CHAPTER 41: ADVENTURE 2

Aegis and Scarlet continued making their way inside.

Their footsteps echoed off the dust-covered walls. Ahead were sconces with lit torches sitting on them. Just like there was no explanation of why the academy had these monster-ridden tunnels, there was also no explanation for who was lighting these torches. At least, none that Aegis knew.

"Creepy in here, isn’t it?" Aegis asked.

"How the fuck do you even know about this place?"

"I told you, I read. I’m actually very well-educated."

"I guess."

There were ominous skeletons and fragments of skeletons scattered across the floor. Random rumbles, clicks, and scrapes made their way to Aegis and Scarlet’s ears from deeper inside.

Aegis twirled her daggers. Scarlett glanced over at them again.

"So, uh, who did you kill to get your hands on those?"

"Fine, fine. You really wanna know how I got them?"

"I’m pretty curious, yeah."

"Okay, so you know how I saved Lady Roseheart?"

"Yep."

"The assassin who was going to kill Lady Roseheart was going to do so with these very daggers. I interrupted him right when he was going to grab them and, in the chaos as the guards came and all, I snagged them."

"Wait, so these belong to the hired killer you stopped?"

"Yeah."

"And, uh..." Scarlett raised a brow. "You don’t think he or his friends will be coming back for these things?"

"Probably not."

[I mean, that doesn’t happen in the game.]

"Anyway, come on. Let’s focus. The first enemies should be just up ahead."

With that in mind, they ventured on.

And soon, they came upon the first room in the dungeon.

"EEERGH!" Some spider-like creature, wrapped up in grey fur, screeched at them. Beside it, an identical companion clicked its mandibles with murderous intent.

Level 1

Prison Spider

MP: 20/20

Level 1

Prison Spider

MP: 20/20

[Alright, this is it,] Aegis thought. [My first real- huh?]

Scarlett charged ahead.

The redhead dashed forward, leapt into the air, raised her sword to the ceiling, and brought it down on the first spider. Her blade sank inside its carapace, making green blood erupt from underneath it, where her blade then exited its body.

The other spider was still for a moment, like it was trying to register what had just happened, before quickly charging at Scarlett with great fury. Scarlett twisted, extracting her sword from her first opponent’s body and generously gifting its tip to her second opponent all in one fluid motion.

Before Aegis could even register what had happened, both spiders were lying dead on the floor.

EXP Gained: 20

EXP Gained: 20

Power: 16% to Next Level!

"Hm." Scarlett calmly removed her blade from the creatures she’d killed. "They were weaker than they looked."

Aegis blinked.

[Right... Her Power stat is not low-level, hehe.]

Shrugging, Aegis walked over, and a System box popped up over the spiders’ corpses.

Items:

Prison Spider Venom x2

Aether Core x2

INVENTORY UNLOCKED!

You may now store items in your Inventory

[Oh, holy shit.]

Suddenly, Aegis had just gained a tiny pocket dimension where she could throw things. Neat. She took those two vials of venom and those two aether cores and chucked them in there.

"That was pretty fun, though. Wanna keep going?" Scarlett asked.

Aegis chuckled.

"Lead the way, big girl."

---

From there, the rest of the fights were equally as trivial.

As much as Aegis wanted to use this as training, Scarlett being here ended up mostly trivializing any fights she could end up in. For the most part, Scarlett barely even needed Aegis, cutting, hacking, and slashing her way through each enemy with ease.

"Hey," Aegis called out as they made their way to the next room. "Can you, uh, let me handle the next opponent?"

"Really? What are you getting bored back there?" Scarlett smirked. "Sure, I guess I can let you have some fun."

"Thanks. Very generous of you."

The next room saw a couple of skeletons, both carrying a sword and shield, standing around, looking vaguely menacing.

"All you, Mouse." Scarlett gestured at them.

"All me. Watch and learn." Aegis winked.

That said, she did feel slightly nervous as she moved forward. There was a chance that she’d just get skewered and this whole "adventure" would suddenly turn very, very awkward.

But that was a chance she was willing to take!

[I mean, I know exactly how these things attack from the game. Just... Try not to let your nerves get the better of you, Aegis. And you’ll be fine.]

She opened by using Aether Step to get behind the first skeleton. It didn’t seem to comprehend why its next victim had just gone from being there to not being there. Aegis turned her dagger around and planted it squarely in the skeleton’s skull.

And, she killed it with just one hit.

The skeleton crumpled. Its friend didn’t hesitate to walk up and swing at Aegis. Aegis parried its sword away, very thankful for all of Scarlett’s private lessons, and proceeded to do the same with this enemy.

No need to get too creative with these guys. A simple stab through the skull was enough to end the entire fight.

EXP Gained: 20

EXP Gained: 20

Power: Level Up!

Power: 11

[Awesome.]

Scarlett clapped.

"Not bad, not bad at all!"

"Thanks."

Checking their bodies, Aegis found some rudimentary equipment and more aether cores. She took them all, of course. Even if she wouldn’t be using that equipment herself, it did have other uses.

[Like making me lots and lots of money, hehehe.]

"Hey, wanna see something cool?" Aegis asked.

"Sure."

Aegis then produced one of the many aether cores she’d taken from the monsters’ bodies. It spawned out of thin are, suddenly covering Aegis’s hand in a green-black haze.

"Whoa!" Scarlett, who hadn’t actually noticed any of these yet since Aegis had been throwing them directly into her new Inventory, gawked at the magical object. "What the hell?"

"These are aether cores," Aegis explained. "Every monster has them. They have a ton of uses, in alchemy, in enhancing equipment, yada yada. But, what really matters is that they sell for a lot of gold~"

"Ahhh," Scarlett nodded slowly. "I take it that’s the real reason we’re here?"

"Pretty much."

Aegis needed to start making money, after all. This was as good a way to start as any.

"Alright. If that’s the case, then let’s-"

"Wait!"

Aegis ran over and grabbed Scarlett’s arm before she could move into the next hallway. Scarlett took a step back but, of course, didn’t react much to Aegis’s puny strength beyond that.

"Huh?"

"Look."

Aegis then took one of those cores and sacrificed it by throwing it forward onto an iron panel that looked completely natural in the hallway. But, as soon as the core touched that part of the floor, the floor itself raised and smashed the core against the ceiling.

Scarlett’s eyes widened.

"Whoa. How did you know that was going to happen?"

"Had a gut feeling." Again, Aegis winked at her. "Come on. This is the actual way forward." She pointed at a corridor that was partially hidden from view.

Scarlett shrugged and walked with her.