Chapter 21 Dungeon Dive

I left my blade in the standing Kobold and used my now free hand to grab one of my throwing knives, throwing it into the knee of one of the three monsters surrounding John. Taking the handle of the gladius back in my hand I kicked the Kobolds corpse away making the one charging behind it stumble.

Moving in, my left gladius sliced the wrist of the oncoming claw, deflecting the blow and severing the tendons. I got in closer, stabbing towards the monster's gut with my right blade. The Kobold stepped back, but I had planted my foot behind it's own, so it tripped onto the ground. I finished it off easily.

I turned back to watch John, the other three of the party's members had stayed outside the ring of the battle, ready to step in should either of us need it. John easily bisected two of them with his sword then used his shield to ward off the third until he was able to chop off its head. If we had both hadn't been Blessed we might have actually of been of similar strength and speed due to my powerful heritage, but the gap in our Stats were obvious. Not only was he faster and able to hit harder, but while it was hard to keep up with for me it was obvious that he was taking it easy.

Damn did I just think John looked cool? Nononono this can't be happening.

I peered at him, as the fight finished the imaginary golden halo of a hero faded away and John was now blending into the background once again. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Aww were you worried for me Kova?" John asked.

"Hmm? Oh no I just lost sight of you for a moment. You know with your camouflage gear you would make a great assassin."

He looked down at himself.

"This isn't camouflage."

"Are you sure? Because you blend into the background so well I forgot that you were in this party."

"You do realize that you're in the Dungeon and that if we're not here to protect you there is a decent chance that you might die?"

"You do realize that if I died down here then the Goddess would question you and there is no way for you to lie to her. Then you'd have to deal with her and Tsubaki, being unable to save me and leaving me for dead are two completely different things."

John just glared at me, then he kicked one of the Kobolds to my feet.

"Get the magic stones from them."

One of the other members that had been carrying my bag while I fought dropped it in front of me, giving me an odd look.

I keep forgetting that most kids don't go around counter blackmailing adults when threatened with possible death, but I'd rather them treat me like a sociopath than a kid that can be kicked around, and with the power of youth, (being a shota) I could turn Tsubaki and hopefully Hephaestus on my side.

I shucked the magic stones in the core of the monster's bodies. I had kept the stone of the first Goblin that I had killed in my pants pocket, making it a momento. Apparently it was illegal to sell magic stones collected from the Dungeon to anyone but the Guild, however you didn't have to sell them if you didn't want to as well. For most Familias there was no point, but potion makers, magic item crafters, and smiths that could make magic swords could use them.

I picked up a Kobolds claw from the ashes of one of them. Unlike magic stones you could sell drop items anywhere, of course as a smith and potion maker there was no way in hell I was going to sell anything high quality.

A small pop so quiet I nearly didn't catch it came from above me. I rolled backwards, my backpack making me struggle to right myself, just as a heavy shadow fell from above.

The Dungeon Lizard sneered at me, angry that it had lost its prey. I mentally thanked Rose, she had told me that Dungeon Lizards had suction cups on their legs, but it was difficult to hear unless you were a beastkin. Luckily my party was a bit away and wasn't making a lot of noise.

The Dungeon Lizard leapt at me quickly, it was just as fast as Kobolds, but many times bigger.

I threw my backpack at it, and let the weight of the pack throw the monster off course.

"Never Broken."

"Golem's Body."

Short Chant magic was so busted. My body became as dense and heavy as pewter, my Strength and Endurance increasing drastically. This time as the monster tried to bite me I whipped out my forearm letting it latch on. I felt the top row of fangs stop on my metal bracer and the bottom row only entering half an inch into my flesh. I could still feel the pain, but I gritted my teeth and stood my ground.

My greater weight allowed it to where I didn't get bowled over from the monster, but I didn't want it to start shaking me around and do permanent damage to my arm. So I used my other hand to grab my thin dagger and stab it in through its magic stone.

It turned to ash and I could see right behind it was John and the other three rushing towards me with fear in their eyes. They stopped short now seeing a metallic gray boy instead of the usual half-elf half-dwarf, though they only thought I was a half-elf.

I checked around for any more monsters, making sure to check up this time. Then I let my Enchantment lapse. I looked at John's surprised face.

"Aww were you worried for me Jenkins?" I said with a shit eating grin.

John let out a relieved sigh, walking up to me and looking at my wounds.

"Yeah, I was. This isn't too bad, can you move your fingers?" John began checking my wounds with honest worry on his face.

Damn it you're supposed to act like a jackass not a good person. What happened to the good old bully side character? Now I feel bad.

"You know what Jackson, you're not so bad. Tomorrow you should come over to my smithy, I have a potion that I think you might like."

John gave me a suspicious look, but nodded.

After having me drink half a health potion we began to head back.

"Good job back there Kova, that's some interesting Magic."

"Yeah, must be that elven blood for you to already have magic, though I've never seen someone turn into metal."

"I'm more surprised at how good his reactions were, we haven't had to step in once yet."

I could attribute most of that to Da and Rose. Rose's information gave me an understanding of the monster's habits and tells, and Da had shown me plenty of times how great it was to throw your opponent off balance. I still remember when Da had thrown one Kobold into another letting him focus on a third.

The rest of the way the party let me handle most of the encounters. Level one only had Kobolds and Goblins, well there was also a super rare monster called a Jack Bird that always dropped an item worth a million Valis.

…

…

…

Nope, no super lucky "Just as I mentioned it the monster appears!" moment.

Near the end I used my Golems Body Enchantment more, I wanted to make sure that my Magic stat would increase as well, but I didn't want to waste it earlier and be low on Mind when I really needed it.

We left the Dungeon and exited the tower of Babel, the sun just beginning to set.

I had put back on my coat and now let the wind flow against my face with a satisfied smile.

A building nearby exploded, screams ringing out.

"Ah fuck."