"We won!" Noelle hopped merrily. Her melons jiggled. I tried to be a gentleman by looking away.
"Say, Yuuno, we went down by about 20-ish meters, right? Do you think we are on the fifth floor? Or maybe deeper?"
"Hm… I'm not sure. Dungeon floors are usually separated by stairs. The stairs can come in many shapes, but somehow, they are always stairs," Yuuno said. "Otherwise, we wouldn't know which floor we are on if there are waterfalls or underwater caves."
"I see. I mean, what about the monsters?"
"Huh? Ah! Don't worry, kouhai. We are in a D-rank dungeon. This advance team had already gone to the dungeon core. It stretches about five floors, with orc and goblin chieftains as possible bosses. There are no surprise monsters here. You wouldn't suddenly find dragons or the like," Yuuno said, shaking off my worry.
"Well, I'm glad."
"Well, if we do find dragons, we will rely on your trump card, okay?" Yuuno said.
"As I said, don't jinx it. I don't want to use it. It's expensive," I retorted.
"Look. There is a room." Noelle pointed toward a double door. When we pushed it open, five treasure chests stood on a pedestal.
"Jackpot! Five treasure chests! We will surely strike gold this time!" Yuuno said. An adventurer would count themselves lucky to find a chest every week. But finding five at a time was very, very rare. It usually had a deadly trap around it. But we are in a D-rank dungeon, there shouldn't be any deadly trap around. "Ah, wait a minute. Makoto, try to find some rocks around to block the door open. In case something happens, we can still retreat."
Yuuno might be greedy, but she still had a good head on her shoulders. She didn't recklessly charge toward the chest. After making sure the door stayed open, we came to the pedestal. Using Noelle's spears, she pricked the chests one by one. One sprang open, and an arrow flew toward us, while another one sprang open and wailed.
"Shit. Run to the door, everyone. A monster house is coming," Yuuno said as the walls of the dungeon cracked and a dozen orcs spawned forth.
"Tch! We will hold it at the door! Noelle, get ready," Yuuno said as she braced herself.
"There are a dozen orcs. Are you sure we can do this?" I went beside her. She nodded.
"This should be the best place to engage. The door should only let two orcs pass at maximum. The orcs should only attack me. Besides, I don't think we can escape. If these guys hang on the rope, the rope might snap," Yuuno said. A part of me thought she was aiming for the treasure. Well, it's understandable. Even I was tempted. Five treasure chests were inside that room.
Yuuno might be greedy, but she was not reckless. She actually thought this through.
"Alright. I believe you." I then readied my longsword. The orc smashed the door open with its club. A spear thrust into its throat.
"Noelle! Fall back." Yuuno then slashed the approaching orcs. If these were goblins, Yuuno would block their attacks without problems. But orcs were known for their strength.
"Hey! Need help?" A party of adventurers waved at me from the back.
"No! Don't worry. We can do this!" Yuuno answered. "Don't steal our kill. We are calling dibs on this room."
I thought Yuuno was a bit too greedy, but the chests inside were too alluring to share, so I understood her woes. I swung my sword at the orc. It was like cutting leather. Even when I aimed at its neck, it didn't kill it.
Noelle then leaped again, killing another orc with pinpoint accuracy. Yuuno banged her buckler, and the orcs suddenly went after her. I used the chance to jab my longsword into its neck. Only then did it go down.
The battle went on for a while. Just like Yuuno predicted, the cave and the door were too narrow for the orcs to fight properly. Noelle and I jabbed our weapons into the orcs' necks, Yuuno then took over with her skills, we pulled back as Yuuno dealt with the next orc in line. She took several glancing blows with her shield, then as she pulled back, we went in again for the kill, and the cycle repeated.
By the tenth orc, our movement had become fluid. Our cooperation was like a well-oiled machine. Flawless. As the last orcs died, Yuuno dropped to her knees.
"Hah… we did it! Didn't think we would actually win there." She plopped to the ground. "My body aches. I think I am going to go to the doctor. My hands must be bruised or fractured."
"Good work, Yuuno. That was amazing." I nodded.
"It was just yesterday we were almost killed by orcs. Now we can take care of a dozen of them without problems. We certainly have grown strong!" Noelle hopped.
"It's the terrain, Noelle. I don't think we could fight off more than two orcs if it is an open field like before. You don't know how much the terrain has helped us." Yuuno sat down after catching her breath, her eyes then turned toward four adventurers. "Ah, you guys are still here? Thank you for standing by in case we needed help. But as you can see, we managed to kill the orcs on our own."
Yuuno bowed down.
"Ah haha. You guys were very strong. I didn't think you would make it. Especially you. Tanking an orc's blow requires some skill. Are you the leader? I'm Jackal." The adventurer grinned as he reached out his hand toward Yuuno.
"Yes." Yuuno nodded. "I am Yuuno from Shadow Realm."
"I see. Well, I guess we will be on our way. I didn't think you would find a hidden room. I guess I should have bought climbing gear." The man then looked away. His gaze swept toward the room.
"Yes. You should always have the adventurer set. You never know when you could find a pit with chests inside." Yuuno nodded.
As if you could talk, Yuuno. Didn't we go overtime today because you insisted on going back to the surface to buy climbing gear?
"Let's open the chests and go home. We will party today! Noelle's treat!"
"Whoa. You're shameless, Yuuno," I retorted.
"You know my financial situation! There is no way I could treat you guys to a meal!"
"Um… It's not a problem at all. Um… Please! I want to treat you! Let's have dinner or lunch tomorrow!" Noelle bowed to me as we walked toward the door. I sighed. This had certainly been a tiring journey. But 12 orcs slain. We are striking it rich today.
"See, Noelle agreed! You are my best friend, Noelle!" Yuuno then hugged her from behind. "Let's— stab"
A spear came out from Yuuno's stomach. My body froze, but Yuuno didn't hesitate and kicked me and pushed Noelle away. A sword and an arrow hit where we were just before.
Our gaze turned to the back. Jackal and his three members grinned.
"Shit! Red Bandits!" I screamed. Red bandits were a nickname for adventurers who had robbed or killed other adventurers inside a dungeon. Just as the name said, they were bandits.
"Sorry, but it's your fault. You shouldn't be too greedy, we should share. Guys, sack them." A mage in Jackal's team then launched a firebolt at Noelle, but Yuuno leaped toward it, her shield ramming into the firebolt, and an explosion blasted her toward a wall.
Then, an arrow flew at Noelle, but she leaped to the side. I could see the arrow curve and hit her in the stomach.
"Damn, girl. Again! Kill them!" Jackal ordered. He then drew a short sword from his waist and charged toward us.
My mind raced. I then opened my status menu. But who should I swap into? Jackal? The mage? The bow guy, or the sword guy that aimed at Noelle?
No time to hesitate. Let's go for the sword guy.
My vision went dark. I had no time to spare. I readied my sword and lunged at Jackal from the back.
"Jacob… What the fuck are you doing?" I didn't answer and pulled my sword and went toward another guy. The mage. The sword guy that was inside my body floundered. He looked around, confused as to why he saw himself stabbing Jackal, his leader. Before he could process things further, a firebolt went toward him.
"Wait! Selene! It's me!" But it was too late. The mage blasted him and my body into a wall. I ran toward the mage and lunged my blade at him.
"Jacob! What are you doing? Do you want the chest for yourself?" She yelled as my sword plunged deep into her chest. Then I felt a sudden pain in my back. The bow guy drew his knife and stabbed me.
"Damn it, Jacob. What's gotten into you?" I turned around and hugged him.
"Noelle! Return!" My vision darkened. I could see a glimpse of Noelle charging at us with her spear. I could feel a searing pain on my body. My face, my stomach.
"Argh!!" I groaned as I could feel my body being seared. The smell of cooked meat graced my flesh. But I steadied myself. We are still in a dungeon. We must survive.
"Ugh! Wait! We can talk this out! I'm sorry!" Jackal clutched his stomach. But Noelle roared and skewered him in the face.
[Target had expired. Please choose another target. Any mission related to the target will be removed. Please pay 30 Essence shards to choose a new target.]
"Makoto! Yuuno!" Noelle then ran toward me while holding out a potion. But she froze. There was only one potion.
Yuuno and I both gazed at the stunned Noelle.