Seeing them off from the adventurer guild, I hoped my advice and the equipment I lent them would help them.

I told Oliver next to me, who was staying back, to go to the training areas with me since I was planning to help train him.

We went to the back of the adventurer guild where the training area was, and as expected, it was even bigger than the one in Farsbarow, about three times as big.

I took a wooden sword out of the weapon racks, and Oliver did the same. Then we went to a corner in the training area that didn’t have too many people.

“Okay, let's see what you need to improve on.”

I was getting excited to fight someone other than a monster, and I wondered how well he would put up a fight.

However, to my complete and utter disappointment, his swordsmanship was just awful—worse than I thought.

I knocked away his wooden sword, and he fell to the ground with only two swings.

Maybe this was a fluke, so let’s try again. I told him what he was doing wrong, using the same method as with Alex.

However, it was worse than last time; maybe it was another fluke. I try again and again, which leads to the same result: I knock his sword out of his hand, and he falls to the ground.

Yep, I was getting my expectations too high since he is not a main protagonist, expecting him to be at a similar level to Alex or half that was a bit much.

Honestly, where do I begin? Let’s see, one of the biggest problems is that his foundations are rocky at best.

I should have asked before sparring with him, but.

“How long were you taught compared to the others?”

On the ground and his sword was knocked away, he said

“About half a month, but the others were taught for around 3 months.”

Hearing that, I wonder what the teacher taught him since he should have at least been taught the basics of using a sword, right?

“Ummm, we didn’t have the time.”

“So you weren't taught how to fight?”

“Yes, we figured that Ned and everyone else could teach me after we left our village instead.”

Ah, I see. I guess they weren't that good at teaching him; no wonder his foundations are so rocky.

He won't learn anything if I continue sparring with him; this will take longer than I think, but I have to teach him the basics then.

Pulling a straw dummy from the equipment area, I swung the wooden sword at it to show him how to swing with a proper stance and told him to try.

While he was doing that, I sat by a wall and pulled out the Dradevow dungeon book to read because I was just watching him, not training him. Periodically, I would look up to see how he was doing, tell him what he was doing wrong, and show him how it was done.

When I think his stance is passable, we focus on doing proper footwork next.

After a couple of hours, I decided to end it for the day when he fell to the ground from exhaustion.

“I think that’s it for today.”

“But I could go on.”

He is determined, but I don’t think his body can go on. He was sweating all over in a heap on the ground from exhaustion.

“No, you can’t.”

After some convincing, we went back to our inn. When Ned, Mark, Carl, and Keith came back after dungeon diving, I asked how it went.

“Kind of better than yesterday.”

Ned summarized today's dive, in which they had a better time fighting the monsters on the deeper floors but still needed to get used to the changes.

“And thanks for these.”

Mark gave me back my throwing knives and spikes, and Carl gave me my sword.

They asked where I got my weapons because they were amazed by them. Carl, especially because they were way better than the ones you find in normal weapons shops.

I told them that was a secret because I didn’t think Kinwall would want me to tell people about him. Plus, he probably already moved shop, so I don’t know where he moved to right now.

The next day, I lent them my equipment again and went with Oliver to teach him more of the basics.

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Like yesterday, I watched Oliver practicing with a straw dummy while reading my book.

We continued this for the next 4 days. I taught him the basics of using a sword, then ironed out all the kinks to build him a proper foundation.

During those 4 days, I bought 2 more books from Mila after finishing the Dradevow dungeon book; they were beginner books about magic and runes.

Feeling my coin pouch being noticeably lighter than usual, I sigh. I guess I have to go dungeon diving tomorrow to make some money.

“Hey Oliver, I’m going to spar with you to check your progress.”

I should test Oliver to see if he is ready to dungeon dive.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, we’re going to go dungeon diving tomorrow, and I want to see how much you've improved.”

“Okay”

Oliver looked nervous and had a bit of anticipation when I told him I would be testing him.

I started with a swing at Oliver, then followed it up with another. He blocked them, and it looked like he was holding his own.

He counterattacked by thrusting his sword, but I parried it.

Good, much better than last time.

Next, I used a faint, and to my delight, he saw through it and stepped back from my swing.

I was going easy on him, but I was getting pretty excited by seeing how much he improved. A barely noticeable grin formed on my face, wondering how much he could handle.

I did a couple more swings with my sword, and he dealt with them fine, causing my barely perceivable grin to grow into an actual grin.

Noticing my grin, Oliver looked happy, like he had the impression that I might be proud of his improvements. It was the first time he saw me show any other expression than my usual expressionless face, so I guess he would think that. In reality, I was debating in my mind if I should go all out.

“Hey Nyx, am I doing okay?”

I did not reply, only grinning further from getting excited, thinking he could make a decent opponent now. He looked confused, wondering why I didn’t respond.

“Umm, Nyx, am I doing okay?”

His confusion turned to concern when I still wouldn’t reply because I decided to go all out and was thinking of what techniques to use next.

Ooh, maybe I should—

“Oh, there you two were.”

Like a splash of cold water, my excitement immediately stopped when I heard a familiar voice. Turning my head to see who it was, it was Ned, and then everyone else approached us.

My facial expression turned back to how it normally was, and I asked

“How was your dive?”

“Good, very good, actually. We even made enough money to get Carl a new sword.”

Carl showed me his new sword, like when Ned showed me his new bow and Mark his new throwing knives.

He gave me back my sword since he didn’t need it anymore, but he had a noticeably sad expression doing it.

“What's wrong?”

“Your sword is amazing. You sure you don’t want to tell me where you got it?”

Oh, so that is what it is.

"Sorry, no, even if I tell you, I don’t know where the person who made it is right now.”

“I see”

Carl was disappointed to hear it.

“So, how is Oliver's training going?”

Ned, after seeing me spar with Oliver, asked how Oliver's progress was.

“Good, I’m thinking of going diving tomorrow, and I think he is ready to dungeon dive tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a good idea; you can also see how much we improve.”

We went back to our inn in a good mood, and the next day we went dungeon diving together.

When we encountered some monsters, I saw how much they’d improved.

Carl was acting as a tank, getting the attention of the fang toads, which I learned are called Venun toads from the book, so Kieth could strike them down.

Ned, who switches to a bow, fires arrows at the Venun toads while giving orders.

Mark was throwing knives and these viles of yellow liquids that act like superglue at the Venun Toads, causing them to be stuck to the ground. I was surprised when he said he was dabbling in alchemy to make it. I should buy myself an alchemy book because it seems useful.

And for Oliver, he is managing to keep up with everyone else; the training is bearing fruit.

Ned asks me how they are all doing, with a gleeful expression.

“Great actually”

“Any more suggestions?”

“Just some minor things, but it’s nothing to be concerned about.”

After we had finished collecting our shards for our quest, I told them I was going to continue diving since I was running short on money.

“Ya, just make sure you don’t come back late, but knowing you, you’ll probably will.”

I shrugged at Ned and told him not to worry as I split from them and went down another floor, and they went up to the surface.

Eventually, I stumbled onto the stairway to the 10th floor, into the boss room. From the book I read, the boss monster on the 10th floor is a giant spider. It’s named a Latrodec spider, a C-rank monster that looks like a black widow spider but is the size of a wagon. Overall, it’s a big jump in difficulty from the monster I faced on the previous floors.

Since it’s a boss monster, it has guaranteed drops, which are a medium-sized magic shard and a bypass ring. You get a bypass ring after killing a boss on every 10 floors. It allows someone to pass through the room without having to fight the boss, but it has a limit of 10 uses.

So far, I have collected 20 small magic shards, and I was getting sick of playing games with the giant toads on the 9th floor, which I learned are called a Spitting Toad. Why not go in and try to fight the boss, I was already getting pretty excited thinking about it.

Going down the staircase, there was a pair of double doors that were the entrance to the boss room.

As I approached the door, it flew open, with people running out.

“Gah!!! Run away”

“Ewww”

“Why did it have to be a giant spider!”

I was surprised to see them, 4 girls who seemed to be at a party were running out the door.

I tried asking them if they were okay, but it seemed like they didn't notice me as they were frantically running away.

From a glimpse inside the boss room, no wonder they ran away; it looks way scarier than the illustration in the book. But it is not that bad because, surprisingly, that is not the most disgusting thing I have ever fought, trying to forget a certain disgusting kaiju I killed that I want to forget.

I pushed open the door and went inside the boss room with my excitement building up because I saw it as a really fun fight to have, way better than the monsters I was fighting.