The First Dungeon!

[As the morning light flooded through the window, Tadao walked downstairs to see his mother, sitting alone at the dining table. Despite having a cup of warm tea in front of her, she had a sour look on her face. Tadao came up to her and side tugged her sweater.

"Oh! Tadao. Good morning." She said with a crack in her voice.

"Mama! I've made up my mind!" shouted Tadao.

"Oh?"

"I'm gonna protect you mama. I'm gonna grow big and strong to protect you like Papa did! I promise!" Etsuko sat in silence. The little Tadao had his hands on his hips and a smug look on his face, awaiting a response. But he was completely taken aback when Etsuo suddenly leaned over and hugged him tightly against her bosom.

"M-mama?" Tadao said, confused. He then noticed something wet drop onto his cheek, and turned to see tears forming at his mothers eyes.

"You will, Tadao!" Etsuo cried with a wide smile, "My little Tadao…"]

"TADAO! WATCH OUT!" Tadao awoke at the sound of his mother's warning. As his vision slowly came to focus, he noticed that he was about to get hit by rock debris. Just as he was about to brace for impact, he was swooped up into the air. His savior happened to be none other than Etusko, who held him under her arm.

"Sorry. I must've blacked out," he said, trying to regain full consciousness. The two flew through the dark room, with walls made out of gray stone. It was dimly lit by a few torches littered on the wall, and it seemed to resemble an arena.

"Be careful Tadao!" scolded his mother, "This monster is very dangerous! Watch out for its tail, okay?!" As her boots touched neutral ground, she sat Tadao down on the ground. Tadao watched the monster's bright yellow eyes stare at him and his mother. It raised it's tail in the air, almost as if it was taunting them. To think Tadao would be cornered by a giant purple salamander that spits acid and makes poison clouds. The skin was darker around the neck, and had more wrinkles than the rest of the body. As the monster started a regurgitating motion, Etsuko then positioned herself as a runner starting a race. Instantly, she jumped back towards the monster like an arrow, effortlessly cutting through the air.

"You could've left him there sweetheart. He's strong enough to take the hit." joked a deep voice. Tadao turned to a corner of the room and found Mikael, both of his hands on his massive broadsword. He seemed to be retreating after getting a hit in.

"Ye." Jakson replied, leaping towards the monster's hide with his sword above his head. He managed to get a slash before he landed.

"Now why would I do that boys?~" Etusko said with a gleeful smile on her face, "SWORD SKILL: LIGHTING FLASH!" With immense speed, she dashed to all sides of the monster, getting a slash in with her blessed broadsword. The salamander roared in pain as small gashes appeared on it's skin.

"This must be one of the new moves." thought Tadao. He recalled seeing his mother's status panel right before the dungeon exploration. In the bottom right of the blue rectangle was a notice sign which read:

[Seed of LIGHTNING AFFINITY SWORD MASTER MIKAEL detected. Lightning Flash skill unlocked. Seed of LIGHTNING AFFINITY SWORD MASTER JAKSON detected. LIGHTNING THRUST skill unlocked.]

"The stupid god didn't say anything about this skill." muttered Tadao, as he slowly rose to his feet.

"It seems to be weakened, let's take it down!" Mikael yelled. Etusko and Jakson stanced up, ready to pounce. Tadao tried to walk towards the fight with his own cutlass, but immediately fell. He winced as a sharp pain rose up his leg. Looking down, he realized his left femur was shattered, and part of his tibia stuck out from his pants. His eyes went wide.

The only thing in his mind was healing. He scurried through the knapsack the men made him carry, and found the last healing potion. He had used the other ten to heal himself already. He popped open the cork and drank the green liquid. His body glowed green as the potion took effect, but it would take a while.

"WATER MAGIC: HURRICANE AURA!" Etusko yelled, as a shield made out of pure water wrapped her mature body and her sword. On the other side, Jakson's sword started emitting yellow lightning particles from the tip.

"GO!" Commanded Mikael. At once, the three warriors leaped towards the stunned monster's neck, striking it at the same time. All three swords were now lodged in the monster. However, the beast did not fall. With a loud roar, it violently shook, throwing everyone off to the corners of the room. Mikael and Jakson hit the wall hard, and were struggling to get up. Etsuko caught herself by lodging her sword into the ground. The monster then turned to the glowing boy with the broken leg, and started waddling towards him. Tadao noticed and raised his right arm, manifesting a small sphere of flames in his palm.

"Fire Magic: F-fireball." He groaned as he threw the ball at the salamander's left eye. The fire dissipated upon contact, and the salamander stood still. Tadao grinned, raising his cutlass in front of him as a last form of defense. "T-that's all I could do huh?"

"TADAO!" Etsuko shrieked. She quickly scanned through all the skills in her repertoire but the monster kept moving closer to her son. Just then, from the corner of her eye, she saw a yellow spark. She turned to see a puddle of water, sporadically emitting a small lightning bolt, and gasped.

Etsuko then pointed her sword at the beast. Determination was written in bold on her face. "WIND MAGIC: SPAWN TORNADO!" She yelled, as wind whipped around her body and hair. A twister the size of the monster itself manifested in front of Etsuko. With the slash of her sword, she sent it flying at the salamander. Upon impact, the monster was lifted from its webbed feet and into the air, roaring and erratically moving its limbs.

Tadao watched the monster as it flew into the air. "WATER MAGIC: TSUNAMI SHIELD." A large wave of water grew in front of Etsuko, and quickly rushed towards the salamander, drowning it with a crash. Etusko then held her sword with both hands and closed her eyes, letting out a single breath of air from her mouth. Lighting started to form around her body and her sword, gradually getting more and more violent.

"Lightning magic…" Etsuko whispered as small pebbles started flying into the air around her. The bolts of lighting were now condensed all on her sword, which glowed a bright light yellow. "LIGHTNING THRUST!" A white and yellow streak dashed across the room towards the salamander. With a loud bang, Etusko landed at the monster's neck, using all of her power to force it downwards. Lighting bolts danced on top of the salamander's wet body, causing steam to form. A roar echoed through the arena.

"Don't you DARE hurt him," Etsuko then let out a warcry, and cut through the armor made of scales. A bright flash filled the room as the body and head of the salamander went separate ways. Etsuko was also thrown back, falling to one knee.

As things cooled down, the monster's body slowly started disintegrating into small particles. Mikael and Jakson dusted themselves off and walked up to Etsuko. "You good?" Mikael said, picking her up back to her feet.

"Y-Yes." Etsuo smiled, still panting from her combo move, "t-thank you both for helping."

"Man, a powerful monster like that was in the dungeon the entire time? What a hunt, ain't that right bro?"

"Ye." Mikael said, wrapping his arm around Etsuko's shoulder. Etsuko placed her own soft hand on his and warmly smiled. The trio then noticed Tadao walking towards the trio, using his cutlass as a makeshift cane.

"Oh! Tadao! Are you okay?!" Etsuko said, reaching out to him.

"I..I'm fine." Tadao responded, looking down with a sour look on his face. Etsuko reached out her hand towards her son, but was distracted by a bright light appearing in the monster's body. Carefully, she walked towards the light, which happened to be emitting from a hilt with an extravagant red, black, and gold pattern on it. She grabbed it, with a face full of awe.

"That's what 'yer lookin for, right?" Mikael smirked, crossing his arms.

"Yes! That's part of the sword Baelz was talking about! Thank you Mikael, Jakson!"

"Aye. No big deal. Why don't we celebrate back home?"

"C-celebreate?!" Etusko's eyes lit up, "Does that mean…"

"Ye." Jakson replied.

"See Tadao?" Etsuko turned to him with a smug expression, "I DID say we were gonna have a party!" Tadao stayed silent as Etsuko then ran into Mikael's arms, hugging him and sharing a celebratory wet kiss between lovers.