Novels2Search

Chapter 127

“Twinstab! Huh? Hah, Crescent Slash!” Lilfira missed her Twinstab attack, quickly following up with her Crescent Slash to swipe and knock the Rhaki that was about to bite her away.

We were on the fourth floor of the dungeon right now fighting Rhakis, with Lilfira struggling to keep up with the Rhakis’ speed. Worse yet, it was wet and muddy on the fourth floor of the dungeon which made it much more difficult to move around too. Ranalaiya had no problems running, leaping and jumping around, and Sylfrin didn’t need to move around too much thanks to her spiderling pet Voras defending her. The same was true for Virghel who was a badger beast-woman. Virghel’s toes were more of a beast than of a human, so she was able to keep her balance easily despite the ground being wet and slippery. Tarrion and I weren’t bothered by the wet, muddy ground either, both of us being too tough for Rhakis to do any damage to us anyway. The only other person who needed protecting was Krisel. She was what you would call a support class and wasn’t particularly strong or agile to defend herself on her own. Krisel was boosting our strength and stamina with her spells, casting her Spark spell now and then to hinder Rhakis movements when one of them would get too close to her.

“Twinstab!” Lilfira struck the same Rhaki she knocked away earlier, finally killing it.

- “Aah… I feel so sorry for the poor creature… or maybe not. After all, it is you I want to keep standing in the end, darling. Eight experience points for you and sixteen for your party members.” – Lavita let us know what she thought about Lilfira’s kill.

“Well done, Lilfira,” Ranalaiya was quick to congratulate her.

“Thank you, Ranalaiya,” Lilfira said.

“You are getting better at predicting Rhakis’ movements,” added Sylfrin.

“Yeah, you’re really getting good at it,” Virghel joined in.

It was mainly thanks to Lilfira using a spear as her weapon which had a longer reach, in addition to her main stat being Strength that helped her fight and kill Rhakis easier. Of course, thanks to all of us being together with Lilfira, we helped to separate and eliminate a group of Rhakis, leaving one for Lilfira to fight on her own. The harsh truth was, Lilfira wouldn’t be able to survive for long fighting Rhakis all by herself, especially fighting more than one Rhaki at a time. At least not yet. She probably knew that too but tried to keep a positive attitude, a bright smile never leaving her face.

“Do you think we’ll be able to reach floor five before it becomes dark?” I asked Tarrion.

“Not a chance,” Tarrion said and I knew what he meant.

We were taking out time to progress through the dungeon floors simply because I insisted on having Lilfira fight more in order to get fighting experience. Lilfira needed to gain as many levels as she possibly could during this short two-week period in order to at least have a fighting chance against those red dragonkins. However, I was almost certain that no matter how many levels Lilfira would get, she’d still have to fight a much stronger opponent. I doubted that Sanokard would put her up against an opponent who would be of an equal level. To lower the gap in strength, Lilfira would need to be better at fighting in order to win or at least to survive the Rites of Strength. I wanted Lilfira to do more fighting, but at the same time, I knew hunting Tarkees or Goblies would be so much more beneficial in terms of experience gain. In that regard, I came up with a sneaky plan.

“Right, let’s get more serious and start hunting those Rhakis for real. And Lilfira, I have a challenge for you,” I said.

“A challenge for me?” Lilfira asked, exchanging glances with the other women before turning to face me again.

“Yes. You need to kill more Rhakis than Ranalaiya or Sylfrin would before it becomes dark, or else… aah… or else you will get punished,” I said.

“Punished?” Lilfira gasped, covering her mouth with one hand.

“Yes. The punishment would be… you would have to sleep by yourself tonight,” I couldn’t think of any real punishment, not that I wanted to punish Lilfira in any way to begin with, so I thought of what it seemed to be a very minor penalty at best.

“Sleep by myself?” Lilfira exclaimed out loud, her face showing she actually looked very distressed.

Eh? Is Lilfira sleeping by herself such a harsh punishment after all? I wondered in my head.

“Does that mean there’d be a reward for the person who kills the most Rhakis, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya was quick to ask.

“Ahm… yeah, sure,” I agreed, not even thinking of what the reward could be.

“Can I participate as well, Rockin?” Virghel asked suddenly.

“What? Ah, ok,” I became a little perplexed about Virghel wanting to participate as well but I had no real reason to refuse her. We were here to kill monsters anyway and I wasn’t actually expecting for the women to take this challenge too seriously either. I simply wanted to motivate Lilfira to fight more.

“Thank you, Rockin,” Virghel said, instantly darting to the side and away.

“Leap Jump! Humph,” Ranalaiya shot from her spot like an arrow would be shot from a bow.

“Voras, go!” Sylfrin wasn’t as fast as Ranalaiya or Virghel, but she had her spiderling pet with her that was pretty fast on its feet itself. Sylfrin’s pet Voras was level six now and its Stamina, Strength and Agility stats were ten, twelve and seventeen respectively. It had eight legs too which allowed it to climb and run on trees as well, helping it move around rather fast.

“Oh, no. I’ll fall behind,” Lilfira exclaimed out loud. She gripped her spear tighter before rushing to find some Rhakis as well.

“What… just happened?” I mumbled under my nose, feeling perplexed.

“You sure know how to make women lose their heads over you, Rockin,” Krisel commented with a mild chuckle, sounding a little cheeky too.

“Ah, well… I simply want Lilfira to gain more fighting experience,” I said, rubbing the back of my head and still feeling perplexed.

“It wouldn’t be safe if we get separated or even get lost, especially before dark,” Tarrion commented, having concerns of his own and his concerns were very valid too.

“Yeah, you’re right,” I could see the validity of his comment. “Ok, I’ll go warn them about it.”

- “Such a nice kill. Way to go, babe. Eight experience points for you and sixteen for your party members.” – Lavita announced before I even made my first step.

Sigh, they’re already engaging the monsters. I shook my head before rushing to catch up with the four women competing in the Rhaki Killing Olympics.

Good thing was Ranalaiya, Sylfrin, Lilfira and Virghel haven’t gone too far from where we were yet, allowing me to catch up with all of them and warning them they shouldn’t run off on their own too far. Having any of them injured or even killed by Rhakis wasn’t my intention, so I’ve set up some rules before letting them run off again. First, they were not allowed to stray too far and had to be able to be seen by someone at all times. Second, when one of them has engaged a Rhaki or Rhakis, the others couldn’t ‘steal’ their kills. I named it tagging. It was mainly a term from video games that prevented players from stealing kills from one another after someone beat down a monster to low health. In a video game, if a player landed their first hit on a monster, the monster would get ‘tagged’ to that specific player. Meaning, even if someone else were to kill the tagged monster, the experience and the loot it might drop would go to the player who has tagged it first. Third, I asked Krisel to help Lilfira fight Rhakis. With the other three women being higher level and having more monster fighting experience Lilfira was at a big disadvantage, so to close the gap Lilfira and Krisel had teamed up to make it easier for Lilfira to give her a chance to compete on the kills. Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Virghel agreed to it, and the Rhakis massacre resumed.

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- “You go, babe. I love your energy… and your moves. You have gained eight experience points and your party members have gained sixteen.” –

- “Aah… Now that was hot no matter how you looked at it. Eight experience points gained and your party members have gained sixteen.” –

- “That was such a great kill. I hope you didn’t get hurt, darling. You have received eight experience points and your party members have received sixteen.” –

- “You are simply on fire, my love. Keep it up. Eight experience points for you and sixteen for your party members.” –

Lavita’s announcements were coming in from all directions, Lavita barely managing to take a breather while delivering her messages one after another. Obviously, she was more than happy to let us know what she thought about supposedly me killing the monsters. It became somewhat awkward after a while with me and Tarrion walking around, looking for and collecting the loot that Rhakis had dropped after being killed. With all five women becoming extremely competitive, none of them bothered to even check if Rhakis dropped anything after being killed at all. I even had a chill run down my spine at some point when I remembered being an ‘errand boy’ at the company I used to work for where I was running from department to department collecting and delivering documents. After a bit of a thought, I came to a conclusion that picking up monster drops in a muddy forest was so much better no matter how I looked at it.

“Ok, that’s enough! We’re stopping for the night!” I finally announced, yelling my lungs out. It was already dark, but the women still wanted to keep going.

“What? No. Master Rockin, please, just a little longer,” Sylfrin who was standing closest to me begged to let them hunt Rhakis longer.

“I can still keep going, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said after appearing close to me.

“Of course you can. You have better night vision than the rest of us, Ranalaiya, and Sylfrin has her Echo Sense. I’m sure you’d want to keep going. No, we’re stopping right now. It’s already dark and we still need to find a place to set up a camp and find a tree or trees big enough for all of us to spend the night on. You have been hunting Rhakis long enough already,” I declared in a slightly angry tone of my voice.

“Yes, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya and Sylfrin obeyed.

We’ve gathered everyone else and quickly found a spot to spend the night at. I started the fire with my Campfire skill and instantly put some Rhaki’s meat to cook for us to eat. Only when it became brighter thanks to the fire offering some light, I could see what state all the women were actually in. Other than being proper dirty, with Virghel and Ranalaiya being covered in mud the most, some of the women were injured as well.

“Huh? What? You two are injured,” I exclaimed when I noticed bruises and even some blood on Ranalaiya’s and Lilfira’s bodies. Ranalaiya had some minor bruises, but Lilfira had some bite wounds that were left by Rhakis on her legs and on her left arm. “What were you thinking? You should’ve told me you two were injured.”

“It’s… only a minor bruise, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, looking down like a timid child would.

“I’m sorry, Master Rockin. I… I didn’t want to lose and it wasn’t a serious wound, so I decided to keep going,” Lilfira explained herself, looking no less guilty than Ranalaiya.

“What’s that supposed to mean? You could’ve been seriously injured or worse. I understand you wanted to compete, but I suggested the challenge only because I wanted you to get more fighting experience!” I raised my voice, looking angrily at Lilfira before turning to face Ranalaiya next. “And you, Ranalaiya. You actually managed to get hurt? Like, how? With your speed and agility those Rhakis shouldn’t even be able to see you coming. How in the world did you manage to get hurt by Rhakis?”

“I’m… sorry, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, lowering her head even lower, her cat-like ears bending down on her head too.

“And Krisel, you must’ve known about Lilfira getting injured. Why didn’t you say anything?” I turned to Krisel next.

“Ah, I…” Krisel shrank before averting her face away to look at Tarrion instead, Tarrion showing her an upset frown. “I’m sorry, Rockin. Lilfira said she was fine and wanted to keep going, so…”

“So you thought you’ll let her get hurt even more? What if Lilfira got hurt so bad she couldn’t even fight back? What if Lilfira couldn’t protect you, with Rhakis going after you instead? Tarrion and I trusted you all to take care of yourselves. We might’ve not been able to get to you in time to defend you. What would’ve happened then?”

“I… I… I’m sorry,” Krisel said, her face becoming pale, Krisel pressing both of her hands to her chest.

“Bhaaa…” I threw my head back before shaking it to the sides.

“I’m sorry, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya apologized again.

“I’m really sorry. I sincerely apologize, Master Rockin,” and so did Lilfira.

“You two…” I frowned, thinking what to say to them. “Damn it, I shouldn’t have offered that challenge in the first place.”

“No, Master Rockin. It wasn’t your fault. I was just… a little careless, that’s all,” Ranalaiya said, not wanting me to blame myself.

“Ranalaiya is right. You’re not the one to blame, Master Rockin. I got hurt, yes, but I gained invaluable fighting experience too. You always keep encouraging me to be positive and try my best. This small injury is nothing compared to how badly I might get hurt during the Rites of Strength. I will have to fight a much stronger opponent than Rhakis and I will have to fight back no matter what. I’m sorry for making you worry and… it makes me feel happy to know you are worried about me, Master Rockin, but I wanted to keep going because I want to become strong and pass the Rites of Strength,” Lilfira unloaded a boatload of good reasons to justify her recklessness.

Hey, that’s cheating. I crinkled my nose, not knowing how to respond to her this time.

“Well… yeah, I agree, but…” I was looking for words to defend my position. “Ok, fine. And yes, I was worried about you and… I’m glad you’ve persisted and kept going, but… you need to be careful, ok? As for you, Ranalaiya, you have no excuse for getting hurt by Rhakis. As such, the number of Rhakis you have killed will be cut in half as a penalty,” I had to agree with Lilfira’s reasoning, but I still came up with an excuse to punish Ranalaiya. I honestly couldn’t believe she got injured by Rhakis. That just meant she sacrificed her safety over some silly competition. She wanted to win, I could understand that, but there was no reason to lose her head because of it.

“WHAT!?” Ranalaiya exclaimed in shock. “Nooo…”

“Yes,” I stated point blank. “We both know you are strong and it’s only a minor injury, but you should never lose your head in a fight. It could lead to a very tragic end.” I was firm with my words.

“Y… yes, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, lowering her head, her cat-like ears dropping down as well.

“Anyway, get yourselves in order, drink some healing water and let’s eat. I’m starving,” I said, going to sit down next to the fire to check on the meat.

“What about the challenge, Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked after a short while, all of us waiting for the meat to finish cooking.

“Ah, right. Yes, well… how many Rhakis each of you have killed?” I mumbled through my teeth.

“I have killed nine, Master Rockin,” said Sylfrin.

“I have killed seven,” said Lilfira.

“I’ve killed ten,” added Virghel.

“I have killed thirteen, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, sounding a bit more cheerful.

“Thirteen, eh? That’s six and a half for you, Ranalaiya,” I corrected her.

“What? Oh, no. I… lost…” Ranalaiya let out a sad sigh.

“Does that mean… I win?” Virghel asked, her eyes lightning up.

“It would seem so. Congratulations, Virghel,” I said, procuring a smile too.

“I’m sorry, Lilfira,” Krisel said, trying to comfort her.

“No, no. It wasn’t your fault, Krisel. I’m just… too weak,” Lilfira said, showing a smile but looking sad.

“Wait, since I lost, I will have to sleep by myself tonight? Nooo…” Ranalaiya exclaimed after remembering it.

“Well… you don’t have to sleep by yourself, Ranalaiya. I mean, I wasn’t serious about it when I said it, really,” I had to quickly come up with something to salvage the situation. “All of us need to get a proper rest in order to be able to fight monsters, especially when we get to the lower floors of the dungeon. You’ll be sleeping in the hammock like you usually do, Ranalaiya.”

“Ok. Thank you, Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya said, cheering up.

“So, does that mean you weren’t serious about the reward as well, Rockin?” Virghel asked suddenly, becoming both worried and sad all of a sudden.

“Ah, no. I mean… there could be a reward, but we didn’t agree on anything specific beforehand. What kind of reward would you like, Virghel?” I asked, quickly adding an explanation after realizing something. “You have to remember that we’ll be staying in the dungeon for a long time before we return to Hirvant and considering the challenge involved fighting some Rhakis, the reward can’t be something very big.” I tried to water down the importance of the challenge just in case.

“Would asking you to go on a date with me be a reasonable reward?” Virghel asked without even taking some time to think about it.

“A date!?” I wanted to say it out loud myself, but Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira beat me to it, all three of them saying it out loud at the same time.

“Well… as I said earlier, we’re in the dungeon right and we won’t be going back to Hirvant any time soon,” I reminded Virghel, not refusing to consider a date as a reward.

“That’s ok. After we come back?” Virghel asked, showing she was willing to wait.

“Ok. I suppose… going on a date is fine,” I agreed, making a thoughtful facial expression before rubbing the back of my head.

“Great. Thank you, Rockin,” Virghel said, looking to be the happiest I had ever seen her to be.

Ah, damn it. I quickly felt several jealous stares directed at me.

“I think… the meat is done now. Let’s eat and go to sleep. We’ll be aiming to reach the seventh floor of the dungeon tomorrow,” I said before picking up a piece of Rhaki’s meat to eat. The meat could’ve appreciated some extra cooking, but I thought I better have my mouth full before I say something unnecessary again.