“ha … ha….”

Kotori watched as Shun and Anya did their daily runs.

They over the course of three months they had gotten better at managing their training. Not that it was easy but that they were mentally better at handling it. They were coming to Kotori less and less for help. That didn’t mean Amelie was going easy on them. She was steadily ratcheting up the pressure to force them to keep working at their limit.

Shun and Anya were taking it in stride. They were becoming frustratingly competent to the point where both of them even activated new traits.

[Dreamer]

The trait gave them a bonus to all their stats. Which also helped in making sure they would be able to keep up with Amelie. Incidentally, Amelie also had a similar trait [Wood Elf’s Blessing] which was a racial trait of hers.

Kotori was still not quite sure what caused traits and what they did, but she kept trying to figure it out. She was beginning to suspect her [Monte Cristo] Skill had something to do with her random feeling to do idiotic schemes.

Skills were equally puzzling. [Hunter] had recently changed to [Gourmet]. She had noticed some new abilities attached to it that were strangely like Nero’s. The ability to eat live dungeon monsters was something she was not able to do before defeating him. She assumed it had something to do with her [Hunter] skill.

[Skill steal?] She thought.

It was odd especially considering she was not able to take the skill of other dungeon monsters, but Nero was a unique existence among dungeon monsters so perhaps it was related to that.

Shun and Anya’s training was nearly done, and they had asked to join Kotori’s party once they were done.

She immediately declined and told them to go home. Kotori didn’t want to have to take care of more people. She was already dealing with Shu and Umi, plus Kotori was sure if she added them to her party that Shun and Anya would be found dead the next day pummeled by rocks and covered water blades.

They protest and kept asking to join her party.

Of course, since they were technically outlaws it was hard for them to make a living so Kotori took the time to note down all the hidden dungeons they could farm for materials nearby.

[The troublesome spirits]

Umi and Shu were very dedicated to Kotori. Their ability to read her mind was impressive it seemed like they knew what she wanted. She would only need to gesture and they would try to make her wish come true. Apparently, there was an unspoked “Kotori Etiquette” among them.

The adventurer’s situation had been just about resolved. Kotori found herself moving steadily northward because of having to move around and through questioning nearby adventurers she found out that she was in the eastern part of the peninsula of Faramouth near a mountain range.

That was when Kotori ran across it.

It had been a week since Shun and Anya had left Kotori and their party. She had recently turned ten although she looked about 2-3 years older than that. That day she came across an oddity.

[That’s interesting?] She thought.

She had come across a small unassuming metal door carved into a nearby rock face. This was unusual and the next day she called Umi and Shu over.

She had them back her up while she opened the door.

[Ouch!] She thought the moment she touched it. Her hand was slightly burnt but she had managed to pull it back in time.

The door was hot. Despite looking perfectly normal there must’ve been something hot behind it. She asked Shu to open the door. His earth magic should be able to prevent anyone from getting hurt. Shu had a tendril of rock open the latch on the door and slowly pull it open.

Upon opening the door, a wave of heat emanated from the opening. It opened into a passage that cut deep into the earth. A narrow staircase descended downwards.

Kotori felt mana washing over her emanating from the hole.

[A dungeon?]

It was not a dungeon in the archive of dungeon locations in her head.

What was even odder was that this dungeon was not like other dungeons. Where it was surrounded and filled by monsters. Its mana was surprisingly… organized.

[Remind me of Nero she thought]

Kotori felt that same urge to go explore it again. She held herself back. If it was her skill forcing her to do these sorts of things then she was going to be smarter about whether or not to listen to it.

The next day she called a small party meeting and asked for people’s decision on whether or not they should explore

“Why not? Not like we have anything better to do” Amelie said lazily

“I don’t have those two idiots here to teach anymore anyway.”

Kotori was shocked

“Wasn’t it you who always told me to think things through more?”

Amelie yawned

“Ehhh, maybe? but it seems to work out most of them so I’m not going to bother trying to caution against it.”

It seems Kotori’s concern was unfounded. What was more concerning was that Amelie had gotten used to her schemes.

[Am I a bad influence?] Kotori thought

Amelie’s face smiled slightly

“Plus I want to fight something”

[Ahh that why] Kotori thought

She had lost to Yooma and was still trying to get stronger. Her training had slowed down while she helped Shun and Anya get stronger.

Kotori now felt bad for pushing the job of training them onto her.

[Alright we’ll explore the weird dungeon!]

Sato Kotori

Race: [Human] Age: 10

HP: 35(+2!)

Mana: 33(+1!)

Agility: 28(+2!)

Strength: 20(+3!)

Defense: 16(+1!)

Karma: -100,007,561 (+2043!)

Skills: [Magic Musician], [Gourmet](Evolved!), [Desire of Monte Cristo](Removed)

Traits: [Spirit Seer], [Monte Cristo]

Kitsura

Signed up for Japanese courses in the summer.

Want to eventually post on syosetu one day. It's good to have goals no?

 

4/20 update We hit trending... Again!