Return to the Great Dungeon

As soon as Wyll and I step through one of the doors and teleport into the Great Dungeon, I begin to regret the harsh things I said to Stella. She may constantly underestimate her brother, but she was just trying to protect him in her own way.

It wasn't like she was wrong to worry either, he was having trouble with a lycan yesterday. And besides, Thomas Filmore's reputation with commoners is terrible, I would probably be concerned if I saw any of my loved ones with him as well.

The stone cavern of the Great Dungeon greets us, and as we choose a cave at random and walk through it, Wyll says quietly, "Thank you."

But… even so, the way Stella speaks of her brother constantly hurts him. He's here, and he chose to be here, not just in this dungeon, but also undercover as a commoner student in this academy.

Yes, it was Wyll's choice to come here pretending to be someone he's not, though I'm not supposed to know this yet. And all this because he wants to improve. That puts Stella in a difficult position where she can't interfere too directly. I can empathise with her, but maybe what I said needed to be said.

No… I know it needed to be said—just more gently, and not by me. This plotline would have occurred later down the line, and Rex would have helped her see the damage she was causing to her brother. But now that will never happen.

It makes me wonder, am I… ruining things?

I've already resolved to defeat Rex in the upcoming duel. I've done this for many reasons, almost all of them selfish, but it's a firm commitment I've made to myself.

And yet, in time, most of these people would have achieved happy endings. Or, at the very least, decent endings. That might no longer be the case with me changing things.

Wyll says, cutting through my contemplation, "You must be wondering why Her Highness would go out of her way for me like that." It seems he's mistaken my silent reflection for suspicion.

"I'm not," I say.

"You're not?" Wyll asks, now confused. I suppose it makes sense; Stella Cryasius was clearly a lot more intense than she would have been while standing up for some seemingly random student. To not wonder why would be strange.

I push aside my doubts aside for now and smile enigmatically at him, "No, I'm not. Who knows? Maybe you're both connected in some way."

Wyll suddenly looks nervous at that, and he stares at me with wide eyes. I didn't have to say it like that, I could have easily pretended that I just don't care. But this just feels way more fun.

"Thomas… do you…?" Before Wyll can ask anything, we spot a giant rat. It spots us as well and comes bounding at us.

I step aside and Wyll, getting the message, charges forward with his sword and swings at the rat. It's an unsure and shaky swing, and the rat darts to the side. It jumps at Wyll, and Wyll manages to stab his blade through the rat's body at the last second.

He breathes heavily for a few moments as the corpse of the rat slides off his sword and falls to the ground with a lifeless thump.

The rat's corpse disappears, revealing a blue gem, and as Wyll picks it up I ask, "Your Waterlog spell, it doesn't take a lot of energy, right?"

Wyll flinches before pocketing the gem and saying, "No, but in return it doesn't last very long."

"And it's effective against weak creatures like these?" I ask.

Wyll answers slowly, "Yes, the lycans on level two were barely affected by it, but the monsters here all slow down dramatically for a few seconds."

"The stronger you get, the stronger your spell will get, and then even lycans will be affected more by it," I explain just in case. These are fundamentals though, so he probably already knows, "More importantly, that's how you made it to level two, right? Since you can use that spell many times without tiring out, you could just slow any enemies you came across."

Wyll looks down, seeming almost ashamed, "Yeah… that's exactly what I did." He looks up at me suddenly and says desperately, "I-I know it's a crutch, but—!"

"It's a tool, like anything else," I cut him off, "Let's adopt the same strategy we did against the flame gorilla yesterday."

"So I'll slow the enemies down, and you'll defeat them?" Wyll asks.

I nod, "We'll be able to get much further that way."

Wyll squares his shoulders, "Okay, understood!"

"Not here though, we'll begin using that strategy in level two," I say, "You'll just be wasting your energy here."

Wyll nods, "Yes, that makes sense. What's our goal for today?"

I think about it, "Our first priority is defeating a lycan matron. And then once we're done with that, we want to reach the third floor." The promise of an instant stat point is too tempting to pass up.

Wyll, perhaps reminded of the reason we didn't manage to continue past the flame gorilla yesterday, looks at my sword, "You brought your own weapon this time."

I give a few test swings of the handsome blade in my hand. It's light and feels perfect to wield. I like it.

"I did. Let's go."

The next time we encounter a monster, a giant bat, I rush at it and slice through it instantly. I stare at my sword as the corpse of the giant bat vanishes. I didn't feel any different just holding it, but just now when I killed the giant bat… it felt easier—far easier—to cut through. It felt like I was cutting through a banana or something. So this is how it feels to use a stat-enhancing weapon.

We continue through the first floor, slaughtering our way through the monsters there with ease. Thankfully, a spider shows up only once, and I let Wyll deal with that.

Yesterday it seemed to take some time to reach the end of level one. Today, it feels like five minutes.

Wyll and I both put our hands on the magical teleportation orb in front of us together and I see the two images of the academy and the second level again. I focus on the latter, and soon my insides spin, and I'm gone.