NOVEL NEXT Chapter 52 – Leveling Up
“Well then, that finishes the 6th floor. Let’s move on to the 7th.” I look around the empty Boss room; unfortunately there wasn’t any good loot--though, for now I didn’t have any need for money.
Sherry had leveled up a few times, and even though she hadn’t gained the Class we were looking for, she has a lot more experience when fighting in a team; even though it was a team of two.
Following Roxanne’s sensitive nose, we soon arrived at a group of three Demons. The two girls coordinated well, almost wordlessly; Roxanne kept the attention of two of them with her incredible dodging skills, while Sherry quickly took out the last with her high damage.
I am rather bored, all I had to do was heal--these Demons were too low-leveled to give me any experience; they didn’t even give much experience to Roxanne, but we were here to train Sherry.
Our proper leveling would probably be able to start once Sherry got her Master Blacksmith Class, and got used to fighting with us.
***
“Master, the sun will be rising soon.” Roxanne spoke up as we continued wandering around the Dungeon’s corridors.
Her body clock is very accurate.
Because I had easy to clocks on Earth, I tend to lose track of the time very often; especially when in the Dungeon, where the lighting never changes, and the surroundings are the same.
I had asked Roxanne to let me know when the sun rose, when it was about the right time for breakfast.
Because it had been hours since I last checked, and she had likely leveled up a few times, I decided to check Sherry’s list of available Classes:
Available Classes:
Villager - Lv5, Explorer - Lv10, Herbalist - Lv1, Soldier - Lv1, Merchant - Lv1, Shrine Maiden - Lv1
Unfortunately, she didn’t get too many levels.
Because we had the time, I decided to bring up the Class that I had never heard of.
“What’s the Shrine Maiden Class? Is it like a female-only version of a Monk?” I ask.
For some reason, sadness flashes across Sherry’s eyes.
“They are similar, Master. They are more healing focused than Monks, and require knowledge of religion. Even though my Mother was highly-ranked in the religion to the Dark Goddess…I can’t get the Class because I follow the Goddess of Darkness.” Roxanne responded to my question.
“I see. Thanks for the explanation.” I smile at Roxanne, “Well, let’s leave the Dungeon for now.”
Once the girls are ready, I use Warp to the Adventurer’s Guild in Quratar.
It was only because of the need to buy some cereal for breakfast that we didn’t Warp straight back home.
***
“Sherry, your hair feels fluffier and softer than before.” I say to the small girl as we all return home and change out of our equipment.
When Sherry had taken her helmet off, her hair fluffed up impressively.
“That’s right, it does seem to be more voluminous than yesterday.” Roxanne speaks in a tone of surprise as she reaches out a hand and plays with Sherry’s purple hair.
“Is that so?” Sherry looks confused.
“Ahhh, it’s so fluffy.” Roxanne plays with Sherry’s hair, before looking over at me, “Master, it’s so soft.”
I had noticed that her hair had reacted well to the cheap Shampoo that the general store sold.
We both play with Sherry’s hair, until she starts fidgeting and getting flustered; I also enjoy playing with Roxanne’s warm fingers at the same time.
After this enjoying this short distraction, we begin our breakfast.
***
While eating, I decided to ask Sherry why she seemed so upset when I mentioned the Shrine Maiden Class.
“It’s because I remembered something.” Sherry looked down with a sad expression, “Back when I originally failed to become a Master Blacksmith, I wanted to become a Shrine Maiden--but no matter how much I leveled up my Explorer Class, or studied at the Temple of Gog-goth, it never appeared.”
When I showed a confused expression, Roxanne looked at me and quietly explained, “Gog-goth is the Dwarven God of The Forge.”
Shrine Maiden - Lv1
Effects: +10% Increase in MP, +1 Intelligence.
Skill: Group Heal (Minor)
“Well, you can cheer up.” I grinned and patted Sherry’s shoulder, “The Class is now available to you; it was likely because of your Villager Class reaching either 5 or 8.”
She looked incredulous, joy covering her small face, “Really? Master, you aren’t joking?!”
“I’m not joking.”
“I…I finally succeeded in something?” Sherry’s eyes meet mine, tears begin to roll down her pale cheeks--tears of joy.
“Well done.” Roxanne says happily, getting up and embracing the other girl from behind.
“But, Master wants me to be a Vanguard and a Tank--I will follow his wish. I may have unlocked the Shrine Maiden Class, but I will stay with my current Class.” Sherry’s expression changes to one of determination.
I can’t help but feel proud of her.
“Well, let’s continue in the Dungeon after breakfast.”
We had finished the 7th Floor, and I had the confidence to keep everyone alive on the 8th Floor--no matter what happened; however, we couldn’t advance to the 10th, because the Demons would reach the 2nd Rank from there.
I asked Roxanne to alert me when it was around lunch-time.
***
After spending all morning on the 8th Floor, as soon as Roxanne told me that lunchtime had arrived--we change course and take the shortest route to the Boss Room.
Because Sherry was planning on going shopping in the afternoon, to buy an Anvil and Hammer, as well as differing ores and ingots; we had decided to see if getting some experience forging would allow her to unlock the Master Blacksmithing Skill.
We will be moving into the 9th Floor tomorrow.
There are several people waiting in front of the Boss Room, another party is obviously in the middle of battle. Though there are less people on the higher floors of the Quratar Dungeon, we still occasionally ran into groups--but it was fine, because none of us were using Excalibur, so the girls could get practice with normal weapons.
The Boss battle seems to have been taking quite a while.
Finally, the doors to the Boss Room opened, and the party in front of us entered.
Roxanne had been using her club recently, since she enjoyed swinging the massive lump of wood that was almost as long as she was tall; but she accepted it when I gave her a shield and large saber.
“Master?” She may have accepted it, but she was confused as to why she was using them.
“Time to get some more experience as a Tank, Roxanne will be the primary damage dealer.” I explained.
I had also told the girls about how the optimal party formation worked, and then had to explain the terms that I used, such as Tank; I had spoken about this when I had explained Earth’s common RPG and MMORPG games.
They had been completely baffled as to why anyone would play those kinds of games…mainly because their world was basically a real-life fantasy RPG.
“Yes Master.” Sherry strapped the shield to one arm and experimentally swung the saber a few times.
“Master, the door is now open.” Roxanne points out.
“Thanks Roxanne. Well, let’s go.”
We all enter the Boss Room.
“Whoa.” I can’t help but mutter.
There is Equipment scattered around the room, weapons and armour are pushed to one side. There are swords and axes, as well as armour. The armour didn’t have many breastplates or helmets, but there were around 10 pairs of gauntlets and boots; it was obvious that the party before us, and likely the one before them, had been wiped out by the boss.
Standing in the middle of this pile is the Boss of the floor.
Hearing us enter his domain--the Boss moves, causing the equipment to roll in random directions.