First Dungeon Boss (Part 1)

Ignoring what just happened, Oria proceeded to go upstairs along with Faruk to reach final platform. Treading upon the stairs—still wet from the flooding—she prepares herself.

"(Faruk said that I'll need extra agility if I want to defeat the next monster…)" Oria tried to imagine what kind of creature she'll be facing. "(Hold on… don't tell me it's that flying monster that went disappeared!)"

Finally, Oria and her accompanying master, Faruk, stands on the final platform. It's a sizable platform, perhaps the largest one in the dungeon, extending roughly around less than 250 square meters. Its round shape and has no passages leading elsewhere aside from the entrance declares its finality.

"Now that I see it up-close… this area is really big, isn't it, Faruk?"

"Hm. After all, this is the last point of the dungeon."

"Umm… what's that huge hole up there?"

A giant hole about the same width as the platform looms above them. There's not a single ray of light shooting from above, not even a faint brightness to show what's hidden in those frightening darkness. Within earshot, Faruk warns the little girl.

"Here it comes."

"Eh?"

Shortly, Oria's ears catch that faint buzzing sound she heard earlier. "(Oh, no… don't tell me it's…)"

That buzzing noise becomes louder, verily audible to her ears. From the dark hole above them, a monster in the shape of a crimson mosquito descends. It's considerably large for a mosquito, almost as large as a football. Its eyes are golden, staring at both Oria and Faruk with dread.

"A Kounoupi…?" Faruk surprisedly said. Squinting his eye, he commands the little girl, "Oria, appraise it, now!"

Without questioning, Oria hurriedly uses her [Appraisal] skill on that mosquito monster.

"Appraisal!"

<Lesser Kounoupi>

HP: 59/334

MP: 34/34

Desc: A lesser insect monster that has a shape of a mosquito. Agile and hard to eliminate. Absorbs nutrients from its prey.

"Is this the monster…? But it's strange… why does it only has 59 HP?"

Faruk nods, his voice falls deeper, "Agreed. There's something wrong with it… (I already noticed the Kounoupis suddenly disappeared, whereas they should be in the last section of this dungeon… and now, it somehow appeared in the final platform?)"

The mosquito monster looks extremely feeble. Its sharp needle that was meant to suck nutrients from preys was cut, leaving only half of its total length. The monster drips blood, not from its mouth, but from the body, dotting the floor in red. It looks extremely feeble, just one hit will certainly smash it into bits of nothingness.

"Faruk, that monster looks really weak. I think one slash from my art can kill it instantly."

"Don't get ahead of yourselves. There's no way a Kounoupi is the dungeon boss. In fact, it's supposed to be—"

Suddenly, a bluster noise is heard, rumbling from above their heads. It's approaching, fast. Faruk, certainly assured of what's coming, warns Oria again.

"Get ready, here it comes."

"Eh, what is?"

Something huge falls out of the dark hole. It squashes the gravely injured Kounoupi, killing it ultimately. As that large thing hits the ground, it causes a minor earthquake, disturbing the calm sewer waters.

"T-T-T-That's…!" Oria's body trembled, fearing what she saw before her.

In front of them now is a massive Mollis monster. Just like its smaller counterparts, it has a squishy surface with several magistones plucking out of it. Except the latter has a dark blue skin, a pair of dark blue antennae that fades to black, green-shined magistones, four eyes, and ultimately, an enormous body size.

"S-Seriously, it's a gigantic Mollis!?"

The monster's quad eyes gaze, specifically at her. It then lets out a scream loud enough to instill fear to those who heard it. Shortly, the water level rises back drastically, flooding the staircase, blocking their way back.

"Eeep…!"

Faruk has figured something out the moment that creature fell to the round platform, "(The way it trampled that Kounoupi, how its behavior when it appears before us… it appears this Mollis has an anomaly of its own…) Well, then, Oria. This is it. There's no turning back now. Defeat it, and today's training will complete."

"Y-You're kidding!" Oria nearly jumped out of fright.

Faruk closes his eye, "Be confident in yourself. Don't worry," the moment the Observer eye opens, he declares, "As long as I am here, everything will be fine."

Oria feels a tremendous courage flowing to her. She nods to him, washing her fears off her body, "…ah, mm!"

She stares at the giant Mollis while remembering what Faruk said to her, "(That's right. Faruk said that he'll intervene if the situation gets too dangerous. He'll not let me die. Yeah… there's nothing to be feared of. He also believed in me! That means… this monster shouldn't be as strong as I thought it is!)"

She begins her move by carefully closing her distance to it while focusing her eyes on the monster. The Mollis reacts by a jiggly move. Its pair of antennae grows taller.

"H-Huh?" Oria stepped back in reflex.

The squishy creature bends itself to the back, its antennae slam the wavy waters, causing a big splash. Oria watches as its quad eyes suddenly radiates light. Two seconds later, the monster's body swings itself to the little girl's direction in a hammering motion.

"Aiieee!" Despite her scream, Oria reflectively evaded its antennae just in the nick of time. The stone platform shakes as the monster's body hits the ground.

"(Eeek… I'm nearly crushed by its antennae…)" Oria stands up and runs to the right edge of the platform. "(It looks squishy and soft… but just by how it causes quake… I can already tell it's super strong and heavy. I see why Faruk told me I need extra agility to fight this monster!)"

Oria takes self-warning. Her wand is still gripped firmly in her right hand. Though, her goal for now is to appraise the monster. Watching the monster, Oria realizes the chance is open to her, "That monster couldn't move? This is my chance to appraise it!"

While the monster is stunned, the eight-year-old girl focuses her eyes again. Soon, she yells out, "Appraisal!"

<Mega Mollis>

HP: 1,310/1,341

MP: 75/75

Desc: An evolved specie of the Mollis. Overgrown in size due to a strong magistone field. Slow but feeds off nutrients from its own magistones.

"(An evolved Mollis? Whoa! It has 1,310 HP!? A strong magistone field made it large? But wait… it says that this Mega Mollis is slow. Really? Its attack was fast! Oh, well, nagging won't kill it. I guess I should try hurting it with my magic…)"

Oria readies her wand and imagines a white fire, in which she suddenly remembers, "…*GASP*! Faruk didn't allow the use of my fire magic…"

The monster finally raises its body in a slow pace. While so, Oria stops her imagining of the white fire and refocuses herself on that monster. Somehow, she felt a strange sensation within her eyes and body. She feels like the monster is moving slower than before and she can sense an impending danger coursing all over body.

Shortly, a notice by the system pops up:

<Conditions are met. Perception Skill: Focused Eye Lv.3 reached!>

<Conditions are met. Converging Passive Skill: [Pathfinder] and Perception Skill: [Focused Eye] …>

"Huh? What's going on? My skills…"

The system then tells her updates of her skill:

<Converging complete. Two new skills received!>

"Eh? I got two new skills?"

The system pops up again and informs her newly received skills:

<Perception Skill: Danger Perception Lv.1 achieved!>

"Huh?! What's a [Danger Perception]?"

And shortly, another notification shows up. This time, it's longer.

<Expansion of [Pathfinder]: Passive Skill: Jeopardy Sensor Lv.1 is achieved!>

"(Eh? What? I didn't get that entirely. What did I just get? Expansion of my what?)"

Oria didn't entirely pay attention to her skill updates. Her mind is more focused to the Mollis creature, as the monster now turns at her direction. It moves slower in her eyes, thanks to her [Focused Eye] leveling up. Much to the girl's obliviousness, however, Oria thinks of something else.

"It moves again… but slower? Ah! It must be because it slammed itself to the ground… I must make sure to avoid its next attack, then!"

Her body then feels a tingling sensation—a threat—pointing right at her direction, giving her cold shivering all over her body. "(What's wrong with me…? I suddenly feel danger! Is it… is it because of those new skills I got? Argh! No time to think about it! I must make sure that Mollis doesn't hurt me!)"

Just as her body signalled danger to her, that monster is bending itself to the back again. It's going to slam at her just like before. Soon, Oria notices a flashing red light coming from beneath her legs.

"Wha… the Pathfinder ring is… flashing?"

The ring is sending her an alarm with a red flashing arrow pointing to the monster. Its flashes intensify as the monster readies itself to swing to the front again. Reflectively, Oria shifts her body sideways as far as she could. Three seconds later, the Mollis crushes anything in its direction with its powerful smash. But Oria had long gone from its destruction line of attack.

"Wooah…!" Oria suddenly sensed that cold shiver feels washing off her body. "I feel… calmer now…" she then looks below her. "The Pathfinder ring also stops flashing, although it's entirely in red now… does it signify the incoming danger?"

Shortly, the little girl finally realizes what possibly happened to her body.

"I honestly don't know what's going on, but I think this must be the work of those new skills I got…" When she's looking back at the monster, it is stunned again. "…It stopped moving again! Alright, then. This is my chance!"

Oria points her wand to the stopped monster. "(The other magics that I can use… wind, earth, and water… Oh, dear, which one should I use? Oh, wait… I think Master Dux told me something when he taught me those other magics…)"

Remembering the past time, Sqidral Dux had taught her an important point in their lesson:

"Nyuhu! These magics can be incredibly powerful depending on the environment. Imagining them from your mind is indeed the way, but if you imagine your environment do the magic for you, it'll be one hell of a strong magic!"

"I don't really understand…"

"Picture this, we are on an arid surface of the earth. If you imagine the ground beneath you popping out needles, spikes, or whatever sharp things you can imagine, you can cast one great Earth Magic. For example, I want the earth to pierce the sky with a lance made of dirt."

A magic circle generated on the surface of the dirt and then ground protruded a twenty-foot-tall needle made of dirt. It then crumbled as Dux snapped his fingers.

"…I still don't understand."

"NYUH! W-Well, that's okay! You don't need to learn it. I just wanna show you that, nyuhuhuhuhu!"

Back to present time, Oria remembers those methods Dux taught her, although vaguely understanding them.

"(At first, I don't really understand… even till now. But that's a chance I should try! I think I'll give it a shot… What can I imagine… the environment in here… OH! The sewer waters! Right! There's plenty of them in here!)"

The little girl finally decides her magic: Water Magic.

She closes her eyes. In her mind, she deploys an imagination where the dark, pungent waters of the dungeon form a tower and moves like a whipping motion. But—

"Eergh!"

—Suddenly, a white flash shocked her mind. As a result, her head hurts a lot. She lost all focus, and her imagination disappears into thin air.

"It… doesn't work…? Uuurp!"

Oria suddenly feels nauseous.

Meanwhile, Faruk, who's watching her from the edge of the flooded staircase thinks:

"(She did a great job avoiding those powerful blows. I knew she can avoid them. Though, is it just my imagination that her reflex grew oddly too fast? …Nah, it's just my imagination. It's natural she evaded its attack path three seconds before the attack landed. But, what she did just now…

She just tried to use imagination-based magic that wasn't her level!)"