Episode 10 – Dungeon Book (4)
The top scorer in Legend of Heroes 2 was Outboxer009, who always ranked first in the server rankings.
However, the person who hunted the most in Legend of Heroes 2 was Yellow Storm, who ranked second in the server rankings.
'If one only counted the number of monsters hunted, Yellow Storm had twice as much as Outboxer.'
She was the one who had experienced the greatest number of battles in Legend of Heroes 2.
But such a Yellow Storm had never experienced a real-life battle.
'Because Leisegang is not counted.'
Leisegang couldn't move because of the seal, and frankly, at that time, Cordelia and Jude had gone crazy when they found out they could level up.
Anyway, this was their first real battle.
Therefore, Cordelia was more nervous than usual, but she was able to proceed with the battle easily.
'It's too easy.'
Varuna's Dungeon Book was not an easy dungeon.
Because different kinds of goblins appeared in the beginning, and these monsters were not ordinary.
Goblins possessing different attributes appeared in each room, and their levels were not low either.
In one considered their levels in Legend of Heroes 2, they were around level 10 or so.
Monsters that were almost twice the level of Jude and Cordelia appeared with different attributes and abilities, so it was not an exaggeration to say that the dungeon's difficulty was Nightmare Mode.
Nevertheless, Cordelia felt that it was easy.
'Our teamwork is perfect.'
She didn't want to admit it, but she had to.
Because Outboxer009 was the best support among the supports that Yellow Storm had played with in the past.
As soon as the dark goblins in black masks appeared – no, even before they appeared, Jude was already tearing up a magic circle of the light attribute to counter the dark goblins' darkness attribute.
When the goblins stepped on the floor covered with the light attribute, their bodies began to experience heavy fatigue, causing them to move limply, and Cordelia bombarded them with magic missiles before they could even approach the two.
Obviously, it wasn't just that.
Jude knew exactly what Cordelia was in need of.
If she ran out of mana, he handed her a mana potion, and if she was in need of a specific magic circle, he would hand her the needed magic circle.
Therefore, Jude and Cordelia's hunt was so naturally quick and sophisticated that they were like a doctor and nurse team who had been performing surgeries for many years.
However.
Cordelia eventually shouted in anger.
"Hey! Stop getting the last hit!"
The average level of the enemy monsters were 9 to 10.
They were almost twice the level of Cordelia, so it was nearly impossible to defeat them in one shot. Therefore, a significant number of them were in the state of near-death.
And every time monsters like these appeared, Jude would always deal the last hit.
'You also brought a bow and hand axe?!'
In addition, his hit rate was quite good.
Because his Cheonmujiche allowed him to be extremely good in moving his body.
"Keeeeek!"
A goblin was struck in the chest by the hand axe and fell down after a single scream.
It was a monster that had been weakened from being hit by Cordelia's magic missiles.
Jude would cast debuffs and Cordelia would then fire spells before Jude finished them off.
Their teamwork was sort of perfect, but it felt like it was Cordelia who was playing support and not Jude.
Because the person who dealt the last hit would be the one to get the most experience points.
"Here they come again!"
Jude pulled out the hand axe stuck in the goblin's chest, and shouted as he looked straight ahead.
What appeared was a hobgoblin that was double the size of the goblins they had encountered so far. The hobgoblin let out a shriek as it charged towards them.
"!"
Cordelia cried out as she pointed to the ground. The recklessly charging hobgoblin stepped on the slippery floor, and fell after it slipped. Jude then shouted as he tore a magic circle.
"!"
An invisible rope bound the limbs of the fallen hobgoblin. It was something that wouldn't last long when one considered the strength of a hobgoblin, but the two didn't need a long time to finish it off anyway.
Jude let out a short breath. He then grasped the hand axe and rushed while Cordelia quickly chanted a spell instead of looking at Jude.
"Hiyaaaa!"
Jude did not lie to Cordelia.
His Gueumjulmaek was in the process of being cured because of the Sun's Necklace, but his body was still weak.
But even so, he still possessed a minimal level of strength.
Therefore, he could deal a critical hit even with that minimal strength of his.
"Kiaaaaaa-!"
The hobgoblin screamed when the hand axe struck in between its crotch. It struggled so hard that the magic was instantly destroyed.
"Oops!"
Jude rolled on the floor to avoid the hobgoblin's kick, and even though he was the one who attacked the monster, he unconsciously put his hands over his groin.
And Cordelia completed her spell.
"!"
Unlike the non-attribute spell, the spell belonged to the fire attribute.
It was a spell that required some time to cast because Cordelia was still a 1-star wizard.
"Kiaaaa!"
The fire arrow struck in between the crotch of the hobgoblin again, and the hobgoblin's body trembled at that moment as it fell to the floor with a thud.
It died after their consecutive attacks.
"Haa…haa…haa…"
Cordelia was surrounded by a ring of white light as she collapsed on the floor while roughly breathing. On the other hand, Jude let out a breath of relief.
"It's the end of the monster waves. The only thing left is the boss room."
Cordelia listened to the words of Jude who had stretched out on the floor. She then closed her eyes and wiped off the sweat from her forehead.
Five hours.
Five hours had passed before they got here.
Naturally, the two took a break from time to time. However, it was clear that their intensive battles were incredibly tiring.
'As expected of Yellow Storm.'
Jude sat up to calm his breathing, and he smiled when he saw Cordelia panting.
If it was someone other than Cordelia who came here with him, they probably would have taken more than five hours.
'No, I probably wouldn't even have needed to make a plan.'
Anyway, they had come this far.
Since it was a virtual dungeon where one did not truly die, the experience points they gained were quite low. However, Jude became level 8 while Cordelia was nearing level 8 because the monsters' levels were higher than the two.
'We can do it.'
Jude counted the remaining magic circles and then nodded.
He had used fewer magic circles than expected, so they still had enough for the time when they would challenge the boss room.
"Cordelia, are you tired?"
Cordelia lied down instead of answering Jude's question, so Jude decided that they should take a short break.
An hour later.
Jude had recovered his stamina through Respite, while Cordelia had recovered her mana through Meditation. The two stood together in front of a huge black door, which was the entrance to the boss room.
T/N: Respite is a term in fictional martial arts that refers to the act of generating energy and controlling the flow through breathing in the pores. It literally means moving qi/energy to regulate breathing. In the game Mabinogi, Respite is described as using your inner willpower to restore health and stamina.
Sources: 운기조식, Mabinogi World Wiki
"What monster will come out?"
"Fury Wolf."
"It's not a goblin?"
"It's a Fury Wolf. Its movement is fast. You and I have to constantly move."
"What's the plan?"
"I tie him up while you attack him. However…"
"However?"
"Just focus on evading until I give a signal. I have some preliminary work to do… Why are you looking at me like that?"
Jude asked when he saw Cordelia narrowing her eyes at him.
"Are you trying to do something weird?"
"What do you mean by weird? It's an opponent that we must do our best together in order to defeat it."
"Hmm, alright. If you insist."
Cordelia conceded and lightly relaxed her body before she gestured to Jude with her chin. Jude then opened the door of the boss room.
***
Silence fell the moment they opened the door.
The place they were in completely changed.
It was a land covered in white with a black sky above it.
In the middle of that place stood a giant wolf.
It had green fur and bright yellow stripes, and the wolf let out a hot breath as its yellow eyes glowed.
Their distance to the wolf was around 30 meters.
It was not a close distance, but it was not a safe distance for them either.
Jude glanced at Cordelia, and so did Cordelia. The two exchanged looks before they gradually widened their distance from each other.
The Fury Wolf did not instantly move. Hot drool fell from its mouth, and it alternated between Jude and Cordelia before its fur bristled at some point as it strengthened its limbs.
And right after that.
At the moment Cordelia exhaled.
Bang!
The Fury Wolf kicked the ground. It rushed towards Jude who had predicted its movement in advance as he threw himself without delay and rolled on the floor.
"Cordelia!"
Instead of answering, Cordelia tore a magic circle that he had given to her during their break time. The magic struck the Fury Wolf, and Jude raised his body at that time and also tore a magic circle. It was a magic circle too.
"Awoooo!"
The Fury Wolf howled. Cordelia's was instantly destroyed by the wolf's roar, but Jude's tied its body down.
"!"
Cordelia cast a spell again. It was between Jude and the Fury Wolf, and the wolf who had released itself from the binds by force then slipped on the floor.
Jude threw his hand axe at that Fury Wolf. He tore magic circles in succession without even checking if the spells struck its target.
Boooom!
It wasn't a spell this time.
The first one was the spell that he had saved for this fight, and the second one was the spell.
A mass of water appeared in the air and hit the Fury Wolf as the water fell. Then a single bolt of lightning struck the wet head of the wolf.
"Awoooo!"
The Fury wolf howled in pain.
But Cordelia felt that something was wrong at that moment.
"Jude?!"
She shouted and moved away at the same time. Because the Fury Wolf had rushed towards her. And it was even faster than before!
"Not yet!"
Jude rolled on the floor and tore a magic circle. Once again, a bolt of lightning struck the Fury Wolf.
And Cordelia was convinced.
Jude wasn't attacking the Fury Wolf now.
Rather, he was strengthening it!
"Are you crazy?! Its attribute is lightning!"
For the Fury Wolf in front of her, the spell was like a nutritional supplement because the wolf possessed a lightning attribute.
Despite that, Jude hit it with twice to strengthen it.
Why? For what reason are you doing this?!
"Bingo!"
At the moment Jude exclaimed, the Fury Wolf howled towards the sky. A huge horn protruded between its forehead at the same time.
Craaaackle-!
Lightning sparked along its horn.
And Cordelia understood then.
That this was Jude's goal from the very beginning.
To strengthen the Fury Wolf in order to bring out its hidden ability.
It was a hidden piece in order to get the B-rank skill book.
"F*ck! I knew something was weird!"
From the very beginning, he had said that it was "safe" for a dungeon despite having a B-rank skill book as a reward.
A strengthened dungeon boss.
The horn in its forehead was not the only change in the Fury Wolf. Its size also grew much bigger than before.
"Good! It awakened properly!"
As Jude shouted in joy, Cordelia immediately cursed him.
"You crazy b*stard! Can we defeat that?!"
"We have to defeat it! What? You can't defeat it?"
"Evil b*stard! You f*cking b*stard!"
You're provoking me even when we're in the middle of a fight!
Cordelia hurriedly swept her hair aside as she tightly gripped her magic wand that looked like a baton.
Jude smiled as held a bunch of magic circles in his left hand and a hand axe in his right hand.
"Come."
The moment Jude said that, the Fury Wolf kicked the ground.