“Is this the midboss, perhaps?” Hanakawa guessed. “I thought our progress was too smooth...”
“Not that you did anything to help,” Ryouko replied.
“I am always prepared to assist should the need arise!”
“Then fine, here’s your ‘need.’ Take it away.” Carol stepped back, pushing Hanakawa forward.
“Uh, wait, you’re serious?”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine. It’s been easy so far; why would there be a sudden difficulty spike now?”
“Well...I suppose you are correct. Though Cavern Quest has its fair share of failures, the balance seems more or less reliable.”
Hanakawa looked around. They were at a dead end in the corridor, so there was no option but to move forward. Farther ahead lay a T-junction, so they would soon have to choose to head either left or right. The next gate appeared to be to the left, so normally, that would be the direction they picked.
“Do you not have any kind of detection skills, Hanakawa?” Ryouko asked.
“I am afraid not. My only information skill is Discernment. I must clearly see my target to read their stats with it.”
With no knowledge of where the enemy was, he had to proceed carefully. Slowly, he inched towards the intersection, peeking around the wall to look. To the left, he saw only red. Without even time to be confused by the sight, he soon learned all too well what was in front of him, as searing flames roasted his face. It had been fire. His eyes burned out, his throat was incinerated, and his entire face was charred black. Unable to stand such an injury, he immediately flopped forward.
Th-This is bad!
Normally, he would have had no time to entertain such thoughts, but his resilience as a Monk had enabled him to avoid dying instantly. Thanks to his resistance to pain, he could still think somewhat rationally even in this state.
Carol pulled the collapsed Hanakawa back to safety. As she did, Hanakawa’s Auto Heal skill restored his face.
“My...were I still but a Healer, that would have been the end for me!”
In order to use magic, one had to either call the commands verbally or use the Battlesong UI. With his throat and eyes destroyed, neither would have been possible. He would have had no way of activating his healing powers. As a Monk, however, he possessed a skill called Auto Heal, which activated of its own accord.
“That was gross!”
“That is the first thing you have to say after I risked my life to discover the danger ahead?!”
“Seeing the blackened skin peel back to reveal fresh skin underneath... Ugh, I never want to see that again!”
“More importantly, what was that?” Ryouko asked, ignoring Carol’s complaints.
“Well...I had yet to see much of anything before it incinerated my face.”
“You’re useless!”
“I disagree,” Ryouko countered. “Now we know that something will attack us the moment we enter the intersection. It was not entirely for nothing.”
“As expected of my Ryouko! You truly understand my worth!”
“So, what now?”
“It looked like a fireball. I don’t think it was too fast for us to dodge it.”
As Carol and Ryouko discussed their plan of action, they could hear footsteps. The floor shook with each one, meaning whatever was around the corner must have been considerably large. Before they could make a decision, the creature stepped around the corner.
It was a dragon. Five meters tall, walking on four legs, it was like a giant lizard with a pair of wings folded on its back. Even now, fire was flickering around its mouth, indicating where the previous fireball had come from. It was clearly a level above any of the monsters they had encountered thus far.
“Your turn, Hanakawa!”
“Up until now there have been nothing but zombies and skeletons!” Hanakawa cried. “What kind of horrible game suddenly throws a dragon at you?!”
The dragon opened its mouth wide, launching another ball of fire. Ryouko and Carol leaped away, leaving Hanakawa alone to take the blast. This time, however, he had seen the attack coming and was able to take defensive action. Lifting both hands in front of him, he concentrated his energy into a blast of his own. Though it hadn’t been powerful enough to neutralize the incoming attack, it was enough for him to survive.
Before he could so much as open his mouth to complain, the two girls had jumped into action. Ryouko closed in, slashing at the dragon’s forelegs, while Carol threw kunai at its eyes. Ryouko’s blade bounced off the dragon’s tough scales, and she was forced to retreat as it stomped towards her. It was surprisingly quick given its bulk. If she had been a hair slower, she would have been crushed. Carol’s kunai struck the dragon’s eyes, but that was it. They didn’t stab through, instead bouncing off harmlessly.
“You wouldn’t happen to have any dragon-slaying skills, would you?” Carol asked with a strained smile.
“I’m afraid not. Even my iron-cutting slash skill failed to have any effect.”
“Huh? Then, are we actually in trouble?” Hanakawa asked.
“I’m just a Ninja. We’re specialized in killing human beings, so my skills are only that of a well-trained normal person. Do you have any secret techniques, Ryouko?”
“You ask too much of the Samurai class. At best, we can handle fighting youkai.”
“I guess I should expect a message like ‘Too bad! Your adventure ends here!’” Carol laughed. It seemed she was thoroughly convinced by their short exchange that they stood no chance.
“Is this really the time for laughter?!” Hanakawa snapped. “Even if we cannot defeat it, surely we can find an opening to run past!”
“Uh, I don’t think so. Oh, maybe if we leave someone behind as bait!”
“Huh?”
Carol suddenly vanished. A moment later, Ryouko did the same. That was most likely one of Carol’s Ninja skills at work.
“Wait, hold on! Surely your skill can handle hiding a third person!” Hanakawa shouted after her.
“It would be weird if all of us disappeared, don’t you think?” Carol’s voice echoed from the empty air.
“The two of you disappearing is strange enough already!”
“But it’s still natural for it to attack the one it can still see!”
“Gah! Spiritual Refinement, then!”
Spiritual Refinement was a Monk skill used to gather energy. This energy could be put to use in a number of ways, so if he was not yet committed to taking action, this was a safe option. The gathered energy only persisted for a short time, however, so he couldn’t maintain it constantly.
Now that I think about it, can Spiritual Refinement be used to find enemies?
Hanakawa noticed that as the energy accumulated, his senses sharpened. As his sense of hearing improved, he could tell something was moving some distance away. Focusing on the sound, he recognized it as footsteps retreating. Though the sound had been hidden, it hadn’t been completely erased. In other words, Carol and Ryouko had already retreated behind the dragon.
“Hey! I thought you were pretending to leave me behind as you snuck behind it for a sneak attack!”
The two gave no response to Hanakawa’s shout, fleeing down the corridor at top speed.
Space distorted around him. Hanakawa leaped upward, narrowly avoiding the dragon’s swinging tail. His sharpened senses had predicted the attack.
“Oh? Is it possible that—”
With the Monk class’s skills, he might be able to handle this dragon. The moment he thought that, a fireball came to teach him it was but a fleeting fantasy. He instantly used the gathered energy he had prepared to defend against the attack. Taking the fireball head-on, Hanakawa was sent flying backward but narrowly managed to avoid any serious burns. Impacting the ceiling, he then dropped to the floor. He immediately jumped to his feet, only to see the dragon’s claws above him. It really was fast for its size.
The dragon swung its huge leg down. He had exhausted his gathered energy. He no longer had time to evade or defend himself.
“S-Someone, help!” Hanakawa howled, knowing full well that nothing so convenient would happen.
“Okay.”
So when a reply came, Hanakawa was thoroughly shocked.
An explosion sounded as the dragon slumped down sideways. Its raised leg flopped to the ground, missing Hanakawa entirely. He scurried backwards, looking for the source of the voice. Standing behind him was a girl in a stage idol’s uniform.
“How cruel of them to abandon one of their own classmates.”
“Hmm. I get the sneaking suspicion that might be a crime we are all guilty of...” Hanakawa mumbled.
It seemed, however, that his classmate Sora Akino had entirely forgotten how they had abandoned Yogiri and the others on the bus at the beginning of their journey.