Yet Another Trouble Ensued

"Ah…"

Her body freezes as her ears catches the sound of the moss-colored water splashing. That weapon—her small knife—is no longer in her possession. It had fallen together with the corpse of the rat monster.

"N-No… the knife that Faruk gave me…" the child wailed. She reluctantly looks at Faruk, who had seen his gift falling into the deep dirty waterway.

"F-Faruk… I'm, I'm sorry…"

Surprisingly, the dragon does not rage at all, "Good grief. Your grip of that knife was poor, Oria. It seems you're going to progress through this dungeon without a physical weapon."

"W-Wait, aren't you… mad at me?"

"Hm? Why would I? It's not like the world shall end if you lost that knife. It's not something worth upset for, child."

"Is that so…"

"Aside from that, shouldn't you have received something by now?"

"Huh? I don't get it…"

Shortly, the voice of the system resounds:

<Experience points has reached a required amount. You have reached level 3! Status increased significantly.>

<ORIA ARGENTORA>

LV: 2 => 3

HP: 554 => 704

MP: 10,000==*#E!

ATK: 47 => 54

DEF: 30 => 36

MAT: 86 => 94

MDF: 65 => 75

SPD: 12 => 13

Like before, her body radiates a faint glow, but only for a split second. As the light dies, the child feels that same sensation after leveling up: full of energy.

"I just leveled up!" she exclaimed as she stared at her hands. She grips the air, and spins her body around, feeling herself as if she's as light as the air.

"It's pretty fast, isn't it, Faruk? I mean, compared to the last one…"

"Hmph. Have you forgotten, Oria? You defeated a deadly monster not so long ago."

"O-Oh…" Her mind immediately reenacts the terrifying moments of her near-death experience. "(Oh, yeah… I, I'd rather not do that again…)"

"With your stronger self, you should be able to gain the upper hand more easily when battling against those rats, provided if you ever fight another."

"Hmm… I hope so. I mean, my hip was hurting so bad I can't even stand up properly. After leveling up, I don't feel any stinging pain anymore… oh, could it be?"

The child opens the system, "Display Self Status!"

<ORIA ARGENTORA>

HP: 704/704

MP: 10,000/10,000

CP: 128

"Ohhh! My HP is full again!"

"Hm. That is, of course, the benefit of leveling up. By the way, did that [E-404] skill levels up too, Oria?"

"Umm… No? I think if it goes up again, it will make those scary sounds just like before. Though… I hope it doesn't go up anymore. It's really frightening."

"Hm… I guess you're right. Well, Oria, it seems that [E-404] skill does not rise when your overall stats level up. That is my conclusion for the time being."

"That skill doesn't go up when I leveled up my stats… so, what affects it?"

"I dare not say what raises it. It's still vague for the moment. No need to fret over it. Worrying about it is a waste of precious time and energy."

"I… I see."

"Well, shall we continue, then?"

"(I'm honestly afraid of that mysterious skill. I don't know what it does at all. It's even more frightening when Faruk, a Guardia, didn't know about it.

…But he's right. I'm still in the dark about that E-404 skill. Worrying about something I've no idea yet won't give me anything!)"

Renews her spirit, Oria excitedly reply, "Hm. Let's go!"

With that, their adventure continues. Twenty minutes of travelling through the dungeon, walking above platforms and some slippery and mossy surfaces of the stone floor, and finally, another irritating standing bridge is within range.

"Gah, n-not this again…" Oria frowned.

"Chin up, young one. Your energy has been restored, no?" Faruk stated. His voice is like teasing her.

"Oooh… guess there's no getting away from these… Faruk, you'll help me, right?"

"Hmph. Fine."

Reluctantly, the child puts her tiny hands on the stone lever. Again, she delivers all her power just to pull the control down. But suddenly—

"W-Waah!"

—the lever moved and the bridge falls. Much to her surprise, the control is significantly easier to move. "H-How strange… last time, it was annoyingly hard, almost impossible perhaps! Faruk, is it because of my higher level?"

"Hm," the Observer ball nodded to her. The flower crown—still worn on top of it—shakes along. "Obviously, you got stronger. That's the point of training in a dungeon."

"O-Oh… that's neat. That means I don't have to struggle that hard again when dealing with these levers? Heehee, that's great!" she said all too happily.

"Save your merry faces later, Oria. Beyond this bridge is the final section of the dungeon."

"O-Oh, right. Hehe, I got carried away. Let's go, then!"

They proceed across the wooden bridge that has metal rivets on it, and this time, the girl encounters another monster just past a few more platforms ahead.

"That creature…"

"The third monster… get ready, Oria. Remember what I taught you."

"Hm. Appraisal first. Oh, right… my knife is gone. I guess I should use my wand this time."

The said monster is on top of a platform, wandering near a doorway to another chamber. That monster takes the shape of a black squishy creature with orange spiky crystals decorating its upper surface. It has a pair of black antennae that fades to dark blue.

"T-That creature looks like a slime…" Oria stated.

"Sadly, it's not a slime. Its surface doesn't reflect the lights around it, unlike slimes."

"I see… (Ugh… what's this smell?) Oh, look, it also has four eyes… how odd can monster be?"

"Hmph. You've seen nothing, yet. Now, do what you must."

"Okay, then. I'll use [Appraisal] first…"

The young girl gazes at the monster, focusing her eyes. With that, she uses [Appraisal].

<Stinky Mollis Nameless>

HP: 338/338

MP: 24/24

Desc: "A monster with bouncy soft skin. Has a terrible smell. Has magistones on top of its head."

"(Terrible smell, huh… no wonder I smelled something bad. It's worse than the channels below. Eh, magistones? What are those? Oh, must it be those orange crystals on it?)"

Suddenly, Faruk asks, "Are you done, Oria?"

"Eh? Oh, right. It's called a Stinky Mollis. The description says it has a bouncy soft skin."

"Hm. That means it will be ineffective to use a physical weapon against it."

"W-Well, my knife was drowned in the waters, so…"

"I already told you, monsters in this dungeon are best dealt with magic. Though, I applaud thine skills in slaying those rat monsters with your knife. Although, they're completely weak to water magic."

"I-Is that so? (How could I hit something so fast like that, moreover with a water magic?)"

"Very well, then. Let's see how you deal with this one. If it turns out too dangerous, I will step in. But if not… you have to fight with everything you got."

"Hm. I got it."

Faruk hovers behind her, allowing the girl to engage the monster in combat. That squishy creature notices her presence and looks at her.

"(Eep. It already looked at me, just like those rat monsters…)"

The creature slides towards her. It wobbles when it moves, and that creature moves so slow.

"Eh? It's so slow… That's good then, I can use my magic more freely!"

Oria smiled at the monster's stagnant movement, as if it was a snail. With this great chance, she closes her eyes and tries to use her magic that had leveled up before. She imagines the white fire, whom until now still get goosebumps when remembering its shape. As the magic circle appears in front of her, she speaks out the name of her magic.

"Albus Ignis!"

The fire ignites, creating sparkles as it comes out of the magic circle. The fire propels itself, journeying through the humid air quickly and finally engulfs the monster. …That's what she expected to happen. As her magical fire nearly impacts its prey, the monster reveals a hole in its body, unleashing a ball of water.

"W-What!?"

Two projectiles from completely opposite elements collide to one another, causing a medium steam explosion. Oria naturally covers her face with her arms while the monster flaps like a blown away cloth as the heat of the steam passes through them.

"Eeeek!"

Meanwhile, there's Faruk who remains still in midair, unperturbed by the hot and turbulent steam. Even the Observer eye that he looks through isn't closed, unaffected by the stinging temperature.

"…"

As the haze slowly disappearing, Oria feels her arms in pain, burning as if it's on fire. When she opens her eyes, both of her elbows down to fingers scalded.

"O-Owww… i-it hurts…" she then touches the surface of her arm, which gives her a stinging pain. "—OUCH! Ahh… I shouldn't touch it… oh, the monster, what about that monster…?"

The Stinky Mollis monster wobbles around in place. Its squishy body had melted in the steam. The crystals that decorate its body is scattered in lower parts of its body now, thanks to the meltdown it experienced.

"Ooof… it's not dead, yet?"

Faruk glides to her side, "No. That Mollis is already done for. Look."

The orange crystals fell off its body, causing it to melt completely, turning into a black liquid. Not even five seconds, the liquid evaporates, ending the monster's life.

Then… the voice of the system is heard by her.

<Conditions are met. Resistance Skill: Heat Resistance Lv.1 achieved!>

"What…? I received a new skill. O-Ouch! Ahh… my skin… it looks horrible… and it hurts so much…" the little girl felt a deadening pain coursing through her body.

"(Huh… she's overreacting to her pain… her injury looks worse than I thought, too. Let us see on her condition status…)"

Faruk uses [Appraisal] on her. Shortly, something startles him from the display screen, and it extremely surprises him to the point his eyes open widely. He becomes serious.

"—*GASP* T-This is!?"

He quickly lets out a soft blast of wind to cool the air and then he generates a tiny teleportation gate.

"Quick. Come here, Oria."

"Oww-woww… o-okay…"

From the teleportation gate that looks like a little hole in the air at the height just a little above the child, a stream of water flows from within as if it's a running water from faucet.

Calmly, he says to her: "Cool the burn with this flow of cold water. Pull your sleeves first."

"I c-can't. Touching things is painful!"

"Guh. I g-guess there's no other way. Hold your arms forth, Oria." Faruk commanded.

"Like… Like this…?" she stretched out her damaged arms.

"Hm. That's good." Shortly, a pair of rings made of light appears each coiling around both her elbows. Those rings slowly shift upwards, pushing her sleeve and reveals more of her injured skin. Afterwards, that ring flashes out of existence.

"O-Oww… s-so many… *hic*…"

"Hold your tears, Oria. Come here, cool the burn with this flowing water."

"O-Okay…" Oria nearly cried. She hurries and presents her scalded arms to the waterflow. But as the water meets her skin… "—OOWWW! I-It huuurts!" she screamed frantically.

"Hold yourself together. Take a deep breath, in and out. Come on."

Sobbing, she tries to follow her master's words.

"Breathe in… breathe out… breathe in… breathe out…"

The cold water flowing from the portal slowly emanates a dim light in every scald on her skin. It feels gravely painful for the young girl, but Oria does her best to hold against the pain, although sobbing with tears and snotty nose.

"Ugh… egh… *hic*… (It hurts! It hurts…!)"

Few seconds later, those injury of hers began to fade slowly. In that moment, she receives yet another skill:

<Conditions are met. Resistance Skill: Pain Alleviation Lv.1 achieved!>

"Huh…?"

That dreadful pain she's experiencing is reduced, it's slowly driven off her body. She can hold better against the hurting injury, though she still sobs from it.

Soon, the flow of water stops, and the teleportation gate closes. Faruk then speaks, "Good. Now, time to wrap it up…"

The Observer eye's pupil rolls inwards into the iron sphere, whereas from the crevice comes a soothing cool air that has sparkles. It is the same air that Faruk blows out when healing her for the first time. Shortly, her burn injury heals completely.

After that frightening event, the Observer's eye returns normal and then Faruk sighs in relief.

"Phew… I nearly let a dreadful nightmare fall upon my protégé…"

His relieved self looks as if he just passed a critical life or death situation.