The wolves showed themselves one by one until there were seven facing them.

"They aren't weak monsters, they can use magic, light magic, watch out."

"Got it."

The first wolf ran out blindly and started attacking Ray. He moved out of the way and slammed the sword against the wolf's head. Another did the same but the follow up he also dodged and went with a counter to the throat. The other wolves seemed visibility angry. The next two lashed out while another went to howl while a light magic circle appeared above its head.

“Water bolt!”

Aqua shot a water bolt at the wolf which impaled its head while Ray sliced one and locked his sword in another's jaw. The final two both howled and a single larger circle came from both of them standing together. Aqua shot another water bolt. It went as fast as she could send it towards them.

"That's!-"

"It's not going to make it!-

An explosion of light blinded everyone. A few seconds passed when Aqua started to regain her vision. She could hear sounds of slashes as she tried her hardest to get a grasp of the situation.

"Ray!"

She saw him slice the last wolf's head off with his eyes still closed. Ray put his sword back into its sheath automatically and opened his eyes. Aqua was stunned.

"What happened?"

"Just some clean up."

"Weren't you blinded?"

"Of course I was, I just used my hearing."

"Amazing…"

"It's not all that. A little training with your magic detection and you could of-"

"No Ray, really, I don't know anyone who could have pulled that off. Not even a rank A adventurer by himself could have done that unscathed… Can you… show me how to do that?"

"You want me to teach you?"

"Yes... I'm going to need to get much stronger to reach my goals..."

"Alright, but first we should get out of this forest."

"Right now I think it would be the best training spot, no?"

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"I'm ready for anything…"

“Well first things first…”

Ray chucked her a dagger still in its sheath.

“Wolf claws sell for good money on the market.”

He said with a smile.

“Oh no…”

They reached a large lake after walking another day. It was calm and clearly reflected the blue sky above it.

“This seems like a good place to start.”

“Start?”

“Start the Training. You see that lake?”

“Start the training how? This just seems like a nice place to rest??”

“That’s a dungeon.”

“A dungeon here? That lake is… Is it at the bottom?”

“You got it, and I want us to clear it.”

“That’s… Impossible. I’ve never even gone into a dungeon before.”

“First things first, knowing about what they're getting into will raise an adventurer's survival rate immensely. You know what dungeons are, right?”

"Places with lots of mana, right?”

“Yeah, extraordinary amounts of mana condensing in a spot creates monsters, and when enough of them get together, they make what we call a dungeon. I’m surprised. Who told you that?”

“My father was an adventurer.”

“Good, you already know your basics then. Since dungeons like this one pop up all around the continent, it's an adventurer's job to clear them and any monsters that could come from them.”

“So by killing all of the monsters in the dungeon we can clear it?”

“Well, you don't have to kill all of the monsters… To clear it you only need to defeat the boss. If you do that, you can get the main loot before the whole thing collapses. Although the monsters you don’t defeat become somebody else's problem.”

"What is a boss anyway?"

"Well, technically just a strong monster. You see, some monsters tend to form groups, and naturally they seek out a leader."

"Wait, I thought there were only the 6 intelligent races, monsters were supposed to not be smart?"

"The main explanation is it's just instinct, but some powerful monsters… I'm not so sure…"

“So you want to go to the bottom of this lake, clear the entire dungeon just to get all the loot?”

“It’s not about the loot, it's about the training. Although we could always use some extra cash, right?”

Money was clearly in his eyes.

“Alright, I did say I wanted to do this after all.”

“Just go scout out right now. I’ll set up camp here in the meantime. Don’t worry about how long it takes you, it’s your first time after all.”

“Are you sure I’ll be alright?”

“Definitely. It seems like it’s a small dungeon, so little danger. Worst comes to worst I’ll just try to come down there with you. Nothing compared to a merfolk, but I can hold my breath for a long time, I’ll have you know.”

She laughed a little at Ray.

“Okay… Well that makes me feel better. I’ll see you on the other side.”

“Take care.”

She took the outer layer of her clothing off revealing a vest, put it on a nearby stone, and dived in.