Trapped In A Hole (6)

"Maximize Magic: Potential Burst!" The voice of my guardian angel is followed shortly thereafter by an earth-shattering pain. My whole body convulses from the incredible shock. Standing with one hand on the spider's abdomen, Shinobu pours wave after wave of lighting into both of us. The leg pressing against me loosens up. I can pull myself out from the wall. Not immediately, of course, because I still need to regain control of my body after withstanding such a powerful attack.

"Nick, are you alright?!" Shinobu shouts inches from my face. I can tell she's shouting by her exaggerated facial expressions, but my auditory system is so messed up that everything she says sounds muffled. It's as if she's speaking to me from underwater. "We need to go, now!"

I can see sweat pouring down her face. The 'Maximize Magic' prefix allows one to use all of their magic power on one spell, so I know she must be drained. Shinobu grabs me by my sizzled arm and drags me forward. I don't dare look back at the spider. The best-case scenario is that it's knocked out for a few minutes, and I don't even want to consider the other options.

The team is standing over a pile of Goblin corpses. I try to keep my feet underneath me in my semiconscious state. My vision blurs. I clumsily pull out a health potion and chug it. The blistering pain begins to fade slightly.

"I'm glad to see you're all alive." Travis looks at us with a smile that reaches from one ear to the other.

"Let's not count our chickens before they hatch." I gasp. "We still need to get out of here."

"Right, let's move." I'm still struggling to see straight, but it feels like everyone is in high spirits. I don't know how much use I'll be for the rest of our outing, so I can't help but worry about the condition of my teammates. We're only a few levels from the surface. I can only hope that we don't run into any more big groups of monsters.

We only make it one floor before encountering a Metapardus. The panther is feeding on some of the monsters we killed earlier.

"WAAAAHH!" Fortunately, Sakura is pretty worked up and pummels it to death in a matter of seconds. Her high-pitched scream reverberates through the narrow dungeon, making it feel like my ears are bleeding. Only a minute or two after the Flower Girl's fight, the potions I took earlier wear off. All of my energy dries up; even breathing is a challenge.

"Nick, what's wrong?" Shinobu's question alerts everyone that I've fallen behind. I can only imagine how ragged I must look. Before I can respond, Josh grabs my arm, throws it over his shoulder and hauls me off. I do my best to keep running, but given that Josh is several inches taller than I am, my feet can barely touch the ground.

"We're almost there!" I hear Travis shout while in my delirious state. I've had two more health potions on my way up to the surface, but they can only do so much. My body screams at me to stop, but I ignore it. We haven't heard the distant rumbling of the spider, but that doesn't mean we're out of harm's way just yet. The blinding light of the exit carries with it a breath of fresh air. My heart swells as we finally make it outside.

"We did it!" Yuki shouts.

"Woohoo!" Sakura celebrates beside her. Josh is kind enough to walk me to the other side of the clearing and sets me down on a fallen tree. I relax for the first time that day and allow myself to slump over with my head back. The sky is bright blue with nary a cloud in sight. I don't even bother closing my mouth as I look up through the trees above.

"That was a hell of a fight you put up against that spider thing; I can see your unique skill is working out well for you." I glare daggers at Travis as I remember the first day of class, where he made us all reveal our statuses. "Haha, relax. I haven't told anyone. We need to check people's status for any criminal titles or dangerous abilities they may have. I hope you understand."

I'm not fully satisfied, but I break eye contact and return to staring at the sky.

"What happens if you learn a dangerous skill after you've already joined the guild?" I voice the question that strolls into my head.

"At that point, it's none of our business. That silver plaque you got isn't just about the benefits. It also comes with the weight of our trust. Higher grade Adventurers are punished much more severely for their misconduct. Once you get past the Mythril rank, the guild even requires you to have a group of escorts at all times."

"Wouldn't that stop people from rising through the ranks?"

"Absolutely. While it is nice to have some armed guards to help prevent assassination attempts, we mostly want to prevent people from damaging our reputation. You have to remember, the Adventurer's Guild is an international organization that spans the continent. The worst-case scenario for us isn't a lack of strong fighters; it's enlisting an entity we can't control. Many adventurers either quit the guild once they get tired of the restrictions or hide their strength to avoid promotion. There will always be more adventurers. That's one thing we don't need to worry about." Travis's words wash over my frayed mind. I have never thought about there being restrictions as I climb the ladder. Maybe other people would dislike receiving orders all the time, but it doesn't really bother me. That being said, I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of ever-increasing responsibilities.

"Does it bother you?" I ask after a moment's pause.

"Of course, but the responsibility is the price we pay for stability. Jezabel used to say that to me when I first joined the guild. I didn't think much about her words at the time, but it can certainly be costly, at least in your free time."