By evening, we reached Valenwood. The people greeted us with joyful shouts, even the newcomers they saw for the first time. Soon, the mayor came out to meet us.
"Ricardo, I'm always delighted to see you. How is your city?" Katrina's greetings were surprisingly polite.
"Lady Katrina, you can't imagine how well everything has turned out. We did find the treasure in the marsh, just as you advised, and now we are restoring the roads and the reputation of our city."
"I'm happy for you. And how is your daughter?"
Ragni flinched slightly, worrying about her former patient.
"I would like to thank Lady Ragni. Maria had a difficult time, but she recovered. She's not in the city right now; she set off on a journey, but I know she'll be fine now."
The dragoness let out a relieved sigh.
"Let me guess, you've come for the 'treasure hunt'?" Katrina inquired.
"You know about it?" Vina was surprised.
"Of course, to restore the good name of our city, I suggested to the rector to use the Royal Hydra's lair for the trial. I don't think I need to explain the way. Where you defeated the hydra, there's now one of the most challenging dungeons with a chimera, but it won't be a threat to you."
"Thank you for the information, mayor. Tomorrow, we were planning to venture into those dungeons, and then we'll head further west."
"I understand that you have little time, but I'm glad to help you as much as possible. I'll be rooting for you and might even attend the completion ceremony."
The next morning, we set off for the marsh. Our first stop was the chimera's lair, where we hoped to find some valuable ingredients. Ragni was visibly nervous, as our success mostly depended on her.
"What's wrong, dragoness? Scared?" I decided to tease her.
"No, but I wasn't as confident in my abilities as an alchemist, so you should have found someone better."
"Ragni, what kind of talk is that for a great and mighty representative of her tribe? You have a key role in my plan, and besides, none of us are more knowledgeable in this than you."
"Krito," Ragni pouted unhappily, "you're not much of a comforter."
"Well, I do my best. We're almost there. This battle will be easier than the hydra, but let's not relax. Kurone, I hope you're ready to support our new comrades."
"Of course," the treasurer confidently clenched her fists, "I trained all day yesterday."
Soon, we reached the lake—or what was left of it. A huge glass "saucer" with a small island in the center stood there. Apparently, the small cave on the island was our target.
"Hold it right there! The name of the guild and the number of participants!" A gruff male voice called out to us from the nearest bushes. It was Kiram, the self-assured fire mage who seemed to have been peacefully napping there until we arrived.
"Huh?" Katrina even jumped in surprise. "Teacher, you can't scare us like that. Ahem. The Storm Glaive Guild, nine people, and..."
"Shiroyuki no Hana, four people. There's no need to introduce us; I can do it myself," Asura couldn't resist poking fun at Katrina even over such a small matter.
"All right, all right. Who's going to go first?" Kiram yawned disdainfully.
"We actually joined forces for this trial, so we'll go together," our GM said proudly, crossing her arms.
"Oh, I see. Weaklings always stick together. Go on then, and if needed, I'll drag your bodies out of the dungeon."
"What?!" Asura grabbed the handle of her katana. "You're a teacher! Why don't you believe in your students?!"
"Ha! Don't make me laugh. I don't teach weaklings like you. I'll eagerly wait for you to be flattened on the floor during the closing ceremony. HA-HA."
Chuckling, Kiram left back into the grove.
"What a jerk," I despise people like him. "Asura, we're in for a serious battle. Are you feeling calm?"
"I've encountered enough people like him already. Right now, all I want is to turn someone into minced meat!"
At that moment, a flying creature appeared out of nowhere in the sky. It had the body and head of a lion, eagle wings, and two tails with snake heads.
"Asura, try to deal with the tails. Right, aim for the heart, left, target the wings. Katrina and Leira, try to spread a net to prevent it from taking flight."
"This is offensive."
"Extremely offensive."
"We do have names, you know!" The twins protested in unison but still joined the fight.
"Ragni, help me deal with the front. Asura, do you need magical assistance?"
"Don't joke like that; we managed just fine before. Don't dare underestimate us."
Both pride and the double-edged sword, Lady Swordswoman, but I'll follow your advice this time.
The chimera continued to circle above us, realizing that we had the advantage on the ground. Two arrows hit the target precisely, piercing the creature's wings close to the base. Miriam was quite the sniper; I should start calling her by name. The chimera let out a piercing cry and lowered itself closer to the ground, but the two small arrows weren't enough for victory. Within seconds, it attempted to take flight again, but lightning blocked its path. The princess acted just in time.
"Great job! Left, don't let it take off. Attack!"
We surrounded the monster: me from the front, Vivien on the right, Ragni on the left, and Asura from behind. Undoubtedly, Asura got the most challenging part, dealing with two heads hissing ominously, observing her. They seemed to be able to act independently from the main body and from each other.
"I'll start," I rushed in at the heads and delivered two precise strikes with my blades. I don't know what the chimera's mane was made of, but the blades slid off it like butter.
Without flinching from the blow, the chimera tried to bite me with its lion head, but I managed to block it with my wide sword. At that moment, Vivien approached the creature's chest and struck. The spear didn't hit its target; the monster lifted its paw and blocked the attack. The girl leaped away, only to see the paw land where she stood a second ago.
Meanwhile, Asura was blocking the attacks from the snake heads, trying to find the right moment to cut them off with a single swing. The scales were tough, and her regular attacks just slid off. The swordswoman decisively lunged forward, attempting to sever the tails at the base. She pushed one head aside and kept the other at bay while advancing.
"Asura, behind you!" Kurone's telepathic command reached the swordswoman, but she couldn't divert her attention from the enemy in front of her.
The first head quickly recovered from the blow and, bending, lunged towards Asura's back.
"Lady Asura!" In an instant, a figure of a young man appeared behind her. I thought he was just a porter, but now I understood his intentions. He used his short blade only for defense, so he could protect anyone with its help.
"Mistress, I'll hold them back. Try to cut off the tails at the base."
"I trust you," Asura executed the maneuver, and the second head, which had previously been pressed against her blade, slid straight into Werner. The lad easily bent, managing to block both jaws with his broad blade. Asura leaped forward and struck, but at the same time, the monster flapped its wings and leaped into the air by half a meter. The sword barely grazed the air, failing to reach its target.
"Darn, cunning bastard."
The chimera seemed to be fighting with each part of its body independently while at the same time anticipating our moves and evading with its whole body.
At that moment, I still held the monster's head. Abandoning the attempt to figure out the sword, the creature opened its mouth, and I saw a bright orange glow inside.
"Krito, move aside!" Ragni pushed me back and blocked the creature's mouth with both paws. The chimera's fire erupted from its mouth and clashed against the dragoness's scaled paws.
"I haven't heard that they can breathe fire!"
"They can't! Krito, this is some kind of abnormal chimera. I can't read its thoughts," Kurone was genuinely worried.
"I've heard that they are artificial creatures controlled by a powerful sorcerer."
I looked around the surrounding trees, but he wasn't visible. "That bastard! Kiram must be somewhere smugly controlling this monstrosity."
"Change the plan, Katrina, Seleria, roast it from both sides!!"
The princesses reacted instantly and circled the creature from both sides. But that was just a trick. I winked at Vivien.
"Vivien, can you hear me? Stick to the original plan, Ragni will help you."
The girl was startled by the telepathic command, but she didn't have time to think about it. She moved away with Ragni, and the princesses struck.
Two powerful bursts of fire and lightning rushed towards a single point, but the chimera flapped its wings and soared into the air. The princesses' attacks collided beneath the departing monster, and a blinding flash illuminated the battlefield. Everyone instinctively covered their eyes, and at that moment, a spear-wielding girl descended from the sky onto the hovering creature. Seizing the opportunity, Ragni lifted Vivien and soared into the air. While everyone, including Kiram, turned away from the flash to protect their eyes, the dragoness hurled Vivien with her spear directly into the monster's chest. The girl forcefully pierced the creature's heart, and they both crashed to the ground. The chimera let out a piercing cry and closed its eyes.
Kiram waited for us at the treasure chamber with a rather displeased look.
"Hello again, professor. Turns out this little monster wasn't that strong after all." How tempting it was to tease this arrogant fool.
"Well, it's not such a complex dungeon; even weaklings like you could handle it," his words didn't sound very convincing. "Alright, you have twenty minutes to collect your loot, get to it."
The teacher pressed a couple of levers, and a large stone lifted, revealing access to an impressive-sized basement filled with shelves, racks, and cabinets full of jars and boxes with various liquids and creature organs.
"Wow! This place is five times larger than the alchemical shop where the master used to buy her ingredients!" Ragni's eyes widened at the sight of the diverse collection.
"Get to work, ero-dragon, or I'll continue calling you that for the rest of your life due to your uselessness." Vina pushed her forward. I don't know where she had been hiding all this time, but as soon as the treasure room opened, she appeared behind us.
"Okay, for starters, take the most valuable ingredients—hearts, eyes, and claws are the most expensive. Once we've picked those, I'll take care of the organs from powerful creatures; I can handle that on my own. Also, check if there's any scale on the shelves; it can be used to make decent armor."
Ragni gave out the instructions, and the guild listened attentively; after all, her teacher's legacy didn't go to waste. While they were busy, I strolled around the room, looking for more complex ingredients. Yesterday, I reread the book on blacksmithing, trying to refresh my memory, hoping it might help somehow.
My attention was drawn to a pitcher in the corner of the room, small with four handles and the same number of locks holding the lid. It seemed that the rim emitted a faint golden shimmer, and I decided to check it. After digging around a bit with the rusty locks worn by time, I opened the lid. Inside the pitcher was a dark crimson, almost black liquid, thick and viscous, about ten liters of it. But that wasn't the main concern: the inside of the pitcher was coated with gold. Could it be a sign that the liquid was dangerous in any state? I decided to test it: dipping the tip of my sword into the liquid, I dropped a few drops on the floor. The stone floor hissed slightly with a nauseating-smelling smoke. Could it be acid, even though its color didn't give it away? A sudden thought struck me; I created a small flame at the tip of my second sword and brought it closer to the liquid on the floor. It immediately burst into bright flames, but I noticed that the flames were of a strange black shade.
"Krito, what are you doing there? We have five minutes left, did you find anything at all!" Ragni interrupted me from my chemical experiments.
"Uh... well, yeah, I wanted to take this little pitcher."
"Don't talk nonsense. The blood and saliva of large creatures can be worth something, but only in large quantities. One dragon's eye is worth fifty liters of its blood. Besides, carrying a jug with liquid would be inconvenient."
"But still, I insist. Ragni, can you take this pitcher without spilling it?"
"Hmm, well, if it seals tightly, then fine, but I won't be responsible for anything. Come on, get over here, we need to choose what we'll take."
I moved the pitcher closer to the exit and returned to the rest of the group. The number of reagents displayed in rows was astonishing. Ragni scrutinized each eye, tooth, and claw attentively, sniffed and even tried some on her teeth. In the end, she chose two jars each of what she deemed most impressive, and we made it just in time before the limit.
I, of course, only carried the pitcher with the suspicious liquid.
"Well, well, you were lucky with this lizard; without it, you would have only taken frog legs from there."
"And can you tell us what it is?" I tried to extract a bit of information from the know-it-all, playing on his pride. "We're not sure."
"Haha, that's forbidden, but I can say that your ahem alchemist mixed up several important ingredients, and about a third of what you're carrying is just useless junk."
Chuckling, Kiram noted our trophies in his list and turned towards the exit, but I managed to catch a glimpse of the label on the vial in my hands.
"Sorry, guys, it seems I'm not such a good alchemist after all," Ragni lowered her head apologetically.
"Don't worry; we still have another dungeon planned for today, and even without you, we wouldn't have been able to handle this one."
I patted the dragoness on the head, and she lifted her spirits slightly.
"Did you prepare what I asked for?"
"Yes, one vial of petrification potion for each of us. I hope we won't need them; I've heard it's a very unpleasant process."
"Then everything's ready, let's move on."