[S3] Chapter 43: Monsters

Reena had tried in vain to persuade Miko and me to get some gear for us. Still, instead, we just threw ourselves back into our clothes from this morning and walked into the dungeon with her.

Miko takes a deep breath and catches the scent of the dungeon. Although it smells surprisingly neutral for the fact that it looks like a starting area from an MMORPG. In the forest clearing where we are standing, other members of Reena's guild have set up a small camp. One of the mages strolls towards us in a relaxed manner when he notices us.

When we arrive, he smiles at everyone, nods to me and Miko and introduces himself.

“My name is Johann, the co-leader of this guild. I assume you are also witches?”

“Exactly, I met them by chance on the beach, and they agreed to help us. I can hardly believe how lucky we are.” Reena is almost bubbling over with joy before Miko starts asking questions.

“How else do you do it? So, if a dungeon turns out to be too difficult?”

"We had partner guilds on the mainland that we worked with regularly, but they all disbanded. Our only choice now would have been to issue a request for help from the Ministry and wait until a guild that would have been willing to help is found."

“I'm amazed your guild is still managing. Isn't it rather rare for dungeons to appear here?”

"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Johann says with a grin on his face. "But we actually have a new dungeon here every week. I don't know why, but our workload has always been good."

When I think about the fact that dungeons are created by some mages from the other world and the gates to our world are distributed randomly, it actually seems pretty lucky for the guild and unlucky for the residents of the island if they keep popping up here.

“Good for you. So, what's the problem here?” It makes me kind of happy to see and hear Miko talk in her serious working mode.

“Outside the forest is a slightly larger town, full of human-looking creatures, and a dragon is circling above it and destroying the place bit by bit.”

A dragon? I've never seen a dragon before! Of course, I never wanted to, but now it sounds kind of exciting. The dragon probably carries the Dungeon Core. Still, I suppose I could use a little magic to find out, so I crouch down, use a little mana to turn my black ring into a kind of wand, and start drawing in the ground.

I took the time to memorize this spell because it is extremely useful. In case of emergency, I still have a photo on my phone to copy from. Even though Luna warned me not to carry a collection of forbidden magic circles with me at all times, it is just too convenient.

“Hey... what's she doing?” How mean, he could have asked me that himself, but let's see what Miko answers.

“No plan.” Wow, I'm not sure if she's trying to cover something up or if she's really that clueless.

"Drawing a magic circle," Reena finally says. Thank you. At least someone will recognize my work.

The moment I finish, I feed my drawing with mana so that it suddenly spreads across the entire dungeon for a brief moment. One blink is enough to miss the whole spell. What you should notice, however, is the column of light that moves back and forth in the distance.

"Judging by its size, I'd say it's the dragon," I explain with a grin, straightening up again and smudging the magic circle with the sole of my shoe.

After the evidence has been destroyed, I look at the faces of Johann and Reena to assess how likely it is that they would report me to the Ministry. While Johann seems simply speechless, the pretty elf just smiles at me with satisfaction.

“Did I ask you which guild you're in?”

“You haven't.”

“So?”

“We are guildless.”

I swear I hear a quiet moan coming from Reena's mouth. I know what's going on in her head. She wants us; she definitely wants us in her guild, and it feels good to be wanted.

“I see.”

Huh? She doesn't ask if we want to join? Was it a red flag to use a forbidden spell? Did I mess it up? It's not that I want to join, although living on the beach and being loved by people sounds nice, in theory. Vacation. We are on vacation and, at the same time, in a dungeon to kill a dragon. At least it sounds like we're witches again, even though we actually wanted to avoid that.

“Shall we head towards the dragon this slowly? We don't want him to slip away." Sure, Miko, not that it could disappear, but she's right. I want to get this over with, too.

“What are you going to do?” Reena asks somewhat hesitantly.

“Slay the dragon.”

“Even if it is only a mana creature, you must not underestimate it.”

“Miko is more dangerous than any dragon,” I say, half-jokingly, half-seriously.

"Certainly not more than any dragon, but I should be able to take it down." This self-confidence is pretty damn hot. If I were any other person, I would be disgusted by this touch of arrogance, but when Miko stands there in her black dress, it feels like a scene straight out of an action anime.

Reena just looks at me, a little insecure and questioning. She seems to have problems taking Miko seriously, which I fully understand. There's no guarantee that Miko is not just talking a crazy game and will stroll to her certain death. I smile and nod energetically at her. Everything will be fine, I try to convey to her without speaking.

Shortly afterward, we start our walk through the forest, which is dotted with redwood trees. I have seen such gigantic things in the real world, too, and never cease to be amazed at how big such a tree can grow over the years. I'm a little envious of elves like Reena, who could plant one and watch it grow that big.

“What's wrong, Kayla?”

“Hmm? Nothing?”

“You're looking at me like that. I thought you were going to say something.”

It's amazing how Reena notices that I've been looking at her, even though she's walking in front of me. It must just be intuition since they say you can feel people's eyes at the back of your head.

“I just thought you looked so young.”

“What are you trying to say? How old do you think I am?”

Oh, oh... I could have just shut up.

“I don't know... With your beauty, I'm sure you're not much older than 20.”

“It's pretty mean to assume that I'm stone old just because I'm an elf. Even among mages, we're discriminated against.”

Oh shit, that escalated quickly.

“I'm sorry. I really am.”

As she starts to laugh, the blood rushes to my cheeks. I've been completely made fun of.

“I'm actually quite old. Do you know Jora, the former king of mages? He's like a preschooler to me."

If I remember correctly, Jora is over 100 years old. I don't know how she draws the comparison. Still, it seems quite possible to me that she has already cracked 1000 if elves actually can get that old. However, I don't actually feel like asking.

“How come you don't get rid of the dragon yourself?” Oh, Miko is brave.

"Ah, many people think just because I've lived so long that I have to be powerful. Unfortunately, I have to disappoint you. I've spent most of my life doing things that seemed more meaningful to me than fighting and getting stronger. But when we get out of here, I can tell you a bit more about myself over a refreshing drink."

“We didn't want to take a vacation that long.”

“I'll skip the unimportant stuff. I can sum up a hundred years in ten minutes.”

“I'll take your word for that.”

When did Miko become so smooth in conversations with strangers? I think I'm a little to blame for her becoming more social in a way. Of course, it could also be that she used to be so nasty and mean to me only, and deep down, she's always been a sweetheart.

"We'll be there soon," Johann says as we can already see the city walls. I do my best not to call him Captain Obvious, but the guy appears to be having a hard time. I must say that the destruction left by the dragon is somewhat anticlimactic. Since fake buildings don't burn, there are only mana particles flying around instead of smoke.

The mana pillar that reveals the location of the dragon is definitely within these walls, but a glance at the clear blue sky tells us that this monster is not in the air. Shortly afterward, the pillar begins to dissolve. No need to worry. When I cast the spell, I provided a certain amount of mana, which is now used up. I could use the spell again, but to be honest, I'm too lazy to draw the circle again, and I also want to save some mana.

“What are you two good at?” Miko asks as she slowly transforms her ring into a black sword. I still carry mine in the form of a wand in my right hand, so I can draw magic circles faster than with my finger.

“I'm what you would call a supporter. I can give you shields or replenish your mana.” Reena explains while I imagine how exactly she transfers her mana... I have come across quite intimate methods in some fictional stories.

“I'm a scout, so I'd avoid fighting,” Johann says a little too quietly. This guild definitely has a slightly different set of leaders.

“Are any of you people still in town?”

“No, they all fled earlier with the injured.”

“All right.” Miko turns to me and looks me in the eye. “Shall we try?” I get goosebumps. I honestly didn't expect to get the chance to try it out so soon. I nod repeatedly, “Yes, let's do it.”

I can see a certain mistrust in Reena and Johann. We could ask them to leave the dungeon, but if our plan proves successful, we'll have quite something to show off.

“Well then, let's go and find the dragon.” And with these words, Miko marches ahead. Meanwhile, I pull out my phone and scroll through my gallery.

“Enemies are holed up in this house,” Johann points his finger at a half-destroyed building, so far away that I honestly don't know how he could have seen anything. My gaze wanders briefly to him. He might be using magic to improve his vision. I don't know why I didn't think of this before.

A short time later, we arrive at the house in question. Miko takes slow steps in its direction before a figure comes out of the entrance and throws himself on his knees. I feel a cold shiver run down my spine. This figure doesn't look human. It's a human.

“Please spare us! The dragon has already taken everything from us. Please don't take our lives."

Miko turns to us and shows a disgusted, almost angry face. “What kind of sick game is this?” A wink later, she has decapitated the person in front of her, and they abruptly dissolve into mana. I have faith that Miko can distinguish between humans and mana. Still, the speed at which she decided to kill the creature actually scares me a little. Johann also looks a little pale while Reena smiles.

“Can your great eyes see through walls? If so, tell me where this dragon is. I want to get out of here.” I can hear in Miko's voice how pissed off she is. People made of mana, which clearly displays emotions. Whoever created a dungeon like this must be having fun trying to scratch the morale of the mages.

“What do we do with the other creatures in the house?”

“I asked you where the dragon was, didn't I?”

The silence caused by her menacing aura is uncomfortable, but for now, it seems as if no one is taking it badly.

Johan turns around and looks like he's staring at walls. But a loud gulp reveals that he has found what we are looking for. He raises his arm again and points in one direction.

“It looks like it is asleep.”

"These creatures act like their real counterparts. That's why he's doing this. Luckily, these idiots don't get the idea to make their mana creations superior to the original." Miko is in a really bad mood.

“Come on, Kayla. We'll finish this here and now.”

“Huh?”

"Draw the circle."

Without saying anything else, I position myself in front of Miko and begin to draw lines in the air. My mana is almost transparent, so I have to concentrate on getting the drawing right. Johann and Reena keep a safe distance behind us without us telling them to do so.

The sword that Miko was carrying earlier liquefies and spreads across her body, forming gloves and a chest plate that begins to create protective shields made of mana around her body. The technique is borrowed, but since we have seen it several times before, we were at least able to improve the conditions.

“You can take over.”

“Thank you.”

I pass Miko my wand, which turns into a bow in her hand. At that moment, the magic circle I have painted dyes itself in black-purple mana and begins to emit intense heat.

Together, Miko and I are able to recreate Luna's fire arrow. I build the spell, and Miko feeds it with mana. We have tested and practiced the concept beforehand with small, harmless magic circles and have come to the conclusion that there is nothing to stop this from working.

“We should get a little further away,” I warn Reena and Johann, who are watching, mesmerized by what is happening before our eyes.

Every second, the circle of mana in front of Miko grows and eventually begins to duplicate itself towards the front. As I have studied these spells a lot over the last few months, I actually understand what is happening. The circle is like a program that automatically changes mana into the desired form. When the mana has reached the form after crossing the first circle, the mechanisms to strengthen the spell take effect. With this kind of magic, even a beginner could cause unimaginable chaos. Normally, a mage would not come into possession of such power, let alone think of using it. But we are preparing to meet beings who do not play by the rules of our world.

“How can she be sure she'll hit it?”

“You've pointed in the right direction, haven't you?”

“Yes.”

“Then don't worry,” I say while starting to develop a few doubts myself. However, it is difficult to imagine that the dragon will survive this attack. I've seen what this spell looks like when cast by Luna. She definitely has more control than Miko, but when it comes to the amount of mana and the resulting power, Mikos is on a higher level. My magic circle is also probably not quite as perfectly drawn, but Luna has confirmed that I have a knack for it.

“The dragon is moving!” Johann suddenly shouts, and this acts as a signal for Miko to release the arrow of black flames. A huge swath forms and everything in the way of the spell is suddenly gone, with thunder and countless explosions stuttering behind it. This attack was so fast that the sound couldn't keep up.

I walk over to Miko, who is a little wobbly on her feet. The armor and the bow she had fashioned from our magical metal have returned to their original form of two rings, which she is holding in her hand. I am briefly startled when I look at her face; she is incredibly pale, and the moment I put my hand on her back, she drops to her knees and throws up.

“Is everything okay?”

“Dizzy... Nauseous.” She has trouble even getting these single words out. I don't know if I made a mistake in creating the spell or if she made a mistake in performing it, but her body is seriously affected.

“It's still moving...” Miko whispers and points forward with a shaky hand. At her words, I break out in a cold sweat. If the dragon survived such an attack, we have to get out of here, but as quickly as possible.

With some hesitation, I turn my gaze upwards. Because of the devastation in front of my eyes, I can seem to look endlessly ahead and do indeed spot a huge dragon crawling slowly but surely in our direction. But behind it, the dungeon is already beginning to disintegrate. On closer inspection, I notice that the dragon's lower body, which probably contained the dungeon core, is gone. But the fact that this mana creature doesn't disintegrate and continues to cling to its ending life both frightens and impresses me.

At this rate, the dragon won't be able to reach us before it dissolves with the dungeon. With this in mind, I turn my full attention back to Miko and start casting healing magic on her. I hear hesitant footsteps approaching behind me. Shortly afterward, Reena and Johann are standing next to us. I only glance at them briefly but notice how they both stare at us somewhat skeptically. They're giving me more headaches than the dragon. I can't imagine what's going on in their heads.

"Johann, stop it," Reena says in a sharp tone. Again, I turn my attention to the two of them and notice how he has his hand at his back, possibly holding a weapon. “These two are our saviors!”

“Saviors? They're worse than anything I've ever encountered in a damn dungeon. They're monsters."