Evan D. Sherden, Enters the Dungeon Again (4)
It was grassy due to erosions around the battle room occupied by the Hidden Boss, which made the atmosphere around it eerily mysterious.
Many dangerous traps were active everywhere, and many people had been caught in them due to the environment. The first of the explorers who had entered the dungeon warned that it was a dangerous area that inexperienced people should never approach.
"And here we are… Well, this is the Hidden Boss Battle Room."
"We have gotten through all of the traps without getting caught in a single one of them. How would you explain that, Master?"
"I'm telling you to be careful just in case I'm not around."
"…I haven't seen a trap so far. I didn't know they existed."
In the dungeon expedition before, they didn't have to be worried about the traps. Evan usually threw the Battle Beads to destroy those he saw before anyone even realized there was one.
This time, Arisha was with them too, so Evan had steered clear of all the traps so far. Arisha had never even seen a trap set in motion.
"You also get an achievement for destroying a trap, so I can't help it. From the sixth floor, we're going to be attacking together again, so I'm going to eradicate all of them."
"I'm not sure, Master, but why do you keep worrying about increasing the level of your attributes…?"
"Miss Arisha, before you enter the battle room, I'll cast a divine spell on you. It'll be a little less powerful now since I retired from my priesthood, but it'll still be helpful."
"Thank you."
While Evan and Shine stood there chatting with each other, Raihan put a spell on Arisha.
Even though Raihan had said that he was less powerful now, he still had enough talent and got attention not only from his previous Church but also from the other ones. Under the effects of the spell, Arisha felt as if she could fly if she wanted to.
"My movement got faster."
"What do you think, Arisha? Can you adapt to such conditions?"
"I can do it."
Arisha nodded unhesitatingly at Evan's question. Evan then handed her a potion.
"Drink this right now. It's probably going to be a bit hard for you to adapt to it right away."
"You're being a bit tenacious. Are you taking revenge or…?"
"You do realize you're always bothering me, aren't you?"
"Whoo!"
Arisha accepted the potion without replying to Evan's rebuttal and gulped it down.
Her expression was a little strange.
"This, this is so delicious… It feels like I'm drinking luxurious tea, and not a potion at all."
"Oh, it is supposed to be delicious. Just know there's a reason for that."
This was a unique herbal potion made by Evan himself, who was now being regarded as something of a rising star among the alchemists.
The potion not only improves the consumer's physical condition but also expanded his or her mana to the next level. Evan had improved it several times during the alchemy classes with Bernard. It was a very high-end potion that had been completed just last night with one final addition.
Yes, just last night. Evan had shredded a part of the Elven tea leaf he had taken from Elf Illoin and added it to this potion.
In other words, the concoction contained the leaves of the World Tree! That was the reason it was delicious and effective!
'It was made for battles against the Goblin Warrior, not against the Blood Goblin Fighter at the time…'
Evan had not been sure of Arisha's abilities and her will to fight until last night. He had made it in case she was unable to fight the Goblin Warrior or if she was stuck in a bad situation. He was originally planning on giving her this potion then.
However, he realized it had been arrogant of him, and he shouldn't have underestimated Arisha.
Arisha had forcefully defeated the Goblin Warrior with purely her abilities, without getting even a little buff!
'With that level of ability, I'm sure Arisha can beat the Blood Goblin Fighter with the Holy Magic and this potion. It's just a matter of being hurt… I'll go into the battle room and look out for her.'
Raihan was the best option to ensure Arisha's safety. But Evan wouldn't have had an opportunity or enough time to acquire a proper achievement if Raihan accompanied her.
But now that his throwing skills had also improved a lot, Evan could help her out in an emergency. He looked back at Arisha.
"Phew!"
She was having a hard time balancing her body, perhaps because the medicine was working. Evan asked her with a bitter smile.
"How do you feel?"
"I feel stronger than being empowered by the Divine Magic."
"Both of the two effects have mixed up, resulting in an even greater boost in strength. But don't forget to use the 'Wind Step' skill. You will be facing the Blood Goblin Fighter. You are just at dungeon level five."
"...."
"So, can you do it?"
Evan already knew what she was going to say. As expected, Arisha clenched her jaw and stood up after taking a short deep breath.
"I definitely can."
"Alright then, let's go inside together."
"Don't instinctively throw the Battle beads as soon as you go in, Master."
"Oh, I won't."
That was strange. Shine had never spoken like that since they had first met. However, these days he was somewhat bossing Evan around everywhere.
Evan soon came up with a good idea. He knew how to deal with him by playing a prank. When they would leave the dungeon, he would introduce Shine to Leo.
The double-swords skill was also a form of swordsmanship, and that would give Leo a chance to improve Shine's abilities even further. Shine would die of a heart attack when he would come to know!
Leo would be able to bother Evan even less because he would then be busy teaching Shine. What a perfect plan!
"If you make a look like that, usually nothing good comes out of it, Master…"
"Arisha, did you take the mana stone?"
"Yes."
Evan ignored Shine's mutterings and entered the Hidden Boss Battle Room alongside Arisha. A Blood Goblin Fighter was standing inside, as it had before.
[ROARRR!]
It had bright red fur. Its huge mass was comparable to that of a well-trained man, bigger than a typical goblin. A tough leather armour covered its whole body.
Above all, it was holding a large, threatening scimitar that flashed like a crescent moon. It was one of the rarest variants of Goblin, which only appeared beyond the 20th floor of the dungeon.
"Blood Goblin Fighter!"
[Argh!]
This was the hidden boss on the 5th floor of the dungeon! The Blood Goblin Fighter, a sinner who dreamed of escaping, was delighted to see a little boy and a girl. Excited by their smell of blood, it pointed its scimitar at them.
Evan, on the other hand, was tilting his head to figure out its commanding presence.
'Strange. This one looks just like the guy I saw before. Well, then I guess I might be able to overpower this one easily too…'
In the past, Evan thought along the lines of,?'Maybe the guy I knocked down before… There may have been something wrong with its body, or it wasn't mutated enough.'?However, this one was in the same condition as before.
"… can't give up. Uh, uh, uh. Cheer up."
Arisha gulped down with a look of nervousness that might have been due to the intimidating sight of the Blood Goblin. Soon she felt determined and took a step forward.
"Watch it. Be careful."
Evan replied vaguely to Arisha's sincere words because he was still worried about the monster's ability and its level.
But Arisha nodded cheerfully at Evan's words. Then she rushed towards the boss.
[Argh!?]
Surprised by the little girl's swiftness, the Blood Goblin Fighter also raised its scimitar and opened its eyes, but was too late to react. The moment Arisha had raised her foot off the floor, she was already at an arm's distance from the Goblin Fighter!
"What the…"
Arisha lightly dodged the scimitar slicing through the air.
A wind coating covered her rapier. It had made the blade sharper and longer. Her skill could be said to make her rapier attacks the strongest in all of the series!
"Ha!"
When she was close to it enough that she could smell its foul breath, Arisha took a strong step, shifted her whole body's strength into her hand, and thrust the sword straight into the Blood Goblin's shoulder. It was as clean a stabbing as it appeared in the textbooks.
[Arghhhhh!]
The rapier dug deep into the shoulder of the Blood Goblin Fighter and spattered red blood everywhere.
The wind stretching out to the end of the long rapier cut deeper and deeper into the wound, shredding the muscles and splitting the bones!
Even though she was close to him, Arisha steered clear of the Goblin's blood.
When she confirmed that her attack had been successful, she grabbed the sword and quickly pulled herself back. Now she started to look for another chance to attack.
"Ha!"
[Arghhh!]
Evan admired Arisha's movements, which were calm and quick. They weren't affected by the buffs, and she precisely stabbed the enemy's weakness every time.
She was even able to avoid the spray of blood skillfully.
"Ha! Ha!"
Her footsteps were nimble, and she seemed to be on a stabbing streak! Looking at her, it almost looked like she was present in more than one place at the same time as she continued landing blow after blow.
The Blood Goblin Fighter, trying to counter her with a move, twisted its body in reverse.
Even if the Blood Goblin Fighter kept her in its view, she was still able to find loopholes in its defences. Finally, when it collapsed, even more fatal weaknesses were revealed. Arisha started increasing the number of holes in its body with the rapier!
"Wow, that was great… I made it, but I can't believe you can move so freely."
A regular's level was truly different. It was no longer questionable whether Arisha was the series' main character after Evan had seen her utilizing her skills to the fullest under any conditions.
'Shine and Belois were ultimately the strongest characters in the game. However, Arisha also had enough skills to be playing the role of one of the main characters.'
After Evan saw Arisha fighting against the Blood Goblin Fighter, he reflected on his stupidity in trying to rank people with his existing common sense, which was barely more than the knowledge he had gotten through playing the games.
'Maybe Arisha will get stronger than even Shine and Belois in the future. In the game, she was somewhat passive until she met the main character, but now she is not.'
The same could be said for Shine, Belois, Raihan, or any of the others. Their future and possibilities could not be predicted. Hadn't even Maybell shown signs of growing into such an all-around caring woman?
A game was just a game, after all. In this case, the characters in the game were different from the characters in the real world. Everyone might have had the same talent as in the past, but they would evolve very differently from now on.
Arisha was a clear example.
"Huh!"
[Argh!]
Arisha beat the Blood Goblin Fighter on her own despite it being a hidden boss.
She avoided the scimitar with a few light footsteps and thrust her rapier between the Goblin's eyes. Evan laughed at her.
"Okay, I'm sorry to have underestimated you after all. I mean it."
Evan could not completely forget that she was a Regular. She was the main heroine who would marry the protagonist someday.
At least until that time, she would be a member of the Dungeon Knights Squad, equal to Shine, Belois, and Raihan.
That was the moment when the Sherden Dungeon's fifth floor and the Hidden Boss had been completely cleared.