I quickly grabbed something from my magic bag… It was a pair of scrolls, and then aimed the magic circle toward the beast.
All of a sudden, an arrow flew toward the head of the monster. Clarice’s arrow made the monster jump to the side… on the place the monster was about to land. I activated the scroll and then a magical smoke bomb flew toward it.
It hit the ground at the same time the monster landed and then a massive smoke curtain covered the entire creature. The scrolls had the effects of Magical Smoke Bomb and Ink of Power. That was why the first scroll became more powerful for a moment.
The smoke confused the beast for a moment and soon it tried to run away, but then a single arrow was shot toward the side of the smoke curtain… when it was about to pass by it, the two-headed wolf showed up and then the area connecting its front paw with its torso was hit by the arrow.
The monster growled in pain as blood fell from the wound. The creature slowed down considerably, and then Clarice and I unleashed a barrage of arrows with Rapid Fire. The monster tried to repel them with fireballs, but several of them still pierced the body of the monster.
Rebecca didn’t waste her chance and then fired a continuous barrage of Frostbolts that hurled in the air and then collided with the face of the monster… the beast didn’t have the chance to dodge them at all.
The monster’s head shook backward and then we fired a single arrow, each with careful aim. In the next moment, the monster lost its eyes. The strategy worked, and the monster was being overwhelmed thanks to the pain it was enduring.
Jalal and Gao approached. The first slammed his weapon on the face of the beast and the second impaled the left paw of the target. At that point in time, the beast was completely stunned… but it still had some health left. However, Clarice fired an arrow on the same spot on the previous one… on the right eye of the monster and that pushed the first further in the head of the beast… that was some crazy accuracy.
You received 500 experience points.
You completed a trial. Please choose between the classes: Knight, Rogue, and Elementalist.
Before we could celebrate, we received that kind of message. We couldn’t help but open our eyes wide since those classes were definitely a tier above the basic ones of Warrior, Mage, and Archer. I knew what they could do more or less, but neither of them would be particularly good for me. I could make more scrolls with the Elementalist class and use them for emergencies, or even let others use those spells with Spellbinding Ink…
With Rogue, I would gain some extra dexterity and mobility, but one of the skills of the class was Backstab… essentially useless to a dedicated archer like myself. I probably could use it with short swords, but… it seemed a pretty nasty way of dealing with things.
The Knight class was the worst of them all… the first skill required a shield, and the second required a horse to use. So, my real choices were Rogue and Elementalist, and in my notes, the Rogue class had a higher score if compared to Elementalist.
You obtained the Rogue class.
You improved the Dexterity parameter.
You unlocked the Aptitude: Sneak.
You unlocked the skill: Backstab.
You unlocked the skill: Roll.
Sneak: Gain 1 point of experience per minute and per target when you are in a location without being found, you need to be moving for this effect to take place.
Backstab: Deliver a powerful stab to the target from behind, dealing high damage equal to your agility and strength and causing a bleeding effect that deals damage over time. Cost: 10 Stamina
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Roll: Perform a quick, evasive maneuver to avoid an incoming attack, increasing your chance to dodge and the speed of the roll according to the level of the skill. Cost: 10 Stamina
I made my choice and so obtained the knowledge of the class, I also felt my body improving thanks to the sudden increase in dexterity. Now, I could work a bit faster and my aim should have become better too by a large margin. Putting that aside, those skills sure consumed little stamina… are the people who have them supposed to backstab monsters left and right? That was scary.
I put those thoughts aside and focused on the situation in front of me… everyone had already made their choices, so we had to dismantle the boss and then decide what to do next.
“Well done, everyone!”
Jalal and Gao high-five each other and then they proceeded to approach us and then do the same. I felt a bit weird doing that since I spent the last decade working by myself and planning things on my own. In any case, we proceeded to dismantle the parts of the boss.
“We didn’t suffer much damage, so I think we can explore the next floor a bit before returning. We will need just half a day to leave the dungeon, and then we will have two and a half days to rest and prepare. Are you guys fine with that?”
Everyone nodded since we only fought for five minutes today and our wounds were almost nonexistent. Besides, the number of monsters on the first few floors of the dungeon would be low… the only downside was that they could fly, so Jalal and Gao wouldn’t be able to do much aside from blocking their attacks.
“So, what are you two going to do? Maybe it is a bit too soon to talk about it, but are you two going to join us in the next run?”
We finished dismantling the boss, and then Jalal asked that while looking at me and Clarice. It was indeed too soon for that, since if we said no, it could disrupt the teamwork of the group and make anyone lose focus. He still had a lot to learn.
“I do want to come again, but I need to find a place first to rent and rest. All the inns that I looked for were full.”
“You can come with us. We are using Gao’s home as a base of operations. We only have two rooms, but you can share one with Rebecca.”
Rebecca squinted her eyes, since it looked like she couldn’t say anything in that situation. Almost like her opinion was irrelevant. Trying to prove otherwise would only make the mood of the party awkward. In the end, she was forced to be the grown-up and keep her mouth shut.
I felt like I was being messed with. At one point, I felt that this party had potential and that we could work together to at least reach the twentieth floor of the dungeon, but at times like this, I also questioned my wisdom. It felt like those kids couldn’t think that far ahead… what could go wrong with a bunch of boys and girls in their adolescent years living together in a small house? Absolutely everything… I noticed that I started to sound like a grumpy middle-aged man in my head.
“Nah, it is fine. I snore a lot when I relax on a bed, so Rebecca probably won’t be able to sleep with me there.”
“You can find some nice houses close to the walls. These areas might be a bit poor looking, but the people there are nice.”
“Really? If it isn’t expensive, then it is fine. The question is, do they hate elves?”
“No clue.”
“Can you recommend any place?”
I didn’t want to recommend the house of the old lady, since I wanted peace in my life and Clarice was like a thundering storm. Still, would it be fair to prevent the old lady from gaining some more money?
While I was thinking about that, I saw the look on Jalal's and Gao’s faces. They looked a bit annoyed since they thought that if they could push a bit more, they could convince Clarice to go to their home… It made me recall my college days when the guys spent all day thinking of plans to lure girls to their rooms.
“No, but you will have time to look for a place tomorrow.”
I decided to pay some extra coins for the old lady, but it was better than walking around with someone who could bring me so much more attention from the people of the city.
In any case, we stopped wasting time and then headed to the next floor. As we went down the stairs, we could feel the heat getting more and more to us… the air felt pretty heavy and hard to breathe thanks to it.
“What the hell… I feel my body is so heavy here…”
Jalal tried to take deep breaths to recover, but that didn’t help much… The next floor felt heavy because there were a lot of holes in the ceiling, walls, and ground where bursts of steam would come periodically and without warning. Getting hit by those will guarantee the target some low-level burn wounds.
Staying here for too long without the protection of some gear or magic would be the same as asking to faint… Still, we couldn’t retreat yet without some battle data. Fortunately, it didn’t take long for some Five Crows to appear in the distance, and they welcomed us with fireballs.
Fire crow feathers appeared almost molten in texture, shifting between shades of charcoal black, deep red, and glowing orange depending on the angle of light. The feathers along their wings and tails have an intricate, ember-like pattern that flickers as they move, giving the impression that their bodies are constantly on the verge of ignition.
Their eyes were perhaps their most mesmerizing feature: burning orbs of molten gold or vivid red, seeming to contain the essence of a raging fire. They glint in the light of their own fiery aura, reflecting the flames that ripple along their feathers. They had claws and beaks that looked like weapons, capable of delivering devastating strikes, with the added danger of scorching heat that could burn whatever they touched.
The warmth radiating from their bodies creates a mirage-like effect, making it seem as though they are perpetually surrounded by waves of heat. During combat, the fire crow’s feathers ignited fully, transforming it into a bird wreathed in flames. In this state, its body becomes engulfed in fire, with flames licking up its wings, along its back, and around its head like a crown of fire. These flames are not only for show, they can be projected as fiery bursts when the bird is in danger or needs to attack.
Before Gao and Jalal could block the three fireballs, we fired our arrows toward them… they were weaker than the fireballs of the boss, so two of the three monsters were hit by arrows. Rebecca used her bow to hit the last one, but from that distance, she barely caused any damage after repelling the fireball she targeted.
Jalal and Gao quickly approached the falling creatures and easily smashed their heads. It looked like things would be fine for a while, but if three of them were already showing up, I could only wonder how many of them would be in the last part of the second section.