The Bard class was considered to be the equivalent of a tier 2 class by the game, so it was rather impressive that Lily had managed to reach it at the very early level 5. That being said, its growth rate bonuses were lower than most other tier 2 classes, only coming out to a meager +8. It gave 2 bonus points per level to Mind and Focus, and only 1 bonus point per level to all other stats. As a result, even if Lily had equipped a weapon, she wouldn’t have the stats to do much damage with it. This was because Bard was a class that was focused on buffing and debuffing to the exclusion of all else.
That said, the abilities of a Bard were such a powerful boon that the class didn’t need any further abilities. Sure, Lily couldn’t attack during her performances, but with her buffs my damage was more than enough. I plowed through monsters like they were nothing, and her pleasing melodies gave me motivation to fight even harder. Music might provide tangible buffs, but it also offered unquantifiable benefits that couldn’t be represented by mere numbers. One of those benefits being that, because of the music, it felt like I could learn the rhythms of enemy attack patterns easier. It was clear that Lily would be a very valuable companion to have permanently.
In the end, not only did the enemies go down easily, we had no trouble with this dungeon’s traps or gimmicks either. They were pretty simple, like two buttons that needed to be pressed at the same time, or one person keeping a switch on the floor pushed while the other opened the door. Basic puzzles that just required two people to cooperate to get through.
Honestly, the whole dungeon was kind of a letdown.
I sighed. This place isn’t challenging in the slightest.
Besides, since I already knew Lily’s secret, I had a pretty good idea of what it was she wanted to tell me here.
I did my best to calm my pounding heart as I walked side by side through the dungeon with Lily, and as we passed through a few more puzzle rooms and entered a long corridor, Lily took the lead.
“When they were younger, my parents traveled around the world,” Lily said, her gaze fixed firmly forward as she spoke. “They told me countless stories about the places they visited and the wonderful things they saw.”
Though I could only see a small part of Lily’s face, what I could see of her expression was dazzling. Even though I knew it was all an act, even though I knew her beautiful smiles were all fake, I was still captivated.
“Of all the places they visited, they said the view at the end of this dungeon was the greatest thing they ever saw.”
I looked down and saw that Lily had a Recording Crystal in her hand. They worked basically the same way as video cameras. BB was filled with items that served modern functions despite being set in a fantasy world, but this was pretty common for these types of games.
“Apparently, this dungeon was the last stop on their journey, and when the two of them reached the end dad proposed to mom.” Lily finally turned back to me, smiling. “Romantic, don’t you think? But you know, my parents are meanies. When I asked what kind of breathtaking sight they actually found at the end of the dungeon they just smiled and refused to answer. Instead, they’d always say, You’ll need to see it for yourself to find out.’” Lily looked forward once more, her gaze resolute. “That’s why I decided...”
Lily trailed off as we reached the end of the corridor. “Is this the end of the dungeon?” she asked, looking confused.
Ahead of us was a small, plain, circular room with rough-hewn rock walls. A far cry from the breathtaking vista she had expected to find. There was a conspicuous stone pedestal in the center of the room though, with two hand-shaped depressions carved into it.
“I guess I’m supposed to put my hands here?” Lily muttered, looking dubiously at the pedestal.
But the moment she stuck her hands into the depression, the floor vanished.
“What?!”
It’s a trap!
Unfortunately, it was too late to do anything about it. The two of us fell into the gaping black void that had suddenly opened beneath us. I instinctively hunched up to try and protect my vitals, but then there was a loud thump, and I suddenly stopped falling.
“Are you okay?” Lily asked quietly, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems she survived the fall as well. I wasn’t expecting another trap so far into the dungeon. I let my guard down.
I looked up, trying to judge how far we’d fallen, but it was too dark to make anything out.
Just as I was about to lower my gaze to Lily, she exclaimed, “Whoa!” She was looking straight ahead, and as I followed her gaze a spectacular sight spread out before me.
“Are those...flowers?”
At the far end of the space we’d been dropped into was a field of pure white flowers that were emitting a faint glow. It was hard to imagine anything could grow down here, but the flowers were plentiful and in full bloom.
“I’d heard that plants with an especially dense concentration of mana emit a glow, but I’d never seen it before now,” I muttered, awed.
These flowers had probably been birthed by the dungeon itself. The dungeon’s dense mana had gathered down here and coalesced into these flowers, whose glow was only as spectacular as it was because of the surrounding darkness. For a few minutes I just stared silently at the flowers, drinking in the view.
“I see. So this is what my parents were referring to...” Lily muttered softly.
I turned to her and saw that there were tears rolling down her cheeks.
“H-Huh? Wait, why am I crying? Sorry, I...” Lily touched her cheek, surprised by her own tears.
Unable to bear it any longer, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her tight. She looked up hesitantly at me. Even tear-stained, her face was beautiful. My heart was racing at a thousand miles a minute. Despite knowing the truth, I still found myself drawn to her. At this moment, there were two choices I could make.
Which one should I pick? Lily’s teary eyes made it hard to concentrate, and my thoughts dulled. I gulped audibly.
The two choices presented to me were “Confess your love to her” or “Console her.” Both seemed like they could be the correct option. At the same time, they both felt like the wrong option too.
Should I go for it, or wait a little bit longer?
If I was being honest with myself, I was scared of coming off too strongly. But if I wanted to recruit her to my party, chances were I’d need to get her to fall for me.
Besides, right now I’m not some creepy otaku playing video games in his room. I’m the protagonist of this game, the hero of this world, and a super hottie to boot! I can do this!