Continuing the Dungeon Training

Faruk activates a magic spell. A glowing tint of blue light immerses from him, allowing light to illuminate their path ahead. Unlike the dim light that he draws out from the Observer sphere when he healed her, this magic of his allows greater field of vision.

With that, they retrace their steps back to the first junction and this time take the right path. As they journey through the way, the child asks:

"...Umm, if I may ask, what's the difference between left and right way, Faruk?"

"Oh, that. The only thing that differs between the two is the existence of monsters on the left way while the other does not. Both ways will end up at a same point by the end of this dreadful maze-like path."

"I see... so that's why you said it was a straightforward path."

"Precisely."

"So... since I've defeated one monster, does that make them five left?"

"Unfortunately, no. I told you, that snake monster did not belong here. None of the six monsters are in this tight area. They prefer wide, open spacious platform."

"Oh... right."

"Having witnessed that creature, I realized that there might be more than the usual number of foes in here. So, I expect you to always stay near me."

"O-Okay..."

Naturally, after such incident, Faruk doesn't want his protege to be first in line in the face of danger again for some time. Even so, he doesn't want the dungeon training to be wasted.

"But still, this dungeon is a good place that can give you adequate battle experience. It's a waste if you don't level up in your first dungeon."

"W-Well, you said that this was supposedly a training for me..." she grumbled. "But after that scary moment..."

"Oh, right... human psyche wasn't that strong. Moreover, a human child. Being at the death's door was undoubtedly a terrible experience for you, isn't it, Oria? Pardon me. I should've known—"

"Hnn," the child unexpectedly shook her head. "It's because of that monster I want to become stronger, Faruk. I don't want to trouble you and Master Dux anymore. So, please. It's okay. I will do my best!"

"...If that's what you're thinking, then. Thine bravery is still firing up, even after such horrific tragedy. If you seek to become stronger, then I will respect that wish of yours, Oria.

Very well, then. Those six monsters are lesser beings, so I expect you to be able to handle them. If you feel like it's too much, do not fret to step back behind me."

"Okay. I understand. Six monsters."

"And don't forget—

"Don't stray too far from you, right?" Oria smilingly guessed what the dragon would say. After all, he said that for a couple of times already.

"Y-Yes... you get the idea."

As the two conversed, they finally reach the other side. Passing the doorway out of the dark room, the poor lighting of the sewers welcomes their eyes of the widespread dungeon. The foul odor once again invades the child's nose. This time, she's more used to it.

"Oh, those are..."

Visibly in the distance, there's a couple of standing bridges, waiting to be deployed. The thought of pulling the stone lever again is enough to trouble the child.

"Ooh... not again..."

Faruk with his gentle voice calls her. "Come, Oria. Let us finish this dungeon. Arm yourself."

Hardheartedly, she nods. She almost forgot about those evil bridges. Remembering the dungeon monsters resist her knife, she readies her wand instead just like before. With Faruk advancing first, the girl follows him. Looking around, Oria can see the aforementioned monsters. One of them strikes differently from the rest.

"Uwah... there's a flying monster..." she mumbled to herself. A monster resembling a mosquito but in moss color wanders above a platform in the distance.

But the closest one to her and Faruk right now is a team of two rat monsters.

"Ready yourself, Oria. And remember to appraise the enemy first," Faruk reminded her again.

"R-Roger."

Those monsters are different from ordinary rodents. They are considerably big, about the size of an adult cat. Those two rats notice her presence and almost immediately becomes aggressive. They hiss at her; their furs are fluffing. They absolutely don't like them there.

Ignoring them, Oria begins her action.

"Okay, here goes... Appraisal!"

Beginning with the advised tactic, she received info as following:

<Feral Rat>

HP: 200/200

MP: 0/0

Desc: A wild rat monster that eats practically anything, even their kins. Hard to hit.

"(Why the description sounds scary...?)"

Faruk assesses the situation as a starter, "Feral rats... they are quick-moving creatures. If threatened, they can be extremely agile and become virtually impossible to hit by standard weapons. Slaying them might take some effort."

"Then, I should try defeating them quickly, too," said Oria.

"No need to be in a rush. Observe and learn their moves."

"Huh... okay, then."

When Oria takes a step forward, one of them charges at her. The girl is surprised and doesn't have time to react accordingly with her magic.

"W-What, attacking so soon!?"

As the rat takes a leap to maul her down, Oria reaches her knife strapped on her thigh and sends an uppercut blow to the monster, bashing it away as red blood gurgles out of the monster in midair.

"It's... injured by my knife?" Oria got confused. "Didn't Faruk say monsters here are weak only to magic? Oh wait..."

She remembers the appraisal display screen. "Oh, yeah... that crab monster from before has a shell to protect itself. This rat doesn't have anything but fur to defend itself!"

Just when she's thinking about the monster, the other rat strikes at her.

"W-Wha—h-hey!"

With her knife already at hand, she's more open to choices of counterattack. Again, the monster leaps to air to strike her with its sharp claws. This time, she swings her knife horizontally to the right, slashing the rodent right at its head, taking away its eyes.

"So, they are not immune to my knife. That's good! I can beat them without using my magic."

Oria chases down the blinded rat, trying to kill it in one strong stab. When she's aiming for its belly, the rat evades her in a quick motion and counters her. Oria reflectively protects her face with her left arm, leaving it victim to the rat's sharp claws, forcing her to back off a few feet.

"Eeek! I'm hit...!"

She checks her arm hurriedly, blood comes out of her injuries, but it's not that bad. She can still move it. "I'm... I'm fine. I'm fine." She said to calm herself.

"That monster... even when blinded, it can still attack me. I underestimated it..."

The first rat comes back and again does the same attack pattern, jumping at her, trying to lodge its claws at her.

"It does the same move again!" she realized its motion. Because of that, the rat's movement is like a flow of line that's easy to follow. "Let's blind it, too."

Once more, the girl quickly pulls her knife to her left and hits the rat's eyes with its sharp edge. That rat is more unfortunate, however. The knife lodges deeper into its head, not only crushing its weak skull, but also its brain, killing it ultimately. As the iron edge of the knife comes out of the dead monster, that rat plunges to the stone floor, sliding, causing blood trails, and finally splashing into the odorous waters below.

Faruk applauds her in his mind, "(Hm. She managed to kill one. Blinding the other monster is a clever idea, but... that hardly applies to this creature. For it doesn't rely on its eyes primarily to locate its target.)

The blinded rat is wilder than before. It now somehow makes an aggressive twitching while staying still.

"What is it doing...?" Oria wondered. "W-Wha... its legs look... bulkier than before...! Is it getting ready to attack? Y-Yeah, that must be it! I must kill it now!"

Oria hurriedly bashes her knife at the vicious rodent. But the rat's extremely good sense of smell already used to Oria's smell and knows when she's coming close. It shifts sideways, evading the knife stab. Followingly, it curls up and charges at her in a rolling motion, jumping at her, bludgeoning her right hip.

"Eeouch!"

She bounced off a few feet. She nearly lost her balance but managed to remain standing while holding off the pain she received.

<ORIA ARGENTORA>

HP: 388/554

MP: 9,960/9,960

Cond: None

"Ugh... it hurts... I didn't expect it would attack like that... how much the monster's HP now?"

<Feral Rat>

HP: 74/200

MP: 0/0

"G-Geez, it's just a little more... o-ouch... it still hurts so much... my hip..."

The rat doesn't wait.

It readies itself again, this time wilder. Oria readies her knife while her other hand is holding her pained hip tightly. The rat charges at her first this time. It curls up in a roll and attempts to do the same move as before. This, of course, is read clearly by the young girl.

"(A-ha! S-So that's it... it likes to move in the same attack pattern as before. That means I just need to... ugh, this pain...)"

Her bludgeoned hip is aching, it nearly causes her to lose focus. As the rat jumps in its rolling motion, Oria draws her knife again, this time from the right. She waits for the rat to land in her area of attack, and then...

"HA!"

Just at the right time, she slashes the rodent diagonally to the upper left. The rat stops rolling as her knife deeply lodged itself to its body. The collision between quick movements makes Oria lost grip on her knife, accidentally flinging the knife away along with the rat.

Blood trails in the stinky air, and afterwards, the source of it crashes itself by the edge of the platform. The feral rat is history.

"(She did it.)" Faruk thought to himself.

"Aaah! My knife!" Oria screams when she saw the rat already at the edge of the stone platform. She hurries to pick her knife back, but...

The rat falls to the dark waters, together with her one and only knife.