NOVEL NEXT Chapter 39
Chapter: 39
Compared to when I previously raided the dungeon with the knights, we were practically moving as if we were just going for a stroll. Still, was it a bit tough?
Dungeon crawling with Possell was no joke.
No matter how mid-tier the Evans dungeon was, it’s a five-story dungeon, and we blitzed through it in just two hours.
Except when engaging in combat, it felt like I had to run my heart out the entire time.
[Isn’t it a bit harsh to compare these folks with the knights?]
‘Even compared to me, they’re seriously lacking.’
As evidence, here I was, more or less taking point on my own, yet I hadn’t even broken a sweat.
I wasn’t even sweating, to be honest.
[My standards for judging people are typically pretty high, but in this case, you’re the strange one, not them.]
‘Is that so?’
The old man’s words didn’t quite resonate with me.
It’s true that I had endured some pretty strenuous training over the past three months—enough for even knights to compliment me—but still, it had only been three months.
No matter how much in-game knowledge I had and how efficiently I moved because of it, there was no way I could get that strong, right?
Ah. Is it because my level is higher than those two?
That makes sense. Joy has never even stepped into a dungeon until now.
And judging by how Jacob moves, he seems quite out of his element in a dungeon too.
The difference between level 1 and level 10 is vast.
Being around the knights of the Allen family had completely dulled my awareness of my own level being higher.
‘…I suppose a little break wouldn’t hurt, right?’
[Were you really planning to keep pushing on like this? The boss is waiting, you know?]
Of course, that was my plan. I mean, I’d want to record the fastest time possible, wouldn’t I?
Since I was the one rolling around in the front lines, the other two just needed to provide support from the back.
Is it really a problem if I end up a little out of breath?
[At least give me some time to catch my breath. I didn’t do it this way back when I raided dungeons.]
It’s really inconvenient that the game turned into reality.
Characters in games never complained, no matter how hard it got.
“Let’s take a little break.”
As soon as I suggested this, Joy and Jacob collapsed to the floor like a pair of deflated balloons.
Seeing Joy, who usually carries herself with the grace of a duchess, throw all decorum to the wind and sprawl out like that made it clear how rough it had been on her.
After a while, Jacob groggily got up, wavering on his feet.
He pulled out his water bottle and took a few sips before cautiously looking my way and speaking up.
“How does Lady Arlen have such good stamina?”
‘I’m just well-trained, that’s all.’
“Unlike a lazy little bum like you, I took my training seriously. No way I could be worse than someone as slothful as you!”
“I’ve been training in my own way too…”
But he should’ve been leveling up inside a dungeon.
No matter how hard you train, if your level is low, you’ll hit a wall.
“I’m genuinely curious what your training regimen looks like, you spoiled Young Lady.”
Joy, who had been quietly eavesdropping on our conversation, finally chimed in.
What did I train by, you ask?
I have nothing to hide.
It’s not exactly classified information.
As I explained my usual training routine, at first, the expressions of the two were perfectly normal, but their faces gradually turned to sheer disbelief.
“Wait, you actually do it like that?!”
‘Yeah. I’m not lying.’
“You clueless Young Lady! Doubting my training due to your pathetic stamina is just embarrassing!”
“Did you really train that hard apart from eating and resting?!”
Is it really that surprising?
Compared to the knights of my family, I’ve had a rather cushy life.
Still, being the daughter of a count, Possell has gone out of his way to accommodate me.
Indeed, the training methods the knights go through looked brutally intense from my observation.
If a human’s abilities are inhuman, wouldn’t it make sense to train in an inhuman way, as Possell always said?
“That’s how you got this strong, huh?”
Joy looked at me, looking as if she had just realized something, and used her staff to push herself up.
‘Are you feeling any better now?’
“Are you finally able to walk? Clueless Young Lady?”
“Yeah.”
‘And Jacob?’
“What about that little brat?”
“I’m fine too!”
‘Well then, let’s go. To the boss room.’
“Alright, let’s go. The boss of those antiques is probably just as decrepit too, so let’s finish this quickly.”
As the door to the boss room opened, a gigantic, humanoid golem stood alone right in the center of the empty room.
Its size was comparable to that of Possell, and unlike the golems I encountered before, it was old but donned proper armor.
In its hand was a sword that could rather be described as a heavy club due to its immense weight.
Depending on how much strength that golem had, it could be dicey, but if I didn’t just block its attacks with a shield, it honestly seemed like the shield might break into pieces instead.
The golem stood still like an old statue, and as it noticed us entering, its eyes turned red as it raised its sword.
‘I’ll go first.’
“I’m heading in first! You guys just support me!”
As of now, I still hadn’t reached a level where I could issue commands to others while in the middle of a fight.
If the enemy in front of me were weak, I could afford to take it easy, but when it’s an opponent that requires full attention, staying focused on the enemy was all I could manage.
Still, judging from how Joy had helped me out by anticipating my moves in previous battles, I figured she would do fine this time too.
“Hey, you rusty knight♡ Why aren’t you charging at me? Are you scared of a little girl like me?♡ Such a cowardly golem!♡ How silly!♡”
As soon as I insulted it, a red light flared up from within the golem’s helmet, and its hefty figure began to move toward me.
With every step it took, the ground quaked, making it clear just how powerful that golem was, but frankly, I remained unfazed.
Sure, it matched Possell in size, yet compared to him, that speed was downright laughable.
At this point, I could dodge and toy with it on the run, but right now, what I needed was a quick victory, not a stable one.
I raised my shield and charged toward the golem.
Seeing my movements, the golem swung its sword upwards.
[Don’t block it. Dodge!]
‘No need to remind me, Grandpa!’
I’m not foolish enough to just stand there and take such a slow attack!
This was something I’d heard from Possell a million times.
If you can dodge an attack, there’s no reason to block it.
Blocking an attack just gives your opponent the upper hand, so dodge and take back control!
As the massive sword came crashing down, I shifted to the side and avoided it.
BOOM!
The tremendous weight slammed into the ground, shattering the earth and stirring up dust.
The force was decent. Though compared to Possell, it was only child’s play.
While I was pondering where to shatter this slowpoke first, a fireball shot toward the golem’s head, exploding on impact.
Must be Joy’s support.
Fast and accurate.
Not to mention, she timed it perfectly just as the golem froze in place.
She really is a performance character. Even if her stamina drops, her magical talent is undeniable.
But she’s still a bit clumsy.
She should’ve prepared a different spell instead of fire magic right now.
Even if this golem is old, it’s definitely not the kind that would fall victim to a fireball.
As the dust from the explosion cleared, the golem’s helmet was revealed to be singed but otherwise intact.
‘Joy! No fire magic, okay?!’
“Clueless Young Lady! Are you freaking stupid?! If you can’t do any better than me during the magic test, then what the hell do you expect from me?!”
“What am I supposed to do?!”
‘Just do what you did before!’
“Freeze that antique’s movements with ice magic like you did before!”
It’s already a sluggish golem to begin with.
If Joy casts a debuff on it with her magic, it would turn into a convincing punching bag!
After that, we could launch our attacks without hesitation.
“Got it! Just wait a second!”
Hearing Joy’s reply, I dodged another downward swing from the sword and struck the golem’s thigh with my mace.
Sure, it felt solid, but it wasn’t something I couldn’t break.
As I drew its attention, Jacob dashed in closer to the golem and swung his sword from behind.
His strike wasn’t bad, but the match-up was unfavorable.
When dealing with a tough opponent like this, swords are the worst possible weapon.
As Jacob’s blade rebounded, the golem’s gaze shifted towards him.
“Hey, useless knight. What are you looking at?”
Your opponent is right in front of you, and you still manage to get distracted?
Are you really a knight who has no idea about the business of knightly duties?
“Are you perhaps into guys?♡ Well then, I’m sorry!♡ You must be disappointed fighting against someone like me!♡”
Again, the fiery red light of the golem’s eyes turned towards me.
Yes, that’s right. Focus on me.
Your opponent is right here.
From that point forward, the fight felt like a grind to wear down the golem’s health.
Joy debuffed it with her magic, I drew its focus and attacked, and Jacob added tiny bits of damage like a toothpick.
The tension was nonexistent.
Tension usually arises in a crisis, but this golem couldn’t even pose a threat to us.
As we continued battling, I smashed my mace into the golem’s thigh, and it was now only a matter of subduing the flailing golem.
“Is that it?”
Seeing the core of the golem shatter, Joy asked with skepticism.
‘Yeah. I’d reckon so?’
“It sure appears so. Does anything seem strange, Clueless Young Lady?”
“Not really. I was just tense due to the boss battle, but it ended way too easily.”
It was a bit anticlimactic.
But then again, an anticlimactic boss battle is actually a good thing.
After all, this isn’t a game, and what’s the need for a nail-biting fight?
In real combat, the least exciting thing is the best outcome.
“Now we can just head back, right?”
‘Yes.’
“That’s right.”
“But where are we supposed to go back to?”
Where to go back to?
When you clear a dungeon, there should be a door.
Why isn’t there one?
This is odd.
The boss of ‘the place where the alchemist stayed’ was definitely that armored golem from earlier.
Once that obstacle was cleared, a door should normally appear leading back outside, signaling the end of the trial.
I may not have taken entrance exams, but I have gone through a lot of practical tests.
Tests always proceeded in that manner—so why is there no door now?
‘Jacob…’
“Hey, little brat. You got some artifact to contact the outside world, right?”
“Yes, I’ve got one given by the examiner, but…”
Jacob trailed off, and it made me worried.
‘Hurry and speak!’
“Stop dragging it on, it’s annoying!”
“I’m sorry! This one isn’t working! It seems to be broken!”
What? What do you mean by that?
I snatched the artifact from Jacob’s hands, but no matter how I tried to activate it, it remained unresponsive.
It was completely dead.
“Lady Arlen.”
I turned at the sound of Joy’s voice.
She was holding the artifact given by the examiner to escape the dungeon.
“This one’s not working either.”
… I want to believe it’s just a coincidence, but there’s no way it is.
Soul Academy wouldn’t give us an artifact without having checked it for faults.
And even if this thing happened to break down here, having two simultaneously fail is suspicious.
Adding to that is the fact that the door to leave the dungeon hasn’t shown up—are we really calling this a coincidence?
There’s no way that’s possible.
While one can be a coincidence, multiple coincidences overlapping make it a certainty.
This situation we’re in has definitely become a foregone conclusion.
As my thoughts spiraled further into confusion, a message popped up right in front of me.
[Agra is watching you.]
Ah.
Damn it.