First Dungeon Boss (Part 2)

The Silver Dragon continues to watch as his protégé battles against the giant Mollis. Though, previously being befuddled by Oria's actions where she tried to use a magic that wasn't her level, he retained composure as the little girl stood back up to fight the monster again.

"Guh… (I c-can't use that magic… why?)" Oria thought to herself. The monster, which was stunned, now regains its balance. "(There was a flash… and it hurt my head, and I became nauseous suddenly.)" As the monster stabilizes itself, it turns at her direction. Its pupilless eyes is wobbling as if they're going to pop out, but soon returns steady.

"(Uugh… I, I can't lose focus. That monster… it's going to attack again. I can sense the same thrilling sensation as before… the Pathfinder ring is also flashing in red again. I need… to move!)"

Her queasiness still gets the best of her. It blurs her focus and her ability to move quickly. The radiant red ring beneath her flashes on the floor, signaling the monster's next attack. But for this one, it flashes much more intensely. Soon, the monster bends itself, but not to the back, instead, it bends to the left.

"Uhh… it's not like before…?"

The ring flashes even brighter and rapidly. It is impossible for her to not notice such display. Her Danger Perception skill detects the incoming threat greater than the previous attacks.

"(I… can't move myself… I feel hazy. I won't be able to avoid its attack…! No, if I can't move… then I should use…!)"

The little girl discovers an idea just in the nick of time. As the squishy being makes a grumbling noise, Oria puts her left hand on the floor and soon a magic circle is generated from it.

"(Uuh… I never used this magic aside from that training before… I don't know will this work or not… but it's the only chance I got now!)"

The Mega Mollis finally makes its move. It swings its body in a spinning move almost like a propeller in a complete circle. Its wide range sweeps the entire platform floor, but just when it nearly tramples Oria, her magic activates.

"Terra… Shield!"

The flooring rises, forming a strong wall around Oria in a box shape. The monster's attack cannot break the defensive magic she casted, causing the monster's body to be blown back by the strong impact caused by itself. A small earthquake shocks the surface of the platform afterwards.

Again, the monster is stunned. But Oria is still in a tight spot. As the attack ended, her earthly magical walls crumbled. Her nauseousness is still there, and now turns even worse. She can't stand properly anymore. Her mouth is dripping saliva.

"(Uuuh… what's… wrong with me? I can't... h-huh?)"

Soon, she realizes that Faruk is just above her head, looking down to her. In a cold voice, he speaks to her.

"What are you doing? Stand up. The battle isn't over yet."

Looking up to him, Oria responds, "F-Faruk? B-But I… eergh!"

The poor child can't stand looking upwards. She nearly vomited.

"You fool. Trying to cast a magic that isn't your level will certainly cause a severe blow to your mind. Using the environment as a magic is too early for you. As a result, you are experiencing some heavy nauseousness."

"Ugh… (H-He… noticed what I'm trying to do…) I'm sorry…"

"As long as your [Magic Processing] is still at level 1, it is guaranteed that you'll never be able to use that kind of magic."

Reprimanded, Oria feels a bit down. But she realizes her mistake. "I… I'm sorry. I just wanted to try Master Dux's amazing magic…"

"Fool. Who do you think Dux is? His Magic Processing skill is at level 10—at maximum. No need to imitate his outrageous feats. You are still a novice, remember that! Utilize whatever skill that is currently in your possession instead."

"…I understand."

"Hm. Very well, then."

From the Observer's eye, a sparkling laser shoots down to her body. It gives a soothing, warm sensation. Almost immediately, Oria recognizes the magic.

"(This is… Faruk's healing magic again…)"

As the light from his one-eyed sphere fades, Faruk speaks to her again, "You are more capable than you think you are, Oria. Stand up, my protégé. Defeat that creature."

Oria no longer feels nauseous. She can easily stand up, no longer feeling dizzy. Her eyes can focus just like before. She retakes her wand from the rubble of her Terra Shield magic, and hurries over to the still-halted monster.

"Thank you… Faruk!"

As she gains distance from him, Faruk nods in a relieved look, "Hm. Good luck."

The battle continues. This time, Oria no longer thinks to use any of Dux's unorthodox magic. Remembering what Faruk said to her, she now tries a different approach.

"That's right… so far, I've been so fixated in using magic. I never used my arts! With that monster down, I can slice it with my Argent Slash!"

Running towards the stunned monster, her [Focused Eye] skill reenacts, enabling greater eyesight for her. While so, she holds her wand like she's holding a knife. Subsequently, a radiant knife replaces the wand on her hand. In a horizontal slash, she strikes the monster with her strong art.

"Argent Slash!"

The silvery flash followed her swing motion. The monster wobbles as it receives a significant damage, depicted by a visible slash wound on the lower part of its body.

"I-It worked…!" Oria exclaimed, glad that her art worked.

But the monster shortly stands back, balancing itself once more. This resulted the little girl's skills to go active and warn her about the impending danger. The ring points an arrow to the monster while her body feels dangerous malice flowing from the Mega Mollis.

"(Focus… look at what it'll do next…)"

The monster's antennae suddenly wreak out flashes of light as if they're beacons. The surface of the monster wobbles up and down, and subsequently, its quad eyes shine. From beneath them, a hole appeared in the body. Oria immediately recognizes that move.

"Oh, dear… i-is it going to shoot a water ball at me again?"

Her Pathfinder ring flashes crazily. It surprises her. Shortly after that, expectedly, the monster shoots out a ball-like projectile. But it's not plain water. It is a purple gooey liquid.

Oria tries to dodge, but… "Oh, no—AAGH!"

…the purple goo unexpectedly launched like a bullet, striking Oria directly in a fast motion. As the water ball explodes, it gives out stinking smell and shortly orbs of water flies into the air and lobs themselves to the Mollis monster. Meanwhile, the water on her body and clothes vapor into thin air. Though the smell retains.

"Aaah… I'm hit…"

Quickly, she checks her status.

HP: 451/704

MP: 9,930/10,000

Cond: None

"I got damaged… but there's no injury on my body. Those flying things that go back to that monster…"

Oria looks at the monster's status and notices something.

<Mega Mollis>

HP: 1,341/1,341

MP: 55/75

"Its HP is full again!? Aah… no way! But wait… its MP just dropped. D-Does that mean the smelly water is a magic?"

Oria closes the status screen and reactivates her radiating knife.

"I'm not sure… but even so, I must find a way to bring down that large HP… or else, I'm not going to be able to finish today's training!"

The monster once again bends itself to the back. It's the same attack pattern as the first one. Having learned its attack, Oria quickly avoids its line of attack and waits until the monster swings itself. The danger feeling is still there, and the ring of light beneath her is flashing rapidly, but she knows for sure she'll not get hit.

"It stops for a moment after an attack… once so, I will attack it with everything I got."

Soon, the monster bashes itself to a straight line, causing minor earthquake. The pungent waters are dancing crazily every time the monster smashed the platform. And now, the monster isn't moving.

"This is it! Now!"

Oria rushes to the monster and strikes it with her Argent Slash art. The monster screams, but it doesn't stand yet, just wobbling itself.

"Magic… I must use magic!"

The knife of light on her hand flashes out of existence and reverts to her wand. She points the wand at the giant Mollis, and she tries to imagine a magic again, this time a different element.

"(If I can't use Albus Ignis, then I just need to use the other magic I learned already. If I remember… I think I have Ventus Blow and Aqua Shot as attack magics. Let's try them now!)"

In her mind, she pictures a dirty water ball forming by the tip of her wand. Soon, a magic circle appears in blue. From it, a pungent, smelly liquid sphere emerges. Oria can feel the magic constructing, she keeps on imagining it without feeling any distress or nausea. Finally, she opens her eyes and casts the magic.

"Aqua… Shot!"

The ball of water propels itself to the downed monster. As the projectile splashes to the wobbly creature, it causes a ripple on the monster's soft skin.

<Mega Mollis>

HP: 1,093/1,341

Oria doesn't stop there, however.

"Use another magic skill… this time, I'm going to use wind!"

She proceeds to imagine the next magic. This time, she pictures a frisbee from her memory. Then, she thinks of the air taking it into flight as she remembered how she threw the toy away. Shortly, a magic circle emanates from the edge of her wand. Even though her eyes are closed, she can feel the chill, humid air of the room gliding over her skin towards her wand, forming the magic.

Oria opens her eyes and ultimately casts the magic.

"Ventus Blow!"

From the magic circle, a powerful air blast is felt by her. Soon, the monster screams deafeningly. Although the wind is invisible, she can see how her magic injured the monster by the diagonal slice on the monster's surface.

<Mega Mollis>

HP: 748/1,341

The petite child feels a bit of exhaustion. But she knows she shouldn't stop yet. Oria takes a quick step and hurriedly channels her mana to form a magical knife once more. In just five seconds, she runs towards the downed monster, gaining the radiant knife, and finally uses her art.

"Argent Slash!"

The slash digs the diagonal slice caused by her magical wind frisbee, penetrating deeper into the monster's body. Purplish fluid flows out of the monster's body, splattering all over the platform. Shortly, Oria's witchcraft weapon penetrates the monster all the way through.

"Uwa-waah!" the little girl nearly fell off her feet as she touched down.

The orifice caused by her slash then reveals the insides of the monster. Something shines from within. Its brightness enlightens the fluid of the monster in orange light. As the fluid clears, Oria notices something familiar in the monster: a shiny rock. She somehow remembers what kind of thing the object in that monster is.

"Eh? Isn't that… a magistone?"