Author's note: A bit longer chapter than the usual, but that's a good thing, right? Anyways, I decided to scrap the metal and wood elements because they are a hassle and I don't know how to incorporate them into the story. Nothing much will be lost anyways. Well, I hope all of you will enjoy this chapter. Since my fingers are all type-type, you might get a new chapter tomorrow. Or you might not. We'll see. Enjoy!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Amaterasu turned around to see three people standing in front of her. No, they weren’t humans, they were… elves. While Amaterasu did see Eos turn into one and she herself was disguised as well, this was the first time Amaterasu ever saw true elves. Two of them were men and the other one was a woman.
One of the male elves stood tall at about 195 cm and had long, night black hair that extended to just above his waist. He had black eyes to complement his hair and well-chiselled chin. His skin was dark grey in colour. He was clad in a black robe that covered his body and extended all the way down to his ankles. He was carrying a bow and arrow that was strapped to his back. He seemed to be reminiscent of the dark elves that Amaterasu read about in light novels.
The other guy was much shorter in comparison, but still taller than Amaterasu, with a height of about 175 cm. He had platinum blonde hair that reached his shoulders and green eyes. He had a fairly buff stature; it was obvious that he exercised a lot. He wore khaki army pants and a black commando shirt. On his waist was a belt buckle, which had a sheath strapped to it, and inside that sheath was a broadsword. He looked as if though he was a wood elf, or maybe a high elf.
Finally, the third elf was a female that was about 170 cm in height. It seemed that most elves were naturally tall. In fact Amaterasu, with her 162 cm, would probably be considered as very short by most elves. Anyways, the female elf had a weird light blue hair colour which Amaterasu had never seen before. To continue the weirdness, she had pink irises circling her pupils. The aforementioned hair reached her shoulders before cutting off. She was dressed in a white lolita dress with many frills. Amaterasu tried to determine what kind of elf she was, but the elf didn’t resemble any of the ones she read about.
Amaterasu finished her observations and curtsied to them. The curtsy was performed extremely well, since Eos forced her to practice it hundreds of times to teach Amaterasu etiquette for ladies.
Amaterasu: [Hello, my name is Amaterasu. I arrived here to challenge this dungeon. I was about to go in before you interrupted me. May I know your names?]
Dark elf: [My name is Eligor. As you can see, I am a dark elf.]
Blonde elf: [I’m Albus. I’m a high elf.]
Weird elf: [It’s nice to meet you! I’m Maria, a water elf.]
The three elves finished their introductions. Amaterasu was curious about Maria, since she never heard of water elves before.
Eligor: [That aside, are you sure that you are able to challenge this dungeon? It’s fairly tough for groups of elves, and nearly impossible for a single one unless you’re S ranked.]
Amaterasu: ‘Wow, Eos, you lied to me. Unless an S ranked elf is comparable to a C ranked lesser goddess, there is no way that this is an easy dungeon.’
Amaterasu: [Well… I’m fairly confident in my abilities. If the dungeon became too difficult for me, I planned to bail.]
Eligor nodded his head in understanding.
Albus: [In that case, why don’t you come along with us? I’m sure that you’ll be of help!]
Amaterasu: [Eh?]
Maria: [Yeah! After all, we elves have the strongest sense of camaraderie, unlike those humans. If we can help someone out, we can! Though, if you don’t want to, you don’t need to come.]
Amaterasu paused to think for a bit.
Amaterasu: ‘On one hand, I don’t really know them well. On the other hand, I don’t really know this dungeon. Going with them will help me avoid fatal blunders, plus I might learn some new information from them. Besides, they don’t look like bad people. Eos should also be watching over me, so in case it turns out that they’re trying to kidnap me, she can help.’
Amaterasu: [Alright, I’ll go with you. Thank you for the offer.]
Albus: [Yes! A beauty elf like you is joining our team! I feel so excited.]
Maria: [Figures that the only reason you invited her is to cast your perverted gaze on her.]
Albus: [Hey, knock it off! I may be fond of women, but that does not mean that I’m perverted! I’m just a perfectly healthy man, that’s all!]
Looking at the two bickering at each other, Amaterasu raised her brow. Noticing that, Eligor walked up to her.
Eligor: [I’m sorry for those two. They just have a very tense relationship. By the way, I’m just curious because I’ve never seen one before: are you a light elf? You perfectly match the description.]
Amaterasu didn’t know anything about light elves, but she decided to play along with the flow.
Amaterasu: [Yes, I’m a light elf.]
Eligor: [Ah… that would explain why you were trying to do the dungeon solo. Light elves generally tend to seclude themselves from the others. So you specialise in light magic, may I know the other?]
Amaterasu: ‘Oh, that’s right. Elves have two different elemental affinities.’
Amaterasu: [Well, my other elemental affinity is fire…]
Eligor nodded to Amaterasu before continuing.
Eligor: [Understood. I have dark and fire affinities myself. I also wield a bow during combat. I can use a little bit of magic, but I mainly use my affinities to enchant my weapon. This bow is called ‘Eleisa’s Miracle’ and it is a B ranked weapon. I am also B rank myself.]
Amaterasu: ‘B rank? That’s pretty high. I’m only C ranked myself. Though, I think it’s mainly due to the fact that I lack combat experience. I think my powers are at least B rank.’
Albus and Maria walked up to Amaterasu, finished with their bickering.
Albus: [I am a swordsman with wind and earth elements myself. I can’t cast magic no matter how much I try, but I’m pretty strong when it comes enchanting my weapon. This sword is ‘Dullahan’s Broadsword’ and is also a B ranked weapon. I’m C rank myself.]
Maria: [I’m unlike those two, a mage. Since I’m a water elf, water and wind are my two elemental affinities. I can’t fight melee at all, but I can cast magic. I am considered a C rank.]
Amaterasu processed the information about all three of the elves and formally introduced herself.
Amaterasu: [Let me reintroduce myself. I’m Amaterasu, a light elf. I specialise in light and fire magic, though I can use a sword as well. I don’t have any weapon on me. I’m C ranked like most of you.]
Eligor: [Understood. That means that you should take the rearguard along with Maria, while Albus and I take the vanguard.]
Amaterasu: [Okay.]
Amaterasu quickly arranged herself into position. She stood alongside Maria, with the backs of the two men facing her. Amaterasu looked at the ominous feeling that exuded from the cavern.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
When the group entered the cavern, Amaterasu’s vision suddenly improved. All of a sudden, she could see much more clearly than she could outside the dim forest.
Amaterasu: [It’s pretty bright here.]
Amaterasu could hear Eligor chuckling in front of her.
Eligor: [Of course. All elves have vision in the darkness. However, it doesn’t activate until the darkness reaches a certain level of… well, darkness. Light elves like to live in bright places, so it could decades before they finish childhood and venture out into the world to experience the sensation for the first time. Just curious here, how old are you?]
Amaterasu was quite interested by the fact that she gained the physical characteristics of the elves, but face cramped up when she was asked the question. She didn’t think about age in her current world because it didn’t really bear any significance. She was currently over 2 years old, but she looked like she was 15 to 16. However, she didn’t know how that would translate into elf years, especially when Eligor mentioned the word ‘decades.’
Amaterasu: ‘I know. I’ll use that excuse women always use in manga and light novels.’
Amaterasu: [Don’t you know that it is rude to ask a woman her age?]
The three elves stopped at once and stared at her with blank faces.
Eligor: [No?]
Amaterasu: ‘Oh, so this world doesn’t have that saying. I’ll just multiply my appearance age by 10.’
Amaterasu: [Oh. Well, for your information, I’m 154 years old.]
Eligor: [That was younger than I thought it would be. I’m 278 years old if you wanted to know.]
Amaterasu could hear Albus muttering in front of her.
Albus: [Hah… what do I do? She’s such a beauty, but she’s so young. If only I was younger than 253.]
Maria tapped on Amaterasu’s shoulder to get her attention.
Maria: [Don’t worry about your age here. I’m only 186 years old myself.]
Amaterasu sighed as she was relieved that she dodged the bullet. It seemed that she picked an age that was somewhat appropriate to her appearance.
Meanwhile, the entourage continued forward. They were currently inside a corridor, with crystals glistening on the walls. Amaterasu noticed that the entire room gave off a shade of purple. Due to a lack of sunlight, a chill permeated her bones, though it wasn’t cold enough to cause shivering.
Eligor: [Halt!]
Amaterasu and the others suddenly stopped. She saw a door that was in front of the group. How the door got there, Amaterasu didn’t know, but she did know that there was going to be something behind it.
Eligor: [Prepare yourselves!]
The group took up the formation and Eligor opened the door. The group entered and heard a loud bang that signalled that the door closed behind them. Amaterasu saw a group of spiders that were in front of her. They were large, about 4 feet in length, and saliva drooled from their maws.
Albus: [Tektites! This should be easy!]
Albus jumped in front of the group while pulling his sword out, which blazed in a red colour. He quickly slashed at the tektite and cleaved the creature in two. The remains oozed out of the body slowly. Amaterasu felt disgusted by watching the scene, though she didn’t know why. In her former life, she saw plenty of gore that didn’t horrify her, yet here she was weak-legged, staring at a corpse. Amaterasu wrote it off as the hormones in her body that caused her to react this way.
Eligor: [Amaterasu, attack the tektites along with me using fire magic. They are weak against it. Maria, back us up with wind magic.]
Maria: [Okay.]
Amaterasu: [Understood.]
Eligor and Amaterasu promptly began to shoot fireballs at it. Amaterasu diminished the amount of mana that she poured into her own fireballs since it would stand out if she used large ones. She noticed that Eligor was creating dark fireballs, so she assumed that combining elemental affinities was known in this world. This made Amaterasu relaxed, since she could just write off her ‘Grand Fireball’ as a combination of light and fire magic.
Within minutes, the four made short work of the tektites. Amaterasu found that the monsters didn’t put up much of a resistance.
Amaterasu: [That was pretty easy. Why is this dungeon considered difficult, Eligor?]
Eligor: [Hmm? Oh, the reason is that the main boss is difficult. In reality, this dungeon is actually very easy since the enemies are weak and there are no traps. Even more so, when you know the route to the boss like I do. It’s pretty easy to get lost here.]
Amaterasu: ‘I see. Eos didn’t check this dungeon very thoroughly. She was sending me off to my death! I need to chat with her when I get home. Thank god that I found this group to help me.’
Albus walked to them with a grin on his face and nudged Eligor.
Albus: [The boss sure is the best. He he.]
Eligor: [And if you don’t stop that, I will purposefully make us lost! Now, let’s continue.]
The four continued on through the dungeon. They encountered a few more rooms full of enemies, but all of them were dispatched with haste. Albus would constantly leap forward to hack and slash with his broadsword, while Eligor, Maria, and Amaterasu would stay behind and support with their magic. Surprisingly, Eligor didn’t pull out his weapon once, because he was skilled with the few spells that he had. Before long, the four of them were standing in front of an enormous door with a metal skull embroidered on it.
Amaterasu: [Hey, Eligor, what is the boss like?]
Eligor: [I don’t know.]
Amaterasu: [Huh?]
Eligor: [I’ve never seen the boss before. I know the route because I memorised the layout of the dungeon on a map provided by the library in the capital, but I’ve never seen the boss. People who went through this dungeon fully did say that he was extremely challenging, so we will need to give it out best shot if we want to survive.]
Amaterasu nodded to Eligor in reply. She began to psyche herself up for the incoming battle. If she lost right there, it would spell in instant death. She needed to be fully prepared for this battle.
Eligor walked up to the door and examined it for a little bit. He sighed before turning around to face the group.
Eligor: [Are you ready for this?]
The other three nodded back to Eligor. He turned around and grabbed hold of the handle. He turned the handle clockwise about 90 degrees. The door began to groan as it slowly shifted open. The four entered the room and the door closed shut behind them. Amaterasu stared to catch a glimpse of her enemy.
Suddenly, the enemy emerged from a tunnel and that’s when Amaterasu saw it. Standing at about eight metres was a gigantic minotaur wielding a long handled axe. Looking at them, it snorted before it began to suddenly charge.