Chapter 10

It was finally Monday, on my third week in Orario. One more week and a little more then it's been an entire month.

Both Emma and I were ready to explore the dungeon.

Floors 1 to 4 we steam-rolled with ease. Emma handed back half of my MAG stat whilst I said I didn't need the rest of it. That was fine. Struggle gives more Falna and I wanted my magic to use sometimes.

What wasn't fine was that music seemed to play in the background whenever we engaged in combat. During our spars I managed to filter it in the back, but during actual dungeon combat it played in the background when killing monsters.

It's not a problem per-say, just something to note. She typically preferred typical adventuristic music you would see in a tavern in an rpg.

A new monster appeared in this run-through.

Dungeon Lizard - A brown quadrupedal lizard that has sucker discs on its feet which allow it to stick on walls and ambush people.

It was kinda sad how I sliced its entire family in half without conscious effort whilst Emma double killed them by throwing them at their allies and stabbing them both.

…She's gotten kinda cruel. What's worse is that she gleefully picks up the drops whilst doing it. At least my face is passive; she's full-on happy to kill it. Is this what a change in a mindset does? Or is this a result of too much power influencing her?

Let's hope power doesn't corrupt her.

Floors 5 to 7 weren't that hard even without Falna and Emma was easily killing them with the strength of a low-tier Level 2. It wasn't even a challenge. She even began to coat herself on purple flames just to passively raise her MAG stat.

Discovered new monsters here.

Frog Shooter - Frogs of varying colours that has one large eye that attacks by shooting out its large tongue.

War Shadow (not new but not described) - Sentient humanoid shadows with claws that's known to be for killing newbies.

Purple Moth - A giant moth that spreads poison and dives in to attack.

Needle Rabbits - Rabbits with horns that are fast as fuck.

Floors 8 to 9 were pretty much the same and I wasn't particularly struggling against them. Emma batted away some monsters with dexterous ease. The wonders of being a Level 2.

Our carefree dilly-dallying stopped at Floor 10. We both had vivid memories of what could happen in this accursed fog.

I wasn't particularly exhausted and I'm pretty sure I could go and combat the monsters with ease now I know what to expect. I could play it hard or I could have Emma hand some of my Falna over so I can get a boost in stats.

"Hey, Link, you think I should give you your Falna back? I know you want a lot of excellia but you might be in a lot of danger without it." Emma asked and I pondered.

I want the most excellia possible… High risk and probably high reward.

I shook my head "No, but thanks. I can count on you to save me if things get dicey."

She frowned but nodded nonetheless.

We both took a deep sigh, and stepped forth.

My knife-like ears twitched as I heard sounds from all over the area. It was like I had a mental map of every creature in the surroundings.

My nose was cold from the mist but Emma's sweet scent (that sounds kinda creepy…) at least wasn't too bad. Perfume? I didn't notice any.

I used my blue-eyes to scan the area; the fog was dense but we had around 20 to 30 metres of observable space, which wasn't much, all things considered.

Emma huddled up closer with her hands on her shortswords behind her waist.

We came across a pack of Needle Rabbits.

CLANG

They were much faster than the previous floor and I managed to redirect the force of one of the rabbits as I spun it away from her and caused it to crash onto a nearby wall. I then spun my longsword multiple times to kill the rest of the enemies that were targeting me. In fact, they were all targeting me.

They must've recognised I was the weakest and decided to go after me.

Emma killed her portion of rabbits by 'winking' in and out of existence whilst I finished a little later.

I was going to sheathe my sword but I paused as I spun at full force behind me to sever the head of the earlier Needle Rabbit.

Hmm… I'm physically becoming stronger and faster rather than though Falna Augmentation solely and my experience with the sword is becoming stronger.

Emma turned towards me. "You sure you don't need it?"

I nodded "I'm sure."

I didn't struggle much with that one.

We came across a pack of bulbous orcs soon later. While they may be enough to cause Level 2s to retreat, I memorised their general weak-points.

Their biology isn't completely similar to humans, some parts are too thick compared to humans thus making it harder to kill them.

Luckily, they had similar weaknesses.

"Aim for either the ankle, the neck, the eyes or the butthole." I told Emma.

She paused for a moment. "The butthole?"

I nodded "It's a universal weakness."

She still seemed weirded out but nodded nonetheless.

We both engaged different orcs. She easily dispatched hers by 'winking' up their arms and blinding them whilst also sliding down their back whilst one of her flame-coated daggers are firmly implanted into their back as she slides down. Neat.

I took a little longer as I cut their ankles properly after a few good strikes and spins and when the first began to fall I lodged my sword in its eye and then dexterously did the same for the other eye whilst then proceeding to behead it and jumping back to do the same for an orc that startled me.

We pocketed the magical gem. They were becoming slightly larger…

We continued to clear out the floor (with me now occasionally using my fire magic) whilst occasionally switching out magical gems for smaller ones. We need a bigger bag…

My Triforce glinted halfway through the floor; my body was more exhausted than I thought it would be and I was more mentally drained than I thought.

We eventually paused as we found the entrance to the 11th floor. Emma was knackered but it seems she's trying to hold a front in front of me.

"Should we keep going?" Emma asked with hidden exhaustion.

"Emma." I called out to her.

"Yeah?" She looked at me.

I patted her head "I know you're exhausted; I am too. You don't need to try hide it; you shouldn't need to try to hide it as it can be fatal."

She paused for a moment. Her faced reddened as looked down "Sorry, I guess I'm feeling the weight of being the Captain whilst also not wanting to disappoint either you or Goddess Dia."

I shrugged "Let's go back."

We were coated in the winds soon after and appeared in front of Dia.

We got a status update soon after; and the 'struggle = more gains' theory turned out to be true.

STR: SS 1050

VIT: S 972

DEX: SSS 1400

AGL: SS 1050

MAG: A 890

Total Falna: 5,362

"Do you want to level up?" Dia asked me as she was still at my back.

Do I want to level up? Shit, now I want my MAG stat to hit S due to my mild OCD.

I refused "Not now."

She sighed.

Emma was next:

Level: 1

STR: A 840

VIT: A 839

DEX: S 965

AGL: A 899

MAG: C 667

Total Falna: 4,210

Emma pouted. It was cute.

Dia had a wry smile "Do you want to level up?"

"No." She refused.

Dia sighed "Its unlikely for you to obtain double S or triple S basic abilities, you know? Link can do it because of his skill."

She paused for a moment. "Then I want S on at least everything."

She sighed.

"Such perfectionists."