Just as I had planned, we reached the Copper rank in five days. We also mapped up to the eighth floor of the dungeon. We avoided the other adventurers, so I couldn’t buy their map. Still, I haven’t been using my scribing skills lately, so it was a good chance to use them.
Honed Senses leveled up once, and the range indeed increased, so Nimir now could sense things a bit further away. Things on the sixth floor got a bit more complicated since the wood golems began to ambush us from the front and then emerge from the ground behind while the other fight was taking place. Still, the fights didn’t last that long, so their plan never worked. It was weird to see a single seed emerging from the ground and then growing like that, though.
We also found some adventurers along the way, and they looked at us with suspicion. Whenever that happened, Nimir would hide behind me… he was a child, but that behavior was still troublesome since I wasn’t going to look after him forever.
“Tomorrow, we will reach the tenth floor, defeat the boss, and then explore the next section a bit.”
“Yes.”
We were returning to the inn, it was almost dinner time, so Nimir was looking forward to it. He only looked energetic when it was time to eat… that could help him, but it was time to develop his condition in other fields.
“You will have to help me fight from tomorrow onwards. You should have increased your dexterity a few times already and the wood golems coming from behind take some time to be able to fight. You can deal with them before they have the chance to attack.”
Nimir flinched… the idea of fighting was still scary, but it had to be done sooner or later. The other dungeon will be harder and we couldn’t stay for months there. I didn’t force him to fight before because he was too skinny, but now he gained some weight and probably could move well and put some force behind his attacks.
“... Do I really have to?”
“Yes, I am helping you, but I won’t be able to do it forever. Nor do I want to do it forever. I have my own goals as well.”
“Can I help you achieve them?”
“Do you think that you can when you are this afraid of hunting monsters? Anyway, even if you weren’t it would be impossible. I didn’t have a harsher life than yours, but given the chance if people knew who I truly was, they would have done worse things to me.”
“Why? Who are you… you never told me your real name.”
“You don’t have to know. I abandoned that name anyway. As for why, you can probably tell that I am a half-human as well.”
I could tell that much without risking getting in trouble… Besides, it wasn’t like Nimir would want to share such a secret. He couldn’t even walk close to people without fearing that they would do something to him, after all. In any case, I said that, but the system didn’t agree with me. Changing my name for real wasn’t a thing. Still, it made sense. Otherwise, people would do all sorts of crimes and change their names not to be blamed for it.
In that aspect, the system was balanced, but not perfect since it allowed skills like Identification to be blocked. Or so the theory goes, anyway. Still, as long as they had this kind of gear, they basically could become another person. There were also classes and skills that allowed people to change their appearance too.
“Anyway, you can transform, right? Better to do that only inside the dungeon… will your claws be enough to fight them?”
“... I can use my claws, but I don’t know how to transform.”
“That is another thing you will have to learn. I can’t help you figure that out. Anyway, I imagine that you are from a race that is pretty quick on your feet… using your claws all the time should hurt a bit, too. What kind of weapons, do you want? Daggers? Claws, Gloves? All of them will make you improve fighting without them as well.”
“... What do you think that is the best option?”
“Nice try, but you will have to figure it out yourself.”
Making a kid do that was a bit hard for my conscience, but it couldn’t be helped. It was a messed up world… he was a kid, but the scum of the planet will ignore that if he can’t fend for himself. I will do better than most people and give him the tools and a bit of the knowledge to be independent, but I couldn’t do more than that.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
The next morning, before heading to the guild to pick another job, we went to the closest weapons shop. It had a good variety of weapons and they were enchanted too. I was planning to buy some of them to study their enchantments, so that was a good chance.
Nimir tested the weapons in his hands, he apparently got more comfortable with the knives. One had a wind enchantment and another had a fire enchantment, so they would be excellent against the monsters in the dungeon.
Each one of them cost five Terra coins… that much was fine, but just having one enchantment each was a massive waste. Still, finding ones without enchantment would be hard since those who can produce them would have partners or employees who can do that for them and make the items worthy a lot more.
‘Moving around selling bows seems good enough, my skills are improving faster by focusing on a single thing. However, lacking diversity and defensive gear is a problem.’
Although I had a high dexterity and would keep increasing, that was only enough when making things that didn’t require a lot of strength. Bows, leather armor, pieces of clothing, and so on. I wanted to focus on mobility and attack power, so perhaps I should spend some time learning how to make leather armor.
“... How do I use them?”
While I was lost in thought and heading to the guild, Nimir asked that while carrying the knives. Since he moved on four legs he was faster that way, the reverse grip would help him move and fight without risking hurting himself that much. However, I didn’t know how to fight like on four legs, so he would have to learn by experience.
Once we got the job, we headed to the dungeon and after the first fight, I taught him what I could and watched him get used to the weapons. Still, the best way of learning things was by doing it, so I decided to tell him to face the wood golems that showed up.
“If they catch you, I will cover for you, my attacks can destroy them in a single hit, so don’t worry.”
“All right.”
Nimir looked weirdly into it all of a sudden… maybe he had this much confidence in my supporting skills. In any case, soon enough, we found the first target and he assumed his running stance. Still, he soon got up for some reason.
“My tail hurts…”
I wanted to roll my eyes so much… Still, I didn’t have one, so I couldn’t understand the feeling. His tail was inside his pants in order to make sure that no one would see it. Even under the cloak, it could be noticed if he messes up.
“We should be fine here, but you should get used to fighting while it remains hidden. Can’t you control it around your waist or something?”
“No.”
“All right then… this was my idea, so I guess I should have considered this.”
This wouldn’t be a problem in the kingdom of Talimor, but we weren’t heading there, so it couldn’t be helped. After he put out his tail, Nimir looked a lot more relaxed, but I could still see it moving under the cloak, just like a cat, he can’t really control it.
In any case, he eventually dashed to where one of the wood golems was. The creature soon tried to grab him with the vines, but he jumped from one side to the other and avoided them. Even without the movement speed parameter, he was faster than me. Eventually, he reached the creature and then slashed its face with both knives.
The monster flinched as the wind knife created a large fissure on it and the fire knife made it burn for a few seconds. Nimir used that chance to keep attacking until the creature fired a barrage of seeds from its maw, he jumped backward and spun in the air while avoiding all of those.
“What the hell… he moves better than me.”
I couldn’t complain much since I was reborn with my memories, but it looked like everyone else had a cheat or two in their hands. Humans who weren’t noble could at least work with each other while I couldn’t count on either nobles or ordinary people.
After landing, he charged once more and then finished off the creature with a pair of slashes… they didn’t have much health, but for them to be defeated like that by a newbie… perhaps the beastkin had a lot more potential than I thought.
“I did it…”
“Yeah, now is the time to get carried away a bit.”
It was possible indeed and I had prepared for that kind of scenario too. Still, Nimir was a lot less reckless than usual kids who found newfound power. He only fought when I told him to, and the times he did it, he got his flawless victories.
“How do you avoid the branches and the long-ranged attacks?”
“I can hear the sound of them approaching.”
That seemed obvious, but the reaction speed was still pretty insane. The saying: ‘cat’s reflexes’ could be a thing here… In any case, we alternated the fights in order to give him some battle experience. I was planning on obliterating the boss as soon as possible, but we might need to work together.
We reached the last mapped spot at noon, so it looked like we would return at night in the best-case scenario. That was fine by me and I preferred things that way since even without sunlight, I had my debuff. However, Nimir sleeps quite a bit. He was still recovering from many years without living a proper life, after all.
‘I guess we will camp in the dungeon.’
Taking things slowly for the next few weeks until we get the Silver rank seemed the best plan of action. The runs in the dungeon will start to take two days instead of one and we will need at least three runs to map the second section of the dungeon. Still, that much was fine since I needed to save money. I was planning to study the enchantment of the magic bag, but I wouldn’t take the risk without having an extra one.
“What is the class that I should pick next?”
“They are all crafting classes, and the skills won’t help you that much with the Hexes. So, you can pick whatever you want and believe that will help in your life. They are Herbalist, Tailor and Merchant.”
“Which one are you going to pick?”
“Me? Merchant. It will help me make money and experience at the same time since I am already making bows.”
“Tailor won’t help us fight, so isn’t Herbalist a better option? We need some support, right? What are the skills that the class grants?”
I knew what Nimir was thinking, but he had a point… Still, that class would make him invaluable in many places and that would help his life better, so I explained the skills.