"Hm, strength enhancer..., war hammer..., hammer..., shield..., armor," I answer the store clerk, Clarice, who seems eager to help me.
"I see, a war hammer as your main weapon, one-handed hammer as a spare weapon that can be used alongside a shield, and plate armor. I got it, follow me."
I follow the pink-haired dwarf down into an aisle where she starts explaining to me the different options.
What should I do? The caretaker always used to take care of these things for me, I have no idea what she is talking about. I can't find the right moment to interrupt her, maybe I should just let her finish, it doesn't seem to be anytime soon though...
"...and that's about all the plate armors we have, did any particular one interest you?"
"..." What do I say, I wasn't listening at all.
"Master said to get the best one." A female voice behind me answers.
Oh, she was here, Faris, master's first slave.
"Hmm, the best one would be the refined darksteel alloy armor set here but it's a little expensive, it'll cost you 50 gold coins, is that okay?"
50 gold coins?! It might not have been a big deal if it was before, but to spend that kind of money on me that's now just a new slave...
"Isn't that too expensive... I'm fine with another one." My voice escapes my mouth without thinking, my bad habit is striking again, I need to think before talking.
"...Heh" Faris lightly chuckles at me with a grin.
"What?"
"Sorry, it's just that was the first time I've heard you talk so much at a time. And seeing it's because you don't want to be a burden just makes you look so cute." Faris crouches down and hugs me.
It's warm.
"...I just...like to think before speaking, especially towards strangers."
"It's fine Neri, master wouldn't want any of his slaves to get hurt to save some coins, you're our important comrade now, my little sister, a part of the family. So there's no need to talk to us like strangers, I nor master will fault you if you say the wrong thing." Faris says while holding onto me with her hands but looks straight into my eyes.
A warm feeling wells up around my chest.
"...Thanks...sister Faris" My voice faintly sound out.
"Just Faris is fine."
"...Are you two done?" A helpless voice from nearby enters our ears and I turn to see Clarice waiting there awkwardly while holding a set of armor.
---
I don't know how to face master and Faris right now.
I was really happy yesterday and found that they were both really kind to me, I had a great time and felt at ease just like in the past with my family.
It's all because of what happened yesterday, where did it start again? I think sometime after buying my equipment but I'm not sure, my head is still hurting from drinking too much last night.
Thinking back, we finished picking out my gear and master soon returned. I thought we may have gone a little overboard with how expensive the total turned out and master started to argue with the clerk, but in the end, he still bought it for me and that warm feeling in my chest resurfaced.
Our next few stops included the clothing store where master bought me a ton of brand new clothes of quality I never thought I'd wear again so soon. At the potion store, master bought a variety of potions and even gave each of us a healing potion worth a gold coin apiece for emergencies.
When the sunset came, we went to a fancy restaurant and met master's friend from the auction and we all had a big feast. Master even told me to drink as much as I wanted and let me toast his friends in his place.
As a proud dwarf, I did not disappoint master and represented him and managed to outdrink his friend's entire group. I may have drunk a bit too much though.
That's right! It happened after that.
Master carried me on his back while I was still in my drunken stupor, I may have been drunk but as a dwarf, my mind was still aware of my surroundings. We got home and I wanted to jump straight at the bed as soon as I entered the room but master and Faris dragged me to wash me.
It was so embarrassing, they washed me like a child and I was stark naked too!
After they were done, thankfully, master carried me to the bed and gently placed me inside the covers to let me sleep before he headed back to the bathroom.
I fell asleep watching him walk away but the next thing I know, vibrations that shook the bed woke up back up as I heard gasps and whispering beside me. I didn't know what to do and just pretended I was still asleep but I heard them clearly.
"Master...Neri is right there, we can't do it here."
"She just fell asleep not long ago so a little noise shouldn't wake her, I doubt she'll even wake up until sunrise with how drunk she was. Come on, it'll be fine."
"But still..."
"She'll join us sooner or later, who cares. Don't run Faris, I ain't letting you get away."
After that, the sounds of moans, their whispers of sweet nothings, and the vibration of the bed all kept me awake throughout the night. I couldn't do anything but to wait there, hoping to fall asleep so they wouldn't find me out, he said I'll join in eventually too...
I know it would happen ever since I became a slave... and I don't mind with master... especially with how kind he is to me so I know he won't hurt me but still, the thought of that is too embarrassing.
I don't know how to face them once they wake up, should I pretend I didn't see anything?
---
11th day of the third month.
I wake up to Faris staring straight to my eyes and before I can say anything, my mouth is covered by hers. I wish this would last forever.
After who knows how long, we finally part.
"Morning."
"Good morning master."
"Hmm? Where's Neri?"
With the fact that I had bought my second slave yesterday settling back in, I scan the room in search of her.
"I'm not sure, she already wasn't here when I woke up."
I close my eyes and focus on my connection with my slaves for a moment and felt Neri in the direction below me. So she's downstairs, I'll let you get away for today but tomorrow...
"Let's go get ready."
I steel myself to leave the comfort of the bed to head for the bathroom to wash up and get dressed into my combat gear.
When we finally head down to the first floor, I finally see my new slave and our latest addition to our party, Neri, sitting by the table, nestling her head into her arms resting on the table.
"Morning Neri, still having a hangover?" I ask before recovering something from the kitchen pantry.
"Huh....what?! Master... Uhh..." Neri snaps up, surprised by our presence and looks over to us awkwardly.
"Relax, have you had anything to eat or drink yet?" I walk over and sit beside her and place a cup in front of her."
"No... I wouldn't dare without master's permission." She quickly recovers and restores her classic stoic expression, her face is still a little red though, I guess it's from the alcohol.
"You don't need permission for small things like that, starting from now, feel free to eat or drink whenever you want to, let me know if there is anything you want that we don't have. Here, drink some tea, it'll make you feel better." I place the teabag and conjure boiling water into the cup and let it sit for a few seconds before pouring in some colder water to make it drinkable.
"Feel better?"
"Don't you still have a hangover? Look your face is still red." I place my hand on her forehead to feel the temperature, seems fine to me but it's surprising that even dwarves experience hangovers, I thought alcohol was like water to them.
"Ah, yes, I do... Thank you master." Neri quickly pulls away and turns her back to me while I hear her taking a sip of the tea."
"Neri, we're going to master's morning training, do you want to rest in the meantime?" Faris chimes in from the other side of Neri.
"Ahh...no, I'm fine." For some reason, seeing Faris on her other side, Neri turns back ninety degrees to face toward the table. Is she really okay?
"Well if you're fine then go get suited up when you're done, we'll grab something for breakfast from the stands on the way."
Having received my command, Neri instantly trots away. I didn't mean to rush her...well, whatever, as long as she's fine.
---
We found Lawrence as soon as we got to the guild and received Neri's guild badge that is connected to mine as her owner, before continuing my training with old man Morgan while Faris helped occasionally by launching surprise attacks with her proficient dagger throwing techniques. Of course, it was targeted at where my armor is thickest or else I would've been scratched here and there.
Neri trained as well, doing some weight lifting and running alongside Faris while all decked out in her armor. It looked a bit strange seeing a small girl in full plate armor running around holding a two-meter long war hammer with a shield that's almost her full height strapped to her back.
Seeing her work so hard really made me feel I didn't make the wrong choice in her, it'd be bad if the slave I bought turned out to be lazy even if they were really competent, we still have so much to work on before we can consider conquering dungeons. Still, dwarf strength enhancers really are something when their physical boost is paired with enhancement magic, the enhancement magic works like a multiplier, after all, the two magic complement each other really well.
"Okay, let's wrap it up for the day, time to go to the dungeons and work on our team play." I wrap it up after the usual hour of training, today I managed to block over half of all the projectiles launched at me.
"Yes master!"
"...Yes... master."
We head out of the guild training grounds and ride Blacky towards our usual dungeon, Greens Filth, after having picked up the last piece of Neri's equipment, the helmet. It's pretty crowded now with three people but thankfully, Neri is petite enough for all of us to fit stably. I hold the reins with Faris behind me while Neri sat in front of me.
This truly isn't bad at all, let's delay the plan to acquire additional transportation.
Making use of the time while on the journey, I take a moment to look at my party I have so far.
| Human Male |
| Age: 18 |
|
Magic Level: Water Lv. 16 |
|
Unique Magic: Identify |
| Human Female |
| Age: 18 |
|
Magic Level: Dexterity Lv. 26 |
|
Unique Magic: Sense Danger |
| Dwarf Female |
| Age: 19 |
|
Magic Level: Strength Lv. 24 |
|
Unique Magic: Physical Boost |
Our levels have stagnated recently, I think I'm reaching the limit for only fighting on the early levels of dungeons, we've only fought on the fourth floor of Greens Filth recently and never gone to the next level as we had trouble dealing with the large wolves.
We'll need to fight stronger enemies if we want to level up further but to do that safely, we'll also going to have to work on our teamwork and increase our numbers. So I guess our current goal is once again to train and to make money with an emphasis on the latter.
"Neri, can you tell us about your unique magic?" I try to keep my eyes on the road ahead while steering Blacky.
"Physical boost as the name implies increases strength, stamina, and toughness. It is a passive that is activated at all times, letting us dwarves overcome our opponents in brute strength despite our smaller stature." Neri replies fluently as if reading out of a script.
That's the first time I heard her talk so much in one breath, is it a sign she is opening up to us?
"What about your other one?" I ask, trying to keep a poker face.
I really hope she answers truthfully, I'd be really sad if she denies she has another unique magic and tries to keep it to herself. Though it's understandable if she did, after all, we'd only met since yesterday and trust is something built over time but still, I'd like for her to trust me.
"..."
"You don't have to answer if you don't want to."
At least she isn't denying, better not push her and make her feel uncomfortable. As I said, trust is built over time but it is also destroyed within seconds.
"...How did master know?"
I can feel her heated gaze focused on me as well as Faris's who choose to remain silent, tactfully waiting for my answer as well. Oh well, I don't really need to keep this from my slaves nor do I want to.
"I have an unique magic as well, it allows me to see the status of other people if I focus on them while they're close enough. Try to keep it a secret okay?"
"You can see other people's status and unique magic without using an identification orb and just by looking? That's unheard of. Don't worry, as your slave, I promise to never leak your secrets, I won't fail again..." Neri excitingly spouts off before controlling her volume, her last few words were so faint that I couldn't quite catch them.
"So that's how master knew. Of course, I'll keep master's secrets." Faris sounding relieved, having figured out a question.
I doubt they would answer anyone who would ask such sensitive questions regarding unique magic but just in case, I explicitly warn them. Though in the first place, many people keep their unique magic a secret if they can as it is an extra trump card so I didn't really need to tell them for they should already know it isn't something to tell others.
"So Neri, what does Sense Location do exactly?"
"Well, it isn't very useful in combat, I can always remember about places I've been to and have a general sense of direction. How do I explain it? Hmm... think of it as having a mental map of all the places I've explored before. Sorry if it isn't very useful to you master."
So basically like the map features in games!
"No, it's very useful, in fact, it's amazing! With you here, we will never get lost even inside dungeons."
"Is that so? Let me remind you master, I can still get lost when suddenly thrown into an area I've never explored before like in the dungeons."
"Even then, it's an amazing ability, we'll be able to cut straight through the floors we've been to and save our strength. Do you know how to draw maps? You should draw out the maps of each floor of the dungeon we've been to in the future so we can easily prepare or sell them."
"I've drawn them before but the maps were useless, if I'm not there, people won't be able to pinpoint where they are on the map with the terrain looking so similar everywhere and no landmarks to be found."
"I'm sure even then, some parties or even the guild would like them, it'll be a good reference for them."
"...If you insist master." Neri hesitates for a while before nodding her head in agreement.
---
We left Blacky at the usual place and entered onto the first floor of Greens Filth since this is Neri's first time here.
"Let's do the same thing as when I first met you, Faris. We'll find a group of monsters and each takes a turn to fight alone while the others watch to get a grasp of each other's fighting styles."
With both their agreement, we continue onward to find our live-demonstration "volunteers". Before long, Faris finds a small group of three goblins together.
Faris goes first and forgoes a sneak attack as it would ruin the point of this demonstration. She calls out to the goblins who try to surround her and attack with their wooden spears, only be agilely dodged by a tumble from Faris who doesn't forget to return a dagger at the goblin she rolled away from.
Faris quickly picks herself up in between the two remaining goblins while smoothly slashing the ankles of the one toward her dominant right side in the process. She finishes the goblin off with a stab to the back of the heart by the time she got to her feet.
The last goblins finally react and thrust out at her but with only one opponent left, Faris easily dodges and finishes off the last goblin.
"Those movements are so beautiful," Neri says while looking mesmerized.
Maybe I should've chosen to be a flashy enhancer too... No, I wouldn't have any advantages being an enhancer like I do now; I am much stronger than people of around the same level after all.
Next up is me, after a dozen or so minutes of searching, Faris finds us another group of three goblins who are all wielding wooden spears.
Like Faris, I yell to grab their attention, forgoing a surprise attack, and let them close the distance to me until ten meters out. I then launch a wide-area water stream at them, thin layers of ice guides the water to cover all three of their feet.
Upon contact, I channel an electric current into the water, paralyzing all of them, allowing me to pick them off one by one with my ice lances.
To show off my style more, I let the last remaining one free by stoping my electric magic, prompting the last goblin to lunge at me in anger and excitement from finally being free. The goblin thrusts out his spear at me as I stand still. Trying to look cool, I conjure my ice shield near last second, and the sound of impact rings out.
I immediately thrust my own spear and move my shield out of the way in the nick of time for my attack to go through. To further show off, I finish casting a small explosion spell at the end of my spear to give the attack more force.
The goblin is still stunned and looking at the tip of his spear that broke from attacking my ice shield, putting up no resistance as my spear cleanly pierce into his heart.
Glad my training has been paying off, my control with the spear has improved a lot and my palms are fine too, thanks to my new gloves inlaid with metal.
I look back to Neri to see her reaction only to see her staring blankly.
Was she even watching properly? I feel like my pride has taken a big hit... At least Faris is clapping for me.
Having finished collecting the mana crystals, the party moves on in search of the next group of prey, oblivious to the damage done to my heart.
We find a group of four goblins, a large group for this floor.
It is Neri's turn to heads out to meet the foes as she walks over at them calmly.
I still can't get used to seeing the figure of such a small girl in full plate armor and wielding that large war hammer, I wonder if I ever will.
The goblins see Neri approaching and bursts out into laughter, seeming happy to find prey. They send in two goblins straight at her as the other two tries to circle around to prevent their prey from escaping.
Are these little shits actually underestimating her because of her size? I'm surprised they're intelligent enough to even do that.
One of the goblins approaching who I seem to somehow recognize as the one laughing hardest rushes at Neri, eager to finish things off. His partner tries to keep up but is left a few meters back.
The rushing goblin jumps out at Neri once he closes the distance and his spear is thrust down at Neri's chest. I focus my gaze on the tip of the spear and watch it being drawn closer and closer towards Neri.
The spear does not stop and I watch the spear about to make contact with her chest armor...but there is no power behind the spear at all as it suddenly flies off into the distance the moment of contact.
What I saw was Neri swinging her hammer like a baseball player, with her war hammer's longer reach than the crude wooden spears, she makes contact with the torso of the goblin before he could properly connect.
The goblin gets sent flying by her hammer blow straight towards the goblin still trying to catch up, the goblin sent flying gets skewered by the wooden spear of the approaching goblin's but the force of impact continues as the charging goblins are knocked down.
The surrounding two goblins stop in their steps upon seeing the fate of their ally and choose to attack from two different directions. They charge in sync and thrusts out their spears at the same time from opposite sides.
Their expected sight of blood doesn't come to fruition as Neri steps forward and turns to face one of the goblins and grab onto the two spears that were thrust at her with her left hand.
The goblins try to recover their weapons from Neri's grasp but are unable to overpower her, the sight before me almost looks like two little goblins trying to play a game of tug-o-war with Neri being the referee in the middle.
The comical sight returns to reality as Neri windup her war hammer with to behind her left shoulder and swings it around with a backslapping motion at the goblin in front of her, creating a gruesome sight of the side of the goblin's skull entirely crushed.
Neri's swing doesn't stop there and continues around her, as if she is performing a spinning back fist, crushing the skull of the goblin behind her as well. The two goblins with crushed skulls are sent straight into the dirt, with their bodies twitching sporadically.
That really sure is something, all done with just one hand.
Neri goes to finish the job and approaches the last goblin that is still struggling beneath the skewered body of his ally and slams her hammer down with both hands, straight at the head. The scene I'm greeted by seems to come straight from a video game as I saw the head literally blow up into pieces, like smashing into a watermelon.
Well then, remind me not to ever judge someone's strength by their size... and especially not to anger Neri too...
