We were taking a break again and I was checking my arrows just in case. Since I had extra mana for a while, I enchanted some arrows to make use of my new skills.
Iron Arrow (Uncommon)
Attack: 15
Enchantment: Flame (Adept)- The arrow explodes upon contact with the target causing critical fire damage of three hundred percent of the initial damage in an area of three meters around the target.
Durability: 18/18
You received 50 experience points.
I smiled a bit while looking at the arrow that now had a red glow on its tip. It would be useful for some moments of emergency. I didn’t think that I would be able to do that, but the arrows that Ovelia gave me were pretty decent… she truly was investing in me.
In any case, I also used the mana cores that I had on other arrows to save mana, but soon confirmed that they only granted enchantments of Novice level. Apparently, the ranks were Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, Master, and Absolute. I had no idea why my skill at level one was giving me an adept level enchantment.
Naturally, the ranks of the enchantments granted more power. Novice granted me a boost of 75% in attack power, then 150% for Apprentice. I assumed that each rank doubled the attack power. An absolutely enchanted arrow probably would be on the same level as a rocket or something.
“... They are on the first floor of the second section…”
Rose suddenly appeared while breathing roughly. I wondered if she was tired thanks to the fighting or if it was thanks to the fact that she crossed such a massive distance in just half an hour. I knew that there was a movement speed parameter, but I couldn’t even begin to imagine how high hers was. Or maybe she had some crazy stealth skills.
In any case, we were on the sixteenth floor… each floor was two kilometers longer than the previous one here, so we had a long way before reaching the third and final section of the dungeon. After resting for ten more minutes, we began to walk again… but soon the blond girl stopped us.
“Captain, I think we need to change our strategy. You three are fighting bravely, but the rest of us should also help to increase our movement speed. Once the enemies realize what we are doing, they will get reckless, but potentially more deadly as well. At this point in time, the guild should have realized what had happened and is organizing a rescue team. Still, it might take a bit more time until they send an appropriate force.”
The three guards looked at each other… they were in a bind because they knew that she had a point, but they also knew that they would be punished if something happened to her. Even if she doesn’t die, but gets heavily wounded, they might end up in the gallows. Nobles don’t mess up when they try to show how important they think they are. Besides, nothing says that the guild master would be part of the first team that would rescue us.
“... Very well, one of us will be the frontline and act as the tank of the group to draw the aggro. At the same time, you and Rose can attack the wolves.”
“That won’t do it, unless you all rest when we fight this won’t be as nearly as efficient. I have the Cleric class, so I will be able to heal us if something happens. All of us need to show our skills here.”
Everyone looked at me… I looked by far the least reliable looking in the group, after all. I had a hard time holding back a vein in my forehead from bulging… Still, while sometimes one can't judge a book by its cover, people also need to prove themselves to deserve respect.
“Can you use that bow or is it just for appearances’ sake?”
“I can at least blind the wolves.”
I didn’t have that many arrows that weren’t enchanted and those that were would only last for one shot. I could have prepared better if I were alone, but it couldn’t be helped given the situation. Besides, my skill at level one only granted me that single-type enchantment. Regardless, the swordsman studied me for a moment… if something happens, he can always step in with his men, after all.
“All right… let’s see if this can work.”
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We began to move and it didn’t take long for the wolves to appear in the distance charging at us. With one arrow nocked and three others between the fingers of my left hand, I immediately began to fire my arrows at the creatures fifty meters away. The projectiles flew in a straight line while hissing and the beasts barely had time to react. Their eyes got pierced by my arrows.
Two of them reached us, but as they were ten meters away from us, the others were howling in pain in the middle of the path. The blond and the maid stepped forward to deal with the monsters… the blonde stabbed the eyes of the beast when it tried to bite her, piercing the eyes of the creature.
As for the maid, I didn’t even see what she did… she just stepped to the side when one monster tried to bite her, and in the next moment, the creature had a large wound in the side of its neck and it was gushing blood like a fountain.
They charged again at the same time, to deal with the remaining monsters and readily stabbed their necks… The maid matched the movements of the blonde girl to cover for her if something happened. In any case, the girl was really strong… she didn’t really need a scout in that dungeon. Her parents must be overprotective.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
You received 20 experience points.
I should have received half of the experience of the wolves I blinded… the arrows pierced deeply after all. So, I caused a lot of damage. Still, it was hard to imagine that they would be ten times stronger than the golems I faced in the other dungeon…
In any case, the maid readily stabbed the wolves in some parts and then took their mana cores. Two of them had those and they were on the size of my fingers. She passed them to me for some reason.
“You can enchant your arrows with these.”
“I don’t have that many arrows.”
“I have them, just make sure to use the enchanted ones if things get dangerous.”
“... All right.”
I got the message, even though I didn’t want to stand out, it was better than dying in the hands of assassins. After recovering my arrows, I confirmed that they weren’t that dirty of blood, there were some liquids that help with that, but they weren’t cheap.
‘... Did she predict this or was she just being cautious?’
Ovelia was starting to look from overly protective to suspicious with such investments. She should have an idea that I would be tagging along with the blond girl, so she decided to cover my bases just in case. At least I could tell that she didn’t send me to my death…
The two groups began to fight in turns the frozen wolves. In fact, our group did better since I decreased the chances of the enemies using magic. The guards were more basic with their tactics, as well. Still, I soon forgot about that since it wasn’t a competition.
‘If I use the cores of the bosses, I can make my bow become pretty decent… but will they give me the cores? Unless we are really cornered, they won’t. Mana cores of bosses were ten times more valuable than those of ordinary monsters, but money here isn’t a problem for these guys.’
In any case, even if I could get the three mana cores, my skill was only at level one… it was possible, but adding three fire enchantments to the bow seemed like a waste. I used my mana whenever possible to enchant my arrows and gain that sweet experience, but even so, it was unlikely that I would level up the skill before we reached the next boss chamber.
After one day, we reached the boss chamber… we only took breaks of half an hour to eat or drink water. So, the whole group was starting to look pretty worn out and now we couldn’t even rest for one hour before facing the boss. That would be pretty harsh.
However, that was a good chance for us… there is a frozen lake on the 21st floor close to the entrance. We can camp there and ready an ambush to any enemies that might attack as well. All the enemies might try to overwhelm us, but we will take down a bunch of them… with my arrows, we could even weaken them quite a bit as well.
Of the entire group, I seemed to be the one less tired. I wondered if it was because of my blood… I wasn’t moving like the others, but my parameters were smaller too if compared. That was good since I kept growing… as long as I don’t feel the need to sleep in coffins, I will consider that as a win.
“We will rest for half an hour… you, come with me to watch our back.”
The swordsman pointed at me and then I got up from my seat. Keeping arrows between my fingers was quite tiresome, but I could tell that I was one of the best people for the job of watching our backs. All my arrows in my hand right now were enchanted. Aside from the usual four I use against the ordinary wolves.
We moved back to the only path that leads to the last corridor before the boss chamber and then we got quiet there. As we did that, I checked my knives and confirmed that they became essentially useless in this mission. The next ones I will have, I will add some basic enchantments like piercing, slashing, and mana coating instead of the elemental ones.
Well, I still preferred to keep the monsters away, so I would try to avoid them as much as possible… I wasn't planning to look cool while fighting, I just wanted to survive with the least number of wounds possible, but living in that world wasn't convenient for dungeon divers.
“The next boss is a Frost Dire Wolf… the creature can use several ice spells, it is fast and quite sturdy too. Under normal circumstances, a party of six is the best option against them. However, all of us are pretty exhausted.”
The swordsman said while looking at the other members of the group who were napping a bit while holding their knees or with their backs against their weapons. It didn’t take even two minutes for them to fall asleep, such was their exhaustion.
“If we get hurt in this fight, then we will be in a real bind in case the assassins decide to do a suicidal attack. We will need you to wound the beast as much as possible from the beginning.”
“I can do that, but you will have to guarantee me the mana core of the creature.”
“... That is fine.”
The guard looked at me wondering if I truly believed that they would be that pesky when their lives were on the line. I believed that they were just acting a bit nicer because they knew that my skills weren’t half bad and they needed all the help they could get. Still, while I said that, I wasn’t sure if I truly could that much.