Prytaneum
Two Weeks' Notice
If I was being honest, I hadn't been sold on the idea of a supporter. Sure, Welf had said it would come in handy—that we'd be better off with someone around to help harvest magic stones and play support and such—and I'd agreed, but mainly, I'd just been going along with his idea. I was sure that having someone there to help carry magic stones would help, yeah, but how much difference would it make, really?
And them Lili came around and proved me wrong.
On the face of it, it probably didn't seem like much—she moved bodies out of the way, carried items, and removed magic stones—and in truth, maybe they were just little things, on their own. But big things are made out of little things and it added up. Because Lili was carrying everything, Welf and I didn't have to bother with our items and bags and such, meaning we were less weighed down as we fought. Furthermore, because we weren't carrying any of the drop items or magic stones ourselves, we didn't have to worry about that weight increasing as the day went one, which didn't seem to matter when you were just gradually filling up your pack over the course of many hours, but clearly did. I felt lighter as I fought and it was easier to move, especially with the increase in my Status of late.
But Lili did a lot of things during battle, too. Despite her backpack, she was good at staying out of the way and avoiding attention, even as she darted in and out, dragging fallen bodies with her as she went. With the ground kept relatively clear, Welf and I didn't have to worry about slipping because of unsteady footing or tripping over corpses, which left us that much freer to fight. While I didn't have to worry about it as much because I just kept a flask of water at my side, whenever Welf began to tire, she was always there with a potion in hand. And true to her word, Lili seemed to know the tenth floor like the back of her hand, pointing out dead ends and side paths with unerring accuracy.
Once the battle was over and done with, though, that's were Lili really shined. After two weeks in the Dungeon, I thought I'd gotten pretty good at carving monsters open and removing their magic stones, but Lili made me look like an amateur. Without the slightest wasted movement, she carved a hole in a monster's hide and they quickly turned to ash. One by one, she collected the spoils, adding steadily too our growing horde. And while she did that, Welf and I both had a chance to rest while we guarded her.
Even after adventuring for what must have been at least half a day, I didn't feel tired in the slightest and we'd managed to completely explore the tenth floor in it's entirely—or, at least, everything we hadn't already covered. And that was despite us starting on the fifth floor, just to make sure Lili didn't have any problems. But she never complained or lagged behind or anything else and we'd soon conquered the floor that had had been stopping me for so long.
"Finally…" I said, heaving a deep sigh. "We're finally done with those goddamn bats. Goddamn. If I never have to go back to the tenth floor, it'll be too soon."
"Percy," Welf said, looking around slowly. "We're on the eleventh floor…"
There was an almost breathless tone to his voice, as if he couldn't believe it—and I suppose I could understand that. I'd been stuck on the tenth for a week, but Welf had been stuck there for at least a year, unable to go deeper without a team and thus unable to reach his dream. Even if it was only one more floor, for both of us, this meant we'd taken another step.
Too bad it wasn't much of a sight. Like the tenth floor, every room on the eleventh was filled with mist with the exception of this one, the entrance to the floor. But even when you could see well, there wasn't much to be found; ankle high grass covered the floor, moss covered the walls, and odd, dead-looking trees spotted the area, waiting for some monster to come along and use them as weapons. Oh well.
"This is the first time either of us have been on the eleventh floor," I told Lili, who was still smiling. "I've talked to my advisor about it a lot, but…any advice, Lili?"
"Lili thinks Mr. Percy and Mr. Welf don't have anything to worry about," She replied, looking up at me. "Lili's amazed to see such great adventurers—you even won against such an enormous army of Orcs. Mr. Percy must have a lot of experience…"
"Actually, I've only been an adventurer for a couple of weeks now," I replied, scratching the back of my neck. "Although various things happened before that. Still, it'd probably be for the best if you just act like I don't know anything. You don't need to call me Mr. Percy, either…"
"Sorry, but I can't do that," Lili answered immediately, shaking her head. "It's important to show who's higher ranked in a party—a mere supporter like Lili can't possibly be condescending to a great adventurer like Mr. Percy."
I frowned, not sure I liked the sound of that.
"Then, should I call you…um…Liliruca?"
"No, no," She denied again. "Mr. Percy, please just call Lili, Lili. Other names are fine too, but please don't use Lili's full name."
"I get that names are important," I muttered, looking at her. "But…does it really matter that much?"
Lili looked up at me and tilted her head, still smiling brightly even as her hood covered her eyes. I was starting to hate that smile, to be honest, and right now it seemed especially forced.
"The name supporter sounds impressive, but in truth, Lili and the others just carry the bags," She told me. "Compared to the brave and noble adventurers who risk their lives fighting, we're just cowards and parasites who watch from a safe distance and reap the rewards without fighting. It would be arrogant for someone like Lili to think she was the equal to an adventurer like Mr. Percy; other noble adventurers wouldn't allow it. If Lili tried, they might get mad and refuse to give Lili her share."
I didn't say anything, primarily because I was clenching my teeth so hard I was worried they might break. Instead, I looked at Welf, silently asking him if this was true, to which he made a displeased face and nodded, at which point I took a slow, deep breath.
"Even so, I don't mind if you just call me Percy," I told her after taking a long moment to calm myself. "I wouldn't do something like that if you called me by my name."
"Mr. Percy and Mr. Welf are good people," Lili replied with what I wasn't sure was honesty. "But it's important to make a distinction. If word got out that Lili wasn't treating adventurers with appropriate respect, Lili wouldn't be able to get contracts with adventurers besides Mr. Percy and Mr. Welf from now on. Lili would have to work for less or even free for a long time."
I glanced at Welf again, just to double check, and then opened my mouth to say something—but words failed me. While I could definitely say I would never do such a thing, I couldn't speak for other adventurers, and this was apparently something that actually happened. While I could keep Lili safe as long as she was nearby, I didn't want to accidently cause trouble for her, and much like the word 'hero' and 'god,' the word 'adventurer' seemed to decline in value the more you learned about the people it referred to.
But this actually happened? There were people would honestly treated their comrades in the Dungeon like this? Why? Maybe it was my Fatal Flaw acting up, but something like this just didn't make any sense to me, especially after seeing firsthand how helpful Lili could be. Why would anyone treat someone who was there to help them like that?
Stuff like that pissed me off enough that I wanted to scream and hit something, but doing such a thing in front of an eight year old who had clearly already been through a lot would have been immature at best, so instead I decided to stay silent until I was certain nothing would slip into my voice.
…This isn't working.
"It might be hard for Mr. Percy to accept Lili's request, but please," Lili pleaded after a long moment. "Think of it as helping Lili."
I took a slow breath and counted to ten.
"…Sure thing, Lili," I replied, voice tight.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Percy," Lili said.
If it meant not causing her trouble, then that trumped my reservations. But even though, as a general rule, I didn't tell people my full name, in this case especially, I made a mental note not to. I was pretty sure she'd actually call me Mr. Perseus and, just, no. That's my little bit of petty rebellion against the system, I guess.
Time to change the subject before I got any more upset and did something I'd…well, something someone would regret.
"The normal monsters on this floor are Silverbacks and Hard Armoreds, right?" I asked, turning away and looking into the foggy corridors beyond.
"You still get Orcs, Imps, and Batpats, too," Welf said, quick to step in and help change the conversation. "This place is full of Large-Category monsters, though, and they're what usually appear."
"More Batpats?" I asked, making a face. "Even on the tenth?"
"On the twelfth, too," He replied with a sigh. "Does that helmet I made help at all?"
"A little, but…I hate those things."
"So do I," He said. "But we've dealt with about a million of them at this point; let's worry about the new guys, since they're why this floor is so different. Silverbacks aren't as big as Orcs, but they're stronger and way, way faster, while the Hard Armoreds have the best defense on the upper floors. Even for a dwarf, it's not uncommon for attacks to bounce right off…but you know how to handle them, right? For you it shouldn't be any problem."
I nodded. I'd had an encyclopedia pounded into my head, courtesy of Eina.
Still, I had to frown. While I didn't mind the chance to talk, it was rare that the Dungeon was so courteous to me—usually, it would already have swarmed me with monsters. And yet, so far, there was nothing.
"Stay close to me," I told both of my friends. "Just in case something happens."
They both nodded and followed me out of the room. We stepped into the fog on the eleventh floor, wading through it carefully while I kept myself alert. Feeling things through fog wasn't the same as feeling them in water, but it still gave me a better feel for approaching monsters than Lili or Welf. But even as we walked from floor to floor, there was nothing.
"—Something's wrong," Welf muttered, keeping his voice low. "Where are all the monsters at? We never have this easy of a time."
I pursed my lips, agreeing even as I remained tense. After a few minutes passed, we still hadn't seen anything, but I was readying myself to act the moment something went wrong. Because something would, of that I was growing more and more sure. But from where? And how?
And then, all of a sudden, there was a crack. The sudden sound was enough to make Welf and Lili jump and I turned towards it expectantly, placing my body between them and it, rolling my shoulders to work out the tension. Even through the fog, I could make up the massive crack in the wall that signified the birth of a larger monster. As chunks of the Dungeon's wall fell to the ground, I saw amber scales and that alone was enough for me to understand.
"Infant Dragon…" I said, voice tight.
"What!?" Lili asked, sounding startled and more than a bit scared.
Not that I could blame her—this was something Eina had warned me about repeatedly. While the upper floors didn't have anything like a Monster Rex, the Infant Dragon was the next best thing, a Level 2 monster on the floors Level 1's frequent. They only appeared on the eleventh and twelfth floors and since there were only supposed to four or five total, you had to be pretty lucky to meet one. Or unlucky, as the case may be, seeing as they can wipe out entire parties of Level 1 adventurers. It was supposed to be bad news in a major way.
I'd have been lying if I said I was even vaguely surprised to have run into one first thing.
But…maybe I was getting paranoid, but was this all? Not to make light of a Level 2 threat or anything, but the Dungeon wasn't this nice to me. It wouldn't summon a single threat when it could summon a hundred; why just an Infant Dragon and not a couple dozen Silverbacks and Hard Armored to serve as an escort? Why not a bunch of Batpats to be the perpetual pain in the ass they were? Hell, why only one Infant Dragon? Sure, there were only supposed to be five at most and they were never encountered in groups, but I'd figured they'd make an exception for me. I'd expected to see at least two at once and I'd been prepared to call Mrs. O'Leary and get Welf and Lili out of here if they appeared.
Just one was…threatening, certainly, but nothing like what I expected.
"Welf," I said, drawing Riptide as I watched the thing emerge. 'Infant' though it may be, it was about five feet tall at the shoulder and well over ten feet long. It didn't have any wings, but it had claws and teeth to spare and it left marks on the ground as it hit the floor. More importantly, it was blocking the way out. "Take Lili and back up a bit, okay?"
"Percy," Welf replied, voice sounding strained for a moment before he calmed himself. "You think you can handle a Level 2?"
"No problem," I answered, but I could keep the frown off my face. "You want me to call for back up? Now might not be a bad time to get out of here. Especially with Lili here."
"Mr. Percy?" Lili asked.
"That depends," Welf said. "Would you be coming with us?"
"This thing kills teams of Level 1s," I said. "I can't just leave it this close to the entrance."
Welf clicked his tongue.
"Lili, you want to leave?" He asked her. "We can make a way out. But the two of us have to kill this thing."
"…Can you really?"
"Like I said, no problem," I told her. "Riptide's killed bigger things than this, trust me. But I won't blame you if you want to leave—it's probably the smart thing to do."
"…Lili will fall back, but she won't leave. If you can really do it…"
I nodded sharply, eyes still on the dragon.
"Keep an eye out for anything weird," I told her. "You too, Welf. If this is a trap, it's too simple, so give me a heads up if anything happens."
"Got it," Welf said. "If it's something like this, then I might be able to cover you from here, too."
I glanced at him.
"Yeah?" I asked. "How?"
"We'll just have to see if my Magic works on monsters." He answered, looking tense. "And I still have those shells, too."
"Well," I mused. "Now seems like as good a time as any."