Having been so caught up in the predicament earlier, Landon was left flustered at the situation, losing focus for a few seconds as he apologized to the team. However, his words were cut short by Derek's cry for help, reminding him that the battle was still ongoing.
"...right! Sorry, Derek!" Shaking his head the next moment, the blonde-haired man leapt forward, soon returning back to the fray. "I'm on my way!" In the next second, he began spraying out a bunch of bullets over towards the dandelion flower creatures.
As Landon pulled himself together, Jace, who could be seen by the side of the battlefield was still in the midst of a one-sided scruffle against the lone monster before him. Unfortunately, no matter the number of bullets he shot out, the monster ignored him, brushing off his every attack like it was nothing.
"Ugh..." At the sight of his bullets constantly doing next to no damage, he frowned. "All these attacks on that stupid Dandeliz and not a single dent on it? That's just depressing..."
From the very beginning of the fight to now, Jace had been playing target practice with the monster, testing his damage against it. But, to his dismay, his damage was far too low for his liking. It was almost nonexistent.
"Tch... Even when I shoot at its weak spots, nothing happens..." Though Jace was now a support, he wanted to see how he would fare against an F-ranked monster alone. Unfortunately, the result wasn't to his expectations. "Sigh. So much for putting my weapon to use..."
Jace had hoped that handling a single monster despite the class change was doable. However, with the clear evidence of his low damage against a mere F-ranked monster, it finally sunk in that there was absolutely no hope for that to ever happen.
"...hah. Besides providing some form of opportunity, is there really nothing else that I can do?" Turning his head over towards the battle a few meters away from him, he took notice that the fight was about to come to an end. "Do I really have no choice but to link?"
Jace felt that he was useless. The most useless that he had felt in a long while. Although he had good accuracy, there was no damage to back it up. Likewise, his skills were all situational as well, causing Jace to be a sitting duck as he waited for something to happen.
"Ugh... This is such a hassle..." Though he had tested nearly everything that he could, Jace was still reluctant to link despite it all. He feared what might come next if he did so. "...sigh. Just what do I do?"
While Jace was in deep thought, a blue notification window appeared before him.
[ You have levelled up to level 2! ]
[ 10 Hunter Points have been obtained. ]
[ -System Notice: Title Progression System is now available for use. ]
...
"...ah, the battle's over..." Reading through his notifications, he averted his attention over towards the rest of the party, noting that they were now celebrating. "..."
"Phew...! We're done!" Landon cheered.
"Finally, it's over..." Derek sighed with relief. "I thought I was a goner with all of you distracted there..."
"It's my bad..." he coughed. "I was caught off guard by that attack..."
"...hmph. I wonder why..." Penelope frowned, glancing over towards the quiet Jace.
"I'll be careful next time, alright?" Landon glared at Penelope. "It's not the fault of anyone but myself."
"Things could've gone wrong if that attack had hit you. But, I'm glad that you're safe," the old man turned to look at the blonde-haired man. "However, I must remind you, though this is an F-ranked dungeon, please be more aware next time."
"S-Sorry... It won't happen again," Landon hung his head low.
"Good," Toriq smiled. "Now, let us continue on with the dungeon. We still have a boss to fight."
"At the very least, you contributed." Penelope rolled her eyes, following after Toriq the next moment.
"Jee..." Landon helplessly shook his head at Penelope, soon turning his head over towards Jace. "Hey, Lazy Eyes... Thanks again for saving me back there."
"..." Jace remained quiet, nodding his head as he casually walked past him.
"Sorry about Penelope... I really don't know what's going on with her," Landon sighed. "But there's that! This wouldn't have happened if I didn't get so distracted."
"..." he remained silent, continuing to walk down the dirt path.
"But in any case... That shot was seriously amazing! Your accuracy is no joke!" he praised. "It really leaves me wondering, are you really not a Marksman? I mean, I know we've been over this already, but, you really don't look anything like a Synergist..."
"..."
"Though, now that I think about it... You have been fighting against that same monster for quite a while, so your damage is probably far too low for a Marksman..." Landon thought to himself. "So I guess that confirms that you're a Synergist... But... Is your kit really all there is to it? I mean, not to be rude or anything... But it seems all over the place. Just what's your title anyways?"
"..." Stopping at his footsteps, Jace turned to look at Landon again. "...my title?"
"Yeah! You know... The one under the title section? I've heard that the title usually correlates to your kit, which is why my entire skillset is all about me missing my shots..." he coughed. "So what's yours? I mean, it's fine if you don't want to reveal it, but... I'm just curious, you know?"
"Well..." Glancing over towards his status window, he took a deep breath. "...it's not exactly what you'd expect."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Landon tilted his head. "Your kit is already all over the place, so what's there to expect?"
"...well before that, I'd like to ask you a question," Jace stared directly at Landon with a serious expression.
"...what's up?" he blinked in turn.
"...it's about my skills." Jace had been left in deep thought for far too long. After thinking and thinking, he finally bit the bullet, coming to the decision that he needed to see the mechanic for a final judgement on his current state. "There's a skill that I wish to test on you. But... It might have some drawbacks if it goes wrong."
"Huh? So you do have another skill!" Landon cried out in shock.
"Well, you see..." As Jace was about to explain himself, a sudden loud shout rang through the forest.
"Hey, guys! Over here!" Derek's voice could be heard the next moment. "We found the boss room!"
"...ah?" Jace turned to the direction of the sound, stumped for words.
"So soon?" he frowned, soon turning his head back to Jace. "Well, whatever! If you want to use the skill, then use it! What are you holding back for?!"
"No, you see..." Just before Jace could say anything, Landon began rushing up ahead, leaving him behind. "...sigh. This is troublesome..." Scratching his head in helplessness, Jace took a quick glance over towards the skill [ Soul Linkage ] before following behind the blonde-haired man.
...
After Derek's initial call, Landon and Jace shortly arrived at the front of a garden henge. There, they were greeted by the rest of the party members, all preparing to head in.
"Alright, everyone's here." Toriq nodded his head, soon standing up from the ground the next moment. "The boss is beyond this entrance. So, I hope everyone gives their all for this."
"Yes!" Derek nodded his head.
"I won't repeat the same mistake as last time," Landon firmly replied.
"Hmm... I do hope everyone does give their all," Penelope gripped her staff tightly.
"Right. If everyone's ready, then let's go in."
Following Toriq's words, he made his way forward through the henge, with the rest of the group following up from behind him. There, beyond the passageway, a giant plant bulb could be spotted right in the middle of the garden.
"...a plant bulb?" Derek blinked.
"Get into your positions!" Toriq cried out.
The moment they entered the garden, the bulb trembled violently, soon blooming into a beautiful white flower the next moment. However, before the party had the time to admire its beauty, vines began growing out of the bottom of the plant, swiftly rushing over towards the group the very next second.