Episode 11 – Dungeon Book (5)
The Fury Wolf and other 'wolf' race monsters shared one characteristic.
'A straight line attack.'
They used the powerful strength of their legs to rush forward like a bullet.
But the trajectory of their attack was very simple. Therefore, anyone could avoid it as long as they could get the right timing.
The Fury Wolf kicked the ground.
It roughly pushed the ground with its hind legs, and the Fury Wolf's entire body shot forward at that instant.
Craaackle-!
Lightning rose from its horn. It exploded sharply, and the Fury Wolf pierced through the sound.
It was at a speed that was hard for the eyes to chase.
And that applied to Jude too.
He might have reached level 8, but he was still only level 8. It was impossible for him to fully capture the Fury Wolf's movements with his eyes.
But there was something that he could do.
The moment the wolf ran.
The moment the Fury Wolf kicked the ground, Jude also began to move. He threw himself towards the left without any hesitation.
Bzzzzz!
The Fury Wolf ran through the spot where Jude had stood. But Jude rolled on the floor, and Cordelia screamed.
"Outboxer!"
It wasn't because she thought that Jude was struck by the wolf.
Cordelia knew. Her memories when she was Yellow Storm were screaming.
The next attack.
The Fury Wolf that had pierced the air then kicked the ground. It rotated and charged at the same time with its powerful leg strength.
Jude was rolling on the floor. He had yet to get up.
So it couldn't be avoided.
The next attack would end up hitting him!
Cordelia raised her wand. Her instincts made her invoke her magic without her realizing it.
Her target was the space between Jude and the Fury Wolf.
It is impossible to hit the Fury Wolf. So she directed the attack to the place between Jude and the wolf.
'Please!'
Her magic was activated.
It was an attack that simply shot her magic power, and not a spell with proper structure and formula.
But that was the reason on why the attack was fast.
It became possible for her to send an explosion of magic power between Jude and the Fury Wolf.
Craaaackle!
But there was no explosion. Lightning burst from the horn on the Fury Wolf's forehead, and the clump of mana that Cordelia had hurriedly created was destroyed.
"Awooooo!"
The Fury Wolf pierced through the remnants of the mana. Cordelia screamed, and Jude raised his upper body.
The Fury Wolf would hit Jude. And she would see it then. The sharp fangs of the Fury Wolf would instantly rip apart Jude's neck!
Pang!
But that didn't happen.
Instead of Jude's scream and the gruesome sound of broken bones and flesh, a small 'pang' sounded.
Just before the Fury Wolf reached Jude.
At the time the Fury Wolf destroyed the clump of mana Cordelia had created.
"Ke-iiiiing!"
The Fury Wolf suddenly rolled on the floor and painfully cried. Rather than biting Jude, it moved away as it struggled on the floor.
What the-
How in the world-?!
"A dog's sense of smell is a thousand times better than humans!"
Jude shouted. But he also held his breath and soon began coughing because of that.
Cordelia understood then.
Without going through the process of thinking, she immediately understood what Jude had done at the moment she saw it.
'Smell!'
It was as Jude said.
Dogs had a sense of smell that was a thousand times better than that of humans.
Furthermore, the opponent was a Fury Wolf.
It was a monster whose abilities were superior in all aspects that an ordinary dog couldn't even compare to it.
Jude had popped a paper envelope.
It was a special stink bomb created by combining various items!
He had planned this from the very beginning.
They couldn't beat the Fury Wolf with a straightforward tactic unless they leveled up more.
Thus, he aroused its sense of smell.
He evaded its first straight line attack and then detonated the stink bomb after its second turning attack.
And with that, the Fury Wolf was temporarily neutralized.
Cordelia couldn't help but smile then.
She brightly smiled and clenched her fist.
Yes, this person is Outboxer.
The number one in the server rankings whom I have never won against!
"Cough! Kaak! Cordelia!"
Jude coughed as he shouted, and Cordelia did not miss his words.
No, she was already moving by the time Jude began to yell.
It wasn't only Jude who had prepared some tricks.
Cordelia had also prepared a trick up her sleeve!
"!"
Cordelia activated the magic orb she was holding in her left hand.
It was an orb filled with a magic spell, just like the papers inscribed with magic circles that Jude was using.
It was made by Count William Chase, the head of the Chase family before Cordelia's father, the present Count Chase.
The spell was activated.
A pit 3 meters in diameter and 3 meters in depth was formed with the Fury Wolf at the center, who was still tormented by the smell.
"Ke-iiiiing?!"
The Fury Wolf that was suddenly stuck in the pit groaned again, but Cordelia did not stop.
She ran and stopped in front of the pit before she swung her wand to invoke her magic this time.
"!"
"!"
"!"
When beginners of Legend of Heroes 2 chose the spell that they wanted to learn first, most of them chose attack spells.
It was not strange.
Because attack spells were needed in order to deal damage to the enemy.
But attack spells were not the only way to attack the enemy.
Moreover, the wizard was not just an artillery unit who shot attack spells.
'The wizard is the one who controls the situation.'
Among the rankers of Legend of Heroes 2, Yellow Storm was the one who fought battles in the game more than anyone else, but she did not forget the most important fact.
The wizard was not just an artillery unit.
They were the ones who controlled the situation. They were the ones who made it possible to win fights that could not be won.
Therefore, Cordelia was not obsessed with attack magic.
She learned to make the floor slippery.
She learned to dig a pit that could transform the battlefield.
"!"
It couldn't compare to Count Chase's spell. But it worked because she used it four times in a row on an already existing pit.
7 meters deep.
It was a depth that the Fury Wolf could somehow escape from.
But it was okay.
Because Cordelia knew.
Because Yellow Storm believed in him.
"Outboxer009."
She said in a small voice and fell on her butt from exhaustion. And as if responding to her call, Jude ran and tore all the remaining magic circles into the pit.
"Bingo."
Right after he spoke in a low voice.
Jude threw himself at Cordelia. He almost fell on his face, but at that moment, the ground shook with a loud roar.
Boooooooom-!
Flames, lightning, and wind raged inside the pit. The magic spells that were activated in the narrow space then influenced each other and created a bigger explosion.
Boooom!
The last roaring explosion.
Jude and Cordelia almost simultaneously stood up. The two peeked into the pit together and soon smiled in delight.
"Our levels have gone up."
Jude said out loud as white rings of light surrounded the bodies of Jude and Cordelia in succession.
One, two, three.
Jude became level 11 while Cordelia became level 10.
But that didn't end there.
[You have acquired the title 'Defeated the Fury Wolf Before Reaching Level 10'.]
[Permanently increases all stats by 1.]
Those words suddenly appeared in their minds.
They couldn't open a status window, but they felt a new surge of energy just like every time they leveled up.
"Title."
Bonus points that one could get when gaining an achievement.
Jude held out his fist to Cordelia.
"Fine play."
"Fine play."
Cordelia replied with a smile and bumped fists with him, but it was only for a moment.
"Ugh, the smell! Hey, get away from me first! You seriously smell awful now, okay?!"
Jude was affected by the stink bomb too when it first exploded because he was near it.
Rather than being sad at Cordelia's words, Jude smiled and leaned towards Cordelia.
"Uuuhhh… I'm suddenly feeling anemic because of Gueumjulmaek…"
"Hey! I can see that you're just acting, okay?!"
But Cordelia still reflexively supported Jude.
Jude leaned on Cordelia and pointed at the sky by gesturing with his chin.
"It seems like it finally came out."
"This is… Wow!"
Cordelia pushed Jude aside as she admired it with wide open eyes. She couldn't help it.
"B-rank skill book."
Two columns of light appeared and formed into two books as it floated in the air.
Jude and Cordelia exchanged glances, and a bright smile spread on their faces.
***
Skill book.
As its name implied, it was a book that allowed a person to acquire skills, and was also the most popular means of acquiring skills in Legend of Heroes 2.
'Because it's easy and simple.'
If one used a skill book, they could immediately learn the skill without having to exert effort in learning it.
Obviously, it was impossible to master it right away because each skill had a skill level, but its biggest advantage was that one could use the skill immediately.
'Because it usually took time to learn from an NPC or from studying it by reading a book yourself.'
But the one drawback to this skill book was that it could only be used once.
The skill book disappeared after a person used it.
So it was impossible to share it with others.
"Wow, it's really a B-rank skill book, a B-rank. Look at that border color. Is this the reward for our hardships?"
Cordelia brightly smiled as she pointed to the silver border of the skill book.
Whenever it was time to receive rewards in the game, Yellow Storm was like a child who loved getting rewards.
'Because it's fun to get rewards.'
The number of skill books that appeared was two.
One was a martial arts skill book and the other was a magic skill book, so there was no need for Jude and Cordelia to argue about on who would get what.
"This is my favorite time in the game."
"What do you mean? Are you referring to the time when you open a reward?"
"Yes, because it's exciting to see on what will come out."
Cordelia showed a charming smile befitting an incomparably beautiful girl, and she brushed the dirt off after standing up. She then reached out towards the sky. The B-rank skill book slowly began to fly towards Cordelia.
"Whoa, it's really a B-rank. Hehe, what will come out? But is this skill not random? Do you know what skill will come out?"
"Yes, the reward is fixed. Mine is footwork as I've said before."
Jude also reached out to the sky in order to get the skill book.
The color of the skill book's cover changed depending on the rank, and the color red symbolized B-rank.
A skill book with a red cover and a silver border.
Cordelia hugged her skill book and turned to Jude.
"So, what is it? What footwork skill did you get?"
"Thirty-Six World Steps."
"Thirty-what?"
"Thirty-Six World Steps."
Cordelia furrowed her brows and tilted her head at Jude's answer. She felt like she had heard of it somewhere, but nothing came to her mind when she thought of it.
"It's a B-rank martial art skill. Besides, you like magic more than martial arts."
When Jude shrugged and made an excuse, Cordelia pouted her lips but she didn't pretend that she wanted to know it.
"So what is it after all?"
"As its name suggests, it is a footwork skill made up of 36 steps. It specializes in evasion."
"And?"
"Hey, this is B-rank skill, okay?"
He looked at Cordelia with eyes that seemed to ask on what more she wanted to know, and Cordelia nodded her head.
'In fact, there's more to it.
The reason why Thirty-Six World Steps was special compared to other B-rank martial art skills.
'Because it can be upgraded.'
Thirty-Six Worldly Steps was just the foundation.
When one completely mastered it, the door to the next level opened, and the number of steps in the footwork skill decreased as the skill got upgraded.
A-rank footwork skill – Twenty-Four Gale Steps.
S-rank footwork technique – Twelve Faith Steps.
And the so-called ultimate fantasy footwork skill, EX-rank footwork technique – Nine Celestial Steps.
'Can you hide from the sky in just nine steps?'
In fat, it was not an exaggeration to say that it was like the final footwork skill in the entire Legend of Heroes 2, and even from the time he was Outboxer009, he had only heard of it but never learned it.
"Thirty-Six World Steps…come to think of it, it has a similar name to the Twelve Faith Steps you often used."
"That's right."
Jude gave a modest answer to Cordelia's innocent remark, and he smiled before pointing to Cordelia's chest, or to be exact, to the skill book she was hugging in her arms.
"What about yours?"
"Huh? You really don't know?"
"I really don't know. As I've told you, I never conquered this dungeon when I played a wizard in the game."
"Heh, is that so? Then this is the first time this skill book will be opened, huh? How exciting."
Cordelia brightly smiled as if she was a child with a giftbox in front of her, and she immediately opened the skill book. The title then appeared on the inner cover.
[Fire Missile – B-rank]
"Oh! This is good. I like this one."
As Cordelia giggled and stroked the skill book, Jude unconsciously nodded.
'It's perfect for her.'
There was a reason why Yellow Storm was able to stay in the second rank in the server rankings despite her knowledge of Legend of Heroes 2 being less than Outboxer009 – no, it was even lesser than those in the top 30.
Yellow Storm got her ranking scores through countless battles, and she mainly played a wizard who was good at dealing damage with the highest efficiency, clearly proving why she was nicknamed 'Storm' in every battle.
'She rained down magic missiles like a storm.'
Because she was someone who literally created a storm of magic missiles, manipulating hundreds of magic missiles at the same time wherein others could only manipulate dozens of it.
So giving such a Yellow Storm a fire attribute magic missile skill was like giving an artisan the perfect tool.
"Okay, both of us seem to be satisfied. Shall we get ready to go back?"
Jude looked back at the place where the Fury Wolf stood when it first appeared. A blue spatial door leading to the outside of the dungeon had appeared and it had a rippling appearance as if it was the surface of a lake being blown by a wind.
"Wait a minute, let's change our clothes first. You also stink. Dahlia will definitely ask why."
"Hmm, you're right."
Jude had actually brought a change of clothes too. Because he had planned to use the stink bomb from the very beginning.
"Don't look back."
"You too."
Jude and Cordelia turned their backs on each other and hurriedly began to change clothes.
"By the way."
"Yes."
"You 'saw' the title, right?"
"Yes."
"There is no status window, but the title itself is there and its benefits are in effect now, right?"
"Perhaps."
As soon as Jude answered, he smiled.
Because he recalled the titles they now had.
"Now then."
"Yes?"
"You and I have both reached level 10, right?"
"Yes."
"Do you have anything in mind for our next step?"
"Yes. What about you?"
"I have something in mind too."
The rustling sounds stopped for a moment.
Instead of looking back, Jude fixed his clothes and opened his mouth again.
"Shall we speak at the same time?"
"Okay."
"One."
"Two."
""The Devil's Hand.""
Jude and Cordelia spoke the same words at the same time, and both smiled.
"Not bad, huh?"
"You too."
Devil's Hand.
They weren't talking about getting a new item or skill.
In 'Cordelia's Main Scenario,' they were the powerful antagonists – in short, it was the name of a group of demon followers.
Legend of Heroes 2 had a variety of playable characters with each having their own main scenario.
Cordelia's main scenario began around half a year earlier than Jude's main scenario, and the day of its beginning was soon approaching.
'Around 15 days from now, I think?'
Cordelia's main scenario began when she traveled to participate in a social gathering of children from the 12 northern families.
'The main event in the beginning is the Devil's Hand attacking the children of the 12 northern families.'
As a result of that event, some of the children from the 12 northern families were killed or injured, and some were kidnapped by the Devil's Hand and then brainwashed.
'In the game, you had to be contented that Cordelia alone managed to run away…'
But this was not a game anymore. Moreover, there were two people here who knew on what was going to happen in the future.
'We have to stop the Devil's Hand.'
In the first place, the purpose of Jude and Cordelia was to not follow the scenario of Legend of Heroes 2.
Because the fated bad ending – Armageddon, would be waiting for them then.
So they had to make a new ending.
They would stop the Great Summons and prevent the destruction of the world that led to Legend of Heroes 3.
Stopping the Devil's Hand would be the first step in that journey.
"So…you know…"
"I know?"
"That…"
"That?"
When Jude slyly asked her again, Cordelia pouted and got angry.
"You know what I'm talking about, right?"
What Cordelia herself was trying to say now.
Jude clearly knew what it was.
But the sly Jude still shook his head.
"No, I don't know. I want to hear it in person."
"Hey, you already know the answer, right?"
Jude happily laughed. It was as Cordelia said.
"But can't you just tell me yourself? That way, I'll get motivated."
"F*ck, you're really mean."
Cordelia quietly muttered before she took a deep breath and said in a small but clear voice.
"Let's go together."
The social gathering of the children from the 12 northern families would be held at center of the north – Langesthei.
'Jude Bayer' did not originally go to Langesthei.
Because his Gueumjulmaek made it impossible for him to travel for long distances.
But it was different now.
It was possible for Jude to go now.
'It's the reason why I was in a hurry in the first place.'
It was one of the many reasons on why he wanted to immediately cure his Gueumjulmaek.
"If my beloved Lady Cordelia wishes for it, I will do so."
Cordelia instantly shuddered at Jude's answer, but only for a short time. She brightly smiled and turned around after she finished fixing her skirt and then said.
"Okay, you can turn around now."
"I'm already looking."
"F*ck?"
Jude smiled when he saw Cordelia's blushing face, and he said as he walked towards the spatial door.
"Anyway, let's hurry up. Time is gold, right?"
"You're just all talk, all talk."
Cordelia grumbled and pouted her lips before she stood next to Jude, and the two took a final look at each other before they began to walk at the same time.
They began their first step towards a new ending.