Sarise was serious when she said she’d clear a path for us as she literally did just that. No matter how many monsters that stood our way, no matter how strong, Sarise was relentless in how she dealt with those obstacles, whether some were new faces, or others were further evolutions of those we previously fought. Punches, throws, kicks, whether it’s using the resources around us or even the monsters themselves as temporary weapons. She did it all on her own with a physical strength that went beyond what muscles I could see on her promiscuous body. I didn’t detect hints of strengthening magic, either. That was all her raw power. The only thing Agnes and I did was collect the magic stones and other items the monsters dropped while Dhalia was keeping a lookout from the air, all at a light jog’s pace. It was like that until we made it to the first resting point on the 18th floor. That took a little more than half the time it would for regular hunters to make it to that point.

Forget Agnes, I worried I wouldn’t get anything at all if Sarise ended up taking all the spoils from clearing the dungeon for us.

“I heard some familiars took more work for their masters and the latter would still end up getting the dungeons’ clear rewards as if they did it all themselves. We familiars are extensions to our masters. Our powers are theirs. As long as we proved our worth and usefulness for our masters’ successions, those are great honors by themselves. That applies to myself in our relationship, Master.” Sarise said that when I told her my concerns while we ate fruit picked from some trees on the 18th floor to replenish our energy. I made sure my Companions had some to eat while keeping them hidden from the adults.

As we went further down the dungeon, logic, reason, and laws of science would slowly deteriorate as there was more vegetation growing in places where they shouldn’t. If you look up at the ceiling, you would almost mistake the magic crystals lighting up the way as the sky itself, and it reflects the real time outside by their colors. They darken as time goes to the evening, too, so it would make sense hunters would spend the night inside, taking shifts in case they get ambushed in their sleep.

It was still bright when we were there, though, so we were making great time, but I wanted to give Agnes a chance to gain experience as a hunter as well (especially if we want her to get a dungeon clear bonus, too). I also felt bad making Sarise doing all the work, so I told her the changes to our battle tactics for the rest of our dungeon crawl.

Regardless, I wanted to give Sarise the praise she deserved, so I put my Magic Hands gift to work and gave her a massage while treating some minor muscle soreness with my healing magic. The erotic dripping moans she emitted while I did it made that treatment really awkward, though. Sure, Mom, Ms. Renne, and Lilia would also leak some noise when I treated them in the past, but Sarise wasn’t as reserved and self-conscious in letting her ‘enjoyment’ being known. It might have been exaggerated. It didn’t help I was touching bare skin while being on top of her part of the way through, either. I was glad I knew how to use Wind Magic to block out noise—I like to call it the Silencing Winds spell. All of my Companions expressed how jealous they were over how much fun Sarise was having, though.

Since we had time, I treated Rala, too. Sarise was against it for fair reasons, and yes, she pinched my cheeks more than what was comfortable, but I was at fault for putting her through so much stress while she was doing her job, especially since I was keeping secret of having more power than what Grayson told her. Despite her apprehensions, she went along with it.

Not only did Rala melt from my touch, I learned that pantherkin girls can purr like cats. They can also be as affectionate. As soon as I finished, she was clinging and rubbing herself on me while profusely apologizing for how she treated me. I wasn’t unwelcoming to that kind of attention and I felt we both had made our amends, so we let bygones be bygones. She got really embarrassed after realizing what she had done, though.

With time still of the essence, I promised Zalena I would give her a treatment after the exam for a variety of reasons before we continued our dungeon crawl with a new battle strategy.

For my ‘familiar-master’ pair, Sarise would weaken and gather monsters together, giving the rest of us a chance to contribute our efforts while going in for the kill. I controlled my Wind Magic more efficiently than I had before since the adults were more aware of my powers, but not so much I’d give Zalena ideas on how my capabilities linked to the murdered bandits like Darida warned me about. After each battle, Sarise didn’t let any chance of praising my efforts pass her by, and I thanked for hers in kind.

As for Agnes’ pair, she took my demonstrations as foundations to control her own magic, whether it’s Fire Magic, infusing mana in her blade for better results, and strengthening magic to improve her agility. Dhalia also shone, literally, using Light Magic to shoot arrows of light to attack, blinding some monsters, and just distracting them until Agnes came in to deal the lethal blow. Though the two of them had only met a few hours ago, they were working together really well. The same was said for Sarise and I.

We fought battles we couldn’t avoid, vice versa, and collected what we could carry with little break in between. Zalena followed close behind with that same Light Magic invisibility trick from the mid-boss battle while Rala and Flinto stuck close to her.

If I asked Mona what the chances of my current party clearing the dungeon were after Agnes and I formed pacts with our familiars, compared to what she had before, it would be like this: she would either say 100%, or considering how accurate she liked to calculate these things with room for error, there would be so many places of 9’s that the ‘1’ numeral of going against those odds would be near non-existent.

Going through the rest of the dungeon was just that easy. We made it to the 29th floor before we even knew it. Like the 14th, it was a grand hallway that lead to stairs going down to the final floor with one room having a magic circle to take us out of the dungeon. The difference between that and the 29th was the lack of a path to Daran Cass Labyrinth, and instead of stone ground and walls, there was grass and many luminous crystals, reflecting lights of multiple colors as we walked by. Everyone in the party who had been to that floor for the first time were looking around in awe, including myself. It really gave off an air that we were approaching the final battle. The hallway in the 14th floor definitely paled in comparison.

“We are really here, Master,” Sarise said.

“Yeah, we couldn’t have gotten this far so well without you. I can’t thank you enough, Sarise.”

“Oh, Master, you are making me blush~.”

“It’s kind of scary how she can be cute like that while being a violent savage towards her enemies …” Rala trailed off before laughing nervously.

“Hey, fairygirl, you doing okay there?”

Zalena’s question snapped me out of my awe and turned to Agnes. She was flushed and sweating all over the place, even her hair. The clothes underneath the armor was clinging to her skin, and she was short of breath. Even Flicker was revealing exhaustion while poking out behind Agnes’ leather vest (there was a special pocket in the vest for her a fairy to rest in).

“I-I’m fine …” she wheezed, not even bothering to keep formalities in her speech. She went to her canteen for a drink of water, only to find there was none left. There was a stream of fresh water on the 18th floor, so we took that opportunity to refill our canteens, but Agnes drank all of hers quickly after we moved on.

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We were trying to get past the monsters as fast as possible, but we took breaks when there weren’t any nearby. I had noticed her exhaustion for a while, especially when we went deeper and she needed the breaks more than the others. Even though she trained in swordsmanship and magic before then, that was likely the first she had ever moved around so much in one day. Being part of a noble household with more room for luxury than others, I can speak from relatable experience how one may not want to go out as much if they could.

“I beg to differ,” Zalena said with a furrowed brow. “You used your last mana potion a while ago, and now you are on the brink of mind down, if not fainting from exhaustion. You used up your rations and water, too. You did well to make it this far, but it would be best for you to get back to the guild while you are still drawing breath.”

“N-No! I said I was fine! I promised … I promised to stick with Soar to the end! We’re so close!”

“You realize you will only hold Soar back if you have him look after you while he fights the dungeon boss, right? If one of you makes a mistake, you would pay for it with your lives.”

“Um, Zalena, doesn’t that sound harsh?” Rala asked, but Zalena continued.

“If you are this bad now, just how do you think things would be if your familiars were not around? If you were taking this exam by yourself—”

“I know I’m weak!” Agnes practically screamed while hitting the crystal wall with her fist. That burst of energy took more out of her than I thought as she used that same wall for support immediately afterwards. Her body shook while she hung her head. Tears fell to the ground.

“I know … even before meeting Soar, I knew for the longest time how weak I was, but I looked away from it. I pretended it wasn’t there, well enough that I nearly forgot, and it was because of Soar I needed to face that fact.

“I wanted to get stronger, but this is the first I’ve ever wanted to do it for reasons that I can take pride in, to not let others look down on it. I have to get stronger, and this may be my only chance to take that first step to get there.

“Even if it’s just using one spell, just one last spell to help Soar, to help us clear this dungeon, I don’t care if I fall to mind down afterward, I don’t care if I don’t get a clear bonus. I want … I want to start the rest of my life at the same time as Soar. Just, please … please don’t leave me behind …”

The floor went silent. I closed my eyes and confirmed my next course of action with my hidden Companions through telepathy.

“… Well, guess I can’t help it at this point.”

“Huh?” Agnes muttered at my comment.

I took out one fruit and one mana potion, the last of each I had in my Dark Space, and both of our canteens. I then used Water Magic, the first time since I walked into the dungeon, to conjure a ball of floating water and fill our canteens with it.

“W-Wait, have you always been able to use Water Magic?” Rala asked, but I ignored her.

“Here. Take these, and do them slowly,” I said while holding the stuff out to Agnes.

“B-But … won’t you need these more?”

“We’re gonna get this done and make it back before dinner. I can hold out until then. You need these more than I do, and I need you at a good enough condition to pull off one last big spell that will have this dungeon begging you to take its clear bonus. You want to get to the starting line, right? I’ll carry you over there if I have to, and I will do it in a way to embarrass you for making me go along with this. You would do well to steel yourself when that comes around.”

“… Okay.” Despite the tears, she was giggling and sniffling before taking my offerings. She wiped her tears and ate the fruit slowly first.

“Dhalia, how much left can you do?” I asked.

“If we are talking magic, I only have enough to cast one Blinding Flash spell. Anymore, and I would fall to mind down, too.”

“That may be just what we need. Sarise?”

“I hardly used magic throughout our venture and I am still raring to use all of my body at your command.”

“Great. Agnes, turn around and have a seat so I can remove your armor and give one more motivational massage.”

“Um, I’m rather smelly and sweaty.”

“It’s fine. I’m not bothered by either of those.”

“… Okay, then.” Agnes obliged and turned around before downing my mana potion. Her face got redder than earlier.

Seeing my chance, I efficiently removed Agnes’ leather armor vest and started my treatment. While I was attempting to loosen her up, I had a few other goals in mind involving my Magic Hands gift. The first, opening her mana channels so they’d flow fluently right from the source, enabling faster spell casting for a period; the second, to implant some of my mana into that source and give her a little boost, something like a second mana potion.

There is a spell that allowed one to transfer some of their own mana to another person, but there were a few requirements for its succession. You’d have to have a high enough magic aptitude to make the spell possible (no problem for me being S rank), and when you do, you had to do it with direct physical contact … with nothing in the way between involved parties.

It’s like sharing your body heat with another person with little clothing under extreme cold conditions, only with kissing—I mean ‘mouth-to-mouth’ being an additional pathway to transfer mana, and if you do it altogether, all the better. They usually do this under dire circumstances, such as trying to get someone out of mind down quicker with no mana potions nearby. Even then, the most one would do is transfer mana by holding hands or placing one on another’s bare back, but with the little surface area involved in contact, the mana won’t transfer fast enough as one would like.

I think you already know how awkward it’d be if I suggested that to Agnes, regardless of whether she covered in sweat. With my Magic Hands though, I could do that faster, even over the clothes they’re wearing, but less blockage, the better, hence why I had to remove Agnes’ armor.

My treatment was receiving immediate effects as a jolt ran up Agnes’ spine, eliciting a shaky gasp.

“S-Soar, this feels different from the last massage you gave. I feel … funny.”

“That’s normal. Just relax, and let it be while I give you one last magic control tip for now, something that you’ll need for this battle.”

“O-Okay …”

Making sure the adults don’t hear, I whispered my ‘tip’ over Agnes’ ear while doing the treatment.

“Think you can do it?” I asked.

“Y-Yeah. I won’t forget if I remembered that funny feeling with it. I feel strangely … empowered, though.”

“If you feel that good, then you’re gonna be fine,” I said while strapping Agnes’ vest on before giving her back a hearty slap.

“Really, Soar, this means a lot to me. I can’t tell you how much I—”

“Ah bap bap. Let’s hold off on the thanks until after we cleared this dungeon. You can say whatever you like over good food and cookies while we celebrate.”

“Y-Yeah, okay,” she answered before giggling a little.

Once we prepared, we all went down the stairs that lead to the 30th floor. At the bottom was the same set-up with the mid-boss. The opened stone doors were much larger than the previous pair. The same goes for the room on the other side.

Sitting in that room was a large, obese-looking goblin that stood as tall as two-and-a-half alphahounds from the mid-boss room (though there were some of those within the last few floors, too). There was only a loincloth to keep himself ‘decent,’ and at his side was a club that looked carved from a large tree, or maybe it was still a tree before the monster pulled it straight out of the ground and it wore down overtime. I saw some roots at the base to tell that much.

Myron Dungeon’s boss was a goblin king, and on the other side of the room filled with the most trees and vegetation out of everywhere else was a door bigger than him. The end was in sight, and he was barricading it with his own body to not let us pass. There were so many crystals surrounding the room reflecting light from outside, it was as if we were really out of the dungeon. The ‘sky’ was near perfect to the real thing, reflecting yellow, orange, and red lights to replicate the dusk signaling the closure of the day.

It was the perfect setting for the climactic final battle between rivals in an amazing action movie.

Once I got a feel of the room, I gathered our party for a quick rundown of the battle plan while the adults stood by. With our plan set, we told them we were ready to go before all of us headed inside. Like before, Zalena, Rala, and Flinto would stand by and observe, leaving the rest of us to fight the boss ourselves. Zalena warned that if she needed to step in, that would dramatically affect our final score for the exam, but that wouldn’t be necessary.

Zalena put up the invisible spell around her, Rala, and Flinto before they got behind a large rock while the rest of us moved forward in a square formation. Dhalia and I were at the front, Sarise and Agnes were at the back. The latter of the rearguard was already concentrating for something big.

The stone doors behind us shut with a loud thud. The goblin king stood up immediately upon our arrival with the tree club in hand before letting out a guttural roar that shook the ground.

Thus, our final battle in Myron Dungeon begun.