They both look excitedly at me, their eyes brimming with awe and respect.

"That's amazing, master," Alissa coos as her tail wags excitedly.

"Not unexpected," Roxanne calmly states with a nod.

And I awkwardly rub my neck. "But what does this blessing do?" I shyly ask, a bit embarrassed about my own ignorance, but it seems they don't care or notice it this time.

Roxanne assumes a teaching tone and excitedly claps the tip of her hands as she explains, "It means the Goddess has her eye on you and will influence your Fate to help you. If you continue to follow her path, then you'll certainly become a famous scholar one day."

The way she said "Fate" sounded suspicious, as if it was a capital "F."

Well, anyway, that's fortunate for me, I guess. Maybe now I should look to see if I can join the University. After this job, we'll have some money saved, so I can probably spend some time studying.

 

We dismantle our camp after breakfast then move on, and in just a few minutes, we reach the first stairs. The sound of falling water tickles my ears, but the vertigo from looking down the hole in the middle of the spiral stairs makes me a lot more anxious.

Like planned, I pull a metal spike, a spool of rope, and a hammer, then I hammer the spike on the ground and tie the rope on the spike. I use the bowline knot to tie the rope just like the dungeoneering book taught me.

This dungeon "heals" itself, but it doesn't do so immediately, so the rope will stay here for at least two days if the Spriggans don't mess with it, but if the little shits do, there's always the alternative of using Roxanne since she can materialize two small bat wings on her back that allow her to magically float around, so she can fly up here and then put the spike and rope for us.

We tie the rope to our belts and carefully go down, but the descent is slow because the steps are wet and worn. Roxanne also uses the rope because her wings consume mana, so it's better to preserve her MP.

"What's that thing?" Alissa whispers as she points.

I look more carefully and notice that there's a vine loop on the floor, and the rest of its length goes down over the edge.

I pull a small wooden bowl that we use to eat soup and throw it on the vine. The loop immediately tightens around the bowl, gripping it tightly, then pulls it over the edge.

"Well, first trap successfully dodged," I announce with a wry smile.

We continue down and reach the floor unmolested, then we remove the rope from our waists and move on.

This time, the rooms have no identification, so I have to pay attention to the map, forcing Alissa to take the front of our little column.

We cross a few rooms, then she stops all of a sudden.

"There's an enemy observing us," she announces with a chilling tone.

"Can you take the shot?" I whisper.

"Yes, but I'm sure the monster will dodge it."

I give her shoulder an assuring squeeze. "I'll leave the decision up to you. We have to be aggressive towards the Spriggans, so killing them is the best option, but scaring them is also an alternative. We can't waste too many arrows, though."

She nods diligently. "Understood, I'll wait until I have a better chance to hit."

"That's fine."

We cautiously move on, and after a few more minutes, Alissa suddenly stops and lets an arrow fly.

We wait a couple of tense seconds in silence, then she reports without looking back, "I smell blood, but it must've done little damage as he ran away quite fast."

I nod and smile kindly. "That's okay. Good work, Alissa."

Her tail wags once then immediately stops.

I should praise her more often.

It's good that we engaged the Spriggan because if we'd ignored him, the little shit would've likely tried to sneak up to us to steal something.

That's the only enemy we find on this floor, but we also find an iron bear trap, making me wonder where they'd get one of these.

 

Another stair, another vine trap. Fourteen more levels to go.

 

"Now there are two Spriggans," Alissa apprehensively reports.

I grab my chin in thought as I ask, "Is it the same one from last time?"

She nods positively. "I smell blood, so it's possibly the one I've wounded."

"Let's wait until we can see them, then Roxanne will launch a [Fire Arrow] at them."

From what I understood, the Spriggans are staying one or two rooms away from us. They can see in the dark, so they have no problem seeing us, and Alissa only knows about them because of [Sense Presence]. It's actually impressive she managed to fire an arrow accurate enough to harm a Spriggan while only using the skill to guide her.

We cross three more rooms, then Alissa points to a small shadow peeking from the doorway ahead.

I narrow my eyes in thought and hold back a grin as I point out, "Miss Roxanne, can you see that? On the right side of the doorway, there's a small head peeking."

Roxanne squints her eyes and adjusts her glasses, but then she shakes her head as she denies, "I don't see it. Can you point my finger towards where I need to fire?"

I get close to her and she crouches slightly, lining up my head with hers and our cheeks so close they almost touch, then I delicately grab the hand that grips the staff and point it towards the shadow. I sense a very faint smell of sweat and something sweet coming from her, the cheap anti-scent not enough to hide it all. Her pale hand is also very soft and thin, as if she never had to do a day of rough work in her entire life, though Alissa's is also like hers, so I believe magic might be involved.

I have to hold myself back from inhaling deeply. Call me whatever you want, but I enjoy moments like this.

Then I swallow heavily and focus back on the now. I make a stern expression and order, "Alissa, shoot your arrow the moment Roxanne releases her spell. Hopefully they're bad at sensing mana."

Alissa nods obediently and Roxanne starts chanting the spell quietly.

She grips her staff harder, and I sense mana gathering at its tip, then Alissa pulls back her bow.

"[Fire Arrow]," Roxanne casts.

A flame shaped like an arrow suddenly appears at the tip of her staff and immediately shoots forward, illuminating the room as it flies alongside Alissa's, but the magical arrow passes the doorway and continues on along the tunnel, a miss.

"Got one," Alissa whispers, her tone with a hint of joy and pride.

"Nice," I coo with a grin.

"Impressive as always, Miss Alissa," Roxanne praises her earnestly.

Alissa squirms and her tail shivers, threatening to wag.

Ah, such cuteness.

We move towards Alissa's quarry and find a thin green man collapsed on the floor with an arrow sticking out of his forehead. His eyes are of a pure white color with a green web pattern covering nearly half of it; his chest and arms are partially covered by pieces of mossy, dark bark, and, thankfully, so is his groin; his hair is made of a bunch of small pieces of bark protruding upwards; and the soles of his feet look disgustingly filthy.

"Let's take his head," Alissa happily suggests, and I glumly nod.

She draws her sword and grabs the head by the bark hair, then starts sawing the neck. Warm blood pours out as the meat splits open, but I find myself unable to look away. While Alissa calmly works, I glance at Roxanne and see her wrinkle her nose then sniffle.

"I dislike the smell of blood," she admits and smiles wryly, but I'm too tense to reply.

Alissa quickly finishes the job and I immediately store the head in my "Items." This is the proof of extermination, so I'll have to watch this horrifying scene again a considerable number of times.

I'll be fine…

 

We quickly move on again to distance ourselves from the pool of blood we left behind, and we soon reach another stair down. At least there were no bear traps on this floor.

I pull out another spool of rope, and we do the same thing we did before.

As we go down, Alissa suddenly stops and points out, "Master, this moss is suspicious."

"What do you mean?" I mumble as I try to look over her shoulder.

She kneels on the floor and touches the step. "The stone is cracked under the moss."

I hum in understanding and suggest, "Oh~… Let's hit it with the hammer and see how it goes."

With a *poof*, I pull the hammer out and hand it to Alissa, who immediately slams it on the mossy step, then we take a step back as a hole suddenly opens up on the steps.

I pat her shoulder and smile. "Well, this trap wouldn't be dangerous since we have these ropes, but it'd certainly be scary. Thanks, Alissa," I kindly praise her, and she starts acting cute again.

"Yeah. I'd rather not be thrown around by a rope. Thank you, Alissa," Roxanne piles on, just making Alissa even happier.

 

We continue down the stairs and reach another floor. Only thirteen to go.

I wonder what's below the ground in this world. Is it like Earth where there's the mantle and things get hotter the deeper we go, or is there impassable purple bedrock? Maybe it just "ends" at an infinite hole.

Focus.

On this floor, the shallow pools of dark, dirty water are much bigger, leaving very little dry land. There's barely enough room for one person to walk in between them.

"I smell something funny in the water," Alissa warily reports.

"Let's not touch it," I immediately caution.

Roxanne sniffs the air and walks closer to one of the pools, unnerving me, then she crouches and ponders, "I guess the water is corrosive. I don't think it's poison because it'd be really hard to poison every single pool in this dungeon unless the Spriggans have an unbelievable supply of it."

Corrosion is even worse than poison. It hurts my soul to even imagine something hurting Alissa's cute little feet.

"And there's another vine ahead," Alissa points out.

"Alright…" I mumble as I search my "Items" for the bowl again, then I pull it out and throw it on the vines. They immediately tighten around the bowl and pull it into the water, then we hear sizzling.

Roxanne nods in acknowledgment and states, "Corrosive. It wouldn't kill us, but it'd hurt."

We find no Spriggan on this level, so maybe the corrosive pools are dangerous for them, too.

 

Another stair, another vine trap, and now the pools are back to normal size. Twelve floors to go.

We cross a few rooms, then Alissa stops us again. "There's a small mound below the moss over there," she soberly reports.

I remember something from the dungeon reports and frown worriedly. "I don't even want to trigger this trap, so let's just go around," I firmly suggest.

We take a small detour around the room and circle the pool.

"There's another mound ahead of us," Alissa reports, starting to sound worried.

I let out an annoyed sigh and mumble, "Well, shit."

I pick a spare iron spike because it's heavier than the bowl and throw it at the mound, then a white flash blinds us. I immediately push Alissa back and pull up my shield in front of us, getting ready for an attack.

Only our vision was taken, not our hearing, so I focus on any footsteps approaching, but the only sounds we hear are the ones we produce ourselves.

A few seconds pass, and our vision returns, but nothing else happens.

I lower my shield and sigh. "They're just messing with us," I grumble.

"Just like the book said," Alissa remarks, her tone a little tense.

We encounter a few more mounds, which trigger a few more flashes, but we don't get blinded a second time. I wish I could dig the mound up, but I'm scared it might turn into an actual mine at some point.

 

Another stair, another vi-...

"It's moving!" Alissa exclaims warily.

The vine slithers towards us like a snake, but it isn't particularly threatening, so Alissa and I awkwardly slash at the ground a few times to kill it. The vine stops moving after a dozen chops, but using a sword this way isn't good for the blade

"The Spriggans can control vines, the first real attack is coming soon," I warn them, and they nod obediently.

Then we reach the bottom of the stairs without another incident. Eleven floors to go.

 

There are no traps, so we grow a bit restless.

"Three hits, it's the Spriggans," Alissa suddenly reports.

Finally.

I immediately strategize, "One for each of us. I'll take the middle, Alissa the left one, and Roxanne the last."

We continue forward, and when we enter the corridor, we see something blocking our way. It's a wooden chest-high wall.

"They're behind that," Alissa whispers.

We brace for battle and slowly move closer, but then I get an idea.

I smirk and turn to Roxanne. "Uh… Miss Roxanne, [Fireball], please," I politely request.

Her expression lights up and she grins evilly. "Yes, sir!" She energetically replies. She was rather quiet all this time, but now that there's an actual enemy in front of us instead of just traps she seems a lot happier.

I turn forward again, then I feel a lot of mana gathering behind me as Roxanne chants softly.

"[Fireball]!" She suddenly casts.

A ball of fire bigger than my head flies past me, then it hits the wooden wall and explodes, leaving a large hole in the middle.

"Erm… they're moving… downwards?" Alissa confusedly reports and cutely tilts her head to the side.

"What…?" I grunt reflexively.

Alissa scratches her fox ear. "Yeah, they ran away... downwards. There must be a stair or something there."

"So, another feint," I whisper tiredly and drop my shoulders dejectedly.

"Ugh~..." Roxanne groans and rolls her eyes.

The numbers of stalking Spriggans are increasing, but they're not attacking. Scaring works, for now, but it won't last, so I want to kill some to set fear in them already.

We walk up to the flaming wooden wall and see a dark hole in the ground behind it. There are vines hanging from the hole like ropes, which is what I believe they used to climb down, and the hole goes down a few meters, then opens into a dark room.

"This must be how they sneak about the dungeon," I guess.

The room below seems claustrophobically small, so nobody feels like exploring it.

 

We move on and soon reach the stairs down. Another stair, another vine trap.

"Master, the stairs are slippery," Alissa cautions me.

We take extra care and reach the bottom of the stairs without a hitch. Just ten more to go.

 

As we cross a narrow corridor, Alissa suddenly stops me, then she kneels and observes something close to the floor.

"I see… oh, it's a wire," she curiously mutters, and only when she runs her finger along the wire that I finally notice it.

Now, wire traps are a mind trap too. This trap could trigger something that makes the whole corridor collapse, or it could just be a faint, a dud to make us tense, or there could even be another, different trap right after this one as our mind becomes hyper-focused on finding wire traps. It's right up the Spriggan's alley to play mind games like these to tire us out.

I look at the walls and narrow my eyes in suspicion. "Are those slits?" I notice.

Alissa follows my gaze then nods in agreement. "Yes, Master. It's likely there's an arrow trap behind the walls," she concludes.

Triggering this trap will cause uncountable arrows to come flying out of the walls. Don't ask me how it works, it's just "magic."

I grab my chin in thought and guide her, "Alissa, look ahead of the wire, is there any other trap nearby? Like, a pressure trap, a mound, or another wire?"

Her eyes carefully scan the mossy corridor. "Let's see… there's a suspicious square tile over there," she points out.

Heh, I knew it.

And I calmly order, "Then let's slowly move across this corridor. If you trigger something, immediately drop to the floor."

We cautiously get past the traps, and Alissa spots a second suspicious square tile, then she suddenly stops.

"There's one watching us," she tensely whispers.

Just one? And this corridor is rather long… This is suspicious.

I sternly order, "Alissa, shoot an arrow at him, then we should all increase our speed."

An arrow flies, and I hurry us forward, then we feel a small tremor that lasts a couple seconds.

"Run!" I immediately yell. I don't even care whatever it is, we just need to fucking run.

I glance behind us and see the floor starting to split, opening into a deep, dark hole.

"FASTER!" I scream and look ahead again.

I can't see Roxanne behind me, so I just hope she exercises regularly.

Alissa and I reach the end first, then I look back and see that Roxanne is still some distance away.

Dammit, girl!

I desperately open my "Items" and pull out a spool of spare rope, then Roxanne's footing disappears under her and she jumps.

Bat wings suddenly appear on her back, then they lazily flap, and she starts to float. She crosses her arms and legs as if she was sitting in the air while she slowly flying towards us.

I forgot about that. Thanks for the heart attack.

"So… I'm really thankful I can float," she casually remarks while giving us an embarrassed smile.

I facepalm and massage my eyes. "I'd have thrown you a rope if you couldn't," I wearily reply.

She giggles softly as she steps on the floor before us. "That's a little reassuring, but I'm still pretty pissed at the Spriggans. That was some major trap! We evade a dozen of them, and then a little shit comes here just to trigger one last trap himself," she irritatedly remarks.

I nod as I coldly explain, "That's why we need to brutalize them. If they attack, then we leave no survivors, and that puts some fear into them."

She holds her waist and strikes a sassy pose. "Then I'll use [Melt Skin] to make them terrified of us!" But I shudder at the thought.

Help me, Alissa, she's threatening my mental health!

"Let's not deviate from the plan, effective ways of killing come first," Alissa soothes her.

Thank you for being so reliable.

Roxanne crosses her arms and pouts. "Hmph, alright," she grunts back.

Then we reach the stairs down. Another stair, another… moving vine, and we easily cross it. Nine to go.

 

"There's one on the left corridor and two on the right," Alissa tensely whispers.

And I strategize, "Hm… If we chase them, they'll run away, and if we ignore them, they'll come from behind and ambush, so I want to force a fight..."

But there's no time to think.

"Master! Three coming from the front! Ambush!" Alissa frantically shouts.

I grit my teeth and grip my sword harder. "Shit. Alissa, right! Roxanne, left! Kill sides, then support me!" I immediately bark orders.

I draw my sword and ready my shield, then I charge a heavy [Fireball].

I notice something being thrown. It's a crude wooden spear, but it just clangs against my shield, not sharp enough to pierce it.

"Projectiles! Watch out!" I warn them.

Roxanne is bad at dodging, so she's the one in the most danger. I need to kill that spear-thrower since there's no cover here.

Shadows come into range of our light, revealing three skinny green men. Two of them are wielding crude metal swords and crude wooden shields while the third has a spear in his hand and a dozen more on his back. The shield users have a large amount of bark covering their arms and legs, but their chest is still vulnerable.

I charge forward. The spear-thrower must die.

The shield users stop and brace themselves.

I bash the one on the left, and he staggers backward. A spear flies and hits my shield, but that's enough of an opening. I let out the [Fireball] towards the spear user and parry the incoming blow from the one on the right, then I hear a masculine scream. His voice is similar to a human's, but it's like there are two voices overlapping each other.

My spell hit!

The spear thrower's arm and part of his chest burst in flames, and he starts running around, too stupid to put out a fire in the middle of a damp room full of pools of water.

I immediately back off and glance at the girls.

Alissa is on the ground being pulled by a vine towards the pool, there's a Spriggan on fire near her, but Roxanne is sprinting towards them, dagger in hand.

Fucking no, no, and no!

I dash towards the one on fire, then he drops his flaming shield and moves towards the defenseless Alissa as her sword is on the ground, out of her reach.

I don't have time to stop, so I tackle the Spriggan and my sword pierces his back, then we both fall on the ground in a messy way.

He thrashes about, trying to hit me with punches and kicks, but I can't finish him off since my sword is stuck in him, so I draw a dagger from my back and stab his chest multiple times, right in the heart.

After a few stabs, he slows down and quickly loses strength, then stops resisting entirely and becomes limp.

"[Melt Skin]!"

A chilling, guttural scream fills the room. I look towards its source and see a Spriggan rolling on the ground while white steam rises from his body while Roxanne stands near him, holding her dagger threateningly. Luckily, I can't see much more than that due to the steam.

Alissa is beside her, clashing swords with a shield user Spriggan. His attacks suddenly slow down, and he starts to retreat, so I dash after him.

Like hell I'm gonna let you go now, you shit stain.

He's not fast enough, so we manage to surround him. Roxann's hair is disheveled, making her look very angry and stabby, while Alissa faces him with a serious, murderous look.

I come from the side and slash at his flank. He doesn't react in time, and blue blood is drawn from his ribs.

Roxanne starts chanting, so the Spriggan turns around to run again, and Alissa slashes at his back, making him fall from the pain, then I kick his face, stunning him.

Alissa's boot presses down on his chest, then she beheads him with a clean chop. [Sharp Blades] can make swords become frighteningly sharp.

I look around and notice that the spear-thrower is already far away, though he's still burning. There's also a Spriggan with an arrow poking out of his forehead, a carbonized body, and a passed-out one with his skin melted.

I don't even want to look at the last one right now, but then Roxanne walks up to him, and I hear the wet sound of flesh being sliced open.

Jesus.

Alissa starts collecting the heads, but she stops for a moment to stare at one with a mohawk made of bark, then she laughs and stores it. I just spend the whole time staring down, cleaning my sword and shield while Roxanne pats her robes and brushes her hair.

Once she's done, Alissa comes to me and regretfully apologizes, "I'm sorry, Master. I got caught in a vine trap and dropped my weapons."

I shake my head and give her a kind smile. "Don't apologize for this. Mistakes happen, and we deal with them as a team. It was good acting by Roxanne to come and free you, but I was also a bit far, so it was partially my fault you were so close to danger."

She frowns concernedly. "T-that's not-..."

"Don't argue. We're companions," I assert with finality. I don't want her to apologize like this for every mistake.

She bites her lip and nods. "… Understood, Master," she reluctantly relents.

I store my rag and stand up. "Now let's go, I don't like this smell."

It's the smell of barbecue.

 

We reach the stairs down and take a small break to eat an early lunch. At least it seems so since we have no idea of the time.

I drink my tea with my lunch, which isn't customary. Though I like to drink tea during the afternoon snack, there's no time to take another break after this, so it has to be right now.

Alissa is content to make tea for us, which also soothes Roxanne's bloodthirst, so I guess this was the best choice, after all.

We only hear the faint sounds of running water and our quiet chattering, making this place quite a nice spot for a picnic. The atmosphere is also nice, and the girls are happy, almost making me forget the imps planning our deaths nearby.

 

Another stair, another vine trap. Eight to go.

This floor has a few wooden walls blocking the way here and there, but no enemies, so we can just blow them open if they get in our way.

It seems we scared them off with the last fight, which is excellent to us. Perhaps that attack was a test to see how we react, and it doesn't seem unlike monsters to sacrifice a few for the "greater good."

 

Another stair, another two moving vine traps. Seven floors left.

Mounds and bear traps appear again, and this time, I have a bad feeling about them, so we throw a spike from far away, then it blows up.

Finally, the mines have appeared.

We move extra carefully on this floor, but we reach the stairs without any dangerous encounter.

 

Another stair, another… empty stair?

No traps. Suspicious.

Six floors left.

 

Pitfalls, pitfalls galore. We have to keep looking for cracks in the ground and hammering anything remotely suspicious. Alissa has the best eyes by far, so I tie a rope around her waist, then Roxanne and I hold it from a bit far behind while she explores.

Another stair, another no trap descent.

Five floors to go.

 

"A Spriggan is watching us," Alissa soberly reports.

"Hmm…" I stroke my chin as I think of a nefarious plan, but the Spriggans are too slippery for what I have in mind. "I want to chase him and give him a scare," I tone down the evil.

"There have been quite a lot of traps on these floors, so it's better that we don't rush forward and stumble upon one," Alissa counters.

"Let me try a small explosion near him," Roxanne evilly suggests.

"Isn't that a waste of mana?" I question her skeptically. I know this spell's mana efficiency is kind of bad.

"If it's small, it'll only startle him, so it won't waste too much mana," she explains as she adjusts her glasses.

And I shrug. "Fine, then."

Roxanne claps the tips of her hands excitedly and turns to Alissa. "Please, point me towards the Spriggan, Miss Alissa."

I savor the sight of a cute girl and a hot woman rubbing cheeks and holding hands. I want a picture of this scene.

Roxanne grins evilly as she casts, "[Explosion]!" And I hear a boom, then I feel a faint breeze.

"He actually got pushed away quite a bit, so I think the explosion wounded him," Alissa reports, sounding quite impressed.

I nod in approval as I hum, "Hm, nice. We should use this spell more often, then, because it seems that he couldn't detect the spell until it was too late."

 

Alissa finds another Spriggan, but he runs away immediately when we stop to aim.

Heheh. They're scared now.

A mix of traps appears on this floor, which is quite annoying since it slows us down.

Then we reach the stairs. Another stair, another no vine trap descent.

Four floors to go.

 

Vines, vines everywhere. We walk forward slashing at the ground repeatedly, but I fear my poor sword will get ruined like this. Vines try to grab us from multiple angles, but they're too slow to be effective now that we're wary of them.

They're not like the Bush Babies that can strike hard and with weight, these vines can only move and entangle us then push us towards the pools. If a vine catches us and we fall, as long as we have a sword or dagger at hand there's nothing else they can do.

Honestly, this is the most annoying room so far. I almost feel like just running past all these vines.

But we eventually reach the stairs.

Then I look at Alissa, and she looks at me.

"Something is odd," she points out.

"Even I think so," Roxanne agrees, squinting as she stares at the stairs intensely.

The stairs look… too well done. All the other stairs looked worn out and uneven, but this one? Every step is perfect.

I ponder for a moment, but I eventually just give up, "Hm… If something happens, we always have the rope, so let's just go."

We start descending, and we don't meet a single vine trap.

But once we reach the middle, we hear a *clunk* sound.

Ah, shit, here we go again.

The stair suddenly changes into a slope, then a large amount of water gushes out from the walls in jets.

There's no time to react, so we're pushed towards the edge and start losing our balance.

I slip and slide down, so the rope pulls on Alissa, making her slip, and Roxanne follows a second after, then we're all pushed over the edge by the strength of the jets.

The rope holds, and we dangle above the pit a good ten meters above the ground, but right under us, I see dozens of pointy shadows at the edge of my light.

"These fuckers…" I grumble.

"My robe…" Roxanne whines.

"Annoying…" Alissa growls.

We slowly crawl down the rope and land avoiding the spikes embedded on the ground, then we use [Fire Magic] to dry ourselves.

Three floors to go.

 

Another floor full of wooden walls, and it also seems empty.

But Alissa eventually finds one. "One monster hiding ahead," she calmly informs us.

"Hm… have they all not ran away?" I think out loud as I squint to discern what's up ahead. At the end of the corridor, I see the outline of a chest-high wall. "Well, whatever, he's behind that wooden wall?"

"Yes, Master," Alissa obediently replies.

I turn to Roxanne and grin. "Miss Roxanne, you can see that, too, right? Do you think you can cause an explosion right where his head would be?"

She matches my grin and adjusts her glasses as she chuckles like an evil lady, "Ohohoh! I like that!"

Then Alissa helps Roxanne point her finger again, scoring another hit on my heart. The two beauties together are truly a sight to behold.

Oof.

"[Explosion]!"

I hear a boom followed by a wet, fleshy sound, making me giggle.

We walk up to it and see a headless Spriggan laying on the ground with his back against the chest-high wall. The surroundings are completely covered in blue blood and small bits of brain matter and bones.

Roxanne leans down to inspect the damage closer. "Ohoh~… I'm quite satisfied with the result, though it's a shame that I destroyed the proof of extermination."

But then I start chuckling.

"Master, what's so funny?" Alissa asks concernedly.

I can't control myself, and the chuckling grows into laughter.

I try to speak, but I'm so distressed that I can barely keep it together, "I'm not… ahahah…  going insane… hahah… it's just that… hah… it's just so… AHAHA… ridiculous…"

Both of the girls look at me worriedly as I bend over and wheeze, but then my stomach starts to hurt, making me even more agitated.

"L-let's go, Master," Alissa hurries us, and the fit of laughter quickly subsides.

I don't want to think about what just happened.

Soon after, we reach the stairs.

Oh, look it's back. Another stair, another vine trap.

Two floors to go.

 

We're thankful the journey across this floor is short. It's filled with even more traps, but the small distance to the stairs down means we only have to deal with them for a short time.

Another stair, another vine trap.

Last floor.

 

"The smell of Spriggan is really strong here," Alissa warily points out.

"Perhaps they actually live here?" Roxanne wonders.

I look around and notice small mushrooms and bushes with fruit, so I cite, "This floor has food for them, so while it's not known if they actually live here, they do come often."

There are forty more floors after the one of the Moon Turtles, and it's thought that the Spriggans are hunter-gatherers who don't live in a single place for long.

We quickly move on, eager to reach the end of this stretch of our journey, but after a few rooms, Alissa stops us.

"I smell burnt wood," she whispers, sounding puzzled.

"Oh? So they do use fire," I mumble back.

"Well, this means they're close by," Roxanne explains, and it puts my curious mind back on track.

I smile wryly. "Yes, right…"

Then Roxanne looks at me with an eager glow in her eyes, just waiting for the order to fight.

"Let's not fight them," I stop her immediately.

"Awn…" She moans cutely, contrasting with her sexy style.

I give Alissa a worried glance, but she doesn't seem to understand. "You can only blow their heads if they're standing still, you know," I try to appease Roxanne.

"I can still use [Melt Skin]," she casually replies, giving me a shiver.

I'm surrounded by sadistic women.

"Miss Roxanne, that spell is only for emergencies because it's too dangerous to be used so carelessly," Alissa warns her, finally coming to my rescue.

"Hmm~..." Roxanne groans with a pout, seeming a bit vexed.

Alissa isn't wrong. That spell has quite the short range, and I'm not letting Roxanne get close to another Spriggan again.

"Oh! Master, there's nine of them right ahead!" Alissa suddenly exclaims.

Then I notice that the room they're supposedly in is quite small.

I suddenly get so giddy I start to grin evilly, "Heheheheh… Miss Roxanne, [Firestorm] please..."

Roxanne's expression turns crazed and murderous. "Yes… yes… YES!" She shouts hysterically.

The Spriggans thought they could ambush us again. They thought they could outnumber us. But they've underestimated our power.

You don't fuck with a Fire mage.

"They aren't coming, they're waiting to ambush," Alissa declares, confirming their death sentence.

Even the kind and forgiving me is pissed at these imps, and if we can crush them from afar without even being able to see them, then my heart is safe. It's just more numbers on my experience bar.

I hug Alissa's waist, and she rests her head on my shoulder, then we watch the show.

"[FIRESTORM]!"

In the distance, we see the room lighting up. Wisps of flame appear from nothing, creating lines in the air that twist into spirals. The number of flames suddenly explodes until they cover the entire room in just a few seconds, creating a hellish tornado of fire.

A strong gust of hot wind blows on us, bringing the smell of burnt wood and flesh with it.

"GET FUCKED!" Roxanne screams triumphantly, then she pants and leans on her staff.

"They're all dead. Good job, Miss Roxanne," Alissa praises her cheerfully.

The last stair is a few rooms ahead, so this was our last encounter with the Spriggans. After this, the journey back will be simple since the way is clear.

We inspect the damage, but no corpses are left behind. The entire room is completely black and charred.

 

Then we reach the stairs down. Another stair, another vine trap.

And we finally reach the floor of the Moon Turtles.

"MOONLIGHT MOOOOOSS," Roxanne lets out a long scream as she falls on her knees, her eyes watery, and her hands on her cheeks.

Our prize is finally within sight. Shining in the nearly completely dark cave, a glowing patch of white moss covers the round back shell of a monster, illuminating the surroundings, and revealing the figure of the huge turtle.

The Moon Turtles turtles are just literally giant turtles with a shell covered in either blue or green moss. They have small little spikes growing out of their shells, like a certain famous kidnapping turtle, that thrust out like a porcupine when it's angered. Fortunately, they aren't aggressive, and they'll only attack on their own if someone stands in front of them.

We take a break to let Roxanne recover the mana she used for [Firestorm], and once she's ready, the massacre begins.

This floor is damper than the others, and the pools of water are much deeper, but not wider. The Turtles like to hide in the pools, thinking they're safe since nobody wants to touch the filthy water, but that just makes them more vulnerable to ranged attacks.

We move fast and ignore most turtles since only a few of them actually have the Moonlight Moss. Once we spot our target, Alissa uses [Muscle Explosion] to shoot two arrows in quick succession to blind it. Knowing that it's going to die, the Turtle becomes enraged and shoots fire everywhere in hope of scoring a lucky hit.

Though it's lashing out wildly, it's still a slow-moving turtle, so I put on tall, thick boots and enter the shallow pool, then I carefully approach it from behind and slash its throat. Once I confirm that the bleeding is satisfactory, I return to Alissa to recharge my mental energies while we wait until the Turtle dies from blood loss.

It dies after a few excruciatingly long minutes, then Roxanne happily floats towards it and starts working.

The only problem is that all this blood is bad for my heart, making me queasy. I guess the stress of the trip and the danger of this dungeon keeps me sane, but it's not easy to watch the slow death of these Turtles.

Roxanne's work is a bit fascinating, though. She first spreads a measured amount of a drying powder on the Moss and waits as it reacts until it becomes crumbly to the touch but not enough that it becomes like sand, then she finally pulls out a silver spatula-like scraping tool and collects the Moss.

The Moss is quite corrosive to most materials, forcing her to use thick gloves. The only thing that can resist the corrosion is silver, which is absorbed by the Moss when they touch, creating a fine layer that shields it from touching other things. This layer is what allows the Moss to be safely transported, and it also helps that silver is already an ingredient she wants to use in her potions.

The process takes a few minutes, and by running from room to room, we manage to kill nine Turtles in an hour. We work for three hours, rest, work another three hours, and Roxanne's jar finally gets filled.

"Contract complete!" She exclaims and happily bounces around while holding her jar.

"Uh… we still have to escort you back," I point out.

She stops and grins embarrassedly. "Oh yes, that's right, eheheh."

How can you be so carefree?

Exhausted, we set camp in a quiet, empty room.

 

Roxanne takes a bath first while we keep watch, and she happily hums a cute little tune as we hear the splashes of water.

Alissa and I both smell of sweat, but we still sit on the floor right next to each other as we hold hands and stare out of our secluded room.

"It feels like we have been so long down here," Alissa suddenly comments wistfully.

I gently caress her hand as I admire how perfectly smooth her skin is and explain, "It's because we can't see the sun, so our notion of time is messed up. Now that I think about it, is there a shop where we could buy a clock?" I raise my head to look at her.

She looks at her hand and smiles at my loving touch. "I've seen them a few times at the Flea Market. The Crafters' Corner should also have them, but the magic tool shops are more guaranteed to have it in stock."

"You think it's expensive?"

Her tail lazily wags as she thinks for a moment. "Yes, that's why not many people have it. Looking at the sun or the sun dials is enough for most commoners."

I start to feel mesmerized by the movement of her fluffy tail. "We should have some good money after this, so we'll rest for a few days, and I'll use the leftovers to buy one."

Her tail wags faster and I smile unknowingly. "A few days with only us would be nice," she whispers with a dreamy tone. "I want to learn more about the local teas, and I also want to practice cooking again."

I raise my eyes back to her face and stare at her orange jewels. "Oh, yeah, you have the [Cooking] skill, but you haven't made anything for me yet. I'd love to eat something you made." -She gushes adorably and gives me a sly glance- "I used to cook, too, so let's do it together."

She tilts her head cutely in surprise as she hums, "Oh? Yes, let's do it together." Then she squeezes my hand lovingly. "You also haven't told me what dishes you used to eat in your homeland."

I hum absentmindedly as I reminisce about the past, about how Lily and I used to cook together…

 

Bath time goes the same as before with gags, fingers, and oral only. Alissa holds her voice better this time, so I put a lot of energy into eating her out, gradually increasing my speed until she tells me to slow down, then she orgasms on my tongue.

After having my taste of her, we eat the same dinner as yesterday and go to sleep again in turns. I get to sleep for three hours while hugging Alissa, but we have to do it while armored, which dampens my enjoyment a considerable amount. Well, Roxanne's robe can barely be considered armor, but I think she has some light gambeson under it.

 

We wake up feeling a bit stiff, then we eat breakfast, and prepare to leave.

Roxanne spends a long moment looking out of our secluded room, staring at the distant glint of more Moonlight Moss. If she wants to go, she'll do it alone because I just want to go home.

Eventually, she snaps out of it and we move out.

Once we get to the stairs, we see that the rope we used is still there. Being able to reuse it makes it worth having spent so much money on a whole spool.

Then we move through the rooms at a hurried pace. We know where the traps are, and not only do the Spriggans take a long time to change the trap layout, they're also far too scared of us now to attack again.

We blaze through the floors and leave the dungeon before it's even noon, I think.

After a light snack, we wait a short while for digestion to do its thing, then we start to stretch. We're going to run, fuck sneaking about again. The moles won't chase us into the Arachne territory, so we can just run past them because they are way too dumb and slow to react fast enough to block us.

I'll keep Roxanne in front of me because I can't let her sexy slow ass fall behind like last time.

Then I have Alissa memorize the order of the markings on the tunnels to guide us through the path that takes us outside, and now we're ready.

"RUN!"

 

We simply run past four Moles. We throw a few arrows and spells at them the moment we meet, scaring them off and clearing the path for us.

"Five more markings," Alissa reports, not even out of breath, but we still have about ten more minutes of running, then she suddenly stops. "Wait, someone's coming."

I get in front of her and pull up my shield. "What is it?" I warily ask.

"Three humanoids are coming towards us. They're likely just adventurers, but… they're running from something?" She questions, unsure herself.

"Running from what? Actually, it's pretty obvious, get ready to fight an Arachne," I order as I glance at the girls, and they nod solemnly.

Just our luck. This expedition didn't have any real incident so far, so it was about time something unusual happened.

We wait for a few seconds, then we start to hear footsteps. I quickly become anxious, thinking that the Moles are going to come running from behind now that we've stopped, so I warn Alissa to keep an eye on our backs.

Sorry you have to work so much.

Then a line of adventurers comes from the tunnel ahead. The first one is a black man in a hauberk and chausses with a large kite shield and a sword sheathed on his waist; the second is a blonde bearded archer with black leather armor and a red feather cap that looks kind of tacky, and I see a white, thin, furry tail coming out of his back; and the last is a short-haired redhead woman with a black robe, a wand in one hand and a small, round, iron shield on the other.

They all look deathly pale, their faces blank with fear, and their bodies glistening with sweat.

"SYMBOL OF HATE!" The man in chain mail bellows and we all shudder in fear at the name.

We're fucked, that's a threat level 7 monster.

The Symbol of Hate is an aberrant legendary monster that appeared about two hundred years ago. She's a five meters tall Arachne with twelve spider legs, black human torso, and blood-red eyes. The hairs of her spider body are so stiff that they can puncture the skin with their sharpness; her spider exoskeleton is almost as hard as metal, making sword and spears nearly useless; her black human torso is her weakest spot, but it's still as tough as an ogre's, making my sword almost useless; her frightening large mouth has hundreds of sharp teeth that shred anything she eats; and her nails are as large and sharp as a dagger. Her appearance isn't exactly frightening, but what makes this monster so horrifying is that she has an incessant thirst for inflicting pain and misery.

She literally feeds on pain. She captures any living being, brutalizes them, nurses them back to health, and brutalizes them again until their mind breaks apart, then she eats her prey alive. There's only one report of her nest and the only words to describe her are "a hell where the only sound is the cry of pain of tortured souls".

She's the embodiment of misery. She's a berserking, cunning monster that eludes extermination task forces as long as she has lived. Her aberrant nature means not even the Monster King controls her as she's grown too powerful and too twisted to be considered the same as a normal monster.

It's that fucking nightmare that's coming towards us.

But we can't run or we're going to get sandwiched. We're still at the edge of Mole territory, so they might still be chasing after us, and we don't have the firepower to break through their horde if we fight them head-on.

We can either fight one enemy right now, or we can run and most likely get sandwiched between more than one, so, to me, there's only one choice: we have to fight the Symbol head-on.

"YOU THREE, STOP RIGHT NOW, THE MOLES ARE COMING AFTER US!" I scream back.

They immediately brake and almost tumble, then the woman and the chain guy freeze like deers in the headlights while the archer grabs his own hair and falls on his knees, his face wracked with despair.

Now's not the time to panic!

"WE HAVE TO FIGHT!" I scream once again, and they turn their heads towards me. "You, mage! What are your spells!?"

"Hiiii..." She shivers and lets out a small scream, but my imperious tone prompts her to stutter an answer, "F-f-fire, b-ball, arrow, w-wall. W-wind bla-d-de, ha-hammer, a-armor."

I nod sternly and command, "Ignore wind! Focus only on [Fireball] and [Fire Arrow]. Don't miss, so take your time, and don't waste mana!"

She nods in understanding while shivering like a rabbit before a wolf.

I turn to the weremonkey man. "You, archer! Focus only on hitting the eyes. The skin is too thick for anything else!"

"Y-yes!" He obediently responds and stands up.

Good, he's not completely helpless.

Then I turn to the last one. "You, shield! We stand in front. Block and protect, and cut legs only if we have a chance!"

"YES!" He roars with a surprising amount of energy.

I turn around and look at the girls. "Roxanne! Same as the mage, save half your mana for an explosion!"

"Understood!" She soberly replies.

She trusts me, that's good.

And to the last one, I give an intense look that she mirrors back at me. "Alissa, same as the archer. We need those eyes popped!"

"You can count on me!" She confidently declares and clenches her fist over her chest.

Reliable as always. Marry me, please.

Then we get in formation and wait.

I think I'm actually fucking lucky.

It was simply by chance that I saw the entry for Symbol of Hate, which spiked my curiosity, so I spent a long time searching for tales about her, and they told me the best way to deal with this fiend. Her skin is tough but it's still skin, so fire is extra effective, and if we burn her enough, she'll lose interest and run away. That's our only chance of survival.

Then I notice that the chainmail guy is shaking.

"It's okay, we'll survive," I lie, then I give him an exaggerated smile and a thumbs-up. Hopefully, this gesture means the same as on Earth.

He lets out a nervous laugh, and his shaking reduces a little.

A few seconds later, we hear a stampede coming, then a maniacal laugh fills the tunnels, and I grit my teeth

The laughter quickly becomes louder, and the mages start charging their mana.

I look around and wonder if this is the best place for this fight. We're in a large square room that's tall and long, but not very wide.

Unfortunately, there's no time to think anymore. At the entrance to the tunnel ahead, a large shadow appears.

The Symbol of Hate charges at us while grinning like a mad woman. Her twelve legs are as sharp as a spear, leaving small holes wherever they step on. Normal Arachnes have the human body replace the spider's face, but the Symbol has her naked human body on top of the thorax of the spider, so she has eyes on her human head and on the spider's face, which are quite a lot of eyes to pop.

A second after I scan her body, two [Fireballs] and two arrows are launched towards her. She blocks one spell with her dagger-fingers while the other grazes the right arm, leaving a small scorch mark. The left arm deflects an arrow aimed at the face but the second arrow sinks into one of the spider head's six eyes.

She easily deflects the following arrows while the mages gather mana for more [Fireballs], then she reaches us, the front line.

She tries to trample both of us at the same time, but we face her with determination and hold back the charge. Her front legs slam against our shields, making a small bump in mine as she tries to crush both of us, but she doesn't retreat immediately, leaving her legs exposed, so we both counter with a slash, carving grooves in them.

She pulls back and raises her two forward legs, then uses them like spears. Her arms block more [Fireball]s, but the spells still burn her skin. The center area between me and the shield guy is clear, giving the archers a perfect shot to her eyes, and another one on the spider's head is pierced.

I dodge, parry, and block, slowly wounding the forward legs some more, but even my sword arm is quickly tiring from having to deal with the brute force of this monster. My [Wind Armor] is so weak against these attacks that the spell makes no difference.

The shield guy is doing better than me, though, I just don't have enough "Strength" for this fight.

But I won't fall first!

The arrows miss and both [Fireballs] are blocked. The shield guy gets lucky and cuts off the pointy tip from the Symbol's leg, but it can still be used as a blunt tool.

I start to lose my breath and my arms become heavy. I won't last much longer. The fire damage is too little, and the monster is too heavy.

Another spider eye goes away, three more to go. The eyes lost are all on my side, so its attacks slow down and I can get a small breathing room, but I don't have the luxury to rest. I counter and cut the tip of a leg.

"URAAAAAAA!" The shield guy screams. He makes the Symbol's forward leg even shorter, then a large [Fireball] hits her chest and one of her saggy, ugly breasts is completely carbonized.

"AAAAAAH!" This time the spider is the one who screams, but then her face warps into a scowl as she becomes enraged.

Her attacks become wilder and heavier, so we take a step back, and another spider eye goes away, leaving only two more and the pair on her human head.

The Symbol is slowly losing her sight advantage, making it difficult for her to dodge or block all these simultaneous attacks, so she changes tactics.

She jumps sideways, away from me, and she falls down nearly on top of the shield guy. With three legs, she does a sideways sweep, sending him flying towards the wall.

This is bad, she turned around the situation, I can't hold her back on my own!

I take the chance. I dash towards her and slash one leg at the joint, cutting it off completely.

Heh, easy, only eleven more to go!

She counters by doing another sweep, and there's no room for me to dodge. I receive the sweep against my shield and feel a shiver run down my spine as I fly away backward.

I crash on the floor and roll, but I spread my arms and legs out, stopping me from flying further as I land on all fours, then the Symbol turns towards Roxanne.

Oh fuck, no, no, no, and no. NO, YOU WON'T.

I dash with my all, adrenaline pumping into my veins, and forget all about my tired legs and arms. The only thing I feel is the anguish in my heart while looking at Roxanne.

A shadow appears in front of her as she merely remains standing still while muttering something, and completely defenseless. A spider leg pierces her stomach, and I can see the tip coming out of her back.

The leg stops in the air for a second, then I jump and slash down, using my body weight to sever the leg clean through.

"WAAAAAAAAAAH!" The spider screams, but not because of my attack. I look up and see an arrow coming out of the human head's right eye.

GOOD, ALISSA!

The spider thrashes about as it screams in pain, but it narrowly misses both Roxanne and I, then I see an opportunity.

Her legs are open, desperately trying to find anyone close to her, too blind with pain to see properly. Once she sweeps her legs to one side, I dash forward and get under her, then I raise my sword and open a long wound along the soft part of the underside of the spider's thorax.

Blood flows down and coats my arm, and even a piece of mangled intestine dangles out.

Suddenly, my head bursts with pain, and I lose my hearing as the spider screams so loud it makes my body shake.

I stumble and look back, only for my eyes to meet with the Symbol's last human eye, and fear fills my spine as the blood-red circle stares at me with evil intent.

Behind the Symbol, Roxanne still stands, leaning on her staff as she mutters a chant and gathers a huge amount of mana. She's going to use her last card, and the Symbol is too enraged with me to notice her.

I have to do something, I have to keep the monster still, but I only know of one way.

I run away as I change my skills in desperation, then I hear the spider start moving.

"STOOOOOP!" The shield guy screams. He reaches the spider and severs a leg, but then he immediately gets blown away again by another sweep.

A [Fireball] hits the Symbol's human back, making her groan in pain, and she spins in place, now staring at the mage girl.

Like I'm going to let you do that!

They bought me enough time. I turn around and dash as I charge my spell, putting as much mana as I can into it.

I'm ready. There's no other way, no second chances, this is my best bet and I'm going to see it through the end!

"RAAAAH!" I scream in desperation to grab her attention again.

The Symbol's legs are too wounded for her to be faster than me, so I catch up with her, then she stops to switch targets to me again.

I jump and use one of her legs as a stepping stone to lunge towards her head.

The spider swings her right arm at me as she turns, and the dagger-fingers slide across my shield, then I suddenly stop mid-flight and an extremely uncomfortable sensation penetrates my left flank.

I look down and see her five dagger-fingers have penetrated through the left side of my torso cleanly, skewering me completely. The pain is so overwhelming I drop my weapons, and the left side of my body stops responding.

The Symbol looks at me with a triumphant grin, and instead of throwing me away or finishing the job, she brings me closer, then she opens her disgusting mouth, and the smell of rot that wafts out makes me want to puke.

Thank you, you cunt, now get fucked.

I grab the top of her head with my only working hand and release [Shocking Touch].

The chaotic lighting sparks crackle all over her head, and her whole body freezes, then she twitches uncontrollably as her brain is overwhelmed.

I kick her body and slide out of her dagger-fingers, then I fall heavily on the hard ground, and the Symbol's dumbfounded face is the last thing I see before her upper body explodes.

"You are now level fifteen," the comforting female voice announces inside my head.

I close my eyes as I feel a rain of hot droplets splash against my skin, which is followed by a blast of hot wind.

A splitting headache suddenly flares, then my ears start to ring, and I lose my hearing. I'm in so much pain I can't move, so I just wait on the floor for someone to come help me.

After a long, agonizing moment, something soft touches my cheek, and I open my eyes, but my vision is blurry, then I cough blood.

Something cold touches my lips and my jaw is forced open, then a warm, tasty liquid enters my mouth. I almost choke, but I try to drink it as best as I can. My throat is dry, anyway.

Someone does something to my body, but I'm in too much pain to understand what's happening, then the ringing in my ears starts to lower and my hearing slowly returns.

"Master! Can you hear me!?" I hear Alissa desperately call to me.

"Ye..." I let out a rough sound.

I focus my eyes and discern Alissa's crying face before me. The pain pulsates, but it quickly reduces, allowing me to move my right arm.

I raise my hand and cast [Regeneration] on myself.

After a long moment, enough of my awareness returns that I can take stock of my own situation. My leather jacket is open, my shirt has been ripped apart, and the archer guy is holding down a bundle of cloth against my left flank while Alissa pours a red, glowing liquid on it to heal me faster, but the cloth is quickly turning red with blood. I'm bleeding quite a lot.

"Rox… an?" I croak.

"She's still unconscious but… we've done all we could for her," Alissa solemnly replies, her face warped in a frown.

Shit… Roxanne might be dying.

I can't waste time with [Regeneration]. I hastily put my new twelve points into [Light Magic] and a sort of "internal pressure" tells me I shouldn't put any more.

Let's see if those "Piety" gains were worth something.

New spells appear inside my mind, then I cast [Heal] on myself.

I see a flash of light, then my vision goes dark, and pain flares again in my head. It hurts so much my whole body tenses up.

I hear a lot of muffled sounds, but I'm barely conscious due to the pain, so I don't understand what they're saying.

I feel something cold touch my lips and my mouth is opened again. A different, warm and tasty liquid enters my mouth, and I drink it eagerly.

After a long, tortuous minute, or less, pain warps the perception of time, my headache subsides, and I can hear what's going on again, but I only hear sobs.

"Alis…?" I weakly ask, my voice coming out a little better than before.

"M-Master?! You're awake!?" She cries back, her voice cracking from anguish.

"Yes… what. Happen… can't… see," I mutter.

"You overused your mana! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!" She shrieks, her voice filled with rage.

"Sorry…"

"AAAH!" She screams hysterically in exasperation.

I want to laugh, but it hurts too much.

Oh shit, I can't laugh, I have to heal myself and then heal Roxanne before something bad happens!

"Will… meditate…"

"You want to meditate? Yes, please do that. You need to rest!" She exclaims, exasperated.

No, I need mana. Roxanne is in danger, and no potion is going to close a wound like that fast enough. I can't let her die, not after she killed that nightmarish being, not after we went through so much trouble to get the Moss, not after I started to like her obnoxiously happy personality.

I can't see, and I can't move, so now I'll block my ears. Meditating helps recover mana? Well, I'll meditate as hard as I can! But that might not be enough… I need something better.

I can see my system with my eyes closed, but I can't move my arms to change my skills into [Mana Recovery]. I could wait until my body recovers, but I'm suddenly struck with an idea to fill the time while I wait.

[Mana Recovery] and meditation are passive methods, so they aren't as effective as active methods, of which I know one. Dwarves can pull mana from the environment to strengthen their bodies, but unfortunately, that's a racial skill of theirs, so I can't learn it with my cheats, though maybe there's a way to replicate the skill's effects.

When a mage lacks the knowledge to properly cast a spell, their "Willpower" is used to brute-force the mana to do what they want, so I just need to visualize what I want with crystal clarity and bend the mana to my will.

The world naturally produces mana as do all living beings, and right now, my [Sense Mana] is telling me that there's a highly magical corpse next to me exuding quite a lot of it, so I just need to force that mana to come to me!

I focus on my [Sense Mana] and wish really hard for that mana to be mine.

I suddenly feel something stir within me, but I wasn't expecting anything to happen, so I stop in sudden fear and surprise.

After a second of processing the feeling, I decide to resume what I was doing, but with more intensity.

The stirring comes back and it feels incredibly similar to when I "scratch" the "itch" to activate things inside my mind.

Come to me!

I focus more on the feeling inside my mind and the stirring continues to grow, as if I was kicking up a storm within me, then I start to feel a resistance, like a smooth "force-field" trying to push me back.

I don't understand what it is, but it means that something is happening, and it makes me too curious to stop what I'm doing.

I push against the force field and it seems to gradually give in, then I start to feel it "stretch" as if it was like rubber, and an even odder feeling strikes me.

It's like my head is expanding, ballooning out of control, yet my real body has not moved an inch since I started this madness.

I have no fucking idea what I'm doing, but it's something! And since I'm "stretching" out of my real body, I aim this growth towards the Symbol's corpse.

After a few seconds of this, my [Sense Mana] triggers as my "forehead" crosses with a thick stream of mana.

This is what I need! Come to me!

The stream stirs in a way that reminds me of a drop of paint falling in water, creating small vortexes of mana as it spins.

Come to me!

The stream stirs harder, turning into chaotic clouds that surround my ballooned head.

COME TO ME!

I open my mouth, trying to "eat" the mana, trying to force it to enter my body, then my MP suddenly ticks up, recovering ten points in one go.

YES!

Now it ticks up again, recovering twenty points in a single second, but then my body is wracked by pain, making me groan.

I WON'T STOP NOW! THIS MANA IS ALL MINE!

I "chew" the clouds of mana, and my MP skyrockets, recovering to the maximum in just a few seconds while my body burns with pain, complaining about what I'm doing, so I stop, and everything returns to normal, though the burning remains.

"Roxanne...?" I force myself to ask through gritted teeth.

"She is here. We brought her beside you. What do you need, Master?" Alissa unemotionally asks, a dash of concern in her tone.

"Let me… touch her…" I order, mustering all my strength to speak.

"What?! Master, you need to meditate to gather your mana!" Alissa explains, exasperated.

"I got it… let me touch her…" I insist and scowl from the pain.

"That's not possible, please rest, Master," Alissa tries to soothe me and lands a gentle hand on my forehead.

Anger gives me the energy to put even more weight to my words. "Alissa… that's an order…"

I can't see her because my view is blurred, but I can hear her squirm in anguish.

"Wound…" I grumble sternly.

She silently grabs my hand and moves it sideways, putting it on top of something warm, hot, and slightly sticky, which is right beside something cold, hard and prickly.

"Remove… spike…"

Someone fiddles with the cold thing, then it's pulled out with a disgusting fleshy sound followed by the dripping of a liquid.

"Done…" A male voice replies.

I press the [Heal] button within my mind and charge it with all my mana, then I release the spell and pass out for good.

 

The first thing I feel is that I'm laying on something soft, then I  weakly open my eyes, but my vision is blurred by the intense glow of a [Spirit Light] floating above me.

"Hey..." I let out a weak groan.

"He's awake," a man calls out.

My view quickly regains focus , and I see the shield guy's upside-down face looking down at me with a frown, then I feel a soft hand touch my cheek, and I turn my eyes down to see Alissa's red-eyed and disheveled face staring at me.

"How are you feeling?" She tiredly asks with a hoarse voice.

"Better… my muscles are feeling heavy, but better," I answer and cough.

She smiles softly, then her thumb caresses my skin. "Stay still, the bleeding just barely stopped."

I cast [Regeneration] on myself, and Alissa gives me an exasperated look, but she doesn't say anything. She knows I have to do this.

A few minutes pass, and I start to regain control of my body, then I detect a strong scent of blood.

I look beside me and see that Roxanne is on a makeshift stretcher. She's unconscious, her robe is completely bloodied below the waist, and I can see a bloody bandage wrapped around her belly, but her breathing seems to be normal.

"Is she still bleeding?" I ask Alissa.

"The wound is almost closed but she's still bleeding," she anxiously answers.

I heal myself a little more time until I can sit, then I cast [Regeneration] on Roxanne until my mana runs out. Her bleeding stops, but we'll have to hope that she doesn't have any internal injuries.

I drink another mana potion and ask, "Can you bring me to the spider's body?"

The shield guy looks at me dumbfounded, but Alissa nods and asks for help.

They carry me on the sleeping bag and let me down near the Symbol, then I grab a spider leg, open my "Items," and store it. The body disappears, and only a huge pool of blood is left.

"Carry us back," I tiredly order, then I lay down and immediately fall asleep.

 

I wake up feeling a light shaking. I open my eyes and they slowly focus, then I see Alissa's back in front of me and recognize that she and the shield guy are carrying me in a makeshift stretcher through the brown tunnels.

Alissa notices me stir and looks back at me, then she gives me a warm smile, and I try to smile back, but I'm still very uncomfortable.

"Roxanne?" I softly ask.

"Stable and sleeping. She woke up once, but now she's asleep again," she calmly reports.

I move my points into [Mana Recovery] and start using [Regeneration] on myself again, then I notice that Alissa is wearing a dark-red cloth armband.

"What's that cloth?" I question her.

She diligently answers, "The Symbol's blood. It has a characteristic scent, and it seems to scare away the monsters, so I made one for everyone. It has worked well so far."

I nod and smile at her. "Smart." And she gives me a brief proud smile. I'm glad she's back to being confident. Her desperate and disheveled appearance was heartbreaking.

It's quite likely that the Symbol's blood is what made the Moles pull back from chasing after us. If there are no dumb monsters around, we might even be able to walk back to the entrance without a problem.

We continue our slow trek in silence for a long time.

 

I maintain [Regeneration] on myself and meditate twice to recover my MP until I can walk slowly again, but Alissa doesn't let me stand up yet, so I just meditate one more time and cast [Regeneration] on Roxanne to finish her healing.

The health and mana potions used on me are still working, but they're slow, and they heal basically at the same speed as [Regeneration]. Drinking more potions could fasten the healing, but there's a risk they'll poison us if we overdose.

After the last [Regeneration] treatment, my head starts to hurt again, and my body tires out. I must be using too much mana, so I'll need to rest a long time until I can cast magic without hurting myself again.

We stop for a break and Alissa gives me bread, which helps give my body a small surge of energy. As I eat, I look at the others and feel a bit of fear from their ghastly appearances, but then I also wonder how I look if they're that bad. Roxanne is looking even paler than normal, but at least she's sleeping peacefully.

After the short rest, I convince Alissa to let me walk so the others can conserve their energies.

We move forward slowly, and I quickly regret my decision as my legs whine loudly about tiredness, but I endure and move on.

All I can think about is putting one foot before the other and continuing forward in this seemingly unending tunnel, then my mind becomes hazy as I slowly become a walking zombie.

 

After an eternity, I finally see the light of the sky.

"AAAAAAH!" The mage girl and the archer guy let out a long, anguished cry, then the shield guy hugs the archer while Alissa pats the back of the mage. Roxanne suddenly wakes up, confused and scared, and Alissa scolds them for making so much noise.

I sit down to rest, but I lack the energy to stand up again, so we rest again until I manage to force my body to continue marching.

We meet a goblin duo in the small forest, but Alissa kills them before they even notice us. I use [Regeneration] on Roxanne just for a short time and stop before my body complains again, but it's enough to wake her up, though she still lacks the energy to say anything.

Then we reach the road.

Since there's usually a lot of traffic here, we wait for anyone to appear, and a simple wagon answers our prayers after a minute. It's a local farmer carrying a few barrels of alcohol towards the town.

He turns pale when he sees how bloody and haggard we are, then he immediately agrees to help, and Alissa gives him a few coins for his trouble.

Now the worst is over, and I doze off in the rocking wagon.

 

When I wake up, I see two unknown robed men carrying me on a proper stretcher as we quickly cross a simple corridor, then I recognize that the men are wearing the temple's priest robes.

Shortly after, I'm gently put onto a comfy bed with Roxanne put onto another beside me, then Ciel suddenly rushes inside.

"S-sister!? What's wrong?" One of the priests asks in confusion.

"I know him. Please, let me treat him," Ciel requests.

"If you wish so," the priest defers and goes towards Roxanne.

Ciel rushes to my side and exclaims, "Just what happened to you?!" Then she touches my wounded flank and starts chanting [Heal].

"We met the Symbol of Hate," Alissa grimly responds from my other side.

Ciel stops chanting and stares at her, her jaw hanging open in surprise.

"S-sister… please continue healing him," Alissa begs worriedly.

Ciel blinks and snaps out of it. "Y-yes! But can you say that again? Explain it to me, please," she pleads and starts chanting again as she inspects my chest wounds.

While Ciel casts multiple [Heal]s on me, Alissa retells our encounter, starting from when we decided to run through the mole territory.

After three [Heal]s I don't feel any more pain, just tiredness. With the treatment done, Ciel just stares at Alissa, dumbfounded.

"Why was the Symbol there? That's way too far from its territory!" Ciel suddenly exclaims, bewildered.

Alissa shakes her head and explains, "Gunther and the others don't know. They were investigating the report of a White Arachne when they suddenly met with the Symbol. They knew they had no chance to win, so they ran towards the Moles to possibly slow the Symbol down, then maybe hide inside the small rooms of the Spiral Springs."

The White Arachne is a twisted version of the normal Arachne. It can possibly create undead, so both the temple and the monster hunters' guild pay a lot for any information on it. Also, the idea to hide in the Spiral Springs was sound until we came. If they had run towards the entrance, they'd likely get tangled in the Tarantula's webs, which would be their death.

Ciel massages her temples as she shakes her head in disbelief. "Of all things, why-…" -She sighs tiredly- "Mr. Ryder, please pray to the God of Luck because your life is just too eventful."

"Hah… I have a feeling praying won't really help, though," I wryly reply.

Ciel stares at me in confusion. "Why would that be so?"

I shrug weakly. "I'm still alive, right? For an adventurer, you could say it was only bad luck if I actually die."

Ciel expresses a mix of laughter, anger, and defeat while Alissa just sighs, but I think she agrees with me.

I hear a chuckle from the side and see Roxanne staring at us with a tired face, then the priest casts [Heal] one more time on her and takes his leave.

Healing magic is so powerful that our treatment is done in just a few minutes, so now we just need to rest our tired bodies because the spells didn't replenish our energy reserves. There's the spell [Refresh], but at most it's like taking a short rest, and our muscles need more than that to fully heal. There's also the need to let the body adapt to the healed flesh, so no more strenuous activities for today.

That doesn't mean Alissa can't use her mouth to give me some release.

After the bath, the temple gives us a rustic vegetable soup with some tasteless goblin meat and as much toast as we want. Overall, it tastes quite nice even though it's such simple food.

Then we're given a room with two beds to sleep for a night while Roxanne also gets a room for herself. Thankfully, they let Alissa sleep in the same room as me, but they don't have a double bed for patients.

The treatment and the bed cost us merely two silver since much of the cost is subsidized by the Lord, which is surprisingly nice of him. For those who can't pay, the treatment is free, and I feel like there's few people who can be shameless enough to lie in front of someone as angelic as Ciel.

With the day finally over. Alissa and I huddle up together in the small bed, and I finally get a good night's sleep with her in my arms.

 

Intermission 2 - Roxanne

 

How am I still alive? I have no idea how to deal with this situation. In a split second he made the decision to trust me even though I was wounded and half-dead. We barely know each other, yet he has the bravery to jump into the claws of the enemy and trust that I can finish the battle.

The older and experienced me tells me that the young boy is insane, but my young and impressionable side shouts that he's a hero. In the end, all I know is that he's dependable and not someone you let escape because even though he's young, he's not a boy, he's a man. Now, imagine how much he'll grow in a few years…

What I truly feel is hard to say. He acts like a newly-wed with her and yet he doesn't admit his love. What kind of relationship is that? Though, the trust and dependability that they show for each other actually made me jealous. If even after all this he's still unsure of his own feelings towards her, how am I going to be sure of mine?

All I know is that I want to stay close to him.