Walking through the forest, I was met with trees...crooked trees...and more trees! The more I walked through the forest, the more I got my hopes up that I wouldn't see anything else aside from trees...but what do you know? Enormous trees only sprouted from the distance as soon as I walked a few steps further.
But honestly...it's getting a little creepy. And no, it's not just because the trees were mostly dead.
The entrance which was spooked with sounds, was extremely different from the inside. Right now, I'm hearing no other sound, except for that of my footprints. The stillness of this feeling is making my heart palpitate faster than before I even entered.
...and the odd green flowers that were glowing only made things worse.
So, naturally, I picked them up. Maybe they can help me fight against the wraiths.
I never looked into this dungeon in detail when I was scrolling through the forums, but they always treated this dungeon as "unclearable" if you didn't have magic or aura.
However, when I think about it...this dungeon was always looked down on by the pros and the good players, saying that it was only ranked as medium-ranked because you had to have either magic or aura.
So then...why did Alvana tell me to clear this when she knows I have none?!
Well, there's no point crying over that...I don't know her intentions, but I'm pretty sure that I can find my answer here. Maybe even learn either of those two abilities, I don't know.
...an hour passes, and I'm stuck walking around in circles. Each time I move, I'm always stuck with the very same stump that I intentionally marked as soon as I realized that something was off.
Even if I went left, right, up, down, or wherever, I always end up seeing this stump!
...if that was the case, then I would rather settle down for a while and make a campfire. I've done so by rubbing stones and sticks that were awfully sturdy for no apparent reason.
The smoke emanating from the fire reached the mellow and grey sky of the dungeon...which will hopefully entice the wraiths or whatever to come here...
And since they're not here yet, I grabbed one of those glowing green flowers and inspected it with scrutiny. It was small, beautifully haunting...and smelled foul. There wasn't any mana within it when I took it out, but it was still glowing. Its shine never faded even when it's been minutes since I took it out.
Inspecting it, I discovered a small but crucial...thing above the flower's stamen, which I will describe as its pollen. It stings when I touch it, and even makes me feel like my hands are melting. "Odd," I remark, fascinated by this niche part of the flower.
But that curiosity I felt dissipated as soon as I heard a ghastly shriek from the distance.
I immediately grabbed my spear and placed the flower inside my bag. Hopefully, nothing bad happens when it touches the egg...
And yes, I brought the egg...just to see if using Rosalina's perspective of raising monsters would be effective.
...I step back and look up, pointing my spear above and not losing my range or vision. I see it now, a wraith cloaked in dark cloth, hiding its true face as it appears from the shadows.
The wraith shrieks, coming to attack me with a tackle, so I move to my side and thrust the wraith's face...and naturally, it's ineffective.
The tip of my spear only passes through its body, as it screeches loudly and comes in my direction...which I may state, is an overreaction! You think I even hit it huh?! It doesn't even look affected! Not in the slightest!
I try to lure it to the fire, hoping to find any way that I can hit it...but I can't do it so haphazardly.
I hide the fire with my body, waiting for the wraith to rush over to me. Instead...it doesn't and scratches me with claws that were made from magic. I brace for the impact, not even dodging it because I never expected it to attack that way.
I almost topple over, losing balance on one leg...but I only suppress my unease and find my balance again. I'm not going to fall and get my head burnt to a crisp.
As soon as I'm standing upright, I immediately position my spear to my front...but the wraith immediately runs through me, which catches me off guard. Not because I didn't expect it...but because I didn't expect its speed to be that fast.
I immediately dodge to my left, hitting a rock and falling down...only to see the wraith get burnt by the fire as it passed by the campfire.
"That was...it was fast..." I tell myself, breathing heavily and panting. "But I can actually fight a wraith...I...I never expected this..." I tell myself, looking up at the grey sky with delight.
"I...I can do this. I'll fight every wraith I meet through this way..." I smile happily, planning to find more sticks, and then set up campfires in all parts of the forest...and as for any other green flowers I found when I was looking for wood? I decided to just keep them in my bag and see if I could sell them. They might make up good potion materials.
...and now that the forest was covered in smoke, I can confidently say that I'm done setting them all up.
As of now, I'm just waiting for the wraiths to show up...while sitting down on the stump with a carefree mind, remembering the actions that the wraith from earlier did. It will rush to you like a bulldozer...and it can also scratch you with big claws.
...so when I see a frenzy of wraiths coming throughout all directions from where I'm sitting, I definitely know I'm going to deal with a lot.
Oh well, I might as well use what master has taught me...
I immediately arm myself with my spear, planning to defeat one in front of me. It grows startled and uses a beam of light to hit my head, but I dodge by stepping to the side...now dealing with the incoming claw and tackle attacks.
I move from side to side, swinging my spear's pole to create distance between all of them. It works, but not for every wraith, so I had to dodge a few more attacks to come out alright. So afterward, when they all fell into a trance from my attacks...I use the opportunity to solo out my original target.
The wraith grows startled, escaping further to the front...which is exactly what I wanted. I keep its attention on me, ensuring that it doesn't see what is up there in front.
I thrust my spear to its head, which makes the wraith screech...even if I didn't even land a successful attack! It follows up with the wraith escaping to the front while the other wraiths from behind come to tail us.
"You're finished!" I scream as I pounce on the wraith, intentionally misleading it into thinking I have some finishing move that can actually hit it...which lets it scurry further to the front.
...meeting its end as its body turns into ash.
The other wraiths from the behind look agitated, some, fearful...shocked that something like that could happen. "Who's next?!" I cackle, definitely feeling the power trip from all the results of my training...master Alvana was right, this is a great way for me to practice my skills! It's fun! Why did I even hesitate in the first place?!
~~~
"Alvana," A voice deprived of sleep calls out, stopping Alvana in her tracks. "Leone," Alvana answers stoically, keeping a mask of false taciturnity now that she's back to dealing with players from the surface.
Leone yawns, lazily squatting down the ground and looking up at Alvana. "You're back...I thought I would continue guarding this post for a month," Leone smiles happily, feeling happy that she could finally go back to her dorm to sleep.
"Why not? It would be better for you if you spent your time working some more," Alvana jokes quietly, covering her mouth from the prying eyes of those on the surface...just so that they wouldn't think of her any less when they find out what her real personality is.
Leone only clicks her tongue and looks up at the sky. "Shut up, I don't want to deal with more of the miss- err...the madam's complaints," She says, sighing. Alvana only nods, keeping a strict face as she looks at Leone. "Good, I agree with the madam on that part. You need training in basic decency,"
It causes a gasp from Leone, but Alvana doesn't bother and situates herself in her post...watching the players on the surface...and the weird woman behind her.
"Oh yeah? Bet I'd love to learn that from a boar who knows of nothing else except fighting like a beast," Leone snarkily retorts, causing a wrinkle to form on Alvana's perfectly crafted smile.
"Good, I'd love to teach a cat who only knows how to hit on the back," Alvana retorts back, keeping her face still and unmoving. Leone only pouts and gets up, looking at Alvana with anger...but she pushes it away for now, especially when she is curious about something else.
"Well...I thought you would fight with sir for a little longer, what's up?" Leone asks, and Alvana can't help but let out a small smirk. "He's training in Wraith's Bequeath," Alvana says excitedly, and now, the ever so lazy Leone actually stood up with a lively energy.
"Sir has learned aura in a week?! But how! Don't tell me you gave him those pills..." Leone exclaims with shock.
"Pfft..." Alvana laughs, this time composing herself and not showing any ounce of emotion.
Leone then shakes Alvana from the side out of pure shock...but Alvana doesn't move an inch, not even bothering to look at Leone from her right.
"Come on! You can't just give out such a priceless treasure to a-" Leone stops herself from completing her sentence. "You know what I mean, so why the hell did you do it?!"
"Calm yourself and act decently. I did no such thing...I just told him to train there." Alvana answers with happy and glowing eyes.
"...and he doesn't know aura?" Leone asks, the expression on her face darkening
"No, he doesn't," Alvana answers back, the joy in her eyes only growing.
Leone sighs softly, getting gloomier. "...you're an idiot. And a sadist." Leone remarks, her face souring by the second.
"Haha! But my disciple's a genius! He'll learn aura in his time there!" Alvana laughs, and Leone only scoffs, refusing to believe in anything Alvana says. "You...sure, whatever you say. But I'm reporting this to the madam."
Alvana then looks at Leone with fright, catching her by the sleeves before she could run off. "You're not doing anything, you stupid cat!"