper is still so bad. No wonder you don't have any friends"
Aster shrugged his shoulders and mocked Ruseus.
"So, what do you want?"
Ruseus looked at Aster coldly.
"I came to see the seed"
The playful look on Aster face disappeared.
"It's not ready yet"
Ruseus shook his head.
"The society wants it to be completed as soon as possible. You know what will happen to you if you fail, right?"
"Shut up! Do you think making that thing is easy!? If you're not satisfied with me then do it yourself!"
Ruseus gritted his teeth in annoyance.
"Researching that thing is a pain in the ass. That's why we're leaving it to you"
"Then just shut up! Give me more materials if you want to see more progress!"
"I can't do that unless you show some result"
"Fine. Follow me"
Ruseus calmed down and guided Aster into another room.
A green-skinned monster filled with scars and dark colored blood-veins all over it's body was chained.
"Grrraaaa!"
It roared the moment it saw Ruseus and leaped at him.
However, the chains strangled it before it reached him.
"Is this really a goblin? It has enough power to kill a knight"
Aster was surprised.
"The seed is still imperfect. It was still far away from the abyss seed in the legend"
Ruseus shook his head.
"If we give you more materials, will you be able to make it?"
"I don't know. I don't even know if the abyss seed is truly powerful or not because I have never seen it. Even the records about the abyss were only legends"
"I guess recreating something from a legend is not an easy job. Fine, I will get more materials for you"
"Great!"
Ruseus laughed happily when he heard Aster's words.
"Right, Aster! I think we should get the records from the old man's hand. It might contains more clue about the abyss"
Ruseus eyes was filled with hatred when he mentioned the old man.
"The old man from the royal academy? I guess so. Well, let's send this thing and other failed products to the academy. We will attack them once the preparation is done"
"Kuhahaha! Great! Let the flame of war begin! We could get more materials easily this way!"
Their eyes were filled with madness as they were planning about the attack.
At this time, no one knows about the flame of war that will burn the world was about to lit slowly.
Note : Sorry for the late update. I was hospitalized due to stomach pain. Just a reminder, please avoid food with about a month left before expiration date. Food poisoning is truly not a great experience.