“How did you pull that off?”
“It feels that the energy here is thicker through this part… I don’t know why.”
Energy… maybe it was because it was the path used to reach the boss, or maybe it was because monsters were killed in that path more than in the others. Or maybe the mana that spawned the monsters came from the lower floors.
“Anyway, I am not being a nuisance, right? I am helping a fair bit, right?”
“Indeed.”
I wondered if Nimir wanted me to stroke his ego. Unfortunately, I was the wrong person for that… he just wanted to make me understand that there is more than little value in us teaming up. He had a point, but I made my decisions based on more than just that. A party with him would benefit me a lot, but my original plan was still better to avoid most issues.
“In any case, the monsters will come in groups of three now, so keep your guard up.”
“Okay.”
Getting used to fighting three and then four lesser ice salamanders at the same time would be hard, but it was necessary if we wanted to clear the dungeon in three days. The good side of all that was the fact that we would be able to rank up after returning to the guild and then move to the next dungeon.
Still, once we reached the next floor, things didn't change that much… The monsters weren't smart enough and they appeared in pairs in front of me while Nimir only had to deal with one of them. Things might change on the nineteenth floor, but I was pretty certain that things would be fine with my hand crossbow.
“Perhaps equipping one in each hand isn't a bad idea… still, the hand cannon can still do more damage in a shorter window of time.”
While I was collecting the ice scales, I was thinking about that. In the end, finding solutions outside of the battle all the time was fun and all, but I also had to deal with it with my physical abilities… otherwise, I would be too reliant on my tricks and tools. Without them, I would find myself in a bind.
Camping in the last half of the second section of the dungeon soon proved to be a problem… We looked around for a while for a place to rest, but the enemies kept showing up in all the places where we tried to take a break. When they attacked, Nimir would come to help even when I was on guard duty. That only gave us around fifteen minutes of rest between each battle.
“We won't be able to rest like this. Shouldn't we keep heading to the boss chamber and only rest in front of it?”
I considered Nimir’s idea… It seemed logical. With his sharp senses, we probably could find it around midnight. He was also fine with eating some fruits for now, so we probably should do that. If things ends well, we might clear the dungeon in three days and then take one extra to exit the place, I couldn't ask for a better approach.
“All right, lead the way.”
Nimir took the lead while using his senses to find the right path. Thanks to that, we didn’t stumble in a dead end even once. He seemed more certain of his steps the more we moved, perhaps because the traces of mana were more obvious as we got closer to the deepest part of the dungeon.
In any case, he also could sense a full second before the monsters would appear and then he would jump backward with all his might before turning around. I was supposed to be the one defeating the enemies ahead, so it made sense.
You received 25 experience points.
You received 25 experience points.
The monsters died instantly and then I turned around to cover for Nimir. Still, he was getting more skilled and confident after each battle. Instead of jumping away like before, he would just dodge the attacks of the monster enough and then follow up with a counter in their eyes. Once the enemy flinched, he would approach silently and then stab the creature in the neck from both sides.
I didn’t teach him to fight like that, but he still was able to think of ways to be more deadly in a fight… he was following a pretty scary path, though. I wondered if I was raising someone on the same scary level as the assassins or if that was just his innate beastkin talent. He quickly turned around to confirm that things were fine with me and soon relaxed.
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After gathering the mana cores and the ice scales, we resumed our journey. Just as I had predicted, we reached the boss' chamber before midnight. At that point in time, I could tell that the right path of each floor was half of the length of the entire floor. By walking the right path in a straight line, we could cut by half the time to explore the dungeon and by skating, we were even faster.
‘I sold the blueprint for the bike, but I guess some skates could be a pretty good way to travel. Even more so if they are enchanted with wind magic. Perhaps even for fighting.’
I decided to write that down as well and test it when I had the chance… in any case, the nineteenth floor wasn’t that difficult thanks to the hand crossbow. I had three shots, after all. Before dealing with the two enemies in front of me, Nimir would focus on avoiding the attacks of the other two until I killed one of them and then he would go for the kill.
"Can you set the camp while I guard our surroundings?”
“Yes.”
We were in front of the boss' chamber, but I could tell that Nimir was a bit tired. I would rather fight at night since my debuffs wouldn’t be on, but since I didn’t have to move a lot to fight, it was fine if we didn’t. It would make me feel a lot worse if something happened to him if I let him fight not at his best, after all.
In any case, Nimir set up the camp faster than any monster could show up, so soon he decided to help on the guard duty. I waited for a bit until the next group of salamanders showed up before preparing dinner. I knew that the cooking class had skills that granted bonuses to those who ate food cooked by them… I was only cooking when I was inside the dungeon and I didn’t have plans to get that class, but maybe I should.
My cooking skills were pretty average, after all. Food was a good source of comfort in the grim atmosphere that dungeons had… I never let that atmosphere bother me, though. In any case, I wanted at least to eat good food whenever possible..
One hour later, dinner was ready and then we began to eat before the monsters showed up… Although I wasn’t satisfied with my cooking skills, Nimir ate and asked for more. I couldn’t use his palate as standard though, considering what he had to eat for the last few years… that made me feel like a spoiled asshole.
“What classes will be available after defeating the boss?”
“Let's not jump to the gun… we will discuss tomorrow the strategy to deal with the boss and then we'll talk about the classes. For now, go to sleep.”
Nimir nodded and soon he relaxed enough to fall asleep profoundly. He fought the whole day nonstop, after all. Even if he had gotten stronger, the tension also would wear him out fast.
While I was thinking about that, my thoughts soon began to wander off to the future… I didn't like that so much since I always assumed that things would go as planned. It was better than being pessimistic, I suppose.
‘Assassins weren't part of my plans… even though I considered that someone would eventually find my identity, I thought that I could just run away and disappear. With Camouflage, I can do that and I have been training for that reason. Still, at this point in time, it is impossible to leave their radar, if I kill them all, they will know who did that… more or less.’
Perhaps I should have chosen another name… then again, they weren't supposed to know my real name back then, but they should know it now if they asked around or they had informants in the settlement. It was an annoying spot to be in since I didn't want to restart as an adventurer.
Keeping a low profile was annoying for that reason. With that in mind, I had to get stronger in order not to be bothered by that… if anyone tries to get in my way for who I am or for any other reason, then my only option is to get rid of them before they get rid of me first. It seemed a bit troublesome way of acting and thinking, but I couldn't be half-assed, I had to take hold of my own fate. In any other way, I would be in a bind…
Eventually, I got tired of thinking about that and then I decided to work on the blueprints of the next projects that I had. Based on my experience, time was of the essence. Our dungeon exploration speed was pretty decent, but we could do better than that… money was important, but we could make it anywhere, it is better to be able to clean the dungeons fast and also be able to move away from the enemies even faster.
When it comes to movement speed, the first thing that comes to mind was the train in that world. I could create a combustion engine eventually, but it was better to take smaller steps first and not draw that much attention. I couldn't decide to run before I could learn how to walk.
When morning came, it took a couple of extra hours for Nimir to wake up. When he did, he realized that he didn't have the chance to take the guard duty once again and kept apologizing for a while.
“It is fine, you are still recovering after all. Aside from eating, you need to sleep a lot considering all the effort that you are putting in.”
I would feel bad making a real kid not sleep enough, after all. While I had the body of one, my mind could take one or two sleepless nights. If the worst comes to the worst, I can sleep while he guards the surroundings once we are back to the start of the section.
After breakfast, we decided to have a meeting about how we should deal with the boss. This time around, I did enough research about the creature and I knew what it could do.
“Blocking the attacks is out of the question, the darts that the ice salamander can shoot are many times stronger than the lesser ones. With that in mind, you should focus on avoiding its attacks. As usual, I will bombard the creature from a distance, but I am pretty sure that the beast will be able to block some of my attacks. With that in mind, the pre-emptive strike will determine the whole battle.”
“How are we going to do that?”
“You will be in the front as usual, and I will follow from behind. However, I will be using Camouflage. When the beast decides to attack you, I will go all out.”
It was a good plan, but I didn't feel good using Nimir as bait… I was planning on attacking before the monster had the chance to attack, but who knows what can happen in a boss battle when we are only two people? It was better to take the lesser of two evils and weaken the enemy before they could do anything.